RTHK: Turkey backs Finland and Sweden for Nato membership

Turkey has agreed to support Finland's and Sweden's bids for Nato membership, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

"I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join Nato," he told reporters on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Madrid.

"Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism," he added. (Reuters)

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Dorian Fuller: Chasing the first grains of China

People's Daily Online) 16:05, June 28, 2022

Dorian Fuller is a professor of archaeobotany at University College London. He has published extensively on topics related to past subsistence societies, the origins and evolution of agriculture and the process of plant domestication.

Professor Fullers fieldwork projects have spanned the Eurasian and African continents to encompass over a dozen countries and focus primarily on the systematic sampling of archaeobotanical evidence, many of which have contributed directly to filling major gaps in our knowledge on past agricultural practices in specific regions. Published in 2009, his work focused on the site of Tianluoshan in Zhejiang Province is renowned for capturing the early historical process for rice domestication and cultivation starting from as early as 6,900 years ago.

As an early proponent of the UCL-PKU International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology and the UCL-NWU Silk Roads Research Centre, Professor Fuller has trained generations of Chinese students and scholars and has helped to design the Master of Arts programme in the Archaeology and Heritage of Asia.

Dorian Fuller (Photo/Fraser Watson)

The story behind every project

Peoples Daily Online: You have studied plant remains across Eurasia and Africa since your early days as a graduate student. When was your first contact with China?

Fuller: I started teaching here at UCL in the year 2000. Shortly after that, in 2001, I was invited to be part of a small delegation from this institute to travel to China to give a series of lectures at Peking University, including our then head of the institute, Peter Ucko. I gave a series of three lectures at Peking University on the origins of agriculture in Western Asia, in North America and in India.

At that time, I was trying to learn what I could about it in all parts of the world, including China. But the material that was available to me in English at that time was limited. One of my real highlights of that trip was at one of the dinners I had the chance to meet Professor Yan Wenming, and I had a chance to really have a conversation with him, asking him lots of questions about Chinese Neolithic, early agriculture, and early livestock in China. I really learnt a lot from that, and I came away with a strong interest in wanting to learn more.

Peoples Daily Online: Did you get an opportunity to do more fieldwork in China after your 2001 trip? Could you share with us some of your findings?

Fuller: After our 2001 trip, the UCL Institute of Archaeology established a joint centre with Peking University, the International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology in 2004. One of the aims was to increase international communication, training, and research collaboration between archaeologists in Britain and China. The idea behind that centre is to create an infrastructure so that we can share theoretical ideas and developments that are happening here with our Chinese colleagues and incorporate them into our teaching and research.

Supported by the new centre, I was able to go to China in October, November 2004, and join for a few weeks the training excavation of Peking University at a site called Baligang in southern Hunan Province. And one of the PhD students on that dig, a man named Zhang Hai, who's now a professor at Peking University, was inspired to go out and do some archaeobotanical sampling on other sites in Henan. He then asked if I would analyse those data, and we published it together in a report in 2007.

I was also able to see the new excavations at a site called Tianluoshan in Zhejiang Province. And the preservation and the quantity of plant remains from that site was extraordinary. I then went back to that site a couple of times in 2006 and 2007, and it became clear that we were not just looking at early rice agriculture, but rice as it was evolving from its wild form to what we might consider as domesticated rice today. We were picking up a key stage in the creation of rice as a crop and we ultimately published some of those data in the journal Science.

Peoples Daily Online: Much of your work seems to have been concentrated in the domestication of staple crops in the Central Plains or the Lower Yangtze River. Is there any other topic or area that you wish to explore?

Fuller: Yes, so a lot of our active technical research has focused essentially on central China in the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin. But we still know much less about green vegetables and leafy crops or tuber crops, things that are grown for their roots. And studying them will be very important for filling out that story for both the culinary diversity within central China, but also for improving our understanding of some regions like southern China.

One of the regions of China that I'm most interested in pursuing further research in and I'm very fascinated by is in the southwest, particularly Yunnan Province and maybe some of the adjacent provinces. And the reason for that is, ecologically speaking and culturally speaking, its a crossroad of Asia. In terms of the biogeography of the species there. It's one of the most diverse floors in the world regionally. And that's because it's at this juncture between the temperate zone and the tropical zone, between the Tibetan Plateau and the lowlands. You have the juncture of vegetative crops like tubers, like yams and taro; you have, of course, the cereal crops, rice and millet that are coming out of China; but you also have crops that have come from India. Thats why I think there's a lot of fascinating interaction and cultural diversity in that region.

There is a lot of fascinating interaction and cultural diversity in the region and the traditional systems of land use we see there can be very important in conserving landscapes and biodiversity.

Dorian Fuller (Photo/Fraser Watson)

To see each plant as a research project in itself

Peoples Daily Online: You have contributed greatly to the growth of archaeobotanical research in China and other parts of the world. What do you think is special about Chinese archaeology?

Fuller: There are certain things about the style of archaeology and excavations in China that are quite unique. One of those is that it's very much rooted in the local. At least some of the excavations are normally from a local provincial institute. So, they are very much rooted in routinely studying the local past of this place.

There's a lot of material to analyse there, and it's extremely exciting from an analytical point of view. I think it is important that the archaeology is rooted in place so that excavations are aimed to understand how people lived in a particular landscape rather than being driven by a research question, as is sometimes the case in other parts of the world.

The other thing that's important is scale. In recent decades, Western excavations have tended to become much smaller in scale. And big excavations in the 1950s, for example, would not have carried out systematic scientific sampling of the sort that we would carry out today. The growth of large-scale excavations in China in recent decades has accompanied the development of archaeological science, so systematic sampling and scientific approaches have been parts of that scaling up in archaeology. Therefore, it's very exciting in that there's huge amounts of high-quality data coming out of these projects.

Peoples Daily Online: No matter how busy you have been, you always found time to teach in the classroom and give lectures around the world. Could you share with us some of your teaching experience?

Fuller: Of course, a major part of my job as a professor is to teach students and to train the next generation of archaeologists, and to encourage new approaches and new ways of thinking. Since 2012, I think we have had a master's degree called the Archaeology and Heritage of Asia, which I helped to design, which includes Central Asia, China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. And the idea is to encourage the study of archaeology and the comparison of archaeology in those different regions. The students will look at Indian archaeology and Chinese archaeology and Silk Road archaeology and think about the potential for comparisons, contrasts and research that may be harder to do at an individual country level. I've also taught as a guest lecturer at Peking University, Shandong University, Sichuan University and Northwest University.

And one of the things that I was very pleased to do was to give lectures for an entire course on archaeobotany at PKU in 2008. And it was both a lecture course and a practical course in archaeobotany, after which the university invested in buying microscopes and setting up space and facilities to carry out future archaeobotanical research.

It's very satisfying to see the growth in this field over the years and to have been able to contribute to that.

Dorian Fuller (Photo/Fraser Watson)

Peoples Daily Online: In general, what do you consider to be the biggest area of interest on the topic of plant domestication?

Fuller: The truth is, botany is all around us. It's in our kitchens and it's in our grocery stores. But don't just say, oh, well, that's a tomato. I'm going to eat it. Think about where does the tomato come from? How's it structured? How would you recognize it? Start archaeologically thinking about each of those plant foods that you eat as a kind of research project in itself.

I think that the origins of agriculture and the domestication of crops is a subject that can appeal to a very wide audience. Almost everybody in the world eats crops that have been grown through agriculture. Thats a story which is almost universally human and it's also comparative.

In Western Asia and the Americas, Africa, India, and of course, in China, the crops that were domesticated in different places were different. And the resulting combinations of foods and foodstuffs and the way cooking developed around them was different in various parts of the world. For instance, in ancient China, we see right from the beginning of agriculture, right from the Neolithic period, an elaboration of cooking techniques focused on boiling and steaming developed. You have steamed or boiled foods such as rice, noodles, dumplings, and baozi that have lasted from the Neolithic period all the way to the present.

That's quite different from what we see in early agricultural societies in Western Asia or Europe. And you can start to think about how these long-term patterns have persisted over a long time and formed the culinary cultures of today.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
A video screenshot shows the second shipment of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arriving at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 28, 2022. The second shipment of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Tuesday and has been handed over to the Afghan side. (Xinhua)

KABUL, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The second shipment of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Tuesday and has been handed over to the Afghan side.

Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman of the Taliban-led government, wrote on social media that two Chinese cargo planes delivered the humanitarian supplies on Tuesday morning.

A strong earthquake rocked southeastern Afghanistan days ago, killing more than 1,000 people and injured nearly 2,000 others while destroying tens of thousands of houses.

On Monday night, after the arrival of the first batch of supplies, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Ghulam Ghaws Naseri, acting minister of state for disaster management and humanitarian affairs of Afghanistan's Taliban-led caretaker government, attended a handover ceremony at the airport.

At the ceremony, Wang said the Chinese government decided to provide 50 million yuan (about 7.5 million U.S. dollars) in emergency humanitarian assistance supplies to Afghanistan, and the first batch of supplies included tents, folding beds and blankets.

Wang said six more Chinese airplanes would deliver relief supplies to Afghansitan in the next three days, adding that all the food supplies China promised have arrived earlier.

Naseri thanked China for offering emergency assistance supplies to his country immediately after the earthquake, and said the move demonstrated the longtime friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

The first batch of food aid donated by a Chinese firm had reached the earthquake-hit region in eastern Afghanistan, an Afghan disaster management official said on Monday.

The food aid donated by MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Company Ltd. (MJAM) reached Khost city, capital of the eastern Khost province on Sunday, Mohammad Salim Haqqani, an official responsible for planning and policy at the office of the state minister for disaster management and humanitarian affairs, told Xinhua.

"We are thankful to all aid agencies, domestic and international organizations which provided aid to us at this difficult time when we are facing an emergency situation. We are grateful as they delivered a lot of assistance," Haqqani said.

The 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Wednesday is the deadliest in more than 20 years, causing at least 1,500 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries while destroying more than 3,000 houses.

Haqqani noted that in order to help the affected people, the disaster management authorities need more relief items and supplies including tents, carpets, mats, tarpaulin, blankets, medicine, foodstuff as well as medical equipment.

Haqqani said the aid will be transported to communities in the worst-hit remote districts in Khost and Paktika provinces as soon as possible.

The food aid included 800 sacks of flour, 800 sacks of rice, 800 bottles of cooking oil, and 800 packages of tea, according to Ahmad Jawad Saleh from the Chinese company MJAM.

A video screenshot shows the first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arriving at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 27, 2022. The first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Monday night and was handed over to the Afghan side. (Xinhua)
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A man accused of driving his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee has served notice that he'll try to convince a jury that he was mentally ill during the incident and shouldn't go to prison. Prosecutors say Darrell Brooks Jr. drove into the parade in Waukesha on Nov. 21, killing six people. On Monday he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to more than 80 charges. He'll undergo a mental evaluation and then go through a two-part trial. A jury will determine whether he is guilty of the crimes and, if so, determine whether he knew his behavior was illegal. That could be a tough sell for a Waukesha County jury.
They are mothers who have faced homelessness, domestic abuse, cancer diagnoses of loved ones and even incarceration.

But the four Madison interviewees of the recently announced Infamous Mothers Nothings Wasted tour  Jasmine Banks, Martina Dameron, Qiana Holmes and Keena Atkinson  say they each used the lessons of their past to unapologetically find success as students and entrepreneurs, or as Infamous Mothers would call them, IMpreneurs.

Founded in 2016 by CEO Sagashus Levingston, Infamous Mothers is a company that sells literature and games to tell the stories of marginalized mothers who have built thriving businesses, and also offers programming for women entrepreneurs. Infamous Mothers, which has served thousands of clients, has produced plays and art exhibitions in the Madison area.

Through recorded in-person interviews with women entrepreneurs, the nine-months-long, 45-city tour seeks to raise awareness about the barriers mothers have had to break down to pursue their ambitions. Levingston, who has six children, said too often womens stories focus on the barriers they face, and not how they are overcoming those barriers.

She and a team will make stops at cities all over the U.S. to interview 180 women, who will answer questions about motherhood, health, wellness and entrepreneurship. The first few stops include Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis, with more cities to be announced soon. The interviews will then be streamed online through Feb. 28.

Upgrade planned

The company launched the tour within the last few weeks also to garner funds for a $250,000 renovation project to its West Side space, designed with the help of Michael Ford, who is known as Madisons award-winning Black hip hop architect and founder of BrandNu Design.

The renovated space will serve as a satellite location for a more expansive online co-working environment that the company plans to unveil in 2023, Levingston said. She is Infamous Mothers only full-time employee, and earned her doctorate in literature, English and philosophy from UW-Madison in 2019.

The co-working space is one of many projects Infamous Mothers has taken the last two years to pilot and create, some of which will be released in accordance with the tour. Levingston credits the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, CUNA Mutual Group and Park Bank as financial supports for the co-working space pilot.

A rendering from BrandNu Design depicts the physical Infamous Mothers building as featuring a media lab, a lounge, offices and even Airbnb amenities. Adorning the walls are past Infamous Mothers books, and photos of diverse women.

Courses, resources

Designs for the online co-working space are not yet available, Levingston said, but the space will be housed inside a web-based Infamous Mothers University, where entrepreneurs would be able to access courses and other educational resources from their computer. Ford is also helping to design the online space, he said.

The approach to designing a virtual space is similar to designing a physical space, but the constraints are extremely different, Ford said. However, physical limitations such as weather, gravity, material costs, material availability and construction costs are completely eliminated.

Feedback Levingston garners from the mothers she visits on the tour will additionally inform the look of the co-working space.

Her hope by 2023 is to have women from all across the U.S. accessing it via computer or virtual reality headset. Levingston also hinted at plans to open more physical satellite Infamous Mothers locations.

4 for the challenge

Jasmine Banks, a longtime Madisonian who owns a business she operates part-time out of her home called Perfect Imperfections 608, said her motivation for success is her mother. She received a cervical cancer diagnosis in 2012.

Banks, a Black mom who had her daughter at 18, said that hardship sparked research into the skincare and hygiene products people use every day. After finding a slew of toxic ingredients whose spellings she couldnt pronounce, Banks started making her own soaps, facial toners and other natural concoctions.

Keena Atkinson, who has two children as a Black woman, said she experienced homelessness and domestic abuse before becoming the entrepreneur, yoga instructor, hairstylist and housing property owner that she is today.

Atkinson has lived in Madison for the last few years, and is the owner of health-centered business Roujie Wellness.

Oiana Holmes, owner of online clothing brand Village Girl, is a Black woman and Madisonian who said last October she encountered financial challenges as a single mother before founding her growing shop.

Holmes also has a background in education, and is the co-founder of the UJAMAA Business Network, an entrepreneurial network that equips people of color with tools and resources to grow their company.

Martina Dameron has endured homelessness, too. Dameron, who has three children and has lived in Madison for two years, was studying nursing in Tennessee when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The health crisis caused her to lose her home, she said.

Dameron has now owned Dameron Cleaning Services since November 2020 and has a regular roster of 10-12 clients. She intends to soon return to nursing school.

Ive blown it out of the water, Banks said of her success as an entrepreneur. I always had to make sure in my heart that the world didnt get to put me in their box. Thats not fair to my daughter.

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Don't miss

"Mushroom Foraging and Feasting" by Victoria Romanoff; Abbeville Press (127 pages, $25)



I've never understood the passion that my friends have for hunting mushrooms  to be honest, I don't much like mushrooms  but now, after reading this gorgeous and vivacious book, I get it. Victoria Romanoff and her mother fled their native Latvia in 1944, in advance of the Soviet invasion, and it was wild mushrooms that helped keep them alive during their years in displaced persons' camps in Germany.

"Competition was fierce," she writes in this part-memoir, part-cookbook, part foraging journal. "Entering the dark and balsamy woods at dawn we saw several Polish women already emerging with baskets on their heads."

Romanoff eventually made her way to the United States, where she now runs a restaurant with her partner, Sarah Adams (who took most of the photos for this book), specializing in mushrooms.

Her descriptions are mouthwatering, as are her many recipes  so much butter, cream, white wine, olive oil, good crusty bread. She serves mushrooms sliced, sauteed, dried, with potatoes, on top of pizza, bubbling in cheese. Oh, my.

She writes about the joy of the hunt, the excitement when she finds a hoard, the pleasure of cooking. The full-page color photos are occasional playful, showing Romanoff blowing on a black trumpet mushroom, slicing golden chanterelles with one tucked behind each ear.

But mostly they just show mushrooms in their glory. Truffles, shaggy inky caps, puffballs, chicken of the woods  I have to say that (with enough white wine, butter and cheese) I swear I could eat them all.
NONFICTION: Corporate profits vs. doing the right thing. No contest, as "Wastelands" shows us once again.

"Wastelands" by Corban Addison; Alfred A. Knopf (464 pages, $30)



Given all that's going on in the world, I thought I'd reached my limit of outrage. But Corban Addison's "Wastelands" raised my anger threshold to new heights.

It is a story of corporate greed, of politicians who follow the dictates of special interests and of people who possess a sense of entitlement that outweighs concern for anyone else.

What makes it worse is that we've seen it all before. Whether it's the pharmaceutical industry, the tobacco business or fossil fuel giants, profits always trump not only safety but also compassion and logic.

In this case, the company is Smithfield Foods. More than 2,000 farmers in North Carolina raised pigs for Smithfield on what are called "concentrated animal feeding operations" that raise a number of ethical issues. With CAFO, thousands of animals are housed in extremely close (and frequently filthy) quarters, raising the specter of animal cruelty.

CAFO farming also raises the problem of waste disposal. Feces and urine are drained into waste lagoons the size of Olympic-size swimming pools. When these reach capacity, they are hooked up to giant guns and sprayed  supposedly to fertilize surrounding fields. In theory, it makes sense. Unless, that is, you have thousands of hogs defecating. And it rains, filling the lagoon to overflow. Or the occasional hurricane, saturating the surrounding soil and occasionally getting into the water supply.

Additionally, residents who reside near these farms are assaulted by unbearable stench. They also face noise pollution from trucks that pull up in the middle of the night to retrieve the bodies of deceased animals (at least those not cannibalized by their barn-mates) that didn't make it to the processing plant.

Tests reveal that traces of feces can be found on nearby residents' clothing and on their countertops. It is  or should be  unacceptable, profits be damned.

Mona Lisa Wallace, a legal Don Quixote who regularly tilts at corporate windmills, took up the neighbors' cause. In doing so, she and other attorneys risked their businesses. These suits take years and cost millions to pursue. And though it seems that the issues are clear, Smithfield had its tentacles everywhere, making victory and a payout problematic.

The company had the help of some legislators, who not only sponsored bills that would limit these types of lawsuits, but also wanted to make them retroactive to the ones filed by Wallace.

What is genuinely infuriating is that Smithfield knew the problem existed. It was aware of comparatively inexpensive alternatives that would barely dent its profits and sharply reduce odor, but it found excuses not to install them.

Addison is the author of four novels and his skills at storytelling are evident here. He simplifies complicated issues and while his sympathy is clearly not with Smithfield, his reportage is relatively balanced. His research is rigorous and he builds the story to a fascinating denouement worthy of a suspense novel  a good suspense novel.



Curt Schleier is a book critic in New Jersey.
No matter what other changes Election Day brings this fall, Madisonians can confidently expect at least one difference after walking out of their polling places.

The City Clerks Office on Tuesday unveiled two new designs for the ubiquitous I Voted stickers that voters receive after casting their ballots, and theyre designed by a high school student.

Katina Maclin, 16, who recently moved from Sun Prairie to Glendale, where she will be a junior in the fall, interned in the clerks office from July 2021 to April 2022. There, City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl asked Maclin what her interests were. Maclin said that she liked research, graphic design, writing and Black History, among other topics.

Soon after, Witzel-Behl approached her with the task of redesigning the stickers.

Everybodys seen that same sticker, Maclin said. Its really boring. I wanted to branch out.

The incumbent stickers, now replaced, varied in shape and color, Witzel-Behl said. Some voters were handed circles that featured standard government-issue blocks of red, white and blue, and read I Voted Today! Others left their polling place with an oval that read I Voted with an American flag.

Maclins new designs will not entirely replace the old stickers, Witzel-Behl said: The clerks office still has them in stock, and voters who receive an absentee ballot for this Augusts primary elections will find an old sticker enclosed.

But at in-person polling locations this fall, voters will find Maclins new designs.

One of the designs reads I VOTED in all-capital black letters studded with white stars over a background of red, white and blue paint splatters.

I wanted to show that its America, she said, but kind of rebellious ... not just the same old, same old.

The other, a blend of brown, black and other non-white skin tones reads, Every Vote Matters.

That design stemmed from a poster and bookmark Maclin also created for the clerks office aimed at voter outreach.

People can see that and say, Im that skin tone. My vote still matters, she said.

Maclin worked as an intern through the I Can internship and mentorship program with 100 Black Men of Madison, a nonprofit focused on creating opportunity for African American youth, the clerks office said.

It was a very exciting project in our office, Witzel-Behl said. This was our first intern who was also an artist. It was a great opportunity to allow Katina to design something for her portfolio but also to provide something exciting for our poll workers and our voters for the fall election.

The project took 6 months, Maclin said: Her unexpected move from Sun Prairie and the hurdles that came with it delayed the process. Three months in, all the artwork she had created on her iPad was accidentally and inexplicably deleted. Finally, after six different pieces, she landed on the two final concepts, which took her two days to complete, she said.

Maclin said she hopes to start her own graphic design business someday and is looking for new opportunities. But she also needs to grow her portfolio, she said.

In Madison, where 75% of eligible voters participated in the 2020 election, her artwork will likely get widespread exposure come November.

If youre going to commit to do anything, its really important to persevere and have endurance, she said. In the long run, itll be worth it.

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Wisconsins Supreme Court says a conservative political appointee can stay in power indefinitely if lawmakers refuse to confirm a successor, dealing a blow to Gov. Tony Evers and the powers of the executive branch.

The high court ruled Wednesday in favor of Fred Prehn, a Wausau dentist appointed to the Natural Resources Board in 2015 by former Gov. Scott Walker. Prehn refused to step down when his term expired more than a year ago.

The courts conservative majority said the expiration of Prehns six-year term, in and of itself, did not create a vacancy for the governor to fill.

At the same time, the court ruled that the expiration did not end protections against being removed without cause, meaning Evers cant simply fire him.

That means Prehn can stay in office until the Senate confirms Evers nominee, something Republicans who control the chamber have so far refused to do.

If the nominee is not confirmed, the nominee is not appointed into office and cannot exercise the authority assigned to that position, conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote in the majority opinion. While the Governor can make a provisional appointment who exercises all of the powers and duties of the office, subject to later confirmation by the senate, there must first be a vacancy to fill.

The courts three liberal justices filed a 16-page dissent calling the opinion absurd and nonsensical, saying it steers our states government directly into disorder and chaos, threatening the fragile separation of powers central to its functions.

(A)llowing Prehn to continue serving in office indefinitely makes him the final authority on whether he remains in office  not the legislature, which specified by statute that his term expired over 13 months ago, and not the governor, who the legislature gave the authority to nominate a replacement, Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote. One unelected official should not be able to dictate his term in office over the will of the peoples elected representatives.

Balance of power

The ruling further tilts the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in favor of Republicans who control the Legislature and have refused to hold confirmation hearings for many of Evers appointees  including most of his nominees to boards overseeing the states higher education system.

Todays decision continues to underscore the erosion of democratic institutions at the hands of Republicans in this state, Evers said in a statement. Its wrongheaded, its shortsighted, and its politics at its most dangerous.

Evers said his appointees are exceptionally qualified, should be considered on their merit, and should have the opportunity to serve the people of our state, regardless of whether or not they were appointed by a Democrat or share the same ideas as Republicans in the Legislature.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who filed the lawsuit last year, said the Supreme Courts decision sets a terrible precedent at a time when several of Evers other appointees still await formal approval from the Senate.

We now have an appointee who can apparently stay on this board for as long as he chooses, Kaul said. Think about that in a democracy. This is not a country where we have kings, but Dr. Prehn apparently gets to choose how long he gets to stay there, regardless of what the people of Wisconsin say.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about if or when he would schedule a confirmation hearing for Evers appointee, Ashland County educator Sandra Naas.

Prehn issued a statement saying he intends to stay on the board until a successor is confirmed and accused Evers and Kaul of wasting substantial taxpayer dollars in legal fees on a political stunt to satisfy their liberal donor base.

Their lack of understanding of case law is obvious and that lack of understanding caused many losses, including hours of time, emotion and cost on this issue, Prehn wrote.

Keeping a seat

Kaul argued Prehn and lawmakers ignored the century-old common law, which says an appointee whose term has ended may hold over, but once the term expires there is a vacancy that the governor is entitled to fill.

Citing a 1964 Supreme Court ruling, Prehn maintained he does not have to leave until Naas is confirmed by the Senate. Republicans adjourned the two-year session without holding a hearing, cementing the boards conservative majority.

Text messages uncovered in a separate court case show Prehn sought advice from Walker in November 2020, nearly six months before his term was set to expire, saying lawmakers do not intend on confirming anybody soon.

Walker encouraged Prehn to stay.

Kaul sued in August, asking the courts to force Prehn to step down. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn dismissed the case but faulted lawmakers for refusing to hold a confirmation hearing.

Both Kaul and Prehn asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, bypassing the court of appeals.

Key decisions

Since his term ended, Prehn has voted to reject regulations of toxic PFAS compounds in groundwater and to weaken the agencys proposed drinking water standards for the so-called forever chemicals.

He could also cast a deciding vote later this year on a new wolf management plan, which could set population goals and help determine hunting quotas if the gray wolf is again removed from the federal endangered species list.

If youre on the side of more toxic sludge in our water, this is a win for you today, Kaul said. But if you want clean and safe drinking water for Wisconsinites, if you care about people in Wisconsin having power over the government, its yet another huge loss from the Supreme Court.

Midwest Environmental Advocates called the decision a blow to the health of our environment and the health of our democracy.

Fred Prehn coordinated with Scott Walker, lobbyists for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and an unaccountable, gerrymandered legislature to retain control of environmental policy in Wisconsin, the group said in a statement. As a result, Scott Walkers appointees continue to control the Department of Natural Resources 1,331 days and counting after Walker lost the election.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.

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Dane County is moving to extend its hotel shelter program for the homeless but changing hoteliers because its partnership with the Madison Plaza Hotel on the Far East Side is ending and the homeless still staying there must be out by Thursday.

The county, which is still sheltering about 65 homeless at the Madison Plaza as of this week, has identified another hotel in the area that will be the site of an extended program through the end of September. The city, which has been renting a smaller number of rooms at the hotel for the homeless, is not pursuing different hotel rooms for about a dozen homeless still there, but still provides support services for about 30 people.

Meanwhile, a developer is proposing to convert the two-story, 197-room Madison Plaza, 3841 E. Washington Ave., into 155 to 190 lower-cost studio and one-bedroom apartments with amenities for residents. Its the second proposal to convert the hotel to housing in the past year.

In March 2020, the county started non-congregate hotel shelter primarily for homeless adults considered at high risk for severe illness if they contract COVID-19 or those who need isolation or quarantine if symptomatic or exposed to the virus, partnering with several hotels to provide rooms. Since August, the county has rented 100 rooms at the Madison Plaza. As part of the arrangement, the county has worked with providers to deliver meals and a variety of services and 24/7 staffing on site.

Then, in November, the city rented the 35 remaining usable rooms at the hotel and contracted with Focus Counseling to provide support services and arrange for meals. The 35 hotel rooms combined with a new encampment with 30 tiny shelters the city built on the Southeast Side to shelter the approximately 70 people who had been staying at the now-closed, unsafe, unsanctioned encampment at Reindahl Park near East Towne.

The countys funding for non-congregate shelter was supposed to end on Thursday, but due to the presence of a highly infectious variant of COVID-19, it is moving to extend the hotel program through Sept. 30. The county has secured a new hotel partner on the Far East Side and the county and its support services provider, Equitable Social Solutions, are offering guest assistance with moving to the new hotel shelter.

The city, meanwhile, is not pursuing different hotel rooms, but is continuing to provide support services through its contractor for about 30 people, including about a dozen still remaining at Madison Plaza as of midweek. The city recently extended Focus Counselings contract through June 30, 2023.

Shelter to housing

The hotel shelter initiatives have been successful, especially at getting services to the homeless and helping them secure housing, officials said.

Since its inception, more than 400 households have used the countys non-congregate shelter program, and 257 people have secured housing, said Casey Becker, division administrator in the countys Housing Access and Affordability Division. Since the third quarter of 2021, when Madison Plaza came into the program, 167 of the 257 have found housing, she said.

Its worked out well, Becker said. For folks who havent moved into housing, they have been able to get connected to other community supports such as employment, behavioral health services or other medical care during their stay.

The referral process for those seen as vulnerable to COVID-19 has been closed since the start of the year because the program was going to end, but the process for the isolation and quarantine program is still open to medical providers, shelter and street outreach providers who serve those needing the support.

To date, the county has spent $23.1 million on various non-congregate shelter efforts, Becker said. The estimate for extending the program through September is $3.1 million, she said. The County Board could take up the extension as soon as July 21. In the meantime, the county has funding to continue the program, she said.

For the city, 65 people have used rooms at the hotel and 15 have exited to housing, community development director Jim OKeefe said. Also, 12 people have left the citys tiny shelters on the Southeast Side for housing and 10 people will be relocating from the hotel to the tiny shelters, he said. The city has spent $1.1 million in federal money for lodging, meals and support services at the hotel, and will use another $650,000 for continuing support services, security deposits and rental assistance, he said.

When the city secured access, last fall, to rooms that were available at this (hotel) property, it was with the understanding that the arrangement would end on June 30, OKeefe said.

The people we supported through this temporary initiative, on the whole, faced very formidable challenges to stable housing, he said. The hotel setting, and on-site services, provided a safe and stable venue for them. They didnt need to worry from one day to the next about where they would sleep or spend the day. And that created an opportunity for case managers to work with clients in ways that arent often easy, or even possible.

Next for hotel

The fate of the Madison Plaza has been evolving for months.

In October 2021, the city awarded $1.85 million from its Affordable Housing Fund to Gorman and Co. and Lutheran Social Services for a $23.4 million proposal to convert the hotel into housing with all 105 units to be created for those with lower incomes. The partners were expected to apply for federal tax credits administered by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

But Gorman entered an agreement to purchase the property without knowing the hotel would be used as temporary shelter for the homeless after closing and under its ownership. Gorman, uncomfortable making an acquisition under such circumstances  especially because its backup plan if it didnt receive WHEDA tax credits was to upgrade and use the property as a commercial hotel  declined the citys $1.85 million award and stepped away from an agreement to purchase the property.

This spring, Repvblik of Okemos, Michigan, proposed to convert the hotel rooms into workforce housing. Repvblik honored a commitment with the previous owner to allow the hotel to be used for shelter through June 30.

With the citys rent hikes outpacing wage increases, housing affordability is under greater stress than ever, said Morgan Van Riper-Rose, Repvbliks director of investor relations. The building makes a great candidate for conversion from a physical standpoint and, additionally, is part of the recently approved Greater East Towne Area Plan.

Generally speaking, Repvblik builds workforce housing for those making 60% to 120% of area median income, Riper-Rose said. In Dane County, a household of two making 60% of median income would earn $55,380.

Once renovated, the project would offer many resident amenities, including laundry, fitness center, lounge and game room, storage, secure bike storage, indoor rec room, courtyard, co-working spaces and meeting rooms.

Repvblik has had preliminary meetings with city staff and the Urban Design Commission and will be submitting an application for a conditional use permit next month, Riper-Rose said.

One of the neat things about using a hotel space for housing is that there will be a lot of hotel space like the banquet rooms that can be converted into resident amenities, so Im hopeful that residents in this converted building will get access to things that might not be in other, custom-built buildings that cater to mostly one-bedroom and studios, said Ald. Erik Paulson, 3rd District, who represents the site.

If permits are secured, Repvblik intends to begin construction early this fall.

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MADRID (AP)  President Joe Biden said Wednesday the U.S. will significantly expand its military presence in Europe, the latest example of how Russias invasion of Ukraine has reshaped plans for the continents security and prompted a reinvestment in NATO.

Among the changes will be a permanent U.S. garrison in Poland, for the first time creating an enduring American foothold on the alliances eastern flank. Biden also said the U.S. would send two additional squadrons of F-35 fighter jets to the United Kingdom and more air defenses and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

The United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, he said during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the alliances annual leaders summit in Madrid.

The dry language belied the dramatic shift under way as the U.S. prepares to keep 100,000 troops in Europe for the foreseeable future, up from 80,000 before the war in Ukraine began.

Stoltenberg, who earlier Wednesday said the alliance was facing its biggest challenge since World War II because of Russias invasion of Ukraine, welcomed Bidens announcement.

This really demonstrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond, Stoltenberg said, thanking Biden for unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine.

The expanding U.S. military presence is still far short of its numbers during the Cold War, when roughly 300,000 American troops, on average, were stationed in the region. But it signals a renewed focus on European security. And the U.S. announcement is bolstered by other commitments made by allies on the continent.

NATO plans to increase the size of its rapid reaction force from 40,000 to 300,000 troops by next year. Although the troops would be based in their home countries, they would be ready to deploy further east, where the alliance will stockpile equipment and ammunition.

Max Bergmann, a former State Department official who is director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said this is a defining year for the continent and the alliance.

Its a hugely significant turning point, and one that historians are going to look back on, he said.

He described the decision to shift U.S. forces further east as particularly noteworthy.

Were going to defend the line, he said. Were not just going to have a tripwire. Were not going to cede anything.

Biden said the U.S. would step up its temporary deployments of troops to Romania and the Baltic region, in addition to permanently stationing the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland.

Celeste Wallander, an assistant U.S. secretary of defense for international affairs, told reporters that having a long-term presence in Poland will be key to helping NATO navigate the changed security environment in Europe caused by Russias invasion. The U.S. supplies the bulk of NATOs military power.

Polands President Andrzej Duda, present in Madrid, said on Twitter that the permanent presence of U.S. military command structure was an extremely important decision and a decision that we have been waiting for.

U.S. officials emphasized that the permanent basing applied only to headquarters units, not combat troops, and was therefore consistent with a 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia in which the alliance agreed not to permanently base combat troops in Eastern Europe as it aimed to build more constructive ties in the post-Cold War environment.

The combat units Biden is sending to Romania and the Baltic region are on rotational deployments, rather than permanent assignment, to remain in compliance with that agreement.

There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes, nor is there a requirement to do that, said John Kirby, a spokesman for Bidens National Security Council.

Biden announced on Tuesday after arriving for the summit that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain, bringing the total number to six.

Biden predicted that meetings this week would make for a history-making summit as leaders were set to approve a new strategic framework, announce a range of steps to boost their defense spending and capabilities, and clear the way for historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin thought NATO members would splinter after he invaded Ukraine, but got the opposite response.

Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe, Biden said. Youre gonna get the NATO-ization of Europe. And thats exactly what he didnt want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe.

Turkey, the last remaining holdout to approve the Nordic countries accession into NATO, reached an agreement late Tuesday to support adding them to the 30-nation alliance.

While the White House said the U.S. was not a direct party to the negotiations, a senior administration official said Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to encourage him to clear the way for Sweden and Finland to join.

The two leaders met Wednesday, and Biden praised Erdogan for his support of NATOs enlargement. They also discussed ways to export Ukrainian grain to ease food shortages around the world.

Youre doing a great job, I just want to thank you, Biden said.

Not all of the conversations at the NATO summit involved European security.

Biden sat down Wednesday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who were attending the conference as the alliance looks to strengthen its ties in the Indo-Pacific region and address challenges from China.

The three leaders discussed North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Biden said the three found deeply concerning.

Biden called trilateral cooperation essential and said the meeting was an opportunity for the leaders to coordinate a shared response, as U.S. officials say the isolated nation may soon conduct another nuclear test.

At the leaders dinner on Wednesday, Biden attended with two of his granddaughters, Finnegan and Maisy, instead of his wife, Jill. The U.S. president introduced them to his Turkish and Spanish counterparts.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Chris Megerian in Washington and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces battled Wednesday to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock reverberated from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 in the center of the country two days earlier.

Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement.

Britains defense ministry said Russian forces were making incremental advances in their offensive to capture Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk province under Ukrainian control following the retreat of Ukraine's forces from the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and about half of Donetsk, the two provinces that make up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.

The latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Ukrainians were likely in a fighting withdrawal to seek more defensible positions while draining the Russian forces of manpower and resources.

Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Russia may think time is on its side due to the escalating costs borne by the West and fatigue as the war grows longer. The most likely scenario predicted by American intelligence, Haines said, is a grinding struggle in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall.

The U.S. correctly predicted Russia would invade Ukraine in February, but was wrong in assessing that it would quickly seize Kyiv. Speaking at an event in Washington on Wednesday, Haines said Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively the same political goals that he had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine and push it away from NATO.

We perceive a disconnect between Putins near-term military objectives in this area and his militarys capacity, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military is able to accomplish, Haines said.

Putin also said his goals in Ukraine have not changed since the start of the war. He said they were the liberation of the Donbas, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself. He made no mention of his original stated goals to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

He denied Russia adjusted its strategy after failing to take Kyiv. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the marks that were set for them for a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan, Putin said at a news conference in Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, crews continued to search through the rubble of the shopping mall in Kremenchuk where Ukrainian authorities say 20 people remain missing.

Ukrainian State Emergency Services press officer Svitlana Rybalko told The Associated Press that along with the 18 people killed, investigators found fragments of eight more bodies. It was not immediately clear whether that meant there were more victims. A number of survivors suffered severed limbs.

The police cannot say for sure how many (victims) there are. So we are finding not the bodies but the fragments of bodies," Rybalko said. "Now we are clearing at the very epicenter of the blast. Here, we practically cannot find bodies as such.

Several families stood by what was left of the Amstor shopping center Wednesday morning in hope of finding missing loved ones.

This is pure genocide, local resident Tatiana Chernyshova said while going to lay flowers at the site. Such things cannot happen in the 21st century."

We need to engage everyone to help stop the war, help us fight these scum  these Russian aggressors," Chernyshova said.

Psychologists working at the site with families said they were trying to help people come to terms with their loss.

We are trying to help them release their emotions now, as later it becomes harder and much more painful, said one psychologist, who did not give his name as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

After the attack on the mall, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of becoming a terrorist state. On Wednesday, he reproached NATO for not embracing or equipping his embattled country more fully.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy told NATO leaders meeting in Madrid, speaking by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough? Hasnt our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient?

He asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the NATO leaders they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday dismissed what she claimed was the Ukrainian governments blatant provocation in trying to blame the mall missile strike on Russia's military.

Britains defense ministry said there was a realistic possibility that the mall strike was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

Russian planners highly likely remain willing to accept a high level of collateral damage when they perceive military necessity in striking a target, the ministry said. It is almost certain that Russia will continue to conduct strikes in an effort to interdict the resupplying of Ukrainian front-line forces.

Russias military also is experiencing a shortage of more modern precision strike weapons, which is compounding civilian casualties, the British ministry said.

In southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike on a multi-story apartment building Wednesday in the city of Mykolaiv killed at least four people and injured five, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said. Mykolaiv is a major port and seizing it  as well as Odesa farther west  would be key to Russia's objective of cutting off Ukraine from its Black Sea coast.

Russia's defense ministry said in a statement that the missile strike on Mykolaiv targeted a base for training foreign mercenaries," as well as ammunition depots.

In other developments Wednesday:

 A senior Russian lawmaker warned that Lithuanias refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russias Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation.

The statement by Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russias parliament, followed the Kremlins warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to Kaliningrad. The region borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

 Russias foreign ministry summoned Norways charge daffaires to protest Oslos blocking of a shipment of supplies to a Russian coal-mining town in the Svalbard islands.

Although the Svalbards are Norwegian territory, a 1920 treaty allows all signatory countries the right to exploit its natural resources. Russia operates a coal mine in Barentsburg, a settlement of about 450 people, which relies on shipments from the mainland of food, machinery and other supplies. Norway imposed sanctions on shipments from Russia in April.

 Ukrainian military intelligence says that in the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war 144 Ukrainian troops were released from Russian captivity. Of those released, 95 were involved in defending the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraines devastated southern city of Mariupol before Russian forces captured it weeks ago. Denis Pushilin, the separatist leader in Donetsk, said an equal number of soldiers was released by both sides.

 European Union leaders approved a 600-million euro ($631 million) package to address food security issues brought on by the Ukrainian war in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

 British businessman Richard Branson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and also visited the Hostomel airport outside the city. Zelenskyy said Branson, whose Virgin Group includes an airline, may be interested in rebuilding the airport, which was badly damaged early in the war.

 Britain is imposing sanctions on Russias second-richest man and on a cousin of Putin's. Vladimir Potanin, owner of the Interross conglomerate, has continued to amass wealth while backing Putin, acquiring Rosbank and shares in Tinkoff Bankonith in the period following the invasion of Ukraine, a U.K. government statement said Wednesday.

The statement said Putins cousin, Anna Tsivileva, and her husband, Sergey Tsivilev, have significantly benefited from their relationship with Putin. Tsivileva is president of the JSC Kolmar Group coal mining company, and Tsivilev is governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region.

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Frank Griffiths and Sylvia Hui in London, Maria Grazia Murru in Kyiv, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed.

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.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance faces its biggest challenge since World War II amid the war in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said at the start of the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday that the allies are meeting in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced.

A former White House aide has told House investigators that former President Donald Trump dismissed the presence of armed protesters among his supporters headed to the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year. She testified that he even endorsed their calls to hang Mike Pence, his vice president.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peters Basilica, despite her position in support of abortion rights.

Deborah James, a British broadcaster who raised millions for cancer research and was recognized by Prince William for her work, has died. She was 40.

Nissan is recalling nearly 323,000 Pathfinder SUVs in the U.S. because the hoods can unexpectedly fly open and block the drivers view. The recall covers Pathfinders from the 2013 through 2016 model years.

Fox News Channel generally has more viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined during a typical day, but the viewing patterns are flipped during the Jan. 6 hearings. Nielsen says CNN and MSNBC's viewer figures go up during the hearings, which have also been shown on broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC.

In sports, the Yankees keep winning, the Dodgers get rocked in Denver and Serena Williams exits early at Wimbledon.

Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. The sentencing Tuesday was the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how Epstein and Maxwell flaunted their riches and associations with prominent people to groom vulnerable girls and then exploit them.

Fifty people died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer on a remote back road in the sweltering Texas heat. It's the latest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico.

The toll from the Missouri railroad crossing where an Amtrak train slammed into a dump truck rose to four deaths and 150 injuries on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden is opening his three-day visit to a NATO summit by pledging to beef up the American military presence in Europe. And Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

The man who shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan in 1981 has apologized for his actions in a televised interview. John Hinckley Jr. said he doesnt remember what he was feeling when he attacked the president and wounded three others.

Recent Oscar winners Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur and Billie Eilish are among the 397 individuals who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

A federal court has allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, while a Texas judge temporarily blocked enforcement of that states ban on virtually all abortions. The moves come as both sides continue to make their case in courts around the country days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The Michigan Supreme Court has thrown out charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water scandal. The court says a judge sitting as a one-person grand jury had no power to issue indictments.

Ohio families that have called rural land home for generations are lamenting the loss of their property to a massive development project. The property in central Ohio sits on a 1,000-acre site destined to become an Intel Corp. semi-conductor manufacturing center.

Two decades old, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival strives to create a greener, more energy efficient and less wasteful music experience. But last year, record rainfall in Tennessee created flooding that forced organizers to cancel. Climate experts say Bonnaroo and similar outdoor live events are more vulnerable than ever to unpredictable and extreme weather.
We have our Jan. 6 hero.

Her name is Cassidy Hutchinson.

She is the 25-year-old former executive assistant to President Donald Trumps chief of staff Mark Meadows, both of whom should now be very, very afraid.

Hutchinson is the one weve been waiting for, the one who saw everything, heard everything and has now spilled the tea about the White Houses prior knowledge of the violence that was unleashed on Jan. 6, and its grotesque non-response while the violence unfolded.

She testified, live and on tape, to an astonishing array of fly-on-the-wall details about the craziness and conflict that consumed the White House in the waning days of the Trump administration.

She disclosed that Trump physically attacked a Secret Service agent when he didnt get his way on Jan. 6, that he instructed Meadows to call political dirty trickster Roger Stone and disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn at their Willard Hotel war room on Jan. 5, which she told Meadows was inappropriate.

With no apparent ax to grind, and plenty to lose, she showed up for her country Tuesday.

In the days leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection, Hutchinson testified, she became frightened by what Trump and his allies were planning.

On Jan. 2, she said, she walked Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani to his car after he met with Meadows. Cass, are you excited for the 6th? Giuliani asked her. Its going to be a great day! Were going to the Capitol!

When she asked her boss what Giuliani meant, she testified that Meadows said, Theres a lot going on, Cass, but I dont know, things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6.

That, testified Hutchinson, was the first moment that I remember feeling scared and nervous for what could happen on Jan. 6. And I had a deeper concern about what was happening with the planning aspects of it.

Meanwhile, her boss was so enthralled by his corrupt commander in chief that he ignored warnings from Hutchinson and White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato that the assembling Jan. 6 rally crowd was dripping with guns, knives, body armor, bear spray, even flagpoles tipped with spears.

Without looking up from his phone, testified Hutchinson, Meadows replied, All right, anything else?

Hutchinson said she had the sensation that I was watching a bad car accident about to happen where you cant stop it but you want to be able to do something. I remember thinking in that moment, Mark needs to snap out of this.

(Mark, by the way, still hasnt.)

Backstage at the infamous Stop the Steal rally where Trump would urge supporters to march to the Capitol, and vow to join them, Hutchinson said, Trump was furious because metal detectors erected by the Secret Service were keeping many rallygoers away. They apparently did not want to relinquish their weapons, but that meant the crowd inside the perimeter looked less robust.

I dont effing care that they have weapons, Trump said just before he took the stage, recalled Hutchinson. They arent here to hurt me.

No indeed. They were there  some of them anyway  to hang Vice President Mike Pence, who refused Trumps corrupt demands that he not certify the results of the Electoral College.

Hutchinson, in almost two hours of quiet but explosive testimony Tuesday at the latest, hastily called Jan. 6 committee hearing, was present when White House counsel Pat Cipollone pleaded with Meadows to make Trump intervene as the rioters fought with officers and breached the Capitol.

I remember Pat saying something to the effect of, Mark, we need to do something more, said Hutchinson. They are literally calling for the effing vice president to be hung.

Meadows, she said, reminded Cipollone of Trumps response: You heard it, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it. He doesnt think they are doing anything wrong.

When his Secret Service detail refused to drive Trump to the Capitol after the rally to join the insurrection, the president became unhinged, Hutchinson testified.

He tried to grab the steering wheel of his limo, and when the head of his Secret Service detail, Bobby Engel, removed his hand, he went for Engels throat. Engel did not refute the story when it was recounted to Hutchinson later by Ornato (in Engels presence). In fact, Hutchinson said she saw a shaken Engel put his hands to his clavicle to demonstrate what Trump had done.

Hutchinson was also in the White House when Trump threw his lunch across the room after learning his then-Attorney General Bill Barr had told an Associated Press reporter that Trump had lost the election.

I remember hearing noise, she testified. When she walked to the dining room, she saw the valet cleaning up. I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor, she said. The valet articulated the president was extremely angry at the attorney generals AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall. I grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out.

That wasnt the only time shed been aware of Trump chucking his lunch. There were several times that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor, likely break or go everywhere.

For other people to clean up, of course.

In 2018, when she was a senior at Christopher Newport University in Virginia, Hutchinson told her college newspaper how thrilled she was to have been selected as a White House intern.

I have set a personal goal to pursue a path of civic significance, she said.

Congratulations, Ms. Hutchinson. Few people are lucky enough to achieve their goals so young.

Abcarian writes for the Los Angeles Times: robin.abcarian@latimes.com.
MOUNTAIN HOME  An Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet was killed in an training accident Friday at Saylor Creek Range, a part of the Mountain Home Range Complex.

Mackenzie Wilson, 19, of Oregon State University, and 19 other AFROTC cadets participated in Operation Air Force, an immersive professional development training opportunity to expose cadets to a variety of different mission sets.

Mackenzie, who was in a Humvee during the training, was killed due to injuries received from the accident.

Today we lost a member of our Air Force family. We express our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of all the individuals, 366th Fighter Wing commander Col. Ernesto DiVittorio. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

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Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center (MGM) in Old Fort is hosting the Mountain Heritage Centers exhibit River Cane Renaissance, which highlights the river cane plant and its historic uses by residents of the southern Appalachians.

It is a traveling exhibit designed by the Mountain Heritage Center of Western Carolina University.

A wide range of river cane artifacts and reproductions are featured, ranging from woven baskets and mats to tools, weapons and musical instruments.

The exhibit also explores the biology behind this type of bamboo  a unique grass  that is native to and grows throughout the Southeastern U.S. Finally, the exhibit showcases efforts that are being made to improve river cane habitat and bring back this native species.

Mountain Heritage Center Director Pam Meister told Plateau Magazine in 2021 the goals for River Cane Renaissance are to raise public awareness of the close connections between stewardship of natural resources and cultural preservation, to increase appreciation of river canes importance to Cherokee crafts. The exhibit aims to promote knowledge of the ways in which sustainable environmental and cultural preservation can benefit all residents of our region.

What I love about this work is the collaboration between so many community partners, Meister told writer Dawn Liles. We want to be a learning center and community resource as well as a platform for people to talk about their cultures. Our job is to amplify their authentic voices, share their culture with the community and help preserve it for future generations.

River cane has played an important role in our region.

River cane is actually an amazing plant, said Adam Griffith, director of the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources. We can divide up the benefits into a couple of categories.

The cultural benefits are significant for the native Americans that have used it. The cultural benefits extend not only beyond the Cherokee historical territories but to other tribes as well. One historian called it the plastic of Southeastern Native Americans and it was used for a wide variety of things, not just for basketry and blow guns but in everyday household items like sleeping mats, mats for preparing food, used in the houses themselves in the walls, in the roofs, used to catch fish in the rivers, make fishing creels out of them, just on and on and on, a wide variety of uses.

River Cane Renaissance will show at the Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center from July 1 through September.
Two projects in Old Fort that will create new jobs, community space and more opportunities for recreation received grants from Opportunity Appalachia and Mountain BizWorks.

Based in Asheville, the mission of Mountain BizWorks is to build a vibrant and inclusive entrepreneurial community in western North Carolina by helping small businesses start, grow, and thrive. Mountain BizWorks provides targeted support for downtown and rural development to build entrepreneurial communities where local business can thrive, creating quality jobs for residents, helping to address the COVID-19 downturn and revitalize local economies, according to its website.

Mountain BizWorks is the western North Carolinas region lead partner in Opportunity Appalachia, a five-state endeavor designed to bring new investment into central Appalachia.

For 2022, the Opportunity Appalachia program received 75 applications for technical assistance from across central Appalachia (southeast Ohio, east Tennessee, western North Carolina, southwest Virginia and West Virginia). A total of 34 projects were selected, with the potential for the creation of more than 1,700 jobs and attraction of over $177 million in financing for projects in downtown and rural areas across central Appalachia. This builds on the 2020-21 Opportunity Appalachia efforts, which supported 17 projects seeking to raise more than $250 million in financing.

Of those 34, nine projects were selected for the Appalachian communities of western North Carolina. These WNC communities will participate in a program to bring jobs, business support and new investment. The selected projects propose to create nearly 350 jobs and attract nearly $70 million in financing, and range from redevelopment of downtown buildings to outdoor recreation to hotels to food and manufacturing facilities. The amounts of the grants were not announced.

And of those nine for WNC, two are located in Old Fort.

The first is the Eagle Market Streets Development Corp.s plan to create the Catawba Vale Community Center in Old Fort. This project, in partnership with Kitsbow, will involve the development of a 60,000-square-foot, two-story warehouse at 96 Commerce St. into a community-owned asset that provides space for an employee-owned apparel manufacturer as an anchor tenant, as well as local restaurants, locally-owned retail, a Montessori school and a community space for entrepreneurs and local community organizations. The minority-led project sponsor estimates total costs to be $5.1 million, with anticipated creation or retention of 75 to 100 jobs that will pay more than a living wage, according to the news release.

That warehouse building in Old Fort, near Parker Hosiery, will be used as a school for industrial sewing, as well as retail and light manufacturing space for startup businesses, and room for Kitsbow to continue expanding in Old Fort. The transaction for its sale closed on Dec. 30 of last year.

Additional tenants  including both businesses and nonprofit organizations  will be welcome to apply to lease space in the building provided their business or organization is consistent with the overall vision. Priority will be given to organizations that are led by women, people of color, underrepresented communities, and/or employee owned, according to a story in January.

Eagle Market Streets Development Corp. (EMSDC), board of directors and staff are pleased to announce a recent award from Opportunity Appalachia, said Stephanie Swepson-Twitty, CEO of Eagle Market Streets Development Corp. and a resident of Old Fort. The grant will be administered by Mountain BizWorks a trusted community development financial institution, located in Asheville. Grant funds awarded will be used by Eagle Market Streets for pre-development cost, and technical assistance related to the development of the Catawba Vale Community Building, located at 96 Commerce St. Old Fort. EMSDC is thankful to Opportunity Appalachia and Mountain BizWorks for this award.

The second project in Old Fort that got a grant is the creation of an outdoor recreation hub at Camp Grier. The grant money will be used to create a roughly 75,000-square-foot outdoor recreation hub to support an equitable outdoor recreation economy in Old Fort. The Hub will contain light commercial space, camping and van spaces, long-term rental housing, short-term rental lodging, and provide direct access to a 100-mile trail complex within walking and riding distance of downtown Old Fort. This project is expected to create of 30 jobs, according to the news release.

The Opportunity Appalachia program will provide much needed technical assistance during the early stages of project development, said Jason McDougald with Camp Grier. This is critical for conducting the necessary needs assessments, developing the programming models and creating the financial prospectus that will be required. Being included in the Opportunity Appalachia program is an honor and a testament to the amazing community and natural assets we have here in Old Fort and McDowell County.

Both Swepson-Twitty and McDougald said more details about their projects will be released later this summer.

These proposed projects are signals of the growing investment potential in the rural and downtown communities in central Appalachia. Opportunity Appalachia will work closely with private investors, banks, community development financial institutions, new markets tax credits investors, historic tax credit investors, opportunity zone investors and federal agencies to highlight participating communities and access financing for transactions, according to the news release.

Opportunity Appalachia will now provide technical assistance to these selected projects to support the development of investment prospectus, structuring of project financing, market research, operations planning, architectural design and investor outreach.

Once project technical assistance is completed, a highly visible Investor Convening event will be held in early 2023 that will target both local and pre-vetted national investors, as well as federal and state funders. A curated web-based platform hosting prospectus/pitch decks will also be made available to facilitate investor due diligence.

Opportunity Appalachia is supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission, the U.S. Department of Treasury CDFI Fund, Truist, Goldman Sachs and the Dogwood Health Trust.

Congratulations to the 34 project partners selected to participate in the 2022 Opportunity Appalachia program, said ARC Federal co-chair Gayle Manchin. This is an incredible example of whats possible when we work together to make positive impacts in the region that will reverberate for generations. Thanks to Appalachian Community Capital and its many partners for spearheading this program to diversify and strengthen economies throughout central Appalachia.

We are thrilled to continue to bring much needed financial and technical resources to our region to help Appalachia secure investment in job creating businesses such as manufacturing, IT, agriculture, downtown development, healthcare, education, heritage tourism and recreation, said Appalachian Community Capital President and CEO Donna Gambrell, whose organization coordinates the Opportunity Appalachia effort.

We expect to strengthen or help establish over 230 businesses leading to the creation of more than 1,700 new jobs and generate private and public investments totaling nearly $177 million, she added. This builds on our 2020-2021 Opportunity Appalachia efforts, which supported 17 projects seeking to raise over $250 million in financing.

Opportunity Appalachia is led by an eight-member consortium of regional and national organizations with expertise in financing and marketing that will support local projects to develop sophisticated investment packets geared toward prospective investors. Opportunity Appalachia partners include: Appalachian Community Capital, OhioSE, Opportunity Southwest Virginia/UVAWise, Mountain BizWorks, West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Main Street America and Coastal Enterprises.

The other projects in western North Carolina that got grant funding are located in Asheville, Zionville, Shelby, Hayesville, Sylva and Franklin.

Opportunity Appalachia is bringing essential expertise to WNC to help community prioritized projects move from idea to investment ready, said Matt Raker, executive director of Mountain BizWorks. Were excited that the nine projects funded in this round represent $70 million in potential investment and are from all corners of the N.C. mountains.

For the detailed list of projects in North Carolina and other states, see the Opportunity Appalachia webpage: https://appalachiancommunitycapitalcdfi.org/oa-program/opportunity-appalachia-2022-2024/.
The United Arab Emirates, UAE, on Monday expressed its opposition to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterress decision to appoint former Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum as UN envoy to Libya, Libya Observer reports, citing diplomatic sources.

The Gulf country, the sources indicated, told the council that some Arab countries and Libyan parties reject Boukadoums nomination.

Guterres last week proposed Boukadoum to replace Stephanie Williams whose job will terminate at the end of this month. The Arab League reportedly was expected to meet to discuss Boukadoums choice by the UN Chief.

UAE, according to a diplomat who asked not to be named, was the only country that rejected the former Algerian top diplomats appointment. There is a regional concern about Boukadoums appointment, especially since Algeria has a common border with Libya, the source told AFP.

Russia, and Egypt have been pushing for the appointment of an African diplomat to head the UN mission in the crisis-hit African country. Libya has descended into chaos since the assassination of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-led revolution.

Libya has currently two governments backed foreign countries vying for influence.
KBW Ventures, a Saudi Venture Capital firm owned by Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud has announced its participation in the Series B funding round of over $40 million for Eclipse Foods, a US plant-based diary platform.

Eclipse Foods will use the funds to grow the business in retail and food service and accelerate R&D.

Eclipses proprietary plant-based dairy platform uses a blend of non-GMO plants, including cassava, corn, and potato, to create plant-based dairy products, from cheeses to spreads to desserts.

Sozo Ventures led the round but other investors include Forerunner Ventures, Initialized Capital and Gaingels. 70 percent of the worlds population is lactose intolerant and with the alternative protein space projected to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2050, Eclipse is positioned to completely transform the dairy industry with its proprietary plant-based dairy platform, said Bob Roe, Vice President of Narrative Development at Sozo Ventures.

The latest Series B takes the total funding raised by Eclipse, to date, to more than $60 million.
Eight civilians were killed Monday in eastern Burkina Faso in an attack by suspected jihadists during a baptism, security and local sources said Tuesday.

A terrorist attack left eight civilians dead in Sandiaga, a town in the eastern province of Koulpelogo, a security source said.

This was confirmed by a local resident who said that the victims were attending a baptism ceremony when armed individuals burst into the scene at around 09:00 (local and GMT), shooting several people.

Two other deadly incidents also took place on Sunday, in Boulonga and Alga, two localities in the northern province of Bam, according to another security source.

The source said that carts carrying women jumped on explosive devices in these localities, leaving six dead and two injured. The source said a military operation against armed groups in the Diarkadougou and Lolonioro forests in the northeastern province of Bougouriba had resulted in the dismantling of three terrorist bases and the neutralisation of around 20 jihadists.

On 20 June, the Burkinabe army decided to create two zones of military interest where any human presence is forbidden, one in the Soum province bordering Mali (north) and the other which includes protected reserves between Pama and the W park (east) reputed to be jihadist hideouts.

It has given the population a 14-day deadline to leave these areas where major air and ground offensive operations will be carried out.
The political dialogue between the government, political actors and civil society opened on Monday at the invitation of Prime Minister Mohamed Beavogui.

It was before an audience of political figures, civil society, religious and diplomats accredited in Guinea that Prime Minister Mohamed Beavogui opened the discussions. Objective: to allow Guinea to move forward, according to the head of the Guinean government who says he wants to get out of the military transition started since the coup that overthrew the former president Alpha Conde on September 5.

At the outset, he affirmed his commitment to conduct with all an open, inclusive and constructive exchange. He said that today, it is a matter of laying the foundations of a credible, peaceful, just and united society around values to build democratic, solid and credible institutions that will stand the test of time and the temptation of men.

Several speakers then intervened, including the FNDC, the front that fought against the former regime of Alpha Conde. Its spokesperson, Mamadou Billo Bah, reiterated the demands of his movement, including the creation of a permanent framework for dialogue in accordance with the charter of the CNRD, the governing body of the junta, placed under the auspices of a mediator appointed by the international community, and the respect of human rights.

ANAD, the alliance formed around former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, and the political wing of the FNDC agreed to respond to the call of the head of government, but were not convinced of what would happen next, said one of them. The RPG, the former ruling party, and its allies simply boycotted the meeting. They demanded the release of their imprisoned leaders as a precondition for any participation in the dialogue.

At the end of the days dialogue, the president proposed to all participants to consult their base and come back with concrete proposals on 1 July.
A Dakar court on Tuesday gave a six-month suspended prison sentence to an opposition MP for defying a ban on demonstrations and acquitted another MP in the same case, in a climate of pre-election tension.

Opposition MPs Dethie Fall and Mame Diarra Fame were tried by the Dakar High Court along with 82 other defendants, who were all acquitted. They had been arrested on 17 June during a demonstration called by the opposition which had been banned by the authorities because of the risk of unrest.

Dakar and Casamance (south) had been the scene of clashes that day, resulting in three deaths, according to the opposition, which had estimated the number of people arrested across the country at 200 and demanded their release.

The deputy Dethie Fall has constantly acknowledged having been the main organiser of the 17 June demonstration. It is appropriate to sentence him to six months suspended and a fine of 100,000 CFA francs (152 euros), said the president of the court Ahmed Ba.

For the deputy Mame Diarra Fame, the facts of which she is accused are not sufficiently established. She is dismissed from the prosecution, said Judge Ba.

The prosecution had requested one year in prison, including six months for Mr. Fall and six months for Ms. Fame. The court acquitted their 82 co-accused because of insufficiently established facts.

When they arrived at the court on Monday morning, MPs Fall and Fame were cheered by the public who had come in large numbers to support them. The main opponent, Ousmane Sonko, was also present in the middle of several executives of his movement.
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The app is available in German and Arabic. Credit: Leipzig University

Researchers at Leipzig University have partnered with Syrian refugees and an agency for e-mental health services to develop and scientifically test an app to help users deal with post-traumatic stress and related mental strain. The appSanadakhas now been published in Arabic and German and can be downloaded free of charge.

"Our app offers an easy-to-access, immediate help program that provides knowledge and orientation for mental health consequences of flight, and teaches simple, everyday steps for coping with post-traumatic stress in an interactive way," explains Professor Steffi Riedel-Heller, Director at the Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Medicine and Public Health (ISAP) at the Faculty of Medicine.

Flight from war and conflict often has lasting impacts on people's mental health. At the same time, in host countries treatment options that take cultural and linguistic aspects into consideration are often difficult to find and associated with long waiting times. "In addition, many people refrain from seeking out therapeutic services due to fear and prejudice surrounding mental illness. With the app, we want to help fill a gap in care, reduce the stigmatization of mental illnesses, and thus lower barriers to starting therapy," says Dr. Susanne Rohr, project coordinator and research assistant at the ISAP.

The app's efficacy was tested by means of a randomized control trial at the Faculty of Medicine. Of a total of 133 Syrian refugees between the ages of 18 and 65 from Leipzig, Dresden, and Halle/Saale, half of the participants tested the app over a period of four weeks, while the other half, the active control group, were given a comprehensive psychoeducational brochure on post-traumatic stress and coping strategies.

In order to know the actual needs of users, the content of the app was developed in close consultation with Syrian refugees. Credit: Leipzig University

Lasting decline in depressive symptoms and anxiety

Interviews conducted immediately after the test phase as well as four months later demonstrated a strong decrease in post-traumatic stress, depressive symptoms, and feelings of anxiety in both groups. The app users also perceived their mental illness with less stigmatization. There were no adverse side effects. "From our study results, it can be concluded that Sanadak reduces prejudices against psychological stress and can be helpful as an initial aid and to bridge waiting times for outpatient therapy," explains Dr. Rohr.

The demand is high: according to the United Nations, more than six million people have fled Syria since the outbreak of war there in 2011. This made Syria the world's largest country of origin for refugees by 2021. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, almost 900,000 Syrians have sought asylum in Germany so far. Scientific studies have shown that around three quarters of Syrian refugees in Germany experienced or witnessed traumatic events before, during or after fleeing from Syria. As a result, more than one in ten have post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or anxiety disorders.

In order to know the actual needs of users, the content of the app was developed in close consultation with Syrian refugees. The app can be used in Arabic or German. It has a modular design: based on proven behavioral therapy techniques, central content looks at how to cope with psychological stress or deal with trauma triggers. The program also offers help in finding social support and shows what activities help users to relax.

The associated study is published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth.

Explore further Mobile app reduces post-traumatic stress

More information: Susanne Rohr et al, A Self-Help App for Syrian Refugees With Posttraumatic Stress (Sanadak): Randomized Controlled Trial, JMIR mHealth and uHealth (2021). Susanne Rohr et al, A Self-Help App for Syrian Refugees With Posttraumatic Stress (Sanadak): Randomized Controlled Trial,(2021). DOI: 10.2196/24807
Axial CT images in the (A) unenhanced, (B) corticomedullary, and (C) nephrographic phases at the same level depict the mass (arrow, A and C), which shows avid heterogeneous enhancement. Circular ROIs were placed in the most enhancing component of the mass and in ipsilateral renal cortex (circles, B), to determine the mass-to-cortex corticomedullary attenuation ratio. Heterogeneity scores were assigned subjectively using a 5-point Likert type-scale. These two features were used to inform development of the CT score. In this patient, the mass showed avid enhancement (mass-to-cortex corticomedullary enhancement ratio >0.75) and was considered completely heterogeneous (heterogeneous score, 5) by both radiologists, resulting in CT score 5. Nephrectomy revealed clear-cell renal cell carcinoma. Credit: American Journal of Roentgenology

According to ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), a 5-tiered CT scoring algorithm may represent a clinically useful tool for diagnosis of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in small (4 cm) solid renal masses.

"A 5-tiered renal CT algorithm, including mass-to-cortex corticomedullary attenuation ratio and heterogeneity score, had substantial inter-observer agreement, moderate AUC and PPV, and high NPV for diagnosing clear-cell RCC," concluded Nicola Schieda from the department of medical imaging at Canada's Ottawa Hospital.

Schieda and colleagues' study included 148 patients (mean age, 58 years; 73 men, 75 women) with 148 small (4 cm) solid (>25% enhancing tissue) renal masses that underwent renal-mass CT (unenhanced, corticomedullary, and nephrographic phases) before resection between January 2016 and December 2019. Two radiologists independently evaluated CT examinations and recorded calcification, mass attenuation in all phases, mass-to-cortex corticomedullary attenuation ratio, and heterogeneity score (5-point Likert scale, assessed in corticomedullary phase).

Ultimately, Schieda et al's 5-tiered CT scoring algorithmincluding mass-to-cortex corticomedullary attenuation ratio and heterogeneity scorehad substantial interobserver agreement (weighted kappa=0.71) and achieved AUC for diagnosing clear-cell RCC of 0.75 (95% CI, 0.68-0.82) for reader 1 and 0.72 (95% CI, 0.66-0.82) for reader 2.

"If validated," the authors of this AJR article acknowledged, "the CT algorithm may represent a useful clinical tool for diagnosing clear-cell renal cell carcinoma."

Explore further Deep learning differentiates small renal masses on multiphase CT

More information: Khalid Al Nasibi et al, Development of a Multiparametric Renal CT Algorithm for Diagnosis of Clear-Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Among Small (4 cm) Solid Renal Masses, American Journal of Roentgenology (2022). Journal information: American Journal of Roentgenology Khalid Al Nasibi et al, Development of a Multiparametric Renal CT Algorithm for Diagnosis of Clear-Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Among Small (4 cm) Solid Renal Masses,(2022). DOI: 10.2214/AJR.22.27971
More needs to be done to formally recognize and support caregivers. Credit: Shutterstock

Stroke is a major cause of disability in Canada. More than 50,000 Canadians have a stroke every year and about 40% of those will live with lasting effects of stroke on their health. Once a person living with stroke returns home, up to 8090% of the care at home is provided by family and friends, known as informal caregivers.

Caregiving can be a wonderful and rewarding experience. However, when caregiving continues over months and years, it can become difficult and a caregivers' own health may begin to suffer.

In order to better support caregivers, we sought to understand the considerations they made when choosing to access and use supportive services. Our research entailed conducting interviews with stroke caregivers and health providers. This enabled us to better understand their experience as caregivers and helped us to identify what helped or hindered their ability to find and use suitable supports.

Stroke and the brain

A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by a blocked blood vessel or when a blood vessel in the brain tears. As a result, part of the brain is damaged.

In the most severe cases, a stroke causes death. In other situations, the impacts on a person's health will vary. Some people have mild effects from a stroke, such as weakness or numbness in a particular area of their body that will quickly return to normal.

However, in moderate to severe strokes, the effects of a stroke can last and may even be permanent. These effects can include depression and anxiety, mobility issues such as paralysis, communication and swallowing difficulties, changes in personality and cognitive abilities, and prolonged fatigue.

Life after a stroke

Following treatment in hospital, people living with the effects of a stroke will need rehabilitation services, which are offered in inpatient and outpatient facilities. In the case of outpatient rehabilitation, the person living with stroke usually lives at home and attends a program two to five days per week for a period of at least eight weeks. Caregivers often attend too, as support for the person living with stroke, and to learn about stroke management.

Depending on the needs of the person living with stroke, caregivers may help with dressing and washing and provide support with mobility, communication and many other tasks. Becoming a caregiver is a huge adjustment and can be overwhelming. Over time, caregivers may become more comfortable with caregiving and find it rewarding, but caregiving can also take a toll on their health.

Our study confirmed that some caregivers experience depression, particularly if they cannot take part in activities such as socializing with friends or exercising. In some cases, their social networks change because people are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the impacts of stroke, and friendships are lost. Caregivers may also neglect their own health because they do not have time or energy to care for themselves.

Programs and barriers

There are services available that help caregivers and the person living with stroke. Supportive programs include homecare, caregiver support meetings, community-based day programs and overnight respite. These services provide rehabilitation, exercise and social engagement to the person living with stroke, and enable the caregiver to take a break from their caregiving role or seek support from other caregivers.

Using these services may also enable the caregiver to take care of other responsibilities, like groceries or managing their own health by attending appointments, socializing or engaging in physical activity. However, many caregivers are not aware of what services exist or are not able to use these services.

Some community-based programs cost money and the person living with stroke may need specialized transportation that also comes with a cost. Sometimes a caregivers must leave their job or the person living with stroke can no longer work, resulting in loss of income. Over time, costs can become prohibitive.

Our study found that caregivers may not be able to leave the person living with stroke alone in order to attend a support group. The caregiver may be reluctant to accept support because they do not trust that the person living with stroke will be adequately cared for when they are away.

It can be hard for caregivers to find out about services. This means many caregivers do not use these services and continue to manage their caregiving responsibilities alone, even though they might benefit from the services.

Supporting caregivers

Better policy and programs are required to support these caregivers and help them to maintain their health and well-being. Our research suggests possible improvements to existing policy and programs might include:

Increased availability of accessible community-based health and social services, such as health and wellness activities for caregivers offered at the same time and place as programs for persons living with stroke, and hybrid caregiver support meetings that offer online alternatives to in-person gatherings. Support to navigate the health system to identify and access services. Increased access to financial aid for caregivers, such as enhanced subsidies or income tax reductions. Changes to health-care policy to emphasize ongoing family-centered care within community settings. This will help foster trust between caregivers and health providers, facilitate early detection of caregiver concerns and provide more opportunities for caregivers to access services. Improved funding and availability of community-based health professionals such as social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech language pathologists and recreation therapists.

Stroke caregivers provide critical care and support to enable people living with stroke to live at home in the community. More needs to be done to formally recognize and support caregivers in engaging in this important task without sacrificing their own health and well-being.

Explore further Stroke survivor caregivers face barriers to accessing care for themselves, study finds

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new study reveals a connection between poverty and opioid-related hospitalization, emergency department visits and deaths in Canada. From 2000 to 2017, Canada's poorest residents were 3.8 times more likely to die of opioid-related causes than Canada's richest residents. The study by University of Waterloo researchers is the first to examine the connection between socioeconomic status and opioid incidents at the national level in Canada and to explore the trend over nearly two decades. Researchers used three comprehensive national databases and census data to determine the correlation between areas' income levels and opioid-related health issues.

"Opioid-related harms are at a crisis level in Canada," said Wasem Alsabbagh, a pharmacy professor at Waterloo and lead author of the study. "Opioid-related hospitalizations in Canada have increased by more than 50 percent from 2007 to 2017. In Ontario, emergency department visits more than doubled. We explored the trends between socioeconomic status and opioid harms so that we can better understand how to address the opioid crisis."

The researchers processed information from Statistics Canada and examined the postal codes associated with all reported opioid-related deaths, hospitalizations and visits to emergency departments. They found that the lower the income of an area, the greater the number and rate of opioid-related harms.

From 2000 to 2012, Canadians in lower-income areas were 4.3 times more likely to be hospitalized and 4.9 times more likely to end up in the emergency department than those in higher-income areas. For opioid deaths, the gap between low-income and high-income Canadians dying of opioid use narrowed, but a substantial gap remains. By 2017, Canadians living in the lowest income areas were still almost 2.5 times more likely to die of opioid-related causes.

"For many, socioeconomic status is a result of past experiencesfamilies, neighborhoods, education and other earlier life events, in addition to current access to material and social resources that help individuals cope with challenges," Alsabbagh said. "Often, we see low socioeconomic status in concentrated geographic areas where there is poorer access to resources. In addition, psychosocial factors, such as feeling marginalized or enduring discrimination and social isolation, can have an effect. By drawing the link between low socioeconomic status and opioid harm, we can design policies that more appropriately serve the needs of our communities."

The study was recently published in the journal Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada.

More information: Mhd. Wasem Alsabbagh et al, Stepping up to the Canadian opioid crisis: a longitudinal analysis of the correlation between socioeconomic status and population rates of opioid-related mortality, hospitalization and emergency department visits (20002017), Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (2022). Mhd. Wasem Alsabbagh et al, Stepping up to the Canadian opioid crisis: a longitudinal analysis of the correlation between socioeconomic status and population rates of opioid-related mortality, hospitalization and emergency department visits (20002017),(2022). DOI: 10.24095/hpcdp.42.6.01
Rate of opioid-related poisoning calls to the Swiss National Poison Center per 100,000 inhabitants from 2000 to 2019 stratified by opioid potency. Gray shading indicates 95% confidence intervals, calculated using linear regression adjusted for standard errors. Credit: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100437

Researchers at ETH have shown that cases of opioid poisoning and the prescription of opioids have increased sharply in Switzerland over the past 20 years. Although the situation is not as serious as in North America, the risk should not be underestimated.

Since the early 2000s the U.S. has been in the grip of an opioid crisis that has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemicin 2021, more than 100,000 people died of an opioid overdose in the country. There are increasing signs that the same crisis is taking hold in Europe. Initial studies from the Netherlands and Denmark have drawn attention to the rise in the use of the strong opioid oxycodone. This substance, originally sold under the name OxyContin, was the major driver of the opioid crisis in the U.S.

However, hardly any figures are available on the use of opioids in Switzerland in recent yearsparticularly related to the potential harm. A research group led by Andrea Burden, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at ETH Zurich, has now analyzed Swiss data in order to assess the trend in Switzerland.

Publishing in The Lancet Regional HealthEurope, the researchers evaluated the development in the number of emergency calls concerning opioid poisoning to Tox Info Suisse, the Swiss information center for poisoning, between 2000 and 2019. They also used data from IQVIA and provided by PharmaSuisse, the Swiss pharmacists' association, on opioid sales from Swiss pharmacies and dispensing physicians.

The data makes it clear that the problem is becoming increasingly severe. The number of calls made to Tox Info Suisse due to cases of opioid poisoning increased by 177 percent during this period. The center received 1.4 calls per 100,000 inhabitants in 2000, but 20 years later the number of calls had risen by more than two and a half as many.

Sales doubled

Sales figures also almost doubled (+92%), from 14,300 units sold per 100,000 inhabitants to 27,400. Importantly, the increase in strong opioids was greater than in weaker forms, both in terms of calls to Tox Info Suisse and sales figures.

In absolute terms, the painkiller tramadol appeared most frequently in 2019, both in Tox Info Suisse and in sales (40%). Tramadol is a weak opioid prescribed for moderate to severe pain.

The second most common is oxycodone, a strong opioid that is the subject of more than a third of all calls to Tox Info Suisse and accounts for almost a quarter of sales. The figures relating to cases of poisoning and sales figures for oxycodone increased markedly between 2009 and 2016, with both more than doubling.

"Our study clearly shows that opioid use is rising sharply in Switzerland," Burden summarizes the situation. "The increase in sales is similar to those seen in the Netherlands and Denmark, however, our per capita sales are substantially higher in recent years." While, we are still a long way from the current situation in the U.S. or Canada, we have to keep an eye on the situation as the high sales of oxycodone in Switzerland is similar to what we saw in Canada in the early 2000's" says Burden.

Averting a fentanyl crisis

The study says very little about the use of illicit opioids, including fentanyl, an opioid that is administered for very severe pain; it is about ten times more potent than oxycodone and has a high potential for illicit use and fatal overdoses.

In the U.S., Canada, and Australia, illicit heroin and fentanyl use spiked following the removal of OxyContin, and fentanyl is the major driver of the current opioid crisis in those countries.

As no figures are available, Burden cannot comment on the current number of illicit fentanyl users in Switzerland. Considered a narcotic, fentanyl is subject to stricter prescription requirements in Switzerland. However, Burden says that "if strong opioids like oxcycodone are suddenly restricted, patients who have a dependency to these medications may turn to the illicit market, and this is a danger we need to avoid moving forward."

In the sales, fentanyl was the third most sold opioid, but this may be largely to care homes for end-stage cancer management. In the Tox Info Suisse data, very few calls were received for fentanyl. However, for opioids, and particularly, fentanyl, it is possible that users (or their caregivers) turn directly to emergency services in the event of poisoning in order to obtain an antidote quickly. Therefore, it is likely that the Tox Info Suisse would not capture the majority of severe opioid poisonings.

Tip of the iceberg

With data for the pandemic years 2020 and 2021 not yet known, it is unclear whether the use of opioids has risen dramatically, as in the U.S. The picture provided by the figures from PharmaSuisse and Tox Info Suisse is not complete either, and Burden is convinced that "the figures presented in the study on the harms with opioids in Switzerland are just the tip of the iceberg. We need more data to understand harms associated with opioid use in Switzerlandthis includes the number who have developed a dependency to prescription opioids and the number of opioid-related deaths" Burden continues. She is now embarking on a follow-up study to address these questions.

Burden believes it is important to remain vigilant, regardless of further studies: "We are not at the current scale of the opioid epidemic seen in North America or other countries such as U.K. or Australia. However, those countries are grappling with fentanyl use that developed following the restrictions on oxycodone. In Switzerland, we do not yet have the data to understand the full scale of opioid use and harms. Therefore, it is important that we collect this data so we can make informed policy decisions," says the researcher. "We are in a lucky position in Switzerland, as we have the opportunity to learn from the situation in other countries, and hopefully avoid a fentanyl epidemic."

Explore further Fentanyl in more than half of opioid deaths in 10 states

More information: Marit F. Hooijman et al, Opioid sales and opioid-related poisonings in Switzerland: A descriptive population-based time-series analysis, The Lancet Regional HealthEurope (2022). Marit F. Hooijman et al, Opioid sales and opioid-related poisonings in Switzerland: A descriptive population-based time-series analysis,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100437
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

It's a device most patients will recognize from their most recent doctor's appointment: a small plastic clip attached to their finger that measures the levels of oxygen in their blood.

Called a pulse oximeter, it has become a critical diagnostic tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some patients even purchasing their own versions for home use.

But new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine indicates that the oximeter is less accurate for patients with darker skin tones, and its inaccuracies may cause treatment for severe COVID-19 to be delayed or missed in patients of color.

"There's been evidence for some time that pulse oximeters are not as accurate in persons with darker skin tones," said Amanda Bradke, MD, an internal medicine physician at Rush University Medical Center who co-authored the study. "We've reconfirmed that finding, and additionally showed this inaccuracy may have affected the way patients with COVID-19 were cared for."

Inaccurate oxygen readings cause delayed COVID care

Researchers from Rush, as well as from Johns Hopkins University and Baylor College of Medicine evaluated the medical records of patients with COVID-19 and found that pulse oximeters overestimated the blood oxygen levels in patients who identified as Black, Hispanic or Asian at a higher rate compared with white patients. Since the number on the oximeter was higher than the true number (confirmed with a blood test), this meant that their oxygen level was actually lower than the number being used to guide clinical care.

The oximeters also delayed showing eligibility for severe COVID-19 treatment more often in Black and Hispanic patients than in white patients. The oximeter is a key test used in determining whether patients are eligible for certain treatments for severe COVID-19.

"If your oxygen saturation is less than 94% on your pulse oximeter reading, that's when most institutions would say you qualify for supplemental oxygen, dexamethasone, and remdesivir, among other treatments" Bradke said." These are treatments that that have shown improvement in morbidity and mortality in patients with severe COVID-19."

A delay in the recognition for treatment eligibility occurred 29% more often in Black patients than in white patients, and in 23% percent more often in Hispanic patients than in white patients. There were also about 450 patients in the study where treatment eligibility was never recognized by the oximeter.

"The pulse oximeter never dropped below 94% throughout the study when it should have for these patients," Bradke said. "Of those 450, just over half were Black."

To conduct the study, researchers evaluated the records of more than 7,000 patients with COVID-19 from five referral centers and community hospitals in the Johns Hopkins Health System. They found 1,216 patients who had their blood oxygen levels measured with both the pulse oximeter and a more accurate blood test called an arterial blood gas (ABG) test within 10 minutes of each other and compared the two readings.

Why the device failed non-white patients

The pulse oximeter works by shining a light through the fingertip to analyze the oxygen content when the light passes through the finger. Bradke says that while the ABG test is more accurate, she emphasized it cannot be used in all cases, as the blood test requires a specific needle stick in the wrist that not all medical personnel can easily do, as well as specialized analysis in a lab. Oximetry is non-invasive and can be used to monitor a patient continuously.

There has been a growing body of evidence showing that the oximeter is less accurate with darker skin tones since the 1990s. More recently, the Food and Drug Association released a safety communication in 2021, noting the evidence and providing guidance for patients on how best to use home oximeters.

Experts are still unsure exactly why the oximeter is less accurate in patients with darker skin tones, but they believe it may be because melanin, the substance that produces body pigmentation, absorbs more light. Research in this area has used race as a proxy for skin tone because information on skin tone wasn't available.

"We do see this discrepancy for people who've identified as white as well, just not as often" Bradke said. "It might be something a little bit more nuanced, like if you have more yellow tones in your skin, or more red tones in your skin, that might be affecting the light rather than just the melanin. But we just don't know."

Identifying other areas where race impacts medical care

Bradke says the pulse oximeter is far from the only way that race is inappropriately addressed in medical testing and tools.

Bradke is co-director of the HEART (Health Equity and Anti-Racism Transforming Clinical Care) Committee at Rush, which is working to evaluate medical decision tools that include race and eliminate those that perpetuate racism and exacerbate health care disparities. She does similar work in a coalition with other Chicago hospital systems called the Chicago Coalition for Anti-Racism and Equity (C-CARE) in Health.

The HEART Committee has already changed a kidney function test and pulmonary function test at Rush that inappropriately used race in their equations, and recommended a heart medication for all patients that was previously only recommended for Black patients.

"When race is dealt with inappropriately in medicine it results in biased tools and tests," Bradke said. "In the case of pulse oximetry, we think it's because not enough people of varying skin tones were included in its development and validation, and an inequitable medical device was put into practice. It's a problem with the device, whereas with other tools and tests, race was included where it shouldn't be, as a biological risk factor to explain away the results of structural racism."

A follow-up study is currently underway to determine if the delay in recognition of care eligibility led to changes in patient outcomes. Bradke said that patients and physicians should take care to look at the oximeter as just one piece of information in a patient's larger clinical picture.

"It's important to recognize that we're using this imperfect tool in medical practice to help determine medical care," Bradke said. "So it's really important to pay attention to how you feel. It's one piece of information, and if you're not feeling well, if you're walking across the floor and having a hard time breathing, but your oxygen says that you're at 95%, maybe go in and get checked out anyways. And push to really look deeper into what's going on."

Explore further Higher prevalence of occult hypoxemia during anesthesia in Black and Hispanic patients

More information: Ashraf Fawzy et al, Racial and Ethnic Discrepancy in Pulse Oximetry and Delayed Identification of Treatment Eligibility Among Patients With COVID-19, JAMA Internal Medicine (2022). Ashraf Fawzy et al, Racial and Ethnic Discrepancy in Pulse Oximetry and Delayed Identification of Treatment Eligibility Among Patients With COVID-19,(2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.1906
A hairpin loop from a pre-mRNA. Highlighted are the nucleobases (green) and the ribose-phosphate backbone (blue). Note that this is a single strand of RNA that folds back upon itself. Credit: Vossman/ Wikipedia

Mitochondria are the power plants of cells, and they contain their own genetic material and RNA molecules. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now discovered that certain modifications in mitochondrial RNA boost the invasive spread of cancer cells by supporting protein synthesis in mitochondria. They have established that a specific gene expression signature correlating with high levels of mitochondrial RNA modifications is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with head and neck cancer. When the researchers blocked the responsible RNA modifying enzyme in cancer cells, the number of metastases was reduced. Certain antibiotics that suppress protein synthesis in mitochondria were also able to prevent the invasive spread of cancer cells in laboratory experiments. The results have now been published in the journal Nature.

Cancer cells in aggressive tumors invade the surrounding tissue in an attempt to form a new tumor in other organs. During this journey, cancer cells have to survive unfavorable conditions such as shortage of oxygen or shortage in nutrients. To overcome these stress factors, cancer cells adapt their energy production accordingly. The molecular mechanisms allowing this flexibility were poorly understood until now. "However, we suspected that this metabolic plasticity must be a key to the successful spread of the cancer cells," says Michaela Frye; cell biologist at the German Cancer Research Center.

Mitochondria are tiny, membrane-enveloped structures known as the powerhouse of every cell in our body. For energy production, they use the so-called respiratory chain present in the mitochondrial membrane. Because mitochondria contain their own genetic material, they themselves produce key components of the respiratory chain.

The production of components of the respiratory chain is tightly regulated by a specific machinery in the mitochondriawith implications for the metastatic spread of cancer cells, as Michael Frye and her team have now discovered and published in the journal Nature. tRNA molecules are part of this machinery and are responsible for providing the individual amino acid building blocks during protein assembly. The research team identified the deposition of molecular modifications on mitochondrial tRNAs as the control mechanism to support production of proteins during metastasis.

RNA modifications regulate mitochondrial function and drive metastasis

Cancer cell invasion is a very energy consuming process. The team in Heidelberg discovered that a specific chemical modification found in mitochondrial tRNA, known as m5C (5-methylcytosine), is required for metastasis development. The m5C modification cranks up protein synthesis in the mitochondria. This enhances the production of components of the respiratory chain. As a result, the cell increases its pool of energy to fuel demanding cellular processes such as cancer cell dissemination from the tumor.

Cancer cells lacking m5C, on the other hand, obtain their energy through a comparatively less efficient mechanism called glycolysis and have a limited ability to spread metastatically. The researchers demonstrated this using human tumors grown in mice. However, cell viability or growth in the primary tumor was not affected by the loss of m5C.

RNA-modifying enzyme as a biomarker for metastatic tumors

A specific enzyme, the methyltransferase NSUN3, is responsible for the m5C RNA modification. When the scientists switched NSUN3 off, the mitochondrial tRNA was less modified and the invasive spread of the cancer cells decreased.

Could NSUN3 function as a biomarker for metastatic cancer? Gene expression signatures indicating high cellular NSUN3 levels and elevated m5C levels were indeed predictive for lymph node metastases and more severe disease progression in patients with head and neck cancer.

Antibiotics repurposed to block mitochondrial protein synthesis slow down metastasis

Certain antibiotics curb mitochondrial protein synthesis without affecting general protein synthesis in the cell's plasma. The researchers therefore assumed that these agents should affect cancer cells similarly to loss of NSUN3. Indeed, treatment with antibiotics such as chloramphenicol or doxycycline, reduced the invasive spread of cancer cells. Antibiotic administration also reduced the number of lymph node metastases in a mouse model.

"The importance of mitochondrial RNA modifications was previously studied in certain metabolic diseases. But we now show for the first time that there is a direct link between mitochondrial tRNA modifications and invasive spread of cancer," says Michaela Frye. "Inhibition of NSUN3 is a promising way to slow down metastasis because the enzyme is solely responsible for metastasis-promoting m5C RNA label. However, the potential long-term side effects of blocking mitochondrial protein synthesis must first be further explored."

Explore further Researchers investigate new approach to treatment of deadly kidney cancer

More information: Michaela Frye, Mitochondrial RNA modifications shape metabolic plasticity in metastasis, Nature (2022). Journal information: Nature Michaela Frye, Mitochondrial RNA modifications shape metabolic plasticity in metastasis,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04898-5
States varied in how they defined and reported key metrics, such as testing data, cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Credit: Florida Atlantic University

State governments varied widely in mitigation measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic such as school and workplace closings, travel restrictions, stay-at-home orders, and restrictions on public gatherings. More specifically, states varied in how they defined and reported key metrics, such as testing data, cases, hospitalizations and deaths. For example, during the first wave of the pandemic, it was reported that one-third of states were not even reporting hospital admission data, which was key to understanding the surge in the spread of the virus.

State responses also varied in how they have addressed immediate and long-standing health disparities and associated inequities and, in their use, timing, and adoption of policy tools and instruments such as data collection, data reporting, and data disaggregation.

While the pandemic was touted in some narratives as "the great equalizer," like other disasters, it has disproportionately affected socially disadvantaged groups and low-income populations who are at increased risk due to long-lasting systemic health and social inequities.

To address this gap, Florida Atlantic University researchers looked at data transparency and equity as seen by state variations in the comprehensiveness of their reporting of health metrics and variations with respect to data disaggregation of race and ethnicity metrics. For the study, they used the theoretical understandings and past research on agency theory, transparency, state institutions, and policy responsiveness to the preferences of citizens, citizen needs, and socio-economic vulnerabilities.

Results, published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, showed that legislatures, rather than governors, are important institutional actors and that a conservative ideology signal and socio-economic factors help predict data reporting and transparency practices. These findings suggest that there is a critical need for standardized data collection protocols, the collection of comprehensive race and ethnicity data, and analyses examining data transparency and reductions in information asymmetries as a pandemic response toolboth in the United States and globally.

The research sheds light on an issue that is important in understanding the actions of governments in addressing health disparities and equity through effective data transparency practices. While there has been research on the role of policymakers and the protective actions or otherwise that states have taken to address the pandemic, little attention has been paid to the issue of data equity in terms of data collection and reporting as a way to reduce information asymmetries and improve the accountability of agents (public officials) to the principal (the citizenry). This study helps to address that area.

"The problems with data collection and transparency in state responses are particularly significant for two main reasons. First, states used test positivity rates to determine appropriate policy responses, including lockdowns, reopening, restrictions on businesses and organizations, and protections for vulnerable populations such as essential workers and older residents," said Alka Sapat, Ph.D., senior author, professor and director of the School of Public Administration, within FAU's Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters. "However, the problems with testing and the misreporting of data in several states, with issues such as combining antibody tests with PCR testing, meant that the data were not fully reliable. Also, the lack of standardization in data collection and the variations among states in reporting made it difficult to target testing and offer protections for those who most needed it to reduce health disparities."

Sapat and study co-authors Ryan J. Lofaro and Benjamin Trautman, both Ph.D. candidates and graduate assistants in FAU's School of Public Administration, say that to combat health disparities and effectively fight COVID-19, it is critical to understand its impact and spread among communities of color and marginalized populations, given its disproportionate impacts in these communities. However, the lack of standardization in data collection and the variations among states in reporting race and ethnicity data made it difficult to target testing and offer protections for those who needed it, particularly in minority communities.

"Implications from our study extend beyond the United States, as other countries have experienced racial and ethnic COVID-related disparities, and methods for counting cases and deaths have been country-specific, thus lacking cross-national comparability and global uniformity," said Sapat.

As noted by the American Medical Association (AMA), demographic data is a key tool to fight inequities in COVID-19 pandemic planning and to address health disparities. Data specificity is needed not only to understand the impact and reach of the pandemic but also to inform appropriate response and planning.

"Without adequate race and ethnicity data associated with COVID-19 testing, hospitalizations, morbidities, and mortalities, physicians and hospitals will not be able to properly care for their patients," said Sapat. "Lessons learned from this pandemic in terms of data collection, transparency, and dissemination will be critical in reducing disaster risks and improving resilience to other pandemics and disasters in the future."

The rise of new variants and continuing waves of increasing infections in different areas of the world make it likely that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to evolve over time.

Explore further Data gaps for race and ethnicity are holding back antiracism efforts, new report says

More information: Alka Sapat et al, Policy responsiveness and institutions in a federal system: Analyzing variations in state-level data transparency and equity issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (2022). Alka Sapat et al, Policy responsiveness and institutions in a federal system: Analyzing variations in state-level data transparency and equity issues during the COVID-19 pandemic,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103066
Solar rooftop at SM City North EDSA CLIMATE CHANGE is one of the most pressing and defining global issues today and it has become imperative...
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(THE CONVERSATION) Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, access to birth control has taken on new urgency. By moving the decision about abortion access to states, the fall of Roe v. Wade means that it will be even more important for people to be able to prevent an unwanted or mistimed pregnancy.

Given the health risks of having a rapid repeat pregnancy, avoiding pregnancy is especially critical for those who have recently given birth. But not all health care providers offer birth control to their patients.

Over the past two decades, the number of Catholic hospitals in the U.S. has risen dramatically. But it might come as a surprise to many people to learn that Catholic hospitals are not allowed to provide health care that is considered by their religious leaders to be intrinsically immoral.

The Catholic religion holds that life begins at conception and that sex should take place only for the purposes of procreation. Because of this, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has published ethical and religious directives, last updated in 2018, that prohibit Catholic hospitals from providing birth control, abortion and infertility treatments. There are no exceptions, even if the care is needed to protect a persons life or health.

As a result, many people who want birth control before they leave the hospital after childbirth may not receive it.

However, many people are not even aware that they are choosing a Catholic hospital when they decide where they will deliver. Others do not have an option or may not realize that where they give birth might affect the reproductive treatment options available to them.

As a sexual and reproductive health epidemiologist, I have carried out research on contraception and abortion in countries throughout the world, including in the U.S., over the past 20 years. Much of my research involves studying disparities in peoples use of birth control.

Avoiding a Catholic hospital can be difficult

As a result of hospital mergers and acquisitions, between 2001 and 2016 the number of Catholic acute care hospitals grew by 22%. Overall, about 17% of acute care hospital beds in the U.S. belong to Catholic hospitals.

Some people attend a Catholic hospital because they have limited choices. There are 46 Catholic hospitals in the U.S. that are the sole providers of short-term acute hospital care in their geographic area, including in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Bellingham, Washington. Others might be limited in where their health insurance will cover their care.

Some people are not even aware that they are attending a Catholic hospital. A 2018 national survey asked adult women of reproductive age where they go for their reproductive care; 16% named a Catholic hospital. However, over one-third of the women who named a Catholic hospital did not know that their hospital was Catholic. Furthermore, those who were wrong about their hospitals Catholic status described themselves as being sure or very sure about their incorrect response.

In some cases, people might be unaware of their hospitals status because its name does not sound religious. Also, people might not know that a Catholic network purchased their secular hospital and that their hospital is now required to follow its ethical and religious directives. A 2017-2018 review of hospital websites found that 21% of Catholic hospitals did not explicitly disclose their Catholic status on their website.

Even if people know that their hospital is Catholic, they might not know that attending a Catholic hospital could restrict the scope of care that they are able to receive. A large survey of women found that most did not expect restrictions on care at Catholic hospitals, especially for services viewed as less taboo than abortion. Respondents did not realize that Catholic hospitals are restricted in providing birth control, including female sterilization methods such as tubal ligation.

The need for birth control after childbirth

Using birth control after childbirth is critical, because peoples fertility returns quickly. Having at least 18 months of spacing between childbirth and a new pregnancy is important to protect the pregnant person and the infants health.

Short birth spacing increases the risks of adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia, preterm birth and health problems for the newborn infant. Because of the health risks, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized birth spacing as a high priority in the 2030 Healthy People Objectives.

For people who do not want to have more pregnancies, immediately after delivery can be the most convenient time to have a tubal ligation. For this reason, about half of all tubal ligations are performed after delivery. About 6.2% of deliveries in the U.S. are followed by a tubal ligation. Failing to receive a desired postpartum tubal ligation increases the risk of having a rapid repeat pregnancy.

Birth control use following delivery at Catholic hospitals

Our team decided to investigate whether women who recently delivered at a Catholic hospital were less likely to be using birth control during the postpartum period compared to women who delivered at a non-Catholic hospital.

Even if ethical and religious directives state that Catholic hospitals are not allowed to provide birth control, it is plausible that some hospitals might fail to enforce the rules or providers might find ways to work around them. For example, providers at Catholic hospitals might place an intrauterine device, or IUD, in a patient who desires one by justifying its use for noncontraceptive purposes. Or providers might perform an elective cesarean delivery in order to surreptitiously perform a tubal ligation.

My colleagues and I used survey data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System from five states  Alaska, Illinois, Maine, Oregon and Wisconsin  over the period of 2015 to 2018. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments annually conduct this survey of women who gave birth in the last two to six months. We linked this survey data to birth certificates to know whether women had delivered at a Catholic or non-Catholic hospital.

Our study found that at two to six months postpartum, women who had delivered at a Catholic hospital were about half as likely to have had female sterilization as women who delivered at another type of hospital. This difference remained statistically significant after we adjusted for womens age, race or ethnicity, education, insurance status and parity.

Pregnancy carries health risks

Legal abortion is much safer than childbirth in the U.S.. Because people are 14 times more likely to die from pregnancy than from a legal abortion, it is important that they are able to avoid an unintended pregnancy.

These studies illustrate the need for people to have access to the birth control method of their choice  a choice that is all the more important now that people have lost their constitutional right to an abortion.

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WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News)  A strain of the superbug MRSA has emerged in pigs that is highly resistant to antibiotics and a growing cause of human infections.

University of Cambridge researchers said this particular strain of MRSA, short for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has shown up in livestock over the past 50 years, probably due to widespread antibiotic use in farming. They said it is a potential threat to public health.

Historically high levels of antibiotic use may have led to the evolution of this highly antibiotic-resistant strain of MRSA on pig farms, said Dr. Gemma Murrayn of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, U.K. She worked on the new study while a member of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge.

We found that the antibiotic resistance in this livestock-associated MRSA is extremely stable  it has persisted over several decades, and also as the bacteria has spread across different livestock species, she said in university news release.

The strain  called CC398  is dominant type of MRSA in pigs and other European livestock and a growing cause of human MRSA infections. Its associated with infections in people who have and have not had direct contact with livestock.

Although antibiotic use in European farming is lower than it once was, ongoing reductions in use are likely to have only a limited impact because the strain is so stable.

A notable case is in Danish pig farms. The proportion of MRSA-positive herds there increased from 5% in 2008 to 90% in 2018. Though pigs test positive for MRSA, it doesnt make them sick.

Understanding the emergence and success of CC398 in European livestock  and its capacity to infect humans  is vitally important in managing the risk it poses to public health, said senior author Lucy Weinert of the University of Cambridge.

Three mobile genetic elements in the MRSA genome are responsible for its ability to infect humans.

To study the issue, researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of two genetic elements called Tn916 and SCCmec. These confer antibiotic resistance in MRSA. They have remained stable in pigs for decades and persist when jumping to humans.

A third mobile genetic element called Sa3, which enables the CC398 strain of MRSA to evade the human immune system, was found to have frequently disappeared and reappeared over time, in both humans and livestock. This suggests that CC398 can rapidly adapt to human hosts.

Cases of livestock-associated MRSA in humans are still only a small fraction of all MRSA cases in human populations, but the fact that theyre increasing is a worrying sign, Weinert said.

The European Union is banning zinc oxide, which has been used to prevent diarrhea in piglets, because of concerns about its environmental impact and promotion of antibiotic resistance. This ban may not reduce the prevalence of CC398, the authors said, because the genes that confer antibiotic resistance are not always linked to those that confer zinc treatment resistance.

The World Health Organization considers MRSA one of the greatest threats to human health.

The findings were published June 28 in the journal eLife.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on MRSA.

SOURCE: University of Cambridge, news release, June 28, 2022

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The researchers found that 21.9 percent of women who gave birth in the United States in 2020 were born outside of the United States. Women born in Latin America accounted for 12.0 and 54.9 percent of all women giving birth and those born outside of the United States, respectively, while women born in Asia accounted for 5.9 and 27.2 percent, respectively. Maternal characteristics varied by region, subregion, and country of birth, with the percentage of women giving birth under age 20 higher for women born in the United States (5.0 percent) than for those born in other regions, and obesity rates varying from 10.7 percent for women born in Asia to 38.1 percent for women born in Oceania. Infant outcomes varied by mother's place of birth, with preterm birth rates varying from 6.90 to 11.43 percent of infants of women born in Canada and Oceania, respectively. Similar variation was seen for low birthweight and neonatal intensive care unit admission rates.
WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Shortly after news broke in May that Roe v. Wade was in danger of being overturned by the Supreme Court, internet searches for abortion pills surged, a new study shows.

On May 2, a leaked draft ruling indicated that the court was poised to strike down the 1973 ruling that guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion. And in the three following days, internet searches related to abortion pills shot up by 162%.

The highest search volumes were in states that, even in the Roe era, had the most restrictions on abortion access -- with Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri in the top three.

It's not clear who was doing the searching or why, said senior researcher John Ayers, of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Some people may have been trying to buy abortion pills online, he said, while others may have been looking for information.

But the bottom line, Ayers said, is that the three-day period saw a record number of searches related to the medications -- and it's an early indicator of what's to come.

"A lot of people will try to get a medication abortion, with or without a health care provider," Ayers said.

Time will soon tell.

On June 24, the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade with the release of its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center.

Just hours later, nearly 100 requests for appointments flooded Just the Pill, a nonprofit that arranges for patients to obtain abortion pills in several states, the New York Times reported.

That was about four times the usual daily number of appointment requests for the organization, and many came from patients in Texas and other states that quickly halted abortions after the court ruling, the Times said.

Medication abortion is far from new: U.S. women have had access to it for over 20 years, using the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, causing the lining of the uterus to break down and end the pregnancy; misoprostol spurs contractions that empty the uterus -- essentially creating a miscarriage. Patients take one mifepristone pill, followed by four misoprostol pills one to two days later.

Telehealth access now permanent

The regimen is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to end pregnancies through the 10th week.

Historically, women had to get the medication during an in-person appointment. But during the pandemic, the FDA allowed patients to make telehealth appointments and have the medication sent by mail. Last December, the agency made that change permanent.

It's no surprise that internet searches on abortion medication surged after the leaked Supreme Court draft, said Liza Fuentes, a senior research scientist with the Guttmacher Institute.

Already, over half of abortions nationwide are carried out with medication, according to Guttmacher, a pro-choice research organization. And interest will only grow, Fuentes said, as many states ban abortion. (Guttmacher expects 26 states to do so.)

What's unclear, Fuentes said, is exactly how medication abortion will fit into the post-Roe landscape.

State bans that have already gone into effect include medication abortion, and the same is expected of laws that will be implemented in coming weeks.

At the same time, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement after the ruling that states may not be able to ban FDA-approved medications. And the Biden administration pledged to broaden access to abortion pills, though exactly how is unclear.

"It's all murky right now," Fuentes said. "It's not clear how it's all going to play out."

There is one "workaround" for women right now, she said: Buying abortion pills online from international telemedicine companies, which face little legal risk in the United States.

One such company is Aid Access, where European doctors provide online consultations and medication is mailed from a pharmacy in India. It has said it will continue to supply medication to women in all U.S. states.

Dr. Paula Castano, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University, agreed that such online companies are an option. But she also had concerns about the wait time women could face.

There are U.S. telehealth companies that provide medication abortion, but they face legal risks in states with abortion bans. One company, Just the Pill, operates in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming. It has said it will set up mobile clinics along the borders of states with abortion bans, to make it easier for women in those states to travel for care.

Crossing state lines

Even before Roe was overturned, there were stories of how patients in states with tight abortion restrictions managed to get medication abortion -- driving just over the border to a state with broader access and having an online consultation while sitting in their car.

"People are getting creative," Castano said. But the frustration, she added, is that patients have to do that at all.

"It's adding so many burdens to a normal, common medical procedure," Castano said. "We don't do that for any other medical procedure."

And it's patients who are already vulnerable -- low-income, often people of color -- who will suffer the most, both Castano and Fuentes said. They may have no way of traveling for care.

Medication abortion is about 95% effective and very safe, all three experts said. And that includes abortions with the pills that are done at home, after a telemedicine consult.

A study published in March looked at 3,800 U.S. women who had medication abortions during the pandemic, many via telehealth. It found that 0.5% had an "adverse event," such as a hospital admission for pain or excessive bleeding.

Another recent study, of nearly 2,800 Aid Access patients, found that 96% said they'd successfully ended their pregnancy with no further medical intervention. One percent said they'd needed treatment for a side effect, such as excessive bleeding.

The latest study was published June 29 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Ayers did stress that women seeking online medication should make sure they are dealing with a reputable source.

And while medication abortion may help fill a critical need for some women, "it's not a silver bullet," Fuentes said. Some women will not be candidates or be able to access it, and others will want in-person care rather than telehealth.

"We're living in a world where people won't be able to choose which type of care they want, or get it in a timely manner," Fuentes said.

"We know for sure," she added, "that people will face tremendous barriers for a long time to come."

More information

The nonprofit Plan C has more on medication abortion.

SOURCES: John Ayers, PhD, associate professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global public health, University of California San Diego School of Medicine; Paula Castano, MD, MPH, associate professor, obstetrics and gynecology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York City; Liza Fuentes, DrPh, MPH, senior research scientist, Guttmacher Institute, New York City; JAMA Internal Medicine, June 29, 2022, online

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WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Even though Black people may be more likely to live near a hospital with a certified stroke center, those who need the specialty care are still more likely to receive it at a hospital with fewer resources.

And this can hurt their chances for recovery, a new study shows.

"Black, racially segregated communities tended to cluster in areas with large populations, where stroke care must accommodate a much higher level of demand," explained Dr. Renee Hsia, from the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, and a core faculty member at the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

"Crowding may prevent patients from accessing the stroke center, and even if they do access it, they may not be able to be seen as quickly due to shortages of beds, critical care physicians, nurses and equipment," Hsia said in a university news release.

In the study, the researchers tracked patient demographics of general acute-care hospitals in the United States that offered stroke certification over a 10-year period. They found that among 4,984 hospitals, 961 were stroke-certified in 2009 compared to 1,763 in 2019.

Centers can be certified as primary stroke centers, which provide standard care, to comprehensive stroke centers that can treat the most complex cases.

Being treated at a stroke center is associated with lower rates of mortality and severe disability, recent studies have shown. Reasons for that include rapid triage, specialized neurosurgeons on duty, advanced imaging facilities and swift access to thrombectomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove a blood clot from inside an artery or vein.

The study found that residents of majority Black communities were 67% more likely to live near hospitals with specialty stroke centers compared to majority white communities. Yet, when researchers adjusted for population and hospital bed capacity, they found that Black people were 26% less likely to receive care there.

There is greater demand for stroke care in Black communities, the study noted.

Researchers also compared access using income, finding that residents in predominantly high-income areas were 3.4 times more likely to live close to a hospital with a certified stroke center compared with residents in predominantly low-income areas.

Patients in rural areas were also much less likely to be served by hospitals with certified stroke centers than those living in urban areas.

Population size and a community's underlying needs should be a part of the decision to open a new stroke center, Hsia said.

"Currently, the distribution of stroke care is more motivated by profit potential, rather than community need. We found that for many in low-income, minority and rural communities, specialized stroke services are not even an option," Hsia said. "Policymakers may want to consider how they can reduce financial barriers for hospitals in these communities where certified stroke centers are needed."

The findings were published June 27 in JAMA Neurology.

More information

The American Stroke Association has more on stroke prevention.

SOURCE: University of California, San Francisco, news release, June 27, 2022

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TUESDAY, June 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended on Tuesday that updated COVID-19 booster shots be used this fall to protect against Omicron and its highly contagious subvariants.

Because the virus mutates so quickly, the FDA may approve the new vaccine formulations, since COVID-19 cases are expected to surge again this winter. Tuesday's advisory panel approval speeds the process by which FDA regulators will push for updated booster formulations.

According to the New York Times, the panel discussed various formulations of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine boosters as possible candidates, but did not decide on which might work best. The agency has been leaning towards a combination of the existing COVID-19 vaccine and one targeting two Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, the Times reported.

CDC data now show those subvariants together making up half of all new infections in the United States.

Manufacturers must work "very rapidly" to produce reformulated shots that would be ready for an autumn rollout, Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA's vaccine division, told the Times. mRNA vaccines -- the types produced by Pfizer and Moderna -- typically take about three months to produce doses of any reformulated shots.

Given how fast the virus changes, lengthy human trials may have to be abandoned in favor of more laboratory tests and animal tests, the Times added. That's because human trials can take up to five months, which can make the vaccine obsolete before it's even released to the public.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have been testing updated booster shots that target the Omicron variant, with early trial results showing the tweaked shots boost protection against Omicron. But since then, subvariants of Omicron have surfaced and are spreading.

"Omicron is clearly in the rearview mirror," Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told the Times. An Omicron booster isn't necessary unless it works against the newest Omicron subvariants, but "I haven't seen evidence of that," he said.

Even the FDA said in a briefing document prepared for the advisory committee meeting that the bivalent booster targeting both the original virus and Omicron is "already somewhat outdated."

But Dr. Kelly Moore, president of Immunize.org, a nonprofit that works to increase vaccine rates, told the Times that an accelerated process is already used to update the flu vaccine each year.

Although this is the first time the process would be used with COVID vaccines, they have been safely given to hundreds of millions of people, she noted.

Updating them might call for "very well-educated guesswork," she said, that is "appropriate for the circumstances."

Still, the chance exists that the virus will change again and make the updated vaccines ineffective.

Dr. John Beigel, a clinical research director at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, told the Times, "They [the new vaccines] may be old news by the time the fall comes."

Beigel said one option is to stick with the existing vaccines, which continue to provide robust protection against severe disease, while offering very little protection against infection.

In any event, a broad swath of the population will be offered booster shots, said Dr. Arnold Monto. He's a public health professor at the University of Michigan who chairs the FDA advisory panel.

"We know theres waning. We have to boost, and it's better to boost with something more relevant" than the existing vaccines, Monto told the Times.

But Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA advisory panel, countered that idea.

"Hospitalizations are down. Deaths are way down because we are protected against serious illness. That's what matters," Offit told the Times. Only those over 70, and those over 50 with serious underlying conditions, will likely need a fall booster shot because COVID can have serious consequences for these people, Offit believes.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on COVID vaccines.

SOURCE: New York Times

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WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended on Tuesday that updated COVID-19 booster shots be used this fall to protect against omicron and its highly contagious subvariants.

Because the virus mutates so quickly, the FDA may approve the new vaccine formulations, since COVID-19 cases are expected to surge again this winter. Tuesday's advisory panel approval speeds the process by which FDA regulators will push for updated booster formulations.

According to The New York Times, the panel discussed various formulations of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine boosters as possible candidates, but did not decide on which might work best. The agency has been leaning towards a combination of the existing COVID-19 vaccine and one targeting two omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now show those subvariants together making up half of all new infections in the United States.

Manufacturers must work "very rapidly" to produce reformulated shots that would be ready for an autumn rollout, Peter Marks, M.D., head of the FDA's vaccine division, told The Times. Given how fast the virus changes, lengthy human trials may have to be abandoned in favor of more laboratory tests and animal tests, The Times added. That is because human trials can take up to five months, which can make the vaccine obsolete before it is even released to the public.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have been testing updated booster shots that target the omicron variant, with early trial results showing the tweaked shots boost protection against omicron. But since then, subvariants of omicron have surfaced and are spreading.

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President Joe Biden is set to mark his second Fourth of July since taking office, and he's finding a far different political atmosphere today than a year ago. At this time last year, the United States had been making steady progress against the pandemic, and Biden said the country was closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus. But in the past year, two variants proved the coronavirus remained a threat, and Biden's presidency has become bogged down in other challenges, some of them outside of his control. His approval rating has fallen 20 percentage points between his first and second Independence Days, according to polls from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- There's a shortage of nursing home beds for the elderly in America due to a severe staffing crisis that has caused long-term care facilities to cut back on new admissions, new research shows.

Three out of five nursing homes (61%) have limited new admissions due to staffing shortages, according to a survey conducted by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) of 759 nursing home providers.

And nearly three out of four (73%) are concerned that theyll have to close their facilities over staffing problems, the survey found.

"We project that more than 400 nursing homes could close this year due to this workforce and economic crisis," said Beth Martino, senior vice president of public affairs for the AHCA/NCAL.

These factors could leave some elderly bereft of the care they need as they age.

"One administrator in Kansas recently told me he's got a waiting list of residents, but not enough staff to admit," said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services.

"He's contracted with four staffing agencies, but not one can provide a licensed registered nurse. His story is not unique," Sloan said. "Across the country, providers are being forced to pare back admissions. Some of our members say the situation is increasingly unsustainable."

The AHCA/NCAL survey found that 87% of nursing home providers are facing moderate to high staffing shortages, with nearly half (48%) struggling with a severe staffing shortage.

Nearly all providers said they are having trouble hiring staff (98%), and as a result are asking staff to work overtime or extra shifts (99%).

"I have never been to a place which was fully staffed yet," Diondre Clarke, a traveling certified nurse assistant in Charlotte, N.C., told CBS News.

Clarke said she sometimes has to look after 20 or more residents during a shift, which leaves staff struggling to provide good care to residents.

Pandemic added strain

The staffing among nursing homes has been tight for quite some time, Martino said.

"For decades, Medicaid has notoriously underfunded nursing home care, and this chronic underfunding left long-term care providers struggling to compete for qualified, dedicated caregivers," she said. "We have been calling for help for years."

But the COVID-19 pandemic "really turned these challenges into a historic crisis," Martino added. "Nursing homes have lost more than 240,000 caregivers, or roughly 15% of its workforce, since the beginning of the pandemic. This is worse than any other health care sector.

"The pandemic has caused increased burnout among caregivers, especially in long-term care, where many feel forgotten or blamed by public officials and the public for COVID," Martino continued. "The Great Resignation has made it difficult for long-term care providers to recruit replacements and to compete against other employers, especially because of chronic Medicaid underfunding."

Medicaid is the primary payer for the "long-stay" nursing home residents who take up more than 80% of the beds in skilled nursing facilities, according to LeadingAge.

States set Medicaid reimbursement rates based on how much they want to spend on the program, rather than the actual cost of care in nursing homes, LeadingAge said.

"The Medicaid reimbursement rate is $189 a day. In 2021, our actual care costs per day were $412," said LeadingAge member Jonathan Hollinger, president and CEO of Pleasant View Communities in Manheim, Pa. "The state's reimbursement rate does not even cover 50% of the costs, which leaves us to make up the deficit."

More than 70% are leaning on temp staffers to care for residents, the survey found. That's only adding to the crunch, because "staffing agencies are charging two to three times more than pre-pandemic rates," Martino said.

Nine out of 10 nursing home providers have offered increased wages and bonuses to attract new employees, but 76% said their current financial situation and lack of funding is an obstacle to offering competitive wages.

But money's only part of the problem, said Robyn Stone, senior vice president of research for LeadingAge.

Their research has found that high turnover rates pre-COVID were caused by two major reasons, "poor supervision, followed by low wages," Stone said.

"We've found that for front-line workers (certified nurse aides), turnover rates can be improved by providing better training, continued on-the-job support as well as wrap-around services such as child care, transportation and food security," Stone said.

"We know that 60% to 80% of work in nursing homes is performed by front-line professionals. Theyre misunderstood and undervalued," Stone continued. "But money is only one part of the equation. Caregiving as a skill is also held in low regard, with little recognition of the education and knowledge required to do this work. The reality is that this is complex work; these are professional caregivers with job responsibilities that demand a higher wage."

Fixing the problem

Projections show that as many as 8.2 million staffing jobs in long-term care will need to be filled by 2028 as the U.S. population ages, LeadingAge says.

LeadingAge has proposed a multi-pronged approach for boosting the long-term care workforce. Their strategies include expanding the pipeline for training caregivers, strengthening education and training, facilitating career advancement among staff, and increasing compensation.

But strategies like those will require more funding, Martino said.

We need a national and local commitment to invest in our nation's seniors and their caregivers," she said. "Federal and state public health officials need to prioritize long term care for resources, as well as fully fund seniors' care. But we also need a more long-term solution to help recruit and retain the next generation of caregivers and to prepare for a growing elderly population.

"Some in Washington are proposing we simply raise staffing standards, but this fails to get at the heart of the problem," Martino continued. "Nursing homes would love to hire more nurses and nurse's aides, but we can't meet increasing staffing requirements if we can't find people to fill the open positions, nor if we don't receive corresponding government funding and support."

More information

The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living has more about nursing home closures, while LeadingAge has more about the challenges older adults face accessing aging services.

SOURCES: Beth Martino, senior vice president, public affairs, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living; Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge; Jonathan Hollinger, president and CEO, Pleasant View Communities, Manheim, Pa.; Robyn Stone, senior vice president, research, LeadingAge; CBS News

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A labor shortage caused in part by an affordable housing shortage has led to a child care shortage in Missoula and across the country. It's an intertwined crisis that a local nonprofit and the city are trying to overcome.

"Our infant waitlist (to get child care) is atrocious," explained Margie Dewing, the director of the Development Center at the nonprofit Missoula Family YMCA. "This is the worst it's ever been."

In fact, there are well over 50 families with infants trying to get child care.

Dewing said there are waitlists for kids in other age groups as well, and parents in town are getting on waitlists before they have kids or planning more than a year ahead to try to time it right to get an opening. She said she could add dozens more kids to her state-licensed early child care programs if only she could find enough employees.

"It's partly the economy," Dewing said. "Nobody can find housing. People have to leave because they can't find housing."

In fact, she had to help three staff members find a house to live in just so they could stay here.

The Y is trying to fill jobs and boost its child-care capacity by boosting its wages and offering training and career paths to people who may start out as part-timers in entry-level positions.

For example, Stacy Norberg is currently a full-time preschool teacher at the Development Center, which is one of the YMCA's state-licensed early child care programs. They care for children ages 6 weeks through 6 years (pre-kindergarten).

But her path to a full-time job was circuitous.

She started out as a part-time, after-school counselor in January 2020, just before COVID arrived.

The schools closed shortly thereafter, so she had to find another job in the middle of a lockdown.

The Y then opened an emergency child care facility for essential workers, and she was able to grab a job there. When lockdown ended, she got a job as a summer camp staffer. And finally she ended up in her current position, where she loves the lesson planning and curriculum-based education. She has a degree in social work from the University of Montana, so she's glad she's able to put her skills to work in Missoula.

She recommends that teens and people looking to find careers start with a part-time job at the Y if that's all they can handle right now, because it can lead to bigger and better things.

"That's kind of the cool thing here is there is a job for anybody who wants it here," Norberg said. "From leadership and desk to camp and all of that. And I would just say if you like working with kids or the community, there's a job here. Tons of different roles."

Her current job allows here to have evenings and weekends free, but there are also jobs for people who are in college.

Kat Franchino, the director of marketing at the YMCA, said the organization employs about 300 people, with some seasonal workers as well. There are about 17 job openings right now, but some of those positions are seeking more than one hire.

"We've adjusted our wages," Franchino said, explaining how they're coping with the labor shortage. They also offer on-the-job training and other benefits.

The labor shortage and the child care shortage were key focus issues at the 2022 Big Sky Business Insight Summit hosted by the Missoula Economic Partnership earlier this year.

In 2020, the Partnership commissioned a study on those issues. According to the Partnership's communications director Lindsey Wallace, a workforce shortage had been projected as an issue on the horizon pre-COVID. However, she said, the pandemic served to accelerate the pace of Montanas tightening labor market and brought with it new challenges. Shifting demographics and the rise of remote work opportunities have contributed to a shortage of available housing, as well as a rapid increase in housing prices.

In May, Montana's unemployment rate was 2.4%, well below the national rate of 3.6%.

The state labor crisis was similarly acute back in May when local economist Bryce Ward spoke at the economic summit.

"While this might seem to indicate that were maximizing labor force participation to our capacity, these numbers dont illustrate the lost participation and productivity due to workers who have to reduce their hours and work part-time because they cant find child care," Ward explained. "This loss disproportionately impacts working class families. When parents and guardians cant find adequate childcare, they cant work, and that leads to a significant reduction in income and economic opportunity.

The city's Parks and Recreation Department is also another large seasonal employer in town, and they've also had challenges filling positions this year. However, director Donna Gaukler said they've been able to make things work.

In spite of the nationwide labor shortage, we are running core services in recreation and aquatics," she said. "Safety is our priority. Programs that are highly desired but serve smaller numbers may have fewer hours or options. We are prioritizing high-use areas for maintenance."

The department is actively recruiting for swim lessons and water aerobic instructors because demand is far exceeding capacity.

"We do need more employees as there is more demand for programs than we are able to meet," Gaukler said. "We are meeting the challenge through overtime for now, but long-term this approach is not sustainable as employees must devote all hours to direct in-field service and then dont have the necessary time to build capacity going forward."

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A major forestry and fuels treatment project proposed for the Bitterroot National Forest has community members and stakeholder groups divided on whether thinning the forest is the best way to reduce wildfire risk and enhance habitat, and whether the U.S. Forest Service's approach to analyzing the project provides adequate analysis and public input.

The proposed Bitterroot Front Project would treat 144,000 acres of forest on the eastern front of the Bitterroot Mountains along nearly the full length of the Bitterroot Valley, from Darby to Lolo. On Friday, officials from the Darby/Sula and Stevensville ranger districts led a field trip through areas west of Hamilton that are included in the proposal. About 30 people  including local landowners, former Forest Service employees, biologists, foresters and advocacy groups  took part in the trip, which lasted about seven hours and stopped at the Ward Mountain Trailhead along Roaring Lion Creek, Lost Horse Road, Lake Como and an old-growth timber stand near Lick Creek. For people who missed the first trip, the forest is conducting the same field trip again on July 22. The field trip is free, but access is limited. To RSVP, go to bit.ly/3uaz7hH.

"The Bitterroot landscape, it burns," said Stevensville District Ranger Steve Brown, highlighting that the Bitterroot Front contains many of the most at-risk firesheds in Montana and the nation. "We live in a landscape that has fire."

Brown argued that humans cannot stop wildfire, but that strategic landscape-scale forest treatments, such as mechanical thinning and prescribed burns, can prevent high-intensity fires that completely torch all trees, known as stand replacement fires. Also, he said, "it gives us options [in firefighting] if we do the treatment ahead of time."

Brown highlighted last summer's Dixie fire in California, which burned nearly 1 million acres. With untreated forest areas that burned intensely, he said, crews put in thousands of miles of dozer line across the landscape, including in wilderness and riparian areas. Had more areas been treated with fuel thinning, he argued, firefighters may have had more  and less impactful  options. The 400,000-acre Bootleg fire in Oregon last year illustrated the efficacy of forest treatment, he said, when firefighters observed intense fire running through crowns of trees suddenly drop to the forest floor once the blaze reached areas where trees and ladder fuels had been thinned.

"We're not about fire prevention ... this is about wildfire risk reduction," he told the group, assembled in the burn scar of the 2016 Roaring Lion fire. "When you get into those suppression efforts, you have limited options."

Brown and other forest officials also said that forest management like the Bitterroot Front Project would make the forest more closely resemble what they described as its original, natural state before the advent of widespread logging and full-suppression firefighting. That human intervention, they said, transformed the forest from primarily spaced-out ponderosa pine of varying ages into a densely overgrown forest loaded with accumulated fuels after a century or so of missed wildfire.

Not everyone agreed that thinning forests would reduce wildfire intensity or enhance habitat. Some on the field trip argued that the phenomenon Brown cited in the Bootleg fire wasn't universal, and that many treated areas also burned intensely and resulted in stand replacement. Brown countered that although not all treated areas weathered fires without stand replacement, treated areas generally fared better than untreated forest.

In an opinion column published in the Missoulian in April, ecologist George Wuerthner wrote that "both the Dixie fire, which burned nearly a million acres, and the 400,000 acres plus Bootleg blaze in Oregon raced through forests where as much as 75% of the land had been 'treated' with active forest management  i.e., chainsaw medicine."

"When the agency claims it will reduce wildfire by logging, it ignores the best science that shows that active forest management INCREASES fire spread under extreme fire weather conditions," he wrote. "Why? Because when you open the forest through logging, it often promotes the regrowth of grasses, shrubs, and other fine fuels that sustain blazes. The lack of shade permits fine fuels to dry out, making them easy to ignite. Also, the open forest allows more wind penetration which favors fire spread."

Tom Partin, who represents Montana for the American Forest Resource Council, a trade association advocating for active forest management on federal lands, wrote in a Missoulian opinion column in early June that "if fuels reduction and thinnings arent done, there will be more devastating wildfires like we have seen during the last decade." Plus, he argued, the logging done as part of the thinning would help support the regional timber industry.

Jeff Darrah, executive director of the Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said after the field trip that thinning forests would improve habitat for elk and other large game: "We just want lands to be open to access and managed the best way we can for wildlife."

During the field trip, Bitterroot National Forest silviculturist Cheri Hartless, a specialist in managing forest growth, said that previously treated areas are "not lacking in moisture." Brown said that regeneration after recent burning in the area is already "like a carpet of ponderosa pine." Abbie Jossie, the Darby/Sula District ranger, said she wanted to "put to bed" the idea that the project would be "a mile of clear-cut" logging, and that it would rather be determined acre by acre.

But exactly what will be done on which acres is still unclear, and a new method of analyzing proposed projects means that it might be a while before the forest determines, or the public knows, what will be done where.

The Stevensville Ranger District is analyzing the proposed Bitterroot Front Project via an environmental assessment, or EA, under the National Environmental Protection Act. The forest is conducting the EA using "condition based analysis," a new approach to analyzing proposed actions that develops a set of approved actions to be implemented in areas where the forest meets certain criteria, rather than settling on specific actions for specific areas. Brown said he expects a draft EA to be released this fall.

The new approach to analyzing project proposals on public lands is under scrutiny from some locals and advocacy groups who say the process is light on site-specific analysis and public input. Unlike prior EAs, in conditions-based analysis the determinations of specific actions for specific locations takes place later in the project, in the implementation phase, once an EA has been signed. Surveys of specific sites are conducted in the implementation phase, rather than in the analysis phase of the EA. Critics of the process argue that the change prevents the public from seeing ahead of time, before an EA is finalized, what actions will be taken in what places, and what the impacts could be.

Forest Service officials counter that conditions-based analysis allows the agency to adapt a project to conditions that may change during the yearslong process of planning, approving and carrying out a project. Under a traditional EA, a specific action is approved for a particular area, such as mechanical thinning followed by prescribed burning of excess fuels in a densely forested area. For example, Brown said portions of densely forested land that were about to be thinned in the West Side Project instead were fully consumed by the Roaring Lion fire. That rendered the EA for the project, which specified thinning and burning for the area, irrelevant.

However, if the agency instead approves a menu of treatments for a spectrum of possible forest conditions, it can then apply the approved treatment to the forest based on the forest condition at the time of implementation. That flexibility, Brown said, allows the agency "to adapt to those changing conditions on the landscape." The end result is essentially a rubric that tells the agency: "When you find this condition, here are your treatment options."

"What we're talking about is not complex," Brown said, referring to the proposed fuels treatment and habitat restoration. "It's the same action over a large area." He added that "anything that we're going to do will be laid out in the EA before we sign the decision."

Critics of the approach, including Margaret Gorski of the Ravalli County Citizens Collaborative, expressed concern that a degree of transparency would be lost by withholding the determination of specific actions for specific sites from the EA. By performing specific site surveys and selections in the implementation phase, she said the public has less recourse to object to certain actions in certain places.

Tom Anderson, a local landowner who has lived in Canyon Creek for 28 years, said he was "very happy" with the Forest Service's approach and hoped to see the project advance and be implemented. Congress appropriated additional funding for forest treatment, he said, because it wanted to see work actually get done, rather than "studied to death."

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Vague policies and poor training due to high turnover resulted in more than $50,000 misspent from the state prison's inmate welfare fund, legislative auditors reported Tuesday.

The Montana Department of Corrections manages the inmate welfare fund, which sees revenues from the cost of telephone calls made by inmates and their purchases at canteens in prison facilities around the state. The funds can then be used for inmates and their families through an application process.

The total of questionable or inappropriate expenses from that fund presented to lawmakers on Tuesday was $51,297. The true total could be higher: state Legislative Audit Division took a narrow sample, 141 of 3,566 expenses from the inmate welfare fund from 2019 to 2021. However, Amber Robbins, an analyst supervisor with the audit office, told the Legislative Audit Committee these expenses were selected because they had the potential to be questionable.

"It was definitely a targeted sample," she said.

The audit largely chalked the misspending up to vague policies and inconsistent interpretation of those policies across different prison facilities. The inappropriate expenses, the audit states, leaves less money in the account to benefit inmates and creates equity issues, which in turn could result in higher costs to the state and local communities through higher recidivism rates.

Department of Corrections Director Brian Gootkin told lawmakers his office concurred with the audit's findings and policy changes were already underway. Natalie Smitham, the department's new chief financial officer, said the funds would be returned to the inmate welfare fund through the fiscal year end processes that will take place next month.

The audit found "most" expenses were appropriate, although several were "questionable" and a few others were clearly inappropriate. Inappropriate expenses included a washing machine and dryers ($1,992); hotel room for an employee transporting an inmate ($107); and an ice and water dispenser for the infirmary ($5,200).

Questionable expenses, in which policy was unclear on whether or not the state was responsible for the cost, included 13 computers and printers for inmates to access prison policy and legal research at a cost of $12,000. The audit states "it is well-established that adequate access to the courts for inmates is a state responsibility," although the welfare fund pays for a portion of monthly costs for access to legal reference materials.

Items for inmates who can't afford hygiene or legal supplies have also been paid for by the inmate welfare fund, another point the auditors listed as "questionable" and could fall under the state's responsibility. The audit sample found $9,450 in expenses on items for indigent inmates, although the department told auditors the estimated annual expense across all facilities is closer to $28,000.

The audit includes a response from the Department of Corrections, which states the department is not funded for indigent kits and will request funding from the Legislature in the 2023 session. Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, asked Gootkin Tuesday to clarify that the department will bear that cost whether the Legislature funds it or not.

"If it isn't funded through the Legislature than we have to reevaluate and look at our own budget," Gootkin assured him.

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The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled the state Constitution gives exclusive authority to regulate firearms on campus to the Board of Regents of Higher Education, thwarting the state Legislature's efforts to allow concealed carry on state campuses.

The high court ruling, authored by Justice Laurie McKinnon, affirms a District Court decision from late last year, in which Judge Michael McMahon issued a permanent injunction against sections of House Bill 102 that prohibited the Board of Regents from regulating concealed carry on campuses.

The high court ruled maintaining a safe and secure educational environment falls within the board's constitutional authority.

"The MUS appreciates the clarity provided by the Montana Supreme Court," Helen Thigpen, deputy commissioner for government relations and public affairs, said in an emailed statement Wednesday. "From the outset, the Board of Regents sought judicial review of HB 102 to determine the appropriate entity for setting policy for the state's public colleges and universities. The Board of Regents values its strong partnership with the Legislature and will continue to work on shared goals and priorities to strengthen the state's economy and provide world-class educational opportunities to Montanans."

Other parts of the bill that expand where both concealed and openly carried firearms may be possessed remain intact.

Republicans had lauded the bill on Second Amendment grounds, arguing the rollback of regulations allowed citizens to protect themselves. Still, legal experts gave lawmakers notice that such legislation may be at odds with the Montana Constitution. Republican lawmakers included $1 million in implementation funding that would be withdrawn by the Legislature if the Board of Regents decided to litigate over the matter.

A Board of Regents committee held a public hearing last year to consider pursuing litigation after Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, signed HB 102 into law. Supporters of the draft policy allowing guns on campus were outnumbered 11-to-1 by those opposed.

The bill has been under litigation since May 2021. It was supposed to go into effect the following month.

Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen represented the state in the case against the Board of Regents.

"House Bill 102 was an historic expansion of Montanans rights and their ability to defend themselves," Kyler Nerison, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office, said in a statement on Wednesday. "As the court notes in its opinion, being sheltered within a 'gun-free zone' hasnt prevented students from being murdered on university campuses in Montana."

In its ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court wrote it was following the framers' intent in its interpretation of the constitutional provision. Citing the 1972 Constitutional Convention debate over the board's authority, the Supreme Court wrote that the framers intended to put the Montana University System out of reach from political ambitions.

"We must also consider that Montana's Constitution is a prohibition upon legislative power, rather than a grant of power," the ruling stated. " We agree that HB 102 unconstitutionally infringes upon the Board's responsibility to oversee the (Montana University System)."

Justice Ingrid Gustafson recused herself from the Board of Regents case, although court filings naming Cascade County District Court Judge John Parker to her place do not indicate why. A call to Gustafson's office was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

McMahon, who initially ruled against HB 102's provisions relating to college campuses, received sharp criticism around the state from GOP leaders during his own bid for Gustafson's seat. McMahon was a distant third vote-getter in the primary earlier this month; Gustafson and Public Service Commission Chairman James Brown will advance to November's general election.

This story will be updated.

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As coronavirus cases rose in 2020 and overwhelmed the health care system, the number of patients seeking non-emergency treatments such as annual checkups and health screenings dropped. In April 2020, breast cancer screenings declined by 87% and cervical cancer screenings were down by 84% from the previous five-year averages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The pandemic not only took a toll on those who contracted COVID-19, but also exacerbated timely medical preventive treatment for those with other health conditions.

One studypublished in the October 2021 issue of Preventive Medicineexamined the impact of COVID-19 on screenings from the first half of 2020; it confirmed the decline in both cervical and breast cancer screening across geography, various ethnic and racial groups, and rurality. Results correlated with the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in spring 2020.

As recommended by the CDC, mammograms and Papanicolaou test screenings (also known as Pap smear tests) are vital tools in the fight against breast and cervical cancer. The guidelines recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) advise that women between the ages of 50 and 74 have a mammogram every two years. Additionally, screening for cervical cancer is recommended every three years for women ages 21 to 29. The USPSTF advises a Pap test every three years and/or HPV testing every five years for women ages 30 to 65.

However, as awareness grows about the importance of these detection tools, one thing standing in the way of women getting their recommended screenings is access to quality care. Health disparities are a major public health concern and can hinder cancer screening and treatment. Patients who lack insurance, arent able to travel to doctor visits, and face language or cultural barriers often have worse health outcomes. To save lives and meet desired screening targets, these gaps must be addressed to ensure quality health care access.

Citing data from the CDC, HealthMatch looked at screening rates for breast and cervical cancers in Montana and outlined the role of screenings in detecting early-stage cancers and improving survival outcomes. CDC reports this screening data is specific to women but does not detail whether the data categorizes people based on their gender identity or their sex assigned at birth.

Montana breast cancer screening rates

- Breast cancer screening rate in past 2 years, ages 50-74: 73.42%

--- #8 lowest among all states

--- 4.88% lower than national average

Montana cervical cancer screening rates

- Cervical cancer screening rate in past 3 years, ages 21-65: 75.05%

--- #10 lowest among all states

--- 3.25% lower than national average

Just ten states are meeting mammography screening goals. Healthy People 2020 was a national public health goal to increase the percentage of women who receive breast cancer screening by 2020. Women between the ages of 50 and 74 were advised to have a mammogram every two years. According to State Cancer Profiles, 78.3% of women were screened in the U.S. by 2020, a median percentage that fell short of the target goal of 81.1%.

There were, however, 10 states and territories that did meet the target goal (>81.1%): Maryland, Connecticut, Iowa, New York, Louisiana, Maine, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Healthy People 2030 continues to aim towards percentage point improvement. The target goal is to have 77.1% of women screened for breast cancer in all states in this decade.

States with the highest breast cancer screening rates

#1. Massachusetts: 86.66%

#2. Rhode Island: 84.81%

#3. Hawaii: 83.8%

#4. Maine: 82.88%

#5. Louisiana: 82.24%

States with the lowest breast cancer screening rates

#1. Wyoming: 65.77%

#2. Alaska: 70.09%

#3. Utah: 71.43%

#4. Idaho: 71.73%

#5. Oklahoma: 71.92%

No states meet Pap test screening goals. In 2019, 73.5% of women ages 21-65 were up-to-date with a cervical cancer screening. While this may look like a high percentage, it is important to note that this number has decreased sharply in the past 10 years. State Cancer Profilesan interactive map engine maintained by the CDC and National Cancer Instituteverifies that no states were able to meet the national target of having 93% screened by 2020.

Connecticut had the highest percentage of screenings recorded at 82.4%. The median value for the U.S. is just 77.9%. The national goal for this decade is to strategically increase the number of cervical cancer screenings based on the most recent guidelines by working with both patients and providers. The target is to have 84.3% of women screened for cervical cancer by 2030.

States with the highest cervical cancer screening rates

#1. Connecticut: 82.42%

#2. Mississippi: 82.39%

#3. North Carolina: 81.76%

#4. Kentucky: 80.75%

#5. South Dakota: 80.69%

States with the lowest cervical cancer screening rates

#1. Alaska: 69.17%

#2. Utah: 70.47%

#3. Idaho: 71.18%

#4. Illinois: 71.61%

#5. Wyoming: 72.37%

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On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Mississippi abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. The Court overruled Roe v. Wade, allowing the states to impose whatever abortion restrictions their legislatures can come up with.

Judges should be immune from partisan and sectarian pressures when deciding cases.

This is especially true when the case involves a womans right to make decisions about her own body and her private reproductive choices in consultation with her health care provider free from government interference. Before Dobbs, this medical model adopted in Roe had been acknowledged to be settled law by the men and women who have been appointed to the Supreme Court since Roe was handed down in 1973.

Notwithstanding, however, with Dobbs a majority of the Court has adopted conservative Republican and Catholic/Christian-right ideology condemning a womans right to choose. Worse, the Justices violated federal law in doing so. Heres why.

There are six Roman Catholics sitting on the Court: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor. Of these, Justice Sotomayor is considered a progressive, the other five being generally regarded as conservatives. (Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Stephen Breyers replacement, was not on the Court when Dobbs was argued).

Had they followed federal law, these six Catholic Justices  as well as the other three  should have never sat in deciding Dobbs.

Federal law, 28 U.S.C.  455, requires a federal judge or justice to recuse himself or herself (that is, to not participate in a case) where, for among other reasons, the judges impartiality might be questioned or for reasons of personal bias or prejudice.

The impartiality of the six Catholic Justices sitting on a case involving abortion is not even questionable. Indeed, every justice on the Court had previously expressed an opinion on abortion rights, for or against, so, to be fair, all nine (Justice Stephen Breyer included) should have recused themselves.

However, to the religion point, before being appointed to the federal bench in 2017, now Justice Barrett co-authored a law review article, "Catholic Judges in Capital Cases." 81 Marq. L. Rev. 303 (1997-1998). In her article, Barrett focused on 28 U.S.C.  455.

Barrett concluded that because the Catholic Church condemns practices whose point is taking life, for example, in death penalty cases: Judges cannot  nor should they try to  align our legal system with the Churchs moral teaching whenever the two diverge. They should, however, conform their own behavior to the Churchs standard. [W]e believe that Catholic judges (if they are faithful to the teaching of their church) are morally precluded from enforcing the death penalty. This means that they can neither themselves sentence criminals to death nor enforce jury recommendations of death. Accordingly, the moral impossibility of enforcing capital punishment requires recusal under the federal statute. However, Ms. Barretts law review article concedes that the churchs [death penalty] teaching requires a few qualifications.

That said, she recognized no such qualifications when it comes to abortion. Indeed, she stated [t]he [Churchs] prohibitions against abortion . . . are absolute; those against . . . capital punishment are not . . . abortion take(s) away innocent life.

Thus, the Catholic Churchs absolute condemnation of abortion make it morally impossible for Catholic Justices to fairly and impartially decide any abortion case. Catholic Justice are morally precluded from upholding an abortion case, and would have to conform their own behavior to the [Catholic] Churchs standard. In short, the dictates of their faith require a Catholic Justice to have a per se personal bias against any abortion case.

Notwithstanding, in violation of the clear requirements of the federal recusal statute, all six Catholic Justices participated in and decided Dobbs. These Catholic Justices did not decide the case impartially, according to settled law and precedent. Rather the majority conformed their decision to the sectarian doctrines of the Catholic Church  and incidentally to ideological platform of the Republican Party.

Indeed, on Sept. 12, 2021, in an ultimate display of hypocrisy, Justice Barrett sanctimoniously proclaimed that judges must be hyper vigilant to make sure that theyre not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people too. And that the Court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks.

That hogwash notwithstanding, in Dobbs, politics and religion won and women lost a fundamental right at the hands of  sorry, Justice Barrett  a bunch of partisan hacks.

Women are the victims of Justices who had no business sitting on the case: the hypocrites on the United States Supreme Court.

James C. Nelson of Helena is a retired Montana Supreme Court justice.

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NEWLAND  A community is mourning the loss of a man they say is a hero and a woman who was loved by all who knew her after a shooting claimed their lives Monday afternoon.

The domestic-related shooting on Rhododendron Run in Newland claimed the lives of three people, including 56-year-old Polly Ann Keller, 32-year-old Jeremy Dean Clark and 33-year-old Anthony Simon Franklin, according to information previously released by the Burke County Sheriffs Office.

Information released by authorities left some blanks in how the tragedy unfolded, but court documents filed at the Avery County Courthouse indicated one of Kellers daughters had sought an emergency protective order against Franklin in April, but withdrew it the same day.

A Facebook post from The Ridge Christian Church in Elk Park, where Keller attended services, called Clark a hero.

Please join us in covering (Kellers) daughters and family in prayer, the Facebook post from The Ridge Christian Church said about Keller. The family would like to recognize, Jeremy Clark, for his heroism. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this tragedy.

The News Herald spoke to Wanda Ledbetter, Clarks mother, who said it was her understanding Franklin had shot Keller, then her son shot Franklin. Clark was dating Kellers daughter, who had filed and withdrawn the protective order against Franklin, Ledbetter said.

She said Clark loved his girlfriend and her daughter, with all his heart.

He was a very loving person, Ledbetter said. He would do anything for anybody.

Teriann Stapleton, who had been friends with Keller for about 17 years, said Keller was one of a kind. Stapleton, a cosmetologist, said she and Keller were introduced by one of Kellers daughters when she was looking to get her hair done.

She was fierce and fiery, but gentle all at the same time, Stapleton. She loved her family and her late husband, who just passed away in December, barely six months ago, more than anyone could love anything.

Keller had a landscaping business, and Stapleton said she could make anything absolutely gleam with beauty.

She always had a smile and a way of looking at the bright side anytime you came to her for advice, Stapleton said. Her strength throughout her life, as long as I had known her, has been a beautiful thing to witness, and Im so glad that she was able to be a part of my journey in my life.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced. A GoFund Me has been started to help cover funeral arrangements for Clark. Visit www.gofundme.com/f/jeremy-gerb-clarks-family for more information.

Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Follow @cmurphyMNH on Twitter.

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UNC Health Blue Ridge held a groundbreaking ceremony to officially launch its $118 million expansion in Morganton.

Hospital and community leaders gathered to celebrate the milestone on Tuesday, June 28. When completed, the expansion will add a six-story, 220,500-square-foot tower to the campus which will house an expanded emergency department, 30 new critical care beds and a rooftop helipad.

The expansion is part of a larger, $156 million, system-wide expansion called Project Forward that includes a 34,772-square-foot cancer center in Valdese in addition to the new tower on the Morganton campus. COO and Senior Vice President Jon Mercer called the campaign the largest growth in our hospital that any of us have ever seen.

During the groundbreaking event, hospital executives emphasized the importance of paying tribute to the past while also looking forward to and planning for future needs.

We are deeply grateful for everyone involved who brought us to this day for their years of leadership to guide and extend our healing ministry, said Chaplain Francisco Risso.

You may not recognize how this hospital looks in the next decade or so but be assured that it will remain true to the legacy set forth by the founders and the others who have come before us, said President and CEO Kathy Bailey.

Bailey said the new expansion will offer more advanced technology and efficiencies for the care team, as well as increased comfort and convenience for patients and families bringing the hospital one step closer to being designated as this regions trauma center.

This project is ambitious and it is advanced for this area, she said. It shows that we are moving forward and that we are committed to providing the very best in healthcare for this region.

Michael Bridges, UNC Health Blue Ridge Board of Directors chairman, told the audience the new expansion will help the hospital move forward toward its goal to become the best community healthcare system in the country.

Our community looks to UNC Healthcare for high quality care, for the expertise of the care teams and for the advanced technology we represent, he said.

According to hospital administrators, only three of the buildings six floors will be occupied when it opens with the other three being shell floors flexible for future expansion.

Medical Staff President Dr. Andrew Brant said he looks at the new tower as a symbol of Blue Ridge Healthcares commitment to the community.

It shows that our system ... has the vision to anticipate the future need to expand services, recognize that medical technology is always improving and patients and doctors are always going to have new needs, he said. Well have that space ready for them when the time comes.

Bailey said the new construction will not only create an expanded hospital but a more patient-focused hospital.

For instance, the critical care rooms are nearly double the size of those we have today, she said. And instead of one nursing station the controls the entire ICU, well have one nursing station between every two rooms so the care team can more effectively view their patients.

Hospital executives emphasized the importance of the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and said many of those lessons were incorporated into the design of the new tower.

We have not forgotten the lessons we have learned during this pandemic and our new building reflects that, said Chief Nurse Executive and Vice President Barry Nelson.

Nelson said that currently, the hospital has two ICU isolation rooms, but the new building will add 10 isolation rooms as well as the space to build a negative pressure wing if possible future pandemics make it necessary.

Morganton Mayor Ronnie Thompson praised the hospital and its partnership with the city of Morganton.

Weve been blessed by the caring doctors, nurses and other care team members throughout the years, he said. And weve been blessed to have hospital leadership who take the stewardship as seriously as these leaders do.

Jason Koon is a staff writer and can be reached at jkoon@morganton.com.
BERLIN (AP)  A 101-year-old man was convicted in Germany of more than 3,500 counts of accessory to murder on Tuesday for serving at the Nazis' Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.

The Neuruppin Regional Court sentenced him to five years in prison.

The man, who was identified by local media as Josef S., had denied working as an SS guard at the camp and aiding and abetting the murder of thousands of prisoners.

In the trial, which opened in October, the centenarian said that he had worked as a farm laborer near Pasewalk in northeastern Germany during the period in question.

However, the court considered it proven that he worked at the camp on the outskirts of Berlin between 1942 and 1945 as an enlisted member of the Nazi Party's paramilitary wing, the German news agency dpa reported.

"The court has come to the conclusion that, contrary to what you claim, you worked in the concentration camp as a guard for about three years," presiding Judge Udo Lechtermann said, according to dpa. He added that, in doing so, the defendant had assisted in the Nazis' terror and murder mechanism.

"You willingly supported this mass extermination with your activity," Lechtermann said. "You watched deported people being cruelly tortured and murdered there every day for three years."

Prosecutors had based their case on documents relating to an SS guard with the man's name, date and place of birth, as well as other documents.

The five-year prison sentence was in line with the prosecution's demand.

The defendant's lawyer had sought an acquittal. Defense attorney Stefan Waterkamp said after the pronouncement of the sentence that he would appeal the verdict, dpa reported.

Germany's leading Jewish group welcomed the ruling.

"Even if the defendant will probably not serve the full prison sentence due to his advanced age, the verdict is to be welcomed," said Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

"The thousands of people who worked in the concentration camps kept the murder machinery running. They were part of the system, so they should take responsibility for it," Schuster added. "It is bitter that the defendant has denied his activities at that time until the end and has shown no remorse."

For practical reasons, the trial was held in a gymnasium in Brandenburg/Havel, the 101-year-old's place of residence. The man was only fit to stand trial to a limited extent and was only able to participate in the trial for about two and a half hours each day. The process was interrupted several times for health reasons and hospital stays.

Efraim Zuroff, the head Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's office in Jerusalem, told The Associated Press that the sentence "sends a message that if you commit such crimes, even decades later, you might be brought to justice."

"And it's a very important thing because it gives closure to the relatives of the victims," Zuroff added. "The fact that these people all of a sudden feel that their loss is being addressed and the suffering of their family who they lost in the camps is being addressed ... is a very important thing."

However, Zuroff expressed concern that S. might serve only part of the sentence or none at all because of his planned appeal and his advanced age.

Sachsenhausen was established in 1936 just north of Berlin as the first new site after Adolf Hitler gave the SS full control of the Nazi concentration camp system. It was intended to be a model facility and training camp for the labyrinthine network that the Nazis built across Germany, Austria and occupied territories.

More than 200,000 people were held there between 1936 and 1945. Tens of thousands of inmates died of starvation, disease, forced labor and other causes, as well as through medical experiments and systematic SS extermination operations including shootings, hangings and gassing.

Exact numbers on those killed vary, with upper estimates of some 100,000, though scholars suggest figures of 40,000 to 50,000 are likely more accurate.
Mountain meadows burst with blue. Hillsides teem with yellow. Delicate petals of Montanas state flower grace gravelly slopes.

Southwest Montanas native plants appear to be abundantly blooming this summer.

Yes, this year really seems to be quite special for native plants, said Robert Pal, an associate professor of biology at Montana Technological University and vice president of the board for the Montana Native Plant Society.

I am sure it is due to the unusually wet spring. And previous dry period, he said.

Jessie Salix, forest botanist for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, offered a similar take.

I think especially after such a dry year last year, we are going ooh and aah, she said. Its looking like a pretty awesome year.

Salix said fields of what turned out to be camas caught her eye recently from a distance.

I was driving along the Big Hole and thought, What is that blue out there? she said.

Chiara Cipriano, a spokeswoman for the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, said the spring weather has certainly been favorable for the flower-covered mountain sides.

Cipriano added, Folks traveling through the recent Rodney Ridge prescribed burn outside Helena will also notice a proliferation of the arrowleaf balsamroot.

Botanist and plant ecologist Peter Lesica, co-chairman of the Montana Native Plant Societys conservation committee, deferred to Pals expertise about the region near Butte, Anaconda and Deer Lodge.

Lesica said the relative abundance of native plants in Montana and the emergence of their blooms can vary year to year, depending on precipitation and a host of other factors.

He lives near Mount Jumbo in Missoula and said the native plants there typically bloom sooner than plants in places like Anaconda and Butte.

Things depend a lot on where in the state you are, Lesica said. I recently worked in the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge south of Glasgow, and it was green, but the blooming was late.

In fact I think that things were at least somewhat late most places I've been, Lesica added. Here in Missoula it was drier than average in March through May, but June has been wet. Early blooming things were not very impressive, but many plants that usually bloom in June have been quite abundant.

He said Monday that he and Pal had recently returned from the Libby area, where the wildflowers were abundant.

Wildflower devotees sometimes embrace native plants with spiritual fervor. Did a divine being scatter their concentrated beauty across the Montana landscape to help human beings endure all that is ugly about life?

Other wildflower aficionados adopt a more scientific approach, one that focuses on evolutionary adaptations meant to attract pollinators. They talk about the wavelengths of light that yield color.

Of course, Albert Einstein suggested repeatedly that science and spirituality need not be mutually exclusive.

What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility, Einstein said. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.

Scientists say that the bright and stunning colors of wildflowers did not evolve to please human eyes. Instead, flowers perfected their colors over millions of years to attract pollinators and support the plants reproductive success.

Not everyone reacts to wildflowers with reverence.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, two adults whose pickup truck sported Wyoming plates were spotted along the Mill Creek Highway feverishly picking camas flowers.

The Forest Service cites a host of reasons why picking or digging up wildflowers is wrong. (The agencys entreaties against disturbing wildflowers dont mention karma.)

Almost all wildflowers are fragile and many wilt and perish soon after being picked, the agency says. We dont often realize it, but wildflowers support entire ecosystems for pollinators, birds and small mammals on a micro scale. Butterflies and other insects, small birds, and animals depend on seeds, nectar and pollen for their food supply and life support system.

Native Americans favored the roots of the arrowleaf balsamroot, the camas and the bitterroot, among other native plants.

The U.S. Forest Service reports that nearly all parts of the arrowleaf balsamroot were used as food by various Native American groups.

The roots may be baked or steamed and eaten, as well as the young shoots, the Forest Service observes. The immature flower stems could be peeled and eaten, the flowers themselves are good browse for wildlife. Balsamroot seeds are nutritious and oil-rich, another good source of food.

Native American tribes considered the bulb-like roots of the common camas to be a delicacy.

Bulbs would be steamed or pit cooked for one to three days, breaking down complex carbohydrates into ample amounts of the sugar fructose, the Forest Service observes.

The Lewis and Clark expeditions introduction by the Nez Perce in 1805 to a bread made from camas roots did not go well. The men were sick for days, according to expedition journals.

The Forest Service reports that bitterroot is a culturally significant plant for several Native American tribes in the West, including the Kootenai, the Nez Perce, the Paiute, the Shoshone and others.

Traditionally, the roots were gathered, dried for storage, and used for food or trade, the Forest Service observes. The root is bitter, so it was cooked and often mixed with meat or berries.

The bitterroot is Montanas state flower and can arrest the eye because it sometimes appears to have dropped into place from the sky.

The U.S. Forest Service describes a host of places in the region that can yield quality time with wildflowers. They include Vipond Park near Dewey, the Gravelly Range and the Elkhorn Wildlife Management Unit.

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Unusual graffiti

KILA was spray painted on the backside of the old Herbergers Department Store at the Butte Plaza Mall, 3100 Harrison Ave. The graffiti was discovered late Monday afternoon.

It is not certain what the artist was trying to advertise here. Kila is the name of a Montana town located near Flathead Lake. Its also the name of an Irish folk music band that formed in 1987. Its the name of a village in Iran, and theres another Kila in Sweden.

Throwing firecrackers

It was reported at around 9 p.m. Monday night that some kids were throwing firecrackers at vehicles near the intersection of Casey and Gaylord.

An officer told an adult at the scene not to buy any more firecrackers for the kids.

Deliberate act

Last Friday afternoon, someone deliberately slammed their door repeatedly into another cars front door while it was parked at MacKenzie River Pizza, 3540 Monroe Ave.

The owner of the damaged car thought the other driver may have been upset because she parked too close to the other vehicle.

More recent crimes

A wallet and a 9mm pistol was taken from a vehicle in the 100 block of East Broadway Street.

Three rifles and a shotgun were discovered missing from a storage unit located on 5 Mile Road.

A window of a home in the 700 block of Nevada Avenue was found broken.

A bicycle was stolen from a garage in the 1900 block of Argyle Street. The woman told an officer she had her garage opened while working in her yard.

A man reportedly was hit in the head with a board while patronizing The Dublin, 20 S. Montana St. The case is under investigation.

A woman living in the 1700 block of Hancock Avenue had some friends visiting at her home. When everyone left, she noticed there was some money missing, but is not sure which friend took it.

A storage unit in the 1100 block of Hayes was broken into. Stolen items included a shotgun, a rifle and a small ATM machine.

An intoxicated man was causing a disturbance at the Oasis Casino, but when officers arrived, he had left the building.

A man driving a Mercedes Benz SUV reportedly shot a window with a pellet gun in the 300 block of West Quartz Street.

A would-be burglar attempted to break into a home in the 2100 block of Meadowlark Lane. While not successful, the door was severely damaged.

A vehicles gas tank was punctured while parked in the 2900 block of Elm Street.

A bucket of sewage was left in the alley in the 600 block of West Quartz Street.

A dumpster fire was put out by Butte firefighters at Copper Mountain Park.

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As a lifelong angler and hunter, fifth generation Montanan, and immediate past chairman of Montanas Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission I can assure you that the wildlife in Montana and our nation are facing an unprecedented crisis. Nationwide, one-third of wildlife species are at heightened risk of extinction. Here in Montana, our wildlife agency has identified 47 species at critical need of conservation. Ive seen first-hand the decline of frogs, terns, and sharp-tailed grouse in the central and eastern parts of Montana.

The primary reason for these population declines is habitat loss. This loss of habitat is no secret to any of us who have been out on our public lands and waters recently. Drought, wildfires, impacts from climate change, and human development have degraded habitat and disrupted wildlife migration. The National Wildlife Federation recently released a report that showed that game species lost 6.5 million acres of vital habitat over the last two decades. This report squares completely with what I learned about loss of habitat in my 12 years serving as a Commissioner. This habitat loss has serious implications for all of us who enjoy Montanas storied wildlife heritage.

Fortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives just approved a bipartisan bill that would give state and Tribal wildlife agencies the funding they need to restore wildlife habitat so that wildlife can survive and thrive. Its called the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act and it will give $1.3 billion to state fish and wildlife agencies to implement congressionally-mandated wildlife action plans. These plans use the best available science, along with public input, to ensure that our wildlife recover and survive.

There are other common-sense economic reasons to support this legislation. Improving wildlife populations before a species becomes endangered and has to undergo a costly Endangered Species Act listing saves us all money. Reversing declining populations of pollinators can provide priceless benefits to Americas farmers. Restoring grassland and forest habitat can help safeguard drinking water supplies and make communities more resilient to drought. And helping fish, big game, and other wildlife species recover can expand opportunities for hunting, fishing, bird watching, and other outdoor recreation. Montanas outdoor recreation economy generates $7 billion in consumer spending and almost $300 million in state and local taxes.

Apart from the profound economic benefits to recovering our wildlife populations, its the right thing to do, and the right time to do it. All Americans are yearning for a functional and cooperative Congress, especially on issues that unite us. As Montanans, we are defined by our sweeping landscapes, blue-ribbon trout streams, our iconic wildlife and our Western way of life. All of that is at risk when our wildlife is at risk.

Conservation of wildlife unites all of us, from all walks of life and all political backgrounds. The Recovering Americas Wildlife Act is the best chance we have to win the race against the wildlife crisis. The U.S. Senate is expected to take up this legislation later this summer. I hope that Sen. Daines will join Sen. Tester and 16 Republican colleagues in supporting this historic legislation. The Recovering Americas Wildlife Act will conserve Montanas wildlife, restore our lands and waters, and safeguard our sporting traditions so they can survive and thrive for future generations.

Shane Colton is a Billings attorney, an avid outdoorsman and immediate past chair of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.

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WAPELLO  Following up on its June 14 meeting, the Louisa County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to remove Louisa County Conservation Board Chair Sam Willson of Wapello from his position on the LCCB.

The supervisors, who had discussed removing Willson at their June 14 meeting but then tabled action, cited false allegations that constitute malfeasance as the grounds for Willsons removal.

The decision followed a 90-minute closed meeting.

Louisa County Attorney Adam Parson, who attended the closed session along with Louisa County Human Resources Consultant Paul Greufe, said the specific false allegations would be explained in the formal written removal order the board of supervisors would issue to Willson.

County officials indicated they were unsure when the written order would be issued. Parsons said there was no time requirement, and County Auditor Sandi Sturgell, who serves as the board secretary, said she would be out of the office for the rest of the week.

Parsons said once the written order was delivered to Willson, he would have 30 days to file an appeal of his dismissal with the board of supervisors and request a hearing.

According to a recording of their June 14 meeting, the supervisors were apparently upset with a comment Willson posted on the WQAD-TV Facebook site that featured discussions on the possible sale of Baird Timber.

The sale had been discussed by the LCCB at earlier meetings that had attracted 30-50 people. Although the LCCB unanimously agreed at its June 6 meeting to keep the 18.5-acre area east of Morning Sun, the discussion on the sale had continued on social media.

Reading from a copy of the posts during the June 14 meeting, Supervisor Randy Griffin focused in on one comment that Willson posted as a reply to a post from another individual.

In the initial post, the person asked, Isnt the conservation board supposed to preserve? which prompted another individual to reply, Yes, but when the county supervisors can (appoint) members to the (LCCB), believing in conservation doesnt seem to be a requirement to sit on the conservation board.

Willson then responded with, They are supposed to, but when the board is corrupted, it runs astray.

Griffin said he was offended by that response, especially the use of corrupted.

Its a pretty serious word. Look it up in the dictionary. It talks about being on the take; it talks about doing something for a monetary issue. Thats a pretty severe word to be used and this is the chairman of the (LCCB), he said.

Shortly afterward, Supervisor Chris Ball moved to removed Willson from the board, and Griffin seconded the motion.

However, Parsons suggested the board delay that action and schedule a closed meeting, which eventually was set as part of the regular June 21 meeting.

Following Tuesdays vote, none of the supervisors would comment on the decision.

In the meantime, Willson said he had not made any decision on an appeal but viewed the supervisors action as a power play.

I think the Board of Supervisors want full and total control of boards that are supposed to have a little bit of independent thinking and values, he said when contacted after the meeting.

In other action, the supervisors:

 Met with several department heads for their regular departmental updates.

 Signed resolutions dealing with appropriation changes in the General Assistance budget and a trail cost-sharing with Columbus Junction.

 Approved a historical preservation consultants contract for the Fairview Church.

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MUSCATINE  Sometimes the most important skills people can have are ones they rarely use. For as rare as worst-case scenarios are, the members of the Muscatine Fire Department know the key to making it through them is to be as prepared as possible.

Earlier this month, six Muscatine firefighters, alongside firefighters from Davenport and the Rock Island Arsenal, attended a 40-hour rescue class hosted by the Davenport Fire Department and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). This class was specifically focused to learn how to navigate and properly rescue citizens from confined spaces.

With several businesses within Muscatine featuring confined spaces, Fire Chief Jerry Ewers and Battalion Chief Darrell Janssen of the Muscatine Fire Department felt having the departments members attend the rescue class was of utmost importance.

These types of classes dont come around locally in the area very often, so we saw it as a good opportunity, Janssen said.

The six firefighters who volunteered to attend the five-day, 40-hour class were Acting Lt. Spencer Rippenger, Reece Hall, Ben Barrett, Kyle Davis, Colton Pauls and Michael Fleming.

(These firefighters) have not really had much of this training before, not to this extent anyway, so they volunteered to take the course, Janssen said.

Through the class, firefighters were taught about various hazards within confined spaces, including those that may involve additional energy sources or machinery that require utilizing a lockout/tagout. Firefighters also learned how to monitor air while traversing through confined spaces and ventilation that can be done within confined spaces.

As for the rescue portion of the class, firefighters learned about various rope rescue techniques using what is known as a mechanical advantage system, which involves a series of ropes, pulleys, anchors and carabiners. Ladders as well as SCBAs (self-contained breathing apparatus) and SAR units (supplied air respirators) were also utilized during the training simulations.

We all had a great time, got a lot of hands-on experience and learned a lot of new skills, Rippenger said in a public statement.

Following the course, all participating firefighters were required to test out of the course, showing what they learned and their overall proficiency with certain skills before being given certification at the pro-board level.

With the six firefighters that attended the class, theyll come back and share the information that they learned by training and showing those techniques to the other firefighters on duty, Janssen said. Were fortunate to have quite a few members that are trained in confined-space rescue.

Ewers said both he and the rest of the Muscatine Fire Department were grateful for the free training opportunity offered by the Davenport Fire Department.

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MUSCATINE  The family of local teacher and former Muscatine mayor Jeanette Phillips shared that on Sunday, June 26, Phillips died at her home at age 85.

Though her primary career was being an educator students in Muscatine and all across Iowa, Phillips was involved with several other local organizations such as the Judicial Magistrate Commission and Property Adjustments Board, the Durant Unity Club, the Ladies of the Moose Lodge, Crossroads Inc.s Board of Directors, the Muscatine Hospital Auxiliary and many more.

One of Phillips most notable accomplishments, however, was the time she spent being part of Muscatines City Council. She served during two different time periods, from 1985 to 1993 and from 2012 to 2015. In-between these times on the council, Phillips served a single two-year term as Muscatines mayor from 1993 to 1995.

(Phillips) was very pleasant, A.J. Johnson, former Muscatine City Administrator said. She was engaged and did her homework as far as being prepared for when we had items on the council agenda. She was just someone on the council that was very pragmatic, very level-headed and just someone who always wanted to do the right thing on behalf of the residents that she served.

Johnson also said he felt that she was always a great supporter of himself as well as the city staff during project. He also admired and appreciated Phillips for being a woman on the City Council during a time where most of its members were men.

When she served as mayor, the city was right at the beginning of its riverfront rehabilitation project, which was focused on turning the area into a more recreational space. As mayor, she represented the project and support city staff in its efforts to reclaim the riverfront, which was a railroad switching yard at the time.

She was extremely supportive and helped promote that project. She also had a certain poise to her as far as being mayor, having certain protocols at meetings, Johnson continued, adding that he considered her someone who was both a professional and someone who was very pleasant to deal with, as well as someone who served with dignity and purpose.

She was a very good councilperson who was open to discussion, and I think she was well respected by staff and the public, Nancy Luecks, another person who worked with Phillips while she was on the council, said. When it came to being an advocate, Luecks said she felt that Phillips had a passion for it that partially came from her experience as a teacher.

Outside of City Hall, another group that Phillips was greatly involved in was Muscatine Sister-Cities. In 1990, she traveled to Russias Kislovodsk to visit one of its schools for the first sister-schools exchange between it and Muscatine High School. She would travel to Russia again in 1994 to attend a conference in Moscow. Videos of her time in Russia have since been shared on the Muscatine Sister Cities Inc. Facebook page. Phillips also made the effort to host others when they came to the US.

Being someone who joined her on these trips, Jean Clark and her husband, Dan, both said they felt that Phillips, encompassed the values of Sister Cities, which depends on volunteers who are willing to host others from another country  something Jean felt Phillips did wonderfully, in that she was able to make her guests feel welcomed and right at home.

(Phillips) was always a gracious hostess, willing to not only keep people but show them around, Jean said. She loved Muscatine and was proud of it, always talking it up. She also had a very generous spirit and was always willing to host people and do things for them.

Alongside all the people that she has touched through her professional work, Phillips will live on through her living family as well as through the established Jeanette Phillips Scholarship Fund, which is currently accepting memorial donations in lieu of flowers. A visitation will be held for Phillips at the Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home on June 30 from 4 to 7 p.m. Online condolences can be made at www.wittichfuneralhome.com.

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1/6 hearings fuel the question: Did Trump commit a crime?

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House Jan. 6 committee has now heard dramatic testimony from former White House aides and others about Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It's also heard of his encouragement to supporters before they marched to the Capitol and violently broke in. But its still far from clear whether any of Trumps actions were criminal, or whether he will be charged. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided explosive testimony to the committee that opened up new legal issues about Trumps role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection  including testimony that he knew protesters were armed and he wanted to go to the Capitol with them.

R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in sex trafficking case

NEW YORK (AP)  R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to systematic sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year at a trial that gave voice to accusers who had once wondered if their stories were ignored because they were Black women. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence at a courthouse in Brooklyn. The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who is 55. He remained adored by legions of fans even after allegations about his abuse of young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.

Lone surviving attacker in Paris massacre guilty of murder

PARIS (AP)  The only surviving attacker from the 2015 terrorist massacre at the Bataclan theater and other sites in Paris has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. That is the most severe sentence possible in France, and very rare. Salah Abdeslam was the chief suspect in an exceptional trial over the attacks, which killed 130 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group. The judge in a special terrorism court found him guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise. The court found that his explosives vest malfunctioned, dismissing his argument that he ditched the vest because he decided not to follow through with his attack.

Dictator's son Marcos Jr taking oath as Philippine president

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is to be sworn in as president of the Philippines on Thursday 36 years after an army-backed People Power revolt booted his father to global infamy. Marcos Jr.'s rise to power is one of the greatest political comebacks in recent history, but opponents say it was pulled off by whitewashing his familys image. A public holiday, monuments and the Philippine Constitution are reminders of his fathers tyrannical rule. Activists and survivors of the martial law-era under his father plan protests timed to Marcos Jr.s inauguration at noon. Historical baggage and antagonism stand to hound Marcos Jr. during a six-year presidency beginning at a time of intense crises.

Jan. 6 panel subpoenas counsel who resisted Trump schemes

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has issued a subpoena to former White House counsel Pat Cipollone. His reported resistance to Donald Trumps schemes to overturn his 2020 election defeat has made him a long-sought and potentially revelatory witness. Cipollone is said to have stridently and repeatedly warned the former president and his allies against their efforts to challenge the election. The subpoena issued Wednesday is the first action from the committee since the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Her gripping account of what she saw and heard has raised new questions about whether Trump or some of his allies could face criminal liability.

Mexican migrant in Texas tragedy hoped to reach kin in Ohio

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Two cousins from a remote community in southern Mexico were among the 67 people packed into a tractor-trailer and abandoned under the sweltering Texas sun. Francisco Lopez Hernandez said Wednesday that his cousin Javier Flores Lopez went back home to Cerro Verde to see his wife and three children before departing for the U.S.-Mexico border with another cousin, Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman. Vasquez Guzman was among the few rescued from the tragedy that has left at least 53 people dead. Flores Lopez is unaccounted for, according to his family. Both men were from Cerro Verde, a remote community in Oaxaca state with a long history of people migrating to the United States.

Russians fight to encircle Ukraine's last eastern stronghold

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces are battling to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock still reverberates from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 people. Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement. The U.S. director of national intelligence said Wednesday the most likely scenario is a grinding struggle in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall. Meanwhile, search teams and relatives raced to find people missing in the wreckage of the Amstor shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk.

Louisiana AG warns doctors against performing abortions

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Arizonas Republican attorney general says a total ban on abortions that has been on the books since before statehood can be enforced. Attorney General Mark Brnovich's decision puts him at odds with GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, who says a 15-week abortion ban he signed in March takes precedence. Also Wednesday, Louisianas attorney general is warning doctors against performing abortions, despite a judges order blocking the state from enforcing its ban on the procedure. Attorney General Jeff Landry said that the state judges Monday order blocking enforcement has limited reach and that abortion remains a crime in Louisiana after Fridays Supreme Court decision ending abortion rights. That decision has prompted legal fights in multiple states.

Most say nation on wrong track, including Dems: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP)  A new poll shows an overwhelming and growing majority of Americans say the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction, including nearly 8 in 10 Democrats. The poll, by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, finds that deep pessimism about the economy continues to plague President Joe Biden. Eighty-five percent of U.S. adults polled say the country is on the wrong track. Seventy-nine percent describe the economy as poor. The findings suggest Biden faces fundamental challenges as he tries to motivate voters to cast ballots for Democrats in Novembers midterm elections. The poll shows only 39% of Americans approve of Bidens leadership overall, while 60% disapprove.

EXPLAINER: Abortion landscape under state 'heartbeat' laws

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Laws banning most abortions at the point of the first detectable heartbeat"are beginning to take effect following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. Court actions in states including Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have revived laws stalled under Roe and left some abortion seekers and clinics scrambling. Generally, abortion is still legal in states under such laws until six to eight weeks into pregnancy. Clinics, abortion rights and some faith groups are mobilizing to help women beyond that point get abortions elsewhere. Some abortion foes also are providing family-related resources online.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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RICHMOND, Va.  Police are investigating the death of an 18-month-old boy who died Tuesday after being left unattended in a vehicle for several hours. The boys father later committed suicide, Chesterfield County police said.

Its just a tragedy on so many levels, said police Lt. Col. Christopher Hensley. Our hearts go out to the family and friends that are going to deal with this.

Officers began their investigation at 11:42 a.m. after receiving reports of a child being left in a family vehicle.

Hensley said police were in contact with the childs mother and relatives who said the boy may be in danger after they learned he had not been dropped off at day care. The family indicated to police that the boys father was making suicidal statements, police said.

Police were told the vehicle may be located at the fathers home in the 14100 block of Aldengate Road.

Other people contacted us [and said] we needed to respond to that address, to check on his welfare, and thats when things unfolded, said Hensley

Officers discovered the vehicle, but nothing was inside except an empty car seat, Hensley said.

Police then entered the home, where they found the 18-month-old boy dead. The boys father was discovered shortly after in the woods behind the house with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Hensley said police believe the father left the child in the vehicle for several hours before discovering the boy was dead. When he discovered the child, he returned home, took the child inside, exited his home and shot himself, police said.

Authorities have not released the identities of the father and son.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (804) 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at (804) 748-0660.

And for additional information on suicide prevention, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text HELLO to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

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When it comes to rights, the U.S. giveth, and the U.S. taketh away.

The erosion of a womans bodily autonomy by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling Friday is not the first time the high court, and the nation, contracted a right after expanding it. For many of us, our rights arent a given. Same as it ever was.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said the quiet part out loud in his concurring opinion. Having curtailed abortion rights, Thomas wrote that in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents, including the right to contraception, same-sex intimate relationships and same-sex marriage.

Could LGBTQ rights now be in the crosshairs of the court?

Well, the short answer is yes, said Ravi Perry, chair of the political science department at Howard University. In a democratic republic, rights are not sacrosanct in a way that they cant be overturned.

And then, Perry, formerly of Virginia Commonwealth University, ticked off a list of cases in which the nation took a step forward, then a step backward.

On March 9, 1841, the Supreme Court ruled that the Africans who had mutinied aboard the Spanish schooner Amistad had been illegally enslaved and had a right to fight to be free. But a mere 16 years later, in the case of Dred Scott, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote in his majority opinion that the enslaved Black man suing for his freedom had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment affirmed citizenship and equal protection under the law for Black Americans. But the 1877 compromise between deadlocked presidential candidates Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden resulted in a Hayes victory, on the condition that he pull federal troops from the South. This politically expedient sellout of Black citizens signaled the end of Reconstruction and a new reign of terror in the South and presaged the Supreme Courts 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision upholding the constitutionality of separate but equal segregation by race.

Every 15 years, the status of Black people changed according to the Supreme Court, Perry said. Our rights are as firm as the people who vote to protect them.

All these years later, you can detect the lingering stench of the Scott and Plessy decisions, which have not aged well in the dustbin of history. The Dobbs ruling will soon have the same putrid smell. Our nation of laws looks more like a partisan theocracy.

Today, the Supreme Court is dominated by so-called originalists who ardently view the Constitution as frozen in a time in which women, Indigenous people and Black people were subordinate to the framers. Rulings like Dobbs suggest that they still are.

The backsliding of the 19th century continues in the 21st. The Supreme Court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act in its 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision eliminating the pre-clearance requirement for jurisdictions with a history of voter suppression. Chief Justice John Roberts blithely cited racial progress since the establishment of the Voting Rights Act as reason to water it down  a bit of strange logic that would have him tossing his umbrella in the trash once the rain stops.

Perry, a gay man, is absolutely convinced that the Supreme Court will come after marriage equality next.

Clarence Thomas let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, he said. Not surprisingly, Thomas did not threaten the original marriage equality case: 1967s Loving v. Virginia decision invalidating laws against interracial marriage. His wife, Ginni Thomas, is white.

Roe came six years after Loving. The Supreme Court, in 2003s Texas v. Lawrence case, established the right of consensual intercourse between two adults of the same sex, striking down a Texas sodomy law as unconstitutional. The 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision established marriage equality as the law of the land.

These cases had become so ingrained in the fabric of America that their reversal would be as disruptive as Roe promises to be on so many levels.

We can talk about tearing down the system and starting all over again. But as Jan. 6, 2021, punctuated, folks are already at work doing that. At the moment, the system we have is all we have to work with. That requires an engaged and motivated citizenry, in the streets and at the ballot box.

The expansion of rights in America has been not so much an uninterrupted continuum as a constant struggle. Dont give up the fight.

Michael Paul Williams is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va.; read more of his columns on Richmond.com.

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MyBroadband bought two indoor television antennas to see if the more expensive digital antenna was worth the price difference but ended up not being able to watch anything with either antenna.

South Africas digital migration is finally nearing completion, which means that the older analogue TV broadcasts are being shut down.

The SABC has switched off its analogue TV signals in five provinces  Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga, Free State, and Limpopo.

In provinces like Gauteng, where analogue broadcasts are still available, state signal distributor Sentech broadcasts digital terrestrial TV alongside the old signal.

Digital signals offer better quality and make better use of the available radio frequency spectrum, freeing up space that cellular network operators can use.

Some of this digital dividend was included in industry regulator Icasas March spectrum auction.

Consumers can access these TV channels if their TV has a built-in digital tuner or a decoder-like set-top box to convert digital broadcasts into a signal older TVs can display.

An antenna is also needed as it was with analogue TV, and many new antennas are marketed explicitly for digital TV.

MyBroadband bought an older style bunny ears antenna and a more modern indoor antenna marketed specifically for digital TV.

We tested these antennas on two different TVs at different locations in Pretoria and Centurion to try and view the digital channels but were unable to do so with either antenna.

The best reception we achieved still only allowed us to view some of the analogue channels, with no digital channels coming up in the scans.

On the analogue signals we did pick up, the image was so noisy that we could barely make out which channel we were watching by the logo in the corner of the screen, but we could not figure out what show was playing.

The two antennas made little difference to what we could pick up, and swopping them out after tuning into a specific analogue channel did not change the quality we were able to get.

The newer antenna has much more adjustment options, with moving bits and pieces. Still, this did not significantly improve the image quality, and the old bunny ears were easier to set up overall.

The new antenna states that it has a range of up to 5km, which should be enough to get good reception.

Based on government gazettes with broadcast tower locations, the closest tower to one of the locations we tested was within 3km.

It seems that an outside antenna may be necessary to get good enough reception in many areas.

Instead of a fixed outside TV antenna, most consumers would opt for a dish which would allow watching satellite services such as DStv and OpenView, which would open more options.
A brief history of the sidecar:

The sidecars history and creation have been attributed to Jean Bertoux, a French army officer, who created the sidecar in 1893.

When motorbikes rose to popularity, sidecars were also developed as an additional accessory alongside them.

A patent was given to W.J. Graham who was working in Enfield and, along with partner, Jonathan A. Kahn, they both began production on the sidecar immediately.

Years before World War I began, other companies began making their own renditions of the sidecar.

In 1913, an American inventor named Hugo Young redesigned and improved the design of the sidecar.

Youngs success led him to establish the Flexible Sidecar Company based in Ohio and it went on to become the largest sidecar manufacturer in the whole world.

The wars saw the utilization of the motorbike sidecar as a means for the British Army to mobilize their Vickers machine guns, which required six to eight men to carry across the battlefield.

After World War I, the use of sidecars started to decline but due to the Depression, they were used as a cheap means of transport. Sidecars wound then be used again during World War II by the German military who drove BMW and Zundapp motorcycles.

During the 1950s, the general public already had access to cheap cars. As a result, the sidecar wasnt able to compete with these auto manufacturers and the industry declined.

Source: Sidecar Tours
Liz Burrell Russell, the former manager of The Pathway Home at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, said March 9, 2018 started like every other day, but soon turned tragic.

Not everything about that day was horrible, Russell told a small crowd of about 20 people at the St. Helena United Methodist Church last week. She and her friend Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, a clinical psychologist, had been joking and talking about getting together with their families after Shushareba's shift at The Pathway Home, which was developed to help veterans who were returning from combat tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

At 10 a.m., the staff gathered for a meeting in a common room. At 10:15, Russell said a former resident, a veteran who had been kicked out of the program a couple of weeks earlier, walked into the room with an assault rifle and a shotgun.

That is an image I will never forget, Russell said. That (person) is not supposed to show up at school or in a place of worship. Fortunately for me, the gunman allowed me to live.

The gunman was later identified as Albert Cheung Wong, an Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan and was suffering from severe mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder. Wong became a patient at the residential treatment center in April 2017, according to court papers.

By the time he called my name, I didnt know if it had been seconds, minutes or hours, I left the room, which was the hardest thing I have ever done, leaving my pregnant friend (Shushereba). When I left, I joined my colleagues in the hall, Russell said.

Update: California to pay $51 million settlement over hostage killings at Yountville Pathway Home The payout, listed in a budget document, will settle court cases brought against the state by families of three women who died in the March 2018 shooting.

Another person told Russell she should leave the building because she had small children. We left, but didnt know if we were going to be shot in the back, because the gunman could see us through the windows, Russell said.

The program manager spent several hours sheltered with others in a safe place. Later that evening, she learned that the gunman had killed Shushereba, Pathway Home director Christine Loeber and therapist Jennifer Golick, then taken his own life.

When Russell joined The Pathway Home staff in February 2017, she was "excited to put my skills to use in the nonprofit sector, especially helping veterans. Her children were in preschool and she was there for a year. Before the shooting, though, she decided to leave the program to try something else out. I was going to take some time, she said.

Shushereba was the first person who watched my twins and had been a constant presence in my life, Russell said.

For the past two years, Russell has shared her story as a Survivor Fellow with Everytown for Gun Safety. She added the gun violence epidemic impacts all communities and has created a nation of survivors. Before telling the story of March 9, 2018, she asked for a moment of silence to acknowledge gun survivors in the room.

Russell is a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. She is also a member of Everytown for Gun Safety. Both groups push for local, state and national changes.

After the Pathway Home shooting, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), Napa County's then-Sheriff John Robertson and event planner Rebecca Kotch were on a bicycle ride in Yountville when they decided to start a bike ride to highlight gun control measures and gun safety. The result was Rock the Ride, the most recent edition of which was held on Saturday.

Russell said she could not attend the first Rock the Ride because she didnt feel safe, especially if a cyclist unexpectedly came up behind her.

There are still times I dont feel safe, if I hear something in the middle of the night, she said, reflecting on her life four years after the tragedy. Still, I am alive and my husband still has his wife, unlike T.J. (Shushereba).
The St. Helena City Council on Tuesday awarded over $2 million in contracts associated with moving City Hall and the police department into the Napa Valley College Upper Valley Campus.

Once complete later this year, the improvements will enable all city departments, including the police, to be housed under the same roof. Staff have been spread among three sites since smoke damage forced city workers to abandon the old City Hall in late 2019.

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The council approved the following contracts:

 $1.2 million to Murray Building, Inc. for construction of tenant improvements, plus change orders of up to 10% of the contract amount;

 $219,000 to Marin IT to relocate and set up information technology systems;

 $424,000 to Vesta Modular for a five-year lease of a portable locker room for the police department;

 $45,000 to Noll & Tam for construction administration services;

 $70,000 to Greystone West Company for construction management services.

The construction contract with Murray includes accessibility improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and enhanced security infrastructure necessary for the police department. Construction is set to take about two months.

The city and the college signed a five-year lease last August to occupy part of the college campus, with an option for another two years. The college will retain use of the culinary arts building and two classrooms in the main building.

A few councilmembers said that given the substantial investment in tenant improvements, the city should pursue talks with the college about either buying the building or extending the lease.

This amount of cost, to me, does not make sense unless we have that lease extend out farther than we currently have, said Councilmember Anna Chouteau. Its important that we recognize this kind of investment our city is making in this very important space.  We need to make sure we get the value out of everything that were investing.

You can reach Jesse Duarte at (707) 967-6803 or jduarte@sthelenastar.com.

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Are we angry? YES!

Are we outraged? YES!

The outrage began May 2 with the leak from the Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft majority opinion that The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.

Jill Lepores response in her May 4 article for The New Yorker: Of course the Constitution has nothing to say about abortion: There is no mention of the procedure in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. Women were not referenced in the U.S. Constitution, and as such, no mention of reproductive rights. In 1787, there were no women delegates present to counter, or add insight into the document.

We the People did not include our rights as women. It did not provide us equal protection under the law. It did not establish our right to vote. It did not allow us to own property or to inherit from our parents.

Further restrictions were to follow. In 1873 Connecticut passed the Comstock Act, a law banning the use of any drug, medical device, or other instrument in furthering contraception.

In 1961, a gynecologist at the Yale School of Medicine, C. Lee Buxton, and the executive director of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut, Estelle Griswold, opened a birth control clinic in New Haven. Their plan was to use the clinic to challenge the constitutionality of the statute. As expected, they were arrested and convicted of violating the law. All lower courts upheld the verdict.

That was until it reached the Supreme Court  Griswold v. Connecticut. On June 7, 1965, the justices issued a 7-2 decision in favor of Griswold.

Five years later another milestone occurred. A woman, Jane Roe (a fictitious name), filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, then district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, where she resided. She challenged the law banning abortion. She asserted that that state laws were unconstitutional and diminished her right of personal privacy as protected by the First, Fourth, Ninth and 14th Amendments.

In 1973 the Supreme Court agreed. Handing down a 7-2 majority opinion in favor of Roe, the justices cited that inherent in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment was the fundamental right to privacy protecting a pregnant womans choice whether to have an abortion.

On Friday, the Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Breyer authored the dissenting opinion. They wrote, In overruling Roe and Casey, this Court betrays its guiding principles. With sorrow  for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection  we dissent. ... It eliminates a 50-year-old constitutional right that safeguards womens freedom and equal station. It breaches a core rule-of-law principle, designed to promote constancy in the law. In doing all that, it places in jeopardy other rights, from contraception to same-sex intimacy and marriage. And finally, it undermines the Courts legitimacy.

Additionally, there are significant health ramifications to this decision as well. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality of the developed countries. This translates to 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black women, 19 per 100,000 for white women and 18 per 100,000 for Hispanic women.

According to Dr. Susan Rogers, president of the Physicians for a National Healthcare Program, Besides robbing women of our fundamental right to autonomy and self-determination, criminalizing abortion will unleash a once-in-a-generation public health crisis ... banning it will cause unnecessary suffering and death, especially for the most vulnerable patients. In states that criminalize abortion, PNHP estimates that maternal mortality will increase up to 15% overall, and up to 33% for people of color.

Pregnancy is not a benign condition. It comes with risks. Risks to health  hemorrhage, diabetes, hypertension and anemia. Risks to financial stability  the cost of living and child care. Risks to mental health and well-being  postpartum depression, anxiety and stress.

And yes, lets be clear  a risk of death.

What can we do? Vote in the midterm elections for candidates who support womens health, child care and birth control. Call your Congressional representatives. Tell them to support womens reproductive health. If Congress can vote to spend trillions of dollars to sustain an unattainable war for 20-plus years (Source: Budgetary cost and obligation of post-9/11 wars through fiscal year 2020: $6.4 trillion  Neta Crawford, Watson Institution, Brown University), then they can find the funds for free maternal and infant health care, free and unrestricted birth control, free child care and paid family leave.

The frame of reference today contrasts significantly from the perspective of 55 men in 1787. The ruling by the SCOTUS is temporary. We will stand up again and again and again until reproductive freedom and justice are realized.

Never underestimate the power of women. We are strong and united.

Beth Lincoln is the founder of Women Stand Up St. Helena, and Monday Vigil  Black Lives Matter. She is a national speaker with expertise in cultural awareness and diversity in healthcare, education and law enforcement. Ms Lincoln is a Family Nurse Practitioner and adjunct faculty at Pacific Union College.
Jessel Gallery celebrates the Fourth of July with a gallery of artists inside and out on Saturday, July 2. The Welcome Summer Days Celebration includes parking lot pop-ups with artists in tented art displays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Inside, visitors will find a stunning show of light and color with works by B.J. Thrailkill, Therese Legere and others. Olaf Schneider's painting Spreading Joy," a vivid explosion of flowers, captures the spirit of the show.

The summer show in our back room is like taking a breath of fresh air, said gallery owner Jessel Miller.

Miller is especially pleased that two well-known artists have recently added their works to the gallery.

It has taken me three years to get work from Erin Hanson and I am thrilled that she has joined the Jessel Gallery family, Miller said. Erins art is exciting and reminiscent of Van Gogh. It is innovative and captures brilliant colors and beautiful landscapes.

Betty Anglin Smith is someone that I studied and used as a great example for my classes. I was thrilled that she would consider showing in the Napa Valley even though she has her own gallery in South Carolina, Miller continued. Both of these new artists have galleries of their own so it is a great honor that I have their work in the Jessel Gallery.

Millers clothing line, reflecting her new vivacious paintings, will be introduced as wearable art at this event.

In addition, she has invited two women to offer glimpses into their creative process from 1 to 4 p.m.

Marta Collings, known for her landscapes of Northern California, will be giving an art demonstration. Whether she is painting outdoors or in her studio, painting is meditation, says Collings. Her goal for her paintings is to convey the feeling of the warm sunlight or the wind blowing through your hair, to share with a viewer her love of the landscape she has painted in oils or acrylics.

Now that her children are raised, Collings said, she and her husband and Labrador retriever spend most of their summer and fall weekends participating in juried art festivals up and down the West Coast.

Jessel is also hosting a "sneak preview" of Sasha Paulsen's newest novel, "Where Time Begins" (She Writes Press). Set in the Kingdom of Tonga, it's about a young woman who decides to escape the confusion of her life in the U.S. only to have most of her problems follow her to these remote South Pacific islands.

The official launch is July 16, hosted by Yountville Arts, but Miller invited Paulsen to bring some advance copies from the publisher to the event.

Paulsen's first novel, "Dancing on the Spider's Web," set in Napa Valley and San Francisco in the 1970s, was a national semifinalist for the BookLife awards.

The outside pop-up

In tents outside the gallery, visitors will have the opportunity to meet Napa Valley artists.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate our country's birthday than to share an artful day with friends and fellow artists, said Janis Adams, president of Art Association Napa Valley. It's such a joy to welcome locals and valley visitors alike to another aspect of the wonderful Napa Valley.

Adams will have her fused glass jewelry and gifts at the show. Adams makes kiln-formed glass and fiber art. Most of her glass pieces are utilitarian and meant to be used in everyday life. She also makes attractive decorative items. Her silk scarves are hand-dyed and individually embellished.

Also at the show will be:

-- Watercolorist and art instructor Diane Pope, known for her wildlife paintings. Pope said one of her favorite techniques is to paint a loose background creating an almost out-of-focus look and then paint the subject  often a bird  with a lot of detail.

-- Photographer John Comisky, who has become known for his wildlife photography since his involvement with Napa Wildlife Rescue. He was the winner of Smithsonian magazines 2020 photo contest.

-- Marcia Garcia's handmade baskets. Because she uses three or four fabrics in a single basket, no two baskets are ever alike. Detailed bead work can be seen in the bottom of each basket and as a finishing edge to each creation. She often uses objects from nature, such as feathers, twigs from her apple trees, or grapevines to decorate the baskets.

-- Jewelry by Mara Adelman, who uses found objects.

-- Therese Legere will have her oil paintings, prints and hand-woven products at the show. Legere documents the colors, textures and light of the vineyards and mountains in her oil paintings with a painting technique that is initially impressionist, followed by drawing out certain contours. Her process results in paintings having a captivating stained-glass appearance.

-- Jeff Smiths oils, watercolors and prints will be at the show. Smith is known for his landscapes and his automotive-themed paintings.

-- Jewelry by Marilyn Smith.

-- Oil and pastel works by Frank Trozzo. Trozzo has been painting and drawing ever since receiving his first oil painting set at age nine. In 2018 he won the Artist of the Year Award from Art Association Napa Valley. In addition to his other work, Trozzo will have his current theme  9-by-12-inch pastels of people who inspire the world  at the show.

-- Fused glass jewelry by Zelda, who uses her background in pottery to make molds to melt the glass over her pieces.

For more information, visit jesselgallery.com
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SACRAMENTO  California voters will decide in November whether to guarantee the right to an abortion in their state constitution, a question sure to boost turnout on both sides of the debate during a pivotal midterm election year as Democrats try to keep control of Congress after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

But the legal right to an abortion in California is based upon the right to privacy in the state constitution. The Supreme Court's ruling declared that a right to privacy does not guarantee the right to an abortion. California Democrats fear this ruling could leave the state's abortion laws vulnerable to challenge in state courts.

To address that, state lawmakers on Monday agreed to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this year that would leave no doubt about the status of abortion in California.

While for now we may feel safe here in California, we cannot rest on our laurels," said Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Riverside. It is only a matter of time before this will directly affect you and the people you love.

The amendment would declare that the state shall not deny or interfere with an individual's 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 would become law only if a majority of voters approve it this November. Of California's likely voters, 76% oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, according to a poll conducted in May by the Public Policy Institute of California.

That could give a boost to Democrats chances of retaining control of Congress. Despite its progressive reputation, California has a number of competitive House races that will help determine which party wins the most seats in November for the remainder of Democratic President Biden's first term.

Republicans opposed the amendment, arguing it is too broad and would allow for abortions late in pregnancy when a fetus is capable of surviving outside of the womb. California law currently restricts abortion to only before a fetus is viable, which is usually defined as around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The wording of this says nothing about late term. It puts no restrictions on it, said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City, who noted his twin sons had complications at about 30 weeks of pregnancy. Babies like my twins at 30 weeks, their lives could be taken.

Assemblymember Akilah Weber, a Democrat from San Diego and practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, said many factors other than the gestational age of the fetus determine viability, arguing the decision is best left to the patient and her doctor.

This amendment ... is not only compassionate, but it is rooted in the current state of science, evidence-based medicine and the legal landscape, she said.

California joins Vermont in trying to protect abortion in its state constitution. The Vermont proposal, also on the ballot this November, does not include the word abortion but would protect personal reproductive autonomy  although there is an exception justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.

The amendment in California is part of Democrats' aggressive strategy to make California a sanctuary for women seeking abortions. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law aimed at shielding California abortion providers and volunteers from lawsuits in other states  a measure aimed at blunting a Texas law that allows private citizens to sue people who help women in that state get an abortion.

Californias massive operating budget  scheduled for a vote later this week  contains more than $200 million in new spending to expand access to abortion in the state. The money would pay for abortions for women who cant afford them, scholarships for people studying how to provide abortions and money to help women pay for logistics like travel, lodging and child care  but only within the state of California.

Monday's abortion debate in the state Legislature was colored with the emotion of personal experiences as many lawmakers detailed their own experiences with abortion. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, said she chose abortion during an unplanned pregnancy when she was 25, and it allowed her to have a family when I was ready.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan said his mother got pregnant from a rape and chose to have him and put him up for adoption.

I get asked all the time why that doesn't make me pro-life, the Los Angeles Democrat said. It's because my mother had options. She had choices, and they were hers to make. And I refuse to be tokenized to undermine the bodily autonomy of women and childbearing people.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A former teachers aide at Camille Creek Community School has been arrested on allegations tied to a gang-related shooting late last year, as well as cocaine trafficking and illegal sexual contact with an underage person, Napa Police reported.

The former aide, 25-year-old Vanessa Marie Vasquez was detained June 16 on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, drug possession for sale, and sexually abusing a minor, among other allegations, according to Lt. Pete Piersig. Also arrested on the same day was Lindsey Baker, 39, a former Camille Creek teacher who was detained on suspicion of helping Vasquez destroy evidence and failing to report child abuse as required by state law, Piersig said in an email.

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Both women were booked into the Napa County jail before being released, Piersig said.

Jodi Dell, Napa Countys chief deputy district attorney, said Wednesday that Baker is scheduled to appear Aug. 19 in Napa County Superior Court. No court date has been announced for Vasquez, whose case remains under review by the District Attorneys Office.

Police said the investigations into Vasquez and Baker began after a drive-by shooting before dawn on Dec. 12 at a mobile home in the 1300 block of Pueblo Avenue. Several bullets struck the home, including one round that passed within a yard of a sleeping 12-year-old, Piersig wrote.

Surveillance video showed a car with at least two occupants driving through the mobile home park at the time of the shooting, as well as a passenger firing at least eight rounds toward the dwelling, according to police, who said the license plate number showed the vehicle to be registered to Vasquez.

Napa Police: Shooting into home, stabbing believed to be gang-related The shooting and stabbing were reported less than two hours apart Sunday morning, according to police.

Detectives connected the drive-by attack to another shooting 10 days earlier at Alston Park, where a suspected Norteno gang member was wounded, according to Piersig. Vasquez had gone to the park, and later evidence revealed that she was in a romantic relationship with the shooting victim, Piersig said.

Although there was no clear motive for attacking the residents of the Pueblo Avenue mobile home, a next-door unit was occupied by two suspected members of the Sureno gang and had been the target of a 2017 shooting by a Norteno, suggesting the Dec. 12 incident was intended as retaliation for the Dec. 2 Alston Park assault, Piersig added.

A search warrant carried out at Vasquez home after the December 2021 shootings turned up evidence identifying her as a Norteno member, as well as suspected cocaine, scales and packaging materials, according to Napa Police. Further warrants produced online evidence that included pictures of Vasquez holding guns, communicating with Nortenos trying to learn who was responsible for the Alston Park shooting, and saying she wanted to rob people and blow someones brains out, the department added.

Piersig reported that several hundred text messages showed Vasquez discussing coke, including how to weigh it and what prices to charge for it, and other messages showed her talking about her need for a gun because she was selling large amounts of cocaine. Police also alleged that she sold cocaine on several occasions to two teachers, a full-timer and a substitute, at Camille Creek, which is run by the Napa County Office of Education and teaches middle and high schoolers referred there for truancy or behavioral problems.

Napa Police seek suspects in shooting at Alston Park; man hospitalized The shooting took place at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday and is believed to be gang-related, according to police.

Other photos and messages indicated Vasquez had sexual relationships with two 17-year-old Camille Creek students, and provided them cocaine and bought alcohol for them, according to Piersig. Police also alleged she endangered the teens by crashing her car while driving drunk when both students were in the vehicle, and by not seeking medical help when one of the teens lost consciousness after taking drugs.

Further evidence indicated that Baker, a Camille Creek teacher, acted on Vasquez direction and tried to erase data from a minors phone that may have included evidence of sexual contact with Vasquez, gang activity that violated his probation, and evidence tied to the Alston Park shooting, according to Piersig.

Napa Police said it notified Camille Creeks administration of its probe, and that both Vasquez and Baker were placed on leave at the school. Vasquez employment ended shortly afterward and Baker resigned, according to police.

Vasquez, an employee of NCOE since November 2018, last worked in the agency Jan. 28, and Baker's employment ended May 23 after a decade, according to Joshua Schultz, deputy superintendent for business services. In a Wednesday email, he declined further comment on Vasquez or Baker, citing the confidentiality of employee records, but said NCOE is cooperating with the police investigation.

It was not immediately known whether Vasquez or Baker had attorneys.

You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com

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Napa County has its Climate Action Committee and the county grand jury is asking, wheres the action?

The Climate Action Committee, with members from the county and its five cities and towns, formed in late 2019. The 2021-22 grand jury concluded it has accomplished too little on a pressing issue.

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Unfortunately, that cooperative, action-based spirit, to which committee members have repeatedly given lip service, has not been backed with concrete action, the new grand jury report said.

The report aims to light a fire under the local quest to tackle global warming. It described the committee as an ungainly body hampered by advisory-only status and called for an increased sense of urgency.

The attitude of each jurisdiction in Napa County is dominated by a tendency of wanting to go their own way, examining and adopting programs that only made sense for each of them, the grand jury said.

Is the Climate Action Committee moving at glacial speed while glaciers melt? Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza doesnt see things that way.

The county and cities have come to see they are better off working together on the issue rather than individually, said Pedroza, who was among those who pushed for the committees formation.

That sometimes takes time, he said. But its time well-spent.

Napa County, cities consider teaming up for climate action plan Napa County and its cities will decide whether to tackle climate change together.

Policy makers have built the foundation for meaningful decisions that lead to outcomes. They are talking about creating a regional climate action plan that will be the vehicle, he said.

None of the jurisdictions has a climate action plan in place that would achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a goal they have all set. Nor do they have plans to reach net zero emissions by California's deadline of 2045, a Climate Action Committee report said.

A regional climate action plan would include quantifiable and measurable actions, as well the estimated reductions for each action, it said.

The grand jury report said it's already apparent the largest contributors to local greenhouse gas emissions are buildings and transportation, including agricultural vehicles. But the Climate Action Committee has yet to take significant action.

Among other things, the committee has neither sought cooperation from nor tapped into the expertise of the agricultural industry, the grand jury said.

"It has thus failed to consider vineyard-related hydrocarbon emissions that might be addressed on a collaborative basis," according to the report.

Among the steps the grand jury recommended to the Climate Action Committee:

Monitor the county and its municipalities as they set and try to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

Provide a detailed, prioritized list of potential projects for grant funding. Designate a staff person or retain a person to seek these grants.

Restructure to provide authority over and accountability of its members  Napa County, the city of Napa, American Canyon, Calistoga, St. Helena and Yountville.

Reduce the number of representatives on the committee from 12 to six. To put it another way, each of the six jurisdictions would have one representative instead of two. The grand jury envisions a leaner committee as being able to act more quickly.

Get help from local citizens familiar with greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies.

The grand jury is requiring responses from the Climate Action Committee, the county Board of Supervisors, the city councils of Napa, American Canyon, St. Helena and Calistoga, and the Yountville Town Council. They must respond by mid-September.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 707-256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com

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LVMH, one of the leading luxury beverage producers and marketers in the world, has bought Joseph Phelps Vineyards in St. Helena.

The company already owns Chandon and Newtown Vineyards in Napa Valley. The deal follows the recent sale this year of two other iconic local wine brands, Shafer Vineyards and Silverado Vineyards.

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Founded by construction executive Joseph Phelps in 1973, the Napa- and Sonoma-based wine collection is one of the most respected in America. Phelps' legendary Insignia, a Bordeaux-style Napa-grown blend, as well as the Backus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon sell for more than $300 a bottle.

Phelps started with a 670-acre former cattle ranch in Spring Valley, an almost totally enclosed valley east of St. Helena, and planted vineyards and built an redwood winery there.

The winemaker now owns and farms 425 acres of vines in Napa Valley on nine estate vineyards in St. Helena, Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap District, Oak Knoll District, South Napa and Carneros, as well as 100 acres in two vineyards on the western Sonoma Coast where it produces Freestone Estate wines.

Joseph Phelps' son, Bill, joined the family business in 1998 after a successful career in law. Now the executive chairman, he oversees Joseph Phelps Vineyards.

The winerys board of directors includes Joes daughters Leslie, Laurie and Lynn. In 2016, third-generation family members Elizabeth Neuman, director of business development and marketing, and Will Phelps, the winerys director of hospitality and consumer sales, were appointed to the winerys executive management team.

Elizabeth Phelps Neuman and Will Phelps will be staying on board.

LVMH also owns Dom Perignon, Chateau dYquem, and Chateau Cheval Blanc in France.
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YEREVAN.  Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: The matter discussed at yesterday's closed-door session of the same name [National Assembly (NA)] faction of ruling Civil Contract [(CC)] party became the most disseminated news on the internet in a short time.

The CC has decided to deprive [opposition] Dashnaktsutyun [Party member] NA deputy chairman Ishkhan Saghatelyan, and chairman of the [NA] Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, chairman of the [opposition] Reviving Armenia party Vahe Hakobyan of their parliamentary posts.

But before that, according to well-informed sources of Zhoghovurd daily, the decision-making section of the CC discussed the matter with Nikol Pashinyan. The Prime Minister said that for him it is 50/50; he is both for and against the option of depriving the [aforesaid] opposition members of [their] positions and [parliamentary] mandates.

And here, the pro-government [MPs], inspired by Nikol Pashinyan's message, yesterday hurried to provide an imitation that they had decided the matter in the faction. But in reality, the authorities have long targeted several opposition figures: Ishkhan Saghatelyan, who publicly addressed Pashinyan with "damn you;" Vahe Hakobyan, who is not being forgiven for organizing the swearing [at Pashinyan] in Syunik [Province] and stated that "Nikol is a political corpse," and a few more.

But specifically regarding these two MPs, Nikol Pashinyan has decided to deprive them of their parliamentary mandate on the grounds of absences [from the NA], albeit, according to our information, the [respective] list does not end with this, and in the near future we will hear other names whom the authorities are going to deprive [them] of their [parliamentary] mandate; the list consists of 10 people.
By removing me from the post of chairman of the committee, the authorities cannot stop my fight aimed against them. Opposition MP Vahe Hakobyan, who is Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, told Armenian News-NEWS.am this, commenting on the process, which started by the ruling majority faction in the NA, to dismiss him.

"This is still only the decision of the Civil Contract [CC] Faction. When it becomes official, I will make an announcement. In any case, the decision of the CC is nothing to me because the CC and its leader [i.e., PM Nikol Pashinyan] are nothing to me. This is a decision made specifically against me because I have always expressed harshly to these authorities, and I am a bone left in Nikol's throat.

They think that with this move they will put me in a desperate situation, make me sad; but they are sorely mistaken. That position was not my dream. Whether I hold the post of chairman of the [aforesaid] committee or not, whether I have a [parliamentary] mandate or not, I will fight against Nikol and Nikolism," said Hakobyan.

"They [i.e., the incumbent Armenian authorities] are doing much worse things than they used to blame the former ones for. Only they want to remain in the [political] arena [of Armenia]. I wish good luck [to them]," the opposition lawmaker added.

Ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction of the NA made a decision Tuesday to start the process of dismissal of NA opposition vice speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan and opposition chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Vahe Hakobyan.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the reaction force in 2023 will be increased by almost eight times - up to 300,000 troops.

"We will make a decision at the summit to invite Sweden and Finland to become members, that's unprecedented quick," he told reporters in Madrid on June 29. Both countries applied for membership of the alliance in mid-May.

"After invitation, we need a ratification process in 30 parliaments," he added. "That always takes some time but I expect also that to go rather quickly because allies are ready to try to make that ratification process happen as quickly as possible."

At the moment, before the ratification of the new strategic security concept, the size of the rapid reaction force is 40 thousand people.

The NATO Rapid Response Force refers to the military units that the member states of the alliance have placed at the disposal of the Operational Command of the military-political bloc. They are designed to provide operational support to NATO operations.
The process of admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO is proceeding at an unprecedented speed, but the date of their accession will depend only on the countries' ratification of the accession protocol, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg upon arrival at the summit.

The leaders will make a historic decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become NATO members based on an agreement between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, NATO leader noted.

He added that the leaders will issue invitations to these countries at the summit, which means that only a few weeks have passed between the application and the invitation, this is unprecedentedly fast.

After the invitation, the process of ratification by the parliaments of all 30 countries will begin, and this will take some time.
Russia has helped Armenia and Azerbaijan reach an agreement on a road in the "Zangezur corridor." A 6km small road section remains to be agreed, a high-ranking source familiar with the situation told Izvestia daily of Russia.

According to this source, the Avtodorthe Russian state infrastructure and highway service companywill help to complete the coordination of this route, and the delay is due to the mountainous terrain. The Soviet-era roads will be used for the remaining 40 kilometers of this route. The source states: "Yerevan accelerated the approval of the project after Baku planned not to build a route through Armenia, but through Iran."

"Unblocking" means the construction of a transport corridor in the Syunik Province of Armenia, along the southern border between Armenia and Iran. It will connect the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan autonomous region.

One of the sources noted: "Azerbaijan and Armenia have long agreed on a railway corridor to Nakhchivan, back in the fall of last year. But at the last meeting of the deputy prime ministers on June 3, they were able to agree on a future routeexcept for the missing 6km section."

In the rest, according to the interlocutor, the old Soviet roads will be used, which until 1992 connected Nakhchivan with Azerbaijan via Armenia.

Izvestias interlocutor noted that the Armenian side accelerated the negotiation process after Baku signed a memorandum with Tehran in March on the plan to build a road from Azerbaijan's East Zangazur economic zone to Nakhchivanand via Iran.
Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan on Wednesday paid a visit to the residence of US Ambassador Lynne Tracyand ahead of the US Independence Day anniversary.

President Khachaturyan congratulated Ambassador Tracy, the US embassy staff, and the entire American people on their upcoming National Day, and wished them success, the office of the President informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The President lauded the US assistance in Armenia's development and achieving progress in democratic process ever since Armenia's independence.

Subsequently, the interlocutors exchanged views on the current agenda of Armenian-American relations, and the prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation.
Two men in India beheaded a 47-year-old local resident Kanhaiya Lal for "insulting Islam" and posted a video of the brutal murder on the Internet, Hindustan Times reported.

The incident took place on 28 June, 2022 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. On the eve of the incident, an Indian working as a tailor had posted a message on social media in support of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party member Nupur Sharma. The politician was fired after making derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad during a televised debate.

A few days after the post was published, 38-year-old Bhilwara resident Riyaz Attari and 39-year-old Udaipur resident Ghous Mohammed attacked the man and cut off his head. The radicals then circulated a video of the killing on WhatsApp.

The day after the beheading, Nupur Sharma said he had received threats that he and his family would suffer the same fate as the tailor Kanhaiyu Lal.

The suspects have now been apprehended. Law enforcement authorities in India are checking to see if the killers are affiliated with international terrorist organizations.
The increase in the number of extraditions as a result of the agreement concluded with Turkey on the accession of this Scandinavian country to NATO will depend on what information is received from the Turkish authorities, said Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson.

It depends on what information we get from Turkey in this area, she told Reuters.

Sweden and Finland have taken a significant step towards NATO membership as Turkey lifted its veto on their entry after the Nordic countries agreed to a series of security measures.

As part of the deal, Sweden and Finland agreed not to support Kurdish groups in northeast Syria that Turkey says are linked to the PKK.

Ankara is demanding the extradition of more than 30 Kurdish dissidents from Sweden.
Poland welcomed the intention of US President Joe Biden to deploy the headquarters of the 5th Army in the country.

Earlier, Biden said at the NATO summit in Madrid that the United States will increase its forces and equipment throughout Europe and establish a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to potential new threats from Russia.

This is a success that is the result of long and consistent negotiations on this issue, and at the same time a very clear sign that the Americans intend to increase, not reduce their presence in Poland, said Jakub Kumoch, an adviser to the Polish president.

What seemed impossible to many is now becoming a fact, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz tweeted.
NATO has formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the U.S.-led military alliance.

The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process, the statement said.

We welcome the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Turkiye, Finland, and Sweden to that effect.

The statement also reiterated security guarantees given by NATO countries, stating that during the accession process the security of Sweden and Finland would be of direct importance to the Alliance.

Earlier today, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that after the invitation, "we need the ratification process in 30 parliaments. That always takes some time, but I expect also that to go rather quickly because Allies are ready to try to make that ratification process happen as quickly as possible."
Norway will transfer three multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine following a similar decision by the United States.

The donation was made possible thanks to close cooperation between Norway and the United Kingdom, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjrn Arild Gram said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden recently announced that the US will provide Ukraine with improved missile systems and munitions as its war with Russia continues.
Sweden and Finland will make a significant contribution to the NATO alliance, said French President Emmanuel Macron, AP reported.

During a meeting at the NATO summit on Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the parties noted the importance of sending a signal of unity and strength against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Macron praised the deal reached with Turkey, which agreed to lift its veto over Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.

The sides also discussed the need to find ways to allow the export of Ukrainian grain. They agreed to continue coordination and work with the UN to achieve conditions for ensuring the security of the Odessa port and sea convoys in the Black Sea.
Hong Kong's development pulling at President Xi's heartstrings

Xinhua) 08:09, June 29, 2022

*Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting on Friday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return to the motherland of Hong Kong, whose development Xi says has always been in his heart.

*"Hong Kong's development has always pulled at my heartstrings," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, upon his arrival in Hong Kong five years ago for the special administrative region's 20th anniversary.

*Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have rolled out a series of major policies and measures to help Hong Kong maintain stability and prosperity under the framework of "one country, two systems."

*On Friday, the president will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which Xi expects to bring refreshing changes to the governance of Hong Kong.

Photo taken on July 14, 2020 shows the Golden Bauhinia Square in south China's Hong Kong. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

HONG KONG, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting on Friday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return to the motherland of Hong Kong, whose development Xi says has always been in his heart.

"Hong Kong's development has always pulled at my heartstrings," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, upon his arrival in Hong Kong five years ago for the special administrative region's 20th anniversary.

Over the years, Xi has repeatedly demonstrated his concern for the development of Hong Kong, as well as the well-being of the over 7 million Hong Kong residents. He has initiated projects integrating Hong Kong into the national development, interacted with the youth of Hong Kong and encouraged entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams on the mainland.

Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have rolled out a series of major policies and measures to help Hong Kong maintain stability and prosperity under the framework of "one country, two systems."

On Friday, the president will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which Xi expects to bring refreshing changes to the governance of Hong Kong.

Xi has said that Hong Kong is at a crucial stage on its path to further prosperity.

Hong Kong has witnessed rapid development since the Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over it on July 1, 1997.

From 1997 to 2021, Hong Kong's GDP grew from 1.37 trillion Hong Kong dollars (174.59 billion U.S. dollars) to 2.86 trillion Hong Kong dollars. It has weathered challenges including the Asian financial crisis, the SARS epidemic and the international financial crisis, and consolidated its status as an international financial, shipping and trade center.

Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have promoted infrastructure connectivity and rolled out policies and measures to further expand the space for Hong Kong's development.

A fine example of infrastructure connectivity is the mega-bridge at the Pearl River estuary connecting Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland.

During his trip to Hong Kong in 2017, Xi visited the construction site of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. In October 2018, he announced the bridge's opening and inspected it.

The opening of the bridge marked a new stage in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The Greater Bay Area, which aims to become a world-class bay area and city cluster, is a significant national project conceived and promoted by Xi. In just a few years, it has become one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China.

A growing number of young people from Hong Kong are turning to the mainland for entrepreneurial prospects, as the bay area development has brought about new opportunities.

Mark Mak Hin-yu, co-founder of a robotics company, said his company has its headquarters in Hong Kong but has transferred part of the operations, including hardware assembly and technical testing, to the mainland, capitalizing on the opportunities brought about by the bay area's development.

China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) gives Hong Kong support in building itself into an international center for innovation and technology, a center in the Asia-Pacific region for international legal and dispute resolution services, a regional center for intellectual property trade, and a center for cultural and art exchanges with other countries.

Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairperson of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and a veteran in Hong Kong's financial sector for more than three decades, has full confidence in the sector's future development.

"Being a relatively small economy with a population of just over 7 million, Hong Kong would not have developed into the international financial center it is now without the strong backing of the mainland's continuous development," she said.

Aerial photo taken on July 11, 2018 shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Improving the livelihood of Hong Kong people has been a top priority for Xi.

"Teenagers want to grow up happily. Young people want to bring out the best of their talent. People in mature years want to be successful, and the seniors want to enjoy their golden years," Xi said when he visited Hong Kong in 2017, explaining the relations between development and people's well-being.

Xi would always find time to interact with the public during his visits to Hong Kong. In 2008, Xi, then Chinese vice president, visited ordinary Hong Kong families, sat down with them and chatted about their everyday life. In his 2017 trip, President Xi watched an episode of Cantonese opera performed by children and encouraged them to inherit the fine traditional Chinese culture.

Over the years, Xi has overseen the implementation of various favorable policies for Hong Kong compatriots on the mainland, which cover a wide range of areas, from education and employment to healthcare and travel.

For instance, since September 2018, eligible people from Hong Kong have been able to apply for residence permits on the mainland, which grant them access to the rights to work, social security and housing provident fund.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Hong Kong, Xi was very concerned about the lives and health of local people and has instructed on multiple occasions to give Hong Kong full support in fighting the virus.

The mainland has sent anti-epidemic materials, dispatched health workers, and helped build isolation and treatment facilities, as well as ensured the steady supply of daily necessities to aid Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic.

"The motherland is always Hong Kong's strong backing. Difficulties at hand can surely be overcome," Xi has said.

A crane loads a container carrying supplies for Hong Kong onto a truck at a railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, March 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Xi has stressed a full and accurate understanding of the "one country, two systems" principle and faithful implementation of it. As he has said, "one country" is like the roots of a tree and for a tree to grow tall and luxuriant, its roots must run deep and strong.

The central authorities adopted a raft of policies and measures in an effort to address both the symptoms and the root causes of relevant challenges Hong Kong faced.

The implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong was one such significant measure. It was followed by improvements to the electoral system. These have provided Hong Kong with a solid institutional guarantee to overcome immediate difficulties, achieve good governance, and ensure lasting peace and stability.

Under the new electoral system, Hong Kong has successfully held elections for the Election Committee, the seventh-term Legislative Council and the sixth-term chief executive. An increasing number of competent and patriotic people have entered the governing structure.

With these measures in place, social stability has been restored. For Hong Kong people and foreign residents alike, this means a safer living environment and more predictable business environment.

Citizens walk past a billboard advertising the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, in south China's Hong Kong, April 8, 2015. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

"The key to Hong Kong's success lies in its people's love of the motherland and Hong Kong, and their perseverance, pursuit of excellence and adaptability," Xi has said.

In 2018, Xi met Eric Kuo, a young Hong Kong entrepreneur, at a pilot free trade zone in Guangdong Province.

"I was deeply touched by President Xi's encouragement and grew more determined to start my own business on the mainland," Kuo said. His hi-tech company has quickly expanded, raking in annual revenue of over 10 million yuan (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) last year.

More opportunities are emerging for Hong Kong's young people on the mainland, as they are receiving greater assistance from job hunting to business establishment.

"An increasingly prosperous motherland serves as a source of strength for Hong Kong to overcome difficulties and challenges; it also presents a reservoir of opportunities for Hong Kong to break new ground, foster new driving force and create new space for development," Xi said in his trip for the HKSAR's 20th anniversary five years ago.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and USAID Chief of Mission John Allelo signed a five-year cooperation agreement on development cooperation between Armenia and the U.S. under which Armenia will receive a $120 million grant.

The agreement aims to strengthen democratic values and ensure economic stability, the press service of the Armenian government informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

On behalf of the Armenian government and himself, Grigoryan thanked the U.S. side for its assistance. "The directions defined by the agreement are of great importance for overcoming the economic challenges facing Armenia in this difficult period, stable development and strengthening of democracy in the country," he said.

For his part, Allelo expressed gratitude to all of the government partners who participated in drafting the agreement.

The agreement seeks to promote transparency and accountability in government, strengthen the capacity of local government, and promote participation and inclusiveness in electoral-political processes and the rule of law. The programs to be implemented under the document will promote inclusive citizen participation in the governance process, increasing the availability of independent, diverse sources of information. To enhance economic stability, programs will focus on enhancing private sector competitiveness, strengthening the workforce, and sustainable management of natural resources.
U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the deal with Finland and Sweden that paved the way for the two Scandinavian countries to become NATO members.

Biden, in a brief speech before their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, also thanked Erdogan for Ankara's efforts to help get grain out of Ukraine. Erdogan said he hoped diplomacy would help solve problems related to grain exports from Ukraine.We are trying to solve the process with a balancing policy. Our hope is that this balance policy will lead to results and allow us possibility to get grain to countries that are facing shortages right now through a corridor as soon as possible.

Erdogan noted that steps to strengthen NATO will also contribute to the Russia-Ukraine process.

I want to particularly thank you for what you did putting together the situation with regard to Finland and Sweden, and all the incredible work youre doing to try to get the grain out of Ukraine, Biden told Erdogan during a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Madrid. Youre doing a great job.
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World Class: Kevin So's research among most highly cited in world

Media Contact: Terry Tush | Director, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-2703 | terry.tush@okstate.edu

Dr. Kevin So is making waves in hospitality and tourism research.

So, the William E. Davis Professor and associate professor with the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Spears School of Business, was recognized as a breakthrough star with some of the most highly cited articles in his field and best papers among his awards and honors this year.

Dr. Sos publications speak for his quality of work, said Dr. Ramesh Sharda, vice dean for graduate programs and research in Spears Business. Most journals have an acceptance rate of no more than 25%, and top-tier journals usually have an acceptance rate of below 10%, which shows the competitive nature of faculty publications in top-tier journals and he has been published in them numerous times.

So was named on the 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list from Clarivate, a data and analytics company. The list identifies researchers who produced multiple papers ranking in the top one percent by citations for their chosen field or fields published between January 2010 and December 2020, demonstrating significant influence among their peers.

This top one percent of the global research community represents magnets in their respective disciplines with 6,600 researchers, representing 1,300-plus institutions in more than 70 countries.

On the elite list, So is one of only 263 researchers in the world in the social sciences discipline and one of only four Oklahoma State University professors to be included.

Dr. So does high quality and prolific work, Sharda said. He is an extremely hard-working colleague who focuses on both quantity and quality of work, which in turn creates more highly cited work.

Sos research accolades are possible because of extensive work in the hospitality and tourism management field.

For me, quality and impact are very important. No matter where I go, no matter which institute I work at, those will always be the two indicators that are driving my research efforts." - Kevin So

Born in China and raised in Hong Kong, So pursued his undergraduate degree in business management, majoring in hotel management from Griffith University in Australia, graduating in 2009. Of the approximately 5,000 graduates, two students received the University Medal and So was one of them. In 2010, he continued his graduate education in mathematical sciences, majoring in statistics and statistical modeling at Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

He was then awarded three full ride scholarships for his doctoral studies at Griffith, the world-renowned hospitality and tourism management program where he graduated in December 2013 with his Ph.D.

When choosing my undergraduate major, I took the chance of reading introductory textbooks from various business areas including accounting, finance, supply chain and logistics, So said. When I started turning the first few pages of one of the best-selling hospitality management textbooks, I was hooked. It is an industry full of excitement.

After his educational endeavors and before entering academia, So gained extensive industry knowledge in hotels and resorts throughout Australia. He then relocated to the U.S. where he earned early tenure and early promotion at the University of South Carolina. While there, he served as associate professor in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management and as a research associate in the SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development. In August 2020, he began his career at OSU as an associate professor.

I am passionate about conducting cutting-edge research that not only informs the academic thinking of other scholars and students, but also provides compelling industry insight into the worlds largest industry: tourism, So said. It is always intriguing to me how consumers respond to and engage with different service companies and brands differently. The dynamics of such interactions and what constitutes a superior and memorable experience have always attracted my attention as a researcher.

His main research focus lies at the intersection of hospitality and tourism marketing and service management. Focusing on these industries as the contextual domain of his research, he has concentrated on researching global consumer trends and their behavior, with a special emphasis on customer engagement, platform business models, the sharing economy, access-based services, artificial intelligence and service robots.

So was also recognized for having the No. 1 most highly cited paper from 20112021 published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research (JHTR), his 2014 article, Customer engagement with tourism brands: Scale development and validation.

This article conceptualized consumer engagement through a 25-item scale, developed from a survey of hotel and airline customers. The scale comprises five factors  identification, enthusiasm, attention, absorption and interaction  which provides tourism practitioners with insights into a customers psychological and behavioral connections with their brand.

The three leading and most widely recognized sources provided the citation metrics for this honor: Google Scholar, SCOPUS and Web of Science. Because the sources have varying ways of quantifying publications, article numbers differ by source.

Google Scholar shows Sos article as being cited 561 times and ranks the article No. 1 of 748 articles published in JHTR in the last 10 years. According to SCOPUS, the article is the top cited of 596 papers and has been cited 261 times. Of 610 articles published, Web of Science also ranks the article as No. 1, with 234 citations.

The second most highly cited article across all three platforms was cited 100 fewer times than Sos article.

Winning JHTRs Best Article of the Year Award in 2015, this article has now been downloaded more than 15,000 times based on the data from SAGE and ResearchGate.

Several articles that cited the 2014 article have now been referenced more than 500 times with one exceeding 1,000 citations. Of those articles, Sos 2016 paper, The role of customer engagement in building consumer loyalty to tourism brands has been cited 558 times.

The number of citations and downloads are two important indicators of academic impact, So said. It shows other researchers are using and reading our work.

In the last academic year, So produced 15 publications and of those, 13 were accepted into Spears college-level A journals.

The hospitality and tourism industry is an integral part of the U.S. and world economy and its traditional consumption model is changing rapidly with the rise of platform-based businesses, peer-to-peer consumption and the sharing economy.

These evolutions in the industry have created new questions from the consumer perspective and service ecosystem perspective as well as in the minds of researchers. Some of these questions include  how can we convince consumers such as older generations who are apprehensive about using shared services to adopt a new way of thinking and how does that affect actors in the existing ecosystem such as incumbents? Why are they apprehensive? The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence and service robots also presents new research questions. What services are consumers open to allowing a service robot to provide for them? How do consumers perceive and evaluate the dynamic situations of service failures resulting from service robots?

These are some of the questions So hopes to answer through his research.

Conducting this type of research is partially so impactful because of the industry itself. Tourists who go out to dinner, use a ride-share service or stay in a hotel are actively contributing to the hospitality and tourism industry.

So believes in order to be at the cutting edge of research, you have to identify where the edge is by being at the forefront of the latest literature, as well as understanding why that research is publishable and highly relevant to colleagues.

Therefore, he and his graduate students sit down regularly to discuss the latest published paper to analyze research methodologies, what makes it impactful and why it is highly relatable or cited.

For me, quality and impact are very important, So said. No matter where I go, no matter which institute I work at, those will always be the two indicators that fundamentally drive my research efforts.

When I work with my graduate students, I want to instill that notion in them. Focus on quality and impact.
New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI/SRV): Infopercept Consulting, an international Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) will be hosting a global webinar on "Security Standards and Cloud Data Protection for BFSIs" at 10:30 am EST time on June 30, 2022. The discussion is a part of the series on 'CISO trusted strategies for Cybersecurity'. This webinar will focus on "Emerging trends for BFSIs in the EU, UK, and India." Security Standards and Compliance in itself is a very resource intensive, continuous and complex process. Cloud Security is another world altogether, which is equally complex. Now, under Cloud Security Data Protection, BFSI's have to take care of both. This has made it an impossible puzzle to solve for most BFSI's. Cyber security issues have increased manifold over time with advanced and sophisticated attacks threatening small and large businesses alike. More so now in the post-pandemic area, which has seen a massive shift towards digitization of businesses. A recent survey by Cybercrime Ventures estimated that the cost of cybercrime damages could touch a whopping $6 trillion annually by 2022. Yet another study indicated that by 2022, a company will be hit by ransomware every 10 seconds. These alarming statistics have propelled the use of cloud storage worldwide with its many advantages being highlighted. The benefits of using the cloud are increased scalability, low IT costs, increased data protection, and large storage capacity to name a few. Jaydeep Ruparelia, Director, Co-founder & CEO, Infopercept Consulting, said "The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the fore cybersecurity challenges for businesses worldwide, more so in the banking and financial sectors. Due to the sheer volume and nature of data they hold, they are the most vulnerable. This webinar will bring together experts from across the globe to talk about why cybersecurity is critical in the banking sector and the trends that are surfacing in the EU, UK, and India. Barry McCormack, the UK Data Protection Officer SME (former Head of Data Privacy, NHS UK Test & Trace; DPO, Gatwick Airport), and Trayambkeshwar Vatsa, Head - Enterprise Architecture, Axis Bank (formerly AVP & Head of Enterprise Architecture, Reserve Bank of India IT Services; and consultant to multiple UK banks while with Cognizant Technology Services), will join Ruparelia for the global webinar. The moderator for this event will be David Paris, a seasoned financial business technology officer and former UK head of Financial Services Consulting for Cognizant. He is now with Infopercept's Global Financial Services managing its Europe and UK operations. Ruparelia, elaborating on the key points of the webinar, said, "The experts will share their ideas on how to minimize security threats, as any disruption in the banking and financial sectors will have wide-reaching implications and the potential to disrupt the economy." The experts will also take part in a Q&A session at the end of the webinar. Webinar Registrations at www.infopercept.com/events This story is provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI/GPRC): PSL has scaled the business of Pernia's Pop-Up Shop at an astonishing pace to achieve a 50X growth in only four years (acquisition in 2018), despite seeing a suppressed market in the last two years. PSL's current growth plans and projections include achieving INR 750 Cr+ (~USD 100Mn) Gross Sales in ongoing FY 22-23. Purple Style Labs (PSL), owner of Pernia's Pop-Up Shop (PPUS), India's largest omni-channel luxury fashion e-commerce platform, has raised USD 10 million in its Series-B round led by Akash Bhansali (Director, Enam Holdings). The round saw participation from renowned investors and industry veterans like Madhuri Dixit Nene (Actor), NavrozUdwadia (Co-founder, Alpha Wave Global), Yuj Ventures/Sid Yog (Founder, Xander Group), Rahul Garg (Partner, Premji Invest), Mukul Agrawal (Founder, Param Capital), Rahul Kayan (Director, SMIFS Ltd), Girish Kulkarni (Suyash Advisors), HarminderSahni (Wazir Advisors), Rishi Vasudev (Co-Founder, G.O.A.T. Brand Labs), Vineet Gautam (CEO, Bestseller India) and Sumit Jalan. Said Madhuri Dixit Nene, "India has always had a rich history in culture, and this has constantly seeped into the fashion industry. This thought has been brought into the forefront by Purple Style Labs as they have given a new meaning and outlook to India's luxury fashion industry. I have been highly impressed with their curation of refreshing designs, colours, quality and texture. They have a great sense of the market and I believe that soon they would be a company to watch out for. Their biggest asset is recognising Indian designers and giving them an international platform to be discovered." Under the leadership of Abhishek (Monty) Agarwal (an alumnus of IIT Bombay and Deutsche Bank), in a short span of four years since acquisition, Pernia's Pop-Up Shop (PPUS) has turned into the largest luxury e-commerce platform in India with 75% of its online sales from international markets. PPUS has achieved an astonishing growth pace of 50 X from 2018 to 2022, despite two of these years being a suppressed market given the pandemic. The omni-channel platform currently retails 800+ designer brands including top designers such as Tarun Tahiliani, Anita Dongre, Rohit Bal, Ritu Kumar, Gaurav Gupta, Amit Aggarwal, Masaba and Anushree Reddy amongst others. Says Abhishek (Monty) Agarwal, "After my stint at Deutsche Bank, I was looking to start something of my own in the consumer industry. I noticed that while most of the Indian designers have been able to build strong brand equity with consumers, they have been unable to make it commercially viable and scale up to becoming a large business. Sensing this opportunity in the industry, combined with a personal interest in luxury fashion led to the inception of Purple Style Labs. Hence, our thesis since inception has been to build an Indian Luxury Fashion house, which takes Indian-origin designers to a global scale". PSL has opened 10 Pernia's Pop-Up Studio experience centres in Mumbai (Juhu, Kalaghoda, Bandra), Delhi (Mehrauli, DLF Emporio), Bangalore (Leela Palace), Hyderabad (Banjara Hills), Kolkata (Elgin Road), Ahmedabad (Near Iskcon) and an international store in London (Grosvenor Street, Mayfair). Owing to its foresight of increasing demand for luxury menswear in India, PSL has also launched a new vertical for multi-designer men's clothing and accessories. PSL has already opened two strategic stores in Mumbai namely Pernia's Pop-Up Studio for Men (Bandra and Peddar Road); and is in the process of launching its next menswear store in Ahmedabad. PSL also acquired the fashion label "Wendell Rodricks" in December 2020 and expects to scale it to an INR 100 crore run-rate in the next three years. Since acquisition, three stores for Wendell Rodricks have already opened in Mumbai (Juhu, Kalaghoda and Palladium, Lower Parel). PSL's current growth plans and projections include achieving INR 750 Cr+ (~USD 100Mn) gross sales in ongoing FY 22-23. The company is currently expanding its existing footprint in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, along with opening in new cities such as Chennai and Surat. PSL further plans to expand in international markets, with retail stores in New York and Dubai within the next 12-18 months. This story is provided by GPRC. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/GPRC)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 29 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Anunta Tech, a leading Managed Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider, is excited to share that they have joined the Gartner Peer Insights Customer First program for Enterprise DaaS product(s) in the DaaS market. Gartner defines DaaS Market as "solutions that provide a virtualized desktop or Windows application experience to workers, entirely from a remote hosted location such as the public cloud". "We are excited to be part of the Gartner Peer Insights Customer First program. We believe it showcases our commitment to deliver innovative DaaS products to our customers by putting them at the center," said Sivakumar Ramamurthy, CEO, Anunta Tech. "Over the years, we have sought open customer feedback to drive product innovations at Anunta and feedback received on neutral and industry-respected platforms like Gartner Peer Insights will augment our customer-first approach. We are grateful for all the feedback we receive from our customers in our journey to design innovative DaaS offerings." Over the last decade, Anunta has become a trusted advisor in the DaaS market, forming long-term partnerships with global enterprises and enabling them in their digital transformation journey with continuous innovation and focus on end-user experience. The Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice Badge, Gartner, and Peer Insights are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer InsightsTM content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Kochi (Kerala) [India], June 29 (ANI/PNN): With "wanderlust" becoming a part of everyone's Instagram bio, people are more than curious and excited to satiate their taste buds with newer cuisines. And India's biggest Hungarian Cuisine restaurant chain 'Kurtosshhh' is a big winner in populating Hungarian Cuisine in the country. Helmed by Karishma Anadkat, 'Kurtosshhh' is already a 'favourite' restaurant for foodies across the country, with its major hold in top cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Pondicherry, Kakinada, Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Valsad, Vapi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Nagpur. While the popular restaurant chain 'Kurtosshhh' has captured almost half of the country with their scrumptious delicacies, 'Kurtosshhh' is all set to capture 'God's own country,' Kerala, with its new launch! On its new store launch in Cochin, Kerala, Founder & Director of 'Kurtosshhh,' Karishma Anadkat, affirmed, "We are extremely delighted to bring Hungarian cuisine to the mystical land of Kerala. 'Kurtosshhh' is already a household name in the country, with more than 18 franchises across India in just 2 years. We are thrilled to bring our iconic 'Hungarian Kurtos Kalacs' to the amazing people of Kerala. We are determined to provide the exotic appeal of the Hungarian Cuisine adapted to the Indian palate to each and every part of the country. If food is the best part of life, why deprive yourself of having the best?" On the restaurant chain's phenomenal growth in the past two years, Karishma further added, "'Kurtosshhh' was instituted while I was vacationing in the enchanting city of Budapest, Hungary. I was instantly drawn to the delectable cuisine, especially the 'Kurtos,' that laid the stepping stone to creating a revolution in the Indian F&B industry. It has been 2 years since 'Kurtosshhh' began satiating the taste buds of Indians, and we have a loyal customer base of more than 2 million and 18 franchises. We affirm our conviction to be the leading restaurant chain in the country." The people of Kerala can now relish the mouth-watering dishes from Hungarian Cuisine like 'Chimney Cake,' 'Mac n Cheese,' 'Pizza Kurtosshhh,' 'Kartoos Kurtosshhh,' 'Rice Bowls,' 'Mac n Cheese', 'Classic Indian Kurtosshhh,' and lot more! Kurtosshhh keeps winning hearts with their Indianised version of the classic Hungarian food across India and now invites you to Cochin. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
London [UK]/ New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Day Two of UK-India Week 2022, organised by the UK-headquartered India Global Forum (IGF), took on a green focus with the Climate Finance and Technology Summit at Bloomberg headquarters in London. Over the course of the day, the Summit brought together senior ministers, policymakers and industry leaders from India and the UK to deliberate on some of the most pressing issues around climate change and the role that technology, finance and sustainability initiatives can play in leveraging the wide-ranging UK-India partnership to achieve lasting solutions. Bhupender Yadav, Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, said, "For the developing countries, adaptation finance is important and the USD 100bn finance goal must be fulfilled by the developed world. And this climate finance must address the three essential Ss - scope, scale and speed. "Climate change is not some disaster waiting for us in the future, but it's our current reality. India is relying mainly on domestic resources to implement adaptation and mitigation action on mission mode." "We need to speed up the operationalisation of global goals on adaptations through securing adequate finance and technology transfer." "We look forward to COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh to focus on climate finance and adaptation agenda both at the level of technical negotiations and political arrangements." In a session on investing in a green future post-COP26, Lord Gerry Grimstone, Minister of Investment, Government of UK, said, "I would like Indian companies to raise green finance in the UK. We should also encourage universities to work on this and exchange their PhD students. I am confident that it's going to happen". Among some of the other sessions of the day included business contribution in shaping energy transition, the road ahead to COP27 and the role of disruptive technologies in climate action. Alok Sharma, President, COP26, said, "We managed to get almost 200 countries to agree to a historic climate pact at COP26 because every country saw it's in their own self-interest to act. If I look at the scorecard, yes there's been progress, but we really need to speed up for COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh." "What we have learnt is that we cannot rely on fossil fuels and there is the need to accelerate on renewables." "PM Modi is very committed to the issue of climate action. There's a real commitment on the part of the Indian govt to work with the UK on climate goals." Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, summed up the day in his own words, "As a generation, we face a challenge, but we have the privilege and opportunity to turn things around too." "Without addressing soil, how can you address climate change or global warming? Nearly 35-40 per cent of the world's global warming is because of open soils. The Save Soil campaign was to galvanise the people to mandate change from their governments; now businesses also need to act." "By 2030, it is expected that 2/3rd of the land in the African continent will be degraded. In the last 25 years, we have lost 10 per cent of the world's land for desertification. What else does it take to wake us up?" Addressing a critical issue, the Summit involved a range of stimulating conversations on funding climate action. Bringing together global leaders from diverse industries with a common purpose to energise climate action, the delegates discussed the way forward to secure much-needed funds to tackle climate change. Prof. Manoj Ladwa, Founder and CEO of IGF, said, "Quick action is needed if we are to leave behind a habitable world for the coming generations. Here, technology will play a disruptive role in leapfrogging us ahead in the fight against climate change." "IGF is playing a crucial role in seeking the most efficient routes to achieving technological and financial sufficiency in our common and global fight against climate change." *Follow the action @IGFupdates #UKIndiaWeek. Day One of UK-India Week 2022 (June 27) covered the Creative Industries and Cultural Economy Seminar at Nehru Centre, London, to explore the cultural partnership potential of the bilateral relationship. Day Three (June 29) will mark the launch of the flagship IGF Forum and also take on a Women in Leadership focus. The UK-India Week is organised by IGF annually as a celebration of the myriad facets of this important bilateral relationship. The 2022 edition (27 June to 1 July) comes packed with a high-powered agenda, covering trade and economic exchanges, climate action, healthcare, technology, innovation and much more. *The Programme for UK-India Week 2022 is here. Just some of the high-profile speakers confirmed over the course of the week include: Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, UK Government Dr S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Government of India Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, UK Government Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Government of India Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Labour & Employment, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India Dr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Electronics and IT, Government of India Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for External Affairs of India Alok Sharma, President, COP 26 *The full list of speakers is here 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 29 (ANI/TPT): Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) formulates a new board for a term of 2 consecutive years 2022-2024 at the Annual General Meeting held on June 29, 2022. Yashpal Sharma, MD - Skyways Group has been appointed as the President of ACFI for this period. Cyrus Katgara, the past President handed over the mantle to the new board. Katgara will be part of the current board as Ex Officio. He will continue supporting ACFI to achieve its goals and help boost the Indian economy. The "Air Cargo Forum India" - ACFI is an association of all key stakeholders of Air Cargo Logistics Supply Chain Industry consisting of Airlines, Airport Operators, Cargo Terminal Operators, Freight Forwarders, Customs Brokers, Express Industry, Bonded Truckers, etc. Its objective is to steer and promote the development of air cargo logistics industry in India and make it at par with the best Air Cargo ecosystems of the world. It is one of a kind and the only nationwide association that has representation in the Governing Board from all stakeholders of the industry. ACFI has been working very closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on its vision to achieve the goal of taking Indian air space to 10 million MT by 2030-31 from the current 3.1 million MT. During the 10th ACFI Annual Event held in May 2022, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia himself stated that Air Cargo had started as an underdog during the pandemic. However, it has now emerged as a game-changer and has ably adopted to the changing environment. It is now time for the entire cargo community to push the pedals harder and ensure they succeed in achieving the vision 2030-31. He also appreciated the efforts of ACFI towards the growth of the Indian Air Cargo industry. The Governing Board for 2022-24 include some most prominent names of the industry as follows: President Yashpal Sharma (Managing Director, Skyways Group); Vice President Sanjay Edward (Chief Commercial Officer, Delhi International Airport Limited); Hon. Secretary Ramesh Mamidala (Chief Cargo Officer Adani Airport Holdings Limited); Hon. Treasurer Arun Kumar (Managing Director, InSynergy Supply Chain Solutions Private Limited); and Ex Officio or Immediate Past President Cyrus Katgara (Partner, Jeena & Company); along with the Board members namely Abdulla Ali Al Khallafi (Cargo Manager at India & Nepal Emirates SkyCargo); Ajith Pai (Chief Operating Officer at Delhivery Private Limited); Avinash Razdan (Chief Executive Officer, Delhi Cargo Service Center Private Limited); Kamesh Peri (Chief Executive Officer, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Private Limited); Keku Bomi Gazder (Managing Director and CEO, Aviapro Logistics Services Private Limited); Nipun Aggarwal (Chief Commercial Officer, Air India Limited); Satish Lakkaraju (Senior Vice President, Radar Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (Wiz Freight)); Saurabh Kumar (Chief Executive Officer GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo); and Shantanu Bhadkamkar (Managing Director, ATC Global Logistics Private Limited). Commenting on his prestigious new role Yashpal Sharma, the newly elected President said "I would like to thank my co-founding Members, Past Presidents, the ACFI secretariat and all board members of the past, for their invaluable and passionate contribution to ACFI and the air cargo community. It would be my utmost endeavour to work with the new board members and focus to achieve the Vision and Objectives of ACFI. While we have aligned ourselves to MoCA's target of 10 MMT by 2030-31 but it would need a determined effort from all of us to galvanize process improvements, sync all stakeholders including Government agencies and set short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and more importantly execute them to perfection within the set timelines." Yashpal Sharma a well-known name in the logistics industry is the MD of Skyways Group which offers a wide spectrum of logistics and supply chain services including air freight, ocean freight, road transport and express services to name a few. Skyways Group is a leading freight forwarding company that is internationally known for being the No. 1 Indian Air Freight Forwarder for the past few years. Sharma is also the former President of the Air Cargo Club Of Delhi (ACCD). "There is a huge shift in people's mindset in the logistics sector and they want to move towards ease of doing business. The industry will be strengthened by improved infrastructure and become more effective by adopting digitization and with our PM's Gati Shakti the government of India is focusing immensely on the logistics and air cargo industry. Our aim is to position Air Cargo as the choicest mode of transportation in India and make it globally admired for its efficiency," said Sanjiv Edward, the newly elected ACFI Vice President. Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) was established on September 14, 2012, with a powerful and forward-looking vision. "The Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) envisages to build world-class environmental friendly air logistics industry by innovation, allied action with credibility and providing business facilitation to boost the Indian economy." ACFI is a common platform for each stakeholder in the air cargo sector who can work collectively in a positive direction for addressing major industry challenges. This prestigious body consists of stakeholders from across the industry including Airlines, Airport Operators, Cargo Terminal Operators, Courier and Express Operators, Custom Brokers, Freight Forwarders, Bonded Truck Operators, General Sales Agents, Integrators, Domestic Cargo Operators, etc. All stakeholders work in complete alignment with various Government agencies and Ministries. ACFI is progressing well on its path to develop India's major airports as cargo gateway airports and promote them as major international transit cargo hubs. Its endeavour is to facilitate trade in air mode of transport and ensure ease of doing business in the processing of EXIM trade through simplified air cargo processing. It also aims to bring best industry practices to the Indian air cargo landscape. This story is provided by TPT. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/TPT)
New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI/PNN): Kappde, a leading women's clothing brand, has launched its B2C website under the 'Vocal for Local' mission to facilitate the Indian women of all ages to shop for the exquisite collections ranging from casuals to smart casuals and party formals. With this, Kappde.in is on track to become India's largest online women's clothing brand. As most of the women in the country now prefer 'vocal for local' in the clothing brands, Kappde.in founded by Muskan Arora Singh, will be offering exquisite quality apparel and work on designing clothes to boost the confidence of every Indian woman, irrespective of their body sizes and shapes. "We aim to reach global customers very soon with our recent launch of a B2C website," said Muskan Arora Singh, founder of Kappde. We provide high-quality fabric and design clothes that boost the confidence of every Indian woman." "With policies like easy returns and exchanges, online shopping has made customers so relaxed that leaving the house for shopping feels like a chore. Our Logo is the main USP of the brand, which we want to see on Foreign customers and represent India. According to Muskan, Kappde uses India's favourite fabric (cotton), which accounts for a large portion of the brand's clothing. The brand was launched online in June 2022, and Indian women have responded positively. Kappde is an exclusive Indian women's clothing brand. Every item on the website is intended to bridge the gap between slim, curvy, and plumpy body types. Kappde.in is a B2C website that offers comfortable, stylish, and luxurious party formals and smart casuals. Kappde is making every effort to focus on underprivileged girls who do not have access to education. Under the 'Beti Padhao Beti Bachao' campaign, Kappde is making a difference in the lives of young girls with every online purchase. Visit https://www.kappde.in/ for more information. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI/SRV): Rectangled.io, one of the best Online Reputation Management platforms, has completed 3 years in the industry. In a short span of time the brand has introduced three features to help businesses garner organic reviews seamlessly and add value to businesses. Its latest introduction is QR Code generated reviews. QR codes have forayed into the customer experience management domain. The code introduced by Rectangled.io is unique such that, it can collect reviews irrespective of the platform. Currently headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Rectangled.io was founded in Hyderabad in 2019 by Dheeraj Ch and Siddhartha Dey to help businesses get faster reviews and feedback and drive more sales. The new product has been launched in addition to the brand's previous product Truforms, an all-in-one platform to combine customer reviews and centralize the data which makes it easy to navigate. The process of recording customer feedback is time-consuming and tedious which hinders businesses in expanding their reach and improving their SEO rankings. Rectangled.io is bridging this gap to cater to the relevance of professional review management for every local business. Organic reviews are imperative for strategic growth. Genuine customer feedback showcases the gaps and highlights the hits of the businesses. The SAAS platform helps company executives manage the relevant data, including handling negative reviews too. Siddharth Dey, Founder at Rectangled.io said, "In a world where businesses are trying to stay ahead of their competitors, reviews help brands stand shoulder to shoulder with established players and create a positive niche in people's minds. It also helps brands analyze customer estimation and expectations. These insights are instrumental in strategizing future plans and improving services. Rectangled.io plays a pivotal role in customer journey mapping." The AI-driven online reputation management platform captures customer reviews in just 3 clicks. Rectangled.io's success enabled it to get seed funding from GoAhead Venture in the United States in February 2022 which helped them rise to the next stage. Dheeraj Ch, Co-Founder at Rectangled.io said, "Having successfully onboarded 50+ brands, we wanted to expand our services and help businesses to scale new heights. Our new product will allow brands to give appointment links to customers via search engines thereby streamlining the process and making it seamless which in turn will boost sales." Additionally, Rectangled.io launched its product 'Appointments', which allows customers to book direct appointments with businesses via google search. With Rectangled.io's easy-to-use interface, brands are able to capture the best metrics to keep customers happy and engaged. An enabler in being among the top local SEO searches, Rectangled.io will continue its pursuit of empowering businesses. To book a demo visit rectangled.io! This story is provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI/PNN): If you want to taste some of the world's best Turkish cuisine, which draws on flavours from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, head to Greater Kailash-2 in New Delhi's central business district. Aaditya Bharadwaj, a leading name in the hospitality industry, has launched Baris, an inspired Mediterranean dining restaurant where one can get everything from the atmosphere to the food that evokes a taste of Turkey. The most popular minced meat kebabs in Turkey are known as Adana Kabab, spiced minced Lamb squished onto skewers and cooked over a fire. One can get the similar mouth-watering taste of the juicy Adana Kabab and Shish Kabab at the newly Baris restaurant in New Delhi. Aaditya Bharadwaj, who has five-year-long experience in the hospitality industry, has turned Baris restaurant into a Turkish theme. The restaurant is emboldened by the intricately designed vintage-style tiles, serving traditional dishes blended in with Mediterranean and Turkish flavours and dividing the space into two parts--a dining section and a laid-back and a roof-top lounge. In Noida, Aaditya runs Indian Restaurant Caspian serving the best of Indian delicacies. A graduate in International Hospitality Administration from the University of West London, Bharadwaj, said, "Initially, I was into films and television, but felt something was missing. Then I decided to explore a restaurateur inside me, and this is how Baris came into being". "I have brought the world's most famous Turkish cuisine to India, and we are the only restaurant serving authentic delicacies from Turkey in New Delhi." Bharadwaj is also coming up with his debut music video to be released this year. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
The Odisha government has received investment intents worth more than Rs 21,000 crore with employment potential for 19,000 people in different sectors during Odisha Investors' Meet held in Dubai on Wednesday, officials said. The meeting, jointly organised with FICCI and the Embassy of India in UAE, was held under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. A delegation of senior officials from the Odisha government attended the meeting. The state has received the investment proposal on sectors like infrastructure, hospitality, logistics, chemicals, food processing etc. The Chief Minister held meetings with few UAE-based industry captains and invited them to visit Odisha and has also assured all the companies of unmatched facilitation and support. "Glad to meet PNC Menon, Chairman of @SobhaLtd at #OdishaInvestorsMeet in Dubai. Sobha Realty has expressed intent to invest Rs 5,000 crore in metals, metallurgy and hospitality sector in Odisha. Assured all support for faster grounding of projects," Patnaik said in a tweet. He also met Ibrahim Sharaf of Sharaf Group in Dubai and welcomed his proposal to invest in Odisha in the logistics sector. The Chief Minister also met KG Abraham, Partner and MD of NBTC Group of Kuwait. The company has proposed to invest Rs 5,000 crore to set up a urea plant in the state. Patnaik assured him to facilitate and support with industry ready infrastructure and skilled workforce. In another tweet, Patnaik said: "It is a pleasure meeting Dr. Yousif Al Hammadi, MD of Tabreed Group at #OdishaInvestorsMeet in Dubai. Glad to share that the group expressed intent to invest Rs 1,000 Cr in an ICT Campus in Bhubaneswar. Assured all support for the speedier ground of the project." On this occasion, Patnaik announced the third edition of Make In Odisha Conclave, 2022 to be held in Bhubaneswar during November 30- December 4, 2022. During the meeting in Dubai, DP World and Hindustan Ports Pvt Ltd expressed its intent to launch projects related to ports, SEZ and ICD with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore in Odisha. Similarly, Dubai-based Sobha Realty has agreed to set up projects worth Rs 5,000 crore in the state, Chief Minister's Office (CMO) informed in a tweet. Kuwait-based NBTC has expressed intent to set up an ammonia urea plant with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore while Twenty14 Holdings, a Abu Dhabi-based hospitality company, has agreed to set up a 5 star hotel and wellness centre in Odisha with an investment of Rs 500 crore. The Lulu International Shopping Malls Pvt. Ltd. has proposed to set up shopping malls, hypermarkets & agri sourcing, and logistics hub in Odisha with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore. It will provide direct employment to 5,000 people and indirect employment to 10,000, it said. Moreover, Abu Dhabi-based firm Tabreed, expressed intent to invest Rs 1,000 crore to establish an ICT campus in Bhubaneswar while Sharaf Group and Hind Terminals Pvt. Ltd. has expressed intent to set up a logistics park in Odisha with an investment of Rs 750 crore, the CMO said. Besides, Arab India Spices LLC has agreed to set up a pulse splitting unit in Odisha against an investment of Rs 50 crore which will provide direct employment to 300 people and indirect employment to 500 people. --IANS bbm/pgh ( 548 Words) 2022-06-29-22:04:20 (IANS)
Woody Allen made a rare live appearance for an interview with Alec Baldwin on Baldwin's Instagram account, which has 2.4 million followers. Allen and Baldwin have worked together on several occasions earlier, with Allen directing Baldwin in 'Alice' (1990), 'To Rome With Love' (2012) and 'Blue Jasmine' (2013). Baldwin called Allen's films a "warm bath for me that makes everything ok." However, Allen has announced he is considering ending his directing career after his next movie, which will shoot in Paris. "I'll probably make at least one more movie. A lot of the thrill is gone. When I used to do a film it'd go into a movie house all across the country. Now you do a movie and you get a couple of weeks in a movie house. Maybe six weeks or four weeks and then it goes right to streaming or pay-per-view...It's not the same...It's not as enjoyable to me," Allen said. "I don't get the same fun doing a movie and putting it in a theatre. It was a nice feeling to know that 500 people were seeing it once... I don't know how I feel about making movies. I'm going to make another one and I'll see how it feels," he added. Baldwin asked questions about Allen's writing, from his memoir 'Apropos of Nothing' to his new collection of essays, 'Zero Gravity.' The duo avoided controversial topics, and Allen's Instagram live stream kept dropping out, interrupting the conversation. The interview was interrupted three times due to technical problems. "Are they in a room where they have the best Wifi? They need to be in a room with the best Wifi in the house," Baldwin was heard asking someone off-camera after Allen dropped out of the feed for a second time. Baldwin surprised the industry after his announcement of the interview with Allen, timed to the publication of Allen's new collection of essays, 'Zero Gravity.' Allen has continued to face backlash after his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused him of molesting her as a child. The allegation was at the center of HBO's 2021 documentary series 'Allen v. Farrow,' which included a never-before-seen home video of 7-year-old Farrow talking about the alleged assault shortly after she alleges it occurred. Allen has long denied the allegation and called it 'untrue and disgraceful' in a statement following the release of the HBO series, as per Variety. Ahead of the interview, Baldwin wrote on Instagram, "Let me preface this by stating that I have zero interest in anyone's judgments and sanctimonious posts here. I am obviously someone who has my own set of beliefs and could not care less about anyone else's speculation. If you believe that a trial should be conducted by way of an HBO documentary, that's your issue." Baldwin himself has been at the centre of controversy since October 2021, when a prop gun he fired on the set of the independent film 'Rust' killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (ANI)
Sony Music Group has announced its Sony Music Group Global Scholars Program, a new initiative to provide scholarships to students from around the world enrolled in music and music business-related majors at accredited colleges and universities. According to the announcement, the company's goal is to help lessen the financial burden for up to 50 students from diverse backgrounds. Students will receive annual financial support for the period of the degree program or upon completion, whichever is sooner, depending on financial need and region, as per Variety. Sony Music Group's Global Scholars Program offers a wide range of enrichment programs for admitted students, including advanced tuition and college assignment support, as well as structured events and webinars to connect students with SMG and industry experts about the music industry of the future to encourage professionals. In countries where colleges and universities are publicly funded or subsidized, college applicants can apply for funds to support mandatory college expenses such as books, equipment, college service costs, and more. The program was funded by Sony Music Group's Global Social Justice Fund. Launching today with online applications, eligible candidates include those planning to enroll full-time in an accredited college or university degree in music or music business-related fields during the 2022-2023 academic year. Additional information can be found on www.iie.org/sonymusic, as per Variety. "We look forward to awarding these scholarships to an incredible group of recipients that have excelled academically and exude a passion for music. Through the power of education, this signature program will provide opportunities for the music industry's next generation of global leaders to bring diverse perspectives to corporations, artists, songwriters and composers," said Towalame Austin, Executive Vice President, Philanthropy and Social Impact, Sony Music Group. The program is a partnership between Sony Music Group and the Institute of International Education (IIE). This global non-profit organization will manage the international application portal and provide a wide range of administration and assessment services. "We are honored to be working with Sony Music Group on this incredible new scholarship program - the only one of its kind in the world to focus on creating access to education and careers in music. We look forward to collaborating with SMG to build a diverse, global cohort full of talented young people in the industry and applaud Sony for its landmark investment in creating a more diverse, equitable future," shared IIE's Senior Vice President Jonah Kokodyniak. (ANI)
One of the most loved couples in Bollywood, Malaika and Arjun, who were holidaying in Paris to celebrate the latter's birthday, is now returning back to Mumbai. After painting the town red, the couple is coming back to the bay and guess what, the duo spotted Deepika Padukone at the Charles de Gaulle airport! Well, not literally, they spotted the actress' latest brand advertisement. First, Arjun took to his Instagram stories to share his excitement and wrote, "@deepikapadukone Desi touch to the videsi holiday. Soo bloody proud seeing this at the Paris airport." Then, moments later, Malaika also shared the same video and wrote, "So damn cool @deepikapadukone Eternal trendsetter." In the video, Deepika is seen holding Louis Vuitton's new Dauphine bag. She was recently signed by Louis Vuitton as their House Ambassador. Deepika is the first Indian to be signed as the luxury brand's House Ambassador. Deepika has been hitting headlines for representing the country on a global platform. Last week, Deepika was spotted posing for pictures with Hollywood star Rami Malek and Egyptian actor Yasmine Sabri at a 'Cartier' event in Spain. She also made heads turn at the Cannes Film Festival with her dazzling outfit choices. She was invited as a jury member at the festival. Meanwhile, on the work front, Deepika will be seen sharing screen space with Shah Rukh Khan in 'Pathaan', which is all set to release on January 25, 2023. 'Pathaan' marks Deepika's fourth collaboration with SRK after 'Om Shanti Om', 'Chennai Express' and 'Happy New Year'. She will also be seen sharing the screen with Hrithik Roshan for the first time in 'Fighter', which will be released in September of next year. Apart from these two projects, Deepika is also a part of 'Project K' -- featuring Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan, and 'The Intern' Hindi remake. (ANI)
A fresh controversy erupted on Tuesday over the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held the petitioners, in particular their counsel, responsible for putting the teachers recruitment process in the state on hold. The Chief Minister targeted CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who was the counsel for a number of petitioners on this count. She said the petitioners should either withdraw the cases or get a verdict in their favour so that the recruitment process can start again and the petitioners can also be accommodated. "After some irregularities were detected, I arranged for fresh recruitments for 17,000 teachers, under which those deprived could have been accommodated. But that process has stopped following the court order. In addition, many have lost their jobs because of the court order. Now I will follow the court order," Banerjee said at a Trinamool rally in Asansol on Tuesday. She then attacked Bhattacharya, a reputed lawyer, and told the petitioners to approach the latter for arranging their jobs. "Because of the court cases filed by Bhattacharya, the recruitment process has stopped. He has enough money. So go and tell him to arrange something so that the recruitment process can resume again," Banerjee said. She also appealed to the petitioners either to withdraw their cases or get a verdict in their favour. Bhattacharya, on his part, did not delay in replying to the salvos from the Chief Minister. Throwing a challenge towards Banerjee, he said that he will arrange jobs for 17,000 people in two hours on the sole condition that the Chief Minister should resign from her post. "She should understand that I was just a counsel and I did not file the petitions. These petitions were filed since there were massive irregularities where ineligible people were recruited against financial considerations. The petitions were filed because of these irregularities. The Chief Minister is now trying to mislead the people by holding the petitioners responsible," Bhattacharya said. While the Chief Minister was addressing the rally in Asansol, she spotted some deprived job-seekers with placards. Spotting them, she said that it would be useless to approach her for job since the matter was pending in the court. --IANS src/arm ( 387 Words) 2022-06-28-20:40:02 (IANS)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday reacted sharply to the fresh revelations levelled against him by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, in the Assembly. He accused the opposition BJP and the Congress-led UDF of colluding together to shield Suresh but refused to respond on several queries raised by the UDF on the floor of the house. After the Question Hour ended, the UDF sought leave for an adjournment motion to discuss the fresh revelations made by Swapna Suresh, and this was allowed to be taken up by the Chief Minister for nearly two hours. This is only the second time that Vijayan gave the approval to discuss a notice given for the discussion on the gold smuggling case. In reply to the various allegations levelled by the opposition on the basis of Swapna Suresh's revelations, Vijayan said it is unfortunate that the opposition is relying on her statements and claiming these to be true. "She is an accused in a few cases and is the one who changes her statements frequently. She had earlier given a similar statement. How come the Opposition is getting to know the contents of her statement given to a court," he asked. "Just look who is shielding her, it's the Sangh Parivar forces. She has been given a job by one such agency, see who is her counsel. Sadly the Congress-led opposition has joined the Sangh Parivar forces. In the last Assembly, there was one legislator of theirs (Sangh Parivar), this Assembly, there is none and you (Congress) have joined forces with them to attack a government which is working for the uplift of the people," he said. Vijayan also asked what happened after four central investigating agencies had probed the matter when the same allegations against him surfaced earlier in 2020. "If they (probe agencies) had a shred of evidence, then would they have remained silent? So we are not going to be cowed down by all these allegations," he added and became angry when Congress member Mathew Kuzhalnaden who referred to his daughter Veena and her company. "Don't drag those who are sitting at home. You speak political things and not baseless things, especially against those who are sitting at home," he added. Kuzhalnaden later told the media that he stands by what he said about Vijayan's daughter and in a day or two, he will come back with all evidences to buttress his statements about her. Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan slammed Vijayan, pointing out that during the 58 minutes he spoke, he did not reply to a single query and instead accused the Sangh Parivar and the Congress-led UDF and the BJP are colluding to malign him. "For 25 minutes of his time, he (Vijayan) spoke about the Sangh Parivar forces and about us (Congress). We are demanding that he orders a CBI probe into the matter. He claims that he is not worried, then he should order a CBI probe. We will now take note of his replies and we will decide on what our next step is, as he has not given a single answer," he said. State BJP President K.Surendran said Vijayan has run away from answering questions posed to him. "He chants 'Sangh Parivar' like chanting mantras a hundred times and he has become a miserable failure that he does not even care to file a defamation petition against those who he says has defamed him and his government. Mind you, he is also the Home Minister and he says all this is a conspiracy but he is unable to even unravel that," he said. --IANS sg/khz/vd ( 620 Words) 2022-06-28-21:16:02 (IANS)
According to sources in the BJP, the meeting is considered as important in the context of the upcoming Presidential poll and the situation arising out of the announcement of the Agnipath scheme.

During the agitations against the Agnipath scheme, the political equation between the BJP and the JD-U in Bihar had turned sour as former BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal had blamed the Nitish Kumar-led government for failing to prevent violence in Bihar for three days.

He had also alleged that the state police inaction had allowed protesters to damage government properties, especially trains and railway stations, and attack BJP leaders including himself.

The top leadership of the BJP probably sent Pradhan for damage control and build confidence between the two allies with the hope that JD-U will support NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu for the Presidential election.

Bihar Education Minister Vijay Chaudhary and Sanjay Jha were present during the meeting.

Jaiswal along with several other BJP leaders were at the Patna airport to welcome Pradhan.

--IANS ajk/arm

( 195 Words)

2022-06-28-21:38:03 (IANS)
The BJP's move came after a group of 39 Shiv Sena MLAs along with 11 other legislators - who switched over to a rebel faction headed by state minister Eknath Shinde on June 20-21 - sent an email to the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.

They have informed the Governor that the rebel group has withdrawn support to the government headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis told mediapersons.

Following this, the BJP has submitted a letter to the Governor urging him to issue directions to the CM to prove his majority, added Fadnavis.

"We are hopeful that given the present political circumstances and the Supreme Court directions of Monday, the Governor will take the necessary steps in the matter," Fadnavis said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Fadnavis had gone to New Delhi to meet the top BJP leaders, including party President J.P. Nadda, to discuss the political situation in Maharashtra.

The rebel group is likely to reach Mumbai from Guwahati in the next couple of days.

--IANS qn/arm

( 221 Words)

2022-06-28-23:04:04 (IANS)
Dismissing reports of resistance from the industry to migrate to a single use plastic (SUP) ban scenario from July 1, the Centre on Tuesday said that it has constantly been in touch with e-commerce companies, FMCG sector and other industry houses on the issue and that all of them are cooperating and majority of them are game with the date. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has announced to ban manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified SUP items that have low utility and high littering potential all across the country from July 1. The list identifies 14 items prominently used widely across India. These include plastic wrappings that are mostly used by e-commerce companies for packaging. As per the details as on June 22 obtained from the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs), there are about 683 units that have a manufacturing capacity of 2.44 lakh tonnes per annum (TPA) and operational capacity of 2.34 lakh TPA. The government said it had issued the notification to ban SUP in August 2021 and given ample time for such units, and therefore, as of last week, there were 433 units for which the consent (to operate) was either revoked or modified. There are some FMCGs or even dairy product businesses that have sought a delay in implementing this ban citing multiple reasons, including increased cost and availability of alternatives. Speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said, "We had given ample time from last year (August 2021) to the producers to migrate to new machines and also for the industry in general to look for alternatives. On the other hand, we have also enabled production of alternatives through the Micro, Small & Medium Entrepreneurs (MSME) sector. Plus, we have a plan laid out for 10 years, a first for itself." Yadav also said that there would not be any shifting of the date, as majority are on board. The Ministry had earlier issued directions to the e-commerce companies regarding phasing out the identified items. "After the first meeting with e-commerce companies last year, we had another meeting earlier this year. Since then, we have been constantly in touch with them; the companies are participating in the meetings with the state pollution control board meetings," said Tanmay Kumar, Chairperson of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). He also confirmed, none of them have sought time to delay the ban, and not all are resisting. Scores of industrial units/business houses are indeed working in tandem with the government since last year, he said. "The decision (to ban SUP from July 1) might impact a lot of players in the FMCG ecosystem and business. Speaking for ourselves, our major snack packs are not made up of single use plastic, so they might not get affected much. We use packaging material for our snack packs which can be later recycled. As of now, shrink wrap is being used for our sweet packs and with the upcoming regulations, we are looking for alternatives," said Manish Aggarwal, Director, Bikano, Bikanervala Foods Pvt Ltd. --IANS niv/arm ( 534 Words) 2022-06-28-23:14:03 (IANS)
Less than two weeks after giving him a posting following revocation of his suspension, the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday once again suspended senior IPS officer A.B. Venkateswara Rao. The state government issued orders suspending the official for violating service rules by speaking to the media without permission from the government. The Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was issued a show cause notice by Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma in April for speaking to the media on Pegasus row. According to the notice, he violated Rule 6 of the All India Services Rules by holding a press conference without prior permission of the state government. Venkateswara Rao, who was the intelligence chief during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime, had addressed a press conference after Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram announced that a House Committee will be constituted to probe the Pegasus issue. The announcement came on the demand by members of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) who wanted a thorough probe in the light of reported claim by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the TDP government headed by Chandrababu Naidu had purchased spyware from Pegasus. Venkateswara Rao told a news conference that neither the intelligence wing nor any other government department had procured or used the Pegasus spyware till April 2019. He had also stated that the people of the state are in a state of fear and anguish over the ongoing developments, and the responsibility to clear the air on the Pegasus issue lies with the state government. In February 2020, the state government had placed Venkateswara Rao, an officer of 1989 batch, under suspension for his alleged misconduct and irregularities in purchase of security equipment. Considered close to then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Rao was removed as the Additional Director General of Police, Intelligence, after Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy assumed office in May 2019. He was waiting for a posting. The police officer had approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had set aside the suspension on May 22, 2020. The Supreme Court on April 22, 2022 dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the state government challenging the high court order, making it clear that the suspension could be for a maximum of two years as per the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Amendments Rules, 2015. It said since the two year period was over, the suspension could no longer be in place. In May, the state government issued orders revoking Rao's suspension with effect from February 2022. Though the officer had reported to the General Administration Department on May 19 for the posting, he was made to wait for nearly a month. He was finally appointed as Commissioner, Printing and Stationery. However, within two weeks of his new appointment, he has now been suspended again. --IANS ms/vd ( 478 Words) 2022-06-28-23:18:02 (IANS)
In addition to running Wear OS 3, the upcoming Montblanc Summit 3 will be the first wristwatch on the new unified platform to support iOS. According to The Verge, the information, which was first reported by Wareable, was confirmed to The Verge by Lauren Miller, a Qualcomm official. The Summit 3 is the first smartwatch to ship with Wear OS 3 pre-installed, albeit it is not the first to run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus platform. Its support for iOS marks a considerable departure from other Wear OS 3 devices that have been officially verified. For instance, the upcoming Google Pixel Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 range are only available to Android users. Although they were never particularly well-liked by iPhone owners, older Wear OS 2 and Samsung Tizen-powered smartwatches do function with iOS. Later this year, 4100 Plus chipset-based Wear OS 2 watches can be upgraded to Wear OS 3; however, it's not yet known if the improved versions of these watches will still work with iOS. The absence of iOS from the Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 suggested that Wear OS 3 would be a closed ecosystem. The move by Montblanc to support iPhone users, however, raises the possibility that other Wear OS watch manufacturers, such as Fossil and Mobvoi, will do the same for upcoming devices or even maintain some level of iOS compatibility when updating previous watches. The Summit 3 will feature a specialised companion app for both iOS and Android that will serve as a "bridge between phone and watch," according to Miller. That also suggests that if Fossil and Mobvoi want to retain iOS users in the mix, they may also need to create their own apps. Focusing on high-quality experiences within the Android Ecosystem is our top priority for Wear OS 3. Although the Summit 3 will be compatible with iPhones, iOS users won't necessarily enjoy the same Wear OS 3 experience as Android users. "Our priority for Wear OS 3 is to focus on quality experiences within the Android ecosystem," Google spokesperson Ivy Chen Hunt told The Verge. "The Montblanc Summit 3 will run Wear OS 3 and be compatible with iPhones. However, support for apps and experiences will vary by phone platform." Hunt went on to explain that Google supports iOS with apps and services like YouTube Music and notifications mirroring and that the company plans to expand support in the future, as reported by The Verge. Given this, it's definitely safe to anticipate that Wear OS 3 won't initially perform as well on iPhones. Until the Montblanc Summit 3 debuts on July 15th, we won't know just how the iOS experience will vary. However, the eye-watering price of the watch is USD1,250 or around USD1,300. Although the Summit 3 is the first Wear OS 3 watch that is officially compatible with iOS, you might be better off waiting for more reasonably priced options from Fossil or Mobvoi that could appear later this fall. (ANI)
Pilgrims reached Jammu late Tuesday night ahead of the Amarnath Yatra which will be commencing on June 30, after a gap of two years. "We were waiting for two years to offer prayers to Baba Bholenath. We are very happy to see it happen," a pilgrim told ANI. The Amarnath shrine pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva, located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, is held from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal. The Jammu and Kashmir government had cancelled the annual Amarnath pilgrimage due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in 2020 and 2021 after a discussion with Amarnathji Shrine Board members. With just a day left for the Amarnath Yatra, the langar committees are gearing up to facilitate Amarnath Yatra pilgrims in Udhampur and Baltal. In Jammu and Kashmir, all necessary arrangements have been completed by the Ramban district administration for the convenience of the Amarnath Yatries during their Yatra (pilgrimage) starting from Wednesday from Jammu, on the 66 Km journey from Nashri to Banihal. Besides this, the DRDO hostel has been made prepared for the Amarnath Yatris. "DRDO hostel is ready in both the base camps for Amarnath Yatris. We have made arrangements for the pilgrims to stay. Langar, medical, communication and sanitation facilities for the pilgrims have been done here," said Nitishwar Kumar, CEO of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. Additional District Commissioner, Ramban, Harbans Lal who is also the Nodal Officer for Amarnath Yatra in Ramban district said that as many as 1,005 toilets excluding mobile toilets have been arranged for the Yatris along the NH44 as well as in the shelter sheds. He said that specially designated water supply has been made for the pilgrims. CCTV cameras have been installed for the security of 'Yatris' (tourists). Besides this, signboards and a public address system have been made for providing necessary information for pilgrims. In addition to this, Police Control Rooms and Joint Control Rooms the Helpline, and District Emergency Operation Centre numbers have also been established. Meticulous arrangements have been made for sanitation at their shelter places.All arrangements have also been made for any medical emergency of Yatris in the langars and other shelter sheds under the supervision of the Chief Medical Officer. In the Ramban district along the NH-44, as many as 33 Langars by various religious and philanthropic organizations are all set to serve the pilgrims. In these langars besides free breakfast, lunch and dinner would be provided to the pilgrims. Besides this, there would be beds for night stays and free medicines in case of emergency.Nodal Officers have been deputed for ensuring the smooth running of langars. Besides langars, many wayside eateries and food joints have been established. security has been tightened in Jammu and Kashmir with special emphasis on the use of over 130 sniffer dogs on the vehicle routes heading towards the shrine to ensure safe pilgrimage amid heightened terror threats. A top government official, requesting anonymity, told ANI that this is the first time when the security forces have been using a maximum number of sniffer dogs to check the use of explosives by terrorists to disrupt the 43-day annual pilgrimage beginning on June 30. (ANI)
Criticizing the Congress-led Rajasthan government over the beheading incident in Udaipur, former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vasundhara Raje on Tuesday said the Ashok Gehlot government's policies of incitement and appeasement led to communal violence in the state. "With the brutal murder of innocent youth in Udaipur, it has become clear that due to the instigation and appeasement of the state government, the morale of the criminals is high. Due to this policy of the state government, a situation of communal frenzy and violence has arisen in the state. Those people and organizations behind this incident should be exposed and arrested immediately," Raje said. After the horrific murder of a tailor in Udaipur sparked outrage in the entire state, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday announced the imposition of section 144 of CrPC in all the districts for the next one month. The state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. The SIT includes the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Special Operation Group Ashok Kumar Rathore, Inspector General of Police (IG), Anti Terror Squad (ATS), Prafulla Kumar and a Superintendant of Police (SP) rank officer and an Additional SP rank officer. Internet services have been suspended in the entire state on Tuesday. Udaipur Divisional Commissioner Rajendra Bhatt appealed to the people to maintain peace. "We appeal to the people of Udaipur to maintain peace. The (victim Kanhaiya Lal's) dependents have been assured of recruitment through placement service in UIT, and the family will be given compensation of Rs 5 lakhs," said Bhatt. Police are on high alert in every district of Rajasthan. Meanwhile, a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) rushed to Udaipur following the incident, said sources. The NIA team includes a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer, a source told ANI on anonymity, adding the move comes following an order issued from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). As per government sources, the NIA team is likely to file a case under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after visiting the crime spot. The incident took place in Udaipur's Maldas area. Soon after committing the crime, the two accused posted a video on social media boasting about the beheading and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life as well, police said. The two accused were arrested within hours of the incident. One of the assailants, who was identified as Riyaz Akhtar, attacked Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other, Ghos Mohammad, recorded the crime on his mobile phone, police said. The victim, a tailor, reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP spokesperson who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Following the murder, local markets in the area were shut as the traders demanded justice for the victim. "Both the accused have been detained and the law and order situation is under control. Some people were attempting to come out of the bylanes but were controlled. Curfew imposed in the nearby areas," Manoj Kumar, SP, Udaipur said. A statewide alert has also been issued to all Superintendents of Police and Inspector Generals to increase the mobility of forces and to maintain officers on the ground. Following the incident, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to appeal to the youth of the state to maintain peace. Addressing the reporters, Gehlot said, "It is a sad and shameful incident. There is a tense atmosphere in the nation today. Why does not Prime Minister and Amit Shah address the nation? There is tension among people. PM should address the public and say that such violence will not be tolerated and appeal for peace." "It is a very sad incident. It is not a small incident, what has happened is beyond one's imagination. The culprits will not be spared," he added. (ANI)
The incident took place at a factory in the Phase-I area of Mangolpuri in the early hours of Wednesday. Acting on information, fire tenders rushed to the spot. At present, 26 fire tenders are at the spot to douse the flames.

According to the Delhi Fire Department, no causality has been reported so far.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Further details are awaited.

Earlier on Saturday, a massive fire broke out in a plastic godown in the Badli area behind Rohini jail in the national capital.

In May, a massive fire broke out in a factory in Mundka. 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.

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)
On the occasion of Raja Ravi Varma's 174th birth anniversary, a cultural programme was organised at Delhi Police Headquarters on Tuesday. The cultural programme - Raja Ravi Varma Chitrakar Samman Samaroh, "Chitranjali" was organised in association with the Ministry of Culture and Megh Mandal Sansthan. Raja Ravi Varma's paintings have been a source of cultural and spiritual inspiration. Union Minister of Culture, Tourism and DoNER G Kishan Reddy was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The paintings of Raja Ravi Verma were exhibited in the corridors of Adarsh Auditorium showcasing his diverse artistic achievements. Reddy remembered former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao on his birth anniversary. He said that many artists are being felicitated for their contribution in art today on this occasion and said that the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma are a symbol of festival, reverance and respect. He further said that the Ministry of Culture has been instrumental in organising many such cultural programs on the birth anniversaries of great Indian personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai, Rabindranath Tagore, Bhagwan Birsa Munda, Guru Tegh Bahadur etc to create awareness among the youth and future generations and to learn about Indian history and culture. Professor Kaptan Singh Solanki, former Governor of Punjab, Haryana and Tripura, who was the gueatb og honour at the occasion, said that Raja Ravi Verma was among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. The event felicitating artists in the remembrance of Raja Ravi Verma is a great initiative on the part of Ministry of Culture and Delhi Police. Speaking on the occasion Rakesh Asthana Commissioner of Police, Delhi said that the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma showcase the vast history and diverse culture of India which is an inspiration for all. Delhi Police as part of the ongoing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav has been organising multiple cultural programs like painting competitions to mark the 75th Year of independence and the platinum jubilee of Delhi Police. Such programs are aimed to create awareness on women's safety, drug addiction and human trafficking awareness which is an important societal aspect of policing. Many renowned artists and school students were felicitated during the ceremony. Classical dance of renowned Indian dancer Sudha Chandran and group was also performed in the ceremony. (ANI)
The Mumbai Police on Wednesday said that a total of 19 people were killed and 15 people sustained injuries after a building collapse in Kurla area of Mumbai on Monday. An FIR has been registered against other landlords and one Dilip Biswas under Sections 304(2), 308, 337, 338, and 34 of IPC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those who lost their lives. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each. "Pained by the building collapse in Mumbai. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with the bereaved families and prayers with the injured. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of the deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000," tweeted the Office of the Prime Minister quoting PM Modi. The death toll in the Kurla building collapse rose to 19 on Tuesday evening. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those who died in the incident. The four-storeyed building collapsed in Mumbai's Kurla late on Monday night. The incident took place in the Naik Nagar area. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Potnis said, "In 2016, the building was listed under the C1 category. Later, following an audit, it was reclassified under C2. It should have been repaired, but it wasn't. I, however, don't think there has been negligence on part of BMC." Earlier, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said the collapsed building was dilapidated, since 2013, notices had been first given for its repair, and then for its demolition. On Monday night, Minister Aaditya Thackeray visited Kurla where the building collapsed and said that such property should be vacated on the notice of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)." Whenever BMC issues notices, (buildings) should be vacated themselves...otherwise, such incidents happen, which is unfortunate...It's now important to take action on this," Thackeray said. (ANI)
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday termed as "unlawful" the Maharashtra Governor's order calling for a floor test of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra and said the ruling coalition of Sena, NCP and Congress, will approach the Supreme Court and seek justice on this issue. The remarks of the Shiv Sena leader come after the Governor ordered a floor test to be held in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30 stating that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state painted a "very disturbing picture." Speaking to media persons here, Raut said, "It's called Jet speed. The Governor was waiting for this moment only. We will go to the Supreme Court (against the Maharashtra Governor's decision to call for a floor test). This is an unlawful activity as the matter of disqualification of our 16 MLAs is pending in SC." The Governor has written to the state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray.According to the notification, the session will commence at 11 am which will also be telecast live. Notably, this comes after Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the Governor on Tuesday night after returning from Delhi, and submitted a letter to him demanding an immediate floor test. "The present political scenario unfolding in the State of Maharashtra paints a very disturbing picture. There has been extensive coverage in the electronic and print media that 39 MLAs of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party have expressed their sincere desire and decision to exit the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government," said the notification by the Governor. "The Leader of Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly personally visited me at Raj Bhavan on June 28, 2022. I was briefed about the political situation in the State and thereafter the Leader of Opposition submitted a letter stating that Chief Minister has lost the majority in Vidhan Sabha. The letter submitted by the Leader of Opposition has further requested for a floor test to be conducted at the earliest so as to avoid any political bargaining by undemocratic means in the State of Maharashtra,"it added. According to the sources, a few independent MLAs had also sent an email to the registered email address of the Maharashtra Governor demanding an immediate floor test. "In this backdrop, an email dated June 28, 2022, was received by Raj Bhavan, Mumbai by 7 independent MLAs. The said letter states that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra has lost the confidence of the majority on the floor of the House thereby, making it imperative to conduct a floor test at the earliest," the notification stated. "As the constitutional head of the State. I must ensure that the Government functions with the support and confidence of the House. Thus, I have issued a communication to the Chief Minister calling upon to prove his majority on the Floor of the House on June 30, 2022," it further stated. (ANI)
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of a man in Rajasthan's Udaipur who was allegedly beheaded by two men in broad daylight in the region on Tuesday. Home Ministry Office (HMO) took to Twitter to make the announcement a day after the incident that shocked people across the country. "MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday," HMO tweeted. In the tweet, the HMO has also mentioned that "the involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated". The move comes after a team of NIA was on Tuesday rushed to Udaipur including a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer. As per government sources, the NIA team will file a case under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The incident took place in Udaipur's Maldas area. Soon after committing the crime, the two accused posted a video on social media boasting about the beheading and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life as well, police said. The two accused were arrested within hours of the incident. One of the assailants, who was identified as Riyaz Akhtar, attacked Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other, Ghos Mohammad, recorded the crime on his mobile phone, police said. The victim, a tailor, is reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP leader who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Following the murder, local markets in the area were shut as the traders demanded justice for the victim. Internet service has been suspended for 24 hours in Udaipur and a curfew has been imposed. "Both the accused have been detained and the law and order situation is under control. Some people were attempting to come out of the bylanes but were controlled. Curfew imposed in the nearby areas," Manoj Kumar, SP, Udaipur said. A statewide alert has also been issued to all SPs and IGs to increase the mobility of forces and to maintain officers on the ground. (ANI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that she has received a letter from the Central government on the Agnipath recruitment scheme asking her to provide jobs to BJP workers. Addressing a gathering on Tuesday, Mamata said, "I received a letter (from the Centre) in which they urged the state govt to give jobs to Agniveers after four years. They want me to give jobs to BJP workers... why should we?... First priority will be given to state youth." The Agnipath Scheme, which was approved by the cabinet on June 14, was launched in an effort to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With the new military recruitment scheme facing criticism, the Centre decided to grant a one-time waiver and on June 16 announced that the upper age limit for recruitment via Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years. The Ministry of Defence, in its statement in June 2022, said that the Agnipath scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces. Mamata on Wednesday on Twitter condemned the Udaipur beheading case. She wrote, "Violence and extremism are UNACCEPTABLE, no matter what! I STRONGLY CONDEMN what happened in Udaipur. As law takes its own course of action, I urge everyone to maintain peace." The victim, a tailor, reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP spokesperson who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. The horrific murder of a tailor in Udaipur sparked outrage in the entire state, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday announced the imposition of section 144 of CrPC in all the districts for the next one month. The state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. The SIT includes the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Special Operation Group Ashok Kumar Rathore, Inspector General of Police (IG), Anti Terror Squad (ATS), Prafulla Kumar and a Superintendant of Police (SP) rank officer and an Additional SP rank officer. Internet services have been suspended in the entire state on Tuesday. Udaipur Divisional Commissioner Rajendra Bhatt appealed to the people to maintain peace. "We appeal to the people of Udaipur to maintain peace. The (victim Kanhaiya Lal's) dependents have been assured of recruitment through placement service in UIT, and the family will be given compensation of Rs 5 lakhs," said Bhatt. Police are on high alert in every district of Rajasthan. (ANI)
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that the state government will uncover the "conspiracy" behind the cold-blooded murder of a tailor in Udaipur a day ago. Speaking to reporters here Gehlot said, "It is not an ordinary incident, we will seriously decipher the conspiracy and links to this killing. I'm going for a meeting and will let you know the outcome." The Chief Minister departed for Jaipur from Jodhpur on Wednesday. Gehlot had called a meeting with officials regarding the law and order situation in the state after one tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, was beheaded in broad daylight by two men in Udaipur's Maldas street area yesterday. The chief minister had on Tuesday condemned the incident and said that the culprits will not be saved. "It is a sad and shameful incident. There is a tense atmosphere in the nation today. Why doesn't Prime Minister and Amit Shah address the nation? There is tension among people. PM should address the public and say that such violence won't be tolerated and appeal for peace," the CM had said "It is a very sad incident. It is not a small incident, what has happened is beyond one's imagination. The culprits will not be spared," Gehlot said. Meanwhile, the Udaipur SP Manoj Kumar appealed to everyone to have faith in the law and asked them to maintain law and order situation in the city. "Action will be taken against the accused. I appeal to everyone to have faith in the law. Law and order situation is under control. No incident has happened after the murder and the situation is completely under control," said the Udaipur SP. Udaipur Divisional Commissioner Rajendra Bhatt said that financial compensation of Rs 31 lakh will be given to the kin of tailor Kanhaiya Lal. In order to maintain law and order, internet services were suspended for 24 hours across the state and Section 144 was imposed in all districts for the next month. Kanhaiya Lal who was beheaded yesterday had a few days ago shared a social media post in support of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The two men posted a video boasting about the beheading and threatened PM Modi's life as well. Locals protested after the incident that took place in broad daylight. Shops in Maldas street area of Udaipur have been closed following the incident. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred a hearing for July 13 on a plea filed by Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind seeking directions to the Uttar Pradesh authorities to ensure that no further demolitions of properties are carried out in the state without following due process. The Vacation Bench of Justice Suryakant and JB Pradiwala on Wednesday deferred the hearing after noting that the affected party has already moved to Allahabad High Court and heard the matter yesterday and tomorrow is also a hearing scheduled. And the affected party/Parveen Fatima, wife of Javed Mohammed, has expressed her wish to pursue her own case. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Government had informed the Supreme Court that recent demolitions of properties carried out in the state were done following due process & were in no way related to taking action against persons accused of rioting. Govt has taken action against rioters as per a different set of statutes, the UP govt stated. It was only after due service and providing adequate opportunity under Section 27 of the Act that the illegal construction was demolished by the Prayagraj Development Authority on June 12, 2022, after following due process of law and the same had no relation to the incident of rioting, " the UP government submitted. UP govt submission came in an affidavit filed in response to Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's application against the recent demolition drive in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh government, in its affidavit, urged the Court to dismiss the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's application saying that it is without merit. Blaming the petitioner for cherry-picking including one instance of demolition of the house of one Javed Mohammed in Prayagraj, UP Govt said the process against that alleged unauthorised construction had been initiated much prior to incidents of rioting. Uttar Pradesh government stated through an affidavit that in so far as taking action against the persons accused in rioting, the State government is taking stringent steps against them in accordance with a completely different set of statutes. UP govt has also apprised the top court that recent demolitions have been carried out by the Local Development Authorities, which are statutory autonomous bodies, independent of the State administration, as per law as part of their routine effort against unauthorised/illegal constructions and encroachments, in accordance with the UP Urban Planning and Development Act, 1972. Uttar Pradesh Government has taken strong exception to the attempt by the Petitioner Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to name the highest constitutional functionaries of the State and falsely colour the local development Authority's lawful actions strictly complying with the UP Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973, as "extra-legal punitive measures" against accused persons, targeting any particular religious community. Earlier, the Supreme Court sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on pleas by Jamiat-Ulama-I-Hind and also asked the administration to follow the process of law for carrying out the demolition of alleged unauthorised structures. Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind has filed an application seeking to issue directions to the State of Uttar Pradesh that no precipitative action be taken in the state against the residential or commercial property of any accused in any criminal proceedings as an extra-legal punitive measure. The application by the organization Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind has also urged the Court that any demolition drive that the authorities are planning to carry out in Kanpur District should stay during the pendency of the instant writ petition. (ANI)
Amid the ongoing flood situation in Assam, the Eknath Shinde camp which has been living in a Guwahati hotel for over a week, donated Rs 51 lakh to the CM relief fund to extend help to the affected population. Following the move by the Shinde camp, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his gratitude to the donors and said that it will "go a long way" in reaching out to the flood victims. "Shiv Sena MLAs and allies have decided to contribute Rs 51 lakhs to the Assam CM's relief fund to help the flood-affected people," Eknath Shinde tweeted. Responding to the donation by the rebel MLAs, Sarma tweeted, "Heartfelt gratitude to Hon'ble Shiv Sena MLAs led by @mieknathshinde ji for contributing Rs 51 lakh to CM Relief Fund. The contribution shall go a long way in reaching out to the flood victims and ensuring relief in flood-affected areas of our State." Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday airlifted a total of 517 tons of relief material over the past six days, informed the officials. "Relief Operations by IAF continue unabated day and night. Over the past six days, a total of 517 Tons of relief material has been airlifted across various flood-affected regions of Assam and Meghalaya," tweeted the IAF. Earlier, the Indian Airforce deployed seven types of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft in various flood-affected areas, informed the officials on Sunday. The IAF deployed these aircraft with the aim to transport 77 tonnes of relief material. The overall flood situation in Assam has improved but over 33.03 lakh people in 28 districts continue to remain affected due to the natural calamity in the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) informed on Saturday. According to ASDMA, a total of 117 people have lost their lives so far in the flood and landslides in the state this year; of which 100 people died in flood alone, while the remaining 17 died due to landslides. As per the reports, at least 10 people, including four children died after drowning in the flood water in the last 24 hours. The report also stated that 8.76 lakh people have been affected in Barpeta district alone, followed by 5.08 lakh people in Nagaon, 4.01 lakh in Kamrup, 2.76 lakh people in Cachar, 2.16 in Karimganj, 1.84 lakh in Dhubri, and 1.70 lakh people have been affected in the Darrang district of Assam. Notably, 3,510 villages under 93 revenue circles of the state and nearly 91,700 hectares of cropland is still reeling under the flood water. 2,65,788 people affected by flood water are still lodged in 717 relief camps set up by the administration of 22 districts in the state, ASDMA reported. Two drones have been deployed in Silchar of Cachar district for carrying out the flood inundation mapping as well as to provide the relief materials in the inaccessible areas. Nearly 1.42 lakh people of 155 villages under the Raha revenue circle have been affected by the current wave of floods. (ANI)
Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said that he and other dissident MLAs will arrive in Mumbai for a floor test to be held in Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow. Shinde and the other MLAs who had been staying at a hotel in Guwahati hotel for over a week now, following a revolt within the party, visited the Kamakhya temple here for the second time today. This comes after the Maharashtra Governor called a special session in the Assembly tomorrow for Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government to prove its majority. Rebel Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil that people are with them and they will win the Floor Test tomorrow. "There is no need for worry," Patil said. According to sources, the MLAs will head to Goa where they will be staying today before moving to Mumbai tomorrow for the trust vote. "As many as 70 rooms have been booked in a Goa hotel," sources said. A SpiceJet flight is en-route to Guwahati to take all rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Guwahati to Goa today. Earlier a SpiceJet flight had taken the MLAS from Surat to Guwahati by a special charter flight. Earlier this morning, Eknath Shinde visited the Kamakhya temple here said that his faction is ready to face the Floor Test. "I will return to Mumbai tomorrow. I prayed for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra here at the temple," Shinde said after visiting the temple. Later in the afternoon, Shinde visited the temple again in the company of MLAs. Rebel Independent MLA Rajendra Raut said that there is no problem if the BJP comes to power in Maharashtra. "I'm with BJP since the beginning. Devendra Fadnavis took a stand for me in the state Assembly...MLAs will get upset if work will not happen in their constituencies. Yes, there is no problem in that (of BJP coming to power in the state)," Raut said. Taking a jibe at CM Thackeray, rebel MLA Gulabrao Patil said that the Shiv Sena chief is not ready to leave Sharad Pawar, though he has left Varsha Bungalow, the official bunglow of the Maharashtra chief minister. "He left the Varsha Bungalow, he left his MLAs, but he is not ready to leave Sharad Pawar," Patil said. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove his majority on the floor of the House on June 30 citing the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture." The Governor has written to the state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray. According to the notification, the session will commence at 11 am which will also be telecast live. However, the Supreme Court today agreed to hear at 5 pm a plea filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging Governor Koshyari's direction to CM Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned Prabhu's petition seeking an urgent hearing of the case today evening before a vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala, saying the "floor test is illegal". Meanwhile, with just a day to go for the all-important Floor Test, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis has called a meeting of BJP leaders at his residence in Mumbai this afternoon. (ANI)
After a metropolitan court granted the remand of social activist Teesta Setalvad to the Ahmedabad crime branch till July 2 on charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy, BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia has hit out stating that she was only a "small branch of spreading communal hatred" while its "headquarter is in the Congress party". Notably, Teesta Setalvad was arrested on Sunday for questioning after Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview with ANI said that Setalvad-run NGO gave baseless information about the 2002 Gujarat riots to the police. "A landmark judgment was delivered by the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, dismissing the petition submitted by Zakia Jafri. After this decision, some comments were made, which revealed the real character of some people sitting on the contract to protect human rights. For the last two decades, a political conspiracy and effort were being run against the world's most respected leader," Bhatia said. "The Ahmedabad Crime Branch registered an FIR and a woman named Teesta Setalvad, who calls herself a champion of human rights, came to the fore. Teesta Setalvad was only a small branch of spreading communal hatred, its headquarter is in the Congress party," he alleged. Alleging that they were not fighting for justice for the families of the victims, Bhatia said that their "main target" was only to "end the political term" of then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "It is clear from the statements of one of his associates who were with Teesta Setalvad that these people are not fighting for justice for the families of the victims. Their target was to end the political innings of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat," he said. Earlier on Sunday, the Gujarat government decided to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the state's Anti-Terrorism Squad DIG Deepan Bhadran to investigate the role of Setalvad, Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots. An FIR was lodged against Setalvad, Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for giving false testimonies in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, a top police official said. The six-member SIT will include DCP (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik, ATS SP Sunil Joshi, Deputy SP (Special Operations Group) BC Solanki, who will be the investigating officer, and a woman police inspector, among others, the official said on conditions of anonymity. On Saturday, Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team detained Setalvad from Mumbai in connection with a case on her NGO and later in the night she was taken to Ahmedabad. The Gujarat ATS team took Teesta Setalvad to the Santacruz police station. The Supreme Court had on Friday, dismissed as "devoid of merit" an appeal by Zakia Jafri in a plea challenging SIT's clean chit to the then chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi and others in cases related to the riots. Zakia Jafri is the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the riots. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea filed by a man who has been unsuccessfully attempting to contest Presidential polls, challenging the validity of the legal scheme envisaging that a candidate for the election of the top office must be subscribed by at least 50 MPs or MLAs as proposers and 50 as seconders respectively. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala declined to hear the plea and asked the petitioner to withdraw it. The petitioner, Bam Bam Maharaj Nowhattia, then withdrew the plea. The petition filed by Nowhattia, a Delhi resident who claims to be a social activist, challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 which deal with the public notice of election, the nomination of candidates and the presentation of nomination papers and requirements for a valid nomination. Besides challenging the provisions, Nowhattia has also sought the nod of the apex court to contest the post of the President. Nowhattia has unsuccessfully tried to contest the presidential elections since 2007. Meanwhile, the bench also dismissed a petition seeking direction to Returning Officer to accept his nomination papers for contesting July 18 elections for the President's post. The plea was filed by one Mandati T Reddy who had sought to file a nomination for the ensuing election of President of India, but the same was rejected by the returning officer of Secretary General, Lok Sabha, Parliament House. The bench noted his nomination paper did not comply with the requirements envisaged under Section 5B(1)(a) of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Act, 1952. The 16th presidential election is scheduled for July 18 this year and the counting of votes will take place three days after the polling. Draupadi Murmu and Yashwant Sinha are contesting for the presidential post as candidates of the ruling NDA and the opposition parties led by UPA respectively. (ANI)
MLC K Kavitha will inaugurate Telangana Pavilion at the 17th Convention and Youth Conference of the American Telugu Association (ATA) in Washington DC on July 2. She will also participate in the prime meet organised by the ATA representatives in the city. Unity and Integrity of the community are the two core guiding principles of ATA, formed with the sole intent of promoting Telugu culture heritage, values, and advancement of Telugu origin people across the USA with the motto of "Passion for Our culture, Compassion for our People". 17th ATA Conference will further showcase the prowess of Telugu Intellectuals, Technological experts, Doctors, Prominent businessmen, cultural and literary experts both from India and the USA. ATA 17th conference will be a cultural extravaganza par excellence and it is the one of the most Telugu diaspora is looking forward to. Kavitha will also launch a book on Bathukamma on the occasion. The event will be held at Walter E Convention centre from July 1 to 3 in Washington DC. Notably, Kavitha-led cultural organisation Telangana Jagruthi scripted history with the screening of Bathukamma at Burj Khalifa last year. Bathukamma, the floral festival of Telangana went global in October last year as the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai was lit up in colours depicting the festival.The screening featured the map of India, Map of Telangana, Chief Minister KCR, Bathukamma flowers, with Alipoola Vennela playing the background as the heritage of India and Telangana outshined at Burj Khalifa. The visual feast was attributed to the efforts of Nizamabad MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha who led Telangana Jagruthi to showcase states' Bathukamma culture and take the festival celebrations global by featuring its depiction on the world's largest screen. Kavitha, who is the former Member of Parliament and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, led Telangana Jagruthi, a cultural and literary organization that was formed during the statehood movement for Telangana in India and has been working to preserve and celebrate the cultural heritage of Telangana.Kavitha took Twitter to share glimpses of the show with netizens. Last year's Bathukamma edition of Telangana Jagruthi was quite unique. The organization launched a Bathukamma song 'Allipoola Vennela', which became a superhit and was composed by music maestro AR Rahman, directed by ace Indian director Gautham Vasudev Menon and brought to life by a talented team of artists. (ANI)
Ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday asserted that the people of the state are looking for a double engine government in the state. BJP OBC Morcha National President Dr K Laxman addressed the mediapersons on this development and said today, "People are fed up with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-l government and are looking for a change and thus supporting the BJP. People are looking for a double-engine government in the State." The BJP is holding its national executive meeting at HICC Novotel on July 2-3 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a rally at the parade grounds at the culmination of the meeting. "On July 2 and 3, our National Executive meeting is going to be held. In this meeting, BJP National President JP Naada, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Ministers of 19 states and other BJP senior leaders will be participating in this historic meeting," Laxman said. "Hundreds of people have sacrificed their lives for the separate state and BJP played a major role in fulfilling their wish. It's our responsibility to develop the state. We are in power in the Central government. We are working towards the development of Telangana," the BJP leader said. Lashing out at the state government, the BJP leader accused the KCR government of having failed to fulfill the promises to the people of the state. The Hyderabad city police, along with state government departments, have put elaborate security arrangements in place ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Hyderabad to attend the party's national executive and to address a public meeting in Secunderabad. The BJP is holding its national executive meeting at HICC Novotel on July 2-3 and Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address a rally at the parade grounds at the culmination of the meeting. earlier, the BJP had held its national executive meeting in the city in 2004 when the party promised to carve out a separate state of Telangana without delay if it came to power. (ANI)
The performance of the aircraft at low altitude including sustained level and high manoeuvrability was demonstrated during the test flight.

The target aircraft was flown from a ground-based controller in a pre-designated low altitude flight path, which was monitored by various tracking sensors deployed by ITR, including radar and an electro-optical targeting system.

ABHYAS is designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The air vehicle was launched using twin under-slung boosters which provide the initial acceleration to the vehicle. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine to sustain a long endurance flight at high subsonic speed. The target aircraft is equipped with Micro-Electromechanical Systems-based Inertial Navigation System for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer for guidance and control along with Indigenous Radio Altimeter for very low altitude flight and Data Link for encrypted communication between the ground control station and target aircraft. The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO, Armed Forces and the Industry for the successful flight trial of ABHYAS and said that the development of this system will meet the requirements of aerial targets for the armed forces.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the efforts of the teams associated in the design, development and testing of the system. (ANI)
The Supreme Court has started hearing the plea filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to hold the floor test on Thursday. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Prabhu mentioned the plea before a vacation bench headed by Justice Surya Kant and said, "I have 4 or 5 points. Will be brief." Singhvi said, "The letter which tells us about the floor test is dated June 28. Yesterday evening, the Leader of Opposition met the Governor. Media reports mentioned it was at 10 pm. Today, when we mentioned the matter, we received information about the floor test at 11 am tomorrow. Currently, two of the NCP MLAs are down with Covid and two Congress MLAs are abroad." He said the supersonic speed of the floor test left us with no time to call MLAs." Singhvi said, "These people left from Maharashtra and went to Guwahati and on their way, they sent an email from an unverified account that we have no confidence in the Speaker. They have clearly walked across and hobnobbed with the Opposition." He asked, "After meeting the Leader of Opposition, how can the Governor call for a floor test without verification of the situation." "The court must not allow a floor test to be held till the deputy Speaker decides on the disqualification petition against rebel MLAs," Singhvi told the Apex Court. Citing the Uttarakhand Harish Rawat case, senior advocate AM Singhvi said, "A floor test was directed, but the disqualification decision was taken by the Speaker before the floor test. One day before the floor test, the President's Rule was imposed." He also cited the Shivraj Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) case where an "artificial majority was sought to be created by engineering resignations." Sunil Prabhu's lawyer told Supreme Court about a letter which tells us about the floor test. He said that on June 28, Opposition leaders met Governor and today morning, we received intimation about a floor test that is scheduled to be held tomorrow. Two NCP members are down with COVID and one Congress MLA is out of the country, he said. He said, "There is the supersonic speed for the floor test. The floor test determines which government represents the will of the people. A floor test is supposed to find out the true majority. A true majority will include those eligible to be included." Sunil Prabhu's lawyer submitted that the voting (in floor test) should not take place before the Speaker's decision. After his decision, the number of the members of the House will change. Supreme Court Bench, in response to Prabhu, said, "The disqualification case is pending before us, we will decide whether the notice is valid or not. But how is this affecting the floor test?" As the political turmoil in Maharashtra continues to unfold, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis accompanied by 8 independent MLAs on Tuesday submitted a letter to the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded an immediate floor test. "We have given a letter to the Maharashtra Governor demanding an immediate floor test," Devendra Fadnavis said. Sources earlier today also learned that eight independent MLAs have sent an email to the registered email address of the Maharashtra Governor demanding for an immediate floor test. It is being reportedly said that Fadnavis will further demand a meeting with the Governor. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to the rebel MLAs to come for talks. "Don't fall prey to anyone's missteps. The honour given to you by Shiv Sena cannot be found anywhere. If you come forward and speak, we will sort out the issues. As Shiv Sena party chief and family head, I am still worried about you. Come here for a dialogue," he said. Meanwhile, rebel leader Eknath Shinde stated that he will return to Mumbai soon and that his faction was taking "Balasaheb's Shiv Sena forward". Shinde has claimed the support of over 50 MLAs. 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 June 20 and camped in Gujarat's Surat. Later, the rebel MLAs shifted base to a hotel in Guwahati. "10 people attacked a Shiv Sainik. His condition is fine. It is because of such Shiv Sainiks that our party is standing high. The person who got elected on a Shiv Sena ticket and is sitting in Guwahati got our Shiv Sainik attacked through his supporters," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. The rebellion was triggered by a large section of Shiv Sena MLAs, who are currently camping in Assam. The political tussle in Maharashtra between Shiv Sena and the rebel group led by Eknath Shinde has now reached the Supreme Court. The pleas filed by the breakaway camp challenge the disqualification proceedings against Shinde and 15 other rebel MLAs. On Monday, a separate plea was filed by Shinde in the top court regarding the safety of the legislators who have challenged party chief and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala heard the pleas on Monday. "This is the win of the Hindutva of Balasaheb Thackeray and the ideas of Anand Dighe," Eknath Shinde tweeted after the Supreme Court deferred the disqualification proceedings of rebel MLAs till July 11. Earlier, two MLAs, on June 26, called for the removal of the Maharashtra Deputy Speaker, who could be the key decision-maker about the disqualification of the rebel MLAs. Mahesh Baldi and Vinod Agarwal, both independent MLAs and said to be close to the BJP, have moved for the removal of Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, who is from Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Independent MLA Mahesh Baldi from Uran assembly constituency reached Vidhan Bhavan today and submitted a letter to the office Deputy speaker saying that he cannot disqualify the 12 MLAs. In his letter, he has cited several judgements of the Supreme Court. "The entire Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government doesn't have the majority and they can't disqualify any MLA. I am against Congress and NCP and if the MLAs are disqualified, we will also go to the Court," he said. Notably, the Maharashtra assembly doesn't have a Speaker since February 2021. Also, the Deputy Speaker also approved the appointment of Ajay Chaudhary as leader of the ruling party Shiv Sena in the assembly in place of Eknath Shinde. Eknath Shinde has called the appointment illegal as Chaudhary's name was proposed by the "minority faction" as he represents the "real Sena". Shinde, who has been replaced by Ajay Chaudhary as Shiv Sena's legislature party leader on Friday, is currently camping with over 40 rebel MLAs in Guwahati. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today wrote to rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and urged them to return to Mumbai and talk to him. Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde today declared that he will go to Mumbai and "take Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy forward" as he spoke to reporters outside a hotel in Guwahati where he and other rebels have been staying for a week. Eknath Shinde, the leader of a staggering coup against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, claims that he has the backing of around 50 MLAs, nearly 40 from the Shiv Sena. (ANI)
Amid hectic developments in Maharashtra over the political crisis facing the MVA government, state minister Eknath Shinde who is leading a group of party MLAs in Guwahati has said they are "not rebels but Shiv Sena" and are carrying forward the agenda and ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. He said they will work for Hindutva ideology and the development of the state. "We are not rebels. We are Shiv Sena. We are carrying forward the agenda and ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. We will work for the Hindutva ideology and development of the state," Shinde told reporters at Guwahati airport. Shinde, who is staying in Guwahati hotel along with other dissident Shiv Sena MLAs, visited the Kamakhya temple in the morning. Shinde said that he is ready for the floor test and will return to Mumbai tomorrow."I will return to Mumbai tomorrow. I prayed for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra here at the temple," Shinde said after visiting the temple in Guwahati. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove a majority on the floor of the House on June 30 stating that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture." The Governor has written to the state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray.According to the notification, the session will commence at 11 am which will also be telecast live. BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had met the Governor on Tuesday evening after returning from Delhi, and submitted a letter to him demanding an immediate floor test. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday said holding of the floor test amounted to contempt of the Supreme Court proceedings as the apex court is hearing the relating to the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the breakway camp of the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. "How can a floor test be asked for when the disqualification of 16 MLA has deferred by the Supreme Court till 11th July? How can these MLAs participate in the floor test till their disqualification status not decided and the other matters for which notice sent is subjudice?" she tweeted."This would be contempt of court proceedings if floor test conducted despite the matter not getting final hearing in the SC," Chaturvedi added in her tweet. The Supreme Court is hearing a plea filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30. (ANI)
Tailor Kanhaiya Lal, who was beheaded in Udaipur in Rajasthan by two men for allegedly posting content in support of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, has created a public outcry. Reacting to the horrific and brutal killing of her husband, his wife Yashoda demanded that the culprits should be hanged to death. "We demand those people who murdered him (Kanhaiya Lal) should be hanged to death, we demand their death sentence & need justice," said Wife of Kanhaiya Lal who was beheaded, yesterday, Kanhaiya Lal, whose gruesome murder shocked the nation, was cremated on Wednesday in Rajasthan's Udaipur in the presence of a large number of people who raised slogans demanding capital punishment for the accused. His last rites were performed amidst heavy police security. She said, "Kanhaiya Lal had returned to his shop after many days as he was receiving death threats." "For the last 10-15 days he was getting life threats. They said that they will kill him. People used to come both at home and his shop to threaten him. He was threatened over the phone as well," she recalled how her husband was getting death threats . Yesterday, just a few hours after he reopened his shop, two men arrived posing as customers. He started measuring one of them and suddenly, he was attacked with a giant cleaver while the r man recorded the gruesome incident. Kanhaiya has also filed a complaint with the police about threats. A relative of the deceased demanded capital punishment for the murderers saying, "The accused should get punished, otherwide these people will get encouraged to commit more such crimes. The accused should be given such a punishment that no one dares to commit such an incident again ." "We want that either their (murderers) encounter should happen or they should be hanged to death. It's needed to instil fear in them," said Kanhaiya Lal's son. The two men seen in the video hacking the tailor, were arrested last night. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday took over the investigation of the brutal murder of a tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan's Udaipur who was hacked to death inside his shop by two men in broad daylight a day ago, officials said. The anti-terror agency has also filed a First Information Report (FIR) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as various sections of the Indian Penal Code, a senior NIA official told ANI requesting anonymity. The move comes soon after the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the NIA to take over the investigation of the case that shocked people across the country. Making the announcement through its official Twitter handle, Home Ministry Office (HMO) said "MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday". In the tweet, the HMO has also mentioned that "the involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated". A four-member NIA team under the supervision of an Inspector General and a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officers have already taken details of the incident after reaching Udaipur last night.The NIA team has started investigating from all possible angles. The incident took place in Udaipur's Maldas area. Soon after committing the crime, the two accused posted a video on social media boasting about the "beheading" and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life as well, police said.The two accused were arrested within hours of the incident. The assailants identified themselves in the video as Riyaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad.In the video, Riyaz was seen attacking 47-year-old Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other, Ghouse, recorded the crime on his mobile phone. The victim reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP leader who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Riyaz and Ghouse, both residents of Udaipur, were arrested from Bhim in the Rajsamand district.Following the murder, local markets in the area were shut as the traders demanded justice for the victim. Internet services are suspended in Udaipur and a curfew has been imposed. A statewide alert has also been issued to all SPs and IGs to increase the mobility of forces and to maintain officers on the ground. (ANI)
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Prasanna Acharya on Wednesday condemned the incident of Udaipur and said that nobody should try to do politics over such an incident, adding that prime duty of the state government is to control the situation. While talking to ANI, Prasanna Acharya said," it is a most unfortunate, unwanted incident that has happened in Udaipur, Rajasthan and all such things should be unanimously condemned by all political parties irrespective of the political difference. We should unitedly condemn and control such incidents." "The incident has taken place in the state of Rajasthan. I think the prime duty of the concerned state government is to take immediate steps to control the situation and take the culprits into task" BJD MP told ANI. BJD MP criticized Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot for his comment that there is a tense atmosphere across the country and Prime Minister should address the nation. Acharya said, "For all such issues, I don't think it is appropriate to drag the name of the Prime Minister. Nobody should try to do politics over it. We must keep such things above politics. If we will do such petty politics then it will go against the interest of the country and against the interest of the unity of the country." " I want to reiterate that in all such cases, the post of the Prime Minister and the office of the Prime Minister should not be dragged into. whatever step is required, the Prime Minister and the Government of India will take it definitely." Earlier on Tuesday, a shopkeeper was murdered by two men in Rajasthan's Udaipur. The Udaipur murder was recorded on camera and its video has gone viral on social media. The shopkeeper is believed to have been killed over a social media post supporting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma. As tensions flared up, section 144 has been imposed in Rajasthan. (ANI)
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday condemned the cold-blooded murder of a tailor in Udaipur a day ago and lauded the state government for prompt action against the culprits. "We all condemn the Udaipur incident. Rajasthan CM took swift action; culprits were nabbed within 2-3 hours. This is further proof that the Rajasthan government is vigilant and maintaining law and order, so it is not okay to demoralize them," said Kharge. He also appealed to the people to not engage in provocative hate speeches. "Not just in Rajasthan, such cases have been reported from UP, Assam, etc. PM and HM should break their silence. PM should appeal to the people that they don't engage in such incidents. People should not engage in provocative hate speeches," he added. His remarks came after the horrific murder of a tailor in Udaipur sparked outrage in the country, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday announced the imposition of section 144 of CrPC in all the districts for the next one month. The state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. The SIT includes the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Special Operation Group Ashok Kumar Rathore, Inspector General of Police (IG), Anti Terror Squad (ATS), Prafulla Kumar and a Superintendant of Police (SP) rank officer and an Additional SP rank officer. The incident took place in Udaipur's Maldas area. Soon after committing the crime, the two accused posted a video on social media boasting about the beheading and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life as well, police said. The two accused were arrested within hours of the incident. One of the assailants, who was identified as Riyaz Akhtar, attacked Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other, Ghos Mohammad, recorded the crime on his mobile phone, police said. The victim, a tailor, reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP spokesperson who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Following the murder, local markets in the area were shut as the traders demanded justice for the victim. "Both the accused have been detained and the law and order situation is under control. Some people were attempting to come out of the bylanes but were controlled. Curfew imposed in the nearby areas," Manoj Kumar, SP, Udaipur said. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that the state government will uncover the "conspiracy" behind the cold-blooded murder of a tailor in Udaipur a day ago. Speaking to reporters here, Gehlot said, "It is not an ordinary incident, we will seriously decipher the conspiracy and links to this killing. I'm going for a meeting and will let you know the outcome." The Chief Minister departed for Jaipur from Jodhpur on Wednesday. Gehlot had called a meeting with officials regarding the law and order situation in the state after Kanhaiya Lal, was beheaded in broad daylight by two men in Udaipur's Maldas street area. The chief minister on Tuesday condemned the incident and said that the culprits will not be saved. (ANI)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to increase their efficiency and bring transparency and greater accountability in their operations. The move is also aimed at facilitating PACS to diversify their business and undertake multiple activities. The project proposes computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS over five years with a total budget outlay of Rs 2,516 crore and Centre's share of Rs 1,528 crore. The decision will benefit about 13 crore farmers most of which are small and marginal. Cloud-based unified software with data storage, cyber security, hardware, digitization of existing records, maintenance and training are the main components of the initiative. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An official release said that Primary Agricultural Cooperative credit societies constitute the lowest tier of the three-tier short-term cooperative credit (STCC) in the country comprising of about 13 crore farmers as its members, which is crucial for the development of the rural economy. PACS account for 41 per cent (3.01 crore farmers) of the KCC loans given by all entities in the country and 95 per cent of these KCC loans (2.95 crore farmers) through PACS are to the small and marginal farmers. The other two tiers viz. State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) have already been automated by the NABARD and brought on Common Banking Software (CBS). However, the majority of PACS have so far been not computerized and still functioning manually resulting in inefficiency and trust deficit. "In some of the states, stand-alone and partial computerization of PACS has been done. There is no uniformity in the software being used by them and they are not interconnected with the DCCBs and StCBs." The release said that under the guidance of Minister of Home and Cooperation Amit Shah, it has been proposed to computerize all the PACS throughout the country and bring them on a common platform at the national level and have a Common Accounting System (CAS) for their day-to-day business. Computerization of PACS, besides serving the purpose of financial inclusion and strengthening service delivery to small and medium farmers will also become nodal service delivery point for various services and provision of inputs like fertilizers and seeds. "The project will help in improving the outreach of the PACS as outlets for banking activities as well as non-banking activities apart from improving digitalisation in rural areas. The DCCBs can then enrol themselves as one of the important options for taking up various government schemes (where credit and subsidy is involved) which can be implemented through PACS," the release said. It will ensure speedy disposal of loans, lower transition cost, faster audit and reduction in imbalances in payments and accounting with state cooperative banks and district central cooperative banks. The project comprises the development of cloud-based common software with cyber security and data storage, providing hardware support to the PACS, digitization of existing records including maintenance support and training. This software will be in vernacular language having flexibility of customisation as per the needs of the states. Project Management Units (PMUs) will be set up at central and state levels. District Level Support will also be provided at cluster of about 200 PACS. In the case of states where computerization of PACS has been completed, Rs. 50,000 per PACS will be reimbursed provided they agree to integrate with the common software, their hardware meets the required specifications, and the software was commissioned after February 1, 2017. (ANI)
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were neutralized during an encounter that broke out in Kulgam, informed the police on Wednesday. The encounter site was very close to the pilgrimage route of the Amarnath yatra. Both the terrorists killed in the encounter were identified and categorized as local terrorists of the proscribed terror outfit LeT. "Both the killed #terrorists have been identified as #categorised local terrorists of proscribed #terror outfit LeT. Again an important #encounter as the operation site was very close to NHW (#Yatra route)," Tweeted the Jammu and Kashmir. The encounter was started in the Nowpora, Mir Bazar area in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam on Wednesday. The security was tightened in Jammu and Kashmir with special emphasis on the use of over 130 sniffer dogs on the vehicle routes heading towards the shrine to ensure safe pilgrimage amid heightened terror threat. A top government official, requesting anonymity, told ANI that this is the first time when the security forces have been using a maximum number of sniffer dogs to check the use of explosives by terrorists to disrupt the 43-day annual pilgrimage beginning on June 30. "In this year's Amarnath Yatra, we have specially deployed a maximum number of sniffer dogs. Over 130 sniffer dogs are currently deployed on routes from Srinagar and Jammu towards holy Amarnath cave to detect explosives suspected to be used by the terrorist outfits to disrupt the annual pilgrimage," said the official. Among the sniffer dogs deployed in Jammu and Kashmir are the most commonly used breeds-- German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and Labrador. Amid the latest threats inputs regarding the use of grenades, sticky bombs, and Improvised Explosive Device; the security forces have been using sniffer dogs to avert any eventuality during the pilgrimage, which is being organised after a gap of two years. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had also informed the Central government last week that Pakistan-based commanders of proscribed terrorist organisations are trying terrorist activities by way of targeting minorities, security personnel and religious pilgrimages including holy Shri Amaranthji Yatra, Shri Vaishno Devi Yatra and other similar religious activities. (ANI)
Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, on Wednesday hit out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and said that the governance in the state has taken a backseat, while the focus of the government is only on politics now. Raje attacked Ashok Gehlot's government for failing to control crimes in the state including the brutal killing of Kanhaiya Lal. During an interview with ANI, Raje said, "There is no governance in the state, there is just politics that is why Chief Minister goes to Delhi and defends Rahul Gandhi there. Accused were taking PM's name, no state government should have such a loose reign that people can speak like this." On Gehlot urging Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the nation on the incident, She said, "Gehlot had been playing a blame game and that she has never seen such an incident ever in the history of the state." "While we need to go to the depth of this issue and understand what was the background of those murderers and we need to expose those backing them, I have never seen a scenario like this, the chief minister has pinned the blame on somebody else instead of taking responsibility," Raje added. Dragging the name of the Prime Minister to cover up for your own follies is the most unfortunate, Raje stated. Earlier on Tuesday, while addressing the reporters in Jaipur Gehlot said, "It is a sad and shameful incident. There is a tense atmosphere in the nation today. Why don't Prime Minister and Union Home Minister address the nation? Tailor Kanhaiya Lal, who was beheaded in Udaipur in Rajasthan by two men for allegedly posting content in support of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, has created a public outcry. Reacting to the horrific and brutal killing of her husband, his wife Yashoda demanded that the culprits should be hanged to death. Lal, whose gruesome murder shocked the nation, was cremated on Wednesday in Rajasthan's Udaipur in the presence of a large number of people who raised slogans demanding capital punishment for the accused. His last rites were performed amid heavy police security. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday took over the investigation of the brutal murder of a tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan's Udaipur who was hacked to death inside his shop by two men in broad daylight a day ago, officials said. The anti-terror agency has also filed a First Information Report (FIR) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as various sections of the Indian Penal Code, a senior NIA official told ANI requesting anonymity. The move comes soon after the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the NIA to take over the investigation of the case that shocked people across the country. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its go ahead for the floor test in Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow as it refused to stay the state Governor's decision which was challenged by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu. "We are not staying tomorrow's floor test," the Supreme Court bench said. The court also issued notice on Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu's plea and said that tomorrow's floor test will be subject to the outcome of the present petition. The court will hear his plea on July 11. A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala had earlier in the day reserved the decision on the plea filed by Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to hold the floor test on June 30 (Thursday). The MVA government in Maharashtra is facing a political crisis after a revolt in Shiv Sena. The rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde have been camping in Guwahati. Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing rebel Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde, told the bench in SC, "First and foremost it is to be decided if the Speaker has to be removed or not," referring to Nabam Rebia's decision that disqualification cannot be decided until a decision on Speaker's removal is taken" "This unfolding situation requires a floor test and Governor in his discretion has decided to hold it.I have seen everyone keen to take the floor test. I have seldom seen a party so afraid to conduct a floor test. Normally parties rush to Court to say hold the floor test because someone else is hijacking the party. Here, the opposite is sought, the party wants no floor test. Where does the natural dance of democracy take place?" he said. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Prabhu, said it is repeatedly argued by the other side that the Speaker is always suspect, always a political, "but the Governor is a holy cow". "That Governor can never be wrong, but the Speaker, the persona designate under 10th schedule is political. Those who believe that the Speaker is only political and Governor can never be political, I tell them, wake up and smell the coffee, don't live in ivory towers. This is a Governor who has not allowed nominations to MLC for one year." "Does the Governor have a single sentence in the order that the issue is subjudice before the Supreme Court and despite that I am exercising? Two days before the Governor comes to Raj Bhavan, meets the leader of the opposition yesterday and issues the order today. But the Speaker is to be always a suspect. Governors are not angles. They are humans. The Governor did not address the issue of sub judice. He did not verify. He did not call the Chief Minister for his view," Singhvi said. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove a majority on the floor of the House on June 30 stating that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture." The Governor wrote to the state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray. According to the notification, the session will commence at 11 am and will be telecast live. BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had met the Governor on Tuesday evening after returning from Delhi, and submitted a letter to him demanding an immediate floor test. (ANI)
Minutes after Supreme Court gave its go ahead to floor test in the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that he is resigning from his post. "I am resigning as the Chief Minister," Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray announced. He also announced his resignation as MLC too. The MVA government in Maharashtra has been facing a political crisis after a revolt in Shiv Sena. The rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde have been camping in Guwahati. Uddhav Thackeray also expressed gratitude to NCP and Congress, allies in the coalition government. "I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP and Congress people also supported the proposal," he said. He also expressed to Maharashtra cabinet decisions taken earlier day. "I am satisfied that we have officially renamed Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv - the cities named by Balasaheb Thackeray," he said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its go ahead for floor test in Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow as it refused to stay the state Governor's decision which was challenged by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu. "We are not staying tomorrow's floor test," the Supreme Court bench said. The court also issued notice on Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu's plea and said that tomorrow's floor test will be subject to the outcome of the present petition. The court will hear his plea on July 11. A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala had earlier in the day reserved the decision on the plea filed by Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to hold the floor test on June 30 (Thursday). Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove a majority on the floor of the House on June 30 stating that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture." The Governor wrote to the state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray. BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had met the Governor on Tuesday evening after returning from Delhi, and submitted a letter to him demanding an immediate floor test. (ANI)
More than 50,000 visitors visited the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in two months since the inauguration from across India and the world. Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya which was opened to the public on April 21, 2022 has received an overwhelming response. Within two months of opening, the Sangrahalaya has been visited by important dignitaries including Ram Nath Kovind, President of India; M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President; Chief Justice of India; Speaker, Lok Sabha; Members of the Union Council of Ministers; Governors of various states; Chief Ministers; judges of the Supreme Court; Chief Justices of High Courts; and Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of Union Territories. The visitors come from diverse sections of society and from all age groups. Family groups, tourist groups, young adults, people with special needs, and school/college groups frequent the Sangrahalaya. Interactive features of the Museum like a picture/walk with one's favourite Prime Minister and the helicopter ride have witnessed tremendous interest and been overbooked almost every day. The Sangrahalaya is a tribute to every Prime Minister of India, and a narrative record of how each one has contributed to the development of our nation over the last 75 years. Visitors are acquainted with India's unique journey as a parliamentary democracy through the lives of its Prime Ministers, who came from every class and tier of society, for the gates of democracy are open to all. The Sangrahalaya tells the story of India after Independence in a comprehensive, objective, and interesting manner with technology-based interfaces like Holograms, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, interactive kiosks, computerized kinetic sculptures, smart phone applications, interactive screens, experiential installations etc. The unique mix of technology to present historical narratives here is a breakaway from conventional museum displays. The logo of the Sangrahalaya signifying the rising hands of the people of India holding the Dharma Chakra also been highly appreciated as a design concept. The levitating national emblem at the reception has gained special popularity. In feedback surveys, the vast majority described their visit as a memorable experience. Many have drawn parallels with some of the most popular international museums. On being asked what brought them to the Sangrahalaya, most responded that they want to know more about the lives and contributions of our Prime Ministers and through them the history of India after Independence. Visitors, especially college goers, have found that the archival documents, correspondence, newspapers, and historical photographs opened for them a storehouse of authentic knowledge. The archival newspapers presented in the digital, as well as physical format covering various important events in the lives of Prime Ministers, especially attract visitors, many of whom are old enough to recall those newspaper headlines. In his message, President of India, Ram Nath Kovind expressed his confidence, "hamare deshvasi svadhin bharat ke adarshon se prabhavit honge, rashtragaurav ka anubhav karenge tatha aur bhi behtar samaj, desh tatha vishva nirman ke prati prerit hote rahenge". (Our compatriots will be influenced by the ideals of Independent India, will feel national pride, and be inspired to build a better society, country, and the world). Sangrahalaya has used only original pictures and videos and this has lent greater authenticity to the story it tells, and has received unanimous praise. The objectivity with which the lives and tenures of Prime Ministers have been exhibited is recognized by all. The seamless integration of technology with content has made the Sangrahalaya both educative and inspirational for people, especially for the young, who take great interest in technological interfaces installed here. The personal belongings of Prime Ministers kept in the Sangrahalaya also greatly attract the visitors. The Sangrahalaya fulfils a need felt by people for long of knowing the history of contemporary India, and of the political leadership of the country. The Sangrahalaya would also announce shortly the inauguration of a high-tech light and sound show on India's successful space programme. (ANI)
Both the legislator and the girl were staying at the Tripura Bhavan in Delhi's Kautilya Marg.

Officials said the girl student of the same tribal community lodged a complaint against Jamatia at the Kautilya Marg police station. Later, the police took both of them to the police station for further questioning.

After the BJP-Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance government came to power in March 2018, IPFT General Secretary Jamatia and President Narendra Chandra Debbarma became ministers.

Recently, due to the internal feud, Jamatia kept distance with the IPFT and his wife Gita Debbarma joined the TIPRA (Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance) headed by Tripura's royal scion, Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman fuelling speculations that he (Jamatia) also may join the TIPRA party.

Jamatia was dropped from the council of ministry headed by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha in May, and Prem Kumar Reang represented the ministry as IPFT nominee.

--IANS sc/pgh

( 204 Words)

2022-06-29-19:00:04 (IANS)
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray offered prayers at a temple in Mumbai after submitting his resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Wednesday night. Uddhav Thackeray was accompanied by sons Aaditya and Tejas Thackeray at the temple. Facing a floor test in assembly amid a political crisis in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray submitted his resignation to state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. The Governor accepted the resignation and asked Uddhav Thackeray to continue as CM until an alternate arrangement is made. Thackeray himself drove to Raj Bhavan and was accompanied by his son Aditya Thackeray. He briefly waved his hand as he submitted the resignation. Thackeray had made the announcement about his resignation minutes after the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed floor test in the Maharashtra assembly on Thursday. "I am resigning as the Chief Minister," he announced. He also announced his resignation as MLC. The MVA government in Maharashtra has been facing a political crisis after a revolt in Shiv Sena. The rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde had been camping in Guwahati. In his media address earlier, Thackeray said that he was not going away forever and will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhavan. Thackeray, whose party's internal revolt brought down the three-year-old MVA government, said he came to power in "an unexpected manner" and was "going out in a similar fashion". Thackeray also announced his resignation as MLC."I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhavan. I will gather all my people. I am resigning as the CM and as an MLC," he said. Uddhav Thackeray became Chief Minister after Shiv Sena joined hands with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the government in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena leadership had differences with its pre-poll ally BJP and wanted the post of Chief Minister.Uddhav Thackeray also expressed his gratitude to NCP and Congress, allies in the coalition government. "I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP and Congress people also supported the proposal," he said. He referred to Maharashtra cabinet decisions taken earlier in the day. "I am satisfied that we have officially renamed Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv - the cities named by Balasaheb Thackeray," he said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its go-ahead for a floor test in Maharashtra Assembly as it refused to stay the state Governor's decision which was challenged by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu. "We are not staying tomorrow's floor test," the Supreme Court bench said.The court also issued notice on Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu's plea and said that tomorrow's floor test will be subject to the outcome of the present petition. The court will hear his plea on July 11. A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala had earlier in the day reserved the decision on the plea filed by Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to hold the floor test on June 30 (Thursday). Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove a majority on the floor of the House on June 30 stating that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture." The Governor wrote to the state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray.BJP leader and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had met the Governor on Tuesday evening after returning from Delhi and submitted a letter to him demanding an immediate floor test. (ANI)
An international relief agency on Tuesday said that an estimated 7.2 million people have been affected and remained in desperate need of shelter and emergency relief items in northeastern Bangladesh. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), from early in the month of June, torrential rain and upstream water have completely submerged around 94 per cent of the town of Sunamganj and 84 per cent of Sylhet districts, in northeastern Bangladesh, bordering the Meghalaya state of India. Parts of Meghalaya have experienced the highest amount of rainfall in decades, which has led to the overflowing of large river systems running between India and Bangladesh and completely swallowing surrounding areas. "We have never seen this sort of flooding in our living memories in that region. Hundreds of thousands of people took refuge as their houses went underwater and almost all their neighbourhoods were inundated. Large parts of Sunamganj and Sylhet were completely cut off due to severe disruption of road communication and power cuts," Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Secretary General Kazi Shofiqul Azam said in a statement. "Our volunteer teams were on the ground helping people with much-needed dry foods, cooked food, safe drinking water. Bangladesh Red Crescent has launched a strategy involving USD 10 million to carry out relief and recovery operations in the affected areas," he said further. While Sylhet and Sunamganj have almost been cut off from other parts of the country, multiple districts nearby including Netrokona, Kishoreganj are also experiencing floods. Bangladesh Red Crescent Society teams are also providing food packages to last at least two weeks, health care services through mobile medical teams, hygiene and dignity kits and tarpaulins and jerrycans. IFRC has launched an emergency appeal for CHF 7.5 million (USD 7.8 million) to support the Bangladesh Red Crescent to scale up and expand the reach of its localized response and recovery efforts to prevent and alleviate the suffering of 300,000 people affected by the recent floods. "Within just a month, Sylhet and Sunamganj have been flooded and the scale of devastation this time is so much more than the previous ones. We are scaling up our operations alongside Bangladesh Red Crescent due the urgency of the situation," IFRC Head of Bangladesh Country Delegation Sanjeev Kafley said in the statement. (ANI)
China's cultural promotion centre Confucius Institutes, which was accused of being a propaganda arm for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is being rebranded and reopened in the United States, a media report said. As many as 104 out of the total 118 Confucius Institutes were closed last week in the US and four more are in the process of shutting down, the Voice of America (VOA) reported citing National Association of Scholars' report. Of these, at least 28 have replaced their Confucius Institute with a similar program, and at least 58 have maintained close relationships with their former Confucius Institute partner, the VOA citing the report. Perry Link, professor of Chinese language studies at the University of California Riverside, told VOA Mandarin that he was surprised first by how many Confucius Institutes have been shut down in the US. "I didn't expect the rate of closures to be so high. Second, they still exist in another way with another name. I think this is expected. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon," he said. Confucius Institutes are public educational partnerships between colleges and universities in China and colleges and universities in other countries. The controversial Chinese government-funded institutions have previously been accused of being a propaganda arm for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In recent years, the closure of Confucius Institutes in various countries has progressed rapidly as these organizations are deemed as China's ideological marketing machine. Earlier in February, nearly a dozen countries, including the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands, tightened their grip on Confucius Institutes and other related activities over the dubious nature of the Chinese organizations. A report on "China's Influence Actions" released by a military institute, under the French Defence Ministry, pointed out that the Chinese government has been promoting United Front tactics overseas and promoting its ideology through Confucius Institutes. The United Front is a political strategy of the CCP involving networks of groups and key individuals that are influenced or controlled by the CCP and used to advance its interests. In 2020, the Department of State designated the Confucius Institutes as a foreign mission of the People's republic of China due to the organisation's state-directed nature. It is mandatory for organisation's designed as foreign missions to submit reports about funding, personnel, curriculum and activities to the US government. Since 2004, the Chinese government has sponsored Confucius Institutes on college and university campuses around the world, providing teachers, textbooks, and operating funds. As of December 2019, it has established 550 Confucius Institutes and more than 1,000 Confucius Classrooms in primary and secondary schools in 162 countries or regions around the world. Until an agency of the Chinese Ministry of Education, the Hanban, oversaw Confucius Institutes. In the wake of widespread criticism, the Chinese government had reorganized Confucius Institutes under a new organization, the Chinese International Education Foundation. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed from UAE after a brief stopover at Abu Dhabi on his return from Munich, Germany on Tuesday. This was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since August 2019 when Prime Minister visited Abu Dhabi last. The main purpose of the visit was for Prime Minister to convey his personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan last month. "For stronger partnerships. For closer friendships. PM @narendramodi concludes his visit to Germany and UAE," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted, "PM @narendramodi conveyed his personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan last month to President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan & other Royal Family members NSA Sheikh Tahnoun, DPM Sheikh Mansour, MD ADIA Sheikh Hamed & FM Sheikh Abdullah," said Bagchi in another tweet. The Prime Minister conveyed his heartfelt condolences to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as other members of the Royal family. "Prime Minister conveyed his heartfelt condolences to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as family members including Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Dy Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, MD, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation among others," the MEA said in a statement. The Prime Minister also congratulated Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on his election as the third President of the UAE and becoming the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. Both leaders reviewed various aspects of the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which they have carefully nurtured over the past few years. During their Virtual Summit on 18 February, both countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which has since entered into force on May 01. CEPA is expected to further boost trade and investment between both countries. Bilateral trade in FY 2021-22 was about USD 72 billion. UAE is India's third-largest trade partner and second-largest export destination. UAE FDI in India has continuously increased over the past few years and currently stands at over USD 12 billion. "During the Virtual Summit, both leaders had also released a Vision Statement which has laid the roadmap for bilateral cooperation in coming years in diverse areas including trade, investment, energy including renewable energy, food security, health, defence, skills, education, culture and people-to-people ties. Both leaders expressed satisfaction that India and UAE continue to forge closer partnership in these areas building on their close and friendly relations and historical people-to-people connect. India-UAE have a strong energy partnership which is now acquiring a new focus on renewable energy," the MEA said. The Prime Minister thanked UAE President and Abu Dhabi Ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan for taking great care of 3.5 million Indian community in UAE, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. He invited Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit India at an early date. (ANI)
In the biggest relaxation of entry restrictions after sticking to a zero COVID-19 policy throughout the pandemic, China on Tuesday reduced the length of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers from 14 days to seven days. As per the new guideline, the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days. "China has tweaked COVID-19 prevention playbook to shorten collective quarantine time of close contacts and intl arrivals to 7 days. It also unified the standard of classifying high-, medium-risk areas, based on if new cases emerge in the past 7 days," Global Times reported. On Monday, the primary and middle schools in Beijing has been opened after nearly two months due to the coronavirus, Global Times reported. Macau launched its third round of mandatory COVID-19 testing for more than 600,000 residents. A total of 38 new coronavirus cases were recorded on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 299 in the latest outbreak, the Straits Times reported citing Health authorities. Meanwhile, Lei Zhenglong, an official with the National Health Commission said that China reported 25 new local COVID-19 infection cases on average daily from June 20 to 27. Infections are still being reported in some areas, Lei said, warning of the risk of community spread. The pandemic is developing, and the COVID-19 virus is evolving, Lei said, adding that China still faces a tough situation in its COVID-19 containment. China closed off its international borders in March 2020. Meanwhile, a raft of tightened restrictions and targeted lockdowns have led many experts and residents to question the sustainability of such an approach as China enters the third year of the pandemic. Some Chinese public health experts called the latest rebound the most severe onslaught since the early epidemic in Wuhan and even after two years of fighting the epidemic with rigorous measures, different sectors have shown a certain level of fatigue toward the Zero-COVID strategy, which could affect the outcome of the implementation of the current policy. (ANI)
The protest against load shedding in Karachi, which continued for more than a day, ended on Tuesday evening after the protesters decided to disperse and return to their homes. The protesters decided to call off the demonstrations in Karachi's Mauripur area after successfully negotiating with the authorities, Geo News reported citing Deputy Commissioner of South, Abdul Sattar. He further said that earlier, some people refused to go despite being assured that their grievances would be addressed and thus, the protest continued for over 24 hours. Sattar also notified that the traffic in the area has been restored, which has been blocked due to the demonstration. Meanwhile, the Sindh province Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has instructed the provincial energy minister Imtiaz Sheikh to ensure that the electricity load shedding situation in the metropolis is controlled in a timely fashion, reported Geo News. He told Sheikh to hold talks with K-Electric in this regard and convey to the company that prolonged load shedding is creating a law and order situation in the city. "K-Electric should fix its systems. How many difficulties will the masses further bear?" CM Shah said, adding that the electricity shortage in the city should be addressed on a priority basis. Earlier, on Tuesday, the Karachi Police used tear gas and baton-charged people who were protesting against frequent power cuts. The police action came after the protestors refused to vacate the main road, the Dawn newspaper reported. The protestors blocked the roads, burnt tyres and traffic was suspended from the ICI bridge to the Lyari Expressway for over 15 hours. Footage showed police commandos firing tear gas at the demonstrators who were chanting slogans against the power utility management and demanding restoration of supply, the local media added. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asif Bughio stated that the protestors dispersed after the police action, but the protests recommenced shortly.Bughio mentioned that electricity was suspended since 4 pm yesterday in several areas of Lyari. "Due to prolonged disruption in the power supply, hundreds of residents blocked the road for hours," he said. The senior police superintendent mentioned that their first priority was to resolve the issue through talks, but the protestors attacked them with stones when they tried to negotiate. The police reached out to the KE management to "placate" the protesters and prevent the situation from escalating, the Dawn reported citing Bughio. The protest comes amid Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's warnings that the country might face increased load-shedding in the coming month of July. His comments came during a meeting with PML-N members of the National Assembly and allied parties in the federal capital, reported Geo News. The PM said that Pakistan could not get its required liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, but that the coalition government is trying to make the deal possible. Pakistan is facing an escalation of its power crisis after it failed to agree on a deal for natural gas supply next month. Tenders for July were scrapped due to high price, and low participation as the nation is already taking action to tackle widespread blackouts. (ANI)
Amid the fuel shortage in the country, Sri Lanka's postal department decided to open post and sub ports offices three days a week considering transport and travelling difficulties. Accordingly, the services by the main and sub-offices will be available on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Daily Mirror Online reported. Meanwhile, Indian Oil's subsidiary in Sri Lanka, Lanka IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) announced to restrict the sale of petrol to a maximum of Rs 7,000 for four-wheelers, with immediate effect. "Lanka IOC with immediate effect restricts sales of Petrol as follows:: 2 Wheelers: Rs.1500/- 3 Wheelers: Rs.2500/- 4 Wheelers: Rs.7000/- Inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," tweeted Lanka IOC PLC. Lanka IOC is the only private oil company that operates retail petrol and diesel stations in Sri Lanka. Considering the rapid decline in fuel supply, the Sri Lanka government restricted issuing fuel to private vehicles and announced providing fuel only for essential services with effect from Monday night, Daily Mirror reported. ]Sri Lanka's Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said, "The fuel crisis in the country was discussed at length at the Cabinet meeting held yesterday and it was decided to issue fuel only for essential services. It was decided to provide fuel to essential series, such as ports, health sector, distribution of essential food items, and transportation of agricultural products, until July 10." He also assured that a mechanism to provide a continuous supply of LP gas and fuel would be in place after the 10th of July. "Inter-provincial transport services will be halted due to limited stocks of fuel. Filling stations will not issue fuel to private vehicles during this period. The supply of fuel for essential services is done at SLTB depots and tri-forces manning filling stations," Daily Mirror quoted the minister as saying. The Sri Lankan Cabinet on Tuesday granted to open fuel imports and retail sales market to companies from oil-exporting nations after the country ran out of fuel as only 1,100 tonnes of petrol and 7,500 tonnes of diesel are left, which are not sufficient to last for a day. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the companies will be selected upon their ability to import fuel and operate without Forex requirements from the CBSL and banks for the first few months of operations, reported Daily Mirror Online. Prior to this, Wijesekera on Sunday announced that the fuel stations across the country will issue tokens for consumers, as only limited stocks of fuel were available. The minister told that the suppliers have informed state-owned fuel importer and distributor Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) that they will not make the deliveries of petrol, diesel and crude oil, scheduled for this week and next week due to banking and logistic reasons. He added that public transportation, power generation and industries would be given priority until the next shipments arrive. Therefore, limited stocks of diesel and petrol will be distributed to a few gas stations throughout next week. Notably, Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation. 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. The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods, and access to health services. Food production in the last harvest season was 40 - 50 per cent lower than last year, and the current agricultural season is at risk, with seeds, fertilizers, fuel and credit shortages. Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year. (ANI)
At least 51 prisoners were killed and 24, including an unspecified number of guards were injured on Tuesday in a blaze at a prison in the western Colombian city of Tolua, after inmates rioted and set fire to mattresses. A fire inside an overcrowded Colombian prison broke out amid a chaotic scene inside the penitentiary in the early hours of Tuesday morning, reported CNN. At about 2 am (local time), a fight broke out among prisoners, according to Colombian Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz. One inmate set a mattress ablaze during the brawl, and flames spread across the prison wing, Ruiz said at a news conference, reported CNN. "The penitentiary personnel tried to take care of it themselves, but the flames were too strong and we had to wait for the arrival of the firefighters to control the situation," Ruiz said. The prison is a middle-security penitentiary where inmates serve either minor sentences or finish the last few months of their incarceration, Ruiz said. Colombian prisons are notoriously overcrowded. On average, most are 20 per cent over capacity, Ruiz said. The penitentiary where the fire broke out in Tolua, however, was 17 per cent over capacity, making it one of the country's least overpopulated prisons, he added. The incident marks one of the deadliest incidents of its kind in the country's recent history, reported CNN. Deadly fighting and rioting in prisons are not uncommon in Colombia and neighbouring countries. In March 2020, 24 inmates died in a riot in the Picota penitentiary in Bogota as they were protesting coronavirus measures within the penitentiary system. The previous year, more than 50 were killed -- including 16 who were decapitated -- in a Brazilian prison. And scores were killed in a blaze that broke out at a jail in Venezuela in 2018. (ANI)
Seoul [South Korea], June 29 (ANI/Global Economic): Seegene, a South Korean molecular diagnosis company, said on June 28 that it has developed the diagnostic reagent for monkeypox "NovaplexTM MPXV Assay." Seegene explained that it has developed the diagnostic reagent that accurately detects the monkeypox based on its reagent development know-how accumulated for 20 years and its own artificial intelligence (AI)-based reagent development automation system, "SGDDS (Seegene Digitalized Development System)." Monkeypox, which is an endemic disease in Africa, has spread in some 50 countries already since it is first discovered in the UK last month, and a positive case was confirmed for the first time in Korea on the 22nd. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the monkeypox is clearly an evolving health threat and stressed that the government and institutions should start carefully monitoring, contact tracing, and diagnostic tests. The fatality rate of monkeypox reaches 3-6 per cent, and children and immunocompromised are in high-risk groups. There is a treatment for monkeypox, so it can be treated after a diagnosis is accurately made. In particular, treatments are more effective in the early stages of infection. Thus experts said considering the characteristics of monkeypox, which has a maximum 21-day incubation, rapid test and diagnosis such as PCR tests are required to quickly prevent the pandemic. Seegene said the new product can be detected the monkeypox virus in an hour and a half, and it has quickly developed to prevent the pandemic. Seegene will supply it to countries where the monkeypox virus is spreading, including Europe. (ANI/Global Economic)
Repatriation of Rohingyas are likely to figure on the agenda of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her upcoming visit to India, scheduled in September this year. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen in an exclusive interview with ANI said that PM Hasina, who will arrive in India on a bilateral visit on the invitation of PM Narendra Modi, will raise the issue of problems arising from the illegal migration of Rohingyas to Bangladesh from Myanmar, like the growth of radicalization, drug trafficking, as well as, human trafficking of women and children. "To us, the only feasible solution is the repatriation of (Rohingyas) to their Rakhine state (Myanmar). I am sure that when PM Sheikh Hasina will meet PM Narendra Modi then she will also raise the issue that how India can help us in this repatriation effort," said Bangladesh foreign secretary Momen said. Since August 25, 2017, more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh. This Rohingya refugee crisis is among the largest, fastest movements of people in recent history. "Well we have been asking the international community to assist us not only in terms of humanitarian efforts that are required to maintain this huge population of over one million Rohingyas but at the same time we have to look towards some sustainable solutions for this problem, to us the only feasible solution is the repatriation of Rohingyas to Rakhine state from where they came (Myanmar)," said Momen. The complex Rohingya refugee crisis erupted in August 2017, following attacks on remote police outposts in western Myanmar by armed groups alleged to be from within the community. These were followed by systematic counterattacks against the minority, mainly Muslim Rohingya, which human rights groups, including senior UN officials, have said amounted to ethnic cleansing. Speaking about the important role India can play in the repatriation efforts, the Bangladesh foreign secretary said: "We are talking to the Myanmar authorities, but I think other countries can be of some help or assistance if it is agreeable to Myanmar. Since India is a common neighbour to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, we have also requested in the past and will continue to request India to play a more active role in terms of repatriation especially when these Rohingyas go back to Rakhine state in Myanmar." "If they can find the right conducive atmosphere that could be held for in terms of accommodation of their betterment healthcare and sustainable livelihood some initial help would be required and that was provided by country like India and if Myanmar agreeable on that, will be a game-changer for Bangladesh," Momen said. The Bangladesh diplomat also said that he had highlighted the repatriation issue with his former Indian counterpart Harsh Vardhan Shringla last year. Momen also informed that the issue was recently discussed by External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar. "I am sure PM Sheikh Hasina when she meets with PM Modi, will also raise how India can help us in this repatriation of Rohingyas," said Momen. Over the past five years, refugees from the Rakhine state have been flooding into Cox's Bazar district in Bangladesh, to join the over 2,00,000 Rohingyas living there who had fled years before the crisis in 2017. Today, it is estimated that over a million stateless Rohingya refugees live in the world's largest and most densely populated refugee camp, Kutupalong in Bangladesh. About half of the refugees are women and children. "It is a very congested place in Cox's Bazar, we are trying to decongest it by moving a part of a population through Bhasan Char island, but then that is also a temporary solution," said Momen. Bangladesh is worried about Rohingyas and their illegal activities in the country. Several Rohingyas have been booked in drug smuggling and child trafficking cases and there are fears about radicalization of the Rohingyas by third parties in the region. "...More than 60 per cent of the Rohingya (refugees) are very young... there are fears that they could be some radicalisation (of them)...and obviously that can turn out to be a headache...not only for Bangladesh but beyond its (surrounding) region. ... Drugs and human trafficking including women and children en-route to Malaysia Indonesia and Thailand and also near the Andaman Sea (India) we have also found some activities," Bangladesh foreign secretary told ANI. Bangladesh has recorded a sharp increase in the crime rate due to the migration of Rohingyas into the country and it's a matter of concern. As per police data in Dhaka, when the mass exodus happened in 2017 from Rakhine state in Myanmar to Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh. "The Rohingya are engaged in 12 types of crime including murders, drug and human trafficking, arms and gold trafficking, rape, robbery, abduction, ransom and attacking law enforcement agencies. By October 2021, 71 murders, 762 drug trafficking, 87 arms cases, 28 human traffickings, 65 rape incident, 10 robberies, 34 abduction and ransom incidents and 89 miscellaneous crimes were filed in the local police station," Cox Bazaar District Police said. At the upcoming United National General Assembly (UNGA), Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to speak and she is likely to raise the early repatriation of Rohingyas, seeking support global community. (ANI)
"Pakistan to ask China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to boycott G20 meeting in J-K," tweeted WLVN Analysis, geopolitics, defence, and national security think-tank.

As per reports, India is planning to host certain events of G20 in J-K, reported The Express Tribune.

India is set to assume the presidency of the G20 in December this year.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as India's Sherpa for the G20 in September 2021.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India will hold the G-20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and convene the first G20 leaders' summit in 2023.

India's representation at G20 summits has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014.

The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Pakistan has already rejected the proposed meeting, official sources told The Express Tribune that Islamabad would reach out to G20 countries on the issue.

Sources said Pakistan would particularly approach countries like China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to convey their concerns.

Islamabad would also speak to the US, the UK and other G20 members in order to counter Indian plans, The Express Tribune reported.

Recently in March, India hosted an investment conference from Gulf countries in J-K. Entrepreneurs and CEOs from different countries including Dubai, UAE, and Holland were present at the summit. Delegates from over 36 countries attended the event.

As part of the four-day program, Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of J-K along with the Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, and other government officials, showcased investment opportunities with the focus on entrepreneurship, tourism, and hospitality.

An investment proposal of Rs 27,000 crores was cleared by the Jammu and Kashmir administration at the Gulf Investment Summit.

The Gulf countries venture into Jammu and Kashmir is a signal to Pakistan which has been harping on the propaganda about Kashmir being a problem that needs to be settled and Muslim countries should support its argument. (ANI)
The Baloch National Movement (BNM) will launch on Wednesday an online campaign to condemn the forceful abductions of political activists by security forces in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Wednesday. BNM's #SaveDrDeenMohdBaloch campaign on social media platforms will be carried out between 4 PM to 10 PM to protest against the forceful abduction of the BNM leader Dr Deen Mohammed Baloch, who was abducted by the Pakistan Army from Ornach Khuzdar, local media reported. The campaign will be launched on the occasion of 13 years of the disappearance of the BNM leader. BNM has been holding protests in several parts of the world. In a public demonstration held in Munster, Germany on Saturday, the BNM called on international communities to take notice of Pakistan's increasing atrocities on Balochistan. The protests erupted in support of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking under the pretext of informing the locals about the present situation in Balochistan and the oppression and brutality that takes place in Balochistan on a daily basis, a media report said. Several demonstrators chanted slogans against 'enforced disappearances' and called on the international human rights organizations to pay heed to Pakistan's inhumane treatment in Balochistan as the rights of the Baloch are equal to those of a common man. The members of the Baloch Republican Party also took part in the protest. Earlier in the month of May, families of Baloch missing persons held a protest against the Pakistan government and security agencies at Karachi Press Club, demanding the safe release of their loved ones. The protesters led by activist Sammi Baloch said that their near and dear ones had been picked up by Pakistani security agencies but their whereabouts had not been declared. Sammi Baloch criticized the role of the Human Rights Organisation and the media that didn't participate in the protest, nor did cover it. Last year, BNM Netherlands Zone organised a protest at Dam Square Amsterdam, against enforced disappearances and demanded the safe release of Dr Deen Mohammed Baloch. They also demanded safe recoveries of other thousand Baloch persons, who are victims of enforced disappearances. Enforced disappearances of political activists, students and other intellectuals are now common in Balochistan as Pakistani security forces have launched a campaign to silence the dissidents. They are used as a tool by Pakistani authorities to terrorize people who question the all-powerful army establishment of the country or seek individual or social rights. Cases of enforced disappearances have been majorly recorded in the Balochistan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces of the country. (ANI)
The US on Tuesday (local time) blacklisted 36 companies, including those from China and Pakistan, for supporting Russia in the Ukraine conflict. US President Joe Biden's administration has added five companies in China to a trade blacklist for supporting Russia's military and defense industrial base. The agency also added another 31 entities to the blacklist from countries that include Russia, UAE, Lithuania, Pakistan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to the Federal Register entry. Of the 36 total companies added, 25 had China-based operations, reported Al Jazeera. The Commerce Department, which oversees the blacklist, said the targeted companies had supplied items to Russian "entities of concern" before the February 24 invasion, adding that they "continue to contract to supply Russian entity listed and sanctioned parties". "Today's action sends a powerful message to entities and individuals across the globe that if they seek to support Russia, the United States will cut them off as well," Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a statement. The firms' blacklisting means their US suppliers need a Commerce Department license before they can ship items to them. Three of the companies in China accused of aiding the Russian military, Connec Electronic Ltd, Hong Kong-based World Jetta, and Logistics Limited, could not be reached for comment. The other two, King Pai Technology Co, Ltd and Winninc Electronic did not immediately respond to requests for comment, reported Geo News. The United States has set out with allies to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion, which Moscow calls a "special operation", by sanctioning a raft of Russian companies and oligarchs and adding others to a trade blacklist. While US officials had previously said that China was generally complying with the restrictions, Washington has vowed to closely monitor compliance and rigorously enforce the regulations. "We will not hesitate to act, regardless of where a party is located, if they are violating US law," Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Rozman Kendler said in the same statement. (ANI)
"If South Korea takes a path of turning hostile against its neighbours, the end of this path could be a Ukraine," tweeted Hu Xijin on Thursday.

Hu is China's "best-known propagandist on the global stage" and his formerly high standing at the Global Times, owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party, suggests his statements have a degree of official sanction.

The warning for incoming South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is obvious -- Get too close to NATO and feel China's wrath.

Russia, Ukraine's neighbour, launched "special operations" in the country on February 24 after Moscow accused Kyiv of turning hostile towards its neighbours.

However, this year's NATO summit at Madrid is a springboard for establishing a network of like-minded alliances and partnerships spanning the Trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, reported NK Pro.

Threatening to invade South Korea will do little to improve the image of China. Also, China finds it difficult to use the Ukraine template for South Korea's invasion as it may end up paying a heavy price- militarily, economically and diplomatically.

It's not clear whether Hu is suggesting China, South Korea's neighbour to the west, is prepared to invade the Korean Peninsula if Seoul joins international organizations Xi Jinping doesn't like, reported NK Pro.

Amid strong opposition from the US and its allies, China has been treading cautiously. It is testing waters to gauge how the west block would react in case it attacks Taiwan.

South Korea has a mutual defense treaty with the US, and there are 28,500 US troops stationed on the peninsula - backed up by thousands more in Japan, reported NK Pro.

Beijing is well aware of the fallouts and collateral damages in case it takes direct military action against South Korea. Thus, it has resorted to "cognitive warfare."

Social media platforms and technological solutions are generally used by China to spread misinformation to cause social unrest and lower people's morale.

Moreover, Chinese President Xi Jinping has permitted military operations outside China's borders in the backdrop of Beijing's assertiveness in the Trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. (ANI)
Pakistan on Wednesday reported 541 new COVID-19 infections overnight, the first time in three months, raising the positivity ratio above 3 per cent again. National Institute of Health, Islamabad's (NIH) data showed that the country crossed the 500-mark for the first time in three months amid a constant rise in the recent spike of the disease, reported Geo News. The new infections were detected after countrywide diagnostic testing on 15,462 samples, as per the data. Meanwhile, the number of patients being treated in critical care units (CCUs) also surged to 100, while one person infected with COVID-19 died in the last 24 hours, reported Geo News. With the new additions, the total number of deaths rose to 30,392 and the number of active cases climbed to 5,269. Amid fears of a new wave of coronavirus, experts advocated mask-wearing indoors in cities reporting cases that constitute over 5 per cent positivity, reported Geo News. They also stressed vigilant watch through good surveillance and testing, vaccination with emphasis on boosters and communication about rising risk, especially in urban settings. Pakistan is currently witnessing a new surge in the COVID-19 cases and amid this, the country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also tweaked its mask mandates where now the masks are mandatory again for domestic flights with immediate effect. According to a notification from CAA, all concerned quarters must ensure compliance with the new order. The notification added that the other Covid-19 guidelines on domestic air travel remained unchanged. While speaking with Dawn, University of Health Sciences Vice-Chancellor Dr Javed Akram had said the virus was behaving like a "roller coaster". "The country will face similar situations for a few years," Dr Akram said. Akram said that the restrictions must be put back in place to contain the virus. He added that these measures will also help to fight the ongoing energy crisis. He said that people should go for vaccination and those who were already immunized should get booster shots. (ANI)
The family of former Afghan government employee Ahmadzai said that two of his family members - his son and nephew were also detained by the Taliban over one week ago, reported Tolo News.

"I opened the door, they tied my hands, when my father came out, they arrested him and then my brother," said Bahram, 14, son of Ahmadzai.

Ahmad Ahmadzai is a resident of Robat village in Bagram district of Parwan province. He retired five years before the fall of the former government, reported Tolo News.

"If he was responsible for anything, he would not stay here. He was retired five years ago," said Shah Agha, a relative.

Meanwhile, one of the Taliban's top members Anas Haqqani said taking personal revenge should be avoided and the general amnesty should be respected, reported Tolo News.

Contrary to the general amnesty announced by the Taliban post the takeover of Afghanistan, the former Afghan Government employees are being tortured and killed.

Previously reports were released by international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, about the killings and arrests of former government security members. The Taliban, however, has repeatedly rejected these reports.

"They detained him and his younger son and they arrested his other son and nephew as well," said Sayed Muhammad Khateb, head of Alljahad seminary.

Taliban, as part of its home search operations have detained several civilians close to the former security forces in recent days.

"Targeting military leaders has become routine. We can clearly see the detentions, execution, and extra-judicial courts," said Asef Nang, a military analyst. (ANI)
Many politicians and residents have asked the Taliban to invite women as well as representatives from all Afghan ethnic groups for the gathering (Loya Jirga) of Islamic scholars to be held today. "A decision and consultation must be taken to solve the problems and involve the people in the government to determine their fate," said Sayed Ishaq Gilani, leader of the Afghan National Solidarity Movement, reported Tolo News. Several clerics and civil rights activists on Tuesday said that the gathering of Islamic scholars should be inclusive. "One of the demands is that the decisions should be taken for the creation of an inclusive government that represents different ethnic groups," said Sayed Javad Hosseini, a political analyst. Details of the gathering have not yet been made public, but sources say the reopening of girls' schools will be one of the issues raised at the event, reported Tolo News. Sources said the gathering will take place at the Loya Jirga Hall in Kabul and around 3,000 people from all provinces of Afghanistan will attend. Eleven months after the re-establishment of the Taliban in the country, this is the first nationwide gathering of Islamic clerics in the country, reported Tolo News. The Taliban's spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the Islamic Emirate's leadership decided to hold the gathering following the call of many clerics to convene such a gathering. "Holding such a gathering in the current situation will be very important and fundamental for the people of Afghanistan in finding a basic solution," said Sayed Haroon Hashemi, a political analyst. According to sources, there won't be any television coverage of the event, only radio. Even on Tuesday, media outlets were not allowed to report on the preparation for the gathering, reported Tolo News. The participants at a gathering on Tuesday called women's inclusion in the Loya Jirga "important" and said that the gathering will be meaningless if women were not included. In Islam "women are provided with their basic rights. The male and female clerics have the vital role to announce awareness of women's rights through mosques so women can be provided with their rights," said Bibi Amri, a university instructor. "If in this gathering various sectors including clerics and elites are not consulted, it will bring a situation that will not be tolerated by the people," said Mohammad Sarwar Sarwari, a member of Nuhzat-e-Ulema of Afghanistan. One of the main demands of the international community is the formation of an inclusive government. Moreover, the recognition of the current Afghan government is linked to upholding human rights and women's rights in the country. (ANI)
"9th Army to Army Staff Talks AAST between Australian Army and Indian Army were conducted in Dehradun. AAST focused on joint military exercises, training cooperation and preparing a roadmap for enhanced Defence Cooperation between both the Armies," the Indian Army said in a tweet.

Australian Army delegation is on a visit to India from June 25 to August 01.

They visited Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Infantry Div based at Dehradun, Bengal Engineer Group Centre Roorkee, Wargame Research & Development Centre (WARDEC) Delhi and Centre for Land Warfare Studies CLAWS.

Talks were held at IMA and both sides reviewed road map for activities promoting defence cooperation like training courses between both Armies, Cadet Exchange Programme between Pre-Commission Training Academies, Bilateral ex Austrahind, subject matter expert exchange in niche domains, functional and high-level visits, the interaction between think tanks, virtual interactions in the field of medical and doctrinal exchanges.

Earlier in March, Lt Gen Richard Maxwell Burr, Chief of Army Australia visited India along with a four-member delegation.

During his visit, the Australian Army Chief called on the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff and other senior military officers.

Interaction between both the Chiefs of the Army Staff was warm and cordial. Both Chiefs exchanged views on the current global situation and the situation in Indo-Pacific in addition to discussing measures for enhancing defence cooperation between both armies. (ANI)
The meeting was carried out between BSF Battalion Commanders of Barmer Sector and Wing Commanders of Pakistan Rangers. The delegations were led by BSF commandant G L Meena and lieutenant colonel Murad Ali Khan, the Wing Commander of the Pakistan Rangers.

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification to widen the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) for seizure, search and arrest up to 50km from the international border in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab.

This notification replaces a 2014 order under the BSF Act, 1968, which also covered the States of Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

It also specifically mentions the two newly created Union Territories- J-K and Ladakh.The BSF was raised in 1965, after the India-Pakistan war.

It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Other Central Armed Police Forces are: Assam Rifles (AR), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), National Security Guards (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

The 2.65-lakh force is deployed along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.

It is deployed on the Indo-Pakistan International Border, Indo-Bangladesh International Border, Line of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations. (ANI)
Over 600 inmates escaped a rehabilitation centre in Polonnaruwa in central Sri Lanka on Wednesday after a fight broke out between two prisoner groups, Xinhua News Agency reported citing the Sri Lankan police. Police spokesman Nihan Thalduwa said, "Army soldiers and an additional police force have been deployed to the Kandakadu rehabilitation centre to bring the situation under control." "A hunt has been launched for the escaped inmates," he added. There were around 1,000 detainees in the prison. The police said that after the incident, the remaining detainees tried to block the army and police from entering the premises. However, the police took the situation under control, Xinhua reported. The police have been deployed around the incident spot and the area around the rehabilitation centre has been cordoned off. Meanwhile, fuel shortage continues to grip Sri Lanka as the country struggles with the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. This has led to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation. 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. The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods, and access to health services. Food production in the last harvest season was 40 - 50 per cent lower than last year, and the current agricultural season is at risk, with seeds, fertilizers, fuel and credit shortages. Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year. (ANI)
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided a glimmer of hope for hundreds of victims of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday. In a landmark decision last Thursday, Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued an order saying that "When there is sufficient evidence to conclude that it is, prima facie, a case of 'enforced disappearance' then it becomes an obligation of the State and all its organs to trace the disappeared citizen." However, this is the latest in a series of court directives over the years that have so far failed to stop security agencies from carrying out secret detentions and enforced disappearances. Since March 2011, 8,463 complaints of enforced disappearances have been received by Pakistan's Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. Activists estimate the real number to be higher, HRW said. According to the New York-based rights group, international law defines an enforced disappearance as the detention of anyone by state forces or their agents who refuse to acknowledge the detention or whereabouts of the person, placing them outside the protection of the law. "In Pakistan, the victims are most often from the marginalized sections of society, and once forcibly disappeared they are often at risk of torture and extrajudicial execution," the HRW said. Chief Justice Minallah also observed that the commission, established by the government in March 2011, had failed to provide justice to victims. Despite a mandate to investigate alleged disappearances and hold government officials accountable, the commission traced only one-third of the cases registered with it and made no attempt to hold officials accountable for failing to comply with "orders to produce people unlawfully detained." Pakistani authorities, including law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system, have long failed to demonstrate the political will to end enforced disappearances. In January 2021, the Islamabad High Court ruled in a 2015 disappearance case that the prime minister and his cabinet bore ultimate responsibility for the state's failure to protect its citizens. The court called enforced disappearances "the most heinous crime." In October 2017, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the interior ministry to provide a detailed account of everyone being held. But the disappearances continued. Chief Justice Minallah's ruling is an opportunity for Pakistan's new government to show that it is serious about ending this abuse and protecting people by rigorously enforcing the law. The issue of forced disappearance in Pakistan originated during the Musharraf era (1999 to 2008), but the practice continued during subsequent governments. Human rights activists allege that the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are responsible for the cases of forced disappearance in Pakistan. Enforced disappearances are used as a tool by Pakistani authorities to terrorize people who question the all-powerful army establishment of the country, or seek individual or social rights. Cases of enforced disappearances have been majorly recorded in the Balochistan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces of the country which host active separatist movements. (ANI)
The SHO and ASI were found guilty during the hearing in a court of second civil judge for staging an encounter in the jurisdiction of the B-Section police station to arrest two suspects about two months ago, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The order was passed after the forensic reports of the pistol, submitted by the police who allegedly recovered them from the suspects during the encounter, mentioned that no bullet had been fired from the weapon.

Meanwhile, the FIR, which was filed by SHO Asgar Ali Shah as the complainant, claimed that the suspects (Mashooq Qambrani and Ghulam Qadir Qambrani) were arrested after an exchange of fire with the police, the local media reported.

ASI Sikandar Jatoi was the eyewitness to the incident. The court found the two police officers guilty and ordered their arrest.

Notably, the judge ordered the release of the suspects Mashooq Qambrani and Ghulam Qadir Qambrani.

SHO Shah and ASI Jatoi officials were later released on bail for a surety of PKR 20,000 each. (ANI)
A police official along with his son from Khyber district were arrested for drug peddling, local media reported citing the police authorities, who also recovered 13 kilograms of heroin from their possession. According to the Dawn newspaper, an official statement said that Mohammad Shuaib, serving as the Station House Officer of Mullagori police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and his son Abidullah were trying to smuggle the contraband in a vehicle. They were intercepted by the police near the Pir Zakori Flyover in Pakistan. The police official was suspended from service after the incident and an enquiry has been ordered against him, the statement added. Earlier, on Monday, another police official, Fazalur Rehman, serving in Agha Mir Jani police station of the provincial capital was arrested for peddling heroin to drug addicts across the city, the Dawn reported. Police recovered about 300 packets of heroin from his possession. According to an article in Islam Khabar, Afghanistan is the prime source of opium supply to the world drug markets and Pakistan is the transport hub with drug networks operating from the country using its drug routes to reach international markets. The geographical location of Pakistan makes it one of the prominent drug transit points along the Southern route. Pakistan is also depending on the narcotic trade for sponsoring terror in India, the article said. Pakistan shares 2400 kilometres of border with Afghanistan, which is largely porous. And this has served as a transit corridor for drug traffickers. Forty per cent of Afghan drugs transit Pakistan before they reach the international markets. Tonnes of opiates and meth are trafficked from Afghanistan to the Torkham border crossing, Ghulam Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, from where they are sent to Lahore and Faisalabad, reassembled into huge consignments, the article said. Then they are transported to Karachi and Gwadar, and fishing vessels in Makran coast are used for drugs transport to the South Asian markets. Balochistan has also been an important drug transit route in Pakistan. The article said Meth is easily available to college students in Pakistan and there are close to 27 million drug users in Pakistan, according to the country's anti-narcotics force. The spillover effect of the Afghanistan-Pakistan drug trade is felt in the other countries in the region. (ANI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have started the war in Ukraine if he was a woman, said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday days after G7 members mocked the bare-chested pictures of the Russian leader. "If Putin were a woman, I just don't think he would have launched such a macho war. If you want a very good example of toxic masculinity, we have that in his person," Johnson told German broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday evening as he again scoffed off at the Russian President. During his interview, the British PM also emphasized that everyone wants the Russia-Ukraine war to end. "But there is no possible deal. Putin makes no offer for a peace deal. Zelenskyy cannot offer a deal." Earlier on Sunday, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) had mocked Putin over his shirtless, bare-chested horse-riding picture. Boris Johnson and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau could be heard on a video joking about their impending photo shoot. "Jackets on? Jackets off? Shall we take our clothes off?" British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked other leaders sitting around a table. "We all have to show that we're tougher than Putin." "We're going to get the bare-chested horseback riding display," Trudeau quipped, referencing a widely shared photo of Putin. "There you go! There you go! We've got to show them our pecs!" Johnson responded. Putin has often appeared shirtless in images disseminated by the Kremlin. Putin's predilection for going shirtless doing outdoor activities is part of his carefully crafted strongman image. The Russian president is also an accomplished Taekwondo practitioner, The Hill reported. The G7 leaders, Johnson and Trudeau joked about Putin during the G7 summit in the Bavarian Alps. As the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations gathered in the Bavarian Alps on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, President Joe Biden had said, "Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia." (ANI)
The UK government has partnered with leading businesses in India to offer 75 fully-funded scholarships for Indian students to study in the UK from September, the British High Commission (BHC) said. The BHC, in a statement, said that this is the highest number of fully-funded scholarships given for the one-year master's programme to date. Companies like HSBC, Pearson India, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo are supporting this special initiative to celebrate India's 75th year of independence, the high commission said. The programmes on offer include Chevening scholarships for a one-year master's programme, with the opportunity to study any subject at any recognised UK university. Further to this, the British Council in India is offering at least 18 scholarships for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) - covering over 12,000 courses across more than 150 UK universities. Along with these, the British Council is also offering six English scholarships. The announcement comes as British and Indian leaders from international business and government gather in London for the India Global Forum. Speaking at the India Global Forum, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said: "In India's 75th year, this is a great milestone together. Thanks to the exceptional support from our partners in the industry, I am delighted to announce 75 scholarships for Indian students to experience the best of the UK. Nearly 30 per cent of Chevening scholars in India come from smaller cities or are first-generation students, making this an increasingly diverse programme." Hitendra Dave, CEO, HSBC, said: "We're delighted to partner with Chevening for the 'Chevening HSBC Scholarship' programme. Our objective is to encourage young people with the potential to become leaders and decision-makers in their fields by leveraging the world-class educational facilities offered under this programme. As a British bank with a significant lineage and legacy in India, we believe we have a meaningful role to play in developing leadership talent in the country." During his recent visit to India, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the 'India/UK Together' programme, promoting the rich cultural ties between both countries. Education is one of the mainstays of the living bridge between the UK and India that connects our people through common values and affinities. Nearly 108,000 study visas were issued to Indian nationals in the year ending March 2022, almost double the number compared to the previous year. (ANI)
leaders and workers of several Opposition parties in Pakistan on Tuesday staged demonstrations and sit-ins outside election offices accusing Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of indulging in rigging and widespread violence in the first phase of the local government election in Sindh province. The opposition parties which are holding demonstrations include Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Grand Democratic Alliance, Larkana Awami Ittehad and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper reported. The protests were led by Dr Safdar Abbasi, general secretary GDA, Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro, general secretary JUI-F Sindh, GDA MPA Moazzim Abbasi and others, it reported. People in Sindh are fed up with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for the prolonged power loadshedding by K-Electric which has created a law and order situation in Karachi. The main entrance was blocked and Police personnel were deployed to control the situation at the election office. Dr Abbhasi claimed that the District Registration Offices (DRO) and the RO were instrumental in the rigging of the election, but no action was taken by the Election Commission, the local media reported. Abbhasi congratulated the candidates, backed by the GDA, JUI-F, and LAI, who lost by 50 to 100 votes, and said, Maneuvering was still on to change the result of the Ghotki election, the dawn reported. He asked Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to desist from stealing peoples' mandate, otherwise, they would once again take to the streets to save sanctity of vote. The GDA general secretary added that the votes had been purchased, and PPP MNA Khursheed Junejo himself had allegedly stamped ballot papers in polling stations. "We have fully resolved to go to courts and ECP to take back our 'stolen' mandate," Abbhasi said. The publication quoted Maulana Soomro mentioning that over 150 party members were injured during the violence, and at least 100 to 150 votes at every polling station in all 14 districts of the country did not have any thumb impressions. "Therefore, we reject the polls results," Soomro said. Soomro claimed that Pakistan's Election Commission made two lists of the result, but the 'flawed' list was handed out creating doubts about the transparency and he suggested carrying out a forensic audit of the results of only two union councils. Protests were also carried out outside the deputy commissioner's office in Mirpurkhas by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) workers and office-bearers. The protestors claimed of securing two seats at different places in the city and outskirts, but the presiding officers were under pressure from PPP returning officers. Notably, voting for the first phase of local government elections was held in 14 districts of Sindh on Sunday. While polling began in the morning in all 14 districts, reports of violence, scuffles and ECP mismanagement were reported from upper and lower Sindh regions. These clashes were said to emerge out of missing election symbols as well. Polling was suspended at various polling stations. At least two people including the brother of a PTI candidate were killed in the clashes that broke outside the polling stations in the province. (ANI)
The NATO leaders have termed Russia as "the most significant and direct threat" to the security of the alliance member states, said the final declaration released on Wednesday after the Madrid summit. "The Russian Federation is the most significant and direct threat to Allies' security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. It seeks to establish spheres of influence and direct control through coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation," said the declaration which included NATO's formal invitation to Sweden and Finland. At the same time, the alliance noted that it "does not seek confrontation and poses no threat" to Russia, but will further "respond to Russian threats and hostile actions in a united and responsible way," according to the document. "In light of its hostile policies and actions, we cannot consider the Russian Federation to be our partner. However, we remain willing to keep open channels of communication with Moscow to manage and mitigate risks, prevent escalation and increase transparency. We seek stability and predictability in the Euro-Atlantic area and between NATO and the Russian Federation," the declaration read. The leaders also approved a new strategic concept that would guide the alliance's work until 2030. "We have endorsed a new Strategic Concept. It describes the security environment facing the Alliance, reaffirms our values, and spells out NATO's key purpose and the greatest responsibility of ensuring our collective defence based on a 360-degree approach," a summit declaration read. The concept also sets out the alliance's three core tasks, including deterrence and defense, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security, according to the declaration. The members of the alliance said they consider Russia's "military build-up" in the Baltic, the Black and the Mediterranean Sea regions a challenge to its interests. "Moscow's military build-up, including in the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Sea regions, along with its military integration with Belarus, challenge our security and interests," the declaration read. NATO also said that it faces "systemic competition" from China that challenges the values and interests of the alliance. Moreover, NATO states pledged to deploy additional in-place combat-ready forces on the alliance's eastern flank. "Allies have committed to deploy additional robust in-place combat-ready forces on our eastern flank, to be scaled up from the existing battlegroups to brigade-size units where and when required, underpinned by credible rapidly available reinforcements, prepositioned equipment, and enhanced command and control," a declaration read. They also agreed to enhance their energy security and maintain reliable energy supplies to the alliance's military forces in the conditions of the current global energy crisis. "We are also strengthening our energy security. We will ensure reliable energy supplies to our military forces," a declaration read. Furthermore, NATO states pledged to provide further defence and financial support to Ukraine to allegedly help the country defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The military alliance also acknowledged the challenge posed by China that may undermine the rules-based international order. "We face systemic competition from those, including the People's Republic of China, who challenge our interests, security, and values and seek to undermine the rules-based international order. Instability beyond our borders is also contributing to irregular migration and human trafficking," the statement said. (ANI)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has once again appealed to the European countries to admit his country to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance. "Has Ukraine not paid enough?" Zelenskyy asked leaders of the military alliance as they met in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday. "Is our contribution to the defence of both Europe and the whole civilization still insufficient? What else is needed then?" he said in an address via video link from Kyiv. He stressed how a non-NATO member has held back Russian military advances in Ukraine. "Just think about one fact now: today, a country that is not a member of NATO, albeit with your support, has been holding back a state for more than four months, which you all officially identify as the main threat to yourself. And we are holding back Russia from destroying us and from destroying you," Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by CNN. "Is it a coincidence that all Allies in the east, all our neighbours, are in favour of Ukraine's membership in NATO? No, this is not a coincidence. This is logic. This is the knowledge of life in our region," he said. Zelenskyy made these remarks before NATO formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance. "We reaffirm our commitment to NATO's Open Door Policy. Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols," said NATO Heads of State and Government on Wednesday in a declaration. "The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process," the statement added. US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced significant US reinforcements of NATO forces in Europe to meet threats across every domain -- land, air and sea, as the much-awaited transatlantic summit began in Madrid amid the raging conflict in Ukraine. Addressing alongside the NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, Biden declared new troop movements, equipment shipments and military installations amid the Russia-Ukraine war. "The United States and our allies are stepping up and proving that NATO is needed now more than ever, and is as important as it ever has been," Biden was quoted as saying by CNN. Biden said the US plans to establish a permanent headquarters for the Fifth Army Corps in Poland and maintain an additional rotational brigade of 3,000 troops in Romania. Besides this, Washington will also enhance rotational deployments to the Baltic States, send additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the UK and station additional air defence and other capabilities in Germany and Italy. The NATO summit was held today, allowing the western military alliance to show a joint front against Moscow, and start the process of Finland and Sweden's inclusion in the alliance. This summit comes as Turkey lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden's bid to join NATO, ending a dispute that tested the unity of the alliance amid the Ukraine conflict. (ANI)
China challenges NATO and Beijing's closer ties to Moscow are against western interests, the military alliance said on Wednesday as they recognised systemic competition they face from the world's second-largest economy. "The People's Republic of China's (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values. The PRC employs a broad range of political, economic and military tools to increase its global footprint and project power, while remaining opaque about its strategy, intentions and military build-up," NATO's strategic concept published at a summit in Madrid said. "The deepening strategic partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests," the statement added. The military alliance noted China's malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation target allies and harm alliance security. They said that Beijing seeks to control key technological and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure, and strategic materials and supply chains. "It uses its economic leverage to create strategic dependencies and enhance its influence. It strives to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains. The deepening strategic partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests," they said. Despite noting the threat from China, the security alliance also said they remain open to constructive engagement with China, with a view to safeguarding the alliance's security interests. "We will work together responsibly, as Allies, to address the systemic challenges posed by the PRC to Euro-Atlantic security and ensure NATO's enduring ability to guarantee the defence and security of Allies," they said. (ANI)
"The rescue operation took place late Tuesday off the country's central-eastern coast," National Guard Spokesman Houcemeddine Jbabli said in a statement.

The rescued migrants, who were sailing to the Italian coasts, included 104 African migrants, the statement added.

More than 2,000 Tunisian illegal migrants have managed to reach the Italian coasts in the first five months of this year, according to the latest figures released by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights.

Thousands of illegal migrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean annually as Tunisia is one of the main points of access to Europe through irregular channels. (ANI/Xinhua)
The World Bank on Tuesday approved USD 1.03 billion of financing to improve regional trade in Bangladesh and Nepal by reducing trade and transport costs and transit time along the regional corridors. According to a World Bank statement, the Accelerating Transport and Trade Connectivity in Eastern South Asia (ACCESS) Program Phase 1 will help the respective governments address the key barriers to regional trade - manual and paper-based trade processes, inadequate transport and trade infrastructure, and restrictive trade and transport regulations and processes. World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Hartwig Schafer said, "Regional trade offers enormous untapped potential for the countries of South Asia. Today, regional trade accounts for only 5 per cent of South Asia's total trade, while in East Asia it accounts for 50 per cent." "South Asia can boost economic growth significantly and create opportunities for millions of people by increasing regional trade and connectivity," he added. The program Phase 1 will help improve selected road corridors and upgrade key land ports and custom infrastructure while ensuring green and climate-resilient construction. This will also help the integration of landlocked Bhutan and Nepal with the gateway countries of Bangladesh and India, the official statement said. "A key focus of the ACCESS program is to support solutions that can most effectively reduce dwell times at trade gateways, which is vital to lowering trade costs. This entails greater border cooperation and coordination within and between countries, cutting down the physical inspection of goods, and simplifying regulations and processes," World Bank Task Team Leader of the program, Erik Nora said. The USD 753.45 million financing for the ACCESS Project in Bangladesh will upgrade the 43 Km section of the two-lane Sylhet-Charkai-Sheola to a climate-resilient four-lane road, connecting the Sheola Land Port with the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway. This will cut down travel time by 30 per cent. It will also support the modernization of the Chattogram customs house which handles 90 per cent of all import, and export declarations in Bangladesh. The USD 275 million ACCESS Project in Nepal will upgrade the 69 km two-lane section of Butwal--Gorusinghe--Chanauta road along the East-West Highway to a climate-resilient four-lane highway, with a focus on ensuring better road safety. The project will also help advance Nepal's preparedness and subsequent implementation of the Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA). World Bank Task Team Leader of the Nepal Project and co-Task Team Leader of the Program, Oceane Keou said, "It is highly critical to ensure trade growth, long-term sustainability and resilience of investments, while minimizing actual degradations on the environment, wildlife and ecosystems along with Nepal's road network, which carries 90 per cent of passengers and goods movement." "The project will adopt and implement an innovative green and resilient highway corridor concept in Nepal, based on a landscape-level development approach," Keou said. In the second phase, the program will include Bhutan, the World Bank statement said. (ANI)
The Chinese government now insists on clean, pure, and legal content streaming on the internet. To this end, it has issued a diktat for the millions of live-streamers to fall in line and provide "appropriate" content that does not weaken or criticize the Chinese Communist Party. This is seen as another attempt to stifle dissent and control the political narrative on the web. The diktat is also aimed at internet platforms to strictly monitor how children under 18 use their live streaming services. The platforms have been asked to stop underage users from tipping live streamers or becoming live streamers themselves without consulting with guardians. What is most controversial in the guidelines issued by the National Radio and Television Administration is that internet live shows will need to be "forcibly" turned off by 10 pm local time for underage users who work the internet through the "youth mode" function of parental control. This is seen as a crackdown on the country's most prominent live-streaming platforms are ByteDance's Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, Kuaishou, Alibaba-baceked Bilibili, as well as Huya and Douyu, which are both backed by Tencent Holdings. Livestreamers are a new class of commentators and opinion-makers on the internet. There are millions of them in China and all of them have become popular in a short time. Livestreams are difficult to monitor because they have no shelf life. That worries the Chinese government more as it wants to have control over all content coming out of the myriad communication platforms. Digital communication giant Quartz said in a report: "Most Chinese live streams act as e-commerce influencers, promoting products ranging from sunscreen to rice. But politics sometimes creeps in, as happened during a live stream by Li Jiaqui, an influencer with tens of millions of followers. Li usually promotes products such as lipsticks, but earlier this month, he displayed a tank-shaped ice cream during a live stream on the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, when the military deployed tanks to crack down on demonstrators. After touching that political red line, he vanished without explanation." Referring to the guidelines, Quartz said: "...China issued guidelines for live streamers, aimed at "strengthening the construction of professional ethics. The guidelines are 'obviously' response to the scandal surrounding Li's disappearance, said Eric Liu, a former censor at Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent. Liu, who now studies Chinese censorship, added: 'Livestreaming is the type of content that is scrutinised most strictly [by regulators]'." China's State Administration of Radio and Television (SART) and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly issued the guidelines. Without naming any live streamers, they insist that the former must "adhere to correct political orientation" and not publish content that "weakens, distorts, or denies the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)." The guidelines also "prohibit influencers from hyping sensitive or trending social issues, and ban them from using technologies like deep-fake and face-swapping software to misrepresent the state, Party leaders, or China's history". The Code of Conduct described its objectives thus: "...is formulated in order to further strengthen the professional ethics of network anchors, standardize professional behaviour, strengthen social responsibility, establish a good image, and jointly create a positive, healthy, orderly, harmonious and clear cyberspace." The anchors are cautioned against taking the code lightly. "Network anchors shall consciously abide by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and laws and regulations, preserve the national interest, the public interest, and the lawful rights and interests of others, consciously perform social responsibilities, and consciously accept supervision and social supervision by competent departments for the industry." The dos and don'ts are made clear. "Network anchors shall adhere to correct political directions, public opinion orientations, and value orientations, establish a correct world outlook, outlook on life, and values, actively practise the core socialist values, advocate social morality, abide by professional ethics, and cultivate personal morality." The task of controlling the current fads, fashion and culture is obvious in the code: "Network anchors shall adhere to a healthy style and taste, consciously abandon vulgarity, vulgarity, kitsch, and other such low-level tastes, consciously oppose negative phenomena such as traffic supremacy, deformed aesthetics, "rice circle" chaos, and money worship, and consciously resist conduct that violates laws and regulations, undermines network civilization, runs counter to network morality, and harms network harmony." The network anchors are also told how to dress and what language to speak in and how to control their body movements and conform "to the public's aesthetic tastes and appreciation habits". The public is seen as a euphemism for the CCP. The Code bans discussion on sensitive topics that can provoke reactions from the citizens or have the potential to lead to people's unrest. "Hyping up social hotspots and sensitive issues or deliberately creating "hot spots" in public opinion. Hyping up scandals, scandals, or bad deeds, disseminating content with a low style, and promoting content that violates the core socialist values and violates public order and good customs." At the same time, The Code calls for shunning vulgarity, inciting fans to "tear each other up", stop marketing counterfeit products, stop disseminating false or harassing advertisements and bans "filming or broadcasting in venues that involve national security or public safety, affect the normal production and living order of society, affect the normal lives of others, invade the privacy of others, and other places prohibited by other laws and regulations". Analysts say the sudden crackdown may have been triggered by the fact that the industry has in recent times, particularly during the two years of the pandemic, attained much popularity and importance. A Deloitte survey said that Chinese live-streaming had roughly 456 million viewers and "by 2020, as the China Association of Performing Arts report calculated, that viewer base had grown to 600 million". The industry was in 2020 valued at close to 200 billion yuan (over $28 billion). Livestreaming has also become a serious source of income for Chinese youth who anyway face difficulties finding jobs in the market. It is to be seen how the new guidelines add to the already tight regulation of the internet, aimed at stifling political dissent. (ANI)
Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will hold talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Chinese delegation includes China's vice ministers for foreign affairs and commerce, vice chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), and deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Geo News reported.

The Pakistan foreign office said Yang's visit is reflective of the importance both countries attach to further deepening the "all-weather strategic cooperative" partnership.

Yang "has a prominent role in China's foreign relations" and had previously served as China's foreign minister from 2007-13 and state councillor from 2013-17, the spokesperson said.

"The visit is part of the regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and China. Recently, these interactions included a virtual meeting between the Foreign Ministers on 11 May 2022; Prime Minister's telephone call with Premier Li on 16 May 2022; and Foreign Minister's visit to China on 21-22 May 2022," said Pakistan FO spokesperson.

Chinese official's visit comes amid reports that China wants its own security company to guard its citizens and assets in Pakistan, following recent attacks against its interests.

Highlighting the attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan, Beijing earlier this month had asked Pakistan to stop attacks on its nationals who are working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects in the Balochistan region.

The Chinese demand came in a meeting of senior officials of Pakistan and China who discussed their perspectives on the international and regional security situations.

The developments come after the Islamabad Police recently decided to set up a foreign security cell at the Central Police Office (CPO) with requisite staff and logistics amid reports of Chinese nationals being targeted in Pakistan. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister sold three expensive watches from a government treasure-house collectively worth more than 154 million Pakistani rupees (Pkr) to a local watch dealer, a media report said, while adding that these gifts are in addition to the ones reported earlier in the media. Imran Khan reportedly earned millions of rupees from these jewel-class watches gifted to him by foreign dignitaries, The News International newspaper reported. The most expensive watch worth over Pkr 101 million was retained by Imran at 20 per cent of its value after his PTI government amended the rules and settled the gift retention price at 50 per cent of its original value. The PTI chief first sold the watches and then deposited 20 per cent of each in the government treasury, the Pakistan daily citing documents and sale receipts, the report said. It added that these gifts worth millions of rupees were never deposited in Toshakhana. Reportedly, the gift received by any government official is to be reported immediately, so its value is assessed. Only after that, the recipient deposits a specific amount if he wants to keep it. According to Toshakhana documents cited by the News, Imran earned Pkr 36 million from the sale of these three expensive watches gifted by visiting dignitaries from friendly Gulf countries. Back in April, Shehbaz Sharif had accused his predecessor Imran Khan of selling Toshakhana gifts worth Pkr 140 million in Dubai. "Imran Khan sold these gifts for Pkr 140 million in Dubai," Shehbaz had said. He said that the expensive gifts included diamond jewellery sets, bracelets and wristwatches. Shehbaz's revelation came in response to a question regarding a petition seeking the details of the Shehbaz's revelation came in response to a question regarding a petition seeking the details of the Toshakhana that had been filed in the Islamabad High Court on which then PM Imran Khan had commented that the details cannot be revealed as per the Official Secrets Act, 1923. (ANI)
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday said that though Monkeypox presently does not amount to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the emergency nature of the event requires intense response efforts. Taking to Twitter, DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote, "While the Emergency Committee didn't advise that the #monkeypox outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, they acknowledged the emergency nature of the event requiring intense response efforts." "They advised that I should reconvene them quickly based on the evolving situation, which I will do," he added. While expressing concerns over the sustained transmission of the virus the DG said that the children and pregnant women are at a high risk of catching the infection. "I am concerned about sustained transmission because it would suggest that the virus is establishing itself and it could move into high-risk groups including children, the immunocompromised and pregnant women," WHO tweeted quoting DG Ghebreyesus. He further said that Nigeria has been battling a monkeypox outbreak since 2017. The country has reported more cases this year, which could mean it matches or exceeds previous peaks. Monkeypox has now been identified in more than 50 countries, and the trend is likely to continue. DG said that the countries should adhere to the guidelines published by WHO to assist public health agencies. "Right now the action WHO would like to see: countries should increase surveillance by boost testing, countries should take a best practice approach to managing the response. WHO has published clinical guidance to assist public health agencies & on the frontlines," WHO tweet read. Speaking on the R&D front, he said, "WHO has been convening scientists via the R&D blueprint for epidemics to speed up research and development into tests, treatments and vaccines for monkeypox and develop a protocol for therapeutic development and rollout." Further, speaking of COVID-19,he said that even relatively 'mild' COVID19 cases are disruptive and damaging, thus suggesting the public to strengthen the wall of immunity to lessen the severity of the disease and lower the risk of long- or post-COVID condition. On the R&D front, he stressed on the need to develop second-generation vaccines that could prevent the spread of the infection. "Building on existing vaccines that limit severity and prevent death, developing second-generation vaccines that stop - or at least lower infection - would be a major step forward," he said. "On the R&D front, it is critical that there's funding for second-generation vaccines as well as tests and treatments. While honing vaccines to the evolving virus variants makes sense, I am concerned that the pace of mutation means the world is continuing to play catch up," he added. He said that the ideal solution to the disease is the development of a pan-coronavirus vaccine that covers all variants so far and potentially future ones. "WHO continues to convene scientists & researchers; there has been a lot of research into this virus & understanding immunology overall. With WHO's Solidarity Trials we can also offer global trials of vaccines to establish the safety and efficacy of quickly and effectively," he added.(ANI)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday said that the COVID-19 pandemic is changing but it is not over and warned that the cases are rising in 110 nations. "This pandemic is changing but it's not over. Our ability to track the #COVID19 virus is under threat as reporting and genomic sequences are declining meaning it is becoming harder to track Omicron and analyse future emerging variants," Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He further added, "COVID19, driven by BA.4 and BA.5 in many places, cases are on the rise in 110 countries, causing overall global cases to increase by 20 per cent and deaths have risen in 3 of the 6 WHO regions even as the global figure remains relatively stable." While briefing the media on COVID-19 and other global health issues, Ghebreyesus said that the WHO had called on all countries to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of their population. He further said that in the past 18 months, more than 12 billion vaccines have been distributed globally. "On the flip side, hundreds of millions of people, including tens of millions of health workers and older people in lower-income countries remain unvaccinated, which means they are more vulnerable to future waves of the virus," the WHO chief said. "With only 58 countries hitting the 70 per cent target, some have said it's not possible for low-income countries to make it," he said. Ghebreyesus gave the example of Rwanda where second dose vaccination rates are now above 65 per cent and still rising. The WHO chief underlined that it is important to keep the most at-risk groups up to date with vaccination. Earlier, DG Ghebreyesus said that though Monkeypox presently does not amount to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the emergency nature of the event requires intense response efforts. Taking to Twitter, DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote, "While the Emergency Committee didn't advise that the #monkeypox outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, they acknowledged the emergency nature of the event requiring intense response efforts." "They advised that I should reconvene them quickly based on the evolving situation, which I will do," he added. While expressing concerns over the sustained transmission of the virus the DG said that the children and pregnant women are at a high risk of catching the infection. "I am concerned about sustained transmission because it would suggest that the virus is establishing itself and it could move into high-risk groups including children, the immunocompromised and pregnant women," WHO tweeted quoting DG Ghebreyesus. He further said that Nigeria has been battling a monkeypox outbreak since 2017. The country has reported more cases this year, which could mean it matches or exceeds previous peaks. Monkeypox has now been identified in more than 50 countries, and the trend is likely to continue. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, Payk Media, a local media outlet in Afghanistan said, "Taliban commanders are selling the weapons of ex-security force members at arms markets in Zabul province, local sources said. According to sources, most of the weapons secretly sold in Zabul by #Taliban commanders are smuggled into #Pakistan. #Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, in southern Kandahar province, the Taliban security forces found more than a dozen assault rifles and ammunition.

The firearms that were recovered included a total of six stokes of AK-47, 13 pistols, thousands of rounds of bullets and 19 mines of rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), Xinhua reported citing the official.

Afghan's senior police officer Mullah Abdul Ghani Haqbin on Sunday said that three people were arrested by the security forces for keeping arms illegally.

The Taliban-run administration would spare no effort to collect arms from individuals as part of the efforts to ensure law and order in Afghanistan, the senior police officer said.
Beijing [China], June 30 [ANI]: The recent attack on a group of women outside a restaurant in the Chinese city of Tangshan this month has yet again highlighted the pathetic state of women in a country, a media report said. Footage from the barbecue restaurant's cameras on June 10 showed a man approaching a few women sitting at a table and placing his hand on one's back. When she objected, he started slapping and dragging her to the street by her hair. Other men then joined in, assaulting her female companions and leaving two women sprawled on the side of the street. Even though the onlookers had reported the incident to the police immediately but it took them 15 hours to announce that they were going to arrest the suspects after the video went viral, The Geneva Daily reported. Meanwhile, two of the women remain hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), officials said this week. This incident had sparked strong criticism on social media, where users accused the police of not deploying enough resources to protect the women of the country. They also decried the general, deep-rooted sexist attitudes in Chinese society, where things are getting dismal for the women day by day. It is worth noting that the women involved in this incident were out in a group in a well-lit public place and yet became victims of this horrific assault. After this incident, state media outlet, 'The Paper' stated that in various instances, male assailants used to spend less time in jail than the women in hospital. While, Beijing Youth Daily, being a regressive society flagbearer, questioned, "Why women were out so late?". An early article by the publication stated that the man had "chatted" with the women and then "both sides began to push and shove". Many other media outlets demanded improvements but failed to mention the dangers Chinese women face on daily basis. Many attempted to eliminate the gender angle and claimed that this could happen to anyone, even to men. Lu Dewen, a sociology professor at Wuhan University, wrote, "The perpetrators in similar cases have not specifically targeted women, but rather target all weak people (including men)," according to the publication. The initial police and media response also focused on the attackers' apparent links to local gangs and their criminal history instead of treating it as gender-based violence. Huang Simin, a lawyer who has worked on gender violence cases, said it was important to consider other factors, such as gang violence or inadequate law enforcement but the role of gender could not be ignored. "We can analyse this incident from many angles including cultural, regional and legal. But at the heart of all these angles is gender. If we can't even admit that, then this problem will be very difficult to resolve," she said. China is becoming a hostile place for feminist movements as well as the populace considers feminist women to be too aggressive and even "extremists". In this case, Chinese censors again deleted articles that argued the country had systemic sexism problems. According to Guo Jing, a domestic violence caseworker in China, it is common for Chinese authorities to treat gender-based crimes as one-off incidents, put to rest by catching the accused. According to the publication, these incidents are contradictory to their survey which records low crime rates and high levels of surveillance in the country. Many Chinese women are now questioning the societal values and the gender dynamics in the country for the first time. "There are so many incidents that were not filmed. Violence against women, no matter what kind, in our society, is really nothing new," Feng, a feminist activist, said. According to a 2013 UN study, more than half the surveyed men admitted to physical or sexual violence against their partners. Also, nearly half said they didn't mind using violence to defend their "honour". This is no surprise in a country that listed domestic violence as a criminal offence only in 2016. Many Chinese women say the recent Tangshan attack attracted so much condemnation because the violence was so extreme. But the women in the country face such risks to different degrees almost daily. It may be a long time before violence against women in China is considered a serious enough offence to be stamped out completely. (ANI)
Former Pakistani Finance Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senior leader Ishaq Dar has revealed that he had decided to return to the country after the orders of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. While speaking to journalists in London, Dar said, "I am going to Pakistan in the fourth week of July on the orders of former Prime Minister Nawaz." The PML-N stalwart further revealed that he had received his new passport and had also granted him permission to travel, ARY News reported. Terming the cases registered against him 'political victimization', Ishaq Dar said his lawyers will move the court for protective bail before his return to Pakistan. The former minister also informed that he will take the oath as senator upon his arrival and the party will take their decision on his appointment as the Finance Minister, according to ARY News. Dar was elected as a senator on a technocrat seat from Punjab in 2018. He could not take oath due to his stay in London. However, the SC suspended his membership over his failure to appear in court on May 8, 2018. It is pertinent to mention here that the former finance minister left Pakistan four years back and is wanted in Pakistan in multiple cases. Earlier, in May, the Pakistan court issued a perpetual arrest warrant against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in "corruption reference". The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the reference against Dar, who has been declared an absconder in the case since he has missed hearings owing to his prolonged stay in London, that the former Minister had acquired assets beyond his known sources of income, Dawn newspaper reported. The court also made conditional the issuance of a ruling on pleas seeking the acquittal of co-accused -- former NBP president Saeed Ahmed, Mansoor Raza Rizvi, and Naeem Mehmood, who were directors of Ishaq Dar's Hajveri Modaraba -- on the PML-N leader's arrest. The co-accused had filed pleas for their acquittal and challenged the reference under the NAB amendment ordinance, as per the publication. (ANI)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping, and relatives of the victim want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later.

A warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham  identified as Mrs. Roy Bryant on the document  was discovered last week by searchers inside a file folder that had been placed in a box, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Documents are kept inside boxes by decade, he said, but there was nothing else to indicate where the warrant, dated Aug. 29, 1955, might have been.

They narrowed it down between the 50s and 60s and got lucky," said Stockstill, who certified the warrant as genuine.

The search group included members of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and two Till relatives: cousin Deborah Watts, head of the foundation; and her daughter, Teri Watts. Relatives want authorities to use the warrant to arrest Donham, who at the time of the slaying was married to one of two white men tried and acquitted just weeks after Till was abducted from a relative's home, killed and dumped into a river.

Serve it and charge her, Teri Watts told the AP in an interview.

Keith Beauchamp, whose documentary film The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till preceded a renewed Justice Department probe that ended without charges in 2007, was also part of the search. He said theres enough new evidence to prosecute Donham.

Donham set off the case in August 1955 by accusing the 14-year-old Till of making improper advances at a family store in Money, Mississippi. A cousin of Till who was there has said Till whistled at the woman, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi's racist social codes of the era.

Evidence indicates a woman, possibly Donham, identified Till to the men who later killed him. The arrest warrant against Donham was publicized at the time, but the Leflore County sheriff told reporters he did not want to bother the woman since she had two young children to care for.

Story continues

Now in her 80s and most recently living in North Carolina, Donham has not commented publicly on calls for her prosecution. But Teri Watts said the Till family believes the warrant accusing Donham of kidnapping amounts to new evidence.

This is what the state of Mississippi needs to go ahead, she said.

District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, whose office would prosecute a case, declined comment on the warrant but cited a December report about the Till case from the Justice Department, which said no prosecution was possible.

Contacted by the AP on Wednesday, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said: This is the first time I've known about a warrant.

Banks, who was 7 years old when Till was killed, said nothing was said about a warrant when a former district attorney investigated the case five or six years ago.

I will see if I can get a copy of the warrant and get with the DA and get their opinion on it, Banks said. If the warrant can still be served, Banks said, he would have to talk to law enforcement officers in the state where Donham resides.

Arrest warrants can go stale due to the passage of time and changing circumstances, and one from 1955 almost certainly wouldn't pass muster before a court, even if a sheriff agreed to serve it, said Ronald J. Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi.

But combined with any new evidence, the original arrest warrant absolutely could be an important stepping stone toward establishing probable cause for a new prosecution, he said.

"If you went in front of a judge you could say, Once upon a time a judge determined there was probable cause, and much more information is available today," Rychlak said.

Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he entered the store where Donham, then 21, was working on Aug. 24, 1955. A Till relative who was there, Wheeler Parker, told AP that Till whistled at the woman. Donham testified in court that Till also grabbed her and made a lewd comment.

Two nights later, Donhams then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, showed up armed at the rural Leflore County home of Tills great-uncle, Mose Wright, looking for the youth. Till's brutalized body, weighted down by a fan, was pulled from a river days later in another county. His mother's decision to open the casket so mourners in Chicago could see what had happened helped galvanize the building civil rights movement of the time.

Bryant and Milam were acquitted of murder but later admitted the killing in a magazine interview. While both men were named in the same warrant that accused Donham of kidnapping, authorities did not pursue the case following their acquittal.

Wright testified during the murder trial that a person with a voice lighter than a mans identified Till from inside a pickup truck and the abductors took him away. Other evidence in FBI files indicates that earlier that same night, Donham told her husband at least two other Black men were not the right person.

___

Reeves reported from Newnan, Georgia.
JACKSON, Miss.  A team searching the basement of a Mississippi courthouse for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping, and relatives of the victim who initiated the hunt want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later.

A warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham  identified as Mrs. Roy Bryant on the document  was discovered last week inside a file folder that had been placed in a box, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Documents are kept inside boxes by decade, he said, but there was nothing else to indicate where the warrant, dated Aug. 29, 1955, might have been.

They narrowed it down between the 50s and 60s and got lucky, said Stockstill, who certified the warrant as genuine.

The search was started by the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and included two members of Tills family: Cousin Deborah Watts, head of the Foundation; and her daughter, Teri Watts. They want authorities to use the warrant to arrest Donham, who at the time of the slaying was married to one of two white men tried and acquitted just weeks after Till was abducted from a relatives home, killed and dumped into a river.

Emmett Till case: Emmett Till's relatives want the woman who accused him prosecuted for 1955 kidnapping

Serve it and charge her, Teri Watts told the AP in an interview.

Donham set off the case in August 1955 by accusing the 14-year-old Till of making improper advances at a family store in Money, Mississippi. A cousin of Till who was there has said Till whistled at the woman, which flew in the face of Mississippis racist social codes of the era.

Evidence indicates a woman, possibly Donham, identified Till to the men who later killed him. The arrest warrant against Donham was publicized at the time, but the Leflore County sheriff told reporters he did not want to bother the woman since she had two young children to care for.

Story continues

Emmett Till's cousin: 'Very grateful' for newly signed law but 'it doesn't stop our fight'

Now in her 80s and most recently living in North Carolina, Donham has not comment publicly on calls for her prosecution. But Teri Watts said the Till family believes the warrant accusing Donham of kidnapping amounts to new evidence.

This is what the state of Mississippi needs to go ahead, she said.

District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, whose office would prosecute a case, declined comment on the warrant but cited a December report about the Till case from the Justice Department, which said no prosecution was possible.

Contacted by the AP on Wednesday, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said: This is the first time Ive known about a warrant.

Banks, who was 7 years old when Till was killed, said nothing was said about a warrant when a former district attorney investigated the case five or six years ago.

I will see if I can get a copy of the warrant and get with the DA and get their opinion on it, Banks said. If the warrant can still be served, Banks said, he would have to talk to law enforcement officers in the state where Donham resides.

Arrest warrants can go stale due to the passage of time and changing circumstances, and one from 1955 almost certainly would not pass muster before a court, even if a sheriff agreed to serve it, said Ronald J. Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi.

But combined with any new evidence, the original arrest warrant absolutely could be an important stepping stone toward establishing probable cause to initiate a new prosecution, he said.

If you went in front of a judge you could say, Once upon a time a judge determined there was probable cause, and much more information is available today, Rychlak said.

Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he entered the store where Donham, then 21, was working on Aug. 24, 1955. A Till relative who was there at the time, Wheeler Parker, told AP that Till whistled at the woman. Donham testified in court that Till also grabbed her and made a lewd comment.

Two nights later, Donhams then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, showed up armed at the rural Leflore County home of Tills great-uncle, Mose Wright, looking for the youth. Tills brutalized body, weighted down by a fan, was pulled from a river days later in another county. His mothers decision to open the casket so mourners in Chicago could see what had happened helped galvanize the building civil rights movement of the time.

Bryant and Milam were acquitted of murder but later admitted the killing in a magazine interview. While both men were named in the same warrant that accused Donham of kidnapping, authorities did not pursue the case following their acquittal.

Wright testified during the murder trial that a person with a voice lighter than a mans identified Till from inside a pickup truck and the abductors took him away from the family home. Other evidence in FBI files indicates that earlier that same night, Donham told her husband that at least two other Black men were not the right person.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Emmett Till: Accuser's 1955 warrant found, family seeks arrest
China urges U.S. to cease official exchanges with Taiwan: FM spokesperson

Xinhua) 08:15, June 29, 2022

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged the United States to strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and cease any form of official exchanges with Taiwan.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a regular news briefing in response to a query on the so-called U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade.

"China firmly opposes all forms of official interaction with the Taiwan region by countries having diplomatic ties with China, including negotiating or concluding agreements with implications of sovereignty and of an official nature. This position is consistent and clear," Zhao noted.

There is but one China in the world, Zhao said, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, he added.

The spokesman said that the United States must abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, halt all forms of official interaction with Taiwan, stop negotiating agreements with implications of sovereignty and of an official nature, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

"We would also like to make it clear to Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities that they need to give up at once on the idea that they could seek independence with U.S. support, because the more ambitious they are, the more bitter their failure will be," Zhao added.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
A man was arrested after Virginia officers say he shot at three teenagers who mistakenly drove into his driveway.

Deputies in Spotsylvania say the three siblings, ages 17, 16 and 15, were uninjured in the June 18 incident. The 17-year-old drove himself and his siblings down 49-year-old Brent David Alfords driveway around 9:45 p.m. when they got lost, the sheriffs office said in a June 28 news release.

As they were attempting to turn around, Alford approached the teenagers. Armed with a handgun, he banged on their window and began yelling at them, according to deputies.

The startled 17-year-old driver attempted to quickly drive away when Alford fired one round from his gun into the back of the vehicle, deputies said.

The bullet traveled through the tail light and ended up in the center of the back seat passenger area under the seat cushion after hitting objects in the trunk, according to deputies.

Alford called police, telling officers he went to the teenagers car when he noticed it parked in his driveway.

Deputies charged Alford with three counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle and one count of reckless handling of a firearm. He was jailed with no bond.

Spotsylvania is in eastern Virginia about 65 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.
Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Saturday it had sent three unarmed drones towards an Israeli Mediterranean gas rig, which the Israeli military said it had intercepted. There was no immediate response from Lebanese authorities to the incident, which came amid tensions over the location of the Israeli rig and long-standing but so-far fruitless U.S.-mediated efforts to agree on a maritime border. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said Hezbollah was "preventing the state of Lebanon from reaching an agreement regarding maritime borders, which are critical to the economy and prosperity of the Lebanese nation".
A back-side view of the 290 ft Nirvana super yacht, owned by Russia's richest man. NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A superyacht linked to Russia's wealthiest oligarch was spotted in Dubai, AP News reported.

Nirvana, owned by nickel tycoon Vladimir Potanin, is said to be worth $300 million.

Potanin has not been sanctioned by the West, but has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A Russian oligarch thought to be the country's wealthiest man is the latest rich citizen to move a superyacht to the billionaire haven of Dubai amid scrutiny on those tied to Putin.

Associated Press journalists spotted the yacht Nirvana, which belongs to nickel tycoon Vladimir Potanin and is said to be worth $300 million, at Dubai's Port Rashid on Tuesday.

Potanin, who is the CEO and majority shareholder of the world's largest producer of refined nickel, Nornickel, has been known to take vacations and play ice hockey with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite his close ties to Putin, Potanin has not been listed on US, EU, or UK sanctions lists.

Still, the oligarch is now one of several wealthy Russian individuals who have transferred major assets to Dubai.

The Nirvana superyacht pictured in Mugla, Turkey on July 4, 2014. Levent Kisi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.

The UAE has taken a neutral stance on the conflict in Ukraine and has not imposed sanctions on elite individuals with ties to Putin. By moving their yachts to Dubai, individuals are putting them beyond reach of sanctions from the west.

Government officials in Dubai have told Western allies that sanctioned individuals are not allowed to do business in the country, The Financial Times previously reported.

Potanin's luxury vessel, Nirvana, now sits close to a $156 million superyacht belonging to billionaire Andrey Skoch, which was spotted in Dubai last Thursday, per AP.

A $300 million superyacht belonging to Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko was also spotted in the UAE earlier in June.

The 290-foot Nirvana yacht has a six-person lift, a terrarium for exotic reptiles, and a 7.5 meter swimming pool, according to its manufacturer, Oceanco.

Potanin is the 33rd richest person in the world, with a net worth of $37.1 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Insider contacted Vladimir Potanin for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MarketWatch

As record-breaking numbers of Americans pack their cars and travel to Fourth of July barbecues that will cost them more than last year, theyll fill up at gas stations where they are likely to be paying just a little less at the pump. Believe it or not, national gas price averages recently have been declining. On Sunday, the average edged down again to $4.81, down from the record high of $5.01 set in mid-June, AAA said.
The Addison County sheriff arrested Tuesday by the state police on multiple charges related to sexual and domestic assault pleaded not guilty and was then expected to be released on unsecured $100,000 bail.

Peter Newton, 50, of Middlebury entered the pleas during an afternoon court appearance in Burlington, outside Addison County where the sheriff was arrested Tuesday while he was conducting contractor work at a construction job site in his hometown.

During the arraignment, Newton was served with what in Vermont is called an extreme risk protection order  known more generically in other states as a red flag law  that prevents him from possessing firearms.

During the 35-minute hearing the defense attorney, prosecutor and judge focused on the appropriate conditions of release for Newton, a lifelong Vermonter with no criminal history.

Defense attorney Jason Sawyer said Newton has not been convicted of a crime and he should be able to continue his work as sheriff without engaging in law enforcement activities."

What you need to knowVermont's new gun safety bill goes into effect July 1

Gavel

Vermont Superior Court Judge John Pacht said Newton could not buy, use or have any firearms or dangerous weapons with the exception that he can be at his place of employment as long as he does not possess or have immediate access to any firearms.

The state police investigation began March 3 when detectives were assigned to follow up on a report of a domestic disturbance involving Newton and a person with whom he was in a relationship that allegedly took place in Newtons Middlebury home on Feb. 26.

Gun rightsResolution sparks conflict between Vermont union groups

To avoid conflicts of interest, the case was investigated by troopers from the St. Albans barracks and it is being prosecuted by the office of the Washington County States Attorney.

Prior to his arrest Newton, a nearly 20-year law enforcement veteran who was first elected sheriff in 2018, had already announced that he would not seek re-election this fall.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Addison County sheriff pleads not guilty to sex assault, other charges
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, left and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just gave a big-time shout-out to Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in his run for U.S. Senate in the upcoming Democratic primary.

In a Wednesday Instagram post, Ocasio-Cortez urged Wisconsin Democrats to turn out the vote for Barnes later this year.

Barnes responded by reposting the item by the progressive Democrat on his own Instagram page. He then added, "let's get this done @aoc," along with a praying hands emoji.

Mandela Barnes responded to Ocasio-Cortez's shout-out on his own Instagram story.

Officials with Ocasio-Cortez's campaign did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails.

Republican officials said they are not surprised by what appears to be an endorsement of Barnes.

"Its clear that D.C. liberals are backing Mandela Barnes and he is accepting them with arms wide open," said Lizzie Litzow, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Yesterday, Barnes was begging for and accepted help from dark money groups, and today hes welcoming an endorsement from AOC when he already has Elizabeth Warrens backing."

Ocasio-Cortez is part of the so-called Squad of young progressive Democratic lawmakers. The post appeared alongside an interview that Ocasio-Cortez gave to TV host Stephen Colbert, in which she backed expanding the U.S. Supreme Court, ending the Senate filibuster and repealing the Hyde Amendment that prevents federal funds to be used for abortion.

"We CAN do more to pursue these items more aggressively," she wrote. "And THEN once we do we can secure the W and turn out the vote for" Democratic U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman in Pennsylvania, Barnes in Wisconsin and Tim Ryan in Ohio.

Maddy McDaniel, spokeswoman for Barnes' campaign, said he supports most of the policy items listed by Ocasio-Cortez in the Instagram post, with the exception of boosting the number of Supreme Court justices.

"On Supreme Court expansion, Mandela is open to the conversation, but his priority is reform," McDaniel said. "He believes the Supreme Court should be subject to the same basic ethics rules as every other court in the country. He also supports term limits for justices."

Story continues

Barnes is locked in a tight primary contest for U.S. Senate that will be decided Aug. 9. In the most recent Marquette University Law School Poll, Barnes held a narrow lead over Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry.

State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson are also making strong runs.

Like the other top candidates in the race, Barnes has voiced support for ending the Senate filibuster and codifying Roe v. Wade to restore abortion rights in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

While an endorsement from Ocasio-Cortez could help Barnes in the Democratic primary, it could hinder him with some voters in the fall election against Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) expressed support for U.S. Senate candidate for Wisconsin Mandela Barnes in the caption of video posted on her Instagram account.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

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: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backs Mandela Barnes in U.S. Senate race
The death toll from the Amtrak train derailment in Missouri on June 27 after slamming into a dump truck has risen to four people. Two adult sisters from Kansas are among the victims. The NY Posts reports the sisters, who have not been named, were traveling with their mother. Its unclear if the mother was injured at this time.

Authorities on the scene confirmed the driver of the dump truck and another train passenger were also killed

The train, traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, was carrying 275 passengers and at least a dozen crew members. While the victims names are not public just yet, the Missouri State Patrol says about 150 passengers were taken to 10 area hospitals.

The Missouri State High Patrol says doctors are treating injuries ranging from minor to serious in nature.

Authorities Investigate Cause of Fatal Derailment

The Amtrak train derailed in Mendon, Missouri, just 100 miles northeast of Kansas City, at 12;42 p.m.

Eight cars and two locomotives derailed, and most of the cars flipped on their sides when the train struck the dump truck.

Everyone in the train car that we were in got flung everywhere, Samantha McDonald, 21, told The NY Times in a phone interview from the hospital.

McDonald, who was traveling with her brother, is being monitored after striking her head against the overhead compartment.

The siblings said to escape, people had to climb the seats and overhead compartments.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the cause of the crash. What we know at this time is the incident happened at an uncontrolled crossing. This means there are lights or barriers to warn people a train is approaching. Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the NTSB, says there is a stop sign at the crossing.

Unfortunately, this incident happened one day after another fatal Amtrak crash in Northern Califonia. The Amtrak train crashed into a four-door sedan at an uncontrolled crossing in East Bay. Three people died, and two others, including a child, were critically injured.

This story is developing.
By Rajesh Kumar Singh

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Persistent staffing shortages, fewer flights and booming demand have cast a shadow on the busy July Fourth holiday weekend and the entire summer travel season.

While the lifting of COVID-19 curbs and bottled-up travel demand are translating into the strongest summer since the pandemic for American carriers, frequent mass flight cancellations are creating chaos for their customers.

U.S. airlines have canceled more than 21,000 flights, or about 2.7% of the scheduled total since the Memorial Day holiday weekend in May, almost double last year's rate, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Flight delays are also higher than in 2021.

Analysts and some industry executives don't see a meaningful improvement before fall when travel demand tends to slow down.

On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines warned of another round of disruptions during the July Fourth weekend when passenger traffic is projected to be the highest since before the pandemic. To mitigate the impact, it is allowing customers to rebook their trip for free.

The Atlanta-based carrier has canceled about 5% of its scheduled flights in the past two weeks due to staffing, weather and air traffic control (ATC) issues.

The industry's struggle to ensure operational reliability despite repeated assurances shows the issues, which hobbled air travel last summer, have yet to be fixed.

Carriers are still grappling with staffing shortages after letting go thousands of pilots at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Now, they have been aggressively hiring, with both Delta and United Airlines, for example, hiring 200 pilots a month. Still, some industry experts expect a pilot shortage for years because of limited training capacity.

"They have brought back people... but getting those people to be productive in the operation is a very difficult task," said aviation analyst Robert Mann. "You can't just bring somebody in off the street and put them to work. You have to train them."

Story continues

Staffing woes have made it tougher for the industry to ramp up its capacity. U.S. airlines have slashed 15% of their summer schedules, according to Airlines for America, a trade group.

To be sure, this is not just a U.S. phenomenon. Airlines across the globe are battling a labor crisis, which is threatening to restrict post-pandemic recovery.

"Airlines are flying planes that they can staff, not necessarily the most profitable or most popular routes," said Peter McNally, Global Sector Lead for Industrials Materials and Energy at research firm Third Bridge.

LIMITED CAPACITY, LESS MARGIN

Meanwhile, air travel demand is surging despite growing risk of a U.S. economic recession. Passenger traffic in the United States has been averaging about 89% of the pre-pandemic levels since the Memorial Day holiday, according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data.

Airlines expect a further increase in the traffic this holiday weekend. United Airlines estimates its passenger volumes to be at 94% of the 2019 level. Budget carrier Frontier expects to have the highest traffic in its history.

Robust demand and limited capacity are driving up both fares and airline revenue. But with most planes operating near full capacity, carriers have less margin to address flight disruptions.

Industry experts say the high summer travel season tends to be stressful for airline operations. But staff cuts at the height of the pandemic have made the problem "more acute", said aviation analyst Robert Mann.

BLAME GAME

American Airlines said it has added 12,000 new employees in preparation for the summer travel rush. It is also operating fewer flights than last summer.

Yet, its cancellation rate is higher than last summer. The airline blames air traffic control and weather for its troubles.

"American's largest and busiest hubs have been affected, which has a ripple effect throughout our operation," a spokesperson for the airline said.

Frontier Airlines Chief Executive Barry Biffle also attributed flight delays and cancellations to inadequate ATC staffing and an increase in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ground-delay programs, which is used to regulate air traffic volume.

Biffle said there has been an up to ten-fold increase in the program compared to 2019.

In a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week, Airlines for America said ATC's staffing challenges are disrupting flights even in good weather. It asked the FAA to ensure adequate staffing and to reduce airspace closures.

The FAA said it has added alternate routes, placed more controllers in high demand areas, and increased data sharing. In order to avoid airspace closures, it said no space launches have been scheduled during the July Fourth holiday.

The agency, however, shot back at airlines for reducing headcount during the height of the pandemic.

"People expect when they buy an airline ticket that they'll get where they need to go safely, efficiently, reliably and affordably," the FAA said in a statement.

"After receiving $54 billion in pandemic relief to help save the airlines from mass layoffs and bankruptcy, the American people deserve to have their expectations met."

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; editing by Diane Craft)
The Daily Beast

CNNRepublican Gov. Kristi Noem ducked and dodged Sunday morning when asked if South Dakota would force a raped 10-year-old to give birtheventually suggesting that tragic situation shouldnt change her states restrictive abortion laws. The law today is that abortions are illegal except to save the life of the mother, Noem told anchor Dana Bash on CNNs State of the Union.Bash had pressed Noem about the case of a 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was denied an abortion because she was three days
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias new defense minister on Wednesday talked down the prospect of Australia acquiring U.S. nuclear-powered submarines by the end of the decade, describing such a timetable as optimistic in the extreme.

Defense Minister Richard Marles, whose party came to power at elections last month, said his priority was closing a naval capability gap that is expected to open when Australias aging fleet of six Collins-class diesel-electric submarines begins to retire from 2038.

The United States and Britain have agreed to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. But when the agreement was announced in September, the first submarine was not expected to be delivered until 2040.

Former Defense Minister Peter Dutton said this month that the United States could be persuaded to provide Australia with two Virginia-class submarines from its Connecticut production line by 2030.

Marles, who is acting prime minister while Anthony Albanese is overseas, doubted Australia would have a single nuclear-powered submarine by 2030.

I think that is optimistic in the extreme, Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp., saying the previous government had expected a delivery date in the 2040s. But he added, We will be looking at every option available to try and bring that time forward."

Dutton, who is now opposition leader, said China would have the technology to detect Collins-class submarines in the South China Sea by 2035.

Unlike nuclear submarines, diesel-electric submarines have to surface and run on diesel-propulsion while they recharge their batteries. China is developing technology that would detect submarines on the surface, Dutton said.

Prime Minister Albanese plans to visit French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this week to repair bilateral relations that soured in September when the previous Australian government tore up a 90 billion Australian dollar ($62 billion) contract for a French state-owned company to build a fleet of 12 diesel-electric submarines.

Story continues

Albaneses government announced recently 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.

But 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).

Albanese 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.

French anger over the canceled contract had delayed negotiations on an Australian free trade deal with the European Union.

Australias new Foreign Minister Penny Wong is visiting her birth country Malaysia to allay fears that the Australian move to nuclear propulsion could spark a regional arms race. She said Tuesday that her government was committed to ensuring the region remained peaceful, stable and prosperous.
Belle Isle police arrested a bank robbery suspect Tuesday who they say had just done almost 20 years in prison for another string of violent robberies.

Police say 54-year-old Nacoe Ray Brown walked into the McCoy Federal Credit Union on McCoy Road just after 12:30 p.m.

READ: Orlando police officer on list for questionable credibility reassigned to 911 call center

According to investigators, Brown handed one of the tellers a note implying he had a gun and demanded money.

He was able to get away with an undisclosed amount of cash, but with help from the Orange County Sheriffs Office, was later found at a hotel right next to the bank.

Police say Brown had his bags packed and appeared to be preparing to leave.

READ: OnePulse hires new executive director, plans to buy Pulse site from owner

Belle Isle police described Brown as a seasoned bank robber who was recently released from prison after serving 19 years for multiple other bank robberies.

According to court records, Brown committed four bank robberies in the Baltimore area in 2001 that were noted for the disguises he would wear and the violence he would use towards bank employees. He was convicted of those robberies in federal court and sentenced in 2002.

READ: OCPS selects new superintendent

Belle Isle police say no injuries were reported in Tuesdays robbery.

Brown is currently being held in the Orange County jail on no bond, charged with robbery with the threat of a weapon and grand theft.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.




Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, leaves the White House last July. Susan Walsh/AP

Sanders wants airline companies to hold up their end of the bargain or face steep fines.

He urged big financial penalties on airlines with persistent flight delays over two hours.

Other Democrats are growing concerned about a summer travel meltdown.

Many travelers in the US are growing frustrated with worsening flight delays in recent weeks. That's prompting Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to try and ensure major airliners hold up their end of the bargain going into the busy summer travel season  or face steep fines if they leave passengers and employees stranded on the tarmac.

"Taxpayers bailed out the airline industry during their time of need," Sanders said in a letter sent Wednesday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Now, it is the responsibility of the airline industry and the Department of Transportation to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the flying public and crew members are able to get to their destinations on time and without delay."

Video: Pilots debunk flying myths

Sanders laid out some steps he wants the Biden administration to consider to penalize airlines for cancellations and delays:

A $27,500 fine per passenger for domestic flight delays over two hours and international delays over three hours

Compelling airlines to "promptly" refund all passengers for flights delayed over an hour

Levying a $55,000 per passenger fine on airlines "if they cancel flights that they know cannot be fully staffed"

Other Democrats are seeking penalties on the airline industry. John Fetterman, the Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, issued a similar call earlier on Tuesday, arguing the Obama administration took a similar action in 2009.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ed Markey of Massachusetts also sent a letter on Wednesday to the 10 largest airline companies, which include Spirit Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines.

They demanded information on delays and other bottlenecks plaguing the industry, in addition to pressing them to provide timely ticket refunds to stranded passengers.

Story continues

As part of the initial CARES Act in March 2020, Congress and President Trump approved roughly $50 billion bailout for major airline companies as the economy shut down and air travel halted from the pandemic. It came with some strings attached, such as barring airliners from laying off workers and stock buy-backs.

That money was largely meant to keep airline employees on the job. But the sector's workforce shrank due to voluntary buyouts in anticipation of a rebound that would take years. Now, they're struggling to keep pace with pent-up demand for travel.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was destroyed in a Russian attack. Volodymyr Tarasov/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images.

Richard Branson is in talks to help build a new version of the world's largest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya.

That's according to local politicians, who said Branson offered his help on a visit to Kyiv Wednesday.

The Ukrainian aircraft was destroyed in a Russian bombardment at the very beginning of the invasion.

Billionaire businessman Richard Branson visited Antonov Airport, site of one of the fiercest battles of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to discuss repairing the damaged airstrip and to see the wreckage of the world's largest cargo plane, local authorities said Wednesday.

Davyd Arakhamia, a deputy for Ukraine's Servant of the People party, posted images of Branson  who founded companies including Virgin Galactic  visiting the airfield, which is located in Hostomel, near Kyiv, on his Telegram channel.

In the accompanying post, Arakhamia said that the Virgin founder had "expressed his readiness to help" in both repairing the airfield and building a new version of the Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world's largest cargo plane  which was destroyed during fierce fighting in February.

The An-225 had been used to transport humanitarian aid around the global and could hold as much as 250 tonnes of cargo at any time. It was a symbol of intense national pride in Ukraine, and its destruction caused outrage.

"The sadness is so indescribable. I just realized that exactly two months ago I went on my last business trip. I flew on Mriya," pilot Dmytro Antonov told Reuters at the time.

"The Russian occupiers can destroy anything, but never the dream," Arakhamia said Wednesday.

"We are already working on a project to build a new aircraft," he said, adding that Branson was "pleasantly shocked by our optimism."

Alexander Khrebet, a reporter for Ukrainian publication ZN, also shared pictures of Branson's visit to Twitter.

Branson has not publicly commented on his trip to Hostomel, but earlier Wednesday a tweet from his official Twitter account mentioned a visit to neighboring Poland to discuss support for Ukraine.

Story continues

Branson has previously spoken out about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He described Putin as "callous" and calculating, and later called on people to reduce their energy consumption to reduce dependence on Russia.

A Virgin representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on Branson's visit.

Read the original article on Business Insider
KARRASTOCK via Getty

If youre a responsible farmer, keeping your animals healthy is about knowing whether or not theyre happyor unhappy. Doing so can be a challenge, especially if you have a ton of creatures to care for. And lets face it: Theyre animals. They cant exactly tell you whether theyre happy or can they?

With the help of artificial intelligence, they actually can. A team of scientists from City University of Hong Kong created a new AI that can accurately detect distress noises from chickens. In a paper published in The Journal of Royal Society Interface on Wednesday, they said the tech could identify distress calls from chickens with up to 97 percent accuracy. The tool could be employed on other animals and livestock too in order to boost welfare practices in the farming industry as a whole.

Our end goal is not to count distress calls, but to create conditions in which the chickens can live and have a reduced amount of distress, Alan McElligott, an associate professor of animal behavior and welfare at the City University of Hong Kong and co-author of the paper, told The Guardian.

The team trained their AI on a set of recordings of chickens that had already been classified by humans (real chicken noises, not the Bluth familys versions). Then they made the tool listen to a recording of chickens on a large farm, using it to identify how stressed the animals were. The AI was able to separate the distress calls from all other noises and accurately detect when the chickens were anguished due to factors like overcrowding, not getting enough food and water, and attacks from other chickens.

Stop Saying That Googles AI Is Sentient, You Dupes

The team now hopes that the tool will be rolled out to farmers within five years to help them better care for their animals. Not only do they have an ethical reason to do so, they have a financial incentive too, according to McElligott. In fact, distress calls made by young chicks correlates to the amount of weight it could gain over its lifetime, according to the researchers. The noises can also help predict the amount of deaths a flock might experience.

Story continues

Sometimes its difficult to convince the farmers that have to deal with producing these animals for a set price for supermarkets and everyone else to adopt technology to improve their welfare, McElligott explained. But weve already shown that distress calls are a good indicator of mortality and growth rates, and this is a way of automating the process.

The AI has even caught the attention of animal rights activists, with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals praising the tool. Technology such as this can be incredibly useful in monitoring and improving the welfare of farm animals, but we wouldnt want to see this replace physical inspections or reduce stock keeper-bird contact, as this could lead to a loss of stockmanship skills, or birds that are more difficult to handle, an RSPCA spokesperson told The Guardian.

So with AI translating their clucks and squawks, chickens have a bright future ahead of themat least until they end up on your dinner table.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Pro-choice activists protest outside of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 15, 2022. Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Health startups Favor and Stix are using Dobbs to advertise morning after pills, the WSJ reports.

Another health startup Nurx has cut the price of its pill 25% to $14.99 to encourage stockpiling.

Brands are stepping in to meet the spike in demand for emergency birth control.

Digital health startups have jumped on the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in new ad campaigns for emergency contraceptives, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Favor, formerly the Pill Club, has launched an ad campaign with the tag line: "They're coming for your abortion. Your birth control is next."

Stix, a startup that also sells pregnancy tests and ovulation kits, pivoted its marketing budget toward advertising its new morning after pill, Restart, CEO Jamie Norwood told the Journal.

Billboards advertising Restart have messages such as: "In Missouri, you're allowed to own a baby tiger. Just not your reproductive rights."

Since the Court's ruling on Friday, fears that access to emergency contraception is under threat have spread.

Many women are stockpiling the plan-B morning after pill, in case they need to protect against the possibility of pregnancy, spurring CVS and other retailers to place limits on the number of pills people can buy.

A concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas further stoked worries that the Court would next target access to birth control methods.

Some direct-to-consumer health startups are stepping up to meet the escalation in demand. Favor still allows purchases in bulk of up to 10 courses of morning after pills. Reproductive health provider Nurx is even encouraging stockpiling among customers whose access to abortion has been cut off or curtailed.

Kelly Gardiner, head of communications for Nurx's parent company, told the Wall Street Journal that the company had cut the price of its morning after pill, New Day, by 25% so as "to make it more affordable for folks who need to stock up."

At present, emergency contraception is legal across the United States. However, 12 states allow health care providers such as pharmacists to refuse to offer contraceptive services to patients who ask for them, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sixteen Boy Scouts from Appleton, Wisconsin, escaped serious injury Monday when the Amtrak train carrying them back from a trip to New Mexico derailed after striking a dump truck in rural Missouri.

No one in the group was seriously injured, said Scott Armstrong, director of national media relations for the Boy Scouts of America.

Adults in the group were bused to an area hospital to be examined after the crash.

The Scouts administered first aid to several injured passengers, including the driver of the dump truck, Armstrong said. A source confirmed to the USA Today Network that one of the scouts tried to comfort the truck driver before he died.

More: Fourth person dies after Amtrak derailment in Missouri; NTSB focuses on railroad crossing

Four people were killed in the crash; the fourth death was announced Tuesday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said about 150 people taken to 10 area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

The scouts, from Appleton-based troops 12 and 73 and ranging in age from 13 to 17, were returning from a week-long "adventure trek," said Brian Robb, director of Field Service for the Bay-Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

He said two adults with the scouts were taken to hospital by ambulance.

"We're hoping (the injuries) are just minor, like broken ribs," Robb said.

The train, carrying 275 passengers and 12 crew, hit a dump truck that was on the tracks at a public crossing in Mendon, a rural part of north-central Missouri about 100 miles northwest of Columbia. Eight cars and two locomotives derailed, Amtrak said.

The scout troops are chartered with the first First English Lutheran Church of Appleton.

More: The Amtrak train derailment in Mendon, Missouri, killed four. Here's what else we know.

The scouts had been at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It's the largest scout ranch in the world, said Ralph Voelker, scout executive for the Bay-Lakes Council.

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The train had been scheduled to continue to Chicago.

USA TODAY and The Associated Press contributed to this report

Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 431-8333, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: After Amtrak derailment, Boy Scouts helped administer first aid
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's Socialists, allies in the outgoing coalition government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, said on Wednesday they would not back a new Petkov-led Cabinet, angry with the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats.

The Socialists' position could bring the European Union and NATO member state closer in the autumn to holding fresh elections, the fourth since April 2021.

The Russia-friendly Socialists called the expulsion of the diplomats over suspected espionage unacceptable.

"We are putting on hold any talks with the PP party for forming a new government," Socialist leader and outgoing deputy premier Kornelia Ninova said.

"The decision to expel 70 Russian diplomats is unprecedented ... For us it is completely unacceptable," she said.

Ninova said Petkov has made the decision to expel the Russians without government approval and that her party could return to the negotiating table for a new coalition government with PP if Petkov is not nominated as prime minister.

President Rumen Radev, at odds with the outgoing reformist premier, declined to comment on the expulsions, saying he lacked detailed information, but expressed hope that Petkov had considered the consequences.

Speaking ahead of a closed hearing at the parliament on the expulsions, Petkov said the decision was taken following a sitting of the country's security council on June 9 and three reports from the intelligence services from May and June.

"There is some kind of misunderstanding. The decision of what happened is not mine," Petkov told reporters.

His ruling PP party is trying to muster a majority for a new government after his Cabinet was ousted in a no-confidence motion last week, but analysts were sceptical he could succeed, even before the Socialists' decision.

Following the invasion of Ukraine, Petkov has taken an unusually strong stance against Russia for a country that has cultural, religious and historical ties with Russia and long been a draw for Russian tourists.

He did not comment on the Socialists' position.

(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia; Editing by Nick Macfie and Matthew Lewis)
A car crashed into an Orlando business Wednesday morning, causing noticeable damage.

The crash happened along Old Winter Garden Road near Ivey Lane shortly before 4 a.m.

A WFTV crew at the scene saw Orlando police investigating at Orange Blossom Family Health.

Photos: Car crashes into health clinic

Pictures show apparent damage to the business front and interior.

Channel 9 has reached out to Orlando police for details on what led up to the crash and if anyone was hurt.

READ: Orlando Museum of Art CEO out after FBI seizes exhibit

Monitor WFTV.com and watch Eyewitness News for updates on this developing story.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The chief minister of India's western state of Maharashtra, the richest state in the country, resigned late on Wednesday, after a group in his ruling party defected to the opposition.

The resignation of Uddhav Thackeray, head of regional party Shiv Sena, will allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in the state as the defecting group transferred its allegiance to the BJP.

Maharashtra is the country's second most populous state and home to India's financial capital of Mumbai.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Editing by William Maclean)
GENEVA (AP)  The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. calling the decision to no longer recognize a constitutional right to abortion a setback that would ultimately cost lives.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a media briefing that decades of scientific data prove that access to safe and legal abortion saves lives.

The evidence is irrefutable, Tedros said. Restricting (abortion) drives women and girls toward unsafe abortions resulting in complications, even death. He said safe abortion should be understood as health care and warned that limiting its access would disproportionately hit women from the poorest and most marginalized communities.

We hadn't really expected this from the U.S., Tedros said, adding that he was concerned the Supreme Court's decision was a move backwards." In recent years, the U.S. has supported numerous maternal health care programs in developing countries, including access to reproductive health care.

We had really hoped the U.S. would lead on this issue, Tedros said.

WHO's chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, said the U.N. health agency's position on abortion was based on decades of data from numerous countries.

I know from own experience, working in India, that having access to safe abortion is a life-saving measure, Swaminathan said. She said denying a woman access to abortion was like denying someone a life-saving drug."

She said bans on abortion would do little to reduce the number of procedures while people who undergo unsafe abortions are at risk of developing fatal blood infections.

What these bans do...is it drives women into the hands of people who are there to exploit the situation, performing unsafe abortion and very often resulting in a huge amount of damage to their health and sometimes death," Swaminathan said.

In recent years, the trend among countries has been to increase access to abortion, including regions where there was staunch opposition, like Latin America, she said.

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Its unfortunate to see some countries going backward, Swaminathan said, citing the U.S. decision.

WHO chief Tedros said he feared many other countries might not understand the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and could take similar measures to restrict abortions.

The global impact is also a concern, he said. This is about the life of mother, he said. If safe abortion is illegal, then women will definitely resort to unsafe ways of doing it. And that means it could cost them their lives.

___

Follow AP's coverage of Roe v. Wade at https://apnews.com/hub/abortion
The veteran prop left the pitch on a medical cart (Getty Images)

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell admitted Cian Healys leg injury doesnt look too good following an emphatic 32-17 defeat by the Maori All Blacks.

Veteran prop Healy, who came off the bench after international rookie Jeremy Loughman required a head injury assessment, left the pitch on a medical cart having twisted awkwardly.

If the front-row pair are ruled out of Saturdays opening Test against New Zealand, Andrew Porter would be Irelands only available loosehead.

Farrell, who fielded an experimental starting XV in Hamilton, also lost centre James Hume to injury, while full-back Jimmy OBrien sustained a knock.

Cian doesnt look too good he was in a bit of pain coming off the field, said Farrell. (The injury) has settled down a bit so we will have to see with him.

Jeremy actually passed his HIA (head injury assessment) by the independent doctor. We brought him off as a precaution, put Cian on and then that happens to Cian, which is not nice really.

Jimmy came off with a strain. Hes feeling good in the changing rooms. James Hume has a bit of a groin injury that needs assessment tomorrow.

Farrell is set to name his team for the weekend clash with the All Blacks on Thursday.

While Porter has established himself as first-choice in the Irish number one jersey, the potential lack of cover is a concern. Connachts Finlay Bealham has featured at loosehead before in international rugby but is a recognised tighthead.

Ireland suffered a punishing start to their tour after an unfamiliar team featuring five uncapped players were dismantled in the opening period.

The dominant Maoris  who began with 10 debutants  ran in four tries to effectively wrap up victory by the break.

Scores from stand-in skipper Bundee Aki and the impressive Gavin Coombes either side of half-time were scant consolation for the Irish, who at least kept out their opponents in the second period.

Farrell will swiftly turn his attention to taking on the All Blacks in Auckland, where he will bring back his senior players and hope for a far greater showing.

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Were disappointed, the boys are disappointed, obviously, he said.

They feel they could have given a better account of themselves, certainly in the first half. The Maori team 100 per cent deservedly won that game.

But Im proud of the boys, the way they came back. It could have been a landslide with the way the score was at half-time.

The way that some of the individuals have learned, stood up, done some unbelievably good stuff and then some really poor stuff on the back of that is brilliant learnings.

In all, its a good day for us in regards to lads learning lessons and knowing that if we fix a few things, especially discipline-wise, we can give a better account of ourselves in the next game.
STORY: Teacher and worker organizations protested accusing Castillo of not having fulfilled his election campaign promises. Teachers demanded an increase in wages and special attention for pensioners.

"Our country is in crisis right now," teacher Fanny Huamani told Reuters. "People are dying of hunger, teachers have low wages and the infrastructure is terrible."

Castillo, a leftist former school teacher and union leader, has presided over unprecedented political instability since taking office last July, cycling through four separate cabinets and surviving two impeachment attempt
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Brime, 26, of Columbus' Eastland area, was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in prison for twice calling a local reproductive health care clinic last year and threatening to kill his then-girlfriend, a prospective patient, and bomb the clinic.

A Columbus man who last year threatened to bomb a reproductive health care clinic and kill his then-girlfriend because he thought she was a prospective patient seeking an abortion there has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. sentenced 26-year-old Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Brime on Wednesday morning in federal court in Columbus. Brime, who was a resident of the Eastland area, pleaded guilty in February.

Abortion news: The day that Roe v. Wade fell: Panic, praise at Ohio's abortion clinics

Abortion news: Where can Ohioans get abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling?

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus, Brime made two phone calls on April 11, 2021, to Your Choice Healthcare on Karl Road, a local reproductive health care clinic.

In the first call, Brime told an on-call staff member that his girlfriend was a patient and warned, "Im going to bring the heat ... "If she kills my baby, Im going to kill her, court documents state.

In the second call, Brime threatened to bring a bomb to the facility.

"I suggest you close your doors," he told the clinic, according to court records.

Brime's actions violated the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to threaten with force or intimidate anyone receiving or providing reproductive health services.

Reproductive health providers and people seeking access to these services must be able to do so free from violence and threats of violence, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. This sentencing should send a strong message that the Justice Department will continue to aggressively enforce the FACE Act and hold those accountable who violate the law.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker said threatening the life of anyone who seeks any type of health services is a heinous act that should not be tolerated.

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People must handle their disagreements to positions that are contrary to theirs in a more civil way than using the threat of force or any kind of intimidation," Parker said.

Jordan Laird is a criminal justice reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at jlaird@dispatch.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @LairdWrites.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bomb threat to reproductive health clinic gets Columbus prison time
American financier Jeffrey Epstein (L) and then-real-estate developer Donald Trump (R) pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997. Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

Jeffrey Epstein was known for jet-setting with the likes of Bill Gates, President Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew.

Wall Street billionaire Leon Black paid Epstein at least $50 million in consulting and other fees, The New York Times reported.

Epstein was found dead of an apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail on August 10, 2020, as he awaited trial on charges of sex trafficking minors.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former L Brands CEO Les Wexner may have been Jeffrey Epstein's only confirmed client, but he was far from the only billionaire paying the convicted sex offender.

Epstein, who pleaded guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution in Florida in 2007, ran a years-long "trafficking pyramid scheme" from the US Virgin Islands, prosecutors alleged in a lawsuit against the former wealth manager's estate in January 2020.

Meanwhile, the convicted sex offender maintained a vast social and professional network both on and off the Islands, which even included the wife of the US Virgin Islands' former governor.

In October 2020, Wall Street billionaire Leon Black acknowledged to The New York Times through a spokesperson that he hired Epstein as an advisor and paid Epstein at least $50 million in consulting and other fees between 2012 and 2017.

Epstein, a former hedge-fund manager, kept his client list under wraps, but he often bragged of his elite social circle that included presidents and Hollywood stars.

"I invest in people  be it politics or science," Epstein was known to say, according to New York Magazine. "It's what I do."

Epstein, 66, died by apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail on August 10, 2020, as he awaited trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors. He had been in police custody since his arrest on July 6, shortly after exiting his private jet in New Jersey's Teterboro Airport. He pleaded not guilty on July 8 and was being held without bail in New York City, where he was already on suicide watch after an earlier reported suicide attempt that had led to his hospitalization, at the time of his death.

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Here's what we know about the famous people who crossed paths with Epstein.

Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's ex-girlfriend and madam, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex-trafficking young girls for Epstein.

Epstein with Maxwell. Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Maxwell is a British socialite and the daughter of media tycoon Robert Maxwell.

She started dating Epstein shortly after moving to New York in 1991, Business Insider previously reported. After they broke up, court documents allege that Maxwell started recruiting underage girls for him to have sex with.

The FBI began investigating Maxwell's relationship with Epstein in 2019 as the British heiress hit out with armed guards in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Maxwell was ultimately found in New Hampshire, where she was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and perjury in New Hampshire on July 2, 2020.

A federal jury in December 2021 convicted the former socialite of five sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors alleged Maxwell worked with Epstein to "recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse" children.

In June 2022, a federal judge sentenced Maxwell to 20 years in prison for trafficking girls to have sex with Epstein and sexually abusing them herself. She was also fined $750,000, the judge said, and will have to remain on probation for five years following her time in prison.

Outgoing L Brands CEO Les Wexner is Epstein's only confirmed client.

AP Photo/Matt Sullivan

Epstein became a trusted confidant of Wexner's while Epstein managed the CEO's fortune, according to Vanity Fair. Wexner has a net worth of $7.15 billion, Bloomberg reported. The magazine reported that Wexner allowed Epstein to take an active role in L Brands, which owns Bath & Body Works, Express, and Victoria's Secret.

In 1989, Wexner used a trust to buy an Upper East Side townhouse that is believed to be the largest private residence in Manhattan for $13.2 million, Vanity Fair reported. Epstein moved in after Wexner and his wife, Abigail Koppel, moved to Ohio in 1996. Wexner's trust transferred ownership of the house to Epstein in 2011 for $0, Bloomberg reported.

Wexner later fired Epstein as his money manager. "Mr. Wexner severed ties with Mr. Epstein more than a decade ago," an L Brands spokesperson told Forbes in July 2019.

In February, L Brands announced that Wexner would step down after nearly six decades as the company's CEO. L Brands also announced that it would sell the majority stake in Victoria's Secret to private equity firm Sycamore Partners and spin-off Bath & Body Works into a separate company. The company has been marred in controversy following reports of the mistreatment of models and plummeting sales.

More information about Wexner's relationship with Epstein may soon be revealed after US District Judge Loretta Preska ordered that Wexner's correspondence with Epstein's former lawyer Alan Dershowitz be unsealed as a part of Dershowitz and Giuffre's defamation suits against each other, Business Insider reported on August 11.

Former President Donald Trump once considered Epstein a friend.

From left, Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000. Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

The future president claimed in 2002 that he had a long friendship with Epstein. "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump said, according to New York Magazine. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it  Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

According to Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, Trump now believes the crimes Epstein was charged with are "completely unconscionable and obviously criminal." She also labeled them "disgusting," according to a July report from the Associated Press.

"The president told me this morning he hasn't talked to Epstein, he doesn't think he's talked to him or seen him in 10 or 15 years," Conway added.

Prince Andrew and Epstein were close friends, the Guardian reported in 2015.

WPA Pool / Getty Images

Maxwell introduced Epstein and the Duke of York in the 1990s, the Guardian reported, and the two became close friends.

The Duke is the son of the UK's Queen Elizabeth. He has also been criticized for frequently taking flights on the taxpayer's dime while serving as the country's special representative for international trade. This earned him the nickname "Airmiles Andy," according to the Washington Post.

Court documents reviewed by the Guardian allege that Epstein instructed Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a 15-year-old employee at Trump's Mar-a-Largo resort, to have sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions. Buckingham Palace said in 2015 that the allegations against Prince Andrew were "false and without any foundation," according to the Guardian.

According to a July 22 article from NY Magazine's Intelligencer, a number of royals and royal connections were among Epstein's contacts. That includes Prince Andrew's then-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York; and Charles Althorp, Princess Diana's brother. According to Intelligencer, all three were named in Epstein's black book; Ferguson and Prince Andrew were also named in his private jet log.

In a interview with the BBC in November, Prince Andrew said his relationship with Epstein brought him "opportunities," and that his slowness in ditching Epstein as a friend was because of his tendency to be "too honorable." The interview was widely criticized over Prince Andrew's lack of sympathy with Epstein's victims and his defense of his friendship with the convicted sex offender, Business Insider reported.

Prince Andrew resigned from public royal duties in November, Business Insider reported.

Former President Bill Clinton traveled with Epstein in 2002 and 2003, a Clinton representative confirmed.

Andrew Chin/Getty Images, Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images

A statement released in July 2019 by Clinton spokesperson Angel Urena said the former president traveled to Europe, Asia, and twice to Africa on Epstein's private jet. Clinton's staff and Secret Service agents also went on these trips, which were to further the work of the Clinton Foundation, according to the statement.

Court documents unsealed on July 31 show Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre testified that Clinton also visited Epstein's island  something the former president has denied.

Last year, Clinton told New York Magazine through a spokesperson that Epstein was "both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science."

Urena also said that Clinton and Epstein hadn't spoken in "well over a decade" and that Clinton "knows nothing about the terrible crimes" Epstein was charged with.

Actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker also took trips with Epstein.

Kevin Spacey attends the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2017 in New York City. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

Epstein, Clinton, Spacey, and Tucker spent a week in 2002 touring AIDS project sites in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and Mozambique for the Clinton Foundation, according to a New York Magazine report.

Spacey was also charged with sexual assault, but in December, The New York Times reported that the case had been dropped by the plaintiff's estate. The plaintiff, a 62-year-old massage therapist, had died in September.

Former Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta worked with Epstein's legal team to arrange a plea deal after Epstein was charged with solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution in Florida in 2007.

Alexander Acosta. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

An investigation by the Miami Herald revealed that Acosta, then a US attorney, had enough evidence against Epstein to request a life sentence. Instead, he reportedly met with one of Epstein's lawyers, who happened to be a former colleague of Acosta's.

In the resulting plea deal, Epstein served 13 months in a private wing of a county prison, which he was allowed to leave six days a week to work in his office.

Business Insider previously reported that Acosta said he was "pleased that NY prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence," on Twitter.

Acosta resigned on July 12, 2019.

Film publicist Peggy Siegal planned a star-studded dinner party for Epstein and Prince Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion in 2010.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Images

Siegal, known for hosting events to promote films including "The Big Short," "Argo," and "The Revenant" to Oscar voters, invited Epstein to screenings after he was released from prison in 2010, according to The New York Times.

"I was a kind of plugged-in girl around town who knew a lot of people," Siegal told The New York Times. "And I think that's what he wanted from me, a kind of social goings-on about New York."

Siegal also planned a dinner party for Epstein and Prince Andrew at his Upper East Side home. The event was attended by Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, and Chelsea Handler. "The invitation was positioned as, 'Do you want to have dinner with Prince Andrew?'" Siegal said. Many of the guests didn't know who the host was or about his criminal history, The New York Times reported.

A spokesperson for Siegal told Business Insider that Siegal's relationship with Epstein was social, not professional. Siegal told The New York Times that she ended her relationship with Epstein at the height of the #MeToo era in 2017.

Netflix, FX and Annapurna Pictures severed their ties with Siegal in July 2019 after her connection to Epstein became public, Variety reported.

Epstein also told the Times that he spoke often with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the G20 opening ceremony at the Hangzhou International Expo Center on September 4, 2016 in Hangzhou, China. World leaders are gathering for the 11th G20 Summit from September 4-5. Nicolas Asfouri - Pool/Getty Images

Epstein said that MBS had visited Epstein's Manhattan mansion many times and had a framed photo of the crown prince hanging on the wall, according to New York Times reporter James B. Stewart.

Representatives of MBS did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

According to the New York Times, Epstein claimed to have advised Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was photographed at a 2014 Oscars after-party next to Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite accused of being Epstein's madam in media reports and legal documents. Kevin Mazur/VF14/Contributor/Getty Images

In an interview published in the New York Times on August 12, Epstein claimed that Elon Musk had sought him out to help manage the trouble he had gotten into with the SEC a year earlier, in August 2018.

Epstein told reporter James B. Stewart that he had promised to keep his work for Tesla private because of his prior conviction. Epstein also warned that both Musk and Tesla would deny their connection to Epstein if it ever became public, the Times reported. In a statement to Business Insider, a spokesperson for Musk denied Epstein's claims of having served as an adviser to the CEO.

Musk and Maxwell were photographed at an Oscars after-party hosted by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014, in West Hollywood. The same Musk spokesperson told Business Insider that "Ghislaine simply inserted herself behind him in a photo he was posing for without his knowledge."

Musk has confirmed crossing paths with Epstein at least once, Business Insider reported. Musk, Epstein, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were all guests at a dinner hosted by LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman sometime after he was released from jail in 2008.

MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito quietly worked with Epstein to secure anonymous donations, Vanity Fair reported.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

Ito worked with other directors and staff at the MIT Media Lab to quietly receive large anonymous donations from Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting underage girls for prostitution, a New Yorker expose published on September 6 reports. The article contains emails sent between Ito and Epstein.

The emails show Epstein also worked as an in-between for other wealthy donors, including Bill Gates and Leon Black, and that Epstein had a role in determining what his donations would be used for at MIT, contradicting previous statements from Ito and the university.

Ito resigned from his posts at MIT, The New York Times Company, and the MacArthur Foundation on September 7, Business Insider reported.

Epstein worked as a go-between for the MIT Media Lab and Bill Gates to arrange donations, Vanity Fair reported.

Bill Gates speaks ahead of former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City. Yana Paskova/Getty Images

Emails obtained and published by The New Yorker show former MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito wrote that Gates was "directed by" Epstein to donate $2 million to the research lab in October 2014.

Gates also met with Epstein at least once in New York in 2013, and flew on one of his private planes to Palm Beach, Business Insider previously reported. "Bill attended a meeting in New York with others focused on philanthropy. While Epstein was present, he never provided services of any type to Bill," a Gates spokesperson told Business Insider.

A spokesperson for Gates told Business Insider that "Epstein was introduced to Bill Gates as someone who was interested in helping grow philanthropy. Although Epstein pursued Bill Gates aggressively, any account of a business partnership or personal relationship between the two is simply not true. And any claim that Epstein directed any programmatic or personal grantmaking for Bill Gates is completely false."

A New York Times investigation published in October found that Gates met with Epstein multiple times after Epstein's conviction in 2011, including at least three meetings at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse. Following the publication of that story, a spokesperson for Gates said Gates regretted the association, but Gates himself hadn't publicly addressed it until November, Business Insider's Aaron Holmes reported.

Gates said at The New York Times' Dealbook Conference in November that he believed "billions of dollars" would come from his meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. "I made a mistake in judgment in thinking those discussions would go to global health," Gates said. "That money never appeared."

"I gave him the benefit of my association," Gates said.

Reid Hoffman defended Ito after news of Epstein's connections to the MIT Media Lab broke.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A "few years ago," Epstein attended a dinner Hoffman hosted to honor an MIT neuroscientist, Vanity Fair reported in July. Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk were also in attendance. Both denied having had ongoing relationships with Epstein to Vanity Fair through spokespeople.

Hoffman also implicated himself in the cover up of Epstein's donations to the MIT Media Lab. As pressure mounted on Media Lab director Joi Ito to resign, Hoffman defended Ito to author and fellow MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award jury member Anand Giridharadas in a private email, Giridharadas tweeted in September. "Hoffman basically hid behind bureaucracy and the old 'ongoing investigation' excuse," Giridharadas said in the now-unavailable tweet. "He said it would be complicated to release the correspondence publicly because other names might get dragged in. Someone should tell him about redaction."

According to Giridharadas, Hoffman wrote in a second email that Giridharadas was making the situation "all about you" by threatening to resign. In the end, Giridharadas resigned from the Disobedience Award jury.

Hoffman not only sits on the Disobedience Award's jury, but funds it personally, according to the Media Lab's website. In 2017, MIT awarded Epstein and other donors "orbs" to thank them for their support, according to The Boston Globe. The orb looks similar to the trophy given to winners of the Disobedience Award.

A lawsuit has also shined light on Epstein's connection to former U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. John P. de Jongh while he was in office.

U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. John P. de Jongh participates in a meeting dealing with healthcare at the Southern Governors' Association convention in Little Rock, Ark., Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014. AP Photo/Danny Johnston

Gov. John P. de Jongh's wife Cecile de Jongh served on the board of Epstein's Financial Trust Co. for most of her husband's time in office, Business Insider's Becky Peterson and John Cook reported. Cecile de Jongh held the titles of secretary and vice president in her decade-long tenure with the company, even staying on board after Epstein was first charged with sexual assault in 2007.

Prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands alleged that Epstein was trafficking women and children through the US territory during that same time, as stated in a January lawsuit. The lawsuit describes one 15-year-old victim who was "forced into sexual acts with Epstein and others and then attempted to escape by swimming off the Little St. James island."

In a statement, a lawyer representing Epstein's estate told Business Insider that some of the allegations in the lawsuit were inaccurate  particularly allegations that the estate to this day engages in "a course of conduct aimed at concealing the criminal activities of the Epstein Enterprise."

"The Estate is being administered in accordance with the laws of the US Virgin Islands and under the supervision of the Superior Court of the US Virgin Islands," the statement said.

Barclays CEO Jes Staley is under investigation by British authorities because of his friendship with Epstein.

Jes Staley, CEO Barclays, arrives at Downing Street for a meeting in London on January 11, 2018. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May mets with business leaders from the financial services sector at Downing Street. / AFP PHOTO / Tolga Akmen (Photo credit should read TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images) TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images

Staley had a "professional relationship" with Epstein that dated back to "early in his career," Barclays said in a statement.

"In the summer of 2019, in light of the renewed media interest in the relationship, Mr. Staley volunteered and gave to certain executives, and the Chairman, an explanation of his relationship with Mr. Epstein," Barclays stated. "Mr. Staley also confirmed to the Board that he has had no contact whatsoever with Mr. Epstein at any time since taking up his role as Barclays Group CEO in December 2015."

The relationship is the subject of an investigation by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, according to the bank.

Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black hired Epstein as an advisor.

Leon Black. LUCY NICHOLSON/Reuters

In August 2019, Black said that he had only consulted Epstein on financial matters "from time to time" and that his relationship with the convicted sex offender was "limited," Business Insider previously reported.

However, Black had engaged Epstein as an advisor and paid him at least $50 million, The New York Times reported on October 12. Two of the Times' sources said the total may actually be closer to $75 million.

The two financiers also regularly dined together at Epstein's New York mansion, per the Times report.

A spokesperson for Black confirmed that between 2012 and 2017, Black had received "personal trusts and estates planning advice as well as family office philanthropy and investment services from several financial and legal advisors" including Epstein. A spokesperson for Black also told the Times that the relationship ended after a "fee dispute" in 2018.

Black "continues to be appalled by the conduct that led to the criminal charges" against Epstein, the spokesperson said, adding that Black "deeply regrets having any involvement" with Epstein.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visit their website to receive confidential support.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MIAMI - The 2015 shooting death of Regina Talabert's 17-year-old daughter Noricia is one of Miami-Dade's unsolved murders.

"I lost my daughter, Noricia Talabert October, 17th, 2015," Regina Talabert said. "I didn't get any justice because the witness is scared to come forward and I just feel like I'm walking around right now in the Wild West."

While there was an initial arrest, the case against the suspect was ultimately dismissed when a key witness did not show up to testify.

"We say witnesses, witnesses, witnesses. We must understand now that a lot of the witnesses are so afraid, they're so afraid," added Tangela Sears, with the group Parents of Murdered Children.

Miami Assistant police chief Armando Aguilar said that's one of several factors leading to a declining clearance rate for homicide cases.

"A problem we've wrestled with for a long time is the fear that witnesses have in coming forward whenever they are witnesses to a murder. They fear retaliation," Aguilar said.

According to the FBI, the clearance rate for all departments in Miami-Dade was 49 percent in 2015. Over the years it went up and down, ending in 2020 with a clearance rate of 43 percent. In Broward, the clearance rate was 67 percent in 2015, it spiked to over 70 percent three years later then dropped to 46 percent in 2020.

Miami-Dade and Broward homicide clearance rates (CBS News Miami)

Both Miami-Dade and Broward counties settled below the national average of 52 percent.

CBS News

Nationally, when a murder victim is Black, their case is even more likely to remain unsolved.

CBS News

CBS News: Crime Without Punishment - A Look At Unsolved Murders In America

"The other challenge has been the proliferation of firearm-related murders, murders also with high capacity weapons that are just, on the whole, a lot more difficult to solve than other types of murders," Aguilar said. "There's much more physical distance between the killer and the victims, so the killer leaves behind much less trace evidence. It's more difficult to establish a connection between the victim and suspect so it's just an easier crime to get away with, unfortunately." Aguilar also blamed COVID as a factor for the decline in 2020. Many detectives were off the street with COVID. Conducting face-to-face interviews was more difficult and proactive community efforts were limited. Despite that, Aguilar said now Miami police are seeing decreasing murders and increasing clearance rates. In a 2020 police report, there were 61 murders in Miami, with a clearance rate of 44 percent. In 2021, Miami dropped to 47 murders increasing the clearance rate to 47 percent. And for the first five months of 2022, there were 15 murders, Miami police have solved that same number of killings this year, however, nearly half are from previous years. "Last year we had a near record low number of murders and this year we're 35 percent below the number we were year to date last year," Aguilar said. He said since 2020, Miami Police have doubled the number of guns taken off the street and they've turned their focus to repeat offenders. "We know that they're not just committing murders, they're committing a whole host of other crimes. And so we've taken whatever opportunities we could to charge them criminally in those offenses, thereby taking them out of the picture and preventing as many murders as possible," Aguilar said. When they're suspected of murder, that gets them off the street but does not clear the homicide case. Police are also honing in on domestic violence cases. "We feel that we've been able to step in and stop the escalation of domestic violence cases to what could have been murders," Aguilar said. For the families of murder victims, they want to see one thing. "All I want to see is the community come back together and stop the killing. We've got to get these killers off the street because if you don't we're going to continue having what we're having, killing after killing," said Leatha Bush whose son was shot in 2010.

Story continues

President Biden says U.S. to boost military presence in Europe

Privacy concerns surround period tracking apps after Roe v. Wade overturned

Investigating why the U.S. homicide clearance rate is at an all-time low
A group of House Democrats on Tuesday announced they would move to codify federal protections for transgender people.

The proposal, dubbed the Transgender Bill of Rights, would codify the Supreme Courts 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision that protects employees against discrimination for being gay or transgender.

The proposal would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly include protections for gender identity and sex characteristics, expand access to gender-affirming care and ban conversion therapy.

It would also require the attorney general to designate a liaison dedicated to overseeing enforcement of civil rights for transgender people and invest in community services to prevent anti-transgender violence.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and co-chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force, said in a statement that the resolution would ensure transgender people can lead full, happy lives.

As we witness Republicans and an extremist Supreme Court attack and roll back the fundamental rights of trans people across our country, and as state legislatures across the country target our trans community with hateful, bigoted and transphobic attacks, we are standing up and saying enough is enough, Jayapal said.

Jayapal introduced the proposal alongside Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Marie Newman (D-Ill.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). The bill has 84 other co-sponsors.

The bills proponents cited Fridays Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion that the court should also consider overturning some of its other precedents decided under the same substantive due process protections at the heart of Fridays decision, like rights to same-sex marriage and contraception.

The Bostock decision was not mentioned in Thomass concurring opinion and involved a different legal question.

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But Thomass opinion has caught the eye of many Democrats who believe the Supreme Courts conservative majority is poised to roll back rights extended to LGBTQ people in past cases.

Democrats supporting the bill also pointed to research from the Human Rights Campaign, the countrys largest LGBTQ advocacy group, showing state legislatures have proposed more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills in the past year.

The bill is supported by more than 30 organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Education Association.

While some politicians are targeting our community with discriminatory legislation, we are grateful that the members House of Representatives are sending this message to us  and especially to transgender youth  that they affirm our lives and value the contributions we make to our country, said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, the National Center for Transgender Equalitys executive director. We deserve to live as who we are without sacrificing our safety, access to health care or enduring violence and discrimination.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Reuters

Three people were killed and several more were wounded in a shooting at a shopping centre in Copenhagen on Sunday, Danish police said, adding they had arrested a 22-year-old Danish man and charged him with manslaughter. The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after it hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France cycle race. Copenhagen police said armed officers were sent to Field's mall in the capital late on Sunday afternoon after reports of a shooting, and had told people inside to stay put and await assistance.
By Sabine Siebold, Robin Emmott and Pavel Polityuk

MADRID/KYIV (Reuters) -NATO on Wednesday branded Russia the biggest "direct threat" to Western security after its invasion of Ukraine and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv's beleaguered armed forces, saying it stood fully behind Ukrainians' "heroic defence of their country".

At a summit dominated by the invasion and the geopolitical upheaval it has caused, NATO also invited Sweden and Finland to join and pledged a seven-fold increase from 2023 in combat forces on high alert along its eastern flank against any future Russian attack.

In reaction, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond in kind if NATO set up infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they join the U.S.-led military alliance.

Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying he could not rule out that tensions would emerge in Moscow's relations with Helsinki and Stockholm over their joining NATO.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced more land, sea and air force deployments across Europe from Spain in the west to Romania and Poland bordering Ukraine.

These included a permanent army headquarters with accompanying battalion in Poland - the first full-time U.S. deployment on NATO's eastern fringes.

"President Putin's war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and has created the biggest security crisis in Europe since the Second World War," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference.

"NATO has responded with strength and unity," he said.

Britain said it would provide another 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) of military support to Ukraine, including air defence systems, uncrewed aerial vehicles and new electronic warfare equipment.

'FIGHTING EVERYWHERE'

As the 30 national NATO leaders were meeting in Madrid, Russian forces intensified attacks in Ukraine, including missile strikes and shelling on the southern Mykolaiv region close to front lines and the Black Sea.

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The mayor of Mykolaiv city said a Russian missile had killed at least five people in a residential building there, while Moscow said its forces had hit what it called a training base for foreign mercenaries in the region.

The governor of eastern Luhansk province reported "fighting everywhere" in a battle around the hilltop city of Lysychansk, which Russian forces are trying to encircle as they try to capture the industrialised eastern Donbas region on behalf of separatist proxies. Donbas comprises Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

Regional Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television that Russian attacks killed one civilian and wounded eight on Wednesday.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.

Also in Donetsk, a video clip aired on Russia's RIA state news agency showed former U.S. soldier Alexander Drueke, who was captured while fighting for Ukrainian forces.

"My combat experience here was that one mission on that one day," said Drueke, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, referring to the day he was captured outside Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. "I didn't fire a shot. I would hope that would play a factor in whatever sentence I do or don't receive."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy once again told NATO that Ukrainian forces needed more weapons and money, and faster, to erode Russia's huge edge in artillery and missile firepower, and said Moscow's ambitions did not stop at Ukraine.

The Russian invasion that began on Feb. 24 has destroyed cities, killed thousands and sent millions fleeing. Russia says it is pursuing a "special military operation" to rid Ukraine of dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of an unprovoked, imperial-style land grab.

The top U.S. intelligence official Avril Haines said on Wednesday the most likely near term scenario is a grinding conflict in which Moscow makes only incremental gains, but no breakthrough on its goal of taking most of Ukraine.

'FULL SOLIDARITY'

In a nod to the precipitous deterioration in relations with Russia since the invasion, a NATO communique called Russia the "most significant and direct threat to the allies' security", having previously classified it as a "strategic partner".

NATO issued a new Strategic Concept document, its first since 2010, that said a "strong independent Ukraine is vital for the stability of the Euro-Atlantic area".

To that end, NATO agreed a long-term financial and military aid package to modernise Ukraine's largely Soviet-era military.

"We stand in full solidarity with the government and the people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their country," the communique said.

Stoltenberg said NATO had agreed to put 300,000 troops on high readiness from 2023, up from 40,000 now, under a new force model to protect an area stretching from the Baltic to the Black seas.

Zelenskiy, in a video link-up with the summit, said Ukraine needed $5 billion per month for its defence and protection.

"This is not a war being waged by Russia against only Ukraine. This is a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe - for what the future world order will be like," he said.

NATO's invitation to Sweden and Finland to join the alliance marks one of the most momentous shifts in European security in decades as Helsinki and Stockholm drop a tradition of neutrality in response to Russia's invasion.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich and Deepa Babington; editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Gareth Jones, Grant McCool and Lincoln Feast)
Emma Raducanu was beaten in the second round by Caroline Garcia (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)

Emma Raducanus Wimbledon return proved to be an anti-climax as the US Open champion exited in the second round with defeat by Caroline Garcia.

Living up to the hype has proved impossible for the 19-year-old so far and, a year after rocketing to stardom with a run to the fourth round and then achieving the unthinkable in New York, she slipped to a meek 6-3 6-3 loss on Centre Court.

Short of matches after three weeks out with a side strain, Raducanu was simply unable to find the level required to match Frenchwoman Garcia across the 86-minute contest.

Raducanus mantra this tournament has very much been that, whatever she achieved last year, she remains a relative novice with everything to gain simply from experiencing these environments.

She was quick to dismiss the idea that her main emotion after a first Centre Court victory on Monday against Alison Van Uytvanck should be relief.

But expectations for a grand slam champion are inescapable and hopes for her second-round match were boosted by Raducanu having won her only previous clash against Garcia in Indian Wells in March.

The Frenchwoman is ranked down at 55 but, having been tipped as a future world number one by Andy Murray as a teenager, has been as high as number four.

Emma Raducanu lunges for a forehand (Zac Goodwin/PA) (PA Wire)

She struggled in the first round against Britains Yuriko Miyazaki but had arrived late from Germany, where she won a tournament on grass at the weekend.

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Garcia had promised to be aggressive and she was as good as her word, stepping into the court on Raducanus second serve in particular and looking to take control with her backhand.

With blustery conditions causing problems for both players, Raducanu battled back from losing the opening two games, but was outhit by Garcia as the 28-year-old reeled off three games in a row.

A clever second serve from Raducanu saved a set point at 2-5 but Garcia, who can be a wobbly closer, made no mistake on her own delivery.

Caroline Garcia clenches her first after winning the first set (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)

Both women left the court for a bathroom break as the stadium, which had been a long way short of capacity, belatedly filled up.

Raducanu held serve twice to start the second set but was in trouble as soon as Garcia got into any rally, the Frenchwomans weight of shot simply superior to that of her much younger opponent.

The crowd tried to inspire Raducanu and cheered heartily when she immediately retrieved a break to level at 3-3 only for a double fault and backhand shanked into the tramlines to put Garcia ahead again, from where she pulled away to clinch victory.

Disappointment must be tempered by the knowledge Raducanu has many more chances to challenge for the latter stages at Wimbledon in the future, and her thoughts will now turn to the build-up to the defence of her title in New York later in the summer.
BERLIN (Reuters) - German air traffic controllers have fixed technical problems which had disrupted European travel on Wednesday, air traffic control firm DFS said.

"From 9 a.m., we will resume work with 100% of air traffic," said a spokesperson for DFS, whose controllers monitor take-offs and landings at 15 international airports in Germany.

The problems, which started around 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), were caused by an unexpected issue during a software update overnight, which forced DFS to limit air traffic to 50% of normal capacity.

Pan-European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said on its website that there were moderate to high delays in many parts of German airspace on Wednesday, citing issues including computer problems with air traffic control equipment, staffing and the Ukraine crisis.

Frankfurt airport, one of Europe's busiest and a hub of flagship carrier Lufthansa, was affected in particular.

More than 4.5 million passengers travelled through the airport in May.

DFS said it was too early to say how many flights had been affected.

It said disruptions were likely to continue throughout the morning as a result of earlier cancellations.

Lufthansa said earlier that it expected delays and cancellations to destinations in Germany and Europe, particularly at Frankfurt, where it is the biggest airline.

It did not say how many flights could be affected.

The departures board on Frankfurt airport's website showed around 20 cancelled flights between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. local time (0530 GMT to 0700 GMT).

Earlier, Frankfurt airport operator Fraport had warned that the problems would impact flights across Europe.

(Reporting by Rachel More; Additional reporting by Hans Seidenstuecker and Myria Mildenberger in Frankfurt and Jamie Freed in Sydney; editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Jason Neely)
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A former U.S. Coast Guard employee has pleaded guilty in a test score-fixing scheme that happened over seven years at an exam center in Louisiana, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, in a news release Tuesday, said Eldridge Johnson entered the plea June 23 to one count each of bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Johnson faces up to 15 years for the bribery charge, five years for the conspiracy charge and a fine of up to $250,000, Evans' office said.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 29.

Johnson was an examination administrator at an exam center for the agency in Mandeville, Louisiana. He gave exams merchant mariners were required to pass in order to obtain licenses to work in various positions on ships.

Beginning in 2011 and continuing until about the time of his retirement in January 2018, Johnson engaged in a scheme to receive bribes from mariners who had applied for licenses, Evans said. Johnson offered and sold various forms of assistance, including reporting false information to the Coast Guard and selling exam questions and answers to mariners before they took the tests, he said.

The conspiracy conviction relates to his post-retirement conduct, in which he acted as an intermediary for employee Dorothy Smith who entered false exam scores in exchange for money. Prosecutors said Smith took bribes to fix exam scores and used intermediaries to connect her to maritime workers who were willing to pay.

Smith and another employee, Beverly McCrary, pleaded guilty in the case and are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 15.
Ex-Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith is set to turn himself in to federal prison officials Thursday in a kickback scheme, but he won't have a plea agreement in place in a separate state embezzlement case.

Smith, 55, is facing 10 charges, with state prosecutors alleging he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former office's drug and forfeiture funds for personal and unauthorized business expenses during the course of several years.

The expenses included purchases for a security system at his Macomb Township home; church donations; mini iPads for a school one of his children attended; holiday parties for staff; and items for employees who retired or who lost a relative, such as flowers, a bench, a plaque, gift cards and more.

Former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith walks outside the United States District Court in Detroit on Feb. 16, 2022. Smith was sentenced for stealing money from his campaign fund.

During a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant said she will send out final pretrial and trial dates as well as deadlines for plea offers and plea acceptances.

Grant, who is handling the case after all the Macomb judges recused themselves, said a trial would be conducted in Macomb County with Macomb County citizens, as those are Smith's peers.

Smith served as a longtime prosecutor in Michigan's third-most populous county. He resigned on March 30, 2020, less than a week after he was charged in the embezzlement probe.

Smith was disbarred effective June 15, according to a notice on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board that referenced his federal court conviction. Costs of just over $1,051 also were assessed, according to the notice.

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith

In April, one of Smith's attorneys, John Dakmak, told Grant there had been some conversations about a potential resolution in the case.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Frezza said Wednesday that authorities were hopeful there would be a plea agreement between the prosecution and Smith, but there is not, according to the hearing, which was posted on the WXYZ Local 7 website.

Dakmak said he did not believe negotiations had come to a standstill, and it's something that possibly could be worked out, but he had nothing to present the court.

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Frezza asked for Smith's attorney to report to prosecutors and the court at what federal prison Smith is being housed in and to give 30 days' notice before his tentative release date so the circuit court could adjudicate the embezzlement case.

More: Ex-Macomb prosecutor Eric Smith at sentencing says he made very poor decisions, choices

More: Judge freezes nearly $6,900 a month pension of ex-Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith

Smith is to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the unrelated federal case on Thursday. He pleaded guilty in federal court in January 2021 after being accused of stealing just under $75,000 from his campaign fund from 2012 to 2019.

He was sentenced on Feb. 16 to 21 months in federal prison and initially was to report within 90 days of his sentencing, or in mid-May. The federal judge in Detroit signed an order for a new date for Smith to surrender to federal prison  on or after June 15, but no later than June 30.

Dakmak said he had no issue with keeping Grant and the prosecution apprised of Smith's whereabouts, adding "we have been keeping that quiet for some time, I think for obvious reasons. His location is probably not of substance to the public at large and there is a concern that his known wherabouts to the public at large could be a safety issue to himself."

John Dakmak, the attorney for former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith, talks to visiting judge Cynthia Arvant inside 41B District Court in Clinton Township on July 9, 2021.

Dakmak asked that it be subject to a protective order, that the government not release it to the public at large because there is "sincerely a concern for his safety." The federal prison Smith will be lodged in was not disclosed during the hearing.

Grant asked if Dakmak was saying "that the whereabouts about a federal prisoner, just like a state prisoner, is not part of public knowledge? That's the first I've heard of that."

She said if Dakmak didn't want to disclose the federal prison location right now that didn't matter to her, but at some point she said it is going to be disclosed because she has to sign a writ in order to bring Smith back to try him.

Grant also said she could have tried the case in the last three months, during which both sides indicated they were working on a resolution.

Frezza said if Smith is convicted as charged, including racketerring, the prosecution's sentencing guidelines would be 57 to 95 months, adding it is a 20-year felony.

Grant said she would hold a restitution hearing if there was a dispute on the amount of restituion if there is a guilty plea.

More: Former Macomb treasurer Derek Miller pleads guilty in embezzlement case

More: Former Macomb chief assistant prosecutor pleads guilty to misdemeanors\

More: Businessman: Ex-Macomb prosecutor tried to 'disguise' security work done at his home

Earlier this month, former county treasurer Derek Miller, who also served as chief of operations for Smith, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in embezzlement case.

He was the third person to plead in the probe after businessman William Weber and Smith's former chief assistant prosecutor, Benjamin Liston. Weber and Liston pleaded guilty in district court a year or more ago and are awaiting sentencing.

Miller, who resigned from the county in February, pleaded guilty to the 90-day misdemeanor charge of a public official refusing/neglecting to account for county money. His sentencing is set for Aug. 10.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Macomb prosecutor Eric Smith to report to federal prison, no plea
By Andrius Sytas and John O'Donnell

VILNIUS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Trade through Lithuania to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad could return to normal within days, two sources familiar with the matter said, as European officials edge towards a compromise deal with the Baltic state to defuse a row with Moscow.

Kaliningrad, which is bordered by European Union states and relies on railways and roads through Lithuania for most goods, has been cut off from some freight transport from mainland Russia since June 17 under sanctions imposed by Brussels.

European officials are in talks about exempting the territory from sanctions, which have hit industrial goods such as steel so far, paving the way for a deal in early July if EU member Lithuania drops its reservations, said the people, who declined to be named because the discussions are private.

The row over the Russian exclave's isolation is testing Europe's resolve to enforce sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fuelling fears of an escalation after other restrictions pushed Russia to default on its debt.

While Western powers have pledged to stand up for Ukraine, reiterating their resolve at both G7 and NATO summits this week, it is proving hard for Europe both to stand by strict sanctions and avoid further escalation with Russia.

That's why European officials, with the backing of Germany, are seeking a compromise to resolve one of their many conflicts with Moscow, said one of the people.

If the traditional route for Russian goods to Kaliningrad, first via its ally Belarus and then Lithuania, is not restored, the Baltic state fears Moscow could use military force to plough a land corridor through its territory, the person said.

Germany, meanwhile, has soldiers stationed in Lithuania and could be sucked into a confrontation alongside its NATO allies if that were to happen.

Europe's biggest economy is also heavily reliant on Russian gas imports and would be vulnerable to any reduction in flows if the Kaliningrad dispute escalated.

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"We have to face reality," said one person with direct knowledge of the EU discussions, describing Kaliningrad as "sacred" for Moscow.

"(Putin) has much more leverage than we have. It's in our interests to find a compromise," he said, conceding that the eventual outcome may appear unfair.

COMPROMISE DEAL

A spokesperson for Lithuania's foreign ministry said it will continue to consult with the European Commission about the application of sanctions and that any change by the bloc should not single out the Baltic state.

"Sanctions must be enforced, and any decisions taken should not undermine the credibility and effectiveness of EU sanctions policy," the spokesperson said.

"As Kaliningrad transit is possible through various EU member states, the European Commission's explanation of how to implement the EU sanctions ... cannot be limited to Lithuania."

A spokesperson for the European Commission pointed to its June 22 statement that Lithuania was implementing EU restrictions and that the supply of essential goods to Kaliningrad remained unhindered.

One of the people with direct knowledge of the matter said they expected a compromise deal would be found by July 10 and a second person said it could be announced next week.

One compromise could see the movement of freight between Russia and Kaliningrad exempt from EU sanctions on the grounds it does not count as normal international trade because the exclave is part of Russia, said one of those people.

That concession could only be made on condition sanctioned freight is used in Kaliningrad and not exported via its port, where Russia's Baltic Fleet is headquartered.

That could be hard to guarantee and might put Lithuania, which is tasked with determining the end destination of goods, on a collision course with Russia, said the person.

Another person said humanitarian grounds could be used to carve out an exemption for Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea.

He said, however, that Lithuania had serious reservations about making what could be seen as a concession to Moscow.

ALCOHOL AND CEMENT

Lithuania, formerly ruled from Moscow, is now one of Russia's fiercest critics in the European Union and has been at odds with officials in Germany and Brussels who want to defuse the row.

So far, EU sanctions against Russia prevent the transport of iron, steel and metals to Kaliningrad through EU states.

The list of sanctioned goods will extend to cement and alcohol from July 10, coal in August and oil products such as fuel in December. When the final phase kicks in, roughly half the freight sent to Kaliningrad from Russia will be sanctioned.

Neither passengers nor food products are banned and Kaliningrad can still be reached by plane or sea.

While the United States and European Union have promptly rolled out sanctions to curb Russia's access to international finance and its sales of coal and oil, the punitive measures have done little to temper Russian military aggression.

In recent weeks, Moscow has also turned the tables on Europe by paring back critical gas supplies, prompting Germany to brace for rationing and watch the escalating row over Kaliningrad with increasing apprehension.

Kaliningrad, which has a population of almost one million, was cut off from Moscow when Lithuania became independent during the break-up of the Soviet Union and residents must transit EU territory to reach the rest of Russia by land.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said this week that curbs on the shipment of goods to Kaliningrad were part of a Western proxy war and that Russia had numerous ways to retaliate.

"There are many opportunities, a significant part of them are of an economic nature and are capable of cutting off the oxygen to our Baltic neighbours who have taken hostile actions," he told a Russian newspaper.

"There is also the possibility of using asymmetric measures, which ... will cause a critical escalation of the conflict."

(Writing By John O'Donnell; Editing by David Clarke)
(Bloomberg) -- A member of the US Federal Communications Commission will have a tough time getting Apple Inc. and Google to remove the popular Chinese-owned video app TikTok from their app stores.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The FCC doesnt regulate the stores and Brendan Carr is a Republican on the agency controlled by Democrats. Its agenda is set by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who was appointed by President Joe Biden.

In a letter to Apple and Google that was disclosed Tuesday, Carr called TikTok a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data. He called on the companies to take the app out of their stores.

The FCC didnt immediately reply to a request to comment. TikTok, Apple and Alphabet Inc.s Google declined to comment.

TikTok has been under pressure from US officials over whether Americans private data gathered through the app could be handed over to the authoritarian regime in China -- something TikTok has said it would never do.

What TikToks been trying to do is get themselves on the right side of the US government, said Rick Sofield, a Washington-based partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP and former Justice Department official. The government is still trying to figure out what to do.

Biden last year told the Commerce Department to analyze TikTok. That review continues and national security officials also are examining the app, including its recent deal to have Oracle Corp. house data from US citizens, Sofield said in an interview.

Carrs letter is among signals from the US government that theyre not satisfied, Sofield said.

Former President Donald Trump tried to ban the app and force parent ByteDance Ltd. to sell TikToks US business over what he claimed were security risks. The action was challenged in court and Biden revoked Trumps ban in June 2021.

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In the US, TikTok has been installed 321.6 million times, and generated $694.3 million in consumer spending, which may translate to about $208.3 million in fees for the Apple and Google app stores, according to SensorTower, which analyzes app growth.

(Updates with analyst comment in sixth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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A member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over concerns about data harvesting.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who was appointed by former President Trump, said the app poses national security threats, adding to the growing backlash from Republicans after BuzzFeed reported earlier this month that employees of TikToks parent company in China have access to private data on U.S. users.

In letters to Apple and Google, shared by Carr on Tuesday, he said TikToks pattern of conduct and misrepresentation regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive U.S. user data puts the app out of compliance with the companies app store policies.

Therefore, I am requesting that you apply the plain text of your app store policies to TikTok and remove it from your app stores for failure to abide by those terms, he wrote.

Spokespeople for Apple, Google and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After BuzzFeeds report was published, TikTok announced it had moved data on users located in the U.S. to Oracles cloud platform. Backups of U.S. user data will be stored in TikToks servers in Virginia and Singapore before being deleted as data is switched to Oracles platform.

Carr said TikToks announcement that it was moving U.S. user data to Oracle servers doesnt address the concerns raised in his letter, since the company has long claimed its U.S. user data has been stored on servers in the U.S. and yet those representations provided no protection against data being accessed from Beijing.

Earlier this week a group of Senate Republicans sent a letter to the Biden administration over national security concerns they said are raised by TikTok. The GOP senators said the administration is failing to address those concerns.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Gabby Petito's parents, Joseph Petito, left, and Nichole Schmidt, right, listen to arguments by an attorney for Brian Laundrie's parents as he seeks to have a negligence lawsuit dismissed in court in Sarasota County, Florida on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Petito and Schmidt claim in their lawsuit that the Laundrie's acted maliciously by not telling them where their daughter was and if she was alive.

NORTH PORT  Gabby Petito's mother responded with a tweet calling for justice after Brian Laundrie said he killed Petito to take away her pain in his released notebook.

The Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino, released a copy of the notebook to Wink News on Friday.

Laundrie disappeared on Sept. 14 after telling his parents he was headed to the Carlton Reserve, five days before Petito's body was found. His body was found on Oct. 20 after he committed suicide with a gun at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in North Port. His notebook was found in a dry bag near his body.

In the released eight pages, Laundrie describes his regrets and gave a confession to Petito's murder.

Brian Laundrie: What we know about his death

Related: Sarasota judge to rule in 2 weeks if lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents is dismissed

He said in the notebook that he killed her after Petito was suffering from extreme pain and cold after falling in a stream at the Teton Nation Forest in Wyoming.

"I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made," Laundrie said in the notebook. "I panicked, I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn't go on without her."

Petito's death was caused by strangulation, a Teton County Coroner ruled in October.

Nichole Schmidt, Petito's mom, tweeted "Fed up." along with a photo on Monday after the release of Laundrie's notebook.

"Narcissists rewrite history to escape accountability," the text in the photo said.

Petito's parents filed a negligence lawsuit against Laundrie's parents on March 10. A circuit court judge will decide if the lawsuit will be dismissed or not.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Gabby Petito's mom responds to statements in Brian Laundrie's notebook
Lev Parnas, a former associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was sentenced to 20 months in prison Wednesday for campaign finance fraud and false statements on Wednesday.

Parnass sentence, which also carries a $2.32 million fine, comes after a jury found him guilty in October of violating campaign finance laws by funneling foreign money into U.S. politics to advance his interests in the recreational marijuana business.

He later pled guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge in March for providing false information to investors about his company, Fraud Guarantee.

Parnas will now serve time in prison for his many crimes, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Not content to defraud investors in his business, Fraud Guarantee, out of more than $2 million dollars, Parnas also defrauded the American public by pumping Russian money into U.S. elections and lying about the source of funds for political contributions, Williams said.

My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who put their personal and financial gain above their country and their investors.

Parnas was enlisted by Giuliani during the Trump administration to help him dig up dirt on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

Trump and others pressured Ukrainian officials to open an investigation into Biden, in a scheme that led to his first impeachment trial, but Wednesdays sentence did not implicate the former president or Giuliani.

Today, Lev Parnas received a below guidelines sentence of 20 months, said Joseph Bondy, Parnass attorney. As we said in court, it is not a somber day, and we are proud of Levs courage and efforts to assist our country in the first impeachment inquiry. We only wish that his testimony had been heard then.

In October, Parnas and co-conspirator Andrey Kukushkin were convicted of campaign finance charges for donating money from Russian oligarch Andrey Muraviev to political campaigns, which they hoped would help them gain favor with candidates that could assist them in obtaining cannabis licenses.

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Another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, was sentenced in January to a year and a day in prison for his participation in the scheme.

In a separate scheme, Parnas and another co-conspirator encouraged multiple people to invest a total of $2 million in their business, Fraud Guarantee, and falsely claimed their funds would be used solely for legitimate business expenses.

Prosecutors said the duo withdrew some of the funds and used them for personal expenditures, while Parnas also made false claims about how much he had contributed to the company.

Giuliani, who denies breaking the law, has said he worked for Fraud Guarantee for a salary of $500,000.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
NBA offseason is in full swing and later this week free agency will begin. Most contracts and trades cant be made official until July 1 but news has already starting coming out on potential moves.

For former UNC basketball forward Tony Bradley, he is expecting to sign is player option with the Chicago Bulls next season. Bradley is expecting to make $2M next year.

Chicago Bulls center Tony Bradley is exercising his $2M player option for next season, sources tell ESPN.  Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2022

Bradley has played six seasons in the NBA, three with the Utah Jazz and one with Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls.

In 167 career games, he is averaging 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per games.

Bradley, just 24 years old, played one season at UNC and was a critical member off of the bench for the 2017 National Championship team. He averaged 7.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in 14.6 minutes.

He was selected No. 28 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
Walgreens will reimburse many of its workers for travel expenses if they have to venture more than 50 miles for an abortion, the company said June 29, 2022. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Walgreens will reimburse many of its workers for travel expenses if they have to venture more than 50 miles for an abortion, the company said Wednesday  a move that follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week ending federal protection for abortion.

Deerfield-based Walgreens is broadening our existing travel reimbursement benefits for any employee who is covered by the companys self-funded health insurance to allow travel reimbursement for covered medical, surgical, mental or substance abuse services not available within 50 miles of the workers home, spokesman Jim Cohn said in a statement.

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The company already reimbursed workers for travel expenses related to some out-of-state health care services, and abortion will now be among those.

Ensuring comprehensive access to both physical and mental health care, listening to our workforce to understand their needs, and prioritizing the health and well-being of our team members are core principles that drive how we operate and make decisions as an organization, Cohn said.

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Walgreens has nearly 9,000 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and employs more than 225,000 people.

The retail pharmacy giant joins a growing list of companies that are now promising to pay for abortion-related travel expenses for employees. Companies have been announcing the new policies over the past week, since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, meaning states may now outlaw abortion. Illinois leaders have pledged that the state will remain a safe haven for those seeking the procedure.

Executives at Bolingbrook-based Ulta Beauty said the company would provide travel expense assistance for eligible reproductive health services where access to care is restricted, including legal abortions. The coverage took effect Friday, the same day as the Supreme Court ruling, according to a company statement.

JPMorgan Chase will also cover travel to receive legal abortions, according to a company benefits memo sent June 1.

The Walt Disney Co., Facebook parent Meta, American Express, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs have also said they will cover travel costs for workers. Apple, Starbucks, Lyft and Yelp reiterated after Fridays ruling previous statements taking similar action. Outdoor clothing maker Patagonia posted on LinkedIn Friday that it would provide training and bail for those who peacefully protest for reproductive justice and time off to vote.
Story at a glance

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a brief order that allows a Louisiana U.S. House district map to stay in place.

Thats despite a lower court judge ruling the map was likely in violation of federal voting protections.

The justices also allowed the Louisiana case to be added to next terms docket, with Ardoin v. Robinson scheduled for arguments in October.

The Supreme Court voted Tuesday to reinstate a Louisiana voting map that was previously found to discriminate against Black voters in an unusual case that fell under the courts shadow docket  an action by the court that does not go through the full process of briefing and oral arguments.

In a 6-3 vote, the courts conservative majority voted to keep a Louisiana U.S. House district map, despite U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick finding it was likely in violation of federal voting protections for diluting the franchise of Black voters.

The justices decision pauses Dicks earlier ruling, and the court will add Louisianas case, Ardoin v. Robinson, to next terms docket. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a similar case out of Alabama over a Voting Rights Act challenge.

Here are four facts about the Ardoin v. Robinson case you should know:

Redistricting maps are at the heart of the case

After the 2020 Census, states have been working on drawing up new congressional maps, including Louisiana. The original map in Louisiana, crafted by the GOP-led legislature, consolidated large numbers of Black voters into one majority-Black congressional district and dispersed the remaining Black voters throughout five districts. Voters and voting rights advocates were concerned the now-reinstated map did not accurately reflect the states population, which is about a third Black or African American. Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed the maps in March, which the state legislature then overrode.

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.

The Supreme Court is bypassing a lower courts ruling

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Voters and civil rights groups challenged Louisianas new congressional map, and Dick agreed that the state should include two majority-Black House districts, instead of one. Dick ordered the states legislature to draw a revised map and use that in the states upcoming primary elections, scheduled for Nov. 8.

Louisianas Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin (R) tried to stop Dicks ruling from taking effect and went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th circuit, but a three-judge panel rejected his request.

Thats what brought Ardoin to the Supreme Court, where he petitioned on June 17 for his case to be heard. On Tuesday, the judges decided to hear the case while also voting to keep the map in place.

The case stems from the Supreme Courts shadow docket

The shadow docket refers to decisions that the Supreme Court issues that defy its normal procedural regularity, according to the American Bar Association (ABA). These types of decisions lack public deliberation and transparency and are typically delivered in short summaries. They also dont include information about how or why each justice voted.

In the Louisiana case, Ardoin petitioned to have his case heard by the Supreme Courtbut Tuesdays decision doesnt include any details on why the court decided to take it up.

However, it does include a dissent by the courts three liberal justices who indicated they would have denied the application for staymeaning they would not have granted the request to block Dicks rulingand they disagreed with the court taking the case without first waiting for the U.S. Fifth District Court of Appeals to weigh in.

Its a pivotal moment for voting rights

In Tuesdays decision, the Supreme Court also agreed to hear Ardoins case in its next term, which starts in Octobera few weeks before Louisianas Nov. 8 primary election. Thats because the court is scheduled to hear a similar case, Merrill v. Milligan, which calls into question new district maps in Alabama that a lower court panel also found to be in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Both the Louisiana and Alabama cases call into question the interpretation of VRA, which bans racial discrimination in voting policies, including forbidding congressional maps from diluting a particular racial groups voting power.

The decision in both those cases could have long-lasting impacts, as every 10 years each state redraws its political lines and their results determine the balance of power in Congress for the following decade.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as of June 8, 43 of 44 states with more than one congressional district had finalized new congressional maps and 48 states had final legislative maps.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
On Friday, Freddie Freeman was in tears upon his first trip to Atlanta as a visiting player. On Tuesday, he reportedly fired the agents who oversaw his offseason departure from the Braves to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the first baseman cut ties with Excel Sports Management, which failed to reach an agreement with the Braves before Freeman signed as a free agent with the Dodgers. Per Olney, Freeman is "angry with how his free-agent negotiations played out."

After the report, Freeman described his representation as a "fluid" situation in a statement to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.

"Last weekend in Atlanta was a very emotional time for me and my family," Freeman's statement reads. "I am working through some issues with my longtime agents at Excel. My representation remains a fluid situation, and I will update if needed."

Bowman confirmed that Freeman has filed paperwork to terminate his relationship with Excel Sports while stopping short of confirming that the agency had formally been terminated.

Freddie Freeman waits during batting practice before Friday's game vs. the Braves. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Would Freeman rather play for Braves?

Until his offseason departure, Freeman was the face of the Braves franchise that selected him in the second round of the 2007 MLB draft. Freeman made his big-league debut with the Braves in 2010 and played in Atlanta for 12 seasons, earning five All-Star bids and the 2020 NL MVP award. He helped lead the Braves to their first World Series victory since 1995 last season.

Freeman entered the offseason as a free agent, where talks with the Braves broke down. The Braves reportedly offered Freeman $135 million over five years shortly after the end of the offseason lockout. Per Olney, Freeman's lead agent Casey Close responded with a "significantly higher" counteroffer. Atlanta reportedly responded by bumping the offer up to $140 million.

A deadline reportedly set by Excel passed, and the Braves moved on by trading for Oakland A's first baseman Matt Olson and signing him to an eight-year, $168 million extension. The next day, Freeman signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Dodgers that includes $57 million in deferred salary. Per Olney, the deferred money combined with higher California taxes could ultimately net Freeman less than the Braves' offer.

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Freeman's emotional return to Atlanta

Meanwhile, Freeman has strong emotions for the only franchise he played for prior to joining Los Angeles. He fought through tears for the entire 16 minutes of his pregame news conference Friday after the Dodgers traveled to Atlanta for a three-game series. His emotions remained on display as Braves manager Brian Snitker presented him with his World Series ring alongside a chorus of "Freddie, Freddie, Freddie" from the sold-out Truist Park stands.

.        pic.twitter.com/Wy1bmRJB9t  Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) June 24, 2022

Per the Los Angeles Times, Freeman said Tuesday that he's not concerned people who believe that he wishes he was still an Atlanta Brave.

That time is over," Freeman said. "Im a Los Angeles Dodger now. If they want to perceive me, how I feel about an organization I spent half my life with, then thats how they want to perceive me. Thats fine. Im OK with that.

"But Ive had three months. Ive had time to grieve and do all my research and gather information. Its time to move on and focus on the Dodgers. And thats what Im going to continue to do.
Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass No Longer a Couple! The famed same-sex flamingos at the Denver Zoo reportedly remain on good terms, though, after amicably ending their multi-year relationship.

Followers of the Denver Zoo were left saddened and shocked recently after learning the zoos famed same-sex flamingo couple of Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass had broken up their years-long relationship. The breakup was reportedly amicable, and the two male birds still interact, although Mercury has reportedly coupled with a lifelong female flamingo friend while Bass is apparently going it alone in the avian dating scene.

The kerfuffle of ruffled feathers began when the Denver Zoo made a post on Facebook that celebrated Pride and the zoos collection of over 75 flamingos.

Flamingos are extremely social by nature and flocks consist of collections of partnerships. This includes not only male-female breeding pairs, but also strong bonds between same-sex pairs, the Denver Zoo wrote in its post. While our famed, same-sex couple Chilean flamingo Lance Bass and American flamingo Freddie Mercury are no longer a pair, they were paired up for several years and acted as surrogate parents if a breeding pair was unable to raise their chick.

The news that the same-sex, mixed-breed winged couple had split sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ and flamingo-fan communities.

They broke up?!? Why? How does that even work?!? asked one distraught commenter. I have so many questions!

We all need answers....why aren't they together anymore??? wrote another. What are they doing now? Are they alright? How you gonna just nonchalantly say they are no longer a pair without some explanation for us all? Sooooo curious.

The Denver Zoo took to Facebook the following day to soothe the ruffled feathers of the flock of fans, offering a primer on the love and relationships of flamingos.

Please rest assured that both Freddie and Lance are in good health, werent separated and their break up was amicable, the Denver Zoo explained. Mating for life isnt necessarily true for all birds, and our keepers have noticed that some birds in long-term relationships sometimes decide to move on and pair up with other birds.

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The zoo went on to note that Freddie has subsequently hooked up with a 14-year-old American flamingo named Iommi.

As for Lance, keepers havent noticed him in a new concrete bond with anyone else at the moment, the post revealed.

The Zoo explained that flamingos are incredibly social animals that form unique and intricate bonds. Some birds are in male-female breeding pairs. Some birds are in same-sex bonded pairs. Some birds are mated pairs their whole lives, some will have multiple partners in their lifetime and others wont have a mate at all.

Same-sex partnerships are not entirely uncommon in the animal kingdom. Penguins in particular are known for the common practice of partnering with a member of the same sex to raise their young. Skipper and Ping, two male penguins at the Berlin Zoo, tried their hand at parenting. A pair of gay African penguins in the Netherlands stole an egg laid by a female penguin in the same exhibit space and attempted to raise it as their own. And a pair of gay penguins celebrating Pride at the London Zoo were labeled deviant by one Catholic priest.

The Denver Zoo made clear it was an LGBTQ-affirming environment for their flamingos.

Our flock allows our birds to choose who they decide to form associations with and were happy to celebrate their pairings this month and every month, the zoo posted. Happy Pride!

Follow More Advocate News on Pride Today Below
By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lawyer for Virginia "Ginni" Thomas has dimmed prospects for a quick appearance before congressional investigators probing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, asking what they want from his client, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Ginni Thomas on June 16 expressed eagerness to speak with the House of Representatives panel investigating the 2021 assault, telling the Daily Caller she "can't wait to clear up misconceptions."

The committee sent an invitation that day.

In a letter on Tuesday, lawyer Mark R. Paoletta curbed that enthusiasm, telling the committee: "I do not understand the need to speak with Mrs. Thomas."

"Before I can recommend that she meet with you, I am asking the Committee to provide a better justification for why Mrs. Thomass testimony is relevant to the Committees legislative purpose."

Related video: Jan. 6 panel calls Ginni Thomas to testify

The justice's wife is active in conservative political circles and said she attended a rally by then-President Donald Trump outside the White House before his supporters marched on the Capitol to try to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden's defeat of Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 election.

At the rally, Trump made a fiery speech repeating his false claims his election defeat was due to widespread fraud.

The Washington Post had reported earlier that the committee obtained emails between Ginni Thomas and attorney John Eastman, who advised Trump that then-Vice President Mike Pence could thwart formal congressional certification of Trump's loss.

Her political activity has raised questions about whether her husband should recuse himself from cases involving Trump and the Capitol riot. In January, Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenting voice when the court rejected Trump's request to block release of White House records sought by the committee.

Paoletta said Ginni Thomas had no role in the Jan. 6 attack and never discussed election litigation strategy with Eastman. He also dismissed the committee's interest in text messages following the election between her and Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

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"These texts are simply much ado about nothing," he wrote in the letter to the committee seen by Reuters.

The committee did not answer a query on its response to the letter on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
(Getty Images)

The lawyer for Virginia Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, said the conservative activist has serious concerns about testifying before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

Mark Paoletta sent an eight-page letter, obtained by The Daily Caller, to the committee as it has sought her testimony. Mr Paoletta specifically cited how Supreme Court Justices have been subjected to threats after a draft opinion of the courts decision to overturn Roe v Wade.

I would also note that this has been a particularly stressful time as the Thomases have been subjected to an avalanche of death threats and other abuse by the unprecedented assault on the conservative Supreme Court Justices and their families, the letter said.

Ms Thomass actions have come under the purview of the Select Committee amid multiple news stories about her efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election results.

The Washington Post and CBS News reported how she sent multiple text messages to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about overturning the election results and had mass-emailed 29 Arizona legislators to overturn former president Donald Trumps loss in the state. But Mr Paoletta said the texts were extremely unremarkable.

She was simply texting with a friend, he wrote.

The Post also reported that she communicated with Trump attorney John Eastman, a former clerk for her husband who hatched the plan for former vice president Mike Pence to block the certification of the presidential election results.

Unlike many spouses of Supreme Court Justices, Ms Thomas is a prominent conservative activist who has been active in right-wing circles in Washington for decades.

Ms Thomas previously said she was looking forward to testifying.

I cant wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them, she told Shelby Talcott, a reporter for conservative news outlet The Daily Caller.

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Mr Paoletta said that the committee needed better justificiation of its aims before his client testified.

As she has already indicated, Mrs. Thomas is eager to clear her name and is willing to appear before the Committee to do so, he wrote. However, based on my understanding of the communications that spurred the Committees request, I do not understand the need to speak with Mrs. Thomas.

Mr Paoletta noted how the committee sought Ms Thomass testimony because she invited Mr Eastman to speak to a group of activists, but said the invite was not as significant as it appeared.

An invitation from Mrs. Thomas is an invitation to speak, and nothing more, he said. It is not an endorsement of the speakers views, nor is it any indication of a working relationship between the speaker and Mrs. Thomas. In fact, Mrs. Thomas often does not share the views of those invited leaders or activists.
Jon O'Dea Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Voters went to the polls Tuesday in Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Utah, and South Carolina to pick their candidates for the November midterms. The Democratic governors of Colorado, Illinois, and New York  Jared Polis, J.B. Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, respectively  all won their primaries, setting up potentially competitive races against Republicans Heidi Ganahl (Colorado), Darren Bailey (Illinois), and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.).

Zeldin easily beat a slate of Republicans that included Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy Giuliani. Bailey, recently endorsed by former President Donald Trump, beat Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, in a campaign where GOP billionaire Ken Griffin invested $50 million to boost Irvin while Bailey got help from advertising paid for by Priztker and the Democratic Governors Association. Democrats judged Bailey, a hardline anti-abortion Trump loyalist, the weaker opponent.

Democrats also spent $2.5 million to help Colorado state Rep. Ron Hanks (R) win the state's GOP Senate primary, but businessman Joe O'Dea (pictured) won and will face Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) in November. O'Dea is "one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year," The Associated Press reports.

Also in Colorado, Republicans rejected prominent pro-Trump election conspiracist Tina Peters for secretary of state, choosing Pam Anderson to face Democratic incumbent Jena Griswold. Hanks also promoted Trump's lies about winning the 2020 election. In Mississippi, Rep. Michael Guest (R), who had voted for an independent Jan. 6 commission, survived a challenge from Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy.

Two controversial pro-Trump hardliners survived challenges. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) beat a GOP state representative who had focused on her extremism, and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill). Miller, a first-term congresswoman most famous for favorably quoting Adolf Hitler, praised Friday's Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade as "a victory for white life," a statement her spokesman later clarified was supposed to be "right to life."

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In Nebraska's historically GOP 1st Congressional District, Republican Mike Flood beat Democrat Patty Passing Brooks by 4 percentage points to fill the rest of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's (R) term. Fortenberry, sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation for lying to the FBI, won the district by 22 points in 2020. "The specific cause of the margin wasn't immediately unclear, although there was evidence of higher turnout in one Democratic-leaning county that could be related to the Roe decision," AP speculates.

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(Getty Images)

Amid the celebration after the US Senate passed the first piece of major gun legislation in nearly 30 years, following a string of horrific mass shootings in recent weeks, Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona praised her Republican colleague Thom Tillis.

Oh, Thom is wonderful, Ms Sinema told The Independent, a rare comment to the press for the lawmaker. So pragmatic, so focused on solutions. Also a great vote counter. Great whip.

Their friendship is mutual. For Halloween last year, Mr Tillis dressed his dog Theo  named for Theodore Roosevelt  up as Ms Sinema, replete with a wig and a sweater that said Dangerous Creature, while he dressed his other dog Mitch up as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But Ms Sinema  who often prizes her relationships across the aisle, often to the frustration of her Democratic colleagues  was not the only Democrat to praise the two-term North Carolina Republican, who helped flipped both houses of his states legislature for the first time in a century and has twice narrowly escaped defeat from well-funded Democratic challengers.

Just frankly, in a town that breeds cynicism and often a culture of contempt, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said, he has shown a lot of honor and a willingness to work.

Mr Tillis has earned a reputation as an agreeable Republican despite the fact that he is one of the primary movers in conservative politics in his home state. The passage of the gun bill is the latest feather in his cap, thanks to negotiations between him, Ms Sinema, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. The quartet also worked with a larger group with 16 other Senators, which included Mr Booker.

US Senator Thom Tillis, R-NC, feeds his dog Mitch, dressed as US Senator Mitch McConnell, a treat as his other dog Theo sits in his costume as US Senator Kyrsten Sinema in his office prior to the annual Congressional Dog Costume Parade on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 27, 2021. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

The two-term Republican credited the successful negotations to several factors. He already knew Senator Cornyn, his colleague on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Ms Sinema, whom he knows from the Banking Committee. Mr Tillis said he admire(s) her independence and structured thinking in negotiations. It was Mr Tilliss first time negotiating with Mr Murphy, one of the most outspoken Democrats on gun control ever since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in his home state.

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But it was clear to me in the first meeting that he was serious, he was sincere and he wanted to get something done, Mr Tillis told The Independent in an interview before the vote. I was just joking with him on the elevator yesterday about that, because he overheard me saying to somebody, Weve got very, very different views, as I got on the elevator with him, and he said, Youre right about that.

On the surface, Mr Tilliss place in the negotiations might seem a bit peculiar. Mr Murphy has focused on guns his entire tenure in the Senate, Ms Sinema is the Republican whisperer in her caucus. And Mr Cornyn had a vested interest in passing legislation after the shooting in Uvalde in his home state. Nevertheless, he was suggested as someone to work with Mr Cornyn, which was around the same time Ms Sinema was asking for another Republican to work with them.

Mr Tillis (left) talks to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) during U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jacksons nomination hearing. The two were the main Republican negotiators on gun legislation. (Getty Images)

So when I spoke with Sinema, I said that Id be willing to get into the room, see if we could negotiate an outcome, he said.

Mr Tilliss propensity for dealmaking in Washington is, in some ways, a contrast to his time as the Republican strategist who helped steer a staunch conservative agenda in North Carolina. He was first elected to North Carolinas General Assembly as a state representative in 2006, representing Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located.

After Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win the state since Jimmy Carter, Mr Tillis left his job at IBM to recruit Republican candidates for the state legislature and campaign for them, according to The Fayetteville Observer. That helped Republicans win both houses of the General Assembly for the first time in more than a century. As speaker of the House, he enacted a series of conservative policies like a sweeping tax cut and voter ID legislation.

In 2014, he beat Democratic Senator Kay Hagan by 45,608 votes in the midterm elections in what was the most expensive Senate race, when Mr Obamas approval was at a low point.

Since arriving in Washington, hes remained solidly conservative. He opposed Ketanji Brown Jacksons nomination to the US Supreme Court, supported the repeal of Obamacare and the 2017 Republican tax cut bill signed by Donald Trump and opposed both of Mr Trumps impeachments.

At the same time, hes emerged as a conservative dealmaker  and not only on guns. He teamed up with Mr Booker  among other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee  to pass criminal justice reform after he threatened that he would not seek reelection if it didnt pass. He also voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed.

Mr Tillis said there were parallels between the gun negotiations and criminal justice reform, which Mr Trump signed in the form of the First Step Act.

I think where negotiations between members and where it breaks down on these thornier issues is when you have your staff represent you in the room, he said. So you have to kind of flip the script and have staff there to advise and welcome them to enter the debate, but you have to have members in the room.

Mr Tillis also credited the possibility for a deal to the fact that they immediately discussed what was not open for negotiation, such as a mandatory waiting period, a ban on any type of weapons, as well as a federal red flag law. Rather, the legislation sets up a grant program for states to adopt their own red flag laws , which allow courts to determine if a person poses a threat to themselves or others and can have a firearm confiscated.

Anytime you see negotiations around here bear fruit, you tend to be very open, very direct upfront so that youre all of a sudden not negotiating something that completely changes the foundation of the agreement, he said.

The shooting in Uvalde also happened amid another potential bipartisan deal Mr Tillis was crafting with Mr Cornyn on immigration reform . For that negotation, his partners are Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin  who also leads the Senate Judiciary Committee  and Senator Alex Padilla of California. Mr Tillis said he thought there was a potential for a deal there too.

Well, you know, I think if we use the same method or use the same process that theres always opportunities for doing this, he said. At a level maybe a step below what were talking about today, it happens every day here for people who are willing to get in a room and work out compromises that people have been trying to work on for years.

In turn, he ran for re-election in 2020. While initial polling showed him losing to former state legislator Cal Cunningham, Mr Tilliss fortunes changed when text messages revealed Mr Cunningham had an extramarital affair. Eventually, Mr Tillis would win reelection in the Tar Heel State as Mr Trump won it a second time.

Mr Trump has sought to make his influence in Mr Tilliss home state known; Mr Trump became the first Republican to win Robeson County in more than a century in both of his campaigns, and he endorsed Representative Ted Budd in the race to replace Mr Tilliss Senate colleague Richard Burr, who also voted for the gun bill, over Mr McCrory.

Similarly, Mr Trump blasted the gun bill, which he called the first step in the movement to TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY on Truth Social, while also calling Mr Cornyn a Republican in Name Only or RINO. But Mr Tillis pushed back on the accusation.

I would say that for the vast majority of people who can walk in and purchase a gun and get a background check, it doesnt change anything, he said. For states like North Carolina and others who have chosen not to implement red flag laws, it doesnt affect them, but for the fact that were going to provide them with funding for crime and behavioral health interventions.

At the same time, Mr Tillis said he hoped that Mr Trump didnt oppose some of the other more conservative provisions.

So I would hope that President Trump isnt against, and I dont believe that he is, school hardening and training, Mr Tillis said. I would hope that he wouldnt be against the idea of an 18 year old that walks into a gun store who now has a record thats one day old; its not enough to determine if that persons a threat to themselves or to the society.

It wouldnt be the first time that Mr Tillis has crossed the former president. In 2019 he wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post criticising Mr Trumps efforts to declare an emergency to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, though he later changed course and voted for it.

More recently, he and Mr Trump found themselves on opposite sides of the primary for North Carolinas 13th District. Mr Trump sided with Representative Madison Cawthorn, who had angered many Republicans in the state after he tried to switch districts. Mr Cawthorn further angered Mr Tillis when he threatened to primary anyone who voted for the infrastructure bill and then touted its broadband expansion in the western part of the state.

I felt very strongly that we need someone whos a team player, Mr Tillis said. When I was speaker of the House, and since Ive been up here, Ive never asked for somebody to agree with me even 80 per cent of the time. We all have different views and different motivations. But I just felt like Mr Cawthorne was never willing to separate his own personal ambitions from the work ahead of us on any given day.

In turn, Mr Tillis endorsed Chuck Edwards, a state senator after North Carolinas Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger backed him, who pulled off a victory,

I know I did not have the pleasure to serve with Chuck, he came in shortly after I left, but I knew him by reputation; now I know him well.

Despite losing his primary, Mr Cawthorn still is serving the duration of his term. The day after the gun bill passed the Senate, it went to the House floor, Mr Cawthorn voted against it. It still passed and went to Mr Bidens desk for the presidents signature.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will face state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister in the general election for governor after both candidates skated to easy victories Tuesday.

With 69% of the vote, Stitt defeated three Republican opponents in the GOP primary, easily clearing his first hurdle to another four years in the governor's office.

Hofmeister's victory over former state Sen. Connie Johnson marks the state superintendent's first electoral win as a Democrat. Previously a lifelong Republican, Hofmeister switched parties in October to challenge Stitt as a Democrat.

When she switched parties, Hofmeister came out swinging against Stitt by accusing the governor of "hijacking" the Republican Party. Hofmeister clinched just over 60% of Democratic primary votes cast Tuesday.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joy Hofmeister talks to guests Tuesday at her watch party at Rococo Restaurant & Bar in Oklahoma City.

Others are reading: Oklahoma State Auditor Cindy Byrd wins GOP primary election to earn reelection

Just before a crowd of supporters at Stitt's watch party erupted into chants of "four more years," the governor urged Oklahomans to vote for Republicans in November.

"People all over the country right now, they're waking up and they're seeing and noticing the differences between a red state and a blue state," Stitt said. (There's) never been bigger differences.

"Friends, let's keep Oklahoma red."

Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks to a crowd after winning the Republican primary for governor during an election watch party inside the First National Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

In the primary, Stitt defeated Tulsa Republican Mark Sherwood, Department of Veterans Affairs Director Joel Kintsel and Moira McCabe.

In their respective victory speeches, Stitt and Hofmeister briefly criticized each other, although the governor did not name his opponent.

In his remarks, Stitt said special interest groups that have spent millions of dollars on attack ads against him are "bankrolling" Hofmeister in the general election.

"We all know I have upset powerful special interest groups because I will never back down," Stitt said. "They have a blank checkbook, and they are hiding it in dark money groups that have spent unprecedented amounts of money against me."

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More: Tom Cole, Frank Lucas, Stephanie Bice advance to November general elections

Stitt and Hofmeister consistently raised more campaign cash than their primary challengers in the lead up to the election.

The governor raised more than $5 million ahead of the primary. Hofmeister raised more than $1.1 million.

In her victory speech, Hofmeister vowed to work her heart out and "fight like hell" for Oklahoma.

She also was critical of Stitt's leadership.

"Governor Stitt said he would run this state like a business," Hofmeister said. "By his own standards, the business of Oklahoma is failing. Oklahoma is a state where our kids deserve better, our families deserve more and our businesses should able to thrive."

The Democratic Governors Association also took a shot at Stitt's administration while the Republican Governors Association called Hofmeister a political opportunist for switching parties.

More: Gentner Drummond wins attorney general's primary, beating Stitt's nominee, John O'Connor

In the lead up to the primary elections, Stitt and Hofmeister largely ignored their primary opponents while they set their sights on November. There were no gubernatorial candidate debates leading up to Tuesday, and the frontrunners focused much of their time on fundraising.

This time four years ago, Stitt was still a relatively obscure political newcomer that landed in the GOP gubernatorial runoff by touting his business acumen and outsider perspective. This time around, Stitt easily avoided a runoff primary.

Former GOP state Sen. Ervin Yen, now a registered independent, will be on the ballot for governor in November. An anesthesiologist, Yen has criticized Stitt's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Libertarian Natalie Bruno will also be on the general election ballot.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to face Democrat Joy Hofmeister in November
BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian forces conducted a missile strike on a vehicle carrying members of a Turkey-backed armed opposition faction in a rebel-held part of the countrys north Wednesday, opposition activists said, and nine gunmen were killed.

The attack happened just south of the northern town of Afrin, which is under the control of Turkey-backed opposition fighters, the activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, and the oppositions Orient news said the nine fighters killed belonged to the Failaq al-Sham group.

Orient reported that the attack on the bus came as Failaq al-Sham members were heading to front lines to replace their comrades.

Syrian government forces now control much of Syria with the help of President Bashar Assads main backers Russia and Iran. The conflict that began in March 2011 has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

Frontlines have experienced sporadic bombardment since a Russian-backed government offensive ended in March 2020 following a truce reached by the presidents of Russia and Turkey who support rival parties in the Syrian conflict.

On Tuesday, the United Nations said the first 10 years of Syrias conflict killed more than 306,887 civilians  the highest official estimate to date of conflict-related civilian deaths in the country.

The figures released by the U.N. do not include soldiers and insurgents killed in the conflict. Their numbers are believed to be in the tens of thousands.
It was a late night in mid-June when Julio Cano, the chief business officer for the Bien Trucha Group, got an email he thought was from Facebook.

It said our Facebook business page was going to be disabled, Cano said. I was tired and I just opened it. Thats how they got us. The account was hacked.

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More than two weeks later, Cano is still desperately trying to regain control of his companys Facebook accounts. As of Monday, the Facebook page for Bien Trucha calls itself an investing service. A Toda Madres page features a banner for a company called Investment-Forex. The profile picture for Quiubo in Naperville includes a man typing in front of a computer with stock trend lines going up and down.

General manager Oscar Diaz pours drinks for server Chloe Climenhaga inside the empty dining room as customers eat outside Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020 at Bien Trucha restaurant in Geneva, Illinois. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Its been a total nightmare, Cano said Monday. Its absolutely ridiculous. Despite spending hours each day emailing with the social media company and scouring online forums for any helpful tips, he still hasnt been able to get in touch with anyone at Facebook or parent company Meta who can help him.

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The most frustrating thing is not being able to connect with anyone from Facebook, Cano said. Theres no one to talk to.

Facebook did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Cano said he spent years building up an online community for the restaurants. The Bien Trucha Group runs four brick-and-mortar restaurants: Bien Trucha in Geneva, A Toda Madre in Glen Ellyn, and Quiubo and Santo Cielo in Naperville. (Theres also Lil Donkeys, a virtual burrito concept that the company runs out of three of the kitchens.)

Santo Cielo general manager Emiliano Gottig prepares the dining room for dinner service at the restaurant Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in Naperville. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

All combined, those restaurants have over 30,000 likes and followers. Cano said creating new Facebook pages for each restaurant would throw away 14 years of work. But he cant even do that; when he tried to create a new page for the Bien Trucha Group, he was told that he couldnt because the business name was already in use  by the hacked account.

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Cano has also used Facebook to recruit new kitchen staff. Thats whats really costing us, Cano said. We had been spending thousands of dollars recruiting, especially lately. Now we cant.

The hackers also paid for ads with the credit card Cano had entered in Facebooks Business Manager. They charged several thousand dollars for cryptocurrency ads, Cano said. Fortunately, he was able to contact his bank and cancel the card, so he wont be stuck with those charges. Thats the least of our problems, he said.

Quiubo serves Mexican staple dishes, and comes from the same restaurant group that operates Bien Trucha in Geneva. (Pioneer Press)

The hackers got into Canos personal Facebook account, as well, and started uploading random nude images. Facebook automatically banned his account for violating its community standards. Cano believes the hackers did this on purpose, so it would be even harder for him to regain control.

Cano has never had an issue with Facebook before the hacking. But over the past two weeks, hes spent dozens of hours simply trying to get in touch with a person to help him fix the issue. We have spent thousands of dollars with Facebook over the years, Cano said. What do we do now?

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nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com

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US President Joe Biden attends the first day of the G7 leaders' summit, at Bavaria's Schloss Elmau castle, in Kruen, Germany, Sunday, June 26, 2022. Lukas Barth/Pool Photo via AP

The Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade last week.

President Joe Biden condemned the decision, calling on Congress to act and citizens to vote.

Here are the measures abortion advocates have called on Biden to implement since Roe was overturned.

As the nation reels from the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion advocates across the political spectrum have called for sweeping measures from President Joe Biden.

On Friday, Biden said the Court's decision would "literally take America back 150 years" and that his administration will aggressively defend Americans' rights to receive abortion pills through the mail or to travel across state lines to receive care.

The president called on Congress to act, despite Democrats' failures to codify abortion rights into federal law. He also called on Americans to vote in the midterms in November.

"Let me be very clear and unambiguous: The only way we can secure a women's right to choose, the balance that existed, is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law," he said. "No executive action from the president can do that."

While Biden has said his "administration will use all of its appropriate lawful powers" to help Americans retain access to abortion, lawmakers and advocates have called on the president to implement the following measures since Roe was overturned.

Expand the Supreme Court

Activists For Expanding The Supreme Court Rally Outside the Supreme Court on June 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Demand Justice

Democrats and abortion-rights activists have demanded Biden administration to expand the Supreme Court and add justices to balance the conservative majority. Over 50 House Democrats co-signed a 2021 bill to expand the Court to 13 justices.

While the number of justices on the Supreme Court has been nine since 1869, it historically ranged between five and 10 justices. There is no limit to number of justices on the high court in the Constitution,and Congress has the power to decide its size.

The last major attempt to expand the court, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, failed in Congress.

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday that President Joe Biden "does not agree with" expanding the Supreme Court.

"I was asked this question yesterday, and I've been asked it before," she said. "That is something that the President does not agree with. That is not something that he wants to do," Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing.

Declare a 'public health and national emergency'

Activists march along Constitution Avenue to the US Supreme Court on May 14, 2022. Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tina Smith of Minnesota called on Biden to "declare a public health emergency" after the Supreme Court ruling.

"We urge the president to declare a public health emergency to protect abortion access for all Americans, unlocking critical resources and authority that states and the federal government can use to meet the surge in demand for reproductive health services. The danger is real, and Democrats must meet it with the urgency it deserves," Warren and Smith wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus authored a letter to Biden ahead of the Court's final decision, calling on the president "to use every tool at your disposal to protect fundamental reproductive rights and abortion access."

"The effects of this decision on the lives and health of Black women and pregnant people will be devastating and require an urgent and whole-of-government response," said the letter signed by Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush, Barbara Lee, and nearly two dozen others.

"Declaring a public health emergency and national emergency will allow your Administration to utilize additional flexibilities and deploy resources where necessary," they added. "In this unprecedented moment, we must act urgently as if lives depend on it because they do."

Establish abortion clinics on federal land

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins abortion-rights activists as they demonstrate following Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Washington on June 24, 2022. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday demanded Biden create abortion clinics on federal lands while speaking at a protest in New York.

"There are also actions at President Biden's disposal that he can mobilize," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I'll start with the babiest of the babiest of the baby steps: Open abortion clinics on federal lands in red states right now. Right now."

However, Vice President Kamala Harris said that putting abortion clinics on federal lands is "not right now what we are discussing" in the administration.

The proposition would face logistical hurdles like the longstanding Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funds from directly funding abortion services through programs like Medicaid and Title X. A White House official told Insider that the proposal could be a risk to "women and providers who are not federal employees could be potentially be prosecuted."

Offer federal support or grants for those traveling out of state for abortion care

Abortion access is a confusing patchwork across the US, with each state in charge of its own rules.

In total, eight states have banned abortion since the Supreme Court ruling on June 24, but courts have temporarily blocked abortion bans in Louisiana and Utah, allowing patients to receive care in the meantime.

Experts have pointed out that many Americans will be forced to travel across state lines to access abortions. States like Illinois  which share borders with states that immediately implemented bans on abortion after the Supreme Court ruling  are bracing for an influx of people to cross their state lines.

Biden said he intends to fight to protect an individual's right to travel across state lines to get abortion care, but he hasn't gone as far as offering federal support to people who have to travel.

"If any state or local official, high or low, tries to interfere with a woman's exercising her basic right to travel, I will do everything in my power to fight that deeply un-American attack," Biden said last Friday in his address following the ruling.

Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of the non-profit Public Citizen, told Insider that the Biden administration could establish grants for people who need to travel to get abortion care.

"State by state there will be different requirements and limitations, so the cost of traveling to a place where you can get this care is part of the issue," Gilbert told Insider. "So figuring out ways to assist, providing grants or other mechanisms for funding to reach women who need to travel would be a thing for them to consider."

Any actions the administration takes would again have to be in compliance with the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion care.

Provide easier access to abortion medication

Boxes of the drug mifepristone line a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Allen G. Breed, File/AP

Gilbert added that the Biden administration could also loosen restrictions on prescribing the abortion pill.

In December, the US Food and Drug Administration lifted a measure that required patients to visit a clinic or doctor in person in order to obtain mifepristone, one of the drugs used in a medical abortion, The New York Times reported.

"The federal government could help make abortion medication easier to access, the abortion pill," Gilbert said. "They've already made it easier for women to get abortion pills by mail or prescribed through telemedicine, but they can also change the guidelines to allow any medical provider to write a prescription for the medication and could expand where you can get it, to which pharmacies it could be gotten at. So that's a pretty straightforward thing that would be wonderful to see."

Help people understand abortion laws state by state as well as their right

Gilbert said one of the biggest ways the Biden administration can help is "just helping people understand abortion law."

"This sort of patchwork that I was describing is going to be a huge problem. It's state-by-state, and it's going to be evolving very regularly, we would imagine," Gilbert said. "So making sure that the administration is being helpful on that front."

While laws on abortion access vary state by state, conservative states like Texas and Oklahoma have enacted vigilante abortion laws that encourage citizens to report those who they think have assisted in providing an abortion.

On Saturday, one day after the Supreme Court's ruling, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a guide to help people "know your rights" on reproductive care.

"People can find the info from the federal government. They've set up a website already, and so just making sure that that's updated and that people know about it and that they can get the information that they need," Gilbert said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Independent)

Firefighters are battling a large fire that broke out at Camp Airy, a Jewish summer camp for boys, in Thurmont, Maryland.

The two-alarm fire was called in around 7:30am on Wednesday. It began in the camp's dining hall and quickly spread throughout its first and second floors, according to officials.

According to Sarah Campbell, a member of the Frederick County Fire Department, although campers were present on Wednesday, the dining hall was empty when the fire began.

She said Wednesday that the fire has remained contained to the dining hall.

No injuries to either campers or responders has been reported, though firefighters have reportedly faced some water availability issues, according to Ms Campbell.
By Krisztina Than

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary has passed a decree empowering the government to take over the supervision of vital energy firms and the gas pipeline network operator FGSZ in an emergency that would require it to ensure continuous supply.

Tuesday's decree, signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, covers key firms in the power, gas and oil industries, as well as district heating firms and mining, along with FGSZ and the Hungarian fuel and gas stockpiling association.

The decree -- which fits in with interventionist policies of Orban's government which has capped fuel prices and households' energy bills -- was passed just as Europe readies for any potential cuts in Russian gas supplies.

The European Union's energy chief on Monday urged countries to update their contingency plans for supply shocks.

Oil and gas group MOL, which controls FGSZ, said in an emailed reply to Reuters that it "refuses to comment on government strategy aimed at addressing war-related eventualities".

"Such measures are not uncommon in EU countries," it said.

Hungary is about 85% reliant on Russian gas imports and 65% reliant on crude oil imports from Russia, and also imports a smaller part of the electricity it needs, so its exposure in case of an energy crisis in Europe is high, analysts say.

"In terms of the essence of this Hungarian measure, I don't see a big difference compared with other contingency plans in Europe," Erste Bank oil and gas sector analyst Tamas Pletser said.

Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday that Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic were the most exposed among Central and Eastern European states to any sudden cessation of Russian gas supplies to EU countries.

"Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic combine high reliance on Russian gas with a lack of viable short-term alternative energy supplies," the rating agency said.

"In contrast, Poland, Lithuania and Romania have largely secured alternative supplies or have significant domestic production."

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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said this month that Gazprom chief executive and Russia's deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, had both assured him the company would fulfil obligations to Hungary set out in its long-term gas supply contract.

Under a deal with Gazprom signed last year, Hungary receives 3.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year via Bulgaria and Serbia and a further 1 bcm via a pipeline from Austria. The deal runs for 15 years.

EU countries' combined gas storage is nearly 57% full, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe earlier this week. Filling levels vary between countries, however, with storage in Germany 57% full versus 97% in Poland and 39% in Hungary.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Michael Perry)
(Bloomberg) -- Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat seeking a second term in November, will face a downstate conservative backed by former President Donald Trump as the states Republicans try to regain a foothold in a largely blue state.

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Pritzker, 57, won the Democratic primary against former Army Major Beverly Miles with 93% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Darren Bailey, a Bible-quoting farmer who had received an endorsement from Trump just days before the Illinois primary, got 57% of the vote, beating a field of five other Republicans. That included Richard Irvin, mayor of the second-largest city in Illinois, whose campaign had received $50 million in contributions from Ken Griffin, the states richest man.

There are primaries in Colorado, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah, with a gubernatorial primary in New York. New Yorks incumbent Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul also won the partys primary. She will face US Representative Lee Zeldin, who prevailed in a field that included Andrew Giuliani, a former Trump White House aide and son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Tuesdays primaries took place amid a political environment marked by recent US Supreme Court rulings overturning abortion, and an expansion of gun rights. Earlier Tuesday, a former White House aide provided gripping testimony to the House committee hearings on Jan. 6 that offered a vivid portrait of a violent and out-of-control Trump in his presidencys final weeks.

In the face of rising right-wing extremism, Governor Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Stratton are the only candidates ready to fight back to protect the rights of women, Black and brown Americans, our LGBTQ+ neighbors, union workers, and every Illinoisan who wishes to live a life of their own design, Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton said in a statement after the results were announced.

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Pritzker has contributed about $125 million of his own fortune into this campaign knowing hed confront a Republican opponent backed by Griffin, another billionaire who last November said he was all in to support a candidate to defeat the incumbent.

I believe Richard Irvin would have been a terrific Governor, and I am proud to have supported his campaign, Griffin said in an emailed statement Tuesday after the polls closed. His proven success in lowering taxes, addressing crime, creating jobs and taking on struggles facing Illinois families offered an encouraging and stark alternative to J.B. Pritzkers agenda for Illinois. The unprecedented tens of millions of dollars spent by Pritzker and national Democrats in the Republican Primary to avoid facing Richard in the General Election demonstrated he was the right candidate.

Now, Pritzker must prove to Illinois voters that he deserves a second term. While he has presided over a period when Illinoiss fiscal outlook has improved, he has been criticized for pandemic mitigations seen as too restrictive by Republicans, rising crime and most recently the announced headquarters departures of well-known, large companies including Boeing Co., Caterpillar Inc. and Citadel, Griffins hedge fund.

Baileys campaign had collected $9 million from billionaire Richard Uihlein, a long-time Trump supporter. While Irvin was seen as an early favorite, Bailey appealed to the anti-abortion conservative base and Trump supporters within the party. Bailey, 56, opposed Pritzkers mask mandate, even challenging it in court, and once sponsored a resolution to separate Chicago from the rest of the state.

His message to the most conservative voters seems to have overcome the spending power of Irvin. The mayor had used the millions from Griffin to saturate the state with about 28,000 television ads, more than twice as many as Bailey from May 9 through June 19, according to data from the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political campaigns.

Billionaires like Pritzker cant relate to the struggles of working people and taxpayers like us, Bailey said after he won the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary tapping into his farmer roots and image of rolling up his sleeves to work hard. We are all here because we know that Illinois is in trouble. Decade after decade of mismanagement in Springfield, back-to-back billionaire governors who dont understand the struggles of working people.

Bailey said his focus will be getting state spending under control, supporting law enforcement, growing businesses and giving parents more voice in their childrens education. He said policies by President Joe Biden and Pritzker are contributing to inflation and the governors lockdowns during the height of the pandemic damaged small businesses.

Now is the time for regular working people like us to have our voices heard, Bailey said.

In other Illinois primary contests, Trump-endorsed Representative Mary Miller beat fellow Republican Representative Rodney Davis to represent a redrawn congressional district, according to AP.

Multiple Members of Congress Will Lose Re-election on Tuesday

US Representative Danny Davis led progressive Kina Collins and AP declared Democrat US Representative Sean Casten the winner over fellow Democrat US Representative Marie Newman. Newman has publicly said that she got an abortion when she was 19 years old.

Nebraska held a special election Tuesday to replace former US Representative Jeff Fortenberry, with Republican Mike Flood leading Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks by 2.4 percentage points with 61% of ballots counted.

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Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was barred from overseeing elections after she was indicted on charges of tampering with election equipment and official misconduct, lost the GOP secretary of state primary in Colorado on Tuesday to former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson, NBC News projected.

With more than 80 percent of the expected vote counted, Anderson held a 15-point lead over nonprofit executive Mike O'Donnell and a 17-point lead over Peters. Anderson will face off against Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold later this fall. Griswolds office has been investigating Peters conduct for more than a year.

Peters, an election denier, gained national notoriety after authorities alleged she allowed an unauthorized person to attend a Dominion software installation  what election officials call a trusted build  last May and copied the hard drives of her countys voting machines. Soon after that incident, data including passwords for the countys machines were posted online. The machines then had to be replaced.

A Colorado grand jury indicted her on 10 felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the investigation of those actions, with prosecutors saying she violated her oath of office in the process.

A state judge then barred Peters, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, from overseeing this years elections in Mesa County because of her role in the alleged election equipment break-in. She was previously barred from overseeing elections last year.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing in Colorados election, which President Joe Biden won by nearly 14 points; it was audited by the state and certified. In her campaign, Anderson, who once was served as president of the state county clerks association, said there was no evidence showing that fraud affected the 2020 results.

Anderson has a page of her campaign website that discredits some election conspiracies, including about voting machines, and she has said she wants to review current state rules on ballot signature verification.

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Griswold, in an interview with NBC News, accused Anderson of being an "extremist" who "shifted hard to the right" during the campaign.

"When there is pressure during the next Jan. 6, where is she going to shift? Griswold added.

Peters is a close ally of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the nations most committed influencers advancing former President Donald Trumps false claims of voter fraud. Last August, Peters spoke at a voter fraud conference hosted by Lindell in South Dakota. She announced her bid for secretary of state on former Trump adviser Steve Bannons podcast.

Tina Peters is a hero to this country because she did her job and so did many other county clerks, Lindell told NBC News earlier this year.

Peters defeat marks another loss for promoters of the false voter fraud claims in a GOP secretary of state primary. In Georgia, Nebraska and Idaho, election deniers fell to opponents who did not promote spurious claims of voter fraud or electoral malfeascene.

But there have been some victories. Earlier this month, Jim Marchant, a promoter of the dubious claims, won the Republican primary for secretary of state in Nevada. Earlier this year, Michigan Republicans nominated Kristina Karamo, a poll worker who claimed the 2020 election was a fraud, as their choice for secretary of state.

In Colorados gubernatorial primary, businesswoman and University of Colorado Board of Regents member Heidi Ganahl defeated former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, NBC News projected. Ganahl will take on Democratic Gov. Jared Polis this fall.
Ihor Kolykhaiev

Read also: Growing indications of resistance against Russian occupation seen near Kherson, says Pentagon

The abduction of the mayor was reported by the Russian propaganda media Ria Novosti on June 28, and reports of the abduction were confirmed by a Russian collaborator  the so-called "deputy head of the military-civil administration" of Kherson Oblast, Kirill Stremousov.

Read also: Prominent collaborator killed in Kherson car bomb attack

The ex-mayor Kolykhaiev has been detained A man who harmed the process of denazification in many ways. Finally, he has been neutralized, said Stremousov.

Read also: Ukraines counter-offensive in Kherson Oblast. What will Russia do?

According to him, Kolykhaiev had urged social workers not to carry out the criminal orders of the occupation authorities.

Kolykhaiev was kidnapped on June 28 after he arrived at the communal institutions where the remaining employees of the legitimate city executive committee continue to work.


DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Indirect negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers ended Wednesday in Qatar after failing to make significant progress amid a growing crisis over the Islamic Republic's atomic program, diplomats said.

The Doha talks broke up after two days without any sign of a breakthrough, months after talks in Vienna among all of the deal's parties went on pause." In the time since, Iran shut off surveillance cameras of international inspectors and now has enough high-enriched uranium to potentially fashion into at least one nuclear bomb if it chose.

And with Iran and the U.S. blaming each other for the talks' failure, it remains unclear when  or if  there will be another round of negotiations.

European Union mediator Enrique Mora on Twitter described as intense the two days of talks in Doha.

"Unfortunately, not yet the progress the EU team as coordinator had hoped-for," Mora wrote. We will keep working with even greater urgency to bring back on track a key deal for non-proliferation and regional stability.

Mora's comments came hours after the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to Irans hard-line Revolutionary Guard, described the negotiations as finished hours before they ended and having no effect on breaking the deadlock in the talks.

Tasnim claimed that the American position did not include a guarantee for Iran benefiting economically from the deal, quoting what it described as unnamed informed sources.

Washington is seeking to revive the (deal) in order to limit Iran without economic achievement for our country, the Tasnim report claimed. A key sticking point has been American sanctions targeting the Guard.

U.S. Special Representative Rob Malley spoke to the Iranians through Mora during the talks. Mora then took messages to Irans top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

After the Tasnim report, Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani issued a statement describing the talks as being held in a professional and serious atmosphere. He later said that Iran and Mora will be in touch regarding the continuation of the route and the next stage of the talks.

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However, it remains unclear if there will be another round of talks on the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The State Department said that Iran "raised issues wholly unrelated to the JCPOA and apparently is not ready to make a fundamental decision on whether it wants to revive the deal or bury it.

Indirect discussions in Doha have concluded, and while we are very grateful to the EU for its efforts, we are disappointed that Iran has, yet again, failed to respond positively to the EUs initiative and therefore that no progress was made," the State Department said.

Iran and world powers agreed in 2015 to the nuclear deal, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, raising tensions across the wider Middle East and sparking a series of attacks and incidents.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a pause since March. Since the deals collapse, Iran has been running advanced centrifuges and rapidly growing stockpiles of enriched uranium. However, Tehran continues to suffer under intense economic sanctions while the West hopes to again curtail Iran's nuclear program.

The incentive for Washington and Tehran to keep the prospect of a deal alive is strong, even as the actual likelihood of achieving a compromise diminishes, said Henry Rome, an analyst with the Eurasia Group tracking the negotiations. For that reason, we would expect the sides to resume talks in Doha in the near future, although we are not optimistic about a breakthrough.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel accused the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah on Wednesday of conducting a cyber operation designed to disrupt a U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border between the countries, and threatened harsh Israeli retaliation against enemy hackers.

The allegation - to which there was no immediate response from Hezbollah or Tehran - came as Israeli-Iranian tensions soar.

In what he termed a first public disclosure of the incident, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said "Iranian security institutions in cooperation with Hezbollah (recently) launched a cyber operation with the aim of stealing materials about UNIFIL activities and deployment in the area, for Hezbollah's use".

"This is yet another direct attack by Iran and Hezbollah on Lebanese citizens and on Lebanon's stability," he told a cyber conference at Tel Aviv University, without elaborating.

UNIFIL said it was the first it had heard of the attacks.

"UNIFIL and the UN take cybersecurity very seriously and have robust measures in place to protect our data. We are aware of media reports of comments by the Israeli defence minister today but we have not received any direct information on the alleged incident," its media office told Reuters.

Established in 1978, UNIFIL patrols Lebanon's southern border. It is charged with monitoring the ceasefire that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

Israel has accused Hezbollah gunmen of setting up clandestine positions at the border in defiance of UNIFIL. Lebanese officials say Israel continues air force overflights of their territory in violation of the ceasefire.

Gantz said an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps cyber unit called "Shahid Kaveh" had "conducted research to damage ships, gas stations and industrial plants in several Western countries including Britain, the U.S., France and Israel".

Britain's Sky News reported similar allegations last year, saying the Iranian embassy in London had not responded to them.

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Gantz hinted that Israel - which is widely believed to have waged cyber war against Iran's nuclear facilities and other infrastructure - may retaliate physically against enemy hackers.

"We know who they are, we target them and those who direct them. They are in our sights as we speak - and not just in the cyber-space," he said. "There is a variety of possible responses to cyber-attacks - in and outside of the cyber-domain."

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Nick Macfie, William Maclean)
A Jacksonville woman wants to make sure members of our local LGBTQ+ community feel safe and supported when shopping. She operates a gender-affirming boutique on the Westside and says her mission is bigger than fashion.

Kamalas Kloset offers all kinds of kicks, fits, prints and patterns. Theres something for everyone.

The boutique is a part of Williams nonprofit, The Lotus Flower Project. Her customers include LGBTQ+ teens and adults.

Williams says some of her clothing partners include Eddie Bauer at the St. Augustine Outlets, PSMJax, Uncut Drip as well as donations from the Jacksonville community.

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It is an all-inclusive shopping experience founder Kamala Williams, who is bisexual, says she created specifically with the LGBTQ+ community in mind. She especially wants to help ease the anxiety or dysphoria that those who are transgender, nonbinary or gender-nonconforming might experience in a traditional retail store.

Williams said, I wanted to create a safe space for folks that would like to come in and just pick out whatever you like, not have to choose a gender, not have to worry about being outed or being treated a certain type of way by a sales clerk.

The boutique is a part of Williams nonprofit, The Lotus Flower Project. Her customers include LGBTQ+ teens and adults.

We assist with styling and helping you figure out what looks good on you. Then we encourage you to try it on and just come out and give it a twirl and let us see how it looks. And we just make it an entire experience, Williams said.

Its an experience, customer and local transgender man Chaun Cameron appreciates.

It is sometimes difficult when there are traditional things, Cameron said, Transitioning or being a transgender is not traditional. So, you need something sometimes out-of-the-box or something different in order to make people feel different when they are different.

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Read: Here are some of the new laws that will go into effect in Florida on July 1

Williams says her goal is for customers to leave with items that not only reflect who they are, but impact how they show up in the world.

Shopping is a form of therapy, and I believe our community should have that therapy, Williams said, Its not just about clothes. When you look you feel good, when you feel good, you make good decisions. So this is bigger than clothing, this is a piece of the puzzle and its important to me.

Williams is on a mission to hold space for others. Cameron hopes more people in our community will be inspired to do the same.

Cameron said, Whether you agree, whether you understand, whether you have someone thats in it, its about humans being comfortable. So in your mindset, just create more spaces or more places for people to be comfortable.

For the safety and comfort of her customers, shopping at Kamalas Kloset is by appointment only. Follow this link to get more information: https://thelotusflowerproject.org/services/kamalas-kloset/.

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Jenny Packhams clients are back in the social whirl, and in the mood to party. Shes responding with a collection based around traditional resortwear, the sort that socialites once needed for Caribbean cruises, warm-weather resorts and big-ticket fundraisers, anniversaries and weddings.

I was looking at the jet-setters of the 50s and early 60s and wanted pastels like aqua, pink and turquoise. Theres a real excitement about dressing up again, Packham said in an interview at her Paris showroom.

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The designer added that shes seen a 50 percent uplift in the overall business, compared with last year and a 300 percent rise in online sales.

Brides are also shopping online now, and the way they shop is changing, she said. With so many weddings having been put on hold during the pandemic, she said weddings are rolling on for longer, and brides need different outfits for multiple wedding moments. One for the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the reception and the after party. The list goes on.

Packham also said the pandemic has finally put to rest the notion that formal looks wouldnt sell online. She said online sales have been robust worldwide, and particularly in places where she doesnt have many physical stores or stockists, including the Philippines, the Middle East and the U.S.

She said that online selling has been a boon for her business in more ways than one. When she sees that an item is selling out, shes able to react quickly, and replenish the relevant styles.

For resort, her dresses had old world flair and sparkle, while the colors looked as if they were drawn from exotic fish: they included a powder pink gown with sequins and feathery ostrich trim; a long pleated chiffon dress in a rainbow of eye-popping blues, and a long dress awash in what looked like shiny, tiny gold coins.

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There were sparkly cape dresses, off-the-shoulder gowns and even a few nautical references, such as sailor-style tops, in a nod to the good old days of luxury travel.

Launch Gallery: Jenny Packham Resort 2023

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Click here to read the full article.
Margo Jefferson, who has worked a half-century as one of the more formidable and composed critics of American culture, watched the city unwind from the back seat of an SUV. We moved slowly through traffic, maneuvering from the Loop to Wicker Park. She doesnt get back here often anymore. She grew up in Hyde Park and Bronzeville but her parents, who loom large in her story and feel present in her everyday poise, died; her older sister, the ballet dancer and Ailey School director Denise Jefferson, died from ovarian cancer in 2010. There is something melancholy in having ones immediate family all gone, seeing many of their friends gone, much of their world gone, she said.

Her Chicago is full of ghosts now.

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Here, the Fine Arts Building, where she studied dance as a child; there, the shells of long-passed Chicago department stores where her mother, a socialite, once shopped. And those are just tangible haunts. She writes in Constructing a Nervous System, her recently published second memoir, about the Chicago actor Janice Kingslow, who died in obscurity. They never met, but Jeffersons mother knew Kingslow, and as Jefferson recounts in the book, her mother and friends were having lunch in a downtown restaurant in the 1970s when a frail, sallow woman approached their table and stood waiting till they grew silent. None of you remember me, do you? she asked the women.

Slowly, the name returned.

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Here was Janice Kingslow, their sorority sister, but also, Janice Kingslow, the Evanston native and light-skinned Black actor once offered a Hollywood contract on the condition that she would change her name and pass as white on screen. Kingslow would not, and then wrote about the experience (I Refuse to Pass) for a 1950 issue of Negro Digest; a decade later, she wrote bluntly for Ebony about her mental health problems. She cofounded a local theater company, the DuBois Players, and starred on Broadway; she worked in the PR department of NBC and Provident hospital on Washington Park, where Jeffersons father ran the pediatrics department. Kingslow performed regularly on progressive Chicago radio shows and was eventually blacklisted during the Red Scare. By 1963, just four years after that essay on her nervous breakdown, Kingslow was already popping up in Whatever Happened to ... columns.

This story of Kingslow appearing like a specter in a Chicago restaurant became part of family lore, Jefferson told me. Even now, I do think of her and what could have been.

She haunts me, she does.

Jefferson published her first criticism in 1973, titled Ripping Off Black Music, for Harpers; by 1995, after years of covering theater and literature for the New York Times, she won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. At 74, her latest act is being a memoirist, but she remains very much a critic. Only now, turned inward. If her first memoir, the 2015 bestseller Negroland, was about growing up in Chicagos midcentury Black bourgeoisie and learning to present oneself, Constructing a Nervous System considers the cultural markers of a life that coalesced into the many voices of Margo Jefferson. She imagined a nervous system. But not the standard biological one.

We reach Semicolon Bookstore in Wicker Park, where Jefferson agreed to sign its stock of her books. Jefferson takes a seat at a small table in the center of the store and digs in. Then she glances up at the bookshelves and notices Viola Davis new memoir.

Viola! she says. That face is in every airport in America right now.

She signs a book, slaps its cover shut and returns briefly to Kingslow.

See, history didnt have time for Janice, but it had time for her descendants. Im haunted (by her), I think, because of my generational positioning. I was thinking of how my opportunities and choices, compared with her generations, and how manners and modes shaped it, but also, now, there is a centrality to Black art and Latinx art and queer art that absolutely never existed. Which is progress, but when I came along, I was the first woman of any race reviewing books at Newsweek. So Im interested in my reactions to the plenitude younger people have. But when am I envious? Stiff-necked?

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The critic and memoirist Margo Jefferson discusses her latest book, "Constructing a Nervous System," at the University Club of Chicago on June 16, 2022. (Victor Hilitski / Chicago Tribune)

Constructing the Nervous System  which shoves aside old ideas about memoir as mere biography, wrote The Washington Post  is a cultural disassembling of Jefferson, so that the person can be better understood. It gets at something glossed over in many biographies  the way an artist is a pastiche of other artists and works, good, bad and mysterious. We forget the origins of ourselves are often more modest than we let on, she said. We assemble and remake our sensibilities, take and reject cultural markers even when they are inept or morally ugly. While writing Negroland, she became more aware of how closely she overlapped with the artists she grew up revering and writing about. Musicians like the pianist Bud Powell drew her back to her father, who owned a large collection of jazz LPs; she could explore an intimacy with dance through Black athletes. She considered her fascination with minstrels, joining it with a long love of Bing Crosby: Everybody needs a minstrel man, and Black women like me have finally won the right to ours. Oprah had Dr. Phil. Condi had George Bush. I have Bing Crosby.

It is both personal history and personal appraisal.

I had not fully realized the influence of Black men, she told me. DuBois, Ellington, Marvin Gaye  I adored them and took it for granted. I didnt realize how far you could move in the world, how conquering you could be, even as a Black man, who still had a license few women had. I had ambivalence about Ike Turner, who was a monster toward Tina Turner, even as hes an important figure. I wanted to get at the unholy alliance of what we love even as it makes us squeamish. In one of the most bracing bits, she strings together a visit to the Art Institute and Jules Bretons painting The Song of the Lark with a love of Willa Cather and her novel of the same title; then, while teaching the book at Columbia University, she sees white skin fetishism in Cather, lack of room for Black figures. She wants her class disappointed  As Id had to be, time and time again, in a lifetime of reading white writers.

Jefferson grew up in one of few Black families living in Hyde Park in the 1950s. Her first memoir is partly a portrait of a cloistered world of expectations and appearances. The first line of Negroland reads: I was taught to avoid showing off. Jefferson and her sister attended the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago. When she asked her mother if they were upper class, her mother replied: Were considered upper-class Negros and upper-middle-class Americans. But most people would like to consider us Just More Negros. If anyone asked if they were rich, she was to explain that they were comfortable.

When we talk, that sense of a presentation is still there. Her hands skate in the air as she talks and a certain old-world formality pops. She drops a verb like partake into casual conversation, and there is no sweat in the usage. She is, she agrees, theatrical.

She had wanted once to be an actress; after college at Brandeis University, she joined late 60s experimental theater troupes. But she didnt have the range, or the stamina for rejection.

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"Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir" by Margo Jefferson. (Pantheon)

Still, that voice, with its fondness for stage directing, remains in her writing: Dont pity him, she instructs the reader on Powell, whom she dubs a genius-monster  a genius through practice, a monster through cop beatings, medications, liquor, breakdowns, electroshock treatments, heroin and forced confinements in mental institutions. Her memoirs are full of lists and lines crossed out and boldfaced type. But also, questions about the memoir as a road map to memories and connections and deep conjectures.

I learned, in a funny way, I was becoming a critic of myself and how I questioned my own criticisms, she said. I was more suspicious and insistent of my own assumptions.

She found her harsh assessments of Sammy Davis Jr. now lofty and contemptuous. Not that I was wrong! He just needed more. On Ella Fitzgerald, she digs into why, as a child, she was so bothered by the fact that the jazz legend would dare to perspire on TV.

Oh my, now this is ... sublime, Jefferson said, walking into the library of the University Club of Chicago. It was hosting an onstage conversation with Chicago-based literary critic Donna Seaman. This is, whoa, exquisite, she continued, as she moved into the long dignified room overlooking the Art Institute and beyond, Lake Michigan. They would talk here before leadership from Chicago Public Library, book clubs, club members. Its the kind of wood-polished elegance you imagine her growing up around.

When a question is raised about keeping the chat on time and efficient, she offers to race back to her hotel room and grab her watch. No, no, no, shes told, not necessary.

OK, but I can, she said.

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On the page, shes less decorous, though getting there wasnt easy. She had to grow into the ability to be less accommodating and gracious. When I started straight out of (graduate school at Columbia University, where she teaches now), I felt my voice muted and that I need to be fearless in opinions, which was not how I was raised. As she wrote of herself in Negroland, Jefferson had come to feel that too much had been required, so she would have her revenge. As she told Seaman that night at the event, ironically enough, she found inspiration in her mother and her mothers friends reactions to Gone With the Wind, which they saw eagerly despite reservations about its depiction of Black Americans. They took from it what they wished, she said. And they left her with the spirit of owning her opinions: I have my mind, my skills, my intelligence, my sense of humor. I am an equal participant in this culture and I will do with it what I wish.

Then, as if scrutinizing her own self-empowerment, she offered one more ghost: Her grandmother Lillian McClendon Armstrong Saunders Thompson, who left a husband because he wasnt ambitious enough, who started as a playground supervisor in Chicago and then worked her way to precinct captain. Who owned real estate and was involved in Chicago politics. When she died, her last words had been: Im so tired. So tired.

In a journal Jefferson kept in the 1970s, she wrote that she asked herself what was the right way to honor a Black grandmother who didnt want to be just another tired Black grandmother (and had an early death to show for it.) She felt tired for her grandmother, yet imagined her grandmother would push back: Have you earned the right to be tired?

cborrelli@chicagotribune.com
John Hinckley Jr has apologised for a 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan and claimed he cant remember what was going through his mind as he fired on the president.

Mr Hinckley, 67, told CBS Mornings in his first televised interview since he was granted a full release this month that he was deeply remorseful for the shooting.

I feel badly for all of them. I have true remorse for what I did, Mr Hinckley said.

I know that they probably cant forgive me now, but I just want them to know that I am sorry for what I did.

On 30 March 1981, Mr Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Reagan and also shot then-White House press secretary James Brady, as well as a Secret Service agent and a Washington police officer.

He had read a newspaper article that President Reagan would be speaking at the Washington Hilton, and had a delusional obsession with wanting to impress the actor Jodie Foster.

Going back to that day, Mr Hinckley said he recalled President Reagan walking out of the hotel after giving a speech.

Ronald Reagan pictured moments before the assassination attempt (Getty Images)

And I was right there, and I fired shots at him, which so unfortunately hit other people, too.

Mr Hinckley said he was suffering delusions and depression that had left him divorced from reality.

Asked about his emotions on the day, he said he cant remember whet he was feeling and doesnt want to.

Its such another lifetime ago. I cant tell you now the emotion I had right as (President Reagan) came walking out. I cant tell you that, he said.

Its something I dont want to remember.

Now living in Williamsburg, Virginia, he says that nowadays he is not just some crazy person and wants to show people he is kind of an ordinary guy.

Mr Hinckley was acquitted by reason of insanity and spent the decades before his 2016 release in a Washington psychiatric hospital.

He was granted a full release this month from court supervision.

Mr Hinckleys attempts to launch a career as a touring musician have stumbled after several concert venues cancelled upcoming performances.

The Market Hotel, in Brooklyn, New York, said the show had antagonised many people and the risk of violence was too much of a gamble.

Associated Press contributed to this report
By Lizbeth Diaz and Kylie Madry

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -A Mexican reporter was killed Wednesday in one of the country's most violent northern border states, authorities and his employer said, the latest in a series of attacks in one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.

Antonio de la Cruz, a journalist for local newspaper Expreso, was shot and killed in his home in the Tamaulipas state capital Ciudad Victoria, the paper said.

His death is the second of an employee at the outlet following his colleague Hector Gonzalez's murder in 2018, according to human rights organization Article 19.

Tamaulipas is a Gulf coast state, just south of Texas, where violent drug cartels fight over lucrative smuggling routes. Local journalists who focus on crime and corruption are especially vulnerable.

Expreso has been the target of several attacks in the past, Article 19 said. In 2012, a car bomb exploded in front of the paper's offices, and in 2018, a severed head was left in a cooler outside.

"It's believed that the attack was a message of intimidation and a threat against all (journalists) in Tamaulipas," Article 19 regional director Leopoldo Maldonado told Reuters.

De la Cruz's death follows the murders of at least eight other media workers in Mexico this year as a result of their journalism, according to Article 19.

The journalist's daughter was also injured in the attack. Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca said on Wednesday afternoon she was in critical condition.

"We're not going to stop until we find those responsible, and we're going to punish them with the full weight of the law," the governor said.

The Tamaulipas attorney general's office said in a news conference late Wednesday the gun used to kill de la Cruz was a .40-caliber pistol, which is used exclusively in the country by the army. It said it had not ruled out the involvement of organized crime, however.

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De la Cruz's family members have been enrolled in the state's protection program, Attorney General Irving Barrios said.

Violence against the media has skyrocketed during Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration, according to a report published by Article 19.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire, Lizbeth Diaz and Kylie Madry; Editing by David Gregorio and Christopher Cushing)
A Mexican reporter was shot dead on Wednesday in the violence-plagued northeastern state of Tamaulipas, according to the newspaper Expreso where he worked.

Antonio de la Cruz was the 12th journalist killed so far this year in Mexico, which is on course for one of its deadliest years yet for the press.

He had frequently denounced alleged acts of corruption by politicians in his posts on social media.

"Faced with this new act of violence, the publishing group Expreso-La Razon demands justice from authorities at all levels," the newspaper said.

De la Cruz's daughter was injured in the attack in Ciudad Victoria, it added.

Tamaulipas state legislator Gustavo Cardenas, who was close to the journalist, told the Milenio television station that De la Cruz's wife was shot in the head.

More than 150 journalists have been murdered since 2000 in Mexico, one of the world's most dangerous countries for the media, with only a fraction of the crimes resulting in convictions.

The victims are often reporters working for local media in states riven by drug cartel-related violence.

The United States and the European Parliament have urged Mexico to ensure adequate protection for journalists following the recent string of killings.

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Kate Garraway said she and her husband Derek have had to relearn to be a couple after she became his carer. (Good Housekeeping/Hearst)

Kate Garraway has said she and husband Derek Draper are relearning how to be a couple again.

The Good Morning Britain presenter  who cares for her husband at home as a result of his long battle with coronavirus  admitted her relationship with 54-year-old Derek had been forced to change after she became his carer.

Garraway, 55, told Good Housekeeping magazine: When you nearly lose someone, it certainly brings everything into sharp focus. In many ways, were still learning how we are as man and wife, as so much has changed.

Read more: Kate Garraway 'exhausted' and 'fretful as Derek is 'in and out of hospital'

"Its the same for the children  theyre having to relearn the experience of being with their dad. And, of course, the biggest learning is for poor Derek.

The TV presenter  mother to 12-year-old son Billy and 15-year-old daughter Darcey  was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.

Kate Garraway has been caring for husband Derek Draper at their home following his battle with Long COVID. (ITV)

Garraway revealed she hopes when she is officially awarded her MBE Draper, who she married in 2005, will be well enough to join her at the ceremony.

She said: "I do feel theres room for celebration, though, and my hope is that if we do eventually have a ceremony, Derek will be further along in his recovery and we can go together. That would be wonderful.

Garraway said her experiences over the past two years had taught her to live more in the moment.

Kate Garraway is the cover star of Good Housekeeping magazine. (Good Housekeeping)

She said: "I really try to seize those moments because when you do, you realise that life is just a collection of moments  and finding more good ones than bad ones is probably the secret to it all."

The former I'm A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing contestant recently admitted feeling the strain as Derek has undergone a series of hospital visits.

She told her 1.1m Instagram followers: "So Derek has been in and out of hospital a lot recently -hopefully the wonderful health teams will help him improve but I woke up early feeling exhausted and very fretful."

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She also shared an update on her husbands health in ITV documentary Caring For Derek.

Kate Garraway and her husband Derek Draper married in 2005 and have two children. (Getty Images)

Revealing the day-to-day reality of being a carer, she showed her home piled with mountains of laundry from seven bed changes a day.

Draper is bed-bound after contracting coronavirus in March 2020 and has been left with significant brain injuries.

Garraway previously revealed Draper last year travelled to Mexico to take part in a new medical trial.

He returned to the family home in April 2021 and requires round-the-clock care.

Read more: Kate Garraway says she didn't receive an MBE for looking after Derek

Caring For Derek is the follow-up to Garraway's award-winning ITV documentary about Finding Derek charting his return home and the whole family's adjustment to his round-the-clock care.

Watch: Kate Garraway thanks nurse who cared for husband Derek Draper live on GMB
A man wanted out of Nashville, Tenn., for shooting a police officer was killed by Kentucky State Police Tuesday evening, according to multiple Tennessee police departments.

Samuel Edwards, 34, had been on the run since Monday after shooting a Hendersonville, Tenn., police officer during a vehicle pursuit near Nashville. Hendersonville police said Edwards fled from a traffic stop and fired multiple shots at officer Cameron Ferrell during the pursuit, ultimately hitting Ferrell.

Ferrell was released from the hospital and recovering from home, police said.

Nashville police said Edwards abandoned the minivan he used during the shooting and stole a pickup truck Monday night. That truck was recovered by police in Millersville, Tenn., Tuesday, according to police.

Its unknown how Edwards got to Louisville, but Nashville police confirmed he was killed after a shootout with Kentucky State Police. State police confirmed theyre investigating the incident.
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine praised NATO on Wednesday for taking a "clear-eyed stance" on Russia and for inviting Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance, and called for an "equally strong and active position on Ukraine" to protect Euro-Atlantic security.

"Today in Madrid, NATO proved it can take difficult, but essential decisions," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

"We welcome a clear-eyed stance on Russia, as well as accession for Finland and Sweden. An equally strong and active position on Ukraine will help to protect the Euro-Atlantic security and stability."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address to the NATO summit in Madrid that his country needed more advanced weapons and money to defend itself against Russia following its invasion on Feb. 24.

NATO leaders agreed at the summit to formally treat Russia as the "most significant and direct threat to the allies' security", according to a summit statement.

Andriy Yermak, chief of the Ukrainian presidential staff, welcomed the message NATO had sent on Russia.

"Russia will not defeat Ukraine - Russia is going to be defeated. That's the message @NATO member states repeatedly emphasize at the summit. Ukraine and its allies must win this battle for democracy," he wrote on Twitter.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Jun. 29Tuesday's Primary Election features races for important seats, from U.S. senator to county commissioner.

As preliminary results begin to roll in after polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, check in here for live updates on Oklahoma races. All numbers are unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board.

Governor

Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt will face Democrat Joy Hofmeister in the Nov. 8 general election. Here's how all candidates fared Tuesday:

Republicans

* Moira McCabe: 3.35%

* Joel Kintsel: 14.34%

* Kevin Stitt (incumbent): 69.06%

* Mark Sherwood: 13.26%

Democrats

* Connie Johnson: 39.25%

* Joy Hofmeister: 60.75%

U.S. Senator (unexpired term)

Republican candidates Markwayne Mullin and T.W. Shannon will face off in a runoff. The winner will meet Democrat Kendra Horn, Libertarian Robert Murphy and Independent Ray Woods at the Nov. 8 General Election.

Here's how each Republican candidate fared:

* Michael Coibion: 0.35%

* Nathan Dahm: 11.27%

* Jessica Jean Garrison: 1.71%

* Alex Gray: 0.86%

* Randy Grellner: 4.41%

* Luke Holland: 11.27%

* Adam Holley: 0.52%

* Laura Moreno: 1.84%

* Markwayne Mullin: 43.63%

* Scott Pruitt: 5.04%

* Paul Royse: 0.25%

* T.W. Shannon: 17.54%

* John Tompkins: 0.65%

U.S. Senator

Three Republicans and six Democrats are vying for the chance to head to the General Election. Libertarian Kenneth Blevins and Independent Michael Delaney will go straight to the Nov. 8 General Election.

As of 8:30 p.m., both races have been called:

Republicans: The Associated Press has called the race for Incumbent James Lankford.

* Joan Farr: 5.79%

* Jackson Lahmeyer: 26.38%

* James Lankford (incumbent): 67.83%

Democrats: The Associated Press has called a runoff between Madison Horn and Jason Bollinger.

* Arya Azma: 7.03%

* Dennis Baker: 13.78%

* Jason Bollinger: 16.78%

* Jo Glenn: 12.99%

* Madison Horn: 37.18%

* Brandon Wade: 12.25%

U.S. House District 4 Representative

The Associated Press has called District 4 for incumbent Tom Cole. Cole will face Democrat Mary Brannon in the Nov. 8 General Election.

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With 223 of 362 precincts reporting:

* Frank Blacke: 3.24%

* Tom Cole: 69.77%

* James Taylor: 26.99%

House District 44 Representative

With all precincts reporting, Jared Deck has taken the Democratic primary over opponent Kate Bierman. Deck will face Republican R.J. Harris in the Nov. 8 General Election.

* Kate Bierman: 35.45%

* Jared Deck: 64.55%

House District 45 Representative

With all precincts reporting, Teresa Sterling has taken the Republican race. Sterling will face Democrat Annie Menz in the Nov. 8 General Election.

* Dave Spaulding: 48.92%

* Teresa Sterling: 51.08%

House District 46 Representative

With all precincts reporting, Kendra Wesson has taken the Republican primary over two opponents. Wesson will face incumbent Rep. Jacob Rosecrants in the Nov. 8 General Election.

* Sassan Moghadam: 11.88%

* Nancy Sangirardi: 20.53%

* Kendra Wesson: 67.59%

Cleveland County Commissioner District 1

With all precincts reporting, incumbent Rod Cleveland has taken the Republican race. He will face Independent Matthew Peacock in the Nov. 8 General Election.

* Rod Cleveland (incumbent): 66.40%

* Ron Henderson: 33.60%

Cleveland County Commissioner District 3

Two Republicans and two Democrats are vying for nominations in Tuesday's District 3 race.

Republicans: With all precincts reporting, Rusty Grissom has defeated incumbent Harold Haralson.

* Rusty Grissom: 53.53%

* Harold Haralson (incumbent): 46.47%

Democrats: With all precincts reporting, Mo Vaughn has taken the Democratic race.

* J.D. Krohmer: 41.84%

* Mona "Mo" Vaughn: 58.16%
A woman is evacuated by emergency responders from the Bataclan concert hall after the 2015 shooting in Paris. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press)

The lone survivor of a team of Islamic State extremists was convicted Wednesday of murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison without parole in the 2015 bombings and shootings across Paris that killed 130 people in the deadliest peacetime attacks in French history.

The special court also convicted 19 other men involved in the assault following a nine-month trial.

Chief suspect Salah Abdeslam was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise. The court found that his explosives vest malfunctioned, dismissing his argument that he ditched the vest because he decided not to follow through with his part of the attack on the night of Nov. 13, 2015.

The killings at the Bataclan concert hall, cafes and the national stadium led to intensified French military action against extremists abroad and a security crackdown at home.

Abdeslam, a 32-year-old Belgian with Moroccan roots, was given France's most severe sentence possible. The sentence of life without parole has only been pronounced four times in the country  for crimes related to rape and murder of minors.

Of the defendants besides Abdeslam, 18 were given various terrorism-related convictions, and one was convicted on a lesser fraud charge. They were given punishments ranging from suspended sentences to life in prison.

Arthur Denouveaux, who survived the Bataclan massacre, appeared tired but relieved the trial was over.

I hope to be able to put the word victim into the past, he said.

When things like this happen, you have no repair possible. Thats why you have justice, he said, even if justice cant do everything.

He added: It puts an exclamation point at the end of it.

During the trial, Abdeslam proclaimed his radicalism, wept, apologized to victims and pleaded with judges to forgive his mistakes.

For victims families and survivors of the attacks, the trial has been excruciating, yet crucial in their quest for justice and closure.

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For months, the packed main chamber and 12 overflow rooms in the 13th century Justice Palace heard the harrowing accounts by the victims, along with testimony from Abdeslam. The other defendants are largely accused of helping with logistics or transportation. At least one is accused of a direct role in the deadly March 2016 attacks in Brussels, which also was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The trial was an opportunity for survivors and those mourning loved ones to recount the deeply personal horrors inflicted that night and to listen to details of countless acts of bravery, humanity and compassion among strangers. Some hoped for justice, but most just wanted to tell the accused directly that they have been left irreparably scarred, but not broken.

The assassins, these terrorists, thought they were firing into the crowd, into a mass of people, said Dominique Kielemoes at the start of the trial in September 2021. Her son bled to death in one of the cafes. Hearing the testimony of victims was crucial to both their own healing and that of the nation, Kielemoes said.

It wasnt a mass  these were individuals who had a life, who loved, had hopes and expectations, she said.

France was changed in the wake of the attacks: Authorities declared a state of emergency and armed officers now constantly patrol public spaces. The violence sparked soul-searching among the French and Europeans, since most of the attackers were born and raised in France or Belgium. And they transformed forever the lives of all those who suffered losses or bore witness.

Presiding Judge Jean-Louis Peries said at the trial's outset that it belongs to international and national events of this century.  France emerged from the state of emergency in 2017, after incorporating many of the harshest measures into law.

Fourteen of the defendants were in court, including Abdeslam. All but one of the six men tried in absentia are presumed killed in Syria or Iraq; the other is in prison in Turkey.

Most of the suspects were accused of helping create false identities, transporting the attackers back to Europe from Syria or providing them with money, phones, explosives or weapons. Abdeslam was the only defendant tried on several counts of murder and kidnapping as a member of a terrorist organization.

Not everyone is a jihadi, but all of those you are judging accepted to take part in a terrorist group, either by conviction, cowardliness or greed, prosecutor Nicolas Braconnay told the court in closing arguments this month.

Some defendants, including Abdeslam, said innocent civilians were targeted because of Frances policies in the Middle East and hundreds of civilian deaths in Western airstrikes in Islamic State-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq.

During his testimony, former President Francois Hollande dismissed claims that his government was at fault.

The Islamic State, this pseudo-state, declared war with the weapons of war, Hollande said. The Paris attackers did not terrorize, shoot, kill, maim and traumatize civilians because of religion, he said, adding it was fanaticism and barbarism.

During closing arguments Monday, Abdeslams lawyer Olivia Ronen told a panel of judges that her client is the only one in the group of attackers who didnt set off explosives to kill others that night. He cant be convicted for murder, she argued.

If a life sentence without hope for ever experiencing freedom again is pronounced, I fear we have lost a sense of proportion, Ronan said. She emphasized through the trial that she is not providing legitimacy to the attacks by defending her client in court.

Abdeslam apologized to the victims at his final court appearance Monday, saying his remorse and sorrow is heartfelt and sincere. Listening to victims accounts of so much suffering changed him, he said.

I have made mistakes, its true," he said. "But I am not a murderer, I am not a killer."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
On living in a shelter to prepare for "Gimme Shelter": 'My character was kind of loosely based on this one girl. She stayed in the shelter, and I went and stayed for about two weeks before we started filming and just got to know her and her whole life story and become best friends with her son.  I feel like once I got into her mind and got to see her dreams and what she actually cared about, it just really set the tone for the whole project."
By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Mali vowed on Wednesday to defy a United Nations Security Council call for the West African country to allow freedom of movement for peacekeepers to investigate human rights abuses.

The council extended a nine-year-old U.N. peacekeeping operation - known as MINUSMA - for another 12 months on Wednesday with 13 votes in favor, while Russia and China also objected to the rights mandate of the mission and abstained.

Mali's military took power in a 2020 coup and has cut ties with former colonial power France as a Russian private military contractor, Wagner Group, steps in to help with a decade long battle against militants.

MINUSMA says it has documented 320 rights violations by Mali's military between January and March.

"Mali is not in a position to guarantee the freedom of movement for MINUSMA's inquiries without prior agreement of the government," Mali's U.N. Ambassador Issa Konfourou told the council. "Mali does not intend to comply with these provisions despite them being adopted by the Security Council."

He said Mali was responsible for investigating any human rights violations.

"MINUSMA must be able to get access to the areas affected in order to carry out its mandate and to publish quarterly reports on human rights. The perpetrators of violations must be brought to justice," said French U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere.

The most notable case being investigated by MINUSMA is in the town of Moura, where witnesses and rights groups say the Malian army accompanied by white fighters killed scores of civilians they suspected of being militants.

Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva described the human rights language in the resolution adopted on Wednesday as "intrusive," adding that it "will not help to ensure that the Malians enjoy their sovereign right to protect their own citizens and to investigate any incidents."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
A man attacked inside a Target store fired a gun to try to stop the beating, North Carolina officials said.

But the three people kept assaulting him and took his gun on Tuesday, June 28, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.

Officials reported being called at about 8:30 p.m. to a disturbance with weapons. While responding to the Target on Hanes Mall Boulevard, police cleared the store and didnt find a shooting victim, according to a Twitter post.

Later, a 25-year-old came to a hospital and told officials that three men had attacked him at the store. He reportedly had minor injuries and hadnt been shot during the incident, which police believe wasnt random.

In an emailed statement, Target referred questions to police but said three people were in an altercation when a weapon was fired at the Hanes Mall location.

Our team immediately evacuated the store and the Winston-Salem Police Department quickly responded, company spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo wrote on June 29. The store has since reopened and were assisting law enforcement with their investigation.

Officers said the man was inside the Winston-Salem store when three people started beating him. He was hit in the head and fired his gun once to try to ward off the group, according to police.

The suspects reportedly continued attacking him, took the mans gun and ran out of the business. After the incident, officers located evidence inside the store that indicated a struggle had occurred in the back of the store, the police department wrote in a news release.

Now, police are seeking clues about the people accused of assaulting the man. All three men left in a smaller white car that might have an Ohio license plate, officials said.

Anyone with tips is urged to contact Winston-Salem police at 336-773-7700 and Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800 or in Spanish at 336-728-3904. People can also submit information online or through the Text-A-Tip Program.

The attack was reported weeks after a shooting inside nearby Hanes Mall. A 26-year-old and a 16-year-old faced charges in the May 10 case, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

14-year-old cheerleader killed after dispute spills outside Walmart store, TN cops say

Man accused of peeping into Target dressing room to take pictures, SC cops say
Netflixs new No 1 film The Man From Toronto has been lambasted by viewers on social media.

The comedy-thriller stars Kevin Hart as a sports instructor who is mistaken for an assassin.

Woody Harrelson plays the assassin himself, the so-called Man from Toronto who becomes entwined in the mistaken-identity caper.

The Man from Toronto has risen to No 1 in the Netflix film rankings, although reactions to the film on Twitter have been distinctly mixed.

Is it just me or is The Man from Toronto one of the worst films ever made? one person asked. What a stinker.

I walked out of The Man From Toronto. Which was unusual as I was watching it on Netflix, another joked.

I just finished watching A Man from Toronto and Im legit angry for wasting my time, someone else complained.

The Man from Toronto was terrible, another viewer wrote. And KevinKevin Hart loves playing the same role: a naive, simpleminded, incompetent, goofy man with a gorgeous, successful, loving wife.

Others, however, were far more positive, with some praising the films comic tone and Harts performance.

Just watched The Man from Toronto. Honestly, Kevin Hart is awesome is all I can say. Fantastic movie, one person commented.

Woody Harrelson as The Man From Toronto and Kevin Hart as Teddy (Sabrina Lantos/Netflix)

I just finished watching The Man from Toronto and I enjoyed it abeg. I dont understand why you guys hate the movie, another wrote.

The Man From Toronto is an extremely silly & wacky action/comedy with Kevin Hart doing his usual shtick and Woody being Woody, for those exact reasons at some point during the film I started to get on board with it, someone else wrote. If you turn off your brain its ridiculous fun.

Its not the first time viewers have complained about a film that has topped the Netflix rankings. Earlier this month, Interceptor rose to the No 1 spot despite viewers branding it as awful.

The Man from Toronto is available to stream on Netflix now.
Washington, DC is the capital of the United States and a popular tourist destination. Many people travel to the District of Columbia to learn about American history and its influence. In addition, the city is recognized for its famous monuments and world-class museums that tell the story of how America came to be.

Things to see and do in Washington, DC

DC is one of the best places to explore Black history and culture. The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial is the first memorial to honor a Black person at the National Mall. And the National Museum of African American History offers excellent insight into the plight of Black Americans throughout American history.

One of the top things to do in DC is to visit the Arlington National Cemetery, located across the Potomac River. Many people visit the site to pay their respects to those who died during various wars.

Also, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Korean War Memorial are popular destinations that honor fallen soldiers of war by telling some of their unique stories.

Dining

DC boasts plenty of restaurants and bars that serve delicious local and international cuisines. Old Ebbitt Grill is Washingtons oldest saloon, established back in 1856. The restaurant offers classic American meals, including roasted chicken, meatloaf, and steak dinners.

DC is also known for its food trucks, like Roaming Rooster, which serve some of the best fried chicken sandwiches in town.

If youre traveling to DC with limited time, you can still see all of Washington, DCs best sights and sounds. The capital city offers several day tours that can catch you up to speed on its history and culture in no time. And the metro station is one of the best ways to quickly travel through the city while on a budget. Here are six must-see destinations to explore with one day in DC:

The White House

Rene DeAnda

The White House is arguably the most famous landmark in America. As the home of the president and first family, the White House is the truest representation of the American government.

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The White House Visitor Center features a collection of more than 100 historical artifacts, interpretive panels, and archival footage. You can also pick up a few items to take home at the White House Historical Association, a retail souvenir shop.

To tour the White House, you can submit a request through a member of Congress and their Congressional Tour Coordinator. Visits are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, so remember to plan for your trip by visiting the official website for more information.

DC's Lincoln Memorial

JaCorie Maxwell

The Lincoln Memorial is a famous landmark that holds much cultural and historical significance. This is especially true for Black Americans who may recognize the memorial as the place where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech.

Built in 1922 by architect Henry Bacon, the memorial pays homage to the 16th U.S. president Abraham Lincoln for his efforts in defending democracy. Today, the towering landmark stretching nearly 100 feet high acts as a symbol of equality for all.

The steps leading up to the memorial are a popular attraction featured on television shows and in movies. And inside the monument are carved inscriptions that detail Lincolns second inaugural address and his famous Gettysburg address.

The National Mall of DC

When people think of a mall, department stores, retail shops, and food courts typically come to mind. But the National Mall in Washington D.C. is not your run-of-the-mill shopping center. Instead, its a lush, green national park that includes many famous and historical landmarks such as the U.S. Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, and the National Gallery of Art.

As the most visited park in America, there are plenty of things for tourists to see and do. You can explore nature and animals at the Natural History Museum and Culture or learn about the holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Or, to cover it all in a short time, you can take a ride on the Big Bus Tour for fantastic views of the park.

The Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is one of the most famous landmarks in the entire country. Made from white marble and granite, the monument is a popular attraction to take pictures of. It was completed in 1884 to pay homage to the first president of the United States, George Washington. And because it stretches to nearly 555 feet, its become the tallest predominantly stone structure and obelisk in the world.

Because its so tall, it makes for one of the best places for tourists to see the city. Visitors can enter the monument and take an elevator to its top floor for an incredible view of the nations capital.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum

Enrique Alarcon

The Smithsonian Art Museum, also called SAAM, is one of many Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. The art museum is a popular tourist attraction that houses an array of classic and modern works of art. Many of its galleries and exhibits feature several Black artists, including Benny Andrews, Ellis Wilson, and Lois Mailou Jones. The museum even offers a number of exhibitions dedicated solely to Black art.

You can also take a walking tour of the site hosted by a tour guide. Or, if you prefer to explore at your own pace, SAAM also offers self-guided tours via your smartphone.

Washington DC's National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum is a great place to learn about the history of aviation and spaceflight. The space museum is home to more than 600,000 rare and historical artifacts, including aircraft engines, spacesuits, and technical drawings. In addition, there are a number of exhibits to explore, both in-person and online.

Guests can watch a live demonstration of the science behind aircraft technology and flight mechanics. And for a comprehensive experience, the museum offers guided tours to guests who want to learn more about aviation.

The site is currently under construction due to renovation until the fall of 2022. So be sure to check the official website for more updates to plan your visit accordingly.

Related: One Day In Tokyo: What To See And Do
The House hearings on the Jan. 6 riots have cast an unflattering spotlight on Mark Meadows, dealing one blow after another to the former Republican congressman-turned-White House chief of staff.

Many revelations from the Jan. 6 hearings have reflected poorly on Meadows, but no testimony has been as damaging as that of Cassidy Hutchinson, who on Tuesday depicted a man who spent key moments leading up to the violence on Jan. 6 scrolling through his phone and declining to intervene at key moments.

Chris Whipple, who authored a book on White House chiefs of staff, wrote an op-ed in January 2021 declaring Meadows the worst chief of staff of all-time. Whipple said in an interview Wednesday that Hutchinsons testimony only solidified Meadowss claim to the dubious title.

We didnt know the half of it until yesterday when Cassidy Hutchinson testified, Whipple said. And what we now know is he wasnt just a sycophant or missing in action when he should have been telling the president hard truths, he was a co-conspirator.

Hutchinsons testimony was the latest indication that Meadows and other senior staff at the White House were aware of the risk of violence on Jan. 6, but did little to try to temper former President Trumps tone or step in to keep things from reaching crisis mode.

Hutchinson on multiple occasions on Tuesday portrayed Meadows as seemingly uninterested in the risk of violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. She recounted telling Meadows on Jan. 2, 2021, about Rudy Giulianis description that Trump would be up at the Capitol on the 6th looking powerful.

Meadows was scrolling through his phone and did not look up, Hutchinson testified, but said something to the effect of, theres a lot going on, Cass, but I dont know, things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6.

In another bit of damaging testimony, Hutchinson recalled then-deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato informing Meadows how many people were gathered near the White House for Trumps Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse and how some in the crowd were carrying weapons.

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And I remember distinctly Mark not looking up from his phone, Hutchinson testified.

On the afternoon of Jan. 6, Hutchinson said Meadows had been sitting in his office as rioters closed in on the Capitol. Once again, she walked in to find Meadows scrolling silently through his cell phone, she said, and indicating he had not talked to Trump because the president wanted to be alone.

I remember thinking in that moment, Mark needs to snap out of this, and I dont know how to snap him out of this, but he needs to care, Hutchinson told the House panel in a closed-door deposition that aired during a Tuesday hearing.

More broadly, testimony and evidence presented by the House committee investigating the riots over the past month has painted Meadows as an enabler who did not discourage Trump from pursuing baseless theories around election fraud or overturning the election, and in some instances encouraged the former presidents impulses.

Hutchinson testified that she heard Trump believed he would be able to go to the Capitol after his Jan. 6 speech because Meadows gave him that impression.

Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen testified last week that Meadows had called him to ask him to investigate a baseless conspiracy theory that people in Italy had used satellites in the 2020 election to switch votes from Trump to Joe Biden, a request Rosen refused.

Meadows was present for the lengthy January 2021 call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pressed for Raffensperger to find the nearly-exact vote total needed to flip the state in his favor.

Marc Short, former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, told CBS News on Sunday that Meadows appeared to be telling different audiences different things after the 2020 election.

Mark would often say to me that he was working to try to get the president to concede and accept the results of the election. And at the same time it was clear he was bringing in lots of other people into the White House that were feeding the president different conspiracy theories, Short said in an interview with Face the Nation.

In the day since Hutchinson testified publicly, some former Trump administration officials have privately expressed doubts about her recollection of certain events.

Sources close to the Secret Service told some news outlets Tuesday night that Ornato and Robert Engel, the special agent in charge of Trumps detail on Jan. 6, disputed Hutchinsons account that Trump lunged for the steering wheel of a presidential vehicle and then at the agent when he was told after his speech on the Ellipse that day that he could not go to the Capitol.

George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing Meadows, said he believed Hutchinsons testimony would not withstand a basic cross examination and, if that is correct, it is unlikely to stand the test of time either.

But those who have interacted with Meadows in the past viewed Hutchinson as a credible witness, particularly on matters related to the former chief of staff.

I dont know Cassidy Hutchinson, and I cant speak to how things worked at the White House, but when Meadows was on the Hill he always insisted that she be in *every* meeting he had, no matter how small. It was odd then, and doesnt seem to be working out for him now, Brendan Buck, a former aide to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), tweeted on Tuesday.

Mick Mulvaney, who served with Meadows as a member of the Freedom Caucus and later served as Trumps acting chief of staff before being replaced by Meadows, tweeted during Tuesdays hearing that there was probably no one closer to Meadows than Cassidy Hutchinson. As a [special assistant to the president] and the principal aide she would be familiar with just about everything that Meadows did/said/heard.

Hutchinsons final piece of testimony on Tuesday, that Meadows raised the possibility of a pardon with Trump, could only heighten attention on the former chief of staff in future hearings.

Meadows has defied a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots, with the matter now caught up in the courts. The Department of Justice late last month said it would not prosecute Meadows for contempt of Congress despite the House referring him for criminal charges for defying the select committees subpoena.

But some observers believe Hutchinsons testimony ups the stakes for Meadows, who may face greater legal exposure based on what the committee has learned and is sharing with the public.

One thing is clear in my mind: Meadows will get indicted for his failure to appear, Mulvaney tweeted. My guess is that ultimately he shows.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Charles McQuillan / Getty Images

Meghan Markle has revealed that Prince Harry was outraged by the June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, saying His reaction last week was guttural, like mine.

Markle was speaking in an interview with Vogue magazine, in a conversation with Gloria Steinem and journalist Jessica Yellin. Her comments about her husbands opinions are likely to attract attention in the U.K., where members of the royal family are supposed to remain inscrutable in their views on political matters, especially when it comes to the affairs of non-British jurisdictions.

There has recently been controversy in the U.K. over private comments allegedly made by Prince Charles, who is reported to have described as appalling a new British policy of deporting some migrants to Rwanda while their cases are working their way through the legal system.

Even though Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, have officially left the ranks of working royals, Harry is still sixth in line to the throne, a claim he has not renounced, and continues to have constitutional significance as a counsellor of state who can act for the queen in event of her incapacity.

In the Vogue feature, which is illustrated by a black and white photograph of Meghan, she said: Men need to be vocal in this moment and beyond because these are decisions that affect relationships, families, and communities at large. They may target women, but the consequences impact all of us. My husband and I talked about that a lot over the past few days. Hes a feminist too.

Steinem responds: YesI can testify to that since I met him before I met you. He was at a big meeting I attended and he was advocating for peoples rights.

Meghan added: And his reaction last week was guttural, like mine. I know that for so many women right now, there is a sentiment of despair. But again, we have to band together and not wallow. We have to do the work.

When you have anger, you have to channel that energy into something that makes a difference. Thats what activism is. Its about how we show up -Meghan Markle



Gloria Steinem, Meghan Markle, and Jessica Yellin in Voguehttps://t.co/eIhRufI9fg pic.twitter.com/4kRDvHi3pH  MERITOCRATICIST #LH44 (@Meritocraticist) June 29, 2022

Meghan, in her most overtly political comments since she married Harry, said the ruling was a blueprint for reversing rights. The ruling is a signal about the future of same-sex marriage, contraception access, and many fundamental rights to privacy. It feels like the tip of the iceberg and is part of why people feel so scared.

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Meghan also directly urged Americans to vote in the November midterms. Asked if womens rights were an issue she wanted to tackle, Meghan said, Absolutely. Being home, seeing whats happening in our country and feeling energized and motivated, if this is the type of legislation that we need pushed through, then this is a moment that I am absolutely going to show up for. Not just because its what we need as women, but its what we need as people.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP)  A journalist was shot to death Wednesday in northeastern Mexico as he was leaving his house with his 23-year-old daughter, who was seriously injured, according to state prosecutors and the newspaper that employed him.

Antonio de la Cruz, 47, was a reporter for the local newspaper Expreso for almost three decades. His death brings to 12 the number of journalists killed this year in the country, the deadliest for the Mexican press.

De la Cruz was shot at the door of his house in Ciudad Victoria, capital of the state of Tamaulipas on the U.S. border. The region is mired in violence linked to organized crime.

Expreso covers all kinds of news in the city, including security issues. De la Cruz reported on rural and social topics such as water shortages.

He also covered the Movimiento Ciudadano political party and its local deputy, Gustavo Cardenas Gutierrez, who condemned the killing.

De la Cruz was very aware of the reality of Tamaulipas, very brave, Miguel Dominguez, director of the newspaper, said in an interview with Milenio Television.

He never expressed any concern to us, Dominguez said.

Expreso has been targeted over the years. In 2012, one of the worst years of drug cartel violence, a car bomb exploded in front of the newspapers building. In 2018, a cooler with a human head inside was left at the newspaper, with a warning not to report on violence in the city.

The governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, promised an investigation of the killing Wednesday so that this cowardly crime does not go unpunished.

The state prosecutors office said that the specialized unit for investigating crimes against freedom of expression had been informed. The federal prosecutors office said it was opening an investigation.
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Money Heist and season 1 of Money Heist Korea.

Seon Woo-jin (Kim Yun-jin) has a lot to deal with in Money Heist: Korea  Joint Economic Area.

The heist team at the center of international hit Money Heist's new Korean iteration has their hands full, but it's negotiator Woo-jin who is spinning the most plates. While trying to bring the heist to a peaceful end, she also has a sick mother, a custody battle with her powerful ex-husband, and a budding relationship with Park Sun-ho, the identity the Professor (Yoo Ji-tae) uses to get close to Woo-jin and the mastermind behind the heist.

Money Heist Korea

Jung Jaegu/Netflix Kim Yunjin as Seon Woojin and Kim Seung-o as Cha Moohyuk

Some may argue that it's too soon to remake Money Heist, but the new version has additional layers to the story that set it apart. Like the original, Money Heist Korea is about a band of thieves brought together by a mastermind calling himself the Professor to pull off an epic heist. The new series is set in the near future, where North and South Korea are unifying. The timing of the heist purposefully takes place after the unification is announced, but before many people have come around to the idea. Not only does this add tension throughout the series, both in the task force and in the bank, but it also means the world is watching this unfold for more than the spectacle that high-profile crimes became through media.

"In the task force itself, we have North Korean ways and South Korean ways," Yun-jin tells EW. "It adds another really tense layer, which makes everything a little more complicated and is a lot more fun as actors to play." We see these complications in the tension within the task force and the bank when Berlin separates the North Korean and South Korean hostages to get control of them. He intends to play on the tension that exists.

We can also see the added political and cultural layer in Woo-jin's evolving relationship with Captain Cha Moo-hyuk (Kim Sung-oh). The pair begin by butting heads and eventually grow to trust one another. Part of that advances the story, specifically when Captain Cha believes she is the mole helping the Professor, but there is more to it. While Yun-jin says the show is not intending to be political at all, their journey mirrors the difference between countries deciding to unify and the people living in the two countries accepting it. "There is that realistic level of if we as North Koreans and South Koreans, even if there is unification, how long will it take for people to open their hearts?" she explains. "You get a taste of how people might build relationships in that sense through their teamwork." Part 1 ends with Captain Cha visiting the Professor, so you can expect the two officers to continue to build their relationship moving forward.

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Money Heist Korea

Jung Jaegu/Netflix

Woo-jin has an uphill battle to close the case after the Professor's crew hits the mint. Not only is the task force made up of North and South Korean officers, but she is a woman in a man's world and all of the underestimation that comes with it. That makes her desire to end the situation with negotiation, and not violence, even more difficult. "My character believes in solving this peacefully. Not with force, but with words and ideas," Yun-jin says.

Another change from the original Money Heist is the makeup of Seon Woo-jin's family. Unlike Raquel from the original series, Woo-jin has an ex-husband who is also an influential political figure. We see some of their custody battle in the first batch of episodes, but he will also become a force working against her at work. "In part two, he becomes another obstacle in her way to solving this as peacefully as possible," she says. "That was such a smart change we made in the Korean version of the story."

The biggest obstacle in Woo-jin's way is the one she isn't aware of: that the Professor is masquerading as her new boyfriend as part of the heist. The Professor has put together this intricate plan, but it was essential to Yun-jin that her character's intelligence not get lost in the story. "It was a real ping pong game," she says about Woo-jin's battle with the Professor. Yun-jin was worried about how Seon Woo-jin would come across, because everyone knows she is being duped except for her. She alleviated that by not making eye contact with the Professor in their romantic scenes. "Whenever he was winking to the audience, or it was obvious, I was not watching him at all. I didn't want for a second for Woo-jin to be making eye contact with him then," she explains.

By the end of the first part, we see the love the Professor and Woo-jin share. It's first clear when she seeks him out after making a huge mistake by getting the director of the mind shot and an incident with her sick mother. "That's sort of this moment where this new boyfriend is an escape for her, room to breathe and to be a real person," she explains. She also declares her love for him when pressed by Captain Cha about when her new suitor entered her life. Woo-jin developing strong feelings is an understandable byproduct of the Professor pretending to be her boyfriend. Still, it's a big mistake on his part as the heist's mastermind.

Money Heist Korea is just getting started. The second part will introduce a new character that is very different from the original story, which will be interesting for fans of the original Money Heist. Yun-jin teases that the second part will be more thrilling and exciting, and she cannot wait for viewers to see what's next.

The first six episodes of Money Heist: Korea  Joint Economic Area are now streaming on Netflix.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

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The NATO logo is pictured during a panel discussion prior to the NATO alliance summit in London, Dec. 3, 2019. Credit - Tobias SchwarzAFP/Getty Images

When, in 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron warned NATO risked becoming braindead, objections were pro forma rather than passionate. President Donald Trump had just pulled American forces out of northern Syria without consulting the bloc, from which he had repeatedly threatened to withdraw. Fellow NATO member Turkey invaded north-eastern Syria soon after, displacing hundreds of thousands. Speaking with The Economist, Macron expressed serious doubts that NATOs Article 5which declares that an attack on one member nation is an attack on allstill applied.

Fast forward a few years and the fate of Europe hinges on NATO more than any time since the fall of the Soviet Union. Even historically neutral nations like Sweden and Finland have applied to join the bloc, seeing Article 5 as their best guarantor of security and sovereignty. At a landmark summit in Madrid on June 28-30, NATO unveiled a new once-in-a-decade Strategic Conceptits broad mission statementamid a radical beefing up of defenses, raising its Rapid Response Force from 40,000 to more than 300,000 troops. Russia, unsurprisingly, was picked out as the most significant and direct threat to Allies security, though Chinasome 3,700 miles from the Atlanticwas also named as a source of systemic challenges. On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden also announced increased American troop deployments across Europe. NATO is strong and united, Biden said.

Read More: The 2022 NATO Summit Could Be the Most Important in Recent Decades. Heres Why

Its a remarkable rebirth spurred by Russian President Vladimir Putins Feb. 24 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which ripped up the international order and put European nations on high alert. But even earlier, NATOs role had swelled to match Putins belligerence. Before he annexed Crimea in 2014 a, NATOs eastern members hosted no foreign troops. Afterward, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland received small battle groups of around a thousand each to symbolically ensure that any Russian aggression would be against NATO forces, too, thus triggering a full-scale response.

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Building on these symbolic deployments, discussions at Madrid involve expanding these defenses into brigades that can actually repel a Russian invasion. NATO is also discussing a comprehensive assistance package to train and equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, four new battle groups are being established in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, reflecting a growing focus toward the Black Sea region. NATO members collectively are seeing a radical boost of defense spending.

Its unlikely this is what Putin envisaged when he ordered his tanks into Ukraine. Its also something of a paradox, since NATOs expansion in recent years fed Putins paranoia, providing a ready excuse to invade a sovereign neighbor. As unjustified as that escalating bloodshed remains, Putin can point to several red lines crossed. Now, the bloc is expanding its remit under U.S. direction to include containing a resurgent Chinanotably, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand attended Madrid as observers for the first time. The risk is that past missteps may be repeated yet again: in 1919, after the end of World War I, Hitler leveraged German anger regarding onerous World War I reparations to justify his Third Reich. With Russia already calling the expansion deal destabilizing, some wonder whether a more powerful NATO risks cleaving the world into antagonistic factions.

NATOs shifting mission

NATO was founded amid the Cold War in 1949 by North American and European allies on a basis of mutual military assistance in the event of aggression by the Soviet Union, which had its equivalent Warsaw Pact group of allies. Despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO has since undergone five stages of expansion, while engaging in military operations in the Balkans, Middle East, and Africa.

Following the Soviet collapse, NATO and Moscow frequently cooperated. Russia was instrumental in helping NATO negotiate an end to the 1992-1995 Bosnia War and then joined the peace accord implementation force. Still, its telling that Russia refused to have its troops serve under NATO Command, instead officially deploying under U.S. Commanda fudge since U.S. General George Joulwan was commander for both.

Read More: Japan and South Koreas Attendance at the Upcoming NATO Summit Could Worsen Global Tensions

Given its founding mission, Russia always remained suspicious about NATO expansionespecially regarding Ukraine. When NATO was negotiating to admit Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary in 1997, it was made explicitly clear to Russia that Ukraine was off-limits, says Robert Hunter, U.S. Ambassador to NATO at the time. It was fully understood by everybody that Ukraine would not be in NATO. Hence, we had a NATO-Ukraine charter, which codified the relationship between the bloc and a nation that was always intended to be outside.

Victoria Nuland, current U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, had her first meeting with a senior Russian official named Vladimir Putin a year later. My memory of that first meeting in 1998 [is that] Putin was still in the place of, maybe a different kind of Russia and a different kind of NATO could be aligned, she tells TIME.

Several rounds of NATO expansion continued thereafter, during which the Kremlin grumbled but basically bit its teeth. Putin served two terms as President before temporarily handing the reins to his longtime ally, Dmitry Medvedev, who in 2008 proposed a new European Security Treaty into which NATO members and Russia could be subsumed. However, the Bush Administration rejected it wholesale. I thought [that] was a mistake at the time, frankly, says Nuland. We should have just talked, even if it was just to keep the conversation going.

Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland testifies during a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee June 20, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. T Alex WongGetty Images

Hunter is more blunt: Beginning in 2008, people in power in Washington decided Russia lost the Cold War so screw them, which was stupid, he says. President George W. Bush attended a NATO summit in Bucharest that year proposing an action plan for Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO. Other members were aghast, cognizant of the clear red lines that would cross by including former key Soviet states to NATO. But to save George Bush from looking stupid when he went home, says Hunter, they added the phrase: [Ukraine and Georgia] will become NATO members to the summit declaration]. Adds Hunter: But everybody knew it really meant never.

Nevertheless, at every NATO summit thereafter, this addendum was repeated like a self-fulling prophecy. Putin used this for his own purposes, says Hunter. But we stupidly played into his hands.

On Nov. 21, 2013, Ukrainians led enormous protests at Maidan Square in Kyiv against the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovychs sudden decision not to sign an association agreement with the E.U., instead choosing closer ties to Moscow. The protests continued for three months. Nuland, then Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, was controversially seen glad-handing protesters and even handing them cookies. Then a phone conversation between Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, during which the pair discussed preferred candidates for a post-Yanukovych administration, was leaked online, presumably by Russian agents. It led Putin to accuse the U.S. of sponsoring a coup in Ukraine, which he later twisted to justify his annexation of Crimea.

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Putin repeated this accusation during the press conference following his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva in June 2021. At that meeting, Putin bore the hallmarks of his COVID-19 isolation, say observers. His team arrived on a different airplane, didnt see him before it started, and complained quite openly to their U.S. counterparts that they didnt get much briefing time. So [Putin] was already his own consigliere then, says one source present.

By November, Russias full-scale invasion plans for Ukraine were picked up by U.S. intelligence amid a huge troop build-up on Ukraines borders. Nuland was among those charged with talking Putin down. In the very first conversations after we caught wind of Russias plans, [we affirmatively] say nobodys putting offensive [weapons] in Ukraine [that threaten Russia], she says. And we also say to him that were not going to slam the door to NATO, but theyre not getting in anytime soon. So whats the problem?

Some speculate Putins war in Ukraine was an attempt to solidify his position domestically, or to cement his political legacy, and NATO expansion provided a convenient pretext. You never knew with Putin, says Nuland, whether this narrative of grievance was politically expedient for him because he needed the external enemy to justify the arms build-up, to justify keeping the military busy, to have an enemy to explain why we couldnt get along. Or whether he actually believed it. Or the third variant: that it was politically expedient at the beginning and then he talked himself into it.

Read More: How NATO Is Responding to Russias Invasion of Ukraine

After all, China by any measure is a more immediate threat to Russiagiven the long shared border and Chinas increasingly potent army. Yet today, Russia and China have declared themselves friends without limits. American historian Timothy Snyder, writing in The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, says that the West was chosen as an enemy precisely because it represented no threat to Russia.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) leaders at a meeting room on day two of the NATO summit at the Ifema Congress Center in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Valeria MongelliBloomberg/Getty Images

The New NATO

In Madrid, NATOs new Strategic Concept attempts to clarify policy on several global issues, such as climate change, cyber-security and the militarization of space. The new Strategic Concept confirmed that Article 5 did not only apply to overt military kinetic force, but could also be invoked for cyber attacks, attacks from space and hybrid campaigns, such as cutting off energy and spreading disinformation. NATO has wrestled with these things over recent years, but never have come to a declared definition, in part because nothing has ever been that intense, says Hunter.

But the priority in Madrid is how to end the war in Ukraine and ensure such bloodshed cannot happen again. On Wednesday, Finland and Sweden were invited to join NATO after Turkey dropped its objection after the two nations agreed to clamp down on the activities of alleged Kurdish separatists operating within its borders. I think theyll join within 2022, says Nuland. And they will be welcomed with open arms.

Both nations have significant and powerful militaries. The addition of Finland also adds 830 miles of NATO border to Russia, effectively making the Baltic Sea a NATO lake, says Stuart Crawford, a defense analyst and former Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are calling for NATO divisional headquarters to be stationed in each country alongside more munitions and heavy weaponry.

In the short term, at least, theres little sign this expansion is lowering the temperature. Lithuania is currently in conflict with Moscow about Russian supplies having been denied access to Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave sandwiched between it and Poland, in compliance with E.U. sanctions. Estonia has reported repeated incursions by Russian military helicopters into its airspace in recent days. On June 25, Putin threatened that he might give Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally, Russian nuclear weapons and nuclear-capable missiles.

Most tellingly, however, NATO will continue to refocus its attention on China. The attendance of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand as observers in Madrid affirms this shifting remit. Beijings backing of Russia has naturally sharpened a focus on China. Yet analysts are split whether this is a positive development. NATO in the last five years spent a lot of time talking about China, but were they really ready when Russia invaded a neighbor? says Lyle Goldstein, director for Asia engagement at the Washington D.C.-based Defense Priorities think tank and a visiting professor at Brown University. Its a fair critique.

Crawford says that NATO may have failed to prevent conflict in Europe but this is because no member has yet been attacked. You could look at Putins attack on Ukraine as the preemptive strike to stop Ukraine joining NATO, which would leave him in an even weaker position, he says.

Still, that naturally raises the question of how Beijing might retaliate should the U.S. continue drawing its Asian neighbors closer to NATO. At the Shangri-la Dialogue security summit in Singapore on June 11, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III insisted we do not seek a new Cold War, an Asian NATO, or a region split into hostile blocs. But when Asian security becomes chiefly about containing China, just like European security became purely about deterring Russia, that is exactly what risks manifestingthat Beijing decides they are so isolated by Western security architecture that they have no choice but to try and destroy it. The closer South Korea and Japan align with NATO, the closer China is certain to align with Russia, says Goldstein.

For Hunter, its a risk of the lessons of history being forgottenand not for the first time. Back in the 1990s, world leaders knew nothing is going to work if you push Russia away, says Hunter. You dont want to do what happened to Germany in 1919. It was very clearly understood. That is, until it wasnt.
Ishmael Ali wears many musical hats: composer, guitarist (in the bands Jeraf and Errata) and co-founder of a recording space in North Lawndale.

But its his most recent instrument  cello  that has become an all-out obsession.

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I used to organize some concerts, and Fred Lonberg-Holm played on one of them. I was like, Oh, you can make those sounds on a cello? Ali remembers, referring to the improvising cellist who was a cornerstone of Chicagos experimental music scene for years. (Lonberg-Holm has since relocated to upstate New York.)

I havent been able to put it down since. And I might as well see how far I can go on it.

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Now, Ali is one of several artists exploring the cellos expressive potential, seemingly converging on Chicago overnight. Some have more or less returned here after sojourns in other cities  like Tomeka Reid, long a stalwart of Chicagos free jazz scene, and Helen Money, the stage name of rock musician Alison Chesley. Others are brand-new arrivals, like olula negre, a resident artist at the venue Elastic Arts who co-curates its AfriClassical Futures series.

Coincidence or not, Chicagos influx of cellists hasnt gone unnoticed.

I feel like so many people have just been popping up. How did we go from three cellists to, like, 30? Ali says.

Katinka Kleijn can affirm that impression. A cellist who plays in the Chicago Symphony and on the citys improvised music circuits, shes lived here since 1995 and remembers when Chicagos cello improvisers more or less started and ended with her, Lonberg-Holm and Reid. Now, she enthuses about the citys younger cello guard, many of whom shes shared bills with.

Everybody in the scene is remarking regularly, like, Whoa, there are so many cellists here right now, she says. But the cello really is a perfect instrument for improvising. You can be the bass, you can be the main voice, you can play chords, you can do pizzicato (plucking strings), you can play extended techniques  The instrument is wood and metal, so you can join the percussion, too. If you think about it, theres really nothing like it in an improvised or jazz setting.

Kleijn regularly teams up with Lia Kohl, another cellist in the city who takes an expansive, performance-art-inspired approach to the instrument. (For an entree to her all-over-the-map output, Kohls debut solo album Too Small to be a Plain and last years Our Savings, with clarinetist Zachary Good and percussionist Ryan Packard, are good starting points.) In 2019, Kleijn and Kohl staged their collaborative piece Water on the Bridge, a performance that saw them play, scrub and wade with 30 damaged or disrepaired cellos in the Eckhart Park Pool. I attended that performance; the spectacle was unforgettable, as was the strangled scream an audience member made when Kohl chucked the first cello into the pool.

That visceral reaction sums up what Chicagos mad scientists of the cello are contending with. Despite the versatility Kleijn describes, the cello is mostly associated with Western classical music  a pigeonhole traditionally sidestepped, for whatever reason, by its violin and double bass siblings. One is taught to approach the instrument like a sacred object, not to be defiled by incorrect technique or ugly sounds.

Cellist Lia Kohl plays with one of her groups, Honestly Same, as part of Compound Yellow's Side Yard Sounds series in Oak Park on June 24. (James C. Svehla / Chicago Tribune)

Every cellist I spoke to  save Ali, who is self-taught  talked at length about unlearning the single-mindedness of classical music pedagogy, a process still ongoing for many of them.

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I feel like classical music needs you not to have a body. Bodies have limits, but Ive had very few teachers account for that. By the time I finished my masters, I had tendonitis in multiple places, says olula negre, the Elastic Arts fellow and curator.

Since then, my relationship with the instrument has changed  it had to if I wanted to keep playing. A big part of it was freeing myself from there being a right and a wrong way to play the instrument. The right way is the way that works for my body and accomplishes the sound or technique that Im looking for.

Reid, who entered the orbit of the South Sides Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians after moving here two decades ago, similarly had her classical training tested in the free jazz scene.

I was trying to learn standards and basslines with my mentor, but nobody wanted to deal with tunes. If you were on a gig and tried to quote something, people wouldnt musically bomb you, meaning they would blast you out all the sudden. They really wanted you to create your own language, Reid says.

Even now, thats ingrained in me, because I hadnt tried to, like, memorize a bunch of licks. Its an interesting vantage point, I think.

Cellist Lia Kohl plays with one of her groups, Honestly Same, as part of Compound Yellow's Side Yard Sounds series in Oak Park. (James C. Svehla / Chicago Tribune)

A soon-to-be-graduate of Northwestern Universitys doctoral program, composer and cellist Mathew Arrellin writes music in the same Western classical tradition he learned from an early age. But he says self-directed explorations on the instrument were the biggest inspirations for Bifurcations and Apparitions, the two 2018 solo cello pieces he recently recorded and released on his debut album, Metasomatic.

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Even then, I felt there was so much I didnt know about the cello, so I started improvising to find something more personal to try. There was so much ground to explore: Like, what happens if I put my finger here and leave the other string open? Now, touching both strings? What about putting more pressure on the lower string than the upper string, then reversing that? I almost went through it like a researcher, Arrellin remembers.

Chesley, the cellist who performs as Helen Money, also went through Northwesterns exacting Bienen School of Music. But she felt she met her group of people among other rock musicians, outside the cloistered Evanston campus, and ultimately abandoned her degree to hit the road with alt-rocker Bob Mould (of Husker Du and Sugar). Now, as a cello teacher who maintains a private studio and a class at Old Town School of Folk Music, Chesley says she tries to be mindful of how she teaches her students, who are mostly beginners.

All the musicians I admire have a good sound. I feel like thats where everything has to start, Chesley says. Thats what I try to teach my students. I dont teach them how to play rock, and I dont really teach how to improvise. But I do teach technique, and how to get a good sound on your instrument.

A March 2019 performance of "Water on the Bridge" by Katinka Kleijn and Lia Kohl at Eckhart Park Pool in Chicago. (Todd Rosenberg/ Todd Rosenberg Photography)

So, give it a few years. Maybe even more inspired cellists will take up these artists mantle. One thing is certain: Its something Reid, who moved here in 2000, would have never imagined.

It was kind of lonely for a while, for sure, she says. Its very cool that theres a lot more string players in general, and especially more cello improvisers. I havent even met them all yet.

Upcoming performances and albums

Ishmael Ali plays with Vivary 9 p.m. June 29 at Cafe Mustache, 2313 N. Milwaukee Ave., pay what you can, cafemustache.com, and debuts his interactive composition Archipelago Sept. 9 at Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave. #208; elasticarts.org

plays with Vivary 9 p.m. June 29 at Cafe Mustache, 2313 N. Milwaukee Ave., pay what you can, cafemustache.com, and debuts his interactive composition Archipelago Sept. 9 at Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave. #208; elasticarts.org Helen Money plays a solo set 8:30 p.m. July 3 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., $20, emptybottle.com, and releases Trace (Thrill Jockey) in January 2023.

plays a solo set 8:30 p.m. July 3 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., $20, emptybottle.com, and releases Trace (Thrill Jockey) in January 2023. Katinka Kleijn performs with reedist Hunter Diamond and bassist Jason Roebke 8:30 p.m. July 28 at Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave. #208, pay what you can, elasticarts.org

performs with reedist Hunter Diamond and bassist Jason Roebke 8:30 p.m. July 28 at Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave. #208, pay what you can, elasticarts.org Lia Kohl performs Aug. 19 at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.; constellation-chicago.com; 7 p.m. Sept. 1 at Comfort Station, 2579 N. Milwaukee Ave., pay what you can, comfortstationlogansquare.org; and releases The Ceiling Reposes (American Dreams) in spring 2023.

Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.

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The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music coverage. The Chicago Tribune maintains complete editorial control over assignments and content.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KPGE)  The names, addresses, and license types of every Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit holder in California were exposed as part of a data breach suffered by the state Department of Justice, according to the Fresno County Sheriffs Office.

Officials say the California State Sheriffs Association informed the Fresno County Sheriffs Office about the data breach impacting those with a permit to carry a concealed weapon, which followed the publication of the states 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal on Monday. At the time, state officials described it as improving transparency and information sharing for firearms-related data.

Sheriffs Office officials say the information released included the CCW holders name, age, address, Criminal Identification Index (CII) number and license type (Standard, Judicial, Reserve and Custodial). The information included every CCW holder in the state.

Subway employee fatally shot over too much mayo on sandwich, police say

In response to the information being released, Fresno County officials say the state disabled access to the website hosting the data  but there are concerns that the information was copied and remains in circulation on social media and other parts of the internet. It is unknown how long the information was publicly accessible on the Department of Justices website.

Officials add that the State Attorney Generals Office is working to determine the size of the breach and it plans to contact the CCW holders directly to advise them of the situation.

The Fresno County Sheriffs Office asks that anyone who is aware that their identity was compromised as a result of the data breach to file an online report.

In a statement, the California Department of Justice wrote that it is investigating an exposure of individuals personal information connected to the DOJ Firearms Dashboard, adding that any unauthorized release of personal information is unacceptable.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received Communion on Wednesday during a papal mass in St. Peter's Basilica, according to the Associated Press. She took Communion more than a month after the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco said she could no longer receive the sacrament because of her stance on abortion access.

Pelosi took communion from a priest in a section of the iconic church during the feast of St. Peter and Paul, the AP reported. Pope Francis, who was in attendance at the mass, met with Pelosi and gave her a blessing. A photo shows Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, greeting the pope.

Pope Francis greets Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) before the mass of Saint Peter and Paul, in St Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. / Credit: VATICAN MEDIA

Pelosi met with Vatican officials and Rome-based Americans for an Independence Day-related event at the residence of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Tuesday evening and spoke about her Catholic faith.

"Faith is an important gift, not everyone has it but it is the path to so many other things," she told the crowd, according to AP.

Despite her faith, Pelosi has openly advocated for abortion rights and recently spoke out about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade  the 1973 landmark decision that established the right to an abortion.

"This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching," she said Friday. "But make no mistake: the rights of women and all Americans are on the ballot this November."

US' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attends a mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29, 2022 at Saint-Peter Basilica in the Vatican. / Credit: TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images

When a draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe was leaked in May, Pelosi at the time vowed to keep fighting to enshrine Roe into law. Her stance then drew a response from Salvatore Cordileone, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, who wrote a letter informing her she can no longer receive the sacrament of Communion because she has not backed down from her push for abortion access. San Francisco is in Pelosi's home district.

CBS News reached out to the Archdiocese of San Francisco for comment.

The pope continues to uphold the church's opposition to abortion. However, Francis has told President Biden  another Catholic who supports abortion access  to keep receiving Communion during his October visit to the Vatican. The Vatican has not ruled on specifically whether politicians supporting abortion can take Communion in a major teaching document, but the church's in-house canon law says people in situation of persistent sin should not be allowed to receive it, the AP reported.

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Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.

A report released Wednesday by blockchain research firm Nansen draws a straight line from Terra to the sinking price of lido staked ether (stETH). The report also zooms in on Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and Celsius for their dual roles as both catalysts and casualties for the broader crypto market decline.

As crypto markets tumble and firms like Three Arrows Capital and Celsius appear on the brink of insolvency, all eyes have shifted to stETH, a derivative token of ether (ETH). Until recently, both had traded at around the same price.

Widely publicized stETH sales by 3AC, Celsius and others, however, played a role in pushing stETHs price sizably below that of ETH. At press time, stETH traded at a 4% discount to ETH, according to CoinMarketCap.

In its report, Nansen contends that the seeds of stETHs decline were planted long before the wider crypto market crash in early June. Nansens analysis shows how the stETH de-peg can be traced back to the implosion of the Terra stablecoin ecosystem at the start of May.

In pinning stETHs collapse on Terra, the report painted the ill-fated stablecoin project  whose UST and Luna token crashes wiped out $40 billion back in May  as "patient zero" for a crypto contagion that continues to wreak havoc across sector balance sheets.

Patient zero: Terra

Lido staked ether, which represents ether staked on Ethereums proof-of-stake Beacon Chain, has become a key tool underlying the budding decentralized financial ecosystem (DeFi). It enables users to earn rewards for helping to secure Ethereums Beacon Chain  which will soon merge with the networks main network  without losing the ability to trade ether (ETH).

Although the talks about stETH 'de-pegging' have been most present recently, the groundwork for the current situation was laid around one month earlier  during the UST collapse, said Nansen.

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When Terras UST stablecoin was still priced at $1, a popular investment strategy involved moving stETH over to Terras blockchain using Wormhole, a popular bridge for moving assets between chains. Once the stETH was on Terra, it was represented by a derivative token called bETH, which could be deposited into a lending platform called Anchor in order to borrow UST.

This stETH-to-UST transmutation strategy was working well enough until USTs price started to falter. As investor confidence in Terra dipped, Anchor users rushed to claw their bETH out of the platform. From there, they bridged the Terra-based bETH back to Ethereum and converted it back to stETH.

As Nansen explained in its report: From May 7, Wormhole's bETH holdings fell from a peak of 667k to 32k within four days - a 95% drawdown. Similarly, Anchor's vault also experienced an abrupt fall of over 96% from its high of 665k stETH to 26k stETH. This reduction is analogous to flows from Terra to Ethereum, as investors were immediately unwrapping their bETH for stETH after bridging back.

From here, Nansen says many users opted to sell their stETH back for ETH, which had the effect of depressing stETHs price. Most stETH sellers, according to Nansen, dropped their tokens onto Curve  a stablecoin-focused decentralized exchange (DEX). The net stETH buy/sell during this period reveals that a net cumulative of over 169k stETH were sold on DEXs (primarily on Curve), Nansen recounted.

The massive inflows of stETH and outflows of ETH from Curve ended up crashing stETHs price on its largest money market.

Celsius and 3AC

Nansen pointed to Celsius and Three Arrows Capital as the two firms likely to have had the largest impact on decreasing stETHs price in the days following Terras collapse. Their main effect came from decreasing the number of tokens in Curve liquidity pools  buckets of currencies that decentralized exchanges use to facilitate swaps between tokens.

Nansen: On May 12, Three Arrows Capital removed $400m of liquidity (128k stETH + 73k ETH) from the stETH/ETH Curve pool in a single transaction. Meanwhile, Celsius took out $380m of liquidity on the same day in three separate transactions.

Shrinking liquidity pools can contribute to something called slippage, which can make large DEX trades prohibitively expensive. With Curve as the primary market for stETH, Nansen said 3ACs and Celsius withdrawals made it difficult for others to exit their positions due to slippage and skewed stETHs price.

Other participants were also observed withdrawing liquidity, but these two entities were most consequential to the pool's health, the report said.

While they may have contributed to stETHs price dip, Nansens said Celsius and Three Arrows also suffered immensely as a result of stETHs persistent price discount  especially as the broader crypto market collapsed at the start of June.

Celsius, a crypto lender that was at one point a major investor in Terra, has paused customer withdrawals and, according to the The Wall Street Journal, is now facing potential bankruptcy due to a series of failed DeFi bets.

Given the poor market backdrop post-Terras collapse, both pool imbalance and liquidity on Curve for stETH failed to recover; the drying up of liquidity meant that there was no other avenue for significant stETH holders such as Celsius to cover their positions, culminating in the widely publicized events that occurred on June 11-13, Nansen said.

Three Arrows Capital also invested in Terra and was once a darling in DeFi investor circles. It became a pariah this month after failing to pay back creditors  apparently due to questionable risk management practices. On Wednesday, CoinDesk reported that a British Virgin Islands court is forcing the firm into liquidation.

According to Nansen, 3ACs lack of sound risk management coupled with excessive leverage was simply a ticking time bomb that was set off by the stETH de-peg.

Celsius and 3AC are just the latest (and most prominent) casualties in the recent crypto decline. Should stETHs price continue to fall, one should expect to see far more knock-on effects.

Aave

In its report, Nansen said that a number of traders have engaged in high-leverage strategies built atop the assumption that ETH and stETH will trade 1:1.

One popular strategy involves borrowing ETH against stETH on the DeFi lending platform Aave, staking that ETH in exchange for more stETH, and then depositing that new stETH into Aave, and then continually repeating the process. This popular strategy increases the rewards one can receive for staking ether, but it also increases ones exposure to stETH in the event of a price decline.

As Nansen explains, The tradeoff is the build-up of leveraged positions which can be liquidated if stETH trades at a significant discount against ETH, putting the stETH at risk of a potential liquidation cascade when there is enough selling pressure. Once the selling pressure starts to mount, more users will have to sell their stETH to cover their positions, further exacerbating the sell pressure.
Scientists assessing data from Nasas Curiosity Mars rover have found levels of life ingredient molecules in Martian rocks comparable to the amount found in rocks in very harsh low-life places on Earth.

The research, published in the journal PNAS on Tuesday, measured total organic carbon  a key component in the molecules of life  in Martian rocks for the first time.

Organic carbon is carbon bound to a hydrogen atom, and forms the basis for organic molecules that are created and used by all known forms of life.

Total organic carbon is a measurement that indicates how much material is available for the chemistry that sustains life-precursour reactions, and potentially life itself, scientists including Jennifer Stern from Nasas Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, explained.

While organic carbon has been found on Mars before, researchers say prior measurements only produced information on particular compounds, or represented measurements capturing just a portion of the carbon in the rocks.

The new study, they say gives the total amount of organic carbon in these rocks.

The study found at least 200 to 273 parts per million of organic carbon, a quantity that is comparable to or even more than that found in rocks in very low-life places on Earth such as parts of the Atacama Desert in South America, Dr Stern said.

The discovery of organic carbon does not conclusively prove the existence of life on Mars as these molecules can also arise from non-living sources like meteorites and volcanoes.

However, with previous research suggesting that the Martian climate billions of years ago was more Earth-like, scientists say alien life, if it ever evolved on the Red Planet, could have been sustained by key ingredients like organic carbon, if present in sufficient amount.

In 2014, I placed rock samples in my SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument to measure the chemical compounds. After years of careful analysis from my team, they measured the total organic carbon in those Martian rocks for the first time. https://t.co/LeWXQ0nBny  Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) June 28, 2022

In the new study, researchers assessed data from the Curiosity rovers assessment of samples drilled from 3.5 billion-year-old mudstone rocks in the Yellowknife Bay formation of Gale crater, the site of an ancient lake on Mars.

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They found that organic carbon was part of this mudstone material, and other than liquid water and organic carbon, the Martian crater also had other conditions conducive to life, such as chemical energy sources, low acidity, and elements essential for life like oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur.

While results suggest this carbon was largely refractory or mineral-bound in nature, whichattests to its preservation over billions of years, it remains to bedetermined if there is chemical information preserved within itthat pinpoint how it was formed and what processing may havealtered it since deposition, scientists wrote in the study.

Basically, this location would have offered a habitable environment for life, if it ever was present, Dr Stern said.

In the analysis, Curiosity delivered Martian samples to its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) which measured ratios of various forms of carbon atoms called isotopes present in the rocks, that help determine the source of the carbon.

While biology cannot be completely ruled out, isotopes cannot really be used to support a biological origin for this carbon, either, because the range overlaps with igneous (volcanic) carbon and meteoritic organic material, which are most likely to be the source of this organic carbon, Dr Stern added.
Americans are headed into an ugly Fourth of July travel weekend, with 1,800 flights canceled already this week with days left to go.

Airlines are struggling to meet surging demand after pandemic lockdowns and amid pilot and staffing shortages, but they are also accusing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of not having adequate staffing and failing to provide a plan on personnel ahead of the summer holiday.

Consumer groups and the Biden administration, however, are blaming the airlines, which won tens of billions of dollars in stimulus payments during the coronavirus pandemic as flights dried up. The government argues the handouts should have allowed the airlines to keep themselves fully staffed as passengers returned.

For passengers, the bickering foreshadows what could be a miserable travel experience this week and this summer as people seek what are in some cases their first real vacations since 2020 or 2019.

Air ticket prices are on the rise, but so are delays and cancellations, meaning travelers cant be sure theyll get to their destination on time  if at all.

As customer complaints surge, the FAA is pushing back on airlines, pointing to the pandemic relief.

People expect when they buy an airline ticket that theyll get where they need to go safely, efficiently, reliably and affordably. After receiving $54 billion in pandemic relief to help save the airlines from mass layoffs and bankruptcy, the American people deserve to have their expectations met, an agency spokesperson said.

The FAAs criticism of carriers echoes similar complaints from pilots unions, including the Air Line Pilots Association, which wrote in a letter last month that it is clear to all that the airlines have mismanaged this critical relief package, which was specifically designed to make certain that airlines were prepared to meet the increase in travel demand we are experiencing today.

Airlines have defended their decision to furlough workers and offer early retirements to pilots at the height of the pandemic, when minimal demand for air travel crushed carriers finances.

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In response to congressional scrutiny last year, Airlines for America (A4A) told lawmakers that federal COVID-19 aid covered 77 percent of the carriers payroll costs, saving roughly 736,000 industry jobs. But airlines say they were still forced to reduce staff, particularly when federal aid temporarily lapsed in late 2020.

Its not clear that staffing issues will be resolved any time soon. While the industry aims to hire 12,000 pilots this year, the FAA issued fewer than 5,000 pilot training certificates in 2021.

Meanwhile, airlines are pinning some of the blame for passengers travel woes on the FAA, saying the agency is also short-staffed.

The airline industry called on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to request a meeting to discuss the FAAs controller staffer plan for the upcoming July 4 weekend.

The letter from A4A called for Buttigieg to ensure adequate staffing at key FAA facilities and called for the department to release its staffing plan for the July 4 weekend, saying the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shared its plan.

In its letter, A4A singled out FAA staffing issues at its New York and Jacksonville facilities, saying the latter had been understaffed for 27 of the previous 30 days. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby also highlighted those areas as some of the most pressing bottlenecks in an interview with CNN last week.

In response to the letter, the FAA claimed there is no system-wide air traffic controller staffing shortage and told The Hill that staff issues have occurred for a few hours at a few facilities due to COVID-19 and other factors. The agency has argued that it has acted on the issues raised in the letter by adding alternate routes, placing more controllers in high-demand areas and increased data sharing.

Still, the debate over where to place blame for air travel challenges will likely escalate this weekend if Americans face problems at the airport and dont see their flights taking off on time.

Airline staffing, scheduling and weather are the leading causes of delays and cancellations. Even A4A letter admits that, said a source familiar with the debate.

Going into this summer, carriers trimmed their flight schedules in an effort to avoid a repeat of last years delays and cancellations and blunt the impact of soaring fuel costs stemming from Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Experts say that the lighter schedules will help avoid a total disaster during summer travel. But because planes are so packed, travelers will find it difficult to find a replacement flight if their trip is delayed or canceled.

The FAA last week granted United Airlines a waiver to eliminate 50 daily departures from its Newark, N.J., hub beginning on Friday, just in time for the holiday weekend. The airline says more flights were scheduled than the airport could handle due to air traffic control staffing challenges and ongoing construction.

Even though we have the planes, pilots, crews and staff to support our Newark schedule, this waiver will allow us to remove about 50 daily departures which should help minimize excessive delays and improve on-time performance, United COO Jon Roitman said in a memo to employees last week.

Other airlines are attempting to avoid schedule cuts by implementing significant pay increases to retain employees.

Envoy Air, a regional carrier wholly owned by American Airlines, earlier this month increased its new pay for pilots and added an additional 50 percent raise for two years.

And as the airline looks to avoid canceling flights during the upcoming high-demand period, it is now also offering pilots further pay incentives to cover any open trips in July.

As part of the proactive strategy to run a reliable schedule during the peak summer travel season, Envoy is offering pilots triple pay to pick up uncovered trips on their days off in the month of July, an airline spokesperson said. This will only be offered if there are open trips available, and currently Envoy is fully covered with its flight schedule this summer.

Despite fears of more flight delays and cancellations, Americans are expected to be on the move this weekend.

The TSA expects to see a record 3 million passengers on the busiest day this summer, while AAA predicts 3.55 million people will travel by air over the Independence Day holiday, up from 3.5 million people in 2021.

The nation is traveling again, and all of us must work together to ensure the public is safe and that airline travel is efficient, a FAA spokesperson said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson pose with their CBEs, awarded in June 2022. (Getty Images)

The next James Bond film  Bond 26  will not start filming until 2024 at the very earliest says producer Barbara Broccoli.

Talking to Deadline after receiving a BFI Fellowship alongside her step-brother and producing partner Michael G Wilson, Broccoli said "Were reinventing who [Bond] is and that takes time. Id say that filming is at least two years away.

Daniel Craig concluded his tenure as Ian Fleming's 007 with 2021's No Time To Die, leaving Bond's iconic tuxedo vacant for the next incarnation to take over.

Read more: 16 actors who could be the next James Bond

Broccoli added that currently 'nobodys in the running' to replace Craig, and the first step to making the 26th James Bond film is to nail the script.

Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die. (MGM/Universal Pictures/EON)

Were working out where to go with him, were talking that through," the filmmaker disclosed. "There isnt a script and we cant come up with one until we decide how were going to approach the next film because, really, its a reinvention of Bond."

The next person to play Bond will be the seventh actor to portray 007 on the big screen following in the footsteps of Sir Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

Read more: How each actor landed the role of Bond

Daniel Craig was announced as the sixth James Bond in October 2005, with principle photography on Casino Royale starting four months later in January, 2006. Amazon recently acquired film studio MGM, making them co-owners of the 007 film franchise, however Broccoli and Wilson retain creative control over the spy series which celebrates its 60th anniversary later this year.

James Bond actors (from left) Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan arrive for the memorial service for film producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli. (PA Images via Getty Images)

The Bond producers paid tribute to the 'wonderful actors' who have portrayed 007 over the years as they were honoured with BFI Fellowships.

The sister and brother duo, aged 62 and 80, own EON Productions and have produced the last nine films in the beloved spy series.

During an event at Claridges in London, they received the highest honour bestowed by the British Film Institute in front of an audience that included Naomie Harris, who played Miss Moneypenny in the recent Bond films, and Ralph Fiennes, who appeared as spymaster M.

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Read more: James Bond 60th anniversary event announced

Speaking about the longevity of the franchise, Broccoli told the PA news agency Bond is a classic hero.

Sean Connery (center) as fictional secret agent James Bond in a scene from the film Dr. No, directed by Terence Young, 1962. (MGM Studios/Courtesy of Getty Images)

He is out not for his own personal benefit. He is out for Queen and country. He tries to do the best thing, she said.

He is very heroic, and I think people admire that and look up to that. He has some fun along the way, which people enjoy as well.

We have been very, very lucky. We have had the most wonderful actors portraying Bond over the years and we have had a wonderful cast and crew and technicians.

So I think the audiences have just appreciated all the craftsmanship that goes into the films.

Broccoli, the daughter of original Bond producer Albert R Cubby Broccoli, described the franchise as everything to her.

Film producer Albert R. Broccoli, aka 'Cubby' (1909 - 1996) in his London office, September 1980. (Photo by John Downing/Getty Images)

She added: We have been together working on these films for 40 years and I have grown up with them my entire life, so it is really everything.

It is a family, it is a family business, and we consider all the people we have worked with over the years family and extended family.

Wilson said working on the Bond films is more than just a job.

It is a lifetime of involvement, he said.

(L-R) Maryam d'Abo, Timothy Dalton, producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli and Caroline Bliss attend a photocall for The Living Daylights 1987. (Getty Images)

Trying to make films that are entertaining and relevant to what is going on in the world and put Britain on the map.

Broccoli and Wilson were recently honoured with CBEs at Buckingham Palace after being included in the 2022 New Year Honours List.

Together, they have also produced The Rhythm Section starring Blake Lively and several independent film projects including The Silent Storm with Damian Lewis and Radiator featuring Gemma Jones.

Read more: The five best James Bond movies
Nikki Haley is slated to attend a fundraiser in Iowa on Thursday, prompting fresh speculation that the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is eyeing her own presidential bid in 2024.

Haley, also the former governor of South Carolina, will join Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) in the Hawkeye State for a fundraiser on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the planning.

Also on Thursday, Haley is scheduled to attend the Feenstra family picnic, hosted by Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra (R). The congressman announced Haleys attendance last month, writing on Twitter From standing up to China to promoting our American values, she served our country with integrity & vision at home & abroad.

Haley is also spending time in Iowa on Wednesday, attending the Iowa Republican Partys Dubuque Regional Reception. Additionally, she will join Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) for an event in Davenport, Iowa, on Wednesday, according to another person familiar with the planning.

The former ambassadors time in Iowa fuels speculation of a potential 2024 run, as presidential hopefuls commonly visit the first-in-the-nation caucus state before the campaign kicks off.

In April 2021, Haley said she would not run for president if former President Trump decides to launch another bid for the White House.

I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it, she said at a press conference at the time. Thats something that well have a conversation about at some point if that decision is something that has to be made.

The former U.N. ambassador did, however, find herself up against the ex-president earlier this month, when the two GOP figures backed different candidates in a Republican House primary. Haley endorsed Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) for reelection, while Trump backed her challenger, Katie Arrington.

Trump became frustrated with Mace after she criticized him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The incumbent, however, ultimately won the race.

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Haley criticized Trump after the Capitol riot, telling Politico in an interview that he let us down.

He went down a path he shouldnt have, and we shouldnt have followed him, and we shouldnt have listened to him. And we cant let that ever happen again, she added.

Months after, however, Haley said she would not run for president if Trump mounted another bid for the White House.

This week does not mark the first time Haley is spending time in Iowa. Last June, she delivered remarks at the Iowa Republican Partys Lincoln Dinner, which is known to be a large fundraising event for the state party. The gathering typically attracts Republican figures who are eyeing presidential bids.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Norway recommends a booster COVID-19 vaccine dose to those who are 75 years and older in response to a rising number of cases, the government said on Wedneday.

Local municipalities should also plan to be able to offer a booster jab, which for most people would mean a fourth shot, to citizens from 65 years and up and to people with an underlying disease, from Sept, 1, it added.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
OSLO (Reuters) -A number of institutions in Norway have been subjected to a so-called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyber attack in the last 24 hours, the Norwegian NSM security authority said on Wednesday, blaming a "criminal pro-Russian group".

The attacks, which began overnight, targeted private and public institutions offering important services, the agency said, but did not name any of those that were affected.

"We are working to find out whether there is a link with state-sponsored actors," NSM chief Sofie Nystroem later told broadcaster TV2.

"We are quite certain that no sensitive information was taken."

The website of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority was unavailable on Wednesday and Norwegian media reported that it had been among those subject to the attack.

"We've seen similar attacks in other countries recently although none of them have reported any lasting impact," NSM said.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Alison Williams)
MENDON  The chief elected official in the Missouri county where an Amtrak train slammed into a dump truck said Tuesday that residents and county leaders have been pushing for a safety upgrade at the railroad crossing for nearly three years. Meanwhile, the toll from the accident rose to four deaths and 150 injuries.

A day after the deadly crash on Monday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said people were taken to 10 hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious. By Tuesday afternoon, at least 15 people remained hospitalized. The dead  three passengers and the truck driver  have not been identified.

Amtraks Southwest Chief was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it struck the rear of the truck. Two locomotives and eight cars derailed. Amtrak officials said about 275 passengers and 12 crew members were aboard.

More: The Amtrak train derailment in Mendon killed four. Here's what else we know.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer L. Homendy said at a news conference that the truck was owned by MS Contracting of Brookfield, Missouri, and was transporting material to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project nearby.

Homendy said investigators will download recorder information to determine the speed of the train, when the horn was blown and if the emergency brake was deployed. She said some of that information could be released as early as Wednesday. The speed limit at the crossing is 90 mph.

The crossing in a rural area near Mendon in western Missouri has no lights or other signals to warn of an approaching train.

Chariton County Presiding Commissioner Evan Emmerich said in an email to The Associated Press that resident Mike Spencer first brought his concerns about the crossing to a Dec. 2, 2019, commission meeting. He was told to contact the Missouri Department of Transportations Railroad Safety division. A week later, commissioners spoke with officials from the state agency and were told it is on their plans to repair, Emmerich said.

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More: EMS 'should be commended' for response to Amtrak train derailment, says MU trauma director

After that, Emmerich cited other efforts by the commission. They included a March 2021 meeting with a state Railroad Safety division engineer at the crossing site; an email sent to the Railroad Safety division on May 23 to address concerns about visibility at the crossing; and a May 31 call to BNSF Railway, which owns the track, to express our concerns with the visibility issue at the crossing.

In January, the Missouri Department of Transportation submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration its State Freight & Rail Plan plan. It included a proposal to install lights and gates, along with roadway improvements. The project was estimated at $400,000. Typically, the federal government would pay 80% and the county 20%.

This satellite image provided by Maxar shows an Amtrak train, at right, that derailed a day earlier along the rail line and dozens of cars, heavy lift equipment and rescue vehicles positioned nearby Tuesday near Mendon, Mo.

MoDOT spokeswoman Linda Horn said that with limited funds available, it takes a while to get these prioritized. She said the project has received approval in a four-year plan that runs through fiscal year 2026.

BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent declined comment on specific conversations about upgrades to the crossing, citing the NTSB investigation, however, I can tell you that BNSF has a proactive vegetation management program across our network, she said.

Spencer told The Associated Press that he is among several people who have complained that the overgrowth of brush and the steep incline from the road to the tracks makes it hard to see oncoming trains from either direction. Spencer, who grows corn and soybeans on land surrounding the intersection, said the crossing is especially dangerous for those driving heavy, slow farm equipment.

More: Boy Scouts helped administer first aid after their Amtrak train derailed in rural Missouri

Spencer is on the board of a local levee district. He said the dump truck driver was hauling rock for a levee on a local creek, a project that had been ongoing for a couple of days.

Earlier this month, Spencer posted a video on Facebook of the crossing that shows the steep gravel incline leading up to it.

We have to cross this with farm equipment to get to several of our fields, Spencer wrote with the posting. We have been on the RR for several years about fixing the approach by building the road up, putting in signals, signal lights or just cutting the brush back.

A freight train passes alongside a derailed Amtrak train Tuesday near Mendon, Mo. The train derailed after hitting a dump truck Monday, killing the truck driver and others on the train and injuring several dozen other passengers on the Chicago-bound train.

Homendy said passive crossings like the one near Mendon make up about half of all crossings in the U.S. She said there are 130,000 passive crossings nationwide and 3,500 in Missouri.

The NTSB has for years recommended actions such as closing passive crossings or adding gates, bells and other upgrades at passive crossings, Homendy said. She said the agency also has recommended technology to alert drivers to the presence of an oncoming train at crossings such as the one at Mendon that are on an incline.

Lives could be saved, she said.

Kyle Bullard, a 21-year-old student at Lindenwood University in suburban St. Louis, was traveling from a friends home in Kansas City, Missouri, to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a wedding. He fell 10 feet onto his back when his cab tipped over.

Bullard and his friend escaped and returned to help others out of the train, but he said hes still bothered by the image of a woman buried in rubble. He said someone was holding her hand, and he realized he couldnt do anything to help her.

We were grateful because we made it out alive, but were also sad because some people didnt. Were sorry for those families," Bullard said. "Yeah, I survived the train crash and I helped people, but its like, I did also see someone die. So its just like, it is what it is. And Im gonna have to move on from it. But its just gonna be always in the back of my head.

A worker inspects the scene of an Amtrak train that derailed after striking a dump truck Monday near Mendon, Mo.

The incident in Missouri was among three fatal Amtrak accidents since Sunday.

Three people in a car were killed Sunday afternoon when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into it in Northern California, authorities said. Also, on Monday in Detroit, two people died when their vehicle collided with an Amtrak train. Police Chief James White said officers were dispersing drag racers and one vehicle sped away and tried to beat the train.

People have been injured or killed in at least six other accidents involving Amtrak trains since 2015. Last year, three people died and others were injured when an Amtrak derailed in north-central Montana as it traveled from Chicago to Seattle.

Amtrak is a federally supported company that operates more than 300 passenger trains daily in nearly every contiguous U.S. state and parts of Canada. The Southwest Chief takes about two days to travel from Los Angeles to Chicago, picking up passengers at stops in between.

Ballentine reported from Columbia. Associated Press reporters Margaret Stafford in Kansas City and Jim Salter in O'Fallon, contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Upgrades urged at Amtrak train crash site in Missouri, but no action
Dear Amy: Recently, my fiance and I went out with his friend (of 30 years) George, and Georges new girlfriend, Janet.

George went to the restroom. Janet took his seat so we could talk (the venue was loud).

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After some chit chat, Janet reached over and stroked my fiance's face (from his jaw to his temple) without uttering a word.

I was completely shocked.

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My fiance left the table almost immediately to use to restroom himself. Upon his return, he switched his seat to be on the other side of me (not near Janet).

He later told me that he left the table to avoid her, AND that she had also been rubbing up against his leg.

I was beyond furious.

My fiance begged me not to confront her, so we abruptly left.

Initially, I was furious with my fiance for not saying something to her immediately. He said he was so stunned that he just wanted to leave.

The next morning, he told George what Janet did, and said how uncomfortable it made both of us.

George was unfazed, and blamed it on Janets drinking that evening. He has since invited us to other events (with Janet). We have declined and reiterated the reason.

A friend is hosting a Fourth of July party and my fiance wants to go.

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George and Janet will definitely be there.

Do we go? If so, I am most certain I will address this  in person!

What is your take on this? Do you agree that we should keep our distance from Janet?

 Protective Fiancee

Dear Protective: Your fiance's response to this unwanted and uninvited touching is extremely common.

People who have never experienced this sometimes criticize the victim for not speaking up in the moment. But the nearly universal response to this sort of violation is to first freeze  and then to create distance (a smart protective move).

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My take on Janets behavior is that she is a boundary-crosser who believes she can get away with it  in part because she is a woman.

Whether consciously or not, she is counting on a double-standard regarding how people tend to respond when mens physical boundaries are violated.

If your fiance wants to attend this Fourth of July party, then he should! His choice not to let what happened control him is a good one.

Does he want you to confront Janet? If so, then go for it, and enjoy the fireworks.

Your fiance might declare his own independence on Independence Day by addressing this violation, himself. If so, he should be prepared for the typical response from perpetrators: Denial, deflection, diminishing the behavior, and possibly even blaming him for somehow inviting it  which, as everyone knows, he did not do.

Dear Amy: I am one of three daughters-in-law. Ever since the other daughters-in-law came into the family there have been many problems. They all live in our in-laws house. (I dont.)

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One particular daughter-in-law constantly fights with her husband and disrespects his parents.

She is now living with her own parents since her last fight, six months ago.

I tried to help, but by pointing out all that she was doing wrong, I think that I have actually made matters worse.

Her behavior toward family members seems to have improved, although she has not apologized to them. Now shes being negative toward me. I am disappointed that she did not receive my advice in a positive way.

Should I continue to try to reach out?

 C

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Dear C: Nobody likes to have their faults and failings pointed out to them, especially when it is framed as you pointing out all that she was doing wrong.

It seems that the distance has helped to stabilize the situation, which is a good thing.

Intervention is laudable and necessary if you are trying to protect someone.

Otherwise  unless you are asked to weigh in or help, you should probably stand down.

Yes, I do think you should stay in contact with this in-law. Dont rehash everything, but do stay in touch  unless she asks you not to.

Ask Amy Daily No-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from Americas Favorite Advice Columnist for $5. >

Dear Amy: I could not believe your terrible response to Upset Husband, who was lucky enough to have in-laws who wanted to give their daughter money for a house!

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He should be grateful, rather than insulted!

 Unhappy

Dear Unhappy: Many readers advised that this man should essentially take the money and run, but these parents seemed eager to control the couple through their largesse, and I shared the husbands concern.

Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and well send it to her.

Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time  get the book "Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from Americas Favorite Advice Columnist" for $5.

2021 Amy Dickinson.
Voters at the Millwood Field House Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

Oklahoma County voters in Districts 1 and 3 cast their ballots in primaries with some races for county commissioner heading to runoffs while others are bound straight for the general election in November.

In District 1, four Democrats fought for the chance to move on from the primary, while two Republicans faced off. District 3 was a mirror image with four Republicans vying for the chance to advance and two Democrats.

District 1 county commissioner primary election results

Oklahoma County District 1 Commissioner Carrie Blumert

In the Democratic primary, former state Sen. Anastasia Pittman received nearly 39% of the vote and will face incumbent Carrie Blumert, who received nearly 36% of the vote, in the Aug. 23 runoff.

Anastasia Pittman

The winner will face Willard Linzy, the Republican nominee, who defeated LaTonya Williams in Tuesday's primary with nearly 67% of the vote.

Willard Linzy

Oklahoma County's District 1 encompasses a large portion of Oklahoma City, including the city's northeast side, plus Midwest City and Del City. Additionally the towns of Nicoma Park, Lake Aluma, Forest Park, Jones, Spencer and The Village are included.

District 3 county commissioner primary election results

Myles Davidson for County Commissioner

In the District 3 Republican primary, the district's current chief deputy, Myles Davidson and District 2 county employee Amy Alexander, both beat former sheriff P.D. Taylor to advance to the runoff.

Amy Alexander

Davidson said Tuesday he was "very honored to have received the most votes," and looked forward to continuing to speak to District 3 voters about what mattered to them.

Alexander said she was "beyond excited and looking forward to the competition."

The winner will face Democrat Cathy Cummings in the general election. Cummings had earned nearly 72% of the Democratic vote, beating Air Force veteran Jay Bridwell.

Cathy Cummings

District 3 of Oklahoma County includes Edmond, Arcadia, parts of northern Oklahoma City, and Luther.

Oklahoma County treasurer primary

Registered Democrats and independents chose Brandon Kirkpatrick, who beat Tom Guild with more than 61% of the vote, to take on Republican incumbent Butch Freeman in the general election.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County election results for commissioners and treasurer races
The New York Times

Republicans are bracing for Donald Trump to announce an unusually early bid for the White House, a move designed in part to shield the former president from a stream of damaging revelations emerging from investigations into his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election. While many Republicans would welcome Trumps entry into the race, his move would also exacerbate persistent divisions over whether the former president is the partys best hope to win back the White House. The par
Orange County sheriffs deputies are asking the public for help after finding a man with multiple gunshot wounds early Wednesday on Murphy School Road, near the Durham County line.

Deputies were responding to a 911 call from a nearby resident when they found the man lying on the road near the Mt. Sinai Road intersection. The man, who has not been identified, was yelling for help, the Sheriffs Office stated in a news release.

The neighbor called 911 after hearing a verbal disturbance, followed by gunfire between 1:15 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. The area is mostly wooded and residential, just southeast of Carolina Friends School.

Investigators think the suspect drove the man to the location before shooting him and leaving the area. The 911 caller could not describe the suspect or the vehicle involved, they said.

The victim was taken was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition after surgery, officials said.

Investigators do not think the shooting was random or that there is an ongoing threat to nearby residents. They plan to release more information as it becomes available.

Anyone with information about the shooting or a potential suspect should call lead Investigator Kyle Borland at 919-245-2915.

The Orange Report

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UPDATE (June 29, 2022): A state Supreme Court jury on Tuesday convicted Treyquan Davis of fatally shooting a man in a city parking lot in 2020.

Davis, now 25, was found guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies, for the June 28, 2020 shooting death of Jorge Luis Bonilla, 22, according to a news release from the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. Bonilla was shot in the face and was taken by private vehicle to Strong Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Our community is facing a significant increase in violent crimes, District Attorney Sandra Doorley said in a news release. It is imperative that we hold these violent offenders accountable. Treyquan Davis was on parole for a homicide when he participated in violently taking Jorge Luis Bonillas life. It is our hope that Mr. Bonillas family can find justice in todays conviction.

Davis is scheduled to be sentenced by state Supreme Court Justice Alex Renzi on Aug. 3.

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ORIGINAL STORY (March 30, 2021): A 24-year-old Rochester man has been accused of fatally shooting a man and injuring another man in a city parking lot last summer.

Treyquan Davis, 24, was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the June 2020 shooting death of Jorge Luis Bonilla, 22, of Rochester, Capt. Frank Umbrino of the Rochester Police Department announced on Monday. A 35-year old man whose name was not released, survived.

Davis was charged on Monday in state Supreme Court, as an indictment was unsealed in front of Justice Thomas Moran.

Davis is accused of shooting Bonilla and a second man in the parking lot at 837 Lake Ave. on June 8, 2020 just before midnight, Umbrino said.

A parolee who as a teen pleaded guilty to first degree-manslaughter in connection with the 2012 shooting death and attempted robbery of Alexander Marquez on Bauer Street, Davis was apprehended in December following a car chase with New York State Police. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and numerous other traffic violations and has been in custody for nearly four months.

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In connection with the 2012 homicide, Davis was 15 at the time of the fatal shooting and was considered a juvenile offender. He was sentenced to 3  to 10 years as part of a plea agreement. He was released from the juvenile detention facility where he was incarcerated in July 2019, Umbrino said.

Davis remains at the Monroe County Jail without bail and is scheduled to return to court on April 8.

Contact Victoria Freile at vfreile@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @vfreile and Instagram @vfreile. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Treyquan Davis convicted in shooting death of Jorge Luis Bonilla
Pittsburgh police are asking for the publics help finding a missing 17-year-old girl.

Police said Shawnalynn Brandon was last seen Downtown around 4 p.m. Tuesday wearing a black shirt and jacket and khaki pants.

Brandon is described as 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs around 100 pounds with brown eyes and blue braces.

She is known to frequent the Hill District, Homewood, Sheraden, Penn Hills and McKeesport areas.

Anyone with information is asked to call 412-323-7141.

SVU Detectives seek the public's help to locate 17-year-old Shawnalynn Brandon. Last seen Downtown around 4 p.m. she is 5'2"with brown eyes,and braces.

Please call (412) 323-7141 with any tips or information.

More Here  https://t.co/TWr3qpqvHN pic.twitter.com/EEvkrnEbgi  Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) June 29, 2022

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Editors note: This story has been updated to remove an unrelated photo and caption.

Texas authorities said they have arrested a man who said he planned to commit a mass shooting.

San Antonio Police Department said an Amazon factory worker informed authorities about the threats her colleague, Rodolfo Valdivia Aceves, made in recent days, according to San Antonio affiliate KSAT.

The worker told authorities that after a fire alarm went off at the San Antonio-based facility, the 19-year-old Aceves, who worked as a subcontractor, told her that it would be a good idea to pull the fire alarm to have employees exit the building so an individual can commit a mass shooting, KSAT reported.

Aceves then expressed his interest to commit a massacre, the female employee reportedly said.

The employee also told police that Aceves thought the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooter, Salvador Ramos, was an idol to him, and that after learning where her children attended school, Aceves suggested he would commit a shooting there, according to KSAT.

The employee added that she decided to tell her bosses about the situation even though she feared retaliation from Aceves, noting that she thought he could follow through with his repeated threats, police said.

Aceves was taken into custody by police on Monday and was charged with making a terroristic threat, which is a third-degree felony, KSAT reported.

President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on Saturday, marking the first legislation to address gun violence in nearly 30 years.

A Bipartisan group of Senators drafted the legislation in response to the recent string of mass shootings that happened in Uvalde and Buffalo, N.Y.

The San Antonio Police Department said that Acevess father told authorities that his son had a series of mental health problems and was placed in a mental health facility twice at the age of 16, adding that family members were concerned when he purchased an assault rifle due to his past behavioral problems.

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Aceves is booked and remains in custody at the Bexar County Jail, where he is being held on a $50,000 bond, KSAT noted.

The Hill has reached out San Antonio Police Department for comment and more information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Daily Beast

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty/APHes been called the Mormon Manson, but polygamist Ervil LeBaron and his Mexican-based family managed to make Charlie and his gang look almost tame by comparison. A 68 white supremacist and religious fundamentalist who loved to seduce underage girls, LeBaron trained women to kill for him and ordered hits on rival polygamists and apostates from his church. And kill they did: Members of LeBarons family were responsible for as many as 50 murders,
The targets were discovered during a Boy Scout troops recent tour of the Farmington Hills Police Department headquarters in a suburb of Detroit.

The chief of police in a suburb of Detroit has admitted that his department used only paper targets of Black men at their shooting range.

The targets were discovered during a Boy Scout troops recent tour of the Farmington Hills Police Department headquarters, according to WXYZ-TV. Police Chief Jeff King is asking the public for forgiveness.

Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King apologized at a public meeting after the discovery that officers in his department only used targets of Black men at their shooting range. (Photo: City of Farmington Hills, Hometownlife.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

Ill take this one on the chin, he said at a public meeting. I apologize to each and every person in this room, this community, my department, my city council, my city manager. I cant overlook this.

Farmington Hills Mayor Vicki Barnett said all of the targets have been removed, and the city  which is 20 percent African American  plans to conduct a legal review.

Councilman Michael Bridges said the targets are offensive.

The Farmington Hills Police Department is under fire this morning over their training tactics.



Residents claim they only use black men as targets at their shooting range.



The practice was discovered by a Boy Scout troop touring the department. @wxyzdetroit pic.twitter.com/R4TMAJjEcx  Alex Bozarjian (@alexbozarjiantv) June 28, 2022

Silhouette would have been most appropriate, Bridges said, I dont see a good reason to use those targets at all.

Another council member claimed that of the 2,300 images used during target practice, 185 are of Black men.

Kevin Clark, a Black Farmington Hills police officer at the meeting, told attendees the department uses a variety of targets in order to address implicit bias. But an unidentified area resident  showing photos she says were taken by a parent on the tour  asserted otherwise.

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What I see here is these are actually Black men in hoodies, she said, and they are actually holding guns, and they are actually Black men. They are not black, gray or white.

According to the report, a second unnamed Black resident said he believed other police departments in surrounding towns should also be reviewed.

Im sure all the other cities in this area and the cities that heard this story went downstairs in their basement and checked what their dummies looked like, he told those assembled. Thats the good thing that comes out of this story.

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The post Police chief admits shooting practice targets are images of Black men, asks for forgiveness appeared first on TheGrio.
A Texas mother who said she ran into the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting to rescue her two young sons as law enforcement officers stood outside has been harassed by police and plans to take legal action, her attorney said.

As far as we know theres two definite instances, Angeli Rose Gomezs attorney, Mark Di Carlo, told HuffPost of the hostility he said shes experienced after defying officers orders and running into Robb Elementary School during the May 24 massacre to save her children.

Gomez, who said she was briefly handcuffed by police outside the school, has publicly criticized officers for failing to immediately enter the building and confront the gunman who killed 19 children and two adults. Officers waited for 70 minutes before storming the classroom and killing the shooter  a response the Texas public safety chief has called an abject failure.

A man pays his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on June 9 after two teachers and 19 students were killed in a shooting at the school. (Photo: via Associated Press)

A man pays his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on June 9 after two teachers and 19 students were killed in a shooting at the school. (Photo: via Associated Press)

She did act in a very brave manner, said Di Carlo, who said hes representing about 15 members of the Uvalde community. I have it corroborated from at least two people that she did go into the school, she did jump the fence, she was handcuffed. I dont believe that any officers were in that school until she went in and then they followed her in.

Di Carlo said Gomez believes she has since been targeted by police. She was pulled over for a traffic stop and falsely accused of having illegal immigrants in her vehicle, he said. About a week ago, a police vehicle parked outside of her home for about 45 minutes and flashed its lights at her and her mother while they were going for a walk.

Di Carlo said he wrote to the Uvalde Police Department about what happened, but has not received a response.

In another incident, he said a family member of Gomez said police instructed them to tell Gomez to stop speaking to the media about the massacre. That incident may be harder to prove, he said, but a Philadelphia nonprofit civil rights group has offered to file a freedom of speech lawsuit on Gomezs behalf.

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Texas police have faced angry questions over why it took so long to confront the gunman. Video taken outside the school showed desperate parents begging officers to storm the school. (Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA via Getty Images)

Texas police have faced angry questions over why it took so long to confront the gunman. Video taken outside the school showed desperate parents begging officers to storm the school. (Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA via Getty Images)

In a statement to HuffPost on Thursday, the city of Uvalde denied that its officers have harassed her or that anyone with the Uvalde Police Department placed her in handcuffs on the day of the shooting. The city said that its officers have had interactions with Gomez in the weeks since, claiming she was accused of causing a disturbance at a relatives home and refusing to leave, and that she later called police over a child custody issue. It also supplied police reports that said she was cited for drug paraphernalia possession following a traffic stop.

Di Carlo, responding to those allegations Thursday, called the paraphernalia charge, without an accompanying drug charge, highly unusual and a further example of harassment. He repeated that he has still not heard back from the Uvalde Police Department about his concerns.

Di Carlo, in his earlier interview, said other community members also have expressed anger and frustration about officers behavior during the shooting. Before engaging the gunman, he said, the cops used taxpayer-funded resources to block parents from rescuing their children.

Video taken outside of the school shows parents screaming and begging officers to enter the school as the violence unfolded.

The police were basically acting in an abusive manner towards the people outside who were concerned about the children, Di Carlo said. Gomez, he said, was basically falsely arrested or falsely imprisoned, though momentarily, to prevent her from going into the school.

Di Carlo said his office intends to file at least one lawsuit related to the massacre, likely targeting government and law enforcement agencies. Before that filing, he hopes to examine the shooters purchase of an AR-15-style assault rifle and the school building, including the door the killer entered.

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin last week said the school will be torn down, but didnt say when. Di Carlo said he has contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety and hopes to investigate first.

That school is evidence, Di Carlo said, and destroying it could make legal claims harder to pursue.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Death toll of migrants found inside 18-wheeler in U.S. Texas rises to 50

Xinhua) 08:17, June 29, 2022

Photo taken on June 27, 2022 shows the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

HOUSTON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio, a major city in south central U.S. state Texas, has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday.

The tragedy appeared to be one of the deadliest migrant-smuggling operations in recent U.S. history, local media reported.

Forty-six people were found dead at the scene and four others were later pronounced dead at area hospitals, Texas Public Radio reported, citing Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Ebrard said 22 were Mexican nationals, seven were from Guatemala, two were from Honduras, and the remaining 19 dead have not yet been identified.

At least 16 others, including four children, were taken to area hospitals due to heat exhaustion and dehydration, local officials said at a news conference. Nearly 100 people were reportedly packed inside the trailer of the 18-wheeler.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that someone "cloned" the truck carrying the migrants with the same color and identifying numbers from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Texas DOT as a truck owned by a South Texas trucking company, in an apparent move to evade authorities.

Three people are in police custody, but it's unclear if they are involved in the tragedy, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told a briefing Monday night.

Police received a call on Monday evening from a person working nearby, who heard a cry for help from the 18-wheeler in the southwest of the city, approached and saw bodies inside the trailer with its doors partially open, said McManus.

Those who were found alive were hot to the touch and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion, and there was no sign of water in the refrigerated tractor-trailer and no visible working air conditioning unit, according to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood.

Temperatures in San Antonio climbed to 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 degrees centigrade) on Monday, while the heat in a packed trailer was likely way higher than that, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

"Migrants seeking asylum should always be treated as a humanitarian crisis, but this evening we're facing a horrific human tragedy," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg tweeted on Monday.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking a second term, on Monday night slammed U.S. President Joe Biden for the tragedy, tweeting: "These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies."

In July 2017, 10 migrants died in a packed truck carrying 39 people in San Antonio.

Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows road signs near the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

People gather at the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 27, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

Police officers guard the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 28, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

First responders work at the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 27, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

A police officer stands guard around the perimeter of the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 27, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

Police cordon off the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 28, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

An ambulance leaves the scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 27, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

The scene of an alleged human smuggling mass casualty event is cordoned off in San Antonio, Texas, the United States, on June 28, 2022. The death toll of migrants found on Monday inside a "cloned" and abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday. (Photo by Nick Wagner/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
NEW YORK  Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trumps first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes.

Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on the grounds that hed cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get the leaders of Ukraine to investigate President Joe Bidens son.

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U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didnt give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors.

The judge also ordered Parnas pay $2.3 million in restitution.

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Addressing the court before the sentence was announced, Parnas sobbed and apologized to people who had lost money investing in his business ventures.

A lot that you heard is true your honor. I have not been a good person my whole life. Ive made mistakes. And I admit it, Parnas said. I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all people who are my friends, all people who trusted me and I lied to them to further my personal agenda, Parnas said.

Lev Parnas, center, speaks to the media outside the federal courthouse in New York, June 29, 2022. (Yuki IWAMURA/AP)

The criminal case against Parnas was not directly related to his work acting as a fixer for Giuliani as the former New York City mayor connected with Ukrainian officials and lobbied them to launch an investigation of Bidens son, Hunter.

Instead, it zeroed in on donations Parnas had illegally made to a number of U.S. politicians using the riches of a wealthy Russian as part of an effort to jump-start a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, Parnas also pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee, that promised it could protect people against fraud.

That new company hired Giuliani as a consultant at a time when some Ukrainian figures were trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, agreeing to pay him $500,000.

Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island attorney who put up the cash to pay Giuliani, told the judge during the sentencing hearing that he hoped the former mayor would return the money, since Fraud Guarantee turned out to be a fraud.

My bet is hes going to give me that money back, he said, adding that he didnt blame Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the scheme.

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Outside of court, Parnas said that he didnt believe Giuliani would return the money.

I dont think hell pay him back because, as you can see, hes gone down the path of no return. Hes just an evil man, unfortunately, and somebody that Im very, very sad that I had to meet, he said.

Giuliani, who was working at the time as a personal lawyer for then-President Donald Trump, has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giulianis interactions with Ukrainian figures violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

Parnas and a business associate, Igor Fruman, attracted attention from reporters after arranging big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump.

An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to promote a new energy company.

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During Parnas sentencing hearing, the judge also heard from other people who had lost money with him in failed business deals.

Dianne Pues said the businessman destroyed my life when he failed to repay money she and her husband had loaned him to produce a movie called Anatomy of an Assassin.

Parnas promised he would become a new person.

He made a special apology to Gucciardo, turning to face him as he spoke.

Id like to apologize to Mr. Gucciardo. Even though I never spent a dollar of his money. I lied to him and used our friendship. Charles, I am sorry, he said.
By Rupam Jain

MUMBAI (Reuters) -Fearing outbreaks of religious violence, police in the Indian state of Rajasthan banned public gatherings and suspended internet services a day after two Muslims posted a video claiming responsibility for killing a Hindu tailor in the city of Udaipur.

Two suspects were being interrogated by federal investigators on Wednesday, while state police were on guard against any unrest in the northwestern state.

"We are under strict orders to prevent any form of protests or demonstrations scheduled to condemn the murder," Hawa Singh Ghumaria, a senior police officer in Rajasthan, told Reuters, adding that the crime had sent "shockwaves through the country".

Brandishing a meat cleaver, two bearded men said in the video that they were avenging an insult to Prophet Mohammad caused by the victim.

They also alluded to Nupur Sharma, a former spokeswoman for the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose remarks about the Prophet earlier this month triggered domestic and international outrage.

India's Home Minister Amit Shah said in a tweet that federal police had taken over the investigation into "the brutal murder" of Kanhaiya Lal Teli, giving the victim's full name.

"The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated," Shah said.

Late on Wednesday, a spokesperson from Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected reports in some Indian media that linked the suspects to a Pakistan-based organisation.

The two assailants had slashed Teli's head and throat in an attack while the tailor was taking measurements, according to Bhawarlal Thoda, a city administrator in Udaipur.

According to Thoda, the tailor had been detained over a social media post in support of the BJP spokeswoman that was traced to his mobile telephone, and that after being released Teli had told police on June 15 that he was being threatened by some group.

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"Terrorists executed my father in the most shocking way, the country must stand with our family to demand justice," the victim's son, Yash, told Reuters after his father's body was cremated on Wednesday.

He said the culprits should be tried and sentenced to death, and denied that his father has made any remarks that would be offensive to other religions.

Politicians and prominent Islamic preachers condemned the killing.

"The incident has shocked followers of Islam, the heinous act committed by two men is absolutely un-Islamic," said Maulana Ahmed Siddiqui, a Muslim cleric based in Udaipur.

THREAT TO MODI

Authorities said they had suspended internet services in several parts of Rajasthan to prevent circulation of the video.

"The mood is tense and almost all shops are closed today," Thoda said. The city of around half a million people is one of the major tourist draws in the desert state, and is known for its luxurious hotels, including the well-known Taj Lake Palace.

In another video clip posted online, one of the assailants also went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their blade would find him too.

The federal government late on Wednesday asked social media platforms to immediately remove content that encourages, glorifies or justifies the killing.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said in a notice that the removal was necessary "to prevent any incitement and disruption of public order and to restore public peace and harmony."

Hardline Hindu organisations held protests in capital New Delhi to condemn the killing of Teli and more protests were planned on Thursday.

India has a long history of religious violence, and thousands of people have been killed since the country became independent from British colonial rule in 1947.

Modi's pursuit of a "Hindu first" agenda since coming to power in 2014 has stoked tensions in a country where Muslims make up around 13% of its 1.4 billion people.

Earlier this month the BJP suspended Sharma from the party and expelled another official but the furore has not died down.

Modi has not commented on the incident in Udaipur. But, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who belongs to the BJP, blamed the Congress Party, now running the state, for the "communal frenzy and violence" that has arisen there.

Raje said "such acts can occur because the state government provides tacit support to criminals."

While Congress has championed secular values in India since independence, the BJP has cast it as a pro-Muslim party in order to draw Hindus away from its main opposition.

Rajasthan, with a population of around 69 million people, is just one of two Indian states where Congress holds a majority in the state legislature and it is due to hold elections next year.

(Reporting by Rupam Jain; Additional reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Alex Richardson and Tomasz Janowski)
For most, Monday night's Ford Fireworks were a welcome sight after the event's two-year absence. For a few others, the night ended in an arrest.

According to a news release from the Detroit Police Department Tuesday, law enforcement made six arrests at the waterfront event. Police made four arrests for carrying a concealed weapon, one for aggravated assault of a police officer and one for resisting and obstruction.

No curfew violation tickets were issued.

The release also noted numbers were subject to change.

The Detroit Police Department was not immediately available for comment.

More: 2022 Ford Fireworks return to Detroit

More: Where to find fireworks shows near you in metro Detroit

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police report 6 arrests after Ford Fireworks in Detroit
Senator Raphael Warnock has a strong lead in Georgia as voters come to terms with the repeal of federal abortion protections by the Supreme Court and the GOP dream of retaking the Senate appears to be getting further away.

A Quinnipiac poll of registered voters puts the reverend at 54 per cent in the state, a whopping 10 points above his GOP challenger Herschel Walker. Thats a far larger margin than Republicans are hoping to see, and shows that Mr Walker has an uphill battle to fight if he wants to flip the seat back red.

Buoying Mr Warnocks chances against Mr Walker is a clear advantage with independent voters, who are backing Mr Warnock by an almost 2-1 margin.

The poll is shocking for Republicans who, for months, were labouring under the impression that Mr Warnocks seat was one of their most likely pickups this fall. Once looked at as a clear possiblity, the GOPs bid to retake the Senate is now slipping away with the planned retirement of three Republican senators as well as recent polls that have spelled bad news for the candidates in the most important races around the country.

In Pennsylvania, similar polls have shown Trump-endorsed Dr Mehmet Oz trailing John Fetterman, the Democratic lieutenant governor, by a wide margin. Trump acolyte JD Vance is behind Tim Ryan in the Ohio Senate contest as well.

Georgia in particular, however, rings a sour note for the GOP given the states status as a conservative bastion that is becoming increasingly purple. The state voted for a Democrat for president in 2020, the first time it had done so since the Bill Clinton presidency, and also replaced two Republican senators with Democrats in runoff elections a few months later.

Now its looking more likely that one of those seats will remain blue for the next six years, giving Mr Warnock a crucial incumbency advantage that he will enjoy next cycle should he emerge victorious in November.

Quinnipiacs poll surveyed voters from Thursday, one day before the Supreme Courts decision gutting Roe vs Wade, to Monday. 1,497 self-identifiying registered voters in Georgia participated in the survey, which has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
The U.S. has a shortage of lifeguards, and its taking a toll on swimming centers throughout the country.

Cities such as Indianapolis and Chicago, have responded to the shortage by closing pools and limiting hours of operation in order to keep the public safe from accidental drowning, the Associated Press reports.

Professionals in the lifeguarding space are also worried that Americans will turn to beaches and lakes where there are no lifeguards on duty, which of course puts swimmers at a higher risk of drowning, especially when summer heat waves lead people to seek out ways to cool down.

Bernard J. Fisher II, the director of health and safety at the American Lifeguard Association, told the Associated Press he thinks the current shortage "is a disaster."

AMERICA'S LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE WILL BE 'A TOTAL DISASTER COME AUGUST'

He noted that lifeguard certification programs were temporarily stopped during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and starting pay can be low in some cities compared to other jobs.

The lifeguard chair is empty, and the beach sparsely populated, at Old Orchard Beach in Maine on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. Staff photo by Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

In 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that lifeguards and other recreational protective service workers made a mean hourly wage of $13.14 and a mean annual wage of $27,320.

Current data from the career website and job board Zippia suggests that there might be more than 67,656 certified lifeguards who are working in America.

That number is small when factoring in how many commercial swimming centers and natural bodies of water there are in the country.

Statisticians at the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals estimate there are 309,000 public swimming pools while geologists estimate there are tens of thousands of beaches and lakes, respectively.

NYC CANCELS SWIM CLASSES AMID LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE NATIONWIDE

Lifeguard requirements vary by city and state, but generally, candidates should be able to swim a long distance, tread water, complete a timed rescue and know how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED).

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For example, lifeguards in New York City must be at least 16 years old, have at least 20/30 vision in one eye and 20/40 in the other and be able to swim 50 yards in 35 seconds or less with proper form, according to the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, while lifeguards in New York State must be at least 17 years old, have at least 20/70 vision in both eyes and swim 100 yards in 75 seconds or less, according to the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

In the state of Florida, the minimum age is 15 years old (varies by city) and prerequisites include being able to swim 300 yards continuously, tread water for two minutes, complete a timed event in under two minutes and surface dive seven to 10 feet and retrieve a 10-pound object, according to LifeguardAndSafetyTraining.com  a nonprofit lifeguard certifier.

Beaches, of course, have more challenging swim requirements, given the nature of changing tides, rip currents, natural debris and wildlife.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates there are 3,960 fatal unintentional drownings and 8,080 nonfatal drownings in the U.S. each year.

LA LIFEGUARD'S PAY TOPS $500,000, INVESTIGATION DISCOVERS

A "Lifeguard Effectiveness" report published by the CDC found that American lifeguards rescue an estimated 100,000 people from drowning annually.

"Lifeguards play an important role in a swimming facilitys risk management program," the CDC wrote.

"The presence of lifeguards may deter behaviors that could put swimmers at risk for drowning, such as horseplay or venturing into rough or deep water, much like increased police presence can deter crime," the CDCs report added.

"Lifeguards are trained to monitor the aquatic environment, supervise patrons, inform patrons about the potential for injury, educate them about the consequences of injury producing behavior, and enforce rules and regulations that prevent injuries," the agency added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MILAN  The three winning schools of the second edition of the international project Sea Beyond were revealed Wednesday, but more initiatives will follow, said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group head of corporate social responsibility.

For this second edition, we felt the need to thank all the students with an event able to celebrate the commitment that they continue to show toward the Sea Beyond project, Bertelli said during a press conference held in Lisbon, coinciding with the international Ocean Conference taking place through Friday. In fact, Bertelli said the event seemed to us the perfect frame to discuss together, once again, an issue that is very close to our hearts: protecting the sea and its resources.

More from WWD

The Sea Beyond project is a partnership between the Prada Group and UNESCOs Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and it has been supported by a percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the Prada Re-Nylon collection.

Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to a more sustainable future, said Bertelli, and its important to work on the culture with the mind and soul of the future generation.

The three schools awarded were: First place: MaArt  Newton College, Lima, Peru; second place: Seaweed Aquaculture  Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai, and third place: Video Game-Sea Beyond  Marcelline Tommaseo, Milan.

The executive said this was just the beginning of the journey, but there is a lot of potential and we will go ahead with this project. We are on the right path.

Since its debut in 2019, the initiative has trained more than 600 international secondary school students and, in January 2021, was officially linked to the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The second edition of the project is composed of three main initiatives: an educational module for students all over the world, the launch of the Kindergarten of the Lagoon  a program of outdoor lessons for children in preschool  and an educational path specifically designed for the more than 13,000 employees of the Prada Group.

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The conference was moderated by marine advocate Patricia Furtado de Mendonca and the jury comprised, in addition to Bertelli, Enzo Barracco, photographer and climate artist; Fabien Cousteau, aquanaut, oceanographic explorer and environmental advocate; Kerstin Forsberg, marine scientist and social entrepreneur; Valentina Gottlieb, environmental influencer and activist; Vladimir Ryabinin, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and assistant director general of UNESCO, and Hugo Vau, athlete, ocean explorer and surfer.

Prizes will be used by the schools to invest in the purchase of educational materials.

The second educational program, which started in fall 2021 and ended last spring, involved 10 secondary schools in Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, the U.K. and South Africa.

While U.N. agencies, countries, NGOs, private sector representatives and ocean advocates all gather here in Lisbon to chart the path to a healthy ocean, we must look to the work and commitment of young people from all around the world, Ryabinin said. This second edition of the Sea Beyond project showed again that no student is too young the make the difference.

Each school took part in a series of webinars led by UNESCO experts to explore the 10 challenges of the United Nations Ocean Decade, which range from understanding and tracking the sources of terrestrial and marine pollutants and developing solutions to remove or mitigate them, to ensuring that the multiple values and services of the ocean for human well-being, culture and sustainable development be widely understood, and identify and overcome barriers to behavioral change for radical change in the relationship between humans and the sea.

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Generally, when a single insider buys stock, it is usually not a big deal. However, when several insiders are buying, like in the case of SenSen Networks Limited (ASX:SNS), it sends a favourable message to the company's shareholders.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for SenSen Networks

SenSen Networks Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Founder Subhash Challa made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$500k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.12 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than AU$0.071 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

SenSen Networks insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does SenSen Networks Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that SenSen Networks insiders own 18% of the company, worth about AU$8.5m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

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What Might The Insider Transactions At SenSen Networks Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in SenSen Networks and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 6 warning signs for SenSen Networks (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
A Virginia-based rental-housing firm is proposing a large project in Huntersville.

ALSO READ: Another mixed-use development planned for Huntersville

At its meeting Tuesday, the Huntersville Planning Board is considering a plan from Middleburg Communities that calls for the development of 265 residential units. The proposed project site is nearly 44 acres at 12349 Old Statesville Road, near Lake Norman Charter Middle School.

Steve Farmartino, vice president of development for Middleburg, told the Charlotte Business Journal that the firm has been planning the project for well over a year. Middleburgs team has been working on the site plan with town staff, which has recommended approval of the proposal.

Farmartino said if the planning board gives its nod to Middleburgs plan, the hope is that it would go before the towns board of commissioners for final approval in July or August.

Read more here.

(Watch the video below: As town expands, Huntersville residents, business owners lose land that fell under eminent domain)




IRYNA BALACHUK  WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2022, 11:41

Oleksii Reznikov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, had a phone call with Lloyd Austin, the [US Secretary of Defence and] Pentagon chief, after which he announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine from NATO member states.

Source: Reznikov on Twitter

Quote: "On the eve of the NATO Summit, I had a phone call with my friend Lloyd Austin III. He reaffirmed the strong support of NATO for Ukraine's struggle for freedom and independence".

Details: Reznikov added that they also discussed another package of military aid to Ukraine from the Alliance member states.

"To be continued", he summed up.






WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2022, 08:49

On 28 June, Russian forces conducted an assault operation towards the administrative border between Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, but were forced to retreat.

Source: Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote from Haidai: "The Russian army is currently continuing to advance towards Vovchoiarivka  Verkhniokamianka in an attempt to encircle Lysychansk.

Zolotarivka, Vovchoiarivka, and Lysychansk came under Russian fire.

Yesterday the enemy also launched an attack towards Spirne, which is located right at the administrative border between Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, and near Verkhniokamianka  but they were forced to retreat."

Details: Haidai added that "the situation in Lysychansk currently resembles what happened in Sievierodonetsk just over a month ago, at the beginning of the storming of the city, when building after building were being captured."

During the morning broadcast, the head of the Oblast Military Administration also said that the situation in Lysychansk is extremely difficult because "there are battles everywhere, everywhere the enemy is trying to break through the defence line of our defenders  given that they are not successful, they shell everything constantly."

Haidai said the Russians are using all the weapons they have and wiping out populated areas, seizing territory.

"Almost two battalion-tactical groups of heavy equipment alone have been deployed to Lysychansk," but Ukrainian fighters are holding the defensive line and inflicting losses on the enemy, he added.
A bloody fight continues over the city of Lysychansk in the Luhansk region of Ukraine as Russian forces push forward with their attempts to gain control over the region, a top Russian sympathizer said Wednesday.

"There is active fighting near Lysychansk, where, according to the latest reports, a quite bloody combat is in progress with a lot of casualties," Rodion Miroshnik, a representative for the separatist Luhansk People's Republic aiding Moscows offensive, told a Russian media outlet. "About a third of the [Ukrainian] military have surrendered, with the other two-thirds left lying in the field."

Ukrainian soldiers ride on an armored personnel carrier (APC) on a road of the eastern Luhansk region on June 23, 2022, amid Russia's military invasion launched on Ukraine. On the road between the towns of Siversk and Bakhmut, AFP journalist witnessed several shellings on the route, which is now the main itinerary being used to reach the city of Lysychansk. Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images

UKRAINIAN FIGHTER PILOT SAYS THEY NEED BETTER JETS

Fox News could not verify the LPR ambassadors claims, but the Ukrainian defense ministry on Wednesday said "the main efforts of the enemy are focused on conducting hostilities" in the area "in order to encircle the city of Lysychansk."

A U.S. defense official said Tuesday that Russian forces had not yet been able to fully encircle the city.

Lysychansk has become the site of brutal fighting after Russian forces took the strategically important city of Sievierodonetsk, located directly across the Siverskyi Donets River, and have continued their westward campaign across Luhansk.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGE

GRAPHIC CONTENT / The father of a man who was reportedly killed by a cluster rocket mourns over his body in the city of Lysychansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 18, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of the country. ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

KHERSON MAYOR ABDUCTED BY RUSSIAN FORCES AFTER REFUSING TO FLEE OCCUPIED CITY

The contested city is just 12 miles from the Donetsk border and stands as the final holdout of Ukrainian opposition in the region.

If Russian forces are able to take Lysychansk they will have essentially gained control over the Luhansk region, which will not only make it easier to push south and pinch the Donetsk region but advance their campaign west further into Ukraine.

Moscow has claimed its military ambitions are to gain complete control over eastern and southern Ukraine.

But Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia will not stop if it gains control over these regions and will make another attempt at taking Kyiv.

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An Ukrainian serviceman looks on after a strike on a warehouse on the outskirts of Lysychansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 17, 2022. Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Russia has begun to ramp up its aggression toward the capital city and fired missile strikes directed at Kyiv over the weekend from Belarus.

Officials have further warned that Russia is looking to bring Minsk into the war and is planning sabotage operations in Belarus in an attempt to instigate a response from Ukraines northern neighbor.
MADRID  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that countrys leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organizations condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russias war in Ukraine had created Europes biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

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NATO also issued a warning about China, accusing it of bullying its neighbors and forming a strategic partnership with Moscow that poses a challenge to the West.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russias invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

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The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATOs open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble the old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy said by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough?

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

The question is, whos next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them, he said.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russias future plans.

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliances rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg center, flanked by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, and U.S President Joe Biden open the first plenary session of the NATO summit in Madrid, June 29, 2022. (BERTRAND GUAY/AP)

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATOs military power, vowed the summit would send an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united.

Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in Americas military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead.

At the summit, the leaders published NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

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The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a strategic partner. At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATOs borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation to extend its reach.

The document also set out NATOs approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China. For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region and NATOs desire to counterbalance China.

China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents, Stoltenberg said.

We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, and Chinas growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of our allies and our partners, he added.

The alliance said, however, that it remained open to constructive engagement with Beijing.

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NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africas Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was absolutely confident Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the gray zone of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATOs collective defense guarantee.

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Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible, he said.

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.
Jun. 28WASHINGTON  As Ukraine enters its fifth month of war following Russia's invasion in February, an Idaho senator made an unannounced visit to meet with the embattled country's president in Kyiv over the weekend.

Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital Sunday, the same day a Russian missile struck the city  killing at least one person and wounding several others, according to Ukrainian officials  after weeks of relative calm as fighting has been concentrated in the country's east.

"It was an honor to meet with President Zelenskyy this weekend to discuss the ongoing Russian assault against Ukraine," Risch said in a statement. "I've been in many war zones, but I've never been to one where I've seen people rebuilding as the war continues. The Ukrainian people are incredibly resilient, endlessly adaptable, and courageously willing to fight. We cannot let them down."

Risch voted along with 38 other GOP senators in May to send $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. His fellow Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo was one of 11 Republicans who opposed the bill, citing its cost and a lack of budget offsets to avoid increasing the federal deficit. In his statement, Risch said he believes Ukraine can win the war if the United States supplies it with "what it needs, before it needs it."

In a video Zelenskyy's office posted on Instagram, Risch thanks the Ukrainian president for welcoming him and says, "I want to hear what you have to say."

The senator also toured the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin and Hostomel, where journalists and human rights monitors found evidence of atrocities against civilians after Russian occupying forces were pushed back by Ukrainian troops.

"I was taken aback by the atrocities I saw firsthand in Irpin and Hostomel, and we cannot stand by and watch these happen again," Risch said. "I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure the Biden Administration uses the authorities Congress has given to provide President Zelenskyy and Ukrainian defense forces exactly what they need to end this conflict. Ukraine must win this fight."

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Risch also stopped in Rzeszow, Poland, where he met with members of the 82nd Airborne Division from Idaho. While no U.S. troops are stationed in Ukraine, the Biden administration has increased their presence in countries that are NATO allies.

Risch's visit came as leaders from the world's seven wealthiest democracies, known as the G-7, met in Austria to negotiate a global price cap on Russian oil to further squeeze the Kremlin. The leaders announced Sunday they had reached an agreement to stop buying Russian gold, a major source of revenue that was not targeted by earlier sanctions.

Orion Donovan-Smith's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Jun. 29CLARIFICATION  The article previously stated Senate District 7 Democratic candidate Marcie Kindred didn't attend the debate. She was not invited, as it was only a debate for the primary and she does not face a Democratic candidate on the Aug. 16 election. She said she will attend the general election debate.

CHEYENNE  Two Republican candidates for Senate District 7 in the Wyoming Legislature faced each other Tuesday night in the first League of Women Voters debate of the summer.

Incumbent Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, and Republican candidate JC Manalo addressed issues such as Medicaid expansion, allocation of liquor licenses, water rights and education.

They were the two out of the three candidates running for the seat in Cheyenne who were invited to participate in the primary debate, and Republican primary challenger Rachel Bennett did not attend. Democratic candidate Marcie Kindred said will attend the general election debate.

Although both of the candidates who laid out their platforms to constituents hold Republican values, their visions for Wyoming go in different directions.

Pappas said he wants to see sustained growth and diversification, which has been discussed at the state and local levels for a long time. He said this depends on areas of Wyoming outside of the Capital City to embrace growth. He applauds the efforts in blockchain development and increasing agriculture, but he wants to maintain existing extractive industries, while expanding others even more.

"We see lots of out-of-state people coming up, buying our ranches and not contributing to the state," he said. "So, we have to figure out how we're going to diversify, and that's through growth."

He said it will be a slow process, because mindsets have to be changed throughout the state.

"We'll do it with a strong education system, a good health care system and a good lifestyle for people that are looking to escape the madness of the rest of the world," Pappas said.

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His Republican challenger who attended, Manalo, said his vision includes the state moving forward without compromising the conservative values of residents. He believes this can best be done by growing the economy, because there are only so many cuts to be made.

One of his long-term solutions is turning Cheyenne Regional Airport into an international airport. He said it is pitiful due to there being a small number of flights incoming and outgoing. He said large industries can ship products and merchandise through the state, which would benefit the local economy.

"Either we shut it down or we make it bigger," he said.

Medicaid expansion

While the two contenders were split on their solutions for economic growth, liquor licenses, long-term education funding and electric vehicle infrastructure, they both agreed on expanding Medicaid.

Pappas said his voting record for the past eight years in the Legislature had always been in favor of the health care expansion, because he didn't see the pitfalls that many of his colleagues saw. He said they are reducing the competitiveness of the insurance market by not expanding Medicaid, and nearly all of the hospitals, physicians and government organizations are in favor of it. In the last opportunity to take on the program, he said there was the possibility to make money for the state, and many of the prior restrictions were removed.

He was joined in support by Manalo, who said it was due to his perspective as a pro-life candidate.

"I am pro-life, not only on conception and birth, but I am pro-life from start to beginning," he said. "That is why I support Medicaid expansion."

Education

Both candidates also would continue to accept the more than $40 million the state receives in federal funding for the USDA lunch program. Manalo said he still believes the decision to update the anti-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity was federal overreach, but if the state can't find other sources, they have to accept it. He is not willing to have students go hungry otherwise.

Pappas said it places Wyoming in a difficult position, because the millions of dollars impacts the most vulnerable residents. He wants to contest the federal government on the issue, and said he believes the governor's office is looking into it currently, but the lunch program has to be sustained.

He is concerned that other necessary programs would be reduced, because there isn't much more funding that can be reduced.

"Education still has a structural deficit that we need to overcome," he said.

The Cheyenne lawmaker said the Legislature has a large role to play in K-12 education, as well as higher education. He wants to support the growth in Wyoming with attractive communities, which are often tied to a strong education system that has quality school facilities, extracurricular activities and teachers.

Although he wants to continue to provide this support at the state level, he said he advocates for local control of the curriculum. He does not want to micromanage school districts, and he prefers to give the authority to the elected officials to represent the wants of their communities.

Manalo said he wants the Legislature to guarantee there are not inappropriate topics or materials being taught to students in K-12 education. When asked to further explain by the debate moderator, he said he has seen on Facebook that there is pornography available in local libraries.

"We are in a conservative state," he said. "So, I feel that shouldn't be allowed."

Liquor licenses

The allocation of liquor licenses has been a topic of discussion in Cheyenne since recent advocates for an overhaul of the state laws came forward this spring. Members of the Cheyenne City Council had just one retail liquor license to award to 11 original applicants, which some said was hindering economic growth.

It has since become an interim topic for the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee to address, and candidates were asked if they would support changing the allocation process.

Manalo did not agree to a complete change of the statutes, which make retail liquor licenses available based on population growth, and said awarding them should be spaced out. He also suggested the application qualifications be based on customer popularity.

Pappas said he didn't want to discourage residents from opening establishments, and he believes there should be a reconsideration of the liquor laws. He does want to protect the buyers who have purchased expensive retail liquor licenses in the past while finding a new mechanism to distribute licenses.

He placed an emphasis on a stable economy, which was a theme throughout the debate for the two candidates. They want revenue streams to support not only government funding, but residents searching for economic opportunity.

"It's something that must be done," Pappas said. "Certainly, if it's important for commerce and building our communities."

Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.
Shawn Mendes kicked off his world tour in Portland, Oregon on Monday night. (Photo by David Livingston/FilmMagic)

Shawn Mendes kicked off his "Wonder: The World Tour" in style.

On Monday night, the 23-year-old musician began his 87-date tour with a sold out show in Portland, Oregon, belting some of his greatest hits including "Wonder," "When You're Gone" and "Stitches."

The Pickering, Ont.-native will visit a variety of North American venues until the end of October and travel to Europe and the UK in 2023 to complete the stint.

On Instagram, Mendes gave fans a first look at what's expected to be a show-stopping concert experience.

In the first snap, the "Mercy" hitmaker was pictured backstage, followed by a video of the star with director Anthony Wilson as they waited for the show to begin. In the third and fourth slides, Mendes beamed as he rocked out on his guitar and interacted with fans.

"Portland I was smiling so much I thought my cheeks were gunna pop. Thank you for having us!" he captioned the post.

Fans loved the new photos and expressed their excitement about the rest of the tour.

"So proud of you, this album and this tour!" raved a fan. "I have tickets for the fall and these photos only make me more excited to see this show in person!"

"You're the king of the stage," commented someone else. "Looked like a fabulous opening."

"You look so happy to be back on tour, any chance of free tickets?" another joked.

"I'm so happy this tour is finally here! Can't wait for the rest!" wrote a follower.

"Absolutely love this look! Gotta be my fave outfit you've worn in concert ever!" said another.

For the Portland show, stylist Tiffany Briseno dressed Mendes in vintage and sustainable Tommy Hilfiger. (Photo via Instagram/tiffbrisenostylist)

To kick off the tour, stylist Tiffany Briseno dressed Mendes in a "vintage and sustainable" look from Tommy Hilfiger.

The Grammy-nominated singer rocked a cropped sleeveless black vest with abstract embroidery. Mendes completed the ensemble with black pants and a white tank top.

This isn't the first time the star has opted for the beloved clothing brand. In May, he arrived at the Met Gala in a navy blue suit and a matching trench coat with plum lapels designed by Hilfiger.

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
A police officer was seen posing with the 'V' sign near a blue tent. (PHOTO: Tracy Lim/Facebook)

SINGAPORE  The Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Wednesday (29 June) apologised after a photo of one of its officers "inappropriately" posing with a "V" sign at a scene of a person's death was posted on social media.

In a post on Facebook, SPF said it would be taking internal action against the officer.

The photo, posted by Facebook user Tracy Lim on Tuesday, showed a police officer posing next to a blue tent used to cover a person's body.

The person was found lying motionless at the foot of a block on Tuesday. The police have classified the incident as unnatural death.

In her post, which is no longer accessible, Lim wrote that the deceased person was her aunt who "had decided to take her life". Lim called the officer out for posing like her aunt's body "was nothing but a background or an accessory to a photo.

The officer had thought the situation was funny and a "happy matter like he just won a trophy, game or prize", instead of showing basic respect, she said.

Lim asked, "Is there no integrity on how a police officer should behave, especially when he is on duty, attending to a case involving (a) casualty?

This is utterly unacceptable and disrespectful to my family and myself and anyone who has been through death in the family.

Lim also called on Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam to look into the training of police officers.

"I hope no one will have to go through this like what we did; rubbing salt onto the wound by someone whose profession is to protect us," she said.

Police: Officer's response 'inappropriate'

The police said they have contacted the next-of-kin of the deceased and apologised for the officers actions.

They also clarified that the officer was not taking a photo of himself at the scene, but added that his response was inappropriate "in the presence of onlookers in the vicinity".

"All police officers are expected to maintain professionalism in managing incidents. The police will be taking internal action against the officer," the police said.

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In a separate Facebook post on Wednesday, Lim confirmed that the police had called to apologise and that her family has accepted the apology.

"We appreciate the fast action and assurance they will reinforce the sensitivity when handling such cases. We wish to rest the matter and let our family have privacy as we prepare for final arrangement of our aunt," she said.

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Birdie, a U.K.-based caretech software-as-a-service maker, has closed a $30 million Series B funding round led by investment firm Sofina, with Omers Ventures and Index Ventures also participating -- the latter reupping its backing after leading Birdie's Series A last year.

Max Parmentier, co-founder and CEO of Birdie, said the latest tranche of funding will go on scaling into continental Europe where it's started to sign partnerships with local care providers, as well as wider business growth. The new funding brings its total raised since being founded back in 2017 to $52 million.

In Birdie's home market of the U.K., where it's been operating for around five years, it's now working with some 700 care businesses whose staff are delivering "millions" of visits per month to the circa 35,000 care recipients (and 8,000 family members) being supported by its customers -- with growth of 3x since the startup last raised.

The SaaS platform provides care workers a suite of digital tools to support their work by streamlining admin and patient management while enabling real-time visibility into care events -- helping keep family members informed of important details around their loved one's care.

Birdie's wider goal for the business is to use the data its platform is ingesting and structuring to power more personalized -- and even preventative -- healthcare for the social care sector, which remains drastically under-resourced versus the scale of demand for care services.

The sector also suffers from a chronic shortage of staff, which is likely driving investor interest in funding platforms like Birdie that promise to drive efficiencies for care customers.

"We want to become a technology partner for home healthcare across continental Europe, where we know the care industry is under increasing pressure," Parmentier tells TechCrunch. "Weve already signed new partners in Spain and are in advanced conversations with partners in Ireland. In the near future, we are looking at expanding our footprint to France, Germany and the Nordics."

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"Our first priority is to grow our solution so it can support any care provider, delivering any type of care at home -- from complex care to live-in care as we want any older adult to be properly supported," he adds.

"We are also constantly learning and adapting to better serve our partners and will be looking closely at our existing platform to expand its breadth and capabilities. For example we will be launching a new version of our rostering tool to optimise fulfilment rate, meaning less commuter time and more face-to-face interactions for carers and their care recipients."

Another focus for the funding will be continuing to build out partnerships, per Parmentier. "We will continue to develop our open ecosystem to partner with health and care providers. Our aim is to invest heavily in building a clinical engine and enhancing our data analytics capabilities to offer predictive insights."

Asked how Birdie quantifies efficiency gains for its target care provider customers, he points to a recent study which found that 73% of users save on average between 7-15 hours a week on day-to-day operations -- as well as claiming the the platform offers 9x more visibility over day-to-day tasks than other care management software.

"Its critical as fewer hours doing admin work mean more hours to care for the care recipients," he argues.

To quantify the quality of care being delivered by users of its platform, the startup has created what it brands as the Birdie Quality Score metric -- which factors in criteria like alert responsiveness, call monitoring and medication monitoring -- and then feeds the data back to care agencies to support them in monitoring and improving the care service they're providing.

Parmentier says this data feedback loop is resulting in improvements in its care partners' service quality.

"The aim here is to help them continually improve the quality of their care. As a result, within the first six months as a Birdie user, on average we see a 21% improvement in our partners' quality score, with the biggest improvements within a year; 81% of all concerns are resolved in under 72 hours, and 80% of medication concerns are resolved within a 72 hour period -- up from 58% within the first month. This is a huge improvement and a testament to the ongoing work of the team."

Discussing progress on Birdie's longer term goal of using the care data-points that are being fed into its platform to power a personalized and predictive value-based healthcare delivery model, Parmentier says it's created its own ontology for tasks and assessments -- "based on a well-known comprehensive geriatric assessment framework".

"The best part is, were already seeing the benefits of this data-driven approach and can validate scientific knowledge through our own data. Were using AI models such as NLP [natural language processing] to further enhance our data analytics capabilities and anticipate health and wellbeing trends for a care recipient," he goes on.

"Looking ahead, we want to continue to improve our health outcomes, while also scaling the platform. We are already able to recommend specific well-being assessments based on care recipient data but we want to grow this focus and look at particular condition-specific interventions, such as mobility and mental health."

"From the beginning, our thesis has been that a data-driven solution to home care can help us deliver personalised care to an aging population. Weve built Birdie around this concept, and were now capable of collecting millions of data points every day that were previously captured on paper, making us the social care platform with the most structured data," he adds.

On the competitive front, Parmentier says there are numerous legacy SaaS providers in the care sector -- some focused on care assessment, others providing tools in people and operations management. But he argues Birdie's modern, platform approach is helping it stand out in a crowd.

"Our all-in-one platform uniquely encompasses digital solutions across the entire care business, and we differentiate ourselves by delivering user-centric products accompanied by a high-touch service approach," he suggests. "Additionally, by working closely with our partners to provide integrated analytics and insights that highlight performance gaps, we are not only streamlining and digitising many existing processes but we are ultimately improving the quality of care they are providing."

Commenting on Birdie's Series B in a statement, Harold Boel, CEO of Sofina, said: The home healthcare tech sector seems ripe for an innovative leader like Birdie to catalyse the necessary social change. Aligned with our strategy to back growing and sustainable businesses, were excited to join them on their mission to enrich the lives of millions of older adults through preventive and personalised care at home.

"What really sets Birdie apart is the combination of an intuitive product experience coupled with a true partnership approach to digital transformation," added Stephane Kurgan, venture partner at Index in another supporting statement. "We continue to be impressed by the team's passion, calibre and commitment to social change and are proud to accompany them on their quest to reinvent care for the better."
House District 72 has a Republican primary battle between Joseph Elison and Willie Billings both of whom haven't been elected to public office before but do have signs on display in Hurricane, UT. June 28, 2022.

After the first round of election results showed many primary races with wide margins in Washington County, only the House District 72 election showed a tight race.

Previous coverage: Elison, Walter, Jack, Almquist lead early in Washington County

When updated voting results were posted, the positioning of the candidates in this race flipped, but the margin remains narrow. On election night, Joseph Elison led Willie Billings by 40 votes, but as of Wednesday morning, it had flipped to where Billings led Elison by 35 votes.

House District 72

Willie Billings 3,267 votes / (50.27%)

Joseph Elison 3,232 votes / (49.73%)

Total votes: 6,499

The difference in this election is small and only an additional 187 votes were added to the vote total from the first release of voting information from the Washington County Clerk's office.

This is the closest race in Washington County, with the other races having large margins separating the two candidates.

For House District 73 Colin Jack opened with a large lead of over 1,200 votes over Nina Barnes. The updated results show that lead has grown to be just under 1,350 votes.

House District 73

Colin Jack 3,390 votes / (62.42%)

Nina Barnes 2,041 votes / (37.58%)

Total votes: 5,431 votes

For House District 74, Neil Walter has a lead of just over 1,750 votes over Kristy Pike. The update results showed Walter was able to expand that lead to about 1,860 votes.

House District 74

Kristy Pike 2,975 votes / (38.09%)

Neil Walter 4,836 votes (61.91%)

Total votes: 7,811

Although there are three open seats on the Washington County Commission for this election year only one seat had a primary election, which was for Seat A. This seat has been held for the past four years by Gil Almquist. On election night, the first rounds of results showed Almquist with a comfortable lead of 6,312 votes after results were updated on Wednesday that lead lessened to just over 6,150 votes.

Ballots could be cast or dropped off at the Dixie Convention Center was only one of two in-person voting locations open for the Washington County primary election. June 28, 2022.

Washington County Commission Seat A

Gil Almquist 15,929 votes / (62%)

Allen Davis 9,765 votes / (38%)

Total Votes: 25,694

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For Utah's congressional races, many were called early in the night, with all the five incumbents being able to claim victory on election night.

This was the case both for Rep. Chris Stewart and Mike Lee, who were both able to gain large margins, and their races were quickly called by the Associated Press.

Stewart, who has been office for the last 10 years, was able to fend off his first primary challenger, Erin Rider, by about a 44-point margin just on election night results. That margin stayed consistent even as more than 10,000 votes were added to the count in this race, currently Stewart just over 40,000 votes more than Rider.

Utah 2nd District

Chris Stewart 63,847 votes / (72.88%)

Erin Rider 23,755 votes / (27.12%)

Total votes: 87,602

Although the margin between the two candidates was larger in Washington County, where Stewart got 81.5% of the vote compared to Rider's 18.5%.

For the senate race, Lee faced two challengers, Ally Isom and Becky Edwards, and had a smaller margin of victory than Stewart. Currently, Lee leads Edwards, who finished second in the race, by about 33 points. Overnight just under 52,000 votes were added to this race and Lee was able to get most of those votes.

Rider has conceded the race to Stewart.

U.S. Senate

Mike Lee 214,949 votes / (62.2%)

Becky Edwards 102,226 / (29.6%)

Ally Isom 28,416 votes / (8.2%)

But in Washington County, the margins favored the incumbent more than the statewide results. Lee was able to get 78% of the vote in Washington County compared to the 15.4% Edwards got and the 6.5% Isom got.

Both Isom and Edwards have conceded the race to Lee.

Ballots could be cast or dropped off at the Dixie Convention Center was only one of two in-person voting locations open for the Washington County primary election. June 28, 2022.

Sean Hemmersmeier covers local government, growth and development in Southwestern Utah. Follow on Twitter @seanhemmers34. Our work depends on subscribers so if you want more coverage on these issues you can subscribe here: http://www.thespectrum.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Incumbents Rep. Chris Stewart, Mike Lee claim victory in Utah GOP primary
Elon Musk and a Starlink terminal. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images/Taras Podolian/Gazeta.ua/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

SpaceX has urged Starlink users to contact the FCC and senators amid a row with Dish, per The Verge.

The two companies have been fighting over a range of radio frequencies called 12 GHz.

SpaceX claims that if proposed changes are approved, Starlink will be "unusable" for most US customers.

SpaceX has reportedly emailed some Starlink customers to ask for their support in its ongoing dispute with satellite TV provider, Dish Network, over the use of radio frequencies.

The Verge reported the news.

Elon Musk's satellite broadband company has urged customers to contact the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as well as US senators and representatives to petition on behalf of Starlink.

Dish and SpaceX have been squabbling over a range of radio frequencies called 12 GHz, which SpaceX uses to operate Starlink.

Dish, along with a company called R.S Access, has been campaigning for a rule change to allow the band of frequencies to be used for 5G after the FCC raised the possibility of this in January last year.

SpaceX claims that sharing the band of radio frequencies with 5G providers will disrupt Starlink services. If the rule changes proposed by Dish are not rejected by the FCC, SpaceX said customers would experience harmful inferences more than 77% of the time and outages 74% of the time.

SpaceX and the Dish Network did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

The company also commissioned a report this month that claims to support its fear about Starlink service disruption.

The email sent to customers, which was posted on social media by a CNBC reporter, said that the changes proposed by Dish threaten "to make Starlink unusable for you and the vast majority of our American customers."

SpaceX also accuses Dish of employing "paid lobbyists who are attempting to mislead the FCC with faulty analysis in hopes of obscuring the truth" in the email.

The email includes a link to a Starlink action page titled: "Don't Let DISH Disable Your Internet," which has two pre-written petition messages that can be sent to the FCC and US senators.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the host of this week's NATO summit, told Cadena Ser radio on Wednesday that Russia will be identified as NATO's "main threat" in its new strategic concept, as opposed to a strategic partner previously.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Republican leaders in the General Assembly proposed a new spending plan Tuesday that would revise and complement the two-year budget they passed last November.

The budget includes higher raises for state workers and teachers, with no new tax cuts on top of the schedule lawmakers agreed on last year to gradually reduce the corporate income tax rate over the next few years.

The 193-page spending plan, which lawmakers are aiming to pass through both the state House and Senate by Saturday before the legislature adjourns and send to Gov. Roy Cooper, includes many other spending items, including money to build a new government complex in downtown Raleigh; cover co-pays for students who qualify for reduced-price lunches; and pay for new school safety measures in the wake of mass shootings.

Here are five budget items that stand out.

New office complex housing governors staff

The budget includes plans for multiple changes to the existing layout of state government buildings in downtown Raleigh.

Among them is a provision tasking the Department of Administration with planning and designing a new State Government Executive Headquarters facility that would host the governors staff, personnel and operations for various state agencies, and include a chamber for the Council of State to hold its meetings. The council is made of the states top executive-branch officials.

The budget requires construction on the project to begin by July 1, 2023.

Another provision states that the current building used by the Department of Administration, at 116 W Jones St., would be torn down and replaced by a new Education Campus. The campus would provide offices for the UNC System and Community Colleges System, as well as the departments of Public Instruction and Commerce.

The proposal would require the Department of Administration, working with the Legislative Services Office, to relocate all employees from the existing building by July 1, 2023. Demolition of the building would be required no later than Oct. 31, 2023.

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More safety resources for schools

The new budget addresses some of the elevated concerns about school safety in the aftermath of Mays mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

The budget includes an additional $15 million in grants that school districts can apply for to have school resource officers in elementary and middle schools. Few elementary schools have a police officer assigned to them.

Other school safety measures include:

$32 million in grants to support students in crisis, provide school safety training and purchase safety equipment for schools.

$26 million to help schools cover the salaries needed to keep officers in high schools.

$5 million to help North Carolina historically black colleges and universities prepare for cybersecurity and bomb threats following a nationwide spike in threats against HBCUs.

School choice expansion

The budget also reflects efforts by Republican lawmakers to expand school choice options in the face of opposition from Democratic legislators who say those alternatives are hurting traditional public schools.

The increase in school choice has occurred at a time when enrollment has dropped in traditional public schools. Unlike the past two years, lawmakers didnt include a provision that would protect school districts from funding cuts if they have fewer kids than they did before the pandemic.

The budget would raise the income eligibility for an Opportunity Scholarship covering private school tuition to 200% of the income needed to qualify for a federally subsidized meal, or about $100,000 a year for a family of four. The proposal also includes an additional $56 million a year for the voucher program.

Free school lunches for eligible students

The budget would spend $3.9 million from the Department of Public Instruction to make school lunches free for all students who qualify for reduced-price meals. This would apply to all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and would be in effect for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Federal COVID-19 waivers have allowed all students at U.S. public schools, regardless of family income, to have free school meals. However, those waivers expire June 30. The states budget proposal reintroduces the qualification that only students from families below a certain income level are eligible for the program.

Some other education items in the budget include:

A $250,000-a-year grant program for schools to provide free feminine hygiene products such as tampons. The program was so popular this school year that it ran out of money.





Permission for the states two popular but low-performing virtual charter schools to stay open through the 2024-25 school year. Then they could apply to the State Board of Education for renewal of their charter.

Water infrastructure

Legislators would continue to fund drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects. They allocated more than $611 million for 90 projects across the state.

Examples of projects that would be funded in the budget include $10 million for a wastewater treatment plant in Onslow County, $25 million for a water reclamation facility in Clayton and $1 million for a pump station in Elizabeth City.

The federal infrastructure law will provide nearly $223 million in additional grants that can help remediate water supplies and build new infrastructure. Of those funds, more than $86 million is available for projects to remediate lead service lines, while more than $23 million is available to address forever chemicals and other so-called emerging compounds.

Staff writers Avi Bajpai, T. Keung Hui, Kyle Ingram and Adam Wagner contributed to this report.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
MADRID  President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. will significantly increase its military presence in Europe for the long haul, including by establishing its first permanent presence in Poland, to bolster regional security after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the opening of the alliances annual leaders summit in Madrid, Biden said NATO is strong and united and that steps to be taken during the gathering will further augment our collective strength. The White House said Bidens commitments mean the U.S. will maintain a presence of 100,000 troops in Europe, up 20,000 from the levels before the Ukraine war began, for the foreseeable future.

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In addition to the new basing of a U.S. military garrison in Poland, Biden also said the U.S. is sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the U.K. and more air defenses and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

Today Im announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, he said.

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Stoltenberg, who earlier Wednesday said the alliance was facing its biggest challenge since World War II because of Russias aggression toward Ukraine, welcomed Bidens announcement as the summit began.

This really demonstrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond, Stoltenberg said, thanking Biden for the unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine.

The more muscular American presence in Europe is bolstered by stepped-up defense commitments from NATO allies announced at the summit. It is still a far cry from its posture during the Cold War, when roughly 300,000 American troops, on average, were stationed in the region.

U.S. President Joe Biden waits for the start of a round table meeting at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on June 29, 2022. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Biden said the U.S. will permanently station the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland, a move that he said would strengthen US-NATO interoperability across the alliances eastern flank. The decision marks the first permanent basing of U.S. forces on NATOs eastern edge. Biden added that the U.S. is also stepping up its rotational deployments of troops to Romania and the Baltic region.

Celeste Wallander, an assistant U.S. secretary of defense for international affairs, told reporters that having a permanent presence in Poland will be key to helping NATO navigate the changed security environment in Europe caused by Russias invasion. The U.S. supplies the bulk of NATOs military power.

U.S. officials emphasized that the permanent basing applied only to headquarters units, not combat troops, and was therefore consistent with a 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia in which the alliance agreed not to permanently base combat troops in Eastern Europe as it aimed to build more constructive ties in the post-Cold War environment.

Polands Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told Polands state PAP news agency that the decision to add U.S. command structure was a manifestation of the ever closer cooperation between the U.S. and Poland and would give give NATO allies a frontline insight into the Russian threat.

The combat units Biden is sending to Romania and the Baltic region are on rotational deployments, rather than permanent assignment, to remain in compliance with that agreement.

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There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes, nor is there a requirement to do that, John Kirby, a spokesman for Bidens National Security Council.

Biden announced on Tuesday after arriving for the summit that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain, bringing the total number to six.

Biden predicted that meetings this week would make for a history-making summit as leaders were set to approve a new strategic framework, announce a range of steps to boost their defense spending and capabilities, and clear the way for historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin thought NATO members would splinter after he invaded Ukraine, but got the opposite response instead.

Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe, Biden said. Youre gonna get the NATO-ization of Europe. And thats exactly what he didnt want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe.

Turkey, the last remaining holdout to approve the Nordic countries accession into NATO, reached an agreement on the eve of the summit late Tuesday to support adding them to the 30-nation alliance.

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While the White House said the U.S. was not a direct party to the negotiations, a senior administration official said Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to encourage him to clear the way for Sweden and Finland to join. The two leaders are set to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss other issues, the White House said.

Biden also sat down Wednesday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who are attending the NATO summit as the alliance looks to strengthen its ties in the Indo-Pacific region and address challenges from China.

The three leaders discussed North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Biden said the three found deeply concerning.

Biden said our trilateral cooperation in my view is essential and said the meeting was an opportunity for the leaders to coordinate a shared response, as U.S. officials say the isolated nation may soon conduct another nuclear test.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Chris Megerian in Washington and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this report.
BELFAST (Reuters) - A growing majority of voters in Northern Ireland support the region's post-Brexit trade rules, large swathes of which the British government are currently moving to do away with, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Under the Northern Ireland protocol, the British-run region effectively remained in the EU's single market for goods as the rest of the United Kingdom departed last year, necessitating checks on some goods coming from Britain.

The proportion of voters who think the protocol is the most appropriate means of managing the impact of Britain's departure from the EU grew to 55% from 50% in February, the regular poll conducted for Queen's University Belfast found.

It hit a previous high of 53% last October and stood at 46% when voters were polled for the first time in April 2021.

Britain has pledged override parts of the tailor-made deal it agreed with the EU if it cannot convince Brussels to remove the checks and legislation allowing it do so passed the first of many parliamentary tests on Monday.

Wednesday's poll showed that most people oppose unilateral action by London and 74% think that a UK-EU negotiated settlement on easing some of the trade barriers is preferable.

The survey also showed the British government is by far the most distrusted of 10 groups voters were asked to assess their ability to manage the interests of Northern Ireland.

Just 4% trust Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government with 84% saying they distrust it. Voters in Northern Ireland are marginally more inclined to trust (47%) than distrust (43%) the European Commission.

"Many voters in Northern Ireland clearly continue to have genuine concerns about what the full operation of the Protocol would mean," said Professor David Phinnemore, one of the project researchers, pointing to the 55% who have concerns about the protocol as it currently stands being implemented in full.

"Yet, this latest poll also shows support for the protocol edging upwards and almost two-thirds of respondents seeing economic opportunities in it."

The polling was conducted from June 3-6 from a weighted sample of 1,497 respondents.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Afghan finance and central bank officials from the Taliban-led government departed for Qatar on Wednesday to meet with U.S. officials, the Taliban said. The meeting follows last weeks deadly earthquake, which brought into focus how relief and emergency aid efforts have stumbled under the weight of the countrys spiraling economic woes.

The quake in southeastern Afghanistan killed around 770 people, according to U.N. figures, though the Taliban put the death toll at closer to 1,150, with thousands injured. The U.N. says 155 children are among those killed in what was the deadliest earthquake to hit the impoverished country in two decades.

Several thousand homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Paktika and Khost provinces. Despite international aid efforts by U.N. agencies and countries in the region, survivors say they need more help to subsist.

We ask for assistance because all our houses are destroyed and we cannot live inside them. People need assistance, we dont have tents or a place to stay, said a resident of Khost province, Tawar Khan.

Overstretched aid agencies say last weeks earthquake underscored the need for the international community to rethink its financial cut-off of Afghanistan and freezing of the country's reserves. Nearly half of Afghanistan's population of 38 million cannot meet their basic food needs. The government is unable to pay public sector wages on time or import what the country needs.

Taliban government officials and U.S. officials were slated to meet in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday to discuss Afghanistan's economy and banking sectors, among other issues, said Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad. He said the Afghan delegation, led by Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, is meeting with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and officials from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that senior Biden administration officials are working with the Taliban leadership on a mechanism to allow Afghanistans government to use its central bank reserves to deal with the country's severe hunger and poverty crises while erecting safeguards to ensure the funds are not misused.

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Following the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan last summer and the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there, some $9.1 billion of Afghan foreign reserves were frozen, with the Biden administration freezing $7 billion of that. The rest is largely held in Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, where it also has not been released to Afghanistans new rulers.

No government has yet recognized the Talibans rule over Afghanistan. The former insurgents have resisted international pressure to maintain the previous rights gained by Afghan women, instead imposing restrictions on womens dress and limiting access to schools for teenage girls.

Afghan central bank official Shah Mehrabi confirmed to The Associated Press that talks have been ongoing for some time to agree on mechanisms to release some of the Afghan foreign reserves to prop up the afghani currency. This, he said, would help stabilize prices and allow the country to import vital goods to stave off hunger and economic collapse.

The reserves belong to the Afghan people to be used for the purposes of bringing about stable prices, said Mehrabi, a U.S.-based professor of economics at Montgomery College in Maryland and a member of the Afghan central banks Supreme Council. He also chairs its audit committee.

Mehrabi said hes been involved in the conversations around Afghanistans financial reserves, though hes not part of the Qatar meeting. He has suggested that one way to build trust between the two sides would be for the U.S. Treasury Department to release a limited, monitored amount of $150 million a month to help Afghanistan's economy and meet the needs of ordinary Afghans. Mehrabi said Afghan central bankers like himself work independently of the Taliban or any Afghan leadership.

We have to able to look at restoring confidence in the private sector," he said. Reserves will play an important role in allowing businesses to pay for critical imports."

In February, President Joe Biden signed an order to split $7 billion of Afghanistan's reserves, with half for humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and the other $3.5 billion for Sept. 11 victims' plaintiff fees. The move was slammed by Afghans who say the money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.

Without access to the country's foreign reserves, the afghani has plummeted in value and Afghans have struggled to withdraw money from local banks. International sanctions have also choked off international bank transfers into the country with some exceptions for aid agencies. The Taliban has sought ways to collect taxes and other fees to keep the government running.

The U.N. warns that 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year. Already, increasing numbers of families are reporting multiple children in the same household dying of malnutrition.

So desperate are families that some fathers have sold their minor-aged daughters into marriage, using the down-payment to feed the other children to avoid starvation. Severe drought and climate change have exacerbated the crisis, with around 22.8 million people  more than 55% of Afghanistans population  experiencing high levels of acute food shortages.

Even before the Taliban takeover last year, Afghanistan's economy had been deeply reliant on foreign aid. The International Committee of the Red Cross is paying the salaries of health care staff and the operational costs of more than 30 hospitals across the country, including one that has treated victims of the earthquake.

The quake struck a remote, deeply impoverished region of small towns and villages tucked among rough mountains near the Pakistani border, collapsing stone and mud-brick homes and in some cases killing entire families. Survivors have had to dig through debris with their bare hands to search for missing loved ones as the ground continues to rumble with more aftershocks.

___

Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Tan France. Jim Spellman/Getty Images

Tan France is Insider's latest June cover star.

France told Insider that Netflix could replace the latest cast of "Queer Eye" eventually.

"I'm sure that they'll want somebody younger and hipper to advise them," France told Insider.

Tan France suggested that his days as a host on Netflix's "Queer Eye" could be numbered in a new expansive interview with Insider.

"We're all knocking on a bit," said France, who is the star of Insider's latest digital cover, in reference to the show's cast getting older.

"I don't know how much people will care about our opinion on fashion and hair and whatever when we go into the middle-aged period of our life. I'm sure that they'll want somebody younger and hipper to advise them."

Netflix's "Queer Eye" follows Tan France alongside fellow cultural experts Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, and Antoni Porowski who draw on their expertise in fashion, beauty, self-care, design, and food, to help transform the lives of often hapless, stagnant men who are at a crossroads in their lives.

The show is a reboot of the series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," which ran on Bravo from 2003-2007 and featured a similar format.

Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Bobby Berk and Jonathan Van Ness in season four of "Queer Eye." Christopher Smith / Netflix

France and the rest of the group  who are often collectively dubbed the Fab Five  started filming the seventh season of "Queer Eye," set in New Orleans, earlier this month. For reference, Netflix's longest-running show, "Grace and Frankie," with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, wrapped its run after seven seasons earlier this year.

France has also recently wrapped season two of the Netflix reality show, "Next in Fashion." France is co-hosting the second season of the design show with supermodel Gigi Hadid.

The 39-year-old fashion guru told Insider that the show will be moving in a new direction with its second season.

"For season one, it was all based on themes, like universal clothing that you would find pretty much in every closet around the world," he said. "This time that's not the case. I think it's more difficult. I think we pushed the designers to be even more creative."

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Elsewhere during the interview with Insider, France discussed his desire to have a second child with his husband Rob and his childhood in England.

Click here to read France's full cover story, featuring exclusive photos by Martin Schoeller. Then check out "We/Us/Ours," an Insider series about LGBTQ communities and spaces that inspire queer unity.

Read the original article on Insider
Next month, teenagers in Nassau County will get a chance to see firsthand what its like to be a sheriffs deputy.

Its all part of a free program called the Sheriffs Teen Citizens Academy.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

We wanted to ramp it up and make it as interesting as we could, said Sergeant Brian Blackwell, who has been with the Nassau County Sheriffs Office for the past 13 years.

These deputies want teens to have a fun outlet to learn, and maybe even make a difference as a deputy themselves one day.

Were taking the kids and putting them through a crime scene, start to finish, Blackwell said as he described one of the activities. Here, they get to see every entity of the sheriffs office. They get to meet, greet, talk to everyone in the division. [Its] very hands-on, very in-your-face. They get to see it live and not just kinda hear about it, he emphasized.

Read: Record high calls-for-service for the month of June at Jacksonville Beach

Everything we can do to spread joy and positivity to these kids, Blackwell said. Thats our goal.

Teens ages 14 to 18 can sign up for the three-day summer program by Friday, July 1. To apply, call 904-548-4020 or email ni1468@nassauso.com.

A notary signature is required for the application. The classes are scheduled from July 27-29, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and meals will be provided.

Action Jax News first reported on the Sheriffs Teen Citizens Academy back in June of 2021.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories
A 34-year-old man from Tennessee was killed Tuesday night after a shootout with Kentucky State Police troopers on Dixie Highway in Louisville, according to Metro Nashville Police.

Samuel Quinton Edwards died just before 8 p.m. after a police pursuit that ended with shots being exchanged with KSP troopers, Nashville police said. He had been wanted by officials since Monday, after he was accused of shooting a Hendersonville, Tennessee police officer during a chase in Madison that night. That officer survived, according to The Tennessean, and is recovering at home.

Several videos on social media showed a large police presence at Dixie Highway and Ashby Lane after shots were fired at the scene Monday night.

BREAKING: Samuel Quinton Edwards has been involved in an exchange of gunfire with Kentucky State Police in Louisville. He is deceased.  Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) June 29, 2022

In a Twitter post, Louisville Metro Police confirmed that a pursuit had taken place but released few additional details. In a release later that night, KSP confirmed an investigation was underway after troopers had been involved in a shooting that left an individual dead but released no additional details.

Nashville police had previously said Edwards shot at a Hendersonville officer's SUV Monday and abandoned a van in Madison, Tennessee, after a chase. Police said he switched vehicles at that point, stealing a white 2009 Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

The shooting in Louisville took place a day later, Tuesday evening.

KSP is investigating the shooting. The agency did not give a timetable as to when more details would be released but said it is "committed to being transparent while ensuring the integrity of the investigation."

More local stories: Driver killed in car crash on I-265 identified as missing Louisville woman

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Rachel Wegner and Katie Nixon of the Nashville Tennessean contributed to this story.

Reach Ana Rocio Alvarez Brinez at abrinez@gannett.com; follow her on Twitter at @SoyAnaAlvarez

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Nashville man Samuel Edwards killed in police shootout in Louisville
WASHINGTON  In vivid detail, and under the bright lights of the House Jan. 6 committees hearing room, a former West Wing aide described the final furious  and violent  hours of President Donald Trumps futile campaign to cling to power by all means available to him.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a senior aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, detailed outbursts of rage from Trump the day he urged supporters to march to the Capitol, portraying him as angry and supportive of the Capitol attack  as his last, desperate grasp to overturn the will of voters failed.

I dont f---ing care that they have weapons, Trump fumed in urging aides to take down magnetometers near the White House before he addressed a Stop the Steal rally, Hutchinson testified. Theyre not here to hurt me. Take the f---ing mags away.

On Jan. 6, Trump planned to go to the Capitol with the mob after the rally, Hutchinson testified, citing conversations with Meadows and Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani.

In a series of posts on his platform Truth Social, Trump largely dismissed and denied Hutchinson's testimony.

Relaying what she said she was told by Secret Service official Tony Ornato, Hutchinson recounted that Trump grew livid when his bodyguards told him his limousine was headed not to the Capitol, but back to the White House, after the rally.

I am the f---ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now, Hutchinson recounted being told of Trump's response.

Trump grabbed for the steering wheel from the back seat, wrestled with one of the bodyguards for control of the car and ultimately grabbed the bodyguards throat, Hutchinson said.

A source close to Ornato told NBC News that Ornato is willing to testify under oath disputing that account, while a source close to the Secret Service separately told NBC News that Engel is also willing to do the same.

NBC News has reached out to Ornato and Engel for comment.

When reached for comment, a Jan. 6 committee aide told NBC News in a statement: The Select Committee found Ms. Hutchinsons testimony to be credible. The committee welcomes anyone who wishes to provide additional information under oath.

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Anthony Gugliemi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, told NBC News that the agency informed the Department of Homeland Security that any and all personnel that the committee requests are available to testify under oath, responding to Tuesday's allegations. The Secret Service is part of DHS.

During her testimony, Hutchinson also recalled a conversation between Meadows and White House counsel Pat Cipollone after they had discussed the "Hang Mike Pence" chants at the Capitol.

As Cipollone tried to convince Meadows to do something to stop the riot, Hutchinson said the chief of staff replied, "You heard him [Trump], Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesnt think theyre doing anything wrong."

Trumps anger fit a pattern, the 25-year-old former aide recalled. In December 2020, after Attorney General William Barr told The Associated Press that there was no evidence of fraud in the election, Trump threw his ketchup-dressed lunch at a White House wall in a furious rage. Hutchinson cleaned up his mess.

The explosive testimony from Hutchinson, the official in closest proximity to Trump to appear at a public hearing, amounted to a stunning and strikingly detail-rich condemnation of a former president who demands absolute loyalty  and has mostly gotten it  from a close circle of aides and advisers.

As an American, I was disgusted, Hutchinson said Tuesday of Trump tweeting that Pence lacked courage as insurrectionists broke into the Capitol. It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol on June 28, 2022. (Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images)

Hutchinson was referring to Trumps false assertion that he was robbed of a second term, which culminated in efforts to enlist election and Justice Department officials to reverse the results, a scheme to certify fake electors, and ultimately the attack on the Capitol.

Meadows sought a pardon for his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection, Hutchinson testified.

Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6

The panel used a mix of Hutchinsons live testimony Tuesday and prior recorded sessions to show that the prospect of Trump going to the Capitol was debated at the highest levels of the White House in the days preceding Jan. 6  and that Trump wanted to go.

Four days before Jan. 6, Giuliani told Hutchinson that Trump planned to accompany his supporters to the Capitol, Hutchinson testified.

Giuliani had just left a meeting with Meadows. As Hutchinson walked Giuliani out of the White House, he asked if she was excited about Jan. 6, Hutchinson testified.

Were going to the Capitol, Giuliani said, according to Hutchinsons testimony. And then referring to Trump, he said: The president is going to be there. Hes going to look powerful.

Hutchinson said she repeated the conversation to Meadows.

Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6, Hutchinson testified that Meadows told her in response.

At the time, according to prior testimony before the panel, Giuliani was at the forefront of a campaign to invalidate the 2020 election, in part by stopping the count of electoral votes at the Capitol.

When asked about Hutchinson's testimony that Giuliani had requested a presidential pardon and spoke to her about Jan. 6 a few days before the rally at the Ellipse, Giuliani's attorney Robert Costello told NBC News in an email, I am sure he didnt see the testimony and I havent talked to him yet, adding that Giuliani was "doing last minute campaigning with his son Andrew who is running for Governor" of New York, where voters are selecting nominees for governor and lieutenant governor on Tuesday.

Hutchinsons testimony represents the committees strongest argument yet about whether Trump intended to incite an insurrection. Though just 25 years old, Hutchinson worked in the West Wing, just a few feet from the Oval Office, and spent much of her time with Meadows, for whom she worked on legislative affairs and as an executive assistant.

But Trumps plan to follow his supporters to the Capitol was a point of controversy inside the White House. Cipollone repeatedly pressed Hutchinson to try to intervene with Meadows, she testified.

Were going to get charged with every crime imaginable if Trump goes to the Capitol, she said Cipollone warned her at one point. Cipollone said he was concerned about the possibility of obstructing the count of electoral votes that day and that it would look like we were inciting a riot or encouraging a riot.

Cipollone has so far refused to testify before the committee.

Warnings ignored

Trump and Meadows ignored warnings about potential violence on Jan. 6  in the days and hours leading up to the attack  Hutchinson testified.

On the morning of Jan. 6, police radio conversations played at the hearing revealed Secret Service and Washington, D.C., police officers had observed people outside the rally perimeter with AR-15 semi-automatic rifles and other weapons.

Aides attempted to explain to Trump that because they had weapons, those individuals didn't want to pass through Secret Service magnetometers, or metal detectors. But Trump remained concerned about the appearance that the crowd was small, she testified.

I dont f---ing care that they have weapons, Hutchinson testified that Trump said. Theyre not here to hurt me. Take the f---ing mags away.

Then during his speech, knowing some of them were armed, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, where he planned to meet them.

You need this for cover

As insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, lawmakers placed urgent calls to White House officials, including Hutchinson, who fielded one from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, she testified.

McCarthy was concerned that Trump would come to the Capitol and add fuel to a rising inferno. A McCarthy spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

It would be hours before Trump released a video urging the rioters to disperse from the Capitol. Committee members say that Trumps silence during that period enabled and encouraged the insurrectionists to continue their assault.

It was only after aides advised Trump that he risked being removed from office that he agreed to give a statement condemning the attack on Jan. 7, Hutchinson testified.

You need this for cover, he was told, she said.

The star witness

Hutchinson presented the committees strongest evidence yet about Trumps intentions on the day of the insurrection.

The committee members praised her for volunteering testimony in four recorded sessions and at Tuesdays hearing, portraying her as anomalously brave amid Trump administration officials who have been less forthcoming.

The same people who drove the former presidents pressure campaign to overturn the election are now trying to cover up the truth about Jan. 6, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said at the hearing. But thanks to the courage of certain individuals, the truth wont be buried. The American people wont be left in the dark. Our witness today, Ms. Cassidy Hutchinson, has embodied that courage.

At the end of the hearing, the committee showed partial text messages that it portrayed as demonstrating that Trump is trying to influence witnesses behind the scenes.

[A person] let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that hes thinking about you, said one text message for which the sender, recipient and the person referred to were not disclosed. He knows youre loyal, and youre going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.

Committee members see Hutchinson as a pivotal figure because of her proximity to Meadows, the former congressman and Trump gatekeeper who was in frequent communication with the then-president and his allies who worked to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election. Lawmakers say Trump acted illegally in that effort, which included a plan to certify fake electors and resulted in the storming of the Capitol.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House official who resigned after the election and before Jan. 6, tweeted Tuesday that she was impressed by the evidence presented by Hutchinson, whom she described as a friend.

I knew her testimony would be damning, Griffin tweeted. I had no idea itd be THIS damning.
Passive investing in index funds can generate returns that roughly match the overall market. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more than that. For example, the Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) share price is up 68% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market decline of around 20% (not including dividends). If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! However, the longer term returns haven't been so impressive, with the stock up just 24% in the last three years.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

See our latest analysis for Scorpio Tankers

Given that Scorpio Tankers didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Scorpio Tankers actually shrunk its revenue over the last year, with a reduction of 27%. Despite the lack of revenue growth, the stock has returned a solid 68% the last twelve months. To us that means that there isn't a lot of correlation between the past revenue performance and the share price, but a closer look at analyst forecasts and the bottom line may well explain a lot.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

This free interactive report on Scorpio Tankers' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Scorpio Tankers, it has a TSR of 72% for the last 1 year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

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A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Scorpio Tankers has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 72% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 0.6% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Scorpio Tankers , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Illinois state Sen. Darren Bailey was projected to win the Republican primary in the Illinois gubernatorial race on Tuesday, coming several days after former President Trump backed the Illinois lawmaker.

ABC and CBS both called the race for Bailey around 9:22 p.m. ET.

Bailey successfully beat back a challenge among several primary rivals, including Aurora, Ill. Mayor Richard Irvin, who polled the most competitively after Bailey. Irvin has painted himself as a conservative that would be considered agreeable to voters, including Democrats and independents.

Meanwhile, Politico reported in April that Bailey sought former President Trumps endorsement and was attending a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago for Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) Just days before the primary, Trump publicly backed the Illinois lawmaker.

Darren is just the man to take on and defeat one of the worst governors in America, the former president said during a rally in the state over the weekend, according to Newsweek.

A Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ poll released earlier this month, which was conducted by Public Policy Polling, showed Bailey in a 15-percentage point lead ahead of Irvin.

Only a month before, a WGN-The Hill-Emerson College poll showed Bailey trailing Irvin, with the state senator receiving 20 percent compared to 24 percent for Irvin.

However, the bigger challenge will be taking on Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, given the blue states history and the governors incumbency.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Washington DC - January 6, 2021: Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen during a protest rally calling for the decertification of Electoral College votes claiming a conspiracy theory, that has been debunked, that the general presidential election was stolen in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. Photo: Christopher Lee for TIME

Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen during the protest rally on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. Credit - Christopher Lee for TIME

On the night of Jan. 2, 2021, Cassidy Hutchinson escorted President Donald Trumps personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, out of the West Wing to a car waiting to drive him off the White House grounds. The former New York City mayor had just finished a meeting with Hutchinsons boss, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Cass, are you excited for the 6th? Giuliani said, according to Hutchinsons recent testimony at a congressional hearing. Its going to be a great day.

The remarks threw the young aide off guard. Rudy, could you explain whats happening on the 6th? she asked him.

His answer wasnt entirely clarifying. Were going to the Capitol. Its going to be great. The president is going to be there. Hes going to look powerful, Giuliani told her. Talk to the chief about it. He knows about it.'

Hutchinson walked back to Meadows office. He was sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone. It sounds like were going to the Capitol, she told him. Meadows didnt look up from his phone. Theres a lot going on, Cass, but I dont know, he said. Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6.

For the last 18 months, Trump and his allies have adamantly stressed that the deadly Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, was as shocking to them as it was to everybody else. It was spontaneous, they said, a legitimate political protest. The president and his associates did nothing wrong before, during, or after the attack. One senator called it a debate about election integrity that simply got out of hand.

During a hastily scheduled hearing on June 28, 26-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson struck a mortal blow to that defense. Over two hours of dramatic live testimony before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, Hutchinson asserted that Trump was repeatedly warned about the legal and practical dangers of encouraging the march to the Capitol that day.

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Not only did he urge his supporters to go to the Capitol, he knew the mob was heavily armed and dangerous, according to Hutchinson. Not only did he know they wanted to obstruct the certification of Joe Bidens electoral victory, he tried to join them. And not only did he know his supporters posed grave danger to members of Congress and his own vice president, Mike Pence, he thought they deserved it.

Trump immediately denied the most explosive parts of Hutchinsons testimony. In a dozen posts on his social media platform Truth Social, he called her a total phony and a whacko. Her body language, he fumed, was that of a total bull. Artist. One allegation, in particular, he said was fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself.

But the panels sixth hearing demonstrated in graphic, new detail that the political and legal case is still being built against the former president. And the damning revelations from Hutchinson could ultimately help the Department of Justice charge the former President with crimes, such as attempt to obstruct an official act of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and even seditious conspiracy, according to Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney.

I think he has gone into a whole different category of potential criminal liability, Litman tells TIME. The most serious charges to date have been against the Proud Boys and Three Percenters because they actually were using violence to try to harm a U.S. function. And thats where Trump is now, too. Hes an absolute co-conspirator.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 28, 2022. Brandon BellGetty Images

Every Crime Imaginable

The Jan. 2 meeting between Giuliani and Meadows wasnt an outlier. Planning around Jan. 6 had taken up an increasing amount of the administrations time and resources. In the weeks after the election, Trump was prone to angry outbursts as lawsuit after lawsuit seeking to overturn election results in swing states failed. When Trump learned about then-Attorney General William Barrs Dec. 1, 2020, interview with the Associated Press, in which he said that there wasnt enough evidence to prove widespread fraud during the election, Trump flung a plate of food at the wall, Hutchinson testified, leaving ketchup dripping down the wall.

With his efforts to nullify Bidens wins in six states going nowhere, he turned his attention to urging his supporters to Stop the Steal, suggesting that they could block Congress from formally certifying Bidens victory. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th, Trump tweeted on Dec. 19. Be there, will be wild!

Already those around him were raising concerns about the potential for violence. John Ratcliffe, a former Texas Congressman who had become Trumps Director of National Intelligence, told Hutchinson he was concerned that it could spiral out of control and potentially be dangerous, either for our democracy or the way that things were going for the 6th, she testified.

While Hutchinson wasnt privy to substantive discussions about the extremist groups that would ultimately assault the Capitol, she recalled hearing the words Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in the West Wing in the days leading up to the attack.

Even from the outside, there were clear signs that Jan. 6 had a high potential for violence. Far-right groups had been openly preparing for weeks for the day they saw as a final stand to keep the President in power. Dozens of the MAGA faithful had already been arrested at precursor Stop the Steal rallies. As Trump continues this incendiary rhetoric, hes inciting his supporters and inflaming the situation, Chuck Hagel, a Defense Secretary under President Obama and former Republican Senator from Nebraska, told TIME on Jan. 5, 2021. Im concerned about violence.

Read More: Washington Braces for Chaos as Trump Supporters Descend for Final Stand

This was an assessment that was shared internally by national security and Secret Service officials, who warned senior White House staffers, including Meadows, about intelligence that indicated there was a likelihood of violence and armed protestors on Jan. 6, according to Hutchinsons testimony, as well as concerns that Congress would be a target.

At the same time, Trump was trying to orchestrate a rare presidential visit to the Capitol to be with his supporters that day. On the morning of Jan. 6, White House Counsel Pat Cipplone made a desperate plea to Hutchinson as she was leaving for the rally planned for near the White House. Please make sure we dont go up to the Capitol, Cassidy, he said. Keep in touch with me. Were going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.

Earlier that morning, she had witnessed White House Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato warning Meadows of the wild array of weaponry the protestors were bringing, everything from knives, pistols, and rifles to bear spray and body armor. These effing people are fastening spears onto the ends of flagpoles, she recalled him saying. Ornato said he had told Trump the same thing, Hutchinson added.

But when she got to the rally, she overheard Trump concerned not about the potential for violence, but the crowd size. The rally space at the Ellipse was not full, the Secret Service told him, because many of his supporters were armed and didnt want to go through the magnetometers, known as mags, to gain access. I dont effing care that they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away, he said, according to Hutchinson. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here.

The Secret Service did not comply with his request. Around noon, the President gave his address, one that the Jan. 6 committee has featured repeatedly during its hearings. Rep. Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and the committees vice chair, said that Trump, who is known to ad-lib during public speeches, mostly stuck to the script. But as noteworthy as what was in the speechdark warnings like If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymoreis what was left out.

Hutchinson testified that Trump wanted to include language promising to pardon his supporters who marched to the Capitol to thwart Bidens election certification, but Cippolone convinced him to leave it out. I understood, from White House Counsels Office coming into our office that morning, that they didnt think it was a good idea to include that in the speech, Hutchinson said in pre-taped video testimony.

When the speech ended, Trump got into a bulletproof presidential vehicle, and demanded his security detail take him to the Capitol. National security chat logs shared by the Jan. 6 committee showed that the Secret Service was at one point preparing to clear a route for the president to walk there. When Trumps lead security detail, Robert Engel, conveyed to him that going to the Capitol was not secure and they had to return to the White House, the president was furious.

What happened next has become a matter of dispute since the June 28 hearing. Hutchinson testified that Ornato, with Engel in the room, told her that Trump said, Im the effing President, take me up to the Capitol now. After he was rebuffed, Trump allegedly tried to grab the steering wheel. Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, Engel told him, while grabbing his arm. Trump then lunged at him and grabbed the agents throat, Hutchinson said Ornato told her. Trump vehemently denied the incident ever happened.

A few hours later, Trump was back at the White House as protestors breached the Capitol. With the day growing increasingly violent, and Pence among those at risk, Cipollone implored Meadows to take action, Hutchinson testified. Something needs to be done or people are going to die and the blood is going to be on your effing hands, he said, according to Hutchinsons account. Mark, we need to do something more, theyre literally calling for the Vice President to be effing hung. Meadows responded with something to the effect of, you heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it, Hutchinson told investigators.

Shortly thereafter, Trump tweeted, Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.

An image of former President Donald Trump is displayed during the third hearing of the House Select Committee in the Cannon House Office Building on June 16, 2022. Drew AngererGetty Images

No More Credible Person Than That

The new revelations from Hutchinsonsomeone who witnessed many of these conversations firsthandis the most damning testimony to date.

While Trump and his allies tried to undermine her credibility, several former administration officials vouched for her character and trustworthiness. I worked with her, I saw her every day in the West Wing. She was front and center, actively a major part of the West Wing operation, Olivia Troye, a former homeland security and counterrorism adviser to Pence, told TIME. They can try to discredit her, she went on, the reality is she was Mark Meadows right-hand person. There is no more credible person than that.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews, and former White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah Griffin also defended Hutchinson on Twitter.

Even Fox News, perhaps Trumps most influential defender, acknowledged that Hutchinsons testimony was damaging.

While the some of the networks most prominent personalities have painted the committees work as a Stalinist witch hunt, and its executives refused to preempt Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity on June 9 to carry the first hearing live, anchor Bret Baier didnt hide his astonishment in response to the June 28 hearing. Ive covered politics a long time, Baier said on air. I dont think there has been testimony like thisthat is kind of jaw-dropping, in a wayon the inside workings of a White House  since Watergate.

Its a reality that is leading many legal experts to believe that what was once unthinkable is now entirely possiblea former president might be indicted. I think her testimony makes it more likely that well see criminal charges, says Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor and now a lecturer at Columbia Law School.

Before Hutchinsons deposition, the committee had mostly depicted the different ways that White House advisers, Department of Justice and state election officials had repeatedly told the president that his claims of voter fraud were baselessshowing how Trump and his associated ignored them all, pressing on with his efforts to overturn the election anyway.

Hutchinson also testified that both Meadows and Giuliani requested presidential pardons for their actions leading up to Jan. 6, a move that committee members have said demonstrates a consciousness of guilt.

Legal experts said that all of that evidence, while potentially damaging for Trump, still gave him the wiggle room to say he was exercising his First Amendment right to express a conviction, even if it was flatly untrue. In other words, its the legal defense version of the George Costanza line, Its not a lie, if you believe it.

But Hutchinsons striking testimony, particularly about how Trump knew many of his supporters were armed and sent them to the Capitol anyway, has changed the equation.

For the first time, this testimony tied him to advance knowledge of the violence. And thats huge, Rodgers tells TIME. I thought that was a direct hit for him, understanding that there was a very strong potential for violence, and he didnt care one bit.

The evidence presented on June 28 actually went further than helping to build the case against Trump for attempting to obstruct a congressional proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. It opened up the possibility that the Justice Department could pursue other charges.

After Hutchinson finished testifying, the Jan. 6 committee revealed new evidence that unnamed Trump allies were trying to intimidate witnesses by sending messages before they testified. He knows youre loyal and youre going to do the right thing when you go in, one such message said. One of the messages was sent to Hutchinson herself, according to Punchbowl News.

I think he has gone into a whole different category of potential criminal liability, Litman says. The big thing is that hes now in the territory that he hasnt been before of both seditious conspiracy and fomenting insurrection.

To be sure, many are still skeptical that Attorney General Merrick Garland will ultimately indict Trump, or even appoint a special prosecutor to consider such a task. The Justice Department, after all, has never prosecuted a former president. But theres a greater likelihood now than there has ever been.

Its a federal crime to intimidate or assault members of Congress, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy said on Fox News after the hearing. What would the Capitol Police have done if the President of the United States was leading the mob? How could they conceivably have contained that?

According to McCarthy and Litman, those revelations alone could implicate the President on criminal charges of conspiracy to impede or injure a government official. Its a crime that carries up to six years in prison.
MADISON, Wis.  Wisconsins Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the states 173-year-old abortion ban, arguing that statutes passed in the 1980s supersede the ban and its so old that modern generations never consented to it.

Wisconsin passed a law in 1849, the year after the territory became a state, banning abortions in every instance except to save the mothers life. The U.S. Supreme Courts landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, which essentially legalized abortion nationwide, nullified the ban.

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The courts decision on Friday to reverse Roe vs. Wade has created questions about whether the ban is back in effect. Anti-abortion advocates insist it is. Abortion providers in the state stopped offering procedures on Friday out of fear of prosecution.

Attorney General Josh Kaul had hinted before the Supreme Courts decision reversing Roe vs. Wade that he would challenge the bans validity. He followed through on Tuesday, filing an action in Dane County Circuit Court. He blasted the ban during a news conference with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to announce the filing.

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Were talking about returning Wisconsin to the 19th century, Kaul said.

Evers said Democrats are taking very, very, very important steps to return rights to the women of Wisconsin.

According to the lawsuit, Wisconsin adopted a post-Roe vs. Wade law in 1985 that prohibits abortions after a fetus has grown enough that it could survive outside the womb. That point in time is the subject of debate. Some physicians say its around 20 weeks, others around 28 weeks.

Kaul argues that the 1985 law superseded the ban and therefore abortions before the point of viability remain legal in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin abortion providers cannot be held to two sets of diametrically opposed laws, and the Wisconsin people deserve clarity, the lawsuit said.

Kaul goes on to contend that the ban should be declared unenforceable because it has become obsolete, saying a law that was enacted so long ago cannot be said to have the consent of the governed.

This Court therefore should declare that (the ban) cannot be enforced as applied to abortions until and unless new legislation is enacted into law, the lawsuit says.

Republican lawmakers have said they may update the ban when they return to Madison for the next two-year legislative session in January. Evers would veto any of their attempts if he wins reelection in November, however.

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The lawsuit names Senate President Chris Kapenga, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos as defendants. Vos said in a statement that Evers and Kauls decision to sue is just as misguided as the original Roe vs. Wade ruling.

Once again we will do Attorney General Kauls job and vigorously defend the law, Vos said.

Kapenga and LeMahieu spokesman Adam Gibbs didnt return messages.

Julaine Appling, president of anti-abortion lobbying group Wisconsin Family Action, said the 1849 ban is a duly enacted law and Kaul is simply playing to Democratic supporters.

What you have here is political grandstanding, Appling said. Hes playing to his political base and doing their bidding, unfortunately, rather than doing what he was elected to do.

Kaul faces an uphill fight in the courts. The lawsuit is so important it will likely work its way to the state Supreme Court. Conservatives hold a 4-3 advantage on the court. Justice Patience Roggensack isnt running for reelection next April, which gives liberals a chance to regain the majority, but Kaul said during the news conference he wants a quick resolution of the case.

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Were right on the law, he said.

Dr. Kathy King, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsins medical director, thanked Kaul and Evers for taking action. She said her organization has been forced to turn patients away, causing suffering because of a vague law from 1849.

Meanwhile, three Republican gubernatorial hopefuls warned they would fire prosecutors who refuse to enforce the ban.

Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, management consultant Kevin Nicholson and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun all said during a debate on Monday that they would remove district attorneys who wont enforce the ban. Former President Donald Trumps endorsed candidate, Tim Michels, didnt attend the debate.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has said he wont enforce the ban. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has hinted he wont enforce it, either. Ozanne and Chisholm are Democrats.

District attorneys are elected officials but state law allows the governor to remove them from office for cause.

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Also Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court announced it would hear three new cases, including that of an anti-abortion protestor who lower courts determined was harassing a Planned Parenthood employee in 2020 when he followed her to her car and told her bad things could happen if she didnt repent.

The court is expected to determine whether the protestors statements were indeed harassment and whether the lower courts decision to block him from protesting outside Planned Parenthood for four years violated his First Amendment rights.

Associated Press writer Harm Venhuizen contributed to this report. Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
WASHINGTON  Former President Donald Trumps staff warned him that his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, could amount to criminal behavior. They unsuccessfully pleaded with him to call off rioters ransacking the Capitol who were threatening former Vice President Mike Pence. And after the riot had been put down and one of the most chaotic days in U.S. history was over, a former aide testified Tuesday, they told him his cabinet members were discussing invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trumps former chief of staff Mark Meadows and a veritable fly on the wall throughout the events and meetings that led to the insurrection at the Capitol, testified at length Tuesday that Trump was often irate and lashed out at staff as he attempted to hold on to power after he lost the 2020 election. His behavior, she said, had led Cabinet members to consider a remedy allowed by the U.S. Constitution.

Trumps top advisers and White House lawyers pushed him to deliver an address to the nation on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the attack, as a means to save his legacy  and also stave off a potential move by his own Cabinet members to oust him using the 25th Amendment.

There was a large concern of the 25th Amendment potentially being invoked and there were concerns about what would happen in the Senate if it was  if the 25th was invoked, Hutchinson said. Part of their pitch to Trump was, she said, You need this as cover.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Trumps lawyers, including Pat Philbin and Pat Cipollone wanted him to condemn the rioters, promise to prosecute them, and acknowledge that the election was not stolen. In contrast, Trump sought to offer them a blanket pardon in the speech, Hutchinson testified. While Trump ultimately taped the speech, without mentioning of prosecutions or pardons, he again falsely asserted that he had won the 2020 election.

The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and the members of the cabinet to install the vice president into the role of president if the sitting president is incapacitated. Throughout the six Jan. 6 select committee hearings to date, Trumps own former aides and advisers have repeatedly described Trump as almost out of touch with reality, refusing to accept his loss and pushing wild conspiracy theories to argue that he had won the 2020 election.

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Last week, former Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue recounted investigating Trumps many bogus claims of election fraud. He expressed his surprise that when he told Trump there was no evidence, instead of being angry, Trump simply floated another conspiracy theory. In one case, Trump had his acting secretary of defense, Chris Miller, contact Italian officials to ask if they were using defense satellites to change votes for Biden.

And following a meeting between Trump and then-Attorney General William Barr in early December 2020, after Barr had told the Associated Press there was no evidence of fraud, Hutchinson recalled walking into the White House dining room and found a smashed porcelain plate and ketchup dripping down the wall. Trump had thrown his lunch at the wall in a fit of rage.

There was ketchup dripping down the wall, and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor, Hutchinson said.

A slide shown during the House select committee hearing on Tuesday. (House TV)

Throughout her two hours of testimony during Tuesdays surprise hearing, Hutchinson detailed how he seemed increasingly irate and out of control as he attempted to defy the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6.

When Secret Service agents refused to drive Trump to the Capitol, the former president became angry, Hutchinson said, and he told them, Im the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now!

When Trump was alerted that armed protesters bearing AR-15s, pistols and body armor had assembled outside his Stop the Steal rally, which later morphed into a riotous mob attacking the Capitol, Trump demanded that Secret Service take down the magnetometers (or mags) meant to screen out potential threats to the president.

Theyre not coming after me, Trump said, according to Hutchinson.

(House TV)

As he departed the speech he had given to his supporters, Trump demanded that his Secret Service detail drive him to the Capitol to address lawmakers. When they refused, citing the need to protect him, Trump lunged to try to grab the wheel of his own limousine, Hutchinson said.

As the attack on the Capitol unfolded, Hutchinson described Trump as effectively walled off from his advisers and recounted her efforts to push Meadows to alert Trump about the severity of what was transpiring.

Fox News host Sean Hannity spoke with Trump later that day and let him know that he was facing potential removal from office via the 25th Amendment or impeachment, Rep. Liz Cheney said at Tuesdays hearing.

Hutchinson recalled then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who at the time was laying the groundwork for his own possible White House bid, telling Meadows that the other Cabinet members were actively debating invoking the 25th Amendment.

(House TV)

Indeed, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told USA Today, later that she had discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with Pence, but that Pence had shot down the idea.

I wanted to get a better understanding of the law itself and see if it was applicable in this case. There were more than a few people who had those conversations internally, DeVos told USA Today. She later concluded it would be unlikely to work and resigned on Jan. 7, 2021.

Pence, who faced the wrath of the Trump mob on Jan. 6, would have needed to have signed on to the plan to carry it out. In a Jan. 12, 2021 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Pence wrote that the nation needed to heal after the attack, rather than seek Trumps removal.

The Bible says that for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven ...a time to heal ... and a time to build up, Pence wrote to Pelosi. That time is now.

_____

The rioters got within 2 doors of Vice President Mike Pence's office. See how in this 3D explainer from Yahoo Immersive.
Former US President Donald Trump. Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Trump launched his own social media app Truth Social in February.

The company that built the app struggled to hire tech workers, sources told Reuters.

The hiring pool was narrowed by a reported company policy that favored right-wing candidates.

The company behind Donald Trump's social media app Truth Social struggled to hire enough tech workers, according to a Reuters report.

Truth Social launched on the App Store in February, and Trump has touted the app as his alternative to Big Tech which he claims censors right-wing views.

The app's launch was beset with technical difficulties and many users were shunted onto a long waiting list when they tried to sign up.

Three sources familiar with Trump Media and Technology Group's operations told Reuters the company avoided hiring left-wing employees  a requirement which significantly narrowed the choice of tech candidates.

One source told Reuters in at least one instance recruiters for the company scoured a potential candidate's social media to evaluate their politics.

Video: Pilot and architect try answering Google job interview questions

Three people familiar with TMTG's recruitment efforts also told Reuters tech workers with moderate and left-wing political views were often unwilling to work for the company.

Three sources told Reuters the company also struggled to hire employees regardless of their politics.

One person who was approached by TMTG told Reuters not only did they object to Trump's politics, but they were also put off by his previous failed business ventures.

Digital World Acquisition Corp, a SPAC that is currently in the process of trying to acquire TMTG, listed Trump's previous failed businesses including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump University, and Trump Vodka, as a risk factor for investors.

Reuters reported even workers who did accept jobs at TMTG have taken steps to hide that fact. After Reuters reviewed the social media bios of workers at the company, it found some had omitted mentioning their jobs at TMTG.

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One source told Reuters this was because some staffers fear being associated with the company could harm their future career prospects.

A regulatory filing by Digital World said TMTG had around 40 employees as of March 31, 2022.

Reuters contacted TMTG for comment on its report and received a statement Shannon Devine, managing partner at investor relations company MZ Group.

Devine said Reuters' report contained "false and defamatory statements" and said it "includes misleading assertions and omits material facts."

Devine did not specify which parts of the reports were false and did not reply to a follow-up request for comment, Reuters said.

TMTG did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment outside normal US working hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey will renew requests for Sweden and Finland to extradite individuals it considers terrorists after the countries reached a deal over the Nordic nations' NATO membership bids, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday.

Turkey had opposed their bids over what it called support for Kurdish militants and others it views as terrorists, as well as over arms embargoes and unfulfilled extradition requests.

On Tuesday, the three nations signed a deal for Ankara to remove its block, while the candidates pledged not to support the Kurdish militant PKK and YPG groups or the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Ankara says staged a 2016 coup attempt and which it labels a terrorist organisation with the acronym FETO.

"The dossiers of six PKK members, six FETO members await in Finland, while those of 10 FETO members and 11 PKK members await in Sweden. We will write about their extradition again after the agreement and remind them," Bozdag was cited as saying by state-owned Anadolu news agency.

In the memorandum text the three countries signed on Tuesday, Finland and Sweden agreed to "address (Turkey's) pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly...in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition".

"We have not been presented any claims for now, as far as I know," Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told reporters on Wednesday in Madrid.

On Tuesday, he said the signed memorandum did not list any individuals for extradition and that Finland would continue to respect the European rules in its extradition decisions.

"We don't in fact have any unsettled extradition requests at the moment. We have processed 14 out of 16 (requests by Turkey) and two decisions have been blocked by the fact that the targets have not been located," Niinisto told reporters.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Sweden would continue to follow local and international law in its extraditions and that the process would depend on what information was received from Turkey.

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"There are those in Sweden who feel some anxiety, and with that I want to make clear three things," she told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid.

"First of all, we never extradite anyone who is a Swedish citizen, and I know some of those who have expressed concerns are Swedish citizens, so they don't need to worry.

"Secondly, we will of course as before follow Swedish and international law ... Thirdly, this means that if one is not conducting terrorism activity, one doesn't need to be worried."

Turkey, a NATO member of more than 70 years standing with the alliance's second biggest army, has long demanded that allies halt support for the YPG, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. It has repeatedly traded barbs with the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands and others over the matter.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Anne Kauranen in Helsinki, Belen Carreno in Madrid and Niklas Pollard in Stockholm; Editing by Daren Butler, Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie)
By Kevin Light

SAANICH, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canadian police shot dead two men and six officers were wounded during a gunfight at a bank in British Columbia on Tuesday, and nearby homes were evacuated after the discovery of a possible explosive device, police said.

Emergency response team members arrived on the scene at the Bank of Montreal in Saanich, on Vancouver Island, near the border with the U.S. state of Washington, around 11 a.m. (1800 GMT), law enforcement said.

"This remains an ongoing police incident with a heavy police presence in the area," Saanich police said on their website.

"Homes and businesses in close proximity to the scene of the incident have been evacuated due to the presence of a potential explosive device in a vehicle associated to the suspects."

Later, police said they were lifting a shelter-in-place order but that the block near the bank remained closed over the potential bomb.

The suspects were "heavily armed" and initial reports suggested they wore body armor, Saanich police chief Dean Duthie told a news conference.

Six officers were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, some of whom would soon be released but others "sustained very serious injuries and have been taken into surgery," Duthie said.

Video posted on social media showed police officers and a police dog in pursuit on foot with the sound of gunshots blazing. Police have asked any witnesses to submit video evidence, CBC News reported.

"From what I know about that chaotic, tragic, dynamic, violent scene, the fact that no citizens were injured in any way is truly amazing," Duthie said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter he was "shocked and saddened" by the violence.

"I'm keeping the police officers who were injured in today's shooting - and their colleagues who also rushed towards danger to keep people safe - in my thoughts," Trudeau said.

(Reporting by Kevin Light in Saanich; Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub in Washington; Writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Stephen Coates and Michael Perry)
Reuters

Health authorities across Canada have cut the hours of hospital emergency departments and urgent care clinics in recent weeks, a move that in some cases may extend through the summer, due to a surge in patients and staff shortages. The situation, clinicians say, is tied to a resurgence of viral infections such as COVID-19 among adults and children and a push by others to seek care delayed by the pandemic, and exacerbated by the high number of healthcare workers who are sick or burned out. The strain has led to scenes of clogged hospital hallways and overflowing clinic waiting rooms, hours-long waits for inpatient care and occupancy rates of more than 100% at children's hospitals.
LONDON (Reuters) - A British parliamentary committee set out the details on Wednesday of how it will investigate whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled parliament over COVID-19 lockdown breaking events at his Downing Street offices and residence.

The Privileges Committee will look into whether Johnson, who earlier this month just survived a confidence vote brought by his Conservative lawmakers, misled parliament with his various comments on so-called partygate.

If the committee finds he knowingly did mislead parliament, convention dictates he should offer his resignation.

"Following its first meeting to consider the matter referred to it, the Committee is calling for evidence submissions and accounts from those with knowledge of events related to the inquiry," a House of Commons statement said.

The committee said those who wish to submit evidence would have until July 29 to do so. Veteran opposition Labour Party lawmaker Harriet Harman would chair the committee during its inquiry, the statement said.

The committee said oral evidence sessions would begin in the autumn, and that it would also be willing to take oral or written evidence from people who wish to remain anonymous.

(Reporting by William James, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
The UK Ministry of Defence Intelligence has said that there is a realistic possibility that the Kremenchuk missile strike was accidental.

The update released this morning states that the missile may have been intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

It comes as dozens of people are still missing following the strike that also killed at least 18 people.

Meanwhile, defence secretary Ben Wallace has said the Ukrainians are still winning in their struggle with Russia, despite recent Russian advances in the east of the country.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Madrid, Mr Wallace told LBC: Twenty five thousand Russians, we think, have been killed in that fight in the space of 112, 115 days. Russia has failed on all its major objectives.

It is now reduced to a grinding advance - a few hundred metres every few days at massive cost in one small part of eastern Ukraine along two or three axes. That is not a victory in anyones book.

Key Points

Death toll from shopping centre airstrike climbs to 18

Nato concerned by Putins closer than ever ties with China

Ukraine requests UN Security Council meeting after Kremenchuk airstrike

Nato increases forces on high alert from 40,000 to 300,000 amid Russia threat

The UK Ministry of Defence has said that there is a realistic possibility that the Kremenchuk missile strike was accidental.

08:28 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The UK Ministry of Defence has said that there is a realistic possibility that the Kremenchuk missile strike was accidental.

The update states that the missile may have been intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 29 June 2022



Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/UdgwRxBbYS



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/JL6rXj2V2M  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) June 29, 2022

Toxic masculinity: Putin wouldnt have launched macho war if he were a woman, says Boris Johnson

08:23 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Story continues

Boris Johnson has claimed that Vladimir Putin would not have launched his crazy, macho attack on Ukraine if he were a woman.

The prime minister said the Russian president was a perfect example of toxic masculinity as he joined Nato leaders in Madrid to discuss a radical overhaul of the western defence alliance.

Mr Johnson told German broadcaster ZDF: If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isnt, but if he were, I really dont think he wouldve embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has.

Adam Forrest has more:

Putin wouldnt have launched macho war if he were a woman, says Boris Johnson

Ben Wallace reiterates call for increased defence spending

07:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Defence secretary Ben Wallace has reiterated his call for increased defence spending to counter the threat from Russia.

Mr Wallace, who is attending the Nato summit in Madrid, said that while he had enough funding for the here and now, extra investment was needed in the next government spending round from the middle of the decade.

We were prepared to take certain vulnerabilities on board in the middle of the decade as we got rid of some equipment and re-equipped anew. I think the invasion of Russia into Ukraine has changed that, he told Sky News.

That is why I think discussions are so important for the middle-of-decade funding. In the here and now we are rightly set. The question is what happens in the middle of the decade.

My settlement was done before Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia is very, very dangerous on the world stage. The world is less secure than it was two, three years ago and is not looking likely to change for the rest of the decade.

That is the moment, in the middle of the decade, to say we should commit to increased funding.

Moscow-administered Kherson prepares referendum on joining Russia

07:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Moscow-imposed military-civilian administration in Ukraines Kherson region said it had begun preparations for a referendum on joining Russia, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday.

Russian missile strike in Ukraine's Mykolaiv blamed for three deaths

07:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

At least three people were killed and five wounded by a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Ukraines southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, said local authorities who have launched a rescue effort for survivors.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said eight missiles had hit the city, and urged residents to evacuate. He said the building appeared to have been hit by a Russian X-55 cruise missile.

Photographs from the scene showed smoke billowing from a four-storey building with its upper floor partly destroyed.

Ukrainians who died in Kremenchuk collateral damage  Russian ambassador to UK

07:10 , Stuti Mishra

Russias ambassador to the UK has described the Ukrainians who died in Moscows missile attack on a packed shopping centre as collateral damage.

The strike, which killed 18 people in the central city of Kremenchuk on Monday, caused shock around the world and was denounced by Ukrainian leaders as a war crime and terrorist attack.

Ambassador Andrei Kelin echoed Russian authorities claim that the shopping centre was not the target.

Yes, its a tragic event. Unfortunately, collateral damage happens

Russias Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin

Read more:

Ukrainians who died in Kremenchuk collateral damage  Russian ambassador to UK

Dozens still missing after Russian missile strike on Kremenchuk mall

06:48 , Stuti Mishra

Dozens of people are still missing after a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in central Ukraine two days ago that killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens.

Ukraine said Russia had killed civilians deliberately when it pounded the mall in Kremenchuk. Moscow claims the mall was empty and it had struck a nearby arms depot.

Russian missile hit this location precisely... It is clear that Russian killers received those exact coordinates, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening video address. They wanted to kill as many people.

Authorities said around 36 people were still missing.

Workers are seen clearing the rubbles of the Amstor mall, after it was hit by a Russian missile strike according to Ukrainian authorities in Kremenchuk (Getty Images)

Russia working on Taliban ties, says Putin in Tajikistan

06:22 , Stuti Mishra

President Vladimir Putin says Russia is trying to build relations with the Taliban and that Russia wants to see all the ethnic groups in Afghanistan take part in running the country.

Mr Putins statement Tuesday came in a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan during the Russian leaders first trip abroad since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict.

We are doing everything so that the situation in that country normalizes, Putin said in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital. We are attempting to build relations with the political forces that control the situation.

Read more:

Russia working on Taliban ties, Putin says in Tajikistan

Editorial: Nato must leave no member state behind in the face of Russian aggression

05:55 , Stuti Mishra

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, doesnt seem to be the sort of chap to indulge in hype, so his warning about chances of a wider war in Europe, one for which Ukraine is a mere rehearsal, should be heeded.

It is perfectly plausible that, by accident or design, the conflict in Ukraine could spill over into a larger war in eastern Europe, moving Russian forces into the Baltic republics, the eastern Balkans and Poland  and ever closer to Germany. After all, not so long ago, many wise heads and intelligence chiefs believed the Russian armys manoeuvres were a bluff.

Read more:

Editorial: Nato must leave no member state behind in the face of Russian aggression

Only a 'monster' would attack a mall, says survivor

05:33 , Stuti Mishra

The mall was nothing extraordinary, but in the middle of a war, it was an escape for those in this Ukrainian city who had decided not to flee. Then it exploded in a Russian airstrike.

In moments on Monday afternoon, a summer hangout became a hellish inferno. Life and death depended on a shoppers decision whether to heed yet another air raid siren and take shelter.

Survivors and other residents shared images on social media that showed the burned body of a woman, white sneakers still intact, who appeared to have been caught in the blast as she tried to run.

In another video, around the time of impact, a man could be heard calling for his mother.

Read more:

Ukrainian survivor: Only a 'monster' would attack a mall

Putins macho Ukraine war is toxic masculinity', says Boris Johnson

05:11 , Stuti Mishra

Prime minister Boris Johnson has branded Vladimir Putins brutal invasion of Ukraine an example of toxic masculinity.

Speaking during an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said: If Putin were a woman, I just dont think he would have started such a macho war.

If you want a very good example of toxic masculinity, hes got that in front of us, he added, according to the outlets translation.

Emily Atkinson has more here:

Putins macho Ukraine war is toxic masculinity, says Boris Johnson

Putin has become 'a terrorist', says Zelensky

04:39 , Stuti Mishra

Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of becoming a terrorist leading a terrorist state and urged Russias expulsion from the United Nations.

In a virtual address to the UN Security Council, Mr Zelensky on Tuesday urged the UN to establish an international tribunal to investigate the actions of Russian occupiers on Ukrainian soil and to hold the country accountable.

We need to act urgently to do everything to make Russia stop the killing spree, Mr Zelensky said, warning that otherwise Russias terrorist activity will spread to other European countries and Asia, singling out the Baltic states, Poland, Moldova and Kazakhstan.

Read more:

Ukraine's president says Putin has become 'a terrorist'

Nato summit to open as leader warns of dangerous world

03:00 , Liam James

Russias invasion of Ukraine has sparked a fundamental shift in Natos approach to defence, and member states will have to boost their military spending in an increasingly unstable world, the leader of the alliance said Tuesday.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke as Joe Biden and other Nato leaders began to arrive in Madrid for a summit that will set the course of the alliance for the coming years. He said the meeting would chart a blueprint for the alliance in a more dangerous and unpredictable world.

To be able to defend in a more dangerous world we have to invest more in our defence, Mr Stoltenberg said. Just nine of Natos 30 members meet the organisations target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Top of the agenda for leaders in meetings Wednesday and Thursday is strengthening defenses against Russia and supporting Ukraine.

We are outgunned and outnumbered by Russia  Ukrainian politician

02:00 , Liam James

A Ukrainian politician has made a plea for heavy weapons, saying his country is outgunned and outnumbered by the Russian attack.

Oleksandr Merezhko said Ukraine had only 10 per centof what they need.

He made the appeal while appearing virtually at an Irish parliament committee meeting on Tuesday, the day after a Russian attack on a packed shopping centre in Kremenchuk caused shock across the world.

Our top priority to survive is we need heavy weapons, the chair of the Ukrainian Committee on Foreign Affairs and Inter-parliamentary cooperation said.

It is crucial because because we are outgunned and outnumbered by Russia.

Russia is using heavy artillery. First, Russia uses jets heavily shelling bombardments then it uses mortars then tanks and only after that it uses infantry, so the tactics of Russia is to destroy completely everything in front of their troops by using artillery.

We need to help our soldiers to survive and civilians.

UK defence spending to reach 2.3% of GDP this year

01:00 , Liam James

Britains defence spending is projected to reach 2.3 per cent of its GDP this year due to increased military support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, the UK government forecasted.

Nato estimated that Britain will spend 2.12 per cent of GDP in 2022, down from an estimated 2.26 per cent in 2021 but still above the 2 pe cent threshold the alliance asks its members to meet.

Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, is reported to be lobbying Boris Johnson to bring defence spending up to 2.5 per cent.

Jeff Koons sculpture fetches 10m for Ukraine aid

Wednesday 29 June 2022 00:11 , Liam James

A Jeff Koons sculpture has sold for more than 10m at an auction to raise money for the humanitarian effort in Ukraine.

Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and his wife Olena donated Koons Balloon Monkey to raise money for soldiers and civilians needing prosthetics, medical treatment and rehabilitation following the Russian invasion.

Auctioneers Christies said the magenta sculpture now stood as a monumental symbol of hope and solidarity with those men, women and children from the war-torn country.

It was sold as part of the auction houses 20th/21st Century: London evening sale  just exceeding its upper estimate of 10m.

For the last two weeks, Balloon Monkey has been on public display in Londons St Jamess Square.

Balloon monkey in St Jamess Square last fortnight (AFP/Getty)

Russias Lavrov says Western arms supplies dragging out conflict

Tuesday 28 June 2022 23:30 , Thomas Kingsley

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday the more western countries send weapons to Ukraine the longer the conflict will last.

Russia has repeatedly blamed the west for prolonging the conflict, which Moscow calls a special military operation, and has targeted missile strikes against arms depots storing weapons provided to Kyiv by the United States and Europe.

Speaking at a news conference during a visit to Turkmenistan, Lavrov said Russia did not target a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, where at least 18 people died following a Russian strike.

Echoing a statement issued by Russias defence ministry earlier on Tuesday, Lavrov told reporters the mall was empty at the time a fire occurred as a result of Russia hitting an arms depot storing western weapons that was next to the shopping centre.

Washingtons Kerry says Russian invasion should advance move from fossil fuels

Tuesday 28 June 2022 22:09 , Liam James

US climate envoy John Kerry said on Tuesday Russias invasion of Ukraine was a warning to nations around the world that they cannot be hostage of oil-rich autocratic governments to meet their energy needs.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Mr Kerry said Russia has been using energy as a weapon and would continue to do so in the future but Europe was committed to put an end to its dependency.

Its a warning to everybody that you do not want to be prisoners of petrostate dictators who are willing to weaponise energy, Mr Kerry said.

He said the world was running out of time to tackle climate change but governments should not use the war in Ukraine as an excuse to delay the process even further.

We have seen people choosing short-term [solutions] in order to respond to the challenge of losing gas for Russia, he said. And we cannot allow the war in Ukraine to alter the reality that we need to reduce emissions and we need to deal with speeding up the transition to alternative renewable energy.

Reuters

Kremenchuk shopping centre: Photos show mall before barbaric missile strike

Tuesday 28 June 2022 21:22 , Liam James

As rescuers dig for survivors in the bombarded Kremenchuk shopping centre, terrified shoppers recall the moment missiles landed on the mall as more than 1,000 people were inside (Thomas Kingsley writes).

Before the invasion, the central Ukrainian city had a population of 217,000 and was an important industrial site. The shopping centre was a busy and popular location in the heart of the city.

Today its a shell of itself. According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, 60 per cent of the shopping centre was damaged leaving 18 dead, 59 injured and 31 people still missing after the Monday afternoon strike. Images of the complex before the attack show a large modern mall, but photos coming from the aftermath show what survivors have described as hell.

Photos show Kremenchuk mall before barbaric missile strike killed 18

Germany and Netherlands pledge six more howitzers to Ukraine

Tuesday 28 June 2022 19:30 , Liam James

Germany and the Netherlands will deliver six additional howitzers to Ukraine, the defence ministers of both countries said on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Madrid.

Each country will provide three of the artillery weapons, Germanys Christine Lambrecht and Kajsa Ollongren from the Netherlands told reporters, on top of 12 howitzers the countries have already sent to Ukraine.

We show our resolve and our commitment to Ukraine, and not to give in to this Russian aggression, Ms Ollongren said.

Commenting on Natos announcement to have more than 300,000 troops at high readiness from 2023 in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, Ms Lambrecht said Germany would provide one division, some 15,000 troops, for these forces, including around 65 planes and 20 ships.

Germany is ready to do its share, Nato must be strong and this needs to show in troop numbers as well, she told reporters.

'Dozens missing after Russian strike on shopping centre

Tuesday 28 June 2022 19:00 , Liam James

Ukraine authorities said 36 people were missing after a Russian missile strike on a shopping centre yesterday that killed at least 18.

Russia has been condemned for the strike by Ukraines western allies. Emmanuel Macron of France, who earlier in the war struck a concilliatory tone with Moscow, said the strike was a war crime.

Ukraine said Moscow had killed civilians deliberately in Kremenchuk. Russia said it had struck a nearby arms depot and falsely claimed that the shopping centre was empty.

UK defence secretary urges military spending boost

Tuesday 28 June 2022 17:27 , Liam James

Britains defence secretary today called for an increase in defence spending to counter what he said was a growing threat of Russia attacking the UK and its European allies.

As Nato leaders gathered for a major summit in Madrid, Mr Wallace said the British military had for too long had to survive on a diet of smoke and mirrors, hollowed-out formations and fantasy savings.

He is reported to have asked Boris Johnson for a 20 per cent increase in defence spending. The prime minister said the government had already presided over the biggest increase in defence spending since the Cold War.

Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute land warfare conference in London, Mr Wallace said the 24 billion increase announced in the 2020 spending review had been a strong start.

However he said more action was needed to reverse the cuts made by successive governments after the end of the Cold War when the threat of conflict with Russia subsided.

If governments historically responded every time the NHS has a winter crisis so must they when the threat to the very security which underpins our way of life increases, he said.

Watch: CCTV from park 500m away from Russian missile strikes shows how intense blast was

Tuesday 28 June 2022 16:20 , Thomas Kingsley

US seeking WNBA star Griners return from Russia, Sullivan says

Tuesday 28 June 2022 15:52 , Thomas Kingsley

The United States is actively trying to resolve WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention in Russia, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday, reiterating Washington's call for Moscow to release her.

The United States government is actively engaged in trying to resolve this case and get Brittney home, Mr Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One, declining to give any details.

Ms Griner has been held since February and faces up to 10 years in prison after Russian officials alleged her luggage contained multiple cannabis oil vape cartridges. A Russian court this week set Ms Griner's trial for Friday, the Associated Press and the Washington Post have reported.

Mr Sullivan, who is traveling with president Joe Biden to Spain ahead of a Nato meeting, said he and US secretary of state Antony Blinken have both spoken with Cherelle Griner, the wife of the two-time Olympic champion, in recent days.

The Russian government should release her and allow her to be returned and reunited with her family and come home safe and sound, he said, reiterating that the US government has made it clear that Griner is wrongfully detained, unjustly detained.

(AFP/ Getty)

Nato says does not regard China as adversary but worried over Russia ties

Tuesday 28 June 2022 15:30 , Thomas Kingsley

Nato does not see China as an adversary but it is concerned about Beijing's ever closer ties with Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Naot secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

We don't regard China as an adversary, Stoltenberg said on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Madrid, adding that China would soon be the biggest economy in the world and that Nato needed to engage with Beijing on issues like climate change.

But we are disappointed by the fact that China has not been able to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that China is spreading many of the false narratives about Nato, the West, and also that China and Russia are more close now than they have ever been before, he added

It was hell, Kremenchuk survivors describe deadly mall attack

Tuesday 28 June 2022 15:10 , Thomas Kingsley

Moscow said the mall was disused and empty at the time of the strike, a claim plainly contradicted by wounded survivors such as Ludmyla Mykhailets, 43, who had been shopping there with her husband when the blast threw her into the air.

"I flew head first and splinters hit my body. The whole place was collapsing," she said at a nearby public hospital where she was being treated.

"It was hell," said her husband, Mykola, 45, blood seeping through a bandage around his head.

Exhausted fire fighters sat on a curb alongside another of the shopping centre's walls. Others lay on a grass embankment, smoking and scrolling on their phones.

"We pulled out five bodies. We didnt find anybody alive," said a fire fighter who gave his name only as Oleksandr.

Outside the hospital, a small group of mall workers were filled with worry and grief, but also relief.

Hearing an air-raid siren, they had made their way to a nearby basement when the missiles struck, said Roman, 28, who asked to be identified by only one name.

He added that many others had stayed inside as the mall's management had three days ago allowed shops to remain open during air raid sirens.

Many Ukrainians have stopped reacting to the now regular warning sirens as strikes have been occurring less frequently outside of Ukraine's battle-torn east.

Back in the intensive-care ward, Yulia, a 21-year-old woman covered with deep cuts, said Monday was her first day working in one of the stores in the mall.

(EPA)

Russia's Lavrov says Western arms supplies dragging out conflict

Tuesday 28 June 2022 14:41 , Thomas Kingsley

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday the more western countries send weapons to Ukraine the longer the conflict will last.

Russia has repeatedly blamed the west for prolonging the conflict, which Moscow calls a special military operation, and has targeted missile strikes against arms depots storing weapons provided to Kyiv by the United States and Europe.

Speaking at a news conference during a visit to Turkmenistan, Lavrov said Russia did not target a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, where at least 18 people died following a Russian strike.

Echoing a statement issued by Russia's defence ministry earlier on Tuesday, Lavrov told reporters the mall was empty at the time a fire occurred as a result of Russia hitting an arms depot storing western weapons that was next to the shopping centre.

Russia wants the surrender of Ukraine, Macron says

Tuesday 28 June 2022 14:10 , Thomas Kingsley

French president Emmanuel Macron told the G7 summit that Russia had one goal in mind - the surrender of Ukraine.

"Right now, it is clear, Russia's attack on Ukraine's territory has one objective - the surrender of Ukraine," said Mr Macron.

Speaking at the end of the G-7 summit in Germany, Macron appeared to address that concern, vowing that the seven industrialized democracies would support Ukraine and maintain sanctions against Russia "as long as necessary, and with the necessary intensity."

"Russia cannot and should not win," he said, adding that Monday's attack on the mall was "a new war crime."

(REUTERS)

We could be next: Fearful Baltic states urge Nato for more troops ahead of Madrid summit

Tuesday 28 June 2022 13:50 , Thomas Kingsley

On the eve of the Nato summit, Baltic states are urging the military alliance to increase the number of troops earmarked to defend their corner of Europe against Russia to as many as 25,000 after secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg promised the biggest overhaul of its collective deterrence and defence since the Cold War.

Top of the agenda in the meeting in Madrid, which starts in earnest on Wednesday, is Moscows invasion of Ukraine which has sparked a geopolitical shift, even prompting once neutral countries Finland and Sweden to apply to join Nato.

Read more below from our international correspondent, Bel Trew:

We could be next: Fearful Baltic states urge Nato for more troops

36 still missing after Russian strike kills 18

Tuesday 28 June 2022 13:27 , Thomas Kingsley

Firefighters and soldiers searched on Tuesday for survivors in the rubble of a Ukrainian shopping mall, where authorities said 36 people were still missing after a Russian missile strike that had killed at least 18.

Relatives of the missing were lined up on Tuesday at a hotel across the street from the wreckage of the shopping centre, where rescue workers had set up a base.

Exhausted-looking firefighters sat on a kerb after a night battling the blaze and searching for survivors, mostly in vain. Oleksandr, wetting his face from a water bottle on a bench, said his team had worked all night picking through the rubble.

"We pulled out five bodies. We didn't find anybody alive," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targetting civilians in the attack in the city of Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, far from the frontline. He called it "one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history".

Russia said the incident was caused by a strike on a legitimate military target. Its defence ministry said it had fired missiles at an arms depot for Western weapons, where an explosion of ammunition caused the blaze at the nearby mall.

(Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters)

Russian court jails opposition politician for 15 days

Tuesday 28 June 2022 13:00 , Thomas Kingsley

A Moscow court jauled prominent Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin for 15 days on Tuesday for disobeying a police officer.

Yashin, a municipal deputy for Moscow's Krasnoselsky district, was detained on Monday. The case against me is trumped up, I am innocent," Yashin said on his Telegram social media channel, linking his detention to his political activities.

Yashin is an outspoken critic of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, which it calls a special military operation.

Pictured: Leaders gather for close of G7 summit

Tuesday 28 June 2022 12:40 , Thomas Kingsley

(EPA)

(EPA)

(REUTERS)

(AP)

BorisJohnson says he doesnt think Britain will end up at war with Russia

Tuesday 28 June 2022 12:22 , Thomas Kingsley

UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said he did not think Britain would end up at war with Russia.

Asked if Britain was preparing for war with Russia, he told reporters at the G7 summit: I don't think it will come to that and clearly we're working very hard to make sure that we confine this to Ukraine.

It comes as new UK army chief Patrick Sanders said Britain must be ready to fight Russia as the threat of war grows. He added that the Kremlin will be an even greater threat to European security after the war and the army must be ready to fight to avert conflict.

Were not at war, but we must act rapidly so that we arent drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion, he said.

He said the army should focus on boosting readiness so troops could be deployed quickly, and on urban combat and rebuilding stockpiles. He described the choice facing Britain as its 1937 moment in what appeared to be a reference to when Nazi leader Adolf Hitler invaded Austria.

G7 urges China to press Russia to stop its Ukraine invasion

Tuesday 28 June 2022 12:05 , Thomas Kingsley

G7 leaders urged China on Tuesday to uphold the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes by pressing Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine and to drop its "expansive maritime claims" in the South China Sea.

In a communique concluding their three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps, the G7 leaders also said they were gravely concerned by the human rights situation in China and that they were consulting on collective approaches to challenges posed by non-market economic policies.

China Russia (Sputnik)

G7 leaders end summit pledging to hurt Russia economically

Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:50 , Thomas Kingsley

Leaders of the world's wealthiest democracies struck a united stance Tuesday to support Ukraine for "as long as necessary" as Russia's invasion grinds on, and said they would explore far-reaching steps to cap Kremlin income from oil sales that are financing the war.

The final statement from the Group of Seven summit in Germany left out key details on how the fossil fuel price caps would work in practice, setting up more discussion in the weeks ahead to "explore" measures to bar import of Russian oil above a certain level. That would hit a key Russian source of income and, in theory, relieve the energy price spikes afflicting the global economy as a result of the war.

Leaders also agreed on a ban on imports of Russian gold and to step up aid to countries hit with food shortages by the blockage on Ukraine grain shipments through the Black Sea.

Russia's Lavrov to join G20 meeting in Bali next week - embassy

Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:37 , Thomas Kingsley

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will attend the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers meeting in Bali next week, a spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Jakarta told Reuters on Tuesday.

The meeting, hosted by current G20 chair Indonesia takes place from 7-8 July.

The Foreign Minister of Russia Mr Sergei Lavrov, arrives for a joint UK- Russia foreign and defence ministerial conference, at Lancaster House in London. (PA Archive)

UK must be ready to fight Putins Russia, army chief says

Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:21 , Thomas Kingsley

Russia will likely be an even greater threat to European security after the war in Ukraine than it was before and the British army must be prepared, its Chief of the General Staff Patrick Sanders said on Tuesday.

Mr Sanders, who became chief of the general staff this month, used his first speech to warn that the army must be ready to fight to "avert conflict", in what appeared to be an appeal for modernisation and possibly further defence spending.

"We don't know how the war in Ukraine will end. But in most scenarios Russia will be an even greater threat to European security after Ukraine than it was before."

He said the army should focus on boosting readiness so troops could be deployed quickly, and on urban combat and rebuilding stockpiles. He described the choice facing Britain as its "1937 moment" in what appeared to be a reference to when Nazi leader Adolf Hitler invaded Austria.

"We're not at war, but we must act rapidly so that we aren't drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion," he said.

(Getty Images)

Russia says missile hit on weapons depot in Kremenchuk shopping centre fire

Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:05 , Thomas Kingsley

Russia's defence ministry on Tuesday denied hitting a shopping mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk with missiles, saying it had struck a weapons depot and a subsequent explosion of ammunition had triggered a fire in the nearby mall.

At least 18 people were killed on Monday in what Kyiv said was a direct Russian missile strike against the busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk. The G7 called the hit a Russian war crime, while Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history, accusing Russia of directly targeting civilians.

Moscow on Tuesday rejected those accounts, saying it had hit a legitimate military target in the city, and that the shopping centre was not in use.

In Kremenchuk, Russian forces struck a weapons depot storing arms received from the United States and Europe with high-precision air-based weapons. As a result of the precision strike, Western-made weapons and ammunition concentrated in the warehouse ... were hit, Moscow's defence ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.

The detonation of stored ammunition for Western weapons caused a fire in a non-functioning shopping centre located next to the depot, it added.

(Ukrainian State Emergency Servic)

Russia fines foreign firms Twitch, Pinterest, UPS over data storage

Tuesday 28 June 2022 10:45 , Thomas Kingsley

A Moscow court said it had fined video streaming service Twitch, social network Pinterest and United Parcel Service in three of several cases expected on Tuesday over alleged refusal by foreign companies to store Russian citizens' personal data in Russia.

Moscow has clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in a simmering dispute that has erupted into a full-on information battle since the invasion started.

Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor in late May opened administrative cases against Alphabet Inc's Google and six other foreign technology companies, including Amazon-owned Twitch, Pinterest and UPS , for alleged violations of personal data legislation.

The Moscow courts' press service said Twitch had been found guilty by the Tagansky District Court of violating Russian personal data legislation and fined 2 million roubles ($37,700). Pinterest was also fined 2 million roubles, news agencies reported, and UPS 1 million roubles.

Twitch, Pinterest and UPS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

NEW: Russia places sanctions against First Lady Jill Biden and daughter Ashley

Tuesday 28 June 2022 10:15 , Thomas Kingsley

Moscow has announced that is placing sanctions on the wife and daughter of US President Joe Biden.

The decision is part of a new package of sanctions announced by Russia on 25 American individuals.

Read the developing news below:

Russia sanctions First Lady Jill Biden and daughter Ashley

G7 leaders working to release Ukraine grain

Tuesday 28 June 2022 10:04 , Thomas Kingsley

G7 leaders are working on finding a way of letting Ukraine export its grain, British prime minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.

We're working on it, we're all working on it, he said at the start of a five-way meeting with France's Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Mario Draghi, Germany's Olaf Scholz and the US's Joe Biden, when asked if they were going to get the grain out of Ukraine.

Ukraine's bulk grain exports are being hindered by a Russian blockade of its Black Sea ports, forcing exporters to use less efficient land routes.

(EPA)

Russia will be greater threat to European security post Ukraine, UK army chief says

Tuesday 28 June 2022 09:42 , Thomas Kingsley

Russia will likely be an even greater threat to European security after the war in Ukraine than it was before, the British army's chief of the general staff Patrick Sanders said on Tuesday.

While Russia's conventional capability will be much reduced for a time at least, (Russian president Vladimir) Putin's declared intent recently to restore the lands of historic Russia makes any respite temporary and the threat will become even more acute, Mr Sanders said in a speech.

We don't know how the war in Ukraine will end. But in most scenarios Russia will be an even greater threat to European security after Ukraine than it was before.
LONDON  More than 100 seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers who were captured in the evacuation of a steel plant in Mariupol in May have been released in a prisoner swap with Russia.

Ukraines Ministry of Defense announced on Twitter on Wednesday that 144 fighters had been liberated in a prisoner exchange with Russia  95 of whom defended the port city of Mariupol in Russias siege, and 43 of whom were members of the Azov Regiment, which is part of Ukraines National Guard.

Russian servicemen at a steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 18. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian intelligence officials said most of the prisoners have serious injuries. In a longer statement posted to Facebook, authorities detailed the types of injuries, which included shrapnel wounds, burns and limb amputations. The oldest of the soldiers released was 65; the youngest was just 19.

In a report from the New York Times on Wednesday, the head of the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk said some of the soldiers who were released back to Ukraine were part of nationalist battalions and were in bad condition.

In mid-May, around 2,500 soldiers surrendered in what was the last stronghold of Mariupol. Many of the fighters who were holed up in the Azovstal steel plant were sent to a former prison colony located 55 miles north of the city.

The Kremlins Defense Ministry disclosed at the time that the 80 soldiers who had surrendered earlier in the week were being treated in hospitals in the Russian-held cities of Donetsk and Novoazovsk.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had gathered personal information from the soldiers and registered them as prisoners of war as they left the steelworks. This was to ensure that they would be given humane treatment under the Geneva Conventions. The ICRC added that it was not transporting the soldiers to where they would be held, but said it must have immediate access to all POWs in all places where they are held.
The Ukraine war will take centre stage at a NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday, while Finland and Sweden will be formally invited to join the alliance after Turkey dropped its opposition.

Four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, upending the European security landscape, more than 40 leaders will gather for what NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called a "pivotal summit" for the alliance's future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to participate and will speak twice via videolink, as Kyiv pushes for accelerated weapons deliveries from its allies.

NATO countries, which have already committed billions of dollars in military assistance to Kyiv, will agree a "comprehensive assistance package to Ukraine, to help them uphold the right for self-defence", said Stoltenberg.

"It is extremely important that we are ready to continue to provide support because Ukraine now faces brutality which we haven't seen in Europe since the Second World War."

At the end of a G7 summit in Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron urged NATO allies to show they were united.

"The message that should come out of Madrid is a message of unity and strength for member countries, as well as for those that wish to join and whose applications we are supporting," he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge his NATO allies to boost their defence spending in response to Russia's invasion "to restore deterrence and ensure defence in the decade ahead", his office said.

- Turkey drops opposition -

Beyond Ukraine, the summit will see a revamp of NATO's strategic concept -- which outlines its main security tasks, but has not been revised since 2010 -- to mention challenges posed by China for the first time.

Finland and Sweden will be invited to join the alliance at the summit after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday lifted his opposition following crunch talks with the leaders of the two Nordic countries in Madrid.

Erdogan had stubbornly refused to back the applications from the Nordic pair -- lodged in response to Russia's war on Ukraine -- despite pressure for a change of course from his NATO allies.

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But Erdogan's office said it had agreed to support them as Ankara had "got what it wanted".

Ankara had accused Finland, and especially Sweden, of offering a safe haven to Kurdish militants who have been waging decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

US President Joe Biden congratulated Turkey, Finland and Sweden on reaching an agreement.

"As we begin this historic NATO summit in Madrid, our alliance is stronger, more united and more resolute than ever," he said in a statement.

But it will still take months for Finland and Sweden to officially join NATO, as their entry into the alliance needs to be ratified by the parliaments of the 30 member states.

- 'Stop Russian terror' -

The summit comes as war rages across Ukraine, particularly in the eastern Donbas region where Moscow has been focusing its offensive after failing to capture Kyiv in the conflict's early days.

There was global outrage Monday after a missile strike on a shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk killed at least 18 people and injured dozens.

Russia claims its missile salvo was aimed at an arms depot. But AFP talked to civilians in Kremenchuk, and none of them knew of any weapons store in the neighbourhood.

"Everything burned, really everything, like a spark to a touchpaper. I heard people screaming. It was horror," witness Polina Puchintseva said.

All that was left of the mall was charred debris, chunks of blackened walls and lettering from a smashed storefront.

"Only total insane terrorists, who should have no place on Earth, can strike missiles at civilian objects," said Zelensky on his social media channels.

"Russia must be recognised as a state sponsor of terrorism. The world can and therefore must stop Russian terror," he added.

Addressing the UN Security Council Tuesday, Zelensky called for the United Nations to visit the site so they can independently assess whether the destruction was caused by a Russian missile strike.

At their summit in Germany, G7 leaders agreed to impose new sanctions targeting Moscow's defence industry, raising tariffs and banning gold imports from the country.

But the Kremlin was unfazed, insisting that Ukrainian forces had to surrender to end the fighting.

"The Ukrainian side can stop everything before the end of today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"An order for the nationalist units to lay down their arms is necessary," he said, adding Kyiv had to fulfil a list of Moscow's demands.

burs-sr/je
A US citizen held for nearly seven years in Iran made an appeal from prison Wednesday to President Joe Biden, urging a deal to free Americans regardless of the outcome of nuclear diplomacy.

In an op-ed published in The New York Times, 50-year-old Iranian-American Siamak Namazi said he was concerned about repercussions he might suffer for speaking out while confined to Tehran's infamous Evin prison.

"But I am compelled to break that silence now because I believe that the Biden administration's approach to rescuing Americans in distress in Iran has failed spectacularly so far and unless the president intervenes immediately, we are likely to languish in this abyss for the foreseeable future," he wrote.

"Mr. Biden, I implore you to put the lives of innocent American detainees above Washington politics and make the tough decisions necessary to free all of us immediately."

Namazi said he had been hopeful last year as the new Biden administration opened talks with Iran on returning to a 2015 nuclear deal, with US officials indicating an agreement was impossible without freeing four Americans.

"That was the right approach. But forgoing an opportunity to free us because the nuclear talks have stalled is not," he wrote.

Namazi, a businessman, was arrested in October 2015 and handed a 10-year sentence on charges of seeking to overthrow the clerical state, with evidence cited including his fellowships at Washington think tanks.

His father, former UNICEF official Baquer Namazi, was taken into custody in February 2016 as he tried to see him.

The now 85-year-old was ordered released in 2020 but his supporters say he has been denied a passport to travel, despite mounting health concerns, as Iran does not recognize dual nationality.

Iranian media have earlier indicated that a deal was in the works to free Iranian-Americans in return for South Korea releasing some $7 billion frozen on US requests.

Iran released five prisoners in 2016 to coincide with the nuclear deal, which promised sanctions relief in return for Tehran drastically scaling back its sensitive atomic work.

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Former US president Donald Trump renounced the accord and the Biden administration has been increasingly pessimistic about returning to the accord, although it is holding a new round of indirect talks this week in Qatar.

Two other US citizens are known to be jailed in Iran -- conservationist Morad Tahbaz, who additionally holds British citizenship, and businessman Emad Shargi.

sct/sst
An old picture shows Gianno Caldwells youngest brother, Christian, in a bright orange shirt, laughing after taking his Field Museum nametag off his shirt and putting it on his head.

He was always this silly kid, Gianno Caldwell told the Tribune. He just wanted to make people laugh.

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Caldwell, a Fox News analyst, took to social media to share the news that his 18-year-old brother, Christian Beamons, had been shot and killed in Morgan Park on the South Side early Friday.

Yesterday was legitimately the worst day of my existence, Caldwell wrote on his social media platforms Saturday. After all the things my family has been through never could I have imagined my baby brothers life would be stolen from him.

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Christian Beamons, 18, right, younger brother of Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell, was shot and killed in Morgan Park on the South Side Friday. No arrests have been made and police are investigating. (Family photo)

According to police, Beamons and another man and woman were outside in a group when a man shot at them and then got into a black sedan to flee the scene, heading east.

Police were called to the 11400 block of South Vincennes Avenue on Friday shortly after 2 a.m. where they found Beamons had suffered a gunshot wound to the torso, according to an online statement. Paramedics rushed him to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 2:46 a.m.

The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiners office, and the death was determined to be a homicide.

During a balloon release Monday with approximately 60 family members and friends, Caldwell said, pretty much everyone shared the same thing:

He was the light of the room, always good energy, he said. If youd be down, hed tell a joke. He was a jokester.

Beamons was starting to look at colleges to go to in Illinois. Caldwell said he was trying to convince his younger brother to consider out-of-state options.

For all of my siblings, I tell them, get out of the city as fast as you can, Caldwell said.

The other victims in the shooting, a 25-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and torso, respectively. They were also taken to Christ Medical Center. The woman was listed in fair condition while the man was in critical condition. No arrests have been made and police are investigating.

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Caldwell has urged anyone with information to contact the police and, if they dont feel comfortable doing so, he asks them to reach out to him over social media.

He said he is also working with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives to hopefully solve the case and, from a policy standpoint, hell be meeting with elected officials to figure out an approach to crime in the city.

Folks have become so numb to the tragedies of violence in general, especially gun violence, Caldwell said, that it just almost feels like an expectation that one day your number is gonna come up and you wont be living or you will at least be shot.

He said two summers ago, Beamons called him, crying.

Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. >

Whats wrong, Christian? Caldwell recalled asking his younger brother.

I need to get out of Chicago, Beamons had responded.

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Why?

Because I feel like Im gonna get killed here, Beamons had said.

Why would you say that? Is someone after you? Caldwell had asked.

No ones after me, but everyone I know is dying.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
Joe Biden

"At some point, Putin shattered peace in Europe... (The United States and its allies) are stepping up, proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been and its important as it ever has been," Biden said.

Read also: Why Turkey unblocked NATO enlargement at the last minute, what it means, and how Erdogan was persuaded

He said it was planned:

to establish a permanent headquarters of the US Army V Corps in Poland;

deploy an additional rotational brigade in Romania;

deploy two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons in the UK;

enhance rotational deployments in the Baltic states;

deploy two additional naval destroyers in Spain;

deploy more defense and other capabilities in Germany and Italy.

Read also: Retired US General Ben Hodges on how the war might develop
Katrin Davidsdottir competing at Strength in Depth, and Rachel Hosie (right) with Fittest PR director Kate Burton at the event. Rachel Hosie/Insider

I went to the CrossFit London semi-finals, Strength in Depth, to watch elite athletes compete.

What struck me most was how normal it was to be muscular, both among professionals and spectators.

As a woman, it was empowering and left me inspired to keep working hard on my fitness.

From June 10-12, one of the CrossFit semi-finals, Strength in Depth (SiD), took place in London. As a fitness reporter who regularly interviews the sport's biggest stars, I went along to watch some of the action.

While it was incredible to see the elite athletes compete, what struck me most was how normal it was for women to have visible muscles, both among the competitors and spectators.

I'm no stranger to fitness events, but even I was taken aback by how ripped and swole nearly everyone was.

It didn't make me feel insecure, though it was empowering.

The entrance to Strength in Depth; the Whoop stand inside. Rachel Hosie/Insider

I've been lifting weights for five years, and I am a huge advocate of strength training for women, but this wasn't always the case. I used to be scared of weights, thought they weren't for me, and instead tortured myself on the cardio machines.

Going to SiD and being surrounded by strong, fit women was incredibly inspiring, and gave me a boost to keep training hard to reach my potential.

There were installations and shops around the arena

SiD took place at the Excel Centre at Royal Victoria Dock, London, in a huge convention space.

There were teams competing between the elite individual athletes. Rachel Hosie/Insider

The main arena was lined with spectator seating and set up with racks and space for equipment to be brought in and out for each event, be that rowing machines, barbells, or rings.

However, there was lots more going on outside the arena, which I wasn't expecting, from fitness clothing brands selling kit to Foodspring giving out protein bar samples (I made sure to try them all).

Foodspring was giving out free samples of protein bars and protein shakes. Rachel Hosie/Insider

Outside the SiD space in the Excel corridor, there were various cafes selling take-out food.

I got myself a burrito to enjoy while watching the elite athletes compete  it felt strange to sit down eating while, essentially, watching people do a workout, but it was very fun.

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And if there's one thing I've learned from interviewing CrossFit athletes, it's that fueling yourself with plenty of food is essential.

Rachel Hosie (right) with Fittest PR director Kate Burton eating burritos. Rachel Hosie/Insider

On paper, the concept of watching fitness is strange, but it's fascinating how gripping it can be at the elite level.

It was so impressive watching the likes of Katrin Davidsdottir, Aimee Cringle, and Zack George doing rope-climbs, burpees, and power snatches, and it got incredibly tense at times.

The energy in the crowd was electric and it was emotional watching Sam Briggs compete Briggs is considered a legend in CrossFit, and SiD was her last hurrah.

It was a celebration of strength and fitness

As someone who does CrossFit-style training but doesn't go to a box (what CrossFit calls its gyms), I don't feel like a member of the community, but everyone was incredibly friendly and smiley. Must be all the endorphins from exercising, I thought to myself.

SiD sold out on Saturday and Sunday, but on the Friday, when I went, it wasn't packed and the crowd probably included more industry folk.

It was clear how much everyone loved fitness, and I loved how women being muscular was the norm, not the exception.

Katrin Davidsdottir at Strength in Depth. Rachel Hosie/Insider

Even professional female CrossFit athletes can struggle with embracing their muscular physiques though, as world champion Tia-Clair Toomey previously told me.

Davidsdottir thinks the culture is very different in the US, where she trained for eight years, versus her native Iceland.

"In the US I feel like women are afraid to be strong or afraid they'll gain muscle, but in Iceland it's the norm," Davidsdottir told Insider.

This mindset is gradually changing though, with research suggesting women are increasingly striving for a "toned" physique.

Following CrossFit athletes has definitely helped me see muscle as an aesthetic goal, and I left SiD feeling more inspired than ever.

As Cringle recently told OK!: "CrossFit teaches women to ditch this idea of being 'the skinny girl' and be physically strong instead."

Read the original article on Insider
An employee working at St. Johns emergency dispatch call center.

Frontier Communications executives were grilled by the Arizona Corporation Commission members investigating a service outage that lasted about 48 hours across swaths of rural Navajo and Apache counties earlier this month.

After calls from local leaders, the commission is likely to move forward with a court order that would require Frontier to appear and justify its practices against challenges that the company failed to meet its obligations.

Authorities can connect at least one death to the outage, which cut off contact between tens of thousands of people and emergency services dispatchers.

Public safety officials testifying before regulators Tuesday described the chaos caused by interrupted service.

St. Johns police chief Lance Spivey described situations of three other injured people who were unable to call 911 or access services at hospitals that also were affected by the outage, which occurred between June 11 and 13.

"St. Johns is unique. We have one service provider that provides telephone and internet, and that's Frontier," Spivey said. "So if Frontier goes down, everything else goes down."

The outage started after shotgun blasts damaged two areas of exposed fiber optic cable over a three-mile stretch between Snowflake and Holbrook, said Kevin Saville, general legal counsel for Frontier.

"This was not a network failure," Saville said. "This was at a minimum vandalism and even potentially sabotage."

Party divided: GOP candidates spar over deregulation in Corporation Commission race

Saville said while the damage to the cable structure was severe, phone and 911 service for Frontier customers was out only for about an hour while the network was down for repairs.

Only some internet and the service Frontier provides to third parties was impacted for the 48-hour period, Saville said.

But as the assistant fire chief in St. Johns, Jason Kirk, would point out later in the meeting, the third parties that rely on Frontier include the majority of the people living in this area of northern Arizona.

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"The backbone of every Verizon cell tower, most of the infrastructure  including gas pumps, grocery stores and other facilities  was rendered useless because of the unavailability of the fiber connection," Kirk said.

"And while I won't necessarily say that they're responsible for the acts of others, I definitely believe they have responsibility in the restoration of those services and a proper response to this other than saying 'Our 911 service was only down for an hour and a half,'" Kirk said. "The citizens were separated from communications and data for almost two days."

During questioning from the commissioners, Mark Jeffries, a local manager for Frontier, provided a rough overview of Frontier's response to the outage.

Jeffries' recap of the response described some of the time-consuming factors of making these repairs, like hours of driving to remote areas and having to replace large amounts of cable, as well as technicians having to work for more than 24 hours straight.

Extreme heat, rising demand: Arizona utilities warn of blackouts in summers ahead

Commissioners expressed concern about a potential lack of urgency in the company's response to the outage and requested that Frontier submit a more detailed hour-by-hour account of its actions.

"I've heard from local officials. They've reported that Frontier did not have any urgency responding to the June 11 outage in Navajo and Apache counties and was unwilling to assist in resolving the situation," Commissioner Sandra Kennedy said.

"That is my concern for an hour-by-hour recap on what the company did."

The commissioners have also requested that Frontier provide its established protocols for responding to emergency scenarios and a detailed list of who the company contacted during the outage and when.

The commissioners all agreed that there should be an emergency town hall meeting in St. Johns at which the community could express its concerns to Frontier. The company has committed to having meaningful representation in-person for the discussion.

"We may not regulate internet, but by gosh, we're going to try to help the folks out who need our help who are complaining about your company," Kennedy told Saville toward the end of the meeting.

The date and time of the town hall was still being determined by the commission. The court order, known as an order to show cause, was being drafted and was expected to be voted on at a later meeting.

Coverage of northern Arizona on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is funded by the nonprofit Report for America and a grant from the the Vitalyst Health Foundation in association with The Arizona Republic.

Contact northern Arizona reporter Lacey Latch at llatch@gannett.com or on social media @laceylatch.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Corp Comm grills Frontier Communications over 911 outage
Virginia police announced early Wednesday that an arrest has been made in connection to the murder of the founder of a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit found shot to death in his home six days ago.

A press conference has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday to provide details on the arrest made in connection to the June 24 homicide of DonorSee founder Gret Glyer in his home on Bolton Village Court, the City of Fairfax Police spokesman Lt. Matthew Lasowitz confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Lasowitz did not have information immediately available about the suspect before the live event.

In a press release Monday, the department previously revealed that police responded at 2:58 a.m. Friday to the 9800 block of Bolton Village Court regarding a shooting that had just occurred. The responding officers entered the residence and found a male who had been shot with a firearm.

VIRGINIA POLICE INVESTIGATE MYSTERIOUS AT-HOME, OVERNIGHT MURDER OF DC NONPROFIT FOUNDER

The victim, later identified as Glyer, who resided at the residence, had succumbed to his injuries, the police department said and announced that they were investigating the death as a homicide.

Glyer, founder of the nonprofit DonorSee, moved into the Fairfax neighborhood about six months ago with his wife and two young children, neighbors told FOX 5 DC.

His wife, Heather, dialed 911, and police radio audio captured the dispatcher relaying that the woman reported hearing a loud noise and said she believed an intruder had possibly shot her husband.

The next-door neighbor reported hearing three gunshots. Glyer's two young children were at home at the time of the shooting but were not harmed, police told FOX 5.

Police also told the outlet that the home's rear door was open but did not disclose whether there were signs of forced entry or if weapons had been found. "At this time, we have no reason to believe that there is a wider threat to the community," the police department said Monday.

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In an email to Fox News Digital Tuesday, City of Fairfax Police Sgt. Lisa Gardner said an autopsy had been completed on Saturday that confirmed the death as a homicide, but she declined to provide more details regarding the case citing the pending investigation by detectives.

According to its website, DonorSee was founded by Glyer following a life-changing trip to Malawi, Africa, in 2013, during which time he raised money to build a girls' school.

"Gret Glyer dreamed of a world without extreme poverty. Through his years of humble persistence and inspirational leadership, he did more to move humanity toward that goal than most people thought possible," DonorSees interim CEO Owen ODoherty said in a statement Tuesday.

"We are saddened beyond words by his tragic, untimely passing. Our hearts are especially with his wife, Heather, and his two children," he said. "We known that he would have wanted us to carry on the visionary work he started, and we will do so with special determination."

ODoherty said those inspired by Glyers life story are encouraged to donate in his honor to The Humanity Fund, which Glyer launched just over one week ago and is designed to "lift the poorest 10% of humanity our of extreme poverty through projects supported on the DonorSee platform."

"Gret said when he launched the Fund that the key to ending one of the worlds biggest tragedies is happiness," ODoherty recalled. "We will move forward by embodying this same hope and happiness that Gret spread throughout the world."

The nonprofit also orchestrated a fundraiser for Glyer's wife and children. As of Wednesday morning, the platform raised $56,250 to support the deceased founders family.
A trendy Los Angeles County community has voted to reduce law enforcement funding despite escalating crime that was up 137% earlier in the year and public backlash.

The budget for the next two fiscal years will leave West Hollywood with up to five fewer Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies on patrol. At the same time the council approved increasing funding for a cultural arts festival.

The budget was approved by a narrow 3-2 vote with Mayor Lauren Meister dissenting as well as Councilman John Erickson.

"Most of the residents and businesses I have heard from are opposed to cutting the Sheriffs budget," Meister told Fox News in a statement. "They are outraged that people and organizations from outside our city are dictating to Council how to run our city. The narrative that we can have 'either Sheriff's or social services,' or 'either Sheriff's or unarmed security teams' is false."

NY STATE TROOPER CRAWLS INSIDE DRAINAGE PIPE TO RETRIEVE LOST DOG

Over the past few months, residents and business owners have voiced opposition to cutting the police budget amid a crime wave across the county.

"Prioritizing peoples safety doesn't just mean people with badges and guns on the street," Councilmember Lindsey P. Horvath said during the meeting. "We have to find another way to keep our residents safe in a way that is affordable."

Mayor Pro Tem Sepi Shyne amended the budgets to re-allocate funds for sheriff's deputies to the Block by Block program, which staffs unarmed security ambassadors who provide the city with supplemental law enforcement services.

"We have all talked for two years about re-imagining policing and reimagining policing means reallocating funding and that's exactly what that means  you can't just say it without actually doing it. Period," Mayor Pro Tempore Sepi Shyne said.

Erickson said he worries about the trajectory of the plan that was approved and the timeline with which it can be implemented.

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"Community safety is our number one concern," he told Fox News. "When I've heard from countless residents about how they want to feel safer, that involves comprehensive planning and something that is not just drawn out over a decision."

HOUSTON BURGLARY SUSPECT ESCAPES HOSPITAL, LEADS POLICE ON CHASE IN STOLEN AMBULANCE

Two deputies will be withdrawn in the fall and the program will be evaluated over six months. By then, the city's law enforcement presence could be reduced by three more. An entertainment policing team will be restored.

"In my mind, this is an increase of safety services with 60 additional eyes on the street working directly with the residents and the sheriff and code compliance and our social services providers and two fewer deputies this fall," Councilman John D'Amico told Fox News in a statement.

Despite the reduction in law enforcement funds, the council also voted to give $14,000 more to the Russian Arts festival for an increase to $50,000.

Fox News has reached out to the sheriff's department. Surging crime in West Hollywood has been an ongoing concern for many. That surge includes murder, rape, burglary, aggravated assault, arson, and human trafficking.
The West Milton Police Department has announced their officers will be getting body-worn cameras this week.

The cameras were awarded through a grant through the Office of Criminal Justice Body-Worn Cameras, the grant saves city taxpayers over $20,000 according to a release.

>> 5 arrested after drug bust in Mercer County

The body cameras will be an addition to the already in place car cameras which the department has used for the past 10 years.

Officers have been trained on body camera policies and how to use them.

Night shift officers will be the first to wear the cameras on June 30 at 7 p.m.
PANAMA CITY BEACH  Whether a first-time tourist or long-time resident, there is no shortage of local restaurants to check out while in Panama City Beach.

In a blog posted Monday on Visit Panama City Beach's website that was titled "A Taste of Summer in PCB," the organization highlighted seven local restaurants it believes stand out.

In no particular order, they include Firefly, Sisters of the Sea Waterfront Bar & Grill, David's New Orleans Style Cafe & Sno-Balls, Saltwater Grill, Another Broken Egg Cafe, Dee's Hangout and Dusty's Oyster Bar.

"Panama City Beachs unique geography makes it an ideal locale for fresh coastal cuisine inflected with Cajun, Gulf Coast and American Southern traditions," Lacee Rudd, spokeswoman for Visit PCB, wrote in an email. "Whether you yearn for fresh-caught fish, hanker for barbecue or crave the down-home heat of a hearty gumbo, youll find what youre looking for in Panama City Beach."

Craving oysters? Get them raw, fried, broiled or steamed at these restaurants

May restaurant inspections: 3 fail first inspections, 11 pass with no violations

Firefly in the Shoppes at Edgewater

Server Chantille Gooding turns on lights inside a wine bottle as she preps tables at Firefly in September 2021. The fine-dining restaurant was listed in a recent blog by Visit Panama City Beach as being among the best places to eat in the Panama City Beach area.

Mentioned first in Visit PCB's blog was Firefly, a fine-dining restaurant at 535 N. Richard Jackson Blvd. in the Shoppes at Edgewater.

Firefly's most popular items include stuffed filet, seasonal Gulf fish, crab soup and even flaming creme brulee and iced wine.

"You can enjoy a first-class meal in your casual clothing and still have a white tablecloth experience to rival the best  although, you can dress up and not be out of place either," according to Visit PCB.

Sisters of the Sea Waterfront Bar & Grill

The next restaurant in the blog was Sisters of the Sea Waterfront Bar & Grill, a "mermaid themed restaurant" at 3901 Thomas Drive.

According to Visit PCB, the two "standout" items on its menu are deep fried strawberries and Siren's Song, which boasts steamed shrimp, scallops, crab claws and mussels in a garlic and white wine broth.

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"Southern classics and coastal favorites are on the menu," the group wrote.

David's New Orleans Style Sno-Balls

David's New Orleans Style Sno-Balls also was featured. Located at 13913 Panama City Beach Parkway, the eatery boasts almost 50 flavors of shaved ice.

It also offers great food.

"The unsuspecting name of this restaurant might lead you to dismiss it as a dessert-only spot, but you'd be missing out," Visit PCB wrote. "There are po' boys and muffulettas packed with meat. The roast beef po' boy is consistently cited as surprisingly impressive."

Saltwater Grill is a 'favorite pick for celebrations'

Saltwater Grill is known for its staple menu items of grilled red snapper and seared tuna, and its 25,000-gallon saltwater aquarium that sits inside the business at 11040 Hutchison Blvd.

"Saltwater Grill is a favorite pick for celebrations in Panama City Beach," Visit PCB wrote. "Maine lobsters (are) flown in twice a week for guaranteed freshness."

Another Broken Egg Cafe

Another Broken Egg Cafe is specifically known for its brunch, although the restaurant also serves breakfast and lunch every day until 2 p.m.

Located at 11535 Hutchison Blvd. Suite 100, it also offers bloody marys and pitchers of mimosas.

"Brunch isn't just for the weekends at Another Broken Egg Cafe," Visit PCB wrote. "Specialties include chicken and waffles, shrimp 'n' grits and crab cake benedict."

Dee's Hangout is a Cajun-themed restaurant

Standing out with a unique style, Dee's Hangout is a Cajun-themed restaurant at 529 N. Richard Jackson Blvd.

Some of its "customer favorites" are smoked tuna dip, fried catfish etouffee and jambalaya.

"Chef Dee himself is behind all of the dishes that'll transport you to the bayou," the group wrote. "Daily specials are listed on the chalkboard."

Dusty's Oyster Bar is a 'no-frills PCB dive bar'

The last local restaurant featured in Visit PCB's blog is Dusty's Oyster Bar, a "no-frills PCB dive bar" at 16450 Front Beach Road.

While the menu offers a variety of items, the establishment is known for its oysters, whether served fried or raw.

"Their motto might describe the fare here as 'lousy food,' but locals and visitors alike will tell you it is the opposite," Visit PCB wrote. "You'll love the local bar atmosphere with the walls and ceiling covered in dollar bills."

Rudd noted the blog was just a sample of the many "amazing" restaurants the Beach has to offer.

These are the honorable mentions

She said honorable mentions include The Grand Marlin, Andy's Flour Power Cafe-Bakery and Dat Cajun Place Cafe.

Panama City Beach "hosts (many) local restaurants, all with unique stories and bites to eat or drink," Rudd wrote. "There are so many different culinary experiences to have while exploring Panama City Beach (that visitors) might just have to keep coming back to try them all."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: 7 of the top restaurants in Panama City Beach highlighted by Visit PCB
Abortion rights demonstrators gather near the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, June 25, 2022.

Abortion rights demonstrators gather near the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, June 25, 2022. Credit - Suzanne CordeiroAFP/Getty Images

My home office in San Antonio is honeyed with summer light. Outside, a fledgling roadrunner races through the hot dirt and buffelgrass of the empty lot next door. The sun is already high, another scorcher, as my parents always called these days in Laredo, where I grew up, and where they did, too, and their parents before them, three generations of South Texans before our roots stretch across the Rio Grande into Mexico, where some long-ago relatives must have looked at their children and decided the U.S. would be a better home for them, safer and freer.

The U.S. is my home. Texas is my home. Both are breaking my heart.

On May 19, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB8, a draconian law banning abortion after six weeks (before most people even know theyre pregnant) and turning private citizens into bounty hunters by authorizing them to sue abortion facilitators or providers. On September 17, 2021, Abbott signed SB4, a law that outlawed medication abortion after seven weeks and made it illegal to mail abortion pills to anyone in the state.

Now, within 30 days of the June 24 Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, 13 trigger-law states, including Texas, will implement total or near-total bans on abortion. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton didnt waste any time, quickly issuing an advisory saying that abortion providers could be criminally liable for violating pre-Roe statutes. I will work tirelessly to ensure our laws are fully enforced and Life is protected in Texas, he tweeted. He then closed his office, declaring June 24 an annual holiday.

Exactly a month before the Supreme Court stripped millions of bodily autonomy and devalued our lives, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Uvalde, a small town an hour and a half from my home. Three friends of a friend lost their 9-year-old daughters that day.

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Losta thing you say about keys, your page in a book, your way. Not your children, torn apart by a weapon of war. Not your basic rights, your full humanity.

Read More: There Is an Emptiness. Uvalde Shooting Victim Lexi Rubios Great-Grandfather Remembers Her 10 Years of Life

Days after the Uvalde massacrelet the horror of that word settle: a massacre, of childrenthe NRA held a convention in Houston as planned. There, Senator Ted Cruz said attempting to restrict gun access wouldnt work, unlike, apparently, restricting abortion access. The hypocrisy of Texas lawmakers is enough to disintegrate any trust in public institutions, any belief that democracy isnt for sale.

I can already hear the comeback, flung out smugly by progressives in blue states: Just move! They said it in February 2021, when the electrical grid in Texas failed and people froze in their homes. They said it a year later, when Abbott issued a letter to Texas state health agencies stating that delivering gender-affirming care to trans youth constitutes child abuse and that parents seeking such care for their kids should be reported to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. They said it when abortions were banned after six weeks, they said it after children were murdered in Uvalde, and they are saying it again now that abortions have almost entirely stopped in this state of more than 28 million people, where, in 2020, nearly one in five pregnancies ended in abortion.

When you tell people to leave their homes to escape dangerous, discriminatory laws, youre ignoring that only those with enormous privilege can easily move, and that those left behind are the most vulnerable to harm caused by those same laws. Youre assuming there are no ties that bind tightly enough to keep a progressive person, with and without privilege, in a red stateand youre wrong.

In August 2020, the author May Cobb moved from Austin to California with her husband and their 8-year-old son, who is severely impacted by autism. Hed been receiving full-time applied behavior analysis therapy in Texas, but Californias nonpublic school system for kids with autism seemed promising. Unfortunately, they arrived just as community spread of COVID-19 made in-person school impossible. Over the next two months, their son spiraled.

Read More: The Fight Over Abortion Has Only Just Begun

Finally, the school reopened, and though it helped, they soon realized that he needed more support than a classroom environment, even one tailored to autism, could offer. There were only a handful private ABA providers in their area, compared to dozens in Austin, and their insurance company denied coverage because their son didnt have a recent diagnosis. Desperate, Cobb and her husband brought their son back to Texas after five months so he could resume therapy at his previous center. He now receives 40 hours of one-on-one services each week.

Coming back was monumentally life-changing, Cobb says. It recovered him from the depths of hell.

In addition to regaining the therapeutic support their son needed, they were able to rent a house in Austin for $1,000 less each month than their 900-square-foot apartment in California, as well as be near family again and access the hiking trails and rivers their son loves. Even if Trump gets reelected, she says, it would be very hard for us to leave unless our son is much further along, because his therapy center here is really so much better.

Read More: The Devastating Implications of Overturning Roe Will Go Far Beyond Abortion Patients

Megan Pillow, writer and project manager for Roxane Gay, moved to Kentucky in middle school, left for college and her MFA, returned briefly and then left again for more than a decade before moving back with her then-husband and children to get her PhD at the University of Kentucky.

I couldnt do a PhD without childcare help, and my mom and stepdad, who also live here, offered to provide that while I was in school, Pillow says.

Like Texas, Kentucky is a trigger-law state, and after Roe was overturned, HB 148 went into effect, banning all abortionsincluding those for rape or incestexcept in rare cases when theyd save the mothers life. I believe that restricting abortion deprives especially Black and brown Kentucky residents of essential rights and makes their reproductive autonomy more likely to be criminalized in a state where their rights overall have historically been minimized, ignored, or outright abandoned, says Pillow, who also fiercely opposes several other recently passed laws.

Still, she isnt going anywhere for the time being. Pillow and her ex-husband, who also lives in Kentucky, share custody of their children. I cannot and will not ever leave my children, she says. I also think the people living in blue states and especially in white utopias of all political persuasions are living under an illusion that they are safe. They arent. The ramifications of the destruction that this rogue Supreme Court and everyone who supports them are inflicting are monumental, and theyre going to have a ripple effect across this entire country. No one is safe.

Diana Cejas, a pediatric neurologist, was raised in a rural area of North Carolina. She went to medical and graduate school in the D.C. area, then moved to New Orleans for pediatric residency training, and finally to Chicago to complete her training in pediatric neurology. She always knew, though, that she wanted to care for kids in the community that raised her. That didnt change even when North Carolina passed the so-called bathroom bill in 2016, preventing transgender people from using the public bathrooms aligned with their gender identity.

Read More: Residents Already Need to Travel for Abortion Training. Experts Fear Roes End Will Make It Even Harder

Its one example of many egregious, discriminatory bills that North Carolina politicians have passed in recent years, Cejas says. But, in a now-viral tweet after Roe was overturned, she pointed out that, Writing off the South means writing off some of the most diverse communities and fierce advocates in the nation and leaving those who will be most harmed [by] these policies behind.

Cejas spends most of her time advocating for improved access to care and care delivery and expanding the social safety net. She works primarily within health care systems but has also spoken directly with state and federal representatives and educates medical students and trainees about activism within medicine.

I wont be moving out of state, because my family is here, she says. The farm that I grew up on is here and I want to protect it, and I know thats a privilege that a lot of Black farming families dont have. I want to help disabled kids and other kids like the ones that I grew up with here. And despite everything I love this place. This is my home.

Despite everything, I love this place, too. I love the way my toddler laughs when he sees his grandparents, all five teeth on display, his eyes crinkling like mine, like my dads, like my grandpas. I love the way my 4-year-old and her cousins find secret hiding spots whenever theyre together. I love spending time on our familys ranch just north of Laredo, the kids cheeks flushed with heat as they drop food in the dam for the catfish that roil the murky water. I love hearing Spanish as much as English when we visit Laredo, and how deeply embedded our Mexican heritage is in South Texas. I love backroads motorcycle rides with my husband, Hill Country wineries, tamales on Christmas morning. Within the easy, dismissive label of every red state, there are thingsand peopleworth fighting for.

So stop telling us to leave our homes in order to access the rights enjoyed by people in blue states. Stop assuming that, in the heavily gerrymandered South, the worst of us represent the rest of us. The day may come when the cost of staying becomes too high to pay, when the threats looming over our families, our beloved children, become too terrifying to accept. Then those of us with the resources to leave will, with great care and sorrow, unearth our roots and hope for fertile soil elsewhere. Until then, stop telling us to move.

Start asking how you can help.
Illinois law enforcement leaders fighting a surge in gun violence announced Wednesday the launch of a searchable database they say will allow departments to more quickly access information on how illegal firearms are moving around the state.

The Crime Gun Connect platform, available to law enforcement only, contains some 100,000 federal gun trace records from 200 Illinois police agencies.

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The Illinois attorney generals office worked with data scientists to build the platform, which will allow the records to be easily searched, sorted and filtered by law enforcement agencies that are seeking details and patterns about how firearms move into the illegal market and are, potentially, used in violent crimes.

The platform stands to modernize and simplify the current way police investigate gun trafficking and other gun crimes across the state, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at a news conference announcing the database.

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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul speaks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a sweeping criminal justice and police reform bill Feb. 22, 2021. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Trace data and information on guns recovered in crimes is provided to local law enforcement agencies that request it by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency which maintains the data.

But federal law prohibits ATF from digitizing any of the data, so it has historically been provided on paper or in PDF form and can be cumbersome to use in investigations, officials said.

Instead of being able to search and analyze data immediately, law enforcement agencies that request tracing data must sort through paper records and spreadsheets to get basic information on the source of crime guns, Raoul said. This is often valuable time lost.

Crime Gun Connect, built in collaboration with the Illinois State Police and gun safety group Everytown for Gun Safety, is designed to address that problem, according to Adam Braun, executive deputy attorney general.

He explained that investigators would be able to enter terms into a search box and immediately receive information. There are also mapping options.

Weve built a system that allows law enforcement to search for information the same way we all Google for information every single day, Braun said.

To access the database, law enforcement agencies must be enrolled in the ATFs existing eTrace system, a web-based application, and must also agree to share information with other agencies.

On Wednesday, officials showed one example of the type of patterns that could be found in the database: Nine handguns recovered near a Chicago neighborhood where gun violence is prevalent were found to be all purchased within weeks of each other in the same part of Indianapolis.

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To us, that is a clear indication of someone who is engaged in trafficking and straw purchasing, Braun said.

Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. >

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said at the news conference that law enforcement needs every edge they can get to fight gun violence, and the new platform will be key to providing timely intelligence.

Gun violence is a complicated phenomenon, with no single solution. Pushing back is often a game of inches, successes achieved through a combination of many tools, Kelly said. We now have one more tool and one more chance to save a life being brought to bear on this noble effort.

Officials and community members at the news conference urged law enforcement to take advantage of the database, saying the key to reducing gun violence is shutting down illegal trafficking routes and finding so-called straw purchasers, who buy guns for those who are barred from ownership.

Valerie Burgest, of the gun safety organization Moms Demand Action, talked about her son, who was fatally shot when he was 23. That was nine years ago, and the homicide has not been solved.

I stand before you as a mother who had to bury her only child, she said. So this is extremely personal for me. Because any tool that helps law enforcement solve murders in this city and in this state is an important tool and one that we all will embrace.

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jgorner@chicagotribune.com
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the United Nations to visit the site of a missile strike on a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk, as he addressed the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

Speaking by video from Kyiv and clad in a trademark olive green shirt, the Ukrainian leader also called on members of the Council -- including Russia -- to hold a minute's silence for those killed in the war so far.

"I suggest the United Nations send either a special representative, or the secretary-general of the United Nations... so the UN could independently find out information and see that this indeed was a Russian missile strike," Zelensky said of Monday's attack, in which at least 18 people were killed.

And he asked the UN to legally define the term "terrorist state," arguing that Moscow's invasion of his country on February 24 demonstrates "the urgent necessity to enshrine it, literally, at the level of the United Nations and punish any terrorist state."

Zelensky spoke at the emergency sesion of the Security Council after Monday's missile strike set off a blaze inside the crowded shopping centre in Kremenchuk.

In addition to the 18 confirmed dead, dozens were injured and many are still missing, authorities have said.

The Russian army claimed Tuesday it had hit a nearby weapons depot with the explosion sparking the blaze at the shopping centre, which according to Moscow was "not operational" at the time.

But residents have dismissed that claim, telling AFP they knew of no arms being stored in the area.

Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations repeated those claims to the Security Council on Tuesday, and complained about Zelensky's appearance, saying that the UN "should not be turned into a platform for a remote PR campaign for President Zelensky in order to get more weapons" from NATO.

Before Zelensky spoke, UN undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council that the UN has now recorded more than 10,600 civilian casulaties in Ukraine, including 4,731 deaths. She said the true toll was "considerably higher."

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Zelensky last addressed the Security Council on April 5.

Prior to the emergency session, France, Ireland, Norway, Britain, the United States and Albania, as well as Ukraine's ambassador issued a joint statement in which they said they "strongly condemn the intensification of Russian missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, targeting residential areas and civilian infrastructure, over the period of 25-27 June 2022."

That included the strike on the shopping mall, which they called a "blatant attack" on civilians.

They demanded Russia immediately cease hostilties and withdraw from Ukraine.

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ALONA MAZURENKO  WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2022, 18:40

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine's participation in the autumn summit of the G20 will depend on the security situation in the country and the summits list of participants.

Source: Briefing by Zelenskyy and Indonesian President Joko Widodo

Zelenskyy: "The assistance of Indonesia, as chair and member of the G20, is extremely important for the restoration of peace. I am grateful to you, Mr President, for your personal invitation [given to Ukraine] to take part in the G20 summit, and of course I accept this invitation.

Ukraine's participation will depend on the security situation in Ukraine and the list of participants of the summit."

Details: Widodo emphasised that he personally extended the invitation to Zelenskyy.

He added that he had "news" for the President of Ukraine and would later have a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In doing so, the President of Indonesia called for peace.

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Previously: The Indonesian authorities announced that President Joko Widodo plans to travel to Ukraine and Russia in late June.

Background:
In her ninth year with Amherst County Public Schools, Dana Norman recently was appointed to become the divisions new assistant superintendent of instruction effective July 1.

Norman, a resident of Forest, currently serves as the schools chief academic officer and is stepping into the assistant superintendent role vacated by William Wells, who is the divisions new superintendent.

Norman earned her bachelors degree in journalism and mass communication from Liberty University in 1988, received a degree in English from Fayetteville State University in 1996, competed her masters degree in administration and supervision from the University of Arizona-Phoenix in 2007, as well as her doctorate degree in education leadership and policy studies in 2014 from Virginia Tech.

She began her teaching career in North Carolina in 1992. Norman took a two-year leave from the classroom in 1998 to work in Washington, D.C. as a consultant to the U.S. Congressional Education Committee and later participated in the Laura Bush White House Education Summit, assisting congressional members in writing portions of HR1: No Child Left Behind legislation.

In 2000, she returned to Central Virginia and the classroom, teaching eighth grade English in Bedford County Public Schools. She continued her career as the lead language arts teacher at then-Bedford Middle School and as a supervisor assisting all administrators, teachers and support staff in grades 6-12 before coming to Amherst in 2013.

Norman also has been frequently called to conferences and meetings on public education in the United States and abroad, presenting at annual conferences of the North Carolina Middle School Association, Virginia Secondary Principals Association and the National School Board Association, according to ACPS.

She has served as a member of the State Superintendents Return to Learn Working Committee and was selected to serve on the Virginia Department of Educations Task Force on Accreditation for the 2021-22 school year. In addition to her educational career, she also has worked as a journalist for The News-Herald and as educational consultant with National Capital Strategies, Inc.

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The Lynchburg area is on the southern edge of an area of the Mid-Atlantic at an "enhanced" risk of severe storms Monday, according to the Nati
The head of the University of Richmond board of trustees, Paul Queally, will step down from his position Thursday at the conclusion of his term. Last year, Queally was at the center of debate regarding the names of two campus buildings and their ties to racism.

At the time, Queally was opposed to changing the names of Ryland Hall and Freeman Hall despite protests from students and faculty. Robert Ryland owned slaves, and Douglas Southall Freeman supported segregation and eugenics. Altering the names would be equivalent to submitting to cancel culture, Queally said, according to professors.

Faculty and staff criticized his comments. Professors said he referred to students as Black, brown and regular students, and a former UR staffer, Jessica Washington, accused him of interrupting her and being condescending toward her. She called it the single most horrific and traumatizing work experience I have ever had.

The faculty censured Queally and ratified a vote of no confidence in him, saying the board had perhaps fallen out of step with the university community. Queally did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In March 2022, the board reversed its decision and changed the building names.

Queally also came under fire in 2014 for comments he made at a secret Wall Street fraternity induction ceremony in New York. According to New York Magazine, Queally made fun of Hillary Clinton and Barney Frank, a former member of Congress who is gay. The jokes were described as sexist and homophobic.

Queally later said the remarks were made in the spirit of the event and do not reflect my views or my values.

A 1986 UR graduate, Queally was co-president of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York private equity firm. He has donated millions of dollars to the university, and his name is on three buildings. He has served on the board since 2010.

Replacing him as rector is R. Lewis Boggs, a current board member. Also stepping down from the board are vice rector Susan G. Quisenberry, Louis W. Moelchert Jr., Gregory S. Rogowski and Michael P. Walrath.

Four new members have been elected this year: Stephen J. Aronson, Dr. Stacy Garrett-Ray, Ajay Nagpal and Kevin R. Seth.

Aronson, a UR alumnus, returns to the board after a three-year absence. He retired from British banking giant Barclays, where he was head of campus recruiting for distribution and senior executive ally for LGBTQ employees.

Garrett-Ray, a UR alumna, is vice president for Ascension, a St. Louis-based private health care system, and a family medicine physician.

Nagpal, a parent of a UR student, is chief operating officer at Millennium Management, a New York-based global investment firm.

Seth is a partner at Edgewood Management, a Maryland-based property management company, and the parent of two UR students.
McKenna Lovelady's summer has just started, but she's already had tons of fun.

Lovelady, 10, is a Council Bluffs native who recently finished her final year at Rue Elementary School last month. She said it was a "really fun" fifth grade year in teacher Joni Robey's classroom. She said all of her Rue teachers throughout her time there have made a lasting impact on her life, and they've helped prepare her for middle school.

Lovelady will be a sixth-grader at Wilson Middle School next fall, and she said she's excited to take the step up and try something new. However, before school starts back up, Lovelady is trying to have as much fun as possible this summer.

She's off to a great start, as her family just got back from a group vacation to Mexico, where they celebrated her sister Jade's graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School. Her mom, dad, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins made the trip down to the Caribbean coastline, to spend a week at Riviera Maya. Lovelady said she enjoyed spending lots of time on the sandy beaches and taking a sailboat to a private island tour. She's hoping to go on another destination trip when she graduates from high school years from now.

The jet lag didn't seem to bother Lovelady as she was spotted with some of her family at Bel Air and Renner drives Tuesday afternoon for one of the Council Bluffs Fire Department's twice-weekly hydrant parties. She said it's the first time she's been to a local hydrant party, but it certainly won't be her last and she enjoyed running through water fountains and splashing around with her siblings and friends.

Lovelady's fun streak will continue through this weekend as her family will be doing plenty of Fourth of July celebrating. She said it's always been a fun for holiday for her, but the day has become more important ever since her 4-year-old sister, Adalen, was born on Independence Day. Lovelady said it's going to be a great family affair as they celebrate her sister's big 5.
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Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT TUESDAY... * WHAT...Heat index values are expected to peak in the 100 to 108 degree range this afternoon and again Tuesday afternoon. * WHERE...eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. * WHEN...From noon today to 8 PM CDT Tuesday. * 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. &&
The United Arab Emirates expressed its opposition to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterress decision to appoint former Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum as UN envoy to Libya, Libya Observer reports, citing diplomatic sources.

The Gulf country told the Security Council that some Arab countries and Libyan parties reject Boukadoums nomination.

Guterres last week proposed Boukadoum to replace Stephanie Williams whose job will terminate end of this month. The Arab League reportedly was expected to meet to discuss Boukadoums choice by the UN Chief.

UAE, according to a diplomatic source that asked not to be named, was the only country that rejected the former Algerian top diplomats appointment. There is a regional concern about Boukadoums appointment, especially since Algeria has a common border with Libya, the source told AFP.

Russia and Egypt have been pushing for the appointment for an African diplomat to head the UN mission in the crisis-hit African country. Libya has descended into chaos since the assassination of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-led revolution in 2011.

Libya has currently two governments backed by foreign countries vying for influence.
Morocco needs help in facing the repercussions resulting from a surge in illegal migration, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

Sanchez had thanked Moroccan security forces for their efforts to counter illegal migration flows and their crackdown on migrant trafficking networks, responsible for the death of at least 23 migrants in Melilla crossing last Friday.

As a transit country, Morocco suffers from the problems of illegal migration and we should help it act against the mafias and human trafficking networks, Sanchez told Cadena Ser radio.

The main culprits in what happened in Nador are the human trafficking mafias who led the violent assault, as shown by the images that circulate online and in social media, Sanchez said, while deploring the dead and expressing solidarity with the families.

We have to put ourselves in the shoes of Spanish security forcesand Moroccan authorities, who suffered injuries due to attack, he said.

On Friday, some 2000 migrants attacked a border crossing between Nador and Melilla assaulting security forces using sticks and stones as well as acid and knives, in the most violent crossings ever reported in northern Morocco.

Sanchez recalled that during the last 12 months at least 8 violent attacks have been organized by mafias on the fence near Nador.

Spain and the EU are called upon to increase development aid to origin and transit countries, he said.

He made the case for fostering cooperation with Morocco to counter illegal migration.

Nearly 140 Moroccan security personnel were hurt in the crossing as migrants showed unprecedented violence and defiance.
Spain started pumping gas to Morocco giving a new life to a gas pipeline that was halted by Algeria last October, in a failed move to pressure both Morocco and Spain to bow to its hegemonic agenda.

The news was confirmed by Spains Enagas which oversees gas interconnections. Its data showed that gas started flowing in reverse to Morocco from Spain.

Moroccos energy minister Leila Benali has confirmed months ago Morocco will tap the international natural gas market and use Spanish regasification infrastructure to pump the gas back to Morocco through the pipeline.

In a hysterical response, Algeria warned Spain not to sell any of its gas to Morocco.

The sudden closure of the pipeline to Spain and Algerias failure to honor its supply commitment through a smaller Mediterranean pipeline were received in Spain as an indicator of Algerias unreliability as a gas supplier.

Algeria has only gas and hydrocarbons to sell and its export capacity is shrouded in doubt amid a rise in domestic consumption.

Using the gas as a blackmail card will only undermine Algerias market share in the European energy market amid a push towards renewable energy to reduce dependence on authoritarian states.

In using gas to blackmail neighbors, Algeria shoots itself in the feet. The US has already unseated Algeria becoming Spains main gas supplier and Nigerian gas is slowly eating into Algerias market share.
Military observers from some twenty partner countries attended, Tuesday at Cap Draa (north of Tan-Tan), operational trainings conducted as part of the combined Moroccan-American exercise African Lion 2022.

The maneuvers were attended by Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of the South Zone.

Organized by FAR and the U.S. Armed Forces, the African Lion exercise, the largest military exercise in Africa, which runs until June 30, aims to perfect the intervention capabilities of participating units and strengthen their combined action capabilities in planning and implementing military operations in a coalition.

In a statement to MAP, Colonel Nabil Taoussi, director of the tactical exercise in Cape Draa, said the tactical exercise organized in Cape Draa with the participation of more than 2,500 soldiers, aims to strengthen the maneuvering capabilities of participating units and consolidate interoperability on the tactical and technical levels.

These military maneuvers include shooting sessions using different weapons (individual, Abrams tanks, heavy artillery, anti-tank missile launchers, ), he noted, stressing that these trainings will be marked by a joint maneuver, with the key to air bombardment operations and destruction of the enemy by the alternate and coordinated use of all weapons, as well as a combination of fire and movement.

The Cape Draa military exercise, including air and land maneuvers, is a preparatory exercise for the final maneuvers, which will take place Thursday in the same area with the participation of units of FAR and U.S. forces.

The air maneuvers included the execution of several missions by FAR and US Air Force means, among others, Moroccan planes F16, American bombers B1 and American helicopters AH 64 Apache.

As for the ground maneuvers, they included the firing of heavy artillery shells, the launching of long-range ground-to-ground missiles and the launching of missiles from Moroccan-American Abrams armored vehicles, as well as infantry maneuvers using heavy armored vehicles carrying soldiers.

The African Lion 2022 involves more than 7,500 service members, featuring a joint task force command post exercise, a combined arms live fire exercise, a maritime exercise, an air exercise including bomber aircraft, a joint forcible entry with paratroopers into a field training exercise, a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear response exercise, and a humanitarian civic assistance program event.

Part of this humanitarian event, a medical-surgical field hospital was deployed in the town of Taliouine (Taroudant province).

The field hospital, mobilizing medical teams consisting of doctors and nurses from FAR and the U.S. Army, has been operational since June 13. It provides medical and surgical services for the benefit of local populations in the region.

This years exercise, launched on June 20 at the Southern Zone Command, is attended by 10 African and international countries, as well as some twenty military observers from partner countries.

The drills are taking place in the regions of Agadir, Benguerir, Kenitra, Mahbes, Taroudant and Tan Tan.
Morocco has reiterated its active and resolute commitment to the outcome of the political transition in Libya, and its unwavering support to the intra-Libyan political process to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis in the North African country.

The remarks were made by Moroccos Permanent Representative to the African Union and UNECA Wednesday at a conference on the situation in Libya, convened by the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) in Addis Ababa.

Ambassador Mohamed Arrouchi recalled Moroccos active and resolute commitment, since 2014, to support the intra-Libyan political process to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis in the country. This support, he said, resulted in 2015 in the Skhirate Agreement, concluded under the auspices of the United Nations, and which is, so far, the most successful political framework on the way to resolve the crisis in Libya.

Highlighting Moroccos determination to promote an intra-Libyan solution away from any foreign interference, the Moroccan diplomat recalled the rounds of consultations held in Bouznika that led, between 2018 and 2022, to the comprehensive agreement on sovereign positions as well as the debates that brought together all the Libyan stakeholders regarding the political and security challenges facing the country.

Praising the role and efforts made by the Republic of Congo, through its chairmanship of the High-Level Committee and the AU Contact Group on Libya, Arrouchi noted that Libyas people and stakeholders are able to turn the current ceasefire in the country into lasting peace and a final solution to the legitimacy issue, through the conduct of free and inclusive elections, and strengthen thus the institutions of the Libyan state and achieve the development and prosperity that the brotherly people of Libya deserve.

The Moroccan delegation put forward a number of recommendations, including the support to the relevant initiatives and political frameworks developed within the African space, notably the Skhirate Agreement of 2015, the constant efforts made by the High-Level Committee and the African Union Contact Group on Libya, as well as the consultations between the House of Representatives and the Libyan High Council of State to reach an agreement on the outstanding issues, with a view to holding national elections as soon as possible.

In connection with arrangements for elections in Libya, talks are this Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva between Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, and chairman of the High Council of State, Khaled Al-Mishri.

According to the United Nations, the talks focus on a draft constitutional framework for elections after Libyas rival factions failed to reach an agreement in their last round of talks in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

In opening remarks during the meeting, Saleh affirmed his complete keenness to ensure transparent elections for the Libyan people without foreign interference.
Africa has always been at the heart of Moroccos strategic choices and Morocco has never ceased reaffirming its African identity since its independence, said Tuesday in Paris the ambassador of the Kingdom to France, Mohamed Benchaaboun.

The Morocco-Africa relationship is a priority in the Kingdoms foreign policy and has been enshrined in the Constitution in force since 2011, the diplomat pointed out during the fourth Monthly Conference of African Ambassadors in Paris (CMAAP) dedicated to Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

Morocco will remain committed alongside Japan and all partners to achieve the joint objectives of TICAD, he said, insisting that this process must be a long-term one.

He affirmed that the Kingdom will remain committed, at the national and regional levels, to the various areas of intervention of TICAD, within the framework of a win-win approach based on three elements, namely ownership, sharing of experiences and tripartite cooperation.

He expressed hope that the coming TICAD will see the emergence of bold, innovative measures and also a firm commitment to Africas development.

The meeting on assessment and prospects of Japanese cooperation in Africa was organized at the initiative of Club Afrique de la Presse Parisienne (CAPP), in cooperation with AFRIJAPAN, the official organization for the promotion of TICAD.

The Japanese government has made a commitment to organize TICAD every three years, with the aim of forging new strategies and methodologies for the development of Africa.

The VIII edition will take place in Tunis on August 27-28, 2022, in Tunis.
Its time to talk about historic dry years in North Platte as the first half of 2022 draws to a close at weeks end.

After nearly 3 inches of rain fell in May, parched conditions have returned with just 0.43 inches of June precipitation through Monday.

With North Plattes high Wednesday expected to again reach triple digits, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for west central Nebraska from noon to 9 p.m. CT.

The year-to-date precipitation total at the weather Services Lee Bird Field office remained stuck at 6.11 inches as of Monday.

Thats the 13th-driest start to a year through June 27 since North Platte weather records were first kept in 1874.

Its also fifth-lowest among year-to-date precipitation totals if one groups 2022 with the 10 full years that make up North Plattes top 10 driest list.

North Plattes driest years North Plattes 10 driest full years since weather records began to be kept in the city in 1874, according to the High Plains Regional Climate Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln:  1. 1931, 10.01 inches  2. 2012, 10.04 inches  3. 1954, 10.46 inches  4. 1910, 10.70 inches  5. 1940, 10.98 inches  6. 2002, 11.06 inches  7. 1894, 11.21 inches  8. 1936, 11.26 inches  9. 1925, 11.28 inches  10. 1921, 11.51 inches

The list includes the 10.04 inches recorded in 2012, which ranks just behind 1931s all-time annual low of 10.01 inches. The 11.06 inches of precipitation in 2002 stands at No. 6.

Monday marked the North Platte airports 12th straight day without measurable rain since 0.03 inches fell June 15.

Lee Bird had traces of moisture June 20 and June 24, on both sides of the U.S. Drought Monitors most recent weekly regional map issued June 21.

It showed a slight improvement in statewide drought conditions, with 82.8% of Nebraska short of moisture compared with 83.1% on June 14.

Last weeks map for west central Nebraska looked much the same as the previous week, though severe drought conditions advanced to cover all but the northwest part of Lincoln County.

Extreme drought conditions continued to plague a roughly oval swath of southwest Nebraska, including all of Hayes and Hitchcock counties and parts of Chase, Dundy, Frontier and Red Willow counties.

Warm southerly winds could gust as high as 35 mph Wednesday in North Platte, with a possible top temperature of 101 degrees and an overnight low in the upper 60s.

The citys next chance of precipitation will follow Thursday night, with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms after a mostly sunny day and highs in the mid-90s.

Possibilities for more rain remain in North Plattes forecast for the long Fourth of July weekend, though sunshine should prevail during the daytime.

Highs should cool to the mid-80s Friday before starting upward again, the weather service said.

Top readings should be in the low 90s Saturday, mid-90s Sunday and upper 90s Independence Day and Tuesday. Lows should remain in the 60s.

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North Platte Airport Authority leaders Tuesday expressed growing optimism that they can keep SkyWest Airlines as the citys passenger airline to Denver.

They spoke in the wake of SkyWests formal request Friday for federal permission to fly 30-seat jet aircraft as an alternative to the carriers 50-seaters.

SkyWest filed March 10 to drop its Essential Air Service routes to North Platte, Scottsbluff and 27 other U.S. cities, citing chronic pilot shortages in the wake of COVID-19.

But the regional carrier  still under a U.S. Department of Transportation order to maintain EAS service  remains on track to move to twice-daily nonstop North Platte-to-Denver flights next month, Airport Authority board Chairman Alan Erickson said Tuesday.

He and Airport Manager Sam Seafeldt said SkyWest also has left the door open to rescind its request to quit North Platte  a step the Utah-based carrier has taken in at least one other EAS market.

Were working diligently with SkyWest to get them to stay, Erickson said. Theres not a viable alternative. And I think they will.

The Airport Authority board June 6 recommended DOT rejection of three EAS bids from other carriers, two of which would have flown aircraft with just nine seats between Lee Bird Field and Denver International Airport.

SkyWest officials have said they hope to tell North Platte leaders by July 8 whether theyll pull their request to drop their Denver service, Seafeldt said.

The carrier did just that Friday in Salina, Kansas, by filing a withdrawal of termination notice with the DOT, according to the Salina Post website.

I think thats a very good sign, Seafeldt said.

SkyWest applied Friday for DOT authorization to serve 25 airports, including Lee Bird Field and Scottsbluffs Western Nebraska Regional Airport, with up to 18 Bombardier CRJ-200 jets reduced from 50 to 30 seats. Fifty-seat CRJ-200s currently serve both airports.

The carrier would fly the 30-seaters under a new affiliate  SkyWest Charter  in carrying out that plan, which SkyWest previewed for North Platte airport leaders June 3.

If the federal DOT consents, SkyWest would fly the 30-seat jets under a different part of federal regulations allowing less experienced copilots alongside experienced senior pilots.

Erickson and Seafeldt took note of another SkyWest move Friday: a bid to renew its EAS service between DIA and Laramie, Wyoming, using either its current 50-seat jets or the 30-seaters.

It appears SkyWest wants in at least some EAS markets to gain the option to do 30 or 50(-seaters) at their choice, based on demand, Erickson said.

SkyWests current EAS contract with the Airport Authority expires on Feb. 1, 2023  the carriers fifth anniversary at Lee Bird.

We hope that our next RFP (request for proposal) for service here in North Platte would have similar wording to allow us to request 30- or 50-passenger proposals, Seafeldt said.

Federal DOT officials likely will request new long-term EAS bids for North Platte in September or October, he said, though that hasnt been confirmed.

SkyWests latest service adjustment takes effect July 12, when it boosts its weekly Lee Bird takeoffs and landings from 12 to 14 and drops any stopovers at the Scottsbluff airport.

The carriers 50-seat jets will arrive from DIA at 9:44 a.m. and 5:34 p.m. CT daily. Return flights to DIA would leave at 10:20 a.m. and 6:09 p.m. respectively.

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Columbus woman Savannah Slusarski loves everything vintage, specifically old Hollywood glamour  think Marilyn Monroe.

It's being sexy without showing everything you got. I feel like it's very empowering to do that kind of modeling, Slusarski said. It's the fun hair and the dark red lips and being flirty and fun without literally showing everything that you have. There's a little mystery with it and I really like that.

Slusarski is now one of many women taking part in the 2022 Maxim Cover Girl Competition. The winner of the competition will be featured on the cover of Maxim, an international mens magazine.

I do pin-up modeling, which is like the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s style, Slusarski said, noting she started in 2019. That was kind of the photos (submitted for the contest) from some past photoshoots I had done. I wasn't sure if that would be something they would consider cool for Maxim or not, but they accepted it.

Slusarski, who works as a hairstylist and makeup artist, said she learned of the contest online and filled out the application. She learned on May 26 that she has been accepted into the contest. The competition is in its first round until Thursday night, and the top 20 in each group will go on to the next round. There will be several rounds until the finals in August.

Slusarski is currently second in her group, and there are several groups involved in the competition. Those wanting to vote for her can do so at bit.ly/3biWKOG.

There is a free daily voting, which requires verification to prevent spamming. There are also special warrior votes that benefit the Homes for Wounded Warriors, which helps build and remodel handicap-accessible homes for disabled veterans. The warrior votes allow someone to pay for extra votes, with proceeds benefiting the organization.

In addition to being the cover girl, the winner will also receive $25,000 and a trip to Paris for a photo shoot. Slusarski said if she won, she would give some of those funds to a local nonprofit. Her voting page states she would also take her family on a vacation.

I have been so blessed to be a part of my community and work with so many people that work with Center for Survivors here in Columbus, she said. I've personally known some people who have gone through some really rough times and they have certainly helped them immensely.

Braeden Tyma, a Kearney-based photographer specializing in cars and pin-ups, said hes known Slusarski for a couple of years, having met her through a mutual friend.

She considers the whole concept of a photo shoot. So for shooting with a car, she thinks to the area of the car, the style of the car and how that relates to her hair, her makeup, her wardrobe, Tyma said. She connects the whole concept, everything that's going to be in the photo, which is what makes the photos stand out.

Tyma noted hes known others competing for a chance to work with magazines like Maxim and Inked, and he enjoys seeing people from small areas trying their hand at the field.

I always love to see people who are not from the coasts or not from Texas or somewhere big that are out here trying to compete and do things and use their photos beyond just like pegging them on the wall, Tyma said. She's really pushing for that. Her skill level as a model is so above and beyond that. She would deserve and fit in with models that are being hired by that magazine.

The pin-up community, Slusarski said, is body positive, something she appreciates and strives for. She noted shes always been interested in modeling and acting but has heard her fair share of negative comments.

When it came to modeling, I was always told you're not tall enough, you're not skinny enough. When you get told that your whole life, you really do believe it, Slusarski said. I feel like if I could win this, it would be proof that you don't have to be 6 feet tall and a size zero to be to make it on a big cover, to be on the face of the magazine. I love to be the face of a not normal girl that you see on the magazine.

Slusarski said throughout her career as a hairstylist and makeup artist, shes spent her time making women feel as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside  whether it be family photos, headshots, senior pictures, school dances or weddings.

I have spent so much time behind the scenes because I know what it's like to feel not enough to be in front of the camera. My goal in life and in this experience is to encourage others, it doesn't matter what the naysayers think, you don't have to be ideal you just have to believe in yourself, she said.

If this is all the further I make it in the competition, it's perfectly fine because I've been able to experience all this love and support from my community and I'm so proud to be a Columbus native.
Photo: Gaelen Morse/REUTERS

On Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson provided some of the most damning public testimony yet in the public hearings by the House committee investigating January 6. Speaking clearly, deliberately, and thoughtfully, the former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows provided a riveting and legitimately disturbing account of Donald Trumps conduct before and during the attack on the Capitol. She appeared to provide the facts as she knew them, without needless speculation. And she seemed to take pains to specify precisely what she knew, how she knew it, and, as importantly, what she did not know. On its face, it was about as credible a performance as any witness can provide.

Hutchinsons testimony also added distinct pieces of evidentiary support for what committee Vice-Chair Liz Cheney described during the first public hearing in June as a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the 2020 election and prevent the transition of presidential power. The committees members have made no secret of the fact that they believe that these are appropriate lines of inquiry for a criminal investigation that they would like to see the Justice Department undertake (assuming that it is not already doing so) and that Trumps conduct could warrant criminal charges. Hutchinsons testimony in particular advanced the theory that Trump intended for the violence at the Capitol to occur, though not as conclusively as some of the initial reactions from legal observers suggested.

Tuesdays hearing focused largely on two specific elements of the supposed seven-part plan: first, Trumps solicitation of a mob to intimidate Congress and Vice-President Mike Pence to overturn the results; and second, Trumps failure to intervene to stop the violence as he watched it unfold from the White House over several hours. Among other things, Hutchinson testified about some of the warnings about potential violence that the White House received in the run-up to the siege of the Capitol, including that she heard Rudy Giuliani refer to the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. She discussed being present as Trump prepared to take the stage for his speech on January 6 and his insistence that security officials allow armed supporters to attend. I dont fucking care that they have weapons, she heard him say. Theyre not here to hurt me. She also described hearing about how Trump lunged at a member of his own Secret Service protection when they refused to take him to the Capitol after his speech  an appearance that could have inflamed matters even further. And she recounted hearing Meadows talk with White House counsel Pat Cipollone amid the chaos in the West Wing that afternoon about how Trump doesnt think theyre doing anything wrong. Finally, she quoted Meadows telling Cipollone after meeting with Trump that the president spoke approvingly of the mobs chants to hang Mike Pence, saying of Trump, He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesnt think theyre doing anything wrong.

Put simply, all of this testimony seemed to suggest that Trump intended for the violence to unfold that day as part of an effort to intimidate Congress and pressure Pence to throw the election to him. On this theory, some criminal charges that might apply include obstruction of an official government proceeding (the congressional certification of Bidens election) and conspiracy to defraud the government. The committee itself successfully invoked those two charges before a federal judge in California in its effort to obtain documents from Trump lawyer John Eastman, and the judge ruled that it was more likely than not that Eastman and Trump conspired to break the law based on the information presented to him. Prosecutors might also consider, at least in theory, charges concerning incitement of insurrection or seditious conspiracy  the latter of which has been brought by the Justice Department against members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. These charges have different legal elements and political overtones, but to varying degrees, they might fit the basic version of events that Hutchinson laid out.

From a potential defense perspective, the account was not without its wrinkles. I was most intrigued by Hutchinsons account of Trump pressuring the Secret Service to allow people who were armed to attend his rally. I dont even care that they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me, she quoted him saying backstage before speaking to the crowd. Take the effing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the effing mags away. But even Hutchinson seemed to think that Trumps interest at that moment may simply have been in increasing the size of the crowd (a longtime preoccupation of his), at one point describing this as likely the primary reason for his anger. If that were all that was happening, that would make Trump an extremely reckless narcissist, but the implication  which hung in the air but that no one quite articulated or grappled with head on  was that Trump deliberately wanted armed attendees in the crowd so that they would end up at the Capitol in order to participate in an armed siege outside (and potentially even inside) the building. There is a significant difference between these two scenarios, both legally and practically, and reasonable observers could fairly disagree about how strong an inference on this point should be drawn from Trumps comment that [t]hey can march to the Capitol.

It was also telling that Cheney did not simply ask Hutchinson straight out if she believed that Trump wanted to let in armed attendees specifically so that they would participate in a large armed siege of the Capitol. This was a conspicuous omission in a line of questioning that would have benefited from clearer punctuation  reflecting, perhaps, a deliberate decision not to have Hutchinson straightforwardly weigh in on the implication that hangs very heavily (perhaps too heavily) on Trumps comment that the attendees can march to the Capitol from here. Hutchinson may not have agreed or may herself be uncertain, and she may already have expressed as much to investigators in her earlier testimony.

Liz Cheney: "His response was to say they can march to the Capitol from Ellipse?"



Cassidy Hutchinson: "Something to the effect of take the f-ing mags away. Theyre not here to hurt me. They can march from the Ellipse. Take the f-ing mags away." pic.twitter.com/jemb0rlLIo  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 28, 2022

The fact that Trump did nothing to stop the violence as it unfolded, perhaps hoping that it would succeed in intimidating Pence, is also stark circumstantial evidence that he intended it to occur in the first place, but here too, you can make out the beginnings of a defense if you zoom out a bit. So far as I can tell, the committee has produced no significant evidence  at least not yet, and of course there are more hearings to come  that Trump intervened to prevent some sort of critical law-enforcement response as the Capitol was attacked, that he was presented with any sort of plan for a crucial law-enforcement action that he rejected that afternoon, or, in the days and weeks leading up to January 6, that he did anything to prevent any of the relevant federal agencies or Cabinet officials from properly preparing for the days events (otherwise known as competently doing their jobs). If you were investigating someone for deliberately planning or cultivating a riot but that person also happened to supervise the people in charge of security, these are things you would presumably hope to run down.

As for whether there is enough to charge Trump  the question that observers have debated after each of the committees hearings this month  there is no need for viewers to make that judgment now. Indeed there is a real risk, as I have mostly done here, in reacting to immediate, incremental pieces of information in isolation (however captivating they may be) when they form part of a larger body of information gathered by the committee that is still coming into public view and that is so sprawling and complex that it can be challenging to process in real time. There is also a very real structural limitation of the hearing, which is that it has the visual trappings of a trial  with live testimony, snippets of depositions, audio and video exhibits, and visual aids  but there is no defense, so as I noted recently, we need to be mindful of context, potential counterevidence, and rebuttals that we might not be seeing. Already, for instance, Secret Service agents have reportedly disputed Hutchinsons account of being told that Trump assaulted his own security inside a vehicle after the speech. This is not so much a problem for the credibility of Hutchinson, who specified in detail exactly how and from whom she heard this information secondhand, but it reflects the potential vulnerabilities of an effort to construct an accurate and comprehensive factual account from people who have differing levels of personal knowledge and may not have been percipient witnesses to all of the relevant events.

In a way, the framing of the question is also not fair to the committee. One of their clear objectives is to influence electoral politics, but to the extent they are legitimately grappling with the potential criminal implications of the conduct that they are investigating, the committees members have correctly noted that all they can really do is lay out information and evidence that might seriously inform the Justice Departments work and thinking about investigating and perhaps charging Trump and other significant figures in his orbit.

As for what the department is up to under Attorney General Merrick Garland, that remains about as opaque as ever. Last week, prosecutors seized Eastmans phone and devices belonging to Jeffrey Clark, the former Trump Justice Department official, during a raid on his home. This suggests, as they say, an intensifying inquiry  but exactly how far along and how expansive that work is remains to be seen. Indeed, on the same day that Hutchinson testified, the New York Times suggested that those investigative developments may have grown out of the departments interest in the alternate (or fake) electors scheme. (A separate story specified that it remains unknown if prosecutors are looking directly at Mr. Trumps own involvement in subverting the election or inspiring the mob that wreaked havoc at the Capitol.) That is a worthy undertaking, but it is also just one of many things that the department could and should have been aggressively investigating well over a year ago as part of a concerted criminal investigation into the conduct of Trump and those closest to him. Judging from the results so far, the investigators on the committee have done their jobs exceptionally well. The verdict is still out on their counterparts in the Justice Department.

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Global Market Insights, Inc

Major modular data center market participants include Baselayer Technology, BladeRoom Group, Cisco Systems, CommScope, Dell, Eaton Corporation, Huawei Technologies, IBM Corporation, Iron Mountain Corporation, Rahi Systems, Rittal GmbH, KG, Schneider Electric SE, STULZ GmbH, The Hewlett-Packard Company, Vertiv Co., and ZTE Corporation.

Selbyville, Delaware, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



The modular data center market is expected to surpass USD 45 billion by 2030, as reported in a research study by Global Market Insights Inc . Increasing demand for colocation services that require highly scalable modular data center facilities at optimum costs is fueling the industry growth.

Service providers offer a comprehensive range of onshore & remote services to help organizations optimize data center performance and remain competitive in the market.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1730

The growing penetration of digital technologies, such as online banking, mobile wallets, and smart card-based payments, will propel the acceptance of modular data center solutions in the BFSI sector. There is a surge in the deployment of modular data centers globally as it helps to store & process large volumes of information generated from digital payment methods.

The BFSI industry is investing heavily in modernizing data center infrastructure and is increasingly focused on cloud solutions on account of the cost-effectiveness and flexibility offered by these solutions. This also helps to improve stability, connection, and performance, fueling the demand for modular data center solutions. The industry will expand as increased capacity and throughput are required for mission-critical systems, high-bandwidth applications, and online transaction activities including digital transfers.

The North America modular data center market will grow due to the growing adoption of digital healthcare solutions. The strong regional presence of medical facilities, such as Mayo Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Mount Sinai Hospital implementing Electronic Health Record (EHR), is fueling the need for modular data centers. Furthermore, the use of smart medical devices stimulates the demand for modular data centers, which are containerized & circular units that are purpose-built and pre-engineered to fulfill the specific demands of various medical institutions.

Story continues

Some of the major findings of the modular data center market report are:

The modular data center market will witness growth owing to the increasing demand for rapidly deployable, portable, and scalable IT facilities. Scalability provides enterprises with the basic components needed to grow data center capacities at regular intervals based on data volume. This capacity-on-demand strategy allows companies to quickly meet the changing customer demands, enabling modular data center market expansion.





The market is experiencing significant gains as data center operators are switching to modular designs to gain flexibility and cost-efficiencies. Modular infrastructure has evolved with high availability & efficiency after integrating the latest power & cooling system technologies. These units are highly used in modular facilities as they limit operation interruptions during maintenance and upgrades.





The increasing usage of individual data center is boosting market growth. Individual predefined modules enable the plug & play implementation of complete data center infrastructure. Data center module components are all defined and fully synchronized with one another. These modules are decoupled from their physical covers and established infrastructure interfaces, making them adaptable to various use-cases.





The growing penetration of 5G is resulting in higher internet user traffic, which will further enhance the demand for data center renovation for ensuring efficient data traffic management. Telecom operators are focusing on enhancing customer experience by incorporating advanced modular data center and are heavily investing in network infrastructure upgrades. This helps them to offer stable & strong networks and uninterrupted internet services in remote locations.

Request for customization of this research report at https://www.gminsights.com/roc/1730

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 Modular data center industry 360 synopsis, 2018 - 2030

2.1.1 Business trends

2.1.2 Regional trends

2.1.3 Component trends

2.1.4 Application trends

Chapter 3 Modular Data Center Industry Insights

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

3.3 Impact of Russia-Ukraine War

3.4 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.5 Technological & innovation landscape

3.6 Regulatory landscape

3.7 Industry impact forces

3.8 Growth potential analysis

3.9 Porters analysis

3.10 PESTEL analysis

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.

CONTACT: Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com




RAK Petroleum plc

United Kingdom, 29 June 2022

RAK Petroleum plc, the Oslo Stock Exchange listed oil and gas investment company, announced that all resolutions put to its 2022 Annual General Meeting held today in London, United Kingdom, were approved by an overwhelming majority.

The voting results are attached.

For further queries, please contact:

Kevin Toner Managing Director RAK Petroleum plc

Email: kevin.toner@rakpetroleum.uk

About RAK Petroleum plc

RAK Petroleum plc is an Oslo Stock Exchange listed oil and gas investment company established under the laws of England and Wales as a public limited company. Its principal holdings are 44.94 percent of DNO ASA and 33.33 percent of Foxtrot International LDC held through Mondoil Enterprises, LLC. DNO ASA is a Norwegian oil and gas operator focused on the Middle East and the North Sea. Founded in 1971 and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, DNO holds stakes in onshore and offshore licences at various stages of exploration, development and production in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Norway, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ireland and Yemen. Foxtrot International LDC is a privately-held company active in West Africa whose principal asset is a 27.27 percent interest in and operatorship of Block CI-27 offshore Cote d'Ivoire..

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Attachment




The Alabama Republican Party is facing new territory when it comes to the election race for the State Senate District 27 election between Jay Hovey and incumbent Tom Whatley.

There have not been many elections contested in the primaries, said ALGOP Chairman John Wahl. I believe this is the first time that weve had a tie contest in the primaries.

Hovey clung to a four-vote lead over Whatley on election night after all the votes were tallied from the polling places in Lee, Russell and Tallapoosa counties, and that lead dwindled to a single vote after the provisional ballots were counted a week later.

On Saturday in Birmingham, the ALGOPs Candidate Committee held a hearing for the race and, after accepting a provisional vote for Whatley from a voter in Tallapoosa County that had not been previously counted, declared it a tie.

The Alabama Republican Party listened to evidence from both sides and after hearing what was presented to us in deliberation we ruled in favor of counting the vote, Wahl said.

Wahl said he cannot discuss what was said at the hearing as the Committee is operating as a judge under state code.

On Sunday, ALEA released a statement to the press questioning the validity of the provisional ballot that was counted.

According to the statement, ALEA discovered that the voter still has a driver license issued by the State of Georgia. She did visit the ALEA Driver License Office in Opelika to apply for an Alabama Drivers License, but did not complete an issuance transaction and was never issued an Alabama Driver License.

Voter registration information from ALEAs Driver License Division is only sent after the credential is issued and the customer signs the required voter declaration, which did not occur in this specific incident, the release said. Voter registration information is filed nightly by ALEAs Driver License Division to the Secretary of States Office to ensure each citizens voter registration is up to date.

Neither Hovey nor Whatley responded to Opelika-Auburn News on Tuesday, and it remains unclear if Hovey plans to challenge the decision.

Hoveys legal representative Bert Jordan, from Wallace Jordan in Birmingham, did not respond to Opelika-Auburn News Tuesday.

The tie breaker will likely take place sometime next week. The Hovey and Whatley campaigns are still in discussions about when to schedule it and how to decide by lot in accordance with Alabama Code.

A release from the Alabama Republican Party stated that the tie will be broken in the same manner established for general elections set forth in Alabama Code 17-12-23.

The code, according to the Alabama Secretary of State website, states:

In all elections where there is a tie between the two highest candidates for the same office, for all county or precinct offices, it shall be decided by lot by the judge of probate of the county in the presence of the candidates; and in the case of the office of circuit judge, senator, representative, or any state officer not otherwise provided for, the Secretary of State shall, in the presence of the Governor, and such other electors as may choose to be present, decide the tie by lot.

One method of deciding a tie by lot is to have the candidates draw slips of paper with one of them being marked as the winner. According to Probate Judge Bill English of Lee County, at least one past race that ended in a tie was decided by a coin flip.

It could be a roll of a dice, high card or rock-paper-scissors, Secretary of State John Merrill told AL.com.

Whatever method is chosen, it will be administered by John Wahl.

The winner of this race will run against Democrat candidate Sherri Reese of Opelika in the general election in November.
The State Senate District 27 election tie between Jay Hovey and incumbent Tom Whatley will be decided by coin flip Wednesday in Birmingham at an undisclosed location, Whatley's consultant said. The time has not yet been released.

Hovey clung to a four-vote lead over Whatley on election night after all the votes were tallied from the polling places in Lee, Russell and Tallapoosa counties, and that lead dwindled to a single vote after the provisional ballots were counted a week later.

On Saturday in Birmingham, the ALGOPs Candidate Committee held a hearing for the race and, after accepting a provisional vote for Whatley, declared it a tie. That vote was cast by Patsy Kenney in Tallapoosa County.

In a statement from Whatley provided by his consultant Heather Wilson, Whatley said that neither he nor Hovey will be attending the coin flip, but will have representatives present along with other witnesses.

After the flip, both parties will agree to the following according to the statement:

Not run a write in campaign Not sue or appeal the ruling of the Alabama Republican Party Agree that the flip is final Agree that all votes cast to get to the tie were legal Agree to at the very least encourage their supporters to support the Republican ticket in its entirety in November of 2022 Agree that the Republican Party was correct in their meeting and ruling on 25 June.

I appreciate the Republican Steering Committee and I respect their decisions as I stated through my attorneys on the 25th, Whatley wrote. I felt it extremely important to have Mrs. Kenneys vote go through the process.

Whatley stated that Kenney was deposed and cross examined by his attorney Joel Blankenship from Blankenship Law in Birmingham and Hoveys attorney Bert Jordan from Wallace Jordan in Birmingham. Her deposition was played to the steering committee then Whatleys team and Hoveys team gave their arguments about the ballot.

Whatley wrote that this ballot was the most scrutinized ballot in Alabama this year.

Ultimately, the ballot was delivered to the Steering Committee for them to open and decide. The decision to count it was correct, he wrote. Win or lose the coin toss, helping a constituent like Mrs. Kenney have her ballot counted was the correct thing to do and I am glad to have served her as her state senator.

"I respect the decision and authority of the Steering Committee and do hereby agree to participate through my representative with the terms outlined above that in my opinion offer the best chance for Republican victory in the fall under the current circumstances and decisions, he continued.

On Sunday, ALEA released a statement to the press questioning the validity of the provisional ballot that was counted.

According to the statement, ALEA discovered that the voter still has a driver license issued by the State of Georgia. She did visit the ALEA Driver License Office in Opelika to apply for an Alabama Drivers License, but did not complete an issuance transaction and was never issued an Alabama Driver License.

Voter registration information from ALEAs Driver License Division is only sent after the credential is issued and the customer signs the required voter declaration, which did not occur in this specific incident, the release said. Voter registration information is filed nightly by ALEAs Driver License Division to the Secretary of States Office to ensure each citizens voter registration is up to date.

Neither Hovey nor his representatives have responded to requests from the Opelika-Auburn News.

The winner of this race will run against Democrat candidate Sherri Reese of Opelika in the general election in November.
Auburn city councilman Jay Hovey has qualified to run again for Ward 7. The announcement came through the City of Auburns Department of Affairs on June 28, the last day of qualification for the municipal elections.

Hovey has been in a tight race for State Senate District 27, against incumbent Tom Whatley. After what had appeared to be a one-point win in Hoveys favor, the ALGOPs Candidate Committee held a hearing regarding the race on Saturday in Birmingham. A provisional vote in Whatleys favor was accepted and the election results were declared a tie.

According to Alabama code, that tie will be decided by a coin flip or other way of choosing a winner by lot. Its not yet clear when that will happen.

Now that the municipal qualification cutoff date has expired, several incumbent city council members elections have been declared uncontested. Mayor Ron Anders, as well as Ward 3 Councilwoman Beth Witten and Ward 8 Councilman Tommy Dawson will all serve for another term beginning in November.

Being the mayor of Auburn is an honor, Anders told the Opelika-Auburn News on Tuesday evening. Citizens of Auburn should expect that the people that they elect to serve them give their very best effort. I hope thats what Ive done over the last four years and Im looking forward to continuing that effort for the next four years.

The municipal elections will be held on Aug 23. The following residents have all qualified for the remaining council positions:

For Ward 1, incumbent Connie Fitch-Taylor is in her first term and is running for reelection. She is opposed by Arthur L. Dowdell Sr.

For Ward 2, incumbent Kelley Griswold is in his first term and is running for reelection. He is opposed by Paul West.

For Ward 4, Tyler Adams and Chad Leverette have both qualified to run. Incumbent Jennifer Stephens, who is filling the unexpired term of Brett Smith, will step down in November after the election.

For Ward 5, Sarah Jane Levine, Henry G. Sonny Moreman III, and Leah Billye Welburn have all qualified to run.

For Ward 6, incumbent Bob Parsons, who is in his first term on the council, is running for reelection. He will be opposed by Phillip Pollard.

For Ward 7, Max Coblentz, and Greg Lane and incumbent Jay Hovey has all qualified to run.

To run for any municipal office a candidate must be at least 18 years old, a US citizen and a registered voter. To run for the mayors office, candidates must have lived in Auburn for at least 90 days prior to the election. To run for a city council position, candidates must have lived in their district for at least 90 days prior to the election.

Municipal elections are held every four years.
Early Wednesday morning around 6 a.m., a representative from incumbent Tom Whatley said the Republican State Senate District 27 race would be decided by coin toss on Wednesday.

Around 11 a.m., opponent Jay Hovey said he was unaware of this and has no representative there.

I have heard nothing at all about the scheduling of a coin flip this week, Hovey stated. In fact, in the last conversation I had with Chairman John Wahl on Sunday, I understood that both Whatley and I were unavailable until after the Fourth of July holiday.

Whatleys statement said the coin toss would be held in Birmingham and Hovey said none of his attorneys are aware of any such notice.

Hovey and his legal team filed a motion for a re-hearing with the ALGOP Candidate Committee after the hearing on Saturday and are waiting for a response. If the motion is accepted, the re-hearing would go before the same committee.

My only wish is that my party, the Republican Party, stands by their long-standing pledge to fight for voter and election integrity and revise their decision to accept an illegal vote, Hovey said. I would hope that with ALEAs confirmation that it is indeed an illegal vote that they would stand by their pledge.

During the hearing on Saturday, Hovey said he and his team told the committee that the provisional ballot that was in consideration for being counted was cast by an unregistered voter and is an illegal vote.

After the committee heard from each party, this provisional vote for Whatley was accepted and the committee declared the race a tie. That vote was cast by Patsy Kenney in Tallapoosa County.

The committee then declared that the election would be decided by lot but did not release any information about when the tie breaker would occur.

The party felt compelled to go with their feelings instead of the facts and the facts were substantiated by ALEA a day later, Hovey said.

On Sunday, ALEA released a statement to the press questioning the validity of the provisional ballot that was counted.

According to the statement, ALEA discovered that the voter still has a driver license issued by the State of Georgia. She did visit the ALEA Driver License Office in Opelika to apply for an Alabama Drivers License, but did not complete an issuance transaction and was never issued an Alabama Driver License.

Voter registration information from ALEAs Driver License Division is only sent after the credential is issued and the customer signs the required voter declaration, which did not occur in this specific incident, the release said. Voter registration information is filed nightly by ALEAs Driver License Division to the Secretary of States Office to ensure each citizens voter registration is up to date.

Hovey said this release from ALEA that was sent out to the media the day after the hearing confirms that his position is correct.

In the motion filed with the state party, it requests the party to consider ALEAs confirmation as new evidence and consider that Hoveys argument was factual.

Whatleys sudden change of schedule is in no doubt directly related to the public unraveling of the legitimacy of his additional provisional vote, Hovey wrote in an email.

In the statement from Whatley provided by his consultant Heather Wilson Wednesday morning, Whatley said that neither he nor Hovey will be attending the coin flip, but will have representatives present along with other witnesses.

After the flip, this statement said both parties will agree to the following:

1. Not run a write in campaign

2. Not sue or appeal the ruling of the Alabama Republican Party

3. Agree that the flip is final

4. Agree that all votes cast to get to the tie were legal

5. Agree to at the very least encourage their supporters to support the Republican ticket in its entirety in November of 2022

6. Agree that the Republican Party was correct in their meeting and ruling on 25 June.

Hovey said Wednesday afternoon that he had not seen this agreement list.

I appreciate the Republican Steering Committee and I respect their decisions as I stated through my attorneys on the 25th, Whatley said in the statement released Wednesday morning. I felt it extremely important to have Mrs. Kenneys vote go through the process.

Whatley stated that Kenney was deposed and cross examined by his attorney Joel Blankenship from Blankenship Law in Birmingham and Hoveys attorney Bert Jordan from Wallace Jordan in Birmingham. Her deposition was played to the steering committee then Whatleys team and Hoveys team gave their arguments about the ballot.

Whatley wrote that this ballot was the most scrutinized ballot in Alabama this year.

Ultimately, the ballot was delivered to the Steering Committee for them to open and decide. The decision to count it was correct, he wrote. Win or lose the coin toss, helping a constituent like Mrs. Kenney have her ballot counted was the correct thing to do and I am glad to have served her as her state senator.

I respect the decision and authority of the Steering Committee and do hereby agree to participate through my representative with the terms outlined above that in my opinion offer the best chance for Republican victory in the fall under the current circumstances and decisions, he continued.

The winner of this race will run against Democrat candidate Sherri Reese of Opelika in the general election in November.
The lack of progress has cast doubt on the possibility of any breakthrough in the foreseeable future.

High hopes had been placed on the indirect talks set to be held in Qatar starting Tuesday between Iran and the United States, which involved the European Union mediating between the two; however after the second day the Iranian side is reporting that talks have already ended without an agreement or any breakthrough.

"Indirect talks between the United States and Iran to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement have ended in Qatar without a result, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday," Reuters reports.

Underscoring the importance of the Qatar-hosted talks as a restored nuclear deal still hangs from a thread, and is looking more unlikely than ever at this point, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell traveled to Doha to help mediate, after days prior meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran.

Most crucially from the viewpoint of the West, lack of progress in these last ditch efforts further means there's no full-scale return of Iranian oil to international markets on the horizon...

Related: Canada May Expand Energy Infrastructure To Help Europe

Crude prices rose steadily throughout the morning, after edging higher since the start of the week and the G7 summit's pledge of 'tougher' action against Russia and Vladimir Putin, also as they continue mulling plans for imposing a price cap on Russian energy as part of exploring ways to ensure the Kremlin's war machine doesn't benefit from soaring energy prices.

The Biden administration has been scrambling to tap heretofore inaccessible supplies of crude, including from Venezuela, also as the Saudis appear cool on Washington efforts to get them to pump more. Al Jazeera reviews of where things stand in the indefinitely stalled efforts at a restored JCPOA, which earlier centered on the Vienna process:

After several rounds of talks interspersed with pauses, negotiators seemed to be on the verge of an agreement in March, but it never came about.

Since then, Iran and the US have been exchanging messages, but have failed to clinch an agreement.

How far the US will go in lifting the sanctions has been the major point of disagreement between the two  the status of Irans elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a major stumbling block , with the US unwilling to remove the military branch from its foreign terrorist organisation list.

Meanwhile, the Iranians have remained insistent that it is only the US side holding things up, and that essentially the ball is still in Washington's court, and it is for the Biden administration to act, perhaps also with an understanding that Russia-Ukraine events add pressure to the White House stance vis-a-vis Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Tueday: "I believe that if the American side is in possession of serious resolve and acts realistically, an agreement is within reach at this stage and at this round of the negotiations." He added: "We are serious and would, under no circumstances, cross our redlines," which have been drawn in line with the objective of "meeting the countrys national interests to the maximum," state media quoted him as saying. "The agenda is clear."

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Ever since China gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) the opportunity to save face after his many unsuccessful attempts to float Saudi Aramco in what was supposed to be a glorious initial public offering (IPO), MbS has been in Beijings debt and Saudi Arabia has appeared to drift further into Beijings sphere of influence. Last week saw the latest example of this apparent drift, with Aramcos senior vice president downstream, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, announcing the creation of a one-stop shop provided by his company in Chinas Shandong. The ongoing energy crisis, for example, is a direct result of fragile international transition plans which have arbitrarily ignored energy security and affordability for all, he said. The world needs clear-eyed thinking on such issues. Thats why we highly admire Chinas 14th Five Year Plan for prioritizing energy security and stability, acknowledging its crucial role in economic development, he added.

The megaproject in Shandong, which is home to around 26 percent of Chinas refining capacity and is a key destination for Saudi Aramcos crude oil exports, will broadly involve the flagship Saudi oil and gas giant creating stronger ties with the worlds largest oil exporter [that] would enhance Chinas energy security, especially as we work on increasing our production capacity to 13 million barrels per day, according to Al Qahtani. Aside from the fact that Saudi Arabia still cannot produce anywhere near 13 million barrels per day of crude oil, despite repeated comments over several years that this is its target production, closer cooperation between Aramco and China will mean Saudi Arabia investing heavily in the build-out of a large, integrated downstream business across the country in tandem with its Chinese partners. This, according to Al Qahtani, will involve: Everything from reliable supplies of oil and natural gas liquids to refining, marketing, petrochemicals, and lubricants. In addition to various mooted green initiatives also to be jointly undertaken between Aramco and China  which, given its history over IMO 2020, might be questioned by some  Al Qahtani concluded by stating that the: Saudi Vision 2030 offers major new supply chain opportunities for Shandong companies in the Kingdom[and] it would solidify Shandongs crucial role in making some of Chinas most important goals a reality.

Although there would appear to be some merit in this megaproject from the Saudi perspective, given the existing synergies with its crude oil exports to China, it is difficult not to see this as also being part of the broader drift towards China  and Russia  that has been seen by Saudi Arabia since Russia rescued Riyadh and OPEC at the end of 2016 by joining the OPEC alliance in the aftermath of the disastrous 2014-2016 Saudi-led Oil Price War. As analyzed in-depth in my new book on the global oil markets, this allowed Russia enormous leverage over OPEC states in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular. Chinas great chance to compound this leverage further over Saudi Arabia, and MbS in particular, came when MbS  still at a very vulnerable stage in his rise to power  had staked much on his ability to float Saudi Aramco in an IPO. According to MbSs pitch to the senior Saudis  some of whom were backing his rise to power and some of whom were not  the Aramco IPO would see: a flotation of at least 5 percent of the stock; at least one non-domestic listing to be done on a major international stock exchange; and, a total valuation put on Aramco of at least US$2 trillion by achieving the required price per share.

As analyzed in the book, the more information came out about Aramco, the less any serious international investor wanted anything to do with it. This meant that none of the three major objectives that MbS had pitched to the senior Saudis about the Aramco IPO would be achieved: it would not be able to sell 5 percent of its stock at the required price; it would not be listed on any major international stock exchange; and, it would not achieve a total valuation for Aramco of at least US$2 trillion. At that point  in the middle of 2017 - China stepped in and offered the ultimate face-saving opportunity for MbS, which he has never forgotten, according to senior energy sources in the region. China offered to buy the entire 5 percent stake in Aramco for a price that would guarantee the valuation for the whole company of the required US$2 trillion. Crucially as well, this would all be done through a private placement of the entire 5 percent share block in Aramco, which meant that none of the details surrounding the deal would ever get out publically. As it transpired, several senior Saudis at the time - opponents to MbSs ascension to power but still powerful voices in the Kingdom at that point  opposed the deal on the basis that it would make Saudi Arabia beholden to China. This, of course, was an accurate view, but the mere offer of the deal from China to MbS resulted in the same outcome anyway, as it turns out.

Having made one face-saving offer in 2017, China did so again in early 2021, for a lesser amount  1 percent - although it was made clear by Beijing that this could be a precursor to a larger stake sale in the future. This new offer coincided with a point when Saudi Arabia was struggling to pay the enormous dividends on Aramco shares that it was necessary to promise shareholders in order to sell any significant amount of Aramco stock in December 2019. This difficulty in meeting dividend payments due to Aramco shareholders of US$18.75 billion every single quarter of every single year  a total of US$75 billion each year  was exacerbated at the time by crude oil prices still struggling to trade above the US$60 per barrel of Brent benchmark level (the Saudi budget breakeven price was over US$84 per barrel of Brent then). The only reasons the deal was not done, according to senior regional oil industry sources exclusively spoke to by OilPrice.com at that time, was lethargy on the part of the Saudi leadership, which actually worked to their advantage on this occasion, as oil prices started to rise as the year progressed, and then spiked again on Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. worsened considerably after the replacement in the White House of former President Donald Trump with President Joe Biden. Bidens comments on Saudi Arabia during his election campaign  although true; and perhaps because of this  were received extremely badly by MbS, OilPrice.com understands from senior regional energy sources. On 2 October 2020, Biden stated that he would seek to: reassess our relationship with the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia], end U.S support for Saudi Arabias war in Yemen, and make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil. Biden also appeared to endorse the CIAs findings that the murder of expatriate Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was carried out on the personal orders of the MbS. For MbS, these comments came at a time when his second failed oil price war in less than five years has left the ruling Saud dynasty facing the greatest existential threat to its continued rule over the country since Ibn Saud first consolidated his Arabian conquests into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Given the choice between condemnation from the U.S. or blank cheques from China, it is not difficult to see why MbS continues to gravitate towards Beijing.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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Global spare capacity is running very low, which will keep oil and gas markets on edge for some time, according to the chief executive of supermajor Shell.

Spare capacity is running very, very low, Shells CEO Ben van Beurden said on Wednesday, as carried by Reuters.

While global spare energy capacity continues to deplete, demand for oil and gas is still recovering despite the current economic and pandemic challenges, van Beurden told reporters.

I do believe that were going to be facing quite a bit of uncertainty in markets for some time to come, Shells top executive added.

Global spare capacity for crude oil production is believed to be held mostly by the large producers in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, Saudi Arabia, the worlds biggest crude oil exporter, has never tested the 12 million bpd capacity it claims to have, while it has never produced more than 11 million bpd for a prolonged period.

In addition, global refining capacity lost around 3 million bpd of processing capacity in the wake of COVID and the crash in demand, as refiners opted to close some money-losing facilities, also because of uncertain oil demand trends going forward. Shell was also among the refiners who downsized refining operations in 2020, with a view to be a net-zero emissions business by 2050 or sooner.

In the gas market, where Europe is scrambling to procure non-Russian supply, capacity to meet demand is also low. According to the chief executive of Shell, which is also a top LNG trader, its impossible for LNG to replace all Russian pipeline gas.

I think it will be impossible to cover the entire pipeline gas capacity out of Russia with LNG, van Beurden told reporters.

If we are not going to take significant measures, like for instance energy savings, maybe a certain degree of rationing, it will be problematic, he added.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Indian government has plans to finance a deepwater oil exploration campaign to be led by ONGC as it seeks to boost local oil production amid strong demand and rising international prices.

The Economic Times cited unnamed sources familiar with the plans that the state-owned energy major would begin drilling in the Andaman basin after the monsoon was over and was currently in talks with Exxon and Shell to take them on as partners.

The plan involves drilling three to four wells in the Andaman Sea, with the drilling funded by the Indian government. The supermajors involvement will be as third-party assessors of the resource potential of the site since they have the deepwater experience required for the job.

ONGC has the rights to two blocks in the Andaman Seas deepwater sector and another one in shallower waters.

India relies on crude oil imports for more than 80 percent of its consumption. Domestic production, meanwhile, has been on a decline for the past four years, reaching the lowest in almost three decades in the latest financial year, which ended this May.

In the meantime, India is boosting its imports of cheap Russian oil. Since April, these have risen 50-fold, now accounting for a tenth of Indias total crude imports and sparking worry that India is acting as a back door for Russian crude into Europe through its refined product exports.

Because of its appetite for cheap crude, India drew the pointed attention of the U.S., which is seeking to stifle Russian oil exports but in such a way as to not push oil prices even higher.

This week, the U.S. and the other six members of G7 discussed an oil price cap for Russian crude with India and China, with one unnamed source saying the discussions were positive.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Norway's oil industry agreed on a new wage deal with three trade unions, averting yet another strike danger that would have disrupted the country's production.

Per a Reuters report, the deal, sealed by the Norwegian Shipowners' Association and the three trade unionsIndustri Energi, Safe, and DSOcovered 8,250 workers.

Earlier this month, talks between the oil industry trade unions and their employers became heated again, with some unions threatening a strike if their demands were not met by the employers. Eventually, the negotiating sides agreed on a deal in principle, and there were no strikes.

Norway produces some 2 million barrels of oil and other hydrocarbon liquids daily. A disruption in its output would have pushed oil prices even higher.

Strikes during the annual negotiation of new wages for workers in Norway's oil industry are a relatively frequent occurrence that invariably ends with a deal. This year, however, strikes would have contributed to an already imbalanced oil market and aggravated, albeit temporarily, an already grave oil supply situation.

Although the trade unions that were engaged in the latest wage negotiations said that even if a strike began, it would not affect output, Reuters noted in its report that the strike could have escalated, eventually affecting oil and gas production.

Speaking of oil and gas production, the International Energy Agency advised Norway recently to prepare for a decline in oil demand as the world moves towards a net-zero future. In a report from earlier this month, the IEA said, "Looking beyond 2025, the level of future investment in Norway's oil fields remains uncertain."

It added, however, that Norway was uniquely placed to take advantage of the transition, although it still had a lot of work to do to hit its own targets of reducing emissions by 90-95 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Russias crude and condensate production has increased in June by 5% to an average of 10.7 million barrels per day (bpd), Russian daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday, quoting sources familiar with the production numbers.

The production level includes condensate, which is not included in Russias quota in the OPEC+ deal but which the Russian authorities dont report separately from crude production.

Russia is believed to be producing around 800,000 bpd-900,000 bpd of condensate.

The June level of Russias oil production is below the January-February level of around 11 million bpd, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the mass shunning of Russian crude oil in the West.

In June, Russias oil exports have fallen by 3.3%, while domestic refining demand is rising seasonally, according to Kommersants sources.

Experts told the Russian daily that its too early to talk about a steady decline in Russian oil exports.

In production, all Russian companies managed to stabilize their production from the declines in April and May, while Rosnefts production even jumped by 15%, according to Kommersants sources. Operators with production sharing agreements continued to see a decline in output. At Sakhalin-1, for example, which U.S. supermajor Exxon said it would quit, output in June tumbled fivefold, Kommersant reports.



Related: UK Could Cut Gas Links To Europe If Severe Shortages Occur

Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia was raising its oil production this month compared to May and expects to further boost output in July.

Russia is seeing a significant increase in its production so far this month compared to May, an increase of around 600,000 bpd, Novak said on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, as carried by Russian news agency TASS.

The Western sanctions, however, are hammering Russian oil production and exports, despite the fact that Russia is selling record volumes of crude to India these days.

Russia was already almost 1.3 million bpd below its target production in May, an OPEC+ document seen by Reuters showed this month.

In the near term, Russian oil output is set to decline by 18%from 11.3 million bpd in the first quarter of 2022 to 9.3 million bpd in the final quarter of 2023 as a result of the EU embargo on both crude oil and refined product imports, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in early June.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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The UK is considering cutting off gas supply via two interconnectors to mainland Europe under an emergency plan that would be triggered in case of severe gas shortages in Britain, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Under the UKs emergency plan to cope with gas shortages, National Grid could stop sending gas via the two-way pipelines to Europe, one to Belgium and another one to the Netherlands. During the summer, the UK typically sends gas to Europe via the pipelines, while it imports gas via those same pipelines during the winter.

The idea of shutting off supply to Europe would be one of the early stages in a four-stage emergency plan to cope with potential severe gas shortages in the coming months, FT reports.

Gas system operators in Europe warned against such a measure, saying that the pipelines send gas to the UK in the winter.

Because while it is beneficial for the continent in the summer it is also beneficial for the UK in the winter, Bart Jan Hoevers, president of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas, told FT.

Major gas consumers in mainland Europe are already preparing for an emergency in the gas market, especially after Russia significantly lowered earlier this month gas supply to major customers, including Germany and Italy.

Most EU members expect the situation to deteriorate further. Last week, Germany 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 pipeline.

Nord Stream is also slated for regular maintenance for two weeks in July, which will halt gas deliveries via the pipeline. EU members fear that the maintenance could be an excuse from Russia to further lower or completely stop supply.

Russian gas deliveries to Europe are now down by 70% compared to this time last year, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy, said on Tuesday. Stocks levels trail the five-year average, and rationing and demand destruction could be on the horizon, he added.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The United States will reassess additional releases of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserves, White House Envoy Hochstein said on Wednesday, as the Administration struggles to rein in high prices at the pump.

The Administration has already vowed to release a million barrels of crude oil from the stockpiles every day into the commercial markets. The plan, anounced at the end of March, was to ultimately release 180 million barrels over a six-month period. The plan has so far depleted the nation's emergency crude oil stockpiles 67 million barrels to 497.9 million barrels as of June 24, according to the Energy Information Administration's latest data released todaythe lowest level since 1986.

With more than 100 million barrels yet to be released under the existing plan, the nation's stockpiles would be less than 397 million barrels. On June 14, the Department of Energy announced that it would sell 45 million barrels of oil out of the SPR, with deliveries expected to take place between August 16 and September 30.

Releasing even more come October could send the SPR to levels not seenever.

While there are a bit less than a million barrels a day heading out of the SPR and into commercial storage, the price of a WTI barrel has continued higher, and is now more than $10 higher than when the release was first announced.

Gasoline prices have risen from $4.231 per gallon on March 28days before the announcement of the releaseto $5.006 per gallon as of June 13, according to the latest information provided by the EIA. AAA pegs the average gasoline price at $4.868 per gallon as of June 29lower than last week but still higher than before the announced SPR release.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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ATLANTA  The conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines that erupted during the 2020 presidential contest flared last week in a remote New Mexico county in what could be just a preview of the kind of chaos election experts fear is coming in the fall midterms and in 2024.

The governing commission in Otero County refused to certify the local results of the states June 7 primary because of the equipment, in what was seen as another instance of how the falsehoods spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies have affected elections.

We are in scary territory, said Jennifer Morrell, a former election official in Colorado and Utah who now advises federal, state and local officials. If this can happen here, where next? Its like a cancer, a virus. Its metastasizing and growing.

There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting equipment in the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. But that hasnt stopped the false claims, particularly those about Dominion machines.

I have huge concerns with these voting machines, Otero County Commissioner Vickie Marquardt said Monday as she and her two fellow commissioners  all Republicans  voted unanimously. When I certify stuff that I dont know is right, I feel like Im being dishonest because in my heart I dont know if it is right.

The commissioners in the conservative, pro-Trump county could point to no actual problems with the Dominion equipment.

New Mexicos secretary of state asked the State Supreme Court to step in and order the county to certify the votes, and the high court did so on Wednesday. That would ensure that the nearly 7,400 ballots that were cast in Otero County are recorded as legal votes. The deadline for county certification was Friday.

New Mexicos top prosecutor on Thursday told the commission to comply with the order to certify the results. A spokesperson for Attorney General Hector Balderas said the commission must comply with the rule of law or we will take legal action.

In the weeks and months following the election, various Trump allies claimed that Dominion voting systems had somehow been manipulated as part of an elaborate scheme to steal the election.

On Monday, the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol presented testimony that Trump was told repeatedly his claims of a stolen election and rigged voting systems were false and dangerous. That included pushback from his inner circle to the claims about Dominion voting systems, which are used by jurisdictions in 27 states.

Former Attorney General William Barr, in a videotaped interview with House investigators, said he spoke with Trump about the idiotic claims surrounding Dominion.
NEW YORK (AP)  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, writer-director Rian Johnsons follow-up to his whodunit hit Knives Out, will premiere at this years Toronto International Film Festival.

The Canadian festival announced Wednesday that Glass Onion will make its world premiere at the 47th edition of TIFF, running Sept. 8-18. Knives Out also launched in Toronto, in 2019.

While Knives Out" was released by Lionsgate, Netflix last year bought two sequels for $450 million. The streamer will release the film in late 2022.

In Glass Onion," Daniel Craig's Detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece for a new mystery. It co-stars Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick and Madelyn Cline.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
GRUNDY CENTER, Iowa (AP)  An Iowa man was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting an Iowa State Patrol trooper last year during a standoff and shootout with police.

The mandatory sentence was handed down a little more than a month after a jury found Michael Lang, 42, guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assaulting a police officer for his actions on April 9, 2021, that killed 51-year-old patrol Sgt. Jim Smith in Grundy Center. The city of nearly 3,000 people is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Des Moines.

Judge Joel Dalrymple also ordered Lang to pay $150,000 in restitution to Smith's estate.

Smith, a 27-year patrol veteran, was shot as he led a team of officers into Langs home in Grundy Center. Lang had barricaded himself inside the home after he assaulted another officer during a traffic stop that day, police said. Lang was also shot by officers but recovered.

Smith was the 11th trooper to die in the line of duty in the Iowa State Patrols history. Since then, a 12th trooper has died in the line of duty.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Despite the high gas prices and increased cost of everything, people are traveling again.

Kaily Stanley, senior services manager at La Vista, enjoyed a trip to Florida. Ten of them packed into a rented van for the 17-hour drive. They made quite a few stops to stretch their legs. The beach was beautiful, beautiful white sand with very little washed up on shore.

From the house they stayed in there was a wonderful view of the ocean and beautiful sunsets. At night they all hunted little, clear, white crabs -- they were very fast and fun especially for the children. After catching about 20, they let them go. It was humid but not uncomfortable. Kailey said she'd go back, but on an airplane next time.

Rita Guenette returned from her trip to Iceland and discovered it takes longer to recuperate from a trip like that than it used to. Sixteen people were on the tour bus. They had no personality problems, and they all enjoyed good food and drinks. She said Iceland is a beautiful country of 350,000 people. They had a fascinating time learning about Iceland and its history.

St. Gerald Friends on Q senior group held their June event on Wednesday, June 15. It was a Chinese food dinner and trivia night, which all of the 76 people attending enjoyed. There was a drawing at the end of the night, and the winning table all will receive free membership for next year.

The July 20 event will be movie night, in the fellowship hall at 96th and Q Streets. The movie will be "McFarland" and the $5 cost will include concessions hot dogs, popcorn, candy and beverages. The movie starts at 6:30 p.m. Paid reservations are due by July 17.

The Ralston Amateur Pie Baking Contest will be held on Sunday, July 3, in Ralston Park across the street from the Frank and Velma Johnson Ralston Archives Museum. The archives will be open from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Pies should be at the park between 3 and 4 p.m. for judging. Judging is at 4:30 p.m., and following judging slices of pie will be sold as a fundraiser for the museum.

Last time, I told you about my first trip to London and invited you to share your memories.

Lee Onken shared that she and Rich had been to London three times to visit children living there. Their oldest son and his family were stationed on an Air Force base many years ago, so they were able to visit many cathedrals and castles in the English countryside.

Their youngest son and his wife both had business transfers there. They did not have a car in London and went to work on the Underground. The London Olympics were a short distance from their flat, and they were able to walk to the Olympic Village.

Gary George said his trip to England was specifically to spend a day at St Christopher's Hospice -- the first hospice founded by Cicely Saunders in Bromley -- but spent several days in London first and then toured to other parts of England. They had a pasty (meat and vegetable filled pastry case) and saw Billie Elliott on the West End.

The first night in London, they happened on a free strings and organ concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields -- a world premiere. It was beautiful and breathtaking being in St Martin.

I have been celebrating my 80th birthday for the past two weeks, and I have to pace myself and schedule rest periods. But this one is special -- not only is it my 80th, but last September I was not expected to see Halloween without the chemo, and here I am.

My advice is give chemo a try. You can always stop it, but you might miss out on a lot of life if you give up too soon. I am proof of that. I am willing to answer any question you have about living with cancer and side effects. No question is too personal if it will help you.

My celebrations started June 10 with lunch at the Sojourn with Margaret, Jerry and Scott Fouts. My appetite is back, so I ate every bit of my Reuben sandwich and sweet potato fries. There were special cream filled cupcakes, and mine had a candle, which I blew out. I got a special No. 8 candle holder which lights up and sparkles when you push a button.

It turned out John Groesser -- uncle of the owner, Chef Brad, and brother of the mayor -- was there. He said he was in town for an art show and had some art to give away if anyone was celebrating a special occasion, so I raised my hand and received a miniature painting, perfect for a spot on my wall where I have a collection of miniatures. Jerry and Margaret also received a painting as they are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. Scott later hung the painting for me.

On Tuesday, June 14, Carolyn Sullivan and Jan Bailey came over for a pizza party. There were balloons, salad, New York pizza, cannoli's, mini Bundt cakes, an iced chocolate chip cookie from Eileen's and a shopping bag of useful gifts. I blew my candle out --it was in my cannoli -- and I saved the chocolate chip cookie for Sunday, my actual birthday.

There was a surprise visit, the bell rang twice so I ventured down to find Cheryl Frost and her granddaughter backing out of my driveway. She came back and came inside. I sat on the top of the stairs, and they stood inside to social distance because of COVID.

Cheryl and I had worked together for years at the VA. She brought a large gift bag with eight wrapped gifts one for each decade. I spaced them out opening something each day leaving the last one, Godiva chocolates for Sunday.

I made it back to the Ralston Senior Center for the third Wednesday birthday luncheon, thanks to Mary Jo Rosales, my driver. Diane Walters and I posed for the birthday picture, which will be posted on the hall bulletin board. Neapolitan ice cream was served thanks to Diane Walters. Words cannot express how good it was to be back, I had not been there since September 2021.

Thursday a day of rest. My nephew Andrew came to visit, something I always enjoy. Sunday, June 19, I spent a good part of the day talking with friends and family. Chris called from Texas; Doris called from Colorado; Barbara called from New York; Charlene, Barb and my niece Elizabeth all called from Omaha; and Margaret Fouts tried, but the line was busy.

I fixed myself a nice lunch and ate a good part of that Iced chocolate chip cookies, polished it off on Monday. There was no time for my afternoon nap. It was food or rest, and food won.

Another outing scheduled for Friday, June 24. Rita Guenette picked me up then picked up Charlene Lauer so we could go to lunch at the Spaghetti Works. There was no need to check the menu. I had lasagna and garlic bread.

It is good to have the strength to blow out the candle, could not have done that back in September. This birthday would not have been without God and chemo, and I guess me hanging in there and not giving up.

At the La Vista Senior Center, they enjoyed the outing to see the Storm Chasers, but not a lot of action as far as scoring from the Storm Chasers. One senior from their group won a bingo game. It was a little hot that day, but the breeze helped. They got to enjoy traditional ballpark food hot dogs, nachos and ice cold soda.

July plans for craft class will include a painting session with Cheri and a senior/grandkids day. There will be lots of crafts available for them to do together.

The Tuesday and Thursday 11 a.m. tai chi classes are now $2 a session. Monday, July 5, the 1 p.m. movie will be "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and popcorn will be provided. The July 7 lunch outing will be Shirley's Diner at 12:30 p.m., and reservations are required. Call 402-331-3455 for information and to make reservations. July 11 is the farmer's market coupon distribution day. Be there at 1 p.m., and distribution starts at 1:15 p.m.

At the Ralston Senior Center, the farmer's market Coupons were distributed on June 23. There were 16 for lunch and 21 for bingo, and Donna, Charlotte and Ron were all double winners. In July, there will be a guest speaker from ENOA, and the subject will be nutrition.

The menu for lunch on July 6 will be hot dog, baked beans and potato salad. The menu for lunch on July 13 will be chicken and noodle casserole, green salad and fruit. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are required. Call Diane West 402-885-8895 to make your reservation. Bingo and cards are played after lunch.

Thank You for all your comments and input. You can reach me at janetrentko@cox.net

Editor's Note: Publication of this column was delayed until the July 6 issue due to technical issues. Rentko's next column is scheduled to appear June 13. The Times apologies for the delay.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  South African police were investigating the deaths of at least 21 people at a nightclub in the coastal town of East London early Sunday and authorities said most of the victims were minors as young as 13 years old

It is unclear what led to the deaths of the young people, who were reportedly attending a party to celebrate the end of winter school exams.

Local newspaper Daily Dispatch reported that bodies were strewn across tables and chairs without any visible signs of injuries.

At this point we cannot confirm the cause of death, said health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana. We are going to conduct autopsies as soon as possible to establish the probable cause of death."

Police minister Bheki Cele said the victims ages ranged from 13 to 17, raising questions about why the underaged teenagers were being served alcohol.

President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed condolences to the families of those who died.

The President is, however, concerned about the reported circumstances under which such young people were gathered at a venue which, on the face of it, should be off limits to persons under the age of 18, Ramaphosa said in a statement.

The death toll from the incident rose to 21.

The owner of the club, Siyakhangela Ndevu, told local media he was called to the scene early Sunday morning.

I am still uncertain about what really happened, but when I was called in the morning I was told the place was too full and that some people were trying to force their way into the tavern," he said. However, we will hear what the police say about the cause of death."

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BANGKOK (AP)  Cambodias foreign minister is making his second visit to Myanmar as a special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the country that has been mired in violence and civil unrest since the military seized power last year.

State-run television MRTV reported that Prak Sokhonn and his party were welcomed by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after their arrival in Yangon on Wednesday.

ASEAN has been seeking to implement a five-point consensus it reached on Myanmar last year calling for dialogue among all concerned parties, provision of humanitarian assistance, an immediate cessation of violence and a visit by a special envoy to meet all parties. Cambodia is the current chair of the 10-nation grouping, which includes Myanmar.

Myanmar's military-installed government initially agreed to the consensus but has since made little effort to implement it, and the country has slipped into a situation that some U.N. experts have characterized as a civil war. Its stonewalling led fellow ASEAN members to block government leaders from attending major meetings of the regional grouping.

A spokesperson for the military government said on Tuesday that Prak Sokhoon will not be allowed to meet ousted government leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his five-day visit. Suu Kyi is being tried on multiple charges, including corruption, and was transferred last week to a custom-built solitary facility at a prison in Naypyitaw, the capital. Her supporters say the charges are politically motivated to discredit her and legitimize the militarys seizure of power.

The military ousted Suu Kyis elected government and then violently cracked down on widespread protests against its actions. After security forces unleashed lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, some opponents of military rule took up arms.

Cambodia's government said Prak Sokhonn's visit will follow up on the implementation of the five-point consensus, the outcome of a consultative meeting on ASEAN humanitarian assistance to Myanmar held in Cambodia last month, and help create an environment conducive to political dialogue through meetings with all concerned parties.

Prak Sokhonn is scheduled to meet with military government leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and officials from at least six ethnic armed groups which have been seeking greater autonomy from the central government. But there is skepticism that the meeting will advance peacemaking because none of the groups attending is currently in armed conflict with the government.

During his first mission in March, Prak Sokhonn met with Min Aung Hlaing, diplomats from other ASEAN countries and the U.N. and a Myanmar politician. He said after his return that he had seen minor progress during his visit and was not allowed to meet with Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A new pedestrian bridge in Valley allows pedestrians to safely cross a section of old highway and railroad tracks, essentially connecting area schools to the local YMCA.

In addition to providing a safer route, the bridge and trail enhance Valley and western Douglas County residents recreation and transportation options, said Eric Williams, natural resources planner with the Papio-Missouri Natural Resources District.

The project, dubbed the Western Douglas County Trail, has been in the works for several years. Construction work started in earnest about two years ago, Williams said.

The project has its grand opening Thursday.

The trail starts near Mallard Landing, a housing development south of Valley. It continues through the city and connects to the pedestrian bridge to the east of the schools. The bridge crosses the railroad corridor and East Reichmuth Road, which formerly was a two-lane highway. The bridge and trail then lead to the Twin Rivers YMCA.

The bridge, constructed in two segments, spans about 450 feet. The trail is about 1.5 miles.

The project cost about $7 million, of which 80% was funded with federal dollars. The remaining 20% was covered by the Papio-Missouri NRD. Williams said it worked closely with the City of Valley, DC West schools and the YMCA during the design process.

It also represents Valleys first officially designated trail, Williams said. The success of this project, he said, could lead to expansion of the trail system in the city and western Douglas County.

It will benefit not just students but other members of the community, as well, Williams said. Everyone is glad to see it completed.

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Around Lewis Klanderud, nobody stayed a stranger for long.

It didnt matter if you were training alongside him in the Philippines for post-World War II occupation duty, a fellow patron at The Nifty Bar, his longtime haunt in Benson, or a nurse in an Omaha hospital during the last week of his life.

He was very kind. He would be a friend to anybody he met, said Susan Adamson, Klanderuds daughter.

He died Saturday at age 97.

Klanderud grew up on a farm in rural Cedar County, Nebraska, and graduated from Wynot High School. He joined the Army in March 1945. After boot camp, he returned to Nebraska to marry his sweetheart, Lucille DePue, just as the Japanese surrendered to end World War II.

So Klanderud was trained as an engineer and sent to Okinawa  which had been destroyed in the last major land battle of the war  to help rebuild roads on the island.

Adamson said he enjoyed his training in the Philippines.

He met a lot of wonderful Filipino people, she said.

Klanderud was discharged in late 1946, moving to Council Bluffs and later to Hartington, Nebraska. The couple had a son and three daughters.

He passed the civil service exam in 1952 and moved to Omaha. For years he worked on a mail train that ran from Omaha to Cheyenne, Wyoming, part of a crew that picked up mail from small towns along the way and sorted it en route.

He also did a lot of odd jobs, Adamson said. He was good at carpentry. He did a lot of painting.

After trucks replaced mail trains in the 1960s, Klanderud worked for the post office in finance. He retired in 1984 but continued to take part in a coffee group for mail train retirees.

Klanderud loved fishing. Every year he and some buddies would take a lengthy fishing trip in Canada, and then he would return and host a fish fry for extended family. He also enjoyed taking his wife and children on camping trips across the West in a pop-up trailer.

He was a big family person, Adamson said.

Klanderud was active in the American Legion and VFW, and was selected to the Forty and Eight Club, an honor society that was a Legion offshoot.

Although his sight gradually faded because of macular degeneration, Adamson said he continued to fish until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. And his mind remained sharp.

Last week, in the hospital, he was talking to all the nurses, she said. He wanted to know where they were from. He was asking about their lives.

Services were held Wednesday at St. Paul United Methodist Church, where Klanderud was a longtime member. He was buried at Hillcrest Memorial Park next to Lucille, who died in 2006. He was also preceded in death by his sisters, Dorothy and Marguerite; his son, Tim; and infant granddaughter, Hayley Fausset.

He is survived by his daughters, Keri Comfort, Susan Adamson and Judy Fausset; six grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

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Omaha police have reclassified a shooting that occurred almost nine years ago as a homicide after the recent death of a man who was shot on his front porch.

Lonnie Williams, 29, recently died because of complications from a gunshot wound he sustained on July 21, 2013, Omaha police said Wednesday.

Williams was 20 years old at the time of the shooting, which occurred before 6 p.m. that day. He was taken by ambulance to the Nebraska Medical Center in critical condition.

Police said the person who shot Williams ran behind the house where Williams was shot. They said at the time that they were looking for a red Dodge Magnum that was seen pulling out of the alley after the shooting.

Police officials said the case has been cleared because the person suspected of shooting Williams died in October 2013.

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Omaha moved another step closer to the construction of a streetcar system Tuesday with the City Council's approval of a funding proposal for the project.

Council members approved a redevelopment agreement that establishes guidelines for the project, including the use of up to $354 million in tax-increment financing. Approval came despite the lack of a final analysis of the proposed streetcar financial plan.

The City Council in March agreed to pay Maryland-based public finance consulting firm MuniCap Inc. up to $100,000 for an analysis of that plan.

Multiple council members previously said they had hoped to have the analysis in hand before voting on the redevelopment agreement. That was not the case Tuesday.

MuniCap did provide council members with an initial summary of findings that show it has so far found the financial feasibility of the plan to be in line with what the city predicted.

Before making his vote, council member Brinker Harding compared the push for a streetcar to a moonshot.

"We had a project take off, we send it around the Earth a few times so it can gain momentum and break out of the atmosphere, but along the way we're analyzing all the information," Harding said. "If we're getting ready to make that decision to go, and we get information that says this isn't feasible, then we make that call. I think we need to stay on this journey so that we can be in a position to help Omaha move further ahead."

As announced by Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert in January, the proposed streetcar will operate along a 3-mile route using 5.5 track miles. The line will travel along Farnam and Harney Streets from 10th Street to 42nd Street and along 10th Street between Harney and Cass Streets.

At the time, Stothert said the city would explore the possibility of a north and south route.

Council member Juanita Johnson on Tuesday asked that the city expand its contract with MuniCap to further explore the possibility of additional routes.

In response, Jennifer Taylor with the city's law department said she would request that MuniCap evaluate and present a proposal to expand its scope to include additional routes.

Approval of the agreement Tuesday is far from the final step needed before the city can break ground on the massive project. But it was an important step.

The agreement creates the TIF district that will generate the estimated $306 million needed to pay back the bonds that will cover the cost of constructing and launching the streetcar system.

Any additional funds generated by the TIF district are earmarked for affordable and workforce housing solutions. The district will span the entire streetcar route, as well as three blocks north and south of the route.

Under TIF, the developer of a city-approved project takes out a loan to help cover eligible redevelopment expenses. The loan is paid back, generally over a 15-year period, by using the increased property taxes that are generated on the new development. Normally, property tax payments go to support schools and other local tax-reliant bodies.

During the TIF period, the property owner continues to pay a portion of property taxes to local governments based on the valuation that existed before any improvements. After the TIF loan is repaid, property taxes collected on the higher-value, improved property then start flowing to those local governments.

In the case of the streetcars TIF district, the money would come from three streams:

New developments in the streetcar district would contribute 25% of their TIF proceeds. That element alone is projected to generate $218 million.

Using authority it has under state law, the city also plans to extend the timeline of already existing TIF projects along the route from the current 15 years to 20 years. Those five additional years of payments would generate an estimated $50 million.

The third part will come from existing properties that see increased valuations within the TIF district, raising $86 million.

Council member Aimee Melton clarified before the vote that the bonds sold by the city would be purchased by private bond buyers who would assume the risk of purchasing the bonds.

Melton said she felt comfortable approving the redevelopment agreement because MuniCap is guaranteed to share a full analysis of the financial plan before the city can move to sell bonds for the project.

The city intends to work with investment banking firm D.A. Davidson to determine the structure of the bond-selling process.

Jay Noddle, a local developer and president of the Omaha Streetcar Authority, noted that the project wouldn't move forward until it could be fully funded by proceeds from the bond sales.

"Even though you may have voted to approve the sale of the bonds, unless sufficient proceeds are received from the sale of the bonds, the project can't go forward," Noddle said.

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Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd

WASHINGTON (AP)  The latest testimony about the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has Donald Trump rebuffing his own securitys warnings about armed protesters in the crowd gathering for a rally near the White House. A former White House aide also tells the House committee investigating the attack that Trump desperately attempted to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol. In her testimony Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson described an angry, defiant president who grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to allow him go to the Capitol. Trump has dismissed her as a total phony.

Trump painted in testimony as volatile, angry president

WASHINGTON (AP)  A former Trump White House aide has painted a portrait of a volatile commander-in-chief who lashed out at advisers as his grasp on power was extinguished. Though accounts of the former presidents temper are legion, Cassidy Hutchinson offered previously unknown details about the extent of Trumps rage in his final weeks of office, his awareness that supporters had weapons with them and his ambivalence as rioters later laid siege to the Capitol. The testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee deepened questions about whether Trump himself could face criminal charges for his conduct and came as Trump weighs running for reelection in 2024.

1/6 Takeaways: Angry Trump, dire legal warnings and ketchup

The House Jan. 6 committee held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trumps actions that day. Witness Cassidy Hutchinson is a lesser-known former White House aide who had proximity to power as an adviser to the then-president and his chief of staff Mark Meadows. She rebuffed Trumps team warnings against testifying and provided firsthand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the insurrection. She described an angry and defiant Trump who ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to intervene to stop the violence as rioters laid siege.

Colorado GOP deals blow to election denial movement

DENVER (AP)  Colorado Republicans have rejected two prominent election deniers in primaries Tuesday night. It's a setback for the movement to install backers of former President Donald Trump's election lies in positions with power over voting. Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters lost the Republican primary for secretary of state to Pam Anderson, a former clerk in suburban Denver. Peters was indicted for her role in a break-in of her county's election system. An ally, State Rep. Ron Hanks, lost his bid for the GOP Senate nomination. Hanks attended the Jan. 6 protests. He was beaten by businessman Joe O'Dea, a rare GOP backer of some abortion rights.

Takeaways from first primaries since Roe v. Wade overturned

NEW YORK (AP)  A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, New Yorks first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape. In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

51 migrants die after trailer abandoned in San Antonio heat

SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America are seeking word of their loved ones as authorities begin identifying 51 people who died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat. It was the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas told The Associated Press that the driver of the truck and two other people were arrested. The bodies were discovered Monday afternoon on the outskirts of San Antonio when a city worker heard a cry for help from a truck parked on a lonely back road.

Ukrainian survivor: Only a 'monster' would attack a mall

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  The shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was nothing extraordinary, but in the middle of war it offered an escape for some residents. In a few moments on Monday, it suddenly became a hellish inferno after it was hit by a Russian airstrike. Authorities say at least 18 people are dead, more than 20 are missing and scores are wounded. The Kremenchuk mall is now the latest addition to the allegations of war crimes levied against Russia in the Ukraine war. One mall employee who said he had stepped outside for a cigarette when the air raid siren went off estimated 1,000 people had been in the mall, contradicting Russias claim it was empty.

Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO

MADRID (AP)  Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a breakthrough in an impasse clouding a leaders summit in Madrid amid Europes worst security crisis in decades triggered by the war in Ukraine. After urgent talks, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Russias invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told the AP that the membership should be completed the sooner the better.

Drug killings leave agony, savage facet to Duterte's legacy

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  The thousands of killings under Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes campaign against illegal drugs have left families in agony and a savage side to his legacy. Duterte ends his turbulent six-year presidency Thursday after building a reputation for expletives-laced outbursts and a disdain for human rights and the West. He's seen as a human rights calamity not only for the deaths in his drug crackdown, but also for his brazen attacks on critical media, the Catholic church and his political opponents. He's still an endearing, popular character to many Filipinos, however, and state-run TV has been highlighting infrastructure and poverty-alleviating projects of his administration. But in the homes of those lost in the drug war, an air of indignation and mourning permeates.

EXPLAINER: Abortion, tech and surveillance

With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that vacuum up personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use data troves from Facebook, Google and other social platforms against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies. History has repeatedly demonstrated that whenever peoples personal data is tracked and stored, theres always a risk that it could be misused or abused.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
DENVER (AP)  Colorado Republicans on Tuesday chose a former local official who pledged to keep politics out of running elections as their nominee for secretary of state over an indicted county clerk who gained national prominence by promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines.

In spurning Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, Republican primary voters appeared to reject the conspiracy theories and false claims that have spread among conservatives since the last presidential election. Peters has appeared regularly with prominent allies of former President Donald Trump who claim without evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from him and on Tuesday night made similar claims of cheating in the primary that were quickly rebutted by the primary winner and the secretary of state.

The win by Pam Anderson, the former Jefferson County clerk and past head of the state clerks association, sets up a November match-up with current Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat seeking a second term who ran unopposed in Tuesdays primary.

Despite Peters' loss, Griswold's campaign framed the November election as a referendum on voting security and false claims peddled by Republicans across the country that widespread fraud is the reason Trump lost reelection.

Griswold campaign manager Kyla Sabado said in a statement that Anderson cannot be trusted to stand up to the far-right extremists that dominate the Republican Party.

Anderson doesn't bring the political baggage of Peters and is likely to be a much tougher opponent for Griswold, especially during a year that is widely believed to be a difficult one for Democrats.

After her win Tuesday night, Anderson said Republican voters had sent a message that they wanted someone they could trust to be a fair leader in the state's top elections office and vowed to avoid using the post for partisan gain.

I will continue my fight for restoring the confidence of Colorado voters against lies and the politicians or interest groups that seek to weaponize elections administration for political advantage," Anderson said.

Peters was among several candidates across the country this year running to be their states chief election official while denying the outcome of the 2020 election or questioning the integrity of U.S. elections. She became the latest of those candidates to fail to win their Republican primary.

Last month, Georgias Jody Hice lost his bid to oust Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in that states GOP primary despite having Trumps endorsement. Raffensperger drew Trumps ire after he refused the former presidents request to find enough votes to overturn President Joe Bidens win in Georgia.

There is no evidence of widespread fraud or conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election.

On Tuesday, Peters gathered with nearly 100 supporters at a rooftop bar in the historic railroad town of Sedalia. She refused to accept defeat and claimed without evidence that the outcome had been manipulated. Peters was running third, behind Anderson and businessman Mike O'Donnell with nearly all the votes counted.

Peters accused Colorado election officials of cheating, adding that looking at the results, it's just so obvious that it should be flipped.

"Its not over. Keep the faith, she said.

Griswold issued a statement Tuesday night noting that Colorados elections have bipartisan oversight throughout the election process.

Peters continued spread of election lies is no surprise, Griswold said. Colorado voters made their voices heard and candidates should respect and accept the results of the free and fair election.

Anderson, in response to Peters' claims, praised the work of county election officials overseeing the primary and vowed to continue to push back against lies about elections.

"I will do exactly what I have done  stand up for the truth, stand up for voters and stand up for our constitutional rights," Anderson said, in a phone interview from a campaign party in Jefferson County.

Peters, elected as county clerk in 2018, had been barred by a judge from overseeing this years election in Mesa County and was indicted on seven felony counts by a grand jury in her heavily Republican county. The indictment alleged Peters was part of a deceptive scheme to breach voting system technology.

She has dismissed the charges as politically motivated, even though the Mesa County district attorney who convened the grand jury is a Republican. After the indictment was announced, state GOP leaders had called on her to suspend her campaign.

In recent months, Peters has been issuing various reports  discredited by officials and experts  that claim voting system manipulation. The reports are based on an unauthorized copy of her countys voting system, the security breach that is the center of the indictment.

Peters has denied wrongdoing, arguing she has the authority to ensure county's elections are secure.

At Peters' campaign party, those in the crowd listened to country music and drank beer and cocktails as they watched the results on TV. As it became apparent Peters was losing, the mood dampened as the sun set over the foothills.

Supporter Rick Wyatt said he did not see much support for her opponents and that voters loved Peters.

How does the top of the ticket become the bottom of the ticket?" Wyatt said. "Elections are rigged.

Nationally, nearly two dozen Republican candidates who deny the result of the 2020 presidential election have been on the ballot to be their states top election official, according to States United Action, a nonpartisan advocacy organization tracking the candidates.

Among those who have advanced to the November election are Wes Allen in Alabama, Diego Morales in Indiana, Jim Marchant in Nevada and Audrey Trujillo in New Mexico. Kristina Karamo in Michigan and Kim Crockett in Minnesota are favorites to win their primaries in August.

Cassidy reported from Atlanta.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Shenzhou-13 astronauts meet press after quarantine, recuperation

Xinhua) 08:20, June 29, 2022

Jing Haipeng (1st L), head of the Astronaut Corps, describes the Shenzhou-13 crew's recovery and follow-up plans at a press conference in Beijing, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-13 crewed mission met the press and public on Tuesday, the first such appearance after returning to Earth in April.

At the press conference held in Beijing, Jing Haipeng, head of the Astronaut Corps, described the Shenzhou-13 crew's recovery and follow-up plans.

According to Jing, the astronauts have completed the stages of quarantine and recuperation and switched to the observation stage. At present, they are in good physical and mental conditions with normal medical examination results.

The crew have basically restored their cardio functions, said Jing, adding that their muscle strength, endurance and bone density have been well recovered.

Jing said the three astronauts will resume their regular training after completing the health assessment.

Launched on Oct. 16, 2021, the Shenzhou-13 spaceship sent Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived for six months, setting a new duration record for Chinese astronauts staying in space. The three returned to Earth safely on April 16, 2022.

They have completed a series of innovative, ground-breaking scientific experiments and space applications in a state of well-being they describe as "feeling good."

Zhai Zhigang is the first Chinese astronaut to perform a spacewalk and has conducted more extravehicular activities than any other Chinese astronaut. He said that the state of "feeling good," both in space and during training, benefits from the development of the country's manned space endeavors.

Wang Yaping is China's first female astronaut to conduct an extravehicular spacewalk and the country's first "space teacher," conveying information on space-related topics to young people. She expects young people to participate in the construction of China's space station.

The Shenzhou-13 mission is Ye Guangfu's first space mission. He said China's space station welcomes foreign astronauts.

The three astronauts said they are always ready to return to space again.

Ye Guangfu, one of the three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-13 crewed mission, meets the press in Beijing, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Ye Guangfu (2nd L), Zhai Zhigang (2nd R) and Wang Yaping (1st R), astronauts of China's Shenzhou-13 crewed mission, meet the press in Beijing, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Wang Yaping, one of the three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-13 crewed mission, meets the press in Beijing, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Zhai Zhigang, one of the three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-13 crewed mission, meets the press in Beijing, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A former U.S. Coast Guard employee has pleaded guilty in a test score-fixing scheme that happened over seven years at an exam center in Louisiana, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, in a news release Tuesday, said Eldridge Johnson entered the plea June 23 to one count each of bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Johnson faces up to 15 years for the bribery charge, five years for the conspiracy charge and a fine of up to $250,000, Evans' office said.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 29.

Johnson was an examination administrator at an exam center for the agency in Mandeville, Louisiana. He gave exams merchant mariners were required to pass in order to obtain licenses to work in various positions on ships.

Beginning in 2011 and continuing until about the time of his retirement in January 2018, Johnson engaged in a scheme to receive bribes from mariners who had applied for licenses, Evans said. Johnson offered and sold various forms of assistance, including reporting false information to the Coast Guard and selling exam questions and answers to mariners before they took the tests, he said.

The conspiracy conviction relates to his post-retirement conduct, in which he acted as an intermediary for employee Dorothy Smith who entered false exam scores in exchange for money. Prosecutors said Smith took bribes to fix exam scores and used intermediaries to connect her to maritime workers who were willing to pay.

Smith and another employee, Beverly McCrary, pleaded guilty in the case and are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 15.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Another effort by Republican lawmakers to force North Carolinas sheriffs to learn the immigration status of their jails' inmates and assist federal agents who want to detain them resurfaced at the General Assembly on Tuesday, more than a year after the legislation passed one chamber.

A House judiciary committee voted along party lines for a Senate measure that is only slightly different from a 2019 measure Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper successfully vetoed. Since the GOP's margins still are not veto-proof, the chances that the latest measure will become law remain low.

Tuesday's measure, which has not changed since it cleared the Senate in March 2021, is a GOP response to Democratic sheriffs in several urban counties who have decided not to work closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identity and hold defendants believed to be in the country illegally.

The bill states that sheriffs and other jail administrators must determine whether any person charged with felony drug or violent crimes have ICE detainers seeking their custody. If a detainer is listed, deputies must take the inmate quickly to a local magistrate or judge who will decide whether to issue an order holding them. The additional hold would give ICE agents 48 hours to pick up the inmate.

Given the recent increase in crime, the bill would require local law enforcement to work with federal immigration officials in the interest of public safety and growing public concern, said Sen. Chuck Edwards, a Henderson County Republican, congressional candidate and bill sponsor.

Rep. Vernetta Alston, a Durham County Democrat and committee member, questioned the constitutionality of holding alleged offenders using detainers, which is not an arrest warrant. She also brought up the expenses to local jails to hold these defendants.

Several groups advocating for the poor and minority groups remain opposed to the bill, saying it would lead to more deportations of people who are in the country unlawfully.

We believe that this bill circumvents the local authority of sheriffs, Stefania Arteaga with the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina told the committee. This program perpetuates fear and distrust among immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

The measure would have to clear one more House committee before it could reach the chamber floor. Legislative leaders are seeking to end this year's chief work session by the end of the week.



This story has been updated to correct the ACLU representative's name to Stefania Arteaga, from Stephanie Arteaga.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  Indonesian President Joko Widodo, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations, is visiting Ukraine and Russia for meetings with the leaders of the two warring nations after attending the Group of Seven summit in Germany.

Widodo has sought to maintain a neutral position since the start of the war, and he hopes his efforts will lead to a cease-fire and eventual direct talks between the two leaders.

WHAT DOES WIDODO HOPE TO ACHIEVE?

Widodo said he wants to encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to start a dialogue on ending the war, which has caused global food shortages and surges in commodity prices.

My mission is to build peace, because the war must be stopped and (its effects) on the food supply chain must be lifted, Widodo said, I will invite President Putin to open a dialogue and, as soon as possible, to carry out a cease-fire and stop the war.

Russias invasion of Ukraine has choked global markets and contributed to higher prices of meat, dairy products, cereals, sugar and vegetable oils.

These visits are not only important for Indonesians but also for other developing countries in order to prevent the people of developing and low-income countries from falling into extreme poverty and hunger, Widodo said.

WHY DOES THE WAR IN UKRAINE MATTER TO WIDODO?

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said it's important to achieve a resumption of grain exports from Ukraine and food and fertilizer exports from Russia to end shortages and reduce prices.

Rising costs of cooking oil prompted the Indonesian government to temporarily ban exports of palm oil products amid a series of student protests against skyrocketing food prices. Indonesia resumed exports of crude palm oil a month later.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the worlds largest exporters of palm oil, accounting for 85% of global production.

WHY MIGHT PUTIN AND ZELENSKYY LISTEN TO WIDODO?

As this years G-20 president, Indonesia has sought to remain neutral in dealing with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has been guarded in its comments.

Widodo has said he offered Indonesian support in peace efforts to both Putin and Zelenskyy, a move seen as an attempt to unite the G-20 forum divided by the ongoing conflict.

The United States and its allies in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations  a subset of the G-20  have sought to punish Putin in as many ways as possible, including by threatening a boycott of the G-20 summit to be held later this year in Bali unless Putin is removed from the forum.

Widodo has invited Zelenskyy to the summit along with Putin in hopes it will appease proponents of both Ukraine and Russia and limit any distraction from the forums other agenda items. Ukraine is not a member of the forum, but Russia is.

WHAT ARE HIS CHANCES OF SUCCESS?

Widodo will be the first Asian leader to visit the warring countries.

His efforts come weeks after Russia said it was looking over an Italian proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. Talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the hostilities have essentially ground to a halt.

The Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers met for inconclusive talks in Turkey in March, followed by a meeting of the delegations in Istanbul, which also failed to bring about concrete results.

Gilang Kembara, an international politics researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, an Indonesian think tank, is pessimistic that Putin will listen to Widodo to find a peaceful solution to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

The chance for that is very slim, said Kembara, Indonesia does not have great experience as a peace broker outside the Southeast Asia region.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
HONG KONG (AP)  When the British handed Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, it was promised 50 years of self-government and freedoms of assembly, speech and press that are not allowed on the Communist-ruled Chinese mainland.

As the city of 7.4 million people marks 25 years under Beijing's rule on Friday, those promises are wearing thin. Hong Kong's honeymoon period, when it carried on much as it always had, has passed, and its future remains uncertain, determined by forces beyond its control.

Before the handover, many in Hong Kong worried that life would change when Beijing took over. Thousands rushed to obtain residency elsewhere and some moved abroad. For the first decade or so, such measures looked overly dramatic  this bustling bastion of capitalism on China's southern coast appeared to keep its freedoms, and the economy was booming.

In recent years, Beijing has been expanding its influence and control. Those moves appeared to be hastened by mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 and 2019. Now, schools must provide lessons on patriotism and national security, and some new textbooks deny Hong Kong was ever a British colony.

Electoral reforms have ensured that no opposition lawmakers, only those deemed to be patriots" by Beijing, are in the city's legislature, muting once lively debates over how to run the city. China has installed John Lee, a career security official, as the successor to Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Freedom of the press has come under attack and pro-democracy newspapers openly critical of the government, such as Apple Daily, have been forced to close. Its publisher Jimmy Lai has been jailed.

Hong Kong also has banned annual protests marking China's June 4, 1989, crackdown on the pro-democracy movement centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, with authorities citing pandemic precautions. The city's tourism and businesses are reeling from its adherence to stringent COVID-zero policies enforced on the mainland.

Alex Siu, a building services engineer, was born in Hong Kong and only left in 2020  his parents had ensured hed have the option by getting him a British National Overseas passport years earlier.

Siu moved to Manchester, England, with his girlfriend after getting fed up both with Hong Kongs work environment and the political situation. He's homesick for the food, friends and family, but isn't planning to go back.

I believe there is no hope because the government holds absolute power, Siu said of the deteriorating political freedoms in Hong Kong. Us little citizens, we dont have much power to oppose them or change the situation.

Kurt Tong, former U.S. consul general to Hong Kong and managing partner of consultancy The Asia Group, said the changes reflect growing dissatisfaction in Beijing with the freewheeling semi-autonomous region. The consternation deepened when some of the millions of Hong Kong residents who marched in peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2019 stormed the city's legislative complex and at times violently clashed with police.

The things that China found irritating about Hong Kong started to become more prominent, and the things that it found attractive about Hong Kong started to be less prominent, and friction built up over time, he said.

Beginning in 2020, the authorities launched a crackdown on political dissent, arresting dozens of activists and imprisoning them for unauthorized assembly, despite provisions guaranteeing freedom for such gatherings under Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's constitution.

John Burns, an honorary professor of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong, was skeptical that Beijing would ever allow Hong Kong full democracy or universal suffrage, goals enshrined in the Basic Law at the time of the 1997 handover.

Hong Kong was going to become part of a local government of an authoritarian country ruled by a Leninist party. How could it be a Western-style parliamentary democracy? Burns said in an interview.

The authorities cracked down and moved to stamp out dissent to help restore stability after the months long 2019 protests, he noted.

But this is a brittle stability based on the imposition of the law and the arrest of pan-democratic leaders and jailing them, chasing them out, he said, and many in Hong Kong still support the pro-democracy movement even if they are silent for now.

Were in a kind of hellish place. Hong Kong is not part of the system and therefore it cant bargain that way, (but at the same time) we are not free. We are in this hybrid middle ground," Burns added. The party has never had to rule a place like Hong Kong, so it's learning to as it goes.

Former Democratic Party chairwoman and ex-lawmaker Emily Lau says she is disappointed with the changes but not surprised. When you deal with a communist regime, you shouldnt be expecting anything. Nothing should surprise you, Lau said.

She's focused on Hong Kong's future. The city remains distinct from the mainland, she said. Her friends and colleagues may be imprisoned, but she can visit them and they can choose their own lawyers  rights usually denied political prisoners in China.

I know its very difficult. But I think we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to do the best we can to fight for our core values, which are human rights, democracy, rule of law and personal safety, and social justice, she said.

Chan Po-ying, 66, whose longtime partner and fellow pro-democracy activist Leung Kwok-hung  better known by his nickname Long Hair, is serving a nearly 2-year prison sentence and awaiting a hearing on national security related charges, says she is pressing on.

I have persevered for a long period of time, I believe that I should not give up so easily, especially during this difficult time, Chan said The government and the law have granted these rights to us (under the Basic Law).

In May, during an election for Hong Kongs new chief executive, Chan and several others held a small protest to demand universal suffrage. On June 4 this year, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Chan together with two others, stood on a street in silent protest, dressed in black and wearing white face masks with black xs taped across them.

However, with security tight ahead of Friday's ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the handover, Chan put out a message to Hong Kong media saying she and her group would not stage a protest.

After being summoned for a chat" by state security police, they decided on that day, we cannot conduct any sort of protest activity," she said.

AP writer Kelvin Chan in London and news assistant Karmen Li from Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Israels parliament has voted to dissolve itself, triggering the countrys fifth election in just over three years. The vote Thursday thrusts veteran politician Yair Lapid into the role of interim prime minister. He will try to persuade a deeply polarized nation to embrace his centrist vision. Polls indicate it will be a difficult road for Lapid to defeat his main rival, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is a divisive figure who is at the heart of Israels protracted political crisis. Lapid is a former author, newspaper columnist and TV host, and was the architect of the outgoing coalition government. As with the previous four elections, the upcoming vote promises to be another referendum on Netanyahu. The election is set for Nov. 1.
MADRID (AP)  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organization's condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russia's war in Ukraine had created Europes biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russias invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale not seen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATOs open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble the old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy said by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough?

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders that they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

The question is whos next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them, he said. We are deterring Russia to prevent it from destroying us and from destroying you.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russia's future plans.

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliances rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the summit would send an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united.

Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead.

At the summit, the leaders published NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a strategic partner. At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATO's borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using "coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation" to extend its reach.

The document also set out NATOs approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China.

While it did not call China an adversary, NATO said Beijing's stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values.

China does not share our values, and like Russia it seeks to undermine the international rules-based order," Stoltenberg said  though the alliance said it remained "open to constructive engagement" with Beijing.

For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region.

NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africas Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by "climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries' accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was absolutely confident Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the gray zone of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATO's collective defense guarantee.

Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible," he said.

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.

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.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Two of Congress staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist alternatives to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday, even as the partys voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.

Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller won her primary over fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis just days after she called the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a historic victory for white life during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump. Her spokesperson said she misspoke.

Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican.

Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost in a rare runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell. But his Republican House colleague, Michael Guest, won a runoff race in the state, despite defying Trump and voting to create an independent commission to investigate last years insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago after a declining population cost the state a House seat.

In all, six states held congressional primary elections, primary runoffs or special elections. In addition to testing Trump's national influence, they provided hints of how voters are reacting to the high court's decision on abortion.

Some of the top elections:

BOEBERTS STAYING POWER

Boebert, a first-term firebrand, saw her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado become even more Republican after redistricting. She had little trouble with moderate state Rep. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slammed what he calls Boeberts extremism.

Boebert trumpeted her gun-toting Second Amendment credentials and opposition to COVID-19 restrictions that briefly shuttered her Shooters restaurant.

Long known for controversial statements, Boebert said Sunday, Im tired of this separation of church and state junk thats not in the Constitution.

The phrase doesnt expressly appear in the Constitution, though the First Amendment says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Thomas Jefferson was president when he wrote in an 1802 letter that such phrasing should amount to a wall of separation between church and state.

Boebert referred to Jefferson's writing as a stinking letter.

In Colorados deeply conservative El Paso County, meanwhile, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams for his 5th Congressional District seat. Williams failed to get the phrase Lets Go Brandon, code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his name on the ballot.

Lamborn faces an ongoing House ethics investigation over whether he misused official resources for personal purposes. He is an ardent opponent of abortion and backs the significant U.S. military presence in Colorado Springs.

TWO INCUMBENTS LOSE IN ILLINOIS

Miller bested Davis for the GOP nomination in a sprawling, heavily red district in central Illinois that was redrawn after the states shrinking population cost it a congressional seat.

Miller, first elected in 2020, is no stranger to controversy. She quoted Adolf Hitler shortly after winning her seat, saying during a rally that Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future. She later apologized after Democrats in Illinois called for her resignation. She also voted against certifying Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election and is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

On Saturday night, she made the white life comment as Trump stood behind her at a rally in Mendon, drawing cheers from the crowd. Miller has since said she's not racist, and her spokesperson said she had intended to say the ruling was a victory for the right to life.

Davis was a co-chair of Trumps 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. He had the backing of almost all of the districts 35 county party chairs and vowed to reimplement Trump policies, including walling off the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the state's 6th Congressional District, Casten defeated his fellow Democratic colleague Newman, who was first elected to the House in 2020. She faces an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation over whether she promised federal employment to a political opponent.

Casten is a two-term congressman who flipped a suburban seat in 2018 that Republicans had held for decades.

JESSE JACKSON'S SON WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a crowded field vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.

The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicago's South Side to Kankakee.

In Illinois' open 17th Congressional District, Esther Joy King won the GOP nomination, while Eric Sorensen, a former meteorologist, won the Democratic nomination. They are vying to replace five-term Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, who decided against seeking reelection in the largely rural swath of northwestern Illinois.

In Illinois' heavily Democratic 7th District, longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago beat progressive and gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins on Tuesday  though the margin was far narrower than his commanding primary win over her in 2020.

MISSISSIPPI RUNOFFS: ONE INCUMBENT WINS, ONE LOSSES

One of two Mississippi congressmen facing a rare primary runoff election lost his seat.

Palazzo blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the Biden administration for his defeat to Ezell, the sheriff of a coastal county. But the congressman had also been accused in a 2021 congressional ethics report of abusing his office by misspending campaign funds.

He said that Mississippi voters hired me to fight the woke, liberal agenda and to push back against government overreach, and Ive done that for 12 years.

But Palazzo also added: With COVID and because of what the Biden administration is doing to this country, they took their anger out on me.

Ezell said he won because of connections he forged during more than 40 years in law enforcement. When people call and need something, Ive been accessible to them.

Meanwhile, Guest won a GOP runoff against former Navy fighter pilot Michael Cassidy. Guest will face Democrat Shuwaski Young in November.

NEBRASKA SPECIAL ELECTION OVERLAPS WITH SENTENCING

Former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was sentenced to probation on Tuesday for lying to federal agents just as voters picked a replacement for the rest of his term.

State Republican Rep. Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to succeed Fortenberry, who served nine terms in the Republican-heavy district that includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller, rural communities. Theyll compete again in November to determine who serves a new term, beginning in January.

Fortenberry resigned in March after being convicted of intentionally misleading FBI agents about his knowledge of an illegal, $30,000 campaign contribution from a Nigerian billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.

A judge sentenced him to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and community service.

This story was first published on June 29, 2022. It was updated on June 29, 2022 to correct an erroneous report that Republican Rep. Michael Guest had won a third term. He won his GOP runoff and will face a Democrat in November.

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
MOSCOW (AP)  Lithuanias refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russias Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation, a senior Russian lawmaker warned Wednesday.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russias parliament, said that if the Kalingrad region faces blockade it could lead to an armed conflict.

The Russian state must protect its territory and ensure its security, Dzhabarov said in televised comments. If we see that a threat to our security that is fraught with a loss of territory, we will certainly take extreme measures and nothing will stop us.

Dzhabarov's statement followed the Kremlin warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to the Kaliningrad region that borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania, raising fears of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.

A Russian attempt to use force against Poland or Lithuania would trigger a direct conflict with NATO, which is obliged to protect any of its members under its charters mutual defense clause.

Lithuania has emphasized that the ban on the movement of sanctioned Russian goods was part of the fourth package of EU sanctions against Russia, noting it only applies to steel and ferrous metals starting on June 17. It has rejected Russias description of the move as a blockade, stressing that unsanctioned goods and rail passengers can still move through Lithuania.

In line with the EU decision, however, the transit of some other Russian-produced items will be banned in July, shipments of coal will be stopped starting in August and shipments of oil and oil products will be halted in December.

Russia has charged that the restrictions on transit have violated earlier agreements with the EU envisaging a free flow of goods to the region.

Earlier this month, Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful secretary of Russias Security Council and a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, warned that Moscow will respond with unspecified measures that will have a significant negative impact on the population of Lithuania.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
10:45 p.m.

Republican Mike Flood on Tuesday defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to fill out for the term of U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.

At 10:45 p.m. Flood was up about 52% to 48% in the race for the 1st Congressional District.

Friends, we did it," Flood told his supporters shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Pansing Brooks wrapped up her concession speech around 10:30 p.m. She acknowledged Floods victory and thanked him for running a positive campaign.

Pansing Brooks told her supporters that they had come closer than any Democrat in decades, and encouraged them not to be discouraged, because I certainly am not, she said.

Democrats pivoted to what they saw as a narrower than expected victory for Flood.

In a district that has an 8-point advantage for Republicans, Pansing Brooks came within about 4 points of Flood, the State Democratic Party noted in a statement released Tuesday night.

The initial results after the polls closed had had Pansing Brooks in the lead, but her strength in Lancaster County, where she continued to lead, and in Sarpy County, where the two were close, couldn't hold up against Flood's strong showing elsewhere.

About 10:45 p.m., Flood was ahead by about 4,400 votes with 330 of 414 precincts having fully reported votes, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State's Office. At that point, 108,000 votes had been counted.

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., tweeted her congratulations to Flood.

"Congratulations to my dear friend @Flood4Nebraska on his win in the CD-1 special election tonight! He will be a strong conservative fighter and will deliver for NE," she wrote.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., also tweeted a celebratory message Tuesday.

"Congratulations to @Flood4Nebraska for winning tonights special election! I look forward to welcoming you to Congress! Nebraska and America will be better because you are in Congress."

Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, highlighted the close race in a bid for greater support from the national Democratic Party.

"We need the national Democratic Party working hand-in-hand with state parties across the country to organize and focus on the nuts and bolts of turning out voters," she said in a post-election statement. "We have no other option to protect our democracy and fundamental rights than to turn upside down the outdated model of running everything from the national level. We can and will win in red states."

9:55 p.m.

Republican Mike Flood has begun to widen his lead after he and Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks traded front-runner status.

Pansing Brooks had jumped out to an early lead after the polls closed.

Were going to be hopeful, no matter what, she said before the distance between the two widened.

At Flood's watch party, Sen. Mike Moser said he expects recent current events, particularly the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade, may have fired up voters, and it could sway in Pansing Brooks favor. He also said those opposed to abortion also likely tuned in.

The political winds are blowing both ways, Moser said.

9:20 p.m.

As the evening has progressed, the margin has narrowed to the point that the two candidates have traded leads.

Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks had retaken the lead over Republican Mike Flood, albeit slightly.

Pansing Brooks was up 50.37% to Flood's 49.63%. About 66,000 votes had been counted.

Pansing Brooks a little while earlier had entered the room at her watch party in Lincoln to chants of Pat-ty, Pat-ty.

Campaign spokesman Chris Triebsch expressed optimism about the higher-than-expected turnout. He said the campaign has picked up momentum in the last few weeks.

At Flood's watch party, Speaker of Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen and former Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer counseled the crowd when early results had Flood trailing. Scheer said the results werent where they had hoped they would be, but he called on the crowd to remain optimistic.

Hilgers said he expected the results to sway in Floods favor as more of Tuesdays votes are counted. He said there are many votes for Flood coming from Lincoln, and Pillen said as of 8:30, no votes from his home county, Platte County, had been recorded.

We dont like the score right now, Pillen said. Its going to change.

Pillen noted that at the same time of night during his primary election night May 10, he was also trailing behind Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, who ended the night in third place. He said regardless of special elections outcome, the big game is the general election in November.

It isnt over until its over, Pillen said.

8:30 PM

State Sen. Mike Floods election night party in Norfolk was packed right as polls closed, with notable faces including fellow Sens. Mike Moser and Tom Briese, though Flood himself remained absent. A bar lined one side of the party room located in the Midtown Event Center. Multiple television screens bore Floods campaign logo, and a small stage was stationed at the far end of the room.

Also stationed near the front entrance was a desk for people to sign the Citizens for Voter ID petition, a ballot initiative trying to gather enough signatures to get on the general election ballot in November. Both Moser and Briese signed the petition at the party.

As the early results came in showing Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks had taken the lead, most of Floods partygoers remained oblivious. The TV screens did not show live election results, and guests continued to happily mingle.

 Erin Bamer

8:05 PM

The first batch of results in the special election to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry for an open Nebraska congressional seat has Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in the lead.

With about 40,000 counted, Pansing Brooks was leading about 56% to 43%.

The 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln and Lancaster County, parts of Sarpy County and the Norfolk area, is Republican dominated.

The seat is open because Fortenberry resigned after being found guilty of felonies related to illegal campaign contributions. There are about six months left on Fortenberry's term.

In November, Flood and Pansing Brooks will square off again to see who fills the seat for the two-year term starting in January.

This is a developing story. Check back with Omaha.com for updates.

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LINCOLN  Gov. Pete Ricketts is wasting no time in seeking applicants to replace State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk in the Nebraska Legislature.

Flood, a Republican, won a special election Tuesday to fill out the remaining months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberrys term representing Nebraskas 1st Congressional District. The election will not be certified until July 15.

But Ricketts announced Wednesday that he would start accepting applications from residents of Legislative District 19 wanting to fill the upcoming vacancy. The appointee will serve the remainder of Floods current term, which expires in early January 2025.

The appointee may have his or her first taste of legislative action this year if Ricketts calls lawmakers into special session on abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Nebraska, under legislation Flood introduced and shepherded to passage in 2010, currently allows abortions until the 20th week after fertilization. Ricketts has said he supports a ban on abortions, including in cases of rape or incest. But a proposed ban fell two votes short during this years regular legislative session.

Abortion opponents gained one vote when Ricketts appointed Kathleen Kauth to replace Sen. Rich Pahls of Omaha, who died in office. He was absent from the vote on the failed ban earlier this year.

During a press conference Wednesday, Ricketts said he plans on appointing an abortion opponent to replace Flood, given that he believes constituents in the district are also against abortion.

But opponents will need to find another vote for a special session to succeed.

Ricketts said Floods victory Tuesday over Patty Pansing Brooks, a Democrat and supporter of abortion rights, wont have much impact on he likelihood of him calling a special session.

However, a Pansing Brooks victory Tuesday would have likely given anti-abortion lawmakers another vote in the Legislature.

Knowing that reality, some people, including Pansing Brooks husband, Loel Brooks, speculated that voters who otherwise would have voted for Pansing Brooks may have stayed home.

Ricketts said he still needs to talk with Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln about a potential special session. He said he is considering the fact that the Legislatures former attempt at an abortion ban failed, and that any future legislation should be clear about not including in vitro fertilization in the ban, which was a sticking point for some opponents.

District 19 represents Madison County and the southern portion of Pierce County. Applicants must have lived within the district for at least a full year, be registered to vote and be at least 21 years old.

Applications are due by the end of the day July 8. Ricketts said he was reserving the right to seek out additional qualified candidates.

Interested individuals may complete an application for executive appointment online at governor.nebraska.gov/board-comm-req. Applicants may include a cover letter, resume and any additional background materials with their applications.

Questions about the application process can be directed to Kathleen Dolezal with the governors office at 402-471-2256 or kathleen.dolezal@nebraska.gov.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

Martha Stoddard Martha Stoddard keeps legislators honest from The World-Herald's Lincoln bureau, where she covers news from the State Capitol. Follow her on Twitter @StoddardOWH. Phone: 402-670-2402 Follow Martha Stoddard 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
Harris County Commissioners Court Approves Burn Ban

Harris County, Texas --Today, Harris County Commissioners Court enacted a burn ban due to an increased threat of wildfires across unincorporated Harris County. There are now 171 Texas counties with burn bans, including Harris, Galveston, Waller, Fort Bend, Brazoria and Liberty counties.



"Unprecedented temperatures and a lack of rain has elevated KBDI levels for this time of the year" said Fire Marshal Laurie L. Christensen. "Although we have seen some rain, it's not enough to lower the drought index levels across the county. Dont be lulled into a false sense of security with rain in parts of Harris County  the vegetation fuels are high due to drought conditions in not only open areas but, residential properties and roadways adjacent to grass and brush.

This burn ban will not impact the sale of fireworks this Fourth of July season as it did not meet the legislative criteria for implementation based on the KBDI numbers on June 15, 2022. We strongly encourage all residents to attend professional fireworks displays. If you choose to use consumer fireworks, please read the cautionary labels, have a water source near in case of emergencies, and soak used fireworks before disposing them in the trash.



No outdoor burning is allowed except: in an enclosure that contains all flames and/or sparks; outdoor burning activities authorized by TCEQ; approved ceremonial fires; non-commercial cooking such as backyard cookouts and barbeques are allowed; and welding and other hot work performed in accordance with county fire code requirements.



Violation of the ban is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable for up to a $500 fine. In addition, any person who starts a fire that causes damage to property without the consent of the owner may be charged with Reckless Damage or Destruction, a Class C misdemeanor, or arson, a felony.



Key Points:

There is a burn ban in effect for all areas of unincorporated Harris County.

No outdoor burning is allowed except in an enclosure which contains all flames and/or sparks, outdoor burning activities authorized by TCEQ, approved ceremonial fires, non-commercial cooking, such as backyard cook-outs barbeques are also allowed in approved containers, as is welding and other hot work performed in accordance with county fire code requirements.

Burning in violation of the court order is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable for up to a $500 fine. Any peace officer can issue a citation for violation of Section 352.081 of the Local Government Code. You are responsible for any damage caused by a fire you start.

Use extreme caution when cooking outdoors. A small spark or burning ember can ignite dry vegetation. Winds will fan the flames and spread the fire rapidly.

Remove combustibles within 30 feet of any controlled fire or hot work. A small, controlled fire can easily spread quickly and become an out-of-control, dangerous fire.

If you see an unattended fire, call 9-1-1 and notify your local fire department immediately. Even a small fire can spread quickly and threaten people and property.

The mission of the Harris County Fire Marshals Office is to safeguard the lives and property of the residents in Harris County through effective fire prevention, fire investigation, education, emergency response, and emergency management.
EUREKAWoodford County Sheriffs Chief Deputy Dennis Tipsword has announced his candidacy for the 105th District seat in the Illinois House of Representatives in the June 28 primary.

Tipsword told the county board on Jan. 18 he had been pondered the change in career for a while and decided now was the time to run.

The timing just seemed to be right, said Tipsword, who added he and his wife are recent empty nesters, and incumbent Dan Brady will not be seek another term.

Tipsword cited a strong background in law enforcement at a time when issues are in the forefront and his experience being a small business owner with a desire to help other small business owners as reasons he would be a good candidate. He added his goals also include to aid schools as well as work to keep more people from headed out of the state.

The 105th District was recently redrawn and includes Eureka and parts of county north of U.S. Route 24.

See full article on Jan. 27 Woodford Co. Journal newsstands

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BLOOMINGTON  McLean County States Attorney Don Knapp won the Republican primary election for the 11th judicial circuit judge vacancy, but that doesn't mean his position will be vacant in the immediate future.

Knapp defeated 11th Circuit Associate Judge Amy McFarland, according to unofficial results. He will run unopposed in the general election, as no Democratic Party candidate filed for the judge vacancy in the primary election.

The state's attorney position will become vacant if Knapp is elected to the bench. A timeline for the process to appoint a new state's attorney is dependent on when the Illinois Supreme Court seats Knapp to the bench.

The McLean County Board would receive applications for state's attorney and the board chairman would make a recommendation after public interviews. McLean County Board members would then vote on the chairman's recommendation.

Knapp is seeking to fill retired Judge Paul Lawrences seat on the 11th circuit bench in the November general election.

The 11th judicial circuit includes McLean, Ford, Livingston, Logan and Woodford counties.

Knapp has been McLean Countys top prosecutor since 2018 when he was appointed to the position.

Knapp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But in a social media post early Wednesday morning, he said he is "so blessed in my life to be surrounded by special people."

"Tonight was a culmination of the lessons I learned about hard work and good fortune I experienced through having so many people that cared for me in my life," Knapp said. "(...) Again, for whatever reason God blessed this kid from Goodfield to surround him with special folks."

John Kim, a representative for McFarlands campaign, said she thanks all of her supporters throughout the campaign.

It is an honor for her to serve as presiding judge of the family division and recovery court in the 11th judicial circuit, Kim said. She looks forward to continuing to serve the citizens of the 11th circuit as an associate judge by applying the laws of Illinois and the constitution and leading with the principles of fairness, accountability, integrity and respect.

Knapp, 52, of Bloomington, was an assistant McLean County administrator for about a year before becoming states attorney, and had been a McLean County assistant states attorney for the civil division prior to then.

He received the majority of votes in each of the five counties in the circuit, as well as in the Bloomington Election Commission. Knapp outlasted McFarland with 19,584 votes to 13,227 votes, according to unofficial results.

In a previous interview with The Pantagraph, Knapp touted his support from police leaders and the five county sheriffs within the circuit.

He said he is focused on properly punishing those who commit crimes and keeping the community safe.

Knapp also said the implementation of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, known as the SAFE-T Act, featuring the abolishment of cash bail, is the most pressing issue facing the 11th circuit.

In the other open seat in the circuit, 11th Circuit Judge Carla Barnes ran unopposed in Tuesdays Republican primary election and received 29,657 votes, according to unofficial results.

Barnes, the former McLean County public defender who was appointed to the bench in February 2021 to fill the remainder of retired Judge Scott Drazewskis term, will head to the November general election unopposed.

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BLOOMINGTON  Three popular punk bands will pick it up Tuesday at The Castle Theatre in Bloomington.

Teaming up with Bowling For Soup that evening are two greats of the ska-punk music world: The Aqua Bats and Less Than Jake. Pop punk band Dont Panic! is also joining in as a special guest.

Ska music, which was born out of the reggae and dub styles of Jamaican music halls, continues to be a driving force for popular and emerging musical artists. From No Doubt and Sublime to your college town house show, ska musics classic upstroke guitar riff tied with a muted downstroke has made good times for decades.

One of the earliest recordings of the famed phrase "pick it up" can be heard in Prince Busters 1964 single "Al Capone." If you love high-energy music, the words pick it up are sure to get your blood flowing, no matter your age.

Buying in

Less Than Jake holds several arm-swinging, knee-kicking hits in their discography, such as "Johnny Quest Thinks Were Sellouts from the 1995 album "Pezcore." The songs tempo picks up into a heated, glorious rage against accusations of not being punk enough.

Although their lineup has changed, that same energy thrives some more in Less Than Jake, which formed in Gainesville, Florida, in the 1990s. At the end of 2020, they released their ninth studio album, "Silver Linings."

It has several tracks charged up just as youd expect them to be, plus more relaxed jams like Lost at Home and So Much Less. In the latter song, saxophonist Peter JR Wasilewski lays down some smooth licks following the chorus after bassist Roger Lima raves: Only the jive gonna keep me alive.

Since linking up with new drummer Matt Yonker about five years ago, guitarist Chris DeMakes said their dynamic has changed a bit as a band. He said their last drummer, Vinnie Fiorello, wrote most of their lyrics, composing a story narrative in them.

On Less Than Jake's latest album, the guitarist said he, Lima and Wasilewski handled the lyrics, which are now more literal and introspective.

Looking back, DeMakes noted he wouldnt have changed a thing about their old dynamic.

But I can't emulate another person's lyrics, he continued. I can only write from my perspective.

Chasing away

Also off the new album is High Cost of Low Living. DeMakes said theyve been playing it every night, and the audience immediately reacts to it.

He said only certain songs have that quality, when others could fall flat for no specific reason.

You can never predict that kind of stuff, he said.

DeMakes said one of his favorite songs is "Dear Me." The tracks contemplative lyrics lament the alienating nature of technology and the difficulty of leaving what you love behind, a theme that recurs throughout the album.

DeMakes also penned in "Keep On Chasing," which is featured in a video game-themed music video. It sprints away with a super snappy chorus and a thrilling key change in the bridge. Limas vocals deliver solid melodies with that same pop-punk scragginess fans have come to love over the years.

"Keep On Chasing" Chorus Always on the run and I keep on chasing Love is like a drug and it keeps me waiting I dont want to go but I think I have to now

DeMakes said he had saved the lyrics in his notebook around 10 years ago, and also wrote the music a while back, before stumbling upon them both again later. He said he was going through a breakup at the time, and it was cool to revisit those feelings after the immediate strife was no longer present.

DeMakes said Tuesdays show marks Less Than Jakes first return to Bloomington almost a decade, and hes excited to perform at The Castle Theatre.

I love that venue, he said.

Theyre also looking forward to sharing a stage with Bowling For Soup, with DeMakes saying that band is like family to them.

IF YOU GO WHAT: Less Than Jake & Bowling For Soup WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 5 WHERE: The Castle Theatre, 209 E. Washington St., Bloomington TICKETS: $40, available online at thecastletheatre.com.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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For the latest on this race, click here.

TAYLORVILLE  After a brutal, nearly seven-month-long primary election campaign, the political fates of U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Mary Miller, R-Oakland, lay firmly with Republican voters in Illinois' 15th Congressional District, who cast their ballots across the 35-county district on Tuesday.

The incumbent lawmakers, thrown together by Springfield Democrats who controlled last year's Congressional redistricting process, have engaged in what's been an extremely negative campaign in which each has accused the other of not being conservative enough.

Davis is a mainstream conservative with a bipartisan streak, a reflection of the swingy 13th Congressional District that he has represented since 2013.

Miller, on the other hand, is a far-right freshman firebrand who eschews bipartisanship in the name of the "America First" agenda of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed her.

The 15th, which stretches west to east across Central Illinois from the Iowa and Missouri state lines to the Indiana state line, was drawn to pack as many Republicans in as possible.

As a result, the newly-minted district would have voted for Trump by 68% in the 2020 election, making it one of the most conservative in the country.

Despite not having Trump's endorsement, Davis, speaking with reporters just hours before polls closed, said he felt confident in his ability to pull it out Tuesday.

"I have built, with the help of my great team, an organization that has knocked on almost 125,000 doors," Davis said. "We see that data that's coming in from those doors every single day. We are very confident just like I was confident in 2020 that tonight's going to be a great election night for us."

Davis will watch election returns at his Taylorville home with his family will not having an election night event with supporters.

Miller, on the other hand, is hosting an event at a hotel in Quincy, not far from where she was embraced by Trump on Saturday.

"Mary is a warrior for our movement and our values," Trump told the crowd gathered at the Adams County Fairgrounds on Saturday, calling her a "fearless, America-first patriot."

Check back for updates.

Contact Brenden Moore at 217-421-7984. Follow him on Twitter: @brendenmoore13

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Former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias on Tuesday secured the Democratic nomination for secretary of state, defeating Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, Chicago Ald. David Moore and Homewood resident Sidney Moore.

He is expected to face state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, in the November contest to fill the post long held by Jesse White. Brady defeated attorney John Milhiser in the GOP primary.

Giannoulias, 46, who at age 30 was the nations youngest state treasurer before losing a 2010 Senate race, saw the chance to succeed White as a way to resurrect his political career. Giannoulias led in fundraising and was endorsed by Illinois most influential labor unions.

Chicago's city clerk for more than five years, Valencia, 37, has long been viewed as an up-and-comer in city politics and a protege of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Valencia, originally from Granite City in the states Metro East region, received backing from most of the states top elected Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and White.

David Moore, 56, the alderman of Chicago's 17th Ward since 2015, ran almost as a progressive outsider. His fundraising was significantly dwarfed by Giannoulias and Valencia, but Moore portrayed his bid as a grassroots campaign.

Sidney Moore, 64, a Homewood resident who has done nonprofit work, also was on the ballot, but campaign records showed he had no organization and hadnt conducted any fundraising.

White, 87, a Democrat who has been secretary of state since 1999, is one of the state's most popular politicians but decided not to run for a seventh term.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Jeremy Gorner of the Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.

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Eric Sorensen has won the Democratic primary election for the 17th Congressional District. He will face Republican primary winner Esther Joy King in the Nov. 8 general election.

According to unofficial results, Sorensen, 46, defeated the other five Democratic candidates vying to take the seat of outgoing U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, who announced last year she would not seek a sixth term.

Sorensen took an early lead in his hometown of Rockford, besting Rockford resident and former Illinois state Rep. Litesa Wallace, who came in second with 23% of the vote; and Rockford Alderman Jonathan Logemann, who came in fourth, with 14% of the vote.

Rock Island County board member Angie Normoyle had moved up to third place, also with 14% of the vote; while Marsha Williams of Channahon had 7.5%; and cannabis lobbyist Jacqueline McGowan trailed with 5.6% of votes.

Sorensen, a former meteorologist at WQAD, graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications and a minor in meteorology. He had campaigned on the issue of climate science and is an advocate for the LGBTQ community.

With 37% of precincts reporting, King handily defeated opponent Charlie Helmick, both of East Moline, with 68% of the vote.

This November will be the second time King has been on the ballot in the general election. She came within 4 percentage points of defeating Bustos in 2020, losing 52% to 48%.

Republicans are eyeing the 17th Congressional District as one of four districts they hope to turn red in order to win back control of the House.

King earned her law degree and a master's of law in taxation from Northwestern University in Chicago, beginning her legal career as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. She is an attorney and small-business owner of her own marketing firm.

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In the Republican race for attorney general, downstate attorney Thomas DeVore defeated repeat candidate Steve Kim of Deerfield and Orland Park attorney David Shestokas.

DeVore will take on first-term Democratic incumbent Kwame Raoul this fall. Raoul, a Chicago attorney elected in 2018, faced no primary opposition in his run for a second term.

DeVore, 52, who lives outside Sorento, a small town about 50 miles northwest of St. Louis, gained public attention, especially on social media, early in the COVID-19 pandemic by waging unrelenting, if largely unsuccessful, legal challenges to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzkers executive orders.

Kim, 51, of Deerfield, a partner in a boutique international law firm based in Chicago, lost by 33 points to incumbent Democrat Lisa Madigan in the 2010 race for attorney general. He was an aide to former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar in the 1990s and was backed in this race by billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin but ran a low-key campaign.

Also on the GOP primary ballot was Shestokas, 70, an Orland Park attorney who had not reported receiving any campaign contributions and promoted former President Donald Trumps false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election.

Like Republicans up and down the ballot this year, both Kim and DeVore made the states problems with crime and corruption a key component of their campaigns, but DeVore was much more vocal against the "Republican establishment."

The attorney general also plays a key role in monitoring elections in Illinois. Both Kim and DeVore said they voted for Trump in the past two elections, and both hedged when asked whether they believe that the 2020 election was stolen.

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An Egyptian court sentenced 10 people to death and more than 50 others to life in prison on Tuesday after they were convicted of supporting or carrying out attacks against security forces and sabotage of state infrastructure.



The prosecution linked the attacks, which took place in Cairo between 2013 and 2015, to the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.



Rights group Amnesty International said the mass trial, which included more than 200 defendants, was grossly unfair and called for the sentences to be quashed.



Egypt mounted one of the biggest crackdowns in its modern history on the Brotherhood following the army's 2013 overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.



The court had referred the defendants to Egypt's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, to seek approval for a death sentence in January.

Source: Reuters









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Taiwan will take delivery of its first doses of the Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) COVID-19 vaccine this week, received under the COVAX sharing scheme, the government said on Wednesday.



Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Centre said the 504,000 doses would arrive on Thursday at Taipei's main international airport.



Taiwan is scheduled to receive 2.268 million doses of the Novavax vaccine in batches this year through the COVAX mechanism, it added.



The shot is yet to be authorised in the United States, but is cleared for use in adults in more than 40 countries including Canada, Australia and New Zealand.



The company's COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be more than 90% effective in two large, late-stage trials.



Taiwan has to date been using the AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.L), Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE)/Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and domestically developed Medigen (6547.TWO) vaccines.



Taiwan has a well-vaccinated population with more than 70% of its people having had a first booster shot, with second boosters now being rolled out.



The island of 23 million people has reported more than 3.7 million infections so far this year having previously kept the pandemic well under control, though new cases are now waning.













Source: Reuters









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The Ghana Police Service has reportedly arrested some demonstrators who were involved in an attack against them during Arise Ghana's #KromAyeShe demonstration.



The police fired tear gas after they were pelted with stones by the protestors. According to reports, the chaos ensued when the demonstrators insisted on using an unapproved route.



In a tweet, the Service described the incident as shameful and unacceptable.







Attack on Police in the Ongoing Arise Ghana Demonstration



What a shame, we were there to protect you and ensure your safety, but you throw stones at us, injure and hurt us.



This behaviour is unacceptable and must be condemned. pic.twitter.com/8FGeycExJD  Ghana Police Service (@GhPoliceService) June 28, 2022

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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African countries have been advised to increase stakeholder collaborations to share knowledge, experiences and expertise to secure the continents digital space from security threats, including cyber crime.

According to the Executive Director of the Attorney-General Alliance-Africa (AGA-Africa), Karen White, cyber crime was increasingly becoming a major threat to Africa, leading to the loss of huge sums of money on the continent.



She, therefore, stressed the need for effective partnership among African countries to enable them to tackle the emerging digital threat to the continents development.



Ms White said although Africa was still among the least affected by such threats, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure such as national security installations, and telecommunication networks, among others, were becoming frequent.



Ms White gave the advice at the two-day annual conference of AGA-Africa in Accra yesterday.



It was on the theme: "Exploring new frontiers for cyber security and Africa's digital future".



Among the objectives of the conference is to explore new ways of harnessing the digital economy in Africa and also address issues of regulation, legislation and threats presented by the cyber industry.



The conference is being participated in by African and United States Attorneys-General, ICT leaders on the continent, venture capitalists interested in Africa's technology scene, as well as AGA-Africa's extended networks of key decision makers.



Digital threat

Ms White said the digital future of the continent was threatened by increased vulnerabilities as more government services migrated online.



The ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of $3 trillion, coupled with the free movement of people and goods across the continent, could also facilitate transnational crimes, she said.



All these developments cement the significance of our annual conference over the next two days. My hope is that the impressive list of speakers and presenters, drawn from government regulators, prosecution bodies, academia and the private sector on the continent, will help us chart a new course in the fight against cyber crime and other transnational crimes that leverage the ubiquitous presence of technology in our lives, she said.



Ms White said since 2016, AGA-Africa had trained legal officers and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of transnational crimes, including human trafficking, money laundering, counterfeit drugs, cyber crime and wildlife trafficking, in eight partner countries  Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.



Case of Ghana

The Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, said Ghana had made significant strides in the fight against cyber and other transnational crimes.



He said a Cyber Crime Unit had been established at the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, with its primary role being the detection and investigation of cyber crime.



We have also enacted a number of laws, such as the Electronic Transactions Act (ETA), the Data Protection Act (DPA), 2012, and the Economic and Organised Crime (EOCO) Act, 2010, and redrafted the 2019 National Cyber Security Policy.



And in 2020, the President also assented to law the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038), he said.



According to him, the country had ratified relevant international conventions and treaties, such as the convention on cyber crime, also known as the Budapest Convention; the AU Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection, known as the Malabo Convention, among others.



Mr Tuah-Yeboah said the conventions had improved Ghanas ranking on the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).



The latest ranking by GCI had Ghana in third place on the continent, behind Mauritius and Tanzania, with a score of 86.69 per cent.



This was a major leap from the 10th and 11th places attained in the previous ratings and projects the country among the best in the region and globally, he added.









Source: graphiconline.com









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An 18-person team from the US State of North Dakota, including personnel from the states Department of Emergency Services and members of the North Dakota National Guard have completed a two-week training with their Ghanaian colleagues from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).



The training focused on preparing for natural disasters, including earthquakes. Togo and Benin also sent representatives from their national civil protection agencies to observe the exercise, stressing the importance of regional responses to natural disasters. Two major active fault lines, the Coastal Boundary Fault and Akwapim Fault Zone intersect in the region.



Our partnership with Ghana, through NADMO and GAF, is strong, long-term, and benefits both our countries. Im proud to be here representing North Dakota, while deepening cooperation with our Ghanaian colleagues, said Major General Alan Dorhmann, who serves as Adjutant General of the North Dakota National Guard as well as Director of the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.



The exercise, known as Lignite Coast 2022 Operation Shikpon Wosomo, built the capacity of NADMO and its collaborating agencies to manage disasters and ensure prompt response to earthquakes and similar natural disasters in the future.



The training included traditional classroom teaching and planning, as well as a full-scale simulation exercise to test local capabilities and identify areas for improvement. Ghanaian agencies including Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Armed Forces (48 Engineers Regiment), National Ambulance Service, Ghana Police Service, National Communications Authority, Ghana Health Service, the Geological Survey Authority, and the Volta River Authority participated in the two-week event.



The North Dakota National Guard and Ghanaian counterparts have been working together through the US State Partnership Program since 2004. The State Partnership Program helps build collaborative relationships between individual US states and partner countries in support of US foreign policy goals.



The North Dakota National Guards cooperation with the Ghana Armed Forces and NADMO is one part of the United States robust security cooperation with Ghana. Through joint exercises like African Lion that is taking place now in Morocco and Ghana, US and Ghanaian forces train together to be better prepared for the future.



A joint training for US and Ghanaian military medical professionals was also held recently at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.



Additionally, programmes like the Security Forces Assistance Brigade team, which is currently working with Ghana Armed Forces colleagues in Tamale, also help share best practices, provide training, and build local capacity to respond to security threats.





Source: Daily Guide









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The Founder and Chairman of Dadaba group of companies and Nkosuohene of Akyem Osiem, Oseadeeyo Nana Kumi Kodie I has admonished the youth to embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship.



According to him, entrepreneurs are self-motivated individuals who strive to do something new and unique on their own without depending on the government for jobs.



He stated that we need persons who can boldly take risks, identify opportunities, and create employment opportunities for themselves and the people around them.



He posited that entrepreneurship is considered a driving force of our society and the nations economy.



He further indicated that when young people embrace entrepreneurship, they are not just creating opportunities and wealth for themselves but also contributing to the overall development of the organization and the economy.



He made the remarks when he stormed the 2022 Ohum festival celebrated under the authority of the Okyehene Osagyefo Amotia Oforipanyin.



He underscored the need for the youth to avoid acts that will undermine their progress, and rather focus on things that will transform their lives.



He said the youth have a major role to play in the development of their communities and the nation at large hence the need for them to be responsible, law-abiding, and patriotic.



The philanthropist was joined by some Italian investors who have expressed. interest in supporting in embarking on several initiatives.



He is the founder of The Eye of Africa Foundation together with his partners from abroad.



The Eye of Africa is an NGO that seeks to create sustainable communities by providing technological and infrastructural developments through partnerships with community leaders and chiefs.



The foundation collaborates with traditional rulers with natural/raw materials with ideas of developing their communities through industrialization.



Aside from these initiates, Oseadeeyo Nana Kumi Kodie I has over the years supported widows and widowers with monthly stipends who are above 60 years.









Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), an advocacy Non-governmental Organisation says child marriage threatens women empowerment and national development.



Ms Fatima Ayamga, the Field Officer, PPAG, said child marriage in many cases denied young people particularly girls the opportunity to realise their dreams academically, socially, and economically which affected their growth and development.



She underscored the need to address it collectively and sustainably.



She said this at Doringo, in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region at the re-launch of a child marriage campaign project dubbed end child marriage by PPAG with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).



The project seeks to engage community leaders and members including traditional authorities, opinion leaders, and parents among others to play crucial roles to ending child menace and promote sustainable development.



Apart from sensitising the community members on the adverse effects of child marriage to their development, the campaign involved hoisting of a flag in the community to ensure that when a child marriage incident occurs, the flag was lowered to attract the attention of stakeholders to investigate and act.



Ms Ayamba explained that apart from the health complications that the child might go through during pregnancy and birth, the act created poverty as girls could not attain formal education or venture into other viable economic ventures.



She therefore called on all stakeholders including the chiefs and Queenmothers to lead the campaign against the menace to ensure that it was brought under control to achieve sustainable development.



Traditional leaders have roles to play in enforcing laws on child marriage in their communities, so they must lead the advocacy and rally the people to end the act for girls to also have a future, she said.



Ms Rosemary Akolbire, the Bolgatanga Municipal Adolescent Coordinator, said statistics from the directorate revealed that adolescents formed part of the maternal deaths that were recorded, because of pregnancy related complications.



She said parents needed to pay attention to their children particularly girls and counsel them to prevent them from getting pregnant and forced to marry, child marriage has been a big issue in this Municipality especially this area and we must work to end the act.



Ms Akolbire who is also a Public Health Nurse, advised parents not to force their children into early marriage, but support them.



Alhaji Issah Akolgo, an Elder at Doringo Community, said the days where parents gave their children out for marriage at early ages were over in the community, but the girls pushed themselves into the marriage because of materials things.



He said teenage pregnancy and child marriage was a worry to stakeholders in the community as the future of children especially girls were threatened.



He pledged to join the campaign to educate parents in the community to play their parental role responsibly to ensure that they instilled discipline in their children to avoid pregnancy and child marriage.





Source: GNA









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It is high time the government passed a law to ban prayer camps from interfering in maternal healthcare delivery in the country.

This is because the activities of most prayer camps are inimical to maternal healthcare delivery in general and antenatal care in particular. The situation is seemingly worse in rural areas than in urban settlements.



SDG 3

If care is not taken, this phenomenon will contribute significantly to the countrys inability to attain the Sustainable Development Goal Three (SDG3) by 2030 just as Ghana failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals Four and Five (MDG 4&5) in 2015.



It is without disputation that maternal healthcare delivery provides for the health needs of the pregnant mother and her unborn baby simultaneously.



The need for antenatal care (ANC) is physical rather than spiritual, hence ANC should not be handled by a spiritual centre such as a prayer camp.



According to the Bible (1 Corinthians 12: 4-6), the same God gives different kinds of talents, services and works to different people to serve humanity.



Suffice to say that the same God is at work in the medics and prayer camp managers.



Hospital vs prayer camp

Whereas medics are gifted, trained and mandated to provide various kinds of health care to the people, those managing prayer camps also have the gift of handling spiritual matters. As such, prayer camps must stay away from clinical conditions such as pregnancy complications.



A prayer camp as the name denotes is a camp for prayers and not an antenatal clinic. Sadly, most prayer camps habitually diagnose medical problems as spiritual problems. Accordingly, they advise their clients against seeking medical care and later the situation becomes worse, leading to preventable deaths.



It is thus not strange that Wikipedia defines prayer camps as religious institutions which serve as alternatives to hospitals in Ghana and Togo for a variety of ailments. They used methods such as chaining patients and fasting.



Dangerous practices

Some prayer camps even ask pregnant mothers to fast and drink holy oil and this eventually worsens the health condition of pregnant women.



On November 4, 2017, for example, modernghana.com reported that some pregnant women in New Juaben municipality of the Eastern Region preferred a holy palm nut soup at a prayer camp in Koforidua to attending antenatal clinics.



One wonders how a holy palm nut soup can address danger signs in pregnancy such as bleeding, foetal distress, oligohydramnios, pre-eclampsia, malpresentations or even ectopic pregnancy.



It is equally trite knowledge that other prayer camps vigorously massage the abdomen of pregnant women, causing foetal distress and detachment of the placenta from the baby.



This occurrence of detached placenta from the baby is clinically referred to as abruptio placentae, which is a serious pregnancy complication, and it specifically occurs when the placenta detaches from the inner wall of the womb before delivery, depriving the unborn baby of oxygen and nutrients.



One may assert that prayer camps cause more harm to pregnant women and unborn babies than help them.



Regarding prayer camp managers massaging the abdomen of pregnant women, a rhetorical question is worth asking.



What is the business of a prayer camp in touching the abdomen of a pregnant woman with the aim of making the baby sit well in the uterus?



Placental separation

According to medical literature, depending on the degree of placental separation and how close the baby is to full term, treatment for abruptio placentae may include bed rest or a Caesarean Section (CS) to forestall fatality.



In most cases, without a swift and an appropriate clinical intervention, abruptio placentae can be harmful to both the pregnant woman and her unborn baby.



Apart from underlying health conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, trauma and abdominal injury or stress can separate or detach the placenta from the foetus, hence the massaging of a pregnant woman's abdomen by a prayer camp manager can be dangerous for both the baby and the pregnant mother.



To my mind, ignorance makes some pregnant women prefer a prayer camp to a hospital for ANC.



In Hosea 4:6, the Bible says: "For lack of knowledge, my people perish."



Antenatals

Advisedly, therefore, pregnant women should seek ANC from antenatal clinics located in hospitals and desist from seeking such care at prayer camps which offer nothing but preventable maternal deaths and stillbirths.



Some prayer camps equally satanise antenatal care and Caesarean sections and accordingly, put fear in pregnant women to discourage them from seeking maternal health care in hospitals.



It should not be lost on prayer camp managers that even in the Bible, Rachel (a wife of Jacob) was delivered by a Midwife when she was in labour, giving birth to Benjamin her last-born child (Genesis 35: 15-17).



Mindful of the dangerous consequences of turning prayer camps into antenatal clinics, I dare suggest that the government should pass a law that bans such camps from providing medical care of any sort, let alone attend to pregnant women.



Perhaps in the interim, the Medical and Dental Council should sanction quack medics who practise under the cover of prayer camps.



The prayer camps make the work of the hospitals difficult because the former contribute to preventable maternal deaths in the country.



Gender Ministry

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection also has a role to play because the living conditions at some of the prayer camps leave much to be desired. The right to health care is a fundamental human right.



The women who patronise the prayer camps should equally be guided by Hosea 4:6 to say no to certain dictates of prayer camps.



By this way, the lack of knowledge will not lead to the death of such pregnant women and their unborn babies.





















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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The Managing Director of the State Transport Corporation(STC), Nana Akomea, has thrown his weight behind the pressure group "Arise Ghana" demonstration against the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.



The group scheduled their demonstration to commence today June 28 to 29, 2022 in Accra and their aim is to highlight economic and governance challenges bedeviling the country.



But there is a brouhaha over the route and time they want to use for their demonstration.



According to the Police, the Organizers of the demonstration who have requested to "move through the Nima Police Station street to the Arko-Agyei inter-change and end at the Frontage of the Jubilee House where we will picket until 10PM" cannot hold it, hence, they have secured a High Court order to prevent their terms.



The Police, in a statement, said "in the interest of Public Order and safety, we entreated the organizers to reconsider the time frame and start the demonstration early in the day and end before night falls" but "on June 22, 2022, the Police received a verbal response from the organizers to the effect that they are unable to change the time of the demonstration".



They added; Due to the lack of agreement between the Police and the organizers on the time for demonstration and location for their planned picketing, the Police have had no option but to submit the process to the court for a determination. This was duly communicated to Arise Ghana in a letter on June 20, 2022."



The Arise Ghana organizers are also seeking an appeal to set aside the High Court ruling on their intended demonstration.



"Lawyers for Arise Ghana have consequently filed a Notice for Appeal and an application for Stay of Execution of the said Order. The Police have been duly served. The demonstration will come off as planned," a statement by the group read.



Nana Akomea, also appealing on behalf of the group, asked the Police to allow them to go on their demonstration.



According to him, he sees nothing wrong with the routes that the demonstrators have chosen, therefore wants "them to embark on their demonstration. It's their right but they should make demands that will ruin their own case".



He said on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show on Tuesday.





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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NDC Member of Parliament(MP) for North Tongu constituency and Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that the next NDC government will jail all those who have illegally benefitted from proceeds of the National Cathedral.



According to him, payments which have been done so far by the government to some individuals did not receive the approval of parliament.



Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that every money that is expended by government for a particular project needs to pass through Parliament and be approved by the House, before the Finance Minister can go ahead to make payment.



"But that was not the case with respect to payments that was made to Sir David Adjaye. All monies that have been paid to him by the finance minister were not even discussed in parliament for it to even be approved by the House, and that constitutes an illegality.



"The Akufo-Addo government has deliberately refused to follow due process when it comes to issuing money for the National Cathedral project. The NDC government will not entertain this illegality, we will ensure that all those who have benefitted from the illegal and fragrant abuse of the public purse are made to face the law," he vowed.



Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who is the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, wondered why President Akufo-Addo will want to use monies from the public purse to honor a personal promise he made to God during the 2016 electioneering campaign.



He further questioned if amidst the current dire straits, a national cathedral is a priority of the suffering masses who some cannot even afford a three square meal a day.



"Look at the amount of money that has been given to an individual for practically no work done when some could have even charge far less than what we are paying. People have been rendered homeless and some have even resigned from their jobs in protest to what they believe is a misplaced priority of the NPP government.



"I can assure you that the next NDC government will not hesitate to go to court and have all those who perpetuated such illegality prosecuted and possibly jailed if the are indeed found guilty," the NDC MP stated.



A tweet from Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said, "Documents from the Office of the President confirm that in 2021 alone, President Akufo-Addo authorised an astonishing GHc32million of taxpayer funds to be paid to Sir David Adjaye & Associates Ltd for consultancy on his National Cathedral project.



GHc57million so far; more to come.



Watch video below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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As the governing New Patriotic Party's (NPP) internal elections take shape, many are the names that are being bandied about as persons reportedly interested in vying for the party's ticket to contest in the 2024 Parliamentary elections



Amongst such names which have come up strongly is the current Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Sammy Awuku.



According to GhanaWeb sources, the outgoing National Organizer of the NPP will look to snatch the Akropong parliamentary ticket from the incumbent MP, Oheneba Dokua Asiamah-Adjei.



Reports suggest that Sammy Awuku was interested in contesting the Adentan seat but opted for the Akropong seat because it is a relatively safe seat in his home region.



He has however in times past restrained his supporters from mounting billboards to project his candidature. In January when one of such was erected in the Akwapim North Constituency, he cautioned that timing is bad and optics, not a pleasant one



Still, in the southern sector of the country, the Public Relations Officer of the Energy Ministry, Kwasi Obeng-Fosu who is popularly known as BT Baba Tauffic is believed to be eyeing the Adentan Constituency seat.



Multiple reports indicate that delegates are favourably disposed towards his candidature as a result of his working hard to endear himself to both sides of the political divide. This has earned him the nickname Homeboy."



Baba Tauffic boasts of enormous experience such as serving as the Youth organizer when Hon. Yaw Buaben Asamoa won the Adentan seat in 2016



It will be recalled that Hon. Yaw Buaben Asamoa lost the seat to Hon. Adamu Ramadan in the 2020 elections. Baba Tauffic is hopeful of reclaiming the seat for the NPP.



Over in the northern sector, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), Mr Hanan Abdul-Wahab is warming up to contest the Pusiga seat.



Chief Hanan as hes popularly called was a member of the campaign teams of the Northern and Upper East Regions and the Bawku Central Constituency for the 2020 elections.



He has a long history of logistical support for the party in the Upper East Region.



Due to his benevolence towards many of the constituents, he is tipped to be the first candidate to win the Pusiga seat for the NPP. He is resourceful and understands the local politics of the area.







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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An Accra Circuit Court has remanded into police custody a defeated parliamentary candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Subin Constituency of the Ashanti Region, Villey Acheampong.



He has been charged with threat of death by police after he was said to have attacked a man wielding a pistol and he has since been remanded.



The businessman pleaded not guilty to two charges of discharging gun in town and threat of death by the court presided over by Susana Eduful.



Though his lawyers raised concerns about his Ill-health, the court found it reasonable to remand him for two weeks upon the request of the prosecution.



Acheampong is said to be also facing separate charges including defrauding by false pretense pending in the same court over some six-bedroom apartment.

Facts of the case as presented by the Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Evans Kesse were that the complainant is a businessman and resides at Greda Estate, Teshie whiles the accused person is also a businessman and a resident of Baatsona.



For some time now, the prosecutor stated that complainant and the accused person are contending over the ownership of a six-bedroom uncompleted building located at Baatsona and the case is pending before the same court.



On May 29, 2022, complainant and a witness, in this case, visited the said building site and met the accused person and without any provocation, the accused pulled a pistol at the complainant and threatened to kill him, according to prosecutor.



He mentioned that the accused fired two warning shots in the presence of witnesses and that, both parties rushed to the police station and reported the case, saying that

Investigation conducted at the scene and interview with witnesses confirmed that the accused threatened to kill the complainant with a pistol after firing two warning shots.



Investigation led to the retrieval of 40mm Caliber pistol marked SMITH WESSON  HTU 5617-AA4/9034/16 with 9 rounds of ammunition from the accused person.



ASP Kesse further stated that the accused was arrested but denied the action in his cautioned statement to police but after investigation, he was charged with the offences to appear before the court where he has been remanded.





Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ghana Police Service has stated that organizers of the Arise Ghana demonstration will be arrested for their role in the incidents of Tuesday, June 28, 2022.



The police said the leaders will be held responsible for the attacks and damage to public property after the protest turned chaotic at the Kwame Nkrumah interchange.



In a statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Police under the hand of Chief Superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the police said it will subsequently arraign the Arise Ghana demo organisers before court.



According to the police, their decision is in tandem with Section 3 of the Public Order Act, (Act 491) which places a responsibility on organizers of a demonstration and others participating in a protest.



The organisers of the demonstration will be arrested and put before court for the attacks and damage to public property, in line with the provisions of Section 3 of the the Public Order Act, (Act 491), part of the statement read.



Arise Ghana demonstrators poured out onto the street on the first day of their intended two-day protest against rising economic hardship.



However, there was chaos as police fired teargas at protesters after they started pelting police with stones.

According to multiple reportage, the chaos erupted over confusion on the route to use.



While the police insisted that the demonstrators cannot use the route to the Jubilee House, the demonstrators were attempting to use the Ring Road stretch to Ako Adjei and onwards to the Jubilee House.



Meanwhile, the Police have announced the arrest of 29 people in connection with violent incidents that marred the June 28, 2022 Arise Ghana demo.



According to a statement dated June 28 and signed by Chief Superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi, Director of Public Affairs, the Police were also reviewing available footage with the view to making more arrests if need be.



"The Police have arrested 29 demonstrators for their participation in violent attacks on the Police and some members of the public including school children during the Arise Ghana demonstration in Accra.



"Available footages of the event are being reviewed and all other persons identified for taking part in the attacks as well as inciting violence will be arrested and brought to face justice," the June 28, 2022 statement added.







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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Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has opined that the police were wrong to order Arise Ghana demonstrators on routes to use in Tuesdays protest.



This according to him is premised on the fact that Arise Ghana demo organisers filed a stay of execution against a June 27 court ruling in which the High Court Judge, Her Ladyship Comfort Kwasiwor Tasiame, ordered that the demonstration cannot go beyond 4pm.



The judge also directed that the demonstration should commence at 8am with the demonstrators converging at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, moving through Farisco and TUC to the Independence Square.



In an interview on Accra-based Joy FM, Martin Kpebu explained that once the stay of execution was filed, it rendered the June 27 judgment non-enforceable until the determination of the appeal.



He further contended that the police should have initiated legal process to have the appeal heard early if the demonstration bothered on issues of national security.



The effect of the stay of execution is that what the judge ordered will not take effect until that application for stay has been heard.



Once you are able to file it and you serve the other party, you are free in the interim for the one week two week.

So from yesternight if really there are terrorist concerns as the police want to make us believe, then they were supposed to file for abridgment of time.



Yesternight they were not supposed to go to sleep and lawyers dont go to sleep when the occasion requires it. They were supposed to stay up, file the necessary processes and first thing in the morning go through the Chief Justice then they would have to shift the case to this morning, he said.



Martin Kpebu berated the police saying that the police had all the opportunities in the world to run back to the court this morning (June 28) but they didnt do it.



On the issue regarding terrorist concerns and the timing of the protest, the lawyer said it was not within the jurisdiction of the police to determine which protest was a threat or not.



He maintained that the police ought to demonstrate their argument before the courts on the specific matter.



Not just at the mention of the word security then we keep quiet. No, they have to demonstrate that to the court. The ultimate security decider is the court, he said.



Arise Ghana demonstrators poured out onto the street on the first day of their intended two-day protests against rising economic hardship.



However, there was chaos as police fired teargas at protesters while they [protesters] also pelted stones at them.



According to multiple reportage, the chaos erupted over confusion on the route to use.



While the police insisted that the demonstrators cannot use the route towards the Jubilee House, the demonstrators were attempting to use the route from Kwame Nkrumah circle through Ring Road to Ako Adjei and to the Jubilee House.



















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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Former Manhyia North NPP Member of Parliament(MP), Collins Owusu Amankwah, has expressed indignation with the behavior of the 'Arise Ghana' demonstrators towards the Police personnel sent to protect them.



The demonstration which saw thongs of people converge at the Obra Spot, Circle, in Accra took a chaotic turn when the demonstrators decided to use different routes despite a court order to take specific routes.



They had decided to march to the Jubilee House but the organizers of the demonstration and the protesters clashed with the Police after they refused to comply with the court order.



According to reports, the Police refused to allow them to take a different route resulting in a violent confrontation.



Some of the irate protesters hurled stones at the Police guards who also retaliated by splashing water cannons and firing tear gas to disperse them.



Discussing yesterday's clash during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, Collins Owusu Amankwah described the 'Arise Ghana' organizers and demonstrators as "notorious".



"I haven't ever seen demonstrators whose organizers are so notorious as the so-called Arise Ghana. Yes, they are notorious demonstrators," he exclaimed.



He took with a pinch of salt accounts by the organizers after the clash that the Police were the first to throw objects at the demonstrators, therefore irking them to retaliate by pelting stones.



To Collins Owusu Amankwah, there are footages evidencing that the "Police were very patient before they decided to shoot the tear gas but the demonstrators had made up their minds to provoke them", therefore stressing the demonstrators' desire to march to the Jubilee House is a "strategy to create unnecessary tension, to make the country ungovernable and to create chaos".



He questioned the logic in going to demonstrate at the Jubilee House which is the seat of government if not for the obvious reasons to paint a picture of insecurity in the nation.



"Is it the President's jacket that is so beautiful to them that they wanted to go to Jubilee House to watch or what?" he asked.





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 National Treasurer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Abankwa-Yeboah has refuted claims that the party used money donated to the nation for fighting COVID-19 to fund their campaign during the 2020 elections.



Speaking on Angel FMs Morning Show, Anpa Bfo, Mr Abankwa-Yeboah who is seeking to be the party's National Chairman said this did not happen under him and hence called on Ghanaians to discard such rumours.



There are beliefs that the government out of desperation used the funds meant to fund the pandemic for campaign and that has contributed to the current economic hardship.



Reacting to this statement, Mr Abankwa-Yeboah said that is never the case as according to him, the party organised its own funding.



We never used the COVID funds for campaign in 2020, I am the treasurer and I know this for a fact, he said.



He was optimistic that the NPP will be able to break the eight with him in charge.



He, therefore, called on the party to vote for him at the National congress.



I will not give any kind of promise because I dont believe in promisesbut I believe and know that I win the elections, he said.













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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Leaders of the Arise Ghana pressure group have told President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to give jobs to the teeming unemployed youth to do if he wants his peace of mind.



They also want the economy properly managed with prudent policies.



Until these are done, the group said, they will continue to protest on the streets to express their disapproval.



One of the leaders of the Arise Ghana demonstration, Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, in interview with TV3s Eric Mawuena Egbeta during Day 2 of the demonstration in Accra on Wednesday June 29, said There is going to be change, if we dont get the change under Akufo-Addo, we will get it under the NDC.



The Deputy General Secretary for the NDC added that we will demonstrate over and over until Akufo-Addo changes. If he wants peace he should change the way he is managing the economy.



We want jobs, the people are clamouring for jobs, if you give them jobs, you will get peace. If he cant rule the country he should resign.







Source: 3news









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A claim by the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi that the Ghana National Mosque was built by a grant from the Turkish government and that former President John Mahama facilitated the construction of the mosque has been labeled "repugnant lies" by a Zongo youth group.



Sammy Gyamfi said this in an interview on Peace FM.



The Progressive Zongo Youth has been irked by this "lie" and has issued a strongly-worded statement expressing its indignation.



The youth group accuses the NDC National Communications Officer of using a sacred monument like the National Mosque for cheap political points in his anti-National Cathedral crusade.



They cautioned him to desist from using the National Mosque for his propaganda and cheap politics of giving "undue credit to people who don't deserve it".



"As for the ridiculous claim that the mosque was funded through a grant from the Turkish government, it could only have come from a desperate propagandist trying to justify his opposition to the construction of the National Cathedral by making baseless claims with the National Mosque."



"These claims by Sammy Gyamfi are not only lies and a shameless attempt to score cheap political points for former President Mahama, using the National Mosque, it is also disrespectful to Ghanaian Muslims, and the philanthropic NGO, which fully-funded the construction of the Mosque."



"Sammy Gyamfi can go on with his anti National Cathedral campaign; that is his business, and not our concern. But in pursuing his propaganda, he should leave the National Mosque out of it, and he should stop giving credit to people for roles they did not play", parts of the statement said.



Read full statement below:



June 29, 2022



PRESS STATEMENT BY PROGRESSIVE ZONGO YOUTH ON REPUGNANT LIES BY SAMMY GYAMFI THAT FORMER PRESIDENT MAHAMA FACILITATED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NATIONAL MOSQUE AND THAT IT WAS BUILT BY A GRANT BY TURKEY



The Progressive Zongo Youth has read with abhorrence the sickening politicization of the National Mosque in Accra, and the spread of lies about it by Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).



The Chief NDC Communicator, in his zeal to perhaps, bastardise the construction of the National Cathedral, was quoted by a number of publications as saying that former President John Mahama facilitated the construction of the National Mosque. He also also added that the National Mosque was financed through a grant from the Turkish government.



These claims by Sammy Gyamfi are not only outrageous lies, his attempt to score cheap political points for former President Mahama, using the National Mosque, is also disrespectful to Ghanaian Muslims, and the philanthropic NGO, which fully-funded the construction of the Mosque.



In recent times, we have watched on and ignored attempts by various uninformed groups to spread misinformation and lies about the origin and funding of the National Mosque; but when a senior member of a leading political party joins this lying bandwagon and deliberately spreads falsehood, we cannot allow it to slide without setting the records straight.



The claim by Sammy Gyamfi that Mahama facilitated the construction of the mosque is a blatant h lie. As for the ridiculous claim that the mosque was funded through a grant from the Turkish government, it could only have come from a desperate propagandist trying to justify his opposition to the construction of the National Cathedral by making baseless claims with the National Mosque.



We dare say Sammy Gyamfi knows very well his claims are unfounded, but he still pushed it through, knowing that public records and the facts can never support his falsehood. Sadly he deliberately chose to push through his lies, clearly out of his disregard for Ghanaian Muslims, the donors and the sanctity of the mosque itself.



We do not believe Sammy Gyamfi, and those who reason like him, are oblivious of the origin and all the facts on the National Mosque. If they are, then they should seek for clarity and stop the lies and cheap politics with the national mosque.



We recommend to Sammy Gyamfi and his ilk, the official commissioning brochure of the National Mosque published on Friday July 16th 2021. In this comprehensive document, everything about the mosque, from origin to funding are clearly stated.



In pages 11, 12, and 13 of the brochure, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, in his welcome notes, gave a comprehensive account of the history behind the national mosque, including its origin, national mosque construction committee members, initial contributors and facilitators for the arrival of the Turkish NGO that fully funded the project through their charity organization. It was not a grant from the Turkish government as Sammy Gyamfi claimed, and nowhere in this comprehensive report was former President Mahama named as the one who facilitated.



In fact, the National Chief Imams comprehensive down-memory-lane account, rightly credits the facilitator of the National Mosque, through whom the Turkish NGO decided to fund the construction of the mosque.



Facts about the national mosque, just as the mosque itself, are sacred. However, it has now become a new trend, for both opponents and supporters of the construction of the National Cathedral, to distort these facts to further their own agendas. We can forgive others, for this ignorant or deliberate posture, which continue to disrespect the efforts of many stalwarts and the financiers, but we cannot ignore the deliberate falsehood of Sammy Gyamfi.



Sammy Gyamfi can go on with his anti National Cathedral campaign; that is his business, and not our concern. But in pursuing his propaganda, he should leave the National Mosque out of it, and he should stop giving credit to people for roles they did not play.



The National Mosque, is a sacred monument of unity for all Muslims in the country irrespective of political affiliation, and it should not be the place for this kind of unfortunate politicization by Sammy Gyamfi.



SIGNED



ABDUL RAHMAN ISHAQ

(CHAIRMAN

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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Today, the 29th day of June 2022, marks the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the New Patriotic Party, the most popular and oldest political tradition in our country, whose political antecedent, laid the foundation for Ghanas Independence struggle. The Party, on this momentous occasion, celebrates its contribution to 30 years of democratic growth in the Fourth Republic. This Anniversary marks the longest period of democratic practice in our country since Independence. In the period, Ghana has earned an enviable reputation for political stability, which is a valuable brand to be cherished, protected and enhanced.



We therefore take this opportunity to congratulate all stakeholders who have supported the growth of the 4th Republic. The Party gives thanks to the Almighty for bringing us this far. We are also very thankful to the founding fathers and mothers of our great tradition from the days of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in the 1940s, to the days of the Ghana Congress Party (GCP), the National Liberation Movement (NLM), the Northern Peoples Party (NPP), the Togolese Congress Party, the Ga Shifomokpe, the United Party (UP), the Progress Party (PP) and the Popular Front Party (PFP). We also remember the stalwarts who sacrificed their wealth, time, intellect, fighting spirit to nurture and grow rule of law and individual rights in Ghana.



We are a Party rooted in rich tradition and strong principles and values which were relevant in the pre-independence era, relevant during the times of independence and its aftermath, and even more relevant today and forever. The fact that we are the only political tradition in the country that have survived all Republics in pre and post-independence Ghana including the most cancerous dictatorial regimes and have stood the test of time, can only be a vindication of the richness and greatness of our political tradition. A tradition that was not built around individuals but strong principles and values.



Since 1992, the NPP has been the champion of electoral reforms. We spearheaded the transition from opaque ballot boxes to transparent boxes, the transition from black and white voter ID cards to coloured ID cards with pictures and the quantum leap from a manual voters register to a biometric register and photo ID Cards for all voters from limiting it to regional and district capital to National. In spite of the disruptive threat of Covid-19, Ghanas General Elections of 2020 have been hailed as perhaps the cleanest, most peaceful, and free and fair.



In terms of the economy, every policy of the NPP in Government has been designed to benefit as many Ghanaians as possible. The NPP Government of President Kufuor transformed the economy into Lower Middle Income status, found oil and gas in commercial quantities, restored and expanded cocoa production and expanded the financial sector.



We successfully rolled out some integrated initiatives towards agro-industry, which include One District One Factory (1D1F), One District One Warehouse (1D1W), One Village One Dam (1V1D) and Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ). Heavy investments in the cocoa sector have resulted in the highest ever cocoa crop in Ghana in excess of a million tonnes in the 2021 crop season. Furthermore, we successfully rolled out the Mobile Money Interoperability, enabling digital payments across diverse platforms, roping in 70% of the bankable population into the financial space.



This has changed the face of banking in Ghana and is set to drive transactions in the African Continental Free Trade Area headquartered in Accra, which is another major plus for Nana Akufo-Addos leadership. The President has also championed the successful establishment of a credible automobile assembly enclave in Ghana. Moreover, the revamped Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) is set to drive the SME sector with appropriate support.



The NPP, despite its centre right ideology, has implemented more social intervention programmes than any other political party in the history of Ghana. Kufuor established National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and provided Free Maternal Health Care. He introduced the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) for indigent families and provided the Capitation Grant and the Ghana School Feeding Programme. He undertook pension reform, instilling sanity and bringing relief to retirees. He also initiated Cocoa Mass Spraying, creating new jobs, higher yields and increased incomes in the cocoa sector.



President Akufo-Addo has continued with innovative social interventions. One of his greatest legacies, Free Senior High School, is set to provide the literate society which will ensure skills and technical innovation to feed the industrialisation drive. President Akufo-Addo has delivered One Constituency One Ambulance (1C1A), a drone service for delivery of medical supplies, restoration of Teacher and Nursing Training Allowances, introduction of allowances for Arabic and Islamic Instructors under the National Volunteer Service Programme and the absorption of examination registration fees for BECE and WASSCE candidates. We successfully implemented the Zongo Development Fund and NABCO, which employed one hundred thousand graduates.



The NPP government is championing rapid digitisation of government services to improve access and turnaround time, reduce human contact, and ensure integrity of payments and receipts and the quality of records. Paperless Port System, Digital Address System, online passport application and processing system, online production of driving licences, National Identification Card System and NHIA are all taking government service delivery to a new level. The Ghana.Gov platform introduced by the NPP has made things even better as most government services may be accessed online from the comfort of your home or office.



Digitization also supports anti-corruption. Some of the best ways of preventing corruption include minimizing human contact and strengthening the capacity of regulatory, monitoring and enforcement agencies. President Kufuor legislated to strengthen public procurement and internal audit systems. President Akufo-Addo has enhanced the legal framework and invested heavily in improving the financial and operational capacity of independent regulatory and oversight agencies, including the Judiciary, CHRAJ, EOCO, the Security Services and Parliament.



The NPP also established the Office of the Special Prosecutor, with unprecedented independent powers to initiate investigations and prosecute corruption. He has also ensured the passage of the Right to Information legislation, which had been pending in Parliament for over twenty years, with an independent implementing Commission. A new Companies Act and Land Act have also been passed to ease bottlenecks in the private sector.



The NPP has also proven to be the bastion of media freedom and free speech in the country. It was an NPP government, under President Kufour that repealed the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law. President Nana Addo has gone even further with the passage of the age-long Right to Information Law and proceeded to set-up the Right to Information Commission, to give impetus to the realization of the objectives of the Law.



Free speech has expanded tremendously under the NPP, especially with heightened resort to social media. Along with expansion has come investment in infrastructure, creating a new brand of jobs, incomes and multiple channels of feedback. The vibrant social culture and promising corporate opportunities for new streams of income and technology transfer, have attracted the two international giants of social media, Google and Twitter to set up corporate offices in Ghana to serve Africa. The location of these two modern businesses in Ghana shows how attractive an investment destination Ghana has become.



Clearly, the NPP, by all indications, has proven to be the Party of choice for the Ghanaian people. We are a Party of principles; a Party of tradition and a Party of results and prosperity. To further consolidate our gains and contributions to Ghanas democracy, we have set up a party training institute primarily to offer leadership training to our members. Members will benefit from lessons in our political history, understanding our ideology, policy analysis, communications, research and other related political issues.



The Institute would be inaugurated by the end of the year. The Party has secured a National Secretariat for the Institute, and appointed a Governing Council for the Party School which shall be chaired by the immediate past Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Mike Aaron Oquaye. The Party also appointed a Rector for the Institute in the person of Prof Bonzi Simpson, the immediate past Rector for GIMPA.



In conclusion, the NPP continues to extend a hand of hope and prosperity to the Ghanaian people to believe in our ability to spearhead the affairs of this country and to overcome particularly the current economic challenges that have plagued the country and the World, which challenges have largely been driven by the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic, and exacerbated by the Russian-Ukraine war.



We also cease this opportunity to once again thank all party stalwarts and our countrymen men and women including young people who have contributed to the Partys unending success stories particularly over the past three decades. Finally, as the Party gears up for its 2022 National Annual Delegates Conference, between July 15th to 17th, which Conference would, inter alia, elect National Officers, the Party wishes all Candidates the best of LUCK.



Thank you.



Long live the New Patriotic Party!

Long live the Fourth Republic!

Long live mother Ghana!

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Eight stone tablets dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) have been discovered in southwest China's Sichuan Province, local authorities said Tuesday.

The tablets were found in Chengdu Wuhou Shrine, which was constructed nearly 1,800 years ago to commemorate Liu Bei, founder of the Shu state during the Three Kingdom Period (220-280), Zhuge Liang, a renowned military strategist of Liu, and other eminent figures during the period.

A corner of a stone tablet was discovered in a wall during the shrine's renovation work in February. After scanning and cleaning of the wall by professional institutions, 15 fragments of eight stone tablets were found, said Ma Ping, deputy director of the Chengdu Wuhou Shrine museum.

The earliest inscriptions date back 350 years while the latest inscriptions have a history of 201 years.

The new discoveries will be displayed to the public after undergoing protection measures, said An Jianhua, an official with the museum.
Ghanaian dancehall artiste, Charles Nii Armah Mensah popularly known as Shatta Wale has been fined Ghc2,000 by the Accra Circuit Court for falsely claiming he was shot in October last year.



The court presided over by Emmanuel Essandoh, slapped Shatta Wale with the fine after the artiste pleaded guilty to the publication of false news, graphiconline reported.



Wale had earlier pleaded not guilty to the offence but changed his plea today with his lawyers urging the court to have mercy on him and give him a lenient sentence.



Failure to pay the fine will result in Shatta Wale serving a term of three months in prison.



On Monday, October 18, 2021, media reports suggested that Shatta Wale had been shot by some unidentified gunmen. His personal assistant, Nana Dhope, was reported to have confirmed the report to the media saying the incident occurred at East Legon.



The report further said Nana Dhope claimed Shatta Wale was receiving treatment at an unnamed medical facility after he managed to escape from his attackers.



The police subsequently launched an investigation into the matter including making contacts with some of his close friends and family members and all of them claim not to have knowledge of his whereabouts or the alleged incident.



Hours afterwards, Shatta Wale in a social media post said he feigned the attack because of the death prophecy by the founder and leader of New Life Kingdom Chapel International, Stephen Akwasi, popularly known as Jesus Ahuofe.



The statement made by this false prophet has gotten me in a mood of violence since no one in this country cares. So the police of this country want to tell me none of them saw those threatening statements online to take action? he asked.



This pastor said 18th October Shatta Wale will be shot and you want to tell me you didnt see from your cyber-crime department nor did u hear or come across anything like that online? If my life can be threatened and there is no law to take action on that then I guess I will do what is right in the eyes of God, Shatta Wale noted.



He apologised to his fans who were affected by his hoax but was arrested by the police after he turned himself in and spent two nights in police custody.

Source: nydjlive.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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CEBU Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will attend the inauguration of President-elect Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. in Manila on Thursday, June 30, 2022.



Yes I will be attending. I would also wish to return the favor that they extended to us..., said Garcia during the mass oath taking of elected officials under the One Cebu party on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.



Marcos attended Tuesdays mass oath taking of One Cebu officials held at the Marco Polo Hotel in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City. Incoming Vice President Sara Duterte was also at the event.



Garcia said she was grateful for the presence of the two highest elected officials of the land in Tuesdays event.



She added that her daughter, Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco, may also take her oath as the new secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Thursday, June 30.



I believe that that would also be the oath taking day for my daughter Christina, so I would like to be present also for both historic events for the Philippines and for Cebu, Garcia said.



Marcos UniTeam and Garcias One Cebu parties have united in last May 9 elections. The One Cebu had secured 1.5 million votes for Marcos and 1.7 million votes for Duterte.



Let me take this opportunity to thank the Cebuanos who rallied to our call that we support the UniTeam because the UniTeam espoused what One Cebu believes in unity, and that was what President-elect Marcos and Vice President-elect Duterte believes in the only way we can move forward is when we get together sama-sama tayong babangon muli, said Garcia.



Marcos will be the fourth president of the Philippines to be taking oath at the National Museum of the Philippines.



The former Presidents who also took their oath the National Museum were Manuel Quezon (1935), Jose P. Laurel (1943) and Manuel Roxas (1946). (ANV/LMY)




A doctor explains the results on a digital tablet screen of a lung check up from a chest x-ray scan to a cancer patient. (Photo: Getty Images)

Advocacy group Hope From Within is calling for Filipinos to invest and keep themselves free from the impact of cancer by getting tested, in a multi-stakeholder cancer advocacy summit Kalayaan ng Kababaihan mula sa Kanser.

We should be very vigilant. In any disease especially in breast cancer. The earliest that we can diagnose it, treat it, the higher the curability rate, medical oncologist Josephine Tolentino said.

Love yourself. Sometimes, you know tinitipid natin ang sarili natin, tinitipid ang health, but remember this is also an investment, Tolentino said.

The Department of Health lists cancer as the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality rate in the country, after heart and vascular diseases. And according to a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Institute of Human Genetics at the National Institutes of Health, Filipinos die of cancer every hour or 96 every day.

Celebrity actress and cancer advocate Dinane Medina shares about her mothers battle with cancer, which she calls a miracle that she survived for 10 years before finally succumbing to the deadly disease in 2011.

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer at [the] age of 47, [and] at first she kept going to her cardiologist because of heart problems. Hindi ma-pinpoint kung ano ang mali, until she felt a lump on her breast. (They couldnt figure out what was wrong, until she felt a lump on her breast.) The doctors told us that she was already in stage 4. There was no chance to live, it was already 50-50 for my mom because of late detection, Medina said.

She then encouraged Filipinos to get tested.

Ang problema sa ating Pilipino, we are always scared of our diagnosis, the doctors. Dont! Kung nagpa-check-up agad si Mommy, for sure napakataas ng rate na kasama pa namin ang Mommy namin hanggang ngayon, said Medina.

(The problem with us Filipinos is we are scared of our diagnosis, the doctors. Dont! Had my mom checked herself in early, for sure that her survival rate would be much higher, and we could still have her with us now.)

Story continues

The summit also tackled the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA), passed in 2019 but has yet to be implemented. Dr. Clarita Cairo, Department of Healths program manager for cancer, shared the development in the implementation of the law, and appeals for more patience from the public.

Please bear with us  we assure you that we will sustain what we have started  so every family, every Filipino will have the access they deserve, Cairo said.

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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To study medicines in wastewater, UB scientists use the equipment and techniques pictured here to isolate chemical compounds from water samples. Credit: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki / University at Buffalo

In a pilot project exploring ways to monitor COVID-19, University at Buffalo scientists hunted for pharmaceuticals and viral RNA simultaneously in wastewater in Western New York.

The results of their study, published on May 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, suggest that measuring the concentrations of medicines in wastewater could add another layer to disease-monitoring efforts.

"Wastewater-based disease surveillance is being done worldwide through monitoring of viral RNA," says lead scientist Diana Aga, Ph.D., director of the UB RENEW Institute and Henry M. Woodburn Professor of Chemistry in the UB College of Arts and Sciences. "The potential of complementing existing efforts with detection of pharmaceuticals is exciting. There are a lot of opportunities here, though more research is needed."

One interesting discovery in the new study involves acetaminophen, a pain reliever and fever reducer that serves as an active ingredient in over-the-counter medicines such as Tylenol, Theraflu and other brands.

At all four wastewater treatment plants included in the project, the research found that acetaminophen concentrations in wastewater spiked before other measures of COVID-19 in the community in early 2021, including concentrations of COVID-19 viral RNA in wastewater and the estimated number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

For example, at the Bird Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves Buffalo and some surrounding suburbs, acetaminophen levels in wastewater spiked about two weeks earlier than levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. The spike in viral RNA, in turn, preceded the spike in the estimated number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 by about a week, scientists say.

"Our biggest finding is that there's a huge increase in the concentration of acetaminophen, which is used in over-the-counter drugs, that predates the peak of viral RNA in wastewater and the peak in clinical detections in our area during the study period," Aga says.

"This was very interesting, as it suggests that detection of pharmaceuticals could act as an early warning of a potential disease outbreak in a community," Aga says. "Our group is one of the first to complement detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater with the levels of pharmaceuticals."

The potential to enhance wastewater studies for public health

Wastewater data is becoming a crucial part of monitoring COVID-19 as home testing has become more popular, leading to many positive cases going unreported.

During the pandemic, UB engineering researchers Ian M. Bradley and Yinyin Ye have been working with partners including Erie County to monitor COVID-19 viral RNA in wastewater.

The new study in Environmental Science & Technology Letters is exciting because it suggests that detection of pharmaceuticals could add another layer to such efforts, Bradley and Ye say. Their labs contributed data to the research, and they are co-authors.

Acetaminophen is not a perfect proxy for COVID-19: People take the drug to treat many types of pain, aches and fevers, and some fluctuations of the medicine in wastewater over the study period did not correlate with viral RNA data.

However, the spike in acetaminophen that did seem to match up with the local COVID-19 wave was large, and this finding points to use of over-the-counter medications as a potential early signal of a looming outbreak, the researchers say.

"What's really exciting is that there's so much information in wastewater. How can we use this to track diseases for public health? All of these data are complementary," says Bradley, Ph.D., assistant professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a core faculty member in the UB RENEW Institute.

"We're focusing on wastewater public health studies, and we want to see if we can integrate more data to get an idea of what's going on in the community," says Ye, Ph.D., assistant professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, and RENEW faculty affiliate. "We can pull out information from wastewater, but there are still a lot of unknowns about how to interpret the data for public health. We want to test not just biological markers, but also chemical markers and all sorts of different layers of information."

In addition to identifying the spikes in acetaminophen, the study found residues of prescription medications associated with the pandemic in wastewater, including drugs whose emergency use authorization for treating COVID-19 has been revoked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Explore further Chemical analyses of wastewater may reveal public and environmental health effects of the pandemic

More information: Lahiruni M. Halwatura et al, Complementing RNA Detection with Pharmaceutical Monitoring for Early Warning of Viral Outbreaks through Wastewater-Based Epidemiology, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2022). Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology Letters Lahiruni M. Halwatura et al, Complementing RNA Detection with Pharmaceutical Monitoring for Early Warning of Viral Outbreaks through Wastewater-Based Epidemiology,(2022). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00259
Credit: Jessica Rae Peto

An international group of geneticists and archaeologists, led by the Francis Crick Institute, have found that the ancestry of dogs can be traced to at least two populations of ancient wolves. The work moves us a step closer to uncovering the mystery of where dogs underwent domestication, one of the biggest unanswered questions about human prehistory.

Dogs are known to have originated from the gray wolf, with this domestication occurring during the Ice Age, at least 15,000 years ago. But where this happened, and if it occurred in one single location or in multiple places, is still unknown.

Previous studies using the archaeological record and comparing the DNA of dogs and modern wolves have not found the answer.

In their study, published in Nature today, the researchers turned to ancient wolf genomes to further understanding of where the first dogs evolved from wolves. They analyzed 72 ancient wolf genomes, spanning the last 100,000 years, from Europe, Siberia and North America.

The remains came from previously excavated ancient wolves, with archaeologists from 38 institutions in 16 different countries contributing to the study. The remains included a full, perfectly preserved head from a Siberian wolf that lived 32,000 years ago. Nine different ancient DNA labs then collaborated on generating DNA sequence data from the wolves.

By analyzing the genomes, the researchers found that both early and modern dogs are more genetically similar to ancient wolves in Asia than those in Europe, suggesting a domestication somewhere in the east.

A 32,000 year-old wolf skull from Yakutia from which a 12-fold coverage genome was sequenced as part of the study. Credit: Love Dalen

However, they also found evidence that two separate populations of wolves contributed DNA to dogs. Early dogs from north-eastern Europe, Siberia and the Americas appear to have a single, shared origin from the eastern source. But early dogs from the Middle East, Africa and southern Europe appear to have some ancestry from another source related to wolves in the Middle East, in addition to the eastern source.

One possible explanation for this dual ancestry is that wolves underwent domestication more than once, with the different populations then mixing together. Another possibility is that domestication happened only once, and that the dual ancestry is due to these early dogs then mixing with wild wolves. It is not currently possible to determine which of these two scenarios occurred.

Anders Bergstrom, co-first author and post-doctoral researcher in the Ancient Genomics lab at the Crick, says: "Through this project we have greatly increased the number of sequenced ancient wolf genomes, allowing us to create a detailed picture of wolf ancestry over time, including around the time of dog origins."

A 32,000 year-old wolf skull from Yakutia from which a 12-fold coverage genome was sequenced as part of the study. Credit: Love Dalen

"By trying to place the dog piece into this picture, we found that dogs derive ancestry from at least two separate wolf populationsan eastern source that contributed to all dogs and a separate more westerly source, that contributed to some dogs."

The team are continuing the hunt for a close ancient wolf ancestor of dogs, which could reveal more precisely where domestication most likely took place. They are now focusing on genomes from other locations not included in this study, including more southerly regions.

As the 72 ancient wolf genomes spanned around 30,000 generations, it was possible to look back and build a timeline of how wolf DNA has changed, tracing natural selection in action.

'Dogor', an 18,000 year-old wolf puppy from Yakutia which was included in the study. Credit: Sergey Fedorov

For example, they observed that over a period of around 10,000 years, one gene variant went from being very rare to being present in every wolf, and is still present in all wolves and dogs today. The variant affects a gene, IFT88, which is involved in the development of bones in the skull and jaw. It is possible that the spread of this variant could have been driven by a change in the types of prey available during the Ice Age, giving an advantage to wolves with a certain head shape, but the gene could also have other unknown functions in wolves.

Pontus Skoglund, senior author and group leader of the Ancient Genomics lab at the Crick, says: "This is the first time scientists have directly tracked natural selection in a large animal over a time-scale of 100,000 years, seeing evolution play out in real time rather than trying to reconstruct it from DNA today."

'Dogor', an 18,000 year-old wolf puppy from Yakutia which was included in the study. Credit: Sergey Fedorov

"We found several cases where mutations spread to the whole wolf species, which was possible because the species was highly connected over large distances. This connectivity is perhaps a reason why wolves managed to survive the Ice Age while many other large carnivores vanished."

"Similar whole-genome time series from the Ice Age, in humans or other animals, could provide new information about how evolution happens."

Explore further DNA shows Japanese wolf closest relative of domestic dogs

More information: Pontus Skoglund, Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs, Nature (2022). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04824-9 Journal information: Nature Pontus Skoglund, Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04824-9
The Fagradalsfjall eruption site viewed from above. The photo shows lava emanating from multiple vents. Tourists for scale. Credit: Alina V. Shevchenko and Edgar U. Zorn, GFZ Germany.

The recent Fagradalsfjall eruption in the southwest of Iceland has enthralled the whole world, including nature lovers and scientists alike. The eruption was especially important as it provided geologists with a unique opportunity to study magmas that were accumulated in a deep crustal magma reservoir but ultimately derived from the Earth's mantle (below 20 km).

A research team from University of Oregon, Uppsala University, University of Iceland, and Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) took this exceptional opportunity to collect lava samples every few days in order to construct a time-integrated catalog of samples and to monitor the geochemical evolution throughout the eruption to a degree of detail rarely achieved before. Usually, when volcano scientists look at past eruptions they work with a limited view of the erupted materialsfor example older lava flows can get wholly or partially buried by newer ones. However, at Fagradalsfjall, the eruption was so well monitored and sampled that scientists had a chance to capture the evolution of an Icelandic eruption in near real-time.

The team were interested in oxygen isotopes. Why? Because oxygen makes up about 50% of all volcanic rocks and its isotope ratios are very sensitive tracers of mantle and crustal materials. In this way, oxygen isotopes can help scientists to determine if magma is mantle-derived or if it interacted with crustal materials as it made its way to the surface. However, in addition to oxygen, the other vast suite of elements making up the volcanic rocks threw up some surprises. For instance, the team observed that this single eruption contains roughly half of the entire diversity of mantle-derived magmas previously recorded for the whole of Iceland.

In brief, geochemical results show that the latest Iceland eruption was supplied by magmas derived from multiple sources in the Earth's mantle, each with its own distinctive elemental characteristics. To the amazement of scientists, each of these domains had identical oxygen isotope ratios. This result was remarkable and has never been observed before at an active eruption. The study provides new and compelling evidence for distinct mantle-sourced magmas having uniform oxygen isotope ratios, which can help us to better understand mantle dynamics and refine mantle models for Iceland.

Collecting red-hot lava samples at the Fagradalsfjall eruption site. Samples were collected regularly in order to create a detailed time-line of erupted material for analysis. Credit: Jona Sigurlina Palmadottir, University of Iceland

The research was published in Nature Communications.

Explore further Research team finds that some magmas originate from mantle portions containing remnants of Earth's earliest crust

More information: I. N. Bindeman et al, Diverse mantle components with invariant oxygen isotopes in the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption, Iceland, Nature Communications (2022). Journal information: Nature Communications I. N. Bindeman et al, Diverse mantle components with invariant oxygen isotopes in the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption, Iceland,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31348-7
Artist's impression of Nombe Rockshelter megafauna, showing the Nombe kangaroo on the right. Credit: Artwork by Peter Schouten

Australian paleontologists from Flinders University have described a new genus of giant fossil kangaroo from the mountains of central Papua New Guinea.

The new description of the fossil kangaroo has found that rather than being closely related to Australian kangaroos, it most likely belongs to a unique genus of more primitive kangaroo found only in Papua New Guinea.

The kangaroo, first described in 1983 by Professor Tim Flannery, is known from fossils around 20,000-50,000 years old. They come from the Nombe Rockshelter, an archaeological and paleontological site in Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Nombe is already known for multiple extinct species of kangaroo and giant four-legged marsupials called diprotodontids.

Flinders University researchers have renamed the animal Nombe nombe, after the location of its discoveryand plan to return to PNG for further excavations and research next year.

The squat, muscular Nombe lived in a diverse montane rainforest with thick undergrowth and a closed canopy. Here, it evolved to eat the tough leaves from trees and shrubs, with a thick jaw bone and strong chewing muscles.

Much of the animal life of New Guinea is little-known outside the island, despite its color and distinctiveness. This discovery breathes some new life into the exploration of New Guinea's faunal history.

Flinders University palaeontology researcher Isaac Kerr with an Australian kangaroo jaw bone, and an Australian megafauna fossil jaw used in the latest Royal Society study. Credit: Flinders University

"The New Guinean fauna is fascinating, but very few Australians have much of an idea of what's actually there," says Flinders paleontology Ph.D. candidate Isaac Kerr.

"There are several species of large, long-nosed, worm-eating echidna that are still around today, many different wallaby and possum species that we don't get in Australia, and more still in the fossil record.

"We think of these animals as being uniquely Australian, but they have this intriguing other life within New Guinea."

Using 3D imagery and other technology, the researchers have studied remains from the PNG Museum and Art gallery. They now believe that the species may have evolved from an ancient form of kangaroo that dispersed into New Guinea in the late Miocene epoch, around 5-8 million years ago.

During that time, the islands of New Guinea and mainland Australia were connected by a "land-bridge" due to lower sea levels, rather than separated by the flooded Torres Strait as they are today. This "bridge" allowed early Australian mammals, including various giant extinct forms, to move into the rainforests of New Guinea.

When the Torres Strait flooded again, however, these populations of animals became disconnected from their Australian relatives, and so evolved separately to suit their tropical, mountainous PNG home.

Nombe is now considered the descendant of one of these ancient lineages of kangaroos.

3D render of the PNG kangaroo fossilized jaw bone used in the new Flinders University study. Credit: I Kerr, Flinders University

Sporadic paleontological work was undertaken there by American and Australian researchers in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, much of which resulted in fascinating discoveries of extinct megafauna. However, no paleontological digs have taken place there since the early '90s, a situation the Flinders University researchers seek to remedy.

Co-author on the new Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia article, Flinders University Professor Gavin Prideaux, says the research will expand thanks to a grant from the Australia Pacific Science Foundation.

"We're very excited to undertake three paleontological digs at two different sites in eastern and central PNG over the next three years," he says.

"We'll be working with the curators of the Papua New Guinea Museum and Art Gallery and other contacts in PNG, with whom we hope to build some local interest in New Guinean paleontology."

More information: A new genus of fossil kangaroo from late Pleistocene New Guinea, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia (2022). A new genus of fossil kangaroo from late Pleistocene New Guinea,(2022). DOI: 10.1080/03721426.2022.2086518
Rocky Mountain snails live at high altitudes at sites from Canada south to New Mexico. Credit: Bridget Chalifour

On a drizzly day in July 1920, a Colorado scientist named Junius Henderson was hiking around the Dakota Hogback, a sandstone ridge north of Boulder. There, he spotted a group of Rocky Mountain snails (Oreohelix strigosa) oozing across the ground. Henderson scooped up the mollusks and brought them back to his lab at what is now called the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, carefully preserving his finds.

Now, a century later, a team of ecologists from the CU museum have returned to those snails, obtaining surprising insights into something that Henderson couldn't have predicted at the time: the diverse communities of bacteria and other microbes, known collectively as the microbiome, that flourished inside the mollusks' guts.

For the first time ever, researchers have used modern, DNA-screening tools to identify the microbes that once lived in the guts of animals that have been dead for a century. Bridget Chalifour, who led the study, said the findings show just how valuable museum collections can bemicrobiomes could offer an unexpected window into how animals interacted with their environments as far back as the era of Prohibition, or even farther.

"We've learned that samples from 50 or 100 years ago have just as much viability to answer modern, ecological questions as samples collected just two years ago," said Chalifour, who recently earned her doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from CU Boulder.

She and her colleagues published their results June 29 in the journal Microbiome.

The results come as scientists are realizing how important gut microbiomes are for many animals and even humans. Recent research from CU Boulder, for example, has shown that a healthy population of intestinal bacteria can help people fight stress or even sleep better.

The new approach doesn't have to stop at snails: Scientists could use a similar method to scan the microbiomes of a range of other animals that museums often store in ethanol, including many spiders, frogs and snakes.

"This work opens the door to unlimited possibilities," said study co-author Jingchun Li, curator of invertebrates at the museum and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "It means that millions of museum specimens accumulated through centuries worldwide can be used for microbiome research."

Rocky Mountain snails preserved in ethanol sit on a shelf at the CU Museum of Natural History. Credit: Bridget Chalifour

Keep an eye out

You may never have seen a Rocky Mountain snail, even if you've lived and hiked in Colorado for years. These animals, which are about the size of your thumbnail, munch on leaves and other plant matter at sites from Canada south into New Mexico.

But they tend to only come out when it's wet.

"When it's raining, they're usually out grazing on rocks or trees at places like Eldorado Canyon in Boulder," Chalifour said.

Over the years, Boulder researchers have collected roughly 1,000 of these snails, storing them, like Henderson's early finds, in ethanol.

"Museum specimens and artifacts are the next best thing to a time machine," Li said. "With many such specimens and data, we can ask how the changing climate has shaped mountain plant communities through time. We can detect what organisms survived mass extinction events."

Li and Chalifour, plus a former collections manager at CU Boulder named Leanne Elder, decided to take a special peek at the snails' innards.

Lost populations

The team gathered a collection of 55 Rocky Mountain snails plucked up between 1920 and 2018 from a region stretching from Boulder in the east to Telluride in the southwest. They included three snails that Henderson, whose name now adorns the museum's main building on campus, had found. The researchers then emptied the mollusks. The microorganisms within their guts had also been dead for decades, but the team was able to sequence what was left of their DNA.

Microbes in the guts of Rocky Mountain snails may help the animals digest leaves and other plant matter. Credit: Bridget Chalifour

The gutsy approach paid off:

When they died decades ago, the mollusks had been bursting with life. The researchers identified evidence of more than 7,000 organisms, mostly bacteria, hiding inside each snail.

Ethanol didn't seem to degrade their DNA either: The team found equally diverse microbiomes in Henderson's century-old samples as in snails that Chalifour had collected herself and never stored in a jar.

"It's exciting for me because I've now deposited a lot of samples into the museum," Chalifour said. "I like to think about what people may do with my snails in 15 years."

She noted that the microbiomes of the snail specimens shifted a bit over the century for reasons that aren't clear. Henderson's mollusks, for example, harbored a lot of bacteria belonging to the genera Bradyrhizobium, Alicycliphilus and Cloacibacterium. Snails collected in 2018, meanwhile, were partial to Flavobacterium and the families Chitinophagaceae and Cerasicoccaceae. Where the animals live, however, mattered a lot more, accounting for about 20% of the microbial variation between snails.

Those microorganisms, Chalifour said, likely helped the snails eke out a living in the Rockies: Many of the bacteria the team found belonged to groups that are often able to break down complex organic moleculeslike the cellulose in the leaves that snails eat.

Today, droughts and wildfires may be squeezing these wet-weather animals out of their former habitats, Chalifour added.

She spent days looking for snails around Boulder County where Henderson collected his original specimens. She couldn't find any.

"A lot of the populations we have in our collections aren't there anymore," Chalifour said.

Explore further Newly discovered cave snail with spiky teeth

More information: Bridget N. Chalifour et al, Gut microbiome of century-old snail specimens stable across time in preservation, Microbiome (2022). Bridget N. Chalifour et al, Gut microbiome of century-old snail specimens stable across time in preservation,(2022). DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01286-z
Schematic representation of the bottom-up design strategy for the construction of artificial light-gated ion channel membrane. (A) Trans-cis-trans reversible isomerization of the synthesized azo-CMP monomer and (B) the elementary pore structure of the azo-CMP membrane. Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2929

In a new report now published in Science Advances, Zongyao Zhou and a team of scientists in chemical engineering and physical science and engineering at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia developed an artificial light-gated ion channel membrane using conjugated microporous polymers. The team was inspired by light-gated ion channels in cell membranes that play an important role in many biological activities to precisely regulate the membrane pore size and thickness at the molecular level via bottom-up design and electropolymerization methods. The process led to reversible "on/off" light control for light-gated ion transport across the membrane to deliver hydrogen, potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium and aluminum ions.

Light-gated membranes for ion transport

Light-gated ion channels can regulate the transport of ions in living cells to adjust electrical excitability, calcium influx, and other crucial cellular processes. At present, channelrhodopsins are the first and only class of light-gated ion channels identified in biology, and they have received much attention in recent years. The direct use of light-gated channelrhodopsins are limited by the generally minimal chemical and physical stability of the proteins in external environments. Researchers have therefore conducted extensive studies to develop artificial light-gated ion channels for applications across neurobiology, bioelectronics and waste purification.

Artificial light-gated ion channels can be produced in the lab by modifying nanopores with light-responsive functional groups. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) provide a unique class of porous organic materials, as shown in previous work. In this work, Zhou et al synthesized a de novo rigid flexible azobenzene containing monomer (azo-CMP) to achieve the expected light-gated response. The team light-gated structurally well-defined elementary micropores and interconnected them to form smart ion channels in the azo-CMP membrane. The setup is best suited to facilitate photo-switching mechanisms to successfully achieve "on-off-on" photoisomerization for well-regulated ion transport.

Azo-CMP membranes. (A) Structure of the synthesized monomer and the mechanism of electropolymerization. (B) CV profiles of the electrochemical oxidationreduction reaction recorded over 50 CV scan cycles. (C) Membrane thickness as a function of the number of CV cycles. (D) Large-area surface SEM image of the azo-CMP@200-50c membrane on a copper grid. (E) High-magnification SEM image of the surface of the azo-CMP@200-50c membrane. (F) Cross-sectional SEM image of azo-CMP@200-50c membrane on an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) support. (G) AFM height image of the azo-CMP@200-50c membrane transferred onto a silicon wafer and (H) corresponding height profile of the membrane. (I) AFM image of the azo-CMP@200-50c membrane. RMS, root mean square. (J) AFM image with the peak force quantitative nanomechanical mapping (PFQNM) and (K) the corresponding Youngs modulus profile of the membrane. Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2929

The azo-CMP monomer maintained a butterfly winglike structure with azobenzene as the light-switchable hinge of the wing and the alkyl chain as a soft linker to bridge the hinge and electroactive carbazole scaffold. The team designed the length of the soft linker to increase the net distance and provided sufficient space for photoisomerization of the azobenzene moiety, which they analyzed via molecular simulations. During the experiments, the monomer showed rapid and reversible photoisomerization by changing the wavelength of irradiation.

Developing the azo-CMP membranes

The scientists developed the azo-CMP membranes via electropolymerization in a three-cathode electrochemical cell. They optimized the reaction conditions for smooth and defect-free azo-CMP membranes and observed the resulting chemical structure via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The outcomes confirmed the polymerization of carbazoles and the existence of azobenzene units in the membranes. The team modified the surface hydrophilicity and the appearance of membranes by modifying the synthetic parameters to create a tough and non-uniform membrane surface with many micro- and nano-structures.

Trans-cis-trans reversible isomerization of the azo-CMP@200-50 membrane. (A) Real-time in situ KPFM image of the membrane and (B) corresponding potential profile. (C) UV-vis absorption spectra of trans-to-cis isomerization under UV light and (D) ratio of trans/cis state with UV light irradiation time. (E) UV-vis spectra of cis-to-trans isomerization under vis-light and (F) ratio of trans/cis state with vis-light irradiation time. Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2929

Photoisomerization of the membrane

Photoisomerization can lead to structural changes in molecules and geometrical changes in the ion channels. Such structural changes can lead to a surface potential difference of the azo-CMP membranes, which Zhou et al observed by using real-time Kelvin probe force microscopy. The team recorded the changing surface potential of transmembranes after UV irradiation. The UV-Vis spectroscopy further substantiated isomerization of the membranes to indicate rapid and stable photo-responsive trans-cis-trans isomerization of azo-CMP membranes. The team used additional experiments to show changes in channel size of the membranes in trans and cis states through nitrogen adsorption isotherm measurements, followed by molecular dynamics simulations to reveal changes in the channel size for distinct ion permeability and selectivity.

Pore-size distribution of azo-CMP@200-50c membrane. (A) The membrane in trans and (B) cis states. (C) Simulated pore-size distribution of the membrane in trans and cis states. A 3D view of the membrane in (D) trans and (E) cis states (free volume in gray and Connolly surface in blue). Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2929

Light-gated ion transport of the membranes azo-CMP@200-50c. (A) Schematic diagram of the setup for the tests under electric field. (B) Al3+ conductance changes under alternating UV light and vis-light irradiation calculated on the basis of the data in fig. S28. The insets show the illustration of the controllable ion transport in the ion channels with on and off states. (C) I-V curves of the membranes recorded in 10 mM KCl solution during the trans-to-cis isomerization under UV light. (D) K+-relative conductance changes in successive cycles under alternating UV light and vis-light irradiation. The relative conductance is derived from comparing the conductance of K+ to that of deionized water (fig. S29). (E) Current of common ions recorded in on-state and off-state of the membrane under a voltage of 0.5 V. Note: The current in (E) was normalized by the number of the ion charges based on the data in figs. S28 and S30. (F) K+ and Al3+ permeation rate tested under concentration-driven ion permeation process. The inset shows the details of Al3+ permeation rate. Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2929

Proof-of-concept: Light-gated ion transport of the membranes

The scientists studied the performance of light-gated ion channel membranes for controlled ion transport using electrically driven ion permeation tests in a lab quartz cell with two chambers. They filled the two chambers with similar concentrations of salt solution and measured ion transport via current-voltage characteristics of azo-CMP membranes in the trans and cis form.

They noted the dynamics of the membrane current/ion conductance in the "on-state" as well as decreased conductance upon UV irradiation to indicate a reduced ion transport state that could be restored via irradiation with visible light to regulate ion transport across smart channel membranes. The outcomes highlighted the scope of the of the light-gated ion channel membranes for pharmaceutical applications and smart dialysis.

Outlook

In this way, Zongyao Zhou and colleagues were inspired by naturally occurring channelrhodopsins to create reversible and recyclable artificial light-gated ion channel membranes. They designed azobenzene-containing conjugated microporous (CMP)-monomers at the molecular level by introducing a light-switchable azobenzene core unit a soft alkyl chain and rigid electroactive carbazoles. The chemistry of the membrane channels delivered a highly effective trans-to-cis photoisomerization response to regulate ion transport remotely and dynamically. The product is significantly important to the separation industry, including nanoscale molecule memory applications, smart drug release and photoresponsive chemosensors.

Explore further A light touch for membrane selectivity

More information: Zongyao Zhou et al, Conjugated microporous polymer membranes for light-gated ion transport, Science Advances (2022). Zongyao Zhou et al, Conjugated microporous polymer membranes for light-gated ion transport,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2929 Farhan Mohammad et al, Optogenetic inhibition of behavior with anion channelrhodopsins, Nature Methods (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.4148 Journal information: Nature Methods , Science Advances

 2022 Science X Network
The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-13 crewed mission met the press and public on Tuesday, the first such appearance after returning to Earth in April.

At the press conference held in Beijing, Jing Haipeng, head of the Astronaut Corps, described the Shenzhou-13 crew's recovery and follow-up plans.

According to Jing, the astronauts have completed the stages of quarantine and recuperation and switched to the observation stage. At present, they are in good physical and mental conditions with normal medical examination results.

The crew have basically restored their cardio functions, said Jing, adding that their muscle strength, endurance and bone density have been well recovered.

Jing said the three astronauts will resume their regular training after completing the health assessment.

Launched on Oct. 16, 2021, the Shenzhou-13 spaceship sent Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived for six months, setting a new duration record for Chinese astronauts staying in space. The three returned to Earth safely on April 16, 2022.

They have completed a series of innovative, ground-breaking scientific experiments and space applications in a state of well-being they describe as "feeling good."

Zhai Zhigang is the first Chinese astronaut to perform a spacewalk and has conducted more extravehicular activities than any other Chinese astronaut. He said that the state of "feeling good," both in space and during training, benefits from the development of the country's manned space endeavors.

Wang Yaping is China's first female astronaut to conduct an extravehicular spacewalk and the country's first "space teacher," conveying information on space-related topics to young people. She expects young people to participate in the construction of China's space station.

The Shenzhou-13 mission is Ye Guangfu's first space mission. He said China's space station welcomes foreign astronauts.

The three astronauts said they are always ready to return to space again.
This image of the sedimentary rocks of Enchanted Lake was taken by one of the Perseverance rover's Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) near the base of Jezero Crater's delta on April 30, 2022. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Ask any space explorer, and they'll have a favorite photograph or two from their mission. For Katie Stack Morgan, the deputy project scientist for NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, the first close-up image of layered rocks at the base of Jezero Crater's ancient river delta holds a special place in her heart. The image of the "Enchanted Lake" rocky outcrop, informally named after a landmark in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, was taken by one of the rover's Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) on April 30, 2022.

A massive fan-shaped collection of rocks and sediment at the western edge of Jezero Crater, the delta formed at the convergence of a Martian river and a crater lake billions of years ago. Exploring this delta has been on Stack Morgan and the rest of the Perseverance science team's wish list because they believe the location provides one of the mission's best opportunities to find rocks that could have preserved remnants of ancient microbial lifea primary goal of the mission.

"Hazcam images are mainly used by the mission's engineers to assist with driving and placement of the rover's arm," said Stack Morgan. "But when I saw the Hazcam image of Enchanted Lake, it was love at first sight. This image provided our first up-close glimpse of sedimentary rocksthe ones I've been most eager to explore since Jezero was named the landing site for Perseverance nearly four years ago."

Rocks and signs of past life

To best understand why this image of Perseverance's first close encounter with a sedimentary rock is such a kick for Stack Morgan, it helps to go back to the beginning of the rover's exploration of Mars. After Perseverance landed Feb. 18, 2021, on the flat, rocky plains that make up the floor of Jezero Crater, it spent more than a year studying outcrops, boulders, and regolith (broken rock and dust) in the area, gathering samples along the way.

One of the science team's big takeaways from that effort: The rocks of the crater floor are igneous in origin, having formed billions of years ago from molten rock that cooled either underground or after volcanic eruptions. Igneous rocks can offer a great deal of information about the interior of Mars and the age of geologic features. What's more, the team found evidence that the igneous rocks interacted with water and could have once hosted habitable microenvironments.

But, as Stack Morgan notes, the screaming-hot pressure-cooker conditions that produce igneous rocks don't usually provide the optimal environment for preserving evidence of fossilized microscopic life. On the other hand, sedimentary rockslike those that dominate the Jezero deltaprovide an ideal site to look for signs of past life.

Over time, mud, silt, and sand brought into the lake that filled Jezero compressed and solidified into thin layers of sedimentary rock. If microscopic organisms were also present during sedimentary rock formation, they could have been captured within the layers, frozen in time as fossilized lifeforms.

Could Enchanted Lake's layered rocks contain evidence that Mars once was home to microscopic life? Maybe. However, such a monumental determination will probably have to wait for the samples that Perseverance is gathering in special tubes to be brought to Earth and analyzed with powerful lab equipment too large to bring to Mars. And while NASA's planned Mars Sample Return Campaign is scheduled to carry around 30 tubes back to Earth, NASA has to be selective about what goes inside them.

"Enchanted Lake was our first close encounter with sedimentary rocks in Jezero, but we're going to do what rover missions do bestlook around, drive, and then look some more. Even if we find other targets in the delta to sample, I will always have a special place in my heart for the rocks that showed me that we sent the rover to the right place," Stack Morgan said.

Perseverance is parked about halfway up the delta in a field of sedimentary rocks the science team calls "Hogwallow Flats." Over the next several weeks, the rover will analyzeand perhaps sampleone or more rocks in the area. Then, the team will decide whether to return to Enchanted Lake or explore other exciting outcrops of the Jezero delta.

Explore further Perseverance has a pet rock

More information: Explore With Perseverance in 3D
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The first national guidelines to help K-12 schools create successful, cost-effective approaches to deliver integrated student supports that address both in- and out-of-school barriers to learningfrom hunger, to mental health, to basic needshave been released by a national working group convened by Boston College.

With integrated student support programs and policies in place or advancing in 24 states, experts and educators in the field developed the first step-by-step blueprint for school districts to implement their own initiatives. The guidelines share best practices based on two decades of research, program implementation, and success at the scale required to uplift student achievement and well-being, particularly in under-resourced schools.

The integrated student support model has emerged as an essential option for schools and communities placing a renewed emphasis on student mental health and well-being in the wake of three academic years overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the stress imposed on students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

"New insights from developmental science, research and evaluation, and implementation in schools throughout the U.S. make this an opportune time to share what is being learned about best practices so that more schools can provide even more effective student support," said Boston College Kearns Professor Mary E. Walsh, a convener of the working group and the founder of City Connects, an integrated student support program, which serves 45,000 students in 139 public, charter, and Catholic schools in Massachusetts and four other states, as well as 10 schools in Dublin, Ireland.

"Evidence tells us that we need to both address students' needs and cultivate their strengths and interests," Walsh added. "Done well, it can transform students' learning outcomes and lifelong opportunities."

Integrated student support, a term first used in the 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act, is defined as "an evidence-based approach for schools to provide student support by intentionally and systematically leveraging and coordinating the resources and relationships available in the school and in the surrounding community to address the comprehensive strengths and needs of each and every student in a school in order to help promote healthy child development and learning."

Studies by a number of researchers, including those at the Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children at Boston College's Lynch School of Education and Human Development, have shown that students who received integrated student support during elementary school demonstrate:

Higher academic achievement

Improved attendance, effort, and engagement in school

Reduced dropout rates later on in high school

Better social emotional outcomes

In addition to City Connects, additional pioneering programs that have shown integrated student support initiatives can be implemented at scale include: Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR), launched in 1999, has served more than 200,000 students and 33,000 educators in more than 200 schools; Communities In Schools, launched in 1977, served 1.6 million students in 2,900 schools this year. This fall, New York City's Department of Education will implement integrated student support as part of its Community Schools program in more than 400 schools.

The guidelines aim to help schools develop their own approaches to "get the right resources to the right student and the right time." They focus on the six core components of resource allocation and budgeting, staffing structure, community and consensus building, data collection and management, and integrating student support across daily school operations.

"These guidelines bring together what schools are already doing in a systematized and organized way," said Abe Fernandez, director of the National Center for Community Schools. "They describe how schools can better leverage their resources, and the resources of the community, to provide comprehensive supports and opportunities to children and families."

Using existing resources to promote student success is integral to the guidelines.

"We can help established programs and schools looking to take a more intentional approach to addressing students' comprehensive strengths and needs to be more effective," said A. Brooks Bowden, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "If we are spending money on education, social services, health, mental health, and youth development programs, these guidelines show how those resources can be used more efficiently and effectively."

Increasingly, states are investing in student support programs. The states of Texas and West Virginia are investing to spread Communities In Schools. Indiana and Massachusetts are supporting the implementation of City Connects. The state of California recently passed a ballot measure to direct $2.8 billion to community schools.

"Community partnerships are critical to student success," said Michael Huang, a vice president at Communities In Schools. "Our challenge and opportunity moving forward is to coordinate and integrate community resources to ensure they work as one cohesive system of support in service of students and schools."

The Biden administration is also seeking to expand funding for the federal Full Service Community Schools program, which includes integrated student support.

"There is a growing recognition of the need for community resources to interlock with school systems," said Angela Jerabek, founder and executive director of the BARR Center. "These national guidelines provide a roadmap for these strong partnerships. We realize that guidelines based on evidence are needed to foster  a personalized culture of support and success of every student, both inside and outside of the classroom."

Explore further Australian rural communities under-resourced to take on refugees

More information: To learn more about the National Guidelines for Integrated Student Support, go to To learn more about the National Guidelines for Integrated Student Support, go to www.integratedstudentsupport.org
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Mass-spectrometry based proteomics is the big-data science of proteins that allows the monitoring of the abundance of thousands of proteins in a sample at once. Therefore, it is a particularly well-suited readout for discovering which proteins are targeted by any small molecule. An international research team has investigated this using chemical proteomics.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are a class of drugs used in oncology. An international research team involving scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Cornell University in Ithaca (U.S.), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg has now investigated the effects of some HDAC drugs in more detail. The scientists researched whether those epidrugs affect proteins other than the HDACs which they are designed to inhibit.

"To do so, target deconvolution by chemical proteomics is the method of choice. Hence, we first made new chemical toolsthe so called affinity matricesthat would allow us to systematically profile the HDACs," explains Dr. Guillaume Medard, group leader for chemical proteomics at the TUM chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics led by Prof. Bernhard Kuster.

Profiling HDAC drugs by chemical proteomics

"I profiled 53 drugs and most of them, but not all, hit their intended HDAC target," stated Severin Lechner, a doctoral candidate at the TUM School of Life Sciences. "There were, however, some surprises. Drugs used in hundreds of scientific studies were not as selective as it had been assumed. Many had additional targets that were not previously known."

These results highlight the power of proteomic approaches, as they can probe the binding to thousands of proteins at once. Finally, the team identified several molecules with outstanding selectivity, making them the inhibitors of choice for future scientific studies.

The target landscape of HDAC drugs

"The most unexpected finding was that MBLAC2 is off-target for half of the profiled molecules," Lechner continues. This protein is not well characterized. Coincidentally, the team of Prof. Maurine Linder in Cornell researched on it at the same time. The two groups collaborated and confirmed that the protein is indeed hindered in performing its function in presence of the drugs.

Working with the group of Prof. Michael Pfaffl at TUM, Lechner examined the hinted unexplained phenotypic effects of some drugs and proved that MBLAC2 inhibition or knock-down leads to an accumulation of extracellular vesicles in the extracellular space. Extracellular vesicles are small membrane-bounded particles secreted by cells and transported through the whole body to transmit biomolecules and information between cells and tissues.

Fundamental research to make tomorrow's epidrugs

"We are excited because we have uncovered a new player in this field of biology that notably encompasses exosomes, which play crucial roles in neurology, immunology and oncology," explains Medard. "We are now designing molecules that only hit MBLAC2 so that we can probe this obscure protein in a range of model systems."

This study will be useful to those who want to use HDAC inhibitors for probing biology or for therapeutic use. It helps in choosing the right chemical tool. It is also a valuable set of data for medicinal chemists who need to understand how chemical structures relate to potency and selectivity to make tomorrow's epidrugs.

The research was published in Nature Chemical Biology.

Explore further Clinical histone deacetylase inhibitors are effective against COVID-19

More information: Severin Lechner et al, Target deconvolution of HDAC pharmacopoeia reveals MBLAC2 as common off-target, Nature Chemical Biology (2022). Journal information: Nature Chemical Biology Severin Lechner et al, Target deconvolution of HDAC pharmacopoeia reveals MBLAC2 as common off-target,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-01015-5
Ice wedges (Yedoma) on the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky, the most southern Island of the New Siberian Archipelago. Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute / G. Schwamborn

A new publication and interactive map summarize the current state of knowledge on the risks posed by permafrost soilsand call for decisive action

How is climate change affecting the permanently frozen soils of the Arctic? What will the consequences be for the global climate, human beings, and ecosystems? And what can be done to stop it? In the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, a team of experts led by Benjamin Abbott from Brigham Young University, U.S. and Jens Strauss from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam summarize the current state of knowledge on these questions. In addition, an AWI group led by Moritz Langer has now created an interactive map of the past and future of permafrost. Both publications arrive at the same conclusion: to put a stop to the dangerous trends in these regions, greenhouse-gas emissions will have to be dramatically reduced in the next several years.

Permafrost underlies no less than ten percent of the Earth's surface. Especially in the Northern Hemisphere, there are huge expanses in which only the top few centimeters of the soil thaw in summer; the remainder stays frozen year-round, to depths of several hundred meters. At least, that's the case so far. "Climate change represents a serious threat to these permafrost regions," says Jens Strauss from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). There, land surface temperatures have climbed two to four times as quickly as the global average. As a result, the conditions on land and in the sea are changing far faster than expected. And this can have a range of dangerous consequencesfor the climate, for biodiversity and for human beings.

For example, these natural deep-freezes contain the remains of countless plants and animals, long-since dead. When the material thaws, microorganisms begin breaking it down. In the process, they convert the carbon compounds within into greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ), which can further worsen global warming.

However, predicting when and on what scale this will happen is no mean feat. "There are widely diverging views among the public," says Strauss. For some people, the permafrost regions are a ticking climate timebomb which will soon blow up in humanity's face. But others assume that only negligible amounts of greenhouse gases will be released in the High North in the foreseeable future.

"They're both wrong," stresses the Potsdam-based researcher. "Granted, there's no reason to believe that the permafrost will suddenly start belching out huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere a few years from now, pushing the climate past the tipping point." Nevertheless, the situation shouldn't be downplayed, either. "After all, today the permafrost regions are already releasing nearly the same amount of greenhouse gases as Germany's annual emissions." And according to scientific estimates, over the course of the next two centuries, these soils could release amounts of gas into the atmosphere that would have the same effect as several hundred billion metric tons of CO 2 .

In addition, as the ice and snow cover dwindle, the surface of the permafrost regions is becoming darker and darkerand is therefore warmed more by the sun than in the past, when the landscape was pure white. According to the current state of research, taken together, these two factors are among the most important influences that could change the Earth's climate.

Loss of permafrost soils is threatening habitatsthe time to act is now

The permafrost regions are also home to more than half of the Earth's remaining wilderness. Specially adapted flora and fauna species that depend on the continuing existence of these ecosystems live there. Moreover, the thawing permafrost will mean serious problems for the millions of people living in the Arctic. The soil often becomes unstable when the ice holding it together melts. Then it suddenly collapses or is eroded by the ocean, which can end in costly damage to buildings, streets or other types of infrastructure. In the process, toxins like mercury are also released, which can be found in high concentrations in animals and people living in the Arctic.

For some communities in the High North, their entire culture and way of life depend on the frozen ecosystems. "These people have done very little to cause climate change, but they're particularly hard hit by it," says Strauss. Consequently, the study's authors consider taking measures to protect the permafrost to be a question of justice.

In reality, however, the fate of the permafrost will depend on the course that political decision-makers choose for greenhouse-gas emissions in the next ten years. In light of the rapid advances made in renewable energies, the experts believe there are realistic possibilities for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2030 and doing away with them entirely by 2050. In addition, the local population needs to be supported in protecting intact ecosystems in the permafrost regions. "There's definitely more that we can do," Strauss underscores. "We don't have time for resignation."

Interactive map shows past and future changes in the permafrost soils

Just how urgent the situation is can be seen in an interactive map developed by his colleague Moritz Langer and his team. At the AWI, Langer leads the Federal Ministry of Education and Research-funded young investigator group PermaRisk, which uses computer models to simulate changes in the permafrost and attendant risks. In this way, working with experts from the University of Oslo, the group can now offer a virtual peek into the past and future of permafrost soils.

"Using the map, you can see how certain characteristics of the climate and permafrost have changed since the year 1800," Langer explains. How warm was it on the Earth's surface? To what depth was the soil thawed? And how much carbon was there in this active layer? Not only can these aspects be determined all the way up to the present; forecasts are also possible. On the basis of three different scenarios, the fate of the permafrost can be simulated for low, medium and high greenhouse-gas emissions. They show that, if we can succeed in keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius, a large percentage of the permafrost soil will remain stable. "Unfortunately, at the moment we're headed for significantly higher warming," warns Langer. And the corresponding simulation, based on warming of between 4 and 6 degrees depending on the region, paints a bleak picture: in this scenario, the great thaw will have spread to virtually every permafrost region by 2100.

Explore further Permafrost thawing faster than expected due to extreme summer rainfall

More information: We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems, Frontiers in Environmental Science (2022). We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems,(2022). DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.889428 Interactive map: permafrost.awi.eventfive.de/
The ion trap used to levitate a single nanoparticle. Inset: optical interference between the particle and its mirror image. Credit: Quantum Interface Group, University of Innsbruck

Levitated nanoparticles are promising tools for sensing ultra-weak forces of biological, chemical or mechanical origin and even for testing the foundations of quantum physics. However, such applications require precise position measurement. Researchers at the Department of Experimental Physics of the University of Innsbruck, Austria, have now demonstrated a new technique that boosts the efficiency with which the position of a sub-micron levitated object is detected.

"Typically, we measure a nanoparticle's position with a technique called optical interferometry, in which part of the light emitted by a nanoparticle is compared with the light from a reference laser," says Lorenzo Dania, a Ph.D. student in Tracy Northup's research group. "A laser beam, however, has a much different shape than the light pattern emitted by a nanoparticle, known as dipole radiation." That shape difference currently limits the measurement precision.

Self-interference method

The new technique demonstrated by Tracy Northup, a professor at the University of Innsbruck, and her team resolves this limitation by replacing the laser beam with the light of the particle reflected by a mirror. The technique builds on a method to track barium ions that has been developed in recent years by Rainer Blatt, also of the University of Innsbruck, and his team. Last year, researchers from the two teams proposed to extend this method to nanoparticles.

Now, using a nanoparticle levitated in an electromagnetic trap, the researchers showed that this method outperformed other state-of-the-art detection techniques. The result opens up new possibilities for using levitated particles as sensorsfor example, to measure tiny forcesand for bringing the particles' motion into realms described by quantum mechanics.

The research was published in Physical Review Letters.

Explore further Microcavities as a sensor platform

More information: Lorenzo Dania et al, Position Measurement of a Levitated Nanoparticle via Interference with Its Mirror Image, Physical Review Letters (2022). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Lorenzo Dania et al, Position Measurement of a Levitated Nanoparticle via Interference with Its Mirror Image,(2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.013601
A team of researchers, including NAU assistant professor Jason Ladner, conducted a genetic study of snake fungal disease that was recently published in PLOS Biology. Credit: Northern Arizona University

Although only recently recognized as an issue in wildlife ecology, snake fungal disease (SFD) is of emerging concern in the U.S., with parallels among other better-known wildlife fungal diseases such as white-nose syndrome in bats. SFD can be deadly to snakes, and even in milder cases disrupts an animal's abilities to perform normal biological functions such as hibernation, eating and avoiding predators.

To better understand SFD, a team of researchers, including assistant professor Jason Ladner of Northern Arizona University's Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, conducted a genetic study of the pathogen that was recently published in PLOS Biology, "The population genetics of the causative agent of snake fungal disease indicate recent introductions to the U.S.."

Collaborating with study co-author Jeff Lorch of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other scientists from the USGS, Genencor Technology Center, the University of California-Riverside, Stetson University, the Institute of Zoology, the University of Kentucky and Holyoke Community College, Ladner's goal was to determine whether SFD originated in the U.S. or was introduced from outside the country, which could provide a historical basis for how it emergedand ultimately inform management of the disease.

"Snake fungal disease first came to be recognized in the U.S. around 2008. There happened to be a well-studied population of rattlesnakes in Illinois that started coming down with some very severe fungal infections. People asked, 'OK, what is this thing? Where is it? What's going on? Is this a new emerging fungal pathogen or not?' What they eventually found was that it was already almost everywhere, at least in the eastern half of the U.S.," Ladner said.

SFD, though seemingly not as deadly as other wildlife fungal diseases, is still a worrying threat to animals that represent an important part of the ecosystem. "We're very concerned, not just about SFD's effect to drive population declines, but also as a contributing factor amongst many other threats that snakes are already facing, like habitat destruction or over-collection for the pet trade," Lorch said.

Understanding wildlife diseases is critical, both in the context of ecosystem health and in their potential effects on humans. "I have a lot of interest in wildlife diseases, partially because wildlife serves as important reservoirs for diseases that could potentially emerge in humans; SARS-coronavirus-2 is a great example of that. If we want to be prepared for the next emerging infectious disease in humans, we need to better understand the pathogens currently circulating in wildlife populations which may have the potential to be transmitted to humans," Ladner said.

The study presented unique difficulties, however. "For snakes, there's almost no long-term population trend data, especially when we compare snakes to an animal like bats, which have suffered from white-nose syndrome," Lorch said. "In many states, historical data on bat populations exists because they're not generally as difficult to monitor as some other types of wildlife."

Snakes, in contrast, "are pretty secretive animals. They're not something that you probably see on the landscape routinely, unless you're looking for them," Lorch explains. Without a large body of historical data on North American snake populations, "it makes it hard to say what snake populations were doing before SFD was noticed. Long-term trends are really difficult to decipher."

Prior to beginning research, the team had two hypotheses on how the disease originated in the U.S. "One hypothesis was that the fungus that causes this disease may have been introduced only recently into the U.S. and then has been spreading within the past several decades, maybe 100 years. The alternative hypothesis was that this pathogen has been here for a long time and is essentially native to the U.S.; maybe it's been here for thousands of years and has been co-evolving with these snake populations. In the latter case, maybe it seems to be emerging simply because we're looking for it now. Or there's been some type of environmental change, maybe something linked to climate change, that is leading to an increase in the number of cases even though this pathogen has been here all along," Ladner said.

In order to track the disease's evolution, Ladner and Lorch created a "family tree" for strains of the fungus that causes SFD found in the U.S. "One of the ways we could reconstruct the history of the disease was to look at the genetics of the pathogen to get an idea of how long it's been here and how it's changed over time," Lorch said.

Studying the genetics of SFD provided the team with a trail of breadcrumbs, revealing more about its history and throwing light on SFD cases in the U.S. "The reason that genomic data is useful for doing this is because each time this fungus replicates, grows and divides, the polymerase (the molecule that makes the new copy) sometimes makes mistakes. Those mistakes result in mutations. And then those mutations will be passed on through the generations. By looking at those different mutations in the population, we can understand how long certain lineages have existed and have some idea of how the different strains are related to each other. And that can tell us something about how long SFD has been here," Ladner said.

After taking samples from different SFD-affected snakes, the team performed genetic sequencing on 82 strains of the fungus. This included strains of SFD isolated from wild snakes in the U.S. and Europe, as well as captive snakes from three different continents. Based on the genetic similarities and differences among the strains, the team was able to partially reconstruct the evolutionary history of this fungus. "In the U.S., we found that there are several divergent lineages of this fungus circulating, but a lack of intermediates between these lineages, which would be expected if they originated in the U.S. Because of that, we think that there were likely multiple, somewhat recent introductions of this fungus to the U.S., and that an unsampled population, somewhere else in the world, acted as a source," Ladner said.

This evidence allowed the team to form conclusions on how SFD arrived in America. "It suggests that this fungus was introduced to the United States through anthropogenic meanshumans moving these snakes around. The most likely culprit is the trading of captive snakes as pets: the different clonal lineages that we see in the U.S., we also see represented in captive snake populations," Ladner said.

The study provides guidance for future management of SFD in the U.S., as well as a better understanding of how it was introduced. "If we had caught SFD being introduced very early on, then you can imagine trying to stop the spread of the disease in the U.S. and potentially even eradicate it. I think that's unlikely at this point, given how widespread it is. However, I think it's still helpful to better understand the mechanism for how SFD was introduced, as there's still the potential for new introductions of diverse strains from these source populations. If we know that this fungus was introduced several times over the past several decades through the captive animal trade, then putting more restrictions and controls and testing animals in that process could be important for preventing further spread," Ladner said.

Though their work provides critical insight on SFD, its treatment and movement in the U.S., both scientists stress the need for further research. "What I'm hoping is that this study increases awareness of the disease. I think SFD warrants more of our attention," Lorch said.

More work needs to be done to assess the ecosystem, population and species effects of SFD. "The broader question of, 'what is going to be the impact of this fungal pathogen on these snake populations?' is a very open question and needs more research," Ladner said.

Explore further Snake fungal disease identified in wild British snakes for first time

More information: Jason T. Ladner et al, The population genetics of the causative agent of snake fungal disease indicate recent introductions to the USA, PLOS Biology (2022). Journal information: PLoS Biology Jason T. Ladner et al, The population genetics of the causative agent of snake fungal disease indicate recent introductions to the USA,(2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001676
Reconstructed sea bed scenes. Credit: By artist Yaqi Jiang (A, Permian, B, Early Triassic Griesbachian, C, Early Triassic Smithian)

Researchers studying ancient sea bed burrows and trails have discovered that bottom burrowing animals were among the first to bounce back after the end-Permian mass extinction.

In a new study, published today in the journal Science Advances, researchers from China, the U.S. and the UK, reveal how life in the sea recovered from the event, which killed over 90 percent of species on Earth, from their observations of trace fossils.

Life was devastated by the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago, and recovery of life on Earth took millions of years for biodiversity to return to pre-extinction levels. But by examining trails and burrows on the South China sea bed, the international team were able to piece together sea life's revival by pinpointing what animal activity was happening when.

Professor Michael Benton from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, a collaborator on the new paper, said: "The end-Permian mass extinction and the recovery of life in the Early Triassic are very well documented throughout South China.

"We were able to look at trace fossils from 26 sections through the entire series of events, representing seven million crucial years of time, and showing details at 400 sampling points, we finally reconstructed the recovery stages of all animals including benthos, nekton, as well as these soft-bodied burrowing animals in the ocean."

Dr. Xueqian Feng from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan led the study, and his focus was on ancient burrows and trails. He explained: "Trace fossils such as trails and burrows document mostly soft-bodied animals in the sea. Most of these soft-bodied animals had no or poor skeletons.

"There are some amazing localities in South China where we find huge numbers of beautifully preserved trace fossils, and the details can show infaunal ecosystem engineering behaviors, as well as their feedback effects on biodiversity of skeletonized animals."

Professor Zhong-Qiang Chen, director of the study, said: "The trace fossils show us when and where soft-bodied, burrowing animals flourished in this Early Triassic greenhouse world.

"For example, elevated temperatures and extended anoxia coincided with low values of behavioral and ecologic diversities across the Permian-Triassic boundary, and it took about 3 million years for ecological recovery of soft-bodied animals to match the pre-extinction levels."

Professor David Bottjer, a collaborator in the study from the University of Southern California, added: "One of the most remarkable aspects of the South China data is the breadth of ancient environments we could sample.

"Differential responses of infaunal ecosystems to variable environmental controls may have played a significant but heretofore little appreciated evolutionary and ecologic role in the recovery in the hot Early Triassic ocean."

Dr. Chunmei Su, another collaborator, said: "The mass extinction killed over 90 percent of species on Earth, and we see that in the catastrophic reduction in ecological function of the surviving animals in the ocean.

"At first, there were only a few survivors, and recovery began in deeper waters. The recovery of nekton occurred at the same time as the full rebound of infaunal ecosystem engineering activities."

Alison Cribb, a collaborator in the study from the University of Southern California, added: "The first animals to recover were deposit feeders such as worms and shrimps. The recovery of suspension feeders such as brachiopods, bryozoans and many bivalves took much longer.

"Maybe the deposit feeders were making such a mess of the seafloor that the water was polluted with mud, the churned mud meant suspension feeders could not properly settle on the seafloor, or the muddy water produced by those deposit feeders just clogged the filtering structures of suspension feeders and prohibited them from feeding efficiently."

Professor Chen added: "And some animals, such as corals, had disappeared completely. Coral reefs did not return until much later."

Dr. Feng concludes: "Why does it matter to understand these great mass extinctions of the geological past?

"The answer is that the end-Permian crisiswhich was so devastating to life on Earthwas caused by global warming and ocean acidification, but trace-making animals may be selected against by the environment in a way that skeletal organisms were not.

"Our trace fossil data reveals soft-bodied animals' resilience to high CO 2 and warming. These ecosystem engineers may have played a role in benthic ecosystem recovery after severe mass extinctions, potentially, for example, triggering the evolutionary innovations and radiations in the Early Triassic."

Explore further Mysterious climate behavior during Earth's most severe mass extinction event explained

More information: Resilience of infaunal ecosystems during the Early Triassic greenhouse Earth, Science Advances (2022). Journal information: Science Advances Resilience of infaunal ecosystems during the Early Triassic greenhouse Earth,(2022). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abo0597
Two-dimensional slices (taken at y = 0 in the xz plane) showing possible asteroid morphologies after DART-like impacts on initially 150 m spherical bodies with varying cohesion (Y0 = 050 Pa) and coefficients of internal friction (f = 0.41.0). Impacts into targets with Y0 larger than 10 Pa create well-defined craters, while impacts into targets with Y0  10 Pa create the shape deformation of the asteroid. The total strain shows the amount of deformation experienced by the target. For a 150 m spherical asteroid (  1600 kg m3), the overburden pressure in the center of the body is about 2 Pa. The background gradient shows the transition to the gravity-dominated regime, where the target's overburden pressure at the cratering depth exceeds the cohesion. The formation times, T, of the postimpact stable structures are shown at the top of the figure. Credit: The Planetary Science Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac67a7

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the world's first full-scale planetary defense test against potential asteroid impacts on Earth. Researchers of the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS now show that instead of leaving behind a relatively small crater, the impact of the DART spacecraft on its target could leave the asteroid near unrecognizable.

Sixty-six million years ago, a giant asteroid impact on the Earth likely caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Currently no known asteroid poses an immediate threat. But if one day a large asteroid were to be discovered on a collision course with Earth, it might have to be deflected from its trajectory to prevent catastrophic consequences.

Last November, the DART space probe of the U.S. space agency NASA was launched as a first full-scale experiment of such a maneuver: Its mission is to collide with an asteroid and to deflect it from its orbit, in order to provide valuable information for the development of such a planetary defense system.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben/Jessica Tozer

In a new study published in The Planetary Science Journal, researchers of the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS have simulated this impact with a new method. Their results indicate that it may deform its target far more severely than previously thought.

Rubble instead of solid rock

"Contrary to what one might imagine when picturing an asteroid, direct evidence from space missions like the Japanese space agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa2 probe demonstrate that asteroid can have a very loose internal structuresimilar to a pile of rubblethat is held together by gravitational interactions and small cohesive forces," says study lead-author Sabina Raducan from the Institute of Physics and the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS at the University of Bern.

Yet, previous simulations of the DART mission impact mostly assumed a much more solid interior of its asteroid target Dimorphos. "This could drastically change the outcome the collision of DART and Dimorphos, which is scheduled to take place in the coming September," Raducan points out. Instead of leaving a relatively small crater on the 160 meter wide asteroid, DART's impact at a speed of 24,000 km/h could completely deform Dimorphos. The asteroid could also be deflected much more strongly and larger amounts of material could be ejected from the impact than the previous estimates predicted.

"One of the reasons that this scenario of a loose internal structure has so far not been thoroughly studied is that the necessary methods were not available," study lead-author Sabina Raducan says. "Such impact conditions cannot be recreated in laboratory experiments and the relatively long and complex process of crater formation following such an impacta matter of hours in the case of DARTmade it impossible to realistically simulate these impact processes up to now," according to the researcher.

"With our novel modeling approach, which takes into account the propagation of the shock waves, the compaction and the subsequent flow of material, we were for the first time able to model the entire cratering process resulting from impacts on small, asteroids like Dimorphos," Raducan reports. For this achievement, she was awarded by ESA and by the mayor of Nice at a workshop on the DART follow-up mission HERA.

Widen horizon of expectations

In 2024, the European Space Agency ESA will send a space probe to Dimorphos as part of the space mission HERA. The aim is to visually investigate the aftermath of the DART probe impact. "To get the most out of the HERA mission, we need to have a good understanding of potential outcomes of the DART impact," says study co-author Martin Jutzi from the Institute of Physics and the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS.

"Our work on the impact simulations adds an important potential scenario that requires us to widen our expectations in this regard. This is not only relevant in the context of planetary defense, but also adds an important piece to the puzzle of our understanding of asteroids in general," Jutzi concludes.

Explore further The incredible adventures of the Hera mission

More information: Sabina D. Raducan et al, Global-scale Reshaping and Resurfacing of Asteroids by Small-scale Impacts, with Applications to the DART and Hera Missions, The Planetary Science Journal (2022). Journal information: The Planetary Science Journal Sabina D. Raducan et al, Global-scale Reshaping and Resurfacing of Asteroids by Small-scale Impacts, with Applications to the DART and Hera Missions,(2022). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac67a7
Male evening grosbeak. Credit: Douglas Robinson, Oregon State University

The evening grosbeak, a noisy and charismatic songbird, once arrived at Oregon State University in springtime flocks so vast an OSU statistics professor estimated there were up to a quarter million of the birds on campus daily.

Gone is the era, however, when the birds were so numerous that students, staff and faculty felt the need to take cover from grosbeak droppings.

An Oregon State study published in the journal Diversity shows the number of evening grosbeaks using the campus as a migration stopover site has gone down an average of 2.6% per year over the last four decades. The bird has been experiencing decades of decline throughout its range, which includes most of the United States, said Douglas Robinson of the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences.

It's not yet known, Robinson said, why there are fewer evening grosbeaks than there used to be. It could be related to disease, climate change or shifts in land use, or some combination of those, or a different factor that scientists have yet to uncover.

"Planned surveys designed to take advantage of opportunities presented by spring stopover sites will improve our understanding of population fluctuations over time," Robinson said. "Our observations suggest that further attention should be directed toward risk analyses and hypothesized explanations for the decline of this charismatic bird species."

Research led by Robinson produced a single-day high count of 1,442 birds during 117 surveys that took place on the Oregon State campus from 2013 to 2015. In total, the researchers counted 8,407 grosbeaks.

"The numbers that used to appear here each spring were in the hundreds of thousands," said Robinson, who was the Mace Watchable Wildlife Endowed Chair at OSU during the study. "Now we are down to a few thousand at most, sometimes just a few hundred. We went from newspaper reports of students during the 1970s carrying umbrellas on sunny days to keep the bird droppings off their heads to people scarcely noticing that the birds are around."

The evening grosbeak, a black, white and bright yellow member of the finch family, is an irruptive speciesif food is scarce in winter, it moves south. But it also migrates on predictable schedules, especially during springtime, enabling populations to be monitored at stopover locations like OSU's Corvallis campus.

"They eat elm seeds here before moving off to their forest breeding grounds in June," Robinson said. "They're usually here for a few weeks in April and May."

Impressed by their huge numbers, Fred Ramsey, an OSU statistics professor from 1966 to 2003, used a randomized sampling strategy to count birds in selected elm trees. Ramsey, who over the course of his career made major contributions in the field of wildlife population estimation, calculated that on one spring day in the mid-1970s there were 150,000 to 250,000 birds foraging on campus.

Ramsey produced multiple papers on estimating wildlife abundance and participated in surveys of bird populations on numerous Pacific Islands, though his evening grosbeak estimate was not part of a scientific article.

"But Ramsey was a professional statistician, and even in the unlikely event he was off by an order of magnitude, it seems safe to conclude that evening grosbeak numbers are substantially lower than they were 45 years ago at our study site," Robinson said. "When we compare the lower value from Ramsey's estimate150,000with our maximum daily count of 1,442, that's an average annual decline of 2.6%. Meanwhile, declines across the entire range of evening grosbeaks as quantified by North American Breeding Bird Survey data show a decline of 2.5%."

The number of elm trees on campus has also gone down since Ramsey's day, though the tree decline's connection to the grosbeak population is uncertain.

Elms were planted across campus beginning with 35 in 1913, and eventually were the dominant canopy tree on campus, numbering more than 330 mature trees, Robinson said.

"In 1978, Dutch elm disease was spreading across North America, and there were concerns that arrival of the disease would cause widespread death of the elms, leaving the campus without shade trees," he said. "That led to the removal of elms to ensure that root connections between infected trees would not allow the disease to spread too quickly."

Over 10 years, all of the at-risk elms were cut down and replaced with disease-resistant elm varieties or other tree species; today the campus features 143 mature elms. Robinson doesn't know of any evidence that diseaseresistant elms produce food that is less plentiful or desirable to grosbeaks, but notes that could be a possibility.

It's unlikely, however, that grosbeaks have simply shifted their foraging sites to other parts of Corvallis or the Willamette Valley, he said. Data from eBird from 2004 to 2021 showed a few higher counts from around Corvallis than what was observed on campus, but the highest singleday count was fewer than 2,000 birds, he said.

Most high counts were between 90 and 500 birds, with similarly small tallies reported across the whole Willamette Valley.

Explore further Survey shows huge bird population drop in Europe and the UK over past 40 years

More information: W. Douglas Robinson et al, Dramatic Declines of Evening Grosbeak Numbers at a Spring Migration Stop-Over Site, Diversity (2022). W. Douglas Robinson et al, Dramatic Declines of Evening Grosbeak Numbers at a Spring Migration Stop-Over Site,(2022). DOI: 10.3390/d14060496
In the Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) concept, illustrated here, dozens of small robots would descend through the icy shell of a distant moon via a cryobot  depicted at left  to the ocean below. The project has received funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program. Credit: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Someday, a swarm of cellphone-size robots could whisk through the water beneath the miles-thick icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa or Saturn's moon Enceladus, looking for signs of alien life. Packed inside a narrow ice-melting probe that would tunnel through the frozen crust, the tiny robots would be released underwater, swimming far from their mothercraft to take the measure of a new world.

That's the vision of Ethan Schaler, a robotics mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, whose Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) concept was recently awarded $600,000 in Phase II funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The funding, which follows his 2021 award of $125,000 in Phase I NIAC funding to study feasibility and design options, will allow him and his team to make and test 3D-printed prototypes over the next two years.

A key innovation is that Schaler's mini-swimmers would be much smaller than other concepts for planetary ocean exploration robots, allowing many to be loaded compactly into an ice probe. They would add to the probe's scientific reach and could increase the likelihood of detecting evidence of life while assessing potential habitability on a distant ocean-bearing celestial body.

"My idea is, where can we take miniaturized robotics and apply them in interesting new ways for exploring our solar system?" Schaler said. "With a swarm of small swimming robots, we are able to explore a much larger volume of ocean water and improve our measurements by having multiple robots collecting data in the same area."

Not yet part of any NASA mission, the early-stage SWIM concept envisions wedge-shaped robots, each about 5 inches (12 centimeters) long and about 3 to 5 cubic inches (60 to 75 cubic centimeters) in volume. About four dozen of them could fit in a 4-inch-long (10-centimeter-long) section of a cryobot 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, taking up just about 15% of the science payload volume. That would leave plenty of room for more powerful but less mobile science instruments that could gather data during the long journey through the ice and provide stationary measurements in the ocean.

The Europa Clipper mission, planned for a 2024 launch, will begin gathering detailed science during multiple flybys with a large suite of instruments when it arrives at the Jovian moon in 2030. Looking further into the future, cryobot concepts to investigate such ocean worlds are being developed through NASA's Scientific Exploration Subsurface Access Mechanism for Europa (SESAME) program, as well as through other NASA technology development programs.

This illustration shows the NASA cryobot concept called Probe using Radioisotopes for Icy Moons Exploration (PRIME) deploying tiny wedge-shaped robots into the ocean miles below a lander on the frozen surface of an ocean world. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Better together

As ambitious as the SWIM concept is, its intent would be to reduce risk while enhancing science. The cryobot would be connected via a communications tether to the surface-based lander, which would in turn be the point of contact with mission controllers on Earth. That tethered approach, along with limited space to include large propulsion system, means the cryobot would likely be unable to venture much beyond the point where ice meets ocean.

"What if, after all those years it took to get into an ocean, you come through the ice shell in the wrong place? What if there's signs of life over there but not where you entered the ocean?" said SWIM team scientist Samuel Howell of JPL, who also works on Europa Clipper. "By bringing these swarms of robots with us, we'd be able to look 'over there' to explore much more of our environment than a single cryobot would allow."

Howell compared the concept to NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the airborne companion to the agency's Perseverance rover on the Red Planet. "The helicopter extends the reach of the rover, and the images it is sending back are context to help the rover understand how to explore its environment," he said. "If instead of one helicopter you had a bunch, you would know a lot more about your environment. That's the idea behind SWIM."

SWIM would also allow data to be gathered away from the cryobot's blazing-hot nuclear battery, which the probe would rely on to melt a downward path through the ice. Once in the ocean, that heat from the battery would create a thermal bubble, slowly melting the ice above and potentially causing reactions that could change the water's chemistry, Schaler said.

Additionally, the SWIM robots could "flock" together in a behavior inspired by fish or birds, thereby reducing errors in data through their overlapping measurements. That group data could also show gradients: temperature or salinity, for example, increasing across the swarm's collective sensors and pointing toward the source of the signal they're detecting.

"If there are energy gradients or chemical gradients, that's how life can start to arise. We would need to get upstream from the cryobot to sense those," Schaler said.

Each robot would have its own propulsion system, onboard computer, and ultrasound communications system, along with simple sensors for temperature, salinity, acidity, and pressure. Chemical sensors to monitor for biomarkerssigns of lifewill be part of Schaler's Phase II study.

Explore further NASA selects futuristic space technology concepts for early study
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for stronger efforts to accelerate economic recovery to shore up market entities, ensure employment stability and safeguard people's livelihoods.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour to two state organs on Monday.

While paying a visit to a technical guidance center for employment training of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Li urged efforts to further catalyze entrepreneurship and innovation and provide equal support for market entities of all types, including those in the private sector and self-employed individuals.

Vocational training must adapt to market demand, Li said, underscoring the importance of maximizing the country's advantages in human resources.

After hearing a report on the country's current employment situation, Li said that stable employment is a vital sign that the economy is functioning within an appropriate range. China's economy has made progress in recovery, but the fundamentals for recovery are not yet sufficiently solid and the tasks to stabilize employment remain arduous.

Noting that development is key to solving all problems facing the country, Li said that bolstering employment by propping up market entities is of great importance amid efforts to stabilize the economy.

Li stressed further implementation of all policies to steer the economy back on track as soon as possible.

Efforts should be made to increase market-based job opportunities, improve career services for university graduates, and expand employment for migrant workers as a form of social relief, Li said.

During his visit to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the premier was provided with information about the low-income population and the implementation of social assistance policies. He called for efforts to coordinate social assistance policies with employment policies and to encourage people to work hard for better lives.

Li said that the current COVID-19 resurgence and natural disasters have triggered an increase in the number of people facing difficulties. He stressed the urgency of incorporating people in need into social assistance systems, expanding the scale of social assistance and relief, and preventing China's once-impoverished population from falling back into poverty in large numbers.

Efforts should also be made to ensure that pensions are paid in full and on time, and government work on compulsory education and basic healthcare and housing must be carried out well, Li said.

Governments at all levels need to practice fiscal frugality and shoulder their responsibilities for safeguarding people's basic livelihoods, Li added.
An intense heat wave in April 2022 sent temperatures 8 to 15 degrees F (4.5 to 8.5 degrees C) above normal across India on the heels of the countrys hottest March in more than 120 years of record keeping. The maps show temperatures on April 27; 45 C is about 113 F. Credit: Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory

Sitting in a semi-circle in the yard outside of a village school in Nepal, a group of farmers share their concerns about the future. They discuss how the rain is unreliabledroughts and floods are both becoming more common. The heat is overwhelming before the rains come.

In April, May and June, extreme heat makes it harder to work, crops wilt and sometimes die, and livestock get sick.

All of the young farmers in this schoolyard are women, most in red saris. The few men present are elderly. Young men don't live here anymore. As the crops fail more often, the men take contracts for migrant work, handing over papers and passports to recruiters who organize travel to nearby cities or faraway countries.

As climate change, and particularly heat waves, worsen for South Asia's farmers, women are increasingly left to try to make crops grow in the oppressive heat.

We are sociologists who study how climate change influences health and well-being, with a particular focus on women and children, including communities like this one in South Asia. We are also interested in how interventions by governments and aid groups can alleviate these negative impacts.

Record-breaking heat

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, 2021 was the fifth-warmest year in India since 1901, and it capped the hottest 10-year span on record in the country. In 2022, the region has seen record-breaking and unrelenting heat from March through June, with temperatures reaching 47 degrees Celsius (116 F) in India and 51 C (124 F) in Pakistan.

Researchers predict that even under an optimistic scenario in which the world takes bold enough steps to keep global warming to 1.5 C (2.7 F) compared with preindustrial times, South Asia will experience more frequent bouts of deadly heat. Some areas in the region have already experienced temperatures outside of the range for human productivity and into dangerous territory for human survival.

These thresholds occur at wet-bulb temperatures of around 32 C (89.6 F) and 35 C (95 F), respectively, and can be lower. Wet-bulb temperatures take into account both the air temperature and relative humidity. Hot and humid conditions lead to a greater risk of heat stress, as humans are less able to cool their bodies through sweating.

Some of the hardest-hit areas have been agricultural regions such as the Indian states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. There, crop losses affect household food supplies as well as income. The crop damage is especially troubling as these are wheat-producing regions that are seeing yields drop by 50% at the same time that the conflict in Ukraine raises concerns over wheat shortages for 2022. India banned wheat exports in May 2022 in an effort to control domestic prices.

Why gender matters

All these trends are particularly concerning from a gender perspective, as our research in India, Nepal and Bangladesh shows.

As heat rises, women are more likely to work in agriculture. We find that this is particularly true for women with little education, and previous research suggests impoverished women are most likely to take agricultural work, because of a lack of other opportunities. While men can migrate for work, norms about women's responsibilities to stay at home and care for children and the elderly leave them with few other opportunities to make a living.

Because of rural people's dependence on agricultural work and the outdoor exposed nature of that work, women face exceptional health risks because of heat exposure. Yet compared with urban areas, rural areas tend to have less access to air conditioning, health resources and other tools that could combat heat dangers.

Farmers also face more stress than other workers when their income is threatened by heat, because agricultural success is intrinsically linked with climate. Agricultural failures are associated with farmer suicide, post-traumatic stress and other mental health concerns.

In situations where farmers are providing food for their own families, agricultural failures also mean decreased food security. Women-headed farming households have been found to be particularly vulnerable to food insecurity, as they have more limited access to land, education, financial resources, weather information and modern agricultural technologies than farms headed by men. Thus, climate change in rural areas is becoming an increasingly gendered problem.

Heat certainly remains a concern for urban dwellers. Yet urban economies are more diverse and less climate dependent, and urban areas are better equipped with resources to combat heat risks. Public health officials worry that those in rural areas lack knowledge about heat risks and what they need to do to prevent heat-related illness.

Solutions big and small

To help south Asia's female farmers, governments and aid groups need to understand the particular risks they face. Researchers are making strides in mapping out hot spots in India where gender and agricultural conditions make female farmers more vulnerable.

Governments and aid organizations can help those groups in a variety of ways, from mitigating heat's effects on humans and agricultural production to providing new economic opportunities for rural women. Nongovernmental organizations are already working to spread simple solutions that can help rural farmers stay cooler, like covering roofs with solar-reflective paint to keep homes from heating up.

Scientists in India have also developed a heat-resistant wheat variety. Elsewhere, scientists are working on "climate-proofing" other crops and looking to traditional practices that enhance agriculture's resilience to climate change, such as growing a more diverse mix of crops and using farm byproducts like manure as fertilizer.

Additional efforts include crop insurance to help support farmers when heat does decrease yields. Crop insurance has low adoption rates among the poor in low- and middle-income countries. Small-scale farmers may not qualify for insurance because of their farm's small size or because their crops are grown primarily to feed their family. Some strategies that have been used to increase its use include expanding insurance beyond cash crops to include crops families eat and lowering thresholds for coverage. Insurers must also be willing to recognize women as farmers. Many female farmers have struggled to receive agricultural assistance because of gender bias.

More broadly, efforts to slow climate change on a global scale are what is most needed to help South Asia's female farmers. As the world is increasingly likely to surpass a 1.5-degree Celsius warming scenario in the near future, it becomes critical to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the most harmful heat scenarios.

Explore further Increasing heat waves affect up to half a billion people

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A shoot with reduced white leaves and well-developed pitchers extracted from a cavity under a tree. Credit: Martin Dancak

What we thought we knew about carnivorous plants was swiftly called into question after scientists discovered a new species in the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. Nepenthes pudica is what scientists call a pitcher plantit has modified leaves known as pitfall traps or pitchers, where it captures its prey. In a strategy so far unknown from any other species of carnivorous plant with pitfall traps, this one operates underground, catching its prey in the soil.

"We found a pitcher plant which differs markedly from all the other known species," says Martin Dancak of Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, lead author of the study, published in the journal PhytoKeys, where his team described the new species.

"In fact, this species places its up-to-11-cm-long pitchers underground, where they are formed in cavities or directly in the soil and trap animals living underground, usually ants, mites and beetles," he adds.

Only three other groups of carnivorous plants are known to trap underground prey, but they all use very different trapping mechanisms and, unlike Nepenthes pudica, can catch only minuscule organisms.

The plant forms specialized underground shoots with entirely white, chlorophyll-free leaves. In addition to lacking their normal green pigmentation, the leaves supporting the pitchers are reduced to a fraction of their normal size. The pitchers, however, retain their size and often also their reddish color.

"Interestingly, we found numerous organisms living inside the pitchers, including mosquito larvae, nematodes and a species of worm which was also described as a new species," explains Vaclav Cermak of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic, who was also part of the research team.

If no cavity is available, the shoots grow directly into the soil, as seen here where a bunch of pitchers was excavated from the ground. Credit: Martin Dancak

The newly discovered species grows on relatively dry ridge tops at an elevation of 11001300 m. According to its discoverers, this might be why it evolved to move its traps underground. "We hypothesize that underground cavities have more stable environmental conditions, including humidity, and there is presumably also more potential prey during dry periods," adds Michal Golos of the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, who also worked on this curious plant.

A series of lucky events back in 2012 led to the discovery of the species. Lubos Majesky of Palacky University Olomouc, part of the research team, recounts the key moment: "During a several-day trip with our Indonesian colleagues to a previously unexplored mountain, randomly chosen from a number of candidates, we noted plants which were undoubtedly Nepenthes but produced no pitchers. After a careful search, we found a couple of aerial pitchers, a few juvenile terrestrial ones, and one deformed pitcher protruding from the soil."

"At first, we thought it was an accidentally buried pitcher and that local environmental conditions had caused the lack of other pitchers. Still, as we continued to find other pitcherless plants along the ascent to the summit, we wondered if a species of pitcher plant might have evolved towards loss of carnivory, as seen in some other carnivorous plants. But then, when taking photos, I tore a moss cushion from a tree base revealing a bunch of richly maroon-colored pitchers growing from a short shoot with reduced leaves entirely lacking chlorophyll."

Habitat with a mature plant of Nepenthes pudica lacking pitchers on the aboveground shoot. Credit: Martin Dancak

The group then checked the other encountered plants and found that all of them had underground shoots with pitchers, confirming that this species specifically targets the underground environment.

The scientific name Nepenthes pudica points to the plant's curious behavior: it is derived from the Latin adjective pudicus, which means bashful and reflects the fact that its lower pitchers remain hidden from sight.

A completely buried shoot with a bunch of well-developed pitchers uncovered from beneath a moss cushion. Credit: Martin Dancak

Nepenthes pudica is endemic to Borneo. "This discovery is important for nature conservation in Indonesian Borneo, as it emphasizes its significance as a world biodiversity hotspot. We hope that the discovery of this unique carnivorous plant might help protect Bornean rainforests, especially prevent or at least slow the conversion of pristine forests into oil palm plantations," concludes Wewin Tjiasmanto of Yayasan Konservasi Biota Lahan Basah, who helped discover the new species.

Explore further An ocean apart, carnivorous pitcher plants create similar communities

More information: Martin Dancak et al, First record of functional underground traps in a pitcher plant: Nepenthes pudica (Nepenthaceae), a new species from North Kalimantan, Borneo, PhytoKeys (2022). Journal information: PhytoKeys Martin Dancak et al, First record of functional underground traps in a pitcher plant: Nepenthes pudica (Nepenthaceae), a new species from North Kalimantan, Borneo,(2022). DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.201.82872
From the amphorae to understanding the content; this multi-analytical analysis relied on archaeobotany and molecular identification. Credit: Louise Chassouant, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Winemaking practices in coastal Italy during the Roman period involved using native grapes for making wine in jars waterproofed with imported tar pitch, according to a study published June 29, 2022 in PLOS ONE by Louise Chassouant of Avignon University and colleagues.

The authors examined three Roman period amphoraewine jarsfrom a seabed deposit near the modern harbor of San Felice Circeo, Italy, about 90 km southeast of Rome. A combination of chemical markers, plant tissue residue, and pollen provided evidence of grape derivatives and pine within the jars. The evidence suggests the amphorae were used in both red and white winemaking processes, while the pine was used to create tar for waterproofing the jars and perhaps also flavoring the wine, as has been observed at similar archaeological sites.

The grapevine pollen matches wild species from the area, suggesting these winemakers were using local plants, although it remains unclear whether these were domesticated at the time. The pine tar, on the other hand, is non-local, and was likely imported from Calabria or Sicily based on other historical sources.

The authors emphasize the benefit of this multidisciplinary approach to characterize cultural practices from archaeological artifacts. In this case, the identification of plant remains, chemical analysis, historical and archaeological records, amphorae design, and previous findings all contributed to the conclusions of this analysis, providing an example of methodology for interpreting a history beyond the artifacts that would not be possible using a single technique.

The authors add, "If there was a message to be retained from the reading of this article, it would be related to the multidisciplinary methodology to be applied. Indeed, by using different approaches to unravel the content and nature of the coating layer of Roman amphorae, we have pushed the conclusion further in the understanding of ancient practices than it would have been with a single approach."

Explore further Medieval containers hint at thriving wine trade in Islamic Sicily

More information: Archaeobotanical and chemical investigations on wine amphorae from San Felice Circeo (Italy) shed light on grape beverages at the Roman time, PLoS ONE (2022). Journal information: PLoS ONE Archaeobotanical and chemical investigations on wine amphorae from San Felice Circeo (Italy) shed light on grape beverages at the Roman time,(2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267129
A wonder of engineering, Webb is able to gaze further into the cosmos than any telescope before it thanks to its enormous primary mirror and its instruments that focus on infrared, allowing it peer through dust and gas.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said Wednesday the agency will reveal the "deepest image of our universe that has ever been taken" on July 12, thanks to the newly operational James Webb Space Telescope.

"If you think about that, this is farther than humanity has ever looked before," Nelson said during a press briefing at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, the operations center for the $10 billion observatory that was launched in December last year and is now orbiting the Sun a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from Earth.

A wonder of engineering, Webb is able to gaze further into the cosmos than any telescope before it, thanks to its enormous primary mirror and its instruments that focus on infrared, allowing it to peer through dust and gas.

"It's going to explore objects in the solar system and atmospheres of exoplanets orbiting other stars, giving us clues as to whether potentially their atmospheres are similar to our own," added Nelson, speaking via phone while isolating with COVID.

"It may answer some questions that we have: Where do we come from? What more is out there? Who are we? And of course, it's going to answer some questions that we don't even know what the questions are."

Webb's infrared capabilities allow it to see deeper back in time to the Big Bang, which happened 13.8 billion years ago.

Because the universe is expanding, light from the earliest stars shifts from the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths it was emitted in, to longer infrared wavelengthswhich Webb is equipped to detect at an unprecedented resolution.

At present, the earliest cosmological observations date to within 330 million years of the Big Bang, but with Webb's capacities, astronomers believe they will easily break the record.

20 year life

In more good news, NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy revealed that, thanks to an efficient launch by NASA's partner Arianespace, the telescope could stay operational for 20 years, double the lifespan that was originally envisaged.

"Not only will those 20 years allow us to go deeper into history, and time, but we will go deeper into science because we have the opportunity to learn and grow and make new observations," she said.

NASA also intends to share Webb's first spectroscopy of a faraway planet, known as an exoplanet, on July 12, said NASA's top scientist Thomas Zurbuchen.

Spectroscopy is a tool to analyze the chemical and molecular composition of distant objects and a planetary spectrum can help characterize its atmosphere and other properties such as whether it has water and what its ground is like.

"Right from the beginning, we'll look at these worlds out there that keep us awake at night as we look into the starry sky and wonder as we're looking out there, is there life elsewhere?" said Zurbuchen.

Nestor Espinoza, as STSI astronomer, told AFP that previous exoplanet spectroscopies carried out using existing instruments were very limited compared to what Webb could do.

"It's like being in a room that is very dark and you only have a little pinhole you can look through," he said, of current technology. Now, with Webb, "You've opened a huge window, you can see all the little details."

 2022 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

With its Green Deal, the European Union has set itself much-needed ambitious climate goals. But the energy crisis and geopolitical tensions are making these difficult to achieve. Seven researchers from the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities (LDE) alliance have written a white paper offering solutions.

The paper "Critical Materials, Green Energy and Geopolitics: A Complex Mix" describes the energy transition, a transition from fossil fuels to metals such as iron, copper, lithium and the rare earth metals required to produce the wind turbines, solar panels, electrolyzers and batteries that we need. These metals are critical to the energy transition, but the Netherlands, and the EU in general, currently import the bulk of these, making us dependent on other countries.

Input from the Institute of Environment Sciences

Two researchers from Leiden University helped write the white paper: Rene Kleijn and Ester van der Voet, both from the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML). The paper was Kleijn's initiative. He asked researchers from different disciplines to share their vision. Kleijn: "We discuss current access to these raw materials in the Netherlands and the EU, and how we can develop a strong, independent basis for the energy transition."

Van der Voet provided input on urban mining: recovering materials from your own country. "A country's energy system contains enormous amounts steel, copper and aluminum that can be reused when cables and pipes are replaced. This means you don't have to keep mining new materials. You also save a lot of energy because mines use huge machines to dig up massive amounts of stone for what is, in comparison, just a tiny bit of metal."

Explore further New report maps mining impacts of the energy transition in the Americas

More information: White paper: Critical Materials, Green Energy and Geopolitics: A Complex Mix. White paper: Critical Materials, Green Energy and Geopolitics: A Complex Mix. www.leiden-delft-erasmus.nl/en  litics-a-complex-mix
LAKE GEORGE  Mayor Robert Blais said he was happy to see the turnout at the first public information session ahead of the referendum on the dissolution of the Village of Lake George.

The Village Board met on Monday night, along with representatives from the Laberge Group responsible for conducting the current dissolution study.

The mayor said he was pleased the public showed up for the presentation.

Im happy to see people coming to hear the facts and make their own intelligent decisions, Blais said.

His position, however, is clear. Blais explained the changes that the dissolution would bring upon taxpayers.

We dont have tax districts in the village, but if the dissolution passed, village residents would now see a water district, a sewer district, a debt district, and so on, he said.

Blais also noted the $5 million in annual revenue the village generates and the tax rate of $5.79 per $1,000 of assessed valuation that no other New York village can match.

Despite prior studies, this is the first time village residents will have the opportunity to vote on the dissolution. The public vote is set for Sept. 13.

Blais wanted to clarify the eligible voters.

I think people were surprised to learn members of the town cannot vote, it is only open to village residents. I think a lot of the town residents in attendance didnt realize that, he said.

Dan Barusch, director of zoning and planning for both the village and the town, encouraged town residents to continue participating in the process.

The town residents can be just as involved in the process and understanding the facts as the village residents, they just do not have the ability to vote unless they live in, and are registered to vote in, the village, he said.

Barusch explained the reasoning behind the exclusion of town residents.

The petition was for dissolution and not for consolidation. If the vote passes, the Town Board will make sure there are no negative impacts on the town residents, regardless of their ability to vote on the referendum, he added.

He said it was too early in the study to determine any potential positive or negative impacts.

The Laberge Group urged residents to stay involved and up-to-date on the latest information at labergegroup.com/lakegeorge. The website was created for the public to access all documents, links and notices related to the dissolution study.

The group presented slides about the process of dissolution and what happens in the event the vote passes and what happens if it is rejected. The meeting concluded with the opportunity for the public to ask questions in-person and via Zoom. The dissolution website also accepts rolling submissions of questions regarding the study, as well as the option to sign up for email updates.

The next public meeting has not been scheduled.

Jana DeCamilla is a staff writer who covers Moreau, Queensbury, and Lake George. She can be reached at 518-742-3272 or jdecamilla@poststar.com.

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SARANAC LAKE  A man wielding a knife inside a Stewart's Shop was shot and killed by police on Wednesday morning.

About 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, two members of the Saranac Lake Village Police Department responded to a reported stabbing at the Stewarts on Bloomingdale Avenue, according to a state police news release.

When officers arrived on the scene, they encountered a man armed with a knife and a confrontation ensued, police said.

One of the officers shot and struck the man, who died, police said.

The male stabbing victim was taken to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for injuries that are not considered to be life-threatening, police said.

More information will be released when its available, state police said.

New York State Police, Saranac Lake Police and the state Attorney Generals Office are investigating.
GLENS FALLS  The name of the driver involved in a fatal car accident involving a 71-year-old city resident on Broad Street in February was released on Monday, and no criminal charges were filed.

The Glens Falls Police Department issued a news release stating that 41-year-old Jeremy Willett, of Stony Creek, struck Nina A. Dever, who was later pronounced dead as a result of her injuries.

Police said that Dever was determined to be in the eastbound lane of the roadway at the time of the crash.

The Glens Falls Police Department responded to a reported motor vehicle crash involving a vehicle and pedestrian on Feb. 6 at 5:45 a.m. on Broad Street, according to police.

The crash occurred outside of the Broad Street Commons apartment complex, according to police.

Police said that Willett was on scene providing medical assistance to Dever when officers arrived. He did not leave the scene until emergency personnel arrived.

While he was on scene, Willett did not report to officers that he was involved and he did not believe he was involved in the incident, according to police. Witnesses at the scene also provided a description of the vehicle involved that did not match Willetts vehicle.

Police said the call originated as a hit-and-run motor vehicle accident. A witness had reported that a black truck had been involved in the accident, but had left the scene.

A few hours after the incident, Willett told officers at the station that he had discovered damage to his vehicle and that he believed he was involved in the accident.

Police said that officers obtained the vehicle for forensic processing, and other evidence related to the investigation. It was determined that the vehicle had struck Dever.

Willett was cooperative with law enforcement during the investigation, according to police. Police said that Willett was on his way to work in the South Glens Falls area at the time of the incident.

The case was investigated, including accident reconstruction, with the assistance of the Warren County Sheriffs Office.

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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GLENS FALLS  Dan Hubbs spent three years in the early 1980s working as a super in an apartment building in downtown Manhattan.

Hubbs was an artist taking graduate classes at New York University in literature at the time.

It was a way to live in New York City without paying rent, said Hubbs, now a librarian at Crandall Public Library. A couple of supers were artists, painters that were good, and I was kind of tucked into that world.

Hubbs has turned that experience into a book of poetry and lyrics titled, Downtown Super Tells All. The book, published by The Troy Book Makers, is available on Amazon for $12.95 and can also be found at Northshire Books in Saratoga Springs. It is also available to be checked out at Crandall Public Library.

He received a grant from the Alfred Z. Solomon Trust to write the book. Hubbs is one of three Crandall librarians publishing a book this year along with Frieda Toth and Tisha Dolton.

They say its part time but that doesnt mean people cant call you at 2 in the morning and say, How come the heat isnt working? Hubbs said.

He serviced the apartments of composer Steven Rice and novelist Shirley Conran as well as people from Wall Street and struggling artists who lived at 258 Broadway.

It was a cool, sort of downtown artsy world, Tribeca, he said. Very cool. But it was also very good to get out of there after three years and say, OK, dont want to be a super anymore. You guys are on your own.

He has turned his experiences and memories into poetic verse. The book also includes poetry about his time working on a boat in Alaska and at least one about working in the library.

Being a building superintendent differs greatly from being a librarian, but the two professions do require Hubbs to work well with people.

People would give you their keys to let people into their apartment to water the plants, he said. You were kind of really seeing a side of New York you wouldnt see otherwise. I knew like everybody in the building, probably the only person that knew everybody in the building. So it was a good experience.

Tisha Doltons book is based on an exhibit she put together at the library in which she created 42 redwork embroidered portraits of New York suffragists on tea cozies. The book, titled "New York Suffragists in Redwork," is edited and will be published by the Warren County Historical Society in early fall.

Its kind of like a half exhibition catalog for the exhibit and half embroidered pattern book, said Dolton, who added biographical information for each suffragist.

She taught herself how to do needlework when she was working at Saratoga Battlefield right out of college.

Everybody had all these great 18th century skills to do, and I was reading, she said.

The suffrage movement has ties to tea, she added. They likened their cause to the Boston Tea Party, which claimed taxation without representation.

The cozies, which Dolton sells on her Etsy page Aprilsongstress, cover a teapot to keep the tea warm.

Frieda Toth is in the process of editing her book called James Bond, Route 9 and Me, which chronicles her journey from Montreal to Lake George on a scooter.

She took the trip in August, inspired by one of Ian Flemings James Bond books, The Spy Who Loved Me, which bears no resemblance to the movie storyline.

A major Bond fan since her high school boyfriend introduced her to the books, Toth was reading the book when she realized the main character visited Lake George.

All of a sudden she says shes in Lake George, Toth said. I close the book and I said to myself, that cant be right. What is a James Bond book doing in Lake George? So I opened the book and yup, there it is.

The books main character takes a road trip from Montreal to Lake George. Toth decided to do the same. She had to map out the gas stations to be able to refill the scooters gas tank, which held less than a gallon. She made the trip in six days.

I have a job and a child and a house and three cats, Toth said. So I had to take a specific time off work and hope a lot that it wouldnt rain.

Toth hopes the book, which is being published by the Warren County Historical Society, will be available this fall.

Gretta Hochsprung writes features and hometown news. She can be reached at 518-742-3206 or ghochsprung@poststar.com.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting on Friday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return to the motherland of Hong Kong, whose development Xi says has always been in his heart.

"Hong Kong's development has always pulled at my heartstrings," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, upon his arrival in Hong Kong five years ago for the special administrative region's 20th anniversary.

Over the years, Xi has repeatedly demonstrated his concern for the development of Hong Kong, as well as the well-being of the over 7 million Hong Kong residents. He has initiated projects integrating Hong Kong into the national development, interacted with the youth of Hong Kong and encouraged entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams on the mainland.

Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have rolled out a series of major policies and measures to help Hong Kong maintain stability and prosperity under the framework of "one country, two systems."

On Friday, the president will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which Xi expects to bring refreshing changes to the governance of Hong Kong.

Xi has said that Hong Kong is at a crucial stage on its path to further prosperity.

Hong Kong has witnessed rapid development since the Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over it on July 1, 1997.

From 1997 to 2021, Hong Kong's GDP grew from 1.37 trillion Hong Kong dollars (174.59 billion U.S. dollars) to 2.86 trillion Hong Kong dollars. It has weathered challenges including the Asian financial crisis, the SARS epidemic and the international financial crisis, and consolidated its status as an international financial, shipping and trade center.

Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have promoted infrastructure connectivity and rolled out policies and measures to further expand the space for Hong Kong's development.

A fine example of infrastructure connectivity is the mega-bridge at the Pearl River estuary connecting Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland.

During his trip to Hong Kong in 2017, Xi visited the construction site of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. In October 2018, he announced the bridge's opening and inspected it.

The opening of the bridge marked a new stage in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The Greater Bay Area, which aims to become a world-class bay area and city cluster, is a significant national project conceived and promoted by Xi. In just a few years, it has become one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China.

A growing number of young people from Hong Kong are turning to the mainland for entrepreneurial prospects, as the bay area development has brought about new opportunities.

Mark Mak Hin-yu, co-founder of a robotics company, said his company has its headquarters in Hong Kong but has transferred part of the operations, including hardware assembly and technical testing, to the mainland, capitalizing on the opportunities brought about by the bay area's development.

China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) gives Hong Kong support in building itself into an international center for innovation and technology, a center in the Asia-Pacific region for international legal and dispute resolution services, a regional center for intellectual property trade, and a center for cultural and art exchanges with other countries.

Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairperson of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and a veteran in Hong Kong's financial sector for more than three decades, has full confidence in the sector's future development.

"Being a relatively small economy with a population of just over 7 million, Hong Kong would not have developed into the international financial center it is now without the strong backing of the mainland's continuous development," she said.

Improving the livelihood of Hong Kong people has been a top priority for Xi.

"Teenagers want to grow up happily. Young people want to bring out the best of their talent. People in mature years want to be successful, and the seniors want to enjoy their golden years," Xi said when he visited Hong Kong in 2017, explaining the relations between development and people's well-being.

Xi would always find time to interact with the public during his visits to Hong Kong. In 2008, Xi, then Chinese vice president, visited ordinary Hong Kong families, sat down with them and chatted about their everyday life. In his 2017 trip, President Xi watched an episode of Cantonese opera performed by children and encouraged them to inherit the fine traditional Chinese culture.

Over the years, Xi has overseen the implementation of various favorable policies for Hong Kong compatriots on the mainland, which cover a wide range of areas, from education and employment to healthcare and travel.

For instance, since September 2018, eligible people from Hong Kong have been able to apply for residence permits on the mainland, which grant them access to the rights to work, social security and housing provident fund.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Hong Kong, Xi was very concerned about the lives and health of local people and has instructed on multiple occasions to give Hong Kong full support in fighting the virus.

The mainland has sent anti-epidemic materials, dispatched health workers, and helped build isolation and treatment facilities, as well as ensured the steady supply of daily necessities to aid Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic.

"The motherland is always Hong Kong's strong backing. Difficulties at hand can surely be overcome," Xi has said.

Xi has stressed a full and accurate understanding of the "one country, two systems" principle and faithful implementation of it. As he has said, "one country" is like the roots of a tree and for a tree to grow tall and luxuriant, its roots must run deep and strong.

The central authorities adopted a raft of policies and measures in an effort to address both the symptoms and the root causes of relevant challenges Hong Kong faced.

The implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong was one such significant measure. It was followed by improvements to the electoral system. These have provided Hong Kong with a solid institutional guarantee to overcome immediate difficulties, achieve good governance, and ensure lasting peace and stability.

Under the new electoral system, Hong Kong has successfully held elections for the Election Committee, the seventh-term Legislative Council and the sixth-term chief executive. An increasing number of competent and patriotic people have entered the governing structure.

With these measures in place, social stability has been restored. For Hong Kong people and foreign residents alike, this means a safer living environment and more predictable business environment.

"The key to Hong Kong's success lies in its people's love of the motherland and Hong Kong, and their perseverance, pursuit of excellence and adaptability," Xi has said.

In 2018, Xi met Eric Kuo, a young Hong Kong entrepreneur, at a pilot free trade zone in Guangdong Province.

"I was deeply touched by President Xi's encouragement and grew more determined to start my own business on the mainland," Kuo said. His hi-tech company has quickly expanded, raking in annual revenue of over 10 million yuan (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) last year.

More opportunities are emerging for Hong Kong's young people on the mainland, as they are receiving greater assistance from job hunting to business establishment.

"An increasingly prosperous motherland serves as a source of strength for Hong Kong to overcome difficulties and challenges; it also presents a reservoir of opportunities for Hong Kong to break new ground, foster new driving force and create new space for development," Xi said in his trip for the HKSAR's 20th anniversary five years ago.
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MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Three township residents were arrested Monday in a drug investigation.

Joel Quintana-Medina, 42, Frankie Sola, 39, and Zulmarie Arroyo, 20, all of the Rio Grande section of the township, are each charged with two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and two counts of distribution of CDS, the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday in a news release.

Quintana-Medina and Sola were taken to the county jail. Arroyo was released on a summons pending court.

The arrests were made following an investigation into illegal drug distribution that targeted Quintana-Medina, the Prosecutor's Office said.

On Monday, the Prosecutor's Office, with help from other agencies, executed a search warrant on Quintana-Medina's home, located in a trailer park in the 100 block of North Fifth Street in Rio Grande. Inside, teams recovered more than 1 ounce of cocaine and more than 250 bags of heroin for a total street value of about $4,500, the Prosecutor's Office said.

The Cape May County Sheriff's Office, Middle Township police, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Cape May County Regional SWAT Team assisted.

Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin

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Meteorologist

It's great to forecast for you in N.J., where I was born and raised. I earned my degree from Rutgers and have been at The Press since Fall 2017. I'm honored to be a 10 time N.J. Press Association award winner and a South Jersey "Top 40 Under 40".
For decades weve watched American society turn away from one form of unfair discrimination after another. The change in peoples views and understanding, and in the laws that followed, have reassured the nation regarding its civility.

One popular form of bias, though, wasnt addressed and seldom ever considered -- against people who look overweight. And the more overweight someone seemed to casual observers, the worse they were treated.

This is obviously unfair, since to a considerable extent a persons physique is beyond their control. The basics of their body type are determined by their genes, and they can only do so much -- often not much at all -- to approximate the changeable preferences of society.

This weight bias falls hardest on women because nature generally equips them to get enough nutrients to sustain themselves and the new people who grow within them. To ensure survival, the human species needed a share of women to be able to produce the next generation in times of famine and scarcity. Even with less than normal to eat their bodies might look overweight to most people. And in this lengthy age of food abundance and ready availability, an extremely efficient digestive system makes obesity very hard to avoid.

Plump women were the ideal of beauty just a few centuries ago when getting enough food was difficult. If the breakdown of global society expected by doomsayers ever came to pass, their ability to survive and thrive would make them the most desirable again.

Evolution also makes some men naturally heavier and more susceptible to weight gain, just as it makes some short and tall. A major strength of the human species is its ability to adapt relatively quickly to changing conditions by favoring the varieties best suited to them.

The bottom line is that judging someones natural appearance and holding it against them in any way is unfair and should stop.

Maybe New Jersey will finally make progress on this.

State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, of Monmouth County, has proposed prohibiting prejudice on the basis of weight or height in hiring, housing and educational practices. His bill introduced this month would make New Jersey only the second, after Michigan, to add that to its civil rights law.

"This is a serious problem, and we don't accept race discrimination or gender discrimination or age discrimination," Zwicker said told NJ 101.5. He said studies show weight bias is widespread, typically affecting women much more than men. "Society has put these ideal heights, ideal weights, and these are just things that have been created, and not everybody fits into that ideal. And so, people are treated differently," he said.

Zwickers bill would provide exceptions in cases where the height or weight of an individual is a bona fide occupational qualification. And yet the senator cited an unsuccessful lawsuit by female beverage servers over a casino weight restriction as something his bill would address.

In 2013, a Superior Court judge said Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa was within its rights to limit the weight gain of its cocktail servers. He issued a summary judgment that in prohibiting servers -- women and men -- from gaining more than 7% of their body weight after they were hired, the casino did not unlawfully discriminate.

The judge said the casino had made it clear the positions were meant to be part entertainer and part cocktail server. The weight policy, to which the servers agreed before taking the jobs, was lawful and reasonable.

There is no type of body that is suitable for every kind of work. Each person has natural advantages in society and the workplace, and natural disadvantages. The species depends on that and on the general ability to recognize and act upon such individuality.

The key will be how the bill defines the occupational qualification for weight and height preferences and accommodates them. If legitimate and appropriate consideration of physical characteristics is allowed, Zwickers admirable effort to end unfair bias based on weight and height is more likely to advance.
WASHINGTON  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) condemns the Lukashenka regimes addition of imprisoned RFE/RL Belarus Service journalist Ihar Losik to a terrorist watch list.

Losik was arrested by Belarusian agents in June 2020 and tried on fabricated charges including organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order and preparation for participation in riots. After a five-month trial held behind closed doors, Losik was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2021. Since his arrest, Losik has faced severe physical and psychological pressures, and has undergone weeks of hunger strikes to protest his detention and charges.

This escalation is an egregious abuse of the states authority and underlines the Lukashenka regimes contempt for journalists who expose the truth, said RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly. We continue to demand Ihars immediate release from prison so he can be reunited with his wife and daughter.

Losiks addition to Belarus terrorist watch list is the latest escalation in the countrys assault on free press in the region. Earlier this month, Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RLs Belarus Service was sentenced to six years in a maximum-security prison on the bogus charges of creating or participating in an extremist organization. Belarus Service journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich also received a sentence of one and a half years in a penal labor colony in March for taking part in mass protests that he was covering on assignment.

Additionally, RFE/RL was added to Belarus registry of extremist organizations in December 2021, RFE/RLs bureau in Minsk was raided and sealed by Belarusian security forces in July 2021, and numerous other journalists on assignment to report on the disputed August 2020 presidential election were harassed, detained, and stripped of their accreditations.

RFE/RLs Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, with a monthly average of over 33 million visits to its websites and 59 million page views, was first established in 1954 and is a leading provider of news in one of Europes most restrictive societies, defying the governments virtual monopoly on domestic broadcast media.

About RFE/RL

RFE/RL relies on its networks of local reporters to provide accurate news and information to more than 37 million people every week in 27 languages and 23 countries where media freedom is restricted, or where a professional press has not fully developed. Its videos were viewed 7 billion times on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram/IGTV in FY2021. RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Mike Stankiewicz in Washington (stankiewiczm@rferl.org, +1.202.457.6952)

Jana Hokuvova in Prague (hokuvovaj@rferl.org, +420.221.122.072)
More than 100 pistols, about a dozen magazine-fed rifles and three handguns built with 3D printers were among the roughly 300 firearms turned in Saturday during the Moline Police Department/Crime Stoppers gun buyback.

The event Saturday was at the department's headquarters, 1640 4th Ave., Moline. The exchanges were to be no questions asked, and organizers offered $100 cash for a qualifying handgun or shotgun and $200 cash for a qualifying semi-automatic rifle that used a magazine, according to the police. The money was raised by donation. About 300 guns were turned in and the money, $22,500, was gone in about 50 minutes.

There were more guns turned in than there were funds for, but many people who attended were satisfied with secure disposal of the weapons they brought, the department said on Tuesday.

The organizers were open to holding another buyback but will review how Saturday's went to see if there is need in the community for another date, the department said.

Unwanted guns left unsecured and unwatched often are used in crimes, police said in the weeks before the event. The goal of the event is to reduce gun crimes by taking such firearms out of circulation.

The guns turned in by participants included:

Rifles: 65

Magazine-fed rifles: 13

Shotguns: 100

Sawed-off shotguns: 2

Semi-automatic shotguns: 6

3D-printed handguns: 3

Handguns: 114

The department said there were no historical firearms turned in during the buyback.

The firearms are being screened to see if any were stolen or might have been used in a crime, but the amount of guns turned in means it might take weeks to process all of them, the police said. Once they are processed, the guns will be destroyed.

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The Republican candidate for a Davenport House seat attended a rally on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, which Scott County Democrats called a sign the candidate, Luana Stoltenberg, has an "alliance with the radical right extremist movement."

Stoltenberg is running against Craig Cooper, a Democrat from Davenport, for the Iowa House seat, which covers northwest Davenport.

It's a sign the Nov. 8 general election race is already heating up soon after the June 7 primary election.

Stoltenberg posted on social media on Jan. 5, 2021, that she was "on assignment" in Washington, D.C., and posted pictures on the grounds in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and Capitol buildings the following day.

When reached by phone, Stoltenberg said she was there as part of a prayer group with Women for a Great America, a political nonprofit formed by Andrea Lafferty.

Lafferty is the daughter of the founder of the Traditional Values Coalition, a now-defunct group that was labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim.

Stoltenberg said they'd set up a small stage with a piano keyboard, sang songs and prayed. She said she did not enter the Capitol building and did not attend former President Donald Trump's speech on Jan. 6.

"I was there to pray for my nation because I love my nation," Stoltenberg said. "And pray that there would be peace and there would be truth."

Stoltenberg does not face any federal charges connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection, when hundreds of protesters overtook capitol police officers to storm the Capitol building. A U.S. House committee investigating the day's events has held a series of hearings this month with testimony from top White House aids and law enforcement officers.

Stoltenberg posted photos in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and Capitol buildings on Facebook on Jan. 6, 2021 writing: "WE THE PEOPLE are simpl(y) exercising our constitutional right to assemble and tell the government officials they are not representing us and there is fraud. Why do they refuse to investigate or look at the evidence. That is our right as the people. Stand up before we become a communist country."

All credible evidence has found the 2020 election to be fair and secure. Judges, elected officials and investigators have repeatedly said there is no evidence of widespread fraud, and audits and recounts, including a Republican-led audit in Arizona, have confirmed the result and debunked claims of fraud. Dozens of lawsuits brought by former President Trumps campaign were dismissed by state and federal judges, several of whom were appointed by Trump, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Despite that, a Washington Post/University of Massachusetts at Amherst poll conducted in December found just 21% of Republicans nationwide thought Joe Biden was legitimately elected. Some Iowa Republicans have campaigned on that falsehood, including Jim Carlin, a Republican challenger for U.S. Senate who lost to longtime incumbent Chuck Grassley in Iowa's primary elections.

Matt Trimble, chair of the Scott County Democrats, said, according to a press release: "Her claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent is contributing to a dangerous moment in our country's history."

Trimble continued: "It is terrifying that the intent of Jan. 6, 2021, by Luana Stoltenerg and thousands of others was to overturn the results of a free, fair election and overturn our government. These were not patriots, as Stoltenberg has suggested. They were anarchists. We must identify her and all who support this un-American activity as dangerous to democracy."

For her part, Stoltenberg said: "I dont believe anybody thought they would overturn the government. We were there to represent the people. We were there praying for our nation that people would be represented and heard. Period."

Stoltenberg said she could see and hear what was going on but did not participate. From her vantage point, she said she saw police officers being friendly with protesters, high-fiving them and backing away. She hung up mid-interview and didn't say whether she still believed the 2020 election was fraudulent.

"The primary is barely over, and were attacking?" Stoltenberg said of Democrats. "Good grief."

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When Davenport resident Karen Orozco Gutierrez began researching the life of her great-grandfather Milton Howard, she quickly learned how a singular event can impact a persons life and the lives of their descendants forever.

Gutierrez marked Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of African-American slaves, earlier this month by sharing the remarkable story of her great-grandfather who went from being a kidnapped slave to a celebrated community member.

Born in Muscatine County, Iowa, in 1851, Howard was a free child but was kidnapped and sold into slavery at just 2 years old, along with his family. To this day, his family knows him only by his enslavers surname.

After working for Albert James Pickett on his plantation in Alabama for just shy of a decade, Milton Howard was separated from his family and sold to a planter in Arkansas by the name of Howard.

During the onset of the Civil War, Howard escaped his enslavement and went back to Iowa with an unknown Union soldier. At age 13, Howard enlisted in the First Iowa Colored Regiment, Company F, beginning as a drummer boy and eventually joining battle. At the end of 1865, Howard left the army and returned to Iowa. He began an impressive 50-year career at the Rock Island Arsenal.

Howard was a ward alderman, and civic leader and was, according to Gutierrezs research, an ordained minister. He also learned to speak French, German and Italian. Howard was known as a positive, selfless man in the community.

As Gutierrez put it, Milton Howard, not born with advantages, took whatever God gave him and made a life for himself and his family, and was thankful and grateful for this.

So one hundred years later, what can be taken away from Milton Howards legacy?

For one, his story serves as a critical example of why the preservation of Black lineage is so important.

Black American history, although we may have been told otherwise, is not impossible to document. Perhaps challenging, but not impossible, Gutierrez said. I can almost guarantee you can find anything about any Black person back to 1870 without any difficulty at all for the most part. Before 1870, it becomes more challenging because we were not considered human.

The 1870 U.S. census was the first census to include African-Americans, so tracing lineage that dates back before 1870 requires more digging. That didnt stop Gutierrez.

Taking a trip to Montgomery, Ala., Gutierrez obtained slaveholder records, allowing her to gain more insight into Howards life as a slave. Despite Gutierrezs extensive knowledge on Howard, there are still many unknown details of his life.

If Milton had not been kidnapped, he would have been allowed to learn to read and write, he would have attended school, perhaps even graduated from college, Gutierrez said. We would know Miltons real surname, and not the surnames of enslavers. We would know the names of Miltons parents and siblings, and perhaps his grandparents and great grandparents, and so on. We may have been able to know where in Africa Miltons ancestors came from. We may have been able to know the history and legacy of Milton Howard.

Gutierrez pointed out that while the African-American experience is often viewed as a collective one, every individuals experience as a Black person in America is unique, composed of distinct challenges.

Gutierrez maintained, If you dont know where you came from, you dont know where youre going. And it is up to each individual person [to do their own research] because every family is different.

David Brodnax is a professor of history at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill. He is also an expert on Iowas Black Civil War regiment, the 60th U.S. Colored Infantry. He emphasized the importance of connecting with ones ancestry.

No living person has direct memory of slavery or the Civil War or Reconstruction, and it will not be long before there are no remaining World War II veterans. There are, though, many people left who remember the Second World War, the Civil Rights Movement, etc. We have to talk to those elders so that we can hear, record and pass down their stories, Brodnax said.

But Brodnax believes there is work to be done on a governmental level as well. He pointed to the 1930s-era Federal Writers Project where scholars were sent by the government to interview former slaves, Civil War veterans and others who remembered the U.S. prior to the war in order to collect accurate accounts of the countrys history. Brodnax believes a similar initiative could be effective today.

Although some of those scholars engaged with elderly Blacks in a patronizing or even dismissive way, we still have those transcripts and recordings, he said. We are now at or near a similar stretch of time when it comes to the Civil Rights Movement and WWII. The government could again send federally funded scholars to speak with the elderly about their experiences.

Whether on an individual or governmental level, there are resources that can be exhausted to ensure Black lineage is safeguarded.

The full story of the Quad Cities, Iowa and America, both good and bad, must be preserved, remembered, discussed, contested by people of goodwill and sincere motives and used to make the future better than the past, Brodnax said.

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Illinois Republicans on Tuesday chose conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey to take on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire who easily won the Democratic nomination and who spent millions trying to get the rival he wants and increase his already sizable advantage in the state this fall.

Bailey, who defeated five other Republicans to win the nomination, is a farmer and staunch abortion opponent who received former President Donald Trumps endorsement Saturday.

Pritzker immediately framed the race as a referendum on the former president, who Illinois voters twice rejected by double digits. Taking the stage at his victory party, Pritzker told the crowd, I'm going to beat Donald Trump's candidate for governor, Darren Bailey.

Let me be clear, someone who seeks out and accepts the endorsement of a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic, twice-impeached former president does not deserve to come anywhere near this state's highest office, Pritzker said from a hotel in Chicago.

Bailey raised his statewide profile during the pandemic by opposing Pritzkers COVID-19 measures. He sued Pritzker over a stay-at-home order the governor issued, and was escorted off the floor of the Legislature for refusing to wear a mask.

On Tuesday, Bailey criticized elites like Pritzker, the GOP establishment and others who say he cannot win in November. He pledged to outwork his opponent and stand up for regular, working people across Illinois.

We were outspent by tens of millions of dollars in the primary and look what happened tonight. This is how its done, Bailey said.

He later added, Heres a tip and some advice for J.B. Pritzker: Start packing, friend, because on Nov. 8, youre fired.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune who is seeking his second term, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP primary, including with ads noting he is 100% pro-life. While those messages have raised Bailey's standing with Republican voters, they are likely to hurt him in a general election in a place where Democrats control all statewide offices and Trump lost handily.

Republican Richard Irvin, a former prosecutor who was the first Black mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, was seen as a top candidate when he joined the race, with financial backing from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin argued that he was the only GOP candidate who could beat Pritzker in November because he could win votes from Republicans, independents and some Democrats. But despite Griffin sinking $50 million into Irvin's campaign, he was damaged by repeated attacks from his rivals, including Pritzker.

Unlike the other GOP candidates, Irvin avoided talking about whether he voted for Trump. The mayor of Aurora instead focused on issues such as crime in Chicago and legislation signed by Pritzker that he said made policing harder. He said he opposes abortion except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother.

In a concession speech Tuesday, Irvin criticized Pritzkers meddling in the primary and wished Bailey well in the general election.

Listen, I hope this governor is wrong in his assessment that he can easily defeat the opponent he paid tens of millions of dollars to face. But if this governor is correct and if he does easily prevail, we as citizens must rise up," Irvin said.

Tim Zink, a 70-year-old retiree, wore a National Rifle Association T-shirt as he cast his ballot in the northern Illinois town of McHenry for Bailey.

I just like the way he stands on just about everything," Zink said. He added that he didn't trust Irvin, whom he called two-faced and friends with Pritzker.

Joe Berstein, from the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park, voted for Pritzker: So far I think hes doing a good job.

The other Republican candidates are business owner Gary Rabine, venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf and attorney Max Solomon.

Pritzker defeated a much lesser-known rival, Beverly Miles, for the nomination.

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TAYLORVILLE  Just days after being christened a "fearless, America-first patriot" by former President Donald Trump, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, easily defeated fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, in the 15th Congressional District Republican primary.

With 93% of precincts reporting in the 35-county Central Illinois district, Miller held a 58% to 42% lead over Davis, a margin of nearly 17,000 votes out of more than 111,000 cast, according to the Associated Press. The AP called the race at 9:48 p.m. Tuesday.

"Tonight was a massive win for President Trump and conservatives in our country," Miller told supporters Tuesday at an election night party in Quincy. "But tonight is just the beginning. Tomorrow we begin the work of uniting the Republican Party so that we can defeat J.B. Pritzker."

She said Trump's agenda would be her own in Congress "as I work with my friends in the House Freedom Caucus to save our country."

Davis called Miller shortly after 9 p.m. to concede the race.

Id like to congratulate Congresswoman Miller and President Trump on their victory tonight," Davis said in a statement. "This was a hard-fought campaign, and I wish her the best in representing the citizens of the 15th District."

Davis added that it's "been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Illinois" and that's he's "proud of the work" he and his team put in over the past 10 years.

Davis, who did not have an election night party with supporters, declined to speak with reporters who gathered in Taylorville following his concession.

It is a stunning end for Davis, a five-term incumbent with close ties to House Republican leadership who was once considered a rising star within the conference. He had survived several bouts with political death before.

But Davis, a mainstream conservative with a bipartisan streak, could not escape this time as Miller, a far-right freshman firebrand, had the backing of Trump, a major boost in the deeply conservative district.

The Trump factor loomed large in this race as the former president endorsed Miller in early January, hosted a fundraiser for her at his Mar-A-Lago resort in April and, perhaps most decisively, held a rally for her near Quincy this past weekend.

"Mary is a warrior for our movement and our values," Trump said on Saturday.

The sprawling 15th Congressional District, which stretches west to east across Central Illinois from the Iowa and Missouri state lines to the Indiana state line, was drawn by Springfield Democrats last year to pack as many Republicans in as possible.

This was done in part by carving out the regions urban centers such as Champaign, Decatur and Springfield  mapped into the Democratic-leaning 13th Congressional District  while picking up giant swathes of surrounding rural areas and small towns.

As a result, the newly minted district would have voted for Trump by 68% in the 2020 election, making it one of the most conservative in the country.

Davis, who has often fashioned himself as someone who can convert conservative principles into law, had to grapple with aspects of his past voting record during the campaign.

Though he voted Trump's position 89% of the time during the former president's single term in office, he often worked to find compromise as he navigated the swingy nature of his current district.

But, such efforts have opened him up to criticism from the far-right wing of his party in the new, more conservative district.

Miller, taking a page out of Trump's playbook, gave Davis the nickname "RINO Rodney." The acronym is short for "Republican in name only."

She attacked Davis for his previous advocacy for immigration reform that would protect undocumented immigrants who arrived as children from deportation and his support of red-flag laws that would allow guns to be taken away from people deemed to be dangerous.

He was also criticized for being insufficiently loyal to Trump, with critics citing his vote to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election and for not saying whether he voted for the then-Republican nominee in 2016.

Both campaigns and outside groups spent millions of dollars on advertising, with Davis' returning fire on the RINO charges by calling Miller a "fake conservative," citing votes against measures that included pay raises for troops and comments she made about helping undocumented immigrants.

Miller, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, has eschewed bipartisanship in the name of Trump's "America First" agenda. She has also become a lightning rod for controversy during her first term in office.

She is close with Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Co., who campaigned with her and Trump on Saturday, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who headlined a Miller fundraiser in Effingham last year. Boebert and Greene are known for trafficking in far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon.

On Saturday, Miller thanked Trump, who appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices, for the high court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, calling it "a victory for white life."

Miller's campaign said Sunday that the congresswoman meant to say victory for right to life but misspoke. They also released a picture of Miller with her grandchildren, some of whom are people of color, while accusing the news media of jumping on the remark.

Another controversy involved a campaign volunteer who drove her around to campaign events who was convicted of luring a child for sex in 2005.

And in January 2021, Miller made remarks about Adolf Hitler at a pro-Trump rally outside the Capitol. ("Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future, she said, speaking about the need to reach young people.)

Yet, none of that stopped her from winning.

Miller performed well in the southern and eastern portions of the district that overlap with the area she currently represents as well as the counties in western Illinois that neither candidate had represented before.

Davis performed best near the district's larger urban centers in Macon and Sangamon counties as well as in Christian County, where he lives.

Miller crushed Davis in Adams County, winning 79% to 21%. The county produced the largest amount of votes in the district and was the site of Trump's rally on Saturday.

Along with the blowout victory of state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, in the Republican race for governor, Miller's victory offers a decisive indicator that Trump still has a significant hold on the Republican electorate.

It allowed Miller to overcome the perceived organizational strength of Davis, a seasoned retail politician who spent more than two decades cultivating relationships across Central Illinois, whether in his current role or as a staffer for former Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville.

Davis' political operation had been battle-tested several times before. Democrats have targeted him in nearly every election cycle since he was elected by a 1,002-vote margin in 2012.

In 2014, he beat back a GOP primary challenge from attorney and former Miss America Erika Harold. And in 2018, he was able to stem the tide of the Democratic "blue wave," defeating Betsy Dirsken Londrigan by just under 2,000 votes.

But even a skilled retail politician such as Davis could not make the pivot from the swingy 13th District, where he had to emphasize his bipartisan bonafides, to the deep-red 15th District, where party purity and personal loyalty to Trump are paramount.

As a result, Central Illinois will lose some influence in the halls of Congress.

Davis was slated to chair the House Administration Committee, a usually sleepy perch overseeing the Capitol Complex that has become high-profile in wake of the January 6 attack.

He also would have likely chaired the influential House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Miller serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Education Committee, but will have to build seniority.

She runs a family farm with her husband, state Rep. Chris Miller, in Oakland.

Miller lives just outside the new 15th Congressional District, though the only requirement to represent a district is to live in the same state.

She will face Paul Lange of Quincy, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, in November.

Contact Brenden Moore at 217-421-7984. Follow him on Twitter: @brendenmoore13

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The Rock Island County States Attorneys office has charged a man with first-degree murder in the death of his 2-month-old daughter.

Bryson Hall, 19, also faces a charge of aggravated battery and another of aggravated domestic battery, according to Rock Island County court records. He is accused of injuring the baby on May 24. The location of the incident was not available, but the case was investigated by the Moline Police Department.

Officers were called that day after Hall and the babys mother took the unresponsive child to Genesis Medical Center, Silvis, according to the police department, which identified Hall as the father. The girl was later sent to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City.

Moline police investigators initially handled the case against Hall, of Davenport, as an aggravated battery, but the baby died of her injuries on June 14 while being treated in Iowa City, according to the department.

Court records state that Hall knowingly caused severe head trauma to the baby, identified in the record as J.A.H., by battering the child.

Hall is also accused of shaking her, causing bleeding and brain swelling.

Authorities issued a warrant for Halls arrest on June 23, and he turned himself in Tuesday, the police department said.

Hall made his first appearance in court by video on Tuesday afternoon. His next court date was set for July 12.

Halls bail has been set at $500,000, court records state. To be released from the Rock Island County Jail, he would have to post $50,000.

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Eric Sorensen has won the Democratic primary election for the 17th Congressional District. He will face Republican primary winner Esther Joy King in the Nov. 8 general election.

With 75% of precincts reporting, Sorensen had won nearly 37% of the vote and was leading by almost 4,000 votes three hours after polls closed at 7 p.m.

According to unofficial results, Sorensen, 46, defeated the other five Democratic candidates vying to take the seat of outgoing U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, who announced last year she would not seek a sixth term.

Sorensen took an early lead in his hometown of Rockford, besting Rockford resident and former Illinois state Rep. Litesa Wallace, who came in second with 24% of the vote; and Rockford Alderman Jonathan Logemann, who was third, with 15% of the vote.

Rock Island County board member Angie Normoyle had received 12% of the vote; while Marsha Williams of Channahon had 7%; and cannabis lobbyist Jacqueline McGowan trailed with 5.5% of votes.

Sorensen, a former meteorologist at WQAD, graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications and a minor in meteorology. He had campaigned on the issue of climate science and is an advocate for the LGBTQ community.

With 37% of precincts reporting, King handily defeated opponent Charlie Helmick, both of East Moline, with 68% of the vote.

This November will be the second time King has been on the ballot in the general election. She came within 4 percentage points of defeating Bustos in 2020, losing 52% to 48%.

Republicans are eyeing the 17th Congressional District as one of four districts they hope to turn red in order to win back control of the House.

King earned her law degree and a master's of law in taxation from Northwestern University in Chicago, beginning her legal career as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. She is an attorney and small-business owner of her own marketing firm.

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Gov. Kim Reynolds is not planning to call a special legislative session to pass abortion restrictions, but she suggested she may consider it if her attempt to bring back enforcement of Iowas so-called fetal heartbeat bill fails in state courts.

Reynolds, a Republican, on Tuesday announced plans to challenge a 2018 district court decision that halted enforcement of the bill, which would ban abortions after cardiac activity is detected in a fetus -- usually around six weeks. The announcement came after a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a federal right to an abortion, allowing states broad freedom to restrict abortion access.

Shes also asking the Iowa Supreme Court to reconsider a recent ruling that overturned a previous ruling saying the state constitution guarantees the right to an abortion. While a win for Iowa Republicans, the ruling, which came before Fridays U.S. Supreme Court decision, still left room for courts to strike down some abortion restrictions under Planned Parenthood v. Casey's "undue burden" standard.

Weve got two laws in place, and so were going to move forward with that and wait and see what the ruling is based on that, and then well reassess after that point, she said.

Abortion is currently legal in Iowa until 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Without a special session, the next time state lawmakers will meet in the Capitol is early January 2023. If Republicans keep a majority in the Legislature and Reynolds wins reelection, theyre expected to pass more laws restricting abortion.

In a statement after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, Reynolds said she would not rest until every unborn Iowan is protected and respected. She didnt indicate on Wednesday what her end goal is for abortion access in Iowa.

We have the heartbeat bill on the books, and so lets lift the injunction and lets make that a law, she said on Wednesday. And so were going to start with that.

On Friday, Republican Senate leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, indicated Senate Republicans would seek abortion restrictions in response to the federal ruling.

As a pro-life caucus, Senate Republicans have led on the protections of life and will continue to do so, he said in a statement. We look forward to continuing to advance the cause of the unborn.

As for when the fetal heartbeat bills injunction may be lifted, Reynolds said the timeline is in the courts hands after she filed the request to review the cases.

Legislative Democrats have decried Reynolds court challenges, saying Republicans are poised to roll back abortion access further.

Iowa Republicans will not stop until they have completely banned abortions without exception, Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, said on Tuesday. This is an incredibly dangerous action that threatens the health, safety, and future of Iowa women.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  Farmers driving tractors blocked highways in the Netherlands on Monday and set small blazes outside at least two town halls in the latest protest sparked by a government pledge to rein in pollution emissions, a move that will hit the country's agriculture sector.

Authorities urged motorists to check traffic updates before setting off, amid the protests that follow a gathering last week of tens of thousands of farmers in the central Netherlands that also caused traffic chaos around the country.

We advise road users to be extra alert, the government's road and water department said in a statement. Several highways around the country were affected by the protests.

Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius condemned the protests.

Several highways are currently blocked by farmers. You dont make your point by endangering road users. This can have serious consequences. Then the police have no choice but to intervene where possible, if necessary afterwards. Dont let it get that far, the minister tweeted.

Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that farmers lit small fires outside town halls in the city of Apeldoorn and the town of Epe in the central Netherlands.

Earlier, local broadcaster Omroep Brabant showed a truck dumping large, plastic-covered bales of hay on a highway near the town of Liessel, some 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of the capital, Amsterdam. On at least two more highways, farmers drove or parked their tractors, snarling traffic.

The Dutch governing coalition has mandated reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia of up to 70% in many areas of the country close to protected nature areas  even reaching as high as 95% in some places. The government has been forced to act after courts in recent years began blocking permits for infrastructure and housing projects because the country was missing its emissions targets.

The government has earmarked an extra 24.3 billion euros ($25.6 billion) to finance agricultural reforms that will likely make many farmers drastically reduce their number of livestock or to get rid of them altogether.

The pollution reduction targets, which have to be achieved by provincial governments, have been opposed even by members of Prime Minister Mark Ruttes own party and other members of his coalition. Provincial governments have been given a year to formulate plans to meet the targets.

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 Rapid City resident filed a code of conduct complaint against Rapid City Council member Pat Jones alleging intentional and malicious libel.

Jordan Mason, who worked as Pennington County Sheriff candidate Ryan Mechaleys campaign manager for 2022, filed a complaint against Jones with the mayor and council June 2. Mason requested Jones issue a public apology to help clear his name.

In the complaint, Mason said Jones opinion column published in the Journal stated that Mason acted in a fraudulent and unethical professional manner attacking his credibility, trustworthiness and impugning my personal character while making specific reference to my profession and my client.

Such libelous statements were clearly made with willful malicious intent to damage my ability to practice my profession as a campaign manager, which is dependent upon my credibility and trustworthiness, Mason wrote.

Jones wrote a column published June 1 before the Republican primary stating he had been subject to a disturbing campaign tactic. In the column, Jones wrote that his photo was being improperly used on Mechaleys campaign materials and that he did not intentionally endorse him.

In the column, Jones said he attempted to have his name removed but was told by Mechaleys campaign manager that a new mailer with his likeness and endorsement was being sent out and there was nothing that could be done to stop it.

In a June 1 Journal story published in the June 2 paper, Mason said he found the column unbecoming of a city council person and reached out to file a code of conduct complaint.

Mason said Jones claim of numerous attempts to privately resolve this matter with Mason is false. In the complaint, Mason includes screenshots from both his personal cell phone and work cell phone, as well as screenshots of social media posts and emails, with call logs, text messages and communications between himself, Jones and Mechaley.

Mason said in the complaint that the interactions he had with Jones were May 26, May 28 and June 1 to total no more than 6 minutes and 5 seconds.

All attempts to communicate with Jones were my efforts to reach out to him, he said in the complaint. To be clear, Jones made no attempt at any time to reach out to me or speak with me, via phone, email or other method.

In the complaint, Mason said Jones has caused harm to his reputation and that his false statements and allegations have caused serious concern for my remaining clients and resulted in both pecuniary and untold damages to his ability to operate successfully in the area in his profession.

Mason said in the complaint that Jones violated the citys Code of Conduct in its statement expecting each elected official to demonstrate the highest standards of conduct, personal integrity, and honesty in all of their activities in order to inspire public confidence and trust in elected officials.

City communications coordinator Darrell Shoemaker said no date has been scheduled for an executive session to discuss the complaint. He said the city attorney is investigating the complaint and will complete a report of his findings and submit the report to the council.

Shoemaker said there is no set time frame for when an investigation must be completed, and the council member is provided a sufficient amount of time to respond to the report.

Complaints have previously been filed against Council member Laura Armstrong in December 2020 regarding social media posts with no action taken and former Council member Lisa Modrick in February 2020 that resulted in her expulsion from the council.

According to a Rapid City resolution, any complaints regarding violations of the Code of Conduct should be made in writing to the city attorneys office. The complaint is then reviewed and can be heard in executive session. After review, the city attorneys office submits an investigative report to the council. No action can be taken during the executive session.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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A federal judge in Rapid City sentenced a Louisiana man to prison for attempted possession of child pornography. The man was apprehended during a multi-agency 2020 sex trafficking sting during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

United States District Judge Karen Schreier sentenced Robert Lee Goodwill, 21, on June 22 to two and a half years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. The court also ordered him to pay a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Goodwill faced a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, and five years to life of supervised release.

Law enforcement arrested Goodwill and he was federally indicted as a result of the sting, according to a U.S. Attorneys Office press release.

Court documents show Goodwill, who was under the impression he was speaking with a 15-year-old girl named Lucy, conversed with Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Michelle Pohlen over a dating app.

During those conversations, which started and ended on Aug. 7, 2020 when Goodwill was arrested, Lucy told Goodwill she was 15. After finding this out, Goodwill, going under the name Jacobi, asked for a picture of Lucy.

He ultimately wrote that a pic of her face would be sufficient, but only after the undercover persona refused to provide images of child pornography, states a factual basis statement Goodwill signed.

Court documents detail how Goodwill agreed to meet with the girl and discussed various dollar amounts, ranging from $100 to $140. Lucy claimed she needed money to help her buy a phone.

Goodwill expressed concern for the girls safety in the messages, saying he would pick her up and help her get money for a phone, but they probably wouldnt engage in sexual acts. He then sent videos of money laid out on a bed and agreed that they would have sex if she wanted to.

At 10:50 p.m. that evening, Goodwill arrived at a church near Stevens High School to meet with the girl. He was met by law enforcement, who arrested him. They found two phones in Goodwills vehicle, and he had a total of $1 in his possession.

During his communication with Lucy, Goodwill was also communicating with a detective posing as a 13-year-old girl. He continued the contact after receiving messages informing him of the girls age. He also attempted communication with several other agents during the operation, according to court documents.

Goodwill will have to register as a sex offender when he released from prison. Law enforcement arrested a total of eight men during the sting. Six were local to the Rapid City area. Goodwill is the fifth to be sentenced. Two are awaiting sentencing.

Travis McDonald, 28, of Rapid City, pleaded guilty to attempted receipt of child pornography as part of a plea deal. He faces a mandatory minimum five-year sentence to a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, and from five years to life of supervised release. Law enforcement said multiple images of pornography as well as artifacts referencing young pornography were found on his phone after his arrest. McDonald will be sentenced on July 8.

Cody Hopkins, 22, of Claysville, Pennsylvania, allegedly told an agent posing as a 13-year-old that the age didn't bother him, "As long as it stays between me and you." Hopkins is scheduled for jury trial Aug. 26, and the plea deal deadline is Aug. 10. He is charged with attempted enticement of a minor using the internet and is maintaining his not guilty plea.

One Rapid City defendant, Darren Harrison, 25, was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release on July 22, 2021 for attempted possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal.

A federal judge sentenced William Riley, 60, of Sturgis, to six years in prison and five years of supervised release on Nov. 22, 2021 for attempted receipt of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the charge as part of a plea deal. Riley thought he was speaking to a 15-year-old and acknowledged "being her grandfather's age," court documents say.

Michael Hudson, 32, of Rapid City, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted possession of child pornography as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and five years supervised release on Feb. 4. Court documents show that Hudson offered to pay for sex with a minor using alcohol rather than cash as payment.

A jury found previously convicted sex offender Christopher Truax, 33, of Rapid City guilty of attempted enticement of a minor using the internet. Judge Jeffrey Viken sentenced Truax on March 1 to 14 years in prison followed by life on supervised release. He will also have to pay a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Court documents show Truax arrived at a location in Rapid City to meet with an agent he believed to be a minor driving a van that contained a bed, a firearm, "many knives," a penis pump and several condoms.

He has appealed his case to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

 Contact Shalom Baer Gee at sgee@rapidcityjournal.com 

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At first glance, Rexy is a normal American dog. He loves people, ear scratches and his favorite dog bed. But Rexys story is one of survival, and, as his owner puts it, love, determination and commitment.

Rexys journey started in Romania. After Traian, a caretaker at APAI Shelter in Ineu, Romania, rescued Rexy from someone trying to strangle him with a hay bale string, Rexy cowered in a dark kennel by himself for months before Eva Gallant, 57, traveled to the country to help with construction at the shelter.

Gallant is from Germany and moved to the United States 30 years ago, but the war in Ukraine touched her heart. Her love for dogs and a desire to help with the war led her to the shelter, which is expanding to make room for dogs displaced by the war as they encourage adoptions of Romanian dogs.

I was starting to really get depressed thinking Can this really happen? I sat here. I thought, What can I do? Gallant said.

She came across an organization asking for volunteers to help build a shelter, and Gallant decided to go. She said her husband was comfortable with her being in an adjacent country to the war, and Gallant wanted to help in any way she could. She was in Romania from April 13 to May 6 putting her artisan skills to use.

Gallant owns Y-Knot-Creations, which she runs out of her house. She offers decorative painting, faux finishes and plaster work. Her home showcases the work she can do, which spans from her rock fireplace and tree-trunk columns  both made from concrete  to intricate mural work. Her work is a mix of art and carpentry, and she was able to contribute to the shelter by doing plaster work.

Nowhere along the way of planning the trip did Gallant think she would bring another dog home. She and her husband Ted already owned two rescue dogs  Spook and Casper. But then she met Rexy, who was hiding in a make-shift dog house in a room by himself.

Here's this guy in this dirty box. And we take him out, and he is screaming with fear. We carry him just right outside the room into the grass. He couldn't even stand. He just toppled, and he was so frightened. And basically I made it my endeavor just to lay with him, Gallant said.

She laid next to Rexy in the grass for the next five days until he gradually became more comfortable, and Gallant was able to put a harness on Rexy.

I was told I was the only one who could handle this dog, Gallant said. Now I have this little guy who came from hell, and it was literally like someone was just cutting out my heart, and the only way that heart would grow back was if I took him on.

The process for getting Rexy to Rapid City started. Gallant had to go back to the states before bringing Rexy home. Before she left Romania, she arranged for Rexy to be neutered and receive whatever shots he needed and began to plan for her travel back to Romania to pick him up.

Its not an easy undertaking, she said.

The options for airlines that will take dogs that are not service animals is limited, Gallant said. The weather also limited options.

Between May and September, due to temperature concerns, a lot of airlines will restrict where they transport dogs to, she said.

Gallant flew to Romania and hired a driver to take her and Rexy to Munich, Germany by way of Hungary and Austria. Once in Germany, they stayed at an Airbnb for two nights to decompress. Gallant ordered a kennel off of Amazon and rented a station wagon to drive from Munich to Frankfurt. The two stayed at a hotel near the airport and began their journey home by air with all of Rexys documents proving he was legal to travel.

Nobody even checked them, Gallant said. But we had everything in place because legally I just didnt want to run into any problems and adhered to what is proper.

Once in Minneapolis, the pair stayed at another hotel and drove nine hours to Rapid City, stopping once.

This was this major enterprise, and he was just a total lamb. I couldn't believe it, Gallant said. He did his part.

Rexy has now integrated into the family. He has a favorite dog bed in the house, which used to belong to his new dog-brother Casper. Gallant hadnt planned on taking Rexy to the dog park right away, but it didnt take long for him to want to go with the other dogs. After a few days, he would follow without a leash. He still struggles a little with house training, but Gallant said thats improving.

Theres just this profound gratitude about him. Love conquers everything. Thats actually how I would like to, in a nutshell, describe our story. Its a story of love, determination, and commitment, Gallant said. Hes there for the long haul. Hes never going to go in a shelter again if I can help it.

 Contact Shalom Baer Gee at sgee@rapidcityjournal.com 

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State Duma Chair proposes to estimate damage caused to Lugansk Peoples Republic

MOSCOW, June 29 (RAPSI)  Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin has proposed to calculate the damage caused to the the Lugansk Peoples Republic (LPR) in cooperation with the regions parliament.

It would be feasible to establish a joint working group and calculate the damage caused to the LPR by the Kiev regime and NATO member states that supply it with weapons, ammunition and mercenaries, Volodin said at a meeting with the chairman of the Peoples Council of the self-proclaimed republic, Denis Miroshnichenko.

Volodin noted that this issue must be carefully studied and an agreed decision reached in order to subsequently bring the perpetrators to justice.

In addition, during the meeting, issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation and approximation of laws of the two countries were discussed.

There is a lot of work to be done to modernize the legislation of the LPR. It is extremely important that laws relating to education, healthcare, and social protection be prepared as soon as possible, Volodin said.

The head of the People's Council of the LPR, Miroshnichenko, in turn, drew attention to the fact that the regional laws had already been applied according to the standard of Russian legislation, adding that the groundwork had already been laid.

The meeting between Volodin and the delegation of the People's Council of the LPR, headed by Miroshnichenko, took place in the State Duma on Tuesday. It was also attended by chairpersons of relevant committees of the lower house of the Russian parliament.
International tribunal proposed to be created for Ukraines crimes in Donbass

ST. PETERSBURG, June 29 (RAPSI)  Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum on Wednesday, proposed establishing a special tribunal in the context of the crimes of the Kiev authorities.

The proposed tribunal should be international. It may include representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS and Commonwealth of Independent States, the Committees head added.

The 10th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum started on June 28. It is held by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and the Roscongress Foundation. The mission of the Forum is to promote ways of modernizing law in light of the changes taking place around the globe today, according to its official website.




Syria recognizes sovereignty of Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics

MOSCOW, June 29 (RAPSI)  Syria has decided to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics.

By embodying the common will and desire to improve relations in all areas, the Syrian Arab Republic has decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of both the Luhansk Peoples Republic and the Donetsk Peoples Republic, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement published by the SANA state news agency.

In mid-June, the SAR authorities initiated the procedure for officially recognition of the sovereignty of the LNR and the DNR.

Russia recognized the sovereignty of the self-proclaimed republics on February 21. A few days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.
 Flash

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged the United States to strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and cease any form of official exchanges with Taiwan.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a regular news briefing in response to a query on the so-called U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade.

"China firmly opposes all forms of official interaction with the Taiwan region by countries having diplomatic ties with China, including negotiating or concluding agreements with implications of sovereignty and of an official nature. This position is consistent and clear," Zhao noted.

There is but one China in the world, Zhao said, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, he added.

The spokesman said that the United States must abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, halt all forms of official interaction with Taiwan, stop negotiating agreements with implications of sovereignty and of an official nature, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

"We would also like to make it clear to Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities that they need to give up at once on the idea that they could seek independence with U.S. support, because the more ambitious they are, the more bitter their failure will be," Zhao added.
Are you looking to cool off with a cold glass of lemonade for a great cause this summer?

Nothing beats the heat better than an old-fashioned lemonade stand, and this July, you can host your own while making a difference for kids battling cancer  like Thomas, a fifth-grader who received care at Childrens Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Anthem LemonAid, presented by Richmond Ford, supports hematology and oncology services at CHoR. Each year the hospital helps more than 70,000 children, and events like the Anthem LemonAid fundraiser make their mission of care possible, thanks to the support of community members and local businesses.

Thomas's story

This years Anthem LemonAid fundraiser ambassador, Thomas, is a CHoR success story.

After being taken to his pediatrician in December 2020 for what his parents originally thought was just a rash, Thomas was sent to the emergency room after his blood work found his platelets and white blood cell counts were nowhere near the healthy amount. Thomass doctors diagnosed him with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. He was admitted to the inpatient unit. Within a few days, he received blood transfusions to raise his platelet levels as well as a port for his first dose of chemotherapy.

During his 11-day stay, despite his diagnosis and treatment, Thomass days were filled with fun distractions like Christmas movies and cookie-decorating kits from the child life team. He was discharged on Christmas Eve.

Thomas completed 10 months of chemotherapy and will continue taking an oral chemotherapy pill for two years. He went back to school and is even enjoying many of the interests he developed during his hospital stay, including a new fondness for cooking, Legos, learning World War II history and online gaming with a flight simulator.

His parents attribute the speed of care at CHoR as well as the empathy, support and optimism of Thomass care team as key factors in their familys positive experience with their sons treatment.

For Thomas, participating in this years event means the opportunity to help other kids who are experiencing the same thing.

How to participate

Ready to get involved? Registration is free and fast, and all necessary supplies will be provided to you, including lemonade mix, pitcher and cups. More information about picking up a complimentary kit will be available after registration. (To receive a free kit, you must complete your event registration by Tuesday, July 19.)

Fundraising is encouraged through the fundraising page link provided at registration leading up to Anthem LemonAid weekend.

While this years event model is returning to its traditional format of physical LemonAid stands, people are encouraged to take part in the Lemon Challenge  a fun twist that consists of recording yourself eating a sour lemon and sharing it on your social media channels, encouraging friends, family and colleagues to donate and then passing the challenge along by tagging and nominating someone to participate. Dont forget to use the hashtag #RVALemonChallenge and tag @AnthemLemonAidRVA.

For more information about how to get involved, click here and follow along on Facebook.

As a member of the Childrens Oncology Group, CHoR is one of more than 200 childrens hospitals, universities and cancer centers across North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe working together in the fight against childhood cancer. Beyond medical treatment, the Childrens Oncology Group provides educational materials and support groups for families, and no matter which center a patient may be receiving treatment from, all COG institutions follow unified protocols  allowing families the possibility to remain at home instead of traveling to other facilities.
Education research company EAB on Tuesday announced an expansion of its Henrico operations that will result in more than 200 new jobs in the county over the next five years.

In October, the company will move out of its two Henrico offices on East Parham Road and into a space at 11011 W. Broad St. in the Innsbrook area.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved a $741,600 grant from the Commonwealths Development Opportunity Fund, a deal-closing fund used at the governors discretion to land company locations or expansions in Virginia, for the project.

The new Innsbrook jobs will include software engineers, creative marketing staff and account management. The employees, who will be hired over the next five years, will join about 600 staff members who now work in the Parham Road offices.

We know that many companies are evaluating their office space needs right now resulting from the pandemic, and we hope that EABs decision will be a beacon that will show the corporate world that Henrico is  and will continue to be  a location of choice for corporate headquarters, said Anthony Romanello, executive director of Henrico Economic Development Authority, in an interview. We think its just a real vote of confidence in Henrico.

EAB, which has had a presence in Henrico County for nearly 40 years, will invest at least $6 million into the expansion, according to company and state officials.

The 70,000-square-foot space will be leased by EAB and was occupied by Suntrust until last year. EAB has been at its primary Parham Road location for 20 years and moved into the second one about six years ago, according to a company spokesman.
A series of severe thunderstorms swept through the region last week leaving thousands in Hanover County and surrounding areas without power.

A severe thunderstorm passed through the county around 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22 with wind speeds reported up to 80 mph. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning in the area until 4 p.m. and urged residents to take shelter immediately.

The storm spurred a wave of power outages and all county government offices were closed as of 4 p.m. due to lack of power. The board of supervisors meeting was interrupted by the power outage and shifted to a closed session for several hours. The meeting resumed its open session around 6:30 p.m. without power.

During and directly after the storm we were inundated with weather-related calls for service, said Lt. James Cooper, information officer for the Hanover County Sheriffs Office. From trees down on power lines to weather related alarm activations.

Cooper said they received three calls for weather-related alarm activations, 33 traffic complaints or hazards and six reports of downed wires.

These calls for service were mainly in the central and eastern portions of the county, he said. Thankfully no damage to homes or injuries to our citizens were reported.

Hanover Fire-EMS responded to a total of 74 calls for service from 3 to 11 p.m. in relation to the storm, with the highest call volume time frame from 3 to 4 p.m. with 39 responses. Of those, 24 were related to electrical hazards such as downed lines, one was a motor vehicle accident, 14 incidents were related to trees down, four were reports of trees falling into buildings with two structures that sustained significant damage and seven fire-related incidents from outside fires caused by downed power lines.

They are always prepared for an increase in call volume and strive to provide an elite service for a safer community, said Capt. W. Blake Stephens of Hanover Fire-EMS.

Dominion Energy reported 10,533 without power in Hanover County and around 89,942 system-wide by 7 p.m. The bulk of the outages were due to downed power lines and poles with a large number of broken trees causing damage, but no substation or breaker failures were reported, according to Craig Carper, Dominion Energy communications specialist for Central Virginia.

Carper said the most heavily-impacted areas in the state were Central Virginia and parts of Northern Virginia.

There were 3,479 reported outages left in Hanover County by 8:30 p.m. with Dominion Energy crews worked diligently and around the clock to restore power to all customers, but some residents remained without power until Friday evening.

In light of the summer season producing severe thunderstorms, Carper urges customers to report power outages right away using either the Dominion Energy app, through the website: dominionenergy.com or by calling: 1-866-366-4357.

One of our core values as a company is safety, Carper said. Beware of downed power lines  assume theyre energized and dangerous. Stay at least 30 feet away and call Dominion Energy immediately.
An off-duty Chesterfield County firefighter who died Saturday while teaching a swift water rescue class became unresponsive for reasons still unknown after she entered the Nantahala River in North Carolina wearing full protective gear and was carried a short distance downstream, Chesterfields fire chief said Tuesday.

She was removed from the river by individuals nearby who began resuscitation efforts, Chesterfield Fire Chief Loy Senter said in a statement released by the department. Despite the valiant efforts of those on the scene, along with first responders and hospital staff, Alicia was pronounced dead a short time later at Swain Community Hospital in Bryson City, N.C.

Alicia A. Monahan, 41, leaves behind two boys and a fiance. She was an 11-year veteran of Chesterfield Fire & EMS, assigned to the Clover Hill Fire Station, Engine 207-B shift.

In addition to her professional firefighting duties, Monahan was an active swift water instructor who taught multiple classes during her off-duty time across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, Senter said. She was employed as an instructor with Rescue 3 International, a global organization that provides technical rescue training.

On Saturday afternoon, she was working with Rescue 3 International doing what she loved, training a group of fire and EMS professionals in the complexities of swift water rescue techniques. The training session was being conducted on the Nantahala River outside Bryson City, an area that was very familiar to Monahan, Senter said.

The U.S. Forest Service in North Carolina is conducting an investigation of the incident through its law enforcement branch, said Troy Waskey, district ranger for the Nantahala Ranger District.

I dont have a timeline on when that will be complete, Waskey said Tuesday. Im still waiting on a rescue report. She appears to have been working totally within the scope of her responsibilities and training.

Rescue 3 International, of which Monahan was affiliated, is permitted by the Forest Service to provide swift water training on the Nantahala River. Their permit is valid, and nothing appears to be out of play with the operation here, Waskey said.

Senter said Monahan was an experienced member of the departments SCUBA Rescue Team and a member of the elite Virginia Helicopter Aquatics Rescue Team  a joint initiative between the Virginia Army Air National Guard and Chesterfield Fire & EMS.

In recent years, she actively prepared for greater leadership responsibilities, completing a long-term acting lieutenant assignment at the Bon Air Fire Station and was a candidate for promotion to the rank of lieutenant, Senter said.

A 2004 Radford University graduate, Monahan was also a licensed dog trainer who served as an operational K9 handler for the Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association. Senter said she shared her love of the outdoors as Southeast Region event coordinator for SheJumps, a nonprofit that aims to increase the participation of women and girls in a variety of outdoor activities.

In addition, she was an auxiliary instructor for the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Program and supported Race Across America and Race Across the West as a driver and paramedic. She also worked as a whitewater raft guide for RVA Paddlesports and Riverside Outfitters and as an instructor in search and rescue with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

During her tenure, Senter said Monahan was honored with numerous citations and awards. For example, in October 2018, she and two other members of Scuba Rescue 7 rescued a victim trapped on the roof of their car in rising, swiftly moving flood waters. They were recognized with a Bronze Valor Award for their efforts by the Retail Merchants Association in 2019.

While she will always be remembered for her devotion to duty and unparalleled service to others, her legacy will be the inspiration she provided to countless young women considering careers in the fire service or the pursuit of causes bigger than themselves, Senter said.
A Virginia Department of Corrections information technology specialist was sentenced Tuesday to serve three years in prison for possessing photographs he took of two young naked girls and taking indecent liberties with the eldest child, who was 10 at the time of the abuse.

Robert William Whittemore, 41, of Mechanicsville, entered Alford pleas to two counts of child pornography and one count of taking indecent liberties with a child under 15. In accordance with a negotiated plea agreement, Hanover Circuit Judge Patricia Kelly sentenced Whittemore to a total of 20 years in prison with 17 years suspended for the three offenses, leaving him three years to serve.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to a crime and asserts innocence, but acknowledges the evidence presented by the prosecution would likely persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is tantamount to a guilty plea. In exchange for his pleas, the prosecution withdrew five other sex-related charges.

According to a summary of evidence presented by Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Caroline Grossweiler, the mother of the two girls, ages 3 and 10, called the Hanover Sheriffs Office in October 2021 and spoke with an investigator about inappropriate contact that she became aware of between Whittemore and her daughters.

The mother disclosed that she found naked photos of her daughters on Whittemores cell phone and that she learned her eldest child had touched Whittemores genitals.

The mother also advised that during a trip to the library, her eldest daughter selected a body book with photos of the human body and reproductive organs. The child pointed to a mans genitals and compared them to Whittemores.

A sheriffs investigator then obtained a search warrant for Whittemores residence and provided a copy of the warrant to Whittemore upon serving it. Upon reading the warrant, Whittemore acknowledged he did have naked photos of the children  both of whom were known to him  but didnt view them as pornographic.

One of the photos showed the two girls naked in a bathtub. Another showed the 10-year-old girl with her hands above her head and something tied around her wrists. A third photo showed the eldest girl standing naked in a water trough.

With auto thefts increasing, Virginia law enforcement launch theft prevention campaign Henrico County's Police Chief Eric English said there have been 266 vehicles stolen in Henrico in 2022 compared to 194 vehicles last year.

Whittemore told the investigator, I think there is a grain of truth of what I just read through, [in the warrant], but to accuse me of some wrong action, I dont understand that.

Whittemore also said any touching that happened between him and the eldest girl was not sexual in nature; it was just the girl being curious. Whittemore told the investigator there was a situation that involved the girl touching his genitals, which caused the girl to become intrigued and curious. The girl then became obsessed with grabbing his private parts, Whittemore told the detective.

Whittemore said he worked with the girl to get her to stop, but when an opportunity presented itself to the girl, she repeated the behavior, he said. The investigator then asked Whittemore about locks on his doors, and Whittemore replied he had an open door policy and didnt believe the girls actions rose to the level of locking the doors.

At the time of his arrest, Whittemore was employed as an information technology specialist III who worked in DOC as a business system analyst, according to state records. His annual salary was $101,430.
Larger than life are the best words used to describe Chesterfield County firefighter Alicia Monahan, according to Sunlen Serfaty, her friend of over 30 years.

Serfaty and Edward Loy Senter Jr., Chesterfields fire chief, spoke Wednesday about Monahan as information about her death last Saturday continues to emerge.

We shared so many special moments over the years, said Serfaty. Those are priceless memories.

Chesterfield firefighter who died during swift water training became unresponsive for 'reasons still unknown' An off-duty Chesterfield County firefighter who died Saturday while teaching a swift water rescue class became unresponsive for reasons still

Senter said his department has been in close contact with authorities in Macon County, N.C., to determine what happened to Monahan, 41, a mother of two.

Monahan was off duty when she traveled to assist in a three-day swift water rescue training course with Rescue 3 International, a group that provides rescue training for individuals and various fire and EMS agencies, said Senter.

Monahan, an additional instructor, eight students and a class photographer traveled to a training site outside of Bryson City near a commercial boat launch that both Monahan and the instructor were familiar with, said Senter.

Around 2:30 p.m. Monahan was demonstrating a method for entering the main channel and how to swim back toward an eddy for an effective rescue.

The lead instructor and the students noticed that Monahan had suddenly stopped swimming after taking about five freestyle strokes and for reasons still unknown was face down in the water and unresponsive, Senter said.

There was nothing unusual or remarkable about the weather or river conditions on Saturday, Senter said. And both Alicia and the lead instructor were very familiar with this area having taught multiple classes there in the past.

The lead instructor used an inflatable kayak to reach Monahan.

First responders arrived at about 3 p.m. and took her to Swain Community Hospital in Bryson City, where resuscitation efforts continued until 3:46 p.m.

Its obviously a tragedy for the family. We have expressed our sorrow and continue to provide support to them in any way that we can, Senter said.

Senter said he knows Monahan would want the department to continue to serve the community in such a trying time, but as Senter and his staff began to recount all of her accomplishments, they couldnt help but reflect on such a devastating loss.

You know, our department is a big family, particularly in our specialty teams where they go through extensive training, said Senter. Its a very tight-knit community and so its been devastating to those members.

Monahan had 11 years of experience with Chesterfields fire and EMS department. She was honored with numerous citations and awards, and was the first and only woman to serve the departments dive team, according to Senter.

I think shes just a glowing example to so many young women out there that might be pursuing a career in the fire service, Senter said.

Serfaty said being a mom to her two teenage sons was Monahans greatest joy.

We talk a lot about motherhood, but there was something special she had with her two boys, said Serfaty, who met Monahan at Clover Hill Elementary School years ago. She loved them so fiercely, she was so loyal to them and I know she felt she had a lot left to teach them.

She recalled her deep commitment to friends and helping others, including the time when Monahan was at their high school reunion 8 months pregnant.

I remember her saying, Dont worry, Im going to throw my medical bag in the trunk so if you go into labor, I got you, Serfaty said.

Service was always something that mattered to Monahan years before she ever became a firefighter, said Serfaty. That feeling of service and community and family is something that ran deep in her.

It was who she was, Serfaty said.

She was also a licensed dog trainer, handler for the Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association and auxiliary instructor for the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Program.

As loved ones remember her life and deeds, one thing for certain is that Monahan was always one to seek adventure, Serfaty said. She thought back on a quote Monahan said:

If I make it to the point in my life where the silver transcends the copper in my hair, and my eyes twinkle with years of adventure and knowledge, I never want to look back on my life and wonder, what if?

She doesnt have to wonder, What if, Serfaty said. She did a lot of the things that she wanted to do. She had a beautiful family, wonderful friends and people that cared about her. So I dont think she needs to wonder What if, I think she lived every day of her life, albeit cut short, to the fullest.(tncms-asset)f96f4f06-f7d8-11ec-a794-00163ec2aa77[2](/tncms-asset)
Although Virginia's abortion laws have not changed, elected commonwealth attorneys in Richmond and Henrico County preemptively have pledged not to prosecute anyone who receives an abortion or provides a woman with the procedure in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week to overturn Roe V. Wade.
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When it comes to rights, the U.S. giveth, and the U.S. taketh away.

The erosion of a womans bodily autonomy by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling Friday is not the first time the high court, and the nation, contracted a right after expanding it. For many of us, our rights arent a given. Same as it ever was.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said the quiet part out loud in his concurring opinion. Having curtailed abortion rights, Thomas wrote that in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents, including the right to contraception, same-sex intimate relationships and same-sex marriage.

Could LGBTQ rights now be in the crosshairs of the court?

Well, the short answer is yes, said Ravi Perry, chair of the political science department at Howard University. In a democratic republic, rights are not sacrosanct in a way that they cant be overturned.

And then, Perry, formerly of Virginia Commonwealth University, ticked off a list of cases in which the nation took a step forward, then a step backward.

On March 9, 1841, the Supreme Court ruled that the Africans who had mutinied aboard the Spanish schooner Amistad had been illegally enslaved and had a right to fight to be free. But a mere 16 years later, in the case of Dred Scott, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote in his majority opinion that the enslaved Black man suing for his freedom had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment affirmed citizenship and equal protection under the law for Black Americans. But the 1877 compromise between deadlocked presidential candidates Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden resulted in a Hayes victory, on the condition that he pull federal troops from the South. This politically expedient sellout of Black citizens signaled the end of Reconstruction and a new reign of terror in the South and presaged the Supreme Courts 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision upholding the constitutionality of separate but equal segregation by race.

Every 15 years, the status of Black people changed according to the Supreme Court, Perry said. Our rights are as firm as the people who vote to protect them.

All these years later, you can detect the lingering stench of the Scott and Plessy decisions, which have not aged well in the dustbin of history. The Dobbs ruling will soon have the same putrid smell. Our nation of laws looks more like a partisan theocracy.

Today, the Supreme Court is dominated by so-called originalists who ardently view the Constitution as frozen in a time in which women, Indigenous people and Black people were subordinate to the framers. Rulings like Dobbs suggest that they still are.

The backsliding of the 19th century continues in the 21st. The Supreme Court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act in its 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision eliminating the pre-clearance requirement for jurisdictions with a history of voter suppression. Chief Justice John Roberts blithely cited racial progress since the establishment of the Voting Rights Act as reason to water it down  a bit of strange logic that would have him tossing his umbrella in the trash once the rain stops.

Perry, a gay man, is absolutely convinced that the Supreme Court will come after marriage equality next.

Clarence Thomas let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, he said. Not surprisingly, Thomas did not threaten the original marriage equality case: 1967s Loving v. Virginia decision invalidating laws against interracial marriage. His wife, Ginni Thomas, is white.

Williams: Racism is a public health crisis. So is the Virginia health commissioner's racism denial. "This sort of denial characterizes so much of the political right's approach to problems, from racism, to gun violence, to climate change to the existential threat to our democracy," writes columnist Michael Paul Williams.

Roe came six years after Loving. The Supreme Court, in 2003s Texas v. Lawrence case, established the right of consensual intercourse between two adults of the same sex, striking down a Texas sodomy law as unconstitutional. The 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision established marriage equality as the law of the land.

These cases had become so ingrained in the fabric of America that their reversal would be as disruptive as Roe promises to be on so many levels.

We can talk about tearing down the system and starting all over again. But as Jan. 6, 2021, punctuated, folks are already at work doing that. At the moment, the system we have is all we have to work with. That requires an engaged and motivated citizenry, in the streets and at the ballot box.

The expansion of rights in America has been not so much an uninterrupted continuum as a constant struggle. Dont give up the fight.
A former White House aide has told House investigators that former President Donald Trump dismissed the presence of armed protesters among his supporters headed to the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year. She testified that he even endorsed their calls to hang Mike Pence, his vice president.

Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. The sentencing Tuesday was the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how Epstein and Maxwell flaunted their riches and associations with prominent people to groom vulnerable girls and then exploit them.

Fifty people died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer on a remote back road in the sweltering Texas heat. It's the latest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico.

The toll from the Missouri railroad crossing where an Amtrak train slammed into a dump truck rose to four deaths and 150 injuries on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden is opening his three-day visit to a NATO summit by pledging to beef up the American military presence in Europe. And Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

The man who shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan in 1981 has apologized for his actions in a televised interview. John Hinckley Jr. said he doesnt remember what he was feeling when he attacked the president and wounded three others.

Recent Oscar winners Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur and Billie Eilish are among the 397 individuals who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

A federal court has allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, while a Texas judge temporarily blocked enforcement of that states ban on virtually all abortions. The moves come as both sides continue to make their case in courts around the country days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The Michigan Supreme Court has thrown out charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water scandal. The court says a judge sitting as a one-person grand jury had no power to issue indictments.

Ohio families that have called rural land home for generations are lamenting the loss of their property to a massive development project. The property in central Ohio sits on a 1,000-acre site destined to become an Intel Corp. semi-conductor manufacturing center.
A key witness and Hampton Roads product took the stand Tuesday in a last-minute session of a congressional committees investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who graduated from Christopher Newport University four years ago, was the executive assistant to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. She also worked as a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs.

Hutchinson testified to the special committee investigating the January 2021 Capitol attack. Hutchinson witnessed key conversations about the riots between Meadows and then-President Donald Trump, among others.

Hutchinson recounted Meadows saying four days before the riot that things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6. She recalled her boss being unreactive to reports on Jan. 6 of the crowd at Trumps rally carrying weapons and overtaking the Capitol building.

Hutchinson was with Trump in the minutes before he took the stage at the Ellipse rally preceding the riot. She testified that the president was aware that some people in the crowd carried weapons. She quoted Trump as telling security forces to take out metal detectors because rallygoers werent here to hurt me.

Hutchinson testified in closed-door, recorded sessions before Tuesdays public debut. Recordings of her testimony were broadcast during an earlier committee hearing.

She testified that Trump approved of the rioters chants to hang Mike Pence, according to CNN, in reference to the former vice president who refused to help overturn the 2020 election. Hutchinson also testified that Meadows and Trumps onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani considered putting forward fake slates of electors in an effort to overturn the 2020 election and that many Republican members of Congress inquired about pardons after the riot.

The committee announced the surprise session Monday, less than 24 hours before it began. The quick change in direction happened after Hutchinson replaced her Trump-connected attorney, according to the Washington Post.

Hutchinson was the first former White House aide to publicly testify at a committee hearing. After Meadows declined to testify, she became the only witness to the conversations between the former president and his chief of staff.

Hutchinson graduated from CNU with her degree in political science and American studies in 2018.
School shootings in U.S. rise to highest number in 20 years: report

Xinhua) 08:22, June 29, 2022

A candle is lit during a vigil to mourn for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 29, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

A total of 93 school shootings with casualties occurred at public and private elementary and secondary schools during last school year, including 43 school shootings with deaths and 50 school shootings with injuries only, according to a report.

LOS ANGELES, June 28 (Xinhua) -- School shootings in the 2020-21 school year rose to the highest number in 20 years, said a new report released on Tuesday.

A total of 93 school shootings with casualties occurred at public and private elementary and secondary schools during last school year, including 43 school shootings with deaths and 50 school shootings with injuries only, according to the 31-page report published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences.

In addition, there were 53 reported school shootings with no casualties during the school year.

There were only 23 school shootings with casualties during the 2000-01 school year.

"Although the rate of nonfatal violent victimization at school for 12- to 18-year-olds was lower in 2019 than in 2009, there were more school shootings with casualties in 2021 than in any other year since data collection began in the early 2000's, increasing from 11 in 2009 to 93 in 2021," said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr in a news release.

People mourn for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

"While the lasting impact of these crime and safety issues cannot be measured in statistics alone, these data are valuable to the efforts of our policymakers, school officials, and community members to identify and implement preventive and responsive measures," she added.

The latest report comes weeks after the mass school shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children and two adults dead on May 24. The school shooting was just one of the recent high-profile shootings in the country. More than 21,500 people have died due to gun violence across the United States so far this year, according to the latest data from Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization that tracks gun-related violence in the country.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
 Flash

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Swedish Institute (SI) must immediately stop their activities in Russia.

Johannes Danielsson, Swedish charge d'affaires ad interim in Russia, was summoned on Tuesday and informed about the termination of activities of the two Swedish state organizations in Russia, the ministry said in a statement.

If the Swedish diplomatic and consular offices continue to promote the projects of the SIDA and the SI, their staff members will be expelled, the statement said.

The two Swedish organizations are involved in implementing the "Strategy for Sweden's support for democracy, human rights and the environment in Russia 2020-2024," according to the Russian ministry.

The projects of the SIDA and the SI in Russia "do not meet the stated goals of promoting the development of bilateral humanitarian and environmental cooperation, but focus on efforts to destabilize the Russian society," the ministry said.
For Lewis F. Powell Jr., clearing legal obstacles a half-century ago to a woman having an abortion  they were stunningly restored by the U.S. Supreme Court of which he was a member for 15 years  was an easy decision that the courtly Richmonder and former corporate lawyer considered a bow to social progress.

As an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1972 until 1987, Powell  a soft-spoken titan of the bar whod been a voice of moderation during Virginias bitter school desegregation crisis  joined a lopsided, 7-2 majority in the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade affirming a womans right to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester without restriction.

It was a ruling that Powell unhesitatingly supported, confident it struck a balance between judicial restraint and evolving notions of freedom. Though seven years later  in a case the court decided 5-4  Powell, consistent with his centrism, agreed state and federal governments were not legally required to help poor women pay for abortions.

He was always at peace with his vote, said J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a federal appellate judge and Powell family friend who was Powells clerk during his first term on the court, when Roe was decided. It was not a hand-wringing thing that he went back and forth with. ... He wasnt necessarily passionate on the subject.

Both sides most assuredly are these days in Virginia, with few, if any, in the political class bringing to the struggle loosened at the state level by the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe the pragmatism and moderation that were Powells hallmarks as an attorney, judge and community leader.

While Virginia voters generally support abortion rights, Glenn Youngkin, a nationally ambitious Republican governor who opposes abortion, and a closely divided legislature are warily maneuvering for early advantage over restrictions Democrats are sworn to resist and Republicans determined to implement.

That includes a ban on abortion after 15 weeks  Youngkins preference  and possibly stripping licenses from doctors who perform the procedure after that. Currently, there are no limits on abortion in Virginia in the first and second trimesters. Abortion is permitted in the third trimester if the womans health is imperiled.

Powell, who died in August 1998 at age 90, viewed abortion as part of the larger issue of birth control, which was central to the courts 1965 decision outlawing, as a violation of privacy rights, a state prohibition on contraceptives. That ruling, in Griswold v. Connecticut, was key to the affirmation in Roe of abortion rights.

In sharing over lunch his decision with another clerk, Larry Hammond, to eliminate state bans on abortion, There was no equivocation, no debate, no exchange of memoranda, no tentative drafts, John C. Jeffries Jr., a Powell clerk from 1973 to 1974, wrote in his 1994 biography, Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.

He would vote to strike the abortion laws because he thought it intolerable that the law should interfere with a womans right to control her own body during early pregnancy ... Despite the bitter passions aroused by the issue of abortion, Powells initial consideration of it was straightforward, free from doubt, almost routine.

Jeffries, who teaches at the University of Virginia Law School, said in an interview that for Powell, having arrived at the Supreme Court about two years after Roe reached the court from Texas, the die had been cast on abortion. ... There was a pretty heavy majority for abortion.

Powells tenure on the court  he was one of four Nixon-nominated justices, three of whom favored abortion rights  preceded the conservative movement to reorient the American judiciary, of which the reversal of Roe qualifies as a tectonic shift. Constitutional originalism  and that abortion was not an enumerated right  meant little in the early 1970s.

I asked Wilkinson, a Reagan-era judge who is an opponent of Roe and an emblem of that conservative push, what Powell would make of the Supreme Courts decision last week to junk federal abortion rights protections, leaving it to the states to decide what restrictions, if any, to a woman ending a pregnancy.

Beyond disagreeing with the ruling, said Wilkinson, Powell  who heard 18 cases on abortion, including two in which, by vote and opinion, he strongly affirmed Roe  would have recognized that human affairs are cyclical. Conventions change. Trends change. Jurisprudential thinking changes.

Central to Powells legacy on the court isnt as much his support of abortion; rather, it was his skepticism on race in college and university admissions. Writing for the majority in a 1978 landmark ruling outlawing quotas in admitting minorities, Powell said schools, nonetheless, could weigh race as a factor in selecting students.

Still, abortion rights is a telling element of the Powell story in a way that has little to do with the actual issue, but of which there was an echo in the leak last month of the pending decision overturning Roe.

Shortly before the Supreme Courts historic order in 1973, Time magazine reported that the ruling was expected any day.

The chief justice, Warren Burger, was apoplectic that the courts secrecy had been breached. It turned out that Hammond, the Powell clerk, had spoken with the Time reporter who was a classmate from law school. Hammond believed that none of the details of the case would be published until the court announced its decision.

Explaining the twists and turns of his contact with the journalist, Hammond offered Powell his resignation. It was immediately refused by the ever-gracious justice. Powell then spoke with Burger, who would meet with the clerk, commending him for his candor.

Manners maketh the justice, whether seeking common ground on a constitutional question or calming a colleague over a clerks loose lips.
A Spotsylvania man has been arrested in connection with an incident earlier this month in which he allegedly shot at three teenage siblings who had mistakenly driven into his driveway, police said.

Brent David Alford, 49, was arrested Monday and charged with reckless handling of a firearm and three counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle.

According to Sheriffs Capt. Liz Scott, the incident took place about 9:45 p.m. on June 18 in the 6300 block of Grace Hill in Spotsylvania. Alford called deputies to report that hed gone out to investigate after noticing a vehicle parked in his driveway.

He went out to investigate and found three teenagers, ages 15, 16 and 17, in a vehicle. Scott said the teens, who are siblings, were looking for a party in that area and had driven down Alfords driveway by mistake.

The teens told police that Alford began banging on a window and yelling at them. The startled 17-year-old driver was trying to drive away when the suspect fired a round into the rear of the vehicle, police said.

The shot struck the trunk, traveled through the taillight and ended up in the center of the back seat passenger area after hitting items in the truck, Scott said. No one was injured, including the drivers brother and sister, who were in the back seat.
The Roanoke Valleys largest medical provider and its oldest chartered higher education institution announced on Wednesday a partnership to bolster community well-being and public health employment opportunities.

Carilion Clinic and Roanoke College jointly said they will share resources to train, develop and employ future community health workers, with a focus on serving the neediest residents.

In many ways, our regions success has been built on a foundation of partnerships between health care and higher education, Jeanne Armentrout, Carilions executive vice president and chief administrative officer, said in a news release issued by Roanoke College.

The new partners said they will cooperate by associating Roanoke Colleges current health-related curricula and its business program with Carilions medical education collaboratives to train community health care specialists.

Additionally, Roanoke College said it create continuing education opportunities for Carilion employees.

Roanoke College and Carilion Clinic understand the deep connections between health, wellness, education, employment and the regional economy, Shannon Anderson, Roanoke Colleges coordinator of public health studies said in the news release. The partnership will build on shared goals and values and find ways to serve the needs of the most vulnerable in our community by leveraging the resources of both organizations.

Roanoke College also said it will explore new majors and academic programs for health care employers for the regions the regions expanding biomedical and biotechnology fields.

This expanding partnership between Roanoke College and Carilion Clinic illuminates the power of higher education and professional health care to support critical community needs through meaningful work, Michael Maxey, Roanoke Colleges president, said in the news release.

Roanoke College, a private liberal arts school, had about 1,700 students enrolled at its Salem campus as of its spring semester. It currently offers biochemistry and public health studies programs, among other undergraduate majors.

Carilion Clinic, a nonprofit health care system based in Roanoke with more than 10,00 employees, has already formed professional educational and employment partnerships with Virginia Tech and Radford University.
Former Montgomery County schools Superintendent Mark Miear is joining Minnick Schools as the new assistant director of education, the organization recently announced.

Were very excited to bring Mark Miear on to our team, Margaret Holland, the chief engagement officer for nonprofit enCircle, said Wednesday. Were very impressed by his 30 years in education, the expertise he has built up and relationships hes built up in Virginia, particularly in Southwest Virginia.

Minnick Schools is the education division of enCircle, which up until a few years ago was known as the Lutheran Family Services of Virginia. The nonprofit operates seven private day schools in five different localities that focus on students with special needs. The localities are Roanoke, Wytheville, Wise, Bristol and Harrisonburg.

About 200 students attend the schools each year and they come from nearly 30 different divisions from across Western Virginia, Holland said.

In his new function, which hes set to start July 11, Miear will focus on the development and expansion of programs in Wytheville, Roanoke and Harrisonburg, according to the recent announcement from enCircle. Miears salary was not disclosed.

Holland noted Miears start in the field as a one-to-one aid in special education. She said his experience in the area of special education was one point that helped him stand out.

On a greater scale, Miear will help with further developing career and technical education offerings and the identification of potential new sites for the private day schools, Holland said. The former Montgomery County schools chief will work in partnership with a number of local school divisions, she said.

Holland pointed out his experience developing career and technical education  or CTE  while with Montgomery County schools.

Miear himself was reached Wednesday, but directed questions about his new job to enCircle.

Miear joined Montgomery County schools in early 2016 and worked with the district until this past March when the school board unanimously decided to end his contract without cause, a move that ignited much speculation in the community.

Prior to joining Montgomery County Public Schools, Miear had served as assistant superintendent for Winchester Public Schools. He had also previously served as a director of secondary education, a high school principal, a high school associate principal, an assistant director of personnel and a history teacher.

Miears academic credentials include a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Virginia. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Miear led the Montgomery County system during a time in which several capital projects and numerous technology related improvements were either completed or planned.

The Christiansburg strand of schools, which has long struggled with overcrowding, received attention during Miears tenure. The former district chief was at the helm when planning started for the expansion of Christiansburg High School, which will be one of the divisions most ambitious projects in years.

Miear received recognition for his recent work earlier this year when he was a recipient of one of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents regional superintendent of the year awards.

Among the accomplishments the former district chief pointed out when asked about his regional superintendent award was the expansion of the career and technical education offerings in Montgomery County schools, particularly the addition of a corps of cadets program. He said that program has grown to be the largest CTE program in three years.

Despite how his time with Montgomery County schools ended, Holland said they were impressed by Miears depth of experience and areas of passion and focus throughout his career.

Were really excited to have him join the team, Holland said.

Miear isnt the only former district chief joining Minnick Schools as enCircle also announced former Wise County schools Superintendent Greg Mullins as the new assistant director for program development.

As far as Montgomery County Public Schools is concerned, the district is currently going through the phases of finding a new superintendent. The district most recently completed a series of community forums on the search, among other activities.

The search for a new MCPS superintendent must be completed within 180 days of the school boards March 17 vote to terminate Miear.

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An election in November will decide who is the Botetourt County treasurer for a one-year term, after the current office holder announced his retirement.

Botetourt County Treasurer Bill Arney, a Republican, has retired early from his elected post and is moving to Richmond, departing one year before his term of office expires, members of the county Board of Supervisors said during a regular meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The board approved the county attorney asking the state for a special election, to be held during the general election on Nov. 8. Whoever wins that vote will serve out the duration of Arneys term, which expires at the end of 2023, county documents said.

Assuming the role of county treasurer until the November special election is Donna Boothe, Botetourts chief deputy treasurer, starting July 1. She was recognized by in January for 25 years of service to the county, documents said.

Arney won three elections to four-year terms as county treasurer, starting in 2011 and most recently in 2019. The treasurers office is responsible for receiving and accounting all funds coming to the county government, and for paying bills and expenses as approved by the supervisors.

Candidates will have some time before the filing deadline to get in the race.

Also during Tuesdays meeting, Botetourt County supervisors stamped final approval of the 2023 fiscal year budget, beginning July 1.

The budget for the next fiscal year is $159 million, including $73 million for public schools, $45 million for general fund needs, $30 million for capital projects like courthouse reconstruction, and more than $4 million in federal coronavirus relief funding. The increase from the current year is tied mainly to the capital funding.

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A state prison inmate was sentenced in Richmond on Wednesday to serve nearly three years for defrauding the Virginia Employment Commission out of $233,984 in COVID-relief unemployment funds and recruiting fellow prisoners to provide personal information to file bogus claims.

The money that Keith Scott Smith Jr., 41, diverted from unemployed workers in Virginia to himself and fellow inmates is part of an estimated $40 million that the VEC believes it paid out during the pandemic to persons who submitted fraudulent claims on behalf of inmates housed in state correctional facilities, according to federal court papers filed in a similar case.

"He took advantage of the system," U.S. District Court Judge David J. Novak said in comments from the bench. "During this tragic time, when the government was pumping money out to people to survive, you got crooks in jail getting money. This is ridiculous. I think [Smith's] conduct is utterly offensive."

The judge then queried Assistant U.S. Attorney Kashan Pathan why the government was recommending that Smith be sentenced at the low end of discretionary federal sentencing guidelines, which called for an active term of incarceration of between 30 and 37 months.

"I think you need to be more aggressive on this COVID fraud," Novak said. "The crooks are getting all the money" to the detriment of working people. These criminals exploited the pandemic. The fact that this was committed while he was incarcerated makes it even more mind boggling."

Novak said Smith's conduct was so egregious that he'd be willing to craft a punishment high above the guidelines, up to 60 months. But after arguments by the prosecution and defense, the judge decided to stay within the guidelines, sentencing Smith to 33 months for his earlier guilty plea to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The punishment will run consecutive to a sentence of 20 years with 10 years suspendedhe received in April 2018 in Chesterfield County for maliciously wounding his former girlfriend.

Novak also ordered Smith to make restitution to the VEC in the amount of $233,984.72.

According to the government's statement of facts, Smith and his wife Virginia Smith devised a scheme that involved him obtaining the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of certain inmates serving sentences with him at the Baskerville Correctional Center in Mecklenburg County and passing that information to his wife.

Virginia Smith then used the inmates' personal information to file at least 22 fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance and pandemic unemployment assistance from June 21, 2020, to at least Jan. 2, 2021. The applications contained a false physical address for the inmates, a false "last employer," and a false certification that the inmates were ready, willing and able to work.

Following the filing of the claims, the state mailed "Way 2 Go" debit cards to a Post Office Box designated by Virginia Smith, and the unemployment benefits were distributed through the cards. Upon receiving the debit cards, Virginia Smith would keep a portion for herself as a commission for her involvement and would transfer the remainder to the inmates whose information she used to file the claims.

For example, Virginia Smith would occasionally send some of the funds to the inmates' financial accounts at the prison. On other occasions, she sent the funds to people associated with the inmates.

To keep the money flowing, Virginia Smith would submit weekly recertifications of unemployment status to the VEC for the applications she submitted on behalf of the inmates.

The government said Keith Smith exercised "decision-making authority" in the conspiracy, and provided direction to his wife on how the fraudulent proceeds were to be distributed and used. In recorded phone calls at Baskerville Correctional Center, the Smiths regularly discussed the filing of unemployment applications and the compensation inmates would receive as part of the fraud.

Smith "played a critical role in furthering the aims of the criminal conspiracy by obtaining and providing [his wife] with the personal identifying information of the inmates, thereby enabling the [wife] to file more fraudulent claims and steal more money from the VEC," Pathan wrote in sentencing memorandum for the government.

"The defendant's incarceration did not hinder his ability to carry out this offense; rather, it may have provided him unique access and opportunity to recruit other inmates, who, in light of their incarceration, may have been more willing and eager to share their personal identifying information in exchange for financial assistance for themselves and/or their family members," Pathan wrote.

The punishment Smith's wife received in November  just one day in prison with five years of supervised release  briefly became an issue during Wednesday's sentencing hearing for her husband. The judge questioned how Virginia Smith received such a light punishment on her four convictions of mail fraud. "No one can do this alone," said Novak, referring to how Smith's wife helped him carry out the fraud.

Smith's attorney, Lawrence Woodward, noted the "monstrous sentencing disparity" between the one day Smith's wife received and the 30 months recommended for her husband.

"Any narrative or suggestion that Ms. Smith got involved because she was scared or intimidated by [her husband] is simply not true or supported by the evidence," Woodward wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "She was not forced or threatened in any way and was a full and willing participant in all of the activity that gives rise to this case."

When asked to explain the discrepancy, Pathan told the court that Virginia Smith had "ample mitigation" issues, such as childhood trauma and long-term substance abuse that led U.S. District Judge Robert Payne to agree to a downward variance in punishment. Sentencing guidelines called for a term of incarceration of 27 to 33 months, and the government recommended a term of 18 months.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin demanded the board overseeing Virginias community colleges welcome his administration into the search for a new leader or resign Thursday, leading the board to relent and drawing accusations from Democrats that hes bypassing the states layered governance structure.

For the past three months, Youngkin has tried to inject his presence into the hiring of a new chancellor to lead the states 23 community colleges.

Current chancellor Glenn DuBois is retiring Thursday.

In a letter sent two weeks ago, Youngkin told the 15 members of the Virginia Community College System board to work with the administration  or else.

If for any reason you feel like you cannot commit to this mission, I will accept your resignation by June 30 with gratitude for your service, Youngkin wrote. Thursday is the end of the states fiscal year.

Youngkins message apparently hit its mark. On Wednesday, the board said it will welcome a representative of the administration as a nonvoting member of the search committee.

Youngkin said in a brief telephone interview that he holds high expectations for the 23 colleges  possibly higher than the boards own expectations  and that he wants its members to share his vision for improving academic and workforce opportunities.

If members of the board are eager to lead and serve with that vision, then great, Youngkin said. And if folks arent excited about that, nows a great time for them to step down.

But Democrats in the state legislature said the governor is attempting to short-circuit the organizational chart of higher education. The governor nominates board members each year, and the boards oversee the community college system and four-year colleges.

This is not how we run schools in Virginia. This isnt Carlyle, said Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, referring to the private equity firm where Youngkin was co-CEO before winning public office. This isnt a corporate takeover. The governor doesnt run schools. The boards do.

Youngkin first voiced concern with the states community colleges in March, pointing out their significant decline in enrollment and the jobs that have been unfilled since the economy began its recovery. One candidate for the job was Anne Holton, a former Virginia first lady, secretary of education and interim president at George Mason University who removed her name from consideration.

Youngkin asked the board to restart its hiring process and appoint an interim chancellor. In an act of defiance, the board continued its search and two weeks later named a Michigan community college president, Russell A. Kavalhuna, as the new chancellor.

But Kavalhuna never took the job. Last month, he began negotiating with his school to remain in Michigan, and he declined to say why. The Virginia community college board named an interim chancellor, Sharon Morrissey.

When Kavalhuna met the governor, Youngkin voiced disappointment with how the would-be chancellor was selected, saying the two had a lot of ground to cover and werent starting in a good place.

Youngkin said he never asked Kavalhuna not to accept the job. But Youngkin is glad the search team has a clean slate.

I think this is a great chance for us, given that he has chosen not to come, to restart a search and find somebody who can lead community colleges consistent with the vision I outlined, Youngkin said.

The development was a victory for Youngkin, who had successfully intervened in the hiring of a new chancellor. Now, hes renewing his request to help find a permanent one.

While I know that the final decision rests with the VCCS board, our team is excited and eager to work with you to find this exceptional leader as soon as possible, Youngkin wrote.

The governor already laid the groundwork to fire the current board. In March, he said the boards decision to exclude the administration from the search process demonstrates misfeasance, an offense a governor can use to fire a board member.

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, a former community college administrator, said it would be an unprecedented decision  never has a Virginia governor forced the hiring of a college president or chancellor.

Democrats asked for clarification on Youngkins plans for Thursday and whether he will fire them if they dont capitulate.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the board said it would allow a Youngkin representative on the search team.

We are committed to working with the governor and his team on the search for the new chancellor who will lead Virginias community colleges in the coming years, and we will work to ensure that our programs remain affordable to all Virginians, said Douglas Garcia, incoming chair of the board and head of the search committee.

Of the 15 board members, three will leave as early as Thursday because their terms are up  Nathaniel Bishop, Adnan Bokhari and Eleanor Saslaw. Others have terms that are ending but can be renewed.

Should the governor fire the board and appoint new members, Democrats in the Senate could refuse to confirm his appointees, said Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria.

Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, a high school teacher, said Youngkin is needlessly forcing a political agenda into higher education.

At the end of the day, hell insert culture-war politics in our community college system like hes done with K-12, VanValkenburg said.

Democrats in the legislature acknowledged that the states community college system needs help. Enrollment is down by a quarter in the past 10 years, and some schools have seen their number of students chopped in half.

But the woes arent limited to Virginia  theyre being felt across the country, where total college enrollment is down. Community colleges are working to fix themselves and to train future employees, Hashmi said.

Last year, then-Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law the G3 program  Get skilled, get a job, get ahead  which pays a students entire tuition and fees if he or she comes from a low- or middle-income family and is enrolled in a high-demand field such as nursing or information technology. Though the numbers are small, programs that cater to G3 students are growing.

Democrats agree change is needed, and thats why G3 was implemented, VanValkenburg said.

Virginia community college board names new chancellor, defying Youngkin's call to restart hiring process The State Board for Community Colleges named a new leader on Thursday, defying Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who one day earlier called for the board to restart the hiring process and appoint an interim chancellor.

Youngkin concerned about Virginia Community College System's search for new leader The Virginia Community College System is hiring a new chancellor. Gov. Youngkin says his office has been excluded from the search.
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Russian forces are battling to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock still reverberates from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 people
I watched one of my favorite movies the other night, Quo Vadis.

Despite the cheesy costumes and over-the-top acting, it has important historical value, in that it describes a critical but faded episode of inhumanity: the persecution of Christians. We know about it, we have some vague memories of the people who had to dance around the lions in the Colosseum, but the events are generally filed under news too old to care about.

Except, the news too old to care about is todays headline. No lions, no Colosseum, just the massacre of Nigerian Catholics in a church on Pentecost Sunday, 2022.

Nigeria is a country whose Christians have been under assault for over a decade. According to the website Genocide Watch, over 45,000 Christians have been assassinated in the last 13 years, making that country the most dangerous in Africa for members of the faith. Catholics are in particular danger, because we represent a large percentage of Christians in the country and attract most of the attention.

This time, they waited until the worshippers entered St. Francis Church in Owo, Ondo State, and then started shooting at them from both inside and outside of the building. Reports state that some of the attackers were disguised as parishioners. Some have attributed the assault to random violence.

But dont be misled. The history of anti-Christian violence in Nigeria is a part of the fabric of the nation, something that mirrors a similar wave of persecution that has engulfed much of Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Central America. A lot of it is fueled by a particularly extreme and virulent form of Islam, such as that practiced by the Boko Haram in Nigeria and ISIS in the Middle East. Some of it is rooted in hostility toward the social justice mission of many Christian churches, such as those who evangelize against gang violence in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

In my 25 years practicing immigration law, Ive handled a lot of asylum cases. But the ones that cause me the largest number of sleepless nights are the ones that involve religious persecution. Just this past week we were successful in obtaining asylum for a Catholic youth leader from El Salvador who had a gun held to his head as he was counseling young boys in church. He was told that if he didnt stop trying to keep the boys from joining Mara Salvatrucha, the most violent gang in that country, he would end up like Romero. That was a clear reference to the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated at the altar while celebrating Mass in San Salvador over 40 years ago.

Ive also represented Protestant preachers whove been kidnapped, threatened and in one case orphaned (mother and father murdered) because of their ministries in Honduras and China.

The most heart-wrenching case was that of a young Salvadoran woman who was raped by her boyfriend, a police officer, and became pregnant. When he demanded that she abort the child, she refused because of her Catholic beliefs, at which point he beat her so severely that she miscarried. And when she tried to report him to his fellow police officers, she was told that she should have gotten an abortion (this, in a country that sacrificed martyrs for the church).

Somehow, these stories rarely make it up through the media magma, the dense layers of preferences that the people who run the newspapers and cable networks impose on the rest of us. The fact that someone thinks she was assaulted by Bill Cosby in 1975 is more interesting, they think, than the stories of missionaries being kidnapped in Haiti. People Magazine will give its cover over to the juicy details of Meghan Markles latest grievance, while the massacred bodies of churchgoers will make it to page 5 of the Washington Post.

The truth is uncomfortable, but its still the truth. The vast majority of Christians persecuted for religious reasons are killed by non-Christians, including Muslims, Hindus and Chinese atheists. The statistics are quite clear on this, even though Amnesty International (which thinks that abortion is a human right) will try and avoid naming names.

And Ill go even further. The last acceptable prejudice in America is anti-Catholicism. Its not persecution, but the level to which it infects our current society is insidious.

Instead of cracking jokes about how misogynistic, bigoted and backwards Christians are, it might be a better idea to notice the bleeding bodies.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.
SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Fifty people have died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, one of the worst tragedies to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico to the U.S. More than a dozen people had been taken to hospitals, including four children.

A city worker heard a cry for help from the truck on a lonely San Antonio back road shortly before 6 p.m. Monday and discovered the gruesome scene, Police Chief William McManus said. Hours later, body bags lay spread on the ground near the trailer and bodies remained inside as authorities responded to the calamity.

Forty-six people were found dead near the scene, authorities said. Four more later died after being taken to hospitals, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the countys top elected official,

Among the dead were 39 males and 11 females, he said.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said those who died had families who were likely trying to find a better life.

This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy, Nirenberg said.

Its among the deadliest of the tragedies that have claimed thousands of lives in recent decades as people attempt to cross the U.S. border from Mexico. Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart in San Antonio. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that President Joe Biden was closely monitoring the absolutely horrific and heartbreaking reports from San Antonio.

Jean-Pierre pushed back against some Republican lawmakers who blamed the administration for the deaths and said it was focused on the victims and holding human smugglers accountable.

The fact of the matter is, the border is closed, which is in part why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks, she said. Our prayers are with those who tragically lost their lives, their loved ones as well as those still fighting for their lives. Were also grateful for the swift work of federal, state and local first responders.

The home countries of all of the migrants and how long they were abandoned on the side of the road were not immediately known.

Among them, 22 were from Mexico, seven from Guatemala and two from Honduras, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, head of the North America department in Mexicos Foreign Relations Department, said on Twitter.

Our condolences, he tweeted. All responsible will be brought to justice.

South Texas has long been the busiest area for illegal border crossings. Migrants ride in vehicles through Border Patrol checkpoints to San Antonio, the closest major city, from which point they disperse across the United States.

Wolff said Tuesday that authorities believe the truck came from Laredo, a border city that is more than 150 miles (241 kilometer) south.

They had just parked it on the side of the road, Wolff said. Apparently had mechanical problems and left it there. The sheriff thinks it came across from Laredo.

Officials were trying to enlist help from neighboring counties to help with the number of bodies, he said.

Other incidents have occurred long before migrants reached the U.S. border. In December, more than 50 died when a semitrailer filled with migrants rolled over on a highway in southern Mexico. In October, Mexican authorities reported finding 652 migrants packed into six trailers near the U.S. border. They were stopped at a military checkpoint.

Officers arrived to find a body on the ground outside the trailer and a partially opened gate to the trailer. Three people were taken into custody, but it was unclear if they were definitively connected with human trafficking, McManus said. The trailer was gone Tuesday morning, and access to the area where it was found remained blocked.

The truck was abandoned on the outskirts of San Antonio, next to a railroad track in an area surrounded by auto scrapyards that brush up against a busy freeway.

Sixteen people were taken hospitals with heat-related illnesses, with four later dying. At least four were in critical condition, according to the hospitals. Among those were a 23-year-old woman in serious condition and an adolescent male in critical condition at University Hospital in San Antonio, Wolff said.

Those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer, said Fire Chief Charles Hood.

They were suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion, Hood said. It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.

Those in the trailer were part of a presumed migrant smuggling attempt into the United States, and the investigation was being led by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, McManus said.

Big rigs emerged as a popular smuggling method in the early 1990s amid a surge in U.S. border enforcement in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, which were then the busiest corridors for illegal crossings.

Before that, people paid small fees to mom-and-pop operators to get them across a largely unguarded border. As crossing became exponentially more difficult after the 2001 terror attacks in the U.S., migrants were led through more perilous terrain and paid thousands of dollars more.

Heat poses a serious danger, particularly when temperatures can rise severely inside vehicles. Weather in the San Antonio area was mostly cloudy Monday, but temperatures approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

Some advocates drew a link to the Biden administrations border policies. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, wrote that he had been dreading such a tragedy for months.

With the border shut as tightly as it is today for migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes. Truck smuggling is a way up, he wrote on Twitter.

Migrants  largely from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador  have been expelled more than 2 million times under a pandemic-era rule in effect since March 2020 that denies them a chance to seek asylum but encourages repeat attempts because there are no legal consequences for getting caught. People from other countries, notably Cuba, Nicaragua and Colombia, are subject to Title 42 authority less frequently due to higher costs of sending them home, strained diplomatic relations and other considerations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 557 deaths on the southwest border in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998. Most are related to heat exposure.

CBP has not published a death tally for this year but said that the Border Patrol performed 14,278 search-and-rescue missions in a seven-month period through May, exceeding the 12,833 missions performed during the previous 12-month period and up from 5,071 the year before.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press reporters Ken Miller in Oklahoma City and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed.
 Homicides (perhaps) trending down through first half of 2022, including in big cities like Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia | Main | Is the Bruen Second Amendment ruling really "an important step to ending mass incarceration"? 

June 29, 2022

Via 5-4 ruling, Supreme Court limits reach of McGirt to rule states can "prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country"

The last big criminal law case on the Supreme Court's docket was handed down this morning, and the Court split 5-4 in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, No. 21-429 (S. Ct. June 29, 2022) (available here). The opinion for the Court was authored by Justice Kavanaugh, and it starts and ends this way:

This case presents a jurisdictional question about the prosecution of crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country: Under current federal law, does the Federal Government have exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute those crimes? Or do the Federal Government and the State have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute those crimes? We conclude that the Federal Government and the State have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country.... We conclude that the Federal Government and the State have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and remand the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Justice Gorsuch authored the dissent, which was joined by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. It starts this way:

In 1831, Georgia arrested Samuel Worcester, a white missionary, for preaching to the Cherokee on tribal lands without a license. Really, the prosecution was a show of force  an attempt by the State to demonstrate its authority over tribal lands. S peaking for this Court, Chief Justice Marshall refused to endorse Georgias ploy because the State enjoyed no lawful right to govern the territory of a separate sovereign. See Worcester v. Georgia, 6 Pet. 515, 561 (1832). The Courts decision was deeply unpopular, and both Georgia and President Jackson flouted it. But in time, Worcester came to be recognized as one of this Courts finer hours. The decision established a foundational rule that would persist for over 200 years: Native American Tribes retain their sovereignty unless and until Congress ordains otherwise. Worcester proved that, even in the [c]ourts of the conqueror, the rule of law meant something. Johnsons Lessee v. McIntosh, 8 Wheat. 543, 588 (1823). Where this Court once stood firm, today it wilts. After the Cherokees exile to what became Oklahoma, the federal government promised the Tribe that it would remain forever free from interference by state authorities. Only the Tribe or the federal government could punish crimes by or against tribal members on tribal lands. At various points in its history, Oklahoma has chafed at this limitation. Now, the State seeks to claim for itself the power to try crimes by non-Indians against tribal members within the Cherokee Reservation. Where our predecessors refused to participate in one States unlawful power grab at the expense of the Cherokee, todays Court accedes to anothers. Respectfully, I dissent.

June 29, 2022 at 10:10 AM | Permalink

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Ultimately, this case is less about the ultimate result than the power of one justice. The line-up today was the same as in McGirt except for one justice having died and a new justice having taken her place. I don't think a credible argument can be made that Justice Barrett would have joined the McGirt majority or that Justice Ginsburg would have joined the Castro-Huerta majority.

It is also about the relationship between the federal government, the state governments, and the tribes and is another chapter in that uneasy history. After 233 years, we still do not have a clear answer on how tribal governments fit into our federal system of government as each generation seems to have a new preferred approach to tribal issues. McGirt, for all of its flaws, was a step toward treating tribal sovereignty as something worthy of respect. This decision will undoubtedly be seen as a step back -- giving the states more authority over the tribes and treating tribal sovereignty as something that is easily ignored when it is "inconvenient." I am not sure what the proper approach to indigenous populations is. Other countries do not seem to have done much better. But this flip-flopping back and forth clearly is not the proper approach.

Posted by: tmm | Jun 29, 2022 1:27:37 PM

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Office workers go for lunch in the central business district in Singapore. (Reuters file photo)

SINGAPORE  Singapore on Tuesday (28 June) reported 11,504 new COVID-19 cases, the highest in a day in over three months.

It is the highest since Singapore announced 13,166 new cases on 22 March.

At 10,732 new local and 772 imported cases in total, Tuesday's figure is more than double that of Monday's 5,309 infections.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases detected in Singapore so far to 1,425,171, according to the Ministry of Health's (MOH) website.

One more person died from COVID-19, bringing the total death toll here to 1,410. On Monday, Singapore reported its first COVID-19 fatality who was aged below 12.

Singapore's weekly COVID-19 infection growth rate rose to 1.62 on Tuesday, up from 1.56 on Monday.

The rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before, where a figure of more than one means that the number of new weekly cases is increasing.

A total of 437 patients have been hospitalised, including 36 patients who require oxygen supplementation and nine who are in the intensive care unit.

Singapore is now facing its next wave of Omicron infections, earlier than a previous prediction of July or August, possibly because many have travelled overseas during the June school holidays, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday.

About 45 per cent of the COVID-19 cases in the community in the past week were cases with Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, up from 30 per cent the week before, said MOH on Monday. However, international and local data show that the two subvariants do not result in more severe outcomes compared with the earlier Omicron strains, according to MOH.

MOH will not be making changes to the current COVID-19 safe management measures but will monitor the situation closely, and do not rule out the need to tighten them "should the need arise", it added.

As of Monday, 92 per cent of the city-state's total population had completed their full COVID-19 vaccine regimen, while 78 per cent had received their booster shots.

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The Rev. Andrew Schwenka stood in front of Pope Francis at the Vatican.

On a Wednesday in mid-June, Schwenka held the cornerstone of the new Saint Michael Catholic Church in southeast Lincoln. The sweltering heat made Schwenka feel as if he might pass out  plus, the young priest was nervous to meet the head of the Catholic Church.

They shook hands.

Then, an alert crowd watched as the pope gave his blessing. Afterward, Pope Francis told Schwenka gently in English: Please pray for me.

Its rare that a Catholic church would send someone to Rome for the Popes blessing, the Rev. Kenneth Borowiak of Saint Michael said, and it may be unheard of in Nebraska. It's the only church he knows of thats done it, and it's done it twice  Pope Benedict XVI blessed the school's cornerstone in 2011.

But a major project calls for a special anointing.

The new building is more than a century in the making. Saint Michael was founded in 1909 and had been celebrating Mass in a different building until its school opened at 78th Street and Yankee Woods Drive in 2011. The parishs 3,000 members have been gathering inside the school building since, but soon, theyll have a place of their own.

The 32,000-square-foot church is expected to be completed in early August. It will have specialty artwork and a display for its sacred cornerstone.

Its ceiling will feature a grand mural of the Holy Trinity surrounded by saints. Roman columns, gold-and-teal details and another mural of Christ at Calvary will adorn the sanctuary.

Getting to stand next to and even speak with the Pope was an unforgettable experience, Schwenka said.

He was very gentle and very just receptive and joyful to be able to meet with, he said. It was just for a few moments, but in the Pope, I think every Catholic finds a father.

Schwenka had already planned to take a spiritual history trip to the Vatican with several students from Bishop Neumann and other high schools before Borowiak asked him to bring the cornerstone along. Schwenka is an assistant pastor of Saint Wenceslaus Church in Wahoo, but his first assignment was at Saint Michael.

To arrange the papal meeting, Borowiak had to make a few phone calls. He reached out to the bishop, who talked to the archbishop, who gave Schwenkas group tickets to meet the pontiff.

Schwenka said the encounter confirmed the hard work many men and women put in to grow the parish.

Having the cornerstone blessed by the Pope is just kind of an affirmation from the Universal Church of what's going on at Saint Michael in particular, Schwenka said. To represent them in front of the Holy Father was a tremendous honor for me.

Nick Cusick, chair of stewardship and fundraising for the church, said the donation efforts for the campus began in 2009. Cusick and his wife launched three capital campaigns  the first of which provided funding for the school.

The new church building was a $10.5 million project. The entire campus, including the school, cost $25 million.

Cusick said the fundraising process has taken countless hours of hard work by several families, and he acknowledges the efforts generations of Saint Michael members have made to bring the church to its current state.

It's kind of a capstone and blessing to all of our parishioners who have contributed so heavily for so many years to finally get us to this point, Cusick said. To get the blessing of the Pope is just more solid evidence of the blessings that our parish has gotten from God.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7241 or jthompson@journalstar.com

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SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones as authorities began the grim task Tuesday of identifying 51 people who died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat.

It was the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico.

The driver of the truck and two other people were arrested, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas told The Associated Press.

He said the truck had passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo, Texas, on Interstate 35. He did not know if migrants were inside the truck when it cleared the checkpoint.

Investigators traced the trucks registration to a residence in San Antonio and detained two men from Mexico for possession of weapons, according to criminal complaints filed by the U.S. attorneys office. The complaints did not make any specific allegations related to the deaths.

The bodies were discovered Monday afternoon on the outskirts of San Antonio when a city worker heard a cry for help from the truck parked on a lonely back road and found the gruesome scene inside, police Chief William McManus said. Hours later, body bags lay spread on the ground.

More than a dozen people  their bodies hot to the touch  were taken to hospitals, including four children. Most of the dead were males, he said.

The death count was the highest ever from a smuggling attempt in the United States, according to Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

This is a horror that surpasses anything weve experienced before, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. And its sadly a preventable tragedy.

President Joe Biden called the deaths horrifying and heartbreaking.

Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy, and my administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry, Biden said in a statement.

Authorities did not know the home countries of all of the migrants, nor how long they were abandoned on the side of the road.

By Tuesday afternoon, medical examiners had potentially identified 34 of the victims, but they were taking additional steps, such as fingerprints, to confirm the identities, said Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores.

Among the dead, 27 are believed to be of Mexican origin based on documents they were carrying, according to said Ruben Minutti, Mexico consul general in San Antonio. Several survivors were in critical condition with injuries such as brain damage and internal bleeding, he said.

At least seven of the dead were from Guatemala and two from Honduras, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, head of the North America department in Mexicos Foreign Relations Department, said on Twitter. About 30 people had reached out to the Mexican Consulate looking for loved ones, the officials said.

Authorities confirmed that one of the surviving Mexicans from the trailer was Jose Luis Guzman Vasquez, 32, from San Miguel Huautla in the southern state of Oaxaca, according to Aida Ruiz Garcia, director of the Oaxacan Institute for Migrant Attention. He was dehydrated and receiving car at a San Antonio hospital, Mexico's foreign affairs said.

A cousin, Alejandro Lopez, told Milenio television that the family worked in farming and construction and migrated because we dont have anything but weaving hats, palms and handicrafts.

Attempts to cross the U.S. border from Mexico have claimed thousands of lives in both countries in recent decades.

U.S. border authorities are stopping migrants more often on the southern border than at any time in at least two decades. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

Comparisons to pre-pandemic levels are complicated because migrants expelled under a public health authority known as Title 42 face no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. Authorities say 25% of encounters in May were with people who had been stopped at least once in the previous year.

South Texas has long been the busiest area for illegal border crossings. U.S. authorities discover trucks with migrants inside pretty close to daily, Larrabee said.

Migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border and loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, he said.

Conditions vary widely, including how much water passengers get and whether they are allowed to carry cellphones, Larrabee said.

Authorities think the truck discovered Monday had mechanical problems when it was left next to a railroad track in an area of San Antonio surrounded by auto scrapyards that brush up against a busy freeway, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the top elected official in the county that includes San Antonio.

San Antonio has been a recurring scene of tragedy and desperation in recent years involving migrants in semitrailers.

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a San Antonio Walmart. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of the city. More than 50 migrants were found alive in a trailer in 2018, driven by a man who said he was to be paid $3,000 and was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Other tragedies have occurred long before migrants reached the U.S. In December, more than 50 died when a semitrailer rolled over on a highway in southern Mexico. In October, Mexican authorities reported finding 652 migrants packed into six trailers stopped at a military checkpoint near the border.

Some of the 16 people taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical condition.

Those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer, said Fire Chief Charles Hood.

They were suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion," Hood said. "It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.

Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

Big rigs emerged as a popular smuggling method in the early 1990s amid a surge in U.S. border enforcement in San Diego and El Paso, Texas.

Before that, people paid small fees to get across a largely unguarded border. As crossing became much more difficult after the 2001 terror attacks in the U.S., migrants were led through more perilous terrain and had to pay thousands of dollars.

Some advocates drew a link to the Biden administrations border policies. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, wrote that he had been dreading such a tragedy for months.

With the border shut as tightly as it is today for migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes, he wrote on Twitter.

During a vigil held Tuesday evening in the rain at a San Antonio park, many of the more than 50 people who attended expressed sadness, frustration and anger at the deaths and what they described as a broken immigration system.

I see this happen, and it didnt have to happen. If we had a better way for brown and Black people to enter safely, they wouldnt go through these desperate measures, said San Antonio resident Debbie Ponce.

Migrants  largely from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador  have been expelled more than 2 million times under the pandemic-era rule in effect since March 2020 that denies a chance to seek asylum. The Biden administration planned to end the policy, but a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the move in May.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 557 deaths on the Southwest border in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998. Most were related to heat exposure.

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press reporters Eric Gay in San Antonio, Acacia Coronado in Austin, Terry Wallace in Dallas and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed.

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

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Camack had entered a plea agreement in which he agreed to a one-year jail sentence, of which 11 months will be suspended once he has served 30 days. He also was placed on probation for two years and on a special sex offender sentence for 10 years. If he were to violate terms of the special sentence, he could be returned to jail. He will be required to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry for 10 years.
SIOUX CITY -- A 43-year-old Sioux City man could potentially see a life sentence after pleading guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to distribute more than a pound of methamphetamine in the Sioux City area.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa, Jesse Chavez pled guilty to the first count while also entering a guilty plea on the charge of possession with intent to distribute meth.

"On December 14, 2021, Sioux City Police officers observed suspicious conduct by Chavez in the Walgreens parking lot and inside the store. Officers confronted Chavez, obtained consent to search his vehicle, and seized three ounces of methamphetamine," the release stated.

From there, the release explains Chavez would receive severe ounces of meth from his suppliers and then parcel out the drug to others.

Sentencing in the case still needs to be set but Chavez faces numerous years in prison. According to the release, the first count Chavez pled guilty to comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison while the second count involves a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

"Chavez faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $28,000,000 fine, and at least ten years of supervised release following any imprisonment," the release explained.

Previously, in 2015, Chavez was convicted of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in Iowa District Court.

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SIOUX CITY -- Sioux City police are seeking the public's help in locating a man wanted in connection with a north side robbery and a subsequent shots fired incident on Monday.

The suspect, who is considered armed and dangerous, is described as a black male with a lighter skin tone. He is 6 feet tall with a slender build and has a goatee, according to a statement from the Sioux City Police Department.

At 5 p.m. Monday, police responded to a report of a robbery at a gas station in the 4100 block of Floyd Boulevard.

According to the statement, the victim of the robbery reported that she was putting gas in her car when a light-blue Toyota Camry pulled up beside her. A man got out of the passenger side of the Toyota, approached the woman and demanded her belongings while displaying a gun. The woman initially struggled with the suspect until he started to become more aggressive. The statement said the suspect then got back into the Toyota and the car fled north on Floyd Boulevard. The woman was not injured during the altercation.

A short time later, a report of shots being fired in the 5300 block of North Cleveland Street was received. A Sioux City police officer responded and assisted the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office with the investigation.

Officers determined that the suspect in the Toyota pulled onto private property and discarded some of the items that were taken during the robbery. When the property owner confronted the subjects in the Toyota, the statement said the man in the passenger seat shot at him. The property owner was also armed and shot back. No one was injured.

Plymouth County deputies located the Toyota, which was unoccupied, over an hour after the shots fired call in the area of C80 and Highway 75. They determined that a man and woman abandoned the car and got into a mid-2000's silver Cadillac with a black top.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact the Sioux City Police Department or the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office.

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Ionic columns, barrel vaults and capstones are not words you might typically hear tossed around by second graders in the 21st century.

So it warmed the Rev. Jamie Hottovy's heart to watch students from St. Teresa Catholic School in Lincoln confidently answering questions about the Ancient Greek and Roman influences on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's architecture during a tour this past school year.

Just look at the Temple Building with its columns, the priest pointed out.

Or Memorial Stadium and the debt it owes to the Roman Coliseum.

The field trip coincided with a unit on Ancient Rome and STEM the second graders were studying, just one of the new features of an educational approach the Diocese of Lincoln is piloting at St. Teresa.

It's called Catholic Liberal Education, a new  or rather "old"  curriculum based on the liberal arts and sciences and the classical method of learning cultivated by the church for centuries.

Beauty, truth and a deeper understanding of the faith are an especial focus of the curriculum, which has been touted as the "gold standard" of education and a way for Catholic schools  which have long faced enrollment concerns  to renew and revive their central mission.

"It's all about coming to Christ. That's first and foremost," said Hottovy, the pastor of St. Teresa until this month, when he was reassigned to parishes in Lawrence and Deweese.

The curriculum, elements of which teachers tested out this past school year, will be introduced in phases over the next few years at the school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students near 37th and Randolph streets. If all goes well, it may be introduced to other schools in the diocese, officials say.

"It's more of a return to what Catholic education always was in the past," said Matthew Hecker, chief administrative officer of the Diocese of Lincoln's schools. "(It's) the Catholic education that is responsible for things like the training of St. Thomas Aquinas, responsible for the training of and formation of musicians like Mozart and Beethoven and artists like Michelangelo. I don't think God quit making those kinds of artists. I think we quit forming them."

The first phase, which will start in August, will focus on history, language arts and religion, with nature studies, science and math to follow.

The lower grades will study the Age of Antiquity  Ancient Greece and Rome  and will be introduced to literary fairy tales, in addition to stories about the early church.

As students progress, they'll track the history of Western Civilization and Christendom from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and also American history.

Third graders will read stories about King Arthur and the saints of the medieval period. Lessons in Latin will also be incorporated at the school.

Students in junior high will revisit many of the topics introduced in earlier grades but on a deeper level, including studying the emergence of democracy and other forms of government.

Science and math curriculum will include more experiential learning, including nature journaling and observing how mathematical principles play out in real life.

"You can learn about Newton's laws in a textbook, but you can learn about them by engaging in them," said Sister Mary Cecilia, the principal at St. Teresa.

The curriculum also includes the study of sacred art and architecture. In addition to the field trip to UNL, students visited churches in Omaha this past school year.

Fourth graders will still learn about Nebraska history, and lessons about other peoples and civilizations outside the West will still be taught.

But make no mistake, Catholic Liberal Education will be a new approach for teachers and students.

For one, it places less of an emphasis on textbook learning and more on primary sources. And while school officials say students still will be prepared for a 21st century world, teachers are expected to be more discerning with screen time.

The use of discussions, such as Socratic seminars  which involve students asking open-ended questions and working through the answers collectively  is encouraged, too.

Bishop James Conley first approached school officials about implementing Catholic Liberal Education at St. Teresa in the spring of 2021, Sister Mary Cecilia said.

It was classical education that, in part, led to Conley's conversion to Catholicism when he was a student in the Integrated Humanities Program, a classical literature program at the University of Kansas.

And St. Teresa already had a strong track record in the arts  especially its strings program and Hottovy's interest in sacred art and especially architecture, which he studied in college before entering the seminary.

The school has worked closely with the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education, a national organization that offers teacher training, professional development and classroom materials.

Staff from the institute have provided webinars and on-site training for teachers, many of whom will be traveling to the institute's national conference next month.

While officials say the change will not affect tuition, the shift has not been entirely smooth.

When officials announced that St. Teresa would implement the new model, some parents  who felt they had not been properly consulted  raised questions about the rollout of the program.

Others wondered if teachers would be properly supported.

In response, school leaders held a town hall meeting to address concerns. A committee of parents was also formed.

"I think in large part when people see the results of this, many of those concerns will go away," Hecker said.

The classical approach to education has been on the rise in the past two decades or so, Hottovy said.

While many schools across the U.S. and internationally are using the curriculum, St. Teresa is the first school in Lincoln to fully make the shift to the model. St. Peter's in Lincoln is also listed as a member on the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education's website.

It's been in use elsewhere in Nebraska, including St. James Catholic School in Crete and Christendom Academy in Omaha.

Hecker said other schools may be invited to adopt the curriculum if it goes well at St. Teresa, but stressed that it would not be a top-down mandate.

The curriculum is in line with state standards, and the same yearly assessments will still be administered, Hottovy said.

While the pandemic hit Catholic schools hard, Nebraska fared relatively better than other states. St. Teresa, which has about 280 students, did see a drop in enrollment during COVID-19.

Sister Mary Cecilia is hopeful that Catholic Liberal Education will reverse that trend and lead to a revitalization of Catholic schools.

"We're not looking to change everything," she said. "But we've got new families coming because of this. And I think we will continue to have more families come as this grows."

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

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EMMETSBURG, IOWA -- For the next five years, an Iowa Lakes Community College program, intended to assist high school students, can count on funding from the federal government.

On Wednesday morning, the college announced the U.S. Department of Education would provide $1.48 million over the next half-decade for the "TRIO Upward Bound" program which serves students in Emmetsburg, Estherville and Spencer and recently added in North Union.

Per the release, the "Upward Bound program is part of the U.S. Department of Education TRIO programs, a group of federal grant-funded college opportunity programs that support nontraditional, at-risk, and underrepresented students pursuing college educations." The Iowa Lakes program itself is estimated to serve 60 students in grades 9 through 12.

TRIO Upward Bound Manager Nicole Heng added: "We are excited to continue to serve our current students and add North Union students to the program. The TRIO Upward Bound program is designed to help students be successful in high school, build lifelong friendships and give students the tools needed to obtain a college education."

The program itself allows for a six-week "residential Summer Academy on the Emmetsburg campus of Iowa Lakes" which offers classes related to reading, writing, science, math, Spanish and more.

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Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd

WASHINGTON (AP)  The latest testimony about the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has Donald Trump rebuffing his own securitys warnings about armed protesters in the crowd gathering for a rally near the White House. A former White House aide also tells the House committee investigating the attack that Trump desperately attempted to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol. In her testimony Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson described an angry, defiant president who grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to allow him go to the Capitol. Trump has dismissed her as a total phony.

Trump painted in testimony as volatile, angry president

WASHINGTON (AP)  A former Trump White House aide has painted a portrait of a volatile commander-in-chief who lashed out at advisers as his grasp on power was extinguished. Though accounts of the former presidents temper are legion, Cassidy Hutchinson offered previously unknown details about the extent of Trumps rage in his final weeks of office, his awareness that supporters had weapons with them and his ambivalence as rioters later laid siege to the Capitol. The testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee deepened questions about whether Trump himself could face criminal charges for his conduct and came as Trump weighs running for reelection in 2024.

1/6 Takeaways: Angry Trump, dire legal warnings and ketchup

The House Jan. 6 committee held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trumps actions that day. Witness Cassidy Hutchinson is a lesser-known former White House aide who had proximity to power as an adviser to the then-president and his chief of staff Mark Meadows. She rebuffed Trumps team warnings against testifying and provided firsthand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the insurrection. She described an angry and defiant Trump who ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to intervene to stop the violence as rioters laid siege.

Colorado GOP deals blow to election denial movement

DENVER (AP)  Colorado Republicans have rejected two prominent election deniers in primaries Tuesday night. It's a setback for the movement to install backers of former President Donald Trump's election lies in positions with power over voting. Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters lost the Republican primary for secretary of state to Pam Anderson, a former clerk in suburban Denver. Peters was indicted for her role in a break-in of her county's election system. An ally, State Rep. Ron Hanks, lost his bid for the GOP Senate nomination. Hanks attended the Jan. 6 protests. He was beaten by businessman Joe O'Dea, a rare GOP backer of some abortion rights.

Takeaways from first primaries since Roe v. Wade overturned

NEW YORK (AP)  A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, New Yorks first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape. In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

51 migrants die after trailer abandoned in San Antonio heat

SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America are seeking word of their loved ones as authorities begin identifying 51 people who died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat. It was the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas told The Associated Press that the driver of the truck and two other people were arrested. The bodies were discovered Monday afternoon on the outskirts of San Antonio when a city worker heard a cry for help from a truck parked on a lonely back road.

Ukrainian survivor: Only a 'monster' would attack a mall

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  The shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was nothing extraordinary, but in the middle of war it offered an escape for some residents. In a few moments on Monday, it suddenly became a hellish inferno after it was hit by a Russian airstrike. Authorities say at least 18 people are dead, more than 20 are missing and scores are wounded. The Kremenchuk mall is now the latest addition to the allegations of war crimes levied against Russia in the Ukraine war. One mall employee who said he had stepped outside for a cigarette when the air raid siren went off estimated 1,000 people had been in the mall, contradicting Russias claim it was empty.

Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO

MADRID (AP)  Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a breakthrough in an impasse clouding a leaders summit in Madrid amid Europes worst security crisis in decades triggered by the war in Ukraine. After urgent talks, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Russias invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told the AP that the membership should be completed the sooner the better.

Drug killings leave agony, savage facet to Duterte's legacy

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  The thousands of killings under Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes campaign against illegal drugs have left families in agony and a savage side to his legacy. Duterte ends his turbulent six-year presidency Thursday after building a reputation for expletives-laced outbursts and a disdain for human rights and the West. He's seen as a human rights calamity not only for the deaths in his drug crackdown, but also for his brazen attacks on critical media, the Catholic church and his political opponents. He's still an endearing, popular character to many Filipinos, however, and state-run TV has been highlighting infrastructure and poverty-alleviating projects of his administration. But in the homes of those lost in the drug war, an air of indignation and mourning permeates.

EXPLAINER: Abortion, tech and surveillance

With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that vacuum up personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use data troves from Facebook, Google and other social platforms against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies. History has repeatedly demonstrated that whenever peoples personal data is tracked and stored, theres always a risk that it could be misused or abused.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Here's a look at today's trending news topics for June 28:

Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for helping the financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

The stiff sentence was the punctuation mark on a trial that explored the sordid rituals of a predator power couple who courted the rich and famous as they exploited vulnerable girls as young as 14.

Prosecutors said Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial, sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, and couldnt have done so without the help of Maxwell, his longtime companion.

Find out more details here:

Surprise Jan. 6 hearing

The House Jan. 6 committee held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trumps angry, defiant and vulgar actions as he ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol and then refused to intervene to stop the deadly violence as rioters laid siege.

Witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a lesser-known former White House aide, rebuffed Trump's team warnings against testifying and provided first-hand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, a proximity to power that gives stunning new details in the panels year-long investigation.

With calm, detailed recollections, Hutchinson testified that a defiant Trump was told there were guns and other weapons in the rally crowd at the White House, but sent his supporters to the Capitol anyway and even sought to physically pry the steering wheel from his presidential motorcade driver so he could join them.

Get more info here:

Nelson Piquet

Formula One, Mercedes and the FIA have condemned former F1 driver Nelson Piquet for using a racial slur against British driver Lewis Hamilton.

Piquet used a Brazilian Portuguese racial slur to describe seven-time champion Hamilton when addressing a high-speed collision involving Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the Silverstone Grand Prix last year.

Verstappen is dating Piquet's daughter, Kelly.

The racist term was used by the three-time F1 world champion in November of last year, but only came to light recently, when the interview was released Monday.

Read more about it here:

***

Find out more about today's trending topics here:

"Hocus Pocus 2"

"Only Murders in the Building"

Jury chosen in Nikolas Cruz trial

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DENVER (AP)  Voters in Colorado's Republican primaries opted Tuesday for candidates widely considered stronger challengers to Democrats' stranglehold on the state's top offices, decisively rejecting right-wing candidates for U.S. Senate, governor and secretary of state.

Voters also selected their November nominees in the states eight congressional districts, with a new, northern Colorado swing district in play after the state gained a seat with redistricting.

Democrats spent millions of dollars boosting the campaigns of Republican state Rep. Ron Hanks and the GOP's Greg Lopez for U.S. Senate and governor, respectively, believing that Hanks and Lopez would be easier to defeat come November.

Both lost, to first-time candidate Joe O'Dea and University of Colorado regent Heidi Ganahl. So, too, did embattled Mesa County clerk and recorder Tina Peters, beaten by former clerk Pam Anderson in the GOP primary for secretary of state. Peters refused to concede, claiming elections officials had flipped the vote totals.

In a state thats trended purple over the past decade, Colorados congressional delegation includes two Democratic senators, with three-term Sen. Michael Bennet seeking reelection this year. Democrats hold a 4-3 advantage among U.S. representatives.

A look at Tuesdays races:

U.S. SENATE

Businessman ODea, who ran as a rare Republican supporter of most abortion rights, soundly defeated Hanks, who backs a ban on the procedure in all cases. Colorados voters have strongly backed abortion rights, and Democrats, viewing ODea as a more formidable adversary to Bennet, had spent more than $2 million boosting Hanks candidacy in the primary.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Peters, Mesa Countys conspiracy-theorist elections clerk whos been indicted for tampering with voting equipment, was easily defeated by Anderson, a former head of Colorados county clerks association, in the GOP primary. Anderson, a former clerk in Jefferson County, defends Colorados elections as secure. Both want to unseat Democrat Jena Griswold, a national advocate of secure elections who was uncontested in Tuesdays primary.

GOVERNOR

Colorados last Republican governor was Bill Owens, who served from 1999 to 2007. Ganahl, who as regent is the GOPs only statewide elected official, soundly beat former Parker mayor and businessman Lopez in the primary. Like Hanks, Democrats aired ads for Lopez, suggesting they view Ganahl as the stronger challenger to Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. Both candidates oppose a new state law guaranteeing access to abortion, and both welcomed the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade. Ganahl supports exceptions, including for rape, incest or threats to the health of the mother or fetus; Lopez opposes abortion without exceptions.

CONGRESS REPUBLICANS

First-term GOP firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert trounced state Sen. Don Coram in the largely rural 3rd District. Boebert insisted Coram, a moderate, rancher and hemp farmer, wasnt conservative enough for the district or for Washington; Coram said Boebert is too extreme for the traditionally conservatively centrist district.

In El Paso County, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn fought off a spirited primary challenge from state Rep. Dave Williams, who failed to get the phrase Lets Go Brandon, code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his official name on the ballot. Also running were Navy veteran Rebecca Keltie and Colorado Springs businessman Andrew Heaton.

In the new 8th District, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer defeated Thornton Mayor Jan Kulmann, former state Rep. Lori Saine and Tyler Allcorn, a small businessman and U.S. Army veteran. Kirkmeyer now faces Democratic state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who was unopposed.

Oil and gas industry veteran Erik Aadland defeated economist and businessman Tim Reichert and Donald Trump-aligned political activist Laurel Imer in the race to challenge Democratic state Sen. Brittany Pettersen for the 7th District seat being vacated by eight-term Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter.

Four-term U.S. Rep. Ken Buck defeated first-time candidate Robert Lewis of Elbert County in the sweeping 4th District. Steven Monahan, a Navy veteran, was unopposed in suburban Denvers 6th District. So, too, was Jennifer Qualtieri, a state party activist, in Denvers 1st District. Engineer Marshall Dawson was alone on the GOP ballot in the 2nd District.

CONGRESS DEMOCRATS

Denver Rep. Diana Degette easily beat first-time challenger Neal Walia in DeGette's bid for a 14th term. Incumbents Joe Neguse and Jason Crow were unopposed in the 2nd and 6th districts, respectively. The 3rd District primary featured tech engineer Alex Walker, Aspen businessman and former city councilmember Adam Frisch and Pueblo health advocate and social worker Sol Sandoval. David Torres defeated Michael Colombe for the party nomination in the 5th District.

ATTORNEY GENERAL/TREASURER

Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser and Republican challenger John Kellner, the district attorney for Colorados 18th Judicial District, were unopposed, as were Democratic Treasurer Dave Young and former Republican state Rep. Lang Sias.

This story has been updated to correct that Tina Peters is clerk of Mesa County, not El Paso County.

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)  Two of Congress staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist alternatives to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday, even as the partys voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.

Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller won her primary over fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis just days after she called the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a historic victory for white life during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump. Her spokesperson said she misspoke.

Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican.

Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost in a rare runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell. But his Republican House colleague, Michael Guest, won a runoff race in the state, despite defying Trump and voting to create an independent commission to investigate last years insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago after a declining population cost the state a House seat.

In all, six states held congressional primary elections, primary runoffs or special elections. In addition to testing Trump's national influence, they provided hints of how voters are reacting to the high court's decision on abortion.

Some of the top elections:

BOEBERTS STAYING POWER

Boebert, a first-term firebrand, saw her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado become even more Republican after redistricting. She had little trouble with moderate state Rep. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slammed what he calls Boeberts extremism.

Boebert trumpeted her gun-toting Second Amendment credentials and opposition to COVID-19 restrictions that briefly shuttered her Shooters restaurant.

Long known for controversial statements, Boebert said Sunday, Im tired of this separation of church and state junk thats not in the Constitution.

The phrase doesnt expressly appear in the Constitution, though the First Amendment says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Thomas Jefferson was president when he wrote in an 1802 letter that such phrasing should amount to a wall of separation between church and state.

Boebert referred to Jefferson's writing as a stinking letter.

In Colorados deeply conservative El Paso County, meanwhile, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams for his 5th Congressional District seat. Williams failed to get the phrase Lets Go Brandon, code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his name on the ballot.

Lamborn faces an ongoing House ethics investigation over whether he misused official resources for personal purposes. He is an ardent opponent of abortion and backs the significant U.S. military presence in Colorado Springs.

TWO INCUMBENTS LOSE IN ILLINOIS

Miller bested Davis for the GOP nomination in a sprawling, heavily red district in central Illinois that was redrawn after the states shrinking population cost it a congressional seat.

Miller, first elected in 2020, is no stranger to controversy. She quoted Adolf Hitler shortly after winning her seat, saying during a rally that Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future. She later apologized after Democrats in Illinois called for her resignation. She also voted against certifying Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election and is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

On Saturday night, she made the white life comment as Trump stood behind her at a rally in Mendon, drawing cheers from the crowd. Miller has since said she's not racist, and her spokesperson said she had intended to say the ruling was a victory for the right to life.

Davis was a co-chair of Trumps 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. He had the backing of almost all of the districts 35 county party chairs and vowed to reimplement Trump policies, including walling off the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the state's 6th Congressional District, Casten defeated his fellow Democratic colleague Newman, who was first elected to the House in 2020. She faces an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation over whether she promised federal employment to a political opponent.

Casten is a two-term congressman who flipped a suburban seat in 2018 that Republicans had held for decades.

JESSE JACKSON'S SON WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a crowded field vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.

The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicago's South Side to Kankakee.

In Illinois' open 17th Congressional District, Esther Joy King won the GOP nomination, while Eric Sorensen, a former meteorologist, won the Democratic nomination. They are vying to replace five-term Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, who decided against seeking reelection in the largely rural swath of northwestern Illinois.

In Illinois' heavily Democratic 7th District, longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago beat progressive and gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins on Tuesday  though the margin was far narrower than his commanding primary win over her in 2020.

MISSISSIPPI RUNOFFS: ONE INCUMBENT WINS, ONE LOSSES

One of two Mississippi congressmen facing a rare primary runoff election lost his seat.

Palazzo blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the Biden administration for his defeat to Ezell, the sheriff of a coastal county. But the congressman had also been accused in a 2021 congressional ethics report of abusing his office by misspending campaign funds.

He said that Mississippi voters hired me to fight the woke, liberal agenda and to push back against government overreach, and Ive done that for 12 years.

But Palazzo also added: With COVID and because of what the Biden administration is doing to this country, they took their anger out on me.

Ezell said he won because of connections he forged during more than 40 years in law enforcement. When people call and need something, Ive been accessible to them.

Meanwhile, Guest won a GOP runoff against former Navy fighter pilot Michael Cassidy. Guest will face Democrat Shuwaski Young in November.

NEBRASKA SPECIAL ELECTION OVERLAPS WITH SENTENCING

Former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was sentenced to probation on Tuesday for lying to federal agents just as voters picked a replacement for the rest of his term.

State Republican Rep. Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to succeed Fortenberry, who served nine terms in the Republican-heavy district that includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller, rural communities. Theyll compete again in November to determine who serves a new term, beginning in January.

Fortenberry resigned in March after being convicted of intentionally misleading FBI agents about his knowledge of an illegal, $30,000 campaign contribution from a Nigerian billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.

A judge sentenced him to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and community service.

This story was first published on June 29, 2022. It was updated on June 29, 2022 to correct an erroneous report that Republican Rep. Michael Guest had won a third term. He won his GOP runoff and will face a Democrat in November.

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.

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

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SALEM, Ore. (AP)  One of only a few boarding schools for Native American students still run directly by the federal government in Oregon is undergoing a close look at the schools finances by the Interior Departments Office of Inspector General.

The office confirmed last month in an email to Oregon Public Broadcasting that it had initiated an audit of the financial management and financial oversight of the Chemawa Indian School.

The audit came in response to Democratic U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, who requested the inquiry after they felt hindered in efforts to look into alleged problems at the school.

These allegations have been difficult to evaluate due to the schools opaque financial practices. Our offices have repeatedly asked school officials for basic financial data. To date, we have not received a satisfactory response to those requests, the senators said in a letter sent in October.

Chemawa is the federal governments oldest, continuously operating boarding school for Native American children in the country. It initially opened in Forest Grove in 1880, before moving a few years later to a hillside at the north end of Salem.

A scathing federal report released last month by the U.S. Department of the Interior  the agency that opened and operated those schools  found practices at those campuses and at similar schools across the country were horrific and traumatic.

Hundreds students died at the schools, including at the campuses in Forest Grove and Salem.

Problems remain at schools like Chemawa, as investigations by OPB and government agencies have shown in recent 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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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania lawmakers began a process Wednesday to study Philadelphia's growing gun violence plague, establishing a panel that could eventually recommend impeachment of the city's elected Democratic district attorney.

The divided House of Representatives voted 114-86 to establish the five-member Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order, which among other things could judge District Attorney Larry Krasners job performance and make recommendations for removal from office or other appropriate discipline, including impeachment.

The proposal was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Josh Kail of Beaver County, who two weeks ago announced plans to seek the impeachment of Krasner, a staunch progressive who was easily reelected last year despite the city's spiking homicide rate. Four Democrats and one Republican crossed party lines.

The bottom line is this, all the laws in the world dont mean a thing if we dont have district attorneys that are willing to enforce them, Kail said during floor debate.

Krasner spokesperson Jane Roh said the resolution showed House Republicans support for the NRAs agenda and complicity in gun violence due to their enabling of unrestricted flooding of firearms into every county in Pennsylvania.

Democratic opponents of setting up the committee noted that Republicans have not taken similar action against GOP district attorneys with recent criminal charges or convictions, that their efforts to address gun violence have been utterly blocked in the Republican-majority General Assembly, and that targeting Krasner would not be an appropriate use of impeachment power.

To think that in this moment, when we do actually have a gun violence crisis across the commonwealth, that we would come here and play these types of political games is really frustrating, and its an affront to folks in communities across Philadelphia who are desperate for solutions," said Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia.

Rep. Martina White, the only Republican House member from Philadelphia, said shootings and killings have increased steeply during Krasner's tenure in office. She said Krasner's job performance is not just about charges that are brought, it's about the cases that are being withdrawn, cases that are tossed aside, victims that haven't seen justice for a family member.

Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, will pick the committee's three Republican and two Democratic members.

San Francisco recalled its liberal district attorney this month, and national groups have been seeking to influence district attorney contests across the country. The parties are jostling for control of prosecutors' offices that can either block or adopt criminal justice reforms.

If the committee recommends impeachment against Krasner, the full House would then take it up. Impeachment, a very rare event in the Legislature  requiring a vote by the House and then trial in the Senate  was most recently deployed successfully against Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen nearly three decades ago.

The House voted to impeach, and the Senate convicted Larsen, a Pittsburgh Democrat, of one impeachment article in 1994, for having an improper discussion with a lawyer about court matters. He was permanently removed from the court and barred from holding public office in the state.

A different mechanism, direct removal in the Senate, failed when attempted against Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane six years ago, although she subsequently was convicted of perjury and other offenses and resigned.

But the threat of impeachment is not unusual, as occurred two weeks ago when state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, sought cosponsors for an impeachment resolution against Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell, who had already announced his departure from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's Cabinet.

Metcalfe also introduced impeachment resolutions targeting Wolf over his COVID-19 policies for the past two sessions, but neither gained traction. Recent Republican efforts to impeach Democratic Justice David Wecht, mostly over congressional and state redistricting, also have gone nowhere.

Lawmakers have also proposed impeachment in recent years against a Pittsburgh mayor, a Lancaster County sheriff, a Schuylkill County commissioner, other Democrats on the Supreme Court, a Montgomery County commissioner and a Lancaster district judge.

Wolf's spokesperson, Beth Rementer, called the Wolf impeachment resolutions attention-seeking political distractions. She said they have not taken much of his time.

They have had no impact on the governor, Rementer said. To be frank, these resolutions are nothing more than political theater.

A year ago, House Republicans also threatened impeachment against two Democratic elections officials in Philadelphia for counting mail-in ballots that had not been dated by hand. They backed down, but more recently the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the dates are not mandatory.

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

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York will ban people from carrying firearms into many places of business unless the owners put up a sign explicitly saying guns are welcome, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.

The Democrat said she and legislative leaders have agreed on the broad strokes of a gun control bill that is poised to pass as soon as Thursday, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state's handgun licensing law.

Because of the court's ruling, ordinary New Yorkers will, for the first time in more than a century, be able to get a license to carry a gun outside the home for personal defense. Previously, it was hard to get an unrestricted handgun license unless you worked in law enforcement or security.

But Hochul said she also wanted to protect the rights of property owners who decide they dont want firearms on the premises.

Businesses that want guns around would have to put up a sign reading, Concealed weapons welcome here, or words to that effect, Hochul said. Otherwise the presumption will be in the state of New York that they are not.

Were going to protect the rights of private property owners allow them to not have to be subjected to someone walking into their workplace or a bar, restaurant with a concealed weapon, Hochul said.

Gun rights groups bristled at the idea that firearms could be banned from many places by default.

Shes telling business owners how they need to conduct their business if they want to stay open. These are unconstitutional mandates, and I think itll be struck down by the courts, said Aaron Dorr, the executive director of the New York State Firearms Association.

The push to pass new restrictions follows the Supreme Courts decision striking down a provision in New Yorks licensing law which required people to show an unusual threat to their safety to carry a handgun.

The state is setting new requirements for getting a handgun permit, Hochul said, including mandating 15 hours of in-person fire range training. The legislature will also enact new rules around firearm storage in homes and vehicles, she said.

Hochul and fellow Democrats also plan on creating a comprehensive list of sensitive places where the average citizen will be banned entirely from carrying firearms, including government buildings, hospitals, schools and public transit.

A handful of states, including California, are considering similar steps to revise gun control measures after the Supreme Court ruling.

New York would be the first state to pass a law to allow concealed weapons only in businesses that explicitly allow it, according to David Pucino, deputy chief counsel for Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

In many states where carrying guns is common, the onus is usually on businesses to post signs saying firearms aren't allowed. Some states, including Louisiana and South Carolina, require people to get permission to bring firearms into private dwellings.

The state is responding in a very strong way to address the new risks created by the court, but in a way that fits into the framework the court has put forward about what a constitutional set of gun laws look like, Pucino said.

The Supreme Court ruling said states could ban firearms in particular locations but warned it would be unconstitutional to simply ban guns in all densely populated areas.

Hochul said she is still working with lawmakers to hammer out specifics of the gun control legislation, including on her proposal to bar people with a history of dangerous behavior from getting handgun permits.

Lawmakers will also require background checks for all purchases of ammunition for guns that require a permit, Hochul said.

That's something already required in several states, and a 2013 state law also would have required such checks in New York once the state set up a database. But legislative leaders and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo agreed in 2015 to halt work on that database.

Dorr, the executive director of the New York State Firearms Association, said requiring background checks would hassle law-abiding gun owners without helping public safety.

No criminal is going to walk into a retail store to purchase ammunition, Dorr said. This is an absurd attempt to demonize law abiding gun owners one more time.

Maysoon Khan contributed reporting from Albany, N.Y. Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter.

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

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MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa said her Rappler news website was operating business as usual Wednesday and would let Philippine courts decide on a government order to close the outlet critical of the outgoing Duterte administration and its deadly drug crackdown.

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday affirmed its revocation of Rapplers license over a breach of the ban on foreign ownership and control of media outlets.

The case is one of several against Ressa and Rappler seen as part of an assault on press freedom under President Rodrigo Duterte, who leaves office Thursday and will be succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the namesake son of the late dictator.

Ressa revealed the shutdown order against Rappler while speaking Tuesday at the East-West Center in Honolulu. Part of the reason I didnt have much sleep last night is because we essentially got a shutdown order, Ressa told the audience.

She told reporters later in a Zoom interview that Rappler would continue to stand up for its rights. Youve heard me state repeatedly over the last six years that we have been harassed. This is intimidation. These are political tactics. We refuse to succumb to them," Ressa said.

Rapplers attorney, Francis Lim, said the website had legal remedies available to question the SEC's administrative decision in the courts. "And we are confident that at the end of the day we shall prevail, Lim said Wednesday in Manila.

Rappler is facing government retaliation for its fearless reporting about rights abuses in the drug war,' Duterte and Marcos use of disinformation on social media, and a wide variety of rights abusing actions over the past six years," Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. This is an effort to shut up Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, and shut down Rappler, by hook or by crook.

Ressa and Russian Dmitry Muratov last year became the first working journalists in more than 80 years to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Muratov's newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, suspended operations in March after pressure from Russian authorities. It was the last major independent media outlet critical of President Vladimir Putins government left in Russia after others either closed or were blocked following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February.

Ressa co-founded Rappler in 2012. After Duterte took office in 2016, it increasingly began reporting on the nighttime police raids that left hundreds and then thousands of mostly poor, petty drug suspects dead in overwhelmed morgues. Police said they were acting in self-defense when officers gunned down alleged drug dealers. Few suspects were questioned in what human rights activists soon described as extrajudicial executions.

Duterte and other Philippine officials have said the criminal complaints against Ressa and Rappler were not a press freedom issue but part of normal judicial procedures arising from their alleged violations of the law.

However, Duterte has openly lambasted journalists and news sites who report critically about him, including the countrys largest TV network, ABS-CBN, which was shut down in 2020 after lawmakers refused to renew its 25-year license.

As Rapplers president and CEO, Ressa faces several criminal complaints over the website's news operations. She was convicted of libel in 2020 and sentenced to six years in prison but has remained free on bail while the case is on appeal.

AP journalists Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and Kiko Rosario in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  The South Carolina education superintendent candidate backed by the Republican establishment came back from her second place finish in the primary to win the runoff.

Also on Tuesday, state Rep. Krystle Matthews won the runoff to be the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and will take on incumbent Republican Sen. Tim Scott in November.

EDUCATION SUPERINTENDENT

Conservative think tank CEO and chairwoman of the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee Ellen Weaver won her party's nomination on Tuesday, but she still could face a rough road to the job even in a GOP-dominated state.

A new South Carolina law requires education superintendents to have at least a masters degree. Weaver doesnt have one, but started a program in April. She said she should earn her degree in time.

Election officials said there is no precedent for what happens if she wins in November without an advanced degree, meaning the issue could be decided in court if someone sues.

Weaver will face Democrat Lisa Ellis in November. Ellis is a high school English teacher who founded the group SC for Ed on social media. Hundreds of teachers joined the group, calling for education improvements and higher pay and better treatment for teachers. The group brought 10,000 people to rally at the Statehouse, one of the biggest crowds of the past 20 years.

Ellis already has an advanced degree, as does the opponent Weaver defeated in the runoff, Palmetto State Teachers Association Executive Director Kathy Maness.

Maness won the primary, but fell well short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. She had grassroot support from teachers and educators.

Maness faced an onslaught of television ads, campaign mailers and appearances by prominent Republicans who painted her as a Democrat posing as a member of their party.

Maness secured one big endorsement when Republican Education Superintendent Molly Spearman, who is leaving the job after eight years, threw her support behind Maness. Spearman said Maness has been a teacher, knows what goes on in schools and is familiar with the legislative process.

Weaver has raised more money  $327,000 to Maness' $115,000

Ellis has raised just under $15,000, according to state campaign finance reports, but won the three-way Democratic primary without a runoff.

STATE HOUSE

There are six state House runoffs. Only one involves incumbents. Democratic Reps. Roger Kirby and Cezar McKnight were drawn through redistricting into the same district that stretches across three counties but is centered in Williamsburg County.

The two Democrats basically get to run primary night over again, but this time the winner likely returns to the Statehouse because no Republicans filed to run in the general election.

Tuesday's results were too early to call.

McKnight won the June 14 primary by seven votes out of the 5,557 cast. A third candidate threw the race into a runoff.

McKnight has represented much of the district for eight years from its anchor of Kingstree, but dwindling population in South Carolina's rural areas drew Kirby into the district when new lines were approved this year. Kirby is from Lake City and has been in the House as long as McKnight.

In the other five South Carolina House races, four Republican runoffs and one involving Democrats will decide nominees for open seats already controlled by their parties.

Six Republican House incumbents lost primary races earlier this month and a Democratic incumbent lost after her district was combined with another House member. About a dozen of the 124 members of the House also aren't running for reelection.

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

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 new poll shows an overwhelming and growing majority of Americans say the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction, including nearly 8 in 10 Democrats. The poll, by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, finds that deep pessimism about the economy continues to plague President Joe Biden.

Eighty-five percent of U.S. adults polled say the country is on the wrong track. Seventy-nine percent describe the economy as poor. The findings suggest Biden faces fundamental challenges as he tries to motivate voters to cast ballots for Democrats in Novembers midterm elections.

The poll shows only 39% of Americans approve of Bidens leadership overall, while 60% disapprove.

President Joe Biden says the U.S. is enhancing its military presence in Europe for the long haul to bolster regional security after Russias invasion of Ukraine. Biden outlined the plan during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the alliance's annual leaders' summit in Madrid.

Biden says NATO is strong and united." He says steps taken at the summit will augment its collective strength. Biden says the U.S. will establish a permanent headquarters in Poland and send two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom. The U.S. is also sending more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

The only surviving attacker from the 2015 terrorist massacre at the Bataclan theater and other sites in Paris has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. That is the most severe sentence possible in France, and very rare. Salah Abdeslam was the chief suspect in an exceptional trial over the attacks, which killed 130 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

A jury of seven men and five women have been sworn in for the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to murdering 17 people at Parklands Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, meaning the expected four-month trial will only decide if he receives a penalty of death or life in prison without parole.

European Union countries have reached a deal to eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035 following hard-fought talks that dragged into the early hours of Wednesday. The 27 EU members found a common agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing EU greenhouse gases by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 rather than by a previously agreed 40%.

The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans, looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them. That's according to law enforcement officials and others familiar with the inquiry who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Two of Congress staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist challengers to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday. That happened even as the partys voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.

Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller, who called the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a historic victory for white life during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump  her spokesperson said she misspoke  defeated fellow GOP incumbent Rodney Davis.

Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican. Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo, a six-term incumbent, lost to Sheriff Mike Ezell.

The U.S. economy shrank at a 1.6% annual pace in the first three months of the year even though consumers and businesses kept spending at a healthy pace, the government reported Wednesday in a slight downgrade from its previous estimate for January-March quarter.

Police say a Virginia toddler left in a vehicle for hours died and his father was found dead in an apparent suicide at their home. Chesterfield County Police say the department received a call late Tuesday morning reporting that an 18-month-old boy may have been left in a vehicle for several hours. Police soon received information indicating the childs father was at his home and was making suicidal statements.

U.S. health officials are expanding the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus. They also say they are providing more monkeypox vaccine, working to expand testing, and taking other steps to try to get ahead of the outbreak.

New York sued 10 ghost gun dealers for selling parts online.

New Yorks recreational marijuana market is beginning to sprout, literally. Thin-leafed plants are stretching toward the sun in farms around the state. In a novel move, New York gave 203 CBD hemp growers first shot at cultivating marijuana destined for legal sales, which could start by the end of the year. Big indoor growers are expected to join later.

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NEW YORK (AP)  Nine months after she stepped into the job of New York governor as a relative unknown, Democrat Kathy Hochul easily locked up her party's nomination Tuesday, setting her on an expected glide path to win the office in November.

Hochul was serving as an under-the-radar lieutenant governor under the shadow of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo until last year, when he resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, catapulting her into office.

Hochul beat back primary challenges Tuesday from New York Citys elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams, and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate from Long Island. She now turns her eyes to becoming the first woman to win election to the New York governors office this fall.

In a nod to the barrier-breaking campaign, Hochul gave an election night speech Tuesday on a stage underneath a glass ceiling at an event space in Manhattan.

Im also here because I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, generations of women who constantly had to bang up against that glass ceiling. To the women of New York, this ones for you," Hochul said.

Hochul enters the general election campaign with a big advantage, running as the incumbent with a heavy fundraising advantage in a state that has more than twice as many registered Democrats than Republicans and has not had a GOP governor in 16 years.

She faces U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, who won the Republican Partys nomination Tuesday. Zeldin is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

Are we ready to fire Kathy Hochul? Zeldin said to cheers as he spoke at a victory party on Long Island.

The Long Island congressman will try to become the first Republican elected governor in New York since Gov. George Pataki was reelected in 2002.

This November, in the state of New York, one-party rule will end," he said. "Kathy Hochul will get fired. We will restore balance and common sense to Albany again.

Hochul's prospects are expected to be even stronger this fall after the U.S. Supreme Court last week overturned the Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights. She has made bolstering abortion rights a key plank of her campaign.

Hochul repeated that in her Tuesday night speech, proclaiming that the state had gone on offense to protect abortion rights" and "making the world know that New York State is a safe harbor for Americas women.

Since taking office in August, Hochul has sought to step out from Cuomo's shadow, promising a clean break from his administration. She has said she was not close to the former governor, who has denied wrongdoing, and was not around to witness any alleged misbehavior.

Still, Cuomos presence loomed over her campaign early on when he began making public appearances this past spring, criticizing Hochul and Democrats in Albany over their approach to crime and suggesting he might run for his old job. Despite suggesting he might run as an independent, the former governor ultimately did not file to run.

Zeldin is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015.

He defeated primary challenges from former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who frequently campaigned for his son.

He has focused his campaign on rising crime and criticized Hochul for not toughening the states bail laws, for imposing COVID-19 mitigation mandates and for rising costs. And despite Hochul seeking to project a fresh start from Cuomo, Zeldin has referred repeatedly to the Cuomo-Hochul Administration.

New Yorkers are hitting their breaking point. Theyre deciding whether or not to stay here or head to other places," he said.

He will have to persuade the states independent voters, which outnumber Republicans, along with Democrats in order to win the general election. Democrats are expected to focus on Zeldins vocal defense of Trump during both of his impeachments and objection to the election results. Hochul is also likely to focus on Zeldins statements praising the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and his comment that, as governor, he would appoint an anti-abortion state health commissioner.

We must answer one question, she said Tuesday night. Are we going to move New York forward, or let the far-right extremist drag our state backwards?

Hochul focused her campaign on steps she took to bolster abortion rights and moves to toughen the states gun laws after a racist mass shooting in Buffalo.

Suozzi and Williams criticized her for her endorsement a decade ago from the National Rifle Association and over her plan to spend more than $1.1 billion in state and county funds on building and maintaining a new stadium for her hometown Buffalo Bills.

She also faced questions about her choice for lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, who was arrested on federal corruption charges in April related to his campaign funds.

Benjamin pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Hochul pointed to the short time frame she had to pick a No. 2 and said she had been assured that any questions previously raised about Benjamins campaign fundraising had been resolved.

Hochul replaced Benjamin with Antonio Delgado, who stepped down from his seat in Congress to accept the role. Delgado, also Hochul's choice for a running mate, won his primary Tuesday. Zeldin's running mate Alison Esposito is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.

Tuesdays election in New York covered statewide offices and state Assembly races, but primary elections for U.S. House seats and the state Senate will be held Aug. 23. Those elections were delayed because of a redistricting lawsuit that led a court to throw out new political maps.

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York 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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SAN ANTONIO (AP)  In the chaotic minutes after dozens of migrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer sweltering under the Texas sun, the driver tried to slip away by pretending to be one of the survivors, a Mexican immigration official said Wednesday.

The American truck driver, along with another U.S. citizen and two other men, remained in custody as the investigation continued into the tragedy that killed 53 people in the nations deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.-Mexico border. Federal prosecutors said two of the suspects, including the driver, face charges that carry a potential sentence of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

Two more people died Wednesday as the death toll slowly climbed since the discovery of 46 bodies Monday at the scene near auto salvage yards on the edge of San Antonio.

The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduno, chief of Mexicos National Immigration Institute.

Officials had potential identifications on 37 of the victims as of Wednesday, pending verification with authorities in other countries, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office. Forty of the victims were male, it said.

Identifying the dead has been challenging because some were found without identification documents and in one case a stolen ID. Remote villages where some of the migrants came from in Mexico and Central America have no phone service to reach family members and fingerprint data has to be shared and matched by the governments involved.

Javier Flores Lopez's family was waiting to find out whether he was on the truck. He had returned home to see his wife and three small children in southern Mexico and was going back to Ohio where his father and a brother live and he worked in construction. He is now among the missing and his cousin, Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman, is hospitalized in San Antonio, the family said.

The tragedy occurred at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them taking perilous risks to cross swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

While its not clear when or where the migrants boarded the truck bound for San Antonio, Homeland Security investigators believe it was on U.S. soil, near or in Laredo, Texas, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told The Associated Press.

The truck went through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo on Interstate 35 on Monday, Cuellar and Mexican officials confirmed. It was registered in Alamo, Texas, but had fake plates and logos, Garduno said.

Officials in Mexico also released a surveillance photo showing the driver smiling at the checkpoint during the more than two-hour trip to San Antonio.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that state troopers would set up additional truck checkpoints on highways, but he did not say how many. In April, Abbott gridlocked the 1,200-mile Texas border for a week by requiring every truck entering the state to underdo additional inspections as part of his ongoing fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.

Authorities were looking into whether the truck had mechanical problems when it was left next to a railroad track. The driver was apprehended after trying to disguise himself as one of the migrants, Garduno said.

Federal prosecutors identified the driver as Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, who was charged with smuggling resulting in death. Zamorano lives in suburban Houston and is originally from the Texas border city of Brownsville, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio.

He faces the most serious charges along with Christian Martinez, 28, who is accused of conspiracy and allegedly communicated with Zamorano about transporting the migrants.

Martinez was arrested in East Texas and will be transported to San Antonio. Zamorano was scheduled to have his first court appearance Thursday. It was not immediately known if either suspect had an attorney.

Two other men who are not U.S. citizens were also arrested on charges of illegal weapons possession. Prosecutors say investigators found the men at a San Antonio address where the truck was registered.

Some of the more than a dozen people transported to hospitals were found suffering from brain damage and internal bleeding, according to Ruben Minutti, the Mexico consul general in San Antonio.

Migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border, loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, said Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

The death count from Monday's tragedy in San Antonio was the highest ever from a smuggling attempt in the U.S., he said. Four years ago, 10 died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a San Antonio Walmart. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of the city.

Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), and those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated, authorities said.

It wouldnt have taken long for the temperature inside the truck to become deadly, said Jennifer Vanos, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who has researched child deaths in hot vehicles.

The tractor-trailer likely would have been hot even before anyone got inside and because of the high humidity, lack of air flow and so many people inside, their sweat couldnt evaporate to cool their bodies and they would have dehydrated quickly, she said.

With little information about the victims, desperate families from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones.

Felicitos Garcia, who owns a grocery store in the remote community of San Miguel Huautla in Mexicos southern state of Oaxaca, said the mother of Vasquez Guzman, who was hospitalized in Texas, had gone to the state capital to learn more about her sons condition and the whereabouts of his cousin, who is missing.

Life is tough here, Garcia said. People survive by growing their own crops like corn, beans and wheat. Sometimes the land gives and sometimes it doesnt when the rains arrive late. There is nothing in place for people to have other resources. People live one day to the next.

Identifying the victims was painstaking because among the pitfalls were fake or stolen documents.

Mexicos foreign affairs secretary identified two people Tuesday who were hospitalized in San Antonio. But it turned out one of the identification cards he shared on Twitter had been stolen last year in the southern state of Chiapas.

Haneydi Antonio Guzman, 23, was safe in a mountain community more than 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers) away from San Antonio when she began receiving messages from family and friends anxious over her fate.

Thats me on the ID, but I am not the person that was in the trailer and they say is hospitalized, Antonio Guzman said. My relatives were contacting me worried, asking where I was."

In some regions of Mexico, attempting to cross into the United States is a tradition that most youths in heavily migrant towns at least consider.

All of the young people start to think about going (to the U.S.) as soon as they turn 18, said migrant activist Carmelo Castaneda, who works with the nonprofit Casa del Migrante. If there arent more visas, our people are going to keep dying.

Verza and Sanchez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press Writers Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson in San Diego; Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan; Edgar H. Clemente in Villa Comaltitlan, Mexico; Sonia D. Perez in Guatemala City and Marlon Gonzalez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 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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SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  Police in North Macedonia say two migrants were killed in the south of the country early Wednesday when a freight train hit them as they slept next to the tracks in the dark.

The nighttime incident occurred outside Miravci, a village near the border with Greece. Police said they believed the two migrants died instantly. They gave no information on the identities or nationalities of the victims.

Migrants often use rail tracks as a guide while clandestinely heading north toward central Europe. A similar accident killed 14 migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia in 2015.

Police said they have intercepted hundreds of migrants in recent months as the so-called Balkan route, which runs through North Macedonia, has become more active following the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions.

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

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Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Carnage and Venom were no match for Spider-Man. What finally brought his demise? A fallen tree branch.

The red and black Spider-Man-inspired sculpture that sparked controversy in 2019 when it was mistaken for devil horns lost its final battle after a tree fell on top of it during a storm last week.

The 6-by-6-foot fiberglass sculpture, which depicted Spider-Man's hands and web-shooters, was created by Ian Anthony Laing as part of Campus Life's serving hands public art campaign. It was later sold to Mark DeMars of California, but the sculpture stayed in Lincoln at his parents' house.

"He bought it and was really enjoying it and now it's been totally demolished by a random act of God," said Matt Schulte, executive director of Campus Life. "It just kind of creates a sinking feeling, but it also brings back good, positive memories of what the project was."

While DeMars is a big Spider-Man fan, he didn't buy the sculpture for its nod to the Marvel Universe  he bought it for the controversy behind it.

"I told him the story of the hands and how they were seen as devil horns, and he thought that was hilarious," said Barb DeMars, his mother. "So unbeknownst to us, when it came up for auction, he purchased these hands for us."

The sculpture found a home in their backyard and became more than just a joke to Barb and Jim DeMars.

"I am devastated. I mean, I would just sit here and look at it. I would smile every morning and think of my son," Barb said. "It just happened. And it could have fallen anywhere else, but it hit the hands."

The DeMars family is hoping to have the sculpture repaired or recreated, which could prove to be difficult as the original mold to the hands has since been thrown away.

The sculpture found the spotlight in 2019 when a woman noticed it displayed at 27th and Capitol Parkway and mistook the fingers for devil horns.

She was outraged.

She said the sculpture offended her and called it a "hate crime against the church" in a letter to the mayor's office. She wanted it gone.

Schulte had calls from news agencies across the country wanting to know more about the controversial sculpture.

Stories about the Lincoln sculpture ran in CNN, the New York Post, Daily Mail and more.

Even though the problem had been resolved, the story of the mishap blew up.

"Somehow or another it just got picked up," Schulte said.

But ultimately the offended woman learned the intended meaning behind the sculpture.

"Eventually she came back to me and said 'I'm sorry, I see now it's Spider-Man hands and I'm glad that you guys are doing good work in the community,'" Schulte said. "It was nice that we could reconcile with her."

Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or jebbers@journalstar.com

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Members who currently serve on Iowa's Board of Regents have made monetary and in-kind political donations totaling nearly $339,500 since 2019  primarily to Republicans, with the majority going either to Gov. Kim Reynolds, who makes appointments to the board, or to the Republican Party of Iowa.

Iowa Code requires the nine-member board governing the state's public universities to have gender and political balance, meaning it can't have more than five members of the same gender or political party. The current board includes five women and four men, with five reporting Republican affiliation, three identifying as independent and one, Nancy Dunkel, marked a Democrat.

State law doesn't restrict or regulate regent political giving. Neither does regent policy, which does restrict conflicts of interest  largely related to employment, ownership or service on another board that might have a relationship with a regent university.

"The duty of loyalty requires regents to exercise their powers and duties in the interests of the board and its institutions and not in the regent's own interest or in the interest of another person or organization," according to board policy. "Regents and institutional officials must endeavor to remain free from the influence of, or appearance of, any conflicting interest in acting on behalf of the board or a regent institution."

Big donors

Most of the 2019-to-date political contributions from current board members have come from three regents: President Michael Richards, David Barker and JC Risewick, appointed last week.

Risewick since 2020 has given Reynolds $59,517  $39,517 of which were in-kind donations in the form of flights. His father, Christopher Risewick, gave Reynolds $35,807 in 2020  including a $25,807 flight  plus thousands more to both Reynolds and former Gov. Terry Branstad in previous years.

Barker  a partner in Iowa City-based Barker Companies, which manages and develops apartments and real estate  was appointed to the board in 2019 and has donated $250,180 in monetary and in-kind donations to Republicans since that year. Those include $18,388 in in-kind donations in the form of flights, food and parking, according to public records.

Board President Richards since 2019 has given $28,552 to Republicans.

"The Board of Regents is comprised of citizen volunteers, and any political contributions are made in their personal capacity," board spokesman Josh Lehman told The Gazette.

Lehman didn't answer questions about board policies on potential biases or specific questions about the regents donating flights to Reynolds and other Republicans  including whether the governor requested those flights or if the regents first offered them.

Flights

State records don't provide details of the donated flights, beyond dates the gifts occurred.

Risewick  who Reynolds last week appointed to replace former Regent Milt Dakovich after he died of cancer in February  made the most recent flight donation to the governor on March 3, a trip valued at $21,600, according to state records.

Although neither the board nor the governor's office provided details of that donation, a Learjet owned by Seneca Companies  a Des Moines-based petroleum services business where Risewick serves as president  flew that afternoon from Des Moines to Scottsdale, Ariz. It did not return that day.

Risewick also donated flights in 2021 to Reynolds, on Oct. 27 and Aug. 12. On the October date, the Seneca plane flew from Des Moines to Prairie du Chien, Wis., and back. On the August date, it flew from Des Moines to Dubuque and back.

Regent Barker's in-kind donations included flights on April 23 for state Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport; former Republican Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa, who was running for state auditor; Brenna Bird, Republican candidate for Iowa Attorney General; Republican Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig; and Reynolds.

Combined, that flight donation amounted to $3,543.65.

"Excited to travel the state and visit with friends @IowaGOP district conventions today," Naig wrote in an April 23 tweet, sharing a picture of himself with Smith, Hanusa, Bird, Reynolds, Secretary of State Paul Pate, and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

"Folks are energized and geared up to get Republicans elected up and down the ticket, from the US Senate to the Statehouse!" Naig wrote on Twitter.

On May 12, Barker donated a flight to Pate, a Republican up for re-election this year.

On July 27, 2021, Barker donated $2,542.37 in fundraiser food and parking to Reynolds, who also faces re-election this year.

Barker declined The Gazette's request for comment on this story.

Regent role

Although Reynolds appoints regents, each must be confirmed by a two-thirds Iowa Senate vote.

Among regent duties, the board hires presidents of the public universities; sets tuition; makes admission rules; manages campus properties including approving building projects; and oversees University of Iowa Health Care, the state's largest hospital system.

Lawmakers in recent years have fallen far short of meeting the board's funding requests. For the upcoming budget year, which starts Friday, the board requested a funding increase of $22.1 million and instead saw it tick up by $6.2 million.

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Starting Friday, Iowans will see reduced unemployment benefits, child care providers will see relaxed regulations and third-party food delivery services will face fines for using a restaurants logo or menu without permission.

Iowa law enforcement can also start looking through your garbage without a search warrant.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed more than 150 bills into law this year passed by the Iowa Legislature. Many of those measures take effect Friday, the start of the states new fiscal year.

The laws do everything from banning school districts and day care centers from requiring students and children be immunized against COVID-19 to allowing all-terrain vehicles to travel on more county and state highways.

Here is a look at some of the bills and what that means for Iowans.

Fewer jobless benefits

Unemployed workers in Iowa will receive 10 fewer weeks of state unemployment benefits.

The new law reduces the length of state unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks. Iowa becomes just the fourth state with 16 weeks or fewer of state unemployment benefits.

Reynolds, in a statement, said the new laws modernize Iowas unemployment system and will attract new workers to businesses.

The new law also changes the requirements for taking a job that pays less than the unemployed Iowans previous job.

The progressive advocacy group Progress Iowa issued a statement critical of the reduction, saying it will hurt laid-off workers, suppress wages and make Iowa an unwelcoming state.

Food delivery services face fines

Third-party food delivery apps like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats that use a restaurants logo or menu without permission will be subject to fines, starting at $1,000 and up to $10,000.

The rise of third-party delivery services has caused issues for restaurants seeing their menus and images used online without permission and have become a growing source of consumer complaints, according to the Iowa Restaurant Association.

Under the new law, third-party delivery services must enter into agreements with restaurants to arrange for delivery or pickup of orders. It also requires delivery services to adhere to food safety regulations  including barring passengers, pets, smoking and vaping in the vehicle when delivering food  and are liable for any harm or injury caused for failure to meet requirements.

Delivery apps must also clearly provide a way for customers to raise concerns about an order, and cannot intentionally inflate or alter a restaurants pricing without its consent. Delivery services, however, may charge additional fees as long as theyre noted separately to the customer.

Loosened child care restrictions

Child care workers who are 16 or 17 years old can work unsupervised, and child care centers can operate with one worker for every seven 2-year-olds and one worker for every 10 3-year-olds.

The new law was designed by Republican lawmakers to address child care worker shortages. Critics have said it does not go far enough and note it does not contain any provision to help address child care workers low wages or funding designed to entice the creation of more child care centers.

Schools cant require COVID-19 vaccinations

Colleges, K-12 school districts and day care centers in Iowa cannot require students and children to be immunized from COVID-19.

Iowa schools, by state law, require eight types of immunizations by age 5. Immunization from COVID-19 will not be added to that list, thanks to the new law, which passed the Iowa Legislature mostly on party-line votes, with Republicans supporting the proposal and Democrats opposing.

Police can search garbage

The new law states law enforcement officials are able to search an individuals garbage placed at the curb without having to obtain a search warrant from the court.

The law states a person has "no reasonable expectation of privacy" for garbage placed outside the residence for collection "in a publicly accessible area. Instead, the law designates the garbage as abandoned property.

The new law seeks to overturn a 2021 Iowa Supreme Court decision in which a divided court banned police from searching people's uncollected trash without a warrant. The case involved a Clear Lake man who successfully appealed a conviction and sentence for drug possession based on evidence obtained from a warrantless search of his trash.

Supporters say the new will make law enforcement investigations simpler and easier, and that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that warrantless garbage grabs do not violate the federal constitutional prohibition on unreasonable search and seizures.

$500,000 for anti-abortion pregnancy services

The state budget includes $500,000 for nonprofit organizations that provide pregnancy support services and advocate against abortion. To receive funding under the new statewide program, organizations must have a primary mission of promoting healthy pregnancies and childbirth instead of abortion, according to the new law.

Reynolds, in a statement, touted the program as a way to promote healthy pregnancies and childbirth as well as meet the needs of pregnant women and new mothers in the wake of state and federal Supreme Court decisions paving the way for further abortion restrictions in the state.

The new statewide program seeks to promote childbirth by providing information, counseling and support services that assist pregnant women or women who believe they may be pregnant to choose childbirth and to make informed decisions regarding the choice of adoption or parenting.

ATVs allowed on more highways

All-terrain and off-road utility vehicles can travel on more county and state highways, with few exceptions.

ATVs and UTVs can now cross noninterstate two-lane highways statewide that serve as the most direct and accessible route between an ATV park or trail, a secondary road or city street on which such vehicles are authorized, and the operator's home.

The law requires users be at least 18 years old and mandates liability insurance coverage on the vehicles and a host of security requirements for the vehicles, including headlights and mirrors.

Cities and counties could override the measure allowing for expanded operation on primary highways and secondary roads in cases of unsafe intersections.

New protections for mobile home tenants

Landlords are required to provide an extra months notice of a rent increase or when canceling a lease for mobile home owners who rent their land.

Advocates had sought stronger measures and said the new law does not go nearly far enough to add protections for mobile homeowners, and thus do little to address the recent proliferation of out-of-state companies that have purchased mobile home lots and parks and increased rent and fees on tenants.

The new law passed on mostly party-line votes, with Republicans supporting and Democrats largely opposing.

The Iowa Attorney Generals Office had recommend the legislation include limits on how often a mobile home landowner can increase rent and fees, and require landowners to provide a legitimate reason for terminating a residency. None of those recommendations are in the new law.

Cities can take nuisance bars to court

Iowa cities can take bar owners to court to pull their liquor licenses for public safety concerns rather than relying on state regulators.

City and county attorneys can now sue alcohol establishments for creating a serious threat to public safety and to seek a temporary injunction before trial, rather than relying on the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division to revoke a license.

A serious threat to public safety would exist if an owner, employee or patron in or near an alcohol establishment would fire a gun, assault someone or participate in a riot in or near the alcohol establishment, including any parking lots or public rights of way adjacent to the licensed premises.

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The South Dakota Senate convicted Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg of two impeachment charges stemming from a 2020 fatal accident, removing and barring him from future office. The votes Tuesday were a stinging rebuke that showed most senators didnt believe his account of the crash. Ravnsborg 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. Lee Schoenbeck, the chamber's top-ranking Republican, said there was no question in his mind that was a lie. Ravnsvorg ran down an innocent South Dakotan, he said. Ravnsborg declined to address lawmakers. He has maintained he did nothing wrong.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday that overturned the 49-year-old constitutional right to an abortion now moves the long-controversial issue clearly into the hands of state governments.

In Nebraska, that means 50 people  Gov. Pete Ricketts and 49 members of the Legislature  may soon determine abortion policies for the state. A majority of those people have already signaled that they wanted to ban all abortions in Nebraska if the court scrapped Roe v. Wade.

Now that decision has happened, clearing the way for each state to act.

But when Nebraska lawmakers take up the issue, possibly as soon as a special session this summer, they need to consider carefully just how their actions will play out in the lives of countless Nebraska women facing some of the most difficult and personal situations of their lives.

That includes women  maybe even children  who become pregnant at a time when they are unwilling or unprepared to assume responsibility for raising a child. Or victims of rape or incest who could be forced to endure additional suffering in the form of 40 weeks of pregnancy and the travail of childbirth. Or women who develop a life-threatening health condition. Or women whose fetuses have severe deformities or diseases.

No one should want to harm such women or make their lives harder. But poorly-drafted or ill-considered legislation risks doing just that. We all understand the concept of unintended consequences.

For example, the so-called abortion trigger bill that fell two votes shy of passing the Nebraska Legislature this spring faced criticism that it would have inadvertently banned in vitro fertilization or hindered doctors attempting to perform life-saving operations.

The bills author, Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, has indicated that a new version of the bill could address those concerns.

Right now, abortion remains legal in Nebraska up until 20 weeks after fertilization. On Friday, Ricketts didnt immediately call for a special session to consider abortion legislation, but he reiterated his desire to do more to restrict the practice.

Its clear that abortion will continue to be a political battle for many years, in Nebraska and elsewhere. The Supreme Court ruling, after all, didnt make abortion illegal. The court gave each state the right to ban it, or allow it, or tinker endlessly with abortion laws  with state policies possibly changing after each election, based on the political winds.

Here in Nebraska, we think lawmakers need to follow a measured approach. They should think, for example, about whether abortion restrictions would have a disproportionate impact on lower-income women who could not afford to travel to a less-restrictive state. They should prepare for the additional health, welfare and resource costs if pregnant women who cant care for children are required to give birth anyway.

And we think Nebraska lawmakers would be cruel and inhumane to force a rape or incest victim to give birth to their attackers baby.

Its hard to imagine a more divisive issue than abortion. It doesnt readily accommodate compromise or consensus.

Nationally, public opinion polls suggest that most Americans would prefer to leave the matter up to women and their doctors. But far fewer people are in favor of unrestricted abortions.

Those who want to ban abortion are driven by heartfelt emotional and religious motives. Many believe deeply that its a matter of saving the lives of unborn children.

Those who want to keep abortion legal have a heartfelt conviction that its unfair and unjust for government to infringe on the reproductive rights of women. Many believe deeply that a woman should be the one who decides how to deal with her own unplanned pregnancy and its life-transforming consequences.

We have no illusions that it will be easy to reconcile the fundamental freedom for women with the sanctity of life.

But as Nebraska leaders move toward possible new abortion restrictions in the wake of Fridays Supreme Court decision, they have the opportunity to be thoughtful about the real-world ramifications for women and respectful of the diverse views of all their constituents.

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Ninja Thybergs film Pleasure has been lauded as the most honest depiction of the adult industry on film yet, a raw and real journey into how porn actually works. Thats boldbut where it is absolutely true is in the details.

As a porn writer and producer, Ive never seen a non-porn film capture the subtlety of the genres aesthetics so well. In Pleasurethe story of Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel), a 20-year-old from Sweden who dives into the industrythe lighting is a perfect electric wash. The Amazon Prime lingerie is on point. In one scene, I could have sworn I walked on the exact hotel lobby carpet that Bella Cherry glides across. I even recognized some of the sets from actual porn. These details are the finer ways Pleasures inclusion of actual people in the adult industry paid off. Making your way into porn can be impossible unless you have an ina friend, a confidant, a business partner, or even a relative. For Thyberg, that was a stacked cast of people who had been under the hot and sweaty lights for years.

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When I finally caught up with the film recently, I saw the power of that in a mainstream movie for myself. But in some ways, the presence of these stars made Pleasures biggest problem all the more glaring.

One person involved was Casey Calvert, a porn actress who plays herself in the film and confirmed that much of the movie was filmed on the same properties Ive watched many a stepdaughter seductively yet pointedly declare that she was in fact 18 years old. When I spoke to her about the movie on the question of accuracy, she was circumspect. In Ninjas intention of trying to make a portrayal both good and bad, I did think she was successful in that, Calvert told me. But, she added, when people watch Pleasure, they take from it what they want. If they want to take a negative view of the adult industry from Pleasure, they can absolutely do that, and if they want to take a positive view, they can absolutely do that. Its very much up to personal perception.

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For those in the industry, or the rare few coming to this movie with a well-rounded perception of sex work, the film can be an interesting and at times satisfying depiction of the job. I enjoyed Bella Cherrys first-act enthusiasm for pornography as an industry. She talks about being a porn actress the way bright-eyed enthusiasts speak about any other career dream. This rang true. While some young people join porn hoping to make a quick buck and leave, being an actor in this industry is a difficult job for many boring reasons that rarely get the Hollywood treatment: self-promotion, finding work without an agent, getting an agent, scheduling, doing taxes as a freelancer, getting waxed regularly, and so on. Ultimately, its a lot of commitment if you dont genuinely love fucking on camera. I appreciate a characterand a narrativethat reflects that.

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The issue is that even a genuinely neutral portrayal of an industry so heavily demonized in the mainstream will ultimately just reflect those same dominant stigmas, as reflected in the reviews both from critics and from the public. Pleasure is described in media as highlighting the most dire and disgusting aspects of the porn industry; the movie is about driving home the point that porn is a pretty awful industry to try to succeed in. As I watched the film, I wondered: If a piece of art does nothing but reinforce peoples already held beliefs about a subject, is it doing anything at all? Many industry people dont seem to think so, with porn producer Axel Braun, who was involved, writing that we got a shock-value cautionary tale showcasing in great detail the negative side of our industry and zero of the positive in a since-deleted tweet. Performer Lucy Hart also tweeted that the central plot was a cheap shot that made us look bad, and later told Indiewire that the films ultimate takeaway was not very sex-positive. She pointed out that none of the adult industry performers had been highlighted in the promotional materials leading up to Pleasures release.

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As someone who has watched almost as much media about pornography as I have watched porn itself (and Ive watched a lot of porn), Pleasure lost its luster for me the moment it slipped into an exiting-the-industry arc. Jokes about overused plotlines in porn are starting to feel hypocritical, given that every single piece of media I have seen about the adult industry produced by those outside of it results in the same plot over and over again: the sex worker quitting his or her job, a decision clearly intended to elicit relief from the audience. Have mainstream Hollywood producers ever watched porn? Where are all the MILFs coming from if everyone leaves the industry at 24? All of my peers, all of my colleagues, everyone has their own individual story of getting into this business, Calvert told me. I dont think you can take one story and extrapolate it outside of one persons experience. I asked her if she thinks stories about the porn industry like Pleasure are homogenized. In mainstream media? Yes, she said.

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All the actors in Pleasure are from the porn industry itself with the notable exception of Sofia Kappel, who plays the main character. This casting holdout feels representative of Thybergs ultimate failing in a movie thats meant to follow the true contours of this industry: an inability to fully commit. Despite years of research and the clear desire to break ground and do something new, Thyberg lost her edge halfway through and tripped into the same trauma porn (no pun intended) narrative Ive seen hundreds of times before. Attention to detail and stellar performances from adult industry folks can only take a piece so far, and ultimately the film lingered in my mind as just another retelling of a worn-out story. If the porn industry can let go of plumbers and pizza delivery boys, so tooI hopecan Hollywood let go of its obsession with every sex worker escaping the industry.
Congressional Democrats initial reaction to the elimination of a constitutional right to an abortion was spotty. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read a poem. Another group of House Democrats sang God Bless America on the Capitol steps. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn described the release of the most consequential Supreme Court decision since the 50-year-old decision it was overturning a little anticlimactic, since heand everyone elseknew it was coming.

If they knew it was coming, perhaps they could have coordinated a better response. Still, you can understand why House Democratic leaders would feel frustrated with the criticism that they havent done anything with the power Democratic voters bequeathed them.

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The House held up its end of the bargain in 2021, passing the Womens Health Protection Acta bill that would go beyond codifying the pre-Dobbs status quo on abortion rights into law. And, as Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues this week, theyre ready to do it again. But as she made clear, the problem is not in her chamber.

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It is essential that we protect and expand our pro-choice majorities in the House and Senate in November, Pelosi said, so that we can eliminate the filibuster so that we can restore womens fundamental rightsand freedom for every American.

Pelosi is rarely this blunt about eliminating the filibuster. More often shell dismiss questions about Senate rules, saying that the Senates business is the Senates business. These comments are indicative of a shift in the last few days from Democrats who recognize that vague exhortations to vote in November! needed to get a little sharper. (They werent landing that great with the populace.)

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The new directive is: We just need two more senators to make your dreams come true.

Give us two more Senate seats and we will make abortion legal nationwide as a matter of federal statutory law, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz tweeted on Monday.

What we must do is elect two more Democratic pro-choice senators who are willing to overturn the filibuster or at a minimum carve out important exceptions to protect our rights, Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said this week.

Guy Cecil, chairman of the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA, even named the states that need to provide the senators, saying this week that Democrats need to elect two more Democratic senators in Wisconsin and in Pennsylvania.

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And Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren named the particular warm bodies those particular states need to fling at the U.S. Senate.

We [need to] get two more senators on the Democratic side, two senators who are willing to protect access to abortion and get rid of the filibuster so that we can pass it, Warren said on ABC this Sunday. John Fetterman, Im looking at you in Pennsylvania. Mandela Barnes, Im looking at you in Wisconsin. We bring them in, then weve got the votes, and we can protect every woman no matter where she lives. (Fetterman has already won his Senate primary. Democrats in Wisconsin wont select a nominee until later this summer.)

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That really is the ballgame. Senate Democrats actually made great strides in this Congress to get roughly 48 senators willingor willingishto either eliminate or allow for carve-outs to the filibuster. That number was, at best, half of that a couple of years ago. But Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin are immovable brick walls, into which Senate Democratic leaders have butted their heads many times already, when it comes to eliminating the filibuster. So add exactly two (2) supplementary Senate votes, the filibuster goes poof on this issue, and youll get a federal law protecting abortion rights. (At least for a few years, before either Republican majorities repeal it or those rascals at the Supreme Court come up with a reason to toss it.)

Oh and Democrats would also have to keep the House of Representatives and successfully defend seats in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, and whichever other state creeps into surprisingly competitive statusin an electoral environment where horrible for Democrats is already baked in. Achieving the goal is going to be hard. But at least they have a discrete goal.
Much of the focus on the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has rightly been directed at the devastating harm to women with unwanted pregnancies. But the ruling also affects those who want to have a child. It gives states and potentially Congress the authority to interfere with and surveil the entire reproductive cycle, from efforts to conceive to delivery.

Even before people become pregnant, states could monitor period tracking or fertility apps to try to identify women who have abortions. Missouri has already done this. Although an affront to health privacy, such actions are not prohibited by HIPAA, which does not apply to these apps.

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In vitro fertilization might also be affected. Fertilizing eggs in a Petri dish often results in extra embryos, which are usually frozen. And preimplantation genetic testing, or PGT, is performed on more than 40 percent of embryos before they are transferred into the uterus. Leftover embryos are frequently discarded or donated to research after patients have completed procreation or PGT detects genetic abnormalities. In some abortion-restrictive states, this may not be possible. Louisiana defines a viable in vitro fertilized human ovum as a juridical person which shall not be intentionally destroyed, and at least five states have introduced bills establishing fetal personhood. If such laws apply to embryos outside the womb, they might prohibit embryo destruction, donation of embryos to research, and maybe even embryo freezing. Even if states do not ban IVF outright, they may limit, as some countries have done, the number of embryos that can be created to prevent embryo destruction. All of this would make IVF and PGT much more difficult and expensive than they already are.

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Prenatal care may also be affected in abortion-restrictive states, particularly if they allow prosecutions against women. Health care providers might worry about asking routine questions about past pregnancies and their outcomes. Would patients who had recent abortions feel safe disclosing information that is an essential part of obstetrical care? Would providers be reluctant to include such information in medical records, and would state laws require them to report such criminal activity?

In such states, people who miscarry spontaneously may also be subject to criminal investigations. Prosecutors might investigate miscarriages to determine whether they were induced or spontaneous. Exceptions to HIPAA privacy protections may allow such disclosures, and state laws may require providers to report harms suspected of being related to a crime (i.e., a self-induced abortion). We have already seen charges brought against a Texas woman who underwent a medication abortion, even though it wasnt illegal (the charges were later dropped). And if patients suffer incomplete miscarriages, will providers be reluctant to use procedures or prescribe medication that is used both for elective abortions and to treat incomplete miscarriages? Experiences in Texas suggest that is a real concern. Treatment of ectopic pregnancies, which are never viable and potentially life-threatening, also may be delayed. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, abortion bans, even with exceptions for ectopic pregnancy, can generate confusion for patients and health care professionals, impeding timely access to livesaving care.

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The ability to learn about the genetic health of ones future child might also change in abortion-restrictive states. Currently, prenatal testing and screening are offered to all pregnant patients. In the last decade, a noninvasive and highly sensitive first-trimester test that screens for Down syndrome and other chromosomal anomalies has vastly expanded the reach of prenatal testing. Will some red states prohibit these and other prenatal tests or prohibit providers from discussing them for fear that people may seek pregnancy termination in other states based on the results? Efforts are already underway to push legislation that would prohibit the mention of abortion. Although limiting information about fetal well-being and abortions inhibits good prenatal care and raises First Amendment concerns, one wonders whether this court would really find such laws problematic if tied to state interests in preventing abortion.

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States might also surveil pregnancies for behaviors that might be considered to threaten the well-being of the fetus. If states grant personhood status to fetuses, any behavior that potentially increases the risk of fetal harm could be construed as a form of child abuse, subject to criminal penalties, civil detention, or loss of parental rights. Routine questions about pregnancy history could become a minefield. Would patients admit they had three margaritas, used a hot tub, or ate some sushi, much less disclose the use of illegal substances? And would states require health care providers to disclose such information? Worse, any such surveillance efforts would likely apply disproportionately to low-income people or people of color, as they have already done with respect to monitoring drug use during pregnancy and arresting women for bad pregnancy outcomes.

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And finally, pregnant patients may lose control over decisions regarding their own care, particularly if the needs of the fetus and patient are in conflict. In a famous 1990 case, Angela Carder was 26 weeks pregnant and terminally ill with lung cancer. The trial court ordered a C-section despite evidence that Carder did not want the procedure, but the appellate court ruled that the mothers wishes will control in virtually all cases. Some, but not all courts agree. Will conservative states intervene on behalf of the fetus more often and earlier in pregnancy after Dobbs? Will physicians seek court orders more readily to avoid liability for harm to the fetus? Most frightening, would the state allow for physical restraint if the woman objects?

The majority in Dobbs rejected a constitutional right to abortion without even acknowledging the significant bodily intrusion of allowing states to force people to carry pregnancies to term. The authority it granted the states to control a womans body from the moment of fertilization has tentacles that extend to nearly all aspects of the reproductive processwhether pregnancy is desired or not.
The news cycle moves so quickly that we too often forget the things we should remember. Like the shooting in a Uvalde school that killed 19 children and two of their teachers. It was a little more than one month ago. We spoke with someone who will never forget, Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who serves the citizens of Uvalde. Hes spent much of the past month looking for answers. Gutierrez came to the city the night of May 24. And hes stayed there for most of the time since, to be there for his constituentsto listen and to give them what support he can. Some of the people who lost their children blame law enforcementfor not doing enough, fast enough, to save their kids. The state senator has been looking for answers about law enforcements failings that day. But hes also keeping the pressure on, knowing that the clock is ticking for Texas to take real action.

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On Wednesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Gutierrez about what hes doing to make sure no one forgets what happened on May 24 in Uvalde. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Mary C. Curtis: I cant help but wonder, tempting as it is to harp on law enforcements failuresand they certainly are quite a fewif that might be missing the point, which is that an 18-year-old was able to buy an assault weapon and use it to kill people. One commentator put it like this: Demanding that police respond more swiftly and courageously once the slaughter of school children has already begun is itself the mark of a broken society, which no longer seems able to ask that we prevent such killings in the first place. What do you think?

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Roland Gutierrez: I think that there is everything to that statement. Lets be clear: We spent two hours in a committee hearing talking about a door that was malfunctioning. This isnt about doors. Its not about metal detectors. Its not about putting fencing all around our schools and limiting to one door, as our lieutenant governor would have, or even ballistic shields. This is about militarized weaponry in the hands of 18- to 21-year-olds. This is about not having red flags laws in Texas and a governor who refuses to employ them. This is about not having waiting periods.

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Look, Im a realist. I live in Texas, and I even own guns myself. I dont own these types of guns. But I know my constituents and I know what my constituents in West Texas like and what they want. At the end of the day, even my Republican constituents are telling me Im right on raising the age limit to 21. Its the simplest thing we can do. Greg Abbott could go in there, call a special session right now, and insist on one change, and thats an age limit. Then he can drop the microphone and leave the building. Hed be the star in this state. But instead, he chooses to sell his soul because he cares more about the NRA and their money than he does about innocent children in Uvalde, Texas.

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You gave a very emotional speech to the Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans about what you witnessed in Uvalde. What were you hoping to accomplish? Because you note that youre not trying to tell them to vote in a certain way. So what did you hope people would take away from what you shared about that experience?

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It sounds harsh, but I wanted them to feel the horror, the pain, and the suffering. Emmett Tills mother, she said, Leave his casket open. She wanted the world to see what they had done to her little boy. I saw seven little girls in coffins. I wanted people to understand the horror of what these families have had to deal with.

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Because of the way Texas politics works, not only is the Legislature not in session, but lawmakers wont return to the capital until January of 2023. So Gov. Greg Abbott has called for the formation of a special legislative committee to examine and develop legislative recommendations. Do these seem like useful exercises to you?

No. Weve been down there before, with Santa Fe. With Sutherland Springs. With El Paso. With MidlandOdessa. This is simply another ruse, another attempt to bamboozle the Republic of Texas, to stall. Until the media goes away, until these stories go away, until people are talking about something else. He has done nothing. Massacre after massacre, this man has done absolutely nothing. And a special committee is absolutely doing nothing. Until we get in there on a date-certain 30-day legislative session, pursuant to our constitution, then nothing can be done.

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What are you hoping that such a special session could accomplish and achieve?

Well do anything. A red flag law, a background check law, a magazine capacity law. What I really would like to see is the age limit increase to 21, like they did in Florida. Do anything. Do something. Greg Abbott likes to talk about evil. The only evil that exists in this state is having elected leaders, people in power, that have a problem staring them straight in the face and doing absolutely nothing about it.

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I wonder what would be on your legislative wish list versus what you think is a realistic agenda in the state of Texas that you know so well?

Well, Im sure theyll come back in January and well talk about doors and windows and locks and school hardening. And yet again, well spend next to no money on it. Look, we spend $4 billion on a failed border security plan, and they spent $100 million on school hardening in 2019. Look where that got us. They failed these kids. Im sure therell be some of that. Im sure therell be some mental health money. I doubt that Greg Abbott will avail himself of the red flag incentives that are going through Congress at this time. But what I will be pushing for at a bare minimum, what Ill be yelling from the rafters is to change the age limit to the age of 21, and I will find any bill I can to make an amendment to do that.

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But we also have the federal gun deal. What do you make of that particular proposal?

Listen, we are in the desert, and we are dying of thirst. So I suppose that something is something. But that said, it comes with too many options for governors or people in power to say no to, like the red flag incentive piece. If Abbott doesnt avail the state of those benefits, then were left without anything. Were left without red flags. Weve got a greater background check process, which is fine. But we dont even touch the age limit requirement. And I dont understand why, when the vast majority of Americans say to raise the age limit to 21.

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Now, youve said in a recent interview that the South Texas school district has talked about applying for a federal grant program called Project SERV, the School Emergency Response to Violence, to raze Robb Elementary. What are the parents in Uvalde saying about the future of the building and what needs to be done?

I havent heard from one single parent that wants to send their school kids there. The president was very helpful. His staff in the White House was very helpful in calling me directly to figure out how we can help do that. I put them in contact with the school superintendent. The school superintendent and I have been collaborating. Were going to keep moving forward to try to get to that end, but theres not one single parent that wants to send their kids into that building.

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The last thing on my mind is just something you alluded to earlierhow short peoples attention spans are. You talked about how people are delaying things until it goes away. How fast the news cycle is. Does any part of you worry that by the time legislators get back to Austin, whether for special session or new legislative term, most Texans will have moved on and the pressure will be off.

The first Saturday after the shooting, I was fueling up my car early in the morning. I saw a young couple putting ice in an ice chest, filling up their car with gas, presumably going to the lake or wherever they were going. I couldnt understand why this young couple in San Antonio werent feeling my grief and my pain. I couldnt understand why they had forgotten what happened just three short days ago in a town 90 miles away. And the fact is that most of the world just kind of moves on. People have their own issues, their own problems to contend with. All I can do for myself is figure a way to talk to people, where we keep reminding them. Because youre right, as soon as the dust settlesand its settlingmost people will move on. And I feel most people already have. So maybe all I can do is yell and scream and shame people. Maybe thats all thats left of my career. I dont know.

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How do you keep people tuned in? Because every week there seems to be a new tragedy. Uvalde followed Buffalo and people stopped talking about that.

For my part, I want people to organize, not to vote or anything like thatalthough thats something that I imagine will come in time. But for my part, I want them to tell their story. I cant tell it for them as well as they can, when theyre ready. They need to be advocates for themselves. They need to be advocates for their children. They need to be advocates for the parents across Texas. I try to tell those folks that were going to get through this. But I also ask them to do the hardest thing possible, which is to talk about this, when theyre ready. Families that lost children are going to deal with this for the rest of their lives. Imagine all of those hopes and dreams and aspirations that they had for their children and the hopes and dreams and aspirations that those little kids had for themselves, even just to simply enjoy a summer vacation that was just about to happen. All of that in an instant is gone because we in power couldnt figure it out.

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During Cassidy Hutchinsons explosive testimony at the Jan. 6 commissions hearing on Tuesday, footage was shown of the chaotic scene at the White House Ellipse on that day, as an estimated more than 10,000 people lined up to go through magnetometers to listen to former President Donald Trump speak. This rally would eventually lead to the assault, as Trump exhorted the crowd to fight like hell by protesting at the Capitol. Early reporting from the Secret Service, sent at 8:51 a.m., described a crowd dressed for action in body armor, ballistic helmets, and backpacks. The report also noted that many of them carried radio equipment.

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Indeed, during the dizzying aftermath of Jan. 6, reporting and intelligence work revealed that some on the extreme right turned to amateur and unlicensed personal radio for more direct communication during the attack. Days later, on Jan. 17, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission put out a sternly worded statement: Certain radio services regulated by the Commission may be an alternative to social media platforms for groups to communicate and coordinate future activities. It reminded radio operators that it is illegal to use radio frequencies to plan crimes.

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This use of radio during the highest-profile instance of right-wing extremism in decades, however, is not unique. It is part of an obscure but increasingly concerning phenomenon among the far right in recent years: using radio as a means of clandestine communication.

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Right-wing extremists primarily use the personal radio services band, described by the FCC as short-range, low-power radio communications using devices that operate much like walkie-talkies. They do not require transmission towers or extensive equipment like more commercial FM or niche ham radio, and are often individual transceivers. Personal service radio includes unlicensed two-way communication methods like Citizens Band, Family Radio Service, and Multi-Use Radio Service, which anyone can use without a license. PRS is geographically limited to smaller areas, with a typical broadcasting range of only a few miles.

The use of personal radio bands has a long history on the extremist right, dating back to pro-segregation efforts in the 1960s. During the U.S. civil rights movement, Citizens Band radio became more commercially accessible and trendy, leading many on the far right to adopt it. According to Art Blake, a professor of history at Toronto Metropolitan University, KKK groups engaged in terrorist activity adopted CBs as early as 1961 to communicate about the whereabouts of law enforcement. In the 1980s, white supremacist group the Order communicated via car-mounted CBs during its spate of bank robberies across the American West. Racist border militias often use Family Radio Service frequencies while hunting for people crossing the border without documents. And there are many examples of racist harassment over the personal airwaves turning into real-life violence on a smaller scale.

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More recent reporting demonstrates an interest in radio by diverse segments of the resurgent far right. A January 2021 NBC News story describes a panicked QAnon follower purchasing radio equipment to communicate after Parler was deplatformed in the wake of the attempted insurrection. (It began operating again about a month after being kicked offline.) Reddits main radio hobbyist community, r/amateurradio, has a specific rule against posting militia content, though its moderators declined to comment on what led to the creation of this rule beyond pointing out that theirs is not a political forum. Another amateur radio operator, who declined to provide his name for fear of retaliation, has heard discussion of conspiracy theories on air, though it stopped short of criminal activity.

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Why radio? The format seems rather outdated and clunky relative to easily accessible phones and apps. But for the extreme right, increasing perception of hostility on more conventional communication platforms has driven the switch to personal radio. If youve been deplatformed by Twitter or Facebook, or if you know that youre likely to be, radio offers a new venue for communication, especially when used on the ground. As weve seen in other arenas, the deplatforming of extremism (especially far-right extremism) is a double-edged sword. While removing such content from conventional, easily accessible platforms like Facebook and Twitter has hurt the ability of extremist groups to spread their ideas, it has also driven movements underground and condensed their more devoted, toxic elements on more obscure and less monitored platforms.

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As social media began to crack down on extremist content and baseless conspiracy theories, a universe of alt-tech platforms emerged to fill the vacuum. Historically, right-wing extremist groups have adopted personal radio services for similar reasons in the face of modern tech monitoring. Klansmen would utilize CB radios to engage in mobile, discreet tactical communications and avoid the risks of more easily monitored technology like telephones. They would have  been happy to use CB radios relative privacy. The FBI might tap your landline phone in the early 1960s, but they could not monitor sporadic, local CB radio communications, Blake said.

Personal radio services, in particular, have become increasingly important for local communication among paramilitarily minded extreme right-wingers. These services may seem opaque and dated relative to social media platforms, but that aesthetic is part of what makes them so appealing. For instance, Telegram is not as obviously visually tactical as using a radio. Mark Pitcavage, senior director of fact-finding at the Anti-Defamation League, describes this preoccupation as sometimes being one of tacticoola term that originated on 4chan to describe the fusion of gear fetishism and military aesthetics commonplace in some armed right-wing movements. Groups like the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, the Boogaloo Bois, and other segments of the paramilitary right are extremely preoccupied with collecting new and exciting pieces of gear, regardless of their actual overall strategic purpose. Radio communities are littered with mockery and disdain for militia members and their cheap, typically imported radios, often used with little understanding of the intricacies of broadcasting.

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A closer look at militia sources indicates how devoted they are to their gear in an almost campily militaristic way. One Massachusetts-based militia organization has a publicly available operational security guide for radio use, loudly demanding that members learn the phonetic alphabet and recommending helpful hints like colorful euphemisms for discussing militia activities while on air: training becomes going to the dance, guns tools, and ammo boxes of candy. The groups advice comes with a grim all-caps warning: DO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING THAT YOU DONT WANT TO TELL THE WORLD ON ANY AIRWAVE, CHANNEL, NETWORK OR FREQUENCY. EVER, EVER, EVER.

The desire for discreet, tactical communication is an alarming indicator of heightened militarization. During the 2016 standoff at a wildlife refuge in Oregon, anti-government militia members utilized tactical radios to communicate with one another while resisting federal authorities. Militia members have been spotted with radios at local political demonstrations, and they frequent electronics stores to get beginner radio sets.

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Jan. 6 is easily the highest profile instance of far-right radio usage being linked with violence. Declassified FBI documents revealed that federal law enforcement knew groups marching on the Capitol would possibly use radio to communicate with one another, and emergency services provided preprogrammed radios to local police to listen in. An unsealed indictment revealed that several Proud Boys acquired radios for communications on that day, meant to ensure they were decentralized  until further orders. Militia groups from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, met to discuss the use of radio for emergency communications prior to departing for the Capitol. Images from that day reveal many other participants carrying hand-held radios.

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The adoption of radio is not a universal trend among extremists. The average militia group is very small.  Some people are more into it than others, and some are more technically proficient than others, Pitcavage said. Still, radio has been a factor in the most high-profile instances of insurrectionary right-wing violencefrom Oregon to D.C.

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Unlike with personal radio service bands, there is a system to monitor ham radio platforms, run largely by volunteers. Ham radio broadly describes the noncommercial, often individual use of radio bands for communicative, personal, and hobbyist purposes. Unlike PRS, ham radio requires licensing by the FCC, including a technical exam and extensive study of radio equipment. Broadcasts can also reach across hundreds of miles.

The FCC is able to gather info on amateur broadcasts that violate the law through its friends in the ham radio community. Ham radio operators like Dan Dembinski of the Central Michigan Amateur Radio Club and their local communities have also taken to pushing away extremist activity when they see it. Dembinski described a system of self-policing in the ham community, particularly through ham radio auxiliaries who listen in on broadcasts regularly and report potentially illegal or harmful content directly to federal authorities. These auxiliaries note and report the frequency and location of questionable content for FCC tracking. They would be really stupid to use the frequencies that are allocated for ham radio. Theres too many hams out there that monitor them and report them to the FCC, Dembinski said. The FCC itself declined to comment on its regulatory actions and the circumstances that led it to issue warnings on the use of radio for criminal activity.

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But PRS is not ham radio, and the two often do not mix. Though ham radio itself has been well monitored by volunteers, the recent influx of cheap and effective personal radios has made broader monitoring less possible. Richard Fairburn, a retired law enforcement professional who has written on radio issues, said that law enforcement must be aware of the popularity of radio, particularly with the wave of low-cost products hitting the radio market. Since the radios can be programmed to any frequency within their limits, some unused or black frequencies can be used, which would be very unlikely to be monitored by the FCC or ham operators, he said.

Fairburn was also clear that he had not heard of efforts by the FCC to assist local law enforcement to listen in on criminal communications, and the FCC declined to comment on how it works with local agencies to monitor PRS. A spokesperson reiterated via email that the agencys January announcement speaks for itself.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Investigation opened into dozens of deaths at Spain-Morocco border in Melilla



Around 500 people stormed the border separating Spain's Melilla enclave from Morrocco last Friday June 24

Spain's Prosecutors' Office has opened an investigation over dozens of deaths after a mass attempt to scale the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla left at least 23 people dead.

According to Spanish officials, more than 2,000 Africans made their way to the perimeter at 6.40am on Friday June 24, with around 500 actually making it to the border control area after cutting an opening in fencing with shears.

 Mas de 2.500 personas han intentado esta manana saltar la valla de Melilla desde Marruecos. 491 de ellos han conseguido acceder a territorio espanol, segun informa la delegada del gobierno en la ciudad autonoma, Sabrina Moh. pic.twitter.com/7fBQOC80S6  Descifrando la Guerra (@descifraguerra) March 2, 2022

Some 133 people managed to force their way through fencing at around 8.30am, 57 of whom were injured with three needing to be hospitalised.

Around 50 Spanish police officers were also hurt in the "stampede", and Moroccan officials initially said five people had died. This figure had risen to 23 by Saturday evening, but Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the ground said the death toll could be significantly higher.

Weve confirmed 37 deaths in the Melilla tragedy, said Helena Maleno Garzon, whose organisation, Walking Borders, is in constant contact with Africans seeking to cross into Spain from Morocco.

Immediately, human rights campaigners in Spain and Morocco called for probes in both countries and the former's Prosecutors' Office confirmed on Thursday June 28 that an investigation into the death of "several dozen people on the Melilla border" will be opened and carried out by the Specialised Immigration Prosecutor.

According to Dolores Delgado, Attorney General, the decision to launch a probe into the deaths is based on "the significance and seriousness of the events that occurred, which could affect human rights and the fundamental rights of people, as well as the uniqueness and complexity of the investigation".

The scope of the investigation remains to be seen, bearing in mind that the deaths, "possible crimes and the injuries of police officers" took place in Moroccan territory.

For their part, the Algerian authorities have described the death of "more than 30 people" as a "massacre".

Amar Belani, the country's foreign minister, said that "the images of this massacre are extremely shocking, they provide information on the extreme brutality and disproportionate use of force that are similar, given the circumstances, to real summary executions".

In Spain, hundreds of people demonstrated in cities across the country against migration policies in the aftermath of the tragedy. In Madrid, a rally was held in Callao, where hundreds of people chanted "no human being is illegal".

Another rally is scheduled to take place in Murcia at 8.30pm this evening (Wednesday June 29) to protest against the "racist murders at the Melilla fence".

The rally will take place outside the Government Delegation, organised by the Association of Moroccan Immigrant Workers (ATIM), the Federation of African Associations of Murcia (FaAM) and Murcia Acoge

In a statement adressed to Spain's President, Pedro Sanchez, ATIM claimed "the culprits are not the mafias that traffic people, however despicable their work may be. The culprits of these deaths are the politicians who traffic in human rights, who sell their obligations in exchange for a plate of repression and control of migrants from the African continent".

The reproach follows Sanchez's comments following the storming in which he reportedly defended the actions of Moroccan authorities at the border and said that those "responsible" for what happened at the border are "the mafias that traffic in human beings".

Image: Archive
Cindy Vanek was supposed to be recovering from COVID-19, but something was wrong.

The Papillion office coordinator contracted the virus just before Halloween 2020, a case she describes as mild-to-moderate  it knocked her out for several days but she never felt the need to go to the hospital.

But two weeks later, new symptoms started emerging. Her heart would start racing and wouldnt stop. She felt dizzy. Nauseous. Constantly fatigued. Her whole body shook. Her fatigue prevented her from doing much more than working on the couch.

It was kind of a mess, she said. Like all my systems were going haywire.

Vanek, now 41, is one of millions of Americans who have or are now experiencing post-COVID symptoms, a phenomenon so common it has a name  Long COVID.

Studies suggest that between 10% and 40% of people who contract the virus experience some post-COVID symptoms.

The Long COVID Initiative estimates that 131,000 Nebraskans have experienced post-COVID symptoms, and that 43,500 have been disabled as a result. That groups model puts the cost of the disease at $2.3 billion in Nebraska alone.

The Nebraska Medical Center opened a post-COVID clinic in March 2021. Its already treated 250 patients.

Theres not a lot that couldnt be a symptom, said Dr. Andy Vasey, who runs the clinic. Post-COVID symptoms can be from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet and everything in between.

Sometimes they are a nuisance. Sometimes they are debilitating, Vasey said.

Vasey often sees patients who experience heart or lung problems like chest pains and shortness of breath. Many times, a scan reveals no structural problems with those organs.

A new study suggests that some Long COVID is caused by nerve damage, though much is still unclear.

The good news, he said: Nerves can relearn things and go back to functioning.

Usually, symptoms get better on their own, he said.

In October 2020, Vanek was trying her best to avoid COVID-19.

Health is something I value, she said. The idea of this virus just scared me.

She worked from home, ordered groceries and double masked.

But she had an in-person part-time job, and thats where she probably contracted it.

She tested positive on Oct. 15. COVID-19 itself was bad enough. She had a fever, cough, loss of taste and smell. But she got through it.

Then, two weeks later, on Halloween, she was sitting at a desk when her heart rate skyrocketed to more than 130 beats per minute. Doctors call this tachycardia, she later learned, when the heart beats too fast. She became dizzy, lightheaded and nauseous.

This was the beginning.

Over the next several months Vanek experienced similar episodes over and over.

Theres this immediate, something is wrong, and you can hear your heart racing, she said. I felt flushed and sweaty and super dizzy and super nauseous. I felt so wrong, I couldnt do anything.

Sometimes she recovered in half an hour; other times she was out of commission for hours.

From October 2020 until early summer of 2021, a litany of physical symptoms made it difficult for her to function.

Her nausea peaked in January with bouts of serious vomiting. She lost 60 pounds by March.

Spells of lightheadedness and vertigo continue today.

Fatigue prevented her from doing much other than working on her computer while lying down. Even walking across her apartment to shower proved difficult.

Weakness came with the virus, and this later transitioned to weakness because her body was no longer conditioned.

She still finds herself short of breath sometimes after doing routine chores like washing dishes.

Her retinas were damaged by the virus. She now wears glasses for the first time.

Her sense of smell was affected. She would experience phantom smells, for example putting on lotion and smelling gasoline.

Some of her symptoms are mental, and those, too, disrupt her life.

Vaneks anxiety spiked higher than she had ever before experienced.

She now gets noticeably more confused, experiencing what Long COVID patients describe as brain fog.

In April 2021, she received the COVID-19 vaccine. Doctors have reported that some patients improve after theyre vaccinated. Vanek did, although its impossible to attribute it directly to the vaccine.

She returned to work that summer, but used a combination of sick and vacation time to work four-day weeks. Even this wiped her out, and she would spend the three-day weekend recovering.

Now, as she approaches her second anniversary of contracting COVID, her capacity is still limited. Once a runner, she now celebrates a 30-minute walk. Cleaning her apartment used to require a morning of effort, but now she splits chores into smaller tasks over several days. Shes lost the energy to go out with friends, to kayak, to enjoy life the way that she used to.

Vanek has seen a host of doctors at Methodist Health System. They can treat her symptoms  she takes medicine for her tachycardia, and her heart rate has mostly returned to normal.

But, frustratingly, she doesnt know when  or if  shell return to her previous abilities. No one knows the long-term prognosis for a disease thats existed for two years.

Im just different than I was, she said. I feel like Ive aged and slowed down.

In the meantime, shes learned to live with a new disability. She knows what activities might sap her energy. She makes choices: Can I afford to do this today, knowing I might not be able to function tomorrow?

She spends more time reading and watching television.

Dr. Kevin Reichmuth, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist who sees patients at Bryan Health and a private clinic in Lincoln, said its frustrating to not be able to provide answers to patients. Theres not a good way to predict the course of the symptoms or who will suffer them.

What has been hard is, we dont know what the evolution of that damage is going to be, he said. We hope its going to continue to heal.

One firm recommendation: Get vaccinated, he said. Lowering the chance that you contract COVID lowers the possibility you will have post-COVID symptoms.

He called Long COVID the pandemic after the pandemic for its scope and severity.

The hope is that well have more answers and treatmentin the coming years, he said.

Vanek has found company among people online whove experienced Long COVID. Its comforting to know shes not alone. And she compares notes with a former roommate who experienced post-COVID symptoms.

But she finds that many people havent heard of Long COVID, and some people seem to not believe her.

There are people out there still very much affected by COVID and the pandemic who havent been able to move on because theyre dealing with challenges and maybe grief, she said. Have patience and compassion for people who didnt bounce back.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

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Alliance and Hemingford firefighters battled a fire at the Westco Tire Care Center facility early Tuesday morning.

Crews were called to a report of a roof on fire at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, Alliance Fire Chief Troy Shoemaker said. The Westco Tire Care Center facility is located at Third and Black Hills Avenue.

When we arrived, we did locate a fire on the west side of the building and it was lapping over, Shoemaker said. We believe that the fire did start on the exterior of the building, then it breached the interior.

On the west side of the facility, he said, tires are stored, as well as 55-galloon drums of oil which resulted in a big fire load and produced a lot of heat.

Once that happens, it takes a lot of water to stop, so he said that firefighters attached hoses to four hydrants and were at max capacity to fight the blaze.

Flames were described in some reports as reaching 50 to 60 feet high.

While the north structure of the building sustained significant smoke and heat damage, he said, firefighters were able to stop the fire from moving throughout the building. Due to the construction of the building, which he described as bowstring construction, firefighters didnt enter the interior of the building to fight the fire because of the danger of the roof collapsing.

Firefighters remained on scene as of late Tuesday afternoon, continuing to monitor the fire and extinguishing hot spots. The Third Street underpass was closed Tuesday to allow firefighters and emergency crews to work. People were asked to avoid the area.

The cause of the fire was not yet available as of publication. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal will investigate.

Shoemaker thanked people who donated water and other supplies to firefighters as they remained on scene for long hours.

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Members of the Nebraska National Guard have served our country in the military and now are using their musical talents to serve the citizens of Nebraska. The members of the 43rd Army Band will visit several Panhandle communities to perform free concerts, starting July 1.

The musicians had to audition for a seat in the band, something commanding Chief Warrant Office 2 Paul Kenney recalls from his teenage years.

I was a high school student and my band director called me in and I met Jeff Klintberg, who was the commander of the Army Band at the time, he said. He invited me to come audition for the group and I made it. I was a trumpet player with the Army Band for 15 years before I was offered the position to become the next commander.

Throughout the tour, Kenney said he hopes the band can bring something special to each community, recognizing not every community has an opportunity to listen to a professional military band perform.

Because we are a part of the Nebraska National Guard, we have this very neat opportunity and duty and honor to serve the citizens of Nebraska by getting out in the communities and perform for those community members, service members and everyone really, Kenney said.

The band will perform concerts in Hay Springs, Fort Robinson, Alliance, in Scottsbluff as part of the Bands on Broadway series, and in Chadron for Fur Trade Days.

I hope that they feel connected to the military and the National Guard and can take pride in Nebraskas military and I hope that we represent that well, he said.

Fort Robinson and Alliance will host the band days before the Fourth of July, a holiday the band finds inspiration from when choosing a set list.

Weve selected some pieces in all of the groups that are performing this summer that really highlight the idea we are special because of our independence, Kenney said. That really ties into the music that we choose, so that is part of our set list and repertoire well be bringing to every community.

Throughout the 90-minute concert, the public will hear music featuring patriotic selections, marches and popular music performed by the 37-member band. Some of the songs patrons will hear include: The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa, a military service medley and 1812 Overture by Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky.

We are doing marches because that is very closely tied to military bands histories, so we love playing marches, he said. The 1812 Overture has a rich history in revolution and patriotism and usually really excites crowds.

They will also perform songs from Disneys Encanto.

During the service medley, active and retired service members will be recognized. That patriotic moment is a highlight for the community and band. As those service members stand, Kenney hopes youth see people they know stand up. He also wants youth to understand the multitude of opportunities available to them through the military.

There are lots of jobs in the military and people in the military do a lot of different things, he said. Sometimes, I think youth dont realize how broad the military is and they might not understand that were a military musician is a nice thing for them.

As he conducts the group, Kenney said he enjoys performing with the unit and connecting with each of them throughout the performance, but what means the most is connecting with the audience. He also hopes the concert series is a return to normalcy for the public to engage with the arts, after the pandemic limited several in-person performance opportunities.

I really love connecting with the audience and community members, he said. One of the nicest things for me is after a performance concludes and were all packing up and some people feel compelled to come up and tell you how much they appreciate what you did. Thats one of the things that excites me the most  to get out and perform with this group is just understanding and feeling how much is means to people.

The concert band, which features all 37 members, will perform in every community. However, there are smaller music performance groups that will vary across venues. There is a country group called Heartland Revival, a woodwind group called Sharp Shooter Winds, a brass band called Black Hawk Brass and a rock and pop group called Sierra Niner.

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The Rotary Club of Greater Statesville recently had a program given about the North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Nancy Keith, county extension director, spoke with the group about the great work that the agency does in Iredell County and surrounding counties with local farmers. Pictured, from left, are Matt Madison, program director, Sherry Harris, Rotary Club of Greater Statesville president, and Keith. The agencys website gives extensive information about local agriculture, 4-H Clubs, local activities, etc. Visit http://iredell.ces.ncsu.edu.
A search warrant at a Mooresville residence led to the arrests of two people on a felony drug charge.

Christine Yvonne Mays, 47, of Charlotte Highway, Mooresville, and Allen Jennings Campbell, 33, of Liledoun Road, Taylorsville, were arrested. Mays was charged with felony possession with intent to sell or deliver crystal methamphetamine and felony maintaining a dwelling, vehicle or place for the sale or use of a controlled substance. A magistrate set bond at $50,000.

Campbell was charged with felony possession of crystal methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A magistrate set bond at $20,000.

Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell, in a news release, said narcotics investigators received information that Mays was selling and distributing crystal methamphetamine from a residence on Charlotte Highway.

Surveillance operations were launched and investigators verified the information, Campbell said. Undercover investigators bought crystal methamphetamine from Mays, he said.

On Friday, narcotics investigators and road patrol deputies executed a search warrant and 22.76 grams of crystal methamphetamine, valued at more than $2,000, was found, Campbell said.

Campbell was in the home at the time the search warrant was served and a hidden handgun was found in the bedroom where he was staying, the sheriff said.

Mays history includes felony obtain property by false pretense, felony possession of Schedule I and felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, resisting a public officer, hit-and-run failing to stop, possession of drug paraphernalia, school attendance law violation and DWI.

Campbell, authorities said, is a North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections verified member of the Nazi Low Riders Gang and is a registered sex offender. His history includes felony indecent liberties with a minor, felony fail to register as a sex offender, felony sex offender using a social networking site and failure to register new address as a registered sex offender and misdemeanor counts of injury to personal property, contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, resisting a public officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Editors note: Information is provided by the Cowlitz County Corrections Department and local law enforcement agencies. Each individual named in this report is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Stolen vehicle  Kelso officers Monday arrested Eduardo Arellano Trujillo, 37, of an unknown location on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree theft, possessing vehicle theft tools and malicious mischief.

Stolen vehicle  Kelso officers Monday arrested Jamie Suran, 31, of Estacada, Oregon on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree theft, criminal impersonation, bringing a controlled substance to jail, possessing vehicle theft tools and malicious mischief.

Rape  Longview officers Tuesday arrested a Longview man on suspicion of rape of a child and child molestation. (Editors note: The Daily News does not name arrestees of crimes involving children until suspects are charged to ensure a child isnt identified before the suspect has been formally accused of a crime.)

Drug possession  Cowlitz County deputies Monday arrested McKatelyn Dozier, 26, of Longview on suspicion of drug possession with intent to distribute.

Harassment  Cowlitz County deputies Monday arrested John Foster, 57, of Ryderwood on suspicion of felony harassment, fourth-degree assault and malicious mischief.

Theft  Kelso officers Monday arrested Timothy Freese, 30, of Longview on suspicion of second-degree theft.

Trafficking  Longview officers Monday arrested Bobby McSkimming, 31, of Longview on suspicion of trafficking stolen property and criminal trespassing.

Burglary  Longview officers Tuesday arrested Marjorie Bradley, 38, of Deming, New Mexico on suspicion of burglary.

Theft  Longview officers Tuesday arrested Tiffany Traufler, 35, of Kelso on suspicion of second-degree theft.

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Cowlitz County is reworking a plan for a hosted homeless site after the commissioners rejected the lone proposal they received from Community House on Broadway last month.

The committee formed to work with the Longview-based organization on its proposal was concerned not enough people would go to the site if it required residents to pass drug tests. Cowlitz County commissioners agreed on June 21 to turn down Community House's plan, to rework their request for organizations to manage the site and eventually reopen applications.

"We really need a solution, but unfortunately the proposal we got from Community House is just not workable," said Commissioner John Jabusch during last week's workshop.

In March, the county issued a request for proposals to operate a hosted site as an alternative to the temporary camping site on Alabama Street. Community House was the only organization to apply to run the site by the May 10 deadline.

During a May 25 workshop, the commissioners agreed to form a committee of Jabusch, Longview City Councilwoman Ruth Kendall and Health and Human Services Deputy Director Gena James to negotiate the proposal with Community House.

Cowlitz County, Longview look to rework Community House proposal to run homeless encampment A Longview nonprofits proposal to manage the citys existing homeless camp brought mixed opinions by county commissioners, city officials and

On June 21, the committee recommended the county reject the proposal and issue a new call for applications that could be more broad, identify a possible location for the site and allow multiple agencies to apply to host parts of the camp. James said the details of the new request for proposal are still in the works and it's unknown when it may come back to the board for review.

The hosted site, also called Chronically Homeless Alternative Pilot Project, should address a significant portion of the Alabama Street camp's population, Kendall said last week. Requiring site residents to pass drug tests would scare people away, she said.

Quote "We really need a solution, but unfortunately the proposal we got from Community House is just not workable."  John Jabusch, Cowlitz County commissioner

"The concern is the proposal they've given us ... is not going to meet the needs of the people there," Kendall said. "If we go with just that proposal, we'll have a lot of folks scattered in in the community, which is what we're trying to avoid."

Frank Morrison, Community House executive director, said Tuesday the nonprofit couldn't "turn a blind eye" to people smoking cannabis or drinking on site.

"Our board committed to applying for this as long as we continue to deliver the services in the way we see most effective for safety and for the health and safety of the community," he said.

Community House on Broadway submits only request Tuesday to operate hosted homeless camp in Longview Community House on Broadway was the only agency Tuesday to submit a proposal to Cowlitz County to operate the county and city of Longviews lo

Morrison said he understands why the commissioners would want the site to serve a larger group of people, especially with the estimated annual cost of about $1 million.

During last week's meeting, Kendall said it's not as simple considering a "wet camp versus a dry camp," but allowing the site host to develop relationships with people over time, gaining their trust to help convince them to follow stricter rules and possibly "graduate" to a tiny home or Conestoga hut village as Community House has proposed.

Commissioner Arne Mortensen said the hosted site proposal has no accountability, and "taking money from somebody else to save somebody else is pretty hypocritical and just doesn't work."

"I wish I was as sanguine, hopeful as you folks are because what were doing is really contrary to human nature," he said. "Were saying, 'You're not responsible. Here's some freebies, well take care of you.' The end result is that we just breed some more."

Mortensen suggested the county and city shut down the camp, enforce camping laws and do something else with the document recording fees. The county planned to use the fees, required to be used for housing and homelessness programs, to pay for the hosted site.

While they acknowledged need to increase affordable housing, Commissioners Jabusch and Dennis Weber supported moving forward with an altered hosted site plan.

Weber said the county has to address people who are significantly disabled and have roadblocks to permanent housing.

The county should give people an option to move out of a tent into something else that is different than Community House because people aren't moving from the camp to the shelter right now, Jabusch said. The county and city also need to come up with something to address the concerns of the neighboring businesses and residents negatively affected by the Alabama Street camp, he said.

"Everybody's afraid to talk about a site, and we need to identify a site and get a site approved by the City Council of Longview because if we don't then its pie in the sky," Jabusch said.

The commissioners and Kendall clarified the site does not have to be located in the city but Longview is willing to host it.

Quote "If we go with just that proposal, we'll have a lot of folks scattered in in the community, which is what we're trying to avoid."  Ruth Kendall, committee member.

Weber agreed to the recommendation to rework the call for proposals to run a site that would be safe and secure and include structure, accountability with treatment and housing, and preparation.

"I want us to give this another shot to see what we can do that can get support because we shouldn't accept the option that doing nothing is acceptable," he said.

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Local firework stand operators expect a high demand this Fourth of July due to regional canceled public firework displays.

Local licensed stands started selling items Tuesday in the lead-up to the Fourth of July weekend. People could legally set off fireworks in most of Cowlitz County starting at noon Tuesday through the evening of July 5.

Kelso Christian Assembly opened its Kelso firework stand in 2020 as a fundraiser for the church's children's program. Children's pastor Chris Higgins said they completely sold out during that first year as people stocked up on fireworks to make up for the pandemic's cancellation of Longview's Go 4th Festival, which typically hosts a public display every July Fourth.

"We saw people pool resources with their neighbors to do more of a block party and buy their own fireworks display," Higgins said.

Higgins was hopeful sales would be as strong this year after the Go 4th Committee announced there wouldn't be a fireworks show to end this year's celebration. Go 4th organizers said they were unable to find a licensed operator to manage the large firework display. The festival will run a laser light show on Monday night instead.

Another popular regional fireworks show also was canceled this Fourth of July. The Historic Trust of Vancouver announced last month a smaller, fireworks-free Independence Day celebration called Summer Fest will permanently replace the citys usual larger event with fireworks due to issues like cost and wildfire risks.

Firework launch times The legal times for people to set off fireworks in Longview and most of Cowlitz County are: Noon to 11 p.m., Tuesday.

9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

9 a.m. to midnight, Monday, July Fourth.

9 a.m. to 11 p.m., July 5. People can launch fireworks in Kelso from: Noon to 9 p.m., Tuesday through July 5.

Jim Bass has been helping to sell fireworks as a fundraiser for Fathers House Church in Longview for 17 years. This year marks a strong recovery from the limited inventory the stand had during the supply chain crunch in 2021.

"We still don't have quite as much as we'd like, but we have a better variety than we did last year," Bass said from the tent in the Safeway parking lot on Ocean Beach Highway.

The challenge for firework buyers this year is an increase in prices. Bass said the family pack, which was one of the stand's most popular items, rose from $100 to $150.

The prices at the stands are set by TNT Fireworks, the national company that supplies Father's House, Kelso Christian Academy and many other stands throughout the county.

Firework stands are a popular short-term fundraiser for local churches and other organizations. The Washington State Fire Marshal's Office said they've issued 27 licenses for firework stands in Cowlitz County this year, which is more licenses than either King County or Lewis County received.

Safety

Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Jeremy Huff said the department is preparing for the normal increase in fireworks-related calls and accidents. Huff said the heat over the weekend may have started drying out some plants, but the relatively mild and wet weather throughout the spring lowered the risk of a major wildfires getting started.

"This year it will be more difficult to get a brush or grass fire growing. We still encourage people to be responsible and be cautious," Huff said.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources' fire danger map shows a low wildfire risk across all of western Washington.

Longview Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway made a statement Tuesday asking residents to be safe and responsible with how they set off fireworks and take care of debris left after blasts. Dunaway told people not to launch fireworks from city parks without permission, as the displays had damaged playground equipment in the past.

"When damaged they must be repaired or replaced for the safety of the children who play on them, which gets expensive," Dunaway said.

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A pug bred and raised in Longview won a title last week at the 2022 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the first female pug in years to be recognized as the Best of Breed in the New York-based dog competition.

Her breeders and trainers watched from their homes as the 14-pound fawn pug won against dozens of dogs for the title.

Though slightly small for her size, the philosophy for judging a pug like the 1-year-old Rose comes down to the Latin phrase multum in parvo, or, a lot in a little.

They should be a lot of dog in a small package, said Joseph Cole, a Fairview, Oregon pet supply store owner and co-breeder of Rose.

Roses award differs from the overall winner for Best in Show, which went to a bloodhound named Trumpet on June 22.

Roses primary breeder Mari Anne Parks said she could not take the trip to Tarrytown, New York with Rose to the show this year, but watched from her home in Longview as her spunky pug won a title that usually goes to the male dog.

This win was the greatest thing weve ever done ... To watch your dog on national TV was absolutely amazing, Parks said.

Cole described Westminster as the Super Bowl of the dog world.

Parks got into dog breeding about 20 years ago and now operates Chelsea Pugs out of her home. With mischievous energy and friendly dispositions, pugs offer lots of personality in a dog show, Parks said.

Both of Roses parents previously won their own awards.

Roses mother in 2018 won Best of Opposite Sex at Westminster, basically the second-place title after Best of Breed. Her father was a silver grand champion after winning several local dog shows.

The pair had a litter of four pups, which Parks and her co-breeders dubbed the Golden Girls: Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia.

When Rose got old enough to compete, Parks first put her into shows to see if the pup would be a good fit for the hectic showing schedule, which requires lots of travel and training.

If they like it, great. If they dont, I dont make them do it, Parks said. Its virtually all about the dogs.

Alison Greene, of Vancouver, also worked with Parks to train Rose and said she worked behind-the-scenes at several of the pugs competitions. Greene trains the show dogs in agility, rally and becoming a grand champion.

Rose herself qualified for Westminster after she became a bronze grand champion at one of her previous showings.

Points are earned based on how many dogs Rose could outrank, and to be a bronze champion means she had to get at least 100 points. Then, last week, she became a contender, and then a title holder, at Westminster.

We were elated, Cole said. Youre always hopeful, but you never really expect it.

Greene said this win does not come with any reward money, but the local breeders Greene has worked with are in it to spend time in the supportive dog-showing community and show passion for their pugs.

Its like popcorn  if you have one, you have to have more, Greene said.

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iPhone 13 prices have been at their all time low in Japan owing to the lower exchange rates. This is what Apple does to bypass it.

iPhone 13 prices vary in different countries depending on the exchange rates and various other factors. Hence, this is why you often hear your relatives coming from the US with a truckload of iPhones at cheaper prices. In a similar fashion, foreign tourists in Japan have been taking advantage of low Yen-Dollar exchange rates, which recently hit an all-time low of 24 years. The lower rates mean that one can secure the still new iPhone 13 from Japan at a price much lesser than the original price in the persons native country. Apple obviously didnt like that.

Thanks to the lower exchange rate, the price of the iPhone 13 is now much cheaper, with some considering it a steal! Some reports from the country are saying the foreign tourists are literally looting iPhones due to the tax rebate. Data released by local research institutions have shown that the iPhone 13 128GB variant, which is the base model, carries a price of 98800 Yen, which is almost $195 cheaper than what Apple wants to charge. In simple English, that means foreigners are saving Rs. 15000 on a brand new iPhone 13 without even applying any offer or discount.

iPhone 13 becomes too cheap in Japan

As with any company, Apple wasnt willing to sit and incur losses from clever iPhone shoppers. Hence, it is now reported that the local Apple Store in Japan has dropped the tax rebate for foreign tourists. No more of that mega $195 discount on the base iPhone 13 model.

Dont be sad if you were travelling to Japan and were planning to pick up an iPhone 13 for cheap. It is only the Apple Store that has dropped the tax rebate for now. The local electrical stores are yet to cancel the tax rebate, which means one can still take advantage of the offer.

Despite being several months old now, the iPhone 13 is still selling like hotcakes across the world. A recent research report from Counterpoint Research said that the iPhone 13 was the top-selling smartphone in the month of April 2022. The next two spots were occupied by the iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro, which are more expensive variants of the iPhone 13 with additional features. Sadly, the iPhone 13 Mini hasnt been selling as well as the rest of the iPhone 13 range.
As NASA aims to collate 16 years of data on the atmosphere of Mars, and it is asking for peoples help to spot clouds on the red planet. This data can reveal a big secret about the planet.

NASA is counting clouds on Mars and wants you to join them. Yes, the American space agency has undertaken a seemingly silly but extremely important project where it will be analysing the data collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). A significant amount of the data collected over a period of 16 years revolves around the red planets atmosphere. NASA is trying to find out the reason behind the low density of Martian atmosphere and the key to it is cloudspotting. But here is the challenge: The data cannot be analysed through software and has to be sorted manually. So, if you want to help NASA in developing a better understanding of Mars, you can participate in this project and help out as well. Read on to know more about it.

Explaining the venture in a post, NASA stated that it is inviting people to join its Cloudspotting on Mars project where they can help identify the clouds on Mars using a citizen science platform called Zooniverse. If you are an astronomy enthusiast and have a bit of free time, then head over to this link and participate in the crowdsourced project.

NASA to study the atmosphere of Mars by spotting clouds

The Martian atmosphere has always confused scientists because while there is evidence that it used to be thicker in the past, at present the atmosphere of Mars is just 1% as dense as the Earths. We know rivers and lakes existed once on the red planet but today due to the low air pressure, it simply evaporates instantly. There are theories to explain it. One popular theory suggests that due to various mechanisms, all existing water was pulled high in the atmosphere where the solar radiation broke it down to hydrogen and oxygen, and as hydrogen is light, it drifted off in space.

And this is where the project comes in. Scientists know that Mars still has clouds. Some of them are made up of water ice, some are made up of carbon dioxide. Understanding the formation, movement and pattern of these clouds will help scientists in figuring out the present and the past of Mars middle atmosphere.

We want to learn what triggers the formation of clouds  especially water ice clouds, which could teach us how high water vapour gets in the atmosphere  and during which seasons, said Marek Slipski, a postdoctoral researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The Minister of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM), Tan Sri Annuar Musa has recently revealed that new initiatives are currently in the works by his ministry to improve our countrys broadband services. Furthermore, Annuar revealed that the initiatives will be announced by him soon.

Taking to his official social media accounts following a visit to Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) yesterday, no further details were given on the upcoming initiatives. However, given that the statement was asserted following a visit to DNB, the initiatives may potentially be in regards to 5G connectivity in Malaysia.

Speaking of which, the K-KOMM Minister shared that he has been regularly visiting DNB to get an update on the status of implementing 5G connectivity in Malaysia. Annuar said that the visits are to ensure that everything is in order and according to schedule.

DNB is a special purpose vehicle of Malaysia owned by the Finance Ministry and regulated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Established in March 2021, DNB is currently in talks with major telco service providers in Malaysia for a 5G service agreement which due date is set for tomorrow, 30 June 2022.

So, what do you guys think of the statement by the K-KOMM Minister? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and stay tuned to TechNave for the latest tech news in Malaysia and beyond!
Today, Acer Malaysia released a plethora of gaming devices for Malaysian gamers. Besides the well-known Predator and Nitro gaming laptops, the company also introduced the Predator Orion 3000 and Acer Nitro 50 gaming desktops. These new 2022 gaming desktops are now available for viewing in its roadshow at Sunway Pyramid.

Starting with the Predator Orion 3000, it is powered by up to 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, up to 16 GB of DDR4 memory and 1 TB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. For the PC master race, they can also add more memory since the desktop has an additional M.2 PCIe SSD slot and two SATA3 slots, whereas its four DDR5 compatible RAM slots allow upgrades of up to 64 GB.

To keep the desktop cool, Acer equipped the Orion 3000 with 2x92mm Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fans and its speed can be controlled from the PredatorSense function. Likewise, the platform also allows you to customise the RGB LED colours on the front and rear fans. Retailing from RM6,499, the Predator Orion 3000 is available immediately at Acer eStore, Acer's official store on Shopee and Lazada as well as authorized Predator partners. Customers who purchase it before 14 July 2022 will be entitled to a RM150 cash discount and redeem up to RM600 worth of gifts.

Moving on, the Acer Nitro 50 is refreshed with the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processor, up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GPU, 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of fast SSD. This gaming desktop is retailing for RM3,599 and is available immediately at Acer eStore, Acer's official store on Shopee and Lazada as well as authorized Acer partners. Customers who purchase an Acer Nitro 50 before 14 July 2022 will be entitled to a RM100 cash discount and redeem more than RM400 worth of gifts.

In addition, Acer Malaysia is selling some extra gaming peripherals as well. There are two new Predator gaming mice which are the Predator Cestus 335 and Cestus 315, as well as the Nitro gaming keyboard and mouse for entry-level and casual gamers. There will be up to RM150 additional discount for the purchase of these desktops and peripherals during the It Lies Within roadshow.

For more information, you can visit the roadshow in Sunway Pyramid. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
EU approves plan for a complete shift to electric engines in the European Union from 2035.

The European Union approved a plan to end the sale of vehicles with combustion engines by 2035 in Europe, the 27-member bloc announced early Wednesday, in a bid to reduce CO 2 emissions to zero.

The measure, first proposed in July 2021, will mean a de facto halt to sales of petrol and diesel cars as well as light commercial vehicles and a complete shift to electric engines in the European Union from 2035.

The plan is intended to help achieve the continent's climate objectives, in particular, carbon neutrality by 2050.

At the request of countries including Germany and Italy, the EU-27 also agreed to consider a future green light for the use of alternative technologies such as synthetic fuels or plug-in hybrids.

While approval would be tied to achieving the complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions, the technologies have been contested by environmental NGOs.

Environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg also approved a five-year extension of the exemption from CO 2 obligations granted to so-called "niche" manufacturers, or those producing fewer than 10,000 vehicles per year, until the end of 2035.

The clause, sometimes referred to as the "Ferrari amendment", will benefit luxury brands in particular.

These measures must now be negotiated with members of the European Parliament.

"This is a big challenge for our automotive industry," acknowledged French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher, who chaired Tuesday night's meeting.

But she said it was a "necessity" in the face of competition from China and the United States, which have bet heavily on electric vehicles seen as the future of the industry.

These decisions will "allow a planned and accompanied transition", the minister said.

Openness to synthetic fuels

Europe's automotive industry, which is already investing heavily in the move to electric vehicles, fears the social impact of a too-rapid transition.

"The overwhelming majority of car manufacturers have chosen electric cars," said Frans Timmermans, the EU Commission Vice President in charge of the European Green Deal, at a press conference.

He affirmed the EU body's willingness to be open-minded to other technologieslike synthetic fuels, which are also referred to as e-fuels.

"We are technology neutral. What we want are zero-emission cars," he explained.

"At the moment, e-fuels do not seem a realistic solution, but if manufacturers can prove otherwise in the future, we will be open."

The technology of synthetic fuels, currently under study, consists of producing fuel from CO 2 from industrial activities using low-carbon electricity, in a circular economy approach.

Like the oil industry, the automotive sector has high hopes for these new fuels, which would extend the use of internal combustion engines now threatened by the emergence of completely electric vehicles.

But environmental organizations object to the use of this technology in cars, as it is considered both expensive and energy-consuming.

The synthetic-fuelled engines also emit as much nitrogen oxide (NO x ) as their fossil fuel equivalents, they say.

Cars are the main mode of transport for Europeans and account for just under 15 percent of total CO 2 emissions in the EU. It is also one of the main gases responsible for global warming.

In response to manufacturers' concerns about insufficient consumer demand for 100 percent electric cars, the Commission has recommended a major expansion of charging stations.

"Along the main roads in Europe, there must be charging points every 60 kilometers (37 miles)," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last year.

Manufacturers regularly complain about the lack of such infrastructure, especially in southern and eastern European countries.

Explore further German transport minister opposes EU combustion engine ban

 2022 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Trolls, haters, flamers and other ugly characters are, unfortunately, a fact of life across much of the internet. Their ugliness ruins social media networks and sites like Reddit and Wikipedia.

But toxic content looks different depending on the venue, and identifying online toxicity is a first step to getting rid of it.

A team of researchers from the Institute for Software Research (ISR) in Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science recently collaborated with colleagues at Wesleyan University to take a first pass at understanding toxicity on open-source platforms like GitHub.

"You have to know what that toxicity looks like in order to design tools to handle it," said Courtney Miller, a Ph.D. student in the ISR and lead author on the paper. "And handling that toxicity can lead to healthier, more inclusive, more diverse and just better places in general."

To better understand what toxicity looked like in the open-source community, the team first gathered toxic content. They used a toxicity and politeness detector developed for another platform to scan nearly 28 million posts on GitHub made between March and May 2020. The team also searched these posts for "code of conduct"a phrase often invoked when reacting to toxic contentand looked for locked or deleted issues, which can also be a sign of toxicity.

Through this curation process, the team developed a final dataset of 100 toxic posts. They then used this data to study the nature of the toxicity. Was it insulting, entitled, arrogant, trolling or unprofessional? Was it directed at the code itself, at people or someplace else entirely?

"Toxicity is different in open-source communities," Miller said. "It is more contextual, entitled, subtle and passive-aggressive."

Only about half the toxic posts the team identified contained obscenities. Others were from demanding users of the software. Some came from users who post a lot of issues on GitHub but contribute little else. Comments that started about a software's code turned personal. None of the posts helped make the open-source software or the community better.

"Worst. App. Ever. Please make it not the worst app ever. Thanks," wrote one user in a post included in the dataset.

The team noticed a unique trend in the way people responded to toxicity on open-source platforms. Often, the project developer went out of their way to accommodate the user or fix the issues raised in the toxic content. This routinely resulted in frustration.

"They wanted to give the benefit of the doubt and create a solution," Miller said. "But this turned out to be rather taxing."

Reaction to the paper has been strong and positive, Miller said. Open-source developers and community members were excited this research was happening and that the behavior they had been dealing with for a long time was finally being recognized.

"We've been hearing from developers and community members for a really long time about the unfortunate and almost ingrained toxicity in open-source," Miller said. "Open-source communities are a little rough around the edges. They often have horrible diversity and retention, and it's important that we start to address and deal with the toxicity there to make it a more inclusive and better place."

Miller hopes the research creates a foundation for more and better work in this area. Her team stopped short of building a toxicity detector for the open-source community, but the groundwork has been laid.

"There's so much work to do in this space," Miller said. "I really hope people see this, expand on it and keep the ball rolling."

Joining Miller on the work were Daniel Klug, a systems scientist in the ISR; ISR faculty members Bogdan Vasilescu and Christian Kastner; and Sophie Cohen of Wesleyan University. The team's paper was presented at the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering last month in Pittsburgh.
Texas A&M former students and others are providing funds and donations through the universitys School of Education and Human Development for students at Robb Elementary in Uvalde to attend Aggie STEM Camps this summer.

Ten students from Uvalde CISD will have the chance to attend Aggie STEM Residential Camp. Jeff Blanton, A&M Class of 1982 and President of Britt Rice Electric in College Station, and other sponsors are covering camp costs for students. C&J Barbeque will provide meals.

A&M former students Todd and Stephanie Routh have plans to donate for students to attend Aggie STEM Day Camp and cover costs for students families to stay nearby during the duration of the camp.

This combined effort exemplifies the Aggie spirit of stepping up to help others in their time of need, Michael de Miranda, dean of A&Ms school of education and human development, said in a release. We hope to provide a bright light in a moment of darkness for these students and their families.

A shooting May 24 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde claimed the lives of 21 people, including 19 children.
Abortions up to about six weeks in pregnancy can resume at some clinics in Texas for now after a Harris County District Court judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks an abortion ban that was in place before Roe v. Wade.

In the ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Christine Weems ruled that the pre-Roe abortion ban is repealed and may not be enforced consistent with the due process guaranteed by the Texas constitution.

It is a relief that this Texas state court acted so quickly to block this deeply harmful abortion ban, Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a press release. This decision will allow abortion services to resume at many clinics across the state, connecting Texans to the essential health care they need. Every hour that abortion is accessible in Texas is a victory.

Whole Womans Health, which operates abortion clinics in McAllen, McKinney, Fort Worth and Austin, said it would resume providing abortions as a result of this ruling.

We immediately began calling the patients on our waiting lists and bringing our staff and providers back into the clinics, said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the organizations president and CEO.

Abortions can resume only at the clinics named in the lawsuit. Besides the Whole Womans Health clinics, the others that will resume operations are Alamo Womens Reproductive Services in San Antonio, Brookside Womens Medical Center and Austin Womens Health Center in Austin, Houston Womens Clinic and Houston Womens Reproductive Services in Houston, and Southwestern Womens Surgery Center in Dallas.

A hearing has been set for July 12 to decide on a more permanent restraining order.

However, Tuesdays ruling is only a stopgap measure that, at most, will extend abortion access in the state for two months.

Paul Linton, an attorney for the anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life, said he thought a higher court would soon vacate the temporary restraining order and that the pre-Roe abortion ban should stand.

I dont think it has any merit, Linton said. I dont think theres any plausible argument that the laws have been expressly repealed, and the repeal-by-implication argument, I think, is very weak.

John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, said, The abortion industry has nothing to lose, so theyre going to try to challenge every law for the next 60 days. We do believe that the pre-Roe statute is valid and that the arguments theyre making to the court wont stand.

A group of abortion providers filed a lawsuit Monday to prevent an old abortion ban, which predates Roe v. Wade, from being enforced before a trigger law banning most abortions in the state goes into effect.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion Friday overturning the constitutional protection on abortion, but the ruling wont be official until the court issues a formal judgment. It usually has taken the court about 25 days to issue a judgment after releasing an opinion. Texas trigger law, which was passed last year, would go into effect 30 days after that judgment.

Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an advisory Friday, noting that some prosecutors might immediately pursue criminal prosecutions based on violations of Texas abortion prohibitions predating Roe that were never repealed by the Texas Legislature. Although these statutes were unenforceable while Roe was on the books, they are still Texas law. Under these pre-Roe statutes, abortion providers could be criminally liable for providing abortions starting today.

Confusion has abounded since the Supreme Court issued its decision Friday. Clinics across the state immediately stopped providing abortions out of fear that they could be criminally prosecuted under the pre-Roe abortion ban.

The Center for Reproductive Rights noted in a press release that the states antiquated pre-Roe abortion ban ... once banned abortion entirely but has been interpreted to be repealed and unenforceable.

The lawsuit filed Monday notes that the pre-Roe abortion ban was expressly declared unconstitutional in Roe and has been absent from Texass civil statutes for decades. The Texas Legislature website also notes that the ban was held to have been impliedly repealed in a 2004 case.

On a press call Tuesday, Hearron declined to speculate on what the temporary restraining order on the pre-Roe ban might mean for other clinics and abortion funds in the state.

I dont know that I have an answer to that question, he said. I think thats a legal question that the other clients would want to look at.

While some abortion access has been restored in Texas, current state law still allows abortions only up to around six weeks of pregnancy, a point at which many people dont even know they are pregnant.

So there still will be a large number of Texans who are still going to need to try to find access and appointments outside of the state, Hearron said.

And he foreshadowed a not-so-distant future when even abortions up to six weeks of pregnancy will no longer be allowed in Texas.

At some point in the future, in a couple of months, abortion will be banned, he said. But not yet. Its not today.
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New channel of China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line launched between Italy, Slovenia

Xinhua) 08:26, June 29, 2022

Delegates attend the launch ceremony of a block train service for facilitating transportation of products from Chinese home appliances manufacturer Hisense, in Trieste, Italy, on June 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Yongqiu)

TRIESTE, Italy, June 27 (Xinhua) -- A block train service for facilitating transportation of products from Chinese home appliances manufacturer Hisense was launched here on Monday.

Operated by China's COSCO SHIPPING, the first train on the new line set off from the port of Trieste, northeast Italy. The train, loaded with 32 containers, is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday in Velenje, Slovenia, the seat of the European headquarters of Hisense.

The freight train service is part of the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line, which combines sea and land transportation, and stretches from the Greek port city of Piraeus to the hinterland of Europe.

At the launch ceremony of the Hisense train in Trieste, Executive Vice President of COSCO SHIPPING Lin Ji said that in the future, "the electrical products produced by Hisense in Velenje will also be transported to Trieste by the block train, loaded on container vessels of COSCO SHIPPING," and shipped to other destinations in Europe and beyond.

Noting that Trieste Maritime Terminal "represents the gateway to Central and Eastern Europe," Stefano Selvatici, managing director of the terminal, said he is "confident that this new rail connection will represent a crucial milestone able to innovate a traditional logistic system into a more performing and suitable one."

Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia autonomous region where Trieste is situated, thanked COSCO SHIPPING and Hisense for recognizing the potential of the port of Trieste, adding that he hopes opportunities for commercial collaborations will continue to grow.

Trieste is the fourth channel to be opened on the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line in Europe, after the main channel of Piraeus Port, the channel of Rijeka in Croatia, and the Valencia-Madrid-Bilbao channel in Spain, according to COSCO SHIPPING.

Delegates attend the launch ceremony of a block train service for facilitating transportation of products from Chinese home appliances manufacturer Hisense, in Trieste, Italy, on June 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Yongqiu)

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Smith Mountain Lakes Associations Save Our Streams committee recent released the results of its spring monitoring of area streams.

Monitoring serves SMLAs water quality monitoring as the proverbial canary in the coalmine in the local watershed, as pollution appearing in tributaries inevitably flows into the lake itself. Using a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality-approved biological testing protocol, monitoring teams tested 16 streams this spring.

This years monitoring results concluded with 14 attaining a satisfactory rating. The average rating this spring was 9.6 on a scale of 0 to 12, which was a record high and almost a half point above the average score for the previous spring.

The number of streams that resulted in an unsatisfactory rating was two this year. That is a reduction from last year that saw three streams with unsatisfactory ratings.

Streams may be rated as unsatisfactory for a number of causes including chemical or fertilizer pollution, weather events, livestock contamination, building or utility construction causing silt deposits in streams beds and timber-cutting activities. As these streams flow into Smith Mountain Lake, their health is vitally important its water quality.

Preliminary findings indicate that the two streams rated as unsatisfactory suffered from silt build-up. The most likely cause is timber cutting and construction in the immediate area.

As the degradation of water quality in our watershed is an ever-present possibility, the best defense is to continue a vigorous water monitoring program to identify downward trends before they become both more difficult and more costly to address.

Save our Streams is an affiliate of the Izaak Walton League and co-sponsored locally by the Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists and the SMLA.

Those interested in volunteering may enroll in a certification program by contacting the area coordinator, Geoff Orth, at smlstreams@gmail.com. Trainees will complete a morning-long classroom workshop to be scheduled later this summer and be assigned to a stream team near their home.

- Submitted by Robert Hastings

- Submitted by Robert Hastings
The Grand Island Chamber of Commerces Harvest of Harmony Parade is set to celebrate its 80th year of filling downtown Grand Island with the sights and sounds of Nebraskas high school marching bands and floats on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The theme, Marching Through the Decades was chosen to represent Nebraska through the decades, including the past 80 years of the Harvest of Harmony parade, as well as the community of Grand Islands 150th birthday.

The Nebraska tradition dates back to 1938 when the first parade stepped off with 13 floats and eight bands. The parade grew over the years, claiming the title of highest number of bands marching in a parade in the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records with 130 bands. Aside from a hiatus from 1942 to 1945 becase of World War II and in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parade has marched on for 80 years.

This historic parade will be led by Grand Marshal Judi Nelson, who has been involved with the Harvest of Harmony Alumni Band for more than 25 years, and marched in her final parade as the Alumni Band Director in 2021. Going forward, Nelson plans to pass the director title to another member of the Alumni Band while still assisting with practices and preparations in the weeks leading up to the event.

The Harvest of Harmony committee chose to select Nelson to be the Grand Marshal as a way of recognizing and thanking her for many years of service to the parade.

It was an easy decision to select Judi Nelson as the Grand Marshal. She has been such a key member of the Harvest of Harmony Alumni Band and we are lucky to have had her as the director for so many years, said Grand Island Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Johnson. Judi embodies the energy and enthusiasm so pronounced during the Harvest of Harmony parade and associated activities.

The 80th Harvest of Harmony, sponsored by Century 21 Real Estate, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 1. The parade is set to step off at 8:15 a.m., starting at Fourth and Elm Streets, continuing through the Eddy Street underpass, and then proceeding through the route (approximately .6 miles) down Third Street.

Area communities, businesses, clubs, service organizations and individuals are invited to participate in the parade by entering a float. A variety of float types are welcome in the Harvest of Harmony Parade: walking units, single vehicle and towed decorated floats. Though not required, it is encouraged to decorate the floats in relation to the parades theme.

Applications for floats open in August. A Save the Date with float entry details can be viewed on the Harvest of Harmony webpage. Information regarding the judging of floats will be released in the coming months.

The Alumni Band is also recruiting more participants to march in the parade. The band is open to anyone interested, and practices three weekends before the day of the parade. Contact Karissa Schmidt at 308-646-0795 or kschmidt@gichamber.com for more information.

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Vallen Bateman, a 36-year-old Hastings woman, was sentenced last Friday in federal court in Omaha for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Chief U.S. District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Bateman to 5 1/2 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system. After her release from prison, she will begin a five-year term of supervised release.

On Sept. 28, 2020, law enforcement was serving a federal arrest warrant for John Wizinsky at a residence in Grand Island, following his indictment for distributing methamphetamine. Wizinsky was arrested and Bateman was also present. Bateman had an active warrant out of Howard County and was arrested. She admitted to having marijuana in her nearby backpack. A search of her backpack revealed 80 grams of methamphetamine, a scale and 13 grams of marijuana.

Wizinsky was sentenced on July 23, 2021, to more than 21 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Grand Island Police Department and the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force.
Hastings Police Department Officer Grady Gardner and his partner, K-9 Officer Kane, were guests of the Grand Island Noon Rotary Tuesday.

Kane, a 3-year-old Belgian malinois, joined HPD in March 2021, and has been crucial in efforts to combat drug activity in Hastings.

He works every day. Hes gotten a lot of drugs off the street. He has brought the community together, Gardner told The Independent. He absolutely has made a difference, keeping officers safe, myself safe and keeping the community safe.

A K9 officer also provides other services that keep the community protected, Gardner said.

Theres drug problems all over the state, all over the country. We just decided to get a dog for the aspect of safety for officers, safety for the public, for drugs and for patrol, he said. I wouldnt say theres necessarily a problem in Hastings, but I think theres enough drugs around the tri-city area that a dog is definitely beneficial.

He added, Kane has made a difference absolutely.

Gardner explained at the weekly gathering at Tommy Gunz Bistro that he and Kane completed a 14-week training program together at Grand Islands Law Enforcement Training Center.

This includes six weeks for drug detection and eight weeks for tracking and apprehension.

Kane is a certified dual-purpose police dog, said Gardner.

He is trained to alert and indicate to three drug odors: methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

We have seized a lot of drugs. Im not sure of the exact amount. Almost $20,000 worth of drug money, he said. And this is just in the city of Hastings.

Kane is also a patrol dog, certified to apprehend people, and track for people and evidence.

He tracks human odor, he said. It can be a bad guy who ran from the cops, a missing kid, missing elderly folk. He can also track for evidence if someone throws a gun, a knife, his nose can smell that.

Kane smells for the odor of drugs, not their presence, noted Gardner.

The K9 officer is really good at it, too.

Anytime theres odor, hes going to smell it, he said. He likes to pinpoint drugs, too. If there were drugs in here, youd see Kanes nose go up, hed start breathing more intense, and would probably take me right to it.

His trained behavior is to indicate there are drugs by sitting at the spot, said Gardner.

Every day, Kane does vehicle sniffs.

Everyone has a constitutional right to tell law enforcement, you cannot search my vehicle, he said. If someone denies consent to search a vehicle, thats when a K9 is utilized. I can run my dog around the car, and if my dog alerts me to the odor of drugs, that gives us probable cause to search a vehicle.

When they encounter large amounts of money during an investigation, that money is hidden at the location, with neither knowing where it is, and if Kane goes to it and indicates it, then it is seized as drug money.

Most money does have drug residue on it, said Gardner. A lot of the drugs are coming from the Mexican cartel and thats where a lot of the moneys coming from, as well.

Kane, like all trained dogs, is motived by a reward at the end, which is called a drive, and Kanes drive is prey, meaning, he wants to eat something, said Gardner.

The K9 officer appeared in his bulletproof vest, which he always wears while on duty.

Gardner was chosen to be a K9 handler after serving on the HPD for only two and a half years, he explained.

Our department decided to get a police service dog and six officers applied to be the handler, and I got lucky enough to be chosen, he said. Once I got picked, I went and helped with the process of picking out Kane, which was cool. We got to try out a bunch of dogs.

Kane not only works with Gardner, but lives with him.

The city owns this dog, he said. When he retires, there has to be a transaction of money. They will take one dollar from my paycheck, and he will become mine.

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YORK  Andrew Minh Trinh, 24, of Alhambra, California, who was caught with 53 pounds of marijuana in York County, has pleaded not guilty in a drug-related case that began as three felonies and now has been amended to one.

He is charged with having no drug tax stamp. Initially, he was also charged with delivery of a controlled substance and possession of more than one pound of marijuana  but those have since been dropped.

The case against Trinh began when he was stopped by a Nebraska State Patrol trooper on Interstate 80, in York County, for speeding.

According to court documents, Trinh informed the trooper he had a warrant out of Texas for a traffic ticket he was trying to take care of.

A canine with the NSP alerted to the presence of drugs in Trinhs rental car and a probable cause search was conducted. During that search, troopers found a large bag that held several heat-sealed bags containing marijuana. Another large back also contained heat-sealed bags of marijuana.

The amount of marijuana located in 50 heat-sealed bags was 53.3 pounds of high grade marijuana.

Now that his not guilty plea has been entered, a jury trial has been scheduled for late fall.
STROMSBURG -- Saturday was memorable day in Stromsburg where several dozens of people gathered to honor and observe the marking of William Fetters who was the last surviving Civil War veteran of Polk County.

The ceremony began with Camp Commander Brandon Barth from Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War giving opening remarks followed by everyone reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing America.

Everyone then bowed their heads in a prayer led by Former Commander Norman Weber from Sons of Union Veterans.

After the prayer, Judy Frohm from the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War placed a wreath in honor of Fetters. Other symbols such as a musket, canteen and knapsack were also added to Fetters gravesite by the Nebraska Rangers in memory of his meritorious actions.

Next was the placing of the flag by Barth for whose integrity and unity Private Fetters offered his service.

Charles Noyd, Polk County Historical Society president, who also contributed to the historical searching of Fetters, presented the biography of one of the last Union soldiers to be buried. William Fetters was more than just a veteran though. Fetters was a homesteader and farmer.Noyd noted that Fetters overcame grasshopper invasions, droughts, storms, crop failures, prairie fires, and they suffered the death of their teenage son.

Following his biography, Department Commander John Surman addressed the speech of Past Commander-in-Chief Perry Fowch who spoke at the National Encampment of the Grand Army of Republic.

In his speech, Fowch spoke of the records of the soldiers that were either killed or left wounded in the Civil War. He said of these soldiers, They stood at Antietam, they faced the heights of Fort Donelson and Fredericksburg and like Private Fetters stood among the cedars at Stones River; they met the fearful shock at Shiloh; became granite columns with the rocks of Chickamauga; formed a living wall against treasons mighty power at Gettysburg; moved unfaltering in the slaughter pens of Cold Harbor; and climbed up to rocky precipice to the portals of glory on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

These soldiers faced wounds and death and suspense, loneliness, and suffering. Fowch said the result of the Civil War not only left shattered limbs and wasted forms, but desolate hopes, ruined homes and broken hearts. It left the sacrifice and sorrow worse than death of itself.

In the shadow of 500,000 graves in the daily presence of those that returned diseased and broken down; with the prison of Libby still vocal with the echo suffering; with the memories of Belle Isle and Andersonville lighted as though with lurid fires of hell; standing under the clouds of grief that darkened half a million homes, we proclaim a roll of honor of the Grand Army of the Republic.

After his address, Weber said, As all veterans here gathered are aware, a soldier cannot leave his post without being properly relieved. Private William Fetters, you are now relieved; I have the post rest in peace.

Honor Attendants then revealed the G.A.R marker that has a special QR code for anyone who wants access to Fetters biography and information about other Civil War veterans in Nebraska.

Weber said, Our challenge is to place these markers throughout the state in order to help keep evergreen the memory of the original Boys in Blue.

The ceremony concluded with everyone rising and singing the Battle Hymn of Republic and Noyd and Weber giving the Benediction.
Deputies said they saw the suspect on the front porch naked. Deputies kicked down a bedroom door and pulled back a sheet on the bed to find Jeremy Bendler, allegedly with a gun in his right hand and a knife in his left, officials said.
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MARION  A new medical facility opened Tuesday afternoon in Marion.

Heartland Regional Medical Plaza is located in the northeast corner of Heartlands property, in front of the hospital.

Ed Cunningham, CEO of Heartland Regional Hospital, said the 15,000-square-foot building will house orthopedics, family practice and imaging.

Our goal is to make it easy for patients and everybody we serve, Cunningham said.

He said the imaging department will have a CT scanner which is on the way, fluoro X-ray, ultrasound and is looking at adding an MRI.

Dr. Richard Morgan, orthopedic surgeon and medical director of the orthopedic program, thanked Quorum, Heartland Regional Medical Center and Cunningham for providing the wonderful medical plaza, calling it the most modern facility he has had in his 43-year career.

He said it is not only good for patients and providers, it will be a good incentive for drawing providers to the area.

Its a wonderful upgrade, Dr. Morgan said.

Marion Mayor Mike Absher said he had the honor of speaking at the groundbreaking for the medical plaza.

Dreams came true today, Absher said.

He called the facility an important investment in Marion. He also thanked those who work at Heartland for being healthcare heroes.

State Rep. Paul Jacobs started speaking by reminding people to vote. Jacobs new district will cover part of Marion.

He said everything that happens along Illinois 13 is beneficial to the region and that everything throughout the region, like the medical plaza, is crucial to the region and its tourism.

State Rep. Dave Severin told the crowd this would be one of his last ribbon cuttings in Marion. With the new district map, he will no longer serve Marion in his district.

Rep. Jacobs and I work hard on this. We give people a reason to stay here and give people the opportunity to get care, Severin said. We want people to realize how awesome this area is.

This is great for the city of Marion. It is a great improvement to healthcare for Southern Illinois, Glenn Clarida, president of the Heartland Regional Medical Center board.

After a ribbon cutting, the building was open for tours and a reception. Guests were given water bottles with the logo for Heartland Regional Medical Group and could sign the ribbon from the ribbon cutting.

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CARBONDALE  Southern Illinois University and Southern Illinois Healthcare have announced an exciting opportunity that leads to a new career in nursing. SIH is creating a scholarship program for students in the SIU accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

People who already have a bachelors degree in another field or at least 70 hours toward a bachelors degree, including specific prerequisite courses, can qualify for this program and complete their BSN in one year. Students with backgrounds in chemistry, biology, pre-medicine, pre-dentistry or other health sciences are especially encouraged to apply.

Jennifer Harre, vice president and chief nursing officer for SIH, said our nation clearly has a shortage of nursing students considering going into healthcare. SIH has made an investment with the nursing program for students who are eligible.

With a one year investment, we will get a quick return rather than three years of college at a community college or a four-year degree, Harre said.

She added that this program gives an option to SIU students and alumni who have studies heavy in math or sciences or who graduated before SIU had a nursing program.

Kelli Whittington, SIU assistant professor and nursing program director in the School of Health Sciences, said its common for people to consider making a career change to help others after experiencing a personal or family health crisis. They may consider a career transition when they learn of new opportunities in health care.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2021 median annual salary for a registered nurse was $77,600.

Harre said SIH has always had nursing vacancies. The number of vacancies is newer.

SIH is currently looking for 150 to 200 nurses throughout the system. That includes nurses on the hospital floors, in surgery and the cardiac catheterization lab and clinics.

They currently have 30 to 40 beds closed throughout the system, including in SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, SIH Herrin Hospital and SIH St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro. While SIH was using visiting nurses, who work on contracts with hospitals, they cant afford the labor agency contracts.

What we know is we have to keep growing here, Harre said. Historically, nurses find a hospital and stay 30 years. The generation coming on are movers and shakers. They want to travel or return to school.

She explained that rural areas such as ours look at those hometowns to help support career growth and keep supplying the pipeline.

It will be really interesting do see the first accelerated class in 2023 and to see that pipeline opened up, Harre said. Hopefully, local students will stay here.

Harre said the first step in receiving a scholarship is to reach out to SIU for more information about the accelerated nursing program. She added that anyone with questions about the scholarship can reach out to SIH human resources.

We want to invest in people furthering their education, Harre said.

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Incumbents seemed to rule the night for the GOP primary election for state representatives in the new 117th and 118th Districts of the Illinois House.

Patrick Windhorst of Metropolis had a clear lead over Ron Ellis of Benton at deadline time Tuesday evening in the race as the Republican candidate for state representative in the new 117th district.

Windhorst won a seat at state representative in 2018 and is seeking his third term in office.

Windhorst said his primary experience is as states attorney for Massac County. He said it gave him great insight on how the law applies, understanding issues of crime and explaining how new laws will impact the district.

Ellis is a certified public accountant of 36 years, an accountant four years before being certified, and serves on the Regional Office of Education 21 board, which includes Franklin, Williamson, Johnson and Massac counties.

He served 12 years as Williamson County Commissioner, finishing as chairman of Williamson County Board. He also served four years on the ROE board before he was elected as commissioner.

In the race for Republican candidate in the new 118th District, Dr. Paul Jacobs of Pomona was leading Aaron Smith of Marion throughout Tuesday evening.

Jacobs was elected to office as state representative in 2020 and is seeking a second term.

Dr. Paul Jacobs of Pomona is the current representative of the 115th District of the Illinois House of Representatives and an optometric physician. He works two days a week when the House is not in session.

Jacobs has been in practice in Southern Illinois for 43 years, working at offices in Williamson, Jackson and Union counties. He has been committed to service as an optometric physician. He carried that commitment into his position as a state representative.

Smith is owner and operator of Smith Hafeli, Inc., a commercial construction company in Marion. He received a degree in education and taught history at Marion High School. He returned to college and received a masters degree in business administration and began working in construction.

He also serves on the John A. Logan Board of Trustees and is vice chairman of the board.

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Newcomer Chad Howard stormed into the political arena with a decisive win over John Hopkins in the race for Perry County sheriff in the Republican primary on Tuesday.

With all 27 precincts reported, Howard amassed 1,464 votes as compared to Hopkins' 706 - better than a 2-to-1 margin of victory.

Howard, 29, has been a full-time patrolman for rural Willisville since 2017. He previously worked as a part-time patrolman for the Perry County Sheriff's Office.

"I'm pretty excited. It's quite a rush to win this race," Howard said. "I'm extremely humbled by the trust the voters have in me and will do everything within my power to reduce the crime rates in the county if I win in November. That will be my No. 1 priority. There is a large amount of people in our rural areas who have not seen deputies patrol their area in months. I would like to try to fix that."

A 2011 graduate of Pinckneyville High School, Howard said his lack of experience in the field is negated by his performance and leadership skills.

"I have always wanted to be sheriff," he said. "And a career in law enforcement is something I have looked forward to since I was in high school. What I have noticed in recent years is an increase in the county's crime rate and that is directly linked to a decrease in the budget. There aren't enough officers out on the streets. At last look, I believe there were only six deputies working for the county."

In Union County, David Wilkins won a narrow victory in the race for sheriff on the Republican ticket over Bryan Watkins, accumulating 1,449 votes to 1,254. Finishing third in the race was Robert McGee, who finished with 452 votes.

"I was expecting a close race and it was," Wilkins said. "I am speechless. It's an awesome feeling to win tonight. I thought all three of us were good candidates."

Wilkins, 50, is a native of Jonesboro and has lived there all his life. He is a 1989 graduate of Anna-Jonesboro High School and earned a general studies degree at Shawnee Community College with additional coursework at Southeastern Illinois College and SIU.

Wilkins went to police academy training at Belleville Area College. He has served as Chief of Police in Jonesboro for the last 10-plus years.

Wilkins will meet Democrat Dale Foster, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the November general election.

In the race for Franklin County Sheriff, Kyle Bacon captured the Republican primary over Ben Burkhamer. Bacon won by a rather wide margin, 2,961 votes (59%) as compared to Burkhamer's 1,061 (21%).

Bacon grew up in Benton and graduated from Benton High School, Rend Lake College and SIU. He worked as an officer in Nashville, Tennessee, for a few years before returning to Benton in 2001 and taking a job as a deputy sheriff.

Bacon said the sheriff has to manage the department and the people who work there. He feels his time as a deputy gives him unique experience to understand and do that job.

A lot of people may not realize the Franklin County has a staff of 70 people and a $3 million budget, Bacon said. I think my time at the sheriffs department has allowed me see what the office is and how to provide the best service.

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A law restricting abortions in South Carolina after six weeks of pregnancy can take effect immediately in the state, a federal court ruled Monday.

The U.S. District Court in South Carolina lifted its prior hold on the enforcement of a state law passed last year that bans most abortions if an ultrasound detects a so-called fetal heartbeat, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy.

The decision was part of a wave of court action across the U.S. after Friday's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Roe vs. Wade.

The federal court ruling allows the implementation of the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, which requires doctors to use an ultrasound to try to detect a so-called fetal heartbeat if they think a pregnant woman is at least eight weeks along. In that event, an abortion can only be performed if the womans life is in danger, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

However, medical experts say the cardiac activity is not an actual heartbeat but rather an initial flutter of electric activity within cells in an embryo. They say the heart doesnt begin to form until the fetus is at least nine weeks old.

Nonetheless, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed the law in 2021. Opponents sued hours later, preventing it from going into effect, but dropped the suit after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

The new law replaces one that allowed abortions up to the 20th week of pregnancy.

Our state is now carrying out a governments most sacred and fundamental duty, protecting life, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood said it will continue performing abortions at its South Carolina clinics within the parameters of the new law.

Republican legislative leaders have raised the possibility of calling a special session to tighten the abortion law even further. But it wasnt clear if they had the votes for a total ban like one supported by McMaster.

Also Monday, the Democratic candidate for governor in South Carolina said he would oppose a blanket ban on abortion if elected.

If a bill came across my desk to ban all abortions with no exceptions, I would veto it pretty damn fast, Joe Cunningham said in his first news conference since winning the nomination earlier this month.

Cunninghams veto threat has weight with Republicans considering they don't have enough votes in either the state House or Senate to easily override a veto. And a handful of Republican lawmakers have been hesitant to support outlawing abortion, especially without exceptions for rape or incest.

McMaster supports a full ban on abortion, but whether he supports any exceptions isnt as clear. The governor told reporters in May just after a draft version of the Supreme Court ruling was leaked he supported no exceptions,. But he's also said he will work with lawmakers without committing to any version of a ban, whether it charges doctors who perform illegal abortions with murder or allows victims of rape and incest to end pregnancies.

The more we can protect life in South Carolina, the better it will be, McMaster said last month. McMaster is running for re-election and will face Cunningham in November.

Cunningham also asked the South Carolina General Assembly to not call a special session, saying voters will let their representatives know exactly how they feel about the courts decision in Novembers elections.

Instead of calling a special session to suspend the gas tax or give our teachers a raise or provide protection for women, they want to call a special session to finally put the nail in the coffin for womens reproductive rights, Cunningham said.

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Four people, including two from Holly Hill, are guilty for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Lori Hammond, 53, of Summerville; Catherine Cassie Needham, 36, of Manning; Jontrell Wright, 35, of Holly Hill, and Christopher Conrad, 39, of Holly Hill, have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

The Paycheck Protection Program was created as part of the CARES Act to provide small businesses with the resources they need to maintain their payroll, hire back employees and cover overhead.

Evidence showed that from June 2020 through January 2021, Lori Hammond caused multiple materially fraudulent PPP loan applications to be submitted to federally insured financial institutions on behalf of herself and her co-conspirators.

In these loan applications, Hammond used the identity of a deceased individual, misrepresented the number of employees and payroll expenses of the entities seeking the loans, attached fraudulent tax documents, and made numerous other false and misleading statements.

As part of the conspiracy, Hammond assisted Needham, Conrad, and Wright by filling out the loan application documents with materially false and fraudulent information and then submitting them to an individual in California.

The individual in California would in turn submit the fraudulent loan applications to financial institutions in exchange for a fee, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Based on the false representations and submissions in the applications, the approved PPP lenders funded the PPP loans.

After the funds were deposited into the respective accounts, Hammond, Wright, Needham and Conrad used the funds for non-qualifying, non-business-related purposes, including homes, property, cars and other personal purchases, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

In total, the members of the conspiracy fraudulently obtained $4.7 million in PPP loan funds.

The defendants all face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. They also face a fine of up to $250,000, restitution and three years of supervision to follow the term of imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Limehouse is prosecuting the case.

U.S. District Judge David C. Norton accepted the guilty plea and will sentence the defendants after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. For more information, visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justices National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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COLUMBIA  The South Carolina education superintendent candidate backed by the Republican establishment came back from her second-place finish in the primary to win the runoff.

Conservative think tank CEO and chairwoman of the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee Ellen Weaver won her party's nomination on Tuesday, but she still could face a rough road to the job even in a GOP-dominated state.

A new South Carolina law requires education superintendents to have at least a masters degree. Weaver doesnt have one, but started a program in April. Election officials said there is no precedent for what happens if she wins in November without an advanced degree, meaning the issue could be decided in court if someone sues.

Weaver will face Democrat Lisa Ellis in November. Ellis is a high school English teacher who founded the group SC for Ed on social media. Hundreds of teachers joined the group, calling for education improvements and higher pay and better treatment for teachers. The group brought 10,000 people to rally at the Statehouse, one of the biggest crowds of the past 20 years.

Ellis already has an advanced degree, as does the opponent Weaver defeated in the runoff, Palmetto State Teachers Association Executive Director Kathy Maness.

Maness won the primary, but fell well short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. She had grassroot support from teachers and educators.

Maness faced an onslaught of television ads, campaign mailers and appearances by prominent Republicans who painted her as a Democrat posing as a member of their party.

Maness secured one big endorsement when Republican Education Superintendent Molly Spearman, who is leaving the job after eight years, threw her support behind Maness. Spearman said Maness has been a teacher, knows what goes on in schools and is familiar with the legislative process.

Weaver has raised more money  $327,000 to Maness' $115,000

Ellis has raised just under $15,000, according to state campaign finance reports, but won the three-way Democratic primary without a runoff.

State House

There are six state House runoffs. Only one involves incumbents. Democratic Reps. Roger Kirby and Cezar McKnight were drawn through redistricting into the same district that stretches across three counties but is centered in Williamsburg County.

The two Democrats basically get to run primary night over again, but this time the winner likely returns to the Statehouse because no Republicans filed to run in the general election.

Tuesday's results were too early to call.

McKnight won on June 14 by seven votes out of the 5,557 cast. A third candidate threw the race into a runoff.

McKnight has represented much of the district for eight years from its anchor of Kingstree, but dwindling population in South Carolina's rural areas drew Kirby into the district when new lines were approved this year. Kirby is from Lake City and has been in the House as long as McKnight.

In the other five South Carolina House races, four Republican runoffs and one involving Democrats will decide nominees for open seats already controlled by their parties.

Six Republican House incumbents lost primary races earlier this month and a Democratic incumbent lost after her district was combined with another House member. About a dozen of the 124 members of the House also aren't running for reelection.

Well have full coverage of the results at TheTandD.com and in Thursdays edition of The T&D.

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Justice Stephen Breyer has notified the White House that his retirement will be effective Thursday, June 30, at noon ET.

In a letter to President Joe Biden, Breyer said it had been his "great honor" to participate as a judge in the "effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law."

He said that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is prepared to "take the prescribed oaths" to begin her service as the 116th member of the court.

The fact that the court will issue final opinions and orders on the same day reflects a more expedited timeline than past terms. It suggests that the justices -- who have been subject to death threats since the release of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade are eager for the momentous and divisive term to end as soon as possible.

There are two big cases awaiting resolution concerning the environment and immigration.

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JERUSALEM  Israel accused the Iranian-backed Hezbollah on Wednesday of conducting a cyber operation designed to disrupt a U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border between the countries, and threatened harsh retaliation against the alleged hackers.

The allegation  to which there was no immediate response from Beirut or Tehran  came as Israeli-Iranian tensions soar.

Reached by L'Orient-Le Jour, the UNIFIL press office said it has received "no direct information on the alleged incident."

"UNIFIL and the United Nations take cybersecurity very seriously and have strong measures in place to protect our data," said the spokesperson for UNIFIL, Kandice Ardiel. "We are aware of media reports of the Israeli defense minister's statements today, but have not received any direct information about the alleged incident," she continued.

In what he termed a first public disclosure of the incident, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said "Iranian security institutions in cooperation with Hezbollah [recently] launched a cyber operation with the aim of stealing materials about UNIFIL activities and deployment in the area, for Hezbollah's use."

"This is yet another direct attack by Iran and Hezbollah on Lebanese citizens and on Lebanon's stability," he told a cyber conference at Tel Aviv University, without elaborating.

Established in 1978, UNIFIL patrols Lebanon's southern border. It is charged with monitoring the ceasefire that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

Israel has accused Hezbollah gunmen of setting up clandestine positions at the border in defiance of UNIFIL. Lebanese officials say Israel continues air force overflights of their territory in violation of the ceasefire.

Gantz said an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps cyber unit called "Shahid Kaveh" had "conducted research to damage ships, gas stations and industrial plants in several Western countries including Britain, the U.S., France and Israel".

Britain's Sky News reported similar allegations last year, saying the Iranian embassy in London had not responded to them.

Gantz hinted that Israel  which is widely believed to have waged cyber war against Iran's nuclear facilities and other infrastructure  may retaliate physically against enemy hackers.

"We know who they are, we target them and those who direct them. They are in our sights as we speak - and not just in the cyber-space," he said. "There is a variety of possible responses to cyber-attacks  in and outside of the cyber domain."
Speaking to our colleagues from RTL.lu, Party President Claude Wiseler explained that the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) did not resign but just "temporarily" did not pay its membership fees.

On Tuesday, the Green Party (Dei Greng) criticised the CSV and the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr) for reportedly resigning from the National Action Committee against Nuclear Power, stating that by leaving the opposition parties would jeopardise "the important national consensus against nuclear power". MP Claude Wiseler now argues that the CSV has not changed its general stance on nuclear power but recognises the extraordinary situation brought on by the war in Ukraine.

In his interview with our colleagues from RTL.lu, the Party President of the CSV stressed that the party is "still against nuclear power" and in favour of transitioning to alternative energy sources "as soon as possible". On the other hand, the CSV has come to the conclusion that the current situation does not allow for this change to take place just yet and that there is a need for "transition period". Wiseler warns that the war in Ukraine has put Luxembourg at risk of experiencing an energy shortage this winter. In this context, the CSV thinks that it "makes sense" to look for "all types of alternatives," and reconsider the planned shutdowns of existing power plants "to help us through these difficult times".

Wiseler made it clear that he is willing to discuss the situation with the Action Committee but stressed that "this is not the time for lectures". The MP also pointed out that the CSV was among the parties in the European Parliament that spoke out against the inclusion of nuclear and gas power in the EU's taxonomy.

The Luxembourg Communist Party (KPL) and the 'Landesverband' trade union also had their memberships temporarily suspended, as the Action Committee has yet to receive official responses from them. As a result, the Committee currently has about 25 members left.
At around 3am on Wednesday morning, the man was walking from the central railway station to Gasperich when he was mugged by two men who stole his mobile phone.

While the man was able to catch up to the culprits after they ran away, the robbers became violent and threatened the victim with a small knife.

When a car approached the scene, the men fled towards the central railway station where police officers were unable to locate them. The victim filed a complaint and an investigation was launched.
It has been one year, six months and twelve days since the federal government auctioned off Wyoming lands for oil and gas production.

Industry groups believe the delay is illegal. A 102-year-old law, they contend, requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to hold an onshore lease sale at least four times a year.

The industry has tallied the sales absence in quarters, growing increasingly resentful as every quarter of the Biden presidency passed them by. A sixth quarter ends on Thursday, the second and final day of the administrations first onshore lease sale.

Were happy that theyre finally moving forward with their congressionally mandated obligations, said Ryan McConnaughey, communications director for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

Originally scheduled to take place a week earlier, the sale was postponed because the BLM needed more time to resolve protests submitted in response to its draft environmental assessment, Brian Hires, an agency press secretary, said in an email to the Star-Tribune.

The BLM said in April that it would offer 129 parcels, spanning 131,771 acres, at the June lease sale.

In its 149-page response to the protests, posted late Tuesday, the agency removed several additional parcels from the upcoming sale, dropping the number of available leases to 123 and the total acreage to 119,493.

The Biden administration disagrees with the industry interpretation of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. A series of court decisions have found fault with the environmental review underpinning years of federal oil and gas lease sales, directing the BLM to redo some past analyses and consider climate change more carefully in the future.

For this sale, the BLM analyzed potential greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed leases as well as proximity and potential impacts to sage-grouse, Hires said. Both have been deemed necessary for a complete analysis based on court rulings.

Federal officials say the Mineral Leasing Acts ambiguous language  the law directs the BLM to hold quarterly sales in every state where eligible lands are available  afforded them the time they needed to meet those tighter environmental standards before holding another sale.

A year ago, a U.S. district judge in Louisiana deemed the delay, which had then lasted nearly two quarters, an overreach of executive power, and issued a preliminary injunction ordering the BLM to resume quarterly leasing. Since then, the clashing interpretations have also been argued in Wyoming and several other states. No judge has ruled on the dispute.

Their idea of resuming sales is a lot different than what transpired before, said Steve Degenfelder, land manager for Casper-based Kirkwood Oil and Gas.

Many environmental groups are happy with at least one change the BLM made: Raising the royalty rate for the first time, from the required minimum of 12.5% to 18.75%, at the upcoming sale.

But they still think the BLM is making too much land available and remain unsatisfied with other parts of the environmental review.

Bob LeResche, a board member of landowners group Powder River Basin Resource Council, said in a statement that minimum bonding requirements for wells drilled on federal lands are outdated and fail to protect taxpayers from remediation costs.

We are disappointed to see BLM offering these leases before reforming their old dysfunctional leasing program, LeResche said.

Wyomings oil and gas companies, meanwhile, feel like the BLM isnt doing enough. The agency evaluated 459 Wyoming tracts nominated by the oil and gas industry for leasing. Just under 27% made it through to the June sale.

The last set of leases sold in Wyoming under the Trump administration also have yet to be issued, and are pending until the BLM can ensure our completed analysis meets all current requirements, Hires said.

Ongoing legal challenges, increasingly stringent environmental reviews and the long wait between sales have all left oil and gas companies uneasy about their long-term prospects on federal lands.

The lease sales opponents may still sue. And the supply chain issues and labor shortages impeding new drilling and raising costs may have diminished the allure of recent months sky-high oil prices.

But in Wyoming, where nearly half the lands and closer to 70% of the minerals are owned by the federal government, operators have few alternatives.

A lot of companies in Wyoming are heavily invested in leasing on federal lands already, McConnaughey said, and trying to do the best they can to make those operations work within the current regulatory environment.

According to Shannon Anderson, staff attorney for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, the price of oil, the quality of the reserve and the proximity of pipelines and other infrastructure are the biggest factors.

If the price is right, and industry wants to develop the resource, they will develop the resource, Anderson said.

Whether this weeks parcels are desirable enough remains to be seen.

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Therell be no shortage of caffeine in Casper anytime soon. Currently listed online, theres over 25 different coffee places scattered around the city. Downtown alone features four spots to get a cup of joe, and three more on the way, all within walking distance of each other.

With more coffee shops popping up left and right, heres a short refresher of downtowns lineup:

Metro

While Metro Coffee Company wasnt the first coffee store in downtown Casper, its the longest standing one, first opening its doors in 2002. Additionally, Metro has established three locations in the City of Casper since the current owner, Sean Peverley bought the company in 2017.

Descriptions of the shops according to Peverley included having a lounge, laid back and home feel. While two of the stores also offer drive-through, inside features couches, murals and hours that last until 10:00 p.m. The locations are especially popular among local teens and students, but whether its for studying or just hanging out varies.

As far as competition, I feel like weve separated from that, Peverley said. Other places are eating each other up and I dont think Metros taking much of a hit on any of that stuff because were established.

Today, Metro is currently the top result when looking up Casper coffee shops on Google.

I wish you luck, Peverley said about watching other coffee shops pop up. I dont ever feel like its a competition per say. Its just a matter of if you can run a better shop if you think its easy, do it to it. We work pretty hard to get what we get.

The Perfect Cup

Located about a block away from Metro on West First Street is The Perfect Cup, a coffee hut established in 2005. Current owner Sierra Harvey first bought the company in December of this year. The hut itself has gone through many changes over the years, including the ones that Harvey has made to the menu, staff and look of the building. It even moved to Sunrise Drive a few years ago, but returned downtown.

Its the perfect spot for the Perfect Cup, added barista Madisen Stein from inside the hut.

Harvey laughed and agreed, but joked that she wished it was just five more feet to the left.

I dont really think of coffee as competition, she said. I think coffees part of the community and you know, everyone has their different preferences. I believe every coffee shop in Casper has their own unique things that they offer.

While most of the shops were able to describe what their atmosphere felt like, Harvey said that coffee huts were a whole different ball game. She originally went to classify the shop as friendly, but added that it was so much more than that. Those who visited set the vibe.

My customers are honestly one of the best parts about this, Harvey said. And all my regulars, I would say 85% of the people who come through here, I could start making their drink before they go to the window were ever changing and ever evolving.

Scarlows Gallery, Art & Coffee

Back on Second Street is Scarlows Gallery, Art & Coffee. It sits right next door to Goedickes Custom Framing & Art Supply, a business that has been around for 70 years, and theyre connected by a doorway in the middle of the wall between the two.

The current owner of both stores, Claire Marlow, bought Goedickes back in 2013, but then introduced the coffee bar as a part of the art gallery side in 2019.

I knew that space was pretty special, so its been nice to share that, Marlow said. People just enjoy how the space makes them feel and that was definitely my intent, having that be an art gallery for six years before I opened the coffee.

The space was described as light, airy and quiet by Marlow, with an emphasis on art and a tentative no-blenders policy. Nothing against smoothies, Marlow said, just an effort to maintain the chosen ambience. Coffee wise, the focus remains on traditional technique, a style that she said fits more of a European feel.

We offer something totally different than everybody else and I think that will sustain us, Marlow said. Were not trying to do a million drinks. Were not trying to do blenders or red bull, which is fine. We just wanted to create a different model than what was already down here Were really focused on the perfect espresso shot every time.

The Bourgeois Pig

The Bourgeois Pig first opened up around the same time as Scarlows, back in 2019. The building previously belonged to Crescent Moon Coffee Stop, a shop that opened in 2017, but shut down after about a year and a half.

Often, the shop hosts events open to the public such as concerts from local musicians, meet-ups for groups and other types of shows. The walls of the building feature posters from a wide range of timelines, hanging lights and lamps and many different cushioned couches.

The Casper Star-Tribune was not able to reach The Bourgeois Pig for comment by press time.

Coming soon

The newest addition to the downtown coffee lineup is Barbarian Coffee Roasters, taking over the store on South Center Street that previously belonged to Cartoonz. If you look in the windows, the lights are still off, but owner Jon Ramsey said they were aiming to open their doors within the next several weeks.

At the moment, the space will be used exclusively as a roastery, but he and his wife Gayle Ramsey hope to add on a coffee bar later down the line.

Jon currently works part time as an officer with the Casper Police Department and served as a Marine during two tours in Afghanistan. Being a veteran owned business, Jon said thats where they want their focus to lie too.

Our main goal, other than selling a good cup of coffee, is being able to give back to the community, Ramsey said. Were hoping to donate a certain percentage of profits through certain organizations and faith based organizations.

The space doesnt have a specified atmosphere yet, but photos shared on Facebook feature many different spaces to sit and a large chessboard. And, like all of the different coffee shops around Casper, were really kind of providing a different type of service, Jon added.

Two more shops to look forward to include The Copper Cup and Scooters. Both will be opening in upcoming months.

I dont think there can be too many coffee shops in Casper. Everyone just goes on a rotation, whatever they need, Harvey remarked. Because its just, what are you feeling today? What time frame do you have? Who do you want to support? Which I think is something really great about Casper.

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In 2021, Sheridan commissioned the research firm Gruen Gruen & Associates to put together a report on the biggest housing issues facing the county  and what it could do to fix them.

The report, published in December, put into words what many residents had long observed anecdotally: Sheridan doesnt have enough housing, and whats available is too expensive for its essential workers.

At the time of the reports publication, the county had more than 1000 job openings. Employers across multiple industries told the firm people were turning down jobs because they couldnt find places to live.

On the heels of that report, Sheridan is taking initial steps to turn its housing situation around.

County and city officials are considering creating a housing trust fund, for one, said county administrative director Renee Obermueller. Itd be a pot of money for funding future affordable housing programs.

As anxieties about affordable housing swell, reform is becoming a priority for local governments across the state.

Cheyenne launched an Affordable Housing Task Force in 2021. Laramie has adopted two zoning changes aimed at affordable housing this year.

Teton County, meanwhile, has been trying to manage housing problems for decades. Jackson Holes local housing trust fund turned 30 last year.

The state will join the effort very soon.

The Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee in April identified workforce housing as its second-highest priority for the interim. (During the interim session, lawmakers meet to research problems affecting the state and brainstorm what kind of legislation could address them.)

Its the first time the State Legislature has taken such a sweeping look at housing issues. The committees inaugural meeting on workforce housing takes place Thursday in Hulett.

High housing costs and a lack of inventory seem to be affecting all but Wyomings smallest towns, committee co-chair Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said.

Its time for the state to help ease that pain, some advocates and lawmakers say. But as cities get around passing their own reforms, the challenge will be working out exactly what role the state should play.Thursdays meeting will be about exploring all available options, Driskill said.

Well get it on the table, then start critiquing all the different things we can do, he said.

Implementing a state housing trust fund program will be one of the first solutions to go before lawmakers.

Two representatives from Wyoming housing organizations will speak in favor of the model on Thursday: Brenda Birkle, executive director of My Front Door, a nonprofit that helps first-time home buyers, and Dan Dorsch, special projects coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County.

Theyre part of a new coalition of housing leaders advocating for bringing more housing trust funds to Wyoming. Among them is Scott Hoversland, executive director of the Wyoming Community Development Authority.

(Birkle also chairs Cheyennes Affordable Housing Task Force, of which Dorsch is a member.)

Wyoming is just one of three states without a state housing trust fund  the others being Alaska and Mississippi.

Such programs can take many forms, Birkle and Dorsch said, but they recommend models that give local governments flexibility over how they spend the funding.

Iowas state program, for example, has 27 different housing funds that represent its 99 counties, Dorsch said. The program allocates the majority of its money to those local-level funds.

Those communities get to decide where that funding goes for their own unique situations that theyre facing, Dorsch said.

Iowa funds the program through its state budget, as well as revenue from real estate transfer taxes, Dorsch said.

Theres also the federal National Housing Trust Fund, which offers several funding opportunities for state and local housing groups.

Those programs are necessary, but for small organizations and small nonprofits it can be very complicated to access those funds, Dorsch said.

Lori Urbigkit, government affairs director for Wyoming Realtors, will speak at Thursdays committee meeting, too. Shell be giving a presentation on the National Association of Realtors Smart Growth for the 21st Century program.

The program teaches cities 10 principles for responsible community growth, including prioritizing walkability, diversifying housing and transportation options, making room for green space and allowing for mixed land use.

Urbigkit has taught the class to local leaders all across the state. Usually, its a 3-hour, in-depth discussion about what a community can do expand their housing opportunities, she said. On Thursday, shell have 15 minutes.

While she only has time for a brief overview, she hopes the program can provide some guide posts for lawmakers as they start thinking about housing solutions.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation is also expected to speak at the meeting.

Corporations committee co-chair Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, said the agency has a unique perspective to offer on the challenges of housing for state employees. WYDOT staff live in urban centers as well as far-flung places, he said.

State and local data show housing costs have increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Jan. 2020, the average home value in Wyoming was $258,000, according to real estate website Zillow. In May of 2022, that figure had risen to $318,000.

Rents have risen, too.

Average rent for a Cheyenne two-bedroom apartment in January, 2020 was a little over $800, rental listing website Zumper shows. In May of 2022, it was $975.

Casper was about $750 a month in January, 2020, according to Zumper. Come May of this year, it was $1000.

The average two-bedroom apartment in Teton County cost about $2,500 a month over the first quarter of 2020, according to reports from the Jackson/Teton County Affordable Housing Department. It rose to roughly $4,170 a month during the second quarter of 2022.

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Rep. Liz Cheney and four of her Republican challengers will take the debate stage today in front of an empty auditorium.

Sheridan College, WyomingPBS and Wyoming Public Radio are co-hosting a debate for one of the most closely watched midterm races in the nation, but voters will not be allowed to attend in person due to security concerns.

I made the decision in the beginning of our planning to close the event to the public out of an overabundance of caution, Terry Dugas, WyomingPBSs general manager, said in an email. There are regular reports in the media of political figures and public servants being assaulted.

The debate will be, however, aired on statewide TV and the public radio station, in addition to being streamed on YouTube, Facebook and the WyomingPBS site.

Cheney, Donald Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman, Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Burns, Denton Knapp and Robyn Belinskey have all said theyll be attending.

There were rumors circulating that Cheney requested that the public be barred due to personal security concerns, but this is untrue, Dugas said.

The intense passion among supporters of all the candidates led to this decision. We were not asked to do this by the candidates. This decision was not made lightly, but I am not willing to risk the safety of the candidates, or WyomingPBS and Sheridan College staff, Dugas said in an email.

Precisely what the security concerns are neither the college nor Dugas would say.

Sheridan College President Walter Tribley is not making any comments on security at this time, said Wendy Smith, public information officer for the community college district.

Tribley himself did not respond to the Star-Tribunes request for comment.

Other than COVID, I dont think Ive ever seen a debate where public has been disinvited because originally the public was invited, said Bob Beck, the news director for Wyoming Public Radio. He has been covering Wyoming politics since the mid-1980s.

I find it very unusual. Perhaps they had good reason. Perhaps there was a threat. I dont know, Beck, who is also a panelist at Thursdays debate, added.

In an email to the participating candidates obtained by the Star-Tribune, Dugas said the debate will be closed to the public to reduce the risk to the candidates personal security and also reduce the risk of debate disruptions.

According to the same email, candidates are only allowed to invite four staff and/or family members.

Campus Security will be monitoring who is allowed to enter the theatre. If possible, also provide the make and model of the car you will be using, the email finished.

While Cheney is not to blame for having the debate closed, The Washington Post reported recently that Cheney has been unable to hold large, publicized campaign events, in part due to security concerns, her aides told the D.C. outlet. The Cheney campaign historically does not comment on security issues.

If they do this in Sheridan and they dont allow the public then they need to turn around and make arrangements to have one where the public is invited, said Gail Symons, a Sheridan-based politico and owner of the nonpartisan blog Civics307.

Initially, members of the media  including the Star-Tribune  were also barred from the event. That decision was reversed and members of the media were given the opportunity to apply for credentials, for which the Star-Tribune submitted an application. Exactly why that decision was reversed is unclear. Kristen Czaban, publisher for the Sheridan Press who is responsible for credentialing, did not respond when asked why the rules were changed.

Rod Miller, a Cowboy State Daily columnist, called the decision to allow press to attend a half-step to try to quell the brouhaha that the handling of this event has caused.

All of the congressional candidates agree  youll likely never read that line again  that theyd prefer to have the public in attendance.

Ive traveled over 29,000 miles within Wyoming since I started this campaign nine months ago and met with thousands of Wyoming voters. Theres no reason to fear people who want to be involved in choosing their elected officials, Hageman said. We would prefer that the debate be open, but these were the rules as presented to us.

The Wyoming Republican Party issued a similar statement in an email blast.

What? The Wyoming voters are so scary we have to shut down events? Really? That sure sounds suspect. And its NOT OKAY! The voters are engaged in this years election, asking good questions, and have a right to get to know the candidates who are asking for their votesALL of them, the email read.

Because this event is being hosted by publicly funded entities, some are particularly outraged that the public is not allowed to attend.

At first blush, the idea of a publicly financed news outlet barring the public from a debate featuring candidates for one of Wyomings top offices seems laughable. Especially when it come from as respectable an outlet as Wyoming PBS, a long-time vocal advocate of transparency in government. But, I guess, when you get too used to taking those federal dollars, you start behaving like the federal government, Jim Angell, managing editor of Cowboy State Daily who was also the president of the Wyoming Press Association for 20 years, wrote in an editorial.

The Wyoming Republican Party brought up the same concern.

Why is a publicly funded organizations debate for political candidates being CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC? Is this a debate or political theater? the party wrote in an email blast.

But Symons, who does believe the public should be invited, isnt convinced by the idea that public funds means the public is entitled to in-person access.

Im not buying the argument This is publicly funded therefore the public should be there and present. No, its going to be broadcasted, Symons said.

There is, however, a notable difference between in-person spectatorship and watching online, Angell argues.

Watching on a livestream simply isnt the same. Nor is it meant to be. Its a remote viewing of a television event. Informative, but lacking the in-person context, he added.

Going forward, the WyomingPBS debates on other races will all be open to the public, Dugas said.

Cheney angered many Republicans with her vote to impeach Trump, her continued rebukes of the former president and her service as vice chairwoman on the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Her actions and statements invited a formidable challenger in Hageman and now, the race for Wyomings lone House is one of the most heated in the nation, as its being characterized as a referendum on Trump and his grip on the party.

I think they should have arranged for property security and proper processes and laid some ground rules down. Why they didnt plan for that is beyond me, Symons said. The should un-f*** this mess.

Editors note: The Star-Tribune applied for credentialing to this event.

Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis.

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ENERGY Minister Stuart Young told a conference in Suriname last week that Trinidad and Tobago will be able to increase its production of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and fertilisers if the United States were to ease its sanctions on Venezuela.

Speaking at the second Suriname Energy, Oil and Gas Summit & Exhibition (SEOGS) in Paramaribo on Tuesday, Young did not mention either the US or Venezuela by name, but he was clearly referring to the Dragon field between that is located in Venezuelan waters to the north of Trinidad.
There are 4,000 employers in Trinidad and Tobago that are fraudulently not making their contributions to the National Insurance Board (NIB), says Government Minister Brian Manning.

However, he warned that winter is coming and the authorities will be going after people who are non-compliant.

He disclosed this during the debate of the National Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2022 at the Senate sitting yesterday.
An employee is seen at the site of the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania, on June 28, 2022. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

BUCHAREST, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania.

"It is a historic moment for the Romanian energy industry...It is the first new natural gas exploitation project in the Romanian Black Sea area in the last 30 years, and the first quantities of gas have already been introduced into the domestic market this month," the prime minister told the opening ceremony for the natural gas production under the Midia natural gas development project.

"Romania is thus taking a decisive step in guaranteeing energy security," he said, adding that this project will generate 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year and will help the country to cover 90 percent of its consumption needs.

The Midia project consists of five producing wells some 120 km offshore Romania, where the water depths are of 70 meters. When fully put into production, the project can provide 10 percent of the national gas demand.

Romania passed the Offshore Bill in mid-May to boost years shelved gas and oil exploration and production in the Black Sea. 

Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows the site of the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows gas pipelines at the site of the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows the site of the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

An employee is seen at the site of the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania, on June 28, 2022. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca (2nd L) attends the opening ceremony for the natural gas production under the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania, on June 28, 2022. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

An employee is seen at the site of the Midia natural gas development project in Vadu village on the Black Sea coast in southeastern Romania, on June 28, 2022. The start of gas production in the Romanian Black Sea is a historic moment, contributing to the country's efforts to achieve 90 percent self-sufficiency in natural gas supply, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Vadu village. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)
No Covid-19 deaths were recorded yesterday, while 55 additional positive cases were reported.

The 55 new cases push the overall infections since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to 167,495.

The countrys Covid-19 death toll remains at 4,013.

Tobago recorded three positive cases with one death on Saturday. The deceased, according to the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, was unvaccinated.
The Prime Ministers shutdown of journalist Darren Bahaw at Saturdays news conference was misguided, based on factual errors, intemperate and unbefitting the leader of a democratic country.

In a scene straight out of the Trump playbook for handling challenging media questions, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley shouted down the journalist as he attempted to question him about his due diligence prior to appointing Reginald Armour as Attorney General, saying I advise you, dont go any further.
TEHRAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Indirect talks between Iran and the United States held in the Qatari capital of Doha have not yet ended, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

Another meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani and Enrique Mora, the EU chief coordinator for the Iran nuclear talks, will be held Wednesday evening, said Nasser Kanani.

"The talks in Doha have, from the beginning, been scheduled for two days. The two-day Doha talks are being held in a professional and serious climate," he added.

Earlier in the day, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that the Doha talks, which started Tuesday, ended without breaking the deadlock in the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal as Washington declined to offer "guarantees for Iran's economic benefits."

The talks in Doha followed several rounds of talks held in the Austrian capital since April 2021 between Iran and the remaining parties to revive the landmark deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran signed the nuclear deal with world powers in July 2015 and agreed to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of U.S.-led sanctions. But former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. 
Dear Amy: I have one son and two grandsons.

The older grandson, age 17, appeared at his prom wearing a full-length purple gown with nail polish to match.

I privately told my son (his father) that I was concerned for my grandsons safety, as he would be a target if he is so flamboyant.

My son became very defensive and said that people can love who they want, and that society needs to get used to it. I agree. But there are people out there who dont like this in your face behavior.

I have not mentioned this again. I dont want to alienate my son or grandson, but the prospect of having a LGBTQ grandson makes me sick.

He spends most of his time alone in his room and is very sullen. His maternal grandfather committed suicide last year, so I am concerned about the mental health of the entire family.

They are receiving counseling individually and as a family.

Can I do anything other than cry myself to sleep?

Could this be a phase, or will he always be like this?

 Devastated Grandma

Dear Devastated: I have a blunt question for you: Are you going through a phase, or will you always be like this?

I hope its a phase.

Yes, you worry. Yes, you fret. But the role of a grandparent is actually so simple: All you have to do is to love your grandchildren  exactly as they are, exactly as they present to you; through phases, representations, or revelations  and through whatever joys or challenges they encounter.

Can you imagine the impact on this family if you just simply loved and accepted all of them, no matter what?

You might not understand why your grandson would make the choice to go to the prom wearing what sounds like an amazing outfit. But that sullen teenager left his bedroom, got dolled-up, and took himself to the prom!

(I wish Id had an ounce of that kind of courage at his age.)

Furthermore, his father is his ally! Give yourself credit for raising a man who is a good parent.

This family is receiving professional support (another very wise choice).

Your only job here is to find a way around your own fears, and to relieve yourself of the burden to judge this family  and instead to love all of them, just as they are.

Dear Amy: I moved to a different state in 2019 and have made one friend.

I met Stacy before the pandemic so up until now, shes been the only person in my new home that I have close ties to.

Im a loner, and it takes a lot for me to let people in.

One of the main reasons for this is because I believe I suffer from an eating disorder.

Most of the time, I have to force myself to eat. Some months are better than others, but its a daily battle for me.

I overheard Stacy talking to her significant other about my weight the other day. She said I lost too much weight and that something must be wrong with me.

I feel like if were friends, why not ask me about this directly?

My weight has been a struggle for me and Ive actually gained a little bit, so this hurt my feelings.

Only my children know how much I struggle with this. (Ive never been diagnosed by a doctor, either.)

This isnt the first time Stacy has said something that has cut me deep, but I also dont want to lose the only new friend Ive made.

How should I handle this?

 A Confused Loner

Dear Loner: First, do this (today): Go to the National Eating Disorders Association webpage, national eating disorders.org. They offer many invaluable and supportive resources, including a chat function and a helpline: (800) 931-2237. You should see a physician and get a thorough checkup.

Second: Please be brave enough to be honest with Stacy. Sharing this might deepen your friendship, and you deserve to have a good friend in your corner. You can get better, and I hope youll move toward a healthy recovery today.

Dear Amy: I did NOT agree with your advice to Accidental Witness, who saw her stepdaughters husband kissing the familys nanny.

I would be horrified if someone knew about this in my family and did not tell me.

 Upset

Dear Upset: The problem was that this witness couldnt seem to bring herself to deliver this news. She wanted others to do it.

Contact Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com

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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Louisianas attorney general on Wednesday warned doctors against performing abortions, despite a judges order blocking the state from enforcing its ban on the procedure.

In a letter to the Louisiana State Medical Society, Attorney General Jeff Landry said that the state judges Monday order blocking enforcement has limited reach and abortion has been a crime since Fridays decision giving states the power to outlaw abortions.

It is incumbent on this office to advise you that any medical provider who would perform or has performed an elective abortion after the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs is jeopardizing his or her liberty and medical license, Landry wrote, referencing the Friday decision.

Friday's high court decision has set off legal battles in multiple states where lawmakers have sought to ban or restrict abortion.

Kentuckys two abortion clinics asked a judge Wednesday to issue a temporary restraining order to block a state law that took effect after Fridays U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Attorneys for a Louisville clinic argued that Kentuckys constitution allows for abortion. They said one of the clinics has turned away about 200 potential patients since the Friday ruling.

Lawyers for Ohio abortion providers asked that state's Supreme Court on Wednesday to use its powers to overturn a ban on abortions at the first detectable  fetal heartbeat. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and others argued the law violates the Ohio Constitutions broad protections of individual liberty.

A challenge to West Virginia's abortion ban was announced Wednesday by the ACLU of that state. The organization said it was joining others in filing the suit in Kanawha County Circuit Court on behalf of Women's Health Center of West Virginia. The ACLU says the state ban dates back to the 1800s and has been superseded by numerous laws passed since, including a 20-week abortion ban that was passed in 2015 and acknowledges a patient's right to an abortion.

Earlier, Alabama's Attorney General Steve Marshall was quick to warn that elective abortions are illegal in the state. His Friday pronouncement came after a federal judge lifted an injunction soon after the Supreme Court decision.

The decision has also led to an increase in demand for emergency contraceptives  and to limits by some retailers on how many emergency contraceptives consumers can buy,

In Louisiana, Landry's spokesman did not immediately respond to a message asking whether his office would seek to prosecute doctors who perform abortions while the judges order is in effect.

The three abortion clinics in the state have said they would resume operations while the order is in effect. It was not immediately clear whether that decision would be affected by Landrys letter.

Louisiana and Kentucky are among states that had trigger laws designed to ban abortion, with few exceptions, in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling ending abortion rights.

State District Judge Robin Giarusso in New Orleans on Monday issued a temporary restraining order banning enforcement of the Louisiana law, pending a court hearing on a lawsuit filed by a north Louisiana abortion clinic and others. Landry's office is expected to appeal the order.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit dont deny that Louisiana can now ban abortion. Instead, they contend Louisiana now has multiple, conflicting trigger mechanisms in the law.

They also argue that state law is unclear on whether it bans an abortion prior to a fertilized egg implanting in the uterus.

Although the law provides an exception for medically futile pregnancies in cases of fetuses with fatal abnormalities, the plaintiffs noted the law gives no definition of the term and state health officials havent yet provided a list of conditions that would qualify as medically futile.

Associated Press reporters Julie Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this story.

For APs full coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, go to https://apnews.com/hub/abortion.

This story has corrected the spelling of Kanawha County.

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

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PHOENIX  Voting rights groups can contest a 2021 state law that eliminates the states permanent early voting list.

In a 60-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Dominic Lanza said challengers had presented enough information to show the measure violates the federal Voting Rights Act. That ranges from the fact that minorities are more likely to be affected by the law to historical patterns of discrimination and even a statement by a Fountain Hills Republican lawmaker that the judge said could be seen as proof the Legislature approved the change for a racially discriminatory purpose.

None of this means that Mi Familia Vota and others will succeed in overturning the statute. But it does guarantee they will get their day in court.

SB 1485, the 2021 law Lanza is allowing to be challenged, spells out that if someone does not return an early ballot in at least one of four prior elections  meaning a primary and a general election in two successive years  that person is dropped from what would no longer be called the permanent early voting list.

They still could sign up again to get early ballots. And they could still go directly to the polls on Election Day, though that, by itself, would not count toward once again getting a ballot automatically by mail.

Proponents argued it is wasteful to continue to send out early ballots to people who, by virtue of their voting record, have shown little interest in regularly using them.

Lanza said the state claims that the cost of mailing each early ballot is $2 to $3. If the permanent early voting list is eliminated, the savings from printing and mailing could be $450,000 for every election cycle.

Challengers dont dispute that the law would save money but argue its irrelevant to the question of the effect on minority voters.

Part of that, the judge said, is that Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to be intermittent voters, as are low-income Americans.

Evidence presented by challengers say the result of the legislation is that while white Arizonans account for 71% for all registered voters, they will be just 54% of those removed. Conversely, 33% of all removals will be among Hispanics compared with the fact they are 19% of registered voters.

But the judge said thats only part of the issue.

A Legislature acts in violation of the 14th and 15th amendments when a discriminatory purpose is a motivating factor in the Legislatures action, he said. The first deals with equal protection; the second bars racial discrimination in voting.

And Lanza said there are reasons to question the motives behind the law.

The judge recited a litany of the what he said is a history of racial discrimination, such as the state mandating English-only education in public schools as early as 1919 and banning bilingual education in 2020. He also cited segregation practices in Phoenix after World War II in housing, theaters, swimming pools, parks and restaurants.

There also are differences in not only poverty and education levels based on race in Arizona but also home ownership and even how long people live. And Lanza said that, historically, minorities have been less likely to vote.

What also got the judges attention was the high turnout in the 2020 election.

And turnout increased most notably in areas heavily populated by people of color, Lanza wrote. And in several South Phoenix precincts, home to large numbers of Black and Latino residents, turnout was up by 10%; precincts on Native American reservations went up 12% to 13%.

But after the 2020 election  the one won by Joe Biden for president and Mark Kelly for Senate  the judge noted there were many bills introduced nationally to make it harder to register, remain on the voter rolls or cast a ballot. One of them was SB 1485, the change to the permanent early voting list.

And then there was the interview that Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, gave to CNN.

Democrats value as many people voting, and theyre willing to risk fraud, the veteran lawmaker told the news outlet. Republicans are more concerned about fraud, so we dont mind putting security measure in that wont let everybody vote, but everybody shouldnt be voting.

But there was more.

Not everybody wants to vote, and if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that theyre totally uninformed on the issues, Kavanagh said. Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of the votes, as well.

That got the judges attention.

Although Rep. Kavanagh first addressed voter fraud, he then transitioned, for unexplained reasons, into an argument for reducing the voting population based on the quality of voters, Lanza noted.

There may be innocent reasons for this segue that will be revealed during future stages of the case, the judge continued. But he said that the latter part of the statement could be construed as expressing the discriminatory trope that minorities are uneducated voters.

And that, Lanza said, has to be combined with other allegations suggesting it was well know that SB 1485 would disproportionately affect minorities.

The judge acknowledged that, as a matter of law, one statement by one lawmaker cannot be used to impute discriminatory purpose of the entire legislature. But Lanza said that, at this stage of the case, neither can he dismiss it.

Lanza also said he has to take into account claims that there was no legitimate evidence that suggested the need for an audit of the 2020 election and the hiring of Cyber Ninjas by the Senate, a firm with no experience in auditing elections. And that change in procedures, he said, also could be taken into account that some invidious motive was at work.

The judge was not so impressed, however, by arguments that Arizona acted illegally in saying that people who forget to sign their early ballots have to fix it by 7 p.m. on Election Day if they want their votes counted.

He said even if minorities are more likely to be tripped up by this requirement, the burden is so minimal as to not be illegal. So the judge threw out that claim.

No date has been set for a trial.

Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on Twitter at @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com .

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Two 18-year-old men were each sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday for killing a University of Arizona sophomore last year.

Ruben Young and Alonzo Orosco both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on April 25.

The third suspect, Roberto Joaquin Camargo, was sentenced to three years probation and will have to be become a full-time student or find employment, get a GED or diploma and participate in moral recognition therapy. Camargo had previously taken a plea deal May 26 after facing one count of hindering prosecution.

Camargo did not have a gun but was charged in connection with the slaying because police believe he played a role in inciting the event, the Arizona Daily Star previously reported.

On Feb. 20, 2021, around 11 p.m., Forrest Keys, 20, a UA sophomore majoring in communications and a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, was shot and killed inside a parking garage on North Cherry Avenue as he was walking home.

Young, Orosco and Camargo, who were 17 at the time, were accused of taunting Keys in a dispute just before the shooting, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Investigators determined that Keys, who was on foot, threw a single punch into the car of people taunting him, which is when police believe the shooting happened, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Contact reporter Jamie Donnelly at jdonnelly@tucson.com

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A motorcyclist has died after striking a traffic signal pole on Tucsons northwest side earlier this week.

On Sunday, June 26, James H. Sturgill, 50, was traveling west on West Wetmore Road on a black 2014 Harley Davidson FLHXS when he failed to negotiate a slight shift in the roadway at the intersection of North Fairview Avenue, driving onto and over the raised traffic island and striking a traffic signal pole, Tucson police said.

Sturgill was taken to Banner-University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, police said. He was pronounced dead Tuesday, June 28.

Failure to reduce/control speed to avoid a collision and probable impairment are the major contributing factors in the collision, police said.

Jamie Donnelly covers breaking news for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at jdonnelly@tucson.com

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PHOENIX  Gov. Doug Ducey signed a $15.6 billion budget Tuesday that doesnt account for another $2.3 billion of real spending in a move designed to keep the state from having to give back some federal aid.

On paper, that $15.6 billion figure reflects the general fund. That has historically been the account that is supposed to finance state operations.

But the actual spending plan for the new fiscal year that begins Friday is closer to $18 billion.

That was accomplished by directing the state treasurer to directly transfer about $1 billion in sales tax receipts directly to the state Highway Fund for road-construction projects rather the general fund, as usual.

That move  unprecedented in state budgets for at least four decades  keeps those $2.3 billion dollars off the books by keeping them out of the general fund.

Also off the general fund books with that same maneuver: about $544 million in border funds. About half of that money would be used for border wall or other physical or electronic barrier.

Another $334 million for water projects and a $425 million deposit into the states rainy day fund also was moved from the general fund.

The bit of financial sleight of hand is not done for political reasons to make voters think the state is spending less than it actually is.

Instead, it comes as Arizona has to justify to the federal government that it has properly spent COVID relief cash, much of which was earmarked for public education.

In agreeing to take money from the American Rescue Plan Act, state officials signed documents that require Arizona to at least spend the same percentage of its budget on K-12 education as it did, on average, in the 2017 through 2019 fiscal years, before the pandemic. That maintenance of effort figure, according to documents obtained by Capitol Media Services, is 54.5% of the budget.

So if the state has a $17.9 billion budget, that would require the state to spend at least $9.75 billion this coming fiscal year on education.

Moving the $2.3 billion out of the general fund budget  calculating the states maintenance requirement on a $15.6 billion figure  reduces how much Arizona has to spend on education to about $8.5 billion. Thats about $1.25 billion less for education.

And it also happens to be the amount of K-12 spending that the governors office says is in the new budget.

House Majority Leader Ben Toma, R-Peoria, said if they had not put the budget together this way  keeping $2.3 billion out of the official general fund budget  the state would have had to add an extra $1 billion or more to K-12 spending. A similar maintenance of effort requirement on higher education would have forced legislators to boost university and community college funding by $100 million, he said.

And that, Toma said, was a higher ongoing commitment than we were willing to make.

Toma said, though, that structuring the budget like that is justified because everything in that $2.3 billion list is one-time spending, like the road projects and border barrier.

There was no reason for the state to have to count those dollars as part of the budget and then have to compute them into what had to be spent on education so as not to run afoul of the federal grant provisions, Toma said.

Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix, said the maneuver wasnt hidden from her and other Democrats. And she voted for the budget.

But she said that doesnt make it right.

This is your typical gimmicks and sleight of hand, Rios said.

Any way conceivable to avoid putting extra money into K-12, they will find a way to do it, she said. So it is pretty sneaky.

There was nothing nefarious about the plan, says Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott.

But thats not how Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, who voted against the budget, sees it.

By having such an expensive budget, it was going to change what we had to set aside for K-12, she said. This is a shell game.

She is not alone in that analysis that the off-budget spending is designed to keep the feds from taking back some of that ARPA funding.

Using that maneuver, to me its just clear that they are they are either worried about that final tally in whatever that calculations going to be, or theyre just intentionally just trying to get around it, said Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale. He didnt vote for the budget either, saying at least part of the reason was because of the transfers that took that $2.3 billion out of the budget.

Even in the better case scenario, even if they are just worried that they might just come up to it, thats not an ethical way to do it, either, Quezada said.

House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding, D-Laveen, who voted for the spending plan, had a slightly different take.

There does appear to be some aspect that money was moved around in order to have creative budgeting, he said. And Bolding said there are things in the final plan which Democrats did not want.

But he said that, however the budget was crafted, the $17.9 billion spending plan was setting the right direction for the state of Arizona.

Ultimately we do think that, in this budget, the good outweighs the bad, he said.

No one from the governors office would comment.

Aside from the off-budget items, the newly signed budget includes a $330 million cut in state property taxes, $329 million more in base support for K-12 education, $100 million more for special education and an extra $50 million for school resource officers or counselors

There also is a 10% raise for all state employees, the first in more than a decade, though those working for the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Corrections will get more.

The budget also makes a $60 million deposit into the Housing Trust Fund and provides $15 million in grants to community colleges and universities to expand their nursing programs.

Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on Twitter at @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com .

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1/6 hearings fuel the question: Did Trump commit a crime?

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House Jan. 6 committee has now heard dramatic testimony from former White House aides and others about Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It's also heard of his encouragement to supporters before they marched to the Capitol and violently broke in. But its still far from clear whether any of Trumps actions were criminal, or whether he will be charged. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided explosive testimony to the committee that opened up new legal issues about Trumps role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection  including testimony that he knew protesters were armed and he wanted to go to the Capitol with them.

R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in sex trafficking case

NEW YORK (AP)  R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to systematic sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year at a trial that gave voice to accusers who had once wondered if their stories were ignored because they were Black women. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence at a courthouse in Brooklyn. The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who is 55. He remained adored by legions of fans even after allegations about his abuse of young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.

Lone surviving attacker in Paris massacre guilty of murder

PARIS (AP)  The only surviving attacker from the 2015 terrorist massacre at the Bataclan theater and other sites in Paris has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. That is the most severe sentence possible in France, and very rare. Salah Abdeslam was the chief suspect in an exceptional trial over the attacks, which killed 130 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group. The judge in a special terrorism court found him guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise. The court found that his explosives vest malfunctioned, dismissing his argument that he ditched the vest because he decided not to follow through with his attack.

Dictator's son Marcos Jr taking oath as Philippine president

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is to be sworn in as president of the Philippines on Thursday 36 years after an army-backed People Power revolt booted his father to global infamy. Marcos Jr.'s rise to power is one of the greatest political comebacks in recent history, but opponents say it was pulled off by whitewashing his familys image. A public holiday, monuments and the Philippine Constitution are reminders of his fathers tyrannical rule. Activists and survivors of the martial law-era under his father plan protests timed to Marcos Jr.s inauguration at noon. Historical baggage and antagonism stand to hound Marcos Jr. during a six-year presidency beginning at a time of intense crises.

Jan. 6 panel subpoenas counsel who resisted Trump schemes

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has issued a subpoena to former White House counsel Pat Cipollone. His reported resistance to Donald Trumps schemes to overturn his 2020 election defeat has made him a long-sought and potentially revelatory witness. Cipollone is said to have stridently and repeatedly warned the former president and his allies against their efforts to challenge the election. The subpoena issued Wednesday is the first action from the committee since the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Her gripping account of what she saw and heard has raised new questions about whether Trump or some of his allies could face criminal liability.

Mexican migrant in Texas tragedy hoped to reach kin in Ohio

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Two cousins from a remote community in southern Mexico were among the 67 people packed into a tractor-trailer and abandoned under the sweltering Texas sun. Francisco Lopez Hernandez said Wednesday that his cousin Javier Flores Lopez went back home to Cerro Verde to see his wife and three children before departing for the U.S.-Mexico border with another cousin, Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman. Vasquez Guzman was among the few rescued from the tragedy that has left at least 53 people dead. Flores Lopez is unaccounted for, according to his family. Both men were from Cerro Verde, a remote community in Oaxaca state with a long history of people migrating to the United States.

Russians fight to encircle Ukraine's last eastern stronghold

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces are battling to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock still reverberates from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 people. Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement. The U.S. director of national intelligence said Wednesday the most likely scenario is a grinding struggle in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall. Meanwhile, search teams and relatives raced to find people missing in the wreckage of the Amstor shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk.

Louisiana AG warns doctors against performing abortions

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Arizonas Republican attorney general says a total ban on abortions that has been on the books since before statehood can be enforced. Attorney General Mark Brnovich's decision puts him at odds with GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, who says a 15-week abortion ban he signed in March takes precedence. Also Wednesday, Louisianas attorney general is warning doctors against performing abortions, despite a judges order blocking the state from enforcing its ban on the procedure. Attorney General Jeff Landry said that the state judges Monday order blocking enforcement has limited reach and that abortion remains a crime in Louisiana after Fridays Supreme Court decision ending abortion rights. That decision has prompted legal fights in multiple states.

Most say nation on wrong track, including Dems: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP)  A new poll shows an overwhelming and growing majority of Americans say the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction, including nearly 8 in 10 Democrats. The poll, by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, finds that deep pessimism about the economy continues to plague President Joe Biden. Eighty-five percent of U.S. adults polled say the country is on the wrong track. Seventy-nine percent describe the economy as poor. The findings suggest Biden faces fundamental challenges as he tries to motivate voters to cast ballots for Democrats in Novembers midterm elections. The poll shows only 39% of Americans approve of Bidens leadership overall, while 60% disapprove.

EXPLAINER: Abortion landscape under state 'heartbeat' laws

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Laws banning most abortions at the point of the first detectable heartbeat"are beginning to take effect following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. Court actions in states including Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have revived laws stalled under Roe and left some abortion seekers and clinics scrambling. Generally, abortion is still legal in states under such laws until six to eight weeks into pregnancy. Clinics, abortion rights and some faith groups are mobilizing to help women beyond that point get abortions elsewhere. Some abortion foes also are providing family-related resources online.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Women mourn during the funeral of Mohammad Mer'ei in the West Bank city of Jenin, on June 29, 2022. A Palestinian was killed on Wednesday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Wessam Abu Bakker, director of Jenin Hospital, told Xinhua that Mohammad Mer'ei, 25, was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers who had stormed the city. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian was killed on Wednesday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Wessam Abu Bakker, director of Jenin Hospital, told Xinhua that Mohammad Mer'ei, 25, was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers who had stormed the city.

He said that Mer'ei later died from his wounds in a hospital operating room.

Meanwhile, Palestinian eyewitnesses in Jenin said that an Israeli army force stormed the city early in the morning to arrest Palestinian activists who were wanted by the Israeli security intelligence.

They added that fierce clashes broke out in the city between the Israeli army and dozens of Palestinians.

There was no immediate Israeli army response to Mer'ei's killing.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the young man's killing, saying in a press statement that Mer'ei's death is the result of "Israeli politicians who give instructions to the soldiers to kill."

The ministry said it holds the Israeli government directly responsible.

"We call on the International Criminal Court to immediately start investigating the crimes of the Israeli occupation and the Israeli settlers," the statement said, adding that Mer'ei is "a direct victim of Israel's continued impunity." 

A woman mourns during the funeral of Mohammad Mer'ei in the West Bank city of Jenin, on June 29, 2022. A Palestinian was killed on Wednesday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Wessam Abu Bakker, director of Jenin Hospital, told Xinhua that Mohammad Mer'ei, 25, was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers who had stormed the city. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A man mourns during the funeral of Mohammad Mer'ei in the West Bank city of Jenin, on June 29, 2022. A Palestinian was killed on Wednesday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Wessam Abu Bakker, director of Jenin Hospital, told Xinhua that Mohammad Mer'ei, 25, was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers who had stormed the city. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd

WASHINGTON (AP)  The latest testimony about the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has Donald Trump rebuffing his own securitys warnings about armed protesters in the crowd gathering for a rally near the White House. A former White House aide also tells the House committee investigating the attack that Trump desperately attempted to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol. In her testimony Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson described an angry, defiant president who grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to allow him go to the Capitol. Trump has dismissed her as a total phony.

Trump painted in testimony as volatile, angry president

WASHINGTON (AP)  A former Trump White House aide has painted a portrait of a volatile commander-in-chief who lashed out at advisers as his grasp on power was extinguished. Though accounts of the former presidents temper are legion, Cassidy Hutchinson offered previously unknown details about the extent of Trumps rage in his final weeks of office, his awareness that supporters had weapons with them and his ambivalence as rioters later laid siege to the Capitol. The testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee deepened questions about whether Trump himself could face criminal charges for his conduct and came as Trump weighs running for reelection in 2024.

1/6 Takeaways: Angry Trump, dire legal warnings and ketchup

The House Jan. 6 committee held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trumps actions that day. Witness Cassidy Hutchinson is a lesser-known former White House aide who had proximity to power as an adviser to the then-president and his chief of staff Mark Meadows. She rebuffed Trumps team warnings against testifying and provided firsthand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the insurrection. She described an angry and defiant Trump who ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to intervene to stop the violence as rioters laid siege.

Colorado GOP deals blow to election denial movement

DENVER (AP)  Colorado Republicans have rejected two prominent election deniers in primaries Tuesday night. It's a setback for the movement to install backers of former President Donald Trump's election lies in positions with power over voting. Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters lost the Republican primary for secretary of state to Pam Anderson, a former clerk in suburban Denver. Peters was indicted for her role in a break-in of her county's election system. An ally, State Rep. Ron Hanks, lost his bid for the GOP Senate nomination. Hanks attended the Jan. 6 protests. He was beaten by businessman Joe O'Dea, a rare GOP backer of some abortion rights.

Takeaways from first primaries since Roe v. Wade overturned

NEW YORK (AP)  A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, New Yorks first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape. In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

51 migrants die after trailer abandoned in San Antonio heat

SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America are seeking word of their loved ones as authorities begin identifying 51 people who died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat. It was the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas told The Associated Press that the driver of the truck and two other people were arrested. The bodies were discovered Monday afternoon on the outskirts of San Antonio when a city worker heard a cry for help from a truck parked on a lonely back road.

Ukrainian survivor: Only a 'monster' would attack a mall

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  The shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was nothing extraordinary, but in the middle of war it offered an escape for some residents. In a few moments on Monday, it suddenly became a hellish inferno after it was hit by a Russian airstrike. Authorities say at least 18 people are dead, more than 20 are missing and scores are wounded. The Kremenchuk mall is now the latest addition to the allegations of war crimes levied against Russia in the Ukraine war. One mall employee who said he had stepped outside for a cigarette when the air raid siren went off estimated 1,000 people had been in the mall, contradicting Russias claim it was empty.

Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO

MADRID (AP)  Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a breakthrough in an impasse clouding a leaders summit in Madrid amid Europes worst security crisis in decades triggered by the war in Ukraine. After urgent talks, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Russias invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told the AP that the membership should be completed the sooner the better.

Drug killings leave agony, savage facet to Duterte's legacy

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  The thousands of killings under Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes campaign against illegal drugs have left families in agony and a savage side to his legacy. Duterte ends his turbulent six-year presidency Thursday after building a reputation for expletives-laced outbursts and a disdain for human rights and the West. He's seen as a human rights calamity not only for the deaths in his drug crackdown, but also for his brazen attacks on critical media, the Catholic church and his political opponents. He's still an endearing, popular character to many Filipinos, however, and state-run TV has been highlighting infrastructure and poverty-alleviating projects of his administration. But in the homes of those lost in the drug war, an air of indignation and mourning permeates.

EXPLAINER: Abortion, tech and surveillance

With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that vacuum up personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use data troves from Facebook, Google and other social platforms against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies. History has repeatedly demonstrated that whenever peoples personal data is tracked and stored, theres always a risk that it could be misused or abused.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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THURMONT, Md. (AP)  Crews battled a fire at an overnight summer camp in western Maryland on Wednesday morning, but no injuries were reported, officials said.

Firefighters were initially dispatched about 7:30 a.m. for a report of a fire in a building at Camp Airy for Boys in Thurmont, Frederick County Division of Fire & Rescue Services spokesperson Sarah Campbell said.

When units arrived on scene, no one was in the building, but they found smoke showing through the roof and a second alarm was initiated, Campbell said. It took about 100 firefighters from Maryland and Pennsylvania three hours to bring the fire under control, but crews were still extinguishing hot spots in the building in the afternoon, she said.

Without fire hydrants near the camp, firefighters drew water from a large pond and two pools to battle the flames, Deputy Chief Kenny Poole said at a news conference.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the dining hall and no other buildings were involved, Campbell said. Investigators wont be able to enter the building to determine the origin and cause of the blaze until the fire is out completely, she said.

In a Facebook post, the camp said it was too soon to know the extent of the damage the dining hall, but everyone is safe and accounted for. The dining hall is a hub of activity, so they are relocating many activities, the camp said. The Jewish overnight camp for boys and nearby Camp Louise for girls in Cascade were founded in the 1920s, according to their website.

Breakfast prep had begun when the smoke was noticed and people got out quickly, Marty Rochlin, director of the camp said at a news conference. They are planning to carry on camp as regularly as possible, he said.

Its a building most of us grew up in, had all our meals in as campers and as staff, Rochlin said. Thankfully, its just a building. Camp can continue because camp is the people.

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A federal court Tuesday allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, while in Texas  which is already enforcing a similar ban based on an embryo's cardiac activity  a judge temporarily blocked an even stricter decades-old law from taking effect.

The moves embody a flurry of action at courthouses across the country after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled that terminating a pregnancy is not a constitutional right.

Statewide bans or other restrictions that were either left on the books for generations, tied up by legal challenges or specifically designed to take effect if Roe were to fall are now in play as a result of last week's Supreme Court ruling. Roughly half the states are expected to prohibit or severely limit the procedure now that the high court has left it up to them.

Since Friday, judges have agreed to allow bans or other restrictions to take effect in Alabama, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. But abortion bans remained temporarily blocked in some states, including Louisiana. Decisions are pending in Florida and Indiana, while abortion rights advocates dropped some of their legal efforts in Minnesota and Missouri.

Some clinics initially turned patients away soon after the high court ruling came down, then reopened as judges ruled in their favor. That happened in Louisiana on Tuesday. And in Texas at least one abortion provider said it would reopen after the court ruling provided assurance that it could resume procedures for at least a few more weeks.

Texas already bans most abortions after about six weeks  before many women know they are pregnant  under a law that took effect in September and makes no exception in cases of rape or incest. But a judge in Houston, a Democratic city in a conservative state, blocked enforcement for now of an even stricter law that calls for a statewide ban on virtually all abortions.

That law has been on the books for decades but was nullified while Roe was in place. A separate, so-called trigger law that would prohibit virtually all abortions in Texas is set to take effect in coming months.

In Tennessee, the action by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a six-week ban came ahead of a trigger law that's expected to further restrict abortion by mid-August, according to a legal interpretation by the state's attorney general. Both measures would make performing an abortion a felony and subject doctors to up to 15 years in prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision opened the gates on a wave of litigation. One side is seeking to put statewide bans into effect swiftly, while the other is trying to stop or at least delay such measures.

Much of the court activity focused on trigger laws adopted in 13 states that were designed to take effect quickly upon last week's ruling. Additional lawsuits also target old anti-abortion laws that were left on the books and went unenforced under Roe. Newer abortion restrictions that were put on hold pending the Supreme Court ruling are also coming back into play.

In Wisconsin, the Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging an abortion ban that has been on the books for 173 years. Abortion opponents argued the old law is now in effect, and abortion providers in the state have stopped offering the procedure. But Attorney General Josh Kaul said an abortion-friendly law passed in 1985 supersedes the older law.

In Mississippi, Jackson Womens Health Organization filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to stay open, after the Republican attorney general published notice that the states trigger law would take effect in 10 days. Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she would turn to the courts to try to end most abortions in the state.

Federal cases were dismissed in some states and may be refiled in state courts, where state constitutional issues will be raised. The dismissal of a case in Utah led lawmakers there to say that a 2019 law banning abortion after 18 weeks of gestation would now go into effect, though it was not immediately clear if that was the case. A day earlier, a judge blocked enforcement of a near-total ban on abortion for at least two weeks.

In some states, laws that would prosecute abortion doctors or facilitators are a target. An Arkansas prosecutor sent a letter to a Planned Parenthood facility in Rogers on Tuesday, warning about the penalties of the states abortion ban, even though the clinic hadn't been providing them before the law took effect. In Massachusetts, Democrats unveiled a bill echoing an executive order signed by the Republican governor that aims to protect abortion providers and individuals seeking abortions from actions taken by other states.

Meanwhile, about 200 abortion-rights supporters gathered inside the South Carolina Statehouse on Tuesday, a day after a federal court ruled that abortion restrictions could take effect immediately there. One woman, who was seen on videos yelling at police and putting her hands on an officer, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault.

Merritt Watts, another protester, told the AP she moved to South Carolina from California last year and if she still lived in California, she would have completely different rights.

I used to think of red states as someone elses problem, but its not, the Charleston resident said. They deserve what Californians have.

Forliti reported from Minneapolis and Mulvihill from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Jamie Stengle contributed from Dallas. Other Associated Press writers across the U.S. also contributed.

For APs full coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, go to https://apnews.com/hub/abortion.

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PHOENIX  Gov. Doug Ducey exercised his first-ever line-item veto of a state budget Wednesday as he found an item he didnt like.

The governor use his constitutional power to remove $3.6 million from the Department of Veterans Services. Those dollars were specifically earmarked for hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans, a provision put in the budget by Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff.

She told colleagues during hearings that the measure was brought to her by constituents.

The therapy involves breathing 100% oxygen while in a hypberbaric chamber, where the air pressure inside is raised to a level higher than normal atmospheric pressure. That is supposed to help the lungs collect more oxygen.

It has been found to be efficacious, helpful in curing post-traumatic stress syndrome, said Rogers, who is a veteran. But the governor, for his part, was unconvinced.

Arizona has created a strong, welcoming environment for our veterans, he said in his veto message, the first in the eight budgets he has approved. And he said there has been no shortage of policies to help them, including spending measures.

This appropriation however has little support from the public and veteran community, Ducey wrote.

Rogers told Capitol Media Services on Tuesday that she was surprised.

"Wow, that's just unimaginable,'' she said.

"Hyperbaric treatment has such a high success rate in curing veterans' PTSD,'' Rogers said. "The veteran community and I are absolutely incredulous."

Lawmakers actually established a fund to pay for the therapy several years ago, with permission to take private donations, grants and other monies. This would have been the first state dollars since an initial appropriation of $25,000 in 2018.

Rogers has said the program could treat 500 veterans each with 40 dives, meaning time under pressure.

Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, who also is a veteran, was skeptical not so much of the treatment, but the fact that this would have been one-time funding. He said there is no answer to what happens when the cash runs out.

Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on Twitter at @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com .

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PHOENIX  A planned mine at Oak Flat does not interfere with the ability of Native Americans to practice their religion, a federal appeals court has ruled.

In an extensive opinion, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that the plans by Resolution Copper to build the mine on property that is being conveyed by the federal government would affect the ability of members of the Apache Tribe to perform religious services on the site. And they said it might even keep tribal members off the land.

But Judge Carlos Bea, writing for the 2-1 majority, said none of that violates the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it does not interfere with their right to practice their religion.

And that means Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit formed to preserve and protect American Indian sacred sites, has no legal basis for its lawsuit, he said.

The decision by the court to not immediately enjoin mine construction drew a dissent from Judge Marsha Berzon. She said her colleagues were imposing an overly restrictive test for determining the key issue in the case: whether the project imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise.

In 2014 Congress directed the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 2,422 acres of federal land, including Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper in exchange for 5,344 acres of Arizona land owned by the company.

While Resolution would not need to dig a mine on the surface, court records show the land over the mine eventually would subside, profoundly and permanently altering the landscape.

There were some provisions put into the deal, including that there could be no mining on Apache Leap, with the goal of preserving the areas natural character and cultural and archeological resources and protecting the traditional uses of the area by Native American people.

Apache Stronghold sued, arguing it would interfere with religious services, like a Sunrise Dance held on Oak Flat  which the tribe calls Chichil Bildagoteel  in 2014. And that, its attorneys argued, violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

That law says the federal government may not substantially burden a persons sincere exercise of religion unless than burden is both in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and that it is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. And in this case, Apache Stronghold argued that the mine would make it impossible to have religious exercise on Oak Flat, substantially burdening its members.

Bea, however, said even if that is true, it does not violate the federal law.

Under RFRA, the government imposes a substantial burden on religion in two  and only two  circumstances: when the government forces individuals to choose between following the tenets of their religion and receiving a government benefit, and when the government coerces individuals to act contrary to their religious beliefs by threat of civil or criminal sanctions, he wrote.

The first prong does not apply, Bea said, because the transfer of the property does not deny anyone any government benefits.

The land exchanges incidental effects on the religious exercise of Apache Strongholds members, as significant as they may be to the Apache, may make it more difficult for them to practice their religion, he said. But Bea said it will have no tendency to coerce the Apache into acting contrary to their religious beliefs.

In fact, the judge said, that would be true even if the land exchange makes worship on Oak Flat impossible.

The government makes exercises of religion more difficult all the time, Bea said.

Doing so is not inherently coercive, he said The land exchange does not coerce the Apache to abandon their religion by threatening them with a negative outcome.

The majority was no more sympathetic to arguments that the land exchange does in fact deprive its members of a benefit and subjects them to a penalty: They can no longer access government land for religious exercise and would subject to penalties for trespassing on private land.

But here, too, Bea said the government does not substantially burden religion every time it ends a government benefit that at one time went to religious beneficiaries.

There must be an element of coercion: the government must condition the benefit upon conduct that would violate sincerely held religious beliefs, he said. And that, said Bea, is not occurring here.

The land exchange just incidentally keeps everybody  Apache Strongholds members included  from using Oak Flat, he said.

And Bea also said that Apache Stronghold has not shown a sufficiently realistic fear of future criminal liability or even that Resolution Copper might bring civil trespassing charges.

The ruling ignores the role of the site, said Wendeler Nosie Sr., founder of Apache Stronghold.

Oak Flat is like Mount Sinai to us, our most sacred site where we connect with our Creator, our faith and our families, he said in a prepared statement. It is a place of healing that has been sacred to us since long before Europeans arrived on this continent.

The ruling, unless overturned threatens people of all faiths, said Luke Goodrich, senior counsel at Becket, which represents plaintiffs in religious law cases.

An appeal will go to the Supreme Court.

Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on Twitter at @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com .

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The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Make no mistake: Roe v. Wade was overturned because Samuel Alito and five other Christian-conservative Supreme Court justices decided to advance their religions dogma on our nation. Their decision was devoid of logic, science, history, experience, compassion and common sense.

This judicial malpractice also happened in 1857 when Chief Justice Roger Taney, the first Roman Catholic on the Supreme Court, wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision. Agreed to by six other justices, it held that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state/territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not entitled to his freedom because African Americans were an inferior order (ie: property). Therefore, they could never be citizens of the United States. It also held as unconstitutional the Missouri Compromise (1820), which declared as free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 3630.

Was that racist ruling also, at its core, religiously based? Well never know for sure. But, what we do know is that in 19th century America, both before and after the Civil War, the Bible was frequently cited to argue that the slavery and subjugation of Blacks were justified.

Historians said Taneys opinion  ignored precedent, distorted history, imposed a rigid rather than a flexible construction on the Constitution, ignored specific grants of power in the Constitution, and tortured meanings out of other, more-obscure clauses, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Sound familiar? This is also the criticism Alitos opinion is receiving from legal scholars.

The Supreme Court religionists undid Roe v. Wade because their faith demands it. They offered legal theories as pretexts and smokescreens to disguise inappropriate faith-based motivations.

Their fundamentalist Christian beliefs tell them that:

Ensoulment occurs at conception. Accordingly, this sperm-egg union deserves immediate personhood protections and rights.

Womens lives must be controlled because their status is one-dimensional and subordinate in nature.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28: 16-20) was a firm directive from Jesus to his disciples to Christianize the world. It was a command, not a suggestion. Passing biblically based laws fulfills this obligation.

These justices are totally comfortable punting abortion back to the states where they know their religious intentions will be faithfully carried out. Conservative Christian-packed state legislatures and conservative Christian governors will now control what should be womens private health-care decisions.

As if reversing Roe v. Wade was not radical enough, Justice Clarence Thomas pushed his personal theocratic intentions even further when he said, in a concurring opinion, that prior rulings on same-sex marriage, private sexual preferences and contraception should all be reconsidered. So much for precedent!

These six justices were either lying to or misleading senators when asked whether they would consider overturning Roe v. Wade at their confirmation hearings. They should have also been asked these questions: Is your primary loyalty to the U.S. Constitution  to which you swore an oath of allegiance  or to the dogma and directives of your religion? Will your decision-making be grounded only in secular reasoning? If not, why not? Will you be able to make judicial decisions that directly violate your Gods perceived desires and your personal deeply held Christian beliefs? If yes, please explain.

Americans who respect our God-free federal Constitution are fearful that self-serving Christian fundamentalists, a minority of our nations population, are imposing their religious dogma on an otherwise secularly based pluralistic nation. Their overrepresentation on the Supreme Court and in state legislatures encourages and allows them to bully the rest of us. They disregard the constitutional obligations they owe constituents who do not share their faith. Its unfortunate that democracy is not a word or concept found in their Bible.

By embracing and privileging one particular religions ideology in its decision-making, a majority of justices of the Supreme Court have betrayed our nations trust and respect. This has caused the entire court to lose much of its credibility.

Gil Shapiro lives in Oro Valley. He was the spokesperson for Freethought Arizona from 2005 to 2016. Contact him at: gdshapiro@comcast.net

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)  The first American to be convicted in a U.S. jury trial of joining the Islamic State had his prison term reduced Tuesday from 20 years to 14 years after an appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing.

Mohamad Khweis was convicted back in 2017 of providing material support to terrorists, as well as a weapons charge. He traveled to Islamic State-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria in December 2015, even obtaining an official IS membership card. But he left after a few months and surrendered in northern Iraq to Kurdish forces.

In 2020, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the weapons charge  many defendants had similar charges tossed out in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling  and ordered a new sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors urged Judge Liam O'Grady at Tuesday's hearing to again sentence Khweis to 20 years. They cited the need for deterrence in a high-profile terrorism case and reminded O'Grady of the significance of Khweis' conduct.

While there is no evidence that he fought for the Islamic State, there was evidence at his trial that he volunteered to be a suicide bomber and that he cared for injured fighters at safe houses.

He also admitted at trial that he burned his laptop and multiple phones, and deleted contact info from another, before he fled the Islamic State. He testified at trial that he was worried the laptop contained financial data like his credit score, which the judge said was implausible.

Khweis, 32, has been in custody in one form or another since March 2016, and on Tuesday again renounced his allegiance to the Islamic State and apologized for his conduct.

It's still mid-boggling to me that I made this terrible decision, said Khweis, who grew up in northern Virginia and had worked as a Metro Access bus driver for disabled passengers before departing to the Islamic State.

Khweis' attorney, Jessica Carmichael, highlighted his exemplary behavior in the Bureau of Prisons after his conviction and said he's done all he can to show he's matured.

We do want to send a message with this sentence, she told the judge. And she said the audience paying the most attention is the people he left behind in prison. We want to encourage others to engage in this type of rehabilitation, to not wallow in self-pity.

In a statement after Tuesday's hearing, Carmichael said, Mohamad worked exceptionally hard for years while incarcerated to show that he was taking this seriously ... and was more than the poor decisions he made six-and-a-half years ago. I am proud of him for that, and hope that others in custody can receive an opportunity to show the same.

Still, while the reduction to 14 years is significant, it is far less than Khweis' request that he be released with time served.

O'Grady said Tuesday that Khweis deserved credit for his good conduct in custody, but that he struggled with how to evaluate Khweis, given how quickly he became radicalized and how easily he lied about his actions on the witness stand at his 2017 trial.

I don't know what your inner thoughts are, O'Grady said.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
MEETEETSE, Wyo. (AP)  A distress signal initially thought to be from a crashed aircraft led searchers to a backpacker who'd been mauled by a grizzly bear in a remote Wyoming wilderness, according to sheriff's officials.

No plane or helicopter had crashed but a crew preparing to search the Francs Peak area on Monday learned the signal received by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center was from a personal locator beacon, the Park County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Tuesday.

The 68-year-old Buffalo, New York, man on a multi-day backpacking trip had activated the device after being severely mauled by the grizzly.

A helicopter team found the man and flew him to another helicopter at rendezvous point. That helicopter flew him to a hospital in Billings, Montana.

Sheriff's and Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials have not disclosed the man's name or medical condition.

The man had bear spray but the bear surprised him and he didn't have time to use it, the sheriff's statement said.

The area around Francs Peak, a 13,000-foot (4,000-meter) summit in the Washakie Wilderness southeast of Yellowstone National Park, is known grizzly habitat.

The Yellowstone region spanning portions of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho is home to more than 700 grizzly bears. Grizzlies in that area have killed at least eight people since 2010.

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida, coordinates inland search and rescue efforts in the lower 48 states.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  A cyberattack temporarily knocked out public and private websites in Norway in the past 24 hours, Norwegian authorities said Wednesday.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre said that to his knowledge the attack has not caused any significant damage.

The distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attack targeted a secure national data network forcing the temporary suspension of online services for several hours, the Norwegian National Security Authority said.

A criminal pro-Russian group seems to be behind the attacks, NSM head Sofie Nystrm said. She added that the attacks give the impression that we are a piece in the current political situation in Europe.

Norwegian media reported that the country's ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Foreign Ministry Wednesday for a complaint over Russian supplies being prevented from transiting via Norway to an Arctic Russian coal-mining settlement.

The Barentsburg settlement is in the Svalbard archipelago, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of the Norwegian mainland. The European Union has slapped sanctions on several Russian goods due to the war in Ukraine. Norway is not a member of the EU but mirrors its line on most topics. Under a 1920 treaty, Norway has sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago, but other signatory countries have rights to exploit its natural resources.

Wednesday's cyberattack on Norway came two days after a similar attack temporarily knocked out public and private websites in Lithuania with a pro-Moscow hacker group reportedly claiming responsibility.

That incident came a week after Russian officials threatened to retaliate because Lithuania restricted the transit of steel and ferrous metals sanctioned by the EU through its territory to Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Fourth of July has always been an important date in the history of the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College.

In the orchestras early days, when it was known as the Oklahoma Sinfonia, it would present a concert of popular and patriotic music at what was then known as Veterans Park every July 4. The park, now called Dreamkeepers Park, provided attendees with an excellent vantage point for viewing the firework displays over the Arkansas River.

By the time the orchestra had taken up residency in TCCs VanTrease PACE and became known as the Signature Symphony, the tradition of celebrating Americas independence a day early was well-established, with the orchestras Fourth on the Third concerts.

That tradition continues with Fourth on the Third: Spirit of America, which will take place Sunday, July 3 at the VanTrease PACE, 10300 E. 81st St.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with pre-concert events held on the lawn next to the facility, featuring live music by the orchestras Signature Jazz Combo. A number of food trucks, including Andolinis Pizza, Wild Als Wings and Things Chicken, Linam Up Grill and Joshs Sno Shack will be on hand, as well.

The actual concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the main theater of the VanTrease PACE. Tickets for the concert are $15-$25 and are available by calling 918-595-7777 or online at signaturesymphony.org.

This years concert will be a bit of history-in-the-making for the orchestra, as it is the first concert Scott Seaton will lead in his new position as the orchestras artistic director. Seaton was chosen for the position following a nationwide search and audition process that stretched over two seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I cant wait to officially start this exciting new chapter as Artistic Director of the Signature Symphony with (this) concert, a time where we come together as a community and as a nation to celebrate this epic journey that began in 1776, Seaton said.

The concert will feature patriotic favorites such as the Fanfare for the Common Man, God Bless the U.S.A. and music from John Williams and John Philip Sousa.

We will highlight some of the most iconic American composers throughout the years  complete with a tribute to our Armed Forces and some Big Band jazz, Seaton said. We will also feature James Ross, the audience favorite from the most recent Tulsa Sings! competition.
BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The 14th Straits Forum will be held in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian Province in mid July, a Chinese mainland spokesperson announced Wednesday.

This year's forum will carry on the theme of promoting people-to-people exchanges and deepening integrated development across the Taiwan Strait, said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.

The event is expected to facilitate deepened exchanges and closer bonds between people on both sides of the Strait, Ma noted. 
Lang Thang realizes why some people might feel a bit uncertain about what to expect when he greets them at his familys restaurant.

I get funny looks sometimes, Thang said. The restaurant is called Louisiana Seafood, but then they see me. Im Asian. Im from Myanmar. So they maybe think the food isnt authentic.

But once they taste it, he said, smiling broadly, they know we are doing things right.

The shops full name is Louisiana Seafood & Po Boys, which Thang operates with his uncle, Lun Mang, and mother-in-law, Niang No. Mang and No oversee the kitchen, while Thang handles the front of the house.

Thang said his family moved from Myanmar while he was in high school, settling first in Louisiana. He said many of his family members had experience working in restaurants in their native country, and they quickly found jobs in the industry here, including restaurants specializing in Louisiana food.

Thang moved to Tulsa in 2014, because he had family in the citys vibrant Myanmar community. And when he thought about starting a restaurant of his own, he considered one that would serve Myanmar cuisine.

But there is another restaurant (Kai Burmese Cuisine) that does very good Myanmar food, and we did not want to compete with them, he said. My uncle has learned how to make real Louisiana food, so we decide to bring the real taste of Louisiana to Tulsa.

That effort to bring the real taste of Louisiana to Tulsa includes importing most of its ingredients  from the fish and shellfish to the bread for the po boy sandwiches  from the Pelican State.

True aficionados of po boys  the oversized sandwich that is usually filled with fried seafood or fish, a signature Louisiana creation  are often extremely particular about the bread used. For them, an authentic po boy can only be served in a certain type of French bread, with a light, thin crust and soft but sturdy interior.

Louisiana Seafood gets its bread from Gambinos Bakery, a New Orleans establishment that is one of two bakeries whose products are considered essential for a true po boy.

We tried the shrimp po boy ($11.99) during a recent visit and can attest that the texture and flavor of the bread met all the requirements. Our sandwich had spent a few minutes on a grill or under a panini press, which added a few char lines to the surface and gave the crust a touch more crispness.

It was also of quite substantial size, with a generous amount of fried shrimp, and dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayonnaise and ketchup. Thang said some people are surprised by the addition of that last condiment, but said when people try it, they like the flavor.

Po boys are also available with fried oysters, catfish, alligator and soft-shell crab, crawfish, roast beef, hot sausage, smoked sausage, ham and turkey.

We also tried the medium catfish and shrimp plate ($14.99), which included six large fried shrimp and two good-sized catfish filets, along with a helping of fries and a salad of iceberg lettuce, a thick slice of Roma tomato and ranch dressing.

The catfish, as is most of the proteins here, was cooked to order and arrived to the table ripping hot. The fish itself was moist, flaky and remarkably clean tasting, without the muddiness or fishiness that catfish can have (and, granted, that some people enjoy). The crust was light on the cornmeal, so that it had the crunch without the graininess.

We also sampled the gumbo ($6.99), which comes with a full serving of white rice on the side. The broth was richly colored and flavorful, although more mildly seasoned than I expected. Louisiana-style hot sauce and sriracha are on the table for those wanting to amp up the spice level.

The method of presenting rice and soup separately is more in line with Myanmar cuisine, Thang said.

We have fried rice on our menu, and it is traditional when you have rice to serve it with a soup, he said. That is why we also have pho (the Vietnamese soup) on our menu as well, because our Myanmar customers can order that to go with the fried rice.

Another cross-cultural offering is the crawfish egg roll ($1.99), a large bundle of cabbage, carrot and finely minced crawfish in the thin wrapper.

The space Louisiana Seafood & Po Boys occupies has been home to a number of other eateries, most notably Asian Kitchen. Thang said he originally looked for a spot in the vicinity of Woodland Hills Mall, which is close to where he lives, but found what was available either too expensive, or not fitted out for restaurant use.

That was a good thing about this place  we did not have to do a lot of things to get it ready, he said. I did get new booths, tables and chairs, because the old stuff was in bad shape.

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The Republican primary to succeed Markwayne Mullin in the 2nd Congressional District was as close as expected on Tuesday, with five of the 14 candidates finishing within 4 percentage points of each other and two  state Rep. Avery Frix and former state Sen. Josh Brecheen  apparently headed to an Aug. 23 turnoff.

I am so humbled to finish first in this race, Frix said in a statement. Markwayne Mullin leaves big shoes to fill, but I am ready to step up and do the job of putting America first.

Tonights election results show that the people of the Second Congressional District are hungry for real leadership in Washington, D.C., said Brecheen. People want a leader who will stand up in Congress to fight. This is about the next generation. This is about securing our future for our kids and our grandkids.

Elsewhere, the three incumbent U.S. representatives on the ballot won easily, while the fourth, 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern, took it easy ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.

With all precincts in the district reporting, unofficial results in CD 2 had Frix at 14.74% of the 76,869 votes cast, followed by Brecheen at 13.75%  a difference of 757 votes.

Just behind Brecheen at 12.95% was Johnny Teehee, followed by John Bennett with 11.32% and Guy Barker, 10.98%.

The winner of the runoff meets Democrat Naomi Andrews and independent Bulldog Ben Robinson in the general election.

Elsewhere, 3rd District Congressman Frank Lucas, whose district includes northwest Tulsa, won his primary for a 15th full term in comparative ease.

With 92% of district precincts reporting, Lucas had 61% of the vote to 31% for Wade Burleson and 8% for Stephen Butler. The wide margin was, in fact, one of the narrower ones for Lucas in his long congressional career.

Lucas is opposed by Democrat Jeremiah Butler in the general election.

Another longtime Republican incumbent, Tom Cole, easily defeated perennial opponent James Taylor and unknown Frank Blacke to reach the general election against another repeat opponent, Democrat Mary Brannon.

First-term 5th District Congresswoman Stephanie Bice led anti-vax candidate Subrina Banks more than 2-to-1 with two-thirds of the precincts reporting.

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Tulsa attorney Gentner Drummond on Tuesday defeated John OConnor to secure the Republican nomination for attorney general in a hotly contested race.

Drummond held around a 6,000-vote lead over OConnors in nearly complete election results late Tuesday.

Last July, Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Tulsa attorney OConnor to serve the remainder of Mike Hunters term as attorney general after Hunter resigned.

I was running against the governor and his appointee, Drummond said from his watch party in Tulsa. I think what tonights vote illustrates is that a majority of people want transparency and accountability.

They want honesty and integrity.

The people have said they are sick of scandal and corruption, Drummond said.

OConnor campaigned on pushing back against the policies of President Joe Biden and on ending abortion. Former President Donald Trump had nominated OConnor for the federal bench, a post he did not get after the American Bar Association said he was not qualified.

Im honored to continue to serve for a few months and then therell be a very smooth transition, OConnor said late Tuesday.  I want to thank the governor for appointing me and for giving me the opportunity to serve in this way for these months at a very critical time in our states history.

Hunter narrowly defeated Drummond by 271 votes in the 2018 runoff primary.

For a guy who lost in 2018 by 271 votes, folks, this is a landslide, Drummond told the crowd at his watch party.

Drummond campaigned on being independent of Stitt and improving the states relationship with tribes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courts McGirt decision.

He also wants to shut down illegal medical marijuana growing operations.

Drummond accused OConnor of taking a backseat to several scandals in the state, refusing to get involved.

Drummond is a graduate of Hominy High School. He has a bachelors degree in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University and a law degree from Georgetown University.

He is a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who flew 40 combat missions during Desert Shield and Storm.

He is also a bank owner and rancher.

No Democrat filed for the seat.

Drummond will face Lynda Steele, a Libertarian from Warr Acres, on the Nov. 8 ballot.

2021 video: Gentner Drummond discusses lessons of the first war with Iraq

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Tulsans got a look Tuesday night at a draft of the Kirkpatrick Heights/Greenwood Master Plan.

The presentation at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa marked the culmination of a yearlong effort to gather community input regarding how three parcels of city-owned land totaling more than 50 acres should be developed.

Rodrigo Rojas, deputy chief of staff in the mayors office, said before the meeting that neighborhood residents had suggested multiple uses for the property, ranging from housing to retail to recreation spaces.

The plan is really just focusing on the future and what this space can really be for the north Tulsa community but also for Tulsa in general, Rojas said.

The master plan outlines potential uses for the properties and gives each a name.

Plans for The Core, a 45-acre tract west of OSU-Tulsa and north of the Inner Dispersal Loop, call for rebuilding the area into a vibrant mixed-use destination that would include affordable housing and offer amenities and services the area lacks.

Connectivity is another goal.

We want to ensure that we are strengthening connections, so mobility is going to be really key here, Rojas said. We want to create walkable, mixed-use spaces (and) increase those mobility options for people to navigate that Core.

Greenwood Plaza would take advantage of the open space next to Vernon AME Church, 311 N. Greenwood Ave. The 6-acre property has long been home to the citys Juneteenth Festival, and it would continue to serve that purpose with a proposed amphitheater.

Rojas said the flexible space would provide a community gathering spot not only for Juneteenth but for other celebrations of Greenwoods culture and history.

Juneteenth happens every year, but it only happens once a year, Rojas said. So that is one of the things we heard a lot: How do we create a space where people can enjoy 12 months out of the year rather than just one day out of the calendar?

The nearly 19-acre Green Stitch property runs parallel to the Osage Trail and includes B.S. Roberts Park and the detention pond area that leads to Carver Middle School.

Rojas said neighborhood high school students have expressed a strong desire to see Greenwood Plaza and Green Stitch be used for outdoor recreation while also serving as venues to tell the story of Greenwood.

In fact, educating visitors about Greenwoods history and culture is a focus throughout the master plan.

The theme overall in all three of the sites is really creating an identity through vibrant spaces that honor the history and tell the story of north Tulsa, Rojas said.

Black Wall Street and the Greenwood District were destroyed by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre but were rebuilt in subsequent decades. In more recent years, urban renewal, gentrification and the construction of Interstate 244 have led to more disruptions and setbacks for residents.

Rojas said city officials are well aware that Tulsans dont want to see the master plan become another shiny document that ends up collecting dust in an office somewhere. Moving forward, the city will confer with city staff and the 11-member leadership committee steering the master plan process to come up with final recommendations.

Then its off to the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and City Council for approval of the plan.

Rojas said he is not sure how long that process will take.

The great thing about this plan is there will be an implementation strategy to identify the immediate actions that can be taken in order to begin that implementation and begin the governance model for the area, he said.

For more information and to view the master plan draft, go to ourlegacytulsa.org.

Featured video: City officials hire consultant for Kirkpatrick Heights/Greenwood master plan

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Staff Photographer

I have worked for the Tulsa World from 1995-2000 and from 2005-present. I graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in Photographic Arts/Journalism. I live in Owasso with my wife, Brandi, and daughters, Sonnie and Sarah.
Four Republican candidates for governor have squared off in a raucous debate for the first and only time ahead of the Aug. 2 primary. Development attorney Karrin Taylor Robson called for leaving behind the 2020 election and focusing on the future. Former news anchor Kari Lake doubled down on the lie that former President Donald Trump lost because of fraud. The race is taking clearer shape with one week to go before early voting begins. Polling has shown Lake leading for the entirety of the campaign, but former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmons decision this week to drop out and endorse Robson could shake things up.
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP)  The African nations of Gabon and Togo have been admitted into the Commonwealth group of nations.

We welcome them, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose government hosted a summit of Commonwealth leaders this week, told reporters Saturday.

Gabon and Togo are Francophone countries that actively tried to join the bloc of 54 nations. The Commonwealth's titular head is Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Charles represented his mother at the summit in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.

The admission of the two new members was a highlight of the summit. The meeting, which closes later Saturday, also raised more than $4 billion in pledges toward the fight against malaria and other tropical diseases.

The summit took place place at an uncertain time for the British monarchy as well as the Commonwealth, whose relevance is sometimes questioned.

Even as the Commonwealth appears attractive to prospective members, some existing member nations are discussing whether to remove the queen as their head of state.

Elizabeth is the head of state of 14 Commonwealth realms, but Barbados cut ties with the monarchy in November. Several other Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, say they plan to follow suit.

Charles told the summit Friday that free nations can make such decisions calmly and without rancor.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that granted the state of Oklahoma the jurisdiction to prosecute non-tribal members who are accused of committing crimes against tribal members on tribal land drew a sharp rebuke from a fellow justice and area tribal nations.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the 2020 McGirt ruling favoring tribal sovereignty, wrote the dissenting opinion in the state of Oklahomas appeal of a case involving Victor Castro-Huerta, a non-tribal member charged with child neglect in a case where the victim was a tribal member within Indian Country.

Gorsuch took aim at a portion of the majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that says the state of Oklahoma enjoyed inherent authority to prosecute non-Natives when they commit crimes against tribal members on tribal land.

Kavanaugh wrote the opinion, determined in a 5-4 vote, that said the state of Oklahoma retains the ability to prosecute non-Native members when they commit crimes within Indian Country.

The Courts suggestion that Oklahoma enjoys inherent authority to try crimes against Native Americans within the Cherokee Reservation makes a mockery of all of Congresss work from 1834 to 1968, Gorsuch wrote, referring to a series of federal laws dealing with Indian Country that generally conferred criminal jurisdiction upon federal authorities.

From 1834 to 1968, Congress adopted a series of laws governing criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands, Gorsuch wrote. Those laws are many, detailed, and clear. Each operates against the backdrop understanding that tribes are sovereign and that in our constitutional order only Congress may displace their authority. Nor does anything in Congresss work begin to confer on Oklahoma the authority it seeks.

The Cherokee Nation expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court ruling, but a statement said the tribe would seek to work with state officials to prosecute cases that come before it.

With todays decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against legal precedent and the basic principles of congressional authority and Indian law, the Cherokee Nation statement says. During arguments, Justice Gorsuch asked if the Court would wilt today because of a social media campaign  it is unfortunate that the answer appears to be yes.

The dissent today did not mince words  the Court failed in its duty to honor this nations promises, defied Congresss statutes, and accepted the lawless disregard of the Cherokees sovereignty.

While we are disappointed in this ruling, it does not diminish our commitment to meeting our public safety responsibilities and to protecting Oklahomans on our reservations and across the state. Tribal and federal jurisdiction remain unchanged by this decision, but the need to work together on behalf of Oklahomans has never been more clear.

Also unchanged is the affirmation of our reservation and our sovereignty. Despite the Oklahoma governors lies and attacks, the Court has refused to overturn the McGirt decision.

As we enter a chapter of concurrent jurisdiction, tribes will continue to seek partnership and collaboration with state authorities while expanding our own justice systems. We hope that with these legal questions behind us, Governor Stitt will finally lay his anti-tribal agenda to rest and come to the table to move forward with us  for the sake of Oklahomans and public safety.

The Muscogee Nation, whose reservation includes much of Tulsa, said in a statement that the ruling Wednesday was alarming.

The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling today in Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma is an alarming step backward for justice on our reservation in cases where non-Native criminals commit crimes against Native people, the Muscogee Nation said in a statement. It hands jurisdictional responsibility in these cases to the state, which during its long, pre-McGirt, history of illegal jurisdiction on our reservation, routinely failed to deliver justice for Native victims.

While we hope for the best, we are not optimistic that the quality of effort from the state of Oklahoma will be any better than before.

Todays ruling also purports to expand the state of Oklahomas authority on reservation lands to unprecedented levels to include concurrent jurisdiction on trust and restricted lands. This will have a ripple effect throughout Indian Country across the United States.

Tribal governments in collaboration with the federal government are best suited to protect our people and administer justice on our reservations. Public safety would be better served by expanding tribal authority to prosecute any crime committed by any offender within our reservation boundaries rather than empowering entities that have demonstrated a lack of commitment to public safety on Indian lands.

We look forward to collaborating with members of Congress and the federal government to identify all options available to empower tribal governments to ensure the safety and prosperity of all who reside, work or visit our reservation. This is a pivotal moment for all tribal nations.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Chief Gary Batton also expressed disappointment in a statement Wednesday.

But we respect the authority of the Supreme Court, and we will integrate its decision into our continued efforts to provide effective criminal justice in our reservation, Batton said. As always, we will continue to work with law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, local and tribal level.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Kevin Stitt easily avoided a runoff and secured the Republican nomination for a second term on Tuesday.

Just four years ago today, we did the impossible, Stitt told supporters at a watch party. Many of you in this room helped me as a total political outsider emerge from a crowded primary.

It was such a hard-fought campaign, but we listened to Oklahomans and we traveled the state. We created a plan to jumpstart Oklahomas turnaround and campaign on a vision to claim our rightful place as a top ten state.

He said the turnaround is working.

The needle is moving in the right direction, Stitt said. Thank you so much for believing in this movement. Together we have ended politics as usual.

Stitt had nearly 69% of the vote in nearly complete results late Tuesday, while Joel Kintsel had about 14%. Mark Sherwood was at about 13%, while Moira McCabe received around 3%.

Meanwhile, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister easily defeated former state Sen. Connie Johnson to secure the Democratic nomination.

From her watch party in Oklahoma City, Hofmeister said she was humbled and excited to earn the Democratic nomination for governor.

She said she is running a grass-roots campaign whose momentum will carry her into November.

My pledge tonight is I will fight like hell for the future of our state, she said.

Hofmeister had received 61% of the vote in nearly complete results late Tuesday to Johnsons 39%.

Hofmeister switched from Republican to Democrat with an eye toward running against Stitt in the general election. She is term limited as state superintendent.

Johnson was making her second attempt at governor.

In the Nov. 8 general election, Stitt and Hofmeister will face Libertarian Natalie Bruno and former state Sen. Dr. Ervin Yen, who switched from Republican to independent to run.

Yen, a cardiac anesthesiologist, has been critical of Stitts handling of the COVID pandemic.

Both Kintsel, who took a leave of absence from running the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, and Hofmeister campaigned on eliminating corruption, citing scandals that occurred during Stitts administration.

It is time to put an end to self-dealing and cronyism, Hofmeister said. Stitt said he would run this state like a business, but by his own standards, the business of Oklahomans is failing.

Stitt wants to divide us. He pits neighbor against neighbor, but we can rise up and say enough is enough.

Hofmeister also clashed with Stitt on education issues, criticizing his support for school vouchers. Hofmeister has been working to resolve the teacher shortage in the state.

Stitt campaigned on creating jobs, increasing the states savings accounts and making Oklahoma a top ten state.

He also supports the elimination of abortion and supports the Second Amendment. One of his first acts in office was to sign into law a constitutional-carry bill.

Jillian Taylor and Alexia Aston contributed to this story.

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Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Tran Thanh Man, Standing Vice Chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly, via video link, in Beijing, capital of China, June 29, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Wang Chen, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met with Tran Thanh Man, Standing Vice Chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly (NA), via video link on Wednesday.

Speaking from Beijing, Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China and Vietnam are friendly socialist neighbors and a community with a shared future of strategic significance. Under the strategic guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and countries, the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership has witnessed sound and steady development.

China's NPC stands ready to work with Vietnam's NA to play a positive role in carrying forward traditional friendship, enhancing political mutual trust, deepening practical cooperation, properly managing differences, and enhancing people-to-people ties, Wang said.

Tran Thanh Man said Vietnam attaches great importance to developing relations with China. Vietnam's NA is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges with China's NPC and provide a sound legal environment for promoting comprehensive bilateral cooperation. 
Both Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister are requesting new responses to allegations of self-dealing and misappropriation of taxpayer funds at the school land office.

Wednesday morning, Hofmeister requested a law enforcement investigation and called for the resignation of Elliot Chambers, the Stitt-appointed secretary of the state agency called Commissioners of the Land Office, which oversees $2.7 billion in real estate and other investments to support public education.

Also Wednesday, State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrds office said it received a formal request for a financial and operational audit of the CLO from Stitt.

But Trey Davis, spokesman for Byrds office, said: We are unable to honor the request because the State Auditor is a Commissioner of the Land Office, which creates a conflict of interest and independence issue due to government auditing standards. The CLO has a financial statement audit conducted annually which is available on the State Auditors website at bit.ly/landofficeaudits.

In early June, a Tulsa World investigation revealed that an internal auditor at CLO had been sacked less than a week after looking into conflict of interest concerns raised by another top employee about their boss, CLO Secretary Chambers.

Hofmeister, who is one of five members of the commission, said in a press release Wednesday morning that a second whistleblower has come forward and that Chambers should resign immediately.

A CLO spokesman said Chambers had no comment Wednesday.

As I have said recently, the concerns raised by the former internal auditor at the Commissioners of the Land Office are alarming and need to be fully investigated, Hofmeister said in a written press statement. Since that time, additional information has been presented that leaves me without confidence in the direction of the agency under Secretary Chambers. As a result, I believe it is in Oklahomas best interest that Secretary Chambers immediately resign and respectfully call on him to do so.

Hofmeister also wrote to Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater on Wednesday, requesting a law enforcement investigation into the operations and finances of the school land office.

According to Praters response a short time later, which the Tulsa World received through a request to Hofmeisters office, the matter is under consideration.

I appreciate you bringing this matter to my attention, Prater wrote in response to Hofmeister. I will determine how to best investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the matter and take appropriate action if warranted.

The Commissioners of the Land Office have a special meeting set for Thursday afternoon to make up for Junes regularly scheduled monthly meeting that had been canceled by agency staff.

Hofmeister told the Tulsa World she personally requested the scheduled executive session to discuss former internal auditor Erin Morgans exit from the agency, which was initially a termination she challenged.

The matter was ultimately resolved when Chambers and Morgan signed off on a settlement agreement labeled confidential, forbidding either party from disparaging the other, and Morgan was reinstated on administrative leave for about two months so she could become fully vested in her state retirement account and then was allowed to resign.

After her termination and before the settlement, Morgan took the conflict of interest concerns she had documented from CLOs director of commercial real estate holdings directly to two statewide elected officials who are members of the commission that oversees the CLO: Hofmeister and Byrd.

The primary concern reported to Morgan in early December concerned a company called Victorum Capital, which was being paid by the CLO as a consultant on investments.

Morgan reported being told that CLO Secretary Chambers had a personal investment relationship with Victorum that had never been disclosed to the five commissioners of the Land Office.

Morgan was fired in January.

The CLO board is chaired by Gov. Kevin Stitt, and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Agriculture Secretary Blayne Arthur also serve as members.

Hofmeister, who won the Democratic primary for governor on Tuesday, is challenging Stitt in his reelection bid. The governor won his Republican primary on Tuesday, and the pair will appear on the November general election ballot.

According to data requested from the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the CLO has seen the turnover of 56% of its 57 full-time employees since Chambers was appointed CLO secretary by Stitt in July 2020.

A week ago, Oklahoma attorney general candidate Gentner Drummond also called for Chambers resignation, saying: It is clear to me that Secretary Chambers has an untenable personal conflict and should immediately resign from his position as secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office.

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Andrea Eger Staff Writer I'm a projects reporter, examining key education topics and other local issues. Since joining the Tulsa World in 1999, I have been a three-time winner of Oklahomas top award for investigative reporting by an individual. Phone: 918-581-8470 Follow Andrea Eger 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
Oklahomas Office of Juvenile Affairs recently cut the ribbon on a re-envisioned and consolidated secure-care treatment center for adjudicated youths, and Executive Director Rachel Holt said that should serve as an encouraging message for all who come for a stay.

Holt joined several other officials on Friday to pose before the doors of a new residential cottage at the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center Next Generation Campus in Tecumseh, celebrating the opening of seven of the cottages.

The Next Generation Campus is the first time the state invested to build from scratch residential cottages and other structures specifically for this population, Holt said in a news release. This is a gift to OJA, to our staff and to the youth we serve every day.

A gift not taken lightly, Holt said, emphasizing that though Oklahoma will lead the nation in the physical structure for juvenile secure care, OJA will continue to prioritize the treatment and services that occur within the bright new spaces.

The Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center campus was first opened in 1907 and has served various purposes over the years, once being known as the Oklahoma State Industrial School for Incorrigible Girls.

Sitting on 40 acres of a nearly 150-acre plat, it has housed orphans, children in need of mental health treatment, and youth adjudicated as delinquent and/or youthful offenders.

Legislation in 2017 authorized $45 million in bonds for OJA to consolidate its secure-care operations in Tecumseh, leading to the closure of its facility for girls in Norman in 2018.

Work began in August 2019, and several outdated buildings  some a century old  were demolished to make way for the 16-bed cottages and improvements to outdoor spaces, the education building, gymnasium and administration building, according to the release.

Designed to accommodate up to 144 youths, the campus also includes a new health clinic and intake center. The residential cottages have high-ceiling dayrooms, and each resident has a bedroom with a window, marking a shift from previous open-dorm style units with little natural lighting.

Secure-care operations at the Southwestern Oklahoma Juvenile Center in Manitou will move to Tecumseh later this year, the release says.

This project was undertaken in stages, all the while the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center was open and continuing to provide services to youth, Karen Youngblood, chair of OJAs board, said in the release. This modern campus not only facilitates effective treatment for our residents, but promotes safety for our staff.

As a result of having one centralized facility, OJA is addressing technology inefficiencies, improving medical and treatment services, providing equitable education for all youth placed in secure facilities, and saving money in transportation and travel.

The center will house youth who have been adjudicated as youthful offenders or delinquents and placed in OJA custody from all over the state.

This is the last stop in the juvenile justice continuum, and our residents here have the highest levels of crime, risks, needs and are most likely to have poor outcomes, Holt said.

Through the states investment in this physical space, we are telling these kids that the state believes in them, believes in their treatment, believes in their future.

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Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin showed better than expected in Tuesdays Republican U.S. Senate primary but is still headed for the expected Aug. 23 runoff with former Oklahoma Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon.

With only a handful of precincts unreported, Mullin had 44% of the vote in a field of 13 seeking the GOP nomination to complete the term of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who intends to retire no later than early January.

Shannon, who was backed by $1.7 million of independent expenditures from an anonymous outside source, was at 17%.

You guys have bought into the message, Mullin told supporters in Tulsa. We got more than we thought we were going to do. I was asked earlier tonight, and I said I thought 39, maybe 40%. To see where were at  it could make me cry. But were not even close to being done. In fact, the real fight starts tomorrow.

State Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, was third at 12%, less than 1 point ahead of former Inhofe aide Luke Holland.

Former legislator, Trump administration official and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt had just over 5%.

Bolstered by a big financial advantage and name recognition from a decade in Congress and a statewide plumbing company bearing his name, Mullin had been polling in the mid to high 30s.

Criticized by some for not participating in candidate debates down the stretch, Mullin instead played up his image as a Democrat-fighting congressman who stuck by former President Donald Trump through thick and thin.

More recently, hes called for an investigation of Janes Revenge, an abortion rights group thats taken credit for arson and vandalism involving anti-abortion rights organizations.

Shannon, of African American and Chickasaw heritage, has campaigned on his personal success story and his own connections with the Trump orbit. He has been supported by several Chickasaw leaders, including Gov. Bill Anoatubby.

Dahm, who is term-limited, tried to build from a dedicated core following of guns rights, anti-abortion rights, small-to-microscopic government Republicans.

Holland, Inhofes chief of staff until June, was not well-known to the general public and tried to find a niche as a praying, pickup driving successor to his former boss.

Pruitt, who resigned his EPA position four years ago amid much controversy, never found an audience or the kind of financial backing he needed to mount a successful comeback.

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In a ruling that greatly limits how the U.S. Supreme Courts 2020 McGirt ruling can be applied, the high court ruled Wednesday that the state of Oklahoma can prosecute non-tribal citizens who are accused of committing crimes against tribal citizens on reservation land.

The courts 5-4 ruling, which clarifies its McGirt decision, is a victory for Oklahoma Attorney Gen. John OConnor, state prosecutors and Gov. Kevin Stitt, who had argued against a state appellate court ruling that said otherwise.

The Supreme Court ruling overturns a decision by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals that determined that the state of Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-tribal members against tribal members on tribal land.

The decision, authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, overturns an April 2021 Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that vacated the Tulsa County conviction and sentence of Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta.

We conclude that the Federal Government and the State have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country, Justice Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and remand the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

The jurisdictional question became an issue after the Supreme Court issued its ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma in July 2020, determining that the Muscogee Nation reservation had never been disestablished by Congress. Under federal law, that meant only the federal and tribal governments had the jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by tribal citizens on that reservation, which includes much of Tulsa.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals later expanded the ruling to include five other tribes reservations, which combined with the Muscogee reservation cover most of eastern Oklahoma. Prior to Wednesdays ruling, crimes involving tribal citizens on tribal land  whether the tribal citizens were the victims or the alleged perpetrators  were prosecuted either in tribal or federal court, depending on the facts of the case.

The state of Oklahoma appealed the appellate court decision and several others in criminal cases like it where a non-tribal member was accused of victimizing a tribal member within the reservations boundaries.

Stitt, who backed the states appeal, called fallout from the McGirt ruling the most pressing issue for the state of Oklahoma. Attorneys for the state have claimed in court filings that no other decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has had a more immediate and destabilizing effect on life in an American state than the McGirt ruling.

Wednesdays ruling follows a Jan. 21 Supreme Court decision to reject the states request to overturn its McGirt decision entirely. The Supreme Court did agree at that time, though, to take up a portion of the states appeal in Castro-Huertas case and others that dealt with whether the state shares criminal jurisdiction with federal prosecutors in cases where the suspect is not a tribal member and the victim is a tribal citizen.

Wednesdays opinion was joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the McGirt opinion, wrote the dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Today the Court rules for Oklahoma, Gorsuch wrote in his dissenting opinion. In doing so, the Court announces that, when it comes to crimes by non-Indians against tribal members within tribal reservations, Oklahoma may exercise jurisdiction.

But this declaration comes as if by oracle, without any sense of the history recounted above and unattached to any colorable legal authority. Truly, a more ahistorical and mistaken statement of Indian law would be hard to fathom.

A Tulsa County jury convicted Castro-Huerta of child neglect in 2017. He was serving a 35-year prison term for the conviction when the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his judgment, citing the McGirt ruling.

Since the case was overturned, Castro-Huerta, who is not a tribal citizen, has already pleaded guilty to similar charges in federal court, where he awaits sentencing.

Castro-Huerta was initially charged in state court after his then-5-year-old stepdaughter, who had cerebral palsy and was legally blind, was admitted in 2015 to a Tulsa hospital emergency room in critical condition.

The child, a member of a federally recognized tribe, weighed just 19 pounds, was dehydrated and emaciated, and was covered in lice and excrement, according to court records.

State of Oklahoma officials contended that the state needed jurisdiction so it could prosecute cases like Castro-Huertas that involved non-tribal members who were accused of victimizing tribal members on reservation.

But unlike other cases where the statute of limitations might have prevented prosecution in another jurisdiction, federal prosecutors were able to charge Castro-Huerta.

Justice has been delayed and denied to thousands of Native victims in our state for no reason other than their race, Stitt said in a statement Wednesday. Now Oklahoma law enforcement can help uphold and enforce the law equally, as we have done for over a century.

This is a pivotal moment. For two years, as a fourth-generation Oklahoman, member of the Cherokees, and Governor of the state of Oklahoma, I have been fighting for equal protection under the law for all citizens. Today our efforts proved worthwhile and the Court upheld that Indian country is part of a State, not separate from it.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said the decision offers clarity for Tulsans.

The City entered an amicus brief in this case out of a desire to share the practical experience of the Tulsa Police Department and to better understand the Courts interpretation of the McGirt decision, which impacts our role in protecting victims of crime. I want to thank the Court for providing greater clarity on this specific question, which will allow us to better serve all Tulsans, Bynum said in a statement.

We remain committed to working with the State of Oklahoma and the sovereign tribal nations who are our partners in building a safe city of opportunity for future generations.

The Court has also reaffirmed that McGirt is the law of the land, and as governments existing to serve the people we have a responsibility to work together in developing new frameworks for collaboration that honor this reality.

The U.S. attorneys who represent the three federal judicial districts in the state issued a joint statement following the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday.

Todays decision does not diminish the United States trust responsibility to our tribal partners, said U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Wilson, Clinton J. Johnson and Robert J. Troester. The United States Attorneys Offices in the Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma will continue to enforce federal law in Indian Country.

We will also continue to coordinate and cooperate with our state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners as well as state and tribal prosecutors to promote public safety and provide justice to all Oklahomans in Indian Country.

The acknowledged tribal reservations covered by the McGirt ruling are those of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, Quapaw and Seminole nations.

The state appellate court ruled earlier that the McGirt ruling did not apply to inmates seeking post-conviction relief after their original appeals had been exhausted.

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About 8.61 million tourists visited Hanoi in the first half of this year, marking a three-time jump over the same period last year, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

Some 211,300 of the visitors are foreigners.

The Vietnamese capital citys total tourism revenue in the January-June period amounted to approximately VND25.2 trillion (US$1.08 billion), more than three times the figure in the first six months of 2021.

Local hotels rated 1-5 stars recorded an average occupancy rate of over 30 percent during the period, up 6.11 percent year on year, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Home to 24 recognized tourist destinations, Hanoi is offering a series of enticing products to attract tourists for the reopening of the local tourism industry.

These include night tours at Hoa Lo Prison and Thang Long ancient citadel, a northern mountainous wet market program at Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Son Tay township, and a Hanoi City Tour by double-decker buses.

In addition, Hanoi also launched many tourism exhibitions, trade fairs, and festivals.

The city aims to greet over 30 million visitors, including seven million foreigners, by 2025, according to the municipal Party Committees draft conclusion on tourism development for 2016-20 and following years.

The visitors are expected to spend more than VND130 trillion ($5.59 billion) while in the capital.

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Vietnam Cyber Range (VCR), a system for practical training and testing of cybersecurity personnel, was officially launched on Tuesday.

Developed by Vietnamese cybersecurity corporation Bkav, the system creates a realistic training environment and provides real combat drills to help those working in cybersecurity improve professional skills.

Vietnam is lacking in personnel with expertise and experience in cyberinformation security, according to the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA).

About 50 percent of agencies and organizations in Vietnam do not have ready forces and standard operating procedures to respond to cyberinformation security incidents, VNISA estimated.

With diverse combat environments, VCR is expected to halve the process of training high-level cybersecurity personnel, which usually takes seven to 10 years, according to Bkav deputy chairman Ngo Tuan Anh.

It simulates other information technology systems of e-government, smart cities, and specialized systems used in electricity, transportation, and finance sectors.

Its library of network security simulation scenarios that resemble real-life situations is constantly updated, according to Bkav.

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Canadian police shot dead two men and six officers were wounded during a gunfight at a bank in British Columbia on Tuesday, and nearby homes were evacuated after the discovery of a possible explosive device, police said.

Emergency response team members arrived on the scene at the Bank of Montreal in Saanich, on Vancouver Island, near the border with the U.S. state of Washington, around 11 a.m. (1800 GMT), law enforcement said.

"This remains an ongoing police incident with a heavy police presence in the area," Saanich police said on their website.

General view of the site where two armed suspects died and six police officers were shot, during an incident at a bank in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada June 28, 2022 in this picture obtained from social media. Photo: Joan B Flood/via Reuters

"Homes and businesses in close proximity to the scene of the incident have been evacuated due to the presence of a potential explosive device in a vehicle associated to the suspects."

Later, police said they were lifting a shelter-in-place order but that the block near the bank remained closed over the potential bomb.

The suspects were "heavily armed" and initial reports suggested they wore body armor, Saanich police chief Dean Duthie told a news conference.

A police officer looks on after two armed men entering a bank were killed in a shootout with the police in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada June 28, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Six officers were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, some of whom would soon be released but others "sustained very serious injuries and have been taken into surgery," Duthie said.

Video posted on social media showed police officers and a police dog in pursuit on foot with the sound of gunshots blazing. Police have asked any witnesses to submit video evidence, CBC News reported.

Police officers gather after two armed men entering a bank were killed in a shootout with the police in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada June 28, 2022. Photo: Reuters

"From what I know about that chaotic, tragic, dynamic, violent scene, the fact that no citizens were injured in any way is truly amazing," Duthie said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter he was "shocked and saddened" by the violence.

"I'm keeping the police officers who were injured in today's shooting - and their colleagues who also rushed towards danger to keep people safe - in my thoughts," Trudeau said.
Agustaviano Sofjan, Consul General of Indonesia in Ho Chi Minh City, paid a visit to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspapers head office on Monday.

The close relationship between Vietnam and Indonesia has a long history, Sofjan said during a meeting with Le The Chu, Tuoi Tres Editor-in-Chief.

Bali's recorded history shows that a Bronze Age people of Vietnamese descent from the Dong Son area of Vietnam arrived there in the third century B.C., bringing along bronze, copper, and iron.

In the 20th century, the friendly relations between Vietnam and Indonesia was laid on a solid foundation built by President Ho Chi Minh and President Sukarno.

Indonesia was the fourth country in the world and the first in Southeast Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam on December 30, 1955.

Agustaviano Sofjan, Consul General of Indonesia in Ho Chi Minh City, gestures during a visit to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, June 27, 2022. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

The Vietnam-Indonesia diplomatic relations have been fostered by generations of leaders of the two countries, which is a strong driving force to promote bilateral rapport development in all fields of politics, economy, socio-culture, and people-to-people exchange.

Consul General Sofjan said that he was really happy to see that direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Bali -- the most famous island for tourism in Indonesia -- finally resumed in late April this year.

Now there are many full flights to and from Bali, showing that there is high demand for travel from both sides as Vietnam and Indonesia have dropped all COVID-19 requirements for fully vaccinated travelers.

Consul General Sofjan and his family moved to Ho Chi Minh City for his mission in September 2021.

Representatives of the Consulate General of Indonesia in Ho Chi Minh City and Tuoi Tre newspaper at a meeting on June 27, 2022. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

He has visited many provinces among 23 provinces in the scope of duty of the Indonesian Consulate General, such as Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and An Giang.

The Indonesian Consulate General has organized activities to encourage Indonesian and Vietnamese entrepreneurs, a conference for young scientists from the two countries, the promotion of batik art to the public in Ho Chi Minh City, and many other events.

Batik is an Indonesian traditional art that has been officially recognized as a living expression of the culture of Indonesia since 2009 when the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the art as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Chief editor Chu welcomed Sofjans visit, saying that Tuoi Tre is more than happy to report news about the Vietnam-Indonesia relationship and activities and events organized by the Embassy and Consulate General of Indonesia in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, such as scholarship information, tourism, and other political, social-economic events.

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BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese regulators have released an action plan on boosting industrial energy efficiency, detailing major targets and tasks to optimize the energy structure as the country takes steady steps to spur green transformation.

By 2025, China aims to achieve a comprehensive improvement in the energy efficiency of major industrial sectors, a substantial rise in energy efficiency in key areas such as data centers, and an increase in the proportion of green low-carbon energy use, according to the plan jointly released by six government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Energy efficiency in sectors including iron and steel, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals and building materials will have reached an internationally advanced level by then, according to the plan.

By 2025, China aims to cut the energy consumption per unit of the added value of the country's large industrial enterprises with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (about 2.99 million U.S. dollars) by 13.5 percent from the 2020 level.

Earlier data showed that the energy consumption per unit of added value of China's large industrial enterprises in 2021 dropped 5.6 percent from the previous year, after logging a 16-percent decline in the 2016-2020 period. 
Rapid economic development often results in serious impacts on forests, evidenced by the alarming deforestation in Phu Quoc City in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang having plunged the citys forests into a state of emergency.

Forests are regarded as the living soul of residents on the 'pearl island.'

However, the woods full of stone stakes and steel wires are disappointing tourists.

The situation is becoming truly alarming.

Forests seem empty after one unguarded night

Deforestation and land encroachment in Phu Quoc City in mid-June 2022 were no longer overt and rampant, but it did not mean that forests stopped 'bleeding.'

On the main path from Ham Ninh Commune to Thom Beach, people could easily see excavated mountainsides and forest land areas occupied with concrete stakes, zinc-coated barbed wire fences, and even well-built constructions.

Some gangs secretly encroached and built fences," complained N.X.T., a forest ranger.

During the forest land invasion process, vicious fights took place between those groups.

"After just one unguarded night, the primeval forests got emptied.

Mixed forest patches hidden on the small trails leading to the flooded forests in Cua Can and Duong To Communes were also destroyed.

Staking and land lot dividing are seen everywhere.

Some immigrants took their time to build their makeshift houses despite being coerced to move many times by local authorities.

Apart from deforestation, encroachment by the 'unspoken influencers' on the island has greatly concerned corporate investors.

Tourists in Phu Quoc are fed up with zinc-coated barbed wire and toll fences surrounding forest patches, conspicuous warning signs of criminal prosecution, and hundreds of cameras to monitor and protect day and night.

G.T.L.P., director of a company in the city, stated that illegal loggers have not only destroyed the natural forests but also blatantly invaded the land owned by the firm.

The woodland of the firm was marked and handed over to develop projects, but multiple gangs falsified the documents for trading and transferring," P. said.

Once we discover this, they will threaten us.

According to the Phu Quoc forest protection unit, numerous groups of illegal loggers are taking over the forests with various underhanded tricks.

Many surveys and reports by local authorities show that forests and woodland on Phu Quoc Island are still 'tasty meals' to illegal loggers.

Statistics indicate that as many as 22 groups are logging, encroaching on woodland, and causing land and woodland disputes.

Logging is conducted from midnight to 3:00 am.

Illegal loggers have detailed trading contracts with the origin certified by the head of hamlets and communes over the periods.

Forest loss dismays tourists

Tran Hoai Vu, a visitor back to Phu Quoc after ten years, expressed his disappointment about the forests and the pristine beauty disappearing.

The most impressive thing about the 'pearl island' is the close-to-nature beauty.

Vu was charmed with the blue beach, white sand, and primeval forests, but now it is over.

This comeback is different. Phu Quoc is more splendid and flashy, yet the area of nature is narrowed down, coastlines being split, while many beaches seem to be owned by someone.

According to a representative from the Phu Quoc National Park, the area of protection forests on the island, mainly in its south, has reduced to 6,600 hectares from over 11,900 hectares.

Since 2009, the Peoples Committee of Kien Giang Province has made many decisions to recall over 959 hectares to hand it over to 17 investors to develop projects.

Tourists in Phu Quoc these days can easily see blockhouses, warning signs, and cameras monitoring logging and land invasion. Photo: Chi Hanh / Tuoi Tre

Of the total, 27 projects were licensed by the provincial government but the developers were yet to receive the land of 485 hectares from the national park.

Four other projects have got the approval for surveys but have yet to be licensed for investment by relevant agencies.

As for the protection forest area, the Kien Giang government has promulgated 21 decisions to recall nearly 7,000 hectares of land to hand over to companies and organizations as planned.

The Phu Quoc National Park is finding it challenging to protect forests because the current laws, mechanisms, and policies are overlapping and confusing, allowing wrongdoers to easily take advantage of the loopholes.

Besides, sanctions imposed on forest protection and management violators are not harsh enough, whereas some delayed violations have put law enforcement in difficult circumstances.

Authorities speak out

Le Quoc Anh, vice-chairman of the Kien Giang government, said that forest-related violations in Phu Quoc City have become more complicated, provoking an uproar and suspicion over the citys security and forest protection.

This can pose a risk of turning the city into a hotspot of land invasion, forest encroachment, and deforestation.

To strengthen social order and put residents minds at ease, the city set up a special working team in charge of launching inspections in invaded and destroyed areas to investigate and handle violators.

As stated by Anh, during the peak of such inspections, local authorities will focus on the special-use forests, protection forests, land planned for forestry purposes, woodland that is managed by the Phu Quoc National Park and is not planned for forestry purposes, and land for licensed projects.

We will stamp out all kinds of unlawful plants, architecture, and constructions; reclaim the land in illegal use, force wrongdoers to rectify consequences, and regrow forests, said Anh.

Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of the Phu Quoc City government, said that on the first day of launching the inspections, officials handled a massive deforestation case in Cua Duong Commune, cut down all the plants that lawbreakers intentionally grew in the forest, and quickly rebuilt the forest environment toward the sustainable growth of Phu Quoc.

Hung affirmed that forest destroyers and invaders of public land in Phu Quoc started their jobs craftily by taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, days off, holidays, and nighttime, making life tough for competent agencies.

From now to the end of the year, the city will focus on tackling the cases of illegally constructing buildings and invading woodland, state-owned land, and land for investment projects," Hung stated

When evidence is found, the investigative police agency will launch criminal proceedings against violators."

Over the past few years, many tourism projects have been developed in Phu Quoc, according to the Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning under the Ministry of Construction.

Hence, the conservation of forests and the national park is a big concern in the economic development of Phu Quoc.

Numerous tourism projects that are underway or have been put into operation are erasing the landscape value of the city due to incompatible architecture.

The protection forest is showing signs of shrinking owing to illegal projects.

It is necessary to adopt appropriate measures to preserve and enhance the value of the ecosystem.

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A low-pressure area in the East Vietnam Sea strengthened into a tropical depression early on Wednesday morning and is forecast to become a storm in the next two to three days.

As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, the tropical depression was located 500 kilometers east of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

The average wind speed was recorded at 40-50km per hour, while gusts reached up to 75km an hour.

The tropical depression is expected to travel northwest in the next 48 hours and pick up strength.

By 7:00 am on Friday, it will have been located around 350 kilometers northeast of Hoang Sa, packing winds of 50-60km per hour.

It will continue traveling in the northwest direction in the next 48-72 hours and develop into a tropical storm.

Due to the effect of the tropical depression, strong winds, rough seas, and waves as high as two to four meters will be recorded in the northern part of the East Vietnam Sea over the next few days.

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on Wednesday morning asked authorities in the coastal localities from northern Quang Ninh Province to south-central Khanh Hoa Province to closely monitor the situation and send early notices to local fishing boats.

Search and rescue forces must stand ready to promptly assist local residents when necessary.

The committee also asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact countries in the region, requesting them to allow Vietnamese fishing boats to take shelter and to assist in search and rescue efforts in emergency cases.

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Police in Vietnam solved more than 10,000 drug-related cases in the first six months of 2022, confiscating upwards of 1.3 metric tons of narcotics of various types.

Major General Nguyen Van Vien, head of the Investigation Police Department on Drug-related Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security, on Tuesday reported about the result of the units crime fighting efforts in this years first half.

Anti-drug police nationwide dealt with more than 10,000 cases during this period, arresting over 16,000 suspects and confiscating 397 kilograms of heroin, 838 kilograms of synthetic drugs, and 71 kilograms of marijuana, Vien elaborated.

The production, trading, transportation, and use of drugs, especially synthetic drugs in Southeast Asia, have become increasingly serious, posing many challenges and difficulties to police officers in the country.

Major General Nguyen Van Vien, head of the Investigation Police Department on Drug-related Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security, summarizes the result of the units crime fighting efforts in the first six months of 2022. Photo: Giang Long / Tuoi Tre

To cover their tracks, many rackets took advantage of express delivery services and consignment of goods and gifts via airway to smuggle drugs from Europe to Vietnam.

The drugs were then sold to local users or shipped to a third country.

Statistics show that Vietnam currently has more than 217,000 drug addicts that are under the management of competent authorities, up by 11,000 people compared to late 2021, Viet continued, adding that there are over 59,000 drug users.

The demand for narcotics in the country is high and rises every year, posing potential threats to social security and order, the police official stressed.

The illegal use of narcotics tends to increase after the COVID-19 pandemic was put under control as facilities running sensitive services are allowed to resume normal operations, he added.

In addition, people often rent hotel rooms, apartments, and resorts to organize drug parties, making it harder for police to detect the illegal activities.

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority has called on broadcasters and content providers to address the expectations of todays audiences  no matter how they read, watch and listen to content.

A newly-released position paper will begin a dialogue to overhaul outdated codes of practice, as part of co-regulation.

ACMA Chair Nerida OLoughlin said, This paper provides our views on what Australian audiences expect when they consume media, whether that be on TV, radio, in print or online. We identify important safeguards on issues such as accuracy and impartiality, transparency of commercial interests, privacy, and dealing with highly distressing content.

Co-regulation currently sits at the heart of TV and radio content regulation in Australia. It is incumbent on the broadcasting industry to effectively deliver on co-regulation to maintain the confidence of audiences and the broader community.

We therefore expect broadcasters will take this research into account when reviewing and updating their respective co-regulatory codes of practice, said Ms OLoughlin.

The release of the position paper comes at a time when Australians are watching more on-demand content than ever before. In June 2021, 58 per cent of adults used online subscription video services in a given week, compared to 54 per cent who viewed free-to-air television.

Data also shows that more Australians were watching broadcasters own catch-up or on-demand services, with 37 per cent of adults reporting they had accessed these services in the previous 7 days, up from 28 per cent in June 2019. Current broadcasting codes of practice do not apply to online content, even when that content appears on a broadcasters live-streamed, catch-up or on-demand platform.

With the rapidly changing content environment, we consider there is an urgent need for broadcasters to apply content rules consistently across their multiple delivery platforms so that all their audiences are afforded similar protections.

We also intend for this paper to serve as a resource for a broader range of content providers outside of the regulatory framework, including print media and streaming services. These services should be asking themselves whether these audience expectations are being met by their current self-regulatory arrangements, such as terms of use, said Ms OLoughlin.

The full What audiences want  Audience expectations for content safeguards paper and accompanying Trends and developments in viewing and listening 2020-21 research report have been published on the ACMA website.

Current co-regulatory codes covering TV and radio broadcasting are here.
Sophie Monk returns to host Nines Beauty and the Geek in July, with 10 new beauties and 10 new geeks ready to test whether opposites attract.

And maybe share in $100,000 along the way.

Ive never felt so passionate about a reality show and Im so excited for the new season to start. This is like no other show Ive ever seen, and I love being a part of it. Not only does it make you laugh your arse off, it will also make you cry, she says.

Australia is going to fall in love with our new beauties and geeks, who are the most adorable people in the world. And trust me, there are some major sparks flying around this season. It will be the sweetest thing youll ever see.

Beauty and the Geek is Australias most loveable reality show, warming the hearts of viewers on an uplifting journey as our stunning beauties and adorable geeks inspire each other to step out of their comfort zone and find inner confidence.

Paired together by Sophie, they will overcome hurdles, find deep connections and discover if opposites really do attract, whether by forming a romantic connection or a lifelong friendship.

With a diverse range of backgrounds, the beauties include dancers, hairdressers, even a professional mermaid, while the geeks include a trainspotter, a Harry Potter mega fan, a martial arts ninja and a crypto trader.

Beauty and the Geek is set around a series of challenges where the winning couples score a one-on-one date that helps them to learn more about their partners and develop bonds. But the bottom two couples must duel it out in an elimination quiz and challenge that could get them sent home. In the end, the final couple, voted the winners by the other beauties and geeks, will walk away with $100,000 in prizemoney.

This season the fan-favourite geek makeovers are returning, with some astounding transformations not only to physical appearance but the geeks inner confidence as well. Also, a new life-swap challenge will see the couples swapping lives for a day. What will happen when a beauty has to move into her geeks share house with his housemates? Or a geek having to impress a beautys parents in a new social setting?

Beauty and the Geek is produced by Endemol Shine Australia for Channel 9.

Sunday, July 17, at 7.00pm on Nine.
A bridge. A body. A twisted town.

Season 2 of One Lane Bridge filmed in Queenstown, New Zealand, screens on Acorn TV in July.

The cast includes Dominic Ona-Ariki, Joel Tobeck, Alison Bruce, Michelle Langstone, Phil Brown, Hester Ullyart and Arlo Green.

When Detective Ariki Davis saves his boss Stephen Tremaine from ending his life on the infamous One Lane Bridge, he inadvertently triggers a chain of events that uncovers long buried secrets and claims the life of one of his closest friends.

Centred around the political hotbed of water rights, which is the key to unlocking a multi million dollar property development, passionate young eco activists go to war with the Queenstown business elite, as the murder case builds to a deadly and disturbing climax.

Episode 1: Consequences

Ariki is finally settling into Queenstown making the most of the extreme landscape and training hard for the legendary Coast to Coast. Hes still burdened by visions of his boss, Stephen, in danger, but events take a sinister turn when its another body that turns up murdered on One Lane Bridge. With his activist friends in town fighting a major property development, Arikis professionalism is tested as hes forced to navigate an investigation rife with fierce rivalries, ulterior motives and conflicts of interest, including his own

Written by: Pip Hall

Directed by: Peter Burger

Produced by: Lisa Chatfield Luke Robinson

Executive Produced by: Kathleen Anderson Philip Smith

Monday July 25 on Acorn TV.
There were laughs, smiles, plenty of tears and a fleeting shot of Bouncer yesterday when Neighbours held their very last media event yesterday at their famed Nunawading studios.

Media were treated to a lunch by Network 10 with cast joined by Executive Producer Jason Herbison, 10 Head of Drama and Executive Production Rick Maier, host Angela Bishop and a busy team from 10 publicity.

4 long tables sat in between sets including the Kennedy home, the Waterhole Bar and Harolds Cafe, adorned by poppies and nostalgic photos and script excerpts.

Today the interior sets will begin to be dismantled, with producers having fielded calls from the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and various arts and state museums. Fremantle will remain tenants at the site, once home to Channel 0 and shows including Prisoner, Young Talent Time, Rove Live and more, until the end of the year.

Jason Herbison, Rick Maier.

Rick Maier said, Were all very proud of what its achieved. If you if you have a look at the number of writers that have gone from the Neighbours writing room into other jobs, I think there are five production companies at the moment with Heads of Drama who are Neighbours alumni, the Head of RMIT Screenwriting, 4 broadcasters doing drama who are Neighbours alumni. There wouldnt be a Writing Room in Australia putting together a new show that didnt have some antecedents from Neighbours and thats just on the writing side. Certainly on the performance side of it, we know where all these actors have gone. We talk a lot, historically, about the actors that have succeeded. But we havent talked about the current crop. Im very curious to know where they are in five years, 10 years, 15 years time because this show will continue in terms of their performances and where they go from here.

Jackie Woodburne, who has played Susan Kennedy for 28 years, We come in here every day and we are each others people. How lucky are we that that happened? Ive made wonderful friendships, done some work that Im really proud of. As Fletch (Alan Fletcher) said, I learned so much from you guys. I mean, they talk about the big successes, you know, the Margots (Robbie) and so on. And, thats all wonderful. But for me, its those moments on set when I see one of you amazingly talented, young people have a little breakthrough.

Your joy at that, and your pride in that, and the passion that you will take with you into your career ongoing from this show with these people, that makes me very, very proud.. Im all wobbly again, I knew I would! she said fighting back tears.

Its been an absolute joy. All of you actors will go out into the world, you will have wonderful careers working as actors. It doesnt matter what the project is, it doesnt matter what the show is, you will take that same passion and commitment that we all have here to get the best work we can, in the time that we have, with with each other.

I know that you will take that discipline with you into your lives, and you will have wonderful careers. Im so proud of you.

After a standing ovation a final reel of highlights from across nearly 4 decades screened, followed by tears. and no spoilers.

The final episode screens 7:30pm Thursday July 28 on 10 / 10 Peach.

Cast in attendance:

Jacinta Stapleton

April Rose Pengilly

Jackie Woodburne

Takaya Honda

Phoebe Roberts

Charlotte Chimes

Gemma Bird Matheson

Richard Huggett

Ryan Moloney

Alan Fletcher

Georgie Stone

Tim Kano

Stefan Dennis

Annie Jones

Freya Van Dyke

Candice Leask

Emerald Chan

Zima Anderson

Benny Turland

Ian Smith

Melissa Bell

Olympia Valance

Kate Kendall

Scott Major

James Mason

Sally-Anne Upton

Ian Rawlings

Tim Robards

Jemma Donovan
Councillor Alex Phillips, left, was found by an independent inquiry to have overclaimed as much as 482.34 in childcare expenses over an 18-month period

A COUNCILLOR has apologised after being found to have overclaimed as much as 480 for childcare expenses over 18 months.

Councillor Alex Phillips, who represents the Green Party in Regency ward for Brighton and Hove City Council, was found to have overclaimed for 55 of her 74 childcare expense claims between October 2019 and March 2021 by an independent inquiry.

On 27 of those claims, Cllr Phillips claimed for two hours or longer above the confirmed duration of approved duties.

However, no evidence has been found that there was a deliberate attempt to deceive council officers or dishonestly misuse public funds for personal gain.

Cllr Phillips has repaid 490 after the inquiry concluded that her potential overpayments could total up to 482.34.

She said: I wish to apologise for the small number of claims I made which were not in line with the council expenses policy.

I have already repaid these claims, which I did when allegations that I had been overpaid first came to my attention.

I have co-operated with this independent investigation and accept its findings in full. It was never my intention to make claims which were not in line with the councils policies and procedures.

The report also found receipts and supporting documentation were not submitted with her claim forms, which was not considered to be necessary by the council officer processing the expenses claims.

Cllr Phillips told the inquiry that she was not aware it was a requirement to provide supporting information with the childcare expense claim forms.

Taxpayer billed for childcare that never took place

Among the claims made were for childcare for three meetings between March and July 2020 - at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. As Cllr Phillips and her family were stranded in France at the time due to a national lockdown, the childcare - which was booked in advance - did not take place.

However, Cllr Phillips said she wanted to pay for the service anyway amid the collapse in income for childcare providers, claiming the money back from taxpayers.

Story continues

She said: The timing of the lockdown in France meant that I was unfortunately prevented from returning to the UK, which in turn meant that I was unable to make use of childcare that Id previously arranged,

Given the collapse in income for many childcare providers, I chose to honour the commitment to pay for that childcare. I fully recognise that I should not have claimed those payments back from the public purse.

'Mistakes were made', says council's joint finance lead

Councillor Tom Druitt, husband of Cllr Phillips, previously told The Argus that "there were no claims for anything" while they spent four months in France during the first lockdown. He described the decision to pay for the pre-booked childcare as the honourable thing to do.

He said: I was unaware that childcare in Brighton and Hove during the time we were in France had been pre-booked by my wife. Alex did the honourable thing and paid our childminder for the sessions we didnt need because she was worried about the loss of income to our childminder.

I agree that to claim for these sessions is wholly inappropriate and the maximum amount of possible overpayment has been already repaid to the council.

There was never any intention to defraud the council and there is no evidence in the auditors report which supports that claim.

Cllr Druitt, the councils joint finance lead, said that, as new first-time parents, they struggled to stay on top of council work, run two local businesses, care for their child and worry about the pandemic.

As a result, mistakes were made and for this, apologies have been made, he said.

Council vows to review and improve systems

The 74 childcare claims were made on six expenses claim forms.

The report said that the councillors six claim forms spanning the 18-month period cannot be found by the council, with Cllr Phillips also unable to provide a copy of them.

Cllr Phillips was found to have not made claims for childcare on 25 dates where she attended duties. It is not clear whether she required childcare for those meetings, but the report said that if she had, it would have "potentially" reduced the value of any overpayment in expenses.

The review concluded that procedures should be tightened in regard to expenses paperwork being submitted correctly, on time and more thoroughly checked and that rules relating to travel time to support childcare arrangements should also be reviewed.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: We accept the findings of the independent review we commissioned into councillor expenses claims and are committed to implementing its recommendations.

The councillor has accepted the findings too and has apologised.

We accept that council officers could and should have done more to promptly notify the councillor in question about any potential issues with their expenses claims.

We will be reviewing our systems to make sure these improvements are made.

Councillors are the backbone of local democracy and work extremely hard on behalf of their constituents.

Enabling them to make reasonable claims for expenses is a crucial part of moves locally and nationally to increase the number of people willing to put themselves forward for the role.

Within this context support with childcare is not just legitimate - its crucial.

We must never accept a situation where people who want to be councillors are put off simply because they feel they cannot afford to do so.

Both councillors have announced they will be standing down at the next local election in 2023.
IMCD N.V.

ESG INDUSTRY 50 Top Rated_2022

IMCD 2022 ESG Industry Top Performer

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands (29 June 2022)  IMCD N.V., (IMCD or Company), a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and ingredients, was recognised by Sustainalytics as an ESG Industry Top Rated Company. With a score of 13.8 (low risk) IMCD ranks first (lowest risk) among over 180 international peers in trading and distribution. It places the company in the top seven percent of almost 15,000 companies assessed worldwide.

Sustainalytics, a Morningstar company, is a globally recognised provider of ESG research, ratings and data that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies. Its ESG Risk Ratings measure a company's exposure to industry-specific material ESG risks and how well a company is managing those risks.

In March 2022, IMCD was also included in the newly launched Dutch ESG AEX index, as one of 25 companies demonstrating best Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. We are excited and proud to receive these recognitions, which underline that we are moving in the right direction commented Piet van der Slikke, CEO. In recent years we have worked to improve our ESG practices and increase transparency on our performance. It is good to see our progress now acknowledges externally as well.

Marcus Jordan, COO and responsible for IMCDs sustainability strategy execution, comments: External recognitions are encouraging, but there is still more to be done. We will continue to accelerate our efforts to champion the sustainability journey of our customers with our Sustainable Solutions programme and we are looking for new ways to partner with our business partners on emission reduction in our supply chain (scope 3).

Today, IMCD also publishes its 2021 Sustainability Report. This report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, and it is available at IMCDs website.

Attached, the press release and the Sustainability Report in pdf format. Also, please find the visual assets (recognition badge from Sustainalytics and the cover of our Sustainability Report).

Story continues

- xxx 



About IMCD N.V.

IMCD, based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is a market leader in the marketing, sales, and distribution of speciality chemicals and ingredients. Its result-driven professionals provide market-focused solutions to suppliers and customers across EMEA, Americas and Asia-Pacific, offering a range of comprehensive product portfolios, including innovative formulations that embrace industry trends.

Listed at Euronext, Amsterdam (IMCD), IMCD realised revenues of EUR 3,435 million in 2021 with more than 3,700 employees in over 50 countries on six continents. IMCD's dedicated team of technical and commercial experts work in close partnership to tailor best-in-class solutions and provide value through expertise for around 56,000 customers and a diverse range of world class suppliers.

For further information, please visit www.imcdgroup.com.

- - - - -

This release contains information developed by Sustainalytics. Such information and data are proprietary of Sustainalytics and/or its third-party suppliers (Third Party Data) and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute an endorsement of any product or project, nor an investment advice and are not warranted to be complete, timely, accurate or suitable for a particular purpose. Their use is subject to conditions available at https://www.sustainalytics.com/legal-disclaimers .

Attachments




by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng

TEHRAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Indirect talks between Iran and the United States in the Qatari capital of Doha demonstrate the two countries share a willingness to return to the Iranian nuclear deal, but political hurdles still exist, so it remains to be seen what results from the Doha talks will deliver, analysts said.

FROM VIENNA TO DOHA

The talks on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which started to fall apart after Washington's pullout from the deal in May 2018, began in April 2021 between Iran and other remaining parties in the Austrian capital of Vienna, with the indirect involvement of the United States, but have been suspended since March due to the differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over Iran's demand that its Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) be removed from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

The resumption of the talks was announced on Saturday at a joint televised press conference held in Tehran by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and visiting EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

The top EU diplomat told reporters that "talks between Iran, the United States and the EU will not take place in Vienna because they will not be in the P4+1 format," referring to Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany.

Later, different sources confirmed Doha to host the new round of talks. Mohammad Marandi, senior advisor to the Iranian negotiating team in the nuclear talks, told the Qatari-owned Al Araby Al Jadeed newspaper that Iran chose Qatar as a venue for negotiation because Qatar is a friendly country.

EU efforts led by Borrell "to convene the two sides in the same place, at the same time, can make exchanges quicker and clearer," Ali Vaez, an expert on Iran at the International Crisis Group think tank, tweeted.

DRIVEN BY REALITY

Analysts pointed out that the United States hopes to reach a nuclear deal with Iran to speed up its withdrawal from the Middle East. Despite voicing pessimism over nuclear talks recently, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration still believes the diplomatic efforts remain the best way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Also, "prolonged limbo has proven unsustainable," especially as Tehran responded to the U.S.-led resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors by increasing nuclear activity and decreasing nuclear visibility, said Vaez.

Meanwhile, Iran is counting on the lifting of sanctions to boost its battered economy. Observers believe that Iran's economic growth largely depends on its engagement with the global economy, which is significantly subject to the end of U.S. sanctions as a result of a possible deal in the talks.

"As the U.S. moves closer to November 2022, Tehran likely assesses that it is better to try to strike a deal with the Biden White House before the upcoming congressional elections as the Democrats are likely to lose seats and be less interested in the fate of the Iranian nuclear program afterward," Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank, wrote in an analysis.

"The high price of oil and lack of spare capacity means that now is an opportune moment for Tehran to push to have the sanctions on its oil lifted and capitalize on the country's significant oil export revenue potential, which could run in the hundreds of billions of dollars a year," Vatanka added.

CAUTIOUS OUTLOOK

Regarding the prospects of the Doha talks, "we're not going to prejudge, but we are keeping our expectations very much in check," a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying.

Likewise, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Monday that Borrell told Tehran that the United States has pledged to abide by its obligations under the JCPOA and the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and guarantee Iran's economic interests.

However, the ministry added, "we have to wait and see" whether Washington would make good on its promises, given that it has once withdrawn from the deal.

The ongoing talks will keep focusing on whether Washington will lift sanctions, offer guarantees, and remove the IRGC from a U.S. terror list, among other outstanding issues, said Fan Hongda, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University in China, adding that taking into account the willingness of both sides to finalize an agreement, he is relatively optimistic about the prospects of communications between the United States and Iran.

However, there is also a growing feeling in Tehran that the U.S. Democrats would be weaker than expected to keep the White House in the 2024 presidential election, which reinforces the prospect that any benefits that Iran gains under a new deal will be lost within two years, Iran's IRNA news agency said in an analysis, referring to one of the main obstacles in reaching a deal.

Some groups in Iran claim that "the short-term benefits of a deal with the Biden administration are not worth the economic shock that Iran will suffer from reinstated sanctions" following Washington's another possible withdrawal from the nuclear deal, it added.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this round is relatively brisk, with each side more inclined to hold their respective ground rather than make a substantive compromise just yet," said Vaez, adding that "but happy if my skepticism is proven wrong." 
(Bloomberg) -- A Taiwanese chip company announced a $5 billion investment in the US this week and another is planning a research center in the Midwest. The back-to-back announcements may help allay concerns among American politicians and business leaders that the country is relying too much on Taiwan for production of semiconductors.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Silicon-wafer maker GlobalWafers Co. said on Monday that it plans to build a plant that will be the biggest of its kind on American soil with construction to start later this year. Chip designer MediaTek Inc., a rival to Qualcomm Inc., said on Tuesday it will create a research center in partnership with Purdue University in Indiana.

With the global chips shortage and ongoing geopolitical concerns, GlobalWafers is taking this opportunity to address the United States semiconductor supply chain resiliency issue by building an advanced node, state-of-the-art, 300-millimeter silicon wafer factory, GlobalWafers Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer Doris Hsu said in a statement on Monday. Hsu told Taiwan media that 80% of its production capacity at the yet-to-be-built Texas plant has been booked.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said dependence on Taiwan puts her country in a fragile situation. Former Google chief Eric Schmidt this month amplified concerns that it is a national security risk for America to rely on Taiwan and other Asian countries for the majority of its chip supply. Russias attack on Ukraine has heightened such worries, as some see the war increasing the chances that China will seek to invade Taiwan.

GlobalWafers and MediaTek are following in the footsteps of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the worlds largest contract chipmaker, which is building a $12 billion plant in Arizona to diversify its production capacity and satisfy Washingtons demand that some chips for national security use should be made domestically.

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Even after TSMC first announced its plans for the Arizona plant, US officials and business leaders continued to warn that it is too risky for the worlds chip production to be centralized in Taiwan. They have ramped up their rhetoric in recent months as part of their campaign to get lawmakers to approve $52 billion in federal grants to aid domestic manufacturing.

China sees self-governing, democratic Taiwan as part of its own territory, and hasnt ruled out taking the island through force. A senior Chinese economist at a government-run research group this month called on authorities to seize TSMC if the US hits China with sanctions on par with those leveled against Russia.

While Taiwan hasnt exactly addressed what it may do about chip supply should China invade, Taiwanese officials have repeatedly tried to reassure Washington that the island will be a stable supply chain partner to the US.

Taiwan is the USs most important partner when it comes to democratic values and industry development, Taiwans Minister of National Development Council Kung Ming-hsin said during an event hosted by the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, D.C., on Monday. The two sides can deepen partnerships in chip design and research and development capabilities, he said through his presentation materials.

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Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

- Turkey backs Finland, Sweden NATO membership -

Turkey has agreed to support Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bid, Finland and Turkey say.

A trilateral agreement signed in Madrid "confirms that Turkey will at the Madrid (NATO) Summit this week support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO," Finnish president Sauli Niinisto says in a statement, after he and the leader of Sweden met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan's office confirms that Ankara will back the membership drive, saying Ankara "got what it wanted" from Sweden and Finland.

Turkey has been resisting attempts by the two longstanding non-aligned Nordic states to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying Finland and Sweden have provided a safe haven for Kurdish militants engaged in a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

NATO leaders will formally invite Finland and Sweden to join the alliance Wednesday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says.

- G7 to make Russia 'pay' -

The Group of Seven leading industrialised powers vows to make Russia pay for its invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says, stressing that "(President Vladimir) Putin must not be allowed to win".

"The G7 stands united in its support for Ukraine," Scholz tells a news conference at the end of a three-day summit in the German Alps.

"We will continue to keep up and drive up the economic and political costs of this war for President Putin and his regime."

The leaders agree to work on a price cap for Russian oil, as part of efforts to cut the Kremlin's revenues, a US official says.

- Ukraine must surrender: Kremlin -

The Kremlin says Russia will halt its offensive as soon as Ukraine surrenders, urging Kyiv to order its troops to lay down arms.

"The Ukrainian side can stop everything before the end of today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters. "An order for the nationalist units to lay down their arms is necessary."

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- Mall 'terror' -

Ukrainian officials say at least 18 people were killed and 59 wounded in a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in central Ukraine on Monday in what G7 leaders call a "war crime".

The Russian military says the target of the strike was an arms depot and that the resulting explosions triggered the blaze at the shopping mall, which it claims was shut at the time of the attack.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia must be labelled a "state sponsor of terrorism" after the attack.

- 'Brutality' -

NATO chief Stoltenberg urges alliance leaders at their Madrid summit to keep up their backing for Ukraine amid the Russian onslaught.

"It is extremely important that we are ready to continue to provide support because Ukraine now faces a brutality which we haven't seen in Europe since the Second World War," he says.

At the meeting NATO is expected to boost high readiness forces to more than 300,000 troops.

The United States will also announce new long-term military deployments across Europe in response to the threat from Russia, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says.

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A campaigner dressed as a custom officer and another dressed as Boris Johnson protest in Northern Ireland over plans to suspend the protocol.

A MAJORITY of Northern Irish voters support the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit deal signed between the UK and the EU with backing growing for the measure, according to a new poll.

The results of the survey will prove embarrassing to Boris Johnson whose ministers have introduction highly controversial legislation in the Commons to over-ride parts of the legal mechanism agreed by the two sides designed to prevent the return to a hard border in Ireland.

MPs backed the bill in a vote in the Commons on Monday night despite the prospect of trade tariffs being imposed on the UK following court action.

Earlier this month the EU announced it was raising a legal challenge and renewing a previously paused legal case against the UK Government for failing to implement the protocol and by taking the decision to unilaterally suspend parts of it.

The results of the poll will also prove awkward for the Democratic Unionist Party which opposes the protocol and in protest is refusing to sit in Stormont meaning a new devolved executive has not been appointed since the May election which saw Sinn Fein become the biggest party for the first time.

The survey by Lucid Talk on behalf of Queens University Belfast, reveals that 55 per cent of those questioned view the protocol as being appropriate for managing the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland - up from 47 per cent in 2021, while 38 per cent disagree.

Some 55 per cent of respondents also believe the protocol has positive economic consequences for Northern Ireland while 65 per cent think that it offers unique economic opportunities which could benefit Northern Ireland.

The greatest concerns are for its political implications  with 59 per cent seeing the protocol as having a negative impact on political stability and on British-Irish relations. However, the proportion thinking that the protocol weakens Northern Irelands place in the United Kingdom, including the UK internal market, has fallen to 46 per cent, less than in previous polls.

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Respondents to the poll were asked six sets of questions on attitudes towards Brexit and the Protocol.

Key findings include:

* Just over a third (36 per cent) of respondents have no concerns about the full operational scope and impact of the Protocol.

* The UK Government is by far the most distrusted (84 per cent distrust, 55 per cent strongly so) and least trusted of all actors. Just 5 per cent of respondents trusted the UK Government.

* Voters in Northern Ireland are more inclined to trust (47 per cent) than distrust (43 per cent) the European Commission/EU.

* A majority of respondents (57 per cent) do not think the UK Government is justified in taking unilateral action to suspend elements of the Protocol and 55 per cent think that the EU would be justified in retaliating against such measures.

* A clear majority of respondents (74 per cent) would prefer to see the UK and the EU reaching an agreement on the Protocol's implementation than the UK take unilateral action.

* Just over half of respondents (52 per cent) favour MLAs voting for the continued application of the Protocol.

The long negotiated protocol keeps Northern Ireland more closely aligned with EU standards and was agreed by Boris Johnson and the European Commission as a way of preventing customs checks and border infrastructure between the province and the Irish Republic in keeping with the Good Friday Agreement which brought about the end of the Troubles.

Instead, in a bid to protect the European single market the two sides agreed that checks would be carried out on goods travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland. The move was rejected by the DUP who insist the mechanism undermines Northern Ireland's position in the UK.

Professor David Phinnemore from the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queens, which commissioned the poll said: "This latest poll also shows support for the Protocol edging upwards and almost two-thirds of respondents seeing economic opportunities in it. Also its clear that voters would much prefer outstanding issues between the UK and the EU to be resolved through agreement and not unilateral action by the UK government.

Some 1,497 voters in Northern Ireland took part in the poll which was conducted from June 3 to 6. It is the fifth in a series of polls conducted for researchers at QUB as part of a three-year project.

During the debate in the Commons on Monday, Theresa May launched an excoriating attack on her successor saying that as a patriot she could not support his legislation to scrap large parts of the protocol unilaterally.

She said it was illegal under international law, will not achieve its aims and will reduce Britains standing in the world.

Her comments to MPs were a riposte to Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, who had earlier told the Commons that she was bringing in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill because she was a patriot. Our No 1 priority is protecting peace and political stability in Northern Ireland by protecting the Belfast Good Friday agreement, Truss told MPs.

Labour's David Lammy said three years ago Johnson told MPs he had secured a good deal which protected the Good Friday Agreement and that "the Government are taking a wrecking ball to their own agreement."
By Philip Blenkinsop

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (Reuters) - G7 leaders urged China on Tuesday to use its influence with Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine and drop "expansive maritime claims" in the South China Sea, in unprecedentedly tough criticism of Beijing's policies and human rights record.

They called on China to press Russia to pull forces out of Ukraine immediately and unconditionally, citing a ruling by the International Court of Justice that Moscow suspend its military operation, and related U.N. General Assembly resolutions.

China says sanctions on Russia cannot resolve the Ukraine crisis and has criticised the United States and its allies for supplying arms to Ukraine.

"G7 countries only make up 10% of the world's population. They have no right to represent the world or to think their values and standards should apply to the world," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press briefing on Wednesday, when asked about the G7 communique.

In the communique, concluding their three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps, the Group of Seven rich industrial democracies took aim at what they called coercive Chinese non-market policies that distorted the global economy.

The Chinese section of the communique, highlighted by the United States, referred to China's "non-transparent and market-distorting interventions" and other forms of economic and industrial directives.

The G7 leaders committed to work together to ensure a level playing field for their businesses and workers.

The communique further voiced serious disquiet about the situation in the East and South China seas and unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.

"We stress that there is no legal basis for China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea," it said.

It also the G7 was now "gravely concerned" - a term not used in their summit a year ago - about the human rights situation in China, including forced labour in Tibet and Xinjiang. China should also honour its commitments to uphold rights, freedom and a high degree of autonomy in Hong Kong, they said.

A NATO summit starting immediately after the G7 summit will tackle China's deepening ties with Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and what is seen as Beijing's growing inclination to flex geopolitical muscle abroad.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; editing by Mark Heinrich and Frank Jack Daniel)
The inquest is being held at Laganside Courts in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Archive)

A lawyer for the family of a mother-of-six killed by a soldier in an unjustified shooting has hit out at the Governments controversial Bill to address legacy issues.

An inquest into the death of 47-year-old housewife Kathleen Thompson ruled that she was killed by a bullet to the chest in Londonderry on November 6 1971.

The ruling came on Wednesday, as MPs took part in the first day of the committee stage of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill in the House of Commons.

The coroners findings, four years on from a fresh inquest into Mrs Thompsons death being ordered, are a clear illustration that the inquest system is capable of achieving the truth for families seeking answers as to how their loved ones died, her familys lawyer said.

Kathleen Thompson was a housewife and mother of six (PA) (PA Media)

Fearghal Shiels, of Madden and Finucane Solicitors, insisted that the Governments current proposals on legacy could not have established the proper circumstances of how Mrs Thompson died, describing anyone who thinks so as frankly living on another planet.

The Bills most controversial aspects are the promise of immunity from prosecution for perpetrators who agree to provide information to a new truth body, and a move to end conflict-related civil cases and inquests.

Giving a summary of her ruling, coroner Judge Sandra Crawford said two bullets were fired by someone identified only as soldier D into Mrs Thompsons garden in Rathlin Drive, Creggan, as he and others were withdrawing from the area.

She said Mrs Thompson was unarmed and had been in her back garden banging a bin lid or other object to alert neighbours to the presence of soldiers in the area.

Soldier D did not have an honest belief that his life and the lives of others were under immediate threat

Judge Sandra Crawford

The shooting of Ms Thompson, whose children were aged between seven and 18 at the time, breached guidance on the deployment of lethal force provided to soldiers, the coroner said.

Judge Crawford said: Her death was caused by a high-velocity shot fired by soldier D from a position on Southway, Derry, as he and other soldiers were withdrawing from the area.

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Soldier D did not have an honest belief that a gunshot had been fired from the garden of 129 Rathlin Drive and that his life and the lives of others were under immediate threat.

She said shooting into a dark garden in a residential area in such circumstances breached guidance on soldiers use of lethal force.

She found that the soldier had fired two shots into Mrs Thompsons back garden in circumstances which were unjustified.

David and Erne Thompson outside Laganside Courts in Belfast for a previous inquest hearing (Rebecca Black/PA) (PA Archive)

Sitting at the Laganside Courts complex in Belfast, Judge Crawford said soldier D had presented a contrived and self-serving account of what happened.

She said that in all likelihood he was frightened and had overreacted to the noise and activity which was prevalent at the time of his withdrawal from the area.

But she said being frightened or panicking does not begin to justify the force used by the soldier, who fired a further six shots.

The coroner said no proper investigation had been carried out into the death.

A previous inquest into Mrs Thompsons death, held in 1972, returned an open verdict.

A new inquest was ordered in September 2013 and began in 2018.

Mr Shiels said: This is yet another clear illustration that the inquest system is capable of achieving the truth for families seeking answers as to how their loved ones died.

The soldier responsible for Mrs Thompsons death gave evidence over the course of four days.

He persistently claimed not to have a clear recollection of the only time in which he has ever fired lived rounds in anger and killed someone.

It is only by testing the witness account given immediately after the event, using the independently objective ballistics, pathology and other witness evidence, can a proper assessment of the witness credibility be reached.

Any person who thinks that the proper circumstances of how Kathleen Thompson died could be established through the mechanisms suggested by the current Governments legacy proposals and reliant upon the co-operation and honesty of those responsible for the death, is frankly living on another planet.
Poland's Duda says planned U.S. base boosts security from Russia FILE PHOTO: Polish and U.S. troops participate in a joint military training in Nowa Deba

By Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk

WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland's president on Wednesday hailed a U.S. commitment to establish the 5th Army's Headquarters in the country as the realisation of a long-held dream that would enhance its security by sending a clear signal of deterrence to Russia.

U.S. President Joe Biden told a NATO summit in Madrid earlier on Wednesday that the United States will ramp up its forces and equipment across Europe and set up a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to potential new threats from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

"This is news that we have been waiting for for a long time," President Andrzej Duda told a news conference. "It is a fact that strengthens our safety a lot... in the difficult situation which we are in."

Since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014, Poland has viewed an increase in NATO troops on the Western alliance's eastern flank as vital for central Europe's security in the face of increased Russian assertiveness. It has long sought a permanent U.S. military base on its soil.

"Something that seemed impossible to many is becoming a fact today," Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz wrote on Twitter.

"We have a PERMANENT U.S. presence in Poland... It is also a clear signal to Moscow."

Biden visited Poland in March and told U.S. troops deployed there that they were "in the midst of a fight between democracies and oligarchs."

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland's ruling party, said in April that Warsaw would be open to having U.S. nuclear weapons on its soil and would welcome a 50% increase in the number of U.S. troops in Europe. His comments were criticised by the Kremlin.

Before tensions between Russia and the West flared over Ukraine, the U.S. military had about 4,500 troops in Poland in both a NATO and a bilateral capacity, mostly stationed in the west of the country on a rotational basis.

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Washington has since despatched extra troops and equipment to Poland on a temporary basis and NATO said in June that the alliance currently has 11,600 troops from other countries deployed in Poland, a number which included forces from other NATO members such as Britain.

In 2018, Poland, which borders Ukraine and close Russian ally Belarus, proposed naming a military base in honour of then U.S. president Donald Trump, in return for him establishing permanent presence there.

"Fort Trump" never materialised, however.

(Writing by Andrew OsbornEditing by William Maclean and Peter Graff)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Boris Johnsons bid to effectively tear up parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol has cleared its first Commons hurdle, amid Tory warnings the plans are illegal.

MPs voted 295 to 221, majority 74, to give the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill a second reading, which clears the way for it to undergo detailed scrutiny in the coming weeks.

The Prime Minister claimed the proposed legislation, which gives ministers powers to override parts of the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, could be carried out fairly rapidly, with the proposals in law by the end of the year.

But his predecessor in No 10, Theresa May, led the criticism from the Tory benches as she delivered a withering assessment of the legality and impact of the Bill.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will tell the Commons the legislation is a basis for a durable and sustainable solution (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Mrs May made clear she would not support the legislation and warned it will diminish the UKs global standing.

Other Tory MPs joined Mrs May in expressing concern, although they opted against seeking to block the Bill at second reading and instead appear likely to seek amendments.

The House of Lords is also expected to contest parts of the Bill, setting up a lengthy showdown between the two Houses.

Mr Johnsons Government has said the measures to remove checks on goods and animal and plant products travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are necessary to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement and peace and stability.

What we are trying to do is fix something that I think is very important to our country, which is the balance of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, he told reporters at the G7 summit in Germany.

You have got one tradition, one community, that feels that things really arent working in a way that they like or understand, youve got unnecessary barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Former prime minister Theresa May (Andy Buchanan/PA) (PA Wire)

All we are saying is you can get rid of those whilst not in any way endangering the EU single market.

Asked if the measures could be in place this year, Mr Johnson said: Yes, I think we could do it very fast, Parliament willing.

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He said it would be even better if we could get some of that flexibility we need in our conversations with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president.

The Prime Minister added: We remain optimistic.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss attempted to downplay concerns of MPs by saying the Bill has a strong legal justification and the UK remains committed to seeking a negotiated solution.

But Mrs May told the Commons: The UKs standing in the world, our ability to convene and encourage others in the defence of our shared values, depends on the respect others have for us as a country, a country that keeps its word, and displays those shared values in its actions.

As a patriot, I would not want to do anything that would diminish this country in the eyes of the world.

The UK has insisted that its unilateral approach is the only option left to resolve the issues baked in to the protocol (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Archive)

I have to say to the Government, this Bill is not, in my view, legal in international law, it will not achieve its aims, and it will diminish the standing of the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world, and I cannot support it.

Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith also said: I fear that this Bill is a kind of displacement activity from the core task of doing whatever we can to negotiate a better protocol deal for Northern Ireland.

I also fear that it risks creating an impression to unionism that a black-and-white solution is available, when the reality is once this Bill has been dragged through the Lords, and courts, and EU responses and reprisals, compromise will ultimately be needed.

But Conservative former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland said there is necessity for the Government to act because there is a growing and real threat.

Unionist opposition to the imposition of checks has seen the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refuse to return to the powersharing Executive at Stormont, leaving the region without a functioning government.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson acknowledged the Bill is not perfect but said: It empowers ministers to make change where change is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the UK internal market.

Sir Jeffrey, ahead of the debate, also warned the Lords that blocking the legislation would be akin to wrecking the Good Friday Agreement.

Alliance MP Stephen Farry (North Down) said: This is an extremely bad Bill, its unwanted, unnecessary and, indeed, its dangerous.

Sinn Fein MP John Finucane called the Governments plans shameful and said they will mean more instability for the region.

He told BBC Radio Ulsters Good Morning Ulster programme: Its very interesting that we are watching a sovereign Parliament debating whether to continue a breach of international law or not.

A Number 10 spokesman said on Monday that the Government had never put a hard target date on when it would hope to see the Bill enacted.
Thirteen people were killed when toxic chlorine gas escaped on the dockside in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, officials said.

More than 250 people were injured in the accident Monday, of whom 123 remained in hospital on Tuesday, according to the latest toll update.

Most were being treated for the effects of breathing chlorine gas, a common cleaning agent that also has a range of other industrial uses and can be employed as a chemical weapons agent.

The port began returning to normal Tuesday, with all docks due to be reopen except for Dock Four, where further safety checks were to be carried out, said Interior Minister General Mazen al-Faraya.

The situation in Aqaba is now under control, Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh told state television after visiting the port late Monday.

The chlorine escaped when the cable snapped on a crane loading a tank of liquefied gas onto a ship, sending it crashing to the ground on the dockside.

The force of the fall punctured the pressurised container, enveloping the freighter Forest 6 in a shroud of the bright yellow gas, closed circuit TV images from the port showed.

The fallen white tank, punctured and stained yellow from where the gas burst out, came to rest on the dock directly beside the Forest 6 vessel. Ship-tracking websites say the deck cargo ship was built only this year and sails under a Hong Kong flag.

The nearby south beach, which is popular with tourists, was evacuated after Mondays accident, as were adjacent residential areas but residents were later told they could return to their homes.

Aqaba tourist department official Nidal al-Majali said the lack of wind on Monday helped to prevent the gas cloud spreading outside the port.

Jordans Aqaba port is the countrys only maritime gateway and a transit point for the lions share of its imports and exports.

Chlorine has a range of industrial uses and is infamous for its use as a chemical weapons agent in World War I. It attacks the respiratory system, skin and eyes.

(AFP)
Make room for special memories this summer at the Titanic Hotel, Belfast

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(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnsons bill to override the Brexit deal he negotiated survived a challenge in the House of Commons from opponents in the prime ministers own Conservative Party -- including his immediate predecessor, Theresa May -- as members of Parliament voted to allow it to proceed to the next legislative step.

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MPs voted by 295 to 221 to allow the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to pass its second reading in the Commons, meaning it now progresses to the so-called committee stage, when the text will be considered line-by-line and amendments will be considered.

https://t.co/UtT1E6HN1E pic.twitter.com/QNoxsqInUG

 Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) June 27, 2022

But the debate exposed the fractures that remain over EU relations within Johnsons Tories, as MPs including May, former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell and Northern Ireland Select Committee Chairman Simon Hoare panned the proposal, saying it broke international law and damaged the UKs reputation.

I cannot support it, May said. It will diminish the standing of the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world.

The timing was particularly awkward for Johnson as he met European Union leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Germany. His plan would allow Britain to unilaterally amend the post-Brexit settlement for Northern Ireland, risking a trade war with the EU.

Read More: Boris Johnson Heads for New Fight to Pass Brexit Law Plan

The legislation has provoked renewed legal action from the EU and soured relations with the UKs biggest trading partner. Speaking at the G-7 on Monday, Johnson told reporters his proposal could be carried out fairly rapidly and he wants it done by year-end.

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We could do it very fast, Parliament willing, Johnson said.

But the bill could take as long as a year to pass Parliament and become law if the upper House of Lords digs in.

Johnsons government argues the legislation is necessary to address disruption to trade caused by the Brexit deal it signed, which created an effective customs border between Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain. It also wants to restore the regions power-sharing executive, which has collapsed due to the Democratic Unionist Partys opposition to the protocol.

Failure of Statecraft

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday that ministers had to proceed with the plan because the EU isnt being sufficiently flexible in negotiations and wont agree to change the text of the protocol.

We simply cannot allow this situation to drift, Truss said, insisting the plan is legal. The bill will fix the practical problems the protocol has created.

The changes the UK government wants to make to the protocol include reducing customs paperwork for traders sending goods across the Irish Sea, stripping the European Court of Justice of its role in settling disputes and extending UK subsidy controls and tax breaks to Northern Ireland.

Legal experts have widely criticized the position as being in breach of international law, a claim that was also made by the dissenting Tory MPs. Hoare called the plan a failure of statecraft and said the arguments for it are flimsy at best and irrational at worst. Mitchell said the move trashes our international reputation and threatens a trade war when our economy is flat.

Uncertainty

An EU trade war is a prospect because the bloc says the post-Brexit trade agreement is conditional on Britain respecting the terms of their divorce, of which the so-called Northern Ireland protocol was a key part.

The EUs chief Brexit negotiator, Maros Sefcovic, told reporters during a trip to Oslo on Monday that the UK plans mean constant uncertainty.

What we are communicating to our UK partners is come back to the negotiating table, respect international law, he said. Because if the bill would be adopted as drafted, we simply have to keep all options on the table.

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Chinese-built highway in Algeria praised for high quality, local contribution

Xinhua) 08:30, June 29, 2022

ALGIERS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- An Algerian official praised a Chinese-built highway project on Tuesday for its high quality and contribution to local social and economic development.

Mohamed Khaldi, director general of Algeria's National Highway Agency, said the 53-kilometer project undertaken by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), has effectively facilitated social and economic development, saved transportation costs, and improved travel convenience for locals.

Khaldi made the remarks when he joined members of the Trans-Saharan Highway Liaison Committee to tour a portion of the 53-kilometer entrance section of the Trans-Saharan Highway, a continental-scale project that links six African countries, namely Algeria, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tunisia.

With a total length of more than 9,000 km, the main line of the highway is the Algiers-Lagos section, which has a length of about 4,500 km. The ambitious project seeks to provide Sub-Saharan African nations with access to the Mediterranean Sea. It also intends to boost pan-African economic cooperation and trade exchanges, as well as accelerate regional and global integration.

Due to steep terrain and projects including the construction of a 9.6-km-long tunnel and 2.7-km-long bridge, the 53-km-long portion of the highway connecting the northern Algerian towns of Chiffa and Berrouaghia is regarded as one of the most challenging and complicated parts of the entire highway.

To build the section, CSCEC has created more than 10,000 jobs in Algeria and trained more than 2,000 professionals in the construction sector, according to figures released by the company.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Students from the University of Johannesburg treat a patient using China's acupuncture in the teaching clinic of the school in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sept. 17, 2021. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China's acupuncture is enjoying growing popularity in BRICS countries. "Acupuncture has become a common medical treatment and is regarded as the 'Oriental magic needle,'" said Hui Qing, vice president of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies.

Hui runs a clinic in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. Alici, 50, is one of the regular visitors to the clinic, who has made the 30 minute-acupuncture a part of her life. Every month, she takes an eight-hour night-bus ride from her home in Minas Gerais to Sao Paulo to attend the clinic.

She was first hit with rheumatoid arthritis a decade ago, resulting in severe joint pain and difficulty walking. A friend recommended she try acupuncture at Hui's clinic. She followed the friend's advice and found her pain was gradually eased, an outcome she wasn't expecting.

"This kind of story happens every day in Brazil," Hui said.

The treatment is not only gaining popularity in Brazil.

Since 1998, more than 300 cerebral palsy patients from Russia have been treated at the Shanxi Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation Hospital, according to Guo Xinzhi, former president of the hospital.

More than 10 doctors have also been sent by the hospital to aid the Republic of Dagestan and the Chechen Republic, curing more than 4,000 cerebral palsy patients, Guo added.

At the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, acupuncture has become one of the top 15 most popular courses since it started in 2020. More than 1,000 students applied for courses related to acupuncture that year, but only 45 were admitted. In 2022, of 7,000 applicants, only 58 students won places.

Saurabh Sinha, vice president of University of Johannesburg, said that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture are important components of complementary medicine that can improve health-care in South Africa.

For students from remote and underprivileged areas of South Africa, these medical skills will play a positive role in improving local health services when they return home to work, he added.

Acupuncture not only helps improve local health services in South Africa, but also plays an important role in strengthening the relationship between China and India.

In the heart of Ludhiana, India, lies the Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis Health and Education Center, a hospital dedicated to acupuncture treatment. The hospital dean, Dr. Inderjit Singh, has been practicing acupuncture for more than 48 years.

Dr. Singh said that, in the 1930s, Indian doctors Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis and Dr. B.K. Basu joined the Indian medical team to aid China in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Dr. Kotnis died on the mission, aged 32.

In 1957, Dr. Basu visited China again. Troubled by sinusitis for a long time, he experienced acupuncture treatment and received obvious therapeutic effects.

Dr. Basu decided to study acupuncture and bring the ancient Chinese medical treatment back to his country. After returning to India, he used acupuncture to treat patients and at the same time trained more acupuncturists.

"I was one of his students at the time," Dr. Singh said.

The hospital has now grown from a small clinic with only one room and two beds to a prestigious hospital with more than 200 doctors and 39 acupuncture beds. Almost 2,000 patients receive acupuncture treatment there every year.

The hospital won its fame by word of mouth, for it charges low fees and often conducts free medical-treatment activities. Many patients from New Delhi, Bangalore and other places visit the hospital for treatment.

Dr. Singh's two daughters and one of his sons-in-law are now also acupuncturists. He said he would carry forward the work of Kotnis and Basu through acupuncture to bring together the people of India and China.

"Acupuncture has become an important bridge between China and India," he said.

Dr. Singh is not alone in believing in the power of acupuncture to join nations in a common endeavor of great value.

Liu Baoyan, president of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies, said, "Acupuncture has gradually gained recognition in more countries, and some BRICS countries have incorporated acupuncture into their national medical systems. In the future, acupuncture is bound to make greater contributions to the construction of a community of common health for mankind." 

Hui Qing, vice president of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies, performs acupuncture treatment for her patient Alici at her clinic in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 21, 2022. (Xinhua)
The University of North Georgia's (UNG) College of Education hosted 116 students this June for Steps to College, a four-week enrichment for-credit program. Steps to College helps area high school students who are also English learners stay on track to graduate by earning course credits over the summer.

Steps to College started in 1999 on UNG's Gainesville Campus and is funded by Jackson EMC, Habersham EMC and UNG.

"For some students who were previously intimidated by the prospect of applying to and attending college, this could break down some barriers," Dr. Lauren Johnson, assistant dean of the College of Education, said. "For others who already plan to attend college, participation in the program can offer them added motivation and confidence."

Students took part in either economics, civics, or college writing classes four days each week. The economics course included an end-of-course test. Students completed one of the three courses for a half-credit that will count at their high schools. They also had the chance to research potential careers and higher education paths to reach those goals.
Sixteen high school students attended a free Chinese language and astronomy academy June 5-18 on the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Dahlonega Campus. The campers included students from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Illinois.

A $327,000 STARTALK grant from the National Security Agency (NSA) funded the endeavor, which also includes post-camp activities throughout the 2022-23 academic year to reinforce what participants learned at UNG.

Dr. Yunjuan He, associate professor of Chinese, is the principal investigator for the grant. She said the academy helped students improve their language proficiency, develop their knowledge of astronomy, and deepen their understanding of Chinese culture connected to the topics of astronomy and related myths. It also aimed to develop students' interest in federal careers, such as working for NASA and other aeronautics-related educational and research institutes.

"The UNG STARTALK program was the only STEM-based language program in the funded 2022 STARTALK programs. The curriculum of UNG STARTALK Chinese and Astronomy Summer Academy was innovative. It was an integration of science, language and literacy," she said. "Students were excited to explore outer space through well-designed content and context-based and student-centered scientific and language learning activities, making connections across disciplines, and relating content to real-world experience."

Dr. Donna Governor, associate professor of science education, trained STARTALK faculty in teaching Astronomy and designed the teaching evaluation of the science component of the camp. Dr. Gregory Feiden, director of the North Georgia Astronomical Observatory and an associate professor of astronomy, and Dr. Lesley Simanton-Coogan, director of the George E. Coleman Sr. Planetarium, provided support by giving on-site demonstrations and presentations.

Ying Feng Kline, a lecturer of Chinese from Penn State University, served as lead instructor for the summer academy.

In addition to the academy and the 2022-23 activities, the STARTALK grant also supported tutoring through UNG for high school students during the spring 2022 semester. A total of 111 students from 48 high schools in 14 states participated in the pre-camp activities, including the 16 who took part in the two-week academy. They improved their language skills by having individualized studies with their tutors online.

The mission of STARTALK is to support "innovative programs that create strong language learning outcomes for K-12 students, provide in-depth, quality teacher development, and develop support materials and resources for educators in order to meet the goals for critical need languages in the United States."
BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The orbiter and rover of China's Tianwen-1 probe have both completed the targeted scientific exploration missions, announced the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, the orbiter of Tianwen-1 has been operating normally for 706 days. It has acquired the medium-resolution image data covering the whole globe of Mars, with all of its scientific payloads realizing global survey, said the CNSA.

By now, the orbiter has circled Mars 1,344 times. For future missions, it will continue to conduct the whole-globe remote sensing survey and expand tech experiments, said the CNSA.

The Tianwen-1 probe consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover Zhurong. On May 15, 2021, it touched down at its pre-selected landing area in Utopia Planitia, a vast Martian plain, marking the first time that China has landed a probe on the planet.

The rover Zhurong started patrolling Mars on May 22, 2021.

As of Aug. 15, 2021, Zhurong had finished the designed 90-Martian-day mission and continued to work for further exploration.

Having traveled around 1,921.5 meters on the surface of Mars, Zhurong, on May 18 this year, switched to the dormant mode due to the chilly winter and dusty weather on the red planet. It will resume operation around this December when the working conditions are getting better.

After two years of flight and exploration, the rover and orbiter have acquired 1,040 gigabytes of raw scientific data with their 13 onboard scientific payloads.

Being received and processed on Earth, the data will be formed into standard scientific data products. They will then be delivered to scientists for further analysis and interpreted monthly. Related results have been published in renowned journals at home and abroad.

These scientific data will be opened to scientists worldwide. China welcomes global scientists to apply for related research and jointly push forward the exploration of the universe, said the administration.

In line with the spirit of openness and sharing, the CNSA will actively push forward cooperation with all countries' space agencies and scientific communities, the administration added.

The CNSA has shared with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) the data of the Mars orbiters and cooperated with them in collision forecast.

Zhurong and the ESA's Mars Express spacecraft performed an in-orbit relay communication test.

Around the transit of Mars, the CNSA carried out the observation of solar occultation and solar wind together with observatories in Russia, Germany, Italy, Australia, South Africa and other countries, by using orbiters of the Tianwen-1 probe and the Mars Express.

All these global cooperations have achieved great fruits, enriched the knowledge of humankind, and contributed to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind in the domain of science, said the CNSA. 
TSA PreCheck

The Transportation Security Administration will host TSA PreCheck enrollment through Friday at Waco Regional Airport.

TSA PreCheck is an expedited screening program that allows travelers to leave on their shoes, light outerwear and belt, keep their laptop in its case, and their 3-1-1 compliant liquids and gels bag in a carry-on.

To register and schedule an appointment, go to tsa.gov/precheck. Applicants must bring proof of identity and U.S. citizenship. The application fee is $85.

WFD collecting fans

The Waco Fire Department is continuing its Cool the Heat program, benefiting Wacos most vulnerable residents during extreme heat emergencies.

New fans may be donated at any fire station. Fans will be distributed by Mission Waco to individuals and families who need them most.

For more information, call 254-750-1740.

Field of Flags

Williams Creek Baptist Church will have its ninth annual Fourth of July Field of Flags event Monday at 12525 Elk Road, at the intersection of Highway 84 and Farm-to-Market Road 939 between Axtell and Mart.

There will be a flag ceremony at 11:30 a.m., followed by a hot dog meal with homemade ice cream at 12:15 p.m.

Patriotic readings

The McLennan County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association will have its annual reading of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights at noon Friday on the Fifth Street steps of the McLennan County Courthouse.

Tribune-Herald free online

The Waco Tribune-Herald office will be closed Monday in observance of Independence Day. Mondays edition will be online only.

The Tribs online edition will be free through July 4, sponsored by RV Station, including the daily e-edition and all stories posted at wacotrib.com.

Submit printed or typed items to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco, 76702-2588; or email goingson@wacotrib.com.
Waco and McLennan County COVID-19 hospital patients increased by a factor of 10 since the Juneteenth weekend.

The local COVID-19 hospital patient count increased to 21 on Tuesday, from 16 on Monday. On June 18 and 19, Waco-McLennan County Public Health District reported two hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Tuesday marks the first time since early March, at the tail end of a major wave of cases, that more than 20 patients have been in Waco hospitals with COVID-19. Some state and national projections suggest this bump could be the start of another hill. Local experts say even people who are up to date with vaccines and boosters should take precautions among crowds of strangers as the omicron variant of the virus threatens to again drive case counts higher.

The number of COVID-19 hospital patients in McLennan County spiked at 191 Jan. 24, then dropped to fewer than 20 by March 5 and hovered in single digits from March 18 until June 21, except for May 31 and June 1 on the Memorial Day weekend, days that saw 15 patients and 12 patients respectively. The 21 patients hospitalized locally take up about 4% of the staffed inpatient hospital beds in McLennan County and surrounding counties, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Local and statewide trends have led to projections indicating COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations could continue higher.

A regional COVID-19 forecast last week from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center says that if current trends hold, hospitalizations could return to elevated levels by mid-summer.

Waco-area experts urge precautions among crowds of strangers, even for people who are vaccinated and boosted.

According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collection of models for each state, median projections from June 20 call for Texas to expect about 300 new daily hospital admissions for COVID-19 by July 15. The most optimistic projection calls for about 150 per day by then. The most pessimistic projection calls for about 1,100 per day.

The University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium makes more narrow projections, by Texas Trauma Service Area. The probability that the pandemic is growing in Wacos Trauma Service Area M is 71%, according to the modeling consortium as of Tuesday. The model projects a 55 percent increase in infections over the next 14 days. Trauma Service Area M includes McLennan County and four surrounding counties.

The modeling consortium projections for hospital patients in Trauma Service Area M range from pessimistic, at more than 400 total by July 24; to optimistic, at about 4 total by July 24. The median projection calls for about 30 patients hospitalized with COIVD-19 by July 24.

The omicron variant and its subvariants continue to cause the overwhelming majority of cases, officials and experts said Monday. The omicron variant is the form of the virus that caused the wave this past winter, the one that evaded immunity but produced a generally milder form of the disease, experts said.

The presently approved vaccines continue to be effective in preventing omicron from producing severe illness in vaccinated patients, experts affirmed Monday.

A committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a plan that could mean approval by the fall for revised vaccine boosters from Pfizer and Moderna designed to target omicron and potentially other emerging variants.

The exact formulations that will be pursued are not yet known, and it also remains unclear whether the updated boosters will be recommended for all adults or for a subset, such as adults older than a certain age or who have certain medical conditions.

While officials develop the updated booster plan for the fall and analysts see the potential makings of an increase in cases over the summer, the CDC and local experts recommend a return to masking, distancing and other precautions in order to curb the spread of the disease.

Waco-McLennan County Public Health District Senior Epidemiologist Vaidehi Shah recommended on Monday that people who are up to date with vaccines and boosters take some precautions including mask use and social distancing when socializing in crowds with people they do not know, whether at movie theaters, concerts, airports or fireworks displays. But when socializing with people who are well-known, she says people can choose.

People who are not up to date on vaccinations should practice social distancing and wear a well-fitting mask in public, Shah said.

Hand hygiene is always a good idea, Shah said.

She recommends that everyone, vaccinated or not, wash hands frequently.

Local physician Dr. Benjamin Wilson, the designated COVID-19 expert for Waco Family Medicine, echoed these recommendations Monday.

The best defense is to be vaccinated and boosted, Wilson said. Hopefully this fall, (the omicron booster) will roll out.

Vaccine protection against the original strain also protects against severe disease from variants that have arisen, Wilson said.

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WAHOO  Dan Kauble took over as the Saunders County Veterans Services Officer in April 2021, but he informed the Saunders County Board of Supervisors last month of his plans to resign.

Kauble sent a short letter to the board, which was presented at its June 7 meeting. County Clerk Patti Lindgren said the resignation could not be voted on at that time because Kaubles letter did not include a resignation date.

Two weeks later, Kauble gave the board notice that his last day would be July 5. Lindgren told the supervisors at the June 7 meeting that Kauble was preparing to move to Missouri to be closer to his daughter. Kauble did not respond to an email from the Wahoo Newspaper asking for his reason for resignation.

Kaubles replacement will be William Bill Bonney, who joined the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs State Service Office in early 2021. After three months there, he became the State Service Office manager in a role that he said brought him to Wahoo and Saunders County often. He said he worked closely with Kauble and attended several of the Veteran of the Month events that Kauble hosted.

I look forward to carrying those things on, Bonney said.

He said he decided to take the role in Saunders County because his job with the state did not allow for frequent interaction with veterans. He said working for the state is similar to being employed at a corporate level.

You get a chance to help throughout the entire state, but you dont get a chance to sit down one-on-one with the veterans, Bonney said.

He said he will have two main priorities as he takes over in Saunders County. The first priority is to identify veterans that are unaware of the benefits that are available to them through the Veterans Services Office and the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs. He said he was diagnosed several years ago with cancer that could be traced to his time at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He was unaware at the time of his diagnosis of the benefits and compensation that could be provided to him through the VA.

I didnt understand that theres a lane out there for veterans that are suffering from service-connected disabilities to be cared for, Bonney said.

His second priority is to promote the VA, which he said has improved greatly since the early 2000s. But he said many veterans dont have trust that the VA will offer care to them.

So I need to champion the VA and then provide as much information as I can to find those veterans that may not be stepping out and asking for assistance, Bonney said.

Bonney joined the Marine Corps in 1983 and served for 23 years in 31 different countries. He worked under Gen. James Mattis, who later became the Secretary of Defense under Presidents Obama and Trump.

As he moved forces forward, he understood the importance of taking care of those that were left behind, Bonney said. So that became a full-time job for me.

He said in recent years, he has offered outreach to veterans in the Winnebago and Omaha tribes in Thurston County. He also said he spent time returning wounded and killed servicemen to their families.

Ive worked with nonprofits, and I traveled this country to make sure that resources were available to those family members, he said. So my passion really started there.

He said there are currently about 1,500 identified veterans in Saunders County, but he estimates that there are a few hundred that have not been identified.

Thats up to me to get out and do those outreach events and go to towns and have coffee, whether it be Valparaiso or Ashland or Ceresco, Bonney said.

Bonney will begin his role as the Saunders County Veterans Services Officer on July 5.

Sam Crisler is a reporter for the Wahoo Newspaper. Reach him via email at samuel.crisler@wahoonewspaper.com.
WAVERLY  Tracy Hernandez lived in Lincoln for many years before she moved to Waverly five years ago.

And I just fell in love with it, she said.

The Waverly Chamber of Commerce secretary attributes her affinity for the city to its feeling of community that she struggled to find in Lincoln. There was no event in Lincoln similar to Waverlyfest, which takes place this weekend on Saturday and Monday, July 4, with nearly a dozen events spread across its two days.

I never went to an event in Lincoln that felt so much like you're just hanging out with 3,000 of your closest friends, she said.

Events begin on Saturday evening with the street dance, sponsored by the Waverly Community Foundation. It takes place in the Waverly Plaza, with music performed by Nebraska band Kimball Street. Doors to the event open at 8 p.m. and music starts at 9 p.m.

Waverlyfest takes Sunday off, but it goes into overdrive on the Fourth of July, kicking things off at 7 a.m. with the Kiwanis Pancake Feed at Waverly VFW Post 9875. The Kiwanis Kids Parade heads out soon after, leaving at 8:30 a.m. from the Azria Health Care Center at 11041 N. 137th St.

Then comes Hernandezs favorite event  the Waverly Community Chamber of Commerce Parade at 11 a.m. Hernandez said she loves watching the kids show off their candy earnings to their parents, and shes always impressed with how much detail went into preparing the floats. She remembers the year when the parades theme was Christmas in July and a station wagon was decorated to resemble Clark Griswolds Ford Taurus Wagon from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

People go to a lot of work to make sure people have a good time, and it's just fun, Hernandez said. It's so worth it.

The parades theme is Having a Blast in Waverly, which City Administrator Stephanie Fisher, who also acts as parade organizer, said is a nod to the Fourth of July fireworks, as well as a motto of relief after the COVID-19 pandemic.

After all the stuff that weve been through the last several years, I think its time to have a blast, Fisher said.

Three lunch options follow the parade at 12:30 p.m., each one at a Waverly church. Bethlehem Covenant Church will serve pulled pork sandwiches, chips and drinks. First United Methodist Church will have ice cream and hot dogs. And Peace Lutheran will serve hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream.

All three churches are having some pretty amazing food and ice cream, so people are going to want to hit those up for sure, Hernandez said.

At 1 p.m. is the Horizon Bank Money Dive at the Waverly Swimming Pool, in which children are challenged to dive to the bottom of the pool to search for coins. The pool will be open to the public for free swimming after the Money Dive.

Waverlyfest will be capped off later that night at 10 p.m. with a fireworks display sponsored by the Waverly Community Chamber of Commerce.

Hernandez credits the churches, the Waverly Area Kiwanis, the Waverly Community Foundation the Chamber and Horizon Bank for coming together to make Waverlyfest possible.

If we didnt have all these great businesses and all these organizations chipping in and doing their piece, we wouldnt have the big celebration we have, Hernandez said.

All of the events together create what Hernandez says is an important showing of Waverlys sense of community.

I want us to be connected, I want us to live life together, I want us to have fun together and help each other, and I want us to be a real community, Hernandez said. I just think all of these different activities are a step toward that.

Sam Crisler is a reporter for The Waverly News. Reach him via email at samuel.crisler@wahoonewspaper.com.
MENDON, Mo.  About two weeks ago, a farmer in northern Missouri posted a video on Facebook about the railroad crossing where a train derailed Monday, killing three and injuring dozens.

That footage, which Mike Spencer posted on June 11, showed a train moving down the BNSF Railway tracks on Porche Prairie Avenue, southwest of Mendon in Chariton County.

We have to cross this with farm equipment to get to several of our fields, Spencer, 64, wrote. We have been on the RR for several years about fixing the approach by building the road up, putting in signals, signal lights or just cutting the brush back.

On Monday evening, just hours after an Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago struck a dump truck and derailed, the farmer told The Star that the tragedy could have been prevented.

They knew it was unsafe, Spencer said. That was pretty much a no-brainer  I predicted this was going to happen. I was certain that this was going to happen. It was just a matter of time.

They never even offered to cut brush back for us so we could at least see.

Another local farmer, Daryl Jacobs, who has lived in the area his whole life, called the crossing very dangerous.

It needs arms on it or signals, Jacobs, 62, said. Its so dang steep. I heard that truck just stalled out today going up it. Thats what I heard.

And this dang brush along these railroad tracks all needs to be cleared back.

Jacobs daughter-in-law, Shannon, was sitting on the porch of a nearby home and saw the train hit the truck. She called 911.

There are approximately 3,800 public highway-rail crossings in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Transportations Office of Multimodal Operations, which oversees rail services in the state.

Each year from 2017 to 2021, MoDOT has improved the safety features at about 20 of those crossings. The Mendon crossing is on the list of proposed improvements.

Nearly half of public train crossings in Missouri are not equipped with active warning devices such as bells, flashing lights and gates, according to a MoDOT report.

Only the crossings with extreme amounts of train and vehicle traffic or other sight distance problems will receive lights/gates because the need is great, the agency wrote on its website.

MoDOT did not provide comment after being contacted by The Star.

Spencer said the rise from where the road is flat to the top of the tracks is about 9 feet.

Our concern was that the approach on it is very, very steep, he said.

You cant see over it. We have to cross over it with farm equipment, loaded grain trucks. We have no choice but to cross that track. Its very treacherous.

He estimates trains come through at up to 90 miles per hour. There are no signals. No cross arms to stop motorists. They want the grade to the top of the track lessened.

Theres no way you can pull up there and stop and go on.

The video Spencer posted earlier this month shows a train only moving at approximately 45-50 but some come through at anywhere from 70-90 mph, he wrote.

If you cross here with a vehicle, stop, approach very slowly, then look both ways. There are two tracks and around 85 trains go through there every day.

His wife Sheryl commented soon after he posted the video.

They are waiting till someone gets hit, she wrote.

For the past three years, Spencer and others in the community have been in discussions with BNSF, a safety engineer from the Missouri Department of Transportation, a county commissioner and a railroad engineer with the goal of improving safety at the crossing.

Authorities agreed to do something, said Spencer, whose farmland surrounds the crossing. But it hasnt happened.

This is on the railroads shoulders. This is on the railroads shoulders, Spencer said. They have known this is a problem.  They were concerned, but not concerned enough to do anything.

I mean my heart goes out to the families who are involved here, whether they have loved ones injured, dead or whatever. Its just a tragedy. And I dont feel like it should have happened.

BSNF Railways parent company is a wholly owned subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway.

The Stars Natalie Wallington contributed to this report.

2022 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com.
A video screenshot shows the second shipment of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arriving at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 28, 2022. The second shipment of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Tuesday and has been handed over to the Afghan side. (Xinhua)

KABUL, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The second shipment of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Tuesday and has been handed over to the Afghan side.

Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman of the Taliban-led government, wrote on social media that two Chinese cargo planes delivered the humanitarian supplies on Tuesday morning.

A strong earthquake rocked southeastern Afghanistan days ago, killing more than 1,000 people and injured nearly 2,000 others while destroying tens of thousands of houses.

On Monday night, after the arrival of the first batch of supplies, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Ghulam Ghaws Naseri, acting minister of state for disaster management and humanitarian affairs of Afghanistan's Taliban-led caretaker government, attended a handover ceremony at the airport.

At the ceremony, Wang said the Chinese government decided to provide 50 million yuan (about 7.5 million U.S. dollars) in emergency humanitarian assistance supplies to Afghanistan, and the first batch of supplies included tents, folding beds and blankets.

Wang said six more Chinese airplanes would deliver relief supplies to Afghansitan in the next three days, adding that all the food supplies China promised have arrived earlier.

Naseri thanked China for offering emergency assistance supplies to his country immediately after the earthquake, and said the move demonstrated the longtime friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

The first batch of food aid donated by a Chinese firm had reached the earthquake-hit region in eastern Afghanistan, an Afghan disaster management official said on Monday.

The food aid donated by MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Company Ltd. (MJAM) reached Khost city, capital of the eastern Khost province on Sunday, Mohammad Salim Haqqani, an official responsible for planning and policy at the office of the state minister for disaster management and humanitarian affairs, told Xinhua.

"We are thankful to all aid agencies, domestic and international organizations which provided aid to us at this difficult time when we are facing an emergency situation. We are grateful as they delivered a lot of assistance," Haqqani said.

The 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Wednesday is the deadliest in more than 20 years, causing at least 1,500 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries while destroying more than 3,000 houses.

Haqqani noted that in order to help the affected people, the disaster management authorities need more relief items and supplies including tents, carpets, mats, tarpaulin, blankets, medicine, foodstuff as well as medical equipment.

Haqqani said the aid will be transported to communities in the worst-hit remote districts in Khost and Paktika provinces as soon as possible.

The food aid included 800 sacks of flour, 800 sacks of rice, 800 bottles of cooking oil, and 800 packages of tea, according to Ahmad Jawad Saleh from the Chinese company MJAM. 

A video screenshot shows the first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arriving at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 27, 2022. The first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Monday night and was handed over to the Afghan side. (Xinhua)

A video screenshot shows the first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arriving at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 27, 2022. The first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Kabul International Airport on Monday night and was handed over to the Afghan side. (Xinhua)
The Sound of Speed Air Show will host five historic aircraft during the Sound of Speed Warbird Fly In, July 14-17. Docs Friends, the Commemorative Air Force Gulf Coast Wing and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will partner to bring five warbirds to Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, Missouri.

The Sound of Speed Airshow is greatly looking forward to hosting these literal pieces of our nations history at our first ever Warbird Fly-In. We want to give back to the community of St. Joseph for all the tremendous support we receive putting on airshows, said Captain Julius Rice, Sound of Speed Airshow executive director. It is always nice to get one or two warbirds at a single event, but to get five at once is almost unheard of outside of huge venues. This is a truly unique experience for St Joseph and surrounding communities. It will be an educational event to not just read about; but to see, touch, and hear World War II aviation history in your own backyard.

The four-day event will feature the following aircraft:

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Doc

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Texas Raiders

North American B-25J Mitchell Berlin Express

North American SNJ-5 Texan

Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver

All five aircraft will be available for ride flights, as well as ground and cockpit tours.

This event will be a unique and one-of-a-kind, giving warbird enthusiasts an up-close and personal experience to see three World War II era bombers that helped deliver victory to the Allies and preserve freedom, said Josh Wells, B-29 Docs executive director. We are proud to partner with our CAF and EAA friends to further our joint mission of honoring the legacy of the Greatest Generation, while inspiring future generations of aviators.

The aircraft are scheduled to arrive at Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, Missouri at approximately 11 a.m., Thursday, July 14. Gates will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, July 15, Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17. Admission tickets can be purchased online ahead of the event for $10 per person or $25 per family. Admission at the gate the day of the event will be $15 per person and $30 per family. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.stjairshow.com.

All five warbirds are notable for their historic significance and level of restoration, and the CAF B-17 Flying Fortress Texas Raiders is one of only three actively flying in the U.S. today. Restoring and flying vintage historic aircraft for more than half a century, the CAF mission is to educate, inspire and honor through flight, and we believe the best way to do that is to offer the opportunity for the public to literally put their hands on history and experience historic American military aviation up close, said Nancy Kwiecien, executive officer of the CAF Gulf Coast Wing.

Sound of

Ride tickets are available for all aircraft via these links:

B-29 Doc: b29doc.com/rides

B-25 Berlin Express: flytheb25.org

B-17 Texas Raiders, SNJ-5 Texan and SB2C Helldiver: b17texasraiders.org

The B-25 coming to the event is one of EAAs most recent restorations and it has been very well received at every tour stop weve made since we started taking the airplane to sites throughout the country, said Sean Elliott, EAAs vice president of advocacy and safety, who leads EAAs air operations and often pilots the aircraft. To join with these other historic aircraft at St. Joseph will create an unforgettable gathering for aviation and history fans as we tell the story of heroism and sacrifice.

About Docs Friends and B-29 Doc

Docs Friends, Inc., is a 501(c)3 non-profit board managing the operation of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as Doc. Doc is a B-29 Superfortress and one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II. It is one of only two remaining B-29s that are still airworthy and flying today. The mission of Docs Friends is to honor the men and women who sacrificed so much for the freedom of others, including those who designed, built, maintained and flew the B-29 during and after WWII. It connects people with the rich heritage of the B-29 and allows aviation enthusiasts to experience the thrill of a B-29 up close. It educates todays and future generations about the contributions of the Greatest Generation during wartime.

About EAA

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and embodies The Spirit of Aviation through the worlds most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAAs 240,000 members and 900 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restoring recreational aircraft. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or go to www.eaa.org. For continual news updates, connect with www.twitter.com/EAA.

About B-25 Berlin Express

EAAs B-25 Mitchell represents the hundreds of this type of medium bomber used by the Allies during World War II in campaigns around the world. Its restoration was completed in 2019 and it is now painted in the markings of the Berlin Express, the airplane it portrayed in the 1970 movie Catch-22. More information is available at FlyTheB25.org.

About Commemorative Air Force (CAF)

The CAF was founded to acquire, restore, and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft flown by all military services of the United States for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Americans. More than just a collection of airworthy warplanes from the past, the CAFs fleet of historic aircraft, known as the CAF Ghost Squadron, recreates, reminds, and reinforces the lessons learned from the defining moments in American military aviation history.
By Ron Kaplan

I remember in 2018 reading about the effort to form a North-American based squadron of Douglas DC-3/C-47s to fly to Europe to participate the following year in events commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day. What soon became organized under the name the D-Day Squadron resulted in fifteen unique examples of the venerable transport preparing to make the hop across the pond, some of the aircraft with actual WWII combat pedigrees. Once in the UK, plans were that some of the airplanes would drop paratroopers again over Normandy, 75 years to the day of the invasion that changed the course of history. My instinctive thought was, wow, I would cut off a toe to tag along on that journey. My second thought was that I sure hope someone documents it all on film.

Somewhat regrettably, I still have all my toes, as I did not make the trip. But I am delighted to say that indeed a documentary of this historic effort was produced, and I had the opportunity to see it at no less than its June 4th premiere in the giant screen theatre of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Adding to the festivities was the presence of three of the fifteen D-Day Squadron aircraft that flew in for the event, landing on the museums runway for public static display over the weekend.

Into Flight Once More, produced by Sound Off Films and directed by Adrienne Hall and Executive Produced by Joe Anderson, is the feature-length film that resulted from editing hundreds of hours of footage taken before and during the epic 75th-anniversary mission. Deftly woven in are interviews with WWII veterans and archival footage gleaned from hours more.

Though narrated by Gary Sinise, the film is largely driven by the observations of the crews and accounts of the veterans. Starting with a history lesson on WWII and the Douglas DC-3, interviews tell of the historic significance driving the D-Day Squadrons mission. Filmmakers then transition into a countdown to the 75th anniversary as experienced through several of the fifteen crews as they thoroughly, if not sometimes hurriedly, prepare their flying museums to take part in the adventure. Each team had to raise the six figures and commit to the two months needed to participate. Getting an 80-year-old airplane suitably prepared sometimes posed an equally daunting commitment.

Underpinning this all is the common goal of participants to honor our forefathers  those who went, and especially the memory of those who never returned. Into Flight Once More illustrates how this theme worked to unite the fifteen crews, disparate in experience if not also aircraft configuration, successfully navigating the training, the challenging logistical considerations, and the awe-inspiring and dangerous flight across the cold North Atlantic. Following the infamous, original route North Atlantic Route made famous by intrepid WWII aircrews headed to European combat zones (launching from Goose Bay, Labrador to Narsarsuaq, Greenland to Reykjavik, Iceland to Prestwick, Scotland, and onward), the film harkens back to the travelogues of old, documenting the strange new worlds of these desolate locations, each separated by thousands of miles of unforgiving ocean.

The fifteen tired but elated crews, and the films audience, are ultimately rewarded by the squadrons triumphant European reception and spectacular fulfillment of its noble mission, making their own history while honoring the legacies of veterans  and veteran aircraft  that did so 75 years before.

I was impressed to learn at the premier that Sound Off Films was engaged by DC-3 Squadron organizers only days before the aircraft headed to their Connecticut training location, the originally contracted film company having bailed at the last minute. I believe the final product proves it worked in Ms. Hall and her teams favor, as the mix of cellphone and other home movies like footage culled from the various crews makes for a most engaging and enlightening story. As one of the crew explains about the C-47s, each one has a soul. Id say this film has a soul, too. I admit tearing up a few times. Thankfully, its not from my missing a toe, but for this movie being the next best thing to have been along on this remarkable journey. The D-Day Squadron, and the filmmakers, clearly did the veterans of D-Day proud.

Into Flight Once More is available through most all streaming services. For more information visit www.IntoFlightOnceMore.com.

Ron Kaplan currently serves as founding director and Chairman of the Ohio Air & Space Hall of Fame and Museum (OASHOF) in Columbus, Ohio. In 2017, he left the National Aviation Hall of Fame after a 19-year contractor and staff tenure that included four as Executive Director. In 2018, he secured a state grant of $550,000 toward the establishment of the OASHOF. A capital campaign to renovate the 1929 Port Columbus Air Terminal as its home is soon to commence. He is the founder of Reel Stuff AviationLLC, a consultancy firm dedicated to supporting non-profit aviation organizations through the creation of entertaining events and media programming celebrating the people, heritage, and wonder of flight. Reel Stuff Film Festival celebrates the spirit, people, and history of aviation as documented in contemporary, classic, and documentary cinema. Screenings are presented by writers, actors, pilots, historians, and filmmakers associated with each production.
The Birmingham Escadrille Wing hosted their first-ever event on June 25 at Bessemer AL Municipal Airport. The unit held the CAF Family Fly-in to introduce the Birmingham-based unit to the CAF community.

The event was supported by the Mississippi Wing, the FloriBama Wing, and Airbase Georgia. Ride flights were provided by Airbase Georgia on the LT-6 Mosquito. Member-owned aircraft on display included a T-6, L-19 Birddog, L-5, and T-34. After festivities and camaraderie around the aircraft, a shrimp boil ended the day.





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The Birmingham Escadrille Wing was formed as part of the CAFs New Unit Initiative. They had their first organizational meeting in July 2021 and became an official unit of the CAF in December 2021. They now boast over 70 Colonel members; another Commemorative Air Force success story.

The unit is named the Birmingham Escadrille in order to honor and pass on the rich aviation history and heritage of central Alabama. The name comes from shortly after World War One, when former U.S. Army flyers and ground crewmen from Birmingham came together, under the leadership of Maj. James Meissner and Henry Badham Jr., to form the first flying club in Birmingham, AL. They nicknamed it the Birmingham Escadrille in honor of the Lafayette Escadrille which was the first squadron of American flyers to fight in the Great War.

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They leased a tract of land near Ensley to set up an airfield, which became Roberts Field, named after a fellow flyer killed during the war. The Birmingham Escadrille was recognized as the 135th Observation Squadron on January 21, 1922, under Meissners command and became Alabamas first Air National Guard unit and the 7th in the United States.

This squadron changed names twice more, the 114th Obs. Sqd in 1923, and finally the 106th Observation Squadron in 1924. The 106th is still in service within the Alabama Air National Guard and is the oldest continually active ANG squadron in the country.
CEDAR FALLS  Police have arrested a man who allegedly stole more than 1,000 rounds of rifle ammunition from a Cedar Falls store.

Investigators arrested Jalen Malik Seals, 22, of Cedar Falls, when he returned the following day and attempted to walk away with even more ammo.

Seals is charged with two counts of felon in possession of ammunition, second-degree theft and third-degree theft, according to Cedar Falls police. Bond was initially set at $7,000.

According to police, Seals and another person entered Blains Farm and Fleet, 219 Brandilynn Blvd., on Tuesday and took 1,300 rounds of .223-caliber ammo, the same type used in the popular AR-15 rifle.

On Wednesday, he tried to take 3,000 rounds of .223 from the same store, police said.

Officers have recovered ammunition as part of the investigation.

Police said they believe Seals intended to sell the ammo to others.

The investigation is continuing and other charges are pending.

Seals is currently awaiting trial for an April incident where he allegedly took a $398 TV from Walmart.

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WATERLOO  Police arrested a Waterloo man following a brief chase Tuesday evening.

Officers attempted to pull over a Chrysler 300 in the area of Franklin and East 11th streets around 6:15 p.m. because the driver had a suspended license, according to court records.

The vehicle initially pulled into a convenience store parking lot on Franklin Street but then took off on 11th Street and cross the river before crashing into a light pole on West Sixth and Jefferson streets.

The driver ran off on foot but slammed into the side of another squad car that was in the area, according to police.

He was detained and police seized a handgun that had been in his waistband, records state.

Police also found a bag of Xanax pills on the driver and a bag of marijuana in the vehicle.

Christopher Marqua Lake, 19, was arrested for eluding, carrying weapons, interference while armed and possession of marijuana and a controlled substance. Bond was set at $10,000.

Court records show Lake is awaiting trial after a September search of an apartment at 611 Johnson St. Officers with the Violent Crime Apprehension Team found a .357-caliber Rossi revolver, marijuana and cash.

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WATERLOO  A Waterloo teen has been arrested on gun charges while awaiting trial for two other incidents where he was found with guns this year.

Police arrested Robmarciono Omarion Robinson, 17, on Thursday for felon in possession of a firearm. He is charged as an adult, according to court records. Bond was set at $50,000. He was also detained on pretrial violations.

Officers with the police departments Violent Crime Apprehension Team spotted a person with warrants in the area of Charles and Linn streets around 4:55 p.m. Thursday. Robinson was standing near him. When the teen saw officers, he dropped a satchel he was carrying and walked away, court records state.

Police found a loaded 9 mm Taurus Millennium handgun inside the satchel.

At the time, Robinson was out on bond from an April 25 incident where police executed a search warrant at 121 Wellington St. and found digital evidence that that he possessed a 9 mm Glock Model 26.

He was also awaiting trial in a February incident where police found Robinson sitting in a parked car with a 9 mm Glock Model 17 in his lap.

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WATERLOO  Hawkeye Community Colleges chief executive officer was given a 3% raise Tuesday night by the board of trustees.

President Todd Holcombs salary rises from $254,500 to $262,135 beginning Friday as part of a modification to his three-year rolling contract.

I love being here and being a part of this colleges mission, Holcomb said. I see endless possibilities for our future and love helping all our students exceed.

Before arriving at Hawkeye in 2019, Holcomb led Western Nebraska Community College as its president for about a decade.

Chairman Jay Nardini said the pay increase is in line with the institutions other union and nonunion faculty and staff pay hikes of 3% and keeps Holcombs salary competitive with other community colleges with similar enrollments in Iowa.

The raise comes after the boards annual evaluation of its president last month.

Nardini said Holcombs review was excellent because of his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the visioning for the colleges smart automation center and Grundy Hall renovation.

His communication style and the respect he garners from his colleagues were other reasons.

Frankly, I dont know when he finds time to sleep, Nardini said.

Groundbreaking set Wednesday for Grundy County Memorial Hospital building project Grundy County Memorial Hospital is marking its upcoming 70th anniversary by kicking off a $31 million project to improve its surgery, laboratory and imaging departments.

In addition to the raise, Holcombs car allowance, expense account and 403(b) retirement contribution also increase from $9,600 to $10,000, from $6,600 to $7,000, and from $10,180 to $11,000, respectively.

His annual compensation package now totals $290,135.

This really is an exciting time for the college. I love this college, and I love the challenges that are associated with (the job), Holcomb told the trustees.

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WATERLOO  The request for a Bitcoin mining site in Black Hawk County was stopped in its tracks Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

The four members of the board present for the meeting unanimously voted against an ordinance to rezone property from an agricultural land use to a commercial manufacturing district. Supervisor Tom Little was absent.

J.P. Baric, the CEO of North Carolina-based MiningStore, is on a mission to construct a data center at 8226 W. Griffith Road in Hudson after success with a mining site in Grundy County that makes about $32,000 a day, according to The Gazette.

Bitcoin mining works like this: Computers calculate complex mathematical equations to confirm Bitcoin transactions, similar to how a bank confirms payments by a person to a store. These transactions form blocks and, as they are confirmed by the computer miners, it creates a blockchain  currently worth around $200,000.

Although the site makes thousands of dollars a day, the daily power bill exceeds $5,000, according to The Gazette. The article states an average home uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. The mining site uses about 54 million kilowatt-hours a year, using the amount of electricity needed to power about 4,900 homes  equal to 95% of households in Grundy County.

The number of computers at the site requires multiple fans to cool down the facility from the about 90 degree temperature. The heat and sound of the fans were a main concern to the residents next to the potential site.

Baric said the fans create 80 decibels of sound from 35 feet away, similar to the sound of a washing machine. Resident Joni Snyder said she visited the site and took videos of the sound from right next to the building to a half mile away. Supervisors and people attending the meeting were surprised at the level of sound.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noise above 70 decibels over a prolonged period of time can damage your hearing. The sound can be compared to anything from city traffic inside a car to a gas-powered lawn mower. Baric said these concerns were valid and noted he would minimize the sound by installing sound-deadening vents and keeping the fans and computers clean.

Residents were also worried about the effects of the heat emitted from the data center. Barbara Glaseners family owns a farm near the site. Glasener expressed fear that the temperatures would create a microclimate which could lure insects and potentially damage crops. She was also worried the warmth would attract wild animals during the cold weather.

Every resident who spoke to defend their properties said the farmland is not a place for the data center. Instead, they suggested, it would be a better fit in an industrial park. The proposed area is 0.96 acres, which Baric said limits agricultural land use and keeps costs low.

I understand his concern. Youre getting the best that he can do for his company so he can make the most profits, Glasener said. Thats what business is about. Its minimizing your costs to maximize your profits. But thats also what agriculture is about.

Baric added that the project would create economic vitality in the community by generating cash flow. He related it to Black Hawk Countys 2028 vision statement. That calls for an effort to build desirable communities, promote economic vitality, and achieve environmental sustainability as well as to use technology for serving, working together, and transforming how the county leads.

Supervisor Chris Schwartz said the mining facility is not a part of the 2028 vision and said the project would be a giant energy hog for (the) environmental future as the county moves toward renewable energy usage. Residents seconded his worries.

Im concerned that youre opening up Pandoras Box by doing this, Glasener said. More precedents could be set that we might not be able to stop.

Supervisor Linda Laylin said she voted no with her colleagues because the board usually supports the planning and zoning commission, which previously denied the request, as well.

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The Republican candidate for a Davenport House seat attended a rally on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, which Scott County Democrats called a sign the candidate, Luana Stoltenberg, has an "alliance with the radical right extremist movement."

Stoltenberg is running against Craig Cooper, a Democrat from Davenport, for the Iowa House seat, which covers northwest Davenport.

It's a sign the Nov. 8 general election race is already heating up soon after the June 7 primary election.

Stoltenberg posted on social media on Jan. 5, 2021, that she was "on assignment" in Washington, D.C., and posted pictures on the grounds in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and Capitol buildings the following day.

When reached by phone, Stoltenberg said she was there as part of a prayer group with Women for a Great America, a political nonprofit formed by Andrea Lafferty.

Lafferty is the daughter of the founder of the Traditional Values Coalition, a now-defunct group that was labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim.

Stoltenberg said they'd set up a small stage with a piano keyboard, sang songs, and prayed. She said she did not enter the Capitol building.

"I was there to pray for my nation because I love my nation," Stoltenberg said. "And pray that there would be peace and there would be truth."

Stoltenberg does not face any federal charges connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection, when hundreds of protesters overtook capitol police officers to storm the Capitol building. A U.S. House committee investigating the day's events has held a series of hearings this month with testimony from top White House aids and law enforcement officers.

Stoltenberg posted photos in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and Capitol buildings on Facebook Jan. 6, 2021 writing: "WE THE PEOPLE are simpl(y) exercising our constitutional right to assemble and tell the government officials they are not representing us and there is fraud. Why do they refuse to investigate or look at the evidence. That is our right as the people. Stand up before we become a communist country."

All credible evidence has found the 2020 election to be fair and secure. Judges, elected officials, and investigators have repeatedly said there is no evidence of widespread fraud, and audits and recounts, including a Republican-led audit in Arizona, have confirmed the result and debunked claims of fraud. Dozens of lawsuits brought by former President Trumps campaign were dismissed by state and federal judges, several of who were appointed by Trump, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Despite that, a Washington Post/University of Massachusetts at Amherst poll conducted in December found just 21% of Republicans nationwide thought Joe Biden was legitimately elected. Some Iowa Republicans have campaigned on that falsehood, including Jim Carlin, a Republican challenger for U.S. Senate who lost to long-time incumbent Chuck Grassley.

Matt Trimble, chair of the Scott County Democrats, said according to a press release: "Her claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent is contributing to a dangerous moment in our country's history."

Trimble continued: "It is terrifying that the intent of Jan. 6, 2021 by Luana Stoltenerg and thousands of others was to overturn the results of a free, fair election and overturn our government. These were not patriots, as Stoltenberg has suggested. They were anarchists. We must identify her and all who support this un-American activity as dangerous to democracy."

For her part, Stoltenberg said,"I dont believe anybody thought they would overturn the government. We were there to represent the people. We were there praying for our nation that people would be represented and heard. Period."

Stoltenberg said she could see and hear what was going on, but did not participate. From her vantage point, she said she saw police officers being friendly with protesters, high-fiving them and backing away. She hung up mid-interview, and didn't say whether she still believed the 2020 election was fraudulent.

"The primary is barely over, and were attacking?" Stoltenberg said of Democrats. "Good grief."

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DES MOINES  Abortions would be illegal in Iowa once a fetal heartbeat can be detected  at six weeks, often before a woman knows shes pregnant  under a pair of requests Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she plans to submit to Iowa courts.

The Republican governor announced that, in the wake of last weeks U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and repealed a womans right to have an abortion under the federal constitution, she will ask the Iowa Supreme Court to rehear a recent case on abortion regulations so the state court can establish what legal standards can be applied to abortion restrictions in Iowa.

And Reynolds said she will ask the state courts to lift an injunction on the so-called fetal heartbeat law that was passed in 2018 but immediately stopped by the courts.

The legal landscape for abortion regulations has been rewritten over the past two weeks in Iowa and across the country.

On June 17, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned its own 2018 decision that had declared the right to an abortion was protected by the Iowa Constitution.

Exactly one week later, on June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision that had made abortion access a federal right.

Those rulings cleared the way for Iowa Republicans to enact stronger abortion restrictions in the state.

Now is the time for us to stand up and continue the fight to protect the unborn, Reynolds said in a statement. The (U.S.) Supreme Courts historic decision reaffirms that states have the right to protect the innocent and defenseless unborn  and now its time for our state to do just that. As governor, I will do whatever it takes to defend the most important freedom there is: the right to life.

For now, abortion remains legal in Iowa until 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, announced he will not be involved with the states request to the courts, citing his support for the legal rationale that the U.S. Supreme Court applied to Roe v. Wade in 1973 and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, which reaffirmed Roe.

Miller also recused himself from arguing the states defense of the 2018 fetal heartbeat law that Reynolds is now asking the courts to allow to be enforced.

In that case, I stated that I could not zealously assert the states position because of my core belief that the statute, if upheld, would undermine rights and protections for women, Miller said in a statement. In my nearly 40 years in office, I have declined to represent the state in only one other similar situation. I do not take lightly my responsibility to represent the state.

Reynolds said the state will instead be represented by Alan Ostergren, a conservative lawyer and president and chief counsel of the Kirkwood Institute, a think tank. Reynolds office said Ostergren will be retained at no cost to Iowa taxpayers.

The top Republican leaders in the Iowa Legislature, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver from Ankeny and House Speaker Pat Grassley from New Hartford, added statements of support for Reynolds requests to the court.

In 2018 the heartbeat bill created significant momentum across the country for conservative states to initiate legislation to protect the unborn. One of those state laws led to the historic Dobbs (v. Jackson Womens Health Organization) decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last week, opening the path for the 2018 law to be implemented in Iowa, Whitver said in a statement. I support the decision to put these laws back in front of the Court to protect life in Iowa.

Zach Wahls, leader of the Iowa Senate Democrats from Coralville, in a statement warned that Republicans actions will be dangerous to the health of Iowa women.

Iowa Republicans will not stop until they have completely banned abortion without exception. This is an incredibly dangerous action that threatens the health, safety, and future of Iowa women, Wahls said.

Reynolds request to rehear Planned Parenthood v. Reynolds is designed to get the Iowa Supreme Court to rule what standard, if any, should be applied to abortion regulations under the Iowa Constitution. In its momentous June 17 ruling, the state court failed to establish such standards, citing a desire to first wait for the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling on Dobbs.

The Iowa Supreme Court in its June 17 ruling said the undue burden standard that was the previous standard would remain in effect until the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling, which came a week later.

Reynolds noted the undue burden standard was used by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2015 when it struck down a law banning telemedicine abortion services.

Thus, while the Iowa Supreme Courts decision was a step in the right direction, it left more work to be done in Iowas courts to fully protect the life of the unborn, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs that states have an important interest in doing, Reynolds said in a news release. Gov. Reynolds fully intends to do that work.

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TEHRAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The remaining issues over restoring a nuclear deal have slowed negotiations between Iran and the United States, said Nour News, affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on Wednesday.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States resumed on Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha to resolve the remaining differences between Tehran and Washington to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

In a brief report on Tuesday, Nour News said that discussions on the remaining issues were followed by a "technical and serious approach" between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani and Enrique Mora, the EU chief coordinator for the Iran nuclear talks.

Iran has previously stated that no direct talks would be held with the United States, and Mora would pass messages to the two sides, according to the report.

Iran signed the nuclear deal in July 2015 and agreed to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of U.S.-led sanctions. But former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

The talks on restoring the deal began in April 2021 between Iran and major signatory parties in the Austrian capital of Vienna, with the indirect participation of the United States.

However, the talks have been suspended since March due to differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over Iran's demand that its Islamic Revolution Guards Corps be removed from a U.S. terror list. 
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include videos from the Eight Over 80 luncheon.

CEDAR FALLS  Family and friends gathered Tuesday for a luncheon and awards ceremony honoring The Couriers 2022 Eight Over 80 winners.

This is our 13th class of honorees. These are individuals who have spent a lifetime making a difference in their communities as business and community leaders and volunteers. Their efforts, commitment and dedication have inspired and motivated others.

About 185 people gathered to see the latest group of recipients accept their honors. Janet Johnson, president of the North Iowa Media Group, which includes The Courier, welcomed the honorees and their guests to the event, which took place at the Diamond Event Center in Cedar Falls.

This is now one of my favorite events. To hear what awesome things these seniors have accomplished with such humility is absolutely inspiring, Johnson said afterwards.

Western Home Communities Chief Operating Officer Jerry Harris delivered opening remarks at the gathering. Enrique Ochoa, director of spiritual care at Western Home Communities, delivered the opening prayer.

Sponsors of the event included Western Home Communities, the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and Cedar Valley Hospice.

Here are this years Eight Over 80 recipients:

Marlene Behn, 80, served for years on the Cedar Falls school board, Family and Childrens Council and numerous philanthropic organizations. She and her husband, Parke, were named Cedar Falls Representative Citizen of the Year in 1996 for extraordinary community involvement.

Diana Blake, 80, began teaching music in 1965 at Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools. She is a member of both the Cedar Falls and Waterloo municipal bands, director and member of the UNI New Horizons Band and founded an area bassoon band.

Eileen Kruse, 92, a retired registered nurse, created the first school nurse position at Ackley-Geneva schools, was a nurse supervisor for Hardin County Homemaker Health-Aide program and began missionary work with the Partners of the Americas organization, traveling across the world on medical missions.

Louise McGinnis, 84, worked as a nurse at Cedar Falls Lutheran Home, now NewAldaya Lifescapes, earned a speech pathology degree from the University of Northern Iowa and worked as a speech pathologist consultant for Head Start, AEA 7 and the Franklin, Butler, Bremer Counties Association. She served five years on the Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission.

Nyle McMartin, who soon turns 81, is a retired John Deere skilled tradesman and U.S. Air Force Vietnam veteran who has grown into one of Buchanan Countys leading conservationists. He served on the Buchanan County Conservation Board for 10 years and previously worked with Iowa State University Extension after retiring from Deere 27 years ago.

Paul Rider, 81, taught chemistry for more than 41 years at the University of Northern Iowa and served as assistant provost. A self-taught musician who plays 20 instruments, Rider was a driving force behind the Cedar Basin Jazz Festival and leads the Saints Dixieland Jazz Band.

Joan Stigler, 83, graduated at age 52 from Upper Iowa University with a bachelors degree in social work. She mentored teen parents and children in the juvenile probation system and volunteered in schools with low-income and at-risk students. She also chaired the Black Hawk County Board of Health.

Lois Wishmeyer, 92, has volunteered at Sartori Memorial Hospital (now MercyOne) and at the Cedar Falls Tourism & Visitors Bureau for the past 15 years. In 2020, she received the Mayors Volunteer Award for commitment to her community.

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CEDAR FALLS  Her dad did business all over the state. His dad was the mayor.

Public life was second nature to Marlene Behn and her late husband, Parke Behn.

So was their years of service  she on the Cedar Falls Board of Education, he on the boards of local hospitals. That service to community led to support in tough times  during the death of a child, and Parkes own illness and death a decade ago. That service also led a surviving child to a career of service to her country in the U.S. Army.

Marlene Behn, 80, is now receiving the rewards of a lifetime of service, as recognized by her Eight Over 80 honor.

Born in Sheldon in far northwest Iowa, we moved seven times in 10 years, she said. My father was a station hog buyer for Armour & Co. And so they were opening buying stations throughout the state of Iowa. He was a great guy, outgoing.

We were always involved in our community and church. So I learned civic responsibility from a very early age. My mother had to suffer, because we three girls always thought our life would come to an end every time we had to move.

That forced them to make new friends. And it worked, she said. And we were always involved at school, activities. The family ended up in Monticello in Jones County in east-central Iowa.

Thats where Parke and I met. ... I was a sophomore and he was a junior. Hed lived there most of his life.

Parke went to Cedar Falls and the State College of Iowa, now the University of Northern Iowa. Behn went to Drake University in Des Moines and transferred to the University of Iowa where she became a drummer in the universitys renowned Scottish Highlanders pipe and drum marching band. But they kept up their courtship. Ultimately, they wed in June 1964.

She taught school in Waterloo, and Parke was selling insurance. Then Parke shifted gears and went to J.S. Latta Co., where he met Harry Bud Grant. Together, they helped co-found Professional Office Services in 1970.

After five years teaching at old Orange High School, Behn decided to stay home and the couple started a family, adopting a son, Brock. Shortly after, daughter Beth was born. Behn became active in Junior League, which was a gateway to broader community involvement.

I think the training they (Junior League) provided young women was excellent, she said. I got involved with public affairs. I liked that. She first ran for Cedar Falls school board in 1977, when their children were in kindergarten and second grade.

Parke and I always felt a sense of civic responsibility, she said. His dad was mayor of Monticello at one time. My parents, even though we moved often, were always involved in the community and the church. They were great role models.

I always kind of thought I would run for school board, she said. Joy Corning was a great role model for me. Corning, then school board president, would go on to serve as an Iowa state senator and lieutenant governor.

Another mentor was Peg Anderson, who gave up her school board seat to unsuccessfully run for mayor; Behn succeeded her on the board. When Corning was elected to the Iowa Senate in 1984, Behn succeeded her as school board president.

In the meantime, Parke served on and chaired both the Sartori Memorial Hospital and Covenant Health System boards and served on the Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare board. He was instrumental in Sartoris affiliation with Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, both part of the Wheaton Franciscan system and now all part of the MercyOne network in Des Moines. He also was president of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony board and part of the committee which oversaw construction of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.

Parke and Marlene Behn were named Cedar Falls Representative Citizens of the Year in 1996 for extraordinary community involvement.

Throughout her board service, there were always challenges, usually involving changes in where children attended school. One of the first big decisions was closing the Humbert Elementary School and converting it into the districts present administrative service center.

There have been several times in my volunteer career that I found myself in situations that were controversial, Marlene said. But again, I always felt that I was working with strong leaders, and we did (our) research and made decisions that we thought would benefit the community and the organization.

Behn also was involved with social service agencies, including Family and Childrens Council, and philanthropic organizations like the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa.

I just feel fortunate Ive been able to work with so many wonderful people, and learned from people, and (been) acquainted with a lot of friends, she said.

Those friends were a source of support when times got tough in 1990. Their son, Brock, died of a chronic heart condition at their Minnesota lake home at age 20. It was a few months after Parke had a heart attack and bypass surgery. Behns mother had died a short time before Brocks passing.

It was the six months from hell, Behn said. It was a terrible time.

But doors opened about the same time. Daughter Beth left for the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and Behn had accepted a district sales leadership position with the Doncaster womens clothing company.

Parke passed away in 2011, but lived to see Beth advance in her Army career through her various commands, including two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan  and begin a family. Beth and her spouse, Dr. Julie Shappy, have two children  Parke, 15, and Twila, 12.

Behn also gets periodic tours of duty, too  as a grandma.

Yet another reward for a tradition of service and devotion to family as well as community.

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 The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.

 The enemy suffers considerable losses.

 10th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) suffered considerable losses during the offensive near the Lisichansk oil refinery. According to captured servicemen from this brigade, 108th Battalion has been completely defeated. Only 30 from 350 servicemen remain in this unit.

 115th Mechanised, 79th Air Assault and 25th Airborne brigade of the AFU that operate towards Lisichansk suffer a critical situation in grocery supply. There are a lot of cases of abandoning positions and desertion due to starving.

 Attack launched by Russian artillery near Pitomnik (Kharkov region) has resulted in the elimination of up to 100 militants from Kraken Nazi group and about 10 units of combat equipment. Commanders of the militants have decided to abandon the positions and to withdraw the rest of this unit to Kharkov.

 Russian Federation Armed Forces continue launching attacks at military facilities located in Ukraine.

 High-precision attacks launched by Russian Aerospace Forces have resulted in the elimination of 4 command posts, including those of Kharkov-1 and Kharkov-2 Territorial Defence battalions near Kharkov, as well as a training base of mercenaries deployed near Nikolayev.

 The neutralised targets include: AFU manpower and military equipment in 32 areas, 1 AFU equipment reparation base near Lisichansk, 8 armament and munitions depots near Shevchenkovo (Kherson region), Spornoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic, Nikolayev and Ochakovo (Nikolayev region), as well as 1 fuel depot near Kulbakino (Nikolayev region).

 Within the counter-battery warfare, high-precision armament of Russian Aerospace Forces have neutralised 2 Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket-launching system (MRLS) plattoons near Kalinov, Aleksandrovo-Kalinovsk, as well as 2 artillery plattoons near Avdeyevka that had been shelling the settlements of the Donetsk Peoples Republic.

 Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery have neutralised: 39 command posts, 6 munitions depots, artillery and mortar units in 68 areas, including a unit of French CAESAR self-propelled howitzers at Kubansky island, as well as manpower and military equipment in 216 areas.

 Operational-tactical aviation of Russian Aerospace Forces have shot down 1 MiG-29 airplane of Ukrainian Air Force near Bashtanki, Nikolayev region.

 In addition, 1 self-propelled launching system of Buk-M1 air defence system near Troitskoye (Odessa region).

 Russian air defence means have shot down 2 Su-25 airplanes near Kurulka (Kharkov region), Kvitnevoye (Kherson region) and 1 Mi-8 helicopter of Ukrainian Air Forces near Arkhangelskoye (Nikolayev region).

 9 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down near Vesyoloye, Ilyichyovka, Shestakovo, Pitomnik, Liptsy, Ternovaya, Sulinovka (Kharkov region), Tomina Balka (Kherson region), Stakhanov and Kantemirovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

 7 Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles have been intercepted near Peski-Radkovskiye, Kapitolovka, Chervoniy Oskol (Kharkov region), Tyaginka, Novokondakovo (Kherson region) and 8 projectiles launched by a MRLS near Kamenka, Brazhkovka (Kharkov region), Krymki, Novosyolovka, Yarovaka (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and over Snake Island.

 In total, 221 airplanes and 134 helicopters, 1,391 unmanned aerial vehicles, 351 air defence missile systems, 3,853 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 692 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 3,052 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 3,907 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine

@mod_russia_enjoy

WtR
Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning Finland and Sweden that if they welcome NATO troops and military infrastructure onto their territory, Russia will respond in kind
Biden will have the first Supreme Court pick of his presidency, and he has pledged to put the first Black woman on the nations highest court.
BAGHDAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Environment Ministry Wednesday called on the international community to help Iraq meet the challenges of climate change, official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

"The Iraqi people went through difficult political and economic conditions during the past decades. It is expected that climate change will exacerbate the sufferings," Environment Minister Jassim Al-Falahi was quoted as saying by the INA.

Al-Falahi pointed out that the needed international support will help Iraq adapt to climate change in the context of economic change.

Earlier in the day, the UN Development Programme launched a two-year climate action project in Iraq, in which Canada and Britain commit to supporting Iraqi efforts to adapt to climate change and help the Iraqi government fulfill its obligations toward the Paris Agreement.

The project focuses on drought preparedness, water resource management and renewable energy development in Iraq, the INA reported.

According to the UN Environment Programme, Iraq ranks the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change. Last year's record low rainfall and this year's dust storms have led to water shortages, desertification, and soil erosion in the war-torn country. 


Expansion of the Scotty Lithium Project by 37%

Perth, June 29, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Monger Gold Ltd ( ASX:MMG ) is pleased to advise it has staked additional claims adjoining the recently acquired Scotty Lithium Project in Nevada, USA, increasing the Project area by 37% to 19,280 acres (7,802 ha). The 264 new claims (covering 5,280 acres) cover prospective ground based on historical gravity and magnetotelluric (MT) geophysics data (see Figures 1 and 2*).Highlights:- Monger expands the Scotty Lithium Project by 37% to 19,280 acres (7,802 ha)- Monger has staked an additional 264 claims (covering 5,280 acres) to the south of the Scotty Lithium Project to cover the potential southern extension of the adjoining Bonnie Claire Lithium Deposit, which is one of North America's largest undeveloped lithium resources- The new claims cover the southern extension of a strong gravity "low", which indicates a thick sequence of lithium-bearing sediments extend into this new area- Resistivity "low" anomalies (conductors) are evident in historical MT geophysics data around this new area - potentially reflecting the presence of lithium-bearing brineso These anomalies have never been drill tested- High-impact exploration programs have commenced (ASX announcement 20 June 2022) with:o Surface geochemistry sampling across the entire project underway;o Additional MT geophysics surveying in H2 2022 to define lithium-brine targets; ando Maiden drilling program to commence in H2 2022 to test surface anomalies, extensions of the Bonnie Claire Deposit, and geophysical targets within the Scotty Lithium Project.- Monger's strategy is to become a leading lithium supplier to the North American battery industry through exploration and development of both sediment-hosted and brine lithium resources.The new claims are located directly along strike from the Bonnie Claire Lithium Deposit, which is one of North America's largest undeveloped lithium resources. The Company believes that there is a high probability that this new area contains extensions of that mineralisation. The new claims were staked in the name of Monger's US subsidiary, Nevlith LLC.Monger's Chairman, Mr Peretz Schapiro said: "We are very pleased to substantially expand our recently acquired Scotty Lithium Project in Nevada.""The Scotty Lithium Project adjoins one of North America's largest undeveloped lithium resources at Bonnie Claire, is proximal to the only brine producing lithium mine in the US, and just 300km from Tesla's Gigafactory.""The paradigm shift to electric vehicles has started and continues apace with increased demand for metals such as copper and lithium clearly identified. Through development of the Scotty Lithium Project, MMG is striving to become a significant player in the lithium market.""With a surface geochemical sampling campaign already underway at the Scotty Lithium Project, followed by a geophysics survey and a drill program, we are giving ourselves every chance to make a significant lithium discovery at Scotty in the near future."Very limited exploration has been undertaken to the south of the Bonnie Claire Deposit (which hosts Inferred Resources of 3.4Bt @ 1,013ppm Li for 18.3 Mt of Li2CO3 equivalent). However historical gravity data indicates the sedimentary sequence that hosts this deposit extends well to the south - into the recently staked area (see Figure 3*). There is considerable potential for these sediments to host similar mineralisation to that delineated at the Bonnie Claire Deposit.Furthermore, a single line of MT data, acquired in 2016 in the southern part of the Scotty Lithium Project delineated multiple strong resistivity lows (=conductivity highs; see Figure 4*).These anomalies are interpreted to potentially arise from lithium-bearing brines within the geological sequence. The shallowest of these anomalies lies 500-800m below surface. They are yet to be drill-tested.Monger anticipates implementing the following exploration programs at the Scotty Lithium Project over the next 12 months:(i) Systematic surface auger-sample geochemistry program over the entire Project area, which is now underway;(ii) MT geophysics survey to delineate lithium-brine targets across the Project area.(iii) An initial drilling program, commencing H2 2022;(iv) Maiden JORC (2012) Mineral Resource estimate (subject to results); and(v) First-pass metallurgical testwork (subject to resource).*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Monger Gold Ltd

With an enterprise value AUD $1m and AUD $5m in funding, Monger Gold Limited's (ASX:MMG) intention is to generate value for shareholders by directing funds raised by the Offer into targeted and systematic exploration of our Projects, resulting in the definition of one or more JORC compliant gold and nickel resources.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico closed the books  for the most part  on a primary election cycle marked by conspiracy theories and legal warnings, as top state officials on Tuesday certified election results that showed 25.2% of eligible voters cast a ballot in the June 7 primary.

Unlike during recent county commission meetings, the meeting did not feature any protesters, and members of the state Canvassing Board moved quickly to approve the election results and automatic recounts in six local-level races around the state.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, one of the boards three members, told reporters after Tuesdays meeting at the state Capitol that possible changes in state law could be considered to make sure county commissions cannot effectively block voting results from being certified.

Otero County commissioners initially balked at approving the primary election results, but two of the three commissioners voted to certify on June 17 after the state Supreme Court ordered them to do so.

Meanwhile, commissioners in several other New Mexico counties also faced political pressure, including jeers and insults in some cases, not to certify election results due to distrust over Dominion vote-tabulating machines and other misgivings before eventually doing so.

County commissions do not have the ability to make state election law  the state Legislature does  and its my job to carry out the law and the Supreme Courts job to make sure its being carried out, Toulouse Oliver said.

She also said the Secretary of States Office would continue trying to educate voters and encouraged state residents to volunteer as poll workers.

If you have concerns about the integrity of the election, put your money where your mouth is and go work at the polls and be part of making sure the election is run legally, Toulouse Oliver said.

Since 2006, New Mexico has used a paper ballot system that requires most voters to manually mark ballots and feed them into electronic vote tabulating machines. The system allows elections officials to recount paper ballots if necessary but not by hand tally, Toulouse Oliver said.

Of the 263,337 registered voters who cast ballots in this years primary election, slightly more than half voted on Election Day, while 40% took advantage of early voting and 9% cast absentee ballots, according to the Democratic secretary of state.

The overall turnout marked the highest figure by number  but not by percentage  for a primary election in recent New Mexico history.

Toulouse Oliver and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who are both seeking reelection in Novembers general election, voted to certify the statewide canvass. The boards third member under state law, Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon, did not attend due to a scheduling conflict, according to a spokesman for the state Administrative Office of the Courts.

Meanwhile, the present Canvassing Board members also voted Tuesday to order state-paid vote recounts in six races in which the candidates are separated by narrow vote margins. Those recounts will begin July 11 and are expected to be finished in just one or two days.

The races include a Mora County commission contest in which the top two vote-getters  Democrats George Trujillo and Trinnie Cordova  were separated by just five votes in a race with more than 1,250 votes cast.

The other races set for recounts include judicial races in Valencia and Catron counties, county commission races in Otero and Rio Arriba counties, and a Democratic primary race for Colfax County assessor.
A man was shot to death Tuesday night in Southeast Albuquerque.

The incident marked the fifth homicide in the city in the past six days.

Daren DeAguero, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said officers responded sometime before 10:45 p.m. to reports of a man being shot at Central and Pennsylvania NE.

Officers arrived and discovered a lifeless individual, he said. This has been deemed a homicide call-out and the area is shut down.
MADRID  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that countrys leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organizations condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russias war in Ukraine had created Europes biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

NATO also issued a warning about China, accusing it of bullying its neighbors and forming a strategic partnership with Moscow that poses a challenge to the West.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russias invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATOs open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble the old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy said by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough?

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

The question is, whos next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them, he said.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russias future plans.

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliances rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATOs military power, vowed the summit would send an unmistakable message  that NATO is strong and united.

Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in Americas military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead.

At the summit, the leaders published NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a strategic partner. At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATOs borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation to extend its reach.

The document also set out NATOs approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China. For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region and NATOs desire to counterbalance China.

China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents, Stoltenberg said.

We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, and Chinas growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of our allies and our partners, he added.

The alliance said, however, that it remained open to constructive engagement with Beijing.

NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africas Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was absolutely confident Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the gray zone of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATOs collective defense guarantee.

Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible, he said.

___

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan meets with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila, the Philippines, June 29, 2022.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, Wang will attend the Philippine presidential inauguration of Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Thursday. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

MANILA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte agreed here on Wednesday to further promote bilateral relations and advance cooperation between their two countries in various fields.

At a meeting with the outgoing Philippine president, Wang said under the guidance of the two countries' leaders, the relations between China and the Philippines have achieved a complete turnaround over the past six years.

The two sides have redefined their relationship as comprehensive strategic cooperation, enhanced good-neighborly friendship and cooperation, properly managed differences, and jointly worked for common development, which have ushered in a new era for furthering cooperation in various fields, Wang said.

Noting that both sides have dovetailed the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Philippines' "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure development program, he said bilateral trade has doubled and China has also quadrupled its investment in the Philippines during the past six years.

The two countries have been supporting each other to tide over difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said.

By taking into consideration the overall situation of maintaining regional stability, he said both sides have sticked to dialogue and consultation to properly manage maritime disputes so that the China-Philippine ties are moving forward in the right direction.

The two sides have maintained sound communication and coordination on multilateral international affairs, and worked together to safeguard genuine multilateralism and the interests of developing countries, he said.

Wang hoped that President Duterte will continue to support the development of China-Philippine ties and play an important role in carrying forward the China-Philippine friendship.

Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, Duterte said, the Philippine-China relations have been further consolidated, with fruitful results achieved in various areas of cooperation.

He expressed appreciation to Chinese leaders and the Chinese government for their sincere help to the Philippine government and people, noting that he is ready to continue to make his contributions to the Philippine-China friendship and cooperation.

On the same day, Wang also met with Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who was sworn into office on June 19.

He said that over the past six years, the two countries, focusing on development and people's livelihood, have carried out numerous beneficial cooperation projects, including the construction of the Davao City-Samal Island connector bridge, and have seen fruitful results.

China is willing to work with the Philippines to further cultivate and expand new areas of cooperation on people's livelihood, and deepen cooperation on education to help the Philippines better enhance its talent competitiveness, he added.

China, Wang said, will also continue to promote sub-national cooperation between the two countries to foster people-to-people ties and consolidate the foundation of public support for the China-Philippine friendship.

For her part, Duterte-Carpio said the new Philippine government will adhere to the foreign policy of good-neighborliness and friendship with China, and looks forward to deepening cooperation with China in various fields, drawing on China's successful experience to boost the socio-economic development of the Philippines, and pushing the relationship between the Philippines and China to a higher level.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, Wang will attend the Philippine presidential inauguration of Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Thursday. 

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan meets with Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio in Manila, the Philippines, June 29, 2022.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, Wang will attend the Philippine presidential inauguration of Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Thursday. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
ROME  U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peters Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position in support of abortion rights.

Pelosi attended the morning Mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis bestowed the woolen pallium stole on newly consecrated archbishops. She was seated in a VIP diplomatic section of the basilica and received Communion along with the rest of the congregants, according to two people who witnessed the moment.

Pelosis home archbishop, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, has said he will no longer allow her to receive the sacrament in his archdiocese because of her support for abortion rights. Cordileone, a conservative, has said Pelosi must either repudiate her support for abortion or stop speaking publicly of her Catholic faith.

Pelosi has done neither. She called the recent Supreme Court ruling removing constitutional protections for abortion an outrageous and heart-wrenching decision that fulfils the Republican Partys dark and extreme goal of ripping away womens right to make their own reproductive health decisions.

And she has spoken openly about the Catholic faith, including at a diplomatic reception at the residence of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Tuesday evening marking Independence Day.

Speaking to a crowd of ambassadors, Vatican officials and other Rome-based Americans, Pelosi noted the Catholic virtues of faith, hope and charity and the important role they play in the U.S. Embassys mission.

Faith is an important gift, not everyone has it but it is the path to so many other things, she told the crowd.

Pelosi met with Francis on Wednesday before the Mass and received a blessing, according to one of the Mass attendees. A photo released by the Vatican showed Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, greeting Francis off to the side of the basilica.

Francis has strongly upheld the churchs opposition to abortion, and on Wednesday said church leaders must continue to care for human life. But in his homily, Francis also instructed the new archbishops to welcome everyone into the church, including sinners, and to not remain pinned to some of our fruitless debates.

So many times we become a church with open doors, but only to send people away, to condemn them, he said.

After the Mass, Pelosi visited the SantEgidio Community, a Catholic charity close to Francis where she met with refugees helped by the group. At an event to award the charity with $25,000 in State Department funding, Pelosi referred to the need to preach the Gospel with actions, not just words.

We had the pleasure of attending Mass this morning with His Holiness and many many many leaders of the church, Pelosi said. In the spirit of St. Francis, which is the name of His Holiness and my city of San Francisco, I thank you for preaching the Gospel, sometimes using words.

While Francis presided over the Mass, he did not distribute Communion himself and Pelosi received the sacrament from one of the many priests who distributed it. From the time he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, Francis has rarely distributed Communion, precisely to prevent the sacrament from becoming politicized.

Last year, President Joe Biden, another Catholic who also supports abortion rights, said after meeting with Francis that the pontiff told him to continue receiving the sacrament. Biden later received Communion during a Mass in a Rome church that is under the authority of Francis as bishop of Rome.

Pelosis partaking of the sacrament inside the Vatican during a Mass presided over by the pope was even more significant, and a sign of Francis unwillingness to refuse Communion. Francis has described the Eucharist as not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

Asked about some U.S. bishops who wanted to refuse Biden the sacrament, Francis told reporters during an airborne press conference in September that priests shouldnt be politicians and condemn their flock but should be pastors who accompany the faithful with tenderness and compassion.

There was no immediate public response from Cordileone, the San Francisco archbishop, who this week is hosting a liturgy conference that has been in the Catholic news because of its organizers and sponsorship deals.

The Vatican has not ruled on the specific matter of Communion and politicians supporting abortion in a major teaching document, though the churchs in-house canon law says people in a situation of persistent sin shouldnt be allowed to receive Communion. It has also issued guidelines for the behavior of Catholics in political life, exhorting them to uphold principles consistent with church doctrine.

The then-head of the Vaticans doctrine office, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger  the future Pope Benedict XVI  told U.S. bishops in 2004 that priests must deny the sacrament if a politician goes to receive Communion despite an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin, including the sin of consistently campaigning for permissive abortion laws.

Ratzinger wrote a confidential letter outlining the principles to U.S. bishops in response to their question about whether to deny Communion to John Kerry, who was the Democratic nominee for president. In the end the bishops ignored Ratzingers advice and voted instead for the policy currently in place allowing bishops to decide themselves whether to withhold it.

___

Paolo Santalucia and Alessandra Tarantino contributed.
KREMENCHUK, Ukraine  Russian forces battled Wednesday to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock reverberated from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 in the center of the country two days earlier.

Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement.

Britains defense ministry said Russian forces were making incremental advances in their offensive to capture Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk province under Ukrainian control following the retreat of Ukraines forces from the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and about half of Donetsk, the two provinces that make up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.

The latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Ukrainians were likely in a fighting withdrawal to seek more defensible positions while draining the Russian forces of manpower and resources.

Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Russia may think time is on its side due to the escalating costs borne by the West and fatigue as the war grows longer. The most likely scenario predicted by American intelligence, Haines said, is a grinding struggle in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall.

The U.S. correctly predicted Russia would invade Ukraine in February, but was wrong in assessing that it would quickly seize Kyiv. Speaking at an event in Washington on Wednesday, Haines said Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively the same political goals that he had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine and push it away from NATO.

We perceive a disconnect between Putins near-term military objectives in this area and his militarys capacity, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military is able to accomplish, Haines said.

Putin also said his goals in Ukraine have not changed since the start of the war. He said they were the liberation of the Donbas, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself. He made no mention of his original stated goals to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

He denied Russia adjusted its strategy after failing to take Kyiv. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the marks that were set for them for a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan, Putin said at a news conference in Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, crews continued to search through the rubble of the shopping mall in Kremenchuk where Ukrainian authorities say 20 people remain missing.

Ukrainian State Emergency Services press officer Svitlana Rybalko told The Associated Press that along with the 18 people killed, investigators found fragments of eight more bodies. It was not immediately clear whether that meant there were more victims. A number of survivors suffered severed limbs.

The police cannot say for sure how many (victims) there are. So we are finding not the bodies but the fragments of bodies, Rybalko said. Now we are clearing at the very epicenter of the blast. Here, we practically cannot find bodies as such.

Several families stood by what was left of the Amstor shopping center Wednesday morning in hope of finding missing loved ones.

This is pure genocide, local resident Tatiana Chernyshova said while going to lay flowers at the site. Such things cannot happen in the 21st century.

We need to engage everyone to help stop the war, help us fight these scum  these Russian aggressors, Chernyshova said.

Psychologists working at the site with families said they were trying to help people come to terms with their loss.

We are trying to help them release their emotions now, as later it becomes harder and much more painful, said one psychologist, who did not give his name as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

After the attack on the mall, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of becoming a terrorist state. On Wednesday, he reproached NATO for not embracing or equipping his embattled country more fully.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy told NATO leaders meeting in Madrid, speaking by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough? Hasnt our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient?

He asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the NATO leaders they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday dismissed what she claimed was the Ukrainian governments blatant provocation in trying to blame the mall missile strike on Russias military.

Britains defense ministry said there was a realistic possibility that the mall strike was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

Russian planners highly likely remain willing to accept a high level of collateral damage when they perceive military necessity in striking a target, the ministry said. It is almost certain that Russia will continue to conduct strikes in an effort to interdict the resupplying of Ukrainian front-line forces.

Russias military also is experiencing a shortage of more modern precision strike weapons, which is compounding civilian casualties, the British ministry said.

In southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike on a multi-story apartment building Wednesday in the city of Mykolaiv killed at least four people and injured five, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said. Mykolaiv is a major port and seizing it  as well as Odesa farther west  would be key to Russias objective of cutting off Ukraine from its Black Sea coast.

Russias defense ministry said in a statement that the missile strike on Mykolaiv targeted a base for training foreign mercenaries, as well as ammunition depots.

In other developments Wednesday:

 A senior Russian lawmaker warned that Lithuanias refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russias Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation.

The statement by Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russias parliament, followed the Kremlins warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to Kaliningrad. The region borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

 Russias foreign ministry summoned Norways charge daffaires to protest Oslos blocking of a shipment of supplies to a Russian coal-mining town in the Svalbard islands.

Although the Svalbards are Norwegian territory, a 1920 treaty allows all signatory countries the right to exploit its natural resources. Russia operates a coal mine in Barentsburg, a settlement of about 450 people, which relies on shipments from the mainland of food, machinery and other supplies. Norway imposed sanctions on shipments from Russia in April.

 Ukrainian military intelligence says that in the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war 144 Ukrainian troops were released from Russian captivity. Of those released, 95 were involved in defending the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraines devastated southern city of Mariupol before Russian forces captured it weeks ago. Denis Pushilin, the separatist leader in Donetsk, said an equal number of soldiers was released by both sides.

 European Union leaders approved a 600-million euro ($631 million) package to address food security issues brought on by the Ukrainian war in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

 British businessman Richard Branson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and also visited the Hostomel airport outside the city. Zelenskyy said Branson, whose Virgin Group includes an airline, may be interested in rebuilding the airport, which was badly damaged early in the war.

 Britain is imposing sanctions on Russias second-richest man and on a cousin of Putins. Vladimir Potanin, owner of the Interross conglomerate, has continued to amass wealth while backing Putin, acquiring Rosbank and shares in Tinkoff Bankonith in the period following the invasion of Ukraine, a U.K. government statement said Wednesday.

The statement said Putins cousin, Anna Tsivileva, and her husband, Sergey Tsivilev, have significantly benefited from their relationship with Putin. Tsivileva is president of the JSC Kolmar Group coal mining company, and Tsivilev is governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region.

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Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Frank Griffiths and Sylvia Hui in London, Maria Grazia Murru in Kyiv, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
NEW ORLEANS  The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press.

More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe thats exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under the Mann Act, a more than century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex.

Some of the New Orleans cases under review allege abuse by clergy during trips to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida. And while some claims are decades old, Mann Act violations notably have no statute of limitations.

Its been a long road and just the fact that someone this high up believes us means the world to us, said a former altar boy who alleged his assailant took him on trips to Colorado and Florida and abused him beginning in the 1970s when he was in the fifth grade. The AP generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The FBI declined to comment, as did the Louisiana State Police, which is assisting in the inquiry. The Archdiocese of New Orleans declined to discuss the federal investigation.

Id prefer not to pursue this conversation, Archbishop Gregory Aymond told the AP.

The probe could deepen the legal peril for the archdiocese as it reels from a bankruptcy brought on by a flood of sex abuse lawsuits and allegations that church leaders turned a blind eye to generations of predator priests.

Federal investigators are now considering whether to seek access to thousands of secret church documents produced by lawsuits and shielded by a sweeping confidentiality order in the bankruptcy, according to those familiar with the probe who werent authorized to discuss it and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Those records are said to document years of abuse claims, interviews with accused clergy and a pattern of church leaders transferring problem priests without reporting their crimes to law enforcement.

This is actually a big deal, and it should be heartening to victims, said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and chief executive of Child USA, a think tank focused on preventing child abuse. The FBI has rarely become involved in the clergy sex abuse scandals. Theyve dragged their feet around the country with respect to the Catholic Church.

The U.S. Justice Department has struggled to find a federal nexus to prosecuting clergy abuse, hitting dead ends in cases as explosive as the ones outlined in the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report that disclosed a systematic cover-up by church leaders. Federal prosecutors subpoenaed church records in Buffalo, New York, the same year in an inquiry that similarly went quiet.

The issue has always been determining what is the federal crime, said Peter G. Strasser, the former U.S. attorney in New Orleans who declined to bring charges in 2018 after the archdiocese published a list of 57 credibly accused clergy, a roster an AP analysis found had been undercounted by at least 20 names.

Strasser said he naively believed a federal case might be possible only to encounter a host of roadblocks, including the complexities of putting the church on trial for charges like conspiracy.

But federal prosecutors have in recent years employed the more narrowly focused Mann Act to win convictions in a variety of abuse cases, including against R&B star R. Kelly for using his fame to sexually exploit girls, and Ghislaine Maxwell for helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. In 2013, a federal judge in Indiana sentenced a Baptist pastor to 12 years in prison for taking a 16-year-old girl across state lines for sex.

Among the priests under federal scrutiny in New Orleans is Lawrence Hecker, a 90-year-old removed from the ministry in 2002 following accusations he abused countless children. Hecker is accused of abusing children decades ago on out-of-state trips, and other claims against him range from fondling to rape.

Hundreds of records currently under the confidentiality order will reveal in no uncertain terms that the last four archbishops of New Orleans knew that Lawrence Hecker was a serial child predator, Richard Trahant, an attorney for Heckers alleged victims, wrote in a court filing.

Hecker is still very much alive, vibrant, lives alone and is a danger to young boys until he draws his final breath, Trahant wrote.

Asked by telephone this week whether he ever abused children, Hecker said, Im going to have to hang up.

More recent allegations are also drawing federal attention, including the case of Patrick Wattigny, a priest charged last year by state prosecutors after he admitted molesting a teenager in 2013. His attorney declined to comment.

Wattignys 2020 removal from the ministry came amid a disciplinary investigation into inappropriate text messages he sent a student. The case sent shockwaves through the Catholic community because church leaders had frequently characterized clergy abuse as a sin from the past.

It was happening while the church was saying, Its no longer happening,' said Bill Arata, an attorney who has attended three of the FBI interviews.

These victims could stay home and not do anything, he added, but thats not the kind of people they are.

Clergy abuse is particularly fraught in Louisiana, a heavily Catholic state that endured some of the earliest scandals dating to the 1980s. Last year, it joined two-dozen states that have enacted lookback windows intended to allow unresolved claims of child sex abuse, no matter how old, to be brought in civil court.

But with few exceptions, most notably a former deacon charged with rape, the accused clergy have escaped criminal consequences. Even at the local level, cases have been hamstrung by statutes of limitation and the political sensitivity of prosecuting the church.

The archdioceses 2020 bankruptcy case has also frozen a separate court battle over a cache of confidential emails describing the behind-the-scenes public relations work that executives for the NFLs New Orleans Saints did for the archdiocese in 2018 and 2019 to contain fallout from clergy abuse scandals.

While the Saints say they only assisted in messaging, attorneys for those suing the church have alleged in court records that Saints officials joined in the churchs pattern and practice of concealing its crimes. That included taking an active role in helping to shape the archdioceses list of credibly accused clergy, the attorneys contend.

Attorneys for those suing the church have attacked the bankruptcy bid as a veiled attempt to keep church records secret  and deny victims a public reckoning.

Those victims were on the path to the truth, Soren Gisleson, an attorney who represents several of the victims, wrote in a court filing. The rape of children is a thief that keeps on stealing.

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Contact APs global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
CORDES LAKES, Ariz.  Authorities on Wednesday released the name of a man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Yavapai County sheriffs deputy.

Sheriffs officials said Robert McDowell, 61, of Mayer has been booked into a Prescott jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.

It was unclear Wednesday if McDowell has a lawyer yet.

Sheriffs officials said Sgt. Richard Lopez was shot Tuesday afternoon after a standoff with the suspect in Cordes Lakes, located about 69 miles (111 kilometers) north of Phoenix.

Lopez, 51, was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital where he later died.

Sheriffs officials said Lopez was a 14-year veteran of the department and the Prescott Valley resident is survived by a wife and two daughters.

County Sheriff David Rhodes said at a late-night news conference Tuesday that Lopez was pursuing a man suspected of stealing when the shooting occurred in a Cordes Lakes neighborhood.

Rhodes said Lopez was found unresponsive and was airlifted to HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center in Phoenix where he underwent surgery before he died from his injuries.

McDowell was taken into custody following an hours-long barricade situation at his Cordes Lakes home.

The violence against law enforcement, we are seeing it escalate everywhere, and it has got to stop, Rhodes said. These are community servants, these are people that are out there serving the community, protecting life, liberty and property. And we, they do not deserve this.

He said his office has asked the Arizona Department of Public Safety to take over the investigation of the fatal shooting.

Rhodes said Lopez was affectionately known as R-Lo and he left a career in management to come and work in public service and work in public safety.

He served as a detective, he was a negotiator on our SWAT team, Rhodes added. Were hurt. Our agency is hurting.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday that he has ordered that the flags at all state buildings be lowered to half staff on Friday to honor Lopez whose life was cut short by a senseless act of lawlessness.
RIO RANCHO  The Rio Rancho Governing Board at its June 23 meeting approved site plans for Albertsons Market Street @ The Village near Presbyterian Rust Medical Center at Unser and Wellspring Avenue, Rio Rancho Observer reports.

Residents in the area have been looking forward to getting a grocery store for some time now.

Albertsons Market Street is the second in the state, the first being in Santa Fe.

Although both Albertsons and Market Street are part of the United chain of grocery stores, each has its own identity. The Market Street brand features a wide range of natural and organic foods, including its own O-organics line, a concierge event planning service, and a specialty floral department.

The roughly 11-acre development will be located at 2200 Westside Blvd. SE, in the area known informally as The Village at Cabezon, and will also include a gas station. Given its proximity to Albuquerques West Side, Market Street is expected to appeal to customers from Albuquerque nearly as much as those from Rio Rancho.

Being so close to Presbyterian Rust Medical Center and MTuccis Moderno Restaurant will give the development great exposure, as Councilor Jim Owen pointed out, then added, The exposure is going to be significant, and its exciting.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Authorities arrested a man accused of supplying drugs at Coronado Park and the Ambassador Inn during an undercover operation carried out over the past month.

Thaaer Mike Tomasaour, 42, is federally charged with distribution of methamphetamine after allegedly selling an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent more than a pound of the drug on June 15 in a room at the Court John Motel. He was arrested Tuesday.

Tomasaours attorney could not be reached for comment.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Tomasaour also sold large quantities of heroin, fentanyl and guns to undercover detectives.

He said Tomasaour often trades drugs for stolen goods brought to him by those who frequent Coronado Park, at Third and Interstate 40, and the Ambassador Inn near Candelaria and Interstate 25.

Federal and local court records do not show any charges for those crimes.

Gallegos said authorities seized 4,500 fentanyl pills, more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine, heroin, crack cocaine, $10,000 in cash and four guns during the operation.

In a statement, Police Chief Harold Medina said the department will continue to target these criminals who are preying on vulnerable populations and contributing to violent crime in our community.

Robert Grado, 34, and Gilbert Hernandez, 49, were also arrested during the raid at the Court John Motel near Fourth and Menaul NW.

Grado was arrested on warrants and his role in the drug trafficking is unclear. Gallegos, the police spokesman, said he will be charged alongside Tomasaour but gave no other details.

Police arrested Hernandez for drug possession after he was found with fentanyl at the motel. According to court records, Hernandez told police he came to the motel to buy fentanyl and was homeless and on the run from parole.
WASHINGTON  Nearly three months after she won confirmation to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson is officially becoming a justice.

Jackson, 51, will be sworn as the courts 116th justice Thursday, just as the man she is replacing, Justice Stephen Breyer, retires.

The judicial pas de deux is set to take place at noon, the moment Breyer said in a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday that his retirement will take effect after nearly 28 years on the nations highest court.

The court is expected to issue its final opinions earlier Thursday in a momentous and rancorous term that included overturning Roe v. Wades guarantee of the right to an abortion. The remaining cases are a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agencys ability to regulate climate-warming emissions from power plants, and Bidens bid to end the Trump-era remain in Mexico asylum program.

In a ceremony the court said it will stream live on its website, Jackson will recite two oaths required of Supreme Court justices, one administered by Breyer and the other by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Jackson, a federal judge since 2013, will be the first Black woman to serve as a justice. She will be joining three women, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett  the first time four women will serve together on the nine-member court.

Biden nominated Jackson in February, a month after Breyer, 83, announced he would retire at the end of the courts term, assuming his successor had been confirmed. Breyers earlier-than-usual announcement and the condition he attached was a recognition of the Democrats tenuous hold on the Senate in an era of hyper-partisanship, especially surrounding federal judgeships.

The Senate confirmed Jacksons nomination in early April, by a 53-47 mostly party-line vote that included support from three Republicans.

She has been in a sort of judicial limbo ever since, remaining a judge on the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., but not hearing any cases. Biden elevated her to that court from the district judgeship to which she was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Jackson will be able to begin work immediately, but the court will have just finished the bulk of its work until the fall, apart from emergency appeals that occasionally arise. That will give her time to settle in and familiarize herself with the roughly two dozen cases the court already has agreed to hear starting in October as well as hundreds of appeals that will pile up over the summer.
BOSTON  Great white shark researchers on Cape Cod are reminding visitors that warmer weather signals not just the start of the busy tourist season, but also the arrival of the regions famous predators.

July tends to be when great whites appear in earnest as the capes waters warm, with sightings peaking from August through October, Megan Winton, a scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, said during a news conference at the organizations offices in Chatham on Wednesday.

Just know that large sharks are here, she said. Theyre a constant presence from June to the fall.

A great white sighting forced the temporary closure of Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro on Tuesday.

Greg Skomal, a state marine biologist who has been studying the regions great whites for decades, said the animals still tend to be concentrated on the Atlantic Ocean-facing side of the cape, where they feast on a flourishing seal population.

He advised beachgoers to be most vigilant when swimming off beaches where the shoreline quickly drops off into deeper waters.

Sharks will come close to the shore when they have water depth, Skomal said.

Since 2009, researchers have tagged more than 280 great whites off the cape, with nearly 230 of those tags still active and sending back data about shark movements, according to the scientists.

Skomal and Winton have spent years studying white shark migration and hunting behavior. They say the ongoing research has helped increase beach safety by giving local officials and beachgoers alike a better understanding of where great whites tend to appear, as well as what times of the day they tend to be most active.

Skomal says theres been a marked change in beachgoer behavior since the region saw two shark attacks on humans  one of them fatal  in 2018.

Many are increasingly keeping closer to shore when they swim, with others not venturing into the waters at all, he said.

Its a conservation success story in terms of sharks and seals, Winton said. At the same time, this is an important place for people to recreate, so its important to find ways to coexist.
Michael Martin Murphey is looking forward to getting out of the Texas heat to perform his annual Red River residency in July and August.

Its a practice hes done for years and enjoys being back in the state.

Ive certainly been following all of the fires and Red River has stayed pretty safe, he says. Im thrilled about the rain that the state is getting.

Each year, Murphey headlines his chuckwagon shows in Red River.

The shows have also been a welcome source of comfort for the 77-year-old performer.

Ive been doing this a long time, he says. Ive performed around the world and seen many things. Getting to perform as part of a low-key show is what keeps me going.

Over the course of his career, Murphey has been honored with being part of the Western Music Hall of Fame, as well as the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Hes also charted more than 30 songs on the Billboard charts.

With his upcoming album, Road Beyond the View, Murphey is hitting some more career firsts.

The album marks the first time Murphey takes a jazz feel to music. It also features his son Ryan Murphey.

Ryan has played on my albums before, Murphey says. On this album, its a collaboration between us. We worked together really well on this.

Murphey says for the shows, Ryan will join him on stage.

He spends half of the residency with me, he says. Hes been on every album with me since 1993 by either playing guitar or organizing the material. He will co-produce the album. This is the most weve worked together.

Murphey says his son teaches guitar at the Nashville School for the Arts. During the pandemic, he began taking classes with his son.

I started with jazz, classical and music theory classes with my son, he says. Then we began to write some songs around it. We didnt know where it would go when we started. We each recorded in our on studios. It was a different experience for me all around.

The father and son were also inspired by New Mexico for the album. Murphey originally moved to Taos in 1978 and now splits time between New Mexico and Texas.

Its impossible for me to express what being in New Mexico for so many years has meant to me, he says. Even though Im in Texas, I spend half the year in the state. I do believe New Mexico is the most unique state. Its inspired so much art that I want to make music that goes with that.

Murphey will also perform at 7 p.m. Monday, July 4, at the Pageant Grounds of Historic Lincoln in Lincoln. Information at outhousetickets.com.
Paul Williams knows the impact of filmmaking.

This is the reason hes been working in the industry for more than two decades.

Williams latest project is the PBS and BBC series, The Green Planet. He produced two episodes of the five-part series, which airs at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. He produced Tropical Worlds, which kicks off the series and Desert Worlds, which airs on July 27, and where he filmed out in the Southwest. The series also streams on the PBS Video app.

I got to produce the two extremes for this project, he says. I absolutely fell in love with the Sonoran Desert and discovered new and fascinating things each day.

The Green Planet chronicles the secret lives of plants. The series shows how plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as animals  locked in life-and-death struggles for food and light, taking part in fierce battles for territory, and desperately trying to reproduce and scatter their young.

Using pioneering new filmmaking technology and the very latest science, the series reveals this strange and wonderful world of plants like never before.

Made by BBC Studios world-renowned Natural History Unit, the series sees Sir David Attenborough travel across the globe, from the United States to Costa Rica to Croatia to northern Europe. From deserts to water worlds, from tropical forests to the frozen north, Attenborough finds brand new stories and gains a fresh understanding of how plants live their lives. He meets the largest living things that have ever existed; trees that care for each other; plants that hunt animals and a plant with the most vicious defenses in the world.

The series comes 26 years after The Private Life of Plants aired on BBC One. Viewers can see how science and technologies have advanced, and how the understanding of the ways in which plants behave and interact has evolved.

The series is also a great passion project for Attenborough  airing at a critical moment, just as our green world stands on the brink of collapse.

While he was fascinated with both episodes, Williams says it was the desert which captured his imagination and attention.

In Desert Worlds, he grew to learn more about the cholla cactus.

We had the film crew out there and we were having to get low to the ground, he says. There were a number of times that I would end up sitting in one and getting needles in my backside. I had to quickly learn to be aware of all my surroundings.

In chronicling the cholla, Williams also wanted to showcase how it protects itself from nature.

David Attenborough really brings home the impact of the cholla, he says. We found a glove for him that had the Kevlar lining. We thought it would have the protection he needed. We captured him still getting the needles in his hand. This showed how the plant protects itself.

Williams grew up watching science fiction films because they allowed his imagination to run wild.

Its the same premise that drew him to the project.

Part of the magic is that we have this innovative technology to capture the miniscule parts, he says. We also show how each plant has a life cycle and within that they are struggling to survive. Just like any science fiction film, you have heroes and villains.

Williams says over the course of 25 years, hes seen technology advance at a rapid rate.

Being at this moment in time, were fortunate to have had everything come together, he says. The time-lapse pieces of the series are phenomenal because we get to see in real time how plants live.
MANAMA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa met on Wednesday with visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, where they stressed the two-state solution as an imperative one to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The two leaders said in a joint communique that it is important to return to "serious and effective negotiations" to achieve peace "in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution," which "guarantees the Palestinian people their right to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital."

They also urged Iran to abide by the principles of non-interference in the affairs of Arab countries, comply with the principles of good neighborliness, and spare the region all destabilizing activities.

Moreover, the two sides expressed their aspiration for further cooperation in the banking, economic and commercial fields, through the establishment of joint investment platforms and more mutual visits. 
The numbers vary from internet source to internet source, but the general consensus seems to be there were something like 200 Elvis Presley impersonators in the world at the time of the Kings death in 1977 and the number has grown to at least 35,000 today. And were not even including all the actors who have portrayed Elvis on TV and in the movies, from Kurt Russell to Jonathan Rhys Meyers to David Keith to Don Johnson to Harvey Keitel to Michael Shannon to Val Kilmer as the Elvis apparition who advises Christian Slaters Clarence in True Romance.

So one cant help but ask: With every chapter of the mans life and times already so deeply etched into the pop culture landscape, do we really need another movie about the man and the myth and the legend that was Elvis Presley?

In the case of Elvis, the answer is a resounding YES, thanks to the gloriously excessive, razzle-dazzle direction of Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), a smoldering star-turn performance from Austin Butler as the title character and a sure-to-be-polarizing but fantastically eccentric spin on Colonel Tom Parker, courtesy of a nearly unrecognizable Tom Hanks. This is 2 hours and 39 minutes of screen-popping, candy-colored, highly stylized, fever-dream showmanship that serves as a Greatest Hits compilation touching on the many, many permutations of Elvis, from malleable country bumpkin to sex symbol icon to B-movie star to seemingly irrelevant near-has-been to the Comeback King to Las Vegas icon to his death at the age of 42, and its such a sprawling, amazing roller coaster ride that its difficult to process the fact Presley has been dead longer than he was with us.

If you thought the magnificently flamboyant Luhrmann was well-suited to put the flashiest of spins on The Great Gatsby, you can imagine what he does with the made-for-overkill mythology of Elvis  and from the moment we see a bejeweled version of the Warner Bros. Pictures logo, we know Luhrmann is going to flood our senses with a nonstop medley of arresting sights and sounds, never taking his foot off the directorial gas pedal. (Who wants to see a version of Elvis unplugged, am I right?)

Elvis is told through the skewed, self-serving hucksters perspective of Colonel Tom Parker, who was not a colonel and was born Andreas Cornelis van Kujik in the Netherlands (hence the strange Dutch/Southern hybrid accent), an admittedly great showman and promoter who latched on to Presley early on and rode his show pony into the ground, allegedly bilking Presley of millions and maneuvering him into making all sorts of deals that benefitted Parker first and Presley a distant second. Parker keeps trying to convince us hes not the villain in the story, as we see him always lurking backstage, always making side deals to line his pockets or cover his gambling debts, always in the middle of everything while looking out for himself first, always spinning things with his almost cartoonishly evil cadence.

Luhrmann employs a sparkling array of visual and aural tactics, from period-piece graphics to sepia-toned flashbacks, from nostalgic color schemes to swooping camera movements to split screens and cool and creative match-cut transitions. We know Elvis didnt write his own material and we know he appropriated, aka stole, the sounds of gospel and blues from Black artists, and perhaps more than any previous Presley biopic, Elvis continually acknowledges that, with the likes of BB King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), Little Richard (Alton Mason), Arthur Big Boy Crudup (Gary Clark Jr.) and Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Yola Quartey) getting their moments.

Still, the films fate rests on the shoulders of Austin Butler, who flashed serious movie-star potential as the evil fool Tex Watson in Tarantinos Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and is mesmerizingly strong here. Butler doesnt do an Elvis impersonation, but he does a stunningly good job of capturing the hip-swiveling, pink-suited Elvis who makes girls swoon and scream in a comedically effective early sequence; the 60s Elvis who starred in a series of forgettable and dopey movies; the brilliant performer who made one of the most memorable pop-star comebacks of all time in a 1968 TV special, and the lost and borderline self-parodying Karate King who sweated and toiled on the Vegas stage and only occasionally touched greatness. Butler is an electric performer who shines in the spotlight when Elvis is onstage, but he also infuses Presley with an empathetic humanity and vulnerability. We know the man was hardly a saint, but we understand his sins.

Hanks characterization of Colonel Tom Parker is a big swing for someone who has held the unofficial title of Americas Most Likable Movie Star for more than 30 years. Some might argue hes miscast, but I found the performance to be suitably oily, for despite Parkers protestations, he IS the villain of the story. Even as Parker constantly reminds us that he made Elvis Presley (and theres an element of truth to that), we see that, time and again, he also contributed to the destruction of the man.

Still, for all its tragic elements and the heartbreak of an ending we know is coming, Elvis is a brilliant celebration of an artist who left a lasting and huge footprint on our culture.
Tucked away in a beautiful natural setting sits Jemez Mountain Brewhouse.

The recently opened brewery, located at 17691 N.M. 4 in Jemez Springs, offers plenty of local craft beers, including a few of its own. The brewery is slowly building up to brewing on-site, but currently has its beer brewed by Mother Trail Beverage Company in Albuquerque. Guests can find the brewerys Bohemian Rhapsody Pilsner and its Up the 4 IPA, which is a West Coast style India Pale Ale. Soon guests also will be able to sip on the brewerys New England IPA.

Its gonna be lighter on the hops, not super hoppy like youll get from other ones, co-owner David Martinez said of the Up the 4 IPA. We want it to be more on the lighter side. You do get a nice grapefruit and a tangerine aroma off of it right away. And it finishes with a nice little sweet tiny finish. We wanted to keep that IPA kind of on the lighter side just so it is more enjoyable for everybody.

The Bohemian Rhapsody is a Bohemian-style pilsner that is also on the lighter side.

Its like a Czech pilsner, Martinez said. Its brewed with German malt and hops. Its a really nice pilsner. Very crisp. And its just really easy drinking and you can probably drink it all day, if youre going camping or something like that.

The brewery currently does not have its own brewing system but hopes to install one in the fall.

Were hopefully looking to try to get like a 7-to-10-barrel system in here, if possible, Martinez said. Were gonna have to really look and see what size we can fit, but thats kind of a dream.

It was also a dream of Martinez to open his own business.

I actually was going for more of a restaurant type of thing back in college, he explained. But during college, I actually got into a beer group called the ABQ Craft Beer Drinkers. Im not sure if theyre still around, but they are a wonderful group of people. Not only did we travel to all the breweries throughout New Mexico, but you know, we had our own little social parties, and we brewed our own beer. We really just got down and talked about what the beer was about. It really helped me learn what the whole beer scene was about. That really struck my interest to get more involved with craft beer and brewing.

The opportunity to open a brewery arose when Second Alarm Brewhouse closed. Martinez and his business partners decided to rent the building from the village of Jemez Springs to open their own brewery.

Jemez Springs is a wonderful place, Martinez said. Ive always felt that this place was a very special area. Ive been coming up here since I was a kid. We just got the opportunity to open up this place (with) Second Alarm closing down. The place had already been a brewery. So a lot of it was already set up.

The Jemez Mountain Brewhouse building has served many roles over the years.

Our building has been, I believe, a prison, the old firehouse, the old American Legion, so its been multiple things throughout the years, Martinez said. Were renting it from the (village of Jemez Springs). Right now we can (accommodate) about 60 people I want to say. Thats including my staff. We dont have an outside patio right now or outdoor seating. But thats what were hoping to do this fall is to take that step.

Martinez said there is plenty of room to expand and plans on turning its small parking lot into a front patio.

Its only like four parking spaces so were going to get rid of it and just put the front patio out here for that, Martinez said. Theres already parking right beside us on the other side so were gonna actually take that out and put a nice little patio out there. We also want to start growing our own hops out here. I know were not gonna be able to grow enough to have a huge batch, but we thought it would be really cool if we could do like a 10 or 20 gallon batch with our own hops every summer, every year.
UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday announced the appointment of Najat Rochdi of Morocco as deputy special envoy for Syria.

Rochdi succeeds Khawla Matar of Bahrain, "to whom the secretary-general expresses his gratitude for her efforts and dedication in the search for peace in Syria," the UN chief's office said in a statement.

Rochdi has over 20 years of experience in political affairs and international coordination in conflict and post-conflict areas, including through her latest assignment as deputy special coordinator, resident and humanitarian coordinator, with the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon.

Her earlier assignments include senior adviser to the special envoy for Syria, resident and humanitarian coordinator in Cameroon and deputy director of the Representative Office of the United Nations Development Programme in Geneva. 
CNBC-TV18, the leading English business news channel of India, has consistently been highlighting the prospects for economic growth of the country. With insightful reportage on upcoming government initiatives and debates involving thought leaders and experts, the channel has kept its audience informed about the latest developments on business and finance. Continuing its legacy, CNBC-TV18, in collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank, hosted a new iteration of its flagship summit, Leadership Collective 2022, on June 24 in New Delhi.

The theme of this year's edition focused on Seizing Indias Trade Opportunities. Leaders from the Government and businesses participated in this thought leadership forum to map Indias growth prospects in global trade. The prestigious event was Chaired by B.V.R Subrahmanyam- Commerce Secretary, Govt of India.

While engaging in a candid conversation with CNBC-TV18s Managing Editor, Shereen Bhan about Indias role in light of the current global trade dynamics, B.V.R Subrahmanyam- Commerce Secretary, Govt of India said, India could not have been in a more opportune time as far as the prospect for trade and economic growth is concerned. India is in a sweet spot and needs to grab this opportunity that comes once in every 20-25 years. After the pandemic enforced a reshuffle of global value chains, companies are looking up to India as a country with similar size and scope of investment as that of China. From a geopolitical point of view, India is looked at as a potential economic powerhouse, set to be a multi-trillion-dollar economy in the coming decade. To achieve that feat, our export sector has been performing phenomenally. Within the last year, it crossed $400 bn, up from about a 12-year-long stagnation in the $300 bn mark, all done through real-time monitoring and addressing investment issues. Similar reforms in production and incentives are creating huge impact. In August 2021, we cleared Rs 55,000 crore worth of incentive backlog in one go. Schemes are automated now, and the government is working on a department that can run exports worth $2 trillion by 2030. There is an alignment across all government departments about how critical export is for India to become a developed nation.

Taking the conversation forward with the Commerce Secretary, was a cast of eminent speakers from Industry and Diplomacy. His Excellency, Ugo Astuto, EU Ambassador,

Zarin Daruwala- Cluster CEO, India & South Asia Markets (Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka), Standard Chartered Bank, Mahesh Desai- Chairman, Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India; Manish Sharma- Chairman and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia; Nishant Arya- Vice Chairman, JBM Group; Shailender Kumar- Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director, Oracle and Dr Ajai Chowdhry- Founder, HCL & Chairman EPIC Foundation, who shared their views on the policy imperatives to achieve high export growth, the role of mutually beneficial FTAs, the need to bring down the cost of logistics among the many focus areas.

Sharing her thoughts Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor at CNBC-TV18 mentioned, Leadership Collective is a thought leadership platform hosted by CNBC-TV18, in partnership with Standard Chartered. The idea behind the summit is to bring industry and government policymakers together and brainstorm on issues concerning our nation, its economy, and society. Breaking free from virtual shows due to the pandemic, we are back with an on-ground edition, a live audience, and thought leaders. CNBC-TV18 has always been at the forefront of driving conversations that matter from addressing the Gender gap, the role of philanthropy to drive social change, to the current topic of helping India seize the trade opportunity. The global economy is fragile because of the pandemic and faces more challenges today due to the ongoing Russia- Ukraine war. It is time to facilitate growth and that is why we wanted to bring Policymakers and Industry Leaders together to chart out an action plan

Shedding light on the proposed EU-India #FTA deal, Ugo Astuto, EU Ambassador to India, commented, All parameters are set for a positive engagement! We want to touch upon all topics as part of the agreement that will bolster development in our economic and trade relations. Nothing is off the table, and added that both sides are pursuing a very ambitious timeline to 'conclude talks by the end of 2023.'

Zarin Daruwala, Cluster CEO, India and South Asia markets, Standard Chartered Bank sharing her views at the event said, The PLI scheme has generated a lot of interest from MNC clients. As per our own in-house estimates, it will directly benefit by creating 4 million direct jobs and pushing for indirect employment as well. Also, the intra-ASEAN trade corridor is really picking up rapidly. India must focus on the textile & leather sectors. A good example is Bangladeshs total capitalization of its textile policies. This year, they will cross 44-billion-dollar textile exports, which gives 4 million direct jobs and 2 crores of indirect employment. There is an 80% share of women in that workforce. We should focus on replicating that inclusive model with emphasis on women empowerment.
Award-winning full-funnel creative and performance digital agency FoxyMoron (part of the Zoo Media network), has appointed Aditya Mehra as Creative Director - South. In this role, he will be leading the creative operations for the agencys South clientele. Aditya will be reporting to Dhruv Warrior, FoxyMorons National Creative Director.

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Aditya comes with 2 decades of experience in advertising and marketing and has worked with agencies like Leo Burnett & Saatchi & Saatchi, to name a few. Prior to joining the leadership team at FoxyMoron, Aditya founded a successful creative and digital marketing agency, Logomotif Communications. He also worked with Wunderman Thompson as a Consultant Creative Director and handled brands across industries like FedEx, Kotak Wealth Management, Parag Foods and CavinKare. He has also worked at Partnership Dubai as a Consultant Creative Director, where he handled the accounts of Dubais leading luxury retail brand, Rivoli and the beauty brand, The Body Shop amongst others. Aditya was also instrumental in launching brands like Canon and Toyota Fortuner in India during his time at Percept. Aditya has won several accolades for his work over the years.

Commenting on this, Prachi Bali, National Head Partnerships and Business Head, North, FoxyMoron (Zoo Media) said, Aditya is a powerful force in the workplace and uses his vast experience and tireless energy to raise the creative standards of our teams in the south, and produce work that exceeds the expectations of clients. We look forward to working alongside him and creating some wonderful work.

Aditya Mehra, Creative Director - South, FoxyMoron (Zoo Media) said, I look forward to this opportunity to contribute to an exciting, forward thinking, fast-moving network. My vision is to be the big-picture professional who guides and builds strong teams that can reach new creative standards to achieve our client goals. I believe working at FoxyMoron will help me fulfill it.
The long-term success of the Indian ecosystem and Indias global competitiveness will intricately be tied to our proficiency at adopting and leveraging AI at scale, especially in the larger enterprise context, said Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog speaking at the 5th edition of the Digital Transformation Summit, organised by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) today in Mumbai. Mr Kant also released a report, titled, From Buzz to Reality: The Accelerating Pace of AI in India, prepared by Bain & Company in collaboration with Microsoft and IAMAI. Shri Kant said, Artificial Intelligence is now more important than ever, not only is its use becoming ubiquitous, its adoption is central for private sector companies to remain globally relevant. Underlining the importance of using AI responsibly, he added, The promise of AI presents a wealth of opportunities -- there are key privacy, data security and ethical considerations that have to be accounted for. Responsible management of AI in India is key to leveraging benefits of AI while minimising the risks.

The Summit brought together various stakeholders covering new age technology developers, enterprise solution providers, adopters, policy makers, knowledge partners and think tanks on one platform to analyse and discuss the roadmap of Digital Transformation in the near future.

Over various sessions industry leaders discussed various issues related to AI, Web3, Metaverse. Among those who attended the conference were Mr. MVS Murthy, Head  Marketing, Digital, Corp Comm, Tata Mutual Fund; Mr. Milan Seth, EVP IMEA Region- Automation Anywhere, and Mr. Poorav Sheth, Chief Digital Officer, Godrej & Boyce.

Mr. Milan Sheth, Chair, Automation Committee, IAMAI & EVP IMEA Region, Automation Anywhere, said, "Digital transformation has gone from push to pull, with more organisations demanding integration of newer technologies."

Speaking at a session on data security solutions for digitalized enterprises, Mr. Brijesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Govt. of Maharashtra, said, The regulatory environment is getting tightened in India when it comes to cyber security.



Web 2.0 based applications made start-ups much easier to grow and operate, similarly web 3 will make global applications easy to build and use, said Sandeep Laxman, Head Fintech Business Development, Amazon Web, discussing the future business models with web 3 and metaverse.

Different sessions were held on digital transformation strategy, work management 5.0, future of connected vehicle experience, data security and data-driven decision making. Over 300 delegates, more than 250 companies and over 50 speakers took part in the Digital Transformation Summit.
The governments regulations for cryptocurrencies have evolved greatly in the last few years in India. In the year 2020, the Surpreme court has reversed the RBIs stance of giving out a order to banks to not support crypto transactions. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, puts a ban on all private cryptocurrencies in India. A circular issued by the RBI in 2013, warned the public about the potential risks of using virtual currencies. A draft scheme was submitted by the Central Board of Digital Tax, to the finance ministry in 2018, asking to ban virtual currencies. Consequently, a circular was issued by the RBI, putting a ban on providing financial services to the transactions involving virtual currency. Again in March, 2020, the restriction by RBI, on financial institutions and banks to not provide banking services to those involved in crypto assets transactions, was lifted by the Supreme court.

According to a report, India has the second highest number of cryptocurrency users in the world. The crypto market in India has recorded a growth of 641% in June 2021, Besides some taxation laws on gains from crypto assets, the transactions involving the same is subjected to 1% TDS. While in India, crypto transactions are still underway, in countries such as Europe, USA, crypto transactions are quite common. Social media platforms such as Taki are bringing a new wave of crypto exchanges. Taki is a crypto token powered global social media platform that rewards users for creating content, commenting, liking posts on the platform. It has raised $3.45 million through 11 global marquee investors, including the likes of Coinbase, CoinDCX, Solana Ventures and is backed by Web3 experience leader Superlayer.

In conversation with Adgully, Sakina Arsiwala, Co-founder, Taki, speaks about how Taki aims to empower content creators and its platform users and reward them for their creativity and engagement as well as build an effective crypto journey for India.

What is the content model of Taki?

Taki is a SuperLayer backed social app that is well suited for India. The idea is to create an ecosystem that not only rewards creators, but also their community members. Users are spending so much of their time and effort on social media platforms; now theres a way to earn in cryptocurrency from their existing behaviour of engaging with content. For example, any type of content that you would typically find on a social media platform like Twitter. There is currently a focus on text and image posts, which will soon expand to video and other file formats.

Taki, an end-to-end creators paradise is a holistic platform to start any persons crypto journey with social media benefits. Anyone can showcase their creativity, engage with communities, create content and simply engage to build their own coin and monetise it in exchange for Taki tokens. A creators community can monetise the content; users can simply earn by doing basic engagement activities such as liking and commenting on posts. People can buy exclusive content from their favourite creator without spending out-of-pocket because of the engage-to-earn model.

What is the strategy behind its operations?

Taki is currently an invite-only platform and it intends to stay with the format in the coming months to provide a high-quality user experience while the app continues to get developed. However, we will eventually open the platform to all users in the future. Takis algorithm will be continuously refined, based on what we observe from a users behaviour and needs.

How does the future of cryptocurrencies in India look like?

The cryptocurrency space is incredibly fast-moving and most countries are still figuring out how to approach it from legal, taxation, and compliance-related aspects. We think India is more progressive than most other countries and we also believe that the Indian user base is uniquely positioned to benefit from engage-to-earn product designs. Thoughtful regulation is necessary as there are many scammy and fraudulent projects out there. Taki is a Web3 social app with a highly credible team, top investors, and a priority on providing a safe experience for users to onboard and slowly learn the basics of crypto.

How does Taki aim to position itself among other social media platforms?

Taki differentiates through its unique crypto-economy design. Users can easily create their own branded coins that are freely tradable on the platform. This distinctive representation reflects a better way for creators/ users to monetise their content. By creating a network of user coins, we can also offer interesting token-specific features via social graphs like a value graph matrix. Taki is not competing directly with existing social media platforms, which are primarily focused on eyeballs and advertising revenues. Rather, Taki is a social token network that provides a completely unique experience that integrates user coins with social media features. We are building a platform for general social media users where they can earn on a daily basis.

How can people earn money on Taki?

Taki is built on the Solana blockchain, which promises inexpensive and fast transactions. In a bid to make it easier for users and attract them to the platform, Taki has made it very easy to earn. The users do not need to be content creators to earn from Taki; simply inviting a friend will also give them Taki coins. Users dont need to create content on a daily basis, even if they do it occasionally, they would be rewarded. The higher a user engages on the platform, their $USERCOIN value goes up against the $TAKI token. They can transfer the accumulated Taki tokens to their external exchange wallet and earn income by selling them at the market value of $TAKI token at that time.

How does Taki aim to contribute to the evolving creator economy?

Taki is built with an Engage-to-Earn product design and integrates user coins with social media features to incentivise and reward activities that benefit the whole Taki community. It allows users to create their own user coin and to build their own personal economy on the Taki platform. Taki introduces a multi-tiered crypto-economy design by allowing users to freely trade their user coins with others on Taki. It also allows existing users to buy a particular creators user coins at the initial stages and remain part of that creators economy as the community and the token economy grow.

How has Takis reception been so far since its inception?

It is rewarding to experience such a positive start for Taki. Presently, 90k+ users are active on the platform; 648,382 people are on the waitlist; 663,630 Gold Takis have been rewarded on user content/posts by other users on the app; 657K+ $TAKI tokens are locked in user coins. This incremental shift has been overwhelming and encourages us that we are on the right track. We believe Taki is going to be a first of its kind to bridge the gap between normal netizens and Web3 experience at large. India has the real potential to nurture and grow the cryptocurrency ecosystem for the entire world.

How will the proceeds from the IEO benefit the TAKI DAOs community treasury?

With the investment raised via seed funding, Taki plans to accelerate its product and technological development in crucial operations such as proactive team building, hiring talent across functions, and marketing activities. The funds will also be extended towards product designing, engineering, Go-To-Market activities, General and Administrative (legal, finance), partnerships, and community building as well, aimed towards expanding Takis presence in other key markets following the India launch.

What are the growth projections of Taki for the coming months and years?

The current social app environment is dynamic and fast-paced in order to cater to the discerning needs of the audience. Were very true to the vision that creators should own their own economies, and for that, we would like the user points to be portable so they can take them to any other network. We would love to collaborate with developers and other people who can use the creator coin in their own systems and their own platforms. Imagine a world where a creator mints Taki coins, then basically owns them. Taki intends to be a platform that generates daily income for its users. People usually spend a lot of time on social media passively for their daily entertainment. We want to build Taki as a platform where they get rewarded for the time invested. Along with content creators, passive users can simply engage on the posts by doing basic actions such as liking and commenting.
A cold-blooded murderer carrying a grudge in his heart and angst against the system, committed grotesque killings in Delhi. With the police relentlessly trying to decode the serial killing, the diabolical killer left everyone involved perplexed and sent shivers down their spine. With its upcoming true crime docu-series Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi, Netflix is all set to unfold the story of this gruesome killer by decoding his psyche and uncovering details of what actually went down. Directed by Ayesha Sood and produced by VICE India, the true crime docu-series is set to premiere on Netflix on July 20, 2022.

The docu-series painstakingly explains the sequence of events that led up to the arrest of this brutal murderer who dismembered his victims and scattered their body parts around the city. What followed the murders was a cat and mouse chase and an urgency for the cops to catch the killer before he claimed his next victim. Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi covers the Delhi Police's investigation, succession of the case and their race against time to arrest the criminal and understand the rationale behind his actions.

Talking about the whodunit, the director of the docu-series, Ayesha Sood shared, The non-fiction space in India is constantly evolving and I am so happy to be a part of this to create a riveting story. As a filmmaker, I am keen to learn something from every project that I develop, and understanding this story and the investigation that it ensued, led me to discovering a lot about human psychology and the justice system as well! I look forward to presenting through this docu-series on Netflix, a case that should have rocked the country but was missed.

Samira Kanwar, VP Content for VICE APAC said "India has always had the potential for a flourishing non-fiction content scene that is finally gaining ground like never before. We are thrilled to join hands with Netflix, a home to some of the best documentaries from India and around the world, to present the story of some of India's most ruthless serial killers. We are grateful to Netflix for providing us a platform to tell these stories and being such a supportive creative home.

Catch the story of The Butcher of Delhi on 20th July, 2022 exclusively on Netflix!
ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing drought is compounding a complex situation in Ethiopia's Somali region, which hosts millions of internally displaced people, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned.

Ethiopia is experiencing one of the most severe La Nina-induced droughts in the last 40 years following four consecutive failed rainy seasons since late 2020.

The UN refugee agency, in a statement issued late Tuesday, said the ongoing drought condition is further exacerbating existing humanitarian needs across the affected areas, particularly the Somali region of Ethiopia.

"The drought is compounding a complex situation in the Somali region of Ethiopia that was already host to millions of internally displaced people, including those forced to flee because of conflict, as well as some 246,000 refugees from neighboring Somalia in eight camps, which have already received some 16,000 new arrivals," the UNHCR said.

Other drought-affected regions in the East African country include Afar, Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP).

The UNHCR said despite concerted efforts to address the humanitarian needs of the affected communities, people's needs continue to rise as the drought worsens.

In Ethiopia, UNHCR and other humanitarian partners are scaling up assistance to meet the rising needs, in support of the Ethiopian government.

According to the UNHCR, in the Somali region of Ethiopia, humanitarian partners are supporting more than 2.4 million displaced people with food and working to deliver clean water to more than 859,000 people.

"However, existing needs continue to surpass available resources," the UN refugee agency said.

On Tuesday, UNHCR appealed for 42.6 million U.S. dollars life-saving aid to help millions affected by the catastrophic drought in the Horn of Africa (HOA).

It said the funding will deliver life-saving assistance and protection to some 1.5 million refugees, internally displaced people (IDP) and local host communities affected by the drought in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

It said food shortages have been further exacerbated by rising food and commodity prices due to the Russian-Ukraine conflict, as the cost of food staples, including grain and cereal prices, has risen significantly. 
Zee Media Digital, one of Indias largest news network concluded its second edition of Edufuture Award. The award function honored game changers in the education industry  individuals and institutions whose work, ideas and best practices elevates the practice of education in India. The event was graced by Education Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia; Head of Education, India South Asia, Google Cloud India Pvt. Ltd, Bani Panital Dhawan; Director at IIM Indore, Himanshu Rai; Chairman, AICTE, Prof. Anil Shahasrabudhe Himanshu Rai and others.

Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi, Manish Sisodia, said at the event, I appreciate the constant efforts that we are putting to bridge the gap in education industry. Do hope to continue strengthen policies and bring fruitful changes in terms of imparting knowledge to the students.

Commenting on the accomplishment of the award show Shridhar Mishra, Chief Revenue Officer- Digital, Zee Media Corporation Ltd, said, As a communicator we are delighted to recognize best practices in education industry. In coming years, Zee media is looking forward to recognizing the education fraternity for showcasing their exemplary work.

He further added, We at Zee Digital are thrilled with the great response for the second season of the Edufuture Excellence Awards saw this year from educators, brands, and eminent dignitaries. Our intention was to felicitate and recognize the educators for the contribution in shaping the youth of India.

The two sessions at the event focused on taking Indian education to global standards and ways to empower educators to get a hold of new age careers. Throughout the event education industry experts elucidated on developing comprehensive programs and impactful initiatives and how to utilize the same to its full potential to deliver concrete results.

Universities and institutes such as JIS University, Reva University, Saveeta University, Govt. Engineering College Karnataka, Madhyanchal university Bhopal, Alpine College of Management and technology, Jagan Institute of Management Studies, Singhania Education Services Limited, SVKS NMIMS are to name a few were recognized and awarded at this event.

As a run-up to the grand event, specially curated counseling sessions were hosted on a microsite and it was presented by Amrita University, co-powered by Intel, Purple Microport partnered as special partners, recharge partner Paytm, mobile partner Infinix, digital distribution partner Dailyhunt.

The event took place on 25th June 2022, at Hotel The Leela Ambience, Gurugram in Delhi-NCR.
ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopia National Defense Force (ENDF) has rejected allegations that it executed seven captive Sudanese soldiers.

The Ethiopian army wasn't even present in the area of the alleged atrocity and as such couldn't commit the alleged execution act, Getnet Adane, public relations director at the ENDF, told state media on Tuesday.

"The Ethiopian National Defense Force's distinct trait is it handles any captives it has in its hands in a lawful and humane way," Adane said.

On Sunday, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) issued a statement through the state-owned Sudan News Agency (SUNA) alleging that the Ethiopian army had executed seven captive Sudanese soldiers and one Sudanese civilian.

The SAF also accused the Ethiopian army of parading the bodies to an Ethiopian public.

The ENDF denied the Ethiopian allegations and accused the Sudanese military of trying to divert from its country's "political crisis" by conducting regular provocations against Ethiopia.

Adane, the Ethiopian army spokesperson, warned that the Ethiopian army won't hesitate to use force to wrest back "Ethiopian land" from Sudanese control and restore Ethiopia's "full territorial integrity" if given orders by the Ethiopian government.

On Monday, Sudan decided to file a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Ethiopia, while the Sudanese foreign ministry decided to immediately recall its ambassador to Ethiopia for consultations and to summon the Ethiopian ambassador in Khartoum to inform him of Sudan's condemnation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Sudan and Ethiopia to take concrete steps to defuse tensions and to peacefully resolve their differences over the Al-Fashaqa border area, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.

Ethiopia and Sudan have longstanding competing claims over the Al-Fashaqa border region, an area of fertile land settled by Ethiopian farmers that Sudan claims is within its boundary.

"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the renewed clashes between Sudan and Ethiopia along their disputed border that took place on 22 June, and reportedly resulted in the death of seven Sudanese soldiers and one civilian," Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief's spokesman, told a daily press briefing.

"The secretary-general expresses his condolences to the families of the victims," he said. 
Iran blames U.S., NATO destructive presence in Afghanistan

Xinhua) 08:40, June 29, 2022

TEHRAN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday blamed the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for their two-decade occupation of Afghanistan, saying their presence in the country led to nothing but killing and destruction.

Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Pakistan's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Nadeem Raza in Tehran, according to the Iranian presidency's website.

Praising the Pakistani government's cooperation with Iran in improving security along the common border, Raisi noted that the favorable relations between the two armed forces have led to the creation of a relatively appropriate security situation in border areas.

The Iranian president stressed that the Taliban is required to prepare the ground for ensuring peace and development in Afghanistan through the formation of an inclusive government in the country with the participation of all ethnicities and groups.

The Pakistani general said he has always maintained that Iran is a close friend of his country, noting that numerous visits by Pakistani officials to Iran are proof of Islamabad's interest in expanding relations with Tehran.

Under the pretext of combating terrorism, the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and kicked off nearly two decades of occupation.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Wednesday expressed concern over the Ethiopia-Sudan border dispute.

"The Executive Secretary calls on the two sisterly countries to exercise utmost restraint and avoid actions that can further heighten tensions and to actively seek diplomatic means to find a lasting and sustainable solution on the matter," an IGAD statement said.

Both Ethiopia and Sudan are founding members of IGAD, an East African trading and security bloc of eight nations founded in 1986.

The eight IGAD member states are Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat also called on Ethiopia and Sudan to exercise restraint and initiate dialogue regarding their border dispute.

Ethiopia and Sudan are currently accusing each other of "provocations" over a deadly border incident that happened last week.

On Monday, Sudan decided to file a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Ethiopia, while the Sudanese foreign ministry decided to immediately recall its ambassador to Ethiopia for consultations and to summon the Ethiopian ambassador in Khartoum to inform him of Sudan's condemnation.

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian army rejected allegations that it executed seven captive Sudanese soldiers and instead accused Sudan of engaging in military provocations against Ethiopia.

Ethiopia and Sudan have longstanding competing claims over the Al-Fashaqa border region, an area of fertile land settled with Ethiopian farmers that Sudan claims is within its boundary. 
Todays America is not a place for subtlety and nuance. Todays youth seem especially incapable of handling fine distinctions. No interesting heterodox mix of positions will be tolerated; total conformity is required. Cleave to the party line in toto, lest ye be canceled.

Cancel Culture is the new regime whereby one can lose ones livelihood, ones reputation, and even ones friends for not hewing to every last tenet of the reigning orthodoxy. The gay journalist Chadwick Moore learned about the intolerance of left-wing cancelers when he came out as a conservative (italics added):

I began to realize that maybe my opinions just didnt fit in with the liberal status quo, which seems to mean that you must absolutely hate Trump, his supporters and everything they believe. If you dare not to protest or boycott Trump, you are a traitor. If you dare to question liberal stances or make an effort toward understanding why conservatives think the way they do, you are a traitor.

You must kneel before Rome, you must grovel at her feet. For wokesters, itll never do to be just 99 and 44/100% pure, like the old Ivory Soap ads claimed. No, my fair cousin, one needs to be 100% pure. Otherwise, you might just be an anti-social deviant, or maybe even an adherent of deviationism.

When it comes to the big important issues, like whether one can choose ones sex, there are no shades of gray, just black and white. Reality, however, is more interesting than the woke would have us believe. Some things (and people) are mixed, they can be both bad and good, both sacred and profane.

The woke cant wrap their little minds around that. So lets consider the dilemmas of serious people.

In the aftermath of the horrors of World War II, musicians wondered if they should perform the works of Richard Wagner, Hitlers favorite composer. The dilemma was especially vexing for Jewish artists because Wagner was an anti-Semite, and had written ugly screeds on Jewish music. Even so, some of the worlds greatest Jewish artists chose to perform and even record Wagners operas.

The reason Jews didnt cancel Herr Wagner and chose to perform his works is because they understood that an awful man with vile repellent views can also create beautiful music. (A word to the woke: Sometimes one needs to be able to hold seemingly contradictory things in ones head at the same time.)

So Wagner (whom the French call vaughn-YAY) got a reprieve, and didnt get thrown on the ash heap of history. And, get this, some of the finest interpreters of his work are Jews.

This was brought home to me when I happened on a video of the Jewish conductor Georg Solti in a recording session. And who do we see sitting in the trumpet section but Helmut Wobisch, who as a youth had been a Nazi. (You may get a kick out of watching Solti in the video; he was quite energetic.)

Solti wrote the Jewish American conductor Leonard Bernstein about Wobisch. The letter is too long to quote in its entirety, but its conveniently located at the very bottom of a review at The Wagnerian, where one reads Georg Solti to Leonard Bernstein. 19 May 1967; a taste of Soltis letter:

I am aware of Wobisch's political past (Ed: He was an active member of the Nazi Party during the war), as surely you were before you went to Vienna. However, working with him and knowing him for the past ten years, I have come to the conviction that despite everything he is probably one of the few trustworthy members of that orchestra. Wobisch worked very hard to bring you to Vienna and to prepare your appearances and successes there; I even heard from Mr. Rosengarten of Decca that Wobisch went as far as threatening to change the orchestra's contract from Decca to Deutsche Grammophon unless they were released to make Rosenkavalier with you.

So, here we have a Nazi helping a Jew with his career. Our woke youngsters might try to understand such twists, for it allows for the possibility of the good Nazi, like Claus von Stauffenberg. There was a good Nazi in Roman Polanskis The Pianist based on the real-life Wilm Hosenfeld, whom the Israelis recognized at Yad Vashem. Sadly, the woke dont seem to be able to handle ambiguity any better than subtlety.

In The Brilliant, Troubled Legacy of Richard Wagner, Jamie Katz quoted Bernsteins misgivings:

How can so great an artist -- so prophetic, so profoundly understanding of the human condition, of human strengths and flaws, so Shakespearean in the simultaneous vastness and specific detail of his perceptions, to say nothing of his mind-boggling musical mastery -- how can this first-class genius have been such a third-rate man? His answer did not resolve matters. I come out with two, and only two clear, unarguable truths, Bernstein said. One, that he was a sublime genius of incomparable creative power, and two, that he was a disagreeable, even intolerable megalomaniac. Everything else about Wagner is debatable, or at least, interpretable.

If conservatives practiced Cancel Culture, Mr. Bernstein might be subject to it himself, as he flirted with radical politics, and even threw a party for the Black Panthers. In 1970, New York magazine ran Radical Chic: That Party at Lennys by Tom Wolfe, who chronicled the event. (If you want to read this very lengthy article, immediately save it or youll be required to subscribe if you leave and come back later to finish reading.)

Real conservatives wouldnt dream of kicking Lenny to the curb for his disappointing political views or other failings. And thats because Lenny gave us so much wonderful music. Were not gonna throw the baby out with the bath water just so we can feel good about ourselves.

On May 2, National Review ran When Politics Invades Art by Jay Nordlinger who touches on the Wagner question and other such questions about many other artists. I highly recommend it. The intro is: Some thoughts on cancellation, boycotts, and the like. Those who approve of Cancel Culture are the most in need of Nordlingers nuanced exploration of moral ambiguities, and the least likely to grasp it.

(FOR THE UNCONVINCED: Click here, position the video at the 49:16 point, and watch for a minute. Its from A Dangerous Method, and features a piano transcription of Siegfried Idyll. It may help one understand why we still listen to Wagner.)

Jon N. Hall of ULTRACON OPINION is a programmer from Kansas City.

Image: Publicdomainvectors
Riding the New York City subway this afternoon, this deplorable saw a sign advertising the new City University of New York (CUNY) ASAP program. ASAP stands for Accelerated Study in Associate Programs. This program provides additional support and funding for students in two-year community college programs and is supplemented by another program for four-year students. These are giveaway programs to incentivize more students to go to college and stay in college and to participate in the leeching mindset that has attacked our culture.

These programs are an extension of the premise that students are kept from their true goals because of economic stresses. Money is thus the main obstacle to progress towards a degree, either towards an AA degree (Associate's two-year degree) or a B.A. degree. Thus, students with special needs, minority students, students of color, non-English speaking students (as a first language), students without means to attend school without working, students with criminal records, students who cannot decide what to major in, students who have low level reading or math abilities, students who have trouble organizing their time in order to get their work in on time, students with drug or alcohol problems, students without regular access to a computer, students whose parents repeatedly tell them they will never amount to anything, students who have served time in any local juvenile or adult detention facility, and students who are raising one or more illegitimate children will get additional financial incentives that may enable them to stay in school and hopefully finish at either a two-year or four-year City University institution. The taxpayer will pay for the additional emoluments to these student sub-groups.

The thinking behind the establishment of these programs has a longstanding and dishonorable history. In education, we can trace the progressive vision embodied in these programs to Jonathan Kozol's best-selling book Death At An Early Age published in 1967. Just as Dr. Benjamin Spock's book at the end of WWII, Babies and Child Care published in 1946, eventually sold 50 million copies and revolutionized child care in the direction of greater permissiveness, Kozol's book convinced educators and parents throughout the country that in order to fulfill the promises inherent in education we needed to throw much more money at our schools, especially in our urban areas which were overwhelmingly racist.

Further, Spock and Kozol were both openly leftist in their politics. Kozol was thrilled by the educational experiences he witnessed in Castro's Cuba. A focused article about his political allegiance appeared in City-Journal in the year 2000 which stated, "Taking as his starting point the crude Marxist view that education in all societies is 'a system of indoctrination,' . he worked out a method by which teachers could subvert capitalist America's bad indoctrination andcleverly and subtlysubstitute some good left-wing indoctrination in its place."

Lastly, in 1943 one of the leading founders of so-called humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow, came out with his "hierarchy of needs." These were human needs that had to be met as the individual sought self-actualization. Although Maslow did not identify with a particular politics, the emphasis on needs strangely identified him with Marxism because of Karl Marx's saying that under communism the principle that would be fulfilled would be "from each according to his ability to each according to his needs." This was at odds with classical Western thinking that, going back to the Greeks, emphasizes rationality, goodness, and justice as the highest intellectual and moral goals of humankind, and with Christianity which emphasizes the revealed moral law of an omniscient, everlasting, and perfect God  a law based on love for neighbor and love and obedience to God made possible by Jesus Christ.

Although Maslow never expressly embraced the leftist position this writer is attributing to him, by putting self and actualization at the center of his theories, Maslow was actually a revolutionary trying to overthrow the historical foundations of society, not unlike Marx and his ilk. Yet at the same time, he preferred the term humanist to the term communist.

The above theories represent three errors in post-WWII America. We see the elevation of self (Maslow), contempt for urban school systems supposedly mired in neglect and racism (Kozol), and the sophomoric view that indulgence and affection should take first place in parenting (Spock here undermined the building of good character which comes from the centrality of spirituality in the family). These errors are repeated in the new ASAP and ACE systems of CUNY.

Before even looking at the list of some of the benefits being offered, it should be asked if financial dependency is consistent with the goal of intellectual and professional independency that inherently has a claim on college graduates? Thus, one of the benefits listed by CUNY is "a dedicated advisor to guide your progress from entry to graduation." To what extent will a student who has had this so-called "dedicated advisor" be able to function competently once they graduate as a teacher, nurse, computer adept, radiology technician, etc.? Or will they continue to need a dedicated advisor to take them through the specifics of their employment minute-by-minute and day by day once they get through this program dependency.

This writer had to have a test administered in a New York City hospital a few months ago, and the nurses assisting the doctor could not get the equipment put together for the test. A third nurse had given me a dressing gown to put on after taking off my clothes, but the doctor told me I did not have to take off my clothes. It was a comedy of errors from beginning to end. Will we see a further explosion of these confusions as students increasingly depend on "dedicated advisors?" Teaching in a four-year CUNY, I was asked by a student before the Covid pandemic "How many sentences in an essay?" and another student asked about an exam question, "Do you want an introduction and conclusion?" Will the dedicated advisors answer questions like these before they arrive in class?

Here is a list of some of the other promised benefits of this new program:

(1)Free unlimited MetroCards [used in NYC public transportation]; (2)Textbook assistance to reduce (or eliminate) the cost of textbooks; (3) A scholarship covering tuition and mandatory fees for any gap left after applying your financial aid award (for students receiving financial aid); (4) Special registration options that help you get the classes you need that also fit your schedule; (5) Opportunities to take classes with fellow ASAP | ACE students to foster community and build your network. The students are thus totally financially dependent on the system. And we can wonder if they will receive these benefits even if they cut classes. "To foster community" in the previous list likely means the administrators will make sure that you are able to contact other students to find out what work you missed, and perhaps get assistance from your peers to be able to complete the work. You see: the message of the ASAP initiative is "your problems are our problems." You are part of a village now. Yes, Hillary Clinton is hidden behind the curtain orchestrating your success. She and the whole community will make sure that you get through.

Image via Pexels.
Returning the abortion question to the states is a constitutional victory. It is the beginning of restoring the separation of powers that is vital to the country. Even the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that the manner in which Roe was determined was a judicial error. The major legal sticking point has always been that the Court is not supposed to make law, only interpret it. That has now been remedied.

But the devil is always in the details and the following issues will need to be seriously addressed for there to be a modicum of peace in the land.

If a state prohibits abortions altogether, will a licensed doctor go to jail if s(he) performs an abortion?

Will there be an exodus of Ob/Gyn doctors from a state that bans abortion thus leaving pregnant women without proper medical care?

Will women who obtain an abortion in a non-abortion state be jailed?

Tamia Perez explains that

Abortion is now illegal, soon to be illegal, or potentially illegal in as many as 20 states. In Alabama, a near-total ban on abortion could be enjoined in which abortion is only legalized to save the life of the pregnant person. In Idaho, abortions are temporarily legal. However, all abortions will become illegal... except in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the pregnant person. In Kentucky, Louisiana, South Dakota and Texas all abortions are now illegal except to save the life of the pregnant person.

Will there be a return to the backroom abortions that existed before abortion was legalized?

Will religious communities be at odds with a states ruling on abortion? Will anti-choice laws collide with Jewish law, for example?

Rabbi Rachael Pass asserts that [i]f anyone tries to argue that abortion restrictions are justified under the prerogative of religious freedom, we can explain that our religious freedom demands that we have access to abortion care when it is needed and wanted.

In fact, according to Rabbi Rob Scheinberg of Hoboken, N.J.

In Judaism, the fetus does not have the same rights of personhood as the mother, at ANY point during pregnancy. The idea that full rights of personhood kick in at the moment of conception is an idea that can be found in Christian writings... but it is not an idea that you can find in traditional Jewish texts.

The Orthodox Union. has written that Jewish law prioritizes the life of the pregnant mother over the life of the fetus such that where the pregnancy critically endangers the physical health or mental health of the mother, an abortion may be authorized, if not mandated, by Halacha [Jewish law] and should be available to all women irrespective of their economic status. Legislation and court rulings -- federally or in any state -- that absolutely ban abortion without regard for the health of the mother would literally limit the ability for Orthodox Jews to live in accordance with the responsibility to preserve life.

Moreover, some states are only considering physical health and are specifically excluding mental health. However, the mental anguish of the pregnant woman has been considered part of the decision-making criteria for abortion in Jewish law.

How will this affect the treatment of and religious freedom of the Orthodox Jewish community as they grapple with new laws that restrict and bar them from following Jewish law? Will pregnant women now avoid prenatal care where every miscarriage is treated as a potential criminal investigation?

In Islam, Muslim scholars have categorized the permissibility of abortion or lack thereof based on the time period and circumstances. They divided the pregnancy into three main periods.

Abortion during the first 40 days after conception is quite flexible. Additionally, abortion is allowed in cases of rape or if the parents are physically or mentally unable to raise a child. However, fear of poverty is not a legitimate reason to abort a child. After 40 days Muslim scholars have differed on the permissibility of abortion. After the first 120 days, it is believed that the child is given a soul. It is therefore categorically forbidden to abort the child unless the mothers life is in danger. Abortion is also allowed if the fetus passes away in the mothers womb.

Will one religious view create secular law that prohibits permissible abortions within other religions?

Depending upon a states laws, will liberal Christians flock to one state over another, thus further polarizing Christians? On the other hand, how will the return to the sanctity of the preborn affect religious institutions and the culture as a whole? Will the decision strengthen traditional Church and church-affiliated schools as they pit themselves against churches that have swung Left over the years?

In a completely different vein, will the Supreme Court decision usher in a new approach to relationships? Emily Jashinsky asserts that whether youre religious or not, sex reserved for loving and committed relationships is the healthiest norm for women. But with easy abortion access, casual sex increased, leaving more women pregnant outside of marriage or other committed relationships.

Moreover, what, if any, effects will this new decision have on the demographics and economics of the country?

Americans are having fewer and fewer babies, a new government report finds. In fact, we now arent making enough babies to replace ourselves.

In fact, the latest data show a current rate of 16 percent below the number needed to keep the population stable without additions through immigration.

How will the new decision affect the economic wherewithal of individual states and of the country as a whole?

How will the militant Left use the decision to further divide the country? Will the culture wars afflicting the nation be reduced? Will children perceive that they are growing up in a society that tells them life has value and deserves protection?

Will more babies be available for adoption?

Will more babies need to be placed in orphanages?

Yet, as the states enact their own decisions, will there be a movement for Congress to enact a law legalizing abortion again throughout America?

Ultimately, as explained here in this Dallas News editorial it is possible to imagine a history wherein the nations political process could move toward a federal law that recognizes both a womans right to electively end a pregnancy in its early stages and that strikes the intuitive moral balance that so many people have come to accept.

Note that Roe... and Mississippis Gestational Age Act -- the law that led to Roes undoing  both accept that abortion at some stage should be legal. And they both identify a stage in pregnancy after which elective abortion can be or will be prohibited.

It will require genuine democratic consideration of a federal standard that places clear limits on elective abortion but does not prohibit it in the first trimester.

Wholesale prohibitions on abortion would force rape victims to carry their attackers child. Yet, the idea of abortion as simply another medical procedure between a woman and her doctor, as routine as any other procedure, is untenable.

For many, the idea of a federal standard hearkens back to too much control over states' rights. For others, it sounds enticing: would it prohibit late-stage abortions that seem to animate many Democrat-controlled states?

The law... must arise from a democratic process at the federal level. It will not resolve every difference. But leaving the question to the states will only divide our nation further.

Ultimately, how will America balance this most serious moral concern?

Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com

Image: James McNellis
The longstanding idea that the two major American political parties are just means to ends needs revision. The Democrat Party, dating back to Andrew Jackson, with roots in the older Jeffersonian antifederalist coalition, really hasnt changed much in a critical aspect: its the party of antilife. The party of slavery and, post-Civil War, Jim Crow moved seamlessly into the party of abortion. Even todays open southern border fits the bill.

Slavery was antilife, in that it was exploitive and cruel. Jim Crow was oppressive, which is a form of antilife. Abortion is cruel and genocidal. An estimated 63 million babies have been extinguished since the now defunct Roe v. Wade occurred in 1973. A disproportionate number of those babies are black. Democrats seem blind to the irony.

Abortion is also exploitive, in that it's fundamentally hostile to what is so intrinsic to women -- motherhood. Men, aside from the current lunacy, cant menstruate, gestate a baby, or breastfeed. DNA rules. Nature cant be denied, regardless fashionable conceits.

Try to deny nature and nature will eventually brutally assert its dominance. Democrats should study communist China to learn why.

Mainland China is collapsing demographically, having forced a One-child Policy on its people. That translated into mandatory sterilizations and abortion to achieve the goal. 338 million abortions occurred, per Chinese propaganda. The results? Too many nonworking old people and not enough productive younger Chinese means big woes ahead. Too many males -- Chinese parents had a bias: their one child needed to be a boy -- and too few females plague younger generations. Feminism never caught on with Chinas communist rulers.

Chinas overlords grasped their folly too late. Theyve scrambled to try to incentivize couples to have not just two kids, but now three. Its not working, for many reasons. Chinese communists instigated a type of national suicide.

In the U.S., Democrats havent achieved anything like the control necessary to impose such a destructive policy, but, over the years, as the party of progressivism, theyve increasingly displayed a hostility to large families -- say, a woman having more than one child. In fact, per progressive ethos, children are generally deemed obstacles to a womans self-fulfillment. More recently, Democrats have become brazenly pro-abortion.

The Supreme Courts Dobbs decision has outed Democrats abortion extremism, up to and including abortion just before birth. Any limits on abortion? Not according to John Fetterman, the Democrats Pennsylvania U.S. Senate nominee. Or New York City mayor Eric Adams. Former Virginia governor Ralph Northam infamously spoke out for infanticide.

Democrats used to go to great pains to refute the pro-abortion tag, claiming, instead, that they were pro-choice. Few hardly wince now when described as pro-abortion.

The days ahead are fraught with peril. The pro-abortion extremism that Democrats have embraced, and their desperation over losing control of abortions fate nationally, for the most part, may well drive greater violence and more radicalized thinking and actions.

The outbreak of violence that has ensued upon the leak of SCOTUS draft Dobbs opinion will, according to The Federalists John Daniel Davidson:

likely be accompanied by rhetoric that more explicitly posits abortion not just as a positive good -- shout your abortion -- but a necessary one for women to enjoy their full rights as citizens under the Constitution. The argument, already gaining steam in public discourse, is that without a constitutional right to kill the unborn, women are relegated to a kind of second-class status, stripped of their full humanity. This rhetoric will be used in part as a justification for violence, but it also reflects the actual views of Democrats and the left on abortion.

As Davidson further stated in his excellent analysis:

It is not the first time Democrats have asserted absolute constitutional rights that for their vindication require the total abnegation of rights or even personhood of entire classes of people. The modern Democratic Partys stance on abortion rights is almost indistinguishable from its antebellum stance on the constitutionality of slaveowner rights.

In the volatile 1850s, when Democrats hit headwinds in their advocacy for extending slavery into the territories -- an aim driven largely by dreading the loss of political power and by the fear that the ascendent Republican Party would end southern slavery. Candidate Lincoln made declarations that a president didnt have the constitutional authority to repeal slavery. (Emancipation was premised as war policy by President Lincoln.) Southern Democrats recourse was to secession and civil war.

The Civil War was not only initiated by Southern Democrats, but aided and abetted by northern Peace Democrats -- Copperheads, who comprised a fifth column for the Confederacy during the war. The war cost more American lives than any other U.S. conflict before or since.

When Democrats lost the Civil War, they devised southern apartheid (Jim Crow) and loosed the nightriding KKK to terrorize mostly sharecropping blacks. Lynching of blacks was a terror weapon.

It took America a century to fully heal the Civil Wars wounds and end southern apartheid.

As mentioned, oppression is a form of antilife. In modern times, Democrats, as Candance Owens has bitingly remarked, represent black America like plantation owners represented slaves. In future times, Owens comment wont be regarded as an outlier among black Americans, but pure gospel.

Lyndon Johnsons Great Society succeeded in "plantationizing" underclass blacks. LBJ, a skilled partisan operator, intended to lock up the black vote, and did.

When Democrats lost to the Civil Rights movement by the mid-1960s, cagey LBJ switched gears. As he was purported to say, Ill have them [N-Word] voting Democratic for the next 200 years. [Said to two governors regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to then-Air Force One steward Robert MacMillan.]

In the decades since Johnson repositioned the Democrat Party, the black underclass has suffered acutely, in rural and, particularly, urban America anywhere Democrats govern, whether that rule is under black or white elites, wherever the welfare state is regnant. Their poverty is generational. George Gilders classic work, Wealth and Poverty, speaks powerful to this fact. The book was first published in 1981.

Finally, what about Joe Bidens wide-open border, which is a matter of policy and not blundering? How does that demonstrate that Democrats are antilife?

The number of toxic drugs entering the U.S. -- meth and fentanyl lead the way -- is incalculable. The ruined lives and death toll from these poisons mount daily. Cartels and gangbangers have easier access to the U.S., bringing with them increases in crime, violence, and death. The entrance of millions of illegals will place enormous stresses and costs on communities over time.

Even the so-called migrants, whom Democrats profess compassion, are prey to crime in their treks into the U.S. On Monday, we learned that 50 illegals died at the hands of coyotes. They were left to die from heat exposure in a semi trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio.

The scale of the mayhem, violence, and death along the U.S.-Mexican border is occurring because Democrats want new constituents -- new welfare dependents -- to add to voter rolls. That their aim destroys so many people and so much else fits within the history of Americas antilife party.

J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith. He also blogs at Flyover .

Image: Tony Webster
The Biden administration has been working for more than a year to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and in that time it has only met with escalating Iranian intransigence and ultimatums. Since negotiations in Vienna were paused indefinitely in March, the Islamic Republic has maintained that it will sign an agreement only after the White House agrees to remove the countrys hardline paramilitary, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, from the list of foreign terrorist organizations. The administration, to its credit, has shown no willingness to make such an irrelevant concession, and the negotiations remain at an impasse.

Nevertheless, the very fact that those negotiations are technically still ongoing is cause for alarm among many Iran-watchers. In comments published by The Hill, Idaho Senator James Risch noted that White House officials had promised us [the negotiation] was going to end in February if there wasnt a deal. In fact, even that supposed deadline represented an extension, as the administration had previously predicted the negotiations would end with either success or failure in January, or even in December 2021.

In light of indefinite extensions, the administrations critics are understandably skeptical of Bidens willingness to adopt an alternative strategy for dealing with Irans malign activities and provocations. Those critics include lawmakers from both the Republican and Democrat parties, some of whom signed joint statements urging the administration to take a harder line and to conclusively rebuff the notion of delisting the IRGC. In this sense, Irans policy is an outlet for extremely rare bipartisanship; but this should come as no surprise since mutual concerns over threats from Iran have also pushed Israel and its erstwhile adversaries in the Arab world to put aside their differences and begin cooperating strategically.

Those regional US allies have also been a notable source of criticism regarding the Biden administrations needlessly soft approach to Iran policy.

That regional interventionism has seemingly accelerated right alongside the Iranian nuclear program, which is now operating under even less international monitoring since the clerical regime began dismantling surveillance cameras to protest the decision by the International Atomic Energy Agencys Board of Governors to formally censure Iran for non-cooperation earlier in the month. That move comes at a time when the Islamic Republic is also planning to run an entirely new cascade of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at the fortified nuclear site in Fordo.

Such developments would be dangerous to the surrounding region and the world even if they occurred while Iran was otherwise complying with the restrictions imposed by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But Iran has been violating those restrictions for long enough that it has now enriched more than 43 kg of uranium to 60 percent fissile purity, putting it just a short technical step away from weapons grade.

Image: Irans President Raisi. YouTube screen grab.

Far from showing any earnest desire to resolve international concerns, Tehran has been consistently boastful about its nuclear advancements, with figures like the ultra-hardline President Ebrahim Raisi declaring publicly that they will not scale back their activities one iota in response to the IAEA censure. At the same time, regime officials and Iranian state media have sought to back up that defiant tone by making similar declarations about their military development. Last week, the IRGCs naval forces made a threatening approach to US Navy ships as they transited the Strait of Hormuz.

One would think that such direct threats to the US would prompt the White House to respond favorably to regional appeals for a change in policy. But the White Houses skepticism remains intact, as does that of US lawmakers who recognize the threats Iran poses. But greater clarity may emerge next month when President Biden makes a tour of the Middle East, where he is expected to reassure allies about American support for their interests. Yet it remains to be seen whether that reassurance consists of outlining actions the administration will take in response to criticisms or arguing that those criticisms are misguided.

It is important to note that if the administration takes the latter approach, it will be placing itself very much at odds with the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance movement, who have long contradicted Western optimism about Irans prospects for internal reform. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, in particular, has issued numerous statements explaining that Tehrans regional aggression and pursuit of nuclear weapons will only continue accelerating as it becomes increasingly reliant on those pillars to reinforce its hold on power during times of virtually unprecedented domestic unrest.

Meanwhile, the unrest itself demonstrates that Iranians from all walks of life regard the clerical regime as incapable of reform. Since the end of 2017, the country has seen at least nine anti-government uprisings, each of which has featured slogans like death to the dictator, leaving little doubt about the publics desire for regime change.

That desire is clearly shared by Irans regional adversaries. In 2016, Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal expressed that desire directly when he spoke in France before the annual gathering of Iranian expatriates organized by the NCRI.

In the wake of these developments, it is long past time for the US and its European allies to join regional allies, and most importantly the Iranian people themselves, in openly endorsing the prospect of regime change.

On Thursday, the endorsement was offered anew by former Vice President Mike Pence, who traveled to Albania to visit the PMOIs headquarters-in-exile, Ashraf 3. One might view that trip as a counterpoint to Bidens looming Middle East tour.

The Biden administration is right to shore up those existing alliances, but it is even more important for the US to build new alliances by formally recognizing the legitimacy of the Iranian peoples struggle for regime change.
This is a horrific story:

After authorities found an 18-wheeler that carried up to 100 individuals abandoned in San Antonio, including at least 46 individuals who were deceased, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blamed President Joe Biden and his immigration policies. In a tweet, Abbott said Monday evening's discovery rests squarely on Biden. "At Least 42 People Found Dead Inside Truck Carrying Migrants In Texas. These deaths are on Biden," Abbott said, before officials raised the death count to at least 46.

Why is this happening? Why are people hiding in a trailer in 100-degree temperatures? Because President Biden's chaotic border policy has incentivized human smuggling.

Criminal elements or human smugglers have moved people to the U.S. in trailers before. What happens today is that this is a full blown business aided and abetted by "open border" policies.

Incredibly, Joaquin Castro of San Antonio issued a statement about the incident:

I just spoke to DHS Secretary Mayorkas about the 46 people who died tonight in San Antonio, most likely the victims of merciless human smugglers. DHS (HSI) is working to alert their families, find everyone responsible for this crime and investigate exactly what happened.

Did he just speak with Secretary Mayorkas? Or did he call him to tell him to resign and take responsibility for these 46  now 51  lost lives?

This is happening because this administration opened the border, created this business and these poor people bought a ticket to their death on a lonely outskirt road in the U.S.

PS: Check out my videos and posts.

Image: Screen shot from Fox7 video via YouTube.
To deal with the worldwide energy crisis and the ESG recession, Alex Epstein, author of Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas  Not Less has suggested that:

Joe Biden can end the global energy crisis in 3 easy steps: 1. Promise to stop his anti-fossil fuel-fuel agenda for the remainder of his administration. 2. Withdraw from the Paris Agreement. 3. Encourage other countries to do 1 and 2. Production will surge, prices will plummet.

To create credibility regarding energy markets (including the oil and natural gas), Biden would need to take several additional steps to make people believe he was serious about promising to stop his anti-fossil fuel agenda for the remainder of his administration.

The first step is to fire John Kerry, Bidens special presidential envoy for climate change. Kerrys recent comments opposing building more fossil fuel infrastructure are just the latest example of why Biden needs to fire Kerry to create credibility in promising to abandon his anti-fossil-fuel agenda. Kerry has been on a decades-long campaign to put the oil companies out of business. Kerry should be fired, and his position should be eliminated.

The second step is to fire Gina McCarthy, Bidens National Climate Advisor. McCarthy is a former EPA administrator under Barack Obama and a true believer that there are no benefits coming from the fossil fuel industry, only downsides. McCarthy is one of the primary proponents of eliminating fossil fuels and transitioning to wind and solar. She believes this so strongly that she wants to censor people who speak against her orthodoxy. Her failed ideology has led to the current energy crisis. McCarthy should be fired, and her position should be eliminated.

The third step is to fire Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Granholm is publicly a true believer in shifting away from fossil fuels. She wants to eliminate fossil fuels from our energy industry. Why would anyone in the fossil fuel industry trust this person? They shouldnt and as long as she is around, they wont trust any promise made by Biden. Granholm needs to be fired and replaced by someone that the fossil fuel industry trusts to support them in increasing production over the long term.

There are other personnel decisions that would need to be made to complete the pivot of the Biden administration, but this housecleaning needs to start at the top. Only then will the current energy crisis come to an end.

Image: Seattle Municpal Archives.
JOHANNESBURG, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ), located in South Africa's northern province of Limpopo, has the potential to facilitate regional integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with its strategic location close to South Africa's main route linking the region, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"We want international and domestic investors to come and invest in this SEZ and the entire region," Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Fikile Majola, said in a statement, issued after his oversight visit to MMSEZ.

During the visit, he attended an event marking the commencement of the development of bulk infrastructure in the northern site of MMSEZ.

MMSEZ is made up of two sites, including the northern site designated for light to medium industrial activities focusing on manufacturing, agro-processing and logistics sectors, and another site between the Musina and Makhado local municipalities designated for a heavy industrial park focusing on renewable energy and metallurgy.

The zone is developed in an area close to national road N1 which connects South Africa and the rest of the continent and is close to neighboring countries including Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique.

Majola is satisfied with the progress, saying he is confident that with its strategic location, supporting incentives and a good logistics backbone, the MMSEZ will attract investment in the mineral beneficiation, agro-processing and petrochemical industries.

There are companies who are waiting to invest in MMSEZ, in the sectors of electric vehicle manufacturing and chemicals and agro-processing, according to him.

The next step of the government is to ensure that it drives "aggressive investment promotion, attraction and facilitation," he said. 
Six Supreme Court justices voted to overturn Roe v. Wade as a faulty legal ruling. But the left being the left, they are going after the black guy.

Which explains the near insanity of the left's reaction against distinguished Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is black and ruled with the majority. That's an unforgiveable thing to leftists who continue to view black people as their "property."

There's been some grotesque stuff going on, leftists zeroing in on Thomas with a special rage in a special pile-on unseen anywhere else. That's led to strange specters such as white Karen-types openly employing the use of the "n word" against him, and other barbarians openly calling for the assassination of the justice, with no sanctions whatsoever while "Uncle Clarence" trended on the Twitter platform.

It's a leftist thing. So in comes Hillary Clinton, to add to the pile-on:

.@HillaryClinton: "I went to law school with [Justice Thomas]. Hes been a person of grievance for as long as I have known him  resentment, grievance, anger  Women are going to die, Gayle. Women will die. pic.twitter.com/nUGWGFVJ3m  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 28, 2022

Which can't be anything but a full-blown buck-naked lie of the kind she's famous for, the kind that got the late Bill Safire to sum her up as a "congenital liar" several decades ago.

Resentment? Grievance? Anger? Nobody's ever heard those terms used to describe Thomas, who has had to put up with indignity after indignity from the rabid left, including sleazy Sen. Joe Biden himself during Thomas's confirmation hearing.

Here's what normal people who know Thomas say:

Clarence Thomas is literally the one person on the Supreme Court even the libs who work there say is always smiling and happy. Clinton is literally the one politician in America whose paid staff have to assure us she's likable. https://t.co/BKShKjQph0  Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 28, 2022

There are many stories of his kindnesses to low guys on the totem pole, and speaking of that, even Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the dumbest person on the court, has spoken of his kindness.

Bitterness and resentment are a Hillary thing. The wretched failed presidential candidate is projecting.

Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner notes in a tweet that the rest of Hillary Clinton's claims are problematic, too:

Among other things, the law school reference isn't plausible. Not only was she in a different graduating class from Thomas, but to the extent they overlapped, he wasn't even a conservative in law school -- that was just the beginning of his ideological transition. https://t.co/t8XzTBdHwR  Philip Klein (@philipaklein) June 28, 2022

The two of them likely didn't even know each other.

Even if they did, why would Hillary not have brought this smear up earlier, say, during his confirmation hearings? It just goes to show the claim is virtually certainly a lie.

Claiming Thomas is resentful is pretty much the same as calling him "an angry black man," which should enrage the left

Why aren't they enraged? Well, because they are the perpretators of the lie. Hillary Clinton is just glomming on in a pathetic bid to join the most racist leftist bandwagon within memory. It's pathetic.

Image: Screen shot from Twitter.
Reuters reports that the Turkish government has removed its objections to Finland and Sweden joining NATO. President Biden called it a move that "will strengthen our Alliance and bolster our collective security." More U.S. and Western arms are being shipped to Ukraine. A few days ago, a Ukrainian military spokesman said the village of Desna in its northern Chernigiv region came under massive bombardment from Belarus. If that's true, the Russia-Ukraine war has already widened. And there is little, if any, movement toward a negotiated solution to the war.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry called the European Union's recent grant of candidate status to Ukraine a further effort to "contain Russia" and to monopolize Russia's geopolitical space. The reaction to Finland and Sweden moving closer to NATO membership will likely produce more Russian condemnation  and perhaps worse.

A glance at a map will reveal Russia's security dilemma. If and when Finland and Sweden join NATO, the Russian state will be confronted with a hostile military alliance along virtually its entire European border  only Belarus, Ukraine, and Georgia are buffer states. And the U.S. and some other NATO powers have previously suggested that at least two of those countries  Ukraine and Georgia  could become NATO members, too. Viewed from Moscow, it is a menacing geopolitical position, and all of the soothing talk about NATO being a purely defensive alliance will do nothing to change Moscow's view.

America's leaders would do well to consider the analysis and proposals of Dan Caldwell in his recent article in The National Interest, entitled "America in a World of Limits." Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War and former congressional staffer, warns that we are in the grip of a "delusional foreign policymaking elite that ignores real constraints on American power." He advocates a sober, realistic approach to the Ukraine war and broader international relations.

First, we should allow "our wealthy European partners" to provide for their own security. Those partners have more than enough wealth to fund European armies that can deter any further Russian expansion. This means the development of "non-NATO security architectures in Europe," with fewer U.S. troop deployments in Europe and an end to any further NATO expansion. It also means, Caldwell writes, refusing to expand our security commitments in the Middle East.

The U.S. should shift resources to East Asia, where "real U.S. interests are at stake." Defense budgets "should prioritize funding for the Air Force and Navy," the two services that "would be at the forefront of any potential conflict in the Pacific." Caldwell here is describing a genuine (instead of a rhetorical) "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific that is long overdue. But even there, Caldwell writes, we should "avoid overinflating the threat posed by China."

While Caldwell may be a bit sanguine about the China threat, his larger points that we need to husband our resources and recognize the limits on our power are sound and realistic. PostCold War hubris led us to fight "endless wars," expand NATO, and pursue policies that pushed Russia into the arms of China, even as we dangerously reduced our navy and nuclear forces, that has led to America's costly overreach and consequent geopolitical decline. Getting more involved on the side of Ukraine and further expanding NATO to Finland and Sweden are, he writes, "the same failed policies that led us to where we are today [and] will only guarantee American decline  not greatness."

Image via Public Domain Pictures.
Thanks to the efforts of King Ferdinand III of Castile  aka, Saint Ferdinand  today in history, on June 29, 1236, Cordoba, which after the eighth century Muslim conquest of Spain, had become one of the most important "abodes of Islam," to quote a disgruntled Muslim chronicler, "passed into the hands of the accursed Christians  may Allah destroy them all!"

Six months earlier, in December of 1235, a daring band of Christians, led by a few knights, stormed and took a portion of Cordoba's eastern quarter. Word reached King Ferdinand in January of 1236, even as he was in mourning over the recent death of his thirty-year-old wife from childbirth complications.

Through their envoy, the Spaniards "implored him to help them because they were placed in most grave peril." Against the Muslim "multitude of Cordoba, they were very few" and "separated from the Moors only by a certain wall running almost through the middle of the city." Though at a standstill, time, the envoy made clear, was not on the Christians' side.

The king, who for years had been spearheading the Reconquista  the Christian attempt to liberate Spain from Islam  was heavily moved by such a heroic feat; and "the grief for the loss" of his wife "did not long suspend his warlike preparations." On the same evening that the envoy arrived, Ferdinand's advisors strongly warned him against setting out immediately, during winter; they cited impassable roads due to snow, rain and floods, and possible ambushes from the "innumerable multitude of people in Cordoba"  to say nothing of Ibn Hud, the de facto king of al-Andalus, who was even then headed to relieve the Muslim city.

But Ferdinand "placed his hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and closed his ears" to all such talk. He was resolved to "aid his vassals who had exposed themselves to such a great danger in his service and for the honor of the Christian faith." After sending word to his magnates in Castile and Leon to muster their forces, he set off for Cordoba on the very next morning  with only one hundred knights.

Despite the terrible road conditions, the 35-year-old king rode furiously through rain and sleet and reached the great Moorish city on February 7. Ibn Hud had arrived before him with a much greater force  reportedly thirty thousand infantry and five thousand horsemen  but, instead of awaiting and meeting the Castilians, and perhaps because they had soundly defeated him earlier at the battle of Jerez in 1231, he unexpectedly withdrew back to Seville.

As might be expected, the holed up Christians, "who were then placed in such great danger in Cordoba," burst in joy on seeing their king, this dedicated man "who had exposed himself to much danger so that he could succor his people!" asserts the chronicler. After rescuing the daring band of Christians, Ferdinand laid Cordoba to siege; as Christian fighters continued to pour in from Leon, Castile, and Galicia, the noose tightened around the Muslim city. Five months later, on today's date, June 29, 1236, Cordoba  for centuries, "the ornament of the world," the ancient seat of the Umayyad caliphs and Muslim Spain's (or al-Andalus's) "most stalwart shield and bastion against the Christians"  surrendered to Ferdinand.

Everyone had something to say about this grand event. As seen, al-Maqqari, the normally and refreshingly objective Arab historian, captured Muslim sentiment by bemoaning how "that seat of the western khalifate, repository of the theological sciences, and abode of Islam, passed into the hands of the accursed Christians  may Allah destroy them all!"

For the indigenous Christians of Spain, however, the conquest  as with all conquests of the Reconquista  was the mere righting of a wrong. As the Latin Chronicle relays, the "famous city of Cordoba, endowed with certain splendor and rich soil, which had been held captive for such a long time, that is, from the time of Rodrigo, the king of the Goths [who was killed in 711 at the battle of Guadalete, during the initial Islamic invasion of Spain], was restored to the Christian faith by the labor and valor of our King Lord Fernando."

Ferdinand granted lenient terms: those Muslims who wanted to leave with all their movable possessions were provided safe passage; those who wished to remain and practice their religion could do so. Either way, Ferdinand proceeded to repopulate it with "new inhabitants, followers of Christ."

Before entering and claiming kingship of his hitherto greatest conquest, Ferdinand ordered that the standard of the Cross be carried before his own standard and placed on the highest minaret of the largest mosque  an event that "caused ineffable confusion and lamentation among the Saracens and, on the other hand, ineffable joy among the Christians."

Next, the great mosque of Cordoba, which Abd al-Rahman I, a highly celebrated caliph among Western academics, built in the eighth century  after demolishing and cannibalizing the materials of Saint Vincent's, an important sixth century Visigothic church  was "cleansed of all filthiness of Muhammad," the archbishop of Toledo wrote, and sprinkled with holy water and salt, so that "what had once been the devil's lair was made a church of Jesus Christ, named in honor of his glorious Mother."

Finally, Ferdinand found the bells of Saint James Matamoros, "the Moor Slayer," which had been seized 250 years earlier by Muslim jihadists and sent to Cordoba on the backs of Christian captives to adorn its great mosque as trophies of war. Righting this ancient wrong, the king, who was well acquainted with the details of Muslim-Christian history, had them returned to the shrine of Santiago  carried atop the backs of captive Muslim fighters no less.

This article was excerpted from Raymond Ibrahim's new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam (all quoted material is sourced therein). Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

Image via Max Pixel.
Donald Trump is the only Republican presidential candidate in modern history who not only ran against Democrats but also against the establishment of his own party.

Trump was also the recipient of vicious and baseless attacks from the media, showbiz, academia, intelligence agencies, big tech, big corporates, foreign leaders, etc.

While the absence of these attacks would have helped him. They did not affect his popularity or his electoral prospects significantly because Trumps candidacy was based on grassroots support, not media hype.

As the late great Rush Limbaugh observed, Trump created an almost unbreakable bond between him and his voters, hence, only Trump could break it. The media was just a bystander.

When he was elected in 2016, the Democrat media complex launched a focused anti-Trump campaign.

From the Russian collusion hoax to the two baseless impeachments, the media tried its best to evict him from the White House. They suppressed Trump's achievements of prosperity for Americans and peace around the world. They concocted stories of chaos in the White House. They amplified anti-Trump voices, including those of former Trump White House personnel.

When nothing worked, they resorted to rigging the contest.

In 2019, the Democrats shut down the economy using COVID-19 as a pretext. The media blamed Trump for every COVID-19 case and death. They knew that despondent citizens always vote against the incumbent. Big Tech suppressed news about Bidens abuse of power and corruption.

Mark Zuckerberg donated $419 million to far-left outfits that infiltrated the administration and infrastructure of the 2020 election, rewriting ballots, targeting blue districts for get-out-the-vote efforts, and promoting universal mail-in voting.

The result is a record-breaking 64 million Americans who cast their ballots by mail. Also, private ballot drop boxes were used -- despite their being illegal in most countries, because they are vulnerable to fraudulent practices such as ballot-stuffing.

But despite getting Biden elected, fears in the minds of Democrats that Trump will be re-elected in 2024 havent allayed.

The purpose of the biased January 6 probe and its scripted televised hearing is to sway public approval and use legal means to prevent him from running in 2024.

But the media is also resorting to petty little ploys.

Since January, they have been attempting to prompt a feud between their two primary adversaries President Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

When Trump condemned politicians who were reluctant to talk about taking the vaccine booster, the media characterized this as a veiled attack on DeSantis.

The media used "sources" to claim that President Trump had called DeSantis "dull" with no realistic chance of beating him in a potential 2024 showdown.

When DeSantis said he regretted not challenging the federal COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, since he didn't understand how extensive the measures would become, the media called it a dig at President Trump.

The New York Times and the Daily Beast then declared war between the president and the governor for the GOP nomination.

DeSantis had said last October that he isnt running for president in 2024.

But facts and truth hardly matter to propagandists.

This Trump vs. DeSantis narrative is being pushed quite aggressively now.

During the White House correspondent's dinner, comedian Trevor Noah called DeSantis the T1000 as compared to Trumps Terminator, a reference to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). The implication is that DeSantis is a more advanced and dangerous version of Trump.

Piers Morgan, who is desperate for attention since his show flopped miserably, recently wrote a column titled Memo to Republicans: Its time to dump The Donald and run with The Ronald.

Bill Maher claimed DeSantis would be a better choice than Trump and even claimed to have triggered Trump by his utterance.

Even Politico is claiming that DeSantis's national spotlight is growing brighter.

They are claiming DeSantis raised over $100 million from myriad wealthy Trump donors. They are even comparing the funds raised between Trump and DeSantis.

What is not being stated is that the funds are meant for DeSantis's Florida gubernatorial reelection bid, not for the 2024 presidential election.

The Washington Post attempted to pit DeSantis against Trump in a piece replete with wishful thinking, projections, fabrications, and "sources."

There are new polls such as a Denver poll that show DeSantis winning 71% of the vote to Trump's 67%.

A University of New Hampshire Granite State poll that has DeSantis receiving 39 percent support from likely Republican primary voters in the state, compared to 37 percent for Trump, has received great media attention.

The New York Times carried news about these polls with glee. CNN called it a poll that should scare Donald Trump. Even Fox News covered the poll. New York magazine also carried a story about the poll claiming DeSantis could beat Trump.

So whats the record of polls?

Back in 2016, pollsters claimed Trump had no chance of winning against Hillary. The poll also got it disastrously wrong in 2020.

The fact remains that the function of these polls is not to reflect but to influence public opinion. They have a narrative in mind for which they poll individuals. Only responses that are in sync with their narrative are considered.

The hope is that since the media has lost all credibility, perhaps the polls will do the trick.

We'll see.

Image: Shealah Craighead/Trump White House Archives via Flickr, public domain.
In May 1783, in a small village named Mundul Gaut, in Bengal, India, a strange child was born. It had two heads.

The midwife assisting the birth was so horrified by its appearance that she tried to kill the monstrosity by throwing it into the fire. Fortunately, the baby was rescued with some burns in one eye and ear. The parents, after recovering from the initial shock, began to see the newborn as a money making opportunity, and with that in mind, left their village for Calcutta where their deformed baby could be exhibited.

The two-headed baby attracted great deal of attention and earned the family a fair amount of money. Between shows, to prevent the crowd from taking a peek without paying, his parents kept the unfortunate child hidden, usually under a sheet, sometimes for hours at a time. As his fame spread across India, several nobleman, civil servants and city officials invited the child and his parents to their homes for private exhibitions, where their guests could examine the curious specimen up close. One of these observers was a Colonel Pierce who described the encounter to the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks and it was Sir Banks who later forwarded the account to the surgeon Everard Home.

By two headed some people might assume two heads growing side by side from a single neck. In this case, however, the boys second head grew atop the other. It sat inverted on top of the main head, and ended in a neck-like stump. The second head had a few irregularities the ears were malformed, the tongue was small, and the lower jaw was rather small, but otherwise both heads were of the same size, and were covered by black hair at their junction.

The second head seemed to function independently of the main head. When the child cried or smiled, the features of the upper head were not always affected and did not match the emotion of the child. When the child slept, the second head might be awake and its eyes moving as if observing the surrounding.

The second head reacted to external stimulus; a pinch in the cheek produced a grimace, and when it was given the breast, its lips attempted to suck. It also produced plenty of tears and saliva. However, the corneal reflexes were missing and the eyes reacted weakly to light.

Despite its freakish appearance, the boy did not seemed to suffer any ill effects due to its condition.

One day when the child was 4 years old, his mother left him alone to fetch water. When she returned, she found the child dead by the bite of a cobra. Many anatomists offered to buy the corpse, but the religious parents could not allow such desecration. The child was buried near the Boopnorain River, outside the city of Tumloch, but his grave was robbed by Mr. Dent, a salt agent for the East India Company. He dissected the putrefied body and gave the skull to a Captain Buchanan of the East Indian Company. The captain later brought the skull to England and gave it to his friend Everard Home. The skull of the Boy of Bengal can still be seen at the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of London.

Skull of the two-headed boy from Bengal at The Hunterian Museum, The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

When Mr. Dent dissected the heads, he discovered that the brains were separate and distinct. Each brain was firmly covered in its own dura mater and was supplied by large vessels which delivered nutrition to the upper head. The boys condition is today known as craniopagus parasiticus, an extremely rare type of parasitic twinning that occurs in about 2 to 3 in 5 million births. The embryo initially develops as twins, but it fails to completely separate and one of the twins remain underdeveloped and attached to the developed one.

Parasitic conjoined twins are very rare are often stillborn or incapable of surviving after birth. The only viable treatment is to surgically remove the parasitic twin. But these kind of surgeries are very risky. In 2004, Rebeca Martinez was born in the Dominican Republic with this rare condition. She underwent surgery at the age of eight weeks but died as a result of blood loss. In 2005, Manar Maged was also born with the same condition, and underwent a successful 13-hour surgery in Egypt, but died on several weeks later due to repeated infection. More recently, in 2021, a baby was born with two heads, at the Elias Hospital in Bucharest, Romania, but died some hours after it was born.

References:

# Jan Bondeson, Craniopagus parasiticus: Everard Home's Two-Headed Boy of Bengal and some other cases, Surgical Neurology
Sandokan Debebe, CEO of Ethiopia's Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 8, 2022. Ethiopia aspires to further strengthen cooperation with China in the development of industrial parks to realize its aspiration of becoming the manufacturing hub of Africa, Sandokan Debebe has said. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia aspires to further strengthen cooperation with China in the development of industrial parks to realize its aspiration of becoming the manufacturing hub of Africa, an Ethiopian government official has said.

Speaking to Xinhua recently, Sandokan Debebe, CEO of Ethiopia's Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC), said Chinese engagement in Ethiopia's industrial parks development endeavor is very significant. He said the Ethiopian government envisages further strengthening its cooperation with China to tap into the sector's huge potential in enabling the country's economic transformation.

Debebe told Xinhua in a recent interview that despite the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other international phenomenon, Ethiopia anticipates to remain China's preferred destination in the African continent in the development of industrial parks and investments inside the parks.

As the East African country envisions becoming the manufacturing hub of the African continent with extensive investments in the development of industrial parks, Debebe emphasized that Chinese engagement is powering Ethiopia's ambition.

"They (Chinese partners) are going side by side, and it is definitely accelerating our journey of changing our economic structure from agriculture sector to industry-led economy," said Debebe.

He said Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation with over 110 million total population, offers a conducive investment landscape as well as geographical advantage for Chinese investors to engage in Ethiopia's industrialization ambition.

"This huge population is an accessible, trainable and also affordable workforce. So, we still expect that Chinese investors will be choosing the country as a prior destination for their investments in the sector," he said.

According to Debebe, Chinese engagement was vital in Ethiopia's ambition towards the construction and commissioning of industrial parks to support the country's economic restructuring towards industrialization.

"From the origin of the idea, the construction, the operation stage, in each phase and stage, the role of Chinese investors and the Chinese government is very significant," Debebe said.

The IPDC chief emphasized that Ethiopia followed China's footsteps in the development of state-of-the-art facilities towards attracting potential export-oriented international companies.

"Even before we established this corporation (the IPDC), the concept of building industrial parks or industrial zones was induced by Chinese investors. The Eastern Industry Zone was introduced before we even established the regulatory framework, and even before we exercised the concept of industrial parks in the country," he said.

Located about 40-km south of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, the Eastern Industrial Zone (EIZ), was built and operated by Chinese companies. The EIZ is widely viewed as the benchmark for the development of industrial parks in Ethiopia towards becoming the light manufacturing hub of Africa in the near future.

"The success story and the achievements that we harnessed from this investment (EIC) led the government to decide on a bigger scale," Debebe said.

According to Debebe, the Ethiopian government, as part of its commitment to devise the country's economic restructuring model, had initially assessed China's experience in the development of industrial parks and special economic zones.

"The delegates that were assigned to make assessments were staying in China for a longer time to learn from the success stories -- the model, the infrastructure and so on. After our government assessed the impact, the possibility and the opportunities that we can harness from this tool, we embarked on the industrial park concept," he said.

He said Chinese companies were the major players in realizing Ethiopia's ambition of building state-of-the-art industrial park infrastructures throughout the country.

"Chinese companies were the ones who managed to build these facilities in nine months and so on. Once we started finalizing the construction and jumped into the operation phases, the first investors were also from China," Debebe said.

"Not only as pioneer investors in the industrial parks, even as of today, majority of our investors are also from China," he added.

Presently, the IPDC manages 13 industrial parks, majority of which were built by Chinese construction companies with Chinese technology and standards.

Debebe said the Ethiopian government, working along with its Chinese partners, has successfully built trust among international investors to commit their capital and technology inside the industrial parks and manufacture their products targeting the export market.

"It was not an easy task; but by now, we have learned from how we built, how we operate, and also the investors established the trust. This trust will be growing in the future," he said.

The IPDC chief said Ethiopia and China have recently signed a cooperation agreement to revitalize the investment and trade attachment on the backdrop of the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular emphasis on strengthening cooperation on industrial parks.

He further said the Ethiopian government is currently working on different reforms to transform the country's industrial parks development and investment portfolio and ecosystem.

"The reforms that we are doing (aimed to create) a more conducive environment for foreign and local investors. This includes the Chinese investors that have good experience, and stood up with us even in a difficult time; and we recognize that," the IPDC chief said. 

Sandokan Debebe, CEO of Ethiopia's Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 8, 2022. Ethiopia aspires to further strengthen cooperation with China in the development of industrial parks to realize its aspiration of becoming the manufacturing hub of Africa, Sandokan Debebe has said. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Sandokan Debebe, CEO of Ethiopia's Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 8, 2022. Ethiopia aspires to further strengthen cooperation with China in the development of industrial parks to realize its aspiration of becoming the manufacturing hub of Africa, Sandokan Debebe has said. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
EU approves end of combustion engine sales by 2035 In a bid to reduce CO2 emissions to zero

(ANSA-AFP) - LUXEMBOURG, JUN 29 - The European Union approved a plan to end the sale of vehicles with combustion engines by 2035 in Europe, the 27-member bloc announced early Wednesday, in a bid to reduce CO2 emissions to zero. The measure, first proposed in July 2021, will mean a de facto halt to sales of petrol and diesel cars as well as light commercial vehicles and a complete shift to electric engines in the European Union from 2035. The plan is intended to help achieve the continent's climate objectives, in particular, carbon neutrality by 2050. At the request of countries including Germany and Italy, the EU-27 also agreed to consider a future green light for the use of alternative technologies such as synthetic fuels or plug-in hybrids. (ANSA-AFP).





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Montenegrin and Serbian PMs meet in Belgrade Visit starts a new cycle: Abazovic

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, JUN 29 - Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic said on Wednesday that his trip to Belgrade is "turning a new leaf" in relations between Serbia and Montenegro and that it is not normal for there to be "noise in communication," as reported by the agency Fonet, local media said today.



At a press conference after his meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Abazovoc said, that the "visit starts a new cycle, which means we are ready to deal with all open issues in a very responsible way for the good of the people of both countries." (ANSA).





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The Government must hold off on ratifying a trade deal with Australia to allow greater scrutiny by MPs, a parliamentary committee has said.

The International Trade Committee has urged a delay in ratifying the deal, which was heralded by the Government as the first negotiated from scratch since leaving the EU amid a promise that it would leave the country 2.3 billion better off.

But the Government attitude to parliamentary scrutiny of that deal, a new report from the committee claims, has undermined that statutory process and shown great discourtesy to Parliament.

Committee chair and SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said that they had been consistently hindered in attempts to fully examine the deal.

This is not the first time the committee has intervened to accuse the Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan of dodging questions on the free trade deal, signed in December last year.

International agreements must be brought before parliament, with 21 sitting days allocated to MPs to consider any deal.

That process was triggered earlier this month by the Government, and the trade committee has accused the Government of repeatedly frustrating efforts at effective scrutiny of the new and complex trade deal.

In the report, MPs bemoan a persistent lack of clarity in the timetable for parliamentary scrutiny, calling their demands for a guaranteed period of time to complete their report not unreasonable.

We have been greatly disappointed that the Government has repeatedly failed to accede to our request that we be guaranteed a period of at least 15 sitting days between the publication of the section 42 report and the laying of the Agreement under the Act, to allow us to finalise and publish our report, MPs wrote in the report.

Overhasty ratification, without the chance to complete full scrutiny, runs the risk that any significant disbenefits of the Agreement may be overlooked or disregarded, they warn.

A Department for International Trade spokesperson said: We have made enhanced commitments to scrutiny and transparency at every stage of negotiation. This includes already giving Parliament over six months to scrutinise the legal text, in addition to the 21-day period provided by us triggering the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act process.

We spent 18 months negotiating and signing an ambitious UK-Australia deal that will unlock 10.4 billion of additional trade and look forward to seeing it come into force so consumers and businesses across the UK can start enjoying the benefits.

Ms Trevelyan is to appear before MPs to give evidence on the deal, and the committee is asking for enough time for a report to be published before the process of statutory scrutiny begins.

It also wants the Government to extend the scrutiny period, to provide more time for the House to examine and debate the deal.

Mr MacNeil said it was vital that MPs were able to properly scrutinise the deal and questioned the apparent need for urgency.

Overhasty ratification means that any potential disadvantages of the deal are not fully uncovered or understood.

This could have damaging effects for businesses and communities across the UK.

Given that Ministers are keen to extol the virtues of this deal, it is beyond belief that the Government is so eager to rush it through without appropriate scrutiny, especially considering that the Australian Government is not rushing to ratify on their side.

The Government rushed the scrutiny of the Northern Ireland Protocol, and we can all see the consequences of that now.
Vladimir Putin poses a danger to the UK, the government has warned. (Sputnik/AFP/Getty)

The government has warned that Britain should not underestimate Russian president Vladimir Putin as the Ukraine crisis rages on.

Speaking days after Russian missile strikes targeted Kyiv and a shopping centre in Kremenchuk that left scores dead, defence secretary Ben Wallace said Russia could lash out at the UK and its European allies over their ongoing support for Ukraine.

Wallace told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Wednesday that Russia had already shown they were a threat to the West before the war began.

He said: Russia has already lashed out. The use of cyber attacks by Russia has grown over the years, we've seen a number of attacks on our systems and our allies systems over the years.

We've seen threats in public from Russia  whether that's nuclear or threats towards countries like Sweden, Lithuania and Poland even.

This rhetoric is starting to get more directed at different nations.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace said the West should not underestimate threats from Russia. (PA)

When asked whether the UK should be paying a price for Russias desire to occupy more of the Donbas, Wallace made parallels with Poland in the Second World War, telling the programme: I think we should swap your words for Poland in 1939  Shouldn't we just let the Nazis have a little bit of Poland?

Ukraine is being brutally invaded by a country that plays no rules.

When asked what threat Putin poses to the UK, Wallace warned that the Russian president has already made threats  and doesnt lie.

Watch: Putin suffering from 'small man syndrome macho view', says Ben Wallace

He added: The actual threat is that the Russian system has a belief that if it is under threat they will take action against anyone or anybody who pose that threat.

Their doctrine is not limited to geography or where their battlefield is.

Secondly, one of the lessons from the last 15 years is people underestimate Putin. They have ignored what he has said publicly and have done so at their peril..

There is a phrase that goes round that Putin doesn't lie. Putin has said lots of threats and often carries them out.

Bouquets of flowers offered as memorial for the civilian victims are seen in a shopping mall targeted by a missile strike in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. (Anadolu Agency/Getty)

People watch as smoke bellows after a Russian missile strike hit a crowded shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. (AP)

Its no good coming on your programme before something happens and say, 'We don't take him seriously.

Wallace said that Russia is not winning in Ukraine, and has made metres of advancement every day at huge loss.

The defence secretary earlier said that Putin has small man syndrome and a macho view of the world and described the Russian leader as a lunatic.

Vladimir Putin was described as a 'lunatic' by defence secretary Ben Wallace. (Getty)

He told LBC: Well I certainly think president Putins view of himself and the world is a small man syndrome, macho view.

Wallace added: But I think the real challenge here is the Russian systems view that somehow some states are lesser than others, their rights dont count. If they want to paint themselves into a new history, they seem to think the way to do that is through violence and invasion.

And I think thats something to worry about.

His comments came after Boris Johnson said Putins invasion of Ukraine was an example of toxic masculinity and a female president would not have made the same mistake.
ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Wednesday called on Ethiopia and Sudan to exercise restraint and initiate a dialogue regarding their border dispute.

In a press statement, Mahamat said he is following with deep concern the escalating military tension between Ethiopia and Sudan and deeply regrets the loss of life at their common border.

"The AU Commission chairperson appeals for complete refrain from any military action whatever its origin and calls for dialogue between the two brotherly countries to solve any dispute," the statement said. "The chairperson notes the recent border skirmishes should not scuttle the diplomatic solutions being sought to resolve ongoing internal challenges in the two AU member states."

Mahamat urged both countries to continue to contribute to a peaceful resolution of the border dispute under the auspices of the AU Border Program while calling on the two veteran members of the continental organization to end all hostilities in the interest of regional stability and collective security.

Ethiopia and Sudan are currently accusing each other of "provocations" over a deadly border incident that happened last week.

Sudan on Monday decided to file a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Ethiopia, while the Sudanese foreign ministry decided to immediately recall its ambassador to Ethiopia for consultations and to summon the Ethiopian ambassador in Khartoum to inform him of Sudan's condemnation.

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian army rejected allegations that it executed seven captive Sudanese soldiers and instead accused Sudan of engaging in military provocations against Ethiopia.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Sudan and Ethiopia to take concrete steps to defuse tensions and peacefully resolve their differences over the Al-Fashaqa border area, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.

Ethiopia and Sudan have longstanding competing claims over the Al-Fashaqa border region, an area of fertile land settled by Ethiopian farmers that Sudan claims is within its boundary.

"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the renewed clashes between Sudan and Ethiopia along their disputed border that took place on June 22, and reportedly resulted in the death of seven Sudanese soldiers and one civilian," Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief's spokesman, told a daily press briefing. "The secretary-general expresses his condolences to the families of the victims." 
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has met with the Queen  less than 24 hours after unveiling plans for a second Scottish independence referendum.

The monarch, 96, held an audience with the Scottish First Minister, as well as one with Holyroods Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone.

The meetings took place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, where the Queen is staying for Holyrood week, during which the royal family traditionally carries out a number of engagements in Scotland.

The meetings were in private, with no details of the conversations revealed.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen had received both the Presiding Officer and the First Minister.

The Queen also had an audience with Holyrood Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone (Jane Barlow/PA)

SNP policy is to retain the Queen as head of state if Scotland becomes independent.

Speaking ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this month, Ms Sturgeon praised the life and service of an extraordinary woman as she paid tribute to the Queen.
Boris Johnson has backed reductions in food tariffs as a way of cutting the cost of living.

The Prime Minister said his fellow world leaders have a new impetus to cut tariffs levied on imports of food.

Asked if the cost-of-living crisis is going to get worse before it gets better, Mr Johnson said: I wouldnt want to put it in exactly that way.

But what I would say is that it is going to continue to be an issue for a while.

But I do think that we will find solutions.

He told reporters accompanying him on the trip to the Nato summit in Madrid, Spain, that the issue is being considered by leaders of some of the worlds richest countries.

The Nato summit followed on the heels of the G7 gathering in Germany, attended by seven leading democracies.

Look at the things were doing already to get food supplies going, Mr Johnson said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a bilateral meeting with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte during the Nato summit in Madrid, Spain (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Very interestingly at the G7, theres a new impetus to cut food tariffs, (there is) 750 billion US dollars (617 billion) worth of food tariffs around the world.

Biden is now going to cut 178 billion dollars (146 billion) worth.

That would be a good thing, including on pet food, by the way.

Weve got food tariffs we dont need.

Asked for examples, Mr Johnson said: Do we in the UK need to have tariffs on oranges?

He added: We dont grow many bananas in the UK, I dont think.
Vladimir Putins hopes of a diminished Nato have been proved completely wrong by Sweden and Finland joining the alliance, Boris Johnson said.

The two Nordic countries are on track to end their historic neutrality and join the defence alliance after Turkey withdrew its objections.

Arriving at a summit of Nato leaders in Madrid, where he will commit extra UK forces to the alliances effort to protect its eastern flank, the Prime Minister said Russian President Mr Putin is getting more Nato, not less, as a result of his actions in Ukraine.

The UK already has a significant military presence in Estonia and the Prime Minister will use the summit to expand its headquarters in the Baltic nation.

Officials said this will ensure the UK can provide rapid reinforcements if needed, and deploy artillery, air defence and helicopters.

(PA Graphics)

The alliance plans to have 300,000 troops at high readiness  up from the current 40,000  and the UK will commit capabilities in land, air and sea to the new force model.

Mr Johnson said: The first lesson really from today is that if Vladimir Putin was hoping he would be getting less Nato on his western front as a result of his unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine, hes been proved completely wrong  hes getting more Nato.

This is a historic summit in many ways, but weve already got two new members coming in, Finland and Sweden, a huge step forward for our alliance.

And what were going to be doing now is talking about what more we can do as an alliance to support the Ukrainians but what we also need to do to make sure that we think about the lessons of the last few months and the need for Nato to revise its posture on its eastern flank.

The Prime Minister will call on alliance leaders to increase their defence budgets, but he is under pressure to do more on the UKs military spending.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks to journalists on his plane from Germany to the Nato summit in Madrid (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who is also attending the Madrid summit, said that while he has enough funding for the here and now, extra investment is needed in the next Government spending round from the middle of the decade.

My (spending) settlement was done before Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia is very, very dangerous on the world stage, he told Sky News.

The world is less secure than it was two, three years ago, and is not looking likely to change for the rest of the decade.

That is the moment, in the middle of the decade, to say we should commit to increased funding.

Downing Street defended the Governments record on funding, insisting the benefits of new technology and kit outweighed cuts in the number of soldiers.

The row comes after the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, warned any further cuts to the size of the British Army would be perverse.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We are still of the view that we have set out with this massive increase in defence funding is the right one because it would be wrong  given what we are seeing play out in front of our eyes  to focus solely on numbers when we can see the impact that the latest technologies, equipment, training, intelligence are having.

We are confident that we can do both, essentially, with this 24 billion extra that is going in to our armed forces.

Whats on the agenda of the #NATOSummit? Watch to find out  pic.twitter.com/nffWqFsE5L  NATO (@NATO) June 29, 2022

As well as paving the way for Sweden and Finland to join, the Madrid summit will focus on the alliances future in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and the emergence of China as a military power.

US President Joe Biden said two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons will be sent to the UK, while a new permanent headquarters will be set up in Poland as part of his commitment to the alliance.

Today Im announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, he said.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said: We will agree a fundamental shift to our deterrence and defence.

With more forward deployed combat formations. With more high-readiness forces. And also with more pre-positioned equipment.

This is the biggest overhaul our collective defence since the end of the Cold War that will be agreed at this summit.

At this @NATO Leaders Summit, Ill be urging fellow nations to continue to do everything they can to support Ukraine. The UK has always played a historic role in the @NATO alliance, working to address the biggest global threats and build a more secure world.  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 29, 2022

The alliances new strategic concept replaces one drawn up in 2010, when relations with the Kremlin were warmer and Russia was a strategic partner.

The Nato chief said: I expect that, when leaders agree the strategic concept today, they will state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security.

He said the allies will also agree that China is a challenge to our values, to our interests and to our security.

China is not an adversary but, of course, we need to take into account the consequences to our security when we see China investing heavily in new modern military capabilities, long range missiles, nuclear weapons, and also trying to control critical infrastructure, for instance, 5G networks in our own countries, he said.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss used an appearance at the summit event to warn that with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable military there is a real risk that they draw the wrong idea which results in a catastrophic miscalculation such as invading Taiwan.

She said: That is exactly what we saw in the case of Ukraine, a strategic miscalculation by Putin, so this is why its so important that the free world work together to help ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself and to stress the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Katya Echazarreta recently made history as the first Mexican-born American woman and one of the youngest women ever to fly to space  a lifelong dream she was able to accomplish at only 26 year old.

On June 4, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket carried its fifth group of passengers to the edge of space and Katya got an opportunity to apply to one of the six seats through a nonprofit called Space for Humanity.

The organization's goal is to send "exceptional leaders" to space and allow them to experience the "overview effect," a phenomenon astronauts have described after looking down at the Earth from the outside. "They recognize that, as humans, our commonalities far outweigh our differences," Space for Humanity says on its website.

"When you apply to a trip to space, you don't really expect to get a trip to space," Echazarreta told CBS News. "I decided to just go for it. I am the kind of person that will always, always take a shot, even if it looks impossible. Because if you don't do it, then it will be impossible."

Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican-born American to go to space, flew aboard a Blue Origin capsule on June 4, 2022. She was selected for the trip from a pool of 7,000 applicants from more than 100 countries based on her outstanding achievements in the space industry. / Credit: Courtesy of Katya Echazarreta

Katya, an electrical engineer originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, was selected for the trip from a pool of 7,000 applicants from more than 100 countries based on her outstanding achievements in the space industry.

"I remember, I had never been so nervous in my entire life. My hands were shaking, I couldn't sleep for days," Echazarreta said.

After going through training, she and five fellow passengers took off from Blue Origin's launch facility in West Texas. The spacecraft vaulted them 62 miles above the Earth's surface, giving them a few minutes of weightlessness before a descent back to a parachute landing.

Growing up, Katya Echazarreta was told her dreams were out of reach. Then she proved the sky is literally the limit.Meet the 26-year-old who made history by becoming the first Mexican-born American woman, and one of the youngest women, to go to space. pic.twitter.com/LnobbGKzh7

 CBS News (@CBSNews) June 27, 2022

"The trip up was the most fascinating experience because a lot of us are used to traveling horizontally. But when you're in a rocket, you're going up vertically and that feels very strange," Echazarreta said.

"You have these massive windows to your side, and the view is just beautiful. You notice the moment when you've never been higher than this before, but you're not really able to continue thinking about that thought because moments later, your capsule is going through separation from the rocket. You're experiencing microgravity for the first time, and you look out the window, and you see a planet. A very real, large, beautiful planet with the most beautiful glow of the atmosphere. You're able to see everything in three dimension  and on top of that, you're floating!"

She flew alongside Evan Dick, an investor who had already flown with Blue Origin in a December flight and became the first to fly twice; Hamish Harding, the chairman of a jet brokerage company; Jaison Robinson, a finalist on the TV show "Survivor: Samoa" in 2009 and later the founder of a commercial real estate company; Victor Vescovo, the co-founder of a private equity investment firm; and Victor Correa Hespanha, the second Brazilian to reach space, who secured his seat after buying an NFT and who found out he was going to space by scrolling through his Twitter feed.

The Blue Origin crew that flew to space on June 4, 2022. Left to right: Victor Vescovo, Victor Correa Hespanha, Katya Echazarreta, Jaison Robinson, Hamish Harding and Evan Dick. / Credit: Blue Origin

Echazarreta, who graduated from UCLA on a full scholarship, is currently getting her master's degree in engineering at Johns Hopkins University. She says her journey to space changed her perspective on life and she came back as a "much more patient and understanding human."

"Seeing the Earth from the outside ... it really puts things into perspective. Everything that we've ever experienced, all of your problems, and all of your obstacles, and everything that feels like the end of the world to us sometimes, it's all there. It feels so big to us, and yet it's not, because I just left in a matter of minutes.

"We are used to looking at out sky and it looks like it's so vast, and it's so big, and there's so much of it, and yet when you're in a rocket on your way out, you see how little of it there actually is. That thought can be both comforting and scary, to know that the things that we have felt for so long that seem so large, are actually so small, fragile and vulnerable  just like we are, as humanity."

Growing up, Echazarreta's life was not always easy. She migrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 7, and when she was just a teenager, she "teamed up" with her single mom to raise her three siblings. To help financially support her family, she worked multiple jobs, including at McDonald's, as a dog-walker, and when she was older, as a grader for the math department at the community college she attended before transferring to UCLA.

Echazarreta hopes her success can have an impact on her community.

"We are now seeing a lot of little girls vocalizing and verbalizing that this is what they want, too. And when I was a little girl and I would say these things, I was constantly being told that it was a ridiculous idea, because of how unrealistic it is. So, being able to provide these young women and girls with an example of, 'No, it's not unrealistic, it's actually something that is real and possible and can happen to you,' that is the reason why this was so important for me to do."

Before starting her master's degree, Echazarreta interned at NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and she performed so well that they offered her a full time position after graduation.

Before starting her master's degree, Echazarreta interned at NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and she performed so well that they offered her a full-time position after graduation / Credit: Katya Echazarreta

"It wasn't enough for me to have made it," Echazarreta said. "I was looking around and I wasn't seeing many people who looked like me, women of color or just women in general, in some of these spaces. I wanted other women and other people of color who are interested in doing the same things that I've been doing to know that one of us has made it, and it is possible, and I want to show you how I did it. I have not been number one throughout my entire life in order to have made it here. Sometimes I've been below average. Sometimes I've failed."

With her growing list of accomplishments, Echazarreta has even big dreams.

"I would love to go to the moon. I'm going to see how I make it happen  but I'm going to make it happen," she said.

President Biden attends NATO summit in Madrid, Spain

Consumer Confidence Index drops to 16-month low in June

Voters head to the polls in New York and Illinois
As Americans head to crowded airports for a revival of European summer vacations, it looks like next year will be more expensive for those headed to the European Union.

A 7 euro fee, translating to $7.42, is expected to go into effect in May 2023 for foreign visitors aged 18 to 70 years old as part of a new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), according to the European Commission.

As part of the system, travelers will have to apply for authorization through the official website or app before their trip abroad.

ETIAS is intended to increase revenue for the EU and to create a central data repository on non-Europeans who visit the area.

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EU Member States border management authorities currently have little information about travellers exempt from visa requirements entering the EU, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency who will have a key role in the new system, said in a statement.

ETIAS will therefore be an important means of addressing this information gap by supporting security screening and risk assessment of travellers, reinforcing the internal security of the Schengen Area, the agency added.

The European Commission said that ETIAS will be a largely automated system used to identify security, irregular migration or high epidemic risks posed by visa-exempt visitors traveling to the Schengen States, which refers to 26 European countries including France, Italy, Germany and Greece.

ETIAS will also facilitate the crossing of borders for the vast majority of travelers who do not pose the aforementioned risks.

MORE: 4th of July travel forecast: Best days to hit the skies and the road

The European Commission said that most travelers who apply for the ETIAS authorization will be approved within minutes. The estimated 5% of travelers who arent, the commission said, could receive the travel authorization in up to 30 days.

Once granted, the authorization will be valid for three years or until the expiration date of an individuals travel document, such as a passport.

The authorization will be checked by border guards along with other travel documents.

PHOTO: Passengers navigate the security checkpoint before their flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, June 28, 2022. (Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters)

ETIAS was first proposed by the European Commission in 2016, and has since faced negotiations within the commissions legislation. Now, the system will become enacted by mid-2023, the commission said.

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"Our police officers and border guards need to have the right tools to do their jobs  keeping our citizens safe and our borders secure. ETIAS will pre-screen visa-free visitors for potential security problems, while the reinforced eu-LISA will allow us to continue to modernise EU-wide information systems for law enforcement and border management," Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King said following the 2018 agreement by the commission to establish ETIAS.

ETIAS adds to the preexisting Schengen visa system, which did not require such authorization from visitors from at least fifty countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission began discussing the new system after it was found that an estimated 30 million visitors came to the EU without being required to have a Schengen visa.

ETIAS has similar characteristics to the United States Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is available to travelers from countries granted a Visa Waiver Program.

In May, the fee for ESTA increased from $14 to $21, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Europe adds visitor fee for US travel next year originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A 29-year-old man has been remanded in custody charged with the murder of 35-year-old Zara Aleena in east London.

Jordan McSweeney, from Church Elm Lane, Dagenham, east London, is charged with murder, as well as attempted rape and robbery, Thames Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday.

Ms Aleena was attacked as she walked home from a night out along Cranbrook Road in Ilford, towards Gants Hill station, in the early hours of Sunday.

McSweeney wore a grey tracksuit to the five-minute hearing, in which no plea was indicated.

His face was expressionless and he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

In charges read to McSweeney, it was said he robbed Ms Aleena of her mobile phone, keys and handbag during the attack.

He was also accused of attempted penetration without consent.

McSweeney was told due to the allegation of murder his case will go to the Old Bailey.

He was denied bail and remanded in custody to attend the Old Bailey on July 27.

McSweeney will attend a bail hearing at the court on July 1.

Some of Ms Aleenas family and friends were present in court.

Police said Ms Aleena suffered serious head injuries, which was confirmed in a post-mortem examination.

No weapons are thought to have been used.

In a tribute released after her death, Ms Aleenas family said: She walked everywhere. She put her party shoes in a bag and donned her trainers. She walked.

Zara believed that a woman should be able to walk home. Now, her dreams of a family are shattered, her future brutally taken.

Sadly, Zara is not the only one who has had her life taken at the hands of a stranger. We all know women should be safe on our streets. She was in the heart of her community, 10 minutes from home.

We all need to be talking about what happened to our Zara, we all need to be talking about this tragedy.

These last few days have been shocking and unimaginable.

In a savage, sickening, act she was murdered by a stranger. Shes not the only woman who has lost her life like this.

In the moment of this tragedy, we extend our deepest sympathy and love to the families of Bibaa Henry; Nicole Smallman; Sarah Everard; Sabina Nessa; Ashling Murphy and many more women.

We must prevent and stop violence against women and girls.

The statement said Ms Aleena, a law graduate, had wanted to be a lawyer since the age of five, and described her as a carefree spirit, with the most caring heart.

Zara was happy and at a point in her life when her joy was radiating and blossoming, her family said.

She was ready to make a family of her own. Her sense of justice and fairness led her to a life of giving and caring for others  supporting refugees fleeing violence, giving voice to those who had less power.

She had that special habit of noticing others in need and always put their needs on her agenda.

The University of Westminster said Ms Aleena was a law graduate who last year gained a postgraduate diploma in legal practice.

A spokeswoman said: We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news that our former law school student and graduate Zara Aleena has lost her life in such a tragic way. Our thoughts are with Zaras family and loved ones at this dreadful time.

Zara was awarded the LLB with honours in 2011 and the postgraduate diploma in legal practice in 2021. She is remembered clearly and fondly by all who taught her.

She was a warm, gentle and open young woman, popular with both staff and fellow students. She would often go out of her way to help others.

We have pastoral support available for our students and colleagues affected by the tragic news.

According to reports, Ms Aleena was working as an administrative officer at the Royal Courts of Justice.
A 29-year-old man has been charged with the murder of 35-year-old Zara Aleena in east London.

Jordan McSweeney, of no fixed address, has also been charged with attempted rape and robbery, the Metropolitan Police said.

McSweeney will appear in custody at Thames Magistrates Court later on Wednesday.

#CHARGE | A man will appear in court later today charged with the murder of 35-yr-old Zara Aleena in #Ilford #Redbridge. Zara was found with head injuries in Cranbrook Rd in the early hours of Sun 26 June. Read more https://t.co/nggWfAlMJK  Redbridge MPS (@MPSRedbridge) June 29, 2022

Ms Aleena was attacked as she walked home from a night out along Cranbrook Road in Ilford, towards Gants Hill station, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police said Ms Aleena suffered serious head injuries, which was confirmed in a post-mortem examination.

No weapons are thought to have been used.

In a tribute released after her death, Ms Aleenas family said the law graduate believed that a woman should be able to walk home, adding: Women should be safe on our streets. She was in the heart of her community, 10 minutes from home.

The statement said Ms Aleena had wanted to be a lawyer since the age of five, and described her as a carefree spirit, with the most caring heart.

Zara was happy and at a point in her life when her joy was radiating and blossoming, her family said.

Zara Aleena was allegedly murdered while walking home from a night out (Luke OReilly/PA)

She was ready to make a family of her own. Her sense of justice and fairness led her to a life of giving and caring for others  supporting refugees fleeing violence, giving voice to those who had less power.

She had that special habit of noticing others in need and always put their needs on her agenda.

Our loss is irreparable and the void feels insurmountable, the statement added.

The University of Westminster said Ms Aleena was a law graduate who last year gained a postgraduate diploma in legal practice.

A spokeswoman said: We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news that our former law school student and graduate Zara Aleena has lost her life in such a tragic way. Our thoughts are with Zaras family and loved ones at this dreadful time.

Zara was awarded the LLB with honours in 2011 and the postgraduate diploma in legal practice in 2021. She is remembered clearly and fondly by all who taught her.

She was a warm, gentle and open young woman, popular with both staff and fellow students. She would often go out of her way to help others.

We have pastoral support available for our students and colleagues affected by the tragic news.

According to reports, Ms Aleena was working as an administrative officer at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Nato has agreed a fundamental shift which will see it return to Cold War-style readiness to respond to the increased threat posed by Russia.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Vladimir Putin had been proved completely wrong about the strength of the defence alliance, which is set to expand to include Sweden and Finland after they ended decades of neutrality over concerns about Russia.

Leaders of the 30 Nato members gathered in Madrid to agree a new plan for the alliance in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The move will mean 300,000 troops at high readiness next year, up from the current level of 40,000.

For the UK, this will mean the majority of naval forces  including one of the aircraft carriers and its support vessels  being available to Nato, along with extra air squadrons and land brigade-sized units.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands beside US President Joe Biden and other world leaders posing for a family photo during the Nato summit in Madrid (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: Today, Nato leaders decided a fundamental shift in our defence and deterrence to respond to a new security reality.

Heavy equipment will be pre-positioned in eastern Nato members along with stockpiles of supplies, while forces from western members will be assigned specific regions on the eastern flank to protect in partnership with local troops.

This is the first time since the Cold War that we have these kind of plans with pre-assigned forces, Mr Stoltenberg said.

The Nato leaders were addressed by Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky, who criticised them for failing to do enough to equip his forces or grant his country membership of the alliance.

Speaking via video link from Kyiv he said Ukraines resistance was protecting the Nato members.

He asked: Hasnt our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient? What else is necessary?

But Mr Stoltenberg said: Ukraine can count on us for as long as it takes.

Allies will continue to provide major military and financial help.

The alliance agreed a new assistance package including communications kit, fuel, medical supplies and body armour, along with counter-mine equipment and anti-drone systems.

The new strategic concept adopted by Nato makes clear that Russia poses the most significant and direct threat to security.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (right) and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (left) at the Nato summit (David Hughes/PA)

Mr Johnson met the leaders of Sweden and Finland to congratulate them on moving a step closer to Nato membership after Turkey dropped its objections.

The Prime Minister said: The first lesson really from today is that if Vladimir Putin was hoping he would be getting less Nato on his western front as a result of his unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine, hes been proved completely wrong, hes getting more Nato.

As part of the UKs effort to reinforce Natos eastern flank, the British presence in Estonia will be bolstered.

In response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, the UK increased its presence in Estonia to include the temporary deployment of a second battlegroup, doubling the total number of deployed personnel to over 1,600.

Further troops will be allocated to the Baltic region, bringing the total to the equivalent of a brigade  although these troops will be held at readiness rather than necessarily deployed to Estonia.

(PA Graphics)

The Prime Minister urged alliance leaders to increase their defence budgets but he is under pressure to do more on the UKs military spending.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who is also attending the Madrid summit, said that while he has enough funding for the here and now, extra investment is needed in the next Government spending round from the middle of the decade.

My (spending) settlement was done before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russia is very, very dangerous on the world stage, he told Sky News.

The world is less secure than it was two, three years ago, and is not looking likely to change for the rest of the decade.

That is the moment, in the middle of the decade, to say we should commit to increased funding.

Downing Street defended the Governments record on funding, insisting the benefits of new technology and kit outweighed cuts in the number of soldiers.

The row comes after the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, warned any further cuts to the size of the British Army would be perverse.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We are still of the view that we have set out with this massive increase in defence funding is the right one because it would be wrong, given what we are seeing play out in front of our eyes, to focus solely on numbers when we can see the impact that the latest technologies, equipment, training, intelligence are having.

We are confident that we can do both, essentially, with this 24 billion extra that is going in to our armed forces.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcome Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the Nato summit in Madrid (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

US President Joe Biden said two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons will be sent to the UK, while a new permanent headquarters will be set up in Poland as part of his commitment to the alliance.

Today Im announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, he said.

Natos new strategy also acknowledges the emergence of China as an economic and military power.

The allies state that Beijings coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss used an appearance at the summit event to warn that with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable military there is a real risk that they draw the wrong idea which results in a catastrophic miscalculation such as invading Taiwan.

She said: That is exactly what we saw in the case of Ukraine, a strategic miscalculation by Putin, so this is why its so important that the free world work together to help ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself and to stress the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
A firefighter assesses the approaching flames along Troost Trail as the Rices fire burns in California's rural Nevada County on Tuesday. (Elias Funez / (Grass Valley, Calif.) Union via Associated Press)

At least four structures have been destroyed and more than 500 others are threatened by a growing wildfire in Northern California's rural Nevada County, fueled by a "critically dry" and "drought-stressed" environment, according to an update from from Cal Fire officials.

The fire has burned 769 acres as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, growing by almost 200 acres overnight, and is still 0% contained, the update said. Multiple residential communities in the area are under evacuation orders and warnings, as almost 650 firefights battle the blaze.

At least one firefighter has been injured, according to the latest report, but details were not immediately available.

The Rices fire started around 2 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Rices Crossing Road, north of the south fork of the Yuba River and west of the community of North San Juan, said Brian Estes, unit chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Nevada-Yuba Placer Unit.

"Steep and rugged terrain, critically dry and receptive fuel beds, active area for fire history and drought-stressed trees are leading to the observed active fire behavior," the latest update said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Residents initially tried to put out the fire, but when the first units arrived about 10 minutes after authorities received a report, it was being driven by the dry, windy conditions, Estes said.

A map of part of Northern California shows the location of the Rice fire southeast of Oroville and northeast of Yuba City

The fire was burning in brush, oak woodlands and heavy timber, moving to the north and northeast toward the Yuba River drainage, Estes said. Temperatures during the day were above 96 degrees, relative humidity was below 10% and winds of at least 8 mph were blowing out of the southwest.

Among the 500 structures threatened is critical infrastructure such as water delivery and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. electrical systems, Estes said. South Yuba River State Park was also threatened.

"Our main efforts in the suppression  of this fire now are to keep it from dropping into the Yuba River drainage," he said.

If the fire crosses the drainage into Yuba County, it could "have some tremendous impacts" to communities such as Dobbins and Oregon House, he said.

"We are one of the few, large dynamic incidents going on in the state, so the support that we've received  has been tremendous," Estes said.

Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for four zones, including the communities of Birchville, Sweetland, French Corral, Bridgeport, Rice's Crossing and the Buttermilk area, according to Cal Fire.

Adjacent zones to the north are under evacuation warnings, including North San Juan, Sebastopol, New School, Robinson, Greater Tyler Foote, northern Purdon Road, Millhouse, Montezuma and Central Purdon.

A detailed map of areas under evacuation orders and warnings is posted online.

A temporary evacuation point is open at the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City, according to the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services.

The Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley are receiving animals, the Sheriff's Office said.

Residents of neighboring Yuba County in areas north of Marysville Road, Troost Trail, Fairhaven Drive, Lake Francis Road, and south and east of Marysville Road were placed under an evacuation advisory and told to be on the alert for changing conditions, officials said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The mystery surrounding the deaths of three American tourists found dead at a popular Bahamas resort has at last been resolved.

At this juncture of the investigation, we can officially confirm that all three of the victims died as a result of asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning, the Royal Bahamas Police Force announced in a news release Tuesday. This matter remains under active investigation.

The bodies of Michael Phillips, 68, and his 65-year-old wife Robbie Phillips, both from Tennessee, and 64-year-old Vincent Chiarella, from Florida, were all discovered in May at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on Exuma. The Phillips, owners of a travel agency based in Maryville, were discovered inside one villa on the property while Chiarella was found unresponsive in the villa next door.

Chiarellas wife, Donnis, 65, was airlifted to HCA Florida in serious condition. While her current status is unknown, staff at the hospital in Miami later said her health had been upgraded to fair condition, according to NBC Miami.

Sandals in Great Exuma, Bahamas.

Sandals in Great Exuma, Bahamas. (Dimitrios Kambouris/)

It was not clear if the villas had carbon monoxide detectors and if they did, whether they were working at the time.

The sudden deaths sparked widespread rumors, including that the couples were sickened by food at the resort. Others noted the guests previous complaints about the smell of insecticide, suggesting the strong chemicals could be responsible. The speculation only increased when authorities revealed there were no signs of trauma on the bodies nor any evidence to suggest foul play.

The couples also separately sought out medical attention the night before they were discovered dead.

In a statement issued last month, Sandals said the deaths were in no way linked to the resorts air conditioning system, food and beverage service, landscaping services or foul play.

Bahamian authorities have concluded the cause was an isolated incident in one standalone structure that housed two individual guest rooms, a spokesperson told NBC News on Tuesday.

Sandals said that carbon monoxide detectors have since been installed in all rooms at Sandals Emerald Bay, and will also be installed in all guest rooms at other locations.

With News Wire Services
KHARTOUM, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government has expressed commitment to restraint and non-escalation amid the mounting crises between Sudan and Ethiopia.

The crisis between the two countries was sparked after Sudan accused Ethiopia of killing its soldiers on the joint eastern border, which Ethiopia denied.

"Sudan exercises self-restraint to prevent escalation with Ethiopia," Sudan's foreign ministry said, official SUNA news agency reported.

"Ethiopian forces entered Sudanese territory, kidnapped seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian, executed them, and displayed their bodies in public," SUNA quoted Dafalla Al-Haj Ali, Sudan's foreign ministry undersecretary, as saying.

What Ethiopia had done did not comply with international conventions and norms and the nature of the relationship between the two countries, he added.

Meanwhile, local Sudanese media reported that Sudanese acting Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq said the UN Security Council has adopted Sudan's complaint against Ethiopia submitted on Tuesday as an official document.

The Ethiopian army on Tuesday reportedly denied the accusations, saying it was ready to work with its Sudanese counterpart to investigate the incident.

Since September 2020, the Sudan-Ethiopia border has been witnessing rising tensions and deadly skirmishes between the two sides.

Sudan has accused the Ethiopian military of backing the farmers' seizure of Sudanese lands in the disputed Fashaga district on the border of the two neighbors. 
The Supreme Court's landmark ruling overturning Roe v. Wade has sparked protests and fiery debates across the country -- even putting families at odds over the issue.

Jessica Stamas, daughter of a Republican state senator from Michigan, posted a video on TikTok Friday after the ruling calling on women who have family members who are senators and representatives to "show them this affects their lives too," likely referring to a possible state decision on abortion.

MORE: 'Seismic impact on women's lives': 5 things to know after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade

Stamas specifically called out Michigan's Democratic governor in her post.

"This is a message for Gretchen Whitmer. I want to fight with you. I don't care what that means," said Stamas, whose post garnered 407,000 views by Monday.

"Please message me if you're another daughter, if you're a wife, if you're a niece, I want to get together. I will not go down without a fight," said Stamas.

PHOTO: Sen. Jim Stamas, right, and Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich speak to reporters about the release of their panel's report and recommendations related to the Flint water crisis outside the Michigan Senate chamber, Oct. 19, 2016, in Lansing, Mich. (David Eggert/AP)

Stamas' father, Republican state senator Jim Stamas, represents the state's 36th Senate District. Stamas co-sponsored SR0008, a resolution adopted in January 2021 that, "affirm[s] the right to life of every unborn child in this state and call[s] for the enforcement of all laws regulating or limiting the practice of abortion."

Stamas also co-sponsored SB0760, a bill that if signed into law would outlaw performing an abortion for any reason related to disability, race and sex.

In a video posted on Saturday, Jessica Stamas said her father was aware of her video.

"I think he was as surprised as I was of the outpour of love and support from you guys on my video yesterday. He was very supportive. He told me he loved me," said Stamas, who explained, "It was not against him. This was really just a message to go vote. Go stand up."

On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion, leaving individual states to legislate abortion access. Thirteen states previously adopted "trigger laws" that were designed to immediately ban abortions as soon as the case was overturned.

MORE: Where abortion stands in your state: A state-by-state breakdown of abortion laws

Overturning Roe v. Wade may have specific ramifications in Michigan, where abortion is currently legal before fetal viability. The topic may be on the ballot this November in Michigan as a new initiative seeks to make reproductive freedom a right of Michiganders.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll from May found 82% of Americans want abortion legal when a woman's physical health is in danger; 79% when a pregnancy was caused by rape or incest; and, 67% when the fetus has serious birth defects.

Jim Stamas is serving his seventh year in office. His current term will end in 2023.

Daughter of GOP lawmaker calls on female relatives to rally for abortion rights: 'Show them this affects their lives too' originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table during jury selection in the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. The jury that is seated will decide whether Cruz is sentenced to death or receives life without parole for murdering 17 people at the school on Feb. 14, 2018. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  The jury that will decide whether Nikolas Cruz should get the death penalty for killing 17 people in the 2018 shooting rampage at a Parkland, Florida, high school was finally selected Wednesday, after a painstaking, stop-and-start process that took nearly three months.

The defense wound up using all 10 of its peremptory challenges, eliminating candidates for any reason other than race or gender, while the prosecution used four. On Wednesday, the defense used its final strikes to eliminate a retired insurance company executive and a banking executive who had been tentatively on the panel when court adjourned Tuesday.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer shot down the defenses attempt to use a peremptory to eliminate a Black man who said during jury selection he did not believe in the existence of white privilege  the argument that white people get certain societal advantages because of their race. Scherer agreed with the prosecutions argument that the defenses reasoning showed racial bias.

The seven men and five women who were chosen will return to court July 18 for opening statements along with the 10 alternates who were also chosen. Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to murdering 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, meaning the expected four-month trial will only decide if he receives a penalty of death or life in prison without parole. If one juror opposes death, the former Stoneman Douglas student will receive a life sentence.

The panel will have a task never faced by a U.S. jury  no American mass shooter who killed at least 17 people has ever made it to trial. Nine others died during or immediately after their shooting attacks, killed either by police or themselves. The suspect in the 2019 slaying of 23 at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, is awaiting trial.

The 12 members of the main jury are:

1. A computer worker for a municipal government. He formerly worked in construction and owns a handgun. He said during jury selection he had no opinion on the case and only remembers the original headlines, but that was not good data.

2. A bank vice president. He is a former officer in the French military and does not own any guns.

3. A probation officer. He said he is a military veteran. He said he had no strong opinion on the death penalty, but realizes some people are very passionate about it. He was not asked about gun ownership.

4. A Walmart store stocking supervisor. He has a cousin who knew Cruz in high school. He said that he could be fair about the death penalty, but either way it goes, this person should get whatever they have coming to them. He was not asked about gun ownership.

5. Another computer technician for a municipal government. He owns a handgun and a rifle and said he once had an unpleasant experience with a police officer, but was not asked to elaborate.

6. An insurance claims adjuster for a major health care provider. She does not own any guns. She said she is not opposed to the death penalty, but voting for it would be difficult.

7. A librarian. She said both of her children had criminal charges about 12 years ago, but they were stupid. They outgrew it. She said that while she could vote for the death penalty, it doesn't seem to be stopping any murders. She does not own a gun.

8. A human resources professional for a medical supplies company. She moved to Florida in 2019 and has a Ph.D. in business. She is a board member for a group that advocates for people with mental illness. She owns a handgun.

9. A legal assistant at a small law firm that mostly does personal injury cases. She previously worked for a prosecutors' office in central Florida. She does not own a gun. She said the death penalty is appropriate in the most serious cases, but it shouldn't be automatic. We need to look at everything.

10. A U.S. Customs officer. He served four years in the U.S. military. He did not specifically say if he owned any guns, but said in the military he qualified on a dozen different firearms.

11. A man who now works in his family's export business after earning his degree in business with an emphasis in entertainment. He said he has forgotten a lot of details about the Stoneman Douglas shooting. He was not asked if he owns guns.

12. A woman who works as an investigator for a private firm. She said that if she were the ruler of an island, she would not have the death penalty but could vote for it. She was not asked if she owned any guns.
Cain Velasquez listens during a hearing at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice on March 7 in San Jose. (Aric Crabb / Associated Press)

Cain Velasquez, the former UFC heavyweight champion charged with the attempted murder of a man he claims molested his 4-year-old son, is now suing the man and his family, who own a child-care business where the alleged molestation took place.

Velasquez, 39, remains in police custody after he allegedly shot at the man and rammed his truck into his vehicle during a high-speed pursuit through Santa Clara County in February. The two-time UFC heavyweight champion claims in a civil lawsuit that Harry Goularte molested Velasquez's son while he was attending a child-care center run by Goularte's mother, Patricia Goularte.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the minor against Harry Goularte, his concrete business, along with his mother and stepfather, Paul Bender, who operated the child-care business out of a home in San Martin, Calif. Goularte was living at the home and working for the child-care business during the time of the alleged molestation, according to the lawsuit.

The Velasquez family claims Harry Goularte was allowed to spend time alone with the minor and other children on the property, including time he spent with children in a bathroom and a playhouse for extended periods of time. The child-care business and its owners "fostered and maintained an environment" where the children could be molested, sexually abused and harassed, the Velasquez family said in its lawsuit. Velasquez's son spent five days a week at the home from 2021 to 2022, according to the complaint filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court this week.

The lawsuit accuses Goularte, 43, and his family of negligence, sexual battery and several other claims.

He was charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a minor by the Santa Clara County district attorney's office.

Two days after he was arrested, Goularte was released from jail into the court's supervised own recognizance program over objections from prosecutors and was not required to post bail, said Sean Webby, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara district attorney's office.

The next day, Velasquez allegedly pursued Goularte and Bender in his truck and fired into their truck with a 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Velasquez was then arrested by police in San Jose. While Goularte was his target, Velasquez shot Bender in the shoulder.

The sad tragedy is that Mr. Velasquez chose to take the law into his own hands, endangering the public and everyone in the truck," Dist. Atty. Jeff Rosen said at the time of Velasquez's arrest. "This act of violence also causes more pain and suffering to his family.

This month, Goularte pleaded not guilty to the felony charge of molesting a minor and a preliminary trial is scheduled for September. In court, Velazquez's attorney, Mark Geragos, identified the minor as Velasquez's son. Goularte allegedly touched the boy "100 times" and other children were seen going into a bathroom at the child-care home with Goularte, Geragos said in court.

Velasquez, who's due back in court in August, is charged with attempted, premeditated murder and other related charges. He faces a prison term of 20 years to life, according to the Santa Clara district attorney's office. Goularte faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lawyer for Virginia "Ginni" Thomas has dimmed prospects for a quick appearance before congressional investigators probing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, asking what they want from his client, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Ginni Thomas on June 16 expressed eagerness to speak with the House of Representatives panel investigating the 2021 assault, telling the Daily Caller she "can't wait to clear up misconceptions."

The committee sent an invitation that day.

In a letter on Tuesday, lawyer Mark R. Paoletta curbed that enthusiasm, telling the committee: "I do not understand the need to speak with Mrs. Thomas."

"Before I can recommend that she meet with you, I am asking the Committee to provide a better justification for why Mrs. Thomass testimony is relevant to the Committees legislative purpose."

The justice's wife is active in conservative political circles and said she attended a rally by then-President Donald Trump outside the White House before his supporters marched on the Capitol to try to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden's defeat of Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 election.

At the rally, Trump made a fiery speech repeating his false claims his election defeat was due to widespread fraud.

The Washington Post had reported earlier that the committee obtained emails between Ginni Thomas and attorney John Eastman, who advised Trump that then-Vice President Mike Pence could thwart formal congressional certification of Trump's loss.

Her political activity has raised questions about whether her husband should recuse himself from cases involving Trump and the Capitol riot. In January, Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenting voice when the court rejected Trump's request to block release of White House records sought by the committee.

Paoletta said Ginni Thomas had no role in the Jan. 6 attack and never discussed election litigation strategy with Eastman. He also dismissed the committee's interest in text messages following the election between her and Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

"These texts are simply much ado about nothing," he wrote in the letter to the committee seen by Reuters.

The committee did not answer a query on its response to the letter on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Abortion pills smuggled into the United States from Mexico inside teddy bears. A New York home used as a pill distribution hub. A small apartment just south of the U.S.-Mexico border converted into a safe place for women to end their pregnancies.

Networks of Mexican feminist collectives working with counterparts in the United States are ramping up their efforts to help women in the U.S. who are losing access to abortion services to end their pregnancies.

With the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the landmark decision that gave women the right to access abortion last week, these networks of activists are preparing to be busier than ever. So far this year, according to the organizations, they have helped at least 1,700 women living the U.S. who have sought their help.

The number may seem anecdotal, but its exponentially higher than what they saw before. With a number of U.S. states already enacting abortion bans since the court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, the activists expect the pace to continue increasing.

The demand is going to triple, said Sandra Cardona of I Need an Abortion, a collective based in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey, 138 miles from Texas. Before we accompanied about five women a month from the United States; now there are five to seven a week.

These organizations strategy is clear: a self-managed abortion, that is to say, putting the abortion-inducing misoprostol and mifepristone in the hands of women who want to end their pregnancies and accompanying them, usually virtually, when they take the drugs.

The drugs are legal in the United States and more than half of the abortions performed there in 2020 used them, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization. But there they require a doctors prescription, some states require a doctor to be present and they are usually taken in womens health clinics, many of which have been forced to close.

In addition to the 13 states that already have laws banning abortion, there are another half-dozen that have almost complete bans or that do not permit them after six weeks, when many women do not know they are pregnant.

So theres no doubt that the alternative will be abortions at home. And that is something with which the Mexican activists have a lot of experience. Even though Mexicos Supreme Court ruled last year that it was unconstitutional to consider abortion a crime and 10 states have made it legal, not all have abortion services and abortion, with some exceptions, remains a crime in 22 states of the strongly Catholic country.

At the same time that we were taking it for granted in the United States, people in Mexico, advocates in Mexico, have been working and testing narratives and building, building power, convincing people that their message was the correct one, said Texas state lawmaker Erin Zwiener during a visit to Mexico in May.

Mexican activists built networks, battled the stigma, pushed for legal changes and little by little made headway, Zwiener said.

Their strategy since January has been the same, but cross-border.

Collectives far from the U.S. border like Unasse in Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula coordinate donations from abroad to buy the pills, explained Amelia Ojeda, one of its members. Others to the north, focus on getting the pills into the United States inside toys, jars of vitamins or sewn into the hems of clothing.

Those who are detected at the border, its like you were crossing drugs, said Marcela Castro of Green Tide Chihuahua, a state bordering Texas. There are also women who live between the two countries and carry them when they fly.

The pills are then stored at so-called medicine banks, that are really private homes in strategic cities in Texas or even in New York where abortion remains legal.

From there they are distributed by low-profile volunteers by any means available  hand-to-hand, through the mail, etc.  to women across the country who need them. Most are in states like Texas and Oklahoma that have imposed bans, but also states where abortion remains legal but women prefer to end their pregnancies in the privacy of their homes.

The new modern menace is a chemical or medical abortion with pills ordered online and mailed directly to a womans home, Randall OBannon, an anti-abortion activist, said at a national convention last week in Atlanta. With Roe headed for the dustbin of history, and states gaining the power to limit abortions, this is where the battle is going to be played out over the next several years.

Medication abortion will be where access to abortion is decided, said Mary Ziegler, a professor at Florida State University College of Law who specializes in reproductive rights, told the AP last month. Thats going to be the battleground that decides how enforceable abortion bans are.

Las Libres  The Free  one of the most experienced groups in Latin America has a strong network network of allies in Mexico. Just there people have helped 1,500 women living in the United States this year with pills, information and accompaniment.

Veronica Cruz, their director, said that has been possible because of the help of some 100 volunteers, mostly in New York and California. But facing growing demand, she said, they need more medicine, more hands and more heads that want to collaborate.

As battles play out in U.S. state courts, the fear among activists grows.

In such a litigious country (like the United States), the risks are taken seriously, said Castro of the Chihuahua group. And theyre besieged on all sides, she added, noting the financial penalties or even prison sentences that those who help could be subject to in some states.

I Need an Abortion receives women in its office in Monterrey. The majority tell us they prefer talking and having first-hand information, they take the pills and cross the border back to Texas, said director Sandra Cardona.

Others decide to have the abortion in the collective's offices, which is Cardona's house.

When they arrive, they stand with their mouth hanging open when they see what they call the aborteria.

Its really crazy, Cardona explained. They tell us, but this isnt a clinic! It isnt a shady place! Its not scary!

Well, of course, its a home! she said.

Cardona has opened their doors to women for five years. Since May, they have outfitted a small apartment on the second floor of her home with a desk and sofa bed where women have gone through the whole process in privacy or with accompaniment based on their preference.

At first, women dont believe they give away the pills for free, because some have been scammed online, and theyre surprised to feel so psychologically protected.

One even told them that if she didnt have to pay we werent a serious organizations, Cardona said laughing. They give them the option of making a donation. Our Paypal link has never been used so much.

After their abortion, most realize they could have done it in their own homes. And that, says the activist, is important because the message gets passed on.

So far, most of the women seeking assistance from the collectives in Monterrey and Chihuahua have been Latina and Black.

Cruz was surprised because most of those who contacted The Free spoke English, suggesting to her a big pending issue: undocumented migrants.

The women who most need it, who dont even have internet access, still havent made it to us, she said.
A five-month investigation by the Somerset Police Department has resulted in a major drug seizure and the arrest of two people, according to the departments captain.

Dobbs said the investigation began sometime around February after a routine traffic stop led to the recovery of some methamphetamine and other drugs. Police executed multiple search warrants, which yielded approximately 30 pounds of crystal meth, several guns and about $30,000 in cash.

The drug recovery was the largest quantity seized by the Somerset Police Department, according to Dobbs.

I havent seen anything of this size in the history of our department, Dobbs said.

Wesley Calhoun and Dennie Smith are facing charges as a result of the investigation, Dobbs said.
The Medical University of South Carolina and an associated facility have been fined nearly $120,000 for dozens of infectious waste violations, including failing to protect the public from potential exposure to germ-carrying medical garbage, as part of a state probe of Charleston area hospitals.

State enforcement documents released this week show MUSC and Ashley River Tower were not properly securing needles and other infectious waste, and the medical refuse wound up at unapproved disposal sites.

MUSC and Ashley River allowed infectious waste to be shipped to Charleston area landfills without treating the refuse to kill germs, as is required by state law, enforcement records show. Three landfills reported finding infectious waste from MUSC and Ashley River in the fall of 2021, enforcement orders show.

The waste included body tissue from MUSC at one landfill. Bloody tubing and used needles also were found at some of the landfills and waste was discovered spilling onto the ground, enforcement records show.

Both MUSC and Ashley River were each fined $58,000  two years after regulators cited the medical centers for some of the same violations.

One former DHEC waste regulator said failing to treat infectious waste before sending it to landfills is a serious matter.

If it is infectious, it needs to be treated to avoid exposing people to whatever contamination or infection there is, said Art Braswell, a landfill consultant and former DHEC solid waste director.

The medical university hospital system, which treats patients from across South Carolina, is one the states most prestigious health care systems. The university, founded in 1824, is the oldest medical school in the South, according to its website.

MUSCs main campus is in downtown Charleston, but the university hospital system has been expanding in recent years into other parts of South Carolina. Ashley River Tower is a Charleston-area digestive health, cancer and heart facility that is part of the MUSC system.

MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said the medical university system is working to improve its waste disposal practices.

The system has beefed up training, conducted an analysis of what caused the problem and is using daily waste audits in an effort to improve, she said. The university system, which is continuing to meet with DHEC about the issue, also has launched a waste disposal education campaign for employees and holds regular meetings to reinforce the importance of and steps related to proper waste disposal, she said in an email Wednesday.

Other hospitals cited

Two other health care facilities, Trident Medical Center and the Naval Health Clinic Charleston, also were fined for failing to follow infectious waste rules, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. DHEC hit Trident Medical with a $55,300 fine and Naval Health with a $14,400 fine.

In Tridents case, the violations centered on the discovery of infectious waste at both a landfill and a garbage transfer station, neither of which should have wound up with the material.

An enforcement order indicates that Trident sent infectious trash to a transfer station in North Charleston from October through December 2021. DHEC ordered that Trident remove the waste from the transfer station. Medical waste found at the transfer station included bloody syringes and tubes, as well as a bag of urine, a DHEC enforcement order said.

Trident spokesman Rod Whiting said the medical facility is committed to following the rules and we quickly took steps to address DHECs findings. The company, like MUSC and the naval clinic, paid the fines.

Our efforts have been centered around colleague training and education, Whiting said in a text message. We want to make sure we are doing all we can to keep our staff, patients and community safe.

Trident Medical is a part of the HCA Heathcare system, a leading national health care business with 182 hospitals.

A spokesman for Naval Health was not available.

Larger issue

The fines, first made public this week in a report to the DHEC board, are the latest developments in investigations of how hospitals are handling and disposing of medical waste.

Earlier this year, the agency smacked three other Charleston area hospitals and one in Conway with more than $143,000 in fines for medical waste violations. Those enforcement actions were made public in May.

With the most recent fines totaling $185,000, DHEC has now levied at least $328,000 in fines against major coastal medical facilities this year for infectious waste violations.

Agency officials say solid waste landfills had expressed concern about the improper disposal of infectious medical trash. These landfills typically take household garbage and are not set up to accept untreated, disease-ridden medical waste.

By law, hospitals, doctors offices and other health care facilities are supposed to treat infectious waste to kill germs, before shipping it off to landfills for disposal. Treatment includes incinerating the material, sterilizing the refuse with steam or chemically disinfecting it, according to DHEC.

Infectious waste includes bloody bandages, body parts and fluids, and used needles. Such waste can be dangerous if not properly disposed of because it can carry germs from sick patients.

South Carolina has about 9,000 entities that generate infectious waste and 30 registered transporters of the material. The state has two facilities, including one in West Columbia, that treat medical waste. For hospitals that do not treat their own waste, the treatment facilities will do that for them.

The latest fines for infectious waste violations arent the first for MUSC and Ashley River.

In 2020, they were fined $14,800 apiece for some of the same violations cited in the most recent enforcement actions, according to DHEC records.

Those include failing to manage waste to protect the public from exposure and failure to treat infectious waste before disposal, records show. MUSC and Ashley River were each fined after state inspectors noted eight violations for each medical facility.
Saint Lukes Health System said Wednesday it would resume providing emergency contraceptives, reversing course less than 24 hours after The Star first reported it was no longer providing Plan B.

Saint Lukes confirmed late Tuesday night that it was no longer providing emergency contraceptives. By the next day, the health system was facing enormous pressure from abortion rights advocates, including Planned Parenthood, not to curtail access.

The move by the Kansas City health system, made in the wake of last weeks Supreme Court ruling, received national attention and criticism from both sides of the abortion debate. The episode also underscored the concerns of those who fear Missouris abortion ban could be wielded to reduce access to over-the-counter birth control.

Missouri is one of more than a dozen states with trigger laws that were designed to immediately or quickly ban abortion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. State legislators approved the ban in 2019, but its instantaneous implementation has led to confusion over what is legal and what isnt even as Planned Parenthood and other providers of reproductive services have been adamant that the law doesnt affect contraception.

Ultimately, Saint Lukes said it was changing course after Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Gov. Mike Parson, both Republicans, gave assurances that the states new abortion ban doesnt affect contraception.

Following further internal review, Saint Lukes will now resume providing emergency contraceptives, under new protocols, at all Missouri-based Saint Lukes hospitals and clinics, Saint Lukes spokesperson Laurel Gifford said in a statement.

Gifford didnt immediately respond to a follow-up question about the new protocols.

But Gifford said the ambiguity of Missouri law and uncertainty among state officials about what is prohibited continues to cause grave concern and will require careful monitoring.

This is especially true because the penalty for violation of the statute includes the criminal prosecution of health care providers whose sole focus is to provide medically necessary care for their patients, Gifford said.

Violations of Missouris abortion ban are a class B felony, punishable by between five to 15 years in prison. Abortion is only allowed for medical emergencies. No exception exists for rape or incest.

At least one public analysis of the new law, by Spencer Fane attorney Joe Bednar, outlines how a zealous prosecutor could build a case that Missouri law prohibits certain forms of birth control, such as Plan B.

In a public memo, Bednar argues Missouri law could be interpreted as defining the start of pregnancy as the date of the womans last menstrual period  not the moment when the egg is fertilized. Under that definition, any use of Plan B with an intention other than to increase the the probability of live birth could constitute an abortion, according to the law.

I would love to be able to reassure the women of Missouri that everything was fine. But if you read the law, there are just some glaring problems with the way its written, former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, told The Star.

When Saint Lukes disclosed its decision to stop offering emergency contraception, the health system said the law is ambiguous but may be interpreted as criminalizing emergency contraception.

The decision was particularly frustrating to advocates for sexual assault victims. Pregnancies as the result of rape can compound the trauma survivors experience, those who work with them say.

Access to emergency contraception in the hours after a rape has taken on even more importance since Friday because abortion is no longer an option under Missouri law.

Im thrilled to know that survivors of rape will be able to receive the care they need at Saint Lukes after having such a harrowing experience, state Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, said in a phone call.

But I can tell you from conversations today that healthcare providers still have questions and uncertainty about the law and I fear that means women with ectopic pregnancies will suffer more than they should have to.

Saint Lukes appears to have been alone in cutting off access to emergency contraception following the implementation of Missouris abortion ban. No other Kansas City area hospital approached by The Star on Wednesday said it had taken such a step because of the law.

University Health, formerly Truman Medical Centers, at one point issued a statement saying emergency contraception was not in conflict with Missouri state law.

By around midday Wednesday, Schmitt and Parsons offices issued statements seeking to clear the air about contraception.

Missouri law does not prohibit the use or provision of Plan B, or contraception, Schmitt spokesman Chris Nuelle said.

Kelli Jones, a spokeswoman for Parson, said nothing in either the U.S. Supreme Courts decision or in the abortion ban makes individual drugs illegal.

Both Planned Parenthood Great Plains and state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican and a staunch abortion opponent, had previously also said they disagreed with Saint Lukes interpretation of the law. Missouris ban didnt change the definition of abortion, Coleman said, only how abortion is regulated.

Emily Wales, Planned Parenthood Great Plains president and CEO, warned Wednesday morning that Saint Lukes decision to stop offering emergency contraception could have a triggering effect on other institutions, leading more providers to block access.

Were glad this has been resolved but disappointed that Missouris ban has already had ripple effects for patients seeking all kinds of reproductive care, Wales said in a statement later Wednesday after Saint Lukes decision to resume offering emergency contraception.

It took this public back and forth for officials to respond and clarify what we already believed: emergency contraception is still legal and will remain so.

The comments from Schmitt and Parsons offices  and others  are unlikely to fully quiet concerns about access to contraception.

What ridiculous times we live in in Missouri. Women looking for emergency contraceptives are tasked with asking the state attorney general what his views are day-to-day? Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said on Twitter in the wake of Saint Lukes reversal.

Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, asked Schmitt on Wednesday for a formal legal opinion on whether women can be prosecuted for using contraception. She also released a legal analysis by her office that says the use of contraceptives remains fully legal.

I think thats really great news for the people of Missouri, Quade said of Saint Lukes reversal. But this also continues to show why it is important that we get some very specific clarity from the Attorney Generals Office on the interpretation.

The Stars Lisa Gutierrez contributed reporting
NEW YORK (AP)  A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, while New York's first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape.

In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

Takeaways from the latest round of primary elections:

ABORTION IS ON THE BALLOT

The abortion debate consumed the nation this week, but there was no race where it mattered more than Colorados Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where businessman Joe O'Dea became one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year.

O'Dea beat back a stiff challenge from state Rep. Ron Hanks, a Trump loyalist who opposed abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.

O'Dea will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November, and if he wins, he would become just the third Senate Republican  and the only male  to support abortion rights.

He said he backs a ban on late-term abortions and government funding of abortions but that the decision to terminate a pregnancy in the initial months is between a person and their God.

Democrats had spent at least $2.5 million on ads designed to boost O'Dea's opponent by promoting, among other things, that he was too conservative for backing a complete abortion ban.

Democrats hoped that the Roe decision would give them an advantage in several swing states, including Colorado. But, at least for now, O'Dea's victory would seem to complicate the Democrats' plans.

A WIN FOR TRUMP OR THE DEMOCRATS?

In the final weeks of a campaign, Trump once again attached himself to a Republican who was leading the race. This time, it was farmer Darren Bailey in Illinois, who easily cruised to the GOP nomination in the governor's race.

But while Trump can add Bailey to his endorsement record, Democrats are betting that his victory may be short-lived.

Bailey now goes on to face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November general election, which is just what Pritzker and his allies wanted. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP nomination. Among other things, the ads reminded the state's Democratic-leaning electorate that he is 100% pro-life.

It's a risky gamble. While Bailey may look like an easier opponent in the general election, it's feasible that he could ride a red wave  if it materializes  to the Illinois governor's mansion. Pritzker's predecessor in office was a Republican.

Bailey showed off political acumen by besting the early Republican front-runner Richard Irvin, the mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, Aurora. Irvin lost despite being the beneficiary of a staggering $50 million investment from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin, who is Black, refused to say whether he voted for Trump and largely avoided talking about abortion, delivering the kind of moderate message that could have cut across ideological lines in a general election.

Instead, Republicans nominated Bailey, a Trump loyalist who reads from Bible verses in campaign videos and proudly touts his anti-abortion policies in a state Trump lost by 17 percentage points in 2020.

HOCHUL'S OPPORTUNITY

The scandals of the men around her did not derail New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who overcame primary challengers on the right and left to win her first election test as the state's chief executive.

Now, Hochul, New York's first female governor, is positioned to emerge as a leading voice in the Democratic Party as it navigates the post-Roe landscape.

The low-profile Hochul stepped into one of the nation's most prominent governorships last fall after Andrew Cuomo resigned in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. She had promised to restore New Yorkers' faith in their government, only for her handpicked lieutenant governor to be arrested this spring in a federal corruption probe.

Hochul was either consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction," charged one of her primary challengers, New York Citys elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams.

The attack ultimately didn't land in the primary. But don't expect such criticism to disappear as the race for New York governor enters its next phase.

Rep. Lee Zeldin emerged from a crowded Republican field to earn the GOP nomination for governor. He defeated Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor Rudy Giuliani, among others.

And while Hochul has a serious reelection test ahead, look for her to step into the national spotlight as the abortion debate rages.

The Democratic governor said in recent days that New York would be a safe harbor for those seeking abortions.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stands with Lieutenant governor Antonio Delgado during their primary election night party, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in New York. (AP)

ELECTION DENIERS GO DOWN

They celebrated their allegiance to Trump's baseless conspiracy theories on the campaign trail. But on Tuesday night, a handful of these so-called election deniers had nothing to cheer about.

In Colorado, Republican voters did not reward secretary of state candidate Tina Peters for championing Trump's lies about election fraud. She was bested by Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who previously led the state clerks association and defends the state's mail-in elections system.

Some officials in both parties worried that Peters would win the primary. That's even after Peters, the Mesa County clerk, was indicted for a security breach spurred by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election. The state GOP had called on her to suspend her campaign.

Now, Anderson, not Peters, will take on incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, whos led the national fight against 2020 election deniers.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Senate candidate Hanks had also promoted lies about the last presidential election. In addition to being an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, he had attended the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

And in Mississippi, Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy lost a runoff election to incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who had voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Cassidy said in campaign speeches that Guest had done nothing to stop the persecution of Jan. 6 political prisoners.

LIGHTNING RODS WIN

Two Republicans familiar with controversy tested for the first time whether Republican voters deemed them too extreme to go back to Congress. They both prevailed.

First-term Rep. Mary Miller, who campaigned alongside Trump over the weekend, defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis, who was considered more moderate. The primary victory all but ensures Miller will return to Congress for another term given the heavy Republican advantage in her 15th Congressional District, which is the most Republican district in the state.

Miller won just days after describing the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade as a victory for white life. A spokesperson later said she had intended to say the decision was a victory for a right to life.

Miller is no stranger to provocative statements. Soon after joining the House, Miller quoted Adolf Hitler, saying he was right to say that whoever has the youth has the future.

And in Colorado, Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert defeated a moderate state representative who had run a primary campaign focused on Boeberts extremism. It didnt work.

Boeberts controversial moves are many. She vowed to carry a handgun on the House floor. She faced calls for her censure last year after being caught on video making Islamophobic comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. And she heckled President Biden in his first State of the Union address.

But after winning her primary, she is almost certain to return to Congress for another two years. Her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado became even more Republican after redistricting.

in Colorado, Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert defeated a moderate state representative who had run a primary campaign focused on Boeberts extremism. (AP)

A ROE SHIFT IN NEBRASKA?

Nebraskas low-profile special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberrys term was not supposed to be close. Republicans have held the district for nearly 60 years.

Yet Republican Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks by only 4 percentage points on Tuesday.

The specific cause of the margin wasnt immediately unclear, although there was evidence of higher turnout in one Democratic-leaning county that could be related to the Roe decision.

Heading into election day, Flood appeared to have a strong edge in the district, which includes Lincoln, parts of suburban Omaha and dozens of smaller, more conservative towns. The district has nearly 68,000 more Republicans than Democrats and hasnt elected a Democrat to the House since 1964.

What happened? Lancaster County, home to the state capital and the University of Nebraska, offers some clues.

In 2020, Fortenberry won the district by nearly 22 percentage points, but he lost Lancaster County by less than 1 percentage point. In Tuesdays special election, the Republican Flood lost Lancaster County by more than 13 percentage points.

In the end, the swing wasnt enough to move a heavily-Republican district, but Democrats could look to the results for hope that the Roe decision will be a significant motivator for the Democratic base.

Incidentally, Fortenberry was sentenced to two years of probation on Tuesday for lying to the FBI. Flood and Pansing Brooks are expected to face off again in the November general election.
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland on Wednesday hailed U.S. President Joe Biden's commitment to establish the 5th Army's Headquarters in Poland as the realisation of a long-held dream that would send a clear signal of deterrence to Russia.

Biden told a NATO summit in Madrid earlier on Wednesday that the United States will ramp up its forces and equipment across Europe and set up a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to potential new threats from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014, Poland has viewed an increase in NATO troops on the Western alliance's eastern flank as vital for central Europe's security in the face of increased Russian assertiveness and has long sought a permanent U.S. military base on its soil.

"It is a success which comes from long and consistent negotiations on this matter and, at the same time, a very clear sign that the Americans intend to increase, not decrease, their presence in Poland," Jakub Kumoch, the Polish president's foreign policy adviser, told Reuters when asked about Biden's announcement.

"Something that seemed impossible to many is becoming a fact today," Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz wrote on Twitter.

"We have a PERMANENT U.S. presence in Poland... It is also a clear signal to Moscow."

U.S. Navy's warship USS Gravely docked in the Baltic sea port city of Gdynia

Biden visited Poland in March and told U.S. troops deployed there that they were "in the midst of a fight between democracies and oligarchs."

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland's ruling party, said in April that Warsaw would be open to having U.S. nuclear weapons on its soil and would welcome a 50% increase in the number of U.S. troops in Europe in comments criticised by the Kremlin.

Before tensions between Russia and the West flared over Ukraine, the U.S. military had about 4,500 troops in Poland in both a NATO and a bilateral capacity, mostly stationed in the west of the country on a rotational basis.

Washington has since despatched extra troops and equipment to Poland on a temporary basis and NATO said in June that the alliance currently has 11,600 troops from other countries deployed in Poland, a number which included forces from other NATO members such as Britain.

In 2018, Poland, which borders Ukraine and close Russian ally Belarus, proposed naming a military base in honour of then U.S. president Donald Trump, in return for him establishing permanent presence there.

"Fort Trump" never materialised however.
WINDHOEK, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's Ministry of Health and Social Services has revised the guidelines on COVID-19 isolation and quarantine.

Ben Nangombe, Executive Director of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, said in a statement availed on Wednesday that the duration of isolation for COVID-19 positive cases for people who are asymptomatic or have the mild disease has been reduced from 10 days to 5 days.

In terms of quarantine, Nangombe said the quarantine period for contact cases and suspected cases is hereby reduced from 7 days to 5 days.

"A COVID-19 test should be conducted on day 5, then quarantine ends immediately following the receipt of the negative results," he said, adding that any person who becomes a contact of a COVID-19 positive case and is presenting with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 is deemed a suspected case and should get tested for COVID-19, and self-quarantine at home until the test results are out.

According to the health ministry, Namibia's number of active cases is now pegged at 572 of which 43 cases are currently hospitalized in 11 regions with four cases in ICU. 
Nicola Sturgeon has contrasted her desire for a lawful second vote on Scottish independence with the Prime Minister breaking the law by reneging on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Scottish First Minister said this highlights the difference between herself and Boris Johnson on the big matters of the constitution.

The comments came the day after Ms Sturgeon outlined plans to hold a second vote on Scottish independence on October 19, 2023.

With the UK Government refusing to grant consent for such a ballot to be held, Ms Sturgeon is asking Supreme Court judges to rule if Holyrood can hold a referendum without the backing of Westminster.

In a statement at Holyrood on Tuesday, the SNP leader insisted now is the time for independence as she outlined her plans to MSPs.

Mr Johnson, however, argued the UK is able to have a stronger economy and a stronger country together.

Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon agreed with the Prime Minister when he said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have started the crazy, macho war in Ukraine if he were a woman.

Speaking after the G7 summit in Bavaria, Mr Johnson told German broadcaster ZDF: If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isnt, but if he were, I really dont think he wouldve embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has.

If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, its what hes doing in Ukraine.

Asked about the PMs comments, Ms Sturgeon told ITVs Good Morning Britain that Putin is a war criminal and a war monger, adding toxic masculinity is very much part and parcel of that, so I agree with that.

Nicola Sturgeon said Boris Johnson is breaking the law by changing the Northern Ireland Protocol (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

She continued: I also do perhaps unusually agree with Boris Johnson that the world would be a better place if there more women in positions of leaders.

Not that women dont make mistakes but I do think women tend to bring perhaps a bit more common sense and emotional intelligence and more of a reasoned approach to decisions.

Take the difference between me and Boris Johnson on the big matters of the constitution. He is breaking the law to renege on the Northern Ireland Protocol, I am being very clear that any vote on independence has to be lawful.

More women in leadership would be a good thing, including in the UK, so maybe it is another reason why he should do the right thing and step aside.

Ms Sturgeon insisted the time is right for Scotland to debate and decide independence because we have been taken down the wrong path by Westminster governments.

She argued that at a key moment in history, Scotland would fare better if it was able to make its own decisions.

Ms Sturgeon stated: Over generations we have paid a price for not being independent, many comparable countries across Europe are doing better economically and socially because they can tailor decisions to their own circumstances.

Right now of course we are out of the European Union against our will, that is contributing to one of the worst cost-of-living crises in the whole of the developed world, were seeing Westminster Government decisions push children into poverty, the powers of the Scottish Parliament being curtailed by Westminster governments.

This is a key moment in history, the world faces big challenges, my argument is Scotland will navigate those challenges better if we are equipped with the full powers and resources and levers that independent countries across the world take for granted.

In 2014, Scots voted to stay part of the UK, but Ms Sturgeon highlighted that decision was made almost a decade ago.

She added: The world has changed dramatically in the years since, not least here in the UK. Back then we were told independence would take us out of the European Union, we have now been dragged out of the European Union because we are not independent.

Democracy is not a fixed moment in time. People in a democracy have the right to change their minds when circumstances change.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outlined her plans for indyref2 in a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday (Lesley Martin/PA)

The First Minister went on to tell BBC Breakfast that an independent Scotland could help make the world a better place.

She said: In terms of the global situation, it is not being independent that has taken Scotland out of Europe. I would want to see an independent Scotland back in Europe, co-operating with others to help make the world a better place, standing up for those principles of liberal democracy and freedom.

She went on to argue plans for a referendum are about seeking to do the right thing for Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon insisted: People in Scotland must have the ability to express their views on independence. Otherwise we have a situation where the UK is not the democratic, voluntary union of nations we have always been told it is.

Instead it becomes a construct in which Scottish democracy becomes a prisoner of the UK prime minister.

Whatever we think on independence, that cannot be right. And what were now seeing in Scotland is not just an independence movement, it is a democracy movement.

Because whether you are Yes or No to independence I think the vast majority of people accept that that is a decision that can only be taken by the people of Scotland.
FILE PHOTO: Tesla vehicles are shown at a sales and service center in Vista, California

By Hyunjoo Jin

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla has shuttered its office in San Mateo, California and laid off roughly 200 employees working on its Autopilot driver-assistant system there, one of the people told Reuters, in a move seen as accelerating cost-cutting.

Most of the laid-off people had been hourly workers, that person said.

Early this month, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk told top managers he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and that the maker of electric cars needed to cut staff by about 10%.

Later, the billionaire said that the 10% cuts would apply only to salaried workers and that hourly staff numbers were still expected to grow.

"Tesla clearly is in a major cost-cutting mode," said Raj Rajkumar, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. "This (staff reduction) likely indicates that 2Q 2022 has been pretty rough on the company due to the shutdown in Shanghai, raw material costs and supply chain problems."

Anti-pandemic measures in Shanghai have depressed Tesla's production there.

The laid-off person who spoke to Reuters said employees at the satellite office had previously been told that they would move to an office in Palo Alto in stages beginning this month after the San Mateo lease expired. But most of the workers were laid off on Tuesday.

"It was definitely kind of numbing," he said. "Yeah, we're definitely shocked; we're definitely blindsided."

Some workers expected Tesla to shift some of the jobs to lower-wage workers in Buffalo, New York, to save costs.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Many people in Tesla's San Mateo office work on data annotation - reviewing and labeling various visuals collected from Tesla vehicles to teach the cars' Autopilot system how to handle certain kinds of road scenarios.

A number of Tesla data annotation employees said on Linkedin on Tuesday that they had been laid off.

"So kind of a disappointing day today. Myself along with almost the whole San Mateo Branch at Tesla just got laid off," Caeser Rosas, a data annotation specialist, said on a Linkedin post.

Bloomberg first reported about the San Mateo job cuts.

Musk has also said Tesla's new factories in Texas and Berlin are "gigantic money furnaces" losing billions of dollars.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
The UK sharply reduced oil imports from Russia in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, according to official figures.

However, new data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK still imported about 140 million of Russian refined oil in April, two months after the war in Ukraine began.

The ONS said this represented a slump from about 410 million of refined oil imported from Russia in February, when Russia had been the UKs biggest supplier.

Two months later, Russia was the UKs sixth biggest supplier as the UK increased its supply from other countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Belgium.

(PA Graphics)

Refined oil includes petrol, diesel and heating oil, which have all seen prices spike following the conflict.

The UK has said it will stop important petrol and diesel from Russia by the end of this year.

Other countries have also acted with sanction plans to reduce imports from Russia, most notably with the EU confirming a complete import ban on all Russian seaborne crude oil and and petroleum products.

This helped UK exports of both crude and refined oil to the EU to grow to record levels in both March and April, when they were worth 2.3 billion and 2.4 billion respectively.

In 2021, total UK oil exports struck 28.3 billion for the year, with the Netherlands, China and South Korea purchasing the most from the UK.

Meanwhile, total imports hit 30 billion for the year.

The ONS said this included 17.6 billion in imported crude oil, with almost half of this coming from Norway.

The new data also showed that the UK spent 19.6 billion on gas imports in 2021, representing a 312% surge from 4.8 billion in the previous year, driven by rocketing prices.

Meanwhile, the UK exported about 3.4 billion worth of gas, representing a 167% annual increase.
EU energy ministers agreed on Monday to increase the share of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, to 40 percent in the bloc's overall energy mix by 2030.

The energy ministers meeting in Luxembourg also agreed to reduce the EU's total energy consumption by at least 9 percent by 2030 as compared to the 2020 figure.

The agreement will now be negotiated with the European Parliament, which has yet to finalize its position on the target.

The target, which was previously set at 32 percent, is part of the EU's ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030.

This would set the path towards achieving net zero carbon emissions in Europe by 2050.

(AFP)
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.

Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.

If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.

I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.

It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.

Vote

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Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 86F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low 63F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
ISLAMABAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Three people were injured in an explosion at a fuel station in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, rescue teams said.

Investigation into the incident was underway, but gas leakage seemed to be the most probable cause, they added.

The injured people, including one in critical condition, were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Police arriving at the site have closed the fuel station for investigation.

The station may face a heavy fine or closure for an indefinite period if it was found to have failed to follow the safety rules set by the provincial government, said the rescue teams. 
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan visited today the residence of the US Ambassador to Armenia ahead of Americas Independence Day, being celebrated on July 4, the Presidential Office said.

President Khachaturyan congratulated US Ambassador Lynne Tracy, the embassy staff and the whole people of the United States on the national day, wishing all the best.

The President highly valued the US support provided to Armenia since independence aimed at registering progress in countrys development and democratic processes.

The current agenda of the Armenian-American relations and the development prospects of the bilateral partnership were also touched upon during the talk.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan met with Vincent Braconier, the Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, the Office of the Security Council Secretary said.

During the meeting the sides discussed regional security-related issues and their possible developments, in the context of which Armen Grigoryan presented Armenias approaches on ensuring regional security.

The sides also discussed the bilateral cooperation prospects in security field.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan received the delegation led by Chairman of the Central Board of Armenian Democratic Liberal Party/Ramgavar, Michael Kharabian, the parliaments press service said.

Welcoming the guests, Hakob Arshakyan congratulated them on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Party, highlighted the path passed and the role in the state building and preservation of Armenian identity. He touched upon the activity of Ramgavar Liberal Party and the issues of strengthening Armenia-Diaspora ties.

The representatives of the Party assured that they are ready to support the authorities of Armenia on the way of the implementation of the pro-Armenian initiatives. They especially highlighted the fact that the event dedicated to the 100th jubilee of the establishment of the Party was held in the Parliaments Park and thanked the leadership of Parliament for supporting them in this issue.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a congratulatory message to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon Najib Azmi Mikati on his re-election. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, the message reads as follows,

Your Excellency,

I warmly congratulate you on your re-election as Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon. I am full of hope that your tenure after the successful holding of the parliamentary elections will greatly contribute to the stabilization and further development of friendly Lebanon in this period full of challenges.

The Armenian-Lebanese relations, which are based on the traditional friendship and sincere sympathy between our peoples, have always stood out with special warmth, mutual trust, as well as a constant readiness to support each other in difficult moments.

I am full of hope that due to our joint efforts, the Armenian-Lebanese relations will enter a qualitatively new stage, expanding and strengthening in both bilateral and multilateral platforms.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to reaffirm Armenia's commitment to contribute to international efforts aimed at establishing regional security and stability, in particular within the framework of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration."
After Ye Fan observed the surrounding scenery, did you find out, do you find that there are no five -colored altars, we seem to fall directly from the sky, instead of appearing from the door of the starry sky.

After Ye Fan observed the surrounding scenery, did you find out, do you find that there are no five -colored altars, we seem to fall directly from the sky, instead of appearing from the door of the starry sky.

After a full time, the gray mist was completely disappeared and disappeared into the world.

According to the purple girl girl, the bronze fairy temple is very mysterious. This remains can move under the ground of the East Wilderness. Each time it appears in different areas, drifts with the rootless river.

After Ye Fan crushed a few strands of divine thoughts, he found that the innermost level of the core of the consciousness issued a dazzling glory, such as the sun burst.

After Pangbo was occupied, life and death were unexpected. At this moment, Ye Fan was extremely anxious, but he couldn't catch up with each other at all.

After Ye Fan waited for half a minute, until Guyang regenerated, he took off the stone clothes and tried it once, and finally he was convinced that he could pass it.

Actually, they couldn't break the dozens of old princes. They were all surprised. They were helpless. One of them turned: His Royal Highness, please borrow the Emperor's Holy Soldiers to break the bitter sea of the ancient Eucharist.

According to the ancient laws recorded in the Dao Jing, Ye Fan finally did it with an instant eternity with an instrument.

After 108 main peaks, many peak owners personally met Li Ruoyu in person, and some peak owners did make such a judgment, not groundless.

After Ye Fan asked about the situation in detail, he quietly sneaked out of the town at night and went straight to a villa at dozens of miles away overnight.

According to those traces of potholes, it can be speculated that endless years have passed.

After Ye Fan waited for half a minute, until Guyang regenerated, he took off the stone clothes and tried it once, and finally he was convinced that he could pass it.

According to this assumption, you can determine the coordinates of any piece of Xingyu in the universe, and the Tai Chi gossip map is equivalent to the door of the starry sky, which can connect the wormhole.

After a full time, the gray mist was completely disappeared and disappeared into the world.

After Ye Fan left, he didn't plan to go back. In order to escape, he threw the bronze fairy hall and stirred out the storm.

After a few rushing, the color of the flame changed again, and it turned from light blue to milky white, like emulsion flowing, fascinating, Ye Fan felt dry mouth, and then it was really cooked.

After Pangbo was occupied, life and death were unexpected. At this moment, Ye Fan was extremely anxious, but he couldn't catch up with each other at all.

According to this assumption, you can determine the coordinates of any piece of Xingyu in the universe, and the Tai Chi gossip map is equivalent to the door of the starry sky, which can connect the wormhole.

After Ye Fan's serious comparison, he believed that the 70,000 -year -old person named Gu Tianshu was the most powerful, followed by the god king Jiang Taixu 4,000 years ago.

After Ye Fan made a decision, he began to clean up the stone room. First, put the corpse of Elder Han in that medicine, and buckled the Ding cover on it.

Actually, they couldn't break the dozens of old princes. They were all surprised. They were helpless. One of them turned: His Royal Highness, please borrow the Emperor's Holy Soldiers to break the bitter sea of the ancient Eucharist.

According to the unanimous speculation of the two, there is a terrible force in the ancient banned land deprived of the youth and vitality of everyone. But why did everyone happen when everyone came out? This makes them puzzled.

After Ye Fan asked about the situation in detail, he quietly sneaked out of the town at night and went straight to a villa at dozens of miles away overnight.

According to the "Dao Jing", a device can be specially sacrificed, and the powerful device is not the unity of the four major realms. In other words, the strongest device wants, the sea of bitterness, life spring, Shenqiao, and the other side, only one kind of device, not four types.

After Ye Fan calmed down, he sacrificed his threshold and sacrificed to the brilliant heart like a gem. He said to himself: I don't know if I can get a few drops of demon emperor's blood.

After His Royal Highness asked, I waited for a shot. An old man stepped forward and took the jasper plate.

After Ye Fan waited for half a minute, until Guyang regenerated, he took off the stone clothes and tried it once, and finally he was convinced that he could pass it.

After 108 main peaks, many peak owners personally met Li Ruoyu in person, and some peak owners did make such a judgment, not groundless.
A final decision is likely to be taken at the next meeting of the council in the first week of August

New Delhi: The GST Council on Wednesday took no decision on the most sought-after yet contentious issue of the extension of goods and services tax compensation for the states beyond this month. A final decision is likely to be taken at the next meeting of the council in the first week of August. In addition, the council granted the group of ministers (GoM) more time to decide on rate rationalisation measures.

When GST was rolled out, the states were promised compensation for revenue loss till June 2022. The compensation amount was raised by levying a cess on luxury, demerit and sin goods over and above the 28 per cent tax.

Briefing the reporters after the two-day long meeting with her state counterparts in Chandigarh, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that several states have urged the Centre to extend the deadline for compensation beyond June 30. "Around 16 to 17 states pitched for extending the mechanism to compensate states for revenue lost from the implementation of GST beyond June 30, but no decision was taken," she said.

Besides the compensation issue, the finance minister said that during the two-day long meeting, the GST Council considered four reports presented by the GoMs. "The four reports were on: Rate rationalisation; betting, gambling, lottery; IT and technology related changes; movement of precious metals like gold," she added.

Elaborating on the discussion regarding the compensation cess, she said, "Of the 16 states, 3-4 spoke of evolving their own revenue stream to break from the compensation mechanism."

With two years being lost in the pandemic, the states have sought an extension of this compensation mechanism. "Puducherry finance minister K. Lakshminarayanan said all states sought an extension of the compensation mechanism, but no decision has been taken," she said.

The Centre, last week, notified the extension of the compensation cess levied on luxury and demerit goods till March 2026, to repay borrowing that were done in 2020-21 and 2021-22 to compensate states for GST revenue loss.

When a nationwide goods and services tax subsumed 17 central and state levies from July 1, 2017, it was decided that states will be compensated for any loss of revenue from the new tax for five years. With two years being lost in the pandemic, states have sought an extension of this compensation mechanism.

Although the council considered taxes on online gaming, casinos and horse racing, no decision was taken in this regard. Rather, it has given the GoM time until July 15 to firm up its report after speaking with the stakeholders.

Speaking on the issue, the finance minister said that the GST Council also deferred decision on levying a 28 per cent tax on casinos, online gaming, horse racing and lottery. "A group of ministers headed by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma has been asked to consider submissions of stakeholders again on the valuation mechanism and submit its report by July 15. The report will be discussed by the GST Council at its next meeting in the first week of August," she said.

On the issue of rate rationalisation, the council -- the highest decision-making body of the indirect tax regime, which is headed by the finance minister and comprises of representatives of all states and UTs -- discussed it at the meeting but did not take a decision. "The council has come to the conclusion that the rate rationalisation measures will be taken in 3 months," Ms Sitharaman said.
Like good wine, protocol often sets the mood and creates the right atmospherics for the serious diplomatic business that is being conducted

Indias representative to Bhutan, Ruchira Kamboj, is on her way to the United Nations to succeed T.S. Tirumurti as Indias new permanent representative. An Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 1987 batch, Ms Kamboj has a lot of expertise with political problems, maintaining peace, and handling crises. Besides, she will be returning to a place she is familiar with because previously in her career, she was assigned to Indias Permanent Mission to the UN.

While most diplomats usually work behind the scenes, as Indias Chief Protocol Officer  another first as she is the first Indian woman to occupy the position  Ms Kamboj had attracted public attention in a way that most diplomats dont, during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, where several heads of state from SAARC nations and Mauritius were present.

Protocol, as insiders point out, is a frontline tool of diplomacy  and much more than welcoming foreign dignitaries and showing them around. It is the key to effective diplomacy  and not to be confused with grandeur, pomp and ceremony. There is relentless hard work behind the glitter. Like good wine, protocol often sets the mood and creates the right atmospherics for the serious diplomatic business that is being conducted.

In this sense, Ruchira Kamboj is at a decided advantage at the UN as Indias ambassador, having met most global leaders when they visited India during her days as protocol in charge. Her new assignment will, of course, require more than a genteel formality and diplomatic etiquette. But, by all indications, she is prepared to be Indias voice on the worlds biggest diplomatic stage.

Delhi babus ready themselves for massive reshuffle

In one of his first significant decisions since taking over, the new lieutenant governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, has ordered the suspension of P.C. Thakur, deputy secretary in chief minister Arvind Kejriwals office, and two SDMs Harshit Jain and Devender Sharma over corruption charges. Sources have informed DKB that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the DANICS officers.

However, there are even bigger changes being effected in the Delhi government, which will likely impact 60-70 per cent of Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services (DASS) officers. According to sources, chief secretary Naresh Kumar has reportedly asked the heads of departments to prepare a list of DASS officers posted in a department for several years and transfer them. This decision comes days after the Delhi government transferred over 40 IAS and DANICS officers.

Whats behind this major revamp? It seems that 70 per cent of officials have been serving in the same department for over five years. The guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) state that officials on key posts should be moved every three years while others should be transferred after five years in a post.

However, given the sheer numbers involved, sources have told DKB that the transfers will likely be done in phases to avoid large-scale disruption of work.

Ministry stands by babu, ignores tribal board

R. Jaya, additional secretary, ministry of tribal affairs, will continue to hold additional charge of the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd (TRIFED) despite the unanimous decision of the Board of Directors of TRIFED to discontinue her services. This unanimous stance was conveyed to secretary of tribal affairs Anil Kumar Jha by the TRIFED chairperson, Ramsingh Rathwa.

But, to the surprise of many who expected Jaya to be divested of her additional charge, the ministry has ignored the Boards drastic decision and chosen to stand firmly behind the babu. It has been made clear that Ms Jaya will continue in this additional charge until a regular official is appointed.

The ministrys stance should be shot in the arm for Ms Jaya, whose position had become shaky after the Board stated that it did not wish to continue with her as its managing director, after her alleged non-cooperation in implementing the Boards decisions.

While the ministry has decided to stick with Ms Jaya, for the moment, it does make some observers wonder how it will work out for her as she will have to continue working with the TRIFED directors, who have already made their stance clear. Its not going to be smooth sailing, for sure.
The G-7 faced especially acute challenges this year as the global effects of Covid-19 pandemic have been compounded by the war in Ukraine

India and four other democracies attended the Group of Seven summit of the seven most advanced economies of the world on June 26-28. It was hosted by Germany at the Alpine city of Elmau. Besides India, the other attendees were South Africa and Senegal from Africa, Indonesia from Asia and Argentina from Latin America. Indonesia is the most populous Islamic nation, which is hosting the Group of 20 summit later this year. That is an expanded grouping which, in addition to the G-7, includes 13 nations selected for their geo-economic importance.

The G-7 faced especially acute challenges this year as the global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have been compounded by the war in Ukraine. There is an escalatory impact on the price and availability of energy and food. Russia having blockaded all Ukrainian ports, the wheat and other foodgrain in their silos are isolated from the global markets. Russia and Ukraine are two of the biggest grain exporters of the world. Furthermore, eastern Ukraine, now the theatre of the Russian military advance, also constitutes its agrarian and industrial heartland. Therefore, even the sowing of the next crop is affected.

The 28-page Leaders Communique spells out the perceived challenges and suggested solutions. A two-page summary of this was also issued. The introductory para of the communique emphasises G-7 unity in a fragmented world and their resolve, together with their partners, to jointly defend universal human rights and democratic values, the rules-based multilateral order and the resilience of our democratic societies. The core immediate concern is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but looming above it are the rise of China and climate change.

The G-7, especially the United States, have been distracted from the latter two challenges due to the Ukraine war. There is an attempt to restore some balance between these near-term and more fundamental concerns. It is also correctly realised that the global liberal democratic order, now under challenge by resurgent autocratic powers like Russia and China, cannot be defended without strengthening democracy within nations and shepherding the transition of the world to a more sustainable, climate-neutral economic model.

For that, the G-7 resolved to rustle up $2.8 billion of humanitarian aid and $29.5 billion of budget aid to Ukraine. As regards the rest of the world, the escalating price of energy is to be tackled by a novel scheme of price caps on Russian oil. US President Joe Biden is also travelling to Saudi Arabia soon to try to wean it away from OPEC Plus, which includes Russia, and encourage increased oil production.

But the problem is that by pushing the developed nations to reduce their dependency on Russian oil and gas there is the danger of climate and environmental goals getting compromised. The German government, supported by the Greens Party, is unwilling to shift to nuclear power. It is relooking at fossil fuels for power production. A transition to LNG will also need time and capital. After three months of the Ukraine war and despite the sanctions, Russia continued to make nearly $1 billion a day from its oil and gas exports, enabling it to finance its war effort.

The difficulty in curbing Russian energy income is two-fold. European Union members will only complete their energy boycott of Russia by the yearend. Also, India and China have been lapping up discounted Russian oil at increased levels. Before the Ukraine war, Indias oil imports were only one per cent of the total. According to Kpler, a commodity data company, Indian imports from Russia last month were 1.15 million barrels per day (mbd). Indias refining capacity is 5 mbd, enabling India to import even a higher amount, catapulting Russia ahead of Indias current top supplier Kuwait.

To balance these different requirements, some of them mutually conflicting, the G-7 announced some pathways. A Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) will mobilise $600 billion over the next five years to narrow the global investment gap. Some will call it a counter to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The G-7 proposal instead is not merely to create a spoke and hub network with the EU at the centre, like the Chinese BRI. It is also to enable the transition to an environmentally friendly order. That is why this initiative is dovetailed into Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP), with India, Senegal, and Vietnam. There is already one with South Africa.

The summit also issued a clarion call for an open society and liberal democracy within nations, as a condition precedent to a liberal rules-based international order. That is why the five invitees and the G-7 issued a separate 2022 Resilient Democracies Statement. On Page 25 of the Leaders Communique there is a commitment to halt democratic backsliding and undermining of our fundamental values.

In the separate statement, to which India is a party, the threats to democracy globally are noted, followed by a commitment to defending peace, human rights, the rule of law, human security and gender equality. The resolve to promote a rules-based international order, normally a euphemism for criticising Chinese unilateralism and now Russias attack on Ukraine, is prefaced by the words as democracies. The sub-headings in the Resilient Democracies Statement comprehensively delineate the contours of a liberal democracy, and are as follows: Global Responsibility: Democracies as Reliable Partners; Information Environment: Democracies Defending Open and Pluralistic Debate; Civil Society: Democracies Protecting and Fostering Open and Pluralistic Civic Spaces; Inclusion and Equality: Democracies Promoting Equal Representation.

Ironically, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committing India to this high road of progressive thought, aligned with the internationally recognised principles of a liberal democracy, the conduct of the law enforcement agencies at home was at variance. The arrest of a lawyer and civil society advocate by the anti-terrorism cell of the Gujarat police and the action against a co-founder of a fact-checking website that tries to counter online bigotry for an old tweet, dating back several years, were a poor reflection on the state of democracy in India. Some resilience, if at all, was being shown by the beleaguered Opposition, especially in Maharashtra, where the ruling partys breakaway legislators were cajoled, hosted, and protected by the BJP.

The question that lingers is whether a high moral tone abroad and no-rules electoral politics back at home can be sustained in the long run. So far, the world seems willing to look the other way if certain red lines are not crossed, like by Nupur Sharma.
Fadnavis is also expected to meet rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Mumbai after his meetings in the national capital

Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil leave after meeting Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, amid the political crisis in Maharashtra that is threatening MVA's government, in Mumbai (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra and after reports that some of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in Guwahati were showing signs of discontentment, former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday met the BJP top brass, including party president J.P. Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah, and also consulted legal luminaries, including Mahesh Jethmalani, Mukul Rohtagi and Tushar Mehta over the ongoing situation in his home state.

Fadnavis is also expected to meet rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Mumbai after his meetings in the national capital. Though the BJP has denied it is playing any role in the Maharashtra crisis, it is facing flak by the MVA partners for trying to oust the incumbent government through Operation Lotus.

The ruling alliance in Maharashtra, Maha Vikas Aghadi  Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP  has been jolted after around 39 Sena MLAs and around 10 Independent MLAs rebelled against the MVA, demanding that the Sena break ties with the Congress and NCP and join hands with the BJP, with whom it had fought the last Assembly polls and the BJP-Sena alliance had secured an absolute majority in the state in the last polls.

Sources said that among the issues Fadnavis discussed with the BJP top brass and the lawyers was when and how a no-confidence motion against the Uddhav Thackeray-led government should be moved, how should the rebel MLAs be provided security on their arrival in Mumbai and also their safety inside the state Assembly and ongoing cases in the courts over the Maharashtra crisis.

Sources said the rebel MLAs could approach governor conveying the decision to withdraw their support from the Thackeray government, who then will be bound to ask the MVA for a floor test in the Assembly.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met the governor and requested him to ask the Thackeray-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly

Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government at 11 am on Thursday.

A copy of the letter issued by Koshyari late on Tuesday night is with the PTI.

The letter comes amid the rebellion in the ruling Shiv Sena by senior minister Eknath Shinde, who has been camping in Guwahati since last week with majority of party legislators and several independent MLAs, which has pushed the government led by Thackeray, who is also the Sena president, into a crisis.

In his letter sent to Maharashtra Legislature's Principal Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat, Koshyari, said, "A special session of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha (legislative Assembly) shall be summoned on June 30 (Thursday) at 11 am with the only agenda of a trust vote against the chief minister, and the proceedings shall be concluded in any case by 5 pm."

"The proceedings of the House shall be telecast live and appropriate arrangements for the same shall be made," the letter said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut termed the Maharashtra Governor's order for a floor test of the MVA government as "unlawful", saying that the Supreme Court is yet to decide on the disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs.

He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling coalition of Sena, NCP and Congress, will approach the Supreme Court and seek justice on this issue.

Taking a dig at the governor, Raut said the Raj Bhavan has acted at a "jet speed even faster than Rafale" after BJP leaders met him, urging him to seek a trust vote.

He reminded the governor that the file pertaining to the nomination of 12 MLCs to the Upper House of the state legislature from his quota has been pending with him for a long time.

"This (floor test order) is an unlawful activity as pleas of disqualification of 16 MLAs are pending before the Supreme Court. If such unlawful activities take place, and if the governor and the BJP trample upon the Constitution, then the SC has to interfere," Raut told reporters.

"We will go to the Supreme Court and seek justice," he said.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had on Tuesday night met the governor and requested him to ask the Thackeray-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly, claiming that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition dispensation seemed to be in minority as 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support it.
by Misbah Saba Malik

ISLAMABAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has been facing a tough battle against poliovirus for years with an unwelcoming attitude toward vaccines in rural areas and negative propaganda against health workers engaged in the vaccination campaign. Still, it is terrorism that has affected the polio eradication campaign the most.

The latest attack happened on Tuesday in which three people including a health worker and two policemen escorting him were gunned down by unknown militants in the country's northwestern tribal district of North Waziristan. A kid who was receiving polio drops also got injured in the attack.

In a conversation with Xinhua, Bushra Arain, head of the All Pakistan Lady Health Workers association, said that over 120 female health workers and hundreds of police officers have been killed during various polio eradication campaigns across the country with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province being the worst-hit.

"Extremists also attack the soft target of polio teams to create panic in the area, discouraging the locals from inoculating their kids against the disease," she said.

Arain said that things got better after 2016 when militancy was largely defeated after military operations, but sporadic attacks on the polio teams continued.

According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, Pakistan is among the four countries where the wild poliovirus retains its grip on infant health, besides Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Malawi.

In 2022, 11 new polio cases have surfaced in Pakistan about 15 months after the country was polio-free, according to the Ministry of Health, which said that North Waziristan district remained the epicenter of the disease where all the 11 cases were reported.

Talking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, police sources from North Waziristan district said that security measures have been beefed up, and police officers have been directed to conduct search operations in various areas of the district to catch the fugitive militants.

The sources said that attacks on polio teams have caused panic in the area, and the families who were initially interested in having their kids receive polio drops have showed hesitation to allow the access by female health workers.

To control the fast spread of the wild poliovirus in the area, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has announced a polio eradication campaign targeting the 25 most vulnerable districts including North Waziristan district.

The recent anti-polio drive kicked off on Monday, and 100,000 trained health workers are taking part in the drive to vaccinate over 12 million children under five in a door-to-door manner. 
by Marta Ottaviani

Ankara lifts its veto on the entry of Sweden and Finland into the Atlantic Alliance. In return it gets maximum cooperation in the fight against Kurdish groups, from the PKK to the Ypg. The domestic press celebrates the West's surrender to the president's demands as he continues to negotiate with the Kremlin to operate in Syria. For the sultan, a diplomatic victory ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Milan (AsiaNews) - More than a NATO member, Turkey, through its Janus-faced President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is ready to create potentially tense situations in order to raise the stakes in international policy that is beginning to affect, and no small way, the Crescent's Moon's precarious economic situation. Moreover, it also helps in the run-up to next year's elections.

The latest episode is the filibuster placed before Finland and Sweden's entry into their NATO bid, which, as Brussels put it, was resolved with a historic agreement. Read by Ankara is a surrender of the Atlantic Pact across the board that will have serious repercussions on the credibility of the institution and highlights, once again, how weak and surrendering the West is to the Sultan.

After a four-way meeting in Madrid on the eve of the NATO summit starting today, Turkey decided to officially lift its veto. Erdogan held discussions for more than four hours with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Margaret Andersson.

To summarize, on an official level, Turkey lifts its veto on the two countries' candidacy and brings home a commitment from Helsinki and Stockholm to combat Kurdish-based terrorism, which will be explored in following up on Ankara's requests for the extradition of suspected Pkk and Ypg members, as well as hindering the financing and recruitment of these two organizations on their home territories. Not only that. Sweden and Finland undertake to introduce restrictions on arms sales to Kurdish armed groups. These are the official agreements.

Then there are the indirect spillovers, and these too are all in favor of Ankara, which, prior to this meeting, knocked hard not only on Brussels' door but also on Washington's. U.S. administration officials made it clear again yesterday that the agreement reached in Madrid has nothing to do with the likely sale of F-16s, the lifting of sanctions to which Turkey was subjected after purchasing the S-400 missile system from Russia, and the coveted readmission into the F-35 program.

Today, however, on the sidelines of the summit, he will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, and it is a safe bet that, even then, he will arrive with a hefty list of demands.

This is what Erdogan has gotten from the West. But two-faced Janus has seen fit to go and present his demands to the Russian side as well. The announcement of yet another cross-border operation against the Syrian Kurds after initiating "mediation" between Russia and the West on the issue of Ukrainian grain exports has not escaped anyone's notice.

Turkish newspapers rejoice. Erdogan is the winner across the board and scores an important point ahead of next year's election campaign.

In a broader perspective, NATO has chosen the lesser evil: to please the Turkish autocrat in exchange for a broadening of the anti-Russian front. Forgetting, perhaps too casually, that Erdogan is allied only with himself and that in the Atlantic Alliance he acts more like a thorn in the side than a strategic partner. Then there would also be the question of the founding values of the West, again largely cast aside in the face of the Turkish president's demands.
Today's headlines: US sanctions five Chinese companies, accused of supporting Russian military industry; North Korea lacks medicine to treat Covid; Sectarian violence in the Indian state of Rajasthan; More than 300,000 dead in Syria since conflict began; Russian lawyer opposed to war with Ukraine arrested; Crisis in Georgia after EU rejects application for candidate country status.

PHILIPPINES

Philippine authorities have ordered the closure of Rappler, the newspaper of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, due to irregularities in its funding model. Rappler is one of the few newspapers critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, who will leave office tomorrow to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Ressa rejects the charges and announces she will challenge the order in court.

US-CHINA

The Biden administration has added five Chinese companies to its blacklist of those doing business with Russia. The indicted companies are accused of supporting Moscow's military and defense industry, the target of Western sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

NORTH KOREA

In the middle of a wave of Covid-19 contagions, Sinuiju residents are unable to purchase medicines. The North Koreans have always had problems stockpiling medicines; however, the pandemic crisis and related border closures have exacerbated the chronic medicine shortage.

INDIA

The killing of a Hindu by two Muslims has sparked sectarian violence in the state of Rajasthan. The two assailants beheaded the victim, who was guilty in their eyes of supporting the offensive words of a politician from the BJP-the nationalist party of PM Modi-against the Prophet Muhammad.

SYRIA

According to United Nations estimates, the Syrian conflict has claimed the lives of 306,887 civilians, 1.5 percent of the population before the conflict broke out 11 years ago. This averages to 83 deaths per day, of which 18 are children.

RUSSIA

In Udmurtia, a Russian republic beyond the Urals, Dmitry Talantov, the lawyer defending journalist Ivan Safronov, accused of revealing military secrets about Russian mercenaries in Africa to the Czechs, was arrested. Talantov made a Facebook post against the Russian bombs dropped on the shopping center in the Ukrainian town of Kremencug, asking, "Is it denazification or fascism?"

GEORGIA

Discussions and protests over Georgia's failure to obtain EU candidate status continue . Opposition parties are calling for a change of government, claiming that the current team headed by Iraklij Garibasvili of the Georgian Dream will never be able to meet the EU's 12 demands, while the premier flaunts optimism.
Titled "Desiderio desideravi", Pope Franciss new apostolic letter is centred on preparing the people of God for the liturgy. The pontiff warns against ritual aestheticism that cares only for its external form, careless banality and ignorant superficiality. Everyone faces the challenge of making symbols speak to the people of today, nurturing the art of celebrating starting with silence.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter to the people of God on the liturgy in which he invites the whole Church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration.

The document on preparing for the liturgy Desiderio desideravi (I have eagerly desired, Lk 22:15) was released today, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. It provides a meditation by the pope on the art of celebrating in the Church.

The text transcends any controversy over forms and goes straight to the heart of the Eucharist, which is the encounter with Jesus. For us a vague memory of the Last Supper would do no good. We need to be present at that Supper, Francis writes.

The Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi re-elaborates in 65 sections the reflections that emerged in the plenary held by the Dicastery for Divine Worship in February 2019 and follows the motu proprio Traditionis custodes of July 2021 in which Francis restrictively regulates the use of the rite in place before the post-Second Vatican Council liturgical reform of 1970.

Francis wants the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary consequences for the life of the Church not to be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue.

The continual rediscovery of the beauty of the Liturgy is not the search for a ritual aesthetic which is content by only a careful exterior observance of a rite or is satisfied by a scrupulous observance of the rubrics.

This does not mean that the acceptance of the opposite attitude, which confuses simplicity with a careless banality, or what is essential with an ignorant superficiality, or the concreteness of ritual action with an exasperating practical functionalism.

Every aspect of the celebration must be carefully tended to (space, time, gestures, words, objects, vestments, song, music) and every rubric must be observed. Such attention would be enough to prevent robbing from the assembly what is owed to it; namely, the paschal mystery celebrated according to the ritual that the Church sets down. But even if the quality and the proper action of the celebration were guaranteed, that would not be enough to make our participation full.

Experiencing the liturgys beauty means instead letting oneself be guided by wonder in the face of the Paschal Mystery, which is much more than a "muddled" and generic "sense of mystery, a mystery that has been seemingly taken out of the celebration according to the detractors of the liturgical reform.

The astonishment or wonder of which I speak is not some sort of being overcome in the face of an obscure reality or a mysterious rite. It is, on the contrary, marvelling at the fact that the salvific plan of God has been revealed in the paschal deed of Jesus.

In his Apostolic Letter, Francis goes on to stress again the deep unity between the four great Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council.

It would be trivial to read the tensions, unfortunately present around the celebration, as a simple divergence between different tastes concerning a particular ritual form. The problematic is primarily ecclesiological. I do not see how it is possible to say that one recognizes the validity of the Council  though it amazes me that a Catholic might presume not to do so  and at the same time not accept the liturgical reform born out of Sacrosanctum Concilium, a document that expresses the reality of the Liturgy intimately joined to the vision of Church so admirably described in Lumen gentium.

Controversy notwithstanding, for Francis the real challenge of the liturgy today is the one already indicated by the theologian Romano Guardini, namely how to ensure that people become capable of symbols anew.

This is a responsibility for all, for ordained ministers and the faithful alike. The task is not easy because modern man has become illiterate, no longer able to read symbols; it is almost as if their existence is not even suspected. [. . .] So, the question I want to pose is how can we become once again capable of symbols? How can we again know how to read them and be able to live them?

According to the pontiff, the best answer is to look at how our parents, grandparents or some priest taught us to make the sign of the Cross and perform the other acts of the liturgy.

Not many discourses are needed here. It is not necessary to have understood everything in that gesture. What is needed is being small, both in consigning it and in receiving it. The rest is the work of the Spirit.

It is equally important to take care of the art of celebrating, a task that does not fall only on priests, but requires the participation of the whole community in the Eucharist, and who must therefore be adequately prepared.

The ars celebrandi cannot be reduced to only a rubrical mechanism, much less should it be thought of as imaginative  sometimes wild  creativity without rules. The rite is in itself a norm, and the norm is never an end in itself, but it is always at the service of a higher reality that it means to protect.

One does not learn the art of celebrating by frequenting a course in public speaking or in persuasive techniques of communication. [. . .] It is not a question of following a book of liturgical etiquette. It is, rather, a discipline, [. . .] which, if observed authentically forms us. These are gestures and words that place order within our interior world making us live certain feelings, attitudes, behaviours.

In this matter, educating to silence is fundamentally important. It awakens a readiness to hear the Word and awakens prayer. It disposes us to adore the Body and Blood of Christ.

The pope also warns priests called to lead the liturgy to be aware of certain temptations, such as rigid austerity or an exasperating creativity, a spiritualizing mysticism or a practical functionalism, a rushed briskness or an overemphasized slowness, a sloppy carelessness or an excessive finickiness, a superabundant friendliness or priestly impassibility. Granted the wide range of these examples, I think that the inadequacy of these models of presiding have a common root: a heightened personalism of the celebrating style which at times expresses a poorly concealed mania to be the centre of attention.

In this sense, the pontiff also asks that special attention be paid to training and liturgical life in seminaries, with a liturgical-sapiential plan of studies in the theological formation.

The letter ends by urging Catholics to abandon our polemics to listen together to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Let us safeguard our communion. Let us continue to be astonished at the beauty of the Liturgy. The Paschal Mystery has been given to us. Let us allow ourselves to be embraced by the desire that the Lord continues to have to eat His Passover with us. All this under the gaze of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Francis dedicated his homily for the solemnity of the two apostles to the synodal path. He also blessed the pallia of 44 archbishops appointed in the past year. At the Angelus he prayed for the victims of the war in Ukraine hit in the Kremenchuck shopping mall. Yesterday, the logo of the 2025 Jubilee was unveiled with Pilgrims of hope as its motto.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  At the Mass to celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis blessed the pallia of 44 metropolitan archbishops appointed this year during the Eucharistic celebration in St Peters Basilica.

During the service, the pontiff said that the Church must be without chains and walls, in which everyone can feel welcomed and accompanied, one where listening, dialogue and participation are cultivated under the sole authority of the Holy Spirit.

For the pope, Peter, who was free and humble and shook off the chains, should provide a perspective for the synodal path involving the Catholic Church across the world.

In his homily, Francis stressed two situations in the lives of Peter and Paul: Jailed by King Herod, Peter received the angel's exhortation to get up quickly (Acts 12:7), while Paul, summed up his whole life and apostolate, when he said, I have fought the good fight (2 Tim 4:7).

Often we are like Peter in chains, imprisoned by our habits, fearful of change and bound to the chains of our routine. For this reason, we must avoid sliding into spiritual mediocrity, which turns into a Christianity that is clerical, formalistic, anemic and callous.

Instead, The Synod that we are now celebrating calls us to become a Church that gets up, one that is not turned in on itself, but capable of pressing forward, leaving behind its own prisons and setting out to meet the world, one in which listening, dialogue and participation are cultivated under the sole authority of the Holy Spirit.

For the pope, the Church must be free and humble, one that gets up quickly and does not temporize or dilly-dally before the challenges of the present time. A Church that does not linger in its sacred precincts, but is driven by enthusiasm for the preaching of the Gospel and the desire to encounter and accept everyone.

While sometimes she left the doors open, sending people away, as well as condemning people, now it is the time to welcome them.

Citing Paul who said that he fought the good fight, the pontiff explained that the Apostle asked Timothy and the brothers of the community to continue the work of proclaiming the Gospel, each doing his part. Hence, everyone should ask themselves what they can do for the Church.

For starter, Not complaining about the Church, but committing myself to the Church. Participating with passion and humility, Francis answered. That is what a synodal Church means: everyone has a part to play, no individual in the place of others or above others.

What can we do together, as Church, to make the world in which we live more humane, fairer, more supportive? Surely, we must not retreat into our ecclesial circles and remain pinned to some of our fruitless debates. Let us take care not to fall into clericalism, for clericalism is a perversion.

On the contrary, we are called to be a Church that promotes the culture of care, tenderness and compassion towards the vulnerable. A Church that fights all forms of corruption and decay, including those of our cities and the places we frequent, so that in the life of every people the joy of the Gospel may shine forth. This is our fight, and this is our challenge.

Speaking to the 44 recently appointed metropolitan archbishops, he told them that they too are called to "get up quickly", stand on guard for their flock and fight the good fight," never alone, but with all the holy faithful People of God.

Acknowledging the presence of a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, sent by my dear brother Bartholomew, the pope offered words of gratitude. Thank you for walking together because only together can we be the seed of the Gospel and witnesses of fraternity.

Looking out onto St Peter's Square during the Angelus prayer, Francis did not forget to remind everyone once again of the suffering caused by the war.

Every day I carry in my heart the dear and tormented Ukraine, which continues to be scourged by barbaric attacks, like the one that struck the Kremenchuck shopping centre.

I pray that this insane war may soon see an end, and I renew the invitation to persevere, without tiring, in prayer for peace: may the Lord open those paths of dialogue that men are unwilling or unable to find! And let us not neglect to come to the aid of the Ukrainian people, who are suffering so much.

In front of groups of pilgrims who tried to shelter under umbrellas and hats from Romes scorching sun and intense heat, Francis mentioned the fires that recently struck the city and the drought that is causing serious damage to the economy and the environment.

Today's situation, he said, must make us reflect "on caring for Creation which is our responsibility, of each of us. Indeed, it is not a fad, but a responsibility. The future of the Earth is in our hands.

The pontiff also mentioned L'Osservatore Romanos new monthly supplement, L'Osservatore di strada, whose first issue was handed out today free of charge in St Peters Square by and for Romes poor and marginalised.

Yesterday, the Vatican also released the motto and logo of the 2025 Jubilee. The logo contains the words Pilgrims of hope (in Latin) along with the image of four stylised figures, indicating humanity coming from the four corners of the Earth, one embracing the other, a symbol of solidarity and brotherhood that must unite peoples. The lead figure holds the cross in a show of faith and hope in trying times.

Photo: Vatican Media
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The director of the St. Petersburg museum says art is a form of militarism and imperialism. Journalist Pavljucik advises him to look at photographs of destroyed Ukrainian families. Director Nevzorov: "Today in Russia the last bastion of decency has fallen. Fascism knocked on the door of the Hermitage, and they opened it."

Moscow (AsiaNews) - An interview given to Rossijskaya Gazeta by Hermitage Museum director Mikhail Piotrovsky is stirring contraversy after he explained how Russian art exhibitions abroad should be organized as "powerful special operations," because "we are all militarists and imperialists," and war is nothing but "the self-assertion of the nation." According to the Russian "patriarch of art," Russia is a part of Europe, and it is Europe that must unite with Russia as a new Soviet Union.

Indeed, the authority of the director of Russia's leading museum is comparable to that of the head of the Orthodox Church, and his assessments cannot be dismissed simply as "Putinian propaganda." According to Piotrovsky, Russians "are closely linked to European culture and Europe itself, and this is not erased by the special military operation in Ukraine."

Recalling the many wars that have characterized European history, he assures that "we have been and can be more Europe than the Europeans themselves, more than other classic nations of Europe, and certainly more than the European Union, which is looking more and more like the Soviet Union... We will never be isolated, we will absolutely remain a part of Europe, with equal rights and with equal value to others."

The Hermitage director extols Russian patriotism, as "a sense of one's own historical dignity," and if it is not the war that has to accomplish this, "there are many other things to be done and no less important, because our country is changing world history, and we have to be part of it." Piotrovsky is 78 years old and an Arabist philologist who has worked at the Hermitage since 1991, the son of another historical director, Boris Piotrovsky, a proponent of the museum's greatness from 1964 to 1990. Mikhail was also a deputy in Putin's "United Russia," and worked closely with the Kremlin leader, even serving on the committee that prepared the constitutional amendments passed in 2020.

Even within the limits of the current "Putin purges," which prevent all forms of dissent, there has been no shortage of outraged reactions in the Russian cultural world, and in public opinion in general. Journalist Leonid Pavljucik advised Piotrovsky to look at the photographs of destroyed Ukrainian families: "The director is an intelligent man capable of great visions, there is no point in arguing with him about these insane statements...I hope those photos will also appear in his dreams, during the night."

Writer Viktor Senderovic observes that "the way to fall in love with the ideal of Big Brother always passes through suffering and slaughter, and often through the most exaggerated fantasies...Piotrovsky is allowing the survival instinct of his own power prevail." Another journalist, Viktor Mucnik, recalled that "love of art does not prevent anyone from becoming a cannibal...even Nazi hierarch Reinhard Heydrich, one of the main organizers of the final solution against the Jews, loved to play the violin."

Publisher Sergey Capnin, a former Moscow Patriarchate contributor, believes that Piotrovsky's is "not simply an interview, but an oath of allegiance, published in an official press organ," and like many others, including Moscow Patriarch Kirill, this perspective "is now without return." Theater critic Anton Khitrov calls the interview a "fascist manifesto," similar to those already expressed by director Konstantin Bogomolov and other men of official culture, "it is the time when each of us must decide who we want to be, history will judge us by how we have been in 2022."

Well-known director and TV presenter Aleksandr Nevzorov concludes that "today in Russia, in St. Petersburg, the last bastion of decency, reason and respectability fell: fascism knocked on the Hermitage door, and they opened it."
by Nirmala Carvalho

The victim was attacked in his shop for defending on social media a BJP politician who sparked a row after making negative comments about the prophet Mohammed on TV. For Bishop Ganawa, Christians stand for religious tolerance, dialogue and peaceful co-existence among all communities. I pray that good sense will prevail among us all.

Udaipur (AsiaNews)  Bishop John Ganawa of Udaipur has issued an appeal for peace and dialogue following yesterdays gruesome murder of a tailor by Islamic extremists in the city of Udaipur (Rajahstan).

Kanhaiya Lal was attacked and beheaded by two men yesterday in his shop, which is located in a crowded market in the Maldas area, after he allegedly shared a post on social media in support of Nupur Sharma, spokeswoman for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist party.

After making disparaging comments about the Prophet Mohammed during a debate in late May on the Times Now television channel she was suspended from her position.

Since then, the case has inflamed emotions across the country where relations between Hindu nationalists and Muslim communities have been marred by rows and controversies.

Lal was attacked by a man with a sharp weapon, while the other videotaped the crime. Later the scene was posted online along with the two attackers, Mohammed Riyaz Attari and Ghouse Mohammed, brandishing swords and threatening to kill Prime Minister Modi.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that two men were detained in Rajsamand in connection with the murder.

In view of the situation, the authorities banned any gathering of more than four people in several parts of Udaipur for fear that the incident could trigger further violence.

I condemn the incident, Bishop Ganawa told AsiaNews.

As a representative of the Christian community here in Udaipur, I appeal for peace and harmony among all the communities, he said.

We stand for religious tolerance, dialogue and peaceful co-existence among all the communities. I pray that good sense may prevail among us all.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
SYDNEY, June 29 (Xinhua) -- While most of Australia's tourism industry languished due to the COVID-19 pandemic, caravanning made huge economic inroads, according to figures released on Wednesday.

The Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA) reported that the sector defied major travel challenges including border closures and extensive floods throughout the eastern states and international supply chain disruptions, and generated 23.8 billion Australian dollars (16.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021.

The report noted the figures, which included 12.6 million trips taken over 50 million nights, were a strong rebound from sluggish statistics of 2020.

"This highlights the resilience of the industry in times of crisis and the importance the sector has in helping to support Australia's economy when other sectors falter," said CIAA Chief Executive Officer Stuart Lamont.

Lamont said that "not only have we seen an increase in tourism" but the supply of recreational vehicles (RVs) had broken long-held records.

He also said more than 55 percent of the RVs were manufactured in Australia, adding that this result came despite the supply and labor challenges in the local market.

Lamont said the success of the caravan sector showed that the "dream remains very much alive for Australians looking for a safe and affordable holiday experience."

"Despite headwinds in the market, we continue to remain very optimistic about the future of the industry, and the contribution that it makes to the health and wellbeing of Australians and the economies of many regional and rural communities around the country," Lamont said. 
Liontown Resources Limited secured an agreement with Ford after signing lithium supply deals with Tesla and LG Energy Solutions (LGES).

Australia-based Liontown describes itself as an emerging Tier 1 battery minerals producer.

As per the agreement, Liontown will supply up to 150,000 dry metric tonnes (DMT) per annum of spodumene concentrate, or lithium ore, to Ford for lithium-ion battery production. The deal is expected to commence in 2024, with 75,000 DMT in its first year, 125,000 DMT in its second year, and 150,000 DMT in its third to fifth years.

Liontowns spodumene concentrate will come from its Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia. The agreement also said Ford would provide a $207 million debt facility to Liontown through one of the automakers subsidiaries. The proceeds will partially fund the development costs of Kathleen Valley.

Fords agreement with Liontown is the third and final foundation offtake the company required to start developing Kathleen Valley, after the deals with Tesla and LGES.

In May, Liontown signed an agreement with Tesla battery supplier LGES for 150,000 DMT per annum of spodumene concentrate. LGES plans to produce Teslas 4680 battery cells and increase the production of its 2170 batteries.

Tesla signed its five-year lithium supply deal with Liontown earlier this year. Tesla and Lionwtowns deal is expected to commence in 2024, similar to Fords agreement. Tesla agreed to purchase 100,000 DMT of lithium in the first year of its deal with Liontown and increase the order by 150,000 DMT in the following years.

The Tesla-Liontown agreement is conditional, based on when the Australian company starts commercial production in Kathleen Valley.

Liontowns board decided to proceed with the development of Kathleen Valley, following its deal with Ford. Kathleen Valleys first production of spodumene concentrate is scheduled for Q2 2024.

We thank Teslarati for reprint permission.
The U.S. Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division found Sandpiper Autobody in Pleasant Grove, UT, misclassified 13 technicians as independent contractors, and failed to pay the overtime wages as required by the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The employer also failed to keep accurate employee pay and time records, another FLSA violation.

Sandpiper Autobody was ordered by the U.S. Dept. of Labor to pay a total of $47,175 in back wages to 13 workers.

Illegally paying an employee as an independent contractor strips them of the worker protections and benefits they are due," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City, UT. "By doing so, the employer reduces a misclassified workers pay, and denies the workers health insurance, workers compensation and unemployment insurance. The employee is also burdened by the responsibility of paying employer tax. And in the long run, misclassification may reduce the Social Security benefit the employee receives in retirement.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor Wage and Hour Division
Dorothys life could inspire novels and movies. Built in 1897, it won the 1900 Queen Victorias birthday regatta, and its first owner claimed the first official sighting of the Cadborosaurus, a mythological sea monster. Dorothy witnessed the World War I and was engulfed by flames in the 1940s. But it survived all of that, and went through the hands of multiple owners, and several repairs.The sailboat s destiny took a turn ten years ago. The Maritime Museum of British Columbia had acquired it in 1995, and in 2012 it was shipped to Gabriola Island, where an expert would kick off its restoration process. Tony Grove is a shipbuilder and an artist who first saw this historic vessel at the Classic Boat Festival in Victoria, where he was a judge. Grove provided a temporary home for this classic yacht, while the museum gathered the funds required for the restoration.It took ten years, but it was worth it  Dorothy is now ready to return to its original home, where it will conduct daily trips for visitors. The Museum hopes that Dorothy will continue its long life at the Victoria Inner Harbour. Until then, it first needs to be reacquainted with the sea, after two decades of being away from it. The sailboat will head back to Vancouver Island, where it will temporarily be in the care of the Ladysmith Maritime Society.BC Ferries, which transported Dorothy to the Gabriola Island ten years ago, will also be taking it to Vancouver Island this year. In an interesting interplay between the old and new generations, this 125-year-old yacht will be transported onboard an innovative hybrid-electric ferry.
Unfortunately, the last few weeks have brought all kinds of negative signals that the end of the chip crisis isnt anywhere on the radar for now, and Chinese companies seem to fully agree with this scenario.Just like the rest of the world, carmakers in China are also facing a very painful lack of semiconductors, but as compared to optimistic companies like Ford , local firms dont believe a significant recovery is possible in the short term.Yuan Feng, who is the general manager of GAC Capital, the investment unit thats part of state-owned Guangzhou Automobile Group, also known as GAC, reportedly believes that the chip crisis wouldnt be over until 2023 or even 2024.The shortage could therefore continue for two more years, especially as the world is now facing other problems like the geopolitical tensions in Europe and the lack of other materials. Furthermore, chipmakers themselves are battling a severe shortage of components for the machines they use to build chips.Intel, which is one of the biggest names in the chip-making industry, has previously said that some business sectors would continue to struggle with a constrained semiconductor inventory until 2024. The company explained that partly to blame for the extended shortage is the lack of machines required in the process of chip manufacturing.In their turn, the companies that are building the machinery used in the production of chips, including laser systems, are struggling with a lack of materials and components.In other words, pretty much everybody in the industry is facing a shortage of some sort, so the end of the chip crisis happening in 2024 isnt by any means as impossible as it sounds.
EV

Hyundais Simon Loasby claims headlights are not the most important thing on this car. The Ioniq 5 debuted the Pixel theme that has found itself being truly liked by virtually anyone who manifests any kind of interest in EVs.He says the side view matters the most. With the 2023 Ioniq 6 , proportions reveal that single, impressive curve which helps with aerodynamics and provides the vehicle with an almost unique look. The sedan has a drag coefficient of just 0.21, while the industry average sits between 0.25 and 0.30.Inspiration for the vehicle has been drawn from the 1930s innovative-looking cars that were wild concepts back then. The streamlined Stout Scarab, for example, served as a muse for the Ioniq 6.Loasby continues to say in the Top Gear interview that the Ioniq 6 is here to display the harmony of the highest level of understanding of engineering, aerodynamics, technology, and design, as vehicles of the 1930s did. The man argues this car is connected to over 100 years of history of the movement of streamlining.The styling expert also said they didnt rely on the wind tunnel to shape this car. He argues that streamlining has already been proven to work, so all they did was focus on general architecture.Moreover, Loasby added that the peregrine falcons hunting shape has been somewhat integrated into the final form of the Ioniq 6. The man states tjat natures design can easily influence the car industry as it did already with the aviation sector.The Hyundai Ioniq 6 also uses black pigment made from upcycled tires for the polycarbonate black car parts, used to protect the portions where the paint is more exposed to potential damages.Curiously enough, the design guru underlines with a slight tone of regret that he wouldve liked to see a retractable spoiler at the back. Unfortunately, Hyundai said no because of affordability and weight reasons.He also confirmed the carmaker is preparing new welcoming scenarios for the lighting signature. These will be available after an over-the-air software update. The Pixel theme helps with letting engineers get creative.The expert also shares insights about the interior design. You can find more about this by watching the video down below.Simon Loasby plays an underestimated, but important role at Hyundai. He helped with the growth of the brand identity in China and is now serving as a design strategist for the carmaker worldwide. He reports directly to the marques head of the Design Center SangYup Lee and Chief Design Officer Luc Donckerwolke.The Ioniq 6 might eventually turn out to be a Hyundai product thats very similar to the Porsche Taycan range. The Germans made an estate out of the good-looking high-performanceand called it the Sport Turismo. But the Taycan is also available in Cross Turismo shape, thus becoming a raised all-electric wagon.While Hyundai might skip the Audi A6 allroad recipe altogether, it will most likely introduce a version of the Ioniq 6 that will be a sleek-looking shooting brake with more space for the trunk and rear passengers. It might end up looking like the Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake or the BMW 3 Series Touring. After all, the Korean automaker already has the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake in its portfolio.
SUV

The new product offensive will involve three models based on the new platform, and all are electric SUVs. According to reports, the trio of SUVs will lead Jaguar into the GPB 100,000 mark (ca. $121,000), and company executives want it to take on Bentley, among others. The objective is ambitious, but so is the goal of building exclusive electric vehicles with an 800-volt electric platform.Not all the models that Jaguar will make after 2025 will be that expensive, though, and the company still plans to build between 50,000 and 60,000 units per year. As a reference, back in 2019, the Range Rover Velar achieved sales of 60,000 units. The Range Rover Sport was even more popular, while over 55,000 Range Rover models were sold.As you know, Jaguar is part of a group that also has the Range Rover and Land Rover brands, so the company is well aware of what clients want from an. Moreover, they know what they want from a luxury SUV, and the Jaguar brand has made a name for itself for premium vehicles that are also sporty, so adding a touch of exclusivity to that should not be an impossible task.According to the Brits at Autocar , Jaguar's upcoming SUV range would involve two wheelbase versions for the upcoming models based on the Panthera platform There will be a model in two body styles with a standard wheelbase, one being a two-door electric SUV, while the other is a five-door model, and it would be priced around GBP 100,000 (ca. $121,000).Meanwhile, the second tier would be the flagship of the range, which will have a longer wheelbase, as well as a dual-motor all-wheel-drive configuration as standard. Depending on the features and equipment, the described luxury SUV would start at about GBP 120,000 (ca. $ 145,000), but the marque wants to offer bespoke options and materials for it to raise prices to an even higher level.
KABUL, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A jirga or gathering of Afghan religious scholars which was originally scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed for one day, the local television channel Tolonews reported.

Quoting an unnamed source the media outlet reported in its morning news that the jirga of religious scholars would be opened on Thursday.

About 3,000 religious scholars and elders from the Asian country's 34 provinces reportedly are expected to attend the three-day first-ever jirga or assembly of elders since Afghanistan's takeover by the Taliban in mid-August last year to discuss a series of issues including reopening schools for girls from grade 7th to grade 12th.

The Taliban-run administration has banned women to work outside the home except in the health sector and restricted education for girls above grade 6th until further notice. 
The concept, proposed by Ethan Schaler, suggests that the swarm of robots will be placed initially inside a probe that will first melt the frozen crust of other worlds. Then, the Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) would be released underwater.That's where their quest of finding signs of life starts. What's interesting about Schaler's concept is that these robotic swimmers would be smaller than any spacecraft or robotic system ever sent to the Moon or Mars . Each one of them would be just as big as a cellphone.Their size is a key advantage. Instead of sending just one probe or spacecraft to study the alien world, NASA could send dozens. These robots would easily fit inside a probe, and the probability of finding traces of life would be much higher."With a swarm of small swimming robots, we are able to explore a much larger volume of ocean water and improve our measurements by having multiple robots collecting data in the same area," added Schaler.He says that four dozen of these mini-robots could fit in a 4-inch-long (10-cm-long) portion of a cryobot, accounting for around 15 percent of the research payload volume. That would leave enough space for other research instruments that could focus on collecting crucial data from the icy surface.Moreover, the SWIM could be designed to behave like fish or birds that flock together. Since their measurements would overlap, this would reduce errors in data sent back. Every robot would include a propulsion system, an onboard computer, an ultrasonic communications system, as well as sensors that would be able to measure the temperature, salinity, and acidity of the distant world.For now, the project is still in its infancy, and it's not considered an official NASA mission. Recently, the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program awarded the SWIM concept with $600,000, allowing Ethan Schaler and his team to continue work on the project. Over the next two years, the robotics mechanical engineer will focus on making and testing 3D-printed prototypes of SWIM.
Norwegian Sun left from Seattle on June 21, on what should have been a 9-night cruise in Alaska, with several ports of call. En route to the Hubbard Glacier near Yakutat Bay, in conditions of heavy fog and decreased visibility, the ship hit an iceberg and eventually took a detour from its route, heading into Juneau instead of continuing to Skagway. NCL has confirmed that, while no injuries have been reported on board, a later inspection in Juneau prompted the decision to head back into Seattle for repairs.The iceberg in question was a growler, ABC News reports. A growler is a small iceberg showing less than 3.3 feet (100.5 cm) of ice above water and measuring under 6.6 feet (201 cm) in width, and theyre very common in glacier areas. The video at the bottom of the page shows a glimpse at the growler in question. After the impact, the captain decided to take the 78,309 GT ship to Juneau to have the hull inspected. Permission was requested to sail back to the U.S. on Monday, after it was decided that the hull had sustained unspecified damage.The ship was given clearance by the United States Coast Guard and other local maritime authorities to return to Seattle at reduced speed, a spokesperson for NCL tells the media outlet. All guests currently onboard will disembark in Seattle as originally planned.The guests will return to Seattle as planned, but it will be days earlier than scheduled. NCL says guests will receive a full reimbursement, as well as future credit, both for this cruise and the one that should have sailed on June 30, which has also been canceled.Norwegian Sun is a 258-meter (846-foot) liner that can carry over 1,900 guests and more than 900 crew, and which usually cruises Alaska and does the Extraordinary Journeys. It was built in 2001 and refurbished in 2018 and, based on the latest incident , is in for some repairs.
The car is part of McLaren s Super Series, and it could arguably be the most super of them all, featuring bespoke finishes by McLaren Special Operations (MSO), which explains its name. MSO is the carmakers bespoke division that customizes each of the supercars to the owner's specifications, but only the true masterpieces get full commissions from this division.McLaren London now has one of the 25 McLaren MSO HS models for sale. Its a stunning pre-owned example finished in MSO Non Metallic Racing Green with bright yellow accents, sporting a Black Alcantara interior.The car is based on the manufacturers 675LT model, but it received a series of performance and aerodynamic changes. Visually, some of the modifications include carbon fiber canards on the front bumper, a large roof scoop, louvers on the front quarter panels, a towering active rear wing, as well as P1-inspired carbon fiber body panels.The 688 HS is powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo M838TL V8, the same as on the 675LT model, but the engine has been tweaked to deliver 679 horsepower and 516 lb-ft (699 Nm) of torque between 3,000 and 7,000 rpm.MSO also worked hard to reduce the weight of the coupe, which comes in 40 kg (88 lbs) lighter than the 675LT.Some features of the MSO HS's interior worth mentioning include the carbon fiber bucket seats, four-point harnesses, and the track telemetry system.According to McLaren Londons listing , the asking price for this McLaren MSO HS is 599,995 (~$736,000/695,000 Euro). We also find out that the car has covered just 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from new and is available to view by appointment at McLaren Londons showroom in Knightsbridge.
AWS

SpaceX argues in the message sent to its U.S. customers that Dish has sent numerous exaggerated reports through paid lobbyists with the only goal to keep its spectrum hegemony intact. The satellite TV company has previously been convicted of buying unneeded-3 spectrum and was ordered to pay over $515 million for not investing in any new services or technology that would help Americans.In the electronic letter , SpaceX underlines that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) might be inclined to agree with the faulty analyses sent out by Dish that found a partner in RS Access. The multiple documents sent to the Commission claim a high-power mobile service (e.g. Starlink) can cause much harm to the satellite broadband services.Starlinks competitors havent brought anything important to the table in the last ten years. Meanwhile, SpaceX already has almost 500,000 customers and reportedly builds nearly 5,000 satellites every week with the sole aim to offer internet to virtually any country on Earth.If the FCC accepts the conclusions submitted by Dish and RS Access, then Starlink might not be allowed to use the 12 GHz band as much as it would be needed to let any customer connect at any time and enjoy high-speed, low-latency internet.In reality, if Dish gets their way, Starlink customers will experience harmful interference more than 77% of the time and total outage of service 74% of the time, can be read in the message sent out by SpaceX.If youre looking forward to siding with Elon Musks aerospace company, then you should sign this message that asks the FCC, Senators, and Representatives to reject potential unwelcomed rule changes for the 12 GHz spectrum.Starlink costs $110 per month, but customers must also pay $599 for the hardware. Fortunately, the expensive part is a one-time remittance.
According to a Reddit thread , all the Superchargers in Luterberg and Nossen now have the red tape covering the certification. An undisclosed Supercharging location in Poland also has the TUV certification hidden by red tape. They still work, unlike what is happening in Portugal. Whatever is going on in Germany and Poland, it did not prevent the stalls from charging Tesla EVs. Despite that, there must be some implications that we are still trying to understand.In the thread, some people argued that the TUV certification must relate to safety. However, if that were really the case, the Superchargers would probably have been deactivated. This is why people bet it has more to do with quality control.We tried contacting TUV on June 28 to understand if the red tape is something official or some sort of prank. If it was something TUV did, we asked about the practical implications that taping up the certification on the stalls could have. The German inspection company did not get back to us until now. Wed ask Tesla about that if it had a working press department or any executive willing to talk to the press, which it doesnt have.If you live in Europe and have seen any other Superchargers with covered TUV certification, please let us know where that was. If you happen to know who did this to the stalls and what that represents to Tesla customers, we are also willing to learn more about it. Unfortunately, it seems we will not get answers from the parties involved.
The current prosecutor-general, Artur Davtian, will complete his six-year term in office on September 15. He was appointed in 2016 by the countrys former parliament dominated by then President Serzh Sarkisians loyalists.

Pashinian and his political allies, who control the current parliament, decided not to appoint Davtian for a second term.

Their pick for the post, Anna Vardapetian, served as a deputy minister of justice in 2019 and became Pashinians assistant on legal affairs in March 2020. She was elected by 70 members of the 107-seat parliament. They all represent Pashinians Civil Contract party.

Speaking on the parliament floor before the vote, Vardapetian, pledged to ensure proper oversight of law-enforcement agencies combatting and investigating crimes. She said she will tackle favoritism within those agencies as well as what she called excessive delays in criminal investigations and a broader lack of justice in the country.

If the prosecutor is consistent about a criminal case, the citizen will not come to the gates of the government or the National Assembly to demand a [fair] investigation of their case, she said.

Vartanian, 36, herself was accused of breaking the law last year after an Armenian media outlet published purported evidence of her interference in a criminal investigation into a fugitive businessman critical of Pashinians government.

The online publication, 168.am, posted what it described as screenshots of an e-mail sent by Vardapetian to a senior law-enforcement officer leading the investigation. The letter contained instructions regarding businessman Ruben Hayrapetians indictment.

Hayrapetians lawyers seized upon the report, saying that Vardapetian committed a crime and must be prosecuted. The Office of the Prosecutor-General cleared Pashinians aide of any wrongdoing, however, saying that she advised, rather than pressured, the investigator.

Vardapetian, who has never worked as a prosecutor before, did not comment on the scandal when she addressed the National Assembly on Wednesday. And she again declined to talk to reporters.

Nor did any of the pro-government lawmakers ask Vardapetian to comment on the scandal. Their opposition colleagues did not participate in the election of the new prosecutor-general because of a continuing opposition boycott of the parliaments sessions.
Commentary: Hong Kong poised for greater success under "one country, two systems"

Xinhua) 09:08, June 29, 2022

HONG KONG, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), which celebrates its 25th anniversary on July 1, is set to write a new chapter in its success story with the strong support of the central government and the hard work of more than 7 million Hong Kong residents.

In the past 25 years since Hong Kong returned to the motherland, development in the SAR has come along in leaps and bounds under "one country, two systems."

Facts and figures speak volumes.

In 2021, Hong Kong's economy grew to 2.86 trillion Hong Kong dollars (about 364 billion U.S. dollars), up from 1.37 trillion Hong Kong dollars in 1997. During the period, its total foreign trade in goods more than tripled to 10.27 trillion Hong Kong dollars.

Hong Kong has emerged stronger as an international financial, shipping, and trade center. It has been consistently rated by global institutions as one of the freest and the most competitive economies with a world-class business environment.

An opinion letter published in the South China Morning Post said Hong Kong remains resilient, fearless and proof of what a progressive, cosmopolitan financial center can be.

Some foreign media outlets have also noted that Hong Kong has retained its status as a financial hub, and some of the top finance executives here are banking on a bright future.

People's well-being has also improved steadily. Hong Kong residents have one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Average life expectancy in Hong Kong in 2021 stood at 83.0 years for males and 87.7 years for females, compared to 76.8 years and 82.2 years, respectively, in 1997.

These achievements won't be made without the hard work of Hong Kong people who have shown their love of the motherland and Hong Kong, their perseverance, the pursuit of excellence, and adaptability.

An increasingly prosperous motherland is a source of strength for Hong Kong to overcome difficulties and challenges; it also presents a reservoir of opportunities for Hong Kong to break new ground in development.

"One country, two systems" has proved to be the best solution to the historical question of Hong Kong and the best institutional arrangement to ensure Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability after its return.

"'One country' is like the roots of a tree. For a tree to grow tall and luxuriant, its roots must run deep and strong," President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said on the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland five years ago.

Xi has always stressed the need to fully and faithfully implement the principle of "one country, two systems," stay committed to the basis of "one country" and well leverage the benefits of "two systems."

"Hong Kong's development has always pulled at my heartstrings," Xi said.

Over the past decade, significant policies were rolled out to bolster Hong Kong's economy, improve people's livelihood, and ensure the maximum number of local people benefit from Hong Kong's development.

The Hong Kong SAR can share the benefits of the mainland's vast market and progress opportunities while also gaining a head start in future growth as China is bringing its comprehensive opening-up to a new level.

The role of the mainland as a staunch supporter of Hong Kong has been given full play to, and Hong Kong's competitiveness has been enhanced.

Development needs institutional and legal guarantee. The enforcement of the national security law in Hong Kong has brought stability back to society.

With the successful elections of the Election Committee, the Legislative Council, and the new chief executive, as well as the formation of the sixth-term Hong Kong SAR government, Hong Kong's new electoral system has been fully implemented, and the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" has been consolidated.

The facts consistently demonstrate that "one country, two systems" is a workable solution welcomed by the Hong Kong people. China's reform and opening-up has provided the SAR with a massive platform, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other national initiatives are bringing about new opportunities.

According to a 2021 survey, the vast majority of Hong Kong residents acknowledged that the development of the Greater Bay Area would inject new development momentum into Hong Kong.

Today's Hong Kong is advancing from order toward further prosperity. The practice of "one country, two systems" is a success story, and people have every reason to believe the success will continue.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
PHNOM PENH, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has confirmed 10 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours after 52 days of zero cases, the health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Eight were found in the community and two were detected on inbound travelers, the ministry said.

The southeast Asian nation has so far recorded a total of 136,272 COVID-19 cases with 133,206 recoveries and 3,056 deaths, the ministry added.

Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has called on people to strictly comply with health measures and to receive COVID-19 vaccines or booster shots when their turns come.

"If thorough measures have not been taken, our country will probably return to a very bad situation," he said in a special audio message released Tuesday night.

Buoyed by its high vaccinations, Cambodia has resumed all socioeconomic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine since November last year.

To date, the kingdom has administered COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 15.1 million people, or 94.3 percent of its 16 million population, the health ministry said. 
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You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
Policemen in uniform stand guard at a checkpoint in Herat city, Afghanistan, June 29, 2022. (Photo by Mashal/Xinhua)

HERAT, Afghanistan, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Policemen in uniform have been deployed in checkpoints in Afghanistan's Herat city, the capital of western Herat province, to ensure law and order, provincial police spokesman Mohmoud Shah Rasouli said Wednesday.

Calling for cooperation from the locals, Rasouli said that the policemen would go under training to become disciplined and friendly to people

Welcoming the move, the locals said that wearing the uniform can differentiate a policeman from an ordinary man and criminal elements in the city.

Policemen are largely not in uniform in checkpoints and highways in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban-run administration's interior ministry has announced recently to distribute uniforms to policemen in Kabul and Kandahar in the first phase and then to other provinces. 

Policemen in uniform stand guard at a checkpoint in Herat city, Afghanistan, June 29, 2022. (Photo by Mashal/Xinhua)

Policemen in uniform stand guard at a checkpoint in Herat city, Afghanistan, June 29, 2022. (Photo by Mashal/Xinhua)
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, Sydney Spain, 19, texted her boyfriend, Steven, asking if he had seen the news.

He wasn't willing to discuss it, he responded, because he didn't want to fight about it.

The pair, who are both students and have been dating since last August, have differing perspectives on abortion.

Spain considers abortion a form of health care and a human right.

"With abortion, it's not just politics - for me, it's my human rights, having the choice, having the rights of my own body," she said.

Steven, 18, is opposed to abortion - a view that he said stems from his Christian upbringing and his politics, which he describes as moderate or moderate conservative.

"I can't morally agree to just taking what would be someone's chance at life," said Steven, who is being identified by his first name and was granted partial anonymity out of privacy concerns.

Now, the pair - who live in Alabama, one of several states that immediately banned abortion on Friday - are confronting what it means to be in a relationship in a post-Roe world with a partner who has a different view on abortion.

They're not alone: Many people have taken to social media to discuss the impact the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization might have on their dating prospects and relationships.

Some have shared stories of post-Dobbs breakups; others have solicited advice on how to coexist with a partner with a different opinion. And some single people say the recent ruling has led them to ask potential partners where they stand on abortion access earlier on in the dating process than they would have otherwise.

Relationship experts say that in the post-Roe era, it's crucial to confront differing views of abortion head-on - whether it's in an established relationship or early in the dating process. That's particularly true if each person has strongly held views and if one or more people in the relationship could get pregnant, experts added.

"It's a little bit different than having different candidates that you're voting for - this is a real-life scenario where there's no compromise, there's no agree to disagree," said Sarah Schewitz, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Couples Learn, an online couples therapy platform.

While the majority of Americans support abortion access, that support often falls along partisan lines: Eighty percent of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases compared with 38 percent of Republicans, according to the Pew Research Center. That partisan divide indicates that differences of opinion on abortion are often a proxy for differences in underlying values, according to Schewitz and Amanda E. White, a therapist and founder of Therapy for Women in Philadelphia.

And shared values, the therapists said, are crucial to a successful relationship: Schewitz and White pointed to research conducted by the Gottman Institute, a relationship-focused research center, that shows that 69 percent of conflict in relationships is about "unresolvable, perpetual problems."

In one Reddit thread posted Sunday, a user wrote: "I've had a massive argument with my girlfriend. . . . She's pro choice and is disgusted that I'm pro life. . . . What do I do? I don't want to leave her." Other users responded with encouragement to stick by their beliefs: "If shes going to leave you over this, it was never going to work. I know you love her, and it will be tough, but you will find someone who can accept and support your moral positions," one responded.

Given that the recent Supreme Court ruling will lead to the curtailing of abortion access in some states, White said, antiabortion sentiment in a relationship can feel especially personal for someone who could get pregnant and who supports abortion access.

Spain can relate: "It's hurtful to have someone tell you - someone that's supposed to love you unconditionally - that they will not support you and your human rights," she said.

Spain said she has long known she doesn't want kids - and wants to be sterilized when she turns 21. Steven, on the other hand, is open to kids and opposed to long-lasting forms of birth control such as sterilization or a vasectomy.

If Spain unexpectedly got pregnant, Steven imagines he'd drop out of college, get a full-time job and "help support and have a family with her," he said.

"I know that's not what Sydney would want to do, but I think that's the right thing to do," he added.

In an attempt to work through their differences, Spain and Steven have been having what he describes as "tough conversations" - about their views on abortion, their feelings and how they would each handle a hypothetical unplanned pregnancy.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, others are having those conversations earlier in the dating process than they used to.

Rachel Chaggaris, a 25-year-old structural engineer in Denver, matched with a few men on the dating app Hinge soon after the decision was handed down on Friday. They all asked a version of the same question: What was she up to that weekend?

She gave them all a similar response, she said: She was going to a protest for abortion rights and then to a Pride event. Doing so, Chaggaris said, was a "convenient" way to gauge their reactions. Two men didn't reply, she said, and one replied enthusiastically about those plans.

"I need to date someone who views me as a human that's equal to them," Chaggaris said.

While she has always aimed to date liberal men, "it's definitely just become far more important since Roe being overturned," she said. And if abortion doesn't come up in her dating app chats, "by the second or third date, I'm definitely going to try to bring it up somehow," she added.

Faith Pennick is taking a similar approach. Pennick, an advertising copywriter who lives in Chicago, has long cared about abortion access: Back in 2007, she made a documentary, "Silent Choices," about abortion's impacts on Black women.

Now, she's considering screening her dating app matches for their stances on abortion - "sort of like, 'Do you smoke? I don't date smokers,' " she said.

Pennick - who describes her politics as liberal - routinely gets "likes" from men on Bumble who identify as conservatives, she said. Now, she's thinking about how she can keep them away: "Maybe putting 'pro-choice' [in my bio] will keep them from liking my profile."

The dating app OkCupid made that easier last fall: After Texas's abortion law took effect, the app introduced a "pro-choice" badge users could add to their profiles. More than 450,000 app users within the United States have added the badge to their profiles, according to a spokesperson, who added that this month there was an 80% increase in OkCupid users who mentioned being "pro choice" in their profiles compared with April.

But as open about their abortion beliefs as some people might seem, people have a tendency to hide conflicting views from a potential partner, according to Jill Hasday, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and author of "Intimate Lies and the Law."

"Anything people care about, some people will sometimes deceive their intimates about," she said. "If people are asking [about someone's views on abortion], then of course there's going to be deception."

Hasday recommends people "not only ask one way or one time" what someone they're dating thinks about abortion. And it's important to "be alert to self-contradictions," such as social media posts that contradict what they've said their values are, she added.

Couples who realize that their different views on abortion are getting in the way of a relationship they want to maintain should "strive to understand why your partner's point of view makes sense from their perspective, based on their worldview, on how they grew up and the influences they have as children and as adults and the education that they have," Schewitz said.

A key part of those conversations should also include sharing and studying facts about abortion to ensure both partners have the same understanding of it, including how abortion can sometimes be required to save the life of a pregnant person who has an ectopic pregnancy, incomplete miscarriage or cancer, White said.

"In my experience, what I've been seeing with couples is a lot of individuals are not educated about this issue, and about how layered and nuanced it is," she added.

Reproductive rights advocates say it's also crucial for people dating or in relationships to be aware of the signs of reproductive coercion, a form of abuse in which someone pressures someone to get pregnant, carry a pregnancy that they don't want to term, or terminate a pregnancy when they don't want to.

If people are experiencing signs of reproductive coercion from a partner, Sara C. Flowers, vice president of education at the abortion rights nonprofit Planned Parenthood Federation of America, suggests they seek out resources offered by LoveIsRespect.org, a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Spain and Steven said they are hoping to find a way to remain together despite their different views.

"We're fighting to make this work," Spain said.

But, she added, she keeps coming back to one thought: "I don't know if you can be with someone who wouldn't support your choice."
The calendar hasn't even flipped to July yet, but the Atlantic is swarming with activity. Three tropical disturbances are all in varying stages of development, and it's possible that the first Atlantic hurricane of 2022 will form by the end of the week.

Tropical storm warnings are up for Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Grenada and its dependencies, and watches have been issued for coastal stretches of Venezuela and Bonaire. That's ahead of "Potential Tropical Cyclone 2," a title assigned by the National Hurricane Center to connote predicted maturation into a named storm. It'll probably breeze through the Lesser Antilles and intensify in the Caribbean, possibly making a run at hurricane strength.

On its heels is a second tropical wave, which is about 1,200 miles east of the Windward Islands. That one is unlikely to mature, but also highlights a general uptick in storminess.

A third disturbance is located in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, and has a 30% chance of consolidating into a depression or named storm. It could bring heavy flooding rains to parts of the Texas coastline.

Peak hurricane season arrives in September, meaning we're on the upswing of what atmospheric scientists and hurricane experts have already predicted to be an unusually active season. That marks the seventh busy season in a row.

- - -

Potential Tropical Cyclone 2

As of 8 a.m. Eastern, the disturbance that will likely become Bonnie was located about 330 miles east of Trinidad. It was moving west at a quick 23 mph, its forward speed having accelerated overnight.

Maximum winds near the core of the thunderstorm mass were around 40 mph, with a few higher gusts in the heavier squalls. That's above the threshold for classification as a tropical storm, but the system still lacks a name. Why? It has to do with its structure - or lack thereof.

The system doesn't seem to have a well-defined center. In fact, the National Hurricane Center wrote that "the disturbance continues to struggle" as a result. There are areas of spin at the low and mid levels of the atmosphere, but they're not stacked into one complete, cohesive vortex. That's the biggest limiting factor to the fledgling system's intensity.

"While there is a ball of [thunderstorm activity] near the best surface center, GOES 1-min [satellite] data shows no signs of a well-defined center, and the mid-level circulation seems displaced a degree or more west of the [disturbance]," wrote the Hurricane Center.

In the coming 24 to 36 hours, the system will cross through the Windward Islands, dumping a general 1 to 3 inches with localized 6-inch totals.

Afterward, the storm may scrape along the northern edge of South America, which would preclude a more expedited strengthening of the system. That could delay it reaching tropical storm status until perhaps even Thursday, and potentially cut back on the intensity it can attain before eventual landfall in Central America.

By very late in the workweek, the system will be somewhere in the southwestern Caribbean preparing to make landfall in Costa Rica, Nicaragua or eastern Honduras. Flooding rains, with accumulations of 8 inches or more are possible, particularly in the higher terrain, which could result in mudslides.

The National Hurricane Center's forecast calls for a landfall at 75 mph, meaning a marginal Category 1 storm, but that's predicated on the system remaining far enough offshore of South America to remain intact. A closer shave or brush against the coastlines of Venezuela or northern Columbia could shred its inner circulation, impeding its strengthening into a hurricane.

- - -

Gulf System

A second system is bringing some offshore downpours to the northern Gulf of Mexico, but has only a 30% chance of acquiring some tropical characteristics. Located about 200 miles south-southeast of the Sabine River, or the Texas-Louisiana border, the system was roiling with thunderstorm activity early Tuesday. Satellite imagery suggested it was exhibiting some broad spin.

The system was born at the tail end of a decaying cold front, where it was able to tap into some leftover vorticity, or spin, derived from the wind shift along the front.

It most likely won't have enough time over the Gulf of Mexico to grow into a named tropical storm, but it will come ashore as a waterlogged clump of downpours. That could deliver a general 4 to 6 inches of rain to much of coastal Texas, with a few 8-inch amounts possible. It's still challenging to nail down exactly where the rainfall bull's eye will be, but it'll seemingly end up somewhere between Houston-Galveston and Matagorda Bay.

A few isolated waterspouts are possible, as well, near the coastline. Rain will begin to push ashore on Thursday, lingering through Saturday. A couple of pockets of urban and small stream flooding, or even localized flash flooding, are possible.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Drowned in the Rio Grande. Murdered in Mexico. Perished in the Arizona desert. For migrants traveling to the United States, the journey has always been full of peril.

A tragic reminder came this week when at least 51 people died after being abandoned in the back of a tractor-trailer in sweltering San Antonio. Authorities believe the vehicle was part of a human-smuggling operation.

While the scale of the calamity was shocking, it's only the most recent example to illustrate how U.S. officials have struggled to find the right strategy for patrolling the border and preventing deaths.

Lax enforcement can encourage more people to travel north in hopes of a better life. But clamping down is not always a deterrent. Instead, migrants may rely on riskier routes to avoid detection, or put themselves in the hands of smugglers who promise that they can evade authorities for a price.

The San Antonio tragedy triggered familiar reactions across the U.S. political spectrum, indicating that a solemn record as the deadliest smuggling attempt in the nations history will do little or nothing to reshape a debate that has hamstrung Washington for decades. Finger-pointing began almost immediately.

President Joe Biden, in Europe this week for international summits, said the deaths were "horrifying and heartbreaking."

Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy, and my administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry, Biden said.

The migrants were discovered on Monday when a city worker heard a cry for help from the abandoned truck that was parked on the side of a back road. Dozens were already dead; more died at nearby hospitals.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who is investing billions of dollars of state money on border security, tweeted within hours of the grisly discovery that the deaths were on Biden.

They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law," Abbott said.

Immigration advocates disagreed with Abbott's criticism and said Biden was too focused on enforcement. A federal judge has kept in place a Trump-era policy that denies many migrants a chance to seek asylum on grounds of preventing spread of COVID-19.

If the Biden administration continues to illegally turn away migrants and deny their chance to rightfully seek asylum, individuals and families escaping persecution, war, and climate disasters will continue to face violence and death, advocacy group RAICES Texas said in a statement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One  as Biden was flying between summits in Germany and Spain  that the administration was focused on the victims and holding human smugglers accountable.

The fact of the matter is, the border is closed, which is in part why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks, she said.

The U.N. migration agency has reported that nearly 3,000 people went missing or died trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States since 2014. The San Antonio tragedy pushed the total to nearly 300 for the first half of this year.

The International Organization for Migration, along with the U.N. refugee agency, called for a swift investigation.

Without sufficient pathways to safety, vulnerable and desperate people will continue to be preyed upon by smugglers or forced to resort to desperate measures to cross borders," said Matthew Reynolds, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' representative to the United States and Caribbean.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which counts deaths differently, reported 557 people perished on the southwest border in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998.

Deaths became commonplace on the border after Operation Gatekeeper, launched in 1994, pushed migrant traffic to the Arizona deserts from San Diego. Despite billions of dollars spent every year on border security since then, neither Republican or Democratic administrations have been able to stem the loss of life.

Migrants routinely take risks to cross into the United States.

Jose Castillo, 43, left Nicaragua with his wife and 14-year-old son in January but didnt cross the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, until May, paralyzed with fear that they would drown. He and his wife finally decided that one of them could die, as long as their child made it safely. They took a chance  and it worked.

We can never return to Nicaragua, he said.

Under Trump and Biden, Border Patrol agents have been stretched extremely thin because they spend long stretches of time processing cases for immigration court. Such responsibilities take them out of the field, making it easier for people to cross undetected. The Border Patrol recently began releasing tens of thousands of migrants on parole in hopes of freeing up more agents to be in the field to try to stop migrants.

The number of people found crossing the border illegally is at or near the highest in about two decades. Decisions to migrate are complex, but it could be that many people are getting through undetected and encouraging others to come. Migrants who succeed sometimes tell their stories to family and friends back home, encouraging them to follow.

At the same time, Title 42 has encouraged repeat attempts to cross the border because there are no legal consequences, such as criminal charges or records of deportation, for getting caught. Many people cross several times until they succeed.

Its unclear whether any of the migrants who died in San Antonio had previously been expelled.

Isis Pena, 45, fled Honduras with a friend, who urged her to cross the border illegally. Pena refused but began to regret her decision after the friend soon called from San Antonio to say she made it easily and U.S. authorities didnt even ask her any questions before getting released.

The next day, Pena tried to cross. Although she made it across the river, she was expelled to Mexico under Title 42 authority.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  A new judge must be assigned to oversee the murder case against a former Texas police officer after defense attorneys successfully argued that the initial judge must recuse himself.

Retired Second Court of Appeals Justice Lee Gabriel issued the decision Tuesday after hearing arguments last week. Attorneys for the former Fort Worth officer, Aaron Dean, argued that Judge David Hagerman's pre-trial decisions raised questions about his objectivity.

Dean is accused of shooting Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, through a window of her home while responding to a call reporting the front door was open. The 2019 killing heightened mistrust between the city's Black community and the police department.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Deans attorneys argued that Hagerman improperly rushed them to move toward trial.

Gabriel did not specify a reason for ordering Hagerman's recusal in a written order, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Hagerman did not immediately reply to the newspaper's request for comment on Tuesday.

Dean's trial has been delayed several times. It was scheduled to begin this month before Dean's attorneys sought the judge's recusal.

Dean resigned from the police department after he was charged with Jefferson's murder.

Bodycam video showed Dean approaching the door of the home where Jefferson was watching her nephew. He walked around the side of the house, pushed through a gate into the fenced-off backyard and fired through the glass window after shouting for Jefferson to show her hands, according to the video.
Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Cal Thomas column of June 7 was a mishmash of deception, deflection and disinformation.

He quoted what he said was Isaac Newtons Third Law of Thermodynamics, which says, For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction is Newtons Third Law of Motion.

The Third Law of Thermodynamics concerns the entropy of systems near absolute zero and was formulated nearly two centuries after Newtons death. The rest of his column was equally lacking in fact and reason.

Thomas blamed school shootings on a Heritage Foundation list of rogue prosecutors, liberal district attorneys and judges, schools no longer using McGuffey readers and schools not teaching religious faith. I assume religious faith is limited to evangelical Christianity which Thomas espouses.

Geometry offers a better analogy than physics: A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. If troubled kids (Point A) could not buy assault weapons and high-capacity magazines (Point B) at 18 and had to pass a background check, that straight line might be broken.

Red flag laws and waiting periods would be helpful. Reinstating the ban on military weapons sold to the public would be even better.

Thomas says that people taught using old books like McGuffey readers used from 1836 to 1936 respected the law, life and the property of others. Really? What about the genocide of Native Americans? The Civil War? The massacre of African Americans in Tulsa in 1921? Etc. Etc. Etc.

According to him, schools are to blame for school shootings. He says Teaching moral absolutes (not defined in the column) and faith produced one kind of person. Failure to teach these values, in fact their opposite, has predictably created a different type of human in modern times, the type who shoot up schools and kill children.
Disney+ via youTube

Thirty years after the release of the original, "Hocus Pocus 2" will see the three lead actors reprise their roles at a very different place in their career. Disney has just release their trailer for the new film, which will debut on Disney+ in September.

The original three stars, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, are going to be coming back to reprise their roles as the trio of witches who have a diabolical quest to achieve eternal youth by sucking the souls out of children. While Midler was already Hollywood royalty when the first film was released in 1993, Parker and Najimy have cemented their superstardom in the years since, with Parker leading the "Sex & the City" franchise on HBO and Najimy voicing Peggy Hill on "King of the Hill" and one of the only human characters in Pixar's "WALL-E."
Im seated at a table in a private room of The Machrie hotel on Islay, Scotland, customizing a leather jacket by inserting pins and studs into its arms and shoulders, and steaming a fabric patch spelling Chaos across the back. A boisterous joke teller beside me, continually ensuring Im double parked with a pint and a pour of Scotch, is adorning his jacket with tartan lettering that reads Badger Juice.

That man is Dr. Bill Lumsden, the director of distilling for Ardbeg and Glenmorangie. Together with a small group of other festivalgoers, were preparing ourselves  mind, body, and soul, along with those leather jackets  for Ardbeg Day 2022, one of the key distillery events during the annual Feis Ile, though this years fest is the first back in full force since 2019.

Badger juice, meanwhile, is Lumsdens go-to nickname for peated Islay whisky from the distillery which he has stewarded and molded across its modern resurgence, from a shuttered afterthought in the 1980s to one of the most in-demand cult favorites of the Scotch world. While many would say that with enough Ardbeg in ya youre bound to go as mad as a rampaging badger, the animal is, more simply, a befitting anagram of the word Ardbeg itself.

The diehard Ardbeg enthusiasts whove helped turn the distillery into a modern icon clamor for each and every new special release, and they came out in force by the thousands for the privilege on June 4. The advantages of such fandom are clear, bringing Ardbeg to the forefront of the whisky-collecting world and the horde who support it. The flipside to uber-engaged Ardbeggian stans is for passion to veer into obsession. Ive had a lot of comments, Ive had one death threat, so it puts a slight edge on things, Lumsden says. By and large though, fans are fans, and few feel the need to turn the term diehard into anything approaching a literal statement by threatening the livelihood of a whisky maker due to the flavor profile of his latest release.

Ardbeg isnt the only distillery on Islay, but it is certainly the most unconventional. Jake Emen

Rule-Breaking Whisky, From Ardcore to Anti-Age

At Ardbeg Day 2022, the release du jour is Ardcore, a unique offering from the distillery consisting of 25% black malt. Its been incinerated within an inch of its life, says Master Blender Gillian Macdonald. This type of malt is commonly used for the coloration and flavor of beers such as porters and stouts, but hardly ever found in whisky; here it helps develop notes of dark chocolate syrup, deep-roasted coffee beans, fudge, charcoal and the umami undertones of soil and mushroom.

The name and taste of the whisky is what led this years bonanza to be punk themed, which is why we end up spending a few hours under the tutelage of contemporary tartan style queen Siobhan Mackenzie to help ensure we dont stand out as the squares of the day-long party.

The remaining 75% of Ardcores malt doesnt consist of the distillerys typically heavily peated variety, though. A lightly peated malt was used alongside the black malt, helping to ensure those intriguing flavors came through ahead of the smoke, rather than be overpowered by it.

Sitting down to a tasting of Ardcore and several other special drams from the distillery, including a spectacular 1975 cask pull consisting of a vatted mix of bourbon and Oloroso sherry-matured whisky, I walk right by Lumsden and Macdonald en route to my chair. Lumsden is leather-clad and his eyes are masked in a deep application of mascara, with hair gelled into a spiky mass. Yes, I am a performing monkey in case youre wondering, Lumsden says, indicating his attire and schtick. But his fun-loving demeanor belies his serious, rigorous approach to whisky production. Im a lifelong whisky maker, scientist and geek. Dr. Bill isnt just a cheeky moniker  that would be Billy Lums, if youd like to know  but proof of his education: a PhD in fermentation science from Heriot-Watt University.

Our punk-styled whisky lecturers for the day. Jake Emen

Much of his time at Ardbeg is spent developing these one-off special releases, while laying down a broad enough swath of different styles and components to present himself with a huge range of future options to play around with and combine. The core range tends to take care of itself, Lumsden says. But consistency is boring. Gillian and I have complete creative freedom to do what we want.

Macdonald, too, is unrecognizable at the tasting, requiring a double take before parsing who exactly is the wildly-attired character speaking to us about Scotch. Shes wearing a leather skirt and jacket, with fishnets, choker chains and blue hair extensions, and enough multicolored makeup to readily serve as a creepy clown extra in a movie if called upon.

One key aspect of her creative approach with Ardbeg is how she and the distillery focus less on age, whether via age statement or vintage, than almost any other legacy Scotch single malt on the market. People obsess with age less with Ardbeg, but we think it detracts from the stories we want to tell, she says. Those stories being unique cask types, malt varieties and combinations thereof, along with more generally the construction of memorable whiskies with big personalities.

On the age-statement front, consider Wee Beastie, a recent permanent edition to the Ardbeg portfolio that proudly bears an age statement of just five years. The mere suggestion of releasing a 5-year-old single malt at a major Scotch whisky producer would get you laughed out of most distillery planning meetings. But not at Ardbeg. Its a worthy dram; and Im no slave to age-statement mentality, but when over the course of the festivities you get your hands on something like a yet-to-be-released 16-year-old Manzanilla sherry cask, well, thats a pretty memorable whisky with a big personality, too.

As the day goes on, Lumsden wields his own big personality, and hes not bashful about it. I better not keep going before Billy keeps digging [himself into a hole], he says while talking a bit of good-natured smack about certain unnamed producers. Blame the badger juice.

A couple of the many, many bottles of whisky that were sampled during Feis Ile. Jake Emen

The Madhouse of Ardbeg Day and Feis Ile

On the festival day itself, our merry band arrives at the Ardbeg celebration by way of the distillerys concrete pier. We spent the morning on a boat ride filled with an abundance of fresh-caught seafood and whisky as we took in the beautiful scenes of the islands coastline, and applied temporary tattoos and spike collars and other certifiably punk finishing touches. There are food trucks and festival games, live music and whisky aplenty. Costumed Ardbeggians mingle with families towing children and dogs along for the ride. Bottle fiends stand in line to nab their allotted special edition, billionaire barrel-buying bros are busy plotting their next move, and would-be party crashers and interlopers come and go. All the while Ardbeg is served neat, in cocktails, mixed into ice cream and even poured atop oysters.

Theres no doubt about it, Feis Ile is a madhouse. And as has been discussed in the whisky ether as of late, some feel its swung entirely too far in the direction of corporate activations and profit-hoarding, eliminating the soul of what had been a celebration for Ileachs, or Islay natives. Now, the tiny island with its scant 3,000 residents is overrun for a whisky-soaked week each year. Overhearing a few local conversations on the disruptions and noise, and all-around chaos, certainly lends credence to that. Its the same way Mardi Gras overruns New Orleans, or the way the Super Bowl or the NCAA Tournament have transmogrified from sporting celebrations to prodigious profit parades as their first, second and third objectives.

OK, there were a few serene moments among the madness, too. Jake Emen

Yet, the island is also visited by a legion of revelers from around the world who bring with them sheer, unbridled enthusiasm for the products being made there. The economic impact of flights and ferries and hotels and cottage rentals, not to mention the instantly sold-out special releases, and the many workers each of the islands distilleries employs, arent to be understated, and ensure the festival isnt going anywhere anytime soon.

Sure, these days its all more corporate, more expensive, more difficult for the average fan to attend and experience. But thats what success can do, and until attendees have had their fill and stop coming back, or the residents of Islay themselves are fed up to the point that they put the kibosh on the whole affair, profit and accolades be damned, thats going to remain the case.

Feis Ile is the worlds premier diehard whisky gathering  a wild whirling dervish of a celebration, one which welcomes the whisky-mad with open arms. Its a place for unadulterated joy, and fun with friends, and reunions and songs and dances, and drams, plenty of drams, enough to make you question the sanity of it all over the course of the long ferry ride back to the mainland.

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The post Inside Ardbeg Day, Where Scotch Is King and Tradition Is Moot appeared first on InsideHook.
ISLAMABAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and two others injured after a passenger bus collided with a motorcycle rickshaw on Wednesday morning in Sargodha district of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, police said.

According to the police, the accident took place on Khushab road in the district when the bus driver tried to pass a motorcycle and eventually hit the rickshaw coming from the opposite side.

All the casualties were passengers in the rickshaw, police authorities said, adding that the accident occurred due to the bus driver's negligence.

Police said that the bus driver fled the site while the bus was taken into custody.

Road accidents frequently happen in Pakistan, mainly due to poorly maintained vehicles, dilapidated roads as well as negligence of road safety measures. 
TASHKENT, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A court in Uzbekistan's southern Surkhandarya region has sentenced 14 supporters of religious militant groups to up to 10 years in jail, the state news agency UzA said Wednesday.

The defendants were found guilty of supporting militant groups in the Middle East "by disseminating materials that contain ideas of religious extremism, separatism and fanaticism in the social networks," the report said.

They also used the social media to call for regime change, and to raise money to free jailed leaders of banned militant organizations, the report said.

The defendants, including a woman, were given jail terms from four to ten years, according to the report. 
Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Wednesday called for an end to war after he inspected the rubble of an apartment complex in the Ukrainian city of Irpin, during a visit there as part of a self-declared peace mission that will also take him to Russia.

Jokowi, the current chairman of the G20 group of major economies, arrived in Kyiv on a special train from Poland after attending a summit of the G7 group of industrialized countries in Germany, as a guest.

I was accompanied by the mayor and deputy mayor of Irpin to see the damage caused by the war, and its very sad that many houses and infrastructure are in ruins, he said in a video released by his office. We hope there wont be any more cities in Ukraine in ruins because of the war, he said.

In a Twitter post, Jokowi wrote: May the war end soon.

In a meeting in Kyiv, Jokowi told President Volodmyr Zelenskyy that his visit was a manifestation of Indonesia's concern for the situation in Ukraine," and emphasized Indonesia's position regarding the importance of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a statement issued by his office in Jakarta.

In this context, I offered to deliver a message from President Zelenskyy to [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, with whom I will meet soon, he said.

He said it was imperative that Ukraine be able to export food products unhindered.

Zelenskyy thanked Jokowi for the visit.

Ukraine appreciates the support of the people of Indonesia and your personal support, Mister President, now as we have a war ongoing for the liberty and the independence of our people, he said.

Jokowi was scheduled to return to Poland on the same train later in the day before traveling to Russia on Thursday to meet with Putin.

Prior to the trip, Jokowi said he had messages to deliver to Zelenskyy and Putin.

My mission is to call on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to open space for dialogue in the context of peace, to build peace, because the war must stop and the food supply chain must be reactivated.

Jokowi said he would call on Putin to open space for dialogue and, as soon as possible, enter a ceasefire and stop the war.

He warned that a global food crisis could send developing and poor countries into the abyss of extreme poverty and hunger.

In March, Indonesia voted for a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russias military strike on Ukraine. Despite that vote, Indonesian government leaders have not criticized Moscow directly.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) shakes hands with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Jokowi Widodo, at the Maryinsky Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, June 29, 2022. [Press Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat]

Bali summit

The United States has urged Indonesia to disinvite member-state Russia from the G20 summit, scheduled for November in Bali, but Jakarta so far has refused.

In March, U.S. President Joe Biden said Ukraine should be able to participate in the G20 summit if Russia was not expelled. Indonesia has since invited Zelenskyy as a guest.

On Wednesday, Indonesian officials did not comment on reports from Germany that Jokowi had decided to keep the Russian leader away from Bali.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on the sidelines of the G7 meeting on Tuesday that Jokowi had told him Putin would not attend the G20 summit in person.

President Widodo excludes it. He was categorical: Hes not coming, Draghi was quoted as saying by ABC News in Germany.

What might happen  I dont know what will happen but what might happen  is perhaps a remote intervention. Well see.

Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, declined to comment on Draghis remarks when contacted by BenarNews. Jokowis Presidential Staff Office could not be reached for comment.

On Tuesday, Russian government adviser Yuri Ushakov confirmed that his country had accepted Indonesias invitation and was ready to attend the G20 meeting in Bali  although he did not specify whether Putin would attend in person or virtually.

We have received the invitation and we have responded positively, Ushakov said, according to Russias Interfax news agency.

Tirta Nugraha Mursitama, a professor in international relations at Bina Nusantara University, called Jokowis trip an extraordinary initiative, but cast doubt on whether he could reconcile the warring countries.

Its hard to say if Jokowis call for a ceasefire will be heeded, Tirta told BenarNews. But I believe the two countries leaders will consider Jokowis appeal.

Jokowi is the first Asian head of state to visit Ukraine since Russias invasion on Feb. 24.

Teuku Rezasyah, an international political analyst at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said Jokowis visit sent a strong message to the international community that a country as far away as Indonesia had taken this initiative.

The visit also shows the international community that we refuse to be dictated to by anyone.

Alvin Prasetyo in Jakarta contributed to this report.
Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, visits the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, June 29, 2022.

Updated at 3:50 p.m. ET on 2022-06-29

The United States on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to global press freedom following the Philippine governments latest move to shut down online news website Rappler.

Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, was reacting to news that the Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had released a new directive for Rappler to cease operations. Emhoff is leading a U.S. delegation attending the inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the countrys new president on Thursday.

I know, on behalf of the president and vice president, the entire administration, its just a deep commitment toward freedom of speech, freedom of expression, human rights, and thats what we stand for, thats what we believe, Emhoff told reporters when asked about the directive while visiting the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig city, a suburb of Manila.

The United States encourages freedom of speech, freedom of the press wherever we are in the world.

Rappler has been critical of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte and the drug war executed during his six-year term that has killed thousands of alleged drug dealers and addicts. Separately, Rapplers chief executive, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, is appealing a conviction of cyber libel, which she maintains is part of government harassment to silence the news site.

In a briefing from Honolulu after the SEC order, Ressa said it was business as usual for the company because the proceedings were highly irregular.

The website remains online in the Philippines.

Weve gone through this. We have plans A to Z. Our goal is to continue holding the line. Were not going to voluntarily give away our rights, Ressa said.

A Rappler staffer in Pasig city, Philippines, monitors a zoom meeting with CEO Maria Ressa from Hawaii, June 29, 2022. [Aaron Favila/AP]





Deep bond

Emhoff, meanwhile, noted that the U.S. and the Philippines had shared a very long-standing deep bond, likely referring to a decades-old mutual defense treaty that calls on them to come to each others aid in times of aggression.

He said the administration of President Joe Biden looked forward to continuing a very close and deep relationship with the new government and that he expected to meet one-on-one with the new president after his inauguration.

The United States is very much looking forward to working with the Marcos administration on a variety of issues and well continue to move this relationship forward into the future, he said.

Ties soured in the early years of the Duterte administration when he chose to work closely with traditional U.S. rivals China and Russia.

The Filipino leader was angered by what he perceived as U.S. interference in the countrys domestic affairs after it called on him to respect human rights in his anti-drug war. Duterte terminated a military pact that allowed U.S. troops to train here, but subsequently reinstated it.

Critical media crackdown

The SEC previously ordered Rapplers closure in January 2018 amid accusations that it had skirted a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of the media, a contention denied by Rappler.

The regulator reaffirmed its ruling on Tuesday, saying that Rapplers earlier sale of investment instruments to a foreign entity made it partly owned by foreigners.

Rappler had argued that the Omidyar Network, an investment firm founded by EBay founder Pierre Omidyar, was not involved in daily operations. Omidyar, meanwhile, cut ties by donating the investment instruments to Rappler's staff.

The appellate court upheld the regulators ruling but asked it to review the legal effect of the donations.

After a careful study of all the pleadings and arguments of the parties, the special panel concluded that the purported donation of the Philippine Depository Receipts to the staff of Rappler neither created nor transferred any right in favor of the donees which would mitigate or cure the violation already committed, the SEC said in the statement issued on June 28.

With this decision, the commission said the Court of Appeals ruling had become final.

Rappler argued that it had not exhausted all legal remedies and can appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Its not the end of the world for us. There is still a long process for us. There are coherent and powerful legal grounds, said Francis Lim, the news organizations attorney.

Other news sites blocked

Rights groups challenged the directive, issued just days before Marcos takes control of the government.

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said Rappler was facing government retaliation for its reporting about the drug war, disinformation campaigns on social media, and a wide variety of rights abusing actions over the past six years.

This is an effort to shut up Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and shut down Rappler, by hook or by crook, he said in a statement.

So its entirely predictable that the SEC would bend over backward to interpret rules in a way that would enable them to take Rappler down while spuriously claiming that this is a normal regulatory action. Anyone who has been paying attention knows thats not the case.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines issued a statement on Twitter in support of Rappler.

Throughout the six years of the Duterte administration, we have seen lawsuits and regulatory processes used as tools to muzzle the press and these, as much as the touted infrastructure projects, form part of the Duterte legacy, the statement said.

It is clear now, if it had not been clear before, that the journalism community and the communities that we report about and for must stand together against government moves to harass, restrict and silence any of us to keep the press free for all of us.

The directive comes about a week after the government blocked two Philippine news sites and a dozen other websites over their alleged ties to terror organizations.

The government has gone after other media deemed to be critical of Dutertes administration.

In 2020, lawmakers failed to renew the license of ABS-CBN, blocking the countrys largest broadcaster from airing programs on its public channels, following Dutertes attacks and threats against the media organization over its reporting on the drug war and other controversial policies.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, attends a Pheu Thai Party campaign event in Bangkok, May 12, 2022.

The arrival hall of the military-civilian airport at Ubon Ratchathani was jam-packed when the delegation from Bangkok arrived, with more than 2,000 people clad in red shirts  symbolic of support for ousted populist leaders Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck.

The recent scene in northeastern Thailand appeared to be a show of strength for delegation member Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksins youngest daughter, who has been promoted in the nations largest opposition Pheu Thai Party to build on the family name that has influenced national politics since 2001.

Do you miss the godfather? My dad and aunt send their regards to the Si Saket people! Paetongtarn said in the local Isaan dialect during a later meet-and-greet in a neighboring province.

My dad always says he was a country boy who like many others lacked opportunity. I feel that rural people have great potential, but I wonder why they are still poor. Why were elected governments thrown out in coups?

Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck, were driven from the prime ministers office by military coups in 2006 and 2014, respectively.

Paetongtarn, 35, recently topped a respected quarterly opinion poll by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), a Bangkok-based university.

In telephone interviews of 2,500 adults of various occupations, income and education levels from around the country, more than one-quarter of respondents said she would be the best candidate in the upcoming general election that must be held by March 2023, according to NIDA.

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the progressive Move Forward Party, the second-largest in the opposition, came in third, trailing no choice in second. Incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who came to power following the 2014 coup, was a distant fourth, with just 11.68 percent supporting him, according to the survey released earlier this week.

In the previous NIDA survey, in March, Paetongtarn finished fourth.

In the more recent poll, among political parties, Pheu Thai was the top choice for 36 percent of respondents. The Move Forward came in third at 18 percent, just a point behind no choice. Prayuths Palang Pracharat finished fourth with 7 percent support.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (second from right) poses for a family photo celebrating the graduation of his daughter, Paetongtarn, from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, July 10, 2008. [Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters]

Who is Paetongtarn?

Paetongtarn calls herself the little girl of Thaksin, who regularly appears on her Instagram and Facebook pages, which have nearly 1 million followers.

Born in the United States, she grew up in Thailand and graduated with a degree in political science from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Paetongtarn studied for a masters degree in hotel management at Surrey University in England and led a high-profile life since then, managing her familys hotel business and being written about in glossy magazines.

From his self-exile, billionaire patriarch Thaksin, 72, regularly engages on social media with his supporters under his alias Tony Woodsome and has expressed a desire to return home. Since Thaksins ouster in a 2006 coup, military and ultra-royalist elites have worked to dismantle his political machine without much success, experts said.

Thaksin and Yingluck have both been sentenced to prison in absentia for abuse of power, negligence and corruption, following what they claim were politically-motivated prosecutions.

The latest iteration of the Pheu Thai Party is the single largest party in the parliament following the 2019 general election, with 136 of 500 seats. It could not form the government because Prayuth relied on the Senate and a coalition in the House to support him as prime minister.

In October 2021, Paetongtarn was named chief adviser on participation and innovation, her first role in the party. In March, the party introduced her as head of the Pheu Thai Family, a party component. Since then, she has campaigned and participated in Pheu Thai outreach programs.

Many supporters said she was elevated to attract young voters. In the NIDA poll, participants cited Pheu Thai policies, past works of the Thaksin family and yearning for a member of the new generation to take over, as reasons to back her.

Prayuth, who is facing his fourth no-confidence vote in July, was unfazed by the poll results. He said voters should back candidates based on performance, not on opinions.

A poll is just a poll, Prayuth said. I work and assess the achievement by myself. Whether people like my work is up to them. I serve everyone and conduct my duties without bias.

Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, a deputy prime minister and head of the Palang Pracharat Party, admitted the sagging popularity of the coalition while saying he was not worried.

We can fix it. All members must be united and cooperate. ... The poll result is what it is. Its up to the people, he said.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra gestures during the Pheu Thai partys meeting in Bangkok, April 24, 2022. [Manan Vatsyayana/AFP]

We havent seen her

As the election nears, Yingcheep Atchanont, a lawyer and program manager at local NGO iLaw, said a vote for Paetongtarn is not just for her, but for the party.

We havent seen her for a decade  we havent seen her role in public at all, Yingcheep told BenarNews. But its not surprising that her name appears now because we know that she and other family members are interested in politics.

Anyone, who looks smart enough and is nominated by the Pheu Thai Party would be quite popular. Whoever Pheu Thai would propose will likely be voted in the survey as the top prime minister candidate.

Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of Ubon Ratchathani Universitys political science faculty, told Thai PBS in October that Paetongtarns elevation showed that the Shinawatra family was reclaiming ownership over the party, a typical practice of Thai political dynasties.

A Thai senator, meanwhile, said that Paetongtarn should not be the next prime minister even if the Pheu Thai wins the next election, warning that her political ambitions might end up in the same fashion as her predecessors.

Appointing the prime minister is not the same as choosing an executive in a business company, said Wanchai Sornsiri, a junta-appointed senator and law professor. In a Facebook post, he warned that Paetongtarn has never been elected to public office and lacked needed maturity.

A local Thai businessman accused Thaksin of puppeteering Pheu Thai, and said that if Paetongtarn revitalized the Shinawatras and brought Thaksin back home without serving his jail time, history will repeat itself.

She will face protests by most people, Sam Sanin told BenarNews. Thai politics is full of corrupt people, who only work for themselves and their kin, so there will be turmoil and coups again.
THE HAGUE, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Protests by Dutch farmers against the government's nitrogen policy have become increasingly violent, with farmers breaking a police blockade near the home of Minister Christianne van der Wal on Tuesday evening.

The government's nitrogen reduction policy obliges farmers to make their businesses more sustainable, relocate or quit.

In addition to breaking the blockade, the rioting farmers on Tuesday evening also destroyed a police car and emptied a slurry tank near van der Wal's residence in Hierden, in the province of Gelderland.

In Stroe, also in Gelderland province, a police car was attacked by rioters with hammers and steel pipes. Earlier on Tuesday, on the highway near Stroe, police officers used an electroshock weapon after farmers punctured the tires of police cars and motorcycles.

A total of ten people were arrested on Wednesday for offenses during the protests.

In recent days, there have also been several roadblocks by tractors, and actions at municipal and provincial houses. Farmers set fire to hay bales along several highways, which led to delays and traffic jams. On June 22, thousands of farmers came together in Stroe to demonstrate.

On Wednesday, over a hundred tractors blocked the highway near Oldenzaal, east Netherlands.

Dutch farmers began protesting in October 2019 over proposals to limit livestock farming in order to solve the nitrogen crisis. Until recently, the protests have been generally peaceful.

The government has said the Netherlands needs far-reaching measures to improve nature, climate and water quality, and achieve nitrogen reduction targets, especially for agriculture. This would require agricultural entrepreneurs to accelerate the transition to circular agriculture by 2030.

"A vital rural area with healthy nature, with prospects for entrepreneurs and the economy, whether you work in industry, construction or the agricultural sector, that is the ultimate goal and that is why this radical, but necessary transition of the rural area is necessary," Van der Wal said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Henk Staghouwer said: "My main priority is that farmers have and keep a future in the Netherlands. I am proud of the innovative strength and adaptability of our farmers and horticulturists. Many are already working on more sustainable production, but more can and should be done."

In the government coalition, all parties have agreed that by 2030, 50 percent less nitrogen must be emitted in the Netherlands. The provinces must determine before July 1, 2023 how they intend to achieve this goal.

Due to differences in the quality of nature, water and soil in different areas of the Netherlands, nitrogen reduction targets will also vary from 12 to 70 percent.

However, farmers have called these plans unrealistic.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed his anger on Wednesday, saying a group of farmers had ruined the demonstrations for those who want to protest in a civilized way.

On Tuesday, he had said: "It is not acceptable in this country to create dangerous situations or intimidate people."

However, Minister Van der Wal conceded: "The plans have a huge impact on a lot of families," but added that farmers have eight years to achieve the government's nitrogen reduction goals, which should be sufficient.

Last week the leader of the farmers' party BoerBurgerBeweging, Caroline van der Plas, said the debate should not only be about the behavior of the farmers but also about the way in which the government treats farmers. "Please note: I do not approve of riots," she said. "You do not destroy things, do not visit people at home. But these riots go deeper than just the nitrogen plan."

Nevertheless, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly supported the cabinet's nitrogen policy. Motions by opposition parties to reject or substantially change the policy did not receive a majority in a vote on Tuesday afternoon. 
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ATHENS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be a negative development for the west, as it will eventually weaken the alliance, a Greek scholar told Xinhua here on Wednesday.

"Although the concerns of Finland and Sweden about Russia can be explained, these do not prove that their accession to NATO is in NATO's interest," said Pelagia Karpathiotaki, an international relations scholar and researcher at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics.

"These two countries will be considered by Russia aggressive bridgeheads, which at the same time are too weak for the west to defend," Karpathiotaki said while commenting on the results of the ongoing NATO summit in Madrid.

Turkey has dropped its objections to the two countries' NATO accession, but many questions remain regarding the alliance's enlargement plans before and after the start of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

In Finland and Sweden's case, once the accession process is completed, a space of instability will be created in the European security system, Karpathiotaki argued.

The tiny military forces of these countries would add little to the overall military strength of the alliance, but their joining NATO would create ample problems, she said.

"The alliance's interest is to avoid being trapped in areas that it could hardly defend, while a large increase in its membership would make it difficult to take decisions," Karpathiotaki noted.

"Also, countries with strong anti-Russian elements will lure the alliance into unwanted tensions with Moscow," the scholar stressed.

This view has also been expressed by several political and military analysts, who are clearly not pro-Russian, she added.

Under normal circumstances, NATO should consider whether the candidates can contribute to the alliance's collective defense, Karpathiotaki noted.

However, today the expansion of NATO is based on ideological narratives rather than on criteria of power, she said.

The west "had to" expand to countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union or were under the Soviet sphere of influence in order to impose "western values" and "democracy," according to the narrative.

As a result, countries with minimal to negative contribution to the collective power of the alliance join in, and problems emerge in a structure where decisions have to be taken unanimously, the expert noted.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the allied countries today have very different geopolitical identities and agendas compared to the old "solid" NATO of the Cold War, she explained.

For Karpathiotaki, the argument that "after we go to a new Cold War, then we must be as many as possible against Russia" is not valid either.

The issue is not how many states are in the NATO structure but what power they have, she said. 
Editors note: Eagle music critic Andrew L. Pincus reflected on the life and legacy of Leonard Bernstein in this piece published Oct. 16, 1990, in The Berkshire Eagle. Bernstein died Oct. 14, 1990. The original headline was A great voice falls silent.

"In my end is my beginning," Leonard Bernstein said, quoting T.S. Eliot, when he returned to Tanglewood in 1988 to celebrate his 70th birthday. He was a better prophet than he knew. Just as he began his conducting career  the greatest by any American  in 1940 at Tanglewood under Serge Koussevitzky, he ended it with his Boston Symphony Orchestra concert last Aug. 19 at the festival that was so much a part of his life. It is hard to believe he would have wanted it any other way.

Bernstein was an authentic genius, one of the few any generation will produce.

With a man so many-talented and many-sided, it is hard to know where to begin in looking back at him. Conductor? Composer? Teacher? Television pioneer? Pianist? Author? Sage? Mortal man, full of the failings to which all mortals are prey?

Posterity will certainly remember him as the composer of some of the greatest musicals ever to come to Broadway. "Wonderful Town," "West Side Story" and "Candide" are already classics, enshrined in American life as firmly as "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer."

Although Bernstein denied that there was a wall between his popular music and his symphonies and operas, the latter have a less certain grip on life. As a "serious" composer, Bernstein could be derivative and flirt perilously with the banal and sentimental.

Mahler, Copland and Stravinsky, in particular, flit through his concert music. Something second-rate  something that tries too hard to be serious and ingratiating at the same time  hangs over such works as the "Jeremiah" Symphony, "Trouble in Tahiti" and "Mass."

Arias and Barcarolles, the last piece of his to be performed at Tanglewood, strikes supercool poses  amid moments of genuine tenderness  that betray pain Bernstein never brought himself to deal with head-on.

But there was nothing second-rate about Bernstein the conductor. He was supreme in Mahler, a composer whose driving neuroses seemed to resonate within Bernstein, and he could find depths in Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky that came from a Mahlerian grip and vision.

Indeed, he would speak of his special ability to understand and even mentally recompose the music of others because of his own experience as a composer.

Although much of Bernstein's popularity was due to his success in using television, he was one of a handful of great conductors to emerge in the post-World War II era. It seems more than coincidence that the period's only other surviving titan, Herbert von Karajan, died only a year earlier, and under similar circumstances.

In the spring of 1989, Karajan, crippled by a back ailment, relinquished the podium of the Berlin Philharmonic, the orchestra he had molded into a personal instrument during a 34-year reign. That July, at 81. he was dead.

A welcome guest

Bernstein gave up his major music directorship, that of the New York Philharmonic, in 1969.

Since then, he had made a career of guest-conducting the world's major orchestras, maintaining especially close ties with the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and BSO at Tanglewood.

It was only within the last year that his lung ailments, aggravated by his lifelong love affair with the cigarette, forced him to cut back a hectic, sometimes frantic schedule.

When his illness became so pronounced that he had to cancel his postseason tour of Europe with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and then give up all remaining conducting engagements, it seemed that he, too, had cut himself off from the life that nurtured him. He announced his retirement from the concert stage only last week. Now he, too, is dead.

History holds other parallels. In the previous generation, Wilhelm Furtwangler and Karl Boehm also continued to conduct until their health and strength gave out. But probably the most striking precedent is provided by Arturo Toscanini.

Despite failing health, Toscanini continued to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra until a 1954 concert in which his fabled memory failed, just as Bernstein's lungs failed during a terrifying lapse in Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 at Tanglewood. Shortly afterward, Toscanini announced his retirement, as did Bernstein. The fiery Italian lived on for three years before dying at 89.

Bernstein could be, and often was, faulted for neglecting contemporary composers and concentrating on the European classics and a handful of favored Americans, most of them oriented toward traditional tonality, as he was himself.

Conceptions refined

Indeed, toward the end, he gave up conducting most moderns  an exception was his friend and Tanglewood mentor Aaron Copland  and refined his conceptions of works by the European masters.

As he did so, his tempos grew slower and he looked more deeply inward, not just toward the emotion behind the music, but at the inner musical detail.

Only a few weeks ago, a BSO string player said in conversation that where other conductors tend to look at either the forest or the trees, Bernstein was the only one who could show musicians the trees one by one and then fit them together into a towering forest.

James Orleans, a BSO double bass player, describes the experience in "Sennets and Tuckets," the book of reminiscences, that the BSO published in honor of Bernstein at 70.

Recounting the open rehearsal preceding Bernstein's 1985 Tanglewood performance of Brahms' Symphony No. 1, Orleans says: "From the opening C minor chords of the symphony, I felt it was destined to be a momentous event. The involvement onstage was total. I felt the energy from every member of the orchestra. I remember distinctly the B-major chord of the first movement's second ending appearing to me for the first time as emanating from a great pipe organ, the sonority of the orchestra was so astonishingly rich."

At the end, Orleans says, "Not a soul in the orchestra was left untouched by the experience. They had all been moved to involve themselves completely, to spend themselves fully in service to the music and Bernstein's vision of it."

Carl St. Clair, one of the thousands of young musicians whom Bernstein also inspired to heights beyond what they thought themselves capable of, recalls a similar experience from a student conductor's point of view.

He tells how, in Tanglewood classes and rehearsals, Bernstein "never forces anyone to conduct the way he conducts" or "how to hold your mouth and feet and chest and eyes  none of that. For him, it all comes from the music."

In 1985, St. Clair was one of three student conductors chosen to appear with Bernstein during a Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra concert honoring Copland on his 85th birthday. He was to lead a performance of Copland's Clarinet Concerto. He recalls Bernstein's total understanding and support.

Backstage just before the concert, St. Clair says, Bernstein asked his conducting corps: "'How are you feeling? Doing OK?' At one point, he said, 'Are you nervous?' and I said, 'I'm really nervous ' and he said, 'You'd damn well better be, because this is important. If you weren't nervous, I'd kick you in the rear end!'"

Remembering Bernstein's inspiration, Copland's presence and the waves of appreciation flowing from the crowd, St. Clair concludes: "I'm still feeding off the fuel ignited that summer."

The dark side of Bernstein's love of young people was the way he fed off their adulation. When he talked about music in his seminars at Seranak, he could be as revelatory as he was in bringing out Brahms' sonorities and inner detail. At other times, he would go into rambling discourses on politics, philosophy, poetry  anything that happened to engage his interest.

It wasn't that his views were uninteresting. But they were more or less conventional liberal views, such as led him into his famous "radical chic" party for the Black Panthers during the 1960s.

And it was hard to escape the feeling that Bernstein was grandstanding with his knowledge, wowing the kids, partly because he was no longer a kid himself but hated to lose that youthful spark. Perhaps for the same reason, he was the only Tanglewood conductor who partied till dawn with his student players after a concert.

If there was an element of show in these extramusical performances, they were like his famous leaps on the podium: an integral part of an extravagantly gifted man.

Audiences sometimes complained, but the physical energy  the show  was inseparable from the mental energy and the highly charged musical output. Similarly, Bernstein could have become a virtuoso pianist if he had directed his energies that way. He was a fair poet and an eloquent speaker and writer.

Rabbinical streak

As a teacher, Bernstein had a rabbinical streak. There was never any doubt, moreover, that his liberal views were sincerely held. From his Harvard days on, he was an outspoken foe of patriotic cant and defender of social justice  a conviction that led him, on the one hand, to reject a medal from the Bush administration and, on the other, to lead his hastily arranged, slapdash "Freedom Concert" performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Berlin last Christmas.

Bernstein gave eloquent utterance to these views in "The Principle of Hope," his address opening the 1970 session of the Tanglewood Music Center. At the height of the Vietnam War, he stood before the students and told them that if anybody could save the country and world from "the flag-wavers and bigots,  it's you, the best generation in history."

"And especially you here today, artists of that generation. Because it's the artists of the world, the feelers and the thinkers, who will ultimately save us; who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing and shout the big dreams."

There will be many memorials to this dynamic, hugely talented and sometimes exasperating man. But he himself created one of the most memorable ones at Tanglewood last summer.

At the end of the BSO performance of his "Arias and Barcarolles," he walked onstage to embrace Carl St. Clair, who had taken over the rehearsals and performance when Bernstein couldn't do them. St. Clair had never even considered becoming a conductor until 1974, when as a farm boy in a dusty Texas hamlet, he happened upon a telecast of Bernstein conducting at Tanglewood. And now he was a BSO assistant conductor  the new generation taking over from the old, carrying on the tradition, just as Bernstein had when he took up the baton from Koussevitzky.

Bernstein was a man of passion and commitment, not just to music, youth and Tanglewood, but to the world. He was a hero in a time full of idols but desperately short of heroes. A great voice will no longer be heard.
PITTSFIELD  Taking the stand in his own defense, J.C. Chadwell claimed Tuesday that police made false promises that prompted him to falsely claim responsibility for a fatal shooting he now says did not commit.

The prosecution, however, told the jury that Chadwell has a history of lying to paint himself in a positive light, and reiterated the Berkshire District Attorneys Offices stance that Chadwell had lingering hostility toward Paul Henry when he allegedly shot him at a bustling block party on Independence Day in 2017.

Chadwell took the stand on the third and final day of his murder trial in Berkshire Superior Court. After his testimony, both sides delivered closing arguments and the case was sent to the 12-person jury to decide.

Chadwell testified about his history with Henry, the reputation and fear he and the community apparently had toward the man he claims shot Henry, and his interactions with Pittsfield police in the lead-up to him making a confession that he testified Tuesday was false.

He said he met Henry around 2009, because he was a rapper and Henry a producer. The relationship between the two men soured, Chadwell testified, when what he said was a false rumor started circulating on the street that Chadwell had informed to police on his cousin, who in turn put out a bounty on Chadwell.

According to Chadwells testimony, Henry sought to recoup that bounty in 2012. Thats when Chadwell said that Henry came up behind him holding a blade he described as a sword and others have described as a machete, and swung it at him.

According to Chadwell, it was the shouts of a someone nearby that prompted him to duck. Chadwell received a major slice to his head that required staples and stitches to close.

He said he came to learn that Henry had attacked him for money, and after he confronted his cousin, she said, thats what I get, and that she hopes that somebody eventually finishes the job.

I cooperated and I almost had my head cut off, Chadwell added.

Approximately five years later, on July 4, 2017, Chadwell said he was at a large block party on John Street. He said he was drinking, smoking marijuana and had sniffed some cocaine by the time the evening rolled around. Also at the party was a man whom he identified by name, but who hasnt been charged in connection with the murder.

The man, Chadwell said, was captured on a video taken at the party bragging that he was able to move in several different gang circles safely. Chadwell testified the man was able to represent different gangs because he supplied weapons  including, according to Chadwell, hand grenades  to them.

The best way of selling the merchandise is to be able to move in different circles, Chadwell told the jury.

Chadwell said he had no reason to expect violence the evening of the block party, which he called a family event that had drawn 200 to 300 people to the area of John Street.

He said he left to watch the fireworks, then returned. After he returned, the man he had described earlier pushed Chadwell out of the way, and fired a single shot at Henry.

Around the same time of the shot he said he turned around and saw that Henry had been holding a bottle of E&J brandy over his head. Chadwell said he hadnt seen Henry coming, but that Henry had been attempting to attack him with the bottle, and only learned later that Henry had died.

Asked by defense lawyer Brian Murphy why he thinks the man shot Henry, Chadwell said the man may have had his own issues with Henry, or had been trying to save Chadwells life.

He testified that he then met up with Laura Truden, who drove him to a hotel in Chicopee, where the two had existing plans to do drugs and have a sexual encounter.

But he said Truden left when she heard about the killing through someone other than Chadwell, who said he stayed at the hotel for only a few hours before going to Hudson, New York for a job, as he worked at the time doing demolition cleanup.

Special Assistant District Attorney Brett Vottero disputed Chadwells version of events in his closing argument to the jury. He said the fact that Chadwell left town immediately after the shooting demonstrates consciousness of guilt.

On Monday and Tuesday morning, Vottero had played videos of interviews Chadwell gave to the Pittsfield police. In the video that captured an interview on Feb. 11, 2018, two days after Chadwells arrest, Chadwell confessed to shooting the Henry in self-defense.

But on the stand, Chadwell claimed a Pittsfield police officer had been feeding him information, and said that if he took responsibility for the shooting, he would be out of custody by the time his son, then 9, was in high school.

He told me that he wanted me to say that I shot him, Chadwell said, also saying that he had asked for a lawyer at least four times and was not provided one.

In addition, Chadwell said he was in distress upon being told by an officer that his sister had also been arrested for murder. He testified that an officer said his sister, who had had a cesarean section months earlier, had given police a hard time so they had to strap her to a chair.

He further testified that the office said his sister would be released if he confessed to the shooting.

He told me that if I said I did it, they would release her immediately, Chadwell testified.

Asked by his defense lawyer whether police fulfilled their promise of his sisters release from custody, Chadwell said police lied again.

I just didnt understand how they would be able to tell me whatever they wanted, he said.

Chadwell said he was afraid that the man who he claimed actually shot Henry would retaliate against him and his family if he told the police. But now, the fear of retaliation has subsided since no one has heard from that man in years.

He was willing to risk three or four years in jail so he didnt have to risk his life, and risk his familys life, said Murphy.

Taken together, the police officers alleged statement that Chadwell would be out in a few years, Chadwells fear of the man he claimed was the shooter, as well as the alleged police promise to release his sister constituted Chadwells rationale for falsely confessing, according to Murphy.

He was pressured by the police. ... He was told that shed get out that night, Murphy said.

The prosecution rejected the notion that his confession was a false one, and sought to poke holes in other aspects of Chadwells testimony.

Vottero showed a crime scene photo that appeared to show the bottle Chadwell said Henry wielded above his head upside down like a weapon. In the photo, the bottle is uncapped and about one-third full.

Under cross-examination by Vottero, Chadwell said he did not see liquid fall out of the bottle when Henry wielded it.

There was no raised bottle, said Vottero during his closing argument, just a decision by a man with a gun to use it.

Chadwell, during cross examination, also acknowledged that he told police on Feb. 11, 2018, that he had been given the gun he said at the time he shot Henry with by the man he feared would retaliate against him.

In his closing argument, Vottero said Chadwell shot Paul Henry on July 4, 2017.

He lied about it repeatedly, said Vottero. Even when he confessed, he confessed in a way that made him look better than the facts demonstrated.

Recalling Mondays testimony from then-neighbor Keith Martin, Vottero said a five-minute argument proceeded the shooting, which he said was consistent with Chadwell having seen Henry  a man who had tried to kill him five years earlier  at the July 4 block party, and having a fight.

You can imagine the reaction when he sees Paul Henry again, Vottero said.

It is not believable that he falsely confessed to the crime and withheld the name of the man who pulled the trigger, the prosecutor added.

Presiding Judge Jane Mulqueen told jurors they must decide whether Chadwells confession was given voluntarily, freely and rationally.

After closing arguments, Mulqueen gave the jurors instructions on the law surrounding the case. Chadwell is charged with murder and carrying a firearm without a license. Jury deliberations will continue today.
NORTH ADAMS  In the seven years Gail Bell has lived in the Ashland Park apartments, she has seen increasing problems in the building.

Right now its the elevator, Bell said, sitting in the lobby of the 126-unit Ashland Street building. One of the elevators was broken for about a week, North Adams Housing Authority Executive Director Jennifer Hohn said, and has been fixed after a part had to be ordered.

Bell worries, though. God forbid theres an emergency and the other one goes down, she said, pointing out that many residents need the elevator to navigate the building. The property is designed for the elderly and disabled, the North Adams Housing Authority says on its website.

Quote People don't feel safe." Gail Bell, tenant, Ashland Park

Bell is not alone with her concerns. She and other residents of the property formed the Ashland Park Tenant Organization this spring. Bell was elected vice president.

We are very tired of the issues here, said Karen Gazaille, the organizations president, who has lived in the high-rise for more than a decade. She has a three-page list of issues tenants would like to see addressed, from building safety to maintenance.

In mid-June, officials received notice that the group formed, Hohn told the North Adams Housing Authority Board of Commissioners at its meeting Monday.

Renowned artist to create towering mural on North Adams complex NORTH ADAMS  A mural, up to eight-stories high, will soon grace the north face of Ashland Park residential tower. Renowned mural artist Gaia has been commissioned to create the work, which 

I couldnt be more thrilled, Hohn said. Weve wanted a tenant organization for a long time. Gazaille nodded her head in agreement as Hohn spoke.

The authority will review the information the group submitted, Hohn said in a follow-up interview, and make sure the group is inclusive and open to everyone.

The newly formed organization is for residents of Ashland Park  one of the four properties the North Adams Housing Authority operates. But Gazaille hopes to expand it in the future. Recent group meetings have drawn about 20 residents, Gazaille said.

Its a slow process, she said. Well get there.

Everyone is welcome at the meetings, and the group posted fliers advertising the gatherings on every floor of the building, she said. The goal, Gazaille noted, is to work with the housing authority. To try and get things done here.

Its members have concerns about security in the building, like unauthorized people walking in at night behind another tenant who opens a locked door. People dont feel safe, Bell said.

Police officers visit the building several times a week and the property uses a security camera system, Hohn said in the follow-up interview. The authority has hired a company to patrol the building at night, starting Friday, during prime-time hours which most incidents occur.

The association is also asking that the housing authority office staff not conduct any business related to tenants in common spaces like a hall.

No one in the lobby should hear what I am talking to the office about, Gazaille wrote in a list of concerns she had and that residents brought her. This really is an infringement of rights of privacy.

Important conversations are not held in the halls, and if a resident requests to have a conversation in a private room, weve never denied them that access, Hohn said.

Other association concerns center on building amenities.

In the winter, tenants say, the building does not produce enough heat to adequately warm the apartments.

Quote "We take complaints every day and do what we can to solve them. Jennifer Hohn, executive director, North Adams Housing Authority

Hohn said the authoritys staff checks apartments when there are temperature complaints. Ive never been in anybodys apartment thats been cold, she said.

Having a list of complaints is not a reason to form a tenants association, Hohn said. We take complaints every day and do what we can to solve them.

The buildings units are in great shape, she said. Theres always going to be people that arent happy. When youre dealing with that many residents, its difficult to make people feel like youre listening to just them. We try to do our best.

Hohn told the commissioners Monday that she has 90 days to formally respond to the groups notice.
NORTH ADAMS  After open and public discussions about unprofessional and toxic behavior, City Councilor Ashley Shade proposed a code of conduct for elected and appointed city officials.

It is important that we have accountability and that we have rules and that people are able to understand and follow them, Shade said at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, and, hopefully, this can be a guide and resource and an enforceable document that will help alleviate some of the issues we seem to be having in our city in regards to behavior and conduct and professionalism.

The council voted Tuesday to have the code reviewed by the General Government Committee, Mayors office, city solicitor, and the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Commission. Other than comments from Shade about the proposal, there was no discussion amongst councilors about the proposal at Tuesdays meeting.

Many other cities and towns have codes of conduct, and Shade used a template from the Massachusetts Municipal Association for her proposal, she told the council.

The proposed policy would govern all elected and appointed city officials, and include written communications and social media.

The City elected and appointed officials must refrain from communicating or acting in a disrespectful, abusive and/or threatening manner towards members of the community, other elected or appointed officials, and all city employees, the proposal says, adding that elected and appointed officials must abide by the citys anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies. The proposal outlines conduct rules for officials between city staff, the public, and each other.

Under the proposal, if an official declines to sign a statement saying they read and will abide by the policy, they cannot take their oath of office. The proposal outlines how the code would be enforced, including procedures on how allegations can be referred for investigation. Groups can also vote to censure a member under the proposed code.

Along with former council President Jason LaForest, Councilor Marie Harpin stepped down from the council last year before her term ended, citing the councils climate. But some councilors took issue with her characterization at the time, and at least one blamed departing members as part of the problem. Harpin was later reelected.

Concern about conduct has come up at past council meetings, and Shade said she spent time researching the proposed policy over the past few months.

I thought this was something that could help with some of the perceived issues, Shade told The Eagle, adding she calls them perceived because I think most of the issues come down to a breakdown in communication and people looking at things from their own biases and not looking at things from a clear, professional angle which make the situations far worse. When taking a vote, its not personal, she said, its doing the business for the city and the residents.

Shade said she was not sure on the specifics of issues others were experiencing. I pride myself on being a professional and keeping it that way, but I do know that different people have had different reasons for feeling how they feel and doing what they are doing. I really dont know the full details.

She added, I just want to be able to focus on doing the work that people need done. There is no time for squabbling and the pettiness and anger.

Shades proposal is scheduled to come back to the council in August after it undergoes review.
Julie Novkov (@NovkovJulie) is the interim dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy and a professor of political science and womens, gender and sexuality studies at the University at Albany, where she teaches courses on constitutional law and civil liberties. Special to The Washington Post.
LONDON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- An ongoing wrangle between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) over the UK's proposed changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol, a Brexit trade deal, may last for years, a political expert told Xinhua on Wednesday.

David Phinnemore, professor of European Politics at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, said: "Most problems over the protocol can be resolved at some point, but we're some way short of actually reaching that point. We're probably talking years on this one."

A bill that overrides parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol passed the first hurdle on Monday in the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK Parliament. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is confident that the bill will become law by the end of the year if the Parliament cooperates.

However, the EU's ambassador to the UK has said London has taken a "unilateral action," and called the bill "illegal and unrealistic."

Following UK's vote to leave the EU in 2016, the island of Ireland became divided, with a 500-kilometer border between the Irish Republic and British-ruled Northern Ireland. To preserve a peace agreement brokered in the 1990s to end decades of sectarian troubles, special arrangements on the border were agreed by the UK and the EU.

It means there is no hard border on the island of Ireland, but there is a border down the Irish Sea, which means goods shipped from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland are subject to various export and import controls.

The need to solve the dispute over the protocol became more urgent recently, with the election of the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein to the devolved assembly in Northern Ireland in early May.

Coming second in the elections, the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said it would not sit in the Assembly, citing its opposition to the protocol.

Phinnemore told Xinhua that finding solutions to the border issues related to the protocol will require flexibility from both the EU and the UK.

"Some issues will be resolved, but there are significant pockets of very firm resistance to the protocol arrangements (from the DUP), and that's before they've been fully implemented," he added.

A poll conducted by Queen's University Belfast revealed on Wednesday that 55 percent of people in Northern Ireland see the existing protocol as a suitable arrangement. This represents an 8-percent increase compared with a similar poll a year earlier.

It also showed that 75 percent of people want to see a deal reached between London and Brussels.

"One of the key findings is that almost three quarters of respondents would much prefer the UK and the EU to reach agreement to resolve outstanding issues around the protocol, rather than the UK government pursuing unilateral action, as it seems to be willing to do with the publication of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill recently," Phinnemore said.

"There's a general view that if you have international agreements, you uphold them, you don't take unilateral action unless it's absolutely necessary and justified, and there's not necessarily a majority who believe that the measures (being taken by the UK government) would be justified," he added. 
MOSCOW, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Norwegian Charge d'Affaires Solveig Rossebo over Norway's decision to block the delivery of goods to Spitsbergen, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

Rossebo was informed about the "unacceptable situation around the delivery of cargos to Spitsbergen blocked by the Norwegian side that were designated for the operations of the Arktikugol federal state unitary enterprise on the archipelago," the foreign ministry said.

As a result of the Norwegian restrictions imposed against Russian transport on the Russian-Norwegian border in April, vital goods such as food and medical equipment, which are necessary for the normal functioning of the enterprise and Russia's Consulate General on Spitsbergen, are being blocked, according to the ministry.

Russia demanded that Norway "resolve the issue as soon as possible," pointing out that such hostile actions would "inevitably lead to appropriate retaliatory measures." 
What Happened on These Journeys?

You can read about Pauls 1st missionary journey in Acts 13-14. On this trip he, and Barnabas, were commissioned from Antioch. The goal of this mission seems to have been to preach in Jewish synagogues and attempt to convert Jews. They began in Cyrus and went through Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. They then went through Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe and circled back around to Antioch.

In Cyprus the proconsul was converted after Paul pronounced a curse upon a Jewish sorcerer named Bar-Jesus and made him blind. They were also successful in Pisidian Antioch where many Jews and Gentiles were converted before some Jews incited a riot against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of the city. Nevertheless the word of the Lord spread through the whole region (13:49).

They were met with the same mixture of success and opposition in the other cities as well. Perhaps one of the most significant things which came from this journey was the massive number of Gentiles who came to the faith. As they shared their story back in Antioch, this was an emphasis (see Acts 14:27-28).

Pauls 2nd missionary journey is recorded in Acts 15:36-18:22. After a short stay in Antioch, Paul wanted to go with Barnabas on another journey. But a sharp dispute arose (with John Mark being the center of the debate) and the two split. Barnabas ended up back in Cyprus with John Mark and Paul took a different route throughout Asia Minor with Silas. It was on this journey that Paul would be joined by Timothy.

He would also have ministry in Athens, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth. As you might have recognized by some of these names, it was through this missionary journey that Paul began his relationship with many of the churches to whom he would eventually write letters. The purpose of these journeys was to establish churches and to encourage those who were already followers of Jesus, but they also saw many converts as well.

Pauls 3rd missionary journey begins in Acts 18:23 and goes through Acts 20:38. Pauls third journey was essentially the same as his second journey but in reverse order. The narrative in Acts focuses on the church in Ephesus (another church that would receive a letter now in the New Testament). It was here also that connections were made to Galatia as well.

Though these journeys were filled with opposition and difficulty, they also experienced much success. The gospel spread all throughout the Roman Empire and churches were firmly established through these missionary efforts. Not to mention that the Lord used Pauls correspondence during these journeys (and because of these) to inspire many books of the New Testament.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Freedom007
WASHINGTON, D.C.  This month, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol released data showing May 2022 reached the highest level of arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border ever recorded, with the U.S. on pace to exceed 2 million apprehensions during Fiscal Year 2022.

Last week, U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, published a report examining how the Biden administrations policies are undermining U.S. efforts to reduce illegal migration and jeopardizing U.S. security.

President Bidens failed immigration policies have resulted in a crisis at the southern border. The number of migrants attempting to gain illegal entry to the U.S. is at its highest point in decades, and the flow of violent criminals and deadly fentanyl across the border is also on the rise, said Risch. Now is the time to address the border crisis. My report looks at the root causes of the illegal migration crisis, and offers concrete steps the Biden administration should take to secure the border and protect our national security.

The report says President Biden reversed Trump-era reforms that had effectively addressed illegal migration, and reinstated failed Obama-era policies, and transnational Criminal Organizations have been benefiting from the illegal migration crisis by profiting off the smuggling and trafficking of migrants or victimizing people along the dangerous journey.

The report suggests the extension of Title 42 until the end of the COVID-19 health emergency and tightening of ICE immigration enforcement and tightening of enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and prioritize U.S. technical assistance to improve asylum processing capacity in the region.

The a summary of the report from Risch's office is attached to this story.
RUPERT, ID - On Thursday, June 30, 2022, the University of Idaho and its partners will celebrate the ceremonial groundbreaking of the nations largest research dairy, a component of the $45 million Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Idaho CAFE).

The commercial-scale dairy will be built on 640 acres and will have the capacity for up to 2,000 cows. Its research will have a unique focus on the arid West, where herd sizes are especially large and operations face unique challenges, such as water constraints.

The two lead contractors for the project are McAlvain Construction of Boise and Keller Associates, which has several offices in Idaho. McAlvain is serving as general contractor and formed a team that includes Standley and Co. and Mike Roth, a longtime dairy producer. Kellers team includes AgProfessionals and Lombard Conrad Architects.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time at 1350 N 100 W in Rupert, ID, the future Idaho CAFE dairy site.

Plans call for construction on the dairy to be completed by 2023 and to begin milking cows by 2024.
The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the J.R. Simplot Company signed a memorandum of agreement on June 28, outlining ways they plan to work cooperatively with their mutual customers to support crop production and conservation activities that advance soil health and water quality, as well as farm profitability.

Having worked with Simplot while I was still a farmer in North Dakota, I understand how valuable this partnership will be for agricultural producers in Idaho and other states where Simplot operates, said Curtis Elke, State Conservationist for NRCS in Idaho. We are especially excited to explore how we can blend NRCS conservation systems and Simplots precision agriculture data tools to provide our customers with the best recommendations for their management decisions, cost-effective conservation practices, and profitable outcomes for their farms.

Simplot Grower Solutions has agricultural retail locations throughout the state of Idaho, and the nation. They partner with farmers to deliver field-proven advice and explore innovative ways to help farmers optimize their resources and profits. NRCS will work with employees from Simplot Grower Solutions to help them understand the benefits and applicability of NRCS programs and conservation practices. NRCS will also provide NRCS Planner Certification related training for select Simplot employees. This will enable both organizations to develop and implement collaborative efforts that equip their customer-facing employees to provide their mutual customers with consistent information and technology based on current science.

Simplot Grower Solutions is excited to work with NRCS to foster soil health and water quality practices as both are essential to sustaining farmers legacies by supporting the long-term viability of their land, said Troy Bolt, VP & General Manager of Retail Business for Simplot Grower Solutions. Our ongoing commitment to growers and sustainable agronomy practices align with NRCS efforts.

This partnership will promote innovation in agricultural and conservation practices for improved soil health which can be tied to better productivity. Simplot and NRCS will also discuss trends and mitigation strategies surrounding wind and water erosion. This will be achieved through:




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
To directly impact 10 million people across UP addressing 26 per cent of the burden of diarrhoea

Reckitt under its flagship campaign Dettol Banega Swasth India has launched Diarrhoea Net Zero with support from the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in Lucknow. In the next three years, the programme will directly impact 10 million people across Uttar Pradesh addressing 26 per cent of the burden of diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea Net Zero was launched by Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs and Partnerships, Reckitt- South Asia and other dignitaries with an aim to achieve net zero Diarrhoeal deaths among under-5 children in Uttar Pradesh.

The programme will follow the WHO-7-point plan for preventing and treating diarrhoea in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh namely- Bahraich, Bulandshahar, Firozabad, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Mathura, Mirzapur, Muzaffarnagar, Shravasti and Sitapur. The vision is to take this initiative to 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

As a part of the programme, Reckitt will create a scalable and replicable model to:
South Africa's 2021/22 summer crop harvest is in full swing across the country. The feedback from farmers about the yields they are receiving has been encouraging. Hence, we believe that the data that the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) released on 28 June is unlikely to change much over the coming months. The CEC released its fifth production estimate and introduced minor adjustments from the previous month.

Source: suksao via Freepik

Optimistic production numbers

For example, South Africa's 2021/22 maize production is estimated at 14,68 million tonnes, down by 0,3% from last month. This is on the back of a slight downward revision of white maize estimates, which is now estimated at 7,47 million tonnes, while yellow maize was adjusted upwards and is currently at 7,21 million tonnes.Essentially, this is down by 10% from the 2020/21 season crop but well above the 10-year average maize harvest of 12,80 million tonnes and annual domestic consumption of 11,80 million tonnes. Importantly, this means that South Africa will remain a net exporter of maize, which we anticipate to be just over 3,0 million tonnes in the 2022/23 marketing season (note: this marketing year corresponds with the 2021/22 production season).Another important and most welcome adjustment in the data released on 27 June 2022 was the 8% increase in South Africa's soybeans harvest for the 2021/22 season to a record 2,09 million tonnes. This will help lessen South Africa's reliance on soybean oilcake imports.As we pointed out in our note on 27 June 2022, in the week of 17 June 2022, about 1,9 million tonnes had already been delivered to commercial silos. Sunflower seed, unsurprisingly, was lowered marginally by 0,2% from last month to 961,350 tonnes. We suspected this would happen, given the relatively slow pace of producer deliveries. Still, the deliveries issue could be explained by the fact that the crop was planted late, and the harvest is in full swing. On 17 June 2022, about 594,236 tonnes had already been delivered to commercial silos.Aside from these major summer crops, the sorghum harvest is estimated at 140,820 (+3% m/m), dry beans harvest at 53,565 tonnes (-4% m/m), and groundnuts are at 54,900 tonnes (-22% m/m).In sum, these mainly optimistic production data will have minimal impact on prices. As with the previous few years, the domestic grains and oilseeds prices primarily follow the global markets. The Russia-Ukraine war worries and concerns about 2022/23 global production continue to present upside support on prices, reflected in the South African grains market. Still, the fact that supplies improved provides comfort regarding the availability of essential grains and oilseeds.The upside price movements or elevated prices bode well for farmers in areas that didn't experience much crop damage. They stand to benefit from slightly higher grains and oilseeds prices. Meanwhile, the consumers, livestock, dairy, sheep, goats and poultry producers will likely experience increased costs over the foreseeable future.
It was dark days indeed in 1980 as Channel 702: 'Your rainbow of sound' took its first breath on an AM signal in a little studio in Ga Rankuwa, Bophuthatswana. The only other independent radio station in apartheid South Africa, at this time, was Capital Radio 604.

702 station manager, Mzo Jojwana

By 1990, amidst daily racial oppression, injustice, strife, and silencing of voices, 702 was becoming a platform for South Africans of different racial, cultural, and political backgrounds, to share their views and perspectives, freely, and without fear. By 1988, 702 had moved away from its Top 40 inspired young adult music format to a talk format. This move was stewarded by some of the finest broadcasters in the land including Stan Katz, John Berks and later on, John Robbie.Unfiltered, real-time, and real issue talk and listener engagement was paramount. The station positioned itself to be in touch, in tune and independent.702 was among the first to have top opinion leaders and news makers on air. This included political leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.At an 80th birthday celebration for Former President Thabo Mbeki this week, the station manager of 702, Mzo Jojwana, and programme manager, Alistair Teeling-Smith, paid tribute to the great statesman. The Former President then gracefully spoke of 702 as an important source of news about South Africa under apartheid and how the station provided the real picture of what was going on in the country.The magic and majesty of 702s connectivity with its audience continues today and the station has become a highly credible voice, not only in '702 land', but across the plains of South Africa and beyond.702 station manager, Mzo Jojwana said, On a single day, we listen to the hopes, the despair, the dreams, and the disappointments of our callers. We are a source of information, of comfort, of support. We are a daily companion in the lives of many of our listeners, Mzo continues: For many listeners, they cannot remember a time in their lives when they did not wake up to 702. For newer listeners, it is the unfiltered talk, the helplines and the unrivalled listener interactivity that makes 702 an essential part of their everyday.We walk our talk, Mzo says. Our commitment to independent journalism and our genuine interest in and concern for our community is ever-present in our community outreach programmes which are second to none.Through its 42-year life, 702 has attracted the best of the best. Among these are John Berks, Stan Katz, Xolani Gwala, Alex Jay, Cocky 'Twobull' Thlotlalemaje, John Qwelane, Dan Moyane, John Robbie, Noeleen Maholwane-Sangqu, Debra Patta, Redi Tlhabi, Jeremy Maggs, Jenny Crwys-Williams, Shado Twala, Jeremy Mansfield, Gareth Cliff, Kate Turkington, Tim Modise, and David O'Sullivan.Today the station attracts the cream of the crop talk show hosts. With the ilk of Bongani Bingwa, Clement Manyathela, Mandy Wiener, Africa Melane, Relebogile Mabotja, John Perlman, Aubrey Masango and Bruce Whitfield as our flagship talk hosts, we provide the best of real-time talk, analysis, and engagement. On weekends, listeners are treated to best of concert of soulful musical classics, with Paul Mtirara, Kenny Maistry, Nonn Botha and Refiloe Mpakanyane. Our EWN news service is run by a devoted team to ensure top in class news 24 hours a day.Despite its humble beginnings, 702 was to become a trendsetter. Not only was this little independent radio station to be South Africas first talk radio station, but many in the industry consider it to be the forefather of community radio in the country.We celebrate 702 for creating a platform for fearless talk and debate in the yesteryear of the apartheid era, and in a new democratic order of today. 702 has been an essential voice in the worst of times and in the best of times. We applaud all of those who have made this station 42 years strong, says Primedia Group CEO, Jonathan Procter. With its kaleidoscope of authentic talk, prism of informed debate and soulful weekends, Primedias 702 is set to remain a vibrant and vital radio gem in Gautengs broadcasting panorama for many years to come."
Introduction by staff from across all levels of the organisation is key to developing an aspirational employer brand, which helps attract, engage and retain scarce talent. Going further, taking a different approach to traditional human capital - and creating a structure where each staff member has a dedicated people manager - can help sustain high performance, motivated teams, while also ensuring employee well-being.

Image source: Startup Stock Photos from Pexels

Effective EVP

Attracting the right people

People management 2.0

Building a people-centric brand

To position oneself as an employer of choice starts with the use of several long-term approaches that are aligned to the existing integrated workforce planning and strategies. One approach centres on employer branding. Employer branding focusses on managing perceptions of the organisation among current and potential employees, conveying the values and characteristics that define the company, and cultivating a high level of commitment, pride, and engagement towards the organisation. Apart from being crucial to attracting and retaining scarce skills, this adds visibility and can also help improve perceptions among current and potential customers.The employee value proposition (EVP) is closely linked to employer branding and addresses the intangible ways in which the business can attract the skills that they require, while keeping employees engaged and motivated. The EVP must be unique, authentic, relevant and compelling to an organisation if it is to act as the critical driver for talent attraction, engagement and retention.Companies need to further define the whole workforce experience, such as what makes them superior to other organisations, and what steps they can take to further differentiate themselves. The marketing and communications team will play an instrumental role in both these areas, by telling the unique story of the company and its people. This includes a focus on content that promotes company culture, employees experience, internal events and awards, goals and achievements.Effective employer branding is important for potential staff to envision themselves working at your organisation - or even aspire to work for you. It also contributes to retaining existing staff by highlighting the positive work environment. To date, candidates interviewed for positions at Altron Karabina have mentioned that past videos featuring staff talking about why they love working for Altron Karabina played an important role in them wanting to work at the company.EVP communicates the culture of the organisation and takes the focus off remuneration and bonuses as the sole benefit of working at the organisation. When implemented correctly, this results in a highly committed and productive workforce, which is the main goal of an employee-centred culture.Given the shortage of scarce skills in South Africa, attracting top talent has to form part of the companys workforce strategy. Internal recruitment teams play a critical role in ensuring that the company finds the right talent, with the right skill set and culture - while also taking into account inclusiveness, diversity and more - in a highly competitive job market.Beyond the interview (which can be in person or through video conferencing), technical competency tests, feedback from references and performing appropriate psychometric tests help to identify whether the candidate would be a good fit for the position that they are applying for. There are hundreds of tests, including personality, cognitive ability, general reasoning and more that organisations can use, depending on what position they are recruiting for.When implemented across all levels of the organisation, these types of assessments also play a major role in enabling leaders to manage employees within their teams, by understanding their strengths and areas of development, and how best to work with and support them. Having this information before a candidate even joins the organisation sets a solid foundation for the managerial relationship, and supports employees to perform to their full potential.Since implementing psychometric assessments, which are registered by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), Altron Karabina has seen a significantly lower staff turnover, while this method has also proven to be especially effective when recruiting graduates who are just entering the job market.In line with providing a positive, consistent, fair and engaging experience, successful candidates are moved through the next stages without delays. Delaying the appointment process unnecessarily can be costly when businesses are looking for scarce skills. Successful candidates are put through a comprehensive onboarding process where they are familiarised with the organisation, its processes and procedures, performance structure, the EVP, company culture and more.Investing in your employees is key to maintaining high levels of engagement and productivity. Using a people management approach, focus on attracting and retaining talented employees, and ensuring that the whole employee experience is excellent and welcoming.Regular meetings with 'people managers' allows employees to build a trusted relationship with them over the long term, thus helping the organisation to create a more positive employee experience.An important part of building high-performance teams is learning to work with people with different personalities, and here people management plays a crucial role.It should be noted that people management is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and large companies may need different approaches and structures to become more people-centric organisations.The responsibility for building a strong employee brand and rich employee experience lies across the breadth of the organisation - from the top leadership to middle management. It requires bringing together different departments such as marketing, recruitment and people management. It should definitely include existing employees, who are the company's biggest brand ambassadors, and can even play an important role in finding the right talent from within their own professional networks.There is a growing opportunity in the market for companies to create a role within the organisation that will focus not only on traditional HR initiatives, but on EVP, including employee engagement, experience, wellbeing, and performance, as well as career path development, succession planning, surveys, rewards and recognition and much more.Measuring the success of employer branding and EVP initiatives is a challenge, as these approaches are continually evolving. While it can be simpler to focus on metrics such as performance and retention, it has to be taken into account that external factors influence this. One also has to look at employee engagement, candidate quality, how successful the organisation is in filling vacancies, the employee experience and even the customer experience through net promoter scores (NPS). Regular staff surveys are insightful for the business to understand whether what they have implemented as an EVP is working and whether it contributes to employee retention.
Toyota has been named as one of Africa's most admired brands by Brand Africa, an intergenerational movement established in 2010 to inspire a brand-led African renaissance to drive Africa's competitiveness, connect Africa and create a positive image of the continent.

2022 rank 2021 rank 2020 rank Brand Category Country of origin 1 1 1 Nike Sport and Fitness USA 2 2 2 Adidas Sport and Fitness Germany 3 3 3 Samsung Electronics / Computers South Korea 4 4 4 Coca-Cola Non-alcoholic Beverages USA 5 5 6 Apple Electronics / Computers USA 6 6 6 Tecno Electronics / Computers China 7 8 9 Gucci Luxury Italy 8 9 11 Toyota Auto Manufacturers Japan 9 7 8 Puma Sports & Fitness Germany 10 11 7 MTN Telecommunications South Africa

Brand Africas annual report and analysis of brands standing in Africa, Brand Africa 100, ranks the most admired brands on the continent and is based on a pan-African survey across more than 25 countries that account for over 80% of Africas population and GDP.Every year, in partnership with Kantar, the globally respected consumer knowledge and information company and Geopoll, the leading mobile based surveying platform with a database of over 250 million respondents in Africa, it independently surveys, analyses and ranks brands in Africa.In the latest report, Brand Africa 100 2022, Toyota was ranked 8th on The Top 100 Most Admired Brands in Africa list. This is an improvement on the position it achieved on the 2021 list when it made its Top 10 debut in the number 9 slot.Congratulations to the entire Toyota team  thats Toyota SA as well as the brands dealers and other distributors throughout Africa  on this remarkable achievement, said FCB Joburg and Hellocomputer Joburg Group MD, Joey Khuvutlu.Its no mean feat to be ranked within the Top 100 in a survey which annually yields over 80,000 brand mentions and over 2,000 unique brands, let alone improve upon a ranking in the Top 10. But the Toyota team has done just that, despite its opportunities for growth being severely stunted by the Covid pandemic and lockdown, Khuvutlu said.FCB Joburg executive creative director and a man who has worked on the brand in South Africa for 13 years, Tian van den Heever, added: This is Toyotas second appearance within the Top 10  it ranked 11th on the 2020 and 2019 rankings and made its Top 10 debut last year at 9th.As Toyota SAs marketing partner in South Africa since its launch way back in 1961, FCB Joburg and now Hellocomputer Joburg are determined to play their part where ever they can to make sure that happens.Personally, given my long association with the brand, Im incredibly proud to work on such an amazing brand that means so much to people on the continent, and has such a special place in my heart.
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

June 29, 2022



NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Rep. Nancy Pelosi receiving Communion at the Vatican:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who rejects the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion, marriage and sexuality, received Holy Communion on June 29 at a papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The pope was in attendance, but did not give out Communion.

Pelosi's stunt was done to undercut her bishop, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone: he has told her not to present herself for Communion, citing her lust for abortion rights.

Some will blame the Vatican for what happened; others will blame Pelosi; still others will blame Cordileone. There is only one person to blamePelosi.

Archbishop Cordileone invoked canon law to deny Pelosi Communion, so there is no issue there: He is in total compliance with Catholic teachings. But given the autonomy that bishops have, those who oversee other dioceses are not bound by what Cordileone decreed.

Pelosi received Communion from one of the many priests who were distributing it; he obviously did not know anymore about her than he does the man on the moon. And unlike Cordileone, he never reached out to her, seeking to counsel her on this subject. So the two are not comparable.

The priest did what was expected of himhe gave Communion to everyone waiting on line to receive it. For all we know, non-Catholics may have received Communion at the same Mass. That doesn't excuse those who willfully exploited the sacrament.

So where does this leave us?

Pelosi waiting in line to receive Communion is akin to a murderer waiting in line to pay his respects to his victim at a Catholic wake. The analogy is poignant in more ways than one.

Contact Pelosi's chief of staff: terri.mccullough@mail.house.gov
Todays world is faced with two possible future systems. On the one hand, there is a multipolar approach in defense of sovereign nation states premised on long-term thinking, scientific optimism and win-win cooperation stands as one possible outcome; on the other, there is a unipolar paradigm of world government, depopulation and zero-sum thinking.

Gaining insight into these two opposing paradigms is more important now than ever before, and one important place to start is the genesis of the ideologies that motivate the Great Reset Architects who are pushing society into a Fourth Industrial Revolution  a revolution where it is believed that automation, and Artificial Intelligence will render most of humanity obsolete. We are told that this post-reset age will also see a merging of humanity with machines, a future scenario heralded by figures like Elon Musk and Googles Ray Kurzweil in order to stay relevant in the next phase of our evolution. Davos-man Yuval Harari has echoed these sentiments, arguing that the levers of evolution will now be moved from the randomness of nature into the new gods running Google, Facebook and the WEF.

In a 2018 WEF sermon, Harari acted as a neo-Darwinian prophet of a new transhumanist age, saying:

We are probably among the last generations of homo sapiens. Within a century or two, Earth will be dominated by entities that are more different from us, than we are different from Neanderthals or from chimpanzees. Because in the coming generations, we will learn how to engineer bodies and brains and minds. These will be the main products of the 21st century economy.

This Borg-like deterministic faith in the human-machine synthesis that pervades the thinking of all modern transhumanists is both cultish, creepy and just plain wrong. However, without a proper evaluation of the historic roots of these ideas, which threaten to push global civilization into a dystopian nightmare, it is impossible to understand anything fundamental about the past 250 years of human experience, let alone see where the fatal flaws lie within the Great Reset/Transhumanist operating system. That system, of course, is simply a repackaged system of eugenics under a new name that was developed in the aftermath of World War II.

Leading transhumanist godfather (and president of the British Eugenics Society) Sir Julian Huxley enunciated this post-WW2 objective explicitly in his 1946 UNESCO founding manifesto saying:

Even though it is quite true that any radical eugenic policy will be for many years politically and psychologically impossible, it will be important for UNESCO to see that the eugenic problem is examined with the greatest care and that the public mind is informed of the issues at stake so that much that is now unthinkable may at least become thinkable.

There are a few fundamental things that should be understood about the psuedo-science of eugenics, otherwise known as the science of cleansing the human gene pool of undesirable pollution, which emerged at the end of the 19th century. Imagining a future age where the science of eugenics would replace religion, the schools founder Sir Francis Galton (cousin to Charles Darwin) mused in 1905: It is easy to let the imagination run wild on the supposition of a whole-hearted acceptance of eugenics as a national religion.

Closed vs Open Systems Clash in the 19th Century

The entire system of eugenics advocated by Galton, Huxley et al were merely a repackaging of the underlying assumptions of the theories of population popularized by the British East Companys star economist Thomas Malthus (1766-1834). Malthus promoted the mathematical thesis that population levels will always tend towards geometric growth, while agricultural resources will tend to arithmetic growth resulting in relatively forecastable crisis points. Malthus and his disciples, known as Malthusians, believed that social engineers representing the British Empire must use these crisis points to scientifically manage the human herd.

Thomas Malthus and the geometric ratio which he supposedly discovered proving that agriculture grows arithmetically while human populations grow geometrically

Malthus believed that nature bestowed upon the ruling class certain tools that would allow them to accomplish this important task (namely war, famine and disease). Malthus coldly stated the following in his 1799 Essay on Population:

We should facilitate, instead of foolishly and vainly endeavoring to impede, the operations of nature in producing this mortality; and if we dread the too frequent visitation of the horrid form of famine, we should sedulously encourage the other forms of destruction, which we compel nature to use. In our towns we should make the streets narrower, crowd more people into the houses, and court the return of the plague.

Taking this cold logic to its extreme, the reverend Malthus extended his logic to the practical elimination of unfit children whose value is comparatively low to society:

I should propose a regulation to be made, declaring that no child born from any marriage taking place after the expiration of a year from the date of the law, and no illegitimate child born two years from the same date, should ever be entitled to parish assistance The infant is, comparatively speaking, of little value to society, as others will immediately supply its place.

Britains implementation of Malthuss science of population management was vicious. In England, the Poor Laws of 1838 ensured that no state assistance beyond workhouses would be provided for masses of impoverished subjects of the Empire. Between 1845-1851, the repeal of the Corn Laws and Irish Potato Famine resulted in a million Irish dying of famine in a land with plentiful harvests. At the time, Free Trade agreements demanded export quotas be maintained even at gun point, despite mass starvation. In 1877 alone, over ten million Indians died of British-directed famines as Malthuss system was applied in full force, and throughout the British empire.

Toward the end of the 19th century, this closed unipolar system represented one centralized command structure that sought to keep all global cultures and nations subdued to the demands of the most fit. Yet, its dominance was wearing thin. In opposition to the dismal science of the British social engineers, an opposing paradigm was spreading like wildfire, one which saw the human mind and its capacities to discover laws of creation as primary to all rules which oligarchs demanded be obeyed.

Russia and the Ottoman Empire had been burned badly by British geopolitical manipulations during the Crimean War; Indian uprisings had shaped the entire 1859-1861 period; and the brutalization of the Chinese in the wake of the costly 2ndOpium War sent shockwaves of indignation to sympathizers across the world. Most importantly, the unions ability to survive a four-year, British-manipulated Civil War (largely due to Russias intervention in 1863) was a game changer. While Britains over extended (and over-bloated) system of empire trembled under its own rigidity, a new system of cooperation, protectionism, rail development, industrial growth, national banking and technological progress began to spread across the world, threatening to undo the closed system of hereditary power which had maintained control for eons.

The prospect of a coalition of nations developing their resources as land powers, with rail, industrial growth, protectionism and national banking procedures was anathema to the British Empires basis of global looting: private finance free trade, cash cropping and a general dependency on British Maritime supremacy.

The British Empire at its peak operated as a proto-cybernetics model of closed system with a highly compartmentalized bureaucracy managing the world with a small nerve center in London which would be permitted to see and control the whole system.

The Rise of Thomas Huxleys X Club

Empires never disappear without a fight, and the British Empire was no exception. Before the Civil War in the USA had concluded, a new imperial grand strategy was reformulated in Cambridge and in the London headquarters of the British Royal Society.

Out of these networks came a new breed of imperial management under the form of Huxleys X Club (c.1865) , which led by a young, talented misanthrope named Thomas Huxley (aka: Darwins Bull Dog). Huxley was tasked with formulating a new grand strategy to preserve the empire.

Reflecting upon the growth of German, Russian and American industrialization and cooperation, Huxley wrote in 1887 that Britain was entering upon the most serious struggle for existence to which this country was ever committed. The latter years of the century promise to see us in an industrial war of far more serious import than the military wars of its openings years.

Knowing that the most important level of warfare is found in the scientific conceptions held by society (since our standard for political self-regulation is ultimately founded upon and informed by standards and laws found in nature), Huxleys X Club aimed to unite all major branches of physics, biology, economics and sociology under a singular coherent interpretation based on gradualist, descriptive, reductionist science. This would be a new unified, internally consistent science that would iron out the evidence of all creative leaps which shape all living and non-living nature. This group realized that if nature could be modelled as a closed, decaying and random process, then it would also be devoid of any actual notion of principle, justice, or morality. This would be a conception of nature which empires could forever justify the exploitation of their victims.

Describing the X Club, historian Jules Evans wrote:

Like a Roman phalanx, the X-Club defended the cause of Darwinism and scientific naturalism (i.e the belief that God and other supernatural entities did not exist or at least did not intervene in the natural world). The members also used their influence to support each others work, and win the top jobs for themselves and their allies. It was a new guild, a new priesthood.

Charles Darwin and his handler Thomas Huxley. Between them is the title page of Malthus Essay on the Principle of Population which gave Darwin the basis of his theory of natural selection

The meta system uniting all of these various branches of descriptive science would be premised on Charles Darwins theories of natural selection and survival of the fittest. The supposed need for human society to weed out the unfit was premised on certain fundamental assumptions, not the least of which included: 1) that humanity is a system entirely shaped by material forces of environmental constraints and genetics, 2) that this system was fundamentally closed and hence entropic (subject to immutable laws of diminishing returns guided by an inevitable heat death), 3) that the creative force of genetic mutations guiding the appearance of a new biological mechanisms was fundamentally random and 4) that this randomness could only be overcome by the rise of a new era of social engineers managing humanity on all levels-economic, psychological, cultural and even genetic.

One of the propaganda instruments created by the X Club was a journal called Nature Magazine, which  in 1869  featured articles by Huxley and several X Club members. The deeper purpose of the X Club and its magazine, as outlined in a 2013 report entitled Hideous Revolution: The X Clubs Malthusian Revolution in Science, was geared towards the redefinition of all branches of science around a statistical-empiricist interpretation of the universe that denied the existence of creative reason in mankind or nature. Science was converted from the unbounded study and perfectibility of truth to a mathematically sealed science of limits.

Darwinism Repackages Malthus

The X Clubs support of Darwinism was less a scientific decision in this respect and more of a political one. As Darwin later admitted in his autobiography, his own theory arose directly from his study of Malthus:

In October 1838, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic inquiry, I happened to read for amusement Malthus on Population, and being prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on, from long-continued observation of the habits of animals and plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result would be the formation of a new species. Here then, I had at last got a theory by which to work.

By universalizing Malthus onto all living creation, the X Club obscured the qualitative difference between humans and monkeys which was advantageous for an empire that can only control humans when they adopt the law of the jungle as standards of moral practice and identity formation rather than anything actually moral.

Although Darwins modern defenders proclaim that the biologist was innocent of any accusations of promoting the social Darwinism which X Club associate Herbert Spencer innovated, the fact of Darwins own words showcases that he was not only aware but supportive of the social application of his survival of the fittest ideology onto human systems. In his 1871 Descent of Man, Darwin noted:

The weak members of civilised societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man itself, hardly any one is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

In an 1869 letter to Galton, Darwin wrote:

My Dear Galton, I have only read about 50 pages of your book, but I must exhale myself, else something will go wrong in my inside. I do not think I ever in all my life read anything more interesting and originaland how well and clearly you put every point You have made a convert of an opponent

Just to make it clear for those who may still be confused: Malthuss theory served as the basis of Darwins interpretation of natural selection. This, in turn, served as the basis of Galtons theory of eugenics and Herbert Spencers theory of social Darwinism (ultimately a more hands off approach to weeding out the unfit in a race for diminishing returns).

Anti-Darwinian Approaches to Evolution

Although we are told too often today that no alternative system ever existed outside of Darwins theory of evolution, a closer inspection of science history during the 19th century proves that to be far from true.

During this period, an anti-Darwinian scientific revolution was blossoming in the life sciences under the leadership of figures like James Dwight Dana, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Alexander von Humboldt, Georges Cuvier, Karl-Ernst von Baer, and Benjamin Silliman. These scientists not only began questioning the static theory of nature as derived from a literal reading of the Bible, but made huge strides in realizing the higher causal mechanisms defining the flow of evolution.

Unlike many of our modern scientists, these figures never saw a dichotomy separating science from religion, as science was understood as nothing less than the investigation and participation in Gods Creation, and as such the biosphere and all units within it were implicitly defined as more than the sum of its parts and all fast approaching theories of evolution that were driven by intention, harmony and directionality.

This outlook was showcased brilliantly by the great naturalist and embryologists Karl Ernst von Baer who wrote in his On the Purpose of Nature (1876):

The reciprocal interconnections of organisms with one another and their relationship to the universal materials that offer them the means for sustaining life, is what has been called the harmony of nature, that is a relationship of mutual regulation. Just as tones only give rise to a harmony when they are bound together in accordance with certain rules so can the individual processes in the wholeness of nature only exist and endure if they stand in certain relationships to one another. Chance is unable to create anything enduring, rather it is only capable of destruction.

The imperial school of Huxleys X Club denied not only creativitys existence from this higher metaphysical standpoint, but also denied the fact that humanity can uniquely translate the fruits of those creative discoveries into new forms of scientific and technological progress which had the effect of increasing our speciess ability to transcend our limits to growth (or as modern neo-Malthusians have termed it, our carrying capacity).

The Malthusian trap at left and the Club of Romes 1972 updated Malthusian revival trap at right which imposed artificial absolute constraints onto human potential based upon a mathematical interpretation of humanity, ecosystems and the mind itself.

The Dance of Math and Physics in the 20th Century: Who Leads and Who Follows?

In the opening months of the new century, a major event took place that went far in applying Huxleys mission. The Future of Mathematics Conference of August 1900 was a global event that attracted over 160 of the greatest mathematicians who wished to tackle cutting edge problems in science and deal with the relationship of physics and mathematics. Obviously, these two fields danced together, but the question remained: which would lead and which would follow?

Considering the fact that the world population still numbered well below two billion at this time, the density of scientific discoveries across all domains was occurring at a rate unseen in human history. From new discoveries in biology, embryology, atomic physics, electromagnetism, aerodynamics and chemistry, the answer to the math vs physics question was increasingly becoming obvious. The fact was that the growth of human knowledge was fast outpacing the limits of the mathematical language used by scientists. With time, new mathematical systems would be developed to describe the new creative discoveries being made, but no one could deny that creative thought was leading in this dance. What was also undeniable was how these new ideas were dramatically improving the conditions of countless lives through these great leaps in scientific and technological progress.

Hilbert and Russell Shape a New Paradigm

Two particularly important figures who played leading roles in sabotaging science during the 1900 Paris Conference, and whose ideas are inextricably linked to the later evolution of eugenics, cybernetics and transhumanism, were Cambridges Lord Bertrand Russell and Gottingen mathematician David Hilbert.

The duo aimed at nothing less than the reduction of the entire universe into a series of finite, internally consistent mathematical propositions and axioms.

During the 1900 conference, Hilbert announced his 23 problems for mathematics that would need to be solved by mathematicians of the 20th century. While many of these problems were genuinely important, the most destructive for the purpose of this article centered around the need to prove that all axioms of arithmetic are consistent [problem 2] and to axiomatize those physical sciences in which mathematics plays an important role [problem 6].

It took 13 years for Russell to achieve this objective in the form of his Principia Mathematica, which he co-authored with his former instructor and fellow Cambridge Apostle Alfred North Whitehead.

Bertrand Russell and Alfred Whiteheads three volume Principia Mathematica published between 1910-1913 set the stage for the latter development of cybernetics and information theory by Russells pupil Norbert Wiener

The name Principia Mathematica was chosen explicitly as an homage to Newtons Principia Mathematica, which was published 200 years earlier. At the time of the 1900 launch of the Russell-Hilbert project, both Euclid and Newtons flat interpretations of physical space-time were quickly crumbling with the advent of new discoveries by Riemann, Curie, Weber, Planck and Einstein who were all demonstrating that the shape of physical space-time had a living, creative character. With each creative discovery, a reciprocal interconnectedness between the subjective inner space of human cognition and the objective outer space of the discoverable universe was ever more firmly established.

Exemplifying this beautiful insight and passion to seek the unknown, which was common among great scientists during this fertile revolutionary period, Einstein stated: I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.

Reflecting this same view in his own way, Max Planck stated Science enhances the moral value of life, because it furthers a love of truth and reverencelove of truth displaying itself in the constant endeavor to arrive at a more exact knowledge of the world of mind and matter around us, and reverence, because every advance in knowledge brings us face to face with the mystery of our own being.

Max Planck and Albert Einstein were two exemplars of scientists who recognized the limits of linear mathematics when trying to discover the nature of non-linear (open) systems which requires a developed insight into musical creativity.

Closed System Entropy Must Define the Universe!

Russells closed system entropic mathematics was a direct reflection of his misanthropic view of an entropy-destined humanity which can explicitly be seen in his 1903 statement:

That man is the product of causes that had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Mans achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins- all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the souls habitation henceforth be safely built.

When pondering which set of metaphysical views has greater claim to truth featured above, it is worth asking the question: Who actually made demonstrable discoveries into creation and who merely formulated ivory tower models devoid of any actual element of discovery?

Part of the formula for success in Russells mind hinged on his obsession with mathematical equilibrium in all things. When applied to society, it was no wonder that Russell was a devout Malthusian and life long promoter of eugenics and population control. One of his many displays of such views was made in his 1923 Prospects of Industrial Civilization, where he stated:

Socialism, especially international socialism, is only possible as a stable system if the population is stationary or nearly so. A slow increase might be coped with by improvements in agricultural methods, but a rapid increase must in the end reduce the whole population to penury the white population of the world will soon cease to increase. The Asiatic races will be longer, and the negroes still longer, before their birth rate falls sufficiently to make their numbers stable without help of war and pestilence Until that happens the benefits aimed at by socialism can only be partially realized and the less prolific races will have to defend themselves against the more prolific by methods which are disgusting even if they are necessary.

Russells later writings in The Scientific Outlook (1930) extend his views of a stationary global society onto educational reform where he defines the need to have not one, but two separate modes of education: one for the elite master class, who will become rulers, and one for the inferior slave class.

Russell outlines the two castes in the following terms:

The scientific rulers will provide one kind of education for ordinary men and women, and another for those who are to become holders of scientific power. Ordinary men and women will be expected to be docile, industrious, punctual, thoughtless, and contented. Of these qualities probably contentment will be considered the most important. In order to produce it, all the researchers of psycho-analysis, behaviourism, and biochemistry will be brought into play. All the boys and girls will learn from an early age to be what is called `co-operative, i.e., to do exactly what everybody is doing. Initiative will be discouraged in these children, and insubordination, without being punished, will be scientifically trained out of them.

For the ruling class: Except for the one matter of loyalty to the world State and to their own order, Russell explained, members of the governing class will be encouraged to be adventurous and full of initiative. It will be recognized that it is their business to improve scientific technique, and to keep the manual workers contented by means of continual new amusements.

All of Russells later writings promote policies including: the pre-emptive nuclear bombing of Russia, a World Government run by a scientific dictatorship and teaching children to believe that snow is black should be read with his racist philosophical worldview in mind.

Norbert Wiener and the Rise of Cybernetics

In 1913, as Russells third and final volume of the Principia Mathematica was being printed, a young mathematics protege arrived at Cambridge from the U.S. on scholarship. His name was Norbert Wiener and he soon found himself among a small group of boys who were closely mentored by Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert. Under Russell, Wiener was taught logic and philosophy while Hilbert taught him differential equations. Speaking of Russell, Wiener said: when I came to study under Bertrand Russell in England, I learned that I had missed almost every issue of true philosophical significance. He called Hilbert the one really universal genius of mathematics.

Bertrand Russells student Norbert Wiener ruminating over the inevitable replacement of human beings by calculating machines

Throughout his entire life, Wiener was possessed by the obsession to express Russells logical, closed system in practical ways.

Despite the fact that a young Leibnizian genius named Kurt Godel threw a major wrench into Russells Principia program through his brilliant 1931 demonstration that no logical system could ever be truly consistent with itself due to the self-reflexive nature of all existent systems, Russell pushed forward with the project full force and Wiener was Russells leading apostle.

Other Russellites who promoted his theories of machine learning included such names as Alan Turing, Oskar Morgenstern, Claude Shannon and John von Neumann. While each mathematician had their own particular innovation to offer, they were all united by the unwavering faith that a human mind was a mixture of bestial impulses guided by closed-system machine logic and nothing more. In a computer, the whole is but the sum of parts, and it must be as such in all information systems, including human brains, ecosystems and the universe as a whole. Metaphysical principles like soul, purpose, God, justice and free will had no place in the minds of these human calculators.

By the end of WWII, Wieners work on feedback loops in aeronautics and radar led the mathematician to devise a new language for managing complex human systems, which he soon discovered had applications in business, military affairs and entire nations. The term he gave this new tool of control was cybernetics. Describing his invention, Weiner stated:

Cybernetics, which I derived from the Greek word Kubernetes, or steersman, the same Greek word from which we eventually derive our word governor.

By relying on binary, closed system computer machines as his model for human minds, Weiner demanded that metaphysical concepts be assumed to not exist beyond the merely physical characteristics of the measurable electrochemical properties of the brain. Describing this computer- mind analog, Weiner stated: It became clear to us that the ultra rapid computing machine, depending as it does on consecutive switching devices must represent almost an ideal model of the problems arising in the nervous system and that the problem of interpreting the nature and varieties of memory in the animal has its parallel in the problem of constructing artificial memories for the machine.

Cybernetics for Global Governance

Forecasting the inevitability of systems of global information control (and thus total political control by a god-like governing class) as well as artificial intelligence, Weiner wrote:

where a mans word goes and where his power of perception goes, to that point his control and in a sense his physical existence is extended. To see and to give commands to the whole world is almost the same as being everywhere.

The key to understanding the attraction of cybernetics to a scientific dictatorship desirous of total omniscience and omnipotence is the following: In the context of a large boat, only the helmsman need have an idea of the whole. Everyone else need only understand their local, compartmentalized role.

With the application of cybernetics to the organization of economic systems, vast complex bureaucracies emerged with only small nodes of helmsmen embedded within the newly emerging deep state complex who had access to a vision of the whole. This idea was carried forth by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developmentss Sir Alexander King, who co-founded the Club of Rome and helped to apply these ideas across governments of the trans-Atlantic community during the 1960s and 1970s. This system was viewed by its proponents as the perfect operating system for a supranational technocracy to use to control the levers of the New World Order.

One of the most enthusiastic practitioners of this new system during this period of transformation was Pierre Elliot Trudeau (the then-newly imposed Prime Minister of Canada) who shaped a vast cybernetics revolution of the Canadian government between 1968-1972 through Canadas Privy Council Office. During a November 1969 conference on Cybernetics in Government, Trudeau said:

We are aware that the many techniques of cybernetics, by transforming the control function and the manipulation of information, will transform our whole society. With this knowledge, we are wide awake, alert, capable of action; no longer are we blind, inert powers of fate.

Here, Trudeaus adoration of Cybernetics had been shared by his Russian soul-mate Nikita Khrushchev who rehabilitated the banned bourgeoisie pseudo science after Stalin had died. In his October 1961 to the 22nd Party Congress, Khrushchev stated:

It is imperative to organize wider application of cybernetics, electronic computing and control installations in production, research work, drafting and designing, planning, accounting, statistics and management.

Trudeau worked closely with Sir Alexander King and Aurelio Peccei in the formation of their new organization the Club of Rome, which has had a profound impact on global governance from 1968 to the present. Trudeau was a devout supporter of this new organization, which soon became a center of neo-Malthusian revivalism during the early years of the 1970s. Trudeau even presided over the Canadian branch of the Club of Rome and allocated money to fund the MIT Club of Rome study Limits to Growth, which became a holy book of sorts for the modern environmental organization.

Alexander King and the computer model made famous in the 1972 Limits to Growth imposed a new schism between humanitys desire to develop vs natures supposed desire to rest in mathematical equilibrium. This neo-Malthusian computer model was used to justify the culling of the unfit and overpopulated useless eaters and was subsequently incorporated into the third official World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos, where Aurelio Peccei was introduced by Klaus Schwab and showcased the Limits to Growth magic to thousands of supportive attendees.

This particular meeting was sponsored by Prince Bernhardt of the Netherlands, a man who had already distinguished himself among upper level managers of the empire by founding the infamous Bilderberg meetings in 1954 and, later, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in 1961 (alongside Julian Huxley and Prince Philip Mountbatten). In addition to incorporating Club of Rome population models into cybernetics-based planning, this summit also featured the official unveiling of the Davos Manifesto, a document which formalized the concept of Stakeholder Capitalism and the fourth industrial revolution into the governing manifesto of this Junior Bilderberger annual summit.

Unlike Russell, who denied all cases of anti-entropy, Weiner allowed for the existence of isolated islands of limited anti-entropy in the case of biology and human systems which tended to operate in ways that saw entropy (aka: the tendency of systems to collapse into equilibrium) decrease. However, just like Russell, Wiener believed that cybernetics and information theory were shaped entirely by entropy, saying:

The notion of the amount of information attaches itself very naturally to a classical notion in statistical mechanics: that of entropy. [aka: the second law of thermodynamics]

In Wieners mind, the universe was a decaying finite place shaped by death which would inevitably destroy the limited states of anti-entropic life, life which occurred purely by chance in random parts of space and in time. Wiener stated the following in 1954:

[] it is highly probable that the whole universe around us will die the heat death, in which the world shall be reduced to one vast temperature equilibrium in which nothing really new ever happens. There will be nothing left but a drab uniformity.

A simplified representation of the supposed second law of thermodynamics (aka: Entropy) which presumes all systems to be 1)closed and thus 2) teleologically wired to move deterministically towards heat death since nothing qualitatively new can be presumed to ever exist in any system which wasnt already in said system from the beginning.

The Macy Conferences on Cybernetics

From 1943 until 1953, Wieners cybernetics and his information theory corollary became the rallying point for a new scientific priesthood. This priesthood would gather together leading thinkers of every branch of knowledge, an effort similar to that previously made by Thomas Huxley and his Royal Society X Club.

These conferences were funded by the Josiah Macy Foundation, which had been created by Brigadier General Marlborough Churchill (a cousin of Winston Churchill) in 1930 with the primary aim of moving funds into eugenics research in both the U.S. and Germany, alongside its sister organization The Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation would fund leading Nazi eugenicist Ernst Rudin from 1928 throughout the entire 1930s, while also sponsoring research led by the British and American eugenics societies.

As Anton Chaitkin points out in his British Psychiatry from Eugenics to Assassination, the Macy Foundations founder and controller Gen. Marlborough had formerly headed the military intelligences Black Chamber from 1919 until its disbanding in 1929. The Black Chamber interfaced closely with British Intelligence and served as a model for the U.S.s National Security Agency (NSA). On March 5, 1946, the NSA was integrated into the British Commonwealth intelligence infrastructure with the signing of the UK-USA Signals Intelligence Agreement that gave birth to the Five Eyes alliance. It is also no coincidence that this occurred on the very same day that Winston Churchill delivered his infamous Iron Curtain speech in Fulton Missouri, which formalized the Cold War.

Starting in 1945 and desperately in need to prevent the spread of the American System of Political Economy and an international New Deal that had been put into motion by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics began meeting every six months. These conferences brought together Tavistock-connected psychiatrists, biologists, neurologists, computer engineers, sociologists, economists, mathematicians, and even theologians. Wiener described these conferences, which shaped the course of Western policy during the next 75 years, saying for human organization, we sought the help from the anthropologists Doctors [Gregory] Bateson and Margaret Mead while Dr. [Oskar] Morgenstern of the Institute of Advanced Study was our advisor in the significant field of social organization belonging to economic theoryDr [Kurt] Lewin represented the newer work on the opinion of opinion sampling and the practice of opinion making.

Social Engineering Drives the Post-War Order

For those who may not know, Dr. Bateson was a leading controller of the CIAs MK Ultra program, which ran from 1952-1973 as a multi billion-dollar covert operation designed to study the effects of depatterning on both individuals and groups using mixtures of electroshock therapy, torture and drugs. Oskar Morgenstern was the innovator of Game Theory, which played a dominant role in both military planning of the Vietnam War as well as economic systems for the next 70 years. Dr. Kurt Lewin was a leading psychiatrist from Londons Tavistock Clinic and member of the Frankfurt School that organized a concerted program to eliminate the sickness of national patriotism, belief in truth, and family love throughout the Cold War period.

A prominent conference member and planner of this operation was named Sir Julian Huxley. Huxley was a leading eugenicist and imperial grand strategist who worked closely with fellow Fabian Society leader Bertrand Russell. Huxley shared Russell and Wieners devout belief in universal entropy saying in 1953:

Nowhere in all its vast extant is there any trace of purpose, or even of prospective significance It is impelled from behind by blind physical forces, a gigantic jazz dance of particles and radiations in which the only over-all tendency we have so far been able to detect is that summarized in the second law of thermodynamics- the tendency to run down.

As he was beginning to formulate his concept of transhumanism and while he was organizing the Macy Cybernetics Conferences, Julian also found the time to create the United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1946, drafting its founding manifesto. His entropic view of biology and physics was clearly expressed in his bone chilling political views wherein he writes:

The moral for UNESCO is clear. The task laid upon it of promoting peace and security can never be wholly realised through the means assigned to it- education, science and culture. It must envisage some form of world political unity, whether through a single world government or otherwise, as the only certain means of avoiding war in its educational programme it can stress the ultimate need for a world political unity and familiarize all peoples with the implications of the transfer of full sovereignty from separate nations to a world organization.

Working in tandem with the World Health Organization- itself created by a Tavistock psychiatrist named G. Brock Chisholm, and funded entirely by the Macy Foundation  Huxley organized the creation of the World Federation of Mental Health (WFMH). WFMH was overseen by the Bank of Englands Montagu Norman and directed by the head of Londons Tavistock Clinic Maj. General John Rawlings Rees, whom Montagu directly appointed.

Chaitkin points out that among the first projects which the WFMH and Macy Foundation jointly organized were the Conferences on Problems of Health and Human Relations in Germany in 1949-1950 which ensured that the Frankfurt Schools Authoritarian Personality thesis was drilled into the minds of all German children. The goal was to persuade the German people that the whole fault of Hitlers rise to power was not to be found in looking for international conspiracies or City of London/Wall Street manipulation but rather in the authoritarian psychological-genetic disposition of the German people themselves. This program was overseen by Tavistock Director Kurt Lewin, who by this time became a leading figure of the Frankfurt School and innovator of a new brainwashing technique called sensitivity training which relied heavily on the use of guilt complexes and group pressure to break the will of a target group either in a classroom or in the workplace and absorbing any original thinkers into states of group think. Lewins work with the WFMH and Tavistock also became the foundation for todays Critical Theory doctrines that threaten to undermine the entire scope of western civilization.

To the degree that individuals think for themselves and are inwardly directed by factors of 1) creative reason and 2) conscience, the group-think systems no longer behave according to the sort of statistically predictable rules of entropy and equilibrium, which control-hungry oligarchs and technocrats demand. Erasing that factor of unpredictability by making the argument that all leaders who profess truth are simply authoritarian personalities and new Hitler-types, the virtue of mobs was raised above the virtue of individual genius and initiative which continues to plague the world to this day.

Cybernetics Conferences evolved throughout the 1960s-1970s, finding themselves increasingly integrated with international organizations like the United Nations, World Health Organization, NATO, and OECD. As this integration occurred, the new technocrats became ever more influential in setting the standards of the new world operating system. Meanwhile national governments found themselves increasingly cleansed of nationalist moral leaders like John F. Kennedy, Charles DeGaulle, Enrico Mattei, and John Diefenbaker. This resulted in the deeper integration of both systems analysis and cybernetics into the governing framework of a new transnational power structure.

After Julian Huxley coined the term transhumanism in 1957, the cult of Artificial Intelligence  guided by a belief in the inevitable merger of man and machine  grew increasingly with such major events as the man-computer symbiosis thesis of J.C.R Licklider in 1960 and the application of these systems into Department of Defense programs like wargames command systems, SAGE (Semi Automatic Ground Environment), and unmanned jet plane defense networks. DARPAs Augmented Cognition Computer-Soldier dyads were yet another expression of this perverse idea with hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the creation of enhanced cyborg soldiers.

Over the years, followers of this new cult soon found themselves operating as helmsmen in the new global ship of earth, giving rise to a new global elite class of technocrats and oligarchs who are loyal only to their caste and ideology. They strive to shape their minds ever more closely to the model of idea computing machines capable of logic, but not love or creativity. The more that these cultish technocrats  like Yuval Harari, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Gates or Klaus Schwab  could think like cold computers, while getting the masses of the earth to do the same, the more their thesis that computers must obviously replace human thought could be maintained.
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On Tuesday, as TFTP predicted, Ghislaine Maxwell was handed down a sentence that was 30 years less than prosecutors were asking. Thanks to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan  who has been granting Maxwell special treatment throughout her prosecution  Maxwell could be out of prison in less than a decade with good behavior.

As we reported back in March of 2021, Maxwells privilege began to show through as her requests to redact evidence were allowed. Judge Nathan issued a ruling on redactions that Maxwell had asked for regarding transcripts the government filed under seal in February 2021.

According to the judge, the evidence was too sensational and impure to reveal to the public.

Those portions of the transcript, which were redacted in the civil matter, concern privacy interests and their disclosure would merely serve to cater to a craving for that which is sensational and impure, Nathan wrote in the order.

After granting Maxwell her request, in November, judge Nathan was nominated by President Joe Biden to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Coincidence?

The insultingly low sentence was given despite the horrific testimonies by Maxwells victims. Victims of Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein; Annie Farmer, Virginia Giuffre, Elizabeth Stein, Sarah Ransome, Teresa Helm and Kate, who has used the pseudonym to identify herself, all filed victim impact statements and asked Nathan to consider their suffering when sentencing Maxwell. Although Nathan claimed to consider them, she still handed down a sentence that was less than adequate.

According to reports, Ransome said that the half of a year she spent treated as a sex toy by Maxwell and Epstein spurred her to attempt suicide twice. Graphic photos of her taken inside a hospital room after those attempts were included in the filing.

Judge Nathan, I hope when you consider the appropriate prison sentence for the role Maxwell played in this sex trafficking operation, you take into account the ongoing suffering of the many women she abused and exploited as we will continue to live with the memories of the ways she harmed us, she wrote. I hope you weigh the systemic effects of the crimes she perpetrated  the ways that our family members, romantic partners, and friends have been hurt through our suffering.

Kate said Maxwells final insult was her lack of remorse after being found guilty. She said Maxwell was a manipulative, cruel and merciless person and could have stopped the abuse.

You could have put an end to the rapes, the molestations, the sickening manipulations that you arranged, witnessed and even took part in, Kate said in court.

Lawyers for the victims have since called on the FBI to continue their investigation into the other abusers Maxwell and Epstein provided with sex trafficked children. They specifically named the Queen of Englands son, Prince Andrew.

Lets hope theyre the next target. If we have anything to do with it, they will be, Attorney Brad Edwards, who represented Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre in her now-settled out-of-court sex abuse civil lawsuit against the Duke of York was cited as saying.

These comments were echoed by another lawyer, Spencer Kuvin, who represents several of Epstein and Maxwells other victims.

Obviously, Andrew is one of the targets they will be looking into. He should definitely be concerned, but.. if he did nothing wrong, then come forward and tell the full story to the FBI, not the media, he said outside New Yorks federal court, where Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday.

We call upon the FBI to fully investigate Prince Andrew. Virginia Giuffres civil case should be just the beginning. Everyone associated with Epstein and Maxwell should be carefully investigated, added Los Angeles lawyer Lisa Bloom, who is representing several other alleged victims of the deceased tycoon Epstein.

Bloom had been quoted as telling the Daily Mail that Prince Andrew should be quaking in his boots.

US investigators subsequently applied to the British government to hand over the Duke of York to give evidence through a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request to the Home Office, bypassing Buckingham Palace. If such a request received approval, the FBI could ask for the royal to be compelled to go to a British court to give evidence under oath as a witness.

Given the lack of interest by prosecutors going after Maxwells clients, however, it is highly unlikely that the prince will ever see his day in court.
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Los Angeles, CA  The mother of a Los Angeles police officer is coming forward this week alleging that her son 32-year-old officer Houston Tipping, was beaten to death by fellow cops during department training last month. Tipping was playing the role of a civilian and was beaten by fellow officers and suffered fatal head and neck injuries.

Shirley Huffman, Tippings mother filed a notice of claim against the city this month as part of a wrongful death lawsuit. Her son suffered a massive spinal cord injury during the event on May 26 and died three days later. He was buried last week.

Huffman stated in her lawsuit that the training exercise had already been questioned before her son was killed as other officers had previously suffered injuries during the training.

In a statement after Tippings death, police claimed that Tipping was injured while grappling with another officer in a tragic accident.

At the time of the accident Officer Tipping was a bike instructor engaged in a training scenario involving grappling with another officer. During the scenario Officer Tipping fell to the floor and suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury. Officers immediately began CPR and summoned a LA Fire rescue who transported Officer Tipping to USCMC.

This is a point with which Huffman disagrees. Huffman alleged her son was repeatedly struck in the head severely enough that he bled, and that the beating resulted in injuries requiring stitches. He also suffered multiple breaks in his neck, which caused his death, the claim said, according to the LA Times.

Bradley Gage, an attorney for Huffman, said Tipping suffered injuries to two parts of his head and to four vertebrae.

Chief Moore stated that Officer Tipping impressed his peers with a willingness to go the extra mile to make the world a better place, her claim stated. Yet, that wasnt enough to avoid other officers paralyzing him and eventually killing him in violation of law, and his civil rights.

According to the Times, Capt. Kelly Muniz, an LAPD spokeswoman, said Friday that the department could not comment on the claim or the nature of the training exercise. But, she said, the department is taking the matter seriously and has launched its own investigation into the incident  in part to determine whether there are any changes that need to be made or lessons that may be learned.

Police in Los Angeles are notoriously corrupt and while this case may be unrelated, rogue cops in precinct gangs have doled out violent punishments like this one before. As TFTP reported, many whistleblowers have come forward with allegations that gang members  who are also cops  control different precincts in the county.

In July of 2019, the FBI was investigating the East LA branch of the LA County Sheriffs Department whereby Bandito gang members had full control of station operations. The report states the Bandito gang member/police officers put others lives at risk by not sending backup to help on dangerous calls, enforced illegal arrest quotas and carried out other forms of harassment.

The culmination of scandals resulted with several deputies claiming they were beaten, choked and nearly killed by fellow officers who were also tattoo wearing members of the Bandito gang.
As TFTP reported last month, the Uvalde shooter was able to fire off rounds outside the school building for 12 minutes, unobstructed and unchallenged by law enforcement before he entered the school and murdered children. He then entered the school where he was allowed to remain unhindered for 1 hour and 17 minutes before a tactical unit with Border Patrol showed up, disobeyed the order not to go in, and finally took him out.

Last week, a still shot from a surveillance camera inside Robb Elementary showed that Uvalde cops were well equipped to engage the shooter. At least one of the officers is seen with a bullet proof shield nearly an hour before police would enter the classroom.

As parents were thrown to the ground, tasered, and handcuffed outside the school for trying to save their children, heavily armed officers  with the proper gear to take out a shooter  were inside the school just 19 minutes after the gunman arrived.

They would not enter the classroom for another 58 minutes.

Angeli Gomez was one of these parents who was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, but she persisted nonetheless.

The police were doing nothing, said Gomez. They [the police] were just standing outside the fence. They werent going in there or running anywhere.

Gomez would convince one of the Uvalde police officers to uncuff her and she snuck away.

As soon as they [police] take me off the cuff I see his arm like, give me a little gateway, because Im real little so a little gateway where I can just run.

As heavily armed cops with AR-15s and body armor twiddled their thumbs as a mass shooter murdered children inside the school, Gomez  unarmed and wearing no body armor at all  jumped a fence and rushed into the school.

As FOX 29 reports, within minutes Gomez is able to get her oldest son and some of his classmates out. But her youngest was still inside. She ran around the school desperately searching for his classroom.

At this moment Im jiggling the handle and Im going pretty nuts like trying to get the door open and its not gonna open, so I stand back and the cops are already on me and theyre like maam calm down!

Gomez answered back, telling police to evacuate the school or she wont leave her spot, immediately they start evacuating that classroom and my son runs out to me and hes like, mom, mom!

I just remember when my son saw my other son, one hugged the other one and said Im so glad youre okay, and the other one said, I was so worried you werent,' she recalled.

Gomez became an American hero that day but to the cops in Uvalde, shes an bothersome reminder of their gross incompetence. Since her heroism exposed their inaction, Gomez says shes been constantly harassed  even at her own home.

Gomez told FOX 29 that the other night we were exercising and we had a cop parked at the corner like, flickering us with his headlights.

She told reporters that she has since had to separate from her boys, just so my sons dont feel like they have to watch cops passing by, stopping, parking.

Gomez says she now intends on filing a lawsuit against the department. Her lawyer, Mark Di Carlo told FOX 29 that Uvalde chief Pete Arredondo needs to be immediately fired, noting , the fact that he wasnt fired immediately based upon whatever it is, hours of video, from testimonies such as Angelis; is an indication that there is some sort of what, corruption or wrong-doing.

Indeed, as we reported last week, many Texans feel the same way and the lack of transparency in this case has many of them alleging that a cover-up is taking place.
RTHK: Aide says Trump tried to grab steering wheel

Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential limousine on January 6, 2021, when his security detail declined to take him to the US Capitol where his supporters were rioting, a former aide testified on Tuesday.

The then-president dismissed concerns that some supporters gathered for his fiery speech outside the White House that day carried AR-15-style rifles, instead asking security to stop screening attendees with magnetometers so the crowd would look larger, the aide testified.

"Take the effing mags away; they're not here to hurt me," Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to Trump's then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, quoted Trump as saying that morning.

Trump struggled with Secret Service agents who insisted he return to the White House rather than join supporters storming the Capitol where Congress was meeting to certify his rival Democratic President Joe Biden's victory, Hutchinson testified.

"'I'm the effing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,'" Hutchinson quoted an enraged Trump as saying. She said Trump tried from the back seat to grab the steering wheel of the heavily armoured presidential vehicle.

It was one of several of Hutchinson's disclosures in testimony at the sixth day of House hearings into the deadly January 6 Capitol assault by Trump's followers, roused by his false claims his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud.

On social media Trump denied having grabbed the wheel.

"Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is 'sick' and fraudulent," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media app.

Dozens of courts, election officials and reviews by Trump's own administration rejected his fraud claims, including outlandish stories about an Italian security firm and the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tampering with US ballots.

Four people died the day of the attack, one fatally shot by police and the others of natural causes. More than 100 police officers were injured, and one died the next day. Four officers later died by suicide.

At the end of about two hours of testimony, Representative Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the nine-member House panel, presented possible evidence of witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

She showed messages to unidentified witnesses advising them that an unidentified person would be watching their testimony closely and expecting loyalty.

Republican Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump's chief of staff before Meadows, said on Twitter: "There is an old maxim: it's never the crime, it's always the cover-up. Things went very badly for the former President today. My guess is that it will get worse from here."

Hutchinson told the committee that Meadows and Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani had sought pardons from Trump.

The hastily called hearing marked the first time this month, during six hearings, that a former White House official appeared for live testimony.

Speaking in soft but assured tones, Hutchinson painted a picture of panicked White House officials bristling at the possibility of Trump joining what was to become a violent mob pushing its way into the Capitol, hunting for then-Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers who were then certifying the victory of Biden over the Republican Trump.

Their worries focused on the potential criminal charges Trump and others could face.

"We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable," Hutchinson said White House counsellor Cipollone told her if Trump were to go to the Capitol on January 6.

"'We need to make sure that this doesn't happen, this would be a really terrible idea for us. We have serious legal concerns if we go up to the Capitol that day,'" Cipollone said, Hutchinson testified.

Hutchinson, who sat doors away from Trump's Oval Office, testified that days before the attack on the US Capitol, Meadows knew of the looming violence that could unfold.

"'Things might get real, real bad on January 6,'" she quoted him as saying inside the White House on January 2 with her boss.

She testified that Giuliani had said of January 6: "'We're going to the Capitol, it's going to be great. The president's going to be there; he's going to look powerful.'"

At that point, she told the House committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans: "It was the first moment that I remembered feeling scared and nervous of what could happen on January 6."

This month's hearings featured videotaped testimony from figures including Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his former attorney general, Bill Barr. They and other witnesses testified that they did not believe Trump's false claims of widespread fraud and tried to dissuade him of them. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-06-28. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chinese FM meets with outgoing EU ambassador

Xinhua) 09:27, June 29, 2022

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Nicolas Chapuis, the outgoing ambassador of the European Union (EU) to China, in Beijing, capital of China, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday met with Nicolas Chapuis, the outgoing ambassador of the European Union (EU) to China.

Wang said that China-EU cooperation has seen important achievements in recent years. At the same time, there are some differences between China and the EU that affect the sound development of relations from time to time.

"A key point is that the EU should form a more objective and correct understanding of China's development direction," Wang said, noting that China will continue to follow its path of peaceful development and develop a new system of open economy of higher standards.

Wang said the world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation, with increasing risks and challenges. He said that China and the EU, as two important forces in the world, should strengthen dialogue and communication, firmly uphold the basic position of partnership, adhere to the approach of seeking common ground while shelving differences, and uphold a win-win cooperation model and the trend of multilateralism to provide more stability and positive energy for the world.

Chapuis said that there is great potential in the development of EU-China relations. Although there are some differences, the two sides can still seek common interests and achieve win-win results. The EU, like China, does not want to see the world fall into bloc confrontation. The EU would like to work with China to jointly address global challenges such as climate change, the pandemic and digital transformation. The EU adheres to the one-China policy and will not break its commitment in this regard.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
A teenage boy found with a knife after stealing someones shoes was sentenced to probation Tuesday morning.

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FILE The Brandon courthouse.

A teenage boy found with a knife after stealing someones shoes was sentenced to probation Tuesday morning.

The teen pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon in incidents from June 2021. He cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act as he is under 18 years of age.

On June 12, a person called police to report "a robbery" at his residence on 11th Street, said Manitoba Justice articling student Sarah Kok. The caller identified the youth as the suspect and said he had been waiting for him in his backyard.

They said the boy showed a knife in his waistband and said he wasnt afraid to use it on him. He then stole his shoes, she said.

Police found the youth and another person near the intersection of 19th Street and Victoria Avenue, Kok told the court.

When officers searched him, they reportedly found the folding knife used in the theft in his back pocket, Kok said. At the time, he was under court-ordered conditions not to possess any weapons.

The youth also pleaded guilty to a June 10 incident in which Kok said he was found intoxicated with a large machete in his pants.

Kok recommended a sentence of 18 months of supervised probation and 30 hours of community service work.

The boy has a variety of Gladue factors and witnessed violence in his home, said defence counsel Jaidan Merry.

Despite this, he has engaged with resources, she said, and is choosing to plead guilty as an acknowledgment of the effect of the crime on the community.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said she was "very concerned" about the incident and robbing someone at knifepoint for their shoes.

"Theres no good reason for you to be wandering around in Brandon with weapons, and its clear to me: when you were doing it here you had bad intentions," she said.

Hewitt-Michta said she recognizes the negative things that have happened in his life, but called the incident a bad choice.

She sentenced him to 18 months of supervised probation, with conditions not to possess any weapons.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
To help prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease in Manitobas deer population, the provincial government is changing some hunting regulations.

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To help prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease in Manitobas deer population, the provincial government is changing some hunting regulations.

The province is expanding the area from which samples are taken from hunted deer along the western and southern borders of Manitoba, said Maria Arlt, acting director for the fish and wildlife branch of Natural Resources and Northern Development.

All hunters in the mandatory submission zone must provide tissue samples from white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose for chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing. Hunters will be informed if their animals test positive.

This will help the province determine if the disease has spread further, Arlt said. All hunters in the high-risk zone are being asked to practise safe carcass handling and avoid eating any flesh from the animals until test results come back.

New sample dropoff locations will be announced in mid-August.

The province is also establishing a strictly regulated mule deer hunting season in the affected areas and passing information on the risks of CWD to nearby Indigenous communities and stakeholders.

Anyone who has been hunting in southern or western Manitoba should have their animal tested.

"Chronic wasting disease is one of the most significant challenges in wildlife management," Arlt said. "It has significant negative impacts to wildlife populations, as well as hunting outfitters, tourism and Indigenous food security."

The concern is that its continuing to spread in Saskatchewan in both whitetail and mule deer populations. As well, more deer have tested positive for CWD in Minnesota and North Dakota near the Manitoba border.

There has been a CWD surveillance program in place since 1997, Arlt said. Extensive testing has been done in the whitetail population, but there has been limited testing for mule deer. Having this hunting opportunity for that species will give the province more samples from the mule deer population to make sure there wasnt any further spread.

Even with extensive testing in the area, Arlt said the province doesnt believe the disease has spread past the five known cases.

"We feel those detections were very early and close to the border, so we dont believe it spread beyond that," she said. "But again, we are increasing our surveillance to ensure that is the case."

The surveillance program is extensive, Arlt added. The early and widespread measures it took since CWD was detected have likely prevented much transmission and more actions will help catch it before it can spread again.

CWD is a highly contagious, incurable and fatal disease that affects members of the cervid species, including all deer, moose and elk. According to the Government of Canada website, signs that a cervid has CWD include excessive salivation, erratic behaviour, paralysis and sudden weight loss. How it is spread is unknown.

It was first detected in a mule deer in the Lake of the Prairies area on Oct. 14, 2021. Four more mule deer were found to be infected shortly after along the Saskatchewan border.

Since then, there have been no other cases detected, Arlt said.

While Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development says CWD is not transmissible to humans, people should not eat meat from infected animals.

Anyone with concerns can contact the province at CWD@gov.mb.ca.

 kmckinley@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @kearnleighmcki1
Australian lithium miner Liontown Resources has struck a deal to supply car manufacturing giant Ford with a crucial electric vehicle battery material and has given the green light to the development of its flagship WA project following a loan from the US automaker.

The deal with Ford will be Liontowns third five-year agreement to supply cargoes of hard-rock lithium concentrate known as spodumene from its Kathleen Valley, WA project after agreeing to deals with Elon Musks Tesla and Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions earlier this year.

Liontown chief executive Tony Ottaviano (left) and chairman Tim Goyder (right). Credit:Liontown

Ford will receive up to 150,000 dry metric tonnes of spodumene per year from Liontown once its Kathleen Valley lithium mine begins production, which is expected in 2024. The US carmaker also agreed to a $300 million debt facility with Liontown for the mine.

Liontown managing director and chief executive Tony Ottaviano said the Ford deal and a $463 million capital rise in December had allowed the board to approve the mines development in WAs Goldfields region. The signing of our third and final foundational offtake agreement is a momentous milestone for Liontown and the Kathleen Valley project, with approximately 90 per cent of Kathleen Valleys start-up capacity now under secured long-term binding offtake agreements, Ottaviano said.
Power and gas giant Origin Energy has been dealt a record $17 million fine after its automated processes breached legal obligations owed to tens of thousands of customers facing financial hardship across Australia.

The Federal Courts decision announced on Wednesday, which followed legal action launched by the Australian Energy Regulator, is the largest penalty ever imposed for breaking national energy retailing regulations.

Origin Energy, one of Australias largest power and gas suppliers, has been dealt a record $17 million fine for its treatment of customers facing financial hardship. Credit:James Davies

Over nearly four years from 2018 to 2021, automated processes Origin had put in place for customers experiencing hardship and payment difficulties resulted in it breaching hardship obligations on more than 100,000 occasions, the company acknowledged.

In all, more than 90,000 customers were affected across New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and South Australia. Origins unlawful automated processes included unilaterally establishing new payment plans after previous plans had been cancelled for non-payment, increasing customers payment amounts without considering capacity to pay, or cancelling payment plans in instances where it was unable to discuss with the customer a review of their plans.
But the films themselves  well, there my taste diverges from the popular to a pretty significant degree. Elvis is a bit of a mess. The Great Gatsby was a bit of a mess. Moulin Rouge with its pop-song mash-ups was a bit of a mess. And Australia was the mother of all messes. Only Strictly Ballroom  which was no less razzle-dazzle than the others, but was a breath of fresh air when it landed  and Romeo + Juliet, a perfectly judged marriage of MTV aesthetic and hyperinflated teen emotion to Shakespeares text, stand apart.

Dont get me wrong  Im delighted to see his Elvis sitting at the top of the Australian box office. Im delighted too that he keeps making these big, bold, expensive movies, and that they keep succeeding, because they play a key role in proving the Australian film industry belongs on the world stage. Sure, its not the only gauge that matters, but Hollywood has taken notice of Australia in no small part because of what Baz (and George Miller) have consistently done in this country, on their own terms.

Baz is the King of Bling, the Bedazzler of cinema. His movies are all flash and tinsel. They are noisy, frenetic, hyperactive triumphs of spectacle over substance, and people just love them.

Baz has a vision, of that there is no doubt. But that vision is largely about how things look (and really, it seems only right to acknowledge the role his production and costume designer wife Catherine Martin plays here; not for nothing has her work won four Oscars). And often that look is a pastiche of looks that have gone before.

Australia is indebted to the newsreels of the era in which it is set, the 1930s and 40s, to Jedda and its conflicting myths of the dangerous and the noble savage, to Chips Rafferty droving cattle across the dry plains in The Overlanders. It grapples with our shameful past  poisoned waterholes, the Stolen Generations, child sexual abuse by the clergy, entrenched sexism and racism in every walk of life  by mobilising shorthand images and gestures that are no more original than the films recurring motif of the wizened Aboriginal man standing on one leg against a vast landscape. It may be an efficient mode of storytelling, but it feels gestural, empty.

The Great Gatsby: Too much razzle-dazzle is barely enough. Credit:Village Roadshow

Bazs take on The Great Gatsby was hailed as a visual feast, but I felt like Id been force-fed OTT imagery so my liver could be turned into pate. F Scott Fitzgeralds slim book was a precision-targeted attack on excess, but thats Bazs stock-in-trade. So instead of framing Jay Gatsbys spectacular parties as things of horror and wanton waste, he could only wonder how to eke yet more dazzle out of all that razzle.

Elvis is more of the same. Even before its begun the screen has exploded in a riot of CGI jewels to form the Warner Bros logo. The first 20 minutes is a mess of noise and hyperactive camerawork, as if some hyperactive kid had gone hard at the red cordial then set out to make a movie. When Baz wants to convey the idea that Elviss twin influences were gospel music and the blues, he has him as a young kid literally running back and forth between a church and a honky tonk, between rapture and the ravishing of the flesh. Its nuts.
Jason Cavanagh has just flicked the switch on a big experiment that he hopes could transform independent theatre in Melbourne.

Its called MotleyGO, and its a digital streaming platform for subscribers (yes, another one). But his bet is that the so-called pivot to digital in the performing arts wasnt just a pandemic moment. In fact, he reckons theres a paying online audience out there, not just for cabaret, stand-up, theatre and music filmed at his new Motley Bauhaus venue in Carlton, but work from across Melbournes vibrant independent theatre scene.

Owner/manager of Motley Bauhaus in Carlton ,Jason Cavanagh. Credit:Eddie Jim

And hes joining an increasingly competitive space. Major performing arts companies are looking at the data from their COVID-era digital shows, and planning to push ahead, and expand.

Cavanagh is a born arts entrepreneur. While many operations switched to survival mode over the last two years, he built (much of it, literally by his own hand during lockdowns) a new theatre venue for Melbourne: the Motley Bauhaus in Carlton with a 75-seat theatre and recording studio, a second little stage upstairs and an art gallery. Plus, importantly, a bar.
Becoming Elizabeth 

Stan*

When Henry VIII dropped off the twig, he left behind three children in line for the throne. All three of them would get a shot on it  last, longest and most famously the young Elizabeth (Alicia von Rittberg).

Dont expect Becoming Elizabeth to be one of those glossy, romantic re-imaginings of things. Theres a fair bit of grit here, and if the occasionally shrill piano in the score puts you in mind of Succession youre on the right track. Young Elizabeth is about to find herself in a nest of vipers every bit as colourful and ruthless as Logan Roys offspring.

Mommie dearest: the young Elizabeth (Alicia von Rittberg), heir to the British throne, is shuffled off to live with King Henrys widow Catherine Parr (Jessica Raine) in the dark historic drama Young Elizabeth. Credit:Nick Briggs

But where Succession leans into dark humour, Becoming Elizabeth leans into darkness in general, its chiaroscuro interiors adding weight to an atmosphere thick with foreboding and unwholesomeness.
Just over a month after Anthony Albaneses election win, Labor is slowly staffing its offices with ministerial advisers, though the so-called star chamber process is making it a laborious task.

Among the big-name hires (well, big names in the Canberra bubble, anyway) are Claudia Crawford, who is returning to Treasurer Jim Chalmers office. The pair have worked together on and off for a decade, going back to the Wayne Swan days.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Skye Laris, a veteran Labor staffer, AGL policy wonk and former GetUp campaigner (though that bit seems to have fallen off her LinkedIn profile), has taken up a job as a senior adviser in the PMs office. Laris is also the wife of Workplace Minister Tony Burke.

Chris Owens, who has worked for former ministers Nicola Roxon and Kate Lundy, NAB and most recently the departed Kristina Keneally, has been snapped up by the PMs office to be governance director, responsible for wrangling the crossbench.
As this financial year draws to a close, the Australian Taxation Office has warned taxpayers against lodging their tax returns too early or risk experiencing delays getting refunded.

Taxpayers can record their income information and lodge their tax returns as early as tomorrow. However, ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh said those who rushed to get it done before their income statement was marked as tax ready by the agency were punting on their tax returns.

ATO has extensive powers to recover money it is owed Credit:Gabriele Charotte

The stakes are high for early July lodgers. People who lodge in July are twice as likely to have their returns adjusted by the ATO, he said.

More than 140,000 taxpayers had their 2020-21 tax returns amended before the ATO issued their tax assessments last July.

Loh said the taxation office pre-filled some information in peoples tax returns forms to help income earners get the paperwork right, a process that was usually completed by late July.

Waiting for the ATO to upload information means people dont have to roll the dice when they lodge, and its less likely an amendment will need to be made later, which could result in tax debt, he said.
We are a young, secular, increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse country, where the number of renters has caught up to the number of people who own their home outright, and with more non-traditional families than ever. Thats the picture of contemporary Australia painted by the latest census data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week.

So what does Australia actually look like? Well, Millennials now equal Baby Boomers in terms of share of the population, largely thanks to overseas migration. More than half the country is made up of first or second-generation migrants, increasingly from countries like China, India and Nepal. The number of single parents, renters, and those living in high-density urban areas has also shot up.

But how often are the interests of these cohorts, making up larger and large chunks of the population, represented in our national conversations and policymaking? Does Australia feel like a country where the lives of younger, diverse, and non-property owning people are prioritised?

Australian census data shows many large cohorts that are often overlooked by policymakers. Credit:Tanya Macheda

The answer is obviously no. Instead, most of our institutions  particularly parliaments  have been focused on catering to an increasingly narrow slice of the population: older, whiter, wealthier Australians. And part of the problem is that those institutions dont look anything like the Australia represented by the census, which means they either cant relate to the challenges of these growing cohorts, or just dont care.
More young people are dying in traffic incidents than from diseases or self-harm, as experts say small changes to speed limits and road design would make a significant difference to the road toll.

Australian research has shown young people aged 10 to 24 worldwide were more likely to die from traffic incidents including car, motorcycle and pedestrian collisions than any other cause.

Young people are more likely to die in road accidents than from disease or self-harm. Credit:Anna Kucera

While the number of deaths attributed to road fatalities in the age group decreased by a third between 1990 and 2019, the analysis showed the rate of decline was slowing in high-income countries, while deaths and injury rose in lower income countries.

As other causes of death and disability have been addressed, these transport injuries have been stalling, said the lead author, UNSW researcher Dr Amy Peden.
Former Sydney teacher Chris Dawson blasted investigative journalist Hedley Thomas in a taped phone call played in court, claiming the reporter positioned himself as prosecutor, judge and jury.

The phone tap was played on Wednesday afternoon in the NSW Supreme Court, where Dawson, 73, is on trial for murdering his first wife, Lynette Dawson, who vanished from Sydneys northern beaches in January 1982. He was arrested and charged in December 2018 and has pleaded not guilty.

Chris Dawson outside the NSW Supreme Court this week. Credit:Nick Moir

Chris Dawson called twin Paul Dawson at 9.13pm on September 9, 2018, after Thomas appeared that night in an episode of Nines 60 Minutes about the cold case, during which he described Dawson as a despicable person, severely narcissistic and dangerous.

Thomas is behind The Australians Walkley Award-winning podcast The Teachers Pet, released in May 2018, about Dawson, Lynette and the couples babysitter, known as JC.
It has taken the exhumation of 360 bodies and two years of approvals, but the revitalisation of one of Perths most historic sites has been given the green light.

The $400 million redevelopment of the Perth Girls School was approved by the states land agency DevelopmentWA this week, paving the way for a 742-apartment multi-tower development.

The Perth GirlsSchool project in East Perth. Credit:Australian Development Capital

The project sits on top of the Perth CBDs second-highest point after Kings Park and will include a refurbishment of the old school buildings, converting it into an arts precinct, microbrewery and shopping centre.

The biggest tower could be up to 37-storeys high and across the precinct there would be 100 social housing units, several special disability accommodation apartments, and 500 build-to-rent apartments, an emerging form of housing where properties are owned by the developer and rented out over longer periods.
The European Union wants to turn to Australia for the supply of critical raw materials including lithium and iron ore and move away from relying on Russia, as negotiations resume on a free trade agreement.

Head of trade and economics at the EU Delegation in Australia Cornelis Keijzer said the war in Ukraine and Australias sanctions on Russia due to that conflict have brought Australia and the EU closer together.

Pilbara Minerals Pilgangoora lithium mine.

At the same time, he said the EU is looking to move away from relying on Russia for energy and raw materials and find other sources.

Were looking for new sources. So that is what were looking for, from Australia: the possibility to source those raw materials now from Australia, he told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Mortgage industry leaders have helped raise more than $9.4 million so far, by taking part in the 2022 Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

On June 23, CEOs across the country, including a number from financial services companies, faced the cold for one night to highlight Vinnies efforts to overcome homelessness and poverty in Australia. Last year, the Vinnies CEO Sleepout raised more than $9.3 million.

The annual one-night event involves business and community leaders sleeping without shelter on one of the longest nights of the year with the aim of raising funds and changing the lives of Australians experiencing homelessness.

Pepper Money CEO Mario Rehayem (pictured immediately below) and chief financial officer Therese McGrath gave up their beds for the night, sleeping out at White Bay Cruise Terminal in Sydney to support Vinnies and more than 116,000 Australians who do not have a safe and secure place to live.

The Pepper Money executives collectively raised over $40,000 to provide food, accommodation and essential services to people experiencing homelessness every day.

Rehayem is currently ranked 54th on the CEO Sleepout fundraising leader board and was recognised as one of its Deep Sleeper club members (for raising over $20,000).

With the temperature dropping throughout the night, I was reminded how fortunate most of us are having a warm bed to sleep in every night, Rehayem said.

Many of us take for granted a roof over our head or a home cooked meal at the end of the day. However, for some people that arent as fortunate, we wanted to lend a hand at raising awareness and some money to make it a little bit easier for those that experience homelessness every day.

Read more: Mortgage industry leaders join Vinnies CEO Sleepout

Rehayem said with his team behind him and being alongside other leaders in business, community and government, he was humbled by the outpouring of support to raise awareness and highlight the realities of homelessness.

On behalf of the Pepper Money team, Therese and myself, I would like to thank all our generous sponsors  big or small  we are incredibly grateful to all that have helped us made a difference, he said.

McGrath (pictured immediately below) said taking part in the experience was rewarding and the meaningful conversations she had with people from all walks of life who had experienced and overcome homelessness left a mark on her.

We met a young woman who experienced homelessness following domestic violence, through to a retired couple who were living on the pension and struggling to make ends meet, McGrath said.

It made us realise that this is an issue that can impact anyone and more needs to be done to step in.

McGrath said on a personal note, she would like to thank all of Pepper Moneys sponsors.

Each contribution will go towards vitally important services such as individual support programs, beds and meals for people in our community who need it most, she said.

Read more: Beyond Bank partners with NextGen to transform loan process

Simplicity Loans and Advisory executive director - lending Jean-Pierre Gortan (pictured immediately below) has raised almost $35,000 for Vinnies and is currently placed 29th in the overall CEO Sleepout fundraising leader board. It was Gortans fourth CEO Sleepout.

The director said the highlight for him in this years event was being called on stage by St Vincent de Pauls CEO Jack De Groot as part of the Deep Sleeper club.

The club is a recognition of those CEOs who were able to raise more than $20,000 for Sleepout, Gortan said.

I was extremely proud of getting myself into this elite group which only approximately 70 CEOs out of 1,390 were able to make it into.

Gortan created a concept where he sold advertising space on the clothes he wore on the night and approached finance businesses to donate for the cause.

Companies such as Bendigo Bank, Judo Bank, National Finance Brokers Day and Marketplace Finance were amongst the list of contributors.

Lendi Group CEO David Hyman and CEO of distribution Brad Cramb (pictured immediately below) have raised almost $70,000 for Vinnies during their combined fundraising efforts.

Hyman is currently placed 33rd on the CEO leader board.

For myself, each sleepout brings a new sense of awareness of what I could be more grateful for and the hospitality provided by the good people at Vinnies shows just how vital their services are for those in our community who need it most, he said.

AFGs head of sales and distribution Chris Slater (pictured below left) has raised almost $17,000 by taking part in last weeks Sleepout.

The CEO took to LinkedIn to thank his network for their donations.

Huge thanks to all those who have supported us in our cause to support the homeless at the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, Slater said.

So far, the support has raised enough funds to provide 39 individual support programs plus 104 beds and 418 meals. Every little bit counts.
Major plant protection companies, including biggies like Bayer, Syngenta, Dhanuka Agritech, BASF, UPL and Insecticides India Ltd (IIL), are planning to use on an experimental basis to spray chemicals this to understand its pros and cons before large-scale adoption for commercial use.

However, for some, the prohibitive cost of and the scarce availability of good quality is acting as a hindrance in realising some of the plans, market players and industry sources said.

Industry sources estimate that drones could be used for spraying pesticides and other plant chemicals in around 30,000 acres this largely as pilot projects.

Together the big names command over 80 per cent of the total plant protection chemical market in India.

I think the biggest limitation in using drones for spraying plant chemicals will come from small and marginal farmers as their financial heft is limited. Drones can become successful with large farmers who have big contagious land parcels, not in places where land parcels are small, Dr Kalyan Goswami, director general of Agro-chem Federation of India (ACFI), told Business Standard.

ACFI is the apex agro chemical federation. It works as the interface between the government and the agro chemical industry.

Goswami said that large farms in western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, the cotton, soybean and chili growing regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the areas where drone application could be more successful in the initial stages as compared to other parts.



Also read: As kharif season sets in, India eyes long-term fertiliser contracts

The physto-toxicity of the chemicals (whether the plant chemicals sprayed from the air is harming other nearby crops) or whether the chemicals need to diluted or not etc for aerial spraying will only be known once the pilots are over and substantial amounts of data is generated to make a proper analysis, Goswami said.

Only then can a full-fledged commercial application of drones for the plant chemicals industry can be considered, he added.

Several players said the short-run time of a commercial drone is a hiccup in large scale adoption in early stages.

Usually, in single charge, a drone runs for less than 20 mins and sprays around 1.5-2 acres of land, which makes the per acre cost higher for an average farmer with small land size. This needs to come down to ensure widespread application of drone technology, a senior industry official said.

Simon Wiebusch, country head - Bayer CropScience Division in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said that commercial viability of drones and their safety concerns need to be strictly addressed before going all out on the technology and its applications across all fields.

Bayer plans to use more than 50 drones in this for various pilots across the country.

FPOs is a model which can be looked at to quicken the adoption of drones for commercial use and in crops, we see its usages in wet rice fields, corn and sugarcane fields etc, Wiebusch told Business Standard.

The central government on its part, a few months back, had released a comprehensive SOP on drone application for pesticides use.

The SOPs, according to the agriculture ministry, cover important aspects like statutory provisions, flying permissions, area distance restrictions, weight classification, overcrowded areas restriction, drone registration, safety insurance, piloting certification, operation plan, air flight zones, weather conditions.

They also include SOPs for pre, post and during operation period, emergency handling plan, etc.

The SOPs state that aerial application of pesticides through drones will be allowed subject to certain provisions.

For instance, operators should use only approved pesticides and their formulations at approved concentration and height.

Operators have to ensure washing, decontamination and first-aid facilities and notify the public about aerial application of pesticide not less than 24 hours in advance through competent authorities.

Further, the pilots should undergo specialised training, including clinical effects of insecticides, SOPs added.

That apart, sources said over 400 chemicals and their formulations have been approved for drone applications for this kharif season.

Meanwhile, Insecticide India Ltd, another big name in the plant chemical business, is using drone technology for spraying its insecticide in collaboration with private .

So far, the company has already done trials at 5-6 locations of different states which include Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. Rajasthan, Karnataka.

We have a team of around 500 people who are monitoring the trial results at various sites and trying to understand the various facets of using drone technology for pesticides use including the kind of drones to be used, the spray nozzles, whether the chemical composition needs any alteration for drone application etc. Once these are well established then only, we can think of launching it for commercial application, Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, Insecticide India Ltd, said.

He said that drone trials were being carried out by his company in around 100 acres of land to understand its viability.
In continuation of the recent trend, another major has issued pink slips to hundreds of employees. Bengaluru-based Byjusvalued at $22 billion--has laid off about 500 employees at its group companies--WhiteHat Jr and Toppr. Its a move to drive cost efficiency, according to the company.

The number of layoffs, cutting across various department functions, may increase, sources said.

This comes at a time when the Byju Raveendran-led firm was planning an IPO. The company wants to go public by next year. It may do a primary listing in the US and a secondary one in India or vice-versa, reports had suggested earlier. Both the US and India are key markets for Byjus.

A company spokesperson confirmed that 500 jobs had been terminated. While another media report put the number of people laid off at around 2,500, the company denied it. To recalibrate our business priorities and accelerate our long-term growth, we are optimizing our teams across group . This entire exercise involves less than 500 employees from across Byjus group .





ALSO READ: Byju's lays off 2,500 employees as part of cost-cutting drive: Report

Byjus may also be pushing back payments for an approximately $1-billion acquisition deal struck last year, reports suggested. At the same time, the company is learnt to have offered to buy 2U Inc. in a cash deal that values the US-listed company at more than $1 billion.

Toppr is one of the 12 Byjus acquired between 2020 and 2021. The Toppr transaction was valued at about $150 million, which is also a mix of stock and cash.

Mumbai-based WhiteHat Jr, was acquired by Byjus for $300 million in 2020. In 2020, WhiteHat Jr founder Karan Bajaj sold his 18-month-old start-up to Byjus founder and chief executive officer Byju Raveendran for $300 million in an all-cash deal. Recently, over 800 employees of WhiteHat Jr, resigned after being asked to work from office.

The reopening of schools and colleges has sparked a crisis in the sector with falling valuations, slowing funding rounds and faltering investor sentiment. Among others, edtech unicorn Unacademy recently laid off about 600 employees and Vedantu 424. Edtech start-up Lido Learning has shut down altogether.
Shares in Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia plunged on Wednesday, as German authorities raided the carmakers' local offices over suspicions they had installed defeat devices on some of their combustion cars.

On Wednesday, Hyundai plunged 5.7 per cent to 175,500 won ($135.17), and Kia plummeted 6.1 per cent to 76,900 won.

Among other affiliates, auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. fell 3.6 per cent to 199,000 won, and logistics firm Hyundai Glovis Co. shed 1.1 percent to 183,000 won, reports Yonhap agency.

Hyundai confirmed the raid by German prosecutors, and it is working with the German authorities about the matter. It didn't elaborate on the investigation.

Defeat devices are mechanisms or software that can change vehicle emissions levels. Carmakers may use the devices to cheat on emissions tests.

Hyundai and Kia allegedly placed more than 200,000 diesel vehicles with suspected illegal defeat devices in the German market, according to foreign media reports.

Germany has investigated carmakers operating in the country over possible manipulation of emissions in their combustion vehicles. Hyundai is one of the subjected companies, though the investigation could be expanded, people familiar with the matter said.

In South Korea, Volkswagen has struggled with weak sales due to the impact of the emissions cheating scandal that began in September 2015, when the United States discovered the German carmaker cheated on its local diesel emissions tests.

In July 2016, the group "voluntarily" stopped selling its vehicles in South Korea, as the Seoul government announced it would ban the sale of all Audi and Volkswagen cars, and impose heavy fines for emissions cheating.

The German carmaker, which sells vehicles under four brands -- Audi, Volkswagen, Lamborghini and Bentley -- resumed sales in Korea in early 2018.

--IANS

na/

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India will have 122 new unicorns-- valued each at more than $1 billion--in the next two to four years, according to the ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2022.

Hurun Research Institutes ranking considers Indian start-ups founded in the 2000s, valued at least $200 million, and not yet listed on a public exchange. The index has classified as would-be unicorns (those founded after 2000 and valued at least $1 billion), gazelles (those most likely to become unicorns in two years), and cheetahs (start-ups that could go unicorn in four years).

In just one year, the number of unicorns has increased by 65 per cent, the number of Gazelles has increased by 59 per cent to 51, and the number of Cheetahs has increased by 31 per cent to 71, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India. Probably, the pandemic has accelerated the disruption of traditional businesses and fostered the emergence of start-ups.

A majority of the prospective unicorns sell software and services, and only 17 per cent sell physical goods. As many as 37 per cent are business-to-business sellers, while 63 per cent are consumer-facing.

Hurun Research identified 122 future unicorns in 25 Indian cities. Bengaluru continues to be the unicorn-capital of India with 46 unicorns. Delhi-NCR and Mumbai are in the second and third spots, with 25 and 16 unicorns.

India has emerged as the third-largest ecosystem for start-ups after US and China, said Rajesh Saluja, CEO and MD, Pvt Ltd. "The country saw a record 44 start-ups turning unicorns in 2021."

However Junaid of Hurun India said there are some global economic concerns that could affect the valuations and capital-raising abilities of Indian start-ups. Additionally, he said that some Indian start-ups are implementing layoffs and cost-cutting measures, fuelling speculation of an ecosystem downturn.

We believe there could be a short-term blip in the growth story, said Junaid. But the Indian start-up ecosystem's long-term potential remains resilient."

He said the pressure felt during the valuation process and the increased inspection of deliverables could help broaden the system's foundation.

The report defines a Gazelle as a start-up created after the year 2000 and that has the potential to become a unicorn within two years. The Gazelles on the Hurun index are projected to be worth between $ 500 million and $ 1 billion. The Gazelle pack is led by Shiprocket, a five-year-old logistics tech startup, followed by Zepto, Turtlemint, Ather Energy and Vivriti Capital.

India has 84 unicorns, 51 Gazelles, and 71 Cheetahs, as against 51 unicorns, 32 Gazelles, and 54 Cheetahs in the 2021 index. Indias future unicorns are currently worth $ 49 billion, with an increase of 36 per cent as compared to last year. As many as 17 Gazelles and 7 Cheetahs, from last years index, hit unicorn valuation this year.




Corp, a global leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, has forged a with such as and for the design, development and manufacture of Renesas semiconductor solutions. The products are designed to enhance innovation across electronics systems for the Indian and emerging markets.

Renesas would also set up an innovation centre with (TCS) for comprehensive systems solutions catering to a range of industries, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

In December 2021, the cabinet cleared an incentive package of $10 billion to create a complete semiconductor ecosystem  fabs, home-grown chip design, outsourced semiconductor and testing (OSAT) facilities and compound semiconductor plants.

The alliance announced today furthers the longstanding relationship between Renesas and as technology and business partners, including the recently announced Next-generation EV Innovation Center (NEVIC) jointly established by Renesas and Tata Groups in March 2022.

We see great potential in collaborating with Renesas in areas like automotive electronics and present and future telecom networks.

The collaboration will accelerate our presence in these areas in India as well as globally, said N Chandrasekaran, chairman, in the statement.

This partnership brings two industry leading closer together, creating numerous benefits, said Hidetoshi Shibata, President and CEO at Renesas. Renesas and Tata will support the acceleration of progress in advanced electronics and its multitudes of applications for the Indian and emerging markets, which sets us both on a path for continued success, he said.

Renesas and seek to collaborate on developing next-generation automotive electronics to drive leadership performance and scalability for vehicles. Renesas with deep expertise in semiconductor technology will partner with the latter to accelerate the development of electric and connected vehicles to further enhance Tata Motors pre-eminence and market-leading position.

To effectively address evolving customers aspirations, Renesas and the flagship will explore a non-exclusive partnership on emerging technologies such as ADAS (advance driver assist systems), Renesas said.

Meanwhile, the collaboration with Tejas will include implementation of the next-generation wireless network solutions entailing design and development of semiconductor solutions for radio units used in telecom networks, from 4G, 5G, to open radio access network (O-RAN), which enables open and flexible 5G RAN deployments, in addition to allowing wider interoperability.

The companies aim to roll out products and solutions initially for India and aim to expand its footprint in the global markets.

Additionally, Renesas and (TCS) will establish a Joint System Solution Development Centre in Bangalore. The planned innovation center will focus on comprehensive system solutions for the IoT (internet of things), infrastructure, industrial and automotive segments by leveraging Renesas semiconductor solutions and TCS industry experience.
Investors gave (RIL) the thumbs up on Wednesday - a day after the company announced that chairman was stepping down from the board of Infocomm to make way for his son Akash.

The Ambani scion, who is 30, will take over as chairman of the board, the announcement said on Tuesday, coming at a time when telecommunication are preparing for 5G auctions next month.

owns 67 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, which fully owns Infocomm.

Shares of closed trade nearly 2 per cent up on Wednesday over the previous days close on the BSE at Rs 2,579.05 apiece, even as the broader market remained weak.

The was down 150.48 points to close trade at 53,026.97, down 0.28 per cent over the previous days close.

In the last five days, the is up 2.9 per cent, while shares of the company have been flat in the past three months, reveals data compiled by BS Research Bureau.

The RIL succession planning, according to experts, is in sharp contrast to the chaos that prevailed when patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani died without a Will 20 years ago. Back then, brothers Mukesh and Anil were at the centre of a bitter family feud, which eased following a separation of the business in 2005 brokered by their mother Kokilaben.

Since then, the succession planning at Indian family businesses has streamlined, observed experts, as is evident with Akashs elevation. His twin sister Isha is expected to be elevated any time soon to the position of chairperson of Reliance Retail. She is currently director on the companys board.

The succession plan has also triggered upgrades from brokerages.

Bernstein on Wednesday raised its target price for RIL to Rs 3,360, from Rs 2,830, suggesting a 33 per cent potential upside over Tuesdays close.

Bernstein has followed peers Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Jefferies - all of whom have turned bullish on the in the past few months.

Jefferies last week had maintained a price target of Rs 3,400  an upside of 34 per cent from the current levels.

Bernstein said it saw RILs refining margins rise to a record level of $25.5 per barrel in 2022-23 (FY23). The brokerage said tariff hikes would drive strong Jio results and that e-commerce acceleration across categories would lift retail segment numbers in the current financial year.

"The build-out of (e-commerce) and omnichannel presence, scaling up of the Jio platform, and investments in new energy to accelerate energy transition will all contribute to growth. With Reliance in the midst of a secular growth phase, we expect the combined earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) for the four businesses to increase 20 per cent compound annual growth rate in the next four years, the brokerage said in its note on Wednesday.

Bernstein said it expected FY23 Ebitda of Rs 1.76 trillion for RIL - an increase of 48 per cent from 2021-22 (FY22) Ebitda of Rs 1.19 trillion, ahead of the current consensus estimate of Rs 1.47 trillion by analysts.

Oil-to-chemicals (O2C) earnings were expected to increase more than any other segment in FY23, driven by record refining margins, said Bernstein, due to exceptional market conditions, triggered by a reduction in supply of refined products from Russia and China.

Based on our estimates, we believe the companys Ebitda can more than double from FY22 to 2025-26 (FY26) to Rs 2.47 trillion, mainly through growth in new energy, digital, and retail, while O2C will see earnings normalise in 2023-24 onwards as refining margins regress to the longer-term average, it said.

According to Bernstein, O2C business contribution to total Ebitda would be 48 per cent in FY23.

Beyond FY23, digital and retail businesses will grow at a faster rate, which will limit the Ebitda contribution from O2C to around 20-30 per cent of total Ebitda. This still remains significant. Digital was the largest contributor of Ebitda in 2020-21 at 38 per cent, which will continue to represent 36 per cent of total Ebitda over the next five years. Retail (offline plus online) will grow from 12 per cent of total Ebitda in FY22 to 23 per cent by FY26, the brokerage added.
The Wednesday said it would hear after vacation a plea filed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (Adani) against the order dismissing its petition challenging the disqualification of its bid in a tender issued by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) for upgradation of a container terminal in Navi Mumbai.

A vacation bench of Justices A S Oka and M M Sundresh was told by senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, that the matter may be heard after vacation.

Singhvi said that urgency in the matter has kind of slipped away as between yesterday and today, the bid has been opened.

Between yesterday and today, they have opened the bid and the commercials are such that in any case, I don't think for the actual figures, I can match the person whose bid has been opened. So, your lordships need not be troubled now, he said.

But, it is very important to decide the issue of law. Your lordship may put it post-vacation. Because of this approach, I am being disqualified in multiple tenders and bids and it is the completely wrong interpretation of the relevant clause, Singhvi said.

The bench said the matter be listed after the vacation.

The apex court will resume normal functioning post the ongoing vacation on July 11.

Singhvi had on Tuesday sought urgent listing of the plea against the high court order.

I am India's leading port manager and cleared the port trust bid in December 2021 but I was disqualified four months after that. I had challenged the disqualification before the which passed the order on Monday evening. Now the authority is proceeding ahead with other bids, he had said while mentioning the matter before the top court on Tuesday.

He had told the apex court that the nature of the contract was the operation and maintenance of Jawaharlal Nehru Terminal through public bids.

The high court had on June 27 directed Adani to pay a cost of Rs five lakh for bringing to court an "unmeritorious case".

Of this, Adani had already deposited Rs 4,24,800 with JNPA at the time of submitting its bid. The high court had asked JNPA to retain the amount and directed Adani to deposit the remaining amount.

Adani was disqualified by JNPA from a tender process to privatise the port authority's container handling facility on May 3.

As per JNPA, the terms and conditions in its tender document said any firm involved in contract termination at other ports will be prohibited from participating in the terminal privatisation bidding process.

In December 2020, a coal handling terminal at the Visakhapatnam Port Authority that was operated by a unit of Adani was terminated.

Adani, however, had claimed in its plea that its disqualification was illegal.

The high court had said, "Far from committing any illegality, JNPA instead gave a fair opportunity to the petitioner (Adani) to bring the dispute (Visakhapatnam port authority episode) to the fore".

It had said that in cases related to tenders, the court could only intervene if glaring illegality or a breach of a constitutional right had been committed.

(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 central government has granted "one last opportunity" to comply with the new IT rules by July 4, or the giant will risk losing its immunity as an intermediary, a report by The Economic Times stated.

The notice by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to came after the company's "repeated failures to act on the content take-down notices sent under Section 69 A of the IT Act" as well as on "non-compliance notices issued for not taking the content down," officials aware of the development told ET.

failed to comply with the Centre's notices sent on June 6 and 9, the MeitY said in a fresh notice sent to the company's Chief Compliance Officer on Monday, according to ET.

A senior official told ET, "Despite repeated notices and chances being given to them to act, Twitter continues to remain in violation. Therefore, appropriate action is being taken against (it)." He added, "all intermediaries that operate in India must follow the IT Rules in letter and spirit."

"If Twitter Inc. continues to be in violation of these Directions and therefore the IT Act, significant consequences under the shall prevail," MeitY said in its notice to the company.

The MeitY had issued a similar notice to Twitter in May this year, asking the company to appoint a resident grievance officer, a resident chief compliance officer, and a nodal contact person. If Twitter fails to do so, the company will lose its immunity under Section 79 of the .
Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal has agreed to continue as the (AG) for three more months following a request from the Central government, sources said on Wednesday.

Venugopal's tenure was to end on June 30.

A source familiar with the development said the AG has agreed to continue for three more months, or till the time the government finds a suitable replacement.

Venugopal, 91, was appointed by the President as for India in July 2017 for a three-year term. His term was subsequently extended twice for a year each.

The source added that the AG had cited personal reasons for not continuing in the constitutional post. However, the Central government urged him to continue as the top law officer.

Venugopal is an eminent Supreme Court lawyer, who has appeared in several cases involving interpretations of the Constitution and is regarded as an expert on constitutional law. He was an Additional Solicitor General of India between 1979 and 1980. In 2002, Venugopal was awarded Padma Bhushan and in 2015, the Padma Vibhushan.

Venugopal was designated senior advocate by the Supreme Court in 1972.

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The (CBI) on Tuesday moved the seeking the custody of officials accused of allegedly demanding bribes to waive the Phase-3 trial of "Insulin Aspart Injection", produced by Biologics.

Earlier, a special court refused to allow the custody of the accused.

Issuing notices to the respondents in the matter, the court posted it for further hearing on July 2.

On June 21, the CBI had arrested Guljit Sethi, the Director of Bioinnovat Research Service Private Ltd, L. Praveen Kumar, the Associate Vice President and Head of National Regulatory Affairs of Biologics, and Animesh Kumar, the Assistant Drug Inspector of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for allegedly demanding bribe to waive the Phase-3 trial of "Insulin Aspart Injection".

E. Eswara Reddy, the Joint Drug Controller at the CDSCO's headquarters in the national capital, and Dinesh Dua, the Director of Delhi-based Synergy Network India Private Ltd, were also arrested.

A case was lodged against Reddy, Dua, Sethi, Praveen Kumar, Animesh Kumar, and others, alleging that Reddy was trying to exert undue influence on officers of the CDSCO to waive the Phase-3 trial of the Insulin Aspart Injection. The accused agreed to pay a bribe amount of Rs 9 lakh to Reddy for favourably processing the said three files related to Bengaluru-based Biologics Ltd and also for favourably recommending the file to the Subject Expert Committee.

Reacting to the allegations, Biocon, claiming that it adopts global best practices in corporate governance, said that the rationale for waiver of Phase 3 clinical trials was based on the following Indian regulatory guidance {Similar Biologics Guidelines 2016 & New Drugs and Clinical Trials 2019 (GSR 227 E)}.

The guidelines provide a framework for waiver of Phase 3 clinical trials to be conducted in India based on a commitment to undertake Phase 4 trial, the design of which should be approved by the Central Licencing Authority, Biocon said.

"In line with the above regulations, Biocon Biologics presented a proposal for import and marketing of Insulin Aspart with a waiver of Phase 3 clinical trial in India. The company presented a detailed proposal along with CMC, pre-clinical and clinical trial data," the company said.

According to Biocon, after detailed deliberation, the Subject Expert Committee (Endocrinology and Metabolism) at the CDSCO recommended for grant of permission to import and market the drug with waiver of Phase 3 clinical trial in the country with the condition that the firm should conduct Phase 4 clinical trials in India.

--IANS

jw/vd

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A ground commander level meeting was held between the border forces of India and Pakistan along the international front in Rajasthan, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The meeting was held on Tuesday at Munabao in Barmer district of the state.

The Indian side was led by (BSF) Commandant G L Meena and the other side was headed by Lt Col Murad Ali Khan, Wing Commander, Pakistan Rangers.

"Such meetings are held to address border security-related issues at local commander (battalion) level," the spokesperson said.

The guards the more than 3,300 km-long India-Pakistan IB that runs along Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat along the country's western flank.

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The Central government has directed the Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the murder case of a tailor in . The incident has sparked tension and outrage in Rajasthan. After the 'brutal' murder of the tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, in on Tuesday, which was captured on camera, the has imposed Section 144 of CrpC in all districts for one month. It has shut down the internet in the entire state for 24 hours.

The Union spokesperson said on Twitter, "MHA has directed the Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday."

"The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated," the MHA said.

The Congress-led state government had earlier constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Anti Terror Squad's (ATS) Prafulla Kumar to probe the matter.

"We are probing if there was any terror angle involved in the incident," Kumar had said.

Police are on high alert in every district of Rajasthan.

The team includes a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer, reported ANI, quoting a source. The team will likely file a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after visiting the spot, reported ANI, citing government sources.

The incident occurred in Udaipur's Maldas area, where accused Gos Mohammad and Riyaz Akhtari, now arrested, had entered Kanhaiya's shop posing as customers. Police said that the two accused posted a video of the incident on social media, where one of them slit the victim's throat with a cleaver.

In another video, the accused were seen boasting about the murder as they also issued a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police said.

The tailor had reportedly shared a social media post that expressed his support to suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, whose remarks against Prophet Mohammad had sparked nationwide outrage.

Nearly 600 extra troops have been deployed in to maintain law and order in the city.
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing but it is not over, head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, cautioning that the cases are on the rise in 110 countries and are being driven mainly by two fast-spreading sub-variants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the fast-spreading sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 together are estimated to make up half of the cases in the .

As of June 25, BA.5 made up 36.6 per cent of the total cases in the US while BA.4 accounted for 15.7 per cent, together accounting for about 52 per cent of new cases in the US.

"On COVID-19, driven by BA.4 and BA.5 in many places, cases are on the rise in 110 countries, causing overall global cases to increase by 20 per cent and deaths have risen in three of the six regions even as the global figure remains relatively stable, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

He said the pandemic is changing but it's not over. We have made progress but it's not over.

Ghebreyesus said the ability to track the virus is under threat" as reporting and genomic sequences are declining, making it harder to track and analyse future emerging variants.

The chief also voiced concern over the slow pace of vaccination in lower-income countries, making the at-risk population in those areas more vulnerable to future waves of the virus.

We're close to the mid-point of the year, which is the point at which WHO had called on all countries to vaccinate at least 70% of their population, he said, adding that in the past 18 months, more than 12 billion vaccines have been distributed around the world and 75 per cent of the world's health workers and over-60s are now vaccinated.

The Lancet estimates that 20 million lives have been saved because of vaccines.

On the flip side, hundreds of millions of people, including tens of millions of health workers and older people in lower-income countries remain unvaccinated, which means they are more vulnerable to future waves of the virus, he said.

Ghebreyesus said while the hoarding of vaccines by rich and manufacturing countries was the major barrier to access last year, increasingly political commitment to getting vaccines out to people - and challenges of disinformation have been hurdles at the national level in 2022.

With only 58 countries hitting the 70 percent target, some have said it's not possible for low-income countries to make it, he said.

The WHO Chief cited the example of Rwanda where second dose vaccination rates are now above 65 per cent and still rising.

Countries like Nepal and Cambodia have shown it's possible, he said, adding that the average rate in low-income countries is 13 per cent.

But if there is enough political will domestically, support to ensure rollouts to communities and disinformation tackled, high vaccination rates are entirely achievable, he said.

Ghebreyesus underlined that going forward to prevent deaths and severe disease, it is important to keep the most at-risk groups up to date with vaccination.

He said that in all countries, 100 per cent of at-risk groups should be vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.

Even relatively mild' cases are disruptive and damaging, keeping children out of school and adults from work, which causes further economic and supply chain disruption. Do I think countries should continue to vaccinate 70 percent of the population, starting with the most vulnerable? Yes, I do, he said.

On the research and development front, Ghebreyesus said it is critical that there be funding for second-generation vaccines as well as tests and treatments.

While honing vaccines to the evolving virus variants makes sense, I am concerned that the pace of mutation means the world is continuing to play catch up. Building on existing vaccines that limit severity and prevent death, developing second generation vaccines that stop or at least lower infection would be a major step forward, he said.

He said the ideal solution would be the development of a pan-coronavirus" vaccine that covers all the variants so far and potentially future ones.

This is feasible, WHO continues to convene scientists and researchers and there has been a lot of research into this virus and understanding immunology overall," he said.

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Hundreds of crores of rupees reportedly went "missing from the of over 90,000 employees of and there were allegations that the government has withdrawn the money, a charge denied by the Special Chief Secretary (finance) S S Rawat on Wednesday.



The amount was withdrawn illegally after it was credited into the (GPF) accounts of the employees, it was alleged.



Responding, the State government said the DA arrears amount was erroneously credited into the GPF accounts of the employees due to a technical glitch.



Citing preliminary information furnished by the Director of Treasury and Accounts, Rawat said in a statement that the DA arrears were credited even though the bills were not cleared.



As per Treasury rules, all bills which remain pending as on March 31 every year shall be cancelled by the treasury officer concerned. Due to the cancellation of unpaid DA arrear bills, the adjustment amounts that were erroneously credited to the GPF accounts were also reversed by the system software, Rawat added.



The Special Chief Secretary said the government was taking necessary measures to rectify the technical glitch.



Earlier, today, the government employees' associations raised the matter with the State Finance Department officials here, but nothing came of it.



The associations called the "illegal withdrawal" not only unconstitutional but also criminal.



Leaders of AP Joint Action Committee and AP Joint Action Committee Amaravati met the Special Chief Secretary here today and sought a clarification.



The Special Chief Secretary claims the government did not withdraw the money. He says it could have happened due to a technical error and promised to enquire into it, chairman of Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers Association Bandi Srinivasa Rao told reporters after meeting Rawat.



The issue figured in the High Court, which directed the government to file an affidavit within two weeks.



The employees' associations petitioned the Principal Accountant General also over the issue as he is the custodian of the GPF accounts, according to the Employees Association president K R Suryanarayana.



Suryanarayana, from whose individual account itself a sum of Rs 83,000 went missing, wondered how could the "government withdraw money from someone's account without consent."



This happened in the month of March but came to light now when, on Monday night, the accounts auditor general was verifying the GPF statements of employees. It happened once previously last year and after we complained about it to the Chief Secretary, the amount was re-credited into the employees' accounts, Suryanarayana said.



In March, the government credited arrears of into the employees' GPF accounts but then withdrew the amount immediately.



The opposition parties demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister over the illegal withdrawal of employees' money.



They also demanded publication of a white paper on the whole issue Telugu Desam Party MLC and former chairman of AP NGOs Association P Ashok Babu demanded that the government publish a white paper on the financial transactions.



Jana Sena Political Affairs Committee chairman Nadendla Manohar said in a statement that the Chief Minister owed an explanation on where the "Rs 800 crore of employees' money was diverted." Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath and Special Chief Secretary (Finance) Rawat did not respond to calls or messages for a clarification on the issue.

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The on Wednesday wrote to multiple banks seeking information about bank account details and other financial transactions of fact-checking website co-founder Mohammed Zubair who is under police custody over an "objectionable" tweet, officials said.

Zubair was arrested on Monday for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after posting the tweet against a Hindu deity in 2018.

"We are currently focusing on the source of donation and other financial transactions made into the bank accounts associated with . We have evidence that in the last three months, transaction amounting to Rs 50 lakh was made into one of the accounts. We are further analysing the transactions made from multiple bank accounts," a senior police officer said.

He said Zubair will be taken to Bengaluru on Thursday in connection with the probe.

"Our team will take Zubair to Bengaluru tomorrow to seize the devices, including the mobile phone and laptop, that might have been used to post the tweet in question, and also to collect other evidence linked to the case," the officer said.

Police had said that the objectionable tweet "led to a Twitter storm with hate speeches which was detrimental to communal harmony".

The officer also said that the mobile phone used by the journalist at present



has been formatted and does not have information related to the case.

According to police, Zubair, when asked about the phone he used when he allegedly posted the tweet in question, said he had lost it.

Meanwhile, the anonymous Twitter handle, a complaint from which led to Zubair's arrest, does not exist on the microblogging website anymore, sources in the said.

A Delhi court had on Tuesday extended by four days the custodial interrogation of Zubair.

During the hearing, Zubair's counsel said that the photo which he had used in the tweet was from a 1983 film by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Kissi Se Na Kehna, and that the film was not banned.

The court, however, rejected the submission, saying it was of no assistance to the accused at this stage.

The had also told the court that Zubair allegedly used



controversial tweets to hurt religious feelings in an effort to get fame".

On June 20, a case against Zubair was registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the DCP said.

However, he was arrested in connection with one of his tweets posted in the year 2018 that had a questionable image with a purpose to deliberately insult the god of a particular religion, he said.

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The will procure 1,950 and issue fresh tenders for another 4,800 buses, taking the fleet to over 11,000 on the capital's roads by December 2024, Chief Minister on Wednesday.

He said that a slew of other decisions were also taken during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

" will now make more comfortable and world-class. We will focus on integrating and modernising the transport sector and making it at par with international standards," Kejriwal said in a digital media briefing.



Delhi | Keeping in mind the Delhi weather and comfort of people, electric & air-conditioned have been purchased. During the Cabinet Meeting held today, we have agreed to purchase 1,950 buses: CM pic.twitter.com/1cgjD50MLB  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

He also said the has decided to extend the free ration scheme till September 30.

The chief minister said his government will hire experts to roll out its urban farming initiative that was announced in the budget.

"We will be working with the Indian Agriculture Research Institute for the project. These experts will train people by conducting 1,000 workshops at the ward level. We are hoping nearly 25,000 people to be benefitted through this," Kejriwal said.

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India's call for investigation and prosecution of 30 terrorist leaders, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and operative Sajid Mir, allegedly involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, at the was strongly backed by the Western nations, a news report said.

The 30 terrorist leaders also included those designated as terrorists by UNSC; LeT's head of operations, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar. Azhar's brother Abdul Rauf Azhar and others designated under Indian and the US's domestic laws, Hindustan Times reported quoting people aware of the matter.

However, since India's call at over the failure to prosecute Pak-based terrorists and masterminds of 2008 attacks in which 166 were killed, Islamabad has done a little to address New Delhi's concerns, the people told HT.

While Saeed was named as being involved in preparations by Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist involved in the attack to be caught alive, the LeT leader wasn't named in the charge sheet filed by the Pakistani authorities.

The report said Mir was also never named for his role in the 2008 attacks, adding that he was recently convicted for being a member of the banned LeT under Pakistan's anti-terror act.

In India's list, the nine terrorist leaders designated under UNSC are Saeed, Lakhvi, Azhar, and LeT's members, namely Muhammad Ashraf, Salam Bhuttavi, Zafar Iqbal, Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) spokesman Yahya Mujahid, the report said.

Others on India's list included senior leaders of LeT and JeM, namely Abdul Rehman Makki and Ibrahim Athar. India had also included Dawood Ibrahim in the list, but Western nations did not go along with it, the people aware of the matter told Hindustan Times.

Earlier this month, China blocked India and US's move at the United Nations Security Council to designate Makki, Saeed's brother-in-law.

India's call at to assess Pakistan's efforts to curb terror financing and money laundering was backed by the West, as the US played a crucial role in stepping up pressure by naming Mir and Azhar in its report on terrorism in Pakistan, the Hindustan Times reported, quoting its sources.

According to HT, Mir was given three terms of jail of six months, eight years, and seven years by an anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala in Pakistan's Punjab province in May.

Pakistan has also reportedly committed to acting against Masood Azhar for terror financing before a FATF team visits the country. The visit is part of FATF's procedure to take Pakistan off its grey list.
Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd on Wednesday said it is ready with 70 lakh dosages of its Gemcovac-19 vaccine, the first indigenously developed mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 to be approved for restricted emergency use in adults.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has an annual capacity of producing 200 million dosages of the vaccine and is awaiting the government's nod to roll it out in the market.

Gemcovac-19 had received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd, Chief Operating Officer Samit Mehta said Gemcovac-19 is the first mRNA vaccine developed in India and only third mRNA vaccine to be approved for COVID-19 in the world.

In contrast to other mRNA vaccines that require to be stored at sub-zero temperatures, Gemcovac-19 can be stored at 2-8 degrees.

That makes it "unique in its deployability in countries like India" and other similar nations, Mehta said, highlighting the advantages of Gemcovac-19 in terms of logistics and transportation.

Gemcovac-19 will be available for adults above 18 years of age. It is a two-dose vaccine to be administered intramuscularly with a gap of 28 days.

When asked about the company's ability to supply the vaccine, he said, depending on the government's stand, Gennova has "seven million (70 lakh) dosages ready for immediate supplies".

The company said it aims to produce around 40-50 lakhs of doses per month and the capacity can be quickly doubled.

Mehta said while Gennova has an annual capacity to produce 200 million formulation dosages, as for the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) of the vaccine, it has capacity to produce 500 million dosages annually and the plan is to double it to 1 billion dosages this year.

On the market roll out of Gemcovac-19, he said, it would depend on what stand the government takes, either for its procurement or to make it available in the private market.

Commenting on the pricing of the vaccine, Mehta said, "It has not been fixed. There is still an ongoing discussion with the government."



However, he said, it would be "competitive" as compared to the other two mRNA vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer.

In India, he said, as per the emergency use authorisation Gemcovac-19 will be used for adults who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far.

The company, however, is planning to seek approval for using its vaccine for booster dose and trials will be conducted for mix-and-match with other COVID-19 vaccines. Also, it will target paediatric usage parallely.

On the safety of the vaccine, he said, there were "no adverse events" in over 4,000 adult volunteers who took part in clinical trials across stages.

Gennova said its COVID-19 vaccine has reached the primary end point of the Phase III clinical trial. The clinical data was evaluated by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). The vaccine was found to be safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic.

Mehta further said that WHO prequalification for supplying Gemcovac-19 to the global health organisation would be the next step for the company.

The company is looking to supply to countries in Latin America and South East Asia, he said, adding that it is in discussions with 25-30 countries through parent Emcure's network.

The exports of Gemcovac-19 could also be through Indian government's supplies to other countries as part of vaccine diplomacy and supplies to WHO, Mehta said.

"Beyond India, Gennova aims at providing sustainable access to low-and middle-income countries around the world to the vaccine to blunt the spread of pandemic," the company said.

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When the British handed its colony to Beijing in 1997, it was promised 50 years of self-government and freedoms of assembly, speech and press that are not allowed Chinese on the Communist-ruled mainland.

As the city of 7.4 million people marks 25 years under Beijing's rule on Friday, those promises are wearing thin. Hong Kong's honeymoon period, when it carried on much as it always had, has passed, and its future remains uncertain, determined by forces beyond its control.

Before the handover, many in worried that life would change when Beijing took over. Thousands rushed to obtain residency elsewhere and some moved abroad. For the first decade or so, such measures looked overly dramatic - this bustling bastion of capitalism on China's southern coast appeared to keep its freedoms, and the economy was booming.

In recent years, Beijing has been expanding its influence and control. Those moves appeared to be hastened by mass pro- protests in 2014 and 2019. Now, schools must provide lessons on patriotism and national security, and some new textbooks deny was ever a British colony.

Electoral reforms have ensured that no opposition lawmakers, only those deemed to be patriots" by Beijing, are in the city's legislature, muting once lively debates over how to run the city. has installed John Lee, a career security official, as the successor to Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Freedom of the press has come under attack and pro- newspapers openly critical of the government, such as Apple Daily, have been forced to close. Its publisher Jimmy Lai has been jailed.

Hong Kong also has banned annual protests marking China's June 4, 1989, crackdown on the pro- movement centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, with authorities citing pandemic precautions. The city's tourism and businesses are reeling from its adherence to stringent COVID-zero policies enforced on the mainland.

Alex Siu, a building services engineer, was born in Hong Kong and only left in 2020 - his parents had ensured he'd have the option by getting him a British National Overseas passport years earlier.

Siu moved to Manchester, England, with his girlfriend after getting fed up both with Hong Kong's work environment and the political situation. He's homesick for the food, friends and family, but isn't planning to go back.

I believe there is no hope because the government holds absolute power, Siu said of the deteriorating political freedoms in Hong Kong. Us little citizens, we don't have much power to oppose them or change the situation.

Kurt Tong, former US consul general to Hong Kong and managing partner of consultancy The Asia Group, said the changes reflect growing dissatisfaction in Beijing with the freewheeling semi-autonomous region. The consternation deepened when some of the millions of Hong Kong residents who marched in peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2019 stormed the city's legislative complex and at times violently clashed with police.

The things that found irritating about Hong Kong started to become more prominent, and the things that it found attractive about Hong Kong started to be less prominent, and friction built up over time, he said.

Beginning in 2020, the authorities launched a crackdown on political dissent, arresting dozens of activists and imprisoning them for unauthorised assembly, despite provisions guaranteeing freedom for such gatherings under Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's constitution.

John Burns, an honorary professor of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong, was sceptical that Beijing would ever allow Hong Kong full democracy or universal suffrage, goals enshrined in the Basic Law at the time of the 1997 handover.

Hong Kong was going to become part of a local government of an authoritarian country ruled by a Leninist party. How could it be a Western-style parliamentary democracy? Burns said in an interview.

The authorities cracked down and moved to stamp out dissent to help restore stability after the months long 2019 protests, he noted.

But this is a brittle stability based on the imposition of the law and the arrest of pan-democratic leaders and jailing them, chasing them out, he said, and many in Hong Kong still support the pro-democracy movement even if they are silent for now.

We're in a kind of hellish place. Hong Kong is not part of the system and therefore it can't bargain that way, (but at the same time) we are not free. We are in this hybrid middle ground," Burns added. The party has never had to rule a place like Hong Kong, so it's learning to as it goes.

Former Democratic Party chairwoman and ex-lawmaker Emily Lau says she is disappointed with the changes but not surprised. When you deal with a communist regime, you shouldn't be expecting anything. Nothing should surprise you, Lau said.

She's focused on Hong Kong's future. The city remains distinct from the mainland, she said. Her friends and colleagues may be imprisoned, but she can visit them and they can choose their own lawyers - rights usually denied political prisoners in .

I know it's very difficult. But I think we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to do the best we can to fight for our core values, which are human rights, democracy, rule of law and personal safety, and social justice, she said.

Chan Po-ying, 66, whose longtime partner and fellow pro-democracy activist Leung Kwok-hung - better known by his nickname Long Hair, is serving a nearly 2-year prison sentence and awaiting a hearing on national security related charges, says she is pressing on.

I have persevered for a long period of time, I believe that I should not give up so easily, especially during this difficult time, Chan said The government and the law have granted these rights to us (under the Basic Law).

In May, during an election for Hong Kong's new chief executive, Chan and several others held a small protest to demand universal suffrage. On June 4 this year, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Chan together with two others, stood on a street in silent protest, dressed in black and wearing white face masks with black x's taped across them.

However, with security tight ahead of Friday's ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the handover, Chan put out a message to Hong Kong media saying she and her group would not stage a protest.

After being summoned for a chat" by state security police, they decided on that day, we cannot conduct any sort of protest activity," she said.

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should not be jailed for what they write, what they tweet and what they say and it is important that people be allowed to express themselves freely without the threat of any harassment, a spokesperson for has said referring to the arrest of co-founder Mohammed Zubair in India.

Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on Monday over an objectionable tweet he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity.

I think, first of all, in any place around the world, it is very important that people be allowed to express themselves freely, be allowed to express themselves freely and without the threat of any harassment, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said on Tuesday while responding to a question at the daily news briefing here on Zubair's arrest.

should not be jailed for what they write, what they tweet and what they say. And that goes for anywhere in the world, including in this room, Dujarric said in response to another question by a Pakistani journalist on whether he is also calling for Zubair's release from custody.

Meanwhile, New York-based independent non-profit, non-governmental organisation Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also condemned Zubair's arrest.

The arrest of journalist Mohammad Zubair marks another low for press freedom in India, where the government has created a hostile and unsafe environment for members of the press reporting on sectarian issues, said Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator, in Washington, DC.

Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Zubair, and allow him to pursue his journalistic work without further interference," he said.

Zubair's arrest came days after the Gujarat authorities arrested Teesta Setalvad on charges of "criminal conspiracy, forgery and placing false evidence in court to frame innocent people" in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

UN Human Rights has voiced concern over the arrest and detention of social activist Setalvad and called for her immediate release.

#India: We are very concerned by the arrest and detention of #WHRD @TeestaSetalvad and two ex police officers and call for their immediate release. They must not be persecuted for their activism and solidarity with the victims of the 2002 #GujaratRiots," UN Human Rights tweeted Tuesday.

A court in Ahmedabad on Sunday remanded Setalvad and former state director general of police RB Sreekumar in police custody till July 2 in a case of fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots. Former IPS officer and accused Sanjiv Bhatt, who is serving life sentence in a custodial death case and is lodged in a jail in Palanpur in Banaskantha district, will be brought to Ahmedabad on a transfer warrant.

Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt are accused of abusing the process of law by conspiring to fabricate evidence with an attempt to frame innocent people for an offence punishable with capital punishment in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

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As the fate of the government hangs in balance, the state cabinet on Wednesday approved the renaming of Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar, and that of Osmanabad city as Dharashiv.

The decision on the emotive issue of renaming of the historical central city of Aurangabad came even as the Shiv Sena, which heads the ruling MVA coalition, is facing a rebellion by majority of its MLAs.



The cabinet meeting chaired by the beleaguered Chief Minister also approved the naming of upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after farmer leader late D B Patil.

Interestingly, state planning agency CIDCO had earlier proposed to name the Navi Mumbai airport after late Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena.

After the Shiv Sena broke off its alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form MVA government, the BJP had often reminded the Sena of its own old demand to rename Aurangabad, which derived its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

The Congress, which is a junior partner in the MVA government, demanded in the cabinet meeting that Pune city be named as Jijau Nagar, after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's mother, and Mumbai Trans Harbour link between Sewree and Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai be named for former chief minister late A R Antulay. But these demands were apparently not considered.

Congress had backed the demand to name Navi Mumbai Airport after D B Patil.

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Muslim organisations have condemned the horrific beheading of a man in and have said that the can never be justified.

Mushawarat President Navaid Hamid said, "The gruesome beheading in is anti-Islamic and an open case of hate crime. Prophet Muhammad had never harmed any body in his entire life. Those pretending to indulge in crime because of the Prophet's love are criminals and need harshest punishment as per the law."

He said, "I earnestly appeal PM @narendramodi ji to urgently consider addressing the nation for maintaining peace, calm and soothing sentiments."

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind too condemned the incident and its General Secretary Hakeemuddin Qasmi in a statement said, "The act is crime in the eyes of law, and our religion does not allow this."

Many Muslim organisations have demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits.

Asaduddin Owaisi said, "I condemn the gruesome in . There can be no justification for it. Our party's consistent stand is to oppose such violence. No one can take law into their own hands. We demand that the state govt take strictest possible action. Rule of law must be upheld "

Leaders like Salman Khurshid too have termed the crime as heinous. "Udaipur killing most heinous and regrettable irrespective of the provocation assumed. We cannot allow our nation to be torn apart in this inhuman manner. No religion approves of killing human beings. Let us reaffirm positivity of faith," Khurshid said.

--IANS

miz/dpb

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The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has selected 99 out of nearly 55,000 aspirants as management and design trainees in its 45th batch.

The Bengaluru-headquartered HAL inducted the 45th batch of management and design trainees at a programme here on Wednesday.

"The batch would go through 52-week intensive, regimental and customised training in various disciplines such as aeronautics, production, electrical, electronics, computer science, finance, human resources, legal etc.", HAL said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, HAL CMD, R Madhavan called upon the trainees to make good use of the opportunity to build their career and contribute to the cause.

HAL produces the best flying machines for the defence forces besides providing support to various defence platforms. HAL's training and learning programs continue throughout as you grow in the organisation and these include stints in the best overseas institutes, he said.

The statement said: "Out of nearly 55,000 aspirants 99 have been selected as MTs/DTs in the 45th batch".

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Rebel MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Sena legislators, led by senior minister Eknath Shinde, have raised the banner of revolt against their party. These MLAs had first come to Guwahati on June 22 and subsequently in several batches from Gujarat's Surat in chartered flights.

Amid criticism that the Sena dissidents were staying at a luxury hotel in Guwahati even as parts of were grappling with severe floods, Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel MLAs told PTI, "Shinde has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund as our contribution to their ongoing rescue work. We cannot ignore the plight of people here."



Kesarkar added that with Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari asking the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to face a floor test on Thursday, the rebel MLAs have decided to move out of Guwahati and shift to a place near Mumbai.

A close aide of Shinde, however, said the group will be staying in a Goa-based hotel and reach Mumbai by 9.30 am on Thursday.

Kesarkar said, "We will be staying at a place that is one hour air distance from Mumbai, so that that we can comfortably reach the state capital for the floor test. The decision (of floor test) will be what we have been demanding for a long time from our leadership."



Expressing disappointment with president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said the party MLAs had been asking him to move away from the NCP and Congress (allies in the government), but he never listened to them.

"As majority of MLAs decided to go away from these two parties, the remaining Sena legislators with him (Thackeray) will have to abide by our whip at the time of the floor test," Kesarkar said.

Thackeray can definitely issue some instructions, but when we are in the House, we are bound by the Constitution of the country, he said.

Shinde said on Wednesday that he will return to Mumbai on Thursday for the floor test against the beleaguered Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena-NCP-Congress government.

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Voicing grave concern over reports of civilian deaths in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has said that critical civilian infrastructure in urban areas have become easy targets in situations of armed conflict.

Speaking at the UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine on Tuesday, India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador R Ravindra said the conflict has resulted in the loss of lives and countless miseries for its peoples, particularly for women, children and elderly, with millions becoming homeless and forced to take shelter in neighbouring countries.

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Council that the Russian missile strike on a mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk killed 18 civilians and injured 59 and the final toll may be much higher.

"India remains deeply concerned over the situation in Ukraine," Ravindra said.

The Council meeting was also addressed virtually by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, the second time that leader spoke directly to the powerful 15-nation UN organ since the start of the conflict in February.

Reports of deaths of civilians in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict are deeply disturbing and in this regard, we express our grave concern. In recent years, critical civilian infrastructure in urban areas have become easy targets in situations of armed conflict, Ravindra said.

India added that the issue of the protection of civilian objects in armed conflicts should be considered within the framework of applicable international law. Earlier, India had unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians in Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation.

Stphane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Monday that any attack that hits a shopping mall is utterly deplorable.

DiCarlo said the "depravity of the war was again on full display yesterday following the missile strike in Kremenchuk, in the central Poltava region. Hundreds of people, perhaps even some trying to get a respite from the daily horrors of the war, suffered one of the most shocking attacks of the conflict when a shopping centre was hit by what are reported to be Russian missiles, she said adding that the incident, which should be investigated, was the latest in a new wave of airstrikes and missile attacks in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and other cities far from the frontlines, with many civilians killed or injured.

This horrific conflict, an open source of instability in Europe, shows no signs of abating, she said.

Ravindra added that from the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, India has been consistently calling for a complete cessation of all hostilities and advocated the path of peace, dialogue and diplomacy.

We support all efforts to alleviate the suffering of the people of Ukraine, especially talks between Ukraine and Russia. He noted that India has also been sending humanitarian supplies to Ukraine and its neighbours, which include medicines and other essential relief materials.

Underlining that the impact of the Ukraine conflict is not just limited to Europe, he said, the conflict is exacerbating concerns over food, fertilizer and fuel security, particularly in the developing countries.

It is necessary for all of us to adequately appreciate the importance of equity, affordability and accessibility when it comes to food grains. Open markets must not become an argument to perpetuate inequity and promote discrimination.

Ravindra told the Council that India is trying to increase the production of fertilizers. There is also a need to focus on the availability of fertilisers and keep the supply chains of fertilisers smooth at a global scale. Similarly, efforts should be made to ensure stability in the global supply of fuel commensurate with the demand, he said.

Ravindra added that India is committed to working constructively in mitigating the adverse impact of the conflict on food security. India has welcomed the recommendation of the Global Crisis Response Group Task Team to exempt purchases of food by the World Food Programme for humanitarian assistance from food export restrictions.

India has been providing financial assistance as well as supplying food grains to countries which are impacted by the Ukraine conflict.

India has exported 1.8 million tonnes of wheat to countries in need, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen in the last two months. We are also helping our neighbour Sri Lanka to ensure their food security, he said.

Zelenskyy said that Russia's actions in his country had now made it a terrorist state that should be expelled from the .

Noting that the UN does not have a legal definition of what constitutes a terrorist state, he stressed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates not only the meaning of this notion but also the urgent need to enshrine it legally.

Russia has no right to take part in discussions and votes on the war against Ukraine in the Security Council, he said, urging ambassadors to rid the delegation of the terrorist State.

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AIMIM chief on Wednesday said the killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal as well as past killings of Pahlu Khan, Mohammad Akhlaq and Mohammed Bhatta Sheikh were all "acts of terror," and blamed the Rajasthan police for not acting in time on Lal's complaint.

Kanhaiya Lal was killed by two men who posted a video on social media stating that they were avenging alleged insult to Islam.

incident would not have happened had Rajasthan police been alert. I read in the media that Kanhaiya Lal was receiving threats after he was arrested and released on bail, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader said here. When a person in Hyderabad issued threats to suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, Telangana police arrested him, Owaisi pointed out. The killing of Kanhaiya Lal, and past incidents where 'videos of the barbaric act were shot' such as the killings of Pehlu Khan, Mohammad Akhalaq and Mohammad Bhatta were all "acts of terror" and showed that radicalization is increasing in society, he added.

Pehlu Khan was killed by an alleged cow vigilante mob in 2017 in Rajasthan's Alwar district, while Akhalaq was killed by a mob in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri in 2015. Mohammad Bhatta Sheikh, a migrant labourer from West Bengal, was killed in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district in 2017.

Asked about the threats issued to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Kanhaiya Lal's killers in a video, Owaisi said, It is condemnable. Modi is our prime minister. We might have ideological differences with Modi but this doesn't mean that he can be threatened. The AIMIM leader also reiterated his demand that Nupur Sharma be arrested, saying she should face trial in a court of law for her alleged objectionable remarks about Prophet Mohammad.

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Blanket 28% could hit badly in India, says industry

players in India fear that the industry may be badly hit if the Centre proposes a blanket goods and services tax (GST) of 28 per cent on it. According to Roland Landers, chief executive officer (CEO) of the All India Gaming Federation, this move could hamper the booming industrys upward trajectory and lead to closure of businesses in the sector. Read more...

Dish TV- saga throws non-retiring director puzzle into sharp relief

The tussle between Dish TVs erstwhile promoters and has brought into sharp focus the conundrum of non-retiring directors at India Inc. The Companies Act, 2013, allows public companies to appoint directors not liable to retire. The concept, say legal experts, is to allow large institutional shareholders, such as Life Insurance Corporation of India, to appoint nominee directors. However, it can complicate matters in cases where individuals belonging to erstwhile promoter groups refuse to cease their position even when they lose the reins of the company, observe experts. Read more...

SaaS startups gain favour as funding slows down for other companies

One of the biggest merger-and-acquisition events for software-as-a-service (SaaS) came when NYSE-listed Zendesk was acquired for $10.2 billion. Though the deal size was lower than the earlier $17 billion offered by the same consortium of investors, it shows the interest and potential of SaaS companies across the globe. Read more...

Public sector banks request on bond portfolios as yields harden

Senior treasury officials of some state-owned banks requested officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide dispensations regarding their bond holdings at an informal meeting on Friday, sources told Business Standard.

The treasury officials requested a further increase in the limits for held-to-maturity (HTM) portfolios for government bonds as well as permission to amortise marked-to-market losses incurred on bond holdings in the current quarter. Read more...

Delayed diagnosis, reluctance to take booster dose pushing severe cases up

Delayed diagnosis, deferred treatment, and reluctance to take the booster shot are factors contributing to the serious rise in the number of Covid cases in pockets, say doctors. Deaths have risen in pockets -- Mumbai and Kerala are cases in point. In the past 15 days, in Mumbai there have been 31 Covid-19 deaths among the 1,370 people hospitalised. The city has reported 26,615 cases in the fortnight. Read more...

Towering legacy: Pallonji Mistry's business achievements span continents

They called him the phantom of Bombay House  his powerful presence felt rather than seen in the headquarters. Pallonji Mistry, the man who was the biggest shareholder of Tata Sons outside of Tata Trusts and whose Mumbai-headquartered construction conglomerate, Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, left its footprint across continents, died early Tuesday morning. He was 93. Read more...
The Karnataka has started an online campaign titled "terrorist Congress" in the backdrop of the beheading of a Hindu man in Rajasthan's .

The in its online posts stated that "genocide of Hindus is taking place in the Congress-ruled state of India. The incident of Rajasthan is a testament to the fact that there will be no security for Hindus wherever the comes to power," the post said.

The Karnataka has demanded that the killers should be hanged to death, and has launched hashtag "terrorist ."

"The is a terrorist party. The main objective of Congress party is to appease fundamentalist elements. Why Congress is silent even after the inhuman incident," BJP said.

"Those who talk about the right to life, where have they gone now? the BJP questioned. The incident had taken place in the state where the national Chintan Shivir was organised. There is no security for Hindus in the state where 'Bharat jodo' call was given," the BJP said.

"Do you want to unite India over the dead bodies of Hindus? Congress practices selective sympathetic approach towards incidents of murders done with religious motives. If any party tries to find religion in human blood which is shed it is the Congress," BJP attacked.

"Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, who ridiculed the arrest of a journalist who questioned the Hindu belief system, even after the beheading incident is turning a blind eye and is silent over the issue," BJP said.

"Because of the over appeasement politics practiced by the Congress, fanatics have beheaded Kanhaiya Lal. During the tenure of Congress rule, Hindu youth Paresh Mesta, Sharath Madivala, Rudresh were killed in Karnataka," BJP said.

--IANS

mka/dpb

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The Rajasthan Police has booked the two men who brutally murdered Kanhaiya Lal in a day before under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Rajasthan Chief Minister said on Wednesday.

The murder was meant to spread terror. Information has also surfaced that the killers have contacts aborad, he said.

The case will be investigated by the Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police will fully cooperate with the probe agency, he said.

Gehlot made the remarks after charing a high-level meeting in which he reviewed the situation in .

Official sources said the chief minister has also convened an all-party meeting at the his residence at 6 PM today over the Udaipur incident.

Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was on Tuesday murdered by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to .

The incident triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city.

Lal was cremated on Wednesday in the presence of a large number of people.

(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 will be launching a special drive to provide insurance coverage to farmers against potential crop damage.

The drive, slated to begin from the first week of July by the agriculture department, will be flagged off by Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi.

It will cover those development blocks which have lower farm insurance coverage under the Centre's ambitious PM Scheme (PMCIS).

According to UP government sources, till date, compensation of Rs 3,074.6 crore has been deposited in the accounts of 27.5 lakh farmers in UP under PMCIS.

This includes payment of crop compensation of Rs 654.8 crore to over 7 lakh farmers in Kharif season 2021. In Rabi 2021-22, an area of 14.2 lakh hectares has been insured by 19.9 lakh farmers.

According to a directive issued by additional chief secretary, agriculture, Devesh Chaturvedi, the drive would cover selected development blocks in the eight aspirational districts - Bahraich (Risia block), Shravasti (Sirsia), Balrampur (Utraula), Siddharth Nagar (Latan), Fatehpur (Bijaipur), Chitrakoot (Ramnagar) and Chandauli (Niyamtabad).

The value of damage incurred to crops in UP more than doubled between 2018-19 and 2019-20, as per Union agriculture ministry data.

Prepared on the basis of state-wise business statistics as on August 31 last year, the data shows that the reported crop loss claims shot up from around Rs 470 crore in 2018-19 to over Rs 1,116 crore in 2019-20.

As against the claimed loss, the paid claims amounted to Rs 1,092 crore in 2019-20 as against around Rs 40 crore in 2018-19. The number of farmers who benefitted from the PMCIS rose from 6 lakh in 2018-19 to over 9 lakhs in 2019-20, the data shows.

Sources said farmers' participation in the scheme needs special focus in pockets dominated by Dalits and Tribals.

For this, the state government plans to rope in not only district administration but also banks and Jan Suvidha Kendras.

The department also plans to disseminate information and success stories of farmers on social media.

--IANS

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A bipartisan group of American state governors and top officials have vouched for strong bilateral ties with and pitched for investment from the Indian corporate sector who they said not only brings foreign direct investment but also skills and creates local jobs in the US.

Governors Tom Wolf from Pennsylvania and Asa Hutchinson from Arkansas along with Lt Governors Garlin Gilchrist from Michigan, and Eleni Kounalakis from California made an aggressive pitch before a group of more than 100 Indian businesses travelling to the US to attend the annual Select USA Investment Summit in the American Capital.

In their remarks at a reception hosted at the popular House by India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, these top State level elected officials asserted that Indian businesses add value to their state economy, bring in new skill sets and most important of all create most sought-after jobs.

According to a 2020 survey by the Confederation of Indian Industries, more than 155 Indian companies have invested USD 22 billion.

Referring to the unicorns appearing in almost every week, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf told the audience that India is a dynamic nation, and it's a sleeping giant.

The Republican governor said that he is proud to have maintained his admiration and friendship with India through all these years.

Governor Hutchinson from Arkansas, who is from the Democratic party, asserted that the India-US relationship enjoys bipartisan support.

This really illustrates he's a Democrat, I'm a Republican... We all in a bipartisan way support our relationship with India. I think that speaks well of our National Governors Association that we work together, we promote our states, that we promote the relationship that we have with our allies such as India, said Hutchinson.

He travelled to India in 2019.

Arkansas, he said, has benefited from great foreign direct investment coming from Indian companies, including Welspun Mahindra Group, Infosys, TCS and Wipro employing several thousand people from Arkansas.

Just last year, Wipro announced that they will build a new large-scale service centre employing 400 Arkansans.

So we value the great investments that are made. Tata Consulting Services (TCS) is another example of an Indian firm investing in their business in Arkansas and also in students promoting STEM education in our state, he said.

STEM stands for the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Lt Gov Gilchrist said that Michigan is already home to a number of influential Indian-American companies, including Mahindra, Tata Group, and Wipro.

We are grateful for the continued partnership and investment of Indian businesses and the community in Michigan, where they enjoy not only a strong business climate but also a cost of living that is 10 per cent more affordable than the national average, a highly skilled and loyal workforce and an incredible quality of life that my counterparts will appreciate you saying is unmatched across the of America, he said.

I encourage all of those here today to continue to reach out and work with us in Michigan, in my Michigan Economic Development Corporation to continue to grow economic opportunities that will benefit both our State, this country and the nation of India, he said.

Opportunity certainly awaits all of you in Michigan for all of your ideas and imagination. ...Michigan also happens to be home to a very vibrant Indian American community. It actually is the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in our State. We are very proud of this distinction, Gilchrist said.

Lt Gov Eleni Kounalakis from California, the fifth-largest economy in the world if this was a country, exuded confidence that the relationship between California and India will continue to grow.

Why am I so confident? First, because more Indian Americans live in California than in any other state. In places like Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley, where they make up 6.4 per cent of the population in the San Jose Sunnyvale Santa Clara census tract. This is the highest percentage anywhere in the United States, she said.

Second, I'm confident that this relationship will continue to grow because total trade between California and India continues to grow in spite of the pandemic. Before COVID-19 trade between our sub-national government and the country of India was over USD10 billion and in 2021, it amounted to USD12.5 billion, she said.

Finally, Indian investment in California continues to thrive, with nearly 300 Indian-owned firms operating in our state, employing more than 8,000 people and generating more than USD980 million every year in wages, she said.

So, in short from the Golden Gate to India Gate, the ties between California and India are strong and are growing stronger, be they between Hollywood and Bollywood or Silicon Valley and Bangalore. So, as lieutenant governor,... I cherish the strong ties of friendship, and I look forward to a brighter and more collaborative future for all, she said.

Welcoming the top governors, Lt Governors and other top officials from the US Government, Sandhu, underlined that Indian companies in the bring strength, resilience, competitiveness to the . They create jobs in local communities and build capacity and technical know-how.

In my travels, I'm amazed to see what our companies have done from the neighbourhood and to partner with schools and universities. In my recent visits to Indianapolis, Chicago and San Antonia, I have seen firsthand what contribution they are bringing, Sandhu said. India, he said, has accelerated the speed and scale of economic reforms, making India an excellent place to do business, hire talent and manufacture for the world.

Arun Venkataraman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service said that India's in the United States is over USD12.7 billion and that has created over 70,000 jobs in the United States.

It is self-evident that India is an important commercial partner... We are partners bound by shared values, by rule of law, by a commitment to democracy and as a diaspora that is stubborn enough to refuse to let this relationship backtrack one step. We are proud to be here to keep this relationship on track and to ensure that the commercial side underpins what is already a critical and long-standing strategic partnership, Venkataraman said.

Jasjit Singh is the Executive Director of SelectUSA, this year Indian delegation of 138 delegates is the second-biggest delegation by all standards of Select USA Investment Summit.

(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.)
West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday condemned the killing of a tailor in Rajasthan's and said violence and extremism are unacceptable.

Violence and extremism are unacceptable, no matter what! I strongly condemn what happened in . As law takes its own course of action, I urge everyone to maintain peace. Banerjee tweeted.

Two men with a cleaver murdered a tailor In and posted videos online on Tuesday that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the historic city, a part of which was placed under curfew.

The men who allegedly carried out the daylight murder posted videos online admitting to the crime and were taken into custody by police.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government on Wednesday allowed firms like ONGC and Vedanta to sell locally produced to any Indian refinery for turning it into fuel, such as petrol and diesel, as it deregulated one of the last few avenues that were still under its control.

While contracts for oilfields awarded since 1999 gave producers the freedom to sell oil, the government fixed buyers for crude produced from older fields, such as Mumbai High of ONGC and Ravva of Vedanta.

Briefing reporters on the decisions taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister said from October 1, the companies will have the freedom to sell in the domestic market.

However, the ban on the export of will continue.

This decision would mean ONGC can auction its 13-14 million tonnes a year of crude oil produced from Mumbai High field to any refiner, including private sector Reliance Industries Ltd and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy.

The firm at present has to sell the Mumbai High crude oil to state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). It could not sell the oil to its own Mangalore refinery, which had conceived a petrochemical complex on the premise that 5 million tonnes of Mumbai High crude could be turned into value-added PTA and Benzene.

In the present system, the government fixes the quantity each buyer will pick. This limits the scope for price negotiations and often sellers sold oil at discount.

Now, the sellers can e-auction the crude to anyone paying the highest price.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved 'Deregulation of Sale of Domestically Produced Crude Oil', whereby Government has decided to cease allocation of crude oil and condensate with effect from October 1, 2022," an official statement said.

This will ensure marketing freedom for all exploration and production (E&P) operators, it said.

"The condition in the production sharing contracts (PSCs) to sell crude oil to the government or its nominee or government companies shall accordingly be waived off," the statement said. "All E&P companies will now be free to sell crude oil from their fields in the domestic market."

The government revenues like royalty and cess will continue to be calculated on a uniform basis across all contracts, it said, adding as earlier, exports will not be permissible.

The decision would allow Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) to sell their domestic produce to anyone offering the most price in an e-auction.

Companies, such as ONGC, will most likely seek a premium over an international benchmark for the crude.

ONGC may even change the benchmark crude from Nigeria's Bonny Light to Brent, the world's most traded crude oil.

Vedanta's Cairn Oil & Gas will get the freedom to sell oil from its Ravva oil field in eastern offshore. It currently sells Ravva crude only to HPCL.

"This decision will further spur economic activities, incentivise making investments in upstream oil and gas sector and build on a series of targeted transformative reforms rolled out since 2014," the statement said.

"The policies relating to production, infrastructure and marketing of oil and gas have been made more transparent with a focus on ease of doing business and facilitating more operational flexibility to operators/industry.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The next Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting will be held in Tamil Nadu's Madurai in August, Union Finance Minister said on Wednesday.

Announcing this at the press meet after the two-day meeting of GST Council held in Chandigarh, she said the next meeting will be held during the first week of August.

It will be held in Madurai at the invitation of Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.

At Madurai, the temple town, the GST Council will also deliberate the report of the Group of Ministers (GOM) on the GST fitment on casinos, online gaming, and horse racing.

Sitharaman also said the Council was of the view that online gaming is nothing but gambling.

--IANS

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Traders' body CAIT on Wednesday said it will launch a campaign from July 10, demanding the to withdraw the five-month ban on entry of medium and heavy goods vehicles in the national capital from October.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) convened a meeting of trade 'associations from Delhi on Wednesday on the issue. Leaders of All India Transport Welfare Association and Delhi Transport Association also attended the meeting.

"It was emphasised in the meeting that if the government does not take back this order, the traders of Delhi will have no other alternative but to move to the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for which will be responsible," the traders' body stated.

It was decided in the meeting that a campaign would be launched against this order across Delhi under the flag of an action committee to be headed by CAIT Delhi state president Vipin Ahuja.

"This campaign will run across Delhi from July 10 under which more than 200 meetings and rallies of traders will be organised in all the markets of Delhi to demand the withdrawal of this order of the state government," CAIT said.

For environment protection, the traders have pledged to plant 1 crore trees across Delhi and cooperation will be sought from the central government, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. On the coming Raksha Bandhan, traders across Delhi will organise Vriksha Mitra Movement and tie Rakhi to trees.

(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.)
being warned "one last" time to comply with government directives was "aimed at ensuring free and secured internet for everyone in the country", said sources in the ministry of electronics and (MeitY) on Wednesday.

The sources said has repeatedly violated directions issued under the . Email queries sent to India remained unanswered until the time of press.

The ministry, on June 27, issued a notice to Twitters Chief Compliance Officer and gave the social media company "one last opportunity" to act by July 4 on multiple content take-down notices. Failure to comply with the notice may lead to loss of immunity as an intermediary under the 2000, the ministry warned.

A ministry official said the company had failed to act on multiple non-compliance notices. Details about content Twitter was asked to be taken down remain unclear.

The defines an intermediary as any entity which receives, stores, or transmits data on behalf of others or provides any service related to that data. Under section 79 of the IT Act, the intermediaries are not liable for third-party information, data, or communication links hosted by them.

The ministrys comments came days after it expressed a need for new accountability standards for big-tech platforms. On June 6, at the time of releasing new amendments, the MeitY said the IT Act should ensure that the Constitutional rights of Indian citizens are not contravened by any Big-tech Platform.

As per section 69(A) of the Act, 2000, the government reserves the power to issue directions for blocking public access to any information under specific circumstances. It can ask to take down any digital information in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, and defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order.

Sources said that the ministry holds the view that Indian citizens and the authorities encourage every intermediary platform, given that they follow the directives of Indian law.
In a year when megastars like and have gone down like ninepins at the box-office, despite big releases backed by topnotch production houses, he has been a redeeming factor in . Meet Kartik Aaryan, whose Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has hit the jackpot, becoming the second-highest grosser this year (excluding South Indian like KGF Chapter 2 that were released in multiple languages).

BB 2 made Rs 185 crore in the domestic box-office, just behind another surprise success, The Kashmir Files. If you add global box-office collections, the movie has made a whopping Rs 230 crore-plus.

Made with a budget of Rs 65-75 crore, BB 2 sold its digital rights for over Rs 60-65 crore to Netflix, according to trade analysts, thereby virtually recovering its entire cost. Its producers, Bhushan Kumar of T Series, made a neat profit of over Rs 100 crore (this includes 50 per cent share from the domestic box-office, music rights and global box-office collections of an estimated Rs 42.6 crore). The movie is also number one in Netflixs list of top OTT content for this week.

Can we then describe Aaryan as Bollywoods new bankable star, a new entrant to the big boys club? Says a producer who has worked with him, Kartik is a fighter. He works like an underdog. He is an outsider, so he takes nothing for granted. Thats why he will do well. But being bankable is a different ball game, he adds. It means consistency. You could have one hit, like Shahid Kapoor, and then have a flop in Jersey and lose tonnes of money.

Aaryan realises that success in can be fickle. So he appears in no hurry to cash in on his celebrity status and jack up his rates, or go on a signing spree, which most actors do. He has officially denied reports that he has doubled his rates to Rs 30-40 crore after the success of the movie (he charges between Rs 15 crore and Rs 20 crore).

Says film trade analyst Komal Nahta, He told us that he is not signing up new after BB 2s success and is only reading scripts. He is cautious and choosy about the he does.

About the unexpected success of the movie, Aaryan says, We surely expected it to cross Rs 100 crore, but a hit over Rs 200 crore was beyond our expectation. We believed that family audiences would come (to watch it), but that even small kids would love it

This has, of course, drawn leading advertisers to come knocking at Aaryans door. Hes being seen as the new youth icon. He already has a dozen or more big names under his belt: Bata, Cadbury, Fanta, Doritos of PepsiCo, ITC Engage, Armani, boat, among others. With the big thumbs-up BB 2 has received, he is now consciously extending his reach to other segments: mobile brands, motor vehicles, western leisure wear, mutual funds and investment companies. Stopping short of divulging names, his team says these deals are in different stages of finalisation.

Says a senior executive of a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company of which he is brand ambassador: He is careful about the product and the company he chooses. He is looking to build a relationship with good brands across segments. He is approachable and not hankering for only money. For him, it is a long-term game.

Those whove turned to him for endorsements in the past say he charges between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 1 crore, so it is not as expensive as the big stars who charge mostly over Rs 5 crore.

For this rank outsider, it has been a slow journey with its ups and downs. He debuted back in 2011 with Pyaar Ka Punchnama but came to be appreciated only in 2015 when Pyaar ka Punchnama 2 hit collections of Rs 64.1 crore. In 2019, his movie Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety crossed the Rs 100-crore threshold, but the very next year he had a box-office disaster in Love Aaj Kal, which made just Rs 35 crore.

It was during the Covid-19 lockdown, when everyone was glued to OTT, that the thriller he acted in, Dhamaka, a remake of The Terror Live, did well  though not brilliantly. The movie was sold by Ram Madhvani along with Ronnie Screwvalas RSVP Films and others to for around Rs 90 crore.

He now has a series of four on his plate, which he signed up for before BB 2. These include Shehzada with Kriti Sanon and Freddy with Alaya F. The industry will be watching closely to see if he can repeat the success of BB 2 and earn the coveted bankable star tag. For the moment, hes enjoying his new gift from BB 2s producers: a swanky McLaren GT supercar with a price tag of Rs 4.7 crore.
must strengthen their communication about policy in "turbulent times" like the coronavirus pandemic and use alternative indicators and data sources, said governor on Wednesday.

 on their part are both producers and users of statistics for policy actions as well as for assessing the outcomes of their actions, he said at the central banks Statistics Day Conference.

"They also need to establish stronger communication of their policies and actions in such turbulent times. Thus, too had to cope with all these challenges by focussing on alternative indicators and data sources for monitoring the effects of the pandemic in all its dimensions.

More than 95 per cent of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) had partially or completely stopped face-to-face data collection in May 2020, he said citing a survey by the United Nations and the World Bank.

April and May 2020 were the worst in terms of mobility as the country went into a lockdown in the last week to March 2020 to curb the spread Covid-19.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation was compelled to publish imputed figures for consumer price index (CPI) for two consecutive months during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 due to immense difficulty in collection of prices for many items."

Das said Covid-19 had prompted statistical innovations, but the disruption the disease caused also posed challenges to build public trust in the resulting data.

While new data sources open up opportunities for official statistics, it also raises issues for the discipline. Development of proper data quality framework and ensuring data privacy and data security has assumed top priority.

Even short-term forecasting has become a challenge for central banks in the aftermath of the pandemic as large shifts in economic conditions cause breaks in statistical models. The assumptions underlying these models also keep changing during uncertain times.

The experience of the last two years has made us mindful of the data gaps that remain, though ensuring standardisation of methodologies in the compilation of various national aggregates have stood us in good stead, he said.

The governor said India requires regional dimensions of national indicators given its vastness and geographical diversity.

We should aim at enhanced granularity, regularity, and better validation. In the Reserve Bank, we treat information as a public good, he said, adding the envisioned to keep calibrating information management systems to the needs and expectations of various stakeholders.

We should also tap alternate data sources, and consider ways and means of fitting them in the existing analytical frameworks, Das added.
Ever since Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, has blamed for antagonizing and accused the US of seeking to set up a similar alliance in the Asia-Pacific. The presence of four leaders from the region in Spain this week will only make Beijing more paranoid.

For the first time, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand will all attend a summit of the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization. At the meeting starting Tuesday in Madrid, the alliance is set to label a systemic challenge in new policy guidelines for the coming decade, reflecting shifts in the geopolitical landscape as President increasingly joins hands with Putin in opposition to the worlds democracies.

While the US has dismissed the idea that an Asia-Pacific is in the works, the Biden administration has strengthened ties with partners in the region to both push back against Chinas assertiveness over disputed territory and sanction key officials over alleged human-rights abuses in places like Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Fears are also growing that Xi will look to invade Taiwan in the coming years, potentially triggering a wider war in Asia.



Also Read: Iran, Argentina apply to join BRICS bloc after recent summit: Report

At a virtual last week attended by Putin, Xi accused the US of seeking to expand military alliances and split the world economy into mutually exclusive zones. He warned that those who obsess with a position of strength would only fall into a security conundrum.

The new development certainly will make feel uneasy, encircled and threatened, Vivian Zhan, an associate professor specializing in Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said of NATOs focus on China.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said had become a tool for certain countries to uphold their hegemony. He said China follows an independent foreign policy of peace, and called the growth of the worlds second-biggest economy an opportunity for the world.

After disrupting Europe, NATO should not try to destabilize Asia and the whole world, Zhao said.

US allies and security partners in Asia arent convinced Chinas rise is peaceful. In recent years, Beijing has increased military activity around Taiwan and become more assertive over disputed territory off its coastline from to the Philippines. It has boosted security cooperation with Pacific Island states near Australia and sparked the deadliest border fight with India in decades.



Also Read: What G7 leaders agreed on: Russia sanctions, energy and food security

Still, the Asian leaders attending the NATO summit must walk a fine line with Beijing. China remains the biggest trading partner of Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, and has used that leverage to inflict pain in geopolitical disputes.

About a decade ago, a dispute over East China Sea islands claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing led to a boycott by Chinese consumers of goods that prolonged a recession in .

Its impossible for to stand up to China by itself, either economically or militarily, said Kyoko Hatakeyama, a professor specializing in security at the University of Niigata Prefecture. America is backing us, but even so, its a bit difficult, so we must have Europe take an interest.

Chinas actions have prompted a vow from Japan under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to upgrade its military, in a departure from the pacifism it embraced under a US-drafted constitution after its defeat in World War II. That includes boosting defense spending beyond a longtime cap set at 1% of gross domestic product.

is in a similar position. President Yoon Suk Yeol, a newly elected conservative, has sought to align his country more closely with the US and its allies in Europe.

Linking up with NATO may protect South Koreas interest against that of Beijing in case of the decline of US influence in the Pacific region in the long term, said Cheon Seong-whun, a former security strategy secretary for South Koreas presidential office.

The heavily controlled state media in North Korea, which has a longstanding partnership with China and Russia, published an opinion piece Wednesday from a local academic who accused NATO of turning ''its sinister eyes toward Asia.

''NATO is nothing but a perpetrator of the U.S. hegemonic strategy, its Korean Central News Agency, which often acts as a proxy for the state, quoted political researcher Kim Hyo Myong as saying . ''It is simply a tool for local invasion.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who took office last month, warned China this week to learn lessons from Russias strategic failure in Ukraine when weighing what to do with Taiwan.

The Ukraine invasion brought democratic nations together, whether they be members of NATO, or non-members such as Australia, Albanese said in an interview with the Australian Financial Review.

Yet while Asian countries are more interested in linking up with NATO, theres little prospect of them joining in a similar collective defense arrangement. The US and other colonial powers once sought to form the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization as a regional NATO to fight communism, but it suffered from organizational problems and eventually disbanded in 1977.

All of the US mutual defense treaties in Asia  with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia  are bilateral and have been around for decades. Southeast Asian nations in particular have no interest in picking sides, and Japan and remain at odds over disputes stemming from Japans past colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

Only a regional crisis like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan might prompt Asian nations to overcome their differences and form a security bloc, according to Japanese lawmaker and former vice defense minister Akihisa Nagashima.

If China tried to unify with Taiwan by force, I dont think other Asian countries could accept it, and they might consider creating an Asian NATO, he said. But at this point, no one would join. And even if it was somehow created it wouldnt function.
BT Group Plc has asked the UK government for more time to remove the Technologies Co. core of its network after supply chain concerns led to an impending ban on the equipment.

At the end of the day, not interrupting service for customers is the critical requirement here, BT Chief Technology Officer Howard Watson said in an interview in London with Bloomberg on Tuesday, blaming Covid-19 lockdowns for slowing the transition.

The core is the most sensitive part of a broadband network, akin to a sorting office for mail. Following a ban announced after the the US sanctioned the Shenzhen-based company, operators are obliged to remove from network cores by Jan. 28, 2023 or face fines of as much as 100,000 ($122,000) per day.

The request underscores the British telecommunications industrys previous reliance on the Chinese technology giant even in sensitive parts of its biggest systems, and the challenges of implementing the politically fraught order to replace its gear.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson banned from next-generation 5G wireless networks in 2020 and limited its presence in fixed networks, citing supply-chain concerns after the US imposed sanctions due to spying concerns.

The industry has already received a six-month reprieve for non-core components such as cell transmitters. A BT spokesman in the room said despite the request, the former state phone monopoly is working to the existing deadline.

BT is moving the core of its mobile network from Huawei to Swedens Ericsson AB and it has already started migrating customers, according to Watson. Its request was submitted to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, he said.

Were considering all the responses received and will publish our decision in due course, a spokeswoman for DCMS said by email.
A man in was accidentally paid 286 times his in May. The man received around Rs 1.42 crore or 165,398,851 Chilean pesos. When the incident came to light, the man acknowledged the fault on the part of his organisation and agreed to return the amount that was paid to him in excess. However, he resigned and took off with all the .

According to reports, the man worked at Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos or Cial, which also happens to be one of the largest producers of cold cuts in . The was supposed to pay the a total sum of Rs 43,000 or 500,000 pesos, which was his monthly but accidentally ended up paying him 165,398,851 pesos. The incident came to notice when the management checked their records and found the error.

Soon after the incident, the management at Cial reached out to the employee, who allegedly agreed to visit the bank to get the amount refunded. However, when they did not receive the amount back, they tried contacting the man for an update. But, there was no communication. The man reached out days later, saying he would visit the bank soon to return the . On June 2, the man submitted his resignation.

Several reports have now surfaced which reveal that the man has disappeared. To retrieve the money, the has now reached out to various agencies and registered a complaint against the .
China's permanent representative to the United Nations has urged not to fan bloc confrontation or a new Cold War by using the Ukraine crisis as an excuse.

"The Ukraine crisis has once again sounded the alarm for the world," Zhang Jun said on Tuesday while addressing a UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine.

"Security is indivisible. A blind faith in the position of strength, the expansion of military alliance, and the pursuit of one's own security at the expense of the security of other countries will inevitably lead to security dilemma," Xinhua news agency reported quoting Zhang.

Zhang noted that NATO's five eastward expansions after the Cold War have not only failed to make Europe securer, but also sowed the seed of conflict, a lesson worth reflecting on.

"The Cold War ended a long time ago. It is necessary for to reconsider its own positioning and its responsibilities, completely abandon the Cold-War mentality that is based on bloc confrontation, and strive to build a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security framework in line with the principle of indivisible security," he said.

pays close attention to NATO's strategic adjustment and is deeply concerned about the policy implications of its so-called "Strategic Concept," the envoy said.

Citing that certain leaders lately painted other countries as a threat, Zhang underscored the fact that it is NATO itself that has made troubles in different parts of the world.

"We urge NATO to learn its lessons, and not to use the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to stoke worldwide bloc confrontation or a new Cold War, and not to look for imaginary enemies in the Asia Pacific or artificially create contradictions and divisions," he said.

Zhang stressed that firmly opposes certain elements clamouring for NATO's involvement in the Asia Pacific, or an Asia Pacific version of NATO on the back of military alliances.

"The long-outdated Cold War script must never be reenacted in the Asia Pacific. The kind of turmoil and conflict that are affecting parts of the world must not be allowed to happen in the Asia Pacific," he said.

"Asia Pacific countries share the appreciation of the hard-won peace and prosperity, and the wish to focus on mutually beneficial cooperation in pursuit of common development and revitalization. Any attempt to go against the tide of history is doomed to fail," he said.

The continuation of the Ukraine crisis is regrettable and worrying, Zhang said, emphasising that dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way to restore and consolidate peace.

"For some time now, has joined all peace-loving countries calling for a ceasefire. We have been committed to promoting peace talks, and making relentless efforts to de-escalate the situation, restore peace, mitigate the humanitarian situation, and stabilize the global economy," he said.

China supports direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and also welcomes the UN secretary-general's good offices on issues including grain export, said Zhang.

--IANS

int/svn/

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Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has said it would be a lack of courtesy for to take issue with President Yoon Suk-yeol taking part in a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Han made the remarks during a dinner meeting with reporters Tuesday as Yoon was in Madrid to attend the NATO summit, Yonhap news agency reported.

is not a member of NATO but was invited to the summit along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand as the organisation's Asia-Pacific partners.

has opposed Asia-Pacific nations, including South Korea, attending the NATO gathering.

"If it is necessary for our security, we should go," Han said. "It would be a lack of courtesy for to say do it or don't do it. It is not in line with mutual respect."

Last week, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked about China's opposition to South Korea's participation in the NATO Summit.

Kirby replied that, "China doesn't get a veto on what meetings the South Koreans attend and associate themselves with. And this isn't about an Asian version of NATO."

Referring to Kirby's remarks, Han said, "I think that's the right thing to say."

Yoon has criticised former President Moon Jae-in for giving the impression that was tilting toward China.

Perceptions that the Yoon government's stance on China have raised concerns that Beijing could retaliate against -- as it did when the US deployed the THAAD antimissile system to South Korea in 2017.

Asked whether South Korea would maintain its diplomatic stance even if China takes retaliatory measures shown in 2017, Han replied, "Of course."

"If China is dissatisfied and says that it will take economically unfavorable actions when we seek to pursue the values that the world respects, it should be said that it is not the right thing to do," Han said.

--IANS

int/shs

(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 first batch of 5,300 doses against monkeypox purchased by the European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was delivered to on Tuesday, a Commission's spokesperson has said.

"As of today, the first deliveries of vaccines in response to the monkeypox outbreak are arriving at the most affected countries," Stella Kyriakides, European commissioner for health and food safety said.

In mid-June, the Commission purchased 1,09,090 doses of Imvanex, a smallpox produced by Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic and proposed to start deliveries to the (EU) member states and to Norway and Iceland by the end of this month.

The doses are allocated on a pro-rata basis, with the countries reporting the highest number of cases prioritized for delivery. After Spain, Portugal, Germany and Belgium will receive vaccines.

Also on Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) started a rolling review of the use of Imvanex against monkeypox. Laboratory studies indicate that the vaccine "triggers the production of antibodies that target the monkeypox virus," according to the agency.

Imvanex is currently authorized in the EU for the prevention of smallpox in adults. Since smallpox and monkeypox viruses are closely related, the smallpox vaccine could be used to contain the spread of monkeypox.

Since Imvanex is not widely available in the EU, the EMA recommends the use of its U.S.-manufactured version called Jynneos, which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for both smallpox and monkeypox.

The symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches and exhaustion, and the disease can be fatal. It is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it can be transmitted from animals to humans, but also from the human to human.

"Since May 18, around 2,682 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 23 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden) plus Norway and Iceland," the Commission said.

The current monkeypox outbreak is the first recorded outside Africa.

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Chief of Army Staff said that the was the practical manifestation of Pakistan's unwavering commitment to and harmony, Geo News reported.

His comments came during a meeting with the British Sikh soldiers' delegation, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

During the meeting, General Bajwa said that respects all religions and recognises the need for the promotion of religious tourism in the country, Geo News reported.

The British Sikh soldiers' delegation lauded the Army's efforts in bringing peace and normalcy to tribal districts.

The delegation -- comprising 12 members, who visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) --was headed by Deputy Commander Field Army UK Major General Celia J. Harvey.

The delegation visited Lahore where it witnessed a flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border. It also visited Lahore Fort, Allama Iqbal Mausoleum, and the Badshahi Mosque.

During their stay, the British Sikh soldiers visited several religious sites in the country including Darbar Hazrat Mian Mir, Haveli Nau Nihal Singh, Gurdwara Janam Asthan Guru Ram Das, Samadhi Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Kartarpur Corridor, Nankana Sahib and Dera Panja Sahib.

The delegation also visited Orakzai District and witnessed Samana Fort, Lockhart Fort and Saragarhi Monument where it laid a wreath, the ISPR said.

This was the place where 21 Sikh soldiers laid their lives in 1897 as part of a British expedition and has much historical significance for Sikhs.

--IANS

san/dpb

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Russian President would not have embarked on a crazy, macho war against Ukraine if he were a woman, British Prime Minister has said.

In an interview with the German media at the end of the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau this week, Johnson pointed to Putin's machismo as a contributory factor in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He also called for more women in positions of power as one of the measures towards global peace.

If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, if he were, I really don't think he would have embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has, Johnson told broadcaster ZDF.

If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it's what he is doing, he said, referring to the 69-year-old Russian president.

During the recent G7 Summit in Germany, leaders of the powerful bloc mocked Putin over his infamous bare-chested picture atop a horse.

Asked about Johnson's remarks, the prime minister's official spokesman said that "there is not a deliberate policy", adding: "The British public would expect leaders to be robust with someone killing innocent civilians on a daily basis."



Johnson's comments come ahead of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) meeting in Madrid where western allies will discuss how to respond to future threats.

At the summit, Johnson is set to call on fellow members of the defensive alliance to ramp up defence spending.

Meanwhile, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) announced new sanctions to target Putin's inner circle, including Vladimir Potanin -- Russia's second richest man and owner of major conglomerate Interros.

Potanin continues to amass wealth as he supports Putin's regime, acquiring Rosbank, and shares in Tinkoff Bank in the period since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the FCDO said.

Anna Tsivileva, Putin's cousin and President of the prominent Russian coal mining company, JSC Kolmar Group, has also been sanctioned.

Tsivileva's husband Sergey Tsivilev is Governor of the coal rich Kemerovo region and the couple have significantly benefited from their relationship to Putin. JSC Kolmar Group is also being sanctioned.

As long as Putin continues his abhorrent assault on Ukraine, we will use sanctions to weaken the Russian war machine. Today's sanctions show that nothing and no one is off the table, including Putin's inner circle, a UK government spokesperson said.

The UK government said it is also sanctioning a group of Russian individuals and companies for their involvement in repressing civilians and supporting the Assad regime in Syria.

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Cassidy Hutchinson, a key aide in Donald Trump's White House, told the House committee investigating the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Tuesday that Trump was informed that people rallying on the mall that morning had weapons but he told officials to let my people in and march to the Capitol.

Hutchinson quoted Trump as directing his staff, in profane terms, to take away the magnetometers that he thought would slow down supporters who'd gathered in Washington. In videotaped testimony played before the committee, she recalled the former president saying words to the effect of: I don't f-in' care that they have weapons."



They're not here to hurt me. Take the f-in'mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here, Hutchinson testified.

Hutchison, a top aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, said that she was scared, and nervous for what could happen ahead of the riot after conversations with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Meadows and .

Meadows told Hutchinson that things might get real real bad," she said. Giuliani told her it was going to be a great day and we're going to the Capitol. She described Meadows as unconcerned as security officials told him that people at Trump's rally had weapons - including people wearing armor and carrying automatic weapons.

Hutchinson told the panel that she was apprehensive ahead of time because she had heard plans for a rally and possible movements to the Capitol, where hundreds of Trump's supporters later violently pushed past police and broke through windows and doors, interrupting the certification of President Joe Biden's victory.

I had a deeper concern for what was happening with the planning aspects of it, Hutchinson told the panel.

The 25-year-old, who was a special assistant and aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, has already provided a trove of information to congressional investigators and has sat for four interviews behind closed doors. But the committee called the hearing this week to hear her public testimony.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee's chairman, said that in recent days, the panel had received information about what Trump and his aides were saying during critical hours of Jan. 6 and that it was critical for the American people to hear that information immediately.

The committee's vice chairwoman, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, said the hearing would shed light on Trump's conduct at the time, the actions and statements of senior advisers and also what they knew about the prospect of violence in the days before the violent attack. She told the panel in earlier interviews that Meadows was warned about possible unrest.

Her appearance was cloaked in extraordinary secrecy. The committee announced the surprise hearing with only 24 hours' notice, and Hutchison's appearance was only confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter.

While it is unclear what new evidence she might provide Tuesday, Hutchinson's testimony is likely to tell a first-hand story of Trump's pressure campaign, and how the former president responded after the violence began, more vividly than any other witness the committee has called in thus far.

In brief excerpts of testimony revealed in court filings, Hutchinson told the committee she was in the room for White House meetings where challenges to the election were debated and discussed, including with several Republican lawmakers. In one instance, Hutchinson described seeing Meadows incinerate documents after a meeting in his office with Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., Politico reported in May.

She also revealed that the White House counsel's office cautioned against plans to enlist fake electors in swing states, including in meetings involving Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Attorneys for the president advised that the plan was not legally sound, Cassidy said.

During her three separate depositions, Hutchinson also testified about her boss' surprise trip to Georgia weeks after the election to oversee the audit of absentee ballot envelope signatures and ask questions about the process.

She also detailed how Jeffrey Clark a top Justice Department official who championed Trump's false claims of election fraud and whom the president contemplated naming as attorney general was a frequent presence at the White House.

The plot to remove the then-acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, unraveled during a Jan. 3, 2021, meeting in the Oval Office when other senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.

The House panel has not explained why it abruptly scheduled the 1 p.m. hearing as lawmakers are away from Washington on a two-week recess. The committee had said last week that there would be no more hearings until July.

The precise subject of Tuesday's hearing remained unclear, but the panel's announcement Monday said it would be to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony. A spokesman for the panel declined to elaborate and Hutchinson's lawyer did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The person familiar with the committee's plans to call Hutchinson could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The nine-member committee's investigation has continued during the hearings, which started three weeks ago into the attack by Trump supporters. Among the evidence, the committee recently obtained footage of Trump and his inner circle taken both before and after Jan. 6 from British filmmaker Alex Holder.

Holder said last week that he had complied with a congressional subpoena to turn over all the footage he shot in the final weeks of Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, including exclusive interviews with Trump, his children and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel's Democratic chairman, told reporters last week that the committee was in possession of the footage and needed more time to go through the hours of video.

The panel has held five hearings so far, mostly laying out Trump's pressure campaign on various institutions of power in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, when hundreds of the Republican's supporters violently pushed past police, broke into the building and interrupted the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

The committee has used the hearings to detail the pressure from Trump and his allies on Pence, on the states that were certifying Biden's win, and on the Justice Department. The panel has used live interviews, video testimony of its private witness interviews and footage of the attack to detail what it has learned.

Lawmakers said last week that the two July hearings would focus on domestic extremists who breached the Capitol that day and on what Trump was doing as the violence unfolded.
They call her, desperate, scared and often broke. Some are rape and domestic violence victims. are new mothers, still breastfeeding infants. Another pregnancy so soon, they say, is something they just can't handle.

Heart wrenching, said Angela Huntington, an navigator for Planned Parenthood in Missouri, who is helping callers reschedule cancelled appointments sometimes hundreds of miles away from their homes after the fall of Roe v Wade.

The ruling has set off a travel scramble across the country, with a growing number of states mostly banning the procedure. Clinics operators are moving, doctors are counselling crying patients, donations are pouring into nonprofits and one group is dispatching vans to administer pills. Some cities like Kansas City and St Louis also are drafting plans to help with the travel logistics.

Huntington has been preparing for this moment for months. Even before the US Supreme Court's decision last week to end constitutional protection for abortion, the procedure had become difficult to nearly impossible to obtain in states including Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Basically," she said, they were living in a post Roe era."



Now a fresh round of laws are taking effect. Staff at a clinic in Nashville were flooded with calls from patients trying to understand the new legal landscape, after a federal court on Tuesday allowed the state's ban on abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy to take effect.

In Arkansas, some patients already were headed to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Little Rock to obtain medication-induced abortions when the decision came down last week. Upon arriving, they were sent home.

I cannot believe this is happening today, they told Huntington. Or alternatively, they muttered, their voices oozing with sarcasm, Of course it's happening today.

Huntington and try to help move their appointments to clinics in Kansas, Illinois and even Colorado. If a patient is broke but has access to a reliable car, Huntington can offer gas cards. She works with nonprofits to arrange commercial flights and lodging.

In recent weeks, she said, a group called Elevated Access has enlisted volunteer light aircraft pilots to transport patients to abortion appointments, sometimes departing from small rural airstrips.

It's been hell," said Dr Jeanne Corwin, a gynecologist who works at a clinic in Dayton, Ohio, where most patients are being turned away after new state rules took effect banning abortions after a heartbeat can be detected. Many are being sent over the border to Indiana and the clinic's sister site in Indianapolis, where Corwin also works.

She said they are desperate, including a patient in her 30s, recently diagnosed with advanced melanoma and in her first trimester.

She has to end her pregnancy" so she can begin chemotherapy, and is going to Indiana, Corwin said, adding that patients who are beyond Indiana's 14-week cutoff are being sent to Illinois or Michigan.

Time also may be short for women diverted to Indiana because lawmakers there are expected to re-consider the state's abortion laws at a special session starting July 6.

The situation is particularly difficult for immigrants who are in the country illegally, said Lupe Rodrguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.

Many of them lack the documentation to take a commercial flight, and occasionally border agents search buses for immigrants who are in the country illegally, she said.

They're simply not able to go anywhere to get this care," she said, adding that the ruling has also created widespread confusion, with pregnant women fearful they could face criminal prosecution. There's a lot of misinformation."



In Missouri, where abortions were already severely restricted, a new ban took effect Friday that only allows the procedure in cases of medical emergency. Kansas City leaders are weighing a $300 stipend to help employees travel for an abortion. And across the state, in St Louis, elected officials are considering another measure that would use $1 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay for transportation, lodging and other logistical support for abortion seekers.

It's kind of an American nightmare that we're scrambling to find health care like this," said St Louis Alderwoman Annie Rice, adding that she anticipated the measure would pass by mid-July. If that happens, abortion opponents have vowed to ask the state's attorney general to sue.

Just the Pill, a nonprofit health organisation that helps patients obtain abortion pills, is hitting the road. It has purchased two vans one medication van and another where surgical abortions will be done with plans to begin operating those vans by mid- to-late-July in Colorado. The idea is to be close to the borders of states that have restricted or outlawed abortion.

Mississippi's only abortion clinic, which is nicknamed the Pink House because of its bright pink paint job, is facing the prospect of closing if it loses its lawsuit that seeks to block a state law that makes most abortions illegal as of July 7.

We're not giving up, said the clinic's owner, Diane Derzis, who plans to open a new abortion clinic called the Pink House West early next month in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Women have always had abortions, no matter what it took.

Following the ruling, donations have been pouring in to abortion funds like South Dakota Access for Every Woman. Normally the group would get seven to 10 donations per month. Now they are getting 10 to 20 a day, said Evelyn Griesse, a co-founder of the group. The money goes straight to the abortion providers.

If the woman says she's using some of her own personal money to pay for the abortion, we say use that money to do your travel expenses," Griesse said.

Some states are rolling out the welcome mat. Connecticut's governor is out with a new campaign ad that touts the state's laws protecting abortion rights for women. They include a soon-to-take-effect law that protects medical providers and patients from out-of-state legal actions.

Women deserve the right to make their own decisions about their health care, Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat running for reelection in November, said in the 30-second commercial released over the weekend.

In Pennsylvania, where state law still allows abortions in the first 24 weeks, clinics are bracing for an influx of out-of-state patients.

Susan Frietsche, a staff attorney for the Women's Law Project, which represents abortion clinics in Pennsylvania, cautioned that state residents seeking abortions may have a harder time finding appointments, too.

It affects everybody in the country, Frietsche said. Whereas yesterday, Pennsylvania providers were basically able to find appointment times for people who need to be seen, that is not going to be the case soon, and Pennsylvanians are going to have to travel to other states and not because the law here has changed, but you won't be able to find an appointment soon, this is such a time-sensitive service.

(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.)
Reacting to a surprising and growing monkeypox outbreak, US health officials on Tuesday expanded the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus.

They also said they are providing more monkeypox vaccine, working to expand testing, and taking other steps to try to get ahead of the outbreak.

"We will continue to take aggressive action against this virus," said Dr Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, who has also been playing a role in how the government deals with monkeypox.

The administration said it was expanding the pool of people who are advised to get vaccinated to include those who may realize on their own that they could have been infected.

Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.

The is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. It does not usually spread easily among people.

Last month, cases began emerging in Europe and the . Many but not all of those who contracted the virus had travelled internationally. Most were men who have sex with men, but health officials stress that anyone can get monkeypox.

Case counts have continued to grow. As of Tuesday, the U.S. had identified 306 cases in 27 states and the District of Columbia. More than 4,700 cases have been found in more than 40 other countries outside the areas of Africa where the virus is endemic.

There have been no US deaths and officials say the risk to the American public is low. But they are taking steps to assure people that medical measures are in place to deal with the growing problem.

One of the steps was to expand who is recommended to get vaccinated. Vaccines customarily are given to build immunity in people before they are ever infected. But if given within days or even a few weeks of first becoming infected, some vaccines can reduce severity of symptoms.

A two-dose vaccine, Jynneos, is approved for monkeypox in the US. And it is that vaccine that officials have been trying to use as a primary weapon against the outbreak.

US officials on Tuesday said said they are increasing the amount of Jynneos vaccine they are making available, allocating 56,000 doses immediately and about 240,000 more over the coming weeks. They promised more than 1 million more over the coming months.

Another change: Until now, the Centers for Control and Prevention has advised that vaccines be given after exposure to people whom health officials identify as close personal contacts of cases. But on Tuesday, CDC officials say they are expanding the recommendation to people who were never identified but may realize on their own that they may have been infected.

That can include men who have sex with men who have recently had multiple sex partners in a venue where there was known to be monkeypox or in an area where monkeypox is spreading.

"It's almost like we're expanding the definition of who a contact might be," said the CDC's Jennifer McQuiston. If people have been to a party or other place where monkeypox has been known to spread "we recommend they come in for a vaccine," she said.

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The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued retail commerce giant for allegedly allowing its money transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who fleeced consumers out of more than $197 million.

In its lawsuit, the FTC alleged that for years, the company turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage of its failure to properly secure the money transfer services offered at stores.

"The company did not properly train its employees, failed to warn customers, and used procedures that allowed fraudsters to cash out at its stores", according to the FTC's complaint.

"While scammers used its money transfer services to make off with cash, looked the other way and pocketed millions in fees," said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

"Consumers have lost hundreds of millions, and the Commission is holding Walmart accountable for letting fraudsters fleece its customers," he said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The FTC is asking the court to order Walmart to return money to consumers and to impose civil penalties for Walmart's violations.

In media reports, Walmart described the lawsuit as both "factually flawed and legally baseless."

Walmart acts as an agent for multiple money transfer services, including MoneyGram, Ria and Western Union, offering some services under its own brand, like "Walmart2Walmart" and "Walmart2World".

According to the complaint, tens of millions of money transfers are sent or received at Walmart stores each year, where they are processed by Walmart employees.

"Walmart's practice of turning a blind eye to fraud had grave consequences for consumers," according to the complaint.

The complaint cited numerous instances in which law enforcement investigations found that scammers relied on Walmart money transfers as a primary way to receive payments, including in telemarketing schemes like IRS impersonation schemes, relative-in-need "grandparent" scams, sweepstakes scams, and others.

Based on information from fraud databases maintained by MoneyGram, Western Union, and Ria, from 2013 to 2018 more than $197 million in payments that were the subject of fraud complaints were sent or received at Walmart, with more than $1.3 billion in related payments also possibly connected to the fraud.

The FTC has filed the complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

--IANS

na/dpb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The World Health Organization says "sustained transmission" of monkeypox worldwide could see the virus begin to move into high-risk groups, such as pregnant women, immunocompromised people and children.



said on Wednesday it was investigating reports of infected children, including two cases in Britain, as well as following up reports in Spain and France. None of the cases in children have been severe.



The virus has now been identified in more than 50 new countries outside the countries in Africa where it is endemic.



Cases are also rising in those countries, said WHO, calling for testing to be ramped up.



"I'm concerned about sustained transmission because it would suggest that the virus (is) establishing itself and it could move into high risk groups including children, the immunocompromised and pregnant women," said chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an online briefing from Geneva on Wednesday.



There have been more than 3,400 cases of monkeypox, and one death, since the outbreak began in May, largely in Europe among men have sex with men, according to a WHO tally. There have also been more than 1,500 cases and 66 deaths in countries this year where it more usually spreads.



Last week, the WHO ruled that the outbreak did not yet represent a emergency, its highest level of alert.



However, Tedros said the WHO was tracking the outbreak closely and would reconvene the committee "as soon as possible" to assess whether this was still the case.



The U.N. agency said it was also working on a mechanism to distribute vaccines more equitably, after countries including Britain and the United States suggested they were willing to share their stockpiled smallpox vaccines, which also protect against monkeypox.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By David Gaffen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices gained for a fourth straight session on Wednesday as data showed a drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles, adding to ongoing worries of tight supply, which have offset concerns over a weaker global economy and demand.

Brent crude futures for August rose $1.42, or 1.2%, to $119.40 a barrel as of 10:59 a.m. ET (1459 GMT). The August contract will expire on Thursday and the more-active September contract was at $115.35, up $1.52.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.13, or 1%, to $112.89 a barrel.

Both contracts rose more than 2% on Tuesday as concerns over tight supplies due to Western sanctions on Russia outweighed fears of that demand may slow in a potential future recession.

U.S. crude inventories fell last week despite production hitting its highest level since April 2020, during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. However, fuel stocks rose as refiners ramped up activity, operating at 95% of capacity, the highest for this time of year in four years. [EIA/S]

"Globally supplies are tight so from a big picture viewpoint, we're still in a bullish situation. Crude oil inventories are still below average," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Prices rose as G7 countries agreed to explore options to impose price caps on Russian oil exports.

"Given that almost 1/5 of global oil producing capacity today is under some form of sanctions (Iran, Venezuela, Russia), we believed there is no practical way to keep these barrels out of a market that was already exceptionally tight," JP Morgan said in a research note.

Norbert Rucker from Julius Baer said the price cap concept was difficult to grasp given the presence of multiple oil prices for multiple grades and thousands of actors along the supply chain.

"Buyers would need to collude in a cartel and build a credible 'threat' backdrop, both of which are challenging," he said.

OPEC and its allies such as Russia that form the OPEC+ group, began a series of two-day meetings on Wednesday with sources saying chances of a big policy change look unlikely this month.

Analysts are concerned that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates may not have enough spare capacity to make up for lost Russian supply. French President Emmanuel Macron said this week he was told these producers will struggle to increase output further.

However, the UAE minister said that the country, which is producing about 3 million bpd, does have some spare capacity above its OPEC quota of 3.17 million bpd.

Analysts also warned that political unrest in Ecuador and Libya could tighten supply further.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Jason Neely)

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Capital regulator on Wednesday decided to allow foreign portfolio investors to participate in the exchange-traded segment, a move that will further increase depth and liquidity in the market.

The board of Sebi, during its meeting held on Wednesday, also approved amendments to rules governing and portfolio managers.

Further, it has cleared amendments to SECC Regulations provisions relating to Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation (LPCC) for clearing and settlement of corporate bond repo transactions.

In a significant move, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) will be allowed to trade in all non-agricultural and select non-agricultural benchmark indices.

Initially, FPIs will be allowed only in cash-settled contracts.

"The participation of FPIs in Exchange Traded (ETCD) market is expected to enhance liquidity and market depth as well as promote efficient price discovery," said in a release after the board meeting.

The regulator has already allowed institutional investors such as Category III Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Portfolio Management Services and to participate in ETCD market.

The existing route, which required actual exposure to Indian physical commodities, has been discontinued. Any foreign investor desirous of participating in Indian ETCD segment with or without actual exposure to Indian physical commodities can do so through the FPI route.

Currently, foreign entities having actual exposure to Indian commodity markets, known as Eligible Foreign Entities (EFEs) are allowed to participate in the Indian commodity derivatives market.

However, FPIs being financial investors with huge purchasing power were not allowed to participate in the ETCD segment.

Now, FPIs will be allowed to participate in the Indian ETCD market, subject to certain risk management measures.

Further, a working group comprising representatives from and market participants has been constituted to examine whether any additional risk management measures are required to be prescribed for FPIs.

The position limits for FPIs, other than individuals, family offices and corporate bodies, will be at par with those presently applicable for mutual fund schemes.

FPIs belonging to categories -- individuals, family offices and corporates -- will be allowed position limit of 20 per cent of the client level position limit in a particular commodity derivatives contract, similar to the position limits prescribed for currency derivatives.

"Effective date will be notified vide a circular," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said.

Considering that around 10,000 FPIs are presently registered in India, even if a tenth of them participates in the Indian commodity derivatives market, the same may bring considerable liquidity in Indian ETCDs segment.

In addition, their participation may help bring down the transaction costs in the commodity futures segment, owing to economies of scale.

EFEs and FPIs both relate to the participation of foreign entities, with different nomenclature and status assigned to the foreign investors.

The board of Sebi has also approved an amendment to mutual fund rules to remove applicability of the definition of "associate" to such sponsors, which invest in various companies on behalf of the beneficiaries of insurance policies or such other schemes.

Further, it cleared the amendments to the portfolio managers rules to enhance prudential norms for investments by portfolio managers, including investments in associates and related parties.

The board considered and approved the proposals for making amendments to the provisions of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations) Regulations to align the provisions of the SECC regulations with those of the RBI Central Counter Party Directions.

In respect of the requirements of the RBI's Directions for Central Counterparties and the Payment and Settlements Systems Act (PSS Act) administered by RBI, the board considered and approved certain proposals, according to the release.

Over a period of time, the LPCC shall put in place a mechanism for infusion of additional capital in a phased manner, in line with the risk management and increasing trading volumes in order to meet the networth requirements under the PSS Act.

Among others, Sebi, in consultation with RBI, will review the outsourcing agreements of the LPCC in relation to its core and critical IT support infrastructure/ activities for running the core activities -- transaction process, clearing and settlement --- after two or three years.

The board also considered and approved the Sebi annual report 2021-22 and the annual report would be submitted to the central government.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mastek selected Netskope, a company specialised in security service edge (SSE) and zero trust, as the company's simplified, unified and secure connectivity platform for cloud applications and infrastructure.

Netskope will help Mastek deliver its work from anywhere initiative, facilitating secure access to the internet and SaaS applications as well as providing Identity-as-a-Service (IaaS) capabilities.It will allow Mastek's employees to work on a zero-trust basis from any device and any location, improving the employee experience without compromising data security.

In addition, Netskope will provide a unified view of all data flows, enhancing Mastek's security posture and enabling better analytics to facilitate ongoing improvements to data management processes.

Netskope and Mastek will also explore a global go-to-market strategy in specific industries to offer prospective and existing customers combined digital engineering and cloud transformation and security solutions.

Hiral Chandrana, global CEO of Mastek group commented, As we continue our digital transformation and expand our 'hire from anywhere and deliver everywhere' initiative, cloud & data security is of the utmost importance. We see great synergies with Netskope, who share our core values and understand our enterprise security requirements. We also look forward to working with Netskope as we accelerate growth at scale and provide holistic solutions to our clients.

Sanjay Beri, CEO and co-founder of Netskope said, We're thrilled to be working with Mastek, a leader in digital engineering & cloud transformation to secure its perimeter as it transitions to a cloud-first strategy. Our device agnostic solutions will enable a safer, better experience for all Mastek employees, regardless of their working environment, whilst safeguarding the company's data as it travels through the cloud.

Netskope, a global cybersecurity leader, is redefining cloud, data, and network security to help organizations apply Zero Trust principles to protect data.

Mastek is an IT company providing enterprise digital and cloud transformation services to the Government/ public sector, health and life science, retail and financial service sectors. The company's service offering includes, application development, Oracle suite & cloud migration, digital commerce, application support & maintenance, BI & analytics, assurance & testing and agile consulting.

On consolidated basis, the company's net profit rose 5.7% to Rs 88.2 crore on a 5.4% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 581.5 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q3 FY22.

Shares of Mastek were down 1.02% to Rs 2101.80 on the BSE.

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Reliance Jio Infocomm has reportedly said that its board has approved the appointment of Akash Ambani, its non-executive director, as the chairman of the company.

The company also reportedly added that Mukesh Ambani has stepped down as the company's director, effective from the close of working hours on June 27.

Mukesh Ambani will continue to be the chairman of Jio Platforms Ltd, the flagship company that owns all Jio digital services brands, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, the reports added.

Akash Ambani, the elder son of RIL chief Mukesh Ambani, had reportedly joined Jio's board of directors in 2014.

Akash's elevation as chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm recognises the specific contributions made by him to the digital services journey and re-dedicates him to even higher levels of responsibilities, going forward, the company reportedly stated.

Jio had reported a net profit of Rs 4,173 crore in the March 2022 quarter, higher as compared with Rs 3,615 crore in the previous quarter.

Reliance Industries is a Fortune 500 company and the largest private sector corporation in India. Its activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and digital services.

On a consolidated basis, RIL reported a 20.2% increase in net profit to Rs 18,021 crore on a 38.64% rise in net sales to Rs 207,375 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21.

The scrip shed 0.90% to currently trade at Rs 2506.35 on the BSE.

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Reliance Industries (RIL): The digital arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Jio Infocomm, announced that Mukesh Ambani has resigned as director of Reliance Jio effective from 27 June, as per reports. Pankaj Mohan Pawar will take over as the Managing Director of the company from 27 June. Reliance Jio said the company's board approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the board of directors of the company.

State Bank of India (SBI): SBI has entered into an agreement in relation to an investment in the equity shares of Perfios Account Aggregation Services Private Limited. Perfios carries on the activities of an "Account Aggregator".

Route Mobile: The company said its board has approved the proposal of buyback of equity shares of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 120 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 1700 per share.

Jammu & Kashmir Bank: The board of directors of the bank approved raising of equity share capital upto Rs 500 crore in one or more tranches and upto Rs 1500 crore by way of debentures on a private placement basis.

Acrysil: The company said capacity expansion of 160,000 units of Quartz Kitchen Sinks at Bhavnagar plant in Gujarat has been completed. The manufacturing capacity of Quartz Kitchen Sinks has increased from 840,000 units to 1,000,000 units per annum.

Genus Paper & Boards: The company said commercial production of Kraft Paper Machine Line, at its new unit located at Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh has successfully commenced on 27th June 2022. The Muzaffarnagar unit has manufacturing facilities for production of Kraft Paper (two lines) and Duplex Paper.

Shri Bajrang Alliance (GOELD): The company has signed the contract with LULU Group International LLC, Abu Dhabi for supply of GOELD Frozen Food Items in their middle East Markets (UAE, KSA etc.) and also through their Indian network.

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One of the rebel MLAs, Bharat Gogawale, on Wednesday night said they will hold meetings at a five-star hotel in Goa where they are staying for the night and discuss their next steps in the wake of the resignation of chief minister .

A chartered flight carrying the breakaway MLAs of led by Eknath Shinde landed at the Dabolim airport in Goa on Wednesday night from Guwahati.

From the airport, they headed to the hotel in Dona Paula in special buses.

"It is not like we are very happy with the decision of stepping down as the CM. We are heading towards our hotel. Once we reach there, we will discuss the issue and decide our next steps. He (Thackeray) tried to convince us," Gogawale 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.)
Punjab Chief Minister on Wednesday said each penny plundered from the people of the state will be recovered from the "nexus of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats".

Mann further said his government will soon fulfil the "guarantee" of giving Rs 1,000 each to the women of the state, which was promised ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls.

Slamming the opposition for raising questions over the first budget presented by his government, Mann said the state government is committed to fulfilling its poll promises and would also augment resources and reduce the debt burden on the state.

Winding up the debate in the Assembly on the budget presented by Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, the chief minister said any person who looted public money will have to pay for it and his government will leave no stone unturned to put them behind the bars.

"Each penny looted from the people of the state will be recovered," Mann said while hitting out at the opposition that had accused his government of being neck deep in corruption.

"I vow on the floor of this august House that my government will never forgive corrupt politicians for their sins against Punjab and Punjabis even if they join any big or small political party," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said all the benami properties and the "corrupt nexus" behind those will be exposed before people.

He said politicians who have not even been named by government agencies for corruption are running from pillar to post seeking refuge, which reflects the fear in their minds about their sins.

Mann assured the House that no guilty person will be spared and strict action will be taken against them even if they join any other political party, in an apparent reference to some Congress leaders recently joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A verbal duel took place between the chief minister and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, with Mann accusing the lawmaker of interrupting him with his "running commentary".

Hailing the "pro-people" budget presented by the finance minister, the chief minister said the opposition has been caught in a peculiar situation as it has been jostling hard to find any shortcoming in such a "progressive" budget.

He added that for the first time, the core areas of education and health have been accorded top priority in the state budget.

Mann accused the previous governments of jeopardising the education and health sectors by giving space to private players for expanding their business.

However, he said this trend will be reversed by his government in the coming years through the strengthening of the infrastructure in both the sectors.

On the AAP's poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 to women, Mann said it will be implemented soon.

He said his government is in the process of resource mobilisation and once it is completed, this promise will be honoured.

"When we raise resources, be it in two months or four months, our next step will be to give Rs 1,000 each to the women of the state," he said.

Lambasting the opposition members for their "slanderous" propaganda on the choice of the Rajya Sabha members from Punjab by the AAP, Mann reminded them that none of the candidates was rejected by the people.

He said this was contrary to the earlier practice when those defeated in polls were sent to the Upper House of Parliament as "political refugees".

Mann said those questioning the AAP's choice of Rajya Sabha candidates should remember that former prime minister Manmohan Singh was a Rajya Sabha member from Assam and then from Rajasthan, despite the fact that he was from Punjab.

He said this budget is a roadmap for a progressive and vibrant Punjab as the people of the state have ousted the political parties that used to play musical chairs to loot them every five years.

The state government will check pilferage of public money and utilise the funds for the welfare of people, he said.

Listing several e-governance initiatives taken by his government, the chief minister said from the next session, the Assembly will also get a new look.

He said from the next session, touchscreens will be installed in the Assembly.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra may enter its final stages on Wednesday after former Chief Minister and leader on Tuesday asked the governor to order a floor test, claiming that the MVA government is in minority.

"We have written to the Governor and told him that Shiv Sena's 39 MLAs are repeatedly saying they don't want to be in an alliance with the Congress- . This means they are not with the government," Fadnavis said, adding that he has asked Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to direct Chief Minister to conduct a floor test and prove the majority of his government.

Rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde are camping at a hotel in Assam's Guwahati. Shinde has claimed that he has the support of almost 50 MLAs, 40 from Shiv Sena, the remaining, independent.

The faction war in triggered political turbulence in Maharashtra after Shinde flew to Surat with some MLAs and then to Guwahati. The rebel MLAs have demanded that the walk out of the MVA, which also comprises and the NCP, and patch up with its estranged ally, .

Shinde on Tuesday said that he, along with other rebels, would fly to Mumbai soon, adding that he and Sena MLAs with him were firm on taking Bal Thackeray's Hindutva forward.

Meanwhile, Uddhav appealed to the dissident MLAs to return to Mumbai and talk to him, saying "it's not too late."

"It is not too late. I appeal to you to return and sit with me and remove the confusion (created by your actions) among Shiv Sainiks and the public," Thackeray said in a statement, his aide quoted.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Shiv Sena-Nationlaist Congress Party-Congress to take a floor test and prove its majority on June 30 (Thursday).

A letter to the effect was issued to the Legislature Secretary by the Raj Bhavan late Tuesday -- soon after a delegation of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met the Governor and urged him for immediate directions to the MVA to prove its majority.

The Governor has convened a Special Session of the Assembly Thursday with a single point agenda of a trust vote against Chief Minister .

"Thus I have issued a communication to the CM calling upon him to prove his majority on the floor of the House on 30.06.2022," said the Governor.

The proceedings shall begin at 11 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Thursday, the proceedings shall be video-graphed and telecast live and adequate security shall be provided inside and outside the legislature.

Meanwhile, there are indications that the is likely to move the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing in the matter amid speculation that Thackeray may take certain drastic measures at the Cabinet meeting scheduled later in the day

--IANS

qn/dpb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MLAs, led by dissident leader Eknath Shinde, checked out of the hotel in and left for the airport on Wednesday evening.

After delaying their departure by around two hours, the dissident MLAs decided to leave for Goa, from where they will go to Mumbai for the floor test on Thursday, sources said.

The travel schedule is also dependent on the Supreme Court proceedings that were underway, they said.

The MLAs, their associates and some family members left the Radisson Blu hotel in three air-conditioned buses of the Assam State Transport Corporation.



#WATCH | Assam: Rebel Maharashtra MLAs raise slogans of "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai" and "Eknath Shinde sahab tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain", as they arrive at Guwahati airport. pic.twitter.com/GkT9lguY3V  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

The three buses were heading to the airport, around 15 km away, under a heavy security cover. Several escort vehicles were accompanying the buses.

Hundreds of policemen were deployed at the airport since the morning, officials said.

A chartered flight has already reached the airport to take the legislators to Goa, they said.



We will reach Mumbai tomorrow and participate in the Trust Vote. After that, a meeting of the Legislative Party will be held, following this the further course of action will be decided: Eknath Shinde, at airport pic.twitter.com/cAYz4pJBG0  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

The MLAs had earlier planned to leave Guwahati around 3 pm.

In what seems to be an apparent bid to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, dissident legislators of along with some Independent MLAs were camping in Guwahati, around 2,700 km away from Mumbai, since June 22.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister went to Supreme Court against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari ordered him to prove his majority in the Assembly on Thursday, claiming the move illegal. The top court will hear his plea at 5 pm on Wednesday.



Koshyari has written to Assembly Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat calling for a special session on June 30 at 11 am for CM Thakeray to prove his government's majority. This comes nearly a week after 40 Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against him.

Also Read: Shinde says his group of MLAs will be in Mumbai on Thurs for floor test

governor's order came after a meeting on Tuesday with former CM and leader Devendra Fadnavis, who requested him to order a floor test, claiming that the MVA government is in minority.

The rebel MLAs, who are staying at a hotel in Assam's Guwahati, will return to Mumbai to participate in the floor test on Thursday. Shinde has claimed that he has the support of almost 50 MLAs, 40 from Shiv Sena, and the remaining, independent.

Meanwhile, Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to the rebel Sena to return to Mumbai and talk to him. "It is not too late. I appeal to you to return and sit with me and remove the confusion (created by your actions) among Shiv Sainiks and the public," Thackeray said in a statement, his aide quoted.

The faction war in triggered political turbulence in after Shinde flew to Surat with some and then to Guwahati. The rebel have demanded that the walk out of the MVA, which also comprises Congress and the NCP, and patch up with its estranged ally, .
on Tuesday targeted the AAP-led government in Punjab over its maiden budget, calling it directionless and claiming that it betrayed" the women of the state as no funds were earmarked for the monthly allowance scheme for them.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday presented the state budget for 2022-23, providing 300 units of free electricity to households from July 1, setting up of 117 Mohalla Clinics and upgrading 100 schools as 'schools of eminence' in the state among other proposals.

Participating in the discussion on the budget proposals on Tuesday, Akali MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali accused the Bhagwant Mann-led government of betraying women by reneging on its promise of giving Rs 1,000 per month to them.

AAP had promised Rs 1,000 per month to all women before the state assembly polls. But there is no mention of this promise in the budget. It is a betrayal with women of the state, said Ayali.

Ayali, who is the legislator from Dakha constituency in Ludhiana, asked the state government how it plans to raise revenue for funding its proposals made in the budget.

He said that the goods and services tax compensation was going to end in June this year and its excise policy also failed to generate desired participation from liquor contractors.

Ayali also slammed the government for allegedly raising Rs 9,000 crore of debt in just three months into office.

Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said that the state budget which was presented on Monday failed to live up to the expectations of the people and called the budget directionless".

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, while participating in the budget discussion, targeted the state government for lifting quota from the sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor in its recently announced excise policy.

He said this step will encourage smuggling of liquor from Punjab to other states.

He also questioned the state government's projections of a 27 per cent rise in GST revenue and also said that the industry has expressed fear that the state government's move of setting up a tax intelligence unit would harass the businessmen.

Cheema in the budget had announced establishing the tax intelligence unit which will equip the finance department to improve tax compliances under GST through taxpayer facilitation and communication.

Warring also targeted AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal over his announcement that Rs 20,000 crore would be generated from the sand mining sector and claimed that it was not possible.

I will not come to the assembly if Rs 20,000 crore is generated from the sand mining, said Warring.

Warring attacked the state government over a proposal of raising Rs 55,000 crore of additional debt and accused it of spending Rs 29 crore on advertisements in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in the last three months.

(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 rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde on Wednesday evening checked into a five-star hotel at Dona Paula near Panaji after arriving in the coastal state from Guwahati where they were camping for the last eight days.

The MLAs arrived by a chartered flight at Dabolim airport at 9.45 pm, and left for the hotel, 30 km from the Airport. While media-persons were waiting at the departure point of the Airport, two buses ferrying the MLAs left through other exit which is usually used for cargo.

The MLAs were taken to the hotel with a state police team escorting the two buses all along the way. There was also a strong police presence outside the hotel. Mediapersons were not allowed to enter the hotel. Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant visited the hotel around 10.45 pm.

The political developments in Maharashtra, set off by Sena leader Eknath Shinde's rebellion, culminated on Wednesday evening with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigning ahead of a floor test in the Assembly.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese embassy in Myanmar makes donation to school for the deaf

Xinhua) 09:27, June 29, 2022

YANGON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Mr Zheng Zhihong, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Tuesday attended the launching ceremony of Year 2022 Donation Project to Mary Chapman School for the Deaf.

At the ceremony, Zheng said this year, the embassy will provide more than 20 million kyats (10,810 U.S. dollars) worth of daily food supplies to the school.

He also pledged that the embassy will continue to join hands with caring people from all walks of life in Myanmar to share love and support to the children of Mary Chapman school and to Myanmar's social welfare cause.

Daw Khin Thida Nyunt, Principal of Mary Chapman School for Deaf expressed thanks to the Chinese embassy for donating the needed things for the school.

Since 2018, the school has been receiving the assistances from the embassy after the signing ceremony of MoU in November 2017, she said.

Mary Chapman School for the Deaf was founded in 1920 in Myanmar.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Rebel leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he will reach Mumbai on Thursday for floor test against the beleaguered Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra.

There has been no formal announcement from Raj Bhavan that the floor test is slated for Thursday, though a letter specifying June 30 as the floor test date, purportedly written by the Governor, went viral on Tuesday.

Shinde told reporters in Guwahati, where a large group of MLAs backing him is camping since a week, that he will reach Mumbai along with all his group legislators.

Shinde, who stepped out of the luxury hotel in Guwahati, the rebel group's home for the last week, said he had offered prayers at Guwahati's Kamakhya temple for peace and prosperity of people of Maharashtra.

Shinde's announcement of returning to Mumbai came hours after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, tipped to make a comeback as the chief minister, met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan Tuesday night and asked him to call for a floor test in the Assembly as the Thackeray-led government had lost majority after the Shinde group's rebellion.

(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.)
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Tuesday said that party MPs will cast their vote in the presidential election on July 18 in the legislative assembly instead of the facilities created in Parliament.

"All TMC MPs will vote for Yashwant Sinha in the presidential election to be held on July 18 in instead of Lok Sabha," Sudip Bandyopadhyay told ANI. Sinha is the opposition candidate in the presidential election against BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu.

"Election Commission has given the option to all MPs that they can vote for the presidential candidate either in the Parliament or in their states," he said, noting that this option has been there in the past also.

Sudip Bandopadhyay said he spoke to Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and TMC has decided that all party MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs will vote in Bengal.

Shatrughan Sinha has been elected TMC MP from Asansol in Bengal and is likely to be sworn in on July 18. He is likely to cast his vote in the parliament.

The Election Commission has given 10 days to MPs to exercise their choice on the place of voting. The poll panel gives option to MPs to vote in presidential election in Parliament or in their states.

Yashwant Sinha on Monday filed his nomination papers for the July 18 election. Sinha handed over four sets of nomination papers to Rajya Sabha Secretary-General PC Mody, who is the Returning Officer for the presidential election.

Sinha was named as the common Opposition candidate for the presidential election on June 21.

The elections to elect the next President will take place on July 18 and the counting of votes on July 21.

(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.)
Shiv Sena rebel MLA Eknath Shinde on Wednesday told the that the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction is in a hopeless minority within the party and a floor test in the Assembly is the best way to stop horse-trading.

Shinde's counsel told a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala that any delay in the floor test would cause more damage to the democratic polity.

Senior advocate N K Kaul, appearing for Shinde, argued that the pendency of disqualification proceedings before the speaker is no ground to delay the floor test.

Dance of democracy takes place on the floor of the House and that is what is being sought to be done, Kaul told the bench.

The apex court is hearing Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu's plea against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.

They (Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena) are in a hopeless minority within the party itself, forget the House, Kaul argued, adding that the unfolding situation requires a floor test, and the Governor, in his discretion, has decided that it be conducted.

During the arguments, the bench observed that the floor of the House is the only way to settle these issues of democracy.

The bench also asked senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Prabhu, how can floor test impacts the disqualification process or interfere with the powers of the speaker to conduct disqualification proceedings.

Our understanding is that floor of the house is the only way to settle these issues of democracy, the bench observed.

Singhvi told the apex court that people who have changed sides do not reflect the will of people and heavens won't fall if the floor test is not held tomorrow.

He argued that the court must not allow a floor test to be held till the deputy speaker decides on the disqualification petition against some rebel MLAs.

Singhvi told the bench that the order to conduct a floor test at a supersonic speed amounts to putting the cart before the horse.

He said two MLAs of the NCP are down with COVID-19 while two MLAs of the Congress are abroad and they are asked to participate in the floor test on Thursday.

Singhvi argued that allowing floor tests would mean making Tenth Schedule a dead letter.

The bench observed that the Tenth schedule is one of the robust provisions and the court should strengthen it.

The hearing in the matter is underway.

The petition has contended that the Governor vide communication dated June 28, 2022 (which was received today i.e., on June 29 at about 9:00 am) has decided to hold a floor test in complete defiance of the fact that this court is seized of the issue of the disqualification proceedings.

"Such undue haste is manifestly arbitrary and therefore violative of Article 14," said the plea and sought directions seeking setting aside of the impugned communication sent by the Governor to the Chief Minister as well as to the secretary of the Assembly.

Koshyari has asked the Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of the MVA government at 11 am on Thursday.

(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.)
Maharashtra Chief Minister resigned late on Wednesday evening after the refused to stay Thursday's floor test in the Assembly.

Earlier in the day, the top court said the floor of the House is the only way to settle these issues of democracy, observed the on Wednesday while hearing chief whip Sunil Prabhus plea against Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.

A vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice J B Pardiwala also asked senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Prabhu, how can floor test impacts the disqualification process or interfere with the powers of the speaker to conduct disqualification proceeding. Our understanding is that floor of the house is the only way to settle these issues of democracy, the bench said.

Singhvi told the apex court that people who have changed sides do not reflect the will of people and heavens wont fall if the floor test is not held on Thursday.

rebel MLA Eknath Shinde on Wednesday told the that the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction is in a hopeless minority within the party and a floor test in the Assembly is the best way to stop horse-trading.

Shinde's counsel told the vacation bench that any delay in the floor test would cause more damage to the democratic polity.

Meanwhile, after spending eight days in Assam, rebel MLAs, led by Shinde, left Guwahati on Wednesday evening for Goa. A charter plane of private carrier SpiceJet took off at 6.56 pm from the Guwahati airport for the Dabolim airport in Goa, official sources.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stating that he was not interested in playing the numbers game, on Wednesday resigned as chief minister, minutes after Supreme Court refused to stay Governor B S Koshyari's direction to his government to take a floor test in the Assembly.

The resignation of Thackeray (62) capped a week-long drama of resort politics, where rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by minister Eknath Shinde camped in luxury hotels and hopped on chartered jets from Mumbai to Surat and Guwahati, before landing in the cool climes of Goa on Wednesday night.

In a televised address shortly after 9.30 pm, Thackeray said he was hurt by the rebellion in his party and announced that he has also decided to quit as a member of the state Legislative Council.

Accompanied by sons Aaditya and Tejas, he drove to Raj Bhavan and handed over his resignation letter as CM to Koshyari around midnight. The Governor accepted his resignation, an official said.

Thackeray's sudden announcement, which came on a day Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said he will fight till the end, paves way for the return of a BJP-led dispensation in the state, two-and-a-half-years after the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government came to power.

What I did during my tenure was for Marathi people and Hindutva. There were riots across the country, but was an exception. I would also like to thank my Muslim brethren," Thackeray said in his address to the state.

In a veiled attack on Koshyari, he thanked the Governor for his commitment to securing democracy and calling a floor test within 24 hours of receiving a letter from some MLAs.

"People who were bestowed with positions by the Shiv Sena are now claiming to be angry with the party. Those who have been given so much are angry today. The common Sainiks who have received nothing stand solidly behind the party," he said.

Thackeray also thanked NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for their support. "I would like to say that neither the Sena nor the Congress objected to the renaming of Aurangabad," he said.

BJP leaders, waiting in the wings for staging a comeback to power in the state, celebrated Thackeray's announcement that he was stepping down as CM.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil was seen treating party colleague Devendra Fadnavis, slated to return as CM, with sweets.

A meeting of the BJP legislature party will be held soon, party sources said.

Earlier in the day, the political tussle in entered a decisive phase when Koshyari ordered the state government to take a floor test in the Assembly on Thursday, a day after a BJP delegation met him and demanded a floor test claiming that the Sena-led government was in minority.

Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's chief whip Sunil Prabhu then moved the Supreme Court against Governor Koshyari's direction.

During the hearing in the apex court in the evening, Shinde's lawyers said the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government has lost its majority as most of Sena MLAs were with him, Thackeray told his cabinet colleagues that he was betrayed by his own people.

Shinde's lawyers told the Supreme Court that the Thackeray-led faction of the Sena is in a hopeless minority within the party and a floor test in the Assembly is the best way to stop horse-trading.

The bench observed that the floor of the House is the only way to settle these issues of democracy.

Before flying to Goa, Shinde told reporters at the airport that the members of his group were the "real Shiv Sainiks" and objected to being called Shiv Sena rebels. "We are Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sainiks. We will take forward the Hindutva ideology, he said.

Governor Koshyari in his letter to Assembly secretary had directed that a special session of the Assembly shall be summoned on June 30 at 11 am with the only agenda of a trust vote against the chief minister, and the proceedings shall be concluded in any case by 5 pm." With Thackeray's resignation, there is now no need for a floor test.

Earlier on Wednesday, as the fate of the state government hung in balance, the state cabinet approved the renaming of Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar, and that of Osmanabad city as Dharashiv.

The cabinet meeting chaired by Thackeray also approved the naming of upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after farmer leader late D B Patil. State planning agency CIDCO had earlier proposed to name the airport after Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

This is the beginning of Shiv Sena's grand victory, Sena MP Sanjay Raut tweeted, after Thackeray announced he will step down as CM and focus his energies on rebuilding the party.

Sena rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar attributed Thackeray's plight to the machinations of Raut. Our group is meeting tomorrow. We will go by whatever Shinde decides, he added.

The focus will now be on Raj Bhavan in the next few days. BJP leaders are expected to meet the Governor to stake claim to form the next government in the state. The swearing-in of the Fadnavis-led ministry may take places soon, an official said.

Meanwhile, police are on alert to avoid any untoward incident across the state in the backdrop of Thackeray's resignation as CM. Security at the residences and offices of rebel Sena MLAs has been increased, an official said.

Local police, SRPF and central forces have been deployed at important locations, the official said. Police anticipate that Shiv Sena supporters could come out on the streets to stage protests against the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, he said.

Following is the party position in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly: Shiv Sena 55, NCP 53, Congress 44, BJP 106, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi 3, Samajwadi Party 2, AIMIM 2, Prahar Janshakti Party 2, MNS 1, CPI (M) 1, PWP 1, Swambhimani Paksha 1, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha 1, Jansurajya Shakti Party 1, Krantikari Shetkari Party 1, and Independents 13.

There is a vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month.

Of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs, 39 rebelled against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government along with 10 independents.

Two NCP members - Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal - have tested COVID-19 positive, while two other party legislators - Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik - are currently in jail.

(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.)
Yashwant Sinha, the candidate of joint Opposition nominee in the presidential election, on Wednesday said a "thinking and speaking" person should be the resident of Rashtrapati Bhavan and not a rubber stamp.

Criticising the presentation of nomination papers of NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said he presented his papers by himself.

"India needs a Rashtrapati who serves as the impartial custodian of the Constitution and not one who acts as a rubber stamp for the government. The President must have a mind of his/her own and use it conscientiously, without fear or favour, whenever the executive or other institutions of the Republic deviate from the Constitutional principles. It is my solemn assurance to the people of India that I shall serve as a President worthy of the lofty vision of the makers of the Constitution," Sinha said while speaking to reporters here.

The former union minister also criticised the Agnipath, the new defence recruitment scheme, brought out by the Union government, and said no necessary consultations were made before going ahead with its introduction.

There are Parliament Standing Committees on defence which were also not consulted, he alleged.

It was all done in a hurry and the result was seen on ground, he said, mentioning about the country-wide agitations against the scheme.

This is not the way to solve the issue of unemployment, he added.

He also condemned the "barbaric" killing of a tailor in Udaipur city of Rajasthan, saying that such instances of violence have no place in a democracy and the perpetrators should be punished as strictly as the law of the land permits.

He also condemned the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist, who co-founded AltNews, saying that the action was taken on a baseless accusation of hurting the religious sentiments of a community.

"Ironically, the arrest happened on a day when India, represented by the Prime Minister, was waxing eloquent in the meeting of G7 in Germany about the need to protect free speech both online and offline," Sinha 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 government on Wednesday announced a partnership with leading businesses in India to offer 75 fully funded scholarships for Indian students to study in the from September, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of India's independence.

The programmes on offer include Chevening scholarships for a one-year Master's programme, with the opportunity to study any subject at a university.

Additionally, the British Council in India is offering around 18 scholarships for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) covering over 12,000 courses across more than 150 UK universities.

Along with these, the British Council is also offering six English scholarships. The UK government said it marks the highest number of fully funded scholarships given for the one-year Master's programme to date.

In India's 75th year, this is a great milestone together, Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India, told the India Global Forum's UK-India Week in London.

Thanks to the exceptional support from our partners in industry, I am delighted to announce 75 scholarships for Indian students to experience the best of the UK. Nearly 30 per cent of Chevening scholars in India come from smaller cities or are first generation students, making this an increasingly diverse programme, he said.

HSBC, Pearson India, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo are among the companies supporting this initiative to celebrate India's 75th year of independence.

We're delighted to partner with Chevening for the Chevening HSBC Scholarship' programme, said Hitendra Dave, CEO, HSBC.

Our objective is to encourage young people with potential to become leaders and decision makers in their fields by leveraging the world class educational facilities offered under this programme. As a British bank with a significant lineage and legacy in India, we believe we have a meaningful role to play in developing leadership talent in the country, he said.

HSBC India will sponsor 15 scholarships, Pearson India will sponsor two, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo will sponsor one each as part of the 75 scholarships.

The Chevening scheme is the UK government's international awards scheme offered in 150 countries, aimed at developing global leaders since 1983. India's Chevening programme is the largest in the world with over 3,500 alumni.

The fully funded scholarships include tuition, living expenses and travel cost for a one-year-postgraduate programme. A minimum of two years' work experience is required for candidates to be eligible for the award and details will be made available through the Chevening website.

The UK government said that is one of the mainstays of the diaspora living bridge between the UK and India, which connects people through common values and affinities.

According to the latest official statistics, nearly 108,000 study visas were issued to Indian nationals in the year ending March 2022, almost double the number compared to the previous year.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 29 (ANI/BusinessWire India): The fourth edition of the annual prestigious '(https://www.jbims.edu/scholarship/jyoti) Smt. Jyoti Dwivedi Memorial Scholarship Awards' was held by Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) on June 25, 2022.

Six scholarships were presented, including two core awards of Rs 1 lakh each and four ad hoc awards of Rs 50,000 each. Exclusive to JBIMS, the scholarships are given to second-year M.M.S. students to meet their educational expenses based on their first-year scores and their family's financial standing.

The scholarship amount is provided to JBIMS personally by Nimish Dwivedi from JBIMS' batch of 1993 in memory of his Mother, Jyoti Dwivedi. This is the first-ever scholarship instituted at this prestigious business school.

The winners of the two core scholarships are Pranali Mahajan and Kaushal Jain; the ad hoc scholarship winners are Ajay Vasudevan, Niraj Zambre, Shubham Deora and KevalAjmeri.

The winners were also gifted with a copy of Nimish's best-selling book 'Marketing Chronicles: A Compendium of Global and Local Marketing Insights from the Pre-Smartphone and Post-Smartphone Eras.'

Dr Srinivasan R. Iyengar, Director of JBIMS, said, "This is the fourth edition of the Smt. Jyoti Dwivedi Memorial Scholarship started by Nimish Dwivedi, an Alumnus of the batch of 1993. It just shows that all of our Alumni still have a strong connection with JBIMS, and we are eternally grateful to Nimish for his continued support in helping the current students at JBIMS. I am sure this will bring a mindset of supporting their Alma Mater within students when they venture into the Corporate world to build their life."

Nimish Dwivedi, the benefactor, said, "Heartening for me to present the 4th round of this Scholarship initiated in my Mother's memory. Her guiding value was - living means giving and giving means living."

Two industry veterans attended the online event, Bobby Kakar and Shailesh Joshi.

Bobby Kakar, 93 batch bajajite, has extensive experience in financial services, digital and payments. He has held leadership roles across numerous multinational and regional banks and is currently based in Dubai, U.A.E. He is a mentor to numerous Fintechs and a pioneer in the regional Blockchain payments ecosystem.

Shailesh Joshi, 93 batch bajajite, is an Energy Industry veteran with over three decades of experience across the entire value chain of the energy industry from Fuels, Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Renewables and new technologies. Over the last 4-1/2 years, he has been running his own venture, ENCOSYM Solutions, dedicated to the cause of Energy Efficiency, Conservation and Sustainability.

Speaking at the event, Bobby Kakar said, "I congratulate Nimish on this very noble initiative which gives deserving students a chance to pursue their career aspirations and also serve as a role model for other students. It is very fitting that the scholarship honours the memory of his Mother, Jyoti Dwivedi. She was a pioneer in education and a role model to numerous women as one of the first graduates of her home town in Gujarat in the 1960s. I wish all the winning students the very best in life and success in their professional careers."

Shailesh Joshi said, "My heartfelt thanks to Nimish for this magnanimous initiative of supporting talent and offering a helping hand to the deserving. Many a times, success evades talent because there is no recognition or support at the right time. The installation of this Smt. Jyoti Dwivedi Memorial Scholarship provides that much-needed encouragement to talent enabling them to achieve more while instilling a culture of "gratitude".The initiative personifies the feeling "Buland Bharat Ki BulandTasveer...Hamara Bajaj...!!!"

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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After agriculture, the textiles and apparel industry is the second-largest job provider in India, directly employing about 45 million people. However, its full potential remains untapped, as India stands sixth in garment exports, behind China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. But there is a bright spot, almost at the centre of the east and west coasts. The small town of Tiruppur -- also famous as Dollor Town -- contributes about 90% of knit-wear exports from India. The government recently said that it would create 75 textile hubs across India in the image of the one at Tiruppur. We explain the significance of Tiruppur textile hub and how the government can get started with its ambitious goal



About 1,300 km away from Tirupur, in a quiet home in South Mumbai, a 93-year-old man breathed his last in his sleep early Tuesday morning. Soon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed his monumental contribution to the world of commerce and industry. Pallonji Mistrys quiet demise was in tune with his reclusive nature. Mistry, who started assisting his father at the young age of 18, diversified the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, took it beyond Indian borders and built some of the countrys iconic buildings back home.



According to reports, Mumbais iconic Taj Mahal Palace was constructed and handed over ahead of the schedule and under the allotted budget. Pallonji Mistry indeed leaves behind a rich legacy. Meanwhile, moving on to markets, shares of liquor companies have tumbled up to 32% so far in calendar year 2022, as soaring raw material cost and tepid demand have hit breweries and distilleries. However, with plateauing commodity prices, increased out-of-home consumption, and select state governments reducing taxes, analysts believe the worst may be behind the sector. Our next report takes a dive into how the Ukraine-Russia war has impacted the sector, and whether investors should begin nibbling related stocks after the recent correction?



RBI seems firm on implementing tokenisation, which is meant to make your debit or credit more secure -- whether you offload stocks on your laptop, or purchase a shirt online. The deadline to implement it has now been pushed by three months to September 30 after requests from industry groups. In this episode of the podcast we explain what tokenisation is and more.

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Photo: Darren Stone, Victoria Times Colonist B.C. Premier John Horgan revealed Tuesday he would not run for re-election

Nary an economic hot potato seemed to damage Premier John Horgans popularity during his five-year (and counting) run as B.C.s leader.

Not the Site C dam, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the replacement of Medical Service Plan (MSP) premiums that shifted the burden from workers to businesses.

Throw in a pandemic that cast a pall of uncertainty over the economy as well as COVID-19 restrictions that made retailers, restaurateurs and tourism operators blanche on a daily basis, and Horgan still charted a path for a new BC NDP identity that subverted the expectations of many a British Columbian.

Coming off a two-day cabinet retreat, the premier announced Tuesday he would not be seeking re-election and that a fall leadership convention would tap a new party leader. Until then, Horgan remains premier after a second successful battle against cancer.

There's been a decisiveness about some of those megaprojects that has been, I think, probably a good thing, said UBC political science Prof. Allan Tupper.

The traditional critique of the NDP as big spenders, and debt raisers and all that has been [turned] on its head.

A February poll conducted for Glacier Media by Research Co. showed Horgan had an approval rating of 69 per cent compared with the lesser-known Kevin Falcon, who won the BC Liberal leadership race in May, at 38 per cent.

The BC NDP, with a 46 per cent approval rating, was notably less popular than its own leader in that same poll. The BC Liberals approval rating matched that of its now-leader at 38 per cent.

Horgans tenure leading the province began with some mixed results overseeing major economic undertakings.

B.C.s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.8 per cent in 2017, the year the BC NDP squeaked in to form a minority government after striking a deal with the BC Greens.

Weeks later, global energy giant Petronas announced it was pulling the plug on the $36-billion Pacific NorthWest LNG project  widely viewed as signal from the industry that it had little confidence in B.C. as a place to invest. But just over a year later, the companies behind the $40-billion LNG Canada project announced a final investment decision.

One of the Horgan governments first moves was to refer the controversial Site C dam project, which was already under construction, to the B.C. Utilities Commission for review.

Despite the fact the project was forecast to end up costing billions more than budgeted, Horgan decided to finish it since the alternative would be a $4-billion write-off with no additional power to show for it.

And Horgans intense opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion didnt stop that project from going ahead. Instead, owner Kinder Morgan Inc. (TSX:KMI) sold the project to the federal government in 2018 for $4.5 billion.

The partys first budget, tabled in February 2018, eventually delivered a $1.5-billion surplus. But during Horgans first full year in office, GDP growth slowed to 2.2 per cent.

Governments don't make economies, they shape them in different ways. They can pursue policies that impact them, Tupper said. But at the end of the day, you get what you get, and his circumstances have been quite favourable.

The global economy screeched to halt during the first year of the pandemic, with B.C.s economy contracting 3.8 per cent in 2020. But the West Coast outperformed all the other large provinces during the 2021 bounce-back (+6.2 per cent).

The Horgan government eliminated MSP premiums in 2020, shifting the $2-billion burden to employers in the form of a new employers health tax.

The government under his leadership managed to continue to bring down balanced budgets until the pandemic hit, sending subsequent budgets into deficit.

The 2021 deficit was originally expected to be as high as $9.7 billion, but the 2022 budget forecast it to be just $483 million.

With an array of balanced budgets and even surpluses, and a relatively low debt-to-GDP ratio, B.C. has generally maintained a strong credit rating from most credit rating agencies under Horgan's leadership.

B.C.'s credit rating took a dip in 2021, due to the impacts of the pandemic on its budget, with Fitch bumping B.C.'s credit score from AAA to AA+.

But despite the impacts of the pandemic on B.C.'s budget and finances, its credit rating remains relatively good, with Moody's giving B.C. an Aaa (stable) credit rating in 2022 and S&P Global Ratings giving it AA+.

This is a government that has shown a real pragmatic streak and a willingness to back up, admit mistakes and change course, said SFU political science lecturer Stewart Prest, pointing to Horgans decision earlier this month to scrap the $800-million rebuild of the Royal B.C. Museum.

Prest also pointed to other economic legacies of the Horgan government, such as turning the ICBC dumpster fire, as it was described by Attorney General David Eby, towards profitability and ushering in measures aimed at curbing the demand side of the housing market, such as the foreign-buyers tax.

This is not a revolutionary government, Prest said. So far they've managed to walk that line and build a pretty robust voting coalition combining urban voters with the growing suburban and exurban areas around the Lower Mainland and parts of the Island.

With Horgan deciding to go out on his own terms, Prest said the contrast could not be greater when compared with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who announced last month he would stand down at a later date as leader of his provinces United Conservative Party after narrowly winning a leadership review.

That legacy of sound competent governance has fed into the trust for John Horgan as an individual leader, Prest said. He's a leader able to go out when he's more or less on top of things.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Quebec's public health director is set to address the COVID-19 situation in the province as the number of people hospitalized with the disease appears to be rising.

Dr. Luc Boileau's news conference comes as COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by 34 in the previous 24 hours, after a 113-patient rise the day before.

There are now 1,260 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Quebec, including 35 in intensive care.

Health officials are also reporting four more deaths associated with the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Don Vinh of the McGill University Health Centre says Quebec is facing a perfect storm of factors that include the emergence of new variants, waning immunity from vaccination or previous infection, and the removal of public health restrictions.

He says the new Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 appear to be gaining ground and finding vulnerable people to infect, especially since the mutations seem to be better able to evade immunity compared with previous strains.
Photo: IBM

IBM Canada says it will establish a new Client Innovation Centre for Western Canada in downtown Calgary.

The company says its announcement will create 250 new tech sector jobs in the city.

IBM says its centre will deliver consulting services and technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud and blockchain.

It focus will be on helping corporate clients use technology to achieve their sustainability and net-zero goals.

The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, a city-owned economic development fund, will contribute up to $5 million for the creation of the centre.

Calgary has seen significant growth in its tech sector in recent years as the city works to diversify its oil and gas-based economy.
Photo: The Canadian Press

An analytics firm says a majority of domestic flights to some of Canada's busiest airports were delayed or cancelled over the past week.

Data Wazo says 54 per cent of flights to six large airports were bumped off schedule in the seven days between June 22 and 28.

Some 38 per cent of the flights were delayed while 16 per cent were scrapped altogether.

The airports are Montreal, Calgary, Toronto's Pearson and Billy Bishop airports, Ottawa and Halifax.

Airlines and the federal government have been scrambling to respond to scenes of endless lines, flight disruptions and daily turmoil at airports  particularly at Pearson  a problem the aviation industry has blamed on a shortage of federal security and customs officers.

Canada's airport security agency has hired more than 900 screeners since April, though many remain in training. Ottawa has also suspended randomized COVID-19 testing of vaccinated passengers through at least Thursday, following sector demands to process international travellers more quickly.

Ray Harris, who heads the Fredericton-based data company, says the flight statistics are based on arrivals page snapshots from various intervals throughout the day.
Re. Robert Heptings letter Why protest U.S. decision (Castanet, June 28)

I won't attempt to paraphrase, but will instead quote directly from the article "What the U.S. overturning Roe v. Wade means for Canada", published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal on May 24.

"Abortion is decriminalized but not a constitutional right in Canada. Like other health services, abortion procedures are regulated under the Canada Health Act, but access varies greatly depending on provincial policies.

"Ottawa withheld federal funding from New Brunswick earlier this year because the province refused to cover abortions outside three hospitals. In Quebec, restrictions on prescribing the abortion pill hampered access during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other provinces. Other provinces, like Nova Scotia, have only one abortion clinic.

"Despite a more permissive legal environment in Canada, the hurdles to care are not so different from the U.S.

"Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen said her party will not reopen the abortion debate, although (her partys MPs) subsequently refused to support a Bloc Quebecois motion to recognize freedom of choice on abortion for any reason.

"Meanwhile, Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis has promised to criminalize coerced abortions and sex selection, cut foreign aid for reproductive health and increase funding for antiabortion pregnancy centres.

It should be noted that last year, bill C-233, introduced by a Conservative MP, was defeated by a margin of 248 to 82, with 2/3 of Conservatives voting in favour of it, including Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray.

The bill sought to ban abortions based on fetal sex. Opposition to the bill, including women's reproductive rights advocates, rightly identified it as "effectively a stealth move to bring in abortion restrictions. The bill introduces the possibility of dangerous slippage, opening the door for other aspects of abortion to be challenged as well.

In summary, why protest the U.S. decision to overturn Roe v. Wade? Because where the U.S. conservatives go, the Canadian conservatives try to follow.

Bex Raron
Re. Tim Lyons letter Blind pair not supported (Castanet, June 27)

In British Columbia (orderly society, or not), it is against the law to discriminate against people with disabilities.

Sadly, the E-Bus folks did just that. They violated the law that protects our human rights and discriminated against Dr. Gabias when they asked if his guide dog is registered and prevented him from riding the bus.

In B.C., service providers have a duty to accommodate people with disabilities. Those folks who rely on a guide or service dog have the right to access and use all public spaces, facilities, and services.

If a disability is obvious, as is the case with Dr. Gabias, the service provider need not request proof of registration of the service animalthe request itself may be considered discriminatory.

Further, if they do ask and the dog is not certified under the B.C. Guide Dog and Service Dog Act (GDSDA), they are still responsible for that duty to accommodate.

Certification of guide dogs is voluntary (as in not required) under B.C.s GDSDA. Furthermore, the Human Rights Code prevails over the GDSDA and discrimination is illegal, whereas not registering your guide dog is not.

Clearly, Dr. Gabias is not in the wrong here and a compassionate person would do their homework before passing judgment.

For that, I say shame on you, sir.

E.Roberts
Photo: The Canadian Press

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed more Canadians to move over the past two years than any other factor, says a new national survey.



Sixty per cent of respondents said COVID-19 influenced their decision to pack everything up and relocate, according to a report from insurance company Aviva Canada.



For many, that meant leaving city life behind  over a quarter of those working from home said they flocked to the suburbs or small towns.



"This is especially true for younger homeowners in Alberta and British Columbia, who are moving towards rural regions, likely due to less affordable housing in urban or suburban regions," the report states.



Nearly a third of those who moved because of the pandemic cited a more desirable location, remote work and a change of job as their main reasons for moving.



The survey also revealed some interesting changes in how people move in their day-to-day lives.



Since the pandemic, 18 per cent of Canadians say their transportation habits have changed. Driving has become more popular among Canadians; over half of those who aren't currently driving are anticipating using a car in the next year, while 23 per cent of Canadians are expecting their mileage to increase.



More than half of respondents said they'll be using their own vehicle for transportation, followed by walking (14 per cent), taking a bus (12 per cent) or taking the subway (eight per cent).



Meanwhile, since the start of 2022, 47 per cent of the Canadian workforce state that they had fully returned to a designated workspace, 25 per cent say they adopted the hybrid model, while 28 per cent are now working permanently from home, according to the survey.



There are also realizations among consumers who changed their spending habits at home.



When thinking about the possessions they bought during the pandemic, 18 per cent of Canadians say they made impulse purchases. Of the purchases made, 24 per cent use their fitness items less than expected, 21 per cent say the same about the voice-activated assistant they bought, 18 per cent aren't using the hobby equipment they bought, and 18 per cent are not using their gaming equipment/streaming services as often as anticipated, Aviva Canada said in a press release.



The poll  dubbed How We Live  was conducted by Leger through an online survey with 2,500 Canadians, 18 years of age and older, who currently own homes or rent in Canada. The survey was carried out between March 18 and April 5, 2022. The results are considered accurate within plus or minus two percentage points, or 19 times out of 20.
Re. Robert Heptings letter Why protest U.S. decision? (Castanet, June 28)

I read the letter by Robert Hepting regarding why people are protesting the (U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion).

I don't know what planet (the writer) grew up on? The whole point of people protesting in Canada is to show the support for women's rights that were taken away in the U.S.

If we don't stand up for all women in every county, and show support for women, especially when their rights about their bodies are taken away, God knows what will be taken away next.

I'm sorry (the writer) has to question why people want to show their support for women in any way.

Ingrid Firley
Photo: The Canadian Press A person holds a smartphone set to the opening screen of the ArriveCan app in a photo illustration made in Toronto, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The federal government says it will extend current COVID-19 public health measures for travellers entering Canada, including the use of the ArriveCan app, until at least Sept. 30. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

The federal government will extend current COVID-19 public health measures for travellers entering Canada, including the use of the ArriveCan app, until at least Sept. 30.

In a release Wednesday, the Public Health Agency of Canada also said it will continue the pause of mandatory random testing for fully vaccinated travellers at all airports until mid-July.

It first announced the pause on June 11 and said in the release that it's allowing airports to focus on streamlining their operations.

The public health agency said it's moving forward with plans to relocate COVID-19 testing for air travellers outside of airports to select test provider stores, pharmacies or by virtual appointment.

Mandatory random testing is to continue at land border points of entry with no changes.

The release added that travellers who are not fully vaccinated and don't have a valid exemption must continue to test on Day 1 and Day 8 of their 14-day quarantine.

"As we move into the next phase of our COVID-19 response, it is important to remember that the pandemic is not over. We must continue to do all that we can to keep ourselves and others safe from the virus," said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos in a statement.

He also urged people to remain up to date with the recommended vaccinations to ensure they are adequately protected against infection, transmission and severe complications.

"As we have said all along, Canada's border measures will remain flexible and adaptable, guided by science and prudence."

All travellers will have to continue to use the ArriveCan app or website to provide their travel information within 72 hours before their arrival in Canada or before boarding a cruise ship destined for the country. The government said 95 per cent of land and air travellers are using the app and it's taking steps to enhance compliance.

The government also said moving testing outside of airports will allow Canada to adjust to increased traveller volumes while still being able to monitor and quickly respond to new variants of concern or changes to the epidemiological situation.

It said border testing has been essential in helping Canada slow the spread of the virus, as data from the tests are used to understand the current level and trends of importation of COVID-19 into the country.

The testing program also allows for detection and identification of new COVID-19 variants of concern, it said.

Tourism groups and border-community mayors and MPs have called on the government to ease restrictions and scrap the ArriveCan app, saying the measures are limiting cross-border travel.

Transport Minister Randy Boissonnault said the government is deeply invested in growing Canada's visitor economy.

"From our reputation as a safe travel destination to our world-class attractions and wide-open spaces, Canada has it all and we are ready to welcome back domestic and international tourists, while prioritizing their safety and well-being."
Photo: The Canadian Press Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Cain Velasquez, the former UFC heavyweight champion accused of trying to kill the man he claims molested his 4-year-old son, is suing the man and his family who own a day care where the alleged molestation occurred.

Velasquez was arrested in San Jose, California, last February after he shot at a pickup truck carrying the man through busy streets in three Silicon Valley cities, ramming the vehicle with his own truck during a high-speed chase, prosecutors said.

A judge in March denied bail to Velasquez, who faces attempted murder and multiple gun assault charges. His attorney, Mark Geragos, has said he plans on vindicating Velasquez in court.

Velasquez claims in a civil lawsuit that Harry Goularte sexually molested Velasquezs son while the boy was attending a day care run at a home by Goulartes mother, Patricia Goularte, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The Times said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a minor. Harry Goularte was living at the home and working for the day care during the time of the alleged molestation, according to the court filing.

John Deagon, an attorney for Goularte, didn't immediately respond Wednesday to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit.

The child care business and its owners fostered and maintained an environment where the children could be molested, sexually abused and harassed, Velasquez said in the court filing. The lawsuit accuses Goularte and his family of negligence and sexual battery.

Goularte, 43, was charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a minor by the Santa Clara County district attorneys office. He has pleaded not guilty and trial is scheduled for September.

Velasquez, 39, is due back in court in August, the Times said.

Velasquez transitioned to pro-wrestling after retiring from his MMA career in 2019. A former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, he earned title belts in 2010 and 2012.
Photo: Photo Mike Howell. Mayor Kennedy Stewart and one his chiefs of staff, Neil Monckton, met May 30 with officials from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Vancouver city councillors Pete Fry and Sarah Kirby-Yung say they are concerned Mayor Kennedy Stewarts public comments related to a meeting with Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) officials will further stoke anti-Asian sentiment in the city

The concerns are based on Stewart revealing first to Postmedia and then to other media including Vancouver Is Awesome that one of the officials he met with May 30 was from CSISs China desk and that foreign interference in policy making and elections were topics.

Given the limited amount of information and context otherwise provided, mention of China specifically seemed unnecessary and unfortunate as it likely will fuel anti-Asian sentiment, said Fry via email in response to questions from V.I.A.

Kirby-Yung noted the increase in anti-Asian hate and racism in Vancouver since the pandemic was declared in March 2020. The Vancouver Police Board heard last week that anti-Asian hate crime reports were up 122 per cent since 2019.

Anything that others Chinese-Canadians and stokes division against local residents is harmful and incredibly concerning to me, Kirby-Yung said in a text message. As elected officials, we have a responsibility to ensure any issues are handled with care and sensitivity.

Foreign interference

The mayors meeting with CSIS was noted in Stewarts public calendar, which can be viewed on the citys website. Stewart said he was being transparent by disclosing the meeting. The entry doesnt indicate names of the CSIS officials or topics discussed.

It was only when reporters asked for details about the meeting that he revealed the topic of foreign interference and the presence of a CSIS official with expertise on China. Stewart was joined by one of his chiefs of staff, Neil Monckton, in the meeting that lasted almost two hours.

They wanted to brief me on foreign interference and the variety of forms that it could take in terms of foreign interference in both policy making and elections, said Stewart, describing the meeting as a highly unusual thing.

In seven years as a member of parliament in Ottawa, which included sitting on the justice and other committees, Stewart was never briefed by CSIS, he said.

They walked us through eight different ways in which foreign governments can influence government policy, he said. They provided this information in a general way, and then with specific examples  but not from the City of Vancouver, but from other publicly known examples, both here and abroad.

Added Stewart: They didn't really give any reasons why they did this, and they didn't say, Look out for this specific thing. But again, for me, it's highly unusual that they would do this. And they told me so themselves.

Richmond mayor briefed by CSIS

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie was also briefed recently by CSIS officials, according to Richmonds director of communications Clay Adams, who said it was made clear to the mayor not to discuss the topic of the meeting.

Stewart is seeking re-election in October and his main challengers include the NPAs John Coupar, Colleen Hardwick of Team for a Livable Vancouver, Ken Sim of the ABC party and Mark Marissen of Progress Vancouver.

Coupar, Hardwick and Marissen all confirmed Wednesday that they had not met with CSIS officials.

'Purely political'

When Kareem Allam, Sims campaign manager, was asked whether Sim met with CSIS, Allam replied: We do not comment on our interaction with law enforcement agencies, or any engagement we would have had with the national intelligence security apparatus.

Allam said Sim and the campaign team were concerned by the mayors willingness to reveal details to reporters about the meeting with CSIS and argued it was more about politics than transparency.

Sim, who is of Chinese descent, narrowly lost to Stewart in the 2018 election.

If it was an issue of national security, then why would you talk about it in the media? Allam said. So it's obviously not an issue of national security. His motives for bringing it up and talking about it the way he has is purely political.

Stewart has denied such an allegation, saying in an email that I take CSIS' concerns about foreign interference and their request to meet with me very seriously and will do all within my power to ensure the democratic integrity of our system.

CSIS response

The citys communications department said in an email that city staff have not met with CSIS officials. But said the city has measures in place to protect the integrity of its technical infrastructure and that it conducts regular training with staff about the threat of cybercrime.

Brandon Champagne, a media relations representative with CSIS, wouldnt discuss the purpose of the meeting with Stewart but said the agency routinely engages with a variety of stakeholders.

That includes government and elected officials, the private sector and other organizations to discuss potential threats to the security and interests of Canada and provide briefings regarding specific threats.

State-sponsored foreign interference directed at Canadas democratic institutions and processes, at all levels of government, can be an effective way for foreign states to achieve their immediate, medium and long-term strategic objectives, Champagne said in an email.

As the world has become smaller and more competitive, foreign states seek to leverage all elements of state power to advance their own national interests and position themselves in a rapidly evolving geopolitical environment.

Blackmail

CSIS officials gave Stewart a booklet titled Foreign interference and you, an unclassified document that is available on CSISs website. It lists common techniques used by actors to interfere in government, including elicitation, illicit financing, relationship building, blackmail, cyber tools and social media manipulation.

In July 2021, CSIS issued a public report, Foreign Interference: Threats to Canadas Democratic Process, which includes a section on threats to elected and public officials at all levels of government.

State actors may use deceptive means to cultivate a relationship with electoral candidates or their staff in order to covertly obtain information to be used later to their advantage through, for example, threats and blackmail, the report said.

Alternatively, a state actor may decide to recruit the individual over time in the hopes of greater gains if the individual is elected. After a long period of cultivation there are more opportunities to gain leverage over the official which can be used to pressure the individual into influencing debate and decision-making within government. The individual may also be able to hinder or delay initiatives that are contrary to the foreign states interest.

Richard Fadden

In 2010, then-CSIS director Richard Fadden hinted in an interview with CBC that China was one of the countries wielding influence on B.C. municipal politicians. He also suggested two unnamed cabinet ministers from two provinces were being influenced by foreign governments.

Fadden later appeared before a parliamentary subcommittee but refused to name names or elaborate on his claims, which incensed the local Chinese community and then-Vancouver councillors George Chow and Dr. Kerry Jang.

Both Chow and Jang wrote letters to Fadden expressing their concerns about casting aspersions on municipal politicians of Chinese descent. Gregor Robertson, who was mayor at the time, also wrote to Fadden.

None of the politicians received a response, according to Jang, who later confronted Fadden in Ottawa to challenge him on his claims, but said he was rebuffed. V.I.A. sent an email this week to Faddens email address at the University of Ottawa, but didnt receive a response.

Jang mentioned the Fadden story in expressing his disappointment this week with Stewart mentioning a CSIS official with expertise on China participated in the May 30 meeting.

It just feeds the anti-China narrative that was really set by Fadden back in 2010, and it just got worse under Trump, said Jang, who did not seek re-election in 2018 after several years as a Vision Vancouver councillor. I've been putting up with this right through the pandemic. My kids have been assaulted, I've been yelled at and I got it worse because I'm a health care worker.

Jang said he is a member of two Chinese family associations, has travelled overseas to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan as a politician and private citizen, and has not been targeted by any people hoping to interfere in Canadas affairs.

"There was never anything that was untoward," said Jang, who endorsed Stewart for mayor in 2018 but said he won't vote for him in October.

'New level of hostility'

Glacier Media reported in April 2021 that Stewart suspended all meeting requests and contact with Chinese government officials, including an invitation at the time to meet with Chinas ambassador to Canada.

The mayors move was in response to China announcing sanctions at the time on individuals in the United States and Canada, including friend and Conservative MP Michael Chong.

Its threatening and intimidating and I know that hes taking it in stride, but thats reaching a new level of hostility  thats not diplomacy, thats bullying, said Stewart, who released a book with Chong and Liberal MP Scott Simms in 2017 about reforming democracy in Canada.

Stewart emphasized his reason for taking a stand against the Chinese government is not solely personal, but aimed at denouncing human rights violations in China and the detention at the time of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.

Stewart said this week he continues to maintain the same stance on China.

'A delicate balance'

Professor Gordon Houlden, director emeritus of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, spent 22 years of his years in the Canadian foreign service working on Chinese affairs for the Government of Canada.

Houldens take on Stewarts meeting with CSIS officials is that it was normal business for the countrys security intelligence service  and that he wasnt troubled or surprised by the agency meeting with a politician.

When asked about the mayors mention of the CSIS expert on China, Houlden said there is always a risk that saying anything about China can be misinterpreted and lead to anti-Asian sentiment locally, depending on the context of what is said.

But it's like so many things in life  it's complicated, he said.

It's important that agencies do business. On the other hand, it should be done with sensitivity. I am not party to the ins and outs of Vancouver city politics  I'm really not qualified to speak on that  but to simply make a note of a meeting is not in itself [a concern], but if that had been combined with some anti-Chinese statement, that'd be a different story. So I think that we have to be sensitive, but not hypersensitive.

Added Houlden: So it's a delicate balance. And I think people in the media and myself try to walk that line where we're not being naive and yet not being inflammatory. So it's a tricky thing.

Meanwhile, Fry, who is seeking re-election in October, said he has always been concerned about any and all kinds of outside and unelected influence  be it from developers, lobbyists or foreign governments.

The integrity of our system is predicated by transparency and accountability, he said. I had concerns in the last election about foreign government influence, though until now I had not given much thought to foreign government influence with this council. I am thinking about it now.

[email protected]

@Howellings
Doctors in Turkey were left shocked after finding hundreds of coins, pieces of glass, batteries, stones, and a screw inside a patients stomach. According to Gulf Today, Burhan Demir from Ipekyolu, Turkey, took his younger brother to the hospital after he complained of abdominal pain.

When the doctors conducted an endoscopy with ultrasound and X-rays, they were left baffled after discovering bizarre things inside a mans stomach. The team of doctors found 233 items in the 35-year-old mans stomach, which includes, lira coins, batteries, magnets, screws, and pieces of glass.

Pic credit: Gulf Today

Surgeons later removed the items from the man named only Zs stomach.

Also Read: Over 1 kg of nails, bolts, screws, knives found in mans stomach; spine-chilling deets inside

One of the surgeons, Dr. Binici said: During the surgery, we saw that one or two of the nails had passed through the stomach wall.

We saw that there were two metal pieces and two stones of different sizes in the large intestine.

We found that there were batteries, magnets, nails, coins, pieces of glass, and screws. We cleaned his stomach completely.

The surgeon further told that unintentional ingestion of foreign objects usually occurs in childhood or psychiatric patients, prisoners, or abuse cases in the adult age group.

Burhan told local media: He was referred to this hospital. After the checks performed here, he was operated on and these objects were removed from his stomach.

However, it is not clear when the operation took place but the story was reported on June 15.

Also Read: Doctors make blunder while doing woman's stomach operation
An angry mob in Pakistan's Sindh allegedly shot a man and later set him on fire, over suspicion of robbery, local media reported.

According to the Dawn newspaper, the incident took place in Orangi Town of Sindh province.

A Pakistani police official said that three persons tried to snatch cash and other valuables from a person namely, Azhar Farooq in Altaf Nagar here in the early morning of Tuesday, the mob caught one of them while the accused shot at a citizen and wounded him.

"As the citizen put up resistance, the robbers shot him. The incident enraged area people who got hold of a suspect while his two accomplices managed to escape." Station House officer of Sindh's Manghopir, Yasin Gujjar said.

He further said that the robber was beaten by the mob, who later tied his both legs and set him on fire, the Dawn reported.

Doctors confirmed that the suspect also suffered a bullet injury.

The police rescued the suspect and shifted him to ABBASI Shaheed hospital as soon as they reached the incident spot. While the wounded citizen was taken to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for treatment, the Dawn reported.

Pak Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said, "The suspect, identified as Sajid, was brought to the Burns Centre of the CHK with 18 per cent burns."

Notably, this was the third incident of the same kind reported in Orangi Town.

On Monday morning, a case was reported where a suspect was beaten and killed by a mob within a remit of the Pakistan Bazaar police station, the Dawn reported.

In another case, a suspect Bilal Khan was killed and his associate was injured by the mob in Pirabad.

(ANI)
Nuvoco Vistas to open 1.2Mt grinding plant

ICR Newsroom By 29 June 2022

Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd, India's fifth-largest cement group, is planning to set up a 1.2Mta grinding plant at its existing works in Bhiwani, Haryana, as part of its expansion in the North region of the country. According to the company, the new grinding facility will aid full utilisation of clinker production in the region.

Its flagship brands - Concreto, Duraguard and Double Bull - offer a mix of products across all price points, with Double Bull the fastest growing cement brand in the country having achieved sales of more than 5Mt in the last five years. Concreto is a forerunner in Eastern India with a specialised variant for Northern India, while Duraguard offers a vast range of technologically advanced products to meet modern construction requirements.

According to Nuvoco, revenue in the North region - specifically Haryana, Western UP, Punjab, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh - will focus on trade channels and brand building through a strong dealer network.

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A brand new Pawan Hans Sikorsky chopper with 9 people on board crashed into the Arabian Sea, about 50 nautical miles from the Mumbai coast on Tuesday, killing four people -- including three ONGC employees.

The helicopter, was about 4-5 minutes away from its destination - ONGCs Sagar Kiran rig - when the incident took place, company officials with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The chopper went down around 1145 hrs, just 1 nautical mile away from Sagar Kiran, but managed to stay afloat with the help of the attached floaters, helping rescuers pull out all the nine, including two pilots, after ONGC and Navy/Coast Guard scrambled in one of the fastest rescue missions in the western offshore.

Four of the nine pulled out were unconscious and airlifted in a Navy chopper to a hospital in Mumbai, where they were declared dead, an official said.

Three of the dead are employees of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the state-owned firm which had hired helicopter service from Pawan Hans to support its oil and gas exploration and production operations in the western offshore.

The fourth person belongs to a contractor working for ONGC.The circumstances that led to the incident were not immediately known but western offshore had inclement weather and there was a swell in the sea.

Officials said ONGC has already instituted an inquiry into the incident.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is also likely to order a separate inquiry. Detailing sequence, officials said the chopper took off from Juhu helibase this morning just like any other day but 1 or 1.5 km from the landing zone on the rig, it went down into the sea.
I grew up in the 60s and started a family in the early 70s. I was a Democrat back then because I was raised by a Democrat father who told me we would have to live in a tent and only have beans to eat if Republicans were elected. That was in the mid 50s and I was six years old.

In 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered and some of my Democrat friends cheered. I thought then that it was because Lyndon Baines Johnson didnt like black-skinned people so he devised plans to take the manhood away from the family and destroy the race. Planned Parenthood was right there in his corner and by 1973 they opened their first center. Since then, more than 63,000,000 babies in America have been denied their Constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Thats when I changed parties. Today I see elected Democrat leaders call one of the three branches of government illegitimate. This kind of nonsense started when Barack Hussein Obama disrespected our Supreme Court (Judicial Branch) in a State of the Union message in front of America. Then Nancy Patricia Pelosi disrespected the office of the President (Executive Branch) by ripping up her copy of President Trumps State of the Union address.

Roe vs. Wade was never a Constitutional issue, regardless of how hard the Democrats have worked to make it so. NewsBreak reported this weekend that the Southern Christian Coalition if outraged because womens lives are now at risk. It has happened because we have allowed it to happen. We have allowed the woke to come up with, or twist, words to mean what they want them to mean. For instance, abortion, the act of killing the baby before birth, is now womens health reproductive rights. Giving a prepubescent boy a chemical castration because he may want to see what its like to wear a dress, is now okay. There are many more examples.

The great American Earl Pitts would sign off his radio broadcast with Wake up America. Never has it been so important to wake up, before you are declared dead and buried. After all, the Democrat leadership has proven that it is what they want.

J. Pat Williams

* * *

So, J. Pat admits yesterday's radical extremist Democrats have become today's radical extremist Republicans, who carried out a political party switch? Most of us have already come to that conclusion. Whomever your targeted audiences are, hopefully they're much smarter than you give them credit for. I'm a person of that era too when Dr. King was assassinated. I can remember a lot from that period too. Not all Democrats were against Dr. King nor the issues plaguing America of the time and not all Republicans were for him.





J. It was only a short while ago, a year give or take, your side was openly and on some forums, even local ones, accusing Dr. King of being a "terrorist" who "divided America."





Brenda Washington

* * *

J. Pat Williams and I are two ol' Brainerd boys from way back. He's a good man of integrity. But apparently, we're on opposite sides of abortion and the Roe V Wade issue. I read Pat's letter to the Chattanoogan and it begs a question I'm having trouble with.



Theres a lot I dont understand. Especially with Tennessee's abortion "trigger laws" soon to go into effect.



I can see where abortion isnt considered by many to be a constitutional issue but one thing I cant understand is if you look at the process for adopting a baby its very arduous and its very expensive. It gets even more so if the applicant is a single female who wants to adopt a baby. You have to be at least 18 years old and you have to prove on many levels how capable you are of being a responsible parent in all ways. You are highly scrutinized. Heres the information provided online for adopting a baby in Tennessee. This is taken from the internet. You have to undergo an in-home visit that consists of and considers these things you must provide:



 Reference letters for adoption

 Health examinations

 Verification of marital status

 Interviews with all members of the family residing in the household



During the adoption home study interviews, you will likely discuss:

 Your motivation to adopt

 Your ability to provide for a child

 Your character, values and ethical standards

 Your physical and mental health

 The health and fire safety conditions of your home



You will be asked to provide:

 Drivers licenses or identification

 Birth certificates

 Marriage licenses

 Proof of insurance

 Tax returns and recent paystubs

 Physician statements

 Adoption reference letters

 Previous adoption decrees (if applicable)

 Criminal background checks

 Child abuse and neglect registry clearances



The state will check and make sure these things are in place:

 Functioning locks on all doors and windows

 Working smoke detectors and CO2 detectors

 Covered outlets

 Baby gates for stairways

 Dangerous substances and tools placed out of reach of children

 Emergency phone numbers and evacuation plans

 Fire extinguisher

 First-aid kit



But then, if a woman gets pregnant with a child she doesnt want all qualifications for parenting that child are foregone and shes forced to have it whatever her age and situation. Under Tennessee law she could be prosecuted if she sought to abort, or terminate the pregnancy (or if it satiates your visceral impulse kill the baby), because shes feels shes unprepared or unqualified to parent a child for whatever reason.



Can someone please explain this insane paradox? If you want to adopt a baby you have to undergo and satisfy the rigorous requirements above. If you dont want or shouldn't have a baby and youre pregnant all of the above doesnt matter. Youre either having that baby and, if you try to abort it, youre going to jail along with any doctor or person who tried to help you.



So, if I understand this correctly, life is so precious you want to force innocent, helpless babies into the hands of people who dont want them. The baby has a right to life, regardless of how dismal that life may be, right? Further, you see nothing wrong with this picture. Okay, okay. Just one question and I truly dont mean to antagonize you. Its an honest question: Are all of you crazy?



If youre answer to that question is no, please explain and reconcile this. I cant understand it.



David Saluk

* * *

I too am an ol Brainerd High grad and know both J. Pat Williams and David Saluk. I know both to be good men and David was correct in stating that J. Pat is a man of integrity. He was even so even back in his days at Brainerd High.



Ive read J. Pats letter several times and I fail to see where he said yesterdays radical extremist Democrats have become todays radical extremist Republicans or that all Democrats were against Dr. King, Jr., as stated by Brenda Washington. I think its a big leap because they are not his words, but maybe her thoughts.



As for David Saluks reply, he brought up some really good points about adoption. It is hard to adopt a child and its because the state has an obligation to protect the child being adopted. We all read about child trafficking and both restrictions and due diligence are important. Regardless, the difficulty of adopting is not a reason to take the life of the unborn. Its like throwing the baby out with the bath water, right? My girls are now 36, and I have met their birth mother. I have thanked her long before I met her for having the courage to give her girls' life...even when her own life was wrought with so much pain.



I feel qualified to say that as long as adoption and other forms of child caring are available, even the worse choice is better than abortion. I like what J. Pat said about the unborns right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I feel qualified to speak out because my husband and I have adopted two children ourselves. Its not easy and raising the children is not easy, even the ones I birthed myself. I know that J. Pats sister adopted two children. Thats four children who were given a chance at life. Thats compelling to me.



David Saluk, if I havent thanked you for the work you have done in keeping our class together, thank you.



J. Pat Williams, the fight to save children is difficult, and Im sure it wears on you--- but thank you for not giving up and taking the risk of having some go against you for doing so.



Charlotte Riley,

A former Tennessean but always a Volunteer




Loss prevention at Walmart at 3550 Cummings Hwy. told police two black females came in and left together. LP said one of the women in a blue shirt possessed and concealed miscellaneous clothing valued at approximately $30, passing all points of sale without offering payment. The women were separate from each other in the store when the concealment occurred. Both women left the store in the same Covenant Transportation van they arrived in. Officers responded to Covenant in an attempt to identify the subject(s) and spoke with a security officer. After showing security a photo from Walmart, the security officer said the individual was at Waffle House across from the Covenant Training center. Officers responded to Waffle House, detained the woman and transported her back to Walmart. Upon arrival Walmart trespassed the subject and will not prosecute as long as the item(s) are returned by end of business day. The suspect was released and left on foot. The other individual with the suspect at Walmart was identified and is not charged in this incident.

* * *

The manager of the Rossville Corner Market at 3700 Rossville Blvd. told police a white male wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans came into the store and took several candy bars (unknown which ones at this time) and left the store. The manager shouted at him to put the candy back but the man refused and walked away towards Georgia.

* * *

A man on Curtis Street told police his bench was stolen off his front porch. Nothing else was taken.

* * *

A woman on W. 37th Street told police the mailboxes had been vandalized at the Villages of Alton Park.

* * *

Panama City Police sent a found Taurus Spectrum 380 via Fed Ex to the CPD property division. An E-Trace was performed on the weapon and the owner identified and notified of the firearm's status. It will be released upon completion of a Triple I per CPD policy.

* * *

A CARTA bus driver on Brainerd Road told police she had a man on the bus who needed to be removed. Upon entry into the bus, she said that he was walking to the door down the aisle and was voluntarily leaving due to police arriving. Police spoke with the man as he exited. He said he would wait at the bus stop for the next bus to run as he and this driver do not get along.

* * *

A man at Volkswagen at 8001 Volkswagen Dr. told police a former female contract worker accessed the company Success Factor program and threatened other former employees and the company itself. He said the suspect wrote, "I should blow the b---- up" and then used the "F" word elsewhere. He said the woman was working through Onin of Chattanooga and has been fired by Volkswagen and Onin. The man understands that the former employees that were threatened will have to file their own reports of harassment should they choose to do so.

* * *

An employee of LKQ at 400 Workman Road told police Titan Towing was supposed to pick up a vehicle for the Bradley County Sheriffs Department. The towing company accidentally picked up the wrong vehicle from LKQ. The man said the towing company refused to return the vehicle until their tow bill was paid. The employee said he is working out a solution with the tow company, but wanted police to be aware of the situation.

* * *

A woman on E. 3rd Street told police ever since a woman has lived with her, she found spare keys to her home in the room she stayed in and she has received credit cards in the mail that only needed to be activated. The woman said no one else has stayed in her home other that the woman and that is why she suspects her. She said she recently put the woman out of the house because of the friends she was hanging out with "doing thefts".

* * *

Police were called to Salsarita's at 2115 Gunbarrel Road on a call of a suspicious person. Upon arrival the officer found a man sleeping in front of the business. The officer couldnt find a report of him being previously trespassed from the property. The business was closed. The man left the property.

* * *

Police were called to Bellbrook where a black, pull-behind trailer had been stolen. A truck backed into the address and was able to steal the trailer. The victim was out of town during the incident and called once returning.

* * *

A man at Outback at 2120 Hamilton Place Blvd. told police while he was inside the restaurant eating dinner, the catalytic converter from his work truck was stolen. It was parked in the back parking lot. A blue Ford F550 box truck was caught on the restaurants security camera, however, police were unable to identify the suspect due to the quality of the video.

* * *

A man on Beverly Kay Drive told police someone tried to take money from his bank account. Truist Bank was able to stop the transaction and no money was lost during the incident. Truist Bank is doing an internal investigation and will contact police if needed.

* * *

A woman on Moss Street told police a van pulled up to their construction site and appeared to be attempting to take building materials. At this time, it does not appear that anything was taken but the woman wanted to document the incident and possible description due to several thefts over the past few weeks.

* * *

A woman on Grove Street told police someone had broken her second-story perimeter window and fled the area. The officer found broken glass on the ground below the window and a pair of black brass knuckles on the ground approximately 15 feet from the broken glass. The brass knuckles will be turned into CPD Property Division and the woman will be speaking with housing in reference to this case and seeking help to have the window repaired. She said she doesnt want to press charges.
An escape artist who recently got away from Marion County Sheriff deputies while being taken to the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute has been captured in North Alabama.

Johnny Lewis Payne was taken into custody on Monday night after a brief chase in Madison County, Ala. He was apprehended after wrecking the vehicle he was driving.

Payne had been staying at a home in a rural area.

The TBI had set a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the 48-year-old Payne. He was added to the TBI's Most Wanted List."

He was being taken to Moccasin Bend under court order after he threatened to harm himself, it was stated.

Payne on June 2 had escaped from a jail in Coffee County, Ala. He was serving a 20-year sentence for receiving stolen property on a conviction out of Jackson County, Ala., in 2012.

While on the loose, he picked up new charges of carjacking and receiving stolen property after he stole a city truck in Elba, Ala., and drove it to Talladega.

The truck is still missing.

Authorities said he then stole a water truck from a construction site at Talladega and drove it to Marion County. He was captured there without incident.
The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer is partnering with the Childrens Hospital at Erlanger to invite all children ages six to 12 who have encountered the loss of a loved one due to pediatric cancer to come to ROAD TRIP: Grief is a Journey on July 28 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. This one-day event helps children navigate losses and learn tools that help them cope in the present and thrive in the future.The camp will provide an opportunity to talk about loved ones who have passed, learn coping skills and discuss ways to deal with grief in whatever capacity the child can. The children will be split into three age groups, participating in a variety of activities together while bonding with other children who have experienced similar trauma.Everybody experiences grief differently, and we are here to support each child and their family as they experience the journey grief brings, said Susan Latta, licensed marriage and family therapist at the Austin Hatcher Foundation.For children specifically, experiencing grief is often new and can be overwhelming, but Grief Camp is not only a great opportunity for children to come realize that grief is a journey, but also to have fun with the various activities that the camp holds. It will be a good day.Ms. Latta holds a fellow in thanatology, the study of death and dying, and has over 35 years of experience in grief counseling. She is co-leading Grief Camp with Michaela Gaither, Austin Hatchers family services coordinator, who holds her masters in social work, and Ashley Zani, a certified child life specialist at the Childrens Hospital at Erlanger.Throughout the day at Grief Camp, children will participate in a variety of activities and therapies centered around the camp theme journey. This will include travel relays as part of a big energy activity, making memory boxes and buttons in art therapy, hanging out with therapy dogs and drumming in music therapy with Walker Wright, the foundations specialized music therapist, who works directly with oncology patients at Childrens of Alabama.This grief support camp is open to any child ages six to 12 who has lost a family member to pediatric cancer. Those interested in signing up can contact Michaela Gaither at michaela@hatcherfoundation.org.While Grief Camp is only for children ages six to 12, the Austin Hatcher Foundation is hosting Experiencing Grief from a Kid's Perspective, an educational workshop for adults, on Monday, July 25 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. This one-hour session is designed to help parents talk about grief, both their own and their childrens. Interested adults may email Michaela Gaither at michaela@hatcherfoundation.org.Both Grief Camp and the adult workshop will be held at the foundations Education Advancement Center at 1705 S. Holtzclaw Ave. in Chattanooga.The Austin Hatcher Foundation Grief Support Program continues to grow and offers other focus areas such as grief support for teenagers and siblings. To learn more about the foundation and the programs offered, visit www.hatcherfoundation.org. To schedule an individual appointment or tour of the foundation, call 423-243-3471.
This school year, Learning Blade wanted to recognize educators who have used the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Computer Science platform to enrich experiences of students in their school(s).

"Learning Blade is a supplemental STEM toolbox of interactive online lessons, teacher lesson plans and classroom activities proven to increase STEM career awareness for students in Tennessee," officials said. Learning Blade closes opportunity gaps as students are exposed to high-demand STEM industry careers through relevant real-world storylines."



The Learning Blade Educator of the Year for Tennessee is Ms. Sundra Dolberry, STEM Innovations Teacher for John P. Freeman Optional School in Memphis Shelby County School District. Ms. Dolberry has been an educator for 21 years, having earned her master of education from Liberty University. She has been awarded Urban Educator Award through NSTA and is always looking for opportunities to bring more innovative programs to her students.

"Learning Blade has had a great impact on my students, especially the STEM/CTE students. The exposure to careers was awesome," said Ms. Dolberry.



In March of 2022, a nomination period was opened for the Learning Blade State Educator of the Year. Due to the high volume of qualified applicants, Learning Blade awarded 10 teachers the Learning Blade State Educator of the Year for their respective states and named two teachers the National Educators of the Year. Each state winner received a cash award, trophy and certificate recognizing their accomplishment.



Learning Blade was launched statewide in 2015 and is provided to schools in Tennessee through funding from the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce.
The County Commission on Wednesday approved a $881.2 million budget with no property tax increase.

The tax rate remains at $2.2373 per $100 of assessed valuation.

The spending includes $523 million for education, which is a $31 million increase.

County Mayor Jim Coppinger said, This fiscally conservative budget allows us to do several things that need to be addressed while maintaining the fiscal policies that have allowed us to maintain our Triple A bond rating from each of the three major rating agencies.

He said some of his key initiatives in this budget were to continue to support public health with $5.4 million dedicated to fighting the still-present COVID virus. Also, to increase funding for corrections officers within the sheriffs department, 15 percent of the entire budget is dedicated to public safety.

The mayor also said that additional funding in the budget will go toward retaining and hiring vital positions such as EMS workers and highway department workers, as well as corrections officers. He said it has become increasingly difficult to retain workers at pre-existing wages.

Government workers will also see a three percent pay raise or $2,500 in salary increases in a continuing effort to retain and hire qualified workers.

He said $6.2 million will be used for critical capital needs of the highway department, emergency medical services, law enforcement and the parks and recreation department.

County Mayor Coppinger expressed his appreciation to the finance team headed by Lee Brouner and Vonda Patrick and their predecessors for not only this budget, but each budget since taking office in 2011.

He said he will be presenting separately to the commission budget requests that will come from American Rescue Plan monies. Those presentations are expected to include additional money for the Urban League, local volunteer fire departments, an EMS training center and renovations to the downtown health department.

The county fund balance (rainy day fund) is at $130 million. That is after a $16 million payment for McDonald Farm in Sale Creek.

To get to the balanced budget, County Mayor Coppinger said $31 million had to be cut from $42 million in higher spending requests from the various departments and agencies.

Major increases were listed as capital outlay $15 million, debt service $2.85 million, volunteer services (fire departments) $2.25 million and the county attorney's office $497,000 (to deal with additional lawsuits, including many dealing with the jail).

Salaries and employee benefits are 54 percent of general fund budget requests.

There will be no increase in health insurance costs.
Anyone in Hamilton County looking to improve their office technology skills for job readiness can benefit from free courses through Tech Goes Home  including the option to get a new device for only $50 upon course completion.Work Ready courses begin July 6, with weekly classes covering a wide range of computer programs commonly used in a variety of office roles.Additionally, another round of Teacher Edition courses  which focus on learning platforms, STEM-related technology and resources for the classroom  will take place July 25 and July 26 for any Hamilton County Teachers interested in preparing for the upcoming school year."The course was very helpful and useful for me, said one Tech Goes Home graduate.The instructors were always helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. I really appreciate the Chromebook, that's so awesome! I came away with a lot more knowledge than I had before the start of class."What does Tech Goes Home do  and what should you expect from a class?As The Enterprise Center's digital inclusion and literacy program for residents, TGH offers programs city-wide as well as regionally across the state of Tennessee. Since 2014, more than 6,000 residents have attended a Tech Goes Home course.So many people take access to technology and an understanding of how to use it  especially how to harness it in helpful ways  for granted, said Tech Goes Home Program Director Sammy Lowdermilk. Our role as an organization is to address the needs of all those who deserve that same access and have not had the chance yet."Improving digital literacy in our community is how we can build a stronger workforce, a more stable economy and healthier, happier individuals and families. Its about so much more than any of the programs we teach.Through partnerships with schools, public libraries, churches, nonprofits and other organizations across the county, TGH CHA offers free courses designed to help residents develop skills and habits required for smart technology and internet use.Participants receive 15 hours of training to learn new ways to utilize technology in their daily lives, have the option to purchase a new Chromebook or tablet for only $50 and also can receive assistance in obtaining access to low-cost home internet.Class sizes are limited and registration is required. For more information or to apply for the free classes, you can call 423-521-2071 or visit www.techgoeshomecha.org
Republican county mayor nominee Weston Wamp said Wednesday on Twitter that he has grave concerns about taxpayer funding of a new home for the Chattanooga Lookouts. And he said taxpayers do not support it.

County Mayor Jim Coppinger said Wednesday that details of a new $70 million stadium at the U.S. Pipe/Wheland site would be announced on Thursday morning.

Mr. Wamp made these comments on Twitter:

A coordinated, multi-year lobbying effort has pushed for a new taxpayer funded stadium for the Lookouts. The sales pitch has created a false dichotomy: Build a stadium or miss out on growth. That is nonsense.

Stadiums are poor public investments, and there are countless ways our county/city could invest $80 million that would lead to more growth, lower violent crime and improved public education  the most important roles of local government.

I am not categorically opposed to a new stadium, but I am entirely opposed to a lack of transparency.

Team owners and developers have chosen to keep all plans and negotiations behind closed doors with politicians because they know taxpayers are opposed.

As a conservative, its near indefensible to prioritize taxpayer financing to pay for a stadium considering our aging schools, crumbling infrastructure and rising violent crime  all at a time of economic uncertainty.

To my progressive friends who often rightly point to the racial disparities in our community, in education, income, housing and crime: How will a massive public investment in a stadium alleviate any of these?

Four years ago, I wrote an op-ed published by the Free Press raising concerns about the owners intent. Lets not forget, less than a year ago, John Woods, one of the Lookouts general partners, was accused of running a $110 million Ponzi scheme.

A new stadium should be weighed cautiously against competing priorities after new leadership takes over county government on Sept. 1. Rushing approval of taxpayer funding for a new stadium will not serve developers, team owners, politicians or taxpayers well in the long run.
An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into an officer-involved shooting in Erin, Tn., on Monday night has resulted in the arrest of a Louisiana man.

At the request of 23rd Judicial District Attorney General Ray Crouch, on Monday, TBI agents responded to the shooting that occurred in a parking area on Highway 149 in Erin.

During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that an Erin police officer attempting to make a traffic stop of a driver on Highway 149 was injured after the driver exited his car with a firearm and fired into the officers vehicle.

The officer returned fire, and the man ran into a wooded area, still carrying a firearm. The officer was transported by helicopter to a Nashville hospital for treatment.

The search for the individual, who was later identified as BJ Brown, 32, continued, involving law enforcement officers from multiple local, state, and federal agencies.

A Blue Alert was issued for Brown on Tuesday evening.

Around 6:30 Wednesday morning, law enforcement officers spotted Brown about two miles from the location where the shooting had occurred. He was taken into custody and charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder. He is currently being held in the Houston County Jail.
The Division of Consumer Affairs in the Tennessee Attorney Generals Office is warning homeowners about a home warranty scam.



The letter urges Tennessee homeowners to purchase a home warranty claiming the current home warranty may be expiring or may have already expired. Each letter contains the same claim, even if the homeowner has never purchased a home warranty. The letter also heavily implies an affiliation with the homeowners mortgage company and the county deed records office. The people responsible for these letters are in no way affiliated with the homeowners mortgage company or the Register of Deeds office.



The letter asks for a response to the notice by a certain date and threatens that failing to respond could result in a potential loss of coverage. Solicitations that use threatening language or unnecessary urgency are almost always a scam.



"Many consumers wonder how these scammers know the name of their mortgage company," officials said. "Some information about mortgages, such as the name of your lender and servicer, are public record and that information can be found online. These scammers use the name of your mortgage company in the letter in order to appear legitimate.



"If you are interested in purchasing a home warranty with a legitimate company, we strongly encourage you to do thorough research, as well as check with the Better Business Bureau for reputable companies. As for these letters from Home Warranty Direct, it is recommended that they be ignored and discarded."



If you have received this letter or one like it you can file a complaint with DCA here.


Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO to hold 4-way meeting in Madrid

Xinhua) 09:39, June 29, 2022

ANKARA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will hold a four-way meeting with Sweden, Finland and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Spain on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference in Ankara before departing for the two-day summit starting Wednesday in the Spanish capital of Madrid, Erdogan said Turkey does not want empty words but results from the two Nordic countries to address Turkey's concerns.

Turkey, as a NATO member, has been blocking the pursuit of Finland and Sweden of the alliance's membership, citing their support for the Kurdistan Workers Party, and its Syrian branch, the Kurdish People's Protection Units, both listed by Turkey as terrorist groups.

"On the occasion of the summit, I will clearly explain our rightful stance once again," Erdogan said, noting Turkey's expectation was that the two outlawed groups "should be prevented from moving freely in these (two) countries."

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
The scheme is advantageous for youth and national defence but it should be changed with inputs from armed forces

The Government announced on June 14 that all soldiers below the officer ranks of the three wings of the military would

be recruited through the Agnipath Scheme. The Government has taken this decision to keep the armed forces young, making the youth

disciplined, and rendering them highly skilled after four years of service, besides of course saving money for the modernisation.

The Scheme has been praised by a large number of experts and veterans, but many in the defence community and also the Opposition parties and political observers have expressed their reservations about the scheme, resulting in protests and violent demonstrations all over the country. It is sad that the government property like railways, buses and cars have been burnt by the youth who should be debarred from the recruitment at one and made to pay for the damage to the public property. Nobody can be allowed to indulge in arson whatever the cause.

As opposed to the existing 15 plus years service, followed by a lifelong pension, the new recruits, Agniveers, will have a four-year tenure, including six months training. On completion of four years of service, 25 per cent of them will get the permanent cadre, while the rest will be given opportunities in other organisations at the national and state levels.

They will exit with a tax-free purse of approximately Rs 11.71 lakh and return to civil life. Excellent army training, food, clothing, boarding and lodging, a regimented life of four years, a disciplined lifestyle, and a matured mindset will be the hallmarks for the Agniveers.

Over the years, Agniveers would emerge as a strong second line of defence in the country.

The government has announced 10 per cent reservation packages for the retiree Agniveers in Police, Central Armed Police Forces (CARF), Ministry of Defence Undertakings, and Railways after the completion of four years term.

Overall, the scheme is excellent for nation building. It will help build a younger, healthier, and fitter defence military, highly skilled in the changing technological environment. It will also inculcate military discipline, ethos and skilling as a value addition, improving the prospects for those who return to civil society. It will encourage youth to become entrepreneurs for the economic growth of the country.

Yet, it seems that the Centre was not thorough in its homework before launching this scheme. A study known as Tour of Duty (TOD) was carried out about two years ago at the Training Command; all stakeholders gave their inputs.

The scheme needed to be launched as India is emerging as a major pivot in the global order, being a key nation in two security arrangementsone in the Indo-Pacific and another with the US, the UAE, and Israel. The Indian military has to adapt to the changing strategic interests keeping in view the threat perception from across the borders.

The presentations were made at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) level; the blueprint of the Agnipath Scheme was drawn out for implementation at a suitable time. The army recruitment methodology of leading military nations was kept in mind while framing it. The main planners of this scheme were Training Command, the late CDS General Bipin Rawat, NSA Ajit Doval, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, along with the Finance Ministry.

The three service Chiefs had a very limited role to play in formulating the scheme. The committee so constituted was bureaucratic in nature, which gave the recommendations for a younger and leaner force with reduced financial liability for modernisation.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved this Scheme. However, it was not put up in Parliament. The NSA, who is highly capable in security issues may not be well-versed with the nuances of the armed forces, represented the three services and CDS.

The whole scheme needs to be refurbished by an expert committee which must have members from the armed forces too. The government is making amends to the scheme in a piecemeal manner. The youth of the country is completely confused.

Instead of strengthening the armed forces, the scheme will weaken their strength if not implemented properly. The committee must go through the pensions of the defence civilians who get one-third of the total defence pensions. They need to be replaced by armed forces personnel.

Politicians pensions have a serious flaw. These also need to be looked into and pruned.

The violent reactions by the youth in the country could have been avoided and a

number of lives saved if had been passed by Parliament and discussed at length at the Armed Forces Commanders Conference, before announcing it piecemeal.

The interest of the armed forces cannot be compromised at any cost.

(The author is a retired senior professor, International Trade.)
Chattanooga State Community College was one of seven community and technical colleges awarded a READI (Recruit, Engage And Develop for Innovation) Grant to boost career and technical education programs through the federal Perkins Grant program. Following a competitive application process, Chattanooga State came out on top of the seven colleges selected with a grant award totaling $1,123,200.

The Carl Perkins Act, first authorized by the federal government in 1984, provided funds to improve secondary and postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programs. It was reauthorized in 2018 as the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act and provides additional funding so CTE programs can provide students with the knowledge, skills, and experience to succeed in today's competitive marketplace. The READI Grants were established by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) with unused Perkins funding from previous fiscal years that would otherwise expire this year.

Chattanooga State's Dr. Lyn Potter, Engineering & Information Technologies department head, and the College's CTE divisions sought creative ways to use funding based on READI Grant guidelines. The team focused on the top training needs today's employers are expressing, as well as leading ways to develop entrepreneurial skills. As the top READI Grant awardee, the team effort paid off for the College and the students who will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this $1.12M grant award.

The following focuses helped to determine Chattanooga States grant award.

Industrial Computed Tomography System (ICT)

As a non-destructive testing method for precise examination of components, the ICT will create a 3D model with accurate internal views of parts, weld seams, and electronic components. Students will gain skills in metrology to ensure parts meet specifications or detect and measure flaws. The ICT, used in manufacturing, power generation, aerospace, automotive, and foods industries, is considered the benchmark for defect detection to ensure product quality.

Fanuc Collaborative CRX-10A Welding Robot

Collaborative robots are becoming more prevalent in manufacturing because the robot can be taught quickly to make different welds for different needs and is easily relocated within a factory.

Dental Hygiene Simulation Manikin Workstations

The simulation manikins, designed for learning dental hygiene skills, will provide hands-on learning without requiring a "live" patient in the dental chair. Expected to accelerate learning clinical skills, students can be working on the manikins while in the classroom setting, not just while in a "clinic."

Food Trailer

With this trailer, students will learn how to operate a food truck, hone customer service and entrepreneurial skills, as well as utilize food service equipment and technology effectively. Students will apply classroom learning to real-world experience.

MacBook Pro Laptops

MacBooks are the tools of choice in the graphic arts industry. However, they are expensive, which limits accessibility to students. Allowing students to borrow a MacBook Pro laptop increases educational equity and supports students with the necessary technology to complete coursework and prepare for entry into the workforce.

In order to provide education for in-demand jobs, Chattanooga State must have state-of-the art equipment and technology for our students, stated Dr. Rebecca Ashford, College president. This equipment is a huge financial investment and the Perkins READI grant goes a long way in helping us educate the future workforce. Expressing her gratitude to the Tennessee Board of Regents for the opportunity to apply for this funding and to Dr. Lyn Potter for her leadership in completing our application, she added, This grant award is a true cause for celebration for our college!
I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for, I tell people who can never seem to find joy in life. They look at me curiously. It was the response I wanted. Sophocles said, Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected. Keep on seeking, and you will find it, or something will find you.



I am a seeker at heart. I have an innate appetite for adventure. I like learning new things. On vacation recently, I visited several museums. I wanted to learn about shipwrecks. I had read all about pirates as a kid. Like Jimmy Buffett pointed out I'm an over-forty victim of fate. So, it was shipwreck museums for me.



That is why I chose education as a career. Education had adventure, along with unpredictability and creativity. It has been quite the journey. I do not regret my career path. Nothing beats the sense of accomplishment that comes with a job with meaning and a rewarding mission that you embrace. That is why I am heartbroken when so many educators are heading for the exits and will no longer make an impact on the lives of students.



I understand why people are not going into teaching. I also understand why they are leaving. We place barriers at the doorway and make prospective educators jump through unimaginable hoops to even enter the field.



It is not just heavy workload, poor salaries, or pointless legislation. We have stripped educators of the ability to create. We hold them accountable without listening to them. We have devalued their voices. While educators may be change-aversive, they are not afraid to take risks. The only predictability in public education is unpredictability.



It appears that hope has vanished as bureaucrats and politicians have emphasized the wrong things. Most policymakers have never worked in a school or stood in front of a class of students. Some have limited involvement or a negative experience with public education. Educators did not create the standards, choose the curriculum, or buy the textbooks. Yet they endure these poor decisions. There is a feeling of emptiness when you feel you cannot do the job you are enthusiastic about because of unnecessary barriers.



Educators are leaving for other reasons as well, including student discipline issues, and a lack of support from the community. We place unrealistic expectations and unreasonable demands on our educators.



Educators do not feel welcome in their own careers. They do not feel like they are being listened to by parents or policymakers. They do not feel respected. It is a morale issue. And it is a crisis across the state and the nation. We may be at a tipping point.



Educators notice their former coworkers switching to other more lucrative careers. They make more money and gain a better work-life balance. Public education has lost many things over the years, but the loss of respect for those who educate our children is one that we may come to mourn the most, as educators continue walking out the door.



We must restore respect for educators. State and local leaders need to publicly step up their efforts to recognize educators. They need to visit more classrooms in their communities. They need to volunteer in schools. Ask for  and listen to  advice from those doing the difficult job of educating children. A genuine focus on educators with an investment in time and effort will go a long way.



Every teacher has a lifelong influence on their students throughout their career. For those still teaching, hang in there. Take one day at a time. For those who are contemplating teaching, please still consider it. Teaching is the hardest job you will ever love. Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us that faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. Just step out on faith. You may just be what you are looking for in life.



##



JC Bowman is the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville.
Days of Our Lives: Who Is Zoey? Everything Fans Need to Know

Days of Our Lives character Zoey Burge had a brief stay in Salem. She debuted in April 2020 with General Hospital star Kelly Thiebaud in the role before being recast with Alyshia Ochse. With her stint lasting only two months, viewers may not remember her. However, Zoey was mentioned in a recent episode of the NBC soap opera, and fans are curious to know more about her.

Kelly Thiebaud I Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

Who is Zoey Burge on Days of Our Lives?

Days of Our Lives writers introduced Zoey in April 2020. Zoey is an attorney hired to defend Evan Frears (Brock Kelly), who murdered Jordan Ridgeway (Chrishell Stause) and kidnapped their son David. As the son of notorious villain Orpheus (George DelHoyo), Evan inherited his fathers evil genes.

Days Of Our Lives Spoilers: Zoey Offers To Help Rafe, But Is She Playing Mind Games? https://t.co/TV8MPyLlZG pic.twitter.com/5kmflJilFd  SOS/CTS/HH (@SoapOperaSpy) May 1, 2020

RELATED: Days of Our Lives Welcomes George DelHoyo Back to the Canvas

Zoey had her work cut out to represent Evan, and their past connection was revealed as the storyline progressed. Evan and Zoey were brother and sister, and Orpheus was her dad. Zoey and Orpheus clashed on the best way to handle Evans case. Unfortunately, Zoey was unable to get the murder charges against Evan dropped.

Orpheus blamed Zoey for Evans prison sentence, and she got payback on her father. Zoey revealed to the police that Orpheus was responsible for the car crash that killed Adrienne Kiriakis (Judi Evans) and Sarah Hortons (Linsey Godfrey) baby. After Orpheus was arrested, Zoey won custody of David. She then left town with her son and nephew to start a new life.

The character was mentioned on the June 28, 2022, episode

Its been two years since Zoey left Days of Our Lives. Like many characters, she was forgotten by fans. However, the writers gave her a shoutout during the June 28, 2022 episode.

According to Daytime Confidential, Orpheus provided an update on his daughters whereabouts in the episode. Orpheus told Evan that Zoey and her ex-husband reunited and moved to New Zealand with their son and David. The news infuriates Evan, who has more important stuff to focus on.

During their conversation, Evan revealed that hes the father of Jan Spears (Heather Lindell) baby.

Could Zoey Burge return to Days of Our Lives?

Days of Our Lives left the door open for a possible return for Zoey. With more trouble coming for Evan, Zoey could return to help her brother. Evan being the father of Jans baby is a huge secret that will be revealed soon. Hell undoubtedly want to be in the babys life, and Orpheus could call on Zoey to help with the custody issue.

However, Zoeys arrival might create more drama for the brother and sister duo. Evan was unhappy with Zoey taking David to New Zealand and demand she return his son to him. But Zoeys grown attached to the boy and wont give him up so easily.

While Zoeys return would help further Evan and Orpheus storyline, its up to the writers whether to bring her back. After her last ordeal with her brother and father, Zoey may be happier in New Zealand.

RELATED: Days of Our Lives Casting News: Abigail Klein in, Kevin Spirtas out
Jill Duggar, the fourth child and second daughter of Duggar family parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. is awaiting the birth of her third child with her husband, Derick Dillard. The former Counting On star was honored by both her in-laws, cousin Amy Duggar King and Aunt Deanna Duggar, with an intimate baby shower. Fans of the former reality television star say Duggar is glowing and gorgeous in the snaps, where she showed off her baby bump and shared details of her special day.

Jill Duggar | Jill M Dillard/Instagram

Jill Duggar announced she was expecting her third baby in February 2022

On Feb. 27, 2022, Duggar took to Instagram to share a photo of herself, Derick, and their two sons, Israel and Samuel. She wrote a two-word caption accompanying a black and white photo of her clan that read, Exciting news!!

This post linked to the Dillard Family blog where the couple announced they were expecting their third child.

Weve been keeping a little secret! they wrote. Ever since we were devastated last fall by the miscarriage of our sweet baby, River Bliss, we have prayed that, if it were Gods will, he would bless us with another baby.

The couple said their child was due in July 2022 and later shared the gender as male.

Jill Duggar fans say shes glowing and gorgeous in the intimate baby shower snaps

Duggar shared several photographs from her baby shower on Facebook. The color palette for the event was earthy and warm, featuring green and cream-colored hues.

Most importantly, in the posts caption, the ex-reality star shared words of thanks to those who hosted the lovely event. The very blonde reality star wrote, I feel loved and more prepared now for baby boy with all the gifts, prayers & blessings by friends and family.

She added, Plus several who couldnt attend the party in person. They showered us this weekend in anticipation of our little mans arrival next month! the former reality star wrote.

Fans of the former Counting On star say shes glowing and gorgeous in the series of seven posted photographs.

Jill, you are glowing, wrote one follower.

Aww, Jill, you look absolutely beautiful. Sending prayers & blessings your way on your baby boy. God bless you and your beautiful family, penned a second fan.

What a beautiful baby shower! Love the colors! exclaimed a third Facebook user.

Jill, you are so gorgeous!! What a beautiful baby shower!! shared the fourth fan.

Pregnant Jill and her family recently moved to a new home

In a separate post on her family blog, Duggar shared that her husband was sworn in as an attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas. Following this, Derick began the transfer process for his new public service job as a prosecutor in Oklahoma.

As a result, the couple purchased a home in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, on the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, to be closer to Dillards new job. Meanwhile, Duggar wrote on June 4 that she was hopeful the family would get settled in ahead of the arrival of their third child.

RELATED: A Blind Gossip Item Suggests 2 Former Reality TV Stars Are Ready to Write a Tell-All Book: Are They Duggar Family Members?
Josh Duggar Transferred to Federal Prison: What We Know About Where Hes Serving His Sentence

TL;DR:

Josh Duggar has been transferred to federal prison following his conviction on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

Duggar, who once appeared on 19 Kids and Counting with his parents and 18 siblings, will serve his 151-month sentence at FCI Seagoville.

FCI Seagoville is a low-security prison in Texas that houses more than 1,700 inmates.

Josh Duggar speaks | Kris Connor/Getty Images

Josh Duggar has arrived at the prison that will be his home for the next 12 years. The former reality TV personality has been transferred to FCI Seagoville, where he will serve his time following his conviction on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

Josh Duggar transferred to federal prison

Duggar previously appeared on the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting. He was arrested in April 2021. Authorities alleged that he had downloaded material depicting child sexual abuse. A jury convicted him in December 2021. In May 2022, he was sentenced to 151 months in prison.

Since his conviction, Duggar has been behind bars at the Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas while awaiting transfer to federal prison. In late June, authorities moved him from that facility to FCI Seagoville in Seagoville, Texas.

FCI Seagoville is a low-security prison in Texas with a program for sex offenders

RELATED: Josh Duggars Sentencing: Inside the Sex Offender Program in Prison

FCI Seagoville is a low-security federal prison; there is also an adjacent minimum-security prison camp and detention center. It is home to just over 1,653 male inmates at the prison and 98 at the prison camp. The prison is located outside of Dallas and about 350 miles from Springdale, Arkansas, where Duggar lived with his wife Anna Duggar and their children.

Seagoville was one of two prisons the judge in Duggars case recommended he be sent to because they had treatment programs for sex offenders. However, participation in the program is voluntary. The 9- to 12-month program consists of group meetings 2 to 3 times per week. Participants learn basic skills and concepts to help them understand their past offenses and to reduce risk of future offending, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

What life will be like for Josh Duggar in prison

What will life in prison be like for the former reality TV star? Details from the prison handbook offer some clues.

After his arrival, Duggar would have been assigned a bed in either a dorm or a room, depending on availability. Inmates must keep their living quarters clean, and all personal property must be stored in a locker. Duggar will also be required to work in the prison, perhaps in food service, the prisons business office, or for the on-site textile factory. Pay begins at $0.23 per hour and goes up to $1.15 per hour.

Inmates at FCI Seagoville are typically entitled to 300 minutes of phone calls per month. The prisons chapel offers religious services in a variety of faiths. Various academic and training programs are also available, including college credit courses and continuing education classes in subjects such as accounting, personal fitness, creative writing, and drawing. There is also a prison law library and leisure library, and inmates can borrow books from the Dallas Public Library through the interlibrary loan system. Recreation options include a range of organized sports, such as weightlifting, a hobby shop, a music room, and a wellness program.

When Anna visits Josh, shell have to abide by the visiting restrictions. Only five people per visit are allowed. Physical contact  such as kissing and hugs  is only allowed at the beginning and end of a visit.

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.

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RELATED: Anna Duggar Hasnt Turned Her Back on the Duggar Family After Josh Duggars Sentencing, Source Claims
Marvel Cinematic Universe fans first learned that Red Dagger would appear in Ms. Marvel after seeing a glimpse of him in the trailer for the Disney+ series. But Ms. Marvel didnt reveal the character until the fourth episode. And the hour only gave a tease into who Red Dagger is, so we compiled all of the information on the heros history from the comics.

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Ms. Marvel Episode 4, Seeing Red.]

Aramis Knight as Red Dagger/Kareem | Photo by Patrick Brown/Marvel Studios

A recap of Ms. Marvel Episode 4

Ms. Marvel Episode 4 began with Kamala Khan traveling to Karachi, Pakistan, with her mother, Muneeba. They reunite with Sana, Kamalas grandmother, who discusses the vision of the train with Kamala. She claims that the bangle is trying to tell her something and that she must be in Karachi to figure out what that is. Sana also confirms that Kamala is a Djinn.

Later, when Kamala investigates the train station, she runs into a mysterious knife-wielding boy wearing a red scarf around the lower half of his face. He initially thinks Kamala is one of the Clandestines, so he attacks her. However, when he realizes who she is, he reveals that his name is Kareem and takes her back to his hideout. This is when Ms. Marvel namedrops Red Dagger.

Kareem tells Kamala that he is a part of an organization known as the Red Daggers, whose leader is Waleed. They protect their people from threats of the unseen. Kamala meets Waleed, and he informs her that the Clandestines are trying to merge the Noor Dimension with the human world. And as a result, they would rule over everything.

The Clandestines, who broke out of prison and left Kamran behind in Ms. Marvel Episode 4, break into the Red Dagger hideout while Waleed and Kareem are training Kamala. A fight ensues, and Najma kills Waleed. When Najma strikes Kamalas bangle, Kamala finds herself at the train station during partition.

Red Dagger has a connection to Ms. Marvel in the comic books

Similar to Ms. Marvel, Kareem is a vigilante from Karachi who calls himself Red Dagger. He protects his people from various threats, and he later runs into Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, while patrolling the streets of Karachi.

Kareem taught himself how to fight and is an expert in parkour and a skilled marksman. As his name suggests, his weapon of choice is a dagger, and he wears a red scarf over his mouth to protect his identity.

Tension ensues between Kamala and Kareem as they dont exactly agree on the others superhero-ing methods. However, they also meet outside of their secret identities when Kareem becomes an exchange student and goes to live with Kamalas family in New Jersey.

Later, Kareem discovers that Kamala is Ms. Marvel, and she realizes he is Red Dagger.

So excited to share Ep4 of #MsMarvel  all drawn from the very personal experiences of Sabir Pirzada and the other Pakistani writers in the room. Then theres the legendary, Oscar winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy behind the camera: her vision is vital & beautiful!

   https://t.co/Gixql25al7  Bisha K. Ali (@bishakali) June 28, 2022

Is Ms. Marvels love triangle now a love square thanks to Red Dagger?

In the comic books, Ms. Marvel and Red Dagger develop romantic feelings for one another. However, nothing came out of their relationship since Kamala still had to sort out her feelings for Bruno. And just like in the comics, Ms. Marvel delves into the complications of Kamalas love life.

Kamala and Bruno have a history together as they are childhood best friends. Plus, Bruno has a crush on Kamala, even though she doesnt seem to realize his fondness for her. And theres obvious tension between Kamala and new kid Kamran, but perhaps his involvement with the Clandestines has squashed Kamalas crush.

Now, Kareem has entered the picture, and Ms. Marvels love triangle has gotten much more complicated. But we have a feeling that Kamala has more important things on her mind than deciding which boy she should be with.

Ms. Marvel airs Wednesdays on Disney+.

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RELATED: Ms. Marvel Episode 3s Sneaky MCU Easter Egg, Explained
Television icon Andy Griffiths death reportedly came after he experienced a heart attack at home in 2012. But rumors eventually emerged suggesting something toxic was at the root of The Andy Griffith Show stars condition.

What does the public know about Griffiths death? And what silent killer did one doctor suggest could have contributed to his medical ailments? Plus, why did one expert observer with more than three decades of experience find the timing of his burial remarkable?

Andy Griffith and Ron Howard | CBS/Getty Images

What cause of death is on Andy Griffiths death certificate?

Sadly, Griffiths death at 86 came on July 3, 2012. Associated Press reported the beloved actor died 24 hours after having a heart attack at home. At the time, he lived on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, with his third wife, Cindi Knight Griffith, who released an adoring statement.

Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord. He is the love of my life, my constant companion, my partner, and my best friend, she said.

She added, I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in Gods Grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God.

Griffiths death certificate revealed he had survived through years of health conditions, including coronary artery disease. Doctors documented his cause of death as a heart attack (per The Hollywood Reporter.) But not everyone entirely agrees with that conclusion.

One expert suggested Griffiths home could have silently poisoned him, contributing to his ailing condition.

What rumors surround Andy Griffiths death?

According to an expert for Autopsy: The Last Hours ofAndy Griffith, something toxic might have grown in the Matlock stars former abode.

As reported by USA Today, Cindi Knight Griffith received permission from Dare County, North Carolina, to tear down Griffiths old house. He lived there with his first wife, and some who knew him disagreed with the decision to demolish it. The actor supposedly hoped it would become a museum.

But others heard his widow decided to raze the house due to asbestos, which is poisonous. Asbestos is a silent killer, Dr. Michael Hunter explained for the REELZ series. It can lay dormant for many years.

For the record, suggestions Griffith died due to asbestos exposure are unproven.

When and where did Andy Griffiths family bury him?

Andy Griffith's family: his wife Cindi was by his side. He has been "laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island." (via Andy Griffith Museum)  Justin Quesinberry (@JustinQberry) July 3, 2012

Notably, Griffiths widow and family buried him less than five hours after he died. He was laid to rest on private property in a family cemetery with little ceremony, at least as far as the actors many fans were concerned.

One expert observer said that such an immediate burial was notably uncommon. I dont recall having heard of it, and Ive been here 32 years, the executive director of the states Funeral Directors Association commented at the time (per THR.)

While devotees of The Andy Griffith Show can visit the graves of several of the shows other stars, including Don Knotts, Griffiths is off-limits to the public.

RELATED: What Ron Howard Thought When He First Met Andy Griffith
The specialty chemicals group ALTANA has announced a change in the composition of its Management Board. Dr. Christoph Schlunken will retire at the end of this year and hand over his board responsibilities to Dr. Tammo Boinowitz as of January 1, 2023. Dr. Boinowitz is President of ALTANAs largest division, BYK, and for the time being will continue to hold this position in parallel.

Dr. Christoph Schlunken (60) joined the ALTANA Group in 2001 as Managing Director of ELANTAS GmbH, having held various sales and marketing positions at the former Bakelite AG since 1994. In 2005, the PhD chemist took over as President of the ECKART division. As part of the rotation of all four division presidents, Dr. Schlunken became head of BYK in November 2012. In 2014, he was appointed to ALTANAs Management Board.

For more than 20 years, Christoph Schlunken has very successfully helped to shape ALTANAs growth and corporate culture, said Martin Babilas, Chairman of the Management Board of ALTANA AG. For this achievement, he deserves our highest recognition and our warmest thanks. We wish him in advance all the best for his well-deserved retirement.

In his new role as ALTANA Management Board member, Dr. Tammo Boinowitz (55) will be responsible for the BYK and ECKART divisions as well as the central functions Key Account Management, Innovation Management, Environment, Health & Safety, ALTANA Excellence, and Procurement. Dr. Boinowitz already has more than 25 years of experience within the specialty chemicals sector with a focus on customers, technology, and innovation. Until 2020, Dr. Boinowitz, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, held various management positions at Evonik. At the beginning of 2021, he moved to the ALTANA Group where he became President of the BYK division.

Tammo Boinowitz is not only ideally suited professionally but has already proven his expertise as well as his value-oriented leadership style within the ALTANA Group, said Babilas. We are looking forward to working with Tammo Boinowitz on the ALTANA Management Board and already wish him great success and joy in his future position. Together, we will continue ALTANAs story of sustainable profitable growth.

As of January 1, 2023, the Management Board of ALTANA AG will thus consist of Martin Babilas (Chairman), Dr. Tammo Boinowitz, and Stefan Genten.
This year KNAUER is celebrating the 60th company anniversary and there is more reason for joy. The management is excited to announce that KNAUER has just taken an important step. They aquired a company based in Vlissingen in the Netherlands. This hightech company is an expert in the field of lab automation. The KNAUER team fell in love with the liquid handlers of ModuVision.

We look forward to cooperating very closely with the experts from ModuVision. This acquisition fits very well to our strategy. said the CEOs Alexandra Knauer and Carsten Losch from KNAUER.

The contracts were signed in Vlissingen on June 13, 2022. The company ModuVision BV will continue to exist as an affiliate of KNAUER and both companies are convinced that partnering very closely will be a win win situation for both teams. All contracts with employees, suppliers and partners will remain valid. ModuVision will continue to serve customers in the field of GC and LC.

We welcome the partnership with KNAUER very much and we expect a great benefit for both companies, said ModuVision CEO Jan Willem Mol.

ModuVision is a holding with two companies. Building upon 100+ years of combined experience they offer a range of high-quality OEM products for the analytical instrumentation market.
U.S. Supreme Court Building located in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 5-4 decision that the state of Oklahoma can prosecute non-Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal lands when the victim is Native American. COURTESY
It is the one institution the nation trusts; any efforts to tinker with its soul & ethos will certainly not go down well with the aspirants, the regulars or even the veterans

Thank the Almighty for minor mercies on Agniveer. After five days of avoidable all-India arson and damage (railways alone suffered losses of Rs 1,000 crore), the Government has backpedalled. Some concessions have been made to Agnipath Yojana: One-time age waiver (21 to 23 years); unwritten reservation in Government jobs; promises of public and private sector employment for demobilised Agniveers, and skilling and higher education schemes  in short, theyve been promised the moon when it is a distant crescent. The anger among youth is understandable as many have passed physical and medical tests. For IAF, aspirants had cleared even written examinations but were not called up. The charade of COVID was used to suspend regular recruitment and replaced with Agnipath. The youth were cheated.

Now that Agnipath has become irreversible, the merit of the scheme as youthful infusion into an aging Army was marked by colossal criticism including masking the real reason for its imposition, ie reduction of salary and pension bills. Hundreds of veterans including Param Vir Chakra winner, Capt Bana Singh, denigrated the project. He tweeted: save the country from Agnipath scheme as it would badly damage the youth. Later, it seems he was forced to delete the tweet. Most former service Chiefs adopted maun vrat. Only former Naval Chief, Adm Arun Prakash, had the temerity to expose its infirmities. These days, it is dangerous to speak out or speak up lest youre targeted by one or the other public/private agencies. Not many veterans detected or objected to forcing down All India All Class (AIAC) recruitment on single class/caste regiments. But those who did made passionate appeals to spare the high-value regimental system in the fighting arms.

In final briefings to media by Additional Secretary (Department of Military Affairs) Lt Gen Anil Puri and Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen BS Raju, and NSA Ajit Doval allayed concerns about dismantling the regimental system. This seems to be one more concession by the Government after the uproar. Lt Gen Raju told newspapers that Agnipath is in fact a pilot project and in response to pleas that it should be test-bedded, he said in four years Agniveer would be tweaked. This means the four year-engagement could be increased and the number of re-enlisted could also be increased. The pay package offered to Agniveers is in fact less than what regular soldiers receive after enlistment. There are other anomalies, including severance package, which need to be scrutinised. Listening to youth on social media and TV, it is clear they cannot be duped as they are questioning all aspects of the project, including why not Agniveers for officers also?

In his briefing, Lt Gen Puri let the cat out of the bag. He said: In the last two years, we got an opportunity and we stopped the recruitment process. So COVID was used as a pretext to stop recruitment when in fact Agnipath was being prepared. He also said: The AIAC recruitment model will remain unchanged. 75 per cent of the Army is already AIAC except single-class regiments like Sikh, Dogra, Garhwal, Gorkha, Jat and the like. The regimentation (presumably meaning regimental system) will remain unchanged.

Doval said: The policy on the recruitment will not affect the current regimental system. The concept of regiments, nobody is tinkering with. The regimental system has not ended. Doval insisted there will be no rollback of Agniveer. The good news is that a few single-class regiments which in 2032 will have 50 per cent Agniveer and 50 per cent regulars will continue and be exempt from AIAC. Doval is the highest-ranking Government official to confirm this and put worries of regimental diehards at rest.

In the future, when Agniveers are enlisted to full capacity of 125,000 annually and 100,000 will be demobilised, second careers will have to be found for the latter. Current assurances by all and sundry are unreliable. The problem is: Agniveers will not only be competing among themselves for re-enlistment, they will also be competing with fulltime regulars. Sporting their Agniveer badges (some are calling it a new rank?), singling out this group will create bad blood creating different types of soldiers. This is a bad idea and should be dropped.

As in the British military from whose sinews the Indian system is derived, a military covenant is necessary between soldiers and the nation. The country should commit to taking care of them and their families through thick and thin as they put their lives on the block. Will the Agniveers qualify for this as the regulars do? The biggest challenge for Agniveers is their effective integration into the military system and assimilation into combat units imbued with regimental ethos, tradition and motivation which underline the ultimate test on the battlefield.

Varun Gandhi is the only parliamentarian who is deriding the new scheme. One has not seen such an enormous upheaval against what is ostensibly a transformative defence reform. Agnipath Yojana requires a transformation to ensure defence of the realm is not compromised. Given the backlash to Agnipath, Government is unlikely to pick a CDS anytime soon. It has turned it into a modern swayamvar with 150 people in the contest.

(The writer, a retired Lt Gen, was Commander, IPKF South, Sri Lanka, and founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the Integrated Defence Staff. The views expressed are personal.)
Adaptation from Who Moved My Neighborhood? By Mark E. Strong

Adapted from Chapter 13, The Relational Question

The second greatest commandment in Scripture is to love your neighbor as you love yourself (Mt 22:39). This command is only preceded by the one to love God with the totality of your being. The first command generally raises no objections. What believer would argue against the primacy of loving God? But the second command is a bit trickier. Suppose you dont even like your neighborhow in the world are you going to love them? If your neighbor is a complete jerk, are you still supposed to have a soft spot in your heart for them? What about if your new neighbor helped to force out of the neighborhood your old neighbor, who you did love? Does the second commandment still apply to them? Or suppose you dont even know who your neighbors are. What do you do then?

This brings us to the relational question: Who is my neighbor? This question hurls relational passivity and indifference out the window and pushes the church to develop meaningful relational engagement and service. So to navigate our church effectively in a moved neighborhood (a neighborhood that has changed over time), we would be wise to pose this same question that a man tossed at Jesus over two thousand years ago.

Heres the account from Luke 10:29-37:

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

Then Jesus answered and said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?

And he said, He who showed mercy on him.

Then Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise.

The most significant conclusion we can draw from Jesus answer is that being neighborly is a choice. Everyone makes a choice in this storynot just the priest and the Levite but the Samaritan too. Samaritans were an ethnic group that were looked on with disdain in biblical times. They were regarded as dogs, half-breeds, and illegitimate. But the Samaritan, a human being, had to make a choice to be neighborly or not. And the same goes for us today.

We have to make a choice as a church to be neighborly or not to those around us. And this should not be a difficult choiceit is a no-brainer. We know what Jesus wants us to do. And we are all well aware of the second commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. Yet there is a risk that our churches could end up on the wrong side of the road, so to speak, where we go straight to our religious responsibilities but miss the very heart and command of God on the way.

There are three axioms we can learn from this passage. If we follow them, we wont strike out like the priest and the Levite but will smash the ball out of the neighborhood ballpark like the Samaritan.

THREE AXIOMS

The first axiom is seeing is being. When we see a person as a neighbor, we will be present. In the story, each individual saw the poor man on the Jericho Road. But did the priest and the Levite really see him? They saw someone sprawled out on the street in dire straits, but they did not recognize him as a person who God loves or as a neighbor in need. Thats why they were not present and kept on their merry religious way. The Samaritan, however, genuinely saw the man, which compelled him to cross the street and be present.

When a church truly sees its neighbors, it will be physically present for them. We cant be good neighbors if we are not present, and we cant be present if we fail to see our neighbors. We need to see them and figure out how to cross the road to be with them. Sometimes we make this harder than it needs to be.

The second axiom is caring is sharing. Because he cared, the Samaritan man shared with his neighbor: So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you (Lk 10:34-35).

Look at the actions flowing from his neighborly compassion. He bandages the mans wounds. He uses his own resourceshis oil and his wine that cost him money. He placed the man on his own animal while he walked. He took the man to a place where he could recoup, and he paid the bill. Also, he was willing to follow up on the mans condition with the innkeeper. He shared his time, his resources, his money, and his reputationall because he cared for his neighbor.

Church, do we care about the neighbors around us? Does the compassion of Jesus fill our hearts for them so we are moved to share what Jesus has given us with them? What are we willing to share and what do we need to shareour time, our resources, our money? If we are truly neighbors, something of substance should be flowing from our hearts.

Axiom three is knowing is going. Jesus concludes his discourse on being a neighbor with the words, Go and do likewise (Mt 10:37). Jesus had asked the lawyer who he thought was the real neighbor to the man who fell among the thieves. The lawyer replied that it was the man who had mercy on him. Once the man answered correctly, Jesus told him to go and do likewise. In other words, You go now and be a good neighbor! Here is where a pivotal navigational twist occurs. It provides the biblical shove the church needs to move from the pew into the places where the people in the neighborhood are.

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Remember that the conversation started with the lawyer asking Jesus, Who is my neighbor? That question placed the focus not on the lawyer but on the people around him. The question relieved him of any neighbor responsibilities. He was basically asking, Are my neighbors Jews, Samaritans, Black people, White people, Hispanic people, Asian people? But the way Jesus answered the question placed the neighbor responsibility squarely back on him. The Samaritan man who exemplifies excellent neighbor characteristics doesnt just shine a light on who is the neighbor is, but he also exemplifies what a neighbor does. In essence Jesus changes

the questionwho is my neighbor?to a commandyou go be a neighbor!

This is a paradigm shift for those of us who are serving in gentrified neighborhoods. Lets be honest: we spend a lot of time talking about them and they. Jesus is letting us know it is not about them and they. Its about us being the neighbor he has called us to be. It is about us fulfilling the second command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. And finally, its about us going and doing likewise. Its about us being the neighbors who shine the light of Jesus in the dark world around us. When we know, we will go.

Adapted from Who Moved My Neighborhood? by Mark E. Strong. Copyright (c) 2022 by Mark E. Strong. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com



Mark E. Strong (D. Min, Portland Seminary) is senior pastor of Life Change Church, a diverse congregation located in the heart of inner-city Portland, Oregon. He serves on the Board of Regents at George Fox Seminary, and his books include Church for the Fatherless and Divine Merger. He is also the founder of Father-Shift, a ministry that address the needs of the fatherless epidemic affecting our world.
For many white evangelicals who led the pro-life movement, the end of Roe v. Wade marks a long-awaited and celebrated outcome. But for Black Christians whose political views on life extend beyond a single-issue fight, the sentiment is more mixed.

As the founder of Pro-Black Pro-Life, Cherilyn Holloway sees how Black Christians may agree with valuing life from a theological standpoint and are open to a whole-life perspective yet they reject politically conservative policy stances. For them, the racial disparities and injustice impacting abortion need to be prioritized too.

To live abundantly, we have to be able to acknowledge the systems that have been put in place to keep us from doing that, said Holloway.

While the abortion bans that go into place after the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling may result in more babies born, Black Christians continue to call attention to so many other overlapping factors that threaten Black lives in pregnancy.

Its not quite as simple as some folks make it out to be. Having the baby isnt the only issue, and abortion isnt the only issue, said Justin E. Giboney, president of The And Campaign. There are a lot of other factors that go into that when it comes to policies like paid family leave, health care issueswhich this country still has not dealt with adequately. Those also play into the conversation.

Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and their babies are half as likely as white babies to survive until their first birthdays. Racial disparities persist across nearly every measurefrom income for covering childcare to quality of education.

A promotional video for the campaigns Whole Life Project says, When Black women who have chosen to carry their child to full term are still at risk of death, we must lead with a more compassionate posture.

Efrem Smith, co-lead pastor of Midtown Church in Sacramento, says he and many other Black pastors arent represented in mainstream conversations around abortion because theres not much room to simultaneously value life from a theological perspective and address the structural racism and inequalities faced by Black women in particular. Smiths church is a multiethnic congregation in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Its not an easy place to land, he said. The dominant culture has tried to force Black Christians into a pro-life, pro-choice paradigm.

The reality, to Smith, is far more nuanced. He believes Black Christians are at their best when they can stand for life while also speaking out for our liberation and empowerment at the same time.

Smith points to the historic position of Black women in America. They havent had the opportunity to choose life when their own lives have been put in danger at the hands of others, whether through slavery, lynching, sexual assault, violence, exploitation, or inadequate health care.

A recent Pew Research survey found that two-thirds of Black Protestants favor keeping abortion legal. Though they share core theological positions with white evangelicals, Black Protestants are consistently far less aligned with Republican Party policies, including its efforts to ban abortion.

Yet the largest historically Black denomination, the Pentecostal, 5-million-member Church of God in Christ (COGIC), takes a pro-life stance against abortion. One of its bishops, Vincent Mathews, spoke last year at a prayer event around Dobbs held by the Family Research Council.

Presiding COGIC bishop J. Drew Sheard stated earlier this year, We acknowledge the disproportionate damage abortion has caused to the black communityparticularly to womenand long to see women in crisis and children in need genuinely cared for.

While the 2.5-million-member African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church has historically opposed abortion, except in cases to save the life of the mother, the churchs health commission spoke out on Dobbs in favor of reproductive justice for Black women, including access to abortion. Similarly, progressive Black clergy with the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference criticized the ruling and pledged to mobilize against it.

Whether opposed to abortion or in favor of abortion rights, Black believers see their faith communities playing a crucial role in the response. Smith in California sees that overturning Roe represents a critical time for predominantly Black houses of worship to be recognized as epicenters of mutual aid in their communities.

The Black church, because it was birthed out of slavery, has always had some version of an extended family or a village within it, he said. The Black church is willing to say, Regardless of the circumstances around how you got pregnant, if you have that baby, this church will be your family.

His multiethnic congregation is preparing to extend spiritual care in the wake of the decision. It has partnered with licensed counselors and health professionals and will connect members to available services.

Midtown Church is not alone. Many Black congregations offer similar outreach, and Giboney with the And Campaign said he could see more Black churches discussing new strategies to provide support to women and children in response to the Supreme Courts decision.

Christians who are Republicans and Democrats and all over need to be advocates for these women if we truly want their flourishing, said Giboney, an attorney and political strategist. Its not just about winning on the issue but putting skin on the policy, not isolating one policy but recognizing all the factors that play into a womans decision.

CT previously featured Cessilye R. Smith, a Black Christian woman who set out to address infant and maternal mortality among women of color with a free maternal health clinic and birthing center. When the public eye sees the pro-life movement fighting to end abortion without looking at the root, she said, then you will always get the side-eye from the black community.

Holloway, of Pro-Black Pro-Life, believes ministry leaders can draw from the Black churchs history of providing mutual aid. She hopes to see Christians expanding church networks and forming coalitions within congregations to support womens access to quality reproductive health care and affordable, adequate housing.

We dont want condemnation. We want grace, she said. We want also for people to understand if they get themselves in a situation where they have an unplanned pregnancy, they shouldnt have to run from the church; they should be running to it.

Pew found that Christians from Black Protestant traditions are also the group most opposed to penalizing women who chose to terminate their pregnancies with criminal charges.

Holloway will continue her advocacy work, educating local Black communities about racial equity in health care and ways to support pregnant women and mothers in her home state of Ohio, where the Roe v. Wade reversal triggered a six-week abortion ban.

We care about the life that is in the womb, but we also care about the man on the street. We also care about these children and where theyre getting their education and health care from and Grandma and Grandpa who are entering end-of-life care and that theyre treated with dignity and respect, she said. These are all whole-life issues for us.

Some Black Christian leaders say they are eager for those who have rallied so passionately for the unborn to join whole-life causes to support women too: pay equity, childcare, affordable housing, mental health support, and health care.

Every church does not have to do everything, Holloway said. Who do we know that we can accelerate some of these things with? Theyre sitting in your pews.

Amethyst Holmes is a freelance journalist based in Washington DC.
PCUSA committee passes resolution declaring Israel's treatment of Palestinians 'apartheid'

A Presbyterian Church (USA) committee has passed a resolution declaring Israel an apartheid state at its General Assembly Tuesday.

The motion was one of several related to the Middle East policy taken up by the assembly's International Engagement Committee during the mainline Protestant denomination's annual gathering in Louisville, Kentucky.

Amendment INT-02, titled "On Recognition That Israel's Laws, Policies, and Practices Constitute Apartheid Against the Palestinian People," passed on a 28-3 committee vote Tuesday afternoon.

The committee's recommendation to the General Assembly  which was discussed extensively at the annual meeting  was ultimately approved with an amended version recognizing that the "government of" Israel's laws, policies and practices regarding the Palestinian people "fulfill the international legal definition of apartheid."

"This overture is pursued with the hope it will lead to a peaceful reconciliation for the people of Israel and Palestine similar to that which occurred in South Africa when apartheid was internationally acknowledged," the resolution states.

The document compares Israel's policies in the West Bank to the apartheid in South Africa when there "was serious injustice, widespread suffering, and major human rights abuses ... because of apartheid laws, practices, and policies that established a preferential legal status and material privileges to one group of people based on their identity while discriminating against another group based on their inferior status."

"It is hoped that the Israeli government policies toward the Palestinian people will undergo a similar transformation if Israeli apartheid is internationally acknowledged," the resolution reads.

"Each year the ordeals and injustices suffered by the Palestinian people in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel continue. Land is expropriated, homes are demolished, and freedom of movement is restricted. The combination of Israeli settlement colonies on Palestinian land, the bypass roads connecting these settlements, and the Separation Wall creates a network of barriers that confine Palestinians to live in separate reserves and ghettos. The rights to work, education, freedom from arbitrary arrest, peaceful assembly, and freedom of expression granted under international law are restricted or denied."

Much of the debate in the committee centered on condemning the Israeli government's policies without condemning the Israeli people.

One attendee introduced a substitute motion that recommended new language to contextualize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "from the lens or perspective of the United States' own history with racism and inequity."

"In consultation with several of my colleagues, we thought it might be helpful [to add] an introductory paragraph saying we understand what racism looks like and what apartheid looks like because of our own experience in the United States, and also saying that gives us a perspective to know what it looks like and we do see it here," said Nicole Wilkinson, from Southern New Jersey Presbytery, who made the recommendation.

That recommendation received resistance and was voted down.

The motion was one of four about Israel and Palestine, including a "statement of concern for the peace of Jerusalem" and a "Call for Ending the Siege of Gaza and Collective Punishment of Innocent Palestinian and Israeli Citizens."

All four motions passed.

Presbyterians for Middle East Peace said in a statement that the committee's recommendation to the General Assembly should be rejected, claiming it "made a mockery of the PCUSA's historic commitment to hearing all sides and doing deep research on issues prior to taking controversial decisions."

"Members of the committee voiced concerns about wanting to hear both sides," the statement reads. "In fact, only one side was heard: voices of historic anti-Israel activists. In their opening remarks, the overture advocates stated that there was large percentage of Jews both in Israel and America who believe that Israel is an apartheid state, but there was no evidence given to support such a claim."

"Our fear going into this GA was that there would not be a real conversation about the issue of apartheid, and our fears were realized," the statement continued. "There was no U.S. Jewish or Israeli voice asked to speak to the committee. There were no representatives of the thousands of organizations that have not deemed Israel to be an apartheid state. In fact, the committee did not hear any Palestinians asking the PC(USA) to make such a statement. Rather, the committee chose to hear from three white men that this is what the Palestinians were asking us to do."

A small but vocal group of protesters with the Philos Action league, a Christian organization that stands in solidarity with the Jewish community, waited outside the committee proceedings to lobby voting members to oppose the resolution. The group claims the resolution mirrors the language of recent Amnesty International and the United Nations Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry reports.

Luke Moon, deputy director of The Philos Project, called the vote "Jew hatred."

"Sadly, the International Committee of Presbyterian Church USA passed the motion to label Israel an apartheid state. They ignored our plea to reject antisemitism and sunk further in their Jew hatred. Lord, in your wrath, remember mercy," Moon wrote on Twitter.

The group also described the resolution as "the latest in a string of similar anti-Israel positions adopted by Presbyterian Church USA since 2004."

As the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States, PCUSA has over 8,000 congregations, 1 million members and 18,000 clergy members.

Earlier this year, the head of the PC(USA) released a statement in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, declaring the "continued occupation in Palestine/Israel is 21st-century slavery and should be abolished immediately."

In the January statement, PC(USA) Stated Clerk Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II called on the Jewish community in the United States to "influence the call to join the U.S. government in ending the immoral enslavement."

In 2014, the PC(USA) General Assembly voted 310-303 to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions due to their reported business ties to Israel. The move was criticized by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Union for Reform Judaism.

The disputed territories are those in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel has controlled those territories for over five decades but the international community has long debated sovereignty over those territories. Many, including the United Nations, have opposed Israel's plans to annex the West Bank, claiming it would seriously harm a two-state solution.
Vietnam floats new religion regulations to impose high fines, punishments for 'forbidden' activities

HANOI, Vietnam  When the Government of Vietnam posted two draft religion decrees the first week of June, even ranking staff members of the Government Bureau of Religious Affairs were taken by surprise and encouraged religious leaders to strongly object.

The decrees with ancillary documents were posted online for input by government departments and the public. The document dump was 151 pages.

One draft decree would take the place of Decree 162/2017, which provided implementation guidelines for the penultimate Law on Belief and Religion (LBR) that went into effect Jan. 1, 2018. After three years, the government authors of the draft decrees admit to shortcomings in the original implementation decree and offer this attempt to fix them. In practice the revisions would only tighten control.

Most concerning is a draft decree stipulating remedies and punishments for administrative infractions of the existing LBR and other rules. It is already nicknamed the Punishment Degree. The original such draft decree floated three years ago received such a negative response that it was never passed or enforced. The current draft is hardly better.

One Vietnamese analyst put it this way: If you start with something which is very bad at its core, any additions to it can only be bad too.

He referred to Vietnams record on human rights, especially religious freedom, internationally known to be very deficient.

Tinkering with the margins will not change the rotten core, the analyst concluded.

In the draft punishment decree, each of the religion regulations and rules comes with an administrative punishment schedule ranging from warning to severe warning, then to graduated fines up to $1,300 (30 million VND) for an individual and $2,600 (60 million VND) for an organization. Beyond that, punishments range up to shutting down a religious organization entirely.

Further, those accused of breaking religion rules are warned that they may also be violating criminal codes, putting them in double jeopardy. Article 8 of the punishment decree, for example, says that if someone disagrees with or disobeys their religious leader, they may also be charged with breaking civil laws such as violating social peace and order or fire safety codes, etc.

There are extremely onerous reporting requirements. All local church activities must be reported and approved a year in advance. Every office address change and reassignment of church staff must be reported within short time limits, or churches would face fines.

Mandatory study of Vietnams revolutionary history and Vietnamese law must be included in all training curriculum for clergy. Punishments include everything up to shutting down the training institutions.

Foreigners are limited in their activities with Vietnamese co-religionists. The amount a foreigner puts into an offering plate at a worship service must be reported, as must all financial contributions from abroad.

Current regulations, unchanged in the new draft decree on LBR implementation, call for religious organizations to submit detailed bios for all leadership candidates for government preapproval. Only then will the government grant permission to meet in the general assembly to vote.

In a current case, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam-South (ECVN-S) submitted the names and bios of 257 eligible candidates for about 30 leadership positions to be democratically decided. The government declined to accept one pastor whom they identified as a troublemaker.

The ECVN-S responded by asking the government not to interfere in the internal affairs of their legally recognized organization and advised authorities that if the said pastor were guilty of civil crimes they should go after him by legal means. This conflict now puts the ECVN-Ss long-planned July 2022 quadrennial General Assembly in jeopardy.

Three entire chapters of the punishment decree have to do with the registration and legal recognition of religious organizations. In one of many head-scratchers, a religious organization that is not yet legally recognized may be fined if it uses its religious reputation to further its cause.

Very concerning is Article 28 of the proposed replacement decree for Decree 162/2017. It extends all religion regulation to apply also to online meetings and activities, an entirely new phenomenon of the COVID-19 era. Hard to imagine the interference that could cause.

Much ink is spilled about things that are forbidden. Most significant is the continued reference to nebulous crimes such as taking advantage of belief and religion or causing social division or violating public morality or disturbing social order. There are no definitions as to what these forbidden things actually mean, leaving them completely open to subjective interpretation.

Under such forbiddens, it is hard to tell if not worshiping ones ancestors or venerating national heroes could lead to being classified as violating national morality or being labeled a cult. The forbiddens open the way to endless pretexts for accusing people.

One Vietnamese leader said of the new draft punishment decree, It appears to be written with the purpose of encouraging the punishment of individuals and organizations. Its not even the money fines as much as how this whole wretched system looks under the advertisement of providing more freedom of religion.

While a few egregious examples are highlighted here, the root problem is that Vietnam puts on full display its embarrassing dogma of having to control all aspects of religion because it is still interpreted as a threatening and dangerous social phenomenon. Clearly, the top level of Vietnams extensive security apparatus, which always manages to place its own personnel in key positions in the religion bureaucracy, is behind the proposed measures.

Religion authorities in Hanoi invited leaders of non-recognized house churches in northern Vietnam to a June 12-14 seminar to propagandize the new regulations. The government invitation expressed the expectation that the guidance and propaganda provided by the seminar will win the hearts of house church leaders to complete all the necessary legal documents.

For most house churches, the regulations on religion themselves have made it impossible to apply for legal recognition. Officials have denied or ignored some that have tried to apply. But most house church groups have been reluctant to seek legal recognition because they have observed how the onerous regulations have handicapped legally recognized groups.

Said one knowledgeable Vietnamese observer, If these decrees are passed in their present form, both legally recognized and unrecognized religious organizations will be like a small candle facing a typhoon.
PNS n New Delhi

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it has arrested two accused in Jammu and Kashmir in the cross-LoC trade and terror funding case.

The agency arrested the two accused personsTanveer Ahmad Wani of Achagoza under Rajpora police station of Pulwama district and Peer Arshad Iqbal alias Ashu of Khwaja Bagh, Baramulla in the 2016 cases linked to terror funding via cross-LoC trade.

The case pertains to the generation of extra profits through cross-LoC (Line of Control) trade mechanism between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and using those funds for fomenting terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the agency said in a statement.

The said trade was started in the year 2008 via two Trade Facilitation Centres (TFCs) located at Salamabad, Uri in Baramulla District and Chakan-da-Bagh in Poonch District. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the trade mechanism, 21 articles were allowed to be traded between POK and Jammu and Kashmir and were based on a barter system.

During investigation, it has been revealed that extra profit was generated by over-invoicing of export articles and under-invoicing of import articles by the traders, the NIA said.

The arrested accused are cross-border LoC traders and were handling several cross-LoC trade firms registered in their own names or in the names of their friends, family members and relatives.

They used to provide funds to the members of various terrorist organisations, over ground workers (OGWs) and stone-pelters. Further investigation in the case is continuing, it added.
Firebrand Christian critic JD Hall removed from church, media ministries due to serious sin

More than a month after his arrest on DUI and weapons charges, Fellowship Baptist Church in Sidney, Montana, has removed Pastor Jordan Daniel "J.D." Hall from ministry due to allegations of "serious sin."

Hall, known for his scathing criticisms of Christian leaders on his now-defunct polemics website Pulpit & Pen and, more recently, Protestia, has also been axed from those ministries.

While church leaders who staunchly defended Hall after his arrest have yet to make a public statement on his removal, Protestia announced his resignation in a statement on Sunday. The group also revealed that the online publication will no longer function as a ministry of Fellowship Baptist Church.

"Earlier this week, the team at Protestia received allegations of serious sin committed by our brother JD Hall. After correspondence with leadership at Fellowship Baptist Church, we learned that JD was determined by the church to have disqualified himself from pastoral ministry, had resigned from the pastorate, and submitted himself to a process of church discipline," Protestia reported. "Due to JD's removal from pastoral ministry, we likewise have removed him from ministry with Protestia."

Protestia noted that while it appears Fellowship Baptist Church considers the allegations against Hall "credible, we are unable to determine their truth with certainty and therefore cannot speak to all of the specifics of the accusations lest we be guilty of gossip."

A report from the Sidney Police Department cited by The Sidney Herald said Hall, 40, was arrested on May 11 at approximately 11 p.m. on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon and multiple traffic violations while driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs.

An incident report shows that when police approached Hall, he spoke slowly, his eyes were watery, closed slowly and deliberately and his speech was slurred and mumbled.

He also stumbled, displayed poor balance and performed poorly on a field sobriety test. No alcohol, however, was found in his system when a blood alcohol test was administered. He also had a Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Shield handgun which was found under his coat in an inside-the-waistband holster during his arrest, the report added.

Five days after his arrest on May 16, Fellowship Baptist Church said Hall had offered to resign "for bringing the stain of upon the church," but the church rejected his resignation because he did no wrong.

"Pastor Hall tenured his resignation to the church Thursday after being charged with DUI on Wednesday evening. There was no alcohol in his system and he blew 0.0 on the administered breathalyzer. However, police insisted Pastor Hall failed the administered field sobriety test," Fellowship Baptist Church said in the statement.

"Pastor Hall has suffered from documented vitamin D deficiency, which can result in poor coordination, slurred speech, word displacement, etc. This medical issue has been discussed openly for some time and has been the subject of our church's prayers. Nonetheless, Pastor Hall felt responsibility for bringing the stain of rumor upon the church and thus offered his resignation."

Protestia said in its statement that since it relies on local churches to exercise the biblical process of church discipline in the lives of its writers and team, the decision by Fellowship Baptist Church to disqualify Hall from ministry means he is no longer qualified to work with the website.

"We defer to the judgment of men God has placed in positions of local church authority, and a determination of disqualification from ministry for any of our team will result in removal from this ministry as well," the Protestia statement reads.

The statement notes that Protestia will cease to be a ministry of Fellowship Baptist Church, and Hall's writings and work on the site will be removed but archived and available if needed for reference. His "The Polemics Report" podcast will also come to a halt and will be replaced by a similar ministry.

"This is heartbreaking news for the Protestia team, and we pray for wisdom and courage for the leadership of FBC Sidney as they follow the process of church discipline with the goal of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration to fellowship for JD," Protestia said. "Similarly, we are praying for his family during this trying time."
Lawsuit seeking to overturn elder election at David Platts McLean Bible Church dismissed

A lawsuit filed by disgruntled longtime members of the multi-campus McLean Bible Church in Virginia over last year's election of new elders amid allegations of leftward drift and attempts to purge conservatives from the church has been dismissed.

In a statement to The Christian Post, MBC's three lead pastors, David Platt, Mike Kelsey and Wade Burnett, expressed their delight with the court's decision. On Friday, a state court dismissed the lawsuit filed by disgruntled current and former members with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled.

"By God's grace, our church family has come together in ways far beyond what I could have imagined to resolve conflict as biblically and peacefully as possible," noted Platt. "Amidst a divisive culture around us, members of our church family have clearly stated that they want to move forward together as a thriving, united church bringing hope to the nations, starting here in Washington, DC. I know that many churches across America have faced and are facing similar challenges during these days, and it is vitally important that we move past division and live out John 13:35, demonstrating love for one another and love for a world in need of Jesus."

Last summer, MBC announced that three new elders  Chuck Hollingsworth, Ken Tucker and Jim Burris  had been affirmed by more than 80% of the church family in a congregational vote after a previous election on June 30, 2021, was marred by alleged "irregularities."

In his message to the congregation on July 4, 2021, Platt said a group of activists inside and outside the church coordinated a campaign to vote down the new elders and seize control of the church.

Platt said the campaign mainly targeted the Tysons campus of the multisite megachurch as the other four campuses  Arlington, Loudon, Montgomery County, Maryland, and Prince William  were "almost unanimous in their affirmation" of the three elders.

Platt said the dissidents got unauthorized access to a database of contact information for the members and told them lies ahead of the June 30 vote. Platt said this included a false claim that if members voted for the three elders, the Tysons campus building would be sold to Muslims, and the proceeds would be given to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Five longtime church members  Steve Gaskins, Michael Manfredi, Roland Smith, Deborah Ash and Kevin Elwell  alleged in the dismissed complaint that McLean Bible Church and its board of elders denied members the opportunity to cast a secret ballot in the elder election held July 18, 2021. The lawsuit claims that the 2021 elder election violated the church constitution

The complaint further alleged that Platt and the current elders tried to purge the church of conservatives to win the elder election. The plaintiffs contend that the church board sought to disqualify members from voting, "attempting to purge members by designating them 'inactive' on an arbitrary basis, with no record that the members had missed eight consecutive Sundays, and without investigation into whether the members had 'reasonable excuse,' such as missing services for fear of the coronavirus, or even from the Church's own cancellation of in-person services due to the coronavirus."

The church says it made efforts to resolve the complaint and invited the plaintiffs to pursue "Christian mediation and reconciliation." The church contends the plaintiffs didn't respond to the invite, which prompted MBC to approve a "formal Plan for Lawsuit Resolution."

Approved by a substantial majority of the church, that plan included the resignation and a re-vote for the three elders. On June 5, all six nominees were approved by the church with a 86% vote, according to the statement.

"As a result, the new board is now officially serving and leading alongside Lead Pastor David Platt," the statement shared by MCB reads.

"The final step in the Plan for Lawsuit Resolution involved pursuing the actual dismissal of the lawsuit in light of the church's clear desire to move forward under the leadership of the new board. Because the plaintiffs would not agree to meet or discuss a dismissal, MBC filed a formal motion on June 10 asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit and to recognize the clear desire of the MBC congregation to move forward in unity under the leadership of elders who were nominated and elected by church membership."

The plaintiffs filed a motion opposing the church's request to dismiss the case on June 15.

"[L]ast month, the Board concocted its latest strategy to deny this Court opportunity

to grant effective relief. The Board announced a euphemistically-titled 'Plan for Lawsuit

Resolution.' The Plan proposed to allow a new vote on the Elders  but one that would not only include the hundreds of new members selected by the Board in December, six months after this action sought to preserve the status quo, but would also conveniently elect hundreds of new members selected by the Board in May, just before the sham Elder vote in June," the plaintiff's motion reads.

"Further, any persons who were members in June of 2021 would be required to declare that they were still members in good standing if they wished to vote. Any member who had changed churches due to the tainted election of June/July 2021 would be required either to lie or not be allowed to cast a vote  despite the fact that they would have been entitled to do so at the tainted 2021 election."

Plaintiffs contend that the church obtained a greater than 75% majority for the new proposed slate of elders only "after twice adding hundreds of carefully selected new members."

"In the meantime, Defendants steadfastly resisted Plaintiffs discovery requests," the plaintiffs added. "Plaintiffs sought discovery to identify members illegally purged or placed in inactive status. Nothing has been forthcoming up to the date Defendant filed its Motion for Plea in Bar  nearly a full year since this action commenced."

The church's motion to dismiss was granted, and a formal order was issued last Friday.

"This has been a difficult season for our church, as well as for the broader Church here in the U.S. And yet, I'm so thankful for the growing unity and enthusiasm we've been experiencing in the midst of it all," Kelsey, the lead pastor of the Montgomery County campus, said in response to the dismissal.

"I have had the privilege of serving this church family for 15 years and I'm excited to see how God will continue to work in and through us in this next chapter. We are incredibly diverse, with different backgrounds, perspectives, and personal convictions on a variety of issues. But we are unified in our commitment to obeying God's Word, loving our neighbors, and bearing witness to the amazing grace that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus."

The rift at McLean comes amid concerns over Platt's and other pastors' approaches to racial justice issues. The pastor was among many who participated in protests against police brutality following the 2020 death of George Floyd.

Burnett, the lead pastor of the Tysons campus, said that the conflict is "just one more picture of the larger differences we see all over the country."

"Families and friendships and congregations and countless other foundational parts of our lives have been upended and changed in ways that have been both painful and disorienting," Burnett added. "But through it all, God has been both present and faithful, and in His Word we are provided with a clear call to pursue peace so far as it depends on us. I'm incredibly grateful for the courage of our church in staying together and persevering, in pursuing peace in ways that required numerous steps of faith, and for trusting God all the way through to the actual dismissal of the lawsuit."

In what appears to be a response to the lawsuit's dismissal, critics of MCB posted on the "Save McLean Bible Church" Facebook page a post reading: "When men say its over, God takes over and when God takes over the battle is over."

"We believe that although Satan intended to harm and destroy McLean Bible Church, God intended it for good," another Facebook post reads. "Why He allowed it, we don't understand, but we know that God has the final say."
Most Americans oppose Dobbs decision, think companies shouldn't take position on abortion: polls

Polls released since the U.S. Supreme Court granted states the authority to regulate abortion indicate that while a majority of Americans oppose the decision, most have nuanced views and think companies shouldn't take a stance on the divisive issue.

Following the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization that reversed the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, Marist College conducted a poll in conjunction with NPR and PBS NewsHour assessing Americans views on various political topics. The survey, based on responses from 941 adults and conducted from June 24-25, included several questions about abortion.

When asked if they supported the overturning of Roe, 56% of respondents said they didn't approve of the Dobbs decision, while 40% expressed support for the ruling. Specifically, 28% of those surveyed strongly support the ruling, 12% support it, 11% oppose Dobbs and 45% strongly oppose it.

Americans views on the Dobbs decision closely mirror their views on abortion overall. The poll found that 55% of those surveyed identified themselves as mostly supporting abortion rights and 36% characterized themselves as mostly opposing abortion rights.

The survey also asked respondents for their views about the Supreme Court. Thirty-nine percent of those queried told pollsters that they had either a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the court compared to 58% who said they had not very much or no confidence at all in the institution. Nineteen percent expressed a great deal of confidence in the court and an additional 20% affirmed quite a lot of confidence in the body, while 25% maintained not very much confidence and 33% possessed no confidence at all.

However, a majority of Americans remain opposed to the idea of adding more justices to the Supreme Court, which has been pushed by progressive politicians and would have the effect of diluting the voting power of the justices who formed the majority opinion in Dobbs. Thirty-four percent of adults favor the practice derided by critics as court packing, while 54% oppose the idea.

Additionally, Americans expressed concern that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will be used by the Supreme Court to reconsider past rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage. A plurality of Americans (42%) feel very concerned about the overruling of additional rulings, followed by 27% who are not concerned at all about the possibility and 14% who describe themselves as concerned and not very concerned about the possible overturning of other rulings.

The concern about the potential reversal of Supreme Court decisions establishing rights to contraception, sodomy and same-sex marriage stems from a concurring opinion in the Dobbs case authored by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas wrote that we should reconsider all of this courts substantive due process precedents, classifying them as demonstrably erroneous.

Thomas suggested that the court had a duty to correct the error of previous decisions, citing the rulings granting rights to contraception, sodomy and same-sex marriage as examples of flawed legal analysis. However, the majority opinion in the Dobbs case, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, states that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right.

A poll conducted by YouGov sampling the opinions of more than 1,000 adults from June 24-25 revealed plurality opposition to the Dobbs decision (47%). An additional 31% of respondents supported the ruling, followed by 14% who neither approve nor disapprove of the ruling, and 8% who said they were not sure how they felt about the overturning of Roe.

The YouGov survey also illustrated more nuanced opinions on abortion from the American public. Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed called themselves pro-life and 34% placed themselves in the pro-choice category. An additional 25% hold both pro-life and pro-choice views, while 9% contended that they were neither, and 4% answered not sure in response to the question about their stance on abortion.

Similarly, 27% of respondents believe abortions should be legal in all cases and 33% want to see the procedure legal in most cases. The poll measured support for making abortion illegal in most cases at 28% and approval of making abortion illegal in all cases at 13%.

Another question in the survey asked, In general, should major companies take a public position on abortion? By a more than 2-1 margin, Americans believe that corporations should remain silent on the issue.

Fifty-one percent of those questioned responded with a No while 23% replied Yes and the remaining 26% maintained that they were not sure. This question reflects the fact that ahead of the Dobbs ruling, several major companies, including Amazon and Citigroup, have vowed to reimburse their employees travel expenses if they had to travel out of state to have an abortion.

At the same time, a plurality of participants in the survey (44%) told pollsters that they didn't think that large companies with operations in states that outlaw abortion should relocate to states where abortion is illegal. Meanwhile, 28% favored the idea of large businesses based in states that ban abortion relocating to another state.

The Dobbs decision didn't outlaw abortion but rather determined that the Supreme Court lacked the authority to make national policy on the issue, thereby enabling each state to make its own laws on the legality of the procedure. The YouGov poll asked if abortion laws should be decided nationally or left to the states.

A plurality of respondents (43%) expressed a desire for abortion laws to be decided nationally, while 35% thought the issue should be left to the states. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed were not sure.

Like the Marist survey, the YouGov poll examined Americans feelings on the Supreme Court. A plurality of those surveyed strongly disapprove of the way the Supreme Court is handling its job, followed by 20% who somewhat approve, 16% who strongly approve and 15% who somewhat disapprove of its performance. Fifteen percent answered not sure when asked for their opinions on the Supreme Court.

The Dobbs decision comes four-and-a-half months before the 2022 midterm elections that will determine which policy controls Congress for the next two years. Both polls sought to examine the potential impact of the ruling on this falls elections.

According to the Marist poll, 61% of adults cited the Dobbs decision as making them more likely to vote in the midterms compared to just 3% who are now less likely to vote because of the ruling. More Democrats (78%) than Republicans (54%) regard themselves as more likely to vote in the fall following Dobbs.

The YouGov poll presented slightly different findings, with 23% of respondents insisting that the Dobbs decision will have a great deal of influence on their vote in November and an additional 14% predicting that it will impact their vote a fair amount. Meanwhile, 17% responded not much when asked how much their vote in November will be affected by the courts decision. Another 23% see the Dobbs decision as not at all likely to influence which candidates they support in the upcoming elections.

Like the Marist poll, the YouGov survey showed that more Democrats believe the Dobbs decision will play a role in their vote in the 2022 elections. Thirty-three percent of Democrats asserted that Dobbs will influence their vote in November a great deal and an additional 19% predicted that the overturning of Roe will have a great deal of impact on their vote.

By contrast, only 18% of Republicans foresaw the Dobbs decision having a great deal of impact on their vote and 12% stated that it will have a fair amount of influence on their plans for Election Day.

Only Marist asked Americans for their thoughts on President Joe Bidens job performance. While the president has a 40% approval rating and a 53% disapproval rating among the sample, more respondents plan to support a Democratic candidate for Congress (48%) than a Republican candidate (41%). This represents a slight increase in support for the Democratic candidate on the generic ballot from the last Marist Poll conducted in May 2022, which found Democrats beating Republicans 47% to 42%.
So. Baptist church apologizes after black woman says white member called black people coloreds

Steve Walter, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Forrest City, Arkansas, publicly apologized Tuesday after a black woman alleged that she and her family experienced discrimination from two unidentified white members, one of whom allegedly called black people "coloreds," when she tried to attend a worship service on Sunday morning.

The woman, identified on Facebook as Donna Mac, 34, did not immediately respond to a request for an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday. She detailed in a viral post on the social media platform how the encounter happened and noted that she had been invited to the service at the Southern Baptist Church.

"I've never in my 34 years of living witness a church turn someone around because of the color of their skin. Walking up we was met on the steps by the 1st member (older white guy) stated 'Well what you want to come in for?' We responded, 'Church.' He stated, 'Church doesn't start until 11am.' (Mine you other members are entering church at this time.)," Mac wrote.

"After speaking with the 2nd member (older white lady) I stated, 'Is everyone not welcome here?' She stated, 'We've had COLOREDS here before.' I asked, 'What do you mean Coloreds? Do you mean Black people?' Her response, 'No COLOREDS! When I was growing up we always called them COLOREDS!' We just looked at her and left! My feelings are so hurt!"

Mac's post has been shared over 9,000 times on Facebook as of Wednesday morning and elicited thousands of negative reactions from the public, some claiming the church is racist. In a follow-up statement on her Facebook page, Mac made it clear that she wasn't trying to brand the entire church as racist.

After CP reached out to the church and Southern Baptist Convention for comment, Walter released a statement on the church's Facebook page acknowledging Mac's account and offered an apology. He asked for forgiveness for the encounter. It is unclear if Mac and her family received a personal apology.

"On Sunday, June 26th, a family seeking to worship at FBC Forrest City had a racially-insensitive encounter with a member and left without attending our morning worship service. The Bible teaches the value and dignity of every human created and calls us to love our neighbors," Walter wrote. "Sadly, that is not how this guest and her family were treated. There is no excuse for the offensive language used toward her and her family, and I am sincerely sorry that this incident took place. On behalf of FBC Forrest City, I would like to ask for forgiveness."

Dahleen Glanton, a former columnist for the Chicago Tribune, explained in a 2020 op-ed that while it is now acceptable to address the collective group of non-white people as people of color today, it is "offensive" to refer to black people as "colored" because of the term's connection to the Jim Crow South. Glanton noted that not everyone is aware that the term is considered offensive.

"It is offensive to single blacks out as 'colored.' That, in part, is because of the painful segregationist history associated with the term prior to the mid-1960s," Glanton wrote. "'Colored-only' restrooms and water fountains are examples of harmful relics of the Jim Crow South that black people had to fight, and die, to remove from American culture."

Walter vowed that First Baptist Church of Forrest City will work towards ensuring an incident like this doesn't happen again and asked for prayers.

"The Bible calls us to repent, to offer healing for those we've hurt, and to work toward ensuring this doesn't happen again. While FBC Forrest City is committed to those ends, much more work is needed to heal the racial divide in our community and our country," he stated. "We are calling on others to pray for this family, our church family, our community, and our country that we, as one people under God's rule, will be reconciled through Christ and His saving grace."

In her follow-up post, Mac said she will not allow the encounter to turn her away from Christianity.

"I'm not saying the church as a whole exemplified racism I'm speaking on the individuals we encountered. I never wanted to be anything other than who I am! I am a proud AFRICAN AMERICAN/ BLACK Woman! I absolutely love the skin I'm in. I love it so much I took my time to defend it against racism," she wrote. "Where some would've tucked their tail and took that 'L' I decided to speak up! I'm NOT a racist, therefore I'm not just going to sit back and allow anyone to downplay my race or my decision to speak out [whether] they're white, black, or etc. Lastly and certainly not least I believe in CHRISTIANITY and I will never give up on the power of God and His unchanging hand."
Californians to vote on enshrining abortion rights in state constitution after Roe's reversal

California voters will have a chance this fall to decide whether to codify abortion rights in the state constitution.

The Democrat-led California legislature passed an amendment Monday that will put the issue to voters in November following last week's historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion a national right.

Under Senate Constitutional Amendment 10, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins of San Diego, voters will decide if they should enshrine California's "reproductive rights." According to the amendment, "reproductive rights" "includes [the] fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and [the] fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives."

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and NARAL Pro-Choice California are the primary co-sponsors of SCA 10, which passed both houses with a two-thirds majority vote, allowing the amendment to qualify for the November ballot.

Shortly after SCA 10's passing, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order limiting the sharing of patient records and data by state agencies with other states seeking to take criminal or civil action against individuals for facilitating or receiving an abortion.

"California will not back down from the fight to protect abortion rights as more than half the states in this country, enabled by the Supreme Court, ban or severely restrict access," Newsom said. "We are ensuring Californians will have the opportunity this November to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution."

Calling the Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision a "dark day," Atkins said "abortion is health care, and should be a private discussion between a patient and their health care provider."

"When politicians and judges force themselves into that room, safety goes out the window," Atkins asserted.

Following the Supreme Court's decision last Friday, Newsom signed AB 1666, limiting California's exposure to civil liability for anyone in the state "providing, aiding, or receiving" an abortion.

Newsom joined his counterparts in Washington and Oregon in a multi-state pact to make those states a "safe haven for all people seeking abortions and other reproductive health care services in these states."

Under California law, the "state shall not deny or interfere with a woman's fundamental right to choose to bear a child or to choose to obtain an abortion" except when a physician believes "there is a reasonable likelihood of the fetus' sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures."

A UCLA study released this month estimated that as many as 16,000 more Americans will travel to California specifically to receive abortion services after the Dobbs ruling triggered laws in several states banning the procedure.

The study forecasts that white, college-educated Americans with "greater resources" are more likely to make the trip, as well as those aged 17 and under, particularly those hailing from states where parental consent is required by law.
Democratic senators press Biden to use 'full force' of federal government to protect abortion

Dozens of Democratic U.S. Senators are pressing President Joe Biden to use his authority to defend abortion access after several states enacted policies to ban or restrict abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A day after the nation's high court issued a majority opinion saying there is no constitutional right to abortion and upheld Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, 34 senators signed a letter calling on Biden to "take immediate action" and use the "full force of the federal government to protect access to abortion in the United States." Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., led the letter.

The letter decries that many states have "trigger laws" that ban abortion as soon as the court issued its ruling. Several states have already enacted these laws, and more are likely to follow.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 20 states had laws banning abortion on the books that can go into effect in the absence of Roe.

"Now is the time for bold action to protect the right to an abortion," the senators wrote.

"You have the power to fight back and lead a national response to this devastating decision, so we call on you to take every step available to your Administration, across federal agencies, to help women access abortions and other reproductive health care, and to protect those who will face the harshest burdens from this devastating and extreme decision."

A month before the ruling, more than 20 Senate Democrats, including Murray and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pressed Biden to direct the federal government to develop a "national plan" to safeguard abortion.

"Now is the time for equally bold action to protect the right to an abortion," the Democratic lawmakers wrote.

"The Biden-Harris Administration has led on issues of reproductive rights with the establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council, the release of the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, and the launch of a whole-of-government response to Texas's draconian law depriving residents of their constitutional right to an abortion."

"Nevertheless, the dramatic escalation of attacks on abortion access  spearheaded by right-wing justices, lawmakers, and activists  demands comprehensive and creative strategies from every corner of the federal government," they continued.

The senators' list of strategies includes increasing chemical abortion access and assisting women with travel for out-of-state abortions. They also called for a reproductive health ombudsman at the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) that "could educate the public and analyze data collected by HHS about access to reproductive services."

The letter proposed allowing abortionists to commit abortions on federal property in states where the practice is banned.

Vice President Kamala Harris said in a Monday interview with CNN's Dana Bash that the White House isn't currently discussing the possibility of allowing abortion facilities to operate on federal lands.

Last year, the House of Representatives passed the Women's Health Protection Act, a bill that would have codified the right to abortion into federal law.

The Senate fell short of the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture and begin debate on the legislation, with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. joining Republicans in opposing the bill.

In a February statement, Jennifer Popik, National Right to Life Committee's director of federal legislation, said the act would have "quash[ed] nearly all existing protective state laws."

"With this bill, elective abortion would have become the procedure that must always be facilitated  never delayed, never impeded to the slightest degree," she said.
Family, church grieve beloved pastor killed in road rage incident as cops hunt for unidentified shooter

Less than 48 hours after their beloved pastor was shot dead in a road rage incident in Houston, Texas, members of East Bethel Missionary Baptist Church were trying to wrap their grief in praise at church on Sunday.

At a memorial set up at the site where the Rev. Ronald K. Mouton died, current and former members of the church let their tears flow freely.

"He was such a wonderful man," Sonja Gilmore-King told ABC 13. "He was a man of God. He loved family, his church, and this community. I had to come over to see, was it true? I couldn't believe a man of God who loves so hard was taken away from us. We can't believe it because this man would give you anything, the shirt off his back literally, and for this to happen to him, none of us could believe it."

The Houston Police Department said in a press release that Mouton, 58, who leaves behind his wife, four children and 10 grandchildren, crashed shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday on 6400 Gulf Freeway near Gould Street along the southbound lanes of the Gulf Freeway.

Eyewitnesses said the pastor was driving a white car when he was shot by another driver in a black sedan in what appears to be a case of road rage.

According to witnesses, it is believed the victim was involved in a road rage incident with an unknown suspect driving a black sedan. At this time, there is no known suspect description, the HPD release said.

A $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect is being offered and anyone who can help is being asked to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

Wendell Hutchins II, the founding pastor of the Church of Champions in Houston, called Mouton a brilliant man who demonstrated his love for his people on a daily basis.

I mourn the loss of a great man that was such a fixture of faithfulness in our Houston communities. Our prayers are lifting the Mouton family in their hour of grief, he wrote on Facebook Sunday. Were also praying for the entire East Bethel Missionary Baptist Church family as they mourn the sudden loss of their pastor.

Surveillance video captured by Pusch and Nguyen Injury Lawyers shows Mouton's car crash following the shooting, ABC 13 reported. In the video, the pastors car can be seen out of control, almost hitting a pedestrian, then striking a telephone pole.

Family members who have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time are also urging anyone with information that can help the police to come forward. Investigators believe that more people might have witnessed the killing because of the time and place of the incident.

He was not just a great man inside the church, but outside the church walls," Bishop James Dixon, a close friend of Moutons, told ABC 13. "He was a family man, a loving husband, and father, and just a great human being, raised by a great father and mother."
Former mob boss preaches at Greg Laurie's church, encourages healthy fear of eternal damnation

Michael Franzese, an ex-mob boss-turned-outspoken Christian author and speaker, delivered a message at Pastor Greg Laurie's California-based megachurch Sunday and stressed the importance of possessing a "healthy" fear of Hell and eternal damnation.

As a former second-generation member of the Colombo Italian-American Mafia crime family in New York, Franzese previously lived his life on the wrong side of the law.

He once held a caporegime rank, an influential role that gave him control over a "crew of soldiers." Working alongside his father, Sonny Franzese, he stole money and engaged in other criminal activities.

After being arrested on 18 different occasions, Franzese served eight years in prison before he was ultimately released in 1994. During his time behind bars, a prison guard gave him a Bible, enabling him to discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

Speaking at Laurie's Harvest Christian Fellowship, the former Mafia "prince" shared how he developed a "healthy fear of Hell" as a former inmate in solitary confinement.

"When I was in prison, I spent 29 months and seven days in solitary confinement [in a] six-by-eight cell, 24/7. Me and God.  That's not easy. We weren't meant to be solo creatures. We were meant to be social. [When] those lights [went] out at night, a lot of guys did not do well; a lot of moaning and groaning," Franzese recounted.

"I dove into my Bible. I prayed every day. It was my closest time with the Lord because I had no choice. That was it.  And thank God, I turned to Him and nowhere else.  But you know what happened in that hole? I developed a healthy fear of Hell."

Franzese encouraged the crowd to envision the reality of Hell's existence.

"I want you to stop for a minute and think of the worst thing that you've ever encountered in your life and realize that that worst thing will never go away.  This is your constant thorn in your side forever. And now put yourself in Hell, which is a million times worse and will never end. That's Hell," Franzese preached.

"[The] Bible is very descriptive. I'm not bringing you bad news. I'm just telling you the truth. The good news is we don't have to go there. There is a Heaven, and there is a Hell."

He said that it is good to have a healthy fear of anything that can potentially be harmful to a person and shared how his sister died of a drug overdose at the age of 27 and how his brother struggled with drug addiction for 25 years.

After seeing what happened to his siblings, Franzese developed a "healthy fear of drugs."

"My father drummed into my head from the time I was a kid that drugs were bad," Franzese shared.

"I've seen so many people die because of drugs. I'm afraid of drugs. I don't mind saying it. I never even smoked a joint because I'm afraid I'll like it. I don't want to be addicted, so I stay away from it. It's good to have a healthy fear of things that are no good for you. That's manly. That's a man's man that can resist that kind of stuff," he added.

Although Franzese said it is "good" to recognize God's call to confess, repent, believe and evangelize, he stressed the importance of sharing the truth in a loving way.

"Jesus was direct when He had to be, but He had a knack for communicating with gentleness," he contended. "Today, our culture seems to celebrate men who speak their mind and pull no punches as if being a bully is an admirable trait. On the contrary, Jesus Himself said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.'"

Franzese emphasized the importance of "gentleness" when sharing difficult truths with non-believers, adding:

"Every time I [share] my testimony, I always go into the back room and I pray and I say: 'Lord  give me the right words. Let me be effective. Let me be passionate enough in delivering this message so that You can reach out and touch the hearts that You want to touch in this room.'"

In concluding his sermon, Franzese urged audience members to consider giving their lives to Christ before it's too late.

"We are living in crazy times," he reminded. "We don't know from one minute to the next what's going to happen in this life. We really don't. And I'm telling you, I've seen people that I love with me one day, gone the next. Shocking. We don't know. We're not guaranteed anything. And what are you waiting for? Why would you want to test it?"

"Why would you even want to think that maybe I'm not ready to go to Heaven?  Why? I told you what the benefit is of emulating Jesus Christ. It's a win-win situation.  You can't lose.  The only way you lose is if you don't confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Savior. But in every other way, you win."
Man castrated in gender transition sues NHS clinic for maiming his body

A British man who claims he was pressured into having surgery to remove his genitals and has since suffered irreparable damage is suing the NHS clinic where he sought help for gender dysphoria.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Mail, a man named Ritchie Herron said the vaginoplasty he underwent at the behest of the NHS gender clinic in Newcastle, England, was the biggest mistake of his life and now he experiences painful physiological complications, including numbness, incontinence and infertility.

His harrowing ordeal first became known to the public earlier this month when he shared his story on Twitter under the pseudonym TullipR. In a June 13 thread that subsequently went viral, he divulged the multitude of challenges he now faces in his postoperative daily life.

In an interview with The Christian Post via email, Herron said in the days since his thread went viral he has "had an outpouring of support and empathy, a great deal of compassion."



"I was fully bracing to be judged harshly by the masses, and yet that didnt happen. I was met with kindness, support, well wishes and empathy. Many kind individuals wished me well and [said they are] praying for me even, which was touching and humbling," Herron said.

"Ive been judged, too, sometimes through the lens of fear, other times through misunderstanding and others through anger. But for me, its just words on a screen. I hold no ill will against anyone who does seek to judge," he added.



Among the challenges he detailed in the June 13 tweet thread are that it now takes him 10 minutes to urinate, his crotch area is completely numb, and the surgery did not alleviate his mental distress as he was led to believe it would. Herron recounted to the Daily Mail that he thought he was fast-tracked into undergoing a permanent surgery and that NHS clinicians did not take into account his worsening mental health.

Herron, who had begun referring to himself by the female name "Abby" while identifying as transgender, said he had repeatedly turned down suggestions that he undergo a gender surgery and relayed his concerns to the clinic's staff. He reportedly turned down a vaginoplasty in 2015 and again in 2017. When he refused the surgery the second time he said that he was told that the rejection of the referral meant he would be discharged from the service, which he believed also meant the withdrawal of the therapy he had been receiving, something he considered valuable.

In May 2018, he finally underwent the operation that entailed the removal of both testicles and his penis. The surgeon then took the remaining tissue and skin to surgically create female genitalia. Herron said his mindset at the time was, Im here now, theres no stopping it even if I wanted to.

Following the surgery, Herron said he was deeply regretful, recalling his first thought as: Oh God, what have I done" as he lay in bed in a blur of painkillers.

Herron is now preparing to take legal action against the NHS Foundation Trust and his attorney told the Daily Mail that his client is facing "a lifetime of medical care and consequences" and he "cannot be put back together again."

Herron told the Daily Mail that his clinicians "failed to identify red flags and change direction." "Proper consideration needs to be given to issues such as OCD, internalised homophobia, depression, drug use, sexual abuse and childhood trauma as potential reasons for patients rejecting their sexed body."

He believes that more lawsuits will be filed in a few years, perhaps by people who were inspired by his claim, and described the moment as an avalanche waiting to happen.

In an interview with Kallie Fell, host of the California-based Center for Bioethics & Cultures "Venus Rising" podcast, Herron said the detransitioning  the process of reintegrating with his natal sex  has been more challenging the undergoing gender-transition, particularly navigating the healthcare bureaucracy to file complaints against the gender clinic.

When asked during the podcast what he would say to those questioning their gender, Herron replied that they need to get off of the internet, spend time in nature, and recognize that this is an obsession.



When you obsess about your gender, are you trans, are you not trans, that is an obsession. And the important part of disengaging from the internet is to stop feeling it and to remind you of whats real. Because when you realize whats real in the world, youll realize whats real within you and how you feel, he said.



Herron further stressed that it's important to explore the various contributing factors to gender dysphoria, explaining that some mental health issues are categorized as gender distress, when, in fact, there might be other neurological issues underlying it.

Last year, the Center for Bioethics & Culture released a 50-minute documentary film scrutinizing the medicalization of gender, titled Trans Mission: Whats the Rush to Reassign Gender? The group is now in post-production on a new film that will feature the stories of young women who have detransitioned.

The NHS Trust told the Daily Mail in a statement that though it was unable to comment on any individual's health records, the care plans for each person are collaborative and tailored to each patients needs and goals, and treatment decisions are made following a thorough assessment in line with national recommendations.

Herrons ordeal follows the efforts of Keira Bell, a female detransitioner who was a plaintiff in the judicial review against the NHS Tavistock gender clinic in London. Bell, who was prescribed experimental hormone blockers as a minor and then went on to take opposite sex hormones and undergo a double mastectomy, argued that, as a teenager, she was incapable of understanding the long-term repercussions of what the experimental drugs would do to her long-term health, including leaving her potentially infertile.

Though the U.K. High Court of Justice initially ruled in Bells favor and found that children were not able to give consent to the experimental drugs under the relevant standard in the nation  often referred to as Gillick competency which dates back to a 1986 case involving birth control  and that the Tavistocks clinical and record-keeping practices were inadequate, the decision was reversed in September 2021.

In the United States, scrutiny of the experimental medicalization of gender has increased in recent days amid the emergence of documentary films challenging the claims of its effectiveness.

Last week, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced legislation that would allow detransitioners to sue the doctors who performed the experimental procedures and body mutilating gender surgeries on them while they were minors, with a 30-year statute of limitations.

Herron believes that his ordeal is proof that the whole system has to become far more robust.

How many more people are there out there like me?



Herron told CP that he is part of several detrans community groups, "from the front-facing reddit with 35,000 members, to the support groups."



"[T]here are many, many stories yet to be told. I wish my story was an outlier; I wish it was a fluke, but its not and many more are coming forward since that tweet," he said.






Archie Battersbee's parents win appeal, granted new hearing to block removal of son's life support

The parents of Archie Battersbee have won the right to a new hearing to determine whether their 12-year-old son can continue on life support after a judge ruled that a London hospital could discontinue the boy's care.

Battersbee's parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, appeared before judges at the Court of Appeals in London Wednesday to argue for their son's care to continue.

In a decision handed down in the Family Division of the High Court earlier this month, Justice Emma Arbuthnot ruled that medical professionals at Royal London Hospital could remove Archie Battersbee's life support. The boy has been unconscious since April due to a brain injury.

Arbuthnot ruled that Battersbee, who was discovered unconscious at home with a ligature around his neck on April 7, is likely dead "on the balance of probabilities." She permitted the parents to appeal the decision.

According to a statement released by the Christian Legal Centre, which has been supporting the family, a panel of three judges ruled there should be another hearing on Battersbee's case.

The decision was made by the Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos, President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane and Lady Justice King. The High Court will hear the case again on July 11, "with the understanding that Archie remains alive," according to the legal group.

CLC Chief Executive Andrea Williams said in a statement that the ruling "shows the critical importance of never giving up."

"In these difficult moments, nerves and principles are important," she said. "This judgment upholds life and will protect many more people from a slippery slope in which the legal definition of death is expanded."

"Where there's life, there's hope. We keep praying that Archie will be able to recover, given more time," she concluded.

Hollie Dance said that she is "delighted" by the decision.

"We wanted another hearing and we've got everything we wanted," she said, according to The Daily Mail.

Paul Battersbee expressed the same sentiment, stating that "It couldn't really have gone any better today."

Edward Devereux QC, a barrister leading the parents' case, argued before the court that the case should be "remitted for consideration by a High Court judge who should considerer whether it is in Archie's best interests for life-sustaining treatment to continue."

The new hearing will take place before a different judge, Justice Anthony Hayden, according to The Daily Mail.

In the initial ruling, Arbuthnot concluded that Battersbee is effectively brain dead and should be disconnected from the ventilator. Lawyers representing Barts Health NHS Trust, the hospital's governing trust, asked the judge to make a decision in the child's best interests.

"The evidence in my judgment shows a gradual deterioration from very early on in Archie's admission into hospital when he had already suffered a very severe brain injury when blood supply and oxygen were prevented from reaching his brain," Arbuthnot wrote.

"It is clear from the anxious and careful scrutiny of all the evidence including from clinicians with different specialisms from five separate hospitals that tragically on the balance of probabilities, Archie is dead."

The judge gave "permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital (1) to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee; (2) to extubate Archie Battersbee; (3) to cease the administration of medication to Archie Battersbee and (4) not to attempt any cardio or pulmonary resuscitation on Archie Battersbee when cardiac output ceases or respiratory effort ceases."

In a statement shared earlier this month by CLC, Dance refused to "give up on Archie."

"Until it's God's way, I won't accept he should go. I know of miracles when people have come back from being brain dead," she stated.

The parents maintain that their son has not been "given enough time." The case is also believed to be the first time an MRI test has been used to declare someone is "likely" to be dead, CLC claims.

"From the beginning, I have always thought, 'why the rush?'" Dance asked. "His heart is still beating, he has gripped my hand, and as his mother, I know he is still in there."
A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in four-day police custody in the 2018 tweet case in which he had posted a derogatory message against a Hindu deity. The police had sought a five-day custody of Zubair.

During the hearing, advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair, argued that Zubair was being maliciously targeted and that the entire case borders on absurdity. He said the photo which the accused used in the tweets is of an old Hindi film from 1983 by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Kissi Se Na Kehna, and that the film was not banned.

Rebutting Zubairs counsels arguments, the Delhi Police counsel argued that Zubairs deliberate act of outraging religious sentiments was on record and therefore his police remand was required. The Delhi Police also told the court that Zubair allegedly used controversial tweets to hurt religious feelings in an effort to get fame.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria passed the order after hearing arguments. Zubair was produced before the court on the expiry of his one-day custodial interrogation.

Considering that mobile phone/laptop of accused used by him for posting the tweet in question is to be recovered at the instance of accused Mohammed Zubair from his Bangalore residence and that accused has remained non-cooperative, four days PC (police custody) remand of the accused is granted since accused is to be taken to Bangalore, stated the order.

The CMM directed that Zubair be produced before the court on July 2, and further asked the investigating officer to get medical treatment of the accused conducted as per rules.

Delhi Police officials on Tuesday said that Zubairs objectionable tweet of 2018 led to a Twitter storm with hate speeches, detrimental to communal harmony. In such cases, finding the gadget used to post such tweets and the intention behind posting such a tweet is important. During questioning, he has been evasive on both the fronts. We found out that his phone was formatted. His evasiveness formed the grounds for his arrest, said KPS Malhotra, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Special Cell.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said without getting into the legalities, the big message by the BJP-led Centre is that the perpetrators of hate speeches would get political patronage and will be out either on bail or otherwise, and people who report that will be behind bars.

Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday termed as discriminatory the arrest of Zubair and demanded that the Government take fair action in the matter respecting the countrys reputation at the international level.

Jamiat president Maulana Mahmood Madani also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah saying the discriminatory nature of the functioning of law enforcement agencies is condemnable. The Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India on Tuesday described Zubairs arrest as extremely disturbing and demanded his immediate release.
Major retail chains ration Plan B as states enact abortion bans after overturn of Roe v. Wade

Major retailers are reportedly rationing the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B due to an apparent spike in demand as states begin enacting abortion bans after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that legalized abortion nationwide.

The court's 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization stated that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, leaving its legality to be determined on a state-by-state basis.

Retailers such as CVS, Walmart and RiteAid are restricting the purchase of Plan B, which was out of stock or in short supply on many retail websites on Monday.

The pills and similar products typically sell from $10 to $50, with the "cheapest" option available from major retailers' websites being $35.

According to The Wall Street Journal, CVS is limiting purchases of Plan B to three. While Walmart had some pills available without limits, The Journal reports that is only in cases where the product wouldn't ship until next month. However, pills available this week were limited to four or six.

In a Tuesday statement to The Christian Post, a Walmart spokesperson explained that "[m]any of our products have online purchase limits in place. During times of fluctuating demand, these limits may change."

Walgreens and CVS did not immediately respond to CP's request for comment.

A spokesperson for RiteAid told CNN that the pharmacy chain is also limiting the sale of Plan B to three per customer.

A CVS spokesperson told WSJ that the company implemented temporary purchase limits on Plan B to ensure "equitable access" to the pill and allow the company to have an ample supply online and in stores.

Walgreens Boots Alliance claims the purchase limits on its website were done in error, and the company intends to correct it. A spokesperson for the retail pharmacy chain told WSJ that the corporation is investigating the matter.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, Plan B is a form of emergency contraception that comes in the form of two levonorgestrel pills to be taken by mouth after unprotected intercourse. The product is available over-the-counter and can be purchased without a prescription.

The pill prevents ovulation by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary and may also prevent fertilization by blocking the union of sperm and egg. In some cases, Plan B may prevent implantation by stopping a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb.

A 2016 Planned Parenthood report states that Plan B is not the same thing as the abortion pill, which contains a medication called mifepristone to terminate the pregnancy. It is typically taken with a drug called misoprostol, which completes the abortion.

States throughout the country have begun enacting abortion bans following the Dobbs decision.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 20 states have "trigger laws" on the books which can go into effect and ban abortion in the absence of Roe. Those states include Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Missouri became the first state to ban abortion, with many states following or preparing to follow its example.

In an opinion Friday, Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt declared that "the United States Supreme Court has overruled, in whole in part, Roe v. Wade," thereby granting "the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth" in section 188.017 of the "Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act."

This portion of the law states that "notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency."

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem also announced Friday that "we have a law on the books that makes abortion illegal immediately, except to preserve the life of the mother."
Abortion Now Illegal In Several States, Denominations React To Roe V. Wade Ruling, Rioters Damage Pregnancy Center

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 06:00 06:00

Abortion has now become illegal in several states following the United States Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion.



Police say a mob of about 60 people clad in all black vandalized a pregnancy resource facility and other businesses in Portland, Oregon, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. No arrests were made due to a lack of resources.

The Christian Post has compiled an updated list of attacks on churches and pregnancy centers nationwide as abortion activists commence their "summer of rage." Christian denominations reacted in various ways after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision last Friday.

The parents of a 12-year-old boy on life support in the United Kingdom are have been given permission to appeal a ruling from a lower court judge who determined doctors could discontinue their son's care.

A prominent Christian persecution advocacy organization will honor the legacy and sacrifice of American missionary John Chau, who lost his life while taking the Gospel to a remote island in the Indian Ocean in 2018.

A lawsuit filed by disgruntled longtime members of the multi-campus McLean Bible Church in Virginia over last year's election of new elders has been dismissed.
Abortion is now illegal in several states after Dobbs ruling

Updated at 11:54 a.m. ET on July 1.

Abortion has now become illegal in several states following the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization stating that the Constitution doesnt contain a right to abortion.

The Dobbs decision, released on June 24, reverses the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The legality of abortion will now be decided on a state-by-state basis. As The Christian Post previously reported, 21 states will either completely ban or more severely restrict abortion than they did pre-Roe following the reversal of the decision.

The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute has identified 13 states that have trigger laws that would ban abortion in the event of Roes reversal: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. In the days immediately following the Dobbs decision, abortion bans have already gone into effect in 12 states, although a lower court judge has already struck down three of them as unconstitutional.

Missouri became the first state to ban abortion following the Dobbs decision on June 24, with Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt issuing an opinion declaring that the United States Supreme Court has overruled, in whole in part, Roe v. Wade, thereby granting the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in section 188.017 of the Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act.

This portion of the law proclaims that notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency.

Section B of the Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act stated that the enactment of this section shall only become effective upon notification to the revisor of statutes by an opinion by the attorney general of Missouri, a proclamation by the governor of Missouri, or the adoption of a concurrent resolution by the Missouri general assembly that the Supreme Court has overruled Roe.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, announced on June 24 that we have a law on the books that makes abortion illegal immediately, except to preserve the life of the mother.

Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor, a Republican, sent a letter to the states governor and the leaders of the state legislature on June 24 informing them that As a result of Dobbs, the authority of the state of Oklahoma to prohibit abortion has been confirmed, and the state of Oklahoma may enforce Section 861 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma statutes or enact a similar statute prohibiting abortion throughout pregnancy.

The law OConnor was referring to makes performing an abortion a felony unless its necessary to preserve the life of the mother.

On June 24, the office of Ohios Republican Gov. Mike DeWine published a statement indicating that U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett lifted the preliminary injunction which had prevented the state of Ohio from enforcing or complying with Senate Bill 23, which bans abortions after a babys heartbeat can be detected. Barretts decision enables the state to ban all abortions after six weeks of gestation.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, announced on June 24 that the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, which bans elective abortions in the state, will now take effect following the Dobbs decision.

The state of Alabamas emergency motion to lift the injunction and reinstate Alabamas 2019 law, which prohibits abortions in most instances, has been granted, he said. Both the federal district court and the plaintiffs recognized that there is no basis for a continued stay of the duly-enacted law in light of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization.

Thus, Alabamas law making elective abortions a felony is now enforceable, Marshall added. Anyone who takes an unborn life in violation of the law will be prosecuted, with penalties ranging from 10 to 99 years for abortion providers.

The office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, a Republican, published an announcement on June 24 certifying that Dobbs overrules the central holding of Roe v. Wade and reaffirms the states authority to protect unborn life. Rutledges office stressed that Arkansas has enacted and defended laws that prohibit elective abortion, which can now go into effect following the Dobbs decision.

Additionally, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron published an advisory opinion on June 24 noting that the prohibitions on performing abortions in the states Human Life Protection Act became effective on June 24, 2022, the date on which the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs. Less than a week later, a Louisville Circuit Court judge halted the Human Life Protection Act, allowing abortions to continue in the state.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, took to Twitter on June 24 to announce that Because of #SCOTUS ruling in #Dobbs, Louisianas trigger law banning #abortion is now in effect. However, on Monday, the pro-abortion group Center for Reproductive Rights reported on Twitter that #Louisianas trigger bans have been BLOCKED by a state court in response to our lawsuit filed earlier today and therefore, abortion care is resuming in Louisiana.

UPDATE: #Louisiana's trigger bans have been BLOCKED by a state court in response to our lawsuit filed earlier today. Abortion care is resuming in Louisiana. #AbortionIsEssentialhttps://t.co/XdrYenASBz  Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) June 27, 2022

John Fellows, the general counsel of the Utah Legislature, wrote a letter to lawmakers on June 24 explaining that Abortion Prohibition Amendments enacted in 2020 will take effect now that a court of binding authority has held that a state may prohibit the abortion of an unborn child at any time during the gestational period, subject to the exceptions enumerated in this bill.

The pro-abortion group Utah Abortion Fund announced on Twitter Monday that the Utah Courts have granted a 14 day restraining order on the trigger ban, allowing elective abortions to continue taking place there for the next two weeks.

As of Monday, June 27, elective abortions remain legal in Utah for 14 days. A Utah court just blocked the states abortion ban. Effective immediately, UTAF is reopening our health line to support as many folks as we can! pic.twitter.com/883BD0IlKd  Utah Abortion Fund (@UTabortionfund) June 28, 2022

On Monday, Attorney General Lynn Fitch of Mississippi, the state whose 15-week abortion ban was at the center of the Dobbs case, reported on Twitter that: Today I certified Mississippis trigger law and I am excited for our State to move forward in this new post-Roe era to empower women and promote life!

Today, I certified Mississippis trigger law and I am excited for our State to move forward in this new post-Roe era to empower women and promote life! pic.twitter.com/Bd1EJTvRD4  Lynn Fitch (@LynnFitchAG) June 27, 2022

On Monday, the office of South Carolinas Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson published a statement noting that the states Heartbeat Bill banning abortions after six weeks gestation had gone into effect because a judge serving on the U.S. District Court of South Carolina stayed the injunction blocking state officials from enforcing it following the Dobbs decision.

On Tuesday, Tennessees Republican Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced that a unanimous panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had vacated a lower court ruling preventing the states Heartbeat Bill from going into effect following the Dobbs decision, thereby enabling it to become law.

A 13th state, Texas, will ban abortions within the next month. An advisory opinion from the states Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton reveals that the Human Life Protection Act of 2021, which prohibits abortions in most circumstances and takes effect on the 30th day after issuance of a United States Supreme Court judgment in a decision overruling, wholly or partly, Roe v. Wade.

North Dakota will also ban abortions beginning July 28, as the states Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley explained in a letter to the North Dakota Legislative Council Tuesday. Wrigley credited the Dobbs decision for removing the legal barriers to enforcement of a state law banning abortions with exceptions in cases of rape or incest and to save the life of the mother. The abortion ban will go into effect 30 days after Wrigleys letter certifying that the preconditions for enforcement of the law have been satisfied.

The additional states projected to ban or severely restrict abortion in the near future are Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Lauren Boebert tells church God anointed Trump for victory following Supreme Court abortion ruling

Born-again Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert told congregants at a Colorado church on Sunday that former President Donald Trump was anointed for office and celebrated his appointment of three of the six Supreme Court justices who overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that usurped states' abortion laws and legalized the practice nationwide.

Think about that: 49 years of Roe v. Wade. Forty-nine years, 63 million children lost. And because God called a man who is not a politician to run for office, Boebert said during her personal testimony at Cornerstone Christian Center in Basalt.

I believe that he (Trump) was anointed for that position. He answered that call despite what other people were saying, despite all the negatives. They were listening and saying how unqualified he was. He said, I think I can do something good for this nation. And three Supreme Court Justices were installed.

Boebert told congregants that Christians need to position ourselves to begin to turn this nation in light of the Supreme Court victory.

We may think that God has just taken His hands off our nation and said let them have it. The chaos that we see, the crises that we see. Most seem intentional and by design to cause more confusion, more chaos, more strife, more division. But this time is a set apart time for us, she said. Look at what happened this week in the Supreme Court? Glory to God!

In their decision on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The court's constitutionalist majority agreed that the Roe decision was wrong.

The court's three progressive justices accused the conservative majority of discarding the "balance" presented in Roe and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision in protecting a woman's interest and that of the state in protecting "potential life."

When asked if he believes he played a role in the reversal of the landmark 1973 decision because he appointed three justices to the Supreme Court, Trump said, "God made the decision.

Asked what he would like to say to his supporters, Trump said, I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody.

He added, This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged.

In her message Sunday, Boebert warned the approving church members that their work should not stop with the recent victory at the Supreme Court, stressing that theres still work to do here in Colorado.

Five years from today, we can look back and see children running and laughing with smiles on their face going to school. Children who would have not had the opportunity to live. Theres still work to do here in Colorado, but this is the fruit of your labor, of your votes and your prayers. This is your harvest  to end this at a federal level and give it back to the states, Boebert said.

She encouraged congregants to "work overtime to make sure that we can continue to save lives."

"Today, lives are being saved because of that decision. This is the second day that we woke up in a post-Roe nation. Glory to God! Boebert told the church.

Theres still work to do. But in states surrounding Colorado, they have trigger laws. There is already legislation on the books to limit full-term abortion to bring that down to the heartbeat being the time limit. States like Georgia even, heartbeat bills that have been passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor but have been held up in litigation and they were unable to enforce those laws, she added.

Because of that decision, because of your prayers, Glory to God, lives are being saved today.
Abortion activists launch summer of rage, attack churches, pro-life pregnancy centers: list

Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET on June 28:

The summer of rage has commenced as abortion activists target churches and pregnancy centers after the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Constitution doesnt contain a right to abortion, thus returning the power to individual states to regulate.

Protests broke out in several major cities following the courts decision. In some cases, the protests have turned violent.

The Christian Post has compiled an updated list of attacks on churches and pregnancy centers nationwide as a continuation of our earlier list of vandalisms following the leak of a draft majority opinion published in Politico on May 2.

Click on the next page to read about the most recent attacks.

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Rioters damage pregnancy center, businesses in Portland after Supreme Court abortion ruling Police say they 'did not have resources' to make arrests

Police say a mob of about 60 people clad in all black vandalized a pregnancy resource facility and other businesses in Portland, Oregon, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. No arrests were made due to a lack of resources.

A report from the Portland Police Bureau in the Hollywood district said the "destructive group" marched out of Grant Park on Saturday around 10 p.m., when the mob, "most dressed in all black, began breaking windows and scrawling graffiti."

Several locations in the area were vandalized, including the Mother and Child Education Center, a nonprofit support organization for motherhood, where a sign was vandalized with the words "F-SCOTUS"  an abbreviation for the Supreme Court  and an anarchy symbol.

A window with a sign reading "We Welcome All" was also shattered, sending broken glass onto an area with children's toys, police said.

Nearby banks and coffee shops were also vandalized. A van owned by Portland Public Schools parked at a local high school was spray-painted with the words "Abolish Schools" and had broken windows, according to police.

The rioters also shattered windows and windshields on a parked black Tesla and spray-painted all over the car.

Most of the damage occurred between 10:05 p.m. and 10:40 p.m., according to police.

No arrests were made at the scene.

According to Portland police, officers "were monitoring the crowd, but did not have resources to intervene at the moment," citing other calls for a shooting and an assault to which they needed to respond.

A statement from the department pledged to conduct follow-up investigations, saying, "Just because arrests are not made at the scene, when tensions are high, does not mean that people are not being charged with crimes later."

An aide to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who was at the location as officers responded to the scene, told reporters, "It's despicable  we need more police."

Since the Supreme Court decision, several pregnancy centers in the Portland area have been vandalized or damaged, including what authorities call a "suspicious fire" at the First Image pregnancy center in Gresham, just east of Portland.

Randy Alcorn, a pastor and author who founded the Oregon-based Eternal Perspective Ministries, told The Chrisitan Post that "the battle for the hearts and minds of people is not over at all."

"It is going to be all the more necessary and important now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned," Alcorn wrote in an email.

"Just as pro-lifers became more motivated when the law of the land was against the rights of the unborn, so now pro-abortion forces will be mobilized and motivated and will aggressively raise funds and recruit volunteers to fight to make abortion universally legal once again. Please pray for the cause of unborn children and be grateful for the change in law while being alert to the fact that hearts and minds, not just laws, really do need to be changed."

Portland, in general, has seen several violent mobs vandalize and attack churches and other buildings, including in November 2020, when a group of more than 100 Antifa rioters dressed in all black vandalized a Catholic church.

Weeks earlier, in September 2020, a pro-life activist known for his "Baby Lives Matter' campaign was assaulted by Antifa members on a Portland street corner.

The attack occurred just over a week after a supporter of former President Donald Trump was shot to death in Portland by a left-wing protester sympathetic to the "anti-fascist" movement.

The suspect of that attack was shot and killed by Portland police when they tried to take him into custody.

Portland is one of several U.S. cities which slashed police budgets following public outcry to "defund the police" in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests and riots in the summer of 2020.

Just 18 months after doing so, the Portland City Council in November passed a budget increase of $5.2 million for police after the city saw its homicides soar to record highs amid a severe police staffing shortage.
Tom Hanks gets empathy wrong

Tom Hanks recently declared that if "Philadelphia," the movie that earned him one of his Oscars, were made today, it would no longer be acceptable for him, as a straight man, to play the gay lead. This comment has provided low-hanging fruit for conservative critics. It is, after all, ridiculous that a profession predicated on its members earning their livings while pretending to be people they are not should become prissy about certain types of role-playing.

Hanks has likely not reflected at any great depth on the significance of his statement. He is simply engaging in some well-intentioned pandering to current political tastes, doing little more than reciting the liturgy of the powers, a public performance that reflects and reinforces the cultural and political priorities of the day. Hanks is not motivated by a fear that gay actors are not getting roles in Hollywood movies. He is motivated by the desire to avoid, in his words, inauthenticity  presumably a critical comment on the dramatic representation of the suffering of gay men by a straight actor.

To respond to Hanks simply by pointing to the absurdity of requiring actors to have personally experienced what they represent on the screen is legitimate, but it also misses the broader significance of his assertion. His comment is not simply absurd; it is also very revealing about our current cultural politics.

Hankss comment is a function of the fact that perceived victims of the old norms for sex and sexual behavior now enjoy a privileged status in our culture. As a result, even a straight man playing a gay man in a piece of fictional drama risks being seen as indulging in an act of imperialist aggression, an appropriation, and subversion of anothers victimhood. And Hanks is far from innovative in his liturgical response. Eddie Redmayne has offered similar repentance for playing the lead role in The Danish Girl. And other storms  for example, Laurence Oliviers portrayal of Othello  indicate a similar squeamishness with actors and roles that touch on the current nature of racial politics. So far, so predictable. But Hankss comment reveals not simply the priorities but also the contradictions of our cultures politics.

Acting surely depends upon empathy: The actor has to be able to empathize with the character whom he plays in order to represent him to an audience. That is possible because of our shared human nature and this explains why, for example, we can read the Iliad today and find it powerful and moving. I may not be a Greek or a Trojan, but when I encounter a story about love, betrayal, passion, conflict, anger, and revenge, it moves me because the characters are human and there is nothing in their deeds or experiences that is so alien to me that I cannot understand it at some level. And this is possible because, for all of the things that separate me from ancient Mycenaean civilization, I, like the characters in the epic, am a human being and able to empathize with them. We share a common human nature.

Great plays, great movies, and great actors are great in large part because they are able to make the alien actions and experiences of other people in other places and contexts relatable for the audience. The reason why Hankss performance in "Philadelphia" was powerful had nothing to do with his personal identity and everything to do with the fact that he was able to empathize with his character and use his acting ability to draw out empathy from the audience. And this was possible because the character, the actor, and the audience members are all human beings and all share a common human nature.

This brings us to the contradiction inherent in his new position and, indeed, in identity politics in general. It is rooted in empathy: Hanks clearly feels for the suffering of gay men with AIDS and does not want to trivialize or exploit that suffering in any way. And he feels this because he, like them, is a human being and thus empathetic to their plight. Yet in declaring that it is inappropriate for a straight actor to play a gay man on screen, he negates the importance of the shared humanity that makes him empathetic in the first place.

The answer, of course, is a return to a robust consensus on what it means to be human. If we do not have that, then empathy becomes detached from any solid foundation and can be weaponized by whatever lobby group seizes control of the dominant political narratives. That leads to silliness and absurdities, such as a famous actor decrying the fact that his profession requires him to act. But it might also lead to something worse, to a society that allows cultural, racial, and sexual particularities to overwhelm the basic humanity that we all have in common. Thus, far from being a positive sign of moral progress, Hankss ham-fisted attempt at empathy is actually the function of rather sinister developments in our wider culture.

Originally published at First Things.
Parents allowed to appeal after judge rules 12-year-old boy can be taken off life support

The parents of a 12-year-old boy on life support in the United Kingdom are preparing for a Court of Appeal hearing this week as they seek to overturn a ruling from a lower court judge who determined doctors could discontinue their son's care.

Justice Emma Arbuthnot issued the judgment earlier this month that would allow medical professionals at Royal London Hospital to remove life support for Archie Battersbee, who has been unconscious since suffering a brain injury in April.

Arbuthnot said Batterbee's treatment should end, but she gave Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, the boy's parents, permission to appeal the decision.

As ITV News reported Friday, judges from the Court of Appeals are expected to hear the case at a hearing in London on Wednesday.

Arbuthnot spoke with doctors treating the boy and concluded that Battersbee is effectively brain dead and should be disconnected from the ventilator.

Lawyers representing Barts Health NHS Trust, the hospital's governing trust, asked the judge to make a decision in the child's best interests.

Edward Devereux QC, a barrister leading the parents' case, argues that evidence does not show "beyond reasonable doubt" that Battersbee is dead. He claims that a decision of such "gravity" should be made on a "reasonable doubt" basis.

In a statement shared Wednesday by the Christian Legal Centre, which is representing the family, Dance and her sister-in-law, Ella Carter, thanked those who have supported Battersbee after they were given permission to appeal the decision.

The mother asked for continued support, saying, "the messages that come through are heart-touching."

"If Archie can be pronounced dead via an MRI, which is outside the bounds of the law, then what's going to be next?" the statement reads.

"Archie's words, if he was sitting next to me right now, would be 'it melts my heart,' and I'll use those words now because everyone's support does melt my heart. So, thank you and please continue to support us in this fight."

A GoFundMe page established to support the family has raised almost $30,000.

"We intend to appeal and will not give up on Archie," Dance said in a statement shared earlier this month by CLC. "Until it's God's way I won't accept he should go. I know of miracles when people have come back from being brain dead."

The parents maintain that their son has not been "given enough time."

"From the beginning, I have always thought, 'why the rush?'" the mother asked. "His heart is still beating, he has gripped my hand, and as his mother, I know he is still in there."

The case is believed to be the first time an MRI test has been used to declare someone is "likely" to be dead, CLC claims.

In her judgment handed down in the Family Division of the High Court, Arbuthnot ruled that Battersbee is likely dead "on the balance of probabilities."

"The evidence in my judgment shows a gradual deterioration from very early on in Archie's admission into hospital when he had already suffered a very severe brain injury when blood supply and oxygen were prevented from reaching his brain," Arbuthnot wrote.

"It is clear from the anxious and careful scrutiny of all the evidence including from clinicians with different specialisms from five separate hospitals that tragically on the balance of probabilities, Archie is dead."

The judge gave "permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital (1) to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee; (2) to extubate Archie Battersbee; (3) to cease the administration of medication to Archie Battersbee and (4) not to attempt any cardio or pulmonary resuscitation on Archie Battersbee when cardiac output ceases or respiratory effort ceases."

CLC Chief Executive Andrea Williams called the ruling a "devastating moment" for Archie's family. She believes the case has "raised significant moral, legal and medical questions as to when a person is dead."

"The idea that death can be declared on the balance of probability is frankly ludicrous," Williams stated. "Life is the most precious gift that we have. This ruling sets a troubling and dark precedent."
Suzi Pratt/WireImage

Levitation, Austin's  and perhaps the world's?  premier psychedelic rock festival, returns this Halloween weekend with some stalwarts of the genre. Prolific California psych rockers Osees (all four nights), Scottish legends The Jesus and Mary Chain (October 27), Australian weirdos King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (October 28 and 29), and local heroes The Black Angels (October 30) will headline.

Courtesy of Levitation

The fest, featuring shows at Stubb's, Antone's, the Mohawk, Hotel Vegas, the Parish, Scoot Inn, and Empire Control Room, features left-of-the-dial rock bands from across the globe, including Os Mutantes (Brazil), W.I.T.C.H. (Zambia), Viagra Boys (Sweden), and Slift (France). Locals like the aforementioned Black Angels, Fuck Money, A Giant Dog, and Mujeres Podridas will also appear at Levitation from October 27-30.
Amid a high drama unfolded in the State political circles over a fake letter about Raj Bhavan ordering trust vote in the State Assembly on June 30, a BJP delegation  led by leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis  urged Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday night to ask the minority Uddhav Government to prove its majority on the floor of the House.

The State BJP delegation met the Governor late in the night and delivered a letter to him, stating that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government has lost majority and seeking a confidence vote from the ruling dispensation, following the exit of 39 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs.

Talking to the media after meeting the Governor, Fadnavis said, Both by way of email and by way of a letter that we submitted physically to the Governor, we briefed him about the current political situation in the State. Shiv Senas 39 MLAs have come out of the parent Sena fold as they do not want Sena to continue its alliance with the Congress and the NCP. We therefore want the Governor to ask the MVA government to prove its majority on the floor of the House.

In this regard, we have referred to various rulings of the Supreme in matters relating to this kind of a situation. We expect the Governor to take an appropriate decision in our letter and give a proper direction to the government about proving majority on the floor of the House, he said.

Significantly enough, Fadnavis visit to Raj Bhavan coincided with the circulation of a fake letter purportedly written by the Governor to the chief secretary of the Maharashtra ordering that a special session of the State Assembly be convened on June 30, 2022 to allow Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to seek confidence vote on the floor of the lower house of the State legislature.

The operative part of the fake letter read thus: ....Taking into account all the relevant material, I am of the opinion that Shri. Uddhav Thackeray has lost the confidence of the majority on the floor of the house. Consequently, in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 174 r/w 175(2) of the Constitution of India I have, by a letter dated 29.06.2022 directed a special session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly to be convened on 30.06.2022 at 11:00 AM and directed Shri. Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the house.

That it is a fake letter could be evidenced from the fact: that it is not on the Governors letter and that the letter which went into circulation is dated 29th June, 2022.

Among other things, the letter quotes the Governor as writing: I have carefully gone through the aforesaid letters dated 28.06.2022 and the material enclosed therewith. I have also been carefully observing the media coverage regarding the political scenario in the State of Maharashtra.

It is not known yet if it is a draft of a letter ought to have been from the Governor to the chief secretary on29th June, 2022

However, Raj Bhavan swiftly distanced itself from the purported letter and said it was a fake letter.

By then, damage had been done, a national news agency had put out a flash saying that the Governor had ordered a trust vote on the floor of the Maharashtra Assembly.

Who is behind this fake letter is a moot question.
It took about half a day for Mary Ellen Angel, owner of the downtown Houston bar Angel Share HTX, to recover and gather her thoughts after the U.S. Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade on June 24.

"We all knew it was coming, but I was surprised by the physicality of the emotion that I felt," Angel said. "I woke up to the news and saw it on social media. It made me sick, nauseous, overwhelmed, defeated."

The court's decision effectively banned abortion in Texas, due to a trigger law the state had in place ready for when Roe would be overturned. Restaurant workersa majority low-income and female populationare uniquely affected by lack of access to abortion, and Houston's food community is fighting back with fundraisers and initiatives.

Angel Share is a charity bar that donates money to rotating nonprofits every month. Angel is still in the last days of fundraising for the Uvalde school shooting victims, but on Friday she decided her featured charities for July would be the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood and the League of Women Voters.

Angel said she chose the national chapters of the ACLU and Planned Parenthood in case the Texas chapters run into legal trouble fundraising for reproductive healthcare. She added the League of Women Voters because she says the focus should shift away from the courts and toward voting. "Really our only recourse now is to change the politicians that are in Texas," she said.

Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Saru Jayaraman, a longtime restaurant workers advocate and the current president of One Fair Wage, says the issues of pay and reproductive healthcare are inherently linked. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that a majority of the lowest-paying jobs in the country are in the hospitality sector.

"When we think about who's most impacted by the lack of access to abortion, it's women of color and low-income women in the restaurant industry who are struggling with $2 and $3 wages," said Jayaraman, referring to the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13.

Jayaraman says these workers have the least ability to move if they live in a state where abortion is not legal. She also notes that food service has the highest rates of sexual harassment and sexual assault of any industry in the U.S., and has an overwhelmingly female workforce that relies on customers' tips to make money.

"The ability to have a choice over what happens to your body after you've been assaulted  these workers don't have that choice because they don't have the means to go to another state and get an abortion," she said.

Jayaraman adds that the labor shortage many industries, but especially restaurants, are facing right now is likely to get worse if people who lack the access to reproductive healthcare decide to switch careers for one that will pay them enough to have these options.

Angel says her employees at Angel Share have health insurance, but that's the exception, not the rule. Being pregnant requires multiple doctors' visits, and getting an abortionespecially out of statecan mean taking days off of work. Because it's shift work, Angel says, people lose money by being away from their jobs. She adds that while big companies like Apple and Amazon have the means to pay for employees' abortion-related travel, small businesses such as restaurants and bars cannot.

Angel Share isn't the only Houston business that is raising money for reproductive healthcare organizations. Cafe Brasil in Montrose is hosting a potluck fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast on July 1. Local chefs like Josh De Leon of Underground Creamery, former Underbelly Hospitality chef Nick Wong and Blacksmith pastry chef Christina Au will provide bites; 100 percent of the sales from the event will go to the organization.

Nancy's Hustle and Tiny Champions in East Downtown, both under the same ownership, announced last Friday that they would donate all of the restaurants' profits from the weekend to the Lilith Fund and the Buckle Bunnies Fund. The team did not respond to requests for comment.

Jackie Rivas for Neat Pour / Jackie Rivas for Neat Pour

Also on Friday, Heights cocktail bar Johnny's Gold Brick said it would donate 100 percent of its Saturday sales to I'll Have What She's Having (IHWSH), a Houston-based coalition of hospitality professionals who fight for change in the industry. The announcement was shared hundreds of times on social media, says owner Benjy Mason, and the bar had a very busy night as a result.

Mason's staff called him at 9 p.m. on Saturday telling him they ran out of ice, which he says never happens. He came over from another bar he owns and ended up washing dishes in the back because the bar was so crowded. They will be able to write a check to IHWSH for just over $10,000, which will be distributed to various abortion funds.

IHWSH was founded in 2017 by surgeon Dr. Lori Choi and industry leaders including Erin Smith of Feges BBQ, Lisa Seger of Blue Heron Farm and Monica Pope of Sparrow. The nonprofit launched the 1973 Project in September 2021, when the six-week abortion ban took effect in Texas. Personalities in Houston's food community were photographed with masking tape displaying messages like "laws off my body," "abortion is healthcare" and "86 ban." The initiative is continuing with a renewed sense of urgency after Roe's repeal, asking supporters of abortion to post similar tape messages on social media, tag their friends, and donate $19.73.

Lindsay Rae Burleson, owner of Two Headed Dog in Midtown, first became involved with IHWSH in 2018 as a restaurant worker who had never had health insurance. She was drawn to this new organization that was raising awareness of wellness exams and mammograms as well as Planned Parenthood. "These issues that we've always felt are supposed to be taboo and when in reality, it's just basic health care," said Rae Burleson.

Along with fellow member Valerie Trasatti, Rae Burleson began the Abortion Support Summer happy hour series hosted at various restaurants and bars in Houston, raising more than $112,000 over a year for nonprofits like the Clinic Access Support Network (CASN) and AVOW Texas.

Now that Roe has been repealed and abortion is effectively illegal in Texas, Rae Burleson says IHWSH has to expand its support outside the state to those that will likely be receiving patients who are traveling across borders for abortions. She says they are also doubling down on education, especially as the laws are a moving target after a fresh-off-the-docket rulingfor example, a Houston judge allowed abortions to temporarily resume in Texas on June 28. IHWSH is also working on funding vasectomies for industry workers.

Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

"We need to stop being so reactive and start being proactive," said Rae Burleson. "Because if we keep acting in a way that's reactive to choices that are being made for us, we're never going to get ahead of this."

Jayaraman at One Fair Wage mentioned New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's speech after the Supreme Court's ruling, in which she shared that she had been the victim of sexual assault as a restaurant worker, recounting taking a pregnancy test in a public bathroom after the attack. Jayaraman admired that the lawmaker used her large platform to share her story, but notes that many in the restaurant industry do not have that privilege.

Mason says he's lucky to have a successful enough business that affords him an opportunity to speak out publicly about issues that may be controversial. He's run into trouble doing so before, including receiving angry emails from investors, but he felt it was important to act.

Angel has also faced backlash before for being outspoken, when Angel Share had CASN and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast as the bar's featured charities. She had feared for her business, but something changed for her this time around.

"After the Supreme Court ruling it just kind of emboldened me," Angel said. "You've literally just taken my bodily autonomy away from me. So as far as I'm concerned, I've got nothing to lose. I don't f--king care anymore."
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping, and relatives of the victim want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later.

A warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham  identified as Mrs. Roy Bryant on the document  was discovered last week by searchers inside a file folder that had been placed in a box, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Documents are kept inside boxes by decade, he said, but there was nothing else to indicate where the warrant, dated Aug. 29, 1955, might have been.

They narrowed it down between the 50s and 60s and got lucky," said Stockstill, who certified the warrant as genuine.

The search group included members of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and two Till relatives: cousin Deborah Watts, head of the foundation; and her daughter, Teri Watts. Relatives want authorities to use the warrant to arrest Donham, who at the time of the slaying was married to one of two white men tried and acquitted just weeks after Till was abducted from a relative's home, killed and dumped into a river.

Serve it and charge her, Teri Watts told the AP in an interview.

Keith Beauchamp, whose documentary film The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till preceded a renewed Justice Department probe that ended without charges in 2007, was also part of the search. He said theres enough new evidence to prosecute Donham.

Donham set off the case in August 1955 by accusing the 14-year-old Till of making improper advances at a family store in Money, Mississippi. A cousin of Till who was there has said Till whistled at the woman, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi's racist social codes of the era.

Evidence indicates a woman, possibly Donham, identified Till to the men who later killed him. The arrest warrant against Donham was publicized at the time, but the Leflore County sheriff told reporters he did not want to bother the woman since she had two young children to care for.

Now in her 80s and most recently living in North Carolina, Donham has not commented publicly on calls for her prosecution. But Teri Watts said the Till family believes the warrant accusing Donham of kidnapping amounts to new evidence.

This is what the state of Mississippi needs to go ahead, she said.

District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, whose office would prosecute a case, declined comment on the warrant but cited a December report about the Till case from the Justice Department, which said no prosecution was possible.

Contacted by the AP on Wednesday, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said: This is the first time I've known about a warrant.

Banks, who was 7 years old when Till was killed, said nothing was said about a warrant when a former district attorney investigated the case five or six years ago.

I will see if I can get a copy of the warrant and get with the DA and get their opinion on it, Banks said. If the warrant can still be served, Banks said, he would have to talk to law enforcement officers in the state where Donham resides.

Arrest warrants can go stale due to the passage of time and changing circumstances, and one from 1955 almost certainly wouldn't pass muster before a court, even if a sheriff agreed to serve it, said Ronald J. Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi.

But combined with any new evidence, the original arrest warrant absolutely could be an important stepping stone toward establishing probable cause for a new prosecution, he said.

"If you went in front of a judge you could say, Once upon a time a judge determined there was probable cause, and much more information is available today," Rychlak said.

Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he entered the store where Donham, then 21, was working on Aug. 24, 1955. A Till relative who was there, Wheeler Parker, told AP that Till whistled at the woman. Donham testified in court that Till also grabbed her and made a lewd comment.

Two nights later, Donhams then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, showed up armed at the rural Leflore County home of Tills great-uncle, Mose Wright, looking for the youth. Till's brutalized body, weighted down by a fan, was pulled from a river days later in another county. His mother's decision to open the casket so mourners in Chicago could see what had happened helped galvanize the building civil rights movement of the time.

Bryant and Milam were acquitted of murder but later admitted the killing in a magazine interview. While both men were named in the same warrant that accused Donham of kidnapping, authorities did not pursue the case following their acquittal.

Wright testified during the murder trial that a person with a voice lighter than a mans identified Till from inside a pickup truck and the abductors took him away. Other evidence in FBI files indicates that earlier that same night, Donham told her husband at least two other Black men were not the right person.

___

Reeves reported from Newnan, Georgia.
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PARIS (AP)  A total of 20 men were convicted Wednesday over the 2015 Paris attacks by Islamic State extremists on the Bataclan theater, Paris cafes and the national stadium.

Most attention has focused on the lone surviving member of the attack team, Salah Abdeslam. Others were found guilty of preparing the attacks, which killed 130 people, or hiding Abdeslam from police. Some are presumed dead in Syria and were tried in absentia. Some acknowledged helping the assailants but said they were unaware of the overall attack plot.

Some face charges in the related attacks in March 2016 on the Brussels airport and metro.

Here is a look at who they are, what theyre accused of and what sentences they were given in Paris:

ACCUSED IN COMMANDO OPERATIONS

Salah Abdeslam, 32: The only survivor of the 10 attackers who set out Nov. 13, 2015, wearing explosives vests for a series of coordinated attacks. His vest was later found abandoned, undetonated. For charges including terrorist murder and kidnapping, he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Mohamed Abrini, 37: Fought with Islamic State in Syria-Iraq, accused of a managerial role, transporting attackers and weapons. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 22 years.

Sofien Ayari, 28: Fought with Islamic State in Syria-Iraq, accused of training attackers, supplying weapons and plotting attack on Amsterdam airport. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Osama Krayem, 29: Fought with Islamic State in Syria-Iraq, accused of training attackers, supplying weapons and plotting a never-realized attack on Amsterdam airport. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

ACCUSED OF OPERATIONAL ROLE:

Omar Darif, aka Ahmad Alkhald (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Fought with Islamic State group, accused of training attackers, organizing attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 30 years.

Mohamed Bakkali, 35: Accused of helping plot the attacks, hiding and transporting the attackers. On charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Two brothers who converted to Islam and fought in Syria-Iraq, suspected of making video and audio messages in which Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, they were sentenced to life in prison with no parole.

Ahmed Dahmani, 33 (in prison in Turkey; tried in absentia): Fought in Syria-Iraq, accused of supplying weapons and explosives and helping prepare the attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Oussama Atar (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Accused of helping organize the attacks from Syria and Iraq and recruiting attackers. For charges including directing a terrorist group, he was sentenced to life with no parole.

Obeida Aref Dibo (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Fought with Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, accused of arranging for attackers travel, direct involvement in organizing attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to life with no parole.

Adel Haddadi, 34: Fought in Syria-Iraq, accused of agreeing to take part in an attack; sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

Muhammad Usman, 29: Fought in Syria-Iraq, accused of agreeing to take part in an attack; sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

ACCUSED OF LINKS WITH TERRORISTS

Ali El Haddad Asufi, 37: Accused of accompanying or helping other members of the group; sentenced to 10 years in prison for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

Yassine Atar, 35: Accused of accompanying or helping other members of the group, sentenced to eight years in prison for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

HELPING ABDESLAM

Mohammed Amri, 33: Accused of helping Abdeslam prepare the attacks and flee France afterward for Belgium. For charges including criminal association with a terrorist enterprise, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Hamza Attou, 28: Accused of helping Abdeslam flee France after the attacks for Belgium. For charges of relations with a terrorist enterprise, he was sentenced to four years in prison, two of them suspended.

BELGIAN HELPERS

Ali Oulkadi, 37: Accused of helping Abdeslam prepare the attacks and hide from police after he fled to Belgium. For charges including criminal association with a terrorist enterprise, he was sentenced to five years in prison, three of them suspended.

Abdellah Chouaa, 41: Accused of helping the cell in Belgium without knowing its terrorist intent, he was sentenced to four years in prison, three of them suspended, for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

Farid Kharkhach, 39: Accused of helping the cell in Belgium without knowing its terrorist intent, he was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud, but the terrorism charge against him was dropped.
At least 50 people were found dead in an abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio near Lackland Air Force Base on Monday evening, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune. Law enforcement officials believe the victims were migrants and that this was part of a migrant-smuggling operation. In addition to the 50 deceased victims, 16 others have been taken to the hospital, the Texas Tribune reported.

Of the deceased, 22 people were identified as Mexican, seven were from Guatemala and two were Honduran, according to the New York Times.

According to the Texas Tribune, three people are in custody, but it is unclear if they are connected to the incident. Local authorities said they first received a call around 6 p.m. from a worker in the area of the 18-wheeler saying they heard cries for help coming from the vehicle. The trucks doors were partly open when authorities arrived, the Texas Tribune reported, with one body outside the vehicle and the rest inside.

Local authorities said they were very hopeful the 16 taken to the hospital, four of which were children, would survive, according to the Texas Tribune. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said this case could be the deadliest human smuggling incident he could recall in the city, the Texas Tribune reported.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott also responded to the news on Twitter. He blamed the incident on Democratic President Joe Biden, saying it was caused by the administrations deadly open border policies.

These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies, Abbott wrote in the tweet. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) also said on Twitter the horrific and heartbreaking incident was a result of an open border and claimed that the President and Democrats will ignore it.

Human traffickers are exploiting the open border and the most vulnerable are paying for it with their lives, Cruz wrote in a tweet. Tragically, President Biden and the Democrats will continue to ignore the [Biden border crisis].

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the administration rejects the blame for the death of the migrants, according to reporting from the Dallas Morning News. She said those who place the blame on Biden are exploiting the horrific and heartbreaking event.

"The border is closed, which is...why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks, Jean-Pierre told reporters. "46 people died in Texas. Were focused on them and on holding the human smugglers who endangered vulnerable individuals for profit accountable.

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke also commented on the event, calling it devastating on Twitter. ORourke said urgent action is needed to address the border issue.

Our thoughts go out to the families of those who lost their lives in San Antonio today, ORourke wrote in the tweet. We need urgent action  dismantle human smuggling rings and replace them with expanded avenues for legal migration that reflect our values and meet our countrys needs.
Houston rap legend ESG hospitalized, diagnosed with cancer The rapper is best known for his Houston classic 'Swangin and Bangin.'

Uvalde schools police Chief Arredondo resigns from City Council Arredondo has been on administrative leave from his school district position since June 22.

Texas woman accused in cyclist death captured in Costa Rica Kaitlin Armstrong was on the run from law officials for 43 days.
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Several national antiabortion groups and their allies in Republican-led state legislatures are advancing plans to stop people in states where abortion is banned from seeking the procedure elsewhere, according to people involved in the discussions.

The idea has gained momentum in some corners of the antiabortion movement in the days since the Supreme Court struck down its 49-year-old precedent protecting abortion rights nationwide, triggering abortion bans across much of the Southeast and Midwest.

The Thomas More Society, a conservative legal organization, is drafting model legislation for state legislators that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a resident of a state that has banned abortion from terminating a pregnancy outside of that state. The draft language will borrow from the novel legal strategy behind a Texas abortion ban enacted last year in which private citizens were empowered to enforce the law through civil litigation.

The subject was much discussed at two national antiabortion conferences this past weekend, with several legislators interested in introducing these kinds of bills in their states.

The National Association of Christian Lawmakers, an antiabortion organization led by Republican state legislators, has begun working with the authors of the Texas abortion ban to explore model legislation that would restrict people from crossing state lines for abortions, said Tom Oliverson, a Republican state representative in Texas and the charter chair of the group's national legislative council.

"Just because you jump across a state line doesn't mean your home state doesn't have jurisdiction," said Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. "It's not a free abortion card when you drive across the state line."

In relying on private citizens to enforce civil litigation, rather than attempting to impose a state-enforced ban on obtaining abortions across state lines, such a law is more difficult to challenge in court, because abortion rights groups don't have a clear person to sue.

Like the Texas abortion ban, the proposal itself could have a chilling effect, prompting doctors in surrounding states to stop performing abortions before courts have an opportunity to intervene, worried that they may face lawsuits if they violate the law.

Not every antiabortion group is on board with the idea.

Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United for Life, noted that people access medical procedures across state lines all the time.

"I don't think you can prevent that," she said.

While some antiabortion groups aspire to push Congress to pass a national abortion ban, restricting movement across state lines would represent another step in limiting the number of abortions performed in the United States.

These kinds of bills could be proposed even before state legislatures reconvene for their regular 2023 legislative sessions, said Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert. His home state, the Republican said, may soon address this issue in an already planned special session. Another Arkansas senator, he said, has expressed interest in introducing that legislation.

"Many of us have supported legislation to stop human trafficking," said Rapert, president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers. "So why is there a pass on people trafficking women in order to make money off of aborting their babies?"

In a television interview over the weekend, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem left the door open to restricting out-of-state abortions in her state, where a trigger ban took effect as soon as Roe was overturned. The Republican governor, who has called a special session to discuss abortion legislation, said the topic may be debated in South Dakota in the future.

Dale Bartscher, the executive director of South Dakota Right to Life, the leading antiabortion organization in the state, said he was "very interested" in stopping South Dakota residents from accessing abortion in other states.

"I've heard that bantered about across the state of South Dakota," he said, though he would not discuss the goal of the upcoming special session.

The idea to restrict out-of-state abortions surfaced earlier this year, when Missouri state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman proposed legislation that relied on the Texas-style enforcement mechanism. While the Republican's bill failed to pass in the 2022 legislative session, Coleman said she has heard from multiple lawmakers and antiabortion advocates in other states who are eager to pursue similar legislation.

The issue is particularly pertinent in Coleman's home state of Missouri, which outlawed abortion with a trigger ban that took effect within an hour of the Supreme Court's decision. As many as 14,000 people are expected to flood into southern Illinois this year seeking abortions, including thousands of Missouri residents, according to Planned Parenthood.

Several Democratic-led states have passed legislation this year to counteract laws that try to restrict movement across state lines.

Connecticut passed a law in April that offers broad protections from antiabortion laws that try to reach into other states. The measure would shield people from out-of-state summonses or subpoenas issued in cases related to abortion procedures that are legal in Connecticut. And it would prevent Connecticut authorities from adhering to another state's request to investigate or punish anyone involved in facilitating a legal abortion in Connecticut.

"Legislators in [antiabortion] states have made clear that their intent is not only to ban abortion within their own state's borders but to ban it in states where it is expressly permitted," Connecticut state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in an interview in April.

California passed a similar law Thursday, aiming to protect abortion providers and patients from civil suits.

The Justice Department has already signaled its intention to fight these kinds of laws in court.

In a statement Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe "does not eliminate the ability of states to keep abortion legal within their borders. And the Constitution continues to restrict states' authority to ban reproductive services provided outside their borders."

That declaration suggests that if a particular state did pass a law seeking to prevent women from traveling across state lines to receive an abortion, the Justice Department might file court papers opposing such a law. That strategy was ultimately unsuccessful in the Justice Department's opposition to the Texas law limiting many abortions, but any new state law that involved interstate travel could raise additional legal questions for the courts.

Garland argued that the Constitution was unequivocal on the legality of crossing state lines for medical treatment.

"We recognize that traveling to obtain reproductive care may not be feasible in many circumstances. But under bedrock constitutional principles, women who reside in states that have banned access to comprehensive reproductive care must remain free to seek that care in states where it is legal," Garland said, adding that the First Amendment safeguards anyone who offers information or counseling about "reproductive care that is available in other states."

A Justice Department spokesman did not elaborate on the attorney general's statement.

David Cohen, a Drexel University law professor who has studied these kinds of proposals, noted that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh addressed interstate travel in a separate concurring opinion he wrote along with the ruling to overturn Roe, where he specified that people could not be prosecuted for out-of-state abortions.

But Kavanaugh's concurrence does not address the civil enforcement strategy that is gaining traction among antiabortion groups, Cohen said.

"This is going to crate state-against-state and state-against-federal chaos that we haven't seen in this country in a long time," Cohen said.

---

The Washington Post's Chris Rowland contributed to this report.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out the 2020 conspiracy and bribery convictions of a major political donor in North Carolina and his associate, declaring that the trial judge erred in his jury instructions.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, vacated the convictions and ordered new trials for Greg E. Lindberg and John D. Gray, a Lindberg consultant. The two were among four people accused of trying to give $1.5 million to Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey's election campaign in exchange for the removal of an insurance official who would be in charge of regulating Lindberg's company.

A jury convicted Lindberg and Gray of bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud  when a person through a bribe seeks to deprive citizens of their right to honest services by a government official. They both received prison sentences. But the appeals court ruled that the trial judge gave jurors misleading instructions before they began deliberations.

U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn made a mistake when he said that removing a senior department official was an official act," a key element in reaching a conviction on honest services fraud. Cogburn also erred when he prevented the defense from presenting evidence to show the deputy's reassignment was not official, the appeals court said.

We find that the district court impermissibly took an element of the crime out of the hands of the jury and violated the defendants Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights," Chief Judge Roger Gregory wrote in the prevailing opinion. We cannot conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury verdict would have been the same absent the error.

The bribery conviction also should be tossed, Gregory wrote, because Cogburn's erroneous instruction effortlessly bled into the jury's consideration" of the bribery count. Senior Judges William Traxler and Henry Floyd agreed with the opinion.

Lindberg, 51, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. He's been serving his time at an Alabama prison, with an estimated December 2026 release, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. It wasn't clear if a release was imminent,

I am grateful to the Court of Appeals for recognizing this injustice, Lindberg said in a news release that also discussed his 20 months in prison. I look forward to returning to my life with my family, friends and community.

Federal prosecutors didnt immediately provide a comment on Wednesdays ruling following an email request.

Gray received a 2 1/2-year sentence. A bureau listing for John D. Gray, 72, says he's currently located at a halfway house in North Carolina. Gray's lawyer also didn't respond to an email request seeking comment.

Lindberg, whose Global Growth Holdings company contains many companies under his control, has given more than $5 million since 2016 to North Carolina candidate and party committees and independent expenditure groups. It was a Lindberg insurance company called Global Bankers that prosecutors said would have benefited by Lindbergs actions in seeking a new regulator in Causeys office.

Causey wasnt accused of wrongdoing. He alerted authorities and recorded conversations that served as the basis of the 2019 indictments against Lindberg and Gray. Another person charged was former U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, who at the time of the alleged crimes was chairman of the state Republican Party. Hayes accepted a plea deal and was sentenced by Cogburn to probation.

The federal government said that Hayes had agreed to help funnel money going to the state GOP to Causeys 2020 reelection campaign. President Donald Trump later pardoned Hayes. A fourth person indicted was acquitted at trial.

Lindberg has faced other recent legal troubles. A state judge last month ruled that Lindberg was failing to follow through on a 2019 agreement that orders him to give up control of insurers and other companies within his business empire.
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BEIJING (AP)  With no one at the wheel, a self-driving taxi developed by tech giant Baidu Inc. is rolling down a Beijing street when its sensors spot the corner of a delivery cart jutting into its lane.

The taxi stops a half-car-length away. So sorry, a recorded voice tells passengers. The steering wheel turns on its own as the taxi makes its way around the cart. A Baidu technician watches from the front passenger seat.

Baidu is Chinas highest-profile competitor in a multibillion-dollar race with rival autonomous vehicle developers including Alphabet Inc.s Waymo and General Motors Co.s Cruise to turn their futuristic tech into a consumer product.

Baidu and a rival, Pony.ai, received Chinas first licenses in April to operate taxis with no one in the driver's seat but with a safety supervisor on board. That came 18 months after Waymo started driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix, Arizona, in October 2020.

Founded in 2000 as a search engine operator, Baidu has expanded into artificial intelligence, processor chips and other technology. It says its autonomous vehicles could, if successful, make driving cheaper, easier and safer.

We believe the top goal of autonomous driving is to reduce human-caused traffic accidents, said Wei Dong, vice president of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group.

Autonomous driving is one of an array of emerging technologies from artificial intelligence to renewable energy that China companies are pouring billions of dollars into trying to create, urged on by the ruling Communist Party.

Beijing wants to join the United States, Europe and Japan in the ranks of technology powers to build its prosperity and global influence. That holds out the possibility of new inventions but also fuels tension with Washington and its allies, which see China as a strategic challenger.

Baidu's Apollo autonomous driving platform was launched in 2017 and the Apollo Go self-driving taxi service three years later.

Taxi service with a driver at the wheel to take over in an emergency started in 2020 and has expanded to Beijing, Shanghai and eight other cities. Apollo Go says it provided 213,000 rides in the final quarter of last year, making it the world's busiest self-driving taxi service.

For rides with no driver and a supervisor in the passenger seat, Apollo Go started in a 60-square-kilometer (23-square-kilometer) area of Yizhuang, an industrial district on Beijing's southeastern outskirts with wide streets and few cyclists or pedestrians.

Its very convenient, said Zhao Hui, 43, who uses Baidu taxis in Yizhuang.

It might feel a little safer than a human driver, Zhao said. Sometime there are small objects, maybe some that people dont notice. They can spot them and stop.

Other developers include Deeproute.ai and AutoX in Shenzhen. Pony.ai, founded in 2016 and backed by venture capital, is road-testing autonomous cars and semi-trailer trucks.

Industry plans are "very aggressive to deliver the robo-taxi to the consumer, said Owen Chen of S&P Global Mobility.

Automaker Geely, owner of Volvo Car, Geely, Lotus and Polestar, has announced plans for satellite-linked autonomous vehicles. Network equipment maker Huawei Technologies Ltd. is working on self-driving mining and industrial vehicles.

The ruling party is promoting automation to shore up economic growth by making its shrinking, aging workforce more productive. China's working-age population has fallen by 5% since its 2011 peak and is forecast to slide further.

People are very expensive, said Wei. Once this public service no longer needs people, the cost can drop rapidly.

As for whether China can lead the global industry, its a race at the moment, said Pete Kelly, managing director of the automotive division of GlobalData Plc.

But they could easily do this, because of the way decisions are made and deployments happen in China, Kelly said.

McKinsey & Co. in 2019 estimated Chinas potential market for self-driving taxis, buses, trucks and other equipment and software in the trillions of dollars.

The earliest products are unlikely to earn back their development costs but might be loss leaders to sell other services, said Kelly.

Baidu says it already is selling navigation and other technology to automakers. It projects total sales of 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) based on agreements made so far, chairman Robin Li said in a May 26 conference call with reporters.

The company says it spent a total of 24.9 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) on research and development last year but doesn't disclose how much of that went into autonomous vehicles. Baidu reported a profit of 10.2 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) last year on 124.5 billion yuan ($19.5 billion) in revenue.

Baidu and its most advanced rivals have reached the industry's Level 4 out of five possible levels of technology. That means their systems can operate without a driver but must be pre-loaded with a detailed map. That limits the area where they can operate.

Lower levels of technology range from cruise control, a feature available for decades, up to Level 3, which allows hands-free highway driving. Self-driving robot carts already are widely used in factories, warehouses and other tightly controlled settings.

Once self-driving taxis are on the road, operators must gather information about pedestrians and local conditions based on daily driving, a time-intensive process that will slow the technology's rollout.

For a maneuver such as a U-turn, the Apollo system tracks as many as 200 vehicles, pedestrians and other potential obstacles as much as 100 meters (110 yards) away, according to Baidu.

Wei said Baidu would be happy to have foreign partners adapt its technology to their markets but has no export plans yet while it focuses on Chinese cities.

Intersections still are a challenge, Wei said. Pedestrians in China are used to drivers gradually making their way through crowds in a crosswalk while turning on a green light, but a robot car can't do that.

Our car always will yield to people and might wind up not getting through the light, Wei said.

Baidu has launched its own self-driving car brand, JIDU, which unveiled a concept car this month. Li said the company will target the market for family vehicles priced above 200,000 yuan ($30,000).

The company also has deals with three Chinese electric vehicle brands to produce cars with computers, radar and light-based sensors built in instead of bolted onto the roof. Baidu says it aims for a sticker price of 480,000 yuan ($72,000) for its latest generation of taxis.

To encourage others to use Apollo, Baidu has made the platform open-source and says it has signed up 210 industry partners and 80,000 developers who might create products based on it.

Apollo Go says it plans to expand self-driving taxi service to 65 cities by 2025 and 100 by 2030.

Compared with a human driver, "the difference isnt big, said Zhang Zhihua, 29, an interior designer who uses driverless Baidu taxis in Yizhuang. If you arent looking at the front and if you are playing on your mobile phone, then it feels exactly the same.

___

AP video producers Caroline Chen and Wayne Zhang contributed to this report.

___

Apollo (in Chinese): https://www.apollo.auto/robotaxi
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled a boy accused of shooting and wounding eight people at a suburban Milwaukee mall in 2020 should be tried in adult court.

The court, on a 4-3 decision released Wednesday, said a Milwaukee County Children's Court judge was wrong in denying prosecutors' request to waive the teen, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, to adult court.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP)  A Eugene, Oregon, woman who had acid thrown on her while walking her dog in March has been the target of two additional acid attacks at her home, believed to be committed by the same person, according to the Eugene Police Department.

The Eugene Police Department is also investigating at least two of the incidents as bias crimes after the suspect made comments about the woman being Native American, The Register-Guard reported.
Amidst the ongoing political turmoil in Maharashtra, former State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda here on Tuesday to consult on the next step to bring back the BJP in power in the State with the help of the Shiv Sena rebels.

Fadnavis, who has met the top leadership at least three-times in the last seven days, was joined by BJP MP and senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani in the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

BJP leaders are understood to have deliberated on the options available with the party after the Supreme Court provided interim relief to Sena rebels. They focused on the legal steps to be taken ahead of the partys next possible political move to establish a BJP Government in the State backed by rebel Sena and independent MLAs.

After meeting Shah, Fadnavis drove to Naddas residence and briefed him about the unfolding political developments in the western State.

Notwithstanding BJPs repeated denial of any role in the Sena rebellion, Fadnavis is widely seen as making moves to re-establish a BJP Government and known to be in constant touch with Sena rebel Eknath Shinde. Shinde may be made deputy-Chief Minister in the new BJP-led dispensation, sources said.

The first task now, the BJP leadership believes, is to bring down the MVA Government as it has clearly lost majority in the Assembly, they said.

In the next course of action the rebels may approach the State Governor, conveying the decision to withdraw their support from the Thackeray Government. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari then may ask the ruling alliance to undergo a floor test in the Assembly, said a senior BJP leader.

Though the BJP sources expressed confidence that the Uddhav Thackeray Government is on its last leg, the party is treading cautiously to avoid any wrong move like the one in 2019 which had caused it embarrassment when Fadnavis formed a short lived Government in alliance with the NCP faction headed by Ajit Pawar without ensuring adequate support of MLAs.

Fadnavis had to resign in three days as NCP supremo Sharad Pawar rallied his party MLAs to thwart his nephews bid to join hands with the BJP to form the Government. The Sena then joined hands with the NCP and the Congress to come to power.
Hershel W. "Woody" Williams was a 21-year-old Marine Corps corporal when he watched from the bloodied, ashy beaches of Iwo Jima as the Stars and Stripes rose atop Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945.

Captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, the scene became one of the most indelible images of World War II and the inspiration for the Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery -- a moment of American heroism cast in bronze.

Mr. Williams was remembered for another act of heroism that day, one for which he received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for valor. Armed with a flamethrower, he braved hours of unremitting enemy fire to take out seven pillboxes where the Japanese had hunkered down to repel the U.S. invasion of the island.

He was one of 27 Marines and sailors to receive the Medal of Honor for their actions at Iwo Jima, where 7,000 members of the service died in the bloodiest battle in the history of the Marine Corps. He was one of 472 American service members to receive the medal for their service in World War II and was the last of them to survive.

Mr. Williams died June 29 at a hospital in Huntington, W.Va. He was 98. His death was announced by the Woody Williams Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves Gold Star military families, and by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The cause was not immediately available.

Mr. Williams received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman in October 1945, months after the Japanese surrender marked the end of World War II. He regarded himself as only a "caretaker" of the award, which he said belonged more to the Marines who did not come home.

Home for Mr. Williams was a dairy farm in West Virginia, where he was born Hershel Woodrow Williams in the small community of Quiet Dell on Oct. 2, 1923. He weighed 3 1/2 pounds at birth. His mother assumed she would lose him, like the several children she had lost in the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Mr. Williams was 11 when his father died of a heart attack. To support himself and his family, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression before driving a taxi, the Associated Press reported, at times delivering telegrams to the families of soldiers killed in the early days of U.S. involvement in World War II.

Two of his brothers served in the Army. Their service was not enough to entice Mr. Williams to the branch. He disliked the Army's "old brown wool uniform" -- the "ugliest thing in town," he told The Washington Post decades later -- and much preferred a Marine's dress blues.

Mr. Williams tried to enlist in the Corps after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor in 1941 but was turned away because he did not meet, at 5-foot-6, the minimum height requirements. Months later, the service loosened those requirements and Mr. Williams was accepted.

He participated in the invasion of Guam in 1944 before landing the following year at Iwo Jima, where he encountered a scene for which nothing in his previous experience had prepared him. "All the jungle cover had been blown away," author Peter Collier wrote in the book "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty." "The beach became a slaughterhouse."

The invasion of Iwo Jima began on Feb. 19, 1945. Mr. Williams landed two days later. Two days after that came the flag-raising at Mount Suribachi captured by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal.

"The Marines around me started yelling and screaming and firing their weapons in the air and jumping up and down," Mr. Williams recalled to the Virginian-Pilot in 2011. "I really couldn't figure out what was going on," he added, until he looked up to the mountain and "there was Old Glory flying."

The sight helped push Mr. Williams forward into the crucible that he was about to face. He had limited memory of the battle, he said, which took the lives of his best friend and two men sent to cover him. But his medal citation describes a display of courage that was "directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strongpoints encountered by his regiment."

In one moment, Mr. Williams crawled on his stomach to reach the top of a pillbox, stuck a flamethrower nozzle down a vent pipe and squeezed the dual trigger, killing Japanese soldiers firing on his fellow Marines. He remembered that perhaps too well, he said in an interview with The Post in 2021.

But when his Medal of Honor citation was read eight months later, as Truman hung the blue ribbon around his neck, Mr. Williams said he did not recognize other details in the account of his actions, as if they referred to someone else entirely.

The flamethrower fuel provided only about 72 seconds of trigger time, and Mr. Williams returned repeatedly to replenish his weapons as he opened a path for the infantry through Japanese fortifications and mines. He could not remember any of those trips, he said.

"That bothered me all my life," he told The Post. "If you make up your mind you're not going to remember something, you won't remember it. Apparently, I did that."

He was wounded by shrapnel and received decorations that included, in addition to the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart. He attained the rank of chief warrant officer 4 before pursuing a career with what is now the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he spent years as a veterans service representative while also running a horse farm.

Mr. Williams's wife, Ruby Meredith Williams, died in 2007. They had two daughters, Travie Jane and Tracie Jean, and several grandchildren, but a complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

To the end of his life, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II kept in his kitchen several vials of sand from the beaches of Iwo Jima.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alex Horton contributed to this report.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania lawmakers began a process Wednesday to study Philadelphia's growing gun violence plague, establishing a panel that could eventually recommend impeachment of the city's elected Democratic district attorney.

The divided House of Representatives voted 114-86 to establish the five-member Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order, which among other things could judge District Attorney Larry Krasners job performance and make recommendations for removal from office or other appropriate discipline, including impeachment.

The proposal was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Josh Kail of Beaver County, who two weeks ago announced plans to seek the impeachment of Krasner, a staunch progressive who was easily reelected last year despite the city's spiking homicide rate. Four Democrats and one Republican crossed party lines.

The bottom line is this, all the laws in the world dont mean a thing if we dont have district attorneys that are willing to enforce them, Kail said during floor debate.

Krasner spokesperson Jane Roh said the resolution showed House Republicans support for the NRAs agenda and complicity in gun violence due to their enabling of unrestricted flooding of firearms into every county in Pennsylvania.

Democratic opponents of setting up the committee noted that Republicans have not taken similar action against GOP district attorneys with recent criminal charges or convictions, that their efforts to address gun violence have been utterly blocked in the Republican-majority General Assembly, and that targeting Krasner would not be an appropriate use of impeachment power.

To think that in this moment, when we do actually have a gun violence crisis across the commonwealth, that we would come here and play these types of political games is really frustrating, and its an affront to folks in communities across Philadelphia who are desperate for solutions," said Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia.

Rep. Martina White, the only Republican House member from Philadelphia, said shootings and killings have increased steeply during Krasner's tenure in office. She said Krasner's job performance is not just about charges that are brought, it's about the cases that are being withdrawn, cases that are tossed aside, victims that haven't seen justice for a family member.

Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, will pick the committee's three Republican and two Democratic members.

San Francisco recalled its liberal district attorney this month, and national groups have been seeking to influence district attorney contests across the country. The parties are jostling for control of prosecutors' offices that can either block or adopt criminal justice reforms.

If the committee recommends impeachment against Krasner, the full House would then take it up. Impeachment, a very rare event in the Legislature  requiring a vote by the House and then trial in the Senate  was most recently deployed successfully against Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen nearly three decades ago.

The House voted to impeach, and the Senate convicted Larsen, a Pittsburgh Democrat, of one impeachment article in 1994, for having an improper discussion with a lawyer about court matters. He was permanently removed from the court and barred from holding public office in the state.

A different mechanism, direct removal in the Senate, failed when attempted against Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane six years ago, although she subsequently was convicted of perjury and other offenses and resigned.

But the threat of impeachment is not unusual, as occurred two weeks ago when state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, sought cosponsors for an impeachment resolution against Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell, who had already announced his departure from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's Cabinet.

Metcalfe also introduced impeachment resolutions targeting Wolf over his COVID-19 policies for the past two sessions, but neither gained traction. Recent Republican efforts to impeach Democratic Justice David Wecht, mostly over congressional and state redistricting, also have gone nowhere.

Lawmakers have also proposed impeachment in recent years against a Pittsburgh mayor, a Lancaster County sheriff, a Schuylkill County commissioner, other Democrats on the Supreme Court, a Montgomery County commissioner and a Lancaster district judge.

Wolf's spokesperson, Beth Rementer, called the Wolf impeachment resolutions attention-seeking political distractions. She said they have not taken much of his time.

They have had no impact on the governor, Rementer said. To be frank, these resolutions are nothing more than political theater.

A year ago, House Republicans also threatened impeachment against two Democratic elections officials in Philadelphia for counting mail-in ballots that had not been dated by hand. They backed down, but more recently the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the dates are not mandatory.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday appealed a sentence given to an Italian surgeon who was put on trial for causing bodily harm during experimental stem-cell windpipe transplants on three patients who died.

Stem-cell scientist Dr. Paolo Macchiarini made headlines in 2011 for carrying out the worlds first stem-cell windpipe transplants at Swedens leading hospital. Once considered a leading figure in regenerative medicine, Macchiarini was credited with creating the worlds first windpipe partially made from a patients own stem cells.

Macchiarini was fired from the Karolinska Institute in March 2016 for breaching medical ethics after being accused of falsifying his resume and misrepresenting his work. In December 2018, Sweden decided to reopen a previously discontinued investigation into three cases.

He was alleged to have operated inappropriately on three people between 2011 and 2014 who later died, but Maccharini was not accused of killing the patients. He denied any criminal wrongdoing.

On June 16, the Solna District Court cleared him of of two charges of assault and gave him a suspended sentence in the third case. He would have been sentenced to five years in prison, if the court had followed the prosecutors request.

In all cases, the interventions were contrary to science and best practice," chief prosecutor Mikael Bjork said in a statement Wednesday announcing the appeal to the Svea Court of Appeal. "It seems clear to me that these have been completely unlawful human experiments and the penalty should be a long prison sentence, given the nature of the crime and the high penal value.

When Macchiarinis first windpipe transplant was reported in the medical journal Lancet in 2008, it was hailed as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. Macchiarinis new airway  partly made using the patient's stem cells  was thought to herald a new era where new organs could be made in the laboratory.

Despite an independent Swedish commission finding numerous problems in Macchiarinis work, he disputed the accusations, saying they were false.

He provided artificial windpipes to 20 patients from countries that included Spain, Russian, Iceland, Britain and the United States.

Critics say Macchiarini skirted medical ethics to carry out dangerous procedures with no proven benefit and that he fabricated descriptions of his patients conditions.

In 2019, an Italian court sentenced Macchiarini to 16 months in prison for forging documents and for abuse of office.
It's one of the busiest primary nights of the year as voters in eight states head to the polls.

Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, New York and Utah are all hosting primary elections Tuesday. Meanwhile, runoffs are occurring in South Carolina and Mississippi, and a special election is being held in Nebraska.

Check for live, time-stamped updates of results and breaking news from the jampacked primary night below:

11:00 p.m. ET

Rep. Mary Miller has won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Illinois' 15th Congressional District.

Miller defeated Rep. Rodney Davis in another Illinois House race that pitted two incumbents against each other due to redistricting.

Miller, who was backed by former President Donald Trump, held a 15-point lead over Davis at the time of reporting.

10:40 p.m. ET

Rep. Lee Zeldin has won the Republican primary for governor of New York.



Zeldin, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, though Trump did not endorse him, left his U.S. House seat on Long Island to seek the state's top job. Zeldin defeated primary opponents such as Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani's son and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Zeldin will face Gov. Kathy Hochul, who won the Democratic primary earlier in the night, in November.

Video below: New York GOP picks Rep. Lee Zeldin as gubernatorial nominee

10:30 p.m. ET

Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin has advanced to a runoff election in August for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma.

Mullin, who did not reach the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff, does not know who his opponent in August will be yet, though, T.W. Shannon is currently holding onto second place.

Scott Pruitt, the former head of the EPA under Donald Trump, is sitting in fifth place with 5% of the votes.

The winner of the August runoff will look to fill the seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Video below: Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt resigns in 2018 after months of high-profile scandals

10:15 p.m. ET

A slew of House primary races have been called around the country.

Most notably, Republican incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who broke with his party and voted in favor of forming the bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, won his primary runoff in Mississippi, defeating his far-right opponent.

Additionally, Rep. Sean Casten has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Illinois' 6th Congressional District.

Casten defeated Rep. Marie Newman in a rare primary between sitting Housse members, which was a result of redistricting in the state.

Lastly, state Rep. Delia Ramirez has secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.

Ramirez was the most progressive candidate in the race and will take on Justin Burau, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, in November.



10:00 p.m. ET

Polls have closed in the final state of the night  Utah.



9:50 p.m. ET

Winners of two U.S. Senate primaries have been announced.

First, in Colorado, Joe O'Dea has won the Republican primary and will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet in November.

O'Dea defeated Ron Hanks, who Democrats in the state preferred due to Hanks' far-right position on a number of issues.

Then, in South Carolina, Krystle Matthews bested Catherine Bruce in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Matthews will face off with Republican incumbent Sen. Tim Scott in November.

Video below: Sen. Tim Scott talks about police reform in an interview from 2020



9:40 p.m. ET

Two U.S. House races in Colorado have been called by the AP.



Incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert has secured the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District.



Boebert, one of the more controversial House members, is seeking a second term.

Meanwhile, Rep. Diana DeGette has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Colorado's 1st Congressional District.

Video below: Rep. Lauren Boebert says no new gun laws needed just since we "didn't ban planes" after 9/11

9:35 p.m. ET

State Sen. Darren Bailey has defeated Richard Irvin, mayor of Aurora, Illinois, for the Republican nomination for governor in the Illinois primary election.

Bailey, who was backed by former President Donald Trump, will face incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker.

9:25 p.m. ET

Gov. Kathy Hochul has won the Democratic primary for governor in New York.

Hochul, who replaced Andrew Cuomo after he resigned following allegations of sexual harassment, fought off multiple challengers, including moderate U.S. House Rep. Tom Suozzi and progressive New York City Public Advocate Juumane Williams.

Hochul's Republican opponent in November has yet to be announced.

Video below: Gov. Hochul reacts to SCOTUS ruling on New York gun law



9:15 p.m. ET

Incumbent Reps. Tom Cole and Stephanie Bice have won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Oklahoma's 4th and 5th congressional districts, respectively.

9:00 p.m. ET

Polls have closed in Colorado, New York and Nebraska.



8:45 p.m. ET

Gov. JB Pritzker has won the Democratic nomination for governor in the Illinois primary election, according to The Associated Press.

Pritzker first won in 2018, when he ousted Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner by 16 percentage points in a state that has voted for Democratic presidential nominees in every election since 1992.

8:30 p.m. ET

Gov. Kevin Stitt has won the Republican primary for Governor in Oklahoma.

Stitt, who was first elected in 2018, has grabbed national headlines recently, signing and implementing one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country.

He will be the odds-on favorite to win in November.

8:20 p.m. ET

Incumbent Sen. James Lankford has secured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma. Lankford fought off challengers to his political right who claimed he was not supportive enough of former President Donald Trump's unfounded claims of election fraud.

Lankford has served in the Senate since 2015.

8:00 p.m. ET

Polls have closed in Illinois, Mississippi and Oklahoma.



7:30 p.m. ET

Early results in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in South Carolina is favoring state Rep. Krystle Matthews. She leads Catherine Bruce, 58% to 42% with only about 7% of precincts reporting.



7:00 p.m. ET

Polls have closed in the first state of the night  South Carolina.



The race to watch is the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate between state Rep. Krystle Matthews and Catherine Bruce.

The winner is hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Tim Scott.


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Kentucky State Police fatally shot a suspect who fled after allegedly shooting an officer in Tennessee.

Nashville Metro Police said a warrant was issued Tuesday night charging Samuel Quinton Edwards, 34, with attempted murder of a Hendersonville police officer. The officer was in non-critical condition Tuesday night.

Edwards drove away from a traffic stop by police in Hendersonville and fired at an officer during the pursuit, police said. Nashville police released a photo on social media showing Edwards with two long guns.

Edwards fled in a van, then abandoned it and stole a white pickup truck, which was also later abandoned in Millersville, Tennessee, Nashville police said in social media posts.

Edwards was later located in Louisville and fatally shot by Kentucky State Police, Nashville police said. Kentucky State Police said in a release that the man was shot by a trooper around 8 p.m. Tuesday evening.
HONOLULU (AP)  Filipino journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa announced in a speech in Hawaii Tuesday that the Philippine government is affirming a previous order to shut down Rappler, the news website she co-founded, which has gained notoriety for its reporting of President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.

The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission affirmed its earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler, Ressa said while speaking at the East-West Center in Honolulu.

Part of the reason I didnt have much sleep last night is because we essentially got a shutdown order, Ressa told the audience.

Last year, Ressa became the first Filipino and she and Russian Dmitry Muratov became the first working journalists in more than 80 years to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

She was a featured speaker at this week's East-West Centers International Media Conference.

The order is dated June 28 and reaffirms the earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corp., Rappler said in a statement. We are entitled to appeal this decision and will do so, especially since the proceedings were highly irregular," the statement said.

Were not shutting down, Ressa said. Well, I'm not supposed to say that.

No announcements about the decision appeared on the Philippines Securities and Exchange website before business hours in the Philippines, where it was already Wednesday.

The AP was not able to immediately reach Ressa in Honolulu.

She co-founded Rappler in 2012. The website is one of several news agencies deemed critical of Duterte's policies.

Since taking office in 2016, Duterte has openly lambasted journalists who write unfavorable stories about him. He has particularly bristled at critical coverage of his anti-drug campaign, which has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead and drawn international condemnation.

President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte  Duterte's daughter  take office Thursday after winning landslide victories in last month's elections.

Ressa was convicted of libel and has remained free on bail while the case is on appeal.

The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission revoked Rappler's license over what it ruled was a breach of the ban on foreign ownership and control of media outlets.
NATALYNE, Ukraine - At a school where Russian forces had set up a base in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, three of their armored personnel carriers remained on the property - for now. They were damaged when Ukraine's military recently forced the occupying soldiers back from this area. Over the weekend, three locals hammered at one vehicle to salvage spare parts.

The ground was still covered in fragments of ammunition. The other two vehicles were parked behind the building, in a field of lavender, a jarring contrast in the idyllic rural landscape.

The new Russian positions are just some three miles from this spot, but the makeshift mechanics appeared unconcerned. The day had passed quietly. Just one plume of smoke - an indication of an artillery strike - had appeared on the horizon all day. And it was on the Russian side of the front line.

With Moscow concentrating its efforts on taking territory in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region - battering cities, towns and Kyiv's troops with a near-constant barrage of artillery fire - Ukraine has been able to make steady gains in the south. Village by village, more of the strategically important Kherson region is returning to Ukrainian control - another sign that Russia's forces might be overextended with a front line that stretches about 300 miles.

Regaining control of Kherson, a rich agricultural region with Black Sea access, is critical for Ukraine. It's the only position the Russians hold west of the Dnieper River, and a prime position to launch any future offensive down the Black Sea coast to the major port city of Odessa. The Ukrainian counteroffensive is squeezing Russian positions from two directions - the west and the north.

"Here, you can hunt them," said a Ukrainian reconnaissance commander in the region whose call sign is "Makhno." "They've committed everything to the east."

Residents in the region say they have stopped spending every night in their underground hideouts. Shelling from the Russian-controlled side has not stopped, but people have simply grown used to it. Most of the Kherson region has been occupied since the first week of the war - Moscow's first major land grab after its tanks and troops advanced from the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014.

But holding the territory has proved challenging while more Russian forces have been concentrated to the northeast. Near the school in Natalyne, another village that had been considered a "gray zone" - a status for areas considered not completely controlled by either side - returned to Ukrainian control a week ago.

For the roughly 75 people who stayed in town, the Russian occupiers went door to door and confiscated their phones, creating an information blackout for most. They didn't know the Ukrainians were successfully running counteroffensive operations on this front until the night the Russians suddenly pulled out, under pressure from Ukrainian artillery strikes.

The villagers said their daily life had not changed much, even with the Russians gone. Their home was still a war zone. Soldiers still patrolled the streets - only now they were wearing Ukrainian uniforms. The sounds of fighting remained loud and close.

"But I'd rather our guys be here than theirs," said Alyona Kharaim, who was out for a bike ride to pick up milk on Saturday afternoon with her husband and young daughter.

Along one gravel road leading here, children have set up their own pretend checkpoint for cars driving by. A 12-year-old girl playfully asked Washington Post journalists to say a code word - "palianytsia," a type of Ukrainian bread - before allowing them to pass. Ukrainian soldiers who saw this chuckled that the kids have apparently learned to regularly change the password - for security reasons, of course. One that they previously used was a crude quip about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the town of Novovorontsovka, at the northern boundary of the Kherson region, residents of one bombed-out apartment block covered neighbors' windows with plastic. The glass was shattered long ago. Most people had left town, but a handful stayed.

Mykola Kostitsyn, 66, held pieces of shrapnel in the palm of his hand. At first, bits of the artillery destroying his neighborhood were a novelty and people collected them. But now there is so much of it that no one cares anymore.

"Why bother collecting them?" he said. "There is more and more every day. How much of this stuff can you collect?"

Shelling has become such a part of daily routine for Liudmyla Denysenko, 59, and her 86-year-old mother, Anastasia Bilyk, that they wait for their walls to actually rattle from the blasts before they bother moving to their cellar for shelter.

They also wait for word from Denysenko's son, fighting for Ukraine somewhere along the vast front. He calls only once a day, and he never tells her his location. On Saturday afternoon, she was concerned that he had not checked in yet. Maybe he could be fighting around the Kherson region, she said, aiding the counteroffensive to end the shelling of their home.

"It would be great if they pushed them back even farther," she said. "Because we can't go on like this."

- - -

The Washington Post's Serhiy Morgunov contributed to this report.
STANTON, Calif. (AP)  A 76-year-old man was wounded and a 49-year-old pizza delivery driver who came to his aid was killed in a shooting in a Southern California neighborhood, authorities said.

Both men were found with gunshot wounds on a street in suburban Stanton after deputies responded to reports of gunfire Tuesday evening, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
PARIS (AP)  A Paris court on Wednesday ruled against extraditing to Italy 10 former left-wing militants, including some former Red Brigades members, convicted of domestic terrorist crimes in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Italian nationals had been living in freedom in France for decades after fleeing Italy before they could be imprisoned to serve their sentences.

The crimes in connection with which they were convicted include the 1980 killing of a Carabinieri paramilitary general and the kidnapping of a judge in the same year.

All 10, only some of whom were linked with the deadly Red Brigades group, spent the last 14 months under French judicial supervision as judges deliberated on Italys extradition request following the activists arrests and police questioning a year ago.

The Paris Court of Appeal said in a statement it rejected Italys extradition request for each member of the group of 10 men and women, but didnt explain its reasoning.

Wednesdays ruling can still be appealed at Frances highest court.

Italys justice ministry said iin a statement it respected the French judicial process as they await to hear the assessments of the ruling by the Paris attorney general, who is the only one authorized to appeal the courts decision to deny the extradition of each of the 10 convicted militants.

I am waiting to know the reasons behind the ruling that denies all extraditions without distinction, said Italian Justice Minister Marta Cartabia.

This is a long-awaited ruling for the victims and the entire country, which concerns a dramatic and still painful page in our history, Cartabia said.

The French presidency said it will not comment on the courts ruling.

The unwillingness of French authorities to detain convicted Italian former left-wing militants living in France has long been a thorny issue between Paris and Rome.

Italy has sought the extradition of around 200 convicted former militants believed to be in France over the years.

Italys far-left Red Brigades group killed about 50 people in a terror campaign in the 1970s and 80s.
STORMVILLE, N.Y. (AP)  An inmate was killed in a prison fight at an upstate New York correctional facility, police said.

The altercation at the maximum-security Green Haven Correctional Facility in the Dutchess County community of Stormville left one inmate dead at another injured, the New York State Police said in a news release Tuesday.
Setting in place the succession plan in Indias most valuable company, Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani stepped down from the board of Reliance Jio and handed over the firms reins to elder son Akash. Reliance Jio is valued at $217 billion and is a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd, whose business spans from oil refining and petrochemicals to retail, media and new energy.

In a stock exchange filing, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd on Tuesday said the companys board at a meeting on June 27, approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the board of directors of the company.

This comes after his father resigned with effect from the close of working hours on June 27, it said.

Ambani, 65, has three children --- twins Akash and Isha and youngest son Anant. It is widely anticipated that he may hand over the reins of the retail business to Isha, 30, who is married to Anand Piramal (son of Piramal Groups Ajay and Swati Piramal).

Akash and Isha have been on the boards of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd - the company that operates supermarkets offering consumer electronics, food and grocery, fashion, jewellery, footwear, and clothing, as well as the online retail venture, JioMart - and digital arm Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL) since October 2014.

Anant, 26, has recently been inducted as a director on RRVL. He has been a director of JPL since May 2020. Among other appointments, Pankaj Mohan Pawar was appointed Managing Director of Reliance Jio Infocomm for five years beginning June 27, the filing said.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, a prominent member of Israels ultra-Orthodox community who founded a volunteer paramedic service before his reputation came crashing down in a series of sexual abuse allegations, has died. He was 62.

Meshi-Zahav was hospitalized last year after attempting suicide as accusers stepped forward alleging years of sexual abuse after he was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement, the country's highest civilian honor. Jerusalem's Herzog Medical Center confirmed his death on Wednesday, but did not give a cause.

For decades, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav was one of Israels most recognizable faces, widely respected for founding an ultra-Orthodox rescue service that bridged the divide between religious and secular Israelis and cared for the victims of Palestinian attacks.

He formed ZAKA in 1995, six years after he provided first aid to victims of a deadly Palestinian bus attack that killed 16 people near Jerusalem. His organization's volunteers helped identify the victims of disasters and suicide bombings and collect their remains for a Jewish burial. The group expanded to include first response paramedics and broad recognition in Israel.

But after the announcement in March 2021 that he would receive the Israel Prize, his accusers came forward, saying Meshi-Zahav committed horrendous acts of sexual abuse of men, women and children over several decades, and that the ultra-Orthodox community shielded him with a wall of silence.

Meshi-Zahav denied the allegations, stepped down as head of ZAKA, and turned down the Israel Prize in the midst of a widening scandal. The organization he founded expressed shock and astonishment, saying the allegations against Meshi-Zahav arouse deep abhorrence, shock and disgust, light years away from the values that characterize the organization.

A month later he reportedly attempted suicide in his Jerusalem apartment and was hospitalized until his death on Wednesday. Israeli media reported at the time that he had tried to hang himself.
AKRON. Ohio (AP)  A man shot and killed by police following a vehicle and foot pursuit this week died from multiple gunshot wounds, and his death has been ruled a homicide, authorities announced Wednesday.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has taken over the investigation into the death of Jayland Walker at the request of Akron police. The findings about his death were announced Wednesday by the Medical Examiners Office in Summit County.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Afghan finance and central bank officials from the Taliban-led government departed for Qatar on Wednesday to meet with U.S. officials, the Taliban said. The meeting follows last weeks deadly earthquake, which brought into focus how relief and emergency aid efforts have stumbled under the weight of the countrys spiraling economic woes.

The quake in southeastern Afghanistan killed around 770 people, according to U.N. figures, though the Taliban put the death toll at closer to 1,150, with thousands injured. The U.N. says 155 children are among those killed in what was the deadliest earthquake to hit the impoverished country in two decades.

Several thousand homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Paktika and Khost provinces. Despite international aid efforts by U.N. agencies and countries in the region, survivors say they need more help to subsist.

We ask for assistance because all our houses are destroyed and we cannot live inside them. People need assistance, we dont have tents or a place to stay, said a resident of Khost province, Tawar Khan.

Overstretched aid agencies say last weeks earthquake underscored the need for the international community to rethink its financial cut-off of Afghanistan and freezing of the country's reserves. Nearly half of Afghanistan's population of 38 million cannot meet their basic food needs. The government is unable to pay public sector wages on time or import what the country needs.

Taliban government officials and U.S. officials were slated to meet in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday to discuss Afghanistan's economy and banking sectors, among other issues, said Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad. He said the Afghan delegation, led by Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, is meeting with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and officials from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that senior Biden administration officials are working with the Taliban leadership on a mechanism to allow Afghanistans government to use its central bank reserves to deal with the country's severe hunger and poverty crises while erecting safeguards to ensure the funds are not misused.

Following the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan last summer and the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there, some $9.1 billion of Afghan foreign reserves were frozen, with the Biden administration freezing $7 billion of that. The rest is largely held in Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, where it also has not been released to Afghanistans new rulers.

No government has yet recognized the Talibans rule over Afghanistan. The former insurgents have resisted international pressure to maintain the previous rights gained by Afghan women, instead imposing restrictions on womens dress and limiting access to schools for teenage girls.

Afghan central bank official Shah Mehrabi confirmed to The Associated Press that talks have been ongoing for some time to agree on mechanisms to release some of the Afghan foreign reserves to prop up the afghani currency. This, he said, would help stabilize prices and allow the country to import vital goods to stave off hunger and economic collapse.

The reserves belong to the Afghan people to be used for the purposes of bringing about stable prices, said Mehrabi, a U.S.-based professor of economics at Montgomery College in Maryland and a member of the Afghan central banks Supreme Council. He also chairs its audit committee.

Mehrabi said hes been involved in the conversations around Afghanistans financial reserves, though hes not part of the Qatar meeting. He has suggested that one way to build trust between the two sides would be for the U.S. Treasury Department to release a limited, monitored amount of $150 million a month to help Afghanistan's economy and meet the needs of ordinary Afghans. Mehrabi said Afghan central bankers like himself work independently of the Taliban or any Afghan leadership.

We have to able to look at restoring confidence in the private sector," he said. Reserves will play an important role in allowing businesses to pay for critical imports."

In February, President Joe Biden signed an order to split $7 billion of Afghanistan's reserves, with half for humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and the other $3.5 billion for Sept. 11 victims' plaintiff fees. The move was slammed by Afghans who say the money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.

Without access to the country's foreign reserves, the afghani has plummeted in value and Afghans have struggled to withdraw money from local banks. International sanctions have also choked off international bank transfers into the country with some exceptions for aid agencies. The Taliban has sought ways to collect taxes and other fees to keep the government running.

The U.N. warns that 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year. Already, increasing numbers of families are reporting multiple children in the same household dying of malnutrition.

So desperate are families that some fathers have sold their minor-aged daughters into marriage, using the down-payment to feed the other children to avoid starvation. Severe drought and climate change have exacerbated the crisis, with around 22.8 million people  more than 55% of Afghanistans population  experiencing high levels of acute food shortages.

Even before the Taliban takeover last year, Afghanistan's economy had been deeply reliant on foreign aid. The International Committee of the Red Cross is paying the salaries of health care staff and the operational costs of more than 30 hospitals across the country, including one that has treated victims of the earthquake.

The quake struck a remote, deeply impoverished region of small towns and villages tucked among rough mountains near the Pakistani border, collapsing stone and mud-brick homes and in some cases killing entire families. Survivors have had to dig through debris with their bare hands to search for missing loved ones as the ground continues to rumble with more aftershocks.

___

Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
GALVESTON, Texas (AP)  A man already sentenced to death for a cold-case killing in Oklahoma pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday in the deaths of three girls whose disappearances in Texas also went unsolved for decades.

William Reece, 62, pleaded guilty in a courtroom in Galveston in the 1997 killings of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood and 17-year-old Jessica Cain of Tiki Island. He then pleaded guilty in nearby Angleton later Wednesday to murder in the disappearance and death of 20-year-old Kelli Cox of Denton. He was sentenced to life in prison in each case.
Houston City Council voted Tuesday to approve a $7.1 million contractpaid in ARPA fundsfor a third-party contractor that will aid the city in its ongoing push to clear homeless camps and re-home those living on the street.

The contract is part of the city and Harris Countys $56 million joint homelessness initiative launched in June 2020. The collaboration involves offering subsidized housing to people living in encampments, then decommissioning encampment sites with police patrols and sometimes fencing.

Councilwoman Amy Peck, who represents District A in northwest Houston, also called on the state of Texas to cover a portion of the citys expenses involved in clearing encampments. So many of these cleanups are under overpasses and I believe that the state should bear some of the responsibility in the cost of this, Peck said during Tuesdays council meeting.

Wednesday's vote marked the latest action taken by city and county officials in their ongoing Houston-Harris County Homeless Encampment Response Strategy. The citys homelessness programs have garnered attention and praise from other major U.S. cities in recent years following a more than 50 percent decrease in homelessness from 2010 to 2021, according to the Coalition for the Homelesss data.

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle's R.A. Schuetz, Coalition for the Homeless Senior Project Manager James Gonzalez said that about 85 to 90 percent of people living in decommissioned encampments choose to accept subsidized housing when offered, Gonzalez said.

Houston has also been deploying its "decommissioning" strategy with encampment residents since at least 2018, according to Schuetz.

The city's decommissioning tactics have drawn criticism from human rights groups in years past, including its passage of a controversial 2017 ordinance criminalizing encampments on public property. The measure brought about legal action from the American Civil Liberties Union, which stated the policy violated unhoused peoples constitutional rights in a lawsuit filed that same year. The city prevailed in court in 2019 when the ACLU dropped the suit.

The Texas state legislature enshrined an encampment ban in the state books last year when it passed a statewide law prohibiting camping on public property in June 2021.
NASA has discovered the crash site of a "mystery rocket body" that collided with the Moon's surface earlier this year. The impact left behind a widespread "double crater," meaning it wasn't the average rocket.

However, since its crash landing, none of Earth's space-exploring nations have claimed responsibility for the mysterious projectile, leaving NASA scientists baffled as to who was behind its launch. New images shared on June 24 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show the unusual impact site.

"Surprisingly the crater is actually two craters, an eastern crater (18-meter diameter, about 19.5 yards) superimposed on a western crater (16-meter diameter, about 17.5 yards," NASA reported. "The double crater was unexpected...No other rocket body impacts on the Moon created double craters."

Astronomers anticipated the crash after spotting the unidentified rocket on a collision course with the Moon late last year. It finally hit on March 4 near the Hertzsprung crater, a "complex" impact crater on the far side of the Moon.

NASA stated that the two large masses on each end of the rocket may have caused the craters, but noted that the impact marks are highly unusual. Spent rockets, according to NASA, tend to have a heavy motor at one end and a lighter empty fuel tank on the other, scientists say. The space agency did not offer any guesses on what the additional mass was.

"Since the origin of the rocket body remains uncertain, the double nature of the crater may indicate its identity," NASA said in a news release.

At least 47 NASA rocket bodies have created "spacecraft impacts" on the moon, according to 2016 data from Arizona State University. Four large moon craters attributed to Apollo 13, 14, 15 and 17 missions are substantially larger than each of the overlapping craters created by the March 4 impact, according to NASA. However, scientists said the maximum width of the new double crater is near that of the Apollo craters.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday blamed President Joe Biden for the deaths of 53 migrants discovered in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio Monday night.

Flanked by armed National Guardsmen and law enforcement leaders in Eagle Pass, Texas, the Republican leader claimed Biden's border policies had spurred human trafficking attempts such as the one that ended in a tragic mass casualty event on a Bexar County roadside.

Because of the way that the Biden administration is not enforcing immigration laws, its attracting people and enticing people to make this very dangerous trek and lose their lives, Abbott said.

The governor's remarks come after he spent billions over the past year pursuing a litany of enhanced security measures along Texas' southern border. Among these policies was an initiative aimed at inspecting every commercial truck crossing the southern border. Abbott discontinued the inspection initiative after a week and a half, announcing historic agreements with leaders of several northern Mexico border states aimed at stemming the flow of undocumented immigrants into the U.S.

But the newly-stuck agreements, which rely on Mexican leaders conducting inspections on Mexicos side of the border, have yielded no measurable decline in the number of migrants entering the U.S., according to one expert who spoke with the Texas Tribune.

Every data point weve seen about migration into Texas from Mexico shows that migrants are getting to the border in the same numbers as before, Adam Isacson, a regional security expert at the Washington Office on Latin America, told the Tribunes James Barragan. Theres no numerical evidence that its had any numerical impact on migrant flows.

Abbott also criticized Biden's funding of U.S. Customs and Border Patrols operations.

Many of these deaths could be prevented if Biden simply fully funded the border patrol operation of the United States of America, Abbott said. Biden in March requested a 13 percent increase in funding for CBP over its 2021 budget, including a specific provision aimed at adding 300 more officers to the 60,000-person agency, the New York Times reported.

Abbott did not mention April agreements with Mexican border leaders during Wednesday's press conference.
Bexar County District 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference that the county's Medical Examiners Office has the bodies of 51 immigrants that died in the back of a semi-truck or while receiving care after being found Monday night in the 9600 block of Quintana Road.

Both Clay-Flores and County Judge Nelson Wolff then slammed Texas and its immigration policies during the conference. The truck was discovered in Clay-Flores' district.

Clay-Flores said that of the 51 people dead, there are 39 men and 12 women. The medical examiner has potentially identified 34 of those people.

County spokesperson Thomas Peine said that some of the people dead may be under the age of 18. There are still 12 immigrants in area hospitals in either critical or stable condition.

Robin Jerstad / Robin Jerstad

Clay-Flores said the county is working with the consulates of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras to help reach families of the victims, and she encouraged families to call the Guatemalan consulate at 956-800-7351 if they fear their family member may be one of the victims.

She criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for putting the blame on President Joe Biden in a tweet Monday night, which said the deaths were on him.

"While bodies were still being removed and others being taken to local hospitals, he chose to be heartless and point the finger," said Clay-Flores. "Shame on our governor."

County Judge Nelson Wolff echoed her criticism, saying the Texas government has only passed laws that discriminate against immigrants.

"Let me tell you, I don't trust the state of Texas or any of them dealing with immigrants," Wolff said.

The county officials didn't provide any updates to the ongoing investigation, which is in the hands of the Homeland Security Investigations unit. San Antonio police Chief William McManus said Monday night that three people were in custody. No charges have been announced as of Tuesday afternoon.
When the initial draft majority opinion written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was leaked and published by Politico in May, questions on reproductive rights and personal autonomy arose. A month later, those Google queries became reality when the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made abortion legal almost 50 years ago.

While the ruling has a patchwork effect on the nation, with some states keeping abortion legal, Texas is part of the landscape set to ban the procedure. Texas has the trigger ban, passed last year before the Dobbs decision, which is set to take effect in a few weeks.

San Antonio Dr. Randal Robinson of the Long School of Medicine at UT Health tells MySA he's been tasked with answering a growing list of questions from patients in the days since the decision was announced. He shared some of his insight to help clear up anxieties for other Texas residents.

How does SCOTUS ruling on abortion affect fertility treatments like IVF in Texas?

Robinson, who is a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist, says he recognizes that there has been a national discussion on how the ruling might be a "slippery slope" for in vitro fertilization and embryo storage. He says, to his knowledge, the ruling should not affect it.

"As of right now there's not any language on that," he adds. "We're continuing to practice, just like we always have, and anticipate continuing to do that. We're in the family-building business and as of right now we don't see any effects from this regarding fertility treatment or anything like that."

How does the SCOTUS decision affect managing miscarriages?

Robinson says the ruling applies to elective abortion procedures and says "spontaneous miscarriages" are "not part" of the prohibitions. The doctor describes caring for miscarriages as "clean-cut medical management" which should be out of the realm of the ruling.

"We will continue to provide appropriate medical care for any patients who experienced a miscarriage," the doctor explains. "We're always committed to taking care of any kind of emergencies and obviously want to always protect the health of women, no matter what."

Robinson believes some of the anxieties surrounding miscarriages in the aftermath of the decision may be tied to the kind of medication used in a dilation and curettage (D&C), a procedure used to remove the tissue from the uterus, and an abortion. He says the medication used for the procedures is similar.

"That should still not impact the ability for us to use (the medicine) to manage a miscarriage," he adds. "We do not anticipate that that type of care wouldn't be something that we could continue to provide."

Medical issues within "reasonable risk"

Robinson reminds that Texas law provides for abortion procedures to occur in rare cases, such as saving the life of a pregnant patient or to prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function.

"We are going to continue to provide care for women in South Texas and in San Antonio," the doctor says. "We have to do that within the legal requirements."
WASHINGTON -- A former White House official revealed explosive new details Tuesday about President Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021, telling Congress that he knew his supporters were carrying weapons, insisted on personally leading the armed mob to the Capitol, physically assailed the senior Secret Service agent who told him it was not possible, expressed support for the hanging of his own vice president, and mused about pardoning the rioters.

The testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an assistant to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, was the most chilling to date in the House select committee's Jan. 6 investigation. Recounting granular detail and private dialogue, she presented to the public a penetrating account of Trump's actions and mind-set as the Capitol came under siege from his own supporters, who were determined to stop the counting of electoral votes and impede the certification of Joe Biden's victory.

Testifying alone, her appearance punctuated by clips from taped depositions given by herself and others, the 25-year-old Hutchinson detailed how Trump and other powerful officials around him alternately encouraged, tolerated and excused the insurrection as it unfolded in front of them.

Informed that his supporters had come to the rally armed with weapons, Trump urged that security precautions at his rally be lifted, Hutchinson testified.

"They're not here to hurt me," she recalled him saying.

Even after the day's violence had ended, Hutchinson said, Trump persisted in his support for the rioters.

"He didn't think they did anything wrong," she said, summarizing Trump's attitude. "The person who did something wrong that day was Mike Pence."

In addition to her account of Trump's actions, her revelations included confirming that Meadows and Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer and a key proponent of his false election claims, sought pardons for potential criminal offenses related to Jan. 6. She also recalled hearing discussion of violent far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in Giuliani's presence in the run-up to the riot and confirmed serious discussion in Trump's Cabinet of removing him from the presidency under the 25th Amendment.

Hutchinson shared her account in the sixth hearing of the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack -- one that was scheduled only a day in advance, creating widespread anticipation and speculation about the revelations to come. While prior hearings examined the run-up to the Jan. 6 electoral count -- including the effort to spin false theories of election fraud, the plot to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to upend the tally, and a near-coup that unfolded inside the Justice Department -- Tuesday's proceedings focused largely on the searing day of violence itself.

"We are all in her debt," said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who questioned Hutchinson on Tuesday. "Our nation is preserved by those who abide by their oath to our Constitution. Our nation is preserved by those who know the fundamental difference between right and wrong. And I want all Americans to know that what Ms. Hutchinson has done today is not easy."

Trump called Hutchinson a "total phony" on social media Tuesday and suggested she could not be trusted because she had sought a position on his staff in Florida after he left the presidency.

"I personally turned her request down," he wrote in one of many posts on Truth Social, the social media network he launched after being banned from most major sites. "Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible? I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn't want her to go, or be a member of the team. She is bad news!"

House Judiciary Committee Republicans responded to Hutchinson's testimony during the hearing, tweeting that it was "literally all hearsay evidence."

Hutchinson arrived at the hearing Tuesday with impeccable GOP credentials. A former aide to House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, she held various roles in the White House before serving as a close aide to Meadows -- a post that gave her frequent close contact with Trump in the weeks before and on the day of the Capitol attack.

The hearing was accelerated, a person familiar with the matter said, because the committee hoped Hutchinson would drive others on the fence to come forward and testify. Another factor, the person said, was that there were extensive security threats against her in recent days. Hutchinson had faced resistance from her previous lawyer about testifying and changed lawyers after he suggested they not publicly cooperate, a second person familiar with the matter said. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

In some of her most gripping revelations, Hutchinson described a fierce struggle inside the senior White House ranks in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 electoral vote count over Trump's desire to personally travel to the Capitol that day. What Trump would actually do there was unclear, she said. Some aides discussed him giving another speech on the Capitol grounds, and some discussed having Trump enter the House chamber itself, where Congress was set to gather to count the electoral votes.

As early as Jan. 3, Hutchinson testified, White House counsel Pat Cipollone made clear he was dead set against Trump making any sort of journey to the Capitol, and he enlisted Hutchinson to help persuade Meadows to oppose it, as well: "He said to me, 'We need to make sure that this doesn't happen.'"

Cipollone raised the issue with Hutchinson again on the morning of Jan. 6, she said, this time in stark terms. "We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen," she recalled him saying, enumerating crimes that could include obstruction of justice, defrauding the election and inciting a riot.

As early as 10 a.m. on Jan. 6, top White House officials were aware that many of those who had gathered in Washington were armed. Hutchinson testified that she was present when Tony Ornato, the deputy White House chief of staff for operations, shared reports with Meadows that marchers had been spotted with guns, knives, bear spray, body armor and even spears. Meadows, she said, "looked up and said, 'Have you talked to the president?' And Tony said: 'Yes, sir, he's aware, too.' He said: 'All right, good.'"

While Hutchinson's testimony about Trump's actions in that case, and some others, was secondhand, she described directly overhearing the former president backstage at the Jan. 6 Ellipse rally, where he exhorted his followers to march to the Capitol.

Before he took the stage, Hutchinson said, Trump was angry that the area that had been set aside for the rally just south of the White House was not full. The issue wasn't that people were having trouble getting in, she said, but rather that thousands of marchers were unwilling to pass through Secret Service magnetometers at the event's perimeter and risk having their weapons confiscated. Many were happy to stay across Constitution Avenue, where they could hear the rally but not be subject to search.

"He was angry that we weren't letting people through the mags with weapons," she said, adding, "I overheard the president say something to the effect of, you know, I don't f-ing care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in."

But she said Trump's anger had yet to peak. After leaving the stage, Trump returned to his motorcade under the apparent belief that he would then be taken to the Capitol - a belief that Meadows, despite the warnings from Cipollone and others, had done nothing to undercut. Hutchinson described being told by Ornato what had happened next: Trump got into an armored presidential vehicle with Robert Engel, the chief of his Secret Service security detail.

Engel, according to Hutchinson's account, then told Trump he could not travel to the Capitol. It was not secure, and Trump would have to return to the White House.

"The president had a very strong, a very angry response to that," Hutchinson said, relaying Ornato's account. "The president said something to the effect of, 'I'm the f---ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,' to which [Engel] responded, 'Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.'"

Trump, at that point, "reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel," Hutchinson said. "Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, 'Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the Capitol.' Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel, and when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me, he had motioned towards his clavicles."

Hutchinson said that Engel was present when Ornato relayed the account and that neither man cast doubt on the story then or since.

The Secret Service released a statement Tuesday that did not directly address the substance of Hutchinson's testimony but said the agency "has been cooperating with the Select Committee since its inception in spring 2021."

Three Secret Service agents who accompanied Trump on Jan. 6 disputed that Trump assaulted or grabbed at the leader of his security detail and that he grabbed for the steering wheel of the Suburban sport utility vehicle in which he was traveling to try to steer it to the Capitol, according to one current and one former law enforcement official familiar with their accounts.

The three agents -- Engel, Ornato and the agent driving the Suburban that carried the president away from his speech at the Ellipse -- are also willing to testify under oath to the committee about their recollection of events on Jan. 6 in the Secret Service vehicle, said the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject.

The three agents do not dispute Hutchinson's account that Trump was furious upon learning they were not taking him to the Capitol and exchanged tense words with Engel when the detail leaders told him it would be unsafe and impossible to go the Capitol alongside Trump's supporters.

Hutchinson's lawyer, Jody Hunt, tweeted Tuesday night: "Ms. Hutchinson testified, under oath, and recounted what she was told. Those with knowledge of the episode also should testify under oath."

The Secret Service incident was not the only fit of presidential rage Hutchinson described. A month prior, she said, she had been summoned to the Oval Office dining room in the moments after the Associated Press published an interview with Attorney General William P. Barr, who said that the Justice Department had "not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."

"There's ketchup dripping down the wall and there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor," she recalled. "The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall."

Hutchinson said it was one of "several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor."

Hutchinson's testimony painted a consistent and unflattering portrait of Meadows, the former congressman turned Trump acolyte who left the House to become chief of staff. She frequently described him as staring at his phone and detached from events unfolding around him. Hutchinson has not spoken to Meadows since early 2021, and has lost touch with most of the other figures in the Trump and Meadows orbit, people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly.

At one point, Hutchinson recalled informing Meadows of a rising threat of violence at the Capitol: "He almost had a lack of reaction. I remember him saying, all right, something to the effect of 'How much longer does the president have left in this speech?'"

Later, as the rioters moved closer and closer to the Capitol, she recalled trying again to rouse Meadows to action. Again, she said, she found him glued to his phone: "He was just kind of scrolling and typing. I said, 'Hey, are you watching the TV, chief?'" she recalled, asking him if he had spoken to Trump about the threat: "He said, 'No, he wants to be alone right now,' still looking at his phone."

It was only when she raised the personal safety of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a political ally and personal friend, that Meadows appeared to react: "You might want to check in with him, Mark," she recalled saying. "And he looked at me and said something to the effect of, 'All right, I'll give him a call.'"

Moments later, Hutchinson said, Cipollone rushed into Meadows's office and urged him to confront Trump about the violence occurring 16 blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue. "Mark looked up and said, 'He doesn't want to do anything, Pat,'" she recalled, before summarizing Cipollone's response: "Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die and blood is going to be on your f---ing hands. This is getting out of control. I'm going down there."

Both men at that point went to the Oval Office dining room, where Trump sequestered himself as the riot unfolded. Hutchinson described heading there later and briefly overhearing conversations about the chants ringing around the mob: "Hang Mike Pence."

A few minutes later, Meadows and Cipollone returned from the dining room to Meadows's office -- with Cipollone continuing to push for further action to quell the mob: "They're literally calling for the vice president to be hung," Hutchinson recalled him saying there. She said Meadows replied, "'You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong.'"

Around that time, Trump sent a tweet rebuking Pence for not having the "courage to do what needs to be done."

"In my judgment, Ms. Hutchinson's testimony today would not withstand a basic cross examination," said Meadows lawyer George Terwilliger.

Hutchinson declined to comment Tuesday after the hearing.

"Ms. Hutchinson is justifiably proud of her service to the country as a Special Assistant to the President," her lawyers said in a statement. "While she did not seek out the attention accompanying her testimony today, she believes that it was her duty and responsibility to provide the Committee with her truthful and candid observations of the events surrounding January 6. Ms. Hutchinson believes that January 6 was a horrific day for the country, and it is vital to the future of our democracy that it not be repeated."

Closing the hearing Tuesday, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., praised Hutchinson's courage and made an appeal to the witnesses who have at least partially stonewalled the committee -- who include Meadows, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and economic adviser Peter Navarro -- as well as others who might have cooperated only partially.

"Your attempt to hide the truth from the American people will fail," he said. "If you've heard this testimony today and suddenly you remember things you couldn't previously recall or there are some details you'd like to clarify or you discovered some courage you had hidden away somewhere, our doors remain open."

- - -

The Washington Post's Matthew Brown, Josh Dawsey, Rosalind S. Helderman, Eugene Scott, John Wagner, Amy B Wang, Carol D. Leonnig and Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed to this report.
Lets resolve it with discussion, CM tells Shinde faction MLAs

Not having lost all hopes about the possible return of a section of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who are currently campaigning at Guwahati, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray once again appealed to them to come back to Mumbai and hold talks with him so that a solution could be found to tide over the political crisis within the Sena.

However, within hours after the Chief Minister held out an olive branch to the rebel MLAs, leader of the breakaway faction of the Sena Eknath Shinde tweeted: On one hand, your son (Minister Aditya Thackeray) and Spokesperson (MP Sanjay Raut) called the revered Balasaheb Thackerays Shiv Sainiks as pigs, gutter-muck, dogs, cattle, morons, zombies, and even brought in the names of their fathers, and on the other hand, he (Uddhav) is making a call to save the anti-Hindutva MVA Government by making an appeal to the same MLAs to returnWhat does this mean?

Talking to the media, Uddhav appealed to all Shiv Sena MLAs to return to the parent camp. He said that as the head of the Sena family, he respected their views and made it clear from his heart that till date nobody is out of the party though the (rebels) are stuck in Guwahati with all kinds of speculation.

I appeal to you all Come to meLets talk it out. Lets remove all the misconceptions among the minds of the people and the Shiv Sainiks, the CM appealed.

Uddhav said that the parent Sena would accord respect and dignity to the Sena rebels. Come in front of me and present your views, lets work out a solution, he said..

This is at least the third direct appeal made by the CM to the rebels since the party crisis exploded on the night of June 21-22. Many of you are in contact with us and are still emotionally connected with the Shiv Sena The families of several have also got in touch with us and conveyed your sentiments to us, Uddhav said.

The ruling MVA was plunged into turmoil, when that night around 39 Sena MLAs and 11 others sneaked out to Gujarat and then to Assam to join the rebel faction led by Shinde.

The CM said, If we all sit together, we can definitely come up with a solution to the political turmoil and cautioned them saying that the rebel group had fallen prey to any kinds of wrong measures, hinting at a possible tie-up with the Opposition BJP.

Uddhav said that the respect and dignity the Shiv Sena accorded to their elected respected they can never get that privilege anywhere else.

Earlier, in a resolution signed by 34 rebel MLAs which was submitted to the Governor, Deputy Speaker and Secretary of the Assembly, the rebel Sena MLAs had said that there has been great dissatisfaction prevalent amongst the members of Shiv Sena and party cadre at large on account of corruption in the government. Corruption by then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh (who is in Jail), and sitting Minority Minister Nawab Malik (who is also in jail for involvement with Underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim), the letter stated.

Shinde, whose camp submitted a letter to the Deputy Speaker pegging the number of Sena MLAs supporting him was 39.

In their letter, the rebel Sena MLAs also stated that there is enormous discontent amongst the party workers for forming the government with NCP and Indian National Congress who are ideologically opposed to the Shiv Sena, Shinde had said.

There has been a compromise on the principles of our party Shiv Sena. For Last two and half years, the our party and its leadership have compromised party principles by aligning with the contrasting ideologies for the sake of achieving power in the State of Maharashtra, the letter had read.
Houston is under the threat of increased rain chances Wednesday through Saturday, with several inches of rain and the potential for minor street flooding in the latest forecast from the National Weather Service (NWS) in League City.

The latest predictions aren't ironclad, however. Meteorologists in Houston and Miami are closely watching a tropical disturbance brewing along the southern Texas Gulf Coast, which as of Wednesday morning has a 40 percent chance of developing into an organized system over the next few days. But the trajectory and intensity of the potential system is still uncertain, meaning Houston could either see more or less rainfall than predicted.

"The northern edge of the rain associated with this developing system will reach into our region [Wednesday] afternoon, but how far northwards will heavily depend on the [location] of the low pressure system," NWS meteorologist Jimmy Fowler wrote in a detailed weather briefing Wednesday morning. "Weak, unorganized systems like this can be a real forecasting nightmare as location errors can be very large, bringing large differences in the forecasted rain amounts for a certain location."

The system is currently expected to move inland near Matagorda Bay by early Friday, putting Houston on target for scattered showers and heavy downpours now through Saturday.

National Weather Service

An initial crop of thunderstorms will develop Wednesday afternoon from the south, moving as far north as the Houston metro, NWS forecasters predict. Communities near the coast could receive as much as two inches of rain before showers taper off overnight. Those further north but still south of the Interstate 10 corridor will likely see 0.5 to 1 inch of rain. Locally heavy downpours could bring higher rainfall totals and the potential for minor street flooding.

Storms will again develop offshore overnight and push inland starting Thursday morning, bringing an additional 0.5 to 1 inch of rain south of I-10, according to NWS forecasters. Isolated storms could move further north into the Bryan-College Station area. By Saturday, the chance for rain decreases as the system moves further into Texas.

"This is the most likely scenario for today, but again want to emphasize that the location of the rainfall today will be highly dependent on the location of the system to our south," Fowler wrote. "If it develops further south then we could very will get very little rainfall with the bulk of the storms remaining off the coast, or could get the storms further inland to the northern part of Harris County if the system develops further north."

After rain from the system subsides early in the weekend, the Houston area will return to a typical summertime weather pattern, with hot temperatures invigorating the daily sea breeze resulting in isolated afternoon showers. This pattern will persist through at least mid- next week, according to NWS meteorologists.

High temperatures through Saturday will likely remain in the upper-80s to low-90s, while they'll jump to the mid-90s starting Sunday. The forecast for the Fourth of July holiday in Houston shows a high of 94 degrees with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms.
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
In spl gesture, UAE President receives Indian PM at airport

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday reviewed the entire spectrum of their bilateral ties in the sphere of security, education and investment during the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Signifying the robust relations with India, the UAE President in a special gesture personally received and then gave a warm send-off to Modi at the Abu Dhabi airport.

Expressing gratitude, Modi tweeted, I am touched by the special gesture of my brother, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of coming to welcome me at Abu Dhabi airport. My gratitude to him.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet from Abu Dhabi, In a very special gesture, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and members of the Royal family came all the way to the airport to meet and interact with PM Modi here itself, so that PM did not have to go all the way to the city.

The Prime Minister made a brief stopover at Abu Dhabi on his return from Munich after attending the two-day G-7 summit in Germany. This was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since August 2019 when the Prime Minister visited Abu Dhabi last.

The main purpose of the visit was for the Prime Minister to convey his personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, former President last month.

Modi conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the UAE President as well as family members, including Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Adviser; Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister; Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation among others.

The Prime Minister also congratulated Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on his election as the third President of the UAE and becoming the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, the MEA said in a statement.

Both leaders reviewed various aspects of India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which they have carefully nurtured over the past few years. During their Virtual Summit on February 18, both countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which has since entered into force in May. The CEPA is expected to further boost trade and investment between both countries.

Bilateral trade in FY 2021-22 was about USD 72 billion. The UAE is Indias third largest trade partner and second largest export destination. UAE FDI in India has continuously increased over the past few years and currently stands at over USD 12 billion.

During the Virtual Summit, both leaders had also released a Vision Statement which has laid the roadmap for bilateral cooperation in coming years in diverse areas including trade, investment, energy including renewable energy, food security, health, defence, skills, education, culture and people-to-people ties.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction that India and the UAE continue to forge closer partnership in these areas building on their close and friendly relations and historical people-to-people connect. India and UAE have a strong energy partnership which is now acquiring a new focus on renewable energy.

Modi thanked the UAE President for taking great care of the 3.5 million Indian community in the UAE, especially during Covid-19 pandemic. He invited Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit India at an early date.

The visit comes weeks after a row over remarks against Prophet Muhammad by a BJP spokesperson, since suspended, caused a diplomatic outrage.

Answering a query about controversial remarks, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had said as far as the Prophet issue is concerned, almost all Middle East countries have an understanding of Indias position. Weve communicated our stand on various platforms. I dont think that will be taken forward anymore.
How to move to Canada from the U.S. in 2022

How to move to Canada from the U.S. in 2022 Some of the popular Canadian immigration pathways for American residents.

How to move to Canada from the U.S. in 2022 Some of the popular Canadian immigration pathways for American residents.

How to move to Canada from the U.S. in 2022 Some of the popular Canadian immigration pathways for American residents. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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American residents looking to move to Canada have more than 100 immigration pathways to choose from.

Canadians are generally welcoming to immigrants. Due to demographic factors such as a shrinking labour force and a low natural birth rate, the government looks to immigration to help grow the Canadian population. Each year, about 1% of Canadas overall population growth is thanks to immigration. For 2022 alone, Canada wants to welcome more than 431,000 newcomers. That number is so far set to increase over the next two years.

Although Canadas immigration system took a blow during the pandemic, Canadas immigration minister, Sean Fraser, said that application processing speeds would resume to their standard by the end of the calendar year. Furthermore, Canadas main immigration pathway, the Express Entry system, is set to resume inviting skilled workers on July 6. New applicants are expected to see their applications processed in six months.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Here is an overview of some of Canadas most popular economic immigration pathways, and an introduction to family sponsorship.

Express Entry

Express Entry is an online application management system for three Canadian immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Express Entry was created to offer a shorter pathway to permanent residency, compared to the previous paper-based application system. The processing standard is six months for 80% of applicants, however, people who applied during the pandemic are generally seeing much longer wait times.

The CEC is the top Express Entry program for candidates who are already in Canada. In order to be eligible candidates need at least one year of Canadian work experience in a skilled occupation.

Although Canadian work experience is valued in the Express Entry points system, it is not necessarily required to become eligible for the FSWP.

The FSWP requires you to have one year of continuous skilled work experience, a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in English or French, and an education credential. You also have to score 67 out of a possible 100 on the FSWP points grid, which is separate from the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) used by Express Entry. It is not necessary to have a job offer.

The FSTP is for skilled trades workers with at least two years of full time work experience in an eligible occupation. Among other criteria, you must have a valid job offer for a period of at least one year in Canada, and hold a certificate of qualification in a skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial, or federal authority.

The Express Entry system invites the highest-scoring candidates to apply for permanent residence. You cannot apply for permanent residency without an Invitation to Apply (ITA). Canadas immigration department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), holds regular rounds of invitations where it sends the ITAs. If your CRS score is not high enough to receive an ITA, you may be able to try for a provincial nomination, which will support your Express Entry application.

Provincial Nominee Program

Almost all of Canadas provinces and territories, except Nunavut and Quebec, have a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

There are two types of PNPs: enhanced programs, which are aligned with Express Entry; and base programs which operate independently from the Express Entry system.

Enhanced programs pull from the Express Entry pool of candidates. If you receive a provincial nomination through one of these PNPs, you get 600 CRS points added to your overall score. This award will push you to the top of the pool, priming you to receive an ITA in a subsequent Express Entry draw.

Base PNPs work a little differently, and can be an option for people who are not eligible for Express Entry. To immigrate through a base PNP, you apply to the province, and if you are eligible, get a nomination. With your certificate in hand, you can then apply for permanent residence to the federal government.

Family-class sponsorship

Canada allows citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their spouse, common-law partner, children, or parents and grandparents. Canadians can only sponsor relatives like a brother, sister, aunt or uncle in specific circumstances. They cannot sponsor relatives who are considered criminally or medically inadmissible.

Spouses and common-law partners can either be sponsored from inside Canada or in another country. To be eligible you have to be over the age 18, and in an ongoing, genuine relationship with a Canadian who can financially support you and any children you may have. Canadian citizens can sponsor from abroad, but permanent residents must be in the country. If you both want to wait out the process in Canada, as the foreign spouse or common-law partner you may be able to get a spousal Open Work Permit.

The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is a pathway to permanent residence for parents and grandparents of Canadians. The program currently operates like a lottery system, where there is a temporary intake window where IRCC accepts interest to sponsor forms. The immigration department then invites candidates to apply for permanent residence. An alternative option to the PGP is the Super Visa, which allows parents and grandparents to stay in Canada for up to two years at a time.

Canadians can also sponsor their biological or adopted children who are under the age of 22.

Sponsor your family for Canadian immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
In Part 5 of CIC News' special interview series, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser shares his thoughts on Canada's future permanent residence levels. "It's not a point of pride that I have to be the minister that gets to 500,000...what's important to me is that I'm meeting the needs of communities."

Will Canada welcome over 500,000 new immigrants per year?

Will Canada welcome over 500,000 new immigrants per year? In Part 5 of CIC News' special interview series, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser shares his thoughts on Canada's future permanent residence levels. "It's not a point of pride that I have to be the minister that gets to 500,000...what's important to me is that I'm meeting the needs of communities."

Will Canada welcome over 500,000 new immigrants per year? In Part 5 of CIC News' special interview series, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser shares his thoughts on Canada's future permanent residence levels. "It's not a point of pride that I have to be the minister that gets to 500,000...what's important to me is that I'm meeting the needs of communities."

Will Canada welcome over 500,000 new immigrants per year? In Part 5 of CIC News' special interview series, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser shares his thoughts on Canada's future permanent residence levels. "It's not a point of pride that I have to be the minister that gets to 500,000...what's important to me is that I'm meeting the needs of communities." Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Minister Sean Fraser believes Canadas immigration levels will surpass 500,000 per year sooner rather than later, but the minister cautioned that future increases must be done in a careful manner that supports the needs of communities across the country.

The immigration minister was in Toronto last week to speak at Collision, a global technology conference. Following his speaking engagement, he sat down with CIC News for an in-depth conversation on the future of Canadas immigration system.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Will Canada welcome over 500,000 new immigrants per year? TRANSCRIPT BELOWImmigration Minister Sean Fraser says Canadas immigration levels will surpass 500,000 per year sooner rather than later, but the minis

Canada now seeking over 430,000 immigrants annually

Prior to the pandemic, Canada was seeking over 340,000 new immigrants per year but immigration fell in 2020 due to travel restrictions and Canadian government officials needing to work remotely. In October 2020, Canada announced it would seek over 400,000 immigrants annually beginning in 2021 to support its post-COVID economic recovery. Canada ended up exceeding its target by landing a record 405,000 new permanent residents last year.

In February, Fraser tabled Canadas Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024. Canada is now seeking over 430,000 immigrants per year and will target 450,000 by 2024.

Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025: Over 500,000 new permanent residents per year?

Fraser is due to announce updated targets yet again by this November 1st, when he announces the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025.

Although it is still too early to finalize the 2023-2025 plan, CIC News asked Fraser to share his early thoughts on the plan, and more specifically, whether he was working towards getting the annual target to over 500,000 per year.

Look, I wouldnt put it on the clock. I think we will get there. Were growing in excess of 1% of our population through the existing track. That trajectory is going to continue. I dont know the exact year were going to cross that threshold [500,000 immigrants per year]. Its going to be based on the needs of communities.

Its not a point of pride that I have to be the minister that gets to 500,000whats important to me is that Im meeting the needs of communities and giving them the opportunity to experience success through our immigration system. If that means we have to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents in a calendar year, then thats great. And Im very happy to advance that.

My sense is were going to get there sooner rather than later, because the needs and opportunities associated with welcoming newcomers are great. And if we can ensure we do not exceed our absorptive capacity of our communities on our way to getting there, then this is going to be a huge strategic advantage for Canada.

Fraser is aware of the importance of providing enough supports to Canadians and newcomers alike

Among the major immigration levels considerations is Canadas capacity to provide the necessary infrastructure and supports to its existing population as well as new arrivals.

While speaking on stage at Collision, the minister was asked whether he felt Canada had enough housing available to accommodate its rising immigrant population.

The minister replied this issue is top of mind with his federal colleagues in Ottawa.

In the House of Commons I sit next to one of my predecessors, minister Ahmed Hussen who is now Canadas minister for housing. Our conversation on housing usually goes as follows. Ahmed, will you be able to build houses fast enough for Canadas new immigrants? He replies, Sean, will you bring immigrant workers into Canada quickly enough to build the houses?

Special interview series with Minister Fraser

CIC News sat down with the minister on June 21, 2022.

Over the coming weeks, CIC News is releasing a special series of articles elaborating on the interview with Minister Fraser on topics including:

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
If you cant make sense of your business data, youre effectively flying blind. Insights hidden in your data are essential for optimizing business operations, finetuning your customer experience, and developing new products  or new lines of business, like predictive maintenance. Analytics is the means for discovering those insights, and doing it well requires the right tools for ingesting and preparing data, enriching and tagging it, building and sharing reports, and managing and protecting your data and insights. And as businesses contend with increasingly large amounts of data, the cloud is fast becoming the logical place where analytics work gets done.

For many enterprises, Microsoft Azure has become a central hub for analytics. Taking the broadest possible interpretation of data analytics, Azure offers more than a dozen services  and thats before you include Power BI, with its AI-powered analysis and new datamart option, or governance-oriented approaches such as Microsoft Purview. Leaving aside more specialized options such as ingesting telemetry, sharing data externally, or building machine learning models to deliver specific analyses, there are still enough Azure analytics services that you might wonder which one is best suited for any given job.

The truth is, Microsoft aims to provide CIOs a full stack of analytics services on Azure designed to work together, rather than a piecemeal approach, says Amir Netz, CTO of Microsoft Analytics. It is geared toward IT chiefs who want to be chief data officers, not chief integration officers, he suggests.

Although there is overlap between the various services, Netz explains that Azures analytics services broadly correspond to the layers an organization would build in creating an analytics architecture framework, from creating the data lake and storing the data, processing the data in the lake and doing the data engineering, the ability to build data warehouses on top of that, to run machine learning algorithms, to do data science, to serve the data to business users, he says.

The recent announcement of the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform makes that more obvious, though analytics is only one part of that new brand.

Here we take a look at Microsoft Azures essential analytics services, what they are used for, and how they come together to make a comprehensive stack for your analytics strategy in the cloud.

The reason Azure has so many analytics services is so you can build your entire stack there. Microsoft

1. Azure Analysis Services

If youre used to using SQL Server Analysis Services for business intelligence, Analysis Services offers that enterprise-grade analytics engine as a cloud service that you can also connect to Power BI. But the features in Power BI Premium are now more powerful than the functionality in Azure Analysis Services, so while the service isnt going away, Microsoft will offer an automated migration tool in the second half of this year for customers who want to move their data models into Power BI instead.

2. Azure Data Factory

Data Factory is a service for code-free data movement and data transformation pipelines to make it easier to integrate data from various sources into data warehouses: Think ETL (extract, transform, load) and ELT (extract, load, transform) as a service with built-in connectors, but with the emphasis on transforming and enriching data rather than just moving it into the right place (although you can also use it to move data into the cloud). Data Factory includes features such as code by example to help users build queries but also has options to use languages such as Python, Java, and .NET with Git and CI/CD support, making it particularly useful for migrating SQL Server Integration Services to Azure.

3. Azure Data Explorer

Data Explorer is a big data analytics platform that you can use, as the name suggests, for exploring data using KQL, also known as the Kusto Query Language, from the codename for the project which may or may not be a reference to exploring your ocean of data as if you were Jacques Cousteau. Azure Data Explorer is used to store and query data in services such as Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Sentinel, and Log Analytics in Azure Monitor.

4. Azure Data Lake Analytics

Data warehouses are designed for questions you already know you want to ask about your data, again and again. Data lakes, on the other hand, enable you to store structured and unstructured data to explore with new questions that you havent asked before. Azure Data Lake Analytics helps you extract, clean, and prepare data from Azure Data Lake using R, Python, .NET, or U-SQL (which combines SQL and C#) to write queries, with key technologies from Azure Cognitive Services included as functions for processing text, speech, and images using machine learning. This is a serverless analytics job service that can handle petabyte scale data transformation, so you pay for the job rather than needing to manage infrastructure.

5. Azure Synapse Analytics

If you want to get away from building your own analytics framework that multiple teams in your organization will then use to extract data from data lakes and build data warehouses that business users have to access and work with separately, Synapse Analytics gives you the capabilities of cloud data warehouse and data lake services but lets you run your preferred analytic engine  whether thats SQL or Spark  over all your data, structured and unstructured, without waiting for ETL processes or worrying about where the data is stored or how to connect to it. Synapse Analytics data flows are powered by Azure Data Factory, and if you use Cosmos DB, transactions in your operational database will be mirrored and available for analytics seconds after theyre recorded, so you can explore big data and relational data together. If the questions are useful enough to ask again and again, you can formalize them with traditional analytics techniques.

6. Azure Databricks

If you want to spin up Spark clusters on demand for transforming, cleaning, and enriching your data, Azure Databricks is an Apache Spark-based big data analytics service optimised for Azure with data adapters for various data types and an interactive workspace for building Spark dataflows. You can work in Python, Scala, R, Java, or SQL, but its particularly suitable for building AI systems and you can use common data science frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and sci-kit learn, plus theres integration with Azure Machine Learning.

7. Datamarts in Power BI

Think of datamarts as relational databases designed to do analytics at the business unit level rather than the enterprise data warehouse level, frequently driven by business users who need to collect data from multiple sources and integrate it together in a lightweight way. They dont have the skills or the budget to provision a full relational data warehouse in the Azure portal, they dont need the petabyte scale or even terabytes of data and theyre currently using technologies such as SharePoint lists or Excel for this, making it an underserved market with less governance than CIOs might prefer.

Datamarts in Power BI Premium are a fully managed, self-service, no-code option for up to 100GB of data with workloads automatically optimised for performance and a user interface that looks like Power Query (although advanced users can write DAX or SQL queries). Datamart discovers relationships between tables and generates the dataset, combining the semantic model of Power BI with the relational database model.

You dont need to know anything about how to be a DBA. We dont ask you about partitioning scheme, or how to create an index, Netz explains. You dont need to know how to write SQL and to import data or to query. Everything is visual. Everything is easy to use. Everything is designed for the user who knows how to create Power BI reports.

Bonus: Azure Stream Analytics and Azure Time Series Insights

There are new ways to use analytics for which the cloud is particularly well-suited. Traditional analytics focuses on data in databases, but with sensors and IoT devices, you have transient, time-sensitive data that you want to process and take action on almost in real-time. The same is true for the clickstream form web and mobile apps. Azure Stream Analytics enables you to look at the data as it streams in and process it immediately to discover whether you want to take action. This processing wants to be done close to where the data is ingested, so youd use Event Hubs to collect the data and pass it to Stream Analytics. You can also aggregate data to reduce the amount being stored and query it later to analyze trends or to forecast demand so that youre storing, say, a moving average of the last second rather than recording the temperature every millisecond.

If you dont want to build your own stack for that kind of analytics: Azure Time Series Insights is an end-to-end platform that takes data from IoT devices for you to monitor, analyze, visualize, and act on. You can use it to spot trends, highlight anomalies, and dig into root causes, and because Azure offers a full stack of analytics services, you can feed that data into other services such as Azure Databricks or use it to make models with Azure Machine Learning. But the market is moving away from single-purpose services and Time Series Insights is being deprecated in favour of Azure Data Explorer.
Workaholic, dynamic and a go-getter. That describes 2007 Batch Punjab cadre IAS officer Anindita Mitra, Commissioner of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Ever since she took over as the chief of the civic body of the City Beautiful, she has been conceptualizing new schemes, strengthening the existing ones and implementing them with a missionary zeal so that Chandigarh counts amongst not only the best cities of the country but the world. It's no wonder that one finds her making rounds of the city early in the morning when most people are still in their beds to get a ringside view of what lacks where and how to overcome the problems and issues identified in the morning visitations to different sectors and urban villages.

Sixteen hours work schedule apart, at a personal level, Anindita Mitra is a fitness freak and over a period of time has discovered the benefits of intermittent fasting. What exactly is this? "It's simple. Having no meals from 8 pm in the evening to 2 pm in the afternoon for 6 days in a week, except Saturdays. No breakfast or anything," she says. That's' well 16 hours without a morsel of food. This entitles her to become the brand ambassador of intermittent fasting if there indeed is a commercial concept on it. Of course, she is happy with it only as a mantra of fitness. Many in the city, in any case, describe her as a brand ambassador of hygiene, civic standards and Smart City. The Resident Welfare Associations will vouch for the fact that she is the most accessible officer they have ever come across and is on the dialing list of the office-bearers of these associations.

She used to be an avid reader earlier but of late finds little time to indulge in her passion due to the nature of her work which is more or less 24x7. The last book she read was the Shiva Trilogy series by Amish Tripathi even as the philosophical books by Ayn Rand have been her favorites ever since she got into the world of books. A pet lover, the Labrador whom Mitra considers a part of the family, has been named Google. The inquisitive Google, who is now almost 14 years of age, considered old for a Dog, sits and stretches near the Commissioner with eyes watching her which reflects tranquility. Amid this, The Pioneer got in touch with her to get all the updates about her plans and vision for the City Beautiful.

It has not even been a year since you took over as the chief of the civic body. How do you see these weeks and months heading the MCC?

I joined in August 2021 but got hold of the things better in October. The Swacchta Sarvekshan ranking in which Chandigarh was placed at the Number 66 rank was a wakeup call for me. Service delivery to the citizens and managing and processing the waste was crucial to get going and improve on the rankings. We made it a point to involve citizens and make them realise that they have the most important role in the improvements. Campaign was run on segregation of dry, wet and hazardous waste. The plant for processing dry waste was closed for some reasons and it is only now that we have managed to float tenders and things would get going and the waste dump of Dadu Majra would soon be a thing of the past. Similarly, the processing capacity of wet waste too has been increased and then, we are coming up with another plant for horticulture waste like leaves and remnants of tree pruning. Then, the processing of sanitary waste would be done in incinerators along with bio-medical waste. For hazardous waste, we have signed an agreement with a company and this way all kinds of waste will be processed and taken care of. As service delivery too is extremely important, GPS devices were placed on the vehicles collecting garbage and monitoring units set up. Consequently, the services improved by leaps and bounds.

What is this concept of Cafe Loo in the city which you are implementing?

Well, this is not a new concept as such as a few states and cities like Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai are already implementing it. As a pilot project, in 4-5 markets of the city, we will hand over the maintenance of the public toilets to private players and allow them some commercial activity like setting up bottled cold drink and water dispensers like airports. They will have the incentive to take care of these toilets and it will remain clean all the time.

What are the projects on which you are currently working?

We are also working on stray dog and pet dog management. Sterilization of stray dogs sector wise is being worked out with an NGO. Target would be sterilization of two third bitches and one third dogs to keep the stray population under control. There would be geo-tagging of the dogs when taken for sterilization and then when released. They are highly territorial and have to be released in the same locality. Then, we have also planned a pet dog park as a pilot project. This would be a reserved space for the pet owners and they can come to this park. As pets are not allowed in other parks, this will be a boon for the pet lovers. For stray cattle, intensive catching and renovating the gaushalas are being planned.

MCC has just launched "Har Gadi Bin, Har Gadi Bag'' plan. Could you elaborate on this.

This is to sensitize citizens towards littering and ban on single use plastic. If every citizen keeps a shopping bag in his/her car, plastic bags can be completely eliminated from market areas. If every car has a dustbin, and citizens put their thrash in the same, littering can be greatly reduced. MCC and RLA have tied up with all the car dealers that both at the time of sale of a new car, and at the time of servicing, the car dealer shall provide the customer with a dustbin and a shopping bag to try and inculcate these habits in citizens. RLA will make it compulsory for citizens who come to renew their registrations, to install dustbins and keep cloth/jute shopping bags in the vehicles. This is an important step as Chandigarh has the highest vehicular density anywhere in the country at 878 registered vehicles per 1000 persons.

What are the other initiatives to get rid of plastic bags?

MCC has been taking several steps to curb plastic menace. We have started a selfie with a shopping bag/selfie with a bottle (to reduce the use of plastic disposable water bottles) in which citizens have been asked to tag the MCC social media handles. Recently, a series of events were held with MWAs in which a cash prize of 1 lac has been announced for the first MWA which becomes totally plastic free. Progressive MWAs like sector 46 have started giving discounts to citizens who come with their own shopping bags. MCC has also set up a cloth bag outlet, manned by a SHG in the Sabzi Mandi of Sector 26, to promote use of Cloth/Jute bags and discourage use of single use plastic. A dedicated joint task force of MCC and CPCC will continue to check all places where hoarding of plastic is being done. In the past 6 months, 935 challans of littering and 721 challans of use of banned plast
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Esti pasionat de teatru si de comunicare? Centrul de Teatru din Moldova te invita sa te alaturi echipei
China's civil aviation transport accelerates recovery in June

Xinhua) 09:42, June 29, 2022

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation transport has recorded a notable rebound since June amid the country's improvements in pandemic control and a slew of measures to support the industry.

From June 24 to 26, the number of flights exceeded 10,000 daily for three consecutive days, rebounding to about 60 percent of figures before the pandemic, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

In the week ending June 26, the number of single-day flights averaged 9,860 compared with around 6,500 at the beginning of the month, said an official with the administration.

The average daily passenger traffic reached 804,000 trips in the same week, nearly doubling that at the beginning of June, the official said, stressing the steady recovery of the sector and increasing market confidence.

China has taken multiple measures to help the civil aviation sector tide over difficulties, such as offering financial support through emergency loans and bonds and deferring social insurance premium payments for civil aviation companies.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government at 11 am on Thursday.

A copy of the letter issued by Koshyari late on Tuesday night is with the PTI.

The letter comes amid the rebellion in the ruling Shiv Sena by senior minister Eknath Shinde, who has been camping in Guwahati since last week with majority of party legislators and several independent MLAs, which has pushed the government led by Thackeray, who is also the Sena president, into a crisis.

In his letter sent to Maharashtra Legislature's Principal Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat, Koshyari, said, "A special session of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha (legislative Assembly) shall be summoned on June 30 (Thursday) at 11 am with the only agenda of a trust vote against the chief minister, and the proceedings shall be concluded in any case by 5 pm."

"The proceedings of the House shall be telecast live and appropriate arrangements for the same shall be made," the letter said.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had on Tuesday night met the governor and requested him to ask the Thackeray-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly, claiming that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition dispensation seemed to be in minority as 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support it.
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One in seven charity workers are paid below the real living wage, a lower rate than across the economy as a whole, according to the Living Wage Foundations (LWF) latest report.

A higher proportion of charity sector workers are being paid the real living wage than at any time in the past five years, the report found .

Some 14.1% of jobs in the third sector pay below the real living wage, which recommends that workers are paid 9.90 an hour across the UK or 11.05 in London.

Coupled with the cost-of-living crisis, the foundation argued that low paid third sector workers risk being swept away.

The real living wage, calculated according to what LWF deems the true cost-of-living to be, contrasts with the governments National Living Wage, which rules people over the age of 23 to be paid a minimum of 9.50 an hour with no London weighting.

LWF: A decrease in low-paid workers may not be as positive as it seems

The charity sector has a lower proportion of low-paid jobs (14.1%) than the private sector (22.1%) but higher than the public sector (5.5%), whereas 17.4% of workers are paid below the real living wage in the public and private sectors combined.

From 2015 to 2021, the proportion of employees earning below the real living wage in the charity sector has gone from 16.9% to 14.1%, but this drop of 2.8 percentage points is less than half the decline in that time for the rest of the UK economy.

The Living Wage Foundation said though there was a decline in low-paid third sector workers, this may not have been purely due to an increase in pay.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, low-paid workers were more likely to become unemployed, making the scale of low-pay decrease since the crisis. Instead of workers enjoying pay increases, it may be due to their being less low-paid workers in the labour market altogether.

Women and young people more likely to be low-paid

The report found 16.6% of women in the charity sector are paid below the real living wage, compared to only 10.3% of men.

Of all low-paid jobs in the sector, 71.3% are held by women. Women are more likely to work in the sector, and more likely to be low-paid within it, the report found.

Some 58.4% of 1619-year-olds are paid less than the real living wage in the charity sector, LWF found.

People aged 30-34 are the least likely to earn below the real living wage in the sector, with under 10% on low pay.

This may be because the governments mandatory national minimum wage is the lowest for younger people. However, LWF argues young people should be paid the real living wage for doing the same work as those older than them.

Ethnic minorities are more likely to be low paid

Certain ethnic groups, such as Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African, Black Caribbean and Black British groups are more likely to earn below the real living wage in the sector.

Geographically, the report found the highest level of low pay in the sector is located in the North and Midlands.

Levels of workers paid below the real living wage are 19.4% in the North West, 18.8% in the East Midlands, and 17.8% in the West Midlands.

Everybody needs a wage that meets their everyday needs

Katherine Chapman, director of LWF, encouraged third sector employers to commit to providing the real living wage.

She said: Many low paid third sector workers faced enormous pressures to make sure the most vulnerable people in society were supported during the pandemic.

Now, despite already struggling to keep their heads above water, the one in seven third sector workers still paid below the real living wage face being swept away by the rising tide of high living costs.

Everybody needs a wage that meets their everyday needs, but it cant be right that so many of those who look after our loved ones and the most vulnerable in society are struggling to afford even the basics.

We strongly encourage all those third sector employers that can afford to do so to commit to pay a real Living Wage and for funders to provide enough to support real living wage jobs through the grant-making process. The real living wage is a lifeline for workers during these difficult times  and will help ensure a sustainable and resilient sector in the future.

The All Work and Low Pay report was produced by the LWF. The data was gathered through quantitative research of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the Labour Force Survey and Omnibus polling of more than 2,000 UK adults over 18. Qualitative interviews with third sector workers and their employers also informed the research.

sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
Each month, Covering Climate Now speaks with different journalists about their experiences on the climate beat and their ideas for pushing our craft forward. This month, as part of CCNows Food & Water coverage week, we speak with Tamar Haspel and Michael Grunwald, cohosts of the new podcast Climavores. Haspel writes about food and science for the Washington Post and is the author of To Boldly Grow (2022). Grunwald is a longtime climate and politics reporter currently writing a book about how to feed the world without frying it and a column on food and climate for Canary Media. Follow Haspel and Grunwald on Twitter.

Why zero in on the intersection of food and climate?

Grunwald: Well, Ive been writing about climate for more than a decade. In 2018, I wrote this piece for Politico Magazine about my life in the new green economy. I had put solar panels on my roof and gotten an electric car. I also had this list of all the things I didnt do because Im lazy or selfish. I didnt unplug my computer at night, I didnt line-dry my laundry, and I hadnt gone vegan. I was looking at that, and I thought, Is going vegan actually even good for the climate? I knew that everyone was saying meat is bad, but I realized I didnt really know why it was bad.

We know were frying the planet with fossil fuels, but food and farming are just as much a part of our daily lives. Yet, even as an alleged expert on climate, I realized food was foreign territory to me. It made me think others would probably want to know more about food and climate, too.

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Haspel: I came at food and climate from the opposite direction. Ive been writing about food basically since the Pliocene era. Over the decades, of course, the ideas and priorities people have around food have changed a lot. And, increasingly, one of the biggest stories in food has become how our food affects the climate. The real question, though, is do people care about climate enough to factor it in at the grocery store? In America I think were not fully there yet, though I will say younger people tend to care much more.

Grunwald: What weve found is that a lot of people do want to make better decisions, but theyre confused about how. They dont know if that means eating local, if it means eating organic, if it means eating less beef. As journalists I think we can help unconfuse people a little bit.

Tamar, at the beginning of the first episode of Climavores, you say, This show is definitely not about perfect. What do you mean by that?

Haspel: We dont ever say Do this or Dont do that. All of us have an impact on the climate. But as Mike is fond of saying, Better is better than worse. So we want to share with people things they can eat less of. I think thats kinder and more realistic than saying, you know, Go vegan today.

The thing about climate and food is there are always going to be trade-offs. Eating beef isnt like cheating on your taxes. When it comes to cheating on your taxes, theres a clear moral line. You dont do it. But with climate, there are always going to be judgment calls people need to make for themselves. I eat hardly any beef; a lot of my protein comes from fish that I catch, for example. But I catch the fish from a boat with a diesel engine, and I pull the boat with a truck that has another diesel engine.

Grunwald: I compare it to religion, in that we all have to find the level of hypocrisy were willing to live with. I think going vegan is better for the climate, and I admire people who do it, but I havent been able to myself. I get on my high horse about my solar panels and my electric car

Haspel: And then you drive your electric car to the airport and get on a transcontinental flight.

Grunwald: Exactly! I mean, look, were all human. Were not here to order peoples lunches for them. What Tamar and I can do, hopefully, is give people more information about the choices theyre making.

You dedicate significant time in early episodes to unpacking and breaking down conventional ideas around food, such as that eating local is necessarily good for the climate, which you findalthough it might be more ethical and good for a lot of other reasonsit isnt really.

Grunwald: I think, often, people have these ideological visions of what farming ought to look like. Some of these are totally legitimate, but they dont always line up with whats actually best for the climate. On our show, were going to bore people to tears about efficiency. I think people assume, you know, efficiencythats Monsanto, thats Cargill, thats Big Ag, and it means treating animals, the soil, and workers all like shit. But from a climate perspective, were going to need some efficiency to feed the world without frying it.

Haspel: Every journalist should read Jonathan Haidts The Righteous Mind, which really challenges how good you think you are at making evidence-based decisions. If youre human, basically, you suck at it. We all do. So if youre going to be a journalist, I think you have to know that you suck and understand that your job is to figure out what the evidence actually says.

A lot of us have this vision of small, local, biodiverse farms as the counterpoint and the antidote to that Big Ag that Mike was riffing on a second ago. If youre convinced that this kind of agriculture is the right way forward, you will find ways to believe that its also better for the climate, because confirmation bias rules the human psyche. As a journalist, though, its our job to not fall victim to that confirmation bias. That said, I dont think people who are dug in on visions of agriculture that arent supported by the facts should be dismissed. These are people who care about our food system, and I want to be able to reach them. I want them to be able to reach me, too, if I get something wrong.

Beyond some of these articles of faith, though, feeding the world while also protecting the climate is an enormous and difficult question on which well-informed and well-meaning people are bound to disagree. How do you think about helping audiences navigate this uncertainty?

Haspel: I think we lead with it. We lead with the idea that food is all trade-offs, all the time. Theres no kind of food thats better in every regard, and typically the foods that you or I would hang our hats on as better foods are in fact reflections of our culture and values as much as they are reflections of some truth. Our job as journalists is to meet people there and talk about the other true things that may change peoples minds. The last thing we want to do is make things more cut-and-dry than they actually are. So our show is really about delving into the complexities and the trade-offs.

So, broadly speaking, how are journalists doing on covering the intersections of food and climate?

Haspel: I think theres some genuine confusion out there, in addition to this issue of bringing our own visions of what good food is to our reportingwhich, I will add, Im sure Ive been guilty of also. Food kind of lends itself to people thinking they know more about it than they do, because everybody eats and food is so personal to us. Ive written a lot about nutrition, though, and I do think in some ways journalists have a better shot at covering climate and food than nutrition and food, because nutrition and food is extremely difficult to study. The whole field is filled with science thats not certain and can be downright unreliable.

Grunwald: Everybody thinks they know their bodylike, I know whats best for me, right? But most people probably dont think they know whats best for the atmosphere. Granted, people hate journalists, but maybe they trust us a little more to explain about climate than they do most things.

Do you have advice for journalists covering climate and food?

Haspel: One thing thats been incredibly useful to me in getting my arms around our enormous food system is I always try to put big, abstruse issues into context, where you can understand the scale. Journalists should know how many crop acres there are in the United States, for example, and they should know whats grown on them.

Grunwald: Is it 400 million?

Haspel: Very good, yes, 400 million. And we should know every person needs about a million calories each year, which comes down basically to one half acre of cropland per person. People think we should only ever eat wild salmon and not farmed salmon. Okay, well, you know how many servings each person gets in a year if we do that? Everybody gets one serving. Just one.

Our stories are almost always micro-level, but we should try to understand on a macro level what happens when we do this or that type of farming.

Grunwald: Macro is exactly the word I was going to use. Agriculture takes up 40 percent of the earth. The numbers involved here are so gigantic that specificity often becomes difficult. But basically the problem is we need to use less resources, right? We cant just keep having and using more. But [because the Earths population is growing] were also going to need a lot more food. How much more? Are we actually going to need [as some say] two more Indias worth of deforestation? I dont know. We might argue around the edges, but if so, thats bad for the climate. So, in agriculture stories, we can apply some truth tests. Directionally, on a macro level, is a solution making the problem better or worse?

One thing that does make it harder to really do nuanced reporting here is that the good guys and bad guys arent always obvious. When you write about energy, you know, youve got clear arguments for [fossil fuel] abundance, and then youve got the climate people saying no, which is fairly straightforward. With food and climate, though, its a lot more complicated.

Lets take beef again, for example, since thats the big hot-button issue. The two things Tamar and I have said about beef are: A, it really is the food thats worst for the climate and, B, that means making beef better is one of the biggest opportunities for reducing agricultures impact on the environment. But its hard to report on that because youve mostly got people who are either pro-beef or anti-beef. There isnt a natural constituency to ask how we grapple with beef and make it in less damaging ways for the climate.

Haspel: If you had a Venn diagram of the things that are true about food and the things for which theres a natural constituency, there would be no overlap at all. Thats the difficulty in writing about food. You wind up pissing off everybody, because as a journalist youre not on a side.

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Covering Climate Now is a global journalism collaboration co-founded by CJR and The Nation, in partnership with The Guardian, strengthening coverage of the climate story. Follow CCNow on Twitter and visit coveringclimatenow.org.
BREAKING NEWS: The Jan. 6 committee abruptly scheduled a session for tomorrow to hear recently obtained evidence and witness testimony. The committee released names of witnesses for *prior* hearings. Theyre NOT doing so ahead of tomorrow. It adds a layer of intrigue and hints at a blockbuster. I think we have more information right now as to who its not gonna be as opposed to who it is gonna be. There are a number of excellent reporters who have been on the Jan. 6 beat for the last year and a half. That not a single one has (to my knowledge) gotten the go-ahead to reveal tomorrows testimony/witnesses yet iskind of amazing. NEWS: Cassidy HUTCHINSON will be the surprise witness at the Jan. 6 hearing tomorrow. Whats not known is why the committee is rushing her out into public today. Im told the panel would not have called such a sudden hearing (members flew in last-minute from across the country) unless it would contain significant revelations. BETTER BE A BIG DEAL.

IT WAS A BIG DEAL AND IT WILL GROW BIGGER! Thank you, Cassidy Hutchinson. We thought we knew everything about this day. Just absolutely incredible. In an era defined by blockbuster political hearingsJames Comey, Robert Mueller, Brett Kavanaugh, Michael Cohen and Fiona Hill, to name a fewCassidy Hutchinson and the House Jan. 6 committee successfully delivered what few others have. One of the most stunning offerings of testimony in American history. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive covered politics a long time. I dont think there has been testimony like thissince Watergate. This lived up to the hype of what I had been told about this witness. If you want to make the John Dean comparisonthis feels that compelling. This is an historic day. Our descendants are going to ask us what we know about Cassidy Hutchinson. Thats a name that they will know. Hutch, Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: How one womans bullseye testimony took down the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang that couldnt shoot straight, by Maureen Dowd.

New from CJR: A profile of Punchbowl

Between these two rounds of media hypeokay, the last headline is a parodyHutchinson, a twenty-six-year-old former aide to Mark Meadows, who was President Trumps chief of staff on January 6, appeared before the panel investigating the events of that day, and justified it. (The hype, not the events of January 6.) She said that, in the weeks prior to the insurrection, shed had to wipe ketchup off the White House walls after Trump learned that his attorney general had publicly refuted his election lies and became so angry that he threw a plate. She said Meadows told her, in the days prior to the insurrection, that January 6 might get real, real bad, then under-reacted when it did. She said that Trump told Secret Service agents to let people with weapons into the rally that immediately preceded the insurrection because theyre not here to hurt me and their presence would make the crowd look bigger on TV. She said shed heard that when Trump was driven back to the White House after the rallyand not to the Capitol, as hed demandedhe tried to grab the steering wheel, yelling, Im the fing president, take me up to the Capitol now. At the end of the hearing, Rep. Liz Cheney, the committees vice chair, suggested that Trump associates have tried to intimidate its witnesses.

Prosecutorial pundits were quick to suggest that a legal vise might finally be tightening around Trump; a former deputy to Ken Starr told Peter Baker, of the New York Times, that Hutchinsons testimony was the smoking gun needed to charge Trump with seditious conspiracy. Others hyped the hearings significance in more general terms. Bob Woodwardwho titled one of his many Trump books Rage, because thats what Trump inspires in peoplecalled the testimony the first concrete series of examples of him resorting to rage and violence himself. Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian on MSNBC, said that as of today, irrevocably, it is very clear and very concrete: this was a president who led a coup detat and an insurrection against the people of the United States. We keep saying this, CNNs Kyung Lah said, but it remains true each time. It was even worse than we imagined.

I have often written, in this newsletter, that this has not been true each time; quite commonly, new reporting hyped by members of the pressmany of whom seem to obsess over whats secret and shun whats obviousas evidence that January 6 was worse than we imagined has been far less significant than what we saw with our own eyes at the time. It has always been abundantly clear and concrete that Trump led an attempted coup. In my view, however, Hutchinsons testimony was a rare exception to this rule: she showed that January 6 was worse than we imaginedor, at least, than we knew. She enhanced the publics understanding of the sheer depth of Trumps responsibility for the attack on the Capitol, and illustrated it with some truly eye-popping details. The steering-wheel metaphor is so exquisite you couldnt write it.

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That Hutchinsons testimony delivered was, of course, a victory for the committee, which has consistently shown in recent weeks that it has mastered the art of the hype. The committee had already been lauded, in a series of recent articles, for imbuing its first televised hearings with the tight, gripping narrative arc of a TV miniseries, a far cry from the bloated, pompous proceduralism of hearings past; yesterdayas James Poniewozik, the TV critic at the Times, put itthe committee added whats known in the biz as a bottle episode, breaking the narrative to zoom in on a single character. The reason for the hearings surprise last-minute organization still isnt totally clear and could reflect many factorsthe committees sincere eagerness to put new evidence in front of the American people, Hutchinsons security, Hutchinsons recent change of lawyer, a desire to preempt possible witness tamperingbut its not outlandish to speculate, as some media watchers have, that the surprise itself was the point: an act of stagecraft to amp up the drama. That was certainly the effect. Poniewozik likened the hearing to Watergate as punched up by the writers room of 24.

As Ive also written, while media critics often scorn efforts to judge serious political proceedings as TV drama, doing so isnt inherently trivial; the problem, to my mind, has lain more in many pundits shallow, artificial conception of what makes for dramatic TV. The January 6 committee, unlike many of its forebears, has managed to put on hearings that are actually good TV while also meeting the expectations of such pundits while also laying out and hammering home important truths. Yesterday was the apogee of that achievement.

And yet the act of judging democracy by televisual standards does have to stop somewhere. For a scripted series, the price of success, as Poniewozik put it, is raising the bar for future episodes; in the real world, if future January 6 hearings dont match yesterdays dramatic standards, they shouldnt be written off as flops. (This is West Wing world, not Westworld.) More important, while yesterdays hearing also cleared the factual, worse-than-we-knew bar, it never actually needed tothat bar is extremely high because what we already know of Trumps conduct is utterly devastating. Some of the details Hutchinson laid out might be important in a future legal case against Trumpbut they might not be necessary to that case, and journalistic accountability need not always be concerned with meeting legal standards. It matters, of course, whether what Hutchinson said is true, and journalists should try to corroborate her accountalready, various outlets are reporting that the Secret Service agent present when Trump allegedly grabbed the wheel of his car is prepared to testify under oath that that never happenedbut we shouldnt obsess over it as if the committees probe and the broader January 6 story hinge upon it. On TV, exquisite metaphors dont need to be true. In real life, they do. But in neither case are they more important than the deeper truth theyre illustrating.

Ive made this point before, too. If Im laboring it in a tedious and repetitive way now, its no more tedious and repetitive than the way many journalists and pundits hype novelty and optics around big media events like yesterdays hearing. In this case, at least, the hype was justified. But it mostly wasnt necessary; Hutchinsons testimony spoke for itself. By cleverly catering to the medias instinct for hype ahead of time, the committee ensured attention. But our instinct for hype is, ultimately, what leads us to keep moving the goalposts on stories whose central truth is already well-establisheda depressing, repetitive trend that will not serve the committee, or any of us, so well in the long run. Raising the bar should not be the price of terrifying truths.

Below, more on the committee and DC media:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Ukraine fatigue, and what the press canand cantdo about it

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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.
MENDON, Mo. (AP)  Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were in Missouri Tuesday trying to determine how an Amtrak train carrying more than 200 people slammed into a dump truck, killing two train passengers and the truck driver.

Amtraks Southwest Chief was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago Monday afternoon when it struck a dump truck and derailed at the crossing near Mendon. It wasnt immediately clear how many people were hurt but hospitals near the western Missouri accident scene reported receiving more than 40 patients from the crash.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the train was carrying about 207 passengers and crew, but Amtrak said in a statement there were 275 passengers and 12 crew. The disparity could not immediately be resolved.

The collision derailed seven cars, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The truck was broken into pieces.

The crossing in a rural area about 84 miles (135 kilometers) northeast of Kansas City has no lights or other signals to warn of an approaching train, and local residents have complained that the overgrowth of brush and the steep incline from the road to the tracks makes it hard to see oncoming trains from either direction.

Rob Nightingale of Taos, New Mexico, said he was dozing off in his sleeper compartment when the lights flickered and the train rocked back and forth.

It was like slow motion. Then all of a sudden I felt it tip my way. I saw the ground coming toward my window, and all the debris and dust, Nightingale told The Associated Press. Then it sat on its side and it was complete silence. I sat there and didnt hear anything. Then I heard a little girl next door crying.

Nightingale was unhurt and he and other passengers were able to climb out of the overturned train car through a window.

Its too early to speculate on why the truck was on the tracks, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said. Trains wont be able to run on the track for a matter of days while they gather evidence, she said.

Mike Spencer, who grows corn and soybeans on the land surrounding the intersection a couple of miles southwest of Mendon, said everyone in the small community understands the intersection is dangerous, especially for those driving heavy, slow farm equipment.

Spencer said he had contacted state transportation officials, Chariton County commissioners and BNSF Railway, which owns the track, about the potential danger. Spencer, who is on the board of a local levy district, said the dump truck driver was hauling rock for a levy on a local creek, a project that had been ongoing for a couple days.

Messages left Tuesday with Chariton County commissioners were not immediately returned.

Passenger Dian Couture was in the dining car with her husband celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary when she heard a loud noise and the train wobbled and then crashed onto its side.

The people on our left-hand side flew across and hit us, and then we were standing on the windows on the right-hand side of the car, Couture told WDAF-TV. Two gentlemen in the front came up, stacked a bunch of things and popped out the window and literally pulled us out by our hands.

Passengers included 16 youths and eight adults from two Boy Scout troops who were traveling home to Appleton, Wisconsin, as well as high school students from Pleasant Ridge High School in Easton, Kansas, who were headed to a Future Business Leaders of America conference in Chicago.

It was the second Amtrak collision in as many days. Three people in a car were killed Sunday afternoon when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into it in Northern California, authorities said.

People have been injured or killed in at least six other accidents involving Amtrak trains since 2015. Last year, three people died and others were injured when an Amtrak derailed in north-central Montana as it traveled from Chicago to Seattle.

Amtrak is a federally supported company that operates more than 300 passenger trains daily in nearly every contiguous U.S. state and parts of Canada. The Southwest Chief takes about two days to travel from Los Angeles to Chicago, picking up passengers at stops in between.

Associated Press reporters Margaret Stafford in Liberty, Missouri; Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Grant Schulte in Omaha, Nebraska; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Jim Salter in OFallon, Missouri, contributed to this report.

About the photo: In this photo provided by Dax McDonald, an Amtrak passenger train lies on its side after derailing near Mendon, Mo., on Monday, June 27, 2022. The Southwest Chief, traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, was carrying about 243 passengers when it collided with a dump truck near Mendon, Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said. (Dax McDonald via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by eight citizens of Mali who sought to hold Hershey Co., Nestle SA, Cargill Inc. and others liable for child slavery on Ivory Coast cocoa farms.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich said the plaintiffs in the proposed class action lacked standing to sue because they did not show a traceable connection between the seven defendant companies and the specific plantations where they worked.

She said the plaintiffs also did not adequately explain the role of intermediaries in the cocoa supply chain, noting that the companies did not monitor activity in free zones where about 70% to 80% of the cocoa is produced.

Mali and the Ivory Coast share a border in West Africa.

The plaintiffs said they were trafficked as children after being approached by unfamiliar men who promised paying jobs, but were ultimately not paid for their labor, threatened with starvation if they did not work, and required to live in squalor.

Their lawyer, Terry Collingsworth, said the plaintiffs plan to appeal, hoping to force the companies to keep their own promises and end this abhorrent system they have created.

The other defendants included privately-held Mars Inc, Mondelez International Inc MDLZ.O, Barry Callebaut AG BARN.S and Olam International Ltd OLAM.SI.

In court papers, the seven defendants said they strongly condemn the use of forced labor and were working to address non-forced child labor in cocoa supply chains.

But they said the plaintiffs overbroad legal theory could leave too many people liable for forced child labor, including consumers and retailers who might benefit from lower prices.

The plaintiffs had sued under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a similar lawsuit by six Malian citizens against Cargill and Nestle brought under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 federal law.

That decision was the latest in a series of rulings limiting access to federal courts based on human rights abuses outside the country.

The case is Coubaly et al v Cargill Inc et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 21-00386.
A Florida accident victim gets a second chance to compel an auto insurer to pay a $12.7 million judgment as a consequence of failing to respond to a $10,000 settlement offer, under a decision Tuesday by a federal appellate court.

A divided panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court botched the jury instructions in a lawsuit filed by Dustin C. Brink against Direct General Insurance Co. by failing to address the insurers duty to advise its insureds of a settlement opportunity. The panel returned the lawsuit to the US District Court in Tampa for a new trial after the first one ended with a verdict in favor of the insurer.

The panels majority opinion repeated part of a statement that Brinks attorney said during closing arguments: One of the easiest ways to invite a bad faith claim is to fail to keep the insured advised of settlement opportunities.

The dissenting member of the three-judge panel wrote separately to say that there was no error, in his view, and the evidence showed that the plaintiffs attorneys were plotting to pursue a bad faith claim to begin with.

Brinks attorney, Brent Steinberg with Swope, Rodante in Tampa, said in an email that his client, an Iraq War veteran, suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the accident. There is no dispute that Direct General failed to respond to the settlement offer, he said, and the evidence shows that this was not the result of an honest oversight.

Discovery revealed that during the same period, the assigned adjuster was failing to timely respond to approximately 46% of the attorney time-limited demands she received, Steinberg said. Her supervisor also had 14  20% of claims which were past due at any given point.

Brink was seriously injured at 2:09 a.m. on April 5, 2008 when his Kawasaki motorcycle collided with a borrowed vehicle driven by Juan L. Ruiz Pereles in Kissimmee, Florida. The car was insured through a policy that Direct General issued to Pereles father, who owned the car.

Direct General learned about the accident three weeks later. From the start, the insurers claims adjusters had trouble communicating with the parties involved. Direct General was unable to reach Pereles or his father. The insurer initially communicated with Brinks attorney, but later learned the lawyer had quit representing him.

For months after the accident, Direct General sent letters to Pereles father explaining its policy limits and asking if any other insurance might apply. The insurer tried 11 times to reach Brinks new attorney, Alexander Clem, with no luck. Eventually, Direct General decided to pay its policy limits and mailed a check for $10,000 to Clems office. The check was never cashed.

When Clem finally responded to Direct General more than a year later, he asked whether there was any other insurance coverage available. The insurer replied that it was unaware of any other coverage and offered to sign an affidavit. Clem did not reply until eight months later, when he agreed to settle the case for the policy limit as long as he received the insurance information he requested within the next couple of weeks.

This time, it was Direct General that went silent. After three weeks passed, Clem informed Direct General that he had filed a lawsuit on Brinks behalf against Pereles and his father. He also asked why the insurer had not responded to his settlement offer.

A jury awarded Brink $12,679,837.17. By then, six years had passed since the accident.

Next, Brink filed a bad faith lawsuit against Direct General, alleging that the company had failed to timely respond to its settlement offer and had not advised its insureds of the settlement opportunity.

Once again, the case went to trial. After evidence was presented and arguments made, the US District Court gave a standard jury instruction that addressed only an insurers liability for failing to settle.

During deliberations, the jury asked the court whether the bad faith should be based on the full length of time since the accident or just the time after Brinks lawyer made a settlement offer. The court advised the jurors to consider the totality of the circumstances.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Direct General. Brink appealed, arguing that jury instruction was defective because it did not address the insurers duty to advise its insureds.

A majority opinion written by Britt C. Grant says that Brinks attorneys had asked for a jury instruction that would have made if clear that the jury could find Direct General liable by failing to fully, honestly and promptly advise the insureds.

The trial courts failure to include that in its instruction to the jury prejudiced Brink, the opinion says. It didnt matter that the plaintiffs attorneys informed the jury of that duty during trial.

When a jury makes its findings, it must depend on the law as stated by the court, not the law as construed in variousoften conflictingways by attorneys throughout the trial, the opinion says.

In a dissenting opinion, Senior Judge R. Lanier Anderson III said the jury instructions offered by Brinks attorney were defective and the district court had no duty of doing the editing that would have been necessary to make them acceptable.

Aside from that, Anderson said Pereles and his father were not prejudiced by their insurers failure to settle. Whats more, overwhelming evidence indicates that Brinks lawyers had no intention of settling the case, he wrote.

Rather, it shows that Brinks counsel tried to lead Direct General into making mistakes that he could later use to generate a bad faith claim, the dissenting opinion says.

Stock photo shown is for illustrative purposes only.
BRENTWOOD, Calif. (AP)  Three women killed when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into their car in Northern California were headed to a fundraiser at a vineyard for a Brentwood resident who died less than a week ago.

The crash occurred Sunday around 1 p.m. in a rural area near Brentwood, about an hours drive southeast of San Francisco, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Two others had major injuries and were transported to a hospital, said Steve Aubert, fire marshal with the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District.

The Amtrak train slammed into the car, sending it careening off a long dirt driveway and into another vehicle. The private train crossing has no railroad crossing gates, lights or signals, the East Bay Times reported.

Aubert said Monday there are signs posted on both sides of the tracks warning of fast-moving trains. He said the trains are allowed to go up to 80 mph (129 kph) through that area.

None of the 85 passengers and crew members was injured in the collision, Aubert said.

The deadly crash happened about 300 feet (about 90 meters) from an outdoor fundraiser for the family of a Brentwood resident who died less than a week ago, Fatima Jimenez, who was one of the people there to mourn, told the newspaper.

Jimenez said she ran out of the fundraiser and found two women dead on the ground, along with a bloodied child, and helped pull a man from the wreckage.

People fainted when they heard what was going on, Jimenez said. It was chaotic. There are no words to describe it  Im still in shock.

Mitch Bloomfield, who owns the Bloomfield Vineyards property where the fundraiser was held, told the newspaper he installed his own signs on each side of the tracks declaring TRAINS!! after repeatedly asking BNSF Railway to install a railroad crossing gate with lights and signals.

Ive called BNSF countless times to have them put in a crossing there, he said. They make a lot of money but they dont like to spend it.

Hopefully now this is more of an important thing, he added.

A message to BNSF Railway seeking comment was not immediately answered Monday.

In Missouri, three people were killed and several others were injured Monday when a passenger train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago struck a dump truck and derailed in a remote, rural area of Missouri, officials said.

About the photo: A vehicle that collided with an Amtrak train in Brentwood, Calif., on Sunday, June 26, 2022 is shown. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Experts cited a lack of understanding of students interests for poor marks and called for identifying their interests during formative years in school. Representational image/DC

Hyderabad: Within hours of the Intermediate results announcement on Tuesday, dissatisfied parents started making enquiries on steps for revaluation of papers, recounting and supplementary exams for their wards to get better scores.

Educational counsellors and psychologists received around 300 calls on the helpline number on Tuesday, mostly from worried students and parents over poor marks.

Dr Anupama, a clinical psychologist who attended to as many as 100 calls, mostly from rural areas, said, Students called us wanting to know the procedure for revaluation and supplementary exams, which was their major concern. We did not get any suicide calls this year, luckily.

Many parents said that they have received no support from the board or the institutions, and that students must be given grace marks due to disruptions to the academic session due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parents are dissatisfied with the results and are blaming the board for wronging their children, who worked hard. Most of the students are worried and are in panic as to how they could fail or score low marks, said Asif Hussain Sohail, the president of Telangana Parents Association.

However, junior college managements dismissed such claims.

A principal from a private junior college said that physical classes started in September. Several model papers were distributed to the students. The syllabus was already cut short and more choices were also given. After so much effort, when students do not want to study, nothing can be done, the principal said.

Experts cited a lack of understanding of students interests for poor marks and called for identifying their interests during formative years in school.

Dr Jawaharlal, a student behavioural analyst, said, Parents should become the support system of their children and approach their teachers to understand their childs interest, instead of imposing their unfulfilled ambitions on their child.
The process of merger of all the 2,110 municipal and corporation schools with the Department of School Education (DSE) is almost complete. (Representational Photo: PTI)

VISAKHAPATNAM: The process of merger of all the 2,110 municipal and corporation schools with the Department of School Education (DSE) is almost complete.

Officials said 104 municipal schools were merged in Vijayawada while 147 Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) schools were merged in Vizag. Nearly 30 per cent of the teachers were against the move. Schools are reopening in July.

"This does not involve buildings and other infrastructure. The students, teachers and the systems of education are all covered by the DSE. All formalities and procedures have been completed on paper, they said.

The GVMC has no role to play in the education system in the new academic year from next month," GVMC deputy education officer D. Srinivas told Deccan Chronicle.

Municipal officials did not take proper care of the schools sector because of their other civic responsibilities. Now, DSE will look after the schools and ensure better management and supervision, it is hoped.

While a section of teachers in municipal schools are not happy with the merger, there have been no serious protests so far. Teachers' union leaders say seniority will be lost and promotions will be affected. They are currently receiving transfers within the municipality or municipal corporation.

Once the municipal schools are merged into the DSE, the transfers will be similar to that of teachers working in the Zilla Parishad. Hence, the opposition.

"The transfer issue is not a serious one. It will happen in urban limits only. So, teachers need not worry about it," a DSE official told DC.

According to leaders of the municipal teachers federation, the services of 14,000 of them will be merged with the services of 60,000 ZP teachers.

Recently, Guntur municipal teachers staged a protest seeking immediate withdrawal of GO - 84 by the government and a halt to the merger of municipal schools.

In some areas, villagers too are up in arms against the move. They are concerned over the merger of the Sirsapalli school with Koppaka ZP high school in Anakapalli district. The teachers at the school were transferred.

A parent said, "It is difficult to go to the Koppaka school as it is 3km away from the highway."
Mumbai: Taking an aggressive stand against the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said they should seek votes in their fathers name. Speaking at the partys national executive meeting held at party headquarters Sena Bhavan, Thackeray said that the rebels would not be allowed to use the name of Bal Thackeray to seek votes.

The national executive passed six resolutions, one of which authorised Thackeray all the powers to take action against Eknath Shinde and his supporter MLAs. Another resolution said that only the Shiv Sena is allowed to use Bal Thackerays name.

After the meeting, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has been conferred all the rights to take immediate stern action against rebel MLAs and party office bearers.

Nobody will be allowed to use Bal Thackerays name for their political interest. Legal action would be taken against them. One more important thing that Uddhav ji said was that in future they should seek votes in their fathers name. They should not seek votes in the name of Shiv Senas father (Bal Thackeray). He belongs only to Shiv Sena, Raut added.

According to the party sources, the resignation would be taken of all the ministers, who have defected, in the next 24 hours. The betrayal of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs will not be forgotten, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray said.

Reacting to senior Thackerays comment, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena said that Bal Thackeray is an ideology. "When they (Shiv Sena) wanted to make the mayors bunglow a memorial for Balasaheb, they said Balasaheb belongs to the entire Hindustan. Now they are claiming he is their private property," MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said.

One of the rebel MLAs, Deepak Kesarkar, said, We have not left Shiv Sena. We are not going to merge with anyone. We will be setting up a separate block of the party. I have always told the CM that the Sena needs to be with the BJP. The synergy between a BJP Prime Minister and the state CM is important for the development of the state. We also want to tell the CM to fulfil his constitutional responsibility and ensure that the violence is curbed. We do not feel safe to return as no action is being taken against the perpetrators."

"Recognition should be given to our faction, if it isnt given, we will go to court and prove our existence, numbers. We have numbers, but we respect CM Uddhav Thackeray, we wont speak against him. We must follow the path on which we fought the Assembly elections," Mr Kesarkar added.

Meanwhile, the deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly has issued a disqualification notice to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs of the Shinde camp who are currently in Guwahati. They have been given time till June 27 to file their written replies.

In the last 48 hours, the Sena has demanded the disqualification of 16 party MLAs for defying the party whip. According to the sources, Eknath Shinde, Bharatshet Gogavale, Sandipanrao Bhumre, Abdul Sattar, Sanjay Shirsat, Yamini Jadhav, Anil Babar, Balaji Kinikar, Tanaji Sawant, Prakash Surve, Mahesh Shinde, Lata Sonawane, Chimanraon Patil, Ramesh Bornare, Sanjay Raimulkar and Balaji Kalyankar have been asked to file their reply by 5.30 pm on Monday.

In the summon, which is accessed by this newspaper, the MLAs have also been informed that if they fail to give their replies to the deputy Speakers with appropriate documents, it would be deemed that they dont want to say anything and accordingly, a decision would be taken.

Mr Kesarkar said that a whip is applicable only on the floor of the Assembly and that nobody can be disqualified for not attending a party meeting. He also said that the notice is against the principle of natural justice. "The notice gives only 48 hours to respond when there is no urgency. We will seek a weeks time and give appropriate reply to it," he said.

The Eknath Shinde-led faction announced that it was naming itself the "Shiv Sena Balasaheb Group". "If anyone has a problem if we use the name of Balasaheb, we will call ourselves only Shiv Sena.
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Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil leave after meeting Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, amid the political crisis in Maharashtra that is threatening MVA's government, in Mumbai (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra and after reports that some of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in Guwahati were showing signs of discontentment, former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday met the BJP top brass, including party president J.P. Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah, and also consulted legal luminaries, including Mahesh Jethmalani, Mukul Rohtagi and Tushar Mehta over the ongoing situation in his home state.

Fadnavis is also expected to meet rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde in Mumbai after his meetings in the national capital. Though the BJP has denied it is playing any role in the Maharashtra crisis, it is facing flak by the MVA partners for trying to oust the incumbent government through Operation Lotus.

The ruling alliance in Maharashtra, Maha Vikas Aghadi  Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP  has been jolted after around 39 Sena MLAs and around 10 Independent MLAs rebelled against the MVA, demanding that the Sena break ties with the Congress and NCP and join hands with the BJP, with whom it had fought the last Assembly polls and the BJP-Sena alliance had secured an absolute majority in the state in the last polls.

Sources said that among the issues Fadnavis discussed with the BJP top brass and the lawyers was when and how a no-confidence motion against the Uddhav Thackeray-led government should be moved, how should the rebel MLAs be provided security on their arrival in Mumbai and also their safety inside the state Assembly and ongoing cases in the courts over the Maharashtra crisis.

Sources said the rebel MLAs could approach governor conveying the decision to withdraw their support from the Thackeray government, who then will be bound to ask the MVA for a floor test in the Assembly.
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Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday made an appeal asking rebel MLAs to return and hold talks with him. (PTI file photo)

Mumbai: Political developments in Maharashtra gathered momentum late on Tuesday night as senior BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis met governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and is learnt to have sought a special session of the state Assembly to prove the majority of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Mr Fadnavis, with state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and other party leaders, called on Mr Koshyari at around 10 pm shortly after he returned to the city from New Delhi, where he had gone to consult the leadership. Mr Fadnavis said: We have written a letter to the governor in which we mentioned the current political situation. Thirty-nine MLAs of the Shiv Sena are out of the state and they do not want to continue in the government with the NCP and Congress. The MVA government has lost its majority. We have requested the governor to ask the chief minister to prove his majority in the Assembly.

This is the first time the BJP has directly got into action after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde rebelled against the MVA government along with 39 party MLAs.

Earlier, in a last-ditch effort to persuade the rebel MLAs, Shiv Sena supremo and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday made a passionate appeal asking them to return and hold talks. Come back to Mumbai, lets talk, well find a way (out), he said. Saying it was still not too late, Mr Thackeray claimed other parties will not be able to offer the respect and honour the Shiv Sena has given them. Dont fall prey to anyones missteps. The honour given to you by the Shiv Sena cant be found anywhere. If you come forward and speak, we will sort out the issues. As Shiv Sena party chief and family head, I am still worried about you. Come here for a dialogue, he said.

You (rebel MLAs) have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. Every day new information is coming forth about you. Many of you are in touch with us and you are still in the Shiv Sena. Some family members also contacted me, Mr Thackeray added.

Meanwhile, before Mr Fadnavis met Mr Koshyari, sources said eight Independent MLAs had sent an email to the governor from Guwahati urging him to order a floor test. Party sources in New Delhi claimed that there was a good chance that Mr Fadnavis might be able to attend the BJP national executive meeting in Hyderabad from July 2 as the new CM of Maharashtra.

Earlier, the Shiv Sena refuted reports that Mr Thackeray had called Mr Fadnavis in a bid to save his government. In a statement, the party said: The news that Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray called Devendra Fadnavis to save the government is utterly misleading. What Uddhav Thackeray has to say, he speaks publicly.

The Maharashtra CM has also directed the state urban development department to submit all files related to decisions taken by rebel leader Eknath Shinde from June 1.

Meanwhile, Mr Shinde said in Guwahati he will return to Mumbai soon and that his faction was taking Balasahebs legacy forward. He added that false information was being spread in public on the MLAs being in touch with the Sena leadership. This came after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed the party was hopeful of the return of a few MLAs, whom the party did not consider rebels as they were still in touch with them.

I am not leaving the Shiv Sena. I am the real Shiv Sena, Mr Shinde said, rubbishing the claims of the Thackeray group that some 15-20 MLAs were in touch with them and wanted to return to Mumbai.

I have 50 people with me in Guwahati, they have come of their own accord and for Hindutva. We all will go to Mumbai soon, Mr Shinde said. He also said he would speak to Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Mr Shindes stance was boosted by the Supreme Court ruling that the rebel MLAs cannot be disqualified for anti-party actions. Instead, the Shinde group has been given time till July 12 to explain its stand.

Reacting to Mr Thackerays appeal, Mr Shinde responded: Your son and spokesperson (Raut) call us pigs, buffaloes, dogs, nullah dirt, uncivilised, dead bodies, etc. On the other hand, the same MLAs are being asked for a truce to save the anti-Hindu MVA government. What is the meaning of this?
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has written to Apple and Google to request that both companies remove the incredibly popular TikTok app from their stores, citing a threat to national security.

Is your data going TikTok?

Carr warns the app collects huge quantities of data and cited a recent report that claimed the company has accessed sensitive data collected from Americans. He argues that TikToks, "pattern of conduct and misrepresentations regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive U.S. data...puts it out of compliance, with App Store security and privacy policies.

He warns that TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data. He claims it collects:

Search and browsing histories.

Keystroke pattens.

Biometric identifiers, including faceprints and voiceprints.

Location data.

Draft messages.

Metadata

The text, images, and videos stored on a devices clipboard.

And more...

In his letter, the commissioner provides some evidence to support his argument that TikTok fails to adhere to Apple and Googles security practices  for example, researchers in 2020 claimed the app might be able to access sensitive data, including passwords, crypto wallet addresses and messages.

Security, politics and hype

Carr points out that US government and national security agencies are either urging or mandating the removal of the TikTok app from devices; India has banned the app on national security grounds; and some businesses have already banned its use on company devices.

At the same time, there continue to be mainstream reports to support the service. For example, one of the UKs leading newspapers, the Evening Standard, today leads with a report explaining who the most followed people on TikTok are. The numbers are staggering: Khaby Lame has 142.8 million followers on the service. The most viewed video on TikTok ever, Zach Kings Harry Potter Illusion video generated 2.2 billion views.

Thats a lot of people  and, conceivably, a lot of data potentially made available outside the circle of trust many may expect. Thats important, given 80 million people spend around 24 hours a month using the service.

Objectively, TikTok does seem to have tried to distance itself from the privacy abuses Carr points to, but the most recent claim that US user data can be accessed by the company may have pushed its reputation over the precipice. Though it did move US user data to Oracle servers in the US just before the latest damaging report appeared.

What happens next?

I imagine TikTok will attempt to dispute the report that prompted the commissioners request. In the event it fails to achieve that, it seems inevitable that Apple and Google will remove the app from their stores, at least in the US.

But what this really represents is an allegory for the level of risk businesses face, and will continue to face, as entities of various kinds persist in exploiting digital connectivity for their own ends. If Carrs claims are true, then TikTok joins names such as NSO Group and RCS Labs on the roll call of companies dedicated to undermining user privacy.

It is possible the US governments Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) may soon announce a National Security bill designed to put the brakes on any potential abuse by state actors in line with the commissioners claims.

All the same, if we disregard the nationalities, then the claim also exposes the challenge of doing business in an increasingly surveilled age. If every nation is involved in exfiltrating data in this way, no one can really be seen as secure. That some of this activity is outsourced to shadowy private entities amplifies this risk.

Of course, in the short term, business users will want to figure out how to convince employees to cease use of TikTok on work devices while MDM and security vendors will be exploring ways to partition the app from any sensitive data held on a dual use work/personal machine.

The less they know, the less they know

Finally, of course, this news should be seen as a testament to support Apples fundamental approach to privacy and security on devices, and an argument to go further on that path. After all, even the most intrusive app cant gather data that does not exist. The best approach is to ensure the endpoint intelligence remains on the device and cant be shared in any useful format. Though at this stage of the digital transformation, the parable of TikTok suggests there is still some way to go, so youd best ensure your company security practice is TipTop for TikTok.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
After G7 meet, Modi heads to UAE

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday commenced a one-day visit to the UAE following attending the Munich G7 summit.

Indian PM Narendra Modi (centre) during the G7 Summit in Munich. Photo courtesy: Pallav Paliwal

PM @narendramodi concludes his visit to Germany for the G7 Summit, wrapping up two days of productive discussions on sustainable solutions to global challenges, PM Modi now emplanes for Abu Dhabi for a brief stopover before reaching New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted.

PM Modi in Abu Dhabi conveyed his personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler, who had been in office since 2004. He died at the age of 73 after a prolonged illness on May 13.

During a special briefing ahead of the PMs visit on June 24, Indias foreign secretary, Vinay Kwatra said, The Prime Minister will be travelling to the United Arab Emirates on June 28 to pay personal condolences on the passing away of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nayhan, the former UAE president and Abu Dhabi Ruler. At the same time, this will be the Prime Minister's first meeting with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nayhan since his election as the new President of the UAE and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

The visit also comes in the wake of the controversy around remarks made by a BJP spokesperson about Prophet Muhammad. The UAE had also issued a statement raising concerns about the matter. On being asked whether or not the issue will come up when the leaders meet, Kwatra said, Almost all West Asian nations have a clear understanding of Indias position and the situation on this issue. We have specified it on various platforms. PM Modi is visiting the UAE for two main agendas. To pay condolences for the demise of the ruler of UAE and to meet the new President.

The Foreign Secretary did not specify the contours of what will be discussed between the leaders but emphasised the enhanced relations that the two nations share.

When it comes to relations between India and the UAE, they are diverse and robust. Energy security has been an important part of bilateral ties and so have been people-to-people ties, along with other areas of climate, trade, education, and culture. When the leaders meet, enhancing cooperation in all these areas will be discussed. Cant specify details before the meeting, he added.

Read more India News, UAE News and Global Diplomacy updates here
06/29/2022

Photo source: CPSC SunVilla Corporation of Chino, Calif., is recalling about 433,000 10 Solar LED Market Umbrellas sold in the U.S. and Canada.

The lithium-ion batteries in the umbrellas solar panels can overheat, posinHag fire and burn hazards.

The firm has received six reports of the lithium-ion batteries overheating. This includes three reports of solar panels catching fire while charging via the AC adapter indoors and two reports of umbrellas catching fire when the solar panel puck overheated and caught fire while attached to the umbrella and one smoke inhalation injury.

This recall involves all 10 Solar LED Market Umbrellas sold in a variety of colors.

The umbrellas have LED lights on the arms of the umbrella and a black solar panel battery puck at the top of the umbrella.

The solar puck has a black cover marked with YEEZE or YEEZE 1.

The umbrellas, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Costco warehouses nationwide and online at www.costco.com from December 2020, through May 2022, for between $130 and $160.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the umbrellas, remove the solar panel puck containing a lithium-ion battery from the top of the umbrella, store the puck out of the sun and away from combustible material, and do not charge the puck with the AC adapter.

Consumers may return the umbrellas and solar puck to any Costco Warehouse nationwide for a full refund. Consumers unable to return the product to Costco may contact the firm for instructions on how to receive a refund.

SunVilla and Costco are contacting all known purchasers.

Consumers may contact SunVilla toll-free at (866) 600-3133 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday, by email at LEDRecall@sunvilla.com, or online at https://sunvilla.com/pages/recall for more information.




The Supreme Court order on Monday extending the deadline for the rebel MLAs of the Shiv Sena to reply to the notice of disqualification issued by the deputy speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly gives MLAs a much-needed reprieve. It also underscores the need for a controlled pace at which such processes are undertaken by the authorities concerned, at the same time, raising the question as to the extent to which constitutional courts can intervene in the functioning of the legislature.

Deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal had on June 25 issued notices to 16 Sena rebel MLAs, including their leader and senior minister Eknath Shinde, seeking their explanation by June 27 as to why they should not be disqualified from the membership of the Assembly for violating party discipline. The notice was issued under the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, on a petition by the chief whip of the party.

The courts intervention can be welcomed on the ground that the deputy speakers decision to initiate the disqualification process  he had given the rebels hardly three days to respond to the notice with a rider that failing to meet the deadline would be construed as their action being indefensible  displays a haste which does not fit into the democratic scheme of things. Disqualification of a person elected by the people must follow a measured, just and fair process and cannot be triggered by extraneous considerations.

The court refused to issue directions to the legislature and its presiding officer on the way it should conduct their business. That is welcome but the court should ideally stop at this point: the issue of the no-confidence motion pending against the deputy speaker should not be a factor for the court as its the business of the legislature.

It is a plain fact that the ruling front and the rebel Sena faction are engaged in a political game which will be decided by its own rules; the larger common good or the constitutional niceties have very little role to play in this drama. Still, the people who are mandated to uphold constitutional principles are required to do so, and the courts will be called in if they refused to do so. It only serves the cause of justice and democracy if the members who face action are given sufficient time to explain their position and the processes are completed as per the rules. A show of haste would send the wrong signals, and the Supreme Court also referred to it when it said, at time times, undue haste gives unavoidable inferences.

It is in the interest of the people of Maharashtra that the stalemate ends at the earliest but that gives the governor no authority to cast doubts on the functioning of the government of the day by calling for the files on the decisions it had taken on certain days. A council of ministers is collectively accountable only to the House of the people and unless the House decides otherwise, its decisions have the authority of the law. The governor must desist from sitting in judgment on them.
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Website nordfront.se uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 71516 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 436423 bytes (426.19 kb uncompressed) and 132811 bytes (129.70 kb compressed).

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Longtime Bonanno wiseguy Anthony (Bruno) Indelicato, 75, who shot his way into the annals of American organized crime, was released from prison on May 20, 2022, as per the BOP inmate locator website.





Bruno Indelicato, left, and Frank Lino.









The son of the brutally murdered Alphonse (Sonny Red) Indelicato, a capo who led a doomed faction of the Bonanno family, Bruno was in his heyday a feared stone killer with a legendary appetite for cocaine.



Indelicato was one of three masked gunmen who walked into Joe & Marys restaurant in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn one hot July day in 1979 and blasted Carmine Galante at close range while the volcanic, would-be usurper enjoyed a customary, post-prandial cigar. Indelicatos efforts to protect the familys boss paid dividends: Indelicato was among a slew of Bonanno soldiers elevated to capo by a grateful Philip (Rusty) Rastelli in the wake of the Galante hits.



But Cosa Nostra being Cosa Nostra, it wasn't longa couple of yearsbefore Bruno's fortunes had changed drastically. The Bonanno powers-that-be (Joe Massino primarily) marked him for death after the May 1981 execution of his father and allies Phil (Phil Lucky) Giaccone and Dominick (Big Trin) Trinchera.



The trio of capos comprised a rebellious faction of the family, apparently forgetting or choosing to disregard how the Bonannos handled the last guy who made seditious moves against the boss. That's right, a mere two years after the grizzly, front-page execution of the vicious, cigar chomping Lilo, and the Bonannos were back at it once again readying to stab one another in the back. The Commission stepped in for a second time to help the beleaguered imprisoned Bonanno boss by authorizing the slayings of the trio of upstart capos who had been seeking to wrest control of the family from Rastelli.









Gerlando (George from Canada) Sciascia.





Bruno was to have been slain with his father, but ducked the meeting. Then-Bonanno soldier Frank (Curly) Lino attended in his place, chauffeuring the three capos to their deaths. In a nearly unbelievable stroke of good luck, Lino successfully escaped the ambush by running like hell when the shooting started.





The slayings in the social club, which had been affiliated with former Gambino underboss Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano, were among the seven for which ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino was convicted. The murders also inspired a famous scene in the Donnie Brasco film, which was based on one of the books by Joseph D. Pistone, the undercover FBI agent whoas Donnie Brasco, knockaround guyinfiltrated the Bonanno family in the 1970s.





The Bonannos would later rescind the contract on Bruno after he promised not to seek revenge. Bruno knew the rules when he held his finger up to be pinched, and he accepted his father's death as part of the life he chose. And yet. This blog has learned via recent conversations with a longtime Bonanno family member who requested anonymity that, years after the murder of his father, Bruno and allied Bonanno wiseguys sent feelers to explore murdering Joe Massino, an effort that obviously never panned out. Bruno also sought to put some distance between himself and Massino in another way: by leveraging his relationship with legendary Luchese powerhouse James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke to join the Luchese family. (This one didn't pan out, either, of course.)





Bruno and Jimmy the Gentthe high-powered Luchese associate who masterminded the 1978 robbery of the Lufthansa cargo terminal at John F Kennedy International Airport, netting nearly $6 million in cash and jewels, and was portrayed in Goodfellas by Robert De Nirohad grown tight while serving time together in the Federal prison in Lewisburg.





Bruno was serving the 20-year sentence for hitting Lilo. Burke had been convicted in 1982 of conspiracy charges related to the 197879 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal and had been sentenced to 12 years in prison. While serving that sentence, Burke was charged with the 1979 murder of reputed drug dealer Richard Eaton and was convicted at a trial that included testimony from the infamous Henry Hill. In 1985 Burke was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison.



1985 also was the year Bruno met Burke's daughter while she was visiting her father. Bruno and Cathy Burke married in 1992 while Bruno was in a facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.





James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke.









Brunohe was once recorded on wiretap saying when Jerry Capeci writes about youyou know you're dead after thatspent years behind bars. For the Galante slaying, he was sentenced to 20 years following his conviction at the 1986 trial alongside alleged members of the Mafia Commission. Indelicato served only around 13 years and was paroled a married man in 1998. Bruno and his wife set down roots in Howard Beach, Queens, and were still living there when Bruno was violated in 2001 while ostensibly working as a salesman for a New Jersey garment concern, though in reality, he belonged to a Bonanno crew run by uncle Joseph (J.B.) Indelicato.





Bruno was sent back to the clink after investigators for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown kept running into him due to Indelicato's spending an inordinate amount of time stepping out with guys who were the prime targets of the DA's gambling probe. He was spotted associating with wiseguys like Vinny Basciano at places including the Friars Club, the St. Regis Hotel, the Manhattan Grille, the Metropolitan Cafe, outside the Peninsula Hotel....





While imprisoned with Burke, Bruno sought to use the widely respected Luchese mobster as a bridge from the Bonanno family to the Luchese family, according to our source.

Bruno was with Jimmy the Gent. He spoke to Vic (Amuso) about getting transferred to get protected, the source said, noting Bruno was seeking to hedge his bets in case the mercurial Massino changed his mind. Jimmy Burke died at a Buffalo hospital of cancer in April 1996, eight years before he would've been eligible for parole.

The same source also said, I was approached a long time ago after Joe Massino came home (in the mid-1990s). Somebody came to me to put a feeler out. How would you feel  and if you are not interested, this (discussion) never happened Whack-Whack and Nicky Santora wanted to make a move on Joe (Massino).

After the last don flipped, he recorded himself calling Santora a brokester while engaging in a rigged conversation with Vinny B.

Sonny Red and son Bruno walk-talk.



As for the May 5, 1981 slayings of the three upstart capos, the Mafia Commission initially vetoed the request to kill Indelicato, Giaccone, and Trinchera, passing down a "no bloodshed" edict. But the Commission reversed itself after learning that the "rebels" were arming themselves to the teeth and plotting an all-out assault against forces loyal to Rastelli.

According to an affidavit filed in Montreal against the late mob boss Vito Rizzuto (who ran what had once been Galantes Montreal crew), Massino acted after he "became aware that Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera were preparing to obtain automatic weapons" to use during a planned uprising against Rastelli, who was in prison at the time. Massino got the Commission's okay for him and other Rastelli loyalists to "defend themselves"kill or be killed, in other words.

Massino quickly gained the support of the family's Sicilian faction and imported shooters from the Bonanno familys longtime Montreal outpost who "could leave soon after the murders," as per the affidavit.

The would-be rebel capos running the faction of dissidents were summoned to attend a capos' meeting to resolve the growing dispute over who held the reigns to the Bonanno family.

The meeting was a complicated ruse to ambush and exterminate the disloyal capos and, once again, cement Rastelli's status as the boss.

When the three captains and Frank Lino arrived, they didnt see the four armed men wearing ski masks hiding in the closet, the door of which was slightly ajar. Inside the closet were Salvatore (Good Lookin Sal) Vitale, who held a "tommy gun," and the old-timer, who was armed with a shotgun. Also inside were two shooters from Montreal, Vito Rizzuto and another man (identified as Emmanuel). Both held pistols.



Bonanno associate Donnie Brasco, left, yucks it up with Sonny Black.







The arriving dissidents instead encountered a seemingly welcoming Joe Massino and capos Joseph Zicarelli, Nicola DiStefano, Santo Giordano, and Gerlando (George from Canada) Sciascia. While Massino and Sciascia were in on the ruse, the other capos were not and were there only to sell the pretext that the sitdown was a capos' meeting. (Santo Giordano would become a paraplegic that night after he was mistakenly shot in the spine during the ensuing fusillade.) In February 2006, Indelicato was charged with the 2001 Frank Santoro murder. Santoro was shot and killed while walking his dog in the Bronx. Santoros murder was ordered by Vinny Basciano, who believed that Santoro was plotting to kidnap one of his sons. In August 2008, Indelicato pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison. That sentence ended for him earlier this year.
U.S. in "national battle" over abortion rights

Xinhua) 09:51, June 29, 2022

HOUSTON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A wave of protests and lawsuits has swept the United States after the Supreme Court on Friday overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

A judge on Monday blocked southern state Louisiana from enforcing the abortion ban, while a governor signed an executive order to protect women seeking abortions in New Mexico and an attorney general was accused of illegally threatening abortion providers with criminal prosecution in Texas.

Robin Giarrusso, an Orleans Parish civil district court judge, on Monday issued a temporary restraining order blocking Louisiana, one of 13 states which passed "trigger laws" to ban or severely restrict abortions once the supreme court overturned the 1973 ruling.

The plaintiffs in the suit there do not deny that the state can ban abortion. Instead, they contend Louisiana has multiple and conflicting trigger mechanisms in law, according to local media reports. A hearing to decide whether to further block enforcement of the ban has been scheduled on July 8.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in Houston on behalf of several health care providers, the American Civil Liberties Union accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of illegally threatening abortion providers before relative state laws take effect.

Local media outlet KXAN reported that the lawsuit asked a state court to temporarily block Texas' pre-Roe laws on the books, which Paxton said are now enforceable after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

"Mr. Paxton's and the Texas Legislature's attempts to greenlight the immediate prosecution of abortion providers based on violations of the Pre-Roe Ban must not stand," the lawsuit said.

Texas law banning most abortions will not take effect for approximately two months or longer since the trigger ban is scheduled to take effect 30 days after issuance of the judgment from the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, according to local media reports. The Supreme Court has only so far issued its opinion.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed an executive order aimed to protect women seeking abortions and providers of the service in the southwestern U.S. state.

"We will not further imperil the rights and access points of anyone in New Mexico," the Democratic governor said at a news conference, "Residents seeking access will be protected, providers will be protected, and abortion is and will continue to be legal safe and accessible, period."

Also on Monday, attorneys generals in 21 states and Washington, D.C. issued a joint statement promising to "leverage our collective resources" to help women in states where abortions are banned.

"Abortion care is healthcare. Period," announced the statement, which was signed by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

"While the U.S. supreme court's decision reverses nearly half a century of legal precedent and undermines the rights of people across the United States, we're joining together to reaffirm our commitment to supporting and expanding access to abortion care nationwide," they said in the statement.

Over the weekend, a branch of Planned Parenthood sued in Utah over a trigger ban while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and an abortion-rights group filed an emergency motion in Arizona in a bid to block a state law they worry can be used to halt all abortions.

Abortion rights advocates in Ohio also plan to challenge a ban on abortions after six weeks, which took effect on Friday, said local media, noting that a Florida ban on abortions after 15 weeks is also the subject of a request for a temporary block.

As of Saturday, abortion providers had reportedly stopped services in at least 11 states. The United States was in a "national battle," New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told a news conference on Monday.

Though the latest 6-3 ruling does not outlaw abortion but leaves the decision to states, 26 states are "certain or likely to ban abortion," while 16 states, including New York State, provide protection for abortion rights in law or in their constitutions, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade also drew criticism from United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who described the decision as "a huge blow to women's human rights and gender equality," and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said "the news coming out of the United States is horrific."

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
The number of zero-days exploited in the wild has been high over the past year and a half, with different kinds of actors using them. These vulnerabilities, which are unknown to the software maker, are leveraged by both state-sponsored groups and ransomware gangs.

During the first half of this year, Google Project Zero counted almost 20 zero-days, most of which target products built by Microsoft, Apple and Google, with browsers and operating systems taking up large chunks. In addition, a critical remote code execution vulnerability was found in Atlassian's Confluence Server, which continues to be exploited. But in 2021, the number of in-the-wild zero-days was even higher. Project Zero found 58 vulnerabilities, while Mandiant detected 80--more than double compared to 2020.

"Every zero-day we identify increases our understanding of what is possible and better enables us to find similar vulnerabilities in the same or other pieces of technology," says James Sadowski, principal analyst at Mandiant. "The more we see, the more we can detect."

Nation-state groups continue to lead the exploits game, but cybercriminals are catching up. About one in three actors using zero-days last year was financially motivated, according to Mandiant.

The rise in zero-day exploits and the various types of actors using them can be a cause of concern for organizations regardless of their size. On the flip side, it can also provide valuable learning opportunities for the security industry.

Most zero-days follow old patterns

Although the number of zero-days is at record levels, in reality it could be even bigger. "Since attackers don't share all their zero-days with us, the best number we can track is the zero-days detected and disclosed as in-the-wild, rather than the number that are used," Maddie Stone, security researcher at Google Project Zero, says.

In the first half of 2022, the most targeted products were Windows, iOS/macOS, Chrome and Firefox, according to the public spreadsheet maintained by Project Zero. Last year, of the 58 in-the-wild zero-days the group discovered, 14 targeted the Chrome browser: ten were renderer remote code execution bugs, two were sandbox escapes, one was an info leak, and another was used to open a webpage in Android apps. Others exploited flaws in Internet Explorer, Windows, iOS, Android and Microsoft Exchange Server. According to Project Zero, last year, there were no known in-the-wild zero-days that targeted the cloud.

"Threat actors [will] likely continue to focus on zero-day exploitation in on-premises environments because they are more familiar, and for now, still widely used," Sadowski says. "Alternatively, the growth in zero-day exploitation of technologies like VPNs may provide threat actors a successful path into corporate networks without exploiting cloud providers directly."

Most zero-days followed the same bug patterns seen in previous years. Security researchers say that malicious actors will continue to use old techniques as long as they remain effective. For example, two-thirds of the zero-days found by Project Zero were memory corruption vulnerabilities, with the majority of these falling into popular bug classes such as use-after-free, out-of-bounds read/write, buffer overflow, and integer overflow.

While malware authors may prefer to use the same patterns, it's also possible that the security community is simply "not as frequently detecting more novel techniques," as Sadowski puts it. Stone agrees. "Detecting zero-days is extremely hard because you have to detect something when you don't know what it is or what it looks like."

Why we've seen more zero-day exploits

Security researchers have multiple theories on why they've caught so many zero-days in the past year and a half. Most likely, though, it's a combination of factors. "Growing financially motivated zero-day exploitation, a resurgence of espionage zero-day exploitation, and the expansion of third-party exploit brokers were observed at an intensity in 2021 we had never detected previously," Sadowski says.

Software has also grown in scope and complexity. "The attack surface is larger than it has ever been, so it's a fertile ground for finding and abusing vulnerabilities," says Dustin Childs, communications manager for Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative, the largest vendor-agnostic bug bounty program. Lagging detections in 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic may have also contributed to the spike observed in 2021.

There's more to that. Researchers attributed part of the growth to an improvement in detection and disclosure. "2021 was the first full year that Apple and Android publicly disclosed what vulnerabilities were known to be in-the-wild, which contributed to at least 12 total vulnerabilities that the industry wouldn't have known about otherwise," Stone says. She recommends all vendors notify the security community when they patch a vulnerability that has been exploited. Had Apple and Android not done that, many zero-days--reported anonymously--would have been unknown to the world because there were no researchers to talk about them.

State-sponsored groups take the lead

Most zero-day exploits are used by nation-state actors, with Chinese groups being the most active. "From 2012 to 2021, China exploited more zero-days than any other nation," according to Mandiant. Last year, the security company found at least eight zero-days linked to China, as opposed to two exploited by Russia and one by North Korea.

Multiple Chinese espionage activity clusters leveraged four Exchange Server vulnerabilities known as ProxyLogon. Microsoft linked these vulnerabilities to the Hafnium group "with high confidence" based on tactics and procedures.

"While some of the threat clusters involved appeared to carefully select targets, other clusters compromised tens of thousands of servers in virtually every vertical and region," Mandiant's report reads. "Chinese cyber espionage operations in 2020 and 2021 suggest that Beijing is no longer deterred by formal government statements and indictments from victimized countries."

As for Russia-sponsored groups, Mandiant saw fewer zero-days compared to previous years. APT28 (a.k.a. Fancy Bear, Sofacy or Strontium), for instance, was only seen leveraging a zero-day in Microsoft Excel toward the end of 2021. However, other Russian state-sponsored actors exploited several zero-days in 2020 and 2021, with Energetic Bear (Dragonfly 2.0, Berserk, TEMP.Isotope) possibly targeting critical infrastructure networks with a zero-day in a Sophos firewall product.

Ransomware groups are sources of zero-days

Although zero-days tend to be the territory of state-sponsored groups, researchers noticed that cybercriminals are getting better at using such tools. Mandiant saw a significant increase in both the volume and sophistication of exploits used by ransomware groups.

There are several reasons for that. First, gangs are becoming more prosperous, which means that they can afford to recruit highly skilled individuals or pay for expensive services. Second, the professional networks in the ransomware world have expanded.

Among the multiple ransomware groups that used zero-days is UNC2447 SombRAT, which exploited a bug in SonicWall. It was a critical SQL injection vulnerability that would allow attackers to gain access to usernames, passwords and session information they could use to log into an unpatched SMA 100 series device.

In addition to zero-days, criminal gangs also leverage vulnerabilities that have been recently discovered but don't have a patch yet. Sometimes, a researcher who has found a vulnerability releases a proof of concept (PoC) out of frustration or to put pressure on the vendor, which creates a window of time for attackers.

Such things may continue to happen in the future because cybercriminal gangs pay attention to everything happening in the security world. "Malicious actors likely learn from public disclosures and analysis of previous zero-days and may use that research to drive their own vulnerability analysis and exploitation," Sadowski says.

Zero-days are becoming more expensive

It's not just the volume of zero-days that has increased in the past year and a half. The price offered to those who find such bugs has also gone up on the gray and black markets. At the moment, acquisition platform Zerodium, which sells exploits to governments, pays up to $2 million for persistent iOS jailbreaks that could be performed remotely, without any interaction from the user, and $2.5 million for the same type of exploit working on Android. "Zero-click exploits are in higher demand than one-click exploits because zero-click means that it doesn't require user interaction to work," says Stone.

Other zero-days are less expensive. For example, flaws in WhatsApp and iMessage are rewarded with up to $1,5 million, and those in Facebook Messenger, Signal and Telegram can bring a researcher willing to sell them on the gray market up to $500,000. Meanwhile, Chrome vulnerabilities are priced at up to $500,000, while Safari, Edge and Firefox bugs go as high as $100,000.

The Zero Day Initiative does offer this much, but it operates on the white market, being an intermediary between white-hat hackers and the companies they can exploit. Childs says many things are taken into account when setting up a price, such as "demand, efficacy and stability." For instance, if the attack vector does not require authentication or user interaction, that exploit will cost more. "Stability also plays a big factor," he says. "Is the exploit 100% reliable, or does it sometimes fail?"

The number of users a particular piece of software has also plays a role, according to Childs--the bigger the pool of potential victims, the more generous the fee. "The exploit marketplace behaves like any other marketplace. There are always different factors driving costs up and down," Childs says.

Improving protection against zero-days

With state-sponsored hackers and cybercriminals leveraging zero-days at a high rate, organizations have plenty of reasons to improve protection. Although these bugs are placed in the realm of the unknown, security teams can still reduce the risk of being compromised.

A key component of protection is patching, which should be done quickly, particularly in the case of public and widely used assets. If not, the organization can be exposed. One example: Atlassian has released a security patch that addresses the critical Confluence Server bug, but not every organization was able to install the fix quickly enough. Sophos observed multiple groups that leveraged this vulnerability to drop the Cerber ransomware, Mirai bot variants, or the z0miner cryptominer. It helps if organizations have an up-to-date list of all their software and hardware assets, with the date of purchase and the expected end-of-life date included.

Security researchers also recommend that organizations properly configure their networks to make it harder for attackers to jump from one place to another. Security experts should also look for any suspicious behavior and ensure that their staff and their partners are practicing good security.

Software vendors can help, too. It's essential they get security patches right, says Childs, because once a patch is issued, malicious actors will try to reverse engineer it to find the exact vulnerability it tried to fix. "Bugs are hard to find  until a vendor releases a patch and tells you where they are," Childs says. "N-day exploits, exploits that have been known for n-number of days, have always been more popular for threat actors over zero-days."

Project Zero's Stone suggested some organizations might slightly change how they work. "It's industry standard to patch vulnerabilities, but it's not as common to mitigate each exploit technique," she says. "Doing this could force attackers to develop novel exploit techniques each time they want to develop a zero-day."
FAIRFIELD  A New Jersey real estate developer has purchased a property at the Fairfield Metro with long-delayed plans for a large development.

Accurate, a development company specializing in residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties, announced its acquisition of the mixed-use development site in downtown Fairfield.

The transit-oriented project will be developed on a 23.88-acre parcel adjacent to the Metro North train station with frontage on Ash Creek.

Approvals are in place for 357 apartments, a 118-room hotel, 70,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of retail space. The location is bordered by open space with walking trails and within walking distance to restaurant row in Black Rock and the nearby shopping center anchored by Whole Foods and CVS.

Fairfield officials are excited to have a new owner of the property. Mark Barnhart, director of the Office of Community and Economic Development, said the principal of Enclave Equities, the company which has control over the project for owner Blackrock Realty, had a difference of opinion with investors.

It caused him to put the project on the market as approved, he said. Weve been working with the prospective purchaser now for some time. Were really excited. This is welcome news. Were anticipating that the developer will be pulling building permits and getting started with construction in the very near future  in the next few weeks.

Representatives from Blackrock Realty could not be immediately reached for comment.

Barnhart said Accurate wants to make some revisions to the overall site plan that was approved, and officials welcome that conversation.

We do think theres opportunities to do even more with the site than had been proposed and approved, he said. Its certainly welcome news that weve got a developer that is ready to get started, roll up his sleeves and get to work and start actually building something on this site.

According to a release from CBRE, the company that represented Blackrock Realty and procured the buyer, the new acquisition reflects Accurates ongoing commitment to playing a vital role in transforming neighborhoods and enhancing the residents lives.

We are delighted to expand our development footprint throughout the Northeast with this well-located site in Fairfield, Connecticut, said Jack Klugmann, President & CEO of Accurate. With direct access to public rail service and proximity to community amenities and services, the property is ideally suited for a modern, mixed-use development that creates a well-balanced destination and becomes a center point for community life.

Louis Zuckerman, one of the CBRE employees on the team that sold the property, said its location is incomparable to virtually any development in Fairfield County, and the developers are seasoned professionals that recognized the irreplaceable value of the property.

The Crossings at Fairfield Metro will boast a large residential community mixed with multiple commercial buildings, providing direct access to the Fairfield Metro Train Station platform, he said.

It has been more than a decade since Blackrock Realty pitched a plan of massive construction around Fairfields third train station to make it a hub of commuter and shopping activity. The Fairfield Metro Center development, when initially proposed in 2005, was to consist of roughly 1 million square feet of mostly office space with a mix of retail and hotel elements to it.

Developers had wanted to pre-lease a large portion of the office space before starting construction. They eventually found that demand for that space dried up after the economy crashed around 2008.

As a result, Blackrock Realtys plans went through a series of revisions as developers tried to find the best use for the space. Among the changes were proposals for a five-story, 197-unit apartment building.

Development of the site has been a topic of debate between Fairfield officials who say the site, the former foundry off lower Black Rock Turnpike, has been dormant for too long.

Its just inconceivable to me why (that site) is like that, First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said in 2019 when she was still a state representative. We have a giant space there that doesnt have anything happening with it. For 12 years, it hasnt been a priority and it shouldve been. Thats a goldmine over there.

Kupchick could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Blackrock Realty contributed $5.4 million to the construction of the station in exchange for the rights to build its initial commercial and residential project connected to the station.

The project remained in limbo, but was supposed to see some movement when Blackrock handed over control of the project to its partner, Enclave Equities. While the site plan approval came under its leadership, building never started.

Barnhart said the new ownership is welcome and progress on the site is a long time coming.

Its one of the largest undeveloped parcels with rail access, obviously next to a train station, in the entire north corridor, he said. Its ready to be developed.

joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP)  Four new capital murder indictments were returned Tuesday against a convicted murderer from the Dallas-area, with authorities now having brought charges against him in the deaths of 22 older women in Collin and adjoining Dallas County.

A Collin County grand jury indicted Billy Chemirmir, 50, on single capital murder counts in each of the 2017 deaths of Marilyn Bixler, 90; Diane Delahunty, 79; Helen Lee, 82; and Mamie Miya, 93.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The new head of the government's road safety agency says it will intensify efforts to understand the risks posed by automated vehicle technology so it can decide what regulations may be necessary to protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

In an interview Wednesday, Steven Cliff, who was confirmed last month as head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said the agency is assessing crash data recently reported by automakers and tech companies.

Any new regulations NHTSA may impose would fill what critics say is an urgent need to address the growing use of driver-assistance systems on U.S. roads. The systems have been linked to crashes involving deaths and serious injuries, though they also have enormous potential to prevent crashes. There are no federal regulations that directly cover either self-driving vehicles or those with partially automated driver-assist systems such as Teslas Autopilot.

Before developing any new federal standards, Cliff said, NHTSA wants to better understand how the new technology should perform.

Cliff spoke Wednesday to The Associated Press in his first on-the-record interview since being confirmed by the Senate.

He said that when he first joined the agency in February 2021, he was surprised to discover that NHTSA had no data on automated vehicle crashes. As a result, Cliff said, he challenged the agency to require such reporting. Last month, NHTSA released data from July 2021 to May, concluding that automated vehicles were involved in nearly 400 crashes.

Cliff cautioned that while he believes federal standards are needed to regulate driver assisted technology, he wants to avoid rushing to embrace new rules that might potentially end up compromising safety.

Any time we put a regulation on the books, we have to define not only what standard that technology needs to be held to, but we need to have an objective way to measure the performance of the system to ensure that it actually complies with the regulation, he said from his office at the Department of Transportation's headquarters in Washington.

The agency, Cliff said, is also working on performance standards for automatic emergency braking, which it plans to require on all new passenger vehicles and heavy trucks. The braking systems, which can detect and stop for pedestrians, other vehicles and obstacles, show great potential to help stem rising traffic deaths in the U.S., he said.

NHTSA, he said, will set metrics for how the braking systems detect objects to ensure that the systems respond appropriately.

Thats part of any of the standards that we put in place, he said.

Cliff declined to discuss any details of regulations that might be forthcoming.

Its important for us to take the data that comes from those incidents, better understand it in an engineering context, he said. I think its important to move quickly but not so fast that were getting it wrong.

Of the nearly 400 crashes that were reported by manufacturers, Teslas were involved in more than all other automakers combined. But Cliff noted that Tesla has driver-assist technology operating on nearly all of its roughly 830,000 vehicles on U.S. roads, which makes neat comparisons to other automakers difficult. The company also provides nearly instantaneous wireless reporting of crashes, so it receives data faster than other automakers.

Since Cliffs arrival, the agency has stepped up enforcement efforts aimed at Tesla, including a push for a dozen recalls since the start of 2021. The agency is investigating why Teslas working on Autopilot seem to crash into emergency vehicles parked along freeways. And it has received more than 750 consumer complaints involving Teslas braking unexpectedly for no apparent reason.

At the same time, Cliff added, Tesla has been cooperative with NHTSA since his arrival at the agency.

I think we work well with them," he said, and when we have identified that there are risks, they've taken action, and that's appropriate.

Cliff, 52, whose background is in chemistry and air pollution regulation with little auto safety experience, takes over the agency at a critical time. NHTSA has estimated that nearly 43,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, the highest such figure in 16 years.

Safety advocates say NHTSA has become more aggressive in regulating automakers since Cliffs arrival from the California Air Resources Board, the states pollution regulator. Cliff, who first joined the California board in 2008 as an air pollution specialist, rose to become its deputy executive officer. Years earlier, he received a bachelors degree and doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego.

He concedes that he has had to become a quick study on auto safety. But he said that assessing the science and the data is similar to the work he did in California.

In December, Cliff told the Senate Commerce Committee that he would work to adopt regulations such as those urging seat belt use, and would implement mandates under the new federal infrastructure law to reduce drunken driving.

He said he believes that automatic emergency braking in new vehicles should help reduce fatalities and that the agency will take a safe systems approach to stem the deaths. Those approaches could include roadway design and reductions in speed limits.

In addition, he said, NHTSA is trying to understand why Black Americans die in crashes at a greater rate than other groups.

In some cases," Cliff said, "a lot of that has to do with infrastructure, but also the vehicles themselves. So improving the new vehicle fleet is part of the solution, but it's also important that we educate drivers.
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP)  The parents of a teenager wounded during a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan are suing the shop that sold the handgun used to kill four students and injure six other people.

The complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Detroit on behalf of Matthew and Mary Mueller accuses Acme Shooting Goods LLC of negligently or unlawfully supplying the gun through a straw sale.

Authorities have said James Crumbley bought the 9 mm semiautomatic handgun used in the Nov. 30 shooting as an early Christmas gift for his son, Ethan, who was 15 at the time.

The lawsuit says Ethan accompanied his father to Acme Shooting Goods several days before the shooting and engaged in behavior or made one or more statements while in the store which further indicated that the Acme gun was intended for Ethan.

Acme Shooting Goods was obligated to train, supervise and monitor employees to identify and prevent so-called straw purchases, according to the lawsuit.

A straw purchase is when a person buys a gun to sell or give to someone prohibited from having one.

An employee at the gun shop in Oxford declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

The Muellers' son suffered gunshot wounds to a hand and his face. He was one of six students and one teacher wounded in the shooting at the school, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit.

Ethan Crumbley, now 16, has been charged as an adult with murder and terrorism and faces trial in January. James Crumbley and his wife, Jennifer, are accused of providing their son with access to the gun and are awaiting trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Gun dealers, when they enter the business of selling guns, assume a duty to comply with all standards of reasonable care and all relevant state and/or federal firearms laws in order to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, juveniles and dangerous parties likely to misuse firearms, the Muellers' lawsuit says.

A gun shop in Connecticut was named in a lawsuit against gunmaker Remington following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 26 people, mostly children. Nancy Lanza bought the assault-style rifle used by her son, Adam Lanza, in the shooting.

The shop later was dropped from the lawsuit when a judge dismissed the complaint against Remington in 2016. The judge cited a federal law that shields gun-makers from liability in most cases. The Connecticut Supreme Court later reinstated the lawsuit against Remington on the issue of whether it should be held liable for how it marketed the Bushmaster rifle. In February, Remington and the Sandy Hook families agreed to a $73 million settlement of the case.

Remington, one of the nations oldest gun makers founded in 1816, filed for bankruptcy for a second time in 2020 and its assets were later sold off to several companies. The manufacturer was weighed down by lawsuits and retail sales restrictions following the school shooting.

The Muellers' lawsuit does not include a dollar amount for damages. It also names the Oxford Community School District, its former superintendent and other officials.

Other multimillion-dollar lawsuits filed after the shooting have said the violence was preventable.

The morning of the shooting, school officials met with Ethan Crumbley and his parents at the school after a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a bullet and a person who appeared to have been shot, along with messages stating, My life is useless and The world is dead.

The Crumbleys declined to take their son home and Ethan was allowed to remain in school. The gun was in his backpack, which was not searched.

We are bringing this suit so that the failures both in the sale of this gun and at our school which allowed this to happen can never happen again, Matthew and Mary Mueller said in a statement. "No family or community needs to experience this pain and no child should have to live with it for the rest of their life.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Acme Shooting Goods is located in Oxford.
The most surprising part of the U.S. Supreme Courts reversal of federal protection of abortion rights is that the news caught anyone by surprise at all.

Though a draft of the decision was leaked last month, many Americans seemed to hold out hope that a reversal of the law after 50 years wasnt really going to happen. Even after the final decision dropped on Friday, it was clear a lot of people still hadnt done their homework.

Stamford Health President and CEO Kathleen Silard mentioned during a meeting with Gov. Ned Lamont Monday that she heard people over the weekend incorrectly believing there was now a federal ban on all abortions.

The reality is that there will almost certainly be an increase in abortions performed in Connecticut.

In the wake of the decision, Connecticut Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski released a statement that the Supreme Court ruling has absolutely no impact on Connecticut residents.

Democrats in the state see it considerably differently, and have acted proactively to install shields. As Roe v. Wade has become shorthand for the abortion battle over the past half century, the most important letter is certainly the v.

Its choice v. life. Its Democrat v. Republican. In Connecticut, its Lamont v. Stefanowski.

State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, son of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (a former Connecticut attorney general) was certainly not among the people taken by surprise Friday.

Matt Blumenthal authored a new law that would thwart efforts by other states from investigating abortions performed in Connecticut, protecting patients and officials. It would also enable anyone in Connecticut sued from out-of-state parties regarding abortions to counter sue for damages and fees.

Though Stefanowski takes a nothing has changed in Connecticut tone in his public statements, he has dodged questions about whether he would veto the new laws if he was in the governors chair.

So while Connecticut remains a firmly blue state, Democrats are preparing for potential showdowns with red states.

From that perspective, Connecticut has been a national leader on the issue of initiating legal protections for those who cross state borders. Matt Blumenthal predicted other legislation to ward off attacks on health care providers licenses and malpractice insurance.

In 2019, the most recent year with available data, 9,202 abortions were performed in Connecticut. The 3.6 percent that came from out-of-state was one of the lowest percentages in the nation.

That latter figure will change. So will a lot of other things. At the Monday meeting, Lamont and health officials recognized opportunities the Supreme Court pivot could deliver to Connecticut. It could attract residents, obstetricians and gynecologists who feel safer living and working here. Its less likely to cause anyone to leave.

All of this makes 2022 a significant year in defining what Connecticut represents. It doesnt mean shifts in political and cultural winds arent possible. Connecticut, after all, was the first state to prohibit abortions, starting in 1821 and lasting until 1973, the year of Roe v. Wade.

Regardless of what happens next, current Connecticut leadership appears unlikely to be caught by surprise.
Is living in a church creepy?

According to Santiago and Bonnie Suarez, not at all. The couple, who owns the former church on 1035 North Street in Greenwich, said they used to be asked that question all the time. Santiago said he even stayed in the church by himself before committing to its purchase in 2005.

The next time I went [to the property] with our broker, I said, Do you mind if I just stay by myself for a couple of hours? he said. I sat there for a couple of hours and the sun was streaming in.

For Bonnie, what makes it feel less like a sacred structure and more like a home are those tall windows that flood the home with light.

If it had stained glass, it might have felt more religious, she said. But these windows are glorious.

Glorious is just one of the words used to describe the North Street property, which is currently on the market for $1.8 million. The word that comes to mind for listing agent Liz Forrest is special.

Im actually honored to have this listing, she said. Its just so special and so well done, inside and out. Its just unlike anything else on the market, particularly in Greenwich.

Christopher Meech / Contributed Photo

Long before it ever hit the market, the church was a focal point of local life. Located in the Conyers Farm area of town, the Banksville Baptist Church was built in 1852 in what is known as Banksville, a section of Greenwich that sits about 10 miles from Greenwich Avenue and a stones throw from the New York border. When the church was built, it followed a similar design to the Middle Patent Methodist-Episcopal Church in town, but featured a large baptistry beneath the platform at the front and a balcony above the vestibule, according to information from the Greenwich Historical Society.

The church was the site of an active Sunday school, according to the historical society, along with church picnics and strawberry festivals. On Nov. 11, 1918, the churchs bell rang out the good news across the farms and meadows in the Mianus valley of the end of World War I, the historical society notes, though in the following years, membership at the church diminished despite several attempts in the 1930s and 1940s to revitalize it. Eventually, it was converted into the private home it is today.

Enter the Suarez family in 2005, who toured and eventually purchased the converted two-bedroom, two-bathroom church. While it was obvious to them that it was a unique property to own, they quickly became aware of how much work it needed to make it the downsized studio and living space they imagined after their three grown sons left them empty nesters.

We sat around looking at it and saying, What the hell did we just do? Santiago said. We inherited this beautiful building, but once you started looking at it, its like it needed everything.

Describing a hippie family that lived there before they bought it, Santiago recalled the red shag carpet that was all over the place in the church, as well as the altar-like structure in the home. They also uncovered the baptistry that was the size of a septic tank as they began renovations. Leading the charge on its gut renovation was New Haven-based Gray Organschi Architecture, which Santiago said they stumbled upon a year after buying the property on a trip to the Elm City to look at its architecture  and sample its pizza.

We started looking all over the place [for an architect], and we went for pizza near Yale, and we discovered a guy that had a company there that was doing some pretty interesting things, and thats what started the relationship, he said.

Christopher Meech / Contributed Photo Christopher Meech / Contributed Photo Christopher Meech / Contributed Photo Inside the converted church on 1035 North Street in Greenwich, Conn. (Christopher Meech / Contributed Photos) Inside the converted church on 1035 North Street in Greenwich, Conn. (Christopher Meech / Contributed Photos)

Stripping the church down to its studs, they set out to create a revamped living space as unique as the property itself, though its overhaul was not without structural improvements, including repairs to the steeple.

The next thing we saw was that they took the bell down, Santiago said. I was like, Why did they take the bell down? The contractors came and started talking about it, and they said they took the bell down because the bell was pulling the steeple over to one sideit was totally straightened and reinforced.

Instead of putting the bell back in its former home, they decided to place it on the lawn as decoration. Putting the bell on the lawn also made the steeple accessible, according to Forrest, who said the spot has been used as the site of several parties at the home.

The rest of the homes renovations were chronicled in a Dwell magazine profile, which highlighted Santiago (a former advertising executive) and Bonnies (a professional chef) journey in revamping and redesigning the home. The changes included the addition of a birch pod that floats above the great room, hovering where the choir loft stood silent as parishioners entered the church, according to the Dwell profile, which houses the main suite.

The kitchen was also upgraded to suit Bonnies professional standards, though it came in a second phase of renovations. They also removed stone from the churchs basement that was used outside to construct a wall in the back of the house. Forrest noted that their additions only enhanced the churchs intrinsic features, like the 16-foot tall windows in the grand room with 20-foot ceilings, or the dramatic S-curved foyer that abuts the kitchen and serves as its back wall.

It is very dramatic, actually, Forrest said. When youre standing outside in front and looking at those columns, theyre just beautiful. They frame that front door magnificently.

Christopher Meech / Contributed Photo

The homes drama doesnt solely come from these large-scale features. The Suarezes also incorporated several unique finishes throughout the home to polish off its design. Look no further than the front door to see that its not a standard church entry.

The front door was inspired by a sushi bar in Japan that was admired by Santiago and Bonnie, Forrest said. So they came back here and had a replica of this door made. Its just gorgeous, its just like a piece of art.

The door is just one of several globally-inspired features part of the home. Inside, there are two Murano glass chandeliers that the couple got from Venice  something that was no simple feat.

We have a Venetian friendand we were looking for chandeliers with the right proportion for a 20-foot ceiling, Bonnie said. One weekend, it was a Friday, he says, I got two chandeliers, you gotta come now  can you come this weekend? Because people are sniffing them out. It was a Friday afternoon, and we took a flight Saturday morning, and were like, Are we crazy?

They purchased both chandeliers  one made of multicolored glass and one made of clear glass  which were shipped from Venice and arrived at their home disassembled.

There were no instructions, Santiago said.

It took Santiago a week to open up all the crates because they put miles of cotton netting all around everything, Bonnie said. He unwrapped all these pieces, put these piles of glass all around the rug, and when we were in Venice, he had gotten up on a ladder and was taking close-pictures of exactly every arm, every angle, how everything was supposed to be.

With the help of two Greenwich locals who worked on chandeliers before, Bonnie said it took the four of them a week to reconstruct the chandeliers.

Christopher Meech / Contributed Photo

The homes renovations were completed in 2007, and since then, the couple has split their time between the North Street church and New York, where all three of their grown sons reside. When the COVID-19 pandemic crept into the region, the Suarez family found themselves spending more and more time in the Hudson Valley area with their sons and grandchildren than in the isolation of Greenwich.

I used to only go back to Greenwich to go to the dentist and for a knee replacement, Bonnie said. And that was because I hadnt found local doctors. So really, during the pandemic, I only went back for those services.

They have since moved and joined their sons in the Hudson Valley permanently, becoming one of many movers in the Northeast to migrate during the pandemic. Besides enjoying the open space and less traffic the area presents, the Suarezes also get to enjoy their sons success. One finds new talent for music recording companies. Their second son, Nick Suarez, owns and operates Gaskins  an eatery with a locally-sourced menu profiled in The New York Times in 2016  located on the ironically-named Church Avenue in Germantown. The restaurant serves beer made at the Suarez Family Brewery, run by his brother, Dan.

But making the move across state lines means letting go of their Greenwich church and finding a buyer who sees the same value they saw in owning the unique property.

Its great for someone whos creative, Santiago said. Greenwich people would not think of living in a church. Thats going to be the hardest thing in selling it. Its like, I dont want to live in a church!But since the pandemic, people are starting to think differently: What do I really want? What do I really need?

According to Forrest, theres still that post-COVID appetite among home buyers to find one-of-a-kind properties like the church.

People are looking for different thingsThey want something completely different from the traditional house  something cool, she said. Theyre moving to out West, theyre looking for properties that are different. And this home is a very inspiring home. Youre just inspired inside and out when youre there.

The 1035 North Street Church is listed by Douglas Elliman  Greenwich and is presented by Liz Forrest (203-651-9674).
In 1991, at age 27, British artist Marc Quinn garnered international notice and some notoriety creating a bust of himself from his own blood.

That same sculpture, Self 1991, is now on view in the entrance court of the Yale Center for British Art, where it acts as a show-stopping introduction to a long-running Quinn exhibit that also includes four of his large to super-sized so-called history paintings that nevertheless are very current.

Courtesy of Marc Quinn Studio

Quinns Self is so audacious that it may be a case in which even seeing does not mean believing. His life-size head is dark red, almost black in some places, and so textured in others, it looks to be fashioned from gauze. The artist cast a mold of his head using plaster of Paris, then filled it with 10 pints of his own blood and froze it. Suspended in a box filled with silicone oil inside a hood made of a special plastic, it sits on stainless steel pedestal that doubles as a freezing unit  needed to keep the head from melting

"Self 1991" is the original in a series of self-portraits that serve as records of the artist's aging. Every five years, Quinn has drawn 10 new pints for a new bust. But the one at Yale is the first, said Martina Droth, the art centers deputy director and chief curator, who guarantees its authenticity.

It is 10 pints of the artists own blood, frozen in a mold taken directly from his head, Droth said. Ten pints is about the volume of blood that circulates in the human body. The artist had it drawn over a period of weeks. Its like giving blood, except he didnt give blood. He kept it, she said.

Courtesy of the Yale Center for British Art

Quinns busts are not as permanent as say the marble bust of a Roman emperor. Every time the work is shown, it is recast, Droth said. When it goes into storage, it just doesnt sit there. Its melted back down and stored like you would human blood in a hospital situation.

The apparent discoloration is a natural result of blood being an organic, living material. Its not deteriorating. Its just frozen in time as it were, she said.

The ideas provoked by Self 1991 and its sequels are many. One is that classical sculptures were meant to defy death and decay, preserving an individual for all time. Quinns sculpture is made from mortal fluid and, as a museum text points out, is literally on electric life support.

At Yale, the pedestal raises the bust just high enough, and its protective casings are just reflective enough, that anyone can look into Quinns face and see themselves.

Quinns history paintings are in galleries on the fourth floor where they can seem invaders, so great is the contrast between their scenes of anti-government protest and the relatively serene paintings nearby in the centers permanent collection.

One of the biggest is the wall-filling triptych that recalls the fiery protests in Kyiv in early 2014 that led to the ouster of a pro-Russian president and the first contemporary disputes over eastern Ukraine. Based on a news photo, the painting is newly powerful and competes with the artists blood bust for attention.

The Ukraine painting, for instance, disrupts a gallery with J.M.W. Turners seascapes. In Quinns middle panel, the streets of Kyiv appear covered with a molten flow of refuse. The dark sky isn't stormy; it looks blackened by an oily fire. One armored protester hurls a brick, another a Molotov cocktail. Meanwhile across the entire canvas, Quinn has strewn, or thrown, thick globs of oil paint.

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

The photographic origins are more evident in Quinns other history paintings, especially in the four panel painting showing a young woman confronting riot clad police after the shooting and death of Alton Sterling, a Black man, in Baton Rouge, La. in 2016.

Capturing a Black Lives Matter moment, it looks from just a few feet away to a blown up photograph flecked with splashes of paint. But it is all oil on canvas; an example of Quinns painstaking photo realist technique. The paint splatters pull the photograph back into the space of painting, Droth said. To put this reminder on top, that this really is a painting, changes the way we relate to news stories. And, she adds, to history.

Each of those works, those stories of what happened to those people are still very much with usIt points to the fact that history isnt something that happens in the past and then you move on. Its ongoing.

The exhibit, Marc Quinn History Painting +, runs to Oct. 16 at the Yale Center for British Art.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Kathy Salvi, a suburban Chicago personal injury lawyer, won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Illinois on Tuesday, topping a field of seven candidates.

Salvi, 63, of Mundelein, will take on first-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November. Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War, is highly popular and was unopposed in the primary. She will be the clear favorite as she seeks a second term in November in a place where Democrats control all statewide offices and voters twice rejected President Donald Trump by double digits.
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If you start at Enigma, just off the corner of Central Avenue and 11th Street in Floridas St. Petersburg  with its spotlights casting a two-story rainbow on a Spanish-style stucco facade  and head west about a half-a-mile, youll hit Cocktail. Then its Mixers at Old Key West a block further. The Garage, Punkys and Lucky Star Lounge follow in near rapid succession. Head a few Blocks up and theres Our Bar.

With legislation like the Dont Say Gay bill and last years transgender girls sports ban, the Sunshine State has a shadowy reputation for how it treats the LGBTQ community. Yet in a one square-mile radius of one city in Florida, youll find about just as many gay bars as you will in the entire state of Connecticut.

Turns out, that might be a good thing.

David Kleman has owned Partners, a gay bar in New Haven, for about 25 years. Its been around for almost 50.

But back in the '80s, Kleman worked the bar and has, for more than 40 years, watched how the nightlife culture for the LGBTQ community has shifted in Connecticut and around the country. Kleman said he remembers a time when gay bars were a refuge for a marginalized community that was often physically and verbally assaulted.

Years ago, if you were gay you just wouldnt walk into some place, so you would go to a gay bar or a leather party or a drag show, Kleman said. We get married now and have kids. Weve been integrated in society very well.

Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

According to Out Leadership, an LBGTQ business network, Connecticut ranks second in its LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index of LGBTQ friendly states.

In the '80s, Kleman said, Partners clientele was almost entirely gay. Now he said theres a near-even split. He said thats because the LGBTQ community isnt as marginalized in Connecticut as it is in other parts of the country.

Be careful what you wish for, Kleman said with a laugh. In Connecticut gay people are comfortable going everywhere. Gay people are more comfortable walking into any club or any bar.

And hes not alone. Titus Abad, a 29-year-old gay man from New London County, said gay bars in Connecticut are somewhat of a dying breed because mainstream culture has become more accepting of the community. Which, he said, was always the goal.

Theres a question of do we really need the gay bars anymore, Abad said. We have more rights than we used to. And we had to fight for them. The generations before us paved the way. We dont need the gay bars as much because were not physically threatened the way we used to be  though it still happens. We are equal and thats what gay bars have always been about. But now other bars are doing that as well.

Perceptions Photography / Contributed photo

Kleman said many of New Havens nightlife establishments are now owned by people in the LGBTQ Community and the tolerance for intolerance is nearly non-existent within the nightlife scene.

The thing is, Kleman said, straight people are more comfortable with us too. When more people come out, it makes it easier for people to understand the different communities. [The nightlife scene] is good right now. People are accepted everywhere. Business is good and people are out. I dont we need to see much of a change. But to stay consistent as things around are a little unsettling.

Kleman said change for the worse is on a lot of gay peoples minds following Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas concurring opinion in a ruling that overturned the abortion and privacy protections of the Roe v. Wade decision.

Thomas said the court should reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Those are key cases that established protections for things like a couple's right to access contraception, same-sex intimacy and same-sex marriage.

That, Abad said, is part of why gay bars still hold an important place in an incrementally accepting society. Abad grew up in Groton, one of Connecticuts smaller cities. He came out at 18. Being able to have a known safe place where he was surrounded by likeminded individuals or those who had walked similar paths, was crucial.

Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media

I struggled with it (coming out) in high school. Once I did, though, I felt pretty welcome, Abad said. But it took time. I was always able to find solace and community at local coffee shops in downtown Mystic or The Brass Rail (a now-closed gay bar) in New London. It was imperative for me to have that.

While Kleman says old-time gay bars like Partners are still around, LGBTQ inclusion has become part of the bar and restaurant scene. In Norwalk, Troupe 429 offers near daily drag shows at the gay-owned establishment. Owner Casey Fitzpatrick credits shows like Ru Pauls Drag Race with propeling the scene forward while allowing people to better understand and respect the art of drag.

As for the future, Fitzpatrick wants to see more of that inclusivity.

"I grew up in Connecticut, and plan to raise my family here. Id love to see more small businesses owned by queer people," Fitzpatrick said. "The individual towns of Connecticut should support and encourage this, and there needs to be more programs to help our community."

Abad agrees. He said New London has embraced drag as well with performances by the Sea Queens at Port of Call in Mystic. Dockside in New London does shows as well.

Seeing that happening in Mystic, seeing places open and have drag performances is so exciting, Abad said. Ive always said Mystic needed two things  a tattoo shop and drag or a gay bar. Now its like more places are waking up where they dont necessarily need a gay bar, but these drag shows are popping up.

Still, Abad worries that people will view the LGBTQ community as a monolith without accepting the intersectionality of the many smaller communities that make its whole. He hopes to see more LGBTQ events and inclusion beyond drag shows.

He said as long as rights remain under attack, and even if Connecticut can be safe place for many, efforts at inclusion and understanding should abound.

Just because someone might be transgender doesnt mean they love drag, Abad said. People get boxed into this idea of what gay is and what trans is. I want there to be more businesses willing to showcase and have outreach, poetry readings, bands, anything our towns and government can do. Even a little helps.

Below, check out five gay bars and drag clubs in Connecticut.

Troupe429 Norwalk Troupe429 on Wall Street, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in Norwalk, Conn. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media For the past five years, Casey Fitzpatrick and Nicholas Ruiz have owned and operated Troupe429, a gay-owned bar in Norwalk that puts on drag shows almost daily. The bar hosts resident drag queens like Sienna Rose and Robin Fierce who regularly perform as well as special guests such as "RuPaul's Drag Race" stars Tina Burner, Aquaria and Miz Cracker. Outside of hosting resident drag queens who regularly perform, the bar packs "troupers" in for a number of prominent stars in the national community, such as "RuPaul's Drag Race" icons Tina Burner, Aquaria and Miz Cracker. Anyone looking to celebrate Pride beyond June in Norwalk need only step into Troupe429, where Fitzpatrick promises "lots of drag shows, rainbows and gay good times." Troupe429 is located 3 Wall St. in Norwalk. Tuesday-Thursday: 6 p.m.-1 a.m., Friday-Saturday: 6 p.m., Sunday 6 p.m.-1 a.m.

Partners Cafe New Haven View this post on Instagram A post shared by Partners new haven (@partners_cafe_) Open seven days a week, Partners Cafe has been serving patrons in New Haven since 1974. The bar and nightclub has specials every day of the week including "Two for Tuesdays" and "Strobelight Saturdays." Partners also hosts a number of special events and themed evenings throughout the month. Partners Cafe is located at 365 Crown St. in New Haven. Sunday-Thursday: 8 p.m.-1 a.m., Friday-Saturday: 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

Trevi Lounge Fairfield Drag performers Tiana Maxim Rose, of New Haven, at left, and Lucia Virginity, of Thomaston, take selfies. before the start of the Drag Race for Governor fundraiser at Trevi Lounge in Fairfield, Conn., on Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Named one of the best LGBTQ+ bars in the U.S. by Tasting Table, Trevi Lounge is an LGBTQ+ bar and safe space in Fairfield. The space hosts a number of weekly events including karaoke on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Wacky Wednesday, "Fairfield County's only weekly LGBTQ+ open stage." Trevi Lounge has also hosted a number of "Hit Play" themed nights in recent months including shows dedicated to Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Beyonce. Trevi Lounge is located at 548 Kings Highway Cutoff in Fairfield. Tuesday-Thursday: 7 p.m.-1 a.m., Friday-Saturday: 7 p.m.-2 p.m., Sunday: 7 p.m.- 1a.m.

168 York Street Cafe New Haven View this post on Instagram A post shared by 168 York Street Cafe (@168yorkstreet) One of the oldest gay bars in the state, 168 York Street Cafe is nestled into brownstone building near the Yale campus. 168 York Street Cafe hosts drag events, dance parties and even serves up a variety of dishes, including BBQ on Sundays during the summer. The cafe is also known for its charitable efforts, donating proceeds to local organizations at the door on Thursdays and Sundays, which it has done for over the past 20 years, according to its website. 168 York Street Cafe is located at 168 York St. in New Haven. Tuesday: 3 p.m.-11 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday: 3 p.m.-12 a.m. Friday: 3 p.m-1 a.m. Saturday-Sunday: 5 p.m.-2 a.m.
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DENVER (AP)  Colorado Republicans on Tuesday chose a former local official who pledged to keep politics out of running elections as their nominee for secretary of state over an indicted county clerk who gained national prominence by promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines.

In spurning Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, Republican primary voters appeared to reject the conspiracy theories and false claims that have spread among conservatives since the last presidential election. Peters has appeared regularly with prominent allies of former President Donald Trump who claim without evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from him and on Tuesday night made similar claims of cheating in the primary that were quickly rebutted by the primary winner and the secretary of state.

The win by Pam Anderson, the former Jefferson County clerk and past head of the state clerks association, sets up a November match-up with current Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat seeking a second term who ran unopposed in Tuesdays primary.

Despite Peters' loss, Griswold's campaign framed the November election as a referendum on voting security and false claims peddled by Republicans across the country that widespread fraud is the reason Trump lost reelection.

Griswold campaign manager Kyla Sabado said in a statement that Anderson cannot be trusted to stand up to the far-right extremists that dominate the Republican Party.

Anderson doesn't bring the political baggage of Peters and is likely to be a much tougher opponent for Griswold, especially during a year that is widely believed to be a difficult one for Democrats.

After her win Tuesday night, Anderson said Republican voters had sent a message that they wanted someone they could trust to be a fair leader in the state's top elections office and vowed to avoid using the post for partisan gain.

I will continue my fight for restoring the confidence of Colorado voters against lies and the politicians or interest groups that seek to weaponize elections administration for political advantage," Anderson said.

Peters was among several candidates across the country this year running to be their states chief election official while denying the outcome of the 2020 election or questioning the integrity of U.S. elections. She became the latest of those candidates to fail to win their Republican primary.

Last month, Georgias Jody Hice lost his bid to oust Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in that states GOP primary despite having Trumps endorsement. Raffensperger drew Trumps ire after he refused the former presidents request to find enough votes to overturn President Joe Bidens win in Georgia.

There is no evidence of widespread fraud or conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election.

On Tuesday, Peters gathered with nearly 100 supporters at a rooftop bar in the historic railroad town of Sedalia. She refused to accept defeat and claimed without evidence that the outcome had been manipulated. Peters was running third, behind Anderson and businessman Mike O'Donnell with nearly all the votes counted.

Peters accused Colorado election officials of cheating, adding that looking at the results, it's just so obvious that it should be flipped.

"Its not over. Keep the faith, she said.

Griswold issued a statement Tuesday night noting that Colorados elections have bipartisan oversight throughout the election process.

Peters continued spread of election lies is no surprise, Griswold said. Colorado voters made their voices heard and candidates should respect and accept the results of the free and fair election.

Anderson, in response to Peters' claims, praised the work of county election officials overseeing the primary and vowed to continue to push back against lies about elections.

"I will do exactly what I have done  stand up for the truth, stand up for voters and stand up for our constitutional rights," Anderson said, in a phone interview from a campaign party in Jefferson County.

Peters, elected as county clerk in 2018, had been barred by a judge from overseeing this years election in Mesa County and was indicted on seven felony counts by a grand jury in her heavily Republican county. The indictment alleged Peters was part of a deceptive scheme to breach voting system technology.

She has dismissed the charges as politically motivated, even though the Mesa County district attorney who convened the grand jury is a Republican. After the indictment was announced, state GOP leaders had called on her to suspend her campaign.

In recent months, Peters has been issuing various reports  discredited by officials and experts  that claim voting system manipulation. The reports are based on an unauthorized copy of her countys voting system, the security breach that is the center of the indictment.

Peters has denied wrongdoing, arguing she has the authority to ensure county's elections are secure.

At Peters' campaign party, those in the crowd listened to country music and drank beer and cocktails as they watched the results on TV. As it became apparent Peters was losing, the mood dampened as the sun set over the foothills.

Supporter Rick Wyatt said he did not see much support for her opponents and that voters loved Peters.

How does the top of the ticket become the bottom of the ticket?" Wyatt said. "Elections are rigged.

Nationally, nearly two dozen Republican candidates who deny the result of the 2020 presidential election have been on the ballot to be their states top election official, according to States United Action, a nonpartisan advocacy organization tracking the candidates.

Among those who have advanced to the November election are Wes Allen in Alabama, Diego Morales in Indiana, Jim Marchant in Nevada and Audrey Trujillo in New Mexico. Kristina Karamo in Michigan and Kim Crockett in Minnesota are favorites to win their primaries in August.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a former state trooper to sue Texas over his claim that he was forced out of his job when he returned from Army service in Iraq.

The justices ruled for Army veteran Le Roy Torres under a federal law that was enacted in 1994 in the wake of the Persian Gulf war to strengthen job protections for returning service members.

By a 5-4 vote, the high court rejected Texas' claim that it is shielded from such lawsuits. Text, history, and precedent show that the States, in coming together to form a Union, agreed to sacrifice their sovereign immunity for the good of the common defense, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court.

Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by three other conservative justices, dissented, arguing that when the States ratified the Constitution, they did not implicitly consent to private damages actions filed in their own courtswhether authorized by Congress war powers or any other Article I power. Article I refers to the part of the Constitution that spells out Congress' power.

Torres says he suffered lung damage from exposure to open burn pits on his base in Iraq. He spent a year in Iraq and was discharged as a captain after nearly 19 years in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Separately, Congress is nearing final passage of a sweeping expansion of health care and disability benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were exposed to the open pits that were set ablaze with jet fuel to dispose of tires, batteries, medical waste and other materials.

The state and Torres dispute what happened when he returned to Texas, unable to resume his job as a state trooper because of the damage to his lungs. He eventually resigned and later filed his lawsuit. A state appellate court dismissed it, and the justices stepped in.

Congress first allowed returning service members to sue states to keep their jobs in 1974, recognizing discrimination because of opposition to the Vietnam War.

In March, the court allowed the Navy to take account of sailors' vaccination status in deciding on deployments, narrowing a lower court order. Three justices, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas, dissented from the high court's order.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined her colleagues in Wednesday's dissent.
Vernon Police Department / Contributed Photo

VERNON  A woman has been hospitalized with serious injuries after she was shot in the leg near Talcott Avenue Monday, police said.

Hartford Hospital informed police just after 2 p.m. about the shooting victim, Vernon Police Lt. Robert Marra said.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias new defense minister on Wednesday talked down the prospect of Australia acquiring U.S. nuclear-powered submarines by the end of the decade, describing such a timetable as optimistic in the extreme.

Defense Minister Richard Marles, whose party came to power at elections last month, said his priority was closing a naval capability gap that is expected to open when Australias aging fleet of six Collins-class diesel-electric submarines begins to retire from 2038.

The United States and Britain have agreed to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. But when the agreement was announced in September, the first submarine was not expected to be delivered until 2040.

Former Defense Minister Peter Dutton said this month that the United States could be persuaded to provide Australia with two Virginia-class submarines from its Connecticut production line by 2030.

Marles, who is acting prime minister while Anthony Albanese is overseas, doubted Australia would have a single nuclear-powered submarine by 2030.

I think that is optimistic in the extreme, Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp., saying the previous government had expected a delivery date in the 2040s. But he added, We will be looking at every option available to try and bring that time forward."

Dutton, who is now opposition leader, said China would have the technology to detect Collins-class submarines in the South China Sea by 2035.

Unlike nuclear submarines, diesel-electric submarines have to surface and run on diesel-propulsion while they recharge their batteries. China is developing technology that would detect submarines on the surface, Dutton said.

Prime Minister Albanese plans to visit French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this week to repair bilateral relations that soured in September when the previous Australian government tore up a 90 billion Australian dollar ($62 billion) contract for a French state-owned company to build a fleet of 12 diesel-electric submarines.

Albaneses government announced recently 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.

But 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).

Albanese 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.

French anger over the canceled contract had delayed negotiations on an Australian free trade deal with the European Union.

Australias new Foreign Minister Penny Wong is visiting her birth country Malaysia to allay fears that the Australian move to nuclear propulsion could spark a regional arms race. She said Tuesday that her government was committed to ensuring the region remained peaceful, stable and prosperous.
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MADRID (AP)  President Joe Biden said Wednesday the U.S. will significantly expand its military presence in Europe, the latest example of how Russias invasion of Ukraine has reshaped plans for the continents security and prompted a reinvestment in NATO.

Among the changes will be a permanent U.S. garrison in Poland, for the first time creating an enduring American foothold on the alliances eastern flank. Biden also said the U.S. would send two additional squadrons of F-35 fighter jets to the United Kingdom and more air defenses and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

The United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, he said during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the alliances annual leaders summit in Madrid.

The dry language belied the dramatic shift under way as the U.S. prepares to keep 100,000 troops in Europe for the foreseeable future, up from 80,000 before the war in Ukraine began.

Stoltenberg, who earlier Wednesday said the alliance was facing its biggest challenge since World War II because of Russias invasion of Ukraine, welcomed Bidens announcement.

This really demonstrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond, Stoltenberg said, thanking Biden for unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine.

The expanding U.S. military presence is still far short of its numbers during the Cold War, when roughly 300,000 American troops, on average, were stationed in the region. But it signals a renewed focus on European security. And the U.S. announcement is bolstered by other commitments made by allies on the continent.

NATO plans to increase the size of its rapid reaction force from 40,000 to 300,000 troops by next year. Although the troops would be based in their home countries, they would be ready to deploy further east, where the alliance will stockpile equipment and ammunition.

Max Bergmann, a former State Department official who is director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said this is a defining year for the continent and the alliance.

Its a hugely significant turning point, and one that historians are going to look back on, he said.

He described the decision to shift U.S. forces further east as particularly noteworthy.

Were going to defend the line, he said. Were not just going to have a tripwire. Were not going to cede anything.

Biden said the U.S. would step up its temporary deployments of troops to Romania and the Baltic region, in addition to permanently stationing the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland.

Celeste Wallander, an assistant U.S. secretary of defense for international affairs, told reporters that having a long-term presence in Poland will be key to helping NATO navigate the changed security environment in Europe caused by Russias invasion. The U.S. supplies the bulk of NATOs military power.

Polands President Andrzej Duda, present in Madrid, said on Twitter that the permanent presence of U.S. military command structure was an extremely important decision and a decision that we have been waiting for.

U.S. officials emphasized that the permanent basing applied only to headquarters units, not combat troops, and was therefore consistent with a 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia in which the alliance agreed not to permanently base combat troops in Eastern Europe as it aimed to build more constructive ties in the post-Cold War environment.

The combat units Biden is sending to Romania and the Baltic region are on rotational deployments, rather than permanent assignment, to remain in compliance with that agreement.

There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes, nor is there a requirement to do that, said John Kirby, a spokesman for Bidens National Security Council.

Biden announced on Tuesday after arriving for the summit that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain, bringing the total number to six.

Biden predicted that meetings this week would make for a history-making summit as leaders were set to approve a new strategic framework, announce a range of steps to boost their defense spending and capabilities, and clear the way for historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin thought NATO members would splinter after he invaded Ukraine, but got the opposite response.

Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe, Biden said. Youre gonna get the NATO-ization of Europe. And thats exactly what he didnt want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe.

Turkey, the last remaining holdout to approve the Nordic countries accession into NATO, reached an agreement late Tuesday to support adding them to the 30-nation alliance.

While the White House said the U.S. was not a direct party to the negotiations, a senior administration official said Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to encourage him to clear the way for Sweden and Finland to join.

The two leaders met Wednesday, and Biden praised Erdogan for his support of NATOs enlargement. They also discussed ways to export Ukrainian grain to ease food shortages around the world.

Youre doing a great job, I just want to thank you, Biden said.

Not all of the conversations at the NATO summit involved European security.

Biden sat down Wednesday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who were attending the conference as the alliance looks to strengthen its ties in the Indo-Pacific region and address challenges from China.

The three leaders discussed North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Biden said the three found deeply concerning.

Biden called trilateral cooperation essential and said the meeting was an opportunity for the leaders to coordinate a shared response, as U.S. officials say the isolated nation may soon conduct another nuclear test.

At the leaders dinner on Wednesday, Biden attended with two of his granddaughters, Finnegan and Maisy, instead of his wife, Jill. The U.S. president introduced them to his Turkish and Spanish counterparts.

__

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Chris Megerian in Washington and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
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NEW YORK (AP)  Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes by a judge who said fraud had become a way of life for Parnas.

Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on grounds that hed cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get Ukrainian leaders to investigate President Joe Bidens son.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didn't give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors.

The judge also ordered Parnas to pay $2.3 million in restitution.

The various schemes Parnas deployed to get money that prosecutors claim say fueled a lavish lifestyle led Oetken to say that for Parnas, fraud was essentially a way of life, a way of doing business.

Addressing the court before the sentence was announced, Parnas sobbed and apologized to those who had lost money investing in his business ventures.

A lot that you heard is true, your honor. I have not been a good person my whole life. Ive made mistakes. And I admit it, Parnas said. I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all people who are my friends, all people who trusted me, and I lied to them to further my personal agenda.

The criminal case against Parnas was not directly related to his work acting as a fixer for Giuliani as the former New York City mayor lobbied Ukrainian officials to launch an investigation of Bidens son, Hunter.

Instead, it zeroed in on donations Parnas had illegally made to a number of U.S. politicians using the riches of a wealthy Russian to jump-start a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, Parnas also pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee, that promised it could protect people against fraud.

That new company hired Giuliani as a consultant at a time when some Ukrainian figures were trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, agreeing to pay him $500,000.

Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island attorney who put up the cash to pay Giuliani, told the judge during the sentencing hearing that he hoped the former Manhattan federal prosecutor would return the money, since Fraud Guarantee turned out to be a fraud.

My bet is hes going to give me that money back, he said, adding that he didn't blame Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the scheme.

Outside of court, Parnas said that he didn't believe Giuliani would return the money.

I dont think hell pay him back because, as you can see, hes gone down the path of no return. Hes just an evil man, unfortunately, and somebody that Im very, very sad that I had to meet, he said.

Giuliani, who was working at the time as a personal lawyer for Trump, has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani's interactions with Ukrainian figures violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

Parnas and a business associate, Igor Fruman, attracted attention from reporters after arranging big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump.

An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to promote a new energy company.

During Parnas' sentencing hearing, the judge also heard from others who had lost money with him in failed business deals.

Dianne Pues said the businessman destroyed my life when he failed to repay money she and her husband had loaned him to produce a movie called Anatomy of an Assassin.

Parnas promised he would become a new person, sometimes turning around in court to looked for victims as he expressed contrition.

Id like to apologize to Mr. Gucciardo. Even though I never spent a dollar of his money. I lied to him and used our friendship. Charles, I am sorry, he said.
ONTARIO, Ore. (AP)  Transportation officials said Tuesday evening that Interstate 84 is closed near the border of Oregon and Idaho because of wildfire smoke.

The Oregon Department of Transportation said the interstate was closed westbound in Ontario and eastbound in Baker City because of smoke from a wildfire.
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BRIDGEPORT  Internal affairs probes into detectives accused of mishandling the premature death cases of two Black women last December 12 are concluded and labor hearings on those findings are underway, according to the police union.

Meanwhile Kevin Cronin  the second of the detectives in question, both of whom were placed on paid administrative leave in late January  was quietly returned to duty in late May. That occurred just days after an independent arbiter, as reported at the time, ordered the city to put Cronins colleague, Detective Angel Llanos, back to work.

What, if any, new discipline each now faces as a result of the internal investigations was not revealed Tuesday by either the union or city officials.

Cronin and Llanos were, respectively, accused of failing to properly notify the loved ones of 23-year-old Lauren Smith-Fields and 53-year-old Brenda Lee Rawls of their premature deaths last Dec. 12. Those otherwise unrelated cases drew national media attention and widespread criticism.

That resulted in Mayor Joe Ganim taking the unusual step in late January to, while Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia was away and without consulting her, order her deputy suspend the detectives while the internal investigations of their actions were ongoing.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in late January announced that Smith-Fields death was an accident from acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine, and alcohol.

In late February that same agency ruled Rawls cause of death to be cardiovascular disease with diabetes as a contributing cause.

The union fought Ganims decision to suspend Cronin and Llanos and the dispute was forwarded to the American Arbitration Association (AAA). In late May that independent entity issued a report clearing Llanos and ordering him returned to duty.

That decision stated, The union provided a persuasive argument that the grievants actions  or inaction ... were no different than his actions with other similar cases. Since there is no record of the grievant being disciplined for his past actions regarding DOAs (dead on arrival), it must be assumed that his past actions were acceptable. More importantly, there was no evidence that he violated the death notification policy.

Bridgeport was also instructed to provide Llanos opportunities to work 128 hours of missed overtime totaling 16 weeks.

The police union had said that representatives with the AAA were supposed to consider Cronins case this month. But on Tuesday, in response to a request for an update by Hearst Connecticut Media, the union said, The city decided not to arbitrate the case and reinstated him to full duty.

The union also provided a May 26 memorandum from Garcia reinstating Cronin.

Garcia at the end of May had also told Hearst the internal affairs probe into Llanos was complete and being reviewed for next steps. The city has neither announced those steps nor responded to Hearsts Freedom of Information Act request for that report.

But on Tuesday the union revealed the probe into Cronin had also been wrapped up, and that hearings the citys labor relations office must hold before any disciplinary action is taken had commenced.

The OIA (Office of Internal Affairs) reports concerning Detective Llanos and Detective Cronin are out. We have no comment while the hearing process is underway, the police union stated.

Neither Garcias nor Ganims offices returned requests for comment Tuesday.

Darnell Crosland, the attorney representing Rawls and Smith-Fields families, said Tuesday that he had not been made aware of Cronins return to duty or that the internal affairs reports were in.

He said he was not surprised about the former situation given the AAAs order related to Llanos.

But Crosland called on the Ganim administration to release the details of the internal investigations into the detectives.

The fact they have not announced the findings, it doesnt help the process in terms of transparency, Crosland said. People were upset about the way the cases were handled. They (city officials) have spoken to us and guaranteed us this would be looked into by internal affairs. Not announcing the findings (shows) an utter disrespect for the families and the community.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Alessandro Piazza, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

(THE CONVERSATION) Corporate America  once known for carefully avoiding public stances on hot button issues  has, in recent years, become increasingly outspoken on a host of thorny topics, from gay rights to the war in Ukraine. That makes its relative silence in the face of the end of federal abortion rights all the more deafening.

Over two-thirds of companies in the Fortune 500 are publicly committed to supporting LGBTQ rights, and many were early backers of marriage equality before the public embraced it. In the weeks after Vladimir Putin sent his armies into Ukraine, hundreds of companies suspended or ceased operations in Russia in an unprecedented reaction to geopolitical aggression. And in the aftermath of the passage of a 2021 Georgia law seen as curtailing voting rights, dozens of companies spoke forcefully against the legislation.

But so far, only three dozen or so companies have taken a public stance on the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, mostly to declare their support for workers seeking an abortion. While a few openly criticized the Supreme Courts June 24, 2022, decision, the vast majority did not.

In my own research, I have examined both the emergence of corporate activism on sociopolitical issues and the fraught history of abortion provision in the United States, which has been contested ever since elective abortion became legal nationwide in 1973.

The big question is: Why is corporate America being so timid this time around?

Growing activism from corporate America

Across America, corporate activism has been on the rise.

Whereas most companies once subscribed to conservative economist Milton Friedmans famous quip that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits, corporations are increasingly expected to take public stances on a host of thorny issues.

And so it was strange to see so little reaction after a Supreme Court decision that amounted to a sea change in reproductive health for the entire country. Within the next month, it is estimated that over 30 million women will lose access to the procedure. Companies that did speak out mostly sought to reassure their employees that they would cover necessary travel and in some cases abortion procedures but did not explicitly criticize the decision.

Knowing when to stay mum

The most basic explanation for the relative silence is that not all social issues are alike. Some enjoy such overwhelming levels of public support that speaking out is obviously the right thing to do.

Within days of Russias invasion of Ukraine, for example, most U.S. companies were already pulling out of Russia in droves. In total, over 300 American companies have withdrawn from Russia entirely, and over 600 more either suspended operations or scaled them back.

Although the speed with which they fled was unprecedented, it maybe shouldnt be all that surprising given U.S. public opinion. Shortly after the invasion, 7 in 10 Americans said they saw Russia as an enemy  with no partisan split  compared with 4 in 10 just a couple months earlier.

But on other issues  such as abortion  public opinion is divided across well-defined fault lines. While 61% of Americans recently polled said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, the partisan divide is significant, with just 38% of Republicans saying that.

And in some cases, speaking out about a given issue might not be perceived as appropriate at all. A 2018 survey found that while most Americans appreciate it when CEOs  and corporations more generally  speak out on workplace-relevant issues like sexual harassment and equal pay, they take a dim view of their doing so on topics like gun control or abortion. Notably, in the same survey only 14% of respondents thought that corporate leaders should weigh in on abortion.

Learning to be activists

Just as important, though, is the fact that in choosing to wade into contentious societal debates, companies are exposing themselves to risk. As a result, companies have often approached social issues by initially taking only tentative steps aimed at internal constituents like employees.

Here, the case of LGBTQ rights advocacy by corporations is especially instructive.

In the early 1990s, companies such as Disney and Apple were among the first to offer benefits to employees same-sex partners. By 2005, about 20% of Fortune 500 companies did. At the time, most Americans opposed marriage equality, so companies pursued a limited approach and refrained from pushing for legalization.

This is consistent with some of my ongoing research with Rice University colleagues in which Im finding that companies tend to frame their stances on social issues narrowly when they are not settled matters. Once they are settled, however, and controversy abates, companies often shift to full-fledged advocacy.

So in 2012, when same-sex marriage was already legal in a handful of U.S. states, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein was the first Fortune 500 company leader to come out in support of marriage equality. As marriage equality was realized in more and more states and public support increased, more companies jumped on the bandwagon. By early 2013, over 100 corporations had pledged their support for same-sex marriage. And today, most corporations do.

Facing a backlash

As one of the first examples of widespread corporate activism, the fight over LGBTQ rights likely led corporations to believe that customers and the general public would reward bold action and principled stances.

Hence, in the years since, weve seen increasingly activist positions from companies  and many stories trumpeting them.

This can be seen in the strong reaction to the 2016 North Carolina bathroom bill  including lawsuits and a boycott of the state by companies, which eventually led to the laws being repealed  and in the forceful response to a recent Florida law that prevents instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.

One of Floridas largest employers, Disney, after initially equivocating, came out forcefully against the law after it was passed and said it would seek its repeal. But this time, Disneys full-throated activism faced substantial backlash  from both sides. Employees and activists accused the company of not doing enough, while the companys stance was met with fierce resistance from the government of Florida, which moved aggressively against the company and voted to strip Disney of the special tax and self-governing privileges it has held for 55 years.

Getting it wrong

For a possibly chastened corporate America, I believe the Disney incident was a reminder of the perils of wading too deeply into polarizing societal debates.

This appears evident from the corporate stances toward abortion rights that have played out since Roe v. Wade fell. Companies once again focused their responses on protecting their employees first and foremost, without offering criticism of the ruling or supporting a push for new legislation.

That said, Im convinced there is probably no going back to the days when companies stood on the sidelines, eyeing their profit margins and little else.

It is a brave new world out there for corporate activism, and I predict that striking the right balance will become increasingly tough. Getting it wrong might mean not just angry employees or customers but also legal challenges, for example for companies that have pledged to help workers seeking an abortion.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/why-roe-v-wades-demise-unlike-gay-rights-or-ukraine-isnt-getting-corporate-america-to-speak-up-185940.
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WESTPORT  Amazon Fresh has cleared a hurdle in coming to the old Barnes & Noble site with the recent approval for its sign.

The proposal has come before the Architectural Review Board a few times. It was previously rejected because it was too big and didnt meet the towns regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals also rejected it for that reason in March.

The Architectural Review Board approved a design for the sign on a canopy back in April, said Garry Potts, with Professional Permits and the representative for the stores application. Potts said he brought that back to Amazon though, which said it wouldnt work.

Potts came back this week with a slightly smaller sign for the side of the building.

I think its as good as it can possibly be, said Ward French, the Architectural Review Boards chairman.

The new sign is also a linear design, something that had been debated previously.

Several board members had previously encouraged the company do the linear design instead of the proposed stacked one to meet the towns regulations.

Residents had also raised concerns in earlier meetings about the sign being too bright or tall. Potts reiterated this week that the light wouldnt go far and shouldnt bother the neighbors.

Construction is already underway on the new grocery store at 1076 Post Road East. The Planning and Zoning Commission already approved the building and site changes.

The approval included renovating the buildings facade, modifying the parking lot and occupying the former Barnes & Noble and Marshalls Shoe Store.

It comes as the Amazon Fresh in Brookfield nears completion. That store has already posted positions its looking to fill, though an official opening date has yet to be announced.

That store could be the first Amazon Fresh in New England depending on when it opens, though likely the first in Connecticut.

The Westport store will also be among the first in the region when it opens. Earlier this year, an Amazon official said the Westport one is expected to open in 2022, though didnt say when.

Officials in Orange recently approved site plans for a yet-to-be-named grocery store at a former TJMaxx that is also owned by Raymour & Flannigan. According to Burt Flickinger, managing director of New York City-based Strategic Resource Group, the zoning approval includes all the hallmarks of an Amazon Fresh location.

There are also two stores in the works in Massachusetts.

This story includes previous reporting from Trevor Ballantyne.
Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Screenshots: Crain Communications, East Side Feed, Inman, New York Times, Particle Media

New York real estate has always had notorious family dynasties, those scions of scions and their scions: the Trumps, Kushners, Dursts, Tishmans, and Lefraks, whose personal and business lives bleed together in the tabloids with the occasional megadivorce or murder trial. And those are just the empires with famous names  there are yet more tiers of the messy and rich whom you might not know but whose exploits are equally shameless. Last week, one such family, the Koeppels, produced headlines like something out of Charles Dickenss Bleak House: NYC man sues mom for being a terrible landlord, the New York Post said.

According to Crains New York, which originally published the news, William Koeppel recently filed a lawsuit against his mother, Roberta Koeppel, alleging that she, along with his sister, is effectively a slumlord. In court documents, William claimed the ten buildings under his mothers supervision in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island have more than 1,000 violations regarding defective services like elevators and boilers and noted that she was, in 2020, named the 47th-worst landlord in the city by the public advocates office. Koeppel claims his mother has instructed the management company used in the buildings, First Service Residential, to pay violations fees in lieu of making requested repairs. Roberta has denied this in depositions, saying she visits the properties periodically and that First Service does repairs when they need to be made, per Crains.

William, 62, is suing to have both his 84-year-old mother and his sister removed as trustees. Williams lawyer, with an op-ed in the Brooklyn Paper, framed the lawsuit as a matter of public safety, asking, How many more New Yorkers must get hurt before significant action is taken?

But the current installment of Koeppel v. Koeppel is merely the tip of a Succession-esque iceberg of litigation and family infighting, complete with wedding drama, prize poodles, and boats named for prize poodles. Theres a decade-spanning lawsuit against William filed by some of his tenants still dragging on; an indictment against William on charges that tenants had to donate to the Rudy Giuliani mayoral campaign in order to rent an apartment from him; battles over country-club memberships; cops called to Palm Beach mansions. This isnt even the first time William Koeppel has sued his mother. So who are they?

The Koeppel real-estate dynasty began with Abraham Koeppel in Brooklyn at the turn of the century. After Abraham, the family business moved to Manhattan and eventually split into two separate entities (both called Koeppel & Koeppel, confusingly): one located downtown and primarily commercial, the other residential and uptown. Williams father, Robert A. (who, yes, married a woman named Roberta), was part of the uptown Koeppels.

Bill started making his own headlines in the 90s, when he was involved in a series of scandals regarding his relationship with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. Koeppel, who was then in his early 30s, was a big fundraiser for Giulianis mayoral campaigns. In a 1994 New York Times story, some suggested Koeppel was trying to curry favor with the future mayor in return for help with city assessments; others said that, no, Koeppel was just really, really into Giuliani. He has an incredible admiration and affection for Rudy that is more intense than Ive seen coming from almost anybody else, the mayors campaign treasurer told the Times. (He wants to be a friend. He wants people to like him, Bills cousin suggested in the same piece.) After Giuliani took office in 1994, Bill was appointed to a volunteer position on the board of the Offtrack Betting Corporation (though he had been holding out for the much more visible, paid job of consumer-affairs commissioner), which he gave up after it came out that he had provided apartments in his buildings to Giuliani campaign aides on leases that allowed them to put off paying rent for months, raising questions about illegal campaign donations. He also, in 1996, pleaded guilty to soliciting donations to the Giuliani campaign from tenants and brokers in order to secure rent-stabilized apartments. (A legislative order wiped this from Williams record years ago, according to his rep.) One agent told the Times he was sitting with a client in the office of the landlord of one of Koeppels buildings when he got a call from Koeppel saying the broker had to cut a check to the Giuliani campaign. He got on the phone with me and told me we had to become a member of the club, he said. (In a statement, William Koeppel says, 30-year-old headlines do not negate the fact that Roberta Koeppel and the estates trustees have severely neglected this portfolio of properties posing a great threat to building tenants and the general public.)*

At this point, Koeppels family conflict was already in full swing. His cousins, the Koeppels of the downtown Koeppel & Koeppel firm, had no problem, during Bills legal troubles, telling the Times about how, during law school, Bill reportedly flew to Palm Beach every weekend, then failed the bar exam three times, then sued the exam for discrimination because he is dyslexic. After Giuliani took office, Bill apparently boasted that he had told the administration that his cousins were committing tax evasion. He said the feud began because they had kept him from obtaining membership at a Long Island country club.

As was reported by Intelligencer at the time, Bill first sued his mother in 1997, following his fathers death the previous year. In that suit, Bill alleged that Roberta had exiled him from the familys second home in Westchester and told the court that when he was a child, she sedated him with medication and locked him inside of dog cages (the Koeppels kept show poodles; Bill appears to have named his fishing boat after one of them). Other family members were called as witnesses. A cousin reportedly submitted in an affidavit that as long as I have known Roberta, her entire world revolved around acquiring more money and wealth, and most often at the expense of others. In my opinion, my cousin Roberta would throw anyone under the bus to get her way when money is at issue. Roberta claimed, in turn, that her son had bugged her bedroom. The antipathy was apparently so great that Koeppel had an armed guard at his Palm Beach wedding (his bride was a woman he had met at a Giuliani fundraiser) to prevent his mother from causing a potential disturbance, according to the 1998 gossip pages of this magazine.

But it wasnt all prizewinning poodles and armed guards. The Koeppels did, after all, have buildings to manage. In 2000, Bill was in the news again (in an article called Rudy Pal Boots Kids) when the Koeppel-owned K.S.L.M.-Columbus Apartments* tried to evict a day-care center from an Upper West Side building by raising its rent from $5,000 to $22,000 after it converted from subsidized housing to market-rate. In 2011, he was sued by nine residents of 350 East 52nd Street for illegally charging market rents while taking rent-stabilization tax abatements. It was only a few months later that Koeppel became one of just 12 landlords to fail to renew an agreement with the 32BJ SEIU doormen and porters union after heated negotiations during which tenants complained about mice, rats, and maggots in the building.

More than a decade later, the lawsuit filed by the tenants at 350 East 52nd Street is ongoing, lawyers for the tenants told Curbed. In February 2021, a judge granted them a reduced rent substantially lower than what they were being charged by Koeppel, who is fighting the ruling. At a press conference in 2011, when tenants were protesting sanitation conditions after the union fight, thenPublic Advocate Bill de Blasio put it this way: These charges are just the latest episode in a long history of tenant harassment by Mr. Koeppel. It is a pattern that dates back decades. The Koeppels, mother and son, were set to be back in court regarding their latest lawsuit on June 24, but the date has been postponed. The reunion will have to wait.

This piece has been updated.
The state of US Army recruitment is suffering from woke ads is part of the problem of not getting enough soldiers. Reforms argue that woke should be abandoned by the military administration that should make adjustments.

US Army Lags Behind Its Recruitment Goals

US military officials report how less interested Americans want to join the armed forces in a long time; the army has the least recruits, according to RT.

One of the reasons why the system for recruiting and use of 'woke ads' is making it hard to enlist more soldiers. The Pentagon admitted earlier this month that the military is lagging by 23% in the enlistment goals it has set for the year, noted My Fox 8.

This was a significant concern in April after Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) spoke to the Armed Services Committee about how the numbers for those who want to join are not good.

An op-ed in last Monday's 'Task and Purpose' that was written by an ex-US Army officer blamed wayward ads and a recruitment system that needs overhauling.

According to Lieutenant-Colonel James Machado and former Army officer Daniel Johnson, they stated the message to enlist is not good enough for interested recruits. They panned the series of ads for US Army recruitment that fell flat in their message. Also, having wokeness in the ads will not be as good as Russia or Chinese more effective system.

Read Also: Emmanuel Macron Facts: Interesting Info You May Not Know About The French President

Although the 'What's Your Warrior' series of ads brought more interest in military service, it was not so evident that getting more people to enlist was good enough. Machado and Johnson mentioned that the ads were almost like in a video game format, like a fake bait and switch.

The latest ad called 'Know Your Army' on YouTube highlights the advantages of joining, although omitting pride in service, selflessness, and accomplishment would not turn out well.

Concerns About Joining Military Service

Pentagon officials consider three top reasons to be part of the US Military: money, paid college, and traveling the world that was wanted most. Three reasons will stop anyone from becoming a soldier that included getting hurt or dying, mental trauma, sexual harassment, and assault as main concerns.

The ads will, according to them, not say to go to a military recruiter but instead go to a website or a contractor affiliated with recruiting people. Websites can be bad with wrong or inaccurate data about pay and benefits to joining, no way to chat with actual recruiting officers, and a form that allows a recruiting agent to answer after seven days. It gets worse when there is insufficient training or support for enlistment personnel, and this system has not changed a bit which is the root of the problem.

At least one enlistment is needed a month, and no allowance for seasonal changes makes it difficult to manage. The lack of effective outreach via social media is complex, and regulations need overhauling. Both Johnson and Machado say that the recession is affecting enlistment and problems in the job market, which needs modernized recruiting more than ever.

There are many problems with making enlistment more effective that are made more complicated by activists and politicians. Also, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will not let go of woke that is incompatible with military goals, citing Military Times.

Getting US Army recruitment to improve is an uphill battle as policies need revamping, and leaders are seen as non-responsive to what needs to be done.

Related Article: Joe Biden's Ratings Drop Another Week in New Opinion Poll Revealing Americans Disapproval

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not shocked when she learned that the US Supreme Court had reversed its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade verdict on abortion rights.

She informed CBS Mornings that she had been working on this for years. In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas, the nation's longest-serving justice, encouraged his colleagues to reconsider other judgments safeguarding contraception access, same-sex partnerships, and same-sex weddings.

Hillary Clinton Slams Supreme Court Over Roe v. Wade Ruling

Clinton, who attended law school with Thomas, believes he is a person of grievance and believes his written opinion might be a signal. Clinton said, "He has signaled in the past to lower courts, to state legislatures, Find cases. Pass laws. Get them up. I may not win the first, the second, or the third time, but we're going to keep at it."

We are only at the beginning of this terrible travesty that this Court has inflicted on us: @HillaryClinton says shes concerned that overturning Roe v. Wade is only the first step in the Supreme Court turning back the clock on civil rights. pic.twitter.com/b88PGDluSc  CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 28, 2022

The former Democratic presidential contender stated that the repeal of Roe v. Wade should serve as a wake-up message to every American who believes their vote is unimportant.

Although she has stepped aside from politics after losing the 2016 presidential election, Clinton stated that she misses politics and that, while she cannot envision running for president again, she intends to remain "engaged and vocal," according to CBS News.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was the case before the Supreme Court, and it attempted to overturn a Mississippi statute that prohibited abortion beyond 15 weeks. The statute was maintained by the court in a 6-3 majority decision.

Thomas, one of the Court's most conservative members, stated in interviews revealed in a new book that he wasn't sure why he was nominated for the Supreme Court - and 'celebrated not being nominated' when he thought President George HW Bush had passed him up.

Read Also: Joe Biden Condemns Russia's "Cruel" Missile Attack at Ukraine Shopping Mall

Roe v. Wade Decision Called "Trigger Laws"

On Friday, Thomas went one step farther than his conservative colleagues by drafting a concurring opinion in which he suggested that rulings allowing contraception and same-sex marriage be reconsidered by the court as well.

Created Equal was a companion project to a documentary about Thomas produced in 2020 by director Michael Pack, who ran the US Agency for Global Media under former President Donald Trump, and Mark Paoletta, a lawyer who worked alongside Thomas during his confirmation.

Between November 2017 and March 2018, Pack interviewed Thomas for more than 30 hours, which served as the foundation for the film and, later, the book. Thomas made it apparent to Pack that he wasn't thrilled about being nominated to the court - and that he hadn't given much attention to the abortion problem before his confirmation hearings.

Since the verdict on Friday, pro-and anti-abortion protesters have gathered outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. Thirteen states had so-called "trigger laws" that rendered abortion illegal as soon as Roe v. Wade was overturned, as per Daily Mail.

On the same day as Clinton, Barack Obama issued a tweet in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and how it assaulted the fundamental liberties of Americans everywhere.

In a subsequent tweet, he suggested methods to respond to the Roe v Wade decision, such as joining activist organizations like Planned Parenthood and the United State of Women. He also complimented these organizations, as well as many others, for "raising the alarm on this issue for years" and for remaining "on the front lines of this struggle."

He also emphasized the necessity of voting in this year's state elections on November 8th, as well as in all future elections. In another tweet, Obama offered a link to a blog post he wrote regarding Roe v Wade, saying that the decision was coming. The piece, which was published on May 3, contains his and Michelle Obama's comments concerning the Supreme Court's draft opinion and his reaction when he first saw it, Independent reported.

Related Article: Joe Biden, Democrats Launch Fundraising in the Wake of Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade Reversal as Protests Spark, Clinics Close Across US

@YouTube

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The Student Voice Bill task force heard testimony from staff and students at Oregon colleges about financial obstacles to higher education as part of a May 19 hearing held over Zoom.

The Student Voice Bill is a result of HB 2590, which passed in summer of 2021. The bill formed a legislative task force with the goal of visiting community colleges and four-year public universities in Oregon to hear testimony from underrepresented students. The members will then form work groups to write policy which will be voted on in the 2023 session, according to task force chairperson and Oregon state representative Teresa Alonso Leon.

The session began with a presentation on wealth inequality and student debt by Louise Seamster, assistant professor in sociology, criminology and African-American studies at the University of Iowa. She said student debt means education often does not lead to wealth, especially for racially diverse groups.d

Black households whose head has a college degree hold only two-thirds the wealth of white households whose head did not finish high school, Seamster said during her presentation.

The presentation by Ben Cannon, executive director of the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, focused on the failure of state financial aid to keep up with the rising costs of higher education.

Oregon is a low grant funding state, Cannon said. Oregon state financial aid was $575 per student in 2021, which is almost half the national average of $921.

The task force heard presentations from faculty members at Southern Oregon University and Portland State University.

Juanita Dominguez, a UO senior, offered her personal testimony to the task force.

The day after the UO admissions rep came to my highschool I wanted to barf, Dominguez said. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I didnt think it would cost as much as it did.

She talked about barriers to higher education as a first generation Latinx student, including the stress of taking out student loans while working close to 30 hours a week in order to afford her education.

Dominguez said state and federal investment into higher education is important to help underrepresented students who must overcome financial obstacles.

I would not be celebrating this accomplishment with my friends and family if it had not been for the fact that I am also a Pell Grant and Oregon Opportunity Grant recipient, Dominguez said.

The task force also received written testimony submitted by students and faculty and provided by the Oregon Student Association, which has worked with the task force since the bills creation.

OSA and the Student Voice Bill task force have already conducted campus visits at many public universities, including the University of Oregon.

The task force will meet three more times in July to hear student testimony and discuss barriers to higher education for underrepresented students.
MECHA, a University of Oregon student union, held a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas at the EMU amphitheater on May 5.

Before the event, MECHA members set up a memorial around the lamppost outside the EMU amphitheater with candles, flowers and photos of the victims.

MECHA members started organizing the event that morning and spent the day spreading the word about the event. Members felt a need to show up for their community and offer support, Matilde Arias, UO student and head of recruitment and retainment for MECHA, said.

I was shocked at the amount of people that came, Arias said. I know people care, but when it's your own community, it just means a lot to just see everyone's support and know you're not alone.

While Arias led the event, other members handed out candles and read poems.

The photos of the students and teachers killed in the May 24 shooting were displayed in front of the amphitheater stage surrounded by candles and flowers.

The event started with a moment of silence while attendees held their candles in the air. Following the moment of silence, Paris Woodward-Ganz, UO freshman, read a poem titled Tiny Graves written in reaction to the recent shooting.

MECHA organizers offered the stage as a place for anyone to speak and express their thoughts and feelings.

So many people had stuff to say, and Im glad were all outraged about the same things because we cannot keep allowing this to happen, Woodward-Ganz said.

Speakers expressed their views on gun-violence policy and a need for change. Others spoke about the normalization of gun violence, including the standardization of lockdown drills in schools.

Kennedy Gregory, a UO senior, said her experience at the event was bittersweet.

I felt it was very special that we were all able to come together in such a short amount of time to pay respects to so many beautiful lives, Gregory said. But it makes me sad. Weve been through this so many times before. Were still coming to these vigils. People's lives are still being lost.

Many students spoke about the fear these tragedies bring for themselves and their young loved ones who attend public schools.

I have a little sister, shes nine years old, UO senior Wendy Palafox-Arceo said. I fear picking up my phone and having the worst news.

Kati Rodriguez Perez, a UO senior, said she was frustrated about the lack of recognition on campus of the tragedy outside of the memorial service.

We're just supposed to move on with our lives and just continue and try to forget that these things are happening, Perez said.

The event concluded around 9:30 p.m. after many community members shared their feelings and grief with the community. Attendees were asked to join in a moment of silence before extinguishing their candles.

Amor Eterno by Rocio Durcal was played for the audience following the moment of silence. Arias said it is a popular funeral song that expresses the eternal love for loved ones who have died.
Turkey has dropped its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO in a deal that would address security threats in the regions, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

The three countries' foreign ministers signed a memorandum confirming that Turkey will express its support for Finland and Sweden joining the Western alliance. The signing was made during a summit in Madrid this week, said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in a statement.

NATO Memorandum

Niinisto said, "Our joint memorandum underscores the commitment of Finland, Sweden, and Turkey to extend their full support against threats to each other's security." He added that the two countries joining NATO will further strengthen the commitment.

The push to include Finland and Sweden in the alliance comes amid Russia's continuous assault on Ukraine and how it has stoked fear of other countries in the region. For a long time, Moscow has been wary of NATO expanding its reach and has opposed the two nations' plans to join the Western alliance, as per CNBC.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously expressed his opposition to the two countries joining NATO. He cited their support for Kurdish organizations that his country considered to be security threats.

The objection came as all 30 members of the Western alliance must approve of a country's application for membership to be accepted into NATO. Stoltenberg, last week, said that he was working to add Finland and Sweden into the alliance's ranks "as soon as possible."

Read Also: NATO To Put 300,000 Troops on High Alert To Combat Russia's Threat on Allies

According to CNN, allied leaders will decide on Wednesday whether or not to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO, Stoltenberg said, adding that after the decision, a ratification process will take place in all NATO capitals.

The alliance's chief also said that following the signing of the trilateral memorandum, he was "confident" that Finland and Sweden becoming NATO members is "something that will take place."

Finland and Sweden

The situation comes as United States President Joe Biden and Erdogan previously spoke on the phone ahead of the summit and are expected to meet on Wednesday. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that they were expecting the meeting between the two presidents to have a chance to talk.

Biden arrived in Spain on Tuesday for the NATO summit that was expected to focus on bolstering the alliance's defense posture along its eastern flank. This includes ramping up troop levels and positioning heavy equipment, as Western leaders contemplate the next phase of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The deal comes as Finland and Sweden have been militarily non-aligned for many years before deciding to apply for NATO membership due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned both countries of their decision, but his threats proved to be counterproductive.

The controversy surrounding the NATO membership comes as Finland and Sweden bring geostrategic benefits to the Western alliance. Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia and has a well-equipped modern army while Sweden can control the entrance to the Baltic Sea, which would severely help NATO defend the more vulnerable countries in Eastern Europe, the New York Times reported.



Related Article: Ukraine War: Videos Show Scary Aftermath of Russia's Missile Attack at Shopping Mall With 1000+ People Inside

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Many people see Sir John Major as a nice ex-PM, perhaps short on ideology and charisma, but a decent man who did his best.

On Monday, however, a different side of Sir John emerged when he gave evidence to the inquiry into the infected blood scandal of the 1970s and 80s, to a room full of victims and their relatives. It was the worst treatment disaster in the NHSs history.

It was a scandal that killed more than 2,000 innocent people, including my father, Jonathan Evans.

Yet Major told the inquiry that what had happened to these victims amounted to incredibly bad luck.

Understandably, his remark was greeted with gasps of shock from those in the room  myself included. For it revealed not only shocking ignorance, but also breathtaking callousness.

Bad luck?

Suffering

Let me be clear: luck had nothing to do with it.

The deaths and suffering of thousands of people were caused by negligence on the part of the state, which then refused to take responsibility, and failed to offer victims and their families the compassion they needed and the compensation they so desperately deserved.

Later, Major offered what he framed as an apology: It wasnt intended to be offensive . . . what I meant was . . . by sheer bad luck, it was a random sample.

There was nothing random about it. The deaths were the direct result of treatment given to 5,000 haemophiliacs that continued to be given long after the alarm had been raised over its potential dangers. Treatment that, far from improving patients quality of life, sentenced some to death and left others with severe illnesses as they contracted Hepatitis C and HIV from infected blood products.

For three decades, patients and their families have fought desperately for answers. But politicians, civil servants and health officials have repeatedly tried to fob us off, fearing that admission of guilt will result in costly compensation or damage to their careers.

Now, with the inquiry  which began in 2018  we at last have the chance to get answers. So it is devastating when a former Prime Minister dismisses decades of suffering as bad luck.

This saga of incompetence, lies and cover-up began in the mid-1970s. Until then, haemophiliacs had been treated with a blood-clotting agent called cryoprecipitate, made from blood plasma. Like a regular blood transfusion, it relied on voluntary donations given through the NHS.

A letter the former Prime Minister wrote warned that a sympathetic response to the infected blood products victims could lead to an open-ended commitment of huge dimensions Pictured: John Major gives evidence at the Infected Blood enquiry in London

But then came the new treatment, Factor VIII, using blood plasma collected from tens of thousands of donors. If just one donation was infected, it contaminated the whole batch.

In Britain, blood donors were then, and are still, not allowed to be paid, but the plasma used for Factor VIII, manufactured in the U.S. and other countries, was often paid for.

Plasma collectors set up centres in poor, skid-row locations, and  as they paid for donations in cash  attracted intravenous drug users and sex workers, who were more likely to carry viral infections. There were even Pay-for-Plasma operations in U.S. prisons where higher viral-risk activity, such as unprotected sex and needle-sharing, were common and the incidence of HIV and Hepatitis C was high.

As there was no screening of the blood collected from such locations, there was nothing to prevent infected supplies entering the system.

Despite being warned to withdraw the products from use by the UKs most senior epidemiologist, Dr Spence Galbraith, in early 1983, Britain continued to buy them and give them to people such as my father.

In mid-1983, haemophiliacs started being diagnosed with Aids in Britain, but the inquiry has seen evidence that some clinicians suppressed this information and down-played the risks. Galbraiths warnings were ignored and the state kept importing large quantities of lethal Factor VIII and continued to administer it.

At Treloar College, a school in Surrey for disabled children, haemophiliac boys were given the new clotting treatment without any warning of the high risk of contamination. Today, of the 89 boys treated at Treloar, fewer than a quarter are alive.

Shockingly, there were often long delays between a diagnosis of Hepatitis C or HIV and the terrible news being conveyed to patients, putting wives and partners at risk.

This was the case with my father. Like all young couples on their wedding day, he and my mother were blissfully happy when they married in 1984. At first, Dads haemophilia did not hold him back. His joints got stiff now and then from internal bleeding, but he lived an active life, working as a carpenter.

A year later, he was given the devastating news that he had HIV. It had been on his notes for six months by then. Thankfully my mother had not been infected.

Shunned

My last memory of him dates back to 1993. Aged four, I was taken to see him as he lay dying, by which time he had been reduced to a skeleton. He died soon afterwards.

Even before his death, my mother was sacked from her job at a bakery because, as the manager said, they couldnt have someone handling food whose husband had Aids.

My parents lives became hell. They received threatening phone calls and were shunned by neighbours.

It wasnt until much later that I learned the truth: that my father was the victim of grotesque incompetence, negligence and cover-up as doctors, civil servants and eventually Government ministers tried to downplay the connection between Factor VIII and the number of haemophiliacs being infected with Hepatitis C and Aids.

A new treatment called Factor VIII used blood plasma collected from tens of thousands of donors but f just one donation was infected, it contaminated the whole batch Pictured: John Major gives evidence at the Infected Blood enquiry in London

By 1987, John Major was Chief Secretary to the Treasury. On Monday, a letter written by him in November that year was read to the inquiry. It warned that a sympathetic response to the infected blood products victims could lead to an open-ended commitment of huge dimensions.

Might it not give rise to court action against the Government because of the implication of negligence? he said.

Have the law offices given a view on the possible consequences of a sympathetic response? I do not feel we can afford to offer such a response until the pros and cons have been thoroughly considered.

Devastated

It seems to me that these are the cold-hearted words of a politician keen to save the Treasury costs and win himself political capital. What about those devastated lives: children shrivelled to bags of bones, men like my dad dying in agony aged just 31? Were they just numbers on a spreadsheet?

What was more shocking than what Sir John said was what he did not say. Every witness is asked after giving evidence: Is there anything youd like to add?

In this inquiry, several officials have taken the opportunity to acknowledge responsibility or express sympathy.

But when asked, Sir John said: No, I think thats it. If he had made a heartfelt apology, it wouldnt have changed anything, but it would have helped us all psychologically. Yet he neither apologised nor expressed sincere sympathy.

It was a kick in the teeth for people who have waited 30 years. All I can hope is that the inquiry delivers the answers, and compensation, so long delayed. But it will be no thanks to Sir John Major.

n Jason Evans is founder of Factor 8 (factor8scandal.uk), an advocacy organisation for victims of the infected blood scandal and their families.
As someone who for more than a quarter of a century has been at the forefront of the Daily Mails coverage of major police scandals, I cannot recall such a rotten era at Scotland Yard.

The Mets bungled Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry, which this newspaper had a crucial role in revealing as part of its acclaimed Justice for Stephen campaign, marked a particular low in the recent history of Britains biggest force.

As was the jailing of the corrupt Met commander Ali Dizaei, for so long appeased by politically correct and cowardly senior officers, afraid to get tough with a sociopath happy to play the race card at the first sign of trouble for him. There was also the damaging fallout from the fatal police shooting of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, mistaken for a terrorist, and the appalling blunders that failed to prevent the murder of child abuse victim Victoria Climbie.

But never before has the Met been the subject of such a constant stream of controversies in such a short period of time  many of which could, with effective leadership, have been nipped in the bud or completely avoided.

Three years ago, when I started writing critically about the running of the force under its recently ousted chief Cressida Dick, there was an outcry from her close-knit band of senior officers who briefed against me  occasionally openly  for (in their view) running a one-man campaign against her and the force. One even told a virtual gathering of dozens of top brass not to believe what they read in that rag. The remark, relayed to me by a stunned source the next day, suggested how out of touch her loyalists were.

Failed by the Met: From left, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Nick Bramall, Alastair Morgan, Harvey Proctor, Michael McManus, Paul Gambaccini, and Lady Diana Brittan

But there were other officers who had a more objective stance on the shortcomings of the Met under Dame Cressida, and her predecessor Bernard Hogan-Howe  who in the wake of the phone hacking scandal banned informal contact between detectives and journalists, making holding the force to account infinitely more challenging.

After succeeding Lord Hogan-Howe as commissioner in 2017, Dame Cressida enjoyed an extended honeymoon period but in 2019, there were serious concerns in the Met about her hands-off, aloof style and questionable judgment.

Following the conviction of VIP sex abuse liar Carl Nick Beech three years ago, and the Mets shocking handling of the scandalous Operation Midland, things deteriorated. Here was a force that did not like being scrutinised by the media. Matters worsened still further in February last year when the widow of ex-home secretary Leon Brittan  falsely accused of being a child sex murderer by Beech  revealed in an explosive interview in the Mail that a culture of cover-up and flick-away existed in the Met and that senior officers lacked a moral spine.

Again the Met adopted the bunker mentality and refused to accept justified criticism from a woman with impeccable credentials.

The historic meeting organised by the Mail. A landmark panel of victims of police corruption must go - incompetence and malpractice today call for the head of Cressida Dick. In a bombshell open letter to Boris Johnson, they said the disaster-prone Met commissioner should not be handed a two-year contract extension as expected.

Yet Dame Cressida and the Met were back in the news again by June last year, when she was quick to dismiss the key findings of an eight-year inquiry into the unsolved axe murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, which criticised her personally and branded the Met institutionally corrupt in the way it concealed or denied failings over his killing.

This report could not have been more damning of Scotland Yard and its culture. But for Dame Cressida and her team to reject the main conclusions, without even reading it, was gob-smacking  and reflected a wider culture of arrogance and cover-up.

Finally, last September, I brought together a panel of victims of alleged Met corruption, incompetence and malpractice for a joint interview.

They included Baroness Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen, and the son of D-Day hero Field Marshal Lord Bramall, falsely accused by Beech.

In an open letter to Boris Johnson, they said the disaster-prone Met commissioner should not be handed a two-year contract extension. They also demanded an overhaul of the Mets senior team, urgent and long-overdue reform of the police complaints system and a shake-up of the unfit for purpose Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Their pleas were ignored by No 10 but, as it turned out, Dame Cressida only won a stay of execution before being forced to resign in February.

By then, further scandals had sealed her fate, including the police-vetting row in the Sarah Everard case and widespread criticism of how the Met handled a vigil in the wake of her murder, the appalling failings by detectives in the case of gay serial killer Stephen Port and the damning report into the toxic culture of racism and sexism at Charing Cross police station.

Scotland Yard is a world-renowned brand facing its worst crisis in modern times

A quick glance at the crime figures for the capital further underline why the Met faced the humiliation of being placed in special measures yesterday.

Last year in London, 30 teenagers were killed, the worst death toll since the Second World War. Despite the force having the highest number of officers in a decade, detection rates remain woeful with 22 per cent less crimes solved in 2021 than in 2020.

Scotland Yard is a world-renowned brand facing its worst crisis in modern times. Finally the politicians have woken up to the truth about its failings.

Whoever succeeds Dame Cressida faces an enormous challenge restoring it to its former glory  in terms of its structure, culture and leadership. It cannot happen soon enough.

And as for Dame Cressida, it is inconceivable that she should be granted a peerage given her record of failure.
Angela Rayner walked into the Commons in a pair of heels decorated with panda bears. The creatures had big, black eyes, button noses and sweet little baby-doll eyelashes.

But there was nothing so cutesy-wutesy about Angela's performance. As ever, Labour's deputy leader was like a cavalryman's blunderbuss  loud, unsubtle and wildly inaccurate. But by 'eck she lets the enemy knows she's there.

With Boris Johnson still globetrotting with other world leaders, Ms Rayner was up against the deputy PM Dominic Raab at PMQs. Sir Keir Starmer had absented himself visiting the blameless folk of Crawley, while quietly fretting over Durham Constabulary's upcoming verdict on Beergate.

Dominic Raab, stepping in for Boris at PMQs, said 'Champagne socialism is back in the Labour Party!' and shot Angela Rayner a wink as if to say: 'Nothing personal'

Barbs: A smirk from Labour deputy Angela Rayner as Raab jokes about Sir Keir Starmer

Boris, by the way, is said to be just as nervous. Imagine the disaster if Starmer does go after being fined, and Labour selects a new leader  perhaps a brassy, female northern one  who doesn't put voters to sleep?

Mr Raab does not entirely relish these bouts. He arrived in the chamber ten minutes before the off, gingerly poking his head around the door to survey the battlefield before skulking away again. He then returned five minutes later, shuffling to his seat with all the eagerness of a man attending an appointment with his proctologist.

Opposite him, Rayner plonked herself down, flicked her hair and exchanged jovial banter with the Speaker. She glanced over at the government front bench, eyeing each of one them like a gourmet ogling the cheese trolley.

She kicked off with last week's two by-elections, in which the Tory candidates were roundly trounced.

'It's no wonder that the Prime Minister has fled the country and left the honourable member to carry the can,' she remarked. Bit rum: the PM is undertaking urgent meetings with G7 and Nato chiefs, trying to avert World War Three.

Heel be sorry, warns Angela Just before PMQs, Miss Rayner posted a picture of her novelty shoes on social media and said: 'I know Dominic Raab is a karate black belt and everything  but I've got my kung fu pandas on and I'm ready.' Advertisement

Predictably, Rayner then raised the Prime Minister's claim that he intended to remain in office until 2030. She wondered if the Cabinet would be able to prop him up for that long.

Raab hopped to his feet. He'd anticipated this line of attack. He joked that he and the rest of the frontbench did want the PM to go on  and a lot longer than she wanted her own leader to last in his job.

Tory backbenchers erupted with delight. 'More!' they screamed.

Mr Raab, I'm afraid, is not primus inter pares when it comes to wit. Some would in fact go so far as to describe him as an earth-shuddering, T-Rex-sized bore, but this jibe was a goody.

The tiniest of grins stretched across Ange's face. Game on. She was back on those novelty heels, launching herself across the dispatch box, throwing her arms forward in long, stabbing motions. Shades of Fatima Whitbread aiming for the javelin world record.

'Call a general election and see where the people are!' she screamed. Maria Callas in her prime would have struggled to match the volume.

Back and forth the barbs continued to be tossed  far more aggressive than anything you'll see on Centre Court this week. Yet never did the exchanges slide into unpleasantness.

Even when Raab produced the not-so-secret ace lurking up his sleeve  Rayner being spotted quaffing champagne on the lawns at Glyndebourne last week  his jab was rather jovial: 'Champagne socialism is back in the Labour Party!' Just before he did so, he shot Rayner a wink as if to say: 'Nothing personal.'

Eek. Echoes of David Cameron's patronising 'calm down dear' put down of Angela Eagle. Labour never let Dave forget that Commons clanger. Again, Rayner smiled, owning the moment rather than falling victim to it. Another thing Starmer could learn from her.

Let's hope Boris is called away again soon. This was the best PMQs this year by a mile

The only genuinely uncomfortable frisson between the two of them came when Rayner castigated Raab for going Awol during last summer's botched Afghanistan withdrawal, when he should have been back in the Foreign Office helping with the evacuation.

'Where was the honourable member [during] the situation in Afghanistan?' she demanded.

'On a sun lounger, that's where. I'll take no lectures from [him].'

That seemed to sting the deputy PM for a moment. But then, quite frankly, so it should.

Anyway, back to normal next week. But let's hope Boris is called away again soon. This was the best PMQs this year by a mile.
Anti-aging procedures have become increasingly common in recent years, with more and more people choosing to have 'tweakments' to retain their youthful looks.

One of the most popular treatments is having botulinum toxin, a type of poison generated by bacteria, injected facial muscles to paralyse them, therefore reducing their ability to move and causing a smooth look to the skin.

In fact, the jabs have become so popular, that department store John Lewis has revealed it will start offering them in six of its UK stores, including London, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Kingston and Cambridge.

While jabs containing botulinum toxin are popularly known as 'Botox', this is actually the name of a particular botulism product made by manufacturer Allergan, while other manufacturers have their own products.

Botox's use as an anti-aging product is what it is best known for, but it also has other uses.

For example, it can be injected under the armpits to stop sweating, or in the masseter muscles in the jaw to cut down on tooth grinding, or around the head and face to reduce migraine pain.

And while many people swear by it to create a fresh faced look, they may not know exactly how it creates the effect it does, or about some of the potential side effects of using the product.

Here, FEMAIL reveals how Botox really works, alongside five lesser possible side-effects of the toxin.

Botox is a popular treatment people use to reduce the signs of ageing - but many people aren't aware of how it works, and what some of the potential long term effects are (stock photo)

1. Its main ingredient is a toxin that paralyses muscles

Botox's active ingredient is a form of botulinum toxin, created by a microbe that causes botulism, a type of food poisoning.

Botox is a brand name. There are other products, made by different manufacturers, which contain a very similar main active ingredient, and are used in similar ways, including Dysport, Jeuveau, and Xeomin.

However, these products aren't totally interchangeable as there are some differences in the way they are produced which affects their potency, however, they all work in a similar way.

The product is sold as a powder, which practitioners mix with liquid, before injecting it directly into muscles.

While it is used in numerous muscles around the face and body, for a range of reasons, it is commonly used in the forehead and around the eyes to reduce the appearance of wrinkles in these areas.

These injections block chemical signals from nerves that cause muscles to contract, which largely paralyses these muscles.

Stopping the activity of the muscles then makes the skin look smoother.

The effects of Botox are not permanent, and usually wear off around three-four months after the injections, though this can vary between individuals.

The basics of Botox: Jabs work on lines caused by muscle contractions but won't tackle gravity of sun damage Botox is an anti-ageing procedure that involves injecting Botulinum toxin into the face to relax the muscles. It is a type of 'neuromodulator' - it reduces muscle activity by acting on motor neurons. As the muscles relax, lines and wrinkles in the face are smoothed out - such as frown lines and crow's feet around the eyes. It is effective on lines caused by muscle contraction - for example, the '11s' between the eyes, but does not reduce lines caused by sun damage or gravity. Although effective, Botox injections are not permanent and have to be topped up every three-to-four months. Botox does not have an instant effect. Results start to show from around three days after the injections, and peak around 10-14 days after. While many people have Botox for cosmetic reasons, it can also be used to treat medical conditions. Some people who live with cerebral palsy can have Botox injections to relax their muscles, which helps to ease the effect of the limbs being pulled towards the centre of the body. Another condition which can sometimes be relieved with Botox injections is bladder dysfunction. In this case, Botox is used to reduce incontinence which is caused by an over-active bladder. Advertisement

2. Prolonged use of Botox may cause thinning of the skin

A rare, but potential side effect of having regular Botox treatment over many years is skin thinning.

Common in natural ageing, skinning thinning becomes more obvious when people start to notice veins which were not visible before.

Those who start using Botox very young, for example, in their 20s, may be more at risk of this, according to dermatological surgeon Dr Patricia Wexler.

'The skin of the forehead [can] get prematurely thinner, and the muscles weaker," she told Birdie.

'Sometimes, after many years of use, this can even result in the look of heavier brows and eyelids, making the toxin more difficult to continue using.'

However, integrating appropriate skincare into your routine, which includes using skincare daily, can help mitigate this risk.

3. Using Botox long-term can weaken muscles, preventing wrinkles

Despite some people thinking that using Botox will make you look older in the long run, the opposite can in fact be true.

This is because repeated use of the toxin, and the resulting paralysis of the muscle, can lead to the muscle becoming weaker.

After all, a muscle will naturally become smaller as a result of less activity, and this effect will last even after a Botox injection has worn off.

This is more likely to happen, and to a greater extent, when Botox is regularly topped up, with little time for the muscle to move between top ups.

As the muscle moves less, it therefore causes fewer lines and wrinkles, so even though movement returns after the injections wear off, the reduction in movement over the time period Botox was being used means

This is why some people are proponents of using the toxin in a preventative way, as freezing the muscle, which makes you unable to make particular wrinkle-causing expressions means wrinkle formation will be much slower.

5. Repeated use of Botox may 'train' your muscles to move less

Another way Botox is thought to reduce wrinkle formation is that it changes the way you make expressions, according to dermatologist Dr Mara Weinstein.

Because your facial muscles get used to making 'smaller' expressions after years of using Botox, they become 'trained' to keep doing so, she believes.

She told Byrdie that getting used to the feeling of making smaller movements as a result of Botox, means that you can become more aware of those movements.

'Once you are used to the feeling of having less movement in the forehead after neurotoxin, you will be more aware of making the movement when the toxin wears off,' she added.

4. Botox may cause facial muscle atrophy if use starts from a young age

However, this does not mean that rushing out to get Botox jabs at the youngest age possible means you will reap the best rewards.

While some people promote the benefits of preventative Botox - i.e. reducing the facial movements that cause wrinkles to prevent the wrinkles ever appearing - others exercise caution when it come to what is a safe age to start having the injections.

For some experts, having Botox too young can result in some unwanted aesthetic side effects - notably, facial muscle atrophy.

Atrophy is when a muscle is not used, and therefore starts to wither, which can affect the shape of parts of the face.

It is more noticeable in areas where muscles contribute to the facial shape, including the jaw, chin and brow.

Dermatological surgeon Dr Patricia Wexler told Vogue: 'If you do too much Botox on your forehead for many, many years, the muscles will get weaker and flatter.'

She added that when muscles become weak, they can rely more on surrounding muscles to complete movements, which can then cause wrinkling in those areas.

She explained: 'If one stops using their forehead muscles, they may start squinting using their nose and have wrinkles along the side of their nose.'

The effects of this type of atrophy are unlikely to be permanent, and often wear off between three and nine months after getting the injection.

6. Not frowning could make you happier

Perhaps one of the most surprising findings when it comes to Botox is that it can actually make people happier.

A 2019 study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that having the procedure correlated with having a more positive mood.

Researchers set out to test the idea that Botox can be used as a treatment for depression.

They reviewed a psychological theory which suggests that when certain muscles involved in frowning are paralysed, this leads to less facial feedback for negative emotions.

This, in turn, means it can be more difficult to maintain a negative mood, leading to a person to feel more positive.

Comparing the impact of Botox on mood to other treatments, including glycolic peels and laser treatments, the researchers found that having Botox, and being unable to frown, was correlated with reduced negative mood.

So if you're somebody who frowns a lot, and you think that affects your mood, perhaps anti-frowning jabs could help!
James Nesbitt stars as detective Danny Frater in new Channel 4 crime drama Suspect, marking his eighth appearance as a TV police officer.

His latest outing, airing on Sunday nights, is familiar territory for the Northern Irish actor, 57, has built a career playing coppers on both sides of the law.

Nesbitt first played a policeman in 1986 children's film End Of The World Man and has since graced our screens in hits like Murphy's Law, Lucky Man and Line Of Duty.

He has starred in four crime dramas in the last two years alone, including a Netflix adaptation of Harlan Cobens bestselling novel Stay Close.

Such is his prolific filming schedule that Nesbitt is currently filming the second series of Bloodlands - executive produced by Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio - while promoting his role in Suspect.

Two of a kind: Nesbitt in Suspect (left) and Bloodlands. Such is his prolific filming schedule that Nesbitt is currently filming the second series of Bloodlands - executive produced by Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio - while promoting his role in Suspect

Fan favourite: In one of his most unusual roles, Nesbitt appeared as bent copper Marcus Thurwell in the final series of Line Of Duty (pictured)... without uttering a single line

Police satire: Nesbitt starred in critically-acclaimed TV series Babylon opposite Brit Marling

Nesbitt has acknowledged that his career has been defined by grizzled police roles, but insists it is never something he sought out.

'When I first played undercover officer Tommy Murphy in Murphy's Law in 2001, it must have planted a seed in the mind of casting directors and writers, but I certainly didn't chase roles as policemen,' he said.

The star has also found subtleties within the crime drama genre.

'I've played a lot of cops in very different worlds,' he said. 'Policemen who've been corrupted; who've lost loved ones, who face invidious choices  often you start with a policeman and get strong stories, extreme situations.

'There've been so many. In Lucky Man, I played a detective with a gambling addiction who can control his own luck.

'Then in Stay Close I was an optimistic, funny cop who was unable to let go of a missing persons cold case.'

Here, ahead of the third episode of Suspect, FEMAIL looks back at Nesbitt's crime-fighting career...

SUSPECT (2022)

Troubled: In eight-part series Suspect, James Nesbitt plays veteran detective Danny Frater who arrives at a hospital mortuary for what he assumes to be a routine ID check on a corpse and discovers the young woman's body is that of his estranged and troubled daughter

All-star cast: While solving her death, Frater (Nesbitt) contacts his daughter's business partner, Jaisal (Sacha Dhawan), her godfather, Ryan (Sam Heughan), her mentor, Harry (Richard E. Grant), pictured, and finally her mother, Susannah and Danny's ex-wife (Anne-Marie Duff)

In eight-part series Suspect, James Nesbitt plays veteran detective Danny Frater who arrives at a hospital mortuary for what he assumes to be a routine ID check on a corpse and discovers the young woman's body is that of his estranged and troubled daughter who has, according to a post mortem, taken her own life.

Danny and Christina had a complicated father-daughter relationship in recent years, but he refuses to accept that she would have ended her own life and begins a crusade to find out what happened.

Danny investigates those closest to his daughter including her partner Nicola (Niamh Algar), and her best friend, Maia (Antonia Thomas).

He contacts her business partner, Jaisal (Sacha Dhawan), her godfather, Ryan (Sam Heughan), her mentor, Harry (Richard E. Grant) and finally her mother and Danny's ex-wife Susannah (Anne-Marie Duff).

It is after these intense exchanges that he learns about her descent into delinquency.

The story then follows Danny have to confront his own failings as a father while trying to make sense of the contradictory evidence.

He has to then decided who, if anyone is responsible for Christina's death.

Each episode focuses on Danny and one other character, in a series of 'theatrical two-handers', as Nesbitt described it.

Discussing his character, James said: 'I could relate to Danny, with his flaws, vulnerabilities and the devastating situation he faces, from the very first moment I picked up the script.

'Each episode of Suspect is an intensely theatrical double-hander, a psychological battle of wits between Danny and another character who may know something about his daughter's untimely death.

'I really can't wait to lock horns with my fellow cast members and to lead this incredible array of acting talent.'

BLOODLANDS (2021)

Big return: Suspect has only just premiered but already Nesbitt is filming the second series of Bloodlands, a crime drama executive produced by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio. Nesbitt takes on the role of police detective Tom Brannick, who was on the hunt for a serial killer

Mixed reviews: Viewers were disappointed by the 'baffling' ending that revealed Brannick to be a serial killer. Pictured, Nesbitt in the role

Suspect has only just premiered but already Nesbitt is filming the second series of Bloodlands, a crime drama executive produced by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio.

The first series, which aired last year, saw Nesbitt take on the role of police detective Tom Brannick, who was on the hunt for a serial killer known as Goliath.

Among Goliath's suspected victims was Brannick's wife Emma, an intelligence agent investigating terrorism.

Viewers were introduced to Brannick as a concerned husband and father - to a grown up daughter, Izzy (Lola Petticrew) - determined to uncover what happened to his wife, whom he believed had gone undercover and disappeared.

However it quickly became clear that all was not as it seemed.

The four-part series was met with mixed reviews, with viewers particularly disappointed by the 'baffling' ending that revealed Brannick to be a serial killer.

However it was popular enough to convince TV bosses to commission a second series, which is now being filmed on location and could be released later this year.

'It's brilliant to be back filming in Northern Ireland and reunited with the gang for the second series of Bloodlands,' Nesbitt said.

'I cant wait for audiences to see whats next for the cunning and complex Tom Brannick.'

STAY CLOSE (2021)

Netflix drama: Nesbitt also appeared in Stay Close, an eight-part Netflix adaptation of Harlan Cobens bestselling novel of the same name

Leading lady: Nesbitt appeared alongside Cush Jumbo (pictured) in the eight-part series

Nesbitt also appeared in Stay Close, an eight-part Netflix adaptation of Harlan Cobens bestselling novel of the same name.

The series followed three characters characters whose dark secrets threatened to destroy their lives

Nesbitt starred as Detective Mike Broome (Nesbitt), an 'optimistic, funny cop' who was unwilling to let go of the unsolved case he had worked on years before.

When another man went missing on the anniversary of the disappearance, Broome took on the case in the hope of exorcising his demons.

However the investigation opened old wounds, stirred up memories and threatened to expose the truths other characters had kept carefully hidden.

LINE OF DUTY (2021)

Silent player: In Line Of Duty, Nesbitt Thurwell, a bent copper who had been involved in the cover up of Lawrence Christophers racially motivated murder. He appeared in just two still images: a holiday snap (above) and a headshot in a police file that was shown on screen

Early demise: In the nail-biting penultimate episode, Guardia Civil police officers stormed Marcus Thurwell's Spanish home, while the AC-12 team watched via video link. They found Thurwell's body (right). Fans were shocked after Nesbitt's character was killed off

In one of his most unusual roles, Nesbitt appeared as bent copper Marcus Thurwell in the final series of Line Of Duty... without uttering a single line.

The actor was revealed to be Thurwell, a character first mentioned in series three. He had been involved in the cover up of Lawrence Christophers racially motivated murder.

Thurwell was also the senior investigating officer into the death of social worker Oliver Stephens-Lloyd, who had tried to blow the whistle on a child sex abuse scandal.

The character was revealed to have been killed in a nail-biting penultimate episode when Guardia Civil police officers stormed Thurwell's Spanish home, while the AC-12 team watched via video link.

When the law enforcement officers entered the home, they were met by two bodies, and a Spanish captain turned to the camera and identified one as 'Senor Thurwell'.

The shocking move left many fans reeling as they questioned how producers could feature an actor of Nesbitt's calibre but never put his acting chops to use.

Instead he was seen in two images: a holiday snap and a headshot on a police file.

However Nesbitt was later given his time in the sun by series creator Mercurio when he was given the lead role in drama Bloodlands.

LUCKY MAN (2016-18)

Big budget: In Lucky Man, a ten-part drama written for Sky by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, Nesbitt played a flawed police officer-turned-superhero

Superhero: His character DI Harry Clayton was a gambling addict, in hock to some of London's biggest gangsters, whose luck changed when he came into possession of a magical bracelet

Nesbitt, James Nesbitt: The first series of Lucky Man aired in the UK in 2016 and ran for three series, with the final series airing in 2018. At the time Nesbitt said the role was the closest he will ever come to playing James Bond. Pictured, with co-star Thekla Reuten in series two

In Lucky Man, a ten-part drama written for Sky by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, Nesbitt played a flawed police officer-turned-superhero.

His character DI Harry Clayton was a gambling addict, in hock to some of London's biggest gangsters, whose luck changed when he came into possession of a magical bracelet.

Clayton soon began to use the bracelet to his own advantage. However the bracelet also made him a target for a cast of nefarious characters.

The first series aired in the UK in 2016 and ran for three series, with the final series airing in 2018.

At the time Nesbitt said the role was the closest he will ever come to playing James Bond.

'I have been driving speedboats down the Thames at high speed at 3am in the morning, we have done dramatic scenes at the Shard building in London and the Tate modern,' he said at the time.

BABYLON (2014)

Satire: Danny Boyle's dark satire Babylon portrayed the Met largely as buffoons - laddish thugs led by Nesbitt as a commissioner floundering in the new world of social media and PR

High profile: Babylon billed itself as a police version of political satire The Thick Of It but didn't quite hit the high notes of the long-running series

Danny Boyle's dark satire Babylon portrayed the Met largely as buffoons - laddish thugs led by Nesbitt as a commissioner floundering in the new world of social media and PR.

With public confidence in his operation at an all-time low, Met Police Commissioner Richard Miller had a PR crisis on his hands.

To solve this he hired a new Director of Communications  a very glamorous but hard-as-nails American called Liz Garvey, played by Brit Marling.

Babylon billed itself as a police version of political satire The Thick Of It but didn't quite hit the high notes of the long-running series.

However Danny Boyle and the writing team won praise for the lighting-fast script and thoughtful directing.

MURPHY'S LAW (2001, 2003-07)

Where it all began: Nesbitt played detective with a dark past Tommy Murphy in two iterations of Murphy's Law: a 2001 TV movie and a series that ran from 2003-2007

THE END OF THE WORLD MAN (1986) Nesbitt's first ever appearance as a police officer came almost 40 years ago, in Northern Irish children's film The End Of The World Man. Little is known about the long-forgotten title, only that Nesbitt played a character titled 'policeman'. Advertisement

Nesbitt played detective with a dark past Tommy Murphy in two iterations of Murphy's Law: a 2001 TV movie and a series that ran from 2003-2007.

'When I first played undercover officer Tommy Murphy in Murphy's Law in 2001, it must have planted a seed in the mind of casting directors and writers,' he recently said, reflecting on his long string of policeman roles.

'But I certainly didn't chase roles as policemen.'

DS Murphy was an undercover officer who infiltrated London gangs, jewel thieves and a biotech lab conspiracy in a number of tense storylines stretching across five series.

Nesbitt, by then already a household name thanks to his role in Cold Feet, was praised for his 'strong, extremely watchable' performance in both the TV movie and series.

However it was cancelled after ratings dipped during series five, something Nesbitt attributed to it being pitted against popular ITV drama Doc Martin.
A woman who was molested by her big brother for two years said 'goodbye' to her abuser as he was jailed for three years.

Aoife Farrelly, 21, from County Meath, Ireland, was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by her brother Cian, now 30, when she was between six and eight years old and he was aged 15 to 17.

The abuse only stopped when she told her parents what her brother had been doing.

They confronted him but they did not call the police.

Speaking outside Central Criminal Court, Dublin, after Cian's sentencing Aoife waived her right to anonymity in the hope it would encourage other survivors of sexual assault to speak up.

Courageous Aoife Farrelly, 21, from Co. Meath, Ireland, spoke out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her older brother Cian when she was a child left in his care

Cian Farrelly was 15 years old when he began abusing his little sister, who was often left in his care, Independent.ie reports.

The court heard distressing details about how Farrelly would put his hand over his little sister's mouth to stifle her screams as he raped her and told her the abuse was 'our secret'.

In her victim impact statement Aoife said she didn't blame her parents but felt they didn't understand how traumatised she had been by her brother's abuse.

The court heard Cian remained in his little sister's life after the secret was out - and during the pandemic, Aoife was 'trapped' in the family home with him.

In October 2020 she made a statement to the police and reported her brother for the abuse he had inflicted upon her.

Speaking courageously to her abuser in court, she said 'goodbye' to the man who had 'torn [her] whole world apart'.

She shared horrifying details of times when her brother abused her, including an incident when she burnt her finger at the age of seven and Cian put it in his mouth.

Later that week, Aoife recalled her brother asking for a hug before touching her inappropriately.

She also detailed how he took indecent pictures of her while she felt unable to breathe because he was pressing her neck with such force.

As a result of the abuse Aoife said she had suffered with anxiety, disordered eating, OCD and PTSD. She has also self-harmed.

A man who raped and sexually assaulted his youngest sister when he was a teenager has been jailed for three years. Speaking outside court Aoife Farrelly, who waived her anonymity, said she could now start to live life | More: https://t.co/q5dDxODl3z pic.twitter.com/Gf8KzZaIOG  RTE News (@rtenews) June 28, 2022

She described how her intimate relationships and her relationship with her parents have been affected by her brother's abuse.

After Farrelly pleaded guilty to the abuse he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, with the last 18 months suspended.

Justice McDermott said he was unable to sentence the abuser as an adult, with a guideline of 10-15 years, because he was underage when he committed the offences.

The judge pointed to the element of violence in the attacks, which left a young Aoife 'helpless, isolated and alone'.

Although she had been brave enough to report the abuse to her parents, Justice McDermott said Aoife had been left unable to trust other people as a consequence of what she had suffered.

Eileen O'Leary, defending, said Aoife's parents had been left in a 'horrible situation' after finding out about their son's actions, which had caused conflict in the family.

O'Leary said it was recommended Farrelly have counselling for sexual self-regulation.

Farrelly took to the stand to apologise to his sister for the hurt he had caused her and admitted he had 'destroyed' the family.

Speaking outside of court Aoife said no sentence would be long enough for her but she feels a sense of justice at knowing her brother is paying for his crimes.

She also said she hopes she will never have to see or hear from her brother again, but vowed not to let him take away her voice any longer.

'I'm a lot more content now than I was,' she said. 'No sentence would have been long enough at all....but just hearing the headline sentence was enough for me.

'I always said it had to be three to five [years]. That was what I had in my head and I got that. When I got that I just broke down because everything I sacrificed for years has finally made it all worth it.'

She added that she's determined to move on with her life, saying: 'I am Aoife Farrelly, this happened to me but it's not going to define me anymore. Today is the start of the rest of my life and I am so grateful that I finally got my little piece of justice that I needed to keep going.'

If you need support after rape or sexual assault, you can contact the Rape Crisis helpline on 0808 802 9999
A number of dogs who were rescued from a truck heading to China's notorious Yulin dog meat festival are stolen pets, according to an animal rescue charity.

UK-based organisation NoToDogMeat, which runs shelters in several countries with a dog and cat meat trade, has revealed that Chinese campaigners recently saved almost 400 animals when they stopped the vehicle.

The festival, which was launched in 2010 by dog meat traders in an attempt to boost their flagging sales, sees the slaughter of up to 10,000 dogs and 5,000 cats.

And according to campaigners, many of the animals eaten at the event are pets who have been stolen from loving homes.

Some of the dogs rescued by NoToDogMeat were wearing collars, leads and identity tags with their registration numbers on - suggesting they are well-cared for, and likely much-missed pets.

Zhao, who runs NoToDogMeat shelters in Hebei and Beijing, is pictured with a rescued dog - one of the many campaigners have rescued from the dog meat trade

Two of the dogs rescued by the charity. The larger one is wearing a collar and an ID tag, meaning he is a pet, and is likely much-missed by his family

Wearing ID tags, like this rescued dog, means the animals had homes from which they were likely stolen, to be sold and eaten

They now plan to try and track down the animals' owners, so their dogs can return home.

In the meantime, they are being looked after at a holding shelter just outside the city of Xi'An, where they are being given food, water and emergency medical care.

They are due to be moved to safe places around China, including NoToDogMeat's refuges.

Campaigner Zhao, who runs the NoToDogMeat charity's shelters in Hebei and Beijing, has been on site since many of the dogs were moved to a holding shelter just outside the city of Xi'An.

He said: 'Many of the dogs know sit and stay, and they still trust humans, we have seen many with tags on, and one was wearing a collar and lead still attached.

'We will work to try and identify the owners, but our priority at the moment is to make sure all of the dogs are healthy and have a safe place to go.'

Some 386 dogs were rescued from the truck, but some are still being held at a municipal dog pound, and have not yet been released to campaigners.

Although the majority of Chinese citizens do not support the dog and cat meat trade, many of the animals are slaughtered and eaten during the Yulin festival. Two of the dogs rescued from the festival are pictured

Shelter staff care for the dogs after they were rescued en route to the Yulin dog meat festival, facing certain death

Zhao, who runs two NoToDogMeat shelters in China, is pictured with one of the rescue dogs - a blind chow chow

The number of animals saved unexpectedly grew to 389 shortly after the rescue, when one of the dogs gave birth to three puppies.

'The idea that these innocent lives have now been saved fills us with joy, these puppies would have been born at Yulin,' said Zhao.

'We are working hard to give all of these dogs the care they need, as they have had a traumatic ordeal and need medical treatment, but they are safe now.'

Yulin is an ancient city in China known for holding a dog meat festival from 21 to 30 June, purportedly to celebrate the summer solstice where an estimated 10,000 dogs and cats are killed and eaten each year.

But despite often being marketed as a 'traditional' or 'ancient' festival, it has only been taking place for around a decade.

It is estimated that in China alone, 10 to 15 million dogs are eaten annually - some figures say 50,000 per day and 4 to 5 million cats.

However, polls show the majority of Chinese people do not support the dog and cat meat trade.

Almost 400 animals were saved from the truck. They are currently receiving food, water, and emergency health care

Rescuers will take some of the dogs who were saved from the truck (pictured) from their current holding centre, and send them to safe shelters. They hope to reunite stolen pets with their families

Additionally, around 72 per cent of Yulin residents say they don't eat dog meat regularly, despite traders' efforts to promote it.

The work of international organisations like NoToDogMeat as well as Chinese organisations and activists mean progress has been made in working towards an end to the brutal trade.

Shenzhen and Zhuhai, became the first cities in mainline China to outlaw dog and cat meat sales and consumption in April 2020.

Outside of China, dog meat is banned in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, Siem Reap province in Cambodia, and in 17 cities and regencies in Indonesia.

However, around 30 million dogs a year are thought to be killed for meat in other parts of Asia.
A tragic loss of life occurred after 51 people died while several others were injured and hospitalized on Tuesday after an abandoned tractor-trailer was found in San Antonio amid blazing heat, marking the deadliest smuggling attempt in U.S. history.

In a statement during a news conference on Tuesday, Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores said the death toll went from 46 to 51. Authorities initially discovered 46 people dead inside the trailer on Monday and 16 others were hospitalized. However, some of the victims being treated lost their lives due to the severity of their injuries.

Deadliest Smuggling Attempt in US History

The driver of the truck and two other people have been arrested, said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas. The official added that the vehicle passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo, Texas, on Interstate 35.

Cuellar said that he did not know if migrants were inside the truck at the time that it cleared the checkpoint. On the other hand, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said that the victims had "families who were likely trying to find a better life," as per USA Today.

The death toll of the incident was the highest ever recorded from a smuggling incident in the United States, based on Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

Read Also: At Least 53 Dead After Trailer Filled With Migrants Crashes With Truck in Southern Mexico

The trek that migrants face in order to cross the southern U.S. border is inherently dangerous and hundreds of deaths are reported every year. Smuggling is one of many ways that migrants use to make their way into the United States.

According to the Associated Press, investigators were able to trace the truck's registration to a residence in San Antonio and detained two men from Mexico for possession of weapons, according to criminal complaints filed by the U.S. attorney's office. But the complaints did not make any specific allegations related to the deaths.

A Surge of Migrants in the US

Authorities discovered the bodies on Monday afternoon on the outskirts of San Antonio when a city worker heard a cry for help from the truck that was parked on a lonely back road. Police Chief William McManus said that officers then found a gruesome inside, with body bags being spread on the ground hours later.

"This is a horror that surpasses anything we've experienced before. And it's sadly a preventable tragedy," said Nirenberg. In a statement, United States President Joe Biden said that exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit was shameful and promised that his administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers.

Larrabee said that in the past, smuggling organizations were mom and pop but have since become an organized coalition tied in with the cartels. He noted that it was a criminal organization that had no regard for the safety of the migrants, treating them more like commodities rather than human beings.

The discovery of the dead bodies came as U.S. federal authorities launched what they described as an "unprecedented" operation to disrupt human smuggling networks amid a rise of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, CNN reported.



Related Article: Kevin McCarthy Warns Biden Administration of Impeachment Over Unsustainable Migrant Surge

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A nurse who developed 'leopard print' skin after getting a sore throat has stopped trying to cover up her body in a bid to prove everyone is beautiful in their own way.

Ashling Armstrong, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, said she first noticed red marks on her chest in January that she initially thought could be acne but within a week they spread across her entire body.

The 22-year-old visited the doctor and was diagnosed with Guttate psoriasis, a type of psoriasis that appears as small, red and scaly teardrop-shaped spots on the skin, the following month.

The gym-lover said she spent months covering angry patches on her red, scaly skin due to 'embarrassment' - often mistaken for severe burns by gawping strangers.

But when they reached her face Ashling realised she could no longer hide them, so decided to share her condition online.

Ashling claims being loud and proud about her psoriasis is the 'best thing' she's ever done as her confidence has since 'sky rocketed' and she's been able to help many others in the process.

Ashling Armstrong, 22, from Belfast was diagnosed with Guttate psoriasis in January. The condition cases red spots to appear on the skin

After months struggling to hide her spots, Ashling has embraced her new skin and raises awareness on the condition online

The nurse said she decided to stop hiding when the spots reached her face, and began to share pictures of her skin online

The avid reader regularly shares videos on her TikTok account in a bid to normalise psoriasis and is keen to spread the message that 'everyone's beautiful in their own way, shape or form'.

Ashling said: 'I get people staring every day. I honestly don't care anymore, I'm so past the point of caring.

'I'm so happy with it and I know that I'm helping other people, so what the heck.

'Sometimes if I see a large group of people walking, sometimes I will put my head down but I do try my best to keep my head up.

The spots also spread to Ashling's back and legs, with her back being almost entirely covered in red dots

The gym lover said she wanted to 'normalise' psoriasis and that everyone is beautiful in their own way

The nurse proudly showcases her spotted skin in her snaps and said she first felt angry about it, but now has embraced it

'What I thought to myself one day, when I was walking back from the gym [when] I was just wearing a wee gym set with shorts - if you actually do look at it, it kind of looks like burns.

'So I understand people staring and probably thinking, "Oh God, what's happened to her? Is she a burns victim or something?". I've thought like that as well.

'At the beginning it made me very angry and a wee bit insecure and second-guess what I was wearing.

'Now after everyone's being so kind and I'm getting so much positive feedback, I just wear what I want.

She was encouraged to share more pictures of herself and to love the skin she is in after encountering 'kind' reactions online

The nurse said she loves how 'unique' she is and added she even feel powerful when she shows off her skin in the street

'The only word I can use to describe it is I feel powerful walking down the street, everyone's looking at me. I take it as a positive thing.'

The newly-qualified nurse said that much of her psoriasis is now a faded red colour and that bits on her legs still have the distinctive teardrop shape, but it's spread out on much of her torso.

Describing it as 'scaly', Ashling says using an exfoliator glove lightly in the shower before immediately moisturising helps keep her skin in the best possible condition.

Ashling said: 'It started on my chest in mid-January. When I was younger I used to have really bad acne so I didn't think anything of it.

Ashling revealed the condition first appeared on her chest, but soon started to spread to her arms, bum, legs and face

Before she learned to accept her new skin, Ashling admitted she would cover every inch of her body to hide her spots

'My mum came up to Belfast the following week and asked to see my back and I hadn't seen it myself and she said "Ashling, your back is completely covered".

'It was very mild at this point.

'I went to the doctors and they diagnosed me with Guttate psoriasis, which got me down a lot.

'I would say I'm a very confident person around the right people and in front of people I don't know I wouldn't really be as much, it did take a toll on me.

'I was covering myself constantly. I was wearing a North Face coat when the sun was shining outside and was just really embarrassed by the whole thing.

'I just didn't want anyone to know about it so I was constantly wearing jeans, jumpers and just anything to cover it.'

Ashling claims she was told by the doctor that a sore throat she had around a month before her spots first appeared likely triggered her psoriasis.

Ashling, who treats her skin with a gentle exfoliant and moisturiser, said she was told by her GP that a couch she had in early January might have triggered her psoriasis

Ashling said: 'It came onto my face and that's when I was like "I can't hide this anymore".

'I was just sitting in my room one night and I was like 'should I talk about this?' I'm just sitting here, fighting with myself and it's making me more stressed not telling anybody and hiding it.

'I bought a top to wear after my psoriasis cleared up and it got to Easter Sunday and then I said 'you know what, I really want to wear this top, I'm just going to wear it'.

'I asked my friend if I should put up a post and she was like "yes go for it, what's the worst that can happen? If anybody says anything it says a lot more about them to be honest".

'I posted it and it's literally the best thing I've ever done in my life. I feel so amazing about it.

'My confidence has skyrocketed, I can't even describe it, it's amazing. I feel really powerful.'

WHAT IS PSORIASIS? Psoriasis is an immune condition that occurs when a sufferer's skin cells are replaced in just a few days rather than the usual 21 to 28 days. This causes an accumulation of skin cells that build up to form raised plaques, which can be flaky, scaly, red and itchy. Some sufferers have a family history of the condition. Triggers for flare-ups include stress, certain medication, hormonal changes and skin injury. There is no cure. Treatment usually starts with topical creams and gels. Source: Psoriasis Association Advertisement

Ashling claims she was told by the doctor that her psoriasis would be gone within two to three months, but she still has it five months later.

She's starting light therapy mid-June that she's hoping will help to get rid of her psoriasis - but in the meantime she's not letting it impact her living life to the full.

Ashling said: 'It's everywhere - my ears, face, the bridge of my feet, legs, hips, bum cheeks - everywhere.

'It looks like leopard print. I'm pretty unique, aren't I? I stand out in the crowd.

'I've had people message me saying that it looks like art on my body. It actually nearly made me cry, it was amazing and I thought that was so nice.

'Posting on TikTok genuinely just makes me feel good about myself and when people comment and say I'm beautiful, I feel good.

'Especially with this on my skin, being called beautiful makes me feel a lot better because you do feel that you're ugly with that type of thing.

'It's one of those things, at the end of the day, we need to normalise it. Everyone's beautiful in their own way, shape or form.

'I'm going to Ibiza at the end of August and I've already said to myself that if I don't get rid of this, I'm still going. And I'm wearing my bikini, I don't care.

'I'll be wearing it all day and all night, I don't give a damn.'

Ashling posts videos embracing her psoriasis on TikTok and has amassed more than 12,000 likes and comments from doing so.

Ashling said: 'I had someone message me and she said that she'd love to post things and I told her "just go for it, do it".

The nurse said opening up about her condition on social media is the best thing she's ever done

Ashling revealed she was overwhelmed with positive messages of encouragement and words of thanks when she decided to share her story online

'She popped up on my for you page on TikTok and I saw that she put up a video of her psoriasis, so I inspired her.

'I had a message from someone that said "I came across you on TikTok, you're lovely and a breath of fresh air. I am a sufferer of psoriasis and you remind me that I need to stop crying and get on with it. I love your positivity".

'Anybody that's also suffering with psoriasis has given me their top tips and what works for them, so I've tried anything and everything.

'I'm honestly so thankful for everybody's help, we're all in this together.

'I believe everything happens for a reason and me developing my psoriasis has definitely helped me to understand that whatever life throws at me I can always come out the other end, and I want others to know that too.'
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President Joe Biden was caught reusing his favourite ice-breaker as he greeted King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain yesterday - a year after trying out the same line on Boris Johnson.

The President, 79, turned to Felipe, 54, and joked: 'We both married way above our station', as he and wife Jill were received by the royal couple in the throne room of Madrid's Royal Palace.

It is the same joke he used when greeting Mr Johnson, 58, and his wife Carrie, 34, at the G7 summit in Cornwall last summer.

The President, 79, turned to Felipe, 54, and joked: 'We both married way above our station', as he and wife Jill were received by the royal couple in the throne room of Madrid's Royal Palace

Needs some new material! It is the same joke he used when greeting Mr Johnson, 58, and his wife Carrie, 34, at the G7 summit in Cornwall last summer

The Bidens were given a warm welcome as they arrived at the Royal Palace.

The First Lady, who was wearing a white suit, made a joke about not wanting to clash with stylish Letizia, who had sported a similar ensemble for their engagement earlier in the day.

She told the president: 'She had on a white suit today. I said "Oh no, are you wearing that tonight?"'

The Spanish royals hosted NATO leaders at their home for a formal dinner to kick off the NATO alliance.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were among the guests.

The leaders had to climb a long granite staircase to reach the reception. The Bidens held hands as they walked up the stairs.

Queen Letizia, President Joe Biden, King Felipe, and first lady Jill Biden pose for a formal photo ahead of dinner at the royal palace to kick off the NATO summit

Queen Letizia told President Joe Biden how she had met two of his granddaughters earlier that day

President Biden jokes with the King of Spain ahead of the official family photo

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia pose with President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders ahead of a formal dinner at the royal palace

Biden leans in to speak to Queen Letizia of Spain before the royal gala in Madrid hosted by King Felipe

The dinner took place at one long table in the ornate dining room, which has massive chandeliers hanging from the painted ceiling. Tapestries hang on the walls.

Biden sat next to King Felipe. Jill Biden sat next to French President Macron.

Biden was jovial during the event, joking with the king and repeatedly patting his arm.

The leaders also posed for a large family photo with the king and queen in a grandball room where Biden talked with Queen Letizia afterward.

To start the evening, King Felipe and Queen Letizia welcomed each of the leaders to the palace and posed for a photo with them.

French President Emmanuel Macron kisses the hand of Spain's Queen Letizia while his wife Brigitte Macron speaks with Spain's King Felipe

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks with Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia during a reception at the Royal Palace

Queen Letizia and King Felipe pose with the Bidens in the throne room at the palace

After they posed with the Bidens, President Biden joked to Letizia: 'You only have to stand for two more hours. God love ya.'

She laughed and told him how she had met his granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan earlier that day.

Jill Biden had introduced the girls to Letizia during their visit to a Ukrainian refugee center.

The Queen gave warms hugs to Maisy and Finnegan Biden and chatted with them ahead of the event.

Jill Biden, 71, and Queen Letizia, 49, visited several Ukrainian refugee families on Tuesday afternoon who were taken in by Spain.

The two women sat down with the families to hear their stories and hugged many of the children. They posed for a selfie with a little boy. Maisy and Finnegan - who are the daughters of Hunter Biden and his first wife Kathleen - joined them for the day.

The first lady and the Queen also met with Chef Jose Andres and volunteers at his World Center Kitchen. Andres team has worked in the Ukraine to help humanitarian efforts and are aiding in feeding refugees around Europe.

Andres took a selfie with Jill, Letizia and some of his volunteers. He then showed the two women around his operation.

President Biden with a member of the Spanish Royal Guard at the reception

President Biden, meanwhile, had a bilateral meeting at the palace with King Felipe, who ascended to the throne in June 2014 after the abdication of his father.

Biden, who arrived in Madrid Tuesday afternoon, thanked the king for taking in migrants from the U.S. southern border.

The president noted many children in the United States these days are native Spanish speakers and that the future of America 'depends considerably' on the assimilation of that population.

'You know, I tell people that the idea we've always had great migration flows into the United States over the years - we're a nation of immigrants. But this is a statistic that - I think it's 24 out of every 100 students in grades one through 12 in America speaks Spanish, speak Spanish as an original language,' Biden said during a meeting with the king at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

'So the future of my country depends considerably, an assimilation of a population that has grown to have the same values that you possess,' he said.

The Hispanic population in the United States is the largest growing population.

It reached 62.1 million in 2020, an increase of 23% over the previous decade that outpaced the nations 7% overall population growth, Pew Research Center found.

Biden also thanked the King for his help with migrants crossing the United States' southern border.

'Your help in Latin America is also extremely important,' he said.

'The help and support and the input has been extremely valuable,' he noted.

Spain has committed to taking a significant number of Central American refugees coming illegally into the U.S. The largest group of migrants coming over the southern border are from centeral American countries, which are Spanish speaking.

Jill Biden leaves Spain on Wednesday and President Biden leaves on Thursday after the NATO summit concludes.
A cheeky music fan skipped three hours worth of traffic after a concert by putting on a high-vis vest and waving his friend's car past traffic.

Nathan Twamley brazenly guided his pals through the backlog of cars in just 10 minutes after the Dermot Kennedy gig at Malahide Castle in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday 25th June.

Having spoken to other drivers who had already waited in the queue for hours, the 27-year-old hatched a plan with pal Sean Rafferty, 26, who had a work vest in his boot.

Nathan, from Dublin, put the yellow vest on and started knocking on car windows, asking drivers to make room for a vehicle coming through.

The data technician managed to guide his pals all the way to the front of the queue, where a warden at the event realised what he was doing.

Luckily the worker saw the funny side of Nathan's scheme and allowed them past.

Sean Rafferty, 26, who had a work vest in his boot, put it to good use while trying to get out of a traffic jam leaving a concert at Malahide Castle in Dublin

Video shows Nathan sauntering along confidently in front of his friend's car, directing the vehicle alongside a huge queue to their left hand-side.

As one car attempted to pull out in front of them, Nathan was quick to stop the car before waving his friends forward.

Nathan then looked back to the camera and gavea cheeky grin after realising he'd managed to pull off the move.

Nathan's girlfriend Courtney posted the video on TikTok on Sunday, writing: 'Bring yourself a high-vis to a concert to get yourself out quicker.

Nathan Twamley brazenly guided his pals through the backlog of cars in just 10 minutes

Nathan Twamley and girlfriend Courtney who posted video of the funny incident to TikTok where it's racked up more than 70,000 likes

Nathan put on the vest and walked down the queue of traffic, waving other motorists out of the way

Nathan's girlfriend Courtney posted the video on TikTok on Sunday, writing: 'Bring yourself a high-vis to a concert to get yourself out quicker'

'The funniest night ever, never underestimate Nathan.'

The video has now collected over 876,000 views and more than 70,000 likes.

Hundreds of people left comments on the clip, impressed by Nathan's quick-thinking.

One said: 'You can literally do anything in a high-vis and no one looks twice.'

Another added: 'Not all hero's wear capes.'

A third replied: 'Keep one in the car for emergencies at all times.'

A fourth commented: 'High-vis will open so many doors. Act confident and keep walking.'

Nathan admitted he was caught by a steward at the exit, but they still got away with it

Another wrote: 'Clipboards and hard hats are also good for problem solving.'

Nathan said: 'There were people who had already been stuck for two hours.

'I said to Sean I'd love to have a high-vis right now to get past and he said he had one in the boot.

'I hopped out and people were asking me "what's going on?" and I told them there had been an accident.

People were delighted by the idea on TikTok and culdn't help admiring Natha's brazen stunt

'I was knocking on peoples windows telling them to move over so we could fit past.

'We skipped three hours of traffic.

'We just couldn't stop laughing, we got past all the traffic and looked back and none of the cars had moved.

'One bloke who worked there looked over at me right at the end and I think he clocked on but he just laughed as if to say "fair play".'
An American woman who nearly died when doctors in Malta refused to perform an abortion after she began suffering a miscarriage while on her babymoon has finally received a life-saving termination after being flown to Spain to undergo the procedure.

Andrea Prudente, 38, and her husband, Jay Weeldreyer, 45, from Seattle, Washington, were visiting the European island in an attempt to spend some quality time together before welcoming a daughter, when she suddenly developed heavy bleeding and was rushed to the hospital.

The expectant mother, who was 16-weeks pregnant at the time, thought she had suffered from a miscarriage, and an ultrasound showed a ruptured membrane, detached placenta, and no amniotic fluid in the womb - however, the fetus still had a 'viable' heartbeat.

This meant that doctors at Mater Dei Hospital, the facility in Malta where she was admitted, refused to terminate the pregnancy - citing laws in the country that ban any form of abortion, despite the fact that Andrea's life was at serious risk from her condition, and despite the fetus having a 'zero per cent chance' of survival.

Andrea and her husband were given two options: sit and wait for the pregnancy to end on its own, and hope that nothing happened to Andrea in the meantime, or take an 'extremely risky' flight to a nearby country where abortion is allowed.

They chose the latter and, after an agonizing wait, Andrea was medically transferred to Majorca, Spain, where she was given pills to stop the fetal heartbeat. Doctors then induced labor and after eight hours, she delivered her daughter's remains.

A Seattle woman who nearly died from a miscarriage while on a babymoon in Malta has now flown to Spain and gotten a life-saving termination

Andrea Prudente, 38, and her husband, Jay Weeldreyer, 45, from Washington, were visiting the European island when she suddenly developed heavy bleeding and was rushed to the hospital

An ultrasound showed that Andrea, who was 16 weeks pregnant, had a ruptured membrane, detached placenta, and no amniotic fluid in the womb - however, the fetus still had a heartbeat

However, Andrea's life remained at risk right up until her arrival in Spain, with the Today show reporting that there was 'a significant danger that she was going to bleed out' during the two-hour flight to the neighboring country.

Andrea told them: 'I was on a stretcher in the plane, focusing on staying calm and chill and to not have my body do anything scary. We understood there to be a serious risk of hemorrhage during the flight. So yeah, it was really scary.'

After landing, she was transferred to a nearby hospital where she was given two options - take the pill and deliver the deceased fetus or have it surgically removed. She chose the first option.

'They gave me that first pill that night, which was heartbreaking and hard to emotionally take,' she admitted.

'Later they started the tablets and I labored for eight hours, delivering early Saturday morning.'

Andrea called losing their daughter 'heartbreaking and gut wrenching' yet a 'beautiful and cathartic experience,' adding that doctors allowed her to hold her daughter's remains (babies are about the size of an avocado at 16 weeks) and helped make arrangements for her burial or cremation.

'They gave us this little box with blankets to choose from to put her in, and little ceramic stars to write her name on - one would hang on the tree of life in the hospital, and one would go home with us,' she said.

'We made arrangements for what we wanted to happen to her in terms of burial or cremation.'

Andrea received her abortion the same day the Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned by the senate in the United States.

'I think some anti-abortion people maybe have never considered instances like this,' she added. 'Like, sometimes your ideology crashes into a wall of reality.'

In a previous interview with the Today show, Jay recalled feeling 'elation' when they found out that they were expecting their first child together. But when he was told their baby 'wasn't going to survive,' that excitement soon turned to pain.

'I was gutted. Heartbroken. I thought, "What's next? Is Andrea safe?" he explained. 'There was an awareness that this wasn't over yet, and we really don't get to grieve until it is.'

Infection could have easily enter Andrea's body through the ruptured membrane and could have made its way into her bloodstream, potentially leading to death.

Medical professionals at Mater Dei Hospital, where she was admitted, refused to terminate the pregnancy since abortion is illegal in Malta, despite the fetus having no chance of survival

Andrea was at risk for hemorrhaging and for infection, which could have entered her bloodstream and killed her

Now, she has been medically transferred to Spain, where she was given pills to stop the fetal heartbeat. Doctors then induced labor and she delivered her daughter's remains

On top of that, she also had an umbilical cord protruding from her cervix, which put her at an 'extreme risk' of hemorrhaging.

Andrea asked doctors to terminate the pregnancy after discovering the risks, but her request was denied as abortion is currently illegal in Malta - which is located in the Mediterranean sea near Italy.

Doctors for Choice Malta - a non-profit organization made up of pro-choice professionals fighting the abortion ban on the island - reported on its website that women who have abortions in Malta could face a maximum of three years in prison.

Doctors who help carry out the abortions could also face jail time and a permanent revocation of their license, with the company adding, 'There are no exceptions in the law to allow an abortion even when the woman's health is at risk, in cases of severe fetal malformation, or in cases of rape or incest.'

Jay previously called Malta's hospital's actions an 'inconceivable form of emotional and psychological torture.' He is seen outside the medical center Andrea was transferred to in Spain

'It wasn't until a couple days later that we realized the details of the legal restrictions, and that made the behavior of the medical professionals make a lot more sense. It hammered home just how bad our situation was,' Jay told the Today show.

But Andrea considered taking matters in her own hand, with her husband revealing that she asked him to hit her 'as hard as he could' in her stomach to stop the fetus' heartbeat.

'There was a moment when Andrea told me she was seriously considering asking me to punch her as hard as I can in the stomach, to start labor or stop the heart,' he revealed.

'You are looking at your partner and she's asking you to do everything that goes against your nature - hurting her, hurting the baby you want - but at the same time it might be the path to save her

'You're pleading and pleading, and there's no way to get the help you want.'

They spent days trying to get her medically evacuated, and according to the couple, Mater Dei Hospital didn't make the process any easier for them.

Andrea told the Guardian that the hospital was 'uncooperative in their attempts to leave and in sharing medical records with her insurance company.'

'I just want to get out of here alive,' she said to the outlet last week. 'I couldnt in my wildest dreams have thought up a nightmare like this.'

Andrea called losing their daughter 'heartbreaking and gut wrenching' yet a 'beautiful and cathartic experience.' The hospital in Spain that she was transferred to is pictured

Women who have abortions in Malta could face a maximum of three years in prison. Activists are seen protesting Malta's abortion law earlier this month

Andrea received her abortion the same day the Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned by the senate in the United States. Activists are seen protesting Malta's abortion law

They are sharing her story in the hopes of raising awareness, with Andrea explaining, 'I dont want this to happen to more people.' Activists are seen protesting Malta's abortion law

Jay called Mater Dei Hospital's actions an 'inconceivable form of emotional and psychological torture,' while Andrea added that she feels like she is being 'traumatized.'

While speaking to the Today show, Jay further slammed the hospital for 'prolonging his wife's suffering.'

'There's a kind of torture that happens, psychologically, when you've been attaching to a pregnancy, seeing her on the ultrasound and making plans, only to learn you can't have her,' he added.

'And then you encounter a medical system that puts you in the situation we're in now - probably the worst situation imaginable.

'They have the capacity to provide the help. It's right there and available. But not only will they not help, but they're doing things to prolong suffering. We wanted this baby girl, and without water she's now compressed.'

On top of being terrified for his wife's health, he was also worried about the cost of her medical treatment, admitting that it has 'wrecked their finances.'

'Insurance is arranging this, but we're responsible for everything above and beyond what they cover,' he said.

They are now sharing her story with the world in the hopes of raising awareness and 'avoiding a tragedy.'

'I dont want this to happen to more people,' Andrea added to the Guardian.
A fierce Transatlantic row has broken out between tea-loving Britons and Americans who use the stove to heat up the water for drinks.

After British Twitter user Stefan Roberts posted a screenshot of a New York Times article promoting off plug-in kettles, people marvelled at the idea our friends across the pond were not already familiar with the invention.

In the US, it's common for people to heat water in a stove-top kettle, or even make hot tea in the microwave.

The article promoted electric kettles as, 'a swift and easy way to heat water without using a stove' - to the bewilderment of people in the UK, with one writing: '"The greatest country on earth" discovers the electric kettle.'

Twitter user Stefan Roberts sparked outrage among Brits (and confusion among Americans) when he pointed out the New York Times article which appeared to introduce the electric kettle as a brand new invention for boiling water

Posting the New York Times screenshot on Twitter, Roberts said: 'I'll hear absolutely no more from Americans criticising our clothes-drying racks after this.'

His tweet sparked plenty of reaction from Britons and Americans alike with a fierce debate taking place in the replies.

While many people from the UK were horrified at the idea electric kettles weren't a fixture in every house across the pond, with one writing: 'Geuninely don't understand how Americans get by without kettles. I don't even drink tea and use it for about three different daily tasks.'

Many people couldn't understand how else you would boil water, but one Twitter user revealed the 'horrifying' truth - that many Americans heat it up in the microwave.

Twitter user Alex went to the extreme length of popping out to buy an electric kettle during his stay in a New York hotel after realising his room didn't already contain one

One Twitter user called Clare said she once watched an American make a cup of tea in the microwave, describing it as, 'the most uncivilised thing' she had ever seen.

She wrote: 'It affected me on a primal level, I was absolutely appalled.

'This absolute savage poured tap water into a mug which had a tea bag in it, and microwaved the lot.'

In the UK and Europe it is almost a given that a hotel room will contain the basic amenity of a mini electric kettle.

Some Twitter users used the apparent discovery of the electric kettle to mock the US - making note of the fact the nation has only recently started using chip-and-pin payments

But one Briton who went to visit New York had a nasty shock when he realised his hotel room didn't have a kettle and went to the extreme length of buying one for the length of his stay.

He wrote: 'I donated it to the front desk when I left but they were plainly confused about why anyone would want one in a hotel room.'

Other people used the opportunity to take swipes at the US for 'struggling to adapt' to the present day and dug up other examples of things that suggest the US is living in the past.

While one Twitter user noted that the US only recently began using chip-and-PIN payments, another pointed out the nation still accepts cheques.

Some claimed that most American and Canadians don't need kettles because they don't drink a lot of tea

After being relentlessly mocked by Britons, Americans stepped in to defend themselves, with some insisting they will never stop using the microwave to heat water.

One Twitter user said: 'You can pry it from my cold dead arms!'

However, one woman from the US said her electric kettle is a 'Godsend' after saying she was sick of heating water on the stove like her 'ancestors'.

As the debate raged on, some more diplomatic Twitter users tried to settle the tension.

Canadian Sarah Collins made the point that, for the most part, Americans and Canadians don't have a need for an electric kettle because very few of them drink tea at all.

Another Twitter user explained a very sensible reason for many US households not having an electric kettle: the voltage in their plug sockets is around 110 volts - about half the power of UK plug sockets.
A plastic surgeon has issued a stark warning about the dangers of breast enhancements, while sharing a horrifying video of 35-year-old implants that had ruptured inside a patient and then calcified.

Dr. Nicole Castellese, 47, is a double-board certified surgeon who has worked in the industry for decades - however even she was shocked by what she found after removing breast implants from a 65-year-old woman, who had undergone her augmentation back in 1985.

Having been left stunned by the state of the implants, which had 'calcified' inside the patient after rupturing, Dr. Castellese took to TikTok to share her findings, posting a video of the implants, which had turned brown and hard, were leaking.

In the footage, which has racked up more than 4.8 million views, the surgeon holds up each of the implants, revealing huge holes in the exterior wall of each one, and showing off the thick, sticky silicone that was leaking from each one.

A plastic surgeon has issued a stark warning about the dangers of breast implants while sharing a video of two 35-year-old implants that had ruptured inside a patient then calcified

Dr. Nicole Castellese, 47, is a double-board certified surgeon with decades of experience - however even she was shocked by what she found after removing the breast implants

In a video shared to her TikTok page, Dr. Castellese revealed that the wall of the implants had ruptured, allowing a sticky silicone substance to leak out of them

She explained that the capsule of the implant had 'hardened and calcified', while rolling the implants around to allow the silicone to leak out of them. A new implant is seen left

In her caption, the surgeon - who has her own practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma, called The Institute for Beauty, Wellness & Regenerative Medicine - revealed that the unnamed patient had originally had the implants put in back in 1985, and had been told by a surgeon in the 90s that they were fine to keep in.

Dr. Castellese (pictured) runs her own practice, The Institute for Beauty, Wellness & Regenerative Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has performed millions of breast implant procedures

'Patient with 35+ year old implants,' Dr. Castellese wrote in the caption.

'The capsule had hardened and calcified. A plastic surgeon in the 90s recommended she keep them.'

In the clip, she is seen moving each of the implants around, allowing the sticky silicone substance to ooze out of the burst sacks.

Speaking about the state of the implants, the surgeon revealed that the patient in question - a 65-year-old woman - had kept the implants in at the suggestion of a different medical expert, adding that the patient had not 'received the best medical advice'.

'[I do] quite a lot of explants (breast implant removal) due to patient demand and subsequent patient satisfaction which leads to more and more patients,' she explained.

'The patient who had the ruptured implants on the TikTok is a 65-year-old woman who had her implants placed in 1985.

'She had a mammogram over a year before coming to me, which suggested one of her implants was ruptured.'

Dr. Castellese added that there is no way to know if an implant has ruptured inside the body and encouraged her followers to get an MRI to know for sure

The doctor continued to roll the implant around to reveal the sticky silicone gel that leaks out of the implant

Silicone gel implants(pictured above) are different than saline implants because saline implants deflate rather than rupturing

She added: 'In her case, she didn't receive the best medical advice regarding the implant removal and financial coverage for the surgery was another factor contributing to her delay in treatment.

Common breast implant complications Breast pain and sagging

Changes in nipple and breast sensation

Breast asymmetry (one side is a different size or shape to the other)

Displacement of implant

Can cause cancer in very rare cases

Bleeding

Implant rupture

Infection

Skin rash Source: NSW Health Advertisement

'After seeing her and reviewing her history and goals, we were able to schedule her for breast implant removal, capsulectomy, mastopexy and drain placement.'

The surgeon's TikTok video documenting the state of the ruptured implants left viewers up in arms - with many joking that they initially thought the implants were some kind of food.

'I thought that was a jelly-filled donut for a sec,' commented one person.

'So we really all saw bread or some sort of baked good at first,' another user chimed in, as one added: 'Why did I think it was school food.'

'Forbidden slime,' someone else wrote.

'I thought this was an apple turnover. Should have had dessert after dinner,' wrote a fifth person.

When asked how people had reacted to the shocking rupture, Dr. Castellese added: 'There was a lot of confusion and shock over the ruptured implant.

'Most people thought it was food.... jelly donuts, biscuits and chicken were popular guesses.'

To clear up her followers confusion, she said: 'Since breast implants are a foreign body, our body responds by walling off the implant with a layer of scar tissue.

'The scar tissue around the implant is referred to as a capsule.'

TikTok users were shocked to learn that the clip revealed a breast implant, many users originally thought the implant was as 'jelly-filled donut'

But while many social media users were quick to criticize breast implants due to the 'jelly donut' resemblance the doctor said: 'This is not unique to breast implants. People with pacemakers or prosthetic joints have capsules around those too.'

'If a silicone implant ruptures, the rupture is typically contained within the capsule, but it is possible for it to go beyond the capsule and therefore, once a rupture is identified, the implant should be removed.'

The doctor went on to explain the different breast implants and how to spot a ruptured implant.

'This is different from saline implants because if those rupture, the breast deflates alerting the patient to the problem.'

The doctor followed up with a video replying to people's questions.

In the clip, she explains why silicone implants should not be kept in for longer than 10 years and encouraged people with older implants to consider screening because when an implant ruptures inside the body, it can go undetected, so the only way to know whether or not an implant has burst is through an MRI.
A Deliveroo driver was sacked after he mocked a woman who ordered medication used to treat thrush in an online video.

The man, who posted the Instagram story under the handle 'traptendo', and has been named as Jordon De Silva, 25, from Cambridge, filmed himself giving a woman a Boots bag containing the antifungal cream, Canesten, which he had opened.

He has been condemned after he posted the footage of him speaking to the woman on social media.

The man says 'Someone's got some problems downstairs, man' to the camera.

The man, who posted the Instagram story under the handle 'traptendo', and has been named as Jordon De Silva, 25, from Cambridge, filmed himself giving a woman a Boots bag containing the antifungal cream, Canesten, which he had opened

He has been condemned after he posted the footage of him speaking to the woman on social media. The man says 'Someone's got some problems downstairs, man' to the camera

He asks the woman, who is filmed leaving her student accommodation in Cambridge to collect the package, what the item is for.

And when she gives the response 'It's medicine,' the driver asks: 'Oh, what for? What do you use it for? Face?'

He replies: 'It's face cream is it?' and when she walks away he says: 'Oh okay. Right, see ya' before looking at the camera and sniggering.

The 25-year-old had also put up shirtless photographs on the account as well as images of cars.

He asks the woman, who is filmed leaving her student accommodation in Cambridge to collect the package, what the item is for

He has since changed the profile picture on the account to a black screen and locked the account.

Footage of the incident has been posted on Twitter by Reegan Kay where it is has been liked more than 3,000 times and had 226,000 views.

The post was captioned: 'This @Deliveroo driver decided to open this woman's package, record her and mock her for its contents.

'Men continue to have the f****** audacity.'

'Like she's probably ordered it through Deliveroo because buying it in person would be embarrassing and he's gone out of his way to make her uncomfortable AND post it online ?????'

Footage of the incident has been posted on Twitter by Reegan Kay where it is has been liked more than 3,000 times and had 226,000 views

People were outraged by the footage, writing: 'This is a police issue surely?' and 'how disrespectful, please make sure he is dealt with @Deliveroo'

People were outraged by the footage, writing: 'This is a police issue surely?' and 'how disrespectful, please make sure he is dealt with @Deliveroo.'

While others added: 'jail' and 'he should face the law' and concerned for the girl in the video, another person said: 'Just imagine all the uni students on her campus that have seen the video and are probably making fun of her. Hope she's good...'

Elsewhere, other furious tweeters said she deserves compensation and that Just Eat and Uber Eats should not take him on.

Deliveroo said in a statement on Twitter: 'Rest assured we will be reaching out to the customer, investigating immediately and will no longer work with this rider.'

MailOnline has approached Mr De Silva for comment.
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The twin copy of a 165,000 painting gifted to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when Princess Charlotte was born is due to be auctioned by Saturday.

Commissioned for by an anonymous friend of the royal family, the painting was gifted to Prince William and Kate Middleton when Charlotte was christened in July 2015, when she was just two months-old.

The work of art, made by renowned artist Stephen Cawston, is a seven-foot-wife oil painting replica of the original billboard for Disney's 1937 Oscar-winning animation Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

It was reported at the time that the painting was estimate to be worth 164,988, but could fetch more at an online sale organised by the Dutch auction house Hessink on July 2.

A seven-foot-wife copy of a painting gifted to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when Princess Charlotte, now seven, was born is due to be sold this weekend by Dutch auction house Hessink

While the painting was wrapped in bubble wrap and delivered to Kensington Palace in the summer of 2015, its twin copy remained in Knightsbridge.

It shows the Disney character surrounded by her seven friends, the animals from the forest and Prince Charming as well as the Evil Queen in three different scenes.

It was announced a 'generous' friend of the royal family had gifted Prince William and Kate with the painting around the time of Charlotte's christening in July 2015 (pictured: Kate Middleton and the Queen on the day of the christening)

Cawston, who specialises in reproducing film posters, kept the twin at the HomargeGgallery, where he exhibited his works of art.

It was thought at the time that Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was thinking of purchase the twin copy from one of his own grandchildren.

The painting was hand-drawn and painted by Cawston and took a month to complete.

The artist's work are prized by celebs, and he counts Guy Ritchie amongst his fans after he was commissioned to make a hand-painted poster for 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' for the director's wedding to Jacqui Ainsley in 2015.

At the time the artist finished the painting for Princess Charlotte, royal expert Katie Nicholls reported for Vanity Fair that it had been commissioned by a 'close friend' of the family.

While Cawston did not comment on the identity of the friend, he did confirm he was commissioned to do the painting as a gift for Princess Charlotte.

A source close to the matter said at the time: 'Its an amazing painting and very original. The artist has totally captured the magic of the film. William and Kate are going to be absolutely thrilled when they receive it.'

It is not known where the Cambridges decided to exhibit the large work of art.

The twin and several other works by Hessink will be auctioned off this week. The opening bid for the Snow White replica was set at 20,000 euros (17.270).
The Prince of Wales admired a portrait of Prince Philip when visiting the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh today.

Prince Charles, 73, who is known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland, stopped to look at the artwork of his late father as he stepped out at the College in his new role as patron during Holyrood week.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who died last year, served as patron of the College for 66 years, having first become patron in 1954.

The portrait of Prince Philip was painted in 1958 by Sir Walter Oliphant Hutchison (1889-1970) depicting his first visit to the College, which proudly hangs alongside past College Presidents.

The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland, views a portrait of his late father the Duke of Edinburgh, during a visit to Edinburgh's Royal College of Surgeons in his new role as patron

Prince Charles is presented with a commemorative bowl by the Vice President Royal College of Surgeons Mr Pala Babu Rajesh

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) said it is a 'privilege' to welcome Charles as its new patron.

His father, who died last year, accepted an honorary fellowship from the RCSEd in 1955 and visited the college on several occasions including in 2006 to open the Quincentenary building, and in 2015 to open the newly renovated Surgeons' Hall Museums and the Prince Philip Building.

Professor Michael Griffin, president of the RCSEd, said: 'It is a privilege to welcome HRH The Duke of Rothesay as Patron of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

'The Duke of Edinburgh played a very significant part in the College's history during His Royal Highness' 66 years as Patron, which we recognised in 2015 by constructing the Prince Philip Building.

Prince Charles views a new sculpture, with sculptor Kenny Hunter, dedicated to NHS workers who contributed during the pandemic

The Prince of Wales with sculptor Kenny Hunter (left) and President Michael Griffin (right) views a new sculpture, dedicated to NHS workers

The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland, with President Michael Griffin

'The Duke's engagement with Fellows and officers at the opening of the building was extraordinary, and throughout his patronage His Royal Highness took great interest in the surgical profession and its advancement of patient care.

'We very much look forward to working with The Duke of Rothesay.'

Charles will be in Edinburgh this week along with other members of the royal family as part of Holyrood Week - also known as Royal Week - which takes place each summer.

The RCSEd is one of the oldest surgical corporations in the world with a global membership of almost 30,000, including 15,000 members in the UK.

It promotes the highest standards of surgical and dental practice through education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical and dental workforce.
Yesterday, I logged on to my weekly online writing group, where we meet virtually to encourage each other to get some work done. Before we start, we share the task weve chosen to focus on that day. Unthinking, I tapped out: Writing an article about my abortion. Then I stopped and quickly deleted the last three words before posting.

But why? How did I expect my fellow writers, mostly female, to respond? With a lack of understanding, compassion, outright disapproval? Did I fear they would judge me, think ill of me? Well, quite frankly, yes.

And its this, the fear of social and emotional censure, that has silenced me for nearly 60 years. Until now, I had not told a soul about how I ended a pregnancy as a 21-year-old married mother of one.

Six decades may have passed, but abortion remains taboo. We can talk about menopause, menstruation, miscarriage  even breastfeed in the Commons  but we cant talk freely about the a-word. (I still hesitate to use the word  preferring termination as less likely to attract fury or blame.)

Elisabeth Luard (second from left) says she had an abortion as a 21-year-old married mother of one. UK-based writer explains why, how six decades on it is important that she shares her experience with her American granddaughters: L-R: Jessie Lee, 21, Ionia Tait, 15, and Bonnie Lee, 19

But at the age of 80, Ive had a change of heart. The reason? The shocking news that the US Supreme Court last week overturned Roe v Wade, allowing states to ban or restrict womens access to abortions. As a result, it will be difficult or impossible for women across the US to access safe termination.

Now I realise how important it is for women like me to spill the beans. After all, one in three women in the UK will have had an abortion by the age of 45. But our collective silence means it may come as a surprise that there are so many of us out there.

I completely understand its a personal matter, but now is the time for those of us who exercised the right to choose to speak up. If not now, when?

This is not just an issue affecting single teenagers, who could be dismissed as knowing no better, but grown women in stable relationships, and its important that others know this. According to the latest statistics from 2020, married women account for nearly a fifth of all recorded abortions in the UK.

Another reason whats happened in the US touches me personally is that I have two university-age granddaughters, born and bred in New York. Not so long ago, we discussed the possibility that Roe v Wade was under threat. I told them my own story; and when neither expressed shock or horror that their granny should write about such a thing, I knew that when the time was right, I would.

But when I consulted a wise friend on the wisdom of  how to put it?  coming out, she worried about online trolling and warned: Dont do it! Its not safe.

Elisabeth Luard with her eldest son at three months old. Elisabeth was 21-years-old and married with her son when she had her abortion

Not safe to admit to ending a pregnancy six decades ago on the advice of two doctors? That did it for me  it was imperative for me to speak up right now.

The pregnancy that led to a termination was really my own fault.

Married in February 1963, our first baby was born in October the same year. At 21, with no proper experience of family life  father lost in the war, mother married again  I had full responsibility for a scrap of life of my own making.

Fortunately, I took to motherhood like a duck to water. Which was just as well since my husband Nicholass routine, as a nightclub owner and proprietor of Private Eye, continued uninterrupted.

I didnt tell Nicholas that I hadnt been taking the contraceptive pills the doctor prescribed  Id assumed I was safe, since agreed wisdom at the time was that you couldnt get pregnant when you were breastfeeding, which I did for nine months.

So when, at my regular six-month check-up, the doctor announced another baby was on the way, my reaction was total shock. Another baby when Id barely recovered from the first. I burst into tears  pregnancy does that to you, anyway. I cant, I said. Its not possible.

Abortion rights activists in Washington DC. Elisabeth explains that hers and her unborn child's life would have been at risk if she had continued with the pregnancy

Doctors generally advise at least 18 months between babies, giving the body time to recover. Some research suggests getting pregnant again within a year increases the risk of premature birth.

But there was another reason for my distress. At my check-up had come the news that my blood group was Rhesus negative, with already developed antibodies. This meant my blood group and my husbands were incompatible.

While this doesnt usually cause a problem in a first pregnancy, in subsequent pregnancies it can cause a womans body to produce antibodies that attack the developing foetus.

Both my life and my unborn childs were in danger. Termination of the second pregnancy  after proper consultation with a second doctor and a psychiatrist  could be recommended on those grounds alone. I could have chosen to continue with the pregnancy, but back then we didnt have the medical treatment (these days a simple course of injections) to prevent the risk to mine or the babys life.

I didnt hesitate. Instinct kicked in. I already had a baby and he was in danger of losing his mother.

Elisabeth is proud that her granddaughters are active in the fight for a womans right to choose what is right for them

Once my husband had signed the paperwork, wed be on our way. This was, after all, a time when a woman couldnt open a bank account, raise a mortgage or get a passport in her own right.

Shortly after, I was booked in as a day patient in hospital on the National Health for what was described in the paperwork as a dilatation and curettage, also known in the gynaecology department, where the process was routine, as a scrape-out.

In 2022, this would be called an abortion. But this was in 1964  four years before the Abortion Act legalised abortions in certain circumstances  so terminology was important: doctors didnt use the words abortion or termination. Yet the truth is plenty of pregnancies were still brought to an end.

Make yourself comfortable, dear, said the nurse as she tucked my feet into the stirrups. If Patient relaxes, its easier for Doctor to get over with quickly. And we all want that, dont we? It took about ten minutes. Afterwards, there was a cup of tea and a biscuit and a feeling of intense relief. I had really believed that my beloved baby was in danger of losing his mother. Even so, I knew that what was, for me, a life-saver, wasnt something to be discussed in public or even in private. Ever. Until now.

As for the effects of what was euphemistically known as the procedure... Physically  compared with the long, painful labour still fresh in my mind from childbirth  no contest. Emotionally? An overwhelming feeling of gratitude that I was again free to care for a baby already born and safely delivered into my arms.

Maybe I was saved from the enduring sorrow and regret about my abortion that some experience because it was early  eight weeks, give or take. Or maybe it was because I grew to learn from later experience that the loss of full term babies was terrible in a way that termination was not.

Elisabeth's abortion was in 1964, four years before the Abortion Act legalised abortions in certain circumstances

Thanks to our incompatible blood groups, Nicholas and I had, in total, four live births out of seven full-term pregnancies, each with life-threatening complications. This was considered a remarkably good result for a family affected by rhesus at the time.

There were mothers-to-be in the waiting room with my kind of problems who lost them all. In those days, no one was offered counselling for infant mortality. No one had a wrapped bundle placed in their arms to grieve.

Perhaps, too, not confessing till now has saved me from the disapproval that might have made me question my decision. I was simply deeply grateful that I didnt need a back-street abortion, nor had I been obliged to carry a pregnancy to term when my body wasnt ready.

In the following years, attitudes began to change  in the US too, where in 1973 with Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court effectively legalised abortion. It was unimaginable then that 50 years later it would be overturned.

Whats doubly shocking is that my life-saving procedure, sanctioned by two doctors, couldnt now happen in parts of the US.

In those states that immediately implemented the Supreme Courts ruling, going ahead could land me in jail, along with my husband and every friend, doctor, nurse or taxi driver who might have facilitated this crime.

Im proud that my granddaughters are active in the fight for a womans right to choose. And the men who march beside them are much more involved in family life than their fathers and grandfathers ever were.

If my granddaughters are brave enough to nail their colours to the mast, then so should I.
A billion-dollar stash looted by the Nazis inside a Swiss bank was revealed after a list was found that survived destruction, bringing to fore activities of Hitler sympathizers in Argentina.

Their speculation of the fortune is believed to be hidden in a single account or more accounts in the Swiss bank Credit Suisse that is still sought today.

Hunt for Nazi Treasure

A treasure hunt for an immense amount began after the discovery of a secret list of 12,000 Nazis in Argentina, reported the Sun UK.

Lawyers from three continents are now rushing to look for the alleged fortune concealed in a Swiss bank for the last 78 years, noted Bild. It indicates those who transferred the fortune taken from Jews and all the valuables kept in Switzerland.

An Argentinian investigator Pedro Filipuzzi discovered the list and gave it to the Jewish human rights organization, Simon Wiesenthal Center. The organization investigates the holocaust and terrorism as a result of anti-Semitism. Specific names on the list are The German Union of Syndicate covering up for ex-Nazis escaping to Argentina after the second world war.

The center informed via a letter to Credit Suisse vice-president Christian Kung with their concerns about how inactive accounts may have looted monies for Jews under the Nuremberg Aryanization laws of the 1930s.

Several claimants are the heirs of the Nazis on the list. The center has asked for access to the institution's archives to settle the matter for the last survivors of the Jewish holocaust in regards to the Nazi billion-dollar Loot kept in the mystery Swiss bank account at Credit Suisse.

Read Also: Donald Trump Children: What You Need to Know About the 5 Trump Kids

One of the organization's representatives, Dr. Ariel Gelblung, stated, "Not all of the 12,000 people on that list were people who transferred Nazi money to Germany, but all the people who did so are on that list.'

The presence of former Nazis was known based on the historical records. Then-president Jose Felix Uriburu and his successor Agustin Pedro Justo accepted a Nazi presence in Argentina during their tenures, cited the JPost.

A Search of the German Union of Guilds' headquarters yielded the surviving record with names of the Nazi followers is said to have been identified at the Argentine Congress in 1941.

Once the pro-Nazi United Officers' Group got power over the whole of Argentina in 1943, they preceded to destroy any record or traces that could be found, and the list included too.

Somehow Filipuzzi came across an original copy that escaped documents purging years back. He claimed to be in one of the storage rooms in the Nazi headquarters in Buenos Aires when he was 20 at the time. Included in the list were 500 pages of names, with large numbers that are amounts of money.

Connection to German Businesses

Several German firms were in the country during that time, and Nazi support would pay millions of pounds to Banco Transatlantico Aleman, connected to the Deutsche Bank.

The money was earmarked for German Winter Aid as a yearly donation from National Socialist People's Welfare to fund charity works.

Access to the Nazi billion-dollar loot in a mystery Swiss bank account at Credit Suisse is hard to get, with legal battles and controversies surrounding it over the years.

Related Article: Adolf Hitler's Lost German U-Boat Allegedly Has Dead Nazis Aboard Along With Gold, Treasure

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands cut a stylish figure as she stepped out alongside her husband King Willem-Alexander during day three of their state visit to Austria.

The Argentine-born royal, 50, oozed elegance in a floral frock when visiting the Schlossberg fortress in Graz, the second-largest city in the country.

Looking typically fashionable, the mother-of-three teamed the flowing turquoise flower number, which was cinched at the waist with a bronze belt, with a statement metallic-coloured hat.

Maxima and Willem-Alexander appeared loved-up as they posed in front of a clock tower at the top of Schlossberg Hill.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands cut a stylish figure as she stepped out alongside her husband King Willem-Alexander during day three of their state visit to Austria

The Argentine-born royal, 50, oozed elegance in a floral frock when visiting the Schlossberg fortress in Graz, the second-largest city in the country

Known for pairing her accessories, the royal donned a floral bronze hat with a matching pair of strappy heels.

Adding a touch of glitz to her ensemble, she further accessorised the look with some stunning golden earrings.

Her blonde locks were worn down, with waves, and tucked behind her ears, while she added a smattering of glamorous makeup to her features.

Yesterday, Maxima wore a flowing three-tone gown with a splash of red on top when meeting the Dutch chamber choir at Konzerthaus concert hall.

Looking typically fashionable, the mother-of-three teamed the flowing turquoise flower number, which was cinched at the waist with a bronze belt, with a statement metallic-coloured hat

Maxima and Willem-Alexander appeared loved-up as they posed in front of a clock tower at the top of Schlossberg Hill

She paired the floor-length, long-sleeve gown with black heeled sandals and a matching clutch to complement the block stripe on the dress.

The royal's return to a statement splash of colour came after she stepped out yesterday evening in a beautiful white gown at a state banquet.

The off-shoulder, floor-length dress complimented her envious figure, while her tresses were styled in a laid-back up-do.

The mother-of-three stole the show once again yesterday evening as she stepped out of the car and onto the red carpet before posing for photos with her husband.

She also smiled with the President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen, who has invited the royals to visit his country, and his wife Doris Schmidauer.

The First Lady of Austria was also looking glamorous as she posed alongside her husband and the King and Queen, sporting a satin cream top and sequinned black trousers.
A pregnant woman has revealed she is expecting two sets of identical twins after experiencing an incredibly rare conception in which two of her eggs were fertilized at the same time, before both splitting - resulting in her conceiving two separate sets of identical siblings.

Ashley Ness, 35, a hairstylist from Taunton, Massachusetts, went to a routine checkup with her doctor back in February, and was overjoyed to be told that she was expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Val, 47.

However Ashley's elation soon turned to shock when she went to an ultrasound two weeks later - and discovered that she is pregnant with not one, but four babies.

The expectant mother, who already has a daughter from a previous relationship, was all the more stunned to discover that the four babies are not quadruplets, but rather two sets of identical twins - a discovery that left even her ultrasound technician baffled.

Babies on board! A pregnant woman was stunned to discover that she was expecting two sets of identical twins at the same time - something her doctor wasn't even sure was possible

When Ashley Ness, 35, a hairstylist from Massachusetts, went to an ultrasound, she was in for a shock when she was told she was not expanding her brood by just one child, but in fact, by four

It turns out, Ashley is pregnant with two sets of identical twins, and the ultrasound tech had to stop and look online to make sure that what she was seeing was actually feasible

'When she first started the scan, she was looking at the screen and wrote, "A, B," so I stopped and looked at her and was like, "Wait, I'm having twins?"' she recalled to Good Morning America.

How is it possible to conceive two sets of twins at the same time? Although it is incredibly rare, it is possible for a woman to conceive two sets of twins. This physical phenomenon occurs when two different eggs are both fertilized by two sperm, resulting in two pregnancies. If these eggs then both split - which is what happens when twins are conceived - it results in two different sets of identical twins. Advertisement

Ashley added that the ultrasound tech was so confused by what she saw that she had to leave the room in order to find out whether such a phenomenon was even possible.

'And she's like, "Oh I don't know  I'm going to step out for a minute,"' the pregnant mother recounted.

Upon her return, the medical expert confirmed that Ashley is indeed pregnant with four babies - two boys and two girls.

While chatting with Boston.com, she admitted that she thought she 'was going to faint' when she first heard the news - particularly when doctors told her that her double-pregnancy was in a 'one in 70 million' occurrence.

'I literally was sitting there as shes still scanning me, and Im like, "OK, how am I going to do this?" Like, how am I going to tell my boyfriend that Im having quadruplets? How am I gonna tell my family Im having quadruplets?' she explained.

After the initial surprise wore off, Ashley said she and Val, who has three kids of his own from a past relationship, became 'really excited' that they have four more coming - especially since Ashley struggled with infertility for years.

'I had a very hard time conceiving my daughter and I've had miscarriages in the past,' she revealed to GMA.

'So I feel like to be able to be blessed with something so big is so amazing.'

'When I conceived, it was right before my grandmother had passed away too. So I feel as if it was almost like a gift from her, like sending back the losses that I had. That's truly how I do feel.'

As she started sharing the news with her family and friends, Ashley said no one believed her, but after realizing that she was telling the truth, they were nothing but supportive.

After the initial shock wore off, Ashley, who has a daughter from a previous relationship (pictured together), said she and her boyfriend, Val, 47, were 'really excited'

Rare: The hairdresser said she was told only one in every 70 million women naturally conceive two sets of identical twins like she did. Two of the babies' sonogram photos are seen

The babies - two boys and two girls - are due in October, but doctors plan to induce Ashley in August due to the risk of carrying four babies. The other two babies' sonogram photos are seen

'My mom and dad were ecstatic. They were like, "Honestly, if anyone can do it, its you. We have no worries for you,"' she shared with Boston.com.

'Most people that truly know me, thats their comment, theyre like, "Ash, you got this. This is you, it has your name all over it."'

Ashley let her eight-year-old daughter, Chanel, pick out the names for her four new siblings - choosing Chesley and Chatham for the girls, and Chance and Cheston for the boys

The hairdresser explained that she is honored to have such a rare thing happen to her, adding that she was told only one in every 70 million women naturally conceive two sets of identical twins like she did.

ABC News previously reported that conceiving two sets of twins at the same time is possible when 'two different eggs are fertilized - resulting in fraternal twins.'

Then, if those two separate eggs both split - which is rare but possible - it could result in the mother becoming pregnant with two sets of identical twins.

'I cant wait to see how identical they are,' she gushed. 'Am I going to have a hard time telling them apart?

'As of right now, I feel like theyre very active inside, so Im like, "Oh, are you going to be rambunctious little nuggets when you come out? Are you gonna give me a run for my money?'

Despite her elation, Ashley is worried about the difficulties that come with having four babies at one time.

She said: 'Im not going to be able to go to the grocery store and just take my baby and hold the carrier - I have to have four carriers now.

'There were just so many initial things that were going through my mind. At this point now, I am just like, "Im just going to do it."'

Despite her elation, Ashley and Val, who has three kids from a past marriage, are worried about the difficulties that come with having four babies at one time. She is seen with her daughter

The couple started a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of going from a family of six to a family of 10, where they have already raised nearly $7,000. Ashley is seen with her daughter

She let her eight-year-old daughter, Chanel, pick out the names for her four new siblings, who are due in October.

Keeping up with the family tradition of picking monikers that start with 'Ch,' Ashley said she chose Chesley and Chatham for the girls, and Chance and Cheston for the boys.

To accommodate going from a family of six to to a family of 10, Ashley told Boston.com that she wants to get a new van and expand their home.

She has now started a GoFundMe page in an attempt to help pay for the costs of the expansion, where she has already raised nearly $7,000.

'Im truly, truly appreciative of what everyone does for me,' she added. 'Just to see how positive people have been and what they have done for me, it literally melts my heart. To not even know me and want to help me - its amazing.'

Due to the high risk of carrying four babies at once, doctors have decided that they're going to induce labor at around 30-32 weeks, so Ashley said she expects the babies to arrive sometime in August.
An Australian mum and meal prepping 'queen' has shared her foolproof way of peeling hard boiled eggs in seconds using a storage container and water.

School teacher Katie Lolas, from Sydney, took to Instagram on Tuesday to showcase her 'hack' which ensures no large 'chunks' are ripped out of the delicate egg.

'It's super easy. All you have to do is add the eggs you want peeled inside of a container, add a bit of water and shake them around for a few seconds or until the egg shells crack,' she said.

'You'll be able to remove the shells seamlessly without losing chunks off your whites. See, I told you it was easy.'

School teacher Katie Lolas, from Sydney, took to Instagram on Tuesday to showcase her 'hack' which ensures no large 'chunks' are ripped out of the delicate egg

'It's super easy. All you have to do is add the eggs you want peeled inside of a container, add a bit of water and shake them around for a few seconds or until the egg shells crack,' she said

Katie, who goes by the name 'Lady Lolas' online, demonstrated the trick in a video and received hundreds of excited comments.

'Great idea! I normally bang them all over on my bench and then peel in water,' one woman said.

'I can't wait to try this! If it really works, you are my hero,' said another.

Katie has previously shared a number of useful kitchen hacks, including a way to peel a whole bulb of garlic in seconds.

She demonstrated the handy trick in a video posted to her popular Instagram page.

Meal prep guru Katie Lolas said the 'most efficient way' to peel garlic is to crush the bulb and shake it around in a container

In the clip she crushes her bulb of garlic with her hand to separate the cloves, places it in a container, closes the lid and shakes it around until the skin comes away.

'All you have to do is place the garlic that you want peeled inside a container place the lid on that container and shake and there you have it - peeled garlic,' she said in the video.

The quick and effortless hack can shave minutes off cooking time and save you from wrestling with fiddly garlic gloves.

In an Instagram clip, Katie crushes her bulb of garlic with her hand to separate the cloves, places it in a container, closes the lid and shakes until the skin comes away

Many of Katie's 163,000 followers were wowed by the 'game changing' hack and took to the comments to express their amazement.

'Jaw on the floor!' one exclaimed while a second asked 'What is this sorcery?'

'If this actually works you might have just changed the course of my whole life!?' commented a third.

Peeling garlic has proved a headache for many home cooks who have come up with genius solutions to make the process painless.

Previously, foodie Jenny Stewart, from the US, demonstrated her miracle garlic peeling method in a Youtube video.

All you need is fresh garlic and a microwave to remove the cloves from the peels without a knife.

Rather than wresting with the garlic, pop a whole head or a few cloves in the microwave on high for 20 seconds

Rather than wresting with the garlic, pop a whole head or a few cloves in the microwave on high for 20 seconds.

The cloves will slip effortlessly right out of the peels and won't leave you with the dreaded 'garlic fingers'.

After heating the garlic on high, cautiously pick it up or place it in a bowl as it will be hot.

The outer layers covering the garlic slip right off easily or the garlic can be popped right out by pinching one end

The outer layers covering the garlic slip right off easily or the garlic can be popped right out by pinching one end.

Thousands of foodies on social media standby the tip when cooking in the kitchen as it saves time and effort.

'This is a pretty good method. There is still some peeling involved but this makes it easier,' one person wrote in the comments.

'Omg this made my entire cooking so darn easy,' another added.
Australian shoppers have been finding surprise $100 Coles vouchers in their letterboxes as the supermarket aims to reward its most loyal customers.

Social media has been flooded with happy customers sharing their unexpected gift cards and bonus FlyBuys points.

'Wow, I got this in the post today! Anyone else get one?' one woman wrote in a post to popular Facebook group while another said: 'Received a lovely much-welcome surprise in the post box!'.

Hundreds of Coles customers across Australia have been receiving $100 gifts cards and bonus FlyBuys points as the supermarket rewards its most loyal customers

Social media has been flooded with happy customers sharing their unexpected gift cards and bonus FlyBuys points

The posts drew in hundreds of excited comments with people sharing the surprise rewards they had been sent while others said they were eagerly awaiting to see if they got anything as well.

'I got a 10,000 point bonus the other week, which was awesome, email was worded exactly as that letter,' a mum shared.

'Congrats, that's amazing. It will help heaps with the cost of groceries at the moment. I think everyone got one except me. I'm seeing these all over Facebook today,' another wrote.

Coles confirmed it is rewarding its most loyal FlyBuys members but it's not just vouchers being given away but bonus points as well.

For ten customers, a whopping one million FlyBuys bonus points will be applied when they scan their card at the checkout.

Shopper Julie Sandstrom hit the jackpot at her local Coles in Penrith receiving the 1million points which is equivalent to $5,000 for her to spend in store.

Julie Sandstrom was one of ten lucky customers who was given 1million bonus FlyBuys points at her local Penrith Coles which is equivalent to $5,000 for her to spend in store

Others may find an email in their inbox saying they have won an extra 10,000 FlyBuys points which will be activated at the checkout at their next shop, equal to $50 dollars that can be redeemed in store.

Coles Chief marketing officer Lisa Ronson said the gifts are a token of appreciation for those shoppers who have stuck with the retail giant and that there more surprises in store throughout the year.

'We are saying thank-you to our loyal Flybuys members for their continuous support to our team, our suppliers and community partners over the years,' she said.
An Australian woman living in the US has told of how the country's high-sugar food altered her tastes so much she had to sweeten meals when she visited home.

Lili Currie, who is living in Los Angeles, said she needed to add sugar to her food during a visit back to Australia because she was so accustomed to sweet American products.

In a viral TikTok video, the actor and writer said she bought a familiar cereal she ate In Australia from a convenience store during a previous trip to New York but 'nearly threw up' because of how much sweeter it was.

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Lili Currie (pictured), an Australian living in the US, has told of how she had to add sugar to her food when visiting home because she was so accustom to the high-sugar content of groceries in America

'I text my mum to check the pantry, send me a photo of the box I usually eat - same brand, same packaging, same size, everything's the same,' she said in the clip.

'Double the sugar and then 30 more ingredients that I couldn't pronounce that just weren't on the one back home.'

Lili said she became so accustom to the high-sugar content of her favourite Aussie cereal in the US she had to sweeten it up when she returned home.

'I went back home after this trip and I had to add sugar and it still wasn't sweet enough,' she said.

The expat went on to say she was shocked at how expensive fresh produce is in the US compared to Australia and recalled a time she tried to search for cough lollies that didn't contain an ingredient banned and restricted in many countries.

'Last time I was sick I went to six different pharmacies to find cough lollies without red dye 40 in it which is illegal in Australia, illegal in the UK, illegal throughout Europe,' she explained.

'I couldn't find one which is meant for sick people, this is sick people medicine.'

The expat said she was shocked at how expensive fresh produce is in the US and recalled a time she tried to find cough lozenges that didn't have an ingredient banned in many countries

Lili's video quickly racked up more than 1.9million views and hundreds of comments from viewers all over the globe.

'There's sugar in EVERYTHING especially corn syrup. It's in places it has no business like bread??,' one follower wrote.

'Other countries ban a lot of US products because they don't meet foreign standards. Don't start me on cheap fast food!' a second claimed.

'So truth. I really miss the food of Brazil. You can buy a month of vegetables with the same money of one Big Mac meal. Even the water in the US is bad,' a third responded.

'Idk when you last went to an Australian supermarket but fruit and veg is NOT cheap anymore, it's so expensive,' an Aussie pointed out.

Many Americans in the comments said travelling overseas made them realise how unhealthy US food can be.

'When I travelled to Switzerland my eczema cleared up and I felt healthier until I came back to the States,' one person reported.

'Bro I lived in Australia for six months AND YEAH I NOTICED BUT IN REVERSE. I was on the Gold Coast,' another said.

'I visited the Netherlands and when I came home to the US I couldn't stomach anything I used to eat all the time & didn't understand why at the time,' replied a third.
The young Aussie founder behind the globally popular wearable hooded blanket 'The Oodie' has turned over more than $400million since launching his brand four years ago at just 23.

Davie Fogarty, from Adelaide, South Australia, said he dreamed of starting his own business from a young age - even selling biscuits to teachers and students at school to make some extra cash.

The university marketing drop-out said he launched his global business with his last $500.

Now, at just 27, he owns 10 brands - including Calming Blankets and pet care brand Pupnaps, which are all part of his company Davie Group.

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Davie Fogarty (pictured) founded 'The Oodie' in 2018 and owns nine additional brands

The brand launched in 2018 but increased in sales in 2020 when Covid swept Australia, forcing millions into their homes during ongoing lockdowns

From a young age, Davie Fogarty, from Adelaide, South Australia, dreamed of starting his own business and would sell cookies to teachers and students at school to make some extra cash

The brand launched four years ago but sales exploded in 2020 when Covid swept Australia, leaving millions working, playing and languishing at home during lockdowns.

The instant nation of homebodies meant Australians were spending more money on cosy outfits to wear around the house; The Oodie is a cosy, wearable blanket with a warm sherpa fleece interior and 'kangaroo pouch' front pocket.

On TikTok Mr Fogarty shared a video after feeling humbled by his incredible success.

The Oodie is a cosy, wearable blanket with a warm sherpa fleece interior and front kangaroo pocket (pictured)

'Money comes back, but I'll never be 23 and growing Australia's biggest oversized wearable blanket business,' he wrote.

He's also known for sharing business tips, how to source 'winning' products and what he'd do differently if he could do it all again.

In a separate video Mr Fogarty said he'd change his approach and 'general mindset' about both life and business.

'I was so hell bent on becoming successful and making as much money as possible, and not only missed a lot of opportunities, but I probably wasn't as happy or enjoyed life as much as I could have,' he said.

'If I could change one thing, it would be my mentality around that and just trying to find peace rather than trying to be something I didn't need to be.'

In a separate video Mr Fogarty said he'd change his approach and 'general mindset' about both life and business. He told FEMAIL the brand has turned over more than $400million to date (pictured, a spreadsheet from last year)

But his first few business attempts weren't a success.

He started with an iPhone case brand, tried his hand at personal training, before attempting a seasoning business. There was even a Vietnamese bread roll shop.

He finally landed on 'The Oodie', the wearable blanket brand that cashed in on Covid-19 lockdowns across the globe.

Mr Fogarty's first brush with success came with the 2018 launch of his Calming Blanket franchise, which is a tool to ease anxiety.

He then developed the idea to create a wearable blanket, using social media marketing to give the Oodie traction.

'I think most successful people in business have a fear of failure,' he previously told FEMAIL.

Mr Fogarty's first product, Calming Blankets, a line of weighted blankets designed to reduce stress and improve sleep, was launched in 2018 several months before The Oodie

'Every failure or mistake can be used as a learning experience to improve upon and find success down the track,' he said about his strings of hits and misses.

'By not becoming blinded by hubris, you will not overextend and take on unjustified risks.

'When I first started, I was really strategic and had learnt from the mistakes I made in previous business ventures that had ultimately failed.

'We're also exploring new markets, such as Japan.'

Mr Fogarty didn't study business at university and left a marketing and mining engineering degree during his first year

His first product, Calming Blankets, a line of weighted blankets designed to reduce stress and improve sleep, was launched in 2018 several months before The Oodie.

Other brands including Pupnaps, a range of calming beds for pets, generated more than $1million in revenue in its seventh month,

He also founded Australian Furniture Warehouse with his parents, which sells furniture through warehouse sales.

Mr Fogarty didn't study business at university and left a marketing and mining engineering degree during his first year.

But he does have experience launching different brands and working for companies to grow their social media presence.

'I started out growth-hacking Instagram accounts after I finished high school and grew Instagram accounts for different businesses to around 600,000 followers,' he said.

More than 20,000 Victorians purchased Oodies that month before sales increased to 85,000 by the end of October

Davie's top business secrets to success: 1. Have a product idea that solves a problem 2. Have strong digital marketing skills and developing creative video content 3. Plan a pre-sale strategy 4. Take every opportunity to learn and build your skills 5. Stay on top of trends Advertisement

'From there, I discovered my interest in marketing and social media and taught myself the algorithms and systems behind major social media platforms.

'My motivation is always learning and solving complex problems - eCommerce is a fast emerging industry and you need to constantly be learning to stay ahead.'

Mr Fogarty said with Covid lockdowns and restrictions forcing Australians into their homes, customers turned to The Oodie as a source of comfort during the difficult time.

'Loungewear in particular has grown in popularity since the pandemic and we found there was a strong appetite for Oodies and other items over the last 18 months,' he said.

Sales of The Oodie spiked in Victoria in July 2020 during the prolonged lockdown.

More than 20,000 Victorians purchased Oodies that month before sales increased to 85,000 by the end of October.


Interest in abortion medication surged after a May leak that the U.S. Supreme Court was likely to overturn Roe v Wade, a decision which gave constitutional protections to abortion in America.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) found that Google searches for the term 'abortion pill' and for specific names of the drugs reached record levels in the days following the revelation the case would be overturned.

In the three days after the decision leaked searches jumped by a total of 162 percent.

The unprecedented leaking of the Supreme Court's decision in early May sent shockwaves across the country, shaking the legal and political world. With many states already having 'trigger laws' on the books that would go into effect upon the decision, many scrambled to access the drugs while they still could.

Last week, the official decision from the court was revealed, opening the door for more than half of U.S. states to ban or restrict access to an abortion.

Online inquiries for abortion medication reached record levels after the Supreme Court's Roe decision leaked in May

The 72 hour period directly after the Politico article dropped saw a massive surge in searches in particular

On May 2, Politico revealed the bombshell report that America's highest court was planning on overturning the the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion rights in the U.S.

The leaking of a Supreme Court decision - which justices later confirmed was legitimate - is unprecedented. Experts could not recall any similar example occurring in the court's history.

Researchers, who published their findings Wednesday in JAMA Internal Medicine, gathered Google search data from January 2004 to May 8, 2002 - six days after the leak - for the study.

They found that searches like 'abortion pill' and others directly related to the drugs like 'how to get misoprostol,' 'order abortion pills' or 'buy mifepristone' surged to record levels.

In state's with more restrictive rules, like those that have 'trigger laws' in place that either banned or heavily restricted abortion immediately upon Roe's overturning the number of queries was even higher.

At home abortion pills are easy to use and require little medical supervision. Experts are still fearful of people circumventing do

'In states with restrictive reproductive rights and where abortion will likely become criminalized, women appear more likely to search for abortion medications in the wake of the SCOTUS leak,' Dr Adam Poliak, a professor from Bryn Mawr College in the Philadelphia area who took part in the research, said.

'Although abortion medications require a prescription, women may be attempting to stockpile medication or hazardous black-market options in anticipation of curtailed access.'

Researchers believe this is partially because of some inherent shame or embarrassment some women have over inquiring about abortion.

'Discussing abortion openly is not something many are eager to do,' said Dr Eric Leas, a professor at UCSD who took part in the research.

'But searching online is anonymous. By examining aggregate internet searches, decision makers can understand the needs of the public based on the content and timing of their queries.'

The research team warns that this data should also serve as a warning call for health officials as well.

Many fear that many women in states where the procedure is banned, and can not afford to travel out-of-state to receive it, will resort to dangerous at-home abortions.

While it is much safer now than it was before Roe to perform an abortion at home because of these widely available medications, there are still some risks to circumventing a doctor when making medical decisions.

'Failure to meet the needs of online searchers may result in more unsafe abortion attempts,' Dr Steffanie Strathdee, a distinguished professor at UCSD and study co-author, said.

'Already 7 percent of women of reproductive age have attempted a self-managed abortion in their lifetimes and that figure could be on the rise following the SCOTUS decision.'

Planned Parenthood warns that using the pills can lead to heavy vaginal bleeding, blood clots, severe cramps and fever.

In these cases, women are advised to seek out medical attention. If a woman fears that she will get in trouble for illegally using abortion medication she may not do so, though.

'Elevated interest in abortion medications should alert physicians that many of their patients may ultimately pursue abortions with or without them,' Dr Davy Smith, a physician at UCSD and study co-author, said.
Sajid Javid has promised to reverse gender-neutral language in NHS advice after MailOnline revealed the term 'women' was being quietly erased by health chiefs.

Yesterday, this website exposed how 'women' and 'woman' had been scrubbed from online guidance about the menopause, which is unique to biological females.

MailOnline revealed last month that advice for womb cancer had been de-gendered, and terms like breastfeeding were being pulled from guidance for new mothers.

In a tweet last night referencing MailOnline's menopause story, Mr Javid said 'language matters'.

The Health Secretary added: 'I have made clear that the word "woman" should not be removed from key womens health pages.

'I have been assured that the changes highlighted below, as well as others, are being reversed.'

Health chiefs told MailOnline the decision to remove women from online guidance was to be 'inclusive', and had not been a mistake.

Experts have warned de-gendering medical advice could be dangerous for women by over-complicating vital health messaging.

Sajid Javid has promised to reverse gender neutral language in NHS advice after MailOnline revealed the term 'women' had been quietly erased from menopause advice

A spokesperson for NHS Digital, which is responsible for the online webpages, told MailOnline: 'The NHS website provides information for everyone.

'We keep the pages under continual review to ensure they use language that is inclusive, respectful and relevant to the people reading it.'

In its online overview about the menopause, NHS advice used to contain six references to women or a woman.

Say women not people with ovaries, Sajid Javid orders NHS Sajid Javid said he is prepared to wage war against gender-free language after he demanded the NHS stop dropping the word 'women' from its online health advice. The minister has repeatedly said he does not agree with the health service removing the word from its ovarian cancer guidance webpage. 'Women' does not appear in the overview of the disease on the NHS.uk website, instead being replaced with the ambiguous and gender-neutral term 'anyone'. The word first appears on the third page of the ovarian cancer section of the website. 'Anyone with ovaries can get ovarian cancer. This includes women, trans men, non-binary people and intersex people with ovaries,' it states. NHS Digital bosses have been warned future changes to gendered language must be rubber-stamped by officials at Mr Javid's Department of Health. The Health Secretary previously told Sky News 'common sense and the right language' should be used to 'give people the best possible patient care'. Advertisement

But it was updated on May 17 to remove the terms. The first mention of 'women' in the new version is on the third page, in a section about drugs to treat the condition.

The menopause describes changes that occur when a woman stops having periods and is no longer able to get pregnant naturally.

Hormonal changes that happen during the menopause can cause a wide range of debilitating symptoms, including depression, brain fog and hot flushes.

Rising awareness about the condition means an increasing number of women are coming forward for advice or medication.

The NHS webpage on menopause used to describe the condition as 'when a woman stops having periods and is no longer able to get pregnant naturally'.

But the new, gender-neutral description says: 'Menopause is when your periods stop due to lower hormone levels'.

The old advice also highlighted that menopause usually occurs in women between the ages of 45 and 55, but about one in 100 women experience it before 40.

But none of this information is included in the overview section of the updated webpage.

Dr Karleen Gribble, an expert in nursing and midwifery from Western Sydney University in Australia who has previously spoken about the dangers of gender-free medical language, slammed the changes.

'The risk of de-sexing this information remains that women who have low English or health literacy may not know that the information applies to them,' she said.

'That first sentence of the older version "The menopause is when a woman stops having periods and is no longer able to get pregnant naturally" is really important in signposting to women that they should read further.'

She added the new version of the page violates a 'basic principle' of health communication that identifies who the information is for.

'The fact that some women might have low literacy and not know basic terms is shown by the fact that they included a link to a definition of what periods are in the earlier version,' she said.

'In desexing the page they have removed the links to further information.'

Dr Gribble called for greater transparency from the NHS on who was approving these changes and when.

Mr Javid last month publicly condemned the NHS for removing women from its advice about ovarian, womb and cervix cancers, saying he doesn't 'think it's right'.

The term was missing from the landing pages of three sections explaining cancers only found in biological women.
Midwives have today denounced claims they 'assign' the sex of children at birth in the latest row on woke language in the NHS.

The wording came from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in an 'inclusivity' statement.

Their document said: 'We recognise maternity and gynaecological services will be accessed by women, gender diverse individuals and people whose gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.'

But some midwives hit back at the colleges, arguing that they merely 'observe' the reality of a baby's sex at birth  as opposed to deciding it themselves.

Jo Gould, a midwife in Sussex, said she was 'ashamed' of her representative body and that the statement was 'nonsense' and 'offensive'.

'When the RCM start using the language of gender ideology and not biological fact, how can the public have faith in you?,' she said.

'It is offensive to your members, who do not "assign sex at birth".

'I am a member and I am ashamed to be represented by the RCM when I read this absolute nonsense.'

A statement on inclusivity from the Royal College of Midwives and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has provoked outrage from some midwives on social media for using the term 'sex assigned at birth'

One midwife, Jo Gould from Sussex, said saying midwives 'assigned' the sex of babies at birth was 'offensive' to the profession

Another midwife, Kate Yardley from Devon, said while she believed everyone accessing maternity services should be treated with dignity and respect the college's statement was 'disappointing'

Parents can learn the sex of their baby during the 20-week pregnancy scan, which is used to check the foetus's development (stock image)

Sajid Javid promises to 'REVERSE' gender-neutral language from NHS advice after MailOnline revelations Sajid Javid has promised to reverse gender-neutral language in NHS advice after MailOnline revealed the term 'women' was being quietly erased by health chiefs. Yesterday, this website exposed how 'women' and 'woman' had been scrubbed from online guidance about the menopause, which is unique to biological females. MailOnline revealed last month that advice for womb cancer had been de-gendered, and terms like breastfeeding were being pulled from guidance for new mothers. In a tweet last night referencing MailOnline's menopause story, Mr Javid said 'language matters'. The Health Secretary added: 'I have made clear that the word "woman" should not be removed from key womens health pages. 'I have been assured that the changes highlighted below, as well as others, are being reversed.' Health chiefs told MailOnline the decision to remove women from online guidance was to be 'inclusive', and had not been a mistake. Experts have warned de-gendering medical advice could be dangerous for women by over-complicating vital health messaging. Advertisement

Other experienced midwives also criticised the idea that they 'assign' a baby's sex.

Lucy, who claims to be an ex-midwife in Scotland, said mothers and children would be put at risk by prioritising gender 'ideology' over biology.

'In all my 40 years as a midwife I never assigned a babys sex at birth,' she said.

'Placing ideology over biological fact will put woman and babies at risk.'

Another registered midwife, Kate Yardley from Devon, said that anyone accessing maternity services needed to be treated with dignity and respect.

But she added: 'I am very disappointed to see both royal colleges stating that sex is "assigned" at birth when as health professionals, we know that sex is observed and recorded at birth.'

Another Twitter user who claimed to be a midwife of 23 years said: 'I can assure you, I have never assigned a sex at birth, it is observed and immutable.'

Best-selling author and avowed feminist Milli Hill simply said: 'Sex is not "assigned at birth".'

The RCM is a union and professional organisation for midwives, with membership fees running up to 272.77 a year.

'Sex assigned at birth' is a term used by the trans community and people with gender dysphoria to reference how they were labelled as being either a boy or a girl at birth.

This 'assigned sex' is often held in contrast to how a trans person or individual with gender dysphoria identifies later in life.

Parents can learn the sex of their baby during the 20-week pregnancy scan, which is used to check the foetus's development.

However, the NHS adds this is not always 100 per cent accurate as it can sometimes be difficult to determine a baby's sex if they are in a 'awkward' position.

Some hospitals also have a policy of not telling parents the baby's sex at this scan.

The RCM/RCOG statement also says they will 'aim' to not erase women from their communications.

Lucy, a retired midwife from Scotland, said in a career spanning 40 years she had never 'assigned' a baby their sex

Another midwife on Twitter, Murt Turt, also said she had never assigned a baby a sex

'In our language we will aim to add and not take away, taking into account the importance of preserving women-centred language as well as including language for those who do not identify as a woman,' it says.

The RCM was forced to apologise in December after excluding the words 'women' and 'mother' in favour of 'postnatal people' in guidance for handling sleeping babies.

The now deleted document stated: 'Postnatal people in hospital should have easy access to the call bell system, be shown how to use it and ensure it's working - they should be provided with a bed-side cot for the baby to use while in hospital.'

This prompted backlash on social media, with several feminist commentators accusing the college of trying to 'erase' women.

There has been growing concern that the terms 'women' and 'woman' are being scrubbed from health communications.

Yesterday MailOnline revealed how the NHS had quietly erased mention of women from its online guidance about the menopause, which is unique to biological females.

This prompted Health Secretary Sajid Javid to promise last night to reverse gender-neutral language in the NHS.

The latest maternity gender language controversy comes just two months after it was revealed that midwifery students at a Scottish university were taught biological men could get pregnant and trans men could give birth even if they have a penis.

MailOnline revealed the 9,000-a-year undergraduate course at Edinburgh Napier University included a woke module on caring for 'birthing people'.

In a coursebook that has since been revised, trainee midwives were given detailed instructions on how to treat a male-to-female trans person during childbirth.

An RCM spokesperson told the MailOnline the term 'sex assigned at birth was used correctly in the royal colleges' joint statement.

'The term sex assigned at birth is the UK governments Office for National Statistics (ONS) legal terminology for the sex which is observed at birth and then recorded on the birth certificate (and then sometimes reassigned) used by the NHS and other health organisations.'
Britain's doctors have slammed their own union, the British Medical Association, for being sexist and racist.

At their yearly meeting in Brighton yesterday, members passed a motion that it was union was 'failing to value and support female members and members from minority groups including BAME, IMG (international medical graduates) and locum doctors'.

Medics also told the BMA to produce an annual reporting demonstrating how it was working to address discrimination towards women and minority doctors.

The vote came as leaked internal emails revealed the union's first female GP leader, Dr Farah Jameel, was described as 'naughty' and 'petulant'.

She became the first woman to chair the BMA's 100-year-old GP-specific committee when she was elected last November.

But Dr Jameel was forced to take a leave of absence in March, partly because of the committee's toxic culture.

In emails leaked to a trade magazine, she said she had been subjected to repeated 'micro-aggressions' from other BMA figures including being excluded from meetings and referred to as 'naughty' and 'petulant'.

In damming vote doctors have condemned the British Medical Association's inaction on sexism and discrimination within its ranks. The union has been hit by fresh allegations of sexist behaviour over treatment towards the union's first female leader of it GP committee, Dr Farah Jameel.

GPs vote for industrial action over NHS contract forcing them to see patients on Saturdays and weekday evenings GPs have voted in favour of taking industrial action over a NHS contract that forces them to offer appointments on Saturdays and up until 8pm on weekdays. Members of the British Medical Association (BMA), who met in Brighton yesterday, asked their union to formally 'organise opposition' to the deal, including 'industrial action if necessary'. Family doctors urged medics to 'channel our inner Mick Lynch', the rail union leader behind last week's disruptive rail strikes which brought the nation to a standstill. While GPs would be unlikely to stop providing urgent care, they could refuse to carry out other routine work or cut their hours. It comes just a day after doctors voted for the BMA to lobby ministers for a huge 30 per cent pay hike in compensation for 'millions' of lost earnings since 2008. Doctors yesterday claimed they were prepared to join 'picket lines' to achieve their demands and admitted that industrial action was 'likely'. Advertisement

The BMA, which said it is already investigating Dr Jameel's treatment, is no stranger to accusations of sexist behaviour.

In 2019, the union published an independent report after two female doctors alleged they had been subjected to sexism and sexual harassments by BMA officials.

The report by Daphne Romney, found the 'toxic' BMA had an 'old boys' club culture' which treated women 'as of less importance and ability'.

Female doctors reported being called 'silly girls' and suffering sexual harassment and bullying, it found.

However, progress in addressing the report's recommendations has been criticised as too slow in the two years since its publication.

In yesterday's debate, medical student Marguerite O'Riordan said: 'The implicit message this level of inaction sends out is that discrimination is an issue but not enough of an issue to actually act on, which is inherently disrespectful.'

Dr Alexandra Freeman, a GP who gave evidence to the Romney investigation, said the systemic sexism within the BMA was akin to 'domestic abuse'.

'I likened this to a situation of domestic abuse, where it is kept hidden behind closed doors and where the victims are made to feel responsible for their own actions,' she said.

In his outgoing speech as BMA Council chair on Monday, Dr Chaand Nagpaul admitted the BMA was not where it needed to be on the issue of sexism.

He said that while changes had been made, only 38 per cent of elected BMA council members were women 'barely an increase' from four years ago, and he also highlighted how no women had stood in the forthcoming council chair elections.

In other BMA news, yesterday GPs voted in favour of taking industrial action over a NHS contract forcing them to offer appointments on Saturdays and up until 8pm on weekdays.

They asked their union to formally 'organise opposition' to the deal, including 'industrial action if necessary'.
On Monday, Rebecca Ruud's trial for the disappearance and death of her autistic daughter, Savannah Leckie, began.

Leckie's corpse was found dismembered and burnt weeks later - the same day Ruud married her boyfriend, Robert Peat Jr., who has also been accused.

Missouri Mom Admits Killing Daughter

It is thought that Ruud burnt the corpse to cover up the murder after she "crushed up pills and placed them in a drink - possibly KoolAid or something similar," according to prosecutor Anthony Brown, who cited women who had been detained with Ruud.

In his opening comments, Brown stated that one of the three women informed him that Ruud acknowledged crushing hydrocodone and drugging Leckie. The defendant believed Savannah was dead and took her corpse to the fire pile to dispose of the evidence, Brown explained, according to The Sun.

Prosecutors said their claims are based in part on testimonies from three women imprisoned with Rudd, who allege the mother described them, unprompted, how she killed her "bratty child" in detail.

Rudd only had Savannah for a few months before reportedly murdering the girl because she wasn't receiving child support payments, which she feared would lead to the loss of her farm, according to authorities. Rudd's counsel maintained that the only factual element of the tale was Rudd burning Savannah's body, as per The Daily Beast.

Read Also: Federal Report Shows Highest Number of US School Shootings in 20 Years

Teen Reported Missing by Mom To Conceal the Crime

Ruud put Leckie for adoption shortly after her birth, and the adolescent grew up as the child of Tamille and David Leckie in Minnesota. Prosecutors claim that the teen's life began to fall apart after the parents divorced. Although Leckie and her biological mother had kept in touch over the years, she had just recently moved in with Ruud.

Yvette Duvall, Ruud's defense attorney, indicated that Leckie moved home with Ruud when she was 15 years old and that the girl seemed to enjoy her time on the farm that Ruud shared with her then-boyfriend (now-husband) Robert Peat Jr. at first.

According to prosecutor Anthony Brown, Leckie was on the autistic spectrum and had been diagnosed with depression and ADHD. Duvall, Ruud's defense counsel, also said the kid had a history of self-harm and had been hospitalized twice for suicide ideation.

Ruud earlier claimed that her daughter's mental status deteriorated when she moved home with her. "She tried to plunge herself into the flames a couple of days before Savannah departed," Ruud said. On July 20, 2017, Ruud reported her daughter missing, telling witnesses that she suspected Leckie had run away from home. Several days of searching followed the report.

However, in a tape Ruud took while meeting with possible legal counsel shortly after Leckie's teeth and bones were discovered on the property, Ruud stated that Leckie overdosed on narcotics on July 19, 2017, and that she then burned her.

According to criminal papers acquired by Oxygen.com, Ruud's now-husband, Peat, was arrested in September 2017 for Leckie's murder. In 2020, it was stated that Peat had become a state cooperating individual after handing over the tape his wife made while speaking with her lawyer.

Peat Jr., is reportedly likely to testify that Ruud and Leckie clashed over the teenager's homework just before Leckie's murder. The trial is anticipated to last through Wednesday, Oxygen.com reported.

Related Article: Chicago Crime: 5-Month-Old Baby Fatally Shot While Sitting in Car After Unidentified Woman Opened Fire

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Over-65s outnumber under-15s in England and Wales for the first time ever, according to the new census that reveals the changing face of Britain.

The population has swelled by 3.5million in the past decade to a record level of nearly 60million, with the East of England seeing the biggest growth, the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday.

There are more older people than ever, with 11.1million now over 65  one in six  equating to around two million more pensioners compared with 2011.

Despite the Covid pandemic hitting the eldest hardest, there has also been a huge rise in the number of people aged 90 or over. There are now more than half a million over-90s, up a quarter in a decade.

It means there are now more pensioners than children for the first time in recorded history, with 10.4million under- 15s. For comparison, there were 9.2million over-65s and 9.9million under-15s a decade ago.

Experts said the increasingly elderly population is the result of falling birth rates  possibly caused by a housing crisis and costly childcare  and people living longer. There are concerns the trend will close schools and push up immigration to fill job vacancies.

Meanwhile, women now outnumber men in almost every part of the country, with just 13 local authorities left where there are more males than females.

The first estimates from the census taken on March 21 last year show, overall, the 'usual resident population' of England was 56,489,800 and 3,107,500 in Wales.

Scotland's census was only taken this year, while Northern Ireland's recent results show its population is around 1,903,100.

The total UK population, taking in the latest estimate of the Scottish population at 5,470,000, is likely to now be approaching 67 million.

The population has swelled by 3.5million in the past decade to a record level of nearly 60million. But the rate of growth has 'decreased slightly', having grown by 7.8 per cent between 2001 and 2011

Although most areas gained residents since 2011, with Tower Hamlets in east London growing by 22.1 per cent, some places saw an exodus, with 9.6 per cent fewer people living in Kensington and Chelsea, west London

There are more older people than ever, with 11.1million now over 65  one in six  equating to around two million more pensioners compared with 2011. Despite the Covid pandemic, there has also been a huge rise in the number of people aged 90 or over. There are now more than half a million over-90s, up a quarter in a decade. It means there are now more pensioners than children for the first time in recorded history, with 10.4million under- 15s. For comparison, there were 9.2million over-65s and 9.9million under-15s a decade ago

Eastern England saw the biggest increase (8.3 per cent), while the North East grew by just 1.9 per cent and Wales 1.4

Ageing Britain

The ONS revealed the population is continuing to age.

There are now 11.1million over-65s, up from 9.2million in 2011 and making up 18.6 per cent of the total, while the number over 90 has risen by 23 per cent from 429,017 to 527,900.

The biggest concentrations of the elderly were found in North Norfolk (33.4 per cent over 65) and Rother in East Sussex (32 per cent), while in East Devon 1.9 per cent were over 90.

There are now 11.1million over-65s, up from 9.2million in 2011 and making up 18.6 per cent of the total, while the number over 90 has risen by 23 per cent from 429,017 to 527,900. The biggest concentrations of the elderly were found in North Norfolk (33.4 per cent over 65) and Rother in East Sussex (32 per cent), while in East Devon 1.9 per cent were over 90

The census also showed that nearly two-thirds of the population in 2021 (38.2 million) was aged 15 to 64. As with the other age groups, there are more people in this age group compared with 2011 (when 37 million people were aged 15 to 64 years)

It means there are now more pensioners than children for the first time in recorded history, with 10.4million under- 15s. For comparison, there were 9.2million over-65s and 9.9million under-15s a decade ago

London has defied the trend as older people moved towards rural and coastal areas.

The area which saw the biggest increase in over-65s was the Derbyshire Dales, from 22.3 per cent of its population in 2011 to 28.2 per cent in 2021.

It was followed by Richmondshire, in North Yorkshire, which saw its share of pensioners increase from 17.5 per cent to 23.3 per cent, and Hambleton, also in North Yorkshire, from 21.6 per cent to 27.3 per cent.

Northumberland also saw the same rise - from 21.6 per cent to 27.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, nationally there were just 3.2million children under the age of four in England and Wales, down 7.6 per cent from 3.5million in 2011.

James Kirkup, of the Social Market Foundation think-tank, said: 'Britain is running out of babies.'

Men, you're outnumbered!

Women made up 51 per cent of the population and men 49. This is similar to a decade ago when the figure was 50.8 per cent.

But while in 2011 there were 26 local authority areas where men outnumbered women, now there are just 13 such places, with the lowest proportion of women in the City of London (44.2 per cent).

Women made up 51 per cent of the population and men 49. This is similar to a decade ago when the figure was 50.8 per cent. But while in 2011 there were 26 local authority areas where men outnumbered women, now there are just 13 such places, with the lowest proportion of women in the City of London (44.2 per cent)

Men also outnumber women in Rutland (51.5 per cent) and Richmondshire (51.1 per cent).

The areas with the largest proportion of women are all in London, headed by Kensington and Chelsea (53.5 per cent), Hammersmith (53.1 per cent) and Camden (52.6 per cent).

Rate of growth is slowing

The population of England and Wales grew by 6.6 per cent since the last census in 2011.

But the rate of growth has 'decreased slightly', having grown by 7.8 per cent between 2001 and 2011 when millions from Eastern Europe took advantage of EU membership to move to the UK.

Between 2011 and 2021, the population of England and Wales grew from 56,075,912 to 59,597,300.

The ONS said that this marks 'the largest population ever recorded through a census' and also shows how 'the trend of population ageing has continued, with more people than ever before in the older age groups'.

Eastern England saw the biggest increase (8.3 per cent), while the North East grew by just 1.9 per cent and Wales 1.4.

Although most areas gained residents since 2011, with Tower Hamlets in east London growing by 22.1 per cent, some places saw an exodus, with 9.6 per cent fewer people living in Kensington and Chelsea, west London.
A man who heard a 'hissing' noise coming from his genitals has become the first person in the world to be diagnosed with 'whistling scrotum'.

The unidentified 72-year-old went to an emergency department in Ohio, complaining about his bizarre malady.

At the same time, he also found himself short of breath and had a swollen face.

Scans eventually revealed his lungs had collapsed and air was building up inside his body  a dangerous and potentially life-threatening condition.

Doctors then discovered the source of the man's scrotal whistling  an open wound on the left side of his scrotum.

The wound, leftover from testicle surgery to reduce swelling five months earlier, was allowing some trapped air to escape.

Medics described the unusual case in the American Journal of Case Reports, saying they believe it to be the first of its kind.

A CT scan of the 72-year-old man's chest. The black arrows point to the man's collapsed lungs where as the white arrows point to air pockets (solid black areas) trapped between the internal space exterior of the lungs and inside the chest wall. Black areas throughout the man's neck shoulders and arms also show air trapped inside the body

This CT scan of the man's lower abdomen shows the amount of air (black areas) inside his thighs and scrotum. Medics who reported the case said an open wound in his scrotum acted as an 'escape route' for the trapped air

Motorbike rider, 48, ruptured his TESTICLE after losing control and ploughing into a wall An American man was left with a ruptured testicle after he lost control of his motorbike and ploughed into a wall. The 48-year-old, from New Jersey, went to hospital later that afternoon after his right testicle became so swollen he couldn't sit down without suffering excruciating pain. He told doctors that most of the impact from the motorbike crash 'was to his scrotal region'. Medics who examined the man's right testicle found it was unusually hard and caused pain when touched. An ultrasound scan found the testicle had ruptured causing blood to pool inside the tissue from the artery that normally fed the reproductive organ. Surgeons managed to save his testicle by inserting a special gel-foam into the ruptured blood vessel, only the third time such a procedure has been performed. Medics from St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson reported the case in a medical journal. Advertisement

An X-ray of the man's chest revealed he had 'excessive' amounts of air floating within his body which had caused his lungs to collapse. Left untreated, this can start to impact the function of the heart and lungs and become life threatening.

The complication was also to blame his shortness of breath and swollen face.

Two plastic tubes were inserted into his chest to help drain the excess air.

He was then transferred to another hospital for further treatment, Dr Brant Bickford and colleagues wrote.

His condition then worsened, with the amount of air trapped between the lungs and the chest wall growing larger. It prompted medics to insert another chest tube.

But after three days in hospital his lungs had recovered. He was then discharged in a stable condition.

However, he still had air trapped in his scrotum and abdomen for another two years, which was described as an 'abnormally long time'. Medics did not explain why this phenomenon occurred.

Doctors were eventually forced to remove both his testicles before the problem was resolved, but it's not clear why this was done.

The medical term for air becoming trapped in the scrotum is pneumoscrotum, a rare condition. Just 60 cases have been described in medical literature.

Many of these were caused by penetrating injuries, which can lead to air becoming trapped.

None of the previously reported cases of pneumoscrotum had included a ready-made route for the air to escape.

Normally this air needs medical intervention to escape as it cannot exit through the body's orifices.

Dr Bickford said it was unclear if this 'escape route' had actually helped improve the man's condition or not.

'Whether the air escape attenuated the patients presentation and led to a more favorable outcome will never be known,' he said.

Yet another unusual aspect of the case was how long it took for the air build-up inside his scrotum, perineum and thighs to resolve.

Medics said the man 'adamantly denied' self-injecting air into his scrotum during his recovery and that nothing in his behaviour over a three year follow-up led them to doubt this.

They also did not reveal when exactly the incident took place.
Sajid Javid today faced backlash over his plans for a digital revolution in the NHS, which could see more patients treated virtually.

The Health Secretary revealed the current NHS App will be upgraded to allow video consultations with GPs and other medics by March 2024.

Ministers insist it will help patients, giving them direct access to a doctor from their pocket as part of the scheme to bring all their health records into one place.

But critics hit out at the move which they claim 'excludes millions' of elderly Britons and demanded 'tough legislation' to ensure in-person services are not silently scaled back over the coming decades.

Experts have repeatedly warned that face-to-face appointments are vital for picking up on subtle signs of illness that can be missed during a virtual consultation.

Mr Javid earlier this month said he plans to have three-quarters of adults in England on the app within the next two years. It has been downloaded around 22million times so far.

He said today: 'We are embarking on a radical programme of modernisation that will make sure the NHS is set up to meet the challenges of 2048  not 1948, when it was first established.'

Ministers and family doctors have repeatedly clashed heads about NHS patients' dire lack of access to face-to-face appointments since Covid began.

Sajid Javid today faced backlash over his plans to do more virtual consultations on the NHS app

Official figures show just 63 per cent of GP consultations were carried out in-person in England in April. At the current rate, it would take until September 2023 to reach the more than 80 per cent of appointments being made in person seen before the pandemic

Salford had the lowest proportion of patients seen in-person with less than half (46 per cent) of appointments made face-to-face. It was followed by Bury (51 per cent), Somerset (53 per cent) and Frimley (53 per cent). Some 79 per cent of appointments in Kirklees were done in person

Mr Javid unveiled plans for a 'digital revolution' in the NHS, which he said will bust the 6.4million and rising Covid backlog and improve patient care.

The plans will create 10,500 new data and tech roles.

One of the plans will see the NHS App  which has been downloaded by 28million Britons  gain new features.

Elderly NHS patients are being given PHONES and tech training so they can be monitored at home in bid to free up 25,000 beds Patients are being prescribed smartphones and given technology training on the NHS in a bid to free up hospital beds. NHS England has set the target of creating an additional 25,000 'beds' by 2024 by expanding the use of 'virtual wards' to treat more people at home. The wards are designed for patients who need care but do not necessarily need to be in hospital. They involve monitoring patients remotely using mobile apps and gadgets that can check oxygen and blood pressure. NHS chiefs said patients on some pilot schemes were already being loaned mobile phones and given lessons to help them become tech-savvy. For people who do not have access to Wi-Fi, trusts are providing them with devices that have access to 4G. Dr Sarah Sibley, who runs virtual wards in Merseyside, claimed one 'barrier' was that many vulnerable people  particularly the elderly  do not have access to the right technology. She added: 'And we work in areas with lots of social deprivation, people don't have access to technological devices or data to be able to upload information.' Tara Donnelly, director of digital care models at NHS England, said other trusts have struck deals with companies like Vodafone to lend patients phones and tablets. Advertisement

Through the app, patients will be able to get messages from their GP, notifications when their prescriptions are ready, manage hospital appointments and even have virtual consultations.

But critics today said the plans may leave vulnerable patients behind.

Dennis Reed, from the patients' rights group Silver Voices, told MailOnline: 'In the rush to digitalisation, older people are being swept to one side, as if their needs do not merit consideration.

'Of all services, the NHS must ensure equal access for all and the reliance on smartphones and apps immediately excludes millions.

'Where are the safeguards for those who do not own smartphones or find it very difficult to work with apps because of dexterity or eyesight problems?

'This is not "digital first", it is "digital only". There should be new tough legislation to prevent digital exclusion.'

The NHS said the Plan for Digital Health and Social Care, which has been given 2billion of taxpayer cash, will make it 'fit for the 21st century', give patients faster access to improved care and save time and money.

Mr Javid's plan also sets out that remote monitoring will increase.

Patients will be given mobile phones and wearable devices that allow doctors to remotely monitor their vital signs on 'virtual wards'.

By March 2024, up to 25,000 people could be treated under the 'hospital at home' scheme at any one time in a major boost to NHS capacity.

It could allow patients to be discharged from hospital sooner or avoid the need for them to be admitted in the first place.

Remote monitoring is already used at a smaller scale, which has freed up hospital beds, saved medics' time and picked up patient problems earlier.

However, the Society for Acute Medicine has previously warned that 'virtual wards' could risk patient safety if they are rolled out too 'hastily' as a knee-jerk reaction to the hospital bed crisis.

Mr Javid said: 'We are embarking on a radical programme of modernisation that will make sure the NHS is set up to meet the challenges of 2048  not 1948, when it was first established.

'This plan builds on our data strategy to revolutionise digital health and care, which will enable patients to manage hospital appointments from the NHS App and take more control of their own care at home, picking up problems sooner and seeking help earlier.

'Ensuring more personalisation and better join up of the system will benefit patients, free up clinician time, and help us to bust the Covid backlogs.'

Morgan Schondelmeier, director of operations at the right-wing think-tank Adam Smith Institute, told MailOnline that the plans to digitise the health service 'provides an important chance to expand care and access in a time of extreme stress on the NHS'.

'But we should be careful not to rely entirely on a system which may not work for all patients,' she said.

However, she noted virtual appointments 'may well be sufficient for many patients' and the ability to treat these patients remotely will free GPs up for 'all-too-important in person appointments, like for screenings or chronic complaints'.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, told MailOnline patients will overall welcome the new NHS strategy.

It could lead to 'better shared decision making and personalised care for patients with streamlined access to their health care', she said.

But she warned that Mr Javid's plans must be rolled out in partnership with patients to ensure it 'does not increase the inequality currently experienced by some patients in accessing high quality care'.
CVS has dropped its restriction on sales of 'morning-after' pills just three days after it was imposed due surging demand in the wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade.

America's biggest pharmacy chain said there was a 'sharp increase' in demand in the minutes after the court decision, prompting it to limit sales to three per woman.

But now demand has 'returned to normal', a spokesman told DailyMaill.com, allowing them to remove the restriction. It had affected Plan B pills, which are sold for $49.99 each, and Aftera products, retailed at $39.99.

Rite Aid still has a sales limit in place, while Walgreens is now expecting another delivery of 'morning-after' pills for delivery in the coming days after reportedly selling out of its online stock over the weekend.

The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade  which gave constitutional protection to abutilon  sparked nationwide panic, leading many to hurriedly stock up on the pills which have a shelf-life of about four years.

One justice has suggested rules on contraception could be re-examined, although at present there is no suggestion that any state will block sales of the 'morning-after' pill.

America's largest pharmacy CVS has removed limits on sales of the 'morning-after' pill after demand for them returned to normal

 Slide me  The limit had affected Plan B pills and Aftera (shown above). Drag the slide to see the change on the website from 'limit 3 per order' to 'limit 99 per order'

Rite Aid is still restricting sales of its 'morning-after' pills after bringing in the limit on Monday

Morning-after pills are a type of emergency contraception reserved for after unprotected sex or as a last resort when other devices  like condoms  have failed.

They are available over the counter, with one pill needing to be taken within 72 hours of intercourse in order to stop a pregnancy.

It works by preventing ovulation or altering the lining of the womb to stop an egg becoming implanted, avoiding a pregnancy. Manufacturer data shows they are about 87 percent effective.

Biden faces calls to set up abortion clinics on federal lands Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are both calling for Democrats to take extreme measures to protect abortion rights after the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, but Vice President Kamala Harris signaled the Biden administration is not considering such action at the moment. Both Warren and Ocasio-Cortez, Democrats from Massachusetts and New York respectively, lobbied for the administration to set up what they called 'emergency abortion clinics' on federal lands. Warren, speaking on ABC's This Week, said Biden should 'make abortion as available as possible with the tools he has, including medication abortion, including using federal lands as a place where abortions can occur.' Ocasio-Cortez echoed these requests at a rally in New York City's Union Square, calling federal abortion clinics 'the babiest of baby steps.' However, when asked about the possibility of doing so, Vice President Harris told CNN's Dana Bash that it was unlikely. Advertisement

'Morning-after' drugs differ from those used for abortion  such as Mifeprex  which require a prescription and involve taking two pills.

Many women may only buy one packet of 'morning-after' pills at a time.

CVS put the limit in place on Saturday, and Rite Aid followed suit on Monday.

But revealing the limit was to be removed, a spokeswoman said: 'Immediately following the Supreme Court decision, we saw a sharp increase in the sale of emergency contraceptives and implemented a temporary purchase limit to ensure equitable access.

'Sales have since returned to normal. We continue to have ample supply of emergency contraceptives to meet customer needs.'

Rite Aid has Plan B pills available for $47.49 each and Option 2 pills for $32.99 for one, and limited their sale on Monday.

Walgreens said yesterday it was still able to meet 'in store demand' and was 'working' to re-stock its online inventory. The pharmacy did not say when it sold out of the pills for home delivery.

It comes after women hurriedly stockpile abortion pills and contraception over fears that access could be banned.

Last week the court's longest serving justice Clarence Thomas warned that they could 'reconsider' rulings on access to contraception suggesting the right to the 'morning-after' pill could also be at risk.

This has sparked panic in many circles, with women now hurrying to restock.

In the days since Roe v Wade was overturned some clinics say their appointments have spiked four-fold since the Roe v Wade ruling.

Planned Parenthood Southeast, in Atlanta, Georgia, also says they have faced a surge in women wanting to know how many pills are available.

But amid the rush many are being urged not to completely 'clear the shelves' of abortion pills to ensure they remain available for women who need them right now.

It is expected that abortion pills will become the focus of many legal battles in the states to outlaw abortion.

So far, 13 states have already imposed new laws, with Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Missouri completely banning abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.

In a statement on its website, Just The Pill, which offers abortion pills via mail delivery, said it is 'undaunted by the Supreme Court decision and will continue to bring care to the people who most need it. We are here for you.

'You can still get care from us in Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Let us know if you need help with travel arrangements and costs.'

Medication abortion is still authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

It requires a woman takes two drugs 24 to 48 hours apart to cause contractions similar to a miscarriage which expels the fetus, causing heavy bleeding.

Medication is less expensive and invasive and the pills can be mailed to your home, meaning it is a common choice for women choosing to carry out an abortion.
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New COVID-19 variants are starting to rise in the United States, with the highly feared BA.4 and BA.5 strains now making up around half of active cases in the nation - according to most recently available sequencing data.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed Tuesday that the strains combine for 52 percent of sequenced cases during the week that ended on June 25 - combining to overtake the previously dominant BA 2.12.1 strain.

Both strains are believed to have originated in South Africa, where the original Omicron strain was first spotted as well. Unlike previous sub-variants of the highly infectious strains, they are believed to be capable of evading natural immunity provided by previous Omicron infection.

This presents a great challenge for health officials, as many that should be safe from infection for months into the future may suddenly get unexpectedly re-infected and spark another surge.

These variants' rise have not made much of an impact on case figures yet, though. Daily infections have increased 10 percent to 109,384 per day, a range it has remained in for the last month. The U.S. is also recorded 398 deaths per day, a 14 percent week-over-week increase.

The BA.5 (dark green) and BA.4 (light green) now combine to make up more than half of active Covid cases in the U.S.

Unlike previous strains of the virus, that have mainly moved east-to-west in the U.S., BA.4 and BA.5 are more prevalent along the west coast than the east coast

The BA.5 variant now makes up 36.6 percent of sequenced cases, according to the CDC, only trailing BA 2.12.1 (42 percent of sequenced cases) as the nation's most prevalent strain. BA.4, which shares many of the same traits as BA.5, makes up 15.7 percent of cases.

Every single sequenced cases in the U.S. is a form of the Omicron variant as the highly infectious strain that emerged in late 2021 has snuffed out other versions of the virus.

The once-dominant BA.2 'stealth' variant now makes up less than six percent of Covid cases in the U.S. The original BA.1 Omicron strain is no longer being detected.

The strains have alarmed health officials after early data from South Africa showed that natural immunity a person has from a previous infection is not as effective against them as it is other strains.

While their rise has not yet impacted national case figures, some experts are warning that more localized outbreaks are on the way.

In New York City, Dr Jay Varma, former public health advisor to Mayor Bill de Blasio, warns that BA.5 could the reason case figures in the nation's largest city are no longer declining.

'The decline of reported [COVID-19] cases in NYC has stopped. Reported cases are at a high plateau, which means actual transmission is very high when you account for the >20x under-counting. This is likely the beginning of a BA.5 wave,' he said in a tweet.

According to CDC data, BA.5 makes up nearly one-in-three cases in the New York and New Jersey region. BA.4 makes up nearly 12 percent of cases while BA 2.12.1 remains dominant.

Unlike usual Covid strains, which take root along the east coast before spreading west over time, these two strains have taken root on the other side of the country first.

BA.5 makes up 36 percent of sequenced cases along the west coast and 38 percent in the Pacific Northwest. It is most prevalent in in the Dust Bowl, where it makes up 41 percent of sequenced cases and the southwest, where it is at 40 percent.

New strains that break the general rules of the pandemic - that once a person is infected they can not catch the virus again for some time - change the calculus of the virus response.

Fearing the new strains, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to roll out newly formulated COVID-19 vaccines that specifically target the Omicron variant.

By a 19-2 vote, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) approved plans to rollout newly formulated vaccines this fall - citing the vaccine resistant traits of the Omicron variant.

All currently available versions of the COVID-19 vaccines are formulated to the original Wuhan strain that emerged two years ago.

While they are still effective at preventing severe infection or death in a majority of cases, the Omicron variant has mutated in a way to avoid front end protection from infection.

This change allows for both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to begin distribution of newly formulated shots that should be able to prevent infection from the Omicron variant - along with previous versions of the virus.

The FDA is expected to follow the lead of its advisors and issue emergency use authorization to the new jabs at some point this week.

After the FDA, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will also likely authorize the shots.

Dr Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the FDA's top regulatory body for vaccines, said Tuesday morning he hoped to make the new shots available as early as this October.
Only half of NHS patients regularly get to see the same GP  even though it's better for their health, it emerged today.

Queen Mary University of London experts looked at appointments given to 1million adults registered at 126 GP practices in east London.

Just 52 per cent frequently saw the same family doctor, results showed.

Dr Sally Hull, the study's author, said: 'Continuity of care leads to better outcomes, particularly for elderly patients and those with complex needs.

'It should be measured routinely as a marker of practice quality.'

It comes as the UK's top GP today warned dropping levels of continuity of care pose an 'existential threat' to patient safety.

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, told a GP conference in London that trusted relationships between family doctors and patients are the most 'powerful intervention' for delivering better care.

It comes as the UK's top GP today warned dropping levels of continuity of care pose an 'existential threat' to patient safety. Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, told a conference in London that trusted relationships between GPs and patients are the most 'powerful intervention' for delivering better care (pictured)

Patients who see the same clinician for the majority of their care have fewer hospital admissions and lower mortality rates, studies show.

They are also more likely to trust their doctor, follow medical advice and take action to improve their health.

Despite this, continuity of care is not measured or incentivised by ministers.

But doctors say it is declining due to the ever-growing practice list sizes, an increase in part-time GPs, recruitment difficulties and prioritisation of seeing patients quickly.

To calculate how many patients regularly saw the same doctor, researchers looked at patients who had three or more appointments between January 2017 and December 2018 in practices in Tower Hamlets, City and Hackney and Newham.

The data was taken from the annual General Practice Patient Survey, used for over a decade to gain patient feedback.

Queen Mary University of London experts looked at appointments given to 1million adults registered at 126 GP practices in East London in 2017 and 2018. They found that just 52 per cent regularly saw the same family doctor. Older patients were most likely to have continuity of care while those at larger practices were less likely. Pictured: graph shows the rate of GP appointments with the same doctor in relation to how big the GP practice is (horizontal axis)

Sajid Javid's digital NHS revolution could make it HARDER 'for millions' to see a doctor in person, critics warn amid plan to do video consults from mobile app Sajid Javid today faced backlash over his plans for a digital revolution in the NHS , which could see more patients treated virtually. The Health Secretary revealed the current NHS App will be upgraded to allow video consultations with GPs and other medics by March 2024. Ministers insist it will help patients, giving them direct access to a doctor from their pocket as part of the scheme to bring all their health records into one place. But critics hit out at the move which they claim 'excludes millions' of elderly Britons and demanded 'tough legislation' to ensure in-person services are not silently scaled back over the coming decades. Experts have repeatedly warned that face-to-face appointments are vital for picking up on subtle signs of illness that can be missed during a virtual consultation. Mr Javid earlier this month said he plans to have three-quarters of adults in England on the app within the next two years. It has been downloaded around 22million times so far. He said today: 'We are embarking on a radical programme of modernisation that will make sure the NHS is set up to meet the challenges of 2048  not 1948, when it was first established.' Ministers and family doctors have repeatedly clashed heads about NHS patients' dire lack of access to face-to-face appointments since Covid began. Advertisement

Respondents were asked about how often they saw or spoke to their preferred GP, in the study published in the British Journal of General Practice.

Smaller GP practices, classified as those with fewer than 5,000 patients, were more likely to provide continuity of care. Elderly patients were also more likely to see their desired doctor.

The team said their findings show it is possible to measure continuity rates across all practices. They said regular reviews of the rates can be used to help practices boost their performance.

However, they noted that just a third of the population in the three boroughs were on the register for long enough to be included in the study.

Remote consultations  which make up four in 10 appointments  were not included in the study.

The researchers wrote: 'Remote consultations have brought convenience and speed of access for some, but may provide less personal, more transactional care.

'While this is satisfactory for many problems, those with complexity and multi-morbidity benefit from relationship-based care.'

Dr Hull added: 'We hope the Health and Social Care Committee will consider this in their current inquiry into the future of general practice.'

The inquiry is examining the key challenges facing general practice over the next five years and the biggest barriers to GPs.

The committee, headed by former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, announced in May that it is examining the benefits of continuity of care.

Mr Hunt previously called for patients to see the same doctor for all appointments, rather than whichever practice medic was available.

One study in Norway found those who consistently see the same doctor for 15 years are 30 per cent less likely to go to hospital and 25 per cent less at risk of dying early, than those who see different doctors.

Speaking at an event in March, Mr Hunt said: 'That is because it is fundamentally safer to make a diagnosis if you know a patient's context, you know their family, their social situation.

'You're more likely to see those red flags when you should.'

It comes as Professor Marshall, head of the RCGP, today said at the college's annual conference in London that continuity of care needs to be boosted.

He told of one of his patients, Mohammed, a man in his forties who lives in east London, who he has treated for eight years.

The GP said he 'failed miserably' at bringing the-father-of-two's type two diabetes under control until he found out more about his circumstances  that he didn't have a kitchen and could only afford to eat at his local fried chicken shop.

Professor Marshall said worked with the local council to get him rehoused, found him a job, referred him to a gym and signed him up to cooking classes. The patient was then able to control his diabetes.

He called for longer appointments so GPs can know their patients better, for policies to ensure that doctors can provide continuity of care and for more research into the impact of remote consultations on patient care.

Professor Marshall said: 'Most GPs are working well beyond their capacity to deliver person-centred care and their relationships with their patients are suffering as a consequence.

'We need to be seeing fewer patients for longer if we are to realise the benefits of continuity of care.

'At a time when workload is going up and the size of the GP workforce is reducing, as it is in the UK, this may require a redesign of how we work, with a shift from GP-as-all-things-to-all-people to a more focused approach, where we add value as members of a wider professional team  and continuity of care is one of those areas.'

GP consultations are currently the second shortest in Europe, with an average of three problems presented in a standard 10-minute consultation.
Making head or tail of the Governments manufacturing strategy is quite hard. In a flurry of decision-making, it has come out fighting in defence of jobs, capacity and the public interest in the steel industry.

But at the same time it is giving the provisional green light to deals involving national security in the middle of a war against a ruthless enemy in Europe.

Previously neutral states, including Sweden and Finland, are knocking on the door of Nato, and defence budgets are being ratcheted up.

Going cheap: The government has given the green light to private equity ghouls Advent to take over Ultra Electronics and it is set to allow Meggitt to fall into the hands of Parker Hannifin

So what is the UK doing?

It has backed private equity ghoul Advents takeover of the masters of submarine detection, Ultra Electronics.

And it is ready to allow aerospace engineer Meggitt to fall into the hands of US competitor Parker Hannifin.

For good measure, the UKs world-leading satellite specialist Inmarsat is warming up to be swallowed by US rival Viasat.

Even if the national security risks of these deals are put to one side, the commercial downside for Britain is manifold.

Intellectual property will fall into overseas hands, the supply chain for the UKs advanced defence industries weakened, the corporate tax base enfeebled and headquarters services undermined.

The London Stock Exchanges status will be diminished. So what is the thought process guiding the Government?

In the case of steel, it is ready to intervene whatever the economic and political costs.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng made no secret of his determination to support production in the UK  standing by to rescue companies within the Liberty Steel group should they fall into insolvency.

And he has indicated that the Government will provide direct energy subsidies to steelmakers should the surging cost threaten their existence. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is gung-ho about keeping out cheap overseas imports which might undermine jobs in Yorkshire, Humberside and South Wales.

So much so, that the UK is willing to join the long list of World Trade Organisation sinners who run rings around global commerce rules. It was the retention of punitive tariffs which finally led ethics adviser Lord Geidt to resign from Downing Street, saying he had been put in an odious position.

The contrast between the willingness to run roughshod over trade rules to preserve the steel industry and the pusillanimous approach to takeovers of firms vital to the UKs security could not be starker.

Kwarteng is making the would-be buyers of Ultra, Meggitt and Inmarsat climb through many hoops. Rather than imposing detailed conditionality, simply blocking the deals would make more sense.

He may be determined to show Britain is open to business and foreign investment. But we know how well that worked out when Arm Holdings was sold to SoftBank.

The UK is engaged in an act of self-harm.

Boycott foiled

Who would have thought posh ice cream could become a hot geopolitical issue?

The attempt by the Vermont-based board of Ben & Jerrys to ban sales of its product in Israel because of availability on the West Bank has been thwarted.

Unilever has sold the brand in Israel to Avi Zinger, owner of American Quality Products, its locally-based licensee.

The product will remain the same but marketed under its Hebrew and Arabic names in Israel and the West Bank.

Now that Unilever is no longer the owner of Ben & Jerrys in the Holy Land, the Vermont board is deprived of a say.

Unilever makes clear it has no truck with anti-Semitism or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

It will continue to work in Israel where it employs 2,000 people.

As it refocuses on healthier living, could this be a signal about the future place of its booming ice cream brands? Only asking.

Lucky winners

Some 24 hours after Camelot sought to convince the world that it was robbed of the National Lottery by the Gambling Commission, the courts have come down firmly in favour of challenger Allwyn.

That paves the way for the Czech operator to begin the technological challenge of modernising or reconfiguring 44,000 terminals across the land as well as digital infrastructure.

Good causes should not be made to wait.
Kwasi Kwarteng faced a mounting backlash after he cleared the way for the second foreign takeover of a British defence firm in a week.

The Business Secretary said he was minded to accept the 6.3billion acquisition of Coventry-based Meggitt by US industrial conglomerate Parker Hannifin.

The move came less than a week after he supported the 2.6billion takeover of Ultra Electronics by US private equity group Advent International, which also bought Cobham in 2020 for 4billion.

Defence deal: Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he was minded to accept the 6.3bn acquisition of Coventry-based Meggitt by US industrial conglomerate Parker Hannifin

The prospect of another UK defence firm falling into the hands of an overseas buyer drew a swift backlash from Conservatives concerned such sales will jeopardise national security.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said he was utterly against the Meggitt takeover.

Meggitt, which has 9,000 staff, including 2,300 in the UK, makes parts for RAF fighter jets including the Typhoon and F-35 as well as for passenger aircraft made by Boeing and Airbus. Rival Ultra makes parts for nuclear submarines and kit to hunt submarines.

The sale of a third strategically important UK firm  satellite maker Inmarsat  also looks set to be approved.

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, a defence secretary under Margaret Thatcher, fumed: No other country in the world of which Im aware allows its technology base to be taken over by foreign companies.

Labour shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Government needed to secure assurances on protecting British jobs, technology and future investment in the UK.

He added: Yet again we are seeing great British firms being sold to overseas buyers, raising questions about our long-term resilience and strategic capabilities. We need an industrial strategy that promotes and protects our fantastic defence industries.

Viasat board shake up The US buyer of Inmarsat has reshuffled its team as it closes in on the 5.6billion takeover. Satellite firm Viasat has shifted its chief executive Rick Baldridge to a new vice-chairman role, to focus on the remaining steps to closing the Inmarsat acquisition. Viasat is awaiting for approval for the deal from regulators around the world including Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who is reviewing it under the National Security and Investment Act. Kwarteng has faced pressure to block the deal amid fears strategic industries are being hollowed out. Inmarsat is Britains leading satellite firm and considered a strategic asset.

Kwartengs tentative approval of the Meggitt deal came after Parker Hannifin offered to honour existing contracts with the Ministry of Defence as well as ensuring most of the companys board were UK-based and that some of its military technology would be kept in Britain.

But these are unlikely to assuage concerns the Government is overseeing the hollowing out of the UK defence industry.

After last weeks decision to back the takeover of Ultra, Tory MP Bob Seely, a member of the foreign affairs select committee, said a balance was needed between being an attractive and open economy on one hand, and protecting intellectual property, our industrial base and sensitive defence firms on the other.

He said he was not sure the UK had the balance quite right yet. Kwarteng is under pressure to block the takeover of satellite company Inmarsat by US-based Viasat after shareholders backed a 5.6billion buyout this year.

Criticism about the purchase of British defence firms by foreign buyers has grown following the 4billion swoop on Blackburn-based Cobham by Advent in 2020, a move which led to a break-up of the historic group.

Fears Ultra could share the same fate rose after it emerged Advent was drawing up plans to break it up if a takeover is signed off.

The Government can block takeovers on national security grounds under the National Security and Investment Act which was enacted this year.
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Britain's oldest school accepted a 'major donation' from a close ally of Vladimir Putin who has now been sanctioned by the UK over the Ukraine war.

A MailOnline investigation found The King's School in Canterbury, Kent - which charges 41,000-a-year for boarding pupils accepted money from a company founded by and run by Dmitry Mazepin, 64.

It is unclear exactly how much cash Russian fertiliser producer Uralchem JSC gave to the school, but it was listed as a 'major benefactor' between 2011 and 2018.

Uralchem manufactures a number of chemicals including ammonium nitrate and has its headquarters in Moscow.

Belarus-born Mr Mazepin is accused of being in the 'closest circle of Vladimir Putin' by the EU who imposed sanctions on him earlier this year after the invasion of Ukraine. The UK soon followed suit with their own restrictions. His son Nikita, who was an F1 driver for Haas before he was sacked, was also targeted after benefiting from his father's cash.

The sanctions include an asset freeze and EU companies and people are banned from making money available to them. They are also subject to a travel ban.

Days after the EU restrictions were imposed, Mr Mazepin resigned as CEO of Uralchem and sold 52% of his 100% stake in the company.

The billionaire was pictured meeting Putin on January 14, just one month before the military advance stunned the watching world on February 24.

He is also said to have met the Russian president on the day the invasion happened, among other businessmen, to discuss what the imposition of sanctions might mean.

King's has close associations with Russia, accepting money from five other companies or parents - none of whom have become subject to UK sanctions.

A recent visit to Moscow saw the then head teacher Peter Roberts take a delegation of adults from the school to the capital in 2019.

Both Uralchem and the school have failed to answer any questions about donations and Mr Mazepin.

An anti-corruption charity called it 'incredibly concerning' and the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax Dame Margaret Hodge said 'our defences against dirty money have been overrun'.

Dame Margaret, Labour MP for Barking, told MailOnline: 'Russian oligarchs only get and keep their wealth because they are close to Putin. They then launder that corrupt, stolen wealth into the UK.

Billionaire Dmitry Mazepin was pictured meeting the president on January 14, just one month before the military advance stunned the watching world on February 24

Outgoing King's School head teacher Peter Roberts led a 2019 delegation to Moscow where a huge donation was revealed

King's School charges 41,000 a year for boarding fees and has Orlando Bloom and David Gower among its famous alumni

'Our defences against dirty money have been overrun and that means it finds its way into British institutions, like our schools.

'The Government must swiftly act to stop Britain being the jurisdiction of choice for money launderers and our schools must carry out proper due diligence to stop accepting students funded by oligarchs. Schools must be places of education, not safe havens for dirty cash.'

Susan Hawley, the Executive Director of Spotlight on Corruption, said: 'It is incredibly concerning that a school has been receiving money from someone who is now sanctioned by the government.

'The whole education sector needs to get a firm grip on the risks of accepting money from actors in states that are hostile to the UK.'

Mr Mazepin was first hit by sanctions from the EU on March 9 in a 64-page document.

It mentioned an alleged February 24 meeting as proof of his closeness to the Russian president.

The document said: 'The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin and that he is supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine.'

He was then targeted by the UK Government on March 15 over his position on the Board of Directors for Uralchem Group and his role as CEO of that JSC division company.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation say 'He is or has been involved in obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia'.

The UK Sanctions document names Dmitry Mazepin and his racing driver son Nikita among others in its list of those targeted

The King's School, which is Britain's oldest public school, is in Canterbury and has seen many famous names through its doors

How sanctions hit boss and owner of 'major benefactor' Russian firm which funded Britain's oldest school January 14, 2022 - Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with Dmitry Mazepin, CEO of Uralchem. The topic of the meeting is described as a discussion of the mineral fertiliser industry. February 24, 2022  Russia invades Ukraine. The EU says Dmitry Mazepin met Putin alongside 36 other businesspeople to discuss the impact of Western sanctions on Russia. March 9, 2022  Dimitry Mazepin and his racing car driving son are hit with sanctions by the EU. March 11, 2022  Uralchem announces Mr Mazepin has resigned as CEO of the company and sold 52% of his 100% of shares in it. March 15, 2022  The Mazepins are both hit by UK sanctions after the government looks at their status, business activities and links. Advertisement

It adds that the chemical sector is 'Of strategic significance to the government of Russia'.

By then Uralchem had announced he had stepped down as CEO and sold 52% of his 100% shares in the company.

The Russian firm makes a wide range of chemical products, including mineral fertilizers and ammoniac saltpeter.

It was founded by Mr Mazepin in 2007 and he was the 94.2billion firm's CEO, with his son Nikita a former board member.

Mr Mazepin is also known for sponsoring the Formula One Haas team, where his son drove until very recently.

A document seen by MailOnline lists Uralchem JSC as 'Major Benefactors' and responsible for supporting King's from 2011 to 2018.

Meanwhile the school too had a change at the top of its management organisation around the time of the Ukraine war breaking out.

On March 7 King's Chairman of Governors Rev Dr Robert Willis announced Peter Roberts was to retire as the head teacher.

He told staff in the note it was a decision the head had not taken lightly and he and his wife planned to retire to France.

It added: 'You will appreciate that with the devotion that he has to you, and to every aspect of the school, this is not a decision that has been taken lightly.'

King's  which have famous alumni including Orlando Bloom and David Gower  takes money from a number of donors.

But it has also fostered close ties with Russia.

In March 2018 King's Director of Development spoke of their visit to Moscow to attend the World Schools Show.

UralChem Board Chairman Dmitry Mazepin attends a session titled 'Young Entrepreneurs - Hype or National Idea?' in 2020

A view of an apartment building damaged during shelling in Donetsk, months on from the Russian invasion in February

They said it was to introduce the King's School, Canterbury International College to local families and educational agents.

The director said at the time: 'King's reputation for and evidence of success, as well as its very broad offering of facilities and subjects, is unrivalled, and it was very encouraging to meet so many parents who want the very best education for their children. The International College is the newest part of our ancient school and we are excited at the number of inquiries we are receiving.

'The King's family is a truly global community and it is important to us to keep in touch and build a strong network of support. Moscow is a beautiful city and it was a pleasure to spend time in such good company.'

And during the Mr Roberts-led 2019 delegation to Moscow a huge donation to the school was also revealed.

A report on the visit said: 'Dmitry Mendeleev, a direct descendant of the world famous Russian scientist of the same name, who had kindly donated enough to enable a new science laboratory to be built- what largesse.'

King's School and Uralchem did not respond to requests for a comment.

Mr Mazepinis understood to have filed lawsuits at the EU Court of Justice to try and reverse the sanctions, which they say are unjustified.
The boat of a man missing for seven months has washed ashore in the Azores Islands, thousands of miles from the North Carolina marina where it was last seen, officials announced Monday.

Joseph Matthew Johnson, 44, was not found, but Carolina Beach police said that authorities in the Azores reported that a boat registered to his name washed up last week on the small island of Sao Jorge, some 2,700 miles across the ocean.

Barnacle buildup on the 2006 Clearwater boat suggested that it had been capsized for 'quite some time,' Carolina Beach police said to Wilmington StarNews.

The U.S. Coast Guard's search for Johnson in November covered nearly 7,500 square miles, but it was suspended when no new information was found, news outlets reported.

The 44 year old was last seen leaving the a yacht club in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, seven months ago

Joseph Matthew Johnson's boat washed up in the Azores Islands, 2,700 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from where he went missing in last November

Johnson was last seen leaving Federal Point Yacht Club marina on November 22 on his boat, police said. He was reported missing five days later by a friend who arrived in town for a previously arranged fishing trip, police said.

Video surveillance from that day showed the boat leaving the marina where he lived, and the last ping from Johnson's cellphone was from off the coast of Bald Head Island at 5:17pm that same day, Sgt. Colby Edens said by telephone Monday.

Bald Head Island is just south of the marina where Johnson left from.

Portuguese authorities are helping the Carolina Beach police department as they gather evidence and continue their search for Johnson.

'The investigation is ongoing and no additional information is available at this time,' police said.

Johnson posing onboard his motorboat. Authorities said the buildup of barnacles found on the boat suggest it was capsized for 'quite some time'

Johnson (second from left) was a member of the US Army Special Forces, serving for 24 years with tours in Afghanistan and South America

Johnson's mother, Mary Kay Anderson, said his family is confident he will be found alive, The StarNews reported.

The retired US Army Special Forces soldier served for 24 years with tours in Afghanistan and South America, so Anderson believes he has skills to survive in dangerous conditions and elements.

'It's not just hope,' Anderson said. 'We know he's alive and are praying for his miraculous rescue.'

She share a number of photos of her son fishing back in December, hoping people would put a face to his name.

'We're getting close. He's almost here, I can feel it,' she said.
North Korean authorities have accused Japan, South Korea, and the United States of moving towards the creation of what they called "Asian NATO" amid the regions' scheduled attendance of NATO's annual summit in Madrid.

Pyongyang said that the U.S. and its regional allies have a "sinister aim" toward it after they conducted joint military drills. On Wednesday, state-run news media KCNA released reports hours before leaders of Japan and South Korea would become observers at the NATO summit for the first time.

Asian NATO

Representatives from Seoul and Tokyo are scheduled to meet with United States President Joe Biden at the NATO summit to discuss North Korea. It would be the first such trilateral summit since 2017. The three regions will also conduct a combined missile detection and tracking exercise near Hawaii in August called "Pacific Dragon."

KCNA noted that the U.S. was getting "hell-bent" on military cooperation with its so-called "stooges" in disregard of the primary security demand and concern of Asia-pacific countries. It also accused Washington of fomenting a new Cold War, saying that the scheme for the formation of the U.S.-Japan-South Korea military alliance was motivated by the latter two's kowtowing to the U.S., as per Aljazeera.

The North Korean news outlet carried a separate commentary by Kim Hyo-myung, a researcher at the country's International Society for Political Research. He said that NATO was responsible for the war in Ukraine and noted that there were "ominous signs that sooner or later the black waves in the North Atlantic will break the calm in the Pacific."

Read Also: Ukraine Shopping Mall Death Toll: 18 Dead, More Missing as Fears of Mass Casualty Rise After Russian Missile Attack

The official said that NATO was nothing more than a servant of the realization of the U.S. hegemony strategy and a tool of local aggression. North Korea's foreign ministry released a similar statement over the weekend, saying the joint military drills with South Korea and Japan showed the hypocrisy of the U.S. and its offers of diplomatic engagement and dialogue without conditions.

According to Reuters, the North's remarks come after it has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, including its largest intercontinental ballistic missile. There have been international concerns that Pyongyang was preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017.

Japan, South Korea, and the United States

Despite Japan and South Korea being allies with the U.S., their relationship with each other has been strained by historical tensions over Japan's occupation of Korea from 1940 to 1945. American leaders have pushed Seoul and Tokyo to cooperate more in the face of threats from North Korea and the rising global influence of China.

The situation comes as South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is also expected to postpone his trip to Japan until after the election in the country. The South Korean presidential official added that momentum toward resolving pending issues between the two nations is expected to grow after the poll.

The trilateral summit between the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and the United States, is scheduled to be held on Wednesday at around 2:30 p.m. but is still subject to change. South Korea planned earlier this week to set up a delegation to NATO in Brussels as Seoul pushes to bolster its partnership with the organization and play a bigger role on the global stage, the Japan Times reported.



Related Article: Turkey Drops Opposition to Finland, Sweden Joining NATO in Crucial Agreement To Address Security Threats

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A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences while waiting to board a flight at Stansted Airport.

The 16-year-old was arrested by counter-terrorism officers on Monday during a stop and search, the Metropolitan Police said.

The alleged offences are linked to extreme Islamist ideology and he was due to board an outbound flight, the force added.

A 16-year-old boy is in police custody after being arrested by counter-terrorism officershttps://t.co/fJfDmLnq2m



If you see or hear something that may be linked to terrorism, call 0800 789 321. In an emergency, dial 999.#ActionCountersTerrorism  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 28, 2022

The boy was arrested on suspicion of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications.

He is in custody at a London police station and an address in east London was searched, the force said.

It is not known where the teenager was intending to travel when he was arrested.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: 'He has been detained under Pace (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) and is in custody at a London police station while inquiries continue.

A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences linked to extreme Islamist ideology while waiting to board a flight at Stansted Airport, the Metropolitan Police has said

'As part of the investigation, a search warrant was executed at an address in east London. This search has been completed.'

The Met Police said if you see or hear something unusual or suspicious and think someone may be engaging in terrorist activity, act by reporting it in confidence at the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321. In an emergency, dial 999.
Russia's UK ambassador has described victims of the Kremlin airstrike on a crowded Ukrainian shopping mall as 'collateral damage'.

The strike killed 18 people and more than 40 were wounded after two long-range X-22 missiles fired from Tu-22M3 bombers flew from Shaykovka airfield in Russia's Kaluga region on Monday.

Images from the scene showed giant plumes of black smoke from a shopping center engulfed in flames, as emergency crews rushed in and onlookers watched in distress.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was 'unimaginable,' citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were inside at the time of the attack.

'The Russian strike today on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk is one of the most brazen terrorist acts in European history,' he said in a broadcast posted on Telegram.

Meanwhile, Moscow's UK ambassador Andrei Kelin echoed Russian authorities' claim that the shopping centre was not the target.

He told Channel 4 News: 'As was stated by the (Russia) Ministry of Defence, we were targeting only military infrastructure.'

Russian missiles hit a busy shopping centre in the city of Kremenchuk in Ukraine on Monday

Moscow's UK ambassador Andrei Kelin (pictured) echoed Russian authorities' claim that the shopping centre was not the target. He told Channel 4 News: 'As was stated by the (Russia) Ministry of Defence, we were targeting only military infrastructure'

The crowded mall in Kremenchuk had around 1,000 shoppers inside when missiles rained down on the building on Monday

He added: 'And that was the case because the attack was launched against a factory on the territory of which a large amount of weapons, that has come from the United States and Europe, and that was the aim of the attack.

'Unfortunately, a detonation happened and the fire has spread on the nearby shopping mall, but this shopping mall has been empty and it doesn't work since March of this year.'

Mr Kelin claimed there was 'no crowd' in the shopping centre, but acknowledged 'some people probably' died in the area.

'Yes, it's a tragic event. Unfortunately, collateral damage happens,' he said.

The strike came as Russia stepped up its barrage of fire across Ukraine, including in the capital Kyiv.

Boris Johnson and fellow G7 leaders condemned Moscow's actions in Ukraine and the attack in Kremenchuk as the summit in Germany drew to a close.

A rescue operation was underway on Monday as emergency services rushed to the scene

The Prime Minister said it was an act of 'utter barbarism'.

'People are just shocked by what Putin is capable of doing,' he said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister said the 'price of freedom is worth paying' and the UK must be prepared to support Ukraine's fight against Russia for as long as it takes despite the cost.

The conflict in Ukraine has added to the rising cost of living by exacerbating turbulence in international energy prices and causing food shortages due to supplies of grain being prevented from leaving the country's ports by Russia's Black Sea fleet.

But speaking at the G7 summit in Germany, Mr Johnson said those pressures will start to ease and the long-term economic impact of defending the rules-based system of international conduct will be beneficial to the global economy.

Mr Kelin also blamed the supply of weapons from Western nations to Kyiv for escalating the war.

Firefighters desperately tried to put out the blaze at the shopping mall after the missile strike was carried out in the industrial hub

Zelensky said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was 'unimaginable,' citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were inside at the time of the attack

He added: 'Yes, I am very much worried about where it will end. But most of all, I am worried about those appeals to continue the conflict sending more and more weapons which are of higher and higher quality, like international weapons, like modern rockets weapons.

'It is increasing the depths of conflict. It is escalation and it is very bad for Ukraine itself.'

He denied that Russia could widen its targets westwards.

The UK has so far contributed around 1.5 billion of economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine plus some 1.3 billion of military assistance.

The Prime Minister told the BBC at the summit in the Bavarian Alps: 'I think that the economic impacts on the UK will start to abate, we'll find ways around things and some of the cost pressures will start to come down.

Russia has carried out a deadly missile strike on a busy shopping centre in Ukraine in Putin's latest barbaric attack against civilians

It is just the latest strike carried out by Vladimir Putin's forces against defenceless civilians in Ukraine

'But just in terms of staying the course, imagine if you didn't.

'Imagine if we allowed Putin to get away with the violent acquisition of huge chunks of another country, a sovereign, independent territory, the lessons for that would be absolutely chilling in all of the countries of the former Soviet Union, you can see what's happening in the Baltic countries already.

'But the read across would also be felt in east Asia, as well.

'So, in terms of the economic effects of that, that would mean long-term instability, it would mean anxiety across the world.'

Comparing the situation to the defeat of Nazi Germany, Mr Johnson declined to put a limit on UK support.

Zelensky stressed that the target presented 'no threat to the Russian army' and had 'no strategic value'

Kremenchuk is an industrial hub in central Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnipro River

'The point I would make to people is, I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying.

'And just remember, it took the democracies, in the middle of the last century, a long time to recognise that they had to resist tyranny and aggression. It took them a long time, it was very expensive.

'But what it bought in the end, with the defeat of the dictators, particularly of Nazi Germany, it bought decades and decades of stability, a world order that relied on a rules-based international system.

'And that is worth protecting, that is worth defending, that delivers long-term prosperity.'
An all-female production of Romeo and Juliet left some parents outraged after the two actors playing the leads shared a 'passionate' same-sex kiss in front of students.

The performance by Dire Theatre Company to Campbelltown Performing Arts High last week featured a woman playing Romeo in an 'all-female, modern interpretation' of 'SHEkespeare'.

MP Mark Latham, who raised the issue in NSW Parliament, claims students in years 8 to 10 were shocked by the play, which was advertised as having an all-female cast.

'There's passionate kissing scene going on stage,' Mr Latham said. 'Some of the boys yelled out, others were distressed, some of the girls were upset.

'The parents are very upset with the note that went out where there was no mention of this. The kids came home saying there were two women kissing.'

An all-female production of Romeo and Juliet left parents outraged after the two leads shared a 'passionate' kiss in front of shocked students

The performance by Dire Theatre Company to Campbelltown Performing Arts High last week featured a woman playing Romeo in an 'all-female, modern interpretation' of 'SHEkespeare'

Mr Latham then claimed there were religious families of various beliefs who didn't believe in same-sex relationships and said the school never sought permission to display the performance.

'It's inappropriate, this shouldn't happen in front of 13 and 14-year-olds unless you have parental permission. Some of these kids haven't even hit adolescence,' he said.

'There are Christian, Hindu, Muslim and socially conservative parents in the Campbelltown community who have a different view and were not given the option to opt-out.'

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell rubbished his claims, saying parents had given children full permission to attend and that the messaging was 'consistent with the Department of Education's Controversial Issues in Schools policy'.

'The exchange of affection by actors during the play was considered appropriate to the script,' Ms Mitchell said.

The Education Minister says no parents have complained to the school.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell rubbished his claims, saying parents had given children full permission to attend the all-female play

Dire Theatre Company attends schools around the state, running a 'Shakespeare in Schools' workshop to modernise the stories.

The company's artistic director Adam O'Brien told the Telegraph they'd never received complaints about the interpretation of the play before.

'Back in the day, only men would have been allowed to perform - Juliet would have been performed by a man 400 years ago,' he said.

'I would think it would be fairly understood that Romeo and Juliet would have scenes of affection onstage.

'It would be naive to expect the world's greatest love story would omit any of the love.'

Campbelltown Performing Arts High has been contacted for comment.

A spokesperson for NSW Education told Daily Mail Australia there were no links to gender, sexuality or gender fluidity in the play, and the interactions from the cast were all in line with the play's well known story.

'A performance of Romeo and Juliet by an external theatre company was held at Campbelltown Performing Arts High School as part of routine curriculum content exploring Shakespeare for students in Years 8,9 and 10,' the spokesperson said.

'Attendance was optional, and in line with the Department of Education's Controversial Issues in Schools policy, parents not wishing their child to attend were able to opt-out. Teachers were present at the performance to provide supervision.'
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to return Bruce's Beach to the black family who owned it until it was unfairly seized by California 98 years ago.

The move marks one of the biggest cases of land reparations in US history.

Brothers Marcus and Derrick, along with Derrick's sons Anthony and Michael, will now inherit the piece of prime beachfront land worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The brother's great grandparents, Charles and Willa Bruce, bought the land in 1912 and built a resort for black families that became known as Bruce's Beach.

The resort thrived despite racist pressure from neighbors, local government and an attack from the Ku Klux Klan in 1920.

But in 1924, the family was forced out when the City of Manhattan Beach used eminent domain to seize the land under the pretense of building a public park.

In a statement on Tuesday's vote, County Chair Holly Mitchell said that the Bruce family were 'robbed of their property and generational wealth due to unjust laws and practices rooted in systemic racism.'

The board heard that Anthony will maintain the property along with his father through an LLC that the family has formed.

County Chair Holly Mitchell signs the transfer agreement on behalf of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors transferring ownership of the land to the Bruce family

Michael Bruce (pictured left) and his brother Anthony (pictured right) are the great-great grandchildren of Willa and Charles Bruce, who stand to finally inherit their family's property after it was taken via eminent domain in 1924

Willa and Charles Bruce brought the property in 1912 during the early 20th century after moving from New Mexico with their son Harvey

The Los Angeles beachfront property 'Bruce's Beach's is being returned to the descendants of resort owners after it was taken from them due to racist policies

According to the motion, the land will be leased back to the county for two years from the Bruce family. The family will received $413,000 in rent. After the two year lease is up, the Bruce family is free to do whatever they please with the land.

The new motion also has a clause allowing the country to buy back the land from the Bruce family for $20 million.

In February 2022, the Los Angeles Times quoted that the estimated price of the land parcels that belonged to the Bruce family were now worth an estimated $75 million.

According to the motion, the $20 million price tag was 'confirmed by appraisals to be equivalent to or less than the fair market value.'

Mitchell rejected the notion that the county was 'giving' the property to the family. She said: 'We are returning property that was erroneously, and based on fear and hate, taken from them.'

The area of land in affluent Manhattan Beach on the outskirts of Los Angeles was a 'refuge for Black families who came from across the state when racist laws wouldnt allow for any other safe beach going options,' Mitchell said in her statement.

While County Supervisor Janice Hahn said: 'We can't change the past and we will never be able to make up for the injustice that was done to Willa and Charles Bruce a century ago, but this is a start.'

The county will lease the land from the Bruce family two years at a cost of $413,000 per year. The county also has the option to purchase the land for $20 million

Anthony Bruce, the great great grandson of Willa and Charles Bruce is all smiles as Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB 796, a bill allowing the return Manhattan Beach land to descendants of its original owners

Instead of continuing to run a thriving resort on prime beachfront land, they ended up as chefs serving other business owners for the remainder of their lives

Hahn said in her statement that Tuesday's vote will give the Bruce family the chance 'to start rebuilding the generational wealth that was denied to them.'

The plot currently serves as a grassy park and lifeguard training facility.

Average property prices in Manhattan Beach run to $2.9 million, with the area sitting south of Santa Monica Bay.

In September 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 796 into law. This removed any restrictions in returning the law of the board of supervisors voted to do so.

Also that month the city of Manhattan Beach issued a statement acknowledging and condemning its city's actions from the early 20th century - but the statement stopped short of a formal apology.

'We offer this Acknowledgement and Condemnation as a foundational act for Manhattan Beach's next one hundred years,' a document approved by the council says.

'And the actions we will take together, to the best of our abilities, in deeds and in words, to reject prejudice and hate and promote respect and inclusion.'

In signing Senate Bill 796, Newsom offered a formal apology to the Bruce family.

He said: 'As governor of California, let me do what apparently Manhattan Beach is unwilling to do: I want to apologize to the Bruce family.'

The governor added: 'What we're doing here today can be done and replicated anywhere else. There's an old adage: Once a mind is stretched, it never goes back to its original form.'

Anthony Bruce, a security supervisor who lives in Florida, said his family had been tormented by the seizure of their rightful property for generations.

Charles and Willa contested the eminent domain order and lost; the city paid them $14,500, and they left their beach and lost their business.

Instead of continuing to run a thriving resort on prime beachfront land, they ended up as chefs serving other business owners for the remainder of their lives.

Bruce's Beach was a popular destination for black families in the early 20th century who were looking to go on a vacation without the stress of racial tensions

The resort featured a lodge, cafe, dance hall and dressing tents with bathing suits for rent

Bruce's grandfather Bernard, born a few years after his family had been run out of town, was obsessed with what happened and lived his life 'extremely angry at the world,' he said.

Bruce's father was unable to bear living in California and moved away from the state.

'I was five years old when my father told me that my great-great-grandparents' business on a beautiful stretch of Manhattan Beach had been taken away from them decades earlier,' wrote Bruce, in an op ed in The Los Angeles Times, published on Thursday.

'It was a shocking and disturbing revelation for me as a young boy.'

'When I was growing up, my father took us to Bruce's beach,' Anthony said in an April interview with BNC News.

'It wasn't called that back then, it was called another name and he said 'all this land is yours. I want you to know that this is your inheritance and you're going to have to fight for it. As it stands its not ours, but as it is its our legacy.''

The case was championed by Kavon Ward, an activist who learnt about the land's history and founded Justice for Bruce's Beach.

'This country always likes to say: 'You can make it. Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps,'' she said.

'These people were doing that, and they were building community and spreading the wealth within the community and enhancing other black people, and it was all stripped away.'

Anthony Bruce said in the op ed: 'I'll never know if my family's business would have grown to rival that of Hilton or Marriott, both of which were founded around the same time as Bruce's Beach and grew from equally humble beginnings.

'I have plans to one day soon return to my family's land. When I go back to that stretch of Manhattan Beach, I won't think only of the injustice done to my ancestors. I'll also think of the progress our country has made.'

Last September 2021, Newsom apologized for the generations of harm done to the Bruce family

The property along the south shore of Santa Monica Bay encompasses two parcels purchased in 1912 by Willa and Charles Bruce, who built the first West Coast resort for black people at a time when segregation barred them from many beaches.

It included a lodge, cafe, dance hall and dressing tents.

The land lay unused for years, however, and was transferred to the state in 1948.

In 1995, it was transferred to Los Angeles County for beach operations. It came with restrictions limiting the ability to sell or transfer the property, which could only be lifted through a new state law.

The county's lifeguard training headquarters building sits there now, along a scenic beach walkway called The Strand that is lined with luxury homes overlooking the beach.

In Manhattan Beach, an upscale Los Angeles seaside suburb, the population of 35,000 is more than 84 per cent white and 0.8 per cent black, the city website says.

In 2021, the city council formally condemned the efforts of their early 20th century predecessors to displace the Bruces and several other Black families.

Should the Bruce family decide to sell the property, Senate bill 796's wording would exempt them from a documentary transfer tax, and would shield profits made from the land's scale from taxation.

'Plans for the property... [are] personal and between us, the attorneys, and the County of Los Angeles,' said Duane Shepard, a cousin of the direct descendants of the property and a long-standing spokesman for the reacquisition of the beach.
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The death toll in yesterday's deadly Missouri Amtrak wreck rose to four today, while officials confirmed approximately 150 people were hospitalized with injuries.

Two of the victims were adult sisters who were traveling with their mother, KSHB reported. One of the other victims was the driver of the dump truck that the train collided with.

The other victim was also a passenger on the train. Two of the passengers died in the wreck, and the third passed later at a nearby hospital.

Eight train cars were derailed and flipped on their side after the train's locomotive struck the at a railroad crossing in Mendon, Missouri, while going about 90mph.

In a statement, Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed said that those hospitalized suffered 'injuries that range from minor to serious in nature.'

Amtrak officials said there were approximately 275 passengers onboard the train, and twelve crew members. The identities of the victims have not been released.

The death toll in yesterday's deadly Missouri Amtrak wreck rose to four today, while officials confirmed approximately 150 people were hospitalized with injuries.

Eight train cars flipped on their side after the train's locomotive struck a dump truck at a railroad crossing

Amtrak officials said there were approximately 275 passengers onboard the train, and twelve crew members

The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it collided with the dump truck, which was blocking the public crossing over the tracks.

One of the train's locomotives was derailed and thrown sideways off of the tracks, and eight of its cars toppled over onto the ground with them. Photos from the wreck showed the dump truck completely destroyed.

State Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Brown said there was still an 'active and ongoing investigation at the scene' yesterday evening

The collision occurred at the uncontrolled Porch Prairie Avenue gravel road crossing, which has no electronic warning devices or gates, officials said.

Three of the victims were passengers - two died in the wreck and the third passed later at a nearby hospital - and the fourth was the driver of the dump truck

In a statement, Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed said that those hospitalized suffered 'injuries that range from minor to serious in nature.'

The ruined carnage of the dump truck can is seen at center with work crews gathered around it

Several locals noted that the crossing was long known for being extremely dangerous, and said that the railroad knew about the danger but did nothing to address it.

Mike Spencer, 64, said he had long been advocating for safety upgrades at crossings in Mendon, Missouri, where the intersection at Porche Prairie Avenue had been slated for improvements for four months before the train's collision with the dump truck.

'They knew it was unsafe,' Spencer told the Kansas City Star. 'That was pretty much a no-brainer... I predicted this was going to happen. I was certain this was going to happen. It was just a matter of time.'

Spencer said he had been pushing Amtrak and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) to do something about that intersection for years as farmers cross it daily to get to their fields, urging them to build the road up, add signal lights, or even just clear out some of the brush blocking the view.

'In November, nothing was done,' Spencer told the Star about his latest efforts to get improvements to the intersection. 'I contacted them, they said, 'Don't put any pressure on them. They're working on it.'

'They never even offered to cut brush back for us so we could at least see,' he added. 'I would have done something to fixed it myself if it could've been possible.'

The Amtrak train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it collided with a dump truck at a public crossing in Mendon, Missouri and derailed from the tracks. Mendon is about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City, Missouri



According the MODOT's 2022 State Freight and Pail plan, released on February, the Porche Prairie Road intersection was set to get installation lights and gates, as well as roadway improvements. The work was set to cost $400,000.

'This is on the railroad's shoulders,' Spencer said. 'They've known this was a problem. It's like they were concerned, but not concerned enough to do anything.'

Fellow farmer Daryl Jacobs echoed Spencer's complaints, saying that throughout his whole live in the area, that crossing was always 'very dangerous.'

'It needs arms on it or signals,' Jacobs, 62, told the Star. 'It's so dang steep. I heard that truck just stalled out today going up it. That's what I heard.'

'And this dang brush along these railroad tracks all needs to be cleared back.'

Work crewman at the sight of the crash alongside the destroyed remains of the dump truck

Several locals noted that the crossing was long known for being extremely dangerous, and said that the railroad knew about the danger but did nothing to address it

A piece of the destroyed dump truck spread across the tracks as passengers can been seen clambering out of and off the train in the background

Survivors have told of the chaos that unfolded inside the carriages as the train left the tracks, leaving them clambering out of the train's skyward-facing windows

Rob Nightingale said he was dozing off in his sleeper compartment when the lights flickered and the train rocked back and forth.

'It was like slow motion. Then all of a sudden I felt it tip my way. I saw the ground coming toward my window, and all the debris and dust,' Nightingale said.

'Then it sat on its side and it was complete silence. I sat there and didn't hear anything. Then I heard a little girl next door crying.'

Some parents took to social media to share the harrowing experiences they had when their children called them to let them know that they'd their train had derailed.

'Getting a frantic FaceTime call as your child is standing on top of a derailed train is something I can't even begin to describe,' wrote Rachael Piche, of Kansas, in a Facebook post. Her 17-year-old, Jordan, was returning from a leadership conference in Chicago.

'She is doing ok physically, however she does have a concussion and a strained muscle in her shoulder.'

Dennis Eamon Young wrote on Facebook that his daughter Eireann called to tell him she'd been in the wreck, but had to hang up because her phone's battery was low. Young was left to watch the news coverage on TV. His daughter was shaken by the accident but mostly unhurt.

'She was actually OK, except for a stiff neck and being shook up,' Young wrote.

Passenger Dian Couture was in the dining car with her husband when she heard a loud noise and the train wobbled and then crashed on to its side.

'The people on our left-hand side flew across and hit us, and then we were standing on the windows on the right-hand side of the car,' Couture told WDAF-TV.

'Two gentlemen in the front came up, stacked a bunch of things and popped out the window and literally pulled us out by our hands.'

A 15 year-old Boy Scout, Eli Skrypczak, made it out of the wreckage and found the truck driver, and comforted him he lay dying.

'He was pretty upset, he wishes he could have done more,' Eli's father, Dan Skrypczak, told the New York Post.

'Just trying to explain to him, you get hit by a high speed train, nobody could have done much for the truck driver. He did everything he could, he did the right thing. He provided comfort and aid.'

Survivors of the wreck helped one another out of the skyward facing windows after the collision

Survivors sit on top of the derailed train cars in the moments after the deadly collision
A six-month-old baby in Tennessee with a heart defect has finally been added to the waiting list for a transplant, after his evangelical parents claimed their doctor told them their child had to be vaccinated first.

August Stoll was born in December, and his heart defect was diagnosed when he was 13 days old.

He has spent much of his young life in Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, and in June had heart surgery but his parents were told he would need a transplant.

'The transplant team (specifically Dr. David Bearl) gave us an ultimatum that if we did not give August a series of vaccines, he would keep him off the transplant list,' wrote his mother Hannah Stoll on June 24, on the website Tennessee Stands, a libertarian and religious organization.

Six-month-old August Stoll is pictured in a photo the family shared on Instagram. The baby is now awaiting a lifesaving heart transplant. It is unclear if he has now been vaccinated: his mother Hannah said he had not been vaccinated against COVID, but did not explain why he was now eligible for a transplant

Hannah and Clint Stoll are seen together in 2011. The couple married in 2010, with Hannah moving from California and working at No Greater Joy ministries

'He specifically used the phrase, 'I am mandating,' about eight times during our first conversation about this.'

She did not specify what vaccines were required, or detail his explanation.

'The second conversation, I reasoned and debated with him over the insanity of giving my baby vaccines with a huge risk of a negative outcome, on a severely immunosuppressed child on their death bed,' she wrote.

'He continued to refuse. I asked him if this was legal. He said no. I asked if this was policy. He said no.

'Our third conversation (this morning), he came and asked me if I had any more questions. I asked if he changed his mind. He said no.'

Hannah, who in 2011 described herself as 'a California girl' who moved to Tennessee after falling in love with and marrying Clint Stoll, appears to work at No Greater Joy ministries.

She said that she was adamant August not be vaccinated.

Hannah and Clint Stoll are pictured with baby August in their GiveSendGo page, fundraising for the medical expenses

August is being treated at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville

'I firmly believe with absolute confidence that it is despicable, unethical, heartless, and disgusting to withhold a heart from a six-month-old baby over this,' she wrote.

'I believe loading his body on these [vaccines] will kill him. I believe it is within my rights as a parent to choose this for him. I believe that this doctor holding this over us is motivated by ego.

'As his parents, we have a responsibility to protect our son at all costs. He is dying, and time is of the essence.'

Yet on Monday, the family wrote on Instagram that August had now been accepted onto the transplant list.

It was unclear whether they had decided to vaccinate him, or whether the hospital had waived the alleged requirement.

Neither the Stolls, their local aspiring congressman Robby Starbuck representing them, nor the doctor or hospital responded to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

'August has been quickly placed on the transplant list,' the family said.

Dr David Bearl has been treating August Stoll, and allegedly said he needed to be vaccinated before he was allowed on a transplant waiting list

'In his state of cardiac decline, we made the decision as parents to prioritize his status on the list. In his extremely delicate state, we cannot risk moving him, although it was offered many times by Vanderbilt and by several private individuals.'

They said deciding what to do was a deeply traumatic experience.

'As parents, it is very difficult to balance health decisions when your child is in such a delicate state, hanging in the balance between life and death,' the family said.

'Decisions have to be made sometimes hour by hour. We empathize with anyone with a medically delicate child. It is unnatural to experience the confusion, fear and pain one does when their child sits on a precipice medically. It is not the way things were meant to be when God created the family unit.'

They did not specify why August was now cleared for a transplant.

'Vanderbilt has been clear they are willing to work with us in some ways regarding our beliefs. But we did not win this fight.

'Vanderbilt Children's Hospital has respected our privacy and it is important we keep the lines of communication open and productive.'

They added: '*August will not receive the c*vid V*.'

In previous posts, they begged their supporters to stop sending death threats to the hospital staff.

'We do not endorse any threat of violence on any staff of Vanderbilt in any way,' they wrote.

'We do not support doxxing in any way. It is unproductive for helping August and despite our strong differences with the transplant team, we do not support harm to others.'

One bioethicist and theologian, Charlie Camosy, told Fox News the situation was 'puzzling'.

Charlie Camosy said that the case was 'puzzling'

Stressing that he did not know the detail of the case, he said that some doctors were trying to 'impose their ideology on parents'.

'Normally, doctors in the business are trying to protect children,' he said.

'But it looked like [the doctor in this case] might've been playing some kind of COVID politics with this.'

On June 18, the CDC approved COVID vaccines for infants from six months old.

Camosy said that Dr Bearl should be struck off for forcing the family to vaccinate August.

'Think about the power imbalance here,' he said. 'Think about the desperation this family has felt.

'That's a horrible thing.'

Camosy said it was 'not all that uncommon' for doctors to impose their views.

'It's really, really complicated and that's what makes this case so difficult,' he said.
Carbon monoxide poisoning killed three U.S. tourists found dead at a resort in the Bahamas in May, police announced Tuesday.

The victims had been identified as Michael Phillips, 68, and Robbie Phillips, 65, from Tennessee; and Vincent Chiarella, 64, from Florida.

'At this juncture of the investigation, we can officially confirm that all three of the victims died as a result of asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning,' the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement on Tuesday.

The couples were staying in separate villas next to each other in the same building at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on the island of Exuma.

It was not clear if the villas had carbon monoxide detectors and if they did, whether they were working.

Sandals said that carbon monoxide detectors have since been installed in all guest rooms at Sandals Emerald Bay, and will be installed in all guest rooms elsewhere.

Chiarella's wife, Donnis Chiarella, 65, was found alive and airlifted to New Providence for medical treatment, then transferred to a hospital in Florida. Her current condition was not immediately known.

Bahamian officials identified two of the three Americans who were found dead at the resort as Michael Phillips, 68, right, and his wife, Robbie Phillips, 65, of Tennessee

Vincent Chiarella, left, was found dead at a Bahamas resort in May by his wife, Donnis, right, who survived the ordeal

They did not provide further details, saying the deaths were still under investigation.

Police have said that all four tourists went to a doctor the night before their bodies were discovered and had complained of feeling ill.

The American victims were all said to have suffered from convulsions before their deaths, and police said they found no signs of trauma on their bodies.

When Donnis Chiarella, from Panama, Florida, woke up she was paralyzed and saw her now-late husband not moving across the room, the couple's devastated son Austin Chiarella previously told ABC News.

The stricken son said his mom had first fallen ill one day earlier, and visited a local clinic. She was discharged shortly afterwards, and believed her health had improved.

'She woke up and my dad was laying there on the floor, and she couldn't move,' he said. 'Her legs and arms was swollen and she couldn't move and she screamed to get someone to come in the door.'

An initial investigation found that the Phillips' had also 'complained of illness the previous evening,' cops previously announced, adding that the pair 'attended the local Medical facility' where they received treatment, and then returned to their lodging.

In a statement issued a month ago, Sandals said the deaths were 'in no way linked to the resort's air conditioning system, food and beverage service, landscaping services or foul play.

It was not clear what was the source of carbon monoxide that killed the tourists. A Sandals spokeswoman referred all questions to police, while Bahamian police spokesman Audley Peters said he was not able to provide the information 'at this time' and did not respond to further questions.

'We have taken additional measures such as engaging environmental safety experts for a comprehensive review of all systems across the resort,' the company said.

Part of the Sandals resort in Exuma, Bahamas is shown here

One day before her death, Robbie posted pictures of the beach to her Facebook as she apparently tried to sell others on the idea of the resort

Reviews of the resort at the time of the incident suggest it has become dilapidated in recent years, with guests complaining of several different issues on TripAdvisor.

Michael T. said the resort is becoming noticeably worse, and said he would not be returning there 'any time soon.'

'What we experienced is a resort in a state of disrepair and drastically under staffed,' Michael wrote. 'Air conditioning, plumbing, no towels, employees that were new and poorly trained, and staff that seemed to be over worked. Tragically we had to experience the death of three guests and injury of a fourth. It was very difficult to relax to say the least under these circumstances.'

Reviewer Cameron H. referenced the tragedy and noted that 'the resort did nothing to comfort their guests or even let them know they are safe.'

They also said the resort needed major renovation and called the food 'horrible.'

Other complaints about the resort include most bathrooms having 'no soap,' faulty air conditioning and rooms not being ready at the appropriate time.

The deaths come seven years after a Delaware family became seriously ill at a resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. authorities determined that methyl bromide, a highly toxic pesticide banned for indoor residential use in 1984, was to blame and had been used at that resort several times.
Aussies are in for an uncomfortable week as record-breaking rain partners up with freezing temperatures with some areas set to shiver through -6C temperatures.

A record-breaking rain event is forecast to hit the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and NSW this week.

Light showers began in South Australia and Victoria's border coastlines on Wednesday.

An unseasonable rain system is set to bring record-breaking rainfall to the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales from Wednesday

A cloud-band (pictured, forecast for 1pm on Friday) will form over the NT and Queensland, bringing record-breaking dry season rain

The system is forecast to move east on Thursday and bring rainfall to west Victoria before focusing on the state's northeast coast.

By Friday night the rain will have largely moved away from Victoria to focus on NSW's coastline.

Heavy rain will focus in the Sydney region on Saturday before spreading north on Sunday to eventually to cover the coastline heading into next week.

Sydney is forecast to see heavy rain from Saturday as a rain system moves northeast from South Australia and Victoria

Heavy rain will centre on NSW's coast over the weekend, bringing heavy rain to the Sydney region (pictured, forecast models showing predicted rain)

The NT's record-breaking rain also kicked-off on Wednesday morning, Sky News reported.

The system is forecast to begin moving southwest into southeast Queensland from Wednesday afternoon, heading into Thursday.

The rain will continue to get heavier throughout the day on Thursday as it combines with a separate rain system in northeast Queensland.

By Friday morning a large cloud-band is expected to cover most of the NT's northeast, Central Queensland and Queensland's coast.

Melbourne residents are forecast to see light rain from Thursday as a storm system moves over the state towards the NSW coast

The cloud-band across the NT and Queensland will combine with a southern rain system in NSW later this week

The rain will continue to move east on Saturday before clearing up before largely easing on Sunday afternoon.

However, the system will re-intensify on Monday and is expected to bring heavy rainfall from that afternoon.

NT's north is expected to see rainfall totalling over 50mm.

The NT is currently in its dry season, running from May to October.

Temperatures will continue to plummet across central and southern Australia this week with morning 'feels like' temperature set to reach -6C in mountainous regions (pictured, a map of temperatures this weekend)

NSW residents could catch a break from the cold next Tuesday with morning 'feels like' temperatures sitting between 3C and 12C (pictured, Sydney)

During this time, several regions see average rainfalls totalling less than 1mm.

Parts of Queensland's east coast are expected to see over 100mm of rain, including Cairns and Bundaberg.

Residents in NSW, Victoria, ACT and Tasmania can expect the current morning chill to hang around heading into next week, alongside the record-breaking rain event.

Large parts of the four southern states were subject to 'feels like' temperatures of -3C on Wednesday morning with Victoria and NSW's alpine regions plummeting to 'feels like' temperatures below -6C.

Residents in mountainous NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania regions are set to see snow down to 1000m on Thursday with 2cm to 5cm forecast (pictured, Thredbo)

Morning 'feels like' temperatures are set to stay low heading into this weekend across central and southern Australia (pictured, the 'feels like' temperatures for 7am on Friday)

South Australians, South NT residents and central West Australians will also feel the cold on Thursday morning with large areas to suffer through 'feels like' temperatures ranging from 0C to -3C.

Alice Springs residents, who usually enjoy scorching summers, will see temperatures plummet between -3C to -6C.

Thankfully the morning cold is forecast to ease by 10am each day with average 'feels like' temperature across central and southern Australia sitting between 3C and 9C.

NSW residents are forecast to catch a break from the morning cold next Tuesday with 'feels like' temperatures sitting between 3C and 12C around the state.

Light snow is forecast to fall down to 1000m on Thursday in NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania (pictured, Blue Mountains)

The visibility on the ski slopes this weekend is forecast to be fair on Friday, improving on Saturday and excellent on Sunday (pictured, Thredbo)

Residents in mountainous NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania regions are set to see snow down to 1000m on Thursday with 2cm to 5cm forecast.

For those heading to the ski slopes this weekend visibility is forecast to be fair on Friday, improving on Saturday and excellent on Sunday.

Perth is set to stay sunny for the rest of the week with residents forecast to enjoy maximum temperatures at about 20C.

MAJOR CITIES FOUR-DAY FORECAST PERTH Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Max 18 Thursday: Mostly sunny. Min 7 Max 19 Friday: Sunny. Min 7 Max 19 Saturday: Sunny. Min 7 Max 20 ADELAIDE Wednesday: Showers developing. Max 14 Thursday: Shower or two. Min 9 Max 16 Friday: Partly cloudy. Min 7 Max 15 Saturday: Cloudy .Min 7 Max 14 MELBOURNE Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Max 13 Thursday: Shower or two. Min 6 Max 13 Friday: Possible shower. Min 7 Max 13 Saturday: Possible drizzle. Min 6 Max 13 HOBART Wednesday: Shower or two developing. Max 14 Thursday: Possible shower. Min 6 Max 11 Friday: Cloudy. Min 4 Max 12 Saturday: Partly cloudy. Min 5 Max 14 CANBERRA Wednesday: Morning frost. Partly cloudy. Max 12 Thursday: Cloudy. Min 2 Max 13 Friday: Cloudy. Min 2 Max 12 Saturday: Partly cloudy. Min 1 Max 13 SYDNEY Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Max 19 Thursday: Shower or two. Min 9 Max 18 Friday: Showers. Min 10 Max 17 Saturday: Showers. Min 11 Max 17 BRISBANE Wednesday: Cloudy. Max 21 Thursday: Cloudy. Min 12 Max 22 Friday: Rain at times. Min 14 Max 19 Saturday: Rain. Min 13 Max 19 DARWIN Wednesday: Rain at times. Max 29 Thursday: Rain at times. Min 21 Max 25 Friday: Cloudy. Min 18 Max 27 Saturday: Partly cloudy. Min 19 Max 29 Advertisement
An Australian couple have told the extraordinary story of getting their surrogate daughter from Ukraine after the Russian invasion forced them to battle for months to get her home.

Chefs Jessica Van Nooten and Kevin Middleton, from Melbourne, rushed to meet their baby girl Alba when she was born on February 22, just two days after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Little Alba was born 10 weeks early in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa and needed specialist care to survive.

After more than four months, and with help from numerous countries, the couple finally landed in Melbourne on Sunday with Alba.

The couple had suffered 15 failed rounds of IVF over a seven-year period and a miscarriage before they decided to get help from a surrogacy agency in Ukraine.

They booked flights to Ukraine, completely unaware that a war was about to unfold - until they were contacted Australia's Department of Foreign Affair and Trade.

An Australian couple had to get their surrogate daughter Alba (pictured) home from Odesa, Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion

Jessica Van Nooten and Kevin Middleton (pictured), from Melbourne, had suffered 15 failed rounds of IVF over a seven-year period and a miscarriage before they decided to get help from a surrogacy agency in Ukraine

'We didn't really know about the Russian invasion until DFAT called us and said: "Where are you off to?" and we said: "Ukraine, we've got to pick up our baby", and they were like "you're not going anywhere",' Mr Middleton revealed to 7News.

'We said: "I think we are".'

The couple, who have been together for 20 years, jetted over to Dubai for a connecting flight to Ukraine.

But they discovered upon arriving at Dubai that their connecting flight had been cancelled.

They then booked a last minute trip to Poland and managed to travel to the country of Moldova, which is about a three-hour drive from where little Alba was in Odesa.

Jessica and Kevin managed to reach the Ukraine border by car and were met with icy weather and scores of refugees fleeing the country.

Some of the refugees warned the couple's driver they were headed 'the wrong way' and needed to turn back immediately.

Despite that, the couple ignored the warnings, knowing they had to get to their daughter.

'We didn't know how safe we were... but we didn't have a choice. She couldn't come to us, so we had to go to her,' Ms Van Nooten said.

Alba (pictured) hooked up to machines in Odesa, southern Ukraine. A charity page was set up to raise money to bring her home to Australia safely

Jessica Van Nooten and Kevin Middleton (pictured) have been together for 20 years and have suffered 15 failed IVF rounds

The couple was eventually united with Alba at the hospital in Odesa.

They were forced to wait there for three weeks before she could be safely moved from the hospital.

Heartwarming photos of the couple showed them caressing their child's head, as she remained under care in Odesa Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

Their next step was waiting until Alba was in a stable enough condition to leave Ukraine.

The day arrived when the couple and a fragile Alba left the hospital in an ambulance and were transported to Moldova.

Ms Van Nooten recalled that the doctors telling her: 'You better go home and pray because your baby is going to die.'

Alba survived in Moldova, but doctors stressed that she needed urgent medical care once they left the country.

The couple flew from Moldova to London via a private jet after they received generous public donations.

The couple are now safely back in Melbourne with their daughter Alba, beginning their new life as a family

A fundraiser was set up to help raise the money to bring the family back home safely with almost $80,000 raised.

The trio eventually flew back to Melbourne and immediately took Alba to the Royal Children's Hospital for care.

The family are now back home safely and beginning their life as a family in Australia.

Commercial surrogacy is illegal in Australia. In NSW, Queensland and the ACT, it's illegal for parents to pay for an overseas surrogate.

Overseas surrogacy is legal in Victoria.
A former federal prosecutor has said that Ghislaine Maxwell is unlikely to ever divulge what she knows about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking scheme, after she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the late financier abuse underage girls.

Maxwell, who was handed the stiff sentence on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, has long been accused of knowing sordid details about Epstein and his potential co-conspirators, but has showed no signs of cooperating with federal investigators.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who is now a litigator in Los Angeles, believes that Maxwell's actions and decisions to date suggest that she will never cooperate against Epstein's potential co-conspirators.

'She's dug in her heels -- she pushed this case to trial, she made all these women testify, and revictimized them by making them repeat their stories in court,' Rhamani told DailyMail.com in an interview shortly after the sentencing.

'If you wanted the full benefit of cooperation, you wouldn't do any of this,' he added. 'I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that anyone else is going to be prosecuted in this case.'

A former federal prosecutor has said that Ghislaine Maxwell is unlikely to ever divulge what she knows about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking scheme

Ghislaine Maxwell delivers her first public statement while addressing Judge Alison Nathan during her sentencing in a courtroom sketch

Epstein, who died behind bars in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide, sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting vulnerable girls as young as 14, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors said he couldn't have done so without the help of his longtime companion Maxwell, 60, who was convicted in December of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts and two conspiracy charges.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, believes Maxwell is unlikely to ever divulge what she knows about Epstein's crimes

Following her sentencing on Tuesday, Maxwell's attorney Bobbi Sternheim vowed to appeal, saying that Epstein had left Maxwell 'holding the whole bag.'

Rahmani, who is not connected to the case but spoke as a legal expert, observed that Maxwell's plan to appeal makes it extremely unlikely that she will cooperate with investigators.

'The problem with cooperation is you're essentially waiving your right to appeal,' he said.

'You have to admit to participating in the trafficking and abuse of these young girls for the cooperation to mean anything,' he added. 'She's much more likely to take her chances on appeal.'

Rahmani noted that it is possible for offenders to give evidence against co-conspirators after their sentencing, in exchange for a shot at a reduced sentence -- but it is extremely rare.

'It's not too late, although people who cooperate usually plead guilty. Or once they are convicted and see the writing on the wall, then they cooperate,' he said.

Rahmani said that Maxwell's statement at sentencing -- in which she blamed Epstein and cast herself as another victim -- signaled that she is unlikely to provide evidence to investigators.

Ghislaine Maxwell defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim talks to the media outside the US District Court for the Southern District of New York after the sentencing

The sentencing marks the end of a decades-long fight for justice by victims of Maxwell and Epstein, seen together above in an evidence photo

Maxwell told the court at the sentencing that she empathized with the victims in the case, but refused to admit her guilt and laid blame for the abuse on Epstein, saying meeting him was the 'greatest regret of my life.'

'Her non-apology apology today leads me to believe she is not going to cooperate,' Rahmani said. 'Those aren't statements from someone who is accepting responsibility, who is remorseful, and is going to help the government bring other people to justice.'

'Anything is possible, but Maxwell seems like a total narcissist,' he added. 'She really does believe she's a victim, and she's suffered this grave injustice.'

Prior to their downfall, Epstein and Maxwell traveled in glittering social circles surrounded by the rich and powerful.

Their association with some of the world's most famous people was not a prominent part of Maxwell's trial, but mentions of friends such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump showed how the pair exploited their connections to impress their victims.

One accuser, Virginia Roberts, claimed that Epstein and Maxwell had also pressured her into sexual trysts with other powerful men when she was 17, including Britain's Prince Andrew.

All of those men denied the allegations, and Roberts ultimately settled a lawsuit against Andrew out of court for a reported $12 million.

An infamous photo of Virginia Roberts, Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell, taken at Maxwell's home in London's Belgravia

In 2010 Maxwell attended the wedding of Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea in Rhinebeck, upstate New York

Maxwell, Naomi Campbell, Donald Trump and Melania Knauss in November 2002 at a Dolce and Gabbana show in New York

According to Roberts, also known as Virginia Giuffre, Maxwell recruited her when she was 16 and working at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

In her victim impact statement, she said that that Maxwell and Epstein did 'unthinkable things' to her.

The statement says: 'Without question, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible pedophile.

'But I never would have met Jeffrey Epstein if not for you. For me, and for so many others, you opened the door to hell. And then, Ghislaine, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, you used your femininity to betray us, and you led us all through it.

'Ghislaine, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. You deserve to be trapped in a cage forever, just like you trapped your victims.'

Maxwell's trial revolved around allegations from only a handful of Epstein's accusers.

Four testified that they were abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein's mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

A jubilant Annie Farmer smiles outside the Manhattan courthouse shortly after the sentence was handed down. Farmer fought back tears as she asked the judge to take into account the 'ongoing suffering of them many women she abused and exploited'

Sarah Ransome and Elizabeth Stein held hands as they walked out of court Tuesday. Ransome claimed in her victim impact statement, 'I was nothing more than a sex toy with a heartbeat and soul used to entertain Epstein, Maxwell and others'. Elizabeth Stein revealed she had to have an abortion after getting raped 'countless times'

Fellow victims listen tearfully as Sarah Ransome reads a victim impact statement ahead of Maxwell's sentencing

GHISLAINE'S STATEMENT AT SENTENCING HEARING IN FULL Your honor, it is hard for me to address the court after listening to the pain and anguish expressed today. The terrible impact on the lives of so many women is difficult to hear and even more difficult to absorb, both in its scale and extent. I acknowledge their suffering and empathize deeply with all of the victims in this case. I also acknowledge with that I have been a victim of helping Jeffrey Epstein commit these crimes. I realize I have been convicted of assisting Jeffrey Epstein to commit these crimes. My association with Epstein will permanently stain me. It is the biggest regret of my life that I ever met him. I believe Jeffrey Epstein fooled all of those in his orbit. His victims considered him a mentor, friend, lover. It is absolutely unfathomable today to think that was how he was viewed contemporaneously. His impact on all those close to him has been devastating. And today, those who even knew him briefly or never met him but were associated with someone who did, have lost relationships, jobs, and had their lives derailed. Jeffrey Epstein should have stood before you. In 2005. In 2009. And again in 2019. All the many times he was accused, charged, prosecuted. He should have spared victims the years of chasing justice. But today is ultimately not about Epstein. It is for me to be sentenced and for the victims to address me alone in court. To you I say: I am sorry for the pain you experienced. I hope my conviction along with my harsh incarceration brings you closure. I hope this brings the women who have suffered some measure of peace and faintly to help you put those experiences of so many years ago in a place that allows you to look forward and not back. I also acknowledge the pain this case has wrought to those I love, the many I held and still hold close, the relationships I have lost and will never be able to regain. It is my sincerest wish to all those in this courtroom and all those outside this courtroom that today brings a terrible chapter to an end. And to those of you who spoke here today and those who did not, may this day help you travel through darkness into the light. Advertisement

Three were identified in court only by their first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy: Jane, a television actress; Kate, an ex-model from the UK; and Carolyn, now a mom recovering from drug addiction.

The fourth was Annie Farmer, the sole accuser to identify herself in court by her real name, after speaking out publicly.

Before Tuesday's sentencing Maxwell, appearing in a blue prison uniform with shackles around her ankles, addressed the court and said she was 'fooled' by Epstein.

'I realize I have been convicted of assisting Jeffrey Epstein to commit these crimes,' she said. 'My association with Epstein will permanently stain me. It is the biggest regret of my life that I ever met him.'

She added that Epstein 'fooled all of those in his orbit.'

Prosecutors had asked Judge Nathan to impose a sentence of at least 30 years because of Maxwell's 'utter lack of remorse,' while Maxwell argued she should serve just four years as she is not a danger to the public.

The sentencing marks the end of a decades-long fight for justice by victims of Maxwell and Epstein.
Xinjiang vigorously develops specialty industries while promoting ethnic unity, protecting ecological environment

People's Daily Online) 13:27, June 29, 2022

Photo shows a staff member working in a farm of the sixth division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Wang Zhiqing)

Xinjiang, a place where specialty industries thrive, ethnic groups stay closely united, and the ecological environment keeps improving, has become a prosperous and harmonious place where the local residents live in happiness and contentment.

Driving development of specialty industries

Wanfang village in Hotan prefecture, situated at the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, Chinas largest desert, used to have a weak economic foundation.

There is a long tradition of planting roses in our village, but the scale of rose cultivation and the output value of rose planting are less satisfactory, said Metturdi MetSidiq, secretary of the Party committee in Wanfang village.

In 2017, Xinjiang Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. under the China Energy Investment Corporation built a rose planting demonstration park in Wanfang village, and started to lead efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of rose planting in the locality. In 2021, a cooperative was established in Wanfang village and roses were planted on 500 mu (33.33 hectares) of contiguous farmland.

Nowadays, the quality of the development of various specialty industries across Xinjiang has continued increasing, which has laid a solid foundation for local rural rejuvenation.

Border police deliver medicine to a herder and tell him how to apply the medicine to his livestock, in the Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Wang Shuai)

To solve the difficulties local farmers have encountered in selling their specialty products, Xinjiang has built a fruit collector network that covers all fruit-producing areas in the autonomous region. The capacity of the warehouses to process, sell and distribute fruits in these places has reached 5 million tonnes, and a total of 5,370 sales outlets have been built outside Xinjiang.

In addition, under the framework of the pairing assistance program, regions in Xinjiang have received capital, technical, and talent support from their inland counterparts to better develop their specialty industries.

The government work report of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 2022 pointed out that Xinjiang will cultivate advantageous industries and step up the construction of a modern industrial system which has Xinjiangs characteristics, and can benefit people of various ethnic groups in the autonomous region and support high-quality development.

Xinjiang will actively promote the development of the grape wine, dairy, and ethnic medicine industries, among other industries, to help increase the income of people of various ethnic groups in the autonomous region and further enhance their sense of benefit, according to the government work report.

Further strengthening ethnic unity

On every Monday or during important festivals, Salihjan Imin, an older Uygur man living in Tacheng city, would raise the Chinese national flag in his small courtyard. His neighbors from various ethnic groups would also gather there to participate in the ceremonies.

In the summer of 2009, Salihjan Imin told his family members that he would raise the Chinese national flag in his courtyard to safeguard national unity and promote patriotism.

Our neighbors of different ethnic groups would gather here to participate in singing and dancing activities. We felt that our relationship had become closer after every gathering, said Chen Xihong, a neighbor of Salihjan Imin.

Photo shows the scenery of Hemu village, Burqin county, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Xu Guangjian)

In October 2016, Xinjiang kicked off a campaign to promote ethnic unity. In 2021, more than 1.2 million officials and workers paired up with 1.6 million households of different ethnic groups as relatives.

Ramping up efforts to protect the local ecological environment

In recent years, Xinjiang has taken intensified efforts to rescue and protect rare, endangered and endemic wild animals. As a result, the habitats of wild animals in Xinjiang have continuously been restored and the populations of wildlife have kept expanding.

The number of wild horses released into the wild in Mount Kalamaili Ungulate Nature Reserve in Xinjiang has reached 328, which is nearly 10 times the number of wild horses released into the wild in the reserve for the first time in 2001.

Qiemo county, located near the desert, has a very fragile ecological environment.

During a tree planting activity held in April 2022, officials and residents in Qiemo county planted 300,000 saxaul trees (haloxylon ammodendron) and 20,000 populus diversifolia trees in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert. The activity has been held for the 24th consecutive year in the locality.

In recent years, a protective green ecological barrier consisting of saxaul trees and weeds has been built in the desert area near Qiemo county to protect the local ecological environment. Thanks to these efforts, the local peoples living environment has been continuously improved.

Qiemo is just one of the many places in Xinjiang that have taken concrete measures to control desertification. In 2021, Xinjiang restored 2.27 million mu (1 mu is 667 square meters) of rivers, lakes and wetlands, planted 2.65 million mu of trees, restored 6.34 million mu of grasslands, turned 570,000 mu of farmland back into forest, and tamed 6.6 million mu of land experiencing desertification.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday announced the activation of its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to address the rising number of monkeypox cases in the country.

The activation of the EOC would allow the agency to "further increase operational support for the response to meet the outbreak's evolving challenges." The facility is currently activated for COVID-19 and is where experts monitor information on other public health emergencies, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and oil spills.

Emergency Operation Center

The CDC's webpage also notes that the center works to outline a structure of response from the federal government and alongside non-government actors in emergency response. The most recent data from the agency showed that at least 244 probably or confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported in the U.S., as per CNN.

The situation comes as the federal government is also set to release at least 1.6 million vaccines by the end of the year to fight the outbreak. Federal health officials said on Tuesday that they were encouraging anyone who could have possibly been exposed to the disease to get the vaccine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be responsible for releasing 56,000 doses of the Junneos vaccine immediately in areas where monkeypox transmission rates are high. This will be followed by an additional 240,000 doses in the following weeks to address other cases.

Read Also: COVID-19 Infection Raises Risk of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Stroke [Research]

Authorities will distribute the vaccines through a tier system, which means they will prioritize areas with a high number of confirmed cases. The decision comes as the country has recorded more than 300 cases of monkeypox across more than two dozen states.

According to USA Today, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that they were recommending that vaccines be provided to both people with known monkeypox exposures who are contacted by public health, and also individuals who have been recently exposed to the disease but may not have been identified through case investigation and contact tracing.

Monkeypox Vaccines

The deputy director of the CDC's Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Jennifer McQuiston, said that intimate or sexual contact "seems to be a primary driver for transmission" for monkeypox."

Health officials added that people who have had a sexual partner diagnosed with monkeypox, as well as men who have had sex with other men who have had multiple sexual partners in areas where monkeypox cases were rising, should get vaccinated against the virus.

While vaccines are available, there are no treatments specifically for monkeypox infections. However, smallpox viruses are genetically similar, which means that smallpox vaccines could be used to prevent monkeypox infections.

Walensky, speaking of the vaccines to be shipped out, said that there were currently some limitations on supply and that the administration's priority right now was to make the treatment available to those who need it the most.

But an older smallpox vaccine, called ACAM2000, is associated with harsh side effects, including death, in people who are immunocompromised, pregnant women, and older adults. The vaccination program also drew criticism from experts who argued that it was too small or too slow to make an impact, the New York Times reported.



Related Article: WHO: Monkeypox Outbreak Not Yet a Global Health Emergency But Should be 'Closely Monitored'

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Activist and writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied has received a furious letter from a British woman urging her to leave the UK over her comments on the Union Jack flag.

Ms Abdel-Magied took to Twitter to show off the letter she was sent, which outlined why her comments about the British flag were 'very offensive'.

The letter was in response to Ms Abdel-Magied's remarks about the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration.

As the monarch celebrated her 70th year on the throne, the activist said the presence of so many Union Jack flags in her adopted homeland was like being in a 'waking nightmare'.

In the letter sent to Ms Abdel-Magied, the 'very offended indigenous British woman' accused the activist of being an 'engineer of social discord and division'.

'This country, that you insult, has given you a home and opportunities and the freedom to sprout your disgusting comments - which I found very offensive,' the letter read.

The letter received by Yassmin Abdel-Magied in response to her comments about the presence of so many Union Jack flags being a 'waking nightmare'

She then asked the activist, if she was so offended by the presence of British flags, why she wouldn't move.

'Please, don't let us stop you, I'm sure your fellow countrymen/women would love you to return there and support them,' the letter read.

'Freedom of speech? Don't let the door hit your a**e on the way out. Bit like Australia huh?'

Ms Abdel-Magied shared the letter on social media with a bunch of laughing face emojis.

'Not an offended Brit sending me a strongly worded letter because she didn't like one of my tweets. A literal physical letter y'all,' she wrote.

Ms Abdel-Magied was hit by a wave of criticism after she dragged the Queen's Jubilee celebration.

'Dude no. Bunting is a lovely, lovely British tradition. Once you've done a few more winters & non-summers you will - as I did when I lived there - long for a bright bit of fabric waving sadly in the drizzle,' one wrote.

While another said: 'If you don't like it move out but dont come back to Australia. I hear you are giving up your Australian citizenship, great news.'

A third commented: 'Why do you feel some flags are like 'a waking nightmare'?'

Activist and writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied took a brutal swipe at the Queen during her platinum jubilee celebration tweeting the presence of Union Jack flags throughout her adopted homeland is like ' waking nightmare'

Furious commenters fired back at Abdel-Magied's remark, with some telling her to 'go back to Australia'

The ex-ABC personality moved to Australia from Sudan when she was 18 months old but left for England in 2017 after causing outrage with a social media post about Anzac Day which read: 'Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)' on April 25.

She later apologised 'unreservedly' for the post.

Ms Abdel-Magied last month released a new book titled 'Talking about a revolution', which is a collection of new and revisited essays on resistance, transformation and revolution.

Her book also speaks on the concept of identity from a migrant by ancestry, and by choice.
A British woman who has been living in Australia has shared a pros and cons list of each country, with 'boring' used to describe her time Down Under.

Deborah made the move from East Yorkshire to New York after finishing university in 2001.

After watching the terrifying events of September 11 from her office window, Deborah decided she needed to be closer to family and moved to Sydney where one of her sisters lived, and after six years moved to Melbourne.

On Tuesday, the British expat wrote a list of pros and cons of living in both countries and shared it to Ping Pong Poms - a Facebook group for 'people thinking about moving back to the UK'.

Deborah posted a pros and cons list of living in Australia and the UK to a Facebook group for 'people thinking about moving back to the UK' on Tuesday (pictured)

'Just came back from the UK and am feeling, so jet lagged and homesick,' Deborah wrote.

'Was up at 1:30 this morning writing a pros and cons list as feel so flat after a lovely time in the UK summer.'

Deborah split the page down the middle and wrote the pros for both countries first.

Pros for the UK included family, beautiful countryside, supermarkets, country cottages, school friends, universities, history, close to Europe, more fun things for kids, chocolate, Christmas atmosphere, pretty market towns and pubs.

Meanwhile, more space, more opportunities for kids, low unemployment rate, higher pay, schools, second safest country to live in, restaurants, everything is on her doorstep, low population density, less public debt, strong economy, greater life expectancy, delicious tap water and outdoor pools topped Australia's pros list.

Unsurprisingly, Australia's pros list included sun all year round, beautiful beaches, low pollution and happy people.

Deborah wrote 11 cons for Australia - two more than the UK - including that it's boring, so far away, lack of history, rubbish supermarkets, bad chocolate, bushfires, expensive, slow internet, everything wants to kill you, shopping is not as fun/as good and crumpets are so bad.

The UK's con list was made up of tap water being horrid, motorways gridlocked, cold and miserable most of the year, driving standards, have to travel hours for a concert/airport, hospital wait times, outside London restaurants are no comparison to Oz and political unrest.

She told Daily Mail Australia the items on the lists were thoughts and 'nothing is wrong or right.'

'I love Australia for the 'no worries' attitude,' Deborah said.

'Australia is an amazing country with amazing opportunities, beautiful rainforests, oceans and beaches and fantastic wine.'

'Unfortunately, what Australia does lack is prawn cocktail crisps, chocolate that tastes good and above all, proper crumpets!'

Deborah's parents regularly visit Australia and adores North Queensland for its 'fishing, hot weather and laid back lifestyle'.

She said the post had gone a 'bit bonkers' after receiving more than 300 comments in less than 12 hours.

'Love that chocolate and crumpets made the list lol,' one user commented.

'I have just gotten back from 9 months back home in the UK and could not explain to work mates how bad crumpets are here compared to home,' another user wrote.

'Chocolate was definitely rubbish in Oz,' another chimed.

Other users said Deborah would be benefit from reading over the list and 'actually think about what matters'.

'Like, I don't think that 'bad chocolate' or even 'rubbish supermarkets' is really going to make a large impact on your life,' one user wrote.

Other Brits were also quick to share what they didn't like about Australia.

The homesick British expat (left) wrote the list after returning home from a trip to the UK where she visited her mum Joan (right)

'People in the UK have sense of humour and are funny. The flies in Australia are horrendous and high UV is annoying in Oz,' one wrote.

Another said: 'UK TV is better and grocery shopping is much cheaper/more choice (especially crisps and chocolate lol).'

'We moved back [to England] earlier this year and it was the best decision. Schools are brilliant, academia is better, more options for education and uni etc,' one Brit wrote.

'I'd say in England people focus on the rat race and material things far more. For me, people focus on living their best life in Australia. They are in nature more (because of the sun) and as such are healthier and happier versions of themselves,' another said.

One British woman said: 'Generally friendlier people [in England] and open to making new friends.

'Being able to enjoy outdoors all year round as long as rugged up in winter, the magical build up to Christmas and late night shopping in the dark (instead of a sweaty, blistering one where everything pretty much looks/feels the same as any other time of year).'

She also missed: 'Sunday roasts down the pub (pretty non-existent here or awful), and the politeness and courtesy.'

Another angry Brit disagreed with Deborah's assessment that Australians were happier people.

They wrote: 'a) I've just come back from Scotland and haven't laughed so much for 10 years and b) I work in healthcare here and have been abused for the last few years. Hence, moving home to my freezing homeland in January and can't wait tbh.'

Another said: 'Being close to Europe for holidays trumps Aus for me every time. So cheap and accessible,' she wrote. 'Yes the UK is pretty dire at the moment in terms of cost of living, but I can hop on a plane to Italy and be there within 2 hours for 45.'

The Melbourne resident has lived in Australia for 20 years with her husband Joe

Other British expats argued that being close to family and Europe should not necessarily be on the UK's pro list.

'Being closer to friends/family is good but being on the other side of the planet from any 'dramas' is also good,' one user wrote.

'Near Europe .my house in Essex is 1,200 miles from war zone.well within nuking distance is Putin losses what few marbles he has left,' another user commented.

A third person wrote: 'Brexit - hassle of not being able to waft through the European channel anymore.'

Meanwhile other users told the mother-of-two to to lighten up and embrace Australian culture.

'Enjoy Australian architecture even the lovely homestead old Queenslanders. They are just beautiful. Plenty of great Victorian architecture around to. England is beautiful but congested. Think of all the positives in Oz,' one user commented.

Another user wrote Australia is rich in Aboriginal history: 'Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the human settlement of Europe and the America.'

Another user wished Deborah 'good luck' in choosing between the two countries.

'I've decided to ping-pong back and forth a bit longer to enjoy the best of both hemispheres one day I must choose but not today,' the user wrote.
Radio personality Ben Fordham has blasted the courts for their apparent 'leniency' towards climate change protestors after their wild demonstrations forced Sydney's streets into chaos this week.

Fordham lashed Blockade Australia, saying the climate activists were playing the legal system and disrupting Sydneysiders trying to get about their daily life.

The comments came as part of an on-air spray Fordham made about the demonstrations, where he disparaged the protesters.

The activists (pictured trying to create a blockade on Tuesday) were advised how to behave and react if they were arrested

The 2GB host said the demonstrators thought they were above the law.

Fordham took aim at Mali Cooper, 22, who caused peak-hour traffic to pile up after she parked her car at the entrance of the harbour tunnel and chained her neck to the steering wheel, stopping thousands of commuters from getting to work on Monday.

'You can almost set your watch to it,' Fordham said on Wednesday.

'After a night in the cells on serious charges a magistrate has given her bail.

'She's facing two years in jail and a fine of $22,000 under the government's so-called tough new protest laws - but she's back on the streets.'

Fordham said that protesters like Mali Cooper, 22, (pictured) thought they were 'above the law'

He said the court's decision made a mockery of the government's pledge in March to clamp down on the 'extreme and selfish activity' of protesters.

The NSW government pushed through the new regulations to mitigate disruptive protests earlier this year.

One of those included a blockade on the city-bound lanes from the northern beaches, put in place by Fireproof Australia activists in February.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said at the time the bill was quickly put through, despite attempts by the Greens and Labor to 'render the bill ineffective'.

'The new regulations specify major roads, bridges, tunnels and other major infrastructure facilities,' Mr Speakman said.

'Protesters who disrupt these locations will face a fine of up to $22,000 and/or up to two years in jail.'

Roads Minister Natalie Ward made no apologies at the time for 'vigorously pursuing' the new legislation.

Despite tougher laws introduced last April, Fordham (pictured with his wife Jodie Speers) said the magistrates are giving the Blockade Australia protesters 'get-out-of-jail cards'

'It was essential for the NSW Government to put into place laws to stop this kind of extreme and selfish activity we have seen over the past few weeks by a small group of protesters hell bent on wreaking havoc,' Ms Ward said in April.

Despite the tougher laws, Fordham said the magistrates were giving the Blockade Australia protesters 'get-out-of-jail cards'.

'The Blockheads are laughing at us,' Fordham said on Wednesday.

Fordham also said the group has been given legal advice to remain silent if arrested and to not admit guilt initially if they were denied bail.

The outspoken host added it was unfair that the driver, who was trying to get through protesters on Monday, was slapped with a negligent driving fine.

The outspoken radio host said if only the courts would deal with activists the same way as they did a driver (pictured on Monday) who was fined $469 for negligent driving and had three demerit points docked, as their car was trying to get through the crowds, almost running over protestors

'Put yourself in his shoes for a second, he couldve been on his way to hospital or a job interview, or he may have been terrified by a group of lunatics surrounding his vehicle,' Fordham said.

'If only the courts dealt with the protestors as harshly as this driver.'

Blockade Australia put a pause on their scheduled week-long demonstration on Wednesday.

Their day off came after twelve arrests were made as protestors ran through the CBD streets towards Hyde Park on Tuesday, with less crowds turning up to demonstrate.
Frustrated business owners are being 'bombarded' with shipments of dozens of fridges they didn't order or pay for.

Supermarkets, a winery and even a salad bar have received dozens of free refrigerators as part of the Victorian Energy Upgrade Program.

The program gives homes and businesses access to providers selling 'energy-efficient products' to replace ageing or the least cost-effective appliances.

Installers can then claim profitable carbon credits for delivering the fridges to businesses.

Victoria's Essential Services Commission has responded to the bungle by suspending carbon credits for installers of the energy-efficient appliances.

Supermarkets, a winery and a salad bar have been gifted dozens of free refrigerators as part of the Victorian Energy Upgrade Program (pictured, a fridge from one of the deliveries)

Business owners say dozens of fridges are being dumped outside their shops while others complain of being harassed over phone and email by contractors.

Brandon La Manna from La Manna and Sons told 3AW radio host Neil Mitchell up to 40 fridges had been delivered across his four businesses, with more on the way.

The owner of the green grocer chain fears that additional fridges will end up in landfill and said he plans to donate the appliances to charity.

'To our knowledge it's a carbon offset that the big energy companies are doing, they're giving these fridges out to people to meet the offset,' he said.

'There was a bloke we had never heard of, never met, saying that he had free fridges and we thought to ourselves this must be a scam, but before you know it they just kept rocking up.'

Mr La Manna said he had naturally taken the fridges as they needed them and because they were free, but that it 'didn't make much sense at all'.

Ben Payten from Payten and Jones Winery has also received several refrigerators.

The business owner said 11 fridges had been delivered in three weeks and that he had initially registered his interest after receiving an email.

'A couple turned up, then they just kept turning up,' Mr Payten said.

Frustrated business owners are being 'bombarded' with shipments of dozens of fridges that they didn't order or pay for (pictured, fridges delivered to a Melbourne wine bar last week)

'We've put about four of them to use, the other ones are just sitting there, and we're trying to figure out what to do with them.'

He said he was worried the government would ask for the appliances back in a 'massive stuff up', so had stored them away just in case.

He estimated the cost of each commercial fridge was about $1,000.

Frankie, the owner of a salad bar in inner-city Melbourne, said she had been 'bombarded' by contractors trying to offload some of the fridges.

'It makes absolutely no sense to us that they're trying to offset carbon by using more energy and putting more equipment into these spaces,' she told 3AW.

'We've denied the in-shop visits and I've received multiple emails.'

Victoria's Essential Services Commission last week said they were aware of the issue and warned the behaviour is 'completely unacceptable'.

'We are aware of instances of large numbers of refrigerated cabinets being dumped on the street or provided to customers who don't want them,' a statement read.

'Businesses accredited under the Victorian Energy Upgrades program are on notice that we will not tolerate this behaviour.

Victoria's Essential Services Commission last week said they were aware of the issue and warned the behaviour is 'completely unacceptable' (pictured, one of the fridges)

'We will not be progressing the registration of Victorian energy efficiency certificates for multiple installations of refrigerated cabinets while we investigate this behaviour as an urgent priority.'

Opposition leader Matthew Guy blamed the state government for the stuff-up and said it had 'failed to manage' the energy scheme.

'How the hell could you get to a situation where cafes have been given 40 fridges  it's ridiculous .... and the taxpayer is footing the bill for it, no wonder the state's economy is in crisis,' he told the Herald Sun.

The commission has said the dumping of appliances on public thoroughfares 'must stop' and that the relevant authorities would be alerted.

Members of the public, businesses or program participants have been urged to contact the Essential Services commission with any information.
William Tyrrell's foster mother will ask to have charges against her of kicking a young girl, threatening to rub her face in her own excrement and then allegedly stalking her heard on mental health grounds.

Police allege the 55-year-old caused the girl 'pain and bruising', and also hit the girl with a wooden spoon.

William's foster father is due to face a trial next year after police allege he 'grabbed' the girl about the neck and 'physically restrained her to sit back down', while his wife will appear in court on Thursday.

The foster couple also allegedly subjected the girl to a 15-minute 'tirade of verbal abuse' while she pleaded them to stop and later told a teacher she was afraid to go back to the house.

The child had been placed in a 44 minute time-out period in November last year and had then told the couple, known by the pseudonyms SD and JS, that she 'hated them'.

William Tyrrell's foster mother (pictured) will face court on Thursday on charges she hit and kicked a young girl who police allege she threatened to rub the girl's face in her own excrement

The foster father of William Tyrrell (left) has put up more items for sale online including this child's guitar (right), a double bunk bed and children's books by Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl

SD and JS had been 'attempting to intervene in the (alleged) victim's problematic behaviour' and William's female foster carer had told the girl that if she were to defecate on the floor she would rub her face in it, it is alleged.

The details of the allegations against the couple in a psychologist's report were revealed earlier this month after a successful appeal to have a suppression order set aside, The Australian reported.

Police will allege that when the child screamed out in pain, SD 'then forced the child to sit on the floor for an extended period of time before kicking the (alleged) victim and causing her pain and bruising. The (alleged) victim is reported to have tried to get up a number of times but (SD) forced her to sit down.'

The report states police will allege the child was 'pleading' with SD to stop while the two defendants allegedly subjected her to a 15-minute 'tirade of verbal abuse'.

The alleged victim spoke to her schoolteacher and 'expressed being afraid to return home'.

The foster father, who is due to face a hearing next January into the alleged assault and stalking of a child, has placed more items online including children's clothes and books

Children's books by Roald Dahl and Dr Seuss (left) were put up for sale online by the foster father along with a child-sized wetsuit (right)

Also for sale by the foster father online was a white double bunk bed (above) with pink and blue flowered bedsheets

Last year, as police embarked on a new search of bushland near the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall for the remains of William Tyrrell, SD and her husband JS were charged with common assault of the girl.

Earlier this year they were charged respectively with two counts and one count of stalking and intimidation intending fear of physical harm against a child.

SD appeared in Parramatta Local Court on Thursday before Magistrate Peter Feather.

The foster mother's Mental Health Act application comes as William's foster father has put more children's items up for sale online.

Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed in April - just days after being charged with stalking - that the foster parents were holding a massive fire sale of children's bikes, car seats, prams, furniture and a water tank with items as low as $5.

The foster mother (above in Kendall after William vanished) is applying to the court to have charges of assaulting and stalking a child heard under the Mental Health Act

Police allege the foster mother (left with William) subjected the girl to a 15-minute 'tirade of verbal abuse' while she pleaded with her to stop. William (right) wearing his favourite red fireman's hat on a slide after his removal into foster care

The latest items listed by the foster father for sale include a white double bunk bed with blue and pink flowered sheets, a child's multi-coloured guitar, and child-sized wetsuit.

He is also selling children's books including Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr Fox and a set of Dr Seuss books.

JS has pleaded not guilty to the assault and stalking charges and has been listed for hearing on January 16 next year.

If Magistrate Feather refuses SDs application to have the charges heard under the Mental Health Act, she will join the January hearing.

Both William's foster mother and foster father have been charged with lying to the NSW Crime Commission after they appeared before the secretive body last year, and have both pleaded not guilty.

William Tyrrell (above) disappeared aged three in September 2014 in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found

Police search the Benaroon Drive house where William Tyrrell was last seen on the morning of September 12, 2014 during a 'high intensity' probe for the missing toddler's remains

William disappeared aged three in September 2014 in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found.

A new search of bushland within 700m of the Kendall house where William was last seen was conducted late last year, but no items of significance have been identified.
Whitehall's working from home culture is here to stay, the head of the civil service insisted yesterday.

Simon Case told MPs that hybrid working  where officials divide their time between home and the office  was now part of the system.

The Cabinet Secretary suggested that home working could help in the transformation of the civil service needed as part of plans to reduce its headcount.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case told MPs that hybrid working  where officials divide their time between home and the office  was now part of the system

Boris Johnson wants to slash the number of civil servants by 20 per cent  91,000 people  after numbers ballooned following Brexit and during the Covid pandemic.

Some ministers, including the government efficiences minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, have criticised the fact so many Whitehall officials are still working from home despite the end of the Covid crisis.

But Mr Case, appearing before the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, stuck firm to his belief that home working could be appropriate.

He said: Working from home has been part of the way the civil service has operated for the last decade or so.

Mr Case, appearing before the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, stuck firm to his belief that home working could be appropriate

I think it was when Francis Maude was minister in the Cabinet Office that it was part of our savings effort to reduce the cost to the taxpayer of the offices we were using.

Mr Case was asked whether ministers were out of touch on working practices  believed to be a reference to Mr Rees-Moggs campaign on the issue.

He said he would not comment on individual ministers, but added: The government spends still very significant money on the estate for government. Its absolutely vital we make the best use of taxpayers money.

The civil service does lots of things, including using technology. But its also a human organisation  theres a real value in people spending time face to face. As Jacob Rees-Mogg said in an article he wrote, hybrid working is intended to be part of the system. So it is here to stay.

Mr Case said: Working from home has been part of the way the civil service has operated for the last decade or so'

Responding to whether he believed the number of special advisers should be slashed, Mr Case said: Im sure ministers will be very conscious of their obligations on lead-ership duties

In May, the Prime Minister revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail that he wanted the size of the civil service to be slashed by a fifth.

Mr Case was asked whether it was right that this information had been disclosed first in a newspaper, given the sensitivities involved and the effect upon individuals.

In reply, he suggested that the way the news came out had been a mistake. He said: These sorts of announcements create enormous uncertainty for our staff, and its vital... that whatever mistakes have been made in communication, there will be transparent communication with the civil service about this.

In fact, we need many civil servants to contribute to these processes about efficiency. I think the civil service has been struck  as Ive gone round the country speaking to civil servants, this news has created real concern.

'Most of all they want to hear and be involved in the process. Ive made it clear the communication will be open and transparent.

Asked whether the Prime Ministers interview had made his job more difficult, Mr Case said: What I have to do is talk openly and honestly to the civil service about the challenges ahead and thats what I am determined to do.

Mr Case was also asked yesterday whether he believed the number of special advisers should be slashed, to which he replied: Im sure ministers will be very conscious of their obligations on lead-ership duties.
Jodie Haydon's life has changed dramatically in the past three years.

In 2019 she was an ordinary finance worker who supported the Rabbitohs and handed out how-to-vote cards on election days.

Now the 43-year-old is rubbing shoulders with global leaders and European royalty as she accompanies her partner, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to NATO meetings in Spain.

The daughter of school teachers - who was born in Bankstown, western Sydney - was pictured smiling in a green dress alongside Spain's Queen Letizia in the Romanesque city of Sergovia, just north of Madrid, on Wednesday.

She later posed for snaps with other leaders' partners including US First Lady Jill Biden, who has been joined on the trip by granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that while Ms Haydon has declared she wants to avoid formally commenting on politics as Australia's 'first lady', she certainly has no qualms airing her views on social media where she regularly posts about progressive issues.

Pictured: Anthony Albanese's partner Jodie Haydon (right) meets Queen Letizia of Spain (left)

Jodie Haydon and Queen Letizia meet during the Nato summit in Segovia, Spain on Wednesday

Jodie Haydon waves to the cameras she prepares to jet off across the world with her partner, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Jodie Haydon (far right) mingled with the wives and partners of world leaders in Segovia, Spain as the NATO summit got underway on Wednesday. The First Ladies of Malta, Turkey, Lithuania, Turkey, Norway, South Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Montenegro, Belgium, Cyprus, Albania and North Macedonia also attended with Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier and Juraj Rizman, partner of Slovakia's president Zuzana Caputova

Although she has never sought political office, Ms Haydon has been a Labor member 'on and off' and now works as a women's officer for the NSW Public Service Association.

Ms Haydon freely airs her opinions on LinkedIn where she has recently called for the date of Australia Day to be changed, argued for pay rises for teachers, supported refugees and described outspoken feminist Grace Tame as inspiring.

In one post last year, she shared a cartoon of an Aboriginal rights protester with the caption: 'Sovereignty has never been ceded. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. #ulurustatementfromtheheart #treaty #changethedate'.

Many Indigenous campaigners want Australia Day to be moved from January 26, the the British First Fleet claimed the land after arriving at Sydney Cove in 1788, because colonisation dispossessed Aboriginal people of their lands.

Ms Haydon's view on the matter contrasts with the Prime Minister's who, during the election campaign, insisted the date should not be moved.

'One of the things we need to do is seek ways to unite Australia, rather than engage in culture wars. It's really counterproductive,' he said.

A spokesman for Mr Albanese declined to comment on their disagreement, and Labor sources brushed off the difference, saying it's normal for partners to have different views from one another.

In Australia the prime minister's partner does not have an official role like the US first lady, but it's normal for them to attend important overseas or interstate trips.

PM Anthony Albanese and Ms Haydon meet His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain and his wife Queen Letizia on Tuesday night

Ms Haydon argued in this LinkedIn post for the date of Australia Day to be changed. Mr Albanese does not support this view

Queen Letizia of Spain hosted the wives and partners of world leaders in Segovia, including Australian First Lady Jodie Haydon (far right)

Jodie Haydon joined her partner at the NATO gala dinner in Madrid on Tuesday night

Ms Haydon used to be an ordinary finance worker (left in 2015 and right in 2009) but was thrust into the limelight when she started dating the 59-year-old Prime Minister in 2020

Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon disembark after arriving at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid on Monday

Ms Haydon, who used to work for superannuation funds, supported NSW teachers when they went on strike in December over pay and workload

And last month when the Fair Work Commission made a provisional decision to hand employees 10 days paid domestic violence leave, Ms Haydon celebrated the move

What is Australia's 'first lady' doing in Spain? Jodie Haydon has joined her partner of two years Anthony Albanese on his third overseas trip since becoming Prime Minister six weeks ago. The couple are in Madrid, where 34 world leaders have gathered for the NATO Summit, which got underway on Wednesday. On their way to Spain, Mr Albanese and his partner stopped over in the United Arab Emirates, where Australia has a military operating hub at the Al Minhad airbase just outside Dubai. The pair met with defence force personnel and Australian embassy staff at the hub known as Camp Baird, where Ms Haydon laid a wreath at a memorial honouring Australians killed on operations in the Middle East. Mr Albanese met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday following their arrival in Madrid on Monday night. Ms Haydon joined him that night for the NATO gala dinner gala hosted by the King and Queen of Spain. NATO was founded in 1949 as a security alliance to counter the Soviet Union, now Russia. The meeting brings together 30 member states and up to 25 partner nations, including Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand from the Asian-Pacific region to discuss important issues facing the Alliance. The Madrid Summit will set NATO's strategic direction for the next decade and beyond as it adapts to a ever changing world. Queen Letizia of Spain greets Australia's First Lady Jodie Haydon in Segovia on Wednesday Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the growing dominance of China are set to be high on the agenda at the summit. As her partner attended at the summit on Wednesday, Australia's 'first lady' spent the day mingling with US First Lady Jill Biden and other wives and partners of world leaders while enjoying the sights of Segovia, 90km north of Madrid. After the summit, Ms Haydon will travel with her partner to Paris, where Mr Albanese will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to mend Australia's strained relationship with France. Advertisement

Ms Haydon, who used to work for superannuation funds, also supported teachers when they went on strike in NSW in December over pay and workload.

'I stand in solidarity with our hard working public educators in NSW. Will you,' she wrote.

'As the daughter of two retired public school teachers, I know how hard this job is. As it stands today it's been clearly undervalued with unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries.

'We need to attract and retain quality teachers. They deserve our support more than ever.'

And last month when the Fair Work Commission made a provisional decision to hand employees 10 days paid domestic violence leave, Ms Haydon celebrated the move.

She said: 'This is why I'm proud to work for the union movement that has tirelessly advocated for better working conditions. This will make an enormous difference to those suffering at the hands of a violent partner.'

Ms Haydon has repeatedly posted about gender equality and women's safety and also been vocal about welcoming refugees into Australia.

Last week she shared a heart-warming post by NSW Police about a Vietnamese refugee who became a detective in Sydney, writing: 'This is a story that demonstrates the success of refugees coming to Australia and contributing to society in such a positive way.'

Mr Albanese, center, celebrates with his son Nathan, right, and his partner Jodie after winning the election on May 21

Mr Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon speak to members of the Australian Defence Force during a visit to Camp Baird in Dubai on the way to Europe

Ms Haydon has used her social media profile to support a voice to parliament for Aboriginal Australians

It appears Ms Haydon prefers to keep her views in the social media sphere.

In a News Corp interview during the election campaign she vowed to avoid political commentary, saying: 'Anthony is the one here who is running for political office, it's not me.

'My job will be to focus on my day job and allow Anthony to focus on his.'

The 43-year-old, who grew up on the Central Coast, said politics was a dinner table conversation in her childhood household.

'My parents had always expressed to me that you have to be interested in politics if you care about education, you care about where you get health care, if you care about public transport, if you care about the planet, fairness, equality, you have to take an interest in politics,' she said, revealing that all of her extended family are Labor voters.

Ms Haydon and Mr Albanese are only the second unmarried pair to be handed the keys to the Prime Minister's residences after Julia Gillard and her now former partner Tim Mathieson, a hairdresser.

Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon walk in Eastwood, Sydney after his election victory

In one post three months ago Ms Haydon said she was proud of Mr Albanese's 15kg weight loss

The couple posed for the March edition of Women's Weekly at Mr Albanese's home in Marrickville, inner-west Sydney and he revealed he wooed her with a first date at a hipster brewery near home.

'We had what I thought would just be a drink at Young Henrys in Newtown, and we got on really well. That's how it started,' he told Women's Weekly.

The pair met in early 2020 at a conference in Melbourne where Mr Albanese was speaking.

The then Opposition leader asked the crowd if there were any fellow South Sydney fans present and finance worker Ms Haydon, who lives in his Grayndler electorate, shouted: 'Up the Rabbitohs'.

He later introduced himself and they decided to go for a drink when they were back in Sydney.

Mr Albanese had recently split from Ms Tebbutt after 19 years of marriage and 30 years together.

He said he was still 'emotionally bruised' from the sudden split which involved no third parties but came as a shock.

Mr Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon prepare to lay a wreath at a memorial at Camp Baird in Dubai

Ms Haydon, who has never been married or had children, said she wasn't looking for a relationship but realised she had fallen in love with Mr Albanese when he had a car crash in January 2021.

His Toyota was rammed by a Range Rover and he was rushed to hospital for X-rays but escaped serious injury.

Ms Haydon recalled arriving at the scene of the crash in Marrickville after a phone call and seeing her boyfriend's smashed-up car.

'I saw the mess of a car before I saw him and thought 'he couldn't survive this''. It was very scary, and in that moment, you realise just how much you love this person  the fear of losing them,' she said.

'As I jumped in the ambulance and saw Anthony, I knew then the depth of my feelings towards him.'

Earlier this year, Ms Haydon criticised outgoing PM Scott Morrison in a podcast.

She blasted the Prime Minister for not implementing all 55 recommendations of the Jenkins report into sexual harassment.

Mr Albanese during a street walk with his partner Jodie Haydon a week after his election victory

Ms Haydon spoke to troops in Dubai while she travelled with Mr Albanese to Europe

She spoke about the issue in her role as women's officer for the NSW Public Service Association.

'One of the things we could be doing is adopting Respect at Work, the 55 recommendations that the Jenkins report has delivered,' she said.

'You know, these steps are actionable, they're tangible, but at the moment, they're missing in action, we haven't seen these implemented more broadly.'

The Respect@Work Report made 13 recommendations that required changes to Commonwealth law.

The Government implemented six of them in September and was consulting on the rest to avoid any unintended consequences.

Labor vowed to immediately implement all the recommendations, which include imposing a duty on employers to takes steps to eliminate sex discrimination and allowing unions to bring claims to court.

Ms Haydon also praised Grace Tame in the interview and vowed to be 'relentless' in her new role.

'We all looked at her bravery and thought here's someone who's taking the Australian of the Year platform and using it to tell their story,' she said of Ms Tame, who was sexually abused by her school maths teacher.

She said she would use her new role as Women's Officer to 'really advance women's issues but agitate for change'.

'I'm going to be pretty relentless,' she said.
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Secret Services is reportedly prepared to push back against claims that President Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle and lunged at Secret Service when agents refused to take him to the Capitol.

Such allegations were made by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant to Mark Meadows, who said she had heard the tale second hand.

Bobby Engel, the lead agent on Trump's detail, and the presidential driver at the time are prepared to testify under oath to the committee that Hutchinson's testimony is incorrect, according to multiple news outlets.

The Secret Service promised in a public statement after the hearing to respond to the allegations.

'The United States Secret Service has been cooperating with the Select Committee since its inception in spring 2021, and will continue to do so, including by responding on the record to the Committee regarding the new allegations surfaced in today's testimony.'

The White House chief of staff's former top aide, just 25 years old, testified on Tuesday that Donald Trump's White House chief of staff told her that 'things could get real, real bad on January 6' just four days before the Capitol riot.

She also claimed her former boss, along with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, sought pardons from the former president linked to their efforts on January 6.

Among the more explosive points of the former staffer's testimony include Trump's alleged insistence on joining his supporters at the Capitol - who he was told in advance were armed.

'I'm the effing president, take me to the Capitol now,' she said he ordered.

When Secret Service refused, Hutchinson said agents told her that he lunged at the steering wheel of his car - known as The Beast.

'Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol,' Hutchinson was told Secret Service agent Robert Engel said.

'Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel,' Hutchinson recalled.

Former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato 'motioned toward his clavicle,' she added, as a sign the president went for his security detail's throat.

Trump denied Hutchinson's testimony in a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social.

'Her fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol is "sick" and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself - Wouldn't have even been possible to do such a ridiculous thing.'

Other evidence of Trump's explosive temper came when Hutchinson testified that the former president was so angry that his then-Attorney General Bill Barr told the Associated Press that there was no widespread election fraud that he threw food at the wall.

Hutchinson said she 'first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall, and there was a shattered porcelain plate.'

'The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall, which was causing them to have to clean up, so I grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out,' she said.

Her testimony - and the hearing as a whole - also paints a picture of Trump having to be dissuaded from marching to the Capitol with his supporters that day - despite Meadows claiming in his book that the former president was not serious when he told his supporters he'd do so.

Other damning allegations from Hutchinson during her appearance in front of the January 6 committee on Tuesday included:

Hutchinson testified that former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told her 'things could get real, real bad on January 6'

Four days before the Capitol riot, the ex-White House staffer said Rudy Giuliani told her January 6 would be a 'great day'

Both Giuliani and Meadows sought pardons from Trump over January 6, Hutchinson told lawmakers

Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney played a video of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn pleading the Fifth Amendment when asked if he supports the peaceful transfer of power

Cheney also implied that the committee has evidence of Trump and his allies' witness tampering in the House's investigation

Trump reportedly knew people with weapons tried to get into his Stop The Steal rally before the riot

He was 'furious' that his armed supporters were being kept away because it made his crowd look smaller

The former president lashed out against 'phony' Hutchinson on his Truth Social app during the hearing

Former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson was revealed to be the January 6 committee's surprise Tuesday witness

The 25-year-old has firsthand information about the former president and his top aides' movements on the day of and leading up to the Capitol riot

'I was aware of a desire of the president to potentially march to the or accompany rally attendees to the Capitol,' former Trump aide Nick Luna testified in a videotaped deposition shown on Tuesday.

A National Security Council chat log shown by the committee suggests he was hell-bent on going with supporters and staffers were 'begging him to reconsider.'

During her live testimony, Hutchinson recalled a conversation with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy during which he allegedly begged her to dissuade Trump from going to the Capitol.

She said McCarthy was 'frustrated and angry.' Hutchinson told him she was not aware of Trump's plan to go to the Capitol at the time.

Who is Cassidy Hutchinson, the 25-year-old aide with the most damning allegations against Trump on January 6? At just 25 years old, Cassidy Hutchinson has a resume under her belt that even seasoned political operatives have taken decades to put together. Hutchinson was an executive assistant to Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the weeks leading up to and after the January 6 insurrection. Her live Tuesday testimony before the Capitol riot committee is the most damning yet in the fact that she was in the room for some of the most private -and intense - conversations had by the former president and his allies as they laid out a strategy to steal the 2020 election. As committee Chairman Bennie Thompson pointed out, Hutchinson's work in Washington began with internships in the office of House GOP Whip Steve Scalise and Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz. 'Then, in 2019, you moved to the White House and served there until the end of the Trump administration,' Thompson said during the hearing. She began with a role in the Office of Legislative Affairs in March 2019 - just before graduating - before being elevated to executive assistant for Meadows in March 2020, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also interned for Trump's White House as a student at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. There, Hutchinson majored in political science and American studies. She told her student newspaper during her senior year in 2018 that getting the coveted internship brought her to 'tears' and her goal was to 'pursue a path of civic significance.' 'As a first-generation college student, being selected to serve as an intern alongside some of the most intelligent and driven students from across the nation  many of whom attend top universities  was an honor and a tremendous growing experience,' Hutchinson said at the time. Advertisement

'He just said it on stage, Cassidy, figure it out,' McCarthy apparently told her.

Trump 'didn't care' the rioters were 'armed' and his White House counsel feared staff would be charged if supporters reached the Capitol

Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone told her 'we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable' if Trump is allowed to march to the Capitol.

Hutchinson also told the January 6 committee that Trump was 'furious' that some of his supporters, who were armed, could not get into the official grounds of his Stop the Steal rally near the White House that directly preceded the riot.

He was apparently angry that the size of the crowd coming to hear him speak did not appear as big as he wanted it to - due to his armed supporters not getting past the security magnetometers.

'Take the effing mags away,' she said Trump ordered, referring to the metal detectors attendees had to go through.

'Who cares if they have weapons, they're not here to hurt me.'

The committee then played a clip of Trump's comments at the rally urging his supporters to march to the Capitol - words that appeared stark in the context of testimony claiming he knew they presented a security risk.

Hutchinson admitted to being the White House staffer behind a note written on executive office stationary on January 6 that stated: 'Anyone who entered the Capitol illegally without proper authority should leave immediately.'

'Illegally' had been scribbled out.'

The note, she said, was a draft statement dictated by Meadows and former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann.

Hutchinson said the statement was never issued.

Trump takes to Truth Social and claims he 'hardly knew' Cassidy Hutchinson and rejected her request to come to Mar-a-Lago after he left office

Toward the end of the first half of the hearing, Trump took to his app Truth Social to say he 'hardly knows' Hutchinson.

'I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and a 'leaker'), and when she requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request now,' he said.

Hutchinson's exit before a 10-minute recess was met with applause by progressive Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, who attended the hearing as a viewer.

The second half began with a short clip of the committee's interview with disgraced former general and Trump adviser Michael Flynn.

Flynn pleaded the Fifth Amendment when Cheney asked him whether he believed in a peaceful transfer of power.

Trump's Cabinet discussed invoking the 25th Amendment as the riot unfolded, Hutchinson tells committee

Hutchinson also confirmed reports from the time of the riot that Trump's Cabinet was considering invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the then-president from office - and that it was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who brought it to her boss's attention.

'Mr. Pompeo reached out to have the conversation with Mr. Meadows in case he hadn't heard the discussions amongst the Cabinet secretaries. And from what I understand, it was more of this is what I'm hearing, I want you to be aware of it,' she testified.

Pompeo is widely seen as a potential contender for the White House himself in 2024.

Hutchinson testified that Trump was so angry that his Secret Service agents refused to take him to the Capitol on January 6 that he lunged for one of their throats

The president's vehicle is a heavily-armored car known as 'The Beast,' driven by Secret Service agents. This graphic shows another similar model of The Beast to the SUV version Trump was in on January 6

The former senior White House aide testified that Trump was aware that some of his supporters could not get into his Stop the Steal rally because they were armed - and that he was reportedly 'furious' about it.

The ex-White House staffer was revealed to be the January 6 committee's surprise witness late on Monday night for the hastily-announced hearing.

She told lawmakers in her first public testimony of the investigation that Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani told her January 6 would be a 'great day' as she escorted him out of a White House meeting earlier that month.

'He looked at me and said something to the effect of, 'Cass are you excited? The 6th is going to be a great day',' Hutchinson recalled.

When she asked Giuliani what he meant, Hutchinson said he replied: 'We're going to the Capitol. It's going to be great. The president's going to be there, he's going to look powerful.'

Referring to her boss, he encouraged her to 'talk to the chief about it' because 'he knows about it.'

Hutchinson testified that she went straight to Meadows and told him about her 'interesting' conversation with the disbarred attorney.

'There's a lot going on, Cass. I don't know, things could get real, real bad on January 6th,' she recalled Meadows saying.

She shared her own perspective, adding: 'That evening was the first moment I remembered feeling scared and wondering what could happen on January 6.'

The 25-year-old has firsthand knowledge of conversations between Trump and his allies in the lead-up to the 2020 election and after it.

At the outset of the hearing, Vice Chair Liz Cheney said the panel would be 'departing' from its normal format to accommodate the 'important and cross-cutting topics' in Hutchinson's wide-ranging testimony.

Chairman Bennie Thompson opened the hearing showing how close Hutchinson's office was to Trump

The panel also played clips from some of the 20 hours that Hutchinson spent testifying behind closed doors

Photos like this one of Hutchinson with Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany demonstrate how deeply the 25-year-old was embedded in Trump's orbit

Thompson opened his line of questioning asking Hutchinson about her relatively short resume compared to other senior White House staffers, before displaying diagrams reflecting the physical proximity her office had to Trump in the Oval Office.

Tuesday's hearing was revealed in an announcement roughly 24 hours before it was set to occur. The surprise event came after Thompson told reporters last week that his committee's final two presentations would be delayed until July.

In an unusual move, the panel gave no additional details in its announcement but said it would 'present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.'

Hutchinson has been deposed by the committee at least three times behind closed doors for a combined nearly 20 hours.

She's previously told lawmakers that Trump showed support for rioters in the US Capitol who were chanting 'Hang Mike Pence' and that she saw the president's former chief of staff burn pages in his office after a meeting with GOP Rep. Scott Perry.

Hutchinson told lawmakers on Tuesday that she was 'disgusted' by Trump tweeting that Pence 'lacked courage' after the former vice president rejected his boss's plot to overturn President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

'It was unpatriotic, un-American, and we were watching the Capitol being defaced because of a lie,' Hutchinson testified.

Her boss, however, suggested Trump said he 'deserves' it, according to the aide's testimony.

Hutchinson recalled a conversation between Cipollone and Meadows that day as rioters chanted for Pence to be hanged.

'Mark we need to do something more. They're literally calling for the VP to be f***ing hung,' Cipollone said according to Hutchinson.

'Mark had responded something to the effect of, 'You heard him, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong'.'

The January 6 committee is also looking into phone calls reportedly made among Trump's adult children and his top aides discussing election strategy in September 2020, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The calls were made at a private event and were captured on video by British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder. Holder's first-hand footage and interviews of Trump, his family and Vice President Mike Pence in the weeks leading up to the November presidential race have become a focal point for the committee as it hones in on Trump's plan to undermine American democracy.

Lawmakers are focused on whether the former president and his children were involved in a plot to send in fake electors to upend Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. The Justice Department has separately subpoenaed at least nine people linked to the scheme.
Australia's Governor-General has apologised after appearing in a video testimonial for a building company that renovated his private home.

David Hurley and his wife Linda appeared in the clip and offered glowing praise for the company Homes by Howe, which extended the couple's Canberra property 18 months ago.

While it's not illegal, it is widely frowned upon for a high-profile public official who is receiving a tax-payer funded salary to advertise a private business.

Governor-General David Hurley and his wife Linda agreed to pose for a photo for their builder Homes by Howe following the completion of renovations to their private Canberra home

The Governor-General, who is the Queen's representative in Australia, apologised for the mistake in a statement released on Wednesday morning.

'I made a mistake by agreeing, on the spur of a happy moment, to express my appreciation for the builder in a video and photos. I apologise for my mistake,' he said.

'I received no benefit of any kind for my participation. My words were not intended to be used in direct commercial advertising and reference to my appointment was not to be made.

'Nevertheless, I should have checked that my guidance was accurately followed. I have asked the builder to remove all material related to my comments.'

The couple also appeared in a photo with the builder and architect in November when the builder was named as a 2021 Master Builders Australia finalist for extensions worth more than $1million on the couple's home.

The testimonies were slammed by government sources as 'absurd' and 'very odd'.

Labor MP Julian Hill described the testimonial as an error of judgment.

'It needs to be corrected to maintain the dignity of the office. In the same way the Governor-General needs to remain above politics they need to remain above commercial interests,' he told news.com.au.

A testimonial video for Homes by Howe featuring the Governor-General and his wife has come under from government sources and MPs

Canberra builder Homes by Howe has a page devoted to the renovations done to the Governor-General's private home (pictured) on its website

The Governor-General's office said that while he and his wife agreed to appear in a video and photo for the builder in a private capacity, permission wasn't sought for the material to be posted publicly.

'The testimonial was provided in a private capacity, following work done on the Hurleys' private home at their own expense. There was no payment, discount or any gifts in kind,' a spokesman said.

'The testimonial should not have included 'Governor-General' in its distribution.

'Neither Buckingham Palace or the Prime Minister provide clearance on any activity (official or private) the Governor-General undertakes.'

The video testimony showed Governor-General Hurley explaining how they had worked on the project the builder for 18 months.

'We're really delighted with the outcome and end product,' he explained.

'The entire time we've had a very positive and constructive relationship with Brendan and his crew. They've been very professional, we've been able to talk and we've got a great outcome.'

The Governor-General's wife Linda also said a few words to heap praise on the builder.

The builder's website also has a written testimony from their famous client

Homes by Howe was named as a 2021 Master Builders Australia finalist for extensions on the couple's home. The project was worth more than $1million

'Brendan has explained things clearly. He's always had a smile on his face. He's always been kind and he went out of his way to make me feel happy,' she said.

'And I feel really, really happy now. And I would like to say thank you for all the things he's changed for us.

'He's produced a beautiful home which I look forward to living in.'

Who is David Hurley? Governor General David Hurley, 68, is Australia's 27th representative of the monarch. He is a Australian former senior officer in the Australian Army who served 42 years in the military before retiring in 2014. He was previously the 38th governor of NSW and served from 2014 to 2019. July 1 will mark three years in the role as the Australian Governor General. Advertisement

A page devoted to the renovations of the Governor-General's home remains on the Homes by Howe website, along with a short written testimony from their famous client.

'It was a great honour to be trusted with the home extension for the Governor General's private residence in Canberra. Delighted with the outcome, David Hurley, and his wife Linda, can continue to enjoy their memory filled home for years to come,' the website states.

'The art of a great home extension is in creating a seamless transition between the old and the new. This is where our high attention to detail shines through. For this extension and renovation, two thirds of the original house was demolished.'

The latest controversy comes just weeks after Governor-General Hurley was blasted for 'disrespectful' comments at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Reporters had asked Australia's representative of the monarch about the possibility of our nation becoming a republic while he was in England for the celebrations.

While the Governor General said the Queen had lots of 'emotional support' from Australians, he believes that could change under the reign of a new monarch.

'I think at the moment people centre on the Queen, and then when she goes, when she passes, then the succession comes in, there's a new discussion in Australia,' Mr Hurley replied.

His comments sparked a massive backlash back home with Ben Fordham leading the outrage.
Nicola Sturgeon was last night accused of a self-indulgent waste of time as she announced plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence next year.

The SNP leader said she would press ahead with another vote on October 19, 2023, despite failing to win permission from the UK government.

Miss Sturgeon said Scotland had paid a price for remaining within the UK and claimed that young people had been robbed of opportunity.

Unveiling her latest plan to break up the UK in the Scottish Parliament, she added: Now is the time for independence.

But in a significant climbdown, she ruled out holding a wildcat referendum if the courts refuse her permission.

Under the terms of Scotlands devolution deal, Miss Sturgeon needs the consent of the UK government to hold a legal referendum on independence.

Divisive: Nicola Sturgeon was last night accused of a self-indulgent waste of time as she announced plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence next year

Downing Street has indicated Boris Johnson will refuse permission to re-run a vote held just eight years ago.

Instead, Miss Sturgeon will now ask the Supreme Court to rule on whether she can hold a consultative referendum on the same question: Should Scotland be an independent country?

She said: If it does transpire there is no lawful way for this parliament to give the people of Scotland the choice of independence in a referendum... my party will fight the UK general election on this single question.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross described Miss Sturgeons statement as a melodramatic, self-indulgent, irresponsible waste of time and pledged to boycott any vote. We wont take part in a pretend poll when there is real work to be done, he said.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was wrong to stir up divisive constitutional issues when the country was still recovering from the pandemic.

He said that pandemic Nicola had been replaced by partisan Nicola who wants to divide our country... and pursue a referendum two-thirds of Scots dont want right now.

Mr Johnson urged the Scottish first minister to focus on the economy and cost of living, saying that the UK would have a stronger country together.

A No10 spokesman made clear the Prime Minister continues to believe it is not the time to be talking about a second referendum, adding: Our position remains unchanged that both ours and the Scottish governments priority should be working together with a relentless focus on the issues we know matter to people up and down the country.

The last referendum, in 2014, was won by the No campaign by a margin of 55:45. At the time the SNP said it was a once in a generation chance to take Scotland out of the UK.

Scotlands most senior law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, will now refer the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill to the UK Supreme Court.

Miss Sturgeon acknowledged that securing consent was the only way of putting the legality of the referendum beyond doubt.
A Georgia boy died in a warm automobile at a Wendy's drive-thru after his grandmother forgot about him in the back seat.

Kendrick Engram Jr, three, was discovered by his uncle outside the fast-food restaurant on Wynnton Road in Columbus on Sunday after being left inside the car for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, according to the Muscogee County Coroner's Office.

Georgia Boy Dies in Hot Car

He died of asphyxiation after being left in the hot automobile; the day's maximum temperature was 96 degrees Fahrenheit, and the low was 90 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service's three-day prediction. According to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan, Kendrick spent most of Sunday with relatives, including his three sisters and grandmother. They got home at 5:30 p.m.

It didn't happen until approximately 8:15 pm said after Kendrick went missing, his grandmother "went out to the children and enquired about a head count, and nobody knew where Kendrick was." Kendrick was discovered at 8:30 pm, when his mother contacted his uncle, who owned the vehicle the youngster had been traveling in earlier that day.

According to Bryan, the grandma contacted him while he was at Wendy's to ask whether Kendrick was with him. The boy's uncle first denied his presence, but he was soon discovered in the third-row seat of a Nissan SUV.

Around 9 pm that night, the youngster was pronounced dead. As of Tuesday, it was unclear if the family will face charges in connection with the three-year death. old's On Tuesday, a Go Fund Me website was set up in the boy's honor, with a $10,000 objective to cover his burial expenses. So yet, only $50 in donations have been made.

Kendrick was characterized as "energetic, loving, and full of life!" in the fundraising. He is survived by his mother, Yolanda Thomas, and father, Kendrick Engram, as well as six siblings. According to the National Safety Council, this is the sixth heat-related fatality of a youngster in a car this year. According to the council, 38 children under the age of 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in a car.

As reported by CNN, a 5-year-old kid died in Texas last week after being left inside a car outside his family's Houston house. In Virginia, an 18-month-old boy died after being stabbed. The cause of death for the youngster was not specified by police, although the peak temperature in Midlothian, roughly 20 miles west of Richmond, was around 81 degrees Fahrenheit that day.

Read Also: Ghislaine Maxwell Prison Sentence Set for 20 Years | Here's Where Jeffrey Epstein's Ex-Lover Will Be Jailed

Similar Cases in US Increased

As per Safe Kids, Kendrick is the seventh kid in the United States to die after being left in a hot car this year, and the second in Georgia. Over the previous two years, more than 100 children have died after being left alone in a hot automobile. Trace Means, five, died last week in Houston, Texas, when his mother Amanda Means, 36, abandoned him in the back of a Porsche SUV for two to three hours.

Detectives believe she just forgot Trace was still strapped into his car seat as she entered their $1.4 million Houston house to give his eight-year-old sister a birthday party. By the time Amanda discovered her error, the bouncy, blonde-haired toddler had died of probable heat stroke, as shown in the first of a series of tragic family images.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is still investigating, despite the fact that the mother has not been charged. Trace's parents are divorcing, and he spent Father's Day with his father before being dropped off at home a few hours before the tragedy on Monday.

Related Article: Abandoned Trailer Marks Deadliest Smuggling Attempt in US History; 51 Dead Due to Blazing Heat

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The Conservative Party is putting plans in place to hold a snap general election if Sir Keir Starmer is forced to resign as Labour leader, it has been claimed.

Both Sir Keir and his deputy Angela Rayner have promised to resign if they are fined by police for drinking beer in an MP's office in Durham in April 2021.

At the time, a ban on any indoor mixing of households was in place. and Durham Police have since issued questionnaires as part of their investigation into whether the gathering broke the law.

Sir Keir has vowed that he will not stand in any subsequent leadership contest if he is found to have breached Covid regulations.

In consideration of this potential outcome, staff at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) are reportedly putting plans in place to hold a snap general election immediately after any potential Labour leadership contest.

A source told the Times the party is prepared to exploit any splits that would emerge as a result of a leadership battle within the opposition.

Durham Police is currently looking into Keir's beer and curry night with aides in April last year, which Starmer (pictured above) insists was essential work during the election campaign

Pictured: Deputy leader Angela Rayner has also said she would stand down if issued with a fine

The source said: 'Labour would have spent three months tearing chunks out of themselves, and each candidate would inevitably have to lurch to the left to win the vote. It's the best chance we'd have of securing another majority under Boris.'

The scandal broke after the Labour leader was photographed swigging a beer in an MP's office last year following a day of campaigning in the local elections.

Despite denials stretching back three months, it emerged that Ms Rayner had also been present, along with Durham MP Mary Foy.

It has also emerged that the group of around 20 people shared a 200 curry at a time when buffet-style meals were banned.

Both politicians have denied wrongdoing over the gathering with aides during the local election campaign in April last year, but have pledged to stand down if they are fined.

Labour has argued that food was consumed between work events, meaning it was within the rules.

While aides reportedly remain confident that the pair will follow in the footsteps of Dominic Cummings, who avoided police action after driving to Barnard Castle in 2020, they still likely face a nervous wait.

Another source told the Times: ''Given the latest revelations who have been retrospectively fined, this is being taken very seriously at the highest level.

Johnson (left) vowed to still be in No 10 in the mid 2030s despite suffering a bruising double by-election loss which prompted the resignation of Oliver Dowden (right) as party chairman

Both politicians have denied wrongdoing over the gathering with aides during the local election campaign in April last year

If Labour ends up in a leadership election, that could change the electoral dynamic and the party's planning at the highest level.

'There are discussions about all eventualities. They've got to have contingencies in all eventualities and this went up the agenda in the light of the revelations that Durham have handed out retrospective fines.'

However, despite the claims, an official party spokesman told the paper there was 'absolutely no truth' to the suggestion that the party would call for a snap general election the day after a potential Labour leadership contest.

It comes after Boris Johnson insisted he would seek a third term as Prime Minister and lead his party into the mid-2030s.

Johnson vowed to stay in No 10 despite suffering a bruising double by-election loss which prompted the resignation of Oliver Dowden (right) as party chairman

As plotting by Ministers, MPs and party donors intensified in the wake of the PMs drubbing in two by-elections last Thursday, Mr Johnson said he was thinking actively about a third term in office  potentially taking him past Margaret Thatchers 11 years in Downing Street.

His defiance came as one of the candidates to succeed him told The Mail on Sunday that they expected the PM to face a challenge within weeks or even days.

Mr Johnson insisted to reporters at a Commonwealth summit in Kigali, Rwanda, that questions of his leadership were settled after he won a vote of confidence earlier this month, and pledged he would not undergo any psychological transformation in order to win over unsupportive MPs.

If the next General Election is held, as expected, in 2024, Mr Johnson would be seeking a third term in 2028 or 2029, taking him theoretically to 2034.

In reality, most Tory MPs are wondering whether he can remain in power until the Commons summer recess at the end of July.
Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed on Tuesday that he is suffering from 'Covid rebound' symptoms after being treated with Paxlovid.

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 its manufacturer Pfizer's own data.

Fauci, 81, broke the news while speaking remotely at the Foreign Policy Global Health Forum.

Earlier this month, Fauci tested positive for the virus with mild symptoms including fatigue. As his symptoms got slightly worse, Fauci began a five day course of Paxlovid.

Following that course, Fauci said that he tested negative for the virus three days in a row. He decided to test again on the fourth day. The result came back positive.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control issued a formal warning regarding a Covid-19 rebound as result of a course of Paxlovid.

The agency said that some patients who were prescribed Paxlovid suffered a recurrence of symptoms or tested positive for Covid between two and eight days after recovery.

The CDC announcement said that there was not enough data to make a conclusion on the cause for the rebound. The agency noted that none of the reported rebound cases saw patients suffer a severe recurrence.

In his announcement about his Covid rebound, Fauci said that his symptoms were 'much worse' after he tested positive for the second time.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he first tested positive for Covid-19 on June 14 and began his first course of Paxlovid on June 15

Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies virtually during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update on the ongoing Federal response to COVID-19 on June 16

According to a June 22 University of California San Diego School of Medicine study, Covid-19 rebound symptoms after a course of Paxlovid are caused because not enough of the drug was getting to infected cells to stop all viral replication.

The study refers to this as a lack of exposure to the drug.

The day after that study was published, Pfizer published its Phase 2/3 Paxlovid trial data.

The data analyzed Paxlovid'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.

The drug received emergency use authorization in late 2021.

Biden has propped it up during his 2022 State of the Union address as one of the keys to America's Covid response, even offering it for free to anyone who tests positive for the virus.

Pfizer's own study found that a fully vaccinated person with little personal risk had little to gain from using the drug

At the 2022 State of the Union, Biden said: 'If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90 percent.'

'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.

At the same conference where he announced his Covid-19 rebound, Fauci also said: 'It is not the time to be at odds with each other, it's a time to be pulling together against the common enemy, which is the [Covid-19] virus.'

The Foreign Policy Global Health public forum is 'a platform for global health experts to discuss the most pressing issues and developing trends in international public health,' according to the organization.

Fauci also said that he felt as though there are more people with Covid-19 than is being publicly reported.

Fauci said: 'I would say [the amount of COVID infections are] at least a couple fold if not more than what's reported... so many people that I know personally have gotten infected, been minimally symptomatic, and never reported their antigen positivity.'

The president's Covid tsar also called for an 'aggressive' public vaccine campaign saying: 'If you locked down only for the sake of locking down, sooner or later the virus is going to enter or re-enter into your country.'

He continued: 'The purpose should be to get a very aggressive vaccination campaign to all citizens.'

At the Foreign Policy Global Health Forum, Fauci said that he tested positive, then negative, then positive again

In his appearance at the Foreign Policy forum, Fauci called for an 'aggressive' vaccine effort

Research has shown that Paxlovid is effective in fighting Covid-19 but it has shown limited capabilities in fighting the virus in vaccinated persons

The Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are the most prevalent strain of Covid-19 in the U.S., the C.D.C. estimates

Fauci said on Tuesday: 'It is not the time to be at odds with each other, it's a time to be pulling together against the common enemy, which is the Covid-19 virus

It remains unclear from where Fauci contracted the virus, but his announcement comes just two days after Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced a breakthrough case of COVID.

Fauci was last seen in person in public on June 3, when he served as the keynote speaker for City College of New York's graduation ceremony.

The diagnosis marked the second time in three weeks Becerra, 64, contracted it, after being vaccinated and boosted.

He was reportedly having mild symptoms and will also continue to isolate.

'This morning in Sacramento, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra tested positive for COVID-19 after taking an antigen test. He is fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms,' the agency said in a statement on Monday.

'He will continue to perform his duties as HHS secretary, working in isolation.'

'Secretary Becerra has not been considered a close contact of President Biden or Vice President Harris, as defined by the CDC. The Secretary remains engaged with the duties of his office from isolation, and is eager to return to in-person meetings, as quickly as possible.'

'I'm still feeling really quite fine,' Fauci said just last Thursday at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update on the ongoing Federal response to COVID-19.

'I think Im an example, given my age, of what were all talking about today,' Fauci said. 'Im vaccinated. Im doubly boosted. And I believe if that were not the case, I very likely would not be talking to you looking as well as I look, I think, right now. So all is well with Fauci.'
Harriet Harman is expected to be appointed today to lead an investigation into whether Boris Johnson lied to Parliament over Partygate.

The seven MPs on the Commons privileges committee are widely predicted to elect the ex-deputy Labour leader, who previously accused the Prime Minister of lying, as they begin their inquiry.

It came as one of Mr Johnsons biggest critics admitted that a leadership contest was not what the country needs. Former Brexit minister Steve Baker said he would stand for election to the Tories backbench 1922 Committee to change rules to allow another challenge to the PM if he refuses to step down.

He said Tory MPs would have no choice but to act in the extraordinary circumstance of the PM being found guilty of lying to Parliament.

Harriet Harman (pictured) is expected to be appointed today to lead an investigation into whether Boris Johnson lied to Parliament over Partygate

The seven MPs on the Commons privileges committee are widely predicted to elect the ex-deputy Labour leader, who previously accused the Prime Minister (seen Boris Johnson leaving Downing Street) of lying, as they begin their inquiry

He told BBC Radio 4s World at One: It would be a grave step to change the rules which are there to provide political stability.

Yesterday the head of the civil service confirmed that a number of people have resigned from their jobs over Partygate.

Questioned by Tory MP John Stevenson, a member of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said some people had offered to resign.

He said: A number of people have left their posts.

Mr Case also revealed that he was part of the disciplinary process started in the wake of Partygate.
He walked free from jail in September 2021 and moved in with his young bride

Yusuf Nazlioglu and his wife Jade were married six months before he was killed

An ex-Lone Wolf bikie finished a three-year stint in jail and fell straight into the arms of a young personal trainer, just eight months before he was gunned down in a carpark this week.

Yusuf Nazlioglu, 40, walked free from Silverwater's Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre, western Sydney, in September last year - having served three years for firearm possession.

He quickly started a whirlwind romance with Jade Heffer, a fitness instructor 13 years his junior who grew up in the regional town of Barham, about 800km south-west of Sydney, on the NSW/Victoria border.

They moved into an apartment together in the Sydney suburb of Rhodes before getting married on January 25 this year, four months after his release from jail.

The new Mrs Nazlioglu sported an enormous diamond wedding ring, and a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia he saw the loving couple together in the lift of the unit complex 'all the time.'

Mrs Nazlioglu celebrated her 27th birthday just seven days before before she watched a hitman in a silver hatchback pump her husband's head and body with ten bullets in the basement carpark of the their apartment block at about 6pm on Monday.

Yusuf and Jade Nazlioglu were married six months before he was gunned down under their unit

Former personal trainer Jade Nazlioglu, 27, sported an enormous diamond wedding ring (pictured)

His young bride raised the alarm before cops and paramedics rolled into the underground parking lot and frantically tried to save his life, but he died in Westmead Hospital the following morning.

The murder is under police investigation and no arrests have been made.

A pool of blood could be seen by the parking space where he was gunned down, having just stepped out of his black Mercedes.

The day before Mrs Nazlioglu witnessed her husband's brutal death, she was pictured on Facebook in a figure-hugging black dress, strappy sandals and a black designer handbag.

'Birthday week,' the caption read.

All eight levels of the parking lot were closed to residents on Tuesday morning, before detectives left the scene holding a brown bag filled with evidence.

Pictured: A photo Jade Nazlioglu posted on social media, the day before her husband was shot dead

Emergency services cart Nazlioglu out of the Rhodes building on Monday after he was shot up to ten times in the head and chest

The silver hatchback was set on fire a few streets away from the shooting.

Underworld sources claimed on Thursday that Nazlioglu had a run-in with the mother of Mick Hawi, who was shot dead outside Fitness First Gym at Rockdale in February 2018, at a cemetery.

Nazlioglu had been charged with Hawi's murder, along with his friend and fellow Lone Wolf member Ahmad 'Adam' Doudar, 38.

Nazlioglu was accused of being the triggerman and Doudar of disposing of a getaway car.

Doudar would plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact to Hawi's murder and was sentenced to a non-parole period of three years and four months in jail.

After a week of deliberations a jury found Nazlioglu not guilty of murder, however, he subsequently pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of possessing a firearm and was jailed for three years.

Pictured: The basement carpark where Nazlioglu was gunned down on Monday

Police towed a black Mercedes from the carpark on Tuesday morning. The car had a large bullet hole

'Juries get it wrong, he pulled the trigger (to kill Hawi), we all know that,' one underworld source told The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.

'Hawi was a very popular figure in the Comos (Comanchero OMCG), especially after the way he gave himself up for the airport brawl.

'Theres a lot of guys out there that would still be loyal to him.'

Other sources claimed Nazlioglu had also recently stirred trouble with a member of a well-known Sydney crime family after stealing his Bentley.

They said vehicle was one of several luxury cars, including a Bentley, the former Lone Wolf bikie had allegedly stolen and then used for extortion.

Beirut-born Hawi, who joined the Comanchero when he was 18, became national president of the gang in 2003 when he was just 22, having deposed 'supreme commander' Jock Ross

One source said Sydney was a dangerous place at the moment and was 'only a matter of time' before Nazlioglu was killed.

Detective Superintendent Martin Hayston said on Tuesday that detectives believe the attack was 'targeted'.

'The person who approached the 40-year-old male and shot him clearly was there to do that, there is various lines of inquiry underway in relation to motive,' he said.

Nazlioglu's death marked the end of a six-week run without a fatal shooting in Sydney as the city grapples with a bloody underworld war, with at least 14 men gunned down over the past two years.

Detectives say at this stage in the investigation the assassination does not appear to be linked to the feud between the Alameddine and Hamzy networks.
Liz Truss has suggested that the UK should provide military aid to Taiwan.

The Foreign Secretary made the surprising remarks while giving evidence to a Commons committee yesterday.

Britain currently has no defence or diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which it is feared could be invaded by China, with Beijing increasingly hostile towards Taipei.

Officially the UK position has been to seek a 'peaceful resolution' between the countries. If embarked upon, Miss Truss's plan would probably enrage the Chinese and leave Britain even shorter on military equipment.

'We should have done things earlier, we should have been supplying defensive weapons into Ukraine earlier. We need to learn that lesson for Taiwan,' Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told the select committee yesterday

Appearing before the foreign affairs committee yesterday, Miss Truss said: 'There is always a tendency, and we've seen this prior to the Ukraine war, of wishful thinking, to hope more bad things won't happen and to wait until it is too late.

'We should have done things earlier, we should have been supplying defensive weapons into Ukraine earlier. We need to learn that lesson for Taiwan. Every piece of equipment we have sent takes months of training, so the sooner we do it the better.'

China has more warships than the US and more than 2,000 combat aircraft. So it was unclear last night how the UK could change the balance of military power.

A parliamentary report published earlier this year revealed the Royal Navy cannot fulfil all the Government's existing ambitions  before any consideration is given to handing expensive equipment to the Taiwanese. The Royal Navy has increased its presence in the South China Sea in recent years, with vessels conducting freedom of navigation patrols intended to deter the Chinese.

In an address to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) defence conference yesterday, the UK's Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Saunders, said Britain 'cannot ignore the exponential rise and chronic challenge of China'. But he stopped short of advocating arming Taiwan.

A parliamentary report published earlier this year revealed the Royal Navy cannot fulfil all the Government's existing ambitions  before any consideration is given to handing expensive equipment to the Taiwanese. Pictured: Taiwan's capital city Taipei at twilight

Sir Patrick's focus was on Russia and the imminent threat to mainland Europe, in particular the Baltic states, posed by Vladimir Putin.

He said Russia could be more dangerous after the Ukrainian conflict than before and he wants thousands more troops to be placed on high readiness and sent to defend eastern Europe.

He added: 'It is worth remembering that historically Russia often starts wars badly. Its resilience means it can suffer any number of campaigns, battles and engagements lost, regenerate and still, ultimately, prevail.

'While Russia's conventional capability will be much reduced  for a time, at least  Putin's intention to restore the lands of 'historic Russia' make any respite temporary. The threat will become more acute. In most scenarios Russia will be an even greater threat to European security after Ukraine than it was before. And if you want to avert conflict, you'd better be prepared to fight.'
Boris Johnson is set to clash with his climate change advisers over plans to sink Britains first new coal mine in 30 years.

Lord Deben, chairman of the climate change committee, said yesterday that excavating for coal off the coast of Cumbria was indefensible.

This flies in the face of the Prime Ministers recent statement that he wants to supply the steel industry with UK coal.

Following Russias Ukraine invasion, Mr Johnson is keen to make the UK less reliant on fuel imports

Last years Cop26 summit in Glasgow, hosted by the UK, resulted in a global pact to phase down coal use worldwide and the Government aims to stop using it in power stations by 2024.

But following Russias Ukraine invasion, Mr Johnson is keen to make the UK less reliant on fuel imports. Around 40 per cent of our coking coal is from Russia.

Lord Deben, who as John Gummer was environment secretary from 1993 to 1997, said digging the new mine would undermine plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and set a bad example to other countries reluctant to stop using coal. The issue is being considered by the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, who says he will make a decision before July 7.

Lord Deben, John Selwyn Gummer, said that excavating for coal off the coast of Cumbria was indefensible

Last week the Prime Minister made clear he is in favour of the mine by saying it makes no sense to import coal for steel when the UK has its own.

But green campaigners say demand for coking coal to make steel has hugely declined in recent years.

Launching a 600-page report yesterday, Lord Deben said: As far as the coal mine goes, it is absolutely indefensible. First of all 80 per cent of the coal it produces will be exported. It is not going to contribute anything to our domestic needs. We do not need this coal mine.

He also criticised the Department for Transport for not advising business people to take fewer international flights and use video conferencing instead.

And climate change committee chief executive Chris Stark said the Governments programme to insulate UK homes fell off a cliff a decade ago.
Eggs have become the latest essential to go missing from Australian supermarket shelves, as a surprising theory emerged for the shortage, which could last until October.

Woolworths and Coles customers have taken to social media to report empty shelves where the eggs usually sit in some stores.

It is understood customers at New South Wales, Victorian and West Australian supermarkets struggled to find eggs as supply failed to keep up with demand.

Eggs have become the latest essential to go missing from Australian supermarket shelves, as a surprising theory emerged for the shortage which could last until October

Egg producers culled their flocks due to a drop in demand and flocks remain low

A NSW egg farmer told Daily Mail Australia the shortage could last until October

NSW egg farmer, Brett Langfield, told Daily Mail Australia the shortage could last another four months.

Mr Langfield said across NSW flocks are down around 10 per cent, partly as a Covid hangover.

He said demand for eggs was high during lockdowns but when people came out of lockdown, the demand for eggs dropped.

So farmers cut their flocks by around 20 per cent.

They haven't yet recovered to full numbers and farmers 'lack confidence' that boosting flocks will be worth it to them because of the increased costs of fuel and grain - the latter due to the Ukraine war.

'It could be like this for another three or four months,' Mr Langfield said.

Woolworths told Daily Mail Australia reduced production by egg farmers was responsible for the shortages.

'The market-wide supply of locally produced eggs in some regions have recently been impacted by reduced production on a number of farms,' a Woolworths spokesperson said.

'While we continue to deliver eggs to our stores regularly, customers may notice reduced availability at the moment and we thank them for their patience and understanding.

Coles confirmed the egg shortages was also affecting its stores and customers

The spokesperson said the store was working with suppliers to 'increase the availability of eggs in stores as soon as possible'.

Coles confirmed the egg shortages was also affecting its stores.

'We are experiencing temporary reduced availability in our eggs range due production challenges. We are working hard to restock stores as quickly as possible.'
Australia's nuclear submarines won't be ready until the 2040s, leaving the nation vulnerable as our existing submarines retire beginning in 2038.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said he wants to speed up the process but getting a nuclear sub by 2030 is 'optimistic in the extreme'.

In an ABC Radio interview on Tuesday morning he reiterated that Australia's first nuclear submarine using British or American technology is not expected to hit the water until the 2040s.

Australia's nuclear submarines won't be ready until the 2040s, leaving the nation vulnerable as our existing submarines (pictured in Sydney) retire from 2038

'The truth of where the former government left us at the time of the election is that they were looking at a new nuclear submarine in the 2040s. That's where they were at,' he said.

Asked if that timeframe could be brought forward to as early as 2030, Mr Marles said that would be 'optimistic in the extreme'.

'We will be looking at every option available to try and bring that time forward. I think bringing it forward to eight years from now would be extremely optimistic.'

The Coalition planned to extend the life of Australia's six Collins class submarines but even with the extension the first one is due to retire in 2038.

Former Defence Minister Peter Dutton earlier this month revealed Defence was investigating buying two Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US by 2030.

The arrival of the submarines would be at least 10 years ahead of schedule, compared with being built in Australia.

Mr Marles said he was open-minded about options to bridge the gap.

'We need to look at how we bridge the gap. That's all I can say. And my mind is open about how we do that,' he said earlier this month.

Australia announced plans to acquire six nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreements with the US and UK last year.

The move meant dumping a $90billion contract for conventional diesel-powered submarines by French company Naval Group.

Anthony Albanese will meet French President Emmanuel Macron this week to repair relations after the announcement infuriated the French government.
Boris Johnson compared the fight to liberate the Falkland Islands 40 years ago to the war in Ukraine in a 'frank' discussion with Argentina's president.

The Prime Minister said yesterday he was 'disappointed' the issue had been raised as he met Alberto Fernandez on Monday at a G7 summit focused on how to respond to Russia's invasion.

Quizzed about the row as he flew to Madrid for a Nato summit yesterday, Mr Johnson said: 'I made the point that we were spending a lot of our time talking about Ukraine where the principle at stake was the right of sovereign independent people to determine their future.'

'I just said that it had been 40 years ago since the UK had, at a cost of the sacrifice of many lives, vindicated the principle that the Falkland Islanders should have the right to determine their future under basic democratic principles and had the right to be British,' Boris Johnson (right) told Argentinian president Alberto Fernandez (left) at the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, in the Bavarian Alps, Germany on Monday

The PM added: 'I would say it was frank, it was free but it seemed to me to be friendly.

'I just said that it had been 40 years ago since the UK had, at a cost of the sacrifice of many lives, vindicated the principle that the Falkland Islanders should have the right to determine their future under basic democratic principles and had the right to be British.

'That, as far as I was concerned, was the end of the matter.'

According to the Buenos Aires Times, Mr Fernandez told the PM: 'We have a problem, until we solve it we will not be able to make progress on anything.'
What a humiliation for the most renowned policing organisation in the world.

The Metropolitan Police, home to Scotland Yard and the benchmark by which all other forces were once measured, has collapsed into special measures.

Citing a string of scandals and chronic mismanagement, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has effectively declared it a failing force.

Met officers now face the indignity of being closely monitored by inspectors scrutinising their every move. It's like Ofsted stepping in to rescue a defective school.

The litany of failures makes painful reading. The cruel hounding of elderly public servants over the grotesque VIP paedophile hoax. Sarah Everard murdered by a serving officer known to colleagues as 'the rapist'. Rampant racism and sexism at Charing Cross police station. Officers sharing vile jokes and pictures of dead women. Botched murder inquiries.

On ex-commissioner Cressida Dick's watch, the infection spread out of control

This was not something that happened overnight. It was a culture of skewed priorities, unacceptable behaviour and managerial incompetence which grew like a virus over the years.

Its origins predated hapless ex-commissioner Cressida Dick. But on her watch, the infection spread out of control.

So the most damning question for Boris Johnson, London mayor Sadiq Khan and successive home secretaries is, why on earth didn't they remove her sooner?

That she became commissioner at all, after leading the catastrophic operation which culminated in the fatal police shooting of innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, is shocking.

That she served five scandal-ridden years and was at one stage going to have her contract extended simply beggars belief.

This vertiginous fall from grace must be a watershed. Lessons have to be learned.

The new Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke, is making the right noises. He wants to stop the drift of the police service towards wokery and posturing and drag chief constables back to the first principles  the prevention and detection of real crime. Not spurious internet thought crimes but burglary, fraud and street robbery.

There are thousands of dedicated officers in the Met, working tirelessly to keep us safe. With the right leadership, the force can again be the envy of the world.

A burning question

The available options for providing Britain's steel industry with the coking coal it needs are all fraught with difficulty.

Last year, nearly 40 per cent of it came from Russia  an avenue now being closed by sanctions. The rest was imported from Australia and North America, generating a horrendous carbon footprint on its journey.

So what could be more sensible than opening a coking coal mine in the UK to help fulfil our domestic needs?

Whitehaven colliery in Cumbria would create some 500 jobs in an area needing an economic boost. It is also under the Irish Sea, minimising nuisance and environmental damage.

Yet when Mr Johnson suggests the go-ahead should be given, the green lobby flies into a rage. Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Committee, which advises government on emissions targets, described the mine as 'absolutely indefensible'.

Friends of the Earth also weighed in, with their lawyer saying: 'Every lump of coal that is burnt contributes directly to climate change.' That may be true, but if we are to go on making buildings, cars, machinery and much else, we need steel. And for that we need coal.

Other technologies are developing but won't replace coal for many years. So giving this mine the green light must be the right and logical decision.

It's surely better than shipping coal half-way across the world in gas-guzzling freighters  or indeed, buying it from Putin.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France called Russia's bombing on a busy shopping mall in Ukraine a "new war crime" and declared that the West will continue to back Kyiv. He said that Moscow "cannot and should not win" the conflict.

At least 18 people were killed in the attack, which took place in the central city of Kremenchuk, as leaders from the Group of Seven gathered in Europe. It was a part of an exceptionally strong barrage of Russian fire across Ukraine, including in the capital, Kyiv.

Macron Vows to Support Ukraine

Macron addressed this worry in his speech at the conclusion of the G7 conference in Germany, promising that the G7 will continue to assist Ukraine and sustain sanctions against Russia "as long as necessary, and with the required severity."

He declared, "Russia cannot and should not win." As they did in earlier strikes, Russian officials asserted that the shopping mall was not the objective of Monday's attack, which he branded "a new war crime."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "terrorist" in a virtual address to the UN Security Council and demanded that Russia be ejected from the organization. He also asked the UN to set up a global tribunal to look into what Russia did in Ukraine, as per STUFF.

Zelenskyy called the attack, which left at least 18 people dead according to officials, one of the "most defiant acts of terrorism in European history." As the conflict dragged on, it was a part of an especially ferocious onslaught of Russian fire across Ukraine, including in the capital, Kiev. Zelenskyy further asked the UN to set up a global tribunal to look into Russia's actions in Ukraine, USA Today reported.

According to Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, jets shot missiles at a neighboring stockpile that was burning because it contained Western armaments. Officials from Ukraine claim that the mall was damaged by the missile but deny that the storage contained any weapons.

Read Also: Vladimir Putin Conducts Late-Night Secret Meeting To Talk with Fellow Dictator About Nuclear Weapons [RUMOR]

Russia Continues Its Rocket Attack in Ukraine

Denis Monastyrsky, the interior minister for Ukraine, claimed that many people who were inside the building when an air raid alarm sounded swiftly left and sought refuge across the street. He claimed that some of the bodies of those who didn't make it out in time have been severely charred.

The assault brought to mind past wartime bombings that damaged a theater, a railroad station, and a hospital. One of the most audacious terrorist strikes in European history, according to Zelenskyy.

Per The Sentiniel-Record, authorities in the city of Dnipro claimed that workers at a diesel automobile repair shop were trapped in debris following a hit from a cruise missile fired from the Black Sea. Rocket assaults continued elsewhere in Ukraine. According to the sources, the Ukrainian military was able to intercept and destroy further missiles fired against the city.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, took an aggressive tone amid widespread condemnation, declaring that Russia will continue its attack until its objectives were achieved. He said that if Ukraine capitulated and complied with Russia's demands, including acknowledging its rule over area it had seized forcibly, hostilities might cease "by the end of the day."

According to Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, jets launched precision-guided missiles against a storage containing Western weaponry and ammunition, which detonated and ignited the mall. Although they denied it contained weapons, Ukrainian authorities said that in addition to the direct attack on the mall, a factory was also hit.

Zelensky has urged his Western allies to provide his military with stronger air defense systems so they can retaliate. A prominent topic of discussion at a meeting this week in Madrid will be NATO's support for Ukraine. On Tuesday, Turkey decided to drop its objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, sending a strong message of solidarity.

Related Article: Ukraine War: Videos Show Scary Aftermath of Russia's Missile Attack at Shopping Mall With 1000+ People Inside

@YouTube

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An ex-rich lister will spend the next eight years in jail after his elaborate and global texting scam scheme was busted by cops.

Zhenya Tsvetnenko was sentenced on Wednesday morning to spend almost a decade in a US federal prison after a sensationalised three-year legal battle.

The Russian-born, Perth socialite pleaded guilty to pocketing more than $20million from the plot, that saw hundreds of thousands of Americans being 'auto-subscribed' to a gossip and horoscope service.

It was the biggest text message scam in history before police pounced on the masterminds back in 2015.

Tsvetnenko was arrested at his riverside Perth home in December 2018, under a New York-issued warrant.

He was extradited to the US earlier this year, after fighting extradition for two-and-a-half years, and in February pleaded guilty to taking part in the scam.

His elaborate scheme saw him once be listed as the wealthiest person in Western Australia under 40.

Russian-born Perth millionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko (above) was sentenced to eight years in a federal US prison for his part in a scam that charged US phone users $9.99 for unsolicited gossip, trivia and horoscope texts

Tsvetnenko (left) became famous in the late 2000s for his extravagant lifestyle, including his $600,000 wedding to his ex-wife Lydia Tsvetnenko (middle) and paid appearance by Snoop Dogg (right) at his 29th birthday party in Hollywood

The US Justice Department found Tsvetnenko, along with Michael Pearse and Yongchao Liu, scammed hundreds of thousands of US mobile phone users between 2012 and 2013 by adding unauthorised charges to their phone bills.

The group would charge their victims $9.99 a month for unsolicited SMS gossip, trivia and horoscope messages.

Victims could only stop payments for the service by directly contacting their provider.

The scheme was known as an 'auto-subscribing' service.

Tsvetnenko (pictured with ex-wife Lydia) was reportedly worth $107million and owned seven homes in Perth, an interstate home, holiday villas, a record label and five luxury cars as part of his extravagant lifestyle

Prosecutors said Pearse and Liu's employer was associated with a company that purchased large numbers of mobile phone numbers to target with messages.

Tsvetnenko arrived in Australia from Russia with his parents in 1992 when he was 12.

He rose to fame in the late 2000s as the 'SMS king' and was reportedly worth an impressive $107million.

He owned seven homes in Perth, an interstate home, holiday villas, a record label and five luxury cars as part of his extravagant lifestyle.

Tsvetnenko (above) and his parents reportedly arrived in Australia in 1992, when he was 12

A US attorney said Tsvetnenko's (above) sentence was a 'steep price' considering he already paid $15.4 million back to his victims

Tsvetnenko reportedly spent $600,000 on his wedding to his ex-wife Lydia, the founder and designer of luxury Perth fashion label House of Zhivago, and hired Snoop Dogg to perform at his 29th birthday party in Hollywood.

It was alleged Tsvetnenko was part of suspicious subscription services before he joined the illegal US scheme in April 2012.

Prosecutors said Tsvetnenko kept 70 per cent of profits made from the scam, an apparent $US15.4million.

He has since paid the money back to victims.

US Department of Justice attorney Damian Williams said Tsvetnenko, Pearse and Liu 'made a fortune' from the scam and laundered profits through shell companies.

'Tsvetnenko is paying a steep price for his mobile scam, as he has already paid back over $US15 million in forfeiture, and will now spend 98 months in federal prison,' Mr Williams said.
When it comes to preparing for neurosurgery, I like to see myself as some sort of elite athlete. When you look at those athletes, one thing that really comes across is their amazing focus. This incredible drive to win.

Thats what I try to do when preparing for surgery. I tell myself this patient is my loved one. Im going to treat this patient like they are a member of my own family. What would I do if it was a family member? Id make sure everything was optimum. Id make sure my personal state was optimum, the people around me had the same mentality, my team was the best and my equipment was the best. Thats what I do for every patient.

But of course, it hasnt been an easy road

Why would one choose neurosurgery? I think its one of the most physically and emotionally taxing specialties in the medical field. Patients can die within minutes. You cant make mistakes. Its totally unforgiving. There is zero room for error.

I recognised this about neurosurgery as a medical student. When I worked in the emergency room, if a neurosurgery patient would come up, I would get the file and slip it underneath and take the next file. I found it all too burdensome and horrible. My first impression was that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. To be quite honest, I feared neurosurgery.

I love kids so in 1984 I started on a career in paediatric surgery. But just as I was finishing my training the neurosurgery registrar fell ill, and they asked me to cover his call schedule. I found myself thrust into the specialty that I absolutely feared the most!

What happened surprised me. When I was forced to understand it, to read about it, to learn about it, my mindset started to shift. It ticked all the boxes of being incredibly challenging and you could still be a pioneer in neurosurgery because so much was still unknown. I didnt really like the emotional part of it, but youve got to take it on the chin. If you want the joy of operating on people and saving lives, youve got to learn to carry the burden of people dying.

But there is nothing worse than the death of a child.

Milli's legacy is simple but enlightening. When faced with adversity, you can be angry, resentful, bitter and consumed or you can accept the hand that you've been dealt and make the most of what you have. She was an exceptional example of how to make the most of one's life. Milli was dignified, courageous, happy, considerate and determined. She was an engaging and beautiful soul. When I think about each time I saw her, she was always smiling. I loved her dearly.

Brain cancer is still killing more of our kids than any other disease in Australia. And with a fact like this, youre probably sitting back thinking, if it is killing more children than any other disease, surely it gets the most funding?

But sadly no, across developed first world countries including Australia, brain cancer is poorly funded compared to some other cancers. It has a significant socio-economic impact on our society as a killer of children and young people, yet governments arent pouring in the research funding.

Brain cancer isnt a common cancer, so put simply: it doesnt win votes. Thats why it was a no brainer to set up the Charlie Teo Foundation. Were raising the money and funding the research so desperately needed.

I think brain cancer deserves the biggest slice of the funding pie!

Its not fair that children like Milli are dying and there are no treatments for them. I dont want to have to tell another parent, I cant save your child.

As a society we cant sit back and allow brain cancer to kill our children any longer.

Please make your tax-deductible donation by 30 June.

Dr Charlie Teo Foundation Facebook
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, celebrated her primary victory over state Sen. Don Coram by strapping a gun to her hip and joining together with supporters in prayer - the culmination of one of a number of key races that wrapped up Tuesday.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also notched a primary win, while a Trump-backed farmer scored a GOP nod for Illinois governor and a pro-choice Republican will move on as the party's nominee for a Colorado Senate seat.

Tuesday's primaries in seven states saw three incumbents lose out: two Republicans and one Democrat.

After defeating Sen Coram in Colorado, rightwing firebrand Boebert donned a cowboy hat and wore a pistol on her hip as she addressed the crowd at a party for her successful re-election bid for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday.

She was also seen closing her eyes and holding up her hand in prayer at the event held in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul easily won her state's Democratic gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday, nine months after being launched into the governor's seat after the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump - Darren Bailey, a Bible-toting, conservative farmer - in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November.

And in at least two states 2020 election deniers loyal to the former president were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert addresses supporters at Wearhouse 25 during a party for her re-election bid for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Grand Junction

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (C) and Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado (R) stand with family members during the primary election night party for New York Governor in New York city on June 28, 2022

New York

Nine months after she stepped into the job of New York governor as a relative unknown, Democrat Kathy Hochul easily locked up her party's nomination Tuesday, setting her on an expected glide path to win the office in November.

Hochul was serving as an under-the-radar lieutenant governor under the shadow of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo until last year, when he resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, catapulting her into office.

Hochul beat back primary challenges Tuesday from New York Citys elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams, and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate from Long Island. She now turns her eyes to becoming the first woman to win election to the New York governors office this fall.

In a nod to the barrier-breaking campaign, Hochul gave an election night speech Tuesday on a stage underneath a glass ceiling at an event space in Manhattan.

'I'm also here because I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, generations of women who constantly had to bang up against that glass ceiling. To the women of New York, this ones for you,' Hochul said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul easily won her state's Democratic gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday, nine months after being launched into the governor's seat after the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Hochul talks with a three-year-old while campaigning near the 86th Street entrance to the Second Avenue subway on Tuesday

Hochul entered the general election campaign with a big advantage, running as the incumbent with a heavy fundraising advantage in a state that has more than twice as many registered Democrats than Republicans and has not had a GOP governor in 16 years.

She faces U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, who won the Republican Partys nomination Tuesday. Zeldin is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

Zeldin beat out former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew Giuliani, Westchester County executive Rob Astorino and businessman Harry Wilson.

Colorado

Rep. Lauren Boebert defeat her opponent state Sen. Don Coram in Tuesday's primary in one of a number of key races on Tuesday.

Boebert, a co-chair of the Second Amendment caucus who has proudly displayed her gun collection in Zoom Congressional hearings and TV appearances, won her primary in the solid-red third district of Colorado, in a testament her headline-grabbing brand of far-right politics there. In a speech the weekend, Boebert said she was 'I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk' and argued that the 'the church is supposed to direct the government.'

Boebert, far left, holds her hand in the air at Wearhouse 25 during a prayer at her party

Both Rep. Mary Miller, left, and Rep. Lauren Boebert, right, both won their respective primaries in Illinois and Colorado. They are pictured above at Trump's Mendon, Illinois rally over the weekend

Joe O'Dea, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet, speaks during a primary election night watch party late Tuesday

Boebert's district became more conservative after redistricting and she is expected to win in November.

But in another Colorado race, a more moderate Republican is project to beat out his rival to the right for the Senate nomination to take on Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet in the fall.

GOP businessman Joe O'Dea is projected to beat out state Rep. Ron Hanks, according to the Associated Press.

O'Dea has said he backs a federal ban on late-term abortions and federal funding of the procedure, but would leave the decision to terminate a pregnancy in the initial months 'between a person and their God.'

O'Dea's top rival is state Rep. Ron Hanks, who opposes abortion in all cases and attended the Jan. 6 'Save America' rally before the Capitol riot.

Bennet is uncontested on the Democratic side.

Mississippi

Meanwhile Mississippi already had its primaries on June 7, but two Republicans were forced into a runoff after they failed to breach the 50 percent threshold, and Rep. Michael Guest is projected to win his primary against Michael Cassidy, a former Navy fighter pilot.

Guest is looking to win a third term, forced into primary after he voted to create an independent commission to investigate Jan. 6 and was criticized as disloyal to Trump.

Another Mississippi incumbent was not so lucky - former sheriff Mike Ezell is projected to beat out six-term Rep. Steven Palazzo, who had been dogged by criticism after a 2021 congressional ethics report accused his office of misusing campaign funds, doing favors for his brother and using staff for political and personal errands.

Illinois

Trump's endorsement won out for Darren Bailey, a Bible-toting, conservative farmer who curried his favor just last weekend at a rally in Illinois.

Bailey was one of a half dozen candidates in the GOP primary, and his main opponent was Richard Irvin, the mayor of Aurora, Illinois in suburban Chicago. Irvine had been backed by $50 million from billionaire Ken Griffin, but Democrats spent millions to take down his campaign, viewing Bailey as a more formidable opponent for Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Pritzker, meanwhile defeated a primary challenge from the left in progressive Beverly Miles, a nurse and Army Vet.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, right, laughs with his wife Cindy Stortzum while responding to reporters questions after winning the Republican primary Tuesday

Republican gubernatorial candidate Illinois state Sen. Darren Bailey arrives to celebrate with his wife Cindy Stortzum after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday, June 28

In one of two incumbent-on-incumbent races, Rep. Sean Casten is projected to defeat Marie Newman.

While both candidates have very liberal records, Newman positioned herself as the candidate further to the left in the race, with the backing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She supports the Green New Deal and attacked Casten for voting for 'anti-choice' President George H.W. Bush by detailing her own experience getting an abortion in the 1980s.

In another, Trump-backed, first-term Rep. Mary Miller is projected to beat out Rep. Rodney Davis, a more moderate, five-term Republican.

Utah

GOP incumbent Sen. Mike Lee, one of former President Trump's close allies, successfully fend off attacks, according to AP projections, from two challengers about his ties to the former president in the moderate right-leaning state.

Former state lawmaker Becky Edwards and political operative Ally Isom, both Republicans who did not vote for Trump in 2020, have accused Lee of being more concerned with TV appearances and Trump's favor than running the state.

Both have highlighted Lee's post-election text messages sent to Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, highlighting his involvement in the election fraud conspiracy that led to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Edwards, meanwhile, has said that she does not agree with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Oklahoma

GOP Rep. Markwayne Mullin advanced to a runoff with T.W. Shannon in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe. As of Tuesday night Mullin was safely ahead with 44 percent of the vote compared to Shannon's 17, but did not breach the 50 percent threshold.

In the other Oklahoma GOP Senate primary Sen. James Lankford held off a challenge from Tulsa pastor Jackson Lahmeyer.
A family home in Melbourne has been peppered with bullets - just days after a major underworld figure in the city survived being shot four times in the chest.

The home on Broadleaf Drive, Epping, in the city's north, was sprayed with bullets on Wednesday, with Victoria Police confirming the house and car in the driveway had been hit.

There were five people inside at the time of the shooting.

No one was injured in the shooting with police appealing for anyone with information to contact them.

Wednesdays incident is the ninth shooting in Melbournes northern suburbs since February linked to the ongoing dispute.

A Melbourne home with five people inside was peppered with bullets just after 2am this morning

The family home on Broadleaf Drive, Epping was targeted with multiple shots fired, hitting the house and the car in the driveway. No one was injured in the shooting

The incident is the latest in a string of shootings in Melbourne which kicked off when ex-bikie Sam 'The Punisher' Abdulrahim, 30, was shot multiple times at a funeral on Saturday.

The ex Mongols bikie was shot in the chest six times while at the Fawkner funeral and was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition but is now stable after receiving two life-saving surgeries.

On Sunday he posted a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed with tubes hooked up to his body, while he gave the middle finger.

'Allah is bigger than all these flops, they'll get their day,' he wrote.

It's believed the gunmen were in a Mazda SUV when they allegedly opened fire on Abdulrahim driving his $300,000 Mercedes G-Class 4WD in the funeral procession.

The gunmen then fled the scene before they crashed their vehicle into a fire hydrant at the intersection of Sydney Rd and Box Forest Rd.

Former Mongols bikie Suleiman 'Sam' Abdulrahim was shot while at his cousin's funeral last weekend

A man armed with a screwdriver was also shot by police in Coburg on Monday after allegedly confronting detectives.

Police fired multiple shots at the 64-year-old man who required treatment by ambulance officers in a car park near Edgars Creek Parkland.

The man was wanted for questioning over a death of a man in Albanvale on Saturday and remains in a serious condition in hospital.
The only abortion clinic in North Dakota plans to relocate to Minnesota once the GOP state makes abortions illegal on July 28.

The independently run Red River Women's Clinic will move just across the state line from Fargo into the neighboring city of Moorhead, where abortions are expected to remain legal.

North Dakota is one of thirteen states with laws - known as trigger bans - that will render abortions illegal now that Roe v. Wade is overturned. North Dakota attorney general Drew Wrigley certified the state's ban today.

Director Tammi Kromenaker already has a new location in place for the clinic, according to the Star Tribune. She plans to have it up and running in its new home by the time abortions become illegal in North Dakota so that women in the area will have no interruptions in clinic services.

A protest outside the Red River Women's Clinic in May. The clinic will be moving from Fargo, North Dakota, to Moorhead, Minnesota, where abortions are expected to remain illegal

Clinic director Tammi Kromenaker already has a new location for the clinic. She plans to have it open by the time abortions are made illegal in North Dakota so there is no gap in service to local women

'The plan is to provide service as long as we legally can,' Kromenaker told CNN.

On Tuesday, that timeframe became clear as Attorney General certified the law that will render abortions illegal in North Dakota just over thirty days from the overturning of Roe.

The new ban will make it a felony to receive an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.

Despite those exceptions, there will be no abortion services in the state, and women will have to travel to receive treatment.

Women could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and be fined $10,000 for receiving an abortion.

Kromenaker told the Star Tribune how within 30 seconds of learning that Roe had been overturned, the phone rang at the clinic and a desperate young mother with an infant told how she had become pregnant again and wasn't prepared for a second child.

'Here's this group of people in Washington, D.C., along with this group of people in North Dakota who put the trigger ban in place, and they don't know the reality of people's lives who need this,' said Kromenaker.

'We're getting the most devastating news ever, and a person literally calls and says, 'I need an abortion, I have a kid and can't handle another one, I just moved here - do you guys do that there?' I had to pull myself together and make her appointment.'

The Supreme Court released its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24. A trigger ban law in North Dakota will make abortions illegal in the state on July 28

Protestors march in Los Angeles on June 24 after the supreme court released its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

For nearly 25 years, the Red River clinic has been the only abortion provider in all of North Dakota.

It also provides services for women nearby in South Dakota, and in Northwest Minnesota.

The clinic was the site of protests for and against abortions in the weeks after the draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked in May. A photo of one protest shows a man carrying a sign reading 'Babies are murdered here.'

Kromenaker said that she fears how anti-abortionists will act now that the supreme court has fallen their way.

'They're feeling a sense of victory they've never felt before. They may feel emboldened. It's not business as usual,' she said.

She also expressed optimism that the supreme court decision will rally supporters of women's abortion rights who previously hadn't involved themselves.

'I think in 10 years we're going to turn this ship around. I have hope this will all be very different in 10 years, and we'll have federal protections for abortion. But we need people's help right now.'
The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to slow the spread of monkeypox by distributing tens of thousands of vaccine doses, after facing criticism over its early response to a US outbreak primarily affecting gay men.

The plan, announced on Tuesday, involves rapidly expanding access to doses of Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos vaccine - which has so far been limited - to prevent monkeypox in areas with the highest transmission and need.

The announcement came just hours after advocates sent a letter to the White House slamming the administration's monkeypox response, saying that 1 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine already owned by the US are stuck in limbo in Denmark awaiting a facility inspection.

Although the vaccine itself has been approved for use by US regulators, the doses in Denmark were produced on a manufacturing line that is still awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, officials said earlier this month.

The letter from PrEP4ALL and Partners for Health said in part: 'We must not allow the same failures of vaccine production and distribution that hampered the global COVID-19 response cause us to fail to contain the current monkeypox outbreak.'

'If this is a test run for pandemic preparedness, we are flunking,' PrEP4ALL co-founder James Krellenstein told the Washington Post.

'We have more than a million doses of a vaccine FDA approved for preventing monkeypox,' he said. 'And the U.S. government cannot figure out how to get it out of freezers in Denmark  doses that it owns  when there's uncontained spread in the gay community.'

Lines form at a New York monkeypox vaccine clinic last week, which quickly ran out of the 1,000 Jynneos doses that were offered to men at high risk

The White House plan, announced on Tuesday, involves rapidly expanding access to doses of Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos vaccine - which has so far been limited

The Biden administration's new plan will immediately allocate 56,000 doses of Jynneos from a national stockpile to states and territories, with 1.6 million doses made available by the end of the year, officials said.

State and local health departments can also order supplies of Emergent BioSolutions' older ACAM2000 vaccine, which is in much greater supply but which has more side effects and cannot be used by everyone, including those who are immunocompromised.

The United States has more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000 in its stockpiles, officials said earlier this month, but the vaccine is not recommended for those with HIV.

The United States has officially recorded 306 cases of monkeypox, a viral infection related to smallpox that causes painful skin lesions -- but health officials fear that the true count could be higher.

Although the virus is endemic in parts of Africa, the current outbreak has hit countries where the virus does not usually spread, sparking concern that it could become more widespread.

The above map shows where cases of monkeypox have been detected in America. On the right, the third column of the table shows the number of cases recorded over the last two days

Workers sit outside of D.C. Health's first monkeypox vaccination clinic, which is administering the first Jynneos vaccine doses distributed in the U.S. capital on Tuesday

Even after Tuesday's announcement, some advocates expressed concerns that vaccines would not get to those who need them the most, including men who have sex with other men, a group at higher risk.

David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, told the Post that the latest announcement was a 'confusing mess' that did not explain the formula for distributing vaccines.

'There are profound questions of how they will allocate limited vaccines to which jurisdictions, and states and local communities need a coordinated federal plan,' Harvey told the outlet.

'We need to reach people who are at risk for monkeypox and conduct widespread vaccine efforts for gay people and other men who have sex with men.'

The White House said in a statement that the vaccine doses will be distributed to 'areas with the highest transmission and need, using a tiered allocation system.'

'As additional supply becomes available, we will further expand our efforts, making vaccines available to a wider population,' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters.

Those at highest risk for monkeypox have been men who have sex with men. Demand for the vaccine has been growing. Last week, a New York clinic started offering the vaccine and quickly ran out of available shots.

Previously, health officials have been focused on offering the vaccine to individuals with direct contact with a person who has had a confirmed case of monkeypox.

Last Thursday, New York City's health department - armed with 1,000 of doses of Jynneos from the federal government - announced it was opening a temporary clinic

The new strategy will expand that definition to include presumed exposures, said Jennifer McQuiston, Deputy Director of CDC's Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.

These would include those who had close contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox, those who know their sexual partner was diagnosed with monkeypox, and gay men who have recently had multiple sex partners in a venue where there was known to be monkeypox or in an area where monkeypox is spreading.

Monkeypox 'not a global emergency', WHO says The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency. In a statement Saturday, a WHO emergency committee said many aspects of the outbreak were 'unusual' and acknowledged that monkeypox  which is endemic in some African countries  has been neglected for years. 'While a few members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO director-general that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute' a global health emergency, WHO said in a statement. WHO nevertheless pointed to the 'emergency nature' of the outbreak and said controlling its spread requires an 'intense' response. The committee said the outbreak should be 'closely monitored and reviewed after a few weeks'. But it would recommend a re-assessment before then if certain new developments emerge  such as cases among sex workers; spread to other countries or within countries that have already had cases; increased severity of cases; or an increasing rate of spread. Advertisement

'It's almost like we're expanding the definition of who a contact might be,' said McQuiston. If people have been to a party or other place where monkeypox has been known to spread 'we recommend they come in for a vaccine,' she said.

The goal of the initial phase of the strategy is to slow the spread of the disease, administration officials said.

Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.

There have been no U.S. deaths and officials say the risk to the American public is low. But they are taking steps to assure people that medical measures are in place to deal with the growing problem.

One of the steps was to expand who is recommended to get vaccinated. Vaccines customarily are given to build immunity in people before they are ever infected.

But if given within days or even a few weeks of first becoming infected, some vaccines can reduce severity of symptoms.

A two-dose vaccine, Jynneos, is approved for monkeypox in the U.S. The government has many more doses of an older smallpox vaccine - ACAM2000 - that they say could also be used, but that vaccine is considered to have a greater risk of side effects and is not recommended for people who have HIV.

So it's the Jynneos vaccine that officials have been trying to use as a primary weapon against the monkeypox outbreak. So far, the government has deployed over 9,000 doses of vaccine.

Last Thursday, New York City's health department - armed with 1,000 of doses of Jynneos from the federal government - announced it was opening a temporary clinic to offer the vaccine to all gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the previous two weeks.

But all the appointments quickly filled up that day, and the last round of appointments was Monday.

'Until we receive more supply we are unable to release additional vaccination appointments,' said Patrick Gallahue, a spokesman for the city's health department, in an email.

On Monday, the District of Columbias health department took a similar step. The department started taking appointments at 1pm Monday but had to stop after 20 minutes, Mangla said.

The department only had 200 doses of Jynneos, and it was clear at the point that it the department didn't have the vaccine supply or staffing to continue to sign up new people, he said.
Rail chaos could be over for weary commuters as the NSW government bows down to union demands in the hopes of avoiding further disruptions.

Transport Minister David Elliott on Wednesday announced modifications would be made to the $2.88billion New Intercity Fleet in order to appease the union's requests.

Members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union have refused to operate the trains over claims they are unsafe despite being approved by the National Safety Regulator.

The cost of the modifications is expected to cost taxpayers $264million with the major back-down marking a ceasefire in the two-year long dispute.

Rail chaos could be over for weary commuters as the NSW government bows to the union demands in hopes to avoid further disruptions (pictured, commuters at Central Station)

Mr Elliott said he hoped the government's act of goodwill would put a stop to further disruptions and strikes on the network due to intensify on Friday.

'My expectation from the union, of course, is that they wind back their industrial action,' the transport minister told reporters.

'These negotiations and this expense is in the best interest of the communities.

'Am I happy about spending millions of dollars to modify what the safety regulator has said [are] perfectly good trains? Absolutely not.

'But the cost of this industrial action, the cost to the NSW economy, the inconvenience to the commuters has to be front of mind when it comes to running public transport.'

Mr Elliott said if the union agreed to the new deal that physical alterations to the fleet would begin in August, with trials expected within months.

However, Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens said the planned industrial action is still on the cards until members see the proposal in detail.

Transport Minister David Elliott on Wednesday announced modifications would be made to the $2.88b New Intercity Fleet to appease the union's requests (pictured, Sydney commuters)

'We are back to where we were a couple of months ago. The [new intercity fleet] is going to get fixed, but we are not out of the woods yet,' he said.

'We have been here before, and we want it all in writing.'

Negotiations with senior government officials are expected to take place on Thursday night.

The union are wanting to make sure the cost of the modifications aren't deducted from rail workers' pay.

Unions NSW assistant secretary Thomas Costa echoed Mr Claassens' stance on the matter.

'Once we see the details of their offer in writing, we'll be talking with our members about what that means for further industrial action and whether we should withdraw it or continue it,' he said.

'While they've approved the modifications to the NIF, and we welcome that, the modifications should come at the government's expense, not the expense of our workforce.'

The union claimed the fleet of trains didn't allow for guards to stick their heads out to check if the train is safe to move, and that cameras on board are low quality and are obstructed by opening doors.

Mr Elliott said he hoped the government's act of goodwill would put a stop to further disruptions and strikes on the network due to intensify on Friday

Train services are expected to be reduced to just 30 per cent in planned action on Thursday.

Treasurer Matt Kean had earlier blasted the union for wanting changes to be made.

'Vandalism is bad enough on public transport without the unions taking a sledgehammer to a nearly $3 billion train fleet,' the Treasurer said last month.

'This demand to butcher a new modern fleet is beyond ridiculous. The union demand that we rip out the latest technology is unreasonable.'
A coroner investigating the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children recognised the mother's 'astounding' bravery, saying it was unlikely anyone could have stopped Rowan Baxter's murderous plans.

Coroner Jane Bentley's voice broke as she finished handing her findings in a Southport court on Wednesday following a nine-day hearing in March.

Ms Bentley said Baxter was not mentally ill, but a 'master of manipulation'.

'I find it unlikely that any further actions taken by police officers, service providers, friends or family members could have stopped Baxter from ultimately executing his murderous plans,' she added.

Ms Bentley said police training required 'immediate attention' to prevent similar deaths occurring.

Hannah Clarke and her three children Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, are pictured above

Vile Rowan Baxter buys flammable liquid from a hardware store before committing his evil crime

Her recommendations included a five-day face-to-face training program for specialist domestic violence police officers 'as a matter of urgency', a mandatory face-to-face domestic violence module for all officers and state government funding provided urgently for men's behaviour change programs in prisons and communities.

She also called for a multi-disciplinary specialist domestic violence police station to be trialled for a year.

The station should include specialist officers including a detective, a support worker, a lawyer to advise police and victims, and representatives from the departments of child safety, housing and health.

Ms Clarke was leaving her parents' home in Brisbane's Camp Hill suburb to take Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, to school when estranged husband Baxter jumped into her vehicle on February 19, 2020.

The 42-year-old splashed fuel inside the car and set it alight, before stabbing himself with a knife, dying nearby.

The children's bodies were found in the vehicle, while Ms Clarke, 31, died the same day in hospital.

The inquest was shown CCTV footage of Baxter buying zip ties, cleaning fluid and a fuel can days before the killings.

He also bought three Kinder Surprise chocolates - presumably for his children - when he purchased fuel.

Hannah Clarke's parents, Lloyd and Sue, said the Coroner's finding were a good outcome

Counsel assisting the coroner Jacoba Brasch QC told the hearing Baxter may have initially intended to kidnap Ms Clarke, burn her, then give his children chocolates and it 'would all be happy families'.

But he turned to 'plan B' once the 31-year-old defied him by asking a bystander for help when Baxter ambushed her, she said.

Ms Clarke's parents Sue and Lloyd Clarke said at the end of the 'unthinkably confronting' hearing they hoped the inquest will help others avoid the same fate.

The Coroners Court was told there were systematic failings in police communication and training.

But Mr Clarke said nothing would have stopped Baxter.

'He was just one of those people ... so callous and used everyone as a pawn in his monstrous ways,' he said outside court after the hearing.

Sue Clarke added: 'Every now and then I think a true monster is born and you can't stop them'.

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said earlier on Wednesday she hoped the legacy of the inquest will be 'a much stronger system'.

'It is incredibly distressing ... when we hear about these horrific murders and we have to do more to prevent (them from) happening,' she told 4BC radio on Wednesday.

'I often say we have to start responding to the red flags before more blue police tape surrounds the family home.'

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Hannah Clarke's powerful legacy: Huge change to DV laws in wake of the horrific firebombing murders of brave mum and her three children

The horrific murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children by her monstrous husband has resulted in landmark changes in domestic violence laws in Queensland, with the coercive control of a partner or family member is set to be a criminal offence.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced plans for the bold new legislation in a stirring speech on Tuesday, telling state Parliament: 'We have listened'.

The major reform was a key recommendation of the landmark Hear Her Voice report handed down in December by Justice Margaret McMurdo's and the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce in the wake of the quadruple murder-suicide.

Rowan Baxter, 42, killed the young mother, 31, and her children Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, as they set off for school at Camp Hill, in Brisbane's south, on February 19, 2020.

He doused the inside of the vehicle with petrol and then set it alight before fatally stabbing himself on a suburban street in front of horrified residents.

The disturbing case shocked Australia and sparked outrage about how domestic violence is policed across the nation.

The major reform was a key recommendation of the landmark Hear Her Voice report handed down in December by Justice Margaret McMurdo's and the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce in response to the horrific murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children (pictured).

WHAT IS COERCIVE CONTROL? Coercive control is the most common factor leading up to intimate partner homicide. Its tragic outcome was most recently seen in the murders of Hannah Clarke and her three children. It includes isolating a partner from family and friends, monitoring their movements, controlling access to money and psychological and emotional manipulation. Advertisement

'Last year thousands of women marched through our streets here and around the country demanding to be heard,' Premier Palaszczuk told Queensland Parliament.

'The march for justice had many goals but none more emphatic that we listen to women particularly their experience of domestic, family and sexual violence because it's women and children who suffer most from these crimes.

'Mr speaker I am proud to say that our government is listening. Our government will make coercive control a crime.'

While an exact legal definition of the offence will not be established until the end of 2023, it will centre around the toxic behaviours which commonly coincide with domestic violence.

'Coercive control is telling a woman what she can wear, where she can go, who she can see and what she can spend,' Premier Palaszczuk said.

'It is the most common factor which leads to an intimate partner murder.

'It was what Hannah Clarke suffered before her and her three children were so brutally killed.'

An inquest into the quadruple murder-suicide found she had been trying to escape the abusive relationship when she and her children were incinerated.

But despite repeated efforts to leave, Baxter continued to track her down and make contact.

Jacoba Brasch, the counsel assisting the coroner in the inquest, determined from witness statements that in the final moments of her life, the brave mother died desperately trying to save her children.

Rowan Baxter, 42, killed the young mother, 31, and her children Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, as they set off for school at Camp Hill, in Brisbane's south, on February 19, 2020 (pictured together)

The burnt remains of Hannah Clarke's vehicle after her estranged ex-husband set it alight with his entire family inside

As part of the announcement, the Queensland government will set aside $363million for a community awareness campaign, better training of police and an expansion of support services.

It also includes $106million to improve safety for victims attending court.

Ms Palaszczuk said another priority is a police pilot program.

'In addition, the police service will trial a collaborative co-response model involving police and specialist DFV services working together in a number of locations,' she said.

The disturbing case of Hannah Clarke shocked Australia and sparked outrage about how domestic violence is policed across the nation. Pictured: Protesters march during the Women's March 4 Justice in Melbourne on March 15, 2021

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said a 'shift' in thinking has been needed for a long time.

'Our systems need to respond better to this unique form of violence and we need to shift our focus from responding to single incidents of violence to the pattern of abusive behaviour that occurs over time,' the Attorney said.

'We will also explore options to improve availability and accessibility of intervention programs for DFV perpetrators. Intervening to help perpetrators change their behaviour is essential to keeping victims safe from violence.

'We will look to continue and expand trials of online perpetrator interventions and programs addressing violence perpetrated by young men against a parent.'

Tasmania was the first and only state in Australia to outlaw coercive control. NSW state government last year committed to outlawing the behaviour.
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A massive brawl has broken out on a cruise ship as it returned to New York City, prompting the Coast Guard to escort the ship back to dock and the NYPD to open a probe.

The fight began in the nightclub of the Carnival Magic at about 5.20am on Tuesday, on the final night of the ship's eight-day Caribbean cruise with stops in Dominicana, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas.

Video of the fracas shows a chaotic scene as dozens of passengers punch and shove each other, while an outnumbered ship security guard tries in vain to break up the fight.

The brawl started as an altercation between two passengers on the dance floor, and cops say it widened into a fight involving as many as 40 to 60 passengers, according to PIX11. No serious injuries were reported.

A large brawl broke out in the nightclub of the Carnival Magic at about 5.20am on Tuesday, on the final night of the ship's eight-day Caribbean cruise

Video of the fracas shows a chaotic scene as dozens of passengers punch and shove each other

One witness, tweeting under the handle @nyeem0, said he was 'at the bar listening to my own music sipping a shirley temple, then the brawl broke out of nowhere!'

He added that some of the passengers were 'injured and cut up from glass' and that 'most if not all' of the ship's security guards descended on the club to restore order.

The witness added: 'it was the last night so i guess they wanted to go out with a bang, but a lifetime ban from cruising is wild lol.'

The brawl took place as the ship approached harbor in New York, but it's unclear whether the vessel was in New York, New Jersey, or international waters at the time of the fight, making criminal jurisdictional issues murky.

There were no arrests reported reported in the aftermath of the fight, and it was unclear which agency would lead the investigation.

Following the fight, cruise line officials notified the Coast Guard, which launched a boat from Staten Island to escort it to dock in Manhattan, according to WNBC-TV.

The Carnival Magic (seen in a file photo) was wrapping up an eight-day Caribbean cruise with stops in Dominicana, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas

The brawl started as an altercation between two passengers on the dance floor, and cops say it widened into a fight involving as many as 40 to 60 passengers

An outnumbered security guard seemed helpless to stop the brawl when it first broke out. Witnesses say security personnel flooded the nightclub to intervene

The ship docked without incident at Pier 88, where police and paramedics were waiting to greet it.

Cruise officials notified the Coast Guard, which launched a small boat from Staten Island to escort the ship the rest of the way to its Pier 88 dock.

The NYPD initially described the incident as an 'emergency docking', but Carnival said in a statement to PIX11 that it was a scheduled port call.

'Last night while Carnival Magic was returning to New York, a number of guests were involved in an altercation in a nightclub,' the statement read.

Thankfully no serious injuries were reported and our onboard security team intervened,' the cruise line said.

Following the fight, cruise line officials notified the Coast Guard, which launched a boat from Staten Island to escort it to dock (above) in Manhattan

The ship docked without incident at Pier 88, where police and paramedics were waiting to greet it

'The ship arrived as scheduled this morning and shoreside law enforcement authorities were notified and met the ship to interview suspects and witnesses and conduct an investigation,' Carnival's statement added.

Police said that passengers disembarked gradually without incident.

According to CruiseMapper, the Carnival Magic has already departed New York on another eight-day Caribbean cruise.

Stops are scheduled in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos.
Jenny West boasts a stellar career in the private and public sector but she is now best known for a job she didn't get - despite being offered it.

After being told she had secured a $500,000 trade ambassador role in New York last August, Ms West saw it ripped away weeks later when retiring NSW deputy premier John Barilaro changed the selection process, allowing him to eventually claim the position for himself.

Ms West, who was deputy secretary of Investment NSW, was not pleased about the backflip, leading to an 'irreconcilable' situation, according the senior bureaucrat who had to break the bad news to her in September.

Jenny West (pictured), was 'extremely upset' when she learnt the plum trade ambassador role she had won through an interview process was to be taken off her due to a ministerial decision that eventually led to the job being given to former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro

At a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that will examine the debacle, trade department secretary Amy Brown said Ms West 'was extremely upset about that, understandably so'.

In the days after her appointment was blocked, Ms West met with NSW's top bureaucrat Michael Coutts-Trotter to express her concerns about what happened, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Ms West, here seen addressing Indian students in her capacity as deputy secretary of Investment NSW was described as an 'eminently qualified' candidate for the New York job

Mr Coutts-Trotter, who is secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, was given a 45-page report by Ms West outlining her concerns over what transpired.

Ms West has now left the public service with an undisclosed payout.

The New York Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner would have capped a CV bristling with achievement for Ms West.

She entered the NSW public service after being head of trade and investment at federal agency Austrade, where she led digital innovation efforts.

Mr Barilaro, who was then-NSW trade minister, intervened to change the process for hiring the state's trade ambassador to the US and eventually claimed the job himself

Her private sector experience includes four years as the NSW/ACT regional director for Telstra, where she was in charge of 130 retail stores and oversaw the NBN rollout.

In her seven years at Westpac, she headed the migrant and expatriate banking division, and was also general manager of the Sydney CBD operations.

In 2013 she won a Westpac 'Women of Influence' Award for business outcomes.

Ms West is also listed as a UTS Business School Industry Advisory Board member and a governor for the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia.

Labor's Deputy Leader Prue Car told the parliamentary inquiry that a highly accomplished woman had been brutally passed over for a former member of the government.

'We now know that the very eminently qualified Jenny West was dumped by this government, given a taxpayerfunded settlementbecause she was offered a job that was then taken away from her,' Ms Car said.

As NSW trade minister, Mr Barilaro created the New York trade commissioner role in November 2020, one of five similar jobs in major capital cities across the world.

Trading places - how John Barilaro won a prime New York gig The NSW Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner post in New York comes with a $487,000 salary plus a $16,000 cost of living allowance. It was created along with four other similar roles by then-NSW trade minister John Barilaro in November 2020. Then-deputy secretary of Investment NSW Jenny West was told she had won the New York job in August after beating out three other candidates from a select shortlist of interviewees. Mr Barilaro requested changes to the recruitment process in late September which required it to be signed off by state cabinet, although this has not occurred. This led to the verbal offer to offered to Ms West being withdrawn. The relationship between Ms West and Investment NSW then became 'irreconcilable'. The job was advertised in a process handled by Investment NSW and global recruiting company. Mr Barilaro was verbally offered the job in May, signed a three-year contract in June and is due to begin the role in July. He will be owed a week's salary if he is removed inside his six-month probationary period. After that he could be owed the wages due for the full three-year contract. Nearly $1 million was spent refurbishing part of the Australian consulate in New York for Mr Barilaro to occupy. Trade department secretary Amy Brown worked under Mr Barilaro when he was trade minister. She said she was not aware whether Mr Barilaro ever asked his replacement as trade minister, Stuart Ayres, to give him the job. Ms Brown expressed concerns last year in internal communications that Mr Barilaro's office would try to veto her picks for the role. She said a staffer on temporary secondment had misunderstood when she sent an email, since resurfaced, requesting the premier's approval for two other commissioner appointments despite the recruitment being an apolitical process. Advertisement

Ms Brown said Ms West was an 'excellent candidate' who had exceeded all the criteria to win the New York job after beating out a select shortlist of four people interviewed.

However, all appointments had to be frozen after a request on October 3 from Mr Barilaro's office that commissioner positions be moved from being an in-house departmental decision to one requiring cabinet approval.

Despite cabinet agreeing to draft legislation to this effect, the New York job has been given without ministerial signing off, unlike other similar roles.

The job was then re-advertised in December and the process was handled by Investment NSW and a global recruiting company with Mr Barilaro being announced as the successful candidate earlier this month.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet who called the appointment an internal public service has established an independent inquiry separate to the parliamentary one into the hiring process.

Mr Barilaro retired from politics on October 4 just days after Gladys Berejiklian sensationally quit as premier after the state's anti-corruption watchdog, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, announced it was investigating her.

He signed a three-year contract in June to take up the position of New York trade commissioner and is due to begin the role in July.
Before the alliance's anticipated criticism of China at its annual summit, which has for the first time this year invited four heads of government from the Asia-Pacific, the top Chinese envoy to the UN raged against NATO on Tuesday.

Ambassador Zhang Jun highlighted worries about the "protracted and prolonged" character of the fight, which has resulted in a "dire" humanitarian disaster with increasing civilian deaths, at a Security Council briefing on the war in Ukraine. The top Chinese ambassador then gave the North Atlantic Alliance one-third of his time.

China Opposes Asia-Pacific Version of NATO Alliance

Zhang claimed that China was "seriously concerned" about the alliance's strategic adjustment, which aims to focus attention on the crucial matter of dealing with China moving forward.

According to Zhang, China opposes the bloc's presence in the area as well as "assembling a 'Asia-Pacific version of NATO' through military alliances. The Asia-Pacific region must not experience the unrest and war occurring in certain regions of the world."

Until Thursday, NATO leaders are meeting in Madrid, where they will likely present the organization's strategies for dealing with Beijing, which it sees as a long-term security threat. The fact that the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea received invitations to this year's meeting for the first time makes it remarkable, Newsweek reported.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, China has made opposing NATO and rejecting Western sanctions against Russia central tenets of its foreign policy. Beijing agrees with Moscow's assertion that Russia's invasion of its neighbor was motivated by the bloc's eastward expansion rather than the Kremlin's geopolitical goals. Additionally, the West believes that China gave Russia important political cover at the UN and elsewhere.

As four partners from the area - Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea - join the NATO summit for the first time, Beijing is especially concerned that Washington is constructing an Asian version of NATO.

On Wednesday, there will also be a meeting with the leaders of Japan, the United States, and South Korea. Beijing and Moscow both believe that NATO's eastward expansion is the cause of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. However, the US and Europe have condemned Russia's action and put Moscow under sanctions.

Read Also: North Korea Set To Conduct Its First Nuclear Test in Five Years; South Urges China, Russia To Stop Pyongyang's Plan

NATO Should Not Use Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Says Chinese Diplomat

According to SCMP via MSN, Zhang said that NATO shouldn't utilize the conflict in Ukraine to foment "global bloc confrontation or a new cold war." During the Biden administration, the US has intensified its attempts to retain ties with its regional allies, notably the Quad alliance, which includes Australia, Japan, and India, and a pact with Britain to assist Australia in developing a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

In response to Russian aggression in Europe, NATO officials were preparing to upgrade and strengthen the alliance's defenses, including by implementing a new force model that would place around 300,000 troops on high alert to counter any potential threats.

In a speech in Madrid on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that his nation will establish a permanent headquarters for the Fifth Army Corps in Poland, keep a second rotational brigade of thousands of soldiers in Romania, and increase other deployments in the Baltic states. In addition, the US will upgrade the air defense systems in Germany and Italy and send two additional F-35 squadrons to the UK. The US already has 100,000 troops in Europe.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, will speak to the leaders on Wednesday by video conference regarding his country's conflict with Russia following the invasion on February 24. They are anticipated to approve the so-called new force model, which calls for NATO to pre-position additional equipment, strengthen air defenses, designate forces to defend certain partners, and retain those forces at a particular state of readiness.

As soon as Turkey abandoned its resistance to Sweden's and Finland's membership requests, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization took a step closer to fortifying its eastern border with Russia. When they join, the Nordic nations' NATO-compliant forces and high degree of integration will strengthen the alliance. Both nations are increasing their military expenditures, as per Bloomberg.

Related Article: Ukraine War: Videos Show Scary Aftermath of Russia's Missile Attack at Shopping Mall With 1000+ People Inside

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A new agreement between gig economy company Uber and the Transport Workers' Union will ensure vital Australian workers are no longer exploited, the union's national secretary says.

Under the agreement signed on Tuesday, Uber and the TWU agreed to support the federal government in legislating an independent body to create industry-wide standards, including a minimum wage.

'It's a great moment in Australian industrial history,' TWU's national secretary Michael Kaine told reporters on Wednesday.

'It will mean Australians ... can have the confidence that the worker who is providing those services is safe, is rested and is able to look after themselves and their family.'

TWU boss said the landmark agreement will allow customers to be more secure knowing their drivers will be 'safe and rested'

Gig economy workers who work for companies like Uber are not entitled to minimum wage or sick leave because they are classified as independent contractors.

Uber and the union will begin putting their case forward to the federal government, with the hope legislative changes are developed and approved in parliament this year.

The two are also committed to holding further discussions on setting industry standards.

Labor Senator Tony Sheldon, who chaired a job security senate inquiry, said the new government was committed to improving standards for gig economy workers.

'It's high on the priority list,' Senator Sheldon told reporters.

'But you need to have proper consultation to make sure (there's) no unintended consequences, with a clear consequence of giving people minimum rights and workers basic rights and making this industry sustainable.'

The new agreement comes after Uber in February signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Transport Workers' Federation, with which the TWU is affiliated, to begin talks on global working conditions.

The TWU signed a similar agreement with delivery platform DoorDash in May.

'Companies were pushing against this move for a long time,' Mr Kaine said.

'But it is true to say there is a sense of momentum.

'We're now speaking with other companies in addition to Uber and DoorDash, and we think that the momentum is there for those companies to understand this is the pathway forward.'

Uber (pictured) and the union will begin putting their case forward to the federal government, with the hope legislative changes are developed and approved in parliament this year

A NSW upper house report published in April called for gig economy workers to be better protected after five food delivery riders were killed in the space of two months in late 2020.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry also found gig economy platforms were deliberately structuring worker arrangements to avoid Australian regulations.

The new agreement between Uber and the TWU will lift the standard of work for more than 100,000 people, Uber general manager Dom Taylor said.

'We want to see a level playing field for the industry and preserve the flexibility that gig workers value most,' Mr Taylor said in a statement.

'It is critical that earners continue to be part of the regulatory conversation and that their collective voice is heard.'
A climate activist who allegedly blocked peak hour traffic and stranded thousands of commuters on one of Sydney's busiest roads has been arrested again for allegedly breaching her bail conditions.

Mali Cooper, 22, was among 10 people charged on Monday evening after dozens of Blockade Australia protesters hit the streets in the morning to cause chaos for commuters in Sydney's CBD.

She filmed herself behind the wheel of a car blocking the entrance to the Sydney Harbour Tunnel causing kilometres of gridlock, leading to one furious commuter screaming insults at her.

Cooper appeared in Central Local Court via video link on Tuesday when she was given liberty under strict conditions that she return home near Lismore and abide by a curfew between 10pm and 6am.

On Wednesday though, police were called to Turella Reserve in Earlwood in Sydney's south over reports of a gathering crowd which scattered when officers arrived.

Minutes later, police stopped a car nearby and found Cooper inside, allegedly breaching her bail conditions by still remaining in Sydney despite the court's order.

She was arrested on the spot and taken to Surry Hills Police Station for further questioning where she is said to be helping police with their inquiries.

A further 10 protesters are in the process of being released on bail this afternoon.

Activist Mali Cooper (pictured) defended allegedly gridlocking Sydney traffic because she believes it will get people talking about climate change and not Blockade Australia protesters, but she also acknowledged the protesters were acting in a privileged way

Ms Cooper allegedly chained herself to the steering wheel with a bike lock (left) causing gridlock for kilometres with one furious commuter hurling disgusting insults at her (right)

The woman was eventually arrested by several officers and the tunnel reopened around 9am

EXCLUSIVE: How the secret and VERY glamorous past of Australia's most infamous climate pest explains why she LOVES being the centre of attention - after 'paralysing Sydney by chaining herself to a car with a bike lock'

BY KEVIN AIRS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

The young woman who brought Sydney to a standstill by blocking a major road and chaining herself to her steering wheel once pursued a career as a glamorous teenage model.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Mali Poppy Cooper, 22, was once a budding catwalk star in her mid-teens and was on the books of a top model agency until it went bust five years ago.

She appeared in several advertising campaigns and fashion photoshoots and was even in a pop video before becoming an eco-extremist.

But on Monday, far from starring as a pin-up, Cooper was instead pinned down by police after allegedly bringing Sydney's traffic to a grinding halt during rush hour.

The woman at the centre of Sydney's roadblock chaos is former teen model Mali Cooper whose stunning looks stopped traffic and brought the city to a standstill

Cooper is accused of parking a white rental hatchback diagonally across the entrance to the busy Sydney Harbour Tunnel, causing a queue of traffic that stretched for 20 kilometres and promoted widespread fury in the Harbour City.

She even livestreamed her Blockade Australia protest from her phone in the car as furious commuters screamed abuse at her over the peak hour delays she caused.

In a video, Cooper could be seen with a heavy duty bicycle lock around her neck which was looped through the steering wheel to stop police attempts from easily removing her from the front of the tunnel.

Specialists from the Police Rescue unit eventually had to cut her free before she was dragged from the car and held face down on the tarmac as she was arrested before she taken to a cell along with five other women and four male protesters.

Cooper, 22, appeared in Central Local Court via video link on Tuesday where she was given liberty under strict conditions that she return to her home near Lismore, northern NSW, and abide by a curfew between 10pm and 6am.

She was one of 10 Blockade Australia activists charged with multiple obstruction and disruption offences in Sydney's central business district on Monday. A further 11 were arrested during similar protests on Tuesday.

In court, Cooper's lawyer Mark Davis acknowledged her alleged offending was more serious than others in the group. But he said that she had strong family support with her grandmother and aunt present in court, and no prior criminal history.

Mr Davis said the condition - she will have report to police three times a week, not enter Sydney's CBD or contact her co-accused - would be enough to cause her to 're-think activities of protest'.

Just six years ago, gangly 1.78m Cooper was a fresh-faced teenager hoping her distinctive looks could crack the cut-throat world of fashion modelling.

Mali Poppy Cooper, 22, was a budding catwalk star in her mid-teens and was on the books of a top Sydney model agency until it went bust in 2016

Cooper now lives in flood-ravaged Lismore, in Australia's alternative lifestyle heartland in northern NSW.

She was talent spotted by agency boss Jaz Daly at a Skye Ferreira concert who had high hopes for the youngster who was a football fanatic and skilled circus performer.

Her model agency sold her looks as 'a pillowy pout, finely freckled complexion, and uniquely idiosyncratic nose.'

'This rap and grime music fan has been juggling her studies while modelling part time,' said her agency at the time.

'Mali has an effortless elegance that is an undeniable asset to her fledgling career. Agile, artistic, and seemingly sensitive, Mali is sure to have fashion tumbling for her.'

Her unique look - which often appeared with barely a speck of make-up, or deliberately made up to look natural - let her stand out from her airbrush-styled rivals.

In one fashion shoot, Mali Cooper appeared to be wearing an elaborate Japanese kimono while lying on the ground staring back at the camera

Another shoot saw Mali Cooper wearing outrageous oversize earrings, coupled with a perm in a stunning high fashion style

In one photoshoot she showcased avant-garde corrugated vinyl clothes and traditional bucket hats and oversized woollen jerseys.

'She has a pillowy pout, finely freckled complexion, and uniquely idiosyncratic nose Modelling agency promotional material

In another she appeared to be wearing an elaborate Japanese kimono while lying on the ground staring back at the camera.

Another shoot saw her wearing outrageous oversized earrings, coupled with a perm in a stunning high fashion style.

She also appeared as an extra in a pop video in 2015 for a track called Oh Mercy by an artist called Sandy, where she danced as one of several tall blondes.

Mali allegedly began to livestream the protest on Monday when an angry driver walked up to her window and began to verbally abuse her with a string of swear words before storming off.

Mali Cooper began to livestream the protest when an angry driver walked up to her window and began to verbally abuse her before storming off

'You're f***ing everyone's day up,' he yells. 'Get the f*** out of the way!'

An unfazed Mali continued to look at the camera before she responded: 'To this man I would say I stand with you. It is for you, it is for your family that we do this.'

She staged her alleged protest as dozens of Blockade Australia demonstrators marched through the streets in the CBD, disrupting traffic and clashing with police.

One fed-up driver was filmed edging their car through the crowd forcing people to jump out of its way with one protestor banging on the hood of the car as they were pushed backwards.

Mali, who moaned about climate destruction in her livestream, then sipped water from a plastic water bottle as she continued her protest on the other side of the city.

'The police are here,' she said into the camera. 'Not sure if you can see. Thank you everyone who has listened.

'I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to hold this phone and hold this space. It's a big day ahead.'

She then looked out the window to check on the police officers circling her car before the angered commuter walked back up to her car.

The commuter screamed at her that she was 'f***ing selfish', then yelled a phrase at her about 'jail' that is so obscene it cannot be published.

An outraged commuter erupted at climate activist Mali cooper after she chained herself to the steering wheel of her car and blocked traffic outside the Sydney Harbour Tunnel

Mali continued to look away at her phone and tried to ignore the commuter hurling insults at her.

The commuter then walked away before Mali urged her viewers to join her cause.

'Come and stand in solidarity. Find your voice,' she said.

A police officer then walked up to her window and politely asks her for identification, before the video ended.

Further protests broke out in Sydney on Tuesday with 11 arrested, but the disruptions are unlikely to continue on Wednesday.

A message posted to the Blockade Australia Telegram channel late on Tuesday evening said: 'We have made the call for tomorrow to be a day off.

'We want people to have a chance to rest, regroup and support one another as well as connect with those who share our common purpose of resisting climate destruction'.
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Prince Andrew broke cover today for a horse ride in Windsor as lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell's victims called for the royal to be the FBI's 'next target'.

The Duke of York smiled as he rode through Windsor Great Park this morning on a brown steed, before getting behind the wheel of his Range Rover to return home.

Yesterday his friend, Maxwell, 60, was jailed for 20 years after a court heard how she trafficked vulnerable teenagers to billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's various properties in Manhattan and the US Virgin Islands for him to abuse between 1994 and 2004.

Lawyers representing Epstein's victims have now urged US authorities to investigate a string of other associates of the warped couple, including Andrew, whose role in the scandal led to a spectacular fall from grace.

Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represents several of the victims, told the Mirror there is also another Briton who they want to see probed.

It comes after the Duke of York, 62, has largely withdrawn from public life since reaching a '12million' out-of-court settlement with his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre earlier this year. Miss Roberts claimed she was trafficked by Epstein when she was a minor so she could be sexually abused by Andrew. The Queen subsequently stripped the duke of his HRH status, military titles and royal patronages. He has always denied the allegations.

Maxwell, the daughter of media tycoon Robert Maxwell, met Andrew while studying history at the University of Oxford in the early 1980s. The duke later invited the disgraced socialite and her boyfriend Epstein to Windsor Castle and the Sandringham estate.

Speaking outside New York's federal court, Lisa Bloom, who represents several Epstein victims, said: 'We call upon the FBI to fully investigate Prince Andrew.

'Virginia Giuffre's civil case should be just the beginning. Everyone associated with Epstein and Maxwell should be carefully investigated.'

Spencer Kuvin, who represents several of Epstein and Maxwell's victims, told the Mirror: 'Obviously, Andrew is one of the targets they will be looking into. He should definitely be concerned, but... if he did nothing wrong, then come forward and tell the full story to the FBI, not the media.'

And asked about others possibly linked to Maxwell and Epstein, Brad Edwards added: 'Let's hope they're the next target. If we have anything to do with it, they will be.'

In January 2020, then US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman said: 'To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation.'

US investigators later applied to the British government to hand over the duke to give evidence through a 'Mutual Legal Assistance' request to the Home Office, bypassing Buckingham Palace. If approved, the FBI could ask Andrew to be compelled to go to a British court to give evidence under oath as a witness. The Home Office has refused to comment on the status of the MLA.

The Duke of York smiled at the cameras as he rode through Windsor Great Park this morning on a brown steed

Yesterday the duke's former associate, Maxwell, 60, was jailed for 20 years after a court heard how she trafficked vulnerable teenagers for billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein

Andrew was also spotted behind the wheel of his Range Rover as he drove through Windsor Great Park

The Duke of York, Virginia Roberts, and Ghislaine Maxwell at the socialite's home in London

Maxwell studied history at the University of Oxford in the early 1980s where she began building connections of her own, including Prince Andrew, who would later invite her and Epstein to Windsor Castle and Sandringham

Spencer Kuvin (left) and Lisa Bloom (right), lawyers representing Jeffrey Epstein's victims

Brad Edwards, attorney representing victims, speaking during press encounter outside federal court in New York

A courtroom illustration of Ghislaine Maxwell with her defence lawyer Christian Everdell during her sentencing hearing in New York City on Tuesday. She was sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking

Representatives for the Duke of York declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

Maxwell was on Tuesday sentenced to 20 years in prison for luring young girls to massage rooms for Epstein to molest.

One of her victims, Annie Farmer, said outside the Southern District of New York court that powerful institutions had protected the pair 'for far too long'.

'Maxwell and Epstein were predators who were able to use their power and privilege to harm countless individuals,' Ms Farmer told reporters.

'And for far too long the institutions that should be protecting the public were instead protecting them. I still hope that we find out more about how that was allowed to occur.'

She added: 'I just hope that this sentence can be another sign that voices are coming together and saying: 'No more. If you commit these crimes, you will be punished. If you facilitate these crimes, you will be punished. If you are a bystander that looks the other way, you will not be allowed to continue to hold a position of power'.'

Ms Farmer was one of those to read a victim impact statement to the court earlier, telling jurors she was left 'frozen' when the socialite asked her to undress for a massage and rubbed her breasts.

Maxwell looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as judge Alison Nathan passed sentence in front of a packed public gallery.

Ms Nathan on Tuesday told the court Maxwell 'repeatedly, and over the course of many years participated in a horrific scheme to traffic young girls, some the age of 14'.

The socialite apologised to her victims, saying she hoped her sentence will allow them 'peace and finality'.

Addressing them directly, she said: 'To you, all the victims that came to today inside the court and outside...I am sorry for the pain you have experienced. I hope my sentence... brings you closure... peace and finality. To help you put those experiences in a place that helps you move forward.'

'I know my association with Epstein will follow and forever stain me,' she said addressing the court moments before her sentence was handed down.

The sentencing marks the end of a decades-long fight for justice by victims of Maxwell and Epstein

Ghislaine was Robert Maxwell's youngest child, born on Christmas Day 1961 She's pictured with her father in 1984

Former federal prosecutor says Ghislaine Maxwell is unlikely to ever spill Epstein's secrets because she's a 'total narcissist' A former federal prosecutor has said that Ghislaine Maxwell is unlikely to ever divulge what she knows about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking scheme, after she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the late financier abuse underage girls. Maxwell, who was handed the stiff sentence on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, has long been accused of knowing sordid details about Epstein and his potential co-conspirators, but has showed no signs of cooperating with federal investigators. Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who is now a litigator in Los Angeles, believes that Maxwell's actions and decisions to date suggest that she will never cooperate against Epstein's potential co-conspirators. 'She's dug in her heels - she pushed this case to trial, she made all these women testify, and revictimized them by making them repeat their stories in court,' Rhamani told DailyMail.com in an interview shortly after the sentencing. 'If you wanted the full benefit of cooperation, you wouldn't do any of this,' he added. 'I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that anyone else is going to be prosecuted in this case.' Advertisement

'It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein.'

Ms Farmer outside the court described the apology as 'hollow'.

'Her statement felt like a very hollow apology, to me,' she said.

'(Maxwell) did not take responsibility for the crimes that she committed - it felt like once more her trying to do something to benefit her and not at all about the harm that she had caused.'

Over the past 17 years, scores of women have accused Epstein of abusing them, with many describing Maxwell as the madam who recruited them.

The allegations against Epstein first surfaced in 2005. The FBI and local police had, at the time, amassed evidence of sexual misconduct with many underage girls.

But under a deal with federal and state prosecutors in Florida, later criticised as lenient, Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution-related charges involving just one girl and served 13 months in prison, much of it in a work-release program. Afterward, he was required to register as a sex offender.

In the years that followed, many women sued Epstein over alleged abuse.

Federal prosecutors in New York revived the case against Epstein after stories by the Miami Herald in 2018 brought new attention to his crimes. He was arrested in 2019, but killed himself a month later.

Eleven months after his death, Maxwell was arrested at a New Hampshire estate. Since then, she has been jailed in a federal facility in New York City.

Epstein and Maxwell's associations with some of the world's most famous people were not a prominent part of her trial, but mentions of friends such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump showed how the pair exploited their connections to impress their prey.

The trial revolved around allegations from only a handful of Epstein's accusers.

Four testified that they were abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein's mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

Three were identified in court only by their first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy: Jane, a television actress; Kate, an ex-model from the UK; and Carolyn, now a mother recovering from drug addiction. The fourth was Farmer, the sole accuser to identify herself in court by her real name, after speaking out publicly.

They described how Maxwell charmed them with conversation and gifts and promises that Epstein could use his wealth and connections to help fulfill their dreams.

Then, they testified, she led them to give massages to Epstein that turned sexual and played it off as normal.

Carolyn testified that she was one of several underprivileged teens who lived near Epstein's Florida home in the early 2000s and took up an offer to massage him in exchange for $100 bills in what prosecutors described as 'a pyramid of abuse.'

Maxwell made all the arrangements, Carolyn told the jury, even though she knew the girl was only 14 at the time.

A jubilant Annie Farmer smiles outside the Manhattan courthouse shortly after the sentence was handed down

Sarah Ransome and Elizabeth Stein held hands as they walked out of court Tuesday. Ransome claimed in her victim impact statement, 'I was nothing more than a sex toy with a heartbeat and soul used to entertain Epstein, Maxwell and others'. Elizabeth Stein revealed she had to have an abortion after getting raped 'countless times'

Maxwell's lawyers fought to have her conviction tossed out on the grounds of juror misconduct. Days after the verdict, one juror gave media interviews in which he disclosed he had been sexually abused as a child - something he hadn't told the court during jury selection. Maxwell's lawyers said she deserved a new trial. A judge disagreed.

During Maxwell's sentencing hearing Tuesday, the juror sat quietly among other spectators.

At least eight women submitted letters to the judge, describing the sexual abuse they said they endured.

Anne Holve and Philip Maxwell, her eldest siblings, wrote to the court to ask for leniency and said that their sister's relationship with Epstein began soon after the 1991 death of their father, the British newspaper magnate Robert Maxwell.

Robert Maxwell, they wrote, subjected his daughter to 'frequent rapid mood swings, huge rages and rejections,' which 'led her to becoming very vulnerable to abusive and powerful men who would be able to take advantage of her innate good nature.'

Ransome - an accuser whose allegations weren't included in the trial - testified about the lasting harm to her life, gazing directly at Maxwell several times.

'You broke me in unfathomable ways,' said Ransome, who twice tried to die by suicide. 'But you did not break my spirit.'
Parking rangers are allegedly being bullied and harassed to hand out more fines.

A leaked email from City of Sydney council staffer revealed that parking rangers feel they are being constantly threatened and pushed to increase the rate at which they issue parking fines.

'There is no regard for the rangers  (the City of Sydney) choose to bully and harass (rangers) into producing higher numbers and expectations,' it was claimed in the email seen by The Daily Telegraph.

A leaked email from a staffer has claimed the City of Sydney is constantly threatening and pushing its parking rangers (pictured) to increase the number of fines they issue

'There is no regard for the rangers  (the City of Sydney) choose to bully and harass (rangers) into producing higher numbers and expectations,' it was claimed in the email (pictured, parking ticket)

The worker, who is believed to be leaving employment with the council, claimed she had witnessed City of Sydney staff 'spy' on the rangers while they were on shift.

It was also alleged that council staff told the ranger it was 'part of the job' when workers reported an increase of abuse from members of the public during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The woman also noted that 'rangers are constantly [being] micromanaged over the number of PINs (fines) they bring in, regardless if it's 10 or 20 or 30'.

'How can you gain respect from your staff when you are constantly threatening them and their jobs?' the ranger added.

The woman also noted that 'rangers (pictured) are constantly been micromanaged over the number of PINs (fines) they bring in, regardless if it's 10 or 20 or 30'

City of Sydney made $36.26 million from parking fines in the 2020-2021 financial year.

A City of Sydney spokeswoman denied the substance of the claims, saying in a statement that the rangers 'are not assigned targets on parking infringement notices'.

'Just like employees in any service organisation, City rangers have work plans that reflect the various duties they carry out each day,' the woman added.

'City of Sydney takes bullying and harassment seriously and has procedures in place to deal with these matters.'

City of Sydney made $36.26 million from parking fines in the 2020-2021 financial year (pictured, ranger issuing fine)

In the email that was sent by the parking ranger, she claimed that 'the unit's morale dropped even lower with the continuous bullying and harassment...over the years' (pictured, ranger issuing fine)

In the email that was sent by the parking ranger, she claimed that 'the unit's morale dropped even lower with the continuous bullying and harassment... '.

'Over the years, rangers have been sent out in all extreme conditions such as bushfire smoke, dust storms, severe torrential rain and Covid lockdowns.'

The woman also claimed in the email that the rangers received 'nothing' when they asked for 'little things' like water in extreme heat.
A western Sydney woman described as the 'worst mother in the entire world' by the brother of a toddler she admitted hitting and killing has been jailed for at least 10 years and eight months.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, originally denied the crime and was due to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court in February.

But she changed her plea to guilty to manslaughter of her two-year-old son on August 3, 2018.

The toddler was hit with 'blows delivered with significant force' that made it look he had been in a car accident

'The offender was a large woman. The blows were delivered with significant force,' Justice Peter Garling said in sentencing remarks on Tuesday, describing her behaviour as callous.

'They inflicted injuries of a kind more usually associated with car accidents.'

She was sentenced to a total of 14 years and three months in prison and will be eligible for parole on October 19, 2029.

Six months before her arrest the then-25-year-old had cared for her three children all day as usual, before her eldest son witnessed her hitting the toddler after 6.20pm and before 7.30pm.

He said his younger brother was then sad, crying and unable to walk down the stairs, but his mother forced him to stand and walk and dragged him by the hand.

About 15 minutes later she drove the children to her father's home. He noticed the toddler's stomach was hard and advised he be taken to hospital straight away, but she refused.

She went out for alcohol and picked up a friend who observed the toddler was sleeping, and when she transferred him to a lounge he became limp and floppy and his eyes were rolling back and forth.

She tried to wake him with a cold shower splashing water on him and again was advised to take seek medical care.

She arrived at Westmead Hospital about 9pm.

A nurse at the front desk observed the child was lifeless and physically took him and ran into the Emergency Department. CPR was administered but he was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.

The toddler had injuries to his head, chest and abdomen caused by multiple forceful blunt impact traumas.

The woman gave a number of false, inaccurate, or incomplete explanations as to his injuries, the judge found.

Her stories included wrestling with his brother, that her eldest son grabbed the child around the throat and this was a regular occurrence, and that her 14-month-old had pushed him down the stairs by accident.

The mother presented the boy to Westmead hospital (pictured) after being unable to revive him with cold water

In a letter addressed to the judge, the mother said, 'I apologise to the court for the mistake I could have prevented'.

'I have lost everything, lost everything I've ever loved and held dear to me in the blink of an eye.'

The judge rejected any suggestion the killing by physical assault could be regarded as a mistake.

The eldest son of the woman gave a victim impact in which he stated she was 'the worst mother in the entire world'.

'Like how could you kill him? No, why did you kill my brother?' the statement read.

Relatives said she had a history of hitting the toddler, with one saying 'she would grab him by the hair and pick him up and throw him all the way over to the lounge'.

One woman offered to look after the child but said the mother would get mad and say: 'They're my kids. None of your business. If I hit him, I hit him'.
A US drone strike in northwestern Syria has killed a leader of a local jihadist group affiliated to Al Qaeda.

The precision strike, carried out on Monday just before midnight on the eastern edge of the city of Idlib, killed Abu Hamzah al-Yemeni - the leader of the Hurras al Din group - as he was riding his motorbike along a dirt road.

Images from the scene showed the twisted remains of a motorcycle strewn across the ground, suggesting the missile scored a direct hit on its target.

US Central Command did not reveal the weapon used to carry out Yemeni's assassination, but in the past has deployed the fearsome R9X Hellfire 'Ninja' missile for similar surgical strikes.

'Abu Hamzah al-Yemeni was travelling alone on a motorcycle at the time of the strike,' US Central Command said in a statement, adding that an 'initial review indicates no civilian casualties.'

The R9X Hellfire missile has become one of the US military's favored weapons for precision assassinations as it carries a lower risk of collateral damage.

Developed during Obama's presidency amid concerns over the number of civilians being killed in drone strike campaigns in the Middle East, the 'ninja' missile is so nicknamed because it foregoes the use of an explosive warhead.

Instead, the R9X carries 45kg of reinforced metal in its tip with six extendable blades designed to shred the target upon impact without triggering a blast that could prove deadly to those nearby.

Fighters of jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which dominates northwestern Syria, carry away a mangled motorcycle after a US drone strike targeting a leader of a rival Al Qaeda-linked faction, Hurras al Din

Fighters affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group in Syria transport the remains of a motorcycle reportedly targeted in a drone attack on the eastern edge of Syria's rebel-held Idlib province, early on June 28

US Central Command didn't reveal the weapon used to carry out Yemeni's assassination, but in the past has deployed the fearsome R9X Hellfire 'Ninja' missile for similar surgical strikes

A US official with knowledge of the operation speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN the US was 'highly confident' that Yemeni was killed in the strike.

This was later confirmed by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria.

An AFP reporter in Idlib said members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a rival jihadist group that dominates the area, gathered at the scene of the strike shortly after it happened and took away Yemeni's charred remains.

Pictures later emerged of masked men loading the melted chassis of the motorbike onto a pickup truck for salvage.

Monday's strike was the second US operation in June to target a senior jihadist in Syria.

US forces captured Hani Ahmed Al-Kurdi, a leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, on June 16 during a raid in Aleppo province.

They also killed IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi during an operation in Atme, a region of Idlib province, on February 3.

The motorbike, that was reportedly being ridden by jihadist leader Abu Hamzah al-Yemeni at the time of Monday's US drone strike in Syria, was badly damaged upon impact

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) members and local journalists take pictures of the site of a reported drone attack on the leader of Hurras al Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate

Hurras al Din is a relatively small but powerful armed group led by Al Qaeda loyalists, which was led by Yemeni until his death yesterday.

It's estimated to have 2,000 to 2,500 fighters in rebel-held Syria, according to the United Nations.

But HTS, whose leadership includes many ex-members of Al Qaeda's former Syria franchise, has tried to cast itself as a credible political force in the Idlib region, having gained momentum in recent years.

Since a 2020 ceasefire agreement reached by Moscow and Turkey, the main foreign broker in northern Syria, HTS has come under pressure to crack down on the myriad of other jihadist factions still present in Idlib.
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The 'heartless' landlord kicking out a family-of-nine who fled their war-torn home for Britain after just one month is a Royal Navy officer, MailOnline can reveal.

Maxim Hyryk and his wife Olga say they are baffled by their hosts' decision to force them out of the two-bedroom bungalow in Fareham, Hampshire - with no explanation why.

So far the couple and their five young children have raised 5,745 after setting up a JustGiving page to help them pay for their new accommodation.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Maxim said: 'Of course we are a little bit angry, but also very upset that they could do this. Kelly and her husband were so welcoming and made us feel this was a place where we could stay.

Then, they just stopped talking to us and we had the letter telling us we are being evicted. We have until July 15. They also cut off the internet so that makes it difficult for us to email and communicate. The landlord is being heartless.

My family is very settled here with the schools, and it just means more upheaval.

If we cant stay in his house we really want to stay in Fareham. It is where we can start our lives again. There will be no going back to Ukraine.

Now MailOnline can reveal that their landlord Dudley Malster is a married senior officer in the navy who lives next door to the family with his wife and two young children - and has enjoyed a 20-year career in the military.

Landlord Dudley Malster is a married senior officer in the navy with 20-year military career which has included Afghanistan

Maxim, 36, and wife Olga Hyryk fled from Kyiv with children and elderly parents to Fareham, where they had settled

The family were given bungalow in Fareham, Hants, next door to their host neighbours but now have been told to move out

The eviction notice the Hyryk Family received was from solicitors acting for the Malsters, who have declined to comment

Based at the Navy's headquarters in Portsmouth, Mr Malster, 40, is attached to the UKs High Readiness Maritime Force having served in Afghanistan, Bahrain and spent a year on secondment with the Canadian military, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He has been a warfare officer on several Type 23 Frigates, including HMS Northumberland and HMS Argyll and taken part in anti-drug operations in the Caribbean. And his work experience includes supporting the royal family on overseas tours.

Mr Malster and his wife Kelly, 46, live next door to the family they offered shelter to under the Governments resettlement programme.

The property was previously owned by Kelly's father Norman Duckett before he died last year.

Maxim said the couple, who have two children aged nine and five, couldnt have been nicer hosts when they arrived in Fareham, Hampshire, after having spent two months in Poland.

He said their hosts were warm, inviting and friendly as they settled into their new life. Kelly, 46, collected the family from Stansted Airport and made them feel at home.

But three weeks ago and without any warning, Kelly and her husband cut off contact and the family were told by Hampshire County Council that they had to move out.

This was followed up with a letter on June 15 from the landlord's solicitor telling them that they had to go by July 15.

The bungalow where the family of nine from Ukraine are currently living but are now facing eviction after getting legal note

Hanna, 69, was among the family and now also has to find a new home after the eviction notice despite her age

Maxim, 36, and wife Olga Hyryk, pictured about, all fled from Kyiv with children and their elderly parents last month

The family's desperation has meant they now have to crowdfund to try and get rent together and have started this page

Their internet access was shut off immediately and now the family have been forced to turn to fundraising to find somewhere else to live.

Hampshire County Council have told the family they are seeking a new home for them but Maxim has been told they might end up in a hotel and miles from the schools the children so enjoy.

Has your Ukrainian family been hit by an eviction from your home in Britain like this? Has your Ukrainian family been hit by an eviction from your home in Britain like this? E-mail: dan.sales@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

I contacted five local estate agents and when I told them we were a family of nine from Ukraine they just said  no and put down the phone.

Private landlords want six months' rent in advance before they will even consider us. I am hoping we can reach our target and that will give us a chance to at least try to get our own place.

I just want to get some stability and normality for my family.

They have been through so much. In Poland we were in hotels for two months and did not have a good experience although all the people were so friendly and helpful.

It is the same here. The British people have been so welcoming and the neighbours here all want to help.

More than 5,000 of the 12,500 target on the crowdfunding page has been reached.

The people are being so generous and I just want to thank them, said Maxim, who worked in finance in Kyiv.

I would love to get a job so that I can fully support my family.

Neighbours of the refugees said they were shocked to learn about the eviction.

One said: The Malsters are a lovely family and have gone out of their way to get a family from Ukraine. It just does not make any sense why they would want them out after a few weeks.

They have not talked to anyone about it or given a reason which makes it all the more strange.

The Malsters were not at their semi-detached home and did not return calls.

A spokesman for a firm of solicitors who issued the eviction notice to the family had no comment.

'There is no one available to comment,' said a spokesman for Southampton based Trethowans.

The family has set up a JustGiving page to raise money to pay for some new accommodation. To donate click HERE

How Homes for Ukraine red tape has left kind-hearted families in Britain frustrated and bewildered

British families frustrated by Home Office red tape have revealed their fury at a 'broken' Homes for Ukraine application process that sees children asked if they are security threats and fathers fighting on the front line made to fill out consent forms.

Kind-hearted hosts from across the UK have told MailOnline of how their efforts to open their homes have been hit with snags as thousands of desperate refugees remain stuck in limbo.

The Government has come under fire for the slow processing of visa applications as Ukrainian evacuees, some as young as seven and travelling just with their siblings, are stuck in neighbouring countries with little money and no food or spare clothes.

Of further concern to hosts is the cumbersome 50-page application process, which asks schoolchildren to divulge if they have ever been considered a threat to the national security of the United Kingdom.

Some hosts claim their sponsorship forms were 'lost', while other horror stories reveal visa applications for the same family saw one half allowed to come to the UK, while the other half were left waiting for a reply for a week.

Meanwhile, another host from Manchester told MailOnline how the pair of Ukrainian girls his family hope to sponsor were asked, as part of the visa application, to attach a letter of consent from their father - who was conscripted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the start of the war.

Of further concern to hosts is the cumbersome 50-page application process, which asks schoolchildren to divulge if they have ever been considered a threat to the national security of the United Kingdom

Another host from Manchester told MailOnline how the pair of Ukrainian girls his family hope to sponsor were asked, as part of the visa application, to attach a letter of consent from their father - who was conscripted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the start of the war

In March the Government announced the launch of the Homes for Ukraine scheme which will pay families 350-a-month to take in those fleeing Russian brutality for at least six months.

Within hours of launching, the website for registering interest had crashed and subsequently more than 200,000 people signed up to the programme.

Dr Paul Murray, a consultant scientist based in Bristol, has called on senior ministers and civil servants to quit

Dr Paul Murray, a consultant scientist based in Bristol, hoped to house Ukrainian lawyer Yevheniaa Filippova, her son Lev, nine, and daughter Nelly, two, who are fleeing from port city of Odessa.

He thinks senior ministers and civil servants should offer their resignations in the face of the 'national embarrassment' that is the Homes for Ukraine visa scheme.

'These are women and children who are vulnerable and need protecting', he told MailOnline.

'The incompetence is astounding. It is time for some senior civil servants and ministers to go. Dont they understand the situation for these refugees?

'The constant messaging of "we are simplifying the process", and "they dont need to go to a visa centre" is all bull****. This family break down in tears every time they call me because theyre stuck.

This system is broken, and it's absolutely ridiculous. People must lose their jobs over this.'

Ukrainian lawyer Yevheniaa Filippova, 39, and her daughter Nelly, 2, fled the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea, which has come under fire from Russian rockets in recent weeks

Lev, nine, and Nelly have fled invading Russian troops in the west of Ukraine

Other examples of the bureaucratic web that has delayed countless Homes for Ukraine applications have come to light in recent days.

Compliance manager Andy Johnston and his family first submitted their applications to house two Ukrainian girls, Oleksandra, aged 15 and Anastasiia, 19, in their Manchester home four weeks ago.

The girls' father was signed up to stay and fight for the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the start of the Russian invasion, meaning the sisters had to travel to Poland alone.

Because Oleksandra doesn't own a passport, she was asked to travel to a visa processing centre hundreds of miles away in Warsaw, where she provided her evidence on March 31.

Compliance manager Andy Johnston (pictured) and his family first submitted their applications to house two Ukrainian girls in their Manchester home four weeks ago

Ukrainian refugees Oleksandra, and Anastasiia, 19, (right) are stuck in Poland with their supply of money, food and clothes rapidly running out

Included within Oleksandra's forms was a question asking her to provide a letter of consent for her travel, authorised by a parent or guardian, before she could come to the UK.

But as they wait for the results of her application, the girls are now stuck in Poland with no money, food or spare clothes, Andy explains.

'It's a really worrying situation', he tells MailOnline.

'We sent them some money to help them get to Poland, and now we're going to have to send them some more to help support them with the essentials.

'It has been 26 days since our initial priority application was submitted and we've not had any updates on their applications at all. It's shocking really.'

Responding to the parental letters of consent, a Government spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The safety and wellbeing of asylum seeking children is paramount. Due to safeguarding requirements, unaccompanied minors are not currently eligible for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.'

Home Secretary Priti Patel has been forced to apologise over delays to the visa scheme.

Earlier this week, Environment Secretary George Eustice said the Home Secretary was 'looking very closely at this to look at whatever else can be done to remove any barriers'.

He told Sky News: 'Well obviously it's different for countries that are bordering the Ukraine, because people fleeing a war like this obviously will cross the nearest land border, and that's why countries like Poland and Hungary obviously are getting more of those refugees coming in.

'But we have now issued visas under the two schemes we've got, in particular the sponsorship scheme, to around 40,000 Ukrainians and around 12,000 of those are already here.

'We've made some changes already, making clear for instance that those with a Ukrainian passport don't need to attend an appointment in person, and I know that Priti Patel's looking very closely at this to look at whatever else can be done to remove any barriers as and when those arise.'

Home Secretary Priti Patel last week apologised 'with frustration' over the amount of time it was taking for Ukrainians to arrive in the UK under current visa schemes

In only six weeks of war in Ukraine, close to five million children have been forced to flee their homes and immigrate as refugees to neighbouring countries. Pictured: Ukrainian mothers in Krakow, Poland attend a protest against the killing of children in Ukraine

People who fled the war in Ukraine rest inside an indoor sports stadium being used as a refugee center, in the village of Medyka, a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine

Ruth Girardet, a leadership coach who lives in London, faced multiple hurdles before her refugees' claims were accepted and describes the application system as 'utterly broken'.

She filled out sponsorship forms for a Ukrainian mother and her two daughters, aged seven and 11 on March 21.

Within one of the pages on the 50-page application, the questionnaire asks the schoolchildren if they have ever been considered a threat to the UK's national security.

'I was astonished. The system is utterly broken', she told MailOnline.

Ruth Girardet, a leadership coach who lives in London, faced multiple hurdles before her refugees' claims were accepted and describes the application system as 'utterly broken'

To compound her frustration, Ruth was told by the office of her MP, Emily Thornberry, that documentation for the third and final visa had been 'lost'.

After enquiring about this, the final visa was eventually processed and accepted five days later, but the group only had one permission to travel form for the children.

That delay meant they were stuck in Poland and were told by border officials that their UK visas were ready to go, but they were not authorised to print them.

Several of those who offered their homes to Ukrainians within the first few days of the Homes for Ukraine scheme opening say they feel left behind as they claim more recent applications appear to be fast-tracked ahead of theirs.

Senior civil servants, including Second Permanent Secretary Simon Ridley, who worked on the Government's Covid Task Force, and policy expert Louise Horton were understood to have been parachuted in to help streamline the process.

A Home Office hotline and separate email address were initially set up to deal with the thousands of incoming requests, but have since become less responsive, several hosts have said.

In some cases, hosts say that their applicants' visas letters were due to arrive within two days - but are still yet to materialise weeks later.

The first four days appear to be the biggest hurdle, people who applied when the scheme first launched are being left behind, while those applying now are getting through quicker', Ruth adds.

Thats shocking because those applying first were the ones who are most in need and in danger.'

Her frustration is being shared by other prospective hosts hundreds of miles away.

Businessman David Steward slammed the government's 'failed' efforts to house Ukrainian refugees - comparing their plight to the 1940s generation of Brits who leapt into action to save more than 330,000 British soldiers stranded at Dunkirk.

He says conversations with the Ukrainian family he had been trying to sponsor have become more difficult to face as he hears the deafening blare of air raid sirens in the background.

'The opportunity to help those fleeing a land war in Ukraine is this generation's Dunkirk Little Ships moment.

'The government are either hindering it with an under-resourced, hopeless system, or are actively obstructing it.'

A government spokesman told MailOnline: 'We continue to process visas for the Homes for Ukraine scheme as quickly as possible, but accept progress has not been quick enough.

'The Home Office has made changes to visa processing  the application form has been streamlined, Ukrainian passport holders can now apply online and do their biometrics checks once in the UK, and greater resource has gone into the system.

'UK Visa and Immigration caseworkers are working as quickly as possible to process applications, but it is absolutely essential to ensure that issues of human trafficking are addressed and that safeguarding processes are in place to ensure children are travelling with their parents.'

Pictured: Suspected sex traffickers at the border with Ukraine, who could be looking for women. (Their faces have been pixellated for legal reasons)

An ex-army soldier talks to a Ukrainian refugee mother and child at the Polish/Ukraine boarder. (His face has been pixellated to protect his privacy)

It comes as the United Nation's refugee agency warned Ukrainian women and children should not be matched with single male hosts over fears they could be exploited.

A spokesperson for the UNHCR said: 'Matching done without the appropriate oversight may lead to increasing the risks women may face, in addition to the trauma of displacement, family separation and violence already experienced.'

Those concerns were echoed by the UK's Charity Commission who want to 'raise awareness of the risk of sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment of those in need of assistance'.

Unbound Now, a network of anti-human trafficking agencies, say they had seen lone men try to lure women into vehicles at the Ukraine-Poland border.

'It's a challenging situation at the moment,' concedes a spokesman for the charity.
A tailor was beheaded on camera in India's Rajasthan by two self-proclaimed 'Islamic warriors' after sharing a post on social media.

The pair entered Kanhaiya Lal's small shop in a crowded Udaipur market pretending to be customers and engaged him in small talk before attacking him.

Lal is heard pleading with them to spare him, in a ghastly video filmed by the attackers themselves.

One attacker repeatedly strikes the tailor on his neck from behind, even as he collapses to the ground with blood curdling screams.

The pair then went online, identifying themselves as Mohammed Riyaz Ansari and Ghouse Mohammed, claiming responsibility for the attack.

The victim was reportedly targeted for sharing a social media post supporting recent comments about the Islamic Prophet Mohammed by a spokeswoman for India's ruling Hindu nationalist, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The remarks by Nupur Sharma at a TV debate in late May were deemed 'blasphemous' and sparked protests that turned violent in some parts of India and demonstrations across the Islamic world.

Sharma was sacked by the BJP after her comments, which saw the governments of nearly 20 countries summoning their Indian envoys for an explanation.

A video released online shows the moment a Hindu tailor in India was attacked by two Muslim men with knives after he shared a post online supporting a politician who made 'blasphemous' remarks

Kanhaiya Lal was heard pleading with the two men, asking them why they are attacking him

The two attackers posted another video where they brandished the knives and threatened Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Police stand guard as people gather on road as tensions rise after the killing in Udaipur, Rajasthan

The two attackers released another video after the killing in which they brandished knives and issued a chilling warning to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they would 'douse the fire he had started.'

In reference to the allegations of anti-Muslim sentiments and communal hatred that Modi has battled since long before taking over as head of India's government.

Protests have raged on across the country against what was seen as a deliberate attempt by the ruling party to vilify the Islamic prophet.

A month-long order banning four or more people from gathering anywhere in the state is now in place across the state, while mobile Internet services were suspended to prevent the spread of inflammatory content.

'Both the accused in the killing have been arrested and we will ensure strict punishment and speedy justice,' said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Mohammad Riyaz Ansari and Ghouse Mohammed have both been arrested

Policemen carry out a flag march through a street in Ajmer following the alleged murder of a Hindu tailor by two Muslim men in Udaipu

Gehlot appealed to people to not share the video as it would 'serve the attackers' motive of creating discord in society'.

The Union Home Ministry has dispatched a high-level anti-terror investigation team to the spot.

Rajasthan is a highly popular tourist destination for British travellers, home to the Thar desert and several notable palaces.

The timing of the attack coincides with Narendra Modi's trip to UAE to pay condolences to the recently deceased ruler.

UAE had very recently joined a group of several Islamic countries that condemned the 'Prophet row' and called on Indian leadership to act on incidents of hate.
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Harrowing photos taken by a German soldier in the Second World War reveal the lives of Jewish people and Hitler's occupying forces before the Holocaust.

The never-before-seen images were taken between 1941-42 in the Polish city of Lublin by a 22-year-old Wehrmacht soldier.

They are set to feature in an exhibition after being donated to a Lublin gallery by the unnamed soldier's grandson.

In some of the images, the city's Jewish population are seen before they were executed in Hitler's gas chambers.

A poignant photo of a Jewish boy shows him standing barefoot and wearing a dog-eared coat whilst he smiles for the camera.

German officers and soldiers can also be seen lounging around in their barracks, strolling the city's streets, playing music and writing reports.

Established in March 1941, the Lublin Ghetto was one of the first to be liquidated during the most deadly phase of the Holocaust in occupied Poland.

Between March and April 1942, over 30,000 Jews were sent to their deaths in cattle trucks at the Bezec extermination camp. An additional 4,000 were sent to the nearby Majdanek death camp.

Harrowing photos taken by a German soldier in the Second World War reveal the lives of Jewish people and Hitler's occupying forces before the Holocaust. The never-before-seen images were taken between 1941-42 in the Polish city of Lublin by a 22-year-old Wehrmacht soldier. Above: A barefoot Jewish boy poses for a photo, and an older bearded man speaks with a woman

The collection was found by the Wehrmacht soldier's grandson, Andreas Rump, hidden inside a shoebox.

Mr Rump has now donated the whole collection of 69 photos to Galeria NN Brama Grodzka in Lublin as part of an exhibition that opened on June 15 to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Operation Reinhard - the code name for the Nazi plan to exterminate Polish Jews.

They can also be viewed online.

Mr Rump told local media: 'I didn't know why my grandfather photographed these people or even had these pictures.

'After the war he kept them in the same box as memories from family events. They were mixed up with photos from my mother's first communion and photos from Christmas, weddings and wedding receptions.

'It was a real mess in there. When, as a child, I was looking through family photos, I also saw these ones from the war.

The never-before-seen images were taken between 1941-42 in the Polish city of Lublin by a 22-year-old Wehrmacht soldier. Above: German soldiers salute passing colleagues on a street in Lublin

Established in March 1941, the Lublin Ghetto was one of the first to be liquidated during the most deadly phase of the Holocaust in occupied Poland. Above: A young woman is seen standing among younger children inside the ghetto

A group of men sit on a bench in Lublin. Between March and April 1942, more than 30,000 Jews were sent from Lublin to their deaths in cattle trucks at the Bezec extermination camp

The collection was found by the Wehrmacht soldier's grandson, Andreas Rump, hidden inside a shoebox. Above: Residents of Lublin's Jewish quarter are seen walking on the streets in one of the images taken by the Wehrmacht soldier

'On the reverse of some of them, was written "Lublin". But I never asked about them.'

Following Hitler's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the outbreak of WWII, German troops entered Lublin on the morning of September 18, beginning a five-year reign of terror.

The collection also includes photos from a party evening, in which German soldiers are seen sitting at tables covered with white tablecloths and stacked beer bottles.

Another shows officers sitting at a table against the background of the Nazi Swastika flag.

The collection also includes photos from a party evening, in which German soldiers are seen sitting at tables covered with white tablecloths and stacked beer bottles

Another shows officers sitting at a table against the background of the Nazi Swastika flag. Again, bottles of beer are seen on the table. The soldiers enjoyed conditions far better than the city's Jewish population

The photos were taken at a forced labour camp called 'Flugplatz' which was set up by the Germans on the site of Lublin's pre-war airport

The camp was one of the largest labour camps in the Lublin district and consisted mainly of Jewish men and women from various countries, as well as a group of Polish women

German soldiers are seen posing in front of a Christmas tree in Lublin in another of the photos taken by the Wehrmacht soldier

Smile for the camera: Beaming German troops are seen posing for a group photo in Lublin in another of the images from the Wehrmacht soldier's collection

A group of German troops sit and smile together in Lublin, just months before the town's Jewish population was deported to extermination camps

An overweight German officer is seen smiling with two colleagues in Lublin. The Wehrmacht solder's photos have been donated to Galeria NN Brama Grodzka in Lublin as part of an exhibition that opened on June 15 to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Operation Reinhard

The photos were taken at a forced labour camp called Flugplatz which was set up by the Germans on the site of Lublin's pre-war airport.

The camp was one of the largest labour camps in the Lublin district and consisted mainly of Jewish men and women from various countries, as well as a group of Polish women.

During Operation Reinhardt, the Nazi's diabolical plan to exterminate all of Poland's Jewish population, it served as a selection site for arriving transports, as well as a place for segregation and storage of property stolen from Jews in the death camps in Bezec, Sobibor and Treblinka.
The 'delighted' parents of Archie Battersbee say they've 'got everything we wanted' after winning the right to a new hearing as the Court of Appeal ruled a judge should reconsider whether doctors can turn off the 12-year-old's life support.

Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee said it 'couldn't really have gone any better' after a panel of three judges ruled there should be another High Court hearing into the case of their son.

The family, who are from Southend in Essex, appeared at the High Court in London today to argue for another hearing after a judge at the same court ruled doctors were legally allowed to stop providing treatment to him.

Lawyers for the family argued that Mrs Justice Arbuthnot made errors when deciding the case after being told doctors treating Archie at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, think he is 'brain-stem dead' and should be disconnected from a ventilator.

His family argued his heart is still beating and wanted treatment to continue, but Mrs Justice Arbuthnot concluded he was dead and treatment should end.

Now there will be another hearing at the Family Division of the High Court on July 11 in front of a different judge - Mr Justice Hayden - after the panel approved their appeal today.

Archie Battersbee, 12, of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, was found with a ligature around his neck on April 7 and never regained consciousness. Doctors at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, believe he is 'brain-stem dead' but his parents are fighting to keep his mechanical ventilation

Archie's mother Hollie Dance, 46, insists her son 'is still in there' and has vowed to keep fighting for treatment to continue. Here she is pictured outside the Court of Appeal today

Appeal judges Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls; Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Division of the High Court and most senior family court judge in England and Wales; and Lady Justice King made no criticism of Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, and indicated they would give reasons for their decision at a later date.

Speaking after the hearing Ms Dance said: 'We're delighted. We wanted another hearing and we've got everything we wanted.'

Mr Battersbee added he was 'delighted' and 'It couldn't really have gone any better today'.

Edward Devereux QC, who is leading the family's legal team, had earlier told the court: 'The case should be remitted for consideration by a High Court judge who should considerer whether it is in Archie's best interests for life-sustaining treatment to continue.'

Hollie Dance said she would 'not give up' her ongoing fight for her son Archie (pictured together before his accident) and said the High Court ruling 'was on only the start'

Archie's parents Hollie Dance (left) and Paul Battersbee address the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after today's hearing. The pair said 'it couldn't really have gone any better'

He had argued evidence had not shown 'beyond reasonable doubt' that Archie was dead.

Mr Devereux argued that judges should apply a 'standard of proof of beyond reasonable doubt', not the balance of probabilities, when deciding whether to declare that Archie was dead.

'Medical practitioners, when certifying death, do not do so on the balance of probabilities,' he said, in a written case outline.

'Given the serious consequences, even of a criminal nature, of making a mistake, it would be unconscionable for any other standard but one conferring certainty to be adopted.

'The balance of probabilities simply does not provide the necessary certainty.'

He told the three judges that the parents' appeal should be allowed and argued that another High Court hearing should be staged.

The Court of Appeal had the power to dismiss the case today. However, now the green light has been given, the case could be heard at the Supreme Court - the final appeal court for civil cases in the UK.

Archie suffered brain damage in an incident at home in early April.

Ms Dance said she found her son unconscious with a ligature over his head on April 7 and thinks he might have been taking part in an online challenge. He has not regained consciousness.

Ms Dance said she would 'not give up' her ongoing fight for her son and said the High Court ruling 'was on only the start'.

She said: 'I am devastated and extremely disappointed by the judge's ruling after weeks of fighting a legal battle, when I wanted to be by my little boy's bedside.

Doctors say 12-year-old Archie Battersbee (pictured) is 'brain-stem dead' and want to stop treating him, but his parents want them to keep going

Archie's mother Hollie Dance (right) pictured outside the High Court today with family friend Ella Carter (left). The Court of Appeal has ruled there should be another hearing into the boy's case

'Basing a judgement on an MRI test and is 'likely' to be dead is not good enough. I feel sickened at the hospital and the judge have failed to put the wishes of the family into consideration.

'I do not believe Archie has been given enough time. His heart is still beating he has gripped his hand and as his mother and my gut instincts, I know my son is still there.

'Until it's God's way, I wont accept he should go. I know of miracles when people have come back from being brain dead.'

Archie's family is being supported by a campaign organisation called the Christian Legal Centre.

Andrea Williams, the centre's chief executive, said: 'This case raises the significant moral, legal and medical question as to when a person is dead.

'Archie's parents do not accept that he is dead and are fighting for his life.

'There is no clear definition of death in English law and a case like this has never come before an English court before.

'The outcome is crucial for Archie and his family, and anyone who cares about the value of life in this country.'
KEYPOINTS:

Indonesia will distribute cheap cooking oil and analyze its effectiveness using its COVID-19 monitoring application.

The president's COVID-19 immunization certificate was released online in September 2021, coinciding with a data breach impacting 1.3.

Indonesia's COVID-19 tracker has expanded its responsibilities. Citizens now use it to buy affordable cooking oil amid a local shortage.

Indonesia Uses COVID-19 Tracker to Check Oil Subsidy Efficacy

In order to verify that its subsidies are effective, Indonesia will distribute inexpensive cooking oil using the Covid-19 monitoring software.

According to Rachmat Kaimuddin, the acting deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesians can purchase up to 10 kilograms of subsidized cooking oil each day using the PeduliLindungi app. Kaimuddin also served as the startup company PT Bukalapak.com's president and director.

PeduliLindungi allows users to scan QR codes to verify their health and vaccination status when entering buildings.

He also said on Tuesday, June 28, that since PeduliLindungi verifies user IDs when individuals scan QR codes, the app would display green, indicating that they may purchase cooking oil, or red, indicating that they have reached their limit.

Millions of consumers and small business owners in the fourth most populous country in the world have been alarmed for months by increasing cooking oil costs, which began around three weeks after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

In order to lower local costs and maintain its ability to export edible oils, Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, has pushed for a more excellent distribution of affordable cooking oil. When he declared an embargo on all exports of cooking oil in April owing to a scarcity locally, President Joko Widodo put the market into a tailspin before revoking it a few weeks later.

Read Also: Google's Pixel 6a Reportedly Faster, More Reliable With Fingerprint Scanner

Indonesian COVID Monitoring App Exposed President's Vax Records

This mobile application will provide color-coded information on the COVID-19 status of the users based on the data-sharing of its location. Black indicates infection; red indicates incomplete immunization status; yellow indicates first dose immunization, and green indicates complete vaccination. Due to the app's ability to tell you which hue predominates in a given area, the colors will also be used to assist you in identifying the crowd.

Additionally, the PeduliLindungi mobile app may keep the user's digital COVID-19 immunization and test certificates, saving the user time from having to create physical documentation. The software also includes e-HAC, an electronic health alert card that will assist in providing the user with essential papers and avoiding unwanted physical touch if they are traveling.

The application shows dates and kinds of vaccinations given, together with confidential biodata. For both entering malls and flying, it is necessary.

However, the president's COVID-19 vaccination certificate was leaked online in September 2021, which coincided with a data breach affecting 1.3 million users of this government contact tracing tool and raised concerns about information security in Indonesia.

The immunization records of President Joko Widodo were obtained through the app PeduliLindungi (care protect) and extensively disseminated on social media, which caused experts to doubt the government's dedication to data protection.

The government said that it was looking into a bug in a previous version of the app that exposed the data of nearly 1.3 million users. It happened a few months after a state insurer was accused of mishandling social security numbers.

Several social media users raised a dilemma about the application's shortcomings when it was declared necessary last August.

Related Article: Microchip Implant as COVID-19 Vaccine Passport Draws Privacy Concerns: Can It Track Your Location?
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Baltic leaders will lobby NATO for tens of thousands of extra troops to defend Europe's eastern flank at a key summit in Spain today, fearing they are next on Russian President Vladimir Putin's hit-list, after Ukraine.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania want 50,000 troops to be permanently stationed across their countries to face down a full-scale Russian invasion, replacing a 4,000-strong 'tripwire' force that's currently in place.

It comes amid fears that Putin could order his commanders to seize a 'land corridor' between Russia's European enclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus along the flashpoint Suwalki Gap, cutting off the Baltics from easy reinforcement.

Britain, which already has 1,650 troops stationed in Estonia, would be expected to contribute to such a force, which would come on top of the 300,000 troops that NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said would be placed on 'high alert' earlier this week.

Baltic nations received an early boost to their aspirations this morning when US President Joe Biden said America would ramp up its forces and equipment across Europe.

This, he said, would include a new permanent army headquarters in Poland while Washington will work with Spain to raise the number of U.S. destroyers based there to six from four, and send two additional F-35 squadrons to Britain.

He also outlined changes that will continue to boost the number of U.S. forces, air defenses and other weapons in Poland, Romania, the Baltic states and other bases across Europe.

Meanwhile British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to use his appearance at the NATO summit in Madrid to pledge extra troops for Estonia, potentially more than doubling current numbers.

It comes as terrifying new footage emerged showing the moment a Ukrainian shopping centre was eviscerated by a Russian anti-ship missile, debunking Kremlin claims that the mall accidentally caught fire after it hit a factory nearby.

Video captured on a CCTV camera overlooking the rear of the Amstor mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, shows what appears to be a guided AS-4 Kitchen missile - originally designed to take out US aircraft carriers - slamming into the shopping centre shortly before 4pm local time Monday. At least 18 were killed in the atrocity.

NATO leaders including Joe Biden and Boris Johnson pose for the family photo this morning as a two-day summit got underway

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that America is enhancing its military presence in Europe for the long haul to bolster regional security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Biden opened his participation in the summit by announcing that the U.S. is establishing a permanent headquarters in Poland, sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the UK and will send more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy

Baltic leaders will use today's NATO summit to lobby for 50,000 troops to be stationed on their territory amid fears Putin could cut them off with lighting assault on Sulwaki Gap

Biden reveals ramp-up in US forces in Europe The US will ramp up its forces and equipment across Europe to respond to threats coming from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday during a NATO summit in Madrid. Below are details of the changes in US forces and weapons in Poland, Romania, the Baltic states and other bases across Europe as outlined by Washington in an accompanying fact-sheet. POLAND: The US will permanently station the V Corps Headquarters Forward Command, an Army garrison headquarters, and a field support battalion in Poland, making these the first permanent US forces on NATO's eastern flank. It aims to improve its command and control capabilities, interoperability with NATO, and management of equipment. ROMANIA: Washington will position a rotational Brigade Combat Team in Romania. It will maintain the ability to deploy subordinate elements across the eastern flank and will complement the other Brigade Combat Teams stationed and operating in Europe. BALTIC REGION: US will enhance its rotational deployments which include armoured, aviation, air defence, and special operations forces to reinforce security there, enhance interoperability, and demonstrate the flexibility and combat readiness of US forces. SPAIN: Washington is working with the Spanish government to raise the number of destroyers based in southern Spain to six from four. BRITAIN: Washington will send two additional F-35 squadrons to Britain. GERMANY: The US will forward station an air defence artillery brigade headquarters, a short-range air defence battalion, a combat sustainment support battalion headquarters, and an engineer brigade headquarters approximately 625 military personnel in total. It adds to a recent forces buildup announced in April 2021. ITALY: Washington will forward station a short-range air defence battery a totalling approximately 65 personnel. This battery is a subordinate unit of the short-range air defence battalion to be stationed in Germany. FUNDING: In the fiscal year 2022, the Department of Defense continues to execute $3.8 billion in European Deterrence Initiative funding, with another $4.2 billion requested for next year. Advertisement

NATO leaders are meeting at a crucial time for the alliance, which is scrambling to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Though Ukraine is not part of the alliance, it's surrounded by members and many NATO countries have been supplying weapons to hold back Russia's advance.

That has prompted Russia - via its state media propaganda networks - to warn of a 'de-facto' war with NATO, which it argues could spiral into a nuclear Third World War.

Poland, which shares a long land border with Ukraine, has been reinforced with NATO troops and has been rapidly buying up latest-generation American weaponry in recent months to try and deter Russia from attacking.

The Baltic states - long viewed as NATO's Achilles heel - are also ramping up calls for reinforcements to fend off any threat of attack.

Kyllike Sillaste-Elling, head of NATO relations at Estonia's foreign ministry, told The Independent: 'We need a new, more robust posture that will significantly strengthen the deterrence and defense of the eastern flank.

'Putin is not deterred. We should look at what Putin has been saying in his strategic aims including mentioning the former Soviet Union.

'As a direct neighbor we can't just overlook those statements. We are small, we are located far northeast next to Russia. We don't have anywhere to retreat to, we have nowhere to go. That is why we need to have as much in place as possible.'

Fears over the Suwalki Gap ramped up last week, when Lithuania - one of the Baltic states - stopped Russia moving goods across its territory, in line with EU sanctions.

The Lithuanian route was a key supply line between Belarus, a close ally of Russia, and Kaliningrad - an enclave of Russian territory on the Baltic Sea.

The Suwalki Gap links Belarus and Kaliningrad, running through the territory of both Lithuania and Poland who are NATO member states.

They fear Putin could launch a lightning assault to occupy the territory, reopening Kaliningrad's supply lines while also cutting off the Baltic states from mainland Europe and making reinforcement much harder.

That is why they are lobbying NATO to move sufficient forces into the region to hold back a Russian invasion now, rather than wait until an attack is already underway to deploy its armies.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, NATO had around 3,700 troops stationed across Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia as part of a so-called 'tripwire' force.

Though the force is far too small to defeat Russia in combat, its goal is to hold up any invasion for long enough that much larger forces - such as the 300,000 'high alert' troops - can be rushed into the fight.

But Baltic leaders fear the reinforcements would arrive after their countries had been swallowed by Russia, leaving the alliance with the difficult decision to try to liberate them, or accept the new status quo.

From left, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a meeting at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain this morning

U.S. President Joe Biden, left, speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the summit this morning

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured talking to Joe Biden this morning) is expected to use his appearance at the NATO summit in Madrid to pledge extra troops for Estonia, potentially more than doubling current numbers

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, third left, shakes hands with Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, right, next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, second right, after signing a memorandum in which Turkey agrees to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (left) looks on

Though the risk of a Russian attack while fighting is ongoing in Ukraine is considered low, leaders say it has to be taken seriously.

Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene, a Lithuania expert and co-founder of the Council on Geostrategy, told The Times: 'You can't discount the possibility that Russia will strike.

'The Suwalki Gap really is the easiest target. It's the soft underbelly of NATO.

'The biggest mistake a policymaker can make is just to completely dismiss the possibility of something like this happening.'

Russia has already begun menacing Lithuania, with hacker group Killnet launching a days-long cyberattack on the country beginning last week and has targeted its communications, energy and financial sectors.

Killnet isn't officially linked to the Russian state, though its activities are thought to be tacitly condoned by the government.

Lithuanian social media was also flooded with fake videos and news reports that suggested America was preparing to suspend the country from NATO's Article 5 pledge, meaning the alliance wouldn't come to its defense if attacked.

Leaders, who began arriving in Madrid for the summit yesterday, said last night that strengthening defenses against Russia is the alliance's top priority.

Britain's Johnson said as he arrived for talks Wednesday that NATO needed to learn 'the lessons of the last few months and the need for NATO to revise its posture on its eastern flank.'

Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, saying it had no right to exist as a country after being 'invented' when the Soviet Union broke up - sparking panic among other former Soviet states

Russia's Ukraine invasion - intended to last just a few days - is now into its fifth month, having caused huge damage to the country and to Putin's armed forces

Turkey will demand extradition of 'terror suspects' from Finland and Sweden Turkey said Wednesday it would seek the extradition of 33 'terror' suspects from Sweden and Finland under a deal that paved the way for Ankara to back the Nordic countries' NATO membership bids. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lifted his opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO after crunch talks ahead of Wednesday's NATO summit, in return for written security guarantees. Ankara immediately put the new agreement to the test, with Justice Minister announcing that Turkey would seek the extradition of alleged Kurdish militants and members of a group that Erdogan blames for a failed 2016 coup attempt. 'We will seek the extradition of terrorists from the relevant countries within the framework of the new agreement,' Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was quoted as saying by NTV television. Bozdag said Ankara would now ask for the extradition of 12 suspects from Finland and 21 from Sweden who were either members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or alleged members of a group led by the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. Advertisement

Polish President Andrzej Duda said NATO's commitment to greatly increase its rapid reaction force for members nearest to Russia will make Europe 'safer.'

He said: 'Russia is a threat for Europe and not only for Europe, but for all of NATO.'

This morning President Joe Biden said that the U.S. is enhancing its military presence in Europe for the long haul to bolster regional security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid at the opening of the alliance's annual leaders summit, Biden said 'NATO is strong and united' and that steps to be taken during the gathering will 'further augment our collective strength.'

Biden opened his participation in the summit by announcing that the U.S. is establishing a permanent headquarters in Poland, sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the UK and will send more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

'Today I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security,' he said.

Stoltenberg, who earlier Wednesday said the alliance was facing its biggest challenge since World War II, welcomed Biden's announcement.

'This really demonstrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond,' Stoltenberg said, thanking Biden for the 'unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine.'

Biden said the U.S. will permanently station the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland , a move that he said would strengthen US-NATO interoperability across the alliance's eastern flank. The move marks the first permanent basing of U.S. forces on NATO's eastern edge. Biden added that the U.S. is also stepping up its rotational deployments of troops to the Baltic region.

The NATO summit kicked off with Turkey dropping its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining, meaning they will almost certainly be accepted

The spouses walk with Queen Letizia in Segovia, an ancient town near Madrid

Queen Letizia gave Jill Biden a hug when the first lady arrived in Segovia for the outing

Maisy Biden and Finnegan Biden (the two girls on the left) joined Jill Biden and Queen Letizia (center) during a spouses program tied to this week's NATO summit

Biden announced after arriving for the summit on Tuesday that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain, bringing the total number to six.

The U.S. currently has more than 100,000 servicemembers deployed across Europe, up by about 20,000 since just before Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine began four months ago.

Biden predicted that meetings this week would make for a 'history-making summit' as leaders were set to approve a new strategic framework, announce a range of steps to boost their defense spending and capabilities, and clear the way for historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

Biden said Putin thought NATO members would splinter after he invaded Ukraine, but got the opposite response instead.

'Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe,' Biden said. 'You're gonna get the NATO-ization of Europe. And that's exactly what he didn't want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe.'

Summit talks were given an early boost when Turkey dropped its opposition for Finland and Sweden joining the alliance, themselves fearful of a Russian invasion.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip President Erdogan had been opposing the move because of Finland and Sweden's support for Kurdish 'terrorist groups', but backed down last night after weeks of lobbying, saying he 'got what he wanted' from them.

It means the two Scandinavian nations are almost certain to rapidly join the alliance, bringing with them advanced weaponry and tens of thousands of troops that are crucially located just across the Baltic Sea.

'I am pleased to announce we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,' Stoltenberg said. 'Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism.'

Terrifying new video captures moment Russian AS-4 missile slams into Ukrainian mall killing 18, debunking Kremlin claims that a blaze accidentally spread from a 'weapons store' targeted nearby

Terrifying new footage has captured the moment a Ukrainian shopping centre was eviscerated by a Russian anti-ship missile, debunking Kremlin claims that the mall accidentally caught fire after it hit a factory nearby.

Video captured on a CCTV camera overlooking the rear of the Amstor mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, shows what appears to be a guided AS-4 Kitchen missile - originally designed to take out US aircraft carriers - slamming into the shopping centre shortly before 4pm local time Monday.

It emerged just hours after more footage taken from cameras in a nearby park showed the moment a second missile struck the Kredmash factory, which sits behind the mall, destroying four warehouses at the northern end of the complex and raining debris down on passersby.

Russia 's defence ministry has admitted being behind the attacks - despite one politician initially blaming Ukraine for bombing its own people - saying the factory was being used as a store for western weapons which were due to be transported to Donbas. It denied striking the mall, and said the second missile actually hit a train station.

But Ukraine says Russia deliberately targeted the mall in a 'terrorist attack' designed to sow fear among civilians, and that there were no arms being stored at the factory - which manufactures parts for civilian vehicles, among other things. The video footage tallies more closely with Kyiv's account than Russia's.

Mykhailo Podolyak, one of President Zelensky's top advisers who posted the footage online late last night, wrote: 'Russian propaganda always lies: There is no coincidence, [the strike] was a deliberate blow to intimidate the population and cause mass casualties.'

This is the moment a Russian missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping centre on Monday, exploding with a huge fireball that left at least 18 civilians dead and 59 wounded, with another 21 missing

Footage reveals the bomb was likely a Russian AS-4 'Kitchen' guided missile - a Soviet-era weapon that was originally designed to take out American aircraft carriers

The footage directly contradicts Kremlin claims that it destroyed a nearby factory being used to store weapons and a train station, and that the mall accidentally burned down after flames from those strikes spread

This is the moment a Russian missile slammed into a factory in the city of Kremechuk, central Ukraine, after another rocket blew apart a nearby shopping mall and killed at least 18 civilians

CCTV captures panicked locals running for cover as smoke rises from the first blast (top right, behind the trees) before a second missile hits (top left) - sparking a huge fireball and shockwave

Civilians in a park next to the factory can be seen throwing themselves to the ground as debris smashes into the nearby lake, with a pall of smoke casting a shadow across the ground

Debris rains down on the nearby park after a Russian missile destroyed part of factory, moments after a second rocket slammed into a shopping centre killing at least 18 civilians

Smoke rises from the ruins of the Amstor shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, after it was struck by long-range guided missiles that Ukraine says were fired by Russian bombers

Onlookers gather as the shopping centre is engulfed by flames shortly after it was struck by two Russian guided missiles on Monday, while an estimated 1,000 people were inside

At least 18 people were killed in the strike with another 21 still missing as-of Wednesday, with rescuers warning they are unlikely to have survived an inferno which gutted the mall and caused the roof to collapse. Identifying victims is proving difficult, with some bodies burned beyond recognition.

Some 59 people were also injured in the strike, with 25 recovering from their injuries in a nearby hospital.

Russia's UK ambassador, Andrei Kelin, last night told Channel 4 that civilian victims of the strike are 'collateral damage' while repeating the Kremlin's line that the missiles were targeting military infrastructure.

Mr Kelin claimed there was 'no crowd' in the shopping centre, but acknowledged 'some people probably' died in the area. 'Yes, it's a tragic event. Unfortunately, collateral damage happens,' he said.

One mall employee, who gave only his first name, Oleksandr, said he had stepped outside with a colleague for a cigarette when the air raid siren went off. He described the moment of impact.

'There was darkness in my eyes for two minutes,' he said. 'There was a black tunnel, smoke, fire. I started to crawl. I saw the sun up there, and my brain was telling me I needed to save myself.'

Everything was on fire, he said. A blast wave threw him under a car. He couldn't hear. Bits of shrapnel were embedded in his leg. 'Thank God that was it,' he said. 'I was very lucky.'

He estimated 1,000 shoppers and employees had been in the mall at the time, contradicting Russia's claim that it was empty.

Kateryna Romashnya had just reached the mall on her walk home from work when the explosion threw her to the ground and blew out nearby windows. Stunned, she estimated that 10-15 minutes passed before another explosion occurred.

'I realized I needed to get away,' Romashnya said, and she ran with all her strength. 'It was terrifying,' she said, and began to cry. 'You have to be a real monster' to destroy a mall, she said. 'I don't have words anymore.'

Ukrainian authorities said that in addition to the direct hit on the mall, a factory was struck, but denied it housed weapons, as Russian officials alleged.

Dr. Kostyantyn Manayenkov, the chief surgeon at a Kremenchuk hospital treating the wounded, said nine people in intensive care were in 'very bad condition.' There had been skull injuries and some amputations, he said.

Some bodies were so badly burned that they were unrecognizable, said Denis Monastyrsky, Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, who visited the scene. Identifying them could take days, he added.

Those inside the mall had had seven to 10 minutes to leave and get to safety when the warning sounded, he said. A shelter was just across the street, but many did not heed the warning - weary of such alarms, many of which turn out to be nothing, after more than four months of war.

Among those reported as missing in the havoc are Tatyana Brigadirenko, who worked at the Amstor shopping mall. Her boyfriend Ihor Ivakhnenko is desperately searching for her.

Oksana Poshtarenko, born in 1992, was at work at household appliances store Comfy and has not been seen since.

Relatives of two more Comfy workers, Yuri Mikitenko and Daniil Sidorov, born in 1996, say they have been out of contact since the strike.

A desperate message reads: 'His wife and son are searching for him. He has not been in touch since then.

'Maybe some will recognise him, we hope he is alive.'

Other missing Comfy store workers are Konstantin Vozniy, who relatives say has tattoos on his left arm and chest, and Nikolay Krychkov.

The husband and mother of Comfy staff member Elena Poliakova were desperately seeking the missing woman.

Another Amstor employee Sofia Vinnik, 21, was known to have been at work and not heard of since.

Tatyana Brigadirenko (right), who worked inside the Amstor mall, was reported missing by boyfriend Ihor Ivakhnenko (left) who posted on social media searching for her

Oksana Poshtarenko, 29 (left), and Elena Poliakova (right), both workers who were inside the Amstor mall when it was hit by the missiles, were reported missing on social media

Sofia Vinnik, 21 (left), was a worker at the Amstor mall who is now missing, while Anna Vovnenk (right) was visiting the shopping centre with her mother at the time of the attack. She is now missing, while her mum is in hospital

Olga Pavlenko (left) was visiting the Amstor mall when it was blown up by Russian missiles, with loved ones now appealing for news about her on social media

Ruslan Mykolenko, 26 (left), has been reported missing following the mall blast along with 23-year-old Vyacheslav Demidov (right), who had been inside at the time of the attack

Nikolay Krychkov (left) and Yuri Mikitenko (right) were both working inside the Amstor mall when it was hit by two Russian missiles, and are now missing

Evgeny Gritsai, 28, was reported missing by loved ones scouring social media for news of his whereabouts following the missile strike in Kremenchuk yesterday

Alyona Velichko, 44 (left), had been going to meet someone at the Amstor mall when it was hit by the missile and is now missing, while another family appealed for news of their 50-year-old mother (right), who they did not name

People wounded during the missile strike on a Ukrainian shopping centre in Kremenchuk are pictured recovering from their wounds in hospital, with many of them suffering from burns

A couple wounded in a shopping mall hit by a Russian missile strike hold hands in a hospital, amid expectation that the number of people killed will continue to rise

Kremenchuk is an industrial city in the centre of Ukraine spanning the Dnipro River, and is more than 100 miles from the closest frontline with Kyiv insisting it contains no military targets

Zelensky said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was 'unimaginable,' citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were inside at the time of the attack.

'The Russian strike today on the shopping centre in Kremenchuk is one of the most brazen terrorist acts in European history,' he said in his evening broadcast posted on Telegram.

Images from the scene showed giant plumes of black smoke from a shopping center engulfed in flames, as emergency crews rushed in and onlookers watched in distress.

Zelensky said the target presented 'no threat to the Russian army' and had 'no strategic value.' He accused of Russia of sabotaging 'people's attempts to live a normal life, which make the occupiers so angry.'

Boris Johnson condemned Vladimir Putin's 'cruelty and barbarism', speaking on the day Zelensky addressed the G7 summit to urge G7 leaders to supply missile defence systems, and said it would strengthen the resolve of allies to resist Putin.

Mr Johnson said: 'This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink.

'Once again our thoughts are with the families of innocent victims in Ukraine.

'Putin must realise that his behaviour will do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the Ukraine and every other G7 country to stand by the Ukraine for as long as it takes.'

Earlier, the Prime Minister said the 'price of freedom is worth paying' and the UK must be prepared to support Ukraine's fight against Russia for as long as it takes despite the cost.

The conflict in Ukraine has added to the rising cost of living by exacerbating turbulence in international energy prices and causing food shortages due to supplies of grain being prevented from leaving the country's ports by Russia's Black Sea fleet.

But speaking at the G7 summit in Germany, Mr Johnson said those pressures will start to ease and the long-term economic impact of defending the rules-based system of international conduct will be beneficial to the global economy.

In footage taken from inside the shopping centre, a male voice is heard shouting: 'Is anyone alive? Anyone alive here?'

If Putin is not resisted, it could give the green light to countries such as China to pursue their own goals of territorial expansion, he suggested.

The UK has so far contributed around 1.5 billion of economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine plus some 1.3 billion of military assistance.

The Prime Minister told the BBC at the summit in the Bavarian Alps: 'I think that the economic impacts on the UK will start to abate, we'll find ways around things and some of the cost pressures will start to come down.

'But just in terms of staying the course, imagine if you didn't.

'Imagine if we allowed Putin to get away with the violent acquisition of huge chunks of another country, a sovereign, independent territory, the lessons for that would be absolutely chilling in all of the countries of the former Soviet Union, you can see what's happening in the Baltic countries already.

'But the read across would also be felt in east Asia, as well.

'So, in terms of the economic effects of that, that would mean long-term instability, it would mean anxiety across the world.'

Firefighters clear rubble from the remains of the Amstor mall, in Kremenchuk, after it was destroyed by a Russian missile

The remains of a clothing store are seen inside the Kremenchuk mall after it was blown up by a Russian anti-ship missile

Bottles scorched by a fire that gutted the Amstor mall in Kremenchuk after it was hit by a Russian missile are seen in the ruins

Shelves that once held food supplies are filled only with ash after a fire sparked by a Russian missile strike destroyed a mall

Workers clear the wreckages of the Amstor mall in Kremenchuk, two days after it was hit by a Russian missile strike

Workers clear the wreckages of the Amstor mall in Kremenchuk, two days after it was hit by a Russian missile strike

A firefighter works amid the rubble of the destroyed Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk

Firefighters clean the rubble of the destroyed Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk

Emergency crews work at the site of a destroyed shopping mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, after it was struck by two Russian long-range guided missiles

Comparing the situation to the defeat of Nazi Germany, Mr Johnson declined to put a limit on UK support.

'The point I would make to people is, I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying.

'And just remember, it took the democracies, in the middle of the last century, a long time to recognise that they had to resist tyranny and aggression. It took them a long time, it was very expensive.

'But what it bought in the end, with the defeat of the dictators, particularly of Nazi Germany, it bought decades and decades of stability, a world order that relied on a rules-based international system.

'And that is worth protecting, that is worth defending, that delivers long-term prosperity.'

A rescue operation is under way and nine of the wounded are in a serious condition, said Ukrainian authorities.

The attack on Kremenchuk comes after days of increasing Russian missile strikes far from the frontline, including the first attacks on the capital Kyiv for weeks.

Moscow has also stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, where Russian troops were pushed back in a counter-offensive in May. The Kharkiv governor said five people were killed and 22 wounded in shelling on Monday that hit targets including apartment buildings and a school.

In Kremenchuk, panicked survivors desperately tried to flee for safety as the complex erupted in fire, with plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Putin's war propagandist Andrey Rudenko has already predictably dismissed the brutal assault as a 'fake' operation carried out by Kyiv. Russia previously made the same outlandish claims about the atrocities in Bucha.

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram: 'It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims.

'It's useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia.'

Zelensky stressed that the target presented 'no threat to the Russian army' and had 'no strategic value' accusing Russia of sabotaging 'people's attempts to live a normal life, which make the occupiers so angry'.

A man filming from outside then says: 'This is it, the walls are collapsing.'

Dmytro Lunin, head of Poltava regional administration, said: 'Missile strike on a shopping mall with people in Kremenchuk is yet another military crime by the Russians. A crime against humanity. This is an obvious, cynical act of terror against peaceful civilians. Russia is a terrorist state.

'Rescuers and policemen are working at the site. The number of victims is impossible to count as of now.'

He said the death toll had risen from 10 to at least 13.

Andrii Yermak, Head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said: 'They said they would be hitting centres of decision making.

'But even the most sick imagination would not have guessed they mean shopping centres by this.

'More than a 1000 civilians got wounded.'

City mayor Vitaliy Meletskiy said the strike had caused deaths and injuries, but gave no figures.

Kremenchuk is an industrial hub in central Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnipro River.

The city, which had a population of 217,000 before Russia's invasion, is the site of the country's biggest oil refinery.

Russia has claimed that the carnage was a staged 'fake' operation, with TV war reporter Andrey Rudenko claiming: 'These freaks are back to provocations.

'The shopping mall in Kremenchuk, with allegedly thousands of people inside it. Videos show an empty car park with just a couple of cars.

'Was this a working shopping centre, there would have been lots of cars. Were there people inside the centre, and were they to be wounded or killed, then there would be no way these cars would be cleared away.

'There are no women by the shopping centre, though at this time of day shopping centres are filled with females. Yet we see mainly young men of similar age, and no panic.

'They are all dressed in shorts, they don't wear T-shirts. There is a feeling of a crowd of 'extras', similar to football fans or something like it.

'Conclusion: there is a sense they set it up themselves, or shot it for a strong pictures. But they didn't do it properly, again.'

It is just the latest strike carried out by Vladimir Putin's forces against defenceless civilians in Ukraine, with hospitals, schools and homes destroyed throughout his savage invasion.

Elsewhere, Russia is continuing to mount an all-out assault on the last Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Luhansk region, 'pouring fire' on the city of Lysychansk from the ground and air, the local governor said today.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces were pummelling Lysychansk after capturing the neighbouring city of Sievierodonetsk in recent days.

It's part of a stepped-up Russian offensive to wrest the broader Donbas region from Ukrainian government control in what Western experts say has become the new main goal of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, now in its fifth month.

'They're pouring fire on the city both from the air and from the ground. After the takeover of Sevierodonetsk, the enemy army has concentrated all its forces on capturing (our) last stronghold in the Luhansk region: Lysychansk,' Haidai told The Associated Press.

The Russians were trying to blockade the city from the south, 'destroying everything that their artillery and multiple rocket launchers can reach,' Haidai said.

In recent weeks, Russian troops have captured several villages and towns southeast of Lysychansk, and were trying to halt access to the city from the south.

Meanwhile to the west, the mayor of the city of Sloviansk - potentially the next major battleground - said Russian forces fired cluster munitions on the city after dawn, including one that hit a residential neighbourhood.

Authorities say the number of dead and injured are still to be confirmed. The AP saw one fatality: A man's body lay hunched over a car door frame, his blood pooling onto the ground from scattered chest and head wounds.

Ukraine forces have spent weeks consolidating their defences around Sloviansk out of concern that it could be the next big Russian target if Lysychansk falls.

Last week, Zelensky said Russia wanted to 'capture and completely destroy' Sloviansk.

The shockwave from Monday's blast blew out most windows in the surrounding apartment blocks and the cars parked below, littering the ground with broken glass.

'Everything is now destroyed. We are the only people left living in this part of the building. There is no power,' said local resident Valentina Vitkovska, in tears as she spoke about the blast. 'I can't even call to tell others what had happened to us.'

Overall, Zelenskyy office said at least six civilians were killed and 31 others injured as part of intense Russian shelling against various Ukrainian cities over the past 24 hours - including Kyiv and major cities in the country's south and east.

It said Russian forces fired rockets that killed two people and injured five overnight in and near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and continued to target the key southern port of Odesa.

A missile attack destroyed residential buildings and injured six people, including a child, it said.

In Lysychansk, at least five high-rise buildings in the city and the last road bridge were damaged over the past day, Haidai, the governor, said.

A crucial highway linking the city to government-held territory further south was rendered impassable because of shelling.

Such shelling is also making the evacuation of civilians increasingly difficult, Haidai said. The city had a pre-war population of around 100,000, approximately one-tenth of whom remain.
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Boris Johnson laid into 'crazy' and 'macho' Vladimir Putin today saying he would not have invaded Ukraine if he were a woman.

The PM condemned the Russian dictator's 'toxic masculinity' as he joined NATO leaders for a crucial summit in Madrid.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also waded in, branding Putin a 'lunatic' who has 'small man syndrome'.

The highly personal jibes came after G7 leaders ridiculed the president for his testosterone-fuelled photo ops.

At a gathering in Germany, Mr Johnson, Justin Trudeau and the EU's Ursula von der Leyen were overheard joking that they should do some 'bare-chested horseback riding' to show they were 'tougher' than Putin.

In other developments in the Ukraine crisis today:

Joe Biden has promised to send two F-35 squadrons to the UK and two destroyers to Spain as he strengthens US forces in Europe against the Russian threat;

Ben Wallace admitted the Tories will break a manifesto pledge on defence spending and called for 'increased investment' as Mr Johnson urged NATO members to boost funding;

Mr Johnson has said Finland and Sweden moving to join the alliance shows that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has backfired;

Britain is imposing sanctions on Russia's second richest man and a cousin of Putin in the latest round of measures targeting allies of the Russian leader.

Boris Johnson laid into 'crazy' and 'macho' Vladimir Putin (pictured) today saying he would not have invaded Ukraine if he were a woman

The PM condemned the Russian dictator's 'toxic masculinity' as he joined NATO leaders for a crucial summit in Madrid (pictured)

A 2009 photo of a shirtless Vladimir Putin riding a horse in the mountains of the Siberian Tyva region during his vacation

What about Catherine the Great? In claiming that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine were he a woman, Boris Johnson might have overlooked one of his famous predecessors. Catherine the Great was empress of Russia between 1762 and 1796, overseeing a massive 200,000 square mile expansion of territory. She claimed Crimea, Northern Caucasus, Right-bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense of the Ottoman Empire and the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth. The Russo-Turkish War between 1768 and 1774 included notable military victories over the Ottoman Empire. That secured Crimea - part of modern Ukraine that Vladimir Putin annexed in violation of international law in 2014. In Poland, Catherine - renowned for her sexual appetites - installed a former lover as a puppet King. The empress was credited with turning Russia into one of the great European powers after a long period of decline. She held together a huge and chaotic state by promoting nationalism. Advertisement

Speaking as he prepared to go from the G7 summit in Bavaria to NATO, Mr Johnson told German broadcaster ZDF: 'If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, but if he were, I really don't think he would've embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has.

'If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it's what he's doing in Ukraine'.

He made the comments arguing that 'you need more women in positions of power'.

Meanwhile, Mr Wallace told LBC this morning: 'I certainly think Putin's view of himself and the world is a small man syndrome, macho view.

'You rarely hear the phrase small woman syndrome. You always hear small man syndrome and he's got it in spades.'

Mr Johnson also said the G7 meeting had been 'incredible' as leaders 'got closer and closer'.

'The logic is yes of course people all want the war to end, they want the war to end desperately, but there's no deal available.

'Putin isn't making an offer of a deal, (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky can't make an offer of a deal.'

The PM said the West must support Kyiv in its military strategy to help change the dynamic of the conflict, and to get Mr Zelensky 'in the best possible position to talk if and when talks eventually come'.

'We really do want to give the Ukrainians strategic endurance,' he said.

Arriving at NATO, Mr Johnson said Putin's hopes of a diminished alliance due to his aggression have been proved 'completely wrong' by Sweden and Finland applying to join.

The two Nordic countries are on track to end their historic neutrality and join the defence alliance after Turkey withdrew its objections.

The PM said Russian President Mr Putin is getting 'more Nato', not less, as a result of his actions in Ukraine.

NATO leaders are greeted by Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia as they attend a gala dinner in Madrid last night, ahead of the first full day of talks today

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also waded in, branding Putin a 'lunatic' who has 'small man syndrome'

Baltic leaders will use today's NATO summit to lobby for 50,000 troops to be stationed on their territory amid fears Putin could cut them off with lighting assault on Sulwaki Gap

G7 leaders were overhear mocking Putin's testosterone-fuelled photo ops at the weekend. Clockwise from left, Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of France, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US President Joe Biden and Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Biden sends F-35s to UK and destroyers to Spain President Joe Biden arrived at the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday morning and promised to send two F-35 squadrons to the U.K. and two destroyers to Spain as he strengthens U.S. forces in Europe against the threat from Vladimir Putin of Russia. He made his announcement on the first day of a summit that began on a positive note, with Turkey dropping its objections to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance. 'We're sending an unmistakable message in my view, and I think yours as well,' he told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, 'that NATO is strong, united and the steps we're taking during this summit will kind of further augment our collective strengths. 'To that end, today I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security.' After already sending an extra 20,000 troops to Europe - bringing the total to 100,000 - he announced two more squadrons of F-35 warplanes would be sent to the U.K. and the number of destroyers based in Spain would increase from four to six. Additional air defense systems will be sent to Germany and Italy, he said. And the U.S. will set up up a permanent military base in Poland. The F-35 is the U.S. Air Force's most advanced warplane, with air superiority and ground attack capabilities. Advertisement

The UK already has a significant military presence in Estonia and the Prime Minister will use the summit to expand its headquarters in the Baltic nation.

Officials said this will ensure the UK can provide rapid reinforcements if needed, and deploy artillery, air defence and helicopters.

The alliance plans to have 300,000 troops at high readiness  up from the current 40,000  and the UK will commit capabilities in land, air and sea to the 'new force model'.

Mr Johnson said: 'The first lesson really from today is that if Vladimir Putin was hoping he would be getting less Nato on his western front as a result of his unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine, he's been proved completely wrong  he's getting more Nato.

'This is a historic summit in many ways, but we've already got two new members coming in, Finland and Sweden, a huge step forward for our alliance.

'And what we're going to be doing now is talking about what more we can do as an alliance to support the Ukrainians but what we also need to do to make sure that we think about the lessons of the last few months and the need for Nato to revise its posture on its eastern flank.'

As well as paving the way for Sweden and Finland to join, the Madrid summit will focus on the alliance's future in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the emergence of China as a military power.

US President Joe Biden said two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons will be sent to the UK, while a new permanent headquarters will be set up in Poland as part of his commitment to the alliance.

'Today I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security,' he said.

Mr Wallace today admitted the Tories will break a manifesto pledge on defence spending and called for 'increased investment' as Boris Johnson kicks off a NATO summit urging allies to boost funding.

The Defence Secretary acknowledged that the government will not manage to raise budgets by 0.5 percentage points more than inflation, as it soars towards 11 per cent.

But he fuelled a growing Cabinet row by demanding a surge in military spending from the 'middle of the decade', saying the threat from Russia means 'certain vulnerabilities' must be addressed.

PM 'will go to G20 even if Putin is invited' Boris Johnson has indicated he will attend the G20 summit in Bali later this year even if 'pariah' Vladimir Putin is at the event. Indonesia is hosting the summit in November and the Russian President, as a member of the Group of 20 leading economies, is invited. The Prime Minister said that boycotting the event in protest at the invitation extended to Mr Putin would hand a 'propaganda opportunity' to the Russian leader. He said the West needed to attend the meeting to help win over nations who might otherwise fall under the influence of Russia or China. Speaking to reporters accompanying him on a trip to the Nato summit in Madrid, Mr Johnson said: 'I would be absolutely amazed if Putin goes in person. He's a pariah figure.' Mr Johnson said he believed Mr Putin was 'highly unlikely to go' to the summit in person 'for all sorts of reasons'. He added: 'There is a very difficult question about the G20. Yes, he's been formally invited, I don't think he will go. 'The question is: do we, as the Western countries, vacate our seats at the G20 and leave the whole argument to China, to Russia? Advertisement

Mr Johnson will today demand that countries 'dig deep' to meet the threat posed by Vladimir Putin, warning of a dangerous decade ahead.

He will call for the alliance to look at raising its target of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence.

Mr Wallace said no government delivered '100 per cent' of what it promised in manifesto.

He said the election programme spelled out 'what we are going to try to deliver', adding it 'would have been different' if ministers had known Covid was coming.

Mr Wallace said that while he had enough funding for the 'here and now', extra investment was needed in the next Government spending round from the middle of the decade.

'We were prepared to take certain vulnerabilities on board in the middle of the decade as we got rid of some equipment and re-equipped anew. I think the invasion of Russia into Ukraine has changed that,' he told Sky News.

'That is why I think discussions are so important for the middle-of-decade funding. In the here and now we are rightly set. The question is what happens in the middle of the decade.

'My settlement was done before Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia is very, very dangerous on the world stage. The world is less secure than it was two, three years ago and is not looking likely to change for the rest of the decade.

'That is the moment, in the middle of the decade, to say we should commit to increased funding.'

Mr Johnson appears to be on a collision course with Mr Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss who both want a substantial increase in spending in response to the war in Ukraine.

In an extraordinary intervention yesterday, Mr Wallace warned there was a 'real risk' Russia could 'lash out' against the UK and its European allies.

The Defence Secretary said the British military had for too long had to survive on 'a diet of smoke and mirrors, hollowed-out formations and fantasy savings'.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said: 'We will agree a fundamental shift to our deterrence and defence.

Tory manifesto vow on defence spending 'will be broken' Ben Wallace today admitted the Tories will break a manifesto pledge on defence spending and called for 'increased investment' as Boris Johnson kicks off a NATO summit urging allies to boost funding. The Defence Secretary acknowledged that the government will not manage to raise budgets by 0.5 percentage points more than inflation, as it soars towards 11 per cent. But he fuelled a growing Cabinet row by demanding a surge in military spending from the 'middle of the decade', saying the threat from Russia means 'certain vulnerabilities' must be addressed. At the NATO gathering in Madrid today, the PM will demand that countries 'dig deep' to meet the threat posed by Vladimir Putin, warning of a dangerous decade ahead. He will call for the alliance to look at raising its target of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence. Advertisement

'With more forward deployed combat formations. With more high-readiness forces. And also with more pre-positioned equipment.

'This is the biggest overhaul our collective defence since the end of the Cold War that will be agreed at this summit.'

The alliance's new strategic concept replaces one drawn up in 2010, when relations with the Kremlin were warmer and Russia was a 'strategic partner'.

The Nato chief said: 'I expect that, when leaders agree the strategic concept today, they will state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security.'

He said the allies will also agree that China 'is a challenge to our values, to our interests and to our security'.

'China is not an adversary but, of course, we need to take into account the consequences to our security when we see China investing heavily in new modern military capabilities, long range missiles, nuclear weapons, and also trying to control critical infrastructure, for instance, 5G networks in our own countries,' he said.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss used an appearance at the summit event to warn that 'with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable military there is a real risk that they draw the wrong idea which results in a catastrophic miscalculation such as invading Taiwan'.

She said: 'That is exactly what we saw in the case of Ukraine, a strategic miscalculation by Putin, so this is why it's so important that the free world work together to help ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself and to stress the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.'
A Tory MP today called for Sadiq Khan to be stripped of his powers over policing after the Met was placed in special measures following a string of falings - as the force was accused of being 'too woke' to tackle crime.

Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon, said the Labour mayor had 'failed to protect the public', adding: 'I would ask the minister to consider removing responsibility of policing from the Mayor of London and introducing an intervention team to deliver on the first rule of elected representatives, and that is to keep the public safe.'

Home Office minister Kit Malthouse replied: 'Obviously the removal of responsibility would need primary legislation, but what I hope now is that the mayor will focus on the task in hand, which is to produce an action plan to sort this out and to step into his responsibility in a way frankly I feel he has failed to do thus far.'

Meanwhile, Tory MP Bob Blackman told MailOnline Mr Khan had 'failed in his duty' to make sure the Met was tackling crime, and particularly violent crime.

'The fundamental role of the Mayor is to make sure Londoners are safe on the streets,' he said.

On the Met failings the Harrow MP said: 'There has been this attitude of being 'right on'. They have got to be 'woke' and 'trendy' instead of dealing with violent crime. The average police officer I know is really angry about the sort of edicts that come from on high. They want to get on with the job of catching criminals and getting them into court.'

Priti Patel has ordered Sadiq Khan to take 'immediate action' to sort out the failing Met as it was placed into special measures after a devastating inspection revealed a catalogue of new scandals - including 69,000 crimes going unrecorded every year.

Scotland Yard was blasted 'barely adequate standard of crime recording accuracy, with 69,000 crimes going unrecovered every year and almost no crimes recorded when victims report antisocial behaviour against them'.

The Met has previously been blasted for its soft response to Extinction Rebellion protests, with footage of officers dancing with activists drawing ire from frustrated Londoners.



Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that 'systemic concerns' about the force's performance raised by a new inspection had been so grave that the force needed to be put under special measure. Pictured: Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick

Priti Patel has ordered Sadiq Khan to take 'immediate action' to sort out the failing Met

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: 'Unlike many others, the Mayor has long been clear that wide-ranging reforms are urgently needed for the Met to regain the trust and confidence of Londoners, which is so vital to policing by consent.

'The Mayor has managed the Met through the devastating impacts of government austerity which saw officer numbers falling below 30,000 in London and took 1bn out of the budget. In spite of this, the Mayor has led the way with a plan to confront cultural and performance issues that are deeply rooted in the Met and achieved significant falls in violent crime across London by being tough on crime and the causes of crime.

'Sadiq has consistently held the Met to account and called for action to deal with the cultural and systemic issues within London's police force. He's been clear with Londoners about the scale of the change required, but has faced opposition from the Government at every step, including when he lost confidence in the previous Met Commissioner.

'Ministers should now focus on working with the Mayor and HMIC to improve policing and play their part in appointing a reforming Commissioner so that we can deliver the police reforms and step change in policing performance and culture that Londoners deserve.'

In a leaked letter to Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Stephen House, Her Majesty's Inspector Matt Parr warned the succession of scandals and 'systemic concerns' about the force's performance is 'likely to have a chilling effect on public trust and confidence in the Met'.

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.

Could Met be tripped of national security responsibilities? Labour MP and Home Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson suggested the Metropolitan Police's wide responsibilities for national security and investigating war crimes should be reviewed. Dame Diana asked: 'What consideration has the minister given to not only looking at the issues of performance and leadership and culture, but also about whether there needs to be a review of the responsibilities of the Metropolitan Police?' Mr Malthouse said the current review into the force would need to conclude before 'further measures may need to be taken'. Advertisement

He went on to criticise 'the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing', saying the Met had 'an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of demand'.

The move triggered a row between Miss Patel and Mr Khan. In a statement the Home Secretary said: 'I support the action that HMICFRS has taken today to highlight their failings  and I expect the Met and the London Mayor to take immediate action to begin addressing them.'

The unprecedented step means the Metropolitan Police will face external monitoring and must come up with an improvement plan.

The damning indictment comes after Commissioner Cressida Dick was forced to quit in February following a torrid year of scandals which saw the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, the force being branded 'institutionally corrupt' by an independent inquiry and two officers jailed for photographing bodies of murder victims.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that 'systemic concerns' about the force's performance raised by a new inspection had been so grave that the force needed to be put under special measures.

In the new inspection, which has yet to be made public in full, Her Majesty's Inspector Matt Parr condemned the force's performance in handling 999 and non-emergency calls, saying it is 'falling far short of national standards', with staff failing to assess vulnerability, identify repeat victims and not offering advice about preserving evidence to catch offenders.

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.

He went on to criticise 'the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing', saying the Metropolitan Police had 'an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of demand'.

Yesterday a leaked letter from the police inspectorate revealed the force is failing victims across the board. The new annual inspection found:

Around 69,000 crimes are going unrecorded each year and almost no crimes are recorded of anti-social behaviour.

Handling of 999 calls is below national standards.

There is insufficient supervision and oversight of some investigations.

Officers fail to record the reason for a stop and search properly in a quarter of cases.

The force has insufficient capacity to meet demand in public protection.

There is a 'persistently large backlog' of online child abuse referrals.

Last week Scotland Yard revealed eight referrals about strip searches of children have been made to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) after two teenage girls were strip-searched by officers while they were menstruating.

Mr Parr also highlighted the investigation into four murders by serial killer Stephen Port, which he said was marred by 'seemingly incomprehensible failures'.

He said Scotland Yard 'hasn't always shown a great willingness' to learn from mistakes, echoing a report in March when he warned the 'arrogant, secretive and lethargic' force was failing to tackle corruption.

The Metropolitan Police is now only one of a handful of forces ever to be placed under special measures, which the inspectorate refer to as an 'engage phase'.

Priti Patel said yesterday: 'I expect the police to get the basics right. It is clear the Metropolitan Police Service is falling short of these expectations which is why I support the action that HMICFRS has taken today to highlight their failings  and I expect the Met and the London Mayor to take immediate action to begin addressing them.

Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens

In June 2020 sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were stabbed to death and officers Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, took photos at the scene in Wembley

'The process to recruit a new Commissioner is well underway and I have made clear that the successful candidate must demonstrate sustained improvements in the Metropolitan Police Service in order to regain public trust both in London and across the country.

'The new Commissioner will need to deliver on the public's priorities for the police  making our streets safer, bearing down on crime and bringing more criminals to justice, while continuing to recruit thousands of new officers to protect local communities.'

But Mr Khan hit back, pointing out that he had been the one to force out Dame Cressida. A source close to the mayor said: 'He will take no lessons in policing from the Home Secretary, who clearly was happy with the status quo and didn't want any action taken.'

Sir Stephen has been summoned to a meeting next month to discuss a plan of action before a new commissioner is appointed.

A Met spokesman said: 'We are determined to be a police service Londoners can be proud of. We are talking to the Inspectorate about next steps.'

The scandals that have rocked the capital's force OPERATION MIDLAND In 2014 the notorious investigation was sanctioned by Dame Cressida Dick, then a high-ranking officer at Scotland Yard. The disastrous inquiry into spurious VIP child sex abuse allegations saw innocent men, including the late Lord Brittan and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, pursued by the force. Several men died, with reputations tarnished, before the allegations were disproved. NICOLE SMALLMAN AND BIBAA HENRY MURDERS In June 2020 two officers were tasked with guarding a crime scene where sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, had been stabbed to death. Officers Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, took photos at the scene in Wembley, then shared them in two WhatsApp groups. They were each jailed for two years and nine months last December. SARAH EVERARD MURDER In March last year, 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by serving officer Wayne Couzens. The force's officers were accused of 'manhandling' women at a Clapham Common vigil staged ten days after her disappearance. DANIEL MORGAN INQUIRY In June last year a report into the unsolved 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan accused the Metropolitan Police of 'institutional corruption'. STEPHEN PORT INVESTIGATION An inquest jury ruled in December that failures by Yard detectives contributed to the deaths of a serial killer's three final victims. Stephen Port killed four men in their 20s by giving them overdoses of the date rape drug GHB at his east London home in 2014 and 2015. The inquest found police failed to carry out basic checks. A solicitor for the families said the Met's actions were driven in part by homophobia. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is to re-investigate the force's handling of the case. CHARING CROSS SCANDAL In February the IOPC exposed conduct by officers based at Charing Cross police station who were found to have joked about rape, killing black children and beating their wives. BIANCA WILLIAMS Five officers are to face a gross misconduct hearing over their stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams in 2020. She and her partner were stopped in west London. Nothing illegal was found and the couple, who are black, claim they were racially profiled. Advertisement
Nicola Sturgeon was branded desperate today as she claimed a new Scottish independence vote would be more legitimate than the 2016 Brexit referendum.

The First Minister announced plans to hold a new plebiscite in October next year, nine years after the supposedly 'once-in-a-generation' vote in which Scots decided to stay part of the UK.

But she faces a mountain to climb in terms of legitimacy, as she has no power to call a binding referendum and Boris Johnson, who does, is unlikely to agree.

Instead she wants the Supreme Court to make a ruling that could allow her to outflank the PM, something legal experts believe is unlikely.

Today, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, a former MSP at Holyrood, told Sky News the First Minister was trying to deflect from her Government's domestic record.

'She hasnt actually done her job of delivering for the people of Scotland - better healthcare, better schools, better crime rates, better education and all things that are important to the people of Scotland,' he said.

'Instead she is desperate now to have a second referendum  they had the referendum, they lost the referendum.'

He added that 'the problem for Nicola is that time is running out' with support for the union growing in Scotland.

The First Minister announced plans to hold a new plebiscite in October next year, nine years after the 'once-in-a-generation' vote in which Scots decided to stay part of the UK.

Today, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, a former MSP at Holyrood, told Sky News the First Minister was trying to deflect from her Government's domestic record.

Sturgeon faces a mountain to climb in terms of legitimacy, as she has no power to call a binding referendum and Boris Johnson, who does, is unlikely to agree.

The last referendum in 2014 was branded 'once in a generation' by both sides - and resulted in a 55-54 margin for keeping the union.

Polls have been showing that there is little appetite for another contest, with a steady - if slim - majority against independence.

But Ms Sturgeon, claimed this morning there was a stronger mandate for a Scottish independence referendum than there ever was for Britain's 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU.

'There is a stronger mandate for an independence referendum in the Scottish parliament than there ever was for a Brexit referendum in the UK Parliament,' Sturgeon said.

'A majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament support a referendum so if we had a democracy then that should be respected,' she added.

In a statement to Holyrood yesterday, the SNP leader said she wants to hold the ballot with or without permission from Westminster.

However, Ms Sturgeon admitted that she would face challenges about legitimacy if Boris Johnson - as expected - refuses to grant so-called 'Section 30' powers.

She said the Lord Advocate would be taking a case to the Supreme Court to decide whether a 'consultative' ballot is 'indisputably lawful' without the PM's go-ahead.

The YouGov research for The Times last month - which ignored 'don't knows' - suggested that backing for the union has increased since March, when 53 per cent wanted to stay together

But Ms Sturgeon seemed to concede that if the UK's top court rules against her, she will not seek to go ahead.

Instead, she suggested that the SNP will merely try to make the next general election a 'de facto referendum'.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross described Miss Sturgeons statement as a melodramatic, self-indulgent, irresponsible waste of time and pledged to boycott any vote. We wont take part in a pretend poll when there is real work to be done, he said.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was wrong to stir up divisive constitutional issues when the country was still recovering from the pandemic.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross immediately accused Ms Sturgeon of 'taking her eye off the ball' on by focusing on breaking up the UK rather than tackling the cost-of-living crisis

Earlier, speaking in Germany on the final day of the G7 summit, Mr Johnson desperately tried to avoid putting up a target for Ms Sturgeon to rail against.

He said: 'Of course we'll see what she has to say and look forward to that.

'I think the important point to make is that we think the number one priority for the country is the economic pressures, the spikes in the cost of energy.

'Our plan for a stronger economy certainly means that we think that we're stronger working together but we have good relations with the Scottish Government.

'We'll see what she has to say.'

Ministers have insisted that 'once in a generation' means there should be no referendum for 25 years. '
The tax office has warned Aussies not to use a crypto trick to increase their tax returns.

The ATO says 'asset wash sales' are a form of tax avoidance and they will be cracking down on them this year.

Wash sales describe the disposal of assets like crypto or shares before the end of the financial year before buying them back afterwards.

This could then lead to a higher tax return than the person is entitled to.

'A wash sale is different from normal buying and selling of assets because it is undertaken for the artificial purpose of generating a tax benefit for the current financial year,' the ATO explained.

'The taxpayer disposes of and reacquires the asset for the deliberate purpose of realising a capital gains loss and obtaining an unfair tax benefit.'

The ATO has warned Aussies to not use a crypo hack in an attempt to increase their tax returns

The ATO warned it is able to identify and track wash sales by analysing data from registries and crypto exchanges.

It said it would cancel the sale, something that could lead to an even bigger loss for the taxpayer and no eventual tax return.

'Don't hang yourself out to dry by engaging in a wash sale,' Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said. 'We want you to count your losses, not have them removed by the ATO.'

The ATO also warned that taxpayers who engage in wash sales could face more tax and penalties.

It is also encouraging Aussies to ignore wash sales advice on social media.

'If something seems too good to be true, it probably is,' the ATO added.

The ATO is also reminding tax advisors who may be promoting wash sales or other tax avoidance activities that they may face action from the Tax Practitioners Board.

'Most tax advisors do the right thing, but a small number encourage this behaviour. Promoting a tax avoidance scheme will have serious consequences for the tax advisor and could leave their client with a large tax bill,' Mr Loh said.

The ATO said anyone who is suspecting a person, business or tax adviser to be participating in asset wash sales or other tax avoidance to report them.

Wash sales describe the disposal of assets like crypto or shares before the end of the financial year before buying them back afterwards

On Monday, it was revealed that professionals who drive for work could find themselves in trouble with the tax office - or at least made to answer some tricky questions as petrol prices hit record highs.

Mr Loh said that with more people working from home, his officials would be cracking down on those who still claimed car expenses.

'What we are seeing is people continuing to claim car and travel expenses at pre-pandemic levels,' he told the ABC.

'We do expect car and travel expenses to go down quite significantly because if you've been working from home, you can't be at two places at once.'

Travel to and from work cannot be claimed as a tax deduction but petrol costs for trips to a job-related task can be submitted.

Should they be audited, individuals will have to prove to tax officials that they used their car for work, and not just to buy groceries or do personal errands.
President Joe Biden arrived at the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday and announced the U.S. is to establish a permanent military headquarters in Poland, on NATO's eastern flank, for the first time.

He also promised to send two F-35 squadrons to the U.K. and two destroyers to Spain as he strengthens U.S. forces in Europe against the threat from Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Biden made his announcement on the first day of a summit that began on a positive note, with Turkey dropping its objections to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

'We're sending an unmistakable message in my view, and I think yours as well,' he told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, 'that NATO is strong, united and the steps we're taking during this summit will kind of further augment our collective strengths.

'To that end, today I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security.'

After already sending an extra 20,000 troops to Europe - bringing the total to 100,000 - he announced two more squadrons of F-35 warplanes would be sent to the U.K. and the number of destroyers based in Spain would increase from four to six.

Additional air defense systems will be sent to Germany and Italy, he said,

And the U.S. will set up up a permanent military headquarters for its 5th Army Corps in Poland as well as sending another 5,000 troops to Romania.

The F-35 is the U.S. Air Force's most advanced warplane, with air superiority and ground attack capabilities.

President Joe Biden meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the NATO summit in Madrid

Biden announced he was sending more U.S. forces to Europe as NATO allies gathered to promise full-throated support for Ukraine against Vladimir Putin's Russia

The surge will include two squadrons of F-35 warplanes being sent to the United Kingdom

Biden also said he was increasing the number of US Navy destroyers stationed at US Naval Station, Spain, from four to six, as he steps up forces deployed in Europe

Biden waved as his motorcade made its way through Madrid to the summit site

'We're going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet the threats from all directions across every domain - land, air and the sea,' said Biden.

'At a moment when Putin has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very, very tenets of rule based order. The United States and are allies are going to step up.'

The most significant part of the decision may

'These forces  the first permanent U.S. forces on NATOs Eastern Flank  will improve our command and control capabilities, interoperability with NATO, and management of prepositioned equipment,' the Pentagon said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has given new purpose to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation after failures in Afghanistan and divisions when Donald Trump was in the White House.

Stoltenberg said the alliance was meeting 'in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War.'

But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Putin's hopes of dividing NATO with his invasion of Ukraine had been dashed.

Putin was getting 'more NATO' not less, said Johnson as he arrived at the summit.

American and European officials had been hoping for progress on expansion during the two-day summit in Madrid.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May, alarmed at Russia's aggression in the region.

Biden was greeted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said the alliance was meeting in the 'most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War'

But Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could not support their applications. Turkey has long accused the two countries of harboring members of the separatist militant Kurdistan's Workers Party, which Turkey has designated as a terrorist group.

On Tuesday, details of a breakthrough emerged. Turkey was happy with moves made by Finland and Sweden, said officials.

Stoltenberg hailed the deal by saying: 'We now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.'

White House officials said the U.S. was not directly involved in the negotiations.

However, Biden spoke with Erdogan on Tuesday as part of an effort to remove roadblocks from Sweden and Finland.

Biden spoke to Erdogan again on Wednesday as they both arrived at the summit and are due to hold a meeting later in the day.

Meanwhile, leader after leader said they wanted to send a clear message to Moscow.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the summit's host, said Russia would be named the alliance's 'main threat' in its new strategic concept. The last such document, published in 2010, characterised Russia as a strategic partner.

'We are sending a strong message to Putin: You will not win,' he said.

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said NATO would supply arms to Ukraine for as long as necessary.

'Russia has with its brutal war of aggression violated the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine,' he said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to launch NATO applications
A pro-EU activist famed as the 'Stop Brexit Man' who blasts loud music and abused MPs outside Parliament has returned - just a day after he was silenced by police as new protest laws came into force.

Despite the failed Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Steve Bray having his powerful music system confiscated yesterday, he was spotted in Westminster this morning blaring songs from a speaker.

Mr Bray, in his distinctive yellow ribbon top hat, was seen in front of Parliament continuing his campaign while promising to stage a protest 'twice as loud' before officers again threatened to take his equipment.

They quoted the Highways Act at him in a bid to stop his protest outside Westminster.

The 'Stop Brexit Man' said he plans to decamp from a traffic island to the pavement across the road, after police officers showed him a map of the designated area where noisy protesting is now forbidden.

He said on Wednesday: 'They basically showed me the map, showed me that this island is now on the map, but I've established the way they've done the map, they've taken that corner off it. So, I can go there.

'I've got more amps on order and I'm going to link four amps together, not this week, maybe next week, and it'll be twice as loud as it was here to compensate for the move to the corner. In fact, I'm going to wire eight together.'

The activist returned to Westminster armed with a megaphone and speaker today

He was confronted by police again during today's protest, before the officer quoted the Highways Act to him in a bid to make him stand down

Dressed in his usual attire, Mr Bray was joined by protesters just a day after his sound system was confiscated by police

Brazen Steve Bray (right) arrived outside Westminster today despite having his sound system confiscated yesterday

He said that officers threatened that they will seize his amplifier again after moving to the pavement across the road - arguing that the corner is still part of the designated area where noisy protests are prohibited.

Mr Bray shouted "this is ridiculous, this is fascism" as officers told him to stop.

He was playing the 1975 Bay City Rollers song Bye Bye Baby overlaid with the lyrics 'bye bye Boris' as protesters loudly banged on tins and waved EU flags.

By mid morning, the protester said that police quoted the Highways Act to stop him playing music from his amplifier in a new spot under an arch outside the Houses of Parliament gift shop.

He said: 'They've come over and quoted a Highways Act at me now.

'He's saying this is a public right of way but so is that island over there, so is anywhere where people protest.'

He added: 'My next step is to work out how to get around this law, there will be a loophole somewhere and I'll find it.'

In the afternoon, he was back playing music at full volume on the traffic island while there were no police officers nearby.

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said Mr Bray had been reported over the offence, meaning he will be considered for prosecution.

'Yesterday it was very intimidating, they were following me everywhere,' he said.

'We're just here to show our dissent to this Government and we are a protest, we will be noisy. Protest is about sound and vision.'

Considering ways to avoid having his amplifiers seized again, Mr Bray said: 'Maybe I'll strap that to my back, but it's heavy, or get on a bike.

'We'll get a rickshaw and we'll have a little whizz around.'

This morning, Mr Bray tweeted: 'I've just ordered 3 new amplifiers of the same type. It's all they had in stock! Thanks to all of you.'

Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which came into force yesterday, Mr Bray was told by the Metropolitan Police that he could not conduct a 'noisy protest' within a designated area outside the palace of Westminster.

Failed Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Steve Bray accused police of harassment yesterday as he was prevented from setting up his powerful music system in Westminster. But that has not stopped him - as he was spotted making his way to Parliament this morning

Police seized his speakers yesterday - but Mr Bray told his followers this morning that he's already ordered three new ones to replace them

He added that he was 'not a happy chap, getting harassed a lot', before seeing a police officer filming the scene and shouting 'up yours Priti Patel' at the camera (file picture)

From Port Talbot to Parliament: EU fanatic's one-man protest Steve Bray has been making noise outside Parliament since September 2017. The coin collector from Port Talbot initially become part of the landscape on Westminster's College Green, with his colourful ensemble of a EU-inspired top hat and a Union Flag cape regularly seen lurking in front of TV cameras. When the grandfather first shot on to the Westminster scene to interrupt news reports by floating behind interviewees with his anti-Brexit signs, the broadcasters forked out for raised towers to keep him out of shot. But he continued to heckle politicians and blast music at Parliament, despite vowing to stop in 2019. But his attempt to enter politics proper failed. Standing for the Lib Dems at the 2019 election in Cynon Valley in Wales, he came sixth with fewer than 1,000 votes and lost his deposit. While the daily protest may seem a thankless task for the numismatist, who uprooted from his Welsh home, Mr Bray has raised thousands of pounds in donations from Remain activists to sustain his comfortable lifestyle. It was revealed in 2019 that he had moved into a plum Westminster townhouse opposite Jacob Rees-Mogg, after receiving a handsome lump sum from Remainer plumbing mogul Charlie Mullins. One of his most memorable spats was with Theresa May's former deputy Damian Green who Mr Bray had asked how he felt about the crunch withdrawal deal vote. Mr Green refused to answer and said: 'No you can't, because you've just tried to shout over an interview I've done like you do everyone else. 'In a competitive field, you are the biggest w***ker.' Advertisement

He had been playing loud music and rambling abuse at politicians for years, either side of a failed bid to win a seat for the Lib Dems in his native Wales at the 2019 election.

The 52-year-old did not take the news badly, telling polite police officers they were 'a bunch of fascists' as they explained the new rules to him.

He added that he was 'not a happy chap, getting harassed a lot', before seeing a police officer filming the scene and shouting 'up yours Priti Patel' at the camera.

He later filmed himself approaching a car carrying Health Secretary Sajid Javid, tweeting: 'I'm not relenting or stopping. Nothing has changed.'

But minutes later he tweeted a video showing police moving in and removing his sound system, leaving him to shout unaided.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'The man was using the equipment in a zone where the use of amplified equipment is prohibited.

'He was spoken to by officers on multiple occasions in relation to specific legislation regarding the use of the amplifying equipment and that it would be seized if he persisted.'

The statement added: 'He was also reported for the offence. (This means that he will be considered for prosecution for the offence).'

The laws came as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which included measures to curtail noisy protests.

Officers said the equipment was being seized under section 145 of The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which on Tuesday was extended to a wider area around the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Bray started his one-man demonstration shouting about Brexit but has since focused on targeting Boris Johnson and Conservatives.

His set list of songs from artists including the Bay City Rollers, the Sex Pistols, the Fun Boy Three and Sam Cook, on a heavy rotation.

He plays regularly outside the palace on Wednesdays when he knows Mr Johnson will attend for Prime Minister's Questions, but also turns up on other days.

People working in the side of the Parliamentary estate facing his protest have made noise complains but local authorities were hitherto unable to take action against a legitimate political protest.

Amnesty International said the 'deeply authoritarian new policing laws are a charter for the suppression of legitimate protest' and called it a 'dark day for liberty in our country'.

Donations to Mr Bray's fundraising page have shot up to 120,600.

More than 6,000 contributions have been made in the 99 weeks since the page was created.

He had been playing loud music and rambling abuse at politicians for years, either side of a failed bid to win a seat for the Lib Dems in his native Wales at the 2019 election
On the one hand, he was a cat lover, on the other, he made kittens go blind by stitching up their eyelids in the name of science.

Scientist Sir Colin Blakemore, who has died aged 78 after a battle with motor neurone disease, helped to combat childhood blindness with his pioneering work.

He was a well-known public figure too after presenting TV programmes including The Mind Machine on the BBC and went on to become the chairman of the influential Medical Research Council.

But he became a top target of militant activists for his forthright defence of testing on animals.

Letter bombs - one of which was disguised as a Christmas present and contained HIV-infected needles - were twice sent to his Oxford home, where activists regularly interrupted his Sunday lunch with cries of 'scum!'.

He had a 'fatwa' placed on his head by group Animal Milita, who said he would be assassinated if activist Barry Horne, who had gone on hunger strike, died.

His home had to be fitted with panic buttons, triple locks and a panic room, whilst his wife Andree received a call when pregnant from a man who said he hoped her baby would be born blind.

The professor was also an outspoken campaigner for the legalisation of drugs and campaigned on libel reform.

On the one hand, he was a cat lover, on the other, he made kittens go blind by stitching up their eyelids in the name of science. Scientist Sir Colin Blakemore, who has died aged 78 after a battle with motor neurone disease, helped to combat childhood blindness with his pioneering work. Above: The scientist in 2014

Professor Blakemore, a cat-lover, became a top target of militant activists for his forthright defence of testing on animals. Above: The scientist at home with his wife Andree and their cat in 2003

He spent his final days in a hospice in Oxford and after his death colleagues paid tribute to him for 'bravely' addressing what he believed was the need for animal testing.

Blakemore was the son of a TV repair man, brought up in a modest terraced house in Coventry. He won a scholarship from his state school to study at Cambridge.

He was a star student there and then later at Berkeley in California.

As a child and young man, he suffered from a duodenal ulcer that became so severe he twice nearly bled to death.

He had an operation while at Cambridge to have half his stomach removed. The illness led to his belief he would not live very long and that life was precious.

Professor Blakemore's notoriety began in 1972, when details of his experiments on cats emerged.

The tests were an attempt to understand the development of sight in young children.

Professor Blakemore's notoriety began in 1972, when details of his experiments on cats emerged

He described at the time how, just days after the eyes of very young kittens had been stitched up, the animals lost all ability to see even after the stitches had been removed.

Other tests involved placing kittens in plastic boxes where they could only see black and white vertical stripes.

When they were released, they were blind to all horizontal objects.

He admitted to having used 35 kittens in experiments over the course of two years.

The kittens were later killed humanely, but that did not stop campaigners from expressing their horror at the experiments and demanding they be banned.

However, Professor Blakemore's research led to amblyopia - popularly known as lazy eye and the most common cause of childhood blindness - becoming preventable.

His tests on monkeys also led to advances in treating Parkinson's disease and strokes.

Professor Blakemore said his persecution began when legislation regulating the use of laboratory animals, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, was passed in 1986.

He was a well-known public figure too after presenting TV programmes including The Mind Machine on the BBC. Above: The cover of Professor Blakemore's book of the same name

The act spurred on animal rights group Animal Aid to allegedly target him.

He later said: 'They conceived a strategy to single out one particular individual and to focus on their work.

'They looked for someone working not on rats or mice, but on familiar animals, like cats or dogs, and on young animals. I'm afraid that person was me.'

In 1987, AA published a pamphlet that gave a one-sided account of Professor Blakemore's research.

The Sunday Mirror then published allegations that were illustrated with doctored photographs of kittens with their eyelids covered with stitches.

Professor Blakemore obtained a Press Council ruling against the Mirror and received the backing of the Medical Research Council.

The professor went on to study early brain development, which he believed held the key to understanding diseases including Alzheimer's.

The price of his animal testing came with the threats to himself and his family.

His cars were vandalised and the windows of his home - which had to be fitted with panic alarms and a safe room - smashed.

One of two letter bombs sent to his home was filled with needles and explosives that would have killed whoever opened it.

Professor Blakemore later admitted that, had he known the abuse he would face, he would have not pursued tests on animals.

Professor Blakemore's home had to be fitted with panic buttons, triple locks and a panic room, whilst his wife Andree received a call when pregnant from a man who said he hoped her baby would be born blind. Above: The scientist at his home

But he added: 'To suggest that scientists involved in work with animals are not constantly re-examining the basis of their ethical judgement is, I think, an insult.

'No one is in this game without having thought through at great length their moral position.'

His wife Andree was a former ballet dancer who suffered from severe depression.

She said in an interview with the Daily Mail in 1999: 'For years we've been the top target. It gets unbearable.

'It would be easy to die of a nervous breakdown if we looked over our shoulders.'

Professor Blakemore's prestigious status saw him become the youngest man to deliver the BBC's Reith lectures in 1976 at the age of just 32.

He was the chairman of the Medical Research Council from 2003 until 2007. He was knighted in 2014 for services to scientific research, policy and outreach.

After news of his death emerged, former colleagues paid tribute.

Among them was Andrew King, Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Director of the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience.

He told the Oxford Mail: 'His remarkable ability to communicate science  whether it be to medical students or more widely  and to publicly and bravely address issues like the need for using animals in medical research also made him stand out.

'I always remained slightly in awe of Colin, but I'm also delighted to have been able to call him a good friend.'
NATO on Wednesday formally invited Sweden and Finland to join its alliance after Turkey dropped its objections.

'The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process,' the statement from NATO said.

The addition of the two Nordic countries, which must be approved by each of NATO's 30 allied parliaments, will be the most extensive expansion of the alliance since the 1990s, when the post Soviet bloc countries were added.

It comes as Europe hangs under the shadow of a more aggressive Russia. President Joe Biden and NATO leaders are ramping up military forces along the alliance's eastern flank.

Biden on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting 'exactly what he didn't want' - the NATO-zation of Europe.

Biden praised the diplomatic breakthrough that resulted in Turkey pulling its objections from Sweden and Finland joining the alliance and said it will make Europe stronger.

'Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe and we're gonna get the NATO-zation of Europe,' Biden said when he met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg upon his arrival at NATO headquarters on Wednesday morning.

'And that's exactly what he didn't want to do - it's exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe. And I think it's necessary and I'm looking forward to it happening,' the president said.

Moscow reacted with fury to the news, saying NATO expansion will be 'destabilising' for Europe.

'We consider the expansion of the North Atlantic alliance to be a purely destabilising factor in international affairs. It does not add security either to those who are expanding it, those joining it, or to other countries that perceive the alliance as a threat,' Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

Biden will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday afternoon on the sidelines of the NATO summit, where there are expected to talk about Turkey's desire to buy F-16s.

The president also has promised to send two F-35 squadrons to the U.K. and two destroyers to Spain. Additional air defense systems will be sent to Germany and Italy, and the U.S. will set up up a permanent military headquarters for its 5th Army Corps in Poland as well as sending another 5,000 troops to Romania.

President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting 'exactly what he didn't want' - the NATO-zation of Europe - Biden made his comments when he met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the summit on Wednesday

Biden took a potshot at Russian President Vladimir Putin during the NATO summit

On Tuesday evening, after multiple rounds of talks, Turkey lifted its objections to the two Nordic states joining the alliance.

'I am pleased to announce we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,' Stoltenberg said that evening when he announced the deal.

'Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism,' he added.

The three nations agreed to protect each other's security as Europe faces its worst security crisis in decades in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, third left, shakes hands with Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, right, next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, second right, after signing a memorandum in which Turkey agrees to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (left) looks on

In its objections, Turkey wanted Sweden and Finland to stop supporting Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and to lift their bans on some sales of arms to Turkey.

Under the terms of the deal, Stockholm will intensifying work on Turkish extradition requests of suspected militants and both Finland and Sweden will work on amending their laws to toughen their approach to them.

Stoltenberg said both Nordic nations would lift their restrictions on selling weapons to Turkey.

Both Finland, which has a 810 mile border with Russia, and Sweden are now set to bring well-trained militaries into the alliance.

Under NATO treaties, an attack on any member would be considered an attack against all and trigger a military response by the entire alliance.

President Biden spoke with Erdogan on Tuesday morning before the deal was signed.

A senior administration official said that call was for the 'president to be able to talk directly with President Erdogan about the membership application to Finland and Sweden and to encourage him to seize this moment and get this done.'

The official said Biden made the call at the request of Sweden and Finland.

The official spoke to reporters on Tuesday night to describe President Biden's role in the process and asked for anonymity to speak frankly.

The official said President Biden didn't want to get in the 'middle' of talks but wanted to put the weight on the scale at the end to get it done.

'We have been very studious, and rejecting the idea that the United States was wanting to play broker. We did not think that would be productive,' the official said.

The Biden administration sees the deal as a win.

'This obviously, is just a powerful shot in the arm from the point of view of allied unity and also, you know, a historic moment for the Alliance to traditionally neutral countries, choosing to sign up to NATO and being welcomed by NATO,' the senior administration official said.

President Joe Biden will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday

Finland and Sweden will bring with them almost 1million troops, including reserves, along with a huge amount of artillery, jets and submarines

Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to launch NATO applications

Biden and Erdogan will have a formal sitdown on the sidelines of NATO on Wednesday.

The two leaders will now 'talk about the broader set of issues and U.S.-Turkey relationship,' the senior administration official said.

Erdogan said before leaving for Madrid that he would push Biden on an F-16 fighter jet purchase.

Russia's invasion of the Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to apply to join NATO.

It's the biggest expansion of the alliance since former Soviet bloc countries joined the group in 1999.
She also attacked Americans living in the 'middle states' for apparently telling blue states how to act as the 'majority of people live in New York and California'

Actress and comedian Wanda Sykes warned the United States is 'no longer a democracy' as she slammed the Supreme Court justices who overturned the landmark court ruling Roe v. Wade.

Sykes, 58, accused the Supreme Court's conservative judges of 'lying' under oath when they each suggested during their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade is settled precedent.

She also attacked Americans living in the 'middle states' for apparently telling blue states how to act as the 'majority of people live in New York and California.'

The Supreme Court unraveled nearly 50 years' worth of precedent and dramatically shifted the landscape of women's healthcare on Friday when it overruled the 1973 landmark decision that granted federal abortion protections under the Constitution.

After returning the matter to states' jurisdiction, nine GOP-led legislatures enacted bans on the medical procedure; at least a dozen could soon follow suit. The ruling is likely to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

Sykes, 58, appeared on CBS's 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' where she accused the Supreme Court's conservative judges of 'lying' under oath when they each suggested during their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade is settled precedent

Actress and comedian Wanda Sykes warned the US is 'no longer a democracy' as she slammed the Supreme Court justices who overturned the landmark court ruling Roe v. Wade

Speaking on CBS's 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on Monday about the ruling, Sykes said: 'I'm a black gay woman and I have a daughter so I'm not doing so well right now. I'm a little salty. I'm a little salty right now.'

She added: 'It just sucks man, it really does, you know? It's like the country, it is no longer a democracy, right? We're - it's no longer majority rules.'

Colbert agreed, saying: 'No, certainly not in the Senate and certainly not in the representatives of the Supreme Court.'

Sykes criticized the conservative Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, accusing them of 'lying' during their confirmation hearings.

'These judges, they basically lied during their confirmation hearings, right?' Sykes said.

'Especially Kavanaugh, yeah,' Colbert responded.

'So how can you be a Supreme Court justice and you just lying?' Sykes asked. 'What, they had their fingers crossed or something? Yeah, it's just a bunch of horsesh**. It really is.'

US Sens. Susan Collins (left) and Joe Manchin (right) criticized Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch for their votes in overturning Roe v. Wade, after previously claiming it was settled law during their confirmation hearings

Brett Kavanaugh (left) and Neil Gorsuch (right) were among the five conservative justices to vote to end American's federal right to abortion on Friday

Their comments come after US Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins slammed Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch for their votes in overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday.

The senators had voted to confirm former President Donald Trump's appointed justices, despite fears that they would overturn the landmark abortion ruling, with the senators saying at the time that they trusted Kavanaugh and Gorsuch to uphold the law.

Now Collins, a Republican, and Manchin, a Democrat, are accusing the justices of misleading them as they criticized the court's 5-4 ruling to end women's federal right to an abortion.

'This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon,' Collins said.

Manchin echoed the outrage, saying: 'I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans.'

Nearly half of the states are set to ban abortion after the Supreme Court ruling

Meanwhile, Sykes also attacked the 'middle states' for apparently telling blue states what to do.

She said: 'To me, it is like the problem is that middle stuff. It is those states in the middle, that red stuff.

'Why do they tell get to tell us what to do when the majority of us live out in New York, California, and we are paying for all this crap, really. I mean, right? We're footing the bill,' Sykes said.

'Well, that's the union, it is supposed to be a representative democracy, but it turns out to be minority rule right now,' Colbert noted.

'California, if it were a country, it'd be like the fourth, fifth-largest economy,' Sykes said. 'So if, you know, I'm fitting the bill, know your position. You know what I'm saying?' the comic continued.

'If I say, "Hey, let's go out to dinner." You don't get to pick the restaurant. Just shut up and eat,' Sykes exclaimed.

Her comments prompted some criticism on social media, with many accusing her of 'not seeing Midwesterners as Americans.'

Her comments prompted some criticism on social media, with many accusing her of 'not seeing Midwesterners as Americans'

Lesa Peroutek tweeted: 'As a United States citizen who lives in one of those "middle red states" I was interested to hear from Wanda Sykes that ALL of us who live here, just need to shut up. Only New York and California have the "right" to say anything as they are "covering" the bill.'

Radio host Tony Katz tweeted: 'The elitists want the Midwest to grow their food and shut their mouths. Wanda Sykes doesn't see Midwesterners as people, as Americans. She sees them as "stuff," like her property.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Hey Wanda Sykes, you know all those "Red states in the middle" that you wonder why they get a voice? They provide our food. Try getting your beef, milk, cheese and vegetables from all those farms in NYC and LA. You Hollywood types are clueless... Please be quiet.'

Since the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, pro- and anti-abortion demonstrators have been posted outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

Thirteen states had so-called 'trigger laws' that immediately made abortion illegal with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The SpaceX CRS-25 cargo mission to the International Space Station is once again delayed.

The next shipment of supplies to be sent to the ISS by SpaceX will not lift off any time soon.

The already-delayed CRS-25 resupply mission has received a new launch window thanks to the collaborative efforts of SpaceX and NASA.

NASA estimates that the launch of the robotic mission will take place no earlier than July 14 at the earliest. The resupply mission will deliver a robotic Dragon capsule to the ISS atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX Launch of CRS-25

SpaceX and NASA have confirmed that the launch of the CRS-25 commercial resupply services mission to the ISS is now scheduled to take place no earlier than July 14.

The new target launch date will allow for continuous inspections of the Dragon spacecraft.

It will also allow the repair and replacement of any components that may have been damaged as a result of exposure to mono-methyl hydrazine (MMH) vapor, discovered during testing at the beginning of June.

The SpaceX team came to the conclusion that it would be best to replace the primary parachutes on this spaceship.

This will enable a more thorough check of the parachutes to be performed away from the vehicle.

According to NASA's update, "The new date also allows for launch of the uncrewed cargo mission for the earliest possible rendezvous opportunity with the International Space Station following the upcoming high-beta angle period when the sun angle with space station's orbital plane causes problems with thermal and power generation at the microgravity laboratory in the planned docking attitude for visiting spacecraft."

This SpaceX CRS-25 resupply mission will mark a milestone for both NASA and SpaceX.

Since this will be the 25th time that NASA has contracted SpaceX to deliver a robotic resupply craft to the ISS.

It will be the third spaceflight for this specific Dragon spacecraft, which has already completed resupply missions to the orbiting lab twice before, once in December 2020 and once in August 2021.

The CRS-25 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will use a Falcon 9 rocket to propel a SpaceX Dragon capsule in the direction of the orbiting lab.

Read Also: NASA is Planning to Buy 5 More SpaceX Crewed Flights to the ISS

SpaceX Delays with Dragon Capsule

According to Space, SpaceX spacecraft have had a few challenges and delays before launching. NASA and SpaceX announced earlier this month that they were canceling the launch meant for June 10.

This is after detecting elevated readings of hydrazine, which is the propellant used by Dragon's Draco thrusters, while fueling the spacecraft.

The mission was put on hold, initially until no sooner than June 28, and later until no earlier than July 11, so that the abnormal hydrazine vapor readings that were detected within the Draco system could be investigated.

NASA officials stated in the latest update that the new launch date, July 14, has been set for CRS-25.

As reported by Space, this will enable the uncrewed Dragon spacecraft to arrive at the ISS as soon as possible following an upcoming period in which the sun will fully illuminate the station, causing problems with power generation and thermal issues.

As implied in the mission's name, CRS-25, this will be the 25th time that SpaceX has provided NASA with a robotic resupply mission to the ISS.

Related Article: SpaceX Launches 53 Starlink Satellites; More Internet Satellites Soon!
A decorated British Army major has been fined and severely reprimanded after he touched a junior female soldier's bottom while they were playing beer pong in the officers' mess following a Remembrance Day commemoration.

A military court heard Major Anthony Philpott had been the most senior officer playing the popular drinking game following the all day event to remember Britain's wartime heroes.

As he celebrated a successful turn 'fuelled by too much alcohol', the 'happily' married father of two reached out and touched the bottom of the woman in front of other junior officers.

The court heard the woman was left feeling 'unsafe and creeped out' by his 'inappropriate' behaviour which led to the 58-year-old being heavily criticised by a military judge.

Judge Advocate Edward Legard said: 'Women are at the front and centre of the modern Armed Forces.

Major Anthony Philpott, 58, arrives at Bulford Military Court Centre, where he pleaded guilty to one count of disgraceful conduct after touching a junior female soldier's bottom during a game of beer pong

The soldiers were playing beer pong in the officer's mess, when Major Philpott reached out and touched the female officer's bottom - leaving her feeling 'creeped out' and 'unsafe'

'If the Forces are to remain operational they must be inclusive... women must be able to attend a social event knowing they will not be a victim of unwanted touching.

'Your job and duty is to uphold the highest behaviours and integrity. You are the person who subordinate officers and soldiers should look up to.

'This conduct falls below the standard of your rank and seniority.'

Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, heard that prior to the incident Major Philpott and fellow officers had attended a meal and Remembrance Day event which continued into the early hours of the morning.

The hearing was told Major Philpott had been in a team of five, standing next to the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons. The pair did not know each other prior to the incident.

Major Jon Griffiths, prosecuting, told the hearing: 'There was a small number of personnel left.

'He was one of the senior officers there present. Other junior officers and soldiers were with him and they were playing beer pong while gathered in the mess.'

Defending Major Philpott, Bob Scott told the court: 'This was overexuberance fuelled by too much alcohol. You cannot imagine the shame, embarrassment and horror he feels'

In beer pong, competitors must stand either side of a ping pong table throwing balls into the full beer cups in front of their opponent. If they are successful, their rival must down the cup of beer the ball landed in.

'He took his turn, celebrated and he reached out to touch her buttock,' Major Griffiths told the court. 'She was shocked.'

The hearing was told Major Philpott immediately apologised but claimed he could not remember the incident when questioned by police.

'He immediately apologised and walked away,' Major Griffiths continued. 'She made a formal complaint and he was interviewed under caution.

'He accepted that he had been drinking alcohol and could not remember celebrating in that way.

'There was no sexual misconduct but he did touch her buttock. He apologised which must have meant that his actions were accidental.'

In a victim statement read to the court, the woman said: 'His behaviour that night was very inappropriate. I felt unsafe and creeped out.

'His actions were appalling and I am worried about future mess functions and I am not only worried he will do it to me, but to other females.'

Bob Scott, defending, told the board: 'He was playing a game and had too much to drink.

The hearing against Major Philpott took place at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire

'There is no argument that he did not touch her bottom, but there is no suggestion of any sexual motive.

'This, in my submission, was overexuberance fuelled by too much alcohol. You cannot imagine the shame, embarrassment and horror he feels.'

Major Philpott, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, pleaded guilty to one count of disgraceful conduct.

The officer, who became a major in 2002 and was awarded the long service and good conduct medal, has now been handed a 3,408.30 fine equating to 21 days pay.

He will also receive a severe reprimand.

Sentencing him, Judge Advocate Legard said: 'You have pleaded guilty to disgraceful conduct in that the physical conduct was momentary and as a result of overzealousness, not sexual intent.

'Nevertheless and unsurprisingly she was shocked due to the unwanted contact on an intimate part of her body.'

Major Philpott - who has 28 years of service - was awarded the Nato medal for his service in Kosovo and platinum jubilee medal.
A former BBC reporter says she 'couldn't live' with herself amid suggestions she was the real target of a bungling hitman who murdered Jill Dando.

A French court yesterday heard how prosecutors accuse fashion boss Gerald Marie, 72, of using the Russian Mafia to try and kill Lisa Brinkworth, who is now 55, after she exposed him as a sex abuser.

But their gunman may have assassinated TV presenter Ms Dando by mistake, according to extraordinary allegations contained in legal papers filed in Paris.

They are part of an enquiry into multiple rape complaints against Marie, ex-husband of supermodel Linda Evangelista. He describes the allegations as 'fanciful nonsense'.

Ms Dando was 37 when she was shot dead outside her home in Fulham, south west London, in a notorious cold case dating back 23 years.

Now Ms Brinkworth claims Marie, former boss of the Elite agency, wanted her dead because she claimed he sexually assaulted her in 1998 while she was working undercover to expose crimes in the fashion industry.

She told the Mirror: 'Even if there was a tiny possibility, I don't know if I could live with that, so I'm hoping there's nothing in that. I try not to think about it. I really, really don't want it to be true.'

In the court papers, Ms Brinkworth's lawyers reference an alleged conversation witnessed by a former Elite executive in which Marie considered hiring the Russian mafia to 'deal with a problem'.

The papers read: 'Shortly afterwards, in April 1999, Jill Dando, another BBC journalist, was shot dead.'

France's statute of legal limitations for prosecutions at the time stated that sexual assault had to be reported within three years, and rapes within 10 years.

Marie therefore claims that the links with the Dando case have been 'made up so as to try and get the statute of limitations removed.'

Ms Brinkworth's lawyers have filed papers to the Paris prosecutor arguing that the statute should not apply in her case due to years spent fearing for her safety.

They now say that the parallels contributed to a 'climate of fear' for their client, and that 'she was convinced that her silence ensured her life'. They added that this prevented Ms Brinkworth from filing a sexual assault complaint against Maire within the three year time limit.

Miss Dando was gunned down on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, west London, in 1999

Miss Brinkworth (pictured recently, left; and in the 1990s, right) claimed she was sexually assaulted in 1998 while working undercover alongside Donal MacIntyre to expose sex crimes in the fashion industry

Documents submitted to a Paris court suggested that Marie (pictured in 2009) hired a Russian hitman to murder Ms Brinkworth

Gerald Marie, pictured with ex-wife Linda Evangelista, is being investigated over alleged sexual assaults and rapes (pictured in 1991)

One of Marie's legal team said on Monday: 'It's fanciful nonsense aimed at suggesting that Lisa Brinkworth was in fear of her life, and so was too scared to report the alleged attack within a reasonable time limit.

'In fact, Lisa Brinkworth made no effort to report any kind of sexual abuse at the time, and only started to take action decades later.'

Ms Brinkworth claims she was kept in a safe house following the broadcasting of her expose on the BBC's MacIntyre Investigates programme, presented by veteran journalist Donal MacIntyre.

Ms Brinkworth also claims that the BBC did not want her taking legal action, according to the legal papers.

They say that Omar Harfouch, who is now 53 and a Lebanese businessman and politician, was with senior Elite management at a Paris restaurant in 1999, when they discussed the MacIntytre programme.

Jill Dando is pictured with her fiance Alan Farthing in 1999, months before she was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Fulham. A French court has heard sensational claims that a Russian hitman hired to assassinate journalist Lisa Brinkworth may have mistaken her for Ms Dando. Lawyers pointed out that Ms Dando's fiance Mr Farthing was also Ms Brinkworth's doctor

Britain's biggest police probe since the Yorkshire Ripper: Timeline of the Jill Dando case April 26, 1999: Jill Dando, the 37-year-old television presenter, is shot dead with a single bullet to the head on the steps of her home in Fulham, south-west London. May 25, 2000: Police arrest Barry George, also known as Barry Bulsara, following surveillance of his home. May 29, 2000: Police charge George with murdering Dando. July 2, 2001: A jury finds George guilty of murder. He is later sentenced to life imprisonment. July 29, 2002: George loses an appeal against his conviction at the Court of Appeal in London. Three judges rejected his claim that his conviction was 'unsafe'. December 16, 2002: The House of Lords refuses permission for George to mount a further challenge to his conviction. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) continues to look at the case. March 25, 2006: It emerges that lawyers for George have submitted new evidence to the CCRC which they believe undermines the safety of his conviction. They say they have new medical evidence which suggests George's mental problems would have made him incapable of carrying out the crime, and that new witnesses who were not heard at the original trial may provide an explanation for why a particle of gunshot residue was found on his coat. August 1, 2008: He receives a unanimous acquittal by a jury after being granted a retrial. January 2010: His claim for compensation for lost earnings and wrongful imprisonment is rejected. 2012: Serbian 'warlord' Arkan is named as a suspect in the case, although he had died in 2000. June 2022: Court documents claim that BBC journalist Lisa Brinkworth was the target of a hit ordered by modelling agency boss Gerald Marie but was confused for Miss Dando. He denies the claims. Advertisement

'We're in the s**t,' Marie is said to have told the others, after 'learning that a BBC report about Donal MacIntyre and Lisa Brinkworth going undercover for six months at Elite will soon broadcast.'

Ms Brinkworth, then 31, had pretended to be a fashion model, and Gerald Marie said: 'I got tricked'.

He then described Ms Brinkworth as a 'huge problem', to which Vitali Leiba, an Elite agent based in Moscow and allegedly with strong links to the Russian Mafia replied: 'Consider it done'.

Mr Harfouch claims this was an oblique reference to 'making [Brinkworth] disappear,' according to the legal papers.

The Harfouch testimony is now being used by lawyers for 15 plaintiffs - including Ms Brinkworth - to try and get the statute of limitations thrown out.

In a file sent to Paris prosecutors, William Bourdon, Amelie Lefebvre and Anne-Claire Lejeune refer to 'the fear of physical reprisals, going as far as a contract killing, preventing a filing of a complaint within the required time frame by Lisa Brinkworth, who accuses Gerald Marie of sexual assault in the context of her report.'

The lawyers' report adds: 'They are therefore requesting, in an unprecedented approach, an extension of the limitation period, paving the way for a future trial.'

Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into Marie in September 2020, after he was accused of rape and sexual assault by the 15 women.

However, all of the alleged facts took place in the 1980s and 1990s, making them time barred as far as prosecutions are concerned.

No charges have been brought, and Marie remains a free man.

The BBC aired the MacIntrye programme in November 1999, and it alleged that Ms Brinkworth was attacked in a nightclub in Milan, Italy, in October 1998.

In her complaint finally filed to the French legal authorities on September 20, 2020, Ms Brinkworth describes an 'obscene atmosphere' created by Marie, who allegedly asked her to 'perform oral sex' on Elite executive and to 'let me fuck you' for money. (500 euros is mentioned in the legal papers, although France did not start using euros until 2002)

Ms Brinkworth was told: 'No one refuses the president of Elite and it's an honour to sleep with this man,' according to the legal papers.

Ms Brinkworth claimed Marie 'rode her while she was sitting on a chair,' and 'she was terrified of being raped when he started pushing his penis into her lower abdomen.'

Other Elite executives were said to be 'laughing and applauding' at the time.

Film footage shows Ms Brinkworth straight after the incident, telling Mr MacIntyre about what happened.

Elite sued the BBC over the allegations, and in 2001 the Corporation agreed never to broadcast the programme again, as part of a confidentiality agreement.

Ms Brinkworth was not part of that agreement and so, according to the latest legal documents, pressure was put on her by Elite to stay silent.

She says she was given protection by the BBC for three years, between 1999 and 2001, and put in three safe houses, at least one of which was surrounded by electric fences.

During a meeting organised in the Paris Senate in September 2021 with the other plaintiffs, Ms Brinkworth met Omar Harfouch, who made a multi-million pounds fortune in Ukraine following the fall of the Soviet Union.

Mr Harfoch said he himself became a 'target for death threats' following his support for former Elite models who claimed they were sexually abused.

In the legal documents, Ms Brinkworth is described as being 'blonde, and of the same height and similar build; as Jill Dando,

They say Ms Brinkworth and Ms Dando were neighbours in Fulham, and that Ms Dando's partner, Alan Farthing, was Ms Brinkworth's doctor.

Lawyers for Ms Brinkworth now say that the parallels contributed to a 'climate of fear' for their clients, and that 'she was convinced that her silence ensured her life'.

All of this prevented Ms Brinkworth from filing a sexual assault complaint against Maire within the three year time limit.

Celine Bekerman, a lawyer for Gerald Marie, said the attempt to repeal the statute of limitations had no chance of success, because it was 'based on fanciful arguments'.

Ms Bekerman said Ms Brinkworth 'was never a party to the agreement concluded between Elite and the BBC', and there was thus never anything stopping her from complaining about sexual assault in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Ms Bekerman said Mr Harfouch's testament about the Paris restaurant conversation was not considered a reliable one.

She said Marie denies any wrongdoing and 'refuses to be the scapegoat for a system and an era'.

Ms Bekerman said a diary kept by Donal MacIntyre during the undercover operation did not even mention any allegation of a sexual assault.

A spokesman for the Paris prosecutors office confirmed that the enquiry into Gerald Marie was 'ongoing', and that nobody had been arrested or charged.
Senior Labour MP Harriet Harman was today appointed as the head of a fresh Partygate investigation into whether Boris Johnson lied to MPs.

The 71-year-old, who has twice been an interim Labour leader, was installed as chair of the House of Commons' Privileges Committee.

But her appointment has proved controversial, with Conservatives angry that such an 'overtly political' figure is leading a probe that could have huge significance over Mr Johnson's future as Prime Minister.

As they kicked off their inquiry today, the cross-party committee called for evidence from those who know details about Mr Johnson's past denials of Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street.

The PM last year told MPs that no Covid rules were broken and guidance was followed at all times in Number 10.

Police have since issued 126 fines - including to Mr Johnson himself - for breaches of Coronavirus regulations in Government buildings.

The committee, made up of seven MPs in total, are asking for evidence about the PM's knowledge of Downing Street parties.

They expressed their eagerness to hear from current of former No10 staff by saying they want to hear about any briefings given to, or inquiries made by, Mr Johnson relating to Partygate.

The MPs said they would be willing to take oral or written evidence, including from those who wish to remain anonymous.

Ex-top judge Sir Ernest Ryder, a former Lord Justice of Appeal and Senior President of Tribunals, has been appointed as an adviser to the committee during its inquiry.

The committee said it hopes to begin holding evidence sessions in the autumn, meaning their inquiry will hang over the PM's head for months yet.

But it was not immediately revealed whether these would take place in public, or if Mr Johnson himself would be called to appear before the MPs.

Those who wish to submit evidence to the committee have been given until 29th July to do so.

The committee's findings, once they are published, could yet again imperil the PM's political future.

Tory MPs have warned they will launch a fresh attempt to oust Mr Johnson should the committee conclude he was intentionally dishonest to the Commons.

Harriet Harman, who has twice been an interim Labour leader, was installed as chair of the House of Commons' Privileges Committee

Conservatives are angry that such an 'overtly political' figure will lead a probe that could have huge significance over Boris Johnson's future as Prime Minister

The PM last year told MPs that no Covid rules were broken and guidance was followed at all times in Number 10. This picture later emerged of him attending a Downing St leaving do in November 2020

A number of Conservatives have questioned whether Ms Harman - who was unanimously elected to lead the probe - is an appropriate pick to be the committee's chair.

The Camberwell and Peckham MP has previously publicly accused Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak of having misled the Commons, after they were both handed Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for breaking Covid rules.

Earlier this year Chris Bryant, Ms Harman's fellow Labour MP, recused himself from the role of chair of the Privileges Committee.

He said this was in order to prevent allegations of political bias, following his past public criticism of the PM over Partygate.

Conservatives have asked why Ms Harman - known as the 'Mother of the House' - has also not recused herself from the committee.

One senior Tory MP told MailOnline that Ms Harman being appointed chair made it less likely Tory members of the committee would accept a tough verdict against the PM.

'Chris Bryant is totally unsuitable to be chair of the committee because he is hugely party political,' they said.

'Harriet is probably the second most improbable person to be chair of that committee.'

They added: 'You could think of lots of people, Stephen Timms... there's plenty of people on the Labour back benches who are not overtly political and have a lot of respect across the House.'

Another Tory MP told MailOnline: She has made public comments about Boris.

'To be fair, Chris Bryant recused himself so you are thinking, how does that fit with her taking over?

She will no doubt try to guide it appropriately and put a lot of our colleagues on the Conservative side under a lot of pressure.

Ms Harman has previously publicly accused Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak of having misled the Commons

As well as Ms Harman, the other members of the committee are Tory backbenchers Andy Carter, Sir Bernard Jenkin, Alberto Costa and Laura Farris, as well as the SNP's Allan Dorans and Labour's Yvonne Fovargue.

Mr Carter, Mr Costa and Ms Farris have all given up positions as Parliamentary Private Secretaries - in which they were aides to ministers - in order to avoid the perception of bias.

In April, when it annonced both Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak had been fined by police, Ms Harman said that the PM and Chancellor accepting their FPNs meant they were 'also admitting that they miseld the House of Commons'.

One matter that is expected to be investigated by the committee are claims that text messages were sent by the PM's wife, Carrie Johnson, referring to an alleged illegal gathering in the Downing Street flat in June 2020.

This alleged gathering was not investigated by senior civil servant Sue Gray as part of her Whitehall probe into Partygate.

Yesterday, prominent Tory rebel Steve Baker warned the PM that a finding by the Privileges Committee against him would result in another attempt to topple him as Conservative leader.

In an article in The Times, the former minister told Mr Johnson that if he were found to have knowlingly misled the Commons, then he would be expected to resign.

'If he were not to resign in those circumstances, it may prove necessary to take action to remove him,' he added.

'It is one thing to make an inadvertent error, but intolerable to deliberately mislead.'

Mr Baker also warned the PM he could face another revolt against his leadership should he attempt to prevent the publication of any report by the Privileges Committee.
A parish council leader who reduced a cake shop owner to tears when he terrified her with a 'Gandalf' staff when confronting her over a sandwich board blocking a floral display has lost a libel battle.

Rodney Goldsmith, the chairman of the parish council of Steyning, now faces a massive legal bill after a row in the sleepy Sussex town escalated up to the High Court in London.

The 78-year-old was named and shamed on a local webpage, and was accused of 'bullying' and frightening local cake shop owner Victoria Nicks with his oversized walking stick.

Mr Goldsmith, who describes himself as 'Mr Steyning' and 'the most well-known resident of the village', had taken issue with Ms Nicks after she put a sandwich board in front of a floral display on the high street.

He issued 'a peremptory demand that she remove her board' after visiting her store, Victoria's Sponge, in October 2019.

Rodney Goldsmith, leader of Steyning Parish Council, has lost a High Court libel case stemming from a row over the sandwich board blocking a floral display. Here he is pictured with his 'Gandalf staff'

During the visit he 'waved or brandished his large walking stick', which High Court judge Mr Justice Julian Knowles described as 'a Gandalf staff', before leaving her in tears.

He was criticised for his actions on a local message board by another villager - illustrator Michael Bissett-Powell, 79, - who wrote: 'I will never respect anyone who threatens a woman with a stick, is verbally aggressive towards her and abuses his position as chairman of the parish council in this way. A real man would apologise publicly and at least consider his position.'

Mr Goldsmith subsequently sued his fellow villager for libel, claiming the messages had damaged his reputation and standing.

He also described the cake shop owner as 'oversensitive'.

But his bid backfired after the judge threw out his case and found that the accusations made against him were true, leaving him facing a huge legal bill.

The judge described Mr Goldsmith as 'a large man' with 'a propensity to behave in a rude manner,' who had 'behaved in a rude, bullying and domineering way towards Ms Nicks, which reduced her to a tearful state'.

Victoria Nicks, pictured here outside her shop Victoria's Sponge, says she felt 'threatened' by Mr Goldsmith

The councillor had 'shaken or brandished' a 'long walking stick or staff... more akin in length to a bishop's or shepherd's crook, or a 'Gandalf' staff,' at the cake shop owner, the judge said, adding: 'I think he probably has an exaggerated sense of his own importance in the town, whether or not he is known as 'Mr Steyning' as he claimed'.

Setting out the background to the row, the judge said that in 2019 the parish council of the small historic town which is nestled at the foot of the Downs about 10 miles from Brighton, had been discussing concerns about advertising boards for businesses on the village high street being inappropriately placed where they encroached on pavements or blocked 'Steyning in Bloom' floral displays.

Mr Goldsmith, a former shopkeeper and keen Brighton and Hove Albion fan, had paid a visit to Victoria's Sponge as part of a course of 'pre-emptive action' on October 30, 2019, in relation to the issue.

'Because it is relevant to some of the issues I have to decide, I note at the outset that the claimant uses a long walking stick or staff, which he had with him in court,' he continued.

'This is not a typical waist-high walking stick, but somewhat longer, more akin in length to a bishop's or shepherd's crook, or a 'Gandalf' staff. As I shall explain, this stick featured in the evidence.

'In relation to what I will call the 'Victoria's Sponge' allegations, the claimant's case is that he attended the cafe in connection with his Steyning Parish Council duties,' the judge said.

Mr Goldsmith brought the libel claim against Michael Bissett-Powell (pictured) after he accused the council leader of abusing his position

Mr Goldsmith had told the court that the 'oversensitive' cake shop owner 'burst into tears in a way which was sudden and unprovoked' as he explained the potential problem with her board.

'They had a conversation outside about positioning the 'A' board and parted on friendly terms, with Ms Nicks inviting him in for a coffee next time he was passing,' the judge continued, setting out Mr Goldsmith's account.

'He said there was no altercation, no abuse of position, and no threats or verbal aggression. He did not go in 'all guns blazing' and tell her to remove her 'A' board.'

Ms Nicks however told the judge that 'the claimant, who is a large man, came in and introduced himself as chairman of SPC.

As he spoke to her, he 'gesticulated' with his long walking stick, which she found 'intimidating' and his manner was 'rather rude', she claimed.

She said he demanded she remove her board from the pavement because it was blocking a plant trough.

'She said the claimant insisted she take her board in immediately, which she declined to do. She said she became tearful and felt stressed. He told her if she did not remove the sign he would go to 'a higher authority'.'

Ruling, the judge said: 'In relation to the cafe incident, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the claimant was authorised by the SPC to go and speak to those business owners whose 'A' boards were perceived as a possible source of complaint.

'However, I am also satisfied on a balance of probabilities that when the claimant attended the cafe on the late afternoon/early evening of 30 October 2019, he behaved in a rude, bullying and domineering way towards Ms Nicks, which reduced her to a tearful state.

'I reject his case that she is just 'over sensitive'.

'I am satisfied that he did indeed issue a peremptory demand that she remove her board; that he waved or brandished his large walking stick in such a way that made her feel threatened, albeit that he did not actually threaten to hit her with it.

'The claimant described his perception of his reputation in the community. He described various charitable and other activities he had organised over the years, and described himself as 'Mr Steyning'.

'Because of the messages posted by Mr Bissett-Powell, he was subjected to 'banter' in the pub about his stick, he claimed.

'He also referred to it possibly harming his chances of re-election to SPC in 2023, harming his charity work, and his role of organising transport for games at Brighton and Hove Albion FC.

A judge at the High Court in London (pictured) ruled that Mr Goldsmith was 'rude from the beginning' of his interaction with Ms Nicks

'Whilst I think he probably has an exaggerated sense of his own importance in the town - whether or not he is known as 'Mr Steyning' as he claimed - there is no doubt that he is a well-known figure.

'From all the evidence, I am satisfied the claimant has a propensity to behave in a rude manner, and that he had behaved in such a way on a number of previous occasions, and continued to do so even after 30 October 2019.

'He regards himself as an important figure in Steyning. I conclude that he is a person who is used to, and expects to, get his own way in relation to Steyning matters.

'I am satisfied on a balance of probabilities that: he behaved in such a way towards Ms Nicks, alone as she was in her cafe on that afternoon/evening; that he expected her to comply with his demands without demur; and that he behaved the way he did at least in part because she did not do so. I find, as she said, that he was rude from the beginning.

'I accept she felt threatened and intimidated because of his behaviour.

'The defendant succeeds on the defence of truth,' the judge concluded, dismissing Mr Goldsmith's claim against Mr Bissett-Powell.

The councillor will now face paying the legal costs of the case, which have yet to be calculated.
Porn stars have revealed what it's really like to perform on camera - from why they joined the industry, to how much money they earn and what it smells on a porn set.

In the latest installment of ABC's award winning series 'You Can't Ask That' airing on Wednesday night, porn performers of all types provided some insight into their risque jobs.

Among the trade secrets revealed is that porn sets tend to smell like coconut oil and the last people you'd want to find out about you career - such as parents - are usually among the first to figure it out.

The interviewees included hall-of-famer Angela White who's been called Australia's top porn export after making it big in the US.

Viewers also meet gay porn star Woody Fox, Arianny Koda, Morgana Muses, Robbie Oz, trans porn star Marissa Minx, Rubi Valentine, and 80s porn star Nikki Stern - who quit the business to become a librarian.

Angela White (pictured) is often called Australia's top porn star after she made her start in the industry when she hopped a plane to America at age 18

When the interviewees are asked what it's like having sex on camera for the first time, their responses were mixed.

'My first shoot was terrifying,' Woody Fox, based in Sydney, said.

LA-based White was 18-years-old and getting ready to graduate high school when she hoped a plane to America and shot her first scene.

'It was a little scary because it was my first time overseas. I was a curious teen and I was always fascinated by porn,' she said.

'Now when I'm f***ing on camera it's much easier than an interview like this,' she joked.

White has made big money from her career - but she is the exception with many in the industry having side gigs or also working behind-the-scenes to earn a living.

The interviewees reveal most actors will only be paid a few hundred dollars for a scene, but trans-performers can draw considerably higher fees in the thousands.

Sydney based gay performer Woody Fox (pictured) said his Dad in particular 'flipped out' when he learned he was starring in porn but has since become used to it

They reveal it's also hard work for actors on a porn set with tiring days stretching well past eight hours, a film crew setting and resetting shots, and a director yelling to change positions every few minutes.

And with a bunch of people crammed into small space, the aroma can get a little on the nose.

'If it's a summer day and the air-con isn't running it smells like sweat,' White said.

'A professional set smells like just a clean sanitary space... but it can get stinky pretty fast,' Fox admits.

'It always smells like coconut oil, that's the lube that's used in porn,' Koda adds.

Explaining how they got into porn, some of the group said they had always wanted to be porn stars.

'As soon as I found you could do that for a job I was like 'yes what a hack, I'm in,' Rubi Valentine explains.

'Yeah I was that weird kid in the library reading 'Where did I come from?',' White said.

But others said they had no intention of joining the industry growing up.

'I was brought up in a strict Jehovah's Witness family,' Robbie Oz said.

'Maybe because all that was kind of pushed down that I went the other way.'

Rubi Valentine (pictured) said when she found out you could get paid for having sex she thought it was a 'brilliant life hack'

Morgana Muses said she was stuck in an unhappy marriage and was considering suicide but instead hired an escort which 'changed her life'.

She then went on to make an award-winning adult film with the same escort. That was her break in the industry - though she admits her films haven't been big money spinners.

A common theme among all of the interviewees, however, was curiosity.

'I reckon everyone has some part in them that's curious like 'I wonder if I could have done porn,' Robbie said.

When asked what their parents thought of their career or if they even knew, they also seemed to agree that family and friends will find out.

Fox said it's always the one person you would least want to discover you work in porn is exactly the person who's going to catch on.

'My dad flipped when he found out... he freaked out,' Fox laughed.

He added he has a gay brother who he hopes hasn't unsuspectingly clicked on one of his videos.

'I hope a curious friend or family member hasn't Googled me,' White adds.

Rubi Valentine said her family and friends just were concerned about her safety.

Arianny Koda (left) was asked to fly out to America by a producer to star in films while Nikki Stern (right) retired from porn to become a librarian

When asked about the ethics of porn, White said that reputable companies treat and pay their actors very well and that these are what actors should be looking to work with.

'We have consented to all of the acts on screen and we can call cut at any moment,' she explains.

On a wider level, there is debate over whether the availability of porn courtesy of the world wide web normalises sexist attitudes or creates unrealistic expectations of bodies and performance.

But for the people interviewed who make the films, rather than a last resort after a series of poor decisions or a desperate attempt to make money, they all seem to like what they do.

'They say do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life,' White said.
With its mix of live music, celebrity guests and Chris Evans as host, TFI Friday was must-watch appointment viewing for most in its Nineties heyday.

But in the modern era some of the content on the hit Channel Four show has been cast in a different light - and is difficult to square with contemporary attitudes.

Yesterday Evans - 56 - was slammed by Victoria Beckham for asking her to weigh herself on live television shortly after giving birth.

It is one of many outrageous moments that made the show so popular, but would no doubt be left on the editing room floor today.

Here MailOnline looks at the most famous and controversial examples:

Making children cry on television

A little girl called Naomi sobs after she lost a starring contest to win a 15,000 speedboat

One of the programme's most controversial segments was where children were told to compete in a staring competition to win amazing prizes.

In one of the contests two boys aged seven took part, with the loser looking tearful when he missed out on a new car for his mother and father.

The next week it was the turn of two young girls who were competing for a 15,000 speedboat.

This the time the loser burst into tears, prompting further complaints to industry watchdog Ofcom.

The ITC reprimanded Channel 4 for breaching its Programme Code which says 'care must be taken to avoid causing distress or alarm to children'.

A 2015 reboot went some way to repair the outrage as the losing pair Chris and Naomi were invited back grown up for another match.

This time they did not have to win and they were both given holidays to Barbados.

Kylie Minogue and Geri Halliwell arm-wrestle then kiss

The two music stars had been arm-wrestling when they leant in to kiss each other on the lips

The show had always managed to get some of music's biggest stars to do things out of their comfort zone.

But perhaps one of the most famous was not even planned, it is thought.

Evans had convinced Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Kylie Minogue to battle each other in a contest of strength.

Using the show's famous desk the pair arm-wrestled, with the competition ending in a stalemate.

Then they leant in to kiss each other and proceeded to do so for around two seconds.

After it happened it was claimed that the moment had not been planned.

Fat lookalikes

Fat Lookalikes was a part of TFI Friday where people said they were fat versions of celebrities

Another section of the show was Fat Lookalikes, which was exactly how it sounded.

Members of the public or friends of TFI Friday would nominate themselves to go onto the segment.

It was then up to viewers to try and work out which famous person they believed they bore a resemblance to.

The reveal of the celebrity's name would then appear in front of the contributor.

Inevitably the live audience would whoop and cheer with delight.

Freak or unique

The most memorable Freak or Unique is widely accepted to be the lad who had rubbery ears

Freak or Unique was a platform for fans of TFI Friday endowed with unusual abilities.

Years before Britain's Got Talent graced ITV screens, the section featured bizarre talents or bodily features.

The guests would come on and tell Evans and the audience what their talent was.

Some of the most famous included a woman who was able to cry milk and a man who could fire ball bearings from their belly buttons.

The most memorable is widely accepted to be the lad who had rubbery ears.

Ugly bloke

A so-called Ugly Bloke would be invited onto the show and then reject a model's advances

This self-explanatory section included members of the public who had written in to appear on the show as an 'Ugly bloke'.

Evans would ask them about themselves at one point quizzing 'How long have you been ugly?' - they replied 'All my life'.

Then a smoke belching backstage door would open and model Catalina Guirado would appear.

She would then proposition the guest before the segment would end the same way.

The so-called Ugly Bloke would reply 'No thanks love, you're not my type'.

Weighing Victoria Beckham

Right off the scale: Chris Evans weighs the then new-mum Victoria Beckham live on TV

Victoria Beckham has criticised TFI Friday an Chris Evans over a moment where he weighed her after she gave birth to her first child.

It happened in 1999 and was just two months after she had delivered her son Brooklyn.

Evans had asked her how she had got back into her usual shape so quickly after the birth.

When she responded she was back to her normal weight he asked if he could check and got her to step on some scales.

Victoria told a forthcoming edition of Vogue Australia: 'He made me stand on the scales to be weighed.

'Can you imagine doing that nowadays?'

'I've had 'Porky Posh', I've had 'Skeletal Posh': Victoria Beckham slams Chris Evans for forcing her to weigh herself live on '90s TV hit TFI Friday shortly after she had given birth to Brooklyn

Criticism: Chris Evans has been slammed by Victoria Beckham for forcing her to weigh herself on live television

By Richard Eden for the Daily Mail
A British teenager has reportedly been raped on the holiday island of Majorca by two men described as 'a famous Vietnamese actor and musician.'

The 17-year-old told police the sex attack took place in a hotel in Andratx in the south-west of the island last weekend after she met the artists in a nearby restaurant and started socialising with them.

The girl's aunt is said to have alerted police after being contacted by her relative.

Respected island newspaper Ultima Hora reported the teenager told officers the men, aged 37 and 42, had made her shower after the alleged rape to eliminate evidence that could incriminate them.

The paper described the alleged rapists as 'an actor and musician with a long professional career in the south east Asian country.'

They were arrested at the unnamed hotel in Andratx in the early hours of Saturday morning, and have now been released on bail but banned from leaving Spain pending an ongoing criminal probe.

The British teenager is believed to have left the island with her family after ratifying her police statement in front of the same judge.

The 17-year-old told police the sex attack took place in a hotel in Andratx in the south-west of the island after she met the artists in a nearby restaurant and started socialising with them (the popular tourist town of Sant Elm in Andratx is pictured)

Ultima Hora says the men and the girl were staying in separate hotels in the municipality of Andratx and got into conversation at a nearby restaurant before she agreed to go to the place where the Vietnamese pair were staying after spending time on the beach with them.

She was examined by doctors at Son Espases Hospital in the Majorcan capital Palma as part of standard protocol before making her police statement.

Neither of the two men arrested has yet been named. As well as being banned from leaving Spain they have also been asked to surrender their passports.

Local reports said they declined to answer questions when they appeared before the investigating judge shortly after their arrests.

It is not yet known if they were formally questioned by police before being taken to a closed court hearing.

The two suspects were arrested at an unnamed hotel in Andratx in the early hours of Saturday morning, and have now been released on bail but banned from leaving Spain pending an ongoing criminal probe (Port d'Andratx is pictured)

A police source confirmed last night they had been called to deal with an alleged rape at a hotel in Andratx.

The source said: 'Two Vietnamese nationals were arrested in the earlier hours of Saturday morning and the investigation is ongoing.'

Court officials were not immediately available for comment.

It is unclear weather the 37-year-old actor and the 42-year-old musician held over the alleged hotel sex attack were on holiday in Majorca or had travelled to the island for work reasons.
An Australian writer living in London, who branded herself 'the most publicly hated Muslim', has faced a backlash from furious Brits after complaining the sea of Union Jack flags seen across the capital for the Queen's Jubilee was 'a waking nightmare'.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied received a furious letter from a 'very offended indigenous British woman', urging her to leave the UK over her comments regarding last month's royal celebrations.

The activist - who fled her homeland for Britain shortly after receiving an onslaught of criticism for an Anzac Day Facebook post - took to social media to show off the correspondence but received further criticism from followers.

The woman who penned the letter accused Ms Abdel-Magied of being an 'engineer of social discord and division'.

'This country, that you insult, has given you a home and opportunities and the freedom to sprout your disgusting comments - which I found very offensive,' the letter read.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied received a furious letter from a 'very offended indigenous British woman', urging her to leave the UK over her comments regarding last month's royal celebrations

Activist and writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied took a brutal swipe at the Queen during her platinum jubilee celebration tweeting the presence of Union Jack flags throughout her adopted homeland is like ' waking nightmare'

The letter received by Yassmin Abdel-Magied in response to her comments about the presence of so many Union Jack flags being a 'waking nightmare'

Yassmin Abdel-Magied: The writer and activist who regularly causes a storm on social media Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese-Australian writer and activist who now lives in London. Described on her website as an 'award-winning social advocate', she has published four books, written two plays and is currently developing a number of projects for screen. However, her posts on social media have often left her in hot water - most notably when she tweeted 'Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)' on Anzac Day in 2017. She quickly deleted the post and apologised, but many Australians were left outraged she hijacked the national day of remembrance to make a political statement. Ms Abdel-Magied then moved to London, which she claimed was the safest place for someone of her background and religion. But the activist was labelled 'racist' by social media users for saying New York is too 'Anglo-centric'. Advertisement

She then asked the activist, if she was so offended by the presence of British flags, why she wouldn't move.

'Please, don't let us stop you, I'm sure your fellow countrymen/women would love you to return there and support them,' the letter read.

'Freedom of speech? Don't let the door hit your a**e on the way out. Bit like Australia huh?'

Ms Abdel-Magied shared the letter on social media with a bunch of laughing face emojis.

'Not an offended Brit sending me a strongly worded letter because she didn't like one of my tweets. A literal physical letter y'all,' she wrote.

Ms Abdel-Magied was hit by a wave of criticism after she dragged the Queen's Jubilee celebration.

'Dude no. Bunting is a lovely, lovely British tradition. Once you've done a few more winters & non-summers you will - as I did when I lived there - long for a bright bit of fabric waving sadly in the drizzle,' one wrote.

While another said: 'If you don't like it move out but don't come back to Australia. I hear you are giving up your Australian citizenship, great news.'

A third commented: 'Why do you feel some flags are like 'a waking nightmare'?'

The activist moved to Australia from Sudan when she was 18 months old but left for England in 2017 after causing outrage with a social media post about Anzac Day which read: 'Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)'.

She later apologised 'unreservedly' for the post.

Furious commenters fired back at Abdel-Magied's remark, with some telling her to 'go back to Australia'

Ms Abdel-Magied last month released a new book titled 'Talking about a revolution', which is a collection of new and revisited essays on resistance, transformation and revolution.

Her book also speaks on the concept of identity from a migrant by ancestry, and by choice.

In 2019, Ms Abdel-Magied claimed a life in London was the safest place for someone of her background and religion, asking the public where else they recommended.

'''Why did you move to London?'' someone asked me recently,' she wrote on Twitter.

'Because where else is safe for a black Muslim woman who wants to live alone and do her own thing?

'We couldn't think of anywhere else (except maybe NYC, but it's all a bit Anglo-centric). What do you think? Where else?'

She was flooded with a range of responses with many suggesting European countries such as France, Italy and Scotland.

Ms Abdel-Magied took to Twitter in 2019 to describe the reason she moved to the UK two years earlier

Many commented saying lots of places weren't safe for a Muslim woman, including New York City in the USA

The controversial woman received backlash from her post with some even labelling her as a 'racist' (pictured)

'Paris, Toronto, Edinburgh, Monte Carlo?' one Twitter user commented.

Ms Abdel-Magied was quick to shut down the suggestion of Paris, claiming the city is 'pretty terrible for Muslims and black folk'.

Others said New York City was equally as dangerous, with Muslim women often targeted in hate crimes.

'NYC is not safe, lots of hate crimes reported against Muslim women,' another person wrote.

The 2015 Young Queenslander of the Year responded by saying many of the places suggested were not accessible for her.

'Other thoughts that are important: not all places being suggested are easily accessible visa wise, especially if someone doesn't have the ''right passport'' or ''right job'',' Ms Abdel-Magied wrote.

Her post received some backlash, with one Twitter user branding her as a 'racist'.

'You move to majority white Anglo countries and complain about them being Anglo-centric!? You really are an ungrateful racist person,' the person said.
A coroner said Britain is failing young people and 'more lives will be lost' as she ruled that NHS 'neglect' from under-resourced services led to the tragic death of a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

The senior coroner for West Sussex plans to write to Health Secretary Sajid Javid after concluding that Robyn Skilton, 14, killed herself after being let down by 'gross failures' by NHS mental health teams.

Penelope Schofield warned there is a 'clear risk' young people in the UK will succumb to their mental ill-health unless urgent action is taken.

The failures were so severe in the case of suicidal teenager Robyn - who was continually turned down for assessments - that Ms Schofield ruled the NHS was guilty of 'neglect'.

Robyn, from Horsham in West Sussex, disappeared from her 670,000 family home and hanged herself in a park on May 7 last year, having a long history of self-harming and expressing a desire to commit suicide.

Robyn Skilton, 14, of Horsham, West Sussex, hanged herself in a park on May 7 last year after being repeatedly let down for appointments by local mental health services

Despite 'real serious concerns' about her mental health, Robyn did not get face-to-face consultations, was not seen by a child psychiatrist or assessed for mental health issues.

She was discharged from a NHS service a month before her suicide despite being on its high-risk 'red-list'.

Her father Alan Skilton, a software company director, constantly pleaded with authorities for help and told his daughter's inquest that the lack of care she received was 'astonishing'.

Ms Schofield announced she will now be writing a report to the government following the hearing.

'As a society we are failing young people', Ms Schofield warned.

Ms Schofield said she was 'shocked' to hear evidence during the two day-long hearing that the number of young people seeking mental health help has increased 95 per cent in recent years.

She added: 'Trying to manage it without more resources means we are not providing the help that young people need.

Senior coroner for West Sussex, Penelope Schofield, plans to write to Health Secretary Sajid Javid after concluding NHS 'neglect' contributed to Robyn's death. She also expressed grave concerns about under-resourced services

'Robyn's case is a testament to that. It's a clear risk that more lives will be lost if we don't address it.

'Therefore, I will be writing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Secretary of State for Health to address these concerns.'

Ms Schofield added that young people 'need resources to get them the help they need'.

Ms Schofield ruled there were 'gross failures' by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Robyn's case and the Trust's Sussex Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service [CAMHS]

She said: 'I do appreciate the landscape the Trust was working in as Covid-19 heightened the level of complexity, but there were many failings in the care provided to Robyn.

'The totality of these failures, in my mind, means I must reach a conclusion of neglect. There was a gross failure to provide care for someone in a dependant state.

'Robyn took her own life while struggling with her mental health.

'Mental health services failed Robyn as they didn't recognise the deterioration of her mental health, nor provide her with the care she required.

'Her death was also contributed to by neglect.'

Robyn's troubles began in late 2018, when she suffered mental health breakdowns, repeatedly self-harmed, attempted suicide, and was admitted to hospital four times - later telling medics she was hearing voices and seeing images

Dr Alison Wallis, Sussex Partnership Trust's clinical director for children's services, tearfully told Robyn's parents 'you didn't get the service you deserved' and that Covid impacted their care.

Ms Schofield outlined the key failings.

These included failure by CAMHS to assess her 'appropriately or at all', leading to missed opportunities to address her 'escalating needs' over several years but 'in particular April 2021 when it was clear there was a risk to life'.

Ms Schofield said there was a failure to arrange face-to-face consultations, a lack of direct communication, a failure to offer her CAMHS treatment when she met its criteria, and a failure 'to have Robyn assessed at any time'.

She ruled the 'decision to discharge her from CAMHS and instead pursue autism treatment was inappropriate' and that Robyn should have seen a child psychiatrist.

Robyn's father, who attended the inquest in Chichester with his wife and Robyn's mother, Victoria, said 'we tried everything we could to help' the teenager.

He said: 'We do believe if Robyn had been seen properly earlier... her mental health would have improved and she would not have committed suicide.'

Mr and Mrs Skilton became 'desperate' at the lack of help Robyn (pictured) received near her death, asked CAMHS if she could be sectioned, and considered having her admitted to the Priory, at 1,300 per night

According to her family, Robyn was 'outgoing, sociable and made friends easily', enjoyed ballet, gymnastics and swimming, and was 'naturally artistic' and loved singing and dancing.

However, her troubles began in late 2018, after she moved to all-girls Mallais School in Horsham the year before.

Robyn suffered mental health breakdowns, repeatedly self-harmed, attempted suicide, and was admitted to hospital four times, later telling medics she was hearing voices and seeing images.

She was referred to West Sussex County Council's Youth Emotional Support Service and attended group sessions but they did not provide her support and was kept on a waiting list for a one-to-one consultation for 10 months.

Eventually, when she had a consultation, it was not effective as it was remote due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

CAMHS would not initially take her on even though she met its criteria, and when the service did, it focused on trying to assess her for autism.

Sussex Partnership NHS Trust's child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) would not take Robyn on at first even though she met its criteria, and when the service did, it focused on trying to assess her for autism (Pictured: Edes House, Chichester, where the inquest was heard)

Her parents were told self-harming was a 'coping mechanism', Robyn didn't get bi-weekly check up calls, and she was not spoken to directly by CAMHS.

Mr Skilton was left 'shocked' that Robyn was given a self-questionnaire to fill out when she was suicidal and was left repeatedly frustrated at not being kept in the dark by authorities due to 'confidentiality'.

'The hospital just seemed to go through a tick-box exercise trying to get her discharged', Mr Skilton claimed. 'Even when she threatened to jump off a bridge our pleas for help were dismissed.'

Robyn said 'nobody could help her' and that she was 'looking forward to ending her life'.

In early 2021 she was rushed to hospital for trying to overdose on paracetamol and stayed three nights. Mr Skilton said: 'We were astonished that after she attempted to take her own life she left hospital with less support.

'Nobody seemed to take her mental health seriously.'

Mr and Mrs Skilton became 'desperate' at the lack of help Robyn received near her death, asked CAMHS if she could be sectioned, and considered having her admitted to the Priory, at 1,300 per night.

Mr Skilton said in the days before her death 'her mood change completely' and it gave her parents 'false hope'.

Solicitor Rebecca Agnew, from Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, admitted 'CAMHS didn't assess Robyn appropriately, leading to missed opportunities for her escalating needs'.

She added: 'The Trust extends a formal apology to her parents for these failings.

'The Trust did not adequately assess Robyn and provide her with the care and assistance she needed and this more than minimally, trivially or negligently contributed to Robyn's death.'

Giving evidence, CAMHS senior practitioner Carly Mendy admitted: 'It was inappropriate to discharge her from the service.'

CAMHS clinical specialist, Velani Bhebhe admitted their risk assessment of Robyn was 'not detailed enough'.

Sussex NHS Trust has started implementing large changes to its mental health services and Ms Schofield will reconvene the inquest in three months to assess them.
Bitcoin has lost about 54 per cent of its value this year and the nosedive is threatening a key source of funding for North Korea and its weapons programs.

Millions of dollars in funds stolen by the sanctions-stricken country have been wiped out due to the poorly performing cryptocurrency markets, digital investigators say.

Although cryptocurrencies are estimated to be only a small portion of North Korea's finances they play an 'absolutely fundamental' role.

North Korea has poured resources into stealing cryptocurrencies in recent years, making it a potent hacking threat and leading to one of the largest cryptocurrency heists on record in March, in which almost $615 million was stolen, according to the U.S. Treasury.

Widespread international sanctions over its nuclear programme give the country limited access to global trade or other sources of income, making crypto heists attractive.

North Korea has reportedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars as the cryptocrash has wiped out vast quantities of their stolen digital currencies

The value of bitcoin is currently down by more than 50 per cent compared to the start of the year

Crypto heists have become an increasingly popular source of income for North Korea in recent years. But crypto's drop in value may hamper some of their weapons programs

Eric Penton-Voak, a coordinator of the United Nations panel of experts that monitors sanctions, said cyberattacks have become 'absolutely fundamental' to Pyongyang's ability to evade sanctions and raise money for its nuclear and missile programmes.

In 2019, it was reported that North Korea had generated an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programmes using cyberattacks.

The sudden plunge in crypto values, which started in May amid a broader economic slowdown, complicates Pyongyang's ability to cash in on that and other heists, and may affect how it plans to fund its weapons programmes, two South Korean government sources told Reuters.

It comes as North Korea tests a record number of missiles - which the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul estimates have cost as much as $620 million so far this year - and prepares to resume nuclear testing amid an economic crisis.

Old, unlaundered North Korean crypto holdings monitored by the New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which include funds stolen in 49 hacks from 2017 to 2021, have decreased in value from $170 million to $65 million since the beginning of the year, the company told Reuters.

One of North Korea's cryptocurrency caches from a 2021 heist, which had been worth tens of millions of dollars, has lost 80% to 85% of its value in the last few weeks and is now worth less than $10 million, said Nick Carlsen, an analyst with TRM Labs, another U.S.-based blockchain analysis firm.

A person at the North Korean embassy in London told Reuters he could not comment on the crash because allegations of cryptocurrency hacking are 'totally fake news.'

'We didn't do anything,' said the person, who would only identify himself as an embassy diplomat. North Korea's foreign ministry has called such allegations U.S. propaganda.

Despite some of North Korea's crypto reserves losing 80 per cent of their value, the country has still spent an estimated $620 million on missile tests this year

Pyongyang has other, larger sources of funding that it can rely on, it has been reported that as recently as December 2021 North Korea continues to smuggle coal - usually to China - and other major exports banned under Security Council resolutions

Analysts are reluctant to provide details about what types of cryptocurrency North Korea holds, which might give away investigation methods

The $615 million March attack on blockchain project Ronin, which powers the popular online game Axie Infinity, was the work of a North Korean hacking operation dubbed the Lazarus Group, U.S. authorities say.

If the same attack happened today, the Ether currency stolen would be worth a bit more than $230 million, but North Korea swapped nearly all of that for Bitcoin, which has had separate price movements, Nick Carlsen said.

'Needless to say, the North Koreans have lost a lot of value, on paper,' he added. 'But even at depressed prices, this is still a huge haul.'

Chainalysis said that Ether, a common cryptocurrency linked to the open-source blockchain platform Ethereum, was 58 per cent, or about $230 million, of the $400 million stolen in 2021.

Chainalysis and TRM Labs use publicly available blockchain data to trace transactions and identify potential crimes.

North Korea already only gets a fraction of what it steals because it must use brokers willing to convert or buy cryptocurrencies with no questions asked, said Aaron Arnold of the RUSI think-tank in London.

A February report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) estimated that in some transactions, North Korea only gets one-third of the value of the currency it has stolen.

After obtaining cryptocurrency in a heist, North Korea sometimes converts it to Bitcoin, then finds brokers who will buy it at a discount in exchange for cash, which is often held outside the country.

'Much like selling a stolen Van Gogh, you're not going to get fair market value,' Arnold said.

'Converting to cash remains a key requirement for North Korea if they want to use the stolen funds,' said Carlsen, who investigated North Korea as an analyst at the FBI. 'Most of the commodities or products the North Koreans want to buy are only traded in USD or other fiat, not cryptocurrencies.'

North Korean hackers sometimes appear to wait out rapid dips in the value or exchange rates before converting to cash, said Jason Bartlett, the author of the CNAS report.

'This sometimes backfires as there is little certainty in predicting when the value of a coin will rapidly increase and there are several cases of highly depreciated crypto funds just sitting in North Korea-linked wallets,' he said.

Sectrio, the cybersecurity division of Indian software firm Subex, said there are signs North Korea has begun ramping up attacks on conventional banks again rather than cryptocurrencies in recent months.

The firm's banking sector-focused 'honeypots' decoy computer systems intended to attract cyberattacks have seen an increase in 'anomalous activities' since the crypto crash, as well as an increase in 'phishing' emails, which try to fool recipients into giving away security information, Sectrio said in a report last week.

But Chainalysis said it had yet to see a major change in North Korea's crypto behaviour, and few analysts expect North Korea to give up on digital currency heists.

'Pyongyang has added cryptocurrency into its sanctions evasion and money laundering calculus and this will likely remain a permanent target,' Bartlett said.
Actor Park Hae-soo plays the role of Berlin in Netflix's new Korean series "Money Heist: Korea  Joint Economic Area." Courtesy of Netflix



By Lee Gyu-lee



Following his global breakout role as a smart, cunning player in Netflix's "Squid Game," actor Park Hae-soo has taken on another memorable role in the platform's new series "Money Heist: Korea  Joint Economic Area."



The Korean remake of Netflix's smash-hit series "Money Heist" revolves around a gang of thieves, led by a criminal mastermind known as "the professor," who take over the mint of a newly unified Korea while holding hostages inside.



Park plays the role of Berlin, the most wanted man in North Korea who escaped one of the rogue state's internment camps. He is the charismatic second-in-command of the gang, and instills fear in others to bring them under his control, which causes conflict among the hostages and the criminals inside the mint.



"The biggest thing I focused on in playing the role of Berlin was trying not to imitate (the original character). I tried to portray the character in a devoted and serious manner," the actor said during an interview with The Korea Times via video chat, Tuesday.









He expressed that the different backstory of the character from the original series gave him space to create a distinct character.



"When I read the script, I could see the parts of the character that I can portray differently, and because he had a different subplot, I wanted to approach it like that," he said. "Also, it starred so many actors that I like so I really wanted to join. The role of Berlin is very attractive so I wanted to take the challenge."





A scene from Netflix's Korean production "Money Heist: Korea  Joint Economic Area" / Courtesy of Netflix
Footage has emerged of the moment a gang of rowdy British youths launched a startling attack on a bar in a tourist town in the Algarve region of Portugal last week.

The Aloha bar, which sits on the main street close to the Praia da Rocha in Portimao, was bombarded with a torrent of plastic chairs and outdoor furniture by a group of young men.

Local news outlets reported that some of the group had got into a confrontation with another clan at the bar, but turned on members of staff and security when they tried to intervene.

The youths began hurling furniture at the glass doors of the bar in the insolent and seemingly unwarranted attack, which took place at around 1am local time on Tuesday, June 20.

This is the shocking moment a gang of young Brits launched an attack on a bar in Portugal

Footage showing a crowd of up to 20 men violently hurling chairs towards Aloha bar in Portimao, a city in the Algarve

Praia da Rocha was a relatively quiet fishing town until the 1980s, when the local government embraced tourism. It is now a go-to destination for foreign tourists looking for a boozy holiday on the Portuguese coast

They continued to target members of staff who stood outside trying to prevent the furniture from smashing the windows, despite the video appearing to show no attempts on the part of the staff to retaliate.

Portugal's civil police force in Portimao (PSP) issued a statement declaring they had identified seven of the youths involved in the attack after tracing them to a local hotel.

MailOnline has contacted the PSP in Portimao for comment.

Portimao Council meanwhile called for beefed up security in the area, confirming to outlet Portugal Resident that it plans to install 32 CCTV cameras throughout the city, particularly in Praia da Rocha and its main street, in an attempt to reduce violent crime there.

The local authority was also told by the Minister of Internal Administration that PSP will station a permanent rapid response unit at Praia da Rocha to prevent similar attacks on property in the future.

According to local reports seven British youngsters were identified by Public Security Police (PSP) following the shocking incident which happened in the early hours of June 20

The youths continued to target members of staff who stood outside trying to prevent the furniture from smashing the windows, despite the video appearing to show no attempts on the part of the staff to retaliate

Praia da Rocha was a quiet fishing area on Portugal's south coast until the 1980s, when local authorities and businesses fully embraced the tourism industry.

The place is now a full blown resort, with a series of glitzy hotels peppered among a centre full of bars and restaurants while several other attractions such as water parks and a marina complex have also been installed.

But the region has witnessed several violent incidents in recent months as a result of alcohol fuelled bar fights and confrontations in the streets.

Just one week prior to last Tuesday's incident, another mass brawl broke out at Praia da Rocha in which two large groups of foreign tourists engaged in fistfights and launched outdoor furniture at each other in similar fashion outside a nightclub.

Several individuals involved required medical assistance, and the PSP said some had criminal backgrounds.
A 'gentleman farmer' accused of murdering and dumping his wife in a septic tank 'very much regretted' having an affair with another woman, he has told a jury.

Retired David Venables, 89, is said by prosecutors to have 'got away with murder' for nearly 40 years by disposing of wife Brenda Venables.

The remains of Mrs Venables, 48, were found in the underground cesspit at the former marital home, Quaking House Farm, in Kempsey, Worcestershire, in 2019.

Worcester Crown Court has previously heard that Venables, then 49, had rekindled a 'long-standing' affair he was having with his mother's former carer, Lorraine Styles, months before his wife disappeared.

He has previously claimed Gloucestershire serial killer Fred West may have been responsible for his wife's death.

He said that six years after marrying his wife in 1960, he became 'friendly' with Ms Styles, who also lived in Kempsey.

Ms Styles had initially worked at the family's farm nursery, but became a carer for Venables' mother and grandmother - and met the pig farmer when he started giving her lifts home.

Asked by his barrister, Timothy Hannam QC, if the relationship with Ms Styles became sexual, Venables replied: 'Yes - which I very much regretted.'

David Venables, 89, is accused of murdering his 48-year-old wife Brenda in 1982 and dumping her body in a septic tank near their farmhouse in Kempsey, Worcestershire

Venables, giving evidence for the first time today, earlier told the jury how he met his 'good-looking' wife-to-be at Droitwich Winter Gardens, during a Worcester and Kidderminster Young Farmers club social in 1957, when he was 25 and she was 23.

He told jurors: 'We probably danced together and we all got common friends, and I think there was usually refreshments as well, so we joined together and got to know one another.

'There'd be drinks. Usually sandwiches and trifle.'

Asked by Mr Hannam what had 'turned his head' towards her, Venables replied: 'She was always very pleasant.

'And whenever you went out she was always good company, and we just got on well together.'

He added she was 'very good-looking (and) just generally appealing'.

A handout photo of Brenda Venables, 48, whose remains were found in 2019 in a septic tank outside the home she shared with David Venables - 37 years after she disappeared

Pictured, the septic tank where Mrs Venable's remains were found in July 2019

The couple saw each other 'once every 10 days' while courting, mainly on evenings and at weekends, when he said they would go 'to shows, go for a drive and a day out somewhere'.

Venables juggled time seeing Brenda with working on the family-owned Baynhall farm.

With his father - until his death in 1977 - and younger brother Peter, the family reared 3,000 pigs a year for bacon, had an acre of glasshouses, growing plants and vegetables, and a further 436 acres of arable and grass land.

Brenda's home was in the village of Rushock, between Bromsgrove and Droitwich, he added, so he would also stop in 'for breakfast' on the way home from 4am trips taking produce from the farm to Birmingham market.

The couple were married on June 1 1960 at Brenda's local parish church in Rushock, before honeymooning in Jersey for a week.

Venables' father had given land at Quaking House Farm - which he had set aside to build his own retirement property - to the oldest of his two sons, Venables, to build a marital home.

The property, in Bestmans Lane, was finished shortly after the wedding and boasted a 'magnificent view' of the surrounding countryside, and the couple moved in in around February 1961.

The remains of Brenda Venables were discovered in a septic tank (circled) at the couple's former home in Kempsey, Worcestershire in July 2019

Venables, who supervised the build, told the jury he had the septic tank built in the grounds of the house.

The trial, which is now in its third week, heard that before her death, Mrs Venables had become depressed by her husband's 'multiple affairs' and the fact she had been unable to conceive.

She had visited both her GP and a consultant psychiatrist to help her deal with her mental health.

She reportedly told her psychiatrist Dr Richards, that she and her husband had not had sex since 1969 and were sleeping separately.

The court heard doctors tried to make appointments to see the couple together, but Venables repeatedly said he was 'too busy'.

Despite this, when he was interviewed by the police, he claimed their marriage had been ordinary and that they were still sleeping together.

Dr Richards reportedly tried to have Brenda hospitalised some time before her death, saying she was depressed and needed treatment, but according to notes read out in court, the move was blocked by her husband.

Dr Richards called him a 'typical farmer - displaying little to no affection to his wife, but showering praise on the family dog'.

Mr Venables now lives in a bungalow about a mile away from the farmhouse where the remains were found

Jurors heard Venables was having a 'long-standing affair' with his mother's former carer Lorraine Styles behind his wife's back.

When interviewed by police, Venables confirmed he had been in a 14-year relationship with Ms Style, but denied it was an affair.

'I wouldn't call it an affair - it was quite casual,' he said.

An officer replied: 'Having sex with a woman over a 14-year period, I think she would say that's some sort of relationship. That's not casual.'

But today in evidence, Venables said the relationship had been 'overplayed' and told officers he 'never' planned to leave his wife for Lorraine.

Ms Styles, who has since died, said in a witness statement - previously read to the jury - that she and Venables had an affair lasting 14 years, from the late 1960s until 1982.

She claimed Venables had promised to leave his wife and live with her at her home in Worcester, and that he had spoken of divorcing Mrs Venables.

Mr Hannam asked: 'Was Lorraine Styles someone for whom you would have left your wife?'

Venables said: 'No, definitely not.

'Well, she was such a volatile temperament and I found that out many years ago, before then (his wife's disappearance).'

Earlier describing Ms Styles to court, he said: 'She was friendly enough but she had an erratic nature.

'Sometimes she was quite normal and then she'd be bad tempered and moody.'

Venables, 89, arriving at Worcester Crown Court on June 8, 2022

Police arrested Venables at his home in Kempsey in July 2019, shortly after his wife's remains were discovered in the septic tank near their former home

He denied they had had what prosecutors described as a "long-standing" relationship, adding there were "very big gaps" when he would not see or speak with her.

He said they had contact around late 1982 - after Mrs Venables had disappeared - when Ms Styles turned up at the martial home.

Venables said: "She came to my house one day quite unannounced and said, 'Now you're on your own I can come live with you'.

"I said, 'Well that's never going to happen'.

"In fact she used a lot of verbal abuse to me, and got in her car, and drove away at great speed down the drive."

Venables said he did not see Ms Styles "for a long time" after his wife disappeared in early May 1982.

But he claimed that when they did have contact they "just talked about what had happened and that was all", denying they rekindled their sexual relationship, as Ms Styles had claimed.

Mr Hannam asked: "Did Lorraine have any plans for your relationship?"

Venables replied: "Obviously she would have been only too pleased if I'd gone with her but I'd had no intentions of ever doing that."

He also claimed he and his wife's relationship remained a sexual one and that they continued to share a bed, right up until she vanished.

Venables, of Kempsey, Worcestershire, denies murder. The trial continues.
Calls for the House January 6th committee to subpoena Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, have been ramping up after her lawyer told the panel she would not testify at the hearings.

The committee has asked Thomas to voluntary testify about her role in the illegal plot to overturn the 2020 election after it emerged the conservative activist pushed election fraud conspiracy theories in dozens of text messages with ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the run-up and day of the insurrection at the Capitol.

But her lawyer, Mark Paoletta, responded to the committee by insisting there was not a 'sufficient basis' for Thomas to testify, according to a letter obtained by the New York Times.

Thomas repeatedly texted with Meadows and urged him to press on with Trump's election overturn effort. This included a Nov. 10th text where she called Joe Biden's election win 'the greatest Heist of our History.'

Along with emailing Arizona officials, Thomas, who attended a rally Trump held just before the Capitol riot, also had written emails to John Eastman, the lawyer who played a key role on behalf of Trump in efforts to pressure Mike Pence to overturn the election.

Calls for the House January 6th committee to subpoena Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (pictured together in October 2021), have been ramping up after her lawyer told the panel she would not testify at the hearings

The committee has asked Thomas to voluntary testify about her role in the illegal plot to overturn the 2020 election after it emerged the conservative activist pushed election fraud conspiracy theories in dozens of text messages with ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (pictured) in the run-up and day of the insurrection at the Capitol

Demonstrators steal a Metropolitan Police riot shield outside the U.S. Capitol building on Jan.6 2021 during the riot

Thomas has previously said she 'can't wait to clear up misconceptions,' suggesting she would comply with the panel's request to testify.

But Paoletta wrote in the letter, obtained by the New York Times, that Thomas will not testify because the communications between his client and Eastman do not show 'any coordination' between them. But he added Thomas is still interested in 'clearing her name'.

'It is in this context that Mrs. Thomas has expressed a willingness to try to come before the committee as a means of clearing her name,' Paoletta wrote.

'But, based on my understanding of the facts the committee has in its possession, I do not believe there is currently a sufficient basis to speak with Mrs. Thomas.'

Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas echoed QAnon conspiracy theories and tore into GOP lawmakers who did not support Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in at least 29 text messages to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, a new report reveals

News of the letter from Paeletta renewed calls for the committee to subpoena Thomas.

'Ginni Thomas isn't just a key player in the January 6 timeline, she's one of *the* most significant players,' tweeted author Seth Abramson.

'She's desperate to stall Congress for seven monthsafter which she anticipates the House January 6 Committee will be disbanded by Rep. McCarthy. Subpoena her *today*.'

'Only by issuing a subpoena to Ginni Thomas *now* does Congress have a chance of being able to work through her inevitable legal challenges and refer her to DOJ for a Criminal Contempt indictment *before* a possible handover of Congress to the insurrectionists in early 2023,' he added.

Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott tweeted: 'There is absolutely no reason why the House should not immediately subpoena Ginni Thomas and compel her testimony. No one is above the law.'

In a series of 29 messages to Meadows following Trump's loss, Thomas repeatedly asked Meadows to work to overturn the election results.

SEEKING INTERVIEW: The House Jan. 6th Committee wants to talk with conservative activist Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

The texts, which may not represent the entire universe of her communications with Meadows, show Ginni Thomas to be embracing hard-line tactics and conspiracy theories, and boosting the 'Kraken' lawsuits claiming election fraud that were tossed out of court.

'Mark (dont want to wake you) ... Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down,' she wrote in one Nov. 19th, 2020 message, in reference to lawyer Sidney Powell.

The texts suggest Thomas even had a hand in crafting Powell's message -- and that she pushed that message to more members of the Trump White House than just Meadows.

'Just forwarded to yr gmail an email I sent Jared this am. Sidney Powell & improved coordination now will help the cavalry come and Fraud exposed and America saved,' Thomas reportedly wrote to Meadows on November 13.

That could be a reference to Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Powell had been one of the first lawyers on the forefront of promoting Trump's election fraud theories. However her wild claims and insistence on repeating them made her a polarizing figure that even led ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to distance himself.

Justice Thomas with his wife Virginia Thomas

Thomas has long played a role in conservative politics, having had a hand in scouting people for potential roles in George W. Bush's administration when she worked at the Heritage Foundation.

At the time her husband, Clarence Thomas, was presiding over the landmark Bush v. Gore case that would see the contested 2000 election won by the Republican.

But the messages indicate that the Supreme Court justice spouse's beliefs went further than the traditional realms of right-wing politics and that she's even promoted the work of a Sandy Hook shooting denier to the upper echelons of the White House.

Two days after the November election, Thomas reportedly sent Meadows a YouTube video titled 'TRUMP STING w CIA Director Steve Pieczenik, The Biggest Election Story in History, QFS-BLOCKCHAIN.'

'I hope this is true; never heard anything like this before, or even a hint of it. Possible???' she wrote along with the video.

Pieczenik is a former State Department official who said the 2012 slaughter of 26 people including 20 young children in Connecticut was a 'false flag.'

Thomas then appeared to push a QAnon theory that Trump had somehow added watermarks to mail-in ballots to track fraud.

'Watermarked ballots in over 12 states have been part of a huge Trump & military white hat sting operation in 12 key battleground states,' Thomas wrote to Meadows.

She also said: 'Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition.'

On November 6, Thomas added: 'Do not concede. It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back.'

She asked Meadows to 'Help This Great President stand firm' on November 10 and mentioned 'the greatest Heist of our History.'

It was three days after Joe Biden was declared president.

The next message reportedly urged Meadows to listen to the opinions of conservative talk radio hosts Dan Bongino, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Steyn.

Meadows replied: 'I will stand firm. We will fight until there is no fight left. Our country is too precious to give up on. Thanks for all you do.'

The pair are reportedly longtime friends. Before joining the Trump White House, Meadows was a Republican House representative from North Carolina and a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Thomas, apparently touched, told Meadows: 'Tearing up and praying for you guys!!!!! So proud to know you!!'

She also took aim at Republican lawmakers who refused to support Trump, as evidenced by a message seemingly referencing GOP Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Paul A. Gosar of Arizona and Chip Roy of Texas.

'House and Senate guys are pathetic too... only 4 GOP House members seen out in street rallies with grassroots... Gohmert, Jordan, Gosar, and Roy,' Thomas allegedly wrote.

'Where the heck are all those who benefited by Presidents coattails?!!!' she added that same day.

In a November 24 message, Meadows apparently uses a Biblical reference of a battle between 'good versus evil' to describe Trump's battle to overturn Biden's electoral victory.
A multinational task force set up to seize Russian wealth announced Wednesday it had confiscated or blocked $30 billion in its first 100 days, on top of yachts, homes and other property seized since Russia invade Ukraine.

Details of the haul emerged as NATO leaders gathered in Madid, Spain, to consider further military moves against Vladimir Putin and as President Joe Biden announced he was sending war planes and naval vessels to Europe.

It comes at a crucial time in the conflict. Russian forces have begun to gain the upper hand in a long-range war of attrition in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

'We continue to increase Russia's cost of its war,' Treasury said of the REPO task force, short for Russian elites, proxies and oligarchs.

'We remain committed to fully implementing and enforcing our economic and financial sanctions and remain vigilant against sanctions evasion and circumvention.'

The U.S., European Union and United Kingdom have made economic sanctions a key part of their efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin from allies, and choke off funding to his war machine

Among the yachts seized is the $325 million, 348ft Amadea, owned by Suleiman Kerimov, who made his fortune from Russian gold

The PHI superyacht was detained by a unit of Britain's National Crime Agency. It is reportedly owned by Vitaly Vasilievich Kochetkov, founder of Motiv Telecom

Among the yachts seized is the $325 million Amadea, owned by Suleiman Kerimov, who made his fortune from Russian gold.

His 348ft yacht arrived in San Diego bay on Monday after the FBI won a legal battle to seize it in Fiji.

'After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles, the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale,' the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Spanish police and FBI agents seized the 255-foot, $90 million Tango yacht - owned by Ukrainian born Viktor Vekselberg - in Mallorca.

And the PHI superyacht was detained by a unit of Britain's National Crime Agency. It is reportedly owned by Vitaly Vasilievich Kochetkov, founder of Motiv Telecom.

Those are just some of the luxury goods seized under a program designed to drain Russia of its resources as President Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine, even though civil rights advocates have raised concerns about potential overreach.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland convened the REPO task force in March in conjunction with a number of other countries, which work together to investigate and prosecute Putin and his allies.

The European Commission has set up its own Freeze and Seize Task Force to work in conjunction with the REPO group.

The collective has worked to impound bank accounts, assets and properties. For instance, earlier this month, the U.S. announced sanctions on God Nisanov, one of the richest men in Europe, and Alexey Mordashov, one of Russia's wealthiest billionaires, along with his wife and two adult children.

The FBI has linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov (left, with Putin in 2019). The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the Cayman Island-flagged vessel last year through various shell companies

'REPO members will continue to track Russian sanctioned assets and prevent sanctioned Russians from undermining the measures that REPO members have jointly imposed,' Treasury said.

With sanctions increasing, there are growing concerns that seizures are being carried out on non-Americans outside of the judicial review process, with big consequences for sanctioned individuals who may not be able to challenge the seizures.

Attorney Tom Firestone, who specializes in international investigations for business clients, said seizures 'can have consequences for innocent people who have nothing to do with the war  we need to be careful not to penalize innocent people.'

'We've seen a tremendous expansion of the sanctions,' Firestone said. 'The U.S. government is going after a variety of targets. There is a lot of uncertainty about where it is all going.'

The American Civil Liberties Union has contested bills  including the House-passed Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act  that would make seizure of Russian assets easier for the government.

The government said that in a wartime environment that has spawned a worldwide food crisis 'we are seeking to maximize the impact of sanctions on designated persons and entities while guarding against spillover that affects global commodities markets and food supplies.'
Former Comanchero bikie boss 'Mr Ice Guy' has been hit with a 24-year jail sentence for orchestrating a 56kg meth operation into Western Australia from the east cost in a shipping container.

Perth father-of-two, Nikola Maksimovic, 35, went on the run in 2019 after he was outed as the head of one of the city's major drug syndicates.

Following a lengthy investigation, the notorious underworld figure was told in court on Wednesday that he would not be eligible for release for at least 22 years.

Former Comanchero bikie boss Nikola Maksimovic (pictured), known as 'Mr Ice Guy,' has been hit with a 24-year jail sentence for orchestrating a 56kg meth operation into Western Australia from the eastern states in a shipping container in 2019

Jason Gray, 48 and Quinn Newton, 44, the two men who Maksimovic sought out to smuggle the drugs into Perth, were both issued a 20-year jail sentence.

The meth had an alleged purity of around 80 per cent and estimated street value of between $4.5million and $6.5million, The West reported.

The drugs were packaged in one-kilogram bricks that were wrapped in rubbish bags, put in plastic tubs, and then concealed at the back of a shipping container behind carpet underlay, insulation and bubble wrap.

The meth (pictured) had an alleged purity of around 80 per cent and estimated street value of between $4.5m and $6.5m

However, days before the operation was scheduled to go down, the police, who had been following the movement of the three men, secretly swapped the drugs for a harmless substance.

Mr Gray was recorded on police surveillance the following day, returning to the container with a hired van unloading the three tubs into the back.

Covert officers from Operation Trident Coyote followed the van to Bunnings in Belmont, where Gray left the keys on a rear tyre and went inside shortly before another van pulled up alongside.

The court was told another syndicate member, Jamie Parker, grabbed the keys, swapped the tubs into his van, and left behind more than $142,000 in cash.

Meth (pictured) that was recovered by police during their investigation that stopped the importation into Western Australia

The Supreme Court was told that in encrypted phone messages between the various drug syndicate members, Maksimovic was referred to as 'E.B.P'.

This was short for 'Ethnic Brad Pitt'.

It was discovered that 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' called the shots over encrypted phone communication.

This communication was also used to flag with syndicate members that police had descended on the home of the rollover witness, where the meth was delivered.

Maksimovic fled the country to Thailand, leaving other members hiding in hotel rooms.

He did not return back to Australia until eight months later, even though he had a wife and children at home.

Mr Maksimovic (pictured) fled the country to Thailand, leaving other members hiding in hotel rooms, and not returning to Australia until eight months later

He thought he had stayed away long enough for the heat from police to be off him.

However, Maksimovic contacted his wife while he was away using the handle 'gingerbreadman' on encrypted messages.

'Run, run as fast as you can, you'll never catch me, I'm the gingerbreadman,' Maksimovic wrote.

Maksimovic will be eligable for release in least 2043.
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Nearly 300 migrants including children wrapped in waterproof jackets and bobble hats arrived on the Kent coast this morning - just hours after a new law came into force threatening traffickers with life in jail.

The first arrivals, of around 40 people, landed on the beach at Dungeness, Kent at sunrise - with at least four children among them. They were led across the pebbles to safety by UK officials who supplied them with bottles of water.

In Dover, witnesses estimated hundreds of people could have arrived in three rescue boats between 7am and around 10.30am.

Border Force cutter patrol ship, HMC Vigilant, landed at around 7am, then another vessel called Typhoon landed around two hours later with Ranger arriving at 10.30am.

Vigilant unloaded between six and nine small RHIBs - rigid inflatable dinghies - that the desperate migrants used to try and travel to the UK, it was claimed.

It had between 80 and 100 passengers, as did Typhoon - whereas Ranger had around 30 to 40 asylum seekers onboard, witnesses said.

It comes after the Nationality and Borders Act came into force yesterday, introducing life sentences for those who smuggle migrants into the UK - up from 14 years imprisonment.

And pressure continues to grow on Home Secretary Priti Patel after migrants landing on Britain's shores have said in recent weeks they will refuse to board deportation flights to Rwanda, amid fears the policy will not deter people from crossing the Channel.

The first arrivals landed on the beach at Dungeness, Kent at sunrise - with at least four children among them

A group of migrants are brought ashore by Dungeness Lifeboat at sunrise this morning, having been picked up at around 3.50am

It comes after the Nationality and Borders Act came into force yesterday, introducing the tougher sentencing for those who smuggle migrants into the UK - up from 14 years imprisonment

A large number of migrants also arrived in Dover today, after being picked up in the English Channel

A young girl was among the group brought into shore by crews at Dungeness, Kent, early this morning. Another family, with a primary school-aged boy and toddler dressed in an all-in-one rain suit, were led along the walkway a short while later

While today's official figures have yet to be confirmed, the number of people making the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits today comes as a significant increase from Tuesday which saw just 25 migrants cross the Channel in one boat. Pictured, a young boy covered in a blanket after being brought ashore by a RNLI Dungeness lifeboat

Pressure continues to grow on Home Secretary Priti Patel after migrants landing on Britain's shores have said in recent weeks they will refuse to board deportation flights to Rwanda , amid fears the policy will not deter people from crossing the Channel. Pictured, a man, wearing a life jacket, and a young boy walk across the beach to safety this morning

Those with children were helped off the boat first. One man could be seen carrying a tiny baby dressed in a pink bobble hat in his arms as he disembarked the vessel. A woman is pictured with her arm around a young boy, both covered in a blanket, as they walk on the beach at Dungeness, Kent

Pictured, a man holding a young boy at around 3.50am this morning after being picked up in the English Channel in 'quite rough conditions. It comes after the Nationality and Borders Act came into force yesterday, introducing the tougher sentencing for those who smuggle migrants into the UK - up from 14 years imprisonment

As the boat approached the harbour in Dover this morning, around 50 soldiers could be seen on hand to assist with Border Force operations. It is thought the Army personnel are present as part of training.

Those with children were helped off the boat first. One man could be seen carrying a tiny baby dressed in a pink bobble hat in his arms as he disembarked the vessel.

He was followed by two women - one carrying a sleeping toddler and another carrying a small boy in a red beanie.

Soldiers handed them blankets to wrap around the children once they reached the gangway.

Another family, with a primary school-aged boy and toddler dressed in an all-in-one rain suit, were led along the walkway a short while later.

While today's official figures have yet to be confirmed, the number of people making the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits today comes as a significant increase from Tuesday which saw just 25 migrants cross the Channel in one boat, according to data released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

It takes the total number of people rescued trying to reach the UK in dinghies and other small craft to 2,773 so far in June and 12,337 so far this year - more than double the same time last year.

Families carried small children as they were brought to shore by lifeboat crews in Dungeness, Kent, this morning

As the boat approached the harbour in Dover this morning, around 50 soldiers could be seen on hand to assist with Border Force operations

A group of migrants are brought ashore in Dungeness, just as the sun begins to rise above the Kent coast this morning

The first arrivals landed on the beach at Dungeness, Kent at sunrise - with at least four children among them

While today's official figures have yet to be confirmed, the number of people making the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits today comes as a significant increase from Tuesday

It takes the total number of people rescued trying to reach the UK in dinghies and other small craft to 2,773 so far in June and 12,337 so far this year - more than double the same time last year

According to official government figures, 28,526 people made the crossing in 2021 - compared to 8,410 who arrived in 2020

According to official government figures, 28,526 people made the crossing in 2021 - compared to 8,410 who arrived in 2020.

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke has said: 'These shocking figures underline yet again why urgent action is needed.

'It's disappointing that the efforts being made by the Government to save lives and stop the people traffickers are being undermined by people who should know better.

'They should think again and support the action being taken to bring these treacherous journeys to an end.

'Let's not forget that these criminal smuggling gangs have a callous disregard for everyone.

'Too many lives have been lost in doomed attempts to cross the English Channel. It needs to end.'
Forecourt fuel thefts have reached record levels as the cost of petrol hit new highs despite wholesale prices falling for more than two weeks.

As the cost of living crisis continues to hit people's wallets, the number of drive-off incidents - where motorists fill up and leave without attempting to pay - has increased by 61 per cent.

The head of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), Gordon Balmer, says thefts are 'going through the roof', with '10 incidents a day' being reported.

He said if it continues petrol station forecourts in the UK will lose 25 million in the next year.

Mr Balmer says incidents of driver claiming to be unable to pay for fuel they have already put in their vehicle, using excuses such as forgetting their wallet, have also risen and will cost the sector 16 million a year.

It comes as motoring organisations RAC and AA demanded answers as to why petrol prices at retailers are continuing to go up despite the wholesale price falling for the last 16 days.

The organisations said drivers have a 'right to know' why, while the RAC said there is 'absolutely no rhyme or reason' to explain why falling prices have not been passed onto customers.

Fuel prices have risen to new record highs, with this BP petrol station at Reading Services charging 205.9p for a litre of fuel

The RAC said wholesale petrol prices reached a peak average of 181.41p for the week commencing June 6, and since then, these prices have fallen to 176.03p for the week commencing June 20.

While these prices have fallen, figures from data firm Experian show the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached a new high of 191.2p on Tuesday.

The average price of diesel was 199.0p per litre, a fraction of a penny below the record of 199.1p per litre set on Saturday.

As prices rise the boss of one filling station company says there has been 'a huge increase of staff abuse' at forecourts.

Darren Briggs, chief executive of Ascona Group, which owns 59 petrol stations in the UK, said: 'We're getting reports virtually every week of customers being quite abusive because of what they're seeing at the pole sign.'

'It is tough out there to explain to customers how the market operates.'

The disparity in prices at wholesale level and forecourt level has prompted demands for answers from the RAC RAC and AA, who have hit out at the 'inexplicable' disparity between the two.

The latest wholesale and retail petrol prices according to RAC's Fuel Watch. Despite falling wholesale prices in recent weeks, the cost at the pump has continued to rise

RAC fuel price spokesman Simon Williams said: 'Inexplicably, fuel prices rose yet again yesterday.

'We can see absolutely no rhyme or reason why average forecourt prices are still going up, given that the wholesale price of both fuels has been falling for weeks.

'Drivers up and down the country have a right to know why they're having to pay what they are for fuel when the costs to retailers right now are so much less than they were a few weeks ago.'

Mr Briggs acknowledged that 'fuel prices have gone through the roof' but stressed there is 'huge volatility in the market' which means pump prices are largely dependent on the timing of when retailers buy new supplies.

Ascona Group needs a profit margin of 'at least 9p per litre' to cover costs such as wages and utility bills but in the past two months it has been 'lucky to make 7p per litre', he said.

Mr Balmer said: 'We're making very, very thin returns as we struggle with the high fuel prices.'

He insisted all retailers have passed on the 5p-per-litre cut in fuel duty implemented by the Treasury in March.

He added: 'You're looking at nearly 41 million in terms of cost to industry of fuel either being stolen through drive-offs or people haven't got the means to pay.

'It's a really difficult issue at the moment, and on the increase.'

Asked whether retailers are receiving enough support from the police, he said: 'With the pressure on the police over the last few years, many police forces have said "It's not a criminal offence, it's a civil offence, so you need you need to deal with it, and if the actual value of the crime is below 100 then we won't send anyone out to police it".

'This has been raised by myself personally with the Home Office.'

Earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority launched a 'short and focused review' of how much drivers are being charged for fuel after a request by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.

The RAC says motorists have a 'right to know' why prices are continuing to rise in the current environment (stock image)

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told MPs on Tuesday he will carefully consider calls for a 'more substantial' fuel duty cut.

Amid concerns the previous reduction 'didn't really touch the sides' for hard-pressed drivers, he said he would take the recommendations 'under advisement' when challenged in the House of Commons.

Mr Williams said a cut in pump prices 'really can't come soon enough'.

He went on: 'If it's a further fuel duty cut that the Chancellor decides on, it's absolutely vital that this is passed on in full immediately by retailers to give drivers some respite from these historic high prices.

'It's also vital the Government monitors the wholesale market and closely scrutinises retailer margins.'

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said drivers are 'being taken for fools by retailers'.

He continued: 'With the Prime Minister and the Chancellor talking openly about the prospect of cutting fuel duty further, drivers need to hear less talk and see more action.

'An additional 10p cut in duty, which the AA called for weeks ago, will not only help ease the pressure at the pumps but keep prices in supermarket aisles down too.

'Until this happens, household budgets across the country will continue being squeezed.'

Meanwhile, a Tesco forecourt that had been selling petrol for 168.9p a litre - 20p cheaper than local rivals - has today put its prices back up.

Motorists had rushed to a Tesco petrol station in Ely, Cambridgeshire, yesterday after word spread it had slashed prices.

There were queues of drivers at a Tesco petrol station at Ely in Cambridgeshire yesterday after its price of petrol dropped to 168.9p - significantly below the national average. But only 24 hours later it put prices back up

But this afternoon the price had been put up to 178.9p leaving many drivers disappointed.

Philip Hardy, from Cambridge, said: 'I rushed to the petrol station when I heard how cheap the fuel was but was really annoyed when I saw the price had gone up.

'It was really good to see that petrol prices were starting to go down but it looks like it may have been a mistake.'

It comes as many fuel retailers are facing accusations of profiteering as petrol prices hit new highs despite easing wholesale costs.

Fuel prices have been driven up by the war in Ukraine and moves to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian oil. The cost of filling a family car is now more than 100.
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The semi-truck driver who transported up to 100 migrants across the southern border before leaving them to die in the sweltering Texas heat allegedly tried to disguise himself as a victim of the tragedy.

Surveillance cameras captured Homero Zamorano, 45, driving the rig across the border hours before he allegedly abandoned it on a road in the outskirts of San Antonio.

Police say Zamorano, of Houston, was 'very high on meth' at the time of his arrest and tried to pose as 'an irregular immigrant to avoid being detained.'

Mexican nationals Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez were also taken into custody at a home in San Antonio. They were charged in federal court Tuesday with possessing firearms while residing in the US illegally.

The death toll in the tragedy, which is the deadliest human smuggling attempt in American history, rose to 53 Wednesday. Officials have identified 34 of the deceased, including four Hondurans and two Guatemalan sisters.

Police say the smugglers treated the migrants 'worse than animals' throughout the voyage, leaving them no water or visible means of air-conditioning. Several survivors are in critical condition after suffering brain damage and internal bleeding.

Investigators suspect the migrants paid the smugglers around $10,000 for safe passage to the US.

Surveillance cameras captured Homero Zamorano, 45, driving the rig across the border hours before he allegedly abandoned it on a road in the outskirts of San Antonio

Police say Zamorano, of Houston, was 'very high on meth' at the time of his arrest and had attempted to disguise himself as a victim of the tragedy to 'avoid being detained'

Zamorano was photographed driving the trailer through the immigration checkpoints in Encinal, Texas, about 34 miles from the Mexico border, around 2.50pm Monday.

The truck was found abandoned near San Antonio, about 160 miles from the border, around 6pm. Investigators suspect the truck had suffered some sort of mechanical problem.

The driver and suspected human smuggler pretended to be an illegal migrant when authorities confronted him, Francisco Garduno Yanez, the director of the National Institute of Migration, revealed during a news briefing Wednesday.

'The driver tried to pass himself off as one of the survivors,' Yanez said, noting the National Institute of Migration had no data on Zamorano.

'ICE reported that three people are already detained as allegedly responsible for human trafficking and homicide,' the president added.

Zamorano was arrested Monday in a desolate area near Lackland Air Force Base after having tried to pass himself off as a survivor.

'He was very high on meth when he was arrested nearby and had to be taken to the hospital,' a law enforcement official confirmed to The San Antonio Express News.

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to charged soon.

D'Luna-Bilbao and D'Luna-Mendez were arrested at a residence in the 100 block of Arnold Drive after officers traced the semi's registration to the property.

The residence was placed under surveillance and both men were arrested as they attempted to leave the property.

The driver who abandoned a semi-truck in the sweltering Texas heat, leaving at least 53 migrants dead, was 'very high on meth' when police arrested him

The incident left 53 migrants, including five children, dead. Officials have identified 34 victims

Yanez also confirmed that Zamorano had been driving a semi with a stolen registration, saying: 'The plates, logos and license were cloned.'

Officials had first linked Zamorano's rig to an Alamo resident. However, investigation proved the Alamo man's truck had been out hauling grain in another part of Texas at the time of the incident.

Isaac Limon, whose father-in-law owned the truck whose data was cloned, told The Washington Post: 'It was a perfect setup.'

'His DOT Number was illegally copied onto the truck...' he added. 'He is not the owner of the truck in San Antonio that is involved in this tragic event.'

'Sad to say, but he's a bit of a victim, too, because people believe it was him.'

Law enforcement officials believe Zamorano was transporting around 100 migrants in the rig, but the exact number remains unclear.

Homeland Security Investigations agents confirmed migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the southern boarder, loaded into the tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio.

Once in San Antonio they are transferred to smaller vehicles to be taken to their final destinations across the US.

The Honduran government on Wednesday named brothers Fernando Jose Redondo Caballero (left) and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero (right) among the deceased

Margie Tamara Paz Grajera, of Honduras, was named among the deceased on Wednesday. She had been studying at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. She was dating Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero

Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada, of Honduras, was also named among the deceased

Sisters Carla and Griselda Carac-Tambriz, of Guatemala, were among the 53 migrants left to die in an abandoned semi-truck trailer in the sweltering Texas heat on Monday. The sisters came to America to 'achieve our dreams and also help our family'

Stolen identity documents lead to slow effort to ID victims More than a day after the discovery of a stifling trailer in San Antonio where 53 migrants who died were abandoned in the sweltering heat, few identities of the victims have been made public. Stolen identification documents have further challenged authorities trying to tracing the victims. Mexico's foreign affairs secretary identified identified two people Tuesday who were hospitalized in San Antonio on Tuesday morning. But it turned out that one of the identification cards he shared on Twitter had been stolen last year in the southern state of Chiapas. Haneydi Antonio Guzman, 23, was safe and sound in a mountain community more than 1,300 miles away from San Antonio on Tuesday when she began receiving messages from family and friends. Haneydi Antonio Guzman was misidentified as a hospitalized victim after authorities found a migrant carrying her stolen ID 'That's me on the ID, but I am not the person that was in the trailer and they say is hospitalized,' she she told reporters who showed up at her home in Escuintla. 'My relatives were contacting me worried, asking where I was. I told them I was fine, that I was in my house and I clarified it on Facebook.' Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard deleted the original tweet identifying her without further comment. The other hospitalized victim Ebrard identified Tuesday - 32-year-old Jose Luis Guzman Vasquez - turned out to be accurate. Advertisement

Medical examiners have potentially identified 34 of the victims, said Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, who represents the district where the truck was abandoned.

But she says the identification process has proven to be a 'tedious, tedious, sad, difficult process' as many victims have been found with stolen IDs or no identification documents at all.

The deceased migrants included 39 men and 12 women. County officials told WOAI-TV five of the victims were under the age of 18. Investigators said they were not young children, but possibly teenagers.

The Honduran government on Wednesday released the names of several victims including Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada, 28, and brothers Fernando Jose Redondo Caballero, 19, and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero, 22.

Alejandro Caballero's girlfriend, 20-year-old Margie Tamara Paz Grajera, was also among the deceased.

She studied at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, according to local news outlet La Prensa.

Her social media accounts revealed she was well-loved by family, friends and boyfriend, Caballero.

'I love you my baby,' Grajera wrote in a recent post to Alejandro Caballero.

Sisters Carla and Griselda Carac-Tambriz, of Guatemala, were the first victims to be named in wake of the tragedy.

Immigration consultant Fernando Castro Molina confirmed their identities to Guatemalan-based newspaper El Metropolitano on Tuesday afternoon.

'Let's achieve our dreams and also help our family,' one of the sisters reportedly said before the pair embarked on their journey to the U.S.

Guatemala's foreign ministry told DailyMail.com late Tuesday officials were working to identify three possible Guatemalans among the dead.

The governmental also confirmed the identities of two hospitalized Guatemalans.

Among the dead are 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, he said. One of the victims had no identification, officials revealed.

Mexico's foreign affairs secretary identified a hospitalized victim on Tuesday as Jose Luis Guzman Vasquez, 32, of San Miguel Huautla, Mexico. His current condition remains unknown.

Another cousin had been traveling with Guzman Vasquez and was now considered missing.

Authorities were alerted to the truck through an emergency-911 call from a passerby flagged down for help by a migrant who had escaped from the truck

Shoes and clothes are seen in the area where an abounded truck carrying migrants was found

Body bags lie at the scene where a tractor trailer with multiple dead bodies was discovered, Monday, June 27, 2022, in San Antonio

Authorities believe the migrants were loaded into the semi-truck in Laredo, a border city, on Monday afternoon.

It appeared the migrants had recently crossed the border and were picked up by the truck to be taken to where they would work, according to a Mexican official.

They were driven 150 miles to San Antonio before smugglers abandoned the vehicle after it suffered mechanical problems.

'They had just parked it on the side of the road,' Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the county's top elected official told reporters on Tuesday. 'Apparently had mechanical problems and left it there. The sheriff thinks it came across from Laredo.'

At least 51 people are dead after dozens were found inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio in what officials believe is the deadliest incident of human smuggling in U.S. history. @mattgutmanabc reports. https://t.co/YwqQN5UKY9 pic.twitter.com/CKSZKlxwwD  Good Morning America (@GMA) June 29, 2022

A city worker found the truck parked beside some railroad tracks around 6pm Monday after hearing a faint cry for help emanating from the truck. Temperatures had soared to as high as 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

Police recalled finding the rear door to the trailer open with 'stacks of bodies' inside, while other victims were strewn collapsed nearby.

Some of the victims were hot to the touch and there were no signs of water or visible means of air-conditioning inside the truck. First responders said the migrants were 'treated worse than animals.'

'The heat was torrential. There was no air in that vehicle. There was no water,' San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood explained Wednesday morning on GMA. 'They suffered. They lost consciousness and then they ended up dying.'

Police Chief William McManus said officers had to 'separate some of the deceased trying to find who might still be alive.'

Jose Luis Guzman Vasquez, 32, of San Miguel Huautla, Mexico, has been identified among the hospitalized survivors. His current condition remains unknown

Police Chief William McManus said responding officers had to 'separate some of the deceased' from the survivors as they 'tried to find who might still be alive'

Carlow Eduardo Espina places roses on a make-shift memorial at the site where officials found dozens of people dead in a semi-truck trailer

A vigil is held Tuesday night honoring the victims found in abounded truck in San Antonio

What are the deadliest migrant tragedies in the US? June 27, 2022: At least 53 migrants were found dead Monday in and around a large trailer truck that was abandoned on the roadside on the outskirts of of San Antonio, Texas. The tractor-trailer was found on a road near I-35 amid 103-degree heat. August 4, 2021: Ten people were killed and at 20 others injured after a van transporting migrants crashed near the border in Encino, Texas. The driver had attempted to make a right turn at an intersection before veering off the road and hitting both a utility pole and stop sign. March 2, 2021: Thirteen migrants were killed and several including children injured after Ford SUV 'with 25 immigrants crammed inside' crashed into a gravel truck near the Mexican border in California. Witnesses recalled the sounds of crunching metal and glass, and how bodies flung dozens of feet across the pavement. June 5, 2019: A SUV packed with more than a dozen undocumented migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, crashed after a chase with police in rural South Texas. The vehicle had veered into a ditch in rainy weather. July 23, 2017: Eight immigrants were found dead in a sweltering trailer at a San Antonio Walmart parking lot. Two others died later in hospitals. The driver was sentenced to life in prison. July 22, 2012: A Ford pick-up truck carrying 23 migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico crashed into two trees in a rural South Texas town. Fifteen people were killed in the incident. May 14, 2003: 19 migrants died inside a sweltering tractor-trailer while they traveled from South Texas to Houston. Advertisement

The victims were found sprinkled with a pungent substance, possibly steak seasoning, officials said. The practice is commonly used by smugglers to mask the scent of human cargo and evade canine detection.

Police suspect several migrants may have jumped or started falling out of the back of truck before the traffickers abandoned it along the roadway.

At least three bodies were found scattered down road, with the furthest one located about 75 yards from the truck, law enforcement sources confirmed to The New York Times.

Officials also said it was possible that those found along the road had died inside the truck, but fallen out when its doors opened.

Some of the victims staggered out of the trailer before dying and were found several blocks away, police told The Texas Tribune.

'It's unspeakable,' San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said on MSNBC, noting that his community depends on migrants in the midst of a labor shortage. 'It's a tragedy beyond explanation.'

The surviving migrants will likely be released into the U.S. to pursue asylum or other forms of humanitarian relief, the CBP official and two other law enforcement officials told Reuters. Some survivors of human smuggling in the past have been taken into American custody to testify as witnesses.

President Joe Biden, in a statement Tuesday, called the incident 'horrifying and heartbreaking.'

'Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful,' Biden said, vowing to crack down on multibillion-dollar criminal smuggling enterprises that have helped fuel a record number of migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since he took office in January 2021.

The deaths highlighted the challenge of controlling migrant crossings for Biden, a Democrat who came to office pledging to reverse some of the hard-line immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

Republicans have criticized Biden's border strategy ahead of the midterm congressional elections in November. They also attacked Biden in wake of Monday's tragedy, blaming the deadly incident on his administration's lax approach to border control.

At a press conference outside one hospital on Tuesday, Rebeca Clay-Flores, a local Democratic official in Bexar County, sharply criticized Republican Governor Greg Abbott for a tweet on Monday night blaming Biden's border policies for the incident even as the emergency unfolded.

'While bodies were still being removed, and others being taken to local hospitals, he chose to be heartless and point the finger,' Clay-Flores said.

Big rigs emerged as a popular smuggling method in the early 1990s amid a surge in U.S. border enforcement in San Diego and El Paso, which were then the busiest corridors for illegal crossings. Prior to that, people paid small fees to mom-and-pop operators to get them across a largely unguarded border.

As crossings became exponentially more difficult after the 2001 terror attacks, migrants were led through more dangerous terrain and paid thousands of dollars more to smugglers.

A man pays his respects at the makeshift memorial created at the site where San Antonio officials found 53 migrants dead in a tractor-trailer

Members of the community take part in a vigil for the dozens of people have been found dead Monday in a semi trailer in San Antonio

Residents of San Antonio cry as they attend a Tuesday night vigil for the victims found in an abandoned truck

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck that was parked at a Walmart in San Antonio. In 2003, 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.

Other incidents have occurred long before migrants reached the U.S. border.

Last December, more than 50 died when a semitrailer filled with migrants rolled over on a highway in southern Mexico.

In October, Mexican authorities reported finding 652 migrants packed into six trailers near the U.S. border. They were stopped at a military checkpoint.

Migrant crossings, rescues and deaths along the southern border have hit record levels under the leadership of the Biden Administration.

Authorities have expelled migrants - largely from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador - more than 2 million times under a pandemic-era rule in effect since March 2020 that denies them a chance to seek asylum but encourages repeat attempts because there are no legal consequences for getting caught.

People from other countries, notably Cuba, Nicaragua and Colombia, are subject to Title 42 authority less frequently due to higher costs of sending them home, strained diplomatic relations and other considerations.

Border Patrol performed 14,278 'search-and-rescue missions' in a seven-month period through May, exceeding the 12,833 missions performed during the previous 12-month period and up from 5,071 the year before.

Border Patrol reported 557 deaths on the southwest border in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30 2021, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998. Most are related to heat exposure.

The International Organization for Migration, which documents migrant deaths, alleges that the number of people who died crossing the border in 2021 was actually more than 650. CBP has not published a death tally for 2022.

How Joe Biden has presided over RECORD levels of migration, deaths and rescues at the southern border Migrant crossings, rescues and deaths along the southern border have hit record levels under the leadership of President Joe Biden. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is on pace to record more than 2 million arrests this year as hundreds of thousands of migrants seek to enter the U.S. travel from South and Central America up through Mexico. Migrant crossing levels have been on the rise since Biden took office, with Border Patrol having tallied a record 1.73 million arrests at the border in 2021. Deaths have also skyrocketed, with the number of migrants fatalities reported in 2021, more than doubling those recorded in 2020. Biden argued on that authorities need to take action against the 'multi-billion dollar criminal smuggling industry' that he claims preys on migrants and causes 'far too many innocent deaths.' The president's push to tackle the border crisis came after authorities found at least 53 migrants dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas on June 27. The incident marks the deadliest human smuggling on American soil since 2003, when 19 migrants died after riding inside the rear compartment of sweltering 18-wheeler while they traveled from South Texas to Houston. The number of migrant arrivals along the U.S.-Mexico border have hit record levels under the leadership of President Joe Biden CBP data published earlier this month revealed immigration arrests rose to the highest levels ever recorded in May 2022. Agents made 239,416 arrests along the border last month, a two percent increase from the number reported in April. The agency claims it's preparing for a potential increase in migration levels. Death incidents at the southern border more than doubled last year, compared to the numbers recorded in previous years. The agency recorded 557 migrant deaths along the southwest border in 2021. There were 254 recorded deaths in 2020 and 300 in 2019. The International Organization for Migration, which documents migrant deaths, alleges that the number of people who died attempting to cross the border in 2021 was actually more than 650. CBP has not published a death tally for 2022 but recorded data shows at least 87 migrants have died while trying to come into the U.S. Death incidents at the southern border more than doubled last year, compared to the numbers recorded in previous years Additionally, CBP revealed the number of rescues across the southern border to date for 2022 also outpaces the number recorded in 2021. Since October, Border Patrol has performed 14,278 search-and-rescue missions in a seven-month period through May. These numbers are already exceeding the 12,833 missions performed during the previous 12-month period and up from 5,071 the year before. The latest CBP data showed a large number of migrants are coming from Mexico, Central America, Cuba and Haiti. There is also a growing number of migrants arriving from Turkey, India, Russia and other countries outside of the Western Hemisphere. CBP revealed the number of rescues across the southern border to date for 2022 also outpaces the number recorded in 2021 Border agents attribute the higher-than-usual number of repeat crossings in May due to the fact that migrants expelled under Title 42, a pandemic-era restriction currently tied up in court, face no legal repercussions if they try to cross again. The number of unique individuals attempted to cross in May was 177,793; 25 percent of those stopped by agents had attempted to cross at least once before in the prior 12 months, according to CBP. The average re-encounter rate prior to Title 42 was 15 percent. Most migrants attempting to cross in May were not families but single adults - 69 percent. And unlike previous months, Title 42 is no longer the main authority under which migrants are expelled, only 42 percent of migrants were removed under the CDC's health order. Most of the migrants expelled under Title 42 were single adults - only about one in six who came in families with children under 18 were subject to Title 42. Unaccompanied children are exempt from the rule. Fifty-eight percent were expelled under Title 8. Under Title 8, a U.S. immigration policy used when migrants who try to cross unlawfully cannot establish any 'credible fear' basis for being in the country. DHS has said it will expand use of Title 8 once Title 42 is gone. The Biden administration planned to end Title 42 on May 23 but a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the move three days before. Advertisement

Mother of two among 53 migrants who died after being abandoned in tractor trailer in Texas said their ill-fated trip was motivated by lack of jobs in Honduras

by Adrianno Torres for DailyMail.com

Karen Caballero says her two sons and one of their girlfriends would still be alive today if there were job opportunities in Honduras. Instead, the three young people risked their lives to migrate to the Unites States.

Her sons, Fernando Redondo (19) and Alejandro Andino (22), and Andino's partner Margie Paz (20), were among the 46 migrants who were found dead inside an abandoned tractor trailer near San Antonio, Texas, about 160 miles from the southern border, on Monday.

Adela Ramirez, 28, was the fourth Honduran migrant identified by the government Wednesday. Authorities are still waiting on the identification of 10 other migrants from Honduras who died.

At least 27 Mexicans and seven Guatemalans are among those who have been confirmed dead. Two more came from for El Salvador, and another three whose nationalities are still unknown.

The death toll in the tragedy, which is the deadliest human smuggling attempt in American history, rose to 53 Wednesday and at least 11 migrants remain hospitalized, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Karen Caballero told Honduras television network HCH that her two sons and one of their girlfriends decided to migrate to the United States because of the lack of job opportunities in the Central American nation

The Honduran government on Wednesday named brothers Fernando Redondo (left) and Alejandro Andino (right) among the deceased. Their mother told Honduran television station HCH that her sons and Andino's girlfriend left for the United States on June 4

Margie Paz, of Honduras, was named among the deceased on Wednesday. The 20-year-old had been studying at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. She was dating Alejandro Caballero

The incident left 53 migrants, including five children, dead, and at least 11 remain hospitalized. Officials have so far identified 34 of the victims

Redondo, Andino and Paz left their hometown in the western city of Las Vegas for the United States on June 4 in search of a better life because companies back home overlooked them every time they applied for employment, Caballero said in an interview with Honduran television station HCH.

'We are suffering because when they left the house. We never, never imagined that something like this would happen. Never, never,' the mourning mother said.

According to Caballero, Andino was six courses away from graduating with a marketing degree, and Paz had a degree in economics.

'They were never able to find a job here in Honduras despite the fact that my son was always called by good companies, no one ever wanted to offer him a job because they always told him that they had no experience,' Caballero said.

'It is sad to see that young people who have prepared themselves with the sacrifice of their family never have the opportunity to stand out in a country as it is.'

Surveillance cameras captured Homero Zamorano, 45, driving the truck across the border hours before he allegedly abandoned it on a road on the outskirts of San Antonio

The driver who abandoned the tractor trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, leaving at least 53 migrants dead, was 'very high on meth' when police arrested him

A report released in May by the Honduran Council for Private Enterprise showed that 13.2 percent people between the ages of 15 and 29 were unemployed in the country in 2021. Figures for 2022 were not provided.

'Let the young have opportunities. They deserve it. My son deserved it. My daughter-in-law deserved it. And nobody in any company gave them the opportunity,' Caballero said.

'They were dreaming as a couple because my son's first girlfriend is her.  They had dreams, they had goals and they were not going to be fulfilled here. Unemployment. So many things. The lack of opportunities.'

While Caballero cautioned her two sons about the ever-present dangers of migrating to the United States, she said that the family 'saw it not as a way out, but as an opportunity for them to have a better lifestyle.'

Caballero said she last spoke to her sons Saturday morning while they were in the Texas border town of Roma while waiting to continue their journey, but she declined to reveal their intended final destination.

She also refused to say how much her sons and Paz paid to be smuggled, although investigators believe all of the migrants paid the smugglers around $10,000 each for safe passage across the United States-Mexico border.

Adela Ramirez is one of 14 Hondurans who died in the smuggling incident

Authorities arrested 45-year-old Homero Zamorano, of Houston, and Mexican nationals Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez in connection with the incident.

D'Luna-Bilbao and D'Luna-Menderz were charged in federal court Tuesday with possessing firearms while residing in the U.S. illegally.

Zamorano was captured by a surveillance camera driving the truck across the border hours before he abandoned it on a remote road.

He was captured by surveillance cameras driving the trailer through U.S. Customs and Border Protection immigration checkpoints in Encinal, Texas, about 34 miles from the Mexico border, around 2.50pm Monday.

The truck was found abandoned near San Antonio, about 160 miles from the border, around 6pm. Investigators suspect the truck had suffered some sort of mechanical problem.

The driver and suspected human smuggler pretended to be an illegal migrant when authorities confronted him, Francisco Garduno Yanez , the director of Mexico's National Institute of Migration, said during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily news briefing Wednesday.

'The driver tried to pass himself off as one of the survivors,' Garduno Yanez said, noting the National Institute of Migration had no data on Zamorano.

'ICE reported that three people are already detained as allegedly responsible for human trafficking and homicide,' he said while adding that 'the plates, logos and license were cloned.'

Zamorano was arrested Monday in a desolate area near Lackland Air Force Base after having tried to pass himself off as a survivor.

'He was very high on meth when he was arrested nearby and had to be taken to the hospital,' a law enforcement official confirmed to The San Antonio Express News.

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to be charged soon.

D'Luna-Bilbao and D'Luna-Mendez were apprehended at a residence in the 100 block of Arnold Drive after officers traced the truck's registration to the property.

The residence was placed under surveillance and both men were arrested as they attempted to leave the property.

Officials had first linked Zamorano's rig to an Alamo resident. However, investigation proved the Alamo man's truck had been out hauling grain in another part of Texas at the time of the incident.

Isaac Limon, whose father-in-law owned the truck whose data was cloned, told The Washington Post: 'It was a perfect setup.'

'His DOT Number was illegally copied onto the truck...' he added. 'He is not the owner of the truck in San Antonio that is involved in this tragic event.'

'Sad to say, but he's a bit of a victim, too, because people believe it was him.'

Law enforcement officials believe Zamorano was transporting around 100 migrants in the rig, but the exact number remains unclear.
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This is the first picture of the 29-year-old 'stranger' accused of beating to death aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena as she walked home from a night out with friends is east London.

Jordan McSweeney has appeared Thames Magistrates' Court today, charged with murder, robbery and attempted rape following the brutal killing of the 35-year-old in Ilford in the early hours of Sunday morning. The defendant only spoke once to confirm his name and looked down as the charges were read out this afternoon.

The court heard how Zara suffered traumatic head injuries after she was punched in the back of the head shortly after 2am as she walked along Cranbrook Road.

Prosecutor Varinder Hayre said that McSweeney had also tried to carry out a sex attack on Zara, after she was beaten, and had stolen her mobile phone, her house keys and her handbag.

McSweeney appeared in the dock in Bow this lunchtime. He wore a grey tracksuit to the short five-minute hearing, in which no plea was indicated. He was denied bail and remanded in custody to attend the Old Bailey on July 27. Some of Ms Aleena's family and friends were present in court, and some were in tears as they heard details of the case.

Judge Shanta Deonarine told McSweeney: On June 26 on Cranbrook Road [Ilford] you murdered Zara Aleena. On the same day at the same location you robbed Zara Aleena of her keys, her phone and her handbag'.

The judge told the murder suspect: 'These are all indictable offences so Im sending you to the Central Criminal Court [Old Bailey]. You are remanded in custody until a bail hearing'.

The Metropolitan Police has said Ms Aleena died from severe head injuries after she was attacked in busy Cranbrook Road, with her screams waking up nearby residents who frantically dialled 999. Paramedics rushed to the scene where they performed CPR for two hours before taking Ms Aleena to hospital at around 4.30am. She was declared dead shortly afterwards.

In a statement today, her heartbroken family said the last few days had been 'shocking and unimaginable', describing Zara as 'everybody's friend' and 'pure of heart.' They added that she had wanted to be a lawyer from the age of five and that she 'put her party shoes in her bag' and 'walked everywhere' because 'she believed that a woman should be able to walk home.'

Miss Aleena is the 16th woman in London and the 52nd woman in the UK to be killed by a man in 2022, with her case bearing a chilling similarity to those of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard, who were both slain while walking home in the capital last year.

First picture: Jordan McSweeney has appeared Thames Magistrates' Court today, charged with murder, robbery and attempted rape following the brutal killing of 35-year-old Zara Aleena in Ilford in the early hours of Sunday morning

Miss Aleena was attacked as she walked home from a night out along Cranbrook Road in Ilford, towards Gants Hill station, in the early hours of Sunday morning

The Met shut down the area and put up forensic tents where Ms Aleena was attacked on Cranbrook Road, Ilford (pictured) in the early hours of Sunday

The road where Zara was found with horrific injuries was just a short distance from Gants Hill Station

The Met Police have launched a murder probe into the death of the victim who was found with serious head injuries in Redbridge, Ilford, on Sunday morning. Pictured: The cordon and forensics at the scene

'She was the rock of our family': Read the full heartbreaking statement from Zara Aleena's family following her shocking murder at the weekend Zara Aleena, 35, died from severe head injuries after she was attacked on her way back from a night out in the early hours of Sunday morning The family of Zara Aleena, who was killed while walking home in east London in the early hours of Sunday morning, released a statement today after a man was arrested over her death. They wrote: 'Zara, 35, a beloved human, child, niece, cousin, granddaughter, friend to all, she was a joy to all of us. She was a carer for her mother, and her grandmother. 'Caring for others came so naturally to her. Zara was friendly, she was everybody's friend. She was everybody's daughter, everybody's niece, everybody's sister, everybody's cousin. She was pure of heart. 'She was a joy to all of us, her sparkling eyes and the curly, jet-black hair. Her glorious laughter and her sweet, smiling voice. Her tiny frame embodied a passionate spirit and indomitable energy. 'Zara was brought up by the whole of our family. She was our love in human form. At the age of 5 she said she was going to be a lawyer. Shrieking with joy when she spotted the birds as a child - she would giggle and make us laugh. She was always the bigger person in any situation. 'She was authentic and refused to try and impress anyone but she impressed us. She was the rock of our family. Zara was stoic and held it all together and never complained. She glued our community together. 'Nobody worked harder than Zara' is what we heard from all who knew her. Zara was happy and at a point in her life when her joy was radiating and blossoming. 'She was ready to make a family of her own. Her sense of justice and fairness led her to a life of giving and caring for others  supporting refugees fleeing violence, giving voice to those who had less power. She had that special habit of noticing others in need and always put their needs on her agenda. A carefree spirit, with the most caring heart. 'Zara was happy and at a point in her life that she had worked hard for, she had completed her Legal Practice Course so that she could practise as a solicitor. She only recently started working for the Crown Prosecution Service, to complete her 2-year work placement in order to become a fully qualified solicitor. She was fierce: she didn't just survive, she thrived. 'She walked everywhere. She put her party shoes in a bag and donned her trainers. She walked. Zara believed that a woman should be able to walk home. Now, her dreams of a family are shattered, her future brutally taken. 'Sadly, Zara is not the only one who has had her life taken at the hands of a stranger. We all know women should be safe on our streets. She was in the heart of her community, ten minutes from home. 'We all need to be talking about what happened to OUR ZARA, we all need to be talking about this tragedy. 'These last few days have been shocking and unimaginable. 'In a savage, sickening, act she was murdered by a stranger. She's not the only woman who has lost her life like this. In the moment of this tragedy, we extend our deepest sympathy and love to the families of Bibaa Henry; Nicole Smallman; Sarah Everard; Sabina Nessa; Ashling Murphy and many more women. 'We must PREVENT and STOP violence against women and girls. 'Our loss is irreparable and the void feels insurmountable but the warmth and kindness that our community has shown is testament to the power of Zara's spirit. Her life has been stolen from us. She has been stolen from us all. 'REST IN POWER ZARA NATASHA ALEENA.' Advertisement

Miss Aleena is said to have recently told a friend: 'That won't happen to us', while discussing Ms Everard's case, before tragically suffering a similar fate.

A vigil for Ms Aleena is set take place this Saturday, with mourners planning to walk from the site of her attack to her home nearby. Attendees have been asked to wear white and to keep the mood 'silent and sombre' as they help to 'bring her back to where she belonged safely.'

Zara, who cared for her mother and grandmother, was described as 'the rock in our family' by relatives today.

In a statement they said: 'She was a joy to all of us, her sparkling eyes and the curly, jet-black hair. Her glorious laughter and her sweet, smiling voice. Her tiny frame embodied a passionate spirit and indomitable energy...

'She was authentic and refused to try and impress anyone but she impressed us. She was the rock of our family. Zara was stoic and held it all together and never complained. She glued our community together.

''Nobody worked harder than Zara' is what we heard from all who knew her. Zara was happy and at a point in her life when her joy was radiating and blossoming.'

They added: 'She walked everywhere. She put her party shoes in a bag and donned her trainers. She walked.

'Zara believed that a woman should be able to walk home. Now, her dreams of a family are shattered, her future brutally taken.'

The family said the last few days have been 'shocking' and 'unimaginable' as they declared: 'We must stop and prevent violence against women and girls.'

A shopkeeper, who asked not to be named, said police had collected footage from his CCTV camera for their investigation.

He said: 'It is terrible what happened to that young woman.

'I gave the police the footage because I want to do everything I can do to help solve this awful murder.'

People living along the street say they recorded footage from 2.13am that they have given to police.

A man living in Cranbrook Road who captured the separate footage told MailOnline: 'From the footage you can see a woman walking down the road and then a man follow around 10-feet behind her.

'She speeds up and he does the same and they both head up towards Gants Hill. They'd been walking from Ilford up Cranbrook Road.

'The police have seen the footage and taken it away. My daughter said she heard a woman screaming at about 2am. There were a couple of screams but that was it.

'We live on a fairly busy road and there's often people shouting at all times of day.

'The police who came to collect the footage told us that the man had started following the woman by the entrance to Valentines Park.'

Ms Aleena was killed at 2.20am.

Just four minutes earlier a marked police car drove past as Ms Aleena walked along the pavement.

The Met Police vehicle did not have its emergency lights or siren on, suggesting it was not responding to an emergency call, when it passed Ms Aleena at 2.16am.

It comes as the sister of Sabina Nessa - who died in similar circumstances - yesterday described her grief after the death of Ms Aleena - the 16th woman in London and the 52nd woman in the UK to be killed by a man in 2022.

Jebina Nessa, whose sister was murdered by a stranger as she walked to the pub in Kidbrooke, south-east London last year, joined the calls for more to be done to end male violence against women.

She said: 'My heart goes out to her family. There are no words to describe the loss in such a way.'

Ms Aleena's close friend Lisa Hodgson has revealed that they were meant to be together over the weekend - but they had rearranged to meet next weekend.

Ms Aleena had texted on Friday to say: 'Miss your beautiful face this weekend xx can't wait to see you next weekend xxx'.

Lisa said yesterday: 'I am completely broken... I am shocked. I am angry. I feel sick to my stomach.

'We spent most weekends together. We were meant to be together this weekend but I had to cancel and arranged to meet next weekend. I wish I had met her this weekend'.

Kind and loving: Law graduate Zara Aleena, pictured left, was killed by a stranger as she walked home and had told her best friend Lisa Hodgson, right, 'that won't happen to us' after Sarah Everard's murder

The crime scene in Cranbrook Road, Ilford, is shown where Aleena was attacked on Sunday

Zara's death is the latest killing of a woman walking alone in London after the murders of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard

Slain Zara Aleena told her friend: 'That won't happen to us', while discussing murder of Sarah Everard - before tragically suffering a similar fate A law graduate killed by a stranger as she walked home had reassured her best friend 'that won't happen to us' after Sarah Everard 's murder. Zara Aleena, 35, died from severe head injuries after she was attacked on her way back from a night out in the early hours of Sunday. She was walking near to her mother's house in Ilford, north-east London, moments before she was attacked from behind and beaten to death. Ms Aleena's devastated best friend drew chilling parallels with the murder of Ms Everard, 33, and Sabina Nessa, 28. Lisa Hodgson, who studied at Westminster Kingsway College with Ms Aleena, said: 'We spoke a lot about Sarah Everard together, and Sabina Nessa too. Of course we didn't know those girls but we were both really affected by it  Zara was quite shaken. 'I even said to Zara, 'Can you imagine something like that happening to us?' And she said, 'It's awful, I know. But don't worry, it won't happen to us'. Everyone believes that won't happen to them until it does.' Marketing manager Miss Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered in March last year by Scotland Yard firearms officer Wayne Couzens. Ms Hodgson said: 'After what happened to Sarah you would expect to see big changes to prevent it happening again. 'But what has been done? It has happened again, to my best friend. And I want to kill the man who has done it with my bare hands but it's too late now, my beautiful, kind and loving friend has gone. 'These predators out there don't seem to care  they're not scared. We should be able to walk home alone at night without being terrified, looking over our shoulders fearful that something like this will happen. Why shouldn't we feel safe?' Jebina Nessa, whose sister Sabina was murdered in Kidbrooke, south-east London last September, joined calls for more to be done to end male violence against women. She said: 'My heart goes out to her family.' It was typical for Ms Aleena, who worked at the Royal Courts of Justice while seeking a trainee solicitor role, to walk rather than take a taxi. Ms Hodgson said: 'She was fearless. I spoke to her friend about what happened  they said they got in a cab and Zara wanted to walk. That's Zara, 100 per cent.' As the attacker fled, neighbours rushed out to find Ms Aleena bleeding. Paramedics performed CPR for two hours and took her to hospital at about 4.30am but she was declared dead shortly afterwards. Advertisement

In a poignant Facebook post she described her grief at not seeing her again or hearing her voice, adding: 'To the man that murdered Zara may he get tortured in prison. I want to look him in the eye and ask why???!!!! Justice for Zara Aleena. When will our streets be safe? Something needs to be done! Something must be done. Now you rest in peace beautiful angel'.

Flowers and cards have been left at the scene of the killing.

One tribute said: 'Best friend I could ever have asked for ..' xxxx. I am going to miss everything about you, your smile, the way you bite your bottom lip when you were thinking, our nights out eating burgers on a step, laughing about anything and everything.' Another wrote: 'I love you to the moon and back'.

The University of Westminster has also paid tribute to its alum Ms Aleena, who they said was a 'warm and gentle' woman that would 'often go out of her way to help others'.

The unprovoked attack is already being compared to the murders of teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, and marketing manager Sarah Everard, 33, who were both killed while out alone in London. Both their killers were opportunistic and chose them at random.

Ms Aleena's friend Nadia, 42, a school teacher, said: 'She just decided to walk home because it was close by.. nothing like that has ever happened here.

'She wanted to borrow some heels and some mascara from me that night, but I couldn't answer my phone as I was busy. She was a gentle soul, she wouldn't hurt a fly. She just passed her law degree and was working in central London. She wanted to become a lawyer so she could provide for herself and her family'.

Ms Aleena's cousin described her as a 'bubbly, high-empathy person' and said the family were devastated.

Friends recalled her excitement as she asked to borrow high heels and mascara for a night out that ended in tragedy.

Ms Aleena had been working at the Royal Courts of Justice as an administration officer while she sought a trainee solicitor role that would allow her to embark on a legal career, said her cousin, who asked not to be named.

'She was a lovely person,' he added. 'It's such a shock for the family. She wanted to become a lawyer, to make a success of herself so she could support the family.

'She was always bubbly, brought life to the room, a warm, high-empathy person. She looked after her mum and her gran and was a very family-oriented person.'

Scotland Yard said Ms Aleena was found badly beaten at about 2.44am not far from her home in Ilford, north-east London. Paramedics took her to hospital but she died of her injuries shortly afterwards.

People living nearby said there was a helicopter hovering over the area from 3am as police hunted for Ms Aleena's killer.

Mustafa Meric, 56, said his son's friend lived opposite and his CCTV had captured footage  which he had passed to the police  of the attack.

'It is not the safest of areas,' he added. 'I fear for my wife and kids. I've told them to stop [going out late] for now.'

Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, of Scotland Yard, said: 'Tackling violence against women and girls is an absolute priority for the Met. Every day our officers are working with partners across the capital to improve safety in our public spaces.

'Women should not have to change their behaviour and should be able to go about their business, feeling safe, any time of day or night. It's our job to ensure that happens  but officers cannot be in all places at all times. I would urge our community, especially women, to report any suspicious or unwanted behaviour and seek help if you feel threatened.'

Ms Aleena's LinkedIn page says she graduated with a law degree from the University of Westminster in October last year.

She had been working at the Royal Courts of Justice since May but was seeking a paralegal or trainee solicitor position.

This is the last exchange Zara's closest friend had with her on Friday. On Sunday morning she was killed

Police work in Cranbrook Road, Redbridge, after Zara Aleena was killed on Sunday morning

The Labour MP for Ilford South, Sam Tarry, said: 'It looks like, on the face of it, a random attack. This is something out of the ordinary. The Met and local authority are moving heaven and earth to ensure people's safety and put the perpetrator behind bars.

'We will do everything to remember this woman who lost her life in the most horrendous way.'

He added: 'We want our community to be free of fear and go about their daily business.

'People do need to be reassured  there will be a flood of police on the streets. I don't think people should be bowed or cowed into fear, but of course people are going to be scared.

'I would say to people, check your cameras, your dashcams, any small clue could help.'

Rafia Ahmed, who lives nearby, said she and her friends will now only walk in groups at night.

'Because it's literally on our doorstep it scares you. As a female you think twice about going out by yourself', she told the BBC.

Ms Aleena was attacked while walking along Cranbrook Road in the direction of Gants Hill Station and the high street. Pictured: Police talk to a driver as they close the road

Shopkeeper Kuldip Singh said he was concerned by the level of violence in the area.

He said: 'This one was quite brutal. It was a young lady but people don't really feel safe in this location as much as they used to.

'If I was an elderly person or a female, especially in the winter months, walking through this road you could be at risk.'

Subhash, 60, who lives just off Cranbrook Road, said he 'worries' for other local women. He said: 'It's not just my daughter, it's other daughters, other girls, other women in the area. It's quite a serious matter, how safe are you in your own area.'

A spokeswoman for Zara's university said: 'We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news that our former Law School student and graduate, Zara Aleena, has lost her life in such a tragic way. Our thoughts are with Zara's family and loved ones at this dreadful time.

'Zara was awarded the LL.B with Honours in 2011 and the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice in 2021. She is remembered clearly and fondly by all who taught her. She was a warm, gentle and open young woman, popular with both staff and fellow students. She would often go out of her way to help others.

'We have pastoral support available for our students and colleagues affected by the tragic news.'
A former BBC editor who helmed Radio 4's Today programme is understood to have left the corporation in favour of a top role with Saudi Arabia's state broadcaster.

Jamie Angus quit his position as BBC News's senior controller of output and commissioning in April for an unspecified new post, after failing to be appointed BBC director of news.

Now, it is believed he has secured a top job at Al Arabiya News, part of the Saudi conglomerate MBC Group, The Times reports.

His position is not known but sources have speculated he could serve as the station's chief finance officer or chief operating officer.

Angus has reportedly told his ex-colleagues that Al Arabiya - an Arabic-language channel which started in 2003 - is attempting to build itself as one of the most dynamic news outlets in the world.

Former BBC News editor Jamie Angus is understood to have taken up a senior position at Saudi Arabian-state owned broadcaster Al Arabiya

Saudi Arabian journalist and Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in March 2018

But his new job is not viewed favourably by BBC bosses due to ethical concerns around Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Al Salman has repeatedly denied being behind the notorious murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in March 2018.

Al Arabiya is based in Dubai but began moving staff to Riyadh last September. The channel is widely seen as a rival to Qatars Al Jazeera and the Saudi Arabian government is reportedly seeking to tie its media operations closer together.

Ofcom fined Al Arabiya 120,000 in 2018 after it broadcast what it purported to be 'confessions' from imprisoned Bahraini opposition leader Hassan Mushaima. The channel failed to mention to viewers that Mushaima had been tortured.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Al Salman (pictured) has repeatedly denied being behind the Khashoggi's murder

Fines for inaccurate or misleading reporting are not commonly doled out by Ofcom and are reserved for the gravest breaches of the UK's broadcasting code.

Angus worked on the Today programme from 2017 to 2021 during a career at the BBC which lasted more than 20 years.

He also served as deputy editor on Newsnight and was also previously in charge of the BBC World Service, which carried BBC News Arabic under its umbrella.

Following Fran Unsworth's departure as director of BBC News last year, Angus was considered a contender and was interviewed for the role.

A number of sources claim he was unhappy not to have proceeded past the first wave of interviews, eventually losing out to ITN's chief executive Deborah Turness, who will take up her role at the BBC this year.
Filmmaker Park Chan-wook / Courtesy of CJ ENM



Cannes-winning director defies cliches, stereotypes in new film



By Kwak Yeon-soo



Since his breakout with "Oldboy," (2003) which won the Grand Pix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, director Park Chan-wook rose quickly to become the face of Korean cinema on the international scene.



From "Joint Security Area" (2000) to "The Handmaiden" (2017), Park's work has encompassed dark humor and heart through insightful storytelling. Known for his distinct visual style and extreme violence, Park has developed a personal signature across his filmography.



Due to his unique cinematic vision, Park has been nominated many times for and swept awards at various international film festivals, and his recognition at Cannes earned him the nickname "Cannes Park" in Korea.



At Cannes, Park also won the Jury Prize with his vampire horror drama film "Thirst" in 2009 and took home the Best Director award this year for his latest film "Decision to Leave," totaling three awards.



"Decision to Leave," starring Park Hae-il as Hae-joon and Tang Wei as Seo-rae, follows an insomniac Korean police detective chasing after an enigmatic and mesmerizing widow, a Chinese immigrant, who is suspected of pushing her husband off a cliff.



Park's new film is unlike any other cop-suspect romance film that depicts a femme fatale who seduces a police detective.



"To avoid cliches, I multilayered the plot. After Hae-joon switches districts and moves to the coast, where his wife works at a nuclear plant, there are plenty of melodramatic twists and turns to the seemingly predictable plot. Seo-rae's feelings for the detective become unambiguous in the second half of the film," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.





A scene from the film "Decision to Leave," for which director Park Chan-wook received the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in May / Courtesy of CJ ENM



He also discussed creating original characters that defy stereotypes. "The male protagonist is a policeman, but not like the ones we're used to seeing. He's meticulous and tidy and carries personal items in suits tailored to have 12 pockets in his jacket and six in his pants. The female protagonist, a murder suspect, has dignity and a direct manner," he said.



The tension between the two leads is depicted in a sophisticated and refined manner as it excludes provocative sex scenes.



"I wanted to make something classically refined where the characters' emotions are swirling internally, but on the outside they are quiet. The story's emphasis is on adult romance, dealing with mature relationships. As we get older, it becomes harder to express our feelings due to given situations and circumstances," he explained.



The "auteur" said he had Tang and Park in mind when writing the script.



"Even before finishing the script, I met up with Tang and offered her the role. Tang's personality traits, which I observed when meeting her, were reflected in the rewriting of the script. I did the same thing with Park," he said.



He praised the Chinese actress' passion to learn Korean. "She was quite stubborn about learning Korean step-by-step in order to catch the nuances of her lines. She didn't just try to memorize the lines fast. She truly understood the meaning of the lines," he said.



The two leads have smoldering chemistry on screen. Park conveys Hae-jun's moral dilemma between his sense of duty as a detective and the ungovernable forces of his heart, while Tang keeps the audience guessing about her character until the film's ending.





Actors Tang Wei, left, and Park Hae-il in a scene from the film "Decision to Leave" / Courtesy of CJ ENM
Dramatic video shows the moment a 1,800lb charging bison gored a 34-year-old man as he heroically rescued a little boy who was in the beast's path in Yellowstone National Park.

The man, from Colorado Springs, was in the national park when he attacked by the male bison after he quickly snatched the child away from the charging animal on Monday.

Park rangers warned that visitors should keep 75ft (25 yards) away from the creatures because they are 'wild animals' that feel 'threatened' if they are approached.

Video shows two adults walking towards the bison with the little boy on a path in the national park when the animal charged at them.

At the same time, the 34-year-old man, who was walking ahead of his family, is seen running towards the other two adults and the boy, as dust is lifted into the air from the charging bison.

The bison is seen charging at the boy, who tries to run away, before the heroic man lifted the child into the air and pushed him out of the way as his relatives watched in horror.

But the bison latched onto the man's arm during the attack and lifted him into the air before he was able to escape and run away.

Video shows two adults walking towards the bison with the little boy on a path in the national park when the animal charged at them

At the same time, the 34-year-old man, who was walking ahead of his family, is seen running towards the other two adults and the boy, as dust is lifted into the air from the charging bison

The bison is seen charging at the boy, who tries to run away, before the heroic man lifted the child into the air and pushed him out of the way as his relatives watched in horror

The bison latched onto the man's arm during the attack and lifted him into the air before he was able to escape and run away.

The man sustained an injury to his arm following the incident and was taken to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in an ambulance.

The National Park Service said in a statement: 'The male was walking with his family on a boardwalk when a bull bison charged the group.

'Family members did not leave the area, and the bull bison continued to charge and gored the male.'

Rob Goodell, who filmed the attack, told the Cowboy State Daily: 'The dad and the kid were just walking up to the bison when the bison took off.

'Anyone who says that the bison just attacked that guy or whatever, that's bulls**t. The bison was just protecting his ground.'

But the bison latched onto the man's arm during the attack and lifted him into the air before he was able to escape and run away with the boy

The man sustained an injury to his arm following the incident and was taken to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in an ambulance. Pictured: The bison walked away after attack

Goodell said he had been watching the family closely because of how close they were to the bison. He said he did not start filming until the incident escalated.

He said the video does not show that the family had time to move away from the area - but instead they stayed close to the bison.

'I didn't even say anything during the entire video because I just assumed that guy was going to get murdered,' Goodell said. 'It was like holy c***, this is crazy.'

Bison, which can weigh more than 2,000lb, are six feet tall and can run three times faster than humans.

A bison walks past people who just watched the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park on June 22

Park rangers warned: 'Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park are wild and can be dangerous when approached.

'When an animal is near a campsite, trail, boardwalk, parking lot, or in a developed area, give it space.

'Stay more than 25 yards (23 m) away from all large animals - bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes - and at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves.

'If need be, turn around and go the other way to avoid interacting with a wild animal in proximity.'

The attack comes just weeks after a bison gored and killed a 25-year-old woman in Yellowstone National Park after she approached the animal despite explicit warning signs in the area instructing visitors to stay at least 25-yards away from dangerous wildlife.

The bison was walking near a boardwalk at Black Sand Basin, just north of Old Faithful, when the out-of-state visitor approached it in May.

She got within 10-feet (three meters) before the animal impaled her with its horn and tossed her 10 feet into the air.

The woman later died according to the park officials. The woman from Grove City, Ohio, sustained a puncture wound and other injuries.

A bison gored and killed a 25-year-old woman in Yellowstone National Park in May

The bison was walking near a boardwalk (above) at Black Sand Basin, just north of Old Faithful, when the out-of-state visitor approached it, according to a park statement.

Bison often behave much like cattle, lumbering about and lazing in the sunshine. But when they get a mind to, they can run up to 40mph. (Above) American Bison (also known as Buffalo) pass by tourists at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming on June 1, 2011

In 2020, a 72-year-old camper was gored and flung 15ft in the air by a bison after she advanced to within 10ft of the animal.

Footage of the encounter in Yellowstone National Park was taken by another family at the campsite, who watched in horror as the creature attacked the woman who was trying to take a photo.

The California woman was left unconscious on the grass and was subsequently airlifted to hospital, but the bison did not damage any major organs.

Risky move: A woman advances to within 10ft of a bison - well short of the recommended 75ft - in an encounter which ended with her being gored and flung into the air

In May 2020, a woman was knocked to the ground when she got too close to a bison near the popular Old Faithful geyser after the park partially re-opened.

In 2019, a nine-year-old girl visiting Yellowstone National Park has been struck and thrown into the air by a charging bison.

The girl, from Odessa, Florida, was in a group of roughly 50 people who were standing near the bison for about 20 minutes in the Old Faithful Geyser area before it charged, Yellowstone officials said.

The girl, from Odessa, Florida, was in a group of roughly 50 people who were standing near the bison for about 20 minutes in the Old Faithful Geyser area on Monday before it charged

Wild video shows the large beast grazing before it charges at the girl and two adults who managed to flee the area

Dramatic video shows the large beast grazing before it begins pacing toward the girl and two adults.

The two adults notice the beast and dart off, leaving the girl behind as she tries to run away from the commotion.

The bison hits her and she goes flying in the air, as bystanders watch in horror.

The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to the Old Faithful Lodge by her family and she was treated by emergency personnel. She has since been released from the Old Faithful Clinic.

The bison charges after the small girl and flings her into the air, to the shock and horror of bystanders

The victim, who was not identified, was taken to the Old Faithful Lodge by her family and she was treated by emergency personnel. She has since been released from the Old Faithful Clinic

In 2018, another California woman - 59-year-old Kim Hancock - was taken to a hospital with a hip injury after being gored by another bison.

In 2015, two people including a 62-year-old Australian were gored within three weeks.

The other victim was a 16-year-old girl from Taiwan who was hospitalized after being attacked as she posed for a picture near the animal.

Millions of visitors travel yearly to Yellowstone, which spans parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, to view wildlife, including its famed bison, also known as buffalo.

Park rules dictate that visitors give animals a wide berth, requiring them to stay at least 25 yards from bison and elk and 100 yards from predators such as wolves and bears.
A British free climber recorded the moment he dangled from Dubai's tallest crane, more than 1000ft in the air, by just his hand.

Adam Lockwood put on his hardhat and posed as a workman in order to gain access to Dubai's tallest crane - so he could dangle 1280ft above the city, as seen in this nail-biting video.

At the top of the crane he let himself hang using only his grip and upper-body strength to stop him from falling, in an experience he describes as quite 'peaceful'.

He carried out the death-defying stunt from the crane on top of the 77-storey residential skyscraper Il Primo, directly next to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Adam Lockwood climbed to the very top of a crane connected to the Il Primo skyscraper in Dubai, right next to the Burj Khalifa, and dangled by one hand

The fearless climber showed of the view of the Dubai skyline while more than 1,000 ft in the air

Long way down: The free climber posed as a workman so he could reach the 1280ft summit

The world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, can be seen towering over the building Adam climbed

A frame from the video shows the Manchester man perilously hanging upside down

Dizzying views of the city can be seen below him as he hangs from metal bars, covered in slippery grease, making it even more astonishing that he didn't plunge to his death.

A fall from this height would have about nine seconds of free fall before reaching the ground.

Adam said: 'When I first looked at the footage, I was thinking to myself, 'this is it, this is the most incredible thing I've done'.

'The fact I hung off the tallest crane in Dubai on the doorstep of the world's tallest building is something special and I feel like it was definitely worth the risk and legal consequences if I was caught.

'I put a hard hat on to blend in whilst walking past 100 workers and slipped out the back gate without being noticed.

'Climbing up the jib, I quickly realised the whole crane was covered in grease that I couldn't even see, at first I thought it was dust from the desert but checking my hands it was grease, feet and hands slipping on everything I touched.

'I had four close calls whilst climbing up and coming down. I had a few close calls too.'

Nerve-wracking footage of the perilous stunt last week shows Adam hanging by his hands or legs high above Dubai's busy streets.

But he seems completely unphased by the risks he takes as he calmly moves around the crane without any restraints to prevent him falling.

Adam said hanging off things 'feels almost peaceful' despite the enormous drop below

When the 21-year-old reached the crane he realised lots of it was covered in grease

He said he had several close calls with falling off while climbing up and down

Adam, from Manchester, said: 'Hanging off things doesn't feel like much, it feels surreal to be suspended that high with no safety, but like all my other hangs, my brain is blank, my heartbeat doesn't go up, and it feels almost peaceful.

'It's something I know I can do and that 99 per cent of the world can't and never will do, so I feel obliged to use my ability and enjoy doing it in the process.

'I love seeing things from height, I love having my body suspended hundreds of meters in the sky, I love the challenges of infiltrating secure places to achieve these goals and it's something that has kept me alive since I started, and I don't think I can give it up.

'I slept for the whole day when I got back to my accommodation because I was so tired.'

Though it is not the first crane he has dangled from.

British daredevil Adam Lockwood dangled 600 feet above Benidorm in Spain while totally naked (pictured) in 2020

Adam Lockwood climbing and hanging from the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy

The daredevil, from Manchester, performed five chin-ups off the side of the massive chimney in Croatia

Plomin power station, pictured. Mr Lockwood said: 'We started the climb at about 2am, so that we could make sure we didn't run into any workers'

In Spain climbed a 470ft skyscraper in Barcelona - barefoot and waved to shocked crowds below

The teen had to keep stopping to rub chalk on his feet to help his grip as he climbed the ladder-like structure on the outside of the Torre Agbar office block

The crane climb is not the first time that Adam has performed a hair-raising stunt on an iconic world structure.

In April, he dangled from the 262ft San Siro stadium in Milan, and later scaled the famous glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris to take a cheeky selfie.

In 2020 he did pull ups at the end of a beam high up on the 1,115ft (340m)-tall Plomin power station in Croatia.

He has also previously climbed a 470ft skyscraper in Barcelona - barefoot and waved to shocked crowds below.

His stunts have previously got him into trouble when a court banned him from climbing tall buildings, which he later breached and narrowly escaped jail.
Protections against cheap steel imports will be kept in place for another two years even though they break international trade rules, ministers announced today.

Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the 'safeguards' are being extended to June 2024 to avoid the 'threat of serious injury' to the UK industry.

Ms Trevelyan admitted the move 'departs from' World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, but there was a 'vital public interest that the government acts to protect the steel sector'.

Labour supported the step, as well as the government's decision to exempt Ukraine as it is wracked by Russia's war.

The government's intentions on steel surfaced earlier this month when Lord Geidt quit as Boris Johnson's ethics chief.

The peer claimed he had been put in an 'impossible and odious' position after being asked to advise on whether the government should break WTO rules.

Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the 'safeguards' are being extended to June 2024 to avoid the 'threat of serious injury' to the UK industry

The UK steel industry has been going through a difficult time with energy prices soaring

Ms Trevelyan told the House this afternoon: 'Given the broader national interest significance of this strategic UK industry and the global disruptions to the energy markets and supply chains that the UK currently faces, we have concluded that it is in the economic interest of the UK to maintain these safeguards to reduce the risk of material harm if they were not maintained.

'I am therefore extending the measure on the five steel categories for a further two years until June 30, 2024, alongside the other 10 categories.

'This means the safeguard will remain in place on all 15 categories, updated from July 1 to reflect recent trade flows.'

The Cabinet minister added: 'The Government wishes to make it clear to Parliament that the decision to extend the safeguards on the five product categories departs from our international legal obligations under the relevant WTO agreement, as relates to the five product categories.

'However, from time to time, issues may arise where the national interest requires action to be taken which may be in tension with normal rules and procedures.

'The Government is therefore actively engaged with interested parties, including those outside the UK on the future of the UK safeguards and has listened to the concerns raised.'

Asked at the G7 summit in Germany over the weekend whether he would breach the rules to keep protecting the industry, Mr Johnson said: 'I think it's very important people understand the context of this, and that is that the UK steel industry has been going through a difficult time, partly because of the energy prices that I have been talking about.

Boris Johnson said at the weekend that the UK steel industry was paying 'a very high price for energy' compared to other countries

'We have a system in the UK where we don't privilege our industry in the way that some other countries do. They pay a very high price for energy, we need to fix that.

'We need British Steel to be provided with much cheaper energy and cheap electricity for its blast furnaces but until we can fix that, I think it is reasonable for UK steel to have the same protections that other European, absolutely every other European steel economy does.'

Mr Johnson noted 'the proposal would be for us to take off those protections, take off those tariffs', adding: 'I don't think that's the right way forward. I want another solution.

'The difficulty is, is that possible to do while staying within our WTO, our World Trade Organisation obligations? That's the problem. But these are tough choices that you have to make.'
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Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner lashed out at Dominic Raab today after he winked at her during a feisty session of Prime Minister's Questions.

The pair were standing in for their respective leaders when he made the gesture while attacking Ms Rayner over her attitude towards last week's rail strikes.

The Deputy Prime Minister was in a sharp mood as he stood in for Boris Johnson at Prime Minister's Questions and tore into Ms Rayner over Labour's attitude towards last week's rail strikes.

He accused Ms Rayner of having 'flip-flopped' in her position on the strikes that hobbled the rail network last week.

After the wink, Labour MP Toby Perkins tweeted: 'I will never unsee Dominic Raab's wink from the despatch box at Angela Rayner. I feel soiled.' To which she replied: 'Imagine how I feel.'

In the rowdy session in the Commons Mr Rabb also sparked a snobbery row when he accused his opposite number - raised in poverty in Manchester - of being a 'champagne socialist' for enjoying posh fizz and opera at Glyndebourne.

Boris Johnson's spokesman was later forced to say 'everybody should be able to enjoy arts and culture and other such things across the UK'.

Later, Ms Rayner said: 'My advice to the Deputy Prime Minister is to cut out the snobbery and brush up on his opera.

'The Marriage of Figaro is the story of a working-class woman who gets the better of a privileged but dim-witted villain. Judging by his own performance today, Dominic Raab could learn a lesson about opening up the arts to everyone, whatever their background.'

For her part, Ms Rayner also set the scene, boasting beforehand that she was reading to take on the 'karate black belt' Tory by wearing 'Kung Fu Panda' heels, by Irregular Choice.

He and Ms Rayner, Keir Starmer 's deputy, regularly make the most of their time to step up in the absence of their party leaders.

And today was no different, with with Mr Johnson at a Nato summit in Spain.

In the rowdy session in the Commons Mr Rabb also sparked a snobbery row when he accused his opposite number - raised in poverty in Manchester - of being a 'champagne socialist' for enjoying posh fizz and opera at Glyndebourne.

Later, Ms Rayner said: 'My advice to the Deputy Prime Minister is to cut out the snobbery and brush up on his opera. The Marriage of Figaro is the story of a working-class woman who gets the better of a privileged but dim-witted villain.'

Raab v Rayner: the best bits I KNOW KUNG FU Even before PMQs Ms Rayner was getting herself in the zone. Tweeting a pic of her panda shoe-clad feet she tweeted: 'I know Dominic Raab is a karate black belt and everything - but I've got my kung fu pandas on and I'm ready!' BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Dominic Raab accused deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner of being a champagne socialist for attending an opera festival. After she attacked his views on food banks he hit back over the RMT rail strikes, saying while they were on she was 'at the Glyndebourne music festival sipping champagne, listening to opera. Champagne socialism is back in the Labour Party.' HOME AND AWAY The pair were taking PMQs because Boris Johnson is on an eight-day diplomatic tour that has taken him from Rwanda to Spain, via Germany. Ms Rayner told the Commons: 'This week the Government lost two by-elections in one day, the first in three decades. It's no wonder that the Prime Minister has fled the country and left the honourable member to carry the can.' Mr Raab hit back: 'I gently point out to her that we want this Prime Minister going a lot longer than she wants the leader of Labour Party...' Advertisement

Mr Raab and Ms Rayner usually make the most of their time to step up in the absence of their party leaders. And today was no different, with with Mr Johnson away at a Nato summit in Spain.

For her part, Ms Rayner also set the scene, boasting beforehand that she was reading to take on the 'karate black belt' Tory by wearing 'Kung Fu Panda' heels - posting a picture of her Irregular Choice footwear on Twitter.

Ms Rayner kicked off asking if Raab believed the Cabinet will prop the Prime Minister up until the 2030s.

She told the Commons: 'This week the Government lost two by-elections in one day, the first in three decades. It's no wonder that the Prime Minister has fled the country and left the honourable member to carry the can.

'The people of Wakefield and Tiverton held their own vote of no confidence. The Prime Minister isn't just losing the room, he is losing their country. But instead of showing some humility, he intends to limp on until the 2030s. So, does he think the Cabinet will prop him up for this long?'

The Deputy Prime Minister got a rousing reception when he replied: 'I gently point out to her that we want this Prime Minister going a lot longer than she wants the leader of Labour Party...'

He noted 'we have got a working majority of 75' and 'we are focusing on delivering for the British people'.

He added: 'We will protect the public from these damaging rail strikes when we have got the scene of Labour frontbenchers joining the picket lines.'

He said: 'She talks about working people. Where was she when the comrades were on the picket line last Thursday? Where was she when the Labour frontbench were joining them rather than standing up for the public?

'She was at the Glyndebourne music festival sipping champagne, listening to opera. Champagne socialism is back in the Labour Party.'

Ms Rayner hit back saying Britain cannot 'stomach' Boris Johnson for another eight years.

'The truth is what I want for my honourable friend the Leader of this Opposition is not to be the Leader of the Opposition, but to be the prime minister of this country,' she said.

'To be honest, it could not come quick enough. Britain can't stomach this Prime Minister for another eight years. His own backbenchers can't stomach him for another eight minutes. And if they continue to prop him up, I doubt the voters will stomach him for even eight seconds in the ballot.

Ms Rayner kicked off asking if Raab believed the Cabinet will prop the Prime Minister up until the 2030s.

'Now, let's imagine the Prime Minister is still clinging on into the 2030s, under this tax high, low growth Tory government at this rate by 2030, the British public will have endured 55 tax rises. So, how many more tax rises will this Government inflict on working families before he says enough is enough?'

Mr Raab faced tough questions on tax from his own side as well. Conservative MP John Baron called for the Government to be 'bolder' on cutting taxes.

The MP for Basildon and Billericay said: 'Will the Government be bolder in cutting taxes given all the evidence the world over shows that lower taxes increases prosperity, raises living standards, and better enables the Government to help the less fortunate, even if such a policy means cutting spending such as HS2?'

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said: 'My honourable friend makes an important point about driving growth in the economy.

'That's why we are cutting taxes with the 130% super deduction ... we are increasing the employment allowance which represents a tax cut of 1,000 for half a million small business.

'That's why we provided business rate relief of 7 billion over the next five years, and, of course, we are cutting national insurance just next month worth 330 for a typical employee.'
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Scottish social media users have poked fun at First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after she gifted a special edition bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label whisky to the Queen during a meeting today.

Sturgeon handed the Queen the 150 bottle of blended whisky and also faced criticism for showing a 'lack of respect' for the monarch after she called a second Scottish independence referendum during the 96-year-old's visit to Edinburgh.

Twitter users were quick to make fun of the choice of gift with several claiming it would have been more special to pick an independent whisky brand while others said it would not be up to scratch for the Queen and compared it to Buckfast - the notorious high-strength fortified wine which has been linked to drunkenness and violence in Scotland.

One said: 'Why did Sturgeon present HMTQ with a generic Johnnie Walker/Diageo whiksy? Was there some kind of undeclared incentive, because the Queen knows her stuff and it's not Scotland's finest.

'Why not support small business and give those distilleries the publicity?'

Another added: 'Blue label is OK but there is some fine Scotch out there more fit for a Queen.'

One user said: 'What, no Buckfast?' while another added: 'That's one for the staff Christmas do!'

Another user joked: 'This is such a Scots thing to do, oi. Guess HRM is lucky she didn't get a case of Irn-Bru and a bag of haggie crisps.'

The First Minister was received by Her Majesty at the Palace of Holyroodhouse this afternoon, just 100 yards or so from the Scottish Parliament where, yesterday, she announced plans to hold Indyref2 on October 19 next year. The referendum would need a favourable Supreme Court ruling to go ahead, which is seen as unlikely.

Scottish social media users have poked fun at First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after she gifted a special edition bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label whisky to the Queen during a meeting today. Pictured: Sturgeon presents the Johnnie Walker gift

Tory MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden, told MailOnline: 'Nicola Sturgeon is so obsessed with her own independence agenda that she simply doesn't care about anything or anyone else. Today, she's tried to use it to outshine her audience with the Queen'.

He added: 'What Nicola Sturgeon should be concentrating on is turning around what she is responsible for in Scotland - the failing health system, education system that's falling down the international league tables and the worst drug deaths in the Western world rather than banging on about independence to cover up for her failures'.

Another critic tweeted: 'Nicola Sturgeon has shown just how much she hates the English. Making an announcement about Indyref2 the same day the Queen is in Edinburgh. Shameful lack of respect'.

This morning, before going to see the Queen, Ms Sturgeon went on TV to claim that the people of Scotland would be 'a prisoner of a UK prime minister' if they aren't allowed to express their views on independence again - nine years after the supposedly 'once-in-a-generation' vote where Scots decided not to break up the UK.

Despite the tensions over the future of the Union, both women smiled as Ms Sturgeon handed the 96-year-old monarch the 150 bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. The Queen is known to be a fan of scotch, although her favourite tipple is a Dubonnet and gin, which royal aides have said historically she drinks every single day before dinner. Her Majesty was also given a new tartan blanket, which she thanked the First Minister for and told her it was 'a lovely thing to have'.

Ms Sturgeon, who praised the Queen during the Platinum Jubilee as a 'quite extraordinary individual' but declined to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch after returning to Holyrood this month, told MSPs on Tuesday that she intends to hold a 'consultative' re-run of the 2014 vote next year.

The announcement came as a surprise to most - including apparently Downing Street and the Prime Minister, who is in Europe attending G7 and Nato meetings. And critics have insisted that Ms Sturgeon also timed it right in the middle of the Queen's annual week in Edinburgh where its people and armed forces pay tribute to her role as head of state and head of the UK armed forces.

Both women smiled during today's exchange at Holyroodhouse, which was the 96-year-old's third public appearance in as many days

It comes as Ms Sturgeon today announced plans to hold a new plebiscite in October next year, nine years after the supposedly 'once-in-a-generation' vote in which Scots decided to stay part of the UK

The YouGov research for The Times last month - which ignored 'don't knows' - suggested that backing for the union has increased since March, when 53 per cent wanted to stay together

The Princess Royal, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland, Sophie Wessex and Prince Edward, known as the Earl of Forfar in Scotland, during a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse today

Sturgeon's strained relationship with the Royal Family, from boycotting a visit by the Queen, 'swiping' at Wills and Kate and refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to the Queen The First Minister claimed this morning there was a stronger mandate for a Scottish independence referendum than there ever was for Britain's 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU The Scottish First Minister has long repeated the SNP's policy of keeping the monarchy if the country votes for independence. But she has long been accused of republican sympathies and has endured a sometimes difficult relationship with the Royal Family. Key events include: 1999 - After being first elected, Ms Sturgeon chooses to make her oath of allegiance in the Scottish Parliament to the sovereignty of the people, not the Monarch. 2003 - She boycotts a visit by the Queen to the Scottish Parliament. 2014 - Sources suggest the Scottish government was preparing to refuse to contribute to the costs of operating the monarchy. Ms Sturgeon denies the story. December 2020 - Furious Tories slam Ms Sturgeon's 'swipe' at Prince William and Kate Middleton after the couple were accused of breaking Covid rules during a whistle-stop tour to Scotland. Following criticism of the Cambridges, the First Minister said at a daily briefing that her government had reminded the Palace of the strict Covid restrictions north of the border ahead of the visit. One Tory MP slammed the comments as 'unsubtle' and 'rude', while another accused the SNP leader of being 'petty'. June 2022 - In carefully phrased comments, SNP leader pays tribute to the Queen during her Jubilee but insists republicans 'have the right to protest' against the monarchy. Asked by the BBC if she was a monarchist, Ms Sturgeon replied: 'I support the Queen and her successors remaining the head of state. That's the policy of my party.' After returning to Holyrood this month she opted to make a 'solemn affirmation' rather than swear an oath of loyalty to the Queen. Advertisement

Ms Sturgeon has endured a sometimes awkward relationship with the monarchy, including in 2020 when a trip to Scotland by William and Kate saw some Scots accuse them of breaking Covid rules.

In response the First Minister told a briefing that her government had reminded the Palace of the strict Covid restrictions north of the border ahead of the tour, leading Tory MPs to accuse her of taking a 'swipe' at the future king and queen and being 'unsubtle' and 'rude'.

Travelling across the border at the time was permitted for work purposes and royal sources said that was exactly what the trip was, but Ms Sturgeon chose to warn them anyway.

The comments will have been hurtful to William, who along with the other senior royals, has a deep love for Scotland.

It was at Balmoral where he learned of the death of his mother Diana, in 1997 and was supported with Harry by his father and grandmother.

And it was at St Andrews where he met and fell in love with Kate Middleton.

The SNP has also been forced to clarify that Ms Sturgeon is planning for Scotland to remain a constitutional monarchy in the event of a split after she said a 'debate' was needed on the Royal Family.

Asked a question about Prince Andrew, she said there was 'a debate to be had about the longer term future of the monarchy'.

Later, an SNP spokesman said she was referring to the size of the monarchy, and insisted the party was still planning to retain the monarchy after independence.

It comes as Ms Sturgeon today claimed there was a stronger mandate for another independence referendum than there was for the 2016 Brexit vote.

She plans to hold a new plebiscite in October next year, nine years after the supposedly 'once-in-a-generation' vote in which Scots decided to stay part of the UK, but faces a mountain to climb in terms of legitimacy.

Ms Sturgeon has no power to call a binding referendum and Boris Johnson, who does, is unlikely to agree. Instead she wants the Supreme Court to make a ruling that could allow her to outflank the PM, something legal experts believe is unlikely.

Today, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, a former MSP at Holyrood, told Sky News the First Minister Ms Sturgeon was bringing up the prospect of a referendum in an attempt to deflect from her Government's domestic record.

'She hasn't actually done her job of delivering for the people of Scotland - better healthcare, better schools, better crime rates, better education and all things that are important to the people of Scotland,' he said.

'Instead she is desperate now to have a second referendum  they had the referendum, they lost the referendum.'

He added that 'the problem for Nicola is that time is running out' with support for the union growing in Scotland.

The last referendum in 2014 was branded 'once in a generation' by both sides - and resulted in a 55-54 margin for keeping the union.

Polls have been showing that there is little appetite for another contest, with a steady - if slim - majority against independence.

But Ms Sturgeon, claimed this morning there was a stronger mandate for a Scottish independence referendum than there ever was for Britain's 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU.

The Princess Royal points while wearing a blue dress and cream hat during a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The party is part of The Queen's traditional trip to Scotland for Holyrood Week

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon poses for a selfie while she is dressed in a pink suit jacket and dress with a guest during a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex, and the Queen's youngest son sports a top hat during the garden party as he travelled to Scotland with other members of the Royal Family to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

Today, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, a former MSP at Holyrood, told Sky News the First Minister was trying to deflect from her Government's domestic record.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross immediately accused Ms Sturgeon of 'taking her eye off the ball' on by focusing on breaking up the UK rather than tackling the cost-of-living crisis

The Queen receives Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament Alison Johnstone during an audience at the Palace of Holyroodhouse

The Prince of Wales (left), known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland, adjusts his tie. Nicola Sturgeon (right) stands all in pink during the garden party

Guests line up in their best during a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

The Queen is seen smiling as Nicola Sturgeon holds the bottle of Blue Label whisky she brought for the Queen during their meeting at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

No such thing as a de-facto referendum, says expert amid SNP plans for Indyref2 Nicola Sturgeon's plans to use the next Westminster election as a 'de-facto referendum' on Scottish independence if her Government is prevented from holding another vote on leaving the UK have been questioned by a politics expert. Professor James Mitchell, of Edinburgh University, insisted: 'There's no such thing as a de facto referendum. An election is simply not a referendum, a de-facto referendum or any other kind of referendum.' He was speaking as Scotland's Deputy First Minister was forced to clarify his remarks on what would be necessary for a general election to give the Scottish Government a mandate to start independence negotiations. John Swinney had initially suggested this could happen if the SNP won a majority of Scottish MPs in the next UK election. However he later said on Twitter he had misheard the interviewer's question, making clear that 'nothing else' but a majority of votes would do. Mr Swinney explained when he had been asked whether negotiations could start if his party wins a majority of Scottish constituencies, he 'only picked up on 'majority'.' He added: 'Referenda, including de facto referenda at a UK General Election, are won with a majority of votes. Nothing else.' Prof Mitchell questioned plans to use the next Westminster vote in this way, as he insisted it is 'not for a political party to dictate the terms of an election'. Advertisement

'There is a stronger mandate for an independence referendum in the Scottish parliament than there ever was for a Brexit referendum in the UK Parliament,' Sturgeon said.

'A majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament support a referendum so if we had a democracy then that should be respected,' she added.

In a statement to Holyrood yesterday, the SNP leader said she wants to hold the ballot with or without permission from Westminster.

However, Ms Sturgeon admitted that she would face challenges about legitimacy if Boris Johnson - as expected - refuses to grant so-called 'Section 30' powers.

She said the Lord Advocate would be taking a case to the Supreme Court to decide whether a 'consultative' ballot is 'indisputably lawful' without the PM's go-ahead.

But Ms Sturgeon seemed to concede that if the UK's top court rules against her, she will not seek to go ahead.

Instead, she suggested that the SNP will merely try to make the next general election a 'de facto referendum'.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross described Miss Sturgeon's statement as 'a melodramatic, self-indulgent, irresponsible waste of time' and pledged to boycott any vote. 'We won't take part in a pretend poll when there is real work to be done,' he said.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was wrong to stir up divisive constitutional issues when the country was still recovering from the pandemic.

Earlier, speaking in Germany on the final day of the G7 summit, Mr Johnson desperately tried to avoid putting up a target for Ms Sturgeon to rail against.

He said: 'Of course we'll see what she has to say and look forward to that.

'I think the important point to make is that we think the number one priority for the country is the economic pressures, the spikes in the cost of energy.

'Our plan for a stronger economy certainly means that we think that we're stronger working together but we have good relations with the Scottish Government.

'We'll see what she has to say.'

Ministers have insisted that 'once in a generation' means there should be no referendum for 25 years. '
Fraud victims lost 1.3billion last year in romance, investment and bank scams as online crime surged by up to 165% after lockdown.

Nearly 200,000 people were tricked into transferring money directly to criminals in 2021, figures from an industry trade body shows.

UK Finance said some 583.2 million was stolen through authorised push payment (APP) fraud last year - a 39% increase compared with 420.7 million-worth of APP losses recorded in 2020.

These losses were split between personal (505.8 million) and non-personal or business (77.4 million) customers, while nearly 40% of them in total were due to impersonation scams.

Money was also lost due to purchase scams and investment scams, with invoice and romance scams also among the range of frauds.

A total of 271.2 million of losses was returned to victims of APP scams, accounting for less than half (47%) of losses.

Fraud victims lost 1.3billion last year in romance, investment and bank scams as online crime surged by up to 165% after lockdown (stock picture)

UK Finance recorded 195,996 incidents of APP scams in 2021. Of this total, 188,964 cases were on personal accounts and 7,032 cases were on non-personal accounts.

Criminals impersonated a range of organisations such as the NHS, banks and government departments via phone calls, text messages, emails, fake websites and social media posts to trick people into handing over their personal and financial information, UK Finance said. They used this information to convince people into authorising a payment.

Many banks have signed up to a voluntary code on APP scams which reimburses people in cases where neither they nor their bank is to blame. However, there have been concerns that the code is not always applied consistently.

The Government has previously said that the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) will be able to require banks to reimburse APP scam losses under measures in the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

Banks can also sign up to a '159' pilot scheme, an initiative which encourages consumers to hang up on a phone call that might be a scam and to dial 159 to speak to their bank.

Looking specifically just at cases dealt with under the voluntary code, 51%, or 238.1 million of losses, was returned to customers last year, the report said.

In total, more than 1.3 billion was stolen through fraud and scams in 2021, UK Finance said.

Unauthorised financial fraud losses across payment cards, remote banking and cheques totalled 730.4 million in 2021, a decrease of 7% compared with 2020.

UK Finance added that the banking and finance industry prevented a further 1.4 billion of unauthorised fraud from getting into the hands of criminals last year - equivalent to 65.3p in every 1 of attempted unauthorised fraud being stopped without a loss occurring.

It said it has long been calling for greater cross-sector action to tackle scams and it will continue working with the Government on upcoming legislation in this area.

One of the most high-profile fraud cases involved a scammer injecting a frail 92-year-old woman with a fake coronavirus jab, before demanding 160 for doing so.

The conman called ahead to check that the woman living in Surbiton, South London, was elderly, vulnerable and resided alone, one of her relatives told MailOnline.

Police investigating the 'scumbag' criminal initially believed that he had gone door-to-door when he jabbed the elderly woman in the arm with a 'dart-like implement.'

But now it has emerged he allegedly phoned his victim, first posing as an NHS employee to elicit information about her living arrangements at her 500,000 home.

He said he was administering vaccines and is then believed to have quickly made an appointment to see her after she volunteered the information that she lived alone.

CCTV footage captured a suspected fraudster who called on a 92-year-old and claimed he was from the NHS, before administering a fake vaccine and demanding 160 from the victim

Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: 'Unauthorised fraud losses fell last year, but this type of criminal activity remains a major problem.

'Through the introduction of new measures such as strong customer authentication, coupled with continued investment in technology, the banking and finance industry prevents significant amounts of fraud from taking place.

'Authorised fraud losses rose again this year as criminals targeted people through a variety of sophisticated scams, with much of the criminal activity taking place outside the banking sector, often involving online and technology platforms.

'This is why we continue to call for other sectors to play a greater role in helping protect customers from the scourge of fraud.

'The upcoming Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is an important development and provides the opportunity for the government to give new powers on information sharing and tracking stolen money.

'These are things we have long called for and will support efforts to work together and stop the fraud happening in the first place.'

UK Finance is urging customers to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, and remember that criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police.

They will spend hours researching people for their scams and may try to pressure people into making a decision they later regret.

People should contact their bank immediately if they think they have fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud.

Emma Lovell, chief executive of the Lending Standards Board (LSB), which oversees the voluntary APP scams reimbursement code, said: 'The key question all sectors and industries should be asking is how can we stop APP scams occurring in the first place?

'No-one should be out of pocket because of criminal activity. Evidence shows scams impact victims' mental health, leaving long-lasting feelings of guilt and shame.

'Reimbursement alone cannot reverse this damage, nor does it reverse the fact that the proceeds of scams often fund organised and other serious crime.'

Here is how various types of authorised fraud losses added up in 2021, according to UK Finance, and the annual percentage increase:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested late last week that he may be 'willing and able' to defend his state's ban on sodomy if the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex intimacy were to be re-litigated.

Speaking in a news interview hours after the high court upended federal abortion protections, the Republican attorney general did not rule out re-examining bans that had been deemed unconstitutional by the judicial body until as recently as Friday.

It comes after the court's conservative majority voted 5-4 to overturn Roe v. Wade and its sister case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, dramatically changing the landscape of reproductive healthcare.

In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court now ought to re-examine the precedents set by landmark cases Griswold v. Connecticut, Lawrence v. Texas, and Obergefell v. Hodges: which legalized the use of contraception by married couples, same-sex intimacy, and same-sex marriage, respectively.

'We have a duty to "correct the error" regarding these established in those precedents,' Thomas wrote.

News Nation host Leland Vittert raised Thomas' opinion in his interview with Paxton, and noted that it was the Lone Star state's that was overruled by the Lawrence case.

'Would you as attorney general be comfortable defending a law that once again outlawed sodomy?' Vittert asked.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the Constitution mandated that he defend state laws - one of which is a ban on same-sex intimacy that was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2003

Paxton avoided answering directly at first but noted the rights that Thomas had put on the chopping block were not explicitly written in the US Constitution.

'Yeah, I mean there's all kinds of issues here, but certainly the Supreme Court has stepped into issues that I don't think there's any constitutional provision dealing with,' the state attorney general said.

'They were legislative issues, and this is one of those issues and there may be more,' he continued, adding that 'it would depend on the issue and dependent on what state law had said at the time.'

The answer is telling considering that despite being overruled in 2003, Texas has never removed the ban on sodomy from its penal code.

The host asked again, point-blank: 'You wouldn't rule out that if the state legislature passed the same law that Lawrence overturned on sodomy, you wouldn't have any problem then defending that and taking that case back to the Supreme Court?'

'Look, my job is to defend state law and I'll continue to do that. That is my job under the Constitution and I'm certainly willing and able to do that,' Paxton said.

The Republican official added that he would first 'have to take a look at' any proposal from Texas' state legislature that could potential lead Lawrence to being overturned.

'I'd have to see how the legislation was laid out, whether we thought we could defend it,' Paxton said.

He was reacting to fallout from the Supreme Court overturning federal abortion protections on Friday

The case at issue in Paxton's interview, Lawrence v. Texas, was one of three mentioned by Justice Clarence Thomas that could be repealed next (Pictured: Tyron Garner (L) and John Lawrence (R) greet supporters at Houston City Hall amid celebrations over the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Lawrence vs. Texas case, June 26, 2003, The court on Thursday struck down a Texas sodomy law, a decision applauded by gay rights advocates as a historic ruling that overturned sodomy laws in 13 states)

'That's ultimately - if it's Constitutional, look, we're gonna go we're gonna go defend it.'

The 2003 landmark case involves two men, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner, who were caught having sex by Houston police while officers were responding to a weapons-related complaint at Lawrence's apartment.

Both men were arrested for violating Texas' 'Homosexual Conduct' law, which made it a misdemeanor to engage 'in deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex.'

LGBTQI+ activists and their Democrat allies fear Thomas's Friday opinion was an invitation for Republican-led legislatures to crack down on that as well as the right for same-sex couples to marry, which was only granted in 2015.

In its explosive recent decision, the Supreme Court sided with Mississippi against its last operating abortion clinic, Jackson Women's Health. The state's attorneys first asked the court to lower the legal abortion limit to 15 weeks from the previously allowed 21-24 weeks.

All six conservative justices agreed with Mississippi, though Chief Justice John Roberts made clear in his own opinion that he did not agree with the state's follow-up request to scuttle federal abortion protections altogether.

Still, the Supreme Court's returning of abortion rights to the states has already had a near-immediate effect on millions of women.

So far 16 states have either put immediate bans on abortion or have laws that will go into effect in the near future. Five additional states have placed restrictions that would have previously violated the standard set by Roe and Casey.

Paxton's home state of Texas hit a roadblock in its quest to crack down on the medical procedure on Tuesday when a judge blocked a pre-Roe abortion ban that immediately went into effect after the court's decision.

The temporary restraining order means abortion is still legal in the Lone Star State up to six weeks, thanks to a more recent state law that banned the practice after fetal cardiac activity is detected by incentivizing residents to sue people who have had abortions or aided someone else in getting one.

Paxton took to Twitter on Tuesday night where he vowed to mount a challenge to the ruling.

'The judges decision is wrong. Im immediately appealing. Ill ensure we have all the legal tools to keep TX pro-life,' the state attorney general wrote.
Police who swooped on two innocent black men in Liverpool have been accused of being 'institutionally racist'.

Footage of the incident in Toxteth shows them being stopped by officers who aimed assault rifles directly at them.

Merseyside Police say they had been called out to reports of a man carrying a gun at 9.15pm on Monday night.

They were handcuffed and searched but nothing was found and the innocent pair were released with no further action.

But critics say this is an example of the police 'profiling and scapegoating black men'.

Liverpool's first black MP Kim Johnson said: 'Seeing the video of the stop, I thought I was witnessing an incident on the streets of America.

'The firearms teams, the handcuffing of two young black men who were innocent of any offence.

'Yet another time when "you matched the description" was used by the police to intimidate and harass Black men for being Black; yet another time Merseyside police have left young Black people scared and traumatised.

Police say they saw someone who matched his description and stopped pair on the street

Liverpool's first black MP Kim Johnson said she thought video was of American streets at first

'This is why I say they are institutionally racist and it is this profiling and scapegoating that needs to change, and change now.

'I have written to the Chief Constable to ask her what action she is taking.'

But Merseyside Police has robustly defended its officers' actions and says that they did everything by the book.

The force said it had scrutinised body worn cameras and were confident the stop and search was justified.

It added the two police officers had followed the correct training and procedures.

Superintendent Diane Pownall said: 'Members of the public called us to report they had seen a man carrying a handgun.

Video footage shows armed police aiming guns at two young men in Toxteth after gun call

'As with any reports of somebody being armed with a firearm, armed response officers were authorised and deployed to the area.

'They saw two men nearby, one of whom matched the physical description of the person and was wearing clothing that matched the clothing described.

'Again, in line with training and procedures the officers carried out an armed stop. Due to the report that a man had been seen with a firearm, handcuffs were used during the search.

'Having viewed body worn footage of the incident we can say that officers explained to both men why they had been stopped and the reason for the search and both men were co-operative.

'Nothing was found on either of the men and no further action was taken.

'At the end of the search officers double checked that the men understood why the search had taken place and were advised on how to make a complaint if they felt the need to do so, but neither of the men indicated that they wished to make a complaint.

'We understand the footage of armed officers stopping men on the street can look quite intimidating, but where we have reports of people armed with guns the safety of the public is our paramount concern.'
A 20-year-old woman was killed after falling onto the subway tracks at New York City's Grand Central Station after a conductor was unable to stop in time as the train pulled into the station.

The woman, who is still unidentified, was fatally struck by an incoming southbound 7 train shortly before 11pm on Tuesday, according to the NYPD.

Authorities have not yet released the victim's name, as it is pending family notification, the NYPD told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.

The train operator reportedly tried to stop the train before hitting the woman, but was unable to break in time, cops told the New York Post.

Firefighters and EMTs tried to help the woman out from under the train, but she was pronounced dead about an hour later, the New York Post reported.

An unidentified woman, 20, was struck and killed by an incoming southbound 7 train at Grand Central (pictured) on Tuesday night

She reportedly fell onto the 7 train tracks and the train operator was unable to brake in time. Firefighters and EMTs tried to rescue the woman

Firefighters were seen rushing toward the scene in the subway tunnels

They were unable to get the woman out before she died and she was pronounced dead around an hour after the incident

Several firefighters were pictured laying on the platform, reaching between the silver subway car and the bright yellow safety strip of the platform with medical equipment scattered on the ground.

Shortly after police arrived to the scene, the power was cut off from the train tracks, according to Citizen.

It is unclear how the woman fell onto the tracks, but NBC New York reported that no criminality is suspected.

The 7 train was suspended in both directions for a portion of the tracks as emergencies teams work diligently to help the woman

It is also unclear how the FDNY managed to get her body out from under the train.

The 7 train was delayed in both directions due to the tragic incident and was temporarily suspended between 34 St-Hudson Yards and Hunters Point Avenue.

There are currently no active delays on the 7 train route as of Wednesday morning.

DailyMail.com has contacted the MTA for comment.

A large police presence was seen near the station, as seen on the Citizens app
German ministers are planning to fast-track migrants from Turkey into the country to help reduce airport chaos caused by a lack of workers.

Several politicians have said giving out residence and work permits quickly to migrants will help with the staff shortages the German aviation industry is experiencing.

The ministers involved stressed that safety and background checks won't be compromised on.

They also said they would 'act pragmatically' if migrant workers are found to be housed in poor conditions or taken advantage of.

Like the UK, overcrowded and understaffed airports have been a problem in Germany with the pandemic being blamed as the cause.

German transport Minister Wissing believes skilled workers left or were fired during the pandemic, and hopes this scheme will solve the problem.

Roles such as baggage handling and check-ins, which minister believe can be filled quickly, could be filled by migrants from Turkey in the very near future.

Germany is set to fast-track migrants into the country to help them alleviate stress on the aviation industry, which like the UK is suffering from a lack of staff (Passengers checking in at Berlin Brandenburg Airport)

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (pictured) are both backing the scheme

The ministers reiterated that safety would be paramount, proper wages will be paid and it is not temporary work.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing said at the beginning of the press conference: 'This is a problem that we have across Europe. We are very concerned about this because we see people's disappointment

'There are a lack of specialists at the companies that organize ground handling and in the area of security checks. It's a difficult topic because only the private sector can bring back the skilled workers it lost in the pandemic.'

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said: 'We will make it possible for companies to use auxiliary workers from abroad, especially from Turkey.

'We will issue the necessary residence and work permits very quickly. My company has already agreed to do this.'

The assistants could then 'be used for baggage handling, for example,' and would have to 'go through the same strict background checks as everyone else,' Faeser said.

Faeser continued: 'In my opinion, there are no compromises when it comes to safety. The citizens cannot be expected to do that either, and we are confident that the reliability checks carried out by the federal states will do everything to ensure that this can be done quickly.'

The German ministers believe that migrants could quickly be trained to work in Airport check ins (Pictured: Hamburg Airport)

Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil said the situation was particularly bitter because 'many people are actually looking forward to their vacation after a long Coronavirus period'.

At the same time, the minister promised that there would be no temporary work. 'The companies will have to hire the workers directly,' says Heil.

In addition, the government will ensure 'that wages are paid according to tariffs and that there is no wage dumping.'

Heil's announcement to the companies came with a warning, he told them state authorities will act pragmatically and check if migrants who come are accommodated humanely.

Other possible measures include streamlining flight operations and adopting rigorous rules for carry-on baggage in order to speed up security checks.

Shortages of staff in airports has occurred in several countries. In the UK the Government blamed airlines failing to plan by slashing jobs during the pandemic

While facing the same problems as Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, UK airline have often blamed Brexit as part of the problem.

Airlines have asked Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to temporarily ease post-Brexit immigration rules so they can similarly access the supply of qualified workers in Europe.

However the government has rejected the suggestion and blamed the ongoing problems on the industry's failure to plan accordingly.

Carriers slashed thousands of jobs during the pandemic which has caused hundreds of delayed or cancelled flights, huge queues to form at airports and travellers to wait four hours or more for luggage.

The problems have largely been due to staff shortages after carriers slashed thousands of jobs during the pandemic.

Jet2 had to deny reports that its chief executive Stephen Heapy blamed recruitment issues on 'lazy Brits who live off benefits and sit on their arses'.

The airline admitted that Brexit was making it more difficult to fill open positions.

Last week more than 700 Heathrow check-in and ground-handling staff voted for industrial action in a row over pay - which could further exacerbate the situation.

The GMB and Unite unions are expected to set strike dates for around July 22, when the school break begins.




An international tribunal declared an end to all proceedings in a multi-billion dollar suit U.S. private equity firm Lone Star filed against Korea's government 10 years ago over disputes surrounding its asset sell-off, according to the justice ministry Wednesday.







The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes declared the "termination of the proceeding" on the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) between Lone Star and Korea, paving the way for a verdict as soon as within 120 days.







Lone Star filed the suit in November 2012 to seek $4.68 billion in compensation from the government, claiming that its 2007 plan to sell a controlling stake in the now-defunct Korea Exchange Bank to HSBC fell through because Seoul's financial regulatory authorities unreasonably delayed approval of the deal.







The firm claimed it ended up selling off the KEB stake for a margin much smaller than what it could have gained from the botched deal. Lone Star eventually sold the stake to Hana Financial Group for 3.9 trillion won ($3 billion) in 2012.







Korea maintains that it treated Lone Star equally and fairly, as in the case of domestic entities, in accordance with international laws and regulations.







Four rounds of hearings on the case were held between 2015 and 2016, along with a question-and-answer session in October 2020.







The justice ministry said the government plans to review what steps it will take after the tribunal delivers its decision.







"Within the scope of relevant laws, the government will transparently release as much necessary information as possible," a justice ministry official said. (Yonhap)


A House of Commons committee is today looking at setting up a human rights 'ombudsperson' to handle complaints made against public authorities.

It is thought to be the first time the term - a 'woke' substitute for the word 'ombudsman' - has been used for official parliamentary business.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights Committee is this afternoon examining the case for introducing such an individual, and will take evidence from witnesses including the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The committee is chaired by Labour MP Harriet Harman, who Tory colleagues accused of pushing through the new term.

'Oh God. Ombudsper-child surely. Son is a male term,' one MP told MailOnline.

'The reality of Harriet is she's always had this stance form her early days... the right-on causes. She hasn't really modified that.'

Sources say it wasn't Ms Harman specifically who drove the decision to use the 'clunky' word, but rather a collective verdict within the committee.

The committee is chaired by Labour MP Harriet Harman, who Tory colleagues accused of pushing through the new term

The Joint Committee on Human Rights Committee is this afternoon examining the case for introducing such an individual, and will take evidence from witnesses including the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

A committee spokesman told MailOnline: 'It wasn't a chair-led decision but we decided to use it use it as a neutral term.

'Ombudsperson hasn't been established, but the committee has been keen to move towards more gender-neutral terms.

'We thought it was more appropriate to use in this instance as we no longer use the term chairman, for example.

'But it wasn't intended to be some grandiose gesture.'

A notice published ahead of today's meeting read: 'Ombudspersons handle complaints made by against public authorities.

'They often have power to investigate, recommend corrective action and issue a report where they find there has been maladministration.

'They can provide redress for an individual case, identify systemic issues and provide feedback to improve services.

'The UK currently has ombudspersons covering a range of responsibilities including the NHS, housing, social care and financial services.

'In this opening session, the Committee will examine how a human rights ombudsperson could fit within the existing ombuds structure and how it could improve the protection of rights in the UK.

'It will look at what powers they could have and also the potential advantages and disadvantages of establishing such a position.'
A Virginia father killed himself after he found his 18-month-old son dead in the backseat of an overheated car on Tuesday.

The father, who was unidentified, was found dead on Tuesday in Chesterfield with a gunshot wound to the head in the woods behind his home after police received reports he was threatening to harm himself. Officers found the body of the young child inside the home.

'This is a horrible tragedy on so many levels,' Chesterfield Police Lt. Col. Christopher Hensley said.

Police speculate the father went to work in the morning for three hours and forgot to drop his son off at daycare during an ongoing heatwave. Temperatures in Chesterfield reached a high of 80F on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigation show the father died of a self-inflected gunshot wound after finding his son lifeless in the car. The Chesterfield Police have not released the name of father and son, officers told DailyMail.com.

The father returned home upon finding his son, dropped his body off inside, and went into the woods behind his home to commit suicide, police say

Officers arrived at the home located at the 14100 block of Aldengate after receiving a call from the boy's family claiming he hadn't shown up for daycare and his father was suicidal

Chesterfield Police Lt. Col. Christopher Hensley held a press conference on Monday to discuss the preliminary findings

He was found in the woods behind his home around noon, after police received a tip of where he might be located.

The child's family alerted police on Tuesday morning that the boy had not shown up to daycare. Officers responded to the home located at the 14100 block of Aldengate Road after the family received suicidal statements from the boy's father.

'Upon their arrival, they located the people in the driveway with an open door with an empty child seat in the vehicle,' Hensley said. 'As they made entry into the residence, they found a deceased 18-month-old.'

The father was found shortly after, where the family said he would be.

'Out hearts go out to the family and friends that are going to deal with this, but we would be remiss in not taking the opportunity for people to take this moment and realize how important it is to obviously check your vehicles,' Hensley continued.
Former President Donald Trump continued to go after his one-time aide Cassidy Hutchinson using his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

'The lies and fabricated stories being told to the partisan Highly Unselect Committee, not only by the phony social climber who got caught yesterday, but by many others, are a disgrace to our, in serious decline, Nation,' the ex-president wrote.

Trump bemoaned that there was 'No cross examination, no real Republicans, no lawyers, NO NOTHING.'

'Fake stories and an all Fake Narrative being produced, with ZERO pushback allowed,' he continued. 'Unselects should be forced to disband.'

He ended the post with a phrase he had previously used about the Russia investigation: 'WITCH HUNT!'

Trump has been trying to hurt the reputation of Hutchinson since Tuesday's surprise hearing of the House select committee on January 6.

'I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and "leaker"), and when she requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request down,' Trump wrote as the 25-year-old testimony was ongoing.

Hutchinson worked in Trump's White House on the legislative affairs team and under Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

She provided embarrassing anecdotes about Trump's behavior during her testimony - including that he tried to grab the wheel of the presidential limo, the 'Beast,' after he was told he couldn't go to the Capitol Building on January 6 and threw food at the wall after Attorney General Bill Barr said there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Using Truth Social, former President Donald Trump (left) tried to distance himself from ex-aide Cassidy Hutchinson (right) as she testified Tuesday in front of the January 6 House select committee. He continued insulting her through Wednesday

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump was back on Truth Social railing against Cassidy Hutchinson calling her a 'phony social climber' and claiming that she lied. HE also said the January 6 committee should be 'forced to disband'

The former president pushed that Cassidy Hutchinson was only playing ball with the Democrat-led committee because he didn't keep her on his payroll after he left office in January 2021 and relocated to Mar-a-Lago

He also said her anecdote about him trying to grab the Beast's steering wheel after he was told he couldn't go to the Capitol on January 6 'Fake' and 'fraudulent' and denied testimony about how he would throw food and dishes when angry

'Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible?' Trump said Tuesday.

He suggested that Hutchinson only played ball with the Democrat-led committee because he didn't give her a job at Mar-a-Lago after he departed the White House in January 2021.

'I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn't want her to go, or be a member of the team,' Trump said. 'She is bad news!'

In another post on Truth social, Trump also accused Hutchinson of changing her story.

'She changed lawyers a couple of days ago, and with it, her story totally changed! SHOCKER???' the ex-president alleged.

The former president fumed over the testimony Hutchinson delivered about him throwing temper tantrums.

'I NEVER SAID, "MIKE PENCE DESERVES IT (to be hung). Another made up statement by a third rate social climber!' he posted. Trump had made a similar remark about Pence to ABC News' Jonathan Karl that corroborated Hutchinson's testimony

Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the administration of former President Donald Trump, returns after a short recess during Tuesday's surprise January 6 hearing

HAPPIER TIMES: January 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson (right) dances to YMCA alongside White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnanry (left) during a campaign stop in Ohio in September 2020

'Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is "sick" and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself - Wouldnt even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing,' Trump wrote.

Later Tuesday, the January 6 committee tweeted out footage of Trump departing the Ellipse rally in a black SUV that purportedly shows his hands moving toward the driver.

'Her story of me throwing food is also falseand why would SHE have to clean it up, I hardly knew who she was?' the former president added.

After Hutchinson's testimony concluded, Trump continued to go after her on Truth social.

'Her body language is that of a total bull. artist. Fantasy Land!' he wrote.

After Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony concluded, former President Donald Trump continued to go after her on Truth Social

The 25-year-old has firsthand information about the former president and his top aides' movements on the day of and leading up to the Capitol riot

'I NEVER SAID, "MIKE PENCE DESERVES IT (to be hung). Another made up statement by a third rate social climber!' he posted.

Trump had made a similar remark about Pence to ABC News' Jonathan Karl that corroborated Hutchinson's testimony.

'A Total Phony!!!' the former president added.

'There is no cross examination of this so-called witness. This is a Kangaroo Court!!' Trump fumed.

Trump has a history of turning on former aides and ex-political allies, a roster that now includes former Vice President Mike Pence and current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

During the hearing, Hutchinson recalled an impromptu meeting on January 6 after Trump returned to the White House after speaking at the Ellipse she had with former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato and Bobby Engel, the head of Trump's security detail.

'Did you hear what effing happened in the Beast?' she said Engel asked her.

She replied that she hadn't heard.

'Tony proceeded to tell me that when the president got in the Beast he was under the impression from Mr. Meadows that the off-the-record movement to the Capitol was still possible and likely to happen, but that Bobby had more information,' Hutchinson said.

Trump, Hutchinson said, thought they were going up to the Capitol - like he had told his crowd of supporters he would do.

This was in the hours before the attack.

'When Bobby had relayed to him we're not, we don't have the assets to do it, it's not secure, we're going back to the West Wing, the president had a very strong, very angry response,' Hutchinson continued.

She was told that Trump said something like: 'I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now!'

Engel, she said, reiterated that they were headed back to the White House.

'The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel, Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, "Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol,"' she said.

'Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel and when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me he motioned toward his clavicles,' Hutchinson said, as a sign the president went for Engel's throat.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney then asked Hutchinson if Engel or Ornato ever changed their stories.

'Neither Mr. Ornato or Mr. Engel told me ever that it was untrue,' Hutchinson testified.

After Hutchinson's testimony wrapped, multiple news outlets reported that Secret Service officials planned to dispute her claims about what happened in the presidential SUV.

From there, Hutchinson talked about Trump throwing dishes when being served with bad news.

She said she remembered 'hearing noise' on the heels of the Associated Press article being released in which Barr confirmed that Trump's widespread election fraud claims weren't real.

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was summoned to Trump's office.

When Meadows returned Hutchinson said she walked down toward the White House dining room.

'And I noticed that the door was propped open and the valet was inside the dining room changing the tablecloth off of the dining room table,' she said. 'He motioned for me to come in and then pointed toward the front of the room near the fireplace mantel and the TV.'

'Where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall,' she continued. 'And there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor.'

'The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall,' she said, explaining that she then helped with the clean-up.

Cheney then asked Hutchinson if this was typical Trump behavior.

'There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flicking the table cloth to let all of the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere,' Hutchinson volunteered.
2019: Australian intelligence services conclude that China was responsible for a cyber-attack on Australia's parliament and three largest political parties in the run-up to a May election.

April 2020: Australian PM Scott Morrison begins canvassing his fellow world leaders for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Britain and France are initially reluctant but more than 100 countries eventually back an investigation.

April 15: Morrison is one of the few leaders to voice sympathy with Donald Trump's criticisms of the World Health Organization, which the US president accuses of bias towards China.

April 21: China's embassy accuses Australian foreign minister Peter Dutton of 'ignorance and bigotry' and 'parroting what those Americans have asserted' after he called for China to be more transparent about the outbreak.

April 23: Australia's agriculture minister David Littleproud calls for G20 nations to campaign against the 'wet markets' which are common in China and linked to the earliest coronavirus cases.

April 26: Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye hints at a boycott of Australian wine and beef and says tourists and students might avoid Australia 'while it's not so friendly to China'. Canberra dismisses the threat and warns Beijing against 'economic coercion'.

May 11: China suspends beef imports from four of Australia's largest meat processors. These account for more than a third of Australia's $1.1billion beef exports to China.

May 18: The World Health Organization backs a partial investigation into the pandemic, but China says it is a 'joke' for Australia to claim credit. The same day, China imposes an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley. Australia says it may challenge this at the WTO.

May 21: China announces new rules for iron ore imports which could allow Australian imports - usually worth $41billion per year - to be singled out for extra bureaucratic checks.

June 5: Beijing warns tourists against travelling to Australia, alleging racism and violence against the Chinese in connection with Covid-19.

June 9: China's Ministry of Education warns students to think carefully about studying in Australia, similarly citing alleged racist incidents.

June 19: Australia says it is under cyber-attack from a foreign state which government sources say is believed to be China. The attack has been targeting industry, schools, hospitals and government officials, Morrison says.

July 9: Australia suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong and offers to extend the visas of 10,000 Hong Kongers who are already in Australia over China's national security law which effectively bans protest.

August 18: China launches 12-month anti-dumping investigation into wines imported from Australia in a major threat to the $6billion industry.

August 26: Prime Minster Scott Morrison announces he will legislate to stop states and territories signing deals with foreign powers that go against Australia's foreign policy. Analysts said it is aimed at China.

October 13: Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says he's investigating reports that Chinese customs officials have informally told state-owned steelmakers and power plants to stop Aussie coal, leaving it in ships off-shore.

November 2: Agriculture Minister David Littleproud reveals China is holding up Aussie lobster imports by checking them for minerals.

November 3: Barley, sugar, red wine, logs, coal, lobster and copper imports from Australia unofficially banned under a directive from the government, according to reports.

November 18: China releases bizarre dossier of 14 grievances with Australia.

November 27: Australian coal exports to China have dropped 96 per cent in the first three weeks of November as 82 ships laden with 8.8million tonnes of coal are left floating off Chinese ports where they have been denied entry.

November 28: Beijing imposed a 212 per cent tariff on Australia's $1.2 billion wine exports, claiming they were being 'dumped' or sold at below-cost. The claim is denied by both Australia and Chinese importers.

November 30: Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao posted a doctored image showing a grinning Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child. The move outraged Australians.

December 12: Australian coal is added to a Chinese blacklist.

December 24: China suspends imports of Australian timber from NSW and WA after local customs officers say they found pests in the cargo.

January 11, 2021: Australia blocks $300million construction deal that would have seen state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation takeover Probuild. The bid was blacked over national security concerns.

February 5, 2021: China confirms Melbourne journalist and single mother Cheng Lei has been formally arrested after being detained in August, 2020.

February 23, 2021: China accuses Australia of being in an 'axis of white supremacy' with the UK, USA, Canada and NZ in an editorial.

March 11, 2021: Australia is accused of genocide by a Communist Party newspaper editor.

March 15, 2021: Trade Minister Dan Tehan announced he wants the World Trade Organisation to help mediate discussions between the two countries over the trade dispute.

April 21, 2021: Foreign Minister Marise Payne announces Australia has scrapped Victoria's controversial Belt and Road deal with China using new veto powers.

May 6, 2021: China indefinitely suspends all strategic economic talks with Australia, blaming the Morrison Government's attitude towards the relationship. The move cuts off all diplomatic contact with Beijing under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, freezing discussions between key officials below a ministerial level.

June 22, 2021: China tries to 'ambush' Australia with a push to officially declare the Great Barrier Reef 'in danger'

September 15, 2021: Australia, the UK and the US announce the AUKUS security pact which will give the Australian military nuclear-powered submarines to counter China growing aggression in the Indo Pacific. The move is met with seething anger in Beijing.

March 24, 2022: Details of a Memorandum of Understanding emerge which could allow Beijing to station warships on the Solomon Islands, just 1,000 miles off the coast of Australia. Canberra warns it is 'concerned by any actions that destabilise the security of our region'.

April 25, 2022: Defence Minister Peter Dutton warns on Anzac Day that Russia and China's resurgence means Australia must be on a war-footing. 'The only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war, and to be strong as a country,' he said. 'We're in a period very similar to the 1930s.'

April 27, 2022: Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrew says China is likely to send troops to the Solomon Islands, and was using the row to derail Australia's Federal Election. She said Beijing was 'clearly very aware we are in a federal election campaign at the moment.'

May 13, 2022: Defence Minister Peter Dutton announces Australian military are tracking a Chinese spy ship 250 nautical miles northwest of Broome in WA near the Harold E Holt naval communication station. The sighting was mostly written off as a pre-election stunt.

June 5, 2022: A Chinese fighter jet intercepts an Australian spy plane with a 'dangerous manoeuvre' on May 26 and the details are revealed weeks later.
Harrowing audio has been released of a distressed mother's frantic calls to triple-0 as her teenage daughter took her final breaths while waiting for an ambulance.

Bernard and Corine Anseline's 14-year-old daughter Lydia suffered a severe asthma attack on April 13 at their home in Pakenham, Victoria.

They waited 30 minutes for paramedics after calling triple zero twice as Lydia's condition deteriorated before she died in her father's arms.

Two months on, the grieving parents are still yet to receive any answers as to why paramedics didn't arrive until it was too late.

They have shared confronting audio of their calls to triple-0 released to them by the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, in the hope it will spark change in the under-pressure healthcare system.

The audio includes the harrowing moment Mr Anseline begins CPR on his daughter after she lost consciousness.

The release comes after Melbourne's ambulance services were forced to issue a 'code red' on Tuesday morning.

A critical shortage of staff meant there were no ambulances available to be deployed to assist the sick and injured.

Lydia Anseline (pictured with her dad) died in her dad Bernard's arms while waiting for paramedics to arrive

'She feels like she's passing out,' Ms Anseline explains to the call operator.

'Lydia, Lydia, Lydia, Lydia, are you alright,' her husband is heard in the background.

His wife tells the triple-0 call operator: 'She's turning blue'.

The call operator provides instructions on how to give Lydia CPR.

'She's turning blue,' Ms Anseline cries.

The calm operator on the other end of the line is doing everything she can to help them.

'I understand she's turning blue, you need to follow my instructions okay,' she explains.

'She's still not breathing,' Mr Anseline is heard screaming as he desperately tries to revive his daughter.

The call eventually ends with the fire brigade first to arrive on scene, who took over resuscitation.

But by time paramedics arrived half an hour after the first call to triple-0, it was too late.

Corine Anseline (pictured) decided to share her harrowing triple-0 calls to the rest of Australia but admits it was hard listening to them

Despite their traumatic grief, the Anselines want to share the audio with the rest of Australia.

'I don't think I'm ready to listen to it, but I'm sharing it because I just want people to know ... it was a serious call,' Ms Anseline told A Current Affair.

Her husband added: 'I know it's traumatising, it's very hard, because I couldn't handle it myself - but (in) my opinion, people need to be aware of how the system is working,'

When Mrs Anseline first called at 1.07am, she was assured an ambulance was on its way.

'We do have that help organised for her, we've got an ambulance being sent,' the operator is heard saying.

That assurance stopped Mr Anseline from driving Lydia to the hospital himself, which is a 12 minute drive away.

The family insist they don't blame Ambulance Victoria for Lydia's death but have lost faith in the emergency services system.

'Personally, I would be very hesitant to call 000,' Mr Anseline said.

'If I can make it to the hospital, or a doctor, I'd get there myself.'

'I've already lost a daughter already, but seeing other families going through the same thing, it does break me.'

Grieving parents Bernard and Corine Anseline have recalled the final moments of their teenage daughter Lydia (pictured)

The heartbroken family have previously revealed Lydia's final words as she took her final breaths.

'I grabbed her hand and lifted her head up and I go, 'Lydia!' And she opened her eyes and goes, 'dad, I love you',' Mr Anseline previously told A Current Affair.

Ambulances are often called to the property as the Anseline's three other children also suffer from asthma attacks.

'Seven minutes, that's the longest we've ever had to wait. But on the 13th (of) April, it was a totally different story,' Mr Anseline said.

The first call to triple zero was made at 1.07am, another was then made at 1.25am.

An ambulance eventually got to the property at 1.41am - 34 minutes after the first call - but Lydia had tragically died before the ambulance had arrived.

The family only lives 13km - or a 12 minute drive - from the nearest hospital to their home.

They believe Lydia would've probably survived if they had rushed her to the hospital instead.

Lydia (left) had suffered a severe asthma attack at their family home in Pakenham, Victoria in April. Her parents called triple zero as her father performed CPR

Ms Anseline said if they were aware of the ambulance's estimated time of arrival they 'could have saved her, she'd still be here'.

Lydia had experienced another asthma attack just six weeks prior to her tragic death and had been rushed to hospital by her mother.

At that time, Mrs Anseline claimed the doctors and medical staff advised her to call triple zero to their home next time Lydia had an asthma attack.

Her parents are now calling on triple zero call takers to provide accurate estimated arrival times for ambulances.

'Just be honest. If the ambulance is going to run late, let the person know. Because if that person has enough time to save a life, it makes a big difference,' Mr Anseline added.

Mr and Mrs Anseline (pictured) believe Lydia would've survived if they had rushed her to hospital instead. They are now calling on triple zero call takers to provide accurate estimated arrival times for ambulances

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said at the time they were undertaking a full investigation into the incident to better understand what happened and why.

'We extend our deepest condolences to the patient's family and loved ones in this extremely difficult time,' the spokesperson said.

'We are undertaking a full investigation into this tragic incident to better understand what happened and why.

'We take very seriously our work providing the very best care we can to every patient, and we'll continue to work hard to serve the community during this period of increased demand.'

Two months on, Lydia's parents are still waiting for answers, despite promises by the director of Ambulance Victoria to meet with them, which never eventuated.

'I just wanted answers,' Mrs Anseline said.

'Why we were never contacted after the call, like, letting us know it was running late.'

Premier Dan Andrews (pictured) responded to the statewide staffing issues at a Rural Press Club lunch at Victoria's State Library on Tuesday

Premier Dan Andrews responded to the statewide staffing issues at a Rural Press Club lunch at Victoria's State Library on Tuesday shifting blame away from his government.

'With Covid-19 and flu spreading widely this winter, 1547 staff across the state's health system and about 150 Ambulance Victoria paramedics were off work on Monday, Mr Andrews said.

Mr Andrews expressed that Australia's sluggish skilled migration has been one of the factors impacting Victoria's health system over the past few years.

He believes that clearing the backlog of skilled migrants waiting to enter the country, will be the key to solving the crisis in regional health staffing.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughed and dodged a question on whether or not she would consider a run for president in 2024 during an appearance on the Colbert Show.

'I know somebody who's going to turn 35 about a month before the election in 2024 and they represent New York's 14th. Is that job appealing to you at all?' host Stephen Colbert asked the New York Democrat.

Ocasio-Cortez shot back: 'We need to focus on keeping a democracy for anybody to be president in the next couple of years. That's my central focus is helping the people of this country right now.'

'So it's possible?' Colbert asked. The congresswoman laughed and said, 'I don't know about all that ... you're trying to get me in trouble, I don't know about all that.'

The question was posed amid not-so-silent whispers that Democrats are not fully confident that President Biden, who will be 81 in 2024, will be up for running again.

'I know somebody who's going to turn 35 about a month before the election in 2024 and they represent New York's 14th. Is that job appealing to you at all?' host Stephen Colbert asked the New York Democrat

'I know somebody who's going to turn 35 about a month before the election in 2024 and they represent New York's 14th. Is that job appealing to you at all?' host Stephen Colbert asked the New York Democrat

'So it's possible?' Colbert asked. The congresswoman laughed and said, 'I don't know about all that ... you're trying to get me in trouble, I don't know about all that'

Biden and his top aides are 'irritated' by the cold reception his expected 2024 re-election bid has received from fellow Democrats and the media, according to the New York Times.

Biden and his team see perceptions that he is a 'lame duck' less than halfway through his first term as a 'lack of respect,' the Times reports based off anonymous conversations with people who speak regularly with the commander-in-chief.

In light of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, Ocasio-Cortez also said on Colbert that she'd like Biden and Congress to reconsider expanding the Supreme Court, end the Senate filibuster and repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding of abortion. She also said Congress needed to get tougher on codifying abortion rights, gay marriage, interracial marriage and access to contraception.

'The Supreme Court has engaged in overreach and it is the responsibility of the President and Congress to put them in check because they have delegitimized themselves,' the congresswoman said.

'We just need to fight, and we need to show and demonstrate to the American people that when you vote to give Democrats power we will use it to the fullest extent possible to defend everybody civil, economic and human rights.'

During a CNN appearance earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez refused to say whether she would back Biden in the next election, only offering: 'we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.'

'I think if the President has a vision, then that's something certainly we're all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes,' the Democrat who serves as a figurehead of the Progressive Caucus said.

'That's not a yes,' CNN's Dana Bash said, to which the congresswoman replied: 'We should endorse when we get to it, but I believe that the President's been doing a very good job so far, and, you know, should he run again, I think that I, you know, I think ... we'll take a look at it.

'But right now, we need to focus on winning a majority instead of a presidential election,' she said, referring to the midterm elections.

West Virginia conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin also would not tell the New York Times whether he would support Biden, brushing off the question with, 'We're just trying to do our daily thing, brother.'

'Trying to do what we got to do that's good for the country,' said the senator, who reports suggest has fielded requests from wealthy donors to run as a third-party candidate in 2024.

The report suggests that Biden's allies believe his ability to beat Donald Trump in 2020 is reason enough to support his candidacy, which comes amid the ex-president's ever-increasing hints that he's looking to run for office a third time.

It cites left-wing Democratic voters' frustration with party leaders for failing to mount an adequate response to the Supreme Court overturning federal abortion protections in Roe v. Wade.

Many felt that Biden and Congressional Democrats fell short of expectations after having more than a month to prepare since the draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked in Politico early last month.

As of Wednesday, Biden's average approval rating across a whole spate of polls is 39.2 percent, according to FiveThirty Eight.

On Tuesday Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger refused to commit to backing a Biden-Harris ticket in 2024. 'I'm looking squarely toward 2022 and the reelection ahead of me,' she said.

Pressed if Biden was best positioned out of Democrats to take on Trump, the congresswoman said: 'Ive been very clear that i think there are incredible leaders across the Democratic Party and that it is time to usher in new leadership.'
Advertisement

A stunning seaside beach hut has sold for 15,000 over the asking price as the demand for the coastline cabins continue to soar across Britain.

The gorgeous white hut on the sweeping Sussex coast was snapped up for a jaw-dropping 65,000 in less than 24 hours after it hit the market.

Sold by Warwick Baker estate agents, the small beach hut had just three viewings in less than a day before it was quickly sold.

And despite the hefty price for the small cabin, they received five offers as punters battled it out to snatch up the hut - which is just one of many located in the picturesque row along the beach.

The gorgeous white hut on the sweeping Sussex coast was snapped up for an jaw-dropping 65,000 in less than 24 hours after it hit the market

Beach huts have been causing a furore up and down the country as punters have tried to get their hands on the 'trendy' structures after a boom during lockdown

The gorgeous beach hut is just one in a picturesque row of white cabins along the coastline - and they are currently a hot commodity

The new owners will have this stunning view every time they open the hut door

Located on stunning Shoreham Beach, the 65,000 beach hut is right on the gorgeous coastline and pebble beach.

Inside, the walls are painted white and there are just two shelves hanging for the new owners to store all of their essentials.

Despite the basic interiors, the beach hut has a retractable wooden deck - which punters can place their chairs on to soak up the sunshine in the summer months.

For the eye-watering price, the owners will be able to enjoy the idyllic beach views alongside the row of white-painted huts next door.

Beach huts have been causing a furore up and down the country, with beachgoers willing to do almost anything to secure leases and some sellers demanding up to 600,000 for tiny structures.

Research by Hoo, the hotel room offer platform, shows that the average price of a beach hut soared by 41 per cent last year, fuelled by the popularity of staycations during the lockdowns. This year, a hut will cost 27,500 on average.

Meanwhile in 2021, property website OnTheMarket found estate agents saw searches surge by 259 per cent as people looked for ways to enjoy the sunny weather in the UK while in lockdown.

The interiors of the hut are basic - but the owners will be able to make their own mark

Sold by Warwick Baker estate agents, the small beach hut had just three viewings in less than a day before it was quickly sold

Beachgoers will be able to keep their deckchairs, blankets, and all their summer essentials in the gorgeous beach hut

For the eye-watering price, the owners will be able to enjoy the idyllic beach views alongside the row of white-painted huts next door

Where are the best beaches to get a hut? Mudeford Sandbank, Dorset Beer, Devon Southwold, Suffolk Shaldon, South Devon Llanbedrog, Gwynedd Mersea Island, Essex Cove Harbour, Berwickshire Torquay, South Devon Whitstable, Kent Trebetherick, Cornwall Source: Countryfile Advertisement

Tim Bannister of Rightmove said: 'Beach huts have become increasingly sought after over the past couple of years and this has driven prices up. The demand has been so frenzied that some are being sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds.'

This comes after a luxury beach hut in North Wales was up for rent for more than 1,200 a week but the owners wouldn't be able to sleep there overnight.

The wooden bathing hut sits on a sought after stretch of golden sand in Abersoch, North Wales - an area referred to by some as 'Cheshire by the Sea' because of the number of holiday homes snapped up by wealthy owners.

Holidaymakers can enjoy an open plan living space complete with a kitchenette with sea views and their own decking area.

The price to rent stands at up to 1,259 for a week in peak summer months, but there are strict rules against staying overnight in the holiday let despite the luxury price tag and there is no bathroom.

The hut is listed as a 'superb location to relax' with lockable storage for any watersports equipment.

Neighbouring huts have been sold on the beach for record-breaking prices of up to 200,000.

Despite the end of Covid restrictions and lockdown, beach huts are still in high demand

The stunning seaside beach hut has sold for 15,000 over the asking price as the demand for the cabins continue to soar
Georgie Tunny has praised Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-year jail sentence as a 'win for women and the MeToo movement' - but blasted the US Supreme Court for overturning women's rights to an abortion.

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trafficking young girls on behalf of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein who died in jail in 2019.

The Project host spoke to Lisa Bloom, who represents several Epstein victims, outlining her thoughts on the high-profile American case and asking the lawyer about social divisions sparking anger in the US.

'This 20-year jail term for Ghislaine Maxwell is really a win for women and for the Me Too movement as a whole,' she said.

'But it is arriving under the cloud of Roe v Wade's dismantling by the Supreme Court over there in the States. What was your reaction to it being overruled?'

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after telling the court that meeting Jeffrey Epstein was the 'biggest regret of my life'

Ms Bloom replied: 'Well, it's just heartbreaking.

'My mother, my daughter who's also an attorney and I were really devastated as are, tens of millions of American women that we have gone backwards, that we have lurched backwards, that teenage girls and poor women will be forced to carry pregnancies to term that they don't want.

'It's just shocking, but there's nothing to do but fight on state by state and that's what we're going to do.'

Judge Alison Nathan handed down the lengthy sentence to Maxwell which will be followed by five years supervised release after calling Maxwell's crimes 'heinous and prefatory.'

The judge also imposed a fine of $750,000, noting Maxwell had received a $10million bequest from Epstein after his death.

'Ms. Maxwell worked with Epstein to select young victims who were vulnerable and played a pivotal role in facilitating sexual abuse,' Judge Nathan said, making it clear the case called for a 'very significant sentence' that sent an 'unmistakable message' that such crimes would be punished.

There is no parole for federal prison, so Maxwell is likely to serve the entire 20-year sentence, but could potentially be released a few years early for good behavior.

The Project host spoke to Lisa Bloom, who represents several Epstein victims, outlining her thoughts on the high-profile case and asking the lawyer about social divisions sparking anger in the US

Ghislaine Maxwell delivers her first public statement while addressing Judge Alison Nathan during her sentencing in a courtroom sketch

Prosecutors asked Judge Alison Nathan to impose a sentence of at least 30 years because of Maxwell's 'utter lack of remorse,' while Maxwell claimed she should serve just four years as she is not a danger to the public

The sentencing marks the end of a decades-long fight for justice by victims of Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. In court Tuesday Maxwell said that Epstein 'fooled all of those in his orbit'

Maxwell's attorneys argued against the hefty fine, claiming she 'has received nothing' from the bequest in Epstein's will, but the judge remained firm on the decision, adding that 'there are additional assets.'

Lawyers also requested she serve her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. The low-security federal prison was the inspiration for the fictional prison in the Netflix show 'Orange Is The New Black.'

After the sentencing, Maxwell's attorney Bobbi Sternheim said outside the courthouse: 'Our client Ghislaine Maxwell has been vilified, pilloried and left little room for her to be treated fairly. Because even before she stropped forward into this courthouse, she was being tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.

'Ghislaine will appeal this case and we're confident she will prevail on appeal.'

Maxwell's brother, Kevin, briefly spoke following the sentencing and said they would be 'solidly' behind her during her appeal.

Women are seen protesting on Sunday in Washington DC after the Supreme Court overturned the decades' old decision which protected the right to an abortion

Meanwhile, on Friday morning the Supreme Court overruled the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by upholding Mississippi's restrictive 15-week abortion ban.

'The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,' the decision said.

President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House's Cross Hall calling it 'a very solemn moment' and a 'sad day for the court and the country.'

'Today, the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a Constitutional right from the American people, that it had already recognized. They didn't limit it, they simply took it away. That's never been done to a right so important to so many Americans,' Biden said. 'But they did it.'

'Now with Roe gone, let's be very clear, the health and life of women in this nation are now at risk,' the president said.

A protester in New York City holds a sign saying 'No sex with men until Roe v Wade is protected'

Biden pointed out how Republican-appointed justices, including by President Richard Nixon, decided Roe and upheld abortion rights in subsequent cases over the years.

'It was three justices named by one president - Donald Trump - who were at the core of today's decision to upend the scales of justice and eliminate a fundamental right for women in this country,' Biden said.

Biden said the laws going into effect in the states are 'so extreme' that a woman could be forced to bear their rapist's child or the child that is the 'consequence of incest.'

'The court literally taking America back 150 years,' Biden said, pointing out some of the statutes from the 1800s that were referenced in the Dobbs decision.

'It just stuns me,' he said.

One demonstration saw dozens lying down in front of the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta
A teacher at a top private school who had a sexual relationship with a pupil has had her prison sentence reduced by 11 months.

Nicola Park, 42, was jailed for 27 months in April after developing a relationship with the 15-year-old girl who had confided in her about a personal issue.

They soon went on secret trysts - including staying at Park's home - with the teacher calling the girl 'my angel'.

Their contact ended in 2020 after the pupil moved to university but she later told her doctor about the relationship and a police investigation was launched.

When officers searched Park's home, they made a number of discoveries linking the pair, including photos of a 'sexual nature'.

She pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to engaging in a sexual relationship with the pupil while in a position of trust between December 9, 2016, and April 14, 2019.

Her prison term has now been cut to 16 months after her legal team successfully argued that the original sentence was 'excessive'.

A teacher at a top private school who had a sexual relationship with a pupil has had her prison sentence reduced by 11 months. Nicola Park, 42, was jailed for 27 months in April after developing a relationship with the 15-year-old girl who had confided in her about a personal issue

However, following a hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal, judges Lord Matthews and Lord Doherty rejected a plea for Park to be given a non-custodial sentence.

In a written judgement, Lord Matthews said: 'There was a significant degree of planning and a high level of grooming resulting in an improper intimate relationship, which lasted for a considerable time.

'The appellant engineered situations where she was alone with the complainer in her car, her home, and elsewhere.

'She knew it was wrong and could have taken steps to end the relationship at any time but chose not to.

'While the appellant has expressed remorse, we note that in speaking to the author of the Criminal Justice Social Work Report, she attributed a large measure of responsibility for what happened to the complainer, which is a subversion of the true position.

'That having been said, there is force in the submission that the sentence was excessive.'

Park pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to engaging in a sexual relationship with the pupil while in a position of trust between December 9, 2016, and April 14, 2019. Her prison term has now been cut to 16 months after her legal team successfully argued that the original sentence was 'excessive'

Park was assistant housemistress at the school - which can't be named for legal reasons - while also teaching maths and social education.

In December 2016 the court heard the girl became upset and spoke to Park after complaining of feeling 'alone'.

Prosecutor Jennifer McKee told the court: 'She said Park would not understand how she felt. She replied that she did understand having recently separated from her husband.

'Park offered the girl support which helped her cope with how she was feeling.'

The teacher said the teenager could contact her outside school hours. Regular emails were then exchanged, including correspondences on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Sheriff John McCormick told her: 'This was not a momentary lapse in an otherwise unblemished career in teaching. 'This was abuse of trust of a teacher in her late 30s with an adolescent young female that included kissing, touching and engaging in sexual acts

Park went on to call herself 'Auntie Nic' and would sign off with a number of kisses.

Park, of Bearsden, near Glasgow, was also put on the sex offenders' register for ten years after pleading guilty in March.

Her details were also passed to the authorities stating that she is 'unsuitable to work with children'.

Sheriff John McCormick told her: 'This was not a momentary lapse in an otherwise unblemished career in teaching.

'This was abuse of trust by a teacher in her late 30s with an adolescent young female that included kissing, touching and engaging in sexual acts.

'You were a teacher and it was you who was in a position of responsibility and trust.

'Such is the gravity of the offence, the time it occurred and the professional role as a teacher at the school, in my opinion there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.'
This is the shocking moment a pregnant Iranian woman is shoved to the ground because she was dancing and not wearing a hijab.

Video shows the pregnant woman dancing in front of onlookers at a gathering before a woman wearing a hijab shoves her to the floor - causing the victim to fall on top of a child who was sitting down.

But the pregnant woman fights back and slaps the attacker in the face in front of a crowd of shocked onlookers.

The angry woman wearing the hijab then hits the victim repeatedly, prompting cheers from the onlookers.

This is the shocking moment a pregnant Iranian woman is shoved to the ground because she was dancing and not wearing a hijab

The pregnant woman fights back and slaps the attacker in the face in front of a crowd of shocked onlookers. The angry woman wearing the hijab then hits the victim repeatedly, prompting cheers from the onlookers. The attacker said: 'Get out of here, wear your hijab. You have to respect the hijab.'

The pregnant woman, after being hit three times, shouts: 'Why are you beating me?'

The attacker responds: 'Get out of here, wear your hijab. You have to respect the hijab.'

The victim confronts the woman and says: 'You know what? I am pregnant and unfortunately I cannot defend myself right now.'

The attacker then shouts: 'Put on your hijab' in front of the crowd.

It is not known exactly when or where in Iran the footage was captured, but it was shared on Twitter by Masih Alinejad - an Iranian women's rights campaigner currently based in the US who described the attack as 'shocking, bitter and painful'.

Alinejad said: 'Why should this pregnant woman be so brutally attacked by a harassing woman because of the hijab and so many people are just spectators?

'To remain silent in the face of bullies is not only oppression but also to encourage the oppressor to repeat the bullying.'

Iranian women take a selfie around of the Persian Gulf Martyrs lake, west of the capital Tehran

She said in a later tweet: 'This pregnant woman got beaten up by pro hijab woman for wearing 'inappropriate hijab' & dancing.

'In my country Iran the laws allow people to warn women for not following hijab laws. The regime hired 7000 undercover agents only in Tehran to stop unveiled women.'

Iran, like many Middle Eastern nations, enforces laws on what women and girls aged 13 and above can wear in public with an emphasis on 'modesty'.

Women in Iran are compelled to wear headscarves, must cover their arms and legs, and are banned from wearing clothing deemed too colourful or close-fitting.

The laws derive from comments made by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini following the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Breaking the rules can result in fines of up to 500,000 rials (17) and up to two months in prison.

Former President Hassan Rouhani, who came to power in 2013 promising a more moderate stance, previously said it is not the job of police to enforce religious rules such as those forcing women to cover their hair.

But in April 2016, officials said there were 7,000 undercover morality police reporting on things like 'bad hijab' - a blanket term usually referring to un-Islamic dress by women.

And following Rouhani's ouster earlier this year and the election of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, it seems rules are being more strictly enforced.

Rights campaigners warned at the time Raisi came to power that his election was designed to send a message from Iran's rulers to the population that dissent would no longer be tolerated.

Last week, Iranian authorities arrested the organisers of a skateboarding event in the southern city of Shiraz after video emerged of teenage girls at the event not wearing the hijab.

'This video demonstrates that, like youth everywhere, Iranian youth want to hang out with their friends and have fun on the weekend,' said Holly Dagres, nonresident senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank, the Atlantic Council, who has an area focus on Iran.

'The Islamic Republic is in a real conundrum whereby the geriatric clerics at the top are disconnected from some of the realities on the ground and struggling to reach this young generation of Iranians who see beyond their religious ruse.'

There have been a number of cases of women being beaten for not wearing a hijab in Iran.

In 2019, an Iranian woman was dragged across the street and beaten as the crowd cheered because she was dancing and not wearing a hijab.

The woman was seen standing in the central reservation of a busy road as she is jeered by men in the city of Rasht, on Iran's Caspian Sea coast.

The 'Go Skateboarding Day' event in Shiraz, Iran, prompted outrage among conservative religious authorities due to teenagers mixing freely and teenage girls not wearing headscarves

The woman can be seen in a confrontation with the crowd of men as she stands in the central reservation of a busy street in the city of Rasht, Iran

A group approaches her and a loud holler goes up from a crowd of men as the woman is savagely dragged over the tarmac

A crowd appeared to be in a stand-off with the woman before a few men approached her, with one grabbing her around the head and forcing her to the ground.

He then took hold of her ankles and brutally dragged her over the tarmac, prompting a massive cheer from the crowd of men.

In 2020, an Iranian undercover morality agent spat at teenage girls and asked them 'where's your dirty owner?' after seeing them without a hijab.

In a shocking video, which has been circulating on social media, a man stops his car and gets out before hurling abuse at the youngsters.

During the heated exchange on the side of the road in Kermanshah, Iran, he says to the girls 'I'll f*** your mother' and claims their behaviour is 'immoral' while a police officer appears to do nothing about the incident.

The morality officer gets out of his car at the side of the road and he and his wife start shouting at the teenagers for not wearing hijabs in Kermanshah, Iran

The video shows, as tensions between the man and the teenagers grow, the man's wife gets out of the car and says 'apologise to my husband so he won't hit you'.

The woman informs them that her husband is from the intelligence services and could get them arrested.

After the man spits in the girls' faces, another woman wearing a hijab pushes him.

A police car arrives shortly afterwards but the officer watches from afar and the teenagers scream: 'Officer, why aren't you doing anything?'
By Anna J. Park







KB Kookmin Bank announced Wednesday that it will jointly lead a financing project for constructing the New Terminal One (NTO) at John F. Kennedy International Airport.







The Seoul-based lender said it will be leading the project financing deal along with other global partners, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and ING Bank.







According to the bank, the participating financial companies jointly form a loan syndication of $6.6 billion, through which a group of lenders fund various portions of the loan needed for the rebuilding construction. KB Kookmin Bank submitted a co-financing commitment letter, vowing to support $300 million of the loan.







The bank explained that the co-leading of the project financing is the result of a strategic alliance between KB Financial Group and the Carlyle Group signed in 2020. The Carlyle Group is a key financier covering the costs for the JFK redevelopment plan.







"Through the strategic partnership with the Carlyle Group, KB Kookmin Bank is seeking various business opportunities in overseas investments, which will contribute to the growth of KB's global business," Woo Sang-hyun, Vice President of CIB at KB Kookmin Bank, said.







The New Terminal One renovation of John F. Kennedy International Airport is slated to begin this summer, with its first new gates scheduled to open in 2026 before the full project is completed by 2030. The New Terminal One will be the largest international terminal at JFK.


Bette Midler has vented her fury over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, suggesting they should also ban Viagra because it's 'God's will' for men to have a 'limp d***'.

The actress, 76, took aim at the justices whose decision allowed individual states to decide whether to make abortion illegal.

The Hocus Pocus star posted: 'Time to ban Viagra. Because if pregnancy is "God's will", then so is your limp d***.'

Bette Midler (pictured in December) has vented her fury over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

The actress, 76, took aim at the justices whose decision allowed individual states to decide whether to make abortion illegal

The post racked up nearly 250,000 likes amid the huge wave of opposition to the controversial SCOTUS ruling.

Midler has been vocal with her criticism of the decision, calling Justice Clarence Thomas an 'a**hole' and branding Justice Samuel Alito a 'villain'.

In her first reaction to the news, the star wrote: 'They did it. THEY DID IT TO US! #SCOTUS has overturned #RoevWade, enshrined in the Constitution as settled law for over 50 years.

'How dare they? This #SCOTUS is absolutely tone-deaf to the will and even the actual needs of the American people. #WakeUpAmerica.'

Midler is far from the only celebrity to speak out after the Supreme Court's bombshell ruling.

The Supreme Court unraveled nearly 50 years' worth of precedent and dramatically shifted the landscape of women's healthcare (judges who voted to overturn Roe are circled)

Actress and comedian Wanda Sykes warned the US is 'no longer a democracy', accusing the conservative judges of 'lying' under oath when they each suggested during their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade is settled precedent.

She also attacked Americans living in the 'middle states' for apparently telling blue states how to act as the 'majority of people live in New York and California.'

The Supreme Court unraveled nearly 50 years' worth of precedent and dramatically shifted the landscape of women's healthcare on Friday when it overruled the 1973 landmark decision that granted federal abortion protections under the Constitution.

After returning the matter to states' jurisdiction, nine GOP-led legislatures enacted bans on the medical procedure as of Sunday; at least a dozen could soon follow suit. The ruling is likely to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

Actress and comedian Wanda Sykes warned the US is 'no longer a democracy' as she slammed the Supreme Court justices who overturned the landmark court ruling Roe v. Wade

Speaking on CBS's 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on Monday about the ruling, Sykes said: 'I'm a black gay woman and I have a daughter so I'm not doing so well right now. I'm a little salty. I'm a little salty right now.'

She added: 'It just sucks man, it really does, you know? It's like the country, it is no longer a democracy, right? We're - it's no longer majority rules.'

Colbert agreed, saying: 'No, certainly not in the Senate and certainly not in the representatives of the Supreme Court.'

Sykes criticized the conservative Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, accusing them of 'lying' during their confirmation hearings.

'These judges, they basically lied during their confirmation hearings, right?' Sykes said.

'Especially Kavanaugh, yeah,' Colbert responded.

'So how can you be a Supreme Court justice and you just lying?' Sykes asked. 'What, they had their fingers crossed or something? Yeah, it's just a bunch of horsesh**. It really is.'

Their comments come after US Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins slammed Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch for their votes in overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday.

The senators had voted to confirm former President Donald Trump's appointed justices, despite fears that they would overturn the landmark abortion ruling, with the senators saying at the time that they trusted Kavanaugh and Gorsuch to uphold the law.

Now Collins, a Republican, and Manchin, a Democrat, are accusing the justices of misleading them as they criticized the court's 5-4 ruling to end women's federal right to an abortion.

'This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon,' Collins said.

Manchin echoed the outrage, saying: 'I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans.'

Meanwhile, Sykes also attacked the 'middle states' for apparently telling blue states what to do.

She said: 'To me, it is like the problem is that middle stuff. It is those states in the middle, that red stuff.

'Why do they tell get to tell us what to do when the majority of us live out in New York, California, and we are paying for all this crap, really. I mean, right? We're footing the bill,' Sykes said.

'Well, that's the union, it is supposed to be a representative democracy, but it turns out to be minority rule right now,' Colbert noted.

'California, if it were a country, it'd be like the fourth, fifth-largest economy,' Sykes said. 'So if, you know, I'm fitting the bill, know your position. You know what I'm saying?' the comic continued.

'If I say, "Hey, let's go out to dinner." You don't get to pick the restaurant. Just shut up and eat,' Sykes exclaimed.

Her comments prompted some criticism on social media, with many accusing her of 'not seeing Midwesterners as Americans.'

Her comments prompted some criticism on social media, with many accusing her of 'not seeing Midwesterners as Americans'

Lesa Peroutek tweeted: 'As a United States citizen who lives in one of those "middle red states" I was interested to hear from Wanda Sykes that ALL of us who live here, just need to shut up. Only New York and California have the "right" to say anything as they are "covering" the bill.'

Radio host Tony Katz tweeted: 'The elitists want the Midwest to grow their food and shut their mouths. Wanda Sykes doesn't see Midwesterners as people, as Americans. She sees them as "stuff," like her property.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Hey Wanda Sykes, you know all those "Red states in the middle" that you wonder why they get a voice? They provide our food. Try getting your beef, milk, cheese and vegetables from all those farms in NYC and LA. You Hollywood types are clueless... Please be quiet.'

Since the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, pro- and anti-abortion demonstrators have been posted outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

Thirteen states had so-called 'trigger laws' that immediately made abortion illegal with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Fresh Labour splits erupted over Brexit today as Keir Starmer slapped down calls for the UK to rejoin the single market.

London mayor Sadiq Khan inflamed simmering infighting by backing a return to the EU's trading area - which would mean bringing back free movement rules.

Mr Khan also branded leaving the EU 'the biggest piece of self-inflicted harm ever done to a country'.

But his party leader struck a starkly different tone on a visit to Crawley in West Sussex later, saying there was 'no case' for Britain resurrecting its single market membership.

Sir Keir has been desperately trying to keep a lid on Labour tensions over Brexit, with many of his MPs pushing to restore closer ties with Brussels.

The issue caused massive damage to the party in the wake of the 2016 referendum, with Sir Keir himself being blamed for making matters worse by penning a tortuous fence-sitting policy on whether to hold another national ballot.

London mayor Sadiq Khan inflamed simmering infighting by backing a return to the EU's trading area - which would mean bringing back free movement rules

Sir Keir has been desperately trying to keep a lid on Labour tensions over Brexit, with many of his MPs privately pushing to restore closer ties with Brussels

At an LBC panel event last night, Mr Khan was asked whether Labour should 'at a national level be agitating for rejoining the single market?'

He stressed that he could not speak for the party, but added: 'I believe we should. Spot on.'

However, asked about the comments today Sir Keir said: 'There's no case for returning to the EU or to the single market, but there's no point pretending that the deal that the government's negotiated is working because it obviously isn't working.

"You can see the queues at ports across the country, you can see the problems in Northern Ireland, and all the government ever did was shout the slogan 'get Brexit done'.

'A responsible government, a Labour government, the next government, will make Brexit work and that's what I'm absolutely focussed on.

"So there's no case for return but there is absolutely a case for making Brexit work rather than just a slogan which isn't helping anyone."

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves fleshed out Labour's stance last week at the The Times CEO summit in London.

She said the party wanted to 'address the flaws in the Brexit deal hitting our food and drinks manufacturers, creative industries, professional services and more, through repairing and strengthening our supply chains, and building on the UK-EU trade deal to cut red tape for exporters'.

'We need to adopt an approach that seeks to solve problems in a practical way for UK companies, and aims to build trust, rather than continually retreating to the issue of Brexit as a domestic political wedge,' Ms Reeves said.
The 30 NATO allies on Wednesday branded Russia as the biggest threat to their security and for the first time described the challenge posed by the rise of China.

It came as President Joe Biden said the U.S. was moving more troops and hardware into Europe, including for the first time installing a permanent presence on NATO's eastern flank.

Twelve years ago, NATO's 'strategic concept' made no mention of China and described Russia as a 'strategic partner.'

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said times had changed.

'The international balance of power is shifting and strategic competition is on the rise,' he said.

'China does not share our values. And, like Russia, it seeks to undermine the national rules based order. So we must continue to stand together.'

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has given new purpose to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation after failures in Afghanistan and divisions when Donald Trump was in the White House.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said: 'The international balance of power is shifting and strategic competition is on the rise'

Russian soldiers patrol a destroyed part of the Illich Iron & Steel Works Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine

The Chinese military's new DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles, that can reportedly reach the United States, are seen at a parade to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China

Stoltenberg said the alliance was meeting 'in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War.'

Much of the focus was on Ukraine and Russia, but the new document spelled out concerns about China - and its growing warmth with Moscow.

'The deepening strategic partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests,' it said.

If the new language was a jab at Beijing, leaders spent the day taking shots at Moscow.

Russia's 'war of aggression against Ukraine has shattered peace and gravely altered our security environment.'

Biden arrived at the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday morning and promised to send two F-35 squadrons to the U.K. and two destroyers to Spain as he strengthens U.S. forces in Europe against the threat from Vladimir Putin of Russia.

It includes for the first time a permanent military presence on NATO's eastern flank - a move that is likely to anger Moscow.

Biden made his announcement on the first day of a summit that began on a positive note, with Turkey dropping its objections to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

'We're sending an unmistakable message in my view, and I think yours as well,' he told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, 'that NATO is strong, united and the steps we're taking during this summit will kind of further augment our collective strengths.

'To that end, today I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security.'

After already sending an extra 20,000 troops to Europe - bringing the total to 100,000 - he announced two more squadrons of F-35 warplanes would be sent to the U.K. and the number of destroyers based in Spain would increase from four to six.

Additional air defense systems will be sent to Germany and Italy, he said,

And the U.S. will set up up a permanent military headquarters for its 5th Army Corps in Poland as well as sending another 5,000 troops to Romania.

The F-35 is the U.S. Air Force's most advanced warplane, with air superiority and ground attack capabilities.

President Joe Biden meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the NATO summit in Madrid

Biden announced he was sending more U.S. forces to Europe as NATO allies gathered to promise full-throated support for Ukraine against Vladimir Putin's Russia

The surge will include two squadrons of F-35 warplanes being sent to the United Kingdom

Biden also said he was increasing the number of US Navy destroyers stationed at US Naval Station, Spain, from four to six, as he steps up forces deployed in Europe

Biden waved as his motorcade made its way through Madrid to the summit site

'We're going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet the threats from all directions across every domain - land, air and the sea,' said Biden.

'At a moment when Putin has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very, very tenets of rule based order. The United States and are allies are going to step up.'

The most significant part of the decision may

'These forces  the first permanent U.S. forces on NATOs Eastern Flank  will improve our command and control capabilities, interoperability with NATO, and management of prepositioned equipment,' the Pentagon said.

Earlier British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Putin's hopes of dividing NATO with his invasion of Ukraine had been dashed.

Putin was getting 'more NATO' not less, said Johnson as he arrived at the summit.

American and European officials had been hoping for progress on expansion during the two-day summit in Madrid.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May, alarmed at Russia's aggression in the region.

Biden was greeted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said the alliance was meeting in the 'most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War'

But Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could not support their applications. Turkey has long accused the two countries of harboring members of the separatist militant Kurdistan's Workers Party, which Turkey has designated as a terrorist group.

On Tuesday, details of a breakthrough emerged. Turkey was happy with moves made by Finland and Sweden, said officials.

Stoltenberg hailed the deal by saying: 'We now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.'

White House officials said the U.S. was not directly involved in the negotiations.

However, Biden spoke with Erdogan on Tuesday as part of an effort to remove roadblocks from Sweden and Finland.

Biden spoke to Erdogan again on Wednesday as they both arrived at the summit and are due to hold a meeting later in the day.

Meanwhile, leader after leader said they wanted to send a clear message to Moscow.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the summit's host, said Russia would be named the alliance's 'main threat' in its new strategic concept. The last such document, published in 2010, characterised Russia as a strategic partner.

'We are sending a strong message to Putin: You will not win,' he said.

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said NATO would supply arms to Ukraine for as long as necessary.

'Russia has with its brutal war of aggression violated the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine,' he said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to launch NATO applications
The Pentagon said Tuesday it will continue offering limited abortions to female service members and dependents at its facilities, regardless of how state law changes after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Gil Cisneros, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said that medical centers on military bases are federal facilities and won't change how they operate under the new ruling. Federal law stipulates that military facilities offer abortions in cases where the life of the mother is endangered or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. It prohibits the Defense Department (DOD) from paying for or offering other types of abortion.

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision on Friday to over turn Roe, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion pre-viability, at around 20 weeks.

The Pentagon said Tuesday it will continue offering limited abortions to female service members and dependents at its facilities, regardless of how state law changes after the overturning of Roe v. Wade

Pro-life protesters celebrate the overturning of Roe outside the Supreme Court

Without Roe, a number of states have said they will ban abortions even in the case of rape or incest. States like Alabama and Arkansas have laws that were blocked by courts until the Dobbs decision that do not include exceptions. After Dobbs, those laws are likely to take effect. Florida bans abortions after 15 weeks with no exceptions and states like Louisiana and Texas have trigger laws that are soon to take effect implementing a near-total ban on abortions, including for rape or incest.

All state abortion bans include some sort of exemption for when the life of the mother is threatened.

'The Supreme Court decision does not prohibit the department from continuing to perform covered abortions, consistent with federal law. There will be no interruption to this care,' Cisneros' memo read.

States 'may not impose criminal or civil liability on federal employees who perform their duties in a manner authorized by federal law,' the memo said.

The Pentagon performed 91 abortions at its facilities from 2016 to 2021, according to an internal report obtained by USA Today.

A large group of abortion rights supporters protest at the Mississippi Capitol, in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, June 28

Cisneros added in the memo that the court's decision 'will have significant implications for our Service members, dependents, other beneficiaries of DoD health care services, and civilian employees, as well as the readiness of the Force.'

The memo said that service members will still be able to use paid sick leave to travel to another state to obtain an abortion.

Meanwhile Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra on Tuesday directed federal agencies to ensure that all women have access to medication abortions in the case of rape or incest.

The secretary told reporters that federal law requires HHS programs grant abortion pills in exceptional circumstances, including rape or incest or when the mother's life is at risk.
Former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Eric Herschmann said he penned the note that Cassidy Hutchinson said she wrote on January 6, which was shown as evidence during Tuesday's explosive hearing.

'The handwritten note that Cassidy Hutchinson testified was written by her was in fact written by Eric Herschmann on January 6, 2021,' a spokesperson for Herschmann told ABC News late Tuesday. 'All sources with direct knowledge and law enforcement have and will confirm that it was written by Mr. Herschmann.'

Herschmann reportedly previously told the House select committee on January 6 committee that he had scrawled the note in question.

Herschmann had worked as a lawyer for Trump within the White House, but cooperated with the House investigation, including saying that some of the plots to overturn the election were 'nuts.'

Hutchinson worked under White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and the handwritten message was written on his letterhead.

She testified that Herschmann was also in the meeting where they discussed something Trump could say to call off the Capitol attack.

'Anyone who entered the Capitol without proper authority should leave immediately,' the message reads.

The word 'illegally' is crossed out.

'That's my handwriting,' Hutchinson told committee members during her Tuesday testimony.

She testified that Meadows had handed her the notecard and a pen and started dictating a statement for the president as the Capitol was getting ransacked.

Hutchinson said Herschmann suggested changing the statement changing 'illegally' to 'without proper authority.'

The January 6 committee downplayed that one of its witnesses was misremembering details about the memo.

While Hutchinson and Herschmann 'may have differing recollections of who wrote the note,' the spokesperson said, the important thing was that 'both White House officials believed that the president should have immediately instructed his supporters to leave the Capitol building.'

Hutchinson's lawyers told CNN Wednesday afternoon that she stood by her whole account.

'Ms. Hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,' said lawyers Jody Hunt and William Jordan.

The meeting took place around 3 p.m. and Trump didn't send out a message to supporters until 4:17 p.m. telling them, 'We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You've seen the way others are treated. ... I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace.'

Trump reacted to the note being presented as evidence by posting to Truth Social: 'Bad handwriting, that of a Whacko?'

Former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Eric Herschmann (above) said he penned the note that Cassidy Hutchinson said she wrote on January 6, which was shown as evidence during Tuesday's explosive hearing. He is pictured during his own testimony to the hearing

Hutchinson testified that Meadows had handed her the notecard and a pen and started dictating a statement for the president as the Capitol was getting ransacked

During the hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson claimed she had written the note, but Eric Herschmann previously told the committee - reiterating it through a spokesperson Tuesday - that he had scrawled the message, which was something Trump could say to call off the Capitol attack

Former President Donald Trump commented on the note being included in the testimony by suggesting that it was written by a 'Whacko'

Trump continued to go after his one-time aide Hutchinson using his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

'The lies and fabricated stories being told to the partisan Highly Unselect Committee, not only by the phony social climber who got caught yesterday, but by many others, are a disgrace to our, in serious decline, Nation,' the ex-president wrote.

Trump bemoaned that there was 'No cross examination, no real Republicans, no lawyers, NO NOTHING.'

'Fake stories and an all Fake Narrative being produced, with ZERO pushback allowed,' he continued. 'Unselects should be forced to disband.'

He ended the post with a phrase he had previously used about the Russia investigation: 'WITCH HUNT!'

Trump has been trying to hurt the reputation of Hutchinson since Tuesday's surprise hearing of the House select committee on January 6.

'I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and "leaker"), and when she requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request down,' Trump wrote as the 25-year-old testimony was ongoing.

Hutchinson worked in Trump's White House on the legislative affairs team and under Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

She provided embarrassing anecdotes about Trump's behavior during her testimony - including that he tried to grab the wheel of the presidential limo, the 'Beast,' after he was told he couldn't go to the Capitol Building on January 6 and threw food at the wall after Attorney General Bill Barr said there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

The former president pushed that Cassidy Hutchinson was only playing ball with the Democrat-led committee because he didn't keep her on his payroll after he left office in January 2021 and relocated to Mar-a-Lago

He also said her anecdote about him trying to grab the Beast's steering wheel after he was told he couldn't go to the Capitol on January 6 'Fake' and 'fraudulent' and denied testimony about how he would throw food and dishes when angry

'Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible?' Trump said Tuesday.

He suggested that Hutchinson only played ball with the Democrat-led committee because he didn't give her a job at Mar-a-Lago after he departed the White House in January 2021.

'I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn't want her to go, or be a member of the team,' Trump said. 'She is bad news!'

In another post on Truth social, Trump also accused Hutchinson of changing her story.

'She changed lawyers a couple of days ago, and with it, her story totally changed! SHOCKER???' the ex-president alleged.

The former president fumed over the testimony Hutchinson delivered about him throwing temper tantrums.

'I NEVER SAID, "MIKE PENCE DESERVES IT (to be hung). Another made up statement by a third rate social climber!' he posted. Trump had made a similar remark about Pence to ABC News' Jonathan Karl that corroborated Hutchinson's testimony

Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the administration of former President Donald Trump, returns after a short recess during Tuesday's surprise January 6 hearing

HAPPIER TIMES: January 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson (right) dances to YMCA alongside White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnanry (left) during a campaign stop in Ohio in September 2020

'Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is "sick" and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself - Wouldnt even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing,' Trump wrote.

Later Tuesday, the January 6 committee tweeted out footage of Trump departing the Ellipse rally in a black SUV that purportedly shows his hands moving toward the driver.

'Her story of me throwing food is also falseand why would SHE have to clean it up, I hardly knew who she was?' the former president added.

After Hutchinson's testimony concluded, Trump continued to go after her on Truth social.

'Her body language is that of a total bull. artist. Fantasy Land!' he wrote.

After Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony concluded, former President Donald Trump continued to go after her on Truth Social

The 25-year-old has firsthand information about the former president and his top aides' movements on the day of and leading up to the Capitol riot

'I NEVER SAID, "MIKE PENCE DESERVES IT (to be hung). Another made up statement by a third rate social climber!' he posted.

Trump had made a similar remark about Pence to ABC News' Jonathan Karl that corroborated Hutchinson's testimony.

'A Total Phony!!!' the former president added.

'There is no cross examination of this so-called witness. This is a Kangaroo Court!!' Trump fumed.

Trump has a history of turning on former aides and ex-political allies, a roster that now includes former Vice President Mike Pence and current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

During the hearing, Hutchinson recalled an impromptu meeting on January 6 after Trump returned to the White House after speaking at the Ellipse she had with former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato and Bobby Engel, the head of Trump's security detail.

'Did you hear what effing happened in the Beast?' she said Engel asked her.

She replied that she hadn't heard.

'Tony proceeded to tell me that when the president got in the Beast he was under the impression from Mr. Meadows that the off-the-record movement to the Capitol was still possible and likely to happen, but that Bobby had more information,' Hutchinson said.

Trump, Hutchinson said, thought they were going up to the Capitol - like he had told his crowd of supporters he would do.

This was in the hours before the attack.

'When Bobby had relayed to him we're not, we don't have the assets to do it, it's not secure, we're going back to the West Wing, the president had a very strong, very angry response,' Hutchinson continued.

She was told that Trump said something like: 'I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now!'

Engel, she said, reiterated that they were headed back to the White House.

'The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel, Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, "Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol,"' she said.

'Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel and when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me he motioned toward his clavicles,' Hutchinson said, as a sign the president went for Engel's throat.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney then asked Hutchinson if Engel or Ornato ever changed their stories.

'Neither Mr. Ornato or Mr. Engel told me ever that it was untrue,' Hutchinson testified.

After Hutchinson's testimony wrapped, multiple news outlets reported that Secret Service officials planned to dispute her claims about what happened in the presidential SUV.

From there, Hutchinson talked about Trump throwing dishes when being served with bad news.

She said she remembered 'hearing noise' on the heels of the Associated Press article being released in which Barr confirmed that Trump's widespread election fraud claims weren't real.

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was summoned to Trump's office.

When Meadows returned Hutchinson said she walked down toward the White House dining room.

'And I noticed that the door was propped open and the valet was inside the dining room changing the tablecloth off of the dining room table,' she said. 'He motioned for me to come in and then pointed toward the front of the room near the fireplace mantel and the TV.'

'Where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall,' she continued. 'And there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor.'

'The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall,' she said, explaining that she then helped with the clean-up.

Cheney then asked Hutchinson if this was typical Trump behavior.

'There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flicking the table cloth to let all of the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere,' Hutchinson volunteered.
Three young men have died within three months of each other after taking a new designer drug sweeping the dark web which is 1,000 times more powerful than morphine.

Students Dylan Byfield-Levell, 20, Jakob Wozniak, 19, and entrepreneur Miles Davis, 27, died after taking the opioid N-pyrrolidino etonitazene in Birmingham.

The deaths all took place between last October and January this year.

Dr Judith Yates, who analyses drug deaths in Birmingham, said she had been 'shocked' after seeing the opioid's effects.

The powerful drug is known to be sold as a little blue pill with an 'M' on one side and the number '30' on the other.

Speaking to the BBC she said: 'These three cases have come out of the blue, we've never seen this chemical before in Birmingham.

The powerful drug N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is believed to be sold as a little blue pill with an 'M' on one side and the number '30' on the other (stock image)

An 18-year-old was the first person believed to have taken the drug last year. He was treated at University Hospitals Birmingham (Queen Elizabeth Hospital pictured)

'There is no way to tell what's in a tablet that you're getting either online or on the street.'

The drugs appear to be a replacement for fentanyl, but are far more powerful and were being bought on the dark web rather than the street, Dr Yates added.

Mr Byfield-Levell, from Sutton Coldfield, was found collapsed at home by a relative at 5.15am on October 2 last year after a night out with friends.

What is N-pyrrolidino etonitazene? N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is a synthetic opioid, 20 times stronger than the drug fentanyl and 1,000 times stronger than morphine. The chemically manufactured opioids are designed to help patients suffering from chronic pain. Recreational use of the chemically manufactured drug in the UK was first identified in May 2021. It is thought to originate from China and later arrived in the UK via Russia or Eastern Europe. The drug has been found for sale on the dark web, rather than in the street. It has been known to be sold as a little blue pill with an 'M' on one side and the number '30' on the other. The drugs were first discovered in the UK last year (stock image of what N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is believed to look like) Advertisement

An inquest heard had he an underlying heart condition and Birmingham and Solihull coroner Emma Brown said he died from natural causes brought on by drugs and alcohol.

Mr Davis was found dead on October 10 last year and a pathologist has suggested the cause of death was N-pyrrolidino etonitazene toxicity.

Mr Wozniak, who died on January 3 this year, also had the drug in his system.

The deaths come after an 18-year-old man is believed to have been the first in the UK to take the drug last July.

The man was discovered unresponsive and breathing noisily by his mother who started CPR after calling an ambulance.

When paramedics arrived he had no pulse and was not breathing but was saved by an injection of an antidote naloxone.

He was rushed to University Hospitals Birmingham where he was treated by Dr Mark Pucci.

Dr Pucci said: 'He was very lucky to survive. It was only really the quick thinking of his mother.

'He went into respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest, so is very lucky to be alive.'

In a report he wrote into the teenage patient, Dr Pucci said animal studies showed the drug was 1,000 times more powerful than morphine.

He said: 'These cases are not really picked up on routine drug tests, so there may well be other cases that we don't yet know about.

'I understand that there may be some recent cases in London.'

N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is made up of compounds originally developed in the 1950s and 60s.

They originate in China and arrive in the UK via Russia or Eastern Europe.
A man accused of setting up a 'highly racist' and 'highly antisemitic' podcast station called Radio Aryan has gone on trial.

James Allchurch, 50, of Gelli, Pembrokeshire, appeared at Swansea Crown Court today accused of 15 counts of distributing a sound recording stirring up racial hatred.

The charges relate to audio files uploaded from May 2019 to March last year on to a website called Radio Aryan - later renamed Radio Albion.

Allchurch set up Radio Ayran along with Alex Davies, the convicted founder of Neo-Nazi group National Action.

Allchurch used the alias Sven Longshanks, a reference to King Edward I who expelled all Jews from England in 1290.

James Allchurch (centre), 50, of Gelli, Pembrokeshire, appeared at Swansea Crown Court today accused of 15 counts of distributing a sound recording stirring up racial hatred

The episodes are said to have been 'insulting or abusive' about ethnic minorities, often uploaded along with inflammatory cartoons and given titles such as Rivers Of Blood, Banned In The UK, the Leftist Supremacist Mindset, and the Usual Suspects.

Prosecutor Ian Wright said that Allchurch was responsible for distributing the audio recordings, was the owner of the website and the main host.

Mr Wright said: 'Radio Aryan was entirely open to the public, it could be accessed without any checks or logins.

'The content was highly racist, anti-semitic and white supremacist in nature.'

Allchurch, who is on bail, appeared in the dock wearing a dark green shirt, tie and dark blue suit with his black hair tied into a tight ponytail, with thin rimmed glasses and a walking stick.

He spoke only to confirm his name before the charges were read out to a jury of seven men and five women.

In previous hearings he asked to be referred to by his podcast name, 'Sven Longshanks'.

Allchurch arrived at Swansea Crown Court with a walking stick and spoke only to confirm his name before the charges were read out to a jury of seven men and five women

The name is said to be a reference to King Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks, who was responsible for expelling Jews from England in 1290.

Mr Wright told the jury: 'These recordings are insulting or abusive and were distributed with intent to stir up racial hated.

'It's the case for the prosecution that this defendant was responsible for the creation of these audio files, which were highly racist and highly antisemitic in nature.

'While the name changed from Radio Aryan to Radio Albion, we submit the virulently racist content of the website remained unchanged.'

Mr Wright added that the content was 'white supremacist in nature'.

He said each of the 15 podcasts will be played to the court during the trial.
Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday renewed her public call for former White House counsel Pat Cipollone to testify before the January 6 committee in the wake of explosive testimony from former senior Trump administration aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

Cipollone warned her that the administration would be 'charged with every crime imaginable' if officials went along with Donald Trump's alleged plan to overturn the election on January 6.

Cheney, the committee's vice chair, argued that Hutchinson's testimony and other accounts of Cipollone showing concern about the plot are compelling enough reason for him to testify.

'As we heard yesterday, WH counsel Pat Cippollone (sp) had significant concerns re. Trumps Jan 6 activities,' the Wyoming Republican lawmaker wrote on Twitter.

'Its time for Mr. Cippollone (sp) to testify on the record.'

She added that 'any concerns he has about the institutional interests of his prior office are outweighed by the need for his testimony.'

Hutchinson, the 25-year-old former assistant to Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, spent roughly two hours on Tuesday telling the committee and Americans across the country her firsthand account of the battle within the Trump White House to keep the former president from marching to the US Capitol with his supporters on January 6.

January 6 committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney has now twice publicly called for former White House lawyer Pat Cipollone to testify in front of her panel

It came after an explosive hearing with Cassidy Hutchinson, the 25-year-old who served as Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' assistant through the riot, as the star witness (pictured: Cheney hugs Hutchinson after her riveting testimony)

The Wyoming Republican then took to Twitter to claim Hutchinson's testimony is proof that Cipollone should testify

Her testimony paints a picture of a lame duck leader who knowing encouraged his supporters - some of whom were armed - to commit violence at the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

Among the officials who urged Hutchinson to keep Trump from the Capitol was Cipollone, she claimed.

'Mr. Cipollone said something to the effect of, "please make sure that we don't go up to the Capitol, Cassidy, keep in touch with me",' the former White House staffer said.

She said Cipollone delivered a stark warning: 'We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.'

Cipollone reportedly told Meadows that there will be 'blood on your hands' if he did not stop his boss and the riot on January 6

In an earlier videotaped deposition shown by the committee, Hutchinson said Cipollone was 'worried that it would look like we were inciting a riot or encouraging a riot to happen up at the Capitol.'

While working under Trump, Cipollone acted as the attorney for the White House rather than the ex-president's personal lawyer - despite representing him at his first impeachment trial in 2019.

Other witness testimony gathered by the committee indicates that Cipollone also had a front-row seat to Trump's efforts to weaponize the Justice Department to investigate his baseless election fraud claims.

In a videotaped deposition shown by the committee earlier this month, the former president's son-in-law Jared Kushner wrote off Cipollone's threats to resign ahead of the riot as 'whining.'

'I know he was always - him and the team were always saying, "Oh, were going to resign. Were not going to be here if this happens, if that happens." So I kind of took it up to be just whining, to be honest with you,' Kushner, who was also one of Trump's White House advisers, said.

Cipollone and his deputy were among the 'hundreds' of people who former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue said would resign across the administration if Trump followed through with his plan to install an under-qualified loyalist to lead the Justice Department named Jeffrey Clark.

Hutchinson's account paints a picture of a lame duck leader who had to be stopped from marching on the US Capitol with his supporters - some of whom he allegedly knew were armed

'I said, Mr. President, within 24, 48, 72 hours you could have hundreds and hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your entire Justice Department because of your actions. What's that going to say about you?' Donoghue told the committee last week.

Cipollone himself told Trump that installing Clark would be tantamount to a 'murder-suicide pact,' according to witness testimony.

At one of the committee's previous hearings, Cheney said lawmakers were 'certain that Donald Trump does not want Mr. Cipollone to testify here.'

'Indeed, our evidence shows that Mr. Cipollone and his office tried to do what was right. They tried to stop a number of President Trump's plans for January 6,' Cheney said.

During Tuesday's hearing she suggested the committee has evidence of attempts to tamper with its witnesses.

'Our committee commonly asks witnesses connected to Mr. Trump's administration or campaign whether they've been contacted by any of their former colleagues or anyone else who attempted to influence or impact their testimony,' Cheney said.

She then displayed two messages. The first, from an unnamed witness, said they were told 'as long as I continue to be a team player...I'll continue to stay in good graces in Trump World.'

They also said they were asked to 'keep in mind' that Trump 'does read transcripts' as they 'proceeded through my depositions and interviews with the committee.'

The second message, apparently sent to a witness the day before their deposition, states: 'He wants me to let you know that he's thinking about you. He knows you're loyal, and you're going to do the right thing...'

Cipollone's testimony, if he choses to give it, has the potential to seal Trump's fate.

A previous notable example of a lawyer bringing down an administration is John Dean, Richard Nixon's White House counsel. Dean was the first member of the administration - current or former - to say the late Republican president was directly involved in the infamous Watergate coverup.

Facing impeachment, the scandal forced Nixon to become the first and only US president to ever resign.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield at Ben & Jerry's 10th Anniversary Celebration Of Peace Day at The Box in 2009 in New York

Ben Cohen

Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in the town of Merrick, on Long Island. Cohen first met and befriended his future business partner Jerry Greenfield in a seventh grade gym class in 1963. In his senior year, Cohen found work as an ice cream man before leaving to attend Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

Over the next decade, Cohen pursued his interest in pottery and dropped out of college after his sophomore year. He also worked as McDonald's cashier, Pinkerton guard, deliverer of pottery wheels, mop-boy at Jamesway and Friendly's, assistant superintendent, ER clerk, and taxi driver, before settling on work as a craft teacher at a private school for emotionally-disturbed adolescents. While teaching at the Highland Community School, Cohen began experimenting with making his own ice cream.

Jerry Greenfield

Greenfield grew up on Long Island and attended Merrick Avenue Junior High School, where he met Ben Cohen in 1963. Greenfield and Cohen both attended Calhoun High School and remained friends until they both graduated and left Long Island to attend college. Greenfield chose to pursue a pre-med curriculum at Oberlin College. At Oberlin, Greenfield began working as an ice cream scooper in the school's cafeteria.

After graduating in 1973, Greenfield failed to get into medical school. At this point, Greenfield decided to move back to New York where he shared an apartment with Cohen and worked as a lab technician. In 1974, Greenfield was again rejected from medical school and decided to move to North Carolina with his future wife and continued to work as a lab technician.

Ben & Jerry's founding

Greenfield lived with Cohen in Saratoga Springs, New York during the summer of 1977. They decided to go into business with each other in May 1978, the two men opened Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream Parlor in Burlington, Vermont. They initially intended to start a bagel business, but found the equipment costs prohibitive and switched to ice cream instead.

They chose Burlington as a location because it was a prominent college town which, at the time, had no ice cream shop. They took a five-dollar correspondence course in ice-cream making and opened their first store in a former gas station. Ben & Jerry's opened in the summer of 1978.

Ben & Jerry's distinctive style of ice cream was developed to compensate for Cohen's anosmia, as he kept adding larger and larger chunks to the ice cream to satisfy his need for texture in food. Ben & Jerry's became popular in Burlington.

Unilever and social activism

Ben & Jerry's was sold to Marmite and Dove soap maker Unilever for $325million in 2000. Reports indicate that Greenfield pocketed $9.5million while Cohen took away $41million.

Both Cohen and Greenfield are still paid to represent the brand, though neither has formal responsibilities.

Speaking in 2015, Greenfield said: 'Oh yes, I'm definitely an ageing hippy. Many people think the hippies were irresponsible but we really believed in all that stuff about peace and love and caring for each other; we still do. And we still try to make a difference.'

He added: 'Ben & Jerry's continues to have an anti-corporatist and anti-authoritarian outlook on all the big issues we care about, such as climate change and social values, and remains outspoken when it's important.'

Cohen turned his new-found wealth and prominence toward a variety of social causes, generally through the Ben & Jerry's Foundation. The Foundation receives 7.5 per cent of all Ben & Jerry's pre-tax profits and distributes funds to organizations such as the Anti Displacement Project.

He supported Dennis Kucinich in the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries. In 2008, he initially supported John Edwards followed by Barack Obama. Cohen became a prominent supporter of Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Cohen debuted a special ice cream flavour called 'Bernie's Yearning' on January 25, 2016 out of support for Sanders. Ben & Jerry's released a statement disavowing connection or support for the product.

On April 18, 2016, Cohen was arrested, with Greenfield, while at a Democracy Awakening protest in Washington, DC. On February 21, 2019, Cohen was named a national co-chair of Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign.

In 2018, in protest against the Trump administration, the company rebranded one of its flavours Pecan Resist ahead of the midterm elections. The company said Pecan Resist celebrated activists who were resisting oppression, harmful environmental practices and injustice. As part of the campaign, Ben & Jerry's said it was giving $25,000 each to four activist entities.

In the wake of George Floyd's killing, in June 2020, the brand spoke out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after a wave of protests. It encouraged people to 'tackle systemic and institutionalized racism', and said: 'All lives do matter. But all lives will not matter until black lives matter.'

A few weeks later, Ben & Jerry's joined other global brands in pulling advertising from Facebook as part of the 'Stop hate for profit' campaign, and urged the social network to impose stricter measures on hate speech.

In August, the company faced a boycott in the UK and was slammed for 'virtue signaling' after it hit out at Home Secretary Priti Patel over her treatment of migrants crossing the English Channel.

In September 2020, the brand launched a podcast about American white supremacy, titled Who We Are: a Chronicle of Racism in America.
The last Second World War recipient of the Medal of Honor has died 'peacefully' aged 98.

Hershel 'Woody' Williams passed away early Wednesday morning at the VA medical center in West Virginia.

The Woody Williams Foundation confirmed his death came at 3.15 a.m. in a statement after announcing on Tuesday that he had been hospitalized.

He was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Second World War and was widely regarded as a hero for his actions in Japan.

Law enforcement officers lead a procession for Hershel 'Woody' Williams on June 28, 2022

A portrait of Hershel 'Woody' Williams with his Medal of Honor from his time in the armed forces

Williams often gave speeches about his time in the war, including his heroism at the Battle of Iwo Jima

Harry Truman, president of the United States, awards Williams with the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima: Japanese fight to the last man as US forces pound island Marines first landed on the island of February 19, 1945, with the aim of capturing the strategically important airfield on the island in the space of a week, ahead of the expected invasion of the Japanese mainland. In fact the battle dragged on for five weeks, thanks largely to underground tunnels dug by the Japanese to connect their defensive bunkers. This famous photograph, taken atop Mount Suribachi at the Battle of Iwo Jima, shows four US Marines raising the American flag This meant that hundreds of tons of bombs dropped before the battle, and thousands of rounds of heavy Navy shells, left the Japanese virtually untouched. It also meant that during the battle the Japanese were able to reinforce bunkers that the Marines had already cleared using flamethrowers and grenades, catching the attackers unawares and causing heavy casualties. The Japanese also fought almost to the last man. Of 21,000 defenders, just 216 surrendered or were captured - some of whom had been knocked unconscious first. The defending troops refused to surrender even though they were guaranteed to lose the battle from the start, with no possibility of retreat or reinforcement, and were simply looking to delay the Americans while defenses were prepared on the mainland. Despite the casualties suffered in taking Iwo Jima, the strategic importance of the island to the future war efforts was questioned early on and remains controversial. Advertisement

'Woody peacefully joined his beloved wife Ruby while surrounded by his family at the VA medical center that bears his name,' the statement read.

'Woody's family would like to express their sincere gratitude for all the love and support.'

Williams was born in 1923 in Quiet Dell, West Virginia, the youngest of 11 children. By the time he was born, many of his siblings had already died in the flu pandemic of 1918-19, and when Williams was 11, his father died of a heart attack.

As World War 2 approached, Williams told the Washington Post he was only interested in joining the Marine Corps because of their stylish blue uniforms.

The Army's 'old brown wool uniform  was the ugliest thing in town,' he said. 'I do not want to be in that thing. I want to be in those dress blues.'

Aside from the uniforms, Williams says he knew 'nothing' about the Marine Corps.

Standing at 5 foot 6 inches, Williams was first turned away from the armed forces for being too short.

But requirements became less stringent as the war went on, and eventually he was allowed to join.

While he thought he'd be defending his homeland from invaders, Williams was soon sent to the grisly Pacific Theater to fight Japanese forces.

On the island of Guadalcanal, Williams was first introduced to the weapon that would make him a hero - the flamethrower.

Williams became proficient with the weapon and a year later led a team of flame thrower and demolition men at the infamous Battle of Iwo Jima, which saw the largest single deployment of US Marines attempt to wrest the island from the Japanese army.

The island, five miles long and around two miles wide, held one of the bloodiest battles of World War Two. Japanese forces, who treated the battle like a last stand, threw everything they had at the Americans, but were eventually defeated.

It was during this chaotic battle that Williams made a name for himself. American forces had trouble advancing due to Japanese 'pillboxes,' a type of fortified concrete bunker with small slits for the occupants to shoot out from.

The Americans found them difficult to fight against until Williams came along.

He almost single-handedly used his flamethrower to clear out seven pillboxes, returning to his lines for fresh weapons and heading back out into battle five separate times.

Despite engaging in battle for over five hours that day, Williams has said he remembers little of his heroic actions. He said his memory of the day 'is just a blank. I have no memory.'

Hershel 'Woody' Williams, from West Virginia, is shown here with his Medal of Honor. Williams died Wednesday at the age of 98

Williams holds a flamethrower shortly after he received the Medal of Honor from President Truman on October 5, 1945

Williams was also able to bear witness to the most famous part of the battle, when four Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, resulting in an iconic photograph.

Williams' Medal of Honor citation states: 'Covered only by four riflemen, he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another.'

After finding out the riflemen who were covering him died in the battle, Williams said his medal 'took on a different significance.'

'I said, from that point on, it does not belong to me. It belongs to them. I wear it in their honor. I keep it shined for them, because there is no greater sacrifice than when someone sacrifices their life for you and me.'

After the war, Williams dedicated himself to the Veterans Administration and formed the Hershel 'Woody' Williams Medal of Honor Foundation.

With the help of his foundation, he established memorials for Gold Star families across the country.
Chinese envoy urges NATO not to fan block confrontation using Ukraine crisis as excuse

Xinhua) 14:15, June 29, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations on Tuesday urged NATO not to fan bloc confrontation or a new Cold War by using the Ukraine crisis as an excuse.

"The Ukraine crisis has once again sounded the alarm for the world," Zhang Jun said when addressing a UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine. "Security is indivisible. A blind faith in the position of strength, the expansion of military alliance, and the pursuit of one's own security at the expense of the security of other countries will inevitably lead to security dilemmas."

Zhang noted that NATO's five eastward expansions after the Cold War have not only failed to make Europe securer, but also sowed the seed of conflict, a lesson worth reflecting on.

"The Cold War ended a long time ago. It is necessary for NATO to reconsider its own positioning and its responsibilities, completely abandon the Cold-War mentality that is based on bloc confrontation, and strive to build a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security framework in line with the principle of indivisible security," he said.

China pays close attention to NATO's strategic adjustment and is deeply concerned about the policy implications of its so-called "Strategic Concept," the envoy said.

Citing that certain NATO leaders lately painted other countries as a threat, Zhang underscored the fact that it is NATO itself that has made troubles in different parts of the world.

"We urge NATO to learn its lessons, and not to use the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to stoke worldwide bloc confrontation or a new Cold War, and not to look for imaginary enemies in the Asia Pacific or artificially create contradictions and divisions," he said.

Zhang stressed that China firmly opposes certain elements clamoring for NATO's involvement in the Asia Pacific, or an Asia Pacific version of NATO on the back of military alliances.

"The long-outdated Cold War script must never be reenacted in the Asia Pacific. The kind of turmoil and conflict that are affecting parts of the world must not be allowed to happen in the Asia Pacific," he said.

"Asia Pacific countries share the appreciation of the hard-won peace and prosperity, and the wish to focus on mutually beneficial cooperation in pursuit of common development and revitalization. Any attempt to go against the tide of history is doomed to fail," he said.

The continuation of the Ukraine crisis is regrettable and worrying, Zhang said, emphasizing that dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way to restore and consolidate peace.

"For some time now, China has joined all peace-loving countries calling for a ceasefire. We have been committed to promoting peace talks, and making relentless efforts to de-escalate the situation, restore peace, mitigate the humanitarian situation, and stabilize the global economy," he said.

China supports direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and also welcomes the UN secretary-general's good offices on issues including grain export, said Zhang.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)




By Yi Whan-woo







The Ministry of Economy and Finance co-hosted a forum with the World Bank in Seoul, Wednesday, to discuss their cooperation on innovation and digital technology for developing countries.







The ministry said the two sides assessed ongoing projects under the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), a joint initiative established in May 2013 with an objective of helping developing member countries of the World Bank achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth, during the Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship for Development Forum at the Grand Hyatt Seoul.







The ministry said the nascent Yoon Suk-yeol administration will "actively support" target countries through KWPF as well as the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) that Korea launched in 1987 to fund the countries' development.







"Korea's experience with cutting-edge technological solutions and involvement of the private sector is very beneficial to the developing world to help accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals," Dirk Reinermann, the World Bank's director for Trust Funds and Partners Relations, said in his opening speech.







The forum was divided into three sessions joined by panelists from World Bank, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and other Korean officials from the science and startup ministries.







The sessions presented themes of "Bridging the technological divide: firm technology adoption and digital business solutions in developing countries," "Digital skills development for ICT entrepreneurs in developing and fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV)-affected countries" and "Disruptive agriculture technologies and innovation."


President Joe Biden praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday for lifting his objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO and thanked him for his work on getting grain out of the Ukraine.

'You're doing a great job,' Biden told him.

And, behind the scenes, Biden's administration signaled its support to the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, a long-standing wish of the Turkish government.

Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs at Pentagon, told reporters on a briefing call that strong Turkish defense capabilities would reinforce NATO's defenses and the F-16 sales plan was working its way through the legal process.

'The United States supports Turkey's modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security,' she said.

'These plans are in the works. And, they need to be worked through our contracting processes,' she added.

Turkey made a request in October to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

Biden met with Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday.

He thanked him for agreeing Finland and Sweden joining the alliance but made no mention of the F-16s. Ahead of the summit, Erdogan said he would push the issue with the president.

'I want to particularly thank you for what you did, putting together the situation with Finland and Sweden and all the incredible work you're doing to try to get the grain out of Ukraine,' Biden told him. 'You're doing a great job.'

President Joe Biden praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for lifting his objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO and thanked him for his work on getting grain out of the Ukraine

Ankara has pledged to investigate reports that Turkish buyers were among those receiving grain that Russia stole from Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies but Russia has been blocking Ukraine for shipping the grain out of its ports, sparking a global food crisis.

Turkey also is planning to host Russian, Ukrainian and United Nations officials for talks in the coming weeks aimed at resuming the export of the grain that is currently stuck in Black Sea ports.

Meanwhile, American officials pushed back against any suggestion that Washington was backing the F-16 request after Turkey dropped its veto threat on Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

'The U.S. did not offer anything to Turkey and was not asked for anything by Turkey' as part of its agreement with Finland and Sweden, a senior administration official said.

The official said U.S. officials were engaged in ongoing technical talks about Turkeys request to buy U.S. F-16 fighter jets. Congress will have the final say about any sales.

NATO on Wednesday formally invited Sweden and Finland to join its alliance.

'The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process,' the statement from NATO said.

The addition of the two Nordic countries, which must be approved by each of NATO's 30 allied parliaments, will be the most extensive expansion of the alliance since the 1990s, when the post Soviet bloc countries were added.

It comes as Europe hangs under the shadow of a more aggressive Russia. President Joe Biden and NATO leaders are ramping up military forces along the alliance's eastern flank.

Biden on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting 'exactly what he didn't want' - the NATO-zation of Europe.

Biden praised the diplomatic breakthrough that resulted in Turkey pulling its objections from Sweden and Finland joining the alliance and said it will make Europe stronger.

'Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe and we're gonna get the NATO-zation of Europe,' Biden said when he met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg upon his arrival at NATO headquarters on Wednesday morning.

'And that's exactly what he didn't want to do - it's exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe. And I think it's necessary and I'm looking forward to it happening,' the president said.

Moscow reacted with fury to the news, saying NATO expansion will be 'destabilising' for Europe.

'We consider the expansion of the North Atlantic alliance to be a purely destabilising factor in international affairs. It does not add security either to those who are expanding it, those joining it, or to other countries that perceive the alliance as a threat,' Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

On Tuesday evening, after multiple rounds of talks, Turkey lifted its objections to the two Nordic states joining the alliance.

'I am pleased to announce we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,' Stoltenberg said that evening when he announced the deal.

'Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism,' he added.

The three nations agreed to protect each other's security as Europe faces its worst security crisis in decades in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey made a request in October to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes

President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin (above) is getting 'exactly what he didn't want' - the NATO-zation of Europe

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, third left, shakes hands with Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, right, next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, second right, after signing a memorandum in which Turkey agrees to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (left) looks on

In its objections, Turkey wanted Sweden and Finland to stop supporting Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and to lift their bans on some sales of arms to Turkey.

Under the terms of the deal, Stockholm will intensifying work on Turkish extradition requests of suspected militants and both Finland and Sweden will work on amending their laws to toughen their approach to them.

Stoltenberg said both Nordic nations would lift their restrictions on selling weapons to Turkey.

Both Finland, which has a 810 mile border with Russia, and Sweden are now set to bring well-trained militaries into the alliance.

Under NATO treaties, an attack on any member would be considered an attack against all and trigger a military response by the entire alliance.

President Biden spoke with Erdogan on Tuesday morning before the deal was signed.

A senior administration official said that call was for the 'president to be able to talk directly with President Erdogan about the membership application to Finland and Sweden and to encourage him to seize this moment and get this done.'

The official said Biden made the call at the request of Sweden and Finland.

The official spoke to reporters on Tuesday night to describe President Biden's role in the process and asked for anonymity to speak frankly.

The official said President Biden didn't want to get in the 'middle' of talks but wanted to put the weight on the scale at the end to get it done.

'We have been very studious, and rejecting the idea that the United States was wanting to play broker. We did not think that would be productive,' the official said.

The Biden administration sees the deal as a win.

'This obviously, is just a powerful shot in the arm from the point of view of allied unity and also, you know, a historic moment for the Alliance to traditionally neutral countries, choosing to sign up to NATO and being welcomed by NATO,' the senior administration official said.

Finland and Sweden will bring with them almost 1million troops, including reserves, along with a huge amount of artillery, jets and submarines

Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to launch NATO applications

Russia's invasion of the Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to apply to join NATO.

It's the biggest expansion of the alliance since former Soviet bloc countries joined the group in 1999.
No arrests have been made, as of Wednesday

The suspect, however, pushes him away and manages to escape

Gil puts himself in front of the suspect's vehicle in an attempt to block his path

Footage then shows the suspect suddenly taking the pit bull in his arms before starting his electric scooter in an attempt to quickly flee

The unidentified suspect approached him and engaged in conversation while petting his mini pit bull, Off White

Carlos Gil, 75, was walking his two dogs close to the intersection of 95th Avenue and 88th Street in Ozone Park, Queens on Saturday afternoon

A cold-hearted thief was caught on camera stealing an elderly man's mini Pitbull in New York City on the street right in front of his house in Queens.

Carlos Gil, 75, was walking his dogs close to the intersection of 95th Avenue and 88th Street in Ozone Park at 2:20 p.m. on Saturday when the suspect, who remains unidentified, approached him and engaged in conversation while petting his two dogs, video shared by the Park Residents Block Association shows.

The suspect then suddenly takes Off White, a gray and white mini pit bull, into his arms and revs his electric scooter in an attempt to quickly flee with the pet, footage shows.

In response, Gil puts himself in front of the suspect's vehicle to try to block his path.

But the suspect pushes him away and takes off with the one-year-old puppy, driving on the sidewalk.

A second dog with black and white spots can be seen climbing up the steps of his elderly man's home as soon as the suspect grabs Off White in his arms.

A thief approached Carlos Gil, 75, on the streets in Ozone Park, Queens, in front of his home, engaging in conversation and petting his mini pit bull, Off White, before grabbing the pet and fleeing on a scooter with it

As of Wednesday, the suspect had not been identified

After the incident, it was revealed that the mini pit bull belonged to one of Gil's family members, a 52-year-old woman.

Another relative of Gil's later shared a picture on social media of his pet wearing a track suit along with the caption: 'Somebody just stole my dog from my grandfather in front of my house.'

'When he took off on his bike, I tried to push him,' Gil, who mainly speaks Spanish, told WABC. 'He rushed away, but I thought he was going to hit a pole. Because I wanted to take him out.'

The suspect is still on the run.

A family relative of Gil's posted about the theft on social media, prompting the Ozone Park Residents Block Association to reshare it on Facebook

Off White, a one-year-old mini pit bull, belongs to a 52-year-old woman related to Gil

Carlos Gil, 75, tried to get in the thief's way by putting himself in front of his electric scooter but was pushed away, allowing the suspect to flee

The Ozone Park Residents Block Association later described the daylight robbery as 'appalling' in a statement shared on Facebook.

'We condemn the actions of this perpetrator and coward that preyed on a senior and stole his dog,' the statement further read. 'These acts of cowardness can not go unpunished, and this perp MUST be brought to justice.

Police told the New York Post that the stolen dog is worth $800.

'We really would just like to get the dog back,' relative Alonso Gil told WABC. 'It's very much a part of the family, and it's just very sad to know that he's gone.'

Another dog in the area, called Remi White, was sad to hear what had happened to his 'best friend.'

'They usually see each other every day, every time he walks in, we see each other,' Felix Nunez, who is Remi's owner and also a friend of the stolen dog's owner, said. 'The dog is very friendly also.'

Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

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Downing Street today declined to rule out shutting off gas supplies to mainland Europe if the Russian invasion of Ukraine provokes severe shortages.

Instead No 10 assured that the UK's gas supply is 'highly resilient' and insisted there is 'no plan' to take the action reportedly contained in an emergency plan.

European allies are trying to wean themselves off Russian gas as president Vladimir Putin threatens severing their supply amid fallout from his war.

The Financial Times reported that cutting interconnector pipelines to the Netherlands and Belgium is among measures contained in the UK's emergency plans if supplies fall short.

The UK produces plenty of gas but has few storage facilities, so in summer months, when demand is low much is piped to markets on the continent through pipes connecting Norfolk with the Low Countries.

The newspaper said the National Grid would trigger the plan if shortages led to a loss of pressure in the gas system.

But a No 10 spokesman said: 'There is no plan to do that. We're fully confident of our supply over winter.

'We have a highly resilient system in this country that is reliable but you will know the national gas grid has emergency procedures that are decades old, but we don't expect that to happen.'

The Financial Times reported that cutting interconnector pipelines to the Netherlands and Belgium is among measures contained in the UK's emergency plans if supplies fall short.

European allies are trying to wean themselves off Russian gas as president Vladimir Putin threatens severing their supply amid fallout from his war.

Bart Jan Hoevers, president of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas, warned that such a closure could backfire on the UK.

'I would definitely recommend they [the UK] reconsider stopping the interconnection [in the event of a crisis],' he told the FT 'Because while it is beneficial for the continent in the summer it is also beneficial for the UK in the winter.'

During the Beast from the East storms in 2018, up to a quarter of Britain's gas came from mainland Europe via the pipelines.

Meanwhile minister today suggested the SNP may have 'some kind of idea of a future deal with Vladimir Putin' for energy in the event of independence, as the Government resisted calls for a referendum.

Business minister Greg Hands made the remark as the House of Commons reacted to Nicola Sturgeon's intention to hold a second referendum on Scotland's place in the United Kingdom on October 19 2023.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told MPs that the Conservatives 'don't have the right to block Scottish democracy'.

Stepping in for Boris Johnson, who was away at a Nato summit, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said: 'It's not the right time.'

At a session of questions to ministers for Scotland, business minister Greg Hands took aim at the SNP's energy policy.

He said: 'They're anti-nuclear, they're anti-oil and gas - it's hard to see where they think they are going to get their energy from in the event of independence.

'Perhaps they have some kind of idea of a future deal with Vladimir Putin.'

The Dutch government on Wednesday said it would invest 750 million euros through to 2031 to develop a national hydrogen transportation network.

In a letter to parliament, Energy Minister Rob Jetten said the government would task Gasunie, the country's gas network operator, with managing and operating the network, parts of which are due to be completed by 2026.

'The aim of our rollout plan is to have a transport network that passes through the major industrial clusters, connects them to storage facilities and connects the Netherlands with neighboring countries,' Jetten said.

The letter sketched the route the network will take, often re-purposing Gasunie gas pipes.

'We (will) now start the construction of the public hydrogen network in the Netherlands, which will be a great boost for the transition towards a more sustainable energy system,' said Gasunie CEO Han Fennema.

The Dutch government has been discussing the idea of a hydrogen transportation network for years, but concrete steps towards building it have accelerated in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Two commercial consortiums have announced plans in the past two months to build hydrogen import terminals in the Port of Rotterdam.

Plans outlined by Jetten included making use of part of the 20 gigawatts worth of wind farms planned or under construction in the Dutch North Sea by 2030 as a source of green energy that can be used to produce hydrogen.

One gigawatt of electricity is about enough to power a million households, but current processes for producing hydrogen are costly and inefficient.

Jetten said the government is targeting 500 megawatts of conversion capacity by 2025 and 3.5 gigawatts by 2030, though he did not specify how that capacity would be built.

'Achieving the cabinet's goals for conversion capacity and the (hydrogen) transport volumes that this capacity will generate is very likely,' Jetten wrote.
Somaiya Begum, 20, was last seen at her home address on Binnie Street in Barkerend on Saturday afternoon at approximately 2pm

Police have made a number of arrests in connection with the disappearance of a missing Bradford woman.

Officers were seen cordoning off industrial units on Wednesday in an investigation linked to missing 20-year-old Somaiya Begum.

Authorities have cordoned off units on Thornbury Road, opposite the Islamic Cultural and Educational Association mosque just off Leeds Road, and set up a tent at one of the industrial units.

Begum was last seen at her home address on Binnie Street on Saturday afternoon at approximately 2pm.

Police released a description of her as as a slim-built Asian female with black hair.

There have been no confirmed sightings or contact from her since she disappeared.

She was last seen wearing black denim jeans, a black top and a black head scarf.

Officers are currently treating her disappearance as unexplained.

Extensive enquiries are being carried out and a number of scenes are in place across the district whilst enquiries are ongoing.

West Yorkshire Police forensic officers and cadaver dogs search shipping containers in Bradford in relation to the missing Bradford woman Somaiya Begum who has not been seen since Saturday afternoon

Police are appealing for anyone who has any information about Somaiyas disappearance to get in touch.

Information can be given to police via the live chat options at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/contactus or 101 or in an emergency 999 quoting log 764 of 26 June.

Information can also be given to Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.
Shadika Patel (pictured), 40, was stabbed repeatedly in the street in March 2020

A knifeman murdered a mother-of-two and tried to kill a second woman with a machete a day later, a court heard.

James Sinclair, 31, allegedly stabbed 40-year-old Shadika Patel to death in East Ham, London, on March 19, 2020 - just four days before the first national lockdown began.

Sinclair tried to murder Beverley Barzey in Islington, north London, after he chanced upon her in the street the following night, it was said.

Fortunately Ms Barzey survived her injuries.

Jurors were told Sinclair has declined to attend court and the trial will go ahead in his absence at the Old Bailey.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones, QC, said: What we are concerned in this case with is, Im afraid, the stuff of nightmares.

This is a case of knife attacks carried out on lone women, late at night on the streets of London, by a stranger.

Jurors heard Prime Minister Boris Johnson had advised against all non-essential travel on March 16 ahead of start of the national lockdown a week later.

As a result, the streets of London were unusually quiet, the court heard.

Ms Patel was on her way to deliver a food parcel to her teenage sons living in Leicester with their father.

At a little past half past midnight, she was approached on foot by a man and that man was the defendant, said Mr Emlyn Jones.

There is good quality CCTV covering the location, and the defendant and Ms Patel can be seen to engage in what looks like a brief and slightly awkward conversation.

They then separated. But the defendant did not leave.

Instead, he ducked out of Shadika Patels view, behind a wall, where he can be seen on the CCTV to put a glove on his right hand.

He then emerged and ran after Ms Patel.

He caught up with her just out of the field of view of the camera, but there is a microphone on that camera which recorded the audio of what happened next.

Jurors visibly grimaced as they listened to Ms Patels screams.

Just as Shadika Patel leaves the cameras field of view, you will see the defendant turn away from the wall and run after his victim, Mr Emlyn Jones said.

As he does so he pulls something, it must have been his knife, from his jacket. What followed...cannot be seen but Im afraid it can be heard.

James Sinclair, 31, is charged with Shadika Patel's murder and with attempted murder in relation to a second woman, Beverly Barzey, and is on trial at the Old Bailey (pictured)

The soundtrack is obviously distressing. It is not played to distress you but it is the evidence in this case. It comes with a warning to brace yourselves please.

The attack lasted about 20 seconds.

The defendant stabbed Shadika Patel seven times, before running away.

He stabbed her in the face and in the head and in the shoulders. Both of her lungs were punctured.

Ms Patels screams were overheard by residents in the area and one of them made a 999 call, jurors heard.

Emergency services arrived to find her in critical condition and she was taken to Newham General Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 1.44am.

The prosecutor said Sinclair made his way home following the attack.

But the next night, the defendant was again out late at night, on his own, on the streets of London.

At just before 4am, the defendant approached another woman who was out late and alone.

Ms Barzey was prepared to accompany the defendant to a secluded location in order to engage, she thought, in sexual activity with him in return for money.

But that is not what he wanted and that is not what happened.

The two of them went together into a dark alleyway, and when they got there the defendant drew a large knife.

Miss Barzey describes it as being like a machete.

And he attacked her with it, stabbing her repeatedly, like Ms Patel, to the face and mainly to the upper body.

In her case one of her lungs, her left lung, was punctured and collapsed and the defendant left her there for dead, ran away, and went home.

Ms Barzeys screams had also been overheard and a nearby resident called the emergency services who arrived to find her gravely injured in Belfont Walk, Islington.

Mercifully in her case, she survived, Mr Emlyn Jones said.

Sinclair, of Poplar, east London, denies murder and attempted murder.

The trial continues.
Metropolitan Police officers who exchanged racist, homophobic and sexist messages were 'trying to amuse each other' and should 'not be judged by the attitudes of today', a tribunal has heard.

PC Sukhdev Jeer - along with PC Paul Hefford and former officer Richard Hammond - are accused of sharing racist and offensive messages in a WhatsApp group, including a comparison between Meghan Markle and a golliwog.

They also failed to challenge or report the other members of the chat after receiving the offensive posts, it is claimed.

Vishal Misra, for the Met Police, has told the misconduct hearing in Fulham that PC Jeer, 47, contributed to the group the most, followed by PC Hefford, 37, and then Hammond, 36.

The trio were all part of a unit at Bethnal Green Police Station and were members of a WhatsApp group called But They Promised that was active between January and December 2018.

Mr Misra earlier told the hearing: All of the content in the log is submitted to be explicitly racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist and islamaphobic.

He added: All of the respondents failed to challenge one another with regards to the content being posted.

The panel has heard that PC Jeer posted an image of a young boy in a hoodie captioned as a monkey in the jungle.

Hammond is said to have sent a discriminatory message about the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

In explaining the message, former PC Hammond in effect said that people from the Bangladeshi community seem to accept election fraud as part of their democratic processes, Mr Misra said.

PC Sukhdev Jeer outside a Met Disciplinary hearing on Tuesday into a number of WhatsApp messages he sent

Serving Met Police officer PC Paul Hefford is accused of sharing inappropriate messages

Former Met officer Richard Hammond was in a WhatsApp chat called 'But They Promised'. He is said to have sent a 'discriminatory message' about the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

The trio were all part of a unit at Bethnal Green Police Station and were members of a WhatsApp group called 'But They Promised' that was active during 2018

One meme said: We asked a hundred normal people, What do you associate with Islam? 1. Terrorism 2. Pedofilia 3. Hate Preaching 4. Unwelcome invaders 5. Excessive breeders 6. Goat/Camel f***ers.

The worst WhatsApp messages from the 'But They Promised' group chat at the heart of the misconduct tribunal An image showing a nun on the left and a woman wearing a Muslim headscarf on the right. The image is captioned: 'Why is the first one not judged but the second one offends?' One comment read: 'Nuns don't randomly explode.' Another meme showed two black men lying next to two white women. It was captioned: 'Girls' trip to Jamaica. One came back pregnant, the other came back with syphilis. (Just kidding, they're both still missing.)' Another was of the message: 'Everyone is so politically correct these days. You can't even say, 'Black paint,' you have to say, 'Tyrone can you plea paint that wall?'' A clip was from the movie Jurassic Park and plays the film's theme tune and to footage of a man with disabilities is walking out of a building with the assistance of his carer. Another said 'We asked a hundred normal people, 'What do you associate with Islam?' 1. Terrorism 2. Pedofilia 3. Hate Preaching 4. Unwelcome invaders 5. Excessive breeders 6. Goat/Camel f******.' A picture of a young boy in a hoodie was captioned 'monkey in the jungle'. One meme showed the image of a 'Golliwog' toy that was captioned: 'A sneak preview at Meghan's wedding dress.' A clip showed a white woman stating that if you want to get good exercise in effect they will arrange for a black man to chase her around so that she can get exercise. Message to the effect that people from the Bangladeshi community seem to accept election fraud as part of their democratic processes. One message was a reply to a female colleague who had texted saying three boys had threatened to throw acid on her. She had added, '2xIC1 and 3xIC3', which the tribunal heard meant two white boys and one black boy. Mr Hammond replied: 'Black kid leading those poor white kids astray.' Another video showed somebody who suffers from dwarfism jumping into a body of water with sound effects designed to mock. Advertisement

Another meme showed an image of a Golliwog toy that was captioned: A sneak preview at Meghans wedding dress.

Giving evidence PC Jeer said he did not find this funny even at the time.

The fact that someone is out there can create this, that is not a nice thing to do but I posted this on the group not to laugh at it but [to show] that there are people out there who still do this and find it funny.

Lawyers representing the three officers accepted their actions amounted to misconduct but not gross misconduct warranting dismissal.

Michael Shaw, for Pc Hefford, said his behaviour should not be judged by the attitudes of today but by the attitudes of 2017 and 2018.

There has been a seismic change in social attitudes for what is acceptable behaviour, he said.

We see the landscape changing.

There has been a sea of change in the past two years between what can and cannot be said and what may or may not constitute appropriate asides.

This is the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. We are in remarkably different times than we were two years ago.

It is also three and a half years since policing has itself changed.

In relation to the use of closed social media groups of off duty officers, the guidance was not there to officers in 2017 as it is now in 2022.

There is a huge temptation to retrospectively impose a 2022 view of this material in what was a private communication between adults who knew each other well.

The correct start is to apply the test that would be applied to a tribunal in 2017/2018.

Mr Shaw said the officers had an intention to amuse other, not to ridicule or criticise.

These proceedings arent to protect the feelings of everybody. Almost every joke is capable of upsetting somebody at some time.

People have been telling each other rude and risque jokes in time immemorial.

We would submit the behaviour looked at in the proper context three or four years ago does not amount to gross misconduct.

Mr Shaw highlighted the paternalistic nature of modern society.

People see this type of material and assume that somebody else will be upset about it and they seek to vicariously seek a sanction upon it.

Stepping back and looking at the behaviour that brings the people before these tribunal, this isnt the kind of behaviour that requires the conclusion of gross misconduct and requires dismissal.

All three officers deny their behaviour amounts to gross misconduct.

The tribunal continues on Friday.
Dominic Raab today dismissed calls to give women the fundamental right to an abortion in his Bill of Rights.

The Deputy Prime Minister insisted the matter was already 'settled' in British law.

He also expressed fears that including provisions in new legislation could risk the issue being litigated in courts, as has happened in the US.

Mr Raab, who is also the Justice Secretary, last week unveiled a Bill of Rights as a means of replacing Labour's 1998 Human Rights Act.

His proposed legislation does not currently mention abortion rights.

But there are now plans to add an amendment in the wake of the US Supreme Court's decision to effectively end the constitutional right to an abortion in America.

Dominic Raab expressed fears that including abortion provisions in new legislation could risk the issue being litigated in courts, as has happened in the US

Labour MP Stella Creasy is leading efforts to use the Bill of Rights to ensure the right to an abortion is defined as a human right in UK law

The US Supreme Court's bombshell decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade case has led to protests in America

Labour MP Stella Creasy is leading efforts to use the Bill of Rights to ensure the right to an abortion is defined as a human right in UK law.

Mr Raab was asked about those plans this afternoon as he stood in for Boris Johnson, who is attending a Nato summit in Spain, at Prime Minister's Questions.

Ms Creasy's fellow Labour MP, Rosie Duffield, urged Mr Raab to 'send a clear signal' that Britain 'respects the right of women'.

She also asked the Deputy PM to accept the cross-party amendment to the Bill of Rights in order to 'enshrine in law a woman's right to choose'.

But Mr Raab ruled out accepting an amendment on abortion rights.

He said in reply: 'The position on abortion is settled in UK law and it is decided by members across the House.

'It is an issue of conscience, and I do not think there is a strong case for change.

'With the greatest respect, I would not want us to find ourselves in the US position, where the issue is litigated through the courts, rather than settled, as it is now settled members in this House.'

In efforts to attract support for her proposed amendment to the Bill of Rights, Ms Creasy has highlighted how 'currently only women in Northern Ireland have protected human right to an abortion in law'.

She has vowed to table an amendment, when the Bill of Rights returns to the House of Commons for its second reading, in order to 'guarantee this for all UK women'.

When unveiling his Bill of Rights last week, Mr Raab focussed on how the proposed legislation asserts that British courts do not always need to follow case law from the European Court of Human Rights.

He also hailed the Bill of Rights as a means to 'reinforce freedom of speech' by boosting freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

In response to Mr Raab's comments at PMQs, Ms Creasy asked on Twitter: 'Why is the Bill of Rights good enough to protect your freedom of speech but not your womb from being interfered with?'

The US Supreme Court's bombshell decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade case has allowed individual states to again ban or severely restrict abortion.

The PM last week branded the judges' decision as 'a big step backwards', adding: 'I've always believed in a woman's right to choose and I stick to that view and that is why the UK has the laws that it does.'
A record label boss who fired handguns from his penthouse balcony has been detained in a psychiatric unit.

Pictured: Mr Alunomoh

The music boss said he believed he was a reincarnation of US rapper Tupac Shakur during the incident un the first pandemic lockdown.

Michael Alunomoh, 35 who calls himself the CEO of Truth or Dare Records, posted a live video on his Instagram account 'Flexing Mike' where he fired blanks into the air from Marina Tower East in Chatham Dockside, Kent.

His manic shooting spree from the top of the flats terrified neighbours so armed police were deployed.

Agitated and ranting he paced along his balcony at about 8.30am on April 22 2020.

Wearing bright yellow headphones, he shot mulitple rounds - at times welding guns in both hands - and also hit a weapon against the railings.

Each time a gun was fired, a flash came from the muzzle of the gun.

Mr Alunomoh, who at one stage had an assault rifle slung across his shoulder, could shouted 'F*** the police' and 'Call the police', while making references to Tupac and listening to his record 'Hit 'Em Up'.

Michael Alunomoh (above) posted a clip of himself wielding guns and yelling 'call the f***ing cops' on Instagram, before shouting at the police gathered below 'come on, come on, you're mad'

When he was later examined by psychiatrists, the music mogul claimed to be Tupac's reincarnation, as he appeared 'disturbed and distressed', a court heard.

When police arrested him they seized three imitation firearms - two Eagle, blank-firing 9mm self-loading pistols and a Camp assault rifle.

They found 75 shell casings on his balcony and five on the floor of his master bedroom.

Armed police (left and right) stormed the apartment block in Kent and arrested the music boss on suspicion of firearms offences

Mr Alunomoh, who has no previous convictions, plead guilty in January this year to three offences of possessing firearms with intent to cause fear of violence.

The father-of-one previously denied the charges and stood trial last year but the jury was discharged before reaching verdicts after he became 'extremely unwell'.

Sentencing was adjourned for psychiatric reports, with Mr Alunomoh appearing at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, today via a link with the Allington Centre, in Dartford,

He was transferred there, a low-level secure psychiatric unit, in October last year.

Following his arrest, Mr Alunomoh said a voice he has heard since childhood told him to 'disturb the peace' so police would detain him and get him treatment.

The court heard he has since been diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder but his condition had improved.

Barry Kogan, defending the music CEO, said Mr Alunomoh's cannabis use was 'a contributory factor to his downfall'.

'He wishes to offer his sincere apologies to all those, particularly the members of the public, who were affected by his actions,' he added.

What is schizoaffective disorder? Schizoaffective disorder is a condition where symptoms of both psychotic and mood disorders are present together during one episode (or within a two weeks of each other). Episodes can vary in length. Some people have repeated episodes, but this does not necessarily happen for everybody Source: Mind Advertisement

'He is a decent family man and devoted to his son, who is sadly autistic, and has many good qualities which have been severely affected by his mental health.

'But he tells me he is in good health now, taking his medication and there is hope for the future.'

Mr Alunomoh has been in custody since the incident and has therefore served the equivalent of a four-year and four-months sentence on remand.

Ordering that he be detained under the Mental Health Act for ongoing treatment, Judge Julian Smith said the fear Alunomoh caused 'could only be imagined'.

'These were realistic imitation firearms that explain the anxiety, distress and concern caused. They fired blank rounds and frightened a lot of people that day,' he added.

'What is perfectly clear is that this behaviour has its origins in his disturbed mind state and mental illness.'

Mr Alunomoh's eventual release will be determined by doctors responsible for his care.

At his trial in May last year, the jury was told that those watching the shooting from the ground and neighbouring blocks feared for their safety, as multiple 999 calls were made.

Some had initially assumed the banging sound was coming from building works.

Several filmed the action on their mobile phones, while one witness, Giovanni Agneli, watched through binoculars from his flat opposite, assisting armed police as to what was happening inside and outside the apartment.

He denied wanting to kill or scare anyone that morning, telling police he would have been aiming his guns if he had as around 50 shots were heard being fired from the balcony by shocked passers-by

Mr Alunomoh later described collecting weapons as a hobby and referred to them as 'men's toys'

Armed police arrested the father in Chatham, Kent, where terrified locals fled for cover while shots rang out

'Mr Agneli was woken up by what he described as a popping noise. He looked out and saw Mr Alunomoh on his balcony, waving his arms around and holding some sort of handgun,' said prosecutor Dominic Connolly at trial.

'He saw Mr Alunomoh fire some more shots and shout 'Call the police, I'm going crazy'. Mr Agneli did just that, dialling 999.

'He watched for some 20 or so minutes as Mr Alunomoh went in and out his apartment, firing the guns. Each time a gun was fired he could see a shell casing fall to the floor.

'At one point he saw him firing a gun in both hands shouting about Tupac.....He seemed to be dancing, and seemed agitated. Mr Agneli said it sounded on occasion like he was arguing with someone but Mr Agneli couldn't see anyone in the apartment with him.

'All while this was happening Mr Alunomoh was filming himself, on and off in parts, and subsequently posted clips of that filming onto an Instagram account called Flexing Mike.'

The court heard that he gave himself up to armed officers when ordered to do so.

As well as the shell casings, they found the weapons on and around two sunloungers.

When interviewed by police, Alunomoh described being 'controlled' by the voice in his head.

He said he spent the evening at the flat listening to music with his brother and several friends, including artists he had signed to his music label.

The next morning the voice had told him 'I need you to disturb the peace', Alunomoh said, and that he had 'to fire until help came'.

Armed police move in moments before he is arrestedduring the first pandemic lockdown

Ftaher-of one Michael Alunomoh filmed himself shooting from his balcony in Chatham, Kent, at panicked people below during lockdown

He denied trying to scare anyone and said he fired into the sky while shouting for people to call police.

Mr Alunomoh later described collecting weapons as a hobby and referred to them as 'men's toys'.

But he denied wanting to kill or scare anyone that morning, telling police he would have been aiming his guns if he had.

'I was shooting. I was not killing anybody. I was just doing my own thing because it's still in my head. I kept shooting. Bang, bang, bang bang,' he explained

'I was just doing it to the sky and shouting 'Call the police'.'

The jury heard three psychiatrists had all agreed Mr Alunomoh was suffering from a mental health condition.

He told police he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in Nigeria about a year or two before he came to the UK in 2013.

The father said he had been prescribed medication but it had no effect on him.

Mr Alunomoh had been supported in court at previous hearings by his long-term girlfriend. It was said he planned to return to his family in Birmingham on his release.
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed to ban the use of flavoured heated tobacco products in Europe because of concerns about their increasing popularity and health effects.

'With nine out of 10 lung cancers caused by tobacco, we want to make smoking as unattractive as possible to protect the health of our citizens and save lives,' said EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides in a statement.

'Stronger actions to reduce tobacco consumption, stricter enforcement and keeping pace with new developments to address the endless flow of new products entering the market - particularly important to protect younger people - is key for this.

'Prevention will always be better than cure.'

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, said the ban was part of its ambition to decrease tobacco use in the 27-country bloc to less than five percent of the population by 2040.

The European Commission is proposing to ban the use of flavoured heated tobacco products in Europe because of concerns about their increasing popularity and health effects

Flavoured heated tobacco products, much like oil for non-tobacco vaping devices, can come in a wide variety of flavours such as menthol, cherry or grape which critics say help attract younger users.

A recent Commission report decried an explosion in the sales of flavoured heated tobacco devices in the EU, giving it the right to widen an existing law from 2014 on the prohibition of tobacco products.

The report said that a conservative estimate for 2020 put the share of retail sales for these products at 3.33 percent of all tobacco products in the EU.

It also showed a 10% increase in sales of heated tobacco products in more than five member nations.

The proposal will now undergo scrutiny by the EU's 27 governments as well as the European Parliament and come into force if it faces no objections.

The Food and Drug Administration in the US banned vaping products by industry giant Juul, but this was put on hold by a court

Regulators worldwide are beginning to take a closer look at alternatives to traditional cigarettes, such as e-cigarettes, vaping and heated tobacco.

In the US, a court on Friday put on hold the health regulator's decision to ban vaping products by industry giant Juul Labs thanks to a lawsuit filed by the e-cigarette manufacturer.

The temporary freeze on the FDA order lasts at least until July 12, according to the court's scheduling order.

Juul came under fire for a surge in youth vaping over its marketing of fruit and candy flavoured e-cigarettes - which it stopped selling in 2019 - over concerns that it played a 'disproportionate role in the rise of youth vaping'.

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.

In January 2020, US regulators said sale of e-cigarettes in flavours other than tobacco or menthol would be illegal unless specifically authorised by the government.
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As Americans prepare for a patriotic Fourth of July weekend, they can expect airline delays and cancelations as critics blame the pilot shortage on vaccine mandates as travel chaos continues for the second week in a row.

More than 500 flights have already been canceled and more than 2,000 delayed in the US on Wednesday, with New Jersey's Newark Liberty topping the American list with 45 flights canceled.

A total of 1,800 flights have been canceled so far this week in the US, according to the Hill, and between June 16 and 20, there were more than 5,300 flights canceled, according to CBS News.

The mess has now extended to Canada, with Toronto Pearson International Airport canceling 48 flights on Wednesday.

A behind-the-scenes video, obtained by ABC News, shows hundreds of passengers' bags backed up on a large stationary conveyor belt and in neat rows on the floor.

A spokesperson for the airport told ABC News that flight delays and cancelations were from staff shortages and a 'temporary mechanical disruption' that led to the baggage backlog.

More than 500 flights have already been canceled and more than 2,000 delayed in the US on Wednesday as passengers gear up for a stressful travel weekend

Passengers wait in long lines at the Atlanta airport

Delta has already reduced its flight schedule, alongside Southwest. Delta Airlines revealed it staff has been working more overtime than it did combined in 2018 and 2019, pre-pandemic, and said it expects 'operational challenges' this weekend

US airlines are struggling to keep up with demand, which is higher than last year, due to staffing shortages and weather-related issues. Airlines are also blaming the FAA for not having an adequate summer travel plan in place to help with the pitfalls the industry is currently facing.

However, the Bill O'Reilly Show discovered that airlines have received more than double the amount of pilot applications than they did in 2020. Eight thousand new pilots have been certified, according to O'Reilly.

'They're lying, they're lying,' he said. 'They're just so disorganized across the board.'

In addition, the Biden Administration is blaming the airlines, saying it received billions in stimulus money to keep afloat during the pandemic and should stick the schedule it publishes.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said earlier this month that airlines had until July 4 to figure out the issues and work out the kinks so travelers can have a smooth summer holiday.

BAGGAGE BACKLOG: Large piles of luggage seen at Toronto Pearson Airport.



A spokesperson said that flight delays and cancellations, staff shortages with airlines, and temporary mechanical disruptions with the baggage system led to the problems. https://t.co/EAhrTWPhaW pic.twitter.com/I3LDskcp4N  ABC News (@ABC) June 29, 2022

The travel chaos has also reached Toronto (pictured), where baggage is backed up and travelers are also experiencing delays

An estimated 48million Americans are expected to travel this weekend, with 3.5million expected to take to the skies.

Delta Airlines revealed its staff has been working more overtime than it did combined in 2018 and 2019, pre-pandemic, and said it expects 'operational challenges' this weekend.

It said passengers will be able to rebook trips if they encounter weekend travel delays. The only catch is that passengers must keep their travel destinations the same.

The announcement comes two days before Delta pilots plan to picket in seven major cities, including New York and Detroit, according to CBS. In addition, Delta has already cut 100 flights per day and Southwest snipped off 20,000 this summer, making it even harder for busy airports to keep up with enthusiastic travelers, CBS News reported.

A recent contract through the largest pilot unit ALPA has also negotiated a 14 percent pay boost for United Airlines pilots, who earn an average of $160,000-a-year, across 18 months. Delta pilots are currently in the middle of contract negotiations and are also asking for a pay raise and better retirement benefits, as well as schedule changes to reduce disruptions.

Pilots have also slammed airlines for creating a chaotic travel season due to covid vaccine mandates.

One Southwest pilot said during a protest - which saw 1,300 Southwest employees picketing outside of Dallas Love Field Airport earlier this month - that he thought the mandate was the main cause.

'I believe it's because of the COVID vaccines - they're still requiring the vaccination for all new applicants and if the new applicants say they're not going to get vaccinated, their application is passed over,' Pilot Tom Bogart told News Nation.

He said many 'highly qualified applicants' are being passed over due to not being vaccinated.

Delta pilots stand outside New York's Grand Central Terminal on June 16 to protest the harsh work environment as they demand better pay and better retirement plans amidst the chaotic travel year. Southwest pilots also recently protested outside of the Dallas Love Field

'The executive order [for mandating vaccines] is not dead,' he told News Nation.

He said pilots are still 'passionate' about flying and 'love what we do,' but said the focus needs to put on the airlines and not the pilots.

'You guys need to be asking Southwest Airlines: 'What are you doing proactively?' We're still in the same spot that we were last summer. We're still in the same spot that we were over the holidays,' he said earlier this month.

Almost a year ago, pilots spoke out about the mandate and many left the industry or retired - although airlines have yet to give a definite number on how many truly resigned.

Ahead of a Memorial Day, a travel expert Brian Kelly told Fox Business that he expected the pilot shortage to only get worst as the summer travel season continues because of the pilot shortage.

Another reason he said the shortage might be happening is the expense of becoming a pilot.

'It's really expensive to become a pilot,' he told Fox Business in May.
Staff of the National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage place a "geompa," a hilt-shaped ornament, on top of a "chwidu," a dragon-shaped ornamental roof tile, during a press conference at the National Palace Museum of Korea, central Seoul, Wednesday. The fully intact set of the roof tile decorations, which is believed to be for royal buildings in the early Joseon era, was excavated from the mudflats of coastal Taean, South Chungcheong Province. Yonhap





By Kim Rahn







A dragon-shaped ornamental roof tile and a hilt-shaped ornament placed on top of it have been unearthed, the first excavation ever of a fully intact dragon-shaped roof tile decoration, according to the National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage, Wednesday.







A "chwidu" and "geompa" on the roof of Injeong Gate at Changdeok Palace in Seoul / Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration

The institute under the Cultural Heritage Administration made public the artifacts, which are believed to have adorned royal buildings early in the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom.







The upper part of the roof tile, called a "chwidu," which decorated both ends of the main ridge of a building roof, was discovered in the mudflats of Cheongpodae, Taean, South Chungcheong Province, in May, and the hilt-shaped ornament placed on top of the chwidu, called a "geompa," was also found there last June.







The upper part matched the lower part that had been discovered there in 2019 by a local who was collecting shells. The combined upper and lower parts also paired with other upper and lower parts the institute found nearby last June.







With the finding of the geompa, the fully intact dragon-shaped roof tile decoration has now been verified. Considering that dragon patterns were used only by the royal family in early Joseon, the ornament is also expected to assist people in studying the details of royal buildings of the era.







The size of the "geompa," or hilt-shaped ornament, excavated from the mudflats of Taean, South Chungcheong Province, which is believed to have adorned the roof of a royal building in early Joseon / Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration





The excavated geompa is 40.5 centimeters long, 16 centimeters wide and 7 centimeters thick, with cloud patterns on both sides. Geompa were used to prevent rainwater from flowing inside the chwidu.







It is different from several geompa that are seen in late Joseon-era royal buildings  such as in Injeong Gate of Changdeok Palace  that do not have any patterns on them and are much simpler in their shapes.







The institute plans to conduct additional excavation work in the mudflat area and under the sea in the region until mid-August. It will continue to study whether there is a sunken ship there, as well as where the roof tiles for royal buildings were made and on which routes they were transported.


Joe Rogan has voiced his support for Florida governor Ron DeSantis when discussing the 2024 presidential election.

Speaking to actress Gina Carano on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said he feels DeSantis 'would work as a good president.'

The podcaster praised the Florida governor for his response to the coronavirus pandemic and his willingness to stand up for American freedoms.

DeSantis, a Harvard graduate, has been lauded by many Americans for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. He made the decision to bring Florida out of the lockdown more quickly than other states.

Rogan's support for DeSantis marks a dramatic turnaround from three years ago, when he backed Bernie Sanders bid for president.

While DeSantis hasn't formally announced he will run in the election, he has won straw polls and is viewed generally favorably by Republican voters.

U.S. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February

DeSantis, who has yet to formally announce he is running for president, attended an event with First Lady Jill Biden

'I feel like what he did for Florida, a lot of people gave him a lot of grief, but ultimately he was correct,' Rogan said.

'He was correct when it comes to like deaths, he was correct. And when it comes to protecting all vulnerable populations, he was correct in terms of distribution of monoclonal antibodies.'

He said he feels that what DeSantis has done for Florida has been 'admirable.' 'You know, he is not perfect. He's a human being, but what he's done is stand up for freedoms,' he said on the podcast.

Rogan also voiced his disapproval of President Joe Biden, saying 'So all this stuff is happening while we have a dead man as a president. You know, it's just not fun.'

'It seemed like the narrative was no one could talk about individual rights. It's all about lockdown. You can't have an open state. You can't have kids in school. You can't do all that,' DeSantis said in February. 'We viewed it the opposite. The default needs to be freedom.'

While DeSantis received significant backlash for his decisions, Florida had an average number of deaths from the virus comparable to numbers from states like New York, that implemented strict lockdown measures.

According to DeSantis, the decision reignited Florida's economy, which is highly dependent on tourism.

DeSantis also introduced the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, which has been praised by many Republican supporters and politicians.

The bill states 'Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.'

DeSantis defended Rogan when a video that compiled all of the times Rogan said the N-word went viral. Rogan, who is white, has since apologized.

'Do not apologize. Do not kow to the mob,' said DeSantis in a February interview with Fox News.

'Stand up and tell them to pound sand; if you do that, there's really nothing that they're able to do to you,' said DeSantis.

Rogan joins a growing list of celebrities who have voiced their support of DeSantis, including billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Earlier this month, Musk stated on Twitter that he's leaning towards supporting DeSantis in the election. When asked about Andrew Yang, Musk said 'I voted for Yang last time, but DeSantis has a better chance of winning.'

DeSantis has also praised Musk's efforts to buy Twitter, saying 'What Musk is trying to do is basically liberate (Twitter) from being an agent of censorship into making it an actual open platform like it's advertised.'
Warner Bros has defended JK Rowling who has come under increased scrutiny over her position on women's rights and gender.

It leapt to the author's side after a Sky News reporter was blocked from asking Tom Felton about Rowling on the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, sat in silence as a third-party PR said 'next question please' off screen when asked about the Rowling's absence in the anniversary celebrations.

After being asked why the line of questioning was cut short, the third-party PR team said: 'JK Rowling is not connected to Warner or Tom Felton, the team felt it was not relevant to the piece.'

But Warner Bros have hit out at this statement and told MailOnline it was 'wholly wrong' and said the studio is 'proud' of working with 'one of the world's most accomplished storytellers' on both the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series over the last 20 years.

Warner Bros has defended JK Rowling (pictured at the World Premiere of the film Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" in London in March) who has come under increased scrutiny over her position on women's rights and gender

Harry Potter's Tom Felton stared blankly after the reporter asked him to comment on JK Rowling's absence during the anniversary celebrations

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling which was published 25 years ago

Felton was being interviewed on camera this week at the Mandrakes and Magical Creatures feature at Warner Brothers Studios when the blunder occurred.

During the interview, Sky's Claire Gregory said: 'And you're sort of, you're still, you and the others stars of the film, still very much the face of the franchise, if you like.

'We speak and hear from you guys. JK obviously has sort of more of a back seat now. Is it strange for her being around at things like this?'

But before the star, 34, could utter an answer, a PR person off screen was heard saying 'next question please.'

Felton stared blankly and fidgeted with his hands as the reporter was forced to laugh and respond: 'Oh okay.'

Earlier in the week, a third-party PR said on Monday they 'felt it was not relevant' to ask Felton about JK Rowling - despite the chat being about the release of the author's first book.

However, Warner Bros - who has worked with the author on the Harry Potter films and during the Fantastic Beasts franchise which recently had The Secrets of Dumbledore released and plans more films from the Wizarding World - hit out at these comments.

After being contacted on Monday, a Warner Bros. Studio Tour London spokesperson told the MailOnline today: 'Warner Bros. has enjoyed a creative, productive, and fulfilling partnership with J.K. Rowling for the past 20 years.

'She is one of the world's most accomplished storytellers, and we are proud to be the studio to bring her vision, characters, and stories to life now  and for decades to come.

Felton pictured at the world premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in March

'On Monday, a statement was issued by a third-party media agency that appeared contrary to this view. The statement was wholly wrong, and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London regrets it happened as part of a media event that day.'

JK Rowling - the mastermind behind the seven best-seller Harry Potter books - has come under intense scrutiny over her position on women's rights and gender.

The author believes in some circumstances that women and girls should have the right to single-sex spaces, causing her to be at the centre of transphobic rows over the past few years.

Rowling, 56, faced accusations of transphobia after she mocked an online article in June 2020 which used the words 'people who menstruate' instead of 'women'.

She later defended herself against the claims in a passionate essay - but has been criticised by some ever since.

Writer JK Rowling has faced accusations of transphobia in recent years over her believes about women and girls

Felton was being interviewed on camera this week at the Mandrakes and Magical Creatures (seen in picture) feature at Warner Brothers Studios when the blunder occurred

Felton, playing Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In a story after the Tom Felton interview, Sky News said: 'PRs don't and shouldn't - for all sorts of reasons not least press freedom - dictate Sky News editorial direction.'

Earlier this year, Attorney General Suella Braverman praised JK Rowling for her views on the transgender issues as she says schools should not have to pander to pupils who see themselves in a different birth gender.

The Tory minister said the Harry Potter author was a 'heroine' for campaigning for female only spaces for those born women and added that schools should be able to treat all children by their birth gender.

She said schools should not address trans pupils by their chosen pronouns or permit them to wear a school uniform of a different gender.

And she added that since those aged under 18 cannot legally change their gender, schools are entitled to treat all children by their birth gender.

The Attorney General also told The Times that Rowling, who has come under fierce criticism for her views on gender, is 'very brave, very courageous' and she is on 'her side' on the trans issue.
Boris Johnson said Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine made him 'evil' while speaking at the NATO Summit in Madrid on Wednesday.

'I think that what he has done is evil,' the Prime Minister told GB News, speaking with presenter Darren McCaffrey.

Asked if he would describe Putin himself as evil, the Prime Minister responded: 'I think it probably follows that if you are what you do, then certainly.'

'Its been an appalling act of unwarranted aggression against an innocent population,' he added. 'It's very rare in life, in politicians, in diplomacy that you see something that is absolutely black and white, something so clear.'

The Prime Minister has compared supporting Russia to a decision between 'good and evil', but had previously stopped short of using that language to describe Putin himself.

He said the UK had to work on addressing the attitudes of countries which were more ambivalent about Putin's actions.

Boris Johnson called Putin 'evil' for his actions in Ukraine at the NATO Summit in Madrid. 'Its been an appalling act of unwarranted aggression against the innocent population,' said the Prime Minister, speaking to GB News' Darren McCaffrey, pictured

'We need to explode some myths', he said. 'It's not the sanctions that are causing food prices to go up, as Putin tells Africa, Asian and Latin American nations. There's nothing to stop Putin exporting food, exporting fertilizer, it is what he is doing to stop grain coming out of Ukraine.'

He also attacked the idea that NATO had encroached on Russia by expanding its borders.

'There was never any chance that missiles were going to be stationed [in Ukraine],' Johnson added. 'It's a complete myth. This is an act of absolutely unprovoked aggression.'

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously described Putin a 'lunatic' and said he has 'small man syndrome' - suggesting his decision-making is influenced by his short stature relative to other world leaders.

Johnson has also previously called the Russian leaders behaviour an example of 'toxic masculinity'.

The statement comes only days after Putin launched a brutal attack in Ukraine that appeared only to target civilians.

Desperate relatives of missing victims of the Ukrainian shopping mall attack appealed for help in finding their loved ones on Monday.

Among those at the scene asking passers-by for information was Ihor Ivakhenko whose girlfriend Tatyana Brigadirenko was working at the Amstor mall when it was hit in a Russian missile strike.

At least 18 people are feared to have died, including 11 who were discovered in a toy shop. But more than 40 remained unaccounted for last night.

Lists of the missing have been pinned up at a police station and relatives have left messages at the site of the attack in the central city of Kremenchuk.

Several workers at Comfy, a household appliances store, were still missing last night, including Elena Poliakova.

Devastation: The mall in flames. At least 18 people are feared to have died, including 11 who were discovered in a toy shop

Still missing: Sofia Vinnik (Left) and Shopper: Anna Vovnenko (Right)

Meeting: Alyona Velichko (Left) and At work: Elena Poliakova (Right)

Another Amstor employee, Sofia Vinnik, 21, was known to have been at work. Other appeals were made on social media, including for Anna Vovnenko, who was with her mother when the missiles hit.

Her mother is now in hospital among about 50 people injured. Another appeal, for Alyona Velichko, 44, said she was going to meet a friend near the mall.

As many as 1,000 people were feared to have been inside when it was hit. Yesterday Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky denounced Russias actions as one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history.

Russia has accused Ukraine of staging the attack.
Police in Florida have released footage of the arrest of a 21-year-old man who allegedly slit his wife's throat, dragged her into a bathtub and played her favorite music while she bled to death after she burned his passport.

Officers responded to a call for a wellbeing check at Charter Pointe Apartments in Altamonte Springs, a northern suburb of Orlando, at around 9.45am on June 21, bodycam footage shows.

At the scene, officers and Seminole County Fire Department deputies found Nhu Quynh Pham, also 21, deceased in a pool of blood inside an apartment she shared with her husband, Xichen Yang.

Yang was not in the apartment at the time of the discovery.

Cops knew about the murder only after the suspect's boss at Marco Polo Pools called them and said that Yang had confessed to killing his wife because she had burned his passport and could not attend work.

He admitted to his wife's gruesome murder for a second time during his arrest, providing details of the knife he used in the stabbing, how she crawled down the hallway, and then how he dragged her into the bathtub.

Yang was handcuffed and taken into custody, where he admitted to officers to having drowned his wife down in the bathwater for at least 10 minutes, as he 'played her favorite music,' and 'held her hand' as she was dying

Bodycam footage from police officers' body camera on June 21 recorded the arrest of Xichen Yang , 21, who allegedly slit his wife's throat and played her favorite music while she was dying in an apartment that they were sharing in Altamonte Springs, a northern suburb of Orlando

In a complaint filed in relation to the crime, Yang admits to have his wife down in the bathwater for at least 10 minutes, as he 'played her favorite music,' and 'held her hand' until she died. AN officer is seen searching his pockets during his arrest

Yang has since been charged with first-degree murder and evidence tamperin and told cops that he killed his wife because she had burned his passport

In a complaint filed in relation to the crime, Yang admits to have his wife down in the bathwater for at least 10 minutes, as he 'played her favorite music,' and 'held her hand' until she died.

Footage from last week's arrest shows an officer diriving into the gate apartment complex, where he eventually links up with several other officers who already have their Glock firearms pointed at Yang, who appears to be inside a parked red Subaru.

Yang was ordered to get out of the car and was immediately handcuffed after police officers opened the driver's car door. He was patted down, and helped with to take off what seems to be a dog tag before being taken into custody without issue.

He was later charged with first degree premeditated murder and tampering with physical evidence.'

Nhu Quynh Pham, also 21, was stabbed to death by Yang after he claimed he flew into a rage when she burned his passport

A photo of the young victim, Nhu Quynh Pham. Her boyfriend confessed to having murdered her by telling his employer at Marco Polo Pools, in Orlando, citing it as a reason for not coming into work

After Pham died, Yang started to clean the pools of blood splattered all over the walls and floor before going to his car.

Police said the victim sustained a 'deep laceration to the left side of her neck' and her stomach had 'pooled with blood,' according to Law & Crime.

Yang added that he flew into a rage after Pham burned his passport, and he could have 'stopped short' but decided not to.

He told authorities that was 'not how he was raised' and that he is the type of person who always 'goes all the way,' the complaint stated, Law & Crime reported.

Pham, the victim, was from Vietnam. A GoFundMe has been created to help raise money to assist Pham's family for funeral expenses, and to help transport her back to her country.

Altamonte Springs Police Department was doing a welfare check on Monday morning when the came up on the grisly murder scene. Yang was not present at the time. Police located him and he was placed in custody without incident

As of Wednesday, nearly $33, 380 has been raised, far exceeding their goal of $10,000.

Michael Rathal, who was Yang's boss, was the person who called 911 and told the dispatcher that Yang claimed he had just killed his wife, according to the complaint, the news outlet reproted.

'Yang called Rathel's son, Michael Cole Rathel, and informed him he had stabbed his wife, killing her, and was attempting to clean up the evidence,' the elder Rathel allegedly told the dispatcher.
Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes.

Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on the grounds that he'd cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get the leaders of Ukraine to investigate President Joe Bidens son.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didn't give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors.

The judge also ordered Parnas pay $2.3 million in restitution.

Addressing the court before the sentence was announced, Parnas sobbed and apologized to people who had lost money investing in his business ventures.

'A lot that you heard is true your honor. I have not been a good person my whole life. Ive made mistakes. And I admit it,' Parnas said. 'I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all people who are my friends, all people who trusted me and I lied to them to further my personal agenda,' Parnas said.

Lev Parnas (left) is accompanied by his wife Svetlana (right) and newborn baby as he departs court with U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken sentencing him to 20 months in prison

Lev Parnas speaks to the media outside the federal courthouse in New York Wednesday after being sentenced to 20 months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crime

Lev Parnas (left) and Svetlana Parnas (right) arrive at court in New York on Wednesday

Lev Parnas (left), a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, and his lawyer Joseph Bondy (right) take a selfie in front of the federal courthouse in New York on Wednesday

Lev Parnas (center) alongside his lawyer Joseph Bondy (right) speaks with the media outside the federal courthouse in New York Wednesday

Lev Parnas, 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

The criminal case against Parnas was not directly related to his work acting as a fixer for Giuliani as the former New York City mayor connected with Ukrainian officials and lobbied them to launch an investigation of Biden's son, Hunter.

Instead, it zeroed in on donations Parnas had illegally made to a number of U.S. politicians using the riches of a wealthy Russian as part of an effort to jump-start a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, Parnas also pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee, that promised it could protect people against fraud.

That new company hired Giuliani as a consultant at a time when some Ukrainian figures were trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, agreeing to pay him $500,000.

Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island attorney who put up the cash to pay Giuliani, told the judge during the sentencing hearing that he hoped the former mayor would return the money, since Fraud Guarantee turned out to be a fraud.

'My bet is he's going to give me that money back,' he said, adding that he didn't blame Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the scheme.

Outside of court, Parnas said that he didn't believe Giuliani would return the money.

'I don't think he'll pay him back because, as you can see, he's gone down the path of no return. He's just an evil man, unfortunately, and somebody that I'm very, very sad that I had to meet,' he said.

'I don't think he'll pay him back because, as you can see, he's gone down the path of no return. He's just an evil man, unfortunately, and somebody that I'm very, very sad that I had to meet,' Lev Parnas said outside the courthouse about Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani, who was working at the time as a personal lawyer for then-President Donald Trump, has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani's interactions with Ukrainian figures violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

Parnas and a business associate, Igor Fruman, attracted attention from reporters after arranging big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump.

An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to promote a new energy company.

During Parnas' sentencing hearing, the judge also heard from other people who had lost money with him in failed business deals.

Dianne Pues said the businessman 'destroyed my life' when he failed to repay money she and her husband had loaned him to produce a movie called 'Anatomy of an Assassin.'

Parnas promised he would become a new person.

He made a special apology to Gucciardo, turning to face him as he spoke.

'I'd like to apologize to Mr. Gucciardo. Even though I never spent a dollar of his money. I lied to him and used our friendship. Charles, I am sorry,' he said.
George Washington University (GWU) is rejecting demands from students to boot Clarence Thomas from its staff after the conservative justice wrote an opinion seeming to suggest gay marriage and access to contraception could be the next target of the Supreme Court.

In a letter addressed to students Tuesday, GWU officials said they will not remove Thomas from his post as an adjunct professor because he has not violated the school's policy on academic freedom.

'Debate is an essential part of our university's academic and educational mission,' the letter said.

The university has 'received requests from some members of the university' to fire Thomas, who teaches a constitutional law class.

'Just as we affirm our commitment to academic freedom, we affirm the right of all members of our communities to voice their opinions,' the statement said.

'Because we steadfastly support the robust exchange of ideas and deliberation, and because debate is an essential part of our university's academic and educational mission to train future leaders who are prepared to address the world's most urgent problems, the university will neither terminate Justices Thomas' employment nor cancel his class in response to his legal opinions,' it concluded.

In a letter addressed to students Tuesday, GWU officials said they will not remove Justice Clarence Thomas from his post as an adjunct professor because he has not violated the school's policy on academic freedom

On Friday, with Thomas' vote the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 5-4 opinion in Jackson v. Women's Health clinic, a case that centered on Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban.

In a separate concurring opinion, Thomas wrote that Dobbs could only be applied to abortion rights. But he added that the Constitution's Due Process clause does not secure the right to an abortion or any other substantive rights.

'In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.'

Griswold protected the rights of married couples to use contraception, Lawrence legalized homosexuality and Obergefell legalized gay marriage.

'Debate is an essential part of our university's academic and educational mission,' the university, pictured above, said

Justice Samuel Alito stressed in the majority opinion that his reasoning only applied to abortion and rejected claims that the rationale in Dobbs could extend to the other landmark civil rights cases.

'Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,' Alito wrote.

The three liberal members of the court - Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer - wrote in a dissenting opinion that they did believe other rights were at risk as a result of the Dobbs decision.

'No one should be confident that this majority is done with its work,' the three liberals wrote. 'The right Roe and Casey recognized does not stand alone. To the contrary, the Court has linked it for decades to other settled freedoms involving bodily integrity, familial relationships, and procreation. Most obviously, the right to terminate a pregnancy arose straight out of the right to purchase and use contraception. In turn, those rights led, more recently, to rights of same-sex intimacy and marriage. They are all part of the same constitutional fabric, protecting autonomous decisionmaking over the most personal of life decisions.'
Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday denied asking his former client Donald Trump for a pardon linked to the events of January 6 and dismissed the January 6 committee where the allegation surfaced.

Giuliani seeking a presidential pardon - along with Trump's ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows - was among the most explosive claims made during a largely jaw-dropping hearing conducted by the panel on Tuesday.

Lawmakers' star witness was 25-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson, Meadows' former assistant who was in the room for numerous key conversations surrounding the White House's strategy about the 2020 election.

In addition to testifying about Giuliani and Meadows seeking pardons, Hutchinson also painted a picture of a White House in turmoil over the ex-president and a small faction of his allies looking to overturn the election results by any means necessary on January 6 while officials and others in Trump's orbit kept them at bay.

Giuliani claimed to know people personally willing to dispute her account and compared the bipartisan committee of nine to the lawmakers who investigated Trump's 2016 campaign for alleged links to the Russian government.

'Once again the January 6 Committee of Russian Collusion Liars suborned perjury from Cassidy Hutchinson,' Giuliani wrote.

'I specifically told President Trump I did not want or need a pardon. I, also, have witnesses to corroborate that she and the Committee are perpetrating yet another lie.'

Donald Trump's former attorney and the former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani sought a pardon from Trump related to January 6, testified someone who was a former White House aide at the time

The January 6 committee has been holding public hearings to draw a link between the former president and his allies' quest to stay in power and the violent events of January 6

He followed up in a now-deleted tweet on Wednesday, 'The January 6 Witch Hunt Cabal has now exceeded even its prior fraudulent.'

'The last witness was a reckless liar. Contrary to her false testimony she was never present when I asked for a pardon,' the disbarred attorney said.

The former New York City mayor had previewed January 6 as a 'great day' and said Trump would be at the US Capitol that day in a 'powerful' show of force, according to Hutchinson's testimony.

It was her first public appearance before the committee after roughly 20 hours of grilling behind closed doors.

Hutchinson said Giuliani made the comments to her when she was escorting him out of the Oval Office after a meeting - four days before the Capitol attack.

'He looked at me and said something to the effect of, "Cass are you excited? The 6th is going to be a great day",' Hutchinson recalled.

When she asked Giuliani what he meant, Hutchinson said he replied: 'Were going to the Capitol. Its going to be great. The presidents going to be there, hes going to look powerful.'

25-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows' former assistant, was the committee's star witness on Tuesday

Referring to her boss, he encouraged her to 'talk to the chief about it' because 'he knows about it.'

Hutchinson suggested she was concerned enough to raise the 'interesting' conversation with Meadows.

She recalled him replying, 'Theres a lot going on, Cass. I don't know, things could get real, real bad on January 6th.'

'That evening was the first moment I remembered feeling scared and wondering what could happen on January 6,' Hutchinson said.

Trump himself unleashed on the 25-year-old former White House staffer via his app Truth Social.

In a tirade that began before Hutchinson's testimony was done, the ex-president labeled her with a litany of insults including 'leaker,' 'phony,' and 'bull---- artist.'

He also denied her account that he attempted to grab the wheel of his presidential vehicle from his Secret Service driver, and when he was stopped, 'lunged' for an agent's throat.
A Bronx mother and her teenage son are arrested in the barbaric murder of a seven-year-old girl who was tortured, beaten, and sexually assaulted, while under their care.

Navasia Jones, 36, and her 17-year-old son Paul Fine, Jr., of Brooklyn were charged with murder and manslaughter of seven-year-old Julissia Batties, according to a NYPD spokesperson.

Julissia's parents were in a vicious custody battle, and the little girl had lived with her grandmother.

Before her death, the helpless little girl cried and pleaded with her grandmother not to send her to her mother's house for her court-ordered weekend visit, The New York Post reported.

On Wednesday, Jones and Fine, Jr., were taken into custody at approximately 9:30am by officers from New York City's 40th Precinct.

Jones now faces charges of murder, manslaughter, acting in a manner injurious to a child and failure to exercise control of a minor.

Her teenage son faces charges of manslaughter, sexual abuse, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Julissia Batties, 7, was killed by her mother and brother in the summer of 2021 in the Bronx apartment of the girl's mother, Navasia Jones and her teenage brother, Paul Fine

The mother and son pair were taken into custody on Wednesday morning by officers from the 40th Precinct for the beating death of Julissia Batties, 7, in their Bronx apartment August 2021

The heinous crime took place on August 10, 2021, when police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious female inside the Bronx apartment located on Laverne Avenue around 8:06am.

Upon arrival, responding officers encountered EMS, who had attempted life saving care to the youngster.

Julissia's mother told the police her daughter had fallen and hit her head on a desk around 5am, and three hours later began vomiting.

However, police saw bruising and trauma all over little Julissia's body, officials said, The New York Times previously reported.

She was transported to NYC Health and Hospital in Lincoln where she died shortly after.

Julissia died of 'blunt force abdominal trauma,' and the case was ruled a homicide, according to the city's medical examiner's office, The New York Post previously reported.

During the investigation, Julissia's half- brother admitted to assaulting his baby sister before she was found dead in the Bronx apartment, police sources said on Wednesday, a report said

Julissia's mother told the police her daughter had fallen and hit her head on a desk around 5 am, and three hours later began vomiting. However, police saw bruising and trauma all over little Julissia's body, officials said, The New York Times previously reported

A day after Julissia Batties died, a makeshift memorial for the girl was placed in the lobby of the Bronx apartment building where she lived

Yolanda Davis, Julissia's grandmother, who had taken care of her granddaughter, waited for this moment of reckoning.

'I'm just so happy I'm getting justice for my granddaughter,' Davis said.

She added: 'Oh my God, I've never felt so great,' she said The New York Post reported.

Julissia's dad Julius Batties was elated by their arrest and expressed gratitude towards the DA and the detective.

Batties said, in part: 'I can finally start the process of healing,' he said, The Post reported.

Fine had also confessed to punching his sister eight times in the face when their mother went to the store, police sources said, the news outlet said.

Police have been called to the apartment at the NYCHA's Mitchel Houses on Alexander Avenue over at least six times, over the past three years, sources said, and one of those times, the mother covered for her son, a report said.

Davis said Jones has seven other children, and the city has taken taken each of her seven children away from her, at some point, a report said.

She fought along with a court-appointed attorney, but in June 2021, the city Administration for Childrens Services returned Julissia to live with her mother.

It would be without supervision, for the first time, and Julissia was killed less than two months later, the Post reported.

The girl's father, Julius felt that ACS failed him and his daughter by giving up the child to the mother, who allegedly abused her, The New York Post previously reported.

At the time, an ACS spokesman said: 'Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City. We are investigating this case with the NYPD,' the report said.
Karen Caballero says her two sons and one of their girlfriends would still be alive today if there were job opportunities in Honduras. Instead, the three young people risked their lives to migrate to the Unites States.

Her sons, Fernando Redondo (19) and Alejandro Andino (22), and Andino's partner Margie Paz (20), were among the 46 migrants who were found dead inside an abandoned tractor trailer near San Antonio, Texas, about 160 miles from the southern border, on Monday.

Adela Ramirez, 28, was the fourth Honduran migrant identified by the government Wednesday. Authorities are still waiting on the identification of 10 other migrants from Honduras who died.

At least 27 Mexicans and seven Guatemalans are among those who have been confirmed dead. Two more came from for El Salvador, and another three whose nationalities are still unknown.

The death toll in the tragedy, which is the deadliest human smuggling attempt in American history, rose to 53 Wednesday and at least 11 migrants remain hospitalized, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Karen Caballero told Honduras television network HCH that her two sons and one of their girlfriends decided to migrate to the United States because of the lack of job opportunities in the Central American nation

The Honduran government on Wednesday named brothers Fernando Redondo (left) and Alejandro Andino (right) among the deceased. Their mother told Honduran television station HCH that her sons and Andino's girlfriend left for the United States on June 4

Margie Paz, of Honduras, was named among the deceased on Wednesday. The 20-year-old had been studying at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. She was dating Alejandro Caballero

The incident left 53 migrants, including five children, dead, and at least 11 remain hospitalized. Officials have so far identified 34 of the victims

Redondo, Andino and Paz left their hometown in the western city of Las Vegas for the United States on June 4 in search of a better life because companies back home overlooked them every time they applied for employment, Caballero said in an interview with Honduran television station HCH.

'We are suffering because when they left the house. We never, never imagined that something like this would happen. Never, never,' the mourning mother said.

According to Caballero, Andino was six courses away from graduating with a marketing degree, and Paz had a degree in economics.

'They were never able to find a job here in Honduras despite the fact that my son was always called by good companies, no one ever wanted to offer him a job because they always told him that they had no experience,' Caballero said.

'It is sad to see that young people who have prepared themselves with the sacrifice of their family never have the opportunity to stand out in a country as it is.'

Surveillance cameras captured Homero Zamorano, 45, driving the truck across the border hours before he allegedly abandoned it on a road on the outskirts of San Antonio

The driver who abandoned the tractor trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, leaving at least 53 migrants dead, was 'very high on meth' when police arrested him

A report released in May by the Honduran Council for Private Enterprise showed that 13.2 percent people between the ages of 15 and 29 were unemployed in the country in 2021. Figures for 2022 were not provided.

'Let the young have opportunities. They deserve it. My son deserved it. My daughter-in-law deserved it. And nobody in any company gave them the opportunity,' Caballero said.

'They were dreaming as a couple because my son's first girlfriend is her.  They had dreams, they had goals and they were not going to be fulfilled here. Unemployment. So many things. The lack of opportunities.'

While Caballero cautioned her two sons about the ever-present dangers of migrating to the United States, she said that the family 'saw it not as a way out, but as an opportunity for them to have a better lifestyle.'

Caballero said she last spoke to her sons Saturday morning while they were in the Texas border town of Roma while waiting to continue their journey, but she declined to reveal their intended final destination.

She also refused to say how much her sons and Paz paid to be smuggled, although investigators believe all of the migrants paid the smugglers around $10,000 each for safe passage across the United States-Mexico border.

Adela Ramirez is one of 14 Hondurans who died in the smuggling incident

Authorities arrested 45-year-old Homero Zamorano, of Houston, and Mexican nationals Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez in connection with the incident.

D'Luna-Bilbao and D'Luna-Menderz were charged in federal court Tuesday with possessing firearms while residing in the U.S. illegally.

Zamorano was captured by a surveillance camera driving the truck across the border hours before he abandoned it on a remote road.

He was captured by surveillance cameras driving the trailer through U.S. Customs and Border Protection immigration checkpoints in Encinal, Texas, about 34 miles from the Mexico border, around 2.50pm Monday.

The truck was found abandoned near San Antonio, about 160 miles from the border, around 6pm. Investigators suspect the truck had suffered some sort of mechanical problem.

The driver and suspected human smuggler pretended to be an illegal migrant when authorities confronted him, Francisco Garduno Yanez , the director of Mexico's National Institute of Migration, said during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily news briefing Wednesday.

'The driver tried to pass himself off as one of the survivors,' Garduno Yanez said, noting the National Institute of Migration had no data on Zamorano.

'ICE reported that three people are already detained as allegedly responsible for human trafficking and homicide,' he said while adding that 'the plates, logos and license were cloned.'

Zamorano was arrested Monday in a desolate area near Lackland Air Force Base after having tried to pass himself off as a survivor.

Zamorano, 45, pretended to be an immigrant to avoid being detained. This image of the truck bed and Zamorano was presented in a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico, by the commissioner of the National Migration Institute

'He was very high on meth when he was arrested nearby and had to be taken to the hospital,' a law enforcement official confirmed to The San Antonio Express News.

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to be charged soon.

D'Luna-Bilbao and D'Luna-Mendez were apprehended at a residence in the 100 block of Arnold Drive after officers traced the truck's registration to the property.

The residence was placed under surveillance and both men were arrested as they attempted to leave the property.

Officials had first linked Zamorano's rig to an Alamo resident. However, investigation proved the Alamo man's truck had been out hauling grain in another part of Texas at the time of the incident.

Isaac Limon, whose father-in-law owned the truck whose data was cloned, told The Washington Post: 'It was a perfect setup.'

'His DOT Number was illegally copied onto the truck...' he added. 'He is not the owner of the truck in San Antonio that is involved in this tragic event.'

'Sad to say, but he's a bit of a victim, too, because people believe it was him.'

Law enforcement officials believe Zamorano was transporting around 100 migrants in the rig, but the exact number remains unclear.
Chicago Police released dramatic video of a gunman accused of shooting an officer point-blank before being gunned down as well.

Officer Erik Moreno's bodycam revealed the tense moment the officer ran up to a silver Toyota Camry driven by Jerome Halsey, 27, on June 5, during a traffic stop in West Englewood.

As he runs to the car on a dead-end street, Moreno shouts, 'Stay in the car, don't move!'

Halsey then rushes out the door and aims a handgun at the officer, and the two exchange a violent volley of bullets, with Moreno struck twice in the arm and torso.

In the chaos, one of the officers gets a clean show on Halsey, who was struck in the body and falls to the ground as the shootout ends.

Moreno let's out a painful groan and immediately falls back behind a squad car, bleeding, while cops took Halsey into custody.

Both men survived the exchange, and Halsey was charged with two counts of attempted murder.

Chicago Police released bodycam and surveillance video of a violent shootout between officers and Jerome Halsey, 27, (second from the left)

Officer Erik Moreno's bodycam shows the officer had yelled at Halsey to remain in his car, but the man quickly opens the door armed with a handgun pointed at Moreno

Halsey fires at Moreno (left) who backs up after being hit in the arm and torso. A fellow officer manages to shoot Halsey, who goes down with one hit (right)

Halsey (pictured) has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and assault

While the video from Moreno's bodycam ends with the officer bleeding on the side of the road as his fellow cops provide support, footage from another officer's body camera shows the aftermath.

When the officer arrives at the scene, Halsey is already out of the car and lying flat on the floor while he bleeds.

The officers cuff him and ask for his condition, but the 27-year-old in unresponsive, so they work quickly to get him into an ambulance.

Surveillance footage of the scene also reveals that Halsey was fleeing from the officers in his car, rushing into the one way street and then trying to back up before officers blocked his path.

Prosecutors said Halsey had been driving erratically, and officers said he had a broken brake light, which triggered the traffic stop.

The officers got out of their car 'with their weapons upholstered' because of Halsey's driving, prosecutors told Fox 32 in a statement, and fired .

Despite the injuries, Moreno was cleared for release from the University of Chicago Medical Center last week.

Along with the attempted murder charges, Halsey also faces charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

Prosecutors said Halsey had been stopped over a broken brake light and erratic driving when he pulled into a dead-end street, with police blocking his exit

Moreno was discharged from the hospital last week after recovering from his injuries

Shootings continue to plague the Windy City as a five-month-old baby became the latest homicide victim during a crime-filled weekend.

The baby, Cecilia Thomas, was traveling in a car with her father when she was shot in the head in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood Friday night.

Police say Thomas was killed after an unidentified woman who opened fire on the family's car in a drive-by shooting. The baby was taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died from her injuries.

A 41-year-old man, traveling in a separate car, was also struck in the incident and suffered a gunshot wound to the eye. He was said to be in stable condition.

The shooter fled the scene and police have no suspects in custody at this time. Community activist Ja'Mal Green, who is running for mayor, is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of Thomas' killer.

Meanwhile, outraged residents are calling on lawmakers to take action after at least 20 people were shot in the crime-ridden city over the weekend.

CBS News named Chicago, which has a murder rate 18.26 per 100,000 citizens, the 28th deadliest city in America earlier this year.

Five-month-old Cecilia Thomas was traveling in a car with her father when she was shot in the head in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood Friday night

Thomas was killed after an unidentified woman who opened fire on the family's car in a drive-by shooting

A 41-year-old man, traveling in a separate car, was also struck in the incident and suffered a gunshot wound to the eye. He was said to be in stable condition. Police are pictured at the scene of the shooting

Thomas' father was driving home around 6.45pm Friday when shots rang out in the 7700 block of South Shore Drive.

The concerned dad pulled over near the intersection of 71st Street and Candon Avenue after Thomas began crying, a witness told ABC 7.

He summoned for help and Thomas was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where she later passed away. The medical examiner's office said she died from a gunshot wound to the head.

At least a dozen of the infant's family members gathered outside the hospital while doctors attempted to save her life.

'I hope y'all catch whoever did this,' a woman screamed at the scene. 'Took that d**n baby's life.'

Violent crimes are still up across the board in Chicago

Violent crimes are still up across the board in Chicago despite Mayor Lori Lightfoot vow to crackdown on crime.

According to the latest statistics from the Chicago Police Department, Murders are up a whopping 23 percent since 2019 - before the pandemic inspired an influx of crime to plague the city's streets - with 282 killings recorded since the start of the year, compared to the 230 seen in 2019.

Murders are also up since June 2020, following the peak of the pandemic lockdown, which saw a still concerning 291 murders.

Violent assaults are also up, with 2,553 cases of aggravated battery having been reported already this year. During June 2021, the city had recorded 2,516 cases.

Sexual assaults and rapes are down this year, with the city recording nine fewer incidents this year than this time in 2021.

Small crimes such as theft have also surged since last year, by a whopping 65 percent, from 4,712 incidents to 7,770.

Gun violence, meanwhile - arguably the city's most pressing and prevailing issue - trickled down slightly, from 1,381 shootings last year to 1,148 so far in 2022.

However, when compared to shootings seen in 2019, before the city's unprecedented crime wave, the rate of gun violence has increased astronomically, by a concerning 44 percent.




North Korea is taking emergency measures to prevent damage from flooding as the country braces for the summer rainy season amid its fight against COVID-19, according to state media, Wednesday.







The country's "central emergency anti-epidemic sector" took steps to ensure medical supplies in thousands of emergency medical units set up at hospitals across the country and urged disinfection work in evacuation centers to prevent the outbreak of an "enteric illness," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.







The North is also taking measures to disinfect regions affected by natural disasters to block the spread of the "malicious" coronavirus.







On Tuesday, Premier Kim Tok-hun urged efforts to minimize damage from typhoons and heavy downpours by improving the accuracy of weather forecasts as he inspected the State Hydro-Meteorological Administration, the country's state weather agency, and the Committee for Emergency and Disaster Management.







He called for nationwide efforts to protect crops and to reach its target harvest level for this year, the KCNA reported.







Observers have voiced concerns that the heavy downpours could deal a blow to agricultural output in the North, which is known to be vulnerable to flooding due to poor irrigation and deforestation.







North Korea has issued a heavy rain alert for most of the country's regions this week. (Yonhap)






A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping - and now relatives of the victim want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later.

A warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham, 88, was discovered last week by searchers inside a file folder that had been placed in a box, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Relatives want authorities to use the warrant to arrest Donham, who at the time of the slaying was married to one of two white men tried and acquitted just weeks after Till was abducted from a relative's home, killed and dumped into a river.

'Serve it and charge her,' Teri Watts, the daughter of Till's cousin, told the AP in an interview.

Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 88, is believed to have identified Emmett Till to the men who murdered him

A cousin of Till who was there has said Till (pictured) whistled at Donham, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi's racist social codes of the era

Donham set off the case in August 1955 by accusing the 14-year-old Till of making improper advances at a family store in Money, Mississippi. A cousin of Till who was there has said Till whistled at the woman, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi's racist social codes of the era.

Evidence indicates a woman, possibly Donham, identified Till to the men who later killed him. The arrest warrant against Donham was publicized at the time, but the Leflore County sheriff told reporters he did not want to 'bother' the woman since she had two young children to care for.

Donham, who most recently lived in North Carolina, has not commented publicly on calls for her prosecution. But Teri Watts said the Till family believes the warrant accusing Donham of kidnapping amounts to new evidence.

'This is what the state of Mississippi needs to go ahead,' she said.

Carolyn Bryant Donham (second from right) photographed alongside her husband Roy Bryant during his murder trial on September 23, 1955. On the left are J.W. Milam and his wife. Brant and Milam would confess to killing Till in a magazine interview after being exonerated

Donham alongside her husband, Roy Bryant, during his murder trial in Mississippi in 1955

District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, whose office would prosecute a case, declined comment on the warrant but cited a December report about the Till case from the Justice Department, which said no prosecution was possible.

Contacted by the AP on Wednesday, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said: 'This is the first time I've known about a warrant.'

Banks, who was 7 years old when Till was killed, said 'nothing was said about a warrant' when a former district attorney investigated the case five or six years ago.

'I will see if I can get a copy of the warrant and get with the DA and get their opinion on it,' Banks said. If the warrant can still be served, Banks said, he would have to talk to law enforcement officers in the state where Donham resides.

Arrest warrants can 'go stale' due to the passage of time and changing circumstances, and one from 1955 almost certainly wouldn't pass muster before a court, even if a sheriff agreed to serve it, said Ronald J. Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi.

Deborah Watts, of Minneapolis, speaks on August 27, 2015, in Jackson, Mississippi, about the slaying of her cousin, Emmett Till. Till's family remains vocal about seeking justice

Deborah Watts (center), cousin of Emmett Till, was among the group that found the warrant for Donham

But combined with any new evidence, the original arrest warrant 'absolutely' could be an important stepping stone toward establishing probable cause for a new prosecution, he said.

'If you went in front of a judge you could say, 'Once upon a time a judge determined there was probable cause, and much more information is available today,'' Rychlak said.

Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he entered the store where Donham, then 21, was working on August 24, 1955. A Till relative who was there, Wheeler Parker, told AP that Till whistled at the woman. Donham testified in court that Till also grabbed her and made a lewd comment.

Two nights later, Donham's then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, showed up armed at the rural Leflore County home of Till's great-uncle, Mose Wright, looking for the youth. Till's brutalized body, weighted down by a fan, was pulled from a river days later in another county.

His mother's decision to open the casket so mourners in Chicago could see what had happened helped galvanize the building civil rights movement of the time.

Bryant and Milam were acquitted of murder but later admitted the killing in a magazine interview. While both men were named in the same warrant that accused Donham of kidnapping, authorities did not pursue the case following their acquittal.

Till's mother famously chose to have an open-casket funeral for her 14-year-old so mourners in Chicago could see what had happened

Mamie Bradley, recounts her 14-year-old son's death in Washington D.C. in October, 1955

Wright testified during the murder trial that a person with a voice 'lighter' than a man's identified Till from inside a pickup truck and the abductors took him away. Other evidence in FBI files indicates that earlier that same night, Donham told her husband at least two other black men were not the right person.

The search group that found the warrant included members of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and two Till relatives: cousin Deborah Watts, head of the foundation; and Teri Watts.

Documents are kept inside boxes by decade, Stockstill - who certified the warrant as genuine- said, but there was nothing else to indicate where the warrant, dated August 29, 1955, might have been.

'They narrowed it down between the '50s and '60s and got lucky,' he said.

Keith Beauchamp, whose documentary film 'The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till' preceded a renewed Justice Department probe that ended without charges in 2007, was also part of the search. He said there's enough new evidence to prosecute Donham.
Republican Rep. James Comer says a bombshell voicemail between Joe Biden and his son Hunter revealed by DailyMail.com earlier this week is 'further proof' the president 'knew about his son's foreign wheeling and dealing'.

The Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform also doubled down on his vow to give Americans 'answers about the Biden familys pattern of placing profit over country' if the GOP takes back the majority in the House in November.

DailyMail.com revealed on Monday that President Biden spoke with Hunter about his business dealings with a Chinese criminal his son dubbed the 'spy chief of China'

Joe called Hunter on December 12, 2018 saying that he wanted to talk to him after reading a New York Times story about Hunter's dealings with the Chinese oil giant CEFC.

Comer, who is set to lead congressional investigations if Republicans take over control form Democrats in November, has his sights on Hunter Biden and deems him a 'national security threat'.

'Evidence continues to mount that Joe Biden is the "Big Guy" and received a cut from his familys suspicious foreign business deals,' Comer said in a statement to DailyMail.com on Wednesday.

'Weve uncovered evidence revealing the comingling of Hunter and Joe Bidens finances and the voicemail unearthed recently is just further proof Joe Biden knew about his sons wheeling and dealing with foreign adversaries.

'We will continue to investigate the Biden familys shady business deals as more facts emerge. If Americans entrust Republicans with the majority, we will use the power of the gavel to get answers about the Biden familys pattern of placing profit over country to determine if President Biden is compromised by these deals.'

The president has repeatedly denied personally and through his press secretary that he ever talked about Hunter's foreign business with his Hunter  despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Now, in a voicemail left on Hunter's iPhone, the evidence has come from POTUS' own mouth.

Joe Biden called Hunter in December 2018 saying he wanted to talk to him about a New York Times story on Hunter's dealings with the Chinese oil giant CEFC

Republican Rep. James Comer has said the voicemail DailyMail.com revealed earlier this week is 'further proof' the president knew about his son's foreign business dealings

Files on Hunter's abandoned laptop previously disclosed by DailyMail.com show that he struck a deal with the Chinese company worth millions of dollars after touting his family connections.

The Times' 2018 story pointed out CEFC's chairman Ye Jianming had been arrested in China and his top lieutenant Patrick Ho had been convicted in the US for bribing African officials to help Iran evade oil sanctions.

It revealed that Ye had met with Hunter at a Miami hotel in 2017 to discuss 'a partnership to invest in American infrastructure and energy deals.'

The Times reported that when Ho was arrested, he called Joe's brother Jim Biden  who told the newspaper that he believed the call was meant for Hunter.

The Gray Lady said it was 'unclear whether Hunter Biden struck any business deals with CEFC', not knowing at the time the depths of his connections with his Chinese business partners.

After seeing the story online, Joe called Hunter and left a voicemail.

'Hey pal, it's Dad. It's 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you get a chance just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I just wanted to talk to you,' he said.

'I thought the article released online, it's going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good. I think you're clear. And anyway if you get a chance give me a call, I love you.'

The message flies in the face of the president's repeated denials that he ever discussed Hunter's overseas business dealings with his son.

The Times' 2018 story pointed out CEFC's chairman Ye Jianming had been arrested in China and his lieutenant Patrick Ho(right) had been convicted in the US of bribery. Hunter accidentally recorded himself referring to Ho as the 'spy chief of China'

The newly uncovered voicemail came from a backup of Hunter's iPhone XS, stored on his abandoned laptop.

After the Times' story was published, Hunter's friends texted him teasing about Jim's indiscreet comment to the newspaper that linked Hunter to Patrick Ho.

Devon Archer, Hunter's longtime best friend and business partner who is now serving a year in jail for defrauding a Native American tribe, wrote to him the next day: 'Nice quote from uncle jimmy. I hope you thanked him for that.'

'Took it totally out of the context atctually (sic) the text itself that it was said in,' Hunter replied. 'Either way yeah I'm delighted.'

It turned out Jim was telling the truth. After Ho was arrested, he contacted Hunter and paid the president's son a $1million retainer to represent him as his attorney.

The Times reported that when Ho was arrested, he called Joe's brother Jim Biden (right)  who told the newspaper that he believed the call was meant for Hunter

After the Times' story was published, Hunter's friend Devon Archer texted him teasing about Jim's indiscreet comment to the newspaper that linked Hunter to Patrick Ho. 'Took it totally out of the context atctually (sic) the text itself that it was said in,' Hunter replied. 'Either way yeah I'm delighted'

A copy of a FISA warrant obtained by DailyMail.com reveals that federal agents were monitoring Ho as a potential spy for China.

And while holed up in a hotel room on a bender with a prostitute filming amateur sex tapes, Hunter accidentally recorded himself referring to Ho as the 'spy chief of China'.

'I have another New York Times reporter calling about my representation of the, literally, Dr. Patrick Ho  the f***ing spy chief of China who started the company that my partner [Jianming], who is worth $323 billion, founded and is now missing,' Hunter told his female friend in the May 11, 2018 recording.

'The richest man in the world is missing, who was my partner.'

Hunter's claim that Ho was the 'spy chief of China' - or a senior Chinese intelligence officer - has not been proven.

Joe Biden entertained Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Aleman Velasco - his son Hunter's business associates - in the vice president's office in 2014

Amid all the shocking messages involving Joe Biden, possibly the most important email of the 154,000 on Hunter's abandoned laptop is the infamous 'big guy' email, suggesting that the president may have been involved in, and set to profit from, an alleged Chinese influence operation

Joe's voicemail to Hunter about the Times article is the latest in an overwhelming body of evidence suggesting that he lied about not talking foreign business with his son.

In another example, the then-vice president attended a Washington, DC dinner with Hunter's Ukrainian, Kazakh and Russian business associates in 2015.

Hunter told one of his guests in an email that the dinner was 'ostensibly to discuss food security', but was in fact an opportunity to introduce his potential clients and partners to his powerful father.

The White House at first denied Joe's attendance, then when photographs emerged of Joe there, it claimed it was only a brief stop by.

Joe also met another of Hunter's Chinese business partners, Jonathan Li, when he took his son on a 2013 Air Force 2 trip to China, and entertained Hunter's Mexican billionaire business partners Carlos Slim and Miguel Aleman Velasco at the White House and the VP's official residence.

Emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop published by DailyMail.com show that Hunter and Joe shared a bank account and paid each other's bills, while Hunter's business partner Eric Schwerin did Joe's taxes.

The White House declined to comment to DailyMail.com.
Stephanie Grisham said Wednesday she released Melania Trump's blunt text refusing to condemn January 6 violence because Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony made her believe the former first lady knew of broader plans.

'It just made me think she knew something,' said Grisham, Melania Trump's former chief of staff. 'It made me think she knew that perhaps her husband was going to try to be down there, she knew something ahead of time.'

Grisham, who also served as White House press secretary, said she didn't know this for a fact.

'But, again, knowing her as well as I did at that point, it was so unlike her to not have condemned it that that was the moment it all kind of broke me - that's what I wrote in the book - and I resigned immediately afterward,' she said on CNN's New Day.

Hutchinson's blockbuster testimony - which included revelations that Trump had seriously wanted to join the MAGA mob at the Capitol - compelled Grisham to release a virual of the text 'because it was a lot of context I thought.'

'And, again, knowing Melania like I did I was so disappointed and discouraged and sickened that she wouldn't stand up and just say simply there should be no violence,' Grisham said.

On Tuesday after the January 6 hearing starring Hutchinson wrapped up, Grisham shared what appeared to be a text exchange between she and a 'MT' - Melania Trump - in which she asks: 'Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness & violence.'

'No,' Grisham's texts show the first lady responded.

Stephanie Grisham (left) said on CNN Wednesday she released Melania Trump's blunt text refusing to condemn January 6 violence because Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony made her believe the former first lady knew of broader plans

First Lady Melania Trump's former Chief of Staff Stephanie Grisham had her own receipts to show off Tuesday after Cassidy Hutchinson testified about the resistance from the president and his advisers to call off the January 6 Capitol attack

Stephanie Grisham (left) had previously detailed how that exchange with now former First Lady Melania Trump (right) compelled her to quit her job on January 6. Grisham said she finally saw the first lady as the 'doomed French queen. Dismissive. Defeated. Detached'

Grisham had detailed this interaction with the then first lady in her book, I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House, explaining how it compelled her to leave.

She wrote that she 'finally saw the doomed French queen. Dismissive. Defeated. Detached.'

Melania Trump was in the middle of a photoshoot, capturing some of the White House's rugs when the Capitol was being assaulted by the pro-Trump crowd.

'It broke me,' Grisham wrote. 'I took a breath and waited another minute. You learned to do that in the Trump White House: make sure you are grounded and not acting out of the moment. Then I resigned.'

'I sent her an email and cc-ed her senior adviser so I couldn't take it back or be talked out of it. I was done,' Grisham said.

In January 2022, Grisham appeared in-person to speak with members of the House select committee on January 6.

Melania Trump 's ex-Chief of Staff Stephanie Grisham met behind closed doors in January 2022 with the House select committee on January 6. She is seen arriving at the meeting held at the O'Neill House Office Building in Washington

Stephanie Grisham tweeted out her exchange with Melania Trump after former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson spoke of her own 'frustration' in getting Meadows to care about the angry pro-Trump crowd approaching the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6

Hutchinson, a 25-year-old former White House aide who was working under Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the attack, detailed some of President Donald Trump and Meadows' behavior during the MAGA riot to the House January 6 committee.

She said she was 'frustrated' by her own boss' ambivalence - even pointing out to Meadows that one of his close friends, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, was likely still in the Capitol Building as the angry crowd neared.

'I remember thinking in that moment, Mark needs to snap out of this and I don't know how to snap him out of this. He needs to care,' she told the House committee.

'And I just sort of blurted out, "Do you know where Jim's at right now?"' she said. 'And he looked up at me at that point. "Jim?" I said Mark, he was on the floor a little while ago giving a floor speech, did you listen? ... Do you know where he's at right now?'

Hutchinson said she encouraged Meadows to check in on Jordan.

'And I remember pointing at the TV and I said, "The rioters are getting close. They might get in,"' she said. 'He looked at me and said something to the effect of, "Alright I'll give him a call."'

She told lawmakers it was like watching 'a bad car accident about to happen, where you can't stop it, but you want to be able to do something.'

Hutchinson also said in her taped deposition that Ivanka Trump, among other White House officials, had tried to get the president to call off the assault hours before he released a video statement.

During the hearing, Hutchinson also recalled an impromptu meeting on January 6 after Trump returned to the White House after speaking at the Ellipse she had with former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato and Bobby Engel, the head of Trump's security detail.

'Did you hear what effing happened in the Beast?' she said Engel asked her.

She replied that she hadn't heard.

'Tony proceeded to tell me that when the president got in the Beast he was under the impression from Mr. Meadows that the off-the-record movement to the Capitol was still possible and likely to happen, but that Bobby had more information,' Hutchinson said.

Trump, Hutchinson said, thought they were going up to the Capitol - like he had told his crowd of supporters he would do.

This was in the hours before the attack.

'When Bobby had relayed to him we're not, we don't have the assets to do it, it's not secure, we're going back to the West Wing, the president had a very strong, very angry response,' Hutchinson continued.

She was told that Trump said something like: 'I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now!'

Engel, she said, reiterated that they were headed back to the White House.

'The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel, Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, "Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol,"' she said.

'Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel and when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me he motioned toward his clavicles,' Hutchinson said, as a sign the president went for Engel's throat.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney then asked Hutchinson if Engel or Ornato ever changed their stories.

'Neither Mr. Ornato or Mr. Engel told me ever that it was untrue,' Hutchinson testified.

From there, Hutchinson talked about Trump throwing dishes when being served with bad news.

She said she remembered 'hearing noise' on the heels of the Associated Press article being released in which Barr confirmed that Trump's widespread election fraud claims weren't real.

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was summoned to Trump's office.

When Meadows returned Hutchinson said she walked down toward the White House dining room.

'And I noticed that the door was propped open and the valet was inside the dining room changing the tablecloth off of the dining room table,' she said. 'He motioned for me to come in and then pointed toward the front of the room near the fireplace mantel and the TV.'

'Where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall,' she continued. 'And there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor.'

'The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall,' she said, explaining that she then helped with the clean-up.

Cheney then asked Hutchinson if this was typical Trump behavior.

'There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flicking the table cloth to let all of the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere,' Hutchinson volunteered.
Royal Mail staff have voted overwhelming to strike at 1,000 delivery offices over plans to sack and redeploy delivery managers.

Managers at the postal service decided to back walkouts by 86% in Great Britain and 89% in Northern Ireland which will affect 2,400 staff.

Its union Unite blamed 'boardroom greed' at Royal Mail who want to cut 542 frontline delivery managers' jobs.

Unite said it would announce strike dates in the coming days and called for a return to negotiations to avoid disruption caused by Royal Mail managers striking.

In a separate ploy, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is also looking to hold 'the biggest strike' action of 115,000 postal workers if its approved by members next month.

The news comes as more train staff on Avanti West Coast voted for strike action along with BA workers at airports.

Strikes also crippled rail services and courts after members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union and criminal barristers staged walk-outs.

Royal Mail staff have voted overwhelming to strike at 1,000 delivery offices over plans to sack and redeploy delivery managers (stock image)

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'It is no surprise at all that these workers have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.

'Make no mistake, Royal Mail is awash with cash - there is no need whatsoever to sack workers, drive down pay or pursue this ill-thought-out redeployment programme.

'These plans are all about boardroom greed and profiteering and nothing whatsoever to do with securing this vital public service.

'Shareholders have been seizing the Royal Mail profits, while our members have been holding the service together. Enough is enough.

'Our Royal Mail members are guaranteed Unite's 100% support in any industrial action they take this summer to get the company off this ruinous path.'

Managers at the postal service decided to back walkouts by 86% in Great Britain and 89% in Northern Ireland which will affect 2,400 managers (stock of Royal Mail worker)

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: 'We are disappointed by the announcement that Unite members have voted in favour of both industrial action and industrial action short of a strike, also known as work to rule.

'Unite have stated they will be informing us in due course in relation to the terms of any industrial action.

'Throughout the ballot process, Unite head office has misled members about additional job losses. This is not true. Unite has ignored our request to correct these claims.

'There are no grounds for industrial action. The extended consultation on these changes concluded earlier this year, and the restructuring is complete.

'We committed to protecting pay for all managers who stay with Royal Mail, and the vast majority will see an increase in their earnings.

'We allowed managers to request voluntary redundancy with a package of up to two years' salary, which was over-subscribed. We also made several concessions during the process, which Unite declined.

'The ballot covers around a third of our 6,000 managers and we have contingency plans in place to keep letters and parcels moving in the event of a strike.'

Striking rail staff form a picket at Nottingham Train Station last week, as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union begin their nationwide strike in a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions

The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) - who work at stations along the West Coast Mainline - said its members at Avanti West Coast voted overwhelmingly for strikes and action short of a strike today.

They voted by 86% in favour of striking on a turnout of 66% and by 91% for other forms of industrial action.

TSSA general secretary, Manuel Cortes said: 'The overwhelming votes among station staff for strike action and action short of a strike demonstrate that our members are determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions.

'They are right to do so amid the escalating cost of living crisis and with a government hell bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network.'

The union is also balloting members at Network Rail and several train companies across England.

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: 'We're disappointed the TSSA union called this ballot, which we think is premature, and we remain open to talks with them.

'The industry is focussed on securing a thriving future for rail which adapts to new travel patterns and takes no more than its fair share from taxpayers.

'The impact of any TSSA action will be extremely limited and we do not expect our services to be materially affected.'
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out a snap election, despite warnings the public just want him to get on with the job.

The Prime Minister yesterday declined three times to say if he would seek a fresh mandate from voters to boost his authority.

The next general election is not expected until 2024  and could be held as late as January 2025. But after MPs repealed the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister has the power to call one at any time.

An early election would be a major gamble for Mr Johnson as Labour has been consistently ahead in the polls.

An early election would be a major gamble for Mr Johnson as Labour has been consistently ahead in the polls

Speaking as he attended the Nato summit in Madrid, Mr Johnson told reporters: Ive got to recognise that years and years ago, I used to do the kind of jobs that you all do now, and it was a great, great life and a great privilege. What you are able to do is offer opinion, commentary, analysis, predictions about politics... Ive got to recognise Im no longer a member of that sacred guild.

It would be a demarcation dispute for me to cross over and start talking about politics. Ive got to talk about my programme for government, about policy, and what Im doing to take the country forward.

Pushed on whether he was ruling out an early election, Mr Johnson replied: Im just saying, I dont comment on those sorts of things. The idea hadnt occurred to me, if you really want the truth, because Im focused on getting through the cost of living pressures, developing and improving, widening our plan for a stronger economy, and making sure that we continue to offer leadership on some of the tough global issues the world faces.

Asked again, Mr Johnson said: Oh, for heavens sake! I am not offering commentary, what Im trying to get over to you is that Im here to comment on policy, on the agenda of government.

The Prime Ministers allies last night said they believed there might be a backlash from voters if Mr Johnson called another election.

A source said: The PM won an 80-seat majority, people want us to use it to get s*** done, rather than hold another vote.

Some in the Conservative Party believe Mr Johnson would be more likely to call an early election if Sir Keir Starmer is forced to resign over Beergate and a leadership contest leads to Labour shifting further Left.

The next general election is not expected until 2024  and could be held as late as January 2025

Former Labour minister Peter Mandelson said yesterday that tactical voting between Labour and the Liberal Democrats will sweep the Tories from office at the next election.

He said there was no need for a formal pact because the opposition parties supporters would vote to oust the Conservatives anyway.

Writing in the Spectator, Lord Mandelson also warned that Sir Keir Starmer needed to up his game because voters had no clear idea who he was.

He said: Labour and the Liberal Democrats have a very good chance of wiping out the Conservatives parliamentary majority next time, whether Johnson remains leader or not.

Mr Johnson has admitted he is actively thinking about a third term as PM, which would see him remain in Downing Street until the mid-2030s.
It was once home to the only Elizabethan purpose-built indoor theatre outside London.

So it is fitting that the Merseyside borough of Knowsley can now boast the 38million Shakespeare North Playhouse.

This first glimpse of the venue shows its breath-taking galleried interior, built with 60 tons of beautiful English oak. The 470-capacity playhouse in the Knowsley town of Prescot will contain some pit seating just feet from the actors, ensuring an electrifying and intimate experience for audiences.

The playhouse will bring some tourism to the second most deprived borough in England

And the flexible stage configuration will enable shows to be put on in the round. Designed by architect Dr Nick Helm, it is an exact replica of a cockpit-at-court theatre commissioned for James I almost 400 years ago.

Knowsley is the second most deprived borough in England.

But councillor Tony Brennan said the playhouse is projected to attract 140,000 visitors a year and bring up to 5.3million into the local economy.

The venue  which has been largely publicly funded  is set to open next month.
The rail union has warned industrial action will continue this week despite a verbal commitment from Transport Minister David Elliott to spend $264million on safety modifications of a Korean-made fleet.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has been locked in long-running stoush with the government over the physical alterations.

RTBU Secretary Alex Claassens said the union wants to see the complete package and commitment in writing, and discuss it with members, before action is called off.

'It's great the NSW government has again admitted that safety issues with the New Intercity Fleet need to be rectified before we can allow commuters to travel on it,' Mr Claassens said.

The rail union has warned industrial action will continue on Thursday and Friday despite the government promising to spend $264million amending a new fleet of trains

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has been locked in long-running stoush with the government over the physical alterations (pictured, officers board a Sydney train in October, 2021)

'Rail workers and commuters have been burnt too many times to believe what one minister in one meeting says'.

The union began industrial action on Tuesday, by slowing down speed to 60 km/h, and vowed on Friday to stop operating foreign-made trains even after the offer.

Transport for NSW has warned this will cause delays and cancellations for commuters, with Sydney services to be reduced by 70 per cent during peak periods.

Sydney Trains CEO Matt Longland said the network was operating at reduced capacity, resembling a weekend timetable.

He advised commuters to avoid train travel or allow extra time as services will be less frequent and carriages more crowded.

'Normally in the peak period customers wait one or two, maybe three minutes for a train,' he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.

'This morning it will be closer to 10, maybe 15 minutes.'

The NSW government will spend $264 million on train safety modifications to end a dispute with unions, but industrial action by drivers will continue (pictured, Sydney commuters)

Commuters have been advised to avoid train travel or allow extra time as services will be less frequent and carriages more crowded (pictured, Sydney commuters wait for trains)

Meanwhile, public and private school teachers are striking for 24 hours over staff shortages and pay, while the rail union pushes on with its own industrial action.

Thousands of teachers are expected to descend on Sydney's CBD on Thursday, angry at a NSW budget that offered no more than a 3.5 per cent pay rise.

It's the third strike in six months called by the NSW Teachers Federation and Independent Education Union NSW/ACT, representing 85,000 teachers.

The strike is expected to affect about a million families with classes cancelled on Thursday, just a day before a two-week school break.

'We have a crisis in the form of a teacher shortage, a crisis that is the government's own making,' NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters on Wednesday.

'The government has known for years the causes of this crisis: uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads.

Sydney Trains CEO Matt Longland said the network was operating at reduced capacity, resembling a weekend timetable (pictured, commuters wait for rail replacement buses)

Thousands of teachers are expected to descend on Sydney's CBD on Thursday in the third strike in six months over better pay and unsustainable workloads (pictured, protests in May)

'Students have been denied not only their learning opportunities but are also being denied their futures.'

It's the first time in more than 25 years both unions have joined forces to strike for 24 hours, in a show of strength.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said she was deeply disappointed the two teachers' unions had decided to strike.

'This strike is unnecessary and will cause major upheaval for hardworking parents,' she said.

Ms Mitchell defended the government's public sector wages policy, calling it the most generous in the country.
The January 6 select committee did not reach out to the Secret Service before sharing explosive testimony on Tuesday from a witness claiming that Donald Trump lunged at a member of his detail on the day of the Capitol attack.

Tony Ornato, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for Trump, did not tell January 6 investigation witness Cassidy Hutchinson that Trump lunged at an agent while trying to grab the wheel of the presidential SUV, according to a new report.

Anthony Guglielmi, the U.S. Secret Service's chief of communications, told Politico that investigators did not ask any agency personnel to reappear or answer questions in the days before Hutchinson was publicly asked about the incident at Tuesday's hearing.

'[W]e plan on formally responding on the record,' Guglielmi said in an email to the outlet. 'We have and will continue to make any member of the Secret Service available.'

A source close to Ornato told Fox News that one of Hutchinson's most bombshell claims from the latest hearing is not true.

Hutchinson served as deputy for Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows before, during and after the January 6 Capitol attack. On Tuesday she appeared before the select committee probing the riot as one of its most important witnesses to date.

During her testimony, Hutchinson said that Ornato briefed her on January 6, 2021 that Trump lunged at his security detail driver when he would not take him to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Hutchinson said that Bobby Engel, the top agent on Trump's Secret Service detail, was in the car at the time of the incident and was with Ornato when he relayed the events to her.

A statement issued by Hutchinson's lawyers told CNN that she is not amending her testimony from Tuesday despite different recollections.

'Ms. Hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,' her counsel Jody Hunt and William Jordan wrote.

The Secret Service's chief of communications says the January 6 committee did not contact them before sharing explosive testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson (pictured) Tuesday that Donald Trump got in a physical altercation with the agent who was driving the presidential SUV on the day of the Capitol attack

A source close with Tony Ornato (left), the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for Trump, told Fox News that he and Bobby Engel (right), the top agent on Trump's Secret Service detail, never told Hutchinson about the alleged wheel-grabbing incident

The source for Fox, however, says Ornato and Engel never told Hutchinson about this alleged altercation.

The two also both have testified to the January 6 committee in private over the last year  in those interviews, neither Engel nor Ornato brought up allegations that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of The Beast.

Engel and Ornato want to speak with the committee again on the record to refute the claims of a physical altercation with the driver of his presidential SUV, who is unnamed but will also cooperate with the panel, the source told Fox.

Despite the contradicting memories of events, panel member Representative Stephanie Murphy told NBC News' Chuck Todd on Wednesday that when deposing Ornato behind closed doors, he 'did not have as clear of memories from this period of time as I would say Ms. Hutchinson did.'

Hutchinson's testimony to the panel during an impromptu session on Tuesday included detailing an incident where she claims Ornato told her that Trump got physical when he was repeatedly told that the Secret Service could not take him to the Capitol on January 6 last year.

Ornato told Hutchinson, according to her account, that Trump lunged at an agent and tried to grab the wheel of a presidential SUV when agents would not allow that. She also said that the agent grabbed the then-president's arm and Trump then tried to lunge at his neck.

Ornato, according to the source close to him, watched the hearing and was shocked when Hutchinson made the allegation about the steering wheel.

Hutchinson became increasingly cooperative with the committee after hiring a new lawyer this month.

Her testimony to the panel in four separate interviews and willingness to publicly go before them led the panel to schedule a last-minute addition to the hearing schedule on Tuesday.

Part of the reason for the add was over concerns for Hutchinson's safety due to what she knows and what she has shared with investigators.

Trump's ex-lawyer Eric Herschmann said he penned the note that Hutchinson said she wrote on January 6, which was shown as evidence during Tuesday's explosive hearing.

'The handwritten note that Cassidy Hutchinson testified was written by her was in fact written by Eric Herschmann on January 6, 2021,' a spokesperson for Herschmann told ABC News late Tuesday. 'All sources with direct knowledge and law enforcement have and will confirm that it was written by Mr. Herschmann.'

Herschmann reportedly previously told the House select committee on January 6 committee that he had scrawled the note in question.

Herschmann had worked as a lawyer for Trump within the White House, but cooperated with the House investigation, including saying that some of the plots to overturn the election were 'nuts.'

Hutchinson worked under White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and the handwritten message was written on his letterhead.

She testified that Herschmann was also in the meeting where they discussed something Trump could say to call off the Capitol attack.

'Anyone who entered the Capitol without proper authority should leave immediately,' the message reads.

The word 'illegally' is crossed out.

'That's my handwriting,' Hutchinson told committee members during her Tuesday testimony.

She testified that Meadows had handed her the notecard and a pen and started dictating a statement for the president as the Capitol was getting ransacked.

Former President Trump pushed that Hutchinson was only playing ball with the Democrat-led committee because he didn't keep her on his payroll after he left office in January 2021 and relocated to Mar-a-Lago

He also said her anecdote about him trying to grab the Beast's steering wheel after he was told he couldn't go to the Capitol on January 6 'Fake' and 'fraudulent' and denied testimony about how he would throw food and dishes when angry

Hutchinson said Herschmann suggested changing the statement changing 'illegally' to 'without proper authority.'

The January 6 committee downplayed that one of its witnesses was misremembering details about the memo.

While Hutchinson and Herschmann 'may have differing recollections of who wrote the note,' the spokesperson said, the important thing was that 'both White House officials believed that the president should have immediately instructed his supporters to leave the Capitol building.'

Hutchinson's lawyers told CNN Wednesday afternoon that she stood by her whole account.

'Ms. Hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,' said lawyers Jody Hunt and William Jordan.

The meeting took place around 3 p.m. and Trump didn't send out a message to supporters until 4:17 p.m. telling them, 'We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You've seen the way others are treated. ... I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace.'

Trump reacted to the note being presented as evidence by posting to Truth Social: 'Bad handwriting, that of a Whacko?'

Former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Eric Herschmann (above) said he penned the note that Cassidy Hutchinson said she wrote on January 6, which was shown as evidence during Tuesday's explosive hearing. He is pictured during his own testimony to the hearing

Hutchinson testified that Meadows had handed her the notecard and a pen and started dictating a statement for the president as the Capitol was getting ransacked

During the hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson claimed she had written the note, but Eric Herschmann previously told the committee - reiterating it through a spokesperson Tuesday - that he had scrawled the message, which was something Trump could say to call off the Capitol attack

Former President Donald Trump commented on the note being included in the testimony by suggesting that it was written by a 'Whacko'

Trump continued to go after his one-time aide Hutchinson using his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

'The lies and fabricated stories being told to the partisan Highly Unselect Committee, not only by the phony social climber who got caught yesterday, but by many others, are a disgrace to our, in serious decline, Nation,' the ex-president wrote.

Trump bemoaned that there was 'No cross examination, no real Republicans, no lawyers, NO NOTHING.'

'Fake stories and an all Fake Narrative being produced, with ZERO pushback allowed,' he continued. 'Unselects should be forced to disband.'

He ended the post with a phrase he had previously used about the Russia investigation: 'WITCH HUNT!'

Trump has been trying to hurt the reputation of Hutchinson since Tuesday's surprise hearing of the House select committee on January 6.

'I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and 'leaker'), and when she requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request down,' Trump wrote as the 25-year-old testimony was ongoing.

Hutchinson worked in Trump's White House on the legislative affairs team and under Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

She provided embarrassing anecdotes about Trump's behavior during her testimony - including that he tried to grab the wheel of the presidential limo, the 'Beast,' after he was told he couldn't go to the Capitol Building on January 6 and threw food at the wall after Attorney General Bill Barr said there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

'Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible?' Trump said Tuesday.

He suggested that Hutchinson only played ball with the Democrat-led committee because he didn't give her a job at Mar-a-Lago after he departed the White House in January 2021.

'I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn't want her to go, or be a member of the team,' Trump said. 'She is bad news!'

In another post on Truth social, Trump also accused Hutchinson of changing her story.

'She changed lawyers a couple of days ago, and with it, her story totally changed! SHOCKER???' the ex-president alleged.

The former president fumed over the testimony Hutchinson delivered about him throwing temper tantrums.

'I NEVER SAID, 'MIKE PENCE DESERVES IT (to be hung). Another made up statement by a third rate social climber!' he posted. Trump had made a similar remark about Pence to ABC News' Jonathan Karl that corroborated Hutchinson's testimony

Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the administration of former President Donald Trump, returns after a short recess during Tuesday's surprise January 6 hearing

HAPPIER TIMES: January 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson (right) dances to YMCA alongside White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnanry (left) during a campaign stop in Ohio in September 2020

'Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is 'sick' and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself - Wouldn't even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing,' Trump wrote.

Later Tuesday, the January 6 committee tweeted out footage of Trump departing the Ellipse rally in a black SUV that purportedly shows his hands moving toward the driver.

'Her story of me throwing food is also falseand why would SHE have to clean it up, I hardly knew who she was?' the former president added.

After Hutchinson's testimony concluded, Trump continued to go after her on Truth social.

'Her body language is that of a total bull. artist. Fantasy Land!' he wrote.

After Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony concluded, former President Donald Trump continued to go after her on Truth Social

The 25-year-old has firsthand information about the former president and his top aides' movements on the day of and leading up to the Capitol riot

'I NEVER SAID, 'MIKE PENCE DESERVES IT (to be hung). Another made up statement by a third rate social climber!' he posted.

Trump had made a similar remark about Pence to ABC News' Jonathan Karl that corroborated Hutchinson's testimony.

'A Total Phony!!!' the former president added.

'There is no cross examination of this so-called witness. This is a Kangaroo Court!!' Trump fumed.

Trump has a history of turning on former aides and ex-political allies, a roster that now includes former Vice President Mike Pence and current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

During the hearing, Hutchinson recalled an impromptu meeting on January 6 after Trump returned to the White House after speaking at the Ellipse she had with former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato and Bobby Engel, the head of Trump's security detail.

'Did you hear what effing happened in the Beast?' she said Engel asked her.

She replied that she hadn't heard.

'Tony proceeded to tell me that when the president got in the Beast he was under the impression from Mr. Meadows that the off-the-record movement to the Capitol was still possible and likely to happen, but that Bobby had more information,' Hutchinson said.

Trump, Hutchinson said, thought they were going up to the Capitol - like he had told his crowd of supporters he would do.

This was in the hours before the attack.

'When Bobby had relayed to him we're not, we don't have the assets to do it, it's not secure, we're going back to the West Wing, the president had a very strong, very angry response,' Hutchinson continued.

She was told that Trump said something like: 'I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now!'

Engel, she said, reiterated that they were headed back to the White House.

'The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel, Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, 'Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol,'' she said.

'Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel and when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me he motioned toward his clavicles,' Hutchinson said, as a sign the president went for Engel's throat.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney then asked Hutchinson if Engel or Ornato ever changed their stories.

'Neither Mr. Ornato or Mr. Engel told me ever that it was untrue,' Hutchinson testified.

After Hutchinson's testimony wrapped, multiple news outlets reported that Secret Service officials planned to dispute her claims about what happened in the presidential SUV.

From there, Hutchinson talked about Trump throwing dishes when being served with bad news.

She said she remembered 'hearing noise' on the heels of the Associated Press article being released in which Barr confirmed that Trump's widespread election fraud claims weren't real.

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was summoned to Trump's office.

When Meadows returned Hutchinson said she walked down toward the White House dining room.

'And I noticed that the door was propped open and the valet was inside the dining room changing the tablecloth off of the dining room table,' she said. 'He motioned for me to come in and then pointed toward the front of the room near the fireplace mantel and the TV.'

'Where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall,' she continued. 'And there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor.'

'The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall,' she said, explaining that she then helped with the clean-up.

Cheney then asked Hutchinson if this was typical Trump behavior.

'There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flicking the table cloth to let all of the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere,' Hutchinson volunteered.
The staggering scale of police failures across the country can today be revealed as a record one in seven forces are now in special measures.

A day after Scotland Yard was castigated for systemic blunders by the police watchdog, the Daily Mail has learnt that three more forces  on top of three already known about  are currently being monitored due to poor performance.

Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has confirmed it is currently dealing with the highest ever number of failing forces. However, the inspectorate faced heavy criticism yesterday as it emerged the public are not automatically informed which forces are under the special measures  known as being in an engage phase. It will also not provide any details about why police are not performing or how long they have been under the measures.

Yesterday HMICFRS said its policy was not to reveal any details about the forces involved.

Patsy Stevenson is arrested by Metropolitan Police officers at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard on Clapham Common, London, on March 13 2021. A day after Scotland Yard was castigated for systemic blunders by the police watchdog, the Daily Mail has learnt that three more forces  on top of three already known about  are currently being monitored due to poor performance

Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has confirmed it is currently dealing with the highest ever number of failing forces

The inspectorate faced heavy criticism yesterday as it emerged the public are not automatically informed which forces are under the special measures  known as being in an engage phase. It will also not provide any details about why police are not performing or how long they have been under the measures

But it later confirmed the list of six under-performing forces  out of 43 in England and Wales  included Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Wiltshire as well as three that have emerged publicly  the Met, Greater Manchester and Cleveland Police.

Details about Scotland Yards humiliation only emerged yesterday after a letter confirming it had received the sanction was leaked.

The force has faced a number of high-profile scandals in recent years, including the disastrous Operation Midland inquiry into spurious VIP child sex abuse allegations and the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens. The force was subsequently also accused of manhandling women at a vigil for the 33-year-old marketing executive.

Yesterday Victims Commissioner Vera Baird described the secrecy surrounding failing forces as completely appalling. She said: The public should know which police are performing and which ones are not.

The force has faced a number of high-profile scandals in recent years, including the murder of Sarah Everard (pictured) by serving officer Wayne Couzens

Yesterday Victims Commissioner Vera Baird (pictured) described the secrecy surrounding failing forces as completely appalling. She said: The public should know which police are performing and which ones are not

There has been a focus on the Met, but actually this shows some of those failures are widespread. This needs to be made clear if forces are to be held to account.

For this to be kept secret from the public at a time of a crisis in confidence in policing is unbelievable. Harriet Wistrich, founder and director of the Centre for Womens Justice, said: There is huge concern about policing at the moment and the lack of transparency and accountability.

If the public dont know that a force is under special measures, how can that force be held to account? This is really concerning. It will do nothing for trust and confidence in policing.

HMICFRS introduced the policy around five years ago that if a force is not responding to a cause of concern, it should face advanced external monitoring and have to come up with an improvement plan. It refused to say the total number of forces that have received the judgment yesterday, but confirmed that it is currently dealing with the highest ever number of forces needing help at one time.

A spokesman said: We report publicly and transparently on the performance of every police force in England and Wales... we also report accelerated causes of concern as and when they arise.

It's time to shut down the failed, vast, arrogant monster our police forces have become

By Peter Hitchens

Like some dud bog-standard school, Britains most important law-enforcers, the Metropolitan Police, find themselves humiliatingly condemned to special measures. About time too.

Now we have also learned that one in seven police forces is in special measures. Quite frankly, Im not surprised.

The howling, blatant failure of all Britains police forces to do the job for which we pay them so much has been a scandal for years. It has been at its worst in the capital.

Now, at last, even our political class has begun to notice. If we have the sense to seize it, the moment has come to replace our failed police, who have traded for decades on a reputation won by others many years ago.

Normally the liberal elite, cocooned by money and power, have little idea of what is going on in this country. They seldom visit anywhere outside their privileged enclaves, and dismiss reports from the real Britain as moral panic.

For years they have not cared, as most of us have, that the police are too politically correct, and too absent, to be any use against crime and disorder. Now, it turns out that the police are not politically correct enough, either. Everyone thinks they are useless.

Scotland Yards fall comes after it was subjected to the leadership of Cressida Dick  for years the liberal establishments favourite police officer, groomed and polished so that she could finally step into the Commissioners job. And then she turned out to be an utter flop on almost every measure known.

What are the police for? Why do we put up with them? If your car wont go, or your hoover stops hoovering, or your fridge no longer keeps your food cold, you get rid of them and buy new ones. So what do you do when your police stop policing?

And they have stopped. Their response to burglary and car theft is now such a national joke that even official statistics have begun to reflect it. Their interest in quelling the nasty disorder that infects so many of our streets is zero.

As Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary said of the Metropolitan Police this week, they suffer from a barely adequate standard of crime recording accuracy, with an estimated 69,000 crimes going unrecorded each year, less than half of crime recorded within 24 hours, and almost no crimes recorded when victims report antisocial behaviour against them.

The flat phrase anti-social behaviour does not begin to describe a huge and horrible problem. For many years, in the long-ago days when people still had some expectation of police support, I was often contacted by despairing men and women trapped in their homes by menacing louts, intolerable noise, screeching persecution or incessant thefts from their small businesses, from which they could not protect themselves.

They knew that if they dared raise a hand in their own defence, the police  protecting their monopoly of force  would come for them. They, unlike their persecutors, were easy targets, not frightening, ready to co-operate with authority.

I remember a lawyer who wrote to me in a state of shock, having had his career ruined by the police after he grabbed a young vandal and tried to march him to the police station. He was the one who ended up in court. We all recall the horrible case of Fiona Pilkington, who killed her own severely disabled daughter Francecca and herself, after enduring ten years of unimaginable persecution from cruel neighbours  in which the police were barely interested.

We all remember Garry Newlove, kicked to death outside his home, after confronting a gang of youths he suspected of vandalising his wifes car. The area had suffered for years from uncontrolled disorder of this kind.

But these events are not unique. They are among thousands of miserable episodes that never make the headlines, but which show the failure of the police to prevent this kind of thing.

Well, that problem only affected ordinary people, so the authorities, the BBC and The Guardian newspaper paid little attention to it and learned no lesson from it.

But the police reaction to the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer  pitiful, lumbering and stupid  probably turned the balance among our governing class. Here was something they could not ignore: a woman had been murdered by someone she should have been able to trust utterly.

How had he been in a position to do this? One problem is that the police, as they now are, do not always attract the right sort of recruits, or retain the kind of men and women they really need.

The killer, Wayne Couzens, was obviously totally unfit to be a police constable.

He should never have been hired in the first place. His blatant lewd behaviour should have made sure that he was got rid of very quickly.

Yet he stayed, and seems to have been too readily tolerated by some of his colleagues. Then came the lumpish, concrete-headed police treatment of a perfectly reasonable vigil in memory of Miss Everard. Once again, the questions began to form, in letters of fire, in the public mind: Whose side are the police really on? What actual use are they?

I could write a book about the crisis of the police. In fact, I have done. (It is called The Abolition of Liberty and is still in print 19 years after it was first published.) I have pressed it into the hands of senior police officers and one Home Secretary, begging them to pay attention. Not one of them has even responded.

The police, I have argued now for almost 20 years, are doing the wrong thing. Their problems have nothing to do with numbers (they used to do far more with many fewer officers).

Their job is not to patrol Twitter, but to patrol the streets on foot, to prevent crime, to show that order and law will be upheld, to deter the first signs of bad behaviour so that it never gets out of hand.

This method still works (it was used to great effect in New York City a few years ago) and it was what they were originally hired to do by the great Sir Robert Peel.

Constables engaged in these simple, comforting activities do not need to get involved in politics or opinions. They rapidly become the friends of the law-abiding public, get to know their neighbourhoods, see trouble coming and pick up intelligence about all kinds of problems.

This kind of policing came to an end thanks to a few decisions mainly taken by the arch-liberal Home Secretary Roy Jenkins in the 1960s. We were never asked about them. Jenkins killed off regular foot patrols, and destroyed dozens of local forces that knew their areas and were respected there, replacing them with vast distant bureaucracies.

In Scotland, even more worryingly, local policing ended entirely with the creation of a nationwide organisation, which has unsurprisingly run into grave trouble since.

It would be just as easy to reverse these decisions, to begin next week to recruit and establish new, small local constabularies dedicated to the old Peel principle of prevention above all. And once they were ready, we could close down the vast, failed, arrogant monster which our police have disastrously become.

There is no longer any point in pretending that they have not failed. And when institutions fail, the best thing to do is to replace them from top to bottom. That would be a truly special measure.
Was it mere coincidence that the first consignment of Qatar's Sheikh Hamad's 3million donation to Prince Charles occurred in 2011 when HRH's private secretary Michael Peat departed royal service? Peat raised his eyebrows in 2007 when Charles bought Dumfries House by raising a loan of 20million via his Charitable Fund.

Prince Charles bought Dumfries House by raising a loan of 20million via his Charitable Fund

This had to be paid back and courtiers surmise that in his efforts to replenish the Fund, he enthusiastically accepted the Qatar donations including jumbo wads of cash.

Revealing a 30-year friendship with Sheikh Hamad, Jonathan Aitken suggests he personally handed over the cash 'to show respect to the heir to the throne', adding: 'If the Prince had refused the gift and handed back the cash, this would have been an insult.'

Paddy Power's odds on Scotland Yard ex-commissioner Cressida Dick getting the peerage she craves has lengthened considerably in the wake of the humiliating special measures imposed on the Met by the Inspectorate. But despite many of the failures occurring on her watch, she'll be encouraged by the elevation of her predecessor Bernard Hogan-Howe. This was despite his shocking handling of the shambolic VIP sex abuse inquiry Operation Midland. And it's a safe bet if she is elevated she won't take the title 'Baroness Dick of Stockwell', referring to the south London location of the fatal police shooting  under her command  of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005.

Unsurprisingly, in their glowing eulogy on the appointment of Ollie Dabbous as the tournament's 'Chef Ambassador' and who's creating a special menu for VIP guests, Wimbledon chiefs didn't mention that the celebrity chef's eponymous restaurant had to close temporarily in 2015 because of an infestation of mice. Food Standards Agency inspectors gave the London eatery, since closed for unrelated reasons and described by Michelin as serving food of 'bewitching purity', a rating of zero.

Flora Gill, pictured below, celebrates her late father A A's 68th birthday: 'The restaurant sweetly put a candle in each of our puddings, but then the other tables saw and started loudly singing happy birthday. They asked if it was all our birthdays and we told them it was our dead dad's. Silence.'

The traditional Church of England request to renounce the Devil at baptisms and confirmations has been expanded by the Oxford diocese to include: 'Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the Earth?' Presumably, if one says no to the new green commandment then you don't get dipped in the font. Has Archbishop Welby's church lost the plot?

Dad's Army vicar Frank Williams, who has died, was inundated with drawings of engines by Formula 1 fans who mistook him for the boss of the Williams team, explaining: 'I write back to say that they have got the wrong Frank Williams. I was even asked if I would be willing to drive round the circuit at Le Mans.'




North Korea has remained unresponsive for the second day to South Korea's attempt to deliver a formal request asking it to give prior notification before releasing water from dams near their border during the summer rainy season, according to Seoul's unification ministry, Wednesday.







"At around 9 a.m. today, the regular phone call via the inter-Korean joint liaison office was held as usual," the ministry announced.







The North, however, did not mention whether it was willing to accept the formal note from the South Korean government, it said.







On Tuesday morning, the North did not respond to a regular hotline call through the joint liaison office apparently due to technical glitches on its side. The ministry handling inter-Korean affairs soon issued a public statement calling on Pyongyang to notify Seoul of its plan, if any, to release dam water close to the border.







The communication lines were then restored, and the ministry expressed its intent to send a formal request. But the North did not clarify its position on whether to take it officially.







The message was instead conveyed "verbally" via a separate military hotline at around 4 p.m., the ministry added.







The two sides hold routine contact through the joint liaison office channel twice a day  once in the morning and the other in late afternoon. (Yonhap)






Vice President Kamala Harris prompted new uncertainty over whether President Biden will run for president in 2024 by revising comments she previously made promising he would 'full stop.'

On Monday Harris said in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash: 'Joe Biden is running for reelection, and I will be his ticket mate. Full stop.'

On Wednesday, the vice president pool reporter said in an email circulated widely to other journalists: 'The White House said VPOTUS wanted to clarify comments she made on CNN a few days ago. When asked if Biden was definitely running, Harris replied: 'The president intends to run and if he does, I will be his ticket mate. We Will run together.'

The new statement sounded less confident in a Biden-Harris ticket than the original, and it's unclear why the vice president's office chose to put out less certain wording two days after the fact.

A Democrat close to the White House told the Los Angeles Times that Harris' revision was not an indication that Biden's plans to run again had changed. Instead, the follow-up statement was to avoid using 'trigger words' that would set off Federal Election Commission requirements for Biden to establish a formal campaign and begin fundraising.

Vice President Kamala Harris prompted new uncertainty over whether President Biden will run for president in 2024 by revising comments she previously made promising he would 'full stop'

On Monday Harris said in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash: 'Joe Biden is running for reelection, and I will be his ticket mate. Full stop'

Biden, who would be 81 years old when he ran for office a second time, has faced a mountain of discussions about potential primary challengers compared to other first-term president this early in office.

Lawmakers within the president's own party have been hesitant to get behind him at this point. Earlier this month, firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to say she would back a Biden 2024 campaign during an interview on CNN.

'Should he run again, I think that I - you know, I think it's - it's, we'll take a look at it,' the New York Democrat said. 'But, right now, we need to focus on winning a majority, instead of a presidential election.'

West Virginia conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin also would not tell the New York Times whether he would support Biden, brushing off the question with, 'Were just trying to do our daily thing, brother.'

'Trying to do what we got to do thats good for the country,' said the senator, who reports suggest has fielded requests from wealthy donors to run as a third-party candidate in 2024.

CNN EXCLUSIVE: @DanaBashCNN sat down with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss the Supreme Court, January 6th, the 2024 election and more.. pic.twitter.com/yijulTeWhi  Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) June 28, 2022

But Biden and his team see perceptions that he is a 'lame duck' less than halfway through his first term as a 'lack of respect,' the Times reports based off anonymous conversations with people who speak regularly with the commander-in-chief.

The report suggests that Biden's allies believe his ability to beat Donald Trump in 2020 is reason enough to support his candidacy, which comes amid the ex-president's ever-increasing hints that he's looking to run for office a third time.

It cites left-wing Democratic voters' frustration with party leaders for failing to mount an adequate response to the Supreme Court overturning federal abortion protections in Roe v. Wade.

Many felt that Biden and Congressional Democrats fell short of expectations after having more than a month to prepare since the draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked in Politico early last month.

Progressives like 'Squad' members Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar have publicly called out broad messages to 'go vote,' being pushed by the Biden administration, without presenting a more detailed plan on what Democrats can do with that support.

Biden adviser Cedric Richmond told the Times that Democrats were also 'putting too much into these polling numbers' that reflect a favorability issue that's plagued the president since about halfway through his first year in office.

As of Wednesday, Biden's average approval rating across a whole spate of polls is 39.2 percent, according to FiveThirty Eight.

On Tuesday Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger refused to commit to backing a Biden-Harris ticket in 2024. 'I'm looking squarely toward 2022 and the reelection ahead of me,' she said.

Pressed if Biden was best positioned out of Democrats to take on Trump, the congresswoman said: 'Ive been very clear that i think there are incredible leaders across the Democratic Party and that it is time to usher in new leadership.'

Meanwhile, eighty-five percent of U.S. adults say the country is on the wrong track, and 79 percent describe the economy as poor, according to dire findings in a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The Monday Times report suggests that the timing of Biden's formal re-election announcement would not come before the November midterm elections, a period Trump has teased for his potential bid.

White House aides also cast doubt on challenges rumored to be brewing from current state leaders like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

They told the Times that Pritzker gave Biden advanced notice ahead of a recent speech in New Hampshire, a popular stomping ground for presidential hopefuls, and that the popular moderate is also courting party leaders to hold the 2024 nominating convention in Chicago.

Newsom's hype was written off as 'a politician feeling his oats' after a decisive victory against opponents' recall effort.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has again assured that he has 'no problem' with neighbours Finland and Sweden joining NATO, while at the same time decrying the alliance's 'imperial ambitions' and bid to assert 'supremacy'.

His remarks come as NATO formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance after Turkey dropped its opposition, while also announcing it will boost troops on its eastern flank by almost 4,000 compared to March this year.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the war in Ukraine has brought 'the biggest overhaul of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.

But Putin put on an unconcerned air when speaking to reporters in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat yesterday.

'There is nothing that could bother us about Sweden and Finland joining NATO,' he said. 'If Finland and Sweden wish to, they can join. That's up to them. They can join whatever they want.'

However, 'if military contingents and military infrastructure were deployed there, we would be obliged to respond symmetrically and raise the same threats for those territories where threats have arisen for us.'

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has again assured that he has 'no problem' with neighbours Finland and Sweden joining NATO while at the same time decrying the alliance's 'imperial ambitions' and bid to assert 'supremacy'

Putin was in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to attend the VI Caspian Summit with the presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto at the NATO summit in Madrid, after NATO formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the bloc

American aircraft carrier USS Kearsage is pictured on NATO drills in Sweden earlier this month, as the Scandinavian country is formally invited to join the alliance today

NATO will deploy and extra 4,000 troops to its eastern frontier as part of enhanced defences against Russia, boosting the size of its garrisons in Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Latvia

Until now, Russia had always been critical of the prospect of the two Nordic countries joining the alliance, saying it would be a 'destabilising factor' for international security.

Putin nevertheless condemned NATO's 'imperial ambitions', accusing the alliance of seeking to assert its 'supremacy' through the Ukraine conflict.

'Ukraine and the well-being of Ukrainian people is not the aim of the collective West and NATO but a means to defend their own interests,' Putin told journalists in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat.

'The NATO countries' leaders wish to... assert their supremacy, their imperial ambitions,' he added.

The Atlantic alliance and 'above all the United States have long needed an external enemy around which they can unite their allies,' the Russian leader said.

'Iran wasn't good for that. We've given them this opportunity... to gather the whole world around them.'

Putin downplayed his antagonism towards the two Nordic neighbours who have traditionally been nominally neutral countries primarily so as not to provoke Russia.

From the left: Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkmenistan's President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the VI Caspian Summit

Vladimir Putin, left, speaks to Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the VI Caspian Summit, where leaders of autocratic Central Asian countries met to discuss 'topical issues of cooperation in the Caspian Sea'

'We don't have problems with Sweden and Finland like we do with Ukraine,' Putin told the news conference.

'We don't have territorial differences,' the Russian leader continued. 'But they should understand that they didn't face any threats before this.

It is likely that Sweden and Finland don't see it that way, both deciding to apply to join NATO after Russia launched its military invasion of pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

The Russian strongman warned his Scandinavian neighbours that if they welcome NATO troops and military infrastructure onto their territory, Russia will respond in kind.

He said that his country will have to 'create the same threats for the territory from which threats against us are created.'

'What don't they understand?' Putin asked rhetorically. 'Everything was going fine between us, and now there will be tensions.'

The Russian leader was in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat for the VI Caspian Summit of leaders from autocratic Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to discuss 'topical issues of cooperation in the Caspian Sea'.

Putin also said his goals in Ukraine have not changed since the start of the war. He said they were 'the liberation of the Donbas, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself.'

He made no mention of his original stated goals to 'demilitarise' and 'de-Nazify' Ukraine.

He denied Russia adjusted its strategy after failing to take Kyiv. 'As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the marks that were set for them for a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan,' Putin said added.

This is the moment a Russian missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping centre on Monday, exploding with a huge fireball that left at least 18 civilians dead and 59 wounded, with another 21 missing

Footage reveals the bomb was likely a Russian AS-4 'Kitchen' guided missile - a Soviet-era weapon that was originally designed to take out American aircraft carriers

Putin also denied responsibility for the missile strike on the Kremenchuk shopping mall earlier this week that killed at least 18 people, with dozens still unaccounted for.

'Our army does not attack any civilian infrastructure site. We have every capability of knowing what is situated where,' Putin said.

As many as 1,000 people were feared to have been inside when it was hit. Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky denounced Russia's actions as 'one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history'. Russia has accused Ukraine of staging the attack.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for Russia's defence ministry, said its military fired a 'high-precision air attack at hangars where armament and munitions were stored', and the explosion of those weapon caches caused a fire in the nearby shopping mall, which he said was 'non-functioning' at the time.

Russian denials have been met with scepticism and debunked by numerous media outlets and open source intelligence analysts.

There is even video of CCTV that shows a large missile hitting the the mall at 3.51pm on Monday.

The terrifying footage captured the moment the Ukrainian shopping centre was eviscerated by a Russian anti-ship missile, debunking Kremlin claims that the mall accidentally caught fire after it hit a factory nearby.
Buckingham Palace has effectively buried a report into allegations of bullying by the Duchess of Sussex.

Royal aides yesterday admitted for the first time that the findings will never be made public.

A source said last night: People suspected it would be buried, and now it seems that it has.

The Daily Mail understands that even those who took part in the inquiry havent been told what the outcome is.

Palace officials would confirm only that their investigation had concluded and recommendations on our policy and procedures had been taken forward.

Royal aides announced in March last year that they were launching an inquiry into claims that Meghans belittling behaviour while a working member of the Royal Family drove two female personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third.

Controversial: Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during last years interview with Oprah Winfrey

How the 2021 allegations unfolded with a statement from the Duchess of Sussex at the time saying it was a 'calculated smear campaign'

In a statement in March 2021, Buckingham Palace announced a formal probe into the allegations

Staff were said to have been left in tears and feeling traumatised  with some likening their condition to having post-traumatic stress.

The Royal Household employed a third-party law firm, paid for by the family privately, to probe the claims in a move that some predicted could increase tensions between Harry and Meghan and the institution.

The allegations have always been strongly denied by the duchess, whose lawyers described them at the time as a calculated smear campaign. They did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Last year a palace spokesman made clear that the specifics of the allegations  which were brought to the attention of senior household staff at the time by Harry and Meghans concerned press secretary, Jason Knauf  would not be probed.

But they said they would investigate how the historic allegations of bullying were handled by officials and whether any changes to their HR policies and procedures should be instigated as a result.

A spokesman confirmed that if those findings were to be made public, they would be included in this years Sovereign Grant report  the official annual review into the Queens public finances and the running of her household.

But announcing the report yesterday, her Master of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, said of the investigation: There is nothing on this in the report. As we said last year, this work was undertaken privately and had no Sovereign Grant money spent on it.

Buckingham Palace has effectively buried a report into allegations of bullying by the Duchess of Sussex (seen with Harry at Kensington Palace)

The review has been completed and recommendations on our (HR) policy and procedures have been taken forward. But we will not be commenting further.

The Mail understands that although the review was concluded several months ago, the tiny handful of former royal staff invited to take part only recently discovered it had been wound up.

And they will not be told what its findings are, or what changes to HR procedures have been made as a result.

Considering those who participated did so at great personal and reputational risk to themselves, the fact that they havent even been told what the findings are is unfathomable, said one source with knowledge of the process.

I am sure they will be deeply distressed, but perhaps not entirely surprised given how things have been handled. The household seems to be terrified of upsetting or provoking Harry and Meghan.

The issue was raised during a briefing about the Sovereign Grant which showed:

The Queens annual expenditure increased by 17 per cent to 102.4 million during 2021/22, forcing officials to dip into savings;

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now financially independent, with royal sources saying this was of great credit to them;

Sources said Prince Charles would never again accept suitcases stuffed with cash following a row over charity donations;

The most expensive royal trip in the past year was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges flights to the Caribbean, costing 226,000;

Officials insisted they would keep the royal train, despite it being used just six times last year at an average cost of 34,307;

Property maintenance soared by 14.4 million to 63.9 million, as the ten-year project to renovate Buckingham Palace reaches a crucial stage.

Reports about Meghans alleged bullying of staff surfaced just ahead of her explosive Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry early last year. The Palace said it took such claims seriously and vowed to investigate.

The allegations have always been strongly denied by the duchess, whose lawyers described them at the time as a calculated smear campaign. They did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. Pictured: Lawyer Jenny Afia speaking on The Princes And The Press documentary

Last year, however, the Mail established that only a tiny number of royal employees  both past and present  had been spoken to and that staff feared it was already being kicked into the long grass. Those interviewed included two of Meghans former personal assistants, another senior female member of staff and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who was then working as Prince Williams private secretary.

Asked why the report into alleged bullying had not even been privately disseminated, a senior royal aide claimed yesterday: One has to recognise HR matters involving individuals are private and those individuals who participated in the review... have a right to that confidentiality.

Where there have been improvements that needed to be made to policies and procedures, those have been implemented. And those who participated in the review have been informed that the review has concluded and contained recommendations. Because of the confidentiality of the discussions, we have not communicated the detailed recommendations.

Palace prioritised peace, whatever the cost to their staff

Analysis by Rebecca English royal editor

Allegations that the Duchess of Sussex systemically targeted and bullied female staff have been deeply troubling  and problematic  for the Royal Family since they were aired early last year.

It was the first time a member of the Royal Family had been the subject of a formal complaint to senior management about their alleged behaviour  and there was no formal HR policy in place to deal with it.

The fact the allegations had first been made three years previously without any action seemingly being taken also uncomfortably accentuated the depth of the Palaces paralysis over the issue.

The delicacy of the situation was further exacerbated by the state of relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the Royal Family.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex depart the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral during the Platinum Jubilee earlier this month

In the wake of their acrimonious departure as working royals and explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, palace officials were simply unable to predict just how this most defensive of couples would react. This is why they decided to focus their inquiries on how the allegations against Meghan were handled, as opposed to the substance of the claims themselves, whose truth or falsity has not been objectively established.

It seemed a neat-ish solution and one that was specifically designed to prevent the duchess and her legal team from having any say in what was being treated as a purely procedural matter.

Now officials have confirmed what the Daily Mail suggested would happen back in December last year  that their entire review is being buried, never to be made public.

And as I reveal today, even the tiny handful of staff who were consulted during the process havent been told what, if anything, the Palace plans to do to sharpen up their procedures in the future.

Senior palace officials such as the Queens private secretary, Sir Edward Young  who I have been told by multiple sources was also frequently on the receiving end of the worst of the Sussexes ire  wanted to do the right thing, but have clearly prioritised peace with Harry and Meghan over their workforce.

It has led some within the household to ask the question: is how your staff are treated and protected really deemed less important than angering the Sussexes?

The answer, for many, is clearly yes.
The official test which must be passed by foreign nationals seeking British citizenship alienates and offends candidates, peers have claimed.

A Lords committee said the Life in the UK Test should be urgently reviewed because some of its content was inaccurate, trivial and misleading.

Applicants must study the Life in the UK handbook and then pay 50 to take the test before they can obtain British citizenship or settlement in this country. The pass mark is 75 per cent.

The House of Lords justice and home affairs committee report, published today, said: The content of the current edition of the Life in the UK handbook comes across as a random selection of obscure facts and subjective assertions that most people would not know, trivialising the process.

The content of the history chapter is so insensitive as to be offensive. It urgently needs replacing.

A House of Lords committee said the Life in the UK Test should be urgently reviewed because some of its content was inaccurate, trivial and misleading.

Committee chairman Baroness Hamwee said: The rights and responsibilities of active citizens can be dealt with seriously without being stodgy or impenetrable.

Reform of the Life in the UK Test and of its associated handbook should be treated by the Government as urgent.

Not to do so disrespects those people who wish to become citizens or permanent residents of our country. Trivial, outdated, and undermining British values were some of the terms used by witnesses to our inquiry.

The contents the Lords questioned The Life in the UK handbook claims that in the late 19th century, the great majority of British people believed in the Empire as a force for good in the world It includes a section about Sake Dean Mahomed, the founder of the UKs first curry house who eloped with an Irish girl in 1786 A question in the test asks: Which TWO rights are offered by the UK to citizens and permanent residents? The correct answer is Freedom of speech and a right to a fair trial, but multiple-choice answers given are Free groceries for everyone and a right to a fair trial, Long lunch breaks on Friday and a right to a fair trial and Freedom of speech and free groceries for everyone Advertisement

It is  or should be  no joke that the question most identified with the UK test related to the appropriate action to take after spilling a beer on someone at the pub.

Baroness Hamwee added: The test is not respected in the UK or abroad. Should candidates be required to memorise content referring to... where the founder of the UKs first curry house eloped with his wife?

The UK today is about more than stereotypes such as roast beef and pantomimes.

The baroness highlighted one question which asks Which TWO rights are offered by the UK to citizens and permanent residents?

The correct answer is Freedom of speech and a right to a fair trial, but other multiple choice answers given are Free groceries for everyone and a right to a fair trial, Long lunch breaks on Friday and a right to a fair trial and Freedom of speech and free groceries for everyone.

In a letter to immigration minister Kevin Foster, the committee said: Individuals who took the test told us they had felt uncomfortable about some inappropriate content, such as the British Empire being described as a force for good in the world.

We were even told that the test may alienate some candidates.

A Home Office spokesman said: The Life in the UK test is important for anyone applying to settle permanently in the UK to ensure they have an understanding of the democratic principles underlying British society and aspects of our culture and traditions.

'We intend to set out our plans to review the handbook as part of wider nationality reforms in the next 12 months and we will take on board the findings of the committee.
The Prince of Wales would never again accept suitcases stuffed with cash, a royal source insisted yesterday.

Charles faces criticism after it emerged he accepted charitable donations  reportedly totalling 2.5million and some of it in a suitcase  from a former Qatari prime minister.

But a royal source said such incidents have not happened in the past half-decade, adding: That is then and this is now.

The prince reportedly accepted the donations for his charity the Prince of Waless Charitable Fund (PWCF) from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim between 2011 and 2015.

The prince reportedly accepted the donations for his charity the Prince of Waless Charitable Fund (PWCF) from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim between 2011 and 2015

Financially independent Harry paid for Easter visit Harry and Meghan are now financially independent and paid for their own flights when they visited England at Easter. Royal officials also said the couples decision to repay 2.4million on their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor was a good deal for taxpayers. A royal source said of the Sussexes financial independence: Great credit to them that has now been achieved. The accounts show the sum they paid to cover refurbishment of their former marital home  which they have used as a family only once since relocating to the US  includes undisclosed future rental costs. Advertisement

The source revealed the money was passed immediately to his [Charles] charities, and it was his charities who decided to accept the money  that is a decision for them. And they did so, and as they confirmed, it followed all the right processes. The auditors looked at it. The Prince of Wales operates on advice. Situations, contexts change over the years.

The source added: For more than half a decade, with the situation as it has evolved, this has not happened, and it would not happen again.

On one occasion a round 900,000 was said to have been handed over in carrier bags from luxury shop Fortnum and Mason, according to a report in The Sunday Times.

Another time, the sheikh was said to have been in a private meeting with the prince at Clarence House, in 2015, when he gave him 850,000 in a holdall.

The PWCF  which was founded in 1979 with a mission to transform lives and build sustainable communities  awards grants to UK-registered non-profit organisations to deliver projects in the UK, the Commonwealth and overseas.

The latest questions come after the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into cash-for-honours allegations involving the Prince of Wales former close confidant, Michael Fawcett.

A Clarence House spokesman said: Charitable donations received from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim were passed immediately to one of the princes charities who carried out the appropriate governance and have assured us that all the correct processes were followed.

The scandal comes months after aide Michael Fawcett was forced to resign for a cash-for-honours storm
Cladding-hit flat owners have welcomed a possible 10-year prison sentence for building owners who send 'threatening' demands to cover the cost of remediation works.

The announcement is part of wider measures introduced by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove that apply to buildings 11 metres or five storeys and taller.

They include a new law that has come into force this week, which sees building owners being held responsible for the costs of repairing dangerous buildings following the Grenfell fire.

Mr Gove has sent building owners a letter reminding them that they are 'financially liable' and that anyone who breaches the new law will be 'committing a criminal offence', facing 'up to 10 years in prison'.

A new law has come into force that provides protections to cladding-hit leaseholders

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has sent building owners a letter reminding them that they are 'financially liable' for remediation works on affected properties

Before the Building Safety Act 2022 came into force, leaseholders could be held liable for the remediation works.

Some leaseholders were receiving invoices for remediation works that ran into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

But in his letter, Michael Gove said: 'Those days are now over and the Act means qualifying leaseholder can thankfully dispose of these invoices.

'We are now five years on from the Grenfell tragedy and we should all want to fix dangerous buildings as soon as possible'.

Leaseholders welcomed the changes, following years of campaigning about the financial and mental health toll of the cladding scandal.

Sophie Bitchener was sent a service charge in August last year with the cost of the remediation works of 209,122.47.

She bought her flat in Hertfordshire in 2017 for just above that amount, at 230,000.

She says the remediation costs are still listed in her service charge demand and she is requesting that it is removed.

And Steph Pike, who bought a cladding-hit flat in Bristol, said: 'I hope the new law will mark the beginning of the end of the building safety crisis. It represents huge progress from this time last year and the change in tone from the Government is particularly encouraging.

'For me personally, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. There are, however, many leaseholders who do not benefit from these new protections and therefore more work to be done. The Government must also ensure that it continues to pressure the industry to ensure that buildings are actually made safe.'

There are still concerns, however, among campaigners that unsafe buildings could be left unfixed and that the costs are passed on - perhaps at a later date through higher service charge bills.

Liam Spender, of Velitor Law, said: 'The key to all of this is that landlord and tenant law is only as good as what the landlord thinks it means, because the landlords already have your money - and they can forfeit your flat unless you keep paying.'

In total, 45 of the country's biggest homebuilders have agreed so far to fix fire-safety defects on their buildings that are 11 metres or taller

So far, 45 of the country's biggest homebuilders have agreed to fix life-critical fire-safety defects on all buildings that are 11 metres or taller - which they have played a role in developing or refurbishing in the last 30 years.

The Building Safety Act 2022 came into force on June 28 and it includes powers for the Secretary of State to restrict 'irresponsible developers' ability to build new homes.

Following the introduction of the new law, Mr Gove said: 'Hundreds of thousands of innocent leaseholders now have the legal protection they rightly deserve, freeing them from a financial burden they should never have faced.

'I'm pleased that most of the largest developers have agreed to play their part in solving this.

'But there is more to do - we are focusing intensively on work with lenders to unlock the mortgage market and empower leaseholders to take their next step on the property ladder, and we will remain vigilant if anyone fails to act on the pledges they have made.'
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A spacecraft that has circled Mars over 1,300 times has captured a stunning series photos covering the entire planet.

China's Tianwen-1 orbiter has returned high-resolution images of the Martian south pole, where almost all of the planet's water resources are locked.

Other images show the 2,485-mile (4,000-kilometre) long canyon Valles Marineris, and the impact craters of Arabia Terra, an upland region in the north of Mars.

The Tianwen-1 orbiter successfully reached the Red Planet in February 2021 on China's inaugural mission there.

A photo of the surface was also taken by the Zhurong rover, which made its descent onto the planet's surface as part of the Tianwen-1 mission on May 22 2021.

An image of the 11-mile (18-kilometre) Ascraeus Mons shield volcano on Mars taken by China's Tianwen-1 unmanned probe

China's Tianwen-1 orbiter has returned high-resolution images of the Martian south pole (pictured), where almost all of the planet's water resources are locked. Locating subsurface water is key to determining the planet's potential for life

The orbiter photographed the Arabia Terra impact craters, an upland region of northern Mars. Its battered topography indicates great age, and it is presumed to be one of the oldest terrains on the planet

This image shows the 2,485-mile long canyon Valles Marineris, or Mariner valley, that runs along the Martian surface

The images of the south pole on Mars are the first taken by the Chinese spacecraft, as reported by state media today.

In 2018, an orbiting probe operated by the European Space Agency had discovered water under the ice of the planet's south pole.

Locating subsurface water is key to determining the planet's potential for life, as well as providing a permanent resource for any human exploration there.

Tianwen-1 also sent back high-resolution imagery of the edge of the 57-mile (91-kilometre) Maunder crater on the southern Highlands of Mars.

A photo of the surface of Mars was also taken by the Zhurong rover, which made its descent onto the planet's surface as part of the Tianwen-1 mission on May 22 2021

Tianwen-1 also sent back high-resolution imagery of the edge of the 57-mile (91-kilometre) Maunder crater on the southern Highlands of Mars

TIANWEN-1: A MARS PROBE AND ROVER FROM CHINA Tianwen-1 is one of the most ambitious missions by the Chinese space agency so far undertaken. The mission is in two stages, consisting of a probe that will map the surface, and a rover to search for life. The probe is equipped with a range of cameras to map the surface and find a safe landing spot. The unnamed rover weighs 240kg, has six wheels, four solar panels and can move at 200 metres per hour. It includes a number of scientific instruments including ground-penetrating radar and a device to monitor the weather. Advertisement

Another photo shows a top-down view of the 11-mile (18-kilometre) Ascraeus Mons shield volcano, first detected by NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft over 50 years ago.

Tianwen-1 is the name of robotic spacecraft to Mars that actually consists of six separate pieces of equipment  an orbiter, two deployable cameras, a lander, a remote camera and the Zhurong rover.

China successfully launched the uncrewed Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2020 aboard a Long March 5 Y-4 carrier rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Centre.

The mission named Tianwen-1, or 'Questions to Heaven', as a nod to an ancient Chinese poem that has verses about the cosmos.

The probe travelled a total of 295 million miles (475 million kilometres) and carried out several trajectory manoeuvres before entering Martian orbit on February 10, 2021.

After over three months of preparations, the probe released the lander which touched down on Mars on May 14, 2021 (May 15 Chinese time).

The feat made China the second country, after the US, to have successfully conducted a Martian landing.

The orbiter and its deployable cameras have been encircling the planet in space ever since, and have completed over 1,300 orbits.

The robotic Zhurong rover made its descent from the lander on the planet's surface on May 22, about a week after the lander touched down.

China's mission includes a Mars orbiter, that will carry the lander and rover until release, a lander, that will parachute down the the surface carrying the rover, and a rover that will study the planet's soil and atmosphere for signs of life

Tianwen-1: China's Mars debut. The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a solar-powered rover that will for three months study the planet's soil and atmosphere, take photos, chart maps and look for signs of past life

In January this year, Tianwen-1 snapped a series of 'selfies' taken by a small camera that it released into orbit.

One shows a full view of Tianwen-1 in space with the Red Planet's north pole in the background, while another shows an impressive close-up of its reflective gold body and solar antenna wing.

To capture the images, Tianwen-1 jettisoned one of its small cameras, which beamed back its snaps via Wi-Fi.

Another image shows an amazing close-up of ice caps on the Martian north pole, complete with a distinctive pattern of snowy swirls.

A handout photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on January 1, 2022, taken by the Tianwen-1 Mars mission, shows the orbiter flying around the Red Planet in an orbit. The CNSA published four pictures taken by its Tianwen-1 Mars mission, including the first full photo of the mission orbiter. The orbiter's full picture was taken by a camera released by the craft, which is now about 217 million miles (350 million km) away from Earth, CNSA said

Another photo released by CNSA taken by a small deployable camera shows the Tianwen-1 orbiter flying around the Red Planet in an orbit
Have you ever looked at your dog as they ask for their tummy tickled and wondered how on Earth they could be related to wolves?

Scientists are one step closer to finding the answer, as they have discovered that domesticated dogs descended from at least two separate populations of wolves.

A team from the The Francis Crick Institute in London compared the genomes of 72 ancient wolves with those of modern day dogs.

They found that wolves from Asia and the Middle East both contributed to the DNA of dogs from the Middle East, Africa and southern Europe.

It is not yet known whether domestication occurred within both these populations, or just in one which subsequently bred with wild wolves from the other.

The ancient genomes also produced a timeline showing how wolf DNA has changed over 30,000 generations through natural selection.

It is hoped this could be replicated in other species to provide new information about their evolution.

Researchers compared the genomes of 72 ancient wolves with those of modern day dogs. 'Dogor' (pictured), an 18,000 year-old wolf puppy from Yakutia, was included in the study

Pontus Skoglund and colleagues sequenced 66 new ancient wolf genomes from Europe, Siberia and northwestern America, and included five previously sequenced ancient wolf genomes and an ancient dhole genome from the Caucasus from over the last 100,000 years

NATURAL SELECTION IN WOLVES During the research, the scientists built a timeline of how wolf DNA has changed over around 30,000 generations using their 72 ancient genomes. They were able to track natural selection in action, and found one gene variant went from being very rare to being present in every wolf over a period of 10,000 years. The variant affects a gene, IFT88, which is involved in the development of bones in the skull and jaw, and is still present in all wolves and dogs today. It could have been a response to the types of prey available in the Ice Age, giving an advantage to wolves with a certain head shape, but it could also have other unknown functions. Senior author Pontus Skoglund thinks a similar method could provide new information about how evolution happens in other species, such as humans. Advertisement

Anders Bergstrom, co-first author and post-doctoral researcher in the Ancient Genomics lab at the Crick, says: 'Through this project we have greatly increased the number of sequenced ancient wolf genomes, allowing us to create a detailed picture of wolf ancestry over time, including around the time of dog origins.

'By trying to place the dog piece into this picture, we found that dogs derive ancestry from at least two separate wolf populations  an eastern source that contributed to all dogs and a separate more westerly source, that contributed to some dogs.'

Dogs are known to have originated from the grey wolf, Canis lupus, that were present across the northern hemisphere throughout the last Ice Age when many other large mammals went extinct.

It is thought their domestication occurred at least 15,000 years ago, but previous studies comparing the DNA of dogs with modern wolves have not been able to pinpoint exactly when it began in dogs' ancestral history.

The new findings, published today in Nature, utilised ancient wolf genomes to further our understanding of how our beloved pets came to be.

The geneticists and archaeologists analysed 72 ancient wolf genomes, spanning the last 100,000 years, from Europe, Siberia and North America.

The remains came from previously excavated ancient wolves, including a full, perfectly preserved head from a Siberian wolf that lived 32,000 years ago.

They found that both early and modern dogs are more genetically similar to ancient wolves in Asia than those in Europe, suggesting a domestication somewhere in the east.

Sampling locations of ancient wolves and one ancient dhole analysed in the study

Ancestry proportions for dogs of the Asian source (blue) and the Middle Eastern source (yellow) in different ancient wolves whose genomes were sequenced in the study

However, they also found evidence that two separate populations of wolves contributed DNA to dogs.

Early dogs from north-eastern Europe, Siberia, East Asia and the Americas appear to have a single, shared origin from the Asian source.

But early dogs from the Middle East, Africa and southern Europe seem to have developed up to half their ancestry from another source related to wolves in the Middle East.

One possible explanation for this dual ancestry is that wolves underwent domestication more than once, with the different populations then mixing together.

Another possibility is that domestication happened only once, and that the dual ancestry is due to these early dogs then mixing with wild wolves.

It is not currently possible to determine which of these two scenarios occurred, as none of the analysed genomes are a direct match for either of these dog ancestries.

The international team are continuing to search for a close wolf ancestor of dogs from another location that could reveal exactly when humans began domesticating them.

Early dogs from north-eastern Europe, Siberia, East Asia and the Americas appear to have a single, shared origin from Asia. But those from the Middle East, Africa and southern Europe seem to have developed up to half their ancestry from another source from the Middle East

A 32,000 year-old wolf skull from Yakutia from which a 12-fold coverage genome was sequenced as part of the study. It is thought their domestication of wolves occurred at least 15,000 years ago, but previous studies comparing the DNA of dogs with modern wolves have not been able to pinpoint exactly when it began in dogs' ancestral history

During the research, the scientists built a timeline of how wolf DNA has changed over around 30,000 generations using their 72 ancient genomes.

They found that wolf populations were genetically connected throughout the Late Pleistocene, likely due to the wolves ability to move across an open landscape.

They were also able to track natural selection, and found one gene variant went from being very rare to being present in every wolf over a period of 10,000 years.

The variant affects a gene, IFT88, which is involved in the development of bones in the skull and jaw, and is still present in all wolves and dogs today.

It could have been a response to the types of prey available in the Ice Age, giving an advantage to wolves with a certain head shape, but it could also have other unknown functions.

Senior author Pontus Skoglund thinks a similar method could provide new information about how evolution happens in other species, such as humans.

He said: 'This is the first time scientists have directly tracked natural selection in a large animal over a time-scale of 100,000 years, seeing evolution play out in real time rather than trying to reconstruct it from DNA today.

'We found several cases where mutations spread to the whole wolf species, which was possible because the species was highly connected over large distances.

'This connectivity is perhaps a reason why wolves managed to survive the Ice Age while many other large carnivores vanished.

'Similar whole-genome time series from the Ice Age, in humans or other animals, could provide new information about how evolution happens.'
A bizarre giant kangaroo roamed Papua New Guinea 50,000 years ago, a new study has revealed.

The species, which researchers from Flinders University have named Nombe nombe, had a squat, muscular body.

Rather than being closely related to Australian varieties, the new species most likely belongs to a unique genus, found only in Papua New Guinea, according to the team.

'We think of these animals as being uniquely Australian, but they have this intriguing other life within New Guinea,' said Isaac Kerr, an author of the study.

A bizarre giant kangaroo roamed Papua New Guinea 50,000 years ago, a new study has revealed. The species, which researchers from Flinders University have named Nombe nombe, had a squat, muscular body

How did Nombe Nombe end up in New Guinea? The study suggests that the species evolved from an ancient form of kangaroo that dispersed into New Guinea around 5-8 million years ago. During that time, the islands of New Guinea and mainland Australia were connected by a land-bridge, thanks to lower sea levels. Before the bridge was flooded and became the Torres Strait as it is today, it allowed early Australian mammals to move into New Guinea. Advertisement

The giant kangaroo was first described in 1983 and is known from fossils dating back 20,000-50,000 years.

The fossils come from the Nombe Rockshelter, a site in Chimbu Province that was once a diverse rainforest with thick undergrowth and a closed canopy.

There, Nombe evolved to have a thick jawbone and strong chewing muscles, that would have allowed it to eat tough leaves from trees and shrubs.

'The New Guinean fauna is fascinating, but very few Australians have much of an idea of what's actually there,' Mr Kerr said.

'There are several species of large, long-nosed, worm-eating echidna that are still around today, many different wallaby and possum species that we don't get in Australia, and more still in the fossil record.'

The researchers used 3D imagery to study the fossilised jaw of Nombe.

Their analysis suggests that the species evolved from an ancient form of kangaroo that dispersed into New Guinea around 5-8 million years ago.

During that time, the islands of New Guinea and mainland Australia were connected by a land-bridge, thanks to lower sea levels.

The researchers used 3D imagery to study the fossilised jaw of Nombe. Their analysis suggests that the species evolved from than ancient form of kangaroo that dispersed into New Guinea around 5-8 million years ago

The fossils come from the Nombe Rockshelter, a site in Chimbu Province that was once a diverse rainforest with thick undergrowth and a closed canopy

Before the bridge was flooded and became the Torres Strait as it is today, it allowed early Australian mammals to move into New Guinea.

There, the animals evolved to suit their new, tropical home, according to the researchers.

While several studies were carried out in the 1960s, 70s and 80s to study these extinct megafauna, no digs have taken place there since the early 90s.

The researchers now seek to remedy this with further studies going forwards.

Professor Gavin Prideaux, co-author of the study, said: 'We're very excited to undertake three palaeontological digs at two different sites in eastern and central PNG over the next three years.

'We'll be working with the curators of the Papua New Guinea Museum and Art Gallery and other contacts in PNG, with whom we hope to build some local interest in New Guinean palaeontology.'
Mars rovers may have to drill down almost seven feet beneath the surface if they are to find evidence of ancient life on the Red Planet, NASA analysis suggests.

Discovering certain amino acids would be a potential sign of extraterrestrials because they are widely used by life on Earth as a component to build proteins.

Proteins are essential to life because they are used to make enzymes, which speed up or regulate chemical reactions and to make structures.

However, new research by the US space agency has revealed that amino acids in the Martian surface are destroyed by cosmic rays much faster than previously thought.

'Current Mars rover missions drill down to about two inches (around five centimeters),' said Alexander Pavlov of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Mars rovers may have to drill down almost seven feet beneath the surface if they are to find evidence of ancient life on the Red Planet, NASA analysis suggests. Pictured is the drill hole from Perseverance's second sample-collection attempt last year

MARS ROCK SAMPLES SUGGEST A ONCE HABITABLE ENVIRONMENT NASA said the first rocks collected by the Perseverance rover reveal the Jezero Crater was once 'a potentially habitable sustained environment.' The news followed the rover's successful mission of collecting two rock samples, named 'Montdenier' and 'Montagnac,' last year. The core samples have a basaltic composition, which scientists say may have formed from ancient lava flows and could provide a timeline of the ancient lake  from when it formed to when it disappeared. NASA already knows the crater was once filled with water, but for how long remains a mystery. The level of alteration that scientists see in the rock suggests groundwater was present for a long time. The ground team determined there are salts within the rock samples that may have formed when groundwater flowed through and altered the original minerals in the rock. Or more likely when liquid water evaporated, leaving the salts. In the next decade samples will be returned to Earth for more detailed analysis in advanced laboratories. Advertisement

'At those depths, it would take only 20 million years to destroy amino acids completely.

'The addition of perchlorates and water increases the rate of amino acid destruction even further.'

Twenty million years is a relatively brief amount of time because scientists are looking for evidence of ancient life on the surface which would have been present billions of years ago when Mars was more like Earth.

Experts say it means that rovers may have to dig about 6.6 feet (two metres) or more under the Martian surface to find signs of ancient life.

This would counter the risk that small molecules such as amino acids could have been degraded by ionizing radiation from space.

'Missions with shallow drill sampling have to seek recently exposed outcrops  e.g., recent microcraters with ages less than 10 million years or the material ejected from such craters,' said Pavlov, lead author of the new research.

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles (mostly protons and helium ions) generated by powerful events on the sun and in deep space, such as solar flares and exploding stars.

They can degrade or destroy organic molecules when they penetrate metres into a solid rock, ionizing and destroying everything in their path.

Earth's thick atmosphere and global magnetic field shields the surface from most cosmic rays, something Mars also had in its youth, but it lost this protection as it aged.

However, there is evidence that billions of years ago, this thicker atmosphere allowed liquid water to persist on the surface of the Red Planet.

Since liquid water is essential for life, scientists want to know if it emerged on Mars by examining rocks for organic molecules such as amino acids.

The team mixed several types of amino acids in silica, hydrated silica, or silica and perchlorate to simulate conditions in Martian soil and sealed the samples in test tubes under vacuum conditions to simulate the thin Martian air.

Some samples were kept at room temperature, about the warmest it ever gets on the surface of Mars, while others were chilled to a more typical -67F (-55C).

The samples were blasted with various levels of gamma radiation  a type of highly energetic light  to simulate cosmic-ray doses up to that received from about 80 million years of exposure in the Martian surface rocks.

New research by the US space agency has revealed that amino acids in the Martian surface are destroyed by cosmic rays much faster than previously thought. Current Mars rover missions drill down about two inches, depths at which it would take only 20 million years to destroy amino acids completely. Pictured is the Perseverance rover

The experiment is the first to mix amino acids with simulated Martian soil.

Previous experiments tested gamma radiation on pure amino acid samples, but it is highly unlikely to find a large cluster of a single amino acid in a billion-year-old rock.

'Our work is the first comprehensive study where the destruction (radiolysis) of a broad range of amino acids was studied under a variety of Mars-relevant factors (temperature, water content, perchlorate abundance) and the rates of radiolysis were compared,' said Pavlov.

'It turns out that the addition of silicates and particularly silicates with perchlorates greatly increases the destruction rates of amino acids.'

While amino acids have not yet been found on Mars, they have been discovered in meteorites, including one from Mars.

Scientists hope that as well as providing answers about potential ancient life on the Red Planet, Perseverance will also reveal more about Mars' climate and how it has evolved

'We did identify several straight-chain amino acids in the Antarctic Martian meteorite RBT 04262 in the Astrobiology Analytical Lab at Goddard that we believe originated on Mars (not contamination from terrestrial biology), although the mechanism of formation of these amino acids in RBT 04262 remains unclear,' said Danny Glavin, a co-author of the paper at NASA Goddard.

'Since meteorites from Mars typically get ejected from depths of at least 3.3 feet (one meter) or more, it is possible that the amino acids in RBT 04262 were protected from cosmic radiation.'

Organic matter has been found on Mars by NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, but it is not a conclusive sign of life because experts say it could have been created by non-biological chemistry.

The results of this latest experiment also suggest that it is likely that the organic material observed by these rovers has been altered over time by radiation and therefore not as it was when formed.

The new research has been published in the journal Astrobiology.
ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Hae-yong delivers opening remarks during a seminar on ASEAN-Korea F&B trade facilitation at a hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of ASEAN-Korea Centre



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Southeast Asia is known for a variety of food products, such as coffee, tropical fruits, and coconut oil among others. The ASEAN-Korean Centre (AKC) hosted a seminar, Tuesday, to promote sustainable market expansion in the food and beverage (F&B) sector in Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).



Co-organized with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the seminar centered on trends in the F&B sector. The F&B industry employs 116 million people in ASEAN, which is more than one third of its total workforce, and accounts for roughly 10 percent of total trade in the region.



Korea is an important market for ASEAN F&B producers and the seminar also introduced the prospect of imported food in Korea as well as the best way to maximize the benefits of FTAs, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and ASEAN-Korea FTA.



"With highly sophisticated customers and 18 sets of FTAs with 58 countries, the Korean F&B market creates keen competition among exporting countries. Therefore exporters need to develop new and sustainable F&B products to satisfy the level of expectations and the growing demand for diversity," AKC Secretary General Kim Hae-yong said during the opening remarks of the seminar.



"We noticed Korean consumers' growing interest in ASEAN F&B products including vegan meat and eco-friendly goods in particular... Today's seminar was organized to strengthen the capabilities of ASEAN SMEs (small- and medium-enterprises) in the F&B Industry in response to the increasing interest in sustainable, eco-friendly and ethical food consumption," Kim added.





Participants of the seminar on ASEAN-Korea F&B trade facilitation, co-hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, pose for a photo at a hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. Fourth from left is Pg Hjh Nooriyah PLW Pg Hj Yussof, Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam in Korea; fourth from right is Kim Hae-yong, Secretary General of ASEAN-Korea Centre; and third from right is Lyu Jae-won, Executive Vice President for Trade-Investment Data at KOTRA. Courtesy of ASEAN-Korea Centre
NASA's James Webb Telescope will soon reveal 'the deepest image of our universe that's ever been taken.'

The space agency made the announcement ahead of the release next month of the first pictures from the $10 billion telescope that's currently sitting 1.2 million kilometers directly 'behind' Earth as seen from the sun.

'This is farther than humanity has ever looked before, and we're only beginning to understand what Webb can and will do,' NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at a live media event on Wednesday.

The telescope, which has taken 20 years to build, will be looking back to the period of time just after the Big Bang in order to unravel some of the mysteries of how we got here.

'We're in the middle of getting history-making data,' Nelson added.

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NASA's James Webb Telescope is set to unravel the mysteries of the universe when it releases its first images in a few weeks. Above: Timeline shows the metric expansion of space, including the first stars, the development of galaxies and planets -- and dark energy

These initial images are based on just 120 hours of observation over the course of five days.

It may seem odd to think of a telescope as a time machine, but that's basically how it can function.

In space, distance is measured by how long it takes light to travel.

According to NASA, our nearest star is over four light-years away, so that when we look at that nearest star, we see it not as it is today, but as it was four years ago.

'One of the goals is to find the first galaxies that formed in universe just after the Big Bang,' explained Jonathan Gardner, Webb deputy senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. Above: Pictured graphic shows a front view of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, including its Optical Telescope Element Primary Mirror, OTE Secondary Mirror, Sunshield and more

Other galaxies are much farther away.

The Virgo Cluster of galaxies is the largest nearby collection of galaxies, at about 60 million light-years from the Milky Way.

That means the light we see today from galaxies in the Virgo Cluster started on its path toward us at the same time as the age of the dinosaurs was ending on Earth.

'Theres already some amazing science in the can and some others are yet to be taken as we go forward,' Nelson said.

Although NASA scientists didn't say exactly what we'll be seeing when the images are released to the public, they did drop some hints.

'One of the goals is to find the first galaxies that formed in universe just after the Big Bang,' explained Jonathan Gardner, Webb deputy senior project scientist at NASA Goddard.

NASA also said the images will include the first ever spectrum of an exoplanet. Pictured is the back view of NASA's James Webb Telescope, showing its solar panel, momentum flap and spacecraft bus

In the six months since the telescope launched on Dec. 25, 2021, researchers and scientists have been making sure its massive mirrors are properly deployed and that all the scientific instruments are aligned and working. Graphic above shows the various sizes of well known space telescopes

NASA also said the images will include the first ever spectrum of an exoplanet.

These spectra measure the amount of light that's emitted at certain wavelengths and can provide insights into what a planet is made of and its formation in the universe's history.

The space agency's scientists emphasized that James Webb will produce loads more data and pictures in the coming months and years.

In the six months since the telescope launched on Dec. 25, 2021, researchers and scientists have been making sure its massive mirrors are properly deployed and that all the scientific instruments are aligned and working.

'Its larger than Hubble so it can see fainter light. Those first small, faint galaxies merged together again and again over time to become the larger ones we know now, including our own Milky Way,' Gardner added.

These initial images are based on just 120 hours of observation over the course of five days. This NASA photo released on May 16, 2017 shows the primary mirror of NASAs James Webb Space Telescope inside a clean room at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas

'Well also see an example of how galaxies interact and grow,' said Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope The primary mirror is composed of 18 hexagonal segments made of the metal beryllium and coated with gold to capture faint infrared light

'Well also see an example of how galaxies interact and grow,' said Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute.

'But were only scratching the surface.'

'In the beginning we have only a few days worth of observations. Looking forward to years of observations.'

NASA will officially release the first images from the James Webb Telescope on July 12 at 10:30 am EDT and that event will be covered by Daily Mail.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is calling on Google and Apple to ban TikTok in a bid to stop the Chinese-owned company from accessing swaths of data.

Brendan Carr, commissioner of the FCC, posted on Twitter urging the tech giants to remove the video sharing platform from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices.'

Carr included a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook, expressing why TikTok needs to be removed, citing a report from last week that shed fresh light on the serious national security threats posed by TikTok.

And he is giving the tech giants until July 8 to remove TikTok or explain why they chose not comply.

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Brendan Carr, commissioner of the FCC, posted on Twitter urging the tech giants to remove the video sharing platform from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices'

The report, published by BuzzFeed News, highlights leaked audio from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings that reveal China-based employees have repeatedly accessed US user data.

It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijings apparently unchecked access it that sensitive data, Carr wrote in the letter.

But it is also clear that TikToks pattern of conduct and misrepresentation regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive US user data puts it out of compliance with the policies that both of your companies require every app to adhere to as a condition of remaining available on your app store.

DailyMail.com has contacted TikTok, Google and Apple for comment and has yet to receive a response.

Carr included a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook, expressing why TikTok needs to be removed, citing a report from last week that shed fresh light on the serious national security threats posed by TikTok

The letter continues with some concerning evidence to why the China-owned app should be removed

The letter continues with some concerning evidence about why the China-owned app should be removed.

This includes an incident in March 2020 when researchers discovered the app, through Apples App store, was accessing users sensitive data  passwords, cryptocurrency wallet addresses and personal messages.

Carr also notes that several US military branches have banned TikTok on government issued devices and has urged personal to remove the app from their personal smartphones.

It also cites TikTok's decision in 2021 to pay $92 million to settle dozens of lawsuits that accuse the app of collecting personal data without the user's consent - and most of these users were minors - and selling it off to advertisers.

The letter also cites the BuzzFeed report that surfaced this month.

Carr also notes that several US military branches have banned TikTok on government issued devices and has urged personal to remove the app from their personal smartphones

Carr is giving the tech giants until July 8 to remove TikTok or explain why they chose not comply

The BuzzFeed News investigation identified a Master Admin located in Beijing that has access to everything despite TikToks claims about storing sensitive data in the US, Carr wrote.

The recordings obtained by BuzzFeed News, and reported on by Emily Baker-White, focus on concerns made by former President Donald Trump while he was in office.

In August 2020, Trump signed an executive order that would ban TikTok and the Chinese chat app WeChat in the US.

The order stated that TikTok's 'data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information.'

President Joe Biden last year revoked executive orders from Trump and produced a new executive order that nixed the unimplemented ban on TikTok and called for 'an evidence-based analysis to address the risks' from internet applications controlled by foreign entities.

TikTok has acknowledged access to its user data has been a problem.
A group of hackers known as SiegedSec is targeting US state agencies with anti-abortion stances in protest of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade that guaranteed the right to an abortion.

The first stash of data it has leaked includes eight gigabytes apparently stolen from state governments in Kentucky, which has outlawed abortion except in rare circumstances, and Arkansas, which has banned it entirely.

A post on the hacker group's Telegram channel seems to show documents with information on property transactions and includes personally identifiable information of residents in those states.

On June 23, the Supreme Court upended almost 50 years of precedent when it overturned the landmark Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion in America - sparking widespread protests and multiple trigger-law bans at the state level.

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'Like many, we are also pro-choice, one shouldnt be denied access to abortion,' the hacking group said on Telegram

SiegedSecs statement says: 'Like many, we are also pro-choice, one shouldnt be denied access to abortion.'

It continues: 'As added pressure to the US government, we have leaked many internal documents and files retrieved from Kentuckys and Arkansas government servers.

'These docs have plenty of employee PII (personally identifiable information) and lots more.'

The group added that 'the attacks will continue,' stating: 'Our main targets are any pro-life entities, including government servers of the states with anti-abortion laws. Keep protesting, keep yourself safe, f*** the government.'

SiegedSec also reassured its followers that while pursuing abortion rights activism the group will 'still do blackhat stuff,' presumably referring to its more typical activities of targeting private sector companies.

A hacking group is targeting anti-abortion US state agencies. Abortion rights protesters are seen after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24

According to dark web security service DarkOwl, the hacker group has emerged as a result of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

SiegedSec has compromised over 100 websites since its formation, DarkOwl states.

It has also accessed several thousand LinkedIn profiles.

Before these new US state hacks, the group was thought of as a 'fairly small-scale operation' with the potential 'to evolve into a high-consequential cyber threat,' according to DarkOwl.
Barcelona will reportedly make a final offer of 40million (34.5m) in a desperate bid to land top target Robert Lewandowski.

The Spanish giants have made no secret of their desire to add the 33-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract at Bayern Munich, to their attack this summer.

Bayern, who recently added Sadio Mane from Liverpool, have so far stood firm but Barcelona are, according to Spanish outlet Sport, ready to make their best - and final - offer to land Lewandowski.

Barcelona are set to make a final offer for Robert Lewandowski (left), according to Sport (right)

Sport detail that Barcelona will commit to 34.5m plus add-ons.

It is said they are not willing to go above that price point given Lewandowski is in the final 12 months of his Bayern contract and is aged 33.

Lewandowski boldly went public earlier this summer stating that he sees no future for himself at Bayern Munich.

That was expected to speed up his departure but heading into late June he remains frustrated in Bavaria.

Barcelona boss Xavi is plotting to overhaul his attack in a bid to chase down the LaLiga title

Lewandowski (right) reportedly requested to Barcelona president Joan Laporta that a deal is done before Bayern Munich report for pre-season training on July 12

Sport's report continued to say that Barcelona president Joan Laporta has not lost hope in sealing a deal and made a call to Lewandowski and his agent, Pini Zahavi, last week, calling for patience.

In that call it is reported that Lewandowski was told he remains their top target and delays are down to the club's perilous financial situation, which requires player sales to allow room on the salary cap to register new players.

Lewandowski reportedly made a request to Laporta that a deal is wrapped up before July 12, which is when pre-season begins for Bayern.

Speaking prior to Poland's Nations League clash with Wales earlier this month, Lewandowski left no room for doubt that his career with the German club was 'over'.

'My era at Bayern is over. I dont see any possibility to continue playing for this club,' he said.

'Bayerns a serious club and I believe they wont keep me  I dont want to play there any more.'

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been leading the line for Barca since joining from Arsenal

'A transfer is the best solution. I hope they dont stop me.'

Barcelona manager Xavi sees Lewandowski as the ideal spearhead for his rebuild ahead of his first full season in charge.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been leading the line for Barca since joining the five-time Champions League winners from Arsenal in February.

LaLiga champions Real Madrid finished 13 points ahead of Xavi's second-placed side in 2021-22, scoring 12 more league goals than their closest rivals.

Much change is expected at Barcelona this summer, with Manchester United closing in on the 70m signing of midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
Winona Ryder has confessed she 'struggled to take care of herself' after her 1993 breakup with Johnny Depp, adding that Michelle Pfeiffer supported her through it.

The actress, 50, likened her state to her character Susanna Kaysen in 1999's Girl Interrupted, who spends 18 months at a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt.

She made the admission to accompany a gorgeous cover shoot for Harper's Bazaar's July 2022 digital issue, which sees her cut a smart figure in a black blazer suit.

'That was my Girl, Interrupted real life!' Winona Ryder has confessed she 'struggled to take care of herself' following her breakup with Johnny Depp but Michelle Pfeiffer supported her

Opening up to the magazine, she said of the split: 'That was my Girl, Interrupted real life. I remember, I was playing this character who ends up getting tortured in a Chilean prison [in the 1994 drama The House of the Spirits].

'I would look at these fake bruises and cuts on my face [from the shoot], and I would struggle to see myself as this little girl.

"Would you be treating this girl like youre treating yourself?" I remember looking at myself and saying, "This is what Im doing to myself inside." Because I just wasnt taking care of myself.'

Winona went on to reveal that her Age of Innocence co-star Michelle assured her the rough patch was 'going to pass' but she 'couldn't hear it' herself.

Crikey! The actress, 50, likened her state to her character Susanna Kaysen in 1999's Girl Interrupted, who spends 18 months at a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt (pictured with Johnny in 1990)

She continued: 'Ive never talked about it. Theres this part of me thats very private. I have such, like, a place in my heart for those days. But for someone younger who grew up with social media, its hard to describe.'

Winona also confessed she felt like 'part of my life was over' while reflecting on the 'cruel' tabloid culture in the early 2000s.

The screen star made headlines after being caught shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue's Beverly Hills department store in 2001, going on to be found guilty.

On being targeted by the press amid the scandal, the Stranger Things star said: 'I definitely retreated. I was in San Francisco. But I also wasn't getting offers. I think it was a very mutual break.

Stunning: She made the admission to accompany a gorgeous cover shoot for Harper's Bazaar 's July 2022 issue, which sees her cut an oversized blue skirt

Candid: Opening up to the magazine, she said of the split: 'That was my Girl, Interrupted real life. I remember, I was playing this character who ends up getting tortured in a Chilean prison [in the 1994 drama The House of the Spirits]'

'It's so interesting when you look at the early aughts. It was a kind of cruel time.

'There was a lot of meanness out there.... And then I remember coming back to L.A. andit was a rough time. And I didn't know if that part of my life was over.'

She shocked Hollywood when she was caught shoplifting from a Beverly Hills department store in 2001.

Winona was eventually convicted of stealing nearly 4,000 worth of designer merchandise from an exclusive department store.

Revealing: 'I would look at these fake bruises and cuts on my face [from the shoot], and I would struggle to see myself as this little girl'

Back on top now! Winona also confessed she felt like 'part of my life was over' while reflecting on the 'cruel' tabloid culture in the early 2000s

She was found guilty of grand theft and vandalism but not guilty of second degree burglary from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills on December 12.

During her shopping expedition, she bought several items but stole many more.

Her haul of stolen goods included designer hats, tops, socks, bags and hair accessories, ranging in price from 10 to 500.

She also stole a white Gucci dress worth just over 1,000.

Soon after arriving at Saks on December 12, Ryder bought a pair of Gucci shoes worth about 200.

Oh dear: The screen star made headlines after being caught shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue's Beverly Hills department store in 2001, going on to be found guilty

What?! Winona was eventually convicted of stealing nearly 4,000 worth of designer merchandise from an exclusive department store

Looking good: Winona was photographed by Dan Martensen and styled by Caroline Newell for the stunning cover

She spent more than one-and-a-half hours in total at the store and a security video tape seen by the jury showed her wandering around, picking up armfuls of designer clothing.

She caught the attention of Saks' security boss Kenneth Evans, when she knelt down and stuffed various hair accessories and socks inside a hat she was carrying.

The Girl, Interrupted star enjoyed a quiet few years following her conviction, but couldn't turn her back on acting for good.

Now in a happy relationship with her long-term partner Scott Mackinlay Hahn, she gushed over the pair 'connecting on so many levels'

Winona revealed how she 'loves' that the fashion designer, 51, who she's been with since 2011, is not in the acting world yet they have 'so much in common'.

She said: 'It was amazing that he's not in this business. I really did try to keep it quiet.'

Tragic: The actress likened her state to her character Susanna Kaysen in 1999's Girl Interrupted, who spends 18 months at a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt (pictured in-character)

The Golden Globe winner recalled their first meeting and reflected on how he didn't even recognise her despite her global fame.

She joked: 'He thought I was Milla Jovovich. He told me I was great in The Fifth Element.'

On the pressures of young movie stars to cement their place in Hollywood, Winona said: 'This business is brutal. You're working constantly, but if you want to take a break, they tell you, "If you slow down, it's going to stop." And then it did slow down.

'So then you're hearing, "It's going to be impossible to come back." And then that changes to, "You're not even part of the conversation." Like, it was brutal.'

Pals: Winona went on to reveal that her Age of Innocence co-star Michelle (left) assured her the rough patch was 'going to pass' but she 'couldn't hear it' herself (pictured in 1999)

Winona has stared alongside teen actors Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp on the Netflix smash-hit Stranger Things since 2016.

On the advice she gives to them, she told the magazine: 'I want the kids to understand, this does not happen, of being on a show so zeitgeisty that people are clamoring for your attention.

'This is really unusual. And Im always telling them, "The work is the reward!" Because when I was that age, it was so hard to enjoy the fruits of my labor.'

Mistake: She spent more than one-and-a-half hours in total at the store and a security video tape seen by the jury showed her wandering around, picking up armfuls of designer clothing' (pictured in 2002)

It follows reports that Winona feels Scott is her soulmate, according to UsWeekly.

But though they are on very good footing they do not have plans to get married and have kids, the insider added.

The source said: 'They may eventually marry but it's never been a priority, nor has starting a family. [Winona] loves what they have and [they] are perfectly content.'

Winona has an interesting love life as she was engaged to Johnny in the early 1990s and used to date Matt Damon in 2000.

Moving on: Now in a happy relationship with her long-term partner Scott Mackinlay Hahn, she gushed over the pair 'connecting on so many levels' (pictured in May 2022)

She has also been linked to Val Kilmer (2005), Pete Yorn (2001), Jimmy Fallon (2000), David Duchovny (1996), David Pirner (1994-1996), Christian Slater (1988) and Rob Lowe (1986).

The insider added: 'Winona has found her soulmate in Scott, who's a real gentleman and super successful but loves flying under the radar and enjoying his success in a low-key way just like her,' the source added.

'They spend their time up north near San Francisco, though she does commute back and forth to L.A. for work and to see friends and often brings him with her.'

And Winona likes having a steady relationship.

'I'm a serial monogamist,' the actress told Net-a-Porter's The Edit in 2016.

'I was single for a while and dating and I just didn't know how to do it! I've always been like that. But marriage? I don't know.'

'I'd rather never have been married than been divorced a few times. Not that there's anything wrong with divorce, but I don't think I could do it if that was a possibility,' Ryder shared.

'When your parents are madly in love for 45 years, your standards are really high.'
Vick Hope looked nothing short of sensational as she flashed her toned figure in a white co-ord at One Hundred Shoreditch in London on Tuesday.

The radio presenter, 32, who is engaged to Calvin Harris, 38, showcased her incredible physique in a crop top and mini skirt at the Pattern Beauty event.

The beauty wowed as she teamed the white two piece with a pair of matching trainers keeping her look casual for the evening.

Stunning: Vick Hope looked nothing short of sensational as she flashed her toned figure in a white co-ord at One Hundred Shoreditch in London on Tuesday

Vick accesorised with an eye catching pair of gold drop earrings while wearing a glamorous palette of makeup.

She styled her luxurious brunette tresses in their natural curls as they cascaded past her bust.

Vick added a pop of colour to the look with a vibrant pink manicure as she posed up a storm on the red carpet.

Coordinated: The radio presenter, 32, who is engaged to Calvin Harris , 38, showcased her incredible physique in a crop top and mini skirt at the Pattern Beauty event

Recently Vick admitted life is not as 'complex' as she once thought as she reflected on her work life balance and packed schedule.

The radio host insisted that while society tells us 'everything should be hard', we should be placing more emphasis on 'enjoying life' instead.

After recently going public with the world-renowned DJ, she told of how she now just wants 'to have a nice time'.

Speaking to Stylist magazine, she continued: 'I just want to have a nice time. It's really not as complex as I used to think it was.

Glam: The beauty wowed as she teamed the white two piece with a pair of matching trainers keeping her look casual for the evening as she posed with actress Jessica Plummer (left) (pictured left to right Jessica, Irene Agbontaen, Vick and guest)

'We live in a society that tells us everything's supposed to be hard - and don't get me wrong, a lot of stuff is - we think we're supposed to grind, the idea of the side hustle! But I think we should place as much onus on enjoyment.'

While she does not have another day off work until September, she has promised herself that she will enjoy a better work-life balance in the future.

She told Stylist magazine: 'I've worked myself into the ground so many times, I still do, I can't lie! I don't have a day off until September, and I've promised myself I'm going to change that.'

Throwback: Earlier this month, Vick and Calvin made their first public declaration of love while relaxing on a Spanish beach, just weeks after confirming their engagement

Earlier this month, Vick and Calvin made their first public declaration of love while relaxing on a Spanish beach, just weeks after confirming their engagement.

The couple shared a passionate kiss as they mingled with oblivious holidaymakers in Ibiza, where they are currently enjoying a summer holiday.

On 24th May, it was revealed that Calvin is engaged to Vick after proposing to the Radio 1 DJ at his farm in Ibiza.

Friends close to the couple said they have been an item for five months and are 'smitten' following a whirlwind romance.

Vick has been wearing her diamond engagement ring for weeks after Calvin popped the question underneath a tree at his Ibiza farm, Terra Masia.

A source told MailOnline: 'Calvin and Vick's relationship has moved quickly but they're smitten with each other.

'They could not be happier and are already planning their wedding, which is set to take place in Ibiza, where they grew close during Vick's secret visits to the White Isle.

'After keeping their relationship private, they decided to go public at the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday, they want everyone to now know their happy news.'
Mindy Woods was eliminated from Channel 10's MasterChef on Tuesday night after botching a chocolate cake during one of the show's infamous pressure tests.

The 40-year-old was sent home after the chefs were set a challenge by famed Australian chocolatier and pastry chef, Kirsten Tibballs.

They were given three hours and 15 minutes to recreate a spectacular 'Cherry on Top' dessert by Kirsten, which features multiple layers and a black chocolate spray.

Mindy Woods was eliminated from MasterChef on Tuesday night after botching a chocolate cake in a pressure test Picture: Mindy (left) and MasterChef contestant Julie Goodwin

Describing herself as 'no dessert queen,' Mindy went into the challenge with confidence.

'I just said, if this is going to be our last cook let's give it our all...There was definitely no fear involved,' she told 10play.

Mindy said every time the show set a challenge it gave her a surge of excitement.

'To have Kirsten walk in I knew that it was going to be something I had never done before... and probably will never do again,' she said.

They were given three hours and 15 minutes to recreate a spectacular 'Cherry on Top' dessert by Australian chocolatier and pastry chef, Kirsten Tibballs, which features multiple layers and a black chocolate spray

Kirsten's verdict on Mindy's dessert was that the Pain de Genes was too thick, and the gel firm and grainy.

Meanwhile, the balance of flavours was not quite right, prompting the judges to send her home.

Mindy, whose upbeat energy throughout the Fans and Favourites season made her a fan favourite, took the defeat in her stride.

Mindy was seen bidding an emotional farewell to her fellow contestants

The former physiotherapist, who came fourth in the 4th season of MasterChef, said she was proud to end her time on the show with finalists Billie McKay and Julie Goodwn.

'I should be sad but I feel so full in my heart,' she said.

'I cooked off against two MasterChef winners and to go out against those ladies I couldn't be happier.'
Bindi Irwin and her famous family have opened a new restaurant and bar at their Crocodile Hunter Lodge in Queensland.

Bindi, 23, excitedly shared the news to her more than 4.9million Instagram followers on Wednesday.

'The Warrior bar and restaurant' also includes a special tribute to Bindi's late father Steve Irwin, with several pictures of him and his family seen on the walls.

Bindi Irwin and her famous family have opened a new restaurant and bar at their Crocodile Hunter Lodge in Queensland, which features many pictures of the late Steve Irwin on the wall

'Warrior Restaurant & Bar opens tomorrow night @crocodilehunterlodge,' Bindi's post began.

'We look forward to welcoming you for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can even book your own private dining room (swipe to see photo).'

She added: 'Remember to be on the lookout for koalas, kangaroos and emus during your meal.'

The private room (pictured) at the restaurant looks cosy and ultra modern, with floor-to-ceiling glass doors, concrete floors and a strong use of wooden detailing for the furniture and outside areas

The private room at the restaurant looks cosy and ultra modern, with floor-to-ceiling glass doors, concrete floors and a strong use of wooden detailing for the furniture and outside areas.

There's also a hint of greenery with plants around the room and some hanging from the ceiling.

The Irwin family, including Bindi, her brother Robert, 18, and mother Terri Irwin, 57, recently announced the launch of The Crocodile Hunter Lodge.

The lodge is where guests of Australia Zoo can stay overnight, which was always a dream of Steve's.

The Irwin family, including Bindi, her brother Robert, 18, and mother Terri Irwin, 57, recently announced the launch of The Crocodile Hunter Lodge

It has a reception area, luxurious two-bedroom cabins (some wheelchair accessible) and an infinity pool.

Robert said part of the wood used in the building has been repurposed from the crocodile grandstands originally built by Steve.

'So a lot of the lodge is actually kind of in a way hand built by dad,' Robert said of the new construction.

He went on to say the three trees out front were also 'originally planted by dad' with the place being Steve's dream.

Bindi said it was important to continue the legacy of her famous father.

The lodge has feature a reception area, luxurious two-bedroom cabins (some wheelchair accessible) and an infinity pool

'This is an exciting time for us as a family to be able to continue on what dad's vision was for Australia Zoo,' Bindi said.

Terri added that Steve always had a dream that visitors could have an immersive experience.

'Steve always had a dream that someday not only could people visit Australia Zoo but to stay overnight. Have the immersive experience.'

'It was so important to us to make his dreams come true with beautiful luxury accommodation surrounded by our conservation work we are known for.'

Terri added that Steve always had a dream that visitors could have an immersive experience

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.

Bindi was just eight years old at the time.

Following his death, Steve's family, including his daughter Bindi, widow Terri, son Robert and son-in-law Chandler Powell, have continued his conservation work at Australia Zoo.

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

Robert recently announced the launch of Australia Zoo's NFT artwork series, a rare digital asset stored on a blockchain, to help modernise the business and help conservation efforts.

The Irwin family are said to be worth $89million, but last year Terri revealed she was forced to take out a bank loan to protect the zoo's future after the Covid-19 pandemic.

'We are 11 years from the GFC and still feeling the ripples of that. So I want to be prepared for whatever's coming next,' she told the Courier Mail at the time.
NeNe Leakes is working toward an out of court settlement in her federal discrimination suit against Andy Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal and others claiming the companies that produced The Real Housewives of Atlanta oversaw a hostile and racist workplace.

A judge in Atlanta on Wednesday gave the defendants a 45-day extension after they asked for more time to 'negotiate' in the ongoing case, Page Six reported on Tuesday, citing court documents it reviewed.

Attorneys for Cohen, 54, Bravo and NBCU said in a June 24 motion that the issues named in the suit filed by Leakes, 54, are 'subject to arbitration in New York,' per contracts the parties previously agreed to, according to the outlet.

The latest: NeNe Leakes, 54, is working toward an out of court settlement in her federal discrimination suit against Andy Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal and others in a racist workplace suit. She was snapped Friday in LA at a BET event

While Leakes 'disagrees' with the prospects of using an arbiter in the case - an impartial third party that would issue a settlement in the suit - both sides remain 'in the process of negotiating this issue in an attempt to avoid the time and expense of a motion to compel arbitration,' the motion stated. (Arbitration would likely be held in New York City, where NBC Universal and Bravo have their main offices.)

Both parties 'agreed' that the 45-day timeframe was 'appropriate to complete these discussions,' leading to the judge granting the extension, according to court docs.

In the lawsuit, filed in April, Leakes, who is Black, told the court she had reported hearing racist remarks from white RHOA co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, 44, to higher-ups with the companies - and faced professional repercussions as a result.

'NBC, Bravo and True foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated  if not, encouraged,' Leakes' legal team said in court docs in the suit, according to the Associated Press.

In the lawsuit, filed in April, Leakes told the court she had reported hearing racist remarks from white RHOA co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, 44, to higher-ups with the companies - and faced professional repercussions as a result

Leakes named Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen, 54, among the defendants in her lawsuit

Leakes said the companies she named in the suit - including Bravo and NBCUniversal - were in violation of federal employment and anti-discrimination laws, requesting that damages be determined in a trial

Leakes in May told TMZ that she felt she had been professionally sabotaged after complaining to higher-ups about the racist behavior she experienced.

'Ive been blacklisted - when you havent worked in three years when all of a sudden youre working and sought after, and suddenly youre not working, its being blacklisted,' Leakes said. 'I was constantly being retaliated against, being blacklisted, not able to work; being silenced and so, you know it was difficult to do.'

The reality star, whose full name is Linnethia Monique Leakes, had appeared on 214 total episodes on The Real Housewives of Atlanta from 2008 and 2020, according to iMDb.

She was a regular on the show through the seventh season, was a part-time cast member in the show's seventh season, and returned as a regular from seasons 10 through 12. She was also seen on the spinoff I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding in 2013, which documented her nuptials to late husband Gregg Leakes.

Leakes said in court docs that Zolciak-Biermann - who was not named in the lawsuit - first made a racist remark during the show's initial season in 2008 when the cast was slated to attend a barbecue.

Zolciak-Biermann said 'words to the effect of: "I dont want to sit around with NeNe and eat chicken,"' which 'perpetuated an offensive stereotype about African-Americans,' Leakes said.

Leakes said during the show's fifth season in 2012, Zolciak-Biermann made more 'racially offensive and stereotypical' remarks - including using the N-word in reference to her and other cast members amid a fight.

Leakes said she had reported hearing racist remarks from RHOA co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann (pictured) to higher-ups with the companies, and faced professional repercussions as a result

In one instance, after cast member Kandi Burruss, 46, (pictured last month) purchased a new home, Leakes told the court, Zolciak-Biermann dubbed the neighborhood Burruss lived in a 'ghetto' and questioned if she needed a swimming pool

In one instance, after cast member Kandi Burruss, 46, purchased a new home, Leakes told the court, Zolciak-Biermann dubbed the neighborhood Burruss lived in a 'ghetto' and questioned if she needed a swimming pool. Leakes said in court docs that Zolciak-Biermann referred to her home as a 'roach nest' and lied in implying that Leakes was a drug user.

Leakes said in her suit that she reported the slew of racial remarks to the show's executives, who 'did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially-offensive behavior.'

Zolciak-Biermann received more lucrative opportunities from Bravo with the 2012 spinoff Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding, which was later shortened to Don't Be Tardy. The show ran for eight seasons prior to wrapping up in 2020.

Leakes lawyer David deRubertis said in a statement that 'from the day the series began filming, NeNe was the target of systemic racism from co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, which was tolerated by Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen and other executives.'

Another attorney for Leakes, Joe Habachy, told the AP in an email that 'not a day goes by that NeNe doesnt wake up with an onslaught of overwhelming emotions as a direct result of these unfortunate and avoidable occurrences.'

Leakes and Cohen were pictured in 2019 after an episode of Watch What Happens Live

Leakes was seen with Cohen and Zolciak-Biermann in a shot Cohen posted on social media in 2020

In the suit, Leakes said that speaking out about the racist behavior factored in her being let go from the series in 2020 prior to season 13. This occurred at a time when the organization Black Lives Matter was making headlines amid a time of social unrest following the police killing of George Floyd, and the demonstrations against racism and police brutality that ensued thereafter.

Leakes, a vocal supporter of BLM, said in the suit that execs deliberately kept her off episodes that were filmed at the time in which the topic was discussed by the cast.

'As the Black Lives Matter movement swept our nation, Mrs. Leakes - Bravos historically most successful Black female talent - should have been embraced by NBC, Bravo, and True,' Leakes' legal team said in the suit. 'Instead, NBC, Bravo, and True forced her out of the "house she built," denying her a regular role.'

Leakes said the companies she named in the suit were in violation of federal employment and anti-discrimination laws, requesting that damages be determined in a trial.

Leakes is one of the most prominent personalities to emerge from the Real Housewives universe, as she's been featured on other shows including Fashion Police, Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice. She has also been featured as an actress on shows including Glee, The New Normal and Dynasty.
Mean Girls star Daniel Franzese recently reflected on his experience undergoing gay conversion therapy when he was in his early twenties.

In an interview with Page Six, the 44-year-old actor explained that he voluntarily participated in the pseudoscientific practice with the goal of changing his sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual.

'When I was 21, I put myself into gay conversion therapy,' he told the outlet in a video interview that was released on Tuesday.

Looking back: Mean Girls star Daniel Franzese recently reflected on his experience undergoing gay conversion therapy when he was in his early twenties. Seen in June 2022

The comedian recalled that there were gay and lesbian members in his Catholic and Pentecostal Christian family and that homosexuality was 'lovingly tolerated.'

However, Daniel admitted that 'it was the world around' him and growing up around people from less tolerant families that 'made me feel that being gay was not OK.'

The performer told the outlet that he sought help from his grandmother who consulted her pastor.

Speaking out: In an interview with Page Six, the 44-year-old actor explained that he voluntarily participated in the pseudoscientific practice with the goal of changing his sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Seen in 2004

'I needed help. I didn't want to be gay. I didn't know what to do,' he said.

Daniel was eventually connected with a conversion therapist who he met for six months.

'I went to one-on-one therapy sessions with a person who was trying to change me straight and make me pray the gay away and alienate all my allies,' he explained.

The New York City native said that he felt 'brainwashed' into cutting off ties with his supportive mother during the process.

Falling out: The New York City native said that he felt 'brainwashed' into cutting off ties with his supportive mother during the process. Daniel and his mother Denise seen in 2017

'When I was in this session, they told me to tell my mom that my mom was the reason that I was leaning toward bisexual thoughts or whatever because she was so open,' he said.

'They made me come out to my mom, who was literally like my best ally, and say, "It's your fault."'

Daniel recalled how the experience caused a rift between the close pair, who did not speak to each other for two months.

'It was crazy to me,' he acknowledged. 'And she was so hurt about it and we've talked about it and it brought me back to her.'

Realization: Daniel told the outlet that he decided to quit the process after the conversion therapist admitted that he 'used to be gay' but now had a wife. Seen in 2019

The Looking alum remembered telling the conversion therapist that he was afraid of going to hell only to be reassured in 'kind of vulgar' terms that despite what he did in his sexual life, he would not go to hell if he loved God.

Daniel told the outlet that he decided to quit the process after the conversion therapist admitted that he 'used to be gay' but now had a wife.

'I didn't know if I was gay, I was looking for a diagnosis but this dude was gay,' he said. 'And then he was like, "I used to be gay," and I was like, "Used to be gay? You can't used to be gay."

Breakout role: Years later, the actor was cast as openly gay high school student Damian in Tina Fey's hit 2004 comedy Mean Girls, that also starred Lindsay Lohan and Lizzy Kaplan

Daniel added, 'And I was like, I gotta go.'

Years later, the actor was cast as openly gay high school student Damian in Tina Fey's hit 2004 comedy Mean Girls, that also starred Lindsay Lohan and Lizzy Kaplan.

In April 2014, Daniel publicly came out in an open letter to his Mean Girls character that he shared to mark the 10th anniversary of the film's release.

He told Page Six that he was inspired to come out after reading a touching note from a fan who thanked him for his positive portrayal of a LGBTQ character in the film.

'And to me, that was really impactful because that's all I was missing,' Daniel said. 'Like, I was just missing one person that told me that I could do that. I could be who I want to be and do what I want to do.'
Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, briefs reporters at a hotel in Madrid, June 28. Yonhap





President Yoon Suk-yeol will seek to promote the export of South Korean nuclear power plants, and weapons, during his bilateral meetings with world leaders in Spain this week, a senior presidential official said Tuesday.







Yoon is in Madrid to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit Wednesday (local time) and has begun a series of bilateral summits on the sidelines, including with Australia's prime minister earlier Tuesday.







On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet with the president of Poland, and with the prime minister of the Czech Republic, Thursday.







"We will go all in to win orders for nuclear power plants vis-a-vis countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic, where the selection of contractors is imminent," Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, told reporters.







"For the past five years, we saw a contradictory situation where at home, we were seeking to go nuclear-free, but overseas, we were pursuing exports of nuclear power plants," he said, referring to the policy of the previous Moon Jae-in administration. "The nuclear industry was practically on the brink of collapse, but now we plan to resume nuclear power exports."







Britain, Romania and the Netherlands, all of whose leaders Yoon plans to meet this week, are potential buyers of South Korean nuclear power plants.







With Poland, Yoon will additionally discuss cooperation in the defense industry, an area that has seen a sharp increase in demand due to recent international events, Choi said.







Other topics on the president's agenda for bilateral summits will include strengthening supply chains in advanced industries, particularly in semiconductors and batteries, and establishing a foundation for future growth industries, according to Choi.







"This will mark the beginning of summit-level sales diplomacy for new export-centered businesses," he said. "This time we started with nuclear power and the defense industry, but over the next five years, the list will grow." (Yonhap)


She's the Aussie model known for her jaw-dropping body.

And Gabrielle Epstein gave her 2.9 million Instagram followers an eyeful on Tuesday as she stripped down to a barely there bikini while on a road trip in Malibu, California.

Gabrielle, 28, showcased her flat stomach and ample assets in the tiny green two-piece as she posed on a clifftop next to her four-wheel drive.

Gabrielle Epstein gave her 2.9 million Instagram followers an eyeful on Tuesday as she stripped down to a barely there bikini while on a road trip in Malibu, California

The OnlyFans star looked toned and tanned in the gallery of snaps, and accessorised with a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses.

'Back 2 Summer,' she captioned the post.

In November last year, Gabrielle fired back at critics who said her Instagram photos were 'too explicit'.

Gabrielle, 28, showcased her flat stomach and ample assets in the tiny green two-piece as she posed on a clifftop next to her four-wheel drive

Speaking to Maxim magazine, she called out the 'toxic double standard' between how men and women are treated differently on Instagram.

'There are plenty of photos of men without their shirts on showing their nipples, but the fact that mine can be covered and a photo still gets removed creates a very toxic double standard,' she said.

'We are all human, we are all born with bodies and we should not be taught to be ashamed of how they look in a natural state.'

The OnlyFans star looked toned and tanned in the gallery of snaps, and accessorised with a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses

She said she'd turned to OnlyFans to get around Instagram's censorship.

'I also feel like I can be more of myself on OnlyFans,' she explained.

'To me showing my body isn't about me being objectified; it's about me feeling confident, powerful and beautiful in my own skin.'

Prior to finding fame as an adult model, Gabrielle was a competitive swimmer and ambassador for fitness brands.
Sister Wives star Meri Brown voiced support for her only child's gender affirmation from Mariah to Leon hours after they announced Tuesday that they're 'finally ready to share my favorite self with the world.'

The 26-year-old Westminster College grad - whose pronouns are they/them - was 'pretty young' when they first realized they weren't a girl.

'Unfortunately I grew up in a context that was incredibly gendered and restrictive,' Leon - who grew up Mormon - explained via Instagram.

Sister Wives star Meri Brown (R, pictured March 28) voiced support for her only child's (L) gender affirmation from Mariah to Leon hours after they announced Tuesday that they're 'finally ready to share my favorite self with the world'

'So I continued to be socialized as a girl and later a woman. And here's the thing, I'm finally ready to share my favorite self with the world. And that self is incredibly genderqueer, trans, and unapologetic. Being queer and trans are definitely some of my favorite parts of myself.

'And yet, there are so many things that I am learning to love about myself through this process. Here's to me getting to know myself, share myself, and continually evolve to be the person I am, to be my favorite self in all contexts.'

Brown just celebrated Pride month with their fiancee of three years- marketing coordinator Audrey Kriss - whose own gender affirmation came on December 3.

The 51-year-old reality star - who boasts 1.1M social media followers - took to Instastory to repost a snap of Leon with the gif caption: 'You are my sunshine!'

'I grew up in a context that was incredibly gendered and restrictive': The 26-year-old Westminster College grad - whose pronouns are they/them - was 'pretty young' when they first realized they weren't a regular Mormon girl

Twinning! Leon (R, pictured June 11) just celebrated Pride month with their fiancee of three years- marketing coordinator Audrey Kriss (L) - whose own gender affirmation came on December 3

The 51-year-old reality star - who boasts 1.1M social media followers - took to Instastory to repost a snap of Brown with the gif caption: 'You are my sunshine!'

Meri wasn't as accepting when the self-described 'radical humanist' publicly came out as a lesbian in 2017 during a two-part episode of their TLC reality show.

'This is a little unexpected. I did not see this coming... Kind of surprises me that she's known for so long and hasn't said anything to us,' Brown (born Barber) said at the time.

'When I had Mariah, you know, I had this cute little girl, I just, I just always expected that she would grow up, meet a guy, get married, have kids. I see Janelle and her relationship with Madison's husband Caleb, and I see Christine building this relationship with Tony, and I kind of always expected that.

'I always wanted to have a son. I always kind of thought, well, you know, since I never had a son I'll be able to kind of adopt Mariah's husband into, you know, kind of being a son, and I looked forward to seeing who that was gonna be, you know. And that's not gonna happen!'

'I did not see this coming': Meri wasn't as accepting when the self-described 'radical humanist' publicly came out as a lesbian in 2017 during a two-part episode of their TLC reality show

Brown (born Barber) said at the time: 'Kind of surprises me that she's known for so long and hasn't said anything to us. When I had Mariah, you know, I had this cute little girl, I just, I just always expected that she would grow up, meet a guy, get married, have kids'

The Lizzie's Heritage Inn owner 'remains spiritually married' to Kody Brown despite officially ending their 24-year marriage in 2014 so that he could legally marry his fourth wife Robyn Sullivan and adopt her children.

Cali-born, Arizona-based Meri's father William also happens to be a polygamist so it's all she's known all her life.

Aside from Leon, the 53-year-old grandfather-of-three is also father to 17 other children with Robyn, second wife Janelle Schriever, and ex-wife #3 Christine Allred.

On January 18, Kody and Christine's 23-year-old son Paedon confirmed his mother was 'currently filming' the 17th season of Sister Wives, despite TLC never officially confirming the renewal.

Fractured: The Lizzie's Heritage Inn owner 'remains spiritually married' to Kody Brown (L, pictured in 2020) despite officially ending their 24-year marriage in 2014 so that he could legally marry his fourth wife Robyn Sullivan and adopt her children

2010 husband and wives portrait: Aside from Leon, the 53-year-old grandfather-of-three is also father to 17 other children with Robyn (2-R), second wife Janelle Schriever (2-L), and ex-wife #3 Christine Allred (L)
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Travis Barker was taken to a Los Angeles hospital by ambulance on Tuesday after suffering from a mysterious medical issue.

The Blink-182 drummer, 46, arrived at the West Hills hospital on Tuesday morning with new wife Kourtney Kardashian by his side - however doctors at the local facility deemed the issue so serious that he was later transported to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in an ambulance.

Barker also cryptically tweeted, 'God save me,' at 10:45 AM PST on Tuesday morning, though nothing else is clear about his condition at this time.

Hours later, Barker's daughter Alabama, 16, took to her Instagram Stories to ask his fans to 'Please send your prayers', adding a sad emoji - indicating that her father's condition may be quite serious.

DailyMail.com has reached out to reps for both Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian for comment.

Hospital: Travis Barker was taken to a local Los Angeles hospital by ambulance on Tuesday after suffering from a mysterious medical issue

Serious: The Blink-182 drummer, 46, arrived at the West Hills hospital on Tuesday with wife Kourtney Kardashian by his side. Doctors apparently deemed the issue so serious that he was later transported to Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Travis' new wife Kourtney (pictured with the drummer at the Met Gala in May) was pictured by the drummer's side as he arrived at the LA hospital

Save: Barker cryptically tweeted 'God save me,' at 10:45 AM PST on Tuesday morning, though nothing else is clear about his condition at this time

Prayers: Hours later, Barker's daughter Alabama, 16, took to her Instagram Stories to ask that her followers 'Please send your prayers' alongside a sad emoji - indicating this may be quite serious

Barker's son Landon Asher Barker, 18, was in New York City, performing with the drummer's close friend Machine Gun Kelly on Tuesday evening.

Landon shared videos of him performing Machine Gun Kelly's song Die in California, which Landon is featured in with Gunna and Young Thug.

While Landon shared videos from his performance on Tuesday evening, he has yet to address his father's illness at this time.

Kourtney, 43, was seen at Travis' side while he was taken on a gurney into an ambulance at West Hills, before being transported to Cedars Sinai, with the reality star wearing a black hoodie and black sweats.

Travis was seen lying on the gurney while wearing an all-black outfit, the hood of his sweatshirt raised over his head, with his distinctive tattoos visible on his right hand, which was raised in the air as he was wheeled into the hospital by EMTs.

The incident comes days after Kourtney made a full recovery from her second bout with COVID-19.

She had contracted the virus for a second time in mid-June but had made a full recovery as of last week.

Landon and MGK: Landon Asher Barker performs with Machine Gun Kelly at his sold-out Madison Square Garden show

Sweats: Kourtney was seen at Travis' side while he was taken on a gurney into an ambulance at West Hills, with Kourtney wearing a black hoodie and black sweats

Recovery: The incident comes days after Kourtney, seen by her husband's side wearing a black hoodie and sweatpants, made a full recovery from her second bout with COVID-19

Kourtney (seen with Travis in February) contracted the virus for a second time in mid-June but had made a full recovery as of last week

God Save Me is the title of a song Barker produced for his good friend Machine Gun Kelly, which was released in March.

It's possible that the tweet was in reference to the Machine Gun Kelly song, or his new documentary Life in Pink, that is streaming on Hulu.

MGK hasn't tweeted anything like God Save Me, and he's currently prepping for a sold-out show Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

It isn't clear when Kourtney contracted COVID-19 the first time, though her sisters Kim and Khloe both did test positive during the pandemic.

It's also unclear if Barker's mysterious illness is at all connected to Kourtney contracting COVID-19 again.

COVID: It isn't clear when Kourtney contracted COVID-19 the first time, though her sisters Kim and Khloe both did test positive during the pandemic

Unclear: It's also unclear if Barker's mysterious illness is at all connected to Kourtney contracting COVID-19 again

She did reveal in August 2021 that she had to quarantine with Barker, so it's possible that she may have gotten COVID then.

The Instagram post featured several photos, including one of Kourtney leaving little to the imagination with a black robe falling over her shoulder.

'Ten days of quarantine...' she said in the post, with other photos featuring Kourtney's kids Penelope and Reign peering into Travis' house.

Quarantine: The Instagram post featured several photos, including one of Kourtney leaving little to the imagination with a black robe falling over her shoulder

The post also showed that they were passing the time by making S'mores and watching shows such as Mare of Easttown and Manifest, and classic movies like Audrey Hepburn's 1966 film How to Steal a Million.

The couple were married just weeks ago in Italy, following a fairytale proposal that was captured on the new Hulu series The Kardashians.

The proposal came exactly one year after they first 'hooked up,' after several years of friendship.

Kourtney follows: Kourtney Kardashian followed behind Travis Barker's ambulance in a black Range Rover

Cedars-bound: Travis Barker heads to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via ambulance with wife Kourtney Kardashian at his side

Hands up: Travis Barker raises his tattooed hand before heading into the ambulance
Ariana Grande reportedly suffered a stalker scare after a man targeted her again and broke into her Montecito home on her 29th birthday over the weekend.

The man, Aharon Brown, went after Ariana last year when he arrived to her Hollywood Hills home with a hunting knife. He allegedly screamed 'I'll f***ing kill you and her!' at her security.

Brown was arrested for making criminal threats at the time and Grande was granted a five-year restraining order against him after the incident.

Ariana Grande reportedly suffered a stalker scare after a man targeted her again and broke into her Montecito home on her 29th birthday over the weekend; pictured December 2018

Brown was supposed to turn himself in on Tuesday following a recent violation of the restraining order which allegedly saw him get close to the songstress, according to TMZ.

However, on Sunday, he allegedly went to her home in Montecito and broke into it, the site reported.

Ariana was not at the house when the alleged break-in occurred.

But police arrived and arrested Brown after the security alarm was set off.

On Sunday, Brown allegedly went to her home in Montecito and broke into it, the site reported

Brown has been arraigned on charges of stalking, damaging power lines, burglary, violation of a court order and obstruction.

He has pled not guilty and is now in custody, according to TMZ.

This is not the first time Grande has been targeted by an alleged stalker.

In May 2020 Grande and mother Joan were granted five-year restraining orders against a stalker named Fidel Henriquez

In May 2020 Grande and mother Joan were granted five-year restraining orders against a stalker named Fidel Henriquez.

Police arrested him after he snuck past her security to leave a love note at her door.

Henriquez booked for misdemeanor trespassing and felony battery, after allegedly spitting on the officers who arrested him.
American media giant Paramount Global could be looking to sell off Australian TV network Channel 10, if industry rumours are to be believed.

However, the station's parent company Paramount ANZ has strongly denied the claims, calling them 'inaccurate and misleading'.

The Australian was first to report on the possibility of a sale, citing sources as saying Paramount hoped to offload 10 in the next two years.

American media giant Paramount Global could be looking to sell off Australian TV network Channel 10, if industry rumours are to be believed. However, the station's parent company Paramount ANZ has strongly denied the claims, calling them 'inaccurate and misleading'

Paramount Global, previously known as ViacomCBS, had paid $250million for the network just five years ago.

A Paramount ANZ spokesperson told Mumbrella The Australian's report was plain wrong, saying: 'Paramount has no plans to sell Network 10.'

Channel 10 was bought out by ViacomCBS in 2017.

The Australian was first to report on the possibility of a sale, citing sources as saying Paramount hoped to offload 10 in the next two years. Paramount Global, previously known as ViacomCBS, had paid $250million for the network just five years ago

The conglomerate, whose diverse interests include motion pictures, book publishing and amusement parks, rebranded as Paramount Global in February this year.

Paramount Global is now said to be in talks to buy Southern Cross Media Group, the parent company of radio network Southern Cross Austereo.

The news comes as Channel 10's ratings remain weak.

A Paramount ANZ spokesperson insisted The Australian's report was plain wrong, saying: 'Paramount has no plans to sell Network 10.' (Pictured: Beverley McGarvey, the Executive Vice President of Paramount ANZ)

The news comes as Channel 10's ratings remain weak. Nightly current affairs show The Project underperforms despite having hosts like Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) on eye-watering salaries

The network consistently places third in the overnight metro ratings against its commercial free-to-air rivals.

Its once-reliable brands like The Bachelor are failing to bring in viewers

Channel 10 announced earlier this month it had axed The Bachelorette after last year's season flopped with Brooke Blurton in the leading role.
The Block: Tree Change is currently being filmed in the chilly Macedon Ranges, Victoria.

And earlier this month, Shaynna Blaze was seen getting down and dirty during filming alongside her fellow Block judges, Neale Whitaker and Darren Palmer.

Shaynna, 59, made her way around the very muddy 70-acre site after swapping her high heels for a pair of trusty gumboots.

Shaynna Blaze was forced to swap her high heels for trusty gumboots on the muddy Block set during a day of filming with her fellow judges

Contestants are yet to complete their landscaping, so the areas around each home are extremely muddy after weeks of rain and construction.

Despite the not-so-glamorous conditions, Shaynna still looked chic with a full face of makeup, her hair pulled back and secured with gold clips and a bright tangerine outfit.

She kept warm in a long black puffer jacket, presumably taking it off and swapping back into her heels in front of the cameras.

Shaynna, 59, was seen making her way around the 70-acre site

Despite the not-so-glamorous conditions, Shaynna still looked chic with a full face of makeup, her hair pulled back and secured with gold clips, and a bright tangerine outfit

She kept warm in a long black puffer jacket, presumably taking it off and swapping back into her heels in front of the cameras

Contestants are yet to complete their landscaping, so the areas around each home is muddy after weeks of rain and construction

Her fellow judges Neale and Darren also kept their shoes clean by opting for gumboots on set.

They both kept thing casual in a pair of dark jeans and jackets.

The judges all appear on the show alongside hosts Scotty Cam and Shelley Craft.

The judges all appear on the show alongside hosts Scotty Cam and Shelley Craft

Her fellow judges Neale and Darren also kept their shoes clean by opting for gumboots on set

The Block: Tree Change is currently being filmed in the Macedon Ranges in rural Victoria

The plot of land in the the Macedon Ranges was recently purchased for about $11million

The plot of land in the the Macedon Ranges was recently purchased for about $11million, and the land has been subdivided into seven lots with a creek running through the site.

Now the teams will each be building a home on 10 acres of land.

It's a huge change for the franchise, which is usually based in cities rather than a rural landscape.

Now the teams will each be building a home on 10 acres of land

It's a huge change for the franchise, which is usually based in cities rather than a rural landscape

The set in Gisborne South is a 40-minute drive from Melbourne and is known for its vineyards, olive groves and alpaca industries, while the property itself boasts incredible views of Mount Macedon

Over the years, the show has been filmed in locations such as Sydney's Bondi and Manly, as well as Port Melbourne, St Kilda and Brighton.

The set is in Gisborne South, a 40-minute drive from Melbourne, and is known for its vineyards, olive groves and alpaca industries, while the property itself boasts incredible views of Mount Macedon.

Influencer Elle Ferguson and her footy star fiance Joel Patfull quit The Block back in April due to a family emergency.

Over the years, the show has been filmed in locations such as Sydney's Bondi and Manly, as well as Port Melbourne, St Kilda and Brighton

Influencer Elle Ferguson and her footy star fiance Joel Patfull quit The Block back in April

The couple initially tried to stay on the show, but left after they 'couldn't get a definitive answer' from producers as to whether Joel, 37, could 'come and go' from the building site in country Victoria to visit his ailing mother Trish in Adelaide

Neale kept things casual on set in a pair of dark jeans, gumboots and a top and jacket

The couple initially tried to stay on the show, but left after they 'couldn't get a definitive answer' from producers as to whether Joel, 37, could 'come and go' from the building site in country Victoria to visit his ailing mother Trish in Adelaide.

Without assurances that he could regularly leave to visit his mum, who had broken her neck in a fall, the pair pulled the pin on the Channel Nine show.

In addition to her broken neck, Trish fractured her wrist and has also potentially broken her coccyx.

At the time of their exit, Elle wrote on Instagram: 'Wherever you are in the world, whatever you are doing, family always comes first.'

She also shared a black-and-white image of Joel sitting with their luggage as they prepared to catch a flight to Adelaide.

A Nine spokesperson confirmed the pair's departure to Daily Mail Australia.
Eva Mendes is a big fan of Ryan Gosling's Ken doll transformation for the highly-anticipated Barbie movie.

And the 48-year-old defended her 41-year-old partner's hotly debated look, which sees him rocking a head of platinum blond and an orange tan, during Tuesday's episode of The Talk.

'People do know he's not playing a real person, right? He's playing a fake person,' she stated after The Talk co-host Natalie Morales referenced the backlash.

Loves it! Eva Mendes is a big fan of Ryan Gosling's Ken doll transformation for the highly-anticipated Barbie movie; Eva and Ryan pictured in 2013

Many fans used social media to blast Gosling's transformation as 'horrendous,' as well as to question how stylists managed to make the normally stunning looking man look 'not hot.'

The first official promo image of The Notebook actor's Ken portrayal was released earlier this month.

Posing against a Barbie pink pillar, a white blond-haired and tanned Gosling showed off his shiny chiseled chest in a revealing double denim ensemble with the waistband of his Calvin Klein-inspired 'Ken' underwear peeking out.

Mendes recalled seeing the promotional image for this first time and how it immediately awakened her teenaged self.

On the defense: And the 48-year-old defended her 41-year-old partner's hotly debated look, which sees him rocking a head of platinum blond and an orange tan, during Tuesday's episode of The Talk

Meet Ken! The first official promo image of The Notebook actor's Ken portrayal was released earlier this month. Posing against a Barbie pink pillar, a white blond-haired and tanned Gosling showed off his shiny chiseled chest in a revealing double denim ensemble with the waistband of his Calvin Klein-inspired 'Ken' underwear peeking out

'Well first of all, I saw the photo and the 14-year-old in me was like, "Ahhh." But you know, it's a funny photo and he's trying to be funny. So it worked on all levels,' she explained.

The Hitch actress revealed that she was so taken by her longtime beau's transformation into the beloved Mattel doll that she asked if she could keep a piece of his costume.

'When I saw it, he sent it to me from work and I said, "Can I please have that underwear? Please. I never ask for anything."'

Luckily for Mendes, Gosling was more than happy to handover his Ken doll drawers.

'People do know he's not playing a real person, right? He's playing a fake person,' she stated after The Talk co-host Natalie Morales referenced the backlash

Nostalgic: Mendes recalled seeing the promotional image for this first time and how it immediately awakened her teenaged self

Interesting request: The Hitch actress revealed that she was so taken by her longtime beau's transformation into the beloved Mattel doll that she asked if she could keep a piece of his costume. 'When I saw it, he sent it to me from work and I said, "Can I please have that underwear? Please. I never ask for anything"'

'So, anyways, I do have it. I'm wearing it right now,' Eva joked, before reiterating that 'there was something about the image that sparked my little teenage [self].'

Gosling stars opposite Margot Robbie's Barbie in the Greta Gerwig- directed comedy, which commenced filming in June and is slated for a 2023 release.

Other stars set to appear in the film include: America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon and Will Ferrell among others.

Mendes has publicly voiced her support for Gosling's Ken before in a post shared to her Instagram.

Support: Mendes has publicly voiced her support for Gosling's Ken before in a post shared to her Instagram. She included the promo snap of Gosling, which she called 'So F. funny' and 'So F. good' in the caption

She included the promo snap of Gosling, which she called 'So F. funny' and 'So F. good' in the caption.

'So F. excited for you to see this... #Thatsmyken'

Mendes and Gosling rarely post about each other on social media as they mostly keep their romance private and under wraps.

The couple began dating in September 2011 after working together on the film The Place Beyond The Pines but were friends for a 'long time' before their romance.

At the time, a source told Us Weekly that there has 'always been this strong chemistry between them.. this was just a matter of time'.

C'mon Barbie! Gosling stars opposite Margot Robbie's Barbie in the Greta Gerwig- directed comedy, which commenced filming in June and is slated for a 2023 release. Other stars set to appear in the film include: America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon and Will Ferrell among others; Margot and Ryan pictured Tuesday

In early September 2011, the duo were spotted packing on the PDA during a date night to Disneyland in Anaheim.

By the following September, the couple made their red carpet debut at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of The Place Beyond The Pines.

In September 2014, Eva and Ryan welcomed their first child together, Esmeralda Amada, now seven.

They welcomed their second child, daughter Amada Lee, now six, in April 2016.
She has been dating her hunky British podcaster boyfriend Connor Thompson since last year.

And now Jessika Power has addressed rumours that the pair are set to get engaged.

During an Instagram Q&A on Tuesday, the reality star, 30, said that the pair are madly in love but didn't want to rush into marriage.

Jessika Power has addressed engagement rumours with hunky British beau Connor Thompson (both pictured)

'When you meet someone you don't rush into things like that,' Jess said.

'We're happy living our lives getting to know each other more, travelling, making memories, and just living life together.'

Jess explained by getting engaged it means you're committed to spending the rest of your life with that person.

She said while she and Connor are crazy for each other, those types of decisions take time for a couple.

During an Instagram Q&A on Tuesday, the reality star, 30, said that the pair are madly in love but didn't want to rush into marriage

'When you're in a loving relationship like mine. You'd want to but it takes time,' she finished in the clip.

Jessika is currently living in Manchester with Connor and their new miniature Dachshund puppy.

The blonde bombshell hinted in April the pair may eventually settle down in Brisbane together.

'Connor is coming over in September and we're so happy. It's like "who is this girl from MAFS who was stealing husbands and is all domesticated now?"' she told the Herald Sun.

'When you're in a loving relationship like mine. You'd want to but it takes time,' she finished in the clip of why the pair aren't engaged yet

'He makes me feel so loved. I could go on about him forever.'

After arriving in the UK last year, Jessika has appeared on series 10 of Celebs Go Dating.

Since arriving in the UK, Jessika has appeared on series 10 of Celebs Go Dating

However, she sparked speculation that she faked being single in order to star in the show, while seeing her current boyfriend, Connor.

The Australian reality star - who reportedly signed a 40,000 ($70,227 AUD) deal to be on the E4 dating series - has reportedly engaged bosses for 'wasting everyone's time.'

A source told The Sun: 'Everyone thinks Jessika has been with Connor the whole time. She has now moved him into her apartment and they are no longer hiding their romance.

A source told The Sun: 'Everyone thinks Jessika has been with Connor the whole time. She has now moved him into her apartment and they are no longer hiding their romance

'The whole 'split' was very convenient so she could cash her cheque but not surprisingly she didn't meet anyone on the show. It's wasted everyone's time really and bosses aren't happy.'

Stars who sign up for the show have contracts which stipulate they must be single throughout the process.

The buxom blonde rose to fame on season six of Married At First Sight Australia in 2019.
Four-time Emmy winner Maya Rudolph officiated her cousin Sabrina Rudolph's wedding to fiance Clark Bacon at the Florida country club Indian Creek on April 2.

The Florida-born, Cali-raised actress - turning the big 5-0 next month - began the couple's lavish outdoor nuptials by declaring: 'Welcome everyone. Or as the [Will Smith] song says, "Bienvenido a Miami!"'

The Tulane University grad originally met her groom at a Halloween party in 2017 before he popped the question on October 24, 2020.

All in the family: Four-time Emmy winner Maya Rudolph officiated her cousin Sabrina Rudolph's wedding to fiance Clark Bacon at the Florida country club Indian Creek on April 2

Sabrina told Brides.com of her 'built-in bestie' on Monday: 'Having Maya - who knows us both so well - marry us truly made it so personalized and amazing.'

When Rudolph was picking out her white plunging Berta gown, she made sure to try on the poofiest dress in the boutique so she could 'send a picture to Maya in honor of her role in Bridesmaids. We were exhausted and needed a good laugh!'

Also among the 235 guests hitting the dance floor during the raucous reception was The Thing About Pam actor Josh Duhamel, who was famously married to eight-time Grammy winner Fergie from 2009-2019.

The Florida-born, Cali-raised actress - turning the big 5-0 next month - began the couple's lavish outdoor nuptials by declaring: 'Welcome everyone. Or as the [Will Smith] song says, "Bienvenido a Miami!"'

The Tulane University grad told Brides.com of her 'built-in bestie' on Monday: 'Having Maya - who knows us both so well - marry us truly made it so personalized and amazing'

'We were exhausted and needed a good laugh!' When Rudolph was picking out her white plunging Berta gown, she made sure to try on the poofiest dress in the boutique so she could 'send a picture to Maya in honor of her role in Bridesmaids'

On the dance floor: Also among the 235 guests hitting up the raucous reception was The Thing About Pam actor Josh Duhamel (pictured March 18)

The Human Resources producer-star was last seen on Friday's episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers during which she called 11-time Oscar nominee Paul Thomas Anderson 'my husband.'

Turns out Maya has been calling the 52-year-old filmmaker her 'husband' since 2005 when they welcomed the first of their four children - daughter Pearl, 16; daughter Lucille, 12; son Jackson, nearly 11; and daughter Minnie, 8.

'He likes "husband" because people know what that means,' Rudolph explained to the New York Times in 2018.

Babydaddy: The Human Resources producer-star was last seen on Friday's episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers during which she called 11-time Oscar nominee Paul Thomas Anderson 'my husband'

'We're not going anywhere': Turns out Maya has been calling the 52-year-old filmmaker (R, pictured in 2018) her 'husband' since 2005 when they welcomed the first of their four children

'It means he's the father of my child, and I live with him, and we are a couple, and we're not going anywhere.'

On Monday, the Princess frontwoman, Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens were celebrating their production company Animal Pictures inking a first-look deal with Apple TV+.

The streaming giant is currently airing Matt Hubbard and Alan Yang's critically-acclaimed 10-episode comedy Loot, which was executive produced and stars Maya as $87B heiress Molly Novak.

'A match made in TV & film heaven!' On Monday, Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens were celebrating their production company Animal Pictures inking a first-look deal with Apple TV+.
Surgery-addicted social media star Mary Magdalene has vowed to turn her life around after a hard-partying bender left her with a staggering Airbnb bill.

The owner of the rental, known as Adrian, charged Mary CA$13,010 (AU$14,636) on Tuesday for 'damage or unexpected cleaning' after she checked out.

The Canadian performer, 30, had spent weeks holed up in the West Hollywood apartment partying with her friends.

Surgery-addicted social media star Mary Magdalene (pictured) has vowed to turn her life around after a hard-partying bender left her with a staggering Airbnb bill

Mary is disputing the hefty reimbursement bill, claiming it's exorbitant.

'$13k for a stain on the couch and table? Girl bye. I don't mind assisting paying some money but that is so fake and wrong,' she raged on Instagram.

Two days earlier, the OnlyFans model said she was ready to return to Canada and start her journey of sobriety following her month-long Hollywood carousal.

'It's been wild as hell. Can't wait to go home in a couple days. No more partying. Back to being boring Mary sober queen,' she wrote.

The owner of the rental, known as Adrian, charged Mary CA$13,010 (AU$14,636) on Tuesday for 'damage or unexpected cleaning' after she checked out

She also posted a meme promoting celibacy, calling it 'a beautiful thing'.

Following a string of benders and even a brush with death, LA police were finally called to Mary's Airbnb last week.

She shared photos on Instagram of two police officers inside the residence, who were responding to a request for a welfare check.

Mary, 30, had spent weeks holed up in the West Hollywood apartment partying with her friends. (Pictured with a friend)

Two days earlier, the OnlyFans model said she was ready to return to Canada and start her journey of sobriety after her month-long Hollywood bender. (Pictured snorting legal poppers)

In one photo, an officer could be seen inspecting something by Mary's bedside table with a flashlight.

'Girl, who called the police on me?' she captioned one image, before adding: 'OMG ew.'

Hours later, Mary appeared to be in good spirits as she took to Instagram to share a video thanking her 140,000 followers.

'My supporters, you guys are very ride or die. The people that f**k with me really f**k with me and I love it, really appreciate it,' she said.

Police were previously called to an Airbnb in West Hollywood where the surgery-addicted social media star had been partying for weeks on end

Mary has spent the last few weeks partying at various nightclubs in West Hollywood, or inside her Airbnb with pals.

Last week, she expressed her love for law and order by posing for a photo with a group of local cops.

Dressed in an American flag bikini top and skintight jeans, she captioned it: 'I love police. Cop lover.'

The content creator shared photos of two police officers inside the residence

An officer could be seen inspecting something by Mary's bedside table with a flashlight

It comes after Mary was rushed to hospital amid fears she could die from sepsis after illegal silicone injections she had in her buttocks started to 'rot'.

Earlier this month, she begged her Instagram followers to help get her to a California hospital after her body started to reject her silicone injections, which she had done by an unlicensed practitioner in May.

In a series of frantic posts, she said her injections were 'rotting' and shared graphic photos of the open wounds on her backside.

Fresh tattoos on her breasts also became infected and couldn't heal, further adding to her health woes.

Mary has spent the last few weeks partying at various nightclubs in West Hollywood, or inside her Airbnb with pals

The bombshell posed in the hallway of her Airbnb before heading to a local club

'I'm so scared. My body seems to be fighting off a big infection because all three of my tattoos aren't healing either. They are all infected with open wounds,' she cried.

'I'm in a different country [the U.S.] and I don't know what to do. I feel helpless.'

She wrote in a subsequent post: 'Please let me know [a] good wound care clinic in Los Angeles. That sounds like the most logical idea right now, instead of any random walk-in clinic or hospital.'

Earlier in the week, she expressed her love for law and order by posing for this photo with a group of local cops

A pale-looking Mary later broke down in tears on Instagram Live as she told fans her wounds were bleeding and she didn't know what to do.

Fans begged her to go to the emergency room to 'avoid sepsis' and not worry about the cost of American medical care.

She eventually made her way to hospital and spent the night being treated, before being prescribed antibiotics.

It comes after Mary was rushed to hospital amid fears she could die from sepsis after illegal silicone injections she had in her buttocks started to rot

Her wounds appear to be healing now, and the viral star has resumed partying.

The heavily injected and tattooed model had her first cosmetic procedure at age 21.

Since then, she has had multiple boob and nose jobs, butt lifts and injections, as well as a brow lift, fat transfers, veneers, liposuction and more.

In April, the star claimed she was no longer able to fully close her mouth after a lip lift and another round of lip filler.

In a series of frantic posts, she said her injections were 'rotting' and shared graphic photos of the open wounds on her backside

Mary feared for her life after her tattoos became infected following the butt injections

In 2018, Mary almost died on the operating table during an operation to 'inflate' her vagina in Colombia.

'I had to get two blood transfusions,' she told The Sun of the harrowing ordeal.

'The doctor said I was losing so much blood, and turning very pale. He thought I was going to die.'

Before her transformation: Ms Magdalene had her first cosmetic work done when she was 21

The star said she wanted the look so she could have 'the world's fattest vagina'.

'So basically there's this contraption that you use and it sucks your p***y and then it makes it very inflated, so I told the doctor that I just want it permanently to look like that,' she told the No Jumper podcast.

'I would say it's a female ball sack. I'm gonna keep just growing it and getting it bigger. I'm gonna get injections.'
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol greets reporters on the presidential plane on his way to Madrid, June 27, to attend a NATO summit on his first overseas trip as president. Yonhap





President Yoon Suk-yeol's scheduled meeting with the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Tuesday was postponed due to the NATO chief's previous meeting running longer than expected, according to the presidential office.







Yoon was scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid, one day ahead of the NATO summit involving the organization's 30 member states and nine global partner nations.







The meeting was pushed back, however, as Stoltenberg's meeting with the leaders of Finland, Sweden and Turkey ran longer than planned amid Turkey's opposition to the two Nordic countries' bid to join NATO, a presidential official said.







"It's unclear whether (Yoon's meeting) will be rescheduled for tomorrow or Thursday, but for now, it's been postponed," the official said.







Yoon's planned bilateral summit with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was canceled also due to the four-way meeting. (Yonhap)


Tziporah Malkah, formerly Kate Fischer, has leaked her own OnlyFans photos on Instagram.

The top model-turned-traffic controller, 48, shared several raunchy photos of her showing off her ample cleavage as part of a drive to get more subscribers.

In one suggestive picture, Tziporah, who was once engaged to billionaire James Packer, unbuttoned her high-vis suit while holding a hammer.

Billionaire James Packer's ex Tziporah Malkah, 48, (pictured) has leaked her OnlyFans photos on Instagram after joining the racy site earlier this month

'Bet you didn't know that I'm a mad fiend @DIY [Do It Yourself]?' Tziporah captioned the image.

'Well turns out I'm pretty crap but I give it a red hot go. To see me at my best with my Tradie Lady skills, please find the video on OnlyFans.'

Another showed the former catwalk star looking suggestive as she held a wooden spoon in her mouth.

The top model-turned-traffic controller, 48, shared several raunchy photos of her showing off her ample cleavage as part of a drive to get more subscribers

'Time for brekkie! And you'd better make sure that you dive into my eggs, or I'll chase you with my wooden spoon! Check it out on OnlyFans.'

Meanwhile, yet another saucy snap showed the brunette after she received naughty fan mail.

Tziporah announced her new adult career in a rather bizarre Instagram post earlier this month.

Tziporah announced her new adult career in a rather bizarre Instagram post earlier this month. Her posts began as makeup tutorials

In the same post, she also paid tribute to her father on his 79th birthday.

'Happy birthday to my wonderful father! Seventy-nine years young today,' she wrote.

'Because of your atheism, I won't bang on about God and all the ways I wish that he'd bless you, not in public anyway,' she added.

For $22 (US$16.30), fans can access exclusive content too risque for Instagram

'I'm just saying it secretly now to myself in my head Love you so much. Your daughter Tziporah.'

'Please stay tuned for the launch of my OnlyFans page,' she then teased, adding a link to her profile on the subscription website.

For $22 (US$16.30), fans can access exclusive content too risque for Instagram.

'I found it to be auspicious and a way for me to honour him': The description of the first video on Tziporah's OnlyFans account, which is behind a paywall, makes reference to her father

The description of the first video on Tziporah's OnlyFans account, which is behind a paywall, makes reference to her father.

'I found it to be auspicious and a way for me to honour him by launching my account publicly on his birthday,' it reads.

'There's a LOT more to come, please stayed tuned!'

Back in June 2021, she stripped naked for a photo shoot for New Idea.

In the accompanying interview, Tziporah shared intimate details about what she is like in the bedroom.

'I am receptive and optimistic, but I am not this big raunch girl at home. I think that's where I've possibly come into trouble with dating and relationships,' she said.

'I date men who are fans and they keep bludgeoning me with, "What's wrong, what's wrong?" because they want the bells and whistles that I'm perhaps more known for.'

She previously lost 50kg thanks to healthy eating, surgery and hypnotherapy.

Tziporah, formerly known as Kate Fischer, was engaged to Packer in the late '90s and hasn't spoken to him for more than two decades.
Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is teaming up with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal for a new short film entitled Strange Way of Life.

The 30-minute film is said to be the 72-year-old director's 'answer' to the 2005 classic Brokeback Mountain, a project he was once offered to direct.

The film will be his second foray into English-language filmmaking, following his 2020 30-minute film The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton.

Project: Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is teaming up with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal for a new short film entitled Strange Way of Life.

Brokeback: The 30-minute film is said to be the 72-year-old director's 'answer' to the 2005 classic Brokeback Mountain, a project he was once offered to direct

The filmmaker has famously worked on his own terms, enjoying creative freedom afforded few, especially those within the Hollywood studio system.

'Its kind of a contradiction. Hollywood wants to bring in outside talent, but they dont always let them do what they want to do,' he said in an interview with IndieWire, where he offered the first details of this project.

Strange Way of Life stars Hawke and Pascal as a pair of 'middle-aged gunslingers' much like the cowboys played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.

Freedom: The filmmaker has famously worked on his own terms, enjoying creative freedom afforded few, especially those within the Hollywood studio system

Similar cowboys: Strange Way of Life stars Hawke and Pascal as a pair of 'middle-aged gunslingers' much like the cowboys played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

Almodovar admitted that director Ang Lee made, 'a wonderful movie,' but he had a much different vision, saying the short story by Anne Proulx showed two guys who were 'animalistic' with each other.

'It was a physical relationship. The punch of the movie comes when they have to separate, and Heath Ledger discovers that he cant think about leaving. Thats a strong discovery. But until that moment, it is animalistic, and for me it was impossible to have that in the movie because it was a Hollywood movie. You could not have these two guys f***ing all the time,' Almodovar said.

When asked about Strange Way of Life, the filmmaker said, 'It could be like my answer to Brokeback Mountain.'

Animal: Almodovar admitted that director Ang Lee made, 'a wonderful movie,' but he had a much different vision, saying the short story by Anne Proulx showed two guys who were 'animalistic' with each other

Hawke plays a sheriff named Jake and Pascal plays a gunslinger named Silva, living their lives on opposite sides of the desert who haven't seen each other in 25 years.

'So one of them travels through the desert to find the other. There will be a showdown between them, but really the story is very intimate,' he said.

Production is scheduled to begin in August, on location in Spain's Almeria desert region, where Sergio Leone shot The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Sheriff: Hawke plays a sheriff named Jake and Pascal plays a gunslinger named Silva, living their lives on opposite sides of the desert who haven't seen each other in 25 years

Intimate: 'So one of them travels through the desert to find the other. There will be a showdown between them, but really the story is very intimate,' he said

Instead of getting funding from the Hollywood studio system, Almodovar is teaming up with fashion house Saint Laurent.

Saint Laurent head designer Anthony Vaccarello will serve as both an associate producer and costume designer.

The title of the film is taken from the Portuguese fado song of the same name by Amalia Rodrgues, which Almodovar said will open the movie.

Funding: Instead of getting funding from the Hollywood studio system, Almodovar is teaming up with fashion house Saint Laurent
Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has announced his next project will be a six-hour 'reimagining' of his big-budget epic Australia.

The period romance, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, was originally released in 2008 and cost a reported US$130million to make.

It will be re-cut as a six-episode limited series called Faraway Downs, reports Variety.

Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has announced his next project will be a six-hour 'reimagining' of his big-budget epic Australia. The period romance, starring Nicole Kidman (right) and Hugh Jackman (left), was originally released in 2008 and cost a reported US$130million to make

The project should be completed by the end of 2022 and will stream on Hulu and as a Star Original on Disney+.

Australia, billed as an 'Aussie Gone with the Wind', received poor reviews upon its cinematic release and failed to make a profit despite grossing more than US$211.3million worldwide.

Storyline details for Faraway Downs are unavailable, but it's understood the series will use footage shot for the original film, which ran almost three hours.

It will also feature a new ending and updated soundtrack.

'Drawn from the same material, Faraway Downs is a new variation on Australia for audiences to discover,' Luhrmann, 59, explained.

It will be re-cut as a six-episode limited series called Faraway Downs, reports Variety. (Pictured: Baz Luhrmann in Cap d'Antibes, France, on May 26, 2022)

The director also indicated the new version of Australia will highlight Indigenous themes and offer 'alternative plot twists'.

'I originally set out to take the notion of the sweeping Gone with the Wind-style epic and turn it on its head,' he said.

Luhrmann explained the original film was 'a way of using romance and epic drama to shine a light on the roles of First Nations people and the painful scar in Australian history of the Stolen Generations.'

Storyline details for Faraway Downs are unavailable, but it's understood the series will use footage shot for the original film, which ran almost three hours. (Pictured: Kidman and Brandon Walters in a scene from Australia)

Set in the early years of World War II, Australia centred on an unlikely romance between an Aussie cattleman (Jackman) and English aristocrat Lady Sarah (Kidman).

Faraway Downs is the outback cattle station Lady Sarah inherits when her husband dies. It later comes under threat from sinister competitors.

There is also a major storyline devoted to Lady Sarah's attachment to a young Aboriginal boy called Nullah (Brandon Walters).

The story climaxes with the bombing of Darwin by Japanese Imperial Forces, which occurred on February 19, 1942.

Australia, billed as an 'Aussie Gone with the Wind', received poor reviews upon its cinematic release and failed to turn a profit despite grossing more than US$211.3million worldwide
Scott Disick enjoyed a meal at Miami's celebrity haunt Papi Steak on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old New York native sported a red had with yellow Olde English font on the front.

It comes as his ex-girlfriend and co-parent Kourtney Kardashian rushed to the hospital with new husband Travis Barker.

Outing: Scott Disick enjoyed a meal at Miami's celebrity haunt Papi Steak on Tuesday

Disick was seen getting into a white luxury vehicle outside the trendy eatery in South Florida.

He sported a full beard and his long brown hair trailed out from underneath his brimmed hat.

The father-of-three, who shares Mason, Penelope, and Reign with Kardashian, wore a black t-shirt with a black hoodie.

He wore a black lanyard around his neck and sported dark sunglasses as well.

Bright look: The 39-year-old New York native sported a red had with yellow Olde English font on the front

Disick was accompanied by good friend David Einhorn, who owns the popular restaurant. David wore an all black outfit as he headed toward the car with Scott.

The two shared video outtakes from their time at the steakhouse on Instagram earlier in the day.

Einhorn and Disick joked about what to name a new dish - 'Lord's meat? Disick dog? I don't know. You decide,' the restauranteur said to the camera as the real estate mogul recorded.

Under the radar: He wore a black lanyard around his neck and sported dark sunglasses as well

Meanwhile, Kourtney was by her husband's side as he was taken by ambulance to a hospital in LA.

The 46-year-old Blink-182 drummer arrived at West Hills hospital on Tuesday morning, with the issue apparently so serious he was later transported to Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

Barker cryptically tweeted, 'God save me,' at 10:45 AM PST, though nothing else is clear about his condition at this time.

Meanwhile in LA: Scott's outing comes as his ex-girlfriend and co-parent Kourtney Kardashian rushed to the hospital with new husband Travis Barker; seen in Italy in May

Hours later, Barker's 16-year-old daughter Alabama took to her Instagram Story writing, 'Please send your prayers' with a tearful emoji.

Kourtney was seen at Travis' side wearing a black hoodie and black sweatpants as he was carried into an ambulance on a gurney.

The incident comes days after Kourtney made a full recovery from her second bout with COVID-19.

She contracted the virus for a second time in mid-June but made a full recovery as of last week.

Mysterious: Barker cryptically tweeted, 'God save me,' at 10:45 AM PST, though nothing else is clear about his condition at this time

Kourtney and Travis are just about one month into their marriage, which commenced with an Italian wedding in May.

The extravagant event took place over several days and the couple and their family were decked out in Dolce and Gabbana threads.

Scott did not attend the nuptials.
Jessica Simpson thanked Kim Kardashian for taking her daughter Maxwell to 'Camp North' as she posted snaps showing all the fun her girl had celebrating her best friend's ninth birthday in Wyoming.

The post included video of Maxwell, 10, shooting a bow and arrow and bravely going on a zipline as Kim cheered her on.

'Alright, let's go Maxwell!' Kim, 41, said as the youngster prepared to leap off the deck.

'I'm comin' next time!' Jessica Simpson thanked Kim Kardashian for taking her daughter Maxwell to 'Camp North' as she posted snaps showing all the fun her little girl had celebrating her best friend's ninth birthday in Wyoming

Kim appeared to be the one behind the camera and captured Maxwell bravely gliding down the zipline and through the trees.

Maxwell also showed her archery skills as she shot a bow and arrow, impressing everyone.

'That's what it's supposed to look like, there you go!' Someone said.

The girls all posed together with their bows and arrows in the woods in one of the shots.

Whoa! Maxwell also showed her archery skills as she shot a bow and arrow, impressing everyone

'Let's go Maxwell!' Kim cheered Maxwell on as she prepared to go ziplining

The post also included a photo of Maxwell posing with her bestie North as they stood on the beach.

'CAMP NORTH was magic! Thank you @kimkardashian for giving Maxwell the time of her life and takin care of my little lady on her first camp sleep away trip! Im comin next time!' Jessica captioned the post.

Kim commented on the post with a tent, log, fire, and red heart emoji. Jessica's post contained several images already shared by Kim as she announced Camp North.

Yay! The 10-year-old soared through the skies

Happy campers! The girls all posed together with their bows and arrows in the woods in one of the shots

Aww! Simpson with her daughter in December 2020

Kim spared no expense for her daughter North's ninth birthday party this month, that saw the young one and her pals whisked off by her mother's private jet to Wyoming for a glamping soiree.

On Tuesday, the 41-year-old Kardashians star shared pictures from the grand event that had fans in awe over the extravagance on display, with one writing: 'Perks of being a billionaire's daughter. I wish this on everyone.'

'These kids are livin' the life,' one person added, while another noted the personalized private jet writing: 'Kim air is the biggest flex I literally can't.'

'GLAMPING at its finest,' another pointed out in the comments section, with another joking: 'If my kids can't flex like this I ain't having none.'

'Perks of being a billionaire's daughter': Kim revealed North and her pals including Jessica Simpson's daughter took PRIVATE JET to Wyoming for 'glamping' 9th birthday party

Among North's party crew was Jessica Simpson's daughter Maxwell as well as Kim's niece Penelope Disick, daughter of Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick.

Tracy Romulus - Kim's chief marketing officer at KKW Brand - also had her 10-year-old daughter Ryan along for the ride at the bash.

Also in the gang was Selena Gomez's nine-year-old half sister Gracie Elliot Teefey.

Kanye West, who shares North with Kim, was not pictured in the birthday post, though he is known to have a ranch in Wyoming, where at one point they were rumored to be moving as a family before the couple divorced.

Kim first showed off her new 'Air Kim' private plane earlier this year, and it is rumored to have cost upwards of $150million.

Fun for the kids: Once inside the vessel, the luxurious interior had been decorated with spooky Halloween-style cobwebs with fake pieces of wood on every seat to fit with the camping theme

Killer kampers! The indoor tents also had blood-splattered teepees with black inflatable air mattresses, and stuffed toy deer heads hanging at the top

Group fun: North's birthday gang included Penelope Disick, Jessica Simpson's daughter Maxwell, Selena Gomez's nine-year-old half sister Gracie Elliot Teefey, and Tracy Romulus' daughter Ryan

Tiring them out: The fun-packed birthday party also including outdoor activities such as zip-lining and water tubing

Epic: North and her pals also enjoyed a tubing ride along the water in Wyoming

From the first picture taken inside an aircraft hangar, fans could see the amount of work that had gone into the preparations, as Kim's private jet - with its own branded 'Kim Air' doormat - was decorated with silver helium balloons spelling out 'Camp North.'

Once inside the vessel, the luxurious interior had been decorated with spooky Halloween-style cobwebs with fake pieces of wood on every seat to fit with a horror-tinged camping theme.

The indoor tents also had blood-splattered teepees with black inflatable air mattresses, giving off glamping vibes.

Idyllic: Kim also shared more snaps to her Instagram Stories that showed teepees outside as well as incredible views

Nature walks: Kim posted another snap of a nature trail while enjoying her daughter's birthday

Birthday girl: North showed off her wake-surfing skills accompanied by an adult

Each tent had a blood-stained toy-stuffed deer head hanging at the top, which some fans found distressing, with one writing in the comments: 'Are those blood stained tents?' while another joked: 'did they really have to do the stuffed deer like that???'

The fun-packed birthday party also included outdoor activities such as zip-lining and water tubing.

As well as the kids, Kim impressed her friends back home with the expedition, as her PR pal Simon Huck wrote, 'Sign me up,' while Rob Kardashian's ex Adrienne Bailon wrote 'SO DOPE' three times.

Kim officially became a billionaire in April last year when Forbes estimated her mega-wealth by assessing her cosmetics company, KKW Beauty, and her shapewear brand, Skims, which have both proven to be extremely lucrative.
Former child star Amanda Bynes stopped by Starbucks in Los Angeles on Tuesday to purchase two to-go drinks.

The 36-year-old retired actress was dressed down in a grey T-shirt, blue skinny jeans, and white high-top sneakers for her errands.

Amanda accessorized her daytime attire with a white cross-body bag, b&w-patterned sunglasses, septum piercing, and a long white manicure.

Out and about: Former child star Amanda Bynes stopped by Starbucks in Los Angeles on Tuesday to purchase two to-go drinks

Newly-blonde Bynes was said to have been in the process of lasering off the heart tattoo below her right eye, but it looked dark as ever on Tuesday.

The SoCal native was noticeably not wearing her engagement ring as she headed into her Range Rover.

Amanda and her on/off fiance Paul Michael got engaged on Valentine's Day 2020 mere months after meeting at a former sober living home.

On April 28, Bynes called 911 on her 31-year-old partner during a dispute over him relapsing and she accused him of vandalizing his mother's home, looking at MILF porn, and being off his meds.

Casually clad: The 36-year-old retired actress was dressed down in a grey T-shirt, blue skinny jeans, and white high-top sneakers for her errands

Doing her thing: Amanda accessorized her daytime attire with a white cross-body bag, b&w-patterned sunglasses, septum piercing, and a long white manicure

Newly blonde: Bynes was said to have been in the process of lasering off the heart tattoo below her right eye, but it looked dark as ever on Tuesday

Everything okay? The SoCal native was noticeably not wearing her engagement ring as she headed into her Range Rover

The eyebrow-raising incident happened four days after the couple dropped her rap song Fairfax featuring Paul, which was produced by Yung Yogi.

Last month, Amanda said it would be 'a great idea' to reboot The WB sitcom What I Like About You, in which she portrayed Holly Tyler for four seasons spanning 2002-2006.

'I don't miss acting but I loved this show,' Bynes told TMZ on May 22.

Still going strong? Amanda and her on/off fiance Paul Michael got engaged on Valentine's Day 2020 mere months after meeting at a former sober living home

Drama: On April 28, Bynes called 911 on her 31-year-old partner (L, pictured in 2021) during a dispute over him relapsing and she accused him of vandalizing his mother's home, looking at MILF porn, and being off his meds

19K views on YouTube! The eyebrow-raising incident happened four days after the couple dropped her rap song Fairfax featuring Paul, which was produced by Yung Yogi

'So I'd be down to return to acting for this revival. It would be a great experience to continue the show.'

Co-creators Wil Calhoun and Dan Schneider's dismally-reviewed series about two sisters also starred Jennie Garth, Simon Rex, Wesley Jonathan, Leslie Grossman, Michael McMillian, Nick Zano, and Allison Munn.

The SAG Award nominee has been developing a 'fragrance line' as she pursues another degree at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising after earning her associate's degree there in 2019.

'I'd be down to return to acting for this': Last month, Amanda said it would be 'a great idea' to reboot The WB sitcom What I Like About You, in which she portrayed Holly Tyler for four seasons spanning 2002-2006

Fashionista: The SAG Award nominee has been developing a 'fragrance line' as she pursues another degree at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising after earning her associate's degree there in 2019 (pictured)

Amanda is free as a bird after Ventura County Superior Court Judge Roger L. Lund agreed on March 22 to finally end her nine-year legal conservatorship controlled by her mother Lynn.

Bynes' conservatorship began in 2013 when she was involuntarily committed to a Pasadena psychiatric treatment facility following a very public meltdown involving a string of bizarre run-ins with the law dating back to 2012.

Among the Easy A actress' offenses were two hit-and-runs and a DUI in 2012, as well as a 2013 arrest for throwing a bong out of a window of the 36th floor of her Manhattan apartment.

Congrats! Amanda is free as a bird after Ventura County Superior Court Judge Roger L. Lund agreed on March 22 to finally end her nine-year legal conservatorship controlled by her mother Lynn (R, pictured in 2004)
The last ever episode of Neighbours will air in the UK and Australia on August 1 after 37 years of production.

And on Wednesday, the cast of the show reunited on set in Melbourne for a special finale event.

Olympia Valance, April Rose Pengilly, Tim Robards and Melissa Bell all cuddled up for happy snaps as they said goodbye to the iconic soap after it was axed in March.

Neighbours stars Olympia Valance and April Rose Pengilly joined co-stars, including Melissa Bell, on the set of the show on Wednesday in Melbourne for a special finale event

Olympia and April were both pretty in pink for the special gathering.

Olympia, 29, who is the younger sister for former Neighbours star Holly Candy, looked chic in a pair of billowing rainbow trousers and a matching top.

April, 34, who is the daughter of INXS rocker Kirk Pengilly, was gorgeous in a bright pink mini dress which highlighted her trim pins.

Olympia, 29, looked chic in a pair of billowing rainbow trousers and a matching top

Olympia is the younger sister for former Neighbours star Holly Candy

April, 34, who is the daughter of INXS rocker Kirk Pengilly, was gorgeous in a bright pink mini dress which highlighted her trim pins

April rubbed shoulders with co-star Tim Robards, who played wealthy investor Pierce Greyson on the soap

Melissa Bell, 49, who played the role of Lucy Robinson on the show, opted for a lilac mini dress that amplified her bust and trim pins

Melissa Bell, 49, who played the role of Lucy Robinson on the show, opted for a lilac mini dress that amplified her bust and trim pins.

Also at the event was Stefan Davis, who portrays villainous Paul Robinson, and Ian Smith, who played beloved Harold Bishop.

Neighbours was axed after the UK's Channel 5 decided in March not to renew its contract with production company Fremantle to finance and broadcast the series.

Also at the event was Stefan Davis and Ian Smith, who played beloved Harold Bishop

Angela Bishop paid a visit to the set and mingled with the cast

Stefan Davis played Paul Robinson on the show

Earlier this month, the TV Week Logie Awards attracted widespread criticism for failing to properly acknowledge the cancellation of Neighbours during the ceremony.

But it seems Australia's longest-running soap will receive the send-off it deserves at the next AACTA Awards ceremony.

The AACTA Awards, sponsored by Foxtel, is set to invite the cast of Neighbours on-stage and 'make a point' of saying goodbye, Foxtel's Executive Director of Drama Brian Walsh told MediaWeek.

Earlier this month, the TV Week Logie Awards attracted widespread criticism for failing to properly acknowledge the cancellation of Neighbours during the ceremony

'It was a major disappointment for me particularly because we had the cast of Neighbours in the room. What would it have taken to let them come up on stage and have their moment?' said Walsh, who worked as a publicist for Neighbours in the 1980s.

Walsh described the Logies send-off as 'dismissive', adding: 'If we're going to celebrate success on a night like the Logies then for goodness sake, please let a show that's entertained audiences for 37 years have its moment and take a bow.'

During the Logies' tribute, a highlight reel aired of Neighbours' most memorable moments, including fan favourites Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.

But it seems Australia's longest-running soap will receive the send-off it deserves at the next AACTA Awards ceremony. The AACTA Awards, sponsored by Foxtel, is set to invite the cast of Neighbours on-stage and 'make a point' of saying goodbye. Pictured is actress Jemma Donovan

Neighbours alumni Dan MacPherson, 42, and Natalie Bassingthwaighte, 46, then appeared on stage to present the award for Most Popular New Talent.

Both actors had started their careers on the 10 Peach soap opera.

Ryan Moloney, one of Neighbours' longest-serving cast members, subsequently slammed the organisers of the Logie Awards for failing to give the Aussie soap a proper send-off.

During the Logies' tribute, a highlight reel aired of Neighbours' most memorable moments, including fan favourites Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. Pictured is actress Jacinta Stapleton

Moloney, who plays Jarrod 'Toadfish' Rebecchi, said he was 'incredibly disappointed' by the lacklustre tribute put together for the ceremony.

He told 2Day FM's Hughesy, Ed and Erin the Neighbours cast members who were invited to the Logies all had bad seats with cameras obstructing their view of the stage.

The Ramsay Street veteran, 42, also said it was unfair that two former Neighbours stars, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and MacPherson, were invited on stage to share their memories of the soap, instead of an actor currently on the series.

Moloney said the entire 2022 cast should have been invited on stage to say one final goodbye to their peers after the show was cancelled in March.

'Daniel and Nat are just absolutely gorgeous people and absolutely nothing against them, but we've got people who have been on TV for nearly 30 years each, and I think probably the least they could do is get us to say something,' he said.

'I mean we're in the bloody [Logies] Hall of Fame. That's not how you treat people and a show that's in the Hall of Fame. I mean, good luck to the Logies, really.'

The last episode of Neighbours will air in Australia and the UK on August 1.
Family, friends and colleagues of late actress Mary Mara mourned her in the wake of her drowning death at the age of 61 in upstate New York.

Mara, known for her roles on ER, Criminal Minds, Dexter and Ray Donovan, was hailed by her relatives as 'a gifted character actor' who excelled in 'complex portrayals of often-troubled characters' in an obituary shared with People.

The obituary stated that Mara's '32-year career in film and television resembled that of a veteran utility infielder who just missed stardom but always played for winning teams.'

The latest: Family, friends and colleagues of late actress Mary Mara mourned her in the wake of her drowning death at the age of 61 in upstate New York. Mara was snapped in LA in 2006

Billy Crystal, who performed opposite Mara in the 1992 movie Mr. Saturday Night, dedicated Tuesday's edition of the Broadway adaptation to the late actress.

'Tonight the performance of @MrSatNightBway is dedicated to Mary Mara who played my daughter in the film of Mr. Saturday Night in 1992,' Crystal tweeted Monday. 'Mary passed away at the age of 61.'

Writer-actor Bill Corbett said he was 'reeling and heartbroken' to learn of Mara's passing.

'One of my soulmates for life, early theater collaborators and a constant help/inspiration in my recovery from addiction,' Corbett said. 'I love you Mary.'

Mara, seen in a 2019 selfie, was hailed by her relatives as 'a gifted character actor' who excelled in 'complex portrayals of often-troubled characters' in an obituary

Billy Crystal, who performed opposite Mara in the 1992 movie Mr. Saturday Night, dedicated Tuesday's edition of the Broadway adaptation to the late actress

He added a picture he took with her with the caption, 'Hadnt seen Mary for a few years since we met up after I saw her perform in Lynn Nottages SWEAT at the Mark Taper Forum. She was brilliant.'

Mara's manager Craig Dorfman issued a statement to People calling her 'electric, funny, and a true individual,' adding that 'everyone loved her' and 'she will be missed.'

The Office star Rainn Wilson said, 'I was greatly saddened to hear about the passing of actor Mary Mara. We had our first professional gigs together in 12th Night at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Hadnt seen her since but remember her talent and infectious spirit fondly. R.I.P.'

Smallville actress Annette O'Toole tweeted that Mara 'was funny, kind, brilliantly talented,' adding, 'I am terribly sorry she has left us.'

Writer-actor Bill Corbett said he was 'reeling and heartbroken' to learn of Mara's passing

The Office star Rainn Wilson hailed the late actress for her 'talent and infectious spirit'

Smallville actress Annette O'Toole called Mara 'funny, kind [and] brilliantly talented'

General Hospital actor Jon Lindstrom said he was 'crushed to learn of Mary Mara's untimely passing' alongside a photo of the pair together

General Hospital actor Jon Lindstrom said he was 'crushed to learn of Mary Mara's untimely passing' alongside a photo of the pair together.

'We performed in a play together back in 2008, Malcolm Danare's In Heat at the Lost Playhouse in LA,' he said. 'She had beaten cancer and was somehow fighting through the aftereffects of Chemo when we worked. She was brave, brilliant, funny and just plain Uber-talented.

'I last saw her in a play at the Music Center in DTLA delivering a typically brilliant performance, just before she moved back to NY State. This world will be a much less-colorful place without her. R.I.P.'

Authorities with the New York State Police on Monday said that Mara was found after 8 a.m. Sunday in the St. Lawrence River near Cape Vincent, and that early results of a probe suggest she drowned while swimming.

'The victims body showed no signs of foul play and was transported to the Jefferson County Medical Examiners Office pending an autopsy to determine an official cause of death,' police said.

Mara is survived by stepdaughter Katie Mersola, sisters Martha Mara and Susan Mara, brother-in-law Scott Dailey and nephew Christopher Dailey.
Hugh Jackman has offered a glowing review of Baz Luhrmann's new movie Elvis.

The 53-year-old actor, who worked with the acclaimed director on the 2008 historical epic Australia, posted a video on Instagram on Tuesday praising the Elvis Presley biopic as a 'beautiful' piece of art.

'Baz, you have done it again,' said the Wolverine star, who had just attended a 'packed' cinema screening in New York City.

Hugh Jackman has offered a glowing review of Baz Luhrmann's new movie Elvis. The pair worked together on the 2008 historical epic Australia. (Pictured at the NYC premiere of Australia on November 24, 2008)

He continued: 'Everyone went crazy. The music, the visuals, the acting... everything about it is just beautifully done.'

Further praise was given to Siam Costumes, the company responsible for the film's wardrobe, with Hugh describing Baz and Siam as 'one of the greatest teams out there'.

Elvis looks set to reach similar heights as Australia - the second highest-grossing Aussie film of all time after Crocodile Dundee - after it came close to smashing an opening weekend box-office record Down Under.

'Baz, you have done it again,' said Hugh (pictured), who had just attended a 'packed' cinema screening in New York City

Elvis became Australia's second biggest film opening ever when it was released last week - beaten only by The Great Gatsby, which was also directed by Luhrmann.

Hugh said newcomer Austin Butler 'crushes it' in his role as Elvis Presley.

The 30-year-old's performance as the King of Rock 'n' Roll has already catapulted him to global fame.

He was previously known for his small role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Hugh concluded his review of Elvis by saying: 'I highly, highly recommend you all go out to see it.'

Hugh said newcomer Austin Butler (pictured) 'crushes it' in his role as Elvis Presley

Luhrmann's movies are highly regarded for blending a modern style with older music and aesthetics.

It follows the announcement that Australia will be turned into a six-part limited series called Faraway Downs.

Storyline details are unavailable, but it's understood the series will use footage shot for the original film, which ran almost three hours.

It will also feature a new ending and updated soundtrack.

Luhrmann explained: 'Drawn from the same material, Faraway Downs is a new variation on Australia for audiences to discover.'
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were seen leaving a New York City hotel on Tuesday, days after the actor discussed his divorce from Eve Mavrakis.

McGregor, 51, wore a black jacket over a white top with white slacks and black boots as he made his way out of the establishment with Mary, 37.

The venerated actor, who stars in the titular role in the mini-series Obi-Wan Kenobi, donned a face mask after revealing his household was battling COVID.

Sighting: Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were seen leaving a New York City hotel on Tuesday, days after the actor discussed his divorce from Eve Mavrakis

Mary was seen in an orange coat with floral patterns over a black ruffled top with black slacks with black boots.

The outing comes after Ewan discussed the fallout of his affair with Mary on Eve and their children in a candid interview with GQ.

When pictures appeared of married Ewan kissing his Fargo co-star Mary in 2017, his daughter Clara branded her a 'piece of trash', adding, for good measure, that her father was an 'a***hole'.

Now, the Star Wars and Trainspotting actor has finally admitted the damage his affair did.

Outing: McGregor, 51, wore a black jacket over a white top with white slacks and black boots as he made his way out of the establishment with Mary, 37

'A divorce in a family is a bomb going off in everyone's life  my children's lives,' he says. 'The, sort of, healing of that is on-going.'

McGregor, 51, had been married to Eve Mavrakis, 56, for 22 years when he embarked on an affair with Winstead, 37. His divorce was finalised in 2020, reportedly with him agreeing to pay Eve 40,000 a month plus sharing royalties from his films.

He's now appearing in a film, You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder, also starring Clara, 26, who wrote the screenplay. It tells the story of a father taking his daughter to rehab and is loosely based on Clara's recovery from an addiction to prescription drugs.

'She tells me she'd come up with an idea about writing about us,' he says. 'At first, I was a bit nervous  I didn't know what that meant. I sat down to read it and I was blown away.

Both McGregor and Winstead signed for autograph seekers outside of the hotel

Winstead was seen in an orange coat with floral patterns over a black ruffled top with black slacks with black boots

Winstead smiled as McGregor continued to sign for people outside of the hotel

Exes: McGregor, 51, had been married to Eve Mavrakis, 56, for 22 years when he embarked on an affair with Winstead, 37 (pictured with Eve in 2017)

'It was a beautiful story about us,' he adds, in GQ magazine.

'There's things that aren't accurate, or are bent  but they still reflect our estrangement for a while.'

Clara later apologised for her remarks about Winstead, admitting they weren't her 'finest hour'.

Winstead and McGregor, who have a one-year-old son, Laurie, were reported to have married in April.

McGregor and Winstead tied the knot this past April, more than four years after they were first linked with one another. They welcomed son Laurie a year ago.

An insider told People 'it was a small wedding for family and close friends' in 'an outdoor ceremony.'

Candid: A divorce in a family is a bomb going off in everyone's life  my children's lives,' McGregor says (pictured with Eve in 2016)

'It was lovely and joyful. The menu was farm-to-table. They are an adorable couple. They are pretty low-key and like their canyon life. They often hike and go to the beach.'

McGregor in January of 2018 filed for divorce from Eve Mavrakis, who he was married to for 22 years and shares four children with: Clara, 26, Jamyan, 21, Esther Rose, 20, and Anouk, 11.

Speaking with GQ last week, McGregor said that 'a divorce in a family is a bomb going off in everyones life - my childrens lives,' adding that 'the sort of healing of that is ongoing.'
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks during a press conference at his office in Sejong. Yonhap



'Yoon administration won't be naive about peace with North Korea'



By Jung Min-ho



South Korea will continue to stick to its diplomatic principles despite China's complaints  or threats such as expanded THAAD retaliation  Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said regarding Beijing's open opposition to Seoul's participation at the NATO Summit in Madrid.



"There have been concerns that China may retaliate with economic measures. But if the country does so, we should call out its inappropriate," Han told reporters Tuesday. "We shouldn't break our principles, which are more important, just to prevent (such retaliatory action)."



Asked whether South Korea should maintain these principles even if Beijing repeats its furious economic retaliation in 2016 to the installation of a U.S. THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system in South Korea, Han said, "Of course."



He also believes that China's overreaction to Yoon's participation in the NATO Summit is very unlikely, given South Korea's participation is part of a multinational security coalition, unlike the THAAD decision, and the two nations' "mature," interrelated economic systems which have developed over many years.



Ahead of the summit that South Korea is attending for the first time as an observer  along with other Asia-Pacific partners (Japan, Australia and New Zealand)  Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China's foreign ministry, expressed an objection to their participation and the possible extension of the military bloc to Asia.



In response, U.S. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said China does not have the authority to veto which international meetings South Korea chooses to attend.



Han agreed with Kirby's statement. "I think what he said was right  If South Korea needs (the NATO Summit) for security, it should attend the summit. It wouldn't be polite for China to say (South Korea) should or shouldn't do certain things. It is not mutual respect," he said.



"Priorities are changing in regard to important values and national interests (under the new administration)."



After the reactions from the U.S. and China, which South Korea relies heavily on for its security and economy, respectively, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated on Tuesday that President Yoon Suk-yeol's attendance at the meeting is for strengthening international relations, "not for excluding or opposing certain countries or regions."





In this June 7 file photo, South Korea and the United States conduct a combined air power demonstration involving 20 warplanes over the West Sea. Yonhap
Former Bachelor star Jessica Brody has been forced to turn to the media in a desperate bid to rescue a cat from death.

The tattoo artist recently discovered a cat on the dangerously narrow window ledge outside her 15th floor apartment, but was told by the fire brigade and emergency services that there was nothing they could do to save it.

Speaking about the ordeal on Sunrise, the 32-year-old said that she's now in contact with a cat rescuer and they might hire an abseiler soon to retrieve the feline, named Wanda.

Former Bachelor star Jessica Brody (pictured) appeared on Sunrise on Wednesday to beg for help after a cat became stranded on a 15th-floor ledge of her apartment building

'It's a really tricky situation,' she explained on Wednesday. 'We have a ledge that runs across the side of the building, and there's no access to it.

'We also currently don't have access to our balconies because of construction,' she added.

The cat has been stuck on the ledge since Sunday, but it wasn't until Tuesday night that Jessica was able to make contact with Wanda's owner.

Speaking about the ordeal on Sunrise , the 32-year-old said that she's now in contact with a cat rescuer and they might hire an abseiler soon to retrieve the feline, named Wanda (pictured)

'I managed to find the owner last night. I put a sign in my elevator and the owner got in touch with Nigel, the cat rescue guy,' she said.

'I'm not quite sure why the owner hasn't come forward for four day,' she added.

'We're hoping to get a rescue today and get the cat back to the owner because my heart is breaking for the poor thing.'

Before going to the media, Jessica spent the week posting about the cat to her 350,000 followers on Instagram in a desperate bid for assistance.

'We're hoping to get a rescue today and get the cat back to the owner because my heart is breaking for the poor thing,' she said

Since Sunday, Wanda has somehow made it from the 15th floor down to the 12th floor.

However, at 2pm on Wednesday, Jessica confirmed on Instagram that they could no longer spot the cat on the 12th floor ledge.

She has since added a $100 reward to anybody in the apartment building who can locate Wanda, so that she and the cat rescuer can get back to trying to retrieve her safely.

'I managed to find the owner last night. I put a sign in my elevator and the owner got in touch with Nigel, the cat rescue guy,' Jessica explained

Jessica is best known for her brief appearance on Matt Agnew's season of The Bachelor.

She later returned to the franchise in a more sizeable role for the third season of Bachelor In Paradise, where she enjoyed a doomed fling with bad boy Ciarran Stott.

The Melbourne-based star now works as a professional tattoo artist in addition to running her own beauty brand, Brody Beauty.
Kim Kardashian oozed sex appeal as she stepped out in a Los Angeles on Monday night after attending her sister Khloe Kardashian's boozy 38th birthday lunch.

The 41-year-old SKIMS founder exited her luxury vehicle in a pair of skintight faux leather pants that showed off her tiny waist.

The Kardashians star drew eyes to her ample cleavage by throwing on a matching faux leather halter top with a plunging neckline.

Night out: Kim Kardashian oozed sex appeal as she stepped out in a Los Angeles on Monday night after attending her sister Khloe Kardashian's boozy 38th birthday lunch

The daring top tied at the back which created the illusion of sexy side cut-outs from the front.

She added height to her petite 5foot2inch frame with a pair of black heeled boots.

Kim's waist-length bleached blonde hair was parted down the middle and styled in effortless waves.

She shielded her eyes from the flashbulbs with a pair of bizarre black sunglasses that were reminiscent of the superhero-inspired shades she's worn in the past.

Sight for sore eyes: The 41-year-old SKIMS founder stepped out of her luxury vehicle in a pair of skintight faux leather pants that showed off her tiny waist

Blondie: Kim's waist-length bleached blonde hair was parted down the middle and styled in effortless waves

The mother-of-four carried her belongings in a silver Balmain handbag.

As she made her way towards a nearby building, Kim flipped her hair around and walked with a noticeable swagger.

Khloe's birthday party was held at the Kardashian-Jenner clan matriarch Kris Jenner's $20million Hidden Hills mega-mansion on Monday afternoon.

Taking the plunge: The Kardashians star drew eyes to her ample cleavage by throwing on a matching faux leather halter top with a plunging neckline

A little boost: She added height to her petite 5foot2inch frame with a pair of black heeled boots

The Good American founder shared an intimate glimpse inside her fun-filled lunchtime bash on her Instagram Story, which featured clips of Kim, Kris and other family members.

Kim rocked her same sexy faux leather ensemble while birthday girl Khloe showcased her incredible figure in a clinging pink latex mini dress.

Taking to her own Instagram Story, Kim uploaded a clip of herself dancing to Doja Cat's popular hit Kiss Me More as their elusive brother Rob Kardashian made a rare appearance by entering her frame.

Werk it! As she made her way towards a nearby building, Kim flipped her hair around and walked with a noticeable swagger

Designer darling: The mother-of-four carried her belongings in a silver Balmain handbag

Arrival: Upon her arrival, the stunner gracefully stepped out of the driver's seat in her heels

She gave her 321million followers a closer look at her all-black outfit as she panned down her body in the clip.

The SKKN founder puckered up for the camera before signing off.

Later in the celebrations, Kris insisted on delivering a tipsy toast as she drank martinis during the boozy family lunch where she gushed that Khloe is the 'queen of our family'.

Busy day! Earlier in the day, Kim attended her younger sister Khloe Kardashian's 38th birthday lunch held at their mother Kris Jenner's $20million Hidden Hills mega-mansion

Partying: Taking to her own Instagram Story, Kim uploaded a clip of herself dancing to Doja Cat's popular hit Kiss Me More

'So I know I'm a little wasted. But what I want to say is how much I am so f***ing in love with you, Khloe Kardashian!' slurred the Safely co-founder as her boyfriend Corey Gamble put her martini down.

'You are a rock star in my eyes. You are the queen of our family. You are the person who is always looking at the glass half full.

'I just want to say how much I love you and I've had way too much to drink tonight but we're here because we love you.'

Skinny Minnie! While Kim opted for all-black, birthday girl Khloe showcased her incredible figure in a clinging pink latex mini dress for the afternoon
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Four-time Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara sweetly supported her second husband Joe Manganiello at the premiere of his upcoming AMC+ series Moonhaven, which took place inside The London West Hollywood on Tuesday.

The Colombian-born beauty - turning the big 5-0 next month - and her 45-year-old Italian stallion posed with their beloved chihuahua Bubbles.

Sofia and Joe adopted their fur-baby from the LA shelter Dogs Without Borders sometime around November 2019.

Arm candy duty! Four-time Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara sweetly supported her second husband Joe Manganiello at the premiere of his upcoming AMC+ series Moonhaven, which took place inside The London West Hollywood on Tuesday

Also joining the married couple of six years on the red carpet was Vergara's 30-year-old son Manolo from her two-year marriage to high school sweetheart - mechanic/DJ Joe Gonzalez - which ended in 1993.

'Congrats, Joe! The show is awesome!' the Emerson College grad captioned his Instagram selfie.

The Modern Family alum looked lovely in a black off-the-shoulder Monique Lhuillier floral frock, Dolce & Gabbana bag, and Gianvito Rossi heels selected by stylist duo Jill Lincoln & Jordan Johnson.

Manganiello looked dapper in a navy-blue suit over a light blue button-up sans necktie, and black dress shoes.

Their only child together: The Colombian-born beauty - turning the big 5-0 next month - and her 45-year-old Italian stallion posed with their beloved chihuahua Bubbles

'Not a fan' of the English Bulldog statue: Sofia and Joe adopted their fur-baby from the LA shelter Dogs Without Borders sometime around November 2019

'Congrats, Joe! The show is awesome!' Also joining the married couple of six years on the red carpet was Vergara's 30-year-old son Manolo from her two-year marriage to high school sweetheart - mechanic/DJ Joe Gonzalez - which ended in 1993

'Premier night!' The Modern Family alum looked lovely in a black off-the-shoulder Monique Lhuillier floral frock, Dolce & Gabbana bag, and Gianvito Rossi heels selected by stylist duo Jill Lincoln & Jordan Johnson

The Pittsburgh native portrays the lead Earth diplomat's righthand man Tomm Schultz in Peter Ocko's six-episode series, which premieres July 7 on AMC+.

The suspense thriller centered on a utopian colony on the Moon 100 years in the future also features Kadeem Hardison, Dominic Monaghan, Amara Karan, Emma McDonald, Ayelet Zurer, and Yazzmin Newell.

Meanwhile, Sofia currently judges the 17th season of America's Got Talent - airing Tuesdays on NBC - alongside Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Simon Cowell, and host Terry Crews.

Magic Mike and True Blood alum: Manganiello looked dapper in a navy-blue suit over a light blue button-up sans necktie, and black dress shoes

Premieres July 7 on AMC+! The Pittsburgh native portrays the lead Earth diplomat's righthand man Tomm Schultz in Peter Ocko's six-episode series

Cast pic! The suspense thriller centered on a utopian colony on the Moon 100 years in the future also features (from L-R) Kadeem Hardison, Dominic Monaghan, Amara Karan, Emma McDonald, Ayelet Zurer, and Yazzmin Newell

On June 20, Vergara revealed she was shooting her 'last big week' on Netflix's six-episode series Griselda, which she's executive producing and starring as Colombian cartel leader Griselda Blanco.

The first-ever billionaire female criminal was known as the Cocaine Grandmother, the Black Widow, and the Queen of Narco-Trafficking before being gunned down, age 69, in 2012.

Also suited up for the Moonhaven premiere was Emmy nominee Dominic Monaghan looked sharp in a black suit over a white printed top sans necktie and black sneakers.

Airing Tuesdays on NBC! Meanwhile, Sofia currently judges the 17th season of America's Got Talent alongside Howie Mandel (L), Heidi Klum (2-L), Simon Cowell (R), and host Terry Crews

'Can't wait for [you] guys to see it next year!' On June 20, Vergara revealed she was shooting her 'last big week' on Netflix's six-episode series Griselda, which she's executive producing and starring as Colombian cartel leader Griselda Blanco

The 45-year-old Englishman takes on the role of Paul Serno, a detective on the Moon tasked with solving the problems of Earth.

Queens of Mystery actress Emma McDonald kicked up her red platform heels, which she paired with an elaborate white tulle beaded mini-dress.

The classically-trained British thespian stars in Moonhaven as the Han Solo-esque character Bella Sway, a lunar cargo pilot and smuggler who's accused of a crime.

The Lord of the Rings alum! Also suited up for the Moonhaven premiere was Emmy nominee Dominic Monaghan looked sharp in a black suit over a white printed top sans necktie and black sneakers

Back in the spotlight! The 45-year-old Englishman takes on the role of Paul Serno, a detective on the Moon tasked with solving the problems of Earth

Woman of the hour: Queens of Mystery actress Emma McDonald kicked up her red platform heels, which she paired with an elaborate white tulle beaded mini-dress

Space pirate vibes: The classically-trained British thespian stars in Moonhaven as the Han Solo-esque character Bella Sway, a lunar cargo pilot and smuggler who's accused of a crime

Ayelet Zurer, Yazzmin Newell, and Amara Karan also glammed up in gowns to celebrate their respective roles as Maite Voss, Sonda Crux, and Indira Mare.

A Different World alum Kadeem Hardison - who plays Arlo - brought along his 25-year-old daughter Sophia to enjoy the film festivities.

Emmy-nominated producer Peter Ocko - who created Moonhaven - proudly posed on the red carpet in his grey suit and blue button-up sans necktie and haphazardly-laced sneakers.

Lovely ladies: (from L-R) Ayelet Zurer, Yazzmin Newell, and Amara Karan also glammed up in gowns to celebrate their respective roles as Maite Voss, Sonda Crux, and Indira Mare

'Still the best thing I ever did': A Different World alum Kadeem Hardison - who plays Arlo - brought along his 25-year-old daughter Sophia to enjoy the film festivities

Mastermind: Emmy-nominated producer Peter Ocko - who created Moonhaven - proudly posed on the red carpet in his grey suit and blue button-up sans necktie and haphazardly-laced sneakers

Grammy nominee Jordin Sparks wore a brown double-breasted blazer over a coral top, blue cuffed jeans, and nude stilettos.

Other handsome attendees included Euphoria star Zak Steiner, Coming 2 America actor Donny Savage, and Mortal Kombat's Chin Han.

The Offer's Meredith Garretson took the plunge in a green bell-sleeved blouse tucked into black slacks.

'Solo date night!' Grammy nominee Jordin Sparks wore a brown double-breasted blazer over a coral top, blue cuffed jeans, and nude stilettos

Gents: Other handsome attendees included (from L-R) Euphoria star Zak Steiner, Coming 2 America actor Donny Savage, and Mortal Kombat's Chin Han
Sam Wood has shared a cheeky Instagram message with partner Snezana on Wednesday.

The handsome 42-year-old businessman asked the new mum whether they were expecting another baby, just weeks after the couple welcomed their third child.

Snezana had just posted the news that the couple had recently postponed a honeymoon.

Sam Wood has shared a cheeky Instagram message with partner Snezana asking the new mum whether they were expecting another baby, just weeks after the couple welcomed their third child. Picture: Snezana cradles new-born Harper

'You see every time we say, "Let's go on out honeymoon!'', I find out we are pregnant again,' she said.

To which which Sam replied: 'Are we pregnant again?'

The beautiful model shared a gorgeous photo of newborn Harper in the post on her Instagram page.

Wearing black tights and matching open-kneck shirt, Snezana can be seen cradling her baby in front of a fire place.

Snezana's Instagram story explaining that a planned honeymoon has been postponed

The proud mum shared her raw emotions with followers messaging: 'Yep, Sam and I were meant to have finally gone on our honeymoon during this Melbourne winter.

'And as incredible as that may have been there is no place I'd rather be right now than here with out tough little angel Harper.'

The Woods have faced setback after setback since the arrival of Harper, who was taken to the NICU with an infection soon after being born one month premature.

The fitness guru recently sold his fitness program 28 by Sam Wood for a whopping $71million

Snezana herself was hospitalised with sepsis shortly after giving birth to Harper in May.

During the challenging time, Snezana kept her fans up to date with photos of her husband Sam cradling daughter Harper, and thanking him for all the support.

The couple have been together since meeting on The Bachelor Australia in 2015.

They tied the knot in Byron Bay, NSW, in 2018.
She recently jetted off to France to attend star-studded Paris Fashion Week.

But Addison Rae was back in Los Angeles on Tuesday as she was spotted swinging by Earthbar for a smoothie.

The 21-year-old TikTok sensation rocked a curve-clinging navy blue slip dress for her midday outing.

Fueling up: Addison Rae was spotted swinging by Earthbar for a smoothie in Los Angeles on Tuesday

It had a sexy plunging neckline, ultra thin spaghetti straps and the hem stopped just below her knees.

She had her black handbag tucked under her arm as she worked on getting a straw into her smoothie cup.

Addison's long, brunette hair was parted down the middle and styled in lived-in waves.

She gave her outfit a pop of vibrant color by painting her nails a baby blue shade.

Curve-clinging: The 21-year-old TikTok sensation rocked a curve-clinging navy blue slip dress for her midday outing

Put together: Addison's long, brunette hair was parted down the middle and styled in lived-in waves. She gave her outfit a pop of vibrant color by painting her nails a baby blue shade

As for makeup, the actress gave herself a sultry stare with a soft brown smokey eyeshadow look.

She completed her made-up face with some mauve toned lipstick and minimal complexion products.

Addison was later spotted shopping at a store in the area by herself.

Fashionista: Though she appeared happy to be back in her regular routine, the He's All That star looked in her element while recently indulging in the Paris Fashion Week festivities

Kenzo: She attended the Kenzo Menswear Spring Summer 2023 show on Sunday, June 26, with a slew of other high-profile celebs

Though she appeared happy to be back in her regular routine, the He's All That star looked in her element while indulging in the PFW festivities.

She attended the Kenzo Menswear Spring Summer 2023 show on Sunday, June 26, with a slew of other high-profile celebs.

For the runway show, Addison showed off her hourglass figure in a striped mini dress styled with a beige Kenzo vest and a spherical Kenzo handbag.

Decked out: For the runway show, Addison showed off her hourglass figure in a striped mini dress styled with beige Kenzo vest and a spherical Kenzo handbag. She slipped her feet into a pair of cherry red patent leather oxford shoes and some white crew socks.

She slipped her feet into a pair of cherry red patent leather oxford shoes and some white crew socks.

Two weeks before her whirlwind Paris trip, Addison took part in a sexy photoshoot in LA.

She shared some sizzling behind-the-scenes snaps with her nearly 41million Instagram followers.

Camera-ready: Two weeks before her whirlwind Paris trip, Addison took part in a sexy photoshoot in LA. She shared some sizzling behind-the-scenes snaps with her nearly 41million Instagram followers

Dolled up: The social media star flashed her toned tummy in a green lace-up corset top and a pair of belted beige pants

The social media star flashed her toned tummy in a green lace-up corset top and a pair of belted beige pants.

Though she didn't reveal what the photoshoot was for, she did tease a potential project in the works by captioning the slideshow: 'Guess what??'

Along with being a working actress and one of social media's top influencers, Addison has been hard at work on her makeup line, Item Beauty.

She launched the brand online in August 2020, before partnering with Sephora the following year.

Killing it: Along with being a working actress and one of social media's top influencers, Addison has been hard at work on her makeup line, Item Beauty

The partnership allowed fans of Addison to purchase Item Beauty products in-person.

In early 2021, Item Beauty entered the skincare realm with the launch of Item Skin.

As for her personal life, Addison has been in a committed relationship with Israeli guitarist Omer Fedi, 22.

The couple sparked romance rumors in the summer of 2021 before confirming their romance later that year.
Dame Judi Dench met her future husband, Michael Williams, when they were cast together in a theatre production, but she's revealed he's not the only co-star she's fallen in love with on stage.

The acting icon has mused about her 'susceptibility' to falling for her theatre co-stars, revealing she was smitten with her Hamlet stage partner John Neville.

Speaking during an event at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End this week, Dame Judi, 87, called their time together in 1958 'beautiful'.

'Beautiful': Dame Judi Dench has mused about her 'susceptibility' to falling for her theatre co-stars, revealing she was smitten with her Hamlet stage partner John Neville in 1958

Daily Mail's Richard Eden said the Oscar winner explained: 'I was in Hamlet with John Neville. He was beautiful. It was beautiful.'

Asked if she fell in love with Neville, who died in 2011 aged 86, she replied: 'Yes. I am very prone to it. I am very susceptible.'

'It does not happen all the time, and it does not go to enormous extremes, but it is, perhaps, sharing [stage] fright that is so electrifying.'

Marriage: Dame Judi met her future husband, Michael Williams, when they were cast together in a theatre production. The two went onto have a 30 year marriage before his death from lung cancer in 2001 aged 65 (pictured in 1999)

Acclaimed theatre actor John Neville married his wife Caroline Hooper in 1949, and they had six children together.

Dame Judi, 87, made her RSC debut as Anya in The Cherry Orchard in 1961 before starring in Twelfth Night and Macbeth. She later carved out an equally stellar film career.

Dame Judis 30-year marriage to Michael Williams was just as successful in real life as it was in the long-running sitcom A Fine Romance, in which they co-starred until his death from lung cancer in 2001 aged 65.

The couple married in 1971 and shared a daughter, Finty Williams, 48, who is also an actress.

The actress has been with her partner, the conservationist David Mills, for 12 years. Mills revealed last year that they considered tying the knot during the pandemic, even going to the extent of weighing up the benefits of marriage.

Love: The actress has been with her partner, the conservationist David Mills, for 12 years (pictured together in 2015)

We hadnt really looked into it before, but, during lockdown, we had a serious discussion, looking at the pros and cons, Mills told Richard Eden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

After a lot of thought, we decided against it and thought, We are happy to stay as we are. 

The actress recently revealed she feels 'frightened' when she finishes an acting job. Dame Judi said despite her legendary reputation, she is always worried no one will want to hire her again.

In an interview with Readers Digest magazine she confessed: 'Ive always thought, one is very lucky to be employed.

'I always get frightened at the end of the job because I think Im not going to be employed again and then feel very relieved at the beginning of the next one.'

Stellar career: The actress recently revealed she feels 'frightened' when she finishes an acting job

Despite her decades of success, Judi, who most recently starred in the coming of age drama Belfast, admitted that she still feels nervous when she lands a new job.

She exclaimed: 'Ill say! I get more anxious now. Oh yes, much more anxious. Theres more things to consider and more things to find out and more things to learn about. And you think, "Oh God, have I got the energy to do this?"

When it comes to looking for new roles, the Belfast star is always on the hunt for something different to anything shes done before.

She said: 'I just, really, always hope that I will be asked to do something different. And perhaps not expected. Or something that has no reference to anything Ive done before.
She always looks stylish, no matter the occasion.

And on Tuesday Paris Hilton was glamorous as ever as she attended a Dreamscape by Hilton Estates Group event in Los Angeles.

The multihyphenate, 41, was joined by her younger brother Barron Hilton, 32, at the swanky event.

Night out: Paris Hilton was glamorous as ever as she attended a Dreamscape by Hilton Estates Group event in Los Angeles

For the star-studded occasion the blonde bombshell wore a light blue dress with a floral pattern.

The dainty number featured cap sleeves and a low, square-cut neckline with a drawstring tie.

The fashion-forward socialite drew attention to the look with a diamond encrusted choker.

Matching the glinting piece, she donned diamond a pair of sparkly diamond stud earrings.

Figure-flattering: The reality TV star's dress was snug at the waist, showing off her trim figure, and extended to a flowy skirt

The reality TV star's dress was snug at the waist, showing off her trim figure, and extended to a flowy skirt.

It stretched down to her ankles, cropping just enough to show off her silver glitter pointed-toe heels.

She toted a baby blue snakeskin handbag as she posed for photos on the step-and-repeat.

Confident: For the star-studded occasion the blonde bombshell wore a light blue dress with a floral pattern

Hilton complemented the light, summery look with a pair of square-shaped sunglasses.

The spectacles were lightly-tinted and had thick, very light peach-colored rims framing the lenses.

Underneath the accessory she showed off a face full of complementary makeup.

Paris warmed her complexion with pink-hued blush and completed the look with a glossy lip.

Sibling love: The multihyphenate, 41, was joined by her younger brother Barron Hilton, 32, at the swanky event

Barron rivaled his older sister's impeccable fashion sense with a noticeable look of his own.

He donned navy blue slacks with a checkered white pattern throughout, teaming it with black dress shoes.

On his upper half he wore a white crewneck sweater and he had a modest, neatly-trimmed beard.

His textured hair was cut in a clean and flattering style that he was able to slightly comb back.

Standout look: Barron rivaled his older sister's impeccable fashion sense with a noticeable look of his own

Trio: Barron's wife Tessa was also at the high profile event, appearing in a silky champagne-colored dress

Precious: Tessa wore her blonde hair in a carefully-styled topknot arranged at the top of her head

Barron's wife Tessa was also at the high profile event, appearing in a silky champagne-colored dress.

The pregnant beauty wore her blonde hair in a carefully-styled topknot arranged at the top of her head.

She wore drop earrings and walked in a pair of open-toe platform shoes with thin, brown straps.

Handsome: He donned navy blue slacks with a checkered white pattern throughout, teaming it with black dress shoes

Parents-to-be: The twosome posed together at the step-and-repeat entrance of the affair

The mom-to-be, who married Barron in 2018, wore a blazer over her dress for some photos.

She had a noticeable glow as she smiled while turning heads in her chic look.

She wore mascara to create a fluttery eyelash look and swiped her cheeks in a warming hue.

The look was finished with a matte lipstick stain that highlighted her pretty smile.

Beautiful: The mom-to-be, who married Barron in 2018, wore a blazer over her dress for some photos

Star quality: Rainey Qualley was in attendance at the affair, arriving in a slinky light pink mini dress

Rainey Qualley was in attendance at the affair, arriving in a slinky light pink mini dress.

The look had spaghetti straps and a low-cut neckline that displayed her perky chest.

The slip dress had faint white writing on it and she teamed the look with white socks and light brown loafers.

The blue-eyed beauty carried a plush white fur coat and wore her lustrous brunette hair loose.

Attendee: Actress Emma Kenney also made her presence known at the soiree, arriving in a red dress

Actress Emma Kenney also made her presence known at the soiree, arriving in a red dress.

The Shameless alum wore the long frock with white open-toe shoes with a modest heel.

She pulled her dark hair back, leaving long pieces out in the front that framed her face.

Emma complemented the look with a necklace that had a drop pendant and rocked a glossy lip stain.

Accessory: Emma complemented the look with a necklace that had a drop pendant and rocked a glossy lip stain
James Corden has hinted at Gavin and Stacey's potential return as he admitted he will have 'more free time' after returning to the UK next year.

The comedian, 43, is set to step down as the host of the Late Late show at the end of next season and he teased that he might have time for other projects after that.

Speaking at London's Freemasons Hall on Monday, James said that he trusts the show's co-creator Ruth Jones 'judgement' about when or if the sitcom will make a comeback.

Exciting: James Corden has hinted at Gavin and Stacey's potential return as he admitted he will have 'more free time' after returning to the UK next year

According to The Sun, James said: 'Ruth's judgement is always bang on, she is such an incredible judge and she instinctively will know when it's right.

'And look, I'll have a bit more free time, maybe that'll be the time to get together and talk about something.

'But I trust her judgement so much that if it's right, we'll do it.'

Earlier in the day, James - who writes the sitcom with Ruth - admitted that he 'wishes' he could say that it was up to him when the beloved Welsh comedy returns as he spoke to Vernon Kay on Radio 2.

Return? Speaking at London's Freemasons Hall on Monday, James said that he trusts the show's co-creator Ruth Jones 'judgement' about when or if the sitcom will make a comeback

'The best thing about Gavin and Stacey is that it's Ruth and if I'm being completely honest, her judgement is exceptional,' he added.

The 2019 Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, left fans on the edge of their seats as it ended on a cliffhanger when Nessa (Ruth) proposes to Smithy (James).

And James hinted it would not be the end for the BBC show, adding: 'It's so great and I realise the ending of that special does very definitely tease something else.'

The actor also hinted at logistical issues with writing Gavin and Stacey, saying he and Ruth cannot write separately or virtually over Zoom.

'We've just got to be in a room together, talking with a pack of Post-It Notes and a pen and at some point we get a laptop out, but that's even way down the line,' he explained.

Show: The comedian, 43, is set to step down as the host of the Late Late show at the end of next season and he teased that he might have time for Gavin and Stacey after that

James revealed that he plans to see the Stella writer, 55, over the summer but said he 'doubted' that they would talk about the show.

MailOnline has contacted Ruth's representatives for comment.

His comments come after BBC bosses confirmed that a Gavin and Stacey reunion will happen 'one day', leaving fans waiting on tenterhooks.

But earlier this month, fans were left convinced the big day was near as Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman were spotted filming together in Barry Island, Wales, where the series is set.

The pair - who play Mick and Pam Shipman - were seen relaxing in deckchairs as they filmed an advert for Barrybados, a souvenir shop in the area that sells Gavin and Stacey paraphernalia.

Cliffhanger: The 2019 Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, left fans on the edge of their seats as it ended on a cliffhanger when Nessa (Ruth) proposes to Smithy (James)

Taking to Twitter, fans penned: 'Waking up to the news of a new Gavin & Stacey series being made Doesn't get much better than that!'; 'Oh my Christ!! Do we dare dream of another Gavin & Stacey???';

'So Mick & Pam spotted on Barry Island filming. Is a new series of Gavin & Stacey happening? #GavinandStacey'; 'ahhhhh as if Pam and Mick have been spotted filming in Barry Island! really hope there's another series of Gavin & Stacey on the way';

'Gavin & Stacey S4 here we come!'; 'Please hope it's happening #GavinandStacey Pam and mick spotted in Barry'; 'Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb (BLOODY PAM AND MICK) have been spotted filming ON BARRY ISLAND! *deep breaths.'

Gavin and Stacey ran for three series between 2007 and 2010 before returning for Christmas special - the most watched comedy in 17 years - in 2019.

Pals: James revealed that he plans to see the Stella writer, 55, over the summer but said he 'doubted' that they would talk about the show

Last year, BBC bosses confirmed the beloved show will return 'one day'.

While outlining the upcoming Christmas television schedule, the channel's Chief Content Officer, Charlotte Moore, discussed the future of the BBC One sitcom.

She explained: 'That wasn't something that was going to happen this year,' and followed that up with: 'One day.'

But Mathew Horne recently shut down speculation of a Gavin and Stacey reunion, admitting that it would be hard to get some 'successful people' on board.

The actor, 43, claimed that fans desiring the comedy's return 'is not enough of a reason', adding that the writers 'want to make sure that they have a story' first.

'Oh my Christ!': It comes after Gavin and Stacey fans went into meltdown as the show's stars Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman were spotted filming in Barry Island earlier this month

Mathew - who plays Gavin - added how difficult it was to get the ensemble together for the 2019 Christmas special, which was later declared the most-viewed non-sporting event in a decade.

He said: 'Obviously, the BBC would like more. James [Corden] and Ruth [Jones] have always said that they would only do more if they had a story and a reason to do it.

'Just because people want it is not enough of a reason to do it for them. They want to make sure that they have a story.

'They don't want to let the the piece down and let the audience down. They don't just want to do it for the sake of doing it.

'I genuinely don't know if they're planning on doing more.'

In character: The pair - who play Mick and Pam Shipman - were filming an advert for Barrybados, a souvenir shop that sells Gavin and Stacey paraphernalia (pictured on the show with co-star Mathew Horne)

Last May, James sparked fans' hopes of more of the sitcom as he said he thinks it would be a 'shame' to never do another show again.

Asked if fans can expect another episode, he said: 'As it stands right now, there aren't any plans to do one but that's not to say there isn't the want or the inclination to do one.

'When we wrote that last special, we never really thought whether we'd make another one after it but then that special, it's so open-ended.'

However, James added that he and co-creator Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa, both feel the Christmas special felt like the end of a chapter, rather than the whole story.

He said: 'I think it would be a shame to leave it there. I think, that's certainly my feeling and I think Ruth feels the same.

Oh dear: However, Mathew Horne recently shut down speculation of a Gavin and Stacey reunion, admitting that it would be hard to get some 'successful people' on board

'It doesn't feel like the end of a book, it feels like the end of a chapter. I do feel like if we did another one, that would be the end of it.

He added: 'We finished it before we called the BBC because we didn't want to let everybody down.

'My hunch is no one will know it's coming until it's ready but we haven't had a single conversation about it. You've got to wait for these ideas to arrive. We also can't write separately, we're terrible at it.

'It feels sometimes like we open a portal and it's all these characters in Barry Island and slowly these ideas present themselves to us.'

James' latest comments about Gavin and Stacey come after it was revealed that James will step down as the host of the Late Late Show at the end of next season amid plans to spend more time back home in Britain.

Exit: James will step down as the host of the Late Late Show at the end of next season amid plans to spend more time back home in Britain

And hte co-founder of James' Fulwell 73 production company, Ben Turner, said earlier this month that he's 'really excited to get James back in the UK'.

Ben told Variety: '[Corden] has just got so many strings to his bow, and Late is a big commitment that's taken up so much of his time.

'We're just really excited about having him back in the UK, and all the stuff that that entails, but it is a big moment for us.'

James made the decision to quit The Late Late Show at the end of season eight despite the best efforts of TV executives who exclusively told MailOnline that they 'desperately tried to keep him for longer'.

The star and his wife of 10 years Jules are mulling over a return to the UK with their three children Max, 11, Carey, seven, and Charlotte, four, but they are still trying to 'figure out' what's next for the family.

The next move: It was reported James and Jules are mulling over a return to the UK with three children Max, 11, Carey, seven, and Charlotte, four

An insider told MailOnline that spending more time in the UK when the show ends is 'definitely on the horizon'.

Another source suggested he is planning on moving close to West Ham United's London Stadium in east London.

An insider told The Sun: 'James and Jules have had barely any time to see their families in the UK over the past few years due to his work schedule. They will go backwards and forwards for a while.

'Long-term, they both want to see more of their parents and are considering a permanent move back in a couple of years.

'They sold their house in London so would have to look for a new base in the capital.'

The Iconic Series Gavin & Stacey is available only on Stan in Australia.

The Late Late Show, which films out of Los Angeles, first premiered in 1995 with host Tom Snyder. Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson followed as host until James Corden came along in 2015.

Corden promised to 'go out with a bang' as he informed audiences of his decision to step down as the host of The Late Late Show.

Revealing the news during an episode of the US talk show, he said the show had 'changed my life' and promised there would be 'lots of tears' when his tenure came to an end.

'Seven and half years ago I started hosting this show and there's no other way to put it, it has changed my life,' he said.

'I never saw as it as my final destination, and I never want this show to overstay its welcome, I love making it and I really think in a year from now that will be a good time to move on and see what's out there.'
He popped the question two years ago in his native Stockholm.

And Dolph Lundgren looked happier than ever with fiancee Emma Krokdal, 25, as they enjoyed an al fresco lunch date in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.

The outing comes after the Rocky star, 64, said that he is hoping to get married next year after putting the couple's wedding plans on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Happy couple: Dolph Lundgren looked happier than ever with fiancee Emma Krokdal, 25, as they enjoyed an al fresco lunch date in Beverly Hills on Tuesday

In a new interview with People magazine, The Expendables actor revealed the couple are now hoping to get hitched in either his native Sweden or her home country of Norway in 2023.

'It's just because we lost two years,' he said. 'So hopefully next year, we're gonna go to Scandinavia, and you can't do it in the winter or you'll be in the middle of a snowstorm.

'So hopefully we'll do it maybe next spring or something in Norway or Sweden.'

Loved-up: The outing comes after the Rocky star, 64, said that he is hoping to get married next year after putting their wedding plans on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The loved-up couple coordinated for their lunch on the day, both wearing crisp white shirts while dining out.

Personal trainer Emma looked stunning as her brunette tresses were worn down, while accessorising with retro sunglasses.

At one stage Dolph playfully gasped as he witnessed his wife-to-be treating herself to some of his meal.

The real deal: The Swedish action star is 39 years older than the Norwegian personal trainer, whom he originally met at Equinox, where she worked, in July 2019 (pictured in March)

Dolph announced his engagement to Emma in an Instagram post on June 29, 2020.

The Swedish action star is 39 years older than the Norwegian personal trainer, whom he originally met at Equinox, where she worked, in July 2019.

It's believed they started dating in 2019 after meeting at the gym and they went public with their relationship in January 2020 at the Cana Dorada Film & Music Festival in the Dominican Republic.

'They say youth is wasted on the young and whilst that's not true for everybody - like Emma - it is true for me because I matured very late,' Lundgren told Muscle and Health last year.

'I feel very lucky that I have someone like Emma at this age, it's changed my life and I hope I can give her the kind of help and support that takes a lot of time to discover and amass.

'I would say that right now I'm the most balanced as an individual I've ever been.'

It would mark Dolph's second marriage after having two daughters Ida Sigrid, 25, and Greta Eveline, 19, from his 16-year marriage to Anette Qviberg, which ended in 2011.
Louisa Lytton has landed in Italy as she prepares to finally marry her fiance Ben Bhanvra this weekend after being forced to cancel their wedding three times.

The EastEnders star, 33, and her fiance were seen completing the final preparations on Tuesday, as they tasted Prosecco and made tasting notes in their hotel room.

The couple were first forced to cancel the big day due to lockdown restrictions and then Louisa suffered a complicated pregnancy which led to a three-day-long labour and an emergency C-section.

Wedding bells! Louisa Lytton has landed in Italy as she prepares to finally marry her fiance Ben Bhanvra this weekend after being forced to cancel their wedding three times

Last week, the couple, who got engaged in 2019, had to change their plans for a third time, as Louisa took to her Instagram to reveal that they were a 'covid household,' just days ahead of the planned nuptials.

But the bride-to-be announced that herself, Ben and their daughter Aura, 10 months, had finally arrived in Italy as she snapped a cute photo of them in a lift.

Alongside a photo of a Ben enjoying a drink, Louisa penned: 'Prosecco tasting for our Friday evening welcome drinks... in the corridor... outside the room. With the [baby] monitor.'

Final prep! The EastEnders star, 33, and her fiance were seen completing the final preparations on Tuesday, as they tasted Prosecco and made notes in their hotel room

Almost time! In another snap shared to her Story, the actress revealed they were adding the finishing touches to their wedding prep while their daughter Aura, 10 months, napped

In another snap shared to her Story, the actress penned: 'Wedding prep whilst madam naps,' as she got to work on her laptop.

It comes as Louisa gave an insight into her hen do as she posed for a fun photo in a balloon filled bathtub.

But added in the caption: 'This time last week... Since we have had a Covid household. Finally on the mend. Not what the doctor ordered.

'We were supposed to be exchanging our vows today before our Italian Wedding! Instead, we cleaned the carpets covered in sick. We will get there and it will be worth it.'

Oh no! Louisa gave an insight into her hen do as she posed for a fun photo in a balloon filled bathtub - but added that the wedding had been postponed a third time

Fourth time lucky? Taking to her Story once more, she later confirmed: 'We are getting married in Italy but had to do our vows here [in England]'

Long-awaited: After postponing the 200-strong Italian event twice during the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, Louisa said they would be having a 'smaller' event

Taking to her Story once more, she later confirmed: 'We are getting married in Italy but had to do our vows here [in England]. Just to top off a week of Covid and another postponed 'wedding' Riley [her pet dog] decided to wee on my washing.'

After postponing the 200-strong Italian event twice during the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, Louisa said they would be having a 'smaller' event.

She told the Sunday Mirror about the wedding: 'We want to get married next year. We're planning to have the wedding abroad and we're going to do something smaller than we originally planned.

'It will be different now she's [Aura] here. We're a family now, so it might not be as wild as it was going to be. But we can't wait to get married,' she concluded.
From left, Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida / Yonhap



President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to call for a strong response to North Korea's provocations, and efforts to bring the regime back to dialogue, in a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida late Wednesday, according to a presidential official.



Yoon, Biden and Kishida are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Madrid, which will mark the first trilateral meeting of leaders of the countries in nearly five years after the last one that was held on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September 2017.



"President Yoon plans to say that North Korea's provocations should be handled strongly in accordance with principles and propose close cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan so that North Korea will return to the dialogue table," the official told reporters.



The three leaders are expected to agree that continued advances in North Korea's nuclear weapon and missile programs pose a serious threat not only to the Korean Peninsula but also to the region and the world.



They will discuss the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to its allies and ways to upgrade the three countries' security cooperation.



"President Yoon will stress that the North Korean nuclear issue is a common task requiring an urgent response from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan," the official said.



The three leaders are also expected to share the understanding that cooperation among their countries is critical as nations that share the basic values of a liberal democracy, human rights and the rule of law.



South Korea and Japan have seen their relations deteriorate in recent years due to protracted rows over historical issues stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.



Washington has sought to encourage trilateral cooperation amid North Korea's nuclear threats and growing security and economic challenges from China. (Yonhap)




She went Instagram official with the New England Patriots star back in April.

And, Chanel Iman, 31, displayed her model frame in a chic bikini as she cosied up to her shirtless beau Davon Godchaux, 27, during their recent luxe Mykonos getaway.

The model took to Instagram on Tuesday, where she uploaded the cute couples' snap as well as a gorgeous solo shot of herself relaxing by their infinity pool.

Hot couple: Chanel Iman, 31, displayed her model frame in a chic bikini as she cosied up to her shirtless beau Davon Godchaux, 27, during their recent luxe Mykonos getaway

Chanel's stunning two-piece swimwear set was predominantly black, with white rope straps as well as a white rope belt.

The mother-of-two looked happier than ever as she posed for sundrenched snaps in the elegant bikini.

Meanwhile, Devon showed off his numerous tattoos as he went shirtless in the sunshine, wearing only striped longline swim works.

Iman captioned the photographs: 'Mykonos is definitely our vibe,' and tagged their hotel, the famous Cavo Tagoo Mykonos.

Sensational: The model took to Instagram on Tuesday, where she uploaded the cute couples' snap as well as a gorgeous solo shot of herself relaxing by their infinity pool

New beau: Chanel officially moved on from her estranged husband Sterling Shepard by going Instagram official with Davon back in April

While Chanel looks happier than ever, the getaway comes as she and her ex Sterling Shepard are getting ready for divorce proceedings.

The couple married in 2018, and they share two children together: 3-year-old Cali and 2-year-old Cassie.

The pair quietly separated last year and are in the process of 'getting divorced' after he reportedly filed the paperwork in June 2021.

An insider told Us Weekly that the two split last summer, and they 'are going to try and remain civil and friendly towards each other.'

It's over: While she seemed to enjoy herself in Mykonos, more difficult days are surely ahead with her and Shepard getting ready for divorce proceedings (pictured 2019)

They've both scrubbed their Instagram pages clean of any pictures of each other, but have kept photos of their kids.

Sterling, a wide receiver for the New York Giants, dropped down to one knee and proposed to the former Victoria's Secret model the day after she turned 27.

The former couple first met at former wide receiver Victor Cruz's birthday party in 2016.
Mark Wahlberg showed off his giving side as he gifted a fan some trainers from his brand P448 during a promotional tour in Paris on Tuesday.

The Hollywood actor, 51, looked delighted as he handed the fan the shoes while heading off in a taxi.

Mark wore a white T-shirt and a cap for his outing in the City of Lights.

Gift: Mark Wahlberg showed off his giving side as he gifted a fan some trainers from his brand P448 during a promotional tour in Paris on Tuesday

He cracked a smile as he was mobbed by fans during his fleeting break from filming Our Man From Jersey in London.

Mark's investment in the sneaker brand was announced back in March.

StreetTrend LLC, which owns P448, announced that Mark had made a 'significant minority investment in the company'.

Smile: The Hollywood actor, 51, looked delighted as he handed the fan the shoes while heading off in a taxi

Mark said in a statement: 'I am excited to be a part of such a unique brand that fits my personal style and cares about sustainability. StreetTrend CEO Wayne Kulkin is a passionate and knowledgeable sneakerhead, and I look forward to being part of this project.'

The star has eight other businesses taking up most of his attention: Closest to the Hole (a film and TV production company for scripted content); Aquahydrate (a water company), Performance Inspired (a nutrition company); F45 (a chain of gyms), Municipal (a clothing company); Mark Wahlberg Auto Group (a car dealerships), Unrealistic Ideas (a production company); and Wahlburgers (a chain of burger restaurants).

The outing comes as Mark was seen filming for Our Man From Jersey alongside Halle Berry recently.

They have been filming in London for the new Netflix distributed action thriller, which was announced last year.

Here you go: Mark wore a white T-shirt and a cap for his outing in the City of Lights

For the fans: He cracked a smile as he was mobbed by fans during his fleeting break from filming Our Man From Jersey in London

The continued filming of the movie comes after it was reported that police were sent to the sent of the film after what was thought to be a shell casing was found.

The workers on the grounds around the area reportedly found a crushed balloon gas canister there, which looked like a bullet casing.

According the The Mirror, a source explained the incident as 'quite alarming', noting that emergency reinforcements were brought onto the set.

The source told the publication: 'It was quite alarming and there was no hesitation in phoning the police, who arrived quite promptly.'

Gift: Mark handed over some free shoes to a waiting fan

In demand: The star was mobbed by fans as he headed into the street

Scotland Yard also commented to the publication, saying: 'Police were called to reports of an item, described as a bullet casing.

'It was found to be a crushed balloon gas canister and was disposed of by officers,' they explained.

The canister was allegedly found in South East London at in Camberwell Green magistrates court.

Representatives for Halle and Mark have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.

Halle and Mark have been spotted filming in London numerous times over the past couple of weeks - with more details on the film yet to be released.

IMDB describes the plot of the film as: 'Mike, a down-to-earth construction worker from Jersey, is quickly thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school ex-girlfriend Roxanne recruits him on a high-stakes US intelligence mission.'

The stars were snapped recently as they shot a dramatic scene on Albert Bridge, which saw extras dressed as armed police on bikes while a helicopter hovered inches away from the bridge.

While other images from last month showed Halle as she drove a vintage car with a red soft top, with Mark jumping in the passengers seat.

The movie is set to air via Netflix, with Halle building ties with the streaming platform after recently working with them for the premiere of her 2021 directorial debut Bruised there.
Hamish Blake has revealed the real reason he was invited on his wife's birthday trip to Italy - to be a cameraman.

The comedian, 40, shared a snap of his beauty guru wife Zoe Foster Blake and a group of their friends standing in front of a stunning Italian backdrop.

In the selfie, Hamish clutched two phones and camera, while the group of women posed in the background.

Hamish Blake has revealed the real reason he was invited on his wife's birthday trip to Italy - to be a cameraman

'Im lucky enough to be on my wifes belated 40th Girls Trip to Italy and dont worry,' he wrote.

'I know exactly where I stand (off camera, 3 metres away with the sun behind me, taking at least 5 options per photo, per phone),' he added.

Hamish shares two children with Zoe, son Sonny, eight, and daughter Rudy.

'The only guiding philosophy I've ever had is it's always worth trying to have fun with what you're doing,' he advised. Pictured with wife Zoe

While Hamish and Zoe are known for having one of the strongest marriages in Australian showbiz, Hamish says their relationship isn't as perfect as it may seem.

'Like anyone else, we have all the ups and downs that marriages have,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald recently.

While his life may not be perfect, Hamish said he has always faced tough times with a sense of playfulness and fun.

At the Logie Awards earlier this month, Hamish delivered a touching tribute to his wife and kids while accepting his Gold Logie on the Gold Coast. Pictured at the awards ceremony

'The only guiding philosophy I've ever had is it's always worth trying to have fun with what you're doing,' he advised.

'If you're applying effort to having fun and creating something, and trying to spread a good feeling around the world, that's always effort well spent.'

At the Logie Awards earlier this month, Hamish delivered a touching tribute to his wife and kids while accepting his Gold Logie on the Gold Coast.

Hamish's momentous win comes after Zoe pocketed $89million by selling a 50.1 per cent controlling stake of her Go-To skincare company to beauty giant BWX in August last year

'My beautiful wife, this is... you don't get to stand up here unless you have amazing people behind you. You're the most amazing of people,' he said.

In true Hamish style, the funnyman joked: 'You stole my look for tonight. I had to quickly find this. Apart from that, I think you do it better anyway. Thank you, honey.

'And I would also like to thank, you know, little shout-out to our kids. My kids are the favourite of all kids. They can't be here. They got last minute fake IDs and gone clubbing.'

'But I know they'll watch this tomorrow when I make them on YouTube,' he quipped.

'So to my kids winning an award is nice. But the greatest prize is to be your dad. You're the most important.'

Hamish's momentous win comes after Zoe pocketed $89million by selling a 50.1 per cent controlling stake of her Go-To skincare company to beauty giant BWX in August last year.

Zoe, a former magazine journalist and author, established the brand in 2014, and generated $36.8million in revenue in 2020 alone.

She had an estimated net worth of $36million in November 2020, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review at the time.

Hamish and Zoe married in 2012. The couple are parents to two children: son Sonny and daughter Rudy (all pictured)
She launched her haircare brand in the U.S. back in 2019.

And on Wednesday, Tracee Ellis Ross, 49, dazzled in a vibrant orange midi dress as she washed her hair in front of guests at the UK launch of Pattern Beauty in London.

The Blackish star smiled happily as she showcased her shampoo and conditioner routine live beneath a shower to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Demonstration: On Wednesday, Tracee Ellis Ross, 49, dazzled in orange as she washed her hair in front of guests at the UK launch of Pattern Beauty in London

Tracee's stunning Rushes raffia knit frock from Aje boasted a multi layer tasselled skirt from thigh level, while the rest of the dress was elegantly simple.

The actress teamed the sleeveless number with a coordinating pair of pointed stiletto heels for her launch bash.

Completing her look, Tracee accessorised with chunky orange hoop earrings and a slick of matching lipstick.

While washing her hair beneath a shower, Tracee switched into a similarly coloured strappy swimsuit.

Gorgeous: Tracee's stunning Rushes raffia knit frock from Aje boasted a multi layer tasselled skirt from thigh level, while the rest of the dress was elegantly simple

Showering: The Blackish star smiled happily as she showcased her shampoo and conditioner routine live to demonstrate its effectiveness

Fashionista: The actress teamed the sleeveless number with a coordinating pair of pointed stiletto heels for her launch bash

Back in 2019, Tracee discussed her journey with beauty and the struggle she faced getting her company on shelves while gracing the cover of Glamour.

Growing up, she said, 'Sadly, there were not a ton of images, outside of my family, of people who looked like me.'

'I grew up around hair, I mean, look at my mother' she said giving credit to her icon mother Diana Ross. 'I look back on photographs of myself when I was young [with big hair] and I think gosh, I took the long route to get back there.'

'I went through those teenage years when everybody is searching to figure out who they are and all of a sudden become so aware of how they look,' the Black-ish star added. 'How they are seen, whats cool, whats in.'

It was not seeing representation in the industry that began her 'contentious relationship' with beauty.

On brand: While washing her hair beneath a shower, Tracee switched into a similarly coloured strappy swimsuit

Stunning: Completing her look, Tracee accessorised with chunky orange hoop earrings and a slick of matching lipstick

Ellis said 'the culture of beauty that was around me, but didnt make space for me. As a result, I tried to beat my hair into submission to do what I thought it should do. I straightened it, I dyed it, I fried it.'

All of which led her to create Pattern, that caters to 3B-4C hair types (curly, coily and textured hair types).

'My initial reasoning for wanting to make these products was absolutely selfish. I was like, "I need these, where are they?" she said of creating the brand.

She found roadblocks to creating the brand and that she was 'running up against many of the things that were exactly what made me feel bad about myself.'

The actress found people questioning her credibility on the hair industry. To which she believes 'like many women of colour and people with curly hair, have become our best experts because the industry has not supported us.'

Though she still find that women of colour face 'an underestimation in terms of our worth, our deservingness and our beauty.'
Former One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton has revealed how undergoing an 'abortion' helped her to overcome infertility struggles and enabled her to conceive a second child - as she hit out at the Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v. Wade.

The 39-year-old took to Instagram on Tuesday to speak out about the fertility struggles she faced while trying to have a second child with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan, revealing that she had to undergo a D&C procedure - which she referred to as an abortion - after suffering a miscarriage.

She explained that the termination enabled her 'uterus to heal', which in turn paved the way for her to safely conceive and carry her now-four-year-old daughter George.

'This is my child. My beloved. My daughter,' she began her post, which featured a sweet picture of her daughter. 'It is no secret I struggled with infertility. Losing multiple pregnancies before her was traumatic.

Fighting back: Actress Hilarie Burton has spoken out about her abortion experience as she decried the overruling of Roe v. Wade

'My beloved. My daughter': The One Tree Hill star said getting an abortion after a miscarriage help her womb to heal so she could carry her now four-year-old daughter George (pictured)

'But female bodies are all different and unpredictable. Having an abortion after my fetus died allowed for my uterus to heal in a way that made it healthy enough to carry future pregnancies.'

Dilation and Curretage (known as D&C) is the most common method of early abortion. The minor surgery involves a gentle aspiration of the pregnancy tissue and possibly a mild scraping of the uterine cavity to ensure its completeness.

A D&C procedure is considered safe and will not affect the patient's ability to get pregnant in the future. It is most often recommended to women who miscarry between ten and 12 weeks, and to any patients who have suffered an incomplete miscarriage.

The procedures are most often carried out in order to ensure that the miscarriage does not cause any complications like infection or hemorrhaging. However, the APA also notes that the process can help some women to begin emotional healing after losing a child.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, around 50 per cent of women who lose a baby in the first few months of pregnancy have to undergo the procedure, and it is more likely to be necessary if the baby was lost after ten weeks.

It differs from a Dilate and Evacuation (D&E) which is done in the second trimester and involves the patients cervix being dilated, before suction is used to remove the fetus. While a surgical abortion removes a pregnancy using medication and small dilating sticks, called Laminaria, other special instruments, and vacuum curettage.

The White Collar star continued: 'It doesn't matter if you use the term D&C. The official word on the hospital paperwork is abortion. That's what it was.'

Burton went on to say the 'painful day' would have been 'worse' if abortions were illegal and if she'd had to have 'law enforcement inspect my body to make sure I hadn't caused my own miscarriage'.

'Cause that's what's coming,' she warned. 'It's already happened. It was commonplace before #roevwade.'

Speaking out: Burton insisted her pregnancy loss experience would have been made 'worse' without Roe v. Wade

All smiles: The White Collar star also shares 12-year-old son, Augustus, with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan

The Drama Queens podcast host added: 'Row V Wade protected my rights as a woman to have miscarriages without scrutiny. Now I know a lot of you have miscarried. You've written me to tell me about it.

'Think about every loss and then compound it by knowing that the Supreme Court just said it's okay for states to look at you as a murder suspect in that situation. Your miscarriage will make you a murder suspect.'

The former MTV host then concluded: 'I can't say this clearly enough or shout it loud enough. I only have my daughter because of my abortion.

'So f*** you very much to the Supreme Court. And f** you to the ignorant right wing extremists who want my daughter to have fewer rights than what I was born with. #wewillnotgoback.'

Candid couple: Burton and Morgan have previously spoken out about the infertility struggles they faced when trying for a second child

Their miracle baby: Burton first revealed she was expecting her second child in September 2017

Familiar face: Burton found fame starring in One Tree Hill alongside (L-R) Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush, James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz

The Rural Diaries author, who is also the mother of son Augustus, 12, has been vocal about her pregnancy losses over the years.

When George was born, Burton revealed that she and The Walking Dead star Morgan, 56, had spent five years trying to expand their family.

'When this pregnancy started, we were cautious,' she wrote on Instagram at the time. 'I didn't want to celebrate for fear of jinxing it. I didn't want a baby shower. I checked her heartbeat every day, up until the day she was born.'

Burton's revelation came as former The Hills star Lauren Conrad, 36, also opened up about receiving 'lifesaving reproductive care' for an ectopic pregnancy.

The mother-of-two explained she suffered the potentially life-threatening loss - which occurs a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus - while trying to start a family with husband William Tell, 42.

Sharing experiences: Former The Hills star Lauren Conrad also opened up about her own experience with 'lifesaving reproductive care'; Conrad pictured in March

In her own life: Along with being moved by the stories of women online, Conrad said that plenty of women in her own life have 'had their own experiences with abortion' over the years. 'I am so grateful that in each case they were able to safely receive the healthcare they needed and were free to make their own decisions,' wrote the fashion designer

Motherhood: Approximately a year after her ectopic pregnancy, Conrad gave birth to her first child, son Liam James, in 2017. Two years later, she and her husband welcomed their second son, Charlie Wolf

'Six years ago, while trying to start our family, I had an ectopic pregnancy. Due to the prompt medical care doctors saved my Fallopian tubes, allowing me to have two healthy pregnancies,' Conrad explained on Instagram.

Approximately a year after her ectopic pregnancy, Lauren gave birth to her first child, son Liam James, in 2017. Two years later, she and her husband welcomed their second son, Charlie Wolf.

The TV star said she felt inspired to share her story after reading of another woman's near-fatal experience with an ectopic pregnancy after the shocking reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Friday's controversial ruling saw the Supreme Court end constitutional protections for abortion that have been in place for nearly 50 years by deciding to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and hand back power to individual states to decide whether or not to permit the procedure.

The vote was 5-4 to scrap Roe, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing separately to say he would have upheld the Mississippi law but not taken the additional step of erasing the precedent altogether.

Big decision: Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo. Sitting L-R: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Standing L-R: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Changes: Thirteen states were set to enact historic law or impose new restrictions on abortions if Roe v. Wade was ever overturn

At the same time, the court voted 6-3 to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks, with very few medical exceptions.

The justices held that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb - between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy - was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.

A total of 13 states - Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming - have adopted so-called 'trigger laws' that banned abortion virtually immediately.

The decision means that women with unwanted pregnancies in large swathes of America will now face the choice of traveling to another state where the procedure remains legal and available, buying abortion pills online or having a potentially dangerous illegal abortion.

The court's ruling, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump.

Many celebrities have since spoken out to share their horror over the landmark decision, including Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Amy Schumer, Busy Philipps, Bette Midler, Hailey Bieber, and Sophie Turner.
Rumours are swirling Reece Hawkins has split from his model wife London Goheen, almost two years after they secretly tied the knot.

The couple haven't been pictured together on social media since they travelled to Mexico with their son Stone in March.

London also appears to not be wearing her engagement ring in her recent Instagram selfie at the gym.

Is this the end of their romance? Reece Hawkins and his model wife London Goheen spark split rumours as they haven't been pictured together for three months

The couple haven't been commenting or liking on one another's social media posts, however they still follow each other on Instagram.

The most recent image Reece shared of himself with his wife London was posted on March 13.

Reece Hawkins and London Goheen have been contacted for comment.

The couple haven't been pictured together on social media since they travelled to Mexico with their son Stone in March

The couple are proud parents to son Stone, who they welcomed in March 2021.

Reece is also father to two children with his ex-fiance Tammy Hembrow - son Wolf and daughter Saskia.

Three months after their split in 2018, Reece debuted his new romance with London.

London also appears to not be wearing her engagement ring in her recent Instagram selfie at the gym

The couple announced they engagement in September 2020, just weeks before announcing their baby news.

In December 2020, it was revealed London and Reece had secretly married after he referred to her as his 'wife' on social media.

Meanwhile, Tammy recently welcomed her third child with her fiance Matt Poole.
JoJo Siwa has confirmed that she has rekindled her relationship with girlfriend Kylie Prew and revealed that they are 'setting new boundaries' to make it work.

The 19-year-old Nickelodeon star opened up about how it feels to get back together with her ex with People magazine on Wednesday.

As the two split back in October, she explained: 'It's really nice. It's good to have people that have your best interest around you, and she really does have mine.'

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Back on! JoJo Siwa has confirmed that she has rekindled her relationship with girlfriend Kylie Prew and revealed that they are 'setting new boundaries' to make it work, as they are seen at the Pride Parade in West Hollywood earlier this month

JoJo was asked if she and Kylie have had a different approach to their relationship this time around.

The JoJo Goes star replied: 'Oh yeah, definitely, and still as we go. We're still learning things, setting new boundaries, releasing boundaries... all the normal things.'

Earlier this month the couple were seen packing on the PDA as they participated in the Pride Parade in West Hollywood.

Aww: The 19-year-old Nickelodeon star opened up about how it feels to get back together with her ex with People magazine on Wednesday

'We're still learning things, setting new boundaries, releasing boundaries... all the normal things': Earlier this month the couple were seen packing on the PDA as they participated in the Pride Parade in West Hollywood

Back in May, she posted a snap of herself cuddled up with Kylie and the caption: 'If you love something let it go, if it comes back. [heart emoji]'

Just days before that the two had not confirmed they were back together but certainly hinted at it as they held hands during a trip to Walt Disneyworld.

The star's dad Tom posted a gallery of snaps from their trip to the iconic theme park in Orlando, Florida on .

Back in May, she posted a snap of herself cuddled up with Kylie and the caption: 'If you love something let it go, if it comes back. [heart emoji]'

One of the images saw Kylie, JoJo, and Tom holding hands together as they galivanted around the park together.

There were also several selfies of the trio together on the rides as Tom captioned the gallery to his near 84K followers: 'Ride partners...'

There have been rumors of a reconciliation between the two for weeks as last week JoJo chose to stay mum on the matter while admitting she should have asked her partner 'what she wanted' her to say in public.

Back together? Just days before that the two had not confirmed they were back together but certainly hinted at it as they held hands during a trip to Walt Disneyworld

Bond: The 18-year-old Nickelodeon star's dad Tom posted a gallery of snaps from their trip to the iconic theme park in Orlando, Florida on Sunday

There were also several selfies of the trio together on the rides as Tom captioned the gallery to his near 84K followers: 'Ride partners...'

Peace: The trio seemed happy on the bonding outing

Interring: There have been rumors of a reconciliation between the two for weeks as last week JoJo chose to stay mum on the matter while admitting she should have asked her partner 'what she wanted' her to say in public

'I mean, listen, I will [answer this] one day,' she told Extra after she was asked if she was back with Prew.

'I'm not saying yes or no I should have told her I was doing press today and asked her what she wanted me to say,' added the teen.

Although JoJo is keeping tight lipped, she recently admitted she was 'very much so in love' and added she was 'really lucky that [she's] loved unconditionally'.

Now, she said: 'It would be really nice if she was at my home. We're long distance, which is always hard.

'She is the best, and FaceTimes and when we do actually get to see each other, my heart is just like

'I mean, listen, I will [answer this] one day,' she told Extra after she was asked if she was back with Prew (they are seen together in September)

'I felt like for a while my puzzle piece was just like scrambled eggs and I feel like I finally started to put my puzzle back together, and I feel like there was that one piece that was missing and she was that one piece. Like that corner piece that you just needed.'

Last month, the former Dancing With The Stars contestant revealed she is 'not single' and described herself as a 'loyal lady' when she's in a relationship.

She confirmed: 'We're not single. I say 'we're' because it's me and my multiple personalities within myself I am not single and I don't want to mingle. No, I'm a loyal lady.'

Last month, the former Dancing With The Stars contestant revealed she is 'not single' and described herself as a 'loyal lady' when she's in a relationship, as JoJo and Kylie are seen together in an Instgram post from last year

She also said: 'I was gonna erase my whole bio but just put the lock [emoji],' to which Rachel Uncensored host Rachel Ballinger replied: 'She's exclusive, ladies and gentleman.'

Back in October it was reported that JoJo and Kylie had broken up after a year of dating.

Their last Instagram post together came on September 25, 2021 as JoJo wished their shared puppy a 'happy daughter's day.'

The pair first met on a cruise ship and were friends for a year before things became romantic in early 2021. 'After being my best friend for over a year, January 8 2021 I got to start calling this exceptional human my Girlfriend,' she gushed in a post in February.

Last post: Their last Instagram post together came on September 25

In January 2021, JoJo came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and talked about Kylie and conversation about defining and unpacking her sexuality in an April interview.

'I still don't know what I am. It's like, I want to figure it out. And I have this joke. Her name is Kylie. And so I say that I'm Ky-sexual,' she told PEOPLE.

At the time she also gushed: 'She [Kylie] never cares what the internet said about us,' as she spoke about acclimating to being publicly out. 'It's nice to have somebody in my life like that.'
Gigi Hadid swept her luxurious blonde locks into a high bun while stepping out for a breath of fresh air in New York this week.

The 27-year-old previously faked a shaved-head look while walking the runway for the Marc Jacobs Fall 2022 show on Monday.

While stepping out this Wednesday, however, she showed off her real-life full head of hair and proved the catwalk do had been only an illusion.

Now and then: Gigi Hadid swept her luxurious blonde locks into a high bun while out in New York (left) two days after faking a shaved head on the Marc Jacobs runway (right)

For her latest outing Gigi slipped into a clinging blue and white crop top that offered a glimpse of her enviably taut midriff.

She complemented the top by slipping into a high-waisted pair of fashionably torn blue jeans for her latest outing in the city that never sleeps.

Gigi, whose little sister Bella has also become a model, brought the look together by throwing an open powder blue shirt over her t-shirt.

Sweeping her luxurious hair up into a large high bun, the Los Angeles-born fashionista accentuated her screen siren features with makeup.

Looking fab: While stepping out this Wednesday, however, she showed off her real-life full head of hair and proved the catwalk do had been only an illusion

The daughter of former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid warded off the summertime rays with a gleaming pair of sunglasses.

Gigi and her little sister Bella both walked the Marc Jacobs Fall 2022 show at the New York Public Library in Monday.

They appeared to have fallen back on the help of prosthetics to make themselves appear as though the sides of their heads were shaved.

She is the proud daughter of a one-year-old daughter called Khai, whom she shares with her ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik of One Direction fame.

When you got it: The 27-year-old slipped into a clinging blue and white crop top that offered a glimpse of her enviably taut midriff

Gigi has had an on-off relationship with Zayn reportedly since 2015 and they welcomed their little girl in September 2020.

News of their latest breakup went public last October amid Zayn's explosive falling-out with Gigi's reality star mother Yolanda.

Zayn and Yolanda allegedly had an altercation in September, and though he denied claims he was physically violent, he pled no contest to four harassment charges.

He was barred from having any contact with Yolanda or the security guard who saw the purported incident, and he was also officially required to complete an anger management course as well as 360 days probation.

Aglow: Sweeping her luxurious hair up into a large high bun, the Los Angeles-born fashionista accentuated her screen siren features with makeup

Swanking about: The daughter of former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid warded off the summertime rays with a gleaming pair of sunglasses

The fracas reportedly started when Yolanda entered Gigi and Zayn's Pennsylvania home without Zayn's permission while Gigi was in Paris for work.

Zayn was accused of having pushed Yolanda into a dresser and calling her a 'f***ing Dutch s***,' demanding she keep away from the baby.

It was also claimed he called Gigi and said: 'Strap on some f***ing balls and defend your partner against your f***ing mother in my house.'
Rebel Wilson and girlfriend Ramona Agruma have been enjoying a romantic trip around Europe after going public with their relationship.

And in Turkey on Wednesday the actress, 42, took to Instagram as she enjoyed a soak in their luxurious cave hotel's hot tub.

The star appeared at home at the Museum Hotel in Cappadocia, where suite's cost an eye-popping 2,021 per night.

Luxury: Rebel Wilson soaks in the hot tub of her 2,021 a night Turkish cave hotel on a romantic getaway with girlfriend Ramona Agruma

In the snap Rebel gazed at the camera as her body was submerged in bubbles, her blonde tresses tied high in a bun.

With drinks and snacks to the side, it appeared she was enjoyed a much deserved rest after a busy day of sightseeing.

The Pitch Perfect actress also shared a glimpse of the pair as they posed a top a mountain as they enjoying the spectacular views.

Loved up: The couple have been enjoying a romantic trip around Europe after going public with their relationship

Rebel opted for sailor chic in a nautical inspired blue and white striped T-shirt and white jogging bottoms and trainers.

Meanwhile, Ramona wore for pastel colours with striped shoes and a lilac hoody.

Later the couple enjoyed a romantic dinner as the Bridesmaids star wowed in a gorgeous black dress, hugging every inch of her fantastic figure.

Tourists: The Pitch Perfect actress also shared a glimpse of the pair as they posed a top a mountain as they enjoying the spectacular views

The stylish ensemble featured a stunning lace overlay which Rebel accessorised with a 1,400 Balenciaga bag.

The blonde beauty opted for glamorous make-up as she swept her blonde tresses back from her beautiful face.

Posing up a storm in the gorgeous grounds of their five star hotel, Rebel strutted her stuff in gold heels in a fun clip.

Stunner: The stylish ensemble featured a stunning lace overlay which Rebel accessorised with a 1,400 Balenciaga bag

Model credentials: The blonde beauty opted for glamorous make-up as she swept her blonde tresses back from her beautiful face. Posing up a storm in the gorgeous grounds of their five star hotel, Rebel strutted her stuff in gold heels for the fun clip.

Holidays: She captioned the snaps: 'Ever wanted to sleep and have a bath in an ancient cave? Then go to @museumhotel in Cappadocia such a cool experience!'

She captioned the snaps: 'Ever wanted to sleep and have a bath in an ancient cave? Then go to @museumhotel in Cappadocia such a cool experience!'.

Fashion designer Ramona shared a video of their accommodation to Instagram on Monday.

As well as more clips of the couple cuddling up as they headed off to their dinner date.

Before heading to Turkey, Rebel and Ramona enjoyed a stay on the French Island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea.

The comedic actress, who publicly announced her relationship with Ramona in an Instagram post on June 10, looked absolutely radiant as she posed in a retro-style bikini while taking in the stunning sights on a yacht.

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.

Bikini bod: Before heading to Turkey, Rebel and Ramona enjoyed a stay on the French Island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea

'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.

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.
Hugh Grant has signed up to play the role of Zeus in Charlie Covells mythological epic Kaos for Netflix.

The series, which is due to go into production later this summer, is described as a bold and darkly comic, 'contemporary vision of a mythical world'.

Kaos's plot will follow Greek gods and their schemes, with Hugh, 61, portraying Zeus's insecure and vengeful character.

Acting out: Hugh Grant, 61, has signed up to play the role of Zeus in Charlie Covells mythological epic Kaos for Netflix (pictured in 2020)

The impressive cast will also feature Janet McTeer, David Thewlis, Cliff Curtis, Killian Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Misia Butler, Leila Farzad, Nabhaan Rizwan, Rakie Ayola and Stanley Townsend.

Creator Charlie Covell told Deadline: 'Im absolutely thrilled to be making KAOS, and I cant think of a more exciting or dynamic team of people to bring everything to life.

'Georgi (Banks-Davies) and Runyararo (Mapfumo) are both visionary directors with pleasingly dark senses of humour  Im delighted to be working with them both,.

Playing the part: Kaos's plot will follow Greek gods and their schemes, with Hugh, 61, portraying Zeus's insecure and vengeful character (pictured in April 2021)

'I believe Im still in shock at the news that Hugh Grant has agreed to play Zeus  this was my dream.

'Hes leading a stupendous cast of actors and were extremely honoured to have them all on board. I cant wait for filming to begin.'

It comes after Hugh and Melissa McCarthy were named among the A-list cast members of Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story earlier this month.

Comic stars: It comes after Hugh and Melissa McCarthy were named among the A-list cast members of Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story

Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan, James Marsden, Jack McBrayer, Tom Lennon, Adrian Martinez, Bobby Moynihan, Max Greenfield, Christian Slater and Sarah Cooper round out the cast of the movie.

The Netflix film chronicles the invention of the Pop-Tart and is inspired by a joke the comedian once told on stage. Jerry will also be starring in the flick.

A synopsis for the project, which is set in Michigan in 1963, reads: 'Kellogg's and Post, sworn cereal rivals, race to create a pastry that will change the face of breakfast forever. A tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar and menacing milkmen.'

Jerry is directing from a script he has written with Spike Feresten, Andy Robin and Barry Marder. Seinfeld and Feresten are producing the film with Cherylanne Martin, Andy Robin and Marder serving as executive producers.

Explaining the movie, the Seinfeld star said: 'Stuck at home watching endless sad faces on TV, I thought this would be a good time to make something based on pure silliness. So we took my Pop-Tart stand-up bit from my last Netflix special and exploded it into a giant, crazy comedy movie.'
President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wait for the beginning of their trilateral summit on the sidelines of the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit at Ifema Convention Center in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



MADRID  The leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed on Wednesday to step up pressure on North Korea, whose nuclear and missile programs have posed a growing threat to international security.



They shared the need for close consultation in trilateral security cooperation and strengthening the U.S.' extended deterrence for its allies. Extended deterrence refers to Washington's commitment to provide its nuclear capabilities to defend its allies.



The three countries agreed on the need for three-way cooperation during a trilateral summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday (local time).



The last trilateral summit was held in New York in September of 2017.



"With North Korea's nuclear missile threat escalating and uncertainties growing, the importance of trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan has been increasing," Yoon said during the summit. "The summit shows the three countries' commitment to intensify trilateral cooperation to solve regional and global problems."



Biden said trilateral cooperation is very important to achieve their shared goals, including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a free and open Indo-Pacific. He said concerns remain over North Korea resuming its nuclear weapons test.



Kishida also noted that the trilateral cooperation and stronger U.S. extended deterrence are essential as chances increase of additional North Korean provocations. The Japanese prime minister added that the three countries will jointly respond to North Korea's nuclear test through measures including a joint military exercise, adding that Japan wants to enhance its defense capability to strengthen the deterrence of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.



The presidential office said in a statement that the leaders agreed that a growing threat from North Korea not only endangered the Korean Peninsula, but also East Asia and the entire world.



The trilateral summit took place following a policy shift in South Korea toward North Korea after Yoon was inaugurated on May 10. Departing from the previous Moon Jae-in administration's conciliatory stance toward the North, the Yoon government pledged to take a more quid-pro-quo approach toward the belligerent regime.



"During the summit, President Yoon maintained the stance that North Korea's nuclear ambitions are a common threat for South Korea, the U.S. and Japan," an official at the presidential office told reporters.



To strengthen trilateral cooperation, the South Korean leader also seeks to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations.











President Yoon Suk-yeol answers questions from the press as he enters the Ifema Congress Center in Madrid, Spain, to attend the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps



During a gala dinner at the NATO Summit, Tuesday, Yoon had a brief conversation with the Japanese prime minister and expressed his hopes for future-oriented developments in bilateral relations.



"After Japan's upcoming upper house elections, I and my aides plan to resolve issues that stand in the way of improving Seoul-Tokyo ties as soon as possible to establish future-oriented bilateral relations," Yoon was quoted by the presidential office as saying to Kishida.



The presidential office said Kishida appreciated Yoon's words and added that the Japanese leader is aware of the fact that the South Korean president is making efforts to improve bilateral ties and that he, too, hopes for healthier relations between the two countries.





President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a four-way meeting between the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand on the sidelines of the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday (local time). Clockwise from top left are Yoon, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Yonhap



Their exchange of cordial remarks continued in a four-way meeting between NATO's Asia-Pacific partner countries  South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand  on Wednesday. During the meeting, the four leaders acknowledged that the four-way summit is timely and meaningful as they share values and vision for the region.



Kishida said any action to change the status quo by force is unacceptable, noting that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is one such incident that broke the rules and challenged international order. The Japanese leader said he would like to discuss Indo-Pacific issues with the three other leaders and look for ways to work together. Yoon nodded in agreement as the Japanese leader spoke.



Yoon told reporters after the four-way talks that he is "convinced that Prime Minister Kishida is a partner who can together resolve pending issues between South Korea and Japan."





President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during their summit at a hotel in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday (local time). Yonhap
Elizabeth Olsen surprised fans last year when she casually let it slip that she had tied the knot with fiance Robbie Arnett.

However, during a joint appearance with Robbie on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show, the 33-year-old actress revealed that she and the 30-year-old musician have actually been married longer than was previously thought.

'We never really talked much about our marriage,' the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star said when asked if the pair got married during lockdown.

Secret wedding: Elizabeth Olsen recently revealed that she and husband Robbie Arnett eloped prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seen in 2019

She continued, 'We eloped, and then we had a wedding at another time, but it was before COVID.'

'Yeah,' Robbie agreed with a nod.

'I just never talked about it,' the Wandavision performer added.

Elizabeth: 'We eloped, and then we had a wedding at another time, but it was before COVID'

Elizabeth went on to say that it was lucky that the two wed before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing travel restrictions.

'I had to work in England and there are visa issues with that,' she explained to hosts Jess Cagle and Julia Cunningham. 'So we luckily timed things out really well.'

'Otherwise, you would have had to like, what? Smuggle Robbie over the border?' Julia joked.

'He wouldn't have been able to come at all actually,' Elizabeth replied. 'And also everything was so backed up. You couldn't even like try to get married then. But it ended up working out.'

Good timing: Elizabeth went on to say that it was lucky that the two wed before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic since she had to work in England and it was easier for Robbie to come with her. Seen in 2018

The Emmy Award nominee and the Milo Greene member met while they were both vacationing in Mexico in February 2017.

They went public with their romance in September 2017 and got engaged in July 2019.

In June 2021, Elizabeth sparked speculation that she had secretly married when she referred Robbie as her 'husband' in an interview.

The actress dropped the big news during a chat with Kaley Cuoco for Variety's Actors on Actors series.

Olsen explained that she was doing the interview from her bathroom due to construction noises and sweetly called her 'husband' Robbie a 'f**king cutie'.

Meet cute: The Emmy Award nominee and the Milo Greene member met while they were both vacationing in Mexico in February 2017. Sen in 2018

She said: 'I'm in a bathroom. I've been in the U.K. for seven months, and I got back two days ago, and my neighbor is doing so much construction to their backyard. I can still hear it, and I'm in the furthest bathroom.'

She added: 'I also just noticed that my husband put Little Miss Magic, you know, the Little Miss books? They're these classic books, but magic because of WandaVision, because he's such a f**king cutie.'

After Elizabeth's revelation, UsWeekly reported that 'multiple sources' had confirmed that she and Robbie quietly said 'I do' in 2020.

Oops: In June 2021, Elizabeth sparked speculation that she had secretly married when she referred Robbie as her 'husband' in an interview. The actress dropped the big news during a chat with Kaley Cuoco for Variety's Actors on Actors series

The couple shared a love of books and recently co-authored a children's book titled Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective.

The picture book tells the story of Hattie, a cat who helps calm her friends' jitters on the first day of school.

During the duo's interview on SiriusXM, Elizabeth explained that she and Robbie wrote the book with the goal of teaching kids ways to manage their own anxieties.

'Our hope is that because kids will be able to, hopefully identify it in themselves, then they can maybe have a bit more empathy or compassion for someone who's acting a bit surprising in their class,' the California native said.

'And they don't really know how to manage it, but maybe they have a bit more compassion for that other person because they have the tools themselves. So like that would be, you know, the dream.'
Stacey Solomon reunited with fiance Joe Swash on Wednesday as he returned from his boozy stag-do in Ibiza.

The former EastEnders star, 40, enjoying champagne fuelled pool parties with his pals during a trip to the notorious party island, after his bride-to-be begged him to be sensible.

But Stacey, 32, appeared to be in high spirits as she welcomed her partner home while sharing a video with her 5.3million Instagram followers.

Stacey Solomon, 32, seemed in high spirits on Wednesday as she welcomed her fiance Joe Swash, 40, home from his stag do in Ibiza as she shared a sweet video on Instagram

In the clip Joe was seen picking up and cuddling their son Rex, three, and eight-month-old daughter Rose who seemed overjoyed to be reunited with their dad.

The former soap star landed back in the UK in the earlier hours of the morning and got home at 4am when everyone was fast to sleep.

Stacey wrote: 'Joe got back yesterday at 4am. So we spent the day having cuddles. Rex was sooooo excited!'

Joe was seen picking up and cuddling their son Rex, three, and eight-month-old daughter Rose (pictured) who seemed overjoyed to be reunited with their dad

She added: 'And I caught up on all of the topless, wild girl talking antics.

During Joe's boozy celebrations in the sunshine, he was joined by EastEnders actor Dean Gaffney, comedian Rob Becket and ex-TOWIE star Ricky Rayment.

While at celeb hot spot Ocean Beach Club the former I'm A Celeb star clearly loved being centre of attention as a group of swimsuit clad hostesses held up signs which read 'SWASHY' while offering out champagne.

Exciting: The former soap star landed back in the UK in the earlier hours of the morning and got home at 4am when everyone was fast to sleep

Stacey caption: 'And I caught up on all of the topless, wild girl talking antics,' followed by a laughing emoji

The shirtless husband-to-be enthusiastically clapped, danced around and laughed with glee as the fun moment was caught on camera.

Elsewhere, Joe was filmed talking on his phone, looking a little worse-for-wear after drinking in the sunshine with his friends.

For his flight to Ibiza, Joe was dressed in a mock I'm a Celebrity campmate outfit, following his successful 2008 stint on the show, which saw him crowned King of The Jungle.

Ibiza stag do! on Friday, topless Joe enjoyed a champagne fuelled pool party at celeb hot spot Ocean Beach Club, to kick off Ibiza stag do with his famous pals

'I'm so nervous!' Meanwhile, back in England, Joe's bride-to-be Stacey Solomon begged him to not 'do anything silly' during his stag do

Famous friends: The soap star got boozy in the sunshine at the daytime celebration, with EastEnders actor Dean Gaffney and comedian Rob Becket joining in on the fun

Bright red shorts and socks matched the bandana wrapped around his head, and he wore a khaki green T-shirt to complete the look.

Joe and his pals where then whisked to iconic hotel Wi-ki-Woo in Ibiza, where they partied late into the night following their time at Ocean Beach Club.

Meanwhile, back in England, Joe's bride-to-be Stacey Solomon begged him to not 'do anything silly' during his stag do.

Loving life: Joe clearly loved being centre of attention as a group of swimsuit clad hostesses held up signs which read 'SWASHY' while offering out champagne

Calling home? Elsewhere, Joe was filmed talking on his phone, looking a little worse-for-wear after drinking in the sunshine with his friends

Taking to her Instagram Stories on Friday, she uploaded a video in which she admitted: 'Joe went really early this morning and I've just been on edge ever since.

'I know he's not silly but I worry about random people around him. You know when you think ''please don't do anything silly.''

'My dad's a liability. All of you are like ''oh don't worry your dad will look after him''. He's the biggest liability of them all. I'm so nervous!'

Costume! Joe was dressed in a mock I'm a Celebrity campmate outfit, following his successful 2008 stint on the show, which saw him crowned King of The Jungle
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Travis Barker was 'hospitalized for pancreatitis' after undergoing colonoscopy that 'triggered' the condition, it has been revealed.

The 46-year-old Blink-182 drummer remains under medical care at at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, where his new wife Kourtney Kardashian is by his side.

According to TMZ, Travis' doctors believe that his pancreatitis - which is an inflammation of the pancreas - was 'triggered' by a recent colonoscopy.

Sources tell the site that Barker underwent the colonoscopy exam recently; the procedure is usually performed to look for changes in the large intestine and rectum, such as swollen, irritated tissues, polyps or cancer.

However, in very rare cases, a colonoscopy - which involves a long tube being inserted into the rectum - can cause pancreatitis, a condition that usually requires hospitalization and can last for several days or, in some cases, occur over many years.

Symptoms of the condition - which can also be caused by gallstones or chronic and heavy alcohol use - include upper abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.

Revealed: Travis Barker was 'hospitalized for pancreatitis' after undergoing colonoscopy as he remains under care with wife Kourtney Kardashian by his side

Hospital: Travis was taken to a local Los Angeles hospital by ambulance on Tuesday after suffering from a mysterious medical issue

Hospitalized: Travis Barker 's daughter Alabama, 16, has shared a photo of the rocker in hospital, hours after he was rushed in with a mystery illness

The agonizing condition that landed Travis Barker in hospital: What is pancreatitis and how serious is it? Pancreatitis is when the pancreas  a small organ behind the stomach that helps with digestion  becomes inflamed. There are two types of the condition; Acute pancreatitis, which is triggered suddenly and subsides within about a week, and chronic pancreatitis, where the pancreas is inflamed from permanent damage over many years. Acute pancreatitis is often linked to gallstones  which form in the gallbladder by the liver  and drinking too much alcohol. But in rare cases it could also be triggered by a colonoscopy. In one example published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, a 53-year-old woman developed pancreatitis after having a routine colonoscopy to check for possible cancers. Symptoms of acute pancreatitis include: Suddenly suffering severe pain in the center of the abdomen;

Feeling or being sick;

Having a temperature above 100F (38C). Patients suffering from the condition are generally admitted to hospital. Treatment includes being put on an intravenous drip and receiving pain relief. Patients may also be given liquid food through a tube in their stomach and oxygen through tubes in their nose. Most cases of acute pancreatitis see patients discharged from hospital within a few days and recover after about a week. But in some cases patients can suffer severe illnesses which may leave long-term complications. In very rare cases it can prove fatal. About 220,000 people are diagnosed with acute pancreatitis in the U.S. every year, and 80,000 will be diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, figures from the Pancreas Foundation suggest. Source: NHS Advertisement

Meanwhile, a source told PEOPLE on Wednesday that Kourtney 'won't leave his side.'

'Kourtney was worried yesterday. They both were,' the source added. 'Travis was suffering from extreme stomach pain and could barely walk.'

The star was taken to a Los Angeles hospital by ambulance on Tuesday after suffering from the medical issue, with his new wife Kourtney by his side as he arrived at local facility West Hills.

He was later transferred to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in an ambulance - while Kourtney, 43, followed behind in her Range Rover. It was not initially known what condition the rocker was suffering from, however 'multiple sources connected to the family' have now told TMZ that he has been diagnosed with pancreatitis as a result of a colonoscopy.

The procedure can be life-saving treatment as it allows your doctor to check the insides of your colon and rectum for cancer and polyps, which can be early signs of cancer.

However, although it is considered to be a fairly safe exam, it is not without risk and the most common side effect is stomach pain, cramping or the feeling of being bloated afterward. In very rare cases, the procedure can also cause pancreatitis - although there is limited understanding as to how this occurs, according to the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.

The medical journal states that 'pancreatitis should be considered a rare potential complication for patients who develop acute abdominal pain after colonoscopy', adding that the condition will most likely be triggered by 'procedural difficulties' during the procedure, including 'mechanical trauma' to the pancreas.

A colonoscopy is performed using a long, flexible tube called a colonoscope that lets your doctor check the inside of your colon (large intestine).

But as the tool is passed through the splenic flexure, it can cause pressure trauma to the pancreas tail, which can then result in pancreatitis.

The latest reports about Travis' condition come hours after he was pictured being wheeled into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on a gurney - having been transferred to the hospital from local facility West Hills.

Travis was seen lying on the gurney while wearing an all-black outfit, the hood of his sweatshirt raised over his head, with his distinctive tattoos visible on his right hand, which was raised in the air as he was wheeled into the hospital by EMTs.

Kourtney, who was seen walking alongside her husband, was also dressed in all-black and had her hood up over her hair, her face shielded from the public.

Barker also cryptically tweeted, 'God save me,' at 10:45 AM PST on Tuesday morning prompting huge concern among fans before his condition was revealed.

Hours later, Barker's daughter Alabama took to her Instagram Stories to ask his fans to 'Please send your prayers', adding a sad emoji - indicating that her father's condition was quite serious.

She then posted a since-deleted image of herself holding her father's hand as he lay in a hospital bed, captioning the photo - which was shared on TikTok - 'please say a prayer'.

Travis' face wasn't shown in the photo, but he was seen sitting up in a hospital bed and holding his phone. A white medical bracelet could be seen on his right wrist, however Alabama posted a heart emoji over it to hide the rocker's personal information.

Serious: The Blink-182 drummer, 46, arrived at the West Hills hospital on Tuesday with wife Kourtney Kardashian by his side. Doctors apparently deemed the issue so serious that he was later transported to Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Giving thanks: Barker's former stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya posted this message thanking fans on Wednesday

Save: Barker had cryptically tweeted 'God save me,' at 10:45 AM PST on Tuesday morning, before it was revealed what he had been hospitalized for

Prayers: Barker's daughter Alabama, 16, took to her Instagram Stories to ask that her followers 'Please send your prayers' alongside a sad emoji on Tuesday prompting concern among fans

By Wednesday morning however, Alabama appeared to be in better spirits and even took to TikTok again to post a much more light-hearted video of herself dancing for the camera while smiling into the lens.

Still under medical care: Barker is believed to have recently undergone a colonoscopy, that allows your doctor to check the insides of your colon and rectum for cancer and polyps, growths that can be early signs of cancer

However, just moments after sharing the clip, she had deleted it from the video-sharing platform, perhaps out of respect for her father as he remains in the hospital undergoing treatment for his condition.

The rocker's other child - 18-year-old son Landon - has yet to comment on his father's condition, however the teen spent Tuesday night making a guest appearance on-stage alongside Travis' good friend Machine Gun Kelly, as he performed a sell-out show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Landon shared several videos of himself performing Machine Gun Kelly's song Die in California, on which the teenager is featured along with Gunna and Young Thug.

While Landon shared videos from his performance on Tuesday evening, he has yet to address his father's illness at this time.

If the teenager had any serious concerns about his dad's wellbeing, he certainly didn't let it show on Tuesday night, when he also attended an after party for MGK's sold-out show at trendy hotspot Catch Steakhouse.

There, Landon was seen leaving the event hand-in-hand with his new girlfriend, TikTok star Charli D'Amelio, having spent the night partying alongside Machine Gun Kelly, Megan Fox, Avril Lavigne, and Mod Sun.

Machine Gun Kelly also seemed unfazed by his friend Travis' medical issues as he partied the night away - at one point even smashing a champagne flute on his head during a performance at the late-night event.

Kourtney follows: Kourtney followed behind Travis Barker's ambulance in a black Range Rover on Tuesday

Cedars-bound: Travis is seen heading to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via ambulance with wife Kourtney at his side

The rocker was left with blood pouring from his face after hitting himself with the glass while up on stage at the event - where he also shouted out 'I don't give a s***'.

Sharing a video of the moment on Instagram early on Wednesday morning, MGK joked: 'This is where things turned.'

MGK carried on performing and appeared unconcerned by his bleeding face, as he moved onto the next track [My Ex's Best Friend] while members of the crowd passed him tissues to suppress the bleeding.

Following the event, the star left the venue covered in blood and held hands with his supportive partner Megan Fox as she walked close behind him before heading home after the bash.

Travis' medical woes also come just days after his wife Kourtney made a full recovery from her second bout with COVID-19.

She had contracted the virus for a second time in mid-June but had made a full recovery as of last week.

The couple were married just weeks ago in Italy, following a fairytale proposal that was captured on the new Hulu series The Kardashians.

The proposal came exactly one year after they first 'hooked up,' after several years of friendship.
He set the internet aflutter with his first-look image as Ken.

And Ryan Gosling vanished into the role when he was spotted this Wednesday filming the upcoming Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie.

The 41-year-old was all dressed up as a cowboy version of Ken for an energetic scene, at one point clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

There's Ken: Ryan Gosling vanished into the role when he was spotted this Wednesday filming the upcoming Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie

His chiseled features appeared to have been emphasized with makeup in order to play up the movie star's resemblance to a doll.

Even though he was modeling a large beige cowboy hat, his platinum blonde character hair was distinctly visible.

Ryan was filming his latest scene at the beach in Los Angeles, just in the shadow of the city's famous Santa Monica Pier.

He was spotted wearing the same cowboy Ken outfit a week earlier while filming a scene with Margot in Los Angeles.

Unmistakable: The 41-year-old was all dressed up as a cowboy version of Ken for an energetic scene, at one point clenching his fists and gritting his teeth

Ryan's latest sighting comes after his wife Eva Mendes dished that she asked him to bring his Ken underwear home with him - and he agreed.

Social media went wild when Ryan appeared in a first-look image as Ken, showing off his chiseled torso in an open denim vest.

His jeans slid down to reveal an underwear waistband with 'KEN' written across it, in a parody of Calvin Klein undergarments.

Eva called the look 'hysterical' on E!'s Nightly Pop, while confessing that the 'little 14-year-old in me' was privately swooning.

Back in the act: He was spotted wearing the same cowboy Ken outfit a week earlier (pictured) while filming a scene with Margot in Los Angeles

Side by side: Ryan and Margot are pictured this Tuesday shooting their upcoming movie, directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote it with Noah Baumbach

'I actually have that underwear - the Ken underwear. I asked for it,' she spilled. 'I just said: "Just please bring home the Ken underwear. That's all I want."'

Seeing her husband as Ken was 'my teenage dream, for sure. It's so funny because it's like he's playing a character. He's not playing a real person, he's playing a doll.'

He was roundly mocked on social media over the first-look image, with one person marveling: 'how did they mange to make Ryan Gosling not hot?'

'Terrifying': Social media went wild when Ryan appeared in a first-look image as Ken, showing off his chiseled torso in an open denim vest

Reminder: Eva leapt to his defense on The Talk , saying: 'People do know he's not playing a real person, right? He's playing a fake person'

A chorus of social media users applied the word 'terrifying' to the look, with other adjectives including 'horrendous.'

However Eva leapt to his defense on The Talk, saying: 'People do know he's not playing a real person, right? He's playing a fake person.'

She also discussed asking for the Ken underwear, cheekily spilling on the daytime chat show: 'I'm wearing it right now.'

Greta Gerwig is directing the upcoming Barbie movie, having written the screenplay with her husband, the acclaimed filmmaker Noah Baumbach.

Candid: Ryan's latest sighting comes after his wife Eva Mendes dished on E!'s Nightly Pop that she asked him to bring his Ken underwear home with him - and he agreed
Grammy winner Cardi B declared on Wednesday that she wants a tummy tuck nine months after giving birth to her son Wave Set Cephus.

'This stomach, it's giving tummy tuck. Like, it's not bad, but I just don't like this extra little skin,' the Bronx-born 29-year-old - who boasts 230.8M social media followers - admitted via Instastory.

'I am a little heavier than usual, but I don't like it, I want to get rid of it. Like, I think [my son] Wavey, like, did me wrong.

FYI: Grammy winner Cardi B declared on Wednesday that she wants a tummy tuck nine months after giving birth to her son Wave Set Cephus (R, pictured June 13)

'I cannot wait to put out this song and do more things so I can get the f*** out and do my f***ing surgery. I'm over it. Me and surgery goes together bad. Real bad. We go together real bad, b****.'

Ironically, Cardi - who underwent her first boob job at age 18 and her first butt enhancement at age 20 - was sipping on a large coffee drink topped with whipped cream as she complained about her waist line.

Back in 2019, the Cardi Tries producer-star clapped back at fans angry that she postponed two concerts in order to fully recover from her mommy makeover nine months after welcoming her first child.

The Bronx-born 29-year-old - who boasts 230.8M social media followers - admitted via Instastory: 'This stomach, it's giving tummy tuck. Like, it's not bad, but I just don't like this extra little skin'

Cardi continued: 'I am a little heavier than usual, but I don't like it, I want to get rid of it. Like, I think [my son] Wavey, like, did me wrong. 'I cannot wait to put out this song and do more things so I can get the f*** out and do my f***ing surgery. I'm over it'

Self-discipline: Ironically, the Cardi Tries producer-star - who underwent her first boob job at age 18 and her first butt enhancement at age 20 - was sipping on a large coffee drink topped with whipped cream as she complained about her waist line

'[People tell me], "You lazy, you should just work out." I do whatever the f*** I want to do with my body,' Cardi (born Belcalis Almanzar) vented at the time.

'I don't have the time of day like you do. Like, my job as an entertainer is a 24-hour job, bro. So no, I don't have time to work out and I wanted specific things that I know that no matter how much I work out, [will] not get fixed.'

The half-Dominican, half-Trinidadian star and her husband of four years - Grammy nominee Offset - will next celebrate their daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus' fourth birthday on July 10.

'[People tell me], "You lazy, you should just work out." I do whatever the f*** I want to do with my body!' Back in 2019, Cardi clapped back at fans angry that she postponed two concerts in order to fully recover from her mommy makeover nine months after welcoming her first child

The half-Dominican, half-Trinidadian star vented: 'I don't have the time of day like you do. Like, my job as an entertainer is a 24-hour job, bro. So no, I don't have time to work out and I wanted specific things that I know that no matter how much I work out, [will] not get fixed'

Mini-me: Cardi and her husband of four years - Grammy nominee Offset - will next celebrate their daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus' fourth birthday on July 10 (pictured June 20)

But first, this Friday Cardi will drop her new song Hot S***, which features 24-time Grammy winner Kanye 'Ye' West and rapper Lil Durk.

The No Love rapper is next scheduled to perform this Sunday at Pennsylvania's Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.

Cardi will then fly to England to headline Gopuff Delivers Wireless 2022 festivals happening July 8 at London's Finsbury Park and July 9 at Birmingham's The Nec.

Two more days! But first, this Friday the No Love rapper will drop her new song Hot S***, which features 24-time Grammy winner Kanye 'Ye' West and rapper Lil Durk
Just one day after announcing his Presidential run in 2024, shock jock Howard Stern has found a running mate in Bradley Cooper.

The 68-year-old Stern announced on his daily Sirius XM radio program Monday that he would consider running for President in 2024, if the Republican's once again nominate Donald Trump.

During Wednesday's episode, he revealed that Cooper, 47, reached out and congratulated him on his potential Presidential run, when Stern asked if he'd be his running mate, which Cooper apparently immediately accepted.

Running mate: Just one day after announcing his Presidential run in 2024, shock jock Howard Stern has found a running mate in Bradley Cooper

Asked and answered: During Wednesday's episode, he revealed that Cooper, 47, reached out and congratulated him on his potential Presidential run, when Stern asked if he'd be his running mate, which Cooper apparently immediately accepted

Before revealing the name of his running mate, Stern said he was, 'texting back and forth' with someone he was interested in having as his running mate.

'He said I want to congratulate you and you have my vote and we had a very lovely conversation and I said, "How would you feel about being the Vice President?" And you know what he said? "Done!"' Stern said.

'He said, "I'm in, but you know, I'm another white male," and I said, you know, I appreciate you saying that, but I believe you'll be such an asset to the ticket, that I think people would understand,' Stern explained.

Texting: Before revealing the name of his running mate, Stern said he was, 'texting back and forth' with someone he was interested in having as his running mate

Congratulate: 'He said I want to congratulate you and you have my vote and we had a very lovely conversation and I said, "How would you feel about being the Vice President?" And you know what he said? "Done!"' Stern said

His longtime co-host Robin Quivers asked if he has given this, 'great consideration,' and he said, 'I gave as much consideration as I did putting my hat in the ring: almost none,' which made Quivers laugh.

Stern added he was 'shocked' that Cooper wanted in, with Quivers asking if this person should be live with them, but Stern said he didn't want to be bothered because he's shooting a movie.

Stern added that he will, 'bring in the female vote like you wouldn't believe,' before announcing that Cooper is the pick.

Consideration: His longtime co-host Robin Quivers asked if he has given this, 'great consideration,' and he said, 'I gave as much consideration as I did putting my hat in the ring: almost none,' which made Quivers laugh

Wanted in: Stern added he was 'shocked' that Cooper wanted in, with Quivers asking if this person should be live with them, but Stern said he didn't want to be bothered because he's shooting a movie

The news clearly stunned Quivers, who said, 'What? Get out of here! He said he wanted to be Vice President?'

She also asked, 'Does he know what he's saying yes to?' as Stern joked, 'No. I told him I'm announcing it today.'

Quivers also added that when former Hollywood actor-turned-California governor Ronald Reagan ran for President, 'they were like, "That's the guy who acted with a chimp." And now we're gonna have a guy who's played a raccoon,' referencing Cooper's role as Rocket Raccoon in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Stunned: The news clearly stunned Quivers, who said, 'What? Get out of here! He said he wanted to be Vice President?'

Today: She also asked, 'Does he know what he's saying yes to?' as Stern joked, 'No. I told him I'm announcing it today'

Stern added that Cooper, 'didn't even hesitate' to say yes, adding, 'He's a real patriot and a great raccoon. That's our campaign slogan.'

Stern's announcement on Monday seemingly came as a direct response to the Supreme Court overturning the abortion law Roe v. Wade.

'I said to Robin, and I hate to say this, but, but I said to her, "I'm actually gonna probably have to run for president now,"' Stern said.

Patriot and raccoon: Stern added that Cooper, 'didn't even hesitate' to say yes, adding, 'He's a real patriot and a great raccoon. That's our campaign slogan'

Response: Stern's announcement on Monday seemingly came as a direct response to the Supreme Court overturning the abortion law Roe v. Wade

'The problem with most presidents is they have too big of an agenda. The only agenda I would have is to make the country fair again,' he said, adding that one of the top items on his agenda is to eliminate the Electoral College.

'I went into a long-winded speech over the weekend to Robin about how I am going to do the very simple thing that'll set the country straight: One vote, one person, no more of this Electoral College,' Stern said on Monday.

'I'm getting rid of it. And then Robin said, "Well, can you do that as president?" And I said, "I don't know, let's find out!"' he added.

Agenda: 'The problem with most presidents is they have too big of an agenda. The only agenda I would have is to make the country fair again,' he said, adding that one of the top items on his agenda is to eliminate the Electoral College

Electoral college: 'I went into a long-winded speech over the weekend to Robin about how I am going to do the very simple thing that'll set the country straight: One vote, one person, no more of this Electoral College,' Stern said on Monday

Stern also wants to appoint more Supreme Court justices, adding, 'As soon as I become president, you're gonna get five new Supreme Court justices that are going to overturn all this bulls**t.'

This would not be Stern's first foray into politics, having run for New York Governor under the Libertarian Party ticket in 1994.

He ultimately dropped out of the race after refusing to disclose his personal finances.

It's also worth noting that Stern signed a new five-year deal with Sirius XM in December 2020 that runs until the end of 2025.

Supreme Court: Stern also wants to appoint more Supreme Court justices, adding, 'As soon as I become president, you're gonna get five new Supreme Court justices that are going to overturn all this bulls**t'
US President Joe Biden thanked Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for dropping his objections to Sweden and Finland's membership of NATO

Turkey said Wednesday it would seek the extradition of 33 alleged Kurdish militants and coup plot suspects from Sweden and Finland under a deal to secure Ankara's support for the Nordic countries' NATO membership bids.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped weeks of resistance to Sweden and Finland joining NATO after crunch talks ahead of Wednesday's NATO summit in Madrid, focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Erdogan emerged from Tuesday's talks declaring victory, after securing a 10-point agreement under which the two countries vowed to join Turkey's fight against banned Kurdish militants and to swiftly extradite suspects.

Turkey put the deal to the immediate test by announcing that it would seek the extradition of 12 suspects from Finland and 21 from Sweden.

"We ask them to fulfil their promises," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a statement.

The unnamed suspects were identified as being members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a group led by a US-based Muslim preacher that Erdogan blames for a failed 2016 coup attempt.

The European Union and Washington both recognise the PKK as a "terrorist" organisation because of the brutal tactics it employed during a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

But the agreement also stipulates that Sweden and Finland vow to "not provide support" to the YPG -- a PKK offshoot in Syria that played an instrumental role in the US-led alliance against the Islamic State group.

Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and were formally invited into the alliance at Wednesday's summit in Madrid.

- 'Got what it wanted' -

Their applications had appeared to be headed for swift approval until Erdogan stepped in.

The Turkish leader accused Finland and particularly Sweden of providing a haven to Kurdish fighters and financing terror.

Erdogan also wanted the two countries to lift arms embargoes they imposed in response to Turkey's 2019 military incursion into Syria.

The non-binding memorandum covers many of Erdogan's concerns.

It restores full arms exports and pledges to "address Turkey's pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly".

"Finland and Sweden commit to prevent activities of the PKK and all other terrorist organisations and their extensions, as well as activities by individuals... linked to these terrorist organisations," it adds.

Erdogan's office hailed the agreement as a full victory.

"Turkey got what it wanted," his office declared in a statement.

Erdogan also secured a long-sought meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO talks.

Washington further signalled support for Turkey's plans to buy F-16s warplanes that had been put on hold during the Erdogan's dispute with the two Nordic states.

- Finnish resistance -

Most of Turkey's demands and past negotiations have involved Sweden because of its more robust ties with the Kurdish diaspora.

Sweden keeps no official ethnicity statistics but is believed to have 100,000 Kurds living in the nation of 10 million people.

Stockholm recognised the PKK as a "terrorist" organisation in the 1980s but has adopted a more supportive stance toward the YPG.

Pro-government Turkish media were outraged by two meetings Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde held last year with Ilham Ahmad -- the leader of the political wing of the YPG-led forces that expelled IS from a large swathe of Syria.

Linde called her two meetings "good" and "fruitful" on Twitter.

It was not immediately apparent whose extradition Turkey is seeking.

But Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Turkey appeared to be referring to cases that had already been turned down by the courts.

"I would guess that all of these cases have been solved in Finland. There are decisions made, and those decisions are partly made by our courts," he told reporters in Madrid.

"I see no reason to take them up again."

The Brookings Institution warned that additional problems may arise from Turkey's "loose and often aggressive framing" of the term "terrorist".

"The complication arises from a definition of terrorism in Turkish law that goes beyond criminalising participation in violent acts and infringes on basic freedom of speech," the US-based institute said in a report.
NEW YORK (AP) - A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, while New York's first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape.

In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

Takeaways from the latest round of primary elections:

ABORTION IS ON THE BALLOT

The abortion debate consumed the nation this week, but there was no race where it mattered more than Colorados Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where businessman Joe O'Dea became one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year.

O'Dea beat back a stiff challenge from state Rep. Ron Hanks, a Trump loyalist who opposed abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is seen reflected on a glass ceiling while speaking during her primary election night party, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

O'Dea will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November, and if he wins, he would become just the third Senate Republican - and the only male - to support abortion rights.

He said he backs a ban on late-term abortions and government funding of abortions but that the decision to terminate a pregnancy in the initial months is "between a person and their God."

Democrats had spent at least $2.5 million on ads designed to boost O'Dea's opponent by promoting, among other things, that he was "too conservative" for backing a complete abortion ban.

Democrats hoped that the Roe decision would give them an advantage in several swing states, including Colorado. But, at least for now, O'Dea's victory would seem to complicate the Democrats' plans.

A WIN FOR TRUMP OR THE DEMOCRATS?

In the final weeks of a campaign, Trump once again attached himself to a Republican who was leading the race. This time, it was farmer Darren Bailey in Illinois, who easily cruised to the GOP nomination in the governor's race.

But while Trump can add Bailey to his endorsement record, Democrats are betting that his victory may be short-lived.

Bailey now goes on to face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November general election, which is just what Pritzker and his allies wanted. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP nomination. Among other things, the ads reminded the state's Democratic-leaning electorate that he is "100% pro-life."

It's a risky gamble. While Bailey may look like an easier opponent in the general election, it's feasible that he could ride a red wave - if it materializes - to the Illinois governor's mansion. Pritzker's predecessor in office was a Republican.

Bailey showed off political acumen by besting the early Republican front-runner Richard Irvin, the mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, Aurora. Irvin lost despite being the beneficiary of a staggering $50 million investment from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin, who is Black, refused to say whether he voted for Trump and largely avoided talking about abortion, delivering the kind of moderate message that could have cut across ideological lines in a general election.

Instead, Republicans nominated Bailey, a Trump loyalist who reads from Bible verses in campaign videos and proudly touts his anti-abortion policies in a state Trump lost by 17 percentage points in 2020.

HOCHUL'S OPPORTUNITY

The scandals of the men around her did not derail New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who overcame primary challengers on the right and left to win her first election test as the state's chief executive.

Now, Hochul, New York's first female governor, is positioned to emerge as a leading voice in the Democratic Party as it navigates the post-Roe landscape.

The low-profile Hochul stepped into one of the nation's most prominent governorships last fall after Andrew Cuomo resigned in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. She had promised to restore New Yorkers' faith in their government, only for her handpicked lieutenant governor to be arrested this spring in a federal corruption probe.

Hochul was either "consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction," charged one of her primary challengers, New York Citys elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams.

The attack ultimately didn't land in the primary. But don't expect such criticism to disappear as the race for New York governor enters its next phase.

Rep. Lee Zeldin emerged from a crowded Republican field to earn the GOP nomination for governor. He defeated Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor Rudy Giuliani, among others.

And while Hochul has a serious reelection test ahead, look for her to step into the national spotlight as the abortion debate rages.

The Democratic governor said in recent days that New York would be a "safe harbor" for those seeking abortions.

ELECTION DENIERS GO DOWN

They celebrated their allegiance to Trump's baseless conspiracy theories on the campaign trail. But on Tuesday night, a handful of these so-called election deniers had nothing to cheer about.

In Colorado, Republican voters did not reward secretary of state candidate Tina Peters for championing Trump's lies about election fraud. She was bested by Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who previously led the state clerks association and defends the state's mail-in elections system.

Some officials in both parties worried that Peters would win the primary. That's even after Peters, the Mesa County clerk, was indicted for a security breach spurred by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election. The state GOP had called on her to suspend her campaign.

Now, Anderson, not Peters, will take on incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, whos led the national fight against 2020 election deniers.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Senate candidate Hanks had also promoted lies about the last presidential election. In addition to being an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, he had attended the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

And in Mississippi, Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy lost a runoff election to incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who had voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Cassidy said in campaign speeches that Guest had done nothing to stop "the persecution of Jan. 6 political prisoners."

LIGHTNING RODS WIN

Two Republicans familiar with controversy tested for the first time whether Republican voters deemed them too extreme to go back to Congress. They both prevailed.

First-term Rep. Mary Miller, who campaigned alongside Trump over the weekend, defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis, who was considered more moderate. The primary victory all but ensures Miller will return to Congress for another term given the heavy Republican advantage in her 15th Congressional District, which is the most Republican district in the state.

Miller won just days after describing the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade as "a victory for white life." A spokesperson later said she had intended to say the decision was a victory for a "right to life."

Miller is no stranger to provocative statements. Soon after joining the House, Miller quoted Adolf Hitler, saying he was right to say that "whoever has the youth has the future."

And in Colorado, Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert defeated a moderate state representative who had run a primary campaign focused on Boeberts extremism. It didnt work.

Boeberts controversial moves are many. She vowed to carry a handgun on the House floor. She faced calls for her censure last year after being caught on video making Islamophobic comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. And she heckled President Joe Biden in his first State of the Union address.

But after winning her primary, she is almost certain to return to Congress for another two years. Her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado became even more Republican after redistricting.

A ROE SHIFT IN NEBRASKA?

Nebraskas low-profile special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberrys term was not supposed to be close. Republicans have held the district for nearly 60 years.

Yet Republican Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks by only 4 percentage points on Tuesday.

The specific cause of the margin wasnt immediately unclear, although there was evidence of higher turnout in one Democratic-leaning county that could be related to the Roe decision.

Heading into election day, Flood appeared to have a strong edge in the district, which includes Lincoln, parts of suburban Omaha and dozens of smaller, more conservative towns. The district has nearly 68,000 more Republicans than Democrats and hasnt elected a Democrat to the House since 1964.

What happened? Lancaster County, home to the state capital and the University of Nebraska, offers some clues.

In 2020, Fortenberry won the district by nearly 22 percentage points, but he lost Lancaster County by less than 1 percentage point. In Tuesdays special election, the Republican Flood lost Lancaster County by more than 13 percentage points.

In the end, the swing wasnt enough to move a heavily-Republican district, but Democrats could look to the results for hope that the Roe decision will be a significant motivator for the Democratic base.

Incidentally, Fortenberry was sentenced to two years of probation on Tuesday for lying to the FBI. Flood and Pansing Brooks are expected to face off again in the November general election.

Joe O'Dea, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet, speaks during a primary election night watch party late Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, right, laughs with his wife Cindy Stortzum while responding to reporters questions after winning the Republican primary Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Effingham, Ill. Bailey will now face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the fall. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
China releases action plan to boost industrial energy efficiency

Xinhua) 14:35, June 29, 2022

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese regulators have released an action plan on boosting industrial energy efficiency, detailing major targets and tasks to optimize the energy structure as the country takes steady steps to spur green transformation.

By 2025, China aims to achieve a comprehensive improvement in the energy efficiency of major industrial sectors, a substantial rise in energy efficiency in key areas such as data centers, and an increase in the proportion of green low-carbon energy use, according to the plan jointly released by six government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Energy efficiency in sectors including iron and steel, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals and building materials will have reached an internationally advanced level by then, according to the plan.

By 2025, China aims to cut the energy consumption per unit of the added value of the country's large industrial enterprises with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (about 2.99 million U.S. dollars) by 13.5 percent from the 2020 level.

Earlier data showed that the energy consumption per unit of added value of China's large industrial enterprises in 2021 dropped 5.6 percent from the previous year, after logging a 16-percent decline in the 2016-2020 period.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)




President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday and discussed ways to increase bilateral cooperation in semiconductors and other advanced technologies, his office said.







During the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Madrid, Yoon expressed hope the investment of Dutch semiconductor companies in South Korea, including by chip equipment maker ASML, will contribute to building stable supply chains and requested the stable supply of equipment to South Korean chip firms.







Rutte assessed that the two countries are cooperating in a mutually complementary manner in the semiconductor sector.







Yoon also said he hopes South Korean businesses, which boast stability and price competitiveness, will be able to take part in the construction of nuclear power plants in the Netherlands, and the two leaders agreed to move forward working-level talks to realize their potential for cooperation in the nuclear power sector.







The meeting touched on the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, with Yoon citing concerns about the possibility of a seventh nuclear test by the regime and stressing his administration's commitment to responding firmly to North Korean provocations.







Rutte reaffirmed the Netherlands' support for South Korea's policy on North Korea.







The prime minister expressed his wish to visit South Korea this fall, and Yoon invited him without hesitation.







Rutte also delivered King Willem-Alexander's wish to invite Yoon to the Netherlands on a state visit next year, and Yoon immediately accepted the offer. (Yonhap)


Local

Jury awards $1.5 million to 3 former troopers in DPS lawsuit

Three former troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety have won a $1.5 million judgment in a whistleblower lawsuit against the state agency.

The verdict came midday Tuesday at the Lufkin federal courthouse in proceedings before Judge Michael J. Truncale.

Rodney Mahan, Joel Barton and John Riggins filed the lawsuit in 2020 accusing Sgt. Robert Shugart of creating an illegal quota system for arrests and traffic stops, giving illegal gifts to troopers and creating a hostile work environment.

Shugart became the supervisor at the Nacogdoches duty station in 2017 after his predecessor, James Brazil, was promoted to lieutenant. Brazil still holds the position.

The jurys verdict requires the Department of Public Safety to pay court costs and attorney fees for the three men. The financial award is to be paid for damages all three men suffered as a result of Shugarts behavior and the agencys failure to address it in reports to supervisors made before the lawsuit.

Witnesses said Shugart committed department violations too numerous to count while he was assigned to Nacogdoches and Center.

An internal investigation found he violated policy, and he was ordered to receive additional training and suspended without pay for three days as punishment.

A more comprehensive investigation by the Office of the Inspector General  the internal affairs arm of the Texas Public Safety Commission  upheld two of three areas brought forward in the lawsuit.

Investigator Riccardo Lopez testified that he found evidence of illegal gifts as well as a hostile work environment.

Lopez said he originally believed the 36 witnesses he interviewed  mostly troopers who worked under Shugart  had provided evidence that an illegal quota system was in place.

Lopez later changed his finding to unsupported on the quota system.

Both the Texas Transportation Code and Department of Public Safety policy forbid quotas for traffic stops and arrests. State law calls for immediate removal of an officer implementing a quota.

Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw testified in a video deposition that setting any sort of expectations is unrealistic in a law enforcement setting.

State Rep. Travis Clardy was called as a witness to testify about his efforts to mediate.

Clardy said he was contacted by fellow attorney Paul A. Robbins of Lufkin about problems at the Nacogdoches office. Robbins was representing troopers who had issues with leadership.

Clardy said he contacted a DPS governmental relations and informed a staff member, I know the lawyer, and hes not going away.

Im not usually that prescient, but in this case thats what happened, Clardy said. I wanted to get someone in Austin to sit down and talk it out. I want all my law dawgs to get along.

A date was set for a mediation session and Clardy said both he and Robbins were in Austin when they were notified that someone had canceled the meeting.

Jurors also learned of complaints from Nacogdoches County Sheriff Jason Bridges and Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace about the lack of availability of troopers in both counties when Department of Public Safety Capt. Michelle McDaniel transferred Mahan and Riggins to Houston County to separate them from Shugart.

McDaniel called the transfer temporary and said it was a win-win situation that separated the men from Shugart and alleviated a manpower shortage in Houston and Trinity counties.

Staffing schedules viewed during the trial show that Houston County had one vacancy before the transfer, and witnesses testified that two troopers were transferred out of the area after Mahan and Riggins arrived.

The same document shows Nacogdoches has 11 trooper positions. After the transfers, seven troopers were available for duty here.

During the transfer, both troopers clocked in for 10-hour shifts from their driveways in Nacogdoches, as all other troopers do, so they were paid for the one-hour drive each way.

Mahan testified that he was instructed to head home 45 minutes before his shift ended and if a crash occurred, he was to ask dispatchers to have an on-call trooper investigate it.

Riggins was involved in a serious crash while traveling between his home and Houston County due to fatigue, according to the complaint filed.

Wallaces complaints reportedly included the lengthy wait for crash investigators. Bridges sent his letter directly to McCraw asking for an explanation for the understaffing.

Sheriffs deputies depend on the highway patrol for backup and support in critical situations. Attorneys Tanner Franklin and Sean Hightower argued that the manufactured manpower shortage endangered the public and other law enforcement officers serving Nacogdoches County.

A letter from Shelby County District Attorney Stephen Shires dated April 18, 2019, asked the Texas Attorney Generals Office to investigate Shugart. Shires reports the quota system, abuse of official capacity, official oppression and obstruction by retaliation had reached his office.

Mahan and Riggins were transferred shortly after Shires letter were received. Franklin and Hightower argued that the letter prompted the Department of Public Safety to stop its efforts to resolve the problems through mediation.

Department of Public Safety was represented by Jason T. Bramow, Penny Maley and David Shatto who work in the Division of Law Enforcement Defense in the Texas Attorney Generals office.




Korea's military held ceremonies Wednesday to lay to rest the remains of 12 soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War following their excavation from former battle sites, the Army said.







The ceremonies took place at Seoul National Cemetery and Daejeon National Cemetery, 160 kilometers south of the capital, where the remains of eight and four fallen troops were interred, respectively.







Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park Jeong-hwan hosted the ceremony in Seoul, while Vice Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Yeo Oon-tai led the event in Daejeon.







"Our seniors' trails of victory have become a sturdy foundation for Korea's freedom, peace and prosperity," Park said during the event. "The Army will locate until the end other heroes who might be waiting somewhere for our retrieval, and return them to their families."







Among the late war heroes were Kim Il-su and Cho Eung-seong whose remains have been recovered from the White Horse Ridge, a former battle site inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. Kim and Cho held the same rank equivalent to the current corporal. (Yonhap)






The ministry had notified the Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility on plastic packaging as Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2022 on February 16, 2022. Representational image/DC

New Delhi: India will ban the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, all across the country from July 1, said the ministry of environment, forest and climate change.

National and state level control rooms will be set up for checking illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned single use plastic items, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The list of banned items includes ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice- cream sticks, polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration, plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.

The Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, prohibit manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags having thickness less than seventy five microns with effect from 30th September, 2021, and having thickness less than thickness of one hundred and twenty microns with effect from December 31.

The ministry had notified the Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility on plastic packaging as Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2022 on February 16, 2022.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product until the end of its life. The guidelines will provide framework to strengthen circular economy of plastic packaging waste, promote development of new alternatives to plastic packaging and provide next steps for moving towards sustainable plastic packaging by businesses.

The ministry had already banned polythene bags under 75 microns in September 2021. However, from December, this ban will be extended to polythene bags under 120 microns.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear at 5 pm a plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala took note of submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi that an urgent hearing was needed in view of the decision taken by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asking the MVA government to prove majority at 11 am on Thursday.

"We will keep at 5 pm. Please make sure that paper books are supplied by 3 pm to parties concerned," the bench said.

As the bench commenced proceedings for the day, Singhvi, appearing for Prabhu, sought urgent hearing of his petition for a stay on the "illegal floor test" ordered for tomorrow by the Governor.

Singhvi said the votes of MLAs facing disqualification would be illegally counted if a floor test is held and it cannot include names which are "stigmatised".

"Floor test cannot include names which are stigmatised. I want a hearing late in the evening. Votes which cannot be counted will be counted. The entire exercise will be futile," he said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he had no objection to the matter being heard at 5 pm and will represent the Governor in the hearing.

Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for rebel MLAs led by Eknathrao Shinde, objected to the urgent hearing of the matter and requested that the case be taken on Thursday.

The bench then remarked, "Whether we decide in favour or not, they cannot be denied hearing. An urgent hearing ought to be granted."

Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of the MVA government at 11 am on Thursday.

The Governor's letter comes amid the rebellion in the ruling Shiv Sena by senior minister Eknath Shinde, who has been camping in Guwahati since last week with majority of party legislators and several independent MLAs, which has pushed the government led by Thackeray, who is also the Sena president, into a crisis.

In his letter sent to Maharashtra Legislature's Principal Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat, Koshyari, said, "A special session of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha (legislative Assembly) shall be summoned on June 30 (Thursday) at 11 am with the only agenda of a trust vote against the chief minister, and the proceedings shall be concluded in any case by 5 pm."

"The proceedings of the House shall be telecast live and appropriate arrangements for the same shall be made," the letter said.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had on Tuesday night met the governor and requested him to ask the Thackeray-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly, claiming that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition dispensation seemed to be in minority as 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support it.

Earlier, the apex court on June 27 had kept in abeyance the disqualification proceedings against rebel Shiv Sena MLAs before the Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly till July 11, and also sought responses from the state government and others on their pleas questioning the legality of notices seeking their disqualification.

The top court had refused to pass any interim order on a vehement plea by senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for the MVA government, that in the meantime there should not be any floor test in the Assembly. The court said the state government can always approach it in case of any illegality.

Directing the MVA government to protect the life, liberty, and property of 39 rebel Sena MLAs, headed by minister Shinde, and their family members, the top court had said the rebels may file replies to the disqualification notices till 5:30 pm on July 12.

Shinde and 15 other rebel Sena MLAs have moved the top court challenging the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution on grounds including defection.

Besides Shinde, the other 15 MLAs are Bharat Gogawale, Prakash R Surve, Tanhaji Jaywant Savant, Mahesh S Shinde, Abdul Sattar, Sandeepan A Bhumre, Sanjay P Sirhsat, Yamini Y Jadhav, Anil K Babar, Latabai C Sonawane, Ramesh N Bornare, Sanjay B Raimulkar, Chimanrao R Patil, Balaji D Kalyankar and Balaji P Kinilkar.

While issuing the notice to the Maharashtra Deputy Speaker, the top court had directed him to put on affidavit the records of no trust notice served upon him by the rebel MLAs who have relied upon on the Nabam Rebia judgement to drive home the point that he cannot proceed with the disqualification proceedings when the resolution seeking his own removal is pending.

Shinde has moved the apex court against the disqualification notice issued by the Deputy Speaker to him and 15 other rebel legislators, calling the action "illegal and unconstitutional" and seeking a stay on it.

Shinde and a sizeable number of MLAs rebelled against the leadership of Chief Minister Thackeray on June 21.
Smoke billows from a burning object after violence erupted in the area following the murder of a tailor named Kanhaiya Lal, in Udaipur, Tuesday (PTI Photo)

Udaipur/New Delhi: The Home Ministry on Wednesday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur and probe involvement of any organisation and international links.

The spokesperson of the MHA said on their twitter handle that "MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. "The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated."

Meanwhile, curfew remained clamped in seven police station areas of Udaipur on Wednesday and mobile Internet services suspended across all 33 districts of Rajasthan after a tailor was brutally murdered here by two men, triggering stray cases of violence.

Two men with a cleaver murdered a tailor and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the Rajasthan city, a part of which was placed under curfew.

On Tuesday, at 8 pm, curfew was declared till further orders in seven police station areas of Udaipur city.

Heavy deployment of police has been made in the city, a day after the gruesome murder of Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor. Postmortem of the body is underway at the mortuary of the district government hospital, police said.

Two motorcycles were set ablaze in Hathipole area and a mob pelted stones at a mosque in Dhan Mandi, before it was dispersed by police.

The Union Home Ministry dispatched a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to Udaipur, officials said. The Rajasthan Police also announced a special investigation team (SIT) soon after the arrest of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had beheaded the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well.

Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Mohammad.

Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, was recently arrested by the local police over a post on social media. On June 15, while he was on bail, he told police that he was receiving threat calls.

The local SHO summoned both sides to the police station and settled the matter, an official said. After the murder, police have suspended an assistant sub inspector for negligence at that time.

The assailants entered Kanhaiya Lal's shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took the measurements Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone.

The men fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip on social media. In another video, the alleged assailant said they beheaded the tailor and threatened the prime minister for lighting this fire.

Yet another provocative video was recorded on June 17, in which Akhtari said he will post it the day he carries out the murder. He asked other members of the community to continue with similar attacks.

Police sources said Akhtari works at a local mosque and the other assailant runs a grocery shop.

As the videos circulated on social media, tension escalated. Shopkeepers in local markets downed shutters and a mob pelted stones and set two motorcycles on fire.

For several hours, shopkeepers stopped police from taking away the body, saying they will allow the removal of the corpse only after the murderers are arrested and compensation -- Rs 50 lakh and a government job -- given to the victim's family. Later, they agreed to assurances given by the authorities.

On Twitter, CM Ashok Gehlot appealed for calm and asked people not to share the videos.

"The guilty will not be spared. The entire police team is working on it with full alertness. I can imagine the anger which is there among people due to the murder. We are taking action accordingly," he told reporters in Jodhpur.

Gehlot said there is communal tension in the country and the prime minister should address the people. He said both Hindus and Muslims are worried.

"It is more impactful if the prime minister speaks. I believe that the prime minister should address the country on this occasion and should make an appeal that we will not tolerate violence at any cost. What is the problem in saying so?" he said.

A four-member police SIT headed by Ashok Rathore, the additional director general of the Special Operations Group, has been asked to probe the case. Praful Kumar, inspector general of the Anti Terror Squad, is also part of the team.

BJP state chief Satish Poonia targeted the Congress government in Rajasthan, saying that the murder was the result of its appeasement policy.

He said those seen in the video had threatened the victim on June 17.

The victim had asked for security but it was not given by the police, he claimed, adding that this indicated the apathy of the state's Congress government. The state unit of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) made the same claim.

"The situation in Rajasthan is such that Hindus are being attacked and murdered at many places. It is because of the politics of appeasement of CM Ashok Gehlot," Poonia claimed.

Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria also condemned the incident and said he was reaching Udaipur Tuesday night. The prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC, however, do not allow the gathering of more than three people.

About 600 more policemen, including five companies of the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary, were sent to Udaipur, officials said. Senior police officers were also rushed to the city.

Gehlot said the trial will be fast-tracked under the state's case officer scheme.
VIJAYAWADA: AP finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy expressed various concerns of the state at the 47th GST council meeting held in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Rajendranath Reddy maintained that AP needs to be compensated as growth of GSDP in the state has not been encouraging in the last five years. He underlined that before formation of GST tribunals, there should be a detailed study of procedures and mode of selecting members of the tribunal.

The minister wanted all public services related government organisations and public authorities should be exempted from GST without being limited to just four services. He underlined that taxpayers should not suffer from multiple inspections or investigations by state and central authorities at the same time. Rajendranath Reddy said there must be a mechanism under which all proceedings are carried out by one officer within the taxpayers territorial jurisdiction.

The minister said AP has succeeded in reducing 18 percent GST on mango pulp to 12 percent. This will help mango pulp industries in Chittoor, Krishna, Vizianagaram and other districts.
The complainants paid Rs. 50,000 at the time of the first admission to the labour ward and another Rs. 50,000 for the admission of a newborn child. (Representational Image)

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II has ordered the managing director of Fernandez Hospital in Hyderabad and three doctors to pay a woman Rs. 60 lakh for medical negligence.

In a petition filed jointly, Peddagalla Shireesha and her husband Madgula Sudharshan, both employees and residents of Urkonda in Nagarkurnool, accused the hospital's three doctorsDr. Geeta Kolar, senior consultant obstetrician, Dr. Subhashini, consultant obstetrician, and Dr. Veena, duty doctorof medical negligence and demanded damages.

Shireesha claimed she had approached the three doctors for consultation. From the sixth month of her pregnancy until birth, the complainant claimed that she was always under the care of the opposing parties. After examining the patient, Dr. Geeta Kolar ruled that the complainant was healthy enough to have a normal delivery even if the first delivery had been via caesarean section.

On February 14, 2019, when labour pains began, Shireesha was admitted to the hospital based on medical advice. After undergoing the standard delivery procedure, the complainant underwent surgery in the early hours of February 15, 2019. The complainants paid Rs. 50,000 at the time of the first admission to the labour ward and another Rs. 50,000 for the admission of a newborn child.

Due to their inexperience, the doctors paid little attention to the complainant's health. They ignored the fact that the first delivery was a caesarean and prolonged the procedure for normal delivery. The doctors administered oxytocin injections to increase augmentation. The prolonged period during the procedure for normal delivery by the duty doctors caused severe damage to the health of the complainant's second child. Only after rupturing the sutures of first delivery, the duty doctors decide to perform an urgent C-section. Due to the doctors delay, the baby suffered a severe brain injury due to Hypoxia, a permanent brain injury, resulting in cerebral palsy (Quadriplegia), remote symptomatic epilepsy, and pseudobulbar dysfunction, the petitioner stated.

She added that the newborn was unable to eat and had not yet reached milestones like sitting up, crawling, or standing. Currently, the baby is totally bedridden, the complainant claimed.

The hospital management and three doctors contended that there was no deficiency of service on their part. They further submitted that neither the doctors nor the hospital was negligent in performing their duties, and therefore, they were not liable to pay any damages.

After reviewing the case, the commission ordered the hospital administration and three doctors to pay the complainant Rs 60 lakh in compensation as well as Rs 20,000 in legal costs.
Hyderabad: Finance minister T. Harish Rao raised several issues pertaining to GST concerning Telangana state in the 47th GST Council meeting chaired by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Chandigarh. The minister, along with special chief secretary, finance, K. Ramakrishna Rao, took part in the two-day GST Council meeting which concluded on Wednesday.

Harish brought to the notice of the GST Council about the revenue loss being suffered by the Telangana government on account of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He pointed out that several taxpayers in undivided Andhra Pradesh had not updated their customer addresses even after the bifurcation of the state due to which the tax revenues meant for Telangana state were being diverted to Andhra Pradesh. He also brought to the notice a few instances where the records of customer addresses of a few taxpayers were being shown in Telangana but they continued to be treated as customers of Andhra Pradesh.

In this regard, the proposal to allow negative value in GSTR 3b returns in the proposed new 3b form was proposed in the GST Council meeting. Harish thanked the GST Council for this and requested Sitharaman to extend the same facility to current 3b returns. He said this would facilitate the correction of taxpayers addresses in records.

He sought the cooperation of the GST Council in recovering the IGST earnings that were diverted to other states. He also sought cooperation of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi with regard to determining jurisdiction of taxpayers residing outside Telangana.

He sought a meeting to be convened with revenue secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka to resolve these issues.

He sought extension of 'GST exemption list' for local bodies engaged in Swachhta Abhiyan duties on the ground that local bodies were already facing fund crunch and GST on Swachata equipment would lead to further burden on them.

Harish wanted the GST Council to amend the proposed GST appellate rules, which now seemed very confusing, complex and impractical.

With regard to casinos, horse racing and online gaming, the GST Council approved the GoM proposals on casinos in response to the

request made by the Goa government. However, Harish urged the council chairperson to ask GoM to submit a fresh proposal on horse racing, which was accepted in the meeting. The council asked GoM to submit fresh proposals in this regard by July 15.
A barge raises a submerged car from ocean waters near Wando, an island in South Jeolla Province, Wednesday. The Gwangju Police and Wando Coast Guard found three bodies inside the car, presumed to be those of a family from Gwangju that had been reported missing. Joint Press Corps.



By Ko Dong-hwan



The police and coast guard have found three bodies inside a car pulled out of ocean waters near Wando on Wednesday morning. The bodies are believed to be those of the missing family, the disappearance of which has shocked the country in recent days.



The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency and Wando Coast Guard managed to salvage an Audi sedan from 10 meters under water near a net cage less than 100 meters from Songgok Port, located on the southwestern island around noon. The authorities agreed that the bodies appeared to be those of Cho Yoo-na, 10, and her parents from Gwangju.



The authorities said they plan to identify the bodies using their fingerprints and belongings found inside the car. The bodies, severely decomposed, will be moved to a funeral home in Gwangju, they said.



The authorities located the car late Tuesday afternoon after finding the front grill of an Audi A6  the model used by the missing family  underwater two hours earlier, in the sea near where the car was found. They couldn't initially discern upon discovery whether there were bodies inside the vehicle due to the heavily tinted windows. The car doors were not opened to prevent the loss of evidence if they were to be opened. They decided to wait until Wednesday morning to bring a barge to hoist the car out of the water.



The authorities had launched a large-scale search around the island off the coast of South Jeolla Province for the family members, who have been missing for nearly a month, after they were last seen at around 11 p.m. on May 30 leaving a guesthouse they had rented on Wando.



On May 17, Cho's parents reported to her school that they were going on a one-month trip to Jeju Island from May 19 to June 15.





A barge raises a submerged car found in the sea near Wando, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps.
On the advice of their teacher, Ruchitha and Suchitha asked minister K.T. Rama Rao, who is also Sircilla MLA, for help. They wrote Rama Rao a letter describing their family's precarious situation and pleading with Rama Rao to save their father (in picture).  DC Image

Karimnagar: He worked as a hamali while his wife rolled beedis until a few years ago. The going wasnt easy, but their adversity provided food for the table. When the familys sole source of income  the man of the house  became ill and was unable to work, everything went horribly wrong.

The life tale of Mamindla Srinivas, a local of Konaraopet mandal's Kolanoor hamlet, is tragic if not dramatic. A few years ago, Mamindla Srinivas, a resident of the Konaraopet mandal's Kolanoor hamlet, travelled to Sircilla town with his wife and three young children  two girls and a boy  in quest of work. He began working as a hamali after moving to the nearby village of Thukkaraopally, and his wife Manjula assisted him by rolling beedis.

The family managed on the meagre income the parents brought home while the three children attended a government school up until Srinivas' illness four years later. When he was admitted to a government hospital, the medical staff informed him that he had a stomach and lung infection and required treatment.

Manjula, Srinivas' wife, spent all the money they had saved to buy him medicine, but as the days went by, his health deteriorated and for the past four months, he had been bed-ridden. The couple's two school-aged daughters, Suchitha and Ruchitha, started to worry about their frail, bedridden father and how hard their mother was working to care for him while still trying to make money by rolling beedi.

On the advice of their teacher, Ruchitha and Suchitha asked minister K.T. Rama Rao, who is also Sircilla MLA, for help. They wrote Rama Rao a letter describing their family's precarious situation and pleading with Rama Rao to save their father.

Manjula spoke to the Deccan Chronicle while obviously upset and acknowledged that she had had numerous challenges over the preceding four years in caring for her husband and children. "I have already spent Rs 2 lakh and am unable to bear the medical costs any more. There won't be any food on the table if I don't roll enough beedis each day. I'm no longer able to afford the medications needed to save my husband, Manjula said as she pleaded with Rama Rao to help the family.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao visited Raj Bhavan and met Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday after a gap of nearly nine months.

The CM arrived at Raj Bhavan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court. He exchanged pleasantries with the Governor by presenting her a bouquet soon after his arrival and also during the high tea after the swearing-in ceremony along with union minister G.Kishan Reddy.

There were speculations that the CM might not attend the ceremony because of the reported differences with the Governor. However, TRS sources said by attending the event, the CM had sent a clear message that neither he nor the state government had any intention to violate the protocol or the Constitutional obligations.

The CM avoided Raj Bhavan since October 2021 following reported differences with the Governor on various issues. The CM last visited Raj Bhavan on October 11, 2021 to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.

Since October 2021, the CM has avoided Raj Bhavan due to rumoured disagreements with the Governor over a number of issues. On October 11, 2021, the CM made his final trip to Raj Bhavan to witness Justice Satish Chandra Sharma's oath-taking as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.

Differences between CM and Governor came to the fore after the Governor kept the cabinet decision nominating Padi Kaushik Reddy as MLC under Governor's quota in August 2021 pending for several months. The CM was forced to nominate Kaushik Reddy under MLAs quota later in December 2021.

The cold war between the CM and Governor further escalated after Governor announced to launch Praja Darbars' in Raj Bhavan in 2022 and set up 'Grievances/ Complaints Box' at Raj Bhavan on January 1, 2022, to enable people to lodge their grievances and complaints.

The relations with CM deteriorated further after she delivered her Republic Day speech at Raj Bhavan on January 26, 2022 without cabinet approval and praised the schemes being implemented by BJP-led government at the Centre.

This cold war took a new turn when the CM chose to open the legislative budget session in March of this year without the governor's customary address. The Governor lashed out at the state government over this and also accused the ruling dispensation of disrespecting Raj Bhavan and not following protocols. The CM and his cabinet were not present at this years Republic Day and Ugadi celebrations.

Earlier, the state government had not invited the Governor for the inauguration of the renovated Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadadri in March. Additionally, Tamilisai alleged that the state government did not follow protocol when she attended the tribal fair Sammakka Saralamma jatara in February in Medaram, Mulugu district.

The Governor had complained to the Centre about the state government not following protocols during her visits to several districts in the state.

On June 10, the Governor held Praja Darbar receiving representations from women at Raj Bhavan. This evoked sharp criticism from ministers and TRS leaders who accused the Governor of overstepping her constitutional limits and functioning as a BJP leader.

However, she defended her move saying she only wanted to act as a bridge between the state government and the public. Further, she also dismissed the criticism that she was overstepping her constitutional limits. In fact, she argued that she had every constitutional right to serve the public as the highest authority and questioned why she should be denied the opportunity to serve the people. Those saying it is unconstitutional should first respect the Constitution, the Governor had remarked.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and joint Opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha will be in Hyderabad on July 2. (PTI Photo)

HYDERABAD: The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is learnt to have invited joint Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha to Hyderabad for Presidential election campaign on July 2.

Interestingly, the date coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in the city to take part in the BJP national executive meeting at HICC, Gachibowli.

Party sources said the TRS leadership had decided to hold a grand reception for Sinha in the city which will be attended by TRS working president and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, Cabinet ministers, TRS MLAs and MPs. It is not clear whether TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao would attend this meeting though party sources claimed that the chances of the Chief Minister taking part in the event were more.

As part of his campaigning, Sinha will meet the TRS, the AIMIM and the Congress MLAs and MPs separately and seek their votes.

The TRS has decided to extend support to Yashwant Sinha in Presidential election after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar spoke to Chandrashekar Rao over phone last week and sought his support. The Chandrashekar Rao deputed Rama Rao and TRS MPs to Delhi to extend support to Yashwant Sinha while filing his nomination papers on June 27.

While addressing the press conference in Delhi on June 27, Rama Rao said that the TRS had invited Yashwant Sinha to Hyderabad for campaigning.

Party sources said July 2 was finalised for Yashwant's campaign in Hyderabad and the same was conveyed to Sinha to which he agreed.

In the previous Presidential election in 2017, the TRS supported NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind and held a grand reception for him in the city which was attended by the Chief Minister, ministers, TRS MLAs and MPs.

However, in the changed political scenario in the state, especially after Huzurabad Assembly bypoll in November 2021, the TRS and the BJP have turned bitter political rivals.
In a big overhaul as the Indian edtech space shrinks considerably, online learning giant BYJU's has cut at least 600 jobs -- asking 300 employees at its Toppr learning platform and another 300 at coding platform WhiteHat Jr to go.

For the layoff at Toppr which it acquired last year for $150 million, BYJU's confirmed the development, saying it has completed "the integration of Toppr and has absorbed almost 80 per cent of its talented workforce into the BYJU'S ecosystem".

After the acquisition was completed, Toppr's employees from the sales and marketing division were retained while those in other departments were asked to go.

The company spokesperson said that as the next step, "we are optimising teams to recalibrate business priorities and accelerate our long-term growth".

Earlier, online coding provider WhiteHat Jr, the beleaguered platform under edtech giant BYJU's umbrella that it acquired for $300 million, laid off around 300 employees, after more than 1,000 of its employees resigned after being asked to return to office in April-May.

This time, most of the fired employees belonged to the code-teaching and sales teams at the platform and some of them worked in Brazil.

In a statement, the company said that "to realign with our business priorities, we are optimising our team to accelerate results and best position the business for long-term growth".

The layoffs at BYJU's arrived amid reports that it has delayed payments to the stakeholders as part of its $1 billion acquisition of Aakash Educational Services, to which the company said that the acquisition process "is on track and is expected to be completed by August".

BYJU's acquired Delhi-based offline test preparatory services provider Aakash for $1 billion last year.

A company spokesperson told IANS that the acquisition of "Aakash is fully on track and all payments are expected to be completed by the agreed upon date, i.e., August 2022".

"Aakash is our most successful acquisition till date and we are very proud to have them in our fold," the company spokesperson added.

"Along with all our group companies, we continue to be perfectly poised to provide access to quality education in all learning segments from early learning to exam prep and career success," the spokesperson said.

Aakash Educational Services provides test preparation services for medical and engineering entrance exams, school/board exams, and other exams via Aakash Centres.

The edtech unicorn made at least 10 acquisitions for a cumulative transaction value of about $2.5 billion last year.

Led by the edtech platforms like Unacademy, WhiteHat Jr, Vedantu, FrontRow, Udayy, Lido Learning and others, over 10,000 start-up employees have been laid off in the country.

The layoffs come as the edtech sector has been hammered by the global macroeconomic conditions and reopening of schools, colleges and physical tuition centres.
Sponge iron producers in India are raising concern as fuel supply contracts wont be renewed as the nations state-run coal miner continues to prioritise power plants in an effort to avoid blackouts.

Supplies from Coal India Ltd for some producers are scheduled to end from August, which means the companies will be forced to rely on vastly more expensive imported fuel, said Anil Nachrani, president of the Chhattisgarh Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association.

The producers in Chhattisgarh have appealed to the state miner to renew their pacts and are seeking talks with Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, according to Nachrani.

Supply pacts for coal deliveries can be renewed if both parties agree, or instead awarded through an auction process that Indias government introduced in 2016 to boost transparency.

Coal India plans to follow the policy to auction supply contracts, it said in a response to requests for comment. The company did not specify when any new auctions will take place.

Read | China coal industry groups call for stable supply over summer

The state miner is under pressure to boost stockpiles at power plants during the current monsoon season, which typically disrupts coal production and transport. Coal accounts for 70 per cent of Indias electricity production and efforts to prevent any disruptions are coming at the cost of industrial users.

Inventories at power plants rose to an average of 10 days supply on Sunday, well below required levels of more than three weeks, and about 18 per cent lower from a year earlier. Indias power ministry is pushing plants to import more fuel and Coal India this month issued a first-ever tender to procure material from overseas.

Indias domestic coal is subsidized and international prices have surged to a record, stoking concern among industrial consumers who face having cheaper supplies from local mines restricted.

Chhattisgarh is among Indias key production hubs. Were sitting right in the middle of coal mines, said the sponge iron associations Nachrani. Asking us to import is like asking someone in Middle East to import oil.

India experienced its worst coal crunch in years in 2021 as a prolonged monsoon season flooded mines and choked shipments. Higher electricity demand in recent months coupled with a global squeeze on fuel supply thats lifting prices mean officials remain wary over the potential for electricity shortages.

Coal India certainly doesnt want a repeat of last years supply problems, said Rupesh Sankhe, vice president at Elara Capital India Pvt. in Mumbai. The message from the government is very clear -- prevent blackouts at any cost.
With Eknath Shinde's rebel camp inching closer to toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray issued yet another emotional appeal to the mutineers to return and iron out issues by sitting across the table.

As Shiv Sena party chief and family head, I am still worried about you. Come here for a dialogue, through dialogue we can sort out differences, Thackeray said in a brief statement issued through the Shiv Sena party office.

The appeal by Thackeray comes a day after the rebel group invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that both BJP and Shiv Sena were growing under his leadership and called upon Thackeray to break away from NCP-Congress and uphold the ideals of late Balasaheb Thackeray.

Thackerays son and Yuva Sena President Aaditya Thackeray and Rajya Sabha members Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai said that 20-odd legislators are in touch with them in Mumbai and hoped for their return.

Also read: Why does Shinde rebellion hit so hard? A look at Shiv Sena's history

Uddhavs appeal did not seems to impress the rebels, as Shinde tweeted: On one hand your son and spokesperson called the revered Balasaheb's Shiv Sainiks as pigs, muck, dogs, buffaloes, illiterates, dead bodies and talked of their fathers and, on the other hand, making a call to save the anti-Hindutva MVA, and trying to get back the very same MLAs.. what does this mean?

Meanwhile, top leaders of NCP and Congress met separately to discuss the emerging situation and in the weekly Cabinet meeting extended support to Thackeray and asked him not to put in his papers.

Leader of Opposition and two-time chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has airdashed to New Delhi to hold deliberations with BJP President Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJPs top brass has advised Fadnavis to tread cautiously and not to hasten any move without weighing pros and cons. Shinde may also be planning to return to Mumbai and make the next move.

Also read: BJP's Fadnavis meets Governor Koshyari, seeks floor test

The Prahar Janshakti Party, which has two MLAs and is led by junior minister Bachchu Kadu, is expected to move a no-confidence motion against the MVA government.

To escape the anti-defection law and have a smooth merger with a political party, the rebel leadership is in touch with MNS President Raj Thackeray, whose party has one MLA. Raj, the estranged cousin of Uddhav, however, has not yet okayed the move.

In the appeal, Thackeray said, You have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. Every day new information is coming out about you, many of you are also in touch. You are still in Shiv Sena. The family members of some of you MLAs have also contacted me and conveyed their feelings to me. I respect your feelings as the head of Shiv Sena's family. Get rid of the confusion, there will be a definite way out, we will sit together and find a way out of it. Please don't fall prey to any tall promises.

Shinde on Tuesday challenged the party leadership in Mumbai to name the MLAs who are in touch with them.

They are spreading misinformation and trying to mislead people, Shinde told reporters at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati.

We are Shiv Sainiks. We are followers of Balasaheb Thackeray. We are taking his Hindutva ahead, he said, adding that the 50 MLAs camping in Guwahati are there because of their own wish.

Shinde said spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar would brief the media from time to time. We will come to Mumbai, whenever the next step is taken we will inform, he said.

Reacting to the day's developments, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said: Shinde has not contacted us. The BJP does not need to prove the majority, and, as of now, we are waiting for MVA to declare that they don't have numbers, he said.
Stating that he was not interested "in playing the numbers' game," Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said he was resigning from his post.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee calling for jihad against BJP in a public speech on Tuesday has infuriated the opposing Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.

Banerjee said that July 21 is the day to remember the martyrs, and it would also be the day to declare jihad against the BJP. BJP-ir biruddhe jihad ghoshnar dibosh, she said in Bangla while addressing a convention of TMC workers in West Burdwan.

Banerjee reminded the gathering about July 21, when the party shows its political strength by organising a massive gathering at the heart of the city every year. The Trinamool Congress commemorates July 21 as a day of martyrs13 Congress Party youth workers died in a police firing on this day in 1993 during a protest march led by Banerjee. The West Bengal Chief Minister was a part of Indian National Congress, then.

Read | Mamata slams BJP for 'curbing' freedom of speech

While inviting everyone to participate in this years July 21 gathering, she said because the day wasnt marked by the party for two years due to pandemic-related restrictions, she wanted massive participation this year.

BJP leaders took exception to the TMC chiefs jihad remark. Mamata Banerjee, sitting CM of Bengal, has declared July 21, 2022, as the day of Jihad against the BJP. Notwithstanding the fact that she is calling for violence against the people of Bengal, who believe in a different political ideology, Amit Malviya, BJPs co-in charge for West Bengal tweeted.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said the chief minister, by using the word jihad, was inciting people of a particular community against the BJP.

The word jihad doesnt mean violence. One can impose jihad upon oneself. It means abstinence, or self-purification. Its a kind of struggle. What could be interpreted of what the CM said, is that she may have meant that voters should abstain from voting for the BJP, or to struggle against the BJP, Udayan Banyopadhyay, a political analyst told Deccan Herald.
Preliminary investigation into the gruesome killing of a tailor in Udaipur revealed that one of the two prime accused had links with the Pakistan-based Dawat-e-Islami organisation and had visited Karachi in 2014, the Rajasthan Police chief said on Wednesday.

The police have detained three more people in connection with the killing so far, Director General of Police (DGP) M L Lather said at a press conference.

Also Read | Udaipur murder meant to spread terror, both accused booked under UAPA: Ashok Gehlot

Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, hacked Kanhaiya Lal to death with a cleaver at his shop in Udaipur on Tuesday and posted videos online saying they are avenging an insult to Islam.

The duo were taken into custody on Tuesday and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the IPC, the police chief said.

"One of the accused, Ghouse Mohammad, has links with the Karachi-based Ismalist organisation Dawat-e-Islami. He had visited Karachi in 2014. So far, we have detained five people, including the two prime accused," Lather said.
For the last few weeks, violent protests marked by arson and wilful destruction of railway property have been in the news. What was more shocking was that the protesters, assumed to be keen to join the Indian military services, resorted to violent means in registering their protest against a newly-proposed recruitment process into the very services they seek to serve, the hallmark of which is order and discipline. It was completely unsoldierly for the aspirants of a military career to destroy national property, while military ethos demands they restore and preserve them. This argument, however valid, is just one side of the coin.

It is the ad hoc and uncertain nature of the job without pensionary benefits and other social security arrangements that had angered the youth and made them desperate. The government laid the grounds by creating a situation where joining the military services is one of the few available options for employment for the millions of unemployed youth mostly from rural India. Career opportunities and government jobs are so few and far between that there is palpable anxiety among the youth for whom it was not too difficult to call the bluff of the proposed recruitment process and the skulduggery of the government. They could see that the entire point of Agnipath is not job creation, but reducing the governments swollen defence pension and wage bill (currently 50% of the defence budget).

As massive mobs set fire to trains, blocked highways, and multiple incidents of arson, stone-pelting, police firing and mass arrests were reported across India, fists were clenched and words of retribution filled the air. While the violence that was unleashed was condemned in strident terms with angry calls for punishment, what provoked such violence was not under the scanner.

Mob violence is as risible as State violence, which is commonly justified on grounds of maintaining law and order. But on grounds of the extraordinary need for maintaining unity and integrity of the nation-State, excesses are often committed. Only a State has the capacity to use bulldozers at will against its citizens or set vigilante mobs upon them. Some highly disruptive government moves beginning from demonetisation, GST, abrogation of Article 370, CAA-NRC, four-hour notice to shut down a nation of 1.4 billion, the passage of three farm laws in September 2020 triggering massive protests  subsequently repealed in 2021  have caused considerable social unrest and loss of lives. And when protests turn violent, the tendency of governments in India  including the current dispensation  has always been to favour penal shortcuts resorting to informal, extra-judicial, violent and collective punishments such as firing on crowds, the exemplary use of bodily sanctions, detention without trial, the imposition of collective fines on the population of a disturbed area, incarceration and many other stratagems aided and abetted by laws and institutions that supported them as the coercive network of the State.

And how does such State violence proliferate? Lets take the instance of riots. Paul Brass, a noted scholar, has noted, studying India in the 1980s and 1990s, that the whole political order in North India and its leading as well as local actors were implicated in the persistence of Hindu-Muslim riots, which have had concrete benefits for particular political organisations and larger political uses. Brass spoke of an institutionalised riot system (which, according to him, stoked communal flames in Gujarat in 2002), including a wide array of violent specialists who operate under loose control of party leaders playing two-fold roles. While they act as guards and enforcers of various kinds outside of riots, within riots, they serve as coordinators and shock troops. Thus, a large share of the collective violence in the episodes that people call riots, arson, rebellions, or revolutions directly involves governmental agents as purveyors or objects of damage. Without including deaths inflicted or suffered by police and troops, we would have no way of explaining variation in the deadliness of different sorts of collective encounters.

However much we blame the youth for unleashing the violence protest against Agnipath, they are a soft target. Persons or organisations that specialise in the deployment of coercive means undertake a programme of damage to persons and/or objects during war, riot, terrorism, genocide, and politicide  the programmed annihilation of a political categorys members. In the Gujarat pogrom, over 2,000 persons were estimated to be killed, 150,000 people displaced, and property worth over Rs 11,000 crore destroyed. In the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then MP from New Delhi constituency, rejected the claims of Congress government that only 600 Sikhs were killed and released the list of 2,700 Sikhs massacred in Delhi. West Bengal, according to one study, has one of the highest numbers of political conflicts and related deaths in India.

As an instance of State violence taking the form of disruptive altruism, demonetisation officially accounted for just four deaths  in December 2018, the late Arun Jaitley informed Rajya Sabha that four people had died during the period of demonetisation, while the PMO pleaded ignorance as to the number of deaths in the aftermath of demonetisation, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016. There is no fair account of how many died due to lack of cash, food and medicines. Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens reportedly took the lives of 25 people, with widespread allegations of police firing and counter-allegations of protesters attacking the police with stones and setting police stations on fire. Farmer leaders maintain that over 700 farmers died  chiefly due to harsh weather, illness contracted from unhygienic conditions, and suicide  while protesting against the contentious farm laws at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders for over a year.

The recent protests against Agnipath could easily be the first collective dare against the governments lackadaisical attitude about unemployment. While any form of violence cannot be condoned, strong words must be reserved for those who triggered such action. As we try to lay bare the processes that produce this violence, we might see that it is often the disruptive, unthinking and, should one say, muddled policymaking on the part of the government that is responsible for the mess. Such violence highlights once more the dangers of the way social divisions are politicised in India.

(The writer is a Kolkata-based

commentator on geopolitical affairs,

development and cultural issues)
Lee Rae-jin, left, the elder brother of Lee Dae-joon, a fisheries ministry official shot to death by North Korean soldiers while drifting in waters in the West Sea in September 2020, speaks during a meeting arranged by the ruling People Power Party at the National Assembly in Seoul, June 24. Yonhap



The brother of a fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 claimed Wednesday the then ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) offered to give the family financial compensation if they acknowledged his brother attempted to defect to the North.



After President Yoo Suk-yeol took office last month, the Coast Guard and the defense ministry revisited the case and overturned their previous conclusion on the alleged defection attempt of the late fisheries official Lee Dae-jin. He was shot and killed by North Korea's military near the western sea border, Sept. 22, 2020.



"The DPK had told me they would give us compensation if we acknowledged the defection," Lee Rae-jin said on Facebook. "But I rejected it flatly and told them my brother did not (try to) defect. I do not need that money, and I will restore my brother's honor and reveal the truth."



The late official's family has demanded access to classified presidential documents to determine why the previous Moon Jae-in government announced, without sufficient evidence, that their loved one was shot and killed while attempting to defect to the North.



The Presidential Archive has rejected the family's demand for access to classified documents.



Presidential documents are sealed for up to 30 years from the end of presidencies, with a legal exception for their disclosure if they are considered vital evidence in an investigation. The documents can be opened upon National Assembly approval from two-thirds of lawmakers or a warrant issued by a high court in the jurisdiction. (Yonhap)




A warming of the planet by 1.1C due to human-induced climate change is being reported. Today, we are dealing with the consequences of higher temperatures, erratic and unpredictable rainfall, intense storms, and sea-level rise. To rein in temperature rise, rapid cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are essential, as are making significant investments to protect ecosystems and communities from severe impacts that will worsen over time. Yet, the ongoing efforts to reduce GHG emissions, build resilience, and promote adaptation are not enough to tackle the speed and scale at which climate impacts natural and socio-economic systems  meaning, losses and damages from climate change are inevitable.

There is no precise definition for loss and damage. It is a general term used in the UN climate negotiations to refer to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to, or when options exist but a community does not have the resources to access them. It is generally understood to encompass losses and damages resulting from slow-onset changes -- desertification, land degradation, sea-level rise, glacial retreat, etc., --and extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods, droughts, and heatwaves. These damages could at times lead to transformational changes -- like sea-level rise encroaching on low-lying islands, or droughts and extended dry spells leading to productive farmlands being abandoned.

While some of the losses are economic, there are many non-economic losses, too. Economic losses or damages are those that impact marketable goods and services or resources. For instance, the damage to crops in about 11 Mha across 14 states due to unseasonal rains in February 2015, or the adverse impact on wheat crops in the states of Punjab, UP and Haryana, where farmers have reported losses of 20-60%, and a disruption of power supply with demand spiking as a result of the heatwave in states like Punjab in March 2022.

Non-economic losses go undocumented but are far more devastating, such as the loss of lives, livelihoods, climate change-induced migration, health impacts, mental trauma, and loss of biodiversity. An estimate of residual damages from climate impacts in developing countries pins it at $1.2 trillion by 2050, with economic costs being $116-435 billion in 2020.

The Paris agreement in 2015 included clauses to address loss and damage but did not allude to liability and redressal. Loss and damage elude negotiations and concrete decisions primarily because developed countries fear that compensation would be construed as an admission of liability, binding them to settle claims from developing countries. While there is fund flow from developed countries for mitigation through market mechanisms, adaptation is essentially a domestic issue, and there is no mechanism to deal with loss and damage resulting from climate catastrophe.

The only way to resolve this is by clearly defining loss and damage and then establishing a mechanism for fund flow from developed to developing countries. Further, developing countries will have to identify ways in which communities would receive them -- for instance, weather-indexed crop insurance or social protection mechanisms.

At the Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the momentum for providing funding to address loss and damage gained steam. Scotland and Belgium set aside $2.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively, to compensate for loss and damage. Likewise, some philanthropies offered to contribute $3 million as start-up assistance to support the objectives of the Glasgow Loss and Damage Facility.

The Bonn Climate Change Conference earlier this month saw countries debate mitigation, adaptation, and support to developing countries. The impact of financial losses and physical damage due to climate change -- loss and damage, and climate finance -- was also discussed, highlighting it as an emerging critical issue for developing countries. It is expected that a loss and damage mechanism will be formulated and agreed upon at the COP27 summit in Egypt later this year. Until then, governments will have to formulate strategies to reduce emissions; implement comprehensive approaches for risk management that are aligned to sustainability; manage risks across spatial and temporal scales; and build on traditional knowledge, expertise, and values of varied stakeholders, including the private sector. Developing insurance and social protection measures for covering climate risks; strengthening climate and disaster risk finance to facilitate enhanced access to vulnerable regions and communities; and establishing coherence across national and international policies on climate and sustainable development are also imperative to help protect lives, livelihoods, and reduce loss and damage.

Finally, creating a financial landscape that is at scale and supports efforts to address current impacts and projected risks of loss and damage is needed. Improved access to finance will reduce the transaction costs to decrease future risks and help align international finance with national circumstances, priorities, and needs.

(The writer heads the Climate, Environment and Sustainability team at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy)
The inauguration of the Padma bridge, the longest bridge across the Padma River, by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday was a landmark event in that countrys history. Sheikh Hasina said it was a symbol of the countrys pride, ability, and honour. The people of the country can justifiably be proud of the 6.15 km rail-road bridge that connects its south-west to its east, built at a cost of $3.6 billion. It has become a symbol of its national pride, determination, and faith in itself. The history of the bridge reflects the journey of Bangladesh through many adverse circumstances to its present position as a country with a rising economy. It shows that Bangladesh has arrived, and the bridge may be taken not just as a link between the countrys two regions but as one that connects its past and present to its future.

It represents many of the good things about modern Bangladesh, like its fast economic development in the last two decades and improvements in human development indices. The idea of the bridge has a long history. It was conceived in 1998, but the BNP government of Begum Khaleda Zia shelved it in 2001. Sheikh Hasinas Awami League government revived it in 2009 but the World Bank, which had promised to finance it, withdrew later citing charges of corruption and irregularities in the project. These charges were later rejected by courts. The government started the construction in 2015 with its own funds and has now completed the project. There was scepticism whether the country would be able to fund the plan on its own, but it has done that in good time, though there were technical consultants from other countries, including China.

Bangladesh has made fast progress during the period when the bridge was planned and constructed. In the last 10 years, the share of industry in its economy grew from 20% to over 33%, and exports multiplied over 20 times in the last two decades. About 15 years ago, its per capita income was half that of India; today, it is higher than Indias. In many social development indicators, including female work participation, it is more advanced than India. Its economy grew during the Covid period when most others contracted. The bridge is expected to boost its GDP by over 1%. It will also reduce the travel time from Kolkata to Dhaka by two hours. It is no surprise that the bridge has created what is termed Padma nationalism in the country, embodying its present achievements and its hopes for the future.
County Derry's local policing districts have been marking a 'significant new milestone' in their policing journey this week as the PSNI launched a new engagement strategy.

The new 'public engagement vision'  entitled 'Here for You'  sets out five key pillars to define the PSNI's approach to policing within the community.

Attraction and Recruitment, Engagement, Procedural Fairness, Local Accountability and Effective Neighbourhood Policing are included, with the latter underpinned by a further eight 'hallmarks'.

They include embedding the right culture, engaging neighbourhoods, building analytical capability, solving problems, targetting activity, accountability, developing officers and staff and developing and sharing learning.

PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne told a launch event in Newtownabbey that there was a 'real appetite' for neighbourhood policing.

The launch is a significant further milestone on our policing journey, marking not just how far weve come but also providing a blueprint for continuous improvement, he said.

Weve made a lot of progress in recent years in reducing crime and keeping people safe. Northern Ireland is now one of the safest places in the UK with some of the highest levels of trust and confidence in policing because of what the Police Service has achieved working together with local communities at a neighbourhood level.

However, whilst weve achieved a lot, including taking record amounts of drugs off our streets, we know there is more to do.

By investing in neighbourhood policing and engagement, alongside modernising our service, Police can more deeply embed the prevention and early intervention approaches that will be key to meeting the challenges of the future.

Leadership teams from both the Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid Ulster policing districts also attended the event.

Mid Ulster District Commander Supt. Stephen Murray said police in the district had been working closely with the area's local communities.

What they have consistently told us is that they need a police service that is visible in their communities, accessible, responsive when called upon, and is community-focused, he said.

Causeway Coast and Glens District Commander Supt Jeremy Lindsay pictured along with Inspector Stevie Burns, Chief Inspector Louise Cummings and Chief Constable Simon Byrne at the launch.

Community safety is only possible through a partnership between police and our communities.

Whether its by providing better real-time data to problem-solve, improving local accountability, or embedding the right culture, our Public Engagement Vision sets out how we will ensure our communities feel a sense of ownership, trust and confidence in how we work together to keep people safe at a local level in our district.

Causeway Coast and Glens District Commander Supt Jeremy Lindsay said neighbourhood policing was a 'vital pillar of the public engagement vision.

This is why weve also launched our Hallmarks of Neighbourhood Policing which provides a framework for consistently high-quality standards that local communities can expect and demand from their Police in Mid Ulster, he said.

Wherever you live, the Hallmarks of Neighbourhood Policing will empower local communities to co-develop and co-deliver a neighbourhood policing approach that works for them.

NI Policing Board Chair Doug Garrett said the board fully supported the initiative.

We know that communities want a service that is visible, engaged locally and is responsive to community issues and concerns, he said.

Policing in partnership with local communities and delivering local solutions to problems is central to maintaining and building confidence in the service.

These hallmarks reinforce the commitment of the police to continue to improve the service delivered locally.
A series of pro-choice rallies have taken place in three Northern Ireland locations this evening as local activists responded to last week's overturning of a historic ruling on abortion rights in the USA.

Alliance for Choice held rallies in Derry, Portstewart and Belfast as part of a show of 'solidarity' to those affected by the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling.

The move ruled in favour of Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks, effectively ending the constitutional right to an abortion for millions of US women.

Around half the states in the US are expected to introduce restrictions or bans on abortion as a result, with a number already passing 'trigger laws' to automatically outlaw the procedure.

Activists also gathered at the Crescent, Portstewart this evening.

Local group Alliance for Choice said the rallies were organised to send solidarity to their 'siblings' in the US.

Abortion rights are human, reproductive and community rights. We will not go back and we will not comply, they said.

We send solidarity to all our siblings in the US after the overturning of Roe v Wade. We do what is right. We in the North will always stand in this fight with you.

Rallies are all over the north coast tonight to stand in solidarity with those in the US and everywhere who like us in NI are dealing with violations to our human rights.

USA - Alliance for Choice Derry and the North Coast stand with you. Thank you so much for everyone who came tonight, when we need to take to the streets we do.

Like a speaker tonight said Derry, is Pro-Choice, Ireland is Pro-Choice, the whole world is Pro-Choice, this isnt over, its just the beginning, they added.

Great turnout in Portstewart this evening standing for the right of women everywhere to access modern compassionate healthcare.



Here in the north there is now a legal entitlement to abortion services - no more delays, these services need to be commissioned immediately! pic.twitter.com/zIeZopyBzg  Caoimhe Archibald (@CArchibald_SF) June 29, 2022

East Derry MLA Caoimhe Archibald joined the crowd gathered at The Crescent, Portstewart this evening and praised those who attended.

Great turnout in Portstewart this evening standing for the right of women everywhere to access modern compassionate healthcare, she said.

Here in the North there is now a legal entitlement to abortion services - no more delays, these services need to be commissioned immediately.
Over the course of the last week, Revenue seized 11 kgs of herbal cannabis, 150,000 illegal cigarettes and over 1,700 litres of alcoholic cocktails.

The details are summarised below:

On Monday (27/06/2022), as a result of routine profiling, Revenue officers seized over 1,700 litres of alcoholic cocktails at Dublin Port, following the search of a convoy of vehicles that arrived from the UK en-route to a music event in Dublin.

The undeclared alcohol had an estimated retail value of more than 23,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately 12,000.

Separately, on Monday (27/06/2022), as part of an intelligence led operation, Revenue officers seized 150,000 NZ Black Power branded cigarettes at Dublin Airport.

The illegal cigarettes, which were discovered in an air cargo consignment originating in Lithuania and destined for an address in Dublin, had an estimated retail value of approximately 103,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over 82,000.

Finally, last Wednesday (22/06/2022), at Dublin Airport, Revenue officers seized approximately 11 kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of 211,000.

The illegal drugs were discovered concealed in an air cargo consignment, originating in the US and destined for an address in Dublin, that was manifested as sleeping bags, insulated socks and waterproof parts.

These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and smuggling.

If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
A coroner has ruled that the shooting of mother of six Kathleen Thompson in Derry over 50 years ago by a British soldier was 'not justified.'

Judge Sandra Crawford was giving her judgement at the end of the second inquest into the death of Mrs Thompson on the night of November 5 and 6, 1971.

She ruled that the fatal shots were fired by Soldier D from Southway as the British Army withdrew following an arrest operation.

The coroner said Mrs Thompson had gone to the rear of her home at 129 Rathlin Drive in the Creggan area and was banging a bin lid or another object on the ground to warn people of the army's presence when she was shot.

The inquest heard that ballistic experts could not rule out that the bullet that killed the Derry mother had been fired from an SLR rifle like those used by the British Army.

Judge Crawford said that Soldier D had claimed he had fired after he was fired upon and was thus acting to protect himself and his colleagues.

But the judge said : "I cannot be satisfied that Soldier D held an honest belief he was under fire."

She said his evidence to the inquest was a 'contrived and self serving account.'

Judge Crawford said even taking into account the atmosphere Soldier D found himself in and the fact that he may have been 'frightened' he had 'over-reacted.'

She added that Soldier D could not have seen Mrs Thompson when he fired but his firing was in breach of the 'Yellow Card' guidelines.

The coroner said Soldier D had used a level of force that was not justified and that he was not under any real threat and did not believe he was under that level of threat.

Judge Crawford also said there had been no attempt to obstruct or mislead the inquest and while 'several witnesses were reluctant' to give evidence this was not obstructive.

Following the verdict, Karen Quinlivan QC for the Thompson family, said that it was normal procedure that the case now be referred to the Public Prosecution Service.

A coroner has ruled that the shooting of mother of six Kathleen Thompson in Derry over 50 years ago by a British soldier was 'not justified.'

Judge Sandra Crawford was giving her judgement into the second inquest into the death of Mrs Thompson on the night of November 5 and 6, 1971.

She ruled that the fatal shots were fired by Soldier D from Southway as the British Army withdrew following an arrest operation.

The coroner said Mrs Thompson had gone to the rear of her home at 129 Rathlin Drive and was banging a bin lid or another object on the ground to warn people of the army's presence when she was shot.

The inquest heard that ballistic experts could not rule out that the bullet that killed the Derry mother had been fired from an SLR rifle like those used by the British Army.

Judge Crawford said that Soldier D had claimed he had fired after he was fired upon and was thus acting to protect himself and his colleagues.

But the judge said : "I cannot be satisfied that Soldier D held an honest belief he was under fire."

She said his evidence to the inquest was a 'contrived and self serving account.'

Judge Crawford said even taking into account the atmosphere Soldier D found himself in and the fact that he may have been 'frightened' he had 'over-reacted.'

She added that Soldier D could not have seen Mrs Thompson when he fired but his firing was in breach of the 'Yellow Card' guidelines.

The coroner said Soldier D had used a level of force that was not justified and that he was not under any real threat and did not believe he was under that level of threat.

Judge Crawford also said there had been no attempt to obstruct or mislead the inquest and while 'several witnesses were reluctant' to give evidence this was not obstructive.

Following the verdict, Karen Quinlivan QC for the Thompson family, said that it was normal procedure that the case now be referred to the Public Prosecution Service.
A report which found there was no evidence of investigative bias by police in relation to a notorious Belfast bar bombing during the Troubles has been quashed by the High Court.

Fifteen people were killed in the blast at McGurks Bar in December 1971.

The bombing was carried out by the UVF but at the time security forces blamed the IRA, prompting speculation that the dead might have included IRA members who were carrying the device.

The 2014 findings of the now-defunct Historical Enquiries Teams (HET) report that there was no evidence of investigative bias by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were irrational, a judge at the High Court in Belfast ruled on Wednesday.

The HET finding came after a 2011 Police Ombudsman report into the bombing concluded that an investigative bias on the part of the RUC led to the failure to properly examine evidence and intelligence attributing the bombing to loyalist paramilitaries.

The ombudsman reports finding, which said the bias undermined both the investigation and any confidence the bereaved families had in obtaining justice, was rejected at the time by the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Bridget Irvine, who lost her mother in the bombing, brought a judicial review in 2015 to quash the HET report, saying the finding of no bias had been irrational and contrary to the weight of the evidence.

While in 2016 the then assistant chief constable Mark Hamilton issued a statement accepting the ombudsmans findings, including that of investigative bias, and said the PSNI had redrafted the original HET report to reflect that position, Ms Irvine called for the whole report to be quashed rather than amended.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Humphreys said the PSNIs statement had left no doubt that the HET reports findings regarding investigative bias were wholly ill-founded, unsustainable and illogical.

But he said mere excision of that part of the HET report was not enough and ordered it to be quashed entirely.

He said: Having carefully considered the competing positions, and recognising that there is much in the HET report which is uncontroversial, I have nonetheless concluded that the proportionate and efficacious remedy is for the court to quash the HET report in its entirety.

The findings in relation to investigative bias are infected by irrationality and it is not possible to remedy this legal wrong by mere excision. To do so would cause the HET report to fail to meet its stated objectives and, in particular, render it incapable of addressing a key issue as far as the applicant and the families of the victims are concerned.

In a statement following the High Court ruling, Detective Superintendent Stephen Wright said the PSNI will take time to fully consider the written judgment.

He added: It would, therefore, be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
First tape-out of Weebit ReRAM technology in a production fab

HOD HASHARON, Israel  June 29, 2022  Weebit Nano Limited (ASX:WBT; Weebit or the Company),a leading developer of next-generation memory technologies for the global semiconductor industry, is pleased to announce it has taped-out (released to manufacturing) demonstration chips integrating its embedded Resistive Random-Access Memory (ReRAM) module to SkyWater Technologys foundry.

This is the first tape-out of Weebits ReRAM technology to a production fab and is a major milestone toward commercialization. The technology will be available on SkyWaters 130nm CMOS process, which is ideal for applications such as analog, power management, automotive, IoT and medical. SkyWater customers can now use the highly integrated demo chip as the final platform for testing and prototyping ahead of volume production.

Coby Hanoch, CEO of Weebit Nano, said: Weve developed a close and efficient partnership with SkyWater, enabling us to meet our milestones, and bringing us ever closer to volume production. This successful tape-out concludes the technology transfer to SkyWaters US production fab, and once the chips are back from the fab, we will proceed with technology qualification. Were in discussions with early-adopter customers looking to leverage our faster, more efficient memory technology to increase their competitiveness in the market.

Thomas Sonderman, SkyWater president and CEO, said: We plan to offer Weebit ReRAM as part of our growing portfolio of silicon-proven design IP. Weebit ReRAM is a rich building block our customers can leverage to create innovative, highly differentiated SoC designs. Given the technologys ultra-low power consumption and integration flexibility, we are already seeing enthusiastic interest from customers in areas such as IoT, power management and mixed-signal designs.

Weebits embedded ReRAM module includes a 256Kb ReRAM array, control logic, decoders, IOs (Input/Output communication elements) and error correcting code (ECC). It is designed with unique patent-pending analog and digital smart circuitry running smart algorithms, thereby significantly enhancing the memory arrays technical parameters. It also supports an extended temperature range, 10 years data retention at high temperatures, fast access time, extremely low standby power, and is radiation-hardened (rad-hard) by nature.

The demo chip comprises a full sub-system for embedded applications, including the Weebit ReRAM module, a RISC-V microcontroller (MCU), system interfaces, memories and peripherals.

About Weebit Nano Limited

Weebit Nano Ltd. is a leading developer of next-generation semiconductor memory technology. The companys ground-breaking Resistive RAM (ReRAM) addresses the growing need for significantly higher performance and lower power memory solutions in a range of new electronic products such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smartphones, robotics, autonomous vehicles, 5G communications and artificial intelligence.

Weebits ReRAM allows semiconductor memory elements to be significantly faster, less expensive, more reliable and more energy efficient than those using existing Flash memory solutions. As it is based on fab-friendly materials, the technology can be quickly and easily integrated with existing flows and processes, without the need for special equipment or large investments.






Sony has announced a new gaming brand, InZone, which will release gaming peripherals beyond the PlayStation. InZone's current lineup includes two gaming monitors with PlayStation exclusive features, and a wired and wireless gaming headset offering. All of these products are aimed at PlayStation, PC and even Xbox gamers.

Sony InZone gaming monitors - Sony InZone M9 and InZone M3

Sony is well known for its TVs, Cameras, audio devices and even smartphones. It has been a while since they released consumer monitors, with almost two decades since they last released one. The InZone M9 is a 27-inch 4K HDR smart monitor with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. It comes with a host of features, including LED backlighting with full-array local dimming (FELD). This is in addition to VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification and a claimed 95 percent DCI-P3 coverage.

For console gamers, the InZone M9 supports Auto HDR Tone Mapping, which according to Sony (at least with the Sony PlayStation 5), "automatically recognizes the monitor during initial setup and [optimise] HDR settings."

"Additionally, the monitor will automatically switch to Cinema Mode when watching movies on PlayStation 5 and Game Mode when playing games," Sony's announcement said.

Alongside the InZone M9, you have the InZone M3, which is a 27-inch FHD display with a refresh rate of 240 Hz. Unlike the M9, the M3 promises lesser VESA DisplayHDR certification with a minimum brightness of 400 nits and smaller colour colour claim at 99 percent sRGB. Both of these monitors are KVM monitors, meaning you can use two PCs with a single monitor.

Both the M9 and M3 will be available within the year, with the M9 retailing for $900, and the M3 for $530.

Sony InZone gaming headsets - Sony InZone H9, InZone H7, and Inzone H3

The Sony InZone H9 and H7 are both wireless gaming headsets, while the H3 is a wired gaming headset. The H9 and H7 both come with 40mm drivers, and while the H9 has a claimed battery life of 32 hours, the H7 has 40 hours. The H3 also comes with 40mm drivers but is wired.

All three headsets will support 360-degree spatial sound. Note for PCs, you'll need Windows 10 and above, and a USB-A port. For the PS5, all three will support PS5 Tempest 3d AudioTech.

The Sony InZone H9 will retail for $300, the H7 for $230, and the H3 for $100.
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By CHARLIE RIEDEL and SUMMER BALLENTINE

Associated Press

MENDON, Mo.  The chief elected official in the Missouri county where an Amtrak train slammed into a dump truck said Tuesday that residents and county leaders have been pushing for a safety upgrade at the railroad crossing for nearly three years. Meanwhile, the toll from the accident rose to four deaths and 150 injuries.

A day after the deadly crash on Monday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said people taken to 10 hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious. By Tuesday afternoon, at least 15 people remained hospitalized. The dead  three passengers and the truck driver  have not been identified.





. . .
First lady Kim Keon-hee, second from left, attends an exhibition of Korean fashion at the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Tuesday. Yonhap



By Lee Hae-rin



First lady Kim Keon-hee, who accompanied President Yoon Suk-yeol on his official trip to the 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Madrid, has taken part in some diplomatic activities.



Kim visited the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Tuesday, praising the center's staff for their dedication in promoting Korean culture.



Kim is the first presidential spouse to visit the center since its opening in 2011. Korean Cultural Centers are located in major cities across the globe and hold exhibitions, film screenings, language classes and experience programs to promote Korean culture.



She attended the fashion exhibition, "Lo Viejo Viste Lo Nuevo" (The Old Wears the New)," by Korean designer Kim A-young which was showcased on the first floor of the center.



The center's director Oh Ji-hoon explained that it is the center's first fashion exhibition and that they selected hanbok-styled costumes to promote Korean fashion.









Kim showed particular interest in the clothes made of rayon. Praising the high quality of the Korean textile, she remarked "Korean culture can be applicable in a creative manner."



While touring around the center's craft workshop, and Korean language classrooms on the second floor, Kim asked about Spanish people's growing interest in Korean culture.



Then Kim had a meeting with the center's staff and center director Oh.





First lady Kim Keon-hee, center, first row, poses with the staff of the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Tuesday. Yonhap
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Airbnb is making permanent its ban on parties at homes listed on the site for short-term rentals.

The San Francisco company believes the ban has worked, saying Tuesday that reports of parties at listed properties have dropped 44% from a year ago.





. . .
It's imperative to revamp lax verification system



An artificial intelligence (AI) research team at Seoul National University is facing allegations of plagiarism involving a thesis it presented to an international conference. Professor Yoon Sung-roh of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at SNU, the correspondent author, admitted to submitting a plagiarized paper and apologized. The nation's top university began looking into the case by holding its first Research Integrity Committee meeting Monday.



The paper, which studied how artificial intelligence can be used for information data analysis, was selected as an outstanding paper at the 2022 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition that ended in New Orleans last week. A Ph.D. student at Yoon's lab, the first author, even gave an oral presentation there last Thursday.



But the next day, a video was uploaded on YouTube, claiming that the paper contained sentences copied from more than 10 other papers without proper credit. In an interview, Yoon said he was unaware of the plagiarism, adding that it was an "individual act perpetrated under pressure to achieve results" by the first author. Later someone claiming to be the first author admitted to plagiarism, saying, "I am entirely to blame for all the suspicions raised against the paper and will accept any disciplinary action without any excuse."



Nonetheless, Yoon cannot avoid criticism as the corresponding author, given that his role is to take the lead in submitting papers for publication. He failed to spot plagiarism in the whole process  from paper creation to submission and printing. It's all the more disappointing to know that he is a prominent AI expert who headed the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution during the Moon Jae-in administration.



The deep-seated problem of plagiarism is not confined to universities. Rather, plagiarism is everywhere here because copying a few sentences is often simply overlooked. It's imperative to revamp the nation's lax verification system and hold those breaching research ethics strictly accountable so that our scholars' research achievements may not be undervalued as a whole.




UK may approve acquisition of defence firm Ultra by rival Cobham

Britain is moving ahead with the process of approving the acquisition of London-listed defence firm Ultra Electronics by rival Cobham, which is owned by US private equity firm Advent, discounting security concerns over the planned transaction.

Britain had initiated an inquiry into the deal in August last year over possible national security risks after the UK government's secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Kwasi Kwarteng intervened citing national-security issues.

The UK government had initiated an inquiry into the deal in August last year over possible national security risks, even as Cobham committed to allaying any potential concerns.

But, Kwarteng said late Thursday that he is minded to accept Cobham's proposed legally binding undertakings to address public interest concerns over national security, instead of referring the deal to a phase 2 enquiry.

The UK government has started a consultation process over the 2.57-billion-pound ($3.14 billion) deal, following advice from the ministry of defence, and the undertakings offered by Cobham to address the concerns.

Boston-based Advent International has pledged to split Ultra Electronics into two separate legal entities should the deal go ahead.

The aim will be to have a government-appointed director to protect British national security interests, and report back to officials if the company attempts to sell back services important to the defence sector.

Britain will, however, maintain the right to seize back control of the companys important operations if deemed necessary, if a breach into security practices occurs.

Ultra Electronics is a manufacturer of sonar and radio communication systems used by navies and air forces whose clients include the British and the US governments.

The UK government said that the Business Secretary will not take any decision until the conclusion of the consultation, which is until midnight of 3 July, and until after considering representations.

The acquisition of Ultra Electronics, a firm specialising in vital equipment for nuclear submarines, comes after US officials threatened to tone-down defence cooperation with Britain if the deal was blocked.
There are concerns among the inshore fishing community in Inishowen about the impact of a proposed floating wind farm off the coast of Donegal that could cost up to 2bn to develop.

The proposed wind farm is to be located more than 50km off the Donegal coast and has the potential to deliver up to 2 gigawatts of energy.

The plans for the wind farm come from an agreement between the Killybegs Fishermens Organisation (KFO), Killybegs-based Sinbad Marine Services and the Swedish offshore wind power developer Hexicon AB.

The KFO has described the agreement as the first of its kind in the world between a fishing organisation and an off-shore wind farm developer.

It said a memorandum of understanding for the project is an historic partnership that marks a new approach which sees local fishermen engaged and influencing the development process from the onset.

The plans for the wind farm are at an early stage and the KFO says no site for the project, which could cost in the region of 2bn to develop, has been selected.

But there are concerns among the inshore fishing community about the impact of such a wind farm on smaller inshore boats as underwater power lines will require a 1km exclusion zone that could further restrict areas they can fish.

Liam OBrien, an inshore fisherman based in Greencastle, said the KFO does not represent the inshore fishing community and the exclusion zone around the power cables running through fishing grounds would prohibit bottom trawling by smaller inshore boats.

If that is coming through the fishing grounds, you will not be able to fish anywhere near it with pots, static gear or anything on the sea bed," he said.

He said the inshore fishing industry is a huge part of the marine economy in the county and involves up to 100 boats based around the Donegal coast. Such developments in parts of the UK have seen fishing boats taken out of operation and deployed to police the protection of such power lines, he said.

A demoralised inshore fishing community that is already dealing with restricted quotas for whitefish and mackerel could be further damaged by anything which decreases the size of fishing grounds.

He said the umbilical cord of the industry is slowly and surely being cut and the impact of such wind farm developments could damage the future of inshore fishing permanently.

This will not affect the larger whitefish vessels and the pelagic fleet and the super trawlers in Killybegs as such, as they have the choice to go offshore. This is the inshore fishermen that will be affected by this.

But the chief executive of the KFO Sean ODonoghue said the agreement to develop the wind farm is based on the fishing industry setting the ground rules.

He said the inshore fisheries are very much a part of this as the offshore fisheries, as are environmental concerns.

Finding a suitable location for the landfall of power cables is very much part of the memorandum, he said.

While a location for the wind farm has not yet been identified, the plans are focused on looking at the coast off south-west Donegal. Any plans would not be close to fruition until closer to 2030, he said.

We have no location identified at this stage other than it is going to be between 50 and 80km offshore.

He said the estimated cost at today's prices for the development is 2bn.

We went after a developer that was prepared to agree to our conditions and we have strict conditions. One of those is that there would be no fixed inshore wind farms. This is a floating wind farm. This is a first in the world in that we are setting the ground rules here from the start rather than developers coming to us.

He said there would have to be a cable that does not affect inshore fisheries.

We believe that we can identify an area where it will not have a detrimental effect on fishing or the environment and will be suitable for a floating offshore wind farm. There is a huge amount of data that needs to be looked at and that is what we are engaging in now. We are quite confident that there is a sweet spot to cover this. If that can't be found, but I dont believe we wont find it, we wont be supporting it.

I just want to assure any inshore people that they are as much a part of this as the offshore. Even though the location will be offshore we are very cognisant of the cable coming ashore.
A highly antibiotic-resistant strain of the superbug MRSA that has emerged in livestock over the last 50 years can jump to humans, a new study suggests.

The strain, CC398, has become the dominant type of MRSA in European livestock  probably due to widespread antibiotic use in pig farming  and is also a growing cause of human infections, researchers say.

CC398 has maintained its antibiotic resistance over decades in pigs and other livestock, the study found.

It is also capable of rapidly adapting to human hosts while maintaining its antibiotic resistance.

Scientists say the findings highlight the potential threat the strain poses to public health.

It has been associated with increasing numbers of human infections, both in people who have and have not had direct contact with farm animals.

Dr Gemma Murray is a lead author of the study, previously in the University of Cambridges Department of Veterinary Medicine and now at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

She said: Historically, high levels of antibiotic use may have led to the evolution of this highly antibiotic resistant strain of MRSA on pig farms.

Dr Murray added: We found that the antibiotic resistance in this livestock-associated MRSA is extremely stable  it has persisted over several decades, and also as the bacteria has spread across different livestock species.

While antibiotic use in European livestock is much lower than it used to be, the researchers say ongoing reductions on pig farms  due to recent policy changes  are likely to have a limited impact because the strain is so stable.

The strain is most commonly associated with pigs but also found across a broad range of species.

Researchers say its rise has been particularly evident at Danish pig farms, where the proportion of MRSA-positive herds has increased from less than 5% in 2008 to 90% in 2018.

MRSA does not cause disease in pigs.

Dr Lucy Weinert from the University of Cambridges Department of Veterinary Medicine and senior author of the paper, said: Understanding the emergence and success of CC398 in European livestock and its capacity to infect humans is vitally important in managing the risk it poses to public health.

MRSA  methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus  was first identified in human patients in 1960.

Due to its resistance to antibiotics, it is much harder to treat than other bacterial infections and the World Health Organisation now considers it one of the worlds greatest threats to human health.

The research, funded by Wellcome, the Medical Research Council and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fund, is published in the journal eLife.
Korea's 'e-Saram' praised as innovative management system for public workers



By Ko Dong-hwan





Minister of Personnel Management Kim Seung-ho
Manganese reacting with the iron in the cast iron pipes is causing the discolouration of water in Dundalk and surrounding areas, councillors heard at the Louth County Council June meeting.

Several councillors spoke on the issue at the monthly meeting, telling members that it was an issue, not just in the town of Dundalk, but also in surrounding areas in north Louth.

There were calls at the meeting for representatives from Irish Water to be called in to speak to councillors on the matter, either to a county meeting or to a municipal meeting.

Cllr Maeve Yore was first to raise the matter, saying that the public had raised it with her, and that she shared their concerns about the quality and safety of the drinking water in the town.

She said that there was serious discolouration of the drinking water from Cluan Enda to Red Barns Road and out to the 'Rock, with no improvement.

She said that she was aware that flushing was in operation and people have reported and reported and reported the issue, but action was needed.

Cllr John Reilly said he wanted to comment on the amount of complaints that I received last weekend about the water in the north end of the town, listing off areas including Newtownbalregan, Ard Easmuinn and the Mount Avenue area.

He questioned if there was a problem at the Cavanhill treatment plant, saying the water is a terrible brown colour and asked if it was caused by chemicals in the water.

Cllr John Sheridan also spoke on the matter, telling the meeting that last month he had also raised the issue of discoloured water.

He told the meeting that his understanding was that flushing needs to be year round and that this is an inevitable problem if flushing isn't being carried out over the course of the year.

Cllr Sheridan also said that it was as big an issue in rural areas as it was in Dundalk, listing off Castlebellingham, Dromiskin, Darver, Louth Village, Knockbridge and Tallanstown as areas where it was happening.

In response, Director of Services, Bernie Woods, told the meeting that we have an issue with manganese levels in the water and it is reacting with the iron in the cast iron pipes and that's what's causing the discolouration.

She went on to say that Irish Water are carrying out testing at the Cavanhill plant to try and solve the problem and have cleaned down the four water reservoirs serving the area.

Irish Water are also looking at the chemical balance and what's going into the system, she added.

Ms Woods went on to say that it could be a bigger problem during the summer months when it is warmer and that's why the flushing programme is only starting now.

The flushing will continue until the complete network is flushed but it starts in the areas that we have identified first at the moment because they are the areas of higher concern.

The Director of Services added that Louth County Council would be taking the plant back under its control the following week and that they will have more hands on at that stage.

She recognised however, that the issue is there and they are trying to deal with it as best they can and asked that for people who are experiencing the discoloured water, to ensure they log it on the Irish Water website.

Ms Woods also told the meeting that they have asked for replacement pipes to be added to the capital programme.

Cllr Kevin Meenan also spoke on the matter, saying that he wanted to echo the sentiments of what was being said and that he was led to believe that flushing was supposed to solve the issue.

He put forward that representatives from Irish Water should be invited in to speak with members on the issues so they could get more answers from them.

Cllr Meenan added that the issue wasn't solely to do with discoluration.

He said that in Annagassan, when dilutable orange was added to the water, you get a head on it like a pint of guinness.

He added that he tried it with bottled water and it doesn't happen.

I would have no confidence in drinking the water and don't drink the water. I drink bottled water the whole time.

We have to look at them coming in here or to the municipal meeting, he commented.

Cllr Edel Corrigan commented that she would ask also that when they do come, not if they do come, that they would give an explanation as to the type of testing and monitoring that is carried out on the water safety and the quality.

She questioned what kind of communication plan is in place to notify people of the quality of the water and that it is safe to drink, or to bathe or to wash clothes and so on, adding so the public can have confidence that it is safe.

She echoed comments from Cllr Meenan saying that we've been here before. We've had these issues before.

Cllr Corrigan said that they were led to believe that the issues were something that was being dealt with at that time, adding, it's extremely dissapointing to see that we're back at this place again because who's to say we're not going to be here again next year.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said that the Government is to consider whether to introduce legislation on mandatory face coverings later this year, but will focus on the vaccine booster campaign in the interim.

It emerged this week that laws allowing for the reintroduction of mandatory mask-wearing in designated settings are to be drafted as a precautionary measure.

The move, outlined at Cabinet on Tuesday, is understood to be a preparatory step in case such a public health measure is required in the event of the Covid-19 situation worsening this winter.

When asked on RTE Radio on Wednesday about whether the mandatory wearing of face coverings would be brought in during the current Covid-19 wave, the minister said: The Government will consider at what right point that legislation could be merited.

We will look at whether that measure is needed later on in the year.

Wearing a mask in crowded places is an act of kindness and helps us protect each other from the spread of COVID-19. For more information, click the link: https://t.co/JEt3DtaljE #StaySafe | #ForUsAll pic.twitter.com/JnFew6ZAjI  HSE Ireland (@HSELive) June 28, 2022

He said that face masks have contributed to the national effort to contain Covid-19, but appealed to people to get a booster vaccine if they had not already.

As we speak at the moment, I think 46% of the population have now received a second booster, so that means theres over half who still havent.

So in particular, for those in their late 60s, for those who are immunocompromised, our message is please avail of the booster, because that is the greatest line of defence to the disease and getting very sick, impacting on your health and that of those who are near you.

And that is where we will focus for the time ahead.

The minister also reiterated the Governments line that there will not be an emergency cost-of-living budget before Octobers Budget 2023 is revealed.

There will not be an emergency budget.

We absolutely appreciate the huge challenge and the rising costs faced by so many and the Government has acted already throughout the year to help as many as we can with the rising cost of living, and when we get to do the budget later in the year, we will help again.

We have, in addition to the Budget last year, we have put in place measures of an additional 1.4 billion euro.

Weve done our best to help. We will help again when we get to the Budget, but the issues that we have and the challenge that we have at the moment is not something we can respond to month by month, because these difficulties are not going to go away in a month.

Speaking on Newstalk, Mr Donohoe said that during the first two years of the pandemic he faced repeated calls to spend more and intervene more.

He said: I think we can make the case that we got the balance right in overcoming a pandemic and our economy recovering and getting people back to work and helping incomes grow again.

On tourism, Mr Donohoe said of reports of high hotel room prices in Dublin: I am really disappointed to see some of the prices that are now being charged in some of our hotels, and would just emphasise the risk that the biggest threat to the viability and the competitiveness of Irish tourism could well be the prices that it charges for its own hotels and for its restaurants.

Im at @NewstalkFM where Ill be joining @PatKennyNT after 9 to discuss the Governments response to the rising cost of living. Tune in if you can pic.twitter.com/6zhO5CsKXT  Paschal Donohoe (@Paschald) June 29, 2022

On reports of high costs for rental cars, Mr Donohoe added: The people who would pay the price for overcharging and for charging prices that are far too high will be those businesses themselves as consumers vote with their own feet with the goods and services that they buy.

And my message to those businesses that are involved in those kind of practices is: dont come to me or dont come to the government in a few months time looking for help when your own business practice and your own pricing decisions have undermined the competitiveness of your business and undermined the competitiveness of our country.

Speaking about the announcement on Monday that Paul Reid will step down as CEO of the HSE in December, Mr Donohoe said: I wasnt aware of it until I heard about it in the media.

I thought that Paul Reid had done a great job as the chief executive of the HSE, particularly at a time in which the pandemic posed such a challenge to us.

When I heard the news regarding Pauls resignation, my first reaction was that I was disappointed that we were going to be losing a person of such calibre from the leadership of the HSE at this important time.

But I very quickly moved on to what would be the next person to do the role and how can we get the right person in to lead the HSE quickly.




Business leaders of Korea and Japan will hold an annual meeting early next week, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Wednesday, after a nearly three-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.







The Korea-Japan Business Council, co-hosted by the FKI and the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, will take place in Seoul at the FKI headquarters Monday, the FKI said in a release.







More than 20 top business leaders, including the chiefs of the FKI and Keidanren  Huh Chang-soo and Masakazu Tokura, respectively  will attend the event with exploring ways for sustainable bilateral economic cooperation under the new Yoon Suk-yeol government expected to top the agenda, the FKI said.







The meeting has mostly taken place around the fall in the past, but it was canceled for the past two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The last meeting was held in Japan in 2019. (Yonhap)






New financing to boost competitiveness and support the digital transformation of small businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Fostering SME investments in technology and automation to help meet EU standards

EU grants to help make investments more affordable

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a 5 million loan to ProCredit Bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina, backed by grants from the European Union (EU), under the recently launched Go Digital in Bosnia and Herzegovina programme. The proceeds will be used to help small firms invest in the digitalisation of businesses processes and to improve productivity, operational efficiency and resilience.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to apply for funds to invest in hardware and software for various digital transformation projects in the area of digital communications, information and IT security, digital company management and digital production processes and services. The aim is to boost the digital transformation of SMEs and make them more competitive in EU markets and compliant with the standards required by EU Directives.

In addition to loans, SMEs will benefit from grant incentives worth up to 15 per cent of the total loan amount. These incentives are funded by the EU.

Manuela Naessl, EBRD Head of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said: We are pleased to partner with ProCredit Bank and to sign the first specialised credit line for digitalisation in the country under our Go Digital in Bosnia and Herzegovina programme. Many SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina still have a long way to go to catch up with their peers in Western Europe. Faster digitalisation and digital integration will improve their competitiveness and efficiency and help the country grow."

Amir Salkanovic, President of the Management Board ProCredit Bank d.d. Sarajevo, added: What matters is that small and medium-sized businesses maintain their agility and capacity to position themselves in the local, regional, and European markets. I am confident that company executives understand what makes them stronger, more efficient, and more resilient, and that digitization, with components of energy efficiency and sustainable energy production for their own purposes, is high on their priority list. In this regard, I believe that the Go Digital credit line, which includes a grant as part of the credit arrangement, will serve as a motivation for investment and further improvement in our economy's most productive and crucial sector. Ultimately, we are really excited to begin another innovative chapter with the EBRD.

The EBRD has secured 40 million in loans for the joint EBRD-EU Go Digital in Bosnia and Herzegovina programme, while the EU has secured grants of 9 million for incentive payments, advisory services and programme technical assistance. The programme will be accompanied by activities from Germanys Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), which will work with the government and stakeholders to help build an ecosystem for digitalisation, automation and innovation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including digital innovation hubs, in line with EU best practice.

The programme contributes directly to the European Commissions Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans, which aims to support the transition of the private sector and help businesses fully secure the benefits of the digital transformation of the economy.

Since it began operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996, the EBRD has invested more than 2.8 billion in 203 projects in the country.




By Baek Byung-yeul







German tech company Siemens opened a digital twin experience center in a bid to promote its technology. The center will enable companies to simulate design and production processes in a virtual space, its Korean business unit said, Wednesday.







The company said its Korea Digital Enterprise Center (KDEXc) is an open space for inspiration and collaboration with all industrial players, universities and others to exchange ideas and help them to achieve digital transformation.







"Industrial players have to embrace digitalization and transform swiftly and continuously," Thomas Schmid, head of Digital Industries at Siemens Korea, said during the opening ceremony.







"By combining domain expertise with our holistic portfolio offering, we support Korean companies of all sizes and industries to speed up their digital transformation in line with Industry 4.0 and to turn challenges into opportunities to become a digital enterprise with the support here at KDEXc."







The company said its experience space consists of five zones  digital enterprise overview, process industry, discrete industry, future of industry and partner zone. The center allows visitors to take Siemens' technical training and actually test and demonstrate digital twin products.







In addition to KDEXc in Seoul, Siemens said it has been running 31 digital enterprise experience centers around the world including in Germany, Singapore and China.







The company elaborated on its digital twin system, saying that it is designed to support its customers by helping them to respond agilely to the rapidly changing business environment.







"At a time when we are undergoing rapid changes in our lives, the goal of our digital twin approach is to enable customers to have the exact same experience in a virtual space when they try to design the manufacturing process of their products," said Kim Tae-ho, general manager at Siemens Korea.


A WEST Cork actor who co-wrote a movie script with renowned director Jim Sheridan is seeking the publics support to bring the project to the big screen.

Schull native Michael Farrell, who lived in Sydney for 12 years and recently moved back to Ireland, co-wrote The Boys School with Mr Sheridan, who is known for classics such as My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father. The pair connected through Michaels family, before developing a working relationship. Now, Michael has set up a GoFundMe in the hope of getting financing. The collaboration is set to feature Love Hate star John Connors as a school principal forced to confront his own bully in order to help a student. Michael said he thought of John after the star voiced concern about having to fit a certain stereotype when acting.

John is playing the lead of the headmaster dealing with his own bully and a kid in the school who is dealing with a bully, Mr Farrell said. We are used to always seeing John Connors using his fist in roles, but I saw him in a much softer, more inward role, which I think he will be really suited to.

Michael recalled how his collaboration with Sheridan began.

When we first started off, he said that he couldnt help me if I was no good. Luckily, when he saw my stuff he said he would be able to help me and I couldnt think of a better person to be able to learn from.

He described the director as down-to-earth.

Working with Jim Sheridan is nothing like I thought it would be, he said. He has worked with everyone from Daniel Day-Lewis to Jake Gyllenhaal, but still doesnt view himself as superior. Everyone in the industry worries about what they are going to do next and Jim is no different. He taught me that the difference between succeeding and not succeeding is doing. Its not about being the best. You just have to get going and do it.

Michael said he is grateful to have such support. Jim Sheridans work ethic is unbelievable. He has shown me stuff he is writing to see what I think. His view is that nobody is better than anybody else and he really values your opinion. He is also very generous with his time. When I told him that I had an audition, he invited me over to his house to read with him.

The actor is passionate about the films strong anti-bullying message.

I can remember knowing a bully when I was a child, who for years had been going through so much. We were all very surprised after realising why he behaved the way he did. Its similar to what happens in this film, because we realise what is happening in the bullys life to make him the way he is.

To donate to Michaels Go Fund Me for the short film The Boys School , visit gofund.me/d2be519e.
A Garda surveillance operation intercepted a drug trafficking route from Dublin to Cork and now two Cork men have been jailed for the parts they played in the operation.

Sergeant Paul Leahy gave evidence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court of how a Dublin man carried 55,000 worth of heroin to Cork for onward transmission.

The modus operandi entailed the Dublin man travelling by bus to Cork and getting off at Merchants Quay.

At the bus station the plan was to meet a Cork man who would guide him to the third man to whom he would transfer the heroin.

Without talking or giving any appearance of being in each others company the Dublin man and the guiding local man would get on to a bus and travel to Gurranabraher and walk to St. Marys Avenue off Cathedral Road. On this quiet cul de sac the Dublin man would pass the drugs to a third man waiting on an electric bike.

As this was about to happen, gardai emerged from their concealed positions and arrested all three parties.

The Dublin man was not before the court.

The man who led him from Merchants Quay to St. Marys Avenue without ever handling the heroin himself was 42-year-old Roy Twohig.

The man on the bicycle who was to receive the package was William Kenny, 45.

Both men were homeless and living at the time at St. Vincents hostel on Anglesea Terrace in Cork.

Now at Cork Circuit Criminal Court Judge Sarah Berkeley has jailed Kenny for four and a half years. Twohig was jailed for two years. Twohig indicated that he was to have been paid 100 for his part in the crime.

Differentiating between the two parties, Judge Berkeley said of Kenny, His level of participation in the crime was at a high level of culpability. He was described by Sergeant Leahy as the organiser in facilitating the crime and involved in the sale or supply of the drug in the city of Cork.

He recruited Mr Twohig and he (Kenny) has serious relevant crime.

He made admissions. He was homeless and an addict.

In all of those circumstances, the judge set a sentence at seven years but suspended the last two and a half years of it.

Judge Berkeley noted that Kenny accepted that he played a greater part in the crime and that his co-accused Roy Twohig had only played a small part in the enterprise.

In respect of Twohig, the judge said, There was an early plea of guilty. He was homeless and had a drug addiction. He had a limited role in the transaction. He has been of good behaviour in prison. He made admissions in relation to his role and he apologised.

Albeit a smaller role he must have known what was going on. His co-accused said he had recruited Mr Twohig to take the man to the locus. The judge sentenced him to two years and six months with the six-month portion of the sentence suspended.

Commenting generally on the crime of heroin-dealing, the judge said she had to take into consideration the harm drugs caused to the public.

Roy Twohig and William Kenny both pleaded guilty to having Diamorphine (better known as heroin) for the purpose of sale or supply to others at a time when the street value exceeded 13,000  the threshold amount which gives rise to mandatory ten-year sentence unless the sentencing judge finds there are exceptional circumstances.

Each man entered a signed guilty plea to the case against them.

The charges against each man relate to St. Marys Avenue, off Cathedral Road, Gurranabraher, Cork, on Wednesday, January 19.
A last-minute injury didnt stop volunteers from Corks oldest charity setting off on a humanitarian mission to the Ukrainian border in Poland.

On Tuesday evening, six volunteers from Cork Penny Dinners left Cork for Dublin, and on then for Poland, where they will distribute some 80 tonnes of humanitarian aid donated by the people of Cork.

The volunteers take-off was delayed slightly when Penny Dinners co-ordinator Caitriona Twomey caught her hand in the door of the Penny Dinners van, but, never a woman to be deterred, a visit to the Mercy emergency department saw her quickly sorted with a cast.

This will be the third Penny Dinners mission to the Ukrainian border.

In March of this year, five volunteers teamed up with members of Cork City Missing Person Search and Recovery driving across Europe in laden vans to bring 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian border in Poland.

Caitriona Twomey told The Echo two articulated lorries, carrying 80 tonnes of aid, had left Cork last Thursday.

Our plan is that we have locations to take the aid to, having liaised with some people here on the ground from Ukraine, and some people who are in Ukraine at the minute, Ms Twomey said.

We will land in Krakow on Wednesday and we will go straight to Tarnow, where we pick up the vans, and then were going to Lezajsk.

At Lezajsk, we will meet the artics, and we will unload them and sort our loads for each place were delivering aid to, Ms Twomey said.

Among the items being delivered to the Ukrainian border are three electrical generators, which will be brought to orphanages and hospitals in Ukraine.
LANDS at a site on the citys northside have been rezoned against the advice of city officials who warned that development at the land would eat into the proposed area for open space for the North West Regional Park.

At the final meeting on the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028 on Monday, councillors voted to change the zoning of parcels of land at Hollyhill/Nashs Boreen.

The lands are adjacent to and behind The Meadows estate. The first proposed amendment was to change the zoning of some of the lands from open space to sustainable residential neighbourhoods and the other was to rezone another section of the land from open space to institutions and community.

The latter could pave the way for the development of colleges, residential institutions and healthcare institutions.

For both proposed amendments, which arose from submissions during public consultation on the draft plan, councillors were advised by the executive not to change the zoning.

Disagreement

City councils director of strategic and economic development, Fearghal Reidy said at Mondays meeting that rezoning the lands would eat into the proposed area for open space for the North West Regional Park. Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan said he disagreed with the executive on the recommendations.

We cant put together a city development plan for that area based on what might be, what could be, Mr Boylan said, saying that he had yet to see any plans for the park in the area.

He also cited concerns for potential antisocial behaviour if the regional park was not overlooked by nearby housing and other developments. Sinn Fein councillor Mick Nugent said councillors had been advised by senior council officials at local area committee meetings not to chip away at the public land that we have and other land well need to develop the new regional park.

I would fear for the North West Regional Park if we take away large elements of the best flat land that we need for it, he said.

Councillors passed the first amendment with 16 votes in favour and 13 against and the second amendment was voted through with 15 councillors for it and 14 against it.

In a statement to The Echo yesterday, a council spokesperson confirmed that Cork City Council remains committed to advancing the objectives of the City Development Plan, including the development of the North West Regional Park.
By David Young, PA

Five hundred modular homes are to be installed in around 20 sites across Ireland to help efforts to house Ukrainian refugees.

The two-bedroom units provided under a 100 million Government pilot initiative will be able to accommodate 2,000 people.

It is expected that the first of the units will be in place by November.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland since the outbreak of war in their homeland in February.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is working on identifying the sites for the homes. The units will all be sited on public land in urban areas. It is anticipated each site will house between 20 to 60 units.

Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration Roderic OGorman (Niall Carson/PA)

The roll-out of the programme will be managed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the Office of Public Works. They will be involved in site preparation and the acquisition and installation of the modular units.

Installation work on the 500 homes is due to be completed by next year  a timeframe described as ambitious, but achievable by the Government.

Under the plan, Housing Minister Darragh OBrien will provide required planning exemptions to enable the OPW and its agents to access relevant sites immediately. The DCEDIY will then take responsibility for ownership of the modular units and their future use.

Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman said the move was an emergency response to the refugee crisis.

He said a significant number of Ukrainian refugees were currently housed in student accommodation and he said that would have to be freed up ahead of the start of the new academic year in September.

He added that many refugees are being moved into accommodation pledged by members of the public over the summer.

We saw today further attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine, we have to recognise that there will continue to be families who make the decision, the incredibly understandable decision, that they are safer outside of the country, he said.

So, its likely that Ireland and other EU member states will continue to see Ukrainians arriving seeking shelter and seeking safety and Ireland will continue to make all efforts to meet those needs, though recognising that with the pressures that sometimes the standard accommodation we provide is going to be lower than perhaps we provided at the start of the crisis.
In a breach of a campaign promise, the Biden administration will hold its first terrestrial lease sales for oil and gas drilling on public lands beginning today.

The sales will take place on more than 200 square miles of public lands in eight Western states, leading to outrage from environmental groups who say the drilling will harm vulnerable ecosystems and communities and contribute to the climate crisis.

We cannot effectively combat the climate crisis while continuing to fuel that crisis by leasing publicly owned lands and waters to fossil fuel companies, Sierra Clubs Director of Lands, Water and Wildlife Dan Ritzman said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. And yet, the Administration is about to hand over 200 square miles of our treasured public lands for drilling, threatening iconic places like the Railroad Valley Wildlife Management Area in Nevada and the Pinnacles Wilderness Study Area in Wyomings Red Desert.

President Joe Biden had vowed to suspend oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters during his campaign, but a federal judge blocked his attempt to pause the program last year, as Reuters reported. The administration then held a major offshore lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, but it was later invalidated by the courts on climate grounds, as Earthjustice reported at the time. That means this weeks sales are technically the first overall offered by the administration, as well as the first onshore lease sales, according to The Hill.

The sales will take place today and Thursday and cover more than 140,000 acres, or around 219 square miles, Reuters reported. About 90 percent of the land available is in Wyoming, with the remainder in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah.

The administration first announced the lease sales in April, along with new royalty rates for drilling on public lands. Instead of paying 12.5 percent, companies will now pay 18.75 percent. Further, the administration reduced the lands available by 80 percent compared to what the oil and gas industry had suggested.

Because of these changes, the fossil fuel industry is not entirely happy with the new sales.

We are concerned about the reduction in available parcels, were concerned about royalty rate increases, were concerned that the administrations approach  is limited at a time when we really need something bold, American Petroleum Institutesenior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs rank Macchiarola told The Hill.

The sales come at a time when energy prices are skyrocketing because of Russias invasion of Ukraine, yet the sales wont have an immediate impact on the nations oil supply. Oil companies typically take more than four years to begin producing oil once they acquire a lease.

Environmental advocates, on the other hand, are critical of the sales, though some say the administration has done its best given the legal blocks to its initial actions restricting drilling.

We look at it from a perspective of what is possible right now given the regulatory framework, given the legal landscape, what is defensible, and that is, from our perspective, where this lease sale landed as good as it could have given where the courts are, Deputy Director of the Center for Western Priorities Aaron Weiss told The Hill.
By Chris McGreal

After a century of wielding extraordinary economic and political power, Americas petroleum giants face a reckoning for driving the greatest existential threat of our lifetimes.

An unprecedented wave of lawsuits, filed by cities and states across the US, aim to hold the oil and gas industry to account for the environmental devastation caused by fossil fuels  and covering up what they knew along the way.

Coastal cities struggling to keep rising sea levels at bay, midwestern states watching mega-rains destroy crops and homes, and fishing communities losing catches to warming waters, are now demanding the oil conglomerates pay damages and take urgent action to reduce further harm from burning fossil fuels.

But, even more strikingly, the nearly two dozen lawsuits are underpinned by accusations that the industry severely aggravated the environmental crisis with a decades-long campaign of lies and deceit to suppress warnings from their own scientists about the impact of fossil fuels on the climate and dupe the American public.

The environmentalist Bill McKibben once characterized the fossil fuel industrys behavior as the most consequential cover-up in US history. And now for the first time in decades, the lawsuits chart a path toward public accountability that climate activists say has the potential to rival big tobaccos downfall after it concealed the real dangers of smoking.

We are at an inflection point, said Daniel Farber, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley and director of the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment.

Things have to get worse for the oil companies, he added. Even if theyve got a pretty good chance of winning the litigation in places, the discovery of pretty clearcut wrong doing  that they knew their product was bad and they were lying to the public  really weakens the industrys ability to resist legislation and settlements.

For decades, the countrys leading oil and gas companies have understood the science of climate change and the dangers posed by fossil fuels. Year after year, top executives heard it from their own scientists whose warnings were explicit and often dire.

In 1979, an Exxon study said that burning fossil fuels will cause dramatic environmental effects in the coming decades.

The potential problem is great and urgent, it concluded.

But instead of heeding the evidence of the research they were funding, major oil firms worked together to bury the findings and manufacture a counter narrative to undermine the growing scientific consensus around climate science. The fossil fuel industrys campaign to create uncertainty paid off for decades by muddying public understanding of the growing dangers from global heating and stalling political action.

The urgency of the crisis is not in doubt. A draft United Nations report, leaked last week, warns that the consequences of the climate crisis, including rising seas, intense heat and ecosystem collapse, will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades even if fossil fuel emissions are curbed.

To investigate the lengths of the oil and gas industrys deceptions  and the disastrous consequences for communities across the country  the Guardian is launching a year-long series tracking the unprecedented efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry to account.

The legal process is expected to take years. Cities in California filed the first lawsuits back in 2017, and they have been tied down by disputes over jurisdiction, with the oil companies fighting with limited success to get them moved from state to federal courts where they think the law is more favorable.

But climate activists see opportunities long before verdicts are rendered in the US. The legal process is expected to add to already damning revelations of the energy giants closely held secrets. If history is a guide, those developments could in turn alter public opinion in favor of regulations that the oil and gas companies spent years fighting off.

A string of other recent victories for climate activists already points to a shift in the industrys power.

Last month, a Dutch court ordered Shell to cut its global carbon emissions by 45% by the end of the decade. The same day, in Houston, an activist hedge fund forced three new directors on to the board of the USs largest oil firm, ExxonMobil, to address climate issues. Investors at Chevron also voted to cut emissions from the petroleum products it sells.

Earlier this month, developers of the Keystone XL pipeline cancelled the project after more than a decade of unrelenting opposition over environmental concerns. And although a federal court last year threw out a lawsuit brought by 21 young Americans who say the US government violated their constitutional rights by exacerbating climate change, the Biden administration recently agreed to settlement talks in a symbolic gesture aimed to appease younger voters.

For all that, American lawyers say the legal reasoning behind foreign court judgments are unlikely to carry much weight in the US and domestic law is largely untested. In 2018, a federal court knocked back New York Citys initial attempt to force big oil to cover the costs of the climate crisis by saying that its global nature requires a political, not legal, remedy.

Other regional lawsuits are inching their way through the courts. From Charleston, South Carolina, to Boulder, Colorado, and Maui, Hawaii, communities are seeking to force the industry to use its huge profits to pay for the damage and to oblige energy companies to treat the climate crisis for what it is  a global emergency.

Municipalities such as Imperial Beach, California  the poorest city in San Diego county with a budget less than Exxon chief executives annual pay  faces rising waters on three sides without the necessary funding to build protective barriers. They claim oil companies created a public nuisance by fuelling the climate crisis. They seek to recover the cost of repairing the damage and constructing defences.

The public nuisance claim, also pursued by Honolulu, San Francisco and Rhode Island, follows a legal strategy with a record of success in other types of litigation. In 2019, Oklahomas attorney general won compensation of nearly half a billion dollars against the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson over its false marketing of powerful prescription painkillers on the grounds it created a public nuisance by contributing to the opioid epidemic in the state.

Other climate lawsuits, including one filed in Minnesota, allege the oil firms campaigns of deception and denial about the climate crisis amount to fraud. Minnesota is suing Exxon, Koch Industries and an industry trade group for breaches of state law for deceptive trade practices, false advertising and consumer fraud over what the lawsuit characterises as distortions and lies about climate science.

The midwestern state, which has seen temperatures rise faster than the US and global averages, said scorching temperatures and mega-rains have devastated farming and flooded people out of their homes, with low-income and minority families most at risk.

Minnesotas attorney general, Keith Ellison, claims in his lawsuit that for years Exxon orchestrated a campaign to bury the evidence of environmental damage caused by burning fossil fuels with disturbing success.

Defendants spent millions on advertising and public relations because they understood that an accurate understanding of climate change would affect their ability to continue to earn profits by conducting business as usual, Ellison said in his lawsuit.

Farber said cases rooted in claims that the petroleum industry lied have the most promising chance of success.

To the extent the plaintiffs can point to misconduct, like telling everybody theres no such thing as climate change when your scientists have told you the opposite, that might give the courts a greater feeling of comfort that theyre not trying to take over the US energy system, he said.

Fighting the Facts

Almost all the lawsuits draw on the oil industrys own records as the foundation for claims that it covered up the growing threat to life caused by its products.

Shell, like other oil companies, had decades to prepare for those consequences after it was forewarned by its own research. In 1958, one of its executives, Charles Jones, presented a paper to the industrys trade group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), warning about increased carbon emissions from car exhaust. Other research followed through the 1960s, leading a White House advisory committee to express concern at measurable and perhaps marked changes in climate by 2000.

APIs own reports flagged up significant temperature changes by the end of the twentieth century.

The largest oil company in the US, Exxon, was hearing the same from its researchers.

Year after year, Exxon scientists recorded the evidence about the dangers of burning fossil fuels. In 1978, its science adviser, James Black, warned that there was a window of five to ten years before the need for hard decisions regarding changes in energy strategy might become critical.

Exxon set up equipment on a supertanker, the Esso Atlantic, to monitor carbon dioxide in seawater and the air. In 1982, the companys scientists drew up a graph accurately plotting an increase in the globes temperature to date.

The 1980s revealed an established consensus among scientists, the Minnesota lawsuit against Exxon says. A 1982 internal Exxon document  explicitly declares that the science was unanimous and that climate change would bring about significant changes in the earths climate.

Then the monitoring on the Esso Atlantic was suddenly called off and other research downgraded.

What followed was what Naomi Oreskes, co-author of the report America Misled, called a systematic, organised campaign by Exxon and other oil companies to sow doubt about the science and prevent meaningful action.

The report accused the energy companies of not only polluting the air but also the information landscape by replicating the cigarette makers playbook of cherry-picking data, using fake experts and promoting conspiracy theories to attack a growing scientific consensus.

Many of the lawsuits draw on a raft of Exxon documents held at the University of Texas, and uncovered by the Columbia Journalism School and the Los Angeles Times in 2015.

Among them is a 1988 Exxon memo laying out a strategy to push for a balanced scientific approach, which meant giving equal weight to hard evidence and climate change denialism. That move bore fruit in parts of the media into the 2000s as the oil industry repositioned global heating as theory, not fact, contributing to the most deep-rooted climate denialism in any developed country.

The company placed advertisements in major American newspapers to sow doubt. One in the New York Times in 2000, under the headline Unsettled Science, compared climate data to changing weather forecasts. It claimed scientists were divided, when an overwhelming consensus already backed the evidence of a growing climate crisis, and said that the supposed doubts meant it was too soon to act.

Exxons chairman and chief executive, Lee Raymond, told industry executives in 1996 that scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether human activities affect global climate.

Its a long and dangerous leap to conclude that we should, therefore, cut fossil fuel use, he said.

Documents show that his companys scientists were telling Exxons management that the real danger lay in the failure to do exactly that.

In 2019, Martin Hoffert, a professor of physics at New York University, told a congressional hearing that as a consultant to Exxon on climate modelling in the 1980s, he worked on eight scientific papers for the company that showed fossil fuel burning was increasingly having a perceptible influence on Earths climate.

Hoffert said he hoped that the work would help to persuade Exxon to invest in developing energy solutions the world needed. That was not the result.

Exxon was publicly promoting views that its own scientists knew were wrong, and we knew that because we were the major group working on this. This was immoral and has greatly set back efforts to address climate change, said Hoffert.

They deliberately created doubt when internal research confirmed how serious a threat it was. As a result, in my opinion, homes and livelihoods will likely be destroyed and lives lost.

Exxon worked alongside Chevron, Shell, BP and smaller oil firms to shift attention away from the growing climate crisis. They funded the industrys trade body, API, as it drew up a multimillion-dollar plan to ensure that climate change becomes a non- issue through disinformation. The plan said victory will be achieved when recognition of uncertainties become part of the conventional wisdom'.

The fossil fuel industry also used its considerable resources to pour billions of dollars into political lobbying to block unfavourable laws and to fund front organisations with neutral and scientific-sounding names, such as the Global Climate Coalition (GCC). In 2001, the US state department told the GCC that President George W Bush rejected the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in part, based on input from you.

Exxon alone has funded more than 40 groups to deny climate science, including the George C Marshall Institute, which one lawsuit claims orchestrated a sham petition denying manmade global climate change. It was later denounced by the National Academy of Science as a deliberate attempt to mislead scientists.

Drilling Down

To Sharon Eubanks the conspiracy to deny science sounded very familiar. From 2000, she led the US justice departments legal team against nine tobacco firms in one of the largest civil cases filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act, which was designed to combat organised crime.

In 2006, a federal judge found that the industry had spent decades committing a huge fraud on the American public by lying about the dangers of smoking and pushing cigarettes to young people.

Eubanks said that when she looked at the fossil fuel industrys strategy, she immediately recognised big tobaccos playbook.

Big oil was engaged in exactly the same type of behaviour that the tobacco companies engaged in and were found liable for fraud on a massive scale, said Eubanks. The cover-up, the denial of the problem, the funding of scientists to question the science. The same pattern. And some of the same lawyers represent both tobacco and big oil.

The danger for the fossil fuel industry is that the parallels do not end there.

The legal process is likely to oblige the oil conglomerates to turn over years of internal communications revealing what they knew about climate change, when and how they responded. Given what has already come out from Exxon, they are unlikely to help the industrys case.

Eubanks, who is now advising attorneys general and others suing the oil industry, said a turning point in her action against big tobacco came with the discovery of internal company memos in a state case in Minnesota. They included language that talked about recruiting young people as replacement smokers for those who died from cigarettes.

I think the public was particularly stunned by some of the content of the documents and the talk about the need for bigger bags to take home all the money they were going to make from getting people to smoke, said Eubanks.

The exposure of the tobacco companies internal communications shifted the public mood and the politics, helping to open the door to legislation to curb smoking that the industry had been successfully resisting for decades.

Farber, the Berkeley law professor, said the discovery process carries a similar danger for the oil companies because it is likely to expose yet more evidence that they set out to deceive. He said that will undercut any attempt by the energy giants to claim in court that they were ignorant of the damage they were causing.

Farber said it will also be difficult for the oil industry to resist the weight of US lawsuits, shareholder activism and shifting public and political opinion. It might push them towards settlement or supporting legislation that releases some from liability in return for some major concessions such as a large tax to finance responses to climate change.

The alternative, said Farber, is to take their chance on judges and juries who may be increasingly inclined to take the climate crisis seriously.

They may think this is an emergency that requires a response. That the oil companies should be held responsible for the harm theyve caused and that could be very expensive, he said. If they lose, its catastrophic ultimately.

This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
Personal fireworks are launched near the Antelope Point boat launch ramp which was made unusable by record-low water levels at Lake Powell near Page, Arizona on July 2, 2021. David McNew / Getty Images

Independence Day is coming soon, with celebrations prepared for the entire long weekend leading up to Monday, July 4, 2022. But with droughts and heat waves across the U.S., many cities are canceling fireworks shows for fear of sparking wildfires, along with staffing and supply chain issues related to the ongoing pandemic.

Flagstaff, Arizona is swapping fireworks for a laser light show and will continue with its annual July 4 parade. The mountainous area has already experienced three large wildfires in the spring of 2022 that required thousands of residents to evacuate and destroyed many homes. The city announced its updated Independence Day festivities well in advance to give people time to plan their holiday celebrations.

The popular fireworks display put on annually in northern San Joaquin Valley, California has also been canceled due to an ongoing drought. Local Lake Don Pedro is projected to have a low water level around the holiday.

The safety of our guests and being good stewards of the land entrusted to us are our highest priorities, the Don Pedro Recreation Agency said in a statement, as reported by NPR.

Lompoc, California and Castle Rock, Colorado are among other cities canceling fireworks displays for fear of wildfires, yet some other cities nearby will move forward with the pyrotechnic shows.

Despite a recent massive wildfire, several cities in New Mexico will continue hosting fireworks shows, including in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

But even with canceled shows and more environmentally safe alternatives in place, fire officials are concerned that more individuals will take the celebrations into their own hands.

We are typically worried about exposure of sparks and fire to homes and dry brush, Phoenix Fire spokesperson Capt. Evan Gammage said. We get so many calls around this time of year.

Aside from avoiding potential wildfires, swapping the pyrotechnics for other options is better for the environment in several ways. Fireworks are not an eco-friendly option for celebrations. For one, many of the professional-grade fireworks are made in and transported from China, equating to a large amount of carbon emissions.

Fireworks also leave behind plastic fragments and hazardous waste when they land, and the perchlorates required to make the fireworks explode contaminate local waterways.

These products contribute to poor air quality as well, especially when used in large amounts in a small time period.

Fireworks are one of the most unusual sources of pollution in atmosphere; although transient, these pollution episodes are responsible for high concentrations of particles (especially metals and organic compounds) and gases, a 2007 study explained.

While some slightly greener fireworks alternatives are being made, the best option is to skip them altogether. Some better alternatives? Light shows may work, although they can also disrupt local wildlife. Some cities are sticking to parades or live performance events, and individuals can host zero-waste July Fourth celebrations at home.
By Michael Childers



If youre headed out into the wild this summer, you may need to jump online and book a reservation before you go. For the second consecutive year, reservations are required to visit

Yosemite, Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks. Other popular sites, including Maines Acadia National Park, encourage visitors to buy entrance passes in advance.

Limiting visitors has two purposes: reducing COVID-19 risks and allowing some parks to recover from recent wildfires. Rocky Mountain will allow 75% to 85% of capacity. Yosemite will again restrict the number of vehicles allowed in; last year, it hosted half of its

average 4 million annual visitors.

Nationwide, some U.S. parks were

emptier than normal during the pandemic, while Yellowstone and others were near capacity. But the pandemic likely was a temporary pause in a rising tide of visitors.

Americas national parks face a popularity crisis. From 2010 to 2019, the number of national park visitors

spiked from 281 million to 327 million, largely driven by social media, advertising and increasing foreign tourism.

This exponential growth is generating pollution and putting wildlife at risk to a degree that threatens the future of the park system. And with Americans eager to get back out into the world, the summer of 2021 promises to be one of the busiest domestic travel seasons in recent history. Reservations and other policies to manage visitor numbers could become features at many of the most popular parks.





Protecting Treasured Lands



In

my work, Ive explored the history of national parks and the factors that drive people to seek experiences outdoors. Ive also studied the impacts of national park visitation and ways to keep the public from loving national parks to death.

Much of that research has focused on Californias Yosemite National Park, which contains nearly 1,200 square miles of wilderness, including iconic granite rock formations, deep valleys, waterfalls and ancient giant sequoias.

Its creation dates to the Civil War. In 1864, with this landscape threatened by an influx of settlers and visitors, Abraham Lincoln signed

the Yosemite Act, which ceded the region to California for public use, resort, and recreation. This step set a precedent that parks were for everyones benefit and enjoyment. Congress made Yosemite a national park in 1890.

Influenced by naturalist John Muir,

President Theodore Roosevelt established five new parks in the early 1900s, along with 16 national monuments that included the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt wanted to protect these natural treasures from hunting, mining, logging and other exploitation.



President Theodore Roosevelt arriving at Yellowstone National Park in 1903. Library of Congress / CC BY-ND

To coordinate management, Congress established the

National Park Service and the National Park System in 1916. The National Park Service Organic Act directs the agency to protect the parks wildlife and natural and cultural heritage in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations  a mission that is becoming increasingly difficult today.

Loving the Parks to Death

Americans fell in love with their parks  and several waves of overpopularity nearly destroyed the very experiences that drew people there.

The advent of automobile tourism in the 1920s opened national parks to hundreds of thousands of new visitors, who overwhelmed limited, aging roads, trails, restrooms, water treatment systems and visitor facilities. Ironically, relief came during the Great Depression. The New Deal funded massive construction projects in the parks, including campground comfort stations, museums and other structures. Hundreds of miles of roads and trails opened wild backcountry.

Between 1929 and 1941, the number of annual park visitors grew from 3 million to 20 million. This increasing torrent slowed only when the U.S. entered World War II.



Dedication of Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana, on July 15, 1933. George A. Grant / NPS / Flickr

In the postwar boom, people returned en masse. The National Park Service launched

Mission 66, another flurry of construction that again expanded capacity.

Conservationists and others condemned the development, alarmed by its

environmental impacts and the threat of overcrowding. By the mid-1960s, total yearly park visitation exceeded 100 million.

Riding the Tourism Wave

Today the national park system has grown to comprise 63 national parks, with ever more visitors, plus

360 sites with other designations, such as national seashores, monuments and battlefields. Some of these other sites, such as Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts and Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, also attract millions of visitors yearly.

In 2019,

a record-setting 327 million people visited the national parks, with the heaviest impacts on parks located near cities, like Rocky Mountain National Park outside Denver. This crowding spotlighted problems that park officials had been raising concerns about for years: The parks are underfunded, overrun, overbuilt and threatened by air and water pollution in violation of the laws and executive orders that protected them.

Park horror stories have grown common in recent years. They include miles-long

traffic jams in Yellowstone, three-hour waits to enter Yosemite, trails littered with trash and confrontations between tourists and wildlife.

https://twitter.com/PhysicsHawk/statuses/1153992380728483840

In 2020, Congress passed the

Great American Outdoors Act, which will provide up to US$1.9 billion a year for five years to address the park systems nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog. This long list of postponed projects reflects Congress reluctance to adequately fund the national park system over many years.

But as the New Deal and Mission 66 demonstrated, increased infrastructure spending often boosts visitation. The Great American Outdoors Act doesnt cover conservation efforts or significant personnel needs, which will require increased federal funding. Many repairs are needed throughout the parks, but the systems future sustainability relies more on staffing than infrastructure.



A cruise ship approaches Margerie Glacier in Alaskas Glacier Bay National Park in 2018. NPS / Flickr

And neither more money nor additional park rangers will solve the overcrowding crisis. I believe the most popular national parks need a reservation system to save these protected lands from further damage.



This wont be a popular solution, since it contradicts the founding premise that national parks were built for public benefit and enjoyment. Critics have already created a

petition opposing Rocky Mountain National Parks timed entry permits as unnecessary, unfair, undemocratic and discriminatory.

But the parks unrelenting popularity is making it impossible to preserve them unimpaired. In my view, crowd control has become essential in the most popular parks.

While there is only one Yosemite Valley, the national park system offers many less crowded destinations. Sites such as

Hovenweep National Monument in Colorado and Utah and the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas deserve attention for their natural beauty and the depth they add to Americans shared heritage.

Michael Childers is an assistant professor of History at Colorado State University.

Disclosure statement: Michael Childers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Reposted with permission from The Conversation.
The world awakened to the hole in the ozone layer in 1985, which scientists attributed it to ozone-depleting substances. Two years later, in Montreal, the world agreed to ban the halogen compounds causing the massive hole over Antarctica. Research now shows that those chemicals didnt just cut a hole in the ozone layer, they also warmed up the Arctic.

Now a new study has found that those ozone-depleting substances (ODS), which were developed in the 20s and 30s were responsible for roughly one-third of global warming from 1955 to 2005 and half of Arctic warming and sea-ice loss during that period. The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The ODS, which includes chlorofluorocarbons, were widely used as refrigerants, solvents and propellants and became ubiquitous in the 1950s. They acted as a strong addition to carbon dioxide gas, the most pervasive greenhouse gas. Unlike carbon dioxide, the halogen compounds that are ODS are entirely man-made, so they did not exist in the atmosphere before they were introduced in industrial and domestic products. Since the ban on them was implemented in 1989, their deleterious impacts have started to fade as they slowly dissolve from the atmosphere, according to a press release from the Earth Institute at Columbia University. While most research has focused on what these substances do to the ozone, this is the first study that ties ODS to the unprecedented rate of Arctic warming, according to Nature. While the dominant role of carbon dioxide is undisputed, another important set of anthropogenic [greenhouse gasses] was also being emitted over the second half of the twentieth century: ozone-depleting substances, researchers wrote in Nature Climate Change, as Newsweek reported. The team of researchers, led by Lorenzo Polvani from Columbia University, said this is the first time the warming effects of ODS have been quantified, according to Newsweek.

The researchers looked at two different climate models, one model looked at what has happened in the world, the other removed all the ODS. Without the ODS, the Arctic would warm 0.82 degrees Celsius. However, when the ODS were factored in, the number jumped to 1.59 degrees Celsius, as Nature reported. The research saw similar dramatic changes in sea-ice loss. They were even able to run the models to compare various layers of ozone thickness. That way they found that Arctic warming was due directly to the presence of the chemicals and not to the hole in the ozone, according to Nature. This paper points out a large role for the ODS in Arctic warming, but we also have to remember the cooling effect of aerosol increases, Professor Martyn Chipperfield, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Leeds in the UK who was not involved in the study, told Newsweek. The cooling effect of aerosols is included in the models and offsets some of the greenhouse gas warming.




Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang, third from left, listens to Czech Senate Leader Milos Vystrcil, second from right, speak in a meeting, June 28 (local time). Yonhap
In this handout photo provided by NASA, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft launches from Space Launch Complex 41 on May 19, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Joel Kowsky / NASA / Getty Images

Rockets used for space tourism could potentially have a much bigger effect on the global climate than the operation of traditional aircraft, researchers have found.

Using a 3D atmospheric chemistry model, researchers from University College London (UCL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge examined the stratospheric ozone and climate impact rocket launches and re-entry had in 2019, as well as the effects of predicted space tourism based on the contemporary billionaire space race, according to a UCL press release.

The findings of the research, Impact of Rocket Launch and Space Debris Air Pollutant Emissions on Stratospheric Ozone and Global Climate, were published in the journal Earths Future.

The research team found that when rockets introduce soot  which is made up of black carbon particles  straight into the upper atmosphere, their heat retention is 500 times greater than the total of all aircraft and surface soot sources, which leads to a much bigger effect on the climate, UCL said.

Soot particles from rocket launches have a much larger climate effect than aircraft and other Earth-bound sources, so there doesnt need to be as many rocket launches as international flights to have a similar impact, said Associate Professor in Physical Geography at UCL Dr. Eloise Marais, who was co-author of the study, as reported by The Independent.

Currently, the total ozone loss from rockets is fairly minor, but projected space tourism growth shows the possibility that the upper stratospheric ozone layer could be further depleted in the spring in the Arctic, since spacecraft contaminants and the heating caused by rocket re-entry are especially damaging to the stratospheric ozone layer, the UCL press release said.

Rocket launches are routinely compared to greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from the aircraft industry, which we demonstrate in our work is erroneous, Marais said in the press release.

In order to calculate their findings, details on the chemicals from all 103 worldwide rocket launches in 2019 were gathered by the research team, as well as space junk and reusable rocket re-entry data. Expositions by Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic were also used, and the researchers created a future scenario of a robust space tourism industry.

The team found that after only three years of launches by space tourism rockets, the warming caused by the additional emissions was more than twice that of present-day rockets. This is because of the hybrid synthetic rubber fuels used by Virgin Galactic and kerosene used by SpaceX.

These findings demonstrate an urgent need to develop environmental regulation to mitigate damage from this rapidly growing industry, the researchers wrote.

The researchers also found that the effect on the stratospheric ozone layer of regular daily or weekly rocket launches associated with space tourism might jeopardize the recovery that resulted from the implementation of the Montreal Protocol  a 1987 ban on ozone-depleting substances, said the UCL press release.

The only part of the atmosphere showing strong ozone recovery post-Montreal Protocol is the upper stratosphere, and that is exactly where the impact of rocket emissions will hit hardest. We werent expecting to see ozone changes of this magnitude, said UCL Department of Geography Research Fellow Dr. Robert Ryan, who was co-author of the study, as the press release stated. This study allows us to enter the new era of space tourism with our eyes wide open to the potential impacts. The conversation about regulating the environmental impact of the space launch industry needs to start now so we can minimise harm to the stratospheric ozone layer and climate.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 363-62 to pass the Natural Resources Management Act Tuesday, which means the biggest public lands bill in more than a decade has now passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support.

This bill represents Congress at its best and truly gives the American people something to be excited about, House Natural Resources Committee Chair and Arizona Democrat Raul M. Grijalva in a press release. Its a massive win for the present and future of American conservation. Everyone from inner cities to suburbs to rural communities wins when we work together to preserve the outdoors.

Victory! The #PublicLands package has passed the House and Senate. This bill represents Congress at its best and truly gives the American people something to be excited about. Curious how S.47 impacts you? Read here  https://t.co/ypqoRDmvsj  Natural Resources Committee (@NRDems) February 26, 2019

The bill designates more than 1.3 million acres as wilderness, permanently authorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund to pay for conservation measures using money from offshore oil and gas drilling and demonstrates a renewed commitment on the part of both parties to protect the public lands widely loved by their constituents, National Geographic reported.

Its rare to see Congress act in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, but today reminds everyone that the protection of our public lands isnt a red or blue issue, its an American one, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a press release.

Here are some of the other key achievements of the bill, according to the Associated Press and the House Natural Resources Committee:

1. Protects more than 350 miles of wild and scenic river.

2. Creates almost 700,000 acres of new recreation and conservation areas.

3. Protects 370,000 acres around Yellowstone National Park in Montana and North Cascades National Park in Washington from mining.

4. Creates five new national monuments including the Mississippi home of civil rights activists Medgar and Myrlie Evers.

5. Expands Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks.

6. Authorizes the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which will give every fourth grader in the country free access to public lands for another seven years.

VICTORY! Thanks to your advocacy, the public lands bill has passed through congress, including the #EveryKidOutdoors Act, which will help millions of 4th graders and their families get access to public lands! https://t.co/6i5QwJgTop  Sierra Club (@SierraClub) February 27, 2019

The bill is a victory after a variety of conservation projects like the protection of the Evers home had stalled in Congress in recent years as other issues took priority, National Geographic reported.

The Land and Water Conservation fund ran out of its previous authorization in September of 2018 and Congress could not agree on language to extend it at that time. The full act delayed from passing late in 2018 because Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee argued his state should be exempt from a provision allowing the president to turn federal lands into national monuments to protect them from development, according to The Associated Press.

However, the final bill was championed by both Republicans and Democrats.

I think the reality is, even when the politicians are getting in each others way, communities across the country have never stopped caring about public lands, Wilderness Society Director Drew McConville told National Geographic.

Utah Representative and top Republican on the Natural Resources Committee Rob Bishop praised its wins for Americas sportsmen, hunters and fishermen.

The bill opens all federal lands to hunting and fishing unless the management plan for the area prevents it. As National Geographic explained, this does not mean every public land will be opened to sportspeople, but rather that the process of gaining access will be easier.

The package now heads to the White House for a signature.
Chinese, Venezuelan FMs hold phone conversation

Xinhua) 14:50, June 29, 2022

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday held a phone conversation with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria as their countries were marking the 48th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

Ever since the two countries established diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have always been rock-solid no matter how the international situation changes, Wang said, adding that leaders of the two countries have built strong mutual trust and solid friendship, providing important political guarantee and strategic guidance for the development of the China-Venezuela comprehensive strategic partnership.

China stands ready to work with Venezuela to continue deepening political mutual trust, carrying on their traditional friendship, and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, he said.

Wang expressed gratitude to Venezuela for firmly standing with China and speaking up for justice on such issues concerning Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and human rights.

China will, as always, firmly oppose interference in Venezuela's internal affairs by external forces under any pretext, steadfastly support Venezuela in maintaining national sovereignty and social stability, and back the Venezuelan people in choosing a development path suited to their national conditions, Wang said.

He added that China will continue offering whatever help it can to Venezuela in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang said China and Venezuela should continue to strengthen solidarity and coordination in multilateral affairs, uphold the legitimate rights and interests of the two countries, practice true multilateralism, and safeguard the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law.

China appreciates Venezuela for actively supporting the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with Venezuela to jointly foster a global development partnership and well implement the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said.

Noting that multipolarization of the world, economic globalization and democratization of international relations are an irresistible trend of the times, Wang said China stands ready to work with Venezuela to always stand on the right side of history, uphold international equity and justice, safeguard the common interest of developing countries, and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

For his part, Faria said under the guidance of the two heads of state, the Venezuela-China comprehensive strategic partnership has made remarkable progress and has been full of vitality, adding Venezuela appreciates China's strong support for its fight against the pandemic.

Venezuela firmly upholds the one-China principle and the "one country, two systems" policy, steadfastly supports China for safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and stands ready to work with China in new ways to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, he said.

Noting that China is playing an increasingly important role on the international stage, Faria said Venezuela speaks highly of the Xi-proposed GDI and other initiatives, and is willing to work with China to deepen communication and coordination under the frameworks of the Group of Friends of the GDI and the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, and jointly safeguard multilateralism.

Faria especially extended warm congratulations in advance on the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, hailing it as a great political party that holds high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and stays committed to serving the Chinese people.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
SK Bioscience's SKYCovione COVID-19 vaccine / Courtesy of SK Bioscience



By Park Jae-hyuk



SK Bioscience's SKYCovione, also known as GBP510, was approved for use, Wednesday, becoming Korea's first locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine to get the green light.



The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced that it authorized the use of the recombinant protein-based vaccine.



"Getting advice from three different advisory committees, the ministry thoroughly inspected the vaccine's safety and efficacy," Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-Kyoung said. "In collaboration with various institutions, we will make efforts to preemptively counteract infectious diseases in the future."





Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yu-Kyoung announces the approval SK Bioscience's SKYCovione COVID-19 vaccine at the ministry's briefing room in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Wednesday. Yonhap
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after signing a memorandum in which Turkey agreed to Finland and Sweden's membership of the defense alliance in Madrid, June 28. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. AP-Yonhap



Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, ending an impasse that had clouded a leaders' summit opening in Madrid amid Europe's worst security crisis in decades, triggered by the war in Ukraine.



After urgent top-level talks with leaders of the three countries, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that "we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO." He called it "a historic decision."



Among its many shattering consequences, President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status and apply to join NATO as protection against an increasingly aggressive and unpredictable Russia  which shares a long border with Finland. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any member would be considered an attack against all and trigger a military response by the entire alliance.



NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.



After weeks of diplomacy and hours of talks on Tuesday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said the three leaders had signed a joint agreement to break the logjam.



Turkey said it had "got what it wanted" including "full cooperation ... in the fight against" the rebel groups.



Stoltenberg said leaders of the 30-nation alliance will issue a formal invitation to the two countries to join on Wednesday. The decision has to be ratified by all individual nations, but he said he was "absolutely confident" Finland and Sweden would become members, something that could happen within months.





Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson speaks during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg prior to a NATO summit in Brussels, June 27. AP-Yonhap



Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said the agreement was "good for Finland and Sweden. And it's good for NATO."



She said completing the process of membership should be done "the sooner the better."



"But there are 30 parliaments that need to approve this and you never know," Andersson told the Associated Press.



Turkey hailed Tuesday's agreement as a triumph, saying the Nordic nations had agreed to crack down on groups that Ankara deems national security threats, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and its Syrian extension. It said they also agreed "not to impose embargo restrictions in the field of defense industry" on Turkey and to take "concrete steps on the extradition of terrorist criminals."



Turkey has demanded that Finland and Sweden extradite wanted individuals and lift arms restrictions imposed after Turkey's 2019 military incursion into northeast Syria.



Turkey, in turn, agreed "to support at the 2022 Madrid Summit the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO."



Details of exactly what was agreed were unclear. Amineh Kakabaveh, an independent Swedish lawmaker of Kurdish origin whose support the government depends on for a majority in Parliament, said it was "worrisome that Sweden isn't revealing what promises it has given Erdogan."



Andersson dismissed suggestions Sweden and Finland had conceded too much.



Asked if the Swedish public will see the agreement as a concession on issues like extraditions of Kurdish militants regarded by Ankara as terrorists, Andersson said "they will see that this is good for the security of Sweden."





U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with Spain's King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, June 28. Reuters-Yonhap
Since the Supreme Courts draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade leaked, influencers, activists and privacy advocates have urged users to delete period-tracking apps from their devices and remove their information from associated services. With abortion now outlawed in several states, data from such apps could be used in criminal investigations against abortion seekers, and a missed period  or even simply an unlogged one  could be used as evidence of a crime.

These services, like many wellness apps, are not bound by HIPAA, and many have long histories of shady practices resulting in fines and regulatory scrutiny. Mistrust in them is well-founded. However, calls to delete period tracking or fertility apps are obscuring what privacy experts say is a much larger issue.

Period tracking apps are the canary in the coal mine in terms of our data privacy, says Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director for Fight for the Future, an advocacy group focused on digital rights. While submitting data to a cycle tracking app could lead to being "outed by your phone," they said, there are numerous other ways actionable data could make its way to law enforcement. That outing [...] could just as easily happen because of some game you installed that is tracking your location to a Planned Parenthood clinic.

India McKinney, director of federal affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, offered similar words of warning about commonplace and seemingly innocuous online activities. "Search history, browser history, content of communication, social media, financial transactions [..] all of this stuff is not necessarily related to period trackers but could be of interest to law enforcement.

This isn't an abstract problem either: Before the constitutional right to an abortion was overturned, there were already cases where pregnant women had their search histories and text messages used against them after their pregnancies ended.

In one widely cited case, a woman in Mississippi who had a stillbirth at home was charged with murder because she had searched for abortion pills online. (The charges were eventually dropped.) In another case, an Indiana woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide after prosecutors cited her text messages as evidence her miscarriage had been a self-induced abortion. Prosecutors argued that shed taken abortion-inducing drugs purchased online, which is illegal in the United States, but police could not find evidence, beyond text messages discussing it, that the drugs were purchased, according to The Cut. Her conviction was ultimately overturned but only after she spent three years in prison.

There are other, more insidious ways people seeking abortions can be tracked online. A recent investigation from Reveal and The Markup found that Facebooks advertising tools  which siphon data from vast swaths of the web, including some hospitals  were used by anti-abortion groups to keep tabs on people seeking abortion services, despite Metas rules against collecting such data. Data collected by the groups was also shared with separate anti-abortion marketing firms, which could allow them to target ads to abortion-minded women, according to the report. Experts who spoke to Reveal noted that the same data could easily be turned over to law enforcement.

Merely visiting a physical location could be enough to put someone at risk. Data brokers already track and sell location data related to abortion clinic visits. Last month, Motherboard reported that one data broker, SafeGraph, was selling a weeks worth of location data for Planned Parenthood and other clinic locations that included where groups of people visiting the locations came from, how long they stayed there, and where they then went afterwards, for as little as $160. The source of those datasets showing visits to reproductive health clinics? Ordinary apps installed on peoples phones.

After the report, SafeGraph said it would stop selling datasets related to locations of family planning centers. But that doesnt mean the apps on your phone stopped tracking where youre going. And SafeGraph is just one of many companies in the shadowy and mostly unregulated multibillion-dollar data broker industry.

Most people don't know the apps on their phone are doing this, says Holland. And in fact, a lot of developers who build these apps  because they use these very easy-to-use preset tools that have that blackbox surveillance hidden within them  don't even know that their own apps are endangering abortion patients.

Concern about this sort of broad location-tracking led lawmakers to urge Google to change its data collection practices for the protection of people seeking reproductive healthcare. They cited the now-common practice of geofence warrants, which are orders demanding data about everyone who was near a particular location at a given time. Last month they cautioned that if Roe were to be overturned "it is inevitable that right-wing prosecutors will obtain legal warrants to hunt down, prosecute and jail women for obtaining critical reproductive health care." Despite the urgency around data collection practices for tech companies  and what new legal obligations they might now have to turn that data over to law enforcement  the industry's largest companies have thus far remained silent.

So while concerns about period tracking apps are valid, they are only a small piece of a much larger problem. And deleting the services from your phone wont be enough, on its own, to ensure your personal data cant be used against you. But though users may be badly outmatched by a vast and largely unregulated industry, they aren't entirely helpless.

Holland and McKinney pointed to the importance of protecting your private messages and browsing history, via encrypted messaging apps and privacy-protecting browsers. When it comes to menstrual tracking apps, Holland recommends looking for apps that only store data locally, not in the cloud. And if youre visiting a place where you dont want your phone to track you, the safest option is to simply leave your phone at home, says McKinney. Your phone is tracking you so leave it at home if you don't want it to know where you go.

Ultimately, though, both Holland and McKinney agree the onus of privacy should not fall on the individual. Lawmakers need to enact privacy legislation that curtails around what kind of data apps can collect. Right now, there's not a whole lot of restrictions on what companies can do with people's data, says McKinney. We really do need legislation to fix a lot of the stuff on the back end, and not make it so that [I] have to do research to figure out what are the best privacy practices that I need to undertake before I deal with a particularly stressful situation in my life.
"TikTok is not just another video app. That's the sheeps clothing." That's what Brendan Carr wrote in his tweet along with a copy of the letter he sent Apple and Google, asking the companies to remove TikTok from their app stores. The agency's senior Republican commissioner references a recent BuzzFeed News report that examined leaked audio from 80 internal TikTok meetings. Based on those leaked audio recordings, China-based employees of TikTok parent company ByteDance had repeatedly accessed private information on users in the US.

One member of TikTok's Trust and Safety department reportedly said during a meeting in September 2021 that "everything is seen in China." A director said in another meeting that a Beijing-based engineer referred to as "Master Admin" has "access to everything." Just hours before BuzzFeed News published its report, TikTok announced that it migrated 100 percent of US user traffic to a new Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. It's part of the company's efforts to address concerns by US authorities about how it handles information from users in the country.

TikTok is not just another video app.

Thats the sheeps clothing.



It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.



Ive called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn  Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022

In his letter, though, Carr listed other reports showing "concerning evidence and determinations regarding TikTok's data practices" that include previous instances wherein researchers discovered that the app can circumvent Android and iOS safeguards to access users' sensitive data. He also cited TikTok's 2021 decision to pay $92 million to settle dozens of lawsuit, mostly from minors, accusing it of collecting their personal data without consent and selling it to advertisers.

Carr wrote:

"It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing's apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data."

He's giving Apple and Google until July 8th to explain why they aren't removing the app from their stores if they refuse to do so. That said, Carr was the letter's lone signee  it doesn't look like the other FCC Commissioners are involved. We've reached out to all parties to ask for their official statement on the issue.
Snap is launching an optional subscription service offering "exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features," it announced. The $4 a month service is aimed at "passionate" snapchat users and launching this week in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The exclusive features are modest to start with, including the ability to change the app icon, see who re-watched a story and pin a friend to the top of your chat history as a "BFF," Snapchat SVP Jacob Andreou told The Verge. Some of those features like BFF will only be available to subscribers, but others may filter over to the main Snapchat app.

Snap relies mainly on its advertising model for revenue, so the new service is a break from that. It also makes money selling hardware like its Spectacles smart glasses and new Pixy drone, but that revenue is relatively small change compare to its ad business. The company recently announced a hiring freeze during its last earnings report and saw its stock price plunge dramatically over the last two months.
The 20-year-old nephew of "Frozeon" actor Josh Gad has passed away in his sleep.

On June 26, Gad himself delivered the devastating news.

As a memorial to his late nephew, Gad, 41, posted a series of photographs of Marco online.

It is unknown when Marco perished.

In his heartbreaking Instagram post, Gad said, "Today I write this with a broken heart. Our beloved nephew Marco has left us far too early. At 20 years old he was full of possibly (sic) and promise. To say he is gone far too soon does not do justice to the life force that he was."

Gad described Marco as a "brilliant, creative and loving" soul.

Online, many of condolences have poured into the Gad's family. Even other actors gave their heartfelt condolences.

Bradley Whitford, who starred in The West Wing, stated, "Love, love, love to all of you, Josh. May his memory remain ever blessed.

ALSO READ: Mary Mara Dead at 61 While 'Exercising:' Real Cause of Death Accident or Foul Play?

Broadway actor Michael James Scott, who provides the voice of the Genie in the musical Aladdin, expressed his sorrow and sent his love, prayers, and all the light to the family.

LeVar Burton, who portrayed Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, expressed his condolences and sent his love.

The Oscar-winning actor Octavia Spencer expressed her condolences, sending her love, prayers, and light to the family.

As investigations continue, the cause of death of Marco is unknown.

The actor is a master at lending his voice to Disney films, which is why few might recognize him in the flesh.

In a recent interview, Josh Gad has revealed whether "Frozen 3" is likely. Disney has been particularly silent but the actor bravely put it out there that it might not happen. He said there must be a clear purpose for "Frozen 3" to exist for it to occur. He continued by saying that at the time of the interview in 2021, the team did not have any ideas for a new installment, but they would jump at the chance once they did.

In another interview, the actor also downplayed the history he has made. Supposedly. As Gaston's smarmy henchman LeFou in 2017's Beauty and the Beast, the actor, comedian, and voice of Frozen's Olaf was a part of Disney's first "exclusively gay moment," in the director's words.

But for the actor, this was nothing. It was just two-second dance with another man that was neither exclusive (it was a mob scene) nor very homosexual (the two men could easily have been friends). After 90 years of Disney neglecting gays and lesbians, this was miniscule, he said.

ALSO READ: The 'Gabby Petito Story' Movie Stills Dropped After True Murder Details Are Leaked
Abortion-rights demonstrator Jessica Smith holds a sign in front of the Hamilton County Court House in Chattanooga, Tenn., May 14. AP-Yonhap





A federal court allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, Tuesday, while a Texas judge temporarily blocked enforcement of that state's decades-old ban on virtually all abortions, in a flurry of activity set off at courthouses across the U.S. by the overturning of Roe v. Wade.







Statewide bans or other restrictions that were either left on the books for generations, tied up by legal challenges or specifically designed to take effect if Roe were to fall are now in play as a result of last week's Supreme Court ruling eliminating the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.







Roughly half the states are expected to prohibit or severely limit the procedure now that the highest court has left it up to them.







Since Friday, judges have agreed to allow bans or other restrictions to take effect in Alabama, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. But abortion bans remained temporarily blocked in some states, including Louisiana, Texas and Utah. Decisions are pending in other places, including Florida and Indiana. Abortion rights advocates also dropped some of their legal efforts in Indiana, Minnesota and Missouri.







Some clinics initially turned patients away soon after the court ruling came down, but then reopened as judges ruled in their favor. That happened in Louisiana, Tuesday.







In Houston, a Democratic city in a conservative state, a judge blocked enforcement for now of a statewide ban on virtually all abortions. Abortions in Texas are still prohibited at about six weeks because of a law that took effect last year.







But after Tuesday's ruling, Texas clinics, which stopped providing services Friday, received assurances they can resume operations for at least a few more weeks without risking prosecution. At least one provider reopened to patients.







In Tennessee, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a six-week ban to take effect at the state's request. An even more restrictive ban, prohibiting nearly all abortions, is set to take effect in a month. Both measures would make performing an abortion a felony and subject doctors to up to 15 years in prison.







The U.S. Supreme Court's decision opened the gates on a wave of litigation. One side is seeking to put statewide bans into effect swiftly, while the other is trying to stop or at least delay such measures.







Much of the court activity focused on ''trigger laws'' adopted in 13 states that were designed to take effect quickly upon last week's ruling. Additional lawsuits could also target old anti-abortion laws that were left on the books in some states and went unenforced under Roe. Newer abortion restrictions that were put on hold pending the Supreme Court ruling are also coming back into play.







In Wisconsin, the Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging an abortion ban that has been on the books for 173 years. With Roe struck down, abortion opponents said the old law is now in effect, and abortion providers in the state have stopped offering the procedure. But Attorney General Josh Kaul argued that an abortion-friendly law passed in 1985 supersedes the older law.







Abortion rights supporters gathered at the South Carolina statehouse Tuesday. Merritt Watts, who moved to South Carolina from California last year, said if she still lived in California, she would have ''completely different rights.''







''I used to think of red states as someone else's problem, but it's not,'' the Charleston resident said. ''They deserve what Californians have.'' (AP)


Ms. Marvel is ramping up to be one hell of a series by "Episode 4": Seeing Red (I see what you did there Disney).

This go around, Kamala is on her way to visit her Grandmother in Pakistan with her mom (who somehow agreed to take the daughter who she thinks sabotaged her brother's wedding, which is a bit of a stretch, but with what transpires throughout, I'm just going to go with it).

They arrive to find a country with as many differences as similarities - depending on who the guide is.When Kamala is with her oblivious cousins, who have been influenced by the west, the audience is given a history lesson into the struggle people from India had fleeing to this country.

While visiting the train station she has been having visions about, Kamala gets into a fight with another handosome young man in a red scarf played by Aramis Knight, a handsome rogue who soon realizes they are on the same side of the conflict with the Djinn.

She is introduced to the Order of the Red Dagger, a secret society who are set on stopping the Djinn from using the source of Ms. Marvel's power - her bangle - to open a portal to their dimension, only to destroy ours in the process as explained by Waleed (Farhan Akhtar), the head of the group.

What makes this episode so compelling is the aspect of a globetrotting adventure outside of the comfort zone of Jersey City, putting Kamala out of her element while believably explaining the cultural aspects that she as an American youth can learn about along with the audience.

You are also given a crash course in the family dynamic between the Mother (Zenobia Shroff) and Grandmother Sana (Samina Ahmed), which plays as an honest mother daughter relationship.

The episode then switches modes to show The Clandestines being processed by the Damage Control, only to escape their bonds - and, in an interesting turn, Kamran (Rish Shah) is left behind by his mother Namja (Nimra Bucha) for siding with Kamala.

What makes this scene so impactful is the lengths the Djinn will go to escape our world, not only destroying our existence, but their familiar ties.

Now being pursued by the Djinn, who somehow made it to Pakistan a matter of hours after their escape (again, I'm trying to look past this), Ms. Marvel gets to have her hero moments alongside her new cohort. Her skills have improved, but she still has a hard time controlling her abilities, showing her as a flawed but powerful adversary.

The episode is one of the more intriguing, insightful, and grown-up of any of them, giving Kamala a true hero's journey. I honestly look forward to seeing where they will take the character, and I haven't felt that for a Marvel property since Infinity War.
The film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked has inspired a lot of questions in the general public, and, luckily, Stephen Schwartz has some of the answers.

There have been two major facts plainly known about the long-anticipated film adaptation of the Tony Award winning musical Wicked. The first is that the two leading roles will be played by the incredible Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The second is that the movie will be split into two movies, with one slated to come out in 2024 and one set to come out in 2025.

People have mused over why the change was made, where the first movie will end, and whether or not there will be new songs included in the films. Stephen Schwartz has the answers.

The award winning composer of Wicked has confirmed that new songs will be added to the show. This is news that may gives many die-hard fans of the show pause; however, the composer assures everyone that these songs will not be added simply for the sake of filling time.

Instead, Schwartz has set the standard that each of the new songs, "need to add something to the story or the characters. They can't just be changes to do something different."

That is definitely reassuring to hear.

Furthermore, Schwartz went on to explain that a big reason behind the decision to split the two films was due to the show-stopping, unforgettable power of the Act I closing number "Defying Gravity." The artist explained:

"That song is written specifically to bring the curtain down. and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic...When it's all done, if it doesn't work that way, we'll have to figure something out."

We will keep you up to date on all things Wicked as they come to light!
There is big movie news coming from Netflix. After an exhaustive year and a half long negotiation, the Russo Brothers have penned a deal to make The Electric State into a feature film.

Based on the 2018 illustrated novel of the same name by Tales From the Loop's creator Simon Stalenhag, The Electric State tells the story of an orphaned teen who travels through a future American West in search of her missing younger brother, while accompanied by a strange drifter and a robot.

Set to star in the film is Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown, who has worked with Netflix in the past beyond her role as Eleven on the series, playing the titular character Enola Holmes in the Netflix original movie which tells the story of Sherlock Holmes' adventurous and brilliant little sister.

Also in negotiations to play a role in The Electric State is actor Chris Pratt, who is no stranger to working with Joe and Anthony Russo - they directed the worldwide blockbusters Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, reprising his character of Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) from Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

Adapting the novel will be Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely whose past credits include several Russo Brothers films including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Infinity War, and Endgame, as well as The Gray Man, the Russo Brothers film which will drop on Netflix on July 22.

The Electric State is slated to begin filming in October of this year in Atlanta, Georgia, though there is no release date at this time.
Move over, Disney and Pixar. Skydance Animation has vowed to serve the feels with its first feature-length animated film, Luck. Directed by Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning), written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, and Kiel Murray, and co-produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and John Lasseter, Luck has the feel of a classic animated movie set in modern times, but with a twist.

Skydance Animation, headed by computer animation wizard John Lasseter (of Pixar fame), dropped the teaser trailer for Luck on Friday the 13th of last month -- because why not? Not everything is as it seems, luck-wise, including the dreaded Friday. That's something Bob the black cat explains to the audience in the trailer while dodging traffic, moving effortlessly through crowds, and avoiding falling to his death into huge manholes. You see, in the Land of Luck, the concept of luck is carefully created and dispensed by luck workers to create bespoke luck experiences for the people of Earth.

Exploring the Land of Luck In The New Trailer

Bob the lucky black cat and the team in the Land of Luck create those "wee moments of luck" that we everyday humans experience. Good thing for them, they're experts at luck, taking in cultural differences, which Bob is quick to point out. After all, a black cat may seem unlucky where you're from, but in Scotland, they're considered good luck. As Bob would say, it goes to show what you know about luck. Although we're introduced to happy luck engineers and tinkerers, we learn that not all luck created is good.

The Land of Luck is split in two - Good Luck and Bad Luck. It might sound predictable, but there's a method to the madness. While we humans take both forms of luck for granted, it's clear from the trailer that good and bad luck are both appreciated in the Land of Luck. We get glimpses of level-headed good luck engineers dispensing their fortune skills to a woman who finds a hundred-dollar bill in the street. We also get a gleeful glimpse at the bad luck tricksters who are very good at what they do - leaving a poor guy stranded in a stall without toilet paper. They're cracking up, and it's hard not to laugh at the bad luck because we've all been there. What we don't see on our human side is that we need both good luck and bad luck for balance. The Land of Luck is perfectly balanced because of the skills of all its luck workers.

And perhaps that's the driving theme behind the movie. The movie's basic plot is that Sam Greenfield, a human who happens to make her way to the forbidden Land of Luck, is quite literally the unluckiest girl in the world. Don't just think lousy hair day, steps in gum gets splashed by a passing car kind of bad luck. Think foster care, lost friendships, down on her luck, bad luck. When she reaches the Land of Luck, she hopes to find the cure for her bad luck and maybe even bring some good luck back to her best friend on Earth.

Unfortunately, Sam is somewhat of a bad luck omen for those living in the Land of Luck. Her mere presence in the world is throwing things off and turning the normally-balanced, machinelike economy to shambles, so it's up to Bob and a few others to hide Sam and help her find her way out of Luck before luck - for the human world and their world - is thrown off for good.

What To Expect From Luck's Opening Day

The teaser trailer's release came after months of press releases about the movie itself. Because of a deal first with Paramount's streaming platform and then with Apple's, the public knew Skydance Animation was set to release a series of animated movies hosted on AppleTV+. However, little was known beyond the potential release dates of those movies, their streaming platforms, and a general synopsis. The trailer for Luck gave a glimpse into the creative vision of the writers and producers like John Lasseter for this movie.

And, of course, the buzz wouldn't have been quite as exciting without the cast and crew, which was among the initially released information.

Bob, the lucky black cat, will strike a smile across any comedy lover's face, as the sound of Simon Pegg's voice (even with a Scottish brogue) is easily recognizable. The casting department made exciting choices with their picks for the characters in Luck, mixing some new and relatively unheard-of talent with some well-beloved talent. As well as Simon Pegg, viewers can look forward to the following cast members:

Eva Noblezada is Sam Greenfield, the unluckiest girl in the world. Noblezada came to the spotlight as the lead in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon. Although she has been in only a few feature films to date, the trailer accurately portrays her cheery disposition and outgoing personality.

Lil Ray Howery as Marv, Sam's mentor and supervisor at the Flowers & More store back in the human world. Lil Ray Howery is known for The Carmichael Show, and Jordan Peele's seminal horror film Get Out.

Jane Fonda, who goes without introduction, plays The Dragon, the CEO of Good Luck. And what better person to give off chic boss vibes?

The dynamic Whoopi Goldberg plays The Captain, the head of security of the Land of Luck. Known for both dramatic and comedy pieces, Goldberg will likely bring level-headedness to the film.

Flula Borg plays Jeff, the luck engineer. Borg, who was first noticed in the late 2000s for his dry humor on YouTube, made his big breakout in Pitch Perfect 2. He eventually went on to star in blockbuster films like The Suicide Squad, Ferdinand, and more.

John Ratzenberger plays Rootie, the Mayor of Bad Luck. Ratzenberger, whose iconic voice acting has become a comfortable presence in modern animation, has had a cameo in every Pixar film to date. He and producer John Lasseter go way back.

However, the cast is only part of what goes into making a successful movie. At face value, viewers love to see (or, in this case, hear) their favorite voices in new movies. But they also value other elements of production without knowing it. If there's anything to be said about the team that creates it, Luck is bound for success. Directed by a former Disney feature director (Peggy Holmes) and produced by the former head of animation at Pixar and Disney (John Lasseter), the movie will be influenced by the minds behind award-winning animated features that have become part of the animation zeitgeist. With the influence of new animators and writers on the team, as well, Luck may very well integrate the best elements of animation's past and future into one.

The Rise & Future of SkyDance Animation

Luck is only one of a series of animated films set to come out under the lucrative AppleTV+ and Skydance Animation deal. AppleTV+ will have exclusive rights to several feature-length animated films created by Skydance Animation. This deal hopes to boost subscribers to AppleTV+ and give one of the newest animation production companies in the industry a platform to showcase their work.

SkyDance Animation started as a partnership between Madrid-based Ilion Studios and Skydance Media in 2017. Skydance eventually acquired Ilion and became Skydance Animation Madrid. Now, the company operates in Madrid, Los Angeles, and Connecticut as part of a larger global team. Many of its members operate remotely due to COVID-19. Even parts of Luck were done in isolation during the pandemic.

In 2019, Skydance Animation hired John Lasseter, formerly the head of Disney animation, to head up its Animation team in the wake of its multi-year contract. The contract already has an animated short, Blush, under its belt, which will also include the feature-length animated films Spellbound and Ray Gunn, with the potential for more.

Although little is known about both of these films, we do know that Skydance has continued its trend of incorporating the most prominent names in animation for these projects. Spellbound is a musical feature and will include composition from award-winning Disney composer Alan Menken. Meanwhile, Ray Gunn is the brainchild of Brad Bird of The Iron Giant fame. Ray Gunn has been a passion project for Brad Bird since around the time he began working on The Iron Giant, though he never had the time or platform to work on it. Reuniting with his college colleague (Lasseter), Ray Gunn was finally given the platform to complete his work.

Skydance Media has not yet gained the same notoriety as Disney and Pixar, both animation moguls who have created some of the most beloved animated films of all time-arguably changing animation as we know it forever. But all the pieces are in place for Skydance to gain even more footing in the animated world than they already have, especially after releasing Luck. Hopefully, the release of Luck on August 4th will be as lucky for Skydance Animation as a black cat named Bob.
Boutique investment manager of the year - Americas: Campo Capital Colombia

Campo Capital looks to combine agriculture and forestry crops projects with carbon sequestration in one portfolio in Colombia and Peru.

Last year the Colombian government included Campo in its list of companies in growth stage, with impact, that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.

Campos flagship project is called Sustainable Agroforestry in the Orinoquia (OAS), an area in central Colombia of approximately 7,500 hectares. The project aims to improve the living conditions of all local communities, protect the environment through reforestation with native species and economically develop the region with the commercialisation of products derived from cocoa and annatto, a natural dye used to colour dairy products.

OAS is sponsored by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an intergovernmental organisation that supports sustainable economic models in developing countries, and has financed a study into OAS  which estimates the project involves at least 3.65 million verified carbon units (VCU) of carbon sequestration and has an internal rate of return (IRR) of 12.41%.

Campo Capital has developed a sustainable agroforestry investment practice in strategic regions such as Amazonia and Orinoquia, with investors aim[ing] to obtain economic, social, environmental impact and carbon credits said the partners of Campo Capital. The future is now, its time to act and invest in our jungles, rivers, mangroves, savannahs  afterwards, [in the absence of such action] there will be nothing to restore.

The investment manager is yet to complete the OAS project and is seeking to attract investors, looking for carbon credits and an agroforestry development, that adhere to its principles with marketing tours. Its focus will be to keep the link between the financial resources and Colombian farmers.

Campo says its projects have provided work for more than 200 people in remote areas of Colombia and Peru.
Boutique investment manager of the year, Asia: Maitri

Singapore-based Maitri Asset Management has won Asian Boutique investment manager of the year.

Part of Tolaram, the multi-family office focuses specifically on active responsible investment management in Asia.

Ishk Tolaram Foundation is Maitri's largest beneficiary, providing access to education, healthcare and skills training in countries such as Indonesia and Singapore. It said given this, it is mindful to make investments in line with the values and work the foundation carries out.

Maitri also has a two-tier responsible investment approach. The first level includes screening its entire portfolio against companies which receive more than 10% of their revenue from at least one of six 'sin' sectors. This includes weapons, tobacco and alcohol.

The second level is the application of its proprietary ESG integrated investment framework to its sustainable funds. Mairi has called this a "form of enhanced risk management as well as opportunity identification".

Alongside a coal exclusion policy, it engages with corporates on disclosures and controversial plans as well as uses its corporate voting to push for better ESG performance.

Maitri has seen positive responses to its engagement. It was part of an investor consortium which convinced other investors to withdraw support for Vung Ang, a power plant project in Vietnam due to climate-related risk. This also led Mitsubishi corporation to pledge it will not engage in any new coal-fired power plants.

It claims to be the first multi-family office to achieve B Corp certification in the Asia-Pacific region and was one of the first Asian asset managers to set interim targets to the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Maitri has said it will continue to be active in the space, aiming to drive forward ESG and sustainability across Asia.
ESG index provider of the year: FTSE Russell

FTSE Russell has been developing sustainable investment index solutions across asset classes to suit the changing needs of investors and the regulatory landscape.

The subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group has developed sustainable investment indexes in listed equities, real estate and sovereign debt. It is helping investors calibrate indexes to achieve their ESG objectives.

Each year, FTSE Russells ESG analysts communicate with over 7,000 companies in 53 countries, conduct two-way dialogue with over 1,700 companies and are involved in a more detailed process of engagement with a few hundred companies.

A key example of engagement was demonstrated in June 2021, it said. The company identified 208 constituents of the FTSE4Good All World index who failed to meet its latest climate performance standards  over 10% of members. These companies were given one year to improve their standards or face deletion from the index.

In September, FTSE Russell launched the Russell US ESG Indexes to provide ESG equivalents of the Russell benchmarks. The new range, designed to integrate ESG into institutional-grade US equity indexes includes six indexes constructed using robust ESG criteria and the target exposure methodology ensures they closely match risk and return characteristics of the underlying benchmarks.

The market is very dynamic, especially in passive investments, where clients are asking for more diversity in their benchmarks  for sustainability versions of the Russell US Index family, for example. We see a real opportunity for investors to shift assets from standard benchmarks to these new indexes, said Sylvain Chateau, global head of SI product management at LSEG (owner of FTSE Russell).

In March, the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan selected the newly created FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index for its latest ESG passive fund. The new index selects companies with higher ESG Ratings within each sector. The index facilitates ESG integration into the Japanese market by supporting improved ESG outcomes [and] driving better corporate sustainability performance and practices using FTSE ESG Ratings.
Pension fund of the year: ABP

The Netherlands' ABP pension fund made waves in October when it said it would sell investments in assets receiving more than 1% of turnover from producing oil, gas and coal  a segment of its portfolio valued at 15 billion ($17 billion) and representing 3% of its total assets.

ABP, which manages total asset of about 530 billion and provides pensions to workers in the Dutch government and education sectors, vowed to sell most of the assets covered by this definition by 2023.

The fund's managers said the decision was motivated by "groups of ABP pension participants and employers having shown broad support for this decision".

It said it did not expect this decision to have a negative impact on long-term returns. At the same time, it said it would increase its investments in renewable energy "where possible".

The move was welcomed by investors and climate campaigners alike.

"We think this will have a ripple effect among investors all over Europe and the world", Liset Meddens, director at Dutch activist group Fossielvrij told Environmental Finance at the time. "It sets the precedent for other pension funds on how to divest, invest and make proper climate policies."

Also in 2021, its asset manager, APG, made an "initial investment" of about 1 billion in a family of listed, 'responsible' equities indexes that includes an index of stocks that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. APG said it would be available to existing APG clients. ABP is the main client of APG.
Thought leadership paper on sustainable investing, Asia: Fidelity International

Focusing on gender diversity and policy in Chinas largest companies, Fidelity Internationals The Smaller Half of Chinas Sky paper highlights how women today remain on the periphery of company boards and top management in the country.

The report consists of three parts:

Where China stands on gender diversity and what actions policymakers are taking.

The gender policies and practices of the members of Chinas A50 stock index.

Recommendations for both companies and investors on how to boost gender diversity.

Fidelity conducted the report by reviewing annual reports, sustainability reports, and the websites of companies listed on the China A50 index  the components of which are from the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange  to distil what, if any, gender policies or measures they have put in place.

In addition, Fidelity is promoting gender diversity in China and has updated its global voting policy to align with its expectations of board gender diversity. The asset manager no longer supports the re-election of relevant directors if the board fails to meet its minimum diversity threshold. For emerging markets such as China, Fidelity votes against boards where women hold fewer than 15% of seats. This led to it voting against resolutions proposed by 50 companies on the grounds of low female participation, it said.

As the findings from our ground-breaking report on China gender diversity make clear, engaging with Chinese companies to advocate for greater diversity is just one area where Fidelity International seeks to leverage our global expertise as sustainable investors to make a real-world impact, said Flora Wang, director of sustainable investing and portfolio managerat Fidelity International.

The paper was picked up by Chinese media outlets Xinhua, Jiemian, Yicai, Sina and Tencent, with the formers article attracting 300,000 online views within 24 hours of publication, according to figures shared by Fidelity.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses leaders via a video screen during a round table meeting at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, on June 29. AP-Yonhap



Ukraine's president chided NATO for not embracing his embattled country more fully and asked for more weapons to fight Russia's invasion, as the leaders of the alliance met amid what its chief called its biggest crisis since World War II.



Russia's invasion of its neighbor shattered Europe's peace, drove NATO to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale not seen since the Cold War and is set to give the defense organization two new members in Sweden and Finland.



Members of the alliance have also sent billions in military and civilian aid to Ukraine. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATO's open-door policy to new members did not apply to Ukraine.



"The open-door policy of NATO shouldn't resemble old turnstiles on Kyiv's subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay," Zelenskyy said by video link. "Hasn't Ukraine paid enough? Hasn't our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient?"



He asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders that they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or "face a delayed war between Russia and yourself."



Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. The alliance is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its member-nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation between NATO and nuclear-armed Russia.



As 30 NATO leaders met in Madrid, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged the alliance is "in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War."



U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, said the summit would send "an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united."



"We're stepping up. We're proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been," said Biden.



He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.



But strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make to stop the fighting.



Money could also be a sensitive issue _ just nine of NATO's 30 members currently meet the organization's target of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.



British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies "to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead."



The war has already triggered a big increase in NATO's forces in eastern Europe, and allies are expected to agree at the summit to boost the strength of the alliance's rapid reaction force nearly eightfold, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations, but dedicated to specific countries on NATO's eastern flank, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.



Stoltenberg said NATO was undertaking "the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War."



The leaders are also set to publish NATO's new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals. (AP)


Nearly 3,400 people have applied for the citys Ready to Work job training program since it opened for enrollment in mid-May, a rate more than four times higher than expected.

The interest is a signal of strong demand for the voter-approved $200 million initiative, officials said.

It shows you theres a great need in our community for services like this, Mike Ramsey, executive director of the citys Workforce Development office, told City Council last week. This is a moment in time that we can do something truly transformative for a lot of families in our community.

His office was expecting 5,600 applications for the entire first year of Ready to Work, or just more than 100 applicants per week. Instead, it has received 2,600 since enrollment opened six weeks ago, an average of more than 430 each week. Eight hundred people pre-registered before Ready to Work launched on May 16.

On ExpressNews.com: I have a career: After bumpy roll-out, over 1,100 San Antonians working through Train for Jobs

Its unclear how many of the 3,400 people who have applied are eligible to enter training through Ready to Work. Participants must be at least 18 years old, eligible to work in the United States and earn less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about $34,000 for an individual.

People who have applied are assigned a case management agency for intake, which determines whether a person is eligible. City officials said they will know more about eligibility rates within the next few weeks as applicants are processed. The first training classes are expected to begin sometime in the next month.

In his presentation to Council members, Ramsey said over 4,100 people had applied for Ready to Work. But on Monday, officials revised the number of applicants down to 3,393. The 4,100 number shown last week referred to interactions with applicants, such as emails or phone calls, a spokeswoman said.

William Luther, Staff

Ready to Work will run for four years and remain open for enrollment through the end of 2025.

Over those four years, city officials estimate 28,000 people will enroll in courses and nearly 16,000 will graduate from training and land a job paying at least $15 an hour.

The program will pay for participants to enter courses for industry-recognized skills certificates or pursue associates degrees. It will also offer high school equivalency education.

Ready to Work will pay tuition for some residents to pursue bachelors degrees, but wont fund a full four-year education. Participants must already have 60 college credits under their belts to seek a bachelor's through the initiative.

Train for Jobs

The precursor program to Ready to Work is called Train for Jobs, which was funded with $55 million made possible by the federal CARES Act. The city opened it for enrollment in September 2020 as a quick response to mass job losses wrought that year by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The same four contractors the city hired to run Train for Jobs  Project QUEST, Alamo Colleges, Workforce Solutions Alamo and Restore Education  are facilitating training for Ready to Work.

Unlike the new program, there were no income restrictions to enter Train for Jobs. Participants received a stipend each week that paid them for the hours they spent in training or in class. Ready to Work trainees wont receive a stipend.

As of May 31  the most recent date for which city data is available  over 3,100 people have completed training through Train for Jobs in the 20 months since it opened. About 1,700 people have landed jobs through the initiative, but the pace of hiring increased in 2022: More than 700 have landed a job since the start of the year.

Just more than 5,400 people in total enrolled in Train for Jobs, which closed for new enrollment at the end of last year. About 12 percent of participants  654 people  dropped out without finishing training.

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.

On ExpressNews.com: DeLorean CEO talks about automakers future in San Antonio  and the challenges it sees ahead

More than 1,600 people were enrolled in training courses through Train for Jobs at the end of May and another 1,800 were still pending enrollment from earlier applications. Ramsey said that means thousands more people may find work through the discontinued program.

Ready to Work

Participants entering Ready to Work can choose a training path from a vast array of occupations. The citys course catalog is over 200 pages long, and there are 57 different subcontractors that will provide the training.

The University of Texas at San Antonios Urban Education Institute was hired this spring to evaluate Ready to Work and create a data dashboard showing in real-time how the program is doing. That data page should be up and running sometime this summer, Ramsey said.

The program has drawn some attention from U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh as a potential model for workforce development that other U.S. cities could look to.

District 4 Councilmember Adriana Rocha Garcia relayed to Ramsey the urgency of getting the program running and making it work.

This is our most important program right now, Rocha Garcia said. We have to be successful, because the residents voted on it.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Anthony Garcia spent a lot of nights hanging out at Taco Land, the legendary and lamented San Antonio club, but he only played there once.

It was a weekday night, and it was hot, but when youre 20-something, the heat doesnt matter, said Garcia, 52, who played at the club with the band Moorish Idol. Two beers, sweaty, it was all part of it. It was a very cool night.

Garcia, who most recently played with the now-dormant band La Chichada and also often photographs bands, retired earlier this month after 30 years working for UPS. He now is focusing full time on Jojodancerphotography Studio, his small space in the Blue Star Arts Complex. On First Fridays, he stashes his gear and makes way for gallerygoers. His goal is to bring together the citys music and visual art scenes.

A show opening at the studio for Julys First Friday art walk does just that. It will include works by Garcia, as well as a couple of Taco Land veterans: Karl Lubbering, who played with Three Guys Walking, and Fred Himes, who played there for years with Los Mescaleros.

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Karl Lubbering

The artist reception Saturday will include performances by Himes, Lubbering and Xavier Aguirre, who played with the Infidels.

Taco Land, which opened in the 1960s, nurtured the citys underground music scene for decades. It closed in 2005 after owner Ramiro Ram Ayala and doorman Gypsy Doug Morgan were fatally shot during a robbery. The spot now operates as part of the Velvet Taco restaurant chain.

Garcia was introduced to Taco Land as a youngster by his uncle, Jack Barber, who played with the Sir Douglas Quintet.

What was really cool about it, it wasnt a trendy place  homeless would hang out there, Garcia said. It was right there downtown. Ram seemed to just be equally rude and equally nice to everybody at the same time.

Lubbering, who is a guitarist and a painter, played Taco Land on Sunday nights for years with Three Guys Walking. The band also opened for bigger acts frequently on weeknights.

WILLIAM LUTHER, Staff / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

The guy that ran it, Ram, he didnt need a CD to listen to your music or anything like that, said Lubbering, 52. He just was like, If you want to play, just play, and be sure to show up because youre wasting my time if you dont show up. It was a really cool scene.

Lubbering has focused his creative energies on visual art rather than music in recent years, though he has been recording some songs for an EP. The exhibit opening this weekend includes several works, including a painting, We the People, that measures 6 feet by 6 feet.

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I feel like when I stand in front of a canvas that big, my body and the canvas are kind of the same size, and it feels like I fall into the canvas, he said. I do small pieces, too, but I mostly like doing large pieces.

Music often factors into his work, which he describes as modern folk art. He frequently paints musicians and has painted a few images inspired by his time playing in clubs.

He played live for the first time in six years in April during Fiesta, when he reunited with his Three Guys Walking bandmates at the Fredstock Music Festival at San Antonio College.

Jojodancerphotos

I was nervous, but we did a good job, he said. That was our little comeback. Were not officially a band any more, but if we get gigs that pay, well take them.

Guitarist Fred Himes will be showing five mixed-media works in the show. The 64-year-old started playing at Taco Land with his first band, Latex Duplex, in 1984 and played later with Los Mescaleros.

It was a blast, he said. It was all genres  punk, country music, hard rock, oddball, weirdo stuff.

Sam Owens, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

It was open all the time. You could go on a Wednesday, and you would hear, in the wee hours, some kind of sublime, transcendent experience of really great music that would probably not happen anywhere else.

He said Taco Land played a role in the development of a number of bands that still are prominent on the San Antonio scene, including the Swindles, the Infidels and Buttercup.

All youve got to do is barely scratch the surface, and you will see a big connection, which is that whole San Antonio/Taco Land thing that can never really happen again, as far as I know, he said. We were lucky to get that tail end of it before everything was bought up and built over and renovated and changed.

First Friday exhibit What: Artwork by Karl Lubbering, Fred Himes, Michael Wally Olivarri and Eric J. Lozano When: 5-10 p.m. today Where: Jojodancerphotography Studio, 1414 S. Alamo St No. 213 in the Blue Star Arts Complex Reception: 4-8 p.m. Saturday with music by Taco Land veterans Himes, Lubbering and Xavier Aguirre See More Collapse

It was always that sense of a little bit of danger, a little bit of the abandoned places before everything was kind of paved over and sanitized, which is kind of good in a way for people to come in and feel safer, but unfortunately, when you scrub and clean, you kind of scrub off the grit and the soul.

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
North East School of the Arts rising senior Nicholas Barron hit Broadway Monday night and walked away with $25,000 in scholarship money.

Barron, 17, is the first San Antonian to win one of the top two awards at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards  also known as the Jimmy Awards  held annually in New York.

Barron won Best Performance by an Actor. Kendall Becerra from San Diego won Best Performance by an Actress.

A total of 92 young performers from across the country competed. They also spent the week leading up to the awards being trained by theater professionals.

It hasnt really sunk in yet how insane it is, Barron said Tuesday afternoon. Its really amazing.

Barron took part in group numbers, including a medley in which he sang Proud Lady from The Bakers Wife. He got the stage to himself to deliver This is Not Over Yet from Parade. 

To me its a song about perseverance, said Barron, who goes to the North East School of the Arts. I feel like, for so long, this year and last year, its felt like were all so stuck, because of the pandemic and all of these little roadblocks. Being able to find hope in those little pockets of joy and excitement are really important to me, and its been great to really perfect that song.

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Finalists performed for a live audience in-person and online. Video can be viewed through Thursday at Facebook: @JimmyAwards.

Each of the finalists was nominated by an organization that belongs to the Broadway League. San Antonio-area performers are nominated by the Las Casas Foundation, the nonprofit that, among other things, has a scholarship program aimed at supporting young performers across the region.

Las Casas also nominated Anna Zavelson, who attends Vandegrift High School in Austin, for the Jimmys. Both she and Barron made it to the top eight. Its the first time that San Antonio performers have advanced that far.

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I think I was more excited about that in the moment, Barron said. To be able to represent San Antonio and Las Casas like that was just insanely amazing, and Im so glad that both me and Anna go the opportunity to do that.

Barron, who has appeared in musicals on San Antonio stages since he was little, hopes to study vocal performance at a school on the East Coast, and then launch a career as a performer.

Its the thing that brings me the most joy, he said.

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
Whataburger's Patty Melt costs around $8 to $10, give or take a side and drink. But what if you could get it for half the price?

A few months ago, TikTok user @hellthyjunkfood shared a "Budget Patty Melt" how-to for all the five people in the world, including Mashed, who like that sandwich. The directions are fairly simple:

1) Get a grilled cheese with Swiss

2) Add a burger patty

3) Profit

But there is a twist. If you try this food hack, you become the "food hack" because you can't even get past step 1. Whataburger, in their now-infinite Chicago wisdom, removed the grilled cheese sandwich from their menus when we weren't looking.

A representative from the company said Whataburger removed the grilled cheese back in April, which was right around the time this hack was released. People started noticing back in March. The sandwich is a no-show on the app, and the location near our office straight up said "no" when we asked for one. You might have some luck if your local Whataburger is accommodating.

The good news is the sandwich is returning next Monday afternoon after fan request. Also, this is what Whataburger had to say about the hack:

"What makes the Patty Melt so tasty and melty is that it has two large beef patties and two slices of Monterey Jack cheese topped with grilled onions and Creamy Pepper sauce. While a grilled cheese sandwich with a single patty added is tasty, its not a Patty Melt. We encourage fans to treat themselves to the real deal."

Finally, a fun fact: The New York Times' Sam Sifton wrote the patty melt was born in Los Angeles sometime in the 1950s by restaurateur Tiny Naylor.
A 19-year-old Amazon sub-contractor is accused of threatening to shoot up an Amazon delivery station and a school.

Rodolfo Aceves was arrested Monday and charged with making a terroristic threat.

According to an affidavit supporting his arrest, Aceves made "disturbing" remarks to another employee at the Amazon delivery station on the Southeast Side and said he considered the Uvalde mass shooter an idol.

On ExpressNews.com: 3 arrested in connection with human-smuggling tragedy on San Antonios Southwest Side that left 51 dead

During a fire drill Friday, Aceves told an employee it would "be a good idea to pull the fire alarm and have all the employees exit the building and to commit a mass shooting," the affidavit said. The affidavit alleges that Aceves followed the statement by saying he would commit the mass shooting.

When the employee told Aceves that they had to pick up her children from school, he responded by saying he would follow her so that he would know what school to shoot up, the affidavit said.

The employee didn't immediately report Aceves because he had recently purchased a handgun and a rifle and feared retaliation, according to the affidavit.

On Monday, Aceves' father told police that his son suffered from mental illness and was worried that Aceves had purchased weapons, the affidavit said.

Aceves' bail was set at $50,000.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press.

More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe thats exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under the Mann Act, a more than century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex.

Some of the New Orleans cases under review allege abuse by clergy during trips to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida. And while some claims are decades old, Mann Act violations notably have no statute of limitations.

Its been a long road and just the fact that someone this high up believes us means the world to us, said a former altar boy who alleged his assailant took him on trips to Colorado and Florida and abused him beginning in the 1970s when he was in the fifth grade. The AP generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The FBI declined to comment, as did the Louisiana State Police, which is assisting in the inquiry. The Archdiocese of New Orleans declined to discuss the federal investigation.

Id prefer not to pursue this conversation, Archbishop Gregory Aymond told the AP.

The probe could deepen the legal peril for the archdiocese as it reels from a bankruptcy brought on by a flood of sex abuse lawsuits and allegations that church leaders turned a blind eye to generations of predator priests.

Federal investigators are now considering whether to seek access to thousands of secret church documents produced by lawsuits and shielded by a sweeping confidentiality order in the bankruptcy, according to those familiar with the probe who werent authorized to discuss it and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Those records are said to document years of abuse claims, interviews with accused clergy and a pattern of church leaders transferring problem priests without reporting their crimes to law enforcement.

This is actually a big deal, and it should be heartening to victims, said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and chief executive of Child USA, a think tank focused on preventing child abuse. The FBI has rarely become involved in the clergy sex abuse scandals. Theyve dragged their feet around the country with respect to the Catholic Church.

The U.S. Justice Department has struggled to find a federal nexus to prosecuting clergy abuse, hitting dead ends in cases as explosive as the ones outlined in the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report that disclosed a systematic cover-up by church leaders. Federal prosecutors subpoenaed church records in Buffalo, New York, the same year in an inquiry that similarly went quiet.

The issue has always been determining what is the federal crime, said Peter G. Strasser, the former U.S. attorney in New Orleans who declined to bring charges in 2018 after the archdiocese published a list of 57 credibly accused clergy, a roster an AP analysis found had been undercounted by at least 20 names.

Strasser said he naively believed a federal case might be possible only to encounter a host of roadblocks, including the complexities of putting the church on trial for charges like conspiracy.

But federal prosecutors have in recent years employed the more narrowly focused Mann Act to win convictions in a variety of abuse cases, including against R&B star R. Kelly for using his fame to sexually exploit girls, and Ghislaine Maxwell for helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. In 2013, a federal judge in Indiana sentenced a Baptist pastor to 12 years in prison for taking a 16-year-old girl across state lines for sex.

Among the priests under federal scrutiny in New Orleans is Lawrence Hecker, a 90-year-old removed from the ministry in 2002 following accusations he abused countless children. Hecker is accused of abusing children decades ago on out-of-state trips, and other claims against him range from fondling to rape.

Hundreds of records currently under the confidentiality order will reveal in no uncertain terms that the last four archbishops of New Orleans knew that Lawrence Hecker was a serial child predator, Richard Trahant, an attorney for Heckers alleged victims, wrote in a court filing.

Hecker is still very much alive, vibrant, lives alone and is a danger to young boys until he draws his final breath, Trahant wrote.

Asked by telephone this week whether he ever abused children, Hecker said, Im going to have to hang up.

More recent allegations are also drawing federal attention, including the case of Patrick Wattigny, a priest charged last year by state prosecutors after he admitted molesting a teenager in 2013. His attorney declined to comment.

Wattignys 2020 removal from the ministry came amid a disciplinary investigation into inappropriate text messages he sent a student. The case sent shockwaves through the Catholic community because church leaders had frequently characterized clergy abuse as a sin from the past.

It was happening while the church was saying, Its no longer happening, said Bill Arata, an attorney who has attended three of the FBI interviews.

These victims could stay home and not do anything, he added, but thats not the kind of people they are.

Clergy abuse is particularly fraught in Louisiana, a heavily Catholic state that endured some of the earliest scandals dating to the 1980s. Last year, it joined two-dozen states that have enacted lookback windows intended to allow unresolved claims of child sex abuse, no matter how old, to be brought in civil court.

But with few exceptions, most notably a former deacon charged with rape, the accused clergy have escaped criminal consequences. Even at the local level, cases have been hamstrung by statutes of limitation and the political sensitivity of prosecuting the church.

The archdioceses 2020 bankruptcy case has also frozen a separate court battle over a cache of confidential emails describing the behind-the-scenes public relations work that executives for the NFLs New Orleans Saints did for the archdiocese in 2018 and 2019 to contain fallout from clergy abuse scandals.

While the Saints say they only assisted in messaging, attorneys for those suing the church have alleged in court records that Saints officials joined in the churchs pattern and practice of concealing its crimes. That included taking an active role in helping to shape the archdioceses list of credibly accused clergy, the attorneys contend.

Attorneys for those suing the church have attacked the bankruptcy bid as a veiled attempt to keep church records secret  and deny victims a public reckoning.

Those victims were on the path to the truth, Soren Gisleson, an attorney who represents several of the victims, wrote in a court filing. The rape of children is a thief that keeps on stealing.

___

Contact APs global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
A Texas mayor has resigned after recently being arrested and charged with soliciting a minor online, according to multiple reports.

Matthew Mcllravy, 42, was booked into the Dallas County Jail on June 21 on a second-degree felony charge and has since been released on bond, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Dallas police said in a Facebook post that Mcllravy was arrested after a five-month investigation that also included the U.S. Marshals Task Force, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Collin County district attorneys office.

As part of the investigation, Mcllravy reportedly exchanged messages with an undercover officer posing as a 12-year-old girl, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by KTVT-TV. The warrant says he wanted to engage in "deviant sexual intercourse."

Police said the investigation also revealed additional "communications with minors" who have not been identified.

Pilot Point City Manager Britt Lusk released a statement the night of Mcllravy's arrest, saying he was arrested that morning while at City Hall, according to a WFAA report.

Lusk also said the city will follow applicable state law and its charter to fill any vacancies. In the absence of the mayor, Mayor Pro Tem Chad Major filled in to preside over meetings.

Mcllravy's government profile has since been removed from the City of Pilot Point's website.

Pilot Point is located in Denton County, more than five hours northwest of Houston and roughly 45 miles north of Dallas.

Police are asking anyone with information regarding this case to contact Detective Michael Fontenot at (214) 671-4281 or email him at michael.fontenot@dallascityhall.com.
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The young married couple frequently wrote gushing comments to one another on social media.

There is no smile or eyes more beautiful than yours, Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero, 22, wrote in Spanish to his wife, Margie Tamara Paz Grajera, 20, on Facebook on May 23.

About a week and a half later, they left their home in Honduras for the United States, along with Caballeros brother, Fernando Jose Redondo Caballero, 18.

The trio were likely among the 53 immigrants who died in one of the nations deadliest human smuggling incidents. It unfolded on a desolate road on the Southwest Side late Monday. The immigrants, who were crowded into a tractor-trailer that turned suffocating in the South Texas heat, came from Mexico and across Central America.

On Wednesday, the Honduran Foreign Ministry said it couldnt positively identify the three family members yet. The ministry was working with Bexar County officials to confirm their identities.

On ExpressNews.com: The semitrailer migrants traveled in could have reached 150 degrees, experts say

Also among the dead were two sisters who dreamed of a better life  Carla and Griselda Carac-Tambriz, of Guatemala  and 28-year-old Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada, of Honduras. Quezada's mother and sister live in Los Angeles, according to a Honduran newspaper.

County officials on Wednesday continued the grinding work of identifying victims  40 of whom were male and 13 of whom were female. So far, they had potentially IDd 37.

Some of the immigrants packed into the trailer of the red Volvo truck carried fake official documents, slowing authorities efforts to learn their names, ages and where they were from.

Working with the consulates of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador adds an additional layer of complications for local officials.

The sheer number of victims is straining the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office, prompting its staff to turn to counterparts in Travis and Dallas counties for help with autopsies. They hope to complete the grim work in the next few days.

The survivors

As county officials tended to the dead, survivors of the human smuggling disaster continued to receive treatment at local hospitals Wednesday. Initially, sixteen people were transported to area hospitals  12 adults and four pediatric patients. Five have since died.

At University Hospital, a 23-year-old woman remained in fair condition, and an adolescent boy was in critical condition Wednesday.

One male was in critical condition, and another male and a female were in serious condition at Methodist Hospital Metropolitan downtown.

A patient at Texas Vista, formerly Southwest General Hospital, remained in critical but stable condition.

Two survivors were still being treated at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital in Westover Hills, along with one patient at The Childrens Hospital of San Antonio. Their ages and health statuses were unknown.

Baptist Medical Center downtown took in two patients, who were in critical condition late Tuesday.

On Monday, San Antonio temperatures hovered close to 100 degrees. The back of the rig was refrigerated, but no air-conditioning unit was visible when emergency personnel entered. Many of the survivors suffered from heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Authorities said there appeared to be no drinking water in the trailer.

Federal authorities later arrested four people in connection with the deaths, including the alleged driver, Homero Zamorano, 45.

He was arrested after officials say he abandoned the tractor-trailer and fled the scene while high on meth. Zamorano, who grew up in Brownsville and lives in Palestine, is facing federal human smuggling charges.

All four suspects remain in federal custody.

Offering solace

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller had visited 11 survivors in six hospitals in the first two days after the incident. He said most appeared to be young, between the ages of 16 and 20.

Garcia-Siller prayed over those unable to respond. Some were in no condition to communicate because they were intubated. Still, he talked to them, advising them to trust people who were trying to help them  medical staff, police and security personnel.

The archbishop said he held a coherent conversation with one intubated woman who communicated with her eyes and hands.

Another survivor was well enough to talk with him, though they avoided discussing conditions in the packed tractor-trailer, Garcia-Siller said.

Garcia-Siller visited 11 people but knew only one name  Serenidad, a 16-year-old girl who was in better condition than most of the other survivors.

I never have heard of someone with that name, Garcia-Siller said. Her name translates to serenity in English. Beautiful name, beautiful name. It was a very beautiful moment. I asked her to repeat (her name), and she smiled. She was OK.

The archbishop will preside over a special memorial Mass for the deceased, survivors and their families at 7 tonight at San Fernando Cathedral for all those interested in working with migrants.

On ExpressNews.com: 3 arrested in connection with human-smuggling tragedy on San Antonios Southwest Side that left 53 dead

Helping survivors, victims

Several local legal aid and humanitarian groups worked Wednesday to support the survivors and their families, as well as families of the dead. Many relatives have struggled to get updates on loved ones who were either hospitalized in San Antonio or missing.

Felicitos Garcia, who owns a grocery store in the remote community of San Miguel Huautla in Mexicos southern state of Oaxaca, said the mother of Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman, who was hospitalized in Texas, had gone to the state capital to learn more about her sons condition and the whereabouts of his cousin.

Life is tough here, Garcia said. People survive by growing their own crops like corn, beans and wheat. Sometimes the land gives, and sometimes it doesnt when the rains arrive late. There is nothing in place for people to have other resources. People live one day to the next.

Natalia Trotter, the managing attorney at RAICES, said the San Antonio immigrants rights organization was one of the first at the scene on Quintana Road near Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Monday. But the next day, the group had no access to any of the migrants whod been taken to area hospitals.

The unfortunate part is that we were unable to provide representation at the scene, and we havent been able to meet with the migrants yet, said Trotter, whos based in Corpus Christi. But as soon as we are able to contact them, as soon as they are out of critical condition, we are ready to be able to step in and provide any sort of legal representation.

For now, RAICES officials are monitoring the patients progress.

Trotter said the organization is looking to ensure that survivors are given due process under U.S. law. The migrants have strong cases to remain in the U.S., she said, despite the possibility that immigration officials could try to expedite their deportation.

In 2020, government officials enacted Title 42, an emergency public health order that allows the federal government to turn away migrants seeking asylum in the event of a pandemic. Trotter said she worries that survivors could be deported under that order.

We have seen the Department of Homeland Security kind of very close by, so that always makes us nervous because we dont want anyone deported without being able to receive information or representation, Trotter said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

eeaton@express-news.net | danya.perez@express-news.net | ricardo.delgado@express-news.net
Not one holiday goes by without the Ramirez family going all out to decorate their North Central home with the appropriate festive theme.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Tuesday, criticizing Gov. Greg Abbotts policies on immigration and human smuggling and urging the president to meet with Texas sheriffs to address fallout from the rising number of immigrants crossing the border.

In the letter, Salazar said Abbott has used the issues of immigration and human smuggling as one big campaign stunt.

Governor Abbott has wasted excessive assets and personnel on an ineffective farce of an effort, said Salazar, a Democrat. I know its ineffective, because my deputies and surrounding county sheriffs deal with the aftermath every single day in the form of vehicle pursuits and even rescue operations with dozens of victims at a time.

He said Abbott has jailed countless immigrants on worthless charges that have only served to clog an already over-taxed state prison system, which has had a trickledown effect on overcrowded local jails.

The letter comes one day after 51 migrants from Mexico and Central America were killed in a sweltering tractor-trailer on the citys Southwest Side in one of the deadliest such episodes in recent history.

On ExpressNews.com: 3 arrested in connection with human-smuggling tragedy on San Antonios Southwest Side that left 51 dead

Eleven other people who were rescued from the trailer and were hospitalized, including an adolescent boy who was in critical condition at University Hospital. Authorities estimate that up to 100 people could have been packed inside at one point.

The dead were 39 men and 12 women. Twenty-two were from Mexico, seven were from Guatemala and two were from Honduras, Mexican officials said. The rest are still being identified.

On Tuesday, federal authorities arrested three people in connection with the deaths.

Homero Zamorano, 45, was arrested after officials say he abandoned the tractor-trailer and fled the scene while high on meth. Zamorano may appear Wednesday in federal court on human-smuggling charges. He has a long criminal history.

Authorities also arrested two men  Juan Francisco DLuna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio DLuna-Mendez  who were seen leaving an address in San Antonio listed on the tractor-trailer's registration. Authorities obtained a warrant to search the home and found numerous firearms inside.

Both men are Mexican citizens in the country illegally after overstaying their tourist visas, federal court documents show. They were charged with illegal possession of a firearm and remain in federal custody.

On ExpressNews.com: Biden says human smuggling crackdown will intensify after San Antonio migrant deaths

On Monday evening, almost immediately after the migrants were found dead, Abbott placed blame of the incident on Biden and his border policies.

These deaths are on Biden, Abbott said in a Tweet.  They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.

On Tuesday, Biden blamed the disaster on the criminal smuggling industry. He touted an international anti-smuggling campaign his administration launched with regional partners that has sent hundreds of agents to the border to curb the practice.

The campaign has led to 2,400 arrests in three months, he said.

Initial reports are that this tragedy was caused by smugglers or human traffickers who have no regard for the lives they endanger and exploit to make a profit, Biden said in a statement. This incident underscores the need to go after the multi-billion dollar criminal smuggling industry preying on migrants and leading to far too many innocent deaths.

Staff Writer Benjamin Wermund contributed to this report.

eeaton@express-news.net
San Antonio is opening a processing center next month to keep up with the growing number of migrants legally passing through the city and relieve pressure on the airport, where theyre sometimes forced to stay overnight.

We have not seen these numbers  ever, said Assistant City Manager Lori Houston, who oversees migrant services.

An average of 593 migrants are arriving per day, and the numbers have been increasing in recent months, according to the city. Houston anticipates June will be a record-setting month.

The new processing facility, at 7000 San Pedro Ave., will be south of North Star Mall in the Shearer Hills neighborhood and will open in July. City officials expect reimbursement to the tune of $10.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will also cover the cost of food and hotels for migrants.

On ExpressNews.com: Nirenberg asks for federal money to help deal with migrant arrivals in S.A.

About 50,000 migrants have come through the city since March  18,000 of them in May alone, Houston said. Theres typically a seasonal uptick in the summer, but the surge is greater now.

The number of migrants was so high this spring that Mayor Ron Nirenberg told federal officials San Antonio was seeing an unsustainable increase and needed more funding to help. City leaders also are preparing for the Biden administration to end Title 42, a border policy that has kept migrants outside the U.S. during the pandemic, although such plans have been held up in court.

The migrants have legal permission to travel within the U.S. and have already been processed by federal immigration authorities, said City Attorney Andy Segovia.

San Antonio is just a stopping point for many. About 60 to 70 percent of migrants have plane tickets and go straight to the airport, Houston said. Others wait at the Greyhound bus station downtown.

On a given night, 200 migrants may sleep at the airport while waiting for their flight to depart.

We need to be able to clear the airport out so we can operate, Houston said.

The new facility wont act as a shelter for now, Houston said. Migrants will instead be sent to hotels. But the processing center can still serve as overflow shelter if needed in the future.

On ExpressNews.com: Catholic Charities helps immigrants with temporary stays in S.A.

Travis Park also serves as a processing area where migrants receive assistance from nonprofits like Catholic Charities and the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. But the processing takes time and has been laborious in the heat. San Antonio has seen an unusually hot June, with several days topping 100 degrees.

The new center will consolidate migrant processing at one location instead of having scattered services at the airport and Travis Park.

There, we can process them in a more humane way, Houston said. Its super hot outside. We want to make sure that theyre able to get food, water  they have a place for rest.

Plans for the new processing center were announced days before authorities discovered a tractor-trailer Monday night sitting on the Southwest Side with no air conditioning and the dead bodies of at least 50 migrants. Its believed to be one of the largest losses of migrant life in the U.S. in recent memory, although not the first time human smuggling has resulted in deadly consequences in San Antonio.

On ExpressNews.com: Death toll rises to 50 in human-smuggling tragedy on San Antonios Southwest Side

Local officials are coordinating with the federal government and working with other Texas cities that may have more capacity to receive people.

San Antonio has always been a place where we help when there is an increase in numbers, and we want to make sure were handling it in the most humanitarian way possible, Houston said.

megan.stringer@express-news.net
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Dozens of people arrived at Pearsall Park during a thunderstorm to attend a candlelight vigil mourning victims of human smuggling.

The dismal weather suited the occasion. At least 53 people died this week in one of the deadliest human smuggling events in recent U.S. history.

Its a bad tragedy that has happened, said Maria Gallardo, 56, at Tuesdays vigil. My heart goes out to the family members.

Nearby workers heard noises coming from a tractor-trailer parked alongside Quintana Road on the Southwest Side on Monday afternoon, said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus. When the workers opened the back doors to the trailer, they discovered nearly 100 people inside, including children, McManus said. Forty-six were pronounced dead at the scene, and five more had died at area hospitals by Tuesday afternoon.

On ExpressNews.com: 3 arrested in connection with human-smuggling tragedy on San Antonios Southwest Side

Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

Kamala Platt, 63, is a professor at Arizona State University and a volunteer for SA Stands, which joined several advocacy organizations in hosting the vigil.

It was very clear that we needed to do something, Platt said.

She said Gov. Greg Abbott is waging a war on migrants and described the governors immigration policy as mean-spirited and ridiculous.

Huddled together under a broad awning, the roughly 60 attendees listened as others expressed a range of emotions about the deaths: sadness, anger and, most of all, frustration with what they see as defective immigration policy.

Some pinned the blame for the deaths on the state and nation. Citing Abbotts Operation Lone Star, which aims to crack down on illegal immigration, Debra Ponce said she felt the tragedy was a direct consequence of whats happening at the border.

On ExpressNews.com: The tractor could have reached 150 degrees: Experts weigh in on the dangers of heat

If there was a safe way for all immigrants to enter, then these things wouldnt happen, Ponce said.

She said she felt discrimination was at play and noted Ukrainian refugees have, in contrast to Latin American nationals, been welcomed into the U.S. with open arms.

Were tired of watching our country turn into (a giant racist state), especially Texas.

Many attendees held or waved phone flashlights or other light sources to honor the victims. Gallardo and several family members, including her daughter and nephews, clutched flameless candles. The deaths hit Gallardo particularly hard because she has family in Mexico still.

They just come here to work and look for a dream, Gallardo said of the migrants. Were all human  We need to find a way that there wont be so many lives lost.

caroline.tien@hearst.com
A planned high-speed train between Houston and Dallas received a big boost after the Texas Supreme Court granted the two private entities behind the project eminent domain in a 5-3 ruling.

The case focused on whether two private companies, Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure and Integrated Texas Logistics  collectively Texas Central Entities  qualified as either railroad companies or interurban electric railway companies, which would grant them the power of eminent domain under state law. Eminent domain is the power of the government to seize private property for public use, given the government provides just compensation to the property owners.

Texas Central received federal approval on the project in September 2020. The company's website estimates the project will cost about $20 billion and be fully operational for commercial service by 2026. Texas Centrals fate seemed uncertain mere weeks before Friday's ruling, as CEO Carlos Aguilar announced via LinkedIn that he was stepping down.

James Fredrick Miles, who owns property in Leon County along the railways proposed route, sued Texas Central after it attempted to survey his property, arguing the company did not fit the Texas Transport Codes definition of a railroad company or an interurban electric railway company, meaning it could not exercise eminent domain.

Miles asserted the relevant statute applied only to a type of electric railway car extinct since 1948 in the state. Miles also cited previous court precedent ruling that private entities must demonstrate a reasonable probability the project will be completed and produce public good.

On ExpressNews.com: Secretive Elon Musk firm wants to build Austin-to-San Antonio tunnel loop for commuters

The Texas Supreme Court rejected Miles arguments, saying that state law is simply not limited in the way that Miles and the dissent contend, and the speed, size or distance of the railway would not prohibit the project from consideration as an interurban electric railway.

"Nor is there any question that the proposed railway is for public use, the opinion reads.

The 87th District Court granted summary judgment for Miles in May 2019, a decision the 13th Court of Appeals reversed in May 2020. The case made its way to the Texas Supreme Court, which affirmed the 13th Court of Appeals' judgment. Justice Debra Lehrmann delivered the opinion of the court, joined by Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht and Justices Jeff Boyd, Brett Busby and Evan Young. Hecht and Young filed concurring opinions, while Justices John Phillip Devine and Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle filed dissents, the latter joined by Devine and Justice Jimmy Blacklock. Justice Jane Bland did not participate in the decision.

Justice Devine harshly condemned the judgment in his dissent, stating the courts decision flies in the face of that history and proud legacy of safeguarding the sacred right of land ownership, going as far as to say that in the eyes of the court, property ownership is now determined not by actual legal ownership but by which person or business is more likely to use the property in economically beneficial ways.

The court avoided opining on the dichotomy between the federal government and landowners, sticking strictly to the question of Texas Centrals status as a railway company.

The constitutional and statutory provisions governing eminent domain, as a whole, reflect a balance between the rights of property owners and the benefits served by projects for which eminent domain is authorized, the majority opinion reads. It is not our place to second-guess the product of that balance.

Ricardo.Delgado@express-news.net
As the Fourth of July looms with its flags and its barbecues and its full-throated patriotism, I find myself mulling over the idea of American exceptionalism. What, if anything, makes this country different from other countries, or the rest of the developed world, in terms of morals or ideals? In what ways do our distinct values inform how America treats its own citizens?

I land on a distinct absence of mercy.

Witness the ruthless evisceration of Roe v. Wade and the expansion of the right to carry guns in public in the wake of two horrific mass shootings. Both courtesy of a Supreme Court that is supposedly the institution vested with carrying out the highest standard of justice for its citizens and yet is wholly indifferent to the lives of Americas women, children and families. Witness the horrors of Jan. 6, 2021, or our mismanagement of the pandemic. Witness a health care system that continues to see human beings as walking P&Ls rather than as people deserving of compassion and care.

I cant help but see a particular American bent toward cruelty. Especially when it comes to life-or-death matters, with a merciless streak that dictates not only how we live but also the laws around who dies.

Three books I read over the pandemic brought these issues to the fore for me. Two are explicit about the question of mercy in their titles, both published in 2014: Bryan Stevensons Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption and Anand Giridharadas The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas, each highlighting this countrys penchant for condemning to death those who might wish to live. The third, published this year, is Amy Blooms In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, which looks at the flip side of that equation: our heartlessness when someone close to death wishes to die.

When it comes to someone fighting for his life on death row or someone longing for the right to die at lifes end, America generally goes with the least empathetic option.

The laws on both capital punishment and physician-assisted suicide are clear. Our enthusiasm for the death penalty puts us in the same camp as China, Iran and 16 other countries that killed its citizens in 2020; as of early June, America had put seven people to death. As for end-of-life laws, euthanasia  which permits a doctor to administer, for example, a lethal dose of morphine to a suffering patient  is illegal across the United States. Only 10 states and the District of Columbia allow for physician-assisted suicide, which generally enables a terminally ill person strictly within six months of dying to administer the means of his or her own death.

Stevensons Just Mercy is probably the best known of the three books. A forceful and persuasive indictment of our criminal justice system, Just Mercy makes alarmingly clear how stacked it is against those least equipped to push back. Its a system that has all but abandoned efforts toward rehabilitation and instead continues to punish former felons long after they leave prison. A system, increasingly privatized, that is more concerned with maximizing profits than with improving lives. A system that leaves little room for compassion or redemption.

Among the lines from the book that stay with me: Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others.

The second book, Giridharadas The True American, tells the story of Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi immigrant who in September 2001 was shot in the face by a white supremacist, Mark Stroman, and then unsuccessfully urged clemency for his would-be assassin. Through the story of these two men and the skewed morality of the justice system that failed them, we see how the country squandered its brief moment of post-9/11 cohesion. A sense of cohesion gave way to us vs. them, abetted by easy access to firearms and hate-mongering.

Among the lines that stay with me: Quoting from Stromans legal team, There is nothing illogical about a system where society does not always fulfill the victims desire for revenge, but always respects the victims desire for mercy.

Blooms memoir may seem to have little in common with the other two. But Americas indifference toward those suffering at the end of their lives offers a startling contrast to those waiting out their attenuated lives on death row.

In January 2020, Bloom accompanied her 66-year-old husband, Brian, recently diagnosed with Alzheimers, to Zurich, the only place in the world where Americans can travel for a painless, peaceful and legal suicide. The few places in the United States where assisted suicide is allowed impose restrictions so exacting they are difficult for people to meet. Brians death comes at his own wish and by his own hand, and while marked by grief, theres nothing unwanted about it. This, I thought while reading, is how its done  and yet we cannot do it this way, here in America.

Among the lines that stay with me: Quoting a doctor, When any kind of right-to-die legislation is proposed  the opposition shows up with 10 million dollars as soon as its about your right to choose.

At our worst, we ourselves display an undeniable strain of mercilessness, in ways that have come to pervade our culture. Minor mistakes are taken as capital offenses. Apologies are often forced and true forgiveness rare. In the push to identify and condemn an enemy, we fail to allow for people to make amends. The drive toward justice and accountability too often veers toward blame, retribution and abnegation.

I wont end here with more blame. It would be inaccurate, in any case, to pin these policies entirely on the American people when polls suggest that most wouldnt choose these arrangements. A majority of Americans, 72 percent as of 2018, support euthanasia, and 65 percent as of 2018 support physician-assisted suicide. Around 6 in 10 Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A minority  about 39 percent  but still a sizable number of Americans, oppose the death penalty. Yet majorities concede that innocent people might be killed and that in practice, the current system is racist.

Its worth asking ourselves, as a nation, what it is about our political and legal systems that leads to so many policies that we Americans  even at our worst  dont necessarily support.

How do we ask young people just starting out, or older people who have seen so much progress reversed, to care about a country that seems so determined to care so little for them? How do we celebrate on the Fourth of July a country whose laws and institutions so often fail to bring out the best in us?

I am seeing here only the worst side of what feels right now like a broken country. Perhaps it is wise to bear in mind these words from Stevensons book: Each of us is more than the worst thing weve ever done. Id like to believe this holds true not only for us individually, but also collectively. Perhaps even as a nation.
The United States immigration system is hostage to the past, and as the tragic deaths of more than 50 migrants outside San Antonio show, the consequences are disastrous.

We last updated our legal immigration system in 1990, when the Soviet Union still existed and the first website had yet to go online. Immigration enforcement laws were last modified in 1996. And our border policy is carried out under an 1893 law designed to prevent the spread of yellow fever and cholera in the era of steamships.

In March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invoked this antiquated law to suspend all normal immigration processing of migrants crossing the border. Under this emergency authority, known as Title 42, the Department of Homeland Security shut the ports of entry to asylum-seekers and began expelling migrants taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Title 42 has reshaped border processing, and created arbitrary and inconsistent outcomes for migrants. It also enriched the cartels, drove up border crossings, and fueled chaos and death. Mondays tragedy is the most visible example of this, but deaths have been climbing elsewhere. Last December, a truck in Mexico carrying Guatemalan migrants crashed, killing 55.

ORIGIN OF A TRAGEDY: Smugglers exploited shift change at border checkpoint to evade detection

In a time of political instability, climate change and economic disruption, archaic laws not only fail to stop migration, they make the situation worse. Because Title 42 is not an immigration law, it carries no immigration consequences. People who are expelled cannot seek asylum. But the expelled also are not given deportation orders, nor are they subject to criminal prosecution for improper entry. That means for most migrants not seeking asylum, Title 42 guarantees that the likely outcome of a failed border crossing is a ride back to Mexico. For smugglers and migrants, that means cost savings.

Its great for us, one smuggler told Reuters in November 2020. No longer do smugglers need to arrange subsequent trips from Central America for clients caught and deported. Now the Border Patrol drops people off at the U.S-Mexico border for them, allowing their clients to make another crossing attempt.

According to DHS data, 1 of every 3 border encounters since Title 42 began was someone on their second or higher failed attempt. And with each subsequent crossing, there is the chance of a catastrophic outcome. 2021 was the deadliest year on record for the border, and 2022 is on track to be even worse.

Asylum-seekers are caught in the crossfire of Title 42. There have been more than 215,000 expulsions of parents arriving with children. With the ports of entry shut to asylum-seekers, more than 12,000 families expelled under Title 42 have made the agonizing decision to self-separate, sending their children across the border alone as unaccompanied children.

But many asylum-seekers cant be expelled under Title 42 because Mexico only allows DHS to expel people from a handful of countries, and ICE cannot carry out mass expulsions by air. That incentivizes many to cross between ports of entry and turn themselves in to the Border Patrol rather than wait in dangerous conditions for ports to reopen. But even this is leading to tragedy, as it did in March when two children drowned in the Rio Grande.

The failures of Title 42 show us the problem of relying on antiquated laws to solve modern challenges. We need updated laws and policies that are responsive to current conditions. That includes surging resources to ports of entry for asylum processing, hiring more civilian Border Patrol processing coordinators and creating noncustodial migrant processing centers that bring together government agencies and NGOs to humanely process protection seekers.

NEW DETAILS EMERGE: I have too many bodies here: Details from the scene of deadly human-smuggling incident in San Antonio

We also need to update our legal immigration system. One proven way to reduce irregular migration is to increase legal immigration, giving people a better and safer pathway to come to the United States. But despite the popular belief that people can simply get in line to immigrate, no such line exists. Even for those who qualify, backlogs can be so long that some will die of old age before a visa becomes available. No wonder some choose to migrate.

Rather than yet another failed attempt to deter our way out of migration, Mondays tragedy shows that we need to make a sustained investment in updating our laws to expand legal pathways, create an orderly humanitarian protection system and address the root causes of migration. But so long as Title 42 remains in place, we cannot make progress in that direction.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick is policy director at the American Immigration Council.
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Elie Wiesel

It is a dark day in American jurisprudence when we lose a well-settled principle of law, that the right to control a womens body is her own and that it should be devoid of interference from the government.

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a precedent for nearly 50 years, the right of a woman to make personal decisions about her body has been obliterated by last weeks decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. This will have a devastating effect on women across this country, including in San Antonio.

RELATED: Commentary: Decades of anti-abortion policy harming Texans

Last week, I (Joe Gonzales) held a press conference to denounce the heart-wrenching ruling that will have a profound impact on women, particularly women of color and those who live below the poverty line. To stand on the sidelines is not an option. Now is the time for our collective voices to be heard, for to remain silent is to allow the oppressors to win.

Surely, there are those in our community who will object to my opposition to Dobbs as beyond the scope of my duties as district attorney of Bexar County.

When I was sworn into office as Bexar County criminal district attorney on Jan. 1, 2019, I swore an oath to serve, protect and defend the laws of the state of Texas. Article 2.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure states that the duty of a prosecutor is not to prosecute, but to seek justice.

I believe that when applying both of these duties together, I am vested with the ability to use my prosecutorial discretion in seeking justice. I do not see the justice in subjecting either women who seek abortion services or those who provide them to possible criminal prosecution, incarceration and criminal conviction.

As Bexar County district attorney, I will abide by my legal obligation and review any case filed by law enforcement when the 30-day trigger law takes effect. However, I reserve the right to use my discretion when deciding whether to proceed with prosecution. I assure the women of Bexar County and the medical providers that I will do everything in my power to see that justice is served.

MORE LIKE THIS: Editorial: Abortion ruling an ominous sign

We believe there is another more compelling reason to consider alternatives to prosecution in these cases. Victims of domestic violence suffer sexual coercion by their abusers. Sexual abuse is, in fact, a defining feature of domestic violence, and prosecuting a survivor for seeking or getting an abortion is myopic and misinformed. It is wrong.

Eliminating the option and right to reproductive care, including abortion, is dismissive, cruel, dangerous and irresponsible, as it significantly increases a victims risk of more severe suffering and death. As a result of the Dobbs decision and the Texas trigger law, victims will no longer be able to access critically needed health care services to address their reproductive needs as part of their long-term healing from abuse and trauma. This amounts to revictimization and exposes the victims to life-threatening alternatives. We recognize the need to empower survivors. With their decision, the justices have disempowered survivors.

The long-term consequences of the Dobbs decision in Texas and throughout the country are many and will, unfortunately, be felt for generations to come.

Joe D. Gonzales is the Bexar County criminal district attorney. Marta Prada Pelaez is president and CEO of Texas Family Violence Prevention Services Inc.
Acknowledgment and validation cant erase decades of trauma or heal the deepest of wounds. But for survivors of sexual abuse whose accusations were ignored, dismissed and used to hurt them more, acknowledgment and validation mark the beginning of holding their predators accountable for their sins.

It is hoped that will be the result from the recent release of a report detailing how for two decades, the Southern Baptist Convention  the second-largest faith group in the United States  inexcusably and shamefully failed to respond to growing allegations of sexual abuse.

The abusers were pastors and ministers who preyed on the vulnerable, people who looked to them for prayers and guidance, and who had trusted them because they were men of faith.

Not only did the SBCs executive committee dismiss and intimidate the accusers, but it covered up crimes, enabled predators to have opportunities to continue their abuse in different locales and blocked reforms to address the abuse.

The 400-page report, conducted by the independent firm Guidepost Solutions, follows  and affirms  a 2019 investigation into SBC by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. That reporting found 700 victims, most of them children, some as young as 3 years old, were molested and raped by youth pastors. Registered sex offenders were allowed to continue to preach.

That investigation led to church delegates demanding a full accounting from church leadership, which led to the Guideposts Solutions investigation. That report revealed that a small group of the SBCs executive committee, worried about lawsuits, regularly misled other committee members about the scale of abuse allegations and the accusers.

The report also found that despite resisting suggestions to compile a database of predatory pastors and ministers, church leaders had have a private list of more than 700 offenders, 75 of whom had worked in Texas. It corroborates the allegations of victims, who have said for decades that church leaders ignored their claims, refusing to investigate. Church leaders shamed, even demonized, many of these victims.

The obvious parallel to the SBC sexual abuse scandal is the Catholic Churchs sexual abuse scandal, but a major difference is the structure of the two denominations. The Catholic Church is a hierarchy, from the pope downward to parish priests. The SBC is a loose confederation of 47,000 churches.

SBC leaders have used that lack of hierarchy as an excuse for why theyve done so little to punish predators. Yet theyve been able to expel churches that violated their dictums by having female pastors or welcoming gay and lesbian worshippers.

That theyve not been angered by the presence of sexual predators on ministerial staffs and have done more to protect these offenders than their victims speaks to an immoral misplaced set of priorities, which betrays the tenets of their purported faith.

Among the reports recommendations is that the SBC adopt a Declaration of Principles about how sexual abuse allegations will be handled and how accusers will be treated at every level of the convention.

It concludes with a suggestion that SBC acknowledge clergy abuse with a sincere apology, provide compassionate care to survivors and establish a survivor compensation fund. This after two decades, extensive investigative reporting and the release of a 400-page report.

SBC should never have allowed this abuse to fester and perpetuate. But these actions are a start at providing a measure of justice delayed and denied to survivors who have suffered for the sins of men theyd looked to for salvation.
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Two days after the deaths of at least 53 migrants who rode in the back of a sweltering tractor trailer to San Antonio, Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to step up truck inspections along the Texas border.

Today I am announcing that Texas is going to add additional truck check points, Abbott said at a news conference in Eagle Pass.

State troopers will create and implement a check point strategy beginning immediately where they will begin targeting trucks like that one that was used where these people perished, he said.

Abbott  who continued Wednesday to blame President Joe Biden for the deaths  said the truck carrying the migrants went through a federal checkpoint but wasnt inspected.

It wasnt inspected because the Border Patrol does not have the resources to inspect all of the trucks. As a result, the Border Patrol did not have the capacity of saving those lives," Abbott said.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo told The Associated Press on Wednesday the truck had passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo on Interstate 35. He did not know if people were in the back of the truck when it cleared the checkpoint.

DEATH TOLL RISES: 53 dead in human-smuggling tragedy on Southwest Side of San Antonio

Abbott and other state officials didnt say where the new checkpoints would be, or how many of them will be used, saying they dont want to give cartels time to plan a way around them. The checkpoints will be mobile and will be placed away from the border, aimed at identifying vehicles used for human smuggling, they said.

Our job is to surprise the cartels and smugglers and not to tell them in advance where we will be, Abbott said.

Biden on Tuesday called the deaths horrifying and heartbreaking.

This incident underscores the need to go after the multi-billion dollar criminal smuggling industry preying on migrants and leading to far too many innocent deaths, Biden said.

He said his administration has employed a new anti-smuggling campaign that he said has resulted in 2,400 arrests in just three months.

Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the troopers being deployed for the truck inspections will have commercial truck expertise to identify clone trucks being used along smuggling corridors. Authorities have said the truck carrying the 51 people who died in Texas had been cloned to look like those owned by trucking companies, with state and federal identification numbers on them.

Our troopers will be able to identify if they are legitimate or not and take action at that point and time, McCraw said.

McCraw said the state will also deploy new strike teams to find stash houses in urban areas along the border where human smugglers temporarily house people who have just crossed the border.

Abbott used much of his press conference in Eagle Pass to slam the Biden administration for its immigration policies.

It is the deadliest migrant smuggling incident on U.S. soil and its on President Bidens watch, said Abbott, who earlier this week blamed Bidens open border policies for the deaths.

On the other hand, advocates and immigration experts say that, contrary to Abbotts characterization of an open border, federal authorities have restricted access to the border to an extent that has encouraged migrants to take dangerous and even deadly journeys to reach the U.S.

FACT CHECK: Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrats claims about border security and Texas migrant deaths

U.S. border authorities are stopping migrants more often on the southern border than at any time in at least two decades. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

Comparisons to pre-pandemic levels are complicated because migrants expelled under a public health authority known as Title 42 face no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. Authorities say 25 percent of encounters in May were with people who had been stopped at least once in the previous year.

It was just in April that Abbott shut down commercial traffic coming into the state from Mexico to inspect trucks for safety violations, though they could not inspect cargo and were limited to checks on brakes and headlights near the international bridges.

That program caused truckers who typically cross the border in less than 30 minutes to wait up to 8 hours to get into Texas, slashing income for truckers who are paid by the load and reducing the flow of goods and supply into the United States, further adding to supply chain disruptions.

Abbott eventually lifted those inspections after obtaining promises from Mexican officials to step up border enforcement in their country.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
Texas leaders directed more than $100 million to school safety initiatives and mental health services on Tuesday, about a month after a teenage gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school.

The funds include $50 million for bulletproof shields for school police officers and $17 million for school districts to purchase silent panic alarms. The allocation marks legislators most direct response to the Uvalde shooting yet, as Gov. Greg Abbott has so far declined to call a special legislative session that would immediately bring lawmakers back to Austin to discuss appropriations and other legislative responses.

The Legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until January, when students will already be about halfway through the next academic year.

Texas Republican leaders have focused heavily on mental health and school security after the massacre, rejecting calls from the left to restrict firearm access. The Uvalde shooter used an AR-15-style weapon, purchased just days after his 18th birthday, and Democrats have been advocating for expanded background checks and limits on who can buy assault-style rifles.

Funding these much-needed initiatives marks the first of many steps that we will take at the Legislature to respond to the horrific events in Uvalde and prevent another tragedy like this from happening again, said House Speaker Dade Phelan, who had suggested most of the appropriations earlier this month. Important policy discussions and debates remain on how the Legislature will tackle issues such as school safety, mental health, firearm safety and more, but this important first step will ensure that action is taken and implemented before school starts again in August.

IN-DEPTH: Texas legislative leaders want to spend millions on mental health, school safety by end of summer

The package will direct nearly $6 million to expand the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine program, or TCHATT, which offers telehealth services to public school students who need mental health treatment. Another roughly $6 million will fund an expansion of specialty therapy across the state, providing more community-based treatment for juvenile offenders and helping young people experiencing their first episode of psychosis.

Lawmakers are also giving up to $5 million to the Hill Country Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities Center, which will evaluate mental health services in Uvalde and provide recommendations to lawmakers based on its findings.

The rest of the funding will support new security measures, including $10 million for more law enforcement officials to take active shooter training. The funds were allocated through an emergency budget appropriation, which redistributes resources from existing pools.

Texas Legislatures Uvalde response Texas allocations for mental health and school safety. $50 million for bulletproof shields

$5.8 million to expand Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT)

$4.7 million to increase Multisystemic Therapy (MST) across the state

$950,000 to expand Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) teams across the state

$7 million for rapid response training by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center

$3 million for local law enforcement agencies to travel for ALERRT trainings

$7 million to the Texas School Safety Center for on-site campus assessments

$17.1 million for school districts to buy silent panic alert technology

$5 million to the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand fusion center research and capabilities

Up to $5 million for the Hill Country Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities (MHDD) Center See More Collapse

Almost all of the money will come from a surplus in the Foundation School Program, the main source of funding for Texas schools. The allocations will last through August 2023.

Childrens advocates welcomed the announcement on Tuesday but stressed that lawmakers must continue supporting mental health resources when the Legislature convenes in January.

With the vast majority of this new funding going towards security measures, it looks like state leaders are making a down payment on addressing the childrens mental challenges that escalated over the last decade and laying the groundwork to make mental health a bigger priority during the next legislative session, said Josette Saxton, the director of mental health policy for the nonprofit Texans Care for Children. We will certainly be pushing the Legislature to close the remaining gaps in comprehensive childrens mental health services next session.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
At least 16,447 cybersecurity professionals employed locally work for the federal government, accounting for about one-third of the citys 48,000-plus information technology workers. And the largest share of that total work at Port San Antonio.

The data, which is from the San Antonio IT/Tech 2022 Employment and Economic Input Study released Wednesday, provides a clearer picture of IT employment in San Antonio than has been available. Researchers have been limited by the fact the Texas Workforce Commission doesnt track federal jobs  and the feds werent talking.

To remedy that, two organizations  Tech Bloc, an industry advocacy group, and Port San Antonio  approached the Defense Department for help determining the number of IT workers at federal agencies, military commands and national security organizations in the city.

This is as true a picture of the total IT workforce in San Antonio as youre going to get, said David Heard, CEO of TechBloc.

Getting a more accurate count is critical to local economic development efforts, he said.

Business investment, relocation and technology startup decisions are made every day based on a number of factors, one of the most primary being how much talent does a city have, he said. You want to express your true largest number to the world because were in a competition to lure in tech talent.  Weve been misrepresenting ourselves by a third. Were not putting our best foot forward.

On ExpressNews.com: FORCECON at Port San Antonio brings military, tech companies, academia together to speed innovation

Besides the number of IT workers in the city, key findings in the study by Trinity University professors emeriti Richard Butler and Mary Stefl include:

The San Antonio IT industry had an economic input of nearly $11 billion in 2020  a 27 percent jump from 2010 and more than triple its size in 2000.

The city had 1,491 IT companies in 2020, up 36 percent from 1,095 in 2015.

San Antonios IT industry is growing rapidly in the internet and computer services sectors, and this growth shows no signs of abating.

The study also identified the parts of San Antonio that have the most workers.

The studys authors refer to IT jobs as they relate to San Antonios strongest economic sectors, including cybersecurity, which includes the Air Forces Cyber Command and private companies  such as Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen Hamilton  that support Defense Department online operations; cloud computing, such as Rackspace Technology Inc.; digital retail and commerce, such as H-E-B; and financial technology, services and compliance, such as USAA.

Courtesy of Port San Antonio

The report provides a list of sites contributing to the tally of local jobs, including NSA Texas, Joint Information Operations Warfare Center, Air Force Research Lab, the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, among others. Under a government agreement, however, TechBloc and Port San Antonio are unable to disclose how many employees work at each government agency in the city.

Small IT workforce, high-paying jobs

Although IT workers account for a small fraction of San Antonios population, which is estimated at 1.5 million, they are among its highest earners, with an average annual wage of $88,017 in 2020, compared with $55,940 among workers in all other industries across the city, according to the latest TWC data.

The high wages underscore again why its so important for our local economy to lure and create tech jobs and to build out this industry, Heard said. This is one of our best strategies for increasing median household income and economic prosperity for our city. We are a poor city on average.

On ExpressNews.com: The struggle is real  San Antonio residents make less than the rest of Texas. How do you compare?

In a separate report released this year, the citys annual median household income in 2020 was $53,420, according to the 2016-2020 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates. That was more than $10,000 less than the statewide annual median household income of $63,826 and the national figure of $64,994.

The latest report indicates that total payroll in the IT industry jumped to about $1.8 billion in 2020, more than three times the $500 million recorded in 2000.

Still, employment numbers remain low.

This is due in part to the relative shift of IT activity in San Antonio from the production of products to the provision of services, the researchers said.

The report highlighted two sectors of San Antonios tech economy: the products sector, which includes manufacturers of computer and electronic equipment components, retail and wholesale trade, and internet and software publishing; and the services sector, which includes providers of computer programming and internet services, web hosting companies, IT training and equipment repair services.

In 2000, the products sector employed 30 percent of IT workers and generated half of the industrys economic impact. By 2020, the products sector dropped to 25 percent of the jobs but increased to 55 percent of the impact.

In recent years, San Antonio has become a mecca for large data centers, with local companies such as Rackspace and Frost Bank, along with international companies such as Microsoft Corp., Lowes and JPMorgan Chase & Co. moving into the Northwest Side, the researchers said. Their presence coincides with a rise in computer services and the growing computer systems design and programming subsector, which employed 41 percent of the IT workers in 2020, up from 34 percent in 2010.

Many of the internet services functions like web hosting produce large revenues with very small workforces, the researchers said. These jobs pay well, and their economic impact is large, so the region has gained greatly from this evolution, even as employment has grown relatively slowly.

Where tech works in San Antonio

For years, there has been a dizzying amount of marketing to identify urban tech hubs in San Antonios downtown and midtown areas by company spokespersons, real estate developers, financial investors and city officials. Meanwhile, some suburban zones that received no branding have blossomed as new areas of tech growth.

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.

It became exhausting constantly swimming through a lot of beliefs and statements and stories about which parts of towns were the tech hubs, and we thought going through the empirical data would tell the truth, Heard said.

To get a clearer picture of where the most IT professionals work, the Trinity researchers analyzed job data from the TWC and federal agencies and broke it down by ZIP codes to identify the top five tech clusters in the city.

The data showed that Port San Antonio, the 1,900-acre campus housing more than 80 private sector and military-affiliated organizations on the Southwest Side, is the citys top hub for IT employment.

When tech workers get up in the morning and go to work  the largest place they go due to a great deal by federal and DoD employment is Port San Antonio  by a country mile, Heard said. They were about twice as large as the next largest tech employment in town.

On ExpressNews.com: How Port San Antonio brought Capital Factory to its campus and what it seeks to accomplish there

At No. 2 is the U.S. 281 North Corridor between Loop 410 and Loop 1604,followed at No. 3 by Westover Hills, Loop 410 and Texas 151.

You got the NSA and data centers, Heard said. A lot of people dont think about it. You think about downtown and midtown. But then theres Westover Hills, which is a tech juggernaut.

The city of Windcrest in northeast Bexar County, home to Rackspace, came in at No. 4. And at No. 5 is the South Texas Medical Center area on the Northwest Side.

The largest tech employer in town is USAA, Heard said, noting that it has more than 16,500 employees on the campus. A large chunk is digital, compliance and IT.

San Antonios downtown has received much financial and marketing investment to grow over the years and has attracted small startups.

The report highlights downtown, midtown and Broadway as the fastest-growing hubs of IT employment in the city, but the area still ranks below the other hubs in number of workers.

Downtown is less of an employment story than it is a startup story, Heard said. The largest concentration of very small tech companies and startups was found to be in downtown.

eric.killelea@express-news.net
To borrow a line from Mark Twain, June was a peculiarly dangerous month to invest in cryptocurrency. The others have been July, January, September, April, November, May, March, December, August, February and October.

There were declines in prices among all the major cryptocurrencies, which is sad. More fundamentally, crypto enthusiasts must face the idea that the three big goals of crypto were undermined in June.

The three most popular features of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology theyre based on are:

Freedom from regulations and laws

Decentralization, so that the currencies cant be controlled by any single power

A chance for the little guy to win, rather than the whales favored in the 2008 bailouts of Wall Street

Now, those ideals are under threat. Lets do a quick review of recent events.

TerraUSD and cryptolenders

South Korean developer Do Kwan created a cryptocurrency known as TerraUSD, whose sole purpose was to maintain a 1-to-1 equivalence with the U.S. dollar. To make this boring function attractive, however, it offered 19 percent annual yields for holders of TerraUSD. At its peak, roughly $45 billion of TerraUSD existed. In mid-May, however, investors lost confidence in the coin, and the value tumbled over the course of a week to the approximately nothing it is worth today.

Back in the Wild West, promoters of this scheme would have been hung or shot, which is why we have sheriffs. In the modern, regulated, financial world, promoters of this scheme would be arrested and jailed. So far, Do Kwan and about 15 colleagues who built the cryptocurrency platform are under investigation by Korean and U.S. authorities. Nobody has been arrested, however, which is a crying shame.

On ExpressNews.com: Making sure we evolve: San Antonio-based Vantage Bank dabbles in blockchains, cryptocurrencies

In mid-June, cryptocurrency lender Celsius froze billions of dollars of cryptocurrency deposits, for up to 500,000 users, after what was likely the crypto equivalent of a run on the bank at Celsius.

Meanwhile, another cryptolender named Babel announced an investment on May 25 that valued the lender at $2 billion, based on its reported 500 users and a $3 billion loan portfolio. By mid-June, Babel had also frozen withdrawals from its accounts, again presumably due to a run on the bank. Celsius and Babel are not reporting much to their users after the freezes.

An allegedly multibillion-dollar crypto hedge fund named Three Arrows Capital has ceased communicating with its lenders and appears to have sustained massive losses that impair its ability to repay loans. We know its a multibillion-dollar fund because one of its cryptolenders, named Voyager, has announced a $660 million exposure to Three Arrows Capital. That loan, Voyager fears, may never be paid back.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will not show up for depositors in Celsius or Babel. I am a deep outsider to the situation, but Id guess depositors are as likely to get their coins back from Celsius and Babel as you would be of getting your car keys back if you accidentally dropped them into a volcano. To paraphrase former Saturday Night Live writer Jack Handey, just walk away, man, because those keys are gone.

SBF bailout

The Federal Reserve and Treasury are not going to show up for Voyager, either. So who is going to show up?

Before answering that, its worth noting that what is happening with cryptocurrencies enables us to experience a sped-up history of the creation and regulation of modern finance. J.P. Morgan famously bailed out the U.S. financial system in 1907. This was before the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the FDIC in 1933 and retail investor protections in the Securities Act of 1933.

Today, 30-year-old crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried  aka SBF  is playing the role of J.P. Morgan, offering lifeline loans to other lenders and a line of credit.

On ExpressNews.com: Taylor: Sam Bankman-Fried  billionaire philosopher at cutting edge of cryptocurrency, philanthropy

Voyager secured a $500 million credit line from SBFs entities to protect itself in case Three Arrows never repays its loan.

BlockFi, another cryptolender, announced that it has a $250 million line of credit from SBFs exchange, FTX.

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.

This is all great and hopefully helps keep these institutions alive and saves peoples bacon, but it does seem to suggest the need for regulation and centralization. To say the least, Im not convinced these events will be good for the little guy.

Meanwhile, on another network called Solana, in mid-June, the members in cryptocurrency project Solend voted to take over the digital coins of a massive owner of coins, estimated at $206 million. The stated reason was to avoid a sudden liquidation of that owners coins to pay back debts, and therefore to stave off market disruption. Seemingly realizing the irony of the centralization and the theft, the members voted a day later to undo the group takeover. The lesson, however, is that certain pockets of the cryptocurrency world are not decentralized at all. In fact, they are subject to a vote to freeze the assets of any individual holder, should they choose that path.

Winter is coming

If this all sounds like a bewildering series of names and lingo, let me simplify it: June 2022 was like the 2008 crisis, but for cryptocurrency. The digital money stuff stopped going up. Then it dropped in value, and people wanted their money back. And then the crypto banks froze.

But unlike 2008, theres no government bailout coming.

Here is at least one irony of the crypto winter. In order to stay true to their unlinked to traditional finance and unregulated by government premises, the systemically important lenders in crypto have had to centralize dependence on SBF as a savior, like the U.S. financial system did with J.P. Morgan in the early 20th century. If SBF succeeds in bailing out the cryptolenders, he will have created the kind of centralization that cryptoenthusiasts claim to hate.

Do cryptocurrencies survive? Do they evolve and even thrive from here? I dont know, man.

After June 2022, it feels much more likely to be regulated and centralized  and to favor the big guys.

Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, author of The Financial Rules for New College Graduates and host of the podcast No Hill For A Climber.

michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com | twitter.com/michael_taylor
Public controversies over the books children read in school are not going away. Numerous disputes have arisen as local school boards in states such as Texas, Virginia, and Tennessee have worked to make changes to the secondary literature used in classrooms. These efforts have been uniformly labeled book banning, which makes it difficult to distinguish possible infringements on free speech from what RealClearInvestigations Mark Hemingway has argued is part of a process in which localities make necessary decisions about what reading material is age-appropriate or meets community standards. In the midst of these ongoing clashes, a series of childrens books entitled Heroes of Liberty promotes patriotic role models for young students.

Parents who are sick of whats going on in their childrens schools are at a loss right now, states Bethany Mandel, the series general editor. The way to counter radical ideas is to tell vivid stories that can capture a childs imagination. These books provide parents a way to make their values alive and take back their childrens bookshelf.

Historian and journalist Gadi Taub says that by offering compelling biographies of important yet underappreciated Western statesmen and thinkers, the series gives parents the means to bequeath to their children a worldview that will protect them from anti-American propaganda.

Designed for parents who homeschool their kids or teachers who are looking for alternative content, the books aim to provide children with entertaining, engaging, story-driven, visually stunning childrens books that speak of love and admiration for the American values that made this country great.

Taub says that though the books are written for children between the ages of seven and twelve, younger kids can still get a lot out of them: the books magnificent illustrations are rich enough in themselves for a four-year-old to understand why Winston Churchill is important without needing the ability to be able to read every word.

Hearing stories, Taub notes, is far more formative for children than hearing a long list of principles or preaching. We dont just want to offer a bookshelf of role models  storytelling is an auxiliary to civic education, he argues.

Each month, subscribers will receive a new, hardcover biography, available to them one month before public sale and at a price below retail. Recent books have covered Alexander Hamiltons rise from obscurity in the Caribbean to becoming a great American statesman and the life and work of Thomas Sowell, one of the top economists of our time. Since last year, books detailing the lives of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Amy Coney Barrett, Douglas MacArthur, and John Wayne have been published.

Mandel says that Wayne, the only non-academic or politician profiled, was chosen in order to exemplify manhood and honor in a healthy, yet strong, way that hearkened back to classics like the Hardy Boys series and Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn.

The books follow a path marked out by classics of childrens literature such as Peter Pan and Anne of Green Gables, Mandel notes. They offer kids a challenging read that can teach and inspire them rather than dumb things down. She says that these books are intended to be conversation starters rather than teaching unquestioned, rigid doctrines. Taub adds that the books were conceived with mainstream American values in mind, not necessarily conservative values.

Critics contend, however, that the series is a conservative echo chamber that looks to pack the minds of unsuspecting kids with . . . political brainwashing and to prejudice them against any progressive program of social uplift, as a reviewer for Current Affairs recently wrote.

In response, Mandel says that the reviewer is part of a generation who think Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell are in the same league as Mussolini, and its exactly people like him were trying to raise our children to not be. We want to teach them that they should be men of honor, men who value manhood and hard work instead of worshiping at the altar of socialism.

Mandel argues that, in fact, these books contribute to reviving a capacious understanding of American civic education. Too many schools stop teaching American history after World War II. Learning about statesmen like Reagan and Thatcher is necessary to give students a lens through which they can think about the latter half of the twentieth century.

Future books in the series will cover men and women who made important contributions to Western civilization, including Mark Twain (coming next month), Winston Churchill, Clara Barton, Elon Musk, Harriet Tubman, John Adams, Pope John Paul II, and Abraham Lincoln.

Taub and Mandel say that American cancel culture has affected the series to some degree. At first, American artists whom they contacted did not want to be associated with the project. Theyve since added an American artist due to the series subsequent success. Another hurdle: in January, Facebook permanently banned the series from advertising on its platform.

Mandel contends that one of the series virtues is its lesson that freedom requires a healthy skepticism of authority; children should be taught not to follow blindly with what they are told. As a key section of the book on Margaret Thatcher states: Freedom is never simply given. We always need to preserve and nurture it.

Mike Sabo is the editor of RealClears American Civics portal.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is seeking public input on a draft plan to build electric vehicle charging stations along key travel corridors in the state. Once finalized, the plan will detail how Montana intends to spend $43 million in federal funds earmarked for direct-current electric vehicle charging infrastructure that was included in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package Congress passed last November.

The plan is intended to serve as a backbone for future build-out of EV fast-charging stations along interstates and key highways in Montana and support long-distance travel by Montana residents and visitors. Its also intended to bolster economic development, tourism and workforce development, according to the draft document DEQ released June 27.

The department estimates there will be 30,000 electric vehicle drivers in the state by 2030, along with 100,000 EV drivers from other areas traveling Montana roadways annually.

As of January, there were 1,893 fully electric vehicles and 1,002 plug-in hybrid vehicles registered in Montana. EV registrations have more than doubled since DEQ began collecting registration data in 2019, but Montana still has one of the lowest EV ownership rates in the country, with electric vehicles accounting for 0.18% of all light-duty vehicle registrations.

DEQ said the draft plan prioritizes areas where two travel corridors intersect as well disadvantaged and rural communities where private entities are less likely to invest in charging stations. National park gateway communities and other recreation destinations are also identified as priorities.

According to the draft plan, DEQ and the Montana Department of Transportation want to deploy fast-charging facilities no more than 50 miles apart that are located within one mile of established travel corridors and within walking distance of amenities in order to comply with requirements outlined in the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which is part of President Joe Bidens effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

DEQ also aims to design a system thats capable of maintaining a high operational reliability rate  a nod to grid limitations expected to crop up in the form of overloaded substations or limited electricity supply during times of peak demand. The draft plan includes a list of 10 communities where such capacity issues are anticipated, six of which are located along US-2, the national highway that runs along northern Montanas sparsely populated Hi-Line. Columbus, Superior, Darby and Dutton are also on that list.

The plan identifies the rough location of 131 existing charging stations in Montana along what the Federal Highway Administration calls alternative fuel corridors  routes that have been prioritized by the federal government for EV charging stations. Those routes include interstates 90, 15 and 94, and U.S. highways 93 and 2. About one-third of those existing stations were at least partially funded with money from Montanas share of a 2017 settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency stemming from Volkswagens illegal circumvention of emissions monitoring technology.

DEQ is accepting comments on the draft plan through July 18, ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline to forward the plan to the Federal Highway Administration. The department will host a virtual listening session with MDT on Monday, July 11.

DEQ collaborated with MDT on the draft plan, which was developed with input from tourism and economic development agencies, electricity utilities, EV charging station companies, small businesses, non-governmental organizations and business associations. DEQ included virtual and in-person meetings and public surveys in the effort, and invited members of the Legislatures Transportation Interim Committee to comment on plan development. The agency received 388 responses to its survey.

The $43 million allocation will be distributed through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Its a five-year allocation, with the federal government slated to release between $6 million and $8 million annually, according to DEQ energy resource professional Kyla Maki.

Maki said DEQ will submit requests for proposals to begin building the charging stations after the Federal Highway Administration has approved the states plan, and will start scoring those proposals this coming winter or spring.
Bull trout (Photo by Pat Clayton, used with permission).

A new lawsuits premise is straightforward: In the federal governments zeal to save a piece of history, it may be committing bull trout to history in the heart of Montana, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Butte.

The case, brought by two organizations, Save the Bull Trout and Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said that the U.S. Department of the Interior and West Side Ditch Company are violating the Endangered Species Act in order to preserve the Grant-Kohrs Ranch national historic site.

The ranch, near Deer Lodge, has more than 85 buildings on a 1,600-acre cattle ranch that seeks to preserve ranching as it was during the frontier era of Montana and the West.

However, the lawsuit argues that the water being used to support livestock and ranching at this federally managed historic site threatens to kill the fragile bull trout population nearby, and that both the ditch company and the Department of The Interior are violating the Endangered Species Act.

When contacted by the Daily Montanan, officials for the Interior acknowledged the lawsuit, but said they would not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit said that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service designated more than 62 miles of the Upper Clark Fork River as critical habitat for bull trout which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The Department of The Interior diverts water from the West Side Ditch for cultural agricultural purposes  namely stock watering and flood irrigation, the lawsuit said. The (diversions), combined with anomalously warm summer temperatures have caused extremely low streamflows on the Upper Clark Fork River in nine out of the last 16 years.

The suit points out that those levels have been lower for years. For example, during July and August 2015, the average daily flows at the Deer Lodge station dropped below 100 cubic-feet-per-second for 47 days, when the recommended volume is nearly twice that.

The DOIs cultural agricultural watering at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch has effectively dewatered the Upper Clark Fork River, resulting in not enough instream flow for the bull trout to survive, the suit said. The DOIs agricultural practices at the GKR has so adversely modified the bull trouts critical habitat that the species cannot survive in that portion of the Upper Clark Fork River, much less spawn or migrate to headwaters streams.

The post Lawsuit claims Grant-Kohrs Ranch is illegally endangering survival of bull trout appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Montana Department of Corrections

The Montana Department of Corrections misspent more than $50,000 of its inmate welfare fund, according to a new performance audit report presented to the Legislative Audit Committee on Tuesday.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the department administers the fund according to state law and department policy. And for the most part, the department did.

However, the audit found the DOC made some inappropriate and questionable expenses, which it largely attributed to poor training and misunderstanding of policies. It made three recommendations as a result, and the DOC concurred with all of them.

The total amount misspent was $51,297, according to the audit, which reviewed 141 of 3,566 expenses from the fund from 2019 to 2021.

IWF funds are intended to be used for the collective benefit of the inmates, the report reads. It continues, when items are purchased inappropriately using the IWF rather than other funding sources, less money is available in the IWF for purchasing items that benefit the inmates  This leads to equity issues across the states secure facilities.

Performance audits are conducted at the request of the Legislative Audit Committee  a bicameral and bipartisan committee within the Montana Legislature; it consists of six members of the Senate and six members of the House of Representatives.

While most IWF purchases we reviewed were appropriate, we determined some IWF in our sample were inappropriate or questionable, the report reads.

Among the questionable expenses were items the audit said should be handled by the state, including $9,450 in costs on items for indigent inmates who cannot afford to purchase things like hygiene or legal supplies. However, the department told auditors that the number could be closer to $28,000 annually across all facilities.

We believe items provided to indigent inmates, items like basic hygiene supplies and supplies for legal communication, fall under the states responsibility and were not appropriate IWF expenses, the report reads.

Another questionable expense that could be charged to the state was $12,000 for 13 computers and printers for inmates to access department policy and do legal research. The audit said it is well established that adequate access to the courts for inmates is the states responsibility.

Examples of that inappropriate IWF expenses that occurred because of clerical errors or staff turnover included:

A chaplain membership renewal fee  $75

One washing machine and three dryers  $1,1992

Hotel room for staff transporting an offender  $107

A plane ticket for an extradition from California  $823

The audit made three recommendations to the DOC to shore up the IWF expensing issues: add clarity on what items are reasonable expenses, remove items for indigent inmates from allowable IWF expenses and reflect current practice and expectations regarding the processing of requests for funds.

In the report, the DOC concurred with all recommendations and said it would take steps to clarify policy and procedures. Additionally, the DOC said it is not currently funded for providing items to indigent inmates but will ask for more money in the upcoming legislative session.

DOC Director Brian Gootkin said even if the Legislature does not fund the indigent kits, it will not continue charging them to the IWF.

If it isnt funded through the Legislature, then we have to re-evaluate and look at our own budget, he said at Tuesdays committee meeting.

The post Legislative audit finds DOC misspent more than $50K from the inmate welfare fund appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Half of future farming subsidies should be unconditional in order to maintain food security and production in Scotland, an industry group has said.

Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), which represents businesses in the countryside, said the Scottish government must "preserve" food production.

We need to... maintain food production and that is why 50% of support should be unconditional for active farmers to act as a stability payment," the group said.

It is part of the organisation's #Route2050 On Track for Rural Scotland strategy, which was unveiled at the recent Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh.

The document focuses on immediate asks during Scotland's transition period to 2025, and an outline of what rural support could look like beyond.

During the transition period, the report also asks for a reform of how the Rural Payments and Inspections Division engages with farmers and land managers.

On climate change, the government should map "clear and consistent" minimum standards that carbon audit tools must adhere to.

And the biodiversity assessment tool should be introduced "more quickly" to all farmers and land managers in Scotland.

Mark Tennant, chairman of SLE said: It is critical that we address equally the three key elements of food production, climate change and biodiversity in designing Scotlands future subsidy support regime, whilst ensuring that the rural economy thrives.

"Uncertainty is making decision-making, investment, and long-term planning incredibly difficult for Scotlands land managers and rural businesses.

We need to ensure we preserve a critical mass in Scottish farming and maintain food production and that is why 50% of support should be unconditional for active farmers to act as a stability payment."

Mr Tennant said conditional payments, including capital grant scheme funding, should build on the work of the farmer-led groups and be used to achieve policy objectives, such as emissions reduction.

For the period after 2025, the organisation suggests a base payments in the form of a financial stability payment, based on land classification for those actively farming.

A next level of payments founded on an outcome-focused approach should also be explored, with payments for services such as emissions reductions and resource efficiency.

And a third layer of enhanced conditionality support, including options under an AECS 2.0 type scheme for improving biodiversity, carbon sequestration and wider natural capital provision.

Paul Richardson, policy advisor at SLE, said: We know that alongside food production, measures to reduce carbon and improve biodiversity will be extremely important in the future.

"But the sooner we can get the detail of what will be required under the new support regime, the easier it will be for farmers and land managers to plan and invest for the long-term to ensure the viability of their businesses.

"We must work together to overcome the challenges holding back the development of agricultural policy and the future support framework in Scotland.
The newly elected MP for Tiverton and Honiton used his first day in parliament to call for a cut in fuel duty for rural areas.

Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord tabled a parliamentary motion on Tuesday (28 June) calling for an immediate rural fuel duty cut.

Specifically, it calls for rural duty rate relief to be doubled to 10p and to be expanded to cover more rural areas during the current spike in fuel prices.

Research by the Countryside Alliance found rural households will spend over 2,440 a year on filling up their cars, 800 more than those in urban areas.

The rural group's study shows on average those living in rural communities are paying up to 47% more in fuel costs to access basic services, amenities, and commute.

Mr Foord took the Devon seat from the Conservatives following Neil Parish's resignation, who had been caught watching porn in the House of Commons.

The new MP said parliamentarians should 'put party politics aside' and sign the motion to support families in rural areas.

People are struggling with the rising cost of fuel, but the government has failed to act to shield families from soaring prices at the pump," he said.

Thats why Ive tabled a motion in parliament, calling for urgent action to cut the cost of fuel in rural communities.

"This would immediately cut 10p off the price of fuel and offer immediate relief to those being hardest hit."

Mr Foord added: Im also calling on Conservative MPs to join me in the campaign to cut fuel duty for rural communities, because it's the right thing to do for those we represent."

Sarah Lee, director of policy at Countryside Alliance, welcomed the motion, as the cost of fuel "weighs far heavier on rural people".

"As you can see from our study rural communities can pay up to 47% more in fuel costs to access basic services and amenities, and to commute," she said.

"The car is fast becoming an unaffordable necessity and it is time for the government to act and introduce a fuel rebate scheme to remote rural areas in the UK."
The Scottish Land Commission has released formal recommendations to the government on natural capital - one of the biggest topics facing farmers in Scotland today.

The advice to Scottish ministers aim to help the country realise the opportunity of new value in the nations land and natural capital in a fair way.

It comes following in-depth research from the Scottish Land Commission, showing carbon and natural capital are an increasing influence in the land market, driving new motivations for land purchases and contributing to rising land values.

Recommendations focus on how the new investment and value in and can be managed responsibly with the ability of communities to engage in the market, ensuring the financial and wider benefits are shared fairly.

The Commission says the Scottish government should address the country's longstanding pattern of concentrated land ownership and include a public interest test at the point of significant land transactions.

Against a trend of increasing off-market sales, the land reform body proposes that the intention to sell large landholdings should be publicly advertised ahead of time to improve market participation.

It also calls for stronger leadership across public, private and voluntary sectors to introduce new forms of collaborative governance and ownership to increase community participation and build on the strengths of each sector to share risk and benefit.

Tax and fiscal policy could also be a key catalyst in influencing market behaviour, with recommendations to adjust the way public grants are targeted and consideration of the role that tax can play in securing long-term public benefit.

Chief executive of the Commission, Hamish Trench said: Scotland has an opportunity to attract significant investment into its land and natural capital. Doing this in a fair and effective way is key to making a just transition to net zero.

"The Commissions recommendations set out practical steps that can be taken to shape these markets and realise the opportunities on the ground.

"They help deliver on the Scottish Governments land reform programme and its commitment to establishing high integrity, values-led natural capital markets.

We are addressing not just the risks and opportunities of immediate changes associated with carbon but how the ways we own and manage Scotlands land can adapt to other new influences, investment and value in future.

Our advice is for all parties involved in the land sector, who together can shape a responsible approach to Scotlands land to benefit all," he said.

Released alongside the recommendations is the second part of a major report looking into Scotlands changing land market, which played a part in shaping the Commissions advice.

The research shows that the supply of land coming to the market has remained relatively low but demand has increased significantly, resulting in rising land prices.

The findings also showed a shift in the market seeing two thirds of estate sales taking place off-market with half of the estates purchased in 2021 by corporate bodies, investment funds or charitable trusts.

These changes to the land market increase the risk that individuals, communities, local businesses and farmers may find it harder to buy land or to influence and benefit from land use change.
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Image: Twitter The Board of Trustees of Oregon State University approved Jayathi Murthy as the institutions next president on Tuesday.Murthy is the first woman to occupy the post of dean at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLAs) School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she presently works. In addition, she teaches in the UCLA mechanical and aerospace department.She will be the first woman of colour to serve as president of the largest public institution in Oregon.This is the right place and right time, Murthy statement read. I am very impressed by Oregon State University. OSU is well-positioned to address the many challenges in how higher education will be best provided in the years ahead thanks to the universitys excellent faculty, staff and leaders, and its commitment to student success, inclusive excellence and its long experience and leadership in online education.Charles Martinez and Murthy were vying for the OSU leadership position. Martinez is the dean of The University of Texas at Austins College of Education. He previously spent more than two decades working in Oregon, holding a variety of positions at the University of Oregon.In an effort by the board of trustees to oversee a more honest and open selection process, Murthy and Martinez both paid visits to OSUs main campus in Corvallis late last month. The OSU board unanimously chose Murthy.Dr. Murthy is the right person and leader to guide this remarkable university that is enjoying tremendous momentum, In a statement, OSU Board of Trustees Chair Kirk Schueler said. Under Dr. Murthys leadership, OSUs incredible impact in Oregon, nationally and globally, and the universitys commitment and progress in advancing diversity, equity and inclusive excellence will grow.Murthy expressed her confidence in Oregon States ability to emerge from the pandemic as a national leader. She also stated that the institution will increase its investment in research infrastructure under her direction.Expanding access for marginalised communities was one of Murthys primary focuses at UCLAs engineering school. She stated that she would be bringing that to OSU.Advancing diversity, equity and inclusion is a deeply held conviction of mind and is central to my work as an educator and administrator, Murthy noted. As an engineer, I have often been the only woman in the room since I was 16.Murthy promised to make sure all OSU students had access to excellent student support services, such as financial assistance and advising.Murthy will start in her new role at OSU in September. She will succeed Becky Johnson, who has served as the universitys temporary president since May 2021.
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SEOUL, S.KOREA, June 29, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Novotech, the leading Asia Pacific biotech specialist CRO which has recently expanded its services to the US, was today awarded the Best Biologics CRO Award at a ceremony as part of 11th Biologics Manufacturing Korea, the 6th Cell & Gene Therapy World East Asia, and the 3rd BioLogistics World Korea conferences (29th - 30th June 2022) which attract more than 300 representatives from Korea's top biopharmas, vaccine manufacturers, and biologics companies.Novotech Country Managing Director Sanghee Kim said the Korea team was extremely pleased to receive this award in recognition of the clinical excellence provided to clients in the biologics sector.Novotech Vice President Global Head Clinical Services Yooni Kim also 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."Novotech now has a workforce of ~2,500 clinical trial professionals across Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, India, South Africa and the US.Novotech CEO Dr. John Moller said: "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 have accelerated approval processes. The expansion into the US provides 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. Clients will receive a seamless service, with a unified approach to systems and SOPs," Moller said.About Novotech Health HoldingsNovotech Health Holdings Pte. Ltd. ("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.
Awards include recognition in advisory services, artificial intelligence, security, sales, automation, and country partner categories

LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The EY organization today proudly announces being awarded seven 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The accolades include:

Global Advisory Services Partner of the Year for the third consecutive year

Global AI Partner of the Year

Global Security Partner of the Year

Global D365 Sales Partner of the Year

Global Power Automate Partner of the Year

Country/Region Partner of the Year for Australia and Hong Kong

The EY organization was also recognized as a global finalist in the PowerApps and Sustainability Changemaker categories, the Global Defense & Intelligence category for the organization's work in Chile, and the Customer Experience category for implementation of its Tax and Finance Operate solution.

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards acknowledge Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft-based applications, services and devices during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from a set of more than 3,900 submitted nominations from more than 100 countries worldwide.

Jim Little, EY Global Microsoft Alliance Leader, says:

"By collaborating with and leveraging Microsoft teams and technologies, EY teams have been able to supercharge business and data-driven transformations for clients, helping them meet today's challenges head on. Being honored with seven different awards, including Global Advisory Services Partner of the Year for the third year in a row, is a testament to the work being done by EY teams all over the world to unlock long-term value and exponential results for clients by combining innovative solutions powered by Microsoft technologies with business ingenuity and industry experience."

Nick Parker, Corporate Vice President of Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft, says:

"I am honored to announce the winners and finalists of the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. These partners were outstanding among the exceptional pool of nominees and I'm continuously impressed by their innovative use of Microsoft Cloud technologies and the impact for their customers."

Additional information about the criteria and submissions for the awards can be found, here.

For more information, please visit ey.com/microsoft.

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.

This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1721690/EY_Logo.jpg
(Oslo/Singapore, 29 June 2022) Telenor Group's Malaysian subsidiary Digi.Com Berhad ("Digi"), and Axiata Group Berhad announced today that they have received a Notice of No Objection from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ("MCMC") on the proposed merger of Celcom and Digi's telco operations.



With this notice the MCMC consents for the parties to advance to the next phase of the proposed transaction. The completion of the proposed transaction will now be subject to the approval of the Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia, and by both Axiata and Digi shareholders.



"We have reached a positive milestone in the Malaysian merger process with this regulatory clearance. We are excited to move towards realising the full potential of bringing these two companies together, establishing a commercially stronger and more resilient digital service provider. With the proposed structural moves in Thailandand Malaysia, Telenor has a clear ambition to create future-fit companies that can better support ambitious national digital aspirations and bring new, advanced services to consumers across the region," said Jrgen Arentz Rostrup, Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Asia.



To ensure that consumers in Malaysia will continue to benefit from effective competition in the telecommunications sector, Axiata and Digi have offered an undertaking that they believe fully addresses preliminary issues identified by the MCMC. Details are available here.



The parties remain confident that the merged company will realise the estimated synergies, and that the combined entities will establish a stronger, more resilient digital converged service provider well-positioned to respond to shifting market conditions.



The merged company will provide better network quality and coverage. In addition, it will be primed to invest in network expansion, drive 5G solutions and catalyse new growth opportunities for large enterprises and SMEs. The merged company will also leverage combined economies of scale, while creating benefits through strengthening core distribution, delivering improved network operations, and realising efficiencies from operational activities.



The merged company has proposed to invest up to RM250 million (~US$55m / NOK 550m) over five years to build a world-class Innovation Centre in Kuala Lumpur that will keep Malaysia at the forefront of the global digital evolution. The Innovation Centre will be pivotal in advancing extensive research and development leveraging 5G, AI and IOT technology as well as supporting local digital start-ups in growing their technology and innovation capabilities.



The parties estimate that the proposed merger will be completed within the second half of 2022 as announced previously. At completion, Axiata and Telenor will hold equal ownership of 33.1 percent each in the new merged company.



Press contact:

David Fidjeland, Director Media Relations, Telenor Group

+ 47 934 67 224 | david.fidjeland@telenor.com












STUTTGART, Germany and BEIJING, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Timecho, founded by the creators of Apache IoTDB, an IoT-native time series database, has announced a first round of funding of more than US$10 million led by Sequoia China and joined by Koalafund, Gobi China, and Cloudwise.

Time series database has thrived in recent years to meet new data management requirements for the Internet of Things (IoT) era. Developers are seeking a database that can optimize data ingestion rates, storage compression as well as query and analytics features that match the needs of their time-stamped data applications. Based on Apache IoTDB, a top-level open-source project ranked seventh by commits (individual changes to files) in 2021 among all Apache projects, Timecho is technically capable of delivering foundational infrastructure that powers demanding industrial use cases. Moreover, the Timecho team has over 40 patents and papers in industry-leading, time-series management journals including ICDE, SIGMOD, VLDB.

"Apart from its outstanding performance, Apache IoTDB is lightweight, easy-to-use, and deeply integrated with software in the big data ecosystem, including Apache PLC4X, Kafka, Spark, and Grafana," said Dr. Xiangdong Huang, Founder of Timecho and PMC Chair of Apache IoTDB. "It has been widely used by multiple enterprises in the power industry, public transportation, intelligent factories and other scenarios. To expand its application in the IoT area and strengthen its performance to meet the specific requirements of enterprises, Timecho will continue investing aggressively in R&D to enhance features such as end-edge-cloud collaboration."

"Timecho maintains intensive interaction with the open-source community," said Dr. Julian Feinauer, Timecho Technical Director for the European Market and PMC member of Apache IoTDB. "With the funding, we will be able to accelerate R&D to help developers and companies best leverage the power of Apache IoTDB."

Timecho will focus on providing solutions that will be more adaptable with high-end equipment, mass devices, computational-resource-limited platforms, and further scenarios.

About Timecho

Timecho combines "time" with "echo", which means to make time-series data become more valuable. Founded by the creators of Apache IoTDB, Timecho delivers IoT-native time-series solutions to satisfy the demands of mass data storage, fast reads and complex data analytics, enabling companies to leverage the value of time-series data with higher reliability at lower costs.

For more information, visit www.timecho.com or its LinkedIn page.

Contact:

Timecho Limited

contact@timecho.com
BANGKOK, June 29, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Play-2-Earn Hybrid Expo Asia, the world's first event focused specifically on the Play-2-Earn industry for businesses only, is to be held this year in Bangkok, Thailand from August 10 to 13 at W Hotel Bangkok and Metaverse. With up to 250 physical C-suites and more than 500 virtual attendees expected from all around the world, the expo is to bring together the entire ecosystem of the P2E industry from guilds, venture capitalists, game developers, exchanges, launch pads, and key opinion leaders.

With a direct approach to connecting the most experienced individuals and companies and building a strong P2E community, the expo stands out by focusing entirely on a business-to-business approach rather than being consumer-centric.

What to Expect at P2E Hybrid Expo Asia



3-Day programme will present an immersive experience for more than 250 physical and up to 2,000 virtual attendees. More than 50 speakers will participate in panel discussions to share their insights and experiences. Each day will end with an evening of networking at a unique location across Bangkok, including at W Bangkok's very own House of Sathorn featuring welcome drinks on the first night. The second night will be at Bangkok's one of the trendiest rooftop bars at Tichuca Bar and the event will end off with a pool party at Wet Deck at W Bangkok on the last night.

A business matching portal will be provided for all the attendees one month prior to the event to be able to request for meetings with others in attendance to nurture connections and synergies for partnerships. With virtual booths of sponsors in tow, the hybrid component of P2E Expo Expo will ensure virtual attendees from around the world will have access to all the insights being shared.

Play-2-Earn Industry in 2022

Play-2-Earn Hybrid Expo Asia comes at a significant time in the P2E industry, having taken off just a year ago. Despite being in its early stages, a huge number of game projects have raised a significant amount of funding and the concept of Play-to-Earn has evolved into Play-to-Earn and Move-to-Earn. There is a significant shift for traditional game developers to join the Web3 movement, which demonstrates P2E as an industry itself making a real impact and empowering third world countries.

P2E industry being in its early phases of development is more the reason to attend, connect, and share insights with those in the same field to strengthen the community and the industry. The environmental conditions such as the bear market we are facing today further underscores the need for the P2E industry to evolve and find the perfect balance to self-sustain and grow.

Final Winner at Pitch Competition to Win up to $3,000,000!

Impressive lineup of judges from the P2E space will be physically present at the event including venture capitalists and guilds such as DFG/Jsquare, Enjin Starter, Faculty Group, Openspace ventures, SeaX Ventures, and YGG SEA. Every game is able to submit its whitepaper on the website to be shortlisted and invited to pitch. With a total of 8 pitches by game developers, the pitch competition at P2E Hybrid Expo Asia is one of the most coveted parts of the event programme especially with more attention towards the introduction of the new games that are emerging in the market.

Future of Play-2-Earn Hybrid Expo Asia

Play-2-Earn Hybrid Expo Asia stays true to its mission of empowering the P2E ecosystem and is looking to host the expo throughout the year with its subsequent one planned for early 2023 in the exciting destination of Bali, Indonesia. Bali is widely known for playing host to a huge surge of Web 3.0 and blockchain residences from those flying in from around the world and it will be an exciting spot to kickstart 2023 for the P2E community.

Register today for your ticket (limited tickets left!)

Source: PLAY-2-EARN EXPOCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Kao Corporation, a Japan-based Group whose brand portfolio includes Attack, Biore, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, released progress reports on its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategy-the Kirei Lifestyle Plan. Details of its progress is released in the "Kao Sustainability Report 2022." The report discloses the achievements of the key leadership action themes of 2021 as well as the internal carbon price increase to 18,500 yen/ton-CO2 to promote decarbonization. It also outlines revisions made to Kao's biodiversity policy, and details the establishment of the new ESG steering committees, which will strengthen Kao's ESG governance structure. It is available in English on Kao's website from today.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005506/en/

Kao's ESG Strategy Kirei Lifestyle Plan (Graphic: Business Wire)

Kao Sustainability Report 2022

https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/pdf/area-LocalNavBottom01

For over 130 years, Kao has worked to help consumers lead fulfilling lifestyles. In April 2019, Kao established the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which is an ESG strategy that includes 19 leadership actions to achieve a sustainable and desirable way of living. The Japanese word 'kirei' describes something that is both clean and beautiful. For Kao, Kirei not only encapsulates appearance, but also attitude-to create beauty for oneself, other people, and for the world around us. Since its start in 2021, the Kao Group Mid-term Plan 2025 (K25) has proclaimed "protecting future lives" and promoting "sustainability as the only path" as its vision. The Kao Group will continue to integrate its ESG strategy into its management practices. It will also develop its business, provide better products and services for consumers and society, and work toward its purpose, "To Realize a Kirei World in Which All Life Lives in Harmony."

The Director, Managing Executive Officer in charge of Kao's ESG Division, Dave Muenz, delivered this message regarding the progress of the Kirei Lifestyle Plan announcement: "The expectation of our stakeholders for companies like Kao to help build a more sustainable society is intensifying year on year. Driven by the company's long held value of 'Integrity as the only choice'-doing what is right and holistic even if it may not be the easiest option-Kao has taken steps in 2021 that will help us continue to be a force of positive impact to the people that we serve, including setting ambitious decarbonization goals of aiming for carbon zero by 2040 and carbon negative by 2050. This year, our ESG governance structure has been reinforced by setting up four ESG steering committees that will address decarbonization, plastic packaging, human rights and DEI*1, and chemical stewardship. As a company dependent on natural capital such as palm oil, we have published a new policy around procurement which will help us work across our supply chain to ensure traceability and identify risks by arranging third-party audits of our suppliers. Kao will continue to work through collaborations and partnerships to create a Kirei Life for all."

*1 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

A leading international nonprofit organization, CDP, has included Kao in its prestigious 'A List' across three categories for the second year in a row. Also, the Ethisphere Institute, a leading US think-tank, has named Kao one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for 16 consecutive years.

New Initiatives to Promote a Kirei Lifestyle

1. Raising the internal carbon price to 18,500 yen/ton-CO2 to promote decarbonization

In 2006, Kao introduced an internal carbon price system to curb CO2 emissions. Last year, it announced a new decarbonization goal and has increased the target rate of CO2 emission reduction from 22% in Scope 1+2*2 CO2 emissions (absolute value) to 55% (taking 2017 as the base year) by 2030. Consequently, Kao has raised the internal carbon price from the conventional 3,500 yen/ton-CO2 to 18,500 yen/ton-CO2*3. It will also promote the use of energy-saving equipment, the use of equipment with low CO2 emissions, and the procurement of renewable energy.

*2 The volume of greenhouse gases emitted directly by business enterprises and other organizations.

*3 This rate is the estimated 2035 carbon tax rate, based on the carbon tax rates included in the 2021 IEA World Energy Outlook. It is assumed that in the future, newly introduced equipment will continue to operate after 2030.

2. Establishment of the ESG steering committees to strengthen ESG governance structure

Since April 2022, in order to implement ESG initiatives reliably and promptly, the ESG steering committees have been newly established under the ESG Managing Committee to build a flexible and robust ESG governance structure to address the four priority issues of decarbonization, plastic packaging, human rights and DEI, and chemical stewardship. The executive-level leaders serve as the owner, and in conjunction with the ESG Managing Committee, recommendations will be made to each division and Group company. In each division, ESG is incorporated into divisional policies, goals, and plans to build effective governance. ESG governance structures at Group companies overseas are also organized into divisions, and are operated by group companies according to the content of activities.

3. Revision of biodiversity policy

Kao operates by benefiting from many biological resources such as palm oil, paper, and pulp. In 2011, Kao formed the "Basic Policies on Conservation of Biodiversity" and has been working to develop new technologies that contribute to sustainable raw material procurement and biodiversity conservation. The modern world aims to reduce the negative impacts on nature and biodiversity, increase actions that have a positive impact, and reverse the trend of biodiversity loss. With the revision of the global biodiversity goals at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in 2021, existing policy has been revised and in April 2022, the "Basic Policy on Biodiversity" was formed.

For the Key Leadership Action Themes: 2021 Activity Results, click the following URL.

https://www.kao.com/global/en/news/sustainability/2022/20220629-001/

About the Kirei Lifestyle Plan

Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve people's lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestyles-a Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word 'kirei' describes something that is clean, well-ordered and beautiful, all at the same time. The Kao Group established its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan in April 2019, which is designed to deliver the vision of a gentler and more sustainable way of living. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives and have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.

For more information please, click https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/

About Kao

Kao creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Biore, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,420 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,500 people worldwide and has 135 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information.

https://www.kao.com/global/en/

Related Information

Kao launches new ESG Strategy "Kirei Lifestyle Plan" to support consumer lifestyle changes

https://www.kao.com/global/en/news/sustainability/2019/20190422-001/

Kao Sustainability website

https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/

Kao Integrated Report 2022

https://www.kao.com/global/en/investor-relations/library/reports/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005506/en/

Contacts:

Media inquiries should be directed to:

Hiwako Yoshino

Corporate Strategy

Kao Corporation

Tel.: +81-3-3660-7043
TOKYO, June 29, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announced that it has won the 2022 Microsoft Education Partner of the Year award. Fujitsu was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology."Fujitsu is thrilled to be recognized by Microsoft for our contribution working with clients and partners in supporting over a million students across North America. This helped improve learning environments for students from all different backgrounds to reduce the disruption in education caused by COVID." said Cathy McCann, Vice President Head of Trusted Society, Uvance Unit, Fujitsu. "This initiative underlines the important role we believe technology and global companies, such as Fujitsu and Microsoft, can play by working together to support educators worldwide, as they strive to improve education equity and access for everyone."The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft-based applications, services and devices during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from a set of more than 3,900 submitted nominations from more than 100 countries worldwide. Fujitsu was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in the Education category.In presenting this award, Microsoft recognizes Fujitsu for its ongoing efforts in North America and skill in working in collaboration with Microsoft and ISV community partners, in particular Follett School Solutions, to use Microsoft Azure services to produce outstanding outcomes for Fujitsu's education clients in Canada and the United States.At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Fujitsu leveraged its SIS to support tens of thousands of educators and over 1M students in North America. This helped to digitally transform administrative operations and completely reorganize classroom courses to be run online in a matter of days. This allowed teachers to introduce new services and provide continuity for all students and parents at a time of extraordinary uncertainty.Based on SIS, Fujitsu successfully implemented and manages "MyEducation BC," a province-wide service shared by teachers, school officials and by over 650,000 students and parents in over 2,000 schools in all 60 School Districts and many private schools across British Columbia. Another provincial service based on SIS, "MySchoolSask", supports all 27 School Divisions with 205,000 students across the Province of Saskatchewan. Despite sudden, unexpected changes and significant workload spikes on the SIS, both environments have performed without disruption, delivering full security and privacy compliance, as well as peace of mind to school administrators.Moving forward, Fujitsu will continue to promote partnerships with stakeholders, including public institutions, citizens, and business partners, focusing on innovative and reliable technologies to realize a "Trusted Society," one of Fujitsu's 7 Key Focus Areas under its global business brand Fujitsu Uvance to create a more sustainable world."I am honored to announce the winners and finalists of the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards," said Nick Parker, corporate vice president of Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft. "These partners were outstanding among the exceptional pool of nominees and I'm continuously impressed by their innovative use of Microsoft Cloud technologies and the impact for their customers."Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced annually prior to the company's global partner conference, Microsoft Inspire, which will take place on July 19-20 this year.Additional details on the 2022 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner Network blog: bit.ly/3y25ArR. The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found at https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/inspire/awards.About FujitsuFujitsu's purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$32 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: www.fujitsu.com.Source: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 28, 2022) - Infinity Stone Ventures Corp. (CSE: GEMS) (OTC PINK: TLOOF) (FSE: B2I) (the "Company" or "Infinity Stone"), is pleased to announce the closing of the first tranche of a financing (the "Financing") of units (each, a "Unit") of the Company through the issuance of 1,341,666 Units at a price of $0.15 per Unit, for gross proceeds of $201,250. Each Unit is comprised of one Class A Subordinate Voting Share (a "Share") and one-half (1/2) of one share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant is exercisable into one (1) Share (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.30 for a period of three (3) years from the date of issuance.

In connection with the first tranche, the Company issued 56,000 finders' warrants, and paid a cash fee of $8,400 to certain finders. Each finders' warrant is exercisable at a price of $0.30 for a period of two (2) years from the date of issuance.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the financing towards general working capital.

About Infinity Stone Ventures

Infinity Stone's mission is to be a diversified, single source supplier for the critical energy metals being used in the clean energy revolution alongside its established SaaS solution portfolio. The Company's primary business units include HealthCheck (Stratum Health Technologies LLC) and its energy metals portfolio. Infinity Stone is meeting the demand from battery and wind turbine manufacturers, nuclear and hydrogen energy producers, and energy metals speculators by acquiring 100% interest in critical mineral deposits and occurrences in stable mining-friendly jurisdictions, close to final use destinations in North American manufacturing hubs.

To register for investor updates please visit https://infinitystone.ventures.

Infinity Stone Contact

Zayn Kalyan

CEO and Director

Direct: 778-938-3367

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.

Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "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". Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including statements respecting: the Private Placement; and the expected use of proceeds from the Private Placement. Although forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management of Company believes are reasonable assumptions, 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. The forward-looking statements may also be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of the Company, including those described in the Company's public filings available on www.SEDAR.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129403
OSLO, Norway (29 June 2022) - TGS ASA ("TGS", OSE: TGS) and Magseis Fairfield ASA ("Magseis", OSE: MSEIS) announce today that they have entered into a transaction agreement (the "Transaction Agreement") whereby TGS on and subject to certain terms and conditions will put forward a voluntary exchange offer (the "Offer") to acquire all shares of Magseis for a consideration to the Magseis shareholders in the form of 0.0426 ordinary shares of TGS and NOK 2.30 in cash per Magseis share (the "OfferConsideration"). Based on the closing price of TGS on 28 June 2022, the value of the Offer Consideration is equal to NOK 8.6048 per Magseis share, and the Offer values the total issued share capital of Magseis at approximately NOK 2,333 million.

The board of directors of Magseis (the "Board") has unanimously resolved to recommend the Offer. Magseis shareholders, including the largest shareholder, Fairfield MS, LLC, and members of the Magseis Board and management, who collectively own 33.4% of the outstanding share capital of Magseis, have entered into pre-acceptances with respect to the Offer. These pre-commitment undertakings can on certain terms be withdrawn in the event of a superior competing offer that is not matched by TGS.

The Offer Consideration of NOK 8.6048 per Magseis Share represents a premium of:

53.7% compared to the closing price of the Magseis shares of NOK 5.60 on 28 June 2022.

37.4% compared to the volume weighted average price (" VWAP" ) of the Magseis shares for the three-month period ending on 28 June 2022.

) of the Magseis shares for the three-month period ending on 28 June 2022. 51.1% compared to the VWAP of the Magseis shares for the six-month period ending on 28 June 2022.

71.6% compared to the VWAP of the Magseis shares for the twelve-month period ending on 28 June 2022.

"With a strengthening focus on costs and cycle times in the exploration and production of oil and gas, an increasing amount of demand of geophysical data is driven by infrastructure-led exploration (ILX) and production monitoring (4D seismic). Combining Magseis's leading position in the Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) market with TGS's multi-client and data processing capabilities creates a unique offering of superior quality products and services across the value chain," says Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS.

"The seismic industry is undergoing a significant transformation brought about by fundamental structural challenges facing the industry. Adapting to these changes via consolidation will be beneficial to our investors and customers. The combined company will be a leading integrated seismic provider with a best-in-class OBN technology and track-record, strong data processing capabilities, and a multi-client business with a large customer base for the company's operations and a truly global geographical footprint." says Carel Hooijkaas, CEO of Magseis.

Offer Consideration:

As of the date of this release, the Offer Consideration is equal to NOK 8.6048 per Magseis share and values the total issued share capital of Magseis at approximately NOK 2,333 million.

The Offer Consideration will be settled as follows:

NOK 2.30 per Magseis share in cash (the " Cash Consideration" )

) 0.0426 new shares in TGS per Magseis share (the "ConsiderationShares") (the "ShareConsideration").

The board of directors of TGS has been authorized to issue the Consideration Shares to be delivered in the Offer. The authorization was resolved at the TGS general meeting on 11 May 2022. The Consideration Shares will be listed on Oslo Brs upon issuance to the accepting Magseis shareholders.

The Offer Consideration will be adjusted to compensate for the effects of any resolution by Magseis or TGS to distribute dividends or make any other distribution to Magseis's or TGS's shareholders with a record date prior to completion of the Offer.

Key terms and conditions of the Offer:

Completion of the Offer will be subject to the following main conditions being satisfied or waived by TGS: (i) Magseis shareholders representing more than 90% have accepted the Offer; (ii) the Board has not amended or withdrawn its recommendation of the Offer; (iii) relevant regulatory approvals have been obtained; (iv) consents and waivers for change of control provisions in the Magseis's lease agreements and credit facilities have been obtained; (v) Magseis will in all material respects have conducted its business in the ordinary course; (vi) no breach of covenants and representations and warranties in the Transaction Agreement by Magseis has occurred that entitles TGS to terminate the agreement; and (vii) no legal action has been taken that will or might restrain or prohibit the completion of the Offer.

The Board has agreed that it will not amend, modify or withdraw its recommendation of the Offer unless it receives a bona fide superior competing offer that satisfies certain criteria. If the Offer is not completed due to a breach by Magseis that entitles the Offeror to terminate the Transaction Agreement, or the Board withdraws or amends its recommendation of the Offer, Magseis will compensate the Offeror for its external advisors costs up to a maximum amount of NOK 10 million.

The complete details of the Offer will be set out in an offer document which will be published after approval by Oslo Brs. The offer period is expected to commence in August 2022.

Availability of the Offer and/or Share Consideration is expected to be subject to legal restrictions in certain jurisdictions.

Advisors:

ABG Sundal Collier ASA is acting as financial advisor and Advokatfirmaet Schjdt AS is acting as legal advisor to TGS. Arctic Securities AS is acting as financial advisor and Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS is acting as legal advisor to Magseis.

Contact information:

TGS:

Sven Brre Larsen

CFO

Tel: +47 909 43 673

Email: investor@tgs.com

Magseis:

Carel Hooijkaas, CEO

Tel: +47 480 49 277

Email: carel.hooijkaas@magseisfairfield.com

Stig Hognestad, CFO

Tel: +47 902 59 040

Email: stig.hognestad@magseisfairfield.com

Important notice:

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements according to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at the time and by the contact, persons set out above, on behalf of the respective companies.

It may be unlawful to distribute this announcement in certain jurisdictions. This announcement is not for distribution in Australia, Canada, the Hong Kong special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Africa, the United States or to any other jurisdiction where such distribution would be unlawful. The information in this announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in such jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This announcement does not constitute an offer for sale of, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities in the United States. The Offer or Consideration Shares referred to in this release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. The information contained in this announcement is for informational purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. TGS does not intend to conduct a public offering in the United States. The Consideration Shares will only be sold to persons outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act. For U.S. persons or to persons that are otherwise subject to the securities laws of the United States, the Consideration Shares will only be sold to "accredited investors," as defined in Rule 501(a) under Regulation D under the U.S. Securities Act, pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Rule 506(c) under such U.S. Securities Act. Copies of this announcement are not being, and should not be, distributed in or sent into the United States.

In the United Kingdom, this announcement is for distribution only to and is directed only at persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments which fall within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the "Financial Promotion Order"), (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc") of the Financial Promotion Order, or (iii) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This announcement is directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons.

This announcement has been prepared on the basis that any offer of securities in any Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Regulation (EU) (2017/1129, as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation") (each, a "Relevant Member State") will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation, as implemented in that Relevant Member State, from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of securities. Accordingly, any person making or intending to make any offer in that Relevant Member State of securities, which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this announcement, may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for TGS to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 16 of the Prospectus Regulation, in each case, in relation to such offer. Neither TGS nor any of the advisors have authorised, nor do they authorise, the making of any offer of the securities through any financial intermediary, other than offers made by TGS which constitute the final placement of the securities contemplated in this announcement. Neither TGS nor any of the advisors have authorised, nor do they authorise, the making of any offer of securities in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the Company to publish or supplement a prospectus for such offer.

This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws and regulations of various international, federal, and state jurisdictions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding the Offer or the future plans and objectives of TGS or Magseis are forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Neither TGS, Magseis nor any of their advisors and/or any of their affiliates or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers, agents or any other person(s) accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, or make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the information or opinions in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from this announcement) or any other information relating the Offer, TGS or Magseis.

The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in TGS is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither TGS, Magseis nor their advisors assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.
Founded by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck a decade ago, Entrepreneur First now employs more than 120 around the world to help find and support the next generation of tech founders.

The company has raised its largest funding round to date, of $158m, from a large group of successful founders turned investors including Patrick and John Collison, Reid Hoffman, Taavet Hinrikus and Matt Mullenweg.

EF will target a direct investment of $100m over the next three years in hundreds of entrepreneurs, and will continue building out its talent product suite. This comes against an impressive backdrop: the aggregate value of companies created through EF now exceeds $10bn.

Entrepreneur First (EF), a scaleup investor in early stage founder talent, has raised a $158m Series C funding round from a group of veteran technology founders, including Patrick and John Collison, Reid Hoffman, Taavet Hinrikus and Matt Mullenweg.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005653/en/

Entrepreneur First co-founders Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford (Photo: Business Wire)

Bucking the trend of mounting layoffs and diminishing venture capital volumes across the startup world, owing to fears of a looming recession, the host of successful entrepreneurs and founders are backing EF to unlock opportunities for a diverse set of new global founders.

EF's impressive global roster of backers includes John and Patrick Collison (co-founders of Stripe), Taavet Hinrikus (co-founder of Wise), Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn), Matt Mullenweg (co-founder of Wordpress), Tom Blomfield (co-founder of Monzo and GoCardless), Nat Friedman (former CEO of Github), Sara Clemens (former COO of Twitch and Pandora), Matt Robinson (co-founder of Nested and GoCardless), Patrick O'Shaughnessy (Positive Sum), Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman (co-founders of Deepmind), Claire Hughes Johnson, Sten Tamkivi, Elad Gil and Lachy Groom.

Founded in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck in London, EF now employs 120 around the world. It operates as an early-stage investor, helping talented people find co-founders to partner with ahead of launching startups.

"Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. The idea of taking strangers and helping them start robust and ambitious companies is no longer radical but essential to power the next stage of innovation," said Matt Clifford, CEO and co-founder of Entrepreneur First.

"The whole EF thesis is finding individuals who otherwise might not start companies and then trying to accelerate their journey to success," he said.

"EF is completely unique in the early-stage funding landscape. Our whole effort focuses on talent rather than typical venture capital deal flow. We don't try and win deals, we don't pick deals, we find great people. That brings big strengths. The ability to partner before there even is a company is both a relationship and an economic strength," he added.

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and Entrepreneur First board member said: "We are entering a new era for venture funding, with a new generation of global founders needing support to build iconic companies from scratch. I'm excited to be part of this world-class syndicate. We're all passionate about the power of entrepreneurship to change people's lives and to change the world. Entrepreneur First represents a new way for talented people to access that opportunity and a new way to build startup ecosystems outside Silicon Valley."

Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First, said: "As the value of EF's portfolio companies passes $10bn, we feel we're just getting started. We want EF to have a product to enable every ambitious individual to find their co-founder. EF is already one of the world's great talent communities and with this new funding and these new investors, we're looking forward to partnering with thousands of more exceptional founders in the coming years"

The cash -- raised as a funding round, rather than a 'fund' -- will be used to make investments into new startups as well as allow EF a capacity to experiment, and innovate on how best to fund the next generation of entrepreneurs by launching new products aimed at up-ending the typical venture capital model.

EF is also announcing today that the aggregate value of companies created through its platform now exceeds $10bn. Notable alumni include Tractable (the computer vision unicorn focused on the insurance industry, funded by Insight and Georgian Partners); Omnipresent (the employment platform for remote work, funded by Tencent and Kinnevik); Aztec Protocol (the private transaction protocol, funded by Paradigm); Cleo (the financial management app, funded by Balderton and EQT Ventures); and Permutive (the privacy-compliant advertising infrastructure platform, funded by Softbank).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005653/en/

Contacts:

Ben Goldsmith

ben@goldsmithcomms.com

+44(0)7788295321
DGAP-Ad-hoc: OPDEnergy, S.A. / Key word(s): Capital Increase

OPDEnergy, S.A.: INTENTION TO FLOAT ON THE SPANISH STOCK EXCHANGES



29-Jun-2022 / 08:00 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



INTENTION TO FLOAT ON THE SPANISH STOCK EXCHANGES OPDENERGY HOLDING, S.A. ("Opdenergy" or the "Company" and, collectively with its subsidiaries, the "Group") announces today its intention to proceed with the initial offering (the "Offering") of new ordinary shares (the "New Shares") to qualified investors. The Offering is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to 200 million to fund its business plan. The Company also expects to offer a portion of the New Shares in the Offering to certain employees of the Group ("the Employees") and to certain members of the Senior Management, the CEO and certain persons closely related or linked to the Company, the Senior Management or the ultimate beneficial owners of the Company's shareholders (collectively, the "Related Investors"). The Employees and Related Investors will be residents in Spain and the European Union, respectively. Additionally, the Company expects to offer a portion of the New Shares in the Offering, less than 8 million in gross proceeds, to all type of investors (the "Public Investors") located in Spain. The Company intends to apply for admission of its New Shares and existing ordinary shares to be listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia Stock Exchanges (respectively, the "Admission" and the "Spanish Stock Exchanges") for trading through the Automated Quotation System (Mercado Continuo) of the Spanish Stock Exchanges. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY Opdenergy is a well-established and fully integrated independent producer of sustainable energy, focused on the production of solar photovoltaic ("PV") and onshore wind power, present in selected stable and fast-growing Tier I renewable energy markets. In particular, Opdenergy is present and has pipeline projects in five markets in Europe (Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France and Poland), in the United States and in three markets in Latin America (Chile, Mexico and Colombia). Opdenergy's vertically integrated approach, with in-house expertise and integrated capabilities across the entire value chain, ensures invaluable understanding and control over the projects' development, structuring, financing, construction, and operation and maintenance. As of the date of this announcement, the Company has a portfolio of operating, Under Construction and Pre-Construction renewable energy plants with a gross installed capacity of c.2.4 GW, out of which c.783 MW correspond to Pre-Construction assets. The Company's operating and Under Construction plants include 34[1] solar PV plants and one onshore wind plant, with an aggregate gross installed capacity of c.1,586 MW (including plants where the Company owns a non-controlling interest) and an attributable installed capacity of c.1,470 MW. Approximately 902 MW of gross installed capacity correspond to 20 wholly-owned solar PV plants located in Spain and c.100 MW correspond to one solar PV plant located in the United States, all of which are Under Construction. The remaining gross installed capacity of c.584 MW (c.468 MW on an attributable basis) correspond to operating plants. In addition, the Company has an attractive growth profile with a pipeline of projects with an aggregate potential gross targeted installed capacity of c.10.8 GW, of which c.1.7 GW relate to projects marked as Advanced Stage and c.1.1 GW relate to projects categorized as Farm-Down[2]. The Offering represents the next step in Opdenergy's long-term development and ongoing transformation to become a large-scale geographically diversified independent power producer ("IPP") and allows Opdenergy to fund its business plan until 2025. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to contribute towards the equity portion of the capital expenditures associated with the development of its target for 2025, which is to reach a capacity of c.3.3 GW of assets in operation and Under Construction ("the 2025 Target"). This means more than doubling its current gross operating and Under Construction capacity and increasing its actual operating capacity by approximately six times (c.6x). Opdenergy has a clear vision and a well-defined strategy oriented towards the achievement of its medium-term targets while promoting a sustainable development. The Company is focused on attractive Tier I countries, creditworthy investment-grade off-takers, and hard currency-denominated (or hard currency-linked) energy sales, which are supported by long-term power purchase agreements ("PPAs") or other types of remuneration arrangements such as public remuneration plans with fixed or stabilized remuneration prices (or a combination thereof), for most of its power production, providing the Company with significant visibility and stability in its future revenues. In particular, the Company has c.2,658 MW of assets with secured long-term PPAs, of which c.584 MW correspond to their operating assets and c.2,075 MW to their Under Construction, Pre-Construction and two assets within their pipeline. Opdenergy has a proven track-record in executing renewable energy projects and delivering targets. Since its inception in 2005, they have successfully executed multiple M&A and financing agreements, of which it is worth noting the Bruc Transaction which includes the sale of 1,101MW at ready to build stage ("RtB") (subject to the satisfactory of certain conditions to be completed). The Company is led by a dynamic, highly qualified and experienced management team, with over 60 years of combined experience in the sector and a proven track-record identifying and executing new market and development opportunities, that has been directly responsible for the growth experienced by Opdenergy over the past few years. Environmental, social and governance ("ESG") is at the core of Opdenergy's strategy and its key initiatives position the Company to play a very active role in the ESG transition, providing an opportunity to invest in an asset that will contribute positively and actively to the transition towards a decarbonized world while targeting sustainable long-term returns. Opdenergy is committed to maintaining best-in-class corporate governance practices to ensure a sound, long-term oriented governance. In 2021, the Company designed its "Sustainability Master Plan" which sets out its ESG goals for the years 2022 to 2025, which is included and further described in the sustainability report published on 14 June 2022. Luis Cid, CEO of Opdenergy, stated: "Our goal of becoming a listed company is a key milestone for Opdenergy. The funds obtained with the Offer will allow us to continue developing renewable energy projects in our markets, with a profitable and business-oriented strategy, focused on sustainability, and on continuing to supply clean energy to our customers in Europe and America. The company has a portfolio of high-quality operating and under construction projects, well diversified and backed by a large pipeline with which to execute our business plan for the coming years, which positions us as a great value option for investors in the current context". DETAILS OF THE OFFERING The Offering will consist of a primary offering of a number of New Shares of the Company to (i) qualified investors (the "Qualified Investors") and investors who buy or subscribe securities for a total consideration of at least 100,000 per investor, (ii) the Employees and the Related Investors, as well as (iii) the Public Investors (representing less than 8 million in gross proceeds). The Company expects to raise gross proceeds of up to 200 million through the issuance of the New Shares. Current Opdenergy's shareholders are not expected to sell shares in the Offering, but are expected to grant an over-allotment option of existing shares of the Company. The Company is in advanced discussions with an investor (the "Cornerstone Investor") which expressed an interest to subscribe for approximately 25% of the Offering, subject to certain conditions including an offer price representing an equity value, before the issuance of New Shares, of up to 575 million. Following admission to listing of the New Shares and the existing ordinary shares of the Company, is also expected that the Company, Selling Shareholders, directors and key managers enter into lock-up commitments with respect to their holdings in the Company's share capital, effective for a predetermined period of time following the Offering, in line with market practices and subject to customary exceptions and waiver by the joint global coordinators. The Employees subscribing for New Shares will also be subject to a lock-up restriction for a predetermined period of time following the Offering. Banco Santander, S.A., Barclays Bank Ireland PLC and Societe Generale will be acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners (the "Joint Global Coordinators") for the Offering. JB Capital Markets, Sociedad de Valores, S.A. will be acting as joint bookrunner (and together with the Joint Global Coordinators, the "Joint Bookrunners") for the Offering. Banco Cooperativo Espanol, S.A. and GVC Gaesco Valores, Sociedad de Valores, S.A. will be acting as co-lead managers (and together with the Joint Bookrunners, the "Underwriters"). Banca March, S.A. and Renta 4 Banco, S.A., will be acting as placement agents (and together with the Underwriters, the "Managers"). Public Investors will be required to place their orders through Renta 4 Banco, S.A. and to hold a cash account and a securities account with Renta 4 Banco, S.A. Further details of the Offering will be included in the prospectus to be filed by the Company with the Spanish Securities Market Commission (Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores or "CNMV") in connection with the Offering and the Admission, and to be published in due course and which will supersede this Announcement in its entirety (the "Prospectus"). The Prospectus will include full details on the Offering and the specific timetable. Upon approval, it will be available in the respective websites of Opdenergy (https://www.opdenergy.com/en/) and the CNMV (www.cnmv.es). FOR INVESTOR ENQUIRIES Isabel Troya Smith

Investor Relations & Communications Director +34 914 559 996



itroya@opdenergy.com FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES Gonzalo Torres

KREAB +34 610 275 845

gtorres@kreab.com Eva Tunas

KREAB +34 635 186 419

etunas@kreab.com IMPORTANT NOTICE For the purposes of this section, Offered Shares shall be understood as the New Shares and the existing ordinary shares in respect of the over-allotment, if applicable. This announcement (the "Announcement") and the information contained herein are not for release, distribution or publication in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction. The Offering and the distribution of this Announcement 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. This Announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction where such offer, sale or subscription would be unlawful and the Announcement and the information contained herein is not for distribution or release in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into such jurisdictions. The information contained in this Announcement does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this Announcement. This Announcement is an advertisement and does not constitute a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC (the "Prospectus Regulation"). The information and opinions in this Announcement are not based upon a consideration of any particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers may wish to seek independent and professional advice and conduct their own independent investigation and analysis of the information contained in this Announcement and of the business, operations, financial condition, prospects, status and affairs of the Company. Any purchase of or subscription for Offered Shares of the Company should be made solely on the basis of the information to be contained in the Prospectus, once and if published. The Prospectus is expected to be approved by the CNMV in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation regime. Once approved, the Prospectus will be available at the Company's registered offices, on its corporate website and on the website of the CNMV (www.cnmv.es). The Prospectus may contain information different from the information contained in this Announcement. The approval of the Prospectus by the CNMV will not constitute an evaluation of the merits of the transactions proposed to investors. Investors should carefully read the Prospectus before making an investment decision in order to fully understand the potential risks and rewards associated with the decision to invest in the securities referred to herein. Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), except to qualified institutional buyers ("QIBs"), as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act who may acquire, or may consider the acquisition of, the Offered Shares for their own account or for the account of a QIB and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There is no intention to register any securities referred to herein in the United States or to make a public offering of the securities in the United States. There will be no public offer of the securities referred to herein in Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa. In member states of the European Economic Area (the "EEA"), this Announcement is only addressed to and directed at persons who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation. In the United Kingdom, this Announcement and any other materials in relation to the securities referred to herein are only being distributed to, and are only directed at, and any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to, and will be engaged in only with, a "qualified investor" (as defined in the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) (i) having professional experience in matters relating to investments so as to qualify as "investment professional" under Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"); (ii) falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order; or (iii) being a person to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated. This Announcement and its contents must not be acted on or relied upon in the United Kingdom or in any member state of the EEA by persons who are not "qualified investors". The communication of this Announcement in the United Kingdom or in any member state of the EEA to persons who are not "qualified investors" is unauthorized and may contravene applicable law. With respect to the Public Investors, the Company will not provide information different from the one included under the Prospectus as it is acting under the exemption set out in article 34 of the Securities Market Law approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015 of October 23 and article 3.2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129. The Managers and their respective affiliates are acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with the anticipated Offering. They will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the anticipated Offering and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company and the selling shareholders for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, or for providing advice in relation to the anticipated Offering, the contents of this Announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein. The Offering and/or the Admission may be influenced by a range of circumstances such as market conditions. There is no guarantee that the Offering will proceed and that the Admission will occur and you should not base your financial decisions on the Company's intentions in relation to the Offering and the Admission at this stage. In connection with the anticipated Offering, each Manager and any of its respective affiliates, may take up a portion of the Offered Shares as a principal position and in that capacity may retain, sell, offer to sell, purchase or otherwise deal for its or their own account(s) such Offered Shares and any securities of the Company or related investments and may offer or sell such securities or other investments in connection with the Offering or otherwise. Accordingly, references in this Announcement or the Prospectus, once and if published, to the Offered Shares being issued, offered, subscribed, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt with should be read as including any issue, offering, subscription, acquisition, placement of or dealing in such Offered Shares by or to the Managers and any relevant affiliate acting in such capacity. In addition, certain of the Managers or their affiliates may enter into financing arrangements and swaps in connection with which they or their affiliates may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of Offered Shares. The Managers do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so. None of the Managers, or any of their respective affiliates or any of the respective directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents of any of their foregoing entities accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this Announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the Announcement) or any other information relating to the Company, its subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. This Announcement includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws of certain applicable jurisdictions. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "advanced stage", "expects", "intends", "may", "pipeline", "potential", "should", "targets" and "will" as well as their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this Announcement and include statements regarding the Company's investment strategy and the Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the Company's financial performance, prospects, growth, pipeline, strategies and the industry in which the Company intends to operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions, including, among others, those related to the evolution of the industry, regulatory and economic trends and the Company's ability to successfully fund and carry out its growth plan, meet its targets and execute its pipeline. Such assumptions are inherently subject to significant business, operational, economic and other risks and uncertainties. You are hereby cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Company's actual financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, size of its portfolio, and development of the industry in which it will operate, may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement. In addition, even if the Company's financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, size of its portfolio, and development of the industry in which it will operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement, those results or developments may not be indicative of the Company's results or developments in subsequent periods and may be impacted by important factors. No representation or warranty is made that any forward-looking statement will come to pass. No one undertakes to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statement. The definition and classification of the pipeline of the Company, which comprises "Farm-Down", "Advanced Stage", "Early Stage" and "Identified Opportunities", may not necessarily be the same as that used by other companies engaged in similar businesses. As a result, the expected capacity of the Company's pipeline may not be comparable to the expected capacity of the pipeline reported by such other companies. In addition, given the dynamic nature of the pipeline, the pipeline is subject to change and certain projects classified under a certain pipeline category as identified above could be reclassified under another pipeline category or could cease to be pursued in the event that unexpected events occur. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. Information to distributors: Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Offered Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such Offered Shares are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the Offered Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Offered Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Offered Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Managers in connection with the offering to Qualified Investors will only engage with investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Offered Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Offered Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.[1] One of these 34 plants is Puglia solar PV plant which consists of seven separate plants. The seven solar PV plants comprising Puglia are held through three different SPVs and are considered to be a single solar PV plant for management purposes. [2] This category falls into the Pipeline because it includes assets that are expected to be transferred once these reach ready-to-build status, and thus do not contribute to Opdenergy's 2025 Target, which is to reach a capacity of 3.3 GW of assets in operation and Under Construction. 29-Jun-2022 CET/CEST The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Internet City, Dubai--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - LBank Exchange, a global digital asset trading platform, will list Delio (DSP) on June 30, 2022. For all users of LBank Exchange, the DSP/USDT trading pair will be officially available for trading at 16:00 (UTC+8) on June 30, 2022.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8831/129325_aaadf790e418ba94_001full.jpg

Its native token DSP will be listed on LBank Exchange at 16:00 (UTC+8) on June 30, 2022, to further expand its global reach and help it achieve its vision.

Introducing Delio

Delio is a leading company in the Web 3.0 industry in South Korea.





Delio is the top crypto-asset financing company recognized by the Korean institutions having a cumulative savings and lending volume of $2 billion in 2021.





Having established in 2018 in Seoul, Korea, Delio is a legitimate service provider that has formally acquired the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).





The major services of the company include crypto-asset savings, crypto loans, decentralized exchange (DEX), prime brokerage service (PBS), and NFT marketplace (01etc.com). In addition, Delio is developing fiat loans, a blockchain point system (DXpoint), and an e-commerce platform.

About DSP Token

DSP is the governance token of the Delio crypto finance ecosystem.

DSP token plays a major role in the crypto asset services of Delio such as APY bearing wallet, cryptocurrency lending, cash loans, NFT marketplace, and virtual asset management, collectively named as Delio Services. It's also a governance token of Delio protocol allowing holders to influence and vote on future development decisions.

The owner of DSP can participate in Delio's governance, voting, various yield farming events, and benefit from transaction fees. The more DSPs the user holds, the more voting power the user will have in Delio ecosystem. In addition to the major governance functions in the ecosystem, DSP rewards and DSP-backed financial products are under further development.

A total of 500 million (i.e. 500,000,000) DSPs have been minted at genesis, of which 60% is provided for Delio community members, 20% is allocated to team members and future employees with 1-year vesting, and the rest 20% is allocated to investors and advisors with 1-year vesting.

The DSP token will be listed on LBank Exchange at 16:00 (UTC+8) on June 30, 2022, investors who are interested in Delio investment can easily buy and sell DSP on LBank Exchange by then. The listing of DSP token on LBank Exchange will undoubtedly help it further expand its business and draw more attention in the market.

Learn More about DSP Token:

Official Website: https://Delio.global

Telegram(ENG): https://t.me/delio_en

Telegram(KOR): https://t.me/happy_delio

Twitter: https://twitter.com/happydelio

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happydelio

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delio_global/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/delio.global

Medium: https://medium.com/dsp-official

About LBank Exchange

LBank Exchange, founded in 2015, is an innovative global trading platform for various crypto assets. LBank Exchange provides its users with safe crypto trading, specialized financial derivatives, and professional asset management services. It has become one of the most popular and trusted crypto trading platforms with over 7 million users from now more than 210 regions around the world.

Start Trading Now: lbank.info

Community & Social Media:

l Telegram

l Twitter

l Facebook

l LinkedIn

l Instagram

l YouTube

Contact Details:

LBK Blockchain Co. Limited

LBank Exchange

marketing@lbank.info

business@lbank.info

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129325
East Hope has halted production due to a fire at its factory in the Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone, in China's Xinjiang region. pv magazine recently spoke with polysilicon analyst Johannes Bernreuter about the possible consequences of the fire on the supply chain.A fire broke out on June 17 at a polysilicon factory run by Chinese manufacturer East Hope, according to Bernreuter Research. "I don't expect a major disruption because East Hope was already planning for regular maintenance, but a tangible impact was already visible in the polysilicon price increase last week," ...

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.
According to the OECS release on June 12 (CET), Justin Sun led the Grenada delegation to attend the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12). As the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO, Sun spoke during the conference on climate change, food security, SIDS (Small Island Developing States), e-commerce, and other topics.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628006213/en/

H.E. Mr. Justin Sun (Photo: Business Wire)

In the conference, Sun stated that as a small island developing state (SIDS), Grenada relies heavily on a predictable, transparent, and efficient multilateral trading system (MTS) and that in recent years, Grenada has been focusing on developing digital economy and e-commerce through blockchain technologies to support the WTO's Work Programme on E-Commerce.

Justin Sun also called for addressing the current COVID-19 vaccine inequity at the conference. He argued that WTO members must identify an IPR exemption agreement on an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines.

The WTO MC12 was also delayed twice due to the impact of COVID-19, which was seen as the key issue of the conference. The WTO Ministerial Conference is normally convened every two years. Members participate as delegations, which consist of ministers in commerce and trade, agriculture and other departments related to trade, as well as WTO ambassadors.

According to WTO's website, the Geneva Package, as the WTO MC 12 outcomes are being called, resulted in a series of key trade initiatives. The package adopted by WTO members includes Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity; Decision on World Food Programme (WFP) Food Purchases Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions; Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics; Decision on the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); Decision on the E-commerce Moratorium and Work Programme and Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628006213/en/

Contacts:

Name: Jessica ZHANG

E-mail: jessica.zhang01@tron.network
DGAP Post-admission Duties announcement: Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd. / Third country release according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act]

Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd.: Announcement in relation to the Poll Results of 2021 Annual General Meeting, the Class Meetings and other resolutions



29.06.2022 / 08:41

Dissemination of a Post-admission Duties announcement according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 WpHG transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Third country release according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 of the WpHG



Announcement in relation to the Poll Results of 2021 Annual General Meeting, the Class Meetings and other resolutions

Qingdao / Shanghai / Frankfurt / Hongkong, 29 June 2022 - Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (the "Company" or "Haier Smart Home", D-share 690D.DE, A-share 600690.SH, H-share 06690.HK) published a mandatory announcement in accordance with applicable trading rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and applicable PRC laws in relation to:

(1) Poll Results of 2021 Annual General Meeting and the Class Meetings

(2) Change of the Board of Directors

(3) Election of Chairman, Vice Chairman and Members of the Special Committees under the Board and Appointment of President and other Management Positions

(4) Change of the Board of Supervisors

(5) Election of Chairman of the Board of Supervisors

(6) Amendments to the Articles of Association

(7) Payment of Final Dividend

The announcement is fully available at:

https://smart-home.haier.com/en/sm/P020220629466294224599.pdf?appdesc=Announcement%20in%20relation%20to%20the%20Poll%20Results%20of%202021%20Annual%20General%20Meeting,%20the%20Class%20Meetings%20and%20other%20resolutions



IR Contact:

Haier Smart Home Hong Kong

T: +852 2169 0000

Email: ir@haier.hk

Press Contact:

CROSS ALLIANCE communication GmbH

Sara Pinto

pi@crossalliance.de

T: +49 (0) 89 1250903 35

About Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.:

Haier is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household appliances with a focus on smart home solutions and customized production. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. develops, produces and distributes a wide range of household appliances. These include refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, kitchen appliances as well as small household appliances and an extensive range of intelligent household appliances. The Company distributes its products through leading household brands such as Haier, Casarte, Leader, Candy, GE Appliances, AQUA and Fisher & Paykel. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. has launched Smart Home Experiential Cloud, which connects homes, users, enterprises and ecosystem partners, and facilitates the integration of Haier's online, offline and micro-store businesses and supports user interaction to further optimize the user experience.

29.06.2022 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Asset Value Investors ("AVI") calls into question the credibility of Fujitec's current Board of Directors following its failure to hold former President Takakazu Uchiayma to account for decades of related-party transactions and after the debacle at Fujitec's AGM where, despite shareholders not voting for his re-election, Takakazu Uchiayma was allowed to continue leading the Company as Chairman.

AVI has been a shareholder in Fujitec for almost four years, launching a public campaign in May 2020 titled "Taking Fujitec to the Next Level". Since the launch of the campaign, Fujitec has undertaken numerous improvements, including the abolishment of an anti-takeover measure, improved shareholder returns, and efforts to standardise production. These actions have led, at least in part, to Fujitec's +79% share price increase following the launch of AVI's public campaign in May 2020.

However, Fujitec's response to legitimate concerns raised by Oasis Management regarding related-party transactions has fallen short of basic standards of good corporate governance. Despite the Board's efforts to exonerate Mr Uchiyama of any wrongdoing, AVI remains entirely unconvinced that the numerous related-party transactions taken by Mr Uchiyama and his family do not pose a problem for corporate governance. In recognition of Mr Uchiayma's repeated involvement in related-party transactions and abuse of power, AVI voted against his reappointment at Fujitec's 2022 AGM.

Joe Bauernfreund, CEO of AVI, commented: "Fujitec has defied the voice of shareholders and circumnavigated the AGM voting process to appoint former President Takakazu Uchiyama as Chairman. This flies in the face of the efforts by the TSE, the Government and regulators to enhance corporate governance.

"Outside directors who were party to the decision to withdraw the motion to reappoint Mr Uchiyama just one hour before the AGM and to reappoint him as Chairman should feel ashamed. As outside representatives, they are there to safeguard the interests of shareholders. We question whether the actions of the outside directors have been taken in the best interests of shareholders and whether they have the credibility to continue in their current positions."

"As a long-standing shareholder, we have had many fruitful discussions with Fujitec representatives over the past years but we are alarmed by recent developments. Shareholders cannot stand by idly while they are being ignored. We are proactively evaluating our next steps."

ENDS

About AVI

AVI is a London-based investment management company that has been investing in Japanese equities for over 20 years. AVI aims to contribute to the sustainable enhancement of corporate value through dialogue with the management of its portfolio companies.AVI's investments in Japanese equities amount to approximately JPY 78 billion.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628006218/en/

Contacts:

daniel.lee@assetvalueinvestors.com
Move follows acquisition of Spanish Insurance vendor Calculo in 2019 and will enable Sapiens to offer enhanced product offerings across the Iberian Peninsula

MADRID, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sapiens International Corporation, a leading global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, announced today the launch of Sapiens Iberia. This is the next step in Sapiens' footprint in the Iberian market and will enable the offering of Sapiens complete insurance platform, with pre-integrated, low-code solutions and a cloud-first approach that accelerates customers' digital transformation.

Sapiens first entered the Iberian market with the acquisition of Calculo in 2019, a leading vendor of insurance consulting and managed services. Established in 1966 with over 150 insurance experts and 25 insurance company customers in Spain, Calculo's team of experts is one of the largest core insurance system teams in Spain. The acquisition of Calculo enabled Sapiens to expand geographically, grow its customer base, add to a talented team of experts, and offer complementary capabilities and services to their portfolio.

"The launch of Sapiens Iberia sees us widen our global footprint and enables us to offer the core Sapiens expertise and suite of products across Spain and Portugal," said Tal Sharon, Sapiens President of Life & Pension and IPELS Divisions. "We are committed to focusing our efforts on providing the highest quality products and services to our customers and in addition to adding talent, we will continue investing in our insurance solutions to maintain our technological edge."

"The launch of Sapiens Iberia will offer the Iberian market access to Sapiens' innovative technology, global knowledge and extensive resources," said Diogo Moraes Sunyer, Sapiens Iberia. "We're excited for the future and are looking forward to creating new opportunities for employees, customers and prospects. Our solutions will enable the insurance industry in Iberia to become more integrated, agile and adaptive."

Sapiens offers insurers across property and casualty, workers compensation and life markets the most comprehensive set of solutions, from core to complementary, including Reinsurance, Financial & Compliance, Data & Analytics, Digital, and Decision Management. The company has followed a consistent strategy of expanding its global footprint through both organic and non-organic mergers and acquisitions. These strategic partnerships, along with the recruitment of the most talented people, has succinctly enabled Sapiens' to increase market share, enter new markets and increase its business.

About Sapiens

Sapiens International Corporation empowers the financial sector, with a focus on insurance, to transform and become digital, innovative, and agile. Backed by 40 years of industry expertise, Sapiens offers a complete insurance platform, with pre-integrated, low-code solutions and a cloud-first approach that accelerates customers' digital transformation. Serving over 600 customers in 30 countries, Sapiens offers insurers across property and casualty, workers compensation and life markets the most comprehensive set of solutions, from core to complementary, including Reinsurance, Financial & Compliance, Data & Analytics, Digital, and Decision Management. For more information visit www.sapiens.com or follow us on LinkedIn .

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/585787/Sapiens_Logo.jpg

Contact:

For Sapiens

Shay Assaraf

Chief of Marketing, Sapiens

Shay.assaraf@sapiens.com
Berge Bulk, leading the dry bulk market in decarbonisation, will equip its Newcastlemax bulker Berge Olympus with BARTech WindWings by Yara Marine Technologies.

SINGAPORE, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Berge Bulk, BAR Technologies, and Yara Marine Technologies have reached an agreement to install four BARTech WindWings by Yara Marine Technologies (WindWings) onboard the 210 DWT bulk carrier Berge Olympus.

Click to watch the animation.

"This partnership with BAR Tech and Yara Marine is a great step towards our transition to zero-emission operations. Preserving our planet's resources is fundamental to Berge Bulk's sustainability vision and goals," says James Marshall, CEO of Berge Bulk.

"At Berge Bulk, we believe in the results that can be achieved by harnessing wind power. Evaluating this groundbreaking technology, the estimated impact on reducing emissions can be at least as significant as transitional fuels. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with BAR Tech and Yara Marine to install the first WindWings onboard Berge Olympus and for the optimisation needed when deploying such innovative technologies."

This contract strengthens Berge Bulk's commitment to pioneer the shipping industry's decarbonisation journey. They will be an early adopter of wind-assisted propulsion technology, evaluating a pivotal technology to reduce the emissions of its bulker fleet.

"A successful transition to a lower-carbon future can only be achieved through an inclusive approach. I strongly believe that many valuable solutions deserve greater attention, and wind-assisted propulsion is one of them. This collaboration between Berge Bulk, BAR Technologies and Yara Marine skyrockets the momentum for wind propulsion," adds Thomas Koniordos, CEO of Yara Marine Technologies.

"Wind has been the most evident ship propulsion for centuries. We are excited that industry-leading companies like Berge Bulk have the vision and commitment to equip their vessels with wind-assisted propulsion technologies. At Yara Marine, we are delighted to strengthen our partnership with Berge Bulk and proud to enable the large-scale installations for WindWings, bringing back emission-free wind power to shipping."

The large, solid wing sails on board these bulkers will measure up to 50 metres in height and will be capable of reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 30% through a combination of wind propulsion and route optimisation. By doing so, Berge Bulk aims to take a major step in assisting the broader industry in achieving its emission targets for 2050.

"Berge Bulk's decision to invest in our WindWings technology is a clear endorsement of its commitment to moving to decarbonise its vessel fleet and be one of the leaders of sustainable change in shipping," said John Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, BAR Technologies.

"By retrofitting WindWings technology to existing vessels, firms like Berge Bulk can begin to make an immediate impact on decarbonising their fleets while at the same time seeing significant efficiencies in current fuel use. With Berge Bulk joining a pipeline of WindWings installations through 2023, we look forward to working with our partners to make significant inroads into reducing vessel carbon emissions."

BAR Technologies announced in November 2021 an Approval-in-Principle (AiP) by DNV for BARTech WindWings by Yara Marine Technologies. This AiP assures the industry of the practicality and safety of the technology through a comprehensive assessment of the system's design specifications, safety and usability considerations, and general applicability to sea-going vessels. The AiP also examines the deployment and functionality of WindWings in operation, use in extreme weather conditions, and system redundancy.

WindWings will be installed on board Berge Bulk's vessel in the second quarter of 2023.

About Berge Bulk

Berge Bulk is one of the world's leading independent dry bulk owners with an outstanding reputation for the safe, efficient, and sustainable delivery of commodities around the world. Berge Bulk is a young and dynamic company with a strong commitment to innovative growth and development. It has committed to be carbon neutral by 2025 at the latest.

Berge Bulk owns and manages a fleet of over 80 vessels, equating to more than 14 million DWT. The fleet ranges from handy-size to cape-size to some of the largest vessels ever built, serving the world's major miners, steel mills and charterers. For more information, visit www.bergebulk.com.

About BAR Technologies

Originally formed to exploit the wealth of design knowledge, technical skills and resources built up through BAR's involvement in the America's Cup.

BAR Technologies offer a cohesive team of world leading naval architects & engineers, fluid dynamists, composite specialists and control, data and simulation engineers with access to and knowledge of the latest in both commercial and bespoke in-house design tools.

BAR Technologies provides a wide range of design and engineering consultancy services with a focus on 5 key sectors; High Performance and Super Yachts, Leisure Marine, Heavy Marine, Data & Electronics and Renewables.

Further information can be found by visiting www.bartechnologies.uk.

About Yara Marine Technologies

Yara Marine provides technologies to enable a greener maritime industry.

Since 2010, YMT has been a frontrunner in the emissions reduction industry. Today, Yara Marine offers a cutting-edge portfolio of green technologies, such as SOx scrubbers, fuel optimization systems, turnkey shore power solutions, and the advanced wind-assisted propulsion system WindWings.

Yara Marine works with ship-owners, yards, and naval architects as partners to reduce maritime emissions and drive the change towards a greener maritime industry.

Yara Marine Technologies is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with branches in Sweden, Poland, and China.

Further information can be found by visiting www.yaramarine.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850137/Berge_Olympus___WindWings__rev.jpg
The latest round takes total investment to $52 million and will be used to expand internationally and help millions live longer at home

and will be used to expand internationally and help millions live longer at home Birdie's platform helps care agencies improve efficiency across most day-to-day care operations

The care industry is at a breaking point with 1.4m older adults unable to access the care and support they need

LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading home healthcare tech platform Birdie has announced $30m in Series B funding as it aims to radically improve the lives of millions of elderly people. The round, which will be used to accelerate the company's growth in the UK and further its impact in the European market, was led by investment firm Sofina , with OMERS Ventures and follow-on investment from Index Ventures . The news comes as home care reaches crisis point, with half a million waiting for help in England and carers leaving en masse due to loss of pay.

Co-founded in 2017 by Max Parmentier, the B-Corp certified company is on a mission to reinvent home healthcare and empower older generations to age confidently in their own homes. It offers an all-in-one software solution that supports all areas of home care, removing many of the administrative and regulatory burdens placed on care professionals.

Helen, a care professional at Alina Homecare, said, "Previously, we were writing long paragraphs and updates, but now it just takes 5 minutes to complete each visit note on the app. If there is a concern that can't be actioned during the visit, the office will follow up on the client's needs right away. The best part is that throughout all of this, family members have peace of mind that their loved one is being looked after, as they can track the care being received through the family app."

In the last year alone, demand for Birdie's suite of products has increased by 3 fold as care providers came under enormous pressure to run an efficient care operation with staffing constraints. The solution helps manage the entire care process; from scheduling visits, creating care plans, preparing audit reports and invoicing to full-service care management, enabling professionals to deliver care safely and efficiently and decreasing time spent on non-critical admin.

On the investment, Max Parmentier, co-founder and CEO of Birdie, said, "Our vision has always been to create a world where everyone can age with confidence at home. In five years, we have become the operating system for care providers, building the largest home healthcare dataset for the elderly in Europe. With millions of clinical data points collected each month, we plan on deriving personalised and predictive insights to enable a value-based healthcare delivery model. This latest investment, just over one year from the last round, is not only a validation of Birdie's growth trajectory, but also an endorsement for the potential of our social impact."

With a 91% increase in the number of people waiting to receive care across the UK, Birdie is fundamentally transforming the care system, helping care communities identify early points of intervention.

Harold Boel, CEO of Sofina, said, "The home healthcare tech sector seems ripe for an innovative leader like Birdie to catalyse the necessary social change. Aligned with our strategy to back growing and sustainable businesses, we're excited to join them on their mission to enrich the lives of millions of older adults through preventive and personalised care at home."

A SaaS-based solution at its core, Birdie is aiming to become the technology hub that facilitates information sharing with both health practitioners and care communities for delivering personalised, preventative care at home. Birdie's team of over 100 employees currently works with over 700 care businesses, including Alina Homecare, Medacs Healthcare and Care at Home Group, in delivering millions of personalised homecare visits every month. The platform supports 35,000 care recipients and 8,000 family members who now have access to vital information about their loved ones.

"What really sets Birdie apart is the combination of an intuitive product experience coupled with a true partnership approach to digital transformation," added Stephane Kurgan, Venture Partner of Index Ventures. "We continue to be impressed by the team's passion, calibre and commitment to social change and are proud to accompany them on their quest to reinvent care for the better."

Images of the Birdie team and platform can be found here.

About Birdie

Launched in 2017, Birdie is the leading home healthcare tech platform helping the care community deliver personalised care at home. On a mission to reinvent care, Birdie believes the elder generation should have vibrant and happy lives as they age in their own home. Birdie's all-in-one solution supports millions of care visits every month, equipping care providers with the tools they need to deliver better quality care and improve efficiency across most day-to-day operations. The B-Corp certified company was recently named as a top two Home Health Tech provider in the cohort of top 150 Most Innovative Digital Health startups by CB Insight in 2021. Birdie is headquartered in London and employs a team of over 100 employees. See https://www.birdie.care for more information.

About Sofina

Sofina is a Belgian family-controlled investment company, listed on Euronext Brussels and controlled by the descendants of Gustave Boel. Sofina aspires to be the preferred partner of entrepreneurs who lead growing companies by backing them with patient capital and supportive advice. Common vision and strong alignment of interests with its partners are paramount in the deployment of the strategy. Sofina operates in Europe, Asia and the United States in four focus sectors: Consumer & Retail, Education, Digital Transformation and Healthcare. For more information, visit www.sofinagroup.com.

About Index Ventures

Index Ventures is a venture firm investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs from seed to IPO. We partner with founders with bold dreams that challenge the status quo to build enduring companies. With offices in San Francisco & London, we invest in entrepreneurs all over the world. Generational Index-backed companies include Adyen, Datadog, Deliveroo, Discord, Farfetch, Robinhood, and Roblox.

About OMERS Ventures

OMERS is one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension plans, with CAD$121 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2021. OMERS Ventures currently manages CAD$2 billion and contributes to the retirement of more than half a million municipal workers in Canada. OMERS Ventures has made more than 50 investments in disruptive technology companies across North America and Europe, including DuckDuckGo, Deliverect, Hopper, Hootsuite, Wefox and Xanadu. www.omersventures.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1848222/Birdie_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1848223/Birdie_2.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1847486/Birdie_Logo.jpg
With a significant rise in women's consumer spending, businesses across industries are turning toward AI-enabled solutions to better understand female clients, says Frost & Sullivan

SAN ANTONIO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The increasing economic power of women worldwide encourages investors across sectors to adopt a growth strategy that focuses on women as consumers, finds Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Nine Mega Trends Leading the Sheconomy. Women's shift in consumption and spending patterns with the rise in their income will create immense potential for online retail, large-format convenience stores, and doorstep services. Also, global female income is expected to reach $29.3 trillion annually by 2026, up from $23.2 trillion in 2020.

For further information on this analysis, please click here.

"In the next five years, female consumer spending will grow significantly, creating opportunities across sectors. As more women rise in corporate or business, they will need efficient financial services that cater exclusively to their needs," said Vinay Venkatesan, Global Research Manager for TechVision at Frost & Sullivan. "This trend in the Sheconomy will compel industries such as retail, finance, and automotive to deploy artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled services to cater to the unique needs of growing women professionals."

Venkatesan added: "As 80 million more women are expected to join the global labor force by 2030, females on company boards will create a new wave of both corporate and retail consumers. Additionally, organizations need to have women-oriented business models to target them as professionals and customers."

To tap into the female-powered economic growth prospects:

Financial organizations should invest in developing a women-oriented bank that offers financial solutions and client support to help make the right financial decisions.

that offers financial solutions and client support to help make the right financial decisions. Companies need to collaborate with start-ups to design personalized digital health solutions for female health issues, focusing on information, diagnoses, and treatments.

for female health issues, focusing on information, diagnoses, and treatments. Retailers should integrate gender intelligence to create a shopping environment that's more appealing to female consumers.

Nine Mega Trends Leading the Sheconomy is the latest addition to Frost & Sullivan's TechVision research and analyses available through the Frost & Sullivan Leadership Council, which helps organizations identify a continuous flow of growth opportunities to succeed in an unpredictable future.

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion

Contact:

Nicole Ryder

Corporate Communications

E: Nicole.Ryder@frost.com

https://www.frost.com/

Nine Mega Trends Leading the Sheconomy

K71E

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Original-Research: EAMD European AeroMarine Drones AG - von GBC AG

Einstufung von GBC AG zu EAMD European AeroMarine Drones AG

Unternehmen: EAMD European AeroMarine Drones AG

ISIN: DE0006611957



Anlass der Studie: Research Report (Initial Coverage)

Empfehlung: BUY

Kursziel: 80.00 EUR

Kursziel auf Sicht von: 31.12.2023

Letzte Ratinganderung: -

Analyst: Matthias Greiffenberger, Marcel Schaffer



Innovative drone-based close and remote monitoring with efficiency and cost advantages. First order for 5 drones already secured until 2024. First revenues expected in 2023. Speculative investment with high future potential.



In the medium term, the management of EAMD European AeroMarine Drones AG (EAMD) plans to build up a portfolio of high-tech SMEs in the aviation sector with a focus on close and remote surveillance. To develop new prototypes, SMEs often lack access to capital and the distribution strength to sell fleets to large customers. EAMD plans to fund SME prototype development in exchange for pre-sales rights or exclusivity of product distribution.



Currently, the first cooperation exists with Reiner Stemme Aero GmbH (RS.Aero). RS.Aero has two drones in development, which can be used manned and unmanned. As part of their cooperation, a sister company of RS.Aero, Reiner Stemme Red Eagle AG (RS Red Eagle), is to be contributed to EAMD in the near future by way of a capital increase in kind. RS.Aero has two drones in development, the EAMD Whisper, which is expected to reach market maturity in 2023, and a larger model, the Geo-Explorer, which is expected to reach market maturity in 2024. EAMD, through Red Eagle, will receive a pre-sale right to the production of the Whisper and the Geo-Explorer from RS.Aero. For the successful sale, EAMD will receive a sales commission of 15% from RS.Aero.



There is currently no operational development in EAMD, so the balance sheet is very lean with insignificant sales and a low net result. Red Eagle also has a very lean balance sheet and should, in the case of a contribution in kind of around EUR 20 million, create goodwill as well as equity for the most part.



Management assumes a very dynamic development of Whisper and Geo-Explorer sales, with revenues of EUR 3.75 million in 2023, EUR 15 million in 2024, EUR 28.5 million in 2025 and EUR 48.75 million in 2026. With sales figures totaling 5 (2023), 16 (2024), 28 (2025) and 47 (2026). In our opinion, the expected development of the EAMD management is subject to certain uncertainties. Against the backdrop of the still outstanding non-cash capital increase and the high level of planning uncertainty, we have assumed probabilities of occurrence for revenues in the coming years. The probability of occurrence is 100% for the year 2022, followed by 75% for the year 2023 and 50% for the years 2024 and 2025. Thus, in accordance with the probability of occurrence, we plan revenues of EUR 0.00 million for the fiscal year 2022, followed by EUR 2.81 million in 2023 and EUR 7.13 million in 2024 and EUR 14.25 million in 2025.



As there is no production at EAMD, but only sales, very high EBITDA margins can be achieved. We therefore expect EBITDA of EUR -0.5 million in 2022, followed by EUR 1.43 million in 2023 and EUR 4.57 million in 2024, and EUR 9.9 million in 2025.



Based on our DCF model, we have determined a fair enterprise value of EUR 27.06 million. Based on an outstanding number of shares of 0.34 million, this corresponds to a target price of EUR 80.00. The share of EAMD European AeroMarine Drones AG represents a speculative investment and has a very high price potential in case of success. We assign a Buy Rating.

Die vollstandige Analyse konnen Sie hier downloaden:

http://www.more-ir.de/d/24491.pdf



Kontakt fur Ruckfragen

GBC AG

Halderstrae 27

86150 Augsburg

0821 / 241133 0

research@gbc-ag.de

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Offenlegung moglicher Interessenskonflikte nach  85 WpHG und Art. 20 MAR Beim oben analysierten Unternehmen ist folgender moglicher Interessenkonflikt gegeben: (5a,11); Einen Katalog moglicher Interessenkonflikte finden Sie unter: http://www.gbc-ag.de/de/Offenlegung

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Date and time of completion of the study: German Version: 24.06.2022 (11:10 a.m.) English Version: 28.06.2022 (5:30 p.m.) Date and time of the first disclosure of the study: German Version: 27.06.2022 (11:00 a.m.) English Version: 29.06.2022 (9:00 a.m.)

ubermittelt durch die EQS Group AG.

Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung bzw. Research ist alleine der Herausgeber bzw. Ersteller der Studie verantwortlich. Diese Meldung ist keine Anlageberatung oder Aufforderung zum Abschluss bestimmter Borsengeschafte.




Ananda Developments Plc - Completion of Audit

29 June 2022

ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC

("Ananda" or the "Company")

Completion of Audit

Further to the Company's announcement of 10 June 2022, Ananda is pleased to announce that the audit of the Company's results for the year ended 31 January 2022 has now been completed.

There are no material changes between the audited results and the financial information set out in the Company's 10 June 2022 announcement.

Ananda's report and accounts for the year ended 31 January 2022 will be available on the Company's website at https://anandadevelopments.com/publications/.

-Ends-

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC

Chief Executive Officer

Melissa Sturgess



Investor Relations

Jeremy Sturgess-Smith +44 (0)7463 686 497

ir@anandadevelopments.com PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED

Corporate Finance

Mark Anwyl



Corporate Broking

Lucy Williams

Duncan Vasey +44 (0)20 7469 0930

About Ananda Developments

Ananda is an AQSE-listed medical cannabis company creating UK-based operations to grow and provide carbon zero, consistent, medical cannabis for the UK and international markets.

The UK medical cannabis market is predicted to be worth 450m by 2025 and the European market is predicted to be worth USD4.2bn by 2027.

For more information, please visit: https://anandadevelopments.com/ .

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Foremost Lithium Resource & Technology Ltd. (CSE: FAT) (OTCQB: FRRSF) (FSE:F0R0) (WKN: A3DCC8) (www.foremostlithium.com) ("Foremost Lithium", "Foremost" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered in to an agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Strider Resources Ltd. ("Strider") pursuant to which the Company has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the PEG NORTH CLAIMS located in the historic Snow Lake mining district in Manitoba (the "Peg North Claims"). The Peg North Claims consist of 28 claims hosting five known pegmatite dykes, [Cerny, et. al.1981] [1] and captures the northern extension of the Crowduck Bay Fault and surrounding area, known for its lithium-enriched pegmatite dyke clusters. The acquisition pursuant to the Option Agreement will significantly expand the Company's Snow Lake lithium holdings by 16,697 acres (6,757 hectares) to an amalgamated 43,031 acres (17,414 hectares) in the prospective Snow Lake pegmatite fields. The location of the newly acquired Peg North Claims is illustrated in Figure 1 below. In connection with this important acquisition, the Company wishes to take this opportunity to provide a comprehensive update and overview of the status of each of the properties comprising the Company's impressive package of lithium and precious metals assets.

John Gravelle, President & CEO of Foremost Lithium, states: "We now hold and/or have the right to acquire an aggregate of over 43,000 acres, (17,400+ hectares) of what Foremost considers to be tier-one lithium exploration properties in Snow Lake, Manitoba. This substantial increase in hectares will add to Foremost's previously disclosed inventory of 30 high-quality drill targets to explore and develop. The electrification movement is amongst us and the increased demand for lithium will be here for decades to come. This strategic option of the Peg North Claims continues to demonstrate Foremost's commitment to deliver long-term shareholder value."

Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Foremost has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Peg North Claims, subject only to a 2% net smelter return royalty granted to Strider (the "NSR") (the "First Option") in consideration for making aggregate cash payments of $750,000, issuing Strider common shares having an aggregate value of $750,000, and incurring an aggregate of $3,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Peg North Claims on or before the fifth anniversary of the effective date of the Option Agreement. The Common shares will be issued at a deemed price equal to the greater of (a) the average closing price of the Company's shares on the CSE for the last 30 trading days prior to the date such shares are issued; and (b) the minimum price permitted under the policies of the stock exchange.

In connection with signing the Option Agreement, the Company will make the initial option payment to Strider of $100,000 in cash and issue Strider an aggregate of 526,316 common shares at a price of $0.19 per share.

Once the First Option has been fully exercised, the Company may, at any time prior to commencement of commercial production on the Peg North Claims, exercise a second option to acquire one half (1/2) of the NSR (1%) for a cash payment of $1,500,000.

[1] P. Cerny, D.L. Trueman, D.V. Ziehlke, B.E. Goad, and B.J. Paul, "THE CAT LAKE-WINNIPEG RIVER AND THE WESKUSKO LAKE PEGMATITE FIELDS, MANITOBA." Manitoba Department of Energy and Mines, Mineral Resources Division Economic Geology Report ER80-1. 1981





Figure 1 - Foremost Lithium Snow Lake District Claim Map showing the Jean Lake, Zoro, GRC and Peg North Claims assets. Foremost now controls an amalgamated 17,414 hectares (43,031 acres) in the highly prospective Snow Lake pegmatite fields, including the entire northern extension of the Crowduck Bay Fault



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Foremost's initial exploration plans for these claims include a LiDAR survey (to discover never-before-seen outcrops for prospecting), an airborne high-definition magnetic survey, and follow up Mobile Metal Ions soil geochemistry ground proofing of high priority magnetic anomalies. This work will be carried out to define quality drill targets.

John Gravelle, President & CEO of Foremost Lithium, continues: "Foremost's acquisition of the Peg North Claims was a priority due to its excellent exploration potential based on the northeast extension of the Crowduck Bay and related faults that host the Thompson Brothers lithium mineralized pegmatite dykes. The mapped presence of lithium bearing pegmatites east and southeast of the Peg North Claims make this property prospective for lithium bearing pegmatite dykes." Mr. Gravelle further continues: "I'd like to personally express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. Mark Fedikow, Foremost's Vice President of Exploration, and Dan Ziehlke of Strider Resources for their work to complete this transaction."

Technical information contained in this press release, regarding the Peg North Claims, the Zoro Lithium Project, the Jean Lake Lithium and Gold Property, the Grass River Property and the Hidden Lake Lithium Property has been approved by the Company's VP of Exploration, Dr. Mark Fedikow, P.Eng., P. Geo, who is a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Dr. Fedikow holds Honours B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in geology, geophysics and geochemistry from the University of Windsor, Canada, and a Ph.D. in exploration geochemistry from the School of Applied Geology, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

The technical content of this news release regarding The Winston Project has been approved by Dr. Michael Feinstein, CPG, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.





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DESCRIPTION AND STATUS OF FOREMOST'S PROPERTIES

Zoro Lithium Project, Manitoba Canada

The Zoro Lithium Project is located at the east end of the 200 km long and 70 km wide Paleoproterozoic Flin Flon-Snow Lake Greenstone Belt approximately 20 km east of the historic mining town of Snow Lake (Figures 1 and 2). The project consists of 16 claims with a total of 3,603 hectares including the 100%-owned Zoro1 claim, that hosts the primary source of lithium on the property in Dyke 1, and the Green Bay and Manitoba option properties. Foremost holds the rights to 100% of the lithium resources on these properties. Nearby infrastructure includes a power line servicing the town of Snow Lake approximately 5 km south of the property, the Snow Lake airport, and an all-weather gravel road 11 km west of the property, as well as a rail link located at Wekusko Siding, 20 km to the south of Herb Lake Landing which is 30 km south of the property.

Geological Setting1

The Zoro Lithium Project is underlain by ocean floor volcanic rocks of the Roberts Lake allochthon and lesser amounts of Missi Group sedimentary rocks. The Ocean Floor rocks comprise mafic volcanic and related intrusions and the Missi Group consists of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and quartzo-feldspathic gneiss and migmatite. The Ocean Floor mafic volcanic rocks adjacent to the pegmatite dykes consist of a fine to medium-grained strongly foliated dark green lithology. These andesitic to basaltic lithologies are locally interbedded with volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks and all are intruded by a quartz-phyric granite intrusion (Figure 3).

Pegmatite dykes generally strike northwest to north-northwest with steep dips and crosscut the regional foliation at a low angle. The dykes tend to be concentric in internal structure and the grain size of the constituent minerals (potassium feldspar, quartz, spodumene and black tourmaline) coarsens towards the center of the dykes. This pattern may be locally interrupted by patches of saccharoidal albite, large muscovite aggregates and coarse albite stringers with garnet and beryl. Spodumene is concentrated in the cores of the dykes. Some of the dykes have been split into sub-parallel veins by post-emplacement tectonic activity.

Approach to Exploration

Integrated exploration on the project consists of soil and rock geochemical surveys, a drone magnetic survey, prospecting, and mapping all followed-up with diamond drilling. This has led to the discovery of 16 previously unknown spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes and the delineation of multiple lithium targets. To date, 70 drill holes for 9,915 m have been completed on the property.

Source of Lithium

The principal source of lithium on the property is spodumene-bearing Dyke 1 with an inferred resource of 1,074,567 tonnes at 0.91% Li2O, 182 ppm Be, 198 ppm Cs, 51 ppm Ga, 1212 Rb, and 43 ppm Ta at a 0.3 percent Li2O cut-off .1 Please refer to the Company's NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Zoro Lithium Project, Snow Lake, Manitoba" dated effective July 6, 2018, prepared by Dr. Mark Fedikow, P. Geo, and Scott Zelligan P. Geo. Tantalum mineralization has also been intersected in Dyke 1 with an assay of 0.113% Ta2O5 (cf. November 1, 2017 news release). Elsewhere on the property assays of 2.42% to 7.28% Li2O have been documented from spodumene-bearing pegmatite Dyke 5 on the property3 (cf. Green Bay Mining and Exploration Ltd. Corporation File).

Metallurgy

Preliminary metallurgical testing by SGS Canada Inc. of a spodumene concentrate from Dyke 1 indicates that a high-grade (6% Li2O) lithium concentrate can be produced from Dyke 1 mineralization using industry standard methods.2

Recent Exploration

Lithium

In 2022, a ten-hole 1,509-meter drill program was undertaken to test Mobile Metal Ion ("MMI") soil geochemical anomalies and assess the deeper levels of high-grade spodumene pegmatite Dyke 8 discovered in 2018.

The sixteenth spodumene-bearing pegmatite dyke on the Zoro property was discovered during this program. It was intersected by two drill holes (c.f. April 26, 2022, news release). DDH FM22-70 drilled at -50 degrees inclination intersected two pegmatite intercepts totaling 4.9 meters with up to 15% light green spodumene crystal aggregates. A second hole, DDHFM22-70B was drilled at a steeper inclination of -65 degrees to undercut the first pegmatite intersection. This hole intersected a five-meter intercept of the same spodumene mineralized pegmatite as hole FM22-70. The host rock to these pegmatites is a fine-grained foliated basalt. The location of Dyke 16 in relation to all other pegmatite dykes intersected on the Zoro property is illustrated in Figure 4.

Dyke 8

High-grade spodumene pegmatite Dyke 8 was discovered on the Zoro property in 2018 by the drill testing of a Mobile Metal Ions soil geochemical anomaly. Drill hole Far18-35 testing the MMI anomaly intersected 36.5 m of spodumene-bearing pegmatite. Assay results from hole FAR18-35 included three separate intercepts of high-grade lithium including 12.3 m of 1.1% Li2O, 4.4 m of 1.2% Li2O, and 2.2 m of 1.5% Li2O (cf. April 26, 2022, news release).

In 2022, DDHFM22-71 was drilled at -65 degrees to undercut the 2018 pegmatite intersections. A 4.5-meter spodumene-bearing pegmatite was intersected between 70.45 and 75.89 meters before being truncated by a fault. This intercept is 37 meters below the previous 2018 drill intercepted Dyke 8 spodumene mineralization. A further pegmatite was intersected below the fault between 84.4 and 86.65 meters.

To date, Dyke 8 has drill indicated dimensions of 120 m in length, 5-15 m in width and has been drilled to a depth of 157 m (cf. April 26, 2022, news release).

Gold

Numerous intersections of core intersected mineralized zones characterized by disseminated and veinlet arsenopyrite with lesser chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and pyrite. Mineralized sections were intersected in silicified and variably altered dacite and basalt volcanic rocks with or without quartz veins.

Assay Samples

A total of 19 core samples of pegmatite have been collected from drill core. Fourteen samples were collected from pegmatite with visible spodumene, and five samples were collected from pegmatite without visible spodumene. Nine samples were collected from lithologies other than pegmatite. Fifty-seven samples were collected from core mineralized with disseminated and stringer arsenopyrite and lesser pyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite for gold assay.

After logging and photographic recording, all core samples were sawn in half and one half of the core has been shipped to Activation Laboratories (Ancaster, Ontario). Remaining drill core is stored in a secure facility in Snow Lake.

Pegmatite samples will be analysed using UT-7 lithium and related element analysis after total dissolution by sodium pyrophosphate with finish by ICP-MS. Samples for gold assay were undertaken on 30-gram samples with fire assay and finish by Instrumental Neutron Activation.

Results for all samples are pending but will be reported in a news release and on the website once available.

Future Exploration

Exploration on the property is ongoing with prospecting, mapping and geochemical surveys following up on a recently completed (June 2022) drone magnetic survey. The drone survey was completed by EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. Interpreted results from the drone magnetic survey will provide the focus for ongoing exploration. A drone-assisted LiDAR survey is planned for the summer of 2022.

1: Fedikow, M.A.F. and Zelligan, S. 2018. NI 43-101 Technical report on the Zoro Lithium Project, Snow Lake, Manitoba; 188p.

2: Grammatikopoulos, T., Aghamirian, M., Fedikow, M.A.F. and Mayo, T. 2020: Mineralogical characterization and preliminary beneficiation of the Zoro Lithium Project, Manitoba, Canada: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1007/S42461-020-00299-2.

3: Green Bay Mining and Exploration Ltd. Corporation File: 1956: Manitoba Mining Recorder, Corporate and Assessment Files.





Figure 1. Location map for the Zoro Lithium Project.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Figure 2: Regional geology map of the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Greenstone Belt and the location of the Zoro Lithium Project.



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Figure 3. Geological setting of the Zoro Lithium Project with claim boundaries.



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Figure 4. Location of Dyke 16 in relation to previously discovered pegmatite dykes on the Zoro Lithium Project.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Jean Lake Lithium and Gold Property, Manitoba Canada

The five claim, 1002-hectare Jean Lake Lithium and Gold Property is situated in west-central Manitoba, 15 kilometers east of the historic town of Snow Lake. It is hosted by the Early Proterozoic (1.832 Ga) Rex Lake Plutonic Complex which is a circular intrusion 8 km in diameter. The property hosts the historic west-northwest striking Beryl lithium pegmatites rediscovered in August of 2021 in blasted trenches beneath 80 years of organic deadfall and glacial sediment. The 270-degree trending dykes are characterized by coarse grained light green spodumene crystals in a matrix of potassium feldspar, quartz, and muscovite. The host rocks are coarsely porphyritic gabbro. The property also hosts the shear zone-hosted Sparky Gold Occurrence discovered in 1918. The gold mineralization is associated with disseminated and near-solid fracture fillings consisting of fine-grained to blocky arsenopyrite with lesser pyrite and chalcopyrite hosted within sheared and silicified massive basalt and gabbro.

The location of the Beryl Pegmatites ("B1" and "B2") is illustrated on a Jean Lake claim map in Figure 1. B3 is a pegmatite without visible spodumene.

Recent Exploration

Lithium

Five representative rock chip samples of spodumene-bearing mineralization were collected in August, 2021 from blast material in two trenched locations of the Beryl Pegmatites. Two of the samples were apple green, coarse grained spodumene (Far21-1 and -2)) and three samples were from straw-coloured, finer grained spodumene (Far21-3,4 and 5)).

Samples were shipped to Activation Laboratories in Ancaster (Ontario) for analysis, applying the UT-7 method which uses a total dissolution of the sample by sodium peroxide fusion and ICP-MS finish. This analytical approach is the standard analytical technique employed by the Company on its Zoro and Jean Lake lithium projects for the analysis of pegmatite.

Results indicate all samples returned high-grade lithium contents regardless of the textural characteristics of the spodumene (Table 1).

Table 1. Lithium analyses for two styles of spodumene mineralization at the Beryl Pegmatite,

Jean Lake Property, Snow Lake area, Manitoba.

Element Li20% Li2C03%





Beryl Pegmatite B1:



FAR 21L-1 3.89 9.63 FAR 21L-2 5.17 12.78





Beryl Pegmatite B2:



FAR 21L-3 4.74 11.71 FAR 21L-4 4.09 10.11 FAR 21L-5 3.81 9.42

Gold

Fifteen representative rock chip samples from the Sparky Occurrence returned assay results with maximum contents of 20.9 g/t gold (Table 2). All but one sample exceeded 1 g/t gold. Grab samples representative of mineralization exposed in outcrop and in pits were collected from pervasively silicified wall rock containing brecciated and mineralized quartz veins. The deformation observed in the rocks sampled is attributed to faults cutting the eastern portion of the Rex Lake Pluton which is bounded on the east by the crustal scale Crowduck Bay Fault.

Gold assays are determined by fire assay using a 30-gram sample followed by an instrumental neutron activation finish.

Table 2. Summary of gold assay results, Jean Lake Property.

Sample UTM East UTM North Grams Per Ton/ Gold G/T Gold

Datum: NAD83 Zone 14





FAR21G-1 451647 6076201 1.6 1.66 FAR21G-2 451647 6076201 138 ppb 0.138 FAR 21G-3 452451 6076406 20.9 20.9 FAR 21G-4 452451 6076406 8.6 8.66 FAR 21G-5a 452409 6076351 1.9 1.93 FAR 21G-5b 452409 6076351 1.8 1.84 FAR 21G-6a 452377 6076246 11.2 11.2 FAR 21G-6b 452377 6076246 6.4 6.42 FAR 21G-7 452356 6076171 2.0 2 FAR 21G-8a 452417 6076377 7.6 7.63 FAR 21G-8b 452417 6076377 8.6 8.66 FAR 21G-9 452366 6076105 4.0 4.05 FAR 21G-10 452395 6076407 1.3 1.38 FAR 21G-11 452356 6076171 1.0 1 FAR 21G-12 452441 6076396 1.2 1.29

Laboratory contamination was not detected in the analysis of the samples based on the replicate analyses of the method blank. The analysis of both internal standards and International Reference Materials indicates the analyses are accurate and reproducible.

Ongoing exploration consisting of prospecting and geochemical surveys is planned to commence in June, 2022 utilizing the results from recently completed (April, 2022) drone-assisted magnetic surveys. The drone surveys were completed by EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. Drone-assisted LiDAR surveys are planned for the summer of 2022.





Figure 1. Location of the Beryl Pegmatites (B1 and B2). B3 is a barren, non-spodumene-bearing pegmatite that is on trend (270o) with B1 and B2.



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Grass River Claims Property (GRC) Manitoba, Canada

The recently acquired Grass River Claims Property consists of 27 claims totaling 14,873 acres located 30 km east of the historic town of Snow Lake and 6.5 kilometers east of the Company's Zoro Lithium Project. The GRC hosts multiple pegmatites exposed in outcrop and 7 drill-indicated spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes.

The bulk of mineral exploration in the Snow Lake area was undertaken in the late 1950's and was primarily designed to assess the general area for base metal massive sulphide mineralization. Ground geophysical surveys (electromagnetics and magnetics) were the primary tool coupled with boots on the ground prospecting. Many holes were drilled to assess base metal environments. During the drilling of geophysical targets, several spodumene pegmatites were intersected1.

A total of 10 pegmatites are exposed in surface outcrop on the property and together with the 7 drill-indicated spodumene-bearing dykes (Figure 1) will be part of the exploration focus in 2022. Ongoing data interpretation of results from a drone-assisted magnetic survey completed by EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. in June of 2022 will guide follow-up prospecting and geochemical surveys expected to commence in July of 2022. These surveys will be supplemented with a drone-assisted LiDAR survey planned for July 2022. A drill program is planned for later in the year

Results of the magnetic and LIDAR surveys will be released in a news release and on the Company's website when complete.

1: Cancelled Assessment File 90611, Manitoba Mining Recorder, Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development.





Figure 1. Compilation of pegmatites exposed in surface outcrop1 and drill intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatite2 on the Grass River Lithium Property, Snow Lake area, Manitoba.



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Data Sources

1: Bailes, A.H. 1985: Geology of the Saw Lake area, Geological Report GR83-2, 47 pages and Map GR83-2-1.

2: Cancelled Assessment File 90611, Manitoba Mining Recorder, Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development.

The Hidden Lake Lithium Property Northwest Territories, Canada

The Hidden Lake Lithium Property is located 45 km east of Yellowknife, NWT (Figure 1) and consists of 5 contiguous claims, totaling 1,659.29 hectares (Figure 2). The property is just north of Highway 4 (Ingraham Trail) providing excellent access. The exploration target on the property is lithium-bearing spodumene pegmatite dykes which are visible from aerial imagery as elongated white linear features visible through vegetation and soil due to their high reflectance.

Geological Setting

The Hidden Lake Property lies within the southern Archean Slave Craton of the Canadian Shield which is comprised of Mesoarchean gneissic basement covered by the Neoarchean Yellowknife Supergroup supracrustal assemblage. The Yellowknife Supergroup consists of a thick sequence of metavolcanic rock and metasedimentary rock which is dominated by a regionally homogenous sequence of interbedded greywacke-mudstone turbidites of the multiply deformed Burwash Formation east of Yellowknife (Figure 3). This region was subsequently intruded by the Prosperous suite of S-type biotite muscovite leucogranite plutons which are spatially associated with granitic pegmatites.

Granitic Pegmatites

These pegmatites intrude both the surrounding Burwash Formation and the granitic plutons and form the Yellowknife Pegmatite Field. Depending on their proximity to the granite intrusion, the pegmatite complexes commonly show regional zoning in their mineralization and can be rare element bearing. Lithium enrichment occurs in an outer zone typically 2 to 3 kms from the intrusion accompanied by Be, Ta, Nb and Ca enrichment (Sinclair, 1996).

The lithium bearing pegmatites that are targeted for exploration are white to light grey, coarse to very coarse-grained, and comprised of K-feldspar (microcline), plagioclase (albite), quartz, muscovite and spodumene with trace amounts of apatite, biotite, tourmaline, columbite and montebrasite. The dykes consist of long, discontinuous bodies oriented in an NNE-SSW direction (between 010 and 020) and range from 3 to 11 m wide and 300 to 800 m long. The bodies are zoned and spodumene content typically ranges from 10% to 20% by volume, with up to 35% locally within the center of the bodies. Spodumene crystals were green to light greenish grey, up to 60 cm long and were typically oriented parallel to the dyke boundaries along the edges and perpendicular to the boundaries in the center of the dykes (Sinclair, 1996).

Historic Work

Initial prospecting of the Yellowknife district originated when rare-element pegmatites were first discovered in the 1930's, followed by the discovery of lithium-bearing pegmatites in the 1950's. The most significant historic exploration carried out on the property has been undertaken on the D12 pegmatite that was first discovered by the Geological Survey of Canada in1947. It is described as a 1,000 ft. long and 30 ft. wide, spodumene-bearing pegmatite dyke. It has since been subjected to trenching and detailed mapping1. In 1978, Canadian Superior Exploration Ltd. mapped and sampled several spodumene-bearing dykes on and surrounding the current Property, the largest of which was D122. Chip samples collected from the historic trenches at D12 yielded 1.37% to 3.01% Li2O (NWT Geoscience Detailed Showing Report ID 085INW0042).

2016 Exploration

Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd. (Dahrouge) undertook exploration work in 2016 and 2017 on behalf of 92 Resources Corporation3. This work consisted of prospecting, grab sampling, detailed mapping, and channel sampling. Only the results of the 2016 program are relevant to the Hidden Lake Property.

Prospecting in May of 2016 included outcrop examination and the collection of 5 grab samples from the D12 dyke. The samples were sealed in labelled bags and shipped to Activation Labs Ltd. (ActLabs), in Kamloops, B.C., where they were analyzed using the sodium peroxide fusion ICP-OES + ICP-MS Ultratrace 7 package (UT-7). Those samples with a Li value above the detection limit of 10,000 ppm underwent the sodium peroxide fusion ICP-OES lithium ore analysis package (Code 8 Li Ore).

Subsequently a channel sampling program was completed between August 16th and September 7th, 2016. A total of 308 channel samples were collected from 61 channels cut across dykes D12, HL1, HL3 and HL4 Table 1.

Table 1: 2016 channel sampling details.

Pegmatite Length (m) Number Number



of Channels of Samples D12 350 15 85 HL1 690 16 65 HL3 800 15 89 HL4 400 15 69

Results

In 2016 a total of 5 grab samples and 308 channel samples were collected during the two Hidden Lake field programs carried out in 2016. Five grab samples from dyke D12 assayed 1.63 - 3.06% Li2O. Channel sample results were presented as weighted averages for individual channels for each dyke. The thickest section of D12 was 11.58 m wide and returned a weighted average of 1.53% Li2O and included a 9.02 m section of 1.90% Li2O. A channel from the HL1 dyke assayed 1.26% Li2O over 8.72 m and an 8.78 m channel from the HL3 dyke assayed 1.58% Li2O. A 5.78 m channel from HL4 assayed the highest Li2O of 1.71% over 5.78 m. Significant grades of tantalum were recorded with an average of 54 pm Ta2O5 for the four dykes. The maximum value was 402 ppm.

2018 Exploration

Dahrouge also undertook an exploration program in 2018 on behalf of Foremost Resources4. The purpose of the drilling was to test the vertical continuity of spodumene mineralization in the subsurface. This work took place between May 22nd and June 10th, 2018 and consisted of 1079.37 m of core drilled in ten drill holes on pegmatite dykes HL-001 through HL-003 and D-12 (Figure 4). A total of 197 core samples were collected and submitted for assay at SGS Mineral Services Lakefield facility. Intersected pegmatites were typically composed of quartz, plagioclase, feldspar, muscovite, spodumene and accessory minerals consisting of tourmaline and epidote.

Drill hole specific information including core samples collected for assay is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Pegmatite intersection and sample collection summary.

Hole ID Target Easting Northing Overburden Depth (m) EOH Depth (m) Pegmatite Intersection Sum (m) Number of Samples HL18-001 D-12 374935 6936971 0.00 109.00 15.10 34 HL18-002 D-12 375023 6937090 4.23 101.34 10.98 26 HL18-003 D-12 374893 6936899 5.16 108.94 11.12 19 HL18-004 HL-1 373748 6936978 5.25 106.19 7.95 19 HL18-005 HL-1 373361 6937389 6.45 108.82 3.79 16 HL18-006 HL-4 373440 6937524 0.30 108.94 7.72 16 HL18-007 HL-4 373407 6937465 0.10 109.00 5.98 13 HL18-008 HL-4 373361 6937389 0.00 108.94 5.62 12 HL18-009 HL-3 373364 6937097 0.70 109.20 8.68 20 HL18-010 HL-3 373306 6937011 1.05 109.00 8.97 22







Total: 10793.37 m 171.82 m 197

Results

Pegmatites intersected in this drill program were marked by fine to very coarse grained spodumene crystals varying from 7-10 modal percent in dyke HL3 to 15-25% modal percent spodumene crystals in dyke D12.

All spodumene-bearing dykes tested during the 2018 drill program intersected high-grade 1.0-2.0% Li2O over individual widths that varied from 2.0 to 9.2 m or total widths of between 3.79 m and 15.10 m (Table 3; cf. September 10, 2018, news release). The assay results for 2018 drill core confirm the presence of high grade spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes on the property and reflect the historic assay results from 2016 surface channel samples.

Table 3. Summary of assay results, 2018 Hidden Lake drill program.

BHID Li2O (%) Ta (ppm) Cs (ppm) Nb (ppm) Length (m) Dyke D-12: HL18-001 1.5 33.4 40.6 48.7 9.0 Dyke D-12: HL18-002 1.7 34.0 33.2 45.3 5.0 Dyke D-12: HL18-003 1.6 32.4 47.2 44.4 9.2 Dyke HL-1: HL18-004 1.6 24.4 29.0 29.0 7.0 Dyke HL-1: HL18-005 1.2 41.8 33.1 45.8 2.0 Dyke HL-3: HL18-006 1.4 21.5 46.2 25.6 7.0 Dyke HL-3: HL18-007 2.0 43.6 32.9 52.8 5.2 Dyke HL-3: HL18-008 1.3 42.5 40.9 54.6 3.8 Dyke HL-2: HL18-009 1.5 7.8 28.6 12.0 2.0 Dyke HL-2: HL18-010 1.0 15.1 31.4 17.2 7.0

Assay

Pegmatite intersections in the drill core were sawn in half with one half of the sample collected for assay. The samples were shipped to Activation Laboratories (Ancaster, Ontario) digested with a sodium peroxide fusion followed by ICP-OES/MS analysis. Assay results are summarized in Table 3.

Future Exploration

Future exploration is planned to expand the lithium resource at Hidden Lake with additional diamond drilling based on an integrated exploration plan using state-of-the-art drone assisted geophysical surveys and rock and soil geochemical techniques.

1: Mulligan, R. 1975. Geology of Canadian Lithium Deposits. Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Report No. 21

2: Morrison, M. 1978. Report on a trenching programme and geological survey of the LU3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 mineral claims, Yellowknife area. NWT assessment report 080847.

3: Goreham, J. 2018: 2016 and 2017 geological and geochemical exploration on the Hidden Lake property, Yellowknife, N.W.T. report for property owner 92 Resources Corp., 29p.

4: Wood, A. 2018: Summary memo for the 2018 Hidden Lake P1 drill program, Yellowknife area, N.W.T., 12p.

Sinclair, W.D., 1996. Granitic Pegmatites; in Geology of Canadian Mineral Deposit Types, (ed.) O.R. Eckstrand, W.D. Sinclair and R.I Thorpe. Geological Survey of Canada, Geology of Canada. No. 8 p. 503-512.





Figure 1. Location of the Hidden Lake Lithium Property, Yellowknife area, N.W.T.



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Figure 2. Current claim map, Hidden Lake Property, N.W.T.



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Figure 3. Geological setting of the Hidden Lake Lithium Property.



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Figure 4. Summary of drill hole locations and targets, Hidden Lake Lithium Property, N.W.T.



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WINSTON PROPERTY NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES

Dr. Michael Feinstein, CPG, QP, has visited the Winston Project area on ten separate occasions since October 2020. He conducted confirmatory sampling of the known historic mines, as well sampling the prominent structural trends along strike.

All samples were collected under the direct supervision of Dr. Michael Feinstein, and securely transported to the Tucson facility of ALS Laboratories for analysis. Ore characterization samples from these three mines returned peak values of: 66.5 g/t gold with 2,940 g/t silver from Little Granite, 26.8 g/t gold and 940 g/t silver from Ivanhoe, and 44.9 g/t gold and 517 g/t silver from Emporia.

This sampling confirmed the occurrence of high-grade material at all three of the historic mines, but also in several locations away from these areas. Foremost expanded its footprint, increasing the property from 415 acres to 2,980 acres, and increased its mineral rights from 14 to 150 BLM Lode Mining Claims. Previously, no modern exploration efforts have systemically assessed the northern portion of the Chloride District.

Winston Project



*Highest Grade Sample From Each Mine



Mine Au_ppm Ag_ppm Little Granite 66.5 2,940 Ivanhoe 26.8 940 Emporio 44.9 517 Prospecting Best 41.5 4,610

Project Highlights

The project has contiguous landholdings totaling approximately 150 claims covering almost 3,000 acres. Claims are targeted along footprint of mineralization extending for more than 8 km of strike.

Historic drilling in early 1980s suggests potential for high-grade ore shoots within larger mineralized envelopes. The Chloride District saw a rush of miners and prospectors in the 1860s-1890s, a period of renewed mining activity in the 1980s, and has been largely unexplored by modern methods.

Potential for District-Scale discovery in a Precious Metal Endowed Low-Sulphidation Epithermal Vein System.

Ground geological mapping and surveying has utilized high resolution satellite imagery and LiDAR (laser-generated infrared light beams) to construct a detailed digital model of the area. This 3D GIS will be used for all drill targeting and project planning. Special attention will be given to maintaining a high level of vertical accuracy due to the local topography.

Exceptional results from property-wide confirmatory sampling completed in 2021 include:

-Measured width Highlights:

3.35 g/t Au with 245 g/t Ag from a 0.3m channel sample inside the Little Granite Decline.

1.97 g/t Au with 232 g/t Ag from a 0.3m channel sample across JAP vein at LG mine.

29.2 g/t Au with 462 g/t Ag from a 0.6m continuous chip sample in north zone.

3.2 g/t Au with 34 g/t Ag from a 1.0m continuous chip sample in north zone.

0.75 g/t Au with 489 g/t Ag from a 0.3m continuous chip sample in north zone.

-Prospecting Highlights:

Sample 1671079 collected at a prospect pit in recently staked ground returned 41.5 g/t Au with 4,610.0 g/t Ag.

Samples 1671021, 1671024, 1671027 were collected from the same vein trend over 300m of strike

#1671021 returned 20.6 g/t Au with 21.0 g/t Ag.

#1671024 returned 12.3 g/t Au with 381.0 g/t Ag.

#1671027 returned 5.7 g/t Au with 254.0 g/t Ag.

For the 155 samples across the project, gold values range from Below Detection (BD; <0.02 for Au) to a maximum of 66.5ppm, and Silver values range from BD (<0.02 for Ag) to a maximum of 4,610ppm.

Geological Setting of the Winston Project

The Winston Project, situated in the historic Black Range Mining District of southwestern New Mexico, covers 36 square kilometers of the northern portion of the Chloride District. High-grade deposits of silver and gold were discovered in 1880 and the area was a major producer until the 1893 silver price crash. Little production or modern exploration has occurred since.

The mineralization is of the well-documented Low-Sulphidation Epithermal type. Deposits of this style are emplaced throughout the Cordillera of North and South America and elsewhere in similar tectonic settings. This style of mineralization is known world-wide and hosts some of the highest-grade gold/silver mines, such as: Hishikari in Japan, Fruta del Norte in Ecuador and Round Mountain in Nevada.

On the Winston Property, the primary structure is the Paymaster Fault which is readily traced both on the ground and by satellite imagery. Locally, the mineralized veins are generally associated with north-south trending structures. The overall controlling geological feature is known as the Rio Grande Rift, which extends into northern Mexico hosting several past and present silver mines.

Foremost's Winston Project enjoys a close association with volcanic host rocks which formed at a similar time as the mineralization. Individual mines and prospects generally show strong controlling geological structures, typically north-south high angle faulting associated with the Rio Grande Rift (RGR). The RGR is a crustal-scale feature which extends over 1,200 kilometers, from northern Mexico to central Colorado.

Precious metal deposits of note along the RGR include the historic Creede Mining District in southwestern Colorado. The timing of mineralization is within several million years of that on the Winston Project, where alteration minerals have been dated at approximately 26.5 Ma. The Creede District has recorded production of over 84 million ounces of silver. Hecla Mining Corp., a premier US silver producer, is undertaking a major effort in the Creede District to bring a new mining complex online.

Located 100km to the east, The Mogollon District in western New Mexico has produced more than 13 million ounces silver and 270k ounces old. Mineralization is of the same Low-Sulphidation Epithermal Vein Type. Summa Silver is currently exploring the Mogollon Camp.

Little Granite Mine

The Little Granite Mine is a past-producing high-grade silver-gold mine hosted in Tertiary volcanics. The main vein has been traced for over 200 meters by past drilling and underground workings and remains open along strike to both the north and south, and at depth. Historically reported high-grade values were confirmed in limited re-sampling by Foremost in late 2020. Historic drill reports suggest the primary vein widens to more than 4m (12ft) true width, at depth.

Ivanhoe - Emporia Mines

The Ivanhoe - Emporia is a past producing gold-silver mine. Its main shaft was sunk to 384 feet depth with a 370 ft. decline and multiple working levels. There is potential for large tonnage of lower grade, stockwork veins surrounding high grade veins mined in the past. The strike continuation needs to be explored as favorable structural conditions persist along the bends and jobs of the Paymaster Fault.

Conclusion

Foremost is committed to commence a drill program in 2022 on multiple targets on the property. Past preparatory work for drilling has included data compilation both of historic and recent work, along with acquisition of high-resolution LiDAR data to allow construction of an accurate terrane model. This property had little to no modern exploration since the early 1980s and with such high-grade samples returned, the Company is keen to see the full potential from the Winston Gold/Silver Project.

There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. The potential quantities and associated grades have not been defined by drilling, but historic production in the district reflects the potential scope of orebodies which may be encountered. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the delineation of a mineral resource.

QA/QC Statement-

166 samples have been processed by ALS Laboratories' ("ALS") for Precious Metals and Multi-Elements. All Foremost's (previously FAR Resources) rock sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC") protocol which includes the insertion of blind standard reference materials at regular intervals. Samples were maintained by Dr. Feinstein and securely transported to ALS sample preparation facilities in Tucson, Arizona and Reno, Nevada. Sample pulps were sent to ALS's labs in Vancouver, Canada, for analysis.

All samples were of hard rock and prepared by fine crushing to 70% passing <2mm, riffle split, and then pulverization to 80% passing < 75 um (ALS Method Prep-31). Gold content was determined by fire assay of a 50-gram charge with ICP finish (ALS method Au-GRA22). Silver and 47 other elements were analyzed by ICP methods with four-acid digestion (ALS method ME-MS61). Over-limit samples for Ag, and Cu were determined by ore-grade analyses Ag-OG62, Cu-OG62, respectively.

ALS Laboratories is independent of Foremost and its Vancouver facility is ISO-17025 accredited. ALS also performed its own internal QA/QC procedures to assure the accuracy and integrity of results. Parameters for ALS' internal and Foremost's external blind quality control samples were acceptable for the samples analyzed. Foremost is not aware of any sampling, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

QP Statement-

Michael Feinstein, PhD, CPG, is the Qualified Person (Q.P.) responsible for the technical material contained in this document. All samples are collected and maintained in accordance with established QA/QC protocols. Samples were analyzed by Fire Assay and ICP-MS. Internal laboratory QA/QC protocols were followed and 5% external standards are submitted with all sample batches. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed by Dr. Michael Feinstein, CPG, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Foremost Lithium

Foremost Lithium is a resource exploration company committed to having a critical role in the production of high-quality battery-grade lithium hydroxide to fuel the electric vehicle and battery storage market. Given the importance and global focus on increasing energy decarbonization, especially when it comes to vehicles, the Company is hyper-focused in continued exploration and growth on its five lithium projects in Manitoba being Jean Lake, Grass River, Zoro, Jol and the Peg North Claims, and its Hidden Lake lithium project in the Northwest Territories. Foremost Lithium also has an interest in the Winston Gold/Silver Project in New Mexico, USA.

For Further Information Please Contact:

John Gravelle, President and CEO

info@foremostlithium.com

Foremost Lithium Resource &Technology

1 604 330-8067

Follow us and contact us on social media:

Twitter: @foremostlithium

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foremost-lithium-resource-technology/mycompany

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForemostLithium

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on management's best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, statements with respect to the changes to management of the Company, for closing of the proposed acquisition, future acquisition and dispositions of mining and exploration interests, furure financing needs and activities, the plans for future exploration and development of the Company's properties Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ""expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts" , "anticipates" "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the receipt of all necessary approvals for the proposed acquisition, completion of the Company's recently announced financing, risks related to the Company's exploration properties; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions, actual results of current exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of commodities including lithium and gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining consumables, possible variations in reserves; 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; delays in the completion of exploration, development or construction activities, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in jurisdictions in which the Company operates. Although the Company 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. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. Please refer to the Company's most recent filings under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting the Company and its business.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129383
TALLINN, Estonia, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Coinmetro, a fast-growing European-based digital currency exchange, has released the newest version of its mobile application, aiming to reduce the barrier to entry and attract crypto novices with an even more intuitive design and new features.

The new Coinmetro Mobile App 5.0 version has been in development for over a year and is an effort to offer the best environment and tools for all the crypto needs of beginners and pros as well. The release features native app functionalities bringing more convenience and ease of use in 4 main sections: Dashboard, Market, Wallet, and Swap.

A redesigned dashboard now includes an upgraded sentiment widget, which allows users to track market dynamics and understand the amount of hype or fear surrounding a specific cryptocurrency without leaving the app and spending time on research. Verified users can see market sentiment of all listed assets with the Top 5 displayed in the dashboard to help them make informed decisions.

The feature aimed specifically at making crypto investing effortless for newcomers is the native Swap tab. Coinmetro users can buy and sell close to 50 cryptocurrencies with just one click, at a fixed rate and with no trading fee.

Kevin Murcko, founder and CEO of Coinmetro, said:

"As we always have, we are continuing to put our clients first and at the center of everything we do at Coinmetro. Regardless of the current market sentiment, we will keep providing the best experience to our loyal client base as well as the growing amount of incoming new users. While many crypto exchanges are laying off their staff and cutting expenses, we are actively hiring and laying the foundation for the next bull run. Despite the fear, crypto adoption will inevitably grow, with many more 'mobile natives' entering the space. By creating simple, transparent, and safe tools we ensure that the new generation of crypto users has unfettered access to the exciting world of modern finance."

The Mobile App 5.0 is just one of many developments the company has introduced since the beginning of 2022. Earlier this year, Coinmetro underwent a rebranding, changing its visual identity as well as refining its mission and values. In Q3 2022 the company plans to release the new version of its copy trading platform, which has seen great demand from Coinmetro's community and beyond.

For more information, please visit coinmetro.com .

About Coinmetro:

Founded in 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia by Kevin Murcko (Founder & CEO), Coinmetro is on a mission to ensure everyone, everywhere has safe access to life-changing opportunities. Boasting a fourfold YOY increase in the number of users in 2021 vs 2020, the company is one of Europe's fastest growing regulated cryptocurrency exchanges. Coinmetro's user-centered ecosystem offers a variety of simple, transparent tools for crypto investment, trading, and passive income.

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Paris, France and Brasov, Romania - June 29, 2022 - Atos today announced it has been awarded a 1.2 million euros contract by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) to install and configure mission critical cybersecurity capabilities and systems at 22 NATO sites.



Atos, number 1 worldwide managed security services provider , with a strong focus on resilience and mission critical assets, has also an extensive experience in supporting clients in the defense sector . The Group will put its expertise at the service of NATO to maintain the alliance's ability to defend and protect its critical infrastructure.

Atos has a strong track record of collaborating with NATO NCI Agency, providing professional engineering services for design, deployment, and configuration of cyber secured mission critical infrastructure, in various projects covering the wide span of international NATO sites.

This new contract covers the upgrade of two key cybersecurity systems of the NATO resilience strategy: the Network Intrusion Protection/Detection System (NIPS) and Full Packet Capture (FPC) system. During this project, Atos will replace NIPS and FPC capabilities across the wider NATO footprint.

These two systems work together to enable the NATO Cyber Security Centre, which is part of the NCI Agency, to monitor NATO's networks for threats and flag important cybersecurity issues. The NIPS uses pattern recognition to alert the Agency to unusual traffic on NATO's networks, whilst FPC continuously records all network activity and is a primary source of information in support of incident response activities.

"As the cyber threat landscape continues to intensify with a myriad of new digital threats, Atos is pleased to support NATO in updating its cybersecurity technologies to ensure the best line of defense, ultimately protecting the interests of the intergovernmental military alliance" said Cyril Dujardin,SVP, Head of Digital Security and Deputy Head of Big Data & Security, Atos.

"This refresh represents a significant step forwards in maintaining our ability to defend and protect NATO's networks. Experts will start deployment at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in September, and then break off into three parallel teams to execute an aggressive timeframe of deployment in October," said Miles Knight, Principal Project Manager at the NCI Agency.

The aim of this project is to complete the deployments no later than the first quarter of 2023.

More about Atos cybersecurity solutions: https://atos.net/en/solutions/cyber-security

***

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 Atos is 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

Lucie Duchateau - lucie.duchateau@atos.net - +33 (0) 7 62 85 35 10





Attachment
Cites credibility, robust corporate governance practices and strong executive leadership

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and PUNE, India, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

News Summary

Persistent Systems (BSE: PERSISTENT) (NSE: PERSISTENT) has been acknowledged as an 'Honored Company', one of the seven such companies across Asia (ex-Japan) by highly regarded sell-side analysts in the '2022 Asia Executive Team - Small and Mid-Cap' rankings (ex-Japan) for the Technology IT Services and Software industry. The Company received this recognition owing to more than one published position in the rankings that includes, first rank in the Investor Relations (IR) Team category and third rank for its Investor Relations Program. Additionally, Sandeep Kalra, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Persistent ranked second among CEOs and Saurabh Dwivedi, Head - Investor Relations of Persistent ranked first in the IR Professional category.

Institutional Investor Magazine, a leading international publication for the investment community surveyed over 4,800 investment professionals to determine the winners of Institutional Investor's 2022 Asia (ex-Japan) Executive Team.

These ratings are an endorsement of Persistent's IR program from sell-side analysts based on several factors including roadshows/conferences/meetings, IR Team authority and credibility, accessibility of senior executives, responsiveness, earnings calls, business and market knowledge, timeliness of disclosure and consistency & granularity of disclosure.

Sandeep Kalra, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Persistent:

"Advancing our stakeholder engagement and communication with our shareholders and the investor community has been a priority for Persistent, right alongside our focus on clients, employees, partners, and communities. Our strong performance across various categories is a testament to our robust IR practices that we continually work to improve on and enhance. We would like to thank Institutional Investor and the IR community for their confidence in us to not only deliver industry-leading performance, but to also drive consistent and quality engagement with them."

Sunil Sapre, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Persistent:

"I would like to thank the investor community who participated in this process and chose to vote for the Persistent team, which has worked hard to transform the Company's investor relations for the past two years. This recognition is a confirmation of our strong IR personnel and framework, and we will continue to strive to achieve the highest standards of governance in our approach. As always, we look forward to engaging with the analyst community, credibly communicating Persistent's goals and performance as we evolve our business strategy and operations."

About Persistent

With over 18,500 employees located in 19 countries, Persistent Systems (BSE & NSE: PERSISTENT) is a global services and solutions company delivering Digital Engineering and Enterprise Modernization. Persistent was named to the Forbes Asia Best Under a Billion 2021 list, representing consistent top-and bottom-line performance as well as growth.

www.persistent.com

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

For risks and uncertainties relating to forward-looking statements, please visit persistent.com/FLCS

Media Contacts:

Keith Landis

Persistent Systems (Global)

+1 856 672 1753

keith_landis@persistent.com

Manohar Dhanakshirur

Archetype

+91 750 644 5361

manohar.dhanakshirur@archetype.co

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Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Under its new corporate entity, Big Village unites adtech, media, insights, and creative under one roof to solve the industry's biggest pain points and advance advertising forward for a new era

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ENGINE, a global advertising, technology, and data company, announced its new corporate brand name, Big Village (www.big-village.com) in the US, Europe, and Australia on June 17th. It did so on a mission to eliminate siloed ways of past industry thinking and as the industry model for what it means to be an integrated solutions company. Under its new name, Big Village operates as a global advertising, technology, and data company that unites its full range of services, including adtech, media, insights, and creative experts, together under one roof to effectively solve some of the industry's biggest challenges, and advance advertising and marketing forward.

Led by Kasha Cacy as Global CEO, Big Village comprises 450 employees globally, and growing; and is proud to be a team that brings together divergent perspectives that are interwoven throughout the team's process to unlock unexpected opportunities for clients.

Big Village brands and services include:

EMX by Big Village: built on advertising technology, the company's leading end-to-end programmatic technology group, EMX is a premier SSP, data platform and media trading desk;

Cassandra by Big Village: a collection of evolving Millennial, Gen Z and Gen Alpha research, uncovering and dissecting emerging trends, generational insights, and youth behavior;

Media experts trained to break down adtech silos by combining attitudinal consumer insights, audience targeting, media activation and robust measurement to make media investments go further;

A global market research business uncovering not just the 'what' but the 'why' behind customer behavior, unlocking better data and insights that inform better business decisions;

A modern creative shop that positions brands to be lifted by their audiences with contextually crafted work in social, digital, and traditional channels.

"When we take a look at what marketing organizations are dealing with today, it's become so complex; campaigns can no longer exist in silos," says Kasha Cacy, Global CEO, Big Village. "We are on a mission to rise to the challenge and solve the problems others have not been able to: providing true transparency in the programmatic marketplace, scaling niche audiences that are not neatly defined by behavioral data, and deeply integrating data and insights into the creative and media processes, to name a few."

The rebrand does not include ENGINE Group UK, owner of ad agency ENGINE Creative, acquired by Next 15 earlier this year. However, EMX does have employees that work in the UK.

Big Village is currently working on a number of big initiatives globally and prides itself on finding unconventional ways to solve big problems for its clients. For instance, in recent work with a prominent tourism group, Big Village encouraged its client to think about the marketing strategy not in terms of what it wanted to embody, but who it wanted to target to effectively reach new customers in the wake of the pandemic. Over the past two years, and ongoing, Big Village has helped this client increase tourism significantly.

A great example of how Big Village experts work together to solve big problems is the Ad Council "It's Up To You" COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative. The Ad Council partnered with Big Village to improve the quality of the audience they were targeting and better differentiate the vaccine hesitant from other groups, as well as activate that message across the most effective media channels. Leveraging unique targeting solutions, including Digital Audiences (insights) and EMX Data Connected Marketplace, Big Village seamlessly targeted and activated audiences across EMX's media supply.

Big Village is also committed to partnering with outside technology solution companies to expand and further develop its offerings. EMX, by Big Village, partnered with Audigent, the leading data activation, curation, and identity company, to expand the first-party data capabilities of its Data Connected Marketplace. As a preferred SSP of Audigent's SmartPMP product, EMX provides greater audience lift, targeting, scale, and delivery.

About Big Village

Big Village is a global advertising, technology, and data company. Driven by our diverse group of experts, we provide a new way of working by bringing programmatic solutions, media, insights, and creative all under one roof. Big Village is headquartered in New York and has 12 offices across North America, Europe, and Australia. Find out more at big-village.com.

Media Contact

Laura Czaja, Director, Corporate Communications

Big Village

Laura.Czaja@big-village.com
Elderly craftswoman in south Chinas Hainan creates vivid patterns on Li brocade that tell colorful stories

People's Daily Online) 14:53, June 29, 2022

Without having to design the patterns beforehand, Fu Jinhua, an elderly woman of the Li ethnic group in south Chinas Hainan Province, is able to turn threads into a work of art with lifelike patterns that can tell a story.

Inscribed on the first batch of Chinas national intangible cultural heritage list, the Li brocade epitomizes the countrys earliest textile practices. The threads in the background are mostly black and colorful threads are woven between layers of the background material to create vivid patterns.

Fu Jinhua, an elderly craftswoman, works on a piece of Li brocade. It usually takes two months for her to finish one piece of Li brocade. (Chinanews.com/Luo Yunfei)

Fu, who is nearly 80 years old, has been invited to showcase the Li brocade weaving techniques to people visiting an intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall, which is located in a scenic area in Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Hainan.

People who have watched Fu make Li brocade products were all impressed by the lifelike patterns she had created on the artworks with her exquisite skills.

Fu Jinhua shows a section of a piece of Li brocade she has completed. (Chinanews.com/Luo Yunfei)

I didnt draw a blueprint beforehand, but wove the piece step by step, said Fu, who pointed at her head with her finger to indicate that she kept all the design patterns in her mind.

Because she knows no written Chinese and speaks broken Mandarin, when Fus clients wanted to have Chinese characters woven onto the Li brocade products they ordered, Fu would often ask other people to print the specific characters and then looked at the reference pictures when she made Li brocade products.

Fu is a good craftswoman because she can create personalized products that tell stories, said Chen Guodong, deputy general manager of the scenic area where Fu works. Chen added that although the Li brocade products made by Fu are expensive and the clients will always have to wait for some time before they finally get the products they order, the Li brocade products made by her are still very popular among the customers.

Pictures of Chinese characters are provided for Fu Jinhua when she makes Li brocade products, as the elderly craftswoman of the Li ethnic group knows nothing about written Chinese. (Chinanews.com/Wang Xiaobin)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Triggers of migraine attacks are clinically significant because of their potential role in determining when and why attacks occur in individual patients.

At study registration, participants were asked to list their suspected, self-reported triggers. After 90 days of recording daily exposure to their suspected triggers, it was found that in over two thirds of participants even the most commonly suspected triggers were not statistically associated with their attacks.

For this reason, daily recording of trigger exposure followed by statistical analysis of association with attacks is critical in accurately determining an individual's potential triggers and premonitory symptoms.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Curelator Inc. today announced new data from an observational longitudinal cohort study of 328 individuals with migraine who, between October 2014 and June 2017, registered to track their headaches prospectively using the N1-Headache application. For 90 days, N1-Headache users entered daily data about headache symptoms, as well as potential triggers and premonitory symptoms that may be associated with attack risk.

In these individuals, the average number of triggers moderately or highly suspected was 28 per individual, selected from a list of up to 38 possible triggers. Of these, only an average of 2.2 triggers per individual were associated with increased risk of attacks in statistical models. In fact, the most commonly suspected triggers (sleep quality, stress, tiredness/fatigue, sleep duration, dehydration, neck pain, missed meals, eyestrain, barometric pressure and anxiety) were statistically associated in less than 33% of individuals suspecting them, except for neck pain (associated in 39%).

In conclusion, people with migraine believe that many triggers may contribute to their attacks, but very few of these triggers demonstrate a statistical association to attack occurrence at the individual level. Behavioral strategies together with improved personal knowledge of potential triggers and premonitory symptoms may help individuals with migraine mitigate the risk of new attacks.

This figure shows the percentage of individuals in whom a self-reported trigger showed a statistically significant association to attacks occurrence, for the most commonly self-reported triggers (ordered from highest rated belief -sleep quality- to lowest -anxiety). Neck pain was the self-reported trigger with the highest proportion of statistical associations with attacks (38.7%), 117 of 302 individuals).

Amparo Casanova MD, PhD, lead author of the research paper, Vice President of Clinical Statistics, Curelator Inc. commented: "The findings of our study challenge the recommendation often given to people with migraine of "avoiding all known triggers". We should first clarify whether a trigger is indeed a trigger for that person, starting by confirming a statistical association, and then consider behavioral experiments to explore causality."

Paul R. Martin PhD, senior author of the study, School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia and Department of Psychiatry, Southern Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia also commented: "I believe that using a clinically validated app to collect and analyze prospective data about daily factors that precede migraine attacks is an important first step in improving an individual's understanding of their disorder, specifically why attacks occur when they do."

Individualized digital data capture and analytics were enabled by Curelator's N1-Headache, a digital platform that combines a simple smartphone data entry process with personalized N=1 analytics. After 90 days of data entry, the application generates Individual Trigger Map, Protector Map and No Association Map for each user incorporated within a Personal Analytical Report. The information featured in the Personal Report enables patients and their clinicians to generate individual, high resolution phenotypic profiles to manage risk factors and monitor medication use.

Reference

Casanova, A, Vives-Mestres, M, Donoghue, S, Mian, A, Martin, PR. An observational study of self-reported migraine triggers and prospective evaluation of the relationships with occurrence of attacks enabled by a smartphone application (App). Headache. 2022; 00: 1- 10. doi:10.1111/head.14328

About Curelator

Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2013, Curelator is a data-driven digital health company focused on developing clinical grade, personalized disease management tools for patients and clinicians. Since its inception, Curelator has published dozens of papers and abstracts in major headache and migraine journals and conferences, and it has enrolled thousands of patients on clinical studies through its N1-Headache platform.

About N1-Headache

N1-Headache is a unique patient engagement platform that delivers personalized, disease management tools for people with a history of migraine or medication overuse, allowing them to understand their migraine attack patterns in an individualized manner. This personalized information enables patients and their healthcare providers to manage individual migraine risk factors, assess therapeutic response to drugs and identify opportunities to prevent medication overuse.

Contact for additional information:

Curelator

Magdalena Kurtz

Marketing & Communications

mkurtz@curelator.com

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Advanced Jurid 847 LL brake block helps reduce noise, lower lifecycle cost and improve operating security

Union of Railways (UIC) homologated new product on display at Tenneco's InnoTrans Braking stand

SKOKIE, Ill., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tenneco will showcase its new Jurid 847 LL brake block for customers in the rail freight industry at the 2022 InnoTrans in Berlin, Germany (September 20 - 23, stand 430 / Hall 1.2). The Jurid 847 has been homologated by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and represents Tenneco's second generation of LL blocks for Europe. Optimized to reduce the rate of wheel wear and likelihood of costly wheel damage, the advanced Jurid 847 LL brake block helps reduce total Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and helps improve operational security of freight wagons. In addition to the new Jurid 847, the company will exhibit a selection of its broad portfolio of friction products for rail customers at the show.

Jurid 847 has been specifically developed to satisfy increasing demands to reduce noise emission caused by railway traffic. It uses an optimized contact surface shape, advanced friction material manufacturing techniques, and is expected to sustain the high thermal loads seen on Alpine routes, enabling usage across a broad range of rail tracks and with no limitations for s-classification wagons. The product formulation was derived from Tenneco's UIC-certified organic brake block products which are known to improve in-service wheel life.

In addition to in-house simulation and dynamometer development, the new Jurid 847 LL brake block was extensively evaluated during the UIC in-service tests as part of the homologation process.

"Our advanced Jurid 847 LL brake block provides Tenneco customers with a valuable competitive advantage as rail wheels are the costliest freight wagon service component, so the extension of their operation life cycle has a significant effect on vehicle total LCC," explains Maik Schlauss, Sales and Marketing Director, Rail & Industry, for Tenneco's OE Braking business. "Meeting the required homologation levels validates Jurid 847 as a robust evolution of our portfolio and confirms the Jurid brand's reputation for developing leading friction solutions for the rail freight industry."

Strict new freight noise legislation is being phased in throughout Europe, with non-compliant freight wagons expected to be refused entry to certain countries or routes. The new Jurid 847 LL brake block fulfils the requirements of the UIC for 2xBg and 2xBgu wagons and is fully exchangeable with cast iron blocks P10 and/or the first-generation LL blocks. It provides operators with cost benefits through improved wagon LCC and reduced noise emissions which comply with the latest European standards.

Visit www.tenneco.com/Braking to learn more.

About Tenneco

Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) is one of the world's leading designers, manufacturers and marketers of automotive products for original equipment and aftermarket customers, with full year 2021 revenues of $18 billion and approximately 71,000 team members working at more than 260 sites worldwide. Through our four business groups, Motorparts, Performance Solutions, Clean Air and Powertrain, Tenneco is driving advancements in global mobility by delivering technology solutions for diversified global markets, including light vehicle, commercial truck, off-highway, industrial, motorsport and the aftermarket.

Visit www.tenneco.com to learn more.

Safe Harbor

This release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to our plans to offer products and advance new technology to improve operations, reduce costs and meet changing regulatory requirements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those described in the forward-looking statements, including the possibility that Tenneco may not progress or execute on projects to advance new technology or meet changing operational or regulatory requirements; the possibility that Tenneco may not achieve efficiencies in new products; as well as the risk factors and cautionary statements included in Tenneco's periodic and current reports (Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K) filed from time to time with the SEC. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Unless otherwise indicated, the forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date of this communication, and, except as required by law, Tenneco does not undertake any obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to publicly disclose revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements. Additional information regarding these risk factors and uncertainties is detailed from time to time in the company's SEC filings, including but not limited to its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.



In addition, please see Tenneco's press release issued on February 23, 2022 for factors that could cause Tenneco's future performance to vary from the expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements herein.

CONTACTS:

Simonetta Esposito Stefan Zech Senior Manager, Sr. Manager, Global Communications External Communications Tenneco Inc. Tenneco Inc. +32 471 440 268 +49 172 697 3473 Sesposito@tenneco.com stefan.zech@tenneco.com

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Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Copper Fox Metals Inc. (TSXV: CUU) (OTCQX: CPFXF) ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") and its owned subsidiary, Desert Fox Copper Inc. ("Desert Fox"), are pleased to announce results of the high resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey on its 100% owned Sombrero Butte copper project.

Sombrero Butte is a Laramide age, exploration stage, porphyry copper project located in the historic Bunker Hill Mining District, approximately three kilometers ("kms") south of the Copper Creek porphyry copper deposit. Historical production from the project is reported to have occurred between 1903 and 1920 from mineralized breccia pipes at the north end of the property with reports of "low-grade ore assaying 3-5% copper and higher-grade mineralization from along open cuts and tunnels assaying 20-33% copper."

The airborne survey mapped the geophysical characteristics related to the distribution and concentrations of magnetic minerals and radioactive elements to provide a geophysical/geochemical framework to compliment the lithology, structure, and alteration data for the project. The principal task of the 3D susceptibility modelling of the magnetics data was to identify new areas of potential copper and gold mineralization. The highlights of the survey and the 3D modelling are set out below:

Highlights:

Two K/Th anomalies associated with a positive magnetic susceptibility body located in the footwall of an interpreted west dipping normal fault system have been identified.

These K/Th anomalies exhibit coincident:

N30W trending zones of copper (>500 parts per million ("ppm") and molybdenum (>20ppm) mineralization.

Mineralized breccia pipes.

Previously identified chargeability anomalies.

The K/Th anomaly at the north end of the property crosses the property boundary to the north.

On a regional scale, the geological features of the property hosting the Copper Creek porphyry copper deposit are interpreted to extend to the southeast onto the Sombrero Butte project.

The survey identified several interpreted west dipping interpreted normal faults underlying the central and eastern portion of the property. The centrally located normal fault appears to be the main control on the location of the interpreted porphyry system.

Elmer B. Stewart, President, and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "The spatial correlation of the copper-molybdenum mineralization, chargeability and K/Th anomalies, alteration zoning, mineralized breccia pipes to the magnetic susceptibility body suggests a buried porphyry system located to the east of a N30W trending, west dipping normal fault. The 2022 airborne survey increases our geological understanding and confidence in the porphyry potential of the property. Compilation of all exploration data from the project is underway; the results of which will be used to determine next steps to advance the project."

Geological Model:

The Sombrero Butte project exhibits a central core of Laramide age Copper Creek granodiorite intruding early Laramide age Glory Hole Volcanics and PreCambrian age Pinal Schist. The west and east sides of the property are underlain by the younger Miocene age Galiuro Volcanics. The Glory Hole Volcanics and Copper Creek granodiorite have been intruded by late-stage dikes of varying composition including gray porphyry and a significant number of mineralized breccia pipes possibly related to the underlying Copper Creek granodiorite and interpreted porphyry system. On the west side of the property, a N30W trending Range Front Fault brings the Copper Creek granodiorite and the Pinal Schist in contact with the Galiuro Volcanics.

Figure-1: Generalized geology map of the Sombrero Butte project within interpreted cross-section.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2177/129363_dfbf75ea5405d996_001full.jpg

Magnetic Vectoring Inversion:

Magnetic Vector Inversion has identified a large, positive magnetic susceptibility anomaly measuring approximately 3kms by 1.5kms in the central portion of the property. This magnetic susceptibility body crosses the contacts of the Copper Creek granodiorite, Glory Hole Volcanics and the Galiuro Volcanics. Magnetite destruction within the Glory Hole Volcanics to a maximum depth of +/- 400m below surface is evidenced by an irregular magnetic susceptibility pattern, the N30W trending magnetic lows and mapping completed within this area.

Figure-2: 3D model of magnetic susceptibility body with locations of chargeability anomalies and breccia pipes.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2177/129363_dfbf75ea5405d996_002full.jpg

Radiometric Survey:

Rocks affected by potassic alteration associated with porphyry copper systems can be detected using airborne radiometric surveys. The survey identified two, positive K/Th anomalies within the Glory Hole Volcanics that exhibit a strong correlation to the magnetic susceptibility body. These anomalies exhibit a variable K/Th pattern consistent with the potassic/phyllic alteration mapped in outcrop and are coincident with previously outlined positive chargeability anomalies. These anomalies are interpreted to represent potassium enrichment possibly associated with a buried porphyry system.

The first K/Th anomaly is located within the large positive magnetic susceptibility body; and exhibits a near surface, strong chargeability signature, mineralized breccia pipes, and copper-molybdenum mineralization associated with potassic and phyllic alteration. The interpreted plunge of the chargeability anomaly and position of the positive magnetic susceptibility are consistent.

The second K/Th anomaly is located on the northwest flank of the positive magnetic susceptibility body; exhibits a deep, positive chargeability signature, mineralized breccia pipes associated with a Laramide age gray porphyry plug and copper-molybdenum mineralization. This anomaly crosses the project boundary to the north.

Copper-Molybdenum Mineralization:

The coincident K/Th and chargeability anomalies are characterized by large areas of copper-molybdenum mineralization. In the northern portion of the property, previous sampling has outlined an area containing copper-molybdenum mineralization measuring approximately 750m by 750m associated with mineralized breccia pipes and quartz-copper-molybdenum veinlets in outcrop. In the central portion of the property, previous sampling has outlined an area with coincident copper mineralization over an area measuring approximately 2,200m long by 500m wide within which molybdenum mineralization over an area measuring approximately 1,400m long by 500m wide. A threshold of 500 ppm copper and 20 ppm for molybdenum were used to outline the mineralized areas. Using a 200ppm copper and 10 ppm molybdenum threshold, significantly expands the dimensions of both areas.

Mineralized Breccia Pipes:

Mineralized breccia pipes are generally interpreted as an indicator of a buried porphyry system. The breccia pipes within the property occur within a N30W trend and exhibit a strong spatial association to the positive magnetic susceptibility body identified by the Magnetic Inversion. These breccia pipes were the subject of the historical mining activities within the property.

In the center of the property, mineralized breccia pipes and breccias characterized by dickite; a clay mineral indicative of advanced argillic alteration occurs in the Copper Creek granodiorite and the overlying Glory Hole Volcanics. Advanced argillic alteration occurs in other porphyry copper deposits in Arizona.

Structure:

The survey identified a strong N30W structural fabric underlying the project and two additional N30W trending regional scale faults possibly related to the Range Front Fault located on the west side of the property.

Airborne Survey Specifications:

The Sombrero Butte survey block (222-line kms) was flown by Precision GeoSurveys Inc., located in Langley British Columbia using an Airbus AS350 helicopter at 100m line spacing at a heading of 090/270. Survey lines were flown at an elevation approximating 33m above ground surface. Tie lines were flown at 1000m spacing at a heading of 000/180. A Hemisphere R330 GPS and a Novatel GPS integrated with the AGIS navigation system provide accurate position control.

A Scintrex CS-3 Survey Magnetometer was used to collect magnetic data and a Nuvia Dynamics Advanced Gamma Ray Spectrometer was used to collect radiometric data. Changes in the Earth's magnetic field over time were measured and recorded by two stationary GEM GSM-19T proton precession magnetometers.

Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President, and CEO of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.

About Copper Fox:

Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. The principal assets of Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc., are the 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia and the 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. For more information on Copper Fox's other mineral properties and investments visit the Company's website at copperfoxmetals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Elmer B. Stewart

President and Chief Executive Officer

For additional information contact:

Lynn Ball (844) 484-2820 or (403) 264-2820, investor@copperfoxmetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information is identifiable by use of the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "anticipates," "intends," "budgets," "could," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts", "projects" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding; a positive magnetic susceptibility body; two K/Th anomalies; a N30W structural trend underlying the project; coincident N30W trending zones of copper and molybdenum; previously identified chargeability signatures, correlation of the mineralized breccias to N30W trending structures; identification of several new faults and other structures.

In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; and the reliability of historical reports. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the interpreted magnetic susceptibility body may not represent a buried felsic intrusive; the dimensions and shape of the mineralized areas may not be as estimated; the surface mineralization may not represent buried porphyry style mineralization; uncertainties relating to interpretation of the outcrop sampling results; the geology, continuity and concentration of the mineralization; the financial markets and the overall economy may deteriorate; the need to obtain additional financing and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.

A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events, or developments, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129363
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) ("Calibre" or the "Company") is pleased to provide this update to the ongoing 35,000-metre drilling program at its 100% owned Gold Rock project located in the Battle Mountain - Eureka gold trend, Nevada. The Federally permitted project is located within a prospective 78 km2 land package with numerous high-priority targets open for discovery and resource expansion.

Highlight Results from the Ongoing Multi-Rig Drill Program

North Pit Zone

2.01 g/t Au over 45.7 m in hole GR21-002; 0.99 g/t Au over 18.3 m in hole GR21-001;

1.45 g/t Au over 38.1 m in hole GR21-008; 1.75 g/t Au over 19.8 m in hole GR22-037; and

1.74 g/t Au over 35.7 m in hole GCM21-001; 0.71 g/t Au over 16.8 m in hole GR22-038.



Central Zone

2.94 g/t Au over 18.0 m in hole GCM21-002; 0.64 g/t Au over 35.1 m in hole GR21-027;

1.26 g/t Au over 35.1 m in hole GR22-031, 2.19 g/t Au over 44.2 m in hole GR21-021;

1.53 g/t Au over 18.3 m in hole GR22-001; 1.64 g/t Au over 19.8 m in hole GR22-024; and

1.00 g/t Au over 24.4 m in hole GR22-025; 0.90 g/t Au over 18.3 m in hole GR22-030;

South Pit Zone

3.10 g/t Au over 18.3 m in hole GR22-005; 3.36 g/t Au over 22.9 m in hole GR22-007; and

1.40 g/t Au over 27.4 m in hole GR21-025; 1.61 g/t Au over 35.1 m in hole GR21-029.

Darren Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calibre, stated: "It is exciting to see continued high grade intercepts over significant widths across the primary project areas, in addition to significant potential across the 16.5 km mineralized trend. Drill results from 2021 and to date 2022 have intercepted grades higher than the reported indicated mineral resource average grade of 0.66 g/t gold. Encouraging metallurgical results demonstrate the mineralization is amenable to heap leaching with favorable recoveries and leach cycles. We continue to advance infill drilling and technical studies to support permit applications in the near term and enable reserve declaration at the end of 2022. Gold Rock was not included in our recently released multi-year outlook of forecast gold production (see news release dated June 22, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/news/calibre-mining-provides-multi-year-grade-driven-in-4391/))."

Technical Study Highlights



Calibre recently completed a comprehensive metallurgical characterization and testing program of 15 PQ core holes, key results include:

The Joanna limestone formation is the primary Carlin-style gold mineralization host;

Joanna oxide material crushed to 80% minus  inch produced a minimum column leach recovery of 86% with Joanna decarbonitized material producing 96% recoveries;

Test results demonstrate fast leaching with a projected commercial primary leach cycle of 30 days;

The oxide material percolates well and has high rock strength requiring no agglomeration;

Cyanide consumption is projected to be low at 1 pound/ton and lime to be 3 pounds/ton;

Based on the data, a process facility consisting of standard open circuit three stage crushing, heap leaching and gold recovery in a typical ADR plant is under design;

Geotechnical drilling is complete for this phase of the project;

Permit level design of the heap leach pad and associated ponds is nearing completion; and

Calibre expects Mineral Reserves to be included in a year end 2022 technical report.



Gold Rock is a federally approved project and technical work is ongoing in support of state permitting which is anticipated to take between 12-18 months which is expected to commence in Q3 2022.

Link 1 - Figures (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7093/2022-06-29_gold_rock_drill_results_figures.pdf)

Link 2 - Drilling Tables (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7093/drill_hole_table_gold_rock_exploration_update.pdf)

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Calibre Mining maintains a Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") program for all its exploration projects using industry best practices. Key elements of the QA/QC program include the insertion of assay standards, blanks, and duplicates in the sample stream to ensure the assay lab results are within specified performance levels. Down hole deviation surveys are provided by International Directional Services, utilizing a surface recording gyroscope, and by trained drill crews operating a north seeking gyroscope supplied by REFLEX. RC drilling was performed by Boart Longyear of Salt Lake City, Utah and Alford Drilling from Elko, Nevada. Assays were performed by ALS, Reno where fire assays were determined on a 30-gram charge with an AAS finish. An additional cyanide leach assay was also completed. ALS carries ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was approved by David Schonfeldt P.Geo, Calibre Mining's Corporate Chief Geologist and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Darren Hall"

Darren Hall, President & Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Ryan King

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & IR

Calibre Mining Corp.

T: 604.628.1010

E: calibre@calibremining.com (mailto:calibre@calibremining.com)

W: www.calibremining.com (http://www.calibremining.com)

About Calibre Mining Corp.

Calibre is a Canadian-listed, Americas focused, growing mid-tier gold producer with a strong pipeline of development and exploration opportunities across Nevada and Washington in the USA, and Nicaragua. Calibre is focused on delivering sustainable value for shareholders, local communities and all stakeholders through responsible operations and a disciplined approach to growth. With a strong balance sheet, no debt, a proven management team, strong operating cash flow, accretive development projects and district-scale exploration opportunities Calibre will unlock significant value.

Notes

All holes were drilled at angles of -50 to -90 degrees at azimuths designed to intersect targeted structures as nearly as possible to perpendicular. Consequently, most intercepts reported here are believed to be approximately true width. Some holes deviated along limbs of folds and consequently do not represent 'true widths'. The Company conducts a significant QA/QC program which includes the insertion of assay standards, blanks, and duplicates in the sample stream to ensure the assay lab results are within specified performance levels. Down hole deviation surveys are provided by International Directional Services, utilizing a surface recording gyroscope, and by trained drill crews operating a north seeking gyroscope supplied by REFLEX.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are identified by words such as "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule", "forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur Forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Calibre's control. For a listing of risk factors applicable to the Company, please refer to Calibre's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021, available on www.sedar.com. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Calibre's forward-looking statements.

Calibre's forward-looking statements are based on the applicable assumptions and factors management considers reasonable as of the date hereof, based on the information available to management at such time. Calibre does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
Historic production averaging up to 19 g/t Au Equivalent, Recent sampling returned up to 116 g/t Au Equivalent, Includes one of the highest-grade underground mines in Peru's history



VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Element79 Gold Corp. (CSE:ELEM)(OTC PINK:ELMGF)(FSE:7YS) ("Element79 Gold", the "Company") announces that pursuant to the definitive share purchase agreement dated June 19, 2022 (the "Agreement"), it has closed the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Calipuy Resources Inc. ("Calipuy") from the shareholders of Calipuy (the "Calipuy Shareholders"). Calipuy, through its subsidiaries, holds 100% interest in two past producing gold-silver mines: the Lucero mine ("Lucero"), one of the highest-grade underground mines in Peru's history(1) at grades averaging 19.0 g/t Au Equivalent ("Au Eq") (14.0 g/t gold and 373 g/t silver),(1,2) as well as the Machacala Project ("Machacala" and, together with Lucero, the "Properties") which averaged production grades of 10.5 g/t Au Eq (6.0 g/t gold and 340 g/t silver).(3) Operations were suspended in 2005 at Lucero and 1991 at Machacala due to the persistence of low gold and silver prices at the time. Element79 Gold has previously disclosed the terms of the Agreement (see news release dated June 20, 2022, available on SEDAR).

Highlights of the High-Grade Peruvian Gold Portfolio :

Recent samples at Lucero returned up to 116.8 g/t Au Eq (78.7g/t Au and 2,856 g/t Ag) (9) ; Consistent with historic high grade production of 19.0 g/t Au Eq (14.0 g/t Au and 373 g/t Ag) between 1998 and 2004 (2) ; Recent historic prospecting indicates potential for additional bulk-tonnage high-sulphidation gold-silver deposit

; Consistent with historic high grade production of 19.0 g/t Au Eq (14.0 g/t Au and 373 g/t Ag) between 1998 and 2004 ; Recent historic prospecting indicates potential for additional bulk-tonnage high-sulphidation gold-silver deposit Most recent drilling at Machacala returned up to 15.7 g/t Au Eq (13.55 g/t AU and 164 g/t Ag) over 3.15m in the drill hole Ma-04 on the Fragua vein(10); 230,000 tonnes of historical production averaging 10.5 g/t Au Eq (6.0 g/t Au and 340 g/t Ag) from 1979 to 1991(3);

"The closing of the Calipuy transaction delivers high-grade assets, potentially capable of operating in the near-term, to Element79 Gold's growing portfolio, offering an expedited route toward cash-flow generation through these significant production-stage properties," commented James Tworek, President and CEO of the Company. "With the on-site team being assembled and planning is underway for both sites, Element79 Gold's focus is to accelerate the timeline to operations at these properties by expanding on current datasets and exploration at each asset."

Peru has a mining-friendly legislation that allows up to 350 tpd production while larger scale production permitting is underway. Element79 Gold has previously stated that it intends to pursue the opportunities aggressively (see news releases dated March 10, 2022, March 17, 2022, and June 20, 2022, available on SEDAR).

Lucero Project

Formerly operated as the Shila mine from 1989 to 2005, Lucero consists of 10,805 hectares located in the Shila range of southern Peru, which contains several historic high grade gold-silver mines.(1) Lucero consistently delivered high grades during 16 years of operations, and between 1998 and 2004 reported production averaging approximately 18,800 ounces of gold and 435,000 ounces of silver per year at grades of 19.0 g/t Au Eq (14.0 g/t Au and 373 g/t Ag),(2) with recoveries at the ore processing facility averaging 94.5% for gold and 85.5% for silver.(1)

A recent NI 43-101 technical report on Lucero has been prepared for Calipuy by Mining Plus. Samples collected by the technical report's Qualified Person (the "QP") returned up to 116.8 g/t Au Eq (78.7g/t Au and 2,856 g/t Ag)(9). Due to a lack of historical data, the project does not host any resources. However, access to the historic workings is available, and the QP states Lucero is underexplored and has significant exploration potential for extension of known veins, and to discover additional veins.(9)

Lucero is one of many low-sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag deposits hosted in tertiary volcanics of the Central Andes Cordillera of southern Peru. The project hosts 74 recognized epithermal veins, 14 of which have been partially exploited. High grade 'bonanza-style' direct shipping ore was mined in the past from low-to-intermediate-sulphidation quartz-carbonate massive sulphide veins. Prospecting by previous operator Condor Resources Inc. from 2012 to 2020 identified the high-sulphidation epithermal alteration zone with structures that returned peak sample values of 80.1 g/t Au Eq (33.4 g/t Au and 3,500 g/t Ag)(11). This alteration zone, measuring approximately 1,300 metres by 1,400 metres, exhibited no evidence of prior sampling or drilling and is believed to host potential for a bulk tonnage disseminated gold-silver deposit.(1)

"Lucero offers a rare opportunity to explore for not only an underground high-grade low sulphidation system but potentially an open pit-able high sulphidation system as well," stated Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P.Geo, Director of Element79 Gold "This project has never experienced modern exploration techniques and I am very confident that significant gold-silver resources are to be found."

A 0.5% Net Smelter Returns royalty is retained by Sandstorm Gold Ltd., one of the largest gold royalty companies in the world.(2)

Figure. 1 Location Map of the Lucero and Machacala Projects.

Machacala Project

Machacala consists of over 4,000 hectares located in the District of Carabamba, Province of Julcan, Department of La Libertad. In 2004, Gold Hawk Resources, Inc. ("Gold Hawk") estimated a total inferred resource of 420,000 Au Eq ounces hosted within 1,560,000 tonnes, which equates to a gold equivalent grade of 8.4g/t, however individual gold and silver grades were not reported.(4) This historic estimate is the most recent historic resource estimate relevant to Machacala. In additional Machacala also includes approximately 200,000 tonnes of tailings, which have historically been estimated in 2004 to grade 1.26 g/t gold and 74 g/t silver(6). This historical tailings estimate is historic in nature, and non-43-101 compliant. Historical metallurgical studies by Gold Hawk show 87% recoveries of gold and 50%+ recovery of silver in 24 hours of leaching un-milled tailings, with re-milling able to increase recoveries to 90% of gold and 73% of silver in 24 hours of leaching.(7). A qualified person has not conducted sufficient work on either the historical Gold Hawk or Tailings estimates required to categorize these resources to the CIM definition of a current mineral resources, which may include the preparation of a new NI 43-101 Technical Report. Element79 Gold is not treating these historic estimates as current mineral resources and a qualified person has not reviewed the work to define the quality of work associated with this historic estimate. While these historical estimates are considered to be relevant to future exploration of the Machacala property they should not be relied upon and there can be no assurance that any of the historical resources, in whole or in part, will ever become economically viable.

Machacala was first commercially mined in the 1950s before being acquired and operated by Minera Santa Isabel, S.A. from 1979 to 1991 which mined 230,000 metric tonnes averaging 10.5 g/t Au Eq (6.0 g/t Au and 340 g/t Ag) representing 78,000 Au Eq ounces.(4) Operations were suspended in 1991 due to the persistence of a low gold ($360/oz) and silver ($3.81/oz) price. Neighboring concessions include those owned by Fortescue Metals Group (ASX Listed) and by Fresnillo Peru S.A.C., a subsidiary of Fresnillo plc (LSE Listed).(3,5)

The project was most recently explored by Gold Hawk and Meridian Gold between 1997 and 2004, with a total of 8,500m in 45 core and RC drill holes completed. Highlights of this drilling include 11.6 g/t Au Eq (11.32 g/t Au and 23.6 g/t Ag) over 3.7m in the Casa Fuerza vein, and 15.7 g/t Au Eq over 3.15 m (13.55 g/t Au and 164 g/t Ag) in the Fragua vein10). Machacala hosts multiple low-sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag veins, of which only four have been only modestly exploited.(5)

A 1.5% Net Smelter Returns royalty is retained by previous owners of the property.

"Machacala possesses significant historical data, as well as 8,500 meters of recent drilling, which we hope will assist in the definition of NI 43-101 compliant resources," commented Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P.Geo, Director of Element79 Gold. "The project is also at a low elevation and has excellent infrastructure which will facilitate returning the project to production."

Terms of the Acquisition

Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding securities of Calipuy from the Calipuy Shareholders (the "Acquisition"). As consideration for the Acquisition, the Company paid USD$15 million by the issuance, on a pro rata basis to the Calipuy Shareholders, of (i) an aggregate of 19,165,484 common shares of the Company at deemed issue price of CAD$1.00 per share (the "Consideration Shares") and (ii) performance bonus warrants to acquire an aggregate of 3,833,085 common shares of the Company (the "PerformanceBonus Warrants").

Each Performance Bonus Warrant is exercisable into one common share of the Company at an exercise price of CAD$2.00 per share for a period of three years from Exercise Eligibility Date (as defined herein), subject to achievement of the Bonus Performance Target (as defined herein), the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "Exchange") and the terms of warrant certificates to be issued to the Calipuy Shareholders in respect thereof. The Company may accelerate expiry of the Performance Bonus Warrants if the common shares of the Company have a closing price greater than CAD$3.50 per share for a period of ten consecutive trading days on the Exchange at any time after the closing of the Acquisition (the "Closing"). The holders of the Performance Bonus Warrants will not have the right to exercise the Performance Bonus Warrants until projects carried out on the Properties have cumulatively reached a minimum production target of 9,000 tons of ore yielding a minimum of 1,500 oz Au within a 30-day production period (the "Bonus PerformanceTarget") and the Company provides notice of achievement of the Bonus Performance Target via news release (the "Exercise EligibilityDate").

All issuances of Consideration Shares were paid in CAD denominated shares at the agreed exchange rate of CAD$1.2777 to USD$1.00. An aggregate of 12,971,503 Consideration Shares and 2,594,298 Performance Bonus Warrants are subject to a lock-up agreement, whereby 50% will be released from lock-up 6 months from Closing and the remaining 50% will be released 12 months from Closing. The balance of the Consideration Shares and Performance Bonus Warrants, other than those held by U.S. persons, are not subject to any resale restrictions under applicable securities laws.

The Acquisition is a related party transaction pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Shareholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Antonios Maragakis, who is the CEO and a director of Calipuy, is also a director and the COO of the Company. Shane Williams, who was a director of Calipuy immediately prior to the Closing, was recently elected as a director of the Company at its Annual General Meeting on June 22, 2022 (together, the "Related Parties"). Each of the Related Parties have disclosed their interest in the Acquisition to the board of directors of each of the Company and Calipuy, and abstained from voting on approval of the Agreement, the Acquisition and the Closing. Prior to Closing, neither of the Related Parties held any common shares of the Company, and following Closing their beneficial direct and indirect shareholdings increased to 97,688 common shares and 292,509 common shares, respectively. The Acquisition, the Agreement and the Closing were reviewed and considered by the disinterested members of the board of directors of the Company with each of the Related Parties recusing themselves from discussions relating to the same, and the disinterested members of the board unanimously approved entry into the Agreement and completion of the Acquisition on the terms of the Agreement. The Company believes that the Acquisition provides an opportunity to advance the Properties and deliver value to Element79 shareholders. A special committee was not formed for the purpose of reviewing the Acquisition and an independent valuation was not obtained in connection with the Acquisition. On Closing, each of the Related Parties terminated any and all compensation agreements they had with Calipuy and waived any entitlement to severance or change of control payments by Calipuy that would have otherwise been triggered as a result of the Acquisition. In connection with the Acquisition, the Company relied on (i) the exemption at paragraph 5.5(b) of MI 61-101 from the valuation requirements since the Company is not listed on any of the markets specified therein; and (ii) the exemption at paragraph 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 from the minority approval requirements as the fair market value of the 97,688 Consideration Shares and 19,537 Performance Bonus Warrants issued to Mr. Maragakis, and the 292,509 Consideration Shares and 58,501 Performance Bonus Warrants issued to a company controlled by Mr. Williams, on Closing is less than 25% of the market capitalization of the Company.

All Au Equivalent calculations were performed using $1,650/oz gold, and $22/oz silver in line with the Company's Maverick Springs 43-101 resource estimate (see news release January 31st, 2022, available on SEDAR).

Qualified Person

The technical information in this release has been reviewed and verified by Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P. Geo., Director of Element79 Gold and a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Element79 Gold

Element79 Gold is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mining properties for gold and associated metals. Element79 Gold has acquired its flagship Maverick Springs Project located in the well-known gold mining district of northeastern Nevada, USA, between the Elko and White Pine Counties, where it has recently completed a technical report, pit-constrained mineral resource estimate reflecting an Inferred resource of 3.71 million ounces of gold equivalent* "AuEq" at a grade of 0.92 g/t AuEq (0.34 g/t Au and 43.4 g/t Ag)) with an effective date of Feb. 4, 2022. The acquisition of the Maverick Springs Project also included a portfolio of 15 properties along the Battle Mountain trend in Nevada, which the Company is analyzing for further merit of exploration, along with the potential for sale or spin-out. In British Columbia, Element79 Gold has executed a Letter of Intent to acquire a private company which holds the option to 100% interest of the Snowbird High-Grade Gold Project, which consists of 10 mineral claims located in Central British Columbia, approximately 20km west of Fort St. James. In Peru, Element79 Gold holds 100% interest in the past producing Lucero Mine, one of the highest-grade underground mines to be commercially mined in Peru's history, as well as the past producing Machacala Mine, subject to the royalties and encumbrances detailed in the Agreement. The Company also has an option to acquire 100% interest in the Dale Property which consists of 90 unpatented mining claims located approximately 100 km southwest of Timmins, Ontario, Canada in the Timmins Mining Division, Dale Township. For more information about the Company, please visit www.element79.gold or www.element79gold.com

Contact Information

For corporate matters, please contact:

James C. Tworek, Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: jt@element79gold.com

For investor relations inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations Department

Phone: +1 (604) 200-3608

E-mail: investors@element79gold.com

Technical Disclaimer

This news release and related maps contain information about adjacent properties and properties with similar characteristics on which the Company has no right to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties or properties that share similar characteristics are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties. Readers are also cautioned that this news release contains historical technical information which is based on prior data prepared by previous property owners. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to confirm such information; significant data compilation, re-drilling, re-sampling and data verification may be required to do so.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" under applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance, business prospects or opportunities that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management made in light of management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the Company's business strategy; future planning processes; exploration activities; the timing and result of exploration activities; capital projects and exploration activities and the possible results thereof; acquisition opportunities; and the impact of acquisitions, if any, on the Company. Assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Consequently, forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. As such, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, assumptions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "target", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements".

Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the duration and effects of the coronavirus and COVID-19; risks related to the integration of acquisitions; actual results of exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; commodity prices; variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; actual performance of plant, equipment or processes relative to specifications and expectations; accidents; labour relations; relations with local communities; changes in national or local governments; changes in applicable legislation or application thereof; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; exchange rate fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; government regulation; environmental risks; reclamation expenses; outcomes of pending litigation; limitations on insurance coverage as well as those factors discussed in the Company's other public disclosure documents, available on www.sedar.com. Although the Company 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. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

Sources

Element 79 Gold makes no warranty as to the completeness, accuracy, verifiability, or suitableness of any of the information contained on the following third-party links and expressly undertakes no obligation to update the following links.

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20220308020414/https://condorresources.com/portfolio/lucero/

2. https://web.archive.org/web/20220308020532/https://www.sandstormgold.com/our-royalties/lucero/

3. https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/Gold_Hawk_Buys_Machala_Project

4. Gold Hawk Resources Inc News Release, 2004-04-26

5. https://web.archive.org/web/20220308020657/https://www.affinitygold.com/machacala-highlights

6. Gold Hawk Resources Inc News Release, 2004-06-28

7. Affinity Gold Corp. Corporate Presentation March 2013

8. https://web.archive.org/web/20220308020649/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1397970/000118374013000409/f8k08162013ex99-2.htm

9. Draft NI 43-101 technical Report, Lucero Property, Arequipa Region, Peru, prepared by Esteban Manrique Zuniga of Mining Plus with and effective date of September 4th 2021. Prepared for Calipuy Resources Inc.

10. Gold Hawk Resources Inc. News Release, 2000-09-19

11. Condor Resources Inc. December 6, 2012 news release https://condorresources.com/news/archive/2012/condor-acquires-former-producing-gold-silver-concessions-near-arequipa-in-southern-peru/

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Element79 Gold Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706904/Element79-Gold-Completes-Acquisition-of-High-Grade-Peruvian-Gold-Portfolio
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Payrow , a new British fintech that provides banking services for entrepreneurs and flexible workers, announces banking services support for businesses with complex ownership structures. Leveraging its strong market experience, Payrow is now ready to onboard businesses with complex ownership structures in the United Kingdom. With a team of experts specialising in dealing with such businesses and strong KYC processes, Payrow can efficiently upload the required number of beneficiaries during business registration and easily offer all the necessary banking services from day one.

Complex ownership structures are often found within companies with different overseas departments or companies linked together by a chain of ownership. These companies will often have several layers of corporate officers, shareholders and PSCs (Persons of Significant Control), which makes identifying the owners fairly difficult.

Here is an example of a complex ownership structure:

This lack of transparency deters many traditional and challenger banks from offering banking services to businesses with complex ownership structures, as even basic services like opening a bank account require long waiting times and paperwork. If a bank does agree to work with a complex structure company, opening a bank account will often mean long waiting, submitting a lot of paperwork and potentially experiencing service problems.

Dinu Popa, Head of Compliance and MLRO at Payrow comments: "Business needs in our markets are constantly changing and at Payrow we are perfectly equipped to support complex ownership structures. With our new service, these businesses don't have to jump through so many hoops and gather endless paperwork trails. We have a strong compliance team and unparalleled experience when it comes to offering banking services to businesses of all sizes, which puts us in the best position to onboard these complex ownership businesses faster and in a more comprehensive manner than anyone else."

About Payrow

Payrow is a British fintech providing a business banking service tailored to the fast-growing number of entrepreneurs, consultants, remote workers and freelance specialists. The platform offers a wide range of financial services and a convenient, reliable and affordable ecosystem for its users. Payrow allows you to manage payments with a high level of security, create invoices, and process taxes. Payrow uniquely optimised financial flows provide support at every stage of the business cycle.

Contact Information: Anna Erkh aerkh@payrow.com +995559026485

SOURCE: Payrow

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706914/British-Fintech-Payrow-Launches-Banking-Services-for-Businesses-with-Complex-Ownership-Structures
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rose for a fourth straight session on Wednesday despite concerns about a looming recession and renewed international efforts to revive a nuclear deal with Iran. Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 0.4 percent to $114.24 per barrel, while WTI crude futures for August settlement were up half a percent at $112.33. Both contracts rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday after China relaxed some COVID-19 quarantine requirements for international travelers and the G7 leaders agreed to explore ways to cap the price of Russian oil. Supply risks kept prices high after a report suggested that major producers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are unable to raise output significantly in the near future to meet recovering demand. OPEC and OPEC+, which includes allies such as Russia, begin a series of two-day meetings today to discuss supply. The group is expected to maintain current goals of hiking output by 648 thousand bpd in July and August. Meanwhile, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed gasoline and distillates stocks rose while crude inventories fell for the week ending June 24. Official crude stocks data from the U.S. government will be released later in the day. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Domino's Pizza Group Plc (DOM.L) said on Wednesday that its Chief Executive Officer Dominic Paul has decided to step down with effect from December to take up the role of Chief Executive of Whitbread Plc. The company also said that it has started a hunt for a suitable candidate to succeed Paul, who is now serving six-month notice period. In addition, for the fiscal 2022, the fast food firm said it still expects its underlying EBITDA and EPS to be in line with current market expectations. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insight Partners published latest research study on Green Building Materials Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Material (Earthen Materials, Insulated Concrete Forms, Steel, Composites, Fiber Cement, Others); End-User (Residential, Commercial). Green building materials are non-toxic, which are cost effective and help conserve energy. The green building materials have a low operating cost compared to regular materials. Green building materials are rapidly growing due to their increasing application in residential, commercial, and industrial construction. Factors such as increasing focus and demand for reduced energy consumption materials in buildings and a rise in infrastructure development are major driving factors anticipating the green building materials market. Further supportive legislative supports the market growth.

Green building materials demand is increasing for residential construction with the increase in global population, and on-going regulations emphasising energy-efficient structures have created lucrative demand for environment-friendly and energy conserving materials application in construction. Indian government has provided initiatives like Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) to promote green construction using green building materials. Increasing disposable income and growing population will also influence the demand for the green building materials.

Get Exclusive Access to Sample Pages of Green building materials Market Size - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis with Strategic Insights at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00002796/

Strategic Insights - Green building materials Market

Report Coverage Details Market Size USD Value in 2021 Market Size USD Value by 2028 Growth rate Compound Annual Growth Rate During (2022-2028) Forecast Period 2022-2028 Base Year 2022 No. of Pages 150 No. of Tables Yes No. of Charts & Figures Yes Historical data available Yes Segments covered Solution, Deployment Type, Application, and Vertical 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

Market Trends/ Market Scenario

The Green Building Materials are being demanded in residential and commercial construction applications. Green building materials are primarily used in construction of energy-efficient structures. Green building materials help in reducing carbon footprint of the overall building or lessen harmful emissions.

Substantial investment in residential building has fueled the demand of green building materials. For instance, SEDEMA, Environmental Ministry of Mexico, has introduced regulations comprising new and energy-efficient construction measures intended to develop a sustainable city by constructing improved buildings that would help decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Using green building materials is a solution to numerous environmental challenges such as atmospheric pollution, contamination of freshwater resources, loss of biodiversity, and depletion of natural resources. These benefits make green building materials the best alternative to conventionally used construction materials.

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Market Report Scope/Inclusions

The "Global Green Building Materials Market Analysis to 2028" is a specialized and in-depth study of the green building materials industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global green building materials market with detailed market segmentation by material, end-use, and geography namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America.

The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of more than 18 major countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region for Green Building Materials market.

The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. Further, the report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics affecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend.

The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely, North America, Europe, APAC, Rest of the World after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors affecting the Green Building Materials market in these regions.

Market Segmentation

Global Green Building Materials - Material

Earthen Materials

Insulated Concrete Forms

Steel

Composites

Fiber Cement

Others

Global Green Building Materials - End-Use

Residential

Commercial

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Regional Insights: Green Building Materials Market

The growth of the green building materials market is due to favorable policies regarding using green building materials. The Asia Pacific accounted for the highest revenue share, owing to the growing residential construction sector in the Asia Pacific. Moreover, increasing emphasis on reducing operational costs and maintenance of the structure, the need for green building materials. In addition, the presence of many manufacturers in Asia Pacific is expected to increase the ease of sourcing of products. In Asia Pacific, countries such as China and India are already facing environmental pollution-related problems, which has shifted the government's focus to take initiative in this regard.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Green Building Materials Market

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the world and is continuing to shatter several countries. To stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented lockdowns were enacted worldwide, and many manufacturing industry units were shut down. As a result, there is less demand for industrial items, which has hampered global economic activity. More than 78 percent of respondents claimed the COVID-19 pandemic had had a negative financial impact on their industry, according to a study conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers (US) in February and March 2020. The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19 crisis. Construction work stopped across the globe especially in construction hubs like China, India, and Japan. Supply chain disruptions, work stoppages due to measures imposed by governmental authorities has affected the green building materials demand growth.

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Key Recent Developments: Green Building Materials Market

July 2020 , DuPont announced the development of the Next Generation of Styrofoam brand for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to sustain high-performance modern building design.

By Geography

North America

US

Canada

Mexico

Europe

France

Germany

Italy

UK

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

China

India

Australia

South Korea

Japan

Rest of APAC

Middle East and Africa (MEA)

UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Rest of MEA

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of SAM

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Company Profiles:

Alumasc Group plc.

BASF SE

Binderholz GmbH

DuPont de Nemours, Inc

Homasote Company

Kingspan Group

Owens Corning

PPG Industries, Inc.

Wienerberger AG

Econaur

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JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the 'Global CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market By Target Disease Indication (Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Colorectal Cancer, Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers, Ovarian Epithelial Cancer, Oral mucositis, Small Cell Lung Cancers, Other Diseases Indications), By Type of molecule(Biologics, Small molecule) - Market Outlook and Industry Analysis 2030.'

According to the latest research by InsightAce Analytic, the global CD47 targeting therapeutics market size is expected to record a promising CAGR of 67% during the period of 2022-2030.

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One key mechanism of tumour cell immune escape is the overexpression of an immunoglobulin, CD47. CD47 is a transmembrane protein that glycosylates on the surface of different cancer cells and helps survive cancer cells in various cancer types. In many cancer types, the binding of CD47 to signal-regulatory protein a (SIRPa) initiates an inhibitory signalling pathway that prevents malignant cells from phagocytosis by macrophages. Therefore, inhibition of the CD47-SIRPa signalling pathway can enhance the phagocytosis of tumour cells by macrophages.

The growth of the global CD47 targeting therapeutics market can be attributed to several factors, such as the increase in adoption of CD47-targeting anti-cancer therapies, growing geriatric population, high prevalence of various cancer types, and rising awareness among people regarding the advantages of targeting therapeutics. Additionally, the increasing R&D investments to improve the understanding of CD47-dependent signalling are anticipated to create new opportunities for the CD47 targeting the therapeutics market over the forecast period. Improved knowledge in this field of research could lead to the innovation of advanced and effective anti-tumour therapies that act through the inhibition of CD47 signalling in cancer cells. For instance, in June 2021, Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (Canada), a company engaged in developing innovative therapies for cancer treatments, developed a checkpoint inhibitor of the innate immune system, TTI-621 (SIRPa-IgG1 Fc), in combination with doxorubicin. TTI-621 binds CD47, an innate immune checkpoint that binds SIRPa and delivers a "don't eat me" signal to suppress macrophage phagocytosis.

However, the expensive production and complex manufacturing of target therapies, damage to normal cells while exerting an anti-tumour effect, and strict government regulations for therapy approvals are expected to limit the market adoption during the forecast years.

By region, the North America region is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period (2022-2030) due to the fast adoption of innovative drugs and therapy techniques and the increasing number of cancer patients and cancer mortalities in this region.

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Major market players operating in the CD47 targeting therapeutics market include Abpro (US), ALX Oncology (US), Apmonia Therapeutics (France), Arch Oncology (US), Aurigene (Bangalore), Bristol Myers Squibb (US), Conjupro biotherapeutics (US), EpicentRx (US), Forty Seven (US) TG Therapeutics, Adagene, Alector, Inc., Apmonia Therapeutics, I-MAB Biopharma Co., Ltd., QLSF Biotherapeutics Inc., Phanes Therapeutics, Inc., Bio-Thera Solutions, among others.

Key developments in the market:

In Jan 2022 , the American Food and Drug Administration gave the next-generation CD47 blocker evorpacept, made by ALX Oncology, was given orphan drug designation ("ODD") for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancer.

the American Food and Drug Administration gave the next-generation CD47 blocker evorpacept, made by ALX Oncology, was given orphan drug designation ("ODD") for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancer. In Sept 2021 , Pfizer Inc. (US) acquired Trillium Therapeutics Inc. ( Canada ) with its CD47 candidates for US$2.3 billion . This acquisition has enhanced the oncology and haematology portfolios of Pfizer.

, Pfizer Inc. (US) acquired Trillium Therapeutics Inc. ( ) with its CD47 candidates for . This acquisition has enhanced the oncology and haematology portfolios of Pfizer. In June 2021 , ALX Oncology (US) entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (US), an American pharmaceutical company, to evaluate the combination of ALX148, a next-generation CD47 blocker, and CYRAMZA (ramucirumab), Lilly's anti-VEGFR2 antibody, for the treatment of gastric cancer.

, ALX Oncology (US) entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (US), an American pharmaceutical company, to evaluate the combination of ALX148, a next-generation CD47 blocker, and CYRAMZA (ramucirumab), Lilly's anti-VEGFR2 antibody, for the treatment of gastric cancer. In Mar 2020 , Alector and Innovent Biologics entered into a licencing agreement so that AL008 could be developed and sold in China for oncology indications. The CD47-SIRP-alpha pathway, a potent survival pathway used by tumours to evade the innate immune system, is the target of AL008, a novel antibody product candidate.

, Alector and Innovent Biologics entered into a licencing agreement so that AL008 could be developed and sold in for oncology indications. The CD47-SIRP-alpha pathway, a potent survival pathway used by tumours to evade the innate immune system, is the target of AL008, a novel antibody product candidate. In Mar 2020 , Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Forty Seven, Inc. announced that they have entered into a stratigic agreement pursuant to which Gilead will acquire Forty Seven for $95.50 per share in cash.

Market Segments

Global CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Target Disease Indication, 2022-2030 (Valu US$ Mn)

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Colorectal Cancer

Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers

Ovarian Epithelial Cancer

Oral mucositis

Small Cell Lung Cancers

Other Diseases Indications

Global CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Type of Molecule, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Biologics

Small Molecule

Global CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Region, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

U.S.

Canada

Europe CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for the global CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market

To receive an clinical trials overview and future product pipeline of the CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market

To analyze CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market drivers and challenges

To get information on the CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market size (Value US$ Mn) forecast to 2030

To get details regarding investments, mergers & acquisitions in the CD47 Targeting Therapeutics Market industry

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Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global Novel T-Cell Immunotherapies Market

Global Allogeneic Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market

Global Regulatory T-Cell (Tregs) Therapies Market

Global CAR T-Cell Therapy For Multiple Myeloma Market

Global Immuno-Oncology Cell Therapy Market

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Apex Group Ltd, a global financial services provider, today announces the expansion of its business relationship with DSG Consumer Partners, a leading investor in growing consumer businesses in India & Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2012, DSG Consumer Partners invests in early-stage growth businesses, partnering with founders to help build the next generation of world-class consumer brands in India & Southeast Asia.

DSG Consumer Partners has recently appointed Apex in Mauritius and Singapore to provide fund solutions to its fourth fund, Singapore-domiciled DSG Consumer Partners VCC. As a trusted business partner, Apex will be expanding its mandate with DSG Consumer Partners to support this new fund in Singapore, via its single-source solution delivered by local experts.

The launch of Singapores VCC structure in 2020 has driven a significant increase in investment flows coming into the jurisdiction and has helped to propel it firmly onto the global stage as a destination of choice for many fund managers and family offices. Apexs team of locally based professionals are experienced in supporting global asset managers  such as DSG Consumer Partners  who are looking to access Singapore via the VCC structure.

Apex was initially appointed by DSG Consumer Partners in 2019 to provide a range of transfer agency, fund accounting, taxation, corporate secretary, compliance and directorship services to DSG Consumer Partners fund vehicles. Since this time, Apex has supported DSG Consumer Partners with the establishment and launch of three new funds, with leading technology platforms and expert advice providing efficiency, consistency and full compliance.

Mahesh Doorgakant, Managing Director, Mauritius at Apex Group comments: We are delighted to continue our relationship with DSG Consumer Partners, with this appointment to service their latest fund acting as a testament to the excellent work of our team to date. With its global footprint, Apex has been able to provide seamless fund solutions across multiple jurisdictions for DSG Consumer Partners funds located in Mauritius and Singapore. DSG Consumer Partners investment model is built on strong partnerships to drive growth  an ethos which we share.

Deepak I. Shahdadpuri, Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners further adds: Apex has played an important role in supporting the growth of our business over the last three years, providing consistently high levels of attention and client service. We particularly value the depth and breadth of experience and quality of advice the Apex teams offer, and we look forward to working with both Singapore and Mauritius offices as they administer our latest fund.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / BeMetals Corp. (TSXV:BMET, OTCQB:BMTLF, Frankfurt:1OI.F) (the "Company" or "BeMetals") is pleased to announce commencement of the 2022 exploration campaign at the Pangeni Copper Project (Pangeni" or the "Project" or the "Property") located on the western extension of the Central African Copperbelt in Zambia (the "Zambian Copperbelt"). The primary objective for this year's exploration program is to follow-up with testing and extending the Q-Prospect area where last year's diamond drilling program intersected 4.14 metres grading 0.62% copper in hole Q3-C1 importantly hosted in interpreted Katangan Supergroup sediments.

Highlights of the Planned 2022 Pangeni Aircore and core Drilling Campaign:

Field crews have been mobilized to the Pangeni Property and this year's exploration campaign has

commenced with a planned program of 4,000 metres of shallow aircore drilling and 1,400

metres of diamond drilling to scope the scale potential of the Q and D prospects and test other targets with a similar setting to the Q-Prospect (P & G Targets)

commenced with a planned program of 4,000 metres of shallow aircore drilling and 1,400 metres of diamond drilling to scope the scale potential of the Q and D prospects and test other targets with a similar setting to the Q-Prospect (P & G Targets) Drilling is to follow-up on encouraging copper intersections made in 2021 at the Q and D prospects

which included: Q-Target : Drill Hole Q3-C1 intersected 4.14 metres grading 0.62% copper ("Cu") Including: 1.30 metres grading 1.10% Cu D-Prospect : Drill Hole D7-C1 intersected 5.00 metres grading 0.58% Cu D-Prospect : Drill Hole D7-C2 intersected 3.37 metres grading 0.51% Cu And also: intersected 6.00 metres grading 0.39% Cu

which included:

Note: Intertek Genalysis completed the analytical work with the core samples processed at their preparation facility in Kitwe, Zambia. All analytical procedures were conducted in an Intertek Genalysis laboratory in Australia. Reported widths are drilled core lengths as true widths are unknown at this time. Based upon current data it is estimated true widths range between 80 to 90% of the drilled intersections.

John Wilton, President and CEO of BeMetals stated, "We are very excited to be following-up on last year's encouraging results with a new US$1.5 million exploration program, funded pro rata by both BeMetals and JOGMEC, to test the extent of copper mineralization discovered at the Q and D prospects last year. The Q-Prospect is of particular interest as last year's drilling revealed significant copper mineralization hosted in siltstones which are interpreted to be Katangan rocks in hole Q3-C1. Such Katangan units are well known to host some of the largest sediment-hosted copper deposits along the Zambian Copperbelt."

Tom Garagan, Director at BeMetals commented, "To date, BeMetals' drilling campaigns have returned a number of intersections beneath the shallow sand cover with copper grades similar to that of First Quantum Minerals' Sentinel and Barrick Gold's Lumwana copper mines in the Zambian Copperbelt. We are finding many of the mineralization and geological relationships important for sediment-hosted deposits in this region and now we are targeting structures to find the feeder zones for the copper mineralization discovered on the Pangeni Property."

PANGENI PROJECT 2022 EXPLORATION PROGRAM

Field crews have been mobilized to the Pangeni Property and the 2022 exploration program will comprise of approximately 4,000 metres of aircore drilling and approximately 1,400 metres of diamond drilling in some six core holes (See Figure 1 for planned aircore line drilling locations). The aircore holes will be spaced at various distances along the lines from 400-metre, to 200-metre and 100-metre infill centres based upon field results and geological observations of the drill cuttings. This exploration program is to be jointly funded by BeMetals and Japan, Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation ("JOGMEC"). Initial aircore results will be used to help determine targets for core drill testing to be completed before yearend.

Q-TARGET

Last year's intersection of 4.14 metres grading 0.62% Cu (from 92.36 metres drilled depth) is of specific interest as this zone of copper oxide mineralization in drill hole Q3-C1 was hosted within siltstones interpreted to be part of the Katangan Supergroup. These siltstones have been intersected in relatively close proximity to what is currently interpreted to be basement hosted copper mineralization at the SW-Prospect (See Figure 1). Many of the world class, sediment-hosted, copper deposits and mines of the Central African Copperbelt occur in this same geological setting when coupled with favourable structural feeders for the copper mineralization.

Figure 2 also illustrates the location of the Q3-C1 drill hole in relation to previous shallow aircore drilling anomalies and the aircore lines planned for 2022. Based upon last year's geological results, complemented with interpretation of the geophysics for the Project, we expect the prospective target area of the structural and/or stratigraphic contact zone between the basement and the Katangan Supergroup units to be located between the Q3-Target and SW-Prospect. Figure 2 indicates where a number of untested shallow aircore targets to the north and west of hole Q3-C1 which is currently the highest follow-up priority target for 2022. In addition, targets along strike from the Q-Prospect will be tested that appear to have similar prospective geological settings (P & G Targets, See Figure 1).

D-PROSPECT

The Company first discovered copper mineralization at the D-Prospect near the end of 2019 and based on last year's drilling results, this area remains an important target area for further exploration. During the past drilling campaigns, the Company has now intersected copper mineralization in several drill holes at the D Prospect, including holes D7-C1, D7-C2 and D3-C2. These drill holes returned meaningful and multiple copper intersections ranging from 6.0 to 0.5 metres in width and 0.58% Cu to 0.32% Cu in grade (0.3% Cu cut-off grade) and require further follow-up testing in 2022.

Figure 3 shows the planned aircore lines in context of results from previous core and shallow aircore data. Thus far, copper mineralization in this area extends for at least 1.2 kilometres along the interpreted strike of the host rocks and remains completely open to extension in the southwest direction and down-dip. The aircore drilling to date to the northeast of the prospect has not identified drill targets in that direction but the relatively wide spaced drill centres at 400 metres does not rule out potential extensions in that area. Also, there is an untested aircore anomaly towards the northwestern end of the D2 line (See Figure 3).

Significant copper mineralization has now been intersected in five of the six core drill holes completed at the D-Prospect. The copper grades in many of the 2021 (D7-C1 & D7-C2) and previous drill holes are similar to those for operating large-scale copper mines in the Domes Region of the Zambian Copperbelt (Examples: First Quantum Minerals' Sentinel Mine Reserves: 876.8 million tonnes grading 0.46% Cu(1) and Barrick Gold's Lumwana Mine Reserves: 538.8 million tonnes grading 0.56% Cu(2)).

(1) First Quantum Minerals Ltd. website, Mineral Reserves - depleted for mining as at 31st December 2019, and based on a $3.00/lb Cu price. Sentinel Mine, Trident Project, North West Province, Zambia, NI 43-101 Technical Report, March 2020.

(2) Barrick Gold Corporation website, Mineral Reserves - December 31, 2013, Technical Report on the Lumwana Mine, North-Western, Province, Republic of Zambia, Barrick Gold Corporation, Report for NI 43-101, March 27, 2014.

Figure 1: Location Map for Planned 2022 Aircore Drilling Lines at Priority Prospects and Targets

Figure 2: Location Map for Planned 2022 Aircore Drilling Lines at Q-Prospect

Figure 3: Location Map for Planned 2022 Aircore Drilling Lines at D-Prospect

THE PANGENI COPPER PROJECT

The Pangeni Project is located on the western extension of the Zambian Copperbelt, within the Lufilian Arc, underlain by Katangan Supergroup metasediments situated unconformably on basement schists and gneisses, which are covered by a thin veneer of Kalahari sands. The open pit Sentinel Copper Mine is operated by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. some 130 kilometres to the northeast of the Pangeni Project. A number of major international mining companies have identified this region of the Zambian Copperbelt to be prospective for the discovery of tier one copper mines and are also conducting extensive exploration work in this area.

The Pangeni Project property is geologically prospective for the following deposit types; Basement-hosted Cu (analogues: the Lumwana Deposit, Nyungu Prospect), Sediment-hosted stratiform Cu-Co (analogues: Nchanga, Konkola, Nkana, and Mufulira Deposits), other Domes Region Deposits e.g. Sentinel, and Kansanshi and DRC Copperbelt Deposits e.g. Lonshi, Frontier, Kamoa-Kakula).

Figure 4. Pangeni Copper Project Location Map in Zambia

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL

The results reported here for this core drilling program were analyzed by Intertek Genalysis, an independent and accredited laboratory. Samples were prepared at their facility in Kitwe, Zambia and analytical work conducted in Australia. The results were determined using multi-acid, near total digest, and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma ("ICP") Optical (Atomic) Emission Spectrometry ("OES"). The core sampling was conducted with a robust sampling protocol that included the appropriate insertion of standard reference material, duplicates, and blanks into the sample stream.

Field operations and management have been provided by Remote Exploration Services ("RES") an independent geological consulting and contracting company. The core drilling was conducted by Blurock Mining Services, of Kitwe, Zambia.

ABOUT BEMETALS CORP.

BeMetals is a precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on becoming a leading metal producer through the acquisition of quality exploration, development and potentially production stage projects. The Company has recently established itself in the gold sector with the acquisition of certain wholly owned exploration projects in Japan. BeMetals is also progressing both its advanced high-grade, zinc-silver-gold-copper polymetallic underground exploration at the South Mountain Project in Idaho through a preliminary economic assessment, and its tier-one targeted, Pangeni Copper Exploration Project in Zambia. Guiding and leading BeMetals' growth strategy is a strong board and management team, founders and significant shareholders of the Company, who have an extensive proven record of delivering considerable value in the mining sector through the discovery, construction and operation of mines around the world.

The technical information in this news release for BeMetals has been reviewed and approved by John Wilton, CGeol FGS, CEO and President of BeMetals, and a "Qualified Person" as defined under National Instrument 43-101.1

ON BEHALF OF BEMETALS CORP.

"John Wilton"

John Wilton

President, CEO and Director

For further information about BeMetals please visit our website at bemetalscorp.com and sign-up to our email list to receive timely updates, or contact:

Derek Iwanaka

Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development

Telephone: 604-928-2797

Email: diwanaka@bemetalscorp.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on management's best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, statements with respect to future exploration, development and advancement of the South Mountain Project, the Pangeni project and the Japan properties, and the acquisition of additional base and/or precious metal projects. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", "anticipates", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the actual results of exploration activities, the availability of financing and/or cash flow to fund the current and future plans and expenditures, the ability of the Company to satisfy the conditions of the option agreements for the South Mountain Project and/or the Pangeni Project, and changes in the world commodity markets or equity markets. Although the Company 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. The forward-looking statements and forward looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any forward-looking statements or forward looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. Please refer to the Company's most recent filings under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting the Company and its business.

SOURCE: BeMetals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706810/BeMetals-Commences-2022-Aircore-Drilling-Program-at-Pangeni-Copper-Project


Managing Director of Seng Fong, Mr. Er Hock Lai



Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Hong Leong Investment Bank, Ms. Lee Jim Leng





KUALA LUMPUR, June 29, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Tricor Investor & Issuing House Services Sdn Bhd (TIIH) is pleased to announce that the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Seng Fong Holdings Berhad is oversubscribed by 3.09 times.Seng Fong's IPO involves the issuance of 160,874,300 IPO Shares in the following manner:(A) Retail offering of 42,198,000 IPO Shares to be allocated in the following manner:- 25,948,000 IPO Shares to the Malaysian public; and- 16,250,000 IPO Shares to the eligible directors and employees of Seng Fong and its subsidiaries (Group) and persons who have contributed to the success of the Group;(B) Institutional offering of 118,676,300 IPO Shares to be allocated in the following manner:- 64,870,000 IPO Shares by way of private placement to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry ("MITI"); and- 53,806,300 IPO Shares by way of private placement to other institutional and selected investors.A total of 3,968 applications for 106,046,800 IPO Shares with a value of RM79,535,100 were received from the Malaysian public, which represents an overall oversubscription rate of 3.09 times. For the Bumiputera public portion, a total of 2,097 applications for 31,762,400 IPO Shares were received, which represents an oversubscription rate of 1.45 times. For the remaining Malaysian public portion, a total of 1,871 applications for 74,284,400 IPO Shares were received, which represents an oversubscription rate of 4.73 times.Meanwhile, the 16,250,000 IPO Shares available to the eligible directors and employees of the Group and persons who have contributed to the success of the Group have also been fully subscribed.Managing Director of Seng Fong, Mr. Er Hock Lai said, "We would like to thank investors for their response to our IPO as this is an indication of their confidence in the fundamentals of the business. We can now look forward to capture opportunities arising from the increasing demand from existing customers as well as from new customers as we ramp up production through the hiring of more people for a second shift and implementing ESG initiatives to make our business more sustainable."Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Hong Leong Investment Bank, Ms. Lee Jim Leng said: "We are pleased with the reception from investors to Seng Fong's IPO reflecting their confidence in the solid fundamentals of the business and in the leadership as well as vision of the founders and promoters."Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad is the Principal Adviser, Underwriter and Placement Agent for the IPO.The notices of allotment will be posted to all successful applicants on or before 6 July 2022. The company will list on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 7 July 2022.Seng Fong Holdings Bhd: http://sengfongholdings.com/Source: Seng Fong Holdings BerhadCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Grass Valley, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Rise Gold Corp. (CSE: RISE) (OTCQX: RYES) (the "Company") reports that the County of Nevada is currently preparing the Final Environmental Impact Report (the "Final EIR") for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project.

The Nevada County government released the Draft Environmental Impact Report (the "DEIR") for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project (the "IMM Project") on January 4, 2022. The report's release was a major milestone toward the approval of the Company's Use Permit Application to reopen the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine. The 91-day public comment ended on April 4, 2022. The County received approximately 2,850 comment letters during the comment period of which the majority (~1,600 comment letters) expressed support for the Project. In addition, the Company received over 200 additional support letters after the close of the comment period, which will not be included in the Final EIR. The number of support letters is unprecedented compared to the four recently approved EIRs in Nevada County[1]. The level of support for the Project bolsters last year's survey results which show a majority (59%) of respondents supporting the reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine, with only 34% of respondents opposed.

The independently prepared DEIR was the culmination of two years of intensive study by the Nevada County government with the support of its consultant, Raney Planning & Management Inc., an experienced firm located in Sacramento, and contributions from many qualified technical experts and scientists. The DEIR concluded that there are no significant impacts to air quality, biological resources, water quality, groundwater, vibrations, or noise from operations from the proposed re-opening of the Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine.

A general outline of the remaining milestones in the Use Permit Application process is as follows:

Nevada County will publish a Final Environmental Impact Report (the "Final EIR") which will include responses to public comments;

The Nevada County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider the Final EIR and make a recommendation on project approval to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors;

The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to consider and make a final decision on the IMM Project. A majority vote of the five supervisors is required to approve the project.

The timeline to complete the Use Permit Application process largely depends on the Nevada County government and the completion of the Final EIR. The Company estimates that the Final EIR will be published in late summer or early fall of 2022 and public hearings and an approval decision on the Use Permit in late fall or early winter of 2022.

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors has recently approved three mining projects. The Boca Quarry Expansion, a surface aggregate mine with a production up to 1 million tons per year, was approved in 2019. The Greenhorn Creek Mining Expansion, a surface aggregate mine with a production of up to 600,000 tons per year, was approved in 2017 and the Blue Lead Gold Mine, a surface placer gold mine with a production of up to 400,000 tons per year, was approved in 2015.

Project Design

The Idaho-Maryland Mine is a past producing gold mine which produced 2,414,000 oz of gold at an average mill head grade of 17 gpt gold from 1866-1955.

The Idaho-Maryland Mine was the second largest lode gold producer in the United States before being forced to close under War Production Board Order L-208 during World War II. In the two years before closure, 1940 and 1941, mine production averaged 920 tons per day with an average mill head grade of 0.38 oz per ton (12.9 gpt) and 121,000 oz of gold production per year.

The Use Permit application proposes underground mining to recommence at an average throughput of 1,000 tons per day. The existing Brunswick Shaft, which extends to ~3400 feet depth below surface, would be used as the primary rock conveyance from the underground workings. A second service shaft would be constructed by raising from underground to provide for the conveyance of personnel, materials, and equipment. Gold processing would be done by gravity and flotation to produce gravity and flotation gold concentrates. Processing equipment and operations would be fully enclosed in attractive modern buildings and numerous mature trees located on the perimeter of the Brunswick Site would be retained to provide visual shielding of aboveground project facilities and operations.

The Company would produce barren rock from underground tunneling and sand tailings as part of the project which would be used for creation of approximately 58 acres of level and useable industrial zoned land for future economic development in Nevada County.

A water treatment plant and pond, using conventional processes, would ensure that groundwater pumped from the mine is treated to regulatory standards before being discharged to the local waterways.

Approximately 300 employees would be required when the mine reaches full production, the majority of which will be drawn from the local Nevada County population.

The Company believes the drilling program has been successful but cautions investors no current mineral resources or mineral reserves have been defined. The Company's submission of an application for a Use Permit from Nevada County requires information regarding planned throughput and material quantities. The Company cautions investors that no Technical Report has been filed to support that this rate of production will be achieved. The Company has not completed a feasibility study to establish mineral reserves and therefore has not demonstrated economic viability of the IMM Project. The Company has not made a production decision for the IMM Project.

About Rise Gold Corp.

Rise Gold is an exploration-stage mining company incorporated in Nevada, USA. The Company's principal asset is the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine located in Nevada County, California, USA. To learn more about the company, visit www.risegoldcorp.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Benjamin Mossman

President, CEO and Director

Rise Gold Corp.

For further information, please contact:

RISE GOLD CORP.

Suite 215, 333 Crown Point Circle

Grass Valley, CA 95945

T: 530.433.0188

info@risegoldcorp.com

www.risegoldcorp.com

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary approvals, meeting expenditure and financing requirements, compliance with environmental regulations, title matters, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices, and one-time events that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information contained in this release. Rise undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law.

[1] Boca Quarry (2019), Commercial Cannabis Cultivation (2019), Van Norden Spillway (2019), and 2 of 3 Dollar General Stores (2018) approved by Nevada County Board of Supervisors. Total combined comments received on these four projects was approximately 342 of which approximately 25 expressed support for the proposed projects.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129401
The immersive virtual platform and guided tour technology received awards in North America and Europe, including a Gold Stevie, Bronze Stevie, Platinum Hermes, and German Brand Award

ATLANTA, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intelligent automation specialist Dematic and its innovative virtual tech tours have recently received a number of awards for web achievement, strategic marketing, business, and design in both North America and Europe. These awards include:

Gold Stevie Winner in the 2022 American Business Awards , Web Achievement: Manufacturing Industry category

in the 2022 American Business Awards , Web Achievement: Manufacturing Industry category Bronze Stevie (Germany) Award, Best Event for Brand Experience

Award, Best Event for Brand Experience 2022 Platinum Hermes (U.S.) Creative Award, Strategic Marketing Campaigns: Interactive Brand Experience category

Creative Award, Strategic Marketing Campaigns: Interactive Brand Experience category German Brand Award for excellence in brand strategy and creation, Brand Communication: User Experience category

The Dematic Virtual Tech Tours use an immersive digital platform and host-guided technology which allows participants to explore its tech centers in the U.S. (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and Heusenstamm, Germany. The tours aid companies in learning more about Dematic technology and solutions without travel expenses and include embedded video conferencing. They feature 36 product and content videos and 46 360 panoramic photos to create a fully interactive online experience.

"Seeing Dematic's technology in action is a crucial part of the buying journey for a typical customer, many of whom visit our sites in-person. But bringing a whole team for in-person visits to our sites can be a challenge," said Erin Dillard, Dematic Vice President, Marketing Communications. "Virtual tours of our tech centers provide the same quality experience as an in-person visit - this has been a key business differentiator that has allowed us to showcase our technology to a wider range of potential customers at their convenience."

Added Dominic Fischer, Dematic Manager Global Events and Sponsorship, "The virtual tech tours mark the beginning of a new era in the customer experience where the audience - both internal and external - can easily access what they need, and what they were perhaps unaware of, in a gamified way. In the future, these tours will deliver insights into key market brands, provide multi-language assistance and include special features such as augmented reality and interactive showcase tools, making for an educational but also seriously fun experience!"

Currently, more than 200 trained tour guides, check out the Dematic Connections blog, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

About Dematic

Dematic designs, builds, and supports intelligent automated solutions empowering and sustaining the future of commerce for its customers in manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. With research and development engineering centers, manufacturing facilities, and service centers located in more than 35 countries, the Dematic global network of over 11,000 employees has helped achieve approximately 8,000 worldwide customer installations for some of the world's leading brands. Headquartered in Atlanta, Dematic is a member of KION Group, one of the world's leading suppliers of industrial trucks and supply chain solutions.

Media Contact:

Mandi Baronas

Senior Communications Manager, Americas

mandi.baronas@dematic.com

dematic.com

Disclaimer:

This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, for example, changes in business, economic, and competitive conditions (including with respect to further developments in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic), regulatory reforms, results of technical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. We do not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.

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Dematic Virtual Tech Center wins global award recognitions.









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TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 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 its Founder and CEO, Alain Ghiai was interviewed on live television on Newsmax TV as part of the "American Agenda" segment. The segment aired live on June 23rd at at about 3pm EST.

To View the segment pls click here: Featured Newsmax Interview

Sekur's CEO, Alain Ghiai, discusses the many ways hackers get into government, business and consumer devices and steal they data and how to limit damages created by domestic or international hackers. Ghiai also discusses how Sekur can offer more privacy through is SekurMail and SekurMessenger solutions.

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.

SekurMessenger now comes with a proprietary feature and technology called "Chat-By-Invites". This feature allows a SekurMessenger user ("SM user") 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.

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/706905/Sekur-Private-Data-CEO-Interviewed-Live-on-Newsmax-TVs-American-Agenda--Discusses-how-the-US-Government-Everyday-Americans-Get-Hacked
VACAVILLE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Athena Gold Corporation (OTCQB:AHNR)(CSE:ATHA) ("Athena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from the 2022 reverse circulation ("RC") phase 1 drill program (the "Program") at its Excelsior Springs Project ("Project") located approximately 45 miles southwest of Goldfield in Esmeralda County, Nevada. A total of 11 vertical and angle holes were completed in this Program in early April 2022 on patented and unpatented claims comprising the Project.

High grade gold was discovered in hole DB-23 in a 110-foot intercept of 5.15 Au g/t and 8.9 Ag g/t including a 55-foot intercept of 10.03 Au g/t and 17.3 silver g/t, and 35-foot intercept of 15.3 Au g/t and 26.5 Ag g/t over 35 feet. These intercepts started at a depth of 140 feet in this 500 angled hole, which is located at the east end of known mineralization in the Buster zone.

DB-23 contained the highest-grade intercept of more than 20 feet thick at the Project and its Grade x Thickness ("G x T") product of 566 is twice as large as the next highest G x T from the Project's known historical RC drilling. In addition, it is open up and down dip and untested for potential strike length extensions of at least 450' to the west and more than 1,000 feet to the east.

John Power, President, and CEO of Athena, commented, "DB-23 is the best drill hole in the history the project. This remarkable High-grade discovery validates the potential of our flagship Project. Our technical advisors did an excellent job examining the technical database that includes 84 historic RC drill holes completed since 1986, developing the drill targets, and executing our initial RC drill Program."

Intercept Highlights

10.03 g/t Au and 17.3 g/t silver over 55 feet starting at 140 feet in DB-23, including 15.3 g/t Au and 26.5 g/t Ag over 35 feet.

1.10 g/t Au and 4.0 g/t Ag over 60 feet starting at 215 feet in DB-03, including 2.61 g/t Au over 20 feet.

1.11 g/t Au and 4.0 g/t Ag over 20 feet starting at 110 feet in BT-07; and

1.48 g/t Au and 2.8 g/t Ag over 20 feet starting at 265 feet in DB 22.

Program Details and Results

The Program was designed to better delineate and expand known mineralization along strike at the Project, aggressively test new peripheral targets, and further substantiate the Project as a regional-scale, intrusion-related, gold-bearing, hydrothermal system.

Phase 1 RC Drilling Data and Results Hole Intervals, Feet 2 Azimuth Decline Gold 1 Silver Total ID From To Length Degrees Degrees G/T G/T Depth, Ft DB-24 nsm 0 50 400 DB-23 140 250 110 180 50 5.15 8.9 400 includes 140 195 55 10.03 17.3 includes 140 175 35 15.35 26.5 DB-22 220 240 20 0 90 0.61 3.1 400 " 265 285 20 1.48 2.8 " 340 360 20 1.01 5.6 DB-3 215 275 60 135 50 1.10 4.0 350 BT-16 * 218 50 695 BT-15 nsm 38 50 825 BT-13 nsm 0 90 375 BT-12 nsm 180 50 350 BT-11 * 180 50 500 BT-7 110 130 20 135 50 1.11 4.0 380 BT-6 510 530 20 120 50 0.22 16.9 900 Total Drilling 5,575 nsm: no significant mineral * assays not yet received 1 Nominal gold cut off: 0.20 g/t. 2 Minimum mineral interval of 20 feet. Minimum 20 feet waste between mineral intervals. Maximum 20 feet waste within mineral intervals. As most spatial data is not yet available, drill intervals are not true mineral thicknesses.

The high grade intercept in DB-23 is open and untested up and down dip and along strike length extensions of at least 450 feet to the west and more than 1,000 feet to the east.

The intercept in DB-03 confirms the down dip and strike length extensions of gold mineralization from nearby historic RC holes.

The intercept in BT-07 is an extension of known mineralization in the historic underground workings northeast from the Upper Buster shaft and supports subsequent drilling up and down dip and along strike further to the northeast.

The intercepts in DB-22 appear to be located above the intercepts in DB-23 but further drilling and studies are required to fully define and assess the relationship of the intercepts in these two holes and the potential extensions therefrom.

All samples were shipped to American Assay Laboratories, an independent ISO-certified laboratory in Reno, Nevada. Additional drilling and analysis are required to determine the extent and true thicknesses of the new and existing mineralized intervals. Future exploration plans at the Project include detailed geological studies of the projected outcrop of this new mineral discovery along with further review of historical information in this area. A Phase 2 drill program will then be designed primarily to extend this mineralization along strike and up and down dip, as well as drilling other priority targets.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Procedures have been implemented to assure Quality Assurance Quality Control (QAQC) of drill hole assaying being done at an ISO Accredited assay laboratory. All intervals of drill holes are being assayed and samples were securely stored for shipment, with chain of custody documentation through delivery. Mineralized commercial reference standards and coarse blank standards were inserted every 20th sample in sequence to assure acceptable levels of confidence of the drill hole assays. When laboratory reports of the assays are received, QAQC protocols are immediately augmented to ensure dependability of the drill hole assays.

As the Excelsior Springs Project advances, additional QAQC measures will be implemented including selected duplicate check assaying on pulps and coarse rejects at a second accredited assay laboratory. All results will be analyzed for consistency.

Qualified Person

Donald G. Strachan, Certified Professional Geologist (CPG #10376 AIPG), is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis of this press release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Strachan is independent of the Company and was responsible for the site management and technical aspects of the Program.

About Athena Gold Corporation

Athena is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to conduct additional exploration drilling and studies on the Project.

For further information about Athena Gold Corporation and our Excelsior Springs Gold project, please visit www.athenagoldcorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

John Power

Chief Executive Officer and President

Contact:

Phone: John Power, 707-291-6198

Email: info@athenagoldcorp.com

Cautionary Statement to U.S. Investors

This press release references NI 43-101, which differs from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can legally extract or produce. Pursuant to SEC Industry Guide 7 under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves. Currently Athena has not delineated "reserves" on any of its properties. Athena cannot be certain that any deposits at its properties will ever be confirmed or converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 or any successor rule or regulation compliant "reserves". Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the historic Buster Mine gold zone will ever be confirmed or converted into reserves or that it can be economically or legally extracted.

The SEC has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These amendments became effective February 25, 2019, with compliance required for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7 will be rescinded from and after such date.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding future exploration plans and the completion of a phase 2 drill program at the Project, future results from exploration, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, QAQC procedures at the Project were followed, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and other factors and risks that are discussed in the Company's periodic filings with the SEC and disclosed in the final long form prospectus of the Company dated August 31, 2021.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this press release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

SOURCE: Athena Gold Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706901/Athena-Gold-Intercepts-Shallow-High-Grade-Gold-with-153-GT-Over-35-Feet-at-its-Excelsior-Springs-Project-Nevada
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Rockland Resources Ltd. (the "Company" or "Rockland") (CSE:RKL) is pleased to report that the Company has acquired the Lithium Butte Property located in the Basin and Range Province of west-central Utah, USA. Rockland representatives recently took grab samples that have resulted in assays returning up to 4,080 ppm lithium from claystones derived from rhyolite tuff-breccia on the newly acquired Lithium Butte Property.

Ten grab samples from the property were taken on a reconnaissance sampling program in May 2022. All of the grab samples are from a rhyolite tuff-breccia unit of Tertiary age that is known to contain elevated Lithium contents. Five grab samples of the tuff-breccia that had strongly developed clay alteration assayed from 4,080 ppm lithium to 1,200 ppm lithium with an average of 2,142 ppm lithium. The five samples were taken from an outcropping exposure of clay altered tuff-breccia with a stratigraphic thickness estimated to be greater than 20 m. The exposure contains at least two intervals of claystone mineralization, each of which is several meters in thickness.

Dr. Richard Sutcliffe, Rockland's President stated "Although this project is at a very early stage, we are extremely encouraged by these high-grade lithium grab samples from volcanic-derived claystones on the Lithium Butte Property. The next stage of work will include channel sampling to confirm the thickness of the lithium-rich claystone units on the Property. Since the claystone is locally well-exposed and accessible to surface sampling, we anticipate that this work will be done this summer. Lithium Butte has many of the hallmarks of successful lithium claystone projects in the Basin and Range Province. These include: volcanic source rocks with elevated lithium content; geothermal fluid activity; containment basins; clay altered horizons; and favourable structure."

The Lithium Butte Property consists of 60 lode claims on BLM lands covering approximately 1,200 acres (486 ha) in west central Utah. The Lithium Butte Property will be part of a regional lithium exploration program that Rockland is developing in Utah. The Company is currently staking additional claims and will provide additional Property details once staking has been completed.

Rockland has acquired a 90% interest in the original Lithium Butte property (60 claims - 1,200 acres) by covering the staking and filing costs (paid), with the remaining 10% interest held by an arms-length third party. All remaining claims being staked by Rockland are owned 100% by the Company. There is a 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") payable to the same arms-length third party on both the original Lithium Butte property and all adjoining claims being acquired in the area.

Assay Program QA/QC - Initial grab sampling at Lithium Butte was carried out by Dr. Richard Sutcliffe, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101, who is also responsible for reviewing and approving the geological contents of this news release as they pertain to the Lithium Butte Claystone Property.

Samples were transported in sealed bags by the QP to Activation Laboratories ("Actlabs") in Ancaster, Ontario. Actlabs is an independent ISO/IEC 17025 certified laboratory. Li analysis was performed using sodium peroxide fusion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

About Rockland Resources Ltd.

Rockland Resources is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets for the benefit of its shareholders. In addition to the Utah Lithium Property, the Company is acquiring the 41,818-hectare Elektra project concessions that are contiguous with Gangfeng Lithium's Sonora Lithium Clay Project located in Sonora, Mexico. The Company also holds an option to earn a 100-per-cent interest in the Cole Gold Mines property, located in Ball township, Red Lake mining division, Ontario. The Cole Property hosts high-grade gold mineralization in a classic Red Lake-type structurally controlled gold deposit environment.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Dr. Richard H. Sutcliffe, P.Geo.

President and Director

For further information, please contact:

Mike England

Email: mike@engcom.ca

Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM).

SOURCE: Rockland Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706912/Rockland-Resources-Reports-Assays-Up-To-4080-Ppm-Lithium-on-Newly-Acquired-Lithium-Butte-Claystone-Property-Utah
Master Pricing Agreement will enable a major Asia-Pacific Telecom company to expand their service offerings to new customer segments and meet needs other platforms cannot, by delivering advanced, white-label SD-WAN solutions using Turnium's disaggregated SD-WAN platform.

Vancouver, Canada--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Turnium Technology Group Inc. (TSXV: TTGI) ("Turnium"), the industry leader in cloud-native software-defined wide area networking solutions ("SD-WAN"), is pleased to announce it has signed a Master Pricing Agreement ("MPA") with a major telecommunications company delivering services across the Asia-Pacific region.

The MPA with Turnium enables new and targeted digital business and infrastructure offers to business and enterprise customers across the region that cannot be met by other SD-WAN vendors. Turnium's white-label, disaggregated SD-WAN platform enables Turnium's new telecommunications partner to brand, host, manage, and deliver advanced SD-WAN, create unique bundles, and connect customers' multiple sites, clouds, devices, and vehicles into customer-dedicated, managed, secure networks and hybrid cloud/multi-cloud solutions.

"We are excited to sign this agreement," said Johan Arnet, Founder and CEO of Turnium. "The MPA will enable our new partner to realize its goal of increasing its portfolio of digital business and infrastructure capabilities and to deliver flexible, cost-effective, customized managed network solutions. Businesses in Asia-Pacific will benefit from better access to secure business networks that support hybrid, multi-cloud connectivity and deliver secure multi-site networks that combine wireline and wireless technologies, including 5G. Turnium enables our new partner to deliver the software-defined networks that businesses need to expand and leverage the internet economy."

In addition, Turnium's capability to be deployed as a Cloud Native Network Function ("CNF") future-proofs partner capabilities to deliver in multiple environments such as containers, bare metal, and virtual. Turnium's CNF enables new solutions including Universal CPE that support Edge Compute and Multi-Access Edge Compute for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the network edge.

Turnium's model is to provide a flexible, disaggregated SD-WAN software platform that telecoms and other service providers can use as the foundation to build their own custom integrated solutions. With Turnium as the foundation, service providers can add their existing security solutions, orchestrators, automation, and management platforms over top using Turnium's API and build solutions that fit their unique markets and segments. By integrating with existing OSS/BSS, Turnium is easy to adopt and operationalize by telecoms.

The financial terms of this agreement are not being disclosed. Turnium will include any appropriate updates in its financial results over the upcoming quarters.

About Turnium Technology Group Inc.

Turnium Technology Group, Inc. delivers its SD-WAN solution as a white label, containerized, disaggregated software platform that channel partners host, manage, brand, and price and as a managed cloud-native service. Turnium SD-WAN is available through a channel partner program designed for Telecommunications Service Providers, Internet and Managed Service Providers, System Integrators, and Value-Added Resellers. For more information, contact sales@ttgi.io , visit www.turnium.com , or follow us on Twitter @turnium.

About SD-WAN

SD-WAN is revolutionizing the networking and telecommunications industry by abstracting secure, high-speed networking and network control from underlying physical circuits. SD-WAN frees enterprises, small-medium businesses, cloud and managed services providers from the business and cost constraints imposed by traditional telecommunications companies.

Turnium Contact:

Investor Relations: Bill Mitoulas, email: bill@ttgi.io, telephone: +1 416-479-9547

Media inquiries: please email media@ttgi.io. Sales inquiries: please email sales@ttgi.io

www.ttgi.io, www.turnium.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. Although Turnium believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because Turnium can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. By its nature, such forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause Turnium's actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. These risks and uncertainties, include, but are not limited to access to capital markets, market forces, competition from new and existing companies and regulatory conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. Turnium undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129421
OXFORD INSTRUMENTS PLC - Publication of Annual Report and Notice of AGM 2022

LEI: 213800J364EZD6UCE231

29 June 2022

Oxford Instruments plc

Publication of Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022 and Notice of Annual General Meeting 2022

Oxford Instruments plc (the "Company") announces that it has published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022 (the "Annual Report") and its Notice of Annual General Meeting 2022 (the "Notice"). The Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held at 11.00am on 28 July 2022 at the Company's registered office at Tubney Woods, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX13 5QX.

The Annual report and Notice have today been published online at https://www.oxinst.com/investors-content/financial-reports-and-presentations and https://www.oxinst.com/investors-content/annual-general-meeting

In accordance with paragraph 9.6.1 of the FCA's Listing Rules, copies of the Annual Report, Notice and Form of Proxy have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism

Information required in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 6.3.5 was included in the Preliminary Results announcement released on 14 June 2022.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

Oxford Instruments plc

Tel: 01865 393448

Sarah Harvey, Company Secretary



MHP Communications

Tel: 020 3128 8100

Katie Hunt / Eleni Menikou / Charlie Protheroe

Email: oxfordinstruments@mhpc.com
The Middle Eastern division of media group Consultancy.org announced that dsshas been ranked as a top consulting firm for Lean Six Sigma consulting capabilities, as well as a top expert in the chemicals industry, earning a Diamond Level ranking in each respectively. dsswas one of three companies out of more than 200 to be named as a top consulting firm for Operational Excellence services.

The rankings were based on interviews with thousands of executives, consultants and graduates, as well as on assessments of firm capabilities, reputation, analyst benchmarks, industry recognitions and thought leadership.

The firm also achieved six platinum awards the second highest recognition tier for their operations, process management, ESG and sustainability capabilities, as well as their expertise in the mining and agricultural sectors.

"I am extremely proud of our team in the Middle East, and the value that they have delivered to clients to merit such a high ranking for Operational Excellence and a range of other services," said Cedric Parentelli, Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at dss. "Their work is intrinsically linked to our core purpose: transforming industries by helping our clients to operate in a smarter, safer, and in a more sustainable manner. To be recognised by the Consultancy.org organisation is an honour."

Having been active in the region for more than 20 years, dss has worked with over 60 clients since 2018 across public utility, oil and gas, chemicals and manufacturing industries. Their Operational Excellence work in the region includes projects with large utilities such as Saudi Arabia's Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), where dss operational excellence transformation enabled an increase in water production by 1.4 million m3 per day, without capital input.

To learn more about how dss supports clients across the Middle East to transform their operations, please visit https://www.consultdss.com/operations-consulting/.

About dss

dss is a leading provider of operations management consulting services with a purpose of saving lives and creating a sustainable future. dss enables organizations to build organisational and human capabilities, manage risk, improve operations, achieve sustainability goals and operate more responsibly.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005876/en/

Contacts:

Martin Slabbert

martin@hwb.co.za
Oxford Economics has partnered with specialist technology provider Content Catalyst to deploy 'My Oxford', an interactive subscriber portal using flagship content delivery service, Publish Interactive.

Based in Oxford, UK, Oxford Economics is a leader in global forecasting, quantitative analysis, and thought leadership. More than 2,000 companies and government institutions worldwide rely on their services for business-critical forecasting and scenario activities.

My Oxford provides an enhanced user experience for customers and the 300 economists and analysts employed by Oxford Economics across more than 20 offices in all regions of the world. Subscribers benefit from new functionality, including accessible, interactive content published in HTML, comprehensive site search including an extensive back catalogue, mobile optimised pages, document translation, and the ability to export information into MS Office compatible documents for repurposing.

Upon launching the service, Adrian Cooper, CEO of Oxford Economics, said, "My Oxford offers a significant leap forward in how we present our content, support our clients, present to new prospects, and monitor the effectiveness of our services. It's the smoothest product deployment of this scale we've seen in Oxford Economics."

Daniel Lord, Content Catalyst Founder, said, "We're delighted to have been able to help Oxford Economics reimagine their subscriber portal. The intuitive search, workflow, and content administration tools enable customers to better utilise Oxford Economics' industry-leading market research."

About Oxford Economics

Founded in 1981, Oxford Economics is one of the world's foremost independent global advisory firms, providing reports, forecasts and analytical tools on 200 countries, 150 industrial sectors and 7,000 cities and regions. With 21 countries worldwide, its best-in-class global economic and industry models and analytical tools provide an unparalleled ability to forecast external market trends and assess their economic, social, and business impact.

About Content Catalyst

Since 2003, Content Catalyst has helped leading providers of analyst research to grow valuable commercial relationships based on their expert insights. The Cambridge-based company's flagship software, Publish Interactive, is a content management platform with authoring, workflow, licensing, and subscriber management tools designed for market analyst firms to deliver and manage their content.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005886/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts

Edwin Bailey, Director of Marketing, Content Catalyst Ltd.

E: edwin.bailey@contentcatalyst.com

T: +44 (0)1223 617 322

ContentCatalyst.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Nicola Mining Inc. (TSXV: NIM) (FSE: HLI), (the "Company" or "Nicola") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a funding agreement with the University of British Columbia's ("UBC") and UBC Mineral Deposit Research Unit ("MDRU") to research the potential and existence of copper porphyry systems. MDRU is a partnership between UBC Mineral Deposit Research Unit, Lakehead University and Universities of Alberta and Calgary, and 15 partner organizations, which includes Nicola Mining Inc., focused on improving the rate at which porphyry copper deposits can be discovered. On May 12, 2022, MDRU announced the award of $2,700,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance program (matching $1,350,000 in industry cash contributions).

The timing for Nicola bodes well as information from its recently completed 998-line kilometer Z-Tipper Axis Electromagnetic survey ("ZTEM Survey") across the entirety of New Craigmont is to be received soon and can be incorporated with the project. The porphyry fertility and vectoring project, which has received funding from private sector and government sources, plans to characterize alteration mineral associations and inclusions, and LA-ICP-MS analyses on chlorite, epidote, pyrite, and carbonate minerals, to provide an interpretation of potential vectors towards deposits. Leveraging new technologies could augment the ability to find porphyry systems in British Columbia.

Peter Espig, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are very excited to team with MDRU on this project and feel that it is well suited for the New Craigmont project, which is Canada's highest grade historic large copper mine. Leveraging newer technologies, such as ZTEM Survey, and working closely with UBC's geological team could be very fruitful towards finding porphyry copper targets."

Qualified Person

Kevin Wells, P.Geo, a consulting geologist to the Company, is the independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Nicola Mining

Nicola Mining Inc. is a junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Exchanges that maintains a 100% owned mill and tailings facility, located near Merritt, British Columbia. It has signed Mining and Milling Profit Share Agreements with high grade gold projects. Nicola's fully-permitted mill can process both gold and silver mill feed via gravity and flotation processes.

The Company owns 100% of the New Craigmont Project, a high-grade copper property, which covers an area of 10,913 hectares along the southern end of the Guichon Batholith and is adjacent to Teck Resources Ltd.'s Highland Valley Copper, Canada's largest copper mine. The Company also owns 100% of the Treasure Mountain Property, consisting of 30 mineral tenures covering 513 hectares (ha) and a mining lease covering 335 ha.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Peter Espig"

Peter Espig

CEO & Director

For additional information

Contact: Peter Espig

Phone: (778) 385-1213

Email: info@nicolamining.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129320


HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - Turkey has dropped its opposition to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids, removing a major block to the two Scandinavian nations' chances of joining the alliance.



The crucial breakthrough occurred on Tuesday when the leaders of the three countries agreed a trilateral memorandum to address Turkiye's legitimate security concerns.



On the eve of the NATO Summit in Madrid, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson met under the auspices of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.



In that meeting, the leaders of the three countries also agreed to enhance their cooperation on counter-terrorism, including full support from Finland and Sweden to combat 'terrorist' activity.



Both Sweden and Finland's refusal to extradite Kurdish militants who Turkey describes as terrorists has been a stumbling block in their NATO membership progress.



Turkish President Erdogan insisted that Sweden should not expect Turkey's support to approve its Nato membership bid without returning 'terrorists'.



The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group has been fighting Turkish forces for more than four decades.



The memorandum was signed by the foreign ministers of the three countries.



Speaking after that, NATO Secretary General said, 'I strongly welcome the signing of this trilateral memorandum, and I strongly welcome the constructive approach all three countries have shown during the negotiations. Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO is good for Finland and Sweden, it is good for NATO, and it is good for European security.'



Finland and Sweden have simultaneously handed in their official letters of application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on May 16.



At the two-day NATO summit, which kicked off in the Spanish capital on Wednesday, leaders will decide whether to invite Finland and Sweden to join the security alliance.



Even if the North Atlantic Council approves the applications for NATO membership, it requires ratification by all the countries of the 30-member bloc.



NATO plans to announce major troop deployments to Eastern Europe to deter Russia.



U.S. President Joe Biden will join other leaders at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government at 9 AM ET Wednesday.



Later in the day, he has scheduled a meeting with Turkish President to discuss the Alliance's collective defense and security and a range of issues important to the bilateral relationship, the White House said.



In a message congratulating the signatories to the trilateral memorandum, Biden said Finland and Sweden are strong democracies with highly capable militaries. Their membership will strengthen NATO's collective security and benefit the entire Transatlantic Alliance, according to him.



'I look forward to working with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, our Allies, and with Congress to ensure that we can quickly welcome them into our Alliance,' Biden added.







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Tanya Wills joins as VP of NA Channel Sales & Alliances and Mandi Lapointe joins as Director of Global Partner Marketing

STOCKHOLM, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medius, a leading provider of AP Automation and wider spend management solutions, announces the appointment of two new Channel Leaders to its senior team.

Tanya Wills joins as VP of Channel Sales and Alliances for North America and Mandi Lapointe joins as Director of Global Partner Marketing. The new hires follow a string of senior leadership hires made in 2021 and 2022, including, CEO Jim Lucier, CSO Branden Jenkins, CMO Kim Albrecht, CRO Jeff Swan, and Matt Rhodus, VP of Business Development & Strategic Initiatives - all tasked with growing the business globally.

Wills and Lapointe join Medius as the company ramps up its channel strategy. The company is actively growing its channel and ISV partner programs to grow its reach and introduce a broader cross-section of customers to the benefits of AP automation. Medius's suite of products automates the process of receiving, handling, approving, and paying an invoice, and simplifies the onboarding and managing of vendors.

Tanya Wills, VP of North America Channel Sales and Alliances

Wills is a seasoned Global Channels and Sales Alliances leader, with more than 25 years of experience at leading tech companies, including IBM, Siebel Systems, SAP, and Microsoft. Tanya has held leadership positions in both domestic and international remits after starting her career in tech with IBM's premier sales training program.

Based in California, Wills will be responsible for building Strategic Alliances and Channels, and driving corporate partner expansion in the US, including the recruitment of new partners, and expanding the existing partner base. She will be reporting into Chief Revenue Officer at Medius, Jeff Swan, who joined the company in January 2022.

Wills joins Medius from Standing Up, where she was Vice President of Channel and Alliances strategy. Prior to that, she acted as Director of Partner Development (ISVs) at Microsoft for four years, after nearly 7 years with SAP in their Ecosystem teams.

Mandi Lapointe, Director of Global Partner Marketing

Lapointe joins Medius as Director of Global Partner Marketing and has over 16 years of experience as a sales and marketing professional in partner and channel. Prior to joining Medius, Lapointe held the positions of Senior Global Partner Marketing Manager at SAP and SAP Concur, and has experience at leading tech companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, and Zones.

In her new role, Lapointe will be responsible for the global partner marketing strategy. She will be reporting to CMO, Kim Albrecht.

Jim Lucier, CEO of Medius, comments: "Tanya and Mandi's expertise across Channel Sales, and Marketing will be critical as we expand Medius' global footprint and grow our partnership base. Medius is building significant momentum and bolstering our leadership position in AP automation - as we continue to forge ahead, I'm looking forward to working with Tanya and Mandi to leverage the expertise of the partner ecosystem to help us realize our company goals."

Tanya Wills, VP of Channel Sales & Alliances, comments: "As Medius enters its next chapter, I'm excited to bring my experience from tech titans to fast-growth startups to the table. I'm looking forward to working with such an outstanding team, to make Medius's partner vision a reality."

Mandi Lapointe, Director of Global Partner Marketing, comments: "I'm passionate about helping businesses thrive in today's complex, diverse, and social world. Having worked at large industry players, I'm excited to bring my experience in sales and marketing to Medius. I can't wait to get going, and to continue to grow the value of the partner community."

For more information, please contact:

Francesca Cahill

Fight or Flight for Medius

Medius@fightflight.co.uk

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/medius/r/medius-builds-senior-team-with-appointment-of-two-channel-leaders,c3592914

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Captain of industry returns to science "to help solve societal problems"

LONDON , June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Business leader Paul Drechsler, CBE, will become the next SCI (Society of Chemical Industry) President, succeeding Paul Booth who has held the current term since 2019. He will formally take over the new role at the SCI AGM in July.

Former CBI (Confederation of British Industry) President (from 2015 to 2018), Paul has been the Chair of business organisation London First since 2018. He is also Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) UK as well as a Non-Executive Director of Greencore Plc and Independent Director of Schroder & Co Ltd. Previously, he served as Chairman of Bibby Line Group from 2014 to 2020. Other experience includes joining construction firm Wates Group in 2004, becoming Chairman and Chief Executive from 2006 - 2014. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of Business in the Community.

"This new position relates back to my original career ambition," said Paul, " I decided during my Engineering degree at Trinity College, Dublin, that I wanted to work in the Chemical Industry. I was always fascinated by how things work, in engineering as the science of problem solving and in science in itself as the means to solve so many of the world's problems. That interest has continued to grow as the world's problems such as global health have become even more complex - especially with the Covid-19 Pandemic and escalating geo-political tensions.

"I look forward to working with the SCI Advisory Council, the Chair and CEO Sharon Todd in developing a compelling strategy for the SCI's next phase of growth", he added "so that we increase our impact and the benefit of scientific learning and application globally to benefit mankind".

SCI CEO Sharon Todd said "SCI is a global innovation hub and 'the place where science meets business' so it is excellent to have someone with Paul's international business and academic expertise and City reputation at the helm."

Since graduating from Trinity College, Paul has worked across the chemical, plastics, food, flavours, industrials, construction, property, retail, distribution and financial services sectors. His career has included being Chief Executive of one of ICI's key international businesses and serving as a main ICI board director from 1998 to 2003. He is Chancellor of Teesside University and a member of the Global Advisory Board of Trinity College, Dublin.

The SCI AGM will be held on 6 July 2022.

Note to Editors

About SCI: where science meets business:

SCI is a unique global multidisciplinary network connecting scientists, business people, students and other key players involved in science-based innovation. SCI promotes innovation via its international network to advance the commercial application of science into industry for the benefit of society.

SCI works across crucial sectors as diverse as food and bio-renewables, water, environment, energy, materials and manufacturing, and health and wellbeing

For more information, please visit www.soci.org

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850318/Paul_Dreschler_Image.jpg
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Star Alliance International Corp. (OTC PINK:STAL) ("Star" or the "Company")

Richard Carey, Chairman of Star Alliance International stated, "Over the last six months STAL has taken great steps to build our company with strong acquisitions that will not only improve the Company's asset value but, will over the next few months generate revenues and profits for the Company. In my last update I told you about our Troy mine, the Genesis gold extraction process, the Honduras mines and the gold and lithium mines in Nigeria.

"In the last few weeks, we formed a new subsidiary Magma International, Inc. that will provide the highest-grade innovative, composite manufacturing materials for worldwide distribution. The composite material is stronger, lighter, superior in performance, environmentally friendly and recyclable. Magma's patented technology can be used in place of steel, wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber, aluminum and Kevlar and only begins to melt at 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. This technology has multiple applications. We are currently finalizing the purchase of the 80,000 square foot factory in South Carolina that will house our first manufacturing plant. Our team is already working on designs of the initial products that will be made available later this year. We are extremely excited about the future growth of this company.

"Currently, we are finalizing negotiations for an investment in STAL that will support our growth plans. We will be announcing the terms and conditions of this investment as soon as possible.

"The Company's new and updated website will be fully operational shortly. Our management team is spending many hours improving our internal and external reporting and security systems.

"We are pleased to announce that we are moving our head office from California to Las Vegas, Nevada. The new address will be announced very shortly.

"We have prepared our new mission Statement which I have set out below;

"Our innovative Company for the pursuit of precious metal mining, environmentally safe technologies for the extraction of gold, lithium and other rare earth minerals and other specialized patented eco-friendly and bio-degradable technologies that will dramatically improve many of our everyday applications.

"We are now a global company and will continue to expand in the US and overseas as opportunities arise.

"I want to personally thank all our shareholders for their continued support. We strongly believe in where the Company is heading and will continue to update you on a regular basis. Keep watching this space."

About Star Alliance International Corp.

Star Alliance International Corp. ("the Company", or "STAL") was incorporated in the State of Nevada on April 17, 2014 under the laws of the State of Nevada.

Star Alliance International Corp is a Global Holding Company with strong assets in the US, Honduras, Guatemala and Nigeria.

Star's assets include gold mines in California and Honduras with gold and lithium mines in Nigeria. In addition, Star searches out innovative new technologies that are eco-friendly including our new mining technology for the extraction of gold that has been invented, designed and built in Guatemala that we plan to market to gold mines worldwide. Lastly, we have our patented Barotex technology. Barotex is our fibers manufactured from volcanic rock that are incredibly light, stronger than steel, wood, carbon fiber, fiberglass, aluminum and Kevlar and are bio-degradable. The product can be used in many everyday applications.

We anticipate continued expansion of our efforts domestically and abroad, with a particularly keen focus on breakthrough separation and processing technologies for precious metals and rare earths.

It is Star's goal to become a very well-rounded enterprise with sufficient diversification paired with a balanced approach ensuring the very best possible results and the highest possible value for our shareholders.

Safe Harbor and Informational Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Security Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), including all statements that are not statement of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) the company's financing plans; (ii) trends affecting the company's financial conditions or results of operations; (iii): the company's growth strategy and operating strategy; and (iv) the declaration and payment of dividends.

The words "may", "would", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including the risk disclosed in the company's statements and reports filed with the OTC Markets. The Company claims the safe harbor provided by Section 21E(c) of the Exchange Act for all forward-looking statements.

For more information, contact STAL.

E Mail: info@staralliancemines.com

Web Site: staralliancemines.com

Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter @staralliancein1

SOURCE: Star Alliance International Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706897/Star-Alliance-International-Corp-Issues-An-Update-from-the-Chairman
CANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Eagle Plains Resources (TSX-V:EPL) is pleased to announce that option partner Rockridge Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ROCK) (OTCQB:RRRLF) (Frankfurt:RR0) ("Rockridge") has completed 3D Geophysical Plate Modelling of the recently acquired VTEM data which will be used to further refine targeting for an upcoming drill program starting in mid-July 2022 at the Knife Lake High-Grade Copper VMS Project located in Saskatchewan, Canada (the "Knife Lake Project" or "Property"). Rockridge is fully funded and permitted for this drill program.

The VTEM survey data displays up to 15 km strike length of highly conductive near-surface anomalies hosted in prospective stratigraphy in regional target areas. The regional target areas, which include the Gilbert Lake Targets, were previously identified through geological mapping, surface sampling and geochemical analyses as stratigraphy with high potential to host valuable copper occurrences and other sulphide mineral occurrences. This stratigraphy is interpreted to be the same horizon that hosts the Knife Lake Deposit.

Rockridge holds the exclusive option from Eagle Plains to acquire a 100% interest in the Property that covers the Knife Lake Cu-Zn-Ag-Co VMS deposit (details following). The contiguous claims are located approximately 50 km northwest of Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan. A 357kV powerline runs within 16 km of the Knife Lake Deposit area.

See Knife Lake VMS Project Location Map here

Rockridge's CEO, Jonathan Wiesblatt, commented: "We are very excited for the upcoming drilling at our flagship asset and look forward to potentially making a new discovery and advancing the project. The 3D modeling of the five plates has confirmed our strategy that the Gilbert Lake Target will be the primary focus on this upcoming drill program in mid-July 2022. The project remains an exciting exploration story that can offer investors exposure to a top mining jurisdiction and to commodities in high demand such as copper, cobalt and zinc. We look forward to updating our shareholders in the coming weeks."

Updates for the Upcoming Diamond Drilling Program

The focus of the 2022 drill program will be on the highly prospective Gilbert Lake target area. The Gilbert Lake targets were identified from the results and interpretation of the 2021 geophysical, drill and field programs. Results from these programs show that airborne VTEM surveys can successfully identify zones of VMS-style mineralization hosted in favourable stratigraphy on the property. Additionally, Rockridge has now finalized the 3D modeling of the VTEM data focusing on the highest-priority drill targets for the upcoming program. Rockridge has signed all major contracts including the drill contractor, camp construction, and helicopter rental. The drill program is scheduled to commence in mid-July 2022. Rockridge has also received its Exploration Permit which expires in February 2024 and hence can conduct drilling, geophysical works and prospecting.

Knife Lake Geology and History

The Knife Lake Deposit is interpreted to be a remobilized VMS deposit. The stratabound mineralized zone is approximately 15m thick and contains copper, silver, zinc, gold and cobalt mineralization which dips 30 to 50 eastward over a known strike-length within the claim area of 3,700 metres, and a known average down-dip extension of approximately 300 metres.

See Knife Lake Deposit Map here

The deposit is hosted by felsic to intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks which have been metamorphosed to upper amphibolite facies. The deposit contains VMS mineralogy which has been significantly modified and partially remobilized during the emplacement of granitic rocks. The mineralization straddles the boundary between two rock units and occurs on both limbs of an interpreted overturned fold.

Rockridge has completed twenty-four holes consisting of 3096 metres of diamond drilling in the 2019 and 2021 winter drilling programs. This represented the first drilling on the property since 2001. Both programs have given Rockridge's technical team valuable insights into the property geology, alteration, and mineralization that will be applied to future regional exploration on the highly prospective and underexplored land package.

See Knife Lake Project VTEM and Grab Sample Survey Map here

Highlights from the drill programs include previously reported hole KF19003 which intersected net-textured to semi-massive sulphide mineralization from 11.2m to 48.8m downhole. This 37.6 metre interval returned 2.03% Cu, 0.19 g/t Au, 9.88 g/t Ag, 0.36% Zn, and 0.01% Co for an estimated 2.42% CuEq.

In August 2019, Rockridge announced a maiden NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Knife Lake deposit which consisted of a pit-constrained indicated resource of 3.8 million tonnes at 1.02% CuEq and an inferred resource of 7.9 million tonnes at 0.67% CuEq using a 0.4% CuEq cut-off. For more information, please refer to the News Release dated August 14th, 2019 or the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Knife Lake Property, Saskatchewan dated September 27, 2019, filed on Sedar.

Knife Lake Option Agreement Details

To earn a 100% interest in the Knife Lake Project, Rockridge has agreed to make a cash payment to Eagle Plains of $150,000 (complete), issue up to 5,550,000 common shares of Rockridge (4,550,000 shares issued to date) and complete $3,250,000 in exploration expenditures over four years. Eagle Plains will retain a 2% net smelter royalty ("NSR") on certain claims which comprise the project area. Under the terms of the agreement Rockridge is designated as the Operator of the project.

Qualified Person

Kerry Bates, P. Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and a Geologist employed by Eagle Plains Resources, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release relating to the Knife Lake Project.

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/706797/Eagle-Plains-Partner-Rockridge-Completes-3D-Geophysics-Modeling-which-Identifies-15-km-Strike-Length-of-Electromagnetic-Conductors-Prepares-for-Fully-Funded-Upcoming-Drill-Program-at-Knife-Lake-High-Grade-Copper-Project-Saskatchewan
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / CannaPharmaRx, Inc. (OTC PINK:CPMD), a future leader in ultramodern, highly efficient cannabis production facilities announced today that it has signed a genetics transfer agreement with High Profile Cannabis, Inc. of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.

Under the terms of the agreement High Profile will deliver will live cannabis plants and seeds to CannaPharmaRx. CannaPharmaRx has applied to Health Canada to be a licensed producer and High Profile desires that its genetics be part of this license. CannaPharmaRx expects to produce finished cannabis products utilizing these genetics. Both companies will negotiate a Supply Agreement in which High Profile will purchase product from CannaPharmaRx on mutually agreeable terms. This agreement will continue for a minimum of twelve months.

"The company continues to achieve significant milestones and will begin to recognize revenue shortly. Partnerships like this and others we are working on will lay the groundwork for significant expansion. We continue to identify other areas for growth and are confident in distribution on several continents next quarter," said Nick Colvin, CEO of CannaPharmaRx.

About High Profile Cannabis, Inc.

High Profile Holdings is a Canadian cannabis company focused on connecting people through supporting the authentic cannabis culture. We specialize in cultivating authentic cannabis cultivars that bring people together through a chain of cannabis retail brands. Our premium cultivated products and elevated retail environment attract established craft cannabis connoisseurs and discerning new customers demanding certainty. High Profile Cannabis showcases our craft process to cultivation.

At retail locations, our customers consistently receive expert service coupled with a rare and curated selection of products, including exclusive access to High Profile products. Our unique advantage is the integration of our direct seed-to sale relationship between cultivation (High Profile Cannabis Co.) and true premium, exclusive, products in Canadian retail outlets.

About CannaPharmaRx, Inc.

CannaPharmaRx is focused on the acquisition and development of state-of-the-art cannabis grow facilities in Canada. CPMD is in discussion with other companies regarding potential acquisitions. CannaPharmaRx's business strategy is to become a leader in high quality and low-cost production of cannabis through the development, acquisition, and enhancement of existing facilities. CannaPharmaRx is committed to operating high-quality facilities utilizing the latest technology in combined heat and power generation to ensure being a low-cost producer of cannabis.

Safe Harbor Statement

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information or Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or statements. All statements that are or information which is not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations, or beliefs of future performance, are 'forward-looking information or statements.' Forward-looking information or statements can be identified by the use of words such as 'plans,' 'expects,' or 'does not expect,' 'is expected,' 'estimates,' '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. With respect to forward-looking information and statements contained herein, Management of CannapharmaRx has made numerous assumptions, including, among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, events, or developments to be materially different from any future results, events, or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information or statements. 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 forward-looking information or statements. CannapharmaRx assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or statements, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information, or for any other reason except as required by law.

Contact Information:

Brokers and Analysts:

Chesapeake Group

(410) 825-3930

SOURCE: CannaPharmaRx

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706892/CannaPharmaRx-Enters-into-a-Genetics-Transfer-Agreement-with-High-Profile-Cannabis-Corp
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - ArcPacific Resources Corp. (TSXV: ACP) (FSE: P21P) (OTC Pink: ACPRF) ("ACP" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update regarding its ongoing work at its 100% owned LMSL Project (the "LMSL Property") located in the Quesnel Trough, British Columbia's primary copper and gold producing belt.

The initial work program has identified the location of an early 1900s era gold-copper mine previously incorrectly plotted in the BC government database (see figure 2) and represents one of many historic workings located on the LMSL Property. The historic mine adit was located while infilling an area with limited data surrounded by anomalous copper geochemistry, identified by the Company's extensive compilation program as a high priority area. Historic mining in this area was thought to have taken place during the early 1910s, however there are no records of development and no evidence of drilling.

Figure 1: Historic gold-copper mine located within the south central LMSL project area on the southwestern edge of the Lucky Mike area. Chalcopyrite and pyrite were visibly identified related to quartz veins within a broken and fault gouged zone cutting intensely silicified volcanic rocks.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6963/129371_figure1.jpg

The Company's extensive compilation identified three samples from the vicinity of the newly located mine workings, two of which assayed as follows: 50.83 g/t gold, 125.4 g/t silver; 0.92g/t gold, 130 g/t silver (BC ARIS Report 26468).

The historic gold-copper mine follows a mineralized fault structure that strikes 270 degrees and dips 70-75 degrees located along the west side of the valley cutting Swakum Mountain in a general northeast southwest direction. The fault orientation suggests it is likely a sub-parallel splay or branching structure related to a larger and more significant magnetic low (fault) structure which is at least 2.5 kilometres long (see figure 2) within the untested valley floor.

Figure 2: Lucky Mike Area on the LMSL Property, showing the new properly located and old improperly plotted location of historic gold copper mine over first vertical magnetics, copper in soils (ppm) and gold in rocks (ppb).



To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6963/129371_cd30c409047ab9a4_004full.jpg

The planned 2022 drilling program includes drill holes targeting the prominent magnetic low structure in the vicinity of the historic gold and copper mine. The planned drilling also aims to test other areas including testing newly developed geological vector models where increased potassic alteration is indicated proximal to historic drilling with porphyry style mineralization.

The ongoing field work leading up to the planned 2022 drilling program is infilling untested areas and testing new prioritized target areas recently developed by GoldSpot Discoveries Corp. ("GoldSpot") spread across the 120 plus square kilometre project area.

Figure 3: Location Map of ArcPacific's LMSL Property over regional geology showing mineralized trend and other notable projects.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6963/129371_cd30c409047ab9a4_005full.jpg

The LMSL Property is located in the prolific Quesnel Trough in south central British Columbia which is host to several operating copper and gold mines and immediately adjacent to Teck Resources Highland Valley Mine. Additional activity in the area includes Tower Resources Rabbit Project where the recent drilling of 1.55 g/t Au over 138.0 m, including 4.76 g/t Au over 24.5 m (see Tower Resources News dated June 22, 2022) which is located within a similar geological setting as the LMSL Property. Additionally, recent successful drilling at the Kodiak Copper MPD project (also within the same continuous volcanic belt as the LMSL Property) intersected a new mineralized zone through successful drilling in 2020 including 282 m of 0.70% Copper and 0.49 g/t Gold (1.16% CuEq), Including 45.7 m of 1.41% Copper and 1.46 g/t Gold (2.75% CuEq) (See Kodiak Copper News dated Sep 3, 2020).

The Company also announces that, subject to regulatory approval, it has retained Red Cloud Securities Inc. ("Red Cloud") to provide market stabilization and liquidity services to the Company in compliance with the policies and guidelines of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") and other applicable legislation.

Red Cloud is a Toronto-based financial services company that provides assistance to mineral exploration and mining companies in accessing capital markets and enhancing their corporate profile. Red Cloud will trade shares of ACP on the TSX-V for the purposes of maintaining a reasonable market and improving the liquidity of ACP's common shares. Under the agreement, the Company will pay Red Cloud $7,500 per month during the term, payable quarterly in advance. The term of engagement is ongoing and may be terminated by either party on 30 days' prior written notice. The Company and Red Cloud have an arm's length relationship, but Red Cloud and/or its clients may have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of ACP.

The agreement is principally for the purposes of maintaining market stability and liquidity for the Company's common shares and is not a formal market making agreement. There are no performance factors contained in the agreement between Red Cloud and the Company and Red Cloud will not receive any shares or options from the Company as compensation for services it will render.

Disclosure

The Qualified Person ("QP") for the Company has not verified the historic sample analytical data disclosed within this release. While the Company has obtained all historic records including analytical data from the previous owners of the Properties and from various government databases, the Company has not independently verified the results of the historic sampling.

Adrian Smith, P.Geo., is a QP as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the above-mentioned project. The QP is a member in good standing of the Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (EGBC) and is a registered Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.). Mr. Smith has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed above.

About ArcPacific Resources Corp.

ArcPacific Resources Corp. (TSXV: ACP) is a Canadian based exploration company. ArcPacific owns 100% interest in the LMSL Copper Gold & Silver Project in British Columbia, Canada, in the prolific Quesnel Trough which is world renowned for its copper and gold endowment. The Company also holds other highly prospective exploration projects in Canada including its Blackdome gold project where it discovered continuous gold mineralization in the first ever trenching at the project. The Company is focused on creating shareholder value through new discoveries and strategic development of its mineral properties and is exploring additional business opportunities. For further information, please visit http://www.arcpacific.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

/s "Adrian Smith" CEO and Director

Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof.

Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to results the Company may receive from a work program on the LMS Property, statements regarding exploration plans, the expectations of management regarding the arrangement with Red Cloud, provision of market stabilization and liquidity services by Red Cloud, payment of compensation to Red Cloud and TSX-V approval of the proposed agreement with Red Cloud. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which ACP operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include that the TSX-V may not approve the agreement with Red Cloud; that Red Cloud may not provide services as agreed to; that Red Cloud's services may not stabilize the market for the common shares of the Company; actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law.

Readers are further advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact us at info@arcpacific.ca or 1.778.331.3816.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129371
AX-8 reduces cough frequency and improves patient-reported outcomes in patients with chronic cough

Axalbion, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel medicines to treat cough, today announced positive results from a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study (AX8-003) with its transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) agonist, AX-8, in patients with refractory or unexplained chronic cough.

The Phase 2 trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of AX-8 in 51 patients with refractory or unexplained chronic cough. Patients received 40 mg of the drug twice daily, eight hours apart, or matching placebo for two weeks, followed by a seven-day washout period before crossing over to the opposite treatment for two weeks. AX-8, a topically acting compound, is delivered as an orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) placed on the back of the tongue.

"We are pleased to report Phase 2 data showing that AX-8 reduced cough frequency in patients with chronic cough, particularly in the immediate post-treatment period, as well as improved key patient and clinician-reported outcomes," said Michael Kitt, MD, chief executive officer. "As this was a proof-of-concept study evaluating a new mechanism of action, the endpoints chosen were exploratory. While the primary endpoint of cough reduction at eight hours did not reach statistical significance, there was a clear and immediate benefit after treatment with AX-8 in patients with chronic cough that warrants moving forward with clinical development."

Results showed:

Treatment with AX-8 40 mg BID compared to placebo showed a reduction in cough frequency within the first 15 minutes after treatment and lasting for more than 4 hours. This included a 44% reduction in cough frequency over two hours compared to 18% with placebo and a 35% reduction over 4 hours compared to 20% with placebo.

Reduction in cough frequency was seen across patients in the study irrespective of high/low baseline cough frequency, duration of coughing, age or sex.

In a pre-determined subset of patients with higher baseline throat discomfort, there was a statistically significant reduction of cough, including a 49% reduction over two hours compared to 8% with placebo and a 32% reduction over 24 hours compared to 13% with placebo.

Overall improvements in patient- and clinician-reported outcomes over 14 days were observed in:

-Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ)

-patient's global impression of change (very much improved or much improved)

-clinician's global impression of change (very much improved or much improved)

-Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) -patient's global impression of change (very much improved or much improved) -clinician's global impression of change (very much improved or much improved) Good safety profile, with no serious adverse events

"With its rapid onset of action, AX-8 is an ideal candidate for the treatment of cough. Chronic cough is episodic by nature. Patients have cough bouts interspersed with periods of calm with reduced or no coughing. AX-8 as a standalone treatment or in combination with a P2X3 antagonist could significantly improve the quality of life of chronic cough patients," said principal investigator Jacky Smith, MD, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Manchester, UK.

Given these positive findings, the company plans to initiate a Phase 2 study examining more frequent dosing of AX-8 in the treatment of chronic cough patients in the first quarter of 2023.

About AX-8 and TRPM8

AX-8, a potent and selective transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) agonist, is in development for treatment of chronic cough. TRPM8 is expressed in many of the sensory fibers innervating the upper airways. Axalbion believes that activating TRPM8-expressing fibers with AX-8 will normalize the upper airway sensitivity in chronic cough patients, decreasing coughing (antitussive effect) and irritation of the throat (counterirritant effect). In a previous open-label pilot study in 12 patients with refractory/unexplained chronic cough, AX-8 appeared to reduce cough when given as a single 5 mg ODT (EudraCT Number 2017-003108-27).

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius, PhD, and Ardem Patapoutian, PhD, for their discoveries of thermal and mechanical transducers, including the discovery of TRPM8. Since its cloning in 2002, extensive research has identified TRPM8 as a potential target to relieve symptoms or cure several diseases. Animal models have shown that activation of TRPM8-expressing fibers in the skin inhibits sensory hypersensitivity in peripheral neuropathy and inflammation, as well as itching. Additionally, activation of TRPM8 in corneal trigeminal fibers has been shown to increase basal tear secretion and relieve neuropathic ocular pain in patients with dry eye disease. AX-8 properties suggest that it could also be a promising drug candidate to treat dry eye.

About Chronic Cough

Chronic cough is defined as a cough lasting for more than eight weeks, often occurring in bouts. More than 80% of patients in tertiary cough clinics have throat irritation which triggers cough bouts, defining a population with oropharyngeal hypersensitivity potentially responding to a topical locally acting drug such as AX-8. After potential triggers such as gastro-intestinal reflux disease (GERD) and asthma have been excluded or treated, cough still remains a significant and common problem for many patients. Chronic cough has a substantial impact on quality of life with, for example, around half of female patients having urinary stress incontinence. There are no approved drugs for the treatment of chronic cough, making it a significant unmet need affecting more than 26 million people in the U.S. alone, with approximatively three million having refractory or unexplained chronic cough lasting for more than a year and approximatively six million having refractory or unexplained chronic cough lasting more than eight weeks and under one year.

About Axalbion

Axalbion is a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel medicines for the millions of patients who suffer from chronic cough and dry eye. The company, founded in December 2016, is based in Manchester, United Kingdom, a region known for its centers of excellence in respiratory research, with offices in Lausanne, Switzerland and Mountain View, CA. For further information, please visit www.axalbion.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005372/en/

Contacts:

Michael Kitt, MD

Chief Executive Officer

Axalbion Therapeutics Limited

investor@axalbion.com

or

Susan Kinkead

Kinkead Communications

susan@kinkeadcomm.com

(415) 509-3610
Amring Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Amring), a niche generic and brand pharmaceutical company, announced today it has joined The End Drug Shortages Alliance (Alliance), a new coalition of diverse stakeholders to address drug shortages in the United States. Alliance provides a forum for key stakeholders to take strategic aim at one of health care's more pressing and enduring issues, drug shortages that disrupt patient care.

"Drug shortages continue to impact health care and its delivery," said Daniel Carbery, President and CEO of Amring. "As a member of Alliance, we will work together to develop collaborative mitigation strategies to address issues contributing to these shortages."

Alliance was launched in late 2021 to bring together industry stakeholders, including providers, group purchasing organizations, manufacturers, distributors, and other industry thought leaders and champions. Efforts will focus on improving access to medications through greater transparency across market participants, leading to improved quality manufacturing of medications and production of additional supply.

"We are grateful to have Amring join Alliance to end drug shortages," said Eric Tichy, Division Chair of Pharmacy Supply Solutions for Mayo Clinic, who serves as the Chair for the Alliance advisory board. "Collaboration among organizations strengthens our ability to improve the quality of life for patients that rely on these medications. Together, we can make a difference."

Learn more at www.EndDrugShortages.com.

About End Drug Shortages Alliance

The End Drugs Shortages Alliance is a collaboration of select health systems, supply chain, industry and other stakeholders including group purchasing organizations, manufacturers, distributors and other industry thought leaders dedicated to solving the pharmaceutical supply challenges that disrupt access to essential medications in the U.S. We prioritize initiatives focused on transparency, quality, redundancy and production of additional supply to achieve undisrupted access to essential medications for health care providers and patients.

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 Amring's business developments and the implementation of Amring's strategic initiatives. Because these statements reflect Amring's 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 Amring's 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 Amring's 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005664/en/

Contacts:

Amring Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Marina Volin, Esq.

VP, General Counsel

610-285-7137

Marina.volin@amringpharma.com
Trackforce Valiant, a leading provider of security workforce management solutions, today announced the acquisition of TrackTik Software, one of the most innovative and fastest growing cloud-based security workforce management providers. The combination of these two companies has created a new dominant market leader in providing visibility and control for the physical security workforce.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005064/en/

"We are very excited to welcome TrackTik into the Trackforce Valiant family," said Trevor Campion, CEO of Trackforce Valiant. "Now more than ever, we believe in the importance of providing the right security solutions for companies of all sizes and business needs. The addition of TrackTik enables us to provide a wide range of technology options that are purpose-built for the unique needs of physical security operations."

TrackTik was founded in 2013 with the mission of providing a complete set of tools through easy-to-use software and taking the fear out of technology in order to put it to work for security workforce management. From their origins in Montreal, Canada, TrackTik provides solutions to over 35 countries across 6 continents and has been steadily innovating the way companies leverage workforce technology for security operations. The platform provides a full suite of applications, combining the needs of back-office administration to front line security operations.

As a result of this new venture, physical security companies now can leverage the combined best practices of two leading security workforce management providers, providing multiple options for how they can manage security operations. Additionally, the combined technology teams of Trackforce Valiant and TrackTik Software will enable the company to further innovate and enhance their solutions further than any other software provider in the industry.

"The physical security market continues to grow, and with that so does the need for solutions that can grow with them," said Simon Ferragne, CEO of TrackTik. "This acquisition positions us as the dominant leader for security workforce technology, and we are thrilled to work together to continue our mission to build innovative, leading-edge solutions for our customers."

Both companies will continue to maintain operations in service of their customers and partners, with Trevor Campion overseeing the combined organization as CEO, and Simon Ferragne, TrackTik's CEO, entering the role of CTO. Simon Ferragne and TrackTik's investors, CDPQ Investissements, Georgian, Klass Capital, Inovia Capital, Intercap, and Schauer Ventures have reinvested a portion of their proceeds in the newly combined entity to help foster continued growth in the company. TrackTik will continue to operate and maintain its presence in Quebec as one of Canada's top small and medium employers. Trackforce Valiant and TrackTik will collaborate on developing and innovating security solutions that include Time and Labor Management, Guard Touring, Incident Management, Dispatch and Mobile Patrol, as well as Billing and Payroll management.

About Trackforce Valiant

Trackforce Valiant is a leader in complete security workforce management solutions. More than 300,000 professionals at over 30,000 customer sites in 45 countries use Trackforce Valiant every day to ensure the delivery of reliable security services, improve operational efficiency and optimally manage their human capital. For nearly 30 years, Trackforce Valiant has provided fully integrated security solutions to its partners and customers. Thanks to its security expertise and state-of-the-art information systems technology, Trackforce Valiant proudly offers the most effective solutions available on the market. Clients include the world's leading security guard service providers, as well as major airports, universities, and corporations across the globe. Additional information is available at https://www.trackforcevaliant.com

About TrackTik

Founded in 2013, TrackTik is a privately-owned, VC-backed Canadian scale-up of 200+ employees providing a cloud-based workforce management solution in the physical security industry. Headquartered in Montreal, with offices in the UK and a presence in various provinces in Canada and the Netherlands, TrackTik serves 780 customers in more than 35 countries. TrackTik quickly established itself as a market leader with the mission to seamlessly connect humans, workflows, and systems to deliver a better way of working to the physical security workforce. TrackTik's integrated suite of automated tools fluidly connects frontline operations and back-office management allowing managers to follow the progression of field workers, reduce manual tasks, lower cost, glean actionable insights from data to demonstrate value, promote operational efficiency and boost productivity, job satisfaction, and retention. Additional information is available at https://www.tracktik.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005064/en/

Contacts:

For press inquiries, please contact:

Fortress Strategic Communications

Evan Bloom, CEO

Tel: 1 315-744-4912

E-mail: evan@fortresscomms.com

Web: www.fortresscomms.com
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Anywhere365, the leading cloud-based contact center and dialogue management platform for the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, has appointed Enrico Karsten as CEO. He will succeed the company's founder, Gijs Geurts, who will take on a new role as Chair of the Board.

Enrico Karsten is a highly regarded, people-orientated business leader who brings a wealth of experience in business strategy in the unified communication and IoT space. Already one year ago he was appointed as Managing Director. In this role he has led the day-to-day operations of Anywhere365 and - together with CFO Frans Koch - prepared the organization for further growth.

New phase of growth

"Today I proudly and confidently hand over the reins over the company to Enrico," said Gijs Geurts. "Having founded Anywhere365 10 years ago, I look back in gratitude and pride to all that we have achieved. Over 2,000 global enterprises have chosen Anywhere365 Dialogue Cloud as the native communication platform on top of their Microsoft investments and our revenue has grown 250% year-on-year over the past 3 years. I'm celebrating this change in leadership, as it marks a new phase of growth. Enrico is the perfect fit to lead this next phase, taking Anywhere365 to $ 100 Million revenue in 2024."

Cyrus Shey, managing partner, Bregal Milestone and non-executive director, Anywhere365: "Enrico brings an impressive background of deep experience and entrepreneurial drive to delight customers. In the past year, in his role as MD, Enrico has proven that his energy, dedication, leadership and commitment to customers are excellent qualities to lead Anywhere365 during the next phase of growth. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Gijs for his leadership for the past 10 years and we look forward to supporting Enrico to deliver an exciting future of profitable growth."

Maximize the value of time

"I am absolutely thrilled to start this in this position and would like to thank Gijs and the rest of the board for their trust," said Enrico Karsten. "The future of work, productivity and customer experiences is constantly evolving. But our aim remains solid and clear: we want to maximize the value of every minute in any customer dialogue. For enterprise companies, as well as their customers. We will keep focusing on beyond-smart routing, automation, digitization and a firm alignment with Microsoft's UC strategy. I am looking forward to work with the amazing people within Anywhere365 and our partners to further scale up the benefits of our platform, capture more market share, and become the leading Dialogue Routing Hub for the Microsoft ecosystem."

About Anywhere36

Anywhere365 is the leading cloud contact center and dialogue management platform for the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It was founded on the vision to maximize the value of time by reducing unnecessary dialogues. Award-winning Anywhere365 Dialogue Cloud platform enhances customer experiences as well as workforce productivity. It is found in 2,000+ of the largest international brands, such as Rabobank, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Nestle and more than 30 Fortune 500 companies. Anywhere365 has offices in the USA, UK, Australia, Germany, France and the Netherlands (HQ).

www.anywhere365.io

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850311/Enrico_Karsten.jpg
URBAR, Germany, June 29 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- www.consultingcheck.com is now available for all English-speaking business managers. The innovative and web-based digital service supports specialists and managers of all kinds of business groups.

consultingcheck was launched at the end of 2021 in Germany and has already been applied by countless professionals in business operations. It is the first automized and cost-free consulting platform worldwide. The core service of consultingcheck is a digital, interactive business consulting service that supports its users when dealing with various issues involved in the management process.

With consultingcheck, managers can systematically focus on their individual business challenges in an interactive exchange and crystallize effective ways of finding solutions. Specialists also benefit from breakthrough whitepapers, practical checklists, useful templates, business management applications, relevant background information and specific contacts.

consultingcheck covers various topics concerning the challenges of day-to-day management as well as general questions: how to internationalize sales, how to increase revenue, how to decrease costs, how to effectively manage people, how to finance a business, how to digitalize processes, how to restructure, sell or buy a company - and many more.

consultingcheck provides a methodical overview and on-the-job orientation and offers specific suitable and proven ways and instruments for when they are needed.

Initiator of this service, Dr. Werner Boysen, has been operating in management roles and as a business consultant in different industries and corporate situations for more than three decades: "consultingcheck creates a win-win-situation: Clients are enabled to identify their particular solution-approaches and can therefore choose personal consultants in a qualified way. Consultants also benefit from consultingcheck because they find access to potential clients."

- Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -

PR-Contact:

Dr. Priska Jones / Email: kontakt@priska-jones.com, +49-(0) 6742 941 4425

in behalf of Dr. Boysen Management + Consulting GmbH, Klostergut Besselich, 56182 Urbar, GERMANY
STOCKHOLM, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Securitas, the security solutions partner with world-leading technology and expertise, has signed the commitment letter for the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and will begin the process of developing and validating targets to reduce the Group's climate impact.

The SBTi is a collaboration between CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), the World Resources Institute, Worldwide Fund for Nature, and the UN Global Compact. Science-based targets provide companies with a clearly defined path to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals, that is pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

"As a leader in the industry, committing to the Science Based Targets initiative was the right next step for Securitas", says Magnus Ahlqvist, President and CEO. "By reporting emissions to CDP for over 10 years and being a signatory to UN Global Compact since 2015, we have already shown that we take climate change seriously. I am proud that we, in line with our purpose to help make your world a safer place, demonstrate our industry leadership by committing to SBTi."

Securitas' environmental impact is relatively small, as demonstrated by our Net Impact score, and we are reducing it further by creating more sustainable future security solutions through an extensive modernization and digitization of the business. Securitas partners with of many of the world's foremost companies and looks forward to continuing to work together with its clients, as well as suppliers, to reduce emissions and climate impact.

"Doing the right thing isn't new to us. Being a responsible business has been our priority since 1934", says Cecilia Alenius, Group Sustainability Officer. "To us, it's only natural that security and sustainability walk hand-in-hand. It's why we're justly proud of our already low environmental impact but will never stop finding ways to reduce it further still. This is how we'll lead the industry in the right direction. And how we all will see a different world.

This press release is available at www.securitas.com

Contact:

Media: Securitas Group Press Office

Helena Andreas

SVP Group

Communications and People

+46104703020

press@securitas.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/securitas/r/securitas-first-global-security-company-to-commit-to-sbti,c3593646

The following files are available for download:
SOUTH JORDAN, UT / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / FuturePay Holdings Inc. ("FuturePay"), a provider of digital revolving credit solutions, announced that it has signed an agreement with Cross River, a technology infrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions, for the company's MyTab digital revolving credit platform. Headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey, Cross River is a leading financial services institution that powers innovative fintech companies. With Cross River's banking capabilities and robust technology infrastructure, the MyTab digital platform will provide responsible credit access to consumers across the country, and fintech solutions to countless merchants. Cross River's regulatory expertise adds an additional layer of compliance and consumer protection, ensuring a secure and reliable platform.

FuturePay's MyTab digital revolving credit platform will be available to e-commerce merchants and their customers as an embedded cardless payment solution in the coming weeks. Operating outside traditional credit card "rails," MyTab enables consumers to apply once for a credit line that can be used and reused over time. This allows FuturePay merchants to develop long-term customer relationships, encouraging repeat or subscription purchases, and creating brand loyalty. This contrasts with Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options which offer short-term installment loans that close when the transaction is paid off. MyTab offers the convenience and instant decisioning of BNPL solutions while delivering rigorous credit screening and fraud mitigation similar to what traditional credit cards and store card companies provide.

FuturePay's new platform is merchant-friendly, providing competitive merchant fees for ecommerce transactions while giving consumers the flexibility to structure payments to meet their own budgetary needs. MyTab is integrated with many major e-commerce platform providers including Shopify, Magento, Shift4Shop, and PrestaShop, with more to come.

"We are excited to partner with FuturePay to power its new digital revolving credit platform. This innovative product helps to fill a gap in the market and provide responsible credit solutions to more consumers," said Adam Goller, Head of Fintech Banking at Cross River. "The company has built a first-class compliance and cybersecurity program with the experience of the end consumer in mind. FuturePay is well positioned to meet the demands of a fast-growing marketplace."

"Cross River is one of the most respected financial institutions in the e-commerce sector, and we are excited to be partnering with them to bring MyTab to market," said FuturePay's Chief Executive Officer Tim Harris. "We look forward to a long and profitable relationship with Cross River as we look to help merchants grow their businesses and establish long-term relationships with their customers."

About FuturePay

Headquartered in South Jordan, Utah, FuturePay Holdings Inc. is the provider of MyTab, an innovative digital revolving credit platform that delivers a secure, cost-effective, and easy-to-implement cardless payment option for e-commerce merchants and their customers. Unlike traditional Buy Now Pay Later platforms that provide installment loans for a single purchase, MyTab customers apply once for a revolving credit line which they can reuse again and again for purchases on any website accepting MyTab as a payment method.

About Cross River

Cross River provides technology infrastructure powering the future of financial services. Leveraging its proprietary real-time banking core, Cross River delivers innovative and scalable embedded payments, cards, lending and crypto solutions to millions of consumers and businesses. Cross River is backed by leading investors and serves the world's most essential fintech and technology companies. Together with its partners, Cross River is reshaping global finance and financial inclusion. Member FDIC. Find out more at www.crossriver.com.

Contact:

Glenn Goldberg

Parallel Communications, Inc.

ggoldberg@parallelpr.com

516-776-3282

SOURCE: FuturePay Holdings Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706942/FuturePay-Holdings-Inc-Announces-Partnership-with-Cross-River-for-MyTab-Platform
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - YORK HARBOUR METALS INC. (TSXV: YORK) (OTC Pink: YORKF) (FSE: 5DE0) (the "Company" or "York") is pleased to announce that it has closed the brokered private placement offering (the "Offering"), with a non-brokered portion of the offering (the "Non-Brokered Portion"), for gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $11.46 million, including the partial exercise of the over-allotment option. The Offering was conducted by Research Capital Corporation and Red Cloud Securities Inc. as joint bookrunners, together with Haywood Securities Inc. as co-lead agents, and together with Canaccord Genuity Corp. (collectively, the "Agents"). In connection with the Offering and the Non-Brokered Portion, the Company issued:

a) 2,625,600 units of the Company (the "Units") at a price of $1.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant");

b) 4,987,228 flow-through units of the Company (the "FT Units") at a price of $1.20 per FT Unit. Each FT Unit consists of one Common Share that will qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act") and one-half of one Warrant; and

c) 1,900,000 flow-through units of the Company sold to charitable purchasers (the "Charity FT Units") at a price of $1.50 per Charity FT Unit. Each Charity FT Unit consists of one Common Share that will qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Tax Act that will be issued as part of a charity arrangement and one-half of one Warrant.

Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $1.50 per Warrant Share at any time up to 24 months following the Closing (as defined herein).

The net proceeds from the sale of Units will be used for exploration and development of the Company's York Harbour Project located in Newfoundland and for general working capital purposes. The gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Units and Charity FT Units will be used to incur Canadian Exploration Expenses (CEE) and will qualify as 'flow-through mining expenditures' under the Tax Act.

The Company will renounce such CEE to the purchasers of the FT Units and Charity FT Units with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2022.

In connection with the Offering, the Agents have received an aggregate cash fee equal to $548,740. In addition, the Company granted the Agents 432,134 non-transferable compensation warrants (the "Compensation Warrants"). Each Compensation Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Unit at an exercise price of $1.00 per Unit for a period of 24 months following the Closing. In addition, the Agents received an aggregate advisory fee of $29,877 and 154,636 advisory broker warrants on the same terms as the Compensation Warrants.

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.

About the Company

York Harbour Metals Inc. (TSXV: YORK) (OTC Pink: YORKF) (FSE: 5DE0) (formerly Phoenix Gold Resources) (TSXV: PXA) (OTC Pink: PGRCF) is an exploration and development company focused on the 100%-owned York Harbour Copper-Zinc-Silver Project, a mineral property located approximately 27 km from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The Company plans to continue drilling the strike and depth extents of Main Mine area and test the other massive sulphide targets, like the No 4 Brook showing, while focusing on gaining access to the 400-level and Sea Level adits.

For more information on York Harbour Metals please contact the CEO at info@yorkharbourmetals.com, Tel: +1-778-302-2257 or visit the website www.yorkharbourmetals.com for past news releases, media interviews and opinion-editorial pieces by management.

On Behalf of The Board of Directors,

Andrew Lee

CEO, President, and Director

Telephone: 778-302-2257 | Email: andrew@yorkharbourmetals.com

Website: www.yorkharbourmetals.com

1518 - 800 Pender Street W, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 2V6

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.



Forward-Looking Statement



This news release may contain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All information contained herein that is not historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements herein include but are not limited to statements relating to the prospects for development of the Company's mineral properties, and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129456
Commercial partnership: Agreement to distribute Implanet's JAZZ platform in China, the world's largest market (by volume) for spine surgery

Technological partnership: Joint development of a brand-new European hybrid fixation system range

Financial partnership: Proposed capital increase with preferential subscription rights through the issue of shares with warrants, guaranteed up to 5 million by the partner Sanyou Medical

Regulatory News:

IMPLANET (Paris:ALIMP) (Euronext Growth: ALIMP, FR0013470168, eligible for PEA-PME equity savings plans), a medical technology company specializing in vertebral implants, announced today the signing of an agreement defining the principles of a strategic, technological and financial partnership project with Sanyou Medical, a Chinese manufacturer of medical devices for spine surgery.

Ludovic LASTENNET, Implanet's CEO, stated: "For many years now, Implanet has shown a particular interest in China, currently the world market with the greatest potential in volume terms for spine surgery. This strategic partnership with Chinese second largest manufacturer of spinal implants, Sanyou Medical, is an amazing opportunity from a number of respects. Firstly, it will allow us to market our JAZZ range in China, via a distribution contract. It will also enable us to accelerate our innovation by combining our know-how to rapidly develop a brand-new range of fixation systems for western markets. Lastly, this collaboration will strengthen our financial visibility, with our partner acquiring a 5 million stake in our Company via a capital increase. This will be open to all our current shareholders and should allow us to put an end to the alternative financing by convertible bonds

First distribution agreement in China for Implanet's JAZZ platform

China is the world's largest potential market by volume for Implanet's JAZZ technology, with 15,000 pediatric scoliosis surgeries and 750,000 adult surgeries performed per year1

Within the framework of this partnership, Sanyou Medical, China's second largest and most premium manufacturer of medical devices for spine surgery, generating revenue of approximately 85 million euros in 2021, will distribute, after approval by sanitary authorities, Implanet's entire JAZZ range in China.

The final distribution and technological partnership agreements will be concluded as soon as the conditions are met and no later than December 31, 2022.

Technological know-how synergies for the development of a European hybrid fixation system range

This is also a technological partnership. The two companies will draw on their know-how and R&D to develop a brand-new comprehensive hybrid fixation range and incorporating the very latest developments and innovations in the field of spine surgery (deformation treatment system, minimally invasive range, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc.)

Proposed capital increase with preferential subscription rights through the issue of shares with warrants, guaranteed up to 5 million by the partner Sanyou Medical

This technological and commercial partnership will be accompanied by an operation to raise capital of between 5 and 5.5 million for Implanet (excluding the possible exercise of an extension clause of up to 15%), paid in two equal tranches.

This financing will allow the Company to cover its anticipated cash flow needs for the next 12 months (the financial resources available to the Company, at the date of this press release, do not cover its projected 12-month needs), to finalize the globalization of its product offering for spine surgery with the development of a European range of hybrid fixation systems, and to finance the acceleration of its direct sales in the main European markets and in the United States, and the roll-out of the JAZZ platform in China, which is the world's leading potential market in terms of volume.

This operation will take the form of a capital increase via the issuance of shares with share subscription warrants with preemptive subscription rights maintained (the "rights issue") open to all shareholders at a unit price of 0.28, issuance premium included, for an initial gross amount, before exercise of the attached share subscription warrants, of approximately 2.5 million to 2.75 million (issuance premium included).

The share subscription warrants attached to the new shares resulting from the rights issue may be exercised until March 31, 2023 at an exercise price of 0.32 per share. Their exercise will result in an additional capital increase of approximately 2.5 million to 2.75 million.

Sanyou Medical has pledged to subscribe, under certain conditions, to the shares with share subscription warrants not subscribed to on an irreducible basis and to subscribe to the attached share subscription warrants for a total of 5 million.

This issuance should take place no later than October 31, 2022 and following the fulfillment of certain standard conditions precedent, notably related to compliance with regulatory constraints and under the control of government authorities.

Sanyou Medical has requested to be appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company upon completion of its subscription. A General Meeting may be convened for this purpose.

Main characteristics of the capital increase

The shares with share subscription warrants would be offered at a price of 0.28 per share.

The newly issued shares would bear current dividend rights and may be traded on the Euronext Growth market in Paris. They would be listed on the same line as the Company's existing shares (ISIN: FR0013470168) as soon as they are admitted to trading.

The issue price of a share to be subscribed upon exercise of the warrants would be 0.32. The share subscription warrants should be exercised until midnight on March 31, 2023. Any share subscription warrants not exercised by that date will automatically become null and void.

The share subscription warrants would immediately be detached from the new shares. An application would be made for the share subscription warrants to be admitted to trading on the Euronext Growth market in Paris.

Once the conditions are met, a forthcoming press release will detail the timetable and the definitive terms of the operation, and notably the parities.

Legal framework of the operation

Making use of the delegation of authority approved by the Combined General Meeting of June 9, 2022 in resolution 11 and in resolution 15, the Board of Directors will meet, as soon as the conditions precedent are satisfied, to decide on the issuance of the shares with share subscription warrants with preemptive subscription rights maintained.

If Sanyou Medical's subscription commitment cannot be fulfilled in full within the framework of this transaction due to the subscription of shareholders, the Company is committed to convene a general meeting in order to obtain the delegations allowing Sanyou Medical to subscribe for new shares to meet its subscription commitment, at the same price conditions.

In accordance with the provisions of article L.411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code and article 211-2 of the General Regulations of the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF), this Rights Issue will not be subject to a prospectus requiring a visa from the AMF, as the total amount of the offering calculated over a period of 12 months does not exceed 8 million.

Risk factors

Implanet would like to draw your attention to the other risk factors associated with the Company and its activity set forth in Chapter 4, "Risk Factors", of its 2017 Registration Document approved by the AMF on April 16, 2018 under number D.18-0337, as well as in the annual financial report of December 31, 2021.

About Sanyou Medical

Founded in 2005, Shanghai Sanyou Medical Co, Ltd. is a company dedicated to the R&D, manufacturing and sales of innovative and independent orthopedic products. The main products of Shanghai Sanyou are spinal and trauma implants. Shanghai Sanyou is one of the few companies with the ability to make original innovations based on clinical requirements in the field of spinal implants in China.

The Company has established a complete product development system with world-class R&D equipment and project management systems to ensure that its products are advanced, effective and reliable. By the end of 2021, the company had 27 registration certificates for Class III medical devices and 395 patents registered including 61 in inventions, 214 in utility models, 116 in designs and 4 in software copyrights.

About IMPLANET

Founded in 2007, IMPLANET is a medical technology company that manufactures high-quality implants for orthopedic surgery. Its activity revolves around a comprehensive innovative solution for improving the treatment of spinal pathologies (JAZZ) complemented by the product range offered by Orthopaedic Spine Development (OSD), acquired in May 2021 (thoraco-lumbar screws, cages and cervical plates). Implanet's tried-and-tested orthopedic platform is based on the traceability of its products. Protected by four families of international patents, JAZZ has obtained 510(k) regulatory clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, the CE mark in Europe and ANVISA approval in Brazil. IMPLANET employs 39 staff and recorded a consolidated revenue of 6.1 million in 2021. Based near Bordeaux in France, IMPLANET opened a US subsidiary in Boston in 2013. IMPLANET is listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris. For further information, please visit www.Implanet.com.

The Company would like to remind readers that the table for monitoring the equity line (OCA, BSA) and the number of shares outstanding is available on its website: http://www.implanet-invest.com/suivi-des-actions-80

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Implanet and its activities. Such forward looking statements are based on assumptions that Implanet considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the anticipated events contained in such forwardlooking statements will occur. Forward- looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties including the risks set forth in the registration document of Implanet registered by the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des marches financiers (AMF) on April 16, 2018 under number D.18-0337, as well as in the annual financial report of December 31, 2021 available on the Company's website (www.implanet-invest.com), and to the development of economic situation, financial markets, and the markets in which Implanet operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to risks unknown to Implanet or that Implanet does not consider material at this time. The realization of all or part of these risks could lead to actual results, financial conditions, performances or achievements by Implanet that differ significantly from the results, financial conditions, performances or achievements expressed in such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or to subscribe for, or a solicitation of an order to purchase or subscribe for Implanet shares in any country.

1 Source: Sanyou Medical

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005730/en/

Contacts:

IMPLANET

Ludovic Lastennet, CEO

David Dieumegard, CFO

Tel.: +33 (0)5 57 99 55 55

investors@Implanet.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Mathilde Bohin

Nicolas Fossiez

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

Implanet@newcap.eu

NewCap

Media Relations

Arthur Rouille

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

Implanet@newcap.eu
This patent protects the use of glenzocimab in thrombotic diseases until 2036

This patent has already been granted in the United States and Singapore and is in the process of being granted in other countries such as Japan

Regulatory News:

ACTICOR BIOTECH (ISIN: FR0014005OJ5 ALACT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company specialized in the development of innovative drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular emergencies, in particular stroke, announces that the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted a new patent that strengthens Acticor Biotech's patent portfolio. It provides protection for the use of glenzocimab in thrombotic diseases in Europe until 2036.

This grant in Europe complements the ones already obtained in November 2020 in the United States and in November 2021 in Singapore, protecting glenzocimab until 2036 as well. The patent is also under examination in other countries such as Japan.

To date, three patent families, including 4 granted patents and 33 pending patent applications, protect glenzocimab and its therapeutic use.

Sophie Binay, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer, comments "The grant of this patent in Europe, protecting the use of glenzocimab in thrombotic diseases, represents an important step for the development of our drug candidate and its future commercialization and strengthens Acticor's patent portfolio. It has been extended to other major territories with the grant of a patent in the United States and an intention of grant in Japan, providing protection until 2036. In addition, thanks to its historical commitments with INSERM, Acticor Biotech has exclusive rights to the commercial exploitation of this patent

About ACTICOR BIOTECH

Acticor Biotech is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, a spin-off from INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), which is aiming to develop an innovative treatment for cardiovascular emergencies, including ischemic stroke.

Acticor Biotech is developing glenzocimab (ACT017), a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) fragment directed against a novel target of major interest, platelet glycoprotein VI (GPVI). Glenzocimab inhibits platelet binding to the thrombus without affecting physiological hemostasis, thereby limiting the bleeding risk, particularly in the brain.

In May 2022, Acticor Biotech presented positive results from its Phase 1b/2a study, ACTIMIS, at the ESOC, confirming the safety profile and showing a reduction in mortality and intracerebral hemorrhage in the glenzocimab-treated group in patients with stroke. The efficacy of glenzocimab is now being evaluated in an international Phase 2/3 study, ACTISAVE, which will include 1,000 patients.

Acticor Biotech is supported by a panel of European and international investors (Karista, Go Capital, Newton Biocapital, CMS Medical Venture Investment (HK) Limited, A&B (HK) Limited, Mirae Asset Capital, Anaxago, Primer Capital, Mediolanum farmaceutici and the Armesa foundation). Acticor Biotech is listed on Euronext Growth Paris since November 2021 (ISIN: FR0014005OJ5 ALACT).

For more information, visit: www.acticor-biotech.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005745/en/

Contacts:

ACTICOR BIOTECH

Gilles AVENARD, MD

CEO and Founder

gilles.avenard@acticor-biotech.com

T.: +33 (0)6 76 23 38 13

Sophie BINAY, PhD

General Manager and CSO

Sophie.binay@acticor-biotech.com

T.: +33 (0)6 76 23 38 13

NewCap

Mathilde BOHIN Olivier BRICAUD

Investor Relations

acticor@newcap.eu

T.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 95
BREA, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, announces its partnership with the New Taipei City Government in Taiwan to jointly promote UNIVERSE by ViewSonic, an immersive 3D virtual environment built for education, to schools at all levels in the city, which will benefit around 400,000 K-12 students. After a successful pilot program at Long Pu Elementary School in New Taipei City, the two parties signed a memorandum of cooperation to assist schools to transform into digital learning environments. This week, ViewSonic also demonstrated UNIVERSE at ISTE Live 22 Conference & Expo in New Orleans, USA.

"New Taipei City has been devoted to digital learning for years. We have observed that current online learning faces numerous challenges, such as a lack of interaction and sense of participation," said Chang Ming-Wen, New Taipei City Education Department Commissioner. "UNIVERSE by ViewSonic simulates real-world interactions. Teachers and students can create personalized avatars to further engage with each other in this 3D space. Moreover, UNIVERSE can also be applied to cross-school teaching, thereby bridging the resource gap between schools. We look forward to having New Taipei City as the world's first city to adopt Metaverse for all levels of education, leading the way for schools all over the world in transforming how we teach and learn digitally."

"Current online education platforms still focus on unidirectional communication. It not only limits the development of interactive courses for educators but also makes it difficult to evaluate student engagement during classes. Students cannot easily interact with peers and are prone to feel isolated," said James Chu, Chairman and CEO of ViewSonic. "UNIVERSE by ViewSonic is the strongest solution to resolve these issues by making online learning feel as if it were in-person. Through the cooperation with New Taipei City, all teachers and students will benefit from the most innovative learning pedagogies."

New Taipei City's Long Pu Elementary School has successfully piloted UNIVERSE by ViewSonic. After completing the course with 30 students on the platform, Shih Hsin-Yuan, a teacher at Long Pu Elementary School said; "Students entered the virtual classroom smoothly. Compared with the previous 2D online teaching tools, the 3D platform brought excitement and anticipation to the classroom, which greatly improves their concentration during class. This was a great encouragement for teachers. We are excited to embark on this journey with our children and see what new horizons this technology will bring!"

UNIVERSE by ViewSonic features immersive virtual learning spaces, such as classrooms, lecture halls, and collaborative spaces. Participants have intuitive and easy-to-use options for different modes of communication, such as true-to-life spatialized audio, chat messages, and emojis. The digital teaching tools allow teachers to share content on the screen, create pop quizzes, and split students into breakout rooms for group discussions. In addition, through the built-in browser, teachers can connect to ViewSonic's myViewBoard platform and use its advanced teaching tools.

At ISTE, UNIVERSE by ViewSonic drew strong interest in learning how a virtual environment can enrich online learning. Visitors to the ViewSonic booth had the opportunity to experience UNIVERSE first-hand. Educators responded favorably to the demo experience - sharing that they found it to be intuitive and easy to use, but at the same time recognized it as a powerful learning tool. Most importantly, they expressed enthusiasm over the possibilities of UNIVERSE in better engaging with their students, facilitating greater discussion and collaboration.

For a first look at UNIVERSE by ViewSonic, please see the video here: https://youtu.be/1CADhEJOdls.

About New Taipei City

Situated in the northern part of Taiwan; New Taipei City has an estimated population of over 3.9 millions and an area of 2052 km2. Given its location advantages, today's New Taipei City is a major city of Business Industries. New Taipei City has been on a mission, stresses on the importance of raising global competitiveness by working closely on industrial, cultural, tourism, transportation and city developments in order to accommodate the global trend; transforming into an international city.

About ViewSonic

Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, pen displays, commercial displays, All-in-One LED displays, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 35 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers "See the Difference." To find out more about ViewSonic, please visit www.viewsonic.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850323/Image_1__ViewSonic_partners_with_New_Taipei_City_to_build_the_world_s_first_citywide_education_metav.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1587181/Logo.jpg
HAGERSTOWN, MD / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / During the spring, Horizon Goodwill Industries partnered with the Ed Foundation of Washington County Public Schools (EF/WCPS), and Washington County Public Schools (WCPS) to engage the community in a donation drive to raise funds for the Education Foundation.

The "Spring into Education Clothing Drive" resulted in the collection of 9,166 pounds of donations. Each of the 50 schools in Washington County (including the Center for Education Services - CES) participated. Donation bins were provided to all the schools by Horizon Goodwill, and then the students, parents, teachers, and administrators were challenged to fill them. Many schools had to have additional bins delivered due to the high volume of participation.

At the close of the collection period, the three schools that collected the most were Old Forge Elementary, Hancock Middle-Senior High School, and Clear Spring High School. Each of those schools was awarded the Goodwill Cup. It should be noted that Old Forge Elementary was the overall winner with 684 pounds collected.

Through this effort, Horizon Goodwill was able to generate over $5,240 for the Education Foundation of WCPS. Sheila Evers, Executive Director of the foundation said "We cannot thank Horizon Goodwill enough for their collaborative sprint and the outreach to support education in Washington County. This was a colossal effort with over 50 schools participating. Thank you for all your hard work and support of WCPS students. We can't wait to see what schools will win next year's Goodwill Cup!" Horizon Goodwill President/CEO David Shuster added "We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with our public school system and community on this initiative to raise funds that will support programs leading to improved educational outcomes for students of WCPS."

The Education Foundation of Washington County Public Schools (EF/WCPS), Washington County Public Schools (WCPS), and Horizon Goodwill Industries would like to thank everyone who supported this collection by making donations.

_________________

About Horizon Goodwill: Horizon Goodwill Industries, whose mission is "Removing Barriers, Creating Opportunities," is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to ensuring that all people have access to sustaining and meaningful employment. Ninety cents of every dollar earned by Horizon Goodwill is invested in putting people to work and strengthening communities across a 17-county region throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit https://www.horizongoodwill.org. For media inquiries, contact Craig Foster, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at 301-733-7330 x1630 or cfoster@goodwill-hgi.org

About the Education Foundation of WCPS: The Education Foundation of WCPS was incorporated in 2009 as the "WCPS Education Foundation" to respond to the local need for increased community involvement and support for public education. The foundation's Board of Directors is comprised of parents, business and civic leaders as well as WCPS staff. Each year the Education Foundation awards thousands of dollars in Innovative Grants to WCPS educators. The Education Foundation of WCPS Financial Literacy and Super Reader programs support established classroom curricula. For more information visit www.educationfoundationofwcps.org. For media inquiries contact Sheila Evers, Executive Director at 301-766-2925 or visit execdirector@educationfoundationofwcps.org

SOURCE: Horizon Goodwill Industries

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706817/Horizon-Goodwill-the-Education-Foundation-of-Washington-County-Public-Schools-Conclude-Spring-Donation-Drive
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

29 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 782.14p 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 4,643,772; 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 220,347,531.

The figure of 220,347,531 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
GUILDFORD, SURREY / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL)(OTCQX:ANPCY), a world-leading liquid biopsy company, announces that at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held earlier today, all resolutions were duly passed.

For further information:

ANGLE plc Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director Andrew Holder, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0) 1483 343434 Berenberg (NOMAD and Joint Broker) Toby Flaux, Ciaran Walsh, Milo Bonser +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 Jefferies (Joint Broker) Max Jones, Thomas Bective +44 (0) 20 7029 8000 FTI Consulting Simon Conway, Ciara Martin Matthew Ventimiglia (US) +44 (0) 203 727 1000 +1 (212) 850 5624

For Frequently Used Terms, please see the Company's website on https://angleplc.com/investor-relations/glossary/

About ANGLE plc www.angleplc.com

ANGLE is a world leading liquid biopsy company with sample-to-answer solutions. ANGLE's proven patent protected platforms include a circulating tumor cell (CTC) harvesting technology known as the Parsortix system and a downstream analysis system for cost effective, highly multiplexed analysis of nucleic acids and proteins.

ANGLE's Parsortix system is FDA cleared for its intended use in metastatic breast cancer and is currently the first and only FDA cleared medical device to harvest intact circulating cancer cells from blood.

Intended use

The Parsortix PC1 system is an in vitro diagnostic device intended to enrich circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood collected in K2EDTA tubes from patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. The system employs a microfluidic chamber (a Parsortix cell separation cassette) to capture cells of a certain size and deformability from the population of cells present in blood. The cells retained in the cassette are harvested by the Parsortix PC1 system for use in subsequent downstream assays. The end user is responsible for the validation of any downstream assay. The standalone device, as indicated, does not identify, enumerate or characterize CTCs and cannot be used to make any diagnostic/prognostic claims for CTCs, including monitoring indications or as an aid in any disease management and/or treatment decisions.

The Parsortix system enables a liquid biopsy (a simple blood test) to be used to provide the circulating metastatic breast cancer cells to the user in a format suitable for multiple types of downstream analyses. The system is based on a microfluidic device that captures cells based on a combination of their size and compressibility. The system is epitope independent and can capture all phenotypes of CTCs (epithelial, mesenchymal and EMTing CTCs) as well as CTC clusters in a viable form (alive). CTCs harvested from the system enable a complete picture of a cancer to be seen; as being an intact cell they allow DNA, RNA and protein analysis as well as cytological and morphological examination and may provide comparable analysis to a tissue biopsy in metastatic breast cancer. Because CTC analysis is a non-invasive process, unlike tissue biopsy, it can be repeated as often as needed. This is important because cancer develops and changes over time and there is a clear medical need for up-to-date information on the status of a patient's tumor. In addition, the live CTCs harvested by the Parsortix system can be cultured, which offers the potential for testing tumor response to drugs outside the patient.

The Parsortix technology is the subject of 26 granted patents in Europe, the United States, China, Australia, Canada, India, Japan and Mexico with three extensive families of patents are being progressed worldwide.

In the United States, the Parsortix PC1 system has received a Class II Classification from FDA for use with metastatic breast cancer patients. FDA clearance is seen as the global gold standard. ANGLE's Parsortix system is the first ever FDA cleared system for harvesting CTCs for subsequent analysis. ANGLE has applied the IVD CE Mark to the same system for the same intended use in Europe.

ANGLE has also completed two separate 200 subject clinical studies under a program designed to develop an ovarian cancer pelvic mass triage test, with the results showing best in class accuracy (AUC-ROC) of 95.1%. The pelvic mass triage assay has undergone further refinement and optimisation and a 200 patient clinical verification study has now completed enrolment.

ANGLE's technology for the multiplex evaluation of proteins and nucleic acids of all types is called the HyCEAD platform and is based on a patented flow through array technology. It provides for low cost, highly multiplexed, rapid and sensitive capture of targets from a wide variety of sample types. A proprietary chemistry approach (the HyCEAD method) allows for the capture and amplification of over 100 biomarkers simultaneously in a single reaction. The HyCEAD system is extremely sensitive and is ideal for measuring gene expression and other markers directly from Parsortix harvests and was used in the ovarian cancer pelvic mass triage test to achieve best in class accuracy (AUC-ROC) of 95.1%.

ANGLE's proprietary technologies can be combined to provide automated, sample-to-answer results in both centralised laboratory and point-of-use cartridge formats.

ANGLE has established formal collaborations with world-class cancer centres and major corporates such as Abbott, Philips and QIAGEN, and works closely with leading CTC translational research customers. These Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) are working to identify applications with medical utility (clear benefit to patients), and to secure clinical data that demonstrates that utility in patient studies. The body of evidence as to the benefits of the Parsortix system is growing rapidly from our own clinical studies in metastatic breast cancer and ovarian cancer and also from KOLs with 63 peer-reviewed publications and numerous publicly available posters from 31 independent cancer centres, available on our website.

ANGLE has established clinical services laboratories in the UK and the United States to accelerate commercialisation of the Parsortix system and act as demonstrators to support product development. The laboratories offer services globally to pharmaceutical and biotech customers for use of Parsortix in cancer drug trials and, once the laboratories are accredited and tests validated, will provide Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) for patient management.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: ANGLE plc

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/706963/Angle-PLC-Announces-Result-of-2022-Annual-General-Meeting
BWA Group PLC - Completion of Mechanised Auger Sampling in Cameroon

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310.

29th June 2022

BWA Group PLC

("BWA", or the "Company") (AQSE: BWAP)

Completion of Mechanised Auger Sampling at the Nkoteng Heavy Mineral Sands Project, Cameroon

BWA Group plc [AQSE: BWAP], which has mineral exploration licences in both Cameroon and Canada and is quoted on London's AQSE Growth Market (formerly NEX), provides an update on its recently completed surface sampling programme at its 90% owned Nkoteng rutile sands project located in Central Cameroon ("Nkoteng" or the "Nkoteng Project").

BWA currently has two heavy mineral sands ("HMS") licences in Cameroon, both of which are at an early stage of exploration. The Nkoteng Licence covers an area of 497 km2, comprising part of the prospective Sanaga river system and is located 60 km to the north east of Yaounde with easy transport links to the port of Douala. (See Figure 1 on website version). The Dehane Licence ("Dehane" or the "Dehane Project") is 132 km2 comprising part of the prospective Nyong river system estuary and is located 166 km to the west of the capital, Yaounde and 70 km from the deep seaport and industrial zone of Kribi.

BWA is pleased to announce the completion of a mechanised Auger sampling programme on the Nkoteng Project, reported in accordance with JORC (2012).

The short sampling programme was carried out between the 6 May and 9 June 2022 (see Figure 2 n website version). A total of 107 holes were drilled for 193.30 metres and 171 primary samples. The programme targeted the central sector of the licence where pitting and hand auger sampling completed by BWA in 2021 has identified an area of anomalous alluvial HMS mineralisation related to the extensive Sanaga river system and associated floodplains, (see Figure 3 on website version).

A selection of 20 samples will be submitted to Germany for heavy mineral separation testwork. Results are expected late Q3.

A version of this announcement containing all figures, tables, pictures and maps can be viewed on the Company's website, http://www.bwagroupplc.com/, including JORC (2012) Table 1.

Outlook

The Company are processing the raw geological data collected from the recent programme and are still in the early stages of evaluating the lithological data and database in general. BWA are very encouraged by the presence of observed intervals of Ilmenite, Rutile, Zircon and Kyanite over continuous zones within the programme area. BWA look forward to receiving the results of the heavy mineral separation testwork.

Richard Battersby, Non-executive Chairman of BWA, commented:

"Weare encouraged by the completion of this first mechanised Auger sampling program within the Nkoteng licence area, establishing best practice operating systems and safe working practices. We look forward to the receipt and interpretation of results on completion of planned laboratory sample test work."

Summary ofExplorationWorks

In accordance with JORC (2012) reporting guidelines, a summary of the material information used is set out below. For further details, please refer to the JORC (2012) Table 1, located in the Appendix to this announcement.

The short exploration programme consisted of 107 holes for 193.30 metres and 171 primary samples. These samples were collected from within the current floodplain and paleo alluvial basin related to the Sanaga river (see Figure 3). The holes were mechanically drilled using a Van Walt windowless percussion sampling system to a maximum depth of 4.0 m, stopping the hole when bedrock was reached.

Half core samples were split for analysis, with the remaining half core stored in bags for reference and duplicate samples as necessary. Sample intervals were generally between 50 - 100 cm in length and lithologically controlled. Samples have not been sent for analysis at this time. A selection of 20 samples will shortly be submitted to a specialist laboratory Germany for heavy mineral separation testwork. Results are expected late Q3.

The principal host for the mineralisation, the sands, were routinely sampled to test for the presence of heavy minerals. The overlying plastic clays and saprolite were also sampled as there are anomalous results, as identified from previous programmes.

Geology and Geological Interpretation

The prospective Sanaga river is the main river which runs through the BWA Nkoteng licence area and accommodates approximately 50 km of the river floodplain system and associated tributaries, and an even larger paleo-floodplain area, observed in satellite imagery, although this has yet to be fully ground-truthed through fieldwork.

The geological sequence generally consists of a cover of clays, overlying the target deposit layer consisting of sands and gravels, generally laying directly on the bedrock.

Surficial geology encountered during the auger programme comprised of 0.2 m of surface organic rich soil, alluvial clays and sandy clays ranging from 0 m to 4 m with an average thickness of approximately 1.3 m thick, and basal sand and gravels ranging from 0 m to 3 m thick in places.

Further interpretation of the Nkoteng auger program data will take place once selected sample test results are received.

The Nkoteng deposit is likely to be a trap placer (native) deposit. The entire stratigraphic column of the Sanaga alluvial deposits is considered potentially mineralised.

Nkoteng is located within the Yaounde Domain of the Pan African Belt, a large nappe unit that has been thrusted southward onto the Congo Craton and is characterised by low-grade to high-grade garnet bearing metamorphosed schists, gneiss and orthogneisses.

Competent Person's Statement

The information in this report which relates to exploration results for the Nkoteng Project is based upon and fairly represents information collected and compiled by Mr Emmanuel Simo, MSc., Senior Geologist and Chief Geologist for BWA, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

The exploration results were reviewed by Mr J.N. Hogg, MSc. MAIG, Principal Geologist for Addison Mining Services (AMS) and Non-executive Director of BWA.

Mr Simo and Mr Hogg have sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation, the type of deposit under consideration and to the activity undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.

Mr Hogg has reviewed and verified the technical information that forms the basis of and has been used in the preparation of this announcement, including all sampling and analytical data, and analytical techniques. Mr Hogg consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on the information, in the form and context in which it appears.

Forward Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. These statements reflect current expectations, intentions or strategies regarding the future and assumptions based on currently available information. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary from the expectations, intentions and strategies described in this announcement. No obligation is assumed to update forward looking statements if these beliefs, opinions and estimates should change or to reflect other future developments.

For further information on the Company, please visit http://www.bwagroupplc.com/index.html or contact:

BWA Group PLC

Richard Battersby

Chairman +44 (0)7836 238172

enquiries@bwagroupplc.com Allenby Capital Limited

Corporate Adviser

Nick Harriss/Freddie Wooding +44 20 3328 5656

Glossary of Technical Terms:
United by a shared commitment to heritage, quality and unexpected, bold flavors, Highland Park Single Malt Scotch Whisky and Big Green Egg are proud to announce an exclusive partnership. The single malt Scotch whisky will serve as the official U.S. Scotch partner of the original American-designed ceramic cooker.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005799/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

"Highland Park invites drinkers to explore the complex yet balanced flavors created through unexpected contrasts. Our Orkney Island home gives our whisky its unique smoky sweetness and that contrast is also often found among grilling and BBQ techniques," says Martin Markvardsen, Highland Park Global Senior Brand Ambassador. "Partnering with Big Green Egg is a great way for us to work together to share our love of flavor and I'm excited to see what experiences people create with Highland Park and Big Green Egg."

The partnership kicks off with a series of events in Colorado, Texas and California starting July 2022, offering lovers of flavor the opportunity to discover expertly curated whisky and food pairings in unexpected, elevated ways. Big Green Egg's live-fire cooking methods amplify Highland Park's distinctive flavors to offer consumers a new "flavor from the fire" experience with unexpected contrasts of smoky and sweet. With a robust community of chefs and culinary experts at its fingertips, Big Green Egg has a collection of recipes that pair beautifully with the whisky which Highland Park looks forward to sharing with consumers in the coming months.

"Big Green Egg and Highland Park have a shared love for live fire cooking, robust flavors and creating memorable experiences," said Jon Bogle, Marketing Director, Big Green Egg. "We're excited to partner and create unique experiences that bring fire and smoke to refined palates across the country."

UNEXPECTED CONTRASTS

Born in the Orkney Islands off the northernmost coast of Scotland, Highland Park is a wildly harmonious single malt Scotch Whisky characterized by a uniquely complex balance of flavors. Shaped by the extraordinary contrasts of its home, the whisky delivers a taste which harmoniously balances seemingly contradictory elements heather honey, spiced dried fruit, and peat smoke.

Highland Park's campaign is about bringing together contrasts and the unexpected, finding balance in the extreme and uniting people, skills and experiences for a unique harmony on the plate and beyond.

UNEXPECTED BALANCE OF FLAVORS

Highland Park Whisky Global Senior Brand Ambassador, Martin Markvardsen, has curated a selection of Big Green Egg recipes to pair with three of the brand's most popular whiskies.

Highland Park 12 Year Old Big Green Egg's Grilled Oysters: The briny notes of seafood, particularly grilled or smoked oysters, pair especially well with the whisky's rich full flavor and notes of dried fruit, heather honey and aromatic peat smoke.

The briny notes of seafood, particularly grilled or smoked oysters, pair especially well with the whisky's rich full flavor and notes of dried fruit, heather honey and aromatic peat smoke. Highland Park 15 Year Old Big Green Egg's Grilled Asian Mahi-Mahi: Asian cuisine and ingredients such as the soy sauce and sesame seeds found in this Big Green Egg recipe perfectly pair with the whisky's intensely fruity notes fresh pineapple and sun-kissed lemon zest.

Asian cuisine and ingredients such as the soy sauce and sesame seeds found in this Big Green Egg recipe perfectly pair with the whisky's intensely fruity notes fresh pineapple and sun-kissed lemon zest. Highland Park 18 Year Old Big Green Egg's Beef Ribs: This 18-year-old whisky, offering notes of ripe cherries dusted with bittersweet cocoa, freshly harvested honeycomb and candied orange peel, complements heartier dishes like Big Green Egg's Beef Ribs.

About Highland Park Whisky

Highland Park has been crafting its award-winning whisky at the Highland Park Distillery in Kirkwall, Orkney since 1798. Now, 224 years later, they are one of the ten oldest working distilleries in Scotland. Age, experience, and respect for tradition may define Highland Park's whisky but it's Orkney that differentiates it. Something magic happens there, and it's called A Wild Harmony.

It's not just the influence of the finest sherry seasoned oak casks on its whisky as it matures, it's the salty sea winds that batter Orkney's rugged coastlines, the intensely floral character of the islands' treeless but heather-rich peat, and the fiercely independent Viking spirit that drives the brand. These are the elements that go, untamed, into its whisky-making to create a wild harmony of sweet-smoky flavors that is, uniquely, Highland Park. For more information, visit www.highlandparkwhisky.com. Follow the journey @HighlandParkOfficial AWildHarmony HighlandParkWhisky.

About Big Green Egg

Big Green Egg Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of the premier outdoor cooking system unmatched for its versatility and culinary results. Starting with a single outdoor cooker known as a kamado over forty-five years ago, the EGG has evolved into a highly modernized version of that traditional Asian device. Combining best-in-class innovation with engineered performance featuring industry-leading and patented features, state-of-the-art ceramic technology, a full line of related EGGcessories and seven distinct sizes sold in over fifty countries, the Big Green Egg is ideally suited for the casual backyard griller and culinary aficionado alike and has become the top choice of leading chefs around the world. Lifetime Warranty, Versatile Often Copied, Never Matched there is only one, original Big Green Egg The Ultimate Cooking Experience! For more information, visit www.BigGreenEgg.com.

Please drink responsibly and do not forward this press release on to anyone under the age of 21.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005799/en/

Contacts:

bread Butter

highlandparkwhisky@wearebreadandbutter.com
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Braveheart Resources Inc. (TSXV: BHT) (OTCQB: RIINF) (FSE: 2ZR) ("Braveheart" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has completed a Loan Conversion Agreement (the "Agreement") with Matlock Farms Ltd. ( the " Lender"). Braveheart and the Lender are parties to a loan agreement (the "Loan Agreement") dated January 19, 2019, as amended January 19, 2021, pursuant to which Braveheart has borrowed a principal amount of $5,000,000 (the "Principal") from the Lender.

The parties have entered into this Agreement to amend the terms of the Loan Agreement to allow the conversion of the Principal plus accrued interest of approximately $500,000 into a 3% net smelter royalty (the "NSR") on the Bull River Mine project near Cranbrook, British Columbia.

Highlights of the Agreement include the following:

The NSR will be capped at a maximum of $6,750,000 (the "Maximum NSR Payment"). Braveheart will make bi-annual payments on or before June 30th and December 31st of each year of $150,000 as advance payments against the NSR and such payments shall be deducted against and reduce the Maximum NSR Payment.

Upon satisfaction of the Maximum NSR Payment, the royalty rate under the NSR shall be reduced from 3% to 0.25%. The 0.25% NSR can be purchased by Braveheart at any time for $1,000,000.

Upon execution of this Agreement the obligations owed by Braveheart to the Lender under the Loan Agreement shall be paid in full and all other indebtedness of Braveheart under the Loan Agreement shall be satisfied in full.

Ian Berzins, President and CEO, commented, "We are extremely pleased to complete this Loan Conversion Agreement with Matlock Farms Ltd. Our balance sheet has significantly improved with the elimination of $5,500,000 in debt and the Agreement does not result in share dilution. The Agreement improves our ability to raise new capital to complete the restart of the Bull River Mine project. The Loan Agreement was originally required to allow us to purchase the Bull River Mine project. The Company expects that the Maximum NSR Payment will be completed over the first four years of the mine life."

Aaron Matlock, the owner of the Lender, is a director and an insider of the Company. The transaction 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(b) and section 5.7(1)(f) from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before entering into the Agreement as the Company wanted to improve its financial position as expeditiously as possible.

About Braveheart Resources Inc.

Braveheart is a mining company primarily focused on two near-term copper production assets in Canada. Braveheart's main asset is the 100% owned Bull River Mine project (>135MM lbs of copper) near Cranbrook, British Columbia which has a Mineral Resource containing copper, gold and silver. Braveheart's latest acquisition is the 100% owned Thierry Mine project (>1,300MM lbs of copper) near Pickle Lake, Ontario which has a Mineral Resource containing copper, nickel, silver, palladium, platinum and gold.

Contact Information

Braveheart Resources Inc.

Ian Berzins

President & Chief Executive Officer

M: +1-403-512-8202

E: iberzins@braveheartresources.com

Website: www.braveheartresources.com

For more investor information, please contact Braveheart at:

Manish Grigo

Director, Corporate Development

M: +1-416-569-3292

E: mgrigo@braveheartresources.com

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about strategic plans, future work programs and objectives and expected results from such work programs. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; and other risks.

Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to 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 information and the risks identified in the Company's continuous disclosure record. 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 information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this news release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. 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, except as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this new release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129471
Drill rig arrived June 29, coring scheduled to start July 1

Camp construction complete

219 Ma age returned from Cu-Au bearing Molloy monzonite

Three drill pads installed

Low elevation sampling completed in unexplored area

New copper-bearing altered intrusion discovered 1,000m away from Molloy monzonite

ASTER survey highlights classic porphyry mineralogical signature around Molloy zone

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Sanatana Resources Inc. (TSXV: STA) ("Sanatana") has successfully started its the 2022 field program at the Oweegee copper-gold (Cu-Au) porphyry project located in BC's Golden Triangle. The 5,000 metre drill program follows a successful month of early season field work and preparations completed in June which position Sanatana for a productive and exciting summer. A recently completed ASTER survey shows concentric anomalies that are associated with porphyries, suggesting that the Molloy zone exploration target may be the centre of a copper-gold porphyry.

Jeff Kyba, PGeo, BC Projects Manager for Sanatana, commented, "The 2022 program is designed to address two questions: 1) how big is the Molloy monzonite? and 2) is there more than one copper-gold porphyry present? The late melt focused our activities within a narrow window of elevation where work is typically hindered by heavy vegetation. Our crew was able to make good use of this time and discovered another showing of a copper-bearing intrusion well beyond mapped extents of the known system which helps Sanatana address the two objectives. Thanks to our field team, contractors and partners for executing a smooth start up and we're looking forward to some drilling results."

Peter Miles, Sanatana's CEO, noted, "Months of preparation are paying off as we initiate drilling to better understand Oweegee Dome's mineralization. We have the necessary human resources, equipment and funding to complete an informative program and satisfy our 2022 option obligations."

Initial drilling will focus on the Molloy Cu-Au bearing monzonite which is situated at the centre of a concentric suite of anomalies including a 400m diameter chargeability halo and nested mineral assemblages identified from ASTER imagery analysis. The Cu-Au bearing monzonite outcrop is central to these anomalies and returned an average of 0.34% Cu + 0.829 g/t Au from fifteen grab samples (Dec 7, 2021 NR). The Cu-Au bearing intrusion was confirmed via petrography to be a fine grained, potassic altered, hornblende-plagioclase monzonite porphyry which contains common quartz-chalcopyrite veins. The monzonite has now been dated at 219 million years old and is enveloped in altered, high potassic, calc-alkalic phases dated at 215-217 million years old.

These ages confirm Oweegee is an older member of the Golden Triangle porphyry family which is consistent with the geologic nd geographic position and fortifies Sanatana's recognition of Oweegee as a highly prospective project located just 8 km east of highway 37 and the northwest transmission line.

Figure 1. Proposed 2022 drill holes targeting the Molloy monzonite. Concentric anomalies of IP chargeability, chlorite, hematite and potassium all roughly surround the exposure of the Molloy monzonite.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2534/129476_7a4fae1004a1ca9f_001full.jpg

The technical information in this news release was prepared under the supervision of Buddy Doyle B.App Sc Geology, MAUSIMM. Mr. Doyle is a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release.

About the Company

Sanatana Resaources Inc. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on high-impact properties in Canada. With an award-winning technical team and experienced management and board of directors, Sanatana is based in Vancouver and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: STA).

SANATANA RESOURCES INC.

(signed) "Peter Miles "



Peter Miles

Chief Executive Officer

For additional information on the Company, please contact Mr. Peter Miles, Chief Executive Officer at (604) 408-6680 or email investor@sanatanaresources.com . To be added to the email distribution list, please email ir@sanatanaresources.com with "Sanatana" in the subject line.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements related to the Company's exploration program for Oweegee.

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 regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, 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.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations 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/129476
Regulatory News:

As per its commitment, the ORPEA Group (Paris:ORP) has posted on its website the summary of the final conclusions of the audits carried out by Grant Thornton and Alvarez Marsal, on the subject relating to the care of nursing homes residents in France and on employment law topics, thus completing the external surveys commissioned by the Board of Directors.

This follows the publication of the preliminary results of the audits on 26 April 2022 and the publication on 8 June 2022 of the final conclusions of these firms regarding the use of public funds and business relations with third parties, including some public officials, to which reference is made where applicable.

Philippe Charrier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said:

 With the publication of these last two sections on the care of nursing homes residents in France and on labor policies, we are fulfilling the commitment made on 26 January to shed light on the allegations made against the ORPEA Group in the book. Yet, this endeavor for transparency doesn't end here: my successor as CEO, Laurent Guillot, will actively pursue this dialogue with all our stakeholders.

The Grant Thornton and Alvarez Marsal report allows us to rule out the allegation of a system of widespread abuse. It notably refutes the notion of a rationing of protection as well as several allegations concerning meals and food. However, it does report shortcomings and inadequacies in the handling of adverse events, in the managerial incentive system and in the management of human resources. We have announced and implemented a first set of measures to correct these malfunctions. Remaining true to our commitment to sustainable improvement, we continue to develop our practices with special attention to exemplarity in order to provide the best possible support to vulnerable people.

I would like to once again thank all residents, patients and their families for the trust they continue to place in the group, as well as all of our employees for the engagement they demonstrate on a daily basis. We are also grateful to the 1,900 people who took part in roundtable talks ("Etats Generaux") in our French nursing homes, participating in very rich discussions which will contribute to the group's actions in the coming months.

Care of residents in French nursing homes and employment laws topics

With respect to the allegations related to the care of residents in French nursing homes and employment law, ORPEA notes in particular that the firms Grant Thornton and Alvarez Marsal:

found no evidence to support the following allegations: systematic shortages of incontinence products; rationing on food and in particular on rusks and madeleines; unjustified restrictions applicable to procurement requests for new equipment or products (including protection); discriminatory practices in the hiring process;



observed: that there is a procedure for monitoring and prescribing a DCP (Daily Cost Price) for food, which however provides that staff meals do not reduce the DCP of residents' meals; that the meat portions served in the evening are reduced, without this limitation resulting in calorie and protein intakes being below official recommendations, as proteins are essentially provided during lunchtime; that the systematic use of Protipulse (protein-rich food supplement) only concerned a limited number of facilities, and this during the health crisis; the existence of a chronic understaffing situation, which must be considered against the backdrop of a tight employment market in the nursing home sector, it being specified that the practices of the ORPEA Group do not make it possible to offset these difficulties affecting the sector; that the management of care personnel expenses is still too dependent on the occupancy rate and profitability objectives; the existence of procedures for reporting adverse events that comply with regulatory requirements, but insufficient staff awareness on their implementation, resulting in the absence or delay of reports; an overly complex procedure for handling complaints and claims which does not allow for an efficient and exhaustive follow-up; a remuneration and incentive policy that is biased for regional directors due to its overly financial approach. Il it however noted that quality criteria are used for facility directors; a policy that favors offering time off in lieu for overtime hours rather than direct payment, exacerbating the problem of understaffing; incompleteness of staff files in 5% of cases and shortcomings regarding pre-hiring statements ("DPAE") in 49% of cases; a significant proportion of fixed-term contracts (22%), in particular for Nursing Assistants (33%), of which 8%, based on the sample analyzed, do not comply with the regulation on the replacement of permanent staff who are absent or awaiting the arrival of a new permanent staff member; a majority of dismissals for serious misconduct, half of which were due to abandonment of position, and a rate of dispute of dismissals for serious misconduct, or real and serious cause of 12%, leading in a significant proportion of cases to a requalification of the dismissal; the existence of situations in which the maximum number of residents has been exceeded, without it being a systematic policy; failures in the processing of satisfaction questionnaires.



As announced on 26 March 2022, prior to the submission of the findings of these reports, ORPEA implemented a range of remedial measures aiming at correcting its internal processes with the purpose of eradicating the practices identified above, where they still existed.

It is reminded that the work of Grant Thornton and Alvarez Marsal is necessarily limited and partial, their purpose being to verify allegations made in a book published in January 2022.

The ORPEA group, under the leadership of its new Chief Executive Officer, is determined to continue and correct the deficiencies identified above, to acquire the necessary human resources and to allocate the financial means necessary to do so.

About ORPEA (www.orpea-corp.com)

Founded in 1989, ORPEA is one of the world leaders in Dependency care (nursing homes, assisted living, post-acute and rehabilitation hospitals, mental health hospitals, home care services)

ORPEA is listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000184798) and is a member of the SBF 120, STOXX 600 Europe, MSCI Small Cap Europe and CAC Mid 60 indices.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005885/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations

ORPEA

Benoit Lesieur

Investor Relations Director

b.lesieur@orpea.net

Investor Relations

NewCap

Dusan Oresansky

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

orpea@newcap.eu

Media Relations

Image 7

Charlotte Le Barbier

Tel.: +33 (0)6 78 37 27 60

clebarbier@image7.fr



Caroline Simon

Tel.: +33(0)6 89 87 61 24

Caroline.simon@image7.fr
EQS-Ad-hoc: Aqueduct European Clo 7-2022 Designated Activity Company / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

MAR Notification - Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 Designated Activity Company



29-Jun-2022 / 21:15 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





MAR Notification - Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 Designated Activity Company

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Disclosure of insider information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014

Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 Designated Activity Company (the "Issuer") issuance of 60,000,000 Subordinated Promissory Notes

Dublin, June 29, 2022 - Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 Designated Activity Company (Vienna MTF, ISIN: IE0006JEKY98), a designated activity company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of Ireland and established to, inter alia, acquire, manage, hold, sell, dispose of, finance and trade in all forms of financial assets and to carry on the business of a qualifying company within the meaning of section 110 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (as amended) of Ireland.

It has come to the attention of the Issuer that pursuant to the terms of a warehouse deed entered into between, among others, HPS Investment Partners CLO (UK) LLP (as Retention Holder) and the Issuer dated 16 September 2021, a Reinvestment Period End Date occurred on 17 June 2022.

- End of Insider Information -

Contact:

The Directors

Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 Designated Activity Company

32 Molesworth Street

Dublin 2

Ireland

Telephone: +353 697 3200

Email: mfdublin@maples.com

Disclaimer

This release may contain forward-looking statements and information concerning Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 DAC and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and certain assumptions, which may be subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. The results actually achieved by Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 DAC may substantially differ from these forward-looking statements. Aqueduct European CLO 7-2022 DAC assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements or to correct them in case of developments, which differ from those, anticipated.

29-Jun-2022 CET/CEST News transmitted by EQS Group AG. www.eqs.com




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) (OTCQB: PEMSF) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company"), a British Columbia copper explorer, is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has now commenced at its flagship Jean Marie copper project, located in north-central British Columbia.

During 2021, PEMC completed a comprehensive exploration program at Jean Marie that was designed to incorporate all existing historical data on the property with data collected during the 2020 and 2021 exploration programs. As a result, PEMC has delineated 2 high priority drill targets for diamond drilling during the 2022 exploration season.

Brad Peters, President and CEO of Pacific Empire, commented, "We are excited to test our highest priority targets at Jean Marie with diamond drilling. The Jean Marie project has drill-proven potential to host a significant copper discovery. Our initial objective is to test below shallow historic drilling at Target 1 where new geophysics suggests this zone extends at depth, dipping to the east. Our interpretation is that there is a copper porphyry centre at depth and that intervals encountered in shallow drilling bodes well for high grades at depth. One of the most intriguing targets is Target 2 which is the location of the most significant geochemical anomaly on the property. Our work during 2021 suggests this anomaly is till transported therefore, rather than focusing on the centre, our priority target is the northern margin of the geochemical anomaly. It will be exciting to drill-test this sizeable anomaly and we look forward to cost-effectively advancing Jean Marie and appreciate the project's location, ease of access and nearby infrastructure."

Target 1

Target 1 is located in the area of the historical A and B Zones. Although previous drilling at both of these zones encountered widespread copper mineralization, drilling was shallow and the area between was only tested with three shallow holes. Of particular importance in this area is the presence of a mineralized hydrothermal breccia that was encountered in drill hole J97-11 and occurred within an interval that graded 1.19% copper, and 5.74 g/t silver over 27 metres. Drilled to a depth of only 276 metres, J97-11 is one of the deepest holes on the property and the presence of a mineralized brecciated intrusion suggests that there is the potential for a mineralized hydrothermal system at depth in this area.

Cross Section Target 1



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/129489_c0ba87b014ff491d_001full.jpg

Plan View of Target Areas 1 & 2



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/129489_figure2.jpg

Target 2

The area of Target 2 is immediately to the northwest of the most significant copper/molybdenum soil anomaly on the property. This geochemical anomaly is characterized by a large number of samples greater than 1000 ppm copper and 100 ppm molybdenum in till over 3 km length. The center of this soil geochemical anomaly was drilled in the 1970's, only one hole returned significant copper mineralization (JPH74-15) averaging 0.2% copper over the entire length of the hole. This hole is the closest hole drilled to PEMC's interpreted bedrock source of copper mineralization. The LiDAR survey and surficial mapping completed by PEMC during 2021 clearly demonstrate that the till was transported with the ice flowing from west to east, pointing to a bedrock source of mineralization at the head of the geochemical anomaly. This area has never been drill tested.

Plan View of Target 2



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/129489_c0ba87b014ff491d_007full.jpg

About Jean Marie

The Jean Marie property is a copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect located 50 km south of Northwest Copper's Kwanika Copper-Gold deposit and 50 km west of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Mine in central BC. The property covers over 12,000 hectares and has multiple mineralized zones which are open for expansion with drilling. Drill results demonstrate kilometer-scale base and precious metal mineralization over a large, under-explored property with multiple untested diamond-drill targets.

Drilling in the 1990's returned near surface intercepts of up to 244m of 0.28% copper, 0.007% molybdenum and 1.1 g/t silver, in a broad area located close to the pluton, volcanic contact. Two of the holes intercepted a distinct quartz breccia which returned up to 27 metres of 1.19% copper, and 5.74 g/t silver.

Drilling was limited to a maximum depth of 288 metres below surface and mineralization remains unbounded at depth and along strike to the NW and SE. Of the 96 holes drilled on the property since the 1970's 76 are less than 130 metres in depth with numerous short holes that were mineralized over the entire length.

Jean Marie Project Location



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/129489_figure4.jpg

About Atlas Drilling Ltd.

Atlas Drilling Ltd is a large and well-respected drill contractor located in Kamloops, BC, Canada. Atlas Drilling Ltd. has been servicing drill projects in British Columbia for over twenty five years. It is full service drill company with a large amount of support equipment including bulldozers, skidders, excavators, water trucks and truck-trailer for transporting equipment. Atlas Drilling has a helicopter to transport their crew in and out of job sites that are not accessible by trucks.

Qualified Person

Thomas Hawkins, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Company, serves as a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein.

About Pacific Empire

Pacific Empire is a copper exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The Company's strong portfolio of gold-enriched copper projects in British Columbia, is the culmination of perseverance through one of the longest bear markets in the resource industry.

British Columbia is a "Green" copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access and infrastructure in close proximity to the end market.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

"Brad Peters"

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

Tel: +1-604-356-6246

brad@pemcorp.ca

www.pemcorp.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129489
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Wilton Resources Inc. (TSXV: WIL) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units in the capital of the Corporation ("Units") at a purchase price of $0.40 per Unit (the "Offering Price"), for total aggregate gross proceeds of $260,000.00 (the "Offering"). The principal use of the proceeds of the Offering will be for general corporate purposes and as a reserve to pursue the acquisition of an international oil and gas property.

Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Corporation ("Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the Offering at an exercise price of $0.50 (the "Exercise Price"). In the event that the 20-day volume weighted average price of the Common Shares as listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") is greater than $1.50, the Corporation may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof and, in such case, the Warrants will expire on the 10th day after the date on which such notice is given.

No commission, finder's fee or similar payment (whether in the form of cash, securities or an interest in assets) were paid by the Corporation in connection with the Offering.

The Common Shares and Warrants issued in connection with the Offering and the Common Shares underlying the Warrants are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the date of completion of the Offering, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

The TSXV provided conditional acceptance of the Offering on June 29, 2022.

For more information concerning the Corporation, please refer to the Corporation's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "intend", "may", "will", "expect", and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Corporation's current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information with respect to the principal uses of the proceeds of the Offering. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Corporation. The material facts and assumptions include the intended use of proceeds remaining in the best interests of the Corporation. The Corporation cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Corporation is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

For more information, please contact:

Wilton Resources Inc.

Richard Anderson

Chief Executive Officer and President

(403) 619-6609

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 the content of this release.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities Laws.

THE SECURITIES OFFERED HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. THIS PRESS RELEASE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF THE SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129498
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices drifted lower, snapping a three-day winning streak, with traders looking ahead to the upcoming meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies, known as OPEC+. Oil prices fell despite data showing declines in crude oil inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.98 or about 1.8% at $109.78 a barrel. Crude oil futures were down $1.77 or 1.56% at $112.03 a barrel. Data released by the Commerce Department that showed U.S. economic activity shrank by slightly more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2022, weighed on oil prices. The report showed the decrease in real gross domestic product in the first quarter was revised to 1.6% from the previously reported 1.5%. Economists had expected the drop in GDP to be unrevised. OPEC and OPEC+, which includes allies such as Russia, begin a series of two-day meetings today to discuss supply. The group is expected to maintain current goals of hiking output by 648 thousand bpd in July and August. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showd crude oil inventories fell 2.8 million barrels for the weeks ending June 17th and 24th. Inventories of gasoline and distillates both rose by 2.6 million barrels for the combined two-week period, the data from EIA showed. Meanwhile, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed gasoline and distillates stocks rose while crude inventories fell for the week ending June 24. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Consumer products giant Unilever Plc (UN) Wednesday said it signed a deal to continue the sale of its Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Israel.



The company announced the sell-off of the Israeli branch of the ice cream brand for an undisclosed sum to Avi Zinger, whose American Quality Products already has the license to sell Ben & Jerry's ice cream in the country.



The move by Unilever comes after Ben & Jerry's, which has an independent board, said last summer that it was stopping sales in the territory, which has been occupied by Israel since the Six Day War in 1967. Palestinians want that land for a state of their own and supporters have come together for a global campaign known as 'BDS,' which stands for boycott, divest and sanction and encourages people to avoid buying from companies, which operate in the area.



Unilever's sale to Zinger was taken by Ben & Jerry's independent board's last summer.



Ben & Jerry's and its board chair, Anurandha Mittal, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sources inside the company said the board is likely to meet soon to discuss the issue. Mittal was seen as being the original face behind the earlier decision to pull out of Israel.



Ben & Jerry's decision to pull out of parts of Israel last year was controversial and triggered several states including Florida, Texas, New Jersey and Colorado to start divesting their shares of Unilever.



A representative for activist investor Nelson Peltz, who is set to join Unilever's board next month, said in a statement that Trian Partners 'commends the Unilever team and Avi Zinger for reaching this new arrangement to keep Ben & Jerry's in Israel and ensure its ice cream stays available to all consumers. Respect and tolerance have prevailed.'



The Israel government sees any efforts to boycott business in the country as a threat to its economy. After learning of Ben & Jerry's decision last year, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid instructed consulates in the United States to urge Unilever to reverse Ben & Jerry's decision.



'The Ben & Jerry's factory in Israel is a microcosm of the diversity of Israeli society,' said Lapid, who is also the country's next prime minister. 'Today's victory is a victory for all those who know that the struggle against BDS is, first and foremost, a struggle for partnership and dialogue, and against discrimination and hate.'



American Quality Products said it will continue to sell Ben & Jerry's under Hebrew and Arabic names.







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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Goldgroup Mining Inc. (TSX: GGA) (OTC Pink: GGAZF) (BMV SIX: GGAN.MX) ("Goldgroup" or the "Company") held its annual general meeting of shareholders in Vancouver, B.C. on June 28, 2022.

Common Shares represented at the Meeting: 48,444,736

Total issued and outstanding Common Shares as at Record Date: 211,803,356

Percentage of issued and outstanding Common Shares represented: 22.87%

MATTERS VOTED UPON VOTING RESULTS 1. Election of Directors Votes in Favour Votes Withheld

The election of the following nominees as directors of the Company for the ensuing year or until their successors are appointed:





Corry J. Silbernagel 39,266,153 (99.26%) 292,769 (0.74%)

Javier Reyes 39,268,949 (99.27%) 289,973 (0.73%)

Javier Montano 39,267,929 (99.26%) 290,993 (0.74%)

Anthony Balic 39,276,090 (99.29%) 282,832 (0.71%)

Blair Jordan 39,328,810 (99.42%) 230,112 (0.58%) Each of the five nominees proposed by management were elected as a director of the Company. 2. Appointment of Auditors Votes in Favour Votes Withheld

The appointment of Davidson & Company LLP, Chartered Accountants, as auditors of the Company and the authorization of the directors to set their remuneration. 48,222,001 (99.54%) 222,735 (0.46%) Davidson & Company LLP, Chartered Accountants, was re-appointed as the auditors of the Company and the directors were authorized to set their remuneration. 3. Share Consolidation Votes in Favour Against

The approval of an amendment to the articles of incorporation of the Company to consolidate its Common Shares on the basis of a ratio within the range of one post-consolidation common share for every two (2) pre-consolidation Common Shares to one post-consolidation Common Shares for every ten (10) pre-consolidation Common Shares, with the ratio to be selected and implemented by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion, if at all, at any time prior to April 30, 2023 as more particularly described in the information circular relating to the Meeting; 47,393,039 (97.83%) 1,051,967 (2.17%) The Shareholders approved the amendment to the articles of incorporation of the Company to consolidate its Common Shares on the basis of a ratio within the range of one post-consolidation common share for every two (2) pre-consolidation Common Shares to one post-consolidation Common Shares for every ten (10) pre-consolidation Common Shares, with the ratio to be selected and implemented by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion, if at all, at any time prior to April 30, 2023 as more particularly described in the information circular relating to the Meeting;











The formal report on voting results with respect to all matters voted upon at the meeting has been filed on SEDAR.

About Goldgroup

Goldgroup is a Canadian-based gold production, development, and exploration Company with a significant upside in a portfolio of projects in Mexico, including an interest in DynaResource de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., which owns 100% of the high-grade gold exploration project, San Jose de Gracia, located in the State of Sinaloa. In addition, the Company operates its 100%-owned Cerro Prieto heap-leach gold mine, in the State of Sonora, Mexico.

Goldgroup is led by a team of highly successful and seasoned individuals with extensive expertise in mine development, corporate finance, and exploration in Mexico. Goldgroup's mission is to increase gold production, mineral resources, profitability and cash flow, with a view to building a leading gold producer.

For further information on Goldgroup, please visit www.goldgroupmining.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Investor Relations

Toll Free: 1-877-655-ozAu (6928)

The TSX has neither reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to future financial or operating performance, may be considered "forward-looking information" (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law) and "forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). 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. Actual results could differ materially from the conclusions, forecasts and projections contained in such forward-looking information.

These forward-looking statements reflect Goldgroup's current internal projections, expectations or beliefs and are based on information currently available to Goldgroup. In some cases forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors including, without limitation: receipt of all required stock exchange and regulatory approvals; the scope, duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the scope, duration and impact of regulatory responses to the pandemic on the employees, business and operations; uncertainties related to actual capital costs operating costs and expenditures; production schedules and economic returns from Goldgroup's projects; uncertainties associated with development activities; uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources and precious metal recoveries; uncertainties related to current global economic conditions; fluctuations in precious and base metal prices; uncertainties related to the availability of future financing; potential difficulties with joint venture partners; risks that Goldgroup's title to its property could be challenged; political and country risk; risks associated with Goldgroup being subject to government regulation; risks associated with surface rights; environmental risks; Goldgroup's need to attract and retain qualified personnel; risks associated with potential conflicts of interest; Goldgroup's lack of experience in overseeing the construction of a mining project; risks related to the integration of businesses and assets acquired by Goldgroup; uncertainties related to the competitiveness of the mining industry; risk associated with theft; risk of water shortages and risks associated with competition for water; uninsured risks and inadequate insurance coverage; risks associated with potential legal proceedings; risks associated with community relations; outside contractor risks; risks related to archaeological sites; foreign currency risks; risks associated with security and human rights; and risks related to the need for reclamation activities on Goldgroup's properties, as well as the risk factors disclosed in Goldgroup's Annual Information Form and MD&A. Any and all of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements.

Although Goldgroup believes that the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking information. Goldgroup expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except as may be required by, and in accordance with, applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129506
BioPhero brings new game-changing biologically produced pheromone technology to FMC's award-winning pipeline and product portfolio.

FMC expects revenue from pheromones and pheromone-based insect control products of approximately $1 billion with above company-average EBITDA margin by 2030.

with above company-average EBITDA margin by 2030. BioPhero's patented fermentation process can manufacture sustainably advantaged pheromones at costs significantly lower than competitive processes.

PHILADELPHIA, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC), an agricultural sciences company, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire BioPhero ApS, a Denmark-based pheromone research and production company. The acquisition adds biologically produced state-of-the-art pheromone insect control technology to FMC's product portfolio and R&D pipeline, underscoring FMC's role as a leader in delivering innovative and sustainable crop protection solutions.

BioPhero has pioneered a highly efficient yeast fermentation process for manufacturing pheromones at significantly lower costs and with fewer production steps compared to competitors' traditional chemical synthesis methods. Lower costs expand the pheromone addressable market from today's focus on specialty fruit and vegetables to now include the large row crop market. FMC expects pheromones and pheromone-based products to contribute approximately $1 billion in revenue at above company-average EBITDA margin by 2030.

"This acquisition demonstrates our continuing commitment to invest in biologicals and adjacent technologies, expanding our world-class portfolio while advancing sustainable agriculture," said Mark Douglas, FMC president and chief executive officer. "BioPhero is a pioneer in the production of pheromones through a unique, highly efficient bioprocessing method-a game-changer in pheromone manufacturing technology. FMC's broad market access, leadership position in the high-value insecticide market, formulation know-how and application expertise provide significant opportunities to bring sustainably advantaged pheromone technology to more agricultural markets around the world. We look forward to adding an extensive pheromone platform to our biologicals business and welcoming the BioPhero team to FMC."

"BioPhero is excited by the opportunity to accelerate our development and the road to market with the objective to make pheromones widely available," said Dr. Irina Borodina, co-founder and chief scientific officer of BioPhero. "Given FMC's leadership position in the development of biological plant health products, manufacturing and formulation expertise, and existing operations in Denmark, we believe FMC is an excellent company to take this business forward. FMC's global market access and significant investments in R&D will accelerate our ability to bring highly advanced pheromone insect control technology to growers around the world."

Pheromones can be used in an integrated pest management program to control the buildup of insect populations in farmers' fields by disrupting the insect mating process, reducing overall egg-laying by adults and decreasing the next generation of the target insect population. Pheromones do not have an impact on the environment, promote biodiversity and do not harm beneficial insects, such as pollinators, since they precisely target specific pests.

"FMC directs 100 percent of its R&D investments to discover and develop more sustainable products," said Dr. Kathleen Shelton, FMC executive vice president and chief technology officer. "We're excited to add BioPhero's innovative pheromone molecules to our new product pipeline, and we expect to launch five new pheromone products over the next three to five years. The opportunities for advanced biomanufacturing technology extend well beyond insect control. Working together, we can significantly expand the use of fermentation technologies across a wider set of crops targeting a variety of pests, including fungi and weeds."

Novo Holding A/S, a world-leading science investor focused on creating long-term value, has supported BioPhero for six years. "Novo Holdings believes that biotechnology is a key component in the transition towards a more sustainable society," said Sren Mller, managing partner at Novo Holdings. "The technology developed by BioPhero is an excellent example of using nature's own pheromones to combat pests in a safe and yet efficient way. Novo Holdings has invested in BioPhero since inception and has renewed its commitment to the company in each financing round. We are very satisfied to see the rapid development of the company, and this sale demonstrates that FMC shares our vision of introducing new sustainable solutions in agriculture."

The purchase price of approximately $200 million will be paid at closing. Following regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the acquisition of BioPhero is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter 2022.

FMC will host a webcast conference call on Thursday, June 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET to discuss additional details regarding the transaction. The conference call is open to the public via Internet broadcast and telephone.

Internet broadcast: https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/228324390

Dial-in telephone number:

US Toll Free: 844-200-6205

Canada Toll Free: 833-950-0062

Other International: +1-929-526-1599

Access code: 525940

A replay of the call will be available via the internet and telephone from 10:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 30 until Thursday, July 21, 2022.

Internet replay: https://investors.fmc.com

US Toll Free: 866-813-9403

Canada: 226-828-7578

Other International: +44 204-525-0658

Access Code: 609404

About FMC

FMC Corporation is a global agricultural sciences company dedicated to helping growers produce food, feed, fiber and fuel for an expanding world population while adapting to a changing environment. FMC's innovative crop protection solutions - including biologicals, crop nutrition, digital and precision agriculture - enable growers, crop advisers and turf and pest management professionals to address their toughest challenges economically while protecting the environment. With approximately 6,400 employees at more than 100 sites worldwide, FMC is committed to discovering new herbicide, insecticide and fungicide active ingredients, product formulations and pioneering technologies that are consistently better for the planet. Visit fmc.com to learn more and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About BioPhero

BioPhero is a pioneer in the production of pheromones used for insect pest control in agriculture. Our vision is to make agriculture more sustainable by enabling the application of pheromones for effective pest control in large-scale row crops. BioPhero has developed and scaled up a proprietary, biological production platform based on yeast fermentation. We have assembled a dedicated, world-class team with competencies within metabolic engineering, fermentation, chemistry, and process development. BioPhero was founded in 2016 by Dr. Irina Borodina as a technology spin-out from the Technical University of Denmark and started operations in 2018.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by such words or phrases as "will likely result," "is confident that," "expect," "expects," "should," "could," "may," "will continue to," "believe," "believes," "anticipates," "predicts," "forecasts," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "intends" or similar expressions identifying "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the negative of those words and phrases. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current views and assumptions regarding future events, future business conditions and the outlook for the company based on currently available information. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Although BioPhero has completed its first commercial sale of a significant quantity of its first pheromone product, BioPhero is still in its early stages of development or growth, and it may be affected by risks inherent in operating a business of its nature. The products and technologies of BioPhero ApS have not yet been implemented at large commercial scale, and thus our statements regarding the future, including potential revenue opportunities, are subject to uncertainties related to development, registration, production and commercialization of pheromones through use of the BioPhero production technology. The continued development of BioPhero's products requires substantial technical, financial and human resources, and successful development and commercialization of BioPhero's product line cannot be assured. In the event material assumptions in regard to the BioPhero platform do not turn out as expected, we may experience an adverse impact on our business and financial condition and we may not fully realize what we believe is the potential of the BioPhero business. Additional factors include, among other things, the risk factors and other cautionary statements included within FMC's 2021 Form 10-K as well as other SEC filings and public communications. Moreover, investors are cautioned to interpret many of these factors as being heightened as a result of the ongoing and numerous adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. FMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the above cautionary statement. FMC undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which they were made, except as otherwise required by law.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/331912/fmc_corporation_logo.jpg

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Transformative acquisition of a portfolio of gold exploration and development projects in West Africa that positions DFR for future growth

Initial focus on Labola, a highly prospective gold exploration project in Burkina Faso with an Indicated Resource of 264Koz @ 1.52g/t and an Inferred Resource of 371Koz @ 1.67g/t[1]. New drill campaign already launched with results expected in Q3

Additional exposure to minority, joint venture interests in projects located in Mali (Kalaka - 40%) and Nigeria (up to 32.5%), providing multi-stage exploration prospects

Highly experienced management and Board with track record in discovering and developing gold projects in Africa

Strong shareholder base able to support DFR's ambitious growth plans with over $6M raised from existing shareholders as well as directors and officers since the announcement of the Moydow acquisition

Board changes to be effective following final approval of the TSX-V

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / Diamond Fields Resources Inc. (TSXV:DFR) ("DFR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its acquisition of Moydow Holdings Limited ("Moydow") (the "Transaction") subject to final approval by the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V").

The Transaction received shareholder approval on June 9, 2022 and all closing conditions as set out in the Management Information Circular of April 29, 2022 have been satisfied. The Transaction was originally announced by DFR on August 25, 2021.

DFR is now well positioned for future growth with an exciting portfolio of assets, a strong management team and Board as well as supportive shareholders.

John McGloin, CEO of Diamond Fields Resources, stated: "The acquisition of Moydow is transformative for DFR, as it delivers a portfolio of attractive gold growth options in prospective regions at various stages of development. We are particularly excited by the highly prospective Labola gold project in Burkina Faso, where we have already identified many opportunities for resource expansion and launched a drill program that is expected to deliver results in the third quarter of 2022.

"I believe our strong management team, local presence on the ground and supportive shareholders means we have the necessary pieces in place to rapidly progress the portfolio of assets we have assembled and to create value for all stakeholders."

Al Gourley, Chairman of Diamond Fields Resources, said: "The combination of DFR and Moydow provides a strong platform for us to create a new force in West African gold exploration. The team has put an enormous amount of work into this transaction, and I'm delighted by the speed with which we are moving to capitalize on the opportunities we have assembled.

The resignations of Phil Murphy, Francois Colette and Rod Baker from the Board shall become effective after receipt of the final approval of the Transaction from the TSX-V. On behalf of the Board and the Company, I thank Phil, Rod and Francois for their dedication and support during numerous years of their tenure with the Company and wish them the best."

Exciting Portfolio

The Labola Project ("Labola"), Burkina Faso (DFR 80% interest)

On 25 October, and ahead of schedule, the Company announced a maiden Mineral Resource prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 on Labola. The Mineral Resource comprises:

5.41 million tonnes of indicated resources at an average grade of 1.52 g/t Au for a total 264,000 ounces of gold; and

6.93 million tonnes of inferred resources at an average grade 1.67 g/t Au for a total of 371,000 ounces of gold.

Reference is made to the report entitled "Diamond Fields Resources Inc. Amended and Re-stated Technical Report on the Labola Project Burkina Faso" dated April 2, 2022 with an effective date of April 20, 2022 (the "Amended Labola Report") was prepared by Ivor W. O. Jones, M.Sc., P.Geo., FAusIMM, John Asafo-Akowuah, M.S., MAIG and Alan Riles, B.Met, M.Econ.Geol (collectively the "QPs"). The Amended Labola Report is available for review on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Company's website (www.diamondfields.com).

Three mineralized zones have been outlined at Labola from the various drilling programs and each zone is open in all directions. Many opportunities for resource expansion have been identified which include extensions to the current pit constrained resources. The positive results contained in the Mineral Resource Estimate indicate that Labola is a highly prospective project and an exceptional opportunity for future development.

Drilling at the Labola Project has commenced ahead of schedule in Q2 2022 and is targeting multiple newly identified zones along a mineralized strike length of 30km. The footprint of the Labola Project has also been extended by an additional 243km2 following Moydow's acquisition of an option over an exploration license contiguous to the existing license area. Importantly the Company now has control of a full 30km strike length of identified mineralization surrounding Moydow's original Labola Project.

Burkina Faso, where Labola is situated, has excellent under-explored gold potential and has seen the construction of 14 mines in the last 14 years.

The Kalaka Project ("Kalaka"), Mali (DFR 40% interest)

Kalaka is located 260km SE of Bamako in South Mali, 80km south of the 8 million ounce Morila gold mine owned by Barrick/AngloGold. Previous exploration work indicates a large, low-grade zone of mineralization with multiple drill intersections exceeding 150m at the 0.5 g/t Au level at the K1A prospect. Kalaka benefits from extensive undrilled potential, including higher-grade zones identified by artisanal workings and induced polarization ("IP") anomalies. An exploration program is currently underway including a recently completed further Gradient Array IP survey over the southern part of the Kalaka license area.

Gurara Project, Nigeria (DFR 25.5% indirect interest with an option to earn up to 32.5%)

DFR holds interests in four gold exploration projects in Nigeria, where historically very little systematic, modern exploration has been undertaken. The licenses, which comprise two projects (Dagma and Paimasa) are located within the gold-bearing ("Schist Belt") terrain of the Benin-Nigeria Shield, which has broad similarities to the Birimian of the Man Shield of West Africa. This area has become one of the most productive gold provinces globally over the past 35 years. DFR also benefits from a strong local operating partner in PW Nigeria Ltd.

Beravina Zircon Project, Madagascar (DFR 100% interest)

The project is located in Western Madagascar within the Melaky region, covering 625 hectares and is approximately 220km east of the port of Maintirano, near a state road. A NI 43-101 technical report filed by the Company on January 29, 2019, reported an Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.5 million tonnes grading 22.7% Zircon (ZrSiO4) (equivalent to 15.3% ZrO2).

Namibia Diamond Projects

Through its Namibian subsidiaries, the Company owns several offshore mining licenses in Namibia, including ML111 where the Company had historic diamond production (2001-2008, 2016 and 2018-2019). The Company commenced a six-months (non-continuous) mining campaign on 10 November 2018 which was suspended on 13 January 2019. The Company also owns diamond licenses ML139 and 70% of ML32.

Highly Experienced Management and Board

Following the closing of the Transaction, DFR will benefit from an enhanced management team with significant relevant expertise in the mining and exploration industry that is well positioned to create value. DFR has also assembled a strong team of geologists based in Burkina Faso to enable the delivery of the Company's ambitious plans.

Executive team

John McGloin, CEO and Director

John was previously the Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Amara Mining as it progressed its Yaoure project in Cote d'Ivoire from discovery through to feasibility study and oversaw a growth in the resource base from 200,000 oz to over 6 million oz prior to Amara's acquisition by Perseus Mining.

Sybrand Van der Spuy, COO and Director

Sybrand retired from the South African National Defence Force in 1998 and has held senior roles in the management of projects and the mitigation of operational risk within the Mining and Oil and Gas industries. He has also served as strategic consultant to various governments with respect to operational and critical infrastructure requirements following extensive Middle Eastern and African experience in these areas.

Jean Lindberg Charles, CFO

Jean is an experienced CFO and financial manager with more than 20 years' experience in the mining, fishing and leisure industries across Africa. Prior to his appointment, he was CFO of Afritex, a group engaged in the harvesting of fish and other seafood in Mauritius and Mozambique for export worldwide. Between 2005 and 2014 Jean held a number of senior positions, including CFO, at Sierra Rutile Limited, an AIM listed mining company producing rutile and zircon in Sierra Leone that was acquired by lluka Resources in 2016.

Kieran Harrington, P.Geo., VP Exploration[2]

Kieran is a Professional Geologist with more than 35 years of experience in the metals exploration and mining sector. Kieran brings a strong track record of discovery, particularly in gold in West Africa, including as Chief Geologist and COO at Glencar Mining plc where he led the technical teams in the discovery of both the Wassa deposit in Ghana, and Komana/Yanfolila deposit in Mali, two large-scale operating mines.

Djeneba Coulibaly Sagara, Country Manager for Burkina Faso

Djeneba has more than 20 years' experience in senior administrative and finance roles in West African companies, including over 17 years working for various mining and exploration companies. She has a significant track record, which has included roles as diverse as Country Manager, Deputy General Manager, and Administrative and Financial Director that will significantly benefit the Company in developing its activities in Burkina Faso.

Board

Upon receipt of the final approval of the Transaction from the TSX-V, the DFR Board shall comprise of the following Non-Executive Directors:

Brian Kiernan, Non-Executive Director and Chairman

Brian has over 25 years' experience in the exploration and mining business in Africa and North America. Previously, Brian Kiernan was CEO of the successful exploration and development company Moydow Mines International Inc where he oversaw the discovery and development of a world class gold deposit, Subika, which is now a Newmont mine called Ahafo. Brian is also the Chairman of Minerex Drilling Contractors Limited, a privately owned West African drilling contractor and was previously the Executive Chairman of Moydow Holdings Limited.

Carlo Baravalle, Non-Executive Director

Carlo co-founded AMED Funds, a private equity manager focused on mineral resource investments, which has raised and invested approximately $0.5bn in the last 10 years. One of three founding partners, he leads the structuring, financial and tax aspects of the investments, in addition to the structuring and operations of the Fund, investor relations and compliance. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and has held numerous roles in the European and North American telecoms industry, including Director of the Corporate Finance Telecoms team at Warburg. In 2006 he co-founded NCP, a private equity fund of funds aimed mainly at Italian institutional investors, which raised over US$150m and is successfully invested in mid-cap and restructuring funds and co-investments globally.

Bertrand Boulle, Non-Executive Director

Bertrand has worked for De Beers and various independent diamond producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Sierra Leone and Guinea Conakry. Mr Boulle has over 20 years' management experience as a senior executive in global financial markets within the EU and Mauritius.

Len Comerford, Non-Executive Director

Len Comerford is Chief Executive Officer of PW Mining, a contract mining and civil engineering construction firm which operates across Africa. He is a Civil Engineer with more than 30 years' experience in countries as diverse as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tanzania, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone where he has negotiated and executed major mining, civil and offshore engineering contracts. He was also previously Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Rutile Limited (previously Titanium Resources Group).

Al Gourley, Non-Executive Director

Al is an experienced mining director and executive who was Chairman of DFR's Board from 2016 until closing of the Transaction. He currently serves as the London, UK, Regional Managing Partner of Fasken Martineau LLP, a leading mining law firm, and is a globally recognized resource lawyer.

David Reading, Non-Executive Director

David has over 35 years' experience in the mining industry covering all stages of mine development, including exploration, feasibility, financing, construction and operations. He has an MSc in Economic Geology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. His previous positions include CEO of Aureus Mining, CEO of European Goldfields and General Manager of African exploration for Randgold Resources. In addition, David has held senior exploration and project development positions for Anglo American and Phelps Dodge. In these roles, Mr. Reading has overseen the financing and development of numerous mines across the world, including several in Africa.

The resignations of Philip Murphy, Norman (Rod) Baker and Francois Collette as non-executive directors shall become effective after receipt of the final approval of the Transaction from the TSX-V.

Strong Shareholder Base

Since announcing the Transaction, DFR has raised over $6M from existing shareholders, as well as directors and officers, to support its growth plans. This has comprised a $3.0M cash injection and debt conversion at US$0.217/share by Brian Kiernan and Jean Raymond Boulle (through Spirit Resources SARL) as well as a subscription to raise $3.1m cash and $0.1m debt conversion at C$0.20 a share primarily from existing shareholders and management. The securities issued in respect of the financings and insider debt settlements that closed on June 28, 2022 are subject to a hold period expiring on October 29, 2022 (reference is made to the Management Information Circular dated April 29, 2022 and filed on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com on May 9, 2022 for full particulars). These funds have enabled DFR to rapidly commence the resource expansion and exploration campaign at Labola which is expected to complete in Q3.

The Company has 178,940,221 Common Shares issued and outstanding after closing the Transaction. The major holders in DFR's outstanding share capital following completion, are Jean Raymond Boulle (39.7%), Brian Kiernan (37.1%) and other Directors and Officers (6.4%).

The participation of insiders in the financings and insider debt settlements are exempt from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") by virtue of the exemptions contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in that the fair market value of the consideration for the securities of the Company issued to insiders did not exceed 25% of its market capitalization.

End

David J Reading, M.Sc., FIMM, Fellow SEG, a director of DFR and a Qualified Person as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), has prepared or supervised the preparation of, or approved, as applicable, the technical information contained in this press release. Mr. Reading has over 40 years' experience in the mining industry covering all stages of mine development, including exploration, feasibility, financing, construction and operations. He has an MSc in Economic Geology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geologists.

DIAMOND FIELDS RESOURCES INC.

John McGloin, CEO

Contact: enquire@diamondfields.com

Michael Oke/Andy Mills: +44 20 7321 0000

Aura Financial LLP: www.aura-financial.com

Notes to Editors:

DFR is a TSX Venture Exchange listed exploration and mine development company focused on gold and other commodities in Africa. Following the acquisition of Moydow Holdings Limited, DFR holds interests in a portfolio of West African gold exploration projects including the highly prospective Labola gold project in Burkina Faso. Labola has a Mineral Resource prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 comprising 5.41 million tonnes of indicated resources at an average grade of 1.52 g/t Au for a total 264,000 ounces of gold; and 6.93 million tonnes of inferred resources at an average grade 1.67 g/t Au for a total of 371,000 ounces of gold.

In Madagascar, DFR has an advanced high grade hard rock zircon exploration prospect located in the west of the country, approximately 220km east of the port of Maintirano and close to a state road. DFR acquired Beravina from Pala Investments and Austral Resources in 2016. In Namibia, the Company owns several offshore diamond mining licenses.

Website: www.diamondfieldsmoydow.com and www.diamondfields.com

The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this release that address activities, events or developments that DFR expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements or information. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "aim", "aspire", "strive", "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "believe" or similar expressions as they relate to DFR. Forward- looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information.

The forward-looking statements and information in this release include but are not limited to statements and information relating to the terms, conditions and completion of the Transaction and the receipt of the final approval of the TSX-V; the use of proceeds from the investors; the obtaining of all required regulatory approvals in connection with the Transaction; technical information; drilling and exploration programs; political risks; statutory and regulatory compliance; the proposed officers and directors of DFR following completion of the Transaction; and the impact of the Transaction on the business of DFR.

Such statements and information reflect the current view of DFR. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause DFR's actual results, performance or achievements or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

There are a number of important factors that could cause DFR's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: the ability to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the Transaction; the ability to obtain requisite regulatory approvals; 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 and the Founder Investments. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statement prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

DFR cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on DFR's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, shareholders should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. DFR has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this release represents the expectations of DFR as of the date of this release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While DFR may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

[1]National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report filed for the Labola Gold Project in December 2021

[2] Kieran Harrington's appointment is subject to customary approvals by the TSX Venture Exchange.

SOURCE: Diamond Fields Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/707103/Diamond-Fields-Resources-Closes-Acquisition-of-Moydow-Holdings-Limited-Subject-to-Final-TSX-V-Approval
Monte Carlo, Monaco--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - The ability of partygoers to hear their favorite songs is now within their reach in the most optimal manner: a new app by One28 Corporation is making it easier for them to request their favorite songs from DJs. On June 10, 2022, at the well-known MK Club in Monaco, the company launched its app with DJ Chris S, allowing attendees to tip DJs for playing special requests.





One28



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One28, which was co-founded by CEO Adrien Crastes and CFO Alexandre Coyette, explains that its name refers to the wonderful feelings a listener experiences when they hear their favorite song.

"We may enjoy music in general, but there is always that one special song that hits us and stirs our emotions," One28 says. "When we hear it, our heart rate can go from its usual 60-100 beats per minute to 128, signaling our pleasure. We created our app so that more people can experience that adrenaline rush at venues and DJs can choose songs that take a member of their audience to the mythical 128bpm heart rate. This has the potential to make any party unforgettable for everyone."

One28 explains that through its app, DJs are able to accept or decline tipped song requests from the audience. The DJ ultimately keeps full control, and if they deny a song, they can leave a comment to the partygoer explaining the reason. If a song is denied, a refund is issued to the requester instantly.

The app is gaining ground in the club scene. At its debut on June 10 in Monte Carlo, it facilitated over 50 requests for songs, nearly half of which were denied by Resident DJ Chris S. The minimum request price was set at 15 by the DJ, and the maximum bid went up to 50. Upon receiving more requests the next day, he chose to use the app the following weekend at the MK Club Monaco. DJ Chris S says that "One28 is a revelation for every DJ" and that he will use it at MK Club Monaco every time he is mixing.





One28



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"After four years of hard work spent developing our app, we are thrilled that it is changing how music is requested at venues," says One28. "Partygoers and DJs are discovering how easy it can be to communicate with each other about the songs that will be played."

The company reveals that in addition to DJ Chris S, the app has been used at internationally famous and exclusive Twiga Monte Carlo nightclub by famous DJ Magnum, who set the minimum request price at 50 that night. The use of the app has spread to other clubs in Corsica, Nice, Marseille, and Cannes, and the company continues to onboard multiple DJs.

One28 states that with the successful launch of its app, it is now working on the web app version, which will be released soon. One28 is also preparing to debut the macOS version of One28 DJ and is exploring the possibility of bringing its services to artists. It is also planning an expansion to high-end venues and DJs in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.

The company says that it will continue to improve communication between an audience member and DJs. "Playing the right song may not always be the right song for others, so it will always be the DJ's choice on whether the request matches the vibe of the party," One28 states. "If you misread the energy in the room and accept the wrong song request, that can bring the party down and only up for one audience member. However, if you can take one audience member to their magical heart rate without diverging from the vibe of the party, it can transform the room for the better. Our app has the potential to facilitate this and make the night memorable for everyone."

One28 is bridging the gap between live music and the audience by offering the possibility for partygoers to hear the song that can take their heart rates up to 128bpm. In 2019, One28 presented their vision at the Monaco International Clubbing show (MICS), a highly attended nightlife event. One28 then expanded and began offering its app to DJs, and it is now transforming the club scene.

For more information, please see its website, download the One28 user app or One28 DJ app, or contact:

One28

Email: partnering@one28.app

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129490
NORWALK (dpa-AFX) - Xerox Holdings Corporation. (XRX) Wednesday announced that its Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Visentin, unexpectedly passed away due to complications from an ongoing illness. 'The Xerox family is profoundly saddened by this untimely event and extends its heartfelt condolences to John's wife, his five daughters and his family,' the company said in a statement. James Nelson, Chairman of Xerox's Board of Directors said, 'Since joining the company in May 2018, John drove Xerox forward. As a champion for innovation, he embraced and enhanced Xerox's legacy as a print and services provider and embarked on a transformative journey that broadened the company's expertise and offerings to digital and IT services, financial services and disruptive technologies. John's drive, energy and commitment to the business and its customers, partners and employees will be greatly missed.' Steve Bandrowczak, Xerox's President and Chief Operations Officer, appointed Interim CEO. 'We are all greatly saddened by this tragic news and are keeping his family at the forefront of our thoughts in this difficult time,' said Bandrowczak. 'John's vision was clear, and the Xerox team will continue fulfilling it - not only to deliver on our commitments to our shareholders, customers and partners - but also to pursue John's legacy.' Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
THE death of former Gweru Urban legislator Rodrick Tutsvara has exposed deep-rooted political intolerance within the ruling Zanu PF party in the Midlands province after party members said the former MDC-T opposition legislator must not be mourned in Zanu PF social media WhatsApp groups.

Rutsvara, who was a prominent businessman in Gweru with interests in the hospitality, education and transport sectors, succumbed to kidney failure at a local hospital in the Midlands capital last week.

He has since been laid to rest.

Soon after his death, some Zanu PF activists poured condolence messages on their WhatsApp group, but the move sparked heated debate with some party hardliners saying the opposition politician should never be mourned on their social media platforms.

It is with a heart that I announce the passing on of our former Gweru Urban MP Rutsvara, one Zanu PF member posted.

But the message did not go down well with some hardliners who called for order from their colleague, questioning why she was posting the death message on a Zanu PF WhatsApp platform.

Remember they call themselves CCC champions and yet we post their messages here. Let us be guided accordingly, responded another Zanu PF member.

But the member who had initially posted the condolence message reminded others that despite political differences, people were still related and there was nothing amiss in posting a condolence message mourning an opposition activist.

But you should mourn them (opposition figures) there and not here (on Zanu PF social media platforms), another Zanu PF hardliner hit back.

The debate raged on as ruling party members remained divided. But at the end of the debate many felt that opposition figures should be grieved on their social media platforms and that it was against the spirit of Africanism or Ubuntu not to express grief over fellow citizens based on political differences.

Zimbabwe is so deeply polarised politically that opposition political parties have also been accused Of posting nasty comments whenever Zanu PF members die. Newsday
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / LOVE Pharma Inc. ("LOVE" and or "the Company") (CSE:LUV)(FSE:G1Q0), announces it has completed a second closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement. The Company accepted subscriptions for 50,735,771 units at a price of $0.011 per unit, for gross proceeds of $558,093.50. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at $0.05 for a period of two years from the date of closing, subject to the option of the Company to accelerate the expiry date in the event that its shares trade at $0.15 or more for 10 consecutive days.

The Company paid $32,655.48 in cash and issued 2,968,680 broker warrants on the same terms as noted above, to qualified finders. Securities issued pursuant to this tranche are subject to trading restrictions until October 30, 2022.

Proceeds will be used for working capital and to review possible acquisitions.

About Love Pharma Inc.

With a focus on the global sexual Health and Wellness markets, Love Pharma Inc. (CSE:LUV) (FSE:G1Q0) was founded in 2020, with a mission to bring to market innovative products that enhance sexual health and wellness while providing an improved quality of life. Love Pharma holds exclusive licenses to produce market, package, sell, and distribute patent-protected therapeutic and pharmaceutical products throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 (604) 343-2977

E-mail: investors@love-pharma.com

www.love-pharma.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

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", "may" 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, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, lack of investor demand for Bitcoin and/or Bitcoin futures exchange traded funds, and dependence upon regulatory approvals. 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.

SOURCE: Love Pharma Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/707107/Love-Pharma-Inc-Announces-Second-Closing-of-Financing
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Thursday release preliminary May figures for industrial production, housing starts and construction orders, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Output is expected to slip 0.3 percent on month and 2.8 percent on year after falling 1.3 percent on month and 4.8 percent on year in April. Housing starts are tipped to rise South Korea will provide May numbers for industrial production and retail sales. Output is expected to rise 0.5 percent on month and 3.1 percent on year after sinking 3.3 percent on month and climbing 3.3 percent on year in April. Retail sales were down 0.2 percent on month and up 0.5 percent on year in April. China will see June results for the manufacturing PMI from the National Bureau of Statistics, with forecasts suggesting a score of 50.5 - up from 49.6 in May. The non-manufacturing PMI had a score of 47.8 in the previous month and the composite was at 48.4. Hong Kong will release May numbers for retail sales; in April, sales were up 8.1 percent on year. Thailand will provide May figures for current account and for its coincident index. In April, the current account deficit was $3.4 billion, while the score on the coincident was 128.81. Australia will release May figures for private sector credit; in April, credit was up 0.8 percent on month and 8.6 percent on year. 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.
Bourla donates his $1 million Genesis Prize award towards the construction of the Holocaust Museum of Greece in Thessaloniki, to commemorate Greek-Jewish communities wiped out by the Nazis

JERUSALEM, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the President of Israel Isaac Herzog presented the Genesis Prize to Dr. Albert Bourla at a ceremony in Israel's capital Jerusalem.

The gala event brought together hundreds of dignitaries from Israel, including government ministers, heads of business and philanthropic organizations, as well as prominent representatives of the Jewish Diaspora and leading members of the global medical community.

The annual $1 million Genesis Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel" by TIME magazine, honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, commitment to Jewish values and the State of Israel.

Dr. Albert Bourla was announced as the 9th Genesis Prize Laureate in January 2022. The award recognizes his leadership in delivering a vaccine against COVID-19, which saved millions of lives during the pandemic. The Genesis Prize also celebrates the boldness of his vision and willingness to assume risks, which enabled delivery of the vaccine in record time.

In addition to honoring the vast humanitarian impact of Dr. Bourla's leadership, the award also celebrates his pride in his Jewish identity and heritage, and his strong support for the State of Israel.

The President of Israel Isaac Herzog said: "Albert Bourla was not deterred by high stakes, by naysayers, by conspiracy or by politics. He believed in the vaccine, and invested every ounce of himself in realizing what seemed at the time a far-fetched fantasy. The vaccine was developed in record speed, utilizing the technology of tomorrow to successfully hold back a devastating pandemic. A study published by The Lancet just days ago, points to nearly 20 million lives saved by COVID vaccines. Indeed, the vaccine gave us freedom we thought we lost. Albert, I congratulate you and your colleagues and counterparts, who are making such a critical impact on humanity, while embracing your Jewish heritage and values, and inspiring Jewish pride." Founder and Chairman of The Genesis Prize Foundation Stan Polovets added: "To save a human life is a fundamental Jewish value. Today we honor Dr. Bourla - a living embodiment of this ancient Jewish principle. We also celebrate the immense contribution of Jewish doctors who were on the frontline of the COVID pandemic for two years and who continue to save lives of people suffering in Ukraine today."

The ceremony opened with a moving tribute to the people of Ukraine and appreciation to the many Israeli and international Jewish organizations who are providing humanitarian aid. The Genesis Prize Foundation premiered a video "Jews in Medicine", exploring the roots and impact of Jews on the medical field from biblical times to the modern-day fight against the COVID pandemic (LINK TO VIDEO; for more details, please see section Jewish Contribution to Medicine).

2022 Genesis Prize Laureate Dr. Albert Bourla said: "I am honored and deeply humbled to receive the Genesis Prize. Honored because I never set out to be famous, and I never imagined that I would one day be up here with the illustrious nominees and past awardees-artists, philanthropists, and statesmen and stateswomen who show the world the best that the Jewish people have to offer. And humbled because this is not my award-it belongs to all Pfizer colleagues who worked tirelessly in the middle of a global pandemic to make the 'impossible possible' and give the world a chance to return to normalcy. Every life is precious and we must confront our challenges with courage, humility and perseverance. My Pfizer colleagues lived these values, and I am proud to be here in Israel to celebrate them and their extraordinary achievement."

Following the tradition established by the inaugural Genesis Prize Laureate Michael Bloomberg, Dr. Bourla announced that he will forgo the $1 million prize award and has asked the Foundation to donate the funds toward establishing the Holocaust Museum of Greece to be built in Thessaloniki.

Albert Bourla was born in Thessaloniki, home to an ancient Jewish community that traced its roots to antiquity. The vibrant Jewish community of 55,000 was almost completely wiped out during the Nazi occupation. Dr. Bourla's young parents narrowly escaped death and were among only 2,000 survivors. The Greek Holocaust Museum will immortalize the history of the Greek Jewish community from antiquity to modern age.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Satellos Bioscience Inc. (TSXV: MSCL) ("Satellos" or the "Company"), a regenerative medicine company aimed at developing therapeutics that change the way degenerative muscle diseases are treated, announced today that it has licensed a provisional patent application, recently filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and titled "MODULATION OF SATELLITE CELL POLARITY AND ASYMMETRIC CELL DIVISION," from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute ("OHRI").

"This patent filing broadens our intellectual property portfolio and strengthens our competitive position by expanding our understanding of regulatory pathways and therapeutics capable of modulating muscle stem cell activity," said Satellos Co-Founder and CEO, Frank Gleeson. "Accordingly, the underlying discoveries outlined in this patent application will help us accelerate our discovery and development efforts for a novel treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and potentially other dystrophies and muscle disorders."

Satellos Co-founder and CSO, Dr. Michael Rudnicki, a co-inventor, noted, "this new patent application represents the culmination of two years of imaginative and detailed scientific effort led by Dr. Kasun Kodippili in my academic lab at OHRI to systematically map regulatory pathways affecting stem cell polarity. The human implications from his findings for treating disease have enormous potential and I wish to congratulate and thank Dr. Kodippili and the rest of our team for this wonderful work."

"We are pleased to have a partner such as Satellos to help us turn discoveries at The Ottawa Hospital into new therapies for patients," said Dr. Duncan Stewart, CEO and Scientific Director of OHRI and Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital. "By working with private sector partners, we are not only advancing health care, but also creating jobs and contributing to Canada's bioscience innovation ecosystem."

The new patent application is licensed to Satellos pursuant to an amending agreement entered into between Satellos and OHRI dated June 29, 2022 (the "Amending Agreement") which amends an existing licensing agreement dated May 1, 2018, as amended (the "Original Agreement"). Under terms of the Amending Agreement, Satellos will pay cash and common share consideration to OHRI. The Original Agreement can be found on Satellos' SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About Satellos Bioscience Inc.

Satellos is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing lifechanging medicines to treat degenerative muscle conditions. Our scientists discovered what we believe to be a previously unrecognized root cause of skeletal muscle degeneration. One which has the potential to transform how muscle disorders are treated. Our scientific founder, Dr. Michael Rudnicki, is a thought leader who discovered and has shown how muscle stem cells regulate muscle repair and growth throughout life. He has shown how defects in a process known as stem cell "polarity", which controls how muscle stem cells divide to create muscle progenitor cells, lead to a failure of muscle regeneration in Duchenne and potentially other muscle disorders. As a result of this ongoing inability to produce sufficient numbers of new muscle cells, the muscles of people living with Duchenne are unable to keep up with and repair the continuous and accumulating damage their muscles experience. Satellos' lead program is focused on developing an oral therapeutic drug (i.e., a pill) intended to correct muscle stem cell polarity and restore the body's innate muscle repair and regeneration process. We believe our unique therapeutic approach represents a potential disease modifying treatment for Duchenne and other dystrophies, offering new hope to patients. To expand our programs to other degenerative muscle conditions or disorders, Satellos has created a proprietary discovery platform, MyoReGenX, which we utilize to identify disease situations where deficits in muscle stem cell polarity and regeneration occur and are amenable to therapeutic treatment. For more information about or to discuss potential collaborations with Satellos concerning our discovery platform and therapeutic candidates or our subsidiary Amphotericin B Technologies Inc., please contact Ryan Mitchell, PhD, Director - Business Development at rmitchell@satellos.com or visit Satellos.com.

About the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital - one of Canada's largest learning and research hospitals. Our research spans more than a hundred different diseases, conditions and specialties with an overall focus on translating discoveries and knowledge into better health. We are proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. All members of The Ottawa Hospital follow a Responsible Innovation Framework for developing and commercializing innovations in a responsible way. https://www.ohri.ca/

CONTACTS:

For Satellos Bioscience Inc:

Christina Cameron

Investor Relations

ccameron@satellos.com

647.660.1780

For The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute:

Jenn Ganton

Director, Communications and Public Relations

jganton@ohri.ca

613.614.5253

Notice on forward-looking statements:

This press release includes forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian and U.S. securities laws regarding Satellos and its business, which may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the anticipated benefits of modulating stem cell polarity; its prospective impact on Duchenne patients and muscle regeneration generally; projected benefits of Satellos' therapeutic approach, including small molecule drug candidates; Satellos' technologies and drug development plans; the timeline to commence clinical trial testing in humans; the planned advancement of Satellos research and development; and the Company's priorities and anticipated achievement of milestones and evaluation plans for drug molecules. All statements that are, or information which is, not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are "forward-looking information or statements". Often but not always, forward-looking information or statements can be identified by the use of words such as "progress", "aimed", "plan", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "hope", "objective", "potentially", "possibly", "ongoing efforts", "develop", "pioneering", "groundbreaking", "milestone", "further", "prospect" or any variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "can", "could", "would" or "will" be taken, occur, lead to, result in, or, be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of the management of the Company. They are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although management believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Company, including risks relating to the pharmaceutical and bioscience industry, general market conditions and equity markets, economic factors and management's ability to manage and to operate the business of the Company generally. Although Satellos 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 to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Satellos does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the content of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulatory 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.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES



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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM) ("Deveron" or the "Company"), a leading agriculture data company in North America, announces that it has granted an aggregate of 388,637 options to purchase common shares of the Company exercisable at a price of $0.55 per common share and expiring on June 29, 2027, to certain officers, directors and employees of the Company. The common shares issuable upon exercise of the options are subject to a four-month hold period from the original date of grant.

In addition, the Company wishes provide an update on its acquisition of the assets of Agri-Labs, Inc. ("Agri-Labs"), a leading soil lab and agronomy company that services Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio (the "Acquisition"). Further to its press release of March 11, 2022, with respect to its purchase of the assets of Agri-Labs, the Company confirms that if on or before March 10, 2023, the gross revenue attributable to the Agri-Labs business exceed the gross earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") of the prior twelve (12) month period, then, in addition to the original purchase price, Agri-Labs shall be entitled to receive an amount equal to twenty percent (25%) of the excess amount (the "EBITDA Earnout") in cash, and such number of common shares in the capital of the Company equal to, at the time of disbursement, the EBITDA Earnout.

Finally, in connection with its previously announced acquisition of the assets of Stealth Ag, Inc. ("Stealth"), as set out in its press releases of May 27, 2021, and August 30, 2021, Stealth has exceeded gross revenues of US$1,000,000 during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. As a result of achieving this milestone, the Company is required to make a one-time payment of US$140,000, to be satisfied through the issuance of an aggregate of 330,909 common shares ("Common Shares") in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.55 per Common Share. Pursuant to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") the transaction is treated as a debt settlement and the issuance of the Common Shares remains subject to receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSXV. All Common Shares issued will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use. Our team of agronomists and data scientists build products that recommend ways to manage fertilizer, seed, fungicide and other farm inputs better. Additionally, we have a national network of data technicians that are deployed to collect various types of farm data, from soil to drone, that build a basis of our best-in-class data layers. Our focus is the US and Canada where 1 billion acres are actively farmed annually.

For more information and to join our community, please visit www.deveronuas.com/register or reach us on Twitter @Deveron

David MacMillan

President & CEO Deveron Corp.

dmacmillan@deveronuas.com

Tel: 647-963-2429

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward-looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129538
PARIS and NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Moet Hennessy, the world leading luxury wines and spirits division of LVMH, is pleased to announce the addition of Joseph Phelps Vineyards to its portfolio. This acquisition follows Moet Hennessy's development strategy, which aims to satisfy its consumers and distribution partners' aspirations with an increasingly diversified and comprehensive portfolio, adding Houses with strong values of excellence, craftsmanship and heritage.

Founded by Joseph Phelps in 1973, the Napa and Sonoma-based wine collection is one of the most respected and acclaimed in the United States. It has made its way to the best tables and cellars across the country, and its legendary Insignia, a Bordeaux-style Napa-grown blend, is considered one of the most sought-after and desirable fine wines in the world.

Moet Hennessy plans to build on the admirable legacy established by Joseph Phelps, his children and grandchildren, maintaining the shared values of quality, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and a focus on sustainability.

After the closing of the acquisition, the entirety of the Joseph Phelps collection of exceptional Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast wines will be welcomed by Moet Hennessy's customers, alongside its outstanding multi-centennial Champagnes and its growing offer of exceptional still wines from Europe and the New World.

Philippe Schaus, Chairman and CEO of Moet Hennessy declares: "We are delighted and very proud to welcome Joseph Phelps Vineyards to our portfolio of luxury wines and spirits. Through the combination of the wonderful vineyards of Joseph Phelps, the unrivalled experience and excellence of the Joseph Phelps team, and the support of our global distribution organization and unique expertise with premium, family-owned brands, we will continue the wonderful journey initiated by the founder fifty years ago and pursued by his heirs today. Joseph Phelps has been to the Napa Valley what Nicolas Ruinart, Mrs Clicquot, Joseph Krug and Claude Moet were to the Champagne region, and likewise we will continue to develop this new House in the respect of the founder's heritage and vision."

The Phelps Family commented, "Our father founded Joseph Phelps Vineyards in 1973 with a passion for innovation, an unwavering commitment to quality, and joie de vivre. Nearly 50 years later, we're proud to have grown from a 600-acre cattle ranch and early pioneer of the Napa Valley to a critically acclaimed and internationally known producer of iconic wines. As we plan for the next 50 years, we believe that passing the care of this crown jewel of the Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast to Moet Hennessy will build on our family's legacy well into the future. During our discussions with Moet Hennessy, it was abundantly clear that they value and embrace all of our brilliant and dedicated team members and, most importantly, are committed to ensuring that our founding mission and values remain at the heart of Joseph Phelps Vineyards."

About Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Joseph Phelps founded his namesake winery in 1973, and quickly established himself as a pioneer and creative visionary in the Napa Valley wine industry in its early days of development. A year later, he started producing Insignia, the red blend in the exclusive Bordeaux style of California. Since then, Insignia has been critically acclaimed for its iconic vintages, and four times rewarded with Robert Parker Wine Advocate's perfect 100-point scores for the 1991, 1997, 2002 and 2007 vintages.

Joseph Phelps Vineyards consists of an estate recognized worldwide for the quality of all of its wines, with 200 hectares of its own vines spread over eleven vineyards in the Napa Valley and 30 hectares spread over two vineyards in Sonoma Valley. With a focus on innovation and commitment to excellence, Joseph Phelps Vineyards today is synonymous with best-in-class California winemaking and continues to embody the pioneering spirit and extraordinary legacy of its founder.

About Moet Hennessy

Moet Hennessy is the wines and spirits division of LVMH, which also holds renowned wine estates through "LVMH Vins d'Exceptions". Regrouping twenty-five Maisons, recognized internationally for the richness of their terroirs, the quality of their products and the craftsmanship with which they are created, Moet Hennessy has been committed for many years to its environmental and social program, Living Soils Living Together.

Ao Yun, Arbeg, Armand de Brignac, Belvedere, Bodega Numanthia, Cape Mentelle, Chandon, Chateau d'Esclans, Chateau Galoupet, Cheval des Andes, Clos19, Cloudy Bay, Dom Perignon, Eminente, Glenmorangie, Hennessy, Krug, Mercier, Moet & Chandon, Newton, Ruinart, Terrazas de los Andes, Veuve Clicquot, Volcan de mi Tierra, Woodinville.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/moethennessy

Contact:

Moet Hennessy

Alain Lavital

Public Relations & Partnerships Director

alavital@moethennessy.com

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Cleo, a London, UK-based digital assistant that supports people throughout their financial lives, from their first paycheque to their first home, raised USD80M in Series C funding.

The round was led by Sofina, with participation from EQT Ventures, Balderton and LocalGlobe.

The company intends to use the funds for continued US growth, including a significant increase in employee headcount from 140 to over 220 and continue iterating and improving on its product suite.

Founded in 2016 by Barnaby Hussey-Yeo, CEO, Cleo supports and empowers young people to form better money habits via a digital assistant. With a chat, Cleo can automate a money life and remove the stress of decision making with personal advice based on the users specific needs and financial history.

FinSMEs

29/06/2022
(London, 27 June 2022)

President Spence,

Professor Hazzard,

Vice-Chancellor Fitt,

Judges and Contestants,

Teachers and Students,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends:

Good afternoon!

It is a real delight to join you to open the 21st "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition UK Regional Final.

First of all, I would like to, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, extend our warmest congratulations to the 10 contestants who have got through the preliminaries and semi-finals to reach the UK Regional Final today. You are the best!

As I stand before you at this annual fete for fans of Chinese language, three things spring to mind.

Firstly, we have a shared passion for the beauty of the Chinese language. Both China and the UK have long history and splendid culture, are representatives of the Oriental and Western civilisations respectively. Studies by several generations of scholars show that humans began living on the land of China millions of years ago, culture sprouted 10,000 years ago, and the Chinese civilisation dates back to over 5,000 years. The Chinese language is the crystallisation of China's profound and rich history and culture. When you study Chinese, I encourage you to appreciate the beauty of the shape, the structure, the sound and rhythm of this language, and savour its rich historical and cultural connotation. This will help you better understand the past, present and future of the country.

Secondly, we have a shared duty to expand the cooperation between China and the UK. On April 21st, President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from the pupils at the Francis Holland School. In the letter, the President discussed the issue of climate change and wrote, "Everyone living on Earth is part of a big family, and humanity is one community." From combating the pandemic and tackling climate change to promoting economic recovery and handling international conflicts, countries must join hands to make concerted efforts. International politics based on exclusive "coterie" or group confrontation will lead to nowhere. I hope that learning the Chinese language will give you a higher ambition and broader mind, and enable you to be open, inclusive and willing to engage your peers in China and become supporters, participants and contributors in China-UK cooperation.

Thirdly, we have a shared goal to strengthen the bridge of China-UK friendship. China and the UK have different history, culture and social system, and we are in different stages of development. So, it is all the more necessary for the two sides to enhance mutual communication and avoid misunderstanding and misjudge. The good news is, about 400 million people in China are studying English and over 130,000 students and pupils in the UK have enrolled in Chinese language courses. I hope that as you learn Chinese, you will use your language skill to make more Chinese friends and gain a better understanding of the country. It falls upon people like you to strengthen the bridge of mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of our two countries.

In a moment, we are going to witness together the unveiling of the Plaque of the Chinese Bridge Club. With this, the Chinese language fans in the UK will have a home to meet up or reconnect with one another. Let us extend our warmest congratulations on the launch of the club! And I welcome you all to visit China when the pandemic is over.

Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the teachers, volunteers and people from all walks of life for your devotion to and support for the teaching of the Chinese language without which the "Chinese Bridge" could not have come so far. I do hope you will keep up the good work and go on to achieve even greater success!

In conclusion, I wish the 21st "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition UK Regional Final success, and I wish every contestant excellent performance!

Thank you.

***

On 27June, Ambassador Zheng Zeguang attended the opening ceremony of the 21st Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition UK Regional Final and delivered a speech. The opening ceremony was also addressed by Michael Spence,the President of University College London,Alistair Fitt, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, Chris Hazzard MP, and Xiao Liang, representative of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK and Deputy General Manager of Bank of China (London Branch). Around 120 guests attended the opening ceremony on site, including representatives from the British Council, the Universities UK, the Executive Office, the China National Tourist Office in London, Cardiff University, some of the directors of Confucius Institutes in the UK, and teachers and students from schools and universities in the UK. The competition was held offline and online combined, with more than 800 audiences watching the competition via video link and YouTube live streaming, including participants' families and friends and Chinese language enthusiasts.

The 21st Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition UK Regional has attracted nearly 100 participants from 15 universities across the UK. Ten contestants from SOAS University of London, Lancaster University, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Birmingham, Heriot-Watt University, the Confucius Institute at the University of Brighton and the Southampton University, the University of Central Lancashire, the University of Manchester, Ulster University and the University of Aberdeen made to the final after fierce competition. William Hart from the University of Manchester, Amani Veronique Kouassi from the University of Birmingham, Jake Mosedale from SOAS University of London, Roderic Morrison from the University of Edinburgh, Luke Reid from Heriot-Watt University, Owen May-Jones from the Confucius Institute at the University of Brighton and the University of Southampton and Kate Ann Maplesden from SOAS University of London won the Special Prize and the First, Second and Third Prizes respectively.

Since its launching in 2002, the Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition has attracted more than 1.5 million university students from over 160 countries. In the UK, the Competition has been held for 12 times since 2010 and the contestants have beenoutstandingand achieved quite good results in the global finals.


PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday says he no longer enjoyed public life because he was always surrounded by more than 100 security personnel.

Addressing businesspeople at the official opening of the Highlands Park Shopping Mall in Highlands, Harare, constructed by Telecel Africa, Mnangagwa said: I have not been in a village walk or to take a walk for some time because I am surrounded by over 100 security details.

I dont know even how to use a swipe card. I even sent my nephew to swipe for me and he had to ask me to give him my PIN code, he said.

The shopping mall has retail shops and medical centres, among other entities.

Security was visibly tight at park, as well as in surrounding areas such as Newlands.

Mnangagwa addressed another crowd in Manyame, after commissioning the Mount Meru Millers Zimbabwe edible oil refinery plant.

The business event turned into a rally as bussed Zanu PF supporters and students from Mashonaland East province were bussed to the venue chanting party slogans.

Residents said Zanu PF councillors had ordered them to attend the event, saying they were targeting a crowd of 20 000 people.

Addressing the crowd, Mnangagwa narrated what he described as achievements by his government in Mashonaland East, urging villagers to ensure they vote for the ruling Zanu PF party in next years polls.

I am honoured to be back here in Mashonaland East to officially commission the Edible Oil Refinery Plant valued at US$20 million. Todays visit follows the recent commissioning of the Central Registry e-passport office in Murehwa, as well as Radnor Mine in Mukuya, Mudzi district. To date, other notable projects have been completed under the second republic such as Muchekeranwa Dam, Mutoko Royal Fruit and Vegetables Processing Plant, along with road, health and education infrastructure across the various districts of the country, Mnangagwa said.

This factory will grow and when it grows it will be employing over 1000 people. Those of you from this area will get jobs and get satisfied. You no longer need to go to Harare for jobs. The company makes cooking oil which we usually get from outside. We want you to grow sunflower, cotton and soya beans. That is what is needed here. When we distribute inputs under Pfumvudza, I will make sure that we have a fund for those crops.

Mnangagwa said the new plant would produce 250 tonnes of edible soya oil per day and help increase the supply of edible oils in the local market, thereby supporting the Buy Zimbabwe campaign.

The by-products of edible oil production such as soya meal, cotton meal and sunflower meal are used in the production of stock feed, soya milk, textured vegetable protein products, cosmetics and health supplements among others. There will be cosmetics to apply on the skin. Women can use them to enhance their beauty, he said.

Mnangagwa said he had convinced the Mount Meru Millers Group president Atul Mittal to come and invest in Zimbabwe at a business Forum in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

There were a lot of white people. I spoke with them and in my mind I was saying, can they hear (understand me)? They were just quiet. One man (Mittal) then said to me, what you said impressed me and I want to pay you a visit. He then came and said as a family they have many businesses in 14 countries. I said to him we have a policy of establishing factories in rural areas. He came at the beginning of this year in Chief Sekes area. Aaah, I had forgotten to greet chiefs, how are you, he said, while encouraging more investors to come to Zimbabwe.

Mittal said his company is committed to supporting the Manyame Rural District Council and its people. He pledged to feed pupils in the surrounding schools.

We are currently working at 3% production capacity, but we are hoping to reach 30%. As a group we are proud and we will make sure that every child at school in this district will get a meal daily, Mittal said. Newsday
On June 27, 2022, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana Irfaan Ali to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out, since the establishment of diplomatic ties 50 years ago, China-Guyana relations have achieved significant development, with political mutual trust continuously deepened and practical cooperation yielding fruitful results. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, people of the two countries have worked together with solidarity and mutual assistance, writing a new chapter of China-Guyana friendship. I attach great importance to the development of China-Guyana relations, and am willing to work with President Ali to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to lift bilateral relations to new levels and bring benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

Ali said that Guyana was the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to establish diplomatic ties with China, and that Guyana firmly adheres to the one-China principle. Over the past 50 years, Guyana and China have always respected each other and enjoyed equality and mutual benefit, and the traditional friendship has withstood the test of time. Guyana stands ready to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Guyana and China as an opportunity to continuously deepen bilateral friendship.
On June 23, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the latter's request.



Amir-Abdollahian wished China a full success in holding the upcoming BRICS Summit and High-level Dialogue on Global Development and believed that assuming BRICS chairmanship, China will create new opportunities for multilateral cooperation within the BRICS framework. Amir-Abdollahian stressed that Iran supports the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative proposed by the Chinese side.

Wang Yi said, President Xi Jinping is going to chair the BRICS Summit and High-level Dialogue on Global Development, which will be of great significance in strengthening BRICS mechanism building, enhancing solidarity and cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries, and promoting the international community to jointly address the challenges facing development issues. China attaches great importance to China-Iran relations and is ready to work with the Iranian side to continue to firmly support each other on issues related to each other's core interests and major concerns in the spirit of a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Amir-Abdollahian briefed on the latest progress of the negotiation on the resuming compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, saying that the bullying behavior of the United States is the main obstacle facing the current negotiation. The Iranian side will firmly safeguard its national interests and is also firmly committed to resolving differences through negotiations in order to reach an agreement at an early date. The Iranian side appreciates the constructive role played by China on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Wang Yi said, China does not approve of any nonconstructive moves that lead to a spiral of escalation of the situation. All parties should continue to uphold the correct logic of right and wrong and unremittingly promote to reach an agreement through diplomatic efforts. China opposes the politicization of IAEA affairs and supports the resolution of outstanding issues through dialogue and cooperation between IAEA and the Iranian side. The U.S. side should earnestly recognize its responsibilities and respond positively to the reasonable demands of the Iranian side. China will continue to uphold justice and support the promotion of the negotiation process, and is willing to maintain close communication with the Iranian side.
Black Box Intelligence (BBI) is one of the best when it comes to monitoring the shifts and changes that take place in the restaurant industry. One such area is restaurant operations.

The company has just put together a list of six general trends reflected in the current state of restaurant operations and based on the companys insights gathered from its various restaurant intelligence tools.

1. Increased Average Check Size

Restaurant operations across the board have seen an increase in check size, which means that on average, restaurant customers are spending more money per trip.

This extra spending per check has a lot to do with restaurants increasing their prices because of supply chain challenges and the general economic hardships brought on by Covid-19. BBIs data is still showing that these high prices are affecting customers average checks.

BBI has been able to track this trend using its Financial Intelligence tool, which monitors metrics like sales, traffic, sales per labor hour, dine-in, to-go, restaurant catering, and more. The tool helps restaurants to know whether or not what they experience in trends is because of the industry as a whole, or just the way their restaurant is handling things.

2. Drops in Traffic

BBI data is still showing a general drop in traffic that began during Covid. Although traffic has increased since the beginning of the pandemic, it has not returned to normal traffic levels.

This, alongside the increase in average check size, is concerning because the higher average check size could be contributing to the drop in traffic, as customers see eating at restaurants not worth the cost it now has become.

3. Focuses on Specialty Items and Promotions

In order to combat the drops in traffic and sentiment surrounding the value of eating at restaurants, restaurant operators have and should continue to focus on creating an experience that will bring value to customers, even with the increase in average check.

BBI has seen this manifest in restaurant operations with branches featuring specialty menu items and promotions in the hopes that it will bring more diners in the door.

4. Low Staffing Levels

This restaurant operations trend probably comes as no surprise to anyone: The staffing levels in restaurants, both full-service and limited-service, are lower than they were pre-Covid. BBI has seen an additional restaurant operations trend of higher wages across the board for all restaurants to act as an incentive for more people to work in the industry.

Limited-service restaurant brands are attempting to fill this gap in service workers by hiring more individuals to fill managerial positions, whereas full-service restaurants are operating with lower staffing levels for both hourly and management positions.

5. Flipped Restaurant Layouts

Another current trend in restaurant operations is adopting a flipped square footage restaurant layout. It is becoming more common to allocate more space in a restaurant to the kitchen rather than the seating area.

This change in restaurant layout has occurred to meet the rise in the popularity of to-go orders. Since fewer customers are sitting down and ordering food, altering the restaurant layout to match this change makes sense.

Restaurants have also begun to hire more off-premise and to-go staff members to meet this shift in consumer habits.

6. Less Fussy Fine Dining

This trend in restaurant operations speaks to a shift of sentiment of new generations. While high-end dining isnt going away completely, it will be less formal going forward.

Fine dining and upscale casual establishments have seen the most sales growth in the last month out of all of the segments because of younger diners wanting to go to more casual but still high-quality establishments. These establishments have a more relaxed dress code and are more focused on crafting a top-notch guest experience.
A ZIMBABWEAN man has been jailed four years in Botswana for burglary and theft of property worth over P11 000 from houses in Francistown.

Evidence before the Francistown magistrates court showed that on March 23 this year Abraham Mahlani destroyed burglar bars and padlocks to gain entry into a house belonging to Thandeka Letsholo and Botho Amantle Mokgatle in Francistowns Maipaafela location.

It is the State case that Mahlani (39) then stole several items, which included a television set, laptop, All-Star shoes, groceries, fridge, microwave, toiletries and a cooking gas cylinder, all valued at P11 335.

The matter was reported to Tatitown police the following day, leading to the arrest of Mahlani.

In mitigation, Mahlani pleaded with the court for leniency, explaining that he wanted to raise money to apply for a drivers licence.

Instead, the court slapped him with a custodial sentence.

You are sentenced to four years in prison for burglary and three years for theft. The two sentences are to run concurrently and the sentence is backdated to March 29 when you were incarcerated. Properties stolen will be returned to the owners, the court ruled.

Another Zimbabwean man, Johane Muwirimi (30) was also arrested for transporting the goods stolen by Mahlani in his Honda Fit.

Muwirimi was, however, exonerated after he told the police that he was not aware that the goods had been stolen.

Muwirimi, however, failed to produce travelling documents when asked to do so, leading to him being charged with a single count of entering the country illegally.

He was then ordered to pay P1 500 for being in Botswana unlawfully, failure which he would be jailed for six months. Newsday
Oregon craft beverage drinkers who prefer to crack a can open when the world is burning could fund efforts this summer to replant forests on public lands.

A handful of craft breweries and a winemaker will forward proceeds from retail sales of select cans in July and August to nonprofit Oregon Parks Forever, according to a Tuesday, June 28 news release. That nonprofit attempted to raise funds in 2021 for planting 1 million trees on lands burned in the 2020 Labor Day fires and by February had funded 553,000 trees across the state.

Then 2021 also turned out to be a bad fire season, Seth Miller, the nonprofits executive director, said in a phone interview.

We were able to fund their requests, but we decided to keep going because were having another potentially bad fire year this year, Miller said.

Oregon Parks Forever met requests from agencies including Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Marion County for replants on public lands including North Santiam State Recreation Area, near Lyons, and Silver Falls State Park.

Officials estimated more than 1.2 million acres burned in a dozen fires around Oregon in 2020, the largest and most destructive in northeastern Linn County. Another 600,000 or more acres burned statewide in 2021.

The nonprofits marketer and advertiser, Portland-based Sasquatch Agency, connected Oregon Parks Forever to Stoller Wine Group in 2021 that conceived a buy-one, plant-one collaboration on its Canned Oregon line of wines, Miller said.

That winery returned this year in an effort to raise enough to replant 25,000 trees with Fort George Brewery, Portland Cider Company and Sunriver Brewing Company. The craft drink makers will forward $1 from sales of select cans of wine or six-packs of beer between July 1 and Aug. 31 to the collaboration.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald.

Miller did not immediately provide how much Oregon Parks Forever raised in its 2021 buy-one, plant-one effort. A 2021 news release stated $1 funded one tree.

Oregon Parks Forever hasnt yet earmarked this years buy-one, plant-one for planting projects, but Miller reiterated what forecasters have called for  its probably going to be another hot one.

Were waiting to see what happens this year, but we want to make sure were able to jump in and help, he said.

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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Because the white powdered substance looks so similar to cocaine, it can be pretty much impossible to tell the difference - but it's so powerful that even misusing a tiny amount can cause an overdose.

Tammy and Lee chatted to Yvonne Booysen from Know Your Stuff to find out what the heck is going on and most importantly, how to get your drugs tested to avoid running into this nasty stuff.

"We've seen fentanyl in Aotearoa once or twice before, but only in substances where people already thought there were opioids," Yvonne explained.

It popping up in something like cocaine is a totally new situation for us.

She added that fentanyl is used is medical operations in NZ all the time, but by doctors and anaesthetists who know exactly how much they're administering.

"It's definitely something to worry about if you're not expecting it," Yvonnne said.

"If you think you're taking a line of cocaine it ends up being fentanyl that can end you in really serious trouble, and we're lucky that we haven't seen any fatalities from that yet."
South Africa: Water supply to improve in Ugu District

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has assured the community of Ugu District Municipality of improvement of water supply in the area.

The Premier made the commitment on Tuesday during an Imbizo in Port Shepstone.

The Premiers Imbizo comes after a working session led by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu, and District Executive Mayor Phumlile Mthiyane last week.

The main purpose of the meeting was to come up with solutions to address water supply challenges in the district.

During the imbizo, Zikalala identified the issues which are the main causes of lack of water supply in the District.

Issues raised include ageing infrastructure which has been neglected by the municipality in both rural and urban areas.

"Infrastructure is strained due to the demands of a growing population in the district. Illegal connections to water infrastructure and vandalism of Infrastructure were also identified as challenges, particularly at the Bhobhoyi Treatment Scheme, said the Department of Water and Sanitation in a statement.

During his meeting with the Minister, Zikalala presented a turnaround plan to address water challenges in the area.

It was agreed by the Premier and the Minister that the municipality should reprioritise funds and these should be channelled to one crucial thing, which is the provision of water.

The Premier outlined several short-, medium- and long-term water projects. The major Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) projects that will be implemented by Umgeni Water are as follows:

The Lower uMkhomazi Bulk Water Supply Scheme (LUBWSS) project needs to be fast tracked and prioritised. It includes an off-channel storage dam, namely Ngwadini dam, and Water Treatment Works (WTW). This project is in design phase by Umgeni Water. It will feed the upper and middle coastal regions of Ugu with bulk water.

The above project is required as the source of raw water required to impact on the further upgrade of the St. Helens Rock abstraction system and the uMzimkhulu-Bhobhoyi WTW to meet the future water demands.

South Coast Pipeline Extension Phase 2b Kelso to Malangeni/Umdoni augmentation via Pennington Sezela Link. The construction of the South Coast Phase 2b pipelines will alleviate the pressure on the Umzinto and the Mtwalume WTWs and supply systems by supplying potable water directly to communities within the Umdoni Municipality.

South Coast Pipeline Extension Phase 3, Umdoni to Mtwalume/Hibberdene LUBWSS as the main source of supply to replace reliance on run off river abstraction and associated constraints. This project will provide water to both the Umdoni and Umzumbe LMs and is planned to supplement the potable water supply produced by the Mtwalume WTW and provide potable water access in Bazley, Elysium and Ifafa.

The department said the drilling of boreholes, particularly in Umzumbe and Umdoni areas, will assist to augment water supply in those areas because the capacity of the municipality is not enough.

In the meantime, water tankering services are also active within communities to augment water supply.

The Premier assured the community of Ugu District Municipality that the provincial government, together with the Department of Water and Sanitation, is working to bring a change in water supply in the district.

We are mindful of the water challenges in this area and I would like to assure you that we are not here only to talk but there is work currently underway to address water supply issues. Water is life and a home cannot have dignity if there is no water.

I am also appealing to the business sector to join us as we tackle the water challenges in Ugu district. Let us all work together to bring solutions to the problem of water supply challenges in the district, said Zikalala.

Zikalala also appealed to provincial government departments, businesses, and the community to pay for the services rendered by the municipality so that the challenges in the district can be resolved with sufficient revenue collection assisting.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China's major auto cluster in high gear on road to economic recovery

Xinhua) 15:20, June 29, 2022

SHANGHAI, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Located in southeast Shanghai, U.S. carmaker Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory is bustling with production activity as it has returned to full production capacity by early June following a disruption due to COVID-19 resurgence.

The Tesla factory's return to normalcy is not an isolated case in east China's Yangtze River Delta, consisting of Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Accounting for nearly a quarter of the country's GDP, the delta area plays an important role in sustaining China's steady economic growth.

The Yangtze River Delta is a major automobile production cluster in China and its economic vitality, represented by the car manufacturing industry, is roaring back to normalcy.

Shanghai-based SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker, said its daily production has reached 13,000 units in its three major branches, generally rebounding to the level before March when the weeks-long COVID-19 flare-up broke out.

In neighbouring Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the output of major whole-vehicle production companies spiked 136 percent and over 55 percent in May over April.

The rebound of automobile production is a result of the local governments' efforts to ensure smooth operation of the industrial chain. For example, Jiangsu has set up a mechanism for cross-department and cross-sector coordination in helping whole-vehicle and auto parts firms resume production.

In addition to firms in the auto sector, major industrial enterprises, with annual business revenue totaling at least 20 million yuan (about 2.98 million U.S. dollars) in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, have achieved better-than-expected performances in production resumption, noted Xin Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology.

In May, the added value of major industrial firms in Anhui and Zhejiang reversed the downward trend by growing 5.2 percent and 1.5 percent year on year respectively. Peers in Shanghai and Jiangsu saw narrowing declines in added value.

In tandem with the swift recovery of economic activities, logistics in the region are also picking up the rebound pace.

The Yangtze River Delta saw 235 China-Europe freight train trips last month, up 12.4 percent over April. The container throughput of Ningbo-Zhoushan port in Zhejiang reached 3.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units in May, setting a new monthly record.

Swift production resumption and smoothing logistics have resulted in imports and exports growth. In May, trade volume in the region climbed nearly 20 percent over a month earlier, according to the country's top customs watchdog.

Foreign investment has also continued to flow into the region. Cargill, an agriculture and food company based in the United States, announced earlier this month that it will invest nearly 30 million U.S. dollars to build a flavor-syrup production base in Zhejiang's Pinghu City.

Liu Jun, president of Cargill China, said that Cargill is establishing the base because it has full confidence in the Chinese market.

"China will be one of the most attractive food ingredient markets in the world in the future," Liu said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gunderson Dettmer announced today that Lara Alice Pender has joined the firms leading venture capital and growth equity practice as a partner, where she will be resident in the Ann Arbor office. She joins the firm from Jones Day where she was a partner.



Pender focuses her practice on structuring, negotiating and managing minority- and majority-stake investments, as well as cross-border acquisitions and divestitures, for growth equity, venture capital and other private equity firms and the growth-stage companies in which they invest. She has represented a range of private equity investors, including international corporate venture capital, sovereign wealth and pension funds, in connection with numerous financings of high-valuation companies.

Lara will add her extensive private equity experience to our already formidable global growth equity fund practice. Having practiced in Silicon Valley, London and the Midwest, she brings over a decade of experience focused on navigating private equity investors through a rapidly-evolving market, says Marcia Hatch, member of the Gunderson Dettmers Management Committee and co-founder of the firms Ann Arbor office. At the same time, Lara shares our deep commitment to the growing Midwest ecosystem for high-growth companies and investors. She will further strengthen our Ann Arbor office and contribute to our continued success.

Our investor clients depend on us to provide market-leading advice and creative solutions to their needs. Lara brings exactly the right experience and skillset to complement our team members in Ann Arbor, New York and around the world, says Steve Baglio, co-leader of the firms international growth equity practice and partner in the New York office.

Pender also guides promising companies in the Midwest through financing, governance and strategic issues as they mature. She lectures at the University of Michigan Law School on late-stage venture capital issues.

Gundersons reputation among growth equity and venture capital investors is second to none. They not only provide clients with high-value legal advice, but they also take a practical strategic approach that aligns well with my own practice, says Pender. The opportunity to work with such an impressive roster of investors and companies alongside this collaborative and focused team was a motivating factor in deciding to join the firm.

Pender is admitted to practice in Michigan, California, England and Wales. She received her LL.B. from the University of Law, London, and her B.A. from Trinity College Dublin. She is recognized by Legal 500 in both the Venture Capital & Emerging Companies and the Private Equity Buyouts categories.

About Gunderson Dettmer

Gunderson Dettmer is the preeminent international law firm with an exclusive focus on the innovation economy. With more than 450 attorneys across ten offices in key venture markets throughout the world  Silicon Valley, Ann Arbor, Austin, Beijing, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Singapore  the firm serves market-leading venture capital and growth equity investors and pioneering private companies through inception, growth and maturity, as well as the groundbreaking public companies that result from the global venture capital ecosystem. Gunderson Dettmers experience and technical acumen allows its attorneys to predict, prioritize, and produce strategic solutions for our clients at every business phase.

Monica Rodriguez Kuniyoshi

Chief Marketing Officer

Phone: 650-463-5337

Email: mkuniyoshi@gunder.com
BEVERLY, Mass., June 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LexaGene Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: LXXGF; TSX-V: LXG) (LexaGene or the Company) announces that it has filed an initial registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on Form 10 under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), which includes audited financial statements prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) for the fiscal years ended February 28, 2022 and 2021, and related managements discussion and analysis (MD&A). A copy of the Form 10 registration statement has also been posted on SEDAR. The Company also announces that its annual Canadian financial filings, consisting of the Companys annual year-end financial statements, its related MD&A, and CEO and CFO certifications, are being worked on, but will not be filed with Canadian Securities Administrators by the required filing deadline of June 28, 2022.



At the conclusion of Q2 2021, the Company determined that it had ceased to qualify as a foreign private issuer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 3b-4), as the majority of its shareholders had shifted from Canada into the United States. As a result, the Company became obligated under SEC rules to register its common shares as a class under section 12(g) of the Exchange Act, by filing a registration statement on Form 10 no later than June 28, 2022. Since learning of this requirement, the Company has diligently prepared its Form 10 registration statement, which, as noted above, includes a full audit of the past two fiscal years and related MD&A, as well as other prescribed disclosure, which goes beyond that required in Canadian annual financial filings.

Management was under the impression that, upon filing the Form 10 registration statement with the SEC, it qualified as an SEC issuer as defined in of Canadian National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations and Canadian National Instrument 52-107  Acceptable Accounting Principles and Auditing Standards, such that it could begin to file financial statements with the British Columbia Securities Commission (the BCSC) and other Canadian Securities Administrators prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Regrettably, the Company was notified yesterday that it will not so qualify until the Form 10 registration statement becomes effective on August 27, 2022 (being the 60th day following the filing date of the Form 10), with the result that the Company is still required to prepare its annual Canadian financial filings, and its quarterly Canadian financial filings for the quarter ended May 31, 2022, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The Companys management is working on its annual Canadian financial filings, which requires converting the annual financial information prepared under U.S. GAAP to IFRS.

Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGenes CEO and Founder stated, The Companys fully-audited U.S. GAAP financials are available on EDGAR and SEDAR for our investors. We are in the process of addressing this matter, effectively duplicating the Form 10 into the Annual Canadian Financial Filings, as required under Canadian securities legislation. We expect to complete these documents and have them audited within six weeks based upon auditor availability. To minimize the impact to shareholders, the Company has applied to the BCSC for a management cease trade order that, if granted, would permit daily stock trading by our shareholders to continue. The management cease trade order would prohibit the Companys directors, officers and any other person who has access to material undisclosed information concerning the Company from trading in the Companys stock until the filing delinquency has been remedied and the order has been lifted.

Other than as disclosed herein, the Company is up to date in its filing obligations. The Company also confirms that there is no other material information relating to its affairs that has not been generally disclosed. The Company confirms it will issue bi-weekly default status reports in the form of news releases for so long as it remains in default of the above-noted filing requirements.

To learn more about LexaGene and the MiQLab System or subscribe to company updates, visit www.lexagene.com , or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Dr. Jack Regan

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman

To learn more about LexaGene and the MiQLab System or subscribe to company updates, visit www.lexagene.com, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

For inquiries: 800.215.1824 | ir@lexagene.com or info@lexagene.com

About LexaGene Holdings Inc.

LexaGene is a molecular diagnostics company that develops molecular diagnostic systems for pathogen detection and genetic testing for other molecular markers for on-site rapid testing in veterinary diagnostics, food safety and for use in open-access markets such as clinical research, agricultural testing and biodefense. End-users simply need to collect a sample, load it onto the instrument with a sample preparation cartridge, enter sample ID and press go. The MiQLab system delivers excellent sensitivity, specificity, and breadth of detection and can return results in approximately two hours. The unique open-access feature is designed for custom testing so that end-users can load their own real-time PCR assays onto the instrument to target any genetic target of interest.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the success of technology development efforts, the cost to procure critical parts, performance of the instrument, market acceptance of the technology, regulatory acceptance, and licensing issues -- that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations as disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2022  Creminelli Fine Meats, a Salt Lake City, Utah establishment, is recalling approximately 4,207 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) parmesan salami sticks due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The product contains egg lysozyme, an egg white protein and known allergen, which is not declared on the product label.







The RTE salami stick with parmesan items were packaged on various dates from October 26, 2021 through April 26, 2022. The following products are subject to recall [view labels]:







2.6-oz. plastic pouches containing CREMINELLI FINE MEATS salami minis UNCURED ITALIAN SALAMI PARMESAN with BEST BY dates from 06/18/22 through 12/09/22.



The products subject to recall bear establishment number EST34644 stamped on the back of the product packaging next to the best by date. These items were shipped to retail locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Utah, and sold through internet sales nationwide.







The problem was discovered by inspection personnel during a routine label verification review. Egg white lysozyme, a component of the parmesan cheese ingredient, is not declared on the final product label.







There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.







FSIS is concerned that some product may in consumers pantries. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.







FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution lists will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.







Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Gabriella Graff, Office Manager with Creminelli Fine Meats, at 801-428-1820. Members of the media with questions about the recall can contact Chris Bowler, CEO of Creminelli Fine Meats, at 801-428-1820.







Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.




NEW ORLEANS, June 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until August 15, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL), if they purchased the Companys American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) between September 2, 2020 and July 21, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.



What You May Do

If you purchased ADRs of Unilever as above and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-ul/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by August 15, 2022 .

About the Lawsuit

Unilever and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On July 19, 2021, the Companys wholly owned subsidiary, Ben & Jerrys, announced a resolution to end sales of its ice cream in Occupied Palestinian Territory upon the expiration of the current licensing agreement by which its products had been distributed in Israel for decades. Then, on July 22, 2021, media sources reported that the states of Texas and Florida were investigating Ben & Jerrys actions for possible violations of the states Anti-BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel) legislation.

On this news, ADRs of Unilever fell $3.19 per share, or approximately 5.4%.

The case is City of St. Clair Shores Police and Fire Retirement System v. Unilever PLC, et al., No. 22-cv-05011.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nations premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:
NEW ORLEANS, June 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until August 5, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Teladoc Health, Inc. (NYSE: TDOC), if they purchased the Companys securities between October 28, 2021 and April 27, 2022, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.



What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Teladoc as above and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-tdoc/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by August 5, 2022 .

About the Lawsuit

Teladoc and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On April 27, 2022, the Company disclosed a host of negative financial results, including revenue of $565.4 million, below consensus estimates by $3.23 million, net loss per share of $41.58, primarily driven by a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $6.6 billion or $41.11 per share, and revised FY 2022 revenue guidance to $2.4 - $2.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $240 - $265 million, which the Company largely attributed to increased competition in its BetterHelp and chronic care businesses.

On this news, shares of Teladoc fell $22.48 per share, or 40.15%, to close at $33.51 per share on April 28, 2022.

The case is Schneider v. Teladoc Health, Inc., et al., No. 22-cv-04687.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nations premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Traction Uranium Corp. (the Company or Traction) ( CSE: TRAC ) ( OTC: TRCTF ) ( FRA: Z1K ) a mineral exploration issuer focusing on the development of discovery prospects in Canada, including its two flagship uranium projects in the world-renowned Athabasca Region and Fission 3.0 Corp. (Fission 3), are pleased to announce demobilization and completion of 10 diamond drill holes totalling 3,005 metres at the Lazy Edward Bay property intersecting elevated levels of radiation downhole signaling favorable indicators of Uranium mineralization.



Downhole Gamma Results:

A table accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/730445b1-8616-4f1d-9ecd-62652bf15e1f

Highlights:

Drilling encountered favorable structure, alteration and anomalous radioactivity in the vicinity of historic hole LE-73 on the West Horse conductor. The Company considers greater than 300 cps on the handheld spectrometer, or greater than 500 cps on the downhole gamma probe as anomalous.

The unconformity was intersected at 173 m and a large fault zone was intersected between 178.4 m and 190.1 m.

Several drill targets were defined along the East and West Horse conductors based on the 3D conductance model from the inversion of the VTEM data flown by JNR Resources in 2017. Drill holes LE-009 and LE-010 tested 2 of these targets.

Favorable structure, alteration along with elevated levels of radiation are key indicators for identifying unconformity type, high grade uranium deposits typical in the basin.

Submitted a total of 838 samples for lithogeochemical analysis at SRC Analytical using their Uranium Package.



A map accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c9d0514e-bfe4-4215-a18c-ec455e5a7ec0

Lester Esteban, Chief Executive Officer, states We are encouraged with the drill program at Lazy Edward Bay where 70% of the holes intersected anomalous radiation, indicating that the Western Horse Conductor is showing all the right signs for further work and warranting additional drill testing. Elevated levels of radiation, alteration and structure that had been demonstrated in the drill program are all favorable indicators of possible uranium mineralization nearby and our exploration team will be looking very closely at the geochemical analyses once received to reconcile with the drill data to define high priority follow up targets for our next drill program.

Natural gamma radiation in the drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a handheld Radiation Solutions RS-125 scintillometer. Natural gamma radiation in the drill hole surveys that are reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Mount Sopris Instruments QL40-GRA borehole gamma probe. The reader is cautioned that scintillometer readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured and should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials. All intersections are down-hole. All depths reported of core interval measurements of radioactivity are not always representative of true thickness.

About the Property

The Lazy Edward Bay property is located halfway between Camecos Key Lake Mine and the high-grade Centennial uranium deposit, and hosts NE-trending conductive corridors similar to those associated with Key Lake and Centennial. The major uranium deposits in the eastern Athabasca Basin, including Key Lake, McArthur River and Cigar Lake, are along the NE-trending Wollaston-Mudjatik transition zone and conductive corridor. To the west of the property, the Centennial deposit is localized along the NE-trending Virgin River conductive corridor which transects the entire Athabasca Basin. The Key Lake mine, located ~50 km to the east of the property is accessible by Provincial Highway 914, serviced by the provincial power grid, and has an operating mill where the McArthur River ore has been processed.

The ongoing work program is being funded by Traction in accordance with the terms of the Option Agreement between Fission 3 and Traction, whereby Traction can acquire up to a 70% interest in the Lazy Edward Bay property (see Dec 10, 2021 Fission 3 news release).

About Traction Uranium Corp.

Traction Uranium (CSE: TRAC) (OTC: TRCTF) (FRA: Z1K) is in the business of mineral exploration and the development of discovery prospects in Canada, including its two flagship uranium projects in the Athabasca Region.

We invite you to find out more about our exploration-stage activities across Canadas Western region at www.tractionuranium.com.

About Fission 3.0 Corp.

Fission 3 is a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of world's largest high grade uranium discoveries. Fission 3 currently has 16 projects in the Athabasca Basin. Several of Fission 3's projects are near large uranium discoveries, including, Arrow, Triple R and Hurricane deposits. Fission 3 is currently planning a winter exploration/drill program on its PLN project.

https://twitter.com/Fission3Corp

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and approved on behalf of the company by Raymond Ashley, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Fission 3.0 Corp. Mr. Ashley has verified the data disclosed.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Lester Esteban

Chief Executive Officer

+1 (604) 561 2687

info@tractionuranium.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the expected use of proceeds from the Private Placement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
Dublin, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Organ-on-a-Chip: Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The scope of this report covers various types of products available in the organ-on-a-chip market and potential application sectors in various industries. The organ-on-a-chip market is broken down into various segments.

An organ-on-a-chip is a type of artificial organ that possesses the capability to simulate activities, mechanics and physiological responses similar to that of an organ system. These are multi-channel 3D microfluidic cell culture chips that are primarily being used in life science and drug development research because of their ability to imitate human microenvironments in vitro.

The unique characteristics of organ-on-a-chip are worked out by integrating biology and advanced engineering. Cell biology, microfluidics and microfabrication are the core fields that have paved the way towards the development of organ-on-a-chip technology.



Organ-on-a-chip is considered to be a potential game-changing technology and is serving as a testing alternative that is replacing the use of animals in life science research, toxicology testing and drug development studies around the globe. Countries are focusing on this upcoming technology to produce safer and effective drugs.

It has been observed that pharmaceutical R&D expenses create a lot of burden on the healthcare industry because the drug discovery process requires huge investment but has a low success rate. Studies have indicated that using organ-on-a-chips for drug discovery and development studies will help to reduce the cost by 26% because many ineffective and toxic drugs can be eliminated at the preclinical stage before they enter human trials.

Also, rising demand for personalized medicines is also a contributing factor to growth in the organ-on-a-chip market. There are many diseases that still do not have any approved therapies for cures and depend only on symptomatic management, e.g., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cirrhosis, etc.

Therefore, organ-on-a-chip will be beneficial for such indications. More research and the increasing prevalence of cancer as well as neurogenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other rare indications will also be contributing factors for the market.



The North American region has the highest share of the organ-on-a-chip market, followed by Europe. This is because of the extensive research and developmental activities taking place in the region as well as the presence of major players, funding and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. All these factors contribute to growth in the organ-on-a-chip market.



It has been observed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the organ-on-a-chip market. This is because, due to the pandemic, many institutions across the world began research projects aimed at gaining an understanding of disease pathology and developing treatment options for coronavirus.

Finally, it has also been observed that companies are now moving from single organ on a chip to multiple organ on a chip to gain a better understanding of the toxicological impact of a drug.

Revenue forecasts from 2019 to 2026 are given for each type, application, offering and end user.The application segment is characterized by various types, including drug discovery and development, toxicological research, and physiological model development, and by end-use industry, including academic and research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, cosmetics industry and other end users. By type market is segmented to liver, lung, kidney, heart and others. The report also focuses on regional segmentation of the market.

Further, it explains the major drivers and regional dynamics of the global market and current trends within the industry. It also includes information about the industry structure and competitive landscape as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the market. The report includes detailed profiles of the major players in the global organ-on-a-chip market.



Report Includes

Analyses of the global market trends, with data from 2019 to 2021, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2026

Information on multi-channel 3-D microfluidic cell culture chip, and discussion of their ability to imitate human microenvironment in vitro

Evaluation and forecast the global organ-on-a-chip market size, and corresponding market share analysis by technology offering, organ type, application, end-user vertical and region

Discussion on how organ-on-a-chip is emerging as a priority testing alternative which is replacing animals in life science research, toxicology testing and drug development studies

Review of potential applications in pharmaceutical and life science research sectors, including preclinical drugs testing, drug screening, personalized medicine, phenotypic screening, lead optimization and disease modelling

Insights into the recent industry structure including the government programs and policies in support of organ-on-a-chip and coverage of revised laws involving animal testing

Review of patent grants for innovations in organ-on-a-chip technology across each major category

Descriptive company profiles of the leading global players, including 4Dcell, BiomimX, Emulate Inc., Kirkstall Ltd., Nortis and TissUse GmbH

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights



Chapter 3 Market and Technology Background

Introduction

Developments in Drug Discovery

1950-1970

1970-1990

1990-2010

2010 to the Present

Market Potential

Strategic Initiatives

Regulatory Framework

U.S.

European Union

China

Japan

Chapter 4 Market Dynamics

Factors Affecting the Organ-On-A-Chip Market

Market Drivers

Increasing Incidence of Chronic Diseases

Rising Demand for a Way to Enhance the Effectiveness of Clinical Trials

Increasing Investments for Drug Research and Development

Increasing Demand for Personalized Medicine

Market Restraints

Lack of Standardization

Chapter 5 Impact of Covid-19

Introduction

Outbreak Origins

Symptoms of Covid-19

Progression of Covid-19

Incubation Period

Epidemiology

Collaboration Between Organizations and Governments

Spread of Disease

Impact of Covid-19 on the Organ-On-A-Chip Market

Chapter 6 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Type

Liver

Liver-On-A-Chip Classifications Depending on Their Principal Actions

Heart

Kidney

Lung

Other Organs

Chapter 7 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by End-user

Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies

Cosmetics Industry

Academic and Research Institutes

Increasing R&D Spending

Other End-users

Chapter 8 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Offering

Products

Services

Chapter 9 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Application

Drug Discovery and Development

Toxicological Research

Physiological Model Development

Chapter 10 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Region

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

U.K.

France

Germany

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

Australia

Rest of the World

Chapter 11 Industry Structure

Raw Material Suppliers

Quality and Technology

Terms and Conditions

Cost-Effective Components

Manufacturers

Distributors

End-users of Consumables

Competitive Analysis

Patent Landscape

Patent Review by Year

Patent Review by Country

Chapter 12 Company Profiles

4Dcell

Axosim

Beonchip

Biomimx

Bioivt

Cherry Biotech

Cn Bio

Elveflow

Emulate Inc.

Fluigent

Hesperos Inc.

Hurel Corp.

Insphero

Kirkstall

Mesobio Tech

Micronit

Mimetas

Nortis

Synvivo

Tara Biosystems Inc.

Tissuse Gmbh

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m48x84

Attachment
Pune, India, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Latin America Eyewear Market Size is set to gain momentum from the increasing geriatric population in the region. Old people are mainly prone to suffering from ophthalmic disorders or vision impairments. This information is given by Fortune Business Insights in a new report, titled, Latin America Eyewear Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Product Type (Spectacles (Frames, Lens), Sunglasses (Plano, Prescription), and Contact Lenses (Toric, Multifocal, and Sphere)); By Distribution Channel (Retail Store, Online Store, and Ophthalmic Clinics), and Country Forecast, 2020-2028. The report further states that the Latin America eyewear market size was USD 10.80 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 15.05 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period.





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Key Industry Development

September 2020: Essilor introduced its new generation of spectacle lens solutions called Stellest lens to fight against myopia. It was designed with the help of the companys Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target or HALT technology.

February 2019: Essilor International acquired majority stakes in a prescription laboratory named Indulentes. It is based in Ecuador. This will help the former to strengthen its presence in the country.

Report Scope:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2020 to 2028 Forecast Period 2020 to 2028 CAGR 6.8% 2028 Value Projection USD 15.05 billion Base Year 2019 Market Size in 2019 USD 10.80 billion Historical Data for 2016 to 2018 No. of Pages 106





Market Growth Drivers

Increasing Usage of Smartphones and Computers to Accelerate Growth

The cases of ophthalmic disorders, such as cataract, myopia, and glaucoma are increasing rapidly in Latin America in recent years. The rising usage of digital screens, namely, smartphones, computers, laptops, and televisions is one of the crucial reasons responsible for the higher prevalence of the above-mentioned disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO), for instance, mentioned that more than 25 million people in Caribbean and Latin American countries were affected by age-related macular degeneration in 2019.

Regional Insights

Presence of Established Healthcare Infrastructure to Favor Growth in Mexico

In 2019, Brazil generated USD 4.17 billion in terms of revenue in the Latin America eyewear industry. The presence of numerous eyewear companies, coupled with the increasing government initiatives would contribute to this growth. Also, the high demand for multiple eyewear products in this country would aid growth.





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Market Segmentations:

Segmentation By Product Spectacles Frames Lenses

Sunglasses Plano Prescription

Contact Lenses Toric Multifocal Sphere

By Distribution Channel Retail Store

Online Store

Ophthalmic Clinics By Geography Brazil

Mexico

Argentina

Columbia

Chile

Peru

Ecuador





Competitive Landscape

Key Players Aim to Gain a Competitive Edge by Unveiling State-of-the-art Eyewear Products

The market for eyewear in Latin America contains numerous prominent manufacturers that are presently striving to gain a competitive edge by launching innovative products. The high demand in this region is also boosting these firms to compete with their rivals by generating more sales.





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The Report Lists the Key Companies in the Global Latin America Eyewear Market

Alcon (Geneva, Switzerland)

EssilorLuxottica (Charenton-le-Pont, France)

CooperVision (Lake Forest, California, US)

Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (New Brunswick, New Jersey, US)

Bausch Health Incorporated (Bridgewater Township, US)

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (Oberkochen, Germany)

LentisPlus.Com(Bogota, Colombia)

Safilo Group S.p.A (Padua, Italy)

Ben & Frank (Ciudad de, Mexico)

Leco.mx (Mexico City, Mexico)

Infinit.la (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Weblens.com (Mexico City, Mexico)

Willbloom.cl (Santiago, Chile)

Other Prominent Player

Table of Contents

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights New Product Launch, By Key Players Prevalence of Key Ocular Diseases, By Key Countries Overview of Consumer Buying Behavior of Eyewear Products Key Industry Developments - Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships Key Trends in the Eyewear Market Percentage of Adults Currently Wearing Eyewear, Latin America Impact of COVID-19 on Latin America Eyewear Market

Latin America Eyewear Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2028 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Product Spectacles Frames Lenses Sunglasses Plano Prescription Contact Lenses Toric Multifocal Sphere Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Distribution Channel Retail Store Online Store Ophthalmic Clinics Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Country/Sub-region Brazil Mexico Argentina Columbia Chile Peru Ecuador Rest of Latin America

Competitive Analysis

Key Industry Developments Latin America Market Share Analysis by Key Companies (2019) Company Profiles (Overview, Products, SWOT Analysis, Recent Developments, Strategies, Financials (based on availability))



Alcon EssilorLuxottica CooperVision Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. Bausch Health Incorporated Carl Zeiss Meditec AG LentisPlus.Com Safilo Group S.p.A Ben & Frank Leco.mx Infinit.la Weblens.com Willbloom.cl



Strategic Recommendations

ToC Continued





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Pune, India, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global military drone market size is anticipated to hit USD 30.86 billion in 2029 and exhibit a CAGR of 14.82% during the forecast period. The rising military drone procurement by defense forces and expanding military budgets are expected to foster growth for the market. Fortune Business Insights has presented this information in its report titled, Military Drone Market, 2022-2029. The market size stood at USD 10.25 billion in 2021 and USD 11.73 billion in 2022.

Additionally, the increasing incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) with autonomous flight systems is estimated to be a key trend stimulating the market growth.

COVID-19 Impact-

Disruption in Supply Chain Analysis Due to COIVD-19 to Affect Market Growth

The market has experienced an exceedingly harmful impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The reduced purchases of defense equipment and fewer military contracts have affected the market growth. Moreover, various countries such as Israel, India, the U.S., and France cut their defense budgets and allocated those funds to the healthcare sector. However, cross-border disputes and terrorism grew during the pandemic, which bolstered military drone demand.

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List of Key Market Players-

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (U.S.)

Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.)

Elbit Systems Ltd. (Israel)

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (Israel)

AeroVironment Inc. (U.S.)

Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.)

Thales Group (France)

Boeing (U.S.)

BAE Systems (U.K.)

SAAB Group (Sweden)

Textron Systems (U.S.)

Report Scope & Segmentation:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2021 USD 10.25 Billion Revenue forecast in 2029 USD 30.86 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 14.82% during 2022-2029 Base Year 2021 Historic Years 2018-2020 Forecast Years 2022- 2029 Segments Covered By Product Type Analysis, By Range Analysis, By System Analysis Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2022 to 2029 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 Military Drone Market are General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (U.S.), Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Elbit Systems Ltd. (Israel), Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (Israel), AeroVironment Inc. (U.S.), Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), Thales Group (France), Boeing (U.S.), BAE Systems (U.K.), ,SAAB Group (Sweden), Textron Systems (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.

Segments-

On the basis of product type, the market is fragmented into rotary wing, hybrid wing, and fixed wing. On the basis of technology, the market is trifurcated into autonomous drones, semi-autonomous drones, and remotely operated drones. On the basis of range, the market is divided into Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS), Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS), and Visual Line of Sight (VLOS). On the basis of system, the market is categorized into software, payloads, propulsion, avionics, airframe, and others. On the basis of applications, the market is segregated into logistics & transportation, battle damage management, combat operations, Intelligence, Surveillance Reconnaissance and Targeting (ISRT), and others. Geographically, the market is classified into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the rest of the world.

Browse Summary of this Research Report:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/military-drone-market-102181

Report Coverage-

It incorporates Porters Five Forces Analysis for precise prediction.

It assimilates key market drivers and restraints.

It profiles the rankings of key market players accordingly.

It includes key market developments and information on different market segments.

It assesses the COVID-19 pandemics impact on the market.

Drivers & Restraints-

Expanding Military Spending to Fuel Market Growth

The swelling defense expenditures by several countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, and China, to purchase and upgrade their defense systems are expected to boost the global military drone market growth. In 2020, the U.K., the U.S., Russia, India, and China accounted as the top five nations with the largest defense budgets standing at USD 59.2 billion, USD 778 billion, USD 61.7 billion, USD 72.9 billion, and USD 252 billion, respectively.

The escalating cross-border issues amongst various nations over land ownership and other such reasons are expected to augment the demand for drones and foster the market growth. Additionally, the growing terrorism and territorial issues amongst Syria, Israel, Pakistan, China, India, and others are likely to fuel drone procurement and complement the market growth.

However, high costs of modern systems and advanced electronics equipped in military drone may restrain the market growth.

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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 Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Latest technological Advancements Porters Five Forces Analysis Supply Chain Analysis

Quantitative Insights-Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Military Drone Market Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Global Military Drone Market Steps Taken by the Industry/Companies/Government to Overcome the Impact Key Development in the Industry in Response to COVID-19 Impact



TOC Continued!

Regional Insights-

North America to Dominate Global Market to Presence of Key Players

North America is projected to gain the largest military drone market share. The key players present in the region, such as General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, and others, are expected to flourish in market growth. The growing technological developments due to extensive R&D activities and increasing investments are expected to fuel the regions market growth.

Europe is projected to witness substantial growth in the global market. The growing procurement of small, tactical drones by Germany, France, and the U.K. is expected to amplify the market growth in Europe.

Asia Pacific is estimated to expand rapidly due to the swelling defense budgets by India and China. Moreover, the increasing investments by major key players are anticipated to magnify the market growth in Asia Pacific.

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Competitive Landscape-

Key Players Adopt Ingenious Strategies to Attain Growth

The market is fragmented due to the presence of key military drone producers with robust product portfolios. Northrop Grumman Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Thales Group are predicted to dominate the market in the coming years. Moreover, the markets low entry barriers propose an increase in new entrants, which is likely to create a highly consolidated marketplace. Recently, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems displayed an airborne manned-unmanned teaming via a modified King Air 200 and MQ-20 Avenger in September 2021.

Key Industry Development-

August 2021- Northrop Grummans Global Hawk has been undergoing integration and testing of the next-generation cockpit displays for enhancement of situational awareness of sensor operator and pilot as well under the Ground Segment Modernization Program.

Read Related Insights:

Military Aircraft Market Size, Share | Global Industry Forecast, 2026

Military 3D Printing Market Size, Industry Share | Forecast, 2029

Military Drone Market Size, Share | Growth Analysis [2022-2029]

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Dublin, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "South African Juice Industry Landscape Report 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Within the local and global juice markets, consumers are increasingly prioritising mindful consumption, in terms of both personal health, as well as the environment. However, this does not mean that consumers are willing to compromise on taste or flavours. As a result, market players are increasingly refreshing the Juice market, with various innovations that offer consumers healthy and sustainable options, while providing the same quality of taste. This includes offering brand new product ranges, as well as adapting existing production processes to better meet this demand within the industry.



In terms of the South African market, the local Juice market achieved growth of 3.4% year-on-year, in current prices, between 2020 and 2021. This growth is partially due to the increase in mindful consumption within the Juice market, in terms of both personal health and the environment, which has accelerated innovation in the industry.

The report provides a dynamic synthesis of industry research, examining the local and global Juice industry (including the impact of COVID-19) from a uniquely holistic perspective, with detailed insights into the entire value chain - market size, industry trends, innovation and technology, industry drivers and challenges, manufacturer/distributor overview, and pricing analysis.



The South African Juice Industry Landscape Report 2022 provides a holistic overview of the global and South African market and will help answer the following questions:



For the Global Juice Industry Section:

What are the current market dynamics of the Global Juice industry?

What are the key markets within the Global Juice industry?

What are the Global Juice industry trends, innovation and technology, drivers, and challenges?

For the South African Juice Industry Section:

What are the current market dynamics (market size, market value, market volumes, imports and exports trade): 2016-2021 Actual, 2022-2026 Forecasts (including the impact of COVID-19), and distribution channels?

What are the South African Juice industry trends, innovation and technology, drivers and challenges?

For the South African Juice Manufacturer & Distributor Section:

Which are the key manufacturing and distributor players in the South African Juice industry?

For each key player, what is the latest company news in terms of products, services, new launches, and marketing initiatives?

Which popular Juice brands and products do the respective companies manufacture/distribute?

For the South African Juice Retail and Pricing Analysis Section:

Which are the key retail players (supermarkets and independent retailers) in the South African Juice industry?

What are the prices of popular Juice brands across South African retail outlets?

Categories/Products Coverage



The Juice market is segmented into 100% Juice (including Not from Concentrate 100% Juice, Reconstituted 100% Juice), Juice Drinks (up to 24% Juice), Nectars, as well as Coconut and Other Plant Waters.



Key Topics Covered:



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Global Industry Snapshot

South African Industry Snapshot

South African Industry Drivers and Challenges

1. GLOBAL JUICE INDUSTRY

1.1 Global Industry Overview

1.2 Global Industry Market Environment

1.3 Global Industry Production

1.4 Global Industry Imports

1.5 Global Industry Exports

1.6 Global Key Markets: Regional Overview

1.7 Global Industry Trends

1.8 Global Industry Innovation and Technology

1.9 Global Industry Drivers

1.10 Global Industry Challenges



2. SOUTH AFRICAN JUICE INDUSTRY

2.1 South African Industry Overview

2.2 South African Industry Overview: South African Fruit Juice Association

2.3 South African Market Distribution: Apple Market (2015 - 2020)

2.4 South African Market Distribution: Pear Market (2015 - 2020)

2.5 South African Market Distribution: Orange Market (2015 - 2021)

2.6 South African Industry Trade

2.7 South African Industry Market: South African Juice Market Definitions

2.8 South African Industry Market: South African Juice Distribution Channel Definitions

2.9 South African Industry Market Size: Juice Market (2016-2021)

2.10 South African Industry Market Size: Juice Market (2016-2021: By Category)

2.11 South African Industry Market Size: 100% Juice Market (2016-2021: By Category)

2.12 South African Industry Market Size: Juice Market (Forecast: 2022-2026)

2.13 South African Industry Market Size: Juice Market Volumes (2016-2026)

2.14 South African Industry Market Distribution: Juice Market: Channel distribution for Juice Products

2.15 South African Industry Trends

2.16 South African Industry Innovation and Technology

2.17 South African Industry Drivers

2.18 South African Industry Challenges



3. SOUTH AFRICAN JUICE MANUFACTURER & DISTRIBUTOR OVERVIEW

3.1 Clover SA: Overview

3.2 Clover SA: Juice Brands/Products

3.3 Coca-Cola Company: Overview

3.4 Coca-Cola Company: Juice Brands/Products

3.5 Darling Romery: Overview

3.6 Darling Romery: Juice Brands/Products

3.7 Dewfresh: Overview and Juice Brands/Products

3.8 Dynamic Brands: Overview

3.9 Dynamic Brands: Juice Brands/Products

3.10 Fair Cape Dairies: Overview

3.11 Fair Cape Dairies: Juice Brands/Products

3.12 Henties Juices Cape CC: Overview

3.13 Henties Juices Cape CC: Juice Brands/Products

3.14 Jumbo Brands: Overview and Juice Brands/Products

3.15 Lactalis South Africa: Overview

3.16 Lactalis South Africa: Juice Brands/Products

3.17 Pioneer Foods: Overview

3.18 Pioneer Foods: Juice Brands/Products

3.19 RFG Holdings: Overview

3.20 RFG Holdings: Juice Brands/Products

3.21 Sir Fruit: Overview

3.22 Sir Fruit: Juice Brands/Products

3.23 Tiger Brands: Overview

3.24 Tiger Brands: Juice Brands/Products

3.25 South African Juice Manufacturers and Distributors: Other



4. SOUTH AFRICAN JUICE RETAIL & PRICING ANALYSIS

4.1 South African Juice Supermarket Overview

4.2 South African Juice Independent Retailers

4.3 South African Juice Pricing Analysis

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5txwnh

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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Dublin, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Growth Opportunities in Military Medical Device Technologies" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Over the years, the healthcare industry has developed several unique technologies for emergency medical services and critical care. An important user of critical care healthcare products is the military or the defense forces. Advanced medical technologies have improved the care that is offered, and they also enable safer and quicker care for soldiers.



Severe hemorrhages can result in hemodynamic instability, hypoxemia, multiple organ failure, or death. A key reason for patient fatality is blood loss due to trauma or injury on the battlefield. Typically, intravenous (systemic) or local (topical) hemostatic agents are used to control excessive bleeding.



Natural biomaterials have gained popularity due to their ease of use and rapid action. However, some of these hemostatic dressings cause irritation and exothermic reactions on the skin and take slow action to stop the bleeding. Advanced hemostatic wound care solutions address these challenges, and they will play an important role in military health systems.

This study covers only locally applied hemostatic agents in prehospital settings; intravenous infusion in hospital settings is not included.

In addition to hemostatic wound care, the use of health monitoring devices such as wearables is growing. These devices track vital statistics, including heart rate, blood pressure, and stress and fatigue levels and also enable decision-making pertaining to medical evacuation. Digital health technology is also being used for proactive wellness care and to take care of the mental health of personnel.



The augmented and improved performance of human beings with enhanced physical power and immunological resistance will become important future expectations on the battlefield. Human augmentation devices such as exoskeletons will revolutionize the military health system through the prevention of injuries.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Strategic Imperatives

2. Growth Environment Analysis

Rapid Care and Mobile Care are the Key Military Health System Requirements.

Digital and Robotic Technologies are Addressing Military Health Requirements.

The Key Innovation Areas in Military Health Systems Include Wound Care, Health Monitoring, and Human Augmentation.

Increased Funding and Collaboration between MedTech and Federal Organizations are Driving Technology Advancements.

Cybersecurity and Connectivity Concerns are Challenging the Adoption of Digital Health Devices.

Scope of Analysis

Research Methodology

3. Hemostatic Innovations for Militaries

Hemostatic Solutions in Militaries - Key Requirements

Bandages and Gauze Embedded with Hemostatic Materials are the Most Commonly Used Hemostatic Products.

Emerging Hemostasis Technologies and Trends in Military Settings

Hemostatic Biomaterials from Natural Sources

Universities' Noteworthy Hemostatic Innovations

Emerging Hemostatic Innovations to Address Truncal Hemorrhages

Chitosan-based Wound Dressings for Hemostatic Effect

Kaolin-based Hemostatic Dressings that Accelerate the Body's Natural Clotting Process

Chitosan-based Wound Dressings for Bleeding Control

All-in-One Pressure Bandages that Stop the Bleeding of Severe Wounds

4. Wearable Health Monitoring Innovations for Militaries

The Monitoring of Military Personnel Health Enables Better Physical and Mental Health and Reduces Injuries.

Wearables are the Most Commonly Used Technology Platforms for Remote Health Monitoring in Militaries.

Emerging Technologies and Trends in Wearable Health Monitoring for Militaries

Sensor and Digital Innovation in Health Monitoring

Universities' Noteworthy Remote Health Monitoring Innovations

Remote Health Monitoring of Soldiers' Physiological and Behavioral Data

Mobile Health Application to Monitor Users' Moods and Emotions

Tissue-integrated Biosensors for the Continuous Monitoring of Body Vitals

Smartphone-compatible Application for the Early Detection of Injuries

5. Robotic Exoskeleton Innovations for Militaries

Robotic Exoskeletons Reduce the Risk of Injury in Military Personnel.

Innovations in Materials, Actuators, and Power to Improve the Performance of Robotic Exoskeletons

Universities' Noteworthy Soft and Lightweight Robotic Exoskeleton Innovations

Smart Exoskeletons Capture Crucial Insights about Soldiers.

AI-powered Exoskeletons

Load-bearing Exoskeletons to Improve Performance and Reduce Musculoskeletal Injuries

Full-body Exoskeleton Suits to Improve Physical Strength

Smart Exoskeletons to Improve Endurance and Provide Unimpaired Mobility

Human Biomechanics-inspired Exoskeleton Suits to Improve Operator Mobility

6. Innovation Indicators

Military-funded Research is Driving Innovation in Hemostatics.

A Growing Number of Partnerships will Provide More Efficient Wound Care Solutions in Military Settings.

Private and Public Funding is Accelerating the Development of Innovative Wound Care Products.

Government-led Efforts are Encouraging Innovation in the Exoskeleton Industry for Defense.

Collaborations and Partnerships will Expand the Use of Robotic Exoskeletons in Defense.

The US Military is Actively Adopting Real-time Monitoring to Control its Troops.

The US Military is Partnering with Digital Health Technology Companies to Optimize Soldiers' Performance.

US and Chinese Defense Bodies are Adopting Emerging Technologies in Military Health, Especially Digital Technologies.

The Russian Military is Focusing on Human Augmentation Technologies.

Smart Garments and Robotic Exoskeletons are the Most Impactful Emerging Medical Technologies in Military Health Systems.

Hemostatic and Health Monitoring are Easy-to-Implement and Highly Impactful Solutions that Improve the Health of Military Personnel.

Technology Roadmap of Military Medical Systems

7. Growth Opportunity Universe

Growth Opportunity 1: Easy-to-Use and Quick Wound Sealing Hemostatic Solutions for Trauma Injuries

Growth Opportunity 2: Digital Behavioral Therapy for Military Personnel

Growth Opportunity 3: Patient-centric Care for Military Personnel

8. Appendix

9. Next Steps

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6qvvuu
Dublin, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "US Space Launch Services Market (2022-2027) by Launch Platform, Vehicle Size, Orbit, Payload, Service, End User, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The US Space Launch Services Market is estimated to be USD 3.54 Bn in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 7.84 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 17.25%.



Market Segmentation

The US Space Launch Services Market is segmented based on Launch Platform, Vehicle Size, Orbit, Payload, Service, and End User.

Launch Platform, the market is classified into Air, Land, and Sea.

Vehicle Size, the market is classified into Medium to Heavy Vehicles and Small Lift Launch Vehicles.

Orbit, the market is classified into Beyond Geosynchronous Orbit, Geosynchronous Orbit, Low Earth Orbit, and Medium Earth Orbit.

Payload, the market is classified into Satellite, Stratollite, and Testing Probes.

Service, the market is classified into Post Launch Service, Pre Launch Service, and Data & Telemetry Support.

End User, the market is classified into Defence, Private Companies, Satelite Services Providers, and Space Agencies.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the US Space Launch Services Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Increase in the Number of Small Satellite Launches

4.1.2 Demand for Commercial Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) Space Launches

4.1.3 Increasing Investment In Space Exploration Mission

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Rising Volume Of Space Debris

4.2.2 High Cost of Investment

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Increasing Ground Station Network as a Service for Next-Generation Satellites

4.3.2 Expand Satellite Capacity and Related Infrastructure

4.3.3 Space Tourism

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Interoperability Issues

4.4.2 Stringent Regulations related to Satellite Services



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 US Space Launch Services Market, By Launch Platform



7 US Space Launch Services Market, By Vehicle Size



8 US Space Launch Services Market, By Orbit



9 US Space Launch Services Market, By Payload



10 US Space Launch Services Market, By Service



11 US Space Launch Services Market, By End User



12 Competitive Landscape

12.1 Competitive Quadrant

12.2 Market Share Analysis

12.3 Strategic Initiatives

12.3.1 M&A and Investments

12.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

12.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



Companies Mentioned

Arianespace

Blue Origin, LLC

Boeing Company

ILS International

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Maxar Space

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

NASA

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Raytheon Company

Seradata

Sierra Nevada Corporation Spaceflight

Space Exploration Technologies corporation

Space International Services Inc.

United Launch Alliance, LLC.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2tqijc

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New York, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Nonwoven Adhesives Market Research Report by Technology, Type, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06287001/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market size was estimated at USD 2,846.76 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 3,379.04 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 18.87% to reach USD 8,033.30 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 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 Nonwoven Adhesives to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Technology, the market was studied across Hot-melt.



Based on Type, the market was studied across Amorphous Poly Alpha Olefin, Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, and Styrenic Block Copolymer.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Adult Incontinence, Baby Care, Feminine Hygiene, and Medical.



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 Nonwoven Adhesives 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 Nonwoven Adhesives 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 Nonwoven Adhesives Market, including Adtek Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Arkema (Bostik), Beardow & Adams Ltd., Celanese Corporation, Colquimica Adhesives, Eastman Chemical Company, Evonik Industries AG, H.B. Fuller, Heigl Adhesives, Henkel AG, Industrial Adhesive Solutions Ltd., Intercol BV, ITW Dynatec Americas, Kraton Corporation, Lohmann Koester GmbH & Co. Kg, Lohmann-koester, Master Bond, Inc, Michelman, Inc., Moresco Corporation, Nordson Corporation, Palmetto Adhesives Company, Palmetto Adhesives Company, InC., Parson Adhesives, Inc., Savare Specialty Adhesives, and Tailored Chemical.



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 Nonwoven Adhesives Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Nonwoven Adhesives Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06287001/?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.



__________________________
More Than 90 Weekly Roundtrips Between London and Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate



Andrew Bunn is the New UK Country Manager

ROME, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ITA Airways will participate in the Business Travel Show Europe on the 29th and 30th of June. The event will take place in the ExCel exhibition centre in London, United Kingdom, and will be the occasion for the Italian flagship carrier to affirm its position in the British market by exposing together with the biggest travel companies in Europe.

During the show, ITA Airways will be present in the Airline Pavilion with a branded area and activities. For the occasion Pierfrancesco Carino, Vice President International Sales ITA Airways, will introduce to business partners and local media the new UK country manager Andrew Bunn.

One of the main themes of ITA Airways attendance will be the companys commitment to sustainability. In fact, ITA Airways goal is to become one of the greenest European airlines by 2025 with 75% of the fleet featuring new generation aircraft. It has already started with the new Airbus A350. These aircrafts are 70% lighter thanks to a new range of materials, and the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced by 25%.

The Business Travel Show Europe was founded more than 28 years ago and has always represented an important occasion to give visibility to the European continent's most important travel companies and agencies. The organisation anticipates bringing together up to 14,000 corporate travel, travel meetings and travel technology professionals to the event, in addition to more than 3,000 pre-scheduled hosted buyers appointments with exhibitors.

The air connection between the United Kingdom and Italy has always been a priority to ITA Airways. Therefore, in the last months, the Company has established more than 90 weekly roundtrips between London and its two hubs: Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate. Two are the daily flights from Rome and Milan Linate to London Heathrow, offering a total of 28 weekly round-trip flights from Rome FCO and Milan LIN, respectively, and 36 weekly round-trip flights from Milan LIN to London City airport.

The multiple offers of the Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate hubs will allow ITA Airways to be the reference carrier from the UK to Italy and via Rome or Linate to Europe and the Mediterranean for the UK customers, the Italian community, and the main communities of the Mediterranean countries.

From the airport of London Heathrow, connectivity is provided to major Italian destinations: Alghero, Brindisi, Bologna, Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, Milan-Linate, Naples, Palermo, Lamezia Terme, Trieste, Venice, Pescara and Olbia. Starting in July, the destination of Florence will be added.

From the airport of London City, the domestic destinations that can be reached in Italy are Alghero, Brindisi Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Naples, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Lamezia Terme, Pescara and Olbia.

In the 2022 summer season, ITA Airways launched 62 new destinations, of which 22 are domestic, 34 are international and 6 are intercontinental, including New York from Rome Fiumicino/Milano Malpensa, and Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, and Buenos Aires from Rome Fiumicino. Thanks to codeshare agreements with the major international carriers, ITA Airways is continuing to grow its network via partnerships with other global carriers - giving a privileged access route to the markets of greatest interest for the Company.

Codeshare agreements enable ITA Airways to reach the entire domestic network of other international carriers with direct flights from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate to their hubs. In all, 27 codeshare agreements have been signed so far, for a total of over 360 destinations served on which ITA Airways will use its own codes.

All ITA Airways flights can be purchased on the ita-airways.com website, from the ITA Airways Call Center, or from travel agencies and airport ticket offices.

For more information:

LaPresse SpA Communication and Press Office Director

Barbara Sanicola - barbara.sanicola@lapresse.it

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f55157e1-c8bf-45b3-87cf-0b8d9d54d8c6

The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nuvocargo , the first all-in-one digital platform focused on U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade, announced today the launch of its Carrier Platform, which helps streamline invoicing and payments for motor carriers.



Nuvocargo also announced that Jonathan Rojas , a former vice president at Transfix, has joined the company as Head of Supply to lead the Carrier Sales and Operations team and execute the rollout of its Carrier Platform to customers.

In Dec 2021, Nuvocargo announced its first carrier product, QuickPay for Carriers, a cash advance product for the carriers in Nuvocargos marketplace. It was very well received: QuickPay's annualized run rate of transaction volume grew over 900 percent from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022, with average weekly growth since the launch of over 50 percent, and now accounts for over 40 percent of Nuvocargo transactions. Building on that success, Nuvocargos Carrier Platform helps carriers get paid faster, save time on invoicing and reduce friction from multiple communication points and data sources, all from a centralized and easy-to-use single source.

After talking in-depth with our carriers, we discovered that the existing billing processes in the industry were a major point of inefficiency in their operation, leading to payment delays, said Anaid Chacon, Head of Product at Nuvocargo. Nuvocargos Carrier Platform keeps track of all invoices and load details all in one place, helping carriers streamline invoicing. On average, carriers that have adopted this solution are seeing time savings of 1-3 hours per day, giving them more time to grow their business.

Available in English and Spanish, Nuvocargos Carrier Platform provides carriers with a single place to:

Upload invoices, additionals, and proof of delivery

Review all necessary information to issue an invoice and the Bill of Lading Supplement to comply with tax regulations in Mexico and the US

Access QuickPay (payment in 48 hours) in just one click

(payment in 48 hours) in just one click Search and manage loads serviced over a period of time

View invoices that are pending and paid



Rojas fills key new role at fast-growing Nuvocargo

In his new executive team role at Nuvocargo, Rojas reports to Nuvocargo cofounder and CEO Deepak Chhugani, leading the companys growing Carrier Sales and Operations team as it launches the new Carrier Platform to customers. With 10+ years of transportation expertise and a background in both startups and freight, Rojas knows how to build a trucking startup for exponential growth and scale. Most recently, he was Vice President of Carrier Management and Operations at Transfix, where he helped the company scale to hundreds of employees and a ~$1B+ valuation as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. He holds a degree in Finance from the University of Central Florida.

Carriers are at the very center of what we do at Nuvocargo and our efforts have been very focused on giving them a more streamlined experience than they can find anywhere else. Carriers are essential not only to grow our marketplace, but also delivering best-in-class service to our shippers, said Chhugani. On top of building user-friendly technology to streamline their operations, Nuvocargo is constantly seeking to bring unique talent to lead our efforts. Jonathan is the perfect person to lead this effort - his background in both startups and freight will undoubtedly give us an edge as we build out Nuvocargo for exponential growth and scale.

The US/Mexico trade lane is one of the most important in the world, but has a lot of fragmented and outdated processes, said Rojas. Nuvocargos technology is transforming the flow of goods between the two countries, and our leadership team has a unique mix of high-caliber experts from different industries and start-ups that are focused on driving innovation to this space. That combination is what drew me to the company.

Nuvocargo closed 2021 with 5x revenue growth over 2020, and tripled its employee headcount to nearly 100. In 2022, the company is still seeing strong demand from both shippers and carriers.

To learn more, visit https://www.nuvocargo.com/ .

About Nuvocargo

LatAm logistics startup Nuvocargo is the first all-in-one digital platform focused on U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade  one of the largest trade routes in the world. Modernizing a $2T industry thats been mostly reliant on paper, fast-growing Nuvocargo combines proprietary software with a team of bi-lingual experts to seamlessly and transparently manage end-to-end cargo movement in a single platform. The company has the most experience on both sides of the border, unique access to hard-to-get routes, and add-on services such as warehousing, insurance and financing  everything a shipper or carrier needs to simplify logistics. Nuvocargo is backed by over $40M in funding from Tiger Global, QED Investors, NFX, Y Combinator, among others. Nuvocargo has been recognized in YC Top Companies 2022 and ranked the second Most Innovative Company in Latin America by Fast Company . Learn more at nuvocargo.com/en .

Media Contact:

Michelle Faulkner

617-510-6998

michelle@big-swing.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3a156d44-20d7-4168-9dec-2b955707597f
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In another strategic move, KoreConX All-In-One Platform announces partnership with Fundopolis, an online investment bank specializing in exempt offerings and private placement capital allocation, as a way to keep creating more opportunities for entrepreneurs.

At first, Fundopolis was a KoreClient, attracted by its industry leading state of the art platform dedicated to processing and recordkeeping issuer and investor transactions in Exempt Capital-Raising Offerings, specifically RegCF and RegA+ offerings. Fundopolis uses KoreConXs technology for their capital market activities.

As KorePartners, Fundopolis, a FINRA Broker-dealer registered in all 50 states, is eager to make their expertise available to the whole private capital ecosystem. With expertise in sectors such as real estate and cannabis, the online bank offers experience in these ever-expanding industries, guiding private companies as they navigate the complex regulatory space while introducing them to investors who share their vision for the future. Fundopolis is also part of the ecosystem for RegD, RegCF, and RegA+ offerings providing the FINRA broker dealer services to help companies raise capital.

"Beyond that, we understand that the investment landscape is constantly changing, and we pride ourselves on approaching the entire process with an eye on what is possible. As a recordkeeping transfer agent and escrow platform, we believe KoreConX is the perfect partner for Fundopolis, providing access to a vast ecosystem of investors and issuers," says Bert Pearsall, CEO & Managing Principal at Fundopolis.

Co-founder and CEO at KoreConX, Oscar A. Jofre, acknowledges Fundopolis as a highly rated KorePartner. "When we first met, as a KoreClient, we saw a great potential and a lot of opportunities ahead of us. Since our solution unites tools to securely and efficiently manage business data and facilitate compliance during all the capital raising process regardless of where they are in this cycle, it was only natural to add them to our valuable team of KorePartners."

About KoreConX

Founded in 2016, KoreConX is the first secure, All-In-One platform that manages private companies' capital market activity and stakeholder communications. With an innovative approach and to ensure compliance with securities regulations and corporate law, KoreConX offers a single environment to connect companies to the capital markets and now secondary markets. Additionally, investors, broker-dealers, law firms, accountants and investor acquisition firms, all leverage our eco-system solution. For investor relations and fundraising, the platform enables private companies to share and manage corporate records and investments: it assists with portfolio management, capitalization table and shareholder management, virtual minute book, security registration, transfer agent services, and virtual deal rooms for raising capital.

###

Media Contacts:

KoreConX

Rafael Goncalves

rafael@koreconx.com

Related Images











Image 1: Fundopolis partnershio





Fundopolis partnershio









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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SINGAPORE, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ALR Technologies SG Pte. Ltd (ALRT or the Company) (OTCQB: ALRT), the diabetes management company, announces the completion of a definitive manufacturing agreement with Infinovo Medical Co. Ltd (Infinovo) to manufacture and supply the Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) hardware that will be utilized as part of the ALRT GluCurve Pet CGM (the Manufacturing Agreement). The Manufacturing Agreement gives ALRT the exclusive global rights to distribute the Infinovo CGM hardware for the animal health market, providing long-term production and supply. Subject to the satisfaction of all closing conditions it is expected that initial deliveries of product by Infinovo will be made during Q4 of 2022



Executing the Manufacturing Agreement with Infinovo marks another major milestone in our path to commercialization and profitability, comments Sidney Chan, Chairman and CEO of ALRT. Our next targeted milestone is securing distribution for the ALRT GluCurve Pet CGM. We have been working with many of the largest global distributors and pharmaceutical companies in animal health, evaluating different distribution opportunities ranging from joint venture partnerships to sales and distribution agreements. We believe we have narrowed in on the right company and right deal structure to best bring value to our shareholders and to those who care for diabetic pets. We hope to announce the details of this pivotal next step in the near future.

The Manufacturing Agreement is subject to certain closing conditions including the completion of a distribution agreement with a third party by July 31, 2022.

About Infinovo Medical Co. Ltd

Founded in 2016, Infinovo is an innovative medical technology company, focusing on developing an accurate and affordable CGM for patients which will be available for both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetics. https://www.infinovo.com/

ALR Technologies SG Pte. Ltd.

ALRT is a data management company that developed the ALRT Diabetes Solution, a comprehensive approach to diabetes care that includes an FDA-cleared and HIPAA compliant diabetes management system that collects data directly from blood glucose meters and continuous glucose monitoring devices, and a patent pending Predictive A1C algorithm to track treatment success between lab reports and an FDA-cleared Insulin Dosing Adjustment program. ALRT also offers an algorithm to provide prescribers support for timely non-insulin medication advancements. The overall goal is to optimize diabetes drug therapies to drive improved patient outcomes. The program tracks performance of all clinical activities to ensure best practices are followed. The ALRT Diabetes Solution gives healthcare providers a platform for remote diabetes care, helping to minimize patient exposure to potential infections in clinical settings. Currently, the Company is focused on diabetes and intends to expand its services to cover other chronic diseases anchored on verifiable data.

In addition, the animal health division of ALRT has identified an unmet need in diabetes care and has developed GluCurve; a solution to assist Veterinarian Doctors to determine the efficacy of insulin and to help to identify the appropriate dose and frequency of administration of insulin for companion animals, thereby delivering the same optimization of diabetic drug therapies to pets as to humans.

ALR Technologies SG Pte. Ltd. is controlled by ALR Technologies Inc., a Company with its shares traded on the OTC:QB under the symbol ALRT. On May 17, 2022, ALR Technologies Inc. announced an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization for the sole purpose of changing the Companys jurisdiction of incorporation from Nevada to Singapore (the Redomicile Merger Agreement). The Redomicile Merger Agreement is subject to the required approval of the Companys stockholders, requisite regulatory approvals, the effectiveness of the registration statement on Form F-4 filed by ALRT related to the Redomicile Merger, and other customary closing conditions. The Redomicile Merger is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2022. See the Form 8-K filed May 20, 2022, by ALR Technologies Inc. for further information about the Redomicile Merger Agreement.

More information about the ALR Technologies Inc. can be found at www.alrt.com. Information regarding ALR Technologies SG Pte. Ltd. can be found at https://sg.alrt.com.

Contact

Ken Robulak (US)

Phone: +1 (727) 736-3838

Anthony Ngai (Singapore)

Phone: +65 3129 2924

Email: ir@alrt.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements as defined under applicable securities legislation. All information and statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature constitute forward-looking statements and information, and the words anticipate, estimate, believe, continue, could, expect, intend, plan, "postulates", "predict", will, may or similar expressions suggesting future conditions or events, or the negative of these terms, are generally intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to 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 risks include all risks and uncertainties expressed in the cautionary statements and risk factors in the annual report on Form 10-K and other filings of ALRT with the SEC. 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. Forward-looking statements include representations to the effect that the Company will receive initial deliveries of product from Infinovo in Q4 2022 and that the Redomicile Merger will close in Q3 2022. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof. ALRT disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
West Palm Beach, Fla., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SROA Capital, LLC (SROA), a West Palm Beach-based real estate investment and management firm and owner/operator of Storage Rentals of America, has announced the appointment of Kenneth Speegle as Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for the continued integration of SROAs technology platform designed to streamline the customer experience and add value to all fund investors by implementing operational improvements that will result in NOI growth.

With nearly 25 years of executive leadership in the self-storage industry, SROA expects Speegle will positively impact every part of the company, from field operations at the property level to the investment team.

One of my primary goals as COO is to make SROA one of the best places to work in the U.S. by building a culture where employees find personal satisfaction through providing our customers with an enjoyable, quality, customer service experience, Speegle said.

Investing in high quality talent ahead of our growth has really been one of the main pillars of our success that has allowed us to continually provide consistent rising yield to our investors since I started the self-storage business in 2006, said Benjamin Macfarland, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of SROA Capital. Kenny is a perfect complement to our team of trend-setting leaders in the self-storage industry.

Prior to joining SROA, Speegle spent 18 years at Extra Space Storage in various roles, most recently as Senior Vice President of Operations, managing five divisions and over 825 property locations across the Southeast U.S. and Texas. Prior to his time at Extra Space Storage, Speegle served as the Senior District Manager of Storage USA, managing over 25 properties across the Ohio Valley including Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Grand Rapids.

Speegle earned his bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and Corrections from Kent State University. He and his wife Myra reside in Palm Beach County, Florida.

About SROA Capital

SROA Capital, LLC is a real estate investment company focused on the acquisition and operation of self-storage properties nationwide. SROA owns and operates approximately 15 million rentable square feet across 25 states under the brand Storage Rentals of America. For more information, please visit www.sroacapital.com.

Media contacts:

Todd Templin or Daniel Benjamin

BoardroomPR

954.370.8999

ttemplin@boardroompr.com /dbenjamin@boardrooompr.com

Attachment
Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses



LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises Wells Fargo & Company ("Wells Fargo" or the "Company") (NYSE: WFC) investors that a class action has been filed on behalf of investors. Wells Fargo investors that lost money on their investment are encouraged to contact Lesley Portnoy, Esq.

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 complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Wells Fargo had misrepresented its commitment to diversity in the Company's workplace; (ii) Wells Fargo conducted fake job interviews to meet its Diverse Search Requirement; (iii) the foregoing conduct subjected Wells Fargo to an increased risk of regulatory and/or governmental scrutiny and enforcement action, including criminal charges; (iv) all of the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Wells Fargo's reputation; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

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
PHOENIX, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Rare Earths Limited (ASX:ARR, OTCQB:ARRNF, FSE:1BHA) (the Company) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned US subsidiary, Western Rare Earths, is the sole industry member of a consortium led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that has been awarded research funding to develop scalable, bio-based separation and purification of Rare Earths elements. The team was awarded an initial $4M USD (A$5.576M) in Phase 1. An additional $9M USD (A$12.547M) may be added in follow-on phases, based on performance. Feedstocks from the La Paz Rare Earth Project and Halleck Creek Rare Earth Project, both 100% Company owned, have been provided to researchers.



The funding provides research support for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencys (DARPA) Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program. EMBER has charged LLNL to lead the consortium in developing a biotechnology-based separation and purification strategy for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from under-utilized domestic sources. The program aims to deliver multiple capabilities such as the separation of REE mixtures into individual elements.

Chris Gibbs, MD/CEO of American Rare Earths Limited, said, We are honored to have our US technical and management team collaborate with the leading researchers on cutting-edge technologies. Rare Earths separation and purification would benefit from a new tech stack combined with traditional mineral processing approaches. A renewable, reusable, sustainable approach will meet fewer permitting hurdles.

Consortium of Game Changers

The consortium is advancing the bio-based process using the REE-selective LanModulin protein, discovered by Prof. Joseph Cotruvo of Penn State University. The sustainable, renewable, reusable capabilities of LanModulin along with its simplicity of making high purity concentrations, could facilitate scaling the technology.

Collaborating institutions include Penn State University, Columbia University, Tufts University, The University of Kentucky, and Purdue University. The consortium draws on a wealth of rare earths experience in processing, separation, purification, and economic analysis. The EMBER project has provided the funding to activate world-class talent and labs as they seek to scale game changing technology.

Onshoring a Cleaner Supply Chain for National Security

DARPA outlined the EMBER program metrics to enable new biomining methods for separation, purification, and conversion of REEs into manufacturing-ready forms. Microbes (and/or biomolecules) can be biologically engineered or adapted to bind, assimilate, and manipulate individual REEs. Resultant bioengineering approaches will be coupled to process engineering workflows to extract and purify REEs from domestic source materials. Demonstration of viable schemes will be supported by compelling techno-economic analyses and culminate in an aggressive, proof-of concept pilot-scale REE biomining operation. 1

REEs, which include the 15-element lanthanide group plus yttrium and scandium, are critical ingredients in many DoD systems: e.g., in permanent magnets for electric motors, high temperature ceramics, and lasers. Biomining is an alternative approach that utilizes microbes to recover metals (e.g., copper, gold) from source materials, often using redox processes to liberate the target metal from a mineral source. 1

Unique Rare Earths Feedstocks

The Companys projects are host to unique REE bearing mineral deposits that are exceptionally large, accessible at the surface, simple in mineralization, with high value magnet REEs (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) exceeding 24% of total REE content, and all 14 of the naturally occurring lanthanides present.

American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR, OTCQB: ARRNF, FSE: 1BHA) is an ASX listed Australian company with assets in the growing rare earth metals sector of the United States of America, emerging as an alternative international supply chain to China's market dominance of a global rare earth market expected to expand to US$20 billion by the mid-2020s. The Company's mission is to supply Critical Materials for Renewable Energy, Green Tech, Electric Vehicles, National Security, and a Carbon-Reduced Future. Western Rare Earths (WRE) is the wholly owned US subsidiary of the Company.

1. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Broad Agency Announcement: HR001121S0035 July 13, 2021

The events detailed in this document do not imply endorsement of the Company by any organization mentioned herein. Full announcement and disclaimers at https://www2.asx.com.au/markets/company/arr

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of the words such as "estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "will," "target," or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans for exploration, development, production and/or processing of materials, including the timing and associated costs and expenses. Such statements are all subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect the Company's future financial results and business.

Accordingly, the Company cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the ability of the Company to successfully permit, plan, develop and/or construct a facility to mine, process and/or refine critical minerals, which may be delayed, and related costs and expenses, which may be increased beyond our current estimates; changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political and legal conditions, which may or may not occur; the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, on any of the foregoing risks; and those factors discussed in the Company's JORC 2012 compliant technical reports as submitted to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur.

Media Contact

Susan Assadi

susan@americanrareearths.com.au

347 977 7125

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ccdfe12f-da78-48af-94bf-bfeca7bc729e




Covington, Kentucky, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gravity Diagnostics has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2022 honor by The Enquirer Media Top Workplaces. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization, including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

Gravity Diagnostics, recently recognized as the fastest-growing company in Greater Cincinnati, is a CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified laboratory focusing on diagnostic innovation with a passion for helping to encourage customers to take charge of their individual healthcare journeys.

The strong workplace culture we have here at Gravity is the reason for the continued growth we have experienced over the past few years. The successful evolution of our company falls squarely on the shoulders of our dedicated team and their belief in the potential we have for making a meaningful difference in the healthcare industry. Retention, innovation, and creativity are three huge motivators that we strive for here at Gravity, said Karen Hargett, Vice President of Human Resources for Gravity Diagnostics.

Throughout the challenges weve all faced these last few years, Top Workplaces has proven to be a beacon of light for organizations, as well as a sign of resiliency and strong business performance, said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward. Top Workplaces draw on real-time insights into what works best for the organization, so they can make informed decisions that have a positive impact on their people and their businesses.

We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the top workplaces in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area, said Tony Remington, CEO and Co-founder of Gravity Diagnostics. The goal at Gravity has always been to make sure every employee knows they are valued and their hard work does not go unnoticed. You can feel the energy and enthusiasm for the critical services we provide each day throughout our company.

About Gravity Diagnostics



Gravity Diagnostics is a state-of-the-art CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified laboratory licensed in all 50 states. We provide innovative diagnostic testing in the areas of toxicology, pharmacogenetics, infectious and upper respiratory diseases, hematology, and COVID-19. We serve customers from universities and public health organizations to small, private practices, Fortune 500 companies, and more. Visit gravitydiagnostics.com for additional information.

About Energage

Making the world a better place to work together. Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 14 years of culture research and the results from 23 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com.

Attachment
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation (Fujifilm), today announced that four doctoral students have been awarded the Fujifilm Fellowship at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Since its launch in 2019, the program has now provided 17 fellowships for PhD students who are enrolled at HMS and focused on translational medicine, the process of applying basic research in the laboratory for new therapeutic development.

The mission of the program is to equip promising scientists with the specialized skills needed to translate their research findings into next-generation medical solutions for patients. Specifically, the program awards two years of research funding to students from across the nine HMS-based life sciences Ph.D. programs. HMS leadership selects all program beneficiaries.

Taking new therapies from bench to bedside requires exacting work carried out by dedicated and innovative scientific thinkers, says Yutaka Yamaguchi, general manager, Life Sciences Business Division, FUJIFILM Corporation; chairman and chief executive officer, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, Inc. Fujifilm is proud to support Harvard Medical School as it helps to shape our worlds future scientists. We extend our congratulations to the four highly esteemed doctoral fellows who recently received grants for the promise their work holds in advancing the field of translational medicine.

The following Ph.D. candidates at HMS have been named the newest Fujifilm Fellows:

Sebastian Degner is a first-year student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program and has a background in cancer research and a strong propensity for business and entrepreneurship. His experience includes research stays at prestigious institutions in both Germany and the U.S. including the Department of Applied Tumor Biology at Heidelberg University Hospital and Naxerova Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. Sebastians major research interest is leveraging insights gained from studying somatic and tumor evolution to develop novel therapeutic approaches for human cancer.

Michelle Ma is a candidate in the Molecules, Cells and Organisms Ph.D. program and a member of the Fischer Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She focuses on protein complexes and pathways that contribute to the control of gene expression associated with human disease and cancer. Ultimately, Michelle hopes her research will contribute to therapeutic innovation by expanding the prospects for the design of new targeted protein degraders.

Alexandra Probst is enrolled in the Biological Sciences in Public Health Ph.D. program and a member of the Catteruccia Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Alexandra is interested in identifying and characterizing mosquito stage Plasmodium targets in an effort to combat malaria, the third leading infectious disease killer with over 200 million cases each year worldwide. Growing insecticide resistance threatens the efficacy of current vector control strategies. Alexandra believes her work holds exciting promise for a novel way of fighting one of humanitys oldest diseases.

Siddharth Raju is a candidate in the Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology Ph.D. program. His field of study is genetics and infectious diseases. In March 2020, Sid joined the Sabeti Lab, where he seeks to understand how respiratory viruses manipulate host genomic organization. Ultimately, Sid hopes his research will help inspire novel therapeutics by guiding the development of medical countermeasures that directly interfere with early molecular pathogenesis, as well as and more accurately predict disease course in the clinic.

Fujifilms commitment to these fellowships and to supporting the life sciences community at Harvard is unwavering, commented Bruce E. Novich Sc.D., division president, FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation. Our goal is to inspire and assist the brightest minds to drive forward innovative strategies aimed at addressing some of the worlds major health problems.

In addition to their Ph.D. program, Fujifilm Fellows are enrolled in the Therapeutics Graduate Program, a new curriculum that focuses on pharmacology, toxicology, and drug discovery. Here they receive rigorous multidisciplinary training in identifying and developing novel therapeutics, understanding and investigating mechanisms of drug action, analyzing the reasons for clinical failures, and developing new compounds and applying them in preclinical and clinical studies to improve the treatment of disease.

About Fujifilm Fellowship

The Fujifilm Fellowship program was designed by Fujifilm and HMS to advance translational medicine research by investing in the next-generation of scientists. The selected beneficiaries who have been admitted to Harvard Medical Schools Therapeutics Graduate Program will receive financial assistance to pursue their education and research in therapeutic innovation. HMS leadership selects all program beneficiaries. For more information, please visit https://www.fujifilmfellowship.com/

About Fujifilm

FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation is the regional headquarters for the Americas. It is comprised of more than 20 affiliate companies across North and Latin America that are engaged in the research, development, manufacture, sale and service of FUJIFILM products and services. The companys portfolio represents a broad spectrum of industries including medical and life sciences, electronic, chemical, graphic arts, information systems, industrial products, broadcast, recording media, and photography. For more information, please visit: https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/about/region .

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver Value from Innovation in our products and services in the business segments of healthcare, materials, business innovation, and imaging. Our relentless pursuit of innovation is focused on providing social value and enhancing the lives of people worldwide. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information about Fujifilms Sustainable Value Plan 2030, click here. For the year ended March 31, 2022, the company had global revenues of approximately 2.5 trillion yen (21 billion $USD at an exchange rate of 122 yen/dollar). For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

###

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
New York, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Geotextile Tubes Market Research Report by Type, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286929/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Geotextile Tubes Market size was estimated at USD 1,888.79 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 2,005.71 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 6.44% to reach USD 2,747.48 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 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 Geotextile Tubes to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the market was studied across Nonwoven and Woven.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Agricultural Engineering, Construction, Environmental Engineering, and Marine & Hydraulic.



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 Geotextile Tubes 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 Geotextile Tubes 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 Geotextile Tubes Market, including Ace Geosynthetics, Erosion Control Products, Fibertex Nonwovens A/S, FlexiTuff Ventures International Ltd., Flint Technical Geosolutions, Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd., HUESKER Synthetic GmbH, Koninklijke Ten Cate B.V., Low & Bonar, NAUE GmbH & Co. KG, Northwest Linings & Geotextile Products, Inc., Officine Maccaferri SpA, One Clarion, Shandong Chunhua Import and Export Co., Ltd., TechFab India Industries Ltd., Tensar International Limited, Textiles Coated International, Thrace Group, Titan Environmental Containment, and US Fabrics, 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 Geotextile Tubes Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Geotextile Tubes Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Geotextile Tubes Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286929/?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.



__________________________
New York, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market Research Report by Product Type, End-Use, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286873/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market size was estimated at USD 1,481.23 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 1,628.76 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 10.21% to reach USD 2,655.00 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 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 Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Product Type, the market was studied across Automatic and Manual.



Based on End-Use, the market was studied across Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Hospitals, and Specialty Clinics.



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 Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices 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 Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices 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 Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market, including Abbott Laboratories, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Baxter International, Inc., Becton Dickinson Holdings Pte Ltd, Biosintex, Boston Scientific Corporation, CONMED Corporation, CryoLife, Inc., Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Getinge AB, Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., LivaNova PLC, Medtronic plc, Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., Smith & Nephew plc, and Vitalitec International GmbH.



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 Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Cardiovascular Anastomosis Devices Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286873/?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.



__________________________
New York, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Chocolate Confectionery Market Research Report by Product, Type, Distribution Channel, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286875/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Chocolate Confectionery Market size was estimated at USD 121.89 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 130.37 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 7.21% to reach USD 185.14 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 Chocolate Confectionery to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Product, the market was studied across Boxed, Chips & Bites, Molded Bars, and Truffles & Cups.



Based on Type, the market was studied across Dark, Milk, and White.



Based on Distribution Channel, the market was studied across Convenience Stores, Online, and Supermarkets & Hypermarkets.



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 Chocolate Confectionery 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 Chocolate Confectionery 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 Chocolate Confectionery Market, including Arcor, Barry Callebaut AG, Cemoi Group, Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli AG, Crown Confectionery, Delfi Limited, Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd., Ferrero International, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Lotte Confectionery Co.,Ltd., Mars, Incorporated, Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd., Mondelez Global LLC, Nestle S.A., Perfetti Van Melle Group B.V., Pladis Foods Limited, The Hershey Company, and Y?ld?z Holding 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 Chocolate Confectionery Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Chocolate Confectionery Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Chocolate Confectionery Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Chocolate Confectionery Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Chocolate Confectionery Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Chocolate Confectionery Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Chocolate Confectionery Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286875/?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.



__________________________
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Allianz SE (OTC: ALIZY) resulting from allegations that Allianz may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.



SO WHAT: If you purchased Allianz securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=2121 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.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On August 1, 2021, Allianz disclosed that [s]ubsequent to the litigation pending in U.S. courts in relation to the Structured Alpha Funds against Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC [AGI U.S.] and other Allianz Group companies and the investigation launched by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun an investigation concerning the Structured Alpha Funds, and Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC has received a voluntary request for documents and information from the DOJ. Allianz further stated that [i]n light of the DOJ investigation and based on information available to Allianz as of today, the Board of Management of Allianz SE has reassessed the matter and has come to the conclusion that there is a relevant risk that the matters relating to the Structured Alpha Funds could materially impact future financial results of Allianz Group.

On this news, the Companys American depositary receipt (ADR) price fell $2.00, or 8%, to close at $22.85 per ADR on August 2, 2021, damaging investors.

Then, on May 17, 2022, Allianzs U.S. investing divisions pleaded guilty to securities fraud, admitting that it lacked internal controls and oversight for a series of private-investment funds and made false and misleading statements to investors. The Company agreed to pay $6 billion in penalties and restitution.

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.

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

pkim@rosenlegal.com

cases@rosenlegal.com

www.rosenlegal.com
Vacaville, California, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transwestern Ventures (TWV) and the City of Vacaville together announce plans to develop a 390,000-square-foot biomanufacturing campus on 22.4 acres in Vaca Valley Business Park, located at the interchange of I-80 and I-505 in Vacaville, California. The project will be built in two phases: Phase 1 comprises 233,888 square feet with delivery estimated in Summer 2024, and Phase 2 comprises 158,316 square feet.

Part of the Bay Area, Vacaville is situated along the main thoroughfare between the state capital and the Bay Area. Its proximity to San Francisco, Sacramento, and the University of Californias Berkeley and Davis campuses provides access to top talent from across the life sciences and advanced manufacturing sectors. Additionally, Solano Community Colleges Vacaville campus has distinguished itself through the offering of two biomanufacturing baccalaureate programs. Vacaville is also home to the California Biomanufacturing Center Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating biomanufacturing growth.

Vacaville is a biomanufacturing leader in the U.S., making this area incredibly attractive to companies looking for modern facilities in a region with a critical shortage of available life sciences space, said Fred Knapp, Managing Partner, Transwestern Ventures. Some of the worlds leading life sciences firms have come to Vacaville to capitalize on the synergies created by a combination of extraordinary talent, relative affordability, and the citys strong economic and demographic trends.

Companies such as Agenus, Kaiser Permenente, Genetech, and Polaris currently have a presence in Vaca Valley Business Park. The site newly acquired by TWV was sourced by Transwestern Real Estate Services (TRS) and purchased in an off-market transaction.

The TRS Life Sciences team of Managing Director Ken Meyersieck, Senior Vice President Peter Conte, and Vice President Andrew Wheeler will oversee leasing for the new campus, which can meet occupier needs ranging from biomanufacturing and R&D space to healthcare and medical office. The buildings are suitable for a single user or may be divided.

Vacaville works hard to appeal to both businesses and residents, and we are extremely proud of our reputation as a growing biomanufacturing corridor, said Ron Rowlett, Mayor of the City of Vacaville. Our city uniquely positioned to offer life sciences firms both superior space in newly developed facilities and the quality of life a young, talented workforce expects. We are delighted to collaborate with Transwestern Ventures to bring its vision to life.

With a population of more than 102,000, Vacaville is a vibrant city in one of the countrys fastest-growing areas. It is an attractive family community with a historic past deep in culture, and a wealth of amenities including parks, community centers, museums, public venues, attractions and events.

Rendering available for download here.



About Transwestern Ventures

Transwestern Ventures (TWV) creates value for investors by sourcing and executing real estate investments across all property sectors nationwide. As the opportunistic investment arm of the Transwestern family of companies, Ventures works synergistically with the firms services, development and investment management businesses, bringing capital, financial engineering and operational expertise to undervalued or undermanaged properties, enterprises and unique investment opportunities.

About Transwestern

The privately held Transwestern companies have been delivering a higher level of personalized service and innovative real estate solutions since 1978. Through an integrated, customized approach that begins with good ideas, the firm drives value for clients across commercial real estate services, development, investment management, and opportunistic endeavors for high-net-worth investors. Operating from 33 U.S. offices, Transwestern extends its platform capabilities globally through strategic alliance partners whose unique geographic, cultural, and business expertise fuels creative solutions. Learn more at transwestern.com and @Transwestern.

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CALGARY, Alberta, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a competitive dancer and avid horseback rider, Lauren Gamble's life changed completely on Aug. 13, 2021. Lauren received an osteosarcoma diagnosis, a type of bone cancer that most commonly occurs in the long bones around the knee. The Alberta Children's Hospital explained that osteosarcoma happens most often in children, adolescents, and young adults - it's the same type of cancer that Terry Fox battled. For many patients, the symptoms of osteosarcoma include pain or swelling in the affected bone and decreased mobility of the affected limb. For Lauren, hers began as pain which was later confirmed to be a mass the size of a brick growing in her leg. Fortunately for Lauren, she was able to receive parts of her treatment through Hospital at Home, a program the first of its kind in Canada funded by donations to the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation.

Soon after her diagnosis, Lauren entered 10 months of intense chemotherapy and an 18-hour surgery to remove the tumour and affected bones from her legs. The medical team reconstructed what was removed during the procedure with prosthetics and muscles from other areas of her body. Most recently, she had a thoracotomy to remove nodules in her lungs.

The mental, emotional, and financial challenges of a cancer diagnosis

For cancer patients, one of the most difficult challenges is being away from home, the familiarity of homecooked meals, and the comfort of their own bed - all of which can have a significant impact on a patient's mental and emotional health.

The Hospital at Home service sends trained nurses to the patient's home for chemotherapy, administering medications, and other supportive therapies. This greatly reduces travel time and generic costs such as parking, gas, and meals.

Lauren's mom, Lindsays, says, "Hospital at Home is truly a Godsend. Without it, we would have spent over 50 more nights in hospital. This program gave Lauren the will to survive and persevere through the terrible treatments. The familiarity of family meals, smells, and her own bed were important. Even more essential was just the ability to 'be' a teen surrounded by those she loves. I will forever be grateful." You can view Lauren's page here.

Helping families like Lauren's

There are many significant costs associated with cancer. Particularly for osteosarcoma, patients require medical supplies, home retrofits, an adjustable bed, a wheelchair, a walker, and for Lauren, hearing aids as chemotherapy has permanently damaged her hearing.

Donations and programs help families like Lauren's alleviate the financial burden and allow them to focus on taking care of their child, rehabilitation, making memories, and spending quality time during one of the most difficult situations a family can face.

The Gamble family is especially thankful for the help of their community and their generous donors: "We would like to say thank you to Randy and Cameron Schiffner and the entire group at Family First Financial for your generous monetary gift as we continue our battle of fighting cancer."

For Lauren and her family, the surgeries and treatments have been successful but the journey is far from over. Visit the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation website to find out more about how you can help babies, kids, and teens receive the best care possible. If you have any concerns and would like to speak to someone, call (403) 955-7211.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Super Lawyers is amongst the highest honors available to Florida lawyers. It's a rating service that recognizes the most outstanding attorneys with the highest degree of peer recognition and professional development.

Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A.'s 2022 Super Lawyers

Sean McQuaid

Sean McQuaid is a recurring phenomenon, having been consecutively recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer since 2014. Sean has continued his track record this year as an elite Florida Super Lawyer.

Mr. McQuaid practices personal injury, representing people who have been hurt in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, as well as dealing with wrongful death claims, and criminal defense.

Sean McQuaid is not just a practicing attorney but also the president of the firm, and he manages a team of approximately 40 lawyers and staff.

Aubrey Dicus

Aubrey Dicus is the former president and CEO of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, PA., and a past president of the St. Petersburg Bar Association. He has been with the firm since 1974. With over 47 years of experience practicing law, Aubrey Dicus is recognized as one of the original Super Lawyers. Aubrey specializes in personal injury, commercial litigation, general civil litigation, and criminal defense.

Mr. Discus has received countless accolades and awards in his career. He was selected as one of the "Best Lawyers in America" by Woodward and White Publications. In addition, he previously held the title of President of the Pinellas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Howard Ross

Howard Ross has been practicing law in St. Petersburg for 56 years and is recognized as one of the original Florida Super Lawyers. In addition, Mr. Ross is honored for his 50-year membership of the Florida Bar and the American Bar Association. Today he practices in litigation, business, corporate and real estate transactions.

Throughout Mr. Ross' career, he has earned countless awards, to name a few: he was listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, has been a recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, and American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell Top Rated Lawyer in Real Estate Law. He's also been recognized by Lawyers of Distinction and he has an AVVO 10 rating.

Caitlin Szematowicz (Rising Star)

Caitlin Szematowcz is a partner at Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. and has earned the title as a Florida Super Lawyer Rising Star for the fifth year in a row.

As a partner and practicing attorney, Caitlin practices in the areas of: commercial litigation, general civil litigation, labor and employment, and appeals. Szematowicz previously served as president of the St Petersburg Bar Foundation, President of the Pinellas County Trial Lawyers Association, and on the Executive Committee of the Barney Masterson American Inn of court. She also serves on the Sixth Judicial Circuit's Professionalism Committee.

Andrew Pardun (Rising Star)

Andrew Pardun is a partner at Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A., practicing in real estate law, business law, and commercial litigation. This is Pardun's fourth consecutive year being acclaimed as a Florida Super Lawyer Rising Star.

Andrew serves on the Executive Committee of the St. Petersburg Bar Association and formerly served as the Real Property Section chair.

He currently serves as chair of the City of St. Petersburg Nuisance Abatement Board. He is also a member of the Barney Masterson American Inn of Court.

Robert Kapusta, Jr.

Robert Kapusta Jr. has also been recognized as a 2022 first-time Florida Super Lawyer. Kapusta is a practicing attorney at Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, PA, specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions, Tax and Estate Planning, and Business and Corporate Law.

Kapusta's scope of expertise does not end with the law. He is also a Certified Public Accountant, and he is admitted to practice in all Florida state courts.

Robert is a highly active leader in the community and volunteers much of his time to foster local business growth and economic vitality.

Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A.

5858 Central Ave,

St. Petersburg, FL 33707

(727) 381-2300

www.stpetelawgroup.com

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Image 1: Six Attorneys From Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. Recognized as Florida Super Lawyers





St. Petersburg law firm Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. is proud to announce that multiple firm lawyers have earned the title of "Florida Super Lawyers".









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AURORA, Colo., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elevation Diagnostics LLC announced that they have relocated and expanded their operations to a new, state-of-the-art facility located on the Fitzsimons Innovation Community Campus. The transfer of all operations to the new facility located in Aurora, Colorado, will be completed and in full operation by July 1st of 2022. This new laboratory facility, in conjunction with Elevation's presence and integration into the Fitzsimons Innovation Campus, demonstrates their continued commitment to serving Colorado and will enable the Company to better support clients testing and reporting demands.

"We are very excited to join the Fitzsimons Innovation Community. The vision of FIC 'United to Advance Health and Care' aligns perfectly with ours here at Elevation. Our unwavering dedication to quality and excellence guarantees our patients and clinicians the most accurate, timely results possible," said Kristen Gracom, Chief Science Officer of Elevation Diagnostics. "With the expansion of the laboratory into environmental testing, we will be serving not just the people of our community but the natural resources that serve as our outdoor playground. We look forward to partnering with the many skilled and knowledgeable staff, doctors, and physicians on the FIC and Anschutz Medical campuses."

While maintaining current COVID-19 (Yale Saliva Direct) molecular diagnostic operations and reporting offerings throughout the United States, Elevation will be expanding testing offerings of the Company's Clinical Medical Testing in addition to extensive Environmental Testing. The new business site is a CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited facility on the Medical testing side and will be a NELAC-certified facility on the Environmental testing side. The Company is committed to continuing to serve the Colorado community and both medical and environmental testing will have an immediate impact on health and safety.

"Our expansion and relocation is consistent with our organizational goal of providing more comprehensive solutions for our client base and growth objectives into the Environmental testing space. The new facility affords us the opportunity to operate in a state-of-the-art purpose-built environment where we can maximize flexibility and efficiency of operations. We have expanded our capabilities and efficiencies through the addition of supplementary analytical testing instruments, enhanced processing automation and increased technology to ensure we are well positioned to meet the significant growth we are experiencing and looking to maintain," said Dylan Johnson, Director of Strategy & Operations.

The Company feels honored and excited to have a presence and be part of The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The Campus has evolved into a world-class leading medical community that is at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education, and patient care. The grounds encompass the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked hospitals that treat more than 4 million adult and pediatric patients each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the overall community delivers life-changing treatments, patient care, professional training, and conduct world-renowned research powered by close to $1 Billion in research awards. Elevation Diagnostics is very committed to integrating into the Campus and making a very positive and measurable impact on the community as a whole.

Elevation Diagnostics

2115 N Scranton Street #3040A Aurora, Colorado 80045 | (800) 440-5184 | laboratory@elevationdiagnostics.com | www.elevationdiagnostics.com

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The Companys gross revenue grew by 9.7% from Fiscal Q1 to Fiscal Q2 2022, with over 54% of Fiscal Q2 2022 gross revenue coming from repeat orders. Enhanced production efficiency/velocity of the Beyond Tobacco base material of TAAT using the advanced V3 formulation partially contributed to an improvement in the Companys gross margin from 28.09% in Fiscal Q1 2022 to 46.1% in Fiscal Q2 2022.



LAS VEGAS and VANCOUVER British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAAT GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES INC. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQX: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP) (the Company or TAAT) is pleased to announce several corporate developments reflected in its Fiscal Q2 2022 financial statements (for the three-month period ended April 30, 2022). The Companys flagship product TAAT is currently sold in over 2,700 U.S. stores, which include locations of major national and global chains in the convenience and gas categories. As a greater quantity of TAAT in retail circulation is now manufactured with the Version III (V3) formulation of its patent-pending Beyond Tobacco base material, the Company and its wholesale/retail partners have generally observed improvements to the conversion rates of adult smokers who choose TAAT instead of their preferred brand of tobacco cigarettes. An overview of highlights reflected in the Companys Fiscal Q2 2022 financial statements is provided below. All monetary figures are in Canadian dollars unless specified otherwise.

TAAT Fiscal Q2 2022 Highlights

Sequential revenue growth of 9.7% in gross revenue from $469,782 in Fiscal Q1 2022 to $515,464 in Fiscal Q2 2022;

The Companys cost of goods sold dropped from $337,817 in Fiscal Q1 2022 to $277,846 in Fiscal Q2 2022, reflecting an improvement in gross margin from 28.09% in Fiscal Q1 2022 to 46.1% in Fiscal Q2 2022;

The reduction in cost of goods sold and increase to the Companys gross margin can partially be attributed to manufacturing efficiencies that are an inherent result of the manufacturing process for the V3 formulation of Beyond Tobacco;

Repeat orders (reorders) from existing TAAT accounts made up $279,875 or 54.29% of the Companys gross revenue of $515,464 in Fiscal Q2 2022;

One-time reverse logistics expenditures impaired the Companys gross margin during Fiscal Q2 2022, primarily to conduct replacements of previous TAAT shipments with TAAT manufactured using the V3 formulation of Beyond Tobacco;

The Company entered into an agreement to acquire ADCO Distributors, Inc. (ADCO), an Ohio tobacco distributor with net revenues in 2021 exceeding CAD $87 million (as detailed in a press release dated February 25, 2022 ); and

); and The TAAT brand name became a registered trademark in eight global markets to include the United States and the European Union (as detailed in a press release dated March 25, 2022 ).





Please refer to the Companys filings on SEDAR ( http://sedar.com ) for all disclosures made in the Companys Fiscal Q2 2022 financial statements.

The 18,000 square foot warehouse of ADCO is pictured above (Canton, Ohio), in which a staff of 28 conduct full-service distribution of TAAT as well as legacy tobacco products and a full range of convenience category goods. As announced during the Companys Fiscal Q2 2022, TAAT entered into an agreement to acquire ADCO, which was ultimately completed in May 2022.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f65d8a69-ec8a-427c-b4a9-bfb59f1d7d76

Readers using news aggregation services may be unable to view the media above. Please access SEDAR or the Investor Relations section of the Companys website for a version of this press release containing all published media.

TAAT Founder Joe Deighan commented, Our Fiscal Q2 2022 was a pivotal timeframe for the Company as we made two key transitions. The first was the acquisition of ADCO, which added integrated distribution to our business model in addition to a steady revenue stream of over CAD $87 million (based on 2021 financial results) to complement our existing sales pipeline of TAAT throughout the United States. The second was rotating TAAT inventory with our wholesale and retail partners to ensure TAAT made with the V3 formulation of Beyond Tobacco is as available as possible across our nationwide footprint. Its tricky to articulate just how significant V3 is compared to our previous formulations. Consumer feedback from adult smokers who have tried V3 reflects validation of our mission to create an experience that is truly better than their preferred tobacco cigarette brand. This has done wonders for our conversion rates at the point of sale, which is why we elected to take the plunge to voluntarily replace existing inventory with product made using V3. With the added distribution bandwidth resulting from our acquisition of ADCO, we are excited to be carrying on as an integrated player in the USD $812 billion global tobacco category, and are thankful to our loyal base of investors for their continued support.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,

TAAT GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES INC.

Joe Deighan

Joe Deighan, COO and Director

For further information, please contact:

TAAT Investor Relations

1-833-TAAT-USA (1-833-822-8872)

investor@taatglobal.com

THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE (CSE) HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE, NOR HAS OR DOES THE CSES REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER.

About TAAT Global Alternatives Inc.

TAAT develops, manufactures, and distributes alternative products in categories to include tobacco, hemp, kratom, and other emerging segments of the CPG industry. Its flagship product is a nicotine-free, tobacco-free cigarette with a patent-pending base material formulation, sold in over 2,700 U.S. stores. With over CAD $80 million in overall net revenue in 2021, TAATs facilities include a manufacturing plant in Nevada, as well as a distribution centre and multiple convenience stores in Ohio.

For more information, please visit http://taatglobal.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, 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 in this news release includes statements regarding the anticipated performance of TAAT in the tobacco industry, in addition to the following: Potential outcomes from the Companys acquisition of ADCO and replacing prior shipments with inventory manufactured using V3 of Beyond Tobacco, as well as continued performance of the Company as discussed in the press release. The forward-looking information reflects managements current expectations based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) changes to the growth and size of the tobacco markets; (iii) changes to the regulatory landscape applicable to the Company's business; and (iv) other factors beyond the control of the Company. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is impossible for the Companys management to predict all risk factors, nor can the Company assess the impact of all factors on Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The statements in this news release have not been evaluated by Health Canada or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As each individual is different, the benefits, if any, of taking the Companys products will vary from person to person. No claims or guarantees can be made as to the effects of the Companys products on an individuals health and well-being. The Companys products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This news release may contain trademarked names of third-party entities (or their respective offerings with trademarked names) typically in reference to (i) relationships had by the Company with such third-party entities as referred to in this release and/or (ii) client/vendor/service provider parties whose relationship with the Company is/are referred to in this release. All rights to such trademarks are reserved by their respective owners or licensees.

Statement Regarding Third-Party Investor Relations Firms

Disclosures relating to investor relations firms retained by TAAT Global Alternatives Inc. can be found under the Company's profile on http://sedar.com .




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MONTREAL, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saputo Inc. (TSX: SAP) (Saputo or the Company) announces the departure of Lyne Castonguay, President and Chief Operating Officer, Dairy Division (USA), effective immediately. Carl Colizza, President and Chief Operating Officer (North America), will, in addition to his current duties, take on the leadership of the Dairy Division (USA). He will continue to report to Lino A. Saputo, Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer.

After careful consideration, we have made the change to our leadership team as we focus on accelerating our operational performance improvements and further advancing our Global Strategic Plan initiatives in our USA Sector. The success of the sector remains a top priority and we are taking appropriate actions to deliver on our strategic priorities and improve our profitability, said Carl Colizza, President and Chief Operating Officer (North America). I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Lyne for her leadership and dedication to the Company and I wish her success in her future endeavours.

About Saputo

Saputo produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada, the top dairy processor in Australia, and the second largest in Argentina. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products. In the United Kingdom, Saputo is the largest manufacturer of branded cheese and a top manufacturer of dairy spreads. In addition to its dairy portfolio, Saputo produces, markets, and distributes a range of dairy alternative cheeses and beverages. Saputo products are sold in several countries under market-leading brands, as well as private label brands. Saputo Inc. is a publicly traded company and its shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SAP. Follow Saputos activities at saputo.com or via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Inquiries

Nicholas Estrela

Director, Investor Relations 1-514-328-3117

Media Inquiries

1-514-328-3141 / 1-866-648-5902

media@saputo.com
Atlanta, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors of Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI; "Company") today declared a quarterly dividend of 13 cents per share. The dividend is payable on August 1, 2022, to shareholders of record on July 15, 2022.

About Acuity Brands

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is a market-leading industrial technology company. We use technology to solve problems in spaces and light. Through our two business segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL) and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG), we design, manufacture, and bring to market products and services that make a valuable difference in peoples lives. We achieve growth through the development of innovative new products and services, including lighting, lighting controls, building management systems, and location-aware applications.

Acuity Brands, Inc. achieves customer-focused efficiencies that allow the Company to increase market share and deliver superior returns. The Company looks to aggressively deploy capital to grow the business and to enter attractive new verticals.

Acuity Brands, Inc. is based in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. The Company is powered by approximately 13,500 dedicated and talented associates. Visit us at www.acuitybrands.com.

# # # #

Investor Contact:

Charlotte McLaughlin

Vice President, Investor Relations

(404) 853-1456

investorrelations@acuitybrands.com
MONACO, June 29, 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 $34.70 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 115 product tankers (40 LR2 tankers, 61 MR tankers and 14 Handymax tankers) with an average age of 6.5 years. The Company has agreed to sell one LR2 tanker 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.

Contact Information

Scorpio Tankers Inc.

James Doyle  Head of Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Tel: +1 646-432-1678

Email: investor.relations@scorpiotankers.com
Donlin Golds Largest Drill Program in Over 10 Years Advancing in Preparation for Feasibility Work

Strong Treasury of $142 Million in Cash and Term Deposits; $25 Million of Receivables in 2023

Building on the success of the 2021 drill program, drilling commenced in February 2022 with four drill rigs operating for 34,000 meters of planned drilling. As of mid-June, more than 70% of planned drilling is complete. The first set of assay results for this years program are expected to be published this summer.

The 2022 drill program continues to yield encouraging results. In 2022, under the largest budget in over a decade, geologic modelling and interpretation work to update the resource model is underway, including engineering activities for use in an updated feasibility study that, subject to Donlin Gold LLC Board approval, is expected to commence in the second half of 2022.

NOVAGOLDs robust balance sheet of $142 million in cash and term deposits as of May 31, 2022, with additional funds of $25 million due in July 2023 from Newmont Corporation, should be sufficient to advance Donlin Gold to a construction decision.



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC. (NOVAGOLD or the Company) (NYSE American, TSX: NG) today released its 2022 second quarter financial results and an update on its Tier One1 gold development project, Donlin Gold, which NOVAGOLD owns equally with Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick).

Details of the financial results for the quarter ended May 31, 2022 are presented in the consolidated financial statements and quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q on June 29, 2022 that is available on the Companys website at www.novagold.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.

In the second quarter 2022, the following milestones were achieved at Donlin Gold:

The drill program is progressing ahead of schedule with 24,000 meters completed to date of the planned 34,000-meter drill program.

The site crew (150 employees, contractors and student interns), a majority of which are local hires from 24 Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) communities in Alaska, are working on a two-week rotation schedule and continue to advance project activities at a good pace.

In May, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC)s Division of Water upheld the 401 Certification of the Clean Water Act (CWA) which had been remanded to the ADEC on December 29, 2021, for consideration of additional information provided by Donlin Gold.

Donlin Gold participated in and sponsored statewide events and, together with its Native Corporation partners, Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC), carried out a wide range of critical support and engagement activities throughout the Y-K region. These included: Finalizing a Shared Value Statement with Stony River, a village from the Y-K region for a total of nine Shared Value Statements to date (Akiak, Sleetmute, Kalskag, Napaimute, Crooked Creek, Napaskiak, Nikolai, Tuluksak, and Stony River). These agreements include educational, environmental, and social initiatives to help support villages; Serving as a principal partner in the 50 th Iditarod Race in March with mushers and their teams from around the world participating in the 1,000-mile-long sled-dog race in Alaska, also called The Last Great Race; Holding the Lower Kuskokwim School Districts annual College and Career fair with 30 vendors and 89 students attending the virtual event; Working with TKC to charter flights with drinking water to Red Devil, one of the local communities on the Kuskokwim River, following a flood due to ice break-up in May that temporarily contaminated the local water wells; and Sponsoring multiple Y-K community events and gatherings as well as statewide events, including the Skwentna 200 snowmobile race, the Native Youth Olympics and the Arctic Encounter Symposium  the largest annual Arctic policy event held in the United States.





________________________

1 NOVAGOLD defines a Tier One gold development project as one with a projected production life of at least 10 years, annual projected production of at least 500,000 ounces of gold, and average projected cash costs over the production life that are in the lower half of the industry cost curve.







Presidents Message

Donlin Golds Largest Drill Program in More Than 10 Years Progressing Ahead of Schedule

The prime focus of our activities this year is to undertake a 34,000-meter drill program with tight-spaced grid drilling as well as in-pit and ex-pit exploration; and to input the results from this drilling into the geologic modelling and interpretation work that is being used for updated resource models. In addition to the engineering studies being undertaken, this program will as a whole enable commencement of an updated feasibility study. The Donlin Gold total 2022 expenditures are anticipated to be $60 million (of which NOVAGOLDs portion is 50%). The budget also supports the advancement of environmental activities, and finances community and external affairs efforts.

Following the excellent results of 2021, we are encouraged by the significant drill program for 2022, with drilling also focused on upside prospects in the ACMA and Lewis pits where drilling so far has been limited. In the second quarter 2022, the team of 150 people at Donlin Gold are advancing drilling activities at a good pace, with more than 70% of the planned drilling completed to date. We expect the first set of assay results from the 2022 drill program to be issued this summer.

The health and safety of our workforce, both at NOVAGOLD and at Donlin Gold, is a priority. Both NOVAGOLD and Donlin Gold have implemented strict safety protocols, and COVID-19 mitigation measures are still in place at Donlin Gold to ensure the staff rotations in and out of the camp are conducted in both an efficient and safe manner.

The 2021 drill program results are being incorporated into updated geologic and resource models as well as mining schedules and life of mine business plans ahead of the update to the feasibility study, which is expected to commence in 2022, subject to a formal decision by the Donlin Gold LLC Board.

Onwards and Upwards

Donlin Gold is fortunate to enjoy time-tested partnerships with Calista and TKC, owners of the mineral and surface rights, respectively. The projects location on private land specially designated for mining activities through the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) constitutes a key attribute that distinguishes it from most other mining assets in Alaska. Our longstanding commitment to meaningful tribal consultation throughout project development and permitting has been demonstrated over decades of reliable and dependable engagement with the community.

And it shows. Donlin Gold received its federal permits in 2018 and most of the key State permits are also in place. This represents a tremendous achievement and the product of a substantial undertaking, over many years, to ensure a diligent, thorough, transparent, and inclusive process for all involved  including stakeholders from the Y-K region.

On May 16, 2022, ADECs Division of Water upheld the 401 Certification of the CWA which had been remanded to the ADEC on December 29, 2021. On June 13th, 2022, Earthjustice and Orutsararmiut Native Council (ONC) requested that the ADEC Commissioner conduct an additional adjudicatory hearing on the part of the Division of Waters decision related to potential water temperature effects in Crooked Creek.

In 2021, the State of Alaskas issuance of water rights for the mine and transportation facilities was appealed to the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR). On April 25, 2022, the ADNR Commissioner denied the appeal; however, Earthjustice, ONC and five villages appealed the Commissioners decision in Alaska Superior Court on May 25, 2022. A briefing schedule has not yet been set by the Court. Donlin Gold and the owners will continue to support the State in its defense of their thorough and diligent permitting process.

On September 20, 2021, ADNRs issuance of the Right-of-Way (ROW) lease for the portions of the natural gas pipeline on State lands was separately appealed in Alaska Superior Court by two parties: (1) Earthjustice representing ONC, the native villages of Eek, Chevak, and Kwigillingok, and Cook Inletkeeper; and (2) Robert Fithian, an adventure business owner who operates near the ROW. On April 5, 2022, Earthjustice filed its opening brief, ADNR and Donlin Gold then filed their response briefs on June 16, 2022. Mr. Fithian filed his opening brief on June 8, 2022, ADNR and Donlin Gold are working on their response briefs.

Donlin Gold has applied for a new air quality permit from ADEC to be in place when the extension of the current permit expires in mid-2023. We anticipate that ADEC will issue a draft of the new permit for public comment in the second half of 2022. We are also working with the ADNR, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and our Alaska Native Corporation partners on re-locating certain public easements and ROWs in the mine and transportation facility areas for public safety purposes. Alternate routes will be constructed and available before any existing planned routes are closed (some of which are not passable during much of the year). We anticipate that the proposed re-locations will be issued for public comment sometime in 2022.

Donlin Gold, working with its Native Corporation partners, continues to support the State of Alaska to advance other permits and certificates for the project. The field work related to the issuance of the Alaska Dam Safety certificates is expected to recommence during the second half of 2022 or the first half of 2023.

Native Corporation Participation and Consistent Community Engagement

NOVAGOLD prides itself on having been a longstanding leader in ESG. We are committed to delivering long-term value to all our stakeholders through responsible mining, the protection of human life, good stewardship of the environment, and adding value to the local communities in which we operate. Donlin Golds Native Corporation partners, Calista and TKC, provide valuable insight about their region, way of life, culture, and ANCSA mandate, under which the Donlin Gold lands were selected and set aside for mining activities to promote the economic prosperity of their shareholders. As private landowners, Calista and TKC are committed to developing a mining operation that is consistent with the Elders vision of responsible development  one that creates jobs and economic benefits for the communities while mitigating impacts to the environment and protecting local culture.

In the second quarter, Donlin Gold participated in and sponsored multiple local events with Calista and TKC, providing a wide range of critical support and engagement activities throughout the Y-K region. This encompassed a broad array of projects including the signing of a new Shared Value Statement with Stony River, a village in the Y-K region, for a total of nine Shared Value Statements to date (Akiak, Sleetmute, Kalskag, Napaimute, Crooked Creek, Napaskiak, Nikolai, Tuluksak, and Stony River). In addition, we undertook numerous educational, environmental, and social initiatives to help support villages, such as working with TKC to charter flights with drinking water to Red Devil, one of the local communities on the Kuskokwim River, following a flood in May as a result of the ice breakup that temporarily contaminated local water wells, supporting the Skwentna 200 snowmobile race, and sponsoring the Lower Kuskokwim School Districts annual College and Career fair with 30 vendors and 89 students attending the virtual event.

Additionally, Donlin Gold sponsored statewide events including the Native Youth Olympics and the Arctic Encounter Symposium  the largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States. Donlin Gold was also the principal sponsor of the 50th anniversary of the Iditarod, the 1,000-mile sled-dog race, often referred to as The Last Great Race. This event holds a special connection with the gold rush days in Alaska and is a reconstruction of the freight route to Nome through which much needed supplies as well as news from afar were once delivered. In March 2022, 49 mushers and their dogs participated in the race, with numerous volunteers and veterinarians to support and care for the mushers and dogs along the various checkpoints.

A Rare High-Quality Gold Asset in a Jurisdiction that Welcomes Responsible Development

In our view, Donlin Gold is a rare gold development asset. The reason for such a unique status, beyond providing investors with pure leverage to gold, lies in the projects key attributes  namely: Size (no gold mine ever began production with 39 million ounces in Measured and Indicated Resources, inclusive of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves); Scale (expected to be a million-ounce-per-year producer with a projected mine life of at least 27 years); Low Cost (anticipated to be one of the lowest cost producers due to the high-grade large-scale open-pit, grading 2.24 grams per tonne2 or twice the industry average for an open-pit project3); Growth (excellent exploration potential beyond the planned 27 years of production with defined resources located on only three kilometers of an eight-kilometer mineralized belt, which itself represents less than 5% of the total land package); and Jurisdiction (having the good fortune of being located in Alaska, one of the safest jurisdictions in the world, on private land specifically designated for mining by our partners Calista and TKC).

It is our belief that Donlin Gold is poised to become the greatest gold story in the development space. We have protected these resources, substantially de-risked Donlin Gold over many years, committed to responsible mining, dedicated to building trust and transparency, and continuing to work to find ways to improve and enhance the project as well as building a legacy.

________________________

2 Donlin Gold data as per the 2021 Technical Report and S-K 1300 Report (both as defined herein). Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.52 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 534 Mt grading 2.24 g/t, each on a 100% basis and inclusive of Mineral Reserves, of which approximately 4 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 267 Mt of Indicated Resources inclusive of Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD through its 50% ownership interest in Donlin Gold LLC. Exclusive of Mineral Reserves, Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 1 Mt grading 2.23 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 69 Mt grading 2.44 g/t, of which approximately 0.5 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 35 Mt of Indicated Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Donlin Gold possesses Proven Reserves of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.32 g/t and Probable Reserves of approximately 497 Mt grading 2.08 g/t, each on a 100% basis, of which approximately 4 Mt of Proven Reserves and approximately 249 Mt of Probable Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Mineral Resources and Reserves have been estimated in accordance with NI 43-101 and S-K 1300.

3 2020 average grade of open pit and underground deposits with gold as primary commodity and over 1 Moz in measured and indicated resources is 1.12 g/t, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence.







Strong Balance Sheet to Undertake Donlin Gold Activities and Studies

In looking back at our successive milestones over the past decade, we are grateful to all who contributed to our progress to date in advancing the Donlin Gold project. Having a solid treasury for more than 10 years has afforded us the opportunity to advance our corporate strategy without going back to the market to raise funds. With $142 million in cash and term deposits as of May 31, 2022, with $25 million due in July 2023 from Newmont Corporation, and an additional payment of $75 million contingent upon the owners of Galore Creek making a construction decision, we believe we have resources that are more than sufficient to advance Donlin Gold activities up to a construction decision.

Our staunch shareholders  some of whom have provided support for well over a decade  together form an important part of the equation. Our largest institutional investors such as Paulson & Co., Fidelity Investments, BlackRock, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, First Eagle, and EXOR see the investment opportunity in NOVAGOLD and clearly understand how the extraordinary gold development asset that is Donlin Gold can provide true octane to their portfolios as the increasingly strong case for gold unfolds and gathers momentum. The Company is very appreciative of their continued interest and commitment.

It is because of the teams of dedicated professionals at NOVAGOLD, Donlin Gold, Barrick, Native Corporation partners Calista and TKC, contractors, and representatives from the federal and state agencies who adhere to best practices that we can responsibly advance this important, high-quality gold asset up the value chain. We are grateful to them all.

NOVAGOLDs valued leadership team and Board of Directors go above and beyond in providing strategic guidance and upholding the highest standards in environmental, financial, corporate governance and ethical business practices, and I am so thankful for their solidarity and steadfast dedication. Together we mourned the recent and tragic passing of our dear colleague and long-term Board member, Igor Levental, with whom I had the great pleasure of working for well over 30 years  including at Homestake Mining Company and International Corona Capital Corporation. He will be sorely missed, as will be his exceptional counsel, characteristic sense of humor, and singular love of life. In many respects, our collective success has been and shall remain one of Igors greatest legacies as we look forward to the future with confidence and optimism. As our Chairman, Dr. Thomas Kaplan, wrote in a heartfelt Tribute here: Onwards and Upwards: A Tribute to a Cherished Friend, Igor Levental, invoking a sentiment with which Igor would wholeheartedly agree, Onwards and Upwards.

Sincerely,

Gregory A. Lang

President & CEO





Financial Results

in thousands of U.S. dollars, except for per share amounts

Three months

ended

May 31, 2022

$ Three months

ended

May 31, 2021

$ Six months

ended

May 31, 2022

$ Six months

ended

May 31, 2021

$ General and administrative expense (1) 5,371 4,992 10,548 10,321 Share of losses  Donlin Gold 8,441 4,198 12,481 6,166 Total operating expenses 13,812 9,190 23,029 16,487 Loss from operations (13,812) (9,190) (23,029) (16,487) Interest expense on promissory note (1,684) (1,480) (3,196) (2,914) Accretion of notes receivable 209 854 419 1,708 Other income 317 (705) 841 (784) Net loss (14,970) (10,521) (24,965) (18,477) Loss per share, basic and diluted (0.04) (0.03) (0.07) (0.06) At At May 31, 2021

$ Nov 30, 2021

$ Cash and term deposits 142,292 169,124 Total assets 178,514 198,852 Total liabilities 122,859 120,570

(1) Includes share-based compensation expense of $2,105 and $2,095 in the second quarter of 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $4,196 and $4,137 in the first six months of 2022 and 2021, respectively.

In the second quarter of 2022, Net loss increased by $4.4 million from 2021, primarily due to the expanded Donlin Gold work program. Lower accretion income due to the maturity of the $75 million Newmont note in July 2021 and higher interest expense on the Barrick promissory note was offset by foreign exchange movements.

In the first six months of 2022, Net loss increased by $6.5 million from 2021, primarily due to the expanded Donlin Gold work program. Lower accretion income and higher interest expense on the Barrick promissory note was offset by an increase in the fair market value of marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

In the second quarter of 2022 cash and cash equivalents decreased by $4.8 million, primarily to fund our share of Donlin Gold and for corporate administrative expenses, partially offset by a net $8 million received from term deposits. The decrease in cash used in the second quarter of 2022 compared to 2021 was due to the net increase in net proceeds received from term deposits, partially offset by the expanded Donlin Gold work program.

In the first six months of 2022 cash and cash equivalents decreased by $18.8 million, primarily to fund our share of Donlin Gold, for corporate administrative expenses, and for withholding taxes on share-based payments, partially offset by a net $8 million received from term deposits. The increase in cash used in the first six months of 2022 compared to 2021 was due to the expanded Donlin Gold work program, the timing of corporate liability insurance payments, increased withholding tax on share-based compensation in 2022 (no cash was used for CEO and CFO withholdings in 2021), partially offset by a net increase in net proceeds received from term deposits.

At the end of the second quarter, cash and term deposits were $142.3 million (cash $72.3 million, term deposits $70 million). An additional payment from Newmont of $25 million comes due in 2023 related to the sale of NOVAGOLDs 50% interest in the Galore Creek project in 2018, along with a note receivable for $75 million contingent upon approval of a Galore Creek project construction plan by the owner(s). At present, we believe we have sufficient working capital available to cover anticipated funding of the Donlin Gold project and corporate general and administrative costs until a decision to commence engineering and construction is reached by the Donlin Gold board for the Donlin Gold project, at which point substantial additional capital will be required.

2022 Outlook

We anticipate spending approximately $46 million in 2022, which includes $13 million for corporate general and administrative costs; $3 million for withholding taxes on PSUs and other working capital; and $30 million to fund our share of expenditures at the Donlin Gold project, including:

$17 million for the 2022 drill program (approximately 34,000 meters of core drilling) Grid drilling (mineralization continuity and geologic structural controls in three areas of the deposit) In-pit and ex-pit exploration Platform mapping to confirm mineralization continuity and key geological controls in representative areas of the deposit

$9 million for external affairs, permitting, environmental, land and legal activities, and

$4 million for project planning and fieldwork (dam and water structures, metallurgical testing, mining studies, hydrogeology and geochemistry, and infrastructure planning).

NOVAGOLDs primary goals in 2022 are to continue to advance the Donlin Gold project toward a construction decision; maintain or increase support for Donlin Gold among the projects stakeholders; promote a strong safety, sustainability, and environmental culture; maintain a peer-leading reputation for NOVAGOLD, its governance practices and its project among shareholders; and manage the Company treasury effectively and efficiently. Our operations primarily relate to the delivery of project milestones, including the achievement of various technical, environmental, sustainable development, economic and legal objectives, obtaining necessary permits, commencement of feasibility studies, preparation of engineering designs and the financing to fund these objectives.

Conference Call & Webcast Details

NOVAGOLDs conference call and webcast to discuss these results will take place on July 6, 2022, at 8:00 am PT (11:00 am ET). The webcast and conference call-in details are provided below.

Video Webcast: www.novagold.com/investors/events North American callers: 1-800-319-4610 International callers: 1-604-638-5340

NOVAGOLDs quarterly reporting schedule for the remainder of 2022 will be as follows:



Q2 2022  Wednesday, July 6, 2022; A conference call and webcast will be held to discuss the second quarter results at 11 a.m. ET.

Q3 2022  Tuesday, October 4, 2022; financial statements and a Donlin Gold project update will be released after market close. A conference call and webcast will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 11 a.m. ET.

About NOVAGOLD

NOVAGOLD is a well-financed precious metals company focused on the development of its 50%-owned Donlin Gold project in Alaska, one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource categories, inclusive of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves (541 million tonnes at an average grade of approximately 2.24 grams per tonne in the Measured and Indicated Resource categories on a 100% basis),4 Donlin Gold is regarded to be one of the largest, highest-grade, and most prospective known open-pit gold deposits in the world.

According to the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report, once in production, Donlin Gold is expected to produce an average of more than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life on a 100 percent basis. The Donlin Gold project has substantial exploration potential beyond the designed footprint which currently covers three kilometers of an approximately eight-kilometer-long gold-bearing trend. Current activities at Donlin Gold are focused on State permitting, optimization work, community outreach, and workforce development in preparation for the eventual construction and operation of this project. With a strong balance sheet, NOVAGOLD is well-positioned to fund its share of permitting and optimization advancement efforts at the Donlin Gold project.

Scientific and Technical Information

Certain scientific and technical information contained herein with respect to the Donlin Gold project is derived from the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report5. Henry Kim, P.Geo., Senior Resource Geologist, Wood Canada Limited; Mike Woloschuk, P.Eng., VP Global Business Development & Consulting, Wood Group USA, Inc.; and Kirk Hanson, MBA, P.E., Technical Director, Open Pit Mining, Wood Group USA, Inc. are the Qualified Persons responsible for the preparation of the 2021 Technical Report, and each is an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). Wood prepared the S-K 1300 Report.

Paul Chilson, P.E., who is the Manager, Mine Engineering for NOVAGOLD and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has approved and verified the scientific and technical information related to the 2022 Donlin Gold project drill program, the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report contained in this media release.

________________________

4 Donlin Gold data as per the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report, as defined below.

Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.52 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 534 Mt grading 2.24 g/t, each on a 100% basis and inclusive of Mineral Reserves, of which approximately 4 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 267 Mt of Indicated Resources inclusive of Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD through its 50% ownership interest in Donlin Gold LLC. Exclusive of Mineral Reserves, Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 1 Mt grading 2.23 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 69 Mt grading 2.44 g/t, of which approximately 0.5 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 35 Mt of Indicated Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Donlin Gold possesses Proven Reserves of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.32 g/t and Probable Reserves of approximately 497 Mt grading 2.08 g/t, each on a 100% basis, of which approximately 4 Mt of Proven Reserves and approximately 249 Mt of Probable Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Mineral Resources and Reserves have been estimated in accordance with NI 43-101 and S-K 1300.

5 The Company retained Wood Canada Limited (Wood) in 2021 to update content in its previously filed Donlin Creek Gold Project, Alaska, USA, NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Second Updated Feasibility Study, effective November 18, 2011, and amended January 20, 2012. This update resulted in a report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Donlin Gold Project, Alaska, USA with an effective date of June 1, 2021 (the 2021 Technical Report) and was filed on August 31, 2021. The Company is a registrant with the SEC and is reporting its exploration results, Mineral Resources, and Mineral Reserves in accordance with Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K  Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations (S-K 1300) as of November 30, 2021. While the S-K 1300 rules are similar to National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects rules in Canada, they are not identical and therefore two reports have been produced for the Donlin Gold project. The Company requested that Wood prepare a Technical Report Summary of the Donlin Gold project, Alaska, USA using the standards of S-K 1300 and it is titled S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary on the Donlin Gold Project, Alaska, USA (S-K 1300 Report), current as of November 30, 2021. Wood incorporated 2020 costs and new gold price guidance to meet the Companys reporting requirements. The resultant 2021 Technical Report and S-K 1300 Report showed no material change to the previously reported mineral resources or mineral reserves.







NOVAGOLD Contacts:

Melanie Hennessey

Vice President, Corporate Communications

604-669-6227 or 1-866-669-6227

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This media release includes certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, potential, possible, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results will, may, could, would or should occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on several opinions, estimates and assumptions that management of NOVAGOLD considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date such statements are made, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that may cause the actual results, activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the anticipated results of the 2022 drill programs; the anticipated timing of certain judicial and/or administrative decisions; the 2022 Outlook; the timing and potential for an updated feasibility study on the project; our goals for the remainder of 2022; anticipated benefits from the 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022 drill programs including an improved geological model for Donlin Gold; ongoing support provided to key stakeholders including Native Corporation partners; the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of Donlin Gold; the potential development and construction of Donlin Gold; the sufficiency of funds to continue to advance development of Donlin Gold; perceived merit of properties; mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; Donlin Golds ability to secure the permits needed to construct and operate the Donlin Gold project in a timely manner, if at all; legal challenges to Donlin Golds existing permits; the Donlin Gold LLC Board approval to advance Donlin Gold up the value chain; the success of the strategic mine plan for Donlin Gold; the outcome of the planned tight spaced and exploration drilling; and the conversion of Galore Creek into a mine and the receipt of $25 million due in July 2023 from Newmont Corporation and the $75 million contingent payment from Newmont. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent the expectations of NOVAGOLD managements estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the need to obtain additional permits and governmental approvals; the timing and likelihood of obtaining and maintaining permits necessary to construct and operate; the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; the coronavirus global pandemic (COVID-19); uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drill results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; changes in mineral production performance, exploitation and exploration successes; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in the United States or Canada; the need for continued cooperation between Barrick and NOVAGOLD for the continued exploration, development and eventual construction of the Donlin Gold property; the need for cooperation of government agencies and Native groups in the development and operation of properties; risks of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather, disease pandemics, non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological structures, ore grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; whether a positive construction decision will be made regarding Donlin Gold; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in NOVAGOLDs most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, particularly the "Risk Factors" sections of those reports and other documents filed by NOVAGOLD with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. Copies of these filings may be obtained by visiting NOVAGOLDs website at www.novagold.com, or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, or at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained herein reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections of NOVAGOLD on the date the statements are made. NOVAGOLD assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.
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From the Reporter's Notebook

When my wife and I used to hike, we thought in miles, the fewer the better.

We would never have thought in the hundreds of miles.

Jaci Gross and her 72-year-old mother, Jeanne, are underway on a 400-mile pilgrimage to Santiago, Spain.

They left the states Tuesday for Lisbon, Portugal, from where they will walk the 400 miles to the Cathedral at Santiago, where the apostle St. James the Great, is buried.

Jaci has been on feverish walks from her home in Coulee Dam to Steamboat Rock State Park several times a week, and also, for a change, to Nespelem. According to Jaci, she was trying to get her feet in shape for the long walk ahead.

Along the way, every 20 to 25 miles the route is dotted with small villages that have hostels for overnight stays and which supply food for the pilgrims. Hostels run $10-$20 a night, and a meal will cost $10-$15.

The hostels are a welcome stop for those who have blisters or who suffer fatigue from the walk or the elements.

The pilgrimage ends at the cathedral at Santiago, where the successful trekkers get a certificate.

One of the side benefits is the friendships you make along the way. Jaci speaks fondly of a group from Denmark who shared the trail with her for part of the walk on the France-Spain walk.

Jaci wasnt sure how her mother trained for the trek, only that she did.

After a couple of days in Lisbon to settle in from jet lag and several time zone changes, the pair were to set off on the hike.

Sometime in August, after Jaci returns, I hope to write an account of her trip.

The 400-mile trek will take a month, give or take a day or two.

A few years ago, Jaci took the pilgrimage from the French side over the Pyrenees Mountains in a 500-mile trek. So, she knows what she is in for. Hiking from the French side, the terrain was steep and provided a unique challenge.

From the Lisbon side the terrain is fairly level so it will be

somewhat easier.

On this route, there are tiny villages every 15 to 20 miles where you can bed down in hostels and get food.

The biggest threat is blisters on your feet, and of course fatigue. The weather might play a role in the success of the trip.

This pilgrimage will be far different in that the route wont be steep.

Imagine the thrill of making a trek like this with your mother.

Jaci says her backpack will weigh about 20 pounds, with only the vital necessities.

Jaci is a 20-year veteran teacher at Lake Roosevelt Schools, mainly in the fifth grade, and she has taught many students the joy of hiking.

As you read this in real time, the two Gross hikers will likely be some 25-50 miles along the route.

A short time after that, we hope to bring a report of how the trip went, hopefully without blisters.
Renault Group and Atos have launched ID@scale (Industrial Data @ Scale), a new service for industrial data collection to support manufacturing companies in their digital journey towards Industry 4.0.

ID@S (Industrial Data @ Scale) will allow manufacturers to collect and structure data from industrial equipment at scale to improve operational excellence and product quality. Developed by the car manufacturer and already in operation within its factories, ID@scale is now industrialized, modularized and commercialized by Atos.

Throughout the production process, manufacturers generate a phenomenal amount of data. In more cases than not, data is underutilized, owing to its diversity and lack of standardization as well as operator time shortages. By deploying ID@S, manufacturers will now be able to collect data from a wide range of manufacturing facilities (diverse suppliers, generations, global location, firmware updates, etc.) in a standardized and effective way, then contextualized and made available in the cloud.

As a result, the data corrects and scales up production processes and product quality with immediate effect. Easy access to standardized data via simple to use analytical tools and dashboards facilitates and accelerates the deployment of many kinds of use cases (production, maintenance, quality, and energies, etc.), including net zero benefits. Additionally, with ID@scale, manufacturers can target significant energy consumption benefits by monitoring and optimizing energy consumed on production lines.

As part of the companys digital transformation strategy, Renault Groups IT, digital and engineering teams have developed this solution to capture data from its manufacturing facilities. For each type of manufacturing process, data is collected and structured in a standardized way, enabling a variety of use cases across manufacturing, engineering, quality, CSR, logistics, etc. to be addressed.

Today, this solution is deployed on a large scale across twenty-two plants within Renault Group. More than 7,500 pieces of equipment are connected, with standardized data models representing more than 50 different manufacturing processes from screwdriving to aluminum injection, including car frame welding, machining, painting, stamping, in addition to new manufacturing processes for electric motors and batteries.

Renault Group is already saving 80 million per year and aims to deploy this solution across the remainder of its 35 plants, connecting more than 22,000 pieces of equipment, by 2023 to generate savings of 200 million per year.

As a leader in the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, Atos is strengthening and industrializing Renaults solution through its combined technology portfolio, services, and consulting expertise. The ID@scale service benefits from Atos Edge to Cloud offering, enabling real-time analysis of large volumes of complex industrial data while securing it from the Edge to Cloud platforms, as well as optimizing the inference of the most complex artificial intelligence models thanks to its Bull Sequana Edge server range.

The service, which will continue to evolve, is suitable for all types of environments, whatever the industry sector, and deploys the solution as a service anywhere in the world. Finally, the partnership is supported by the Groups Consulting and Services teams to market, deploy, and support the as a service solution worldwide, enabling rapid and agile deployment of new connectivity, data models, analytics, and insights for a customer within a few weeks.
In an update to a 2020 study, the Faraday Institution predicts that there will be demand for ten UK-based gigafactories (large, high volume battery manufacturing facilities) by 2040, each producing 20 GWh per year of batteries.

The transition to electrified transport is essential to meet Net Zero commitments; the combined electric vehicle automotive and battery ecosystem could be worth 22 billion (US$27 billion) by 2030 and 27 billion (US$33 billion) by 2040. Recent announcements in the UK by Britishvolt and Envision AESC have built excitement, particularly in the North East, about the potential to create a new, dynamic and highly skilled battery industry in the UK.

The report says, however, that while the UK is making progress it is not moving fast enough compared to its European competitors. UK battery manufacturing plants could reach a combined capacity of 57 GWh by 2030, equivalent to around 5% of total European GWh capacity, compared with 34% in Germany.





Source: Faraday Institution

It is important that UK Government continues to communicate the attractiveness of the UK as a battery manufacturing location to investors, the Faraday Institution said. Alongside cultivating new investors, the government should also help to develop a resilient, sustainable and efficient supply chain, build up skills capability and commit to the long-term funding of battery research, particularly next generation batteries.

The UK needs to move quickly to secure investment in new gigafactories. By 2030, around 100 GWh of supply will be needed in the UK to satisfy the demand for batteries for private cars, commercial vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, buses, micromobility and grid storage. This demand is equivalent to five gigafactories, with each plant running at a capacity of 20 GWh per annum. By 2040, demand rises to nearly 200 GWh and the equivalent of ten gigafactories.

Key changes in assumptions and modeling in the Faraday Institutions 2022 report relative to the 2020 study are:

Consideration of the UK announcement to end the sales of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans by 2030 and for all cars sold to be zero emissions capability by 2035.

Inclusion of additional battery demand from commercial vehicles, HGVs, buses, micromobility and grid storage.

Faster uptake trajectories for battery EVs at the expense of plug-in hybrid EVs, with BEVs having larger battery capacity on average.

Using most up to date data on UK EV and ICE vehicle sales and a review of industry forecasts, as well as reflecting the downturn from the pandemic and the recent upturn as the global economy recovers.

The result of these key changes for the 2022 report relative to the 2020 study are:
Turntide Technologies is launching Turntide Electrification, a suite of world-class battery and powertrain components made to decarbonize commercial and industrial transport segments including, off-highway vehicles, autonomous guided vehicles, construction, trucks and buses, marine, and passenger rail.

While the electrification of consumer cars and trucks has received a lot of attention over the past decade, commercial and industrial vehicles are responsible for 55% of global carbon emissions within the transport sector, presenting an opportunity to impact CO 2 emissions significantly.

Last year, Turntide acquired three electrification suppliers (Avid Technologies, BorgWarner Gateshead, Hyperdrive Innovation) and integrated them into the Turntide Transport business unit to streamline the electrification transition of commercial and industrial vehicles and machines. These powertrain components currently provide efficiency, safety, and performance for more than 200,000 vehicles globally.

Turntide Electrification is a flexible, fully scalable platform composed of high-efficiency powertrain components, configurable to provide solutions for a range of industries. Component systems include:

Hyperdrive Battery System  lithium-ion energy storage and management systems

Inverters  high-efficiency inverters with scalable power ranges

Motors - stackable motor system with high power and torque density for space-limited applications

Thermal cooling pumps and fans  lightweight, high-efficiency components for use in all environments

DCDC converters - high-capacity battery voltage to lower voltage for ancillary use

With more than 50 years of electrification experience through its acquisitions, Turntide pairs best-in-class technology with deep industry expertise to deliver solutions for top brands such as Hitachi Rail, Limach, RS Sailing, and Snorkel.

Among these brands is global construction equipment manufacturer, JCB. JCB launched the worlds first fully electric, plug-in near-silent mini excavatorthe 19C-1E E-Techutilizing Turntides Hyperdrive battery system. The company also introduced additional electrified equipment with the Hyperdrive battery including its 1TE site dumper, the HTD5E Dumpster, and a range of silent, zero-emission power pack products.

Turntide partners with its customers to design, develop and manufacture electrification solutions bespoke to the unique needs of each vehicle type. From initial concepting to prototyping to validation, Turntides end-to-end approach reduces supply chain risks and speeds time to market by working with a single supplier.

Turntides vision is to scale EV powertrain solutions with minimal impact on the environment, even upstream in the supply chain. Turntide manufactures its patented switched reluctance motor (SRM) platform with none of the rare earth metals in the permanent magnet motors that dominate EVs today. China controls more than 90% of the worlds reserves of these critical minerals and producing them exacts devastating environmental costs.

Limited supplies of rare earth metals like neodymium are significant and growing roadblocks to decarbonizing vehicles. Turntide is leading the way in applying magnet-free SRMs to the built environment, and we envision this superior motor technology will accelerate the electrification of all forms of vehicles. Ryan Morris, Chairman and CEO of Turntide

Turntide is backed by a global coalition of climate-focused investors, including Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, JLL, BMW i Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Robert Downey Jr.s FootPrint Coalition, and Keyframe Capital.

The company recently secured $80 million in equity funding, valuing the company over $1 billion, making it one of a handful of climate tech companies to achieve unicorn status in the first half of 2022. This funding brings the total amount of capital raised to $485 million.
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  The U.S. government this week is holding its first onshore oil and natural gas drilling lease auctions since President Joe Biden took office after a federal court blocked the administrations attempt to suspend such sales because of climate change worries.

The online auctions start Wednesday and conclude Thursday. About 200 square miles (518 square kilometers) of federal lands were offered for lease in eight western states. Most of the parcels are in Wyoming.

The sales come as federal officials try to balance efforts to fight climate change against pressure to bring down high gas prices.

Republicans want Biden to expand U.S. crude production. He faces calls from within his own party to do more to curb fossil fuel emissions that are heating the planet.

Oil production increased in the U.S. in recent months, but it's still well below pre-pandemic levels. Companies have been hesitant to expand too quickly because of uncertainty over how long high prices will continue.

A coalition of 10 environmental groups said in a lawsuit filed before the sales even began that they were illegal because officials acknowledged the climate change impacts but proceeded anyway.

An immediate ruling was not expected. Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said the agency did not have comment on the litigation.

Beginning with this week's sales the royalty rate for oil produced from new federal leases is increasing to 18.75% from 12.5%. Thats a 50% jump and marks the first increase since the 1920s.

Parcels also are being offered in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Hundreds of parcels of public land that companies nominated for leasing had been previously dropped by the administration because of concerns over wildlife being harmed by drilling rigs. More parcels covering about 19 square miles (49 square kilometers) were dropped at the last minute in Wyoming because of potential impacts on wilderness, officials said.

But attorney Melissa Hornbein with the Western Environmental Law Center said the reductions in the size of the sales were not enough.

They are hoping that by choosing to hold sales on a smaller amount of acreage they are threading the needle. But from our perspective, the climate science is the one thing that doesn't lie, Hornbein said.

Oil industry representative Kathleen Sgamma said the environmentalists' lawsuit ignores the fact that lease sales from U.S. lands are required under federal law.

Public lands are managed in a balanced manner. Balance is a word these groups don't understand, said Sgamma, president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies.

Fossil fuels extracted from public lands account for about 20% of energy-related U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making them a prime target for climate activists who want to shut down leasing.

Biden suspended new leasing just a week after taking office in January 2021. A federal judge in Louisiana ordered the sales to resume, saying Interior officials had offered no rational explanation for canceling them and only Congress could do so.

The government held an offshore lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico in November, although a court later blocked that sale before the leases were issued.

___

Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter: @matthewbrownAP
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The combination of heat and humidity would have quickly created life-threatening conditions inside the packed, un-air-conditioned tractor-trailer where dozens of migrants were found dead, an expert said.

Although its unclear how long the people had been inside the trailer, it likely would only take an hour or less for temperatures to climb as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51 Celsius) or hotter, said Jennifer Vanos, an assistant professor in climate and health at Arizona State University who has studied child deaths in cars.

The death toll rose to 53 on Wednesday, two days after the tractor-trailer  packed with more than 60 people  was found abandoned on the edge of San Antonio, marking the nations deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.-Mexico border.

WHAT MADE THE SITUATION SO DANGEROUS?

The tractor-trailer likely would have been hot  perhaps 105-110 degrees  when people got in because the outdoor heat and humidity already were high, Vanos said.

Once inside, their bodies would have created even more heat and humidity, and because there was no air flow, their sweat could not evaporate to cool their bodies and they would dehydrate quickly. The migrants did not have water.

All those things together are going to drive a quicker heat death, Vanos said.

It can take less than one hour for a car left in the sun to heat up from air-conditioned temperatures to 125 degrees, partly because windows create a greenhouse effect, said Vanos. Though the tractor-trailer was windowless, the temperature inside could have reached 125-130 degrees fairly quickly because of the number of people and because the trailer would have continued absorbing heat from the sun, she said.

It's unclear when or where the migrants boarded the truck, but Homeland Security investigators believe they got on near or in Laredo, on U.S. soil, about two hours from San Antonio, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told The Associated Press Wednesday. It's also unclear how long the trailer was sitting in San Antonio.

HOW LONG COULD THEY HAVE SURVIVED?

That depends on their health and other factors, including age, medications and their clothing, Vanos said.

Heatstroke can set in when body temperature exceeds 104 degrees, and organs can begin to fail when the body's core temperature reaches a critical high of 107-108 degrees, Vanos said. But cardiovascular failure could happen at a lower body temperature if someone has a pre-existing heart or cardiovascular disease.

Some people also might have died of renal collapse, especially if they had existing kidney disease, because the lack of water led to dehydration, she said.

Some of the more than a dozen people transported to hospitals were suffering from injuries such as brain damage and internal bleeding, according to Ruben Minutti, the Mexico consul general in San Antonio. Several people died at the hospital. Vanos said that indicates their body couldn't regulate its temperature and the organs were already failing.
Asus has finally released the stable, finalized update to Android 12 for the ROG Phone 3 from 2020. According to the company's schedule, this was supposed to come out in the first half of the year, and so it's kept its promise, if only by a few days. Asus sure took its sweet time with this one - Android 13 is practically around the corner, but ROG Phone 3 owners only now get to taste last year's Android 12. Such is the life of gamers, presumably.

Anyway, the new build is labeled 31.0210.0210.230, and it lands after an almost two-month beta testing period, so hopefully there aren't any remaining glaring bugs.

The update comes with everything Google packed into the Android 12 release, as well as the June 2022 security patch level. Additionally, you also get an updated Console design in Armoury Crate, revamped Asus built-in apps, a new Quick Settings panel and notification tray, a redesigned volume panel, and a new widget page design in Launcher. Asus Safeguard has been replaced with the built-in Android 12 Emergency SOS functionality, the Quick Settings layout option has been removed from Display settings, and SIP calling support has been removed from the Phone app.

As usual with such updates, the rollout may be staged, so it could take a few days until all ROG Phone 3 units out there in the wild receive theirs.

Source | Via
Today Sony unveiled a new series of gaming hardware  Inzone. The launch products are two monitors and three headsets. Inzone products are designed for an immersive gaming experience be it on PC or on a PlayStation 5.

Sony Inzone M9 and M3 gaming monitors

Both are 27 gaming monitors with IPS LCD panels. The Inzone M9 has 4K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate (120Hz over HDMI). For improved dynamic contrast, it uses Full Array Local Dimming. It peaks at 600 nits brightness and has a VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification. Additionally, this monitor has 95% DCI-P3 coverage.



Specs: Sony Inzone M9  Sony Inzone M3

The Sony Inzone M3 drops down to 1080p resolution, but increases the refresh rate to 240Hz (including over HDMI). The panel is edge lit and has a peak brightness of 400 nits (DisplayHDR 400). This display offers 99% sRGB coverage.



Full Array Local dimming on the Sony Inzone M8  The Inzone Hub PC software can control all settings for the monitors

Both displays are calibrated at the factory to hit their color accuracy goals. They also support HDR10 and HLG types of HDR. As for the refresh rate, they support G-Sync and HDMI 2.1 VRR for variable refresh rate (24Hz minimum). They also boast 1ms gray-to-gray transition times.

Both monitors are equipped with two HDMI inputs, one DisplayPort 1.4. Additionally, they have a built-in USB hub  one Type-B goes in, three USB Type-A come out. These are perfect for connecting keyboards, mice and controllers as the built-in KVM functionality will switch the USB connection along to follow the video input.

This will allow you to connect both a PC and a PlayStation 5. There are some PS5 specific features like Auto HDR tone mapping and automatic genre picture mode (e.g. switching to Cinema mode when you put on a movie). There are PC features too, like dedicated PC software that lets you tweak every setting of the monitor.

The stands of both monitors let you adjust the height and tilt for maximum comfort. The central pillar works as a cable channel to keep things neat. The M9 also has an RGB LED strip on the back to match your lighting setup.

The Sony Inzone M9 is available for pre-order at $900/1,100/1,000 (coming this summer). The Inzone M3 will launch by the end of this year with a price of $530.

Sony Inzone H9, H7 and H3 gaming headphones

These three share the same external design, but offer different capabilities to match your needs and budget. The first two are wireless, the H3 is a wired headset.

When you heard wireless you may have winced and while the H9 and H7 do support Bluetooth, they are best used with the included USB dongle that enables low-latency connection over 2.4GHz. The headphones can be connected to both the dongle and your smartphone (over Bluetooth), so you can easily answer an incoming call.

The boom mic offers great audio quality for voice chats in game and is easy to control  flip it down to talk, flip it up to mute. There is a hardware button that changes the audio balance between game audio and voice chat.

All three headphones support 360 Spatial Sound. This can be activated by the Inzone Hub PC software, which also includes algorithms to turn 2 channel stereo into 7.1 channel surround sound. There is a 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer app for smartphones.

The Sony Inzone H9 supports Active Noise Cancellation and have a dedicated button to toggle Ambient sound mode (100Hz-8,000Hz). With ANC off, the headphones can last for 32 hours of play time.

The Inzone H7 do not have ANC. On the plus side, they have longer battery life of 40 hours. Both the H9 and H7 feature 40mm drivers (EDCCA Voice coil with neodymium magnets) and 5Hz-20,000Hz frequency response.



Sony Inzone H9, H7 and H3

The Inzone H3 dont have to worry about batteries. These headphones also have 40mm drivers (CCAW Voice coil with neodymium magnets, 35Ohm impedance) with 10Hz-20,000Hz frequency response.

All three headsets are available for pre-order now, you can find them on Sonys official site, Amazon and Best Buy. The Inzone H9 cost $300/300/270, the H7 are $230/230/200 and the H3 are $100/100/90.

Here is a showcase of the new Inzone product line and more details about the monitors and headphones:

Source
Xiaomi will introduce the 12S series on July 4, and today it confirmed the trio of phones that will appear. We expect a small vanilla Xiaomi 12S, Xiaomi 12S Pro flagship and a Xiaomi 12S Ultra camera beast.

The company revealed the latter will have a completely new 1 camera sensor by Sony, called IMX989. However, rumors are the global market is not going to see them as Xiaomi intends to make the 12S lineup exclusive to China.



Xiaomi 12S Ultra will have 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor

Xiaomi advertised the new IMX989 to be 1 from one corner to another but this is misleading information - it is a 1-inch type, similar to the Xperia Pro-I camera sensor.

The type designation refers to the diameter of the video camera tube needed to project an image that would cover the size of the sensor. The correlation isn't strict but the optical format or sensor type is roughly 1.5 times the actual diagonal of the sensor. 'Type' is often dropped for brevity and it's assumed from context, but in this particular case, we felt it needed to be put into words.

Then, we still don't know if Xiaomi will be using the entire sensor surface area. The Xperia PRO-I, for instance, had an optical system that only ever used the center of its 1-inch type sensor. This requires a much smaller lens while still providing the benefits of the large pixels but technically, the sensor is not fully utilized.

We are not sure if Xiaomi would decide to go that way but it's certainly something to keep an eye of.

Xiaomi 12S trio

In the meantime, specs of the vanilla Xiaomi 12S suggest a small 6.28 AMOLED screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It will have two RAM and two storage options - 8/12 GB and 128/256 GB, respectively. The rear camera ensemble will be 50 MP main + 13 MP ultra-wide-angle + 5 MP macro, while the front-facing shooter is said to be 32 MP.

All these specs seem the same as the Xiaomi 12 - the difference will be the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset while the cameras will receive the Leica treatment.

Xiaomi 12S Pro leaked image

Xiaomi set up a landing page on JD.com, a popular Chinese retailer, for the trio of smartphones. At the time of writing this article, each 12S smartphone has over 200,000 reservations, which are a testament for the massive interest from potential customers.

Source 1  Source 2 (both in Chinese) | Via 1  Via 2
Residents eager to secure jobs as COVID-19 restrictions ease and tourism increases attended the Guam Plaza Resort & Spa job fair in Tamuning on Wednesday.

Blessy Olandez, marketing manager for Guam Plaza said the hotel, along with partner restaurants and stores, are looking to fill positions in housekeeping, general maintenance, wait staff, kitchen staff, purchasing department staff and retail employees.

A lot of the staff had to be laid off because we didnt have any business, and Im sure it was like that for the whole hotel industry, Olandez said of the effect the pandemic had on the company. That left us with having to come back and find people now that tourism is coming back. So that is the need, she said.

Additionally, efforts to bring tourists back to the island could increase visitor arrivals as the Guam Visitors Bureau participated in the Seoul International Travel Fair last week.

According to Pacific Daily News files, GVB President and CEO Carl T.C. Gutierrez said flights from Korea to Guam will occur daily in the month of July.

Sujin Soderquist, 45 from Dededo, is relieved tourism from the country is on the rise since she operates an online consultation business for Korean visitors planning to study in the United States.

We were really fine before the pandemic and then there was no tourism, so we were affected a lot, said Soderquist, who is looking for any position as a second part time job to help pay her familys bills and gain more insight into the tourism industry.

Adelina Ramos, 63 from Dededo, used to be a room attendant at Guam Plaza Resort & Spa but lost her job when the pandemic started.

I used to work here, but with COVID-19, there were no guests and I couldnt get work hours, so I transferred to Guam care services, she said, explaining that she needs to consistently work to pay her many loans, credit card debt and rent.

Now that jobs at Guam Plaza are reopening again I have come back, said Ramos, a senior citizen who is applying for a less physically demanding job in retail at the propertys JP Superstore.

Food and beverage manager for Guam Plaza and Joinus Restaurant Ryuichiro Ricky Baba said the hotel is looking to increase its staff as COVID-19 restrictions lift to accommodate more tourists from Korea, which he said is a large percentage of their business, along with residents who are dining out more.

We are still supported by many local guests who are continuously coming by often, as well as the Korean guest increase and more markets opening from Japan and other places we are expecting this summer, said Baba.

Applications are being accepted until the jobs are filled.
Capping the profit margin of gas companies could negatively impact Mobil Oil Guams ability to operate on Guam and the region and affect the communitys access to a safe and reliable fuel supply, according to Mobil President Jimmy Tim Chau Hau.

Two very different measures to provide relief at the pump had their day at the Legislature on Wednesday, as lawmakers continue the push to ease gas prices for consumers.

Cap profits

Haus written testimony dealt with Sen. Clynt Ridgells Bill 320, which would cap the price of gas at the pump to the landed price per gallon plus 20%. But no representative from Mobil or the other two major gas companies, South Pacific Petroleum and IP&E, appeared in person to respond to questioning, leaving senators unsatisfied.

Hau wrote that Bill 320 was based on fundamental misconceptions about the fuel market.

For one, rising oil prices did not increase Mobils earnings, he wrote.

Additionally, Mobil had to factor costs like storage, trucking and land leases into the final gas price, not just the landed price of fuel, which was the price of a barrel of oil plus the cost of shipping.

It was possible that the profit for gas sales would be zero if local expenses exceeded 20% of the landed price of fuel, Deputy Attorney General Fred Nishihira said when questioned by Speaker Therese Terlaje.

Nishihiras Consumer Protection Division would be responsible for enforcing the gas price cap if it took effect, with violations punishable by fines of $1,000 per day. But he was unable to answer definitively when senators asked whether they could legally mandate gas companies to report their costs and earnings, or if a price control was constitutional.

It could always get challenged in court is what Ill say, he told lawmakers. More research was needed, though he noted that Hawaii did have a short-lived cap on gas prices back in 2006.

Ridgell said he was open to adjusting how the cap would be calculated, and a reasonable profit margin.

I know theres different things that cause the bases to have lower prices, but how much and what exactly are the costs?

The local gas industry seemed secretive and there was no clarity with no one from the industry available to respond to questioning at the hearing, he said.

Ridgell also noted that government agencies like the Guam Waterworks Authority recently negotiated a multi-year fuel contract at $2.92 per gallon of regular gas. He responded to a portion of Haus testimony which noted some customers could negotiate for lower bulk prices.

When theres a lot of room for negotiation with the prices, in my mind, thats an indication that the prices are too high at the pump, and that they can lower the prices, Ridgell said.

Matching prices

Sen. Tony Ada asked Nishihira how the Office of the Attorney General viewed the uniform prices at the three local gas station chains. Typically, when one company changes a price, the others match the price within a day.

This problem is not unique to Guam. Im actually part of some working groups with other AGs offices throughout the states, specifically on this matter, and its very prevalent in the Beltway area of the capital, he said, though unlike the states, Guam has competing gas stations right beside one another. Maybe thats the best thing I can say right now.

He told Terlaje he was unaware of a price-gouging investigation for gas companies on Guam, or whether any local antitrust investigation had ever taken place.

Slash fuel taxes, again

Also on the table Wednesday was Sen. Jim Moylans Bill 290, to exempt sales on gas from the 5% business privilege tax for two years.

Hau wrote that he would support the measure and that the tax reduction would be factored in when deciding the price at the pump.

Moylan himself has estimated the savings for motorists at 32 cents per gallon if fuel retailers are exempted from the BPT through Bill 290.

But according to Lester Carlson, Bureau of Budget & Management research director, a full exemption from the BPT would violate GovGuams agreement with creditors to not drop the business tax rate below 3%.

Moylan was quick to say that some compromise could be reached to push the bill forward and save money for consumers. Theres always room for adjustment, he said.

Its unclear what the savings for motorists would be if the BPT on fuel sales was reduced to 3%  which is just 40% of the current reduction proposed in Bill 290. But if fuel prices continue to rise at the current rate, the total cost for GovGuam to reduce the tax for two years is estimated between $14.1 million to $17.7 million, said Dafne Shimizu, director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation.

Bill 290 did receive pushback from Adelup officials, with Carlson and Director of Administration Ed Birn both opposed to it.

Birn was concerned that a drop off in BPT revenue could affect the month-to-month ability of GovGuam to pay for its debt.

Our first and biggest priority at (the Department of Administration) every month is to pay the debt service on the bonds, Birn said.

BPT revenue was a reliable source of revenue and any disruption of that reliable source of revenue  may result in us potentially having to defer some of our payments.

Carlson said reducing BPT revenue wouldnt impact funding for government agencies this current fiscal year, with GovGuam on track to collect $85 million in excess revenue.

But the governors proposed budget for fiscal 2023 may have to be reworked, he said.

He added that local funding was needed for village road construction, and a new campus for Simon Sanchez High School had to be built at an estimated cost of $120 million.

So we do have needs, great needs. And just because we have a situation where revenues are over adopted levels, we shouldnt just automatically cut the tree down. We should grow more trees.
The second day of the Guam Department of Educations three-day health and safety conference had school administrators voice issues with the Guam Police Departments response to school threats.

The forum, held Wednesday at the Tiyan High School Gymnasium, presented an opportunity for school administrators and GPD officials to discuss safety programs for Guam DOE schools, that included a session on identifying workforce and domestic violence.

The objective will be to educate employees in order to minimize the likelihood of violence in the workplace, said GPD Lieutenant Anthony Arriola, who explained that the forum will help define key terms related to workplace violence, in addition to helping school officials identify potential risk factors and warning signs of violent behavior.

School administrators also were given the opportunity to ask questions of law enforcement officers with regard to school safety.

Along with asking for clarifications about specific safety procedures, administrators spoke about situations they have recently encountered where GPDs response was less than satisfactory.

However, Sgt. Paul Tapao said that with services not being rendered, he believes working directly with the respective precinct commander, GPD can address some of the concerns.

Again, please understand that unless a crime has been committed, the Guam Police Departments response is going to be at the highest here, with the property and of course, with the availability of personnel, Tapao said, explaining the police department also has other duties outside of the schools.

Additionally, Tapao said its beneficial for the police department to hear these concerns because the purpose of the forum is to help inform school administrators on ways they can work with GPD to prevent and respond to campus safety threats.

These are things we need to identify our shortfalls and these are things were going to address within the respective command, and of course within the respective agencies within our police department, Tapao said.
SMIC, HuaHong and Nexchip promise supply chain security The Chinese mainland is making fresh progress in manufacturing semiconductors. For the first time, three Chinese mainland chipmakers accounted for more than 10 percent of the global foundry revenue in the first quarter of this year, a new report has stated. Foundry is industry parlance for contract chipmaking. Data from TrendForce, a market research and intelligence provider, showed China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp ranked fifth among the top 10 global foundry revenue earners in the January-March quarter, with a market share of 5.6 percent. Shanghai-based HuaHong Group, another major Chinese semiconductor maker, ranked sixth with a market share of 3.2 percent. Nexchip, based in Hefei, Anhui province, took ninth place, with a market share of 1.4 percent. "Although demand for consumer electronics remains weak, structural demand growth in the semiconductor industry, including for servers, high-performance computing, automotive and industrial equipment, has not flagged, becoming a key driver for medium- and long-term foundry growth," TrendForce said. At the same time, due to robust wafer production at higher pricing in the first quarter, quarterly output value reached $31.96 billion, up 8.2 percent quarter-on-quarter, a new high for the 11th consecutive quarter. The rise, however, was marginally less than that seen in the previous quarter. In terms of ranking, the biggest highlight is that Nexchip surpassed Tower, an Israeli chip company acquired by Intel, for the ninth position, TrendForce said. The progress came as Chinese mainland chip companies are making a bigger push to accelerate development after the United States government imposed sanctions on a string of local tech heavyweights such as Huawei Technologies Co. Nineteen of the world's 20 fastest-growing chip industry firms over the past four quarters, on average, are from the Chinese mainland, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compared with just eight firms at the same point in time last year. Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association, said the Chinese mainland companies have realized the importance of safeguarding supply chain security. And amid uncertainties, they have also become more eager to cultivate a range of suppliers. That is not all. The Chinese mainland chipmakers are increasingly relying on domestic suppliers of crucial components. The Chinese mainland accounted for 11 percent of worldwide semiconductor fabrication capacity in 2019, and the number is forecast to reach 18 percent in 2025 and nearly 19 percent in 2030, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a Washington-based group that represents the US semiconductor industry. Roger Sheng, vice-president of research at Gartner, a market research firm, said as the world's largest chip market, the Chinese mainland has made tremendous progress in developing its semiconductor industry in recent years. But there is still a big technical gap between local chipmakers and their foreign peers, especially in high-end chipmaking equipment and fundamental chip materials, Sheng said. The Chinese mainland, for instance, relies heavily on import of lithography machines that play a crucial role in chip production. To achieve breakthroughs in these areas, money is not enough. "Talent and time are key," Sheng said. In 2021, for the first time, the sales revenue of the integrated circuit or IC industry in the Chinese mainland exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($157.3 billion), up 18 percent year-on-year, the China Semiconductor Industry Association said. In comparison, global semiconductor revenue grew at a compound annual growth rate of 25.6 percent to $552.9 billion last year.
The attorney representing a suruhanu on trial for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in May 2020 has filed a motion for a mistrial, according to court documents.

On the third day of trial for Frank Ko San Nicolas, the suruhanu and former Port Authority of Guam police officer facing sexual assault charges, his defense attorney, Joaquin Jay Arriola Jr., asked the court for a mistrial, citing prosecutorial misconduct.

The motion comes after Superior Court of Guam Judge Arthur Barcinas last week ordered several witnesses to be excluded from testifying in the trial after agreeing with Arriola that the witnesses statements would contain hearsay.

On Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Richelle Canto asked Barcinas to reconsider having one of the witnesses testify and explained the witness was being brought in to report on the victims demeanor.

According to testimony from San Nicolas son, Hilaan San Nicolas, the victim told a group of people, including Hilaan San Nicolas, she was sexually assaulted by Frank San Nicolas the day after it happened.

Barcinas granted Cantos request under the condition the testimony did not contain hearsay statements and only related to the victims demeanor, the motion for a mistrial states.

On Wednesday, the witness testified. Arriola alleges Barcinas order was violated twice when Canto asked, Were you there when (the victim) revealed she was sexually assaulted by (the defendant) to your mutual friends?

Arriola further stated the prosecutor unmistakably presented evidence that was barred.

The court cannot unring the bell. This is improper questioning in violation of defendants right to a fair trial, Arriola stated in court documents.

Frank San Nicolas faces charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct as a second-degree felony and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct as misdemeanors connected to the sexual assault of a 26-year-old woman in a cave in May 2020.
Peter R. Sgro Jr. is an attorney and member of the Guam Bar

Association.
Our View: The filing deadline has passed, the race officially is on




Haiti - Security : The PNH has a plan to take over the Palace of Justice





Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at a press conference, Divisional Inspector Gary Desrosiers, Spokesperson for the National Police of Haiti (PNH) guaranteed that very soon, the PNH will be able to attack gangs. In addition, he indicated that a plan is being developed with clear and precise objectives to regain control of the Palace of Justice in Port-au-Prince, in the hands of the Village-de-Dieu gang "5 seconds since last Friday, June 10 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36930-haiti-flash-bandits-make-the-law-at-the-palace-of-justice-in-port-au-prince.html



He confirmed that the materials and equipment to strengthen the operational capacity of the PNH will arrive very soon, without further details stressing "For strategic reasons, we cannot reveal the date of the arrival of the materials and equipment [...]"



Let's recall that all we know is that this is a major purchase of approximately 12 million US dollars, including weapons and ammunition https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37025-haiti-news-zapping.html



In addition, Gary Desrosiers regarding current cases, informed that the file on the assassination of President Jovenel Moise was at the top of the list of cases being processed at the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ). In addition, he indicated that the General Inspectorate (IGPNH), had recommended the dismissal of 33 police officers and the layoff of three others as part of the administrative investigation into the assassination of the President.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37025-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36930-haiti-flash-bandits-make-the-law-at-the-palace-of-justice-in-port-au-prince.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36885-haiti-flash-the-palace-of-justice-stormed-by-the-5-seconds-gang.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Economy : Tanker trucks do not supply service stations





There is no shortage of fuel in Haiti, says Georges Lebrun, Director General of Wineco, which manages the stock of petroleum products at the Varreux terminal. He said that as of June 27, the terminal had a stock of more than 4.5 million gallons of gasoline, more than 5.6 million diesel and nearly 900,000 gallons of kerosene, enough to supply the market for a few days while waiting for the new arrival (average consumption in Haiti 1 million gallons per day (all fuel combined)



It indicates that the site has been supplying the market without interruption for several weeks and that between 130 and 170 tanker trucks leave the terminal daily.



However, he notes, like many, that a lot of this fuel does not arrive at gas stations and yet he does not see any slowdown in automobile traffic, which indicates that people are sourcing on the informal gray market...



On the informal market it is the abundance of petroleum products (while only oil companies can buy fuel at the terminal). The market lacks neither customers nor fuel, although gasoline sells for between 500 and 750 gourdes, while the official price at the pump is 250 gourdes.



For his part, Ricardin Saint-Jean, the Minister of Commerce continues to reiterate a set of measures to fight against the black market and ensure the regular supply of gas stations (fuel seized on the informal market. Investigations of terminals and fuel carriers via the 5 oil companies) "We will ask them for the license plate number of the carriers, the serial number, the amount of fuel they carry and to which station-service they will deliver the products." However, beyond these statements, the yellow cans of the informal market still clutter the sidewalks in plain sight and the market is growing with impunity instead of disappearing...



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





The "Baz pilat" gangs make the powder talk

Tuesday, June 28, the men of Ezechiel Alexandre alias "Ze", Leader of the "Baz pilat" gang arrested on June 25 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37018-haiti-flash-arrest-of-the-fearsome-gang-leader-baz-pilat.html accompanied by sympathizers, sowed panic by firing bursts of automatic weapons to demand the release of their leader.



Increase in deaths in prisons

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) is very concerned about the increase in deaths in prisons in recent months, particularly in the prison of Les Cayes where detainees died of hunger, thirst and suffocation. "The Government of Haiti must quickly take measures to ensure that prisons are properly and sustainably supplied with food and essential provisions. It is just as urgent that court hearings resume in the jurisdiction of Les Cayes, in order to reduce the very high rate (90%) of pre-trial detention."



The PM preaches in a vacuum

Prime Minister Ariel Henry calls on Haitians to come together around a common project, a necessary passage according to him to restore security, deal with armed gangs and their sponsors and facilitate the holding of elections...



Haitian organizations call for the veto of China and Russia

While the end of the mandate in July of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) is approaching its end, some twenty socio-political organizations oppose the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH ) and appeal to the Veto of China and Russia...



Arrival of fuel in Haiti

98,000 barrels of gasoline and 154,000 barrels of diesel were delivered to Thor and Varreux this week by the vessels Silver Entalina and Sadah Silver, informs the Office of Monetization of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD).



Diaspora Atlanta : Theophile Church Convention

Sunday, June 26, Mrs. Roudelyne Nogar Consul General of Haiti in Atlanta, participated in the great annual Convention of the Theophile Church of Atlanta marking the 42nd anniversary of this church. It was also an opportunity to honor the 42 years of service of Founding Pastor Dr. Roland Joseph and to enthrone the new President of the Pastoral College, Reverend Pastor Francois Alusma.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Proposed bike park stirs uprising in Green River

A physician who opened Ride Kanuga Bike Park two years ago wants to develop another mountain bike course and RV park in the Green River community, an idea thats triggered an uprising of residents opposed to commercial uses.

Called Ride Rock Creek, the 326-acre park would open on West Rock Creek Road if the Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment grants two special-use permits needed for the bike trails and an RV park. The developer is David LaMond, a mountain bike enthusiast and physician who heads the Blue Sky MD Health family practice in downtown Hendersonville.

In addition to the mountain bike park, LaMond wants to provide 20 van camping spaces of 2,000 square feet each and repurpose an existing single-family home, a garage with an apartment and a cabin to serve the mountain bike park. He wants to convert the home into a general store, use the garage as the check-in area and convert the cabin into a bathhouse. The site plan also shows two new structures  an adventure center and a second bathhouse to serve the van campers.

Plans also call for a mile and a half of new roadway, a total of 185 parking spaces, nine handicapped parking spaces and proposed septic locations for the existing and future structures. The development would leave 98 percent of the mostly wooded land in open space.

But LaMonds proposal, which was scheduled to go before the Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment on Wednesday, faces a challenge from the same keep Green River green forces whose strong opposition killed a proposal for a 20-room inn on an isolated mountaintop off Cabin Creek Road.

LaMond said hes fighting false portrayals of the project, which he says will look more like a conservation easement than an intense commercial use.

Ben Capps, a grading company owner whose property adjoins LaMonds, said a meeting on the site with the physician allayed some of his concerns.

There was rumors getting around that there was going to be racing every week, which he learned was not true, he said. But its still going to be a lot of traffic on our little country road that is not set up for that. Were not against it but were against some of the stuff that hes got proposed that he wants to do.

The campground, for instance, would be only 150 feet from his aunts house.

So were not for the campground because a campground next to your house (could mean) different people coming in and staying in it and drinking and partying and stuff like that, he said.

He said residents may ask LaMond to move the campsites farther away from the property line or ask the Zoning Board of Adjustment to make that a condition if it approves his application.

A ton of misinformation

LaMond said that the harsh opposition since word got out about his plans has made for an unpleasant experience.

I know theres been a lot of conflict out there, he said. Theres been a ton of misinformation and theres two or three outliers down there. Theyve been harassing us. Theyve harassed me personally. Theyve made it hard on my family. Theyve called the office. All my immediate neighbors down there are fine. Theres a handful of people that think that Coney Islands going in out there.

The current R2R rural residential zoning would allow a subdivision or other uses that would be far more disruptive than a mountain bike course, he said. When he bought the property, there were two other full-ask offers, he said. One was a corporation that had over a billion in assets and obviously would develop the land eventually. Theyre going to put homes on there. The other was a large commercial outfit that does resorts. They would have developed it and that would have been more what theyre picturing that theyre actually fighting against, as opposed to some simple mountain bike trails and a handful of people out on the trails.

Neighbors also are exaggerating the impact of the commercial uses hes proposed, he said.

Theyre picking on various terms like general store, theyre imagining people coming off the highway to go to a store but really its basically a bike rental shop doing small light retail (in) T-shirts, etc., he said.

A delay in the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing, which he thinks opponents may ask for because they just hired an attorney on Friday, could jeopardize an economic development grant he received and push the projects start from the fall to next spring.

If they fight this conservation effort, what theyre going to do is force me to sell it back to the developers, he said. If they stop all the plans for trails and development and delay opening significantly, which they will, itll force my hand to do something else.

Noise will carry through the valley

Terry Maybin says the Green River Community Association, which she serves as president, has not taken a position on the development request. She lives near the site with her husband, Homer, one of 14 Maybin siblings from the pioneer Green River family that has farmed the land since the early 1800s. She was involved in the Green River-Tuxedo-Zirconia Small Area Plan, a community-driven land-use plan that recommended preserving the rural character of the farming community.

Of course, personally Im against it because I live on Rock Creek, she said. Wed like to keep our rural area. Like everyone says, were the last part of Henderson County that has it and of course we want to keep it because my family was raised on farmland and farming was their living. With this RV park, there will be a lot of noise  music and things like that  and it will carry through the valley and we would be able to hear that.

LaMond describes himself and his team as professional trail builders who have done projects in Alabama, Tennessee and Costa Rica.

This property is something I want to be a legacy property and to preserve the land for myself and my family long-term, he said. I dont want to junk it up with a bunch of stuff because I intend to potentially retire down there. I love it. But the neighbors are making it not so pleasant.
'Best Winery in the State' is in Hendersonville

Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards, the 11-year-old winery on Chestnut Gap Road, may get a lot busier now that it's been named the Best Winery in North Carolina by Yelp.

In a story featured in both the Raleigh News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer, the winery is praised for its wine, service and views of vineyards.

Yelp, a restaurant review site, said it studied wineries and online comments to rank each one "using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews."

In addition to live music and food trucks on weekends (and allowing patrons to bring their own picnic), Saint Paul also offers Appalachian Ridge Artisan Hard Cider and Sharewell Coffee in a restored 1920s apple barn across the road from the winery and tasting room.
THERE were mixed fortunes for local crews on the first day of Henley Royal Regatta.

The first six-day regatta, which started yesterday (Tuesday) saw Henley Rowing Club, Upper Thames and Leander Club compete in the club and intermediate events.

Meanwhile, Shiplake College and Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning, took to the water in the student and junior events.

Henley Rowing Club won one and lost two heats.

Their first race saw them beaten by Vesta Rowing Club in the Britannia Challenge Cup, for coxed fours, by three and a half lengths in a time of seven minutes and 44 seconds.

Henley initially took a canvas lead, but this was overturned as the crews reached the half-mile mark with Vesta taking a one length lead.

Once Vesta go in front they continued to go further ahead and by the time the crews passed Remenham Club, they had moved into a three and a half length lead.

At grandstand, Henley had reduced the gap to three lengths but could not keep up with their opponents and fell further behind at the finish.

Will Carey, 24, in the number three seat, said the race was always going to be a difficult one.

He said: Our plan was to stay with the crew as much as we could but they held out at a higher speed for longer and so, once in front, they were able to maintain the gap.

We havent beaten Vesta before and this is the closest margin we have got to them so there are positives to take. We ran the race how we wanted to run it.

Danske Studenters Roklub, Copenhagen, Denmark, beat a Henley Rowing Club and University of London composite crew easily in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup, for quadruple sculls, in a time of seven minutes and 19 seconds.

Henley picked up a win against local rivals Marlow Rowing Club A in the Fawley Challenge Cup, for quadruple sculls, by three-quarters of a length in a time of seven minutes and 41 seconds.

Upper Thames won two and lost one of their heats.

Their first race saw them beat City of Oxford Rowing Club in the Britannia, by a third of a length in a time of seven minutes and 55 seconds.

At the quarter-mile mark both crews were level but at the barrier Oxford had a canvas lead, which they then extended to a third of a length.

Upper Thames came back and at the progress board both crews were level. At the finish Upper Thames had their noses in front.

Rob Leech, 31, who lives in Henley and was stroke of the Upper Thames boat, said: We had a solid start and settled into a solid rhythm and absorbed the pushes that Oxford were making.

We then made our move close to the finish and got in from. The roar from the Upper Thames supporters definitely gave us a hand and pushed us on but the moment we got ahead we started to become confident of getting the result we wanted.

Upper Thames also won their Wyfold Challenge Cup heat, for coxless fours, dispatching London Rowing Club A by one and three-quarter lengths in a time of seven minutes and 33 seconds.

But the club suffered defeat in the Prince of Wales at the hands of the University of Surrey by two lengths in a time of eight minutes and five seconds.

Leander Club opened their 2022 royal regatta campaign in the Prince of Wales and beat Reading University B in the Prince of Wales easily in a time of seven minutes and 15 seconds.

Shiplake College won one and lost two races.

They beat Bedford School in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, for junior eights, by three and three-quarter lengths in a time of seven minutes and 31 seconds.

Shiplake raced into a three-quarter length lead early on and never looked in trouble, increasing the gap between the crews to five lengths at the mile marker.

The crew slowed down as it passed the grandstand but came away with a comfortable win.

Shiplake cox Wallace Fisher, 18, from Binfield Heath, said: We went into the race confident. We were aware of our potential and just had to race our race.

We had to go out hard, which was our race plan and by the time of the barrier we were well ahead. At that point we started unwinding as we have a very important race tomorrow against ST Pauls, which will be a real fight but we are very confident and we have been going really fast in training.

We believe we can go all the way this year. We are the fastest crew Shiplake have ever had.

Sir William Borlase Grammar School beat Shiplake College in the Fawley Challenge Cup, for junior quadruple sculls, by four and a half lengths in a time of seven minutes and 59 seconds.

Shiplake pupil Fin Worthington, in the number three seat, said: The race was all right. We just went out there and we achieved our goal, which was to compete at the royal. We are just going to enjoy the rest of the week and we will have another go next year.

The college lost to the University of California, Irvine, USA, in the Temple Challenge Cup, for student eights, by two and a half lengths in a time of seven minutes and 10 seconds.

Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson HS, USA, beat Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning in the Princess Elizabeth by one and three-quarter lengths in a time of seven minutes and 33 seconds.

Pictured: the victorious Shiplake College crew who beat Bedford School in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, for junior eights, three and three-quarter lengths in a time of seven minutes and 31 seconds. From left, Edward Tayler, Jake Birch, Freddie Middleton, Dylan Hillier, Wallace Fisher, Ed Dallas, Fred Fox, Seric Critchley and Matt Johnston
The company continues to expand its mainstream portfolio, in line with its growth ambition for the country.

IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world's leading hotel companies, has signed a management agreement with Oriental Structural Engineers Pvt. Ltd. to develop a new Holiday Inn hotel - Holiday Inn Gurgaon NH 8 in the NCR region. The new-build property featuring 139 keys is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2025.

Strategically located on the NH8 highway, which connects Delhi Airport to Gurgaon, the hotel is expected to benefit from excellent visibility and accessibility. Given close proximity to established commercial development located within a 3-5 km radius, the hotel will be well positioned to cater to the corporate demand. Additionally, Holiday Inn Gurgaon NH 8 be situated at a convenient distance of 15 km from the International Airport and 5 km from the Gurgaon City Center, and will be an attractive venue for both local corporate meetings and small to medium social events.

With the new signing, Gurgaon will now have three IHG hotels across brands, including Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, thereby offering guests options depending on their needs and price points.

On opening, Holiday Inn Gurgaon NH 8 will offer guests well-equipped modern rooms and state-of-the-art facilities for a comfortable stay experience. The hotel will offer an all-day dining & bar, a lobby lounge, a swimming pool and a gymnasium. Additionally, the hotel will have approximately 400 sq.mts of meeting and banqueting space to cater to the growing demand coming from MICE and social events segments.

Hotel website
Ennismore, the fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality company, today announces the expansion of its international brand SLS Hotels & Residences to Uruguay with the opening of the SLS Punta del Este.

SLS is part of Ennismore, a global collective of lifestyle hospitality brands, that was formed in 2021 in a joint venture with Accor. Ennismore partners with Accor to deliver scale, network growth, and distribution globally.

Developed by the GNV Group and designed by the global architect studio Gomez Platero, the project will include 80 stylish state-of-the-art hotel rooms and 150 residences, in two SLS-style towers which will feature extravagant and theatrical design, contemporary art and luxury details, all in synthesis with the brand's DNA. The property will offer enchanting landscapes and beachfront views of the 20km of coastline, making it the ideal destination for those seeking adventure.

The expansive property in the heart of Punta del Este, will be SLS Hotel & Residences' second property in the region, on the heels of the opening of SLS Puerto Madero in Argentina this Spring.

SLS Punta del Este Hotel & Residences will be one of the most unique vacation spots in Latin America, housing three exclusive restaurants, lounge & bar, rooftop pool, spa, fitness center, meeting rooms and kids club, in addition to an expansive commercial area. Combining exquisite architecture, high quality standards synonymous with SLS, and premier services, the hotel will bring a fresh perspective and a new standard of luxury to the region's hospitality offering.

Lifestyle is one of the fastest-growing segments of the hospitality industry, and lifestyle brands are recovering faster from the impacts of the pandemic, helped by strong local and domestic demand, in particular, for restaurants and bars. Ennismore is leading the way in lifestyle, with its collective of 14 brands representing 106 operating properties across 26 countries and over 140 hotels in the pipeline, with over 150 restaurants and bars.
The Langham Chicago, a Forbes 5 star luxury hotel in the heart of the city, announces the appointment of Anthony Zamora as General Manager. A seasoned hotelier, Anthony brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the hotel as a longstanding and impactful team member of Langham Hospitality Group.

Anthony brings more than 20 years of experience within the hospitality industry, and is no stranger to The Langham, Chicago. He was a key member of the opening team of the Hotel in 2013 and was an integral part of its incredible success, positioning it as the number one luxury hotel in the United States. In 2019, Anthony joined the Executive leadership team at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, Los Angeles with the same goal of creating a culture of high performance luxury service at this historic 23 acre property.

He now returns to The Langham, Chicago to lead the team as General Manager. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to return to The Langham Chicago, a hotel that means so much to me, as the General Manager" says Anthony. "It is an honor continue to grow my career with the Langham Hospitality Group, and I am eager and excited to rejoin the incredible team at The Langham Chicago and continue this iconic property's legacy as a top luxury hotel in the world."

Prior to joining in The Langham Hospitality Group family, Anthony was a highly regarded Executive Chef, having successfully opened the Conrad New York in 2011 where he helmed culinary operations for the hotel including the Conrad's signature restaurant Atrio. Prior to opening the Conrad, in 2007, he joined the culinary team at the renowned Four Seasons Hotel New York. He became the hotels Executive Chef at the age of 29, becoming the youngest person to hold the title in the flagship property's then 18-year history. During his tenure with Four Seasons Hotel New York, Zamora cooked for the world's royalty and top celebrities.

Early in his career Anthony spent time at The Biltmore Hotel in Miami, a historic landmark property and renowned wedding destination in South Florida, where he was honored with the Florida Restaurant Association's Award of Excellence in Hospitality. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University in Miami. Additionally, Anthony is active in the community guest lecturing for local universities, participating as an Advisory Committee Member at Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts, as well as having served as a Board Member for the City of Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.
In this express video, Patrick Burkhardt previews Cloudbeds' presence at HITEC Orlando.

Cloudbeds provides the platform that powers hospitality, driving streamlined operations, increasing reservations and revenue, and enabling memorable guest experiences for lodging businesses of all sizes and types across the globe. The award-winning Cloudbeds Hospitality Platform seamlessly combines solutions for front desk, revenue, distribution, guest acquisition and guest engagement in a single unified system, enhanced by a marketplace of third-party integrations. Cloudbeds was named No. 1 PMS and No. 1 Hotel Management System by Hotel Tech Report in 2022 and recognized by Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2021.

You can visit Cloudbeds at booth #1701 or visit www.cloudbeds.com to learn more.

About Cloudbeds

Cloudbeds provides the platform that powers hospitality, driving streamlined operations, increasing reservations and revenue, and enabling memorable guest experiences for lodging businesses of all sizes and types across the globe. The award-winning Cloudbeds Hospitality Platform seamlessly combines solutions for front desk, revenue, distribution, guest acquisition and guest engagement in a single unified system, enhanced by a marketplace of third-party integrations. Cloudbeds was named No. 1 PMS and No. 1 Hotel Management System by Hotel Tech Report in 2022 and recognized by Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2021. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com.

Angela Petersen

Public Relations Manager
In this express video, Gareth Fraser previews BirchStreet Systems's presence at HITEC Orlando.

BirchStreet Systems powers hospitality and food and beverage enterprises with a comprehensive procure-to-pay business solution. As the global leading provider of spend management solutions in the hospitality industry, 15,500 enterprises in over 130 countries subscribe to BirchStreet to connect with a network of more than 450,000 suppliers. Established in 2002, BirchStreet is privately held and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV with offices in California, China, Singapore, India, and the UK.

You can visit BirchStreet Systems at booth #2515 or visit www.birchstreetsystems.com to learn more.

About BirchStreet Systems

BirchStreet Systems powers hospitality and food and beverage enterprises with a comprehensive procure-to-pay business solution. As the global leading provider of spend management solutions in the hospitality industry, 15,500 enterprises in over 130 countries subscribe to BirchStreet to connect with a network of more than 450,000 suppliers.

Established in 2002, BirchStreet is privately held and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV with offices in California, China, Singapore, India, and the UK. For more information, please visit www.birchstreetsystems.com.

Request Demonstration

Gareth Fraser

Director of Sales & Marketing Enablement
Whether its the next boot, UFO House or a 6-ton potato, the first-of-its-size $10,000,000 OMG! Fund is seeking ideas from existing and aspiring designers, architects, DIYers and makers from around the globe. The funds $10 million will help finance 100 of the craziest ideas, giving 100 people an opportunity to turn them into actual Airbnb OMG! Category listings, which are Airbnbs collection of the most unique homes.

Starting today, anyone with an out-of-this-world idea can submit an application at airbnb.com/omgfund. One hundred people with the craziest ideas will receive $100,000* each to make their creations possible and, ultimately, bookable. Ideas will be judged by an expert panel for their originality, feasibility, the experience the space will provide guests, and sustainability.

Source: Airbnb

Source: Airbnb

Source: Airbnb

Source: Airbnb

Source: Airbnb

The fund is shaped in part by the growing trend of flexible living that has emerged in the past two years. As part of this shift, Airbnb guests are craving more unexpected spaces that become the destinations themselves, and Airbnb Categories, which launched last month, provide a new way to search for these spaces. More than 30,000 unique listings across the world were added to Airbnb in 2021 and the OMG! Category  which since introduced has been clicked on 2.5M times  showcases the craziest amongst them, making it easy for guests to discover these listings in places they wouldnt have otherwise looked.

Hosting on Airbnb provides powerful economic benefits to Hosts. In 2021, the typical Host in the US earned over $13,800, an increase of 85 percent over 2019. This isnt limited to existing Hosts  new Hosts in the US also saw an increase in income in 2021, earning over $1.8 billion, up 34 percent from 2019. Additionally, nights booked at unique properties increased globally by over 49 percent from 2019 to 2021.

When the Idaho Potato Commission retired a six-ton prop potato, I took it off their hands and spent $32,000 transforming it into an Airbnb, Airbnb Superhost and OMG! Fund judging panelist Kristie Wolfe said. I went from making $13/hr to seeing $208,000** in earnings in less than three years, and leveraged that income to bootstrap my way through additional listings that allow me to express my creativity and connect with hundreds of people in the process.

Applications will be reviewed by a judging panel of boundary-pushing design authorities, an architectural expert, and an Airbnb OMG! Category Superhost:

The $10,000,000 OMG! Fund opened on 22 June for a period of 30 days, through July 22 at 11:59 pm ET. The 100 fund recipients will be selected by the panel over the next several months, with the intent of having their newly-constructed spaces complete next year. To apply, visit airbnb.com/omgfund.

Source: Airbnb

*For more information, including a list of eligible countries, see the Official Rules.

**Kristie Wolfes income represents Airbnb earnings from January 2019 to May 31, 2022. Like Kristie, every Hosts experience hosting is unique. Host earnings vary widely depending on many factors, including availability, price, acceptance and cancellation rates, occupancy rate and the demand in the listing location. Globally, the median earnings for an OMG! Category Host active between Jan 2018 and May 2022 was just over $48,000.

Unique listings are defined by Hosts, these include but are not limited to; treehouse, yurt, barn, boat, castle, campsite, hut, island, plane, shepherds hut, train, treehouse, windmill, yurt, etc.

About Airbnb

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Travel on Airbnb keeps more of the financial benefits of tourism with the people and places that make it happen. Airbnb has generated billions of dollars in earnings for Hosts, most of whom are individuals listing the homes in which they live. Among Hosts who report their gender, more than half are women, and one in five employed Hosts are either teachers or healthcare workers. Travel on Airbnb also has generated more than $4 billion in tax revenue around the world. Airbnb has helped advance more than 1,000 regulatory frameworks for short-term rentals, including in 80% of our top 200 geographies. In late 2020, to support our continued expansion and diversification, we launched the City Portal to provide governments with a one-stop shop that supports data sharing and compliance with local registration rules. We continue to invest in innovations and tools to support our ongoing work with governments around the world to advance travel that best serves communities.

About Airbnb.org

Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc."s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org"s charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.

Airbnb Press

Airbnb Press Office

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Accor to sell 10.8% stake in Ennismore to Qatari Investors

Europes largest hotel operator Accor has entered exclusive negotiations to sell a 10.8% stake in Ennismore, a global collection of leading lifestyle hospitality brands, to a Qatari consortium, for a total amount of 185 million. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022, would value Ennismore at more than 2 billion. Creator of The Hoxton brand, Ennismore founder Sharan Pasricha entered a joint venture with Accor in October 2021, with the group also including all of Accors lifestyle brands, such as 25hours, Delano, Mama Shelter, Mondrian, Morgans Originals, SLS, SO/ and TRIBE. Accors stakes in all-inclusive brand Rixos Hotels and upscale F&B operator Paris Society will also now become part of Ennismore.

GIC joins APG, Aermont and Charlie McGregor as investors in The Student Hotel group

London-based Aermont Capital, Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC, Dutch pension investment company APG and The Student Hotel founder Charlie MacGregor have reached an agreement that will see GIC and APG acquire a substantial stake in The Student Hotel (TSH), valuing TSH at 2.1 billion. The transaction, subject to customary regulatory approvals, sees McGregor and APG both increase their stakes in the company, with GIC joining as a new investor. The latest commitments will fuel the international expansion of TSH, with the aim of doubling todays 25 properties to 50 properties in key European cities in the coming years. The hybrid hospitality model, combining student accommodation, hotel rooms, co-working and meeting spaces, bars and restaurants, was first introduced to the market in the Netherlands in 2012.

Invesco acquires three hotels in Spain and the Netherlands

Global investment manager Invesco Real Estate has acquired three hotels, located in the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Malaga, and The Hague in the Netherlands, from three different owners. The value of the three transactions is reported to be in the region of 100 million (263,000 per room). The three new additions total 381 rooms and consist of the three-star, 152-room Occidental Barcelona 1929, the three-star, 123-room Holiday Inn Express The Hague Parliament and the five-star, 106-room Vincci Seleccion Posada del Patio in Malaga. Both the Occidental and Vincci properties are chain managed by Spanish operators, with the Barcelo Hotel Group for the former and Vincci Hoteles for the latter. Westmont Hospitality operates the Holiday Inn Express in The Hague through a franchise agreement with IHG.

Aviva Investors acquire hotel in Dublin

London-based Aviva Investors, Avivas global asset management arm, through its European Real Estate Long Income (E-RELI) fund, has acquired a hotel building in Dublin, within the South Docklands business district of the Irish capital, for an undisclosed sum. The hotel is currently under construction, with scheduled completion set for the end of 2022. The hotel has been pre-let to Premier Inn under a long-term lease agreement. The ten-storey hotel will feature just over 100 rooms and is being developed by Dublin-based Red Rock Developments.

Abrdn acquires Motel One Antwerp Site in Belgium from CORES Development

Clients of Edinburgh-headquartered investment company Abrdn have acquired the shares in Overloos NV, owner of the Motel One Antwerp development project in Belgium, from Antwerp-based real estate developer CORES Development. Motel One has signed a 27-year lease on what will be a 221-room hotel. The property will consist of two blocks equating to some 7,500 sqm, with a bar, meeting rooms, breakfast area and a courtyard.

AG Hotel acquires Best Western Pinewood on Wilmslow Hotel in Manchester, UK

UK hotel operator AG Hotels Group has acquired the Best Western Plus-branded Pinewood on Wilmslow Hotel, situated south of Manchester, UK, from a private vendor off a guide price in the region of 5.5 million (62,000 per room). The 89-room hotel, a five-minute drive from Manchesters international airport, features a restaurant, a bar and lounge as well as meeting facilities, all situated on a 2.5-acre site. AG Hotels latest acquisition marks its 5th hotel in the Northwest of England and overall 12th hotel in the UK.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.
A farmer harvests wheat in Nanyang city, Central China's Henan province, May 22, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping has underscored the exemplary role of large-scale grain growers in encouraging more farmers to contribute to the country's food security.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks Monday in a letter replying to Xu Congxiang, a veteran grain farmer in Taihe county, East China's Anhui province.

Xi said he is pleased to learn that Xu has reaped a bumper wheat harvest and Xu's offspring have followed in his footsteps to work in agriculture.

Noting that people will feel assured when having an ample supply of food, Xi said he has always paid close attention to grain production.

In recent years, the CPC Central Committee has rolled out a slew of policies to support grain production, aiming to make sure the Chinese people hold their rice bowls firmly in their own hands, and farmers earn tangible benefits and make their lives better, Xi said in the letter.

Xi expressed the hope that large-scale grain growers can leverage the advantages of scale operation, actively apply modern agricultural technologies and encourage small-scale farmers to contribute to the country's food security by expanding grain production and improving grain quality.

Xu recently wrote Xi to report his experience of growing grain and efforts to help villagers get rid of poverty in the past 10-plus years.

Xu has been keen on studying agriculture science and technologies. He became a large-scale grain grower and won several national honors after setting up an agricultural cooperative in 2010. Xi learned about local wheat planting from Xu and other villagers during his visit to Xu's village in April 2011.
Chevron is offering to pay for California employees to voluntarily relocate to Houston and is selling its San Ramon headquarters campus, as the companys center of gravity continues to shift to Texas.

Last week Chevron confirmed it will remain in California, but it is inviting employees to move to Houston as it puts its 92-acre corporate campus in San Ramon on the market and plans to move its headquarters offices into a smaller leased office spaces elsewhere in the region. The 1.4 million square-foot campus is about 35 miles east of San Francisco.

It's still a question though of how many of its 2,000 employees in San Ramon would actually make the move. Chevron isnt requiring employees to move to Texas, but its offer to cover employees relocation is another sign that Houston is a primary center of operations for the oil major. Chevron has about 8,000 employees in the Houston area, including about 6,000 employees in downtown Houston.

Chevrons real estate shuffle was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The energy firm has roughly 3 million square feet of office space in downtown Houston spread across three buildings. Chevron also owns two office buildings in northwest Houston that it picked up after it acquired Noble Energy. One of those 438,000 square-foot building represented one of the largest blocks of sublease office spaces available in Houston area as of the first quarter 2022, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. In the past year, Chevron also moved into a leased small office space in The Ion, Rice Management Co.s startup incubator in Midtown Houston.

In February, Chevron started requiring office-based employees to physically commute to the office at least three days a week.

One of the primary reasons that we felt strongly that it was the right thing to eventually come back is we believe that every company has to preserve a strong culture and that comes from collaboration, face-to-face feedback and our ability to interact with each other on a human (level). We strongly believe that contributes to better business outcomes, Steve Green, president of Chevron North America, in a March interview. Ive heard more and more people had forgotten all the positive things from being together, like the ability to go to lunch with someone, the ability to walk out of the building to go to a different restaurant, the ability to collaborate fact-to-face on a business issue, or to ask a short question without having to jockey for positions on a calendar for a Teams or Zoom call.

As the biggest private employer in downtown Houston, Chevrons return-to-office was a major boost in assisting downtown Houstons economic recovery from the pandemic. Green, however, said the company has continued to see value in allowing for some flexibility.

We did learn some things working remotely that we very much want to preserve, Green said. Long-term it will be less necessary for people to travel for a 2-hour meeting (for example).

The pandemic has shifted companys physical office space needs as more firms adopt hybrid strategies both in Houston and the Bay Area. Chevron is among numerous Bay Area companies that have sought to cut office space during the pandemic, including Wells Fargo, Salesforce and Airbnb. In Houston, where the oil price crash early in the pandemic hit the energy industry, many energy firms moved to shed office space too. Halliburton has said it has cut its real estate footprint in Houston by about 30 percent since the start of the pandemic. Exxon, Schlumberger, EP Energy and Petroleum Geo Services also put large blocks of sublease space on the market at the end of last year, according to research from the real estate firmCushman and Wakefield. Additionally last quarter Engie put sublease space on the market in the Galleria and BP put its 76,600 square-foot on WestLake Park Boulevard on the market for sublease, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

EARLIER: Why $100 oil won't unleash an office boom in Houston

Even as oil prices rebounded, energy firms aren't all jumping to expand their office spaces even as many do commit to long-term leases. Enbridge is halving its office footprint as it moves its employees to McDermott International tower in the Energy Corridor from the Galleria next month. And Exxon is selling its former headquarters campus in Irving, Texas after moving its headquarters officially to Houston.

Although many California companies have relocated to Texas during the pandemic - from Tesla to Oracle and Hewlett Packard Enterprises - Chevron has maintained it plans to headquartered in the Golden State.

The current real estate market provides the opportunity to right-size our office space to meet the requirements of our headquarters-based employee population, the company said in a statement. Chevron will remain headquartered in California, where the company has a 140-year history and operations and partnerships throughout the state.

Chevrons roots in San Francisco stretch to Pacific Coast Oil Co. in 1879, a company that was later part of John D. Rockefellers corporate juggernaut Standard Oil. For three and a half decades, Chevron was headquartered on Market Street before moving its headquarters in 2001 to San Ramon. The company also has a major refinery in Richmond, Calif. with more than 3,000 workers.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Roland Li contributed.
NEW YORK (AP)  People with hearing loss have a new ally in their efforts to navigate the world: Captions that arent limited to their television screens and streaming services.

The COVID pandemic disrupted daily life for people everywhere, but many of those with hearing loss took the resulting isolation especially hard. When everyone wears a mask they are completely unintelligible to me, said Pat Olken of Sharon, Mass., whose hearing aids were insufficient. (A new cochlear implant has helped her a lot.)

So when her grandsons bar mitzvah was streamed on Zoom early in the pandemic, well before the service offered captions, Olken turned to Otter, an app created to transcribe business meetings. Reading along with the ceremonys speakers made the app a tremendous resource, she said.

People with hearing loss, a group estimated at roughly 40 million U.S. adults, have long adopted technologies to help them make their way in the hearing world, from Victorian-era ear trumpets to modern digital hearing aids and cochlear implants.

Rick Bowmer, STF / Associated Press

But todays hearing aids can cost upward of $5,000, often arent covered by insurance and dont work for everyone. The devices also dont snap audible sound into focus the way glasses immediately correct vision. Instead, hearing aids and cochlear implants require the brain to interpret sound in a new way.

The solutions out there are clearly not a one-size-fits-all model and do not meet the needs of a lot of people based on cost, access, a lot of different things, said Frank Lin, director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Thats not just a communication problem; researchers have found correlations between untreated hearing loss and higher risks of dementia.

Cheaper over-the-counter hearing devices are on the way. But for now, only about 20% of those who could benefit from hearing aids use one.

Captions, by contrast, are usually a lot easier to access. Theyve long been available on modern television sets and are cropping up more frequently in videoconferencing apps like Zoom, streaming services like Netflix, social media video on TikTok and YouTube, movie theaters and live arts venues.

Rick Bowmer, STF / Associated Press

In recent years, smartphone apps like Otter; Googles Live Transcribe; Ava; InnoCaption, for phone calls; and GalaPro, for live theater performances, have emerged. Some are aimed at people with hearing loss and use human reviewers to make sure captions are accurate.

Others, like Otter and Live Transcribe, instead rely on whats called automatic speech recognition, which uses artificial intelligence to learn and capture speech. ASR has issues with accuracy and lags in transcribing the spoken word; built-in biases can also make transcriptions less accurate for the voices of women, people of color and deaf people, said Christian Volger, a professor at Gallaudet University who specializes in accessible technology.

Jargon and slang can also be a stumbling block. But users and experts say that ASR has improved a lot.

While welcome, none of these solutions are perfect. Toni Iacolucci of New York says her book club could be draining even when she was using Otter to transcribe the conversation. The captions werent always accurate and didnt identify individual speakers, which could make it hard to keep up, she said.

Rick Bowmer, STF / Associated Press

It worked a little bit, said Iacolucci, who lost her hearing nearly two decades ago. After coming home, she would be so tired from trying to follow the conversation that she had to lie down. It just takes so much energy. She got a cochlear implant a year ago that has significantly improved her ability to hear, to the point where she can now have one-on-one conversations without captions. They still help in group discussions, she said.

Otter said in a statement that it welcomes feedback from the deaf and hard of hearing community and noted it now provides a paid software assistant that can join virtual meetings and transcribe them automatically.

Transcription lag can present other problems  among them, a worry that conversation partners might grow impatient with delays. Sometimes you say, Im sorry, I just need to look at my captions in order to hear, said Richard Einhorn, a musician and composer in New York. That doesnt mean Im not aware sometimes its a hassle for other people.

Other issues crop up. When Chelle Wyatt of Salt Lake City went to her doctors office, the Wi-Fi there wasnt strong enough for the transcription app to work. It was gestures and writing things down and making sure I got a written report afterward so I knew what was said, she said.

Steven Senne, STF / Associated Press

Movie theaters provide devices that amplify sound, as well as glasses and individual screens that show captions to go with the movie. But those arent always comfortable and sometimes arent well-maintained or just dont work. Many people with hearing loss want more films to run captions on the big screen, just like youd have in the comfort of your own home.

A new law that took effect In New York City on May 15 requires movie theaters to offer captions on the screen for up to four showtimes per movie each week, including during the most popular hours to go to the movies  Friday nights and weekends. Hawaii passed a state law in 2015 that required two screenings a week of each movie with captions on the screen. AMC, the big movie chain, also says it screens some movies with captions at about a third of its U.S. theaters.

Captions are more available now for live performances, too. Several Broadway theaters promote a smartphone app that captions live performances; there are also handheld individual devices that show captions. Theaters also have a few performances with open captions everyone can see.

Rick Bowmer, STF / Associated Press

During the pandemic, the shift to online meetings and school meant videoconferencing services became a tool of survival  but captions came only after a big push. Zoom added live transcription to its free service only in October 2021, but the meetings host has to enable them. Google Meet was quicker to make captions available to everyone for free in May 2020; Microsoft Teams, a workplace messaging app, did so that June.

We need captioning everywhere and we need people to be more sensitive, Olken said. The more I advocate the more other people benefit.
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It's winter in New Zealand right now, but the long "winter" of American tourists not being able to visit the beautiful island country in the southern Pacific Ocean has finally ended.

New Zealand recently reopened its borders to international travelers. And after more than 800 days of not operating, Air New Zealand is re-launching service from Houston to Auckland. The roughly 15-hour nonstop flight commences July 7 and will operate three times per week. The airline is currently offering special fares; prices for economy tickets start at about $1,400.
It's been more than 20 years since "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" hit theaters, and now you can finally meet the man who taught Harry how to play quidditch.

Katy's Alamo Drafthouse will be hosting a special screening of the film in August, and in typical Alamo flair, the theater will feature a celebrity appearance from one of the stars.

Sean Biggerstaff, best known for his portrayal of Oliver Wood, will introduce the film and be present during screening. After the film, he'll do an audience Q&A and sign autographs for fans.

In the book and film series, Biggerstaff's character is the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team who teaches Potter to play the wizarding worlds biggest sport. Biggerstaff appears in three of the series' eight films.

During his appearance in Katy, Biggerstaff will discuss the production of the films and what it was like starring in one of the biggest film franchises of all time, said Robert Saucedo, programming director for Alamo Drafthouse.

"(Biggerstaff) has been an actor in this momentous film franchise, and he's really popular with fans," Saucedo said. "I think this event is really going to be something fun for our audience."

Despite the draw of a celebrity like Biggerstaff, tickets are priced are on sale now at just $15 each. Guests are encouraged to dress in their favorite "Harry Potter" regalia for the event.

Alamo Drafthouse is located inside the LaCenterra shopping center at 2707 Commercial Boulevard. The event is scheduled to begin on Aug. 2 at 7:15 p.m.

Filmgoers will also be entered into a drawing for a free trip for two to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida.
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Genealogical DNA testing helped convict a Tomball man this week for the 2002 fatal shooting of a husband and father he was robbing at an Oak Ridge North gas station.

Martin Isaac Tellez, 45, pleaded guilty to the murder of Subir Chatterjee, 58, on Tuesday in presiding Judge Lisa Michalks 221st District Court.

Michalk sentenced Tellez to 60 years in prison. He will not be eligible for parole until having served one-half of the sentence, according to the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office.

Oak Ridge North Police Lt. Charles Nation on Wednesday said Chatterjees slaying has been the only murder in the small south Montgomery County city in the 25 years he has been on the force.

The family are happy that we worked on it for as long as we did because they felt that it would probably never be solved. They were relieved, Nation said.

At approximately 12:50 p.m. Feb. 15, 2002, Oak Ridge North PD officers responded to an apparent homicide at the Coastal Gas Station convenience and cash checking store located at 26914 Interstate 45 North, according to the DAs Office.

On the scene, Det. Kent Hubbard found Subir Chatterjee dead in the gas stations secured clerks booth. Chatterjee, who owned and operated the business, had a gunshot wound to his head and approximately $160,000 in cash had been taken, according to the District Attorneys Office.

Also shot at close range in the neck, Chatterjee was found lifeless by an employee, The Courier reported in February 2020. Chatterjee had owned the business since 1997, according to The Courier.

Tellez, according to Lt. Nation, was residing in Harris County at the time of the killing.

There were initially few leads, vague witness descriptions, no surveillance video and no suspects, the DAs Office mentioned.

Hubbard worked leads on the case for more than 15 years before reading an article on how law enforcement in California used genealogy and DNA to solve homicide cases. The detective reached out to Parabon Nanolabs, a Virginia-based organization that uses genetic genealogy, ancestry and kinship analysis to develop potential suspects for cases where DNA evidence is available, the District Attorneys Office detailed.

Civil asset forfeiture funds paid for the testing, the DAs Office added. The method of testing, according to The Courier, cost $5,830.

In 2018, Parabon reported that three members of Tellezs family were potential sources of evidence collected in the 2002 crime scene. On Dec. 4, 2019, Hubbard learned the DNA extracted from the fork, coffee cup and piece of toast collected from a table where Tellez was eating was an exact match to the DNA evidence, according to the District Attorneys Office.

Additionally, the DAs Office mentioned, a Texas Department of Public Safety analyst informed Hubbard that with advances in DNA technology, fingernail scrapings from Chatterjees autopsy could be reexamined.

Locating Tellez was just as simple as a Google search on the name with a LinkedIn profile matching his drivers license, Oak Ridge North Police Chief Tom Libby told The Courier in 2020.

On Dec. 10, 2019, Det. Hubbard arrested Tellez for capital murder, 17 years, nine months, and 25 days in the waiting. Tellez confessed to murdering Chatterjee while robbing him, according to the District Attorneys Office.

The arrest, according to The Courier, transpired at the job Tellez had just started and happened as he returned from lunch. Tellez was working as an office manager at an electric wiring company, Lt. Nation mentioned.

Tellez said Chatterjee struck him in the head with a telephone in self-defense, leaving the robbers blood at the scene, the DAs Office continued.

Tellez was spared the death penalty because the murder was committed before Texas law in 2005 made life without parole a part of capital punishment, the District Attorneys Office explained.

In early 2021, Tellez, who was out on a $500,000 bond, cut off his GPS monitor and fled to Mexico. A Texas Ranger, with help of agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Marshals, tracked and persuaded the husband and father of three to return to the U.S. to await trial, the DAs Office detailed.

An immigrant from India, Chatterjee had one daughter, and his death came the day before her 25th birthday, according to his nephew, Neil Chatterjee.

The nephew, who is a former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman, read a victims impact statement at Tellezs sentencing. Neil Chatterjee on Wednesday said he spoke about how Tellez took his uncle from the community of fellow immigrants who lacked access to traditional banking services.

My uncle was a beloved figure in that community and the defendant robbed all these people of his service, Neil Chatterjees statement read.

Chatterjees family was left with an empty chair and aching hearts, believing they might never know who was responsible, read a statement from Assistant DA Donna Hansen. Hubbard never gave up on this case, and it was my privilege to be able to assist him in bringing justice and closure to Subirs family.

District Attorney Brett Ligon had similar praise for Hubbard.

Fortunately, a relentless instrument of dogged justice in the form of Det. Hubbard made what was wrong, right, and we hope that this measure of accountability will bring some relief to this (Chatterjees) grieving family, Ligon said in a statement.

Hubbard has since retired, Lt. Nation said.

On Wednesday morning, Tellezs defense attorneys could not be reached for comment.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

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OnScene.Tv

A man was shot and killed early Wednesday during an apparent attempted robbery outside a north Houston bar, according to authorities.

The man, described in his late-20s, was shot about 2 a.m. at the 1100 block of Berry Road. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Houston Chronicle

A 31-year-old man was charged with murder after woman was shot and killed Wednesday morning outside a Channelview home, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

Adrian Lowe, 31, of Houston, was charged with murder over the death of Tempe Shelton, Gonzalez said on Wednesday evening.
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Twenty-five years ago, two young women in Galveston County disappeared and were never seen alive again.

On Wednesday, after years of waiting, William Reece admitted he was responsible for their deaths.

TIMELINE: Tracking William Reece's killing spree across Houston's suburbs and beyond

Reece in a morning court appearance pleaded guilty to the 1997 murders of Jessica Cain, of Tiki Island, and Laura Smither, of Friendswood. After pleading guilty in Galveston County, he was taken to Brazoria County, where he pleaded guilty to the murder of Kelli Ann Cox, a University of North Texas student who also went missing in Denton 1997.

FILE, MBR / AP Laura Smither (left) and Jessica Cain (left). (File photos) Laura Smither (left) and Jessica Cain (left). (File photos)

Reece was sentenced to up to 99 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole after 30 years, according to Galveston County prosecutors.

"Today brings an end to 25 years of uncertainty for everyone affected by the murders of Laura Smither and Jessica Cain, Roady said. It's true that no amount of punishment could heal the wounds suffered by their families and communities who love them. But these convictions will help ensure that their murderer will die in prison, where he belongs.

Reece has already been sentenced to the death penalty in Oklahoma over the murder of woman, Tiffany Johnston, who was abducted from a car wash in Bethany, Okla. in July 1997. Earlier this year, Reece was transferred from Oklahoma back to Galveston County to face the Texas charges still pending against him.

Prosecutors and Reeces defense attorney said it will be up to state officials in Texas and Oklahoma to decide if he stays in prison or is transferred back to Oklahomas death row.

Around 40 people sat in the courtroom on the third floor of Galveston County's Justice Center to watch the pleas happen. They included Smither's family and friends, and Galveston County police officers and prosecutors who have long tried to bring Reece to justice.

Smither's mother, Gay Smither, gave a victim impact statement. Holding up a photograph of her daughter, she said that Reeces crimes broke her family apart.

We never got to see the incredible woman she would become," Smither said of her daughter.

JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Galveston County Daily News

But Gay Smither also thanked Reece for his confession and said she had forgiven him for her daughters murder.

LAURA'S LEGACY: Abducted 20 years ago, Laura Smither leaves legacy of hope and healing

We all sin, Smither said. We all make mistakes. But then we must make things right. Please keep telling the truth, Bill.

Reece didnt look at Gay Smither during her testimony.

During a press conference after the hearing, Smither said she believed that Reece might have more information that could help other families find. Rees had been held at the Friendswood municipal jail since March, while prosecutors and Reeces attorneys worked on a plea deal. Roady demurred when asked if Reece was asked about other crimes or investigations during that time.

I believe that the investigators in this case will always be glad to talk to him more about anything else he may want to share, Galveston County District attorney Jack Roady said.

Cain's family was not in attendance -- Roady said the family was aware of the hearing but did not attend.

Reece, 62. wore a blue polo shirt and jeans and walked with a cane during the hearing. Reece spoke only when Galveston County District Court Judge Jared Robinson asked if he understood the agreement and had given it freely.

JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Galveston County Daily News

Cain, 17, and Smither, 12, disappeared within months of each other. Smither's remains were found three weeks after her abduction, but Cain's body remained missing for nearly 20 years. Investigators were led to her body by Reece, who began cooperating with investigators after DNA evidence had tied him to another murder in Oklahoma.

Reece was also indicted in Brazoria County for the murder of Kelli Ann Cox, a University of North Texas student who also went missing in 1997 and whose body was also found in 2016.

Norm Gomlak / Cox Family

Smither was Reece's first known murder victim. She went missing on April 3, 1997, after leaving her Friendswood home for a jog. Her decomposed body was found three weeks later in a retention pond in Pasadena.

Cox disappeared from a gas station in Denton on July 15, 1997, shortly after taking a tour of the Denton County Jail. Like Cain, her body was found after Reece in 2016 directed investigators to the Brazoria County field where he had buried her.

Cain disappeared on Aug. 17, 1997. She was reported missing after her truck was found abandoned on the shoulder of Interstate 45. She was last seen alive at a party in Webster.

REECE VICTIMS: Slain child's mom seeks sit-down with killer 'to share my faith and talk to him about his soul'

Reece was long considered a suspect in the murders, though he wasn't formally indicted or charged with the crimes for almost 20 years. He has been imprisoned since 1997 after being convicted of kidnapping over the attempted abduction of a Webster woman in September 1997. He is still serving a 60-year sentence for that conviction.

In a statement, Roady said Reece wasnt entirely cooperative during his negotiations for a plea deal. Reece was careful to not provide enough evidence for prosecutors to seek a death penalty, Roady said. While he admitted to killing Cain, Cox and Smither, prosecutors didnt feel they could prove other crimes, like kidnapping, that would have allowed the charge to be upgraded to capital murder, Roady said.

JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Galveston County Daily News

In 2015, DNA evidence connected Reece to a murder case in Oklahoma. Around the same time, he began speaking to investigators about other cases in which he was a suspect. In February 2016, police began searching fields in southwest Houston and Angleton. In the following two months, searchers found Cain and Cox's bodies.

After the hearing was over, Gay Smither thanked the police officers who continued to pursue the case for years. Their work brought closure to three families, she said.

Even though for all these years we were absolutely convinced it was Reece, today is the validation of that, she said. Our police were phenomenal in what they did in our case. Not only did they bring the answer to our family, they brought the answers to Jessica and Kellis families.
The four kids reported to have been hospitalized after being found in a packed, overheated tractor-trailer in San Antonio on Monday are among a growing number of children and teens making the perilous journey to the United States.

Bexar County officials have also told media that some of the 53 who died from the incident may be under 18.

The number of unaccompanied children and teens apprehended at the border has increased 17-fold since 2008, according to a new Syracuse University analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

THE LATEST: As death count rises to 53 migrants found in Texas tractor-trailer, here's what we know

In 2021, the number of unaccompanied minors at the border was over 140,000. Unaccompanied minors are migrant teens and children who travel to the U.S. without a guardian, often to reunite with family already in the country.

In 2021, 283,000 children  both with and without a guardian  were apprehended by border agents, slightly lower than a previous peak in 2019.

The nationalities of migrating children has shifted over the last 14 years as well.

In 2008, Mexican children made up a bunk of immigrating children, and they were more likely to be accompanied by family or another guardian. Then in 2014, tens of thousands of Central American children started fleeing their countries, both with and without their families.

The influx in children making these long and perilous journeys brings additional scrutiny to policies that have clamped down on access to the legal right to seek asylum at the border, such as Title 42 and Remain in Mexico.

Experts have said these types of policies often incentivize migrants who are desperate to find safety in the U.S. to rely on unsafe methods of bypassing border inspection - like the use of tractor-trailers in Nuevo Laredo to San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO SMUGGLING DEATHS: Strict border policies only fuel migrant desperation, experts say

As rising violence, natural disasters, and other threats force migrants to make impossible choices in their quest to find safety, our nations response cannot be to place families and children in further harm by indefinitely closing our borders to people seeking protection and ignoring the dangers they face in their home countries, said Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, which provides legal aid to migrant teens and children. This most recent tragedy and the disturbing rise in migrant deaths globally underscore the need to create safer pathways to protection for refugees.

Among the record number of unaccompanied migrant children and teenagers coming to the U.S. in 2021, more ended up in Harris County than any other county in the nation.

U.S. Health and Human Services reported that 7,034 unaccompanied migrant kids were released to sponsors in Harris County in fiscal year 2021, which is roughly 7 percent of all 107,686 total children and teens released to sponsors nationwide.

Hundreds of youths continue to be resettled in the Houston area each month. They are often immigrating due to poverty, violence or climate-related disaster in their home countries (or a combination of the three). Theyre also commonly seeking to reunite with family members who previously moved to the United States for a better life, many without authorization.

PERILOUS JOURNEY: Houston area takes in more unaccompanied migrant children and teens than anywhere else

Around 90 percent of the migrant kids arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border without parents or official sponsors in 2021 came from Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador.

More than 11,000 unaccompanied migrant children and teens are currently in Health and Human Services custody.

elizabeth.trovall@chron.com
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When news broke that dozens of migrants had died inside a tractor trailer in San Antonio, Henry Cooper said he felt two emotions: anger and dread.

Anger because of the waste of lives wiped away in horrific condition. Dread because of the fear that some of the people who died might have a Houston connection.

There are a lot of concerns about these people who died because a lot of the residents of Houston came through the same means, said Cooper of Houston. The people in the truck could be friends or family members trying to make their own way to Houston, he said.

IN CUSTODY: 3 arrested in connection with human-smuggling tragedy in San Antonio that left 51 dead

Cooper was among a group of two dozen Houstonians who gathered in a parking lot in southwest Houston on Tuesday night hold a short vigil in honor of the 51 people found dead on Monday in a tractor-trailer San Antonio.

Justin Rex, Houston Chronicle / Contributor

Those in the tractor-trailer were the victims of human smuggling and were apparently abandoned inside an uncooled trailer on a day when temperatures rose past 100 degrees, according to authorities. Forty-six people were declared dead at the scene on Monday and another five people died after being taken to hospitals.

The vigil participants in Houston made 51 signs with the words How many more? on them. The group plans to add the names of the dead to the signs as identities are released and then bring them to San Antonio, said Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL.

The names of the people who died havent been released as of Tuesday evening. Some people have called FIEL to try to figure out if their family members may have been on the truck, Espinosa said. So far, the group hadnt identified any local connections, but theres a very real possibility that there will be one eventually, Espinosa said.

In every major incident that has happened, especially in Texas, theres always been a Houston connection, Espinosa said.

Justin Rex, Houston Chronicle / Contributor

FIEL was trying to connect people who were worried about their family members to consulate officials and encouraged people to come forward if their loved one was identified.

PERILOUS JOURNEYS: How the San Antonio migrant death incident compares historically to other migrant deaths

Officials have said the dead include 27 Mexican nationals, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans.

The vigil was organized by FIEL, a Houston organization that provides aid and resources for local immigrants.

FIEL helps draw attention to the challenges faced by immigrant communities, using the stories of local people to advocate for reforms to migrant programs.

john.ferguson@chron.com
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Immigration experts are calling out the U.S. governments failure to create safe, legal channels for fleeing migrants after 53 migrants were found in the back of an overheated tractor-trailer in southwest San Antonio Monday night.

The incident is believed to be the deadliest human smuggling incident on U.S. soil.

THE LATEST: As death count rises to 53 migrants found in Texas tractor-trailer, here's what we know

Eric Gay/Associated Press

You cannot enforce your way out of these migration pressures, said former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioner Doris Meissner, who said the U.S. is overdue for new immigration laws, so that there are ways for people to come to the country legally that make sense for our economy and circumstances.

She said todays immigration laws in the U.S. fail to address why people are often coming to the border: terrible country conditions combined with job opportunities and family ties to the United States.

Border restrictions or greater law enforcement generates the incentives of the creation of networks of smugglers because migrants cannot do it by themselves, said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a national expert in smuggling networks along the Southwest Border.

Correa-Cabrera, a professor at George Mason University, has studied a number of different smuggling routes, including the common pathway from Nuevo Laredo to Laredo  through one of the busiest ports in the United States.

After crossing into Laredo, migrants are generally driven in tractor-trailers up I-35 to San Antonio. Historically, the area is known to be a major smuggling route for Mexicans and Central Americans, relying largely on large semis and tractor-trailers to bypass immigration inspection and bring people to San Antonio.

Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

This leg of the journey typically costs roughly $6,000 per person, according to Correa-Cabrera, making it a lucrative business for international smuggling rings.

PERILOUS JOURNEYS: How the San Antonio migrant death incident compares historically to other migrant deaths

"Because of the fact that these networks have become more savvy and more sophisticated, can bring people from their own continent to the United States, U.S.-bound migrations have incorporated more countries, she said. So, now, we are talking about a global phenomenon, not just a phenomenon from Central America."

Human smuggling is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. A 2018 report by the United Nations estimated that smugglers cashed in $5.5 billion  7 billion for smuggling 2.5 million migrants around the world.

The report added that the smuggling industry is fueled by demand  poor in-country conditions and then a need to overcome logistical obstacles to getting to safety.

Without sufficient pathways to safety, vulnerable and desperate people will continue to be preyed upon by smugglers or forced to resort to desperate measures to cross borders. Among those taking these journeys are asylum seekers and refugees fleeing violence, persecution and human rights abuses, as well as migrants, victims of trafficking and others, said Matthew Reynolds, UNHCR Representative to the United States and the Caribbean.

FACT CHECK: Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrats claims about border security and Texas migrant deaths

Reynolds said that to prevent the loss of life, what is needed are safer alternatives to these dangerous irregular movements.

Asylum seekers and economic migrants are facing steep obstacles to entering the U.S. through official channels, especially those from Central America and Mexico.

The asylum system has essentially been closed off to adult Central Americans and Mexicans under the Trump-era border policy Title 42, which allows immigration officials to handily remove asylum seekers and other migrants at the border, denying them access to the legal asylum process. The Biden administration tried to lift the policy in late May, but was temporarily stopped by a federal judge, after Texas and other GOP-led states sued.

The policy disproportionately impacts nationalities from the Northern Triangle and Mexico  countries of origins reflected in the recent body count.

In fiscal year 2022, nearly 90 percent of Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans encountered at the border were expelled. Those statistics exclude unaccompanied minors, who under the Biden administration are allowed into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons.

Twenty-two Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans were among the dead migrants found in the tractor-trailer in San Antonio, according to Mexican foreign secretary Marcelo Ebrard.

Jordan Vonderhaar, Stringer / Getty Images

TITLE 42: A Trump-era rule was supposed to deter border crossings. Theyre rising instead.

Despite the strict border policies in place, 2022 is on track to exceed a 2 million border arrests, topping new records, by the end of the fiscal year in September, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Though a migrant casualty event of this scale is historic within the United States, similar events have occurred around the world and in Texas. The deadliest human smuggling event on U.S. soil before Mondays San Antonio deaths came on May 13, 2003, when 19 migrants died after riding in the rear compartment of an 18-wheeler in South Texas.

In recent years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported a number of smuggling busts relating to the transportation of dozens of migrants. In May, two men were indicted for smuggling dozens of migrants through a Laredo checkpoint through tractor-trailers.

Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Central Americans named poor wages and unemployment as well as natural disasters and violence, as triggers of migration to the U.S. in a 2021 survey by the Migration Policy Institute. The report recommended that investments in addressing unemployment and climate change could help mitigate migration to the United States.

As counterintuitive as it is, slamming the door on asylum seekers and other migrants increases desperation and fuels an underground system that lines the pockets of international criminal organizations.

elizabeth.trovall@chron.com
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Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested three people in connection with a human-smuggling incident on San Antonios Southwest Side that left 51 migrants dead  making it one of the deadliest such episodes in recent history.

Homero Zamorano, 45, was arrested after officials say he abandoned the tractor-trailer in a desolate area near Lackland Air Force Base and fled the scene. Zamorano has addresses in Houston and the Rio Grande Valley.

He was very high on meth when he was arrested nearby and had to be taken to the hospital, a law enforcement officer said.

After arresting Zamorano, authorities traced the semi-truck to a home in the 100 block of Arnold Drive in South Bexar County. They put the house under surveillance, and saw two men  Juan Francisco DLuna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio DLuna-Mendez  leaving in a truck, the sources said.

When authorities stopped the truck, one of the men confessed to having a weapon in the vehicle. Officers obtained a search warrant and searched the Arnold Drive home.

Jordan Vonderhaar, Stringer / Getty Images

The two men were arrested on suspicion of possessing firearms while in the country illegally. They were detained without bail after a brief hearing in federal court on Tuesday.

Zamorano may appear Wednesday in federal court on human-smuggling charges. He has a long criminal history.

Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio, said the death toll from Mondays human-smuggling incident makes it the worst one weve seen in the U.S.

The (human-smuggling) organizations are getting more violent  they dont care about the people, he said. They dont think of them as people. They think of them as commodities.

The 51 migrants from Mexico and Central America were found in the abandoned tractor-trailer, which could fit around 100 people. Eleven other people who were rescued from the trailer and were hospitalized, including an adolescent boy who was in critical condition at University Hospital.

The dead were 39 men and 12 women. Twenty-two were from Mexico, seven from Guatemala and two from Honduras, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said. The rest are still being identified.

We are devastated by the news, said Cesar Espinosa, an immigrant advocate with FIEL Houston, an immigrant rights organization. Unfortunately, this is not the first time and unfortunately it wont be the last time that it happens as long as we dont have a pathway for people to migrate safely into the U.S.

Contributed

A cloned truck?

Details continued to emerge Tuesday. The doomed migrants were covered in meat seasoning to mask their scent, law enforcement officials said, and were stuffed into a semi-truck had beencloned to look like a legitimate truck.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Death toll rises to 50 in human-smuggling tragedy on San Antonios Southwest Side

According to two law enforcement officials, the truck traveled from Laredo up Interstate 35 to San Antonio. With Interstate 10 running east to west and Interstate 35 south to north, San Antonio is a major crossroads for human smuggling.

The Volvo truck, a red tractor unit with a large white semi-trailer, was found around 5:50 p.m. Monday evening after nearby workers heard cries for help and walked over to the tractor trailer to investigate.

One person was outside the trailer lying on the ground. The workers opened the doors and discovered dozens of stacked bodies inside, officials said.

The truck, which was traced to a trucking company based in the border town of Alamo, had been cloned, its owners said. Human-smuggling groups and cartels often replicate legitimate vehicles to use in illegal border crossings  going so far as to create fake school buses with mannequins standing in as passengers.

The owners of Betancourt Trucking and Harvesting  Felipe Betancourt Sr. and his son, Felipe Jr.  said someone cloned their truck, with the same color and identifying numbers from the federal Department of Transportation and the Texas DOT. However, the cloned truck does not bear the Betancourt logo like their company vehicles.

Ours is sitting right here, Felipe Jr. said by phone. My truck doesnt have a window on the side like the one in San Antonio... That one in San Antonio is not our trailer.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Biden says human smuggling crackdown will intensify after San Antonio migrant deaths

He said his father started the business in 2007 and bought the truck in 2020 He said their truck has been hauling grain from Harlingen to Progreso.

In other developments, many of the people found inside the truck were covered in steak seasoning, one law enforcement official said Tuesday, likely in an effort to disguise their scent as the smugglers were transporting them.

Timothy Tubbs, who retired as the deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Laredo, said smugglers commonly use seasonings to aid their smuggling operations.

Dogs are trained for several things. Some are trained to smell money. Some are trained to smell narcotics, weapons, and some dogs are trained to smell human beings, Tubbs said. They will put seasoning on them to cover their scent so they can get through the Border Patrol checkpoint.

Billy Calzada/Staff photographer

Victims, survivors

Police were first called to the scene, on Quintana Road near Lackland Air Force Base  a desolate area marred by illegally dumped trash, with at least one salvage yard close by  around 5:50 p.m. on Monday.

First responders arrived around 6 p.m., opened the doors and discovered dozens of bodies inside.

It was covered with bodies, McManus said Tuesday. It was like nothing anybody had ever seen before.

Fire Chief Charles Hood said many of the survivors were suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion. He said they were hot to the touch and too weak to get out and help themselves, adding that it wasnt clear how long they had been inside the tractor trailer.

Temperatures in San Antonio hovered close to 100 degrees Monday. Hood said the back of the rig was refrigerated, but no air-conditioning unit was visible when emergency personnel entered.

Paramedics used a 12-lead ECG, a standard tool EMTs use to screen patients for cardiac activity, but that no such activity was found among the 46 dead.

They were pronounced dead at the scene. Five more died in San Antonio hospitals Tuesday.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Mexican president slams border security and human trafficking for San Antonio migrant deaths

Alex Salgado with Fuerza Catracha, an outreach group for Hondurans in the United States, said Honduran consular officials are coming to San Antonio.

He attended a meeting of immigrant advocates and nonprofit leaders Tuesday, and said he was told that the dead were partly identified with documents they had on them, not DNA. Theres speculation that some of the individuals who were identified as Mexican may have had fake paperwork that falsely identified them as Mexican citizens.

Some of those identified as Mexican could be from Honduras or elsewhere, Salgado said.

Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, whose South Side precinct includes the area where the truck was found, said a 23-year-old woman from Guatemala being treated at University Hospital was in serious condition, and a teenage boy was there in critical condition.

Clay Flores said 34 of the bodies have been potentially identified. But she said the Bexar County Medical Examiners Officer has been stretched thin by the tragedy.

Because of the high number of victims from last night, we have reached out to neighboring counties for assistance from their medical examiners offices also, Clay-Flores said.

Clay Flores advised those who feared that a loved one could have been on the tractor-trailer to call the Guatemalan consulate at 956-800-7351.

District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia, whose district covers the area where the migrants were found, said her staff is coordinating with local nonprofit and humanitarian groups to support the survivors and the victims families.

Families did not know, or probably still do not know, if their loved ones are the ones who passed away, Rocha Garcia said. All they wanted was a better life. You cant fault them for that.

Border crossings

Border officials have reported a record number of migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022, as Central Americans and people from around the world arrive there, often fleeing violence and poverty, in part due to worsening conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human smuggling has had tragic consequences before in San Antonio.

In July 2017, authorities found 39 undocumented immigrants in a sweltering tractor trailer in the parking lot of a Walmart on the South Side. Eight were already dead, and two more died later at area hospitals.

A Kentucky trucker who transported the immigrants from Laredo to San Antonio later was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences without parole. He had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants for profit, resulting in death.

At the truckers trial, witnesses testified that immigrants were told that, as soon as the tractor-trailer left Laredo, the cooling system would turn on. But it never did.

On HoustonChronicle.com: How the San Antonio migrant death incident compares historically to other migrant deaths

Danilo Zak, policy and advocacy manager at the National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy organization, said such deaths are completely preventable through implementation of more humane immigration policies.

Since the implementation of Title 42 in 2020  an order that fast-tracks expulsions of migrants who come from countries known to have COVID-19, despite potential asylum qualifications  migrants have resorted to more dangerous crossing methods and such deaths have been on the rise, Zak said.

Staff Writers Brian Chasnoff, Elena Bruess, Eli Trovall, Madalyn Mendoza, Ricardo Delgado, Scott Huddleston and Timothy Fanning contributed to this story.
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Otherwise devoid of art, the blue-collar town of East Aldine needed some visual flair.

That's why the East Aldine Arts Council recently installed five new street signs in the town center that are semi-disguised with positive and affirming messages such as "You Are Amazing" and "Peace In The World."

District board member and arts council chairman Carlos Silva said the signs are intended to bolster the aesthetics of the area, create a sense of belonging, and serve as interesting and captivating artwork that the Aldine community can be excited about.

Silva said the council came up with the idea while attending a Neighborhoods USA conference in 2019 in Palm Springs, California when he saw a yellow street sign that read "Imagine Art Here." The art was part of a series by Los Angeles-based artist Scott Froschauer.

"I was struck by it," Silva said. "It's done almost tongue-in-cheek."

Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Artistic street signs in East Aldine display positive affirmations and heartwarming messages around Town Center. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle)

"He takes an otherwise mundane sign that we see on a day-to-day basis and flips the script, turning the message into something positive and uplifting,"

In the art world, Froschauer's technique is called "culture jamming"  taking something that's an existing medium and forcing viewers to question the status quo.

Silva described East Aldine as a "hard-working, family-oriented community." He thinks Froschauer's art is a great way to warm the community up to the idea that they can live among art.

It took about a year to reach an agreement with Froschauer and install the five signs at the East Aldine Town Center. According to Silva, Aldine budgeted $7,500 for the artwork.

The art council then gifted each sign to a partner.

The "One Love" sign was gifted to the Baker Ripley community center; the "Caution: Wonder" sign to the Lone Star East Aldine campus; the "You Are Amazing" and "Educate Children" signs to Avalos P-TECH Early College High School; and the "Para Que Haya Paz (If There Is To Be Peace)" sign to the Town Center amphitheater.

More from Ryan Nickerson: Employees 'refused to help' after teen broke legs at Sugar Land trampoline park, lawyer says

Silva said he believes the signs are a stepping stone toward future artistic endeavors in Aldine.

"We feel privileged to have the opportunity to have art like this that is very unassuming but actually quite powerful," Silva said. "We feel that it really fits the bill when trying to bring art to the community that's uplifting, that challenges the viewer and is a smooth transition from having no art to having some kind of art."

ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com
Regarding Essay: I didnt abort my child. Now the world must step up for women like me., (June 24): Once all of the babies  currently safe in their mothers womb where all of their needs are being met at no cost to you  are delivered into this world, how will you continue to support them? Will you adopt or foster a baby with a profound disability? Will you consider becoming a CPS caseworker? Will you, at the very least, volunteer at, and donate to, a food pantry or other charity to help keep all of the overburdened families fed?

If you support the overturning of Roe v. Wade, then please dont abandon these babies once theyve been born. That is when they are really going to need your help.

Theresa Rogers, Houston

Regarding A sucker punch: Some women fear setback to hard-won rights, (June 26): This piece deservedly centered on how the Supreme Courts recent repeal of Roe v. Wade threatens a number of important gains that women have made in the last 50-plus years. But, a broader application of the same question would bring into focus how the same high court decision might impact us and our freedoms: Justice Thomas has already signaled that gay marriage and the use of contraception (pills and devices) should be open to judicial review. In various red states like Florida, legislation is in the works to prohibit certain books (math texts of all things) and subject matter (critical race theory). It is not over the edge to see where this is clearly headed: authoritarian government.

Marty Adams, Houston

Regarding Anti-abortion demonstrators celebrate Roe ruling outside Houstons Planned Parenthood, (June 25): Fairs fair. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. The Supreme Court should next apply their twisted reasoning to the right of men to have a vasectomy. After all, it shouldnt be between a man or woman and a doctor; its clearly a decision that politicians and judges should make for both genders.

Banning vasectomies would lead to even more babies to be gunned down by madmen. And if those babies dont get murdered in school, some of them will wind up sleeping on child welfares office floors or being sexually abused by their foster parents. Maybe theyll survive and choose an adult criminal career because nobody supported their education enough  just like our governor favors for our immigrant children  to qualify for sustainable employment. That should please our governor.

Page S. Williams, Houston

Regarding Editorial: After Roe, pregnant Texans will need help navigating new laws, (June 24): Once again, the Chronicle editorial staff does not see the true danger of recent legal rulings. You are depending on prosecutors willing to use their discretion  be realistic. A district attorneys only goal is to get re-elected, and the only way to do that is to show they are tough on crime, by getting people convicted and putting them in prison. When these young women are brought into a courtroom, everyone in the room is likely either running for office in the next primary or a cop. Don't expect Texas to treat women with the proper respect, care and kindness in our lifetime.

Joe Williams, League City

Regarding Editorial: Tossing Roe wasnt justice by the Supreme Court. It was activism., (June 24): In this editorial, it is noted that, Having overturned Roe, Alito writes that the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives. Alito appears to assume that the overturning of Roe resets the debate to a common starting point. It doesnt. In Texas, this debate has been taking place for years in the Republican-dominated echo chamber of the Texas House and Senate and in 2021 culminated in the so-called heartbeat bill. As your editorial also noted, in Texas, the will of the people is actually ...the will of around 10 percent of the states voters who show up for the Republican primary.

Its good that polls show that a majority of Texans wanted Roe v. Wade to be upheld or for voters to have less restrictions on voting or want common sense gun reform, but those majorities are not producing voters who are consistently voting on these issues or showing up to vote, period. Want change? Vote. Vote in November and keep voting; every primary, every run-off, every general election.

Julie Marinucci, Houston
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About This Property Dalton 3 Family centrally located, fully rented, with separate utilities, lead compliance certificates, nice yard and plenty of off street parking.This is a great investment with long term tenants or an opportunity for an owner occupied to help pay the mortgage. Close to schools, Pine Grove Park, library and shopping.A Rare Find!



Land Details Community Details Acres Apx: 0.18

Parking Spaces: 8

Parking Type: Off Street

Lot Description: Corner

Region: Berkshire - Central

Elem School: Craneville

Middle School: Nessacus Regional

High School: Wahconah Regional

Exterior Details Interior Details Color: Tan

Style: Colonial

Construction: Wood Frame

Exterior: Vinyl,Wood

Water: Public

Sewer: Public

Underground Oil Tank: Unk

Garage: None

Total Rooms: 11

Total Full Baths: 4

Fuel: Nat Gas,Oil

Hot Water: Nat Gas

Electric: 100 Amp,Circuit Breaker,Individual Meter

Floor: Carpet,Ceramic,Laminate,Wood

Lead Paint: Compliant,Delead Cert

Heat/Cool: Boiler,Forced Air,Furnace,Steam

Insulation: Fiberglass,Unknown

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Pittsfield Man Who Threatened Police With Crossbow Found Guilty

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Judge William Rota found Timothy Tatro, 40, of Pittsfield, guilty of single counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and violating an abuse prevention order and sentenced Tatro to serve a total of five years of incarceration.

On Wednesday, Judge Rota sentenced Tatro to serve two and a half years at the Berkshire County House of Correction on the assault with a dangerous weapon and two and a half years on the violation of an abuse prevention order afterward.

On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, Cheshire Police and Massachusetts State Police attempted to serve Tatro a restraining order at a Pine Valley Trailer Park address. After attempting to enter, Massachusetts State Police discovered Tatro pointing a crossbow at them and refusing to vacate the residence.

Officers from the Massachusetts State Police Cheshire Barracks, State Police Tactical Unit, State Police K9 Unit, and State Police Crisis Negotiation Unit responded to assist. After nearly six hours of negotiation, the State Police Tactical Unit entered the residence and brought Tatro into custody.




iciHaiti - Armed violence : Resumption of 9th AF exams





As announced last week https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36987-haiti-flash-dates-of-resumption-of-9th-af-exams-prevented-due-to-violence.html students who had missed, in whole or in part, the exams of the 9th fundamental year for various reasons, in particular the violence in the areas of Pernier and Torcell which had prevented them from taking part in the exam session from Monday 20 to Wednesday, June 22, began to compose this Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in a center set up at the national high school in Petion-Ville.



They are a total of 50 students out of 54 expected (Tuesday 28, Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 June 2022), from the school districts of Croix-des-Bouquets, Tabarre, Delmas, Petion-Ville and Port-au-Prince, who take part in the resumption of these official tests at the end of fundamental studies.



Tuesday, June 28 in the morning they compose in French Communication and in Experimental Sciences in the afternoon.

Wednesday, June 29, they will compose in Creole Communication, Social Sciences and English.

Thursday, June 30 will be devoted to the assessment in Mathematics and Spanish.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36987-haiti-flash-dates-of-resumption-of-9th-af-exams-prevented-due-to-violence.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36969-haiti-news-zapping.html



IH/ iciHaiti


















Name: Chris Wade

Company: Itential

Job title: Co-Founder & CTO

Date started current role: January 2014

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Chris Wade co-founded Itential in 2014 to simplify and accelerate the adoption of network automation and to transform network operations practices. Using a model-based approach, Wade leads the innovation and development of the companys flagship software portfolio of dynamic network automation applications.

What was your first job? I started working in the tech industry as a sales engineer for Micromuse where I built software for network operations. The position became the foundation for my career within the networking industry.

Did you always want to work in IT? Entering college, my plan was to obtain a computer science degree. I knew my future career would revolve around the tech industry, and I made sure to prepare for this journey. I took all the required courses and taught basic computer certification classes. These classes were common in the 1990s, since few individuals were classically trained in computers.

What was your education? Do you hold any certifications? What are they? I have a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Explain your career path. Did you take any detours? If so, discuss. I spent just over five years at Micromuse and then took the role of client engagement manager at Reachview Technologies. The company was acquired by Alcatel-Lucent shortly after I was promoted to director of consulting services. I stayed with the company for eight more years and expanded my own knowledge of the network, specifically within the telecom industry. I moved through the company ranks and held the titles of senior director of systems & application integration, senior director of global ITTS (IT & Telecom Services) practice, and operations support system / business support system (OSS/BSS) global practice lead.

While working at Alcatel-Lucent, I met Ian Bresnahan, now president and CEO at Itential. Networks were shifting from a command-line interfaces (CLI) human-centric world to a machine-centric, programmable world. We both realised the importance of treating the network as software rather than hardware and moved to create a company that would treat it as such. Officially establishing Itential in 2014, Ian and I prioritised this shift, having a greater appreciation for the network and what it meant for organisational growth. We built a platform that would consume APIs from controllers and orchestrators and DevOps platforms - enabling us to build applications that would manage modern networking infrastructure.

What type of CTO are you? In my opinion, a CTO can either be the hands-on coding type or someone that takes a product management and sales engineering approach. I am the latter. Focusing on the product and helping customers understand the technology enables me to educate our customers as to why they need these advancements in their organisation.

Which emerging technology are you most excited about the prospect of? We are about to witness an incredible amount of innovation in the networking space. Not nearly as many people and organisations that can and should view the network as software do. It is nowhere near its full potential. Transitioning from a box of wires to actual software means the barrier to entry will be lowered exponentially. I predict we will see a lot more advancements in this area in the coming years.

Are there any technologies which you think are overhyped? Why? When considering the potential of artificial intelligence, the argument can be made that while the technology is quite mature, the implementation is not. While we try to apply artificial intelligence as the solution to an array of different problems, it is not always the answer, which means its results can be overestimated.

What is one unique initiative that youve employed over the last 12 months that youre really proud of? Specifically in the past 12 months, I have helped to integrate the use of committee weeks at Itential. They take place three times a year and they enable the collaboration of teams across the entire company to participate in strategic company planning. During committee week, sectors of the business partake in unique cross team collaboration that provide guidance and distinct outlooks for the future of Itential. These weeks are a great opportunity to discuss recommendations and additional changes that should be made to better support Itential, our customers, and the companys objectives and key results. They specifically offer our employees unique experiences to help support company growth, and I am inspired by the resulting innovation from each. Committee weeks drive future company initiatives and help nurture and strengthen employee culture.

I would also like to emphasise that Itentials involvement in Georgia Techs co-op program has become increasingly important. As a Georgia Tech alum, I am always thrilled to have the opportunity to work with and guide future tech grads, and even future Itential employees, through this initiative. Following their co-op experience, weve hired several students to remain with the company full-time. While our partnership with Georgia Tech has been in place for the last six years, each year we are always uniquely impressed with these students. This year in particular, being able to offer real-life experience in todays digital world not only benefits the careers of these future tech grads, but the industry as a whole.

Are you leading a digital transformation? If so, does it emphasise customer experience and revenue growth or operational efficiency? If both, how do you balance the two? The days when the network was commoditised and managed as just the pipes is over. Todays modern network must be as agile (in deployment and in relation to change configuration) as the technologies it supports. As digital transformation cannot occur without a strong network to support it, todays businesses require a network that can quickly adjust to evolving requirements that enable new services, processes and models.

In that regard, Itential supports its customers digital transformation strategies by strengthening their network operations. These initiatives prioritise customer experience, ensuring network users can conduct business without disruptions.

What is the biggest issue that youre helping customers with at the moment? More and more companies are taking advantage of distributed technology each day. This has further driven the widespread adoption of the cloud and, therefore, a long overdue understanding that the organisations network is critical to company operations and growth. Gartner predicts that by 2023, more than 60% of enterprises will deem networking as core to their digital strategies, up from less than 20% today. With that said, they also recognise the obstacles of advancing this digital transformation journey. Until now, organisations have taken the network and its capabilities for granted. But with the rush to digital transformation, CIOs and CTOs realise their networks are not operating as efficiently and effectively as possible, presenting them with challenges that need addressing rather than tools for success.

At Itential, we overcome these obstacles by empowering customers to modernise their network through automation strategies that properly operationalise their networks.

How do you align your technology use to meet business goals? We focus on building network activity metrics that provide business insights into how technology is used to foster alignment between customer IT goals and a companys own objectives and key results. As IT people, we always want the latest technology, but we need to consider if the technology will support the company infrastructure and enable us to reach our key goals. At Itential, we offer guidance on how to balance IT wants with actual needs.

Do you have any trouble matching product/service strategy with tech strategy? In todays digital world, the innovation cycle for networking technologies moves incredibly fast. In response, Itential customers are forced to operationalise networking cycles as quickly as possible to properly advance their own digital transformation. To do so requires simple to use, off-the-shelf solutions that can integrate with existing tools in place. This has become increasingly important as organisations adopt new tech strategies that involve hybrid cloud, software-defined networks (SDN), zero trust security, and cloud-based identity access control.

From a product perspective, Itential makes seamless solutions that enable quick adoption. Because we have prioritised innovation within a legacy networking market, Itential has been able to successfully offer these services, matching the tech strategies of our customers.

What makes an effective tech strategy? Effective tech strategies rely on the power of observation and understanding. The tech industry moves incredibly fast, and it needs individuals who will take the time to understand what is happening and what it could potentially mean for the industry before attempting to communicate their own point of view.

What predictions do you have for the role of the CTO in the future? I expect the CTO role to expand into CIO territory. This includes embracing the opportunity to become a lead integrator between company plans and actual execution. While the CIO role has traditionally been more focused on execution, companies will begin to recognise the need to create a whole new role that combines CIO and CTO responsibilities - a CTIO - Chief Technology Innovation Office. Of course, this will also depend on the specific needs of the company and its industry.

What has been your greatest career achievement? Realising the network needed to be treated as software, I was able to help build Itential into a company that would prioritise such unique innovation within a legacy market. Growing Itential with this in mind has been my greatest career achievement to date. It has given me the opportunity to become a thought leader within the networking space and inspire others working in the industry.

Looking back with 20:20 hindsight, what would you have done differently? Now as CTO and Co-Founder of Itential, I cant say that I would have changed anything related to my own networking career. Every choice made allowed for the growth and innovation necessary to prove how significant network automation can be for organisations looking to transform their business operations.
Stack Overflow is deeply embedded in the global developer community to the extent that the tagline on its much-visited website has variants of every developer has a tab open to Stack Overflow. But its aspirations go even further than the torrent of visits it receives from coders asking questions or sharing expertise. The aspiration: to become another always-open tab on your browser if youre a technologist, knowledge worker or maybe even not involved in the digital realm.

But, to begin at the beginning, where is the company now? The numbers are vast, consumer internet-like volumes. It receives over 100 million visits per month and claims to be seen by 80% of developers every week and 50% every day. CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar hails the network effect that has seen one question alone (about GitHub since you ask) gain a million views and be upvoted over 40,000 times. It made $40m for the last year in the all-important KPI metric of annual recurring revenue and, 13 years after it was founded, the company remains a big growth story.

Thats thanks in part to Chandrasekar who took the job in October 2019 and helped create a monetisation model that appears to be working. His trick was to rationalise revenue streams down to a premium Stack Overflow for Teams SaaS and context-sensitive advertising.

Chandrasekar also oversaw last Junes $1.8bn sale of the company to Prosus, a technology investment group primarily focused on the consumer internet and with an interest in education technology. That move has created a buffer for Stack Overflow to invest in the future and its invaluable community.

Community is at our centre and were investing in both the free and paid community, says Chandrasekar, a former software engineer, investment banker and Rackspace executive. Doing so involves creative ways from gamification upwards to keep them engaged and enthused; it also means walking a fine line between ads that are welcome and those that are irrelevant and/or intrusive. Hence the no video ad rule but if an expert contributor on Lamda gets alerted to a Lamda role, that works well for all concerned, Chandrasekar says. We want to keep developers and technologists in the flow and we never want them to be distracted by an email or a Slack message, he adds.
On June 17, 2022, the United Kingdom approved Julian Assanges extradition to the United States to face charges, primarily under the nations Espionage Act, for releasing US government records that revealed the US military committed war crimes against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the killing of two Reuters journalists. If found guilty, Assange faces a jail term of up to 175 years.

The IFJ is gravely concerned about the impact of Assanges continued detention on media freedom and the rights of all journalists globally. The US pursuit of Assange against the publics right to know poses a grave threat to the fundamental tenets of democracy, which are becoming increasingly fragile worldwide. Irrespective of personal views on Assange, his extradition will have a chilling effect, with all journalists and media workers at risk.

The case sets a dangerous precedent that members of the media, in any country, can now be targeted by governments, anywhere in the world, to answer for publishing information in the public interest.

Wikileaks was awarded the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism in 2011, an annual prize to reward excellence in Australian journalism, in recognition of the impact of WikiLeaks actions on public interest journalism by assisting whistle-blowers to tell their stories. Whistle-blowers have since been utilised by other media outlets to expose global tax avoidance schemes, among other stories.

The sentence of Chelsea Manning, who collaborated with Assange to release the contentious material, was commuted by President Barack Obama. None of WikiLeaks media partners have been charged in any US government legal proceeding because of their collaboration with Assange. Aside from the dire implications for press freedom, there is also no legal criterion for Assanges extradition and charges.

The IFJ is calling on the United States government to drop all charges against Julian Assange and allow him to return home to be with his wife and children. The IFJ is also calling on all media unions, press freedom organisations and journalists to urge governments to actively work to secure Assanges release. #FreeAssangeNOW
Indian journalist and AltNews co-founder, Mohammed Zubair, was arrested on June 27, for a Twitter post police alleged hurt religious sentiment in the country. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemn the arrest and call for Zubairs immediate release.

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of the Delhi Police initially summoned Zubair for questioning regarding a 2020 case over social media posts, to which he already had protection against arrest from the Delhi High Court. Police then arrested Zubair for a separate complaint against a 2018 Twitter post about the Hindu god Hanuman. An anonymous Twitter user, using the name Hanuman Bhakt, called on police to take action against for Zubair for the tweet that read: Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel.

The anonymous Twitter user claimed that Zubairs linking of Hanuman with Honeymoon was a direct insult to Hindus due to the gods connection with celibacy.

Zubair was charged under the Indian Penal Code section 153-A (for promoting enmity between different groups) and 295-A (for malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings). On June 28, he was sentenced to four days in police remand for further questioning.

IJU president Geetartha Pathak and secretary general Sabina Inderjit said, The arrest of Zubair is a yet another blatant attack on press freedom and a continuation of witch-hunting by the government to silence independent media and critics.

As co-founder of the fact-checking website AltNews and a prominent critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the journalist has faced repeated legal repercussions for social media posts relating to anti-Muslim hate speech. In June 2021, a criminal investigation was opened against Zubair along with journalist Rana Ayyub and Saba Naqvi for sharing a video on Twitter of an elderly Muslim man being beaten by a group of men. The journalists were accused of provoking communal unrest.

The IJU calls for Zubairs immediate release and praised AltNews which it said, is doing yeoman service in checking fake news and disinformation.

IJU said, The Indian Journalists Union condemns in the strongest of terms the arrest of Muhammad Zubair, co-founder of fact checking website AltNews. His arrest by the Delhi police smacks of malafide as it comes for his post in 2018, claimed by a Twitter handle to be hurting religious sentiments.

IFJ said, The IFJ condemns the arrest of journalist Mohammed Zubair and urges the Indian police to immediately withdraw all charges and release him from police custody.
The Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City returned in June for its first in-person event since 2019, a return that spotlighted the changes in tastes and behaviors created by the pandemic. The food and beverage industry trade show, organized by the Specialty Food Association, featured more than 1,900 exhibitors across a spectrum of food categories--from cured meats and cheeses to olive oil and sweets and exotic items such as gourmet bananas Foster bonbons ... and sections dedicated to cuisines of countries like Greece and Japan.

With continued pandemic perturbations and murmurs of a recession ahead, here are some of the trends that emerged:

1. Convenience still conquers all

Consumers prioritized both convenience and comfort during the pandemic, and that sentiment continues to grow. Hybrid and remote work has made e-commerce, delivery, and curated assortments an even bigger part of the convenience trend, according to the SFA's most recent State of the Specialty Food Industry research. David Lockwood, the co-principal writer and researcher of the SFA report, adds: "Takeout and delivery was always a convenient thing, but it became a bigger thing during the pandemic, and some of it has still stuck." One example Lockwood points out is how some restaurants purely offer takeout, rather than have dine-in services.

2. Using food to improve wellness

The pandemic magnified consumer consciousness on health, reminding many of the adage: "You are what you eat." It's also driven consumers to pick up healthier options than they used to, says Summer Johnson, the founder of Zach & Zoe Sweet Bee Farm. Johnson and her husband make honey infused with different superfoods, such as beetroot and gingerroot.

It's also a trend that entrepreneurs expect will linger as more consumers become ever more health conscious, in part thanks to the pandemic. Bryon White, who co-founded Ilex Organics with his brother Kyle, says that the concept of food as medicine is building consensus. The company houses the Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co. brand, tea made from yaupon leaves from the yaupon holly tree. Such tea was traditionally used by Native Americans for a wide range of health benefits.

"I think that people want to know these days more than ever about what they're putting in their bodies, where it comes from and is it good for them?" Bryon explains. "I don't think that's going away anytime soon."

3. Launching new brands is even more of an uphill battle

Entrepreneurs in the specialty-brand space are getting more creative to get retail distribution by leveraging new distribution channels and social media. Daily Crunch Snacks, which sells extra-crunchy dehydrated nuts, launched in early 2020 and faced difficulties breaking onto shelves, according to Laurel Orley, the brand's co-founder.

Orley says that after speaking with some contacts at traditional retailers, the message was clear: They weren't taking on new brands at a time when consumers were clamoring for essentials such as water and toilet paper. But Orley says that "it's not just about brick-and-mortar stores," explaining that there are other approaches entrepreneurs like herself have considered. They launched on Amazon instead, and continued to think about new ways to get directly in front of consumers, such as placing their product in a subscription box. Orley recalls that she also reached out to as many people as she could at virtual trade shows, which eventually led to a breakthrough: Daily Crunch Snacks got into CVS, and Orley says the snack is now in 3,000 stores.

4. Breakouts for BIPOC- and women-owned brands

Consumers are becoming more politically conscious of the businesses that they frequent, leading them to seek out businesses owned by Black or Indigenous people, other people of color, and women. "Our base of people switched after George Floyd's death from what I'd say were people who were health conscious to people who were looking for BIPOC businesses to invest in and to just be a part of," says Zach & Zoe's Johnson, who is a Black woman.

Retail buyers and other operators are seeking out distributors, wholesalers, and other parties that are working to elevate these brands as well. Though women and BIPOC-led businesses face greater challenges compared with their counterparts, more resources are becoming available to help boost their visibility.

5. Promise for plant-based protein

While the plant-based specialty retail market outpaced growth in the overall specialty food market in 2020, that growth slowed significantly last year. In what is being dubbed "New Protein 1.0," products like Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods attracted lots of customers, but fell short in wooing the masses.
The current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil has crept up on once the hottest "non-fungible" future.

Coming off its best year yet in 2021, NFT values are plunging alongside crypto. The average sale price of an NFT is now below $2,000, down from over $6,800 in January, according to market tracker NonFungible. NFT marketplace volume fell to just over $4 billion in May, from $7.2 billion the month before. On June 18, Bitcoin fell below $20,000 for the first time since 2020. Ethereum and Solana, the tokens most commonly used with NFTs, have fallen about 71 percent and 79 percent this year, respectively.

Despite the plunge, interest remains high. At the fourth annual NFT.NYC conference, which took place last week in New York City, attracted more than 15,000 attendees. "At NFT.NYC, the circles I'm in aren't talking about prices," tweeted Chris Cantino, a partner at venture capital firm Color Capital. They "aren't talking about leaving crypto. [They] aren't talking about the next fad or flip. They're talking about the future, and how they are going to build it."

But it may make sense to consider tweaking your strategy during this crypto winter. "If you don't have cash flow resources, and you're [an entrepreneur that] wants to start an NFT business, it's not a great time because it can be pretty cash-flow intensive, and right now it's pretty hard to raise money if you start from zero," Alex Micol, who is planning to launch a community-driven NFT Divergents Key, tells Inc. "But I think it's a very good time to see the real projects survive and the fake ones get canceled because they simply cannot survive this crypto winter."

For NFT or crypto creators, here are three ideas for building heat during the crypto winter:

1. Go Beyond the NFT

"My advice is to build a community and deliver beyond what you would normally do with an NFT," says Micol. That way you can continue to build enthusiasm. The West Palm Beach, Florida's multi-stage venture capital firm Velvet Sea Ventures, for example, is helping the art community SUPERF3ST to launch a music festival for the growing NFT and Crypto community during NFT.NYC this year. The goal is to build a successful NFT partnership to boost brand recognition across the titles, says Mike Lazerow, co-founder and managing partner of Velvet Sea Ventures.

2. Get Educated

Don't waste your downtime. While you're waiting for the NFT market to calm, "get lots of different perspectives," NFT pioneer and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk told Inc. last year. Vaynerchuk advises creators to use Twitter and Discord to bond with the community. "Join 20 to 50 Discords about different projects or genres. By the 50th hour of homework, you can start understanding where you want to navigate." He adds: "Please don't go hard into anything until then."

3. Keep Your Community Close

Even when times are tight, you can keep your potential audience engaged with a customer loyalty program. If you operate a retailer, for instance, you can set up your program so every time a customer visits your business, they scan the loyalty NFT code to accrue loyalty points. At certain thresholds, you can push rewards, discounts, or blockchain tokens, which can be used in store. Consider this your reignition strategy; it'll keep people tuned in while you bide your time until winter thaws.
Al Faisal Holding, one of Qatars largest privately held diversified groups, announces that it has chosen to implement Ramco Systems' Global Payroll & HR Solution to streamline and automate the HR and payroll operations for more than 5,000 of its employees in over 55 organisations across diversified business sectors. It will also implement Ramcos touchless, facial recognition-based Time & Attendance system for real-time tracking of the employees.With modules for Payroll, Core HR, Employee Benefits and Time & Attendance, Al Faisal Holding will also leverage Ramcos Self Explaining Payslips feature, a smart AI-based service that will allow Al Faisals employees to receive explanations of their remuneration and payslip via the Ramco CHIA virtual assistant.Kashif Fateh Dad, Chief Information Officer, Al Faisal Holding Company, said, Focusing on digital and innovative transformations is an important aspect of Al Faisal Holdings IT strategy to enhance all aspects of the business. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of the gig working model.Digital platforms have not just emerged as enablers for employment creation but are also empowering employees and agility in workplace. As a people-intensive organization, we at Al Faisal Holding look forward to leveraging Ramcos digital platform to improve employee experience, achieve automations and track cost of employees in real-time. With Ramcos innovative features, we are confident that we will be able to further optimize operations, employee engagement and boost their productivity, benefiting both Al Faisal and our employees.Modar Bakir, Chief HR Officer, Al Faisal Holding Company, said, We have been working flat out with IT and Ramco to ensure a successful implementation of the system by designing workflows that fits the needs of our ever-changing businesses and deliver a unique employee experience.This is a business transformation for the whole group and not just a software implementation per se. We hope this will bring about positive impact to Al Faisal Holding group and its employees.Rohit Mathur, Head  Ramco Global Payroll & HR Solution, Ramco Systems, said, Ramcos Global Payroll Solution integrated with Time & Attendance will offer Al Faisal Holding a technological edge in monitoring their core assets  their people.Be it monitoring and managing employees, scheduling right resources for right tasks, carrying out overtime calculations, or adhering to the statutory compliances, Ramcos digital platform will help Al Faisal automate all their people-centric operations. We are confident that Ramco along with its intuitive features around touchless attendance and chatbots will offer Al Faisal innovative experiences and employee delight.At around 2:50 PM, Ramco Systems was trading at Rs290.25 per share down by Rs4 or 1.36% from its previous closing of Rs294.25 per share on the BSE.
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SS Rajamouli's RRR continues to make headlines! After the international success, the movie has now bagged Best Picture nomination at the prestigious Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Awards. Thus, RRR has become the first Indian film to bag nomination under the category.

RRR nominated for Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Awards

Twitter

The movie will be competing against nine Hollywood movies that include Tom Cruise's Top Gun Maverick and Robert Pattinson's The Batman.

Other nominations include Elvis, Cha Cha Real Smooth, The Northman, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Turning Red and Marcel The Shell with Shoes On.

Rajamouli's RRR is making waves internationally. The movie starring Jr NTR and Ram Charan was recently praised by American comic book writer Jackson Lanzing and screenwriter Larry Karaszewski.

Jackson Lanzing who has written for films like Batman Beyond and Captain America on Twitter said that watching RRR was the best time he had at the movies.



Another day, another round of applause for #RRR 



From the writer of DC's Batman Beyond and MARVEL Comics' Captain America, Kang and more... #RRRMovie https://t.co/tEZPVf9kEt  RRR Movie (@RRRMovie) June 14, 2022

Karaszewski, the co-writer of filmslike Ed Wood, Agent Cody Banks and Big Eyes also praised the movie.



"Those who say cinema is dead aren't looking in the right places. #RRR" Karaszewski posted on Twitter.



Those who say cinema is dead arent looking in the right places. #RRR pic.twitter.com/G8VwlYEPGM  Larry Karaszewski (@Karaszewski) June 13, 2022

Hollywood actor Patton Oswalt was also so impressed with RRR that he had been recommending it to everyone.

"If this ISNT playing near you in IMAX then this is the next best way to watch it. Fucken @RRRMovie is insane (sic)," he tweeted.

In another tweet, he wrote, "You guys are out of your f**king minds, you should not be allowed to make films, and I cant wait to see what you do next."

If this ISNT playing near you in IMAX then this is the next best way to watch it. Fucken @RRRMovie is insane. https://t.co/1kwNFwtTMR  Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 24, 2022

You guys are out of your fucking minds, you should not be allowed to make films, and I cant wait to see what you do next. https://t.co/SVFDD064Iq  Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 24, 2022

RRR marked a huge success in the UK. Telugu actor Ram Charan thanked fans and told PTI, "A special thank you to our UK fans for showering us with so much love and support."



"It is this love and affection that makes us who we are and drives us to work harder and present you all with good films. I have both vacationed and filmed in the UK several times and it has always been a great experience." he added.

Twitter

Ram Charan said it is the "universal" theme of friendship that is at the heart of the blockbuster and it has struck a chord with the global audiences.

"Irrespective of language or continent, audiences connect to it and thats what helped RRR garner a wide range of audience. Also post Baahubali, SS Rajamouli (SSR) earned global credibility for his impeccable skill of storytelling. Every person who was involved in the film, worked with strong conviction and I think people from across the globe could see the determination and perseverance," he said.

(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)


According to a recent study, the insects that maintain food chains and pollinate plants keep the world going yet are in grave danger.

Future climatic changes are likely to have an impact on outbreaks of forest insects since temperature and other environmental factors affect forest insect populations. In some instances, greater and more frequent insect outbreaks may happen, but in other instances, recurring outbreaks may be stopped.

What does the new study say?

Reuters/Representational Image

In comparison to natural environments, the new study, which was published in the journal Nature, claims that insect populations have decreased by about 50 percent in agricultural hubs and areas experiencing higher temperatures brought on by climate change. Over the course of 20 years, from 1992 to 2012, the University College London researchers examined more than 750,000 records on roughly 20,000 different species of insects, including bees, beetles, grasshoppers, and butterflies.

The main objective was to evaluate how changing land use and temperatures affected insect populations. The findings, according to the researchers, point to sensitivity to human activities.

There was a 29% decrease in the variety of bug species, particularly in tropical areas. However, where there's little to no monoculture activity and natural habitats made up at least 75 percent of the territory, researchers claim they saw only a 7% reduction in populationeven though temperatures had risen.

Reuters/Representational Image

According to Charlie Outhwaite, the main study author and a research fellow at University College London, "our findings may simply reflect the tip of the iceberg given there is limited evidence in some locations, especially in the tropics where we observed rather significant declines in insect biodiversity in the most afflicted areas."

The findings, according to Outhwaite, underline the "urgency of steps" required to protect natural ecosystems, hold back the spread of high-intensity agriculture, and reduce emissions in order to combat climate change.

There was a similar recommendation for immediate emission reductions in the most recent chapter of the IPCC's Sixth Assessment.

Twin horsemen"

The "twin horsemen" of habitat loss and climate change pose a unique challenge to insects. The researchers wanted to know how insect biodiversity was being impacted in places where both of these problems are most acute. They concluded that they were aware of the fact that these two are not independent of one another; for instance, habitat loss can exacerbate the consequences of climate change by reducing the amount of shade that is available, making these vulnerable locations even hotter.

Reuters/Representational Image

According to the study, reduction in the number of insects is most significant in agriculture regions of tropical states, where the combined effects of climate change and habitat loss are most acutely felt.

Although it is well known that habitat loss is a major danger to biodiversity, little is known about how it affects insects, and analyses of tropical species are typically really scarce. According to one study, the number of orchid bees in Brazil that depend on forests has decreased by almost 50 percent (although it only sampled their numbers at two-time points). Only found in the Americas, orchid bees play a crucial role in pollinating orchid blossoms; in fact, certain orchids are completely reliant on this insect.

Reuters/Representational Image

Climate change increases the difficulties caused by deforestation and other, longer-term environmental changes. Moth losses in Costa Rica and declines in bumblebee populations in Europe and North America have already been linked to this rapidly rising danger to insect biodiversity.

Increased temperatures and a rise in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like droughts are just 2 symptoms that are known to be hazardous to many insect species.

The tropics of the earth are expected to be particularly hard hit by climate change. The study highlights that tropical climates often have very stable temperatures, thus local species are not accustomed to the rapid temperature swings brought on by climate change.

Why are insects critical for the planet?

Unsplash/Representational Image

The survival of the planet depends on insects. They facilitate the control of pest species and decompose dead matter to release nutrients into the soil. Numerous vital food crops, such as fruits, spices, and  crucially for chocolate lovers  cocoa, are pollinated in large part by flying insects.

Therefore, it is extremely concerning that more and more research indicates that insect populations are drastically declining.

These crucial ecological processes could be threatened by a loss of insect biodiversity, endangering human lives and food security.

What can be done?

Reuters/Representational Image

Agriculture-related plants and the insects that depend on them will be impacted by climate change. Weforum claims that while these consequences are complicated, it is a given that pest pressures would rise. More bug monitoring, forecasting, and modelling are required so that we can create adaptation plans.

Additionally, according to experts, nations should keep track of developments, exchange information, and plan ahead using historical data and modelling to anticipate and get ready for an uncertain future that is predicted to bring about hungrier insect pests that will have an impact on crop productivity and food security.





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In the video, a man stands in front of a blackboard in a full classroom, teaching the parts of an AK-47 rifle. He then hands it over to a boy, showing him how to cock it.

AP

Other children crowd around, many who appear to be no older than 10, asking for their turn. The video, leaked online this month, provides a rare window into child soldier indoctrination by Yemens Houthi rebels, The Associated Press reported.

Local residents confirmed to The Associated Press that it was filmed in recent weeks in Yemens rebel-held province of Amran, northwest of the capital, Sanaa.

AP

Despite an agreement with the U.N. in April to halt the practice, the Houthis continue to recruit children into the military ranks to fight in the countrys grinding civil war, Houthi officials, aid workers and residents told the AP.

Two Houthi officials said the rebels recruited several hundred children including as young as 10 over the past two months. Those children have been deployed to front lines, as part of a build-up of forces taking place during a U.N.-brokered truce, which has held for more than two months, one official said.

The officials, both hardliners within the Houthi movement, said they see nothing wrong with the practice, arguing that boys from 10 or 12 are considered men.

AP

Those are not children. They are true men, who should defend their nation against the Saudi, American aggression, and defend the Islamic nation, one of them said. The two spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid frictions with others among the Houthis.

The Houthis have used what they call summer camps to disseminate their religious ideology and to recruit boys to fight. Such camps take place in schools and mosques around the Houthi-held part of Yemen, which encompasses the north and centre of the country and Sanaa.

Thetimes

Yemens conflict erupted in 2014 when the Houthis descended from their northern enclave and took over Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to the south. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the government to power, waging a destructive air campaign and arming anti-Houthi forces.

Child soldiers have been involved for years. Nearly 2,000 Houthi-recruited children were killed on the battlefield between January 2020 and May 2021, according to U.N experts. Pro-government forces have also used child fighters but to a much lesser degree and have taken greater measures to halt the practice, according to U.N and aid officials.

Overall, the U.N says over 10,200 children have been killed or maimed in the war, though it is unclear how many may have been combatants.
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The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has given preliminary approval to a new occupational safety and health plan for Massachusetts state and local employers and their employees.

If given final approved after a comment period, the Massachusetts OSHA plan would cover approximately 6,500 public sector employers and nearly 434,000 public employees throughout the state.

Private sector and federally employed workers in Massachusetts would remain under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

There is now a 30-day comment period before final approval may be granted. Comments and requests for a hearing must be submitted by Aug. 1, 2022 at the Federal Register.

To be eligible for approval, a state must show it is able to operate an OSHA program that is, or will be, at least as effective as the federal program.

Under the federal OSHA Act, state and local government employers are specifically excluded from federal coverage. However, the act provides for states to assume responsibility for occupational safety and health programs under the states own plan, which must be approved by OSHA. Each state plan must include coverage of state and local employees.

Topics Workers' Compensation Massachusetts
A unit of Carlyle International Energy Partners LP has assumed the full risks of operating a new gas field in the Romanian waters of the Black Sea as insurers shun the zone because of its proximity to the war in Ukraine.

Black Sea Oil & Gas SA, owned by Carlyle and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, started producing gas this month from a block located near Ukrainian waters in which there have been missile and drone strikes during the four-month conflict.

We have no insurance, BSOG Chief Executive Officer Mark Beacom told reporters on Tuesday. You cant get insurance after the war started. Were taking that risk.

While Romania enjoys protection from membership of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union, Russias late-February invasion of neighboring Ukraine has led to battles over Ukrainian ports and the risk of sea mines drifting in the Black Sea. The conflict has spooked insurers, which are asking for unprecedented premiums to cover ships and other assets.

Insurance Premiums Surging for Ukraine War-Exposed Business: Sources

The offshore Midia Gas Development project comprises five production wells, one unmanned platform, and a 126-kilometer (78-mile) pipeline linking the facility to the shore as well as to a new onshore gas treatment plant in the Black Sea town of Corbu.

Were not in a war zone in Romania, but this clearly has an impact, said Beacom. Weve had mines detected close to our platform, we have warships close and airplanes circling our platform.

Photograph: A gas production platform in the Black Sea. Photo credit: Andrei Pungovschi/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Carriers
A landmark inquiry into Australias mining sector has uncovered dozens of shocking cases of sexual harassment and abuse of women workers at companies including BHP Group and Rio Tinto Group.

The Western Australia government report released [June 23] described horrific incidents at the workplaces, which it labeled both a failure of the industry and an oversight by government. Among recommendations were the payment of compensation to the many workers who became victims of bosses and colleagues on remote projects.

I was shocked and appalled well beyond expectation by the size and depth of the problem, Libby Mettam, chair of the inquiry, said in the report. 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 completely inexcusable.

Disturbing Culture of Sexual Harassment, Racism, Bullying Found at Rio Tinto: Report

The probe delves into the dark corners of an industry thats under mounting pressure from investors, governments and society to address its impacts on local communities and the wider environment. BHP and Rio Tinto issued their own inquiries after allegations from women emerged in Western Australias $159-billion a year resources industry, where so-called Fly In-Fly Out (FIFO) workers are transported to remote sites for several weeks at a time.

Among the allegations of abuse revealed in the report were:

A woman involved in a safety issue was told by a supervisor she could make the issue go away if she had sex with him.

Another was knocked unconscious in her room and woke up undressed with her jeans around her ankles.

Another described how a man forced his hands down her top several times in front of other workers and no one did anything.

After complaining about colleagues making sexual jokes about her, a woman said her supervisors response was to force himself on her.

Sex dolls and toys placed in womens sleeping quarters; women were victims of stalking, unsolicited texting, and provocative photo requests.

Shoveling, where iron ore was dumped inside the vehicles of women drivers who didnt comply with sexual requests.

BHP, Rio Tinto

The inquiry revealed that BHP Group recorded 91 reports of alleged sexual harassment or assault in the year through June 30, 2021, of which 79 were substantiated. Rio Tinto, from January 2020 to August 2021, received 51 complaints of sexual harassment or assault in FIFO operations, including one substantiated report of sexual assault and 29 substantiated reports of sexual harassment.

Rio will closely study the reports recommendations, Rios iron ore chief Simon Trott said in an emailed statement. The courage of people coming forward to tell their stories has been critical in terms of shining a light on behaviors that must change within our company and our industry.

Allegations of abuse were also received at projects operated by Woodside Petroleum, Fortescue Metals Group, and Chevron Corp.

BHP said its committed to creating a safe and inclusive workplace and is taking action including regular training and engagement with our teams, additional investment of $300 million in our facilities, stricter controls on alcohol consumption, strengthening our support networks and reporting and investigation processes, and encouraging our people to call out disrespectful behavior in all its forms.

Chevron will also review the findings and the inquiry has provided a critical opportunity to learn, act and improve, the company said in a statement. A Woodside spokesperson said separately that it was reviewing the report and we recognize that everyone in the industry must do better in order to ensure a safe and respectful workplace for all.

Fortescues chief, Elizabeth Gaines, said that while the company has implemented safety enhancements at worksites after conducting its own review, we acknowledge that some inappropriate behavior still occurs.

In line with our zero-tolerance approach to harassment, bullying, discrimination and intimidation, we will continue to encourage our team members to call out inappropriate behavior, to speak up and take clear decisive action when they do identify behavior which does not align with our values, Gaines said in a statement.

Male-Dominated Camps

In Western Australia, a resource-rich state four times the size of France thats the center of a massive iron ore industry, remote mines that can only be accessed through flights by FIFO workers have been especially risky for women. They remain largely male-dominated, with workers living in camp-style accommodation.

A report commissioned by Rio Tinto and released in February showed more than a quarter of its female workers have experienced sexual harassment and almost half of all staff have been victims of bullying. Larger rival BHP last year said it fired 48 workers at its sites in Western Australia since 2019 after verifying allegations of harassment.

The Western Australian government should consider establishing a forum to hear, document and acknowledge the experiences of victims of historical workplace sexual harassment, the report recommended. Part of this process could include exploring opportunities for redress, such as formal apologies from companies and/or perpetrators and appropriate compensation.

Other recommendations in the report, which are expected to be accepted by the state government, include:

Ensuring mining and other resources companies enforce serious repercussions, including dismissal, for any person who has attempted to seek sexual favors for advantage and that all proper legal actions will be taken against them.

The industry must explore ways to prevent perpetrators of serious sexual harassment finding reemployment on other sites and in other companies.

The mining and resources industry must establish acceptable standards for accommodation facilities, including security and other safety measures.

We were told how sexual harassment is generally accepted or overlooked, of the abuse of positions of power, serious breaches of codes of conduct, and a culture of cover-up, Mettam said. It is simply shocking this could be taking place in the 21st Century in one of the states most lucrative industries.

With assistance from David Stringer.

Photograph: Excavators and trucks load and move nickel ore in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Photocredit: Eric Taylor/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Australia Mining
Mosaic Insurance has welcomed its second year of summer interns, expanding the program to include students at its Bermuda, New York, and London offices.

Skyler Powell, 20, is working as a Communications, Marketing & Special Projects intern at the global specialty insurers Bermuda headquarters. Adiv Kuray, 18, is based at Mosaics New York City office, where he supports political violence and cyber underwriting divisions. And McKenzie-Kohl Tuckett, 18, Mosaics first intern in Bermuda in 2021, returns to do a learning stint with the claims team at the companys London office.

Were thrilled to be able to engage these three very talented students in the work we do as a growing global insurance start-up, said Chief of Staff Lisa Fontanetta. Not only are they getting an immersion in their respective fields of focus, but theyre also networking with team members across different regions of the world, contributing to our unique culture as we grow, and hopefully gaining valuable insights they can use in their future careers.

Powell, a Bermudian senior at Rollins College, Florida, is on track to graduate next spring with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations, minoring in Social Entrepreneurship. At Mosaic, she attends company strategy meetings; shadows underwriters; curates content for the corporate website, news releases and social channels (including a takeover of its Instagram Stories); and helps with production of Mosaics new podcast series, Mosaic Moment. She is also conducting research and drafting statements and policy initiatives for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies.

Working in Bermuda for Mosaics Communications & Marketing division, with access to the leadership team, underwriters, and members of the finance team has been an extraordinary opportunitythe culture here is unmatched, said Powell. Being an intern at a brand new company has also allowed me amazing opportunities, including the chance to contribute to policy work and other in-depth content. It is very rewarding.

Kuray, a sophomore at George Washington University, Washington, DC, is majoring in International Affairs. Placed with Mosaics political violence and cyber divisions in Manhattan, he is researching domestic and international security threats, and supporting underwriters with data using industry pricing tools. He also prepares reports on geopolitical issues relevant to Mosaics specialty lines.

Mosaics work in political violence aligns with my interests in global security, said Kuray, an executive member of GWs Model UN Team who organizes conferences to debate global security issues, with a focus on terrorism. In my course at the Elliot School of International Affairs, we focus on analyzing implications of various conflict zones across the world. Its amazing to learn about the intersection of this and how the Lloyds syndicated markets operate.

Tuckett wrapped her first successful year of law school at the University of Bristol, UK, where among other achievements, she was elected by peers as first-year law representative; won the Bristol Law Clubs first-year debate competition; became a student ambassador for the law school; and volunteered for several charities. She received the Bristol PLUS Award, recognizing her work experience and extracurricular activities.

Before kicking off her second year, Tuckett returns to Mosaic later this summerthis time at its London office, where shell shadow and work with its claims team. Mosaics UK law firm, RPC, has also invited Tuckett to participate in the firms interactive virtual experience program. She hopes both experiences will expand her network and teach her more about insurance law, particularly in the claims sphere, before she decides on a legal specialty.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Mosaic family again, in a new location with different team members, Tuckett said. Im also grateful to RPC for the chance to meet colleagues and engage with their virtual programme. I know both experiences will help give me the insights I need to choose my future career path.

Source: Mosaic Insurance

Topics New York London
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the brokers BMS and Willis Towers Watson (WTW).

A summary of these new hires follows here.

BMS Promotes Gormley to UK CEO

BMS, the London-based independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced that Ian Gormley has been appointed UK CEO, effective immediately.

Gormley will report to Nick Cook, chief executive of BMS Group. In that role he will be responsible for the continued growth and expansion of the companys capabilities in London and Bermuda across all specialty lines both insurance and reinsurance

Since joining BMS as managing director of global risks in 2012, Gormley has led BMS specialty business to become one of the highest regarded and most respected platforms in London, doubling the platform into a multi-faceted global business with revenues of more than 100 million, BMS said.

He has also built out BMS energy presence, developed a best-in-class property team, advanced the financial products division, and established a global risks team in Bermuda for property/liability and specialty reinsurance. Prior to BMS, Gormley worked for seven years at Glencairn and has a background both in underwriting and broking.

BMS plans to more than double the scale of its specialty business through selective growth with partners where we can bring in new capability or enrich current expertise, commented Gormley. BMS is a destination for talent and has a very inclusive culture in which we give our colleagues or teams the support they need to succeed. I look forward to bringing my passion for BMSs people-led culture and my sector expertise to deliver the strongest possible outcomes for clients around the world.

Im delighted that [Gormley] has taken on the role of UK CEO of BMS which allows me more time to focus on global strategic growth across our whole business, said Cook.

***

WTW Names Schepers Head of Insurance Consulting and Technology as Underwood Retires

WTW has appointed Frank Schepers to lead its Insurance Consulting & Technology (ICT) business. Based in Germany, Schepers will replace Alice Underwood who is retiring this year, and will join WTWs Risk & Broking segment leadership team. Schepers will take up his new role in the coming weeks, following a handover period with Underwood.

Schepers has been with WTW, and its predecessor companies, since 1994 when he joined as a consultant. He has held several senior leadership roles within ICT in that time, including Risk Consulting & Software leader for Germany and then Northern and Central Europe. He was appointed Head of ICT for the EMEA region between 2015 and 2018 before taking on a new role leading major, strategic projects for some of WTWs most significant clients.

Alice Underwood joined the firm 16 years ago and has been Head of ICT since 2017, leading the business through a period of significant success and growth.

We are delighted to have appointed Frank to lead our ICT business globally, following a thorough internal and external search for Alices successor. Frank has been instrumental in expanding ICTs services and embedding the important links between the business consulting services and technology solutions that have made it such a powerful force in the market, commented Adam Garrard, head of Risk & Broking, WTW.

Topics Tech Willis Towers Watson
Minnesota health officials say a Twin Cities adult has contracted the states first presumed case of monkeypox, a disease that has emerged in more than 50 countries and 26 U.S. states.

The state public health lab identified the infection, a case which has been forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.

The person identified with the disease in Minnesota is receiving outpatient treatment for the infection that likely was contracted during overseas travel, according to health officials.

Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash. Some people in the current outbreak have only reported rashes, which typically are found on the hands, feet, face or genitals.

The CDC only recommends the monkeypox vaccine in advance of exposure to health care workers and researchers who work with the virus.

The World Health Organization issued a statement Saturday which said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency.

A WHO emergency committee said many aspects of the outbreak were unusual and acknowledged that monkeypox, which is endemic in some African countries, has been neglected for years.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Minnesota
The family of a student who died from alcohol poisoning while pledging a fraternity sued Bowling Green State University, alleging the Ohio school knew about but didnt stop hazing in Greek life there and should be held responsible.

The university characterized the death of 20-year-old Stone Foltz as a tragedy but called the familys lawsuit meritless. In a written statement, BGSU spokesperson Alex Solis suggested the suit in the Ohio Court of Claims undermines the schools efforts to eradicate hazing.

The familys wrongful death complaint seeks compensatory damages and references a desire for more proactive measures to stop hazing on college campuses.

Foltzs death already led to criminal convictions for several fraternity members and tougher penalties for hazing in Ohio. The university made changes, too, including hiring a hazing prevention coordinator and expelling the fraternity Foltz was joining.

His parents have settled part of a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity and several of its members for at least $4 million.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Ohio
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Alexandra Bretschneider said it feels like she has been a part-time grim reaper the last two years.

The cyber practice leader at broker Johnson, Kendall & Johnson said, I am just constantly delivering bad news.

Providing a perspective of the cyber insurance market for small- and medium-sized enterprises, Bretschneider said shes had to tell clients of significant rate increases for coverage, and has had to reveal that their investments in cybersecurity led them to pay more for a product thats probably giving you less.

Its not been fun. It being called a hard market is aptly named, Bretschneider said during a state-of-the-market panel at NetDiligences Cyber Risk Summit in Philadelphia early this month. The rate increases in 2021 were extraordinary, and even SME clients that skirted under the radar saw major increases during the first half of 2022, she said.

Underwriting scrutiny in general still continues to be all over the map.  Alexandra Bretschneider

In line with recent marketplace reports, Bretschneider said rate increases have slowed, but from the triple or high double-digit percentages to 10-30% hikes.

Underwriting scrutiny in general still continues to be all over the map, Bretschneider continued. That is going to vary by carrier with every industry, every size of organization within that industry. Insurers are reducing limits, restricting coverage and raising retentions.

We used to be able to maybe squeeze by a couple higher legacy limits but those days are really starting to dwindle, she added.

Payal Patel, Northeast zone leader for Marshs cyber practice, said clients want more cyber insurance to protect themselves against a catastrophic event but the limit is not always available, or our SMB clients dont always qualify for the limit, based on their controls. Plus retentions here are also high  to the point some clients dont think that the insurance policy is actually going to protect [them] when [they] need it most.

Patel said coverage is being removed where it hurts  where clients believe they need it most, including business interruption and ransomware events. Theres not really a lot of value for them to spend that money for coverage (that doesnt fully insure these perils). Where ransomware or business interruption loss costs are sub-limited, co-insured, or fully removed from cyber policies they dont feel like its actually protecting their operational technology risk where it may hurt the most, she said.

Bretschneider said clients understand the need for rate increases especially as the market grapples with the systemic risk cyber presents. Clients have largely shifted from believing they wont be targets of hackers to now buying cyber insurance and thinking about pre- and post-event mitigation plans, which has been beneficial since the marketplace has recently forced clients into that behavior in order to obtain insurance.

For all the work done by the cyber insurance marketplace to achieve rate, there still needs to be a correction to some extent, said Jacob Ingerslev, head of Cyber & Tech Underwriting at Tokio Marine HCC. Despite all of the changes  all the price changes and reductions and the underwriting requirements  it only moved the loss ratio several points down. If you look at the top 10 carriers, half arent making money.

Eric Seyfried, head of the cyber & technology US Open Market at Axis, said the firm, industry-wide approach by insurers is leading to a certain level of maturity, and hygiene and operational sophistication among policyholders and if the marketplace continues to get some rate and push down some better controls, prices may move to reflect new and better risks, but the data is not yet available for that to happen consistently.

Brokers Patel and Bretschneider said the marketplace is not uniformly distinguishing good risks from the bad. Patel said some large, corporate clients feel like theyre funding the losses across the market as rate increases continue to come in even for longstanding accounts without a claim history.

We as an entire insurance community need to be more uniform on some of the priorities around what we think is a good risk versus what we think is a risk that should be charged more, Patel said. The questions on applications are changing but the way insurers are underwriting based on the claims activity they are seeing are not changing.

Bretschneider agreed that data is needed for the market to make better decisions and refine models but there is so much movement within the marketplace that submissions are off the chart. As rates soften, Bretschneider predicted more renewals with incumbents, reducing submissions looking for the best price and coverage. There is going to be more time top actually underwrite as insurers weigh rate increases against the desire to retain good accounts.

Topics Cyber Agencies Pricing Trends Market
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U.S. power companies are facing supply crunches that may hamper their ability to keep the lights on as the nation heads into the heat of summer and the peak hurricane season.

Extreme weather events such as storms, wildfires and drought are becoming more common in the United States. Consumer power use is expected to hit all-time highs this summer, which could strain electric grids at a time when federal agencies are warning the weather could pose reliability issues.

Utilities are warning of supply constraints for equipment, which could hamper efforts to restore power during outages. They are also having a tougher time rebuilding natural gas stockpiles for next winter as power generators burn record amounts of gas following the shutdown of dozens of coal plants in recent years and extreme drought cuts hydropower supplies in many Western states.

Increasingly frequent cold snaps, heat waves, drought and major storms continue to challenge the ability of our nations electric infrastructure to deliver reliable affordable energy to consumers, Richard Glick, chairman of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), said earlier this month.

Federal agencies responsible for power reliability like FERC have warned that grids in the western half of the country could face reliability issues this summer as consumers crank up air conditioners to escape the heat.

Some utilities have already experienced problems due to the heat. Texas grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), was forced to urge customers to conserve energy after several plants shut unexpectedly during an early heat wave in mid-May.

In mid-June, Ohio-based American Electric Power Co. imposed rolling outages during a heat wave after a storm damaged transmission lines and knocked out power to over 200,000 homes and businesses.

The U.S. Midwest faces the most severe risk because demand is rising while nuclear and coal power supplies have declined.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which operates the grid from Minnesota to Louisiana, warned that parts of its coverage area are at increased risk of temporary outages to preserve the integrity of the grid.

Supply-chain issues have already delayed the construction of renewable energy projects across the country. Those renewable delays coupled with tight power in the Midwest prompted Wisconsins WEC Energy Group Inc. and Indianas NiSource Inc. to delay planned coal plant shutdowns in recent months.

Bracing for Supply Shortages

Utility operators are conserving their inventory of parts and equipment as they plan for severe storms. Over the last several months, that means operators have been getting creative.

Were doing a lot more splicing, putting cables together, instead of laying new cable because were trying to maintain our new cable for inventory when we need it, Nick Akins, chief executive of AEP, said at the CERAWeek energy conference in March.

Transformers, which often sit on top of electrical poles and convert high-voltage energy to the power used in homes, are in short supply.

New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (PSEG) Chief Executive Ralph Izzo told Reuters the company has had to look at alternate supply options for low voltage transformers.

You dont want to deplete your inventory because you dont know when that storm is coming, but you know its coming, Izzo said.

Some utilities are facing waiting times of more than a year for transformer parts, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the American Public Power Association told U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a May letter.

Summer is just starting, but U.S. weather so far this year has already been about 21% warmer than the 30-year norm, according to data provider Refinitiv.

If we have successive days of 100-degree-heat, those pole top transformers, they start popping like Rice Krispies, and we would not have the supply stack to replace them, Izzo said.

Topics USA
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Tuesday he was investigating whether Walmart WMT.N improperly filled prescriptions and failed to report suspicious orders when selling opioid drugs.

Paxton said he had opened a civil investigation into Walmarts potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act relating to the promotion, sale, dispensing and distribution of prescription opioids.

The investigation focuses on Walmarts compliance with a requirement to submit documentation related to its opioid orders to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and all state agencies in Texas, Paxton said.

I have fought for Texans who have been tragically impacted by the illegal marketing and sale of opioids, which have caused addiction and the untimely deaths of thousands of people each year, Paxton said. I am committed to holding pharmacies accountable if they played a role in this devastating epidemic.

Walmart said it would answer the Texas Attorney Generals questions and that it was confident in its record on opioid safety.

The companys pharmacists have refused to fill hundreds of thousands of potentially problematic opioid prescriptions, and it has been chastised for being too cautious at times  including by the Texas Medical Board, Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said.

Walmart and our pharmacists are torn between the demands on pharmacists imposed by opioids plaintiffs on one side and health agencies and regulators on the other, and patients are caught in the middle, Hargrove said.

The federal government separately sued Walmart over its alleged failure to report suspicious opioid orders in 2020, and many of the examples used in its complaint involved Texas prescriptions.

That lawsuit was put on hold late last year while the U.S. Supreme Court considered a separate case involving the criminal conviction of two doctors found guilty of misusing their medical licenses to fill thousands of prescriptions for addictive pain medications.

The Supreme Court decided that case on Monday, ruling unanimously in favor of the two doctors, who argued that their trials were unfair because jurors were not instructed to consider whether they had good faith reasons to believe their numerous opioid prescriptions were medically valid.Read full story

The federal governments lawsuit against Walmart is scheduled to resume on July 11.

Walmart, along with two pharmacy chain operators, was found liable in November for fueling the opioid epidemic in two Ohio counties. The judge in that case held a second trial to determine the amount that Walmart and its co-defendants must pay to abate the opioid crisis in the two counties, but has not yet made a ruling.

(Reporting by Knauth; Editing by Chris Reese, Leslie Adler and Michael Perry)

Topics Texas
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Florida insurers may have another weapon in the war over assignments of benefits in insurance claims, thanks to an appeals court ruling that went against one of the insurance industrys most visible and active foes.

In Kidwell Group and Air Quality Assessors vs. United Property & Casualty Insurance, Floridas 4th District Court of Appeal this month upheld a lower courts dismissal of a breach-of-contract suit. In what may be the first appellate ruling on this aspect of the 2019 Florida statute that aimed to limit AOB claims, the appeals courts held that the assignee-contractor did not provide an itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed in the restoration, as required by law.

Insurance attorneys said that hundreds of AOB agreements have been signed since Florida lawmakers in 2019 allowed the new policy restrictions that are designed to deter AOB agreements and litigation, and many do not contain the itemized estimates. That could give insurers fertile ground to challenge the claims and to fend off breach-of-contract lawsuits.

The court is taking a strict enforcement view on policy provisions, said attorney Patrick Carleton, of the Groelle & Salmon law firm, who has represented insurers in other cases against Kidwell.

He said that he has seen other AOB agreements that do not include itemized estimates. This will definitely be helpful in other cases we have, Carleton added.

Matt Scanlan, insurance attorney with Dunlap and Shipman in Tallahassee, said that his client insurers have denied almost all claims from Air Quality Assessors if the company did not include the itemized estimates. But the contractor has learned quickly and has added the per-unit costs to invoices in recent months, after the initial court decision went against it.

I would say they are constantly evolving, trying different things, but the courts keep holding their feet to the fire, Scanlan said.

The Kidwell Group and Air Quality Assessors is headed by Winter Park contractor Richie Kidwell, who has made headlines for his involvement in a number of high-profile actions against insurance companies. This month, Kidwell and his Restoration Association of Florida filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of a law approved by the state Legislature at its special insurance session in May, which bars assignees of benefits from being awarded attorney fees in court.

In the United Property & Casualty case, the Kidwell Group and Air Quality Assessors argued that they had, in fact, included an invoice as an attachment to the lawsuit complaint. But the 4th DCA judges said the invoice was unexecuted and was dated five days after the assignment agreement was signed.

As such, the trial court properly concluded the assignment did not contain a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed by Appellant as required by sections 627.7152(2)(a)1. and 627.7152(2)(a)4, reads the 4th DCA opinion, written by Judge Burton Conner.

The statutes cited were those approved by lawmakers in 2019 in an effort to curb AOB claims, which have resulted in hundreds of lawsuits per month.

Kidwell testified at the legislative session, urging lawmakers to vote down the package of reform bills. He has become well known in the Florida property insurance arena, but court rulings have not often gone his way.

The United P&C decision, handed down June 15, came eight months after the same appeals court ruled against the Kidwell Group and Air Quality Assessors in a breach-of-contract suit against Geovera Specialty Insurance Co. That decision held that the suit should be dismissed because both spouses had not signed the AOB agreement, as required by the policy. The Florida Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of that decision, said Carleton, who represented Geovera in the case.

Kidwell and his attorney, Chad Barr, of Altamonte Springs, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but Kidwell agreed to talk later this week.

Kidwell, the Restoration Association and Air Quality in May filed another high-profile suit, this one against Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier and two insurers. The suit argues that the commissioner exceeded his authority in allowing American Integrity Insurance Co. policies to require arbitration in claims disputes, in exchange for premium discounts for homeowners. Heritage Insurance also was approved for a policy endorsement that bars payments to anyone except the homeowner, a move that violates state law, which allows for assignments of benefits, the suit reads.

Attorneys and a Florida law professor said the suit and Kidwells challenge to the 2022 reform law are unlikely to succeed in court.

Topics Carriers Legislation Florida
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Starting Friday, July 1, state and local governments will have to conduct a sea-level impact study if they build anything near Floridas coastline, the result of a state law passed in 2020.

Although the law applies only to government entities using state funds, it could have an impact on neighboring private properties and their insurance premiums. Its possible that insurers could use the studies to help determine risk from floods, pollution and other hazards in some coastal areas, attorneys said.

The Florida Legislature in 2020 approved Senate Bill 178, sponsored by then-Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami. He left the Senate in 2020 and has been nominated by President Biden to be assistant U.S. secretary of labor.

The rules to implement the bill were finalized last year by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The law, considered one of Florida governments first acknowledgments of rising seas and their complications, requires the sea-level impact project study, or SLIP study, to be done for all government structures built in the coastal building zone using state funds.

The statute defines the building zone as most of the beach areas in Florida: the land from the high-water line to an area 1,500 feet landward of the coastal construction control line. The control line is determined by the Department of Environmental Protection, and the new law and rules appear to go well beyond that line.

Government-built structures in that area must now undergo an assessment of the potential damage over the next 50 years from higher seas, flooding, storm surges and wave action. Some analyses predict as much as 8.5 feet of sea-level rise by the year 2100. The DEP requires the use of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations projections.

By implementing these risk-based assessments, infrastructure in Florida will be able to tangibly prepare for flooding risks and sea level rise, Alexandra Kuchta, press secretary for the DEP, said in an email.

The studies, to be signed by a professional engineer, must also analyze the risks and costs of maintaining, repairing and building the structure, along with public safety and environmental impacts. Those include the potential release of pollutants and the exposure of electrical and explosion hazards, according to a legislative analysis of the law.

Builders must also examine alternatives for the coastal structures design and location, the Holland & Knight law firm said in bulletin about the law. The studies will be made public, accessible on the DEPs website. Although not mandatory until Friday, some 30 projects already have submitted SLIP studies. For the Caledesi Island Marina & Bathhouse off Clearwater, for example, the study notes that the high wind risk in this project location may contribute to a higher risk of explosion due to potential downed powerlines.

DEP lists a number of strategies project owners can use to mitigate the impact of sea rise, including building in elevated areas, employing flood barriers and planting more shrubbery.

The 2020 law has some teeth in it to ensure the studies are done.

If a state-financed constructor begins construction of a coastal structure without first submitting a SLIP study as required, then DEP is authorized to institute a civil action for injunctive relief to cease further construction on the coastal structure and seek recovery of all or a portion of state funds expended on the structure, the firm explained.

DEP has created an online tool that helps users visualize future sea levels and coastal flood hazards.

Holland & Knight attorneys could not be reached for comment this week, but the June 24 email alert noted that two bills were introduced in the regular 2022 session of the Legislature, which would have expanded requirements of the law. Those bills did not pass but could be brought up again in 2023, the firm said.

Topics Florida
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A Florida accident victim gets a second chance to compel an auto insurer to pay a $12.7 million judgment after the insurer failed to respond to a $10,000 settlement offer, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday.

A divided panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the trial court botched the jury instructions in a lawsuit filed by Dustin Brink against Direct General Insurance Co. by failing to address the insurers duty to advise its insureds of a settlement opportunity. The panel returned the lawsuit to the US District Court in Tampa for a new trial after the first one ended with a verdict in favor of the insurer.

The panels majority opinion repeated part of a statement that Brinks attorney said during closing arguments: One of the easiest ways to invite a bad faith claim is to fail to keep the insured advised of settlement opportunities.

The dissenting member of the three-judge panel wrote separately to say that there was no error, in his view, and the evidence showed that the plaintiffs attorneys were plotting to pursue a bad faith claim to begin with.

Brinks attorney, Brent Steinberg with Swope, Rodante in Tampa, said in an email that his client, an Iraq War veteran, suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the accident. There is no dispute that Direct General failed to respond to the settlement offer, he said, and the evidence shows that this was not the result of an honest oversight.

Discovery revealed that during the same period, the assigned adjuster was failing to timely respond to approximately 46% of the attorney time-limited demands she received, Steinberg said. Her supervisor also had 14  20% of claims which were past due at any given point.

Brink was seriously injured at 2:09 a.m. on April 5, 2008 when his Kawasaki motorcycle collided with a borrowed vehicle driven by Juan Ruiz Pereles in Kissimmee, Florida. The car was insured through a policy that Direct General issued to Pereles father, who owned the car.

Direct General learned about the accident three weeks later. From the start, the insurers claims adjusters had trouble communicating with the parties involved. Direct General was unable to reach Pereles or his father. The insurer initially communicated with Brinks attorney, but later learned the lawyer had quit representing him.

For months after the accident, Direct General sent letters to Pereles father explaining its policy limits and asking if any other insurance might apply. The insurer tried 11 times to reach Brinks new attorney, Alexander Clem, with no luck. Eventually, Direct General decided to pay its policy limits and mailed a check for $10,000 to Clems office. The check was never cashed.

When Clem finally responded to Direct General more than a year later, he asked whether there was any other insurance coverage available. The insurer replied that it was unaware of any other coverage and offered to sign an affidavit. Clem did not reply until eight months later, when he agreed to settle the case for the policy limit as long as he received the insurance information he requested within the next couple of weeks.

This time, it was Direct General that went silent. After three weeks passed, Clem informed Direct General that he had filed a lawsuit on Brinks behalf against Pereles and his father. He also asked why the insurer had not responded to his settlement offer.

A jury awarded Brink $12.7 million. By then, six years had passed since the accident.

Next, Brink filed a bad faith lawsuit against Direct General, alleging that the company had failed to timely respond to its settlement offer and had not advised its insureds of the settlement opportunity.

Once again, the case went to trial. After evidence was presented and arguments made, the US District Court gave a standard jury instruction that addressed only an insurers liability for failing to settle.

During deliberations, the jury asked the court whether the bad faith should be based on the full length of time since the accident or just the time after Brinks lawyer made a settlement offer. The court advised the jurors to consider the totality of the circumstances.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Direct General. Brink appealed, arguing that jury instruction was defective because it did not address the insurers duty to advise its insureds.

A majority opinion written by Judge Britt Grant says that Brinks attorneys had asked for a jury instruction that would have made if clear that the jury could find Direct General liable by failing to fully, honestly and promptly advise the insureds.

The trial courts failure to include that in its instruction to the jury prejudiced Brink, the opinion says. It didnt matter that the plaintiffs attorneys informed the jury of that duty during trial.

When a jury makes its findings, it must depend on the law as stated by the court, not the law as construed in variousoften conflictingways by attorneys throughout the trial, the opinion says.

In a dissenting opinion, Senior Judge R. Lanier Anderson III said the jury instructions offered by Brinks attorney were defective and the district court had no duty of doing the editing that would have been necessary to make them acceptable.

Aside from that, Anderson said Pereles and his father were not prejudiced by their insurers failure to settle. Whats more, overwhelming evidence indicates that Brinks lawyers had no intention of settling the case, he wrote.

Rather, it shows that Brinks counsel tried to lea Direct General into making mistakes that he could later use to generate a bad faith claim, the dissenting opinion says.

Topics Carriers Florida Personal Auto
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An Atlanta-area physician and owner of medical clinics has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for defrauding health insurance companies, a scheme that also has led to the indictment of former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.

Dr. Jeffrey Gallups from 2015 to 2017 had urged doctors at his maxillofacial clinics to order unnecessary lab tests for patients, then split the insurance payments with a Texas-based lab operation, according to court records and news reports. The plan left patients and insurers with large lab bills.

In a civil suit, Gallups company also has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a whistleblower complaint charging that the company repeatedly bilked government health care programs, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

And in May, a federal grand jury indicted Oxendine, alleging that he was a middleman in Gallups fraud schemes. Prosecutors said the Texas lab company paid kickbacks to Gallups through Oxendine, who took a cut, and that the commissioner pressured doctors to order the lab tests.

Oxendine, fresh off another years-long investigation into charges that he misused campaign funds, has pleaded not guilty to the health care fraud charges.

Topics Georgia
A commuter bus crash clipped a parked truck and flipped onto its side Monday morning near Los Angeles International Airport, injuring at least 20 people, three of them critically, authorities said.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation bus clipped a parked tractor-trailer rig near the airport at about 8:30 a.m., authorities said.

Seven people were sent to the hospital. Three patients, including the driver of the rig, were in critical condition, two had moderate injuries and two others had minor injuries, El Segundo Fire Chief Deena Lee told reporters.

Thirteen other people on the commuter bus had minor injuries but declined to be taken to the hospital, Lee said.

The crash occurred on Imperial Highway in suburban El Segundo, which borders the south side of LAX. Lee said the Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Los Angeles fire departments also went to the scene.

The crash remains under investigation.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California
U.S. President Joe Biden authorized an increase in funding for debris removal and other emergency measures being taken as a result of a historic wildfire season in New Mexico that stemmed partly from missteps by federal forest managers in starting a prescribed burn.

The additional funding comes through an amended disaster declaration signed by the president that calls for direct federal assistance to be increased to 100% of the total eligible costs for 90 days following the declaration.

The wildfire still smoldering in the Rocky Mountain foothills of northern New Mexico grew to become the largest in the U.S. this spring after it was sparked in April by two planned government burns meant to reduce wildfire danger.

The U.S. Forest Service acknowledged in a recent report that managers underestimated how dry things have become in the Southwest over the last two decades and that modeling and training needs to improve to account for the extreme conditions.

Thousands of residents were displaced by the blaze, hundreds of homes were destroyed and now officials are warning of post-fire flooding.

Burn scars in both New Mexico and neighboring Arizona have been hit over recent days with rain as the Southwest region marks a robust start to the monsoon season.

Scott Sterns, a meteorologist assigned to the big fire in New Mexico, said Monday that up to 3 inches of rain fell over the last three days on some parts of the fire, which spans more than 533 square miles (of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.

The potential for runoff is high now that the soils are saturated and the vegetation is moist, Sterns said.

Theres really not a whole lot more good we can do with more moisture at the moment, he said during a briefing. The nice thing is so far on the incident weve had fairly consistent long duration moisture and thats always good to keep the (relative humidity) higher, which really helps us out in terms of the fuel situation.

There has been much criticism of the federal government in New Mexico for causing the largest wildfire, with some residents saying they have been left to wade through a bureaucratic maze as they look to be reimbursed for their losses.

Biden vowed during a visit earlier this month that the federal government would cover the full cost of the emergency response and debris removal, a responsibility that was previously shared with the state government.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more than $3.5 million in assistance for housing and other needs have been approved for residents so far.

The agency also is considering disaster requests for several other states from Minnesota to Tennessee because of wildfires, tornadoes and flooding since late April.

Scientists and government officials have warned of more severe weather as the world keeps getting hotter. In the United States, there were 20 weather or climate disasters last year with losses exceeding $1 billion a year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In southwestern New Mexico, a half-inch of rain has fallen each day, stalling efforts to rehabilitate fire lines around a massive blaze that has burned through the rugged Black Range.

Parts of northern Arizona, where a series of wildfires burned homes and forced evacuations over recent months, saw flooding over the weekend as storms brought rain, hail and wind. The National Weather Service reported that some roads in the Flagstaff area were closed as creeks and washes filled up with storm runoff.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Mexico New Mexico
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Global market trend 2022-2030 The rise in global food prices to 3.7% has had an impact on the market for fob incoterm by Newsintegra927

Geneva, Russian Sputnik news Agency - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report on the 28th that higher global food prices and charter prices will lead to a 3.7 percent rise in food prices.

The military action inside Ukraine has hampered trade and logistics in Ukraine and throughout the Black Sea region, the report said. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development noted that grain prices and transportation costs had been rising since 2020, but military action in Ukraine exacerbated the trend and reversed the temporary drop in transportation prices.

"Between February and May 2022, transportation prices for bulk commodities such as grain increased by nearly 60 percent," the report said. Simultaneous increases in grain prices and freight costs would lead to a 3.7 percent increase in global consumer food prices."

The UN Conference on Trade and Development added that Russia is a major exporter of fuel and fertiliser on the global market, commodities that are key resources for farmers around the world. Disruptions to fuel and fertiliser supplies could lead to lower food production and higher prices, with serious consequences for global food security, particularly for vulnerable countries dependent on food imports, the document notes.

The situation has also been exacerbated by rising energy prices.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development said: "As of June 2022, the global average price of low-sulfur fuel oil has increased by 64% since the beginning of the year. The combination of these increased costs means that consumers have to face higher prices, which has the potential to widen the poverty gap."

Unctad identified the opening of Ukrainian ports to allow access to foreign markets for Ukrainian food as a top priority, as well as increased investment in transport services and the simplification of trade and transit procedures.

Factors affecting freight forwarder fob incoterm Freight transportation

In international freight transport, one of the most concerning issues is the price of freight transport. The cost is directly related to the cost of transportation. Because many exporters do not understand the price of transportation very much, and often have a lot of extra spending, then today to understand the factors of the price of international freight transportation?

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The transportation prices are different for different fob incoterm

In the general international trade process, the price of transport according to different modes of transport, price is also different. International freight rates are divided into sea freight, air freight and rail freight.

The specific fob incoterm freight rate can also be subdivided. For example, rail freight can be divided into passenger freight and freight. Shipping rates are also divided into tramp rates and liner rates. Tramp rates are also affected by market supply and demand relations at that time, while liner transport costs are relatively fixed. Airfreight can be divided into general goods, designated goods and special goods, and the specific transportation price is also determined according to the weight of transportation, at the same time, even if the volume is small, the weight is also counted by weight, but if the opposite is large, small weight, also according to the specific volume to calculate.

The choice of international logistics, the quality of logistics will affect the seller's store score, but also affect customer satisfaction rate.

Factors affecting the shipping price of fob incoterm

In the process of international transportation, there are many factors affecting the price of transportation, in addition to some fuel and labor costs, there are many important factors. For example, the nature of the fob incoterm, its own value and packaging form, as well as stowage factor and transporter's requirements for transportation, etc. There will be some fixed costs during the use of the ship, such as the ship's maintenance insurance and fuel consumption. There is also the change of supply and demand in the fob incoterm market. In the transport off-season, transport prices are relatively low, in the transport of the peak season, transport prices will be relatively high.

Logistics advantages of the fob incoterm in the destination country and region

In Eastern Europe, DHL has advantages in Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Hungary and other places while EMS has advantages in Greece, Russia, Turkey and other places. Western Europe, Northern Europe, southern Europe can use DHL international express, TNT international express, these two kinds of customs clearance capacity. TNT has a clear advantage in the Netherlands and Belgium.

For Canada, the United States and other American countries, FedEx, UPS and DHL are all suitable for their strong customs clearance capacity and fast time.

Applicable to Asia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries DHL, FedEx. DHL and FedEx are time-saving, but THE price of DHL is higher. Indonesia also suggests USING DHL because it has a stronger customs clearance capacity.

In Oceania, DHL and UPS aging fast, with high prices; TNT and FedEx have lower prices but relatively few outlets. Particular attention should be paid to the "Made in China" label on the packaging of Australian products.

Middle East express ARAMEX, EMS for Middle East region. Commercial express in Africa is very expensive. In remote areas, IT is suggested to send EMS international express. EMS countries have the strongest customs clearance capacity. The air express fob incoterm can reach many countries and regions that commercial express and postal express cannot reach, so the wide range of fob incoterm transportation is its advantage.

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Global natural graphite market trend 2024-2028 Do you know some knowledge about natural graphite? by Newsintegra927

Russian president demanded that exports of Russian gas to "unfriendly" countries be settled in rubles. The demand has raised concerns in Germany about possible supply disruptions and the impact on industry and households if utilities do not pay in robles. Europe gets about 40% of its gas from Russia. Last year, Europe imported about 155 billion cubic meters. Germany, Europe's largest economy, depends heavily on Russian gas.

The chief executive of Germany's E.ON said the German economy would face "significant damage, which should be avoided if possible" without Russian supplies. He also said it would take Germany three years to wean itself off Russian gas.

In the event of a supply disruption, Germany's gas network regulator would prioritize home heating over industrial use, so energy-hungry manufacturers such as steelmakers would be the first to suffer, he said.

The volatile international situations will continue to affect the markets and prices of many commodities like the natural graphite.

Natural graphite is naturally occurring graphite. Natural graphite is an important industrial mineral with applications in almost every aspect of manufacturing, including electronics, atomic energy, hot metal working, friction, coatings, aerospace, powder metallurgy and many more. However, not every form of natural graphite is suitable for use is natural graphite. Differences in volume and grain morphology, purity and processing constraints (grinding, screening, etc.) make some species more suitable for certain applications than others. The following sections of this paper describe the three types of natural graphite from a mineralogical and industrial point of view, with the aim of giving users and potential users of these materials a basic understanding of the characteristics that distinguish each type of natural graphite.

Natural graphite is generally classified as 'flake' graphite, 'vein' graphite and 'amorphous' graphite. These three types of natural graphite are found in different geological environments. In addition to the comments below, these types and their corresponding petrological associations are discussed in more detail elsewhere on this page.

How is natural graphite produced?

Natural flake graphite is formed when carbon material is subjected to high pressure and high temperature. The carbon source material can be either organic or inorganic, although most commercially sourced flake graphite comes from organic deposits.

Where is natural graphite found?

Graphite is most often found as flakes or crystalline layers in metamorphic rocks such as marble, schist's and gneisses. Graphite may also be found in organic-rich shale's and coal beds.

What does natural graphite look like?

Graphite (/rfat/) is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions.

What is the difference between natural and synthetic graphite?

Graphite comes in two forms: natural graphite, which is mined, and synthetic graphite, which is produced from petroleum coke or coal tar. This is the crux of the emissions issue: Graphite is only produced by crushing and then roasting a mined product or as a byproduct of coal mining or oil refining.

High-quality Natural graphite supplier

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Greece will hand over Iranian oil it intercepted from a Russian-flagged tanker to the United States at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, Greek port police said recently, AFP reported. The decision angered Tehran.

In April, Greek authorities reportedly seized a Russian oil tanker, the Pegas, which was said to be heading to the Turkish port of Marmara.

Reports say the ship was docked in Calistos Bay with a crew of several people said to be Russian. The Greek coast guard said the ship had been renamed the Lana.

The report notes that the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia after the conflict broke out in February. Greek authorities seized the tanker in accordance with European Union sanctions.

According to information at the time, the tanker was carrying 115,000 tons of Iranian oil.

Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization strongly protested Greece's decision, calling it an "international bandit." "The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up its legitimate rights and expects the Greek government to abide by its international obligations in the area of navigation and shipping," it said in a statement on its website.

Iran's Foreign Ministry, through the International Maritime Organization, called on the Greek government to release the tanker and its crew overnight, adding that "the Americans discharged their cargo," the report said.

Athens did not immediately respond to the Iranian protest and gave no further details about the oil on board or how it was handed over to the United States, the report said.

The natural graphite price is expected to increase in the next few days affected by the change in supply and demand markets.

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Yesterday afternoon, media mogul Rupert Murdoch's company News Ireland told journalists working at the Times and Sunday Times in Ireland that some of their jobs would be scrapped as part of a new restructuring plan.

The publication is in the process of getting rid of its daily digital offering, putting a reported 15 journalism jobs in jeopardy.

News Ireland will in the future focus on the strength of The Sunday Times brand via the weekly publication of powerful digital and print editions. The strategic move is a natural evolution in this digital era, and will work to maintain the leading position of the publication in the Irish marketplace.

To facilitate this strategic move, daily output from thetimes.ie will cease, the company said.

The journalists were told they would have just over 10 roles to re-apply for with the newspaper, some of these will be different from what they were doing before due to the scrapping of the digital service.

As part of this plan, the Sunday Times and The Irish Sun, along with sister company Harper Collins Ireland, will move into shared office space with Wireless Radio Group (Dublins Q102, FM104, Corks 96FM, C103, Live95FM, and LMFM) later this year.

This contemporary space will facilitate hybrid working and allow for closer collaboration across the entire News Ireland team, the company said.

After the cost-reduction plan was announced, editor of the Irish publications Noirin Hegarty invited staff to have an individual meeting with her. The staff are allowed to bring a representative or a colleague to these meetings.

Ms Hegarty succeeded Frank Fitzgibbon as editor of the Sunday Times last October. Mr Fitzgibbon was in the role for 15 years.
Theyve been deployed overseas to chaotic, inhospitable and dangerous warzones, they were on the Covid frontline and have acted as an aid to the civil power during weather-related emergencies.

But a Cabinet decision on Tuesday could see highly skilled and trained Defence Forces personnel providing security to a commercial airport operator, just weeks after the Taoiseach ruled out such a move.

Its the latest chapter in whats been a chaotic and turbulent summer at Dublin Airport, which like other major airports around the world, slashed staff numbers during the pandemic, and which is now struggling to cope with surging travel demand after two years of Covid restrictions.

Lengthy security queues, missed flights, cancelled flights, and lost luggage have been seen at large airports globally.

Schiphol in the Netherlands, a major international travel hub, has cut capacity because it doesnt have enough security staff to handle the passenger volume, and Air France-KLM has warned that it could be months before the airport has enough staff to ease the pressure.

Passengers at Gatwick Airport. Last week, PA reported that Gatwick and Heathrow airports asked airlines to cap the number of flights.

PA reported last week that Londons Gatwick and Heathrow airports have asked airlines to cap the number of flights.

In Sweden, many passengers have been arriving at Stockholms Arlanda Airport more than five hours before boarding time, fearful that long queues could see them miss their flights.

Nearly 2,000 flights from major continental European airports were cancelled during one week this month, with Schiphol accounting for nearly 9%.

A further 376 flights were cancelled from UK airports, with Heathrow accounting for 28%.

After the chaotic scenes in Dublin Airport in late May, the Daa managed to steady the ship.

Last weekend was its busiest since the start of the pandemic, with 91% of the 50,000 to 55,000 passengers that departed Dublin Airport each day clearing security screening in less than 45 minutes.

But on Tuesday, it's clear that the seatbelt warning lights are back on, with the Daa flagging its concerns about the impact of rising Covid cases.

One carrier cancelled 13 flights last Sunday alone, citing an outbreak of Covid amongst its staff.

It is in this context, that the Daa decided to ask for Defence Forces help  prudent contingency planning, it has argued.

As well as continuing its security staff recruitment drive, it says it has secured additional screening staff from Cork Airport, delivered attractive overtime incentives, improved queue management, and introduced a contingency triage queuing process to manage any potential overflow.

But Defence Forces representative groups have argued that military personnel should not be used as free or cheap labour to cover failings at the countrys busiest airport.

PDForra, which represents enlisted personnel, said its 6,500 members are already stretched to the limit and are struggling to fulfil their existing roles before being deployed to guard a commercial airport.

It demeans our profession and role in society.

Our members will be rightly asking what are they now going to have to sacrifice as a result of being placed on standby  professional training, their annual leave, time off?"

People booked on flights out of Dublin Airport will be hoping these new arrangements won't mean their annual leave or holidays are sacrificed either.
When it was first mooted that the Defence Forces might be called in to assist with security logjams at Dublin Airport back in April, the suggestion garnered a dusty response from some quarters.

Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary thought it was a good idea (he thinks the same military solution would be beneficial at Heathrow). Others were less enthused.

Defence Minister Simon Coveney maintained that soldiers had better things to be doing with their time. And in normal circumstances he would be correct, given that he is also on the record as saying that there have been longstanding capacity issues in Irelands armed forces and that he wants a significant increase in resources for them.

A less convincing argument was adduced by Daa, which operates Dublin and Cork airports, which said working in security was too technical and that it took a minimum of five to six weeks to train staff to the required levels of competence. Simply bringing in bodies to do a job isnt enough, a spokesperson said.

This didnt sound credible then  part of being a soldier, after all, involves finding rapid solutions to problems, under pressure, through collaborative action  and now it has been set aside at the request of Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, to allow troops in to assist Daa with security duties.

The problems of the airport authority  letting too many experienced staff go through the mechanism of an over-ambitious redundancy plan  have been well catalogued, and this failure of human resources and manpower planning will not be changed by retrospective teeth-grinding, though it will make a good case study for business schools of the future.

With the shadow of increased Covid-related absences looming over summer, the agreement is in place from July 6 to August 15, which is the busiest spell at the airport. Daa says its staffing levels will increase by 480 by the end of July.

It is a matter of prudence, says the authority. Well, precisely.
A missing golden retriever named Lilah, discovered deep inside a drainage pipe in upstate New York, could not be lured out by her owner with peanut butter dog treats or cheese.

In the end, State Trooper Jimmy Rasaphone decided to crawl about 15 feet into the pipe under a rural road to rescue Lilah, despite the extremely tight fit.

He crouched down and literally disappeared into the hole with a lead that had a choker on it, said Lilahs owner, Rudy Fuehrer, who called 911 for help on Sunday morning.

He was able somehow to manipulate his arms and get the choker around the dogs head.

New York State Police Trooper Jimmy Rasaphone poses with 13-year-old golden retriever Lilah (New York State Police via AP)

The trooper and retriever both emerged soaking wet, but safe.

The 13-year-old dog had been missing since Friday afternoon. Mr Fuehrer was walking his two other dogs  both Lilahs offspring  a few hundred feet down the road from his house when he heard a yelp.

I said, Oh my God, thats Lilah, he recalled.

Mr Fuehrer, who lives near Binghamton, tried the get the weary and confused dog out but eventually called 911.

Mr Rasaphone and his partner showed up within minutes. Mr Rasaphone said he would go into the pipe since he was the smallest of the three of them.

Mr Fuehrer estimated the pipes diameter was less than two feet. He was able to pull Lilah out after Mr Rasaphone emerged.

Mr Fuehrer said he was grateful Mr Rasaphone had the compassion and initiative to go nose-to-nose with his dog in a drainage pipe.

And he said Lilah is recovering nicely and out walking.

Needless to say, I took her out on a leash, he said, because I didnt want any more escapades.
News Battle for Junta Military Outpost on Thai-Myanmar Border Rages for Fourth Day

Allied anti-regime resistance forces clash with junta troops in April 2022.

Fighting between allied anti-regime resistance forces and junta troops continued to rage Wednesday as a combined force of ethnic Karen armed groups and resistance forces tried to seize a strategic junta outpost near the Thai border in Karen State.

Since Sunday, the KNUs armed wings, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), and other Karen resistance forces have been attacking the Ukayi Hta military outpost in Waw Lay in Karen States Myawaddy Township.

The regime reinforced the outpost with more weaponry and troops on Wednesday, according to a resident of an area close to the combat zone.

Myo Thura Ko Ko, a spokesperson for Cobra Column, one of the forces fighting along with the KNLA and KNDO, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the fighting was still going on.

The allied resistance forces are still trying to seize the Ukayi Hta outpost. The regime forces have attacked with a lot of airstrikes and artillery, he said.

The allied Karen resistance forces were poised to seize the outpost on Tuesday night but regime forces unleashed a fierce artillery barrage and were able to return to the outpost according to the resident near the area.

The intense fighting has lasted for four days and both sides have suffered causalities.

The outpost is located at the Falu-Waw Lay-Sukali intersection and is of strategic importance. Video files of local residents fleeing the fighting have spread on social media since Sunday.

The KNLA, the KNDO and allied resistance forces captured a military camp in Maw Khee in the KNLAs Brigade 6 territory, known as Dooplaya District, on March 22. The KNLA and allied resistance forces also seized Thay Baw Boe camp on May 18.

Earlier this month, the KNDO and allied resistance forces also seized Waw Lay Police Station, where junta troops are based. Five junta soldiers were captured, and nine resistance fighters detained there were rescued.
Burma ASEAN Envoy to Meet Only EAOs Approved by Myanmar Junta Chief

ASEAN Special Envoy on Myanmar and Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn speaks during a press conference at Phnom Penh International Airport on January 8, 2022. / AFP.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy on Myanmar will meet six ethnic armed organizations (EAO) during his latest visit to the country, all of whom attended the military regimes recent peace talks that were boycotted by Myanmars major EAOS for being non-inclusive and a sham.

ASEAN envoy and Cambodias foreign minister Prak Sokhonn is set to arrive in Myanmar on Wednesday and will stay until July 3.

On Friday, he will meet the New Mon State Party, the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, the Arakan Liberation Army, the Pa-O National Liberation Organization and the Lahu Democratic Union, the Peace Process Steering Committee (PPST) spokesperson Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt confirmed to The Irrawaddy. All six EAOs are signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.

The spokesperson said that the PPST, which aims to facilitate peace talks between EAOs and the government and Myanmars military, held a virtual meeting on June 28, during which the six EAOs agreed to send two representatives each to meet the special envoy collectively. However, none of the six EAOs is fighting the regime.

Myanmars major EAOs such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) didnt accept coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaings invitation to join peace talks in the capital Naypyitaw in May, dismissing the talks as a pretext in order to free up junta troops to launch offensives against the Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs). The KIA and KNLA are fighting against the junta alongside the PDFs, whom the regime has denounced as terrorists.

Since last years coup, the Karen National Union [the KNLAs political wing], the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Chin National Front [the political wing of the Chin National Army-CNA] have downgraded their involvement in the PPST. The CNA, like the KNLA, is fighting the junta.

Regarding the RCSS, Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt said: I dont know if they would meet the ASEAN envoy, because they did not attend the virtual meeting [of PPST members]. I dont know if they would meet the ASEAN envoy separately.

The Irrawaddy was unable to contact the RCSS for a comment.

The invitation to meet with the ASEAN special envoy is only for those groups who have held face-to-face talks with Min Aung Hlaing, said EAOs.

The United Wa State Army, the most powerful EAO in Myanmar, and the National Democratic Alliance Army, both based in eastern Myanmars Shan State, attended the May peace talks with the junta leader. But when asked by The Irrawaddy if they would meet the ASEAN special envoy, neither group gave an affirmative answer.

Even though the regime sent separate invitations to the six EAOS, they will all meet the ASEAN envoy collectively and will only discuss issues of common interest, according to PPST spokesperson Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt.

The groups will also exchange views on how EAOs can assist in ASEANs delivery of humanitarian assistance to Myanmar civilians in need.

Prak Sokhonn made his first trip to Myanmar as ASEAN envoy in March, when he planned to meet EAOs but was forced to cancel the meeting, citing a packed schedule.

During his first visit, the special envoy urged Min Aung Hlaing to exercise restraint in junta military operations.
Burma Chin Teenager Killed by Myanmar Junta Shelling

A military convoy heading to Mindat in May. / CDF Mindat

A 14-year-old has been killed by Myanmar junta shelling in Mindat Township, Chin State, a month after his younger brother lost a leg in a blast.

There have been clashes between Mindat Chin Defence Force and regime troops near Palontwe village on the border of Htilin Township in Magwe Region and Mindat Township on Wednesday. The Mindat-based Light Infantry Battalion 274 has been shelling nearby villages.

Shells landed on Madat village, injuring the teenager, according to the Mindat Township Peoples Administration.

A shell hit his chest. He was taken to the village clinic where he died, said a member of the team, which is by the resistance. There has been no fighting where the junta is shelling. The troops are targeting farmers and families. It is cowardly.

The teenager had eight siblings and his younger brother lost his leg on May 23 in junta shelling.

Three Moei Twei villagers in the north of the township were killed on June 16 by junta shelling while farming near their village and around 20 houses were destroyed in the village.

Chin State is a resistance stronghold. Regime reinforcements and drones were sent to Kyaukhtu airport on the border of Chin State and Magwe Region early this month. Kyaukhtu is a gateway to Mindat Township.
*Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting on Friday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return to the motherland of Hong Kong, whose development Xi says has always been in his heart.

*"Hong Kong's development has always pulled at my heartstrings," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, upon his arrival in Hong Kong five years ago for the special administrative region's 20th anniversary.

*Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have rolled out a series of major policies and measures to help Hong Kong maintain stability and prosperity under the framework of "one country, two systems."

*On Friday, the president will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which Xi expects to bring refreshing changes to the governance of Hong Kong.

Photo taken on July 14, 2020 shows the Golden Bauhinia Square in south China's Hong Kong. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

HONG KONG, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting on Friday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return to the motherland of Hong Kong, whose development Xi says has always been in his heart.

"Hong Kong's development has always pulled at my heartstrings," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, upon his arrival in Hong Kong five years ago for the special administrative region's 20th anniversary.

Over the years, Xi has repeatedly demonstrated his concern for the development of Hong Kong, as well as the well-being of the over 7 million Hong Kong residents. He has initiated projects integrating Hong Kong into the national development, interacted with the youth of Hong Kong and encouraged entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams on the mainland.

Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have rolled out a series of major policies and measures to help Hong Kong maintain stability and prosperity under the framework of "one country, two systems."

On Friday, the president will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which Xi expects to bring refreshing changes to the governance of Hong Kong.

Xi has said that Hong Kong is at a crucial stage on its path to further prosperity.

Hong Kong has witnessed rapid development since the Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over it on July 1, 1997.

From 1997 to 2021, Hong Kong's GDP grew from 1.37 trillion Hong Kong dollars (174.59 billion U.S. dollars) to 2.86 trillion Hong Kong dollars. It has weathered challenges including the Asian financial crisis, the SARS epidemic and the international financial crisis, and consolidated its status as an international financial, shipping and trade center.

Under Xi's leadership, the central authorities have promoted infrastructure connectivity and rolled out policies and measures to further expand the space for Hong Kong's development.

A fine example of infrastructure connectivity is the mega-bridge at the Pearl River estuary connecting Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland.

During his trip to Hong Kong in 2017, Xi visited the construction site of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. In October 2018, he announced the bridge's opening and inspected it.

The opening of the bridge marked a new stage in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The Greater Bay Area, which aims to become a world-class bay area and city cluster, is a significant national project conceived and promoted by Xi. In just a few years, it has become one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China.

A growing number of young people from Hong Kong are turning to the mainland for entrepreneurial prospects, as the bay area development has brought about new opportunities.

Mark Mak Hin-yu, co-founder of a robotics company, said his company has its headquarters in Hong Kong but has transferred part of the operations, including hardware assembly and technical testing, to the mainland, capitalizing on the opportunities brought about by the bay area's development.

China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) gives Hong Kong support in building itself into an international center for innovation and technology, a center in the Asia-Pacific region for international legal and dispute resolution services, a regional center for intellectual property trade, and a center for cultural and art exchanges with other countries.

Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairperson of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and a veteran in Hong Kong's financial sector for more than three decades, has full confidence in the sector's future development.

"Being a relatively small economy with a population of just over 7 million, Hong Kong would not have developed into the international financial center it is now without the strong backing of the mainland's continuous development," she said.

Aerial photo taken on July 11, 2018 shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Improving the livelihood of Hong Kong people has been a top priority for Xi.

"Teenagers want to grow up happily. Young people want to bring out the best of their talent. People in mature years want to be successful, and the seniors want to enjoy their golden years," Xi said when he visited Hong Kong in 2017, explaining the relations between development and people's well-being.

Xi would always find time to interact with the public during his visits to Hong Kong. In 2008, Xi, then Chinese vice president, visited ordinary Hong Kong families, sat down with them and chatted about their everyday life. In his 2017 trip, President Xi watched an episode of Cantonese opera performed by children and encouraged them to inherit the fine traditional Chinese culture.

Over the years, Xi has overseen the implementation of various favorable policies for Hong Kong compatriots on the mainland, which cover a wide range of areas, from education and employment to healthcare and travel.

For instance, since September 2018, eligible people from Hong Kong have been able to apply for residence permits on the mainland, which grant them access to the rights to work, social security and housing provident fund.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Hong Kong, Xi was very concerned about the lives and health of local people and has instructed on multiple occasions to give Hong Kong full support in fighting the virus.

The mainland has sent anti-epidemic materials, dispatched health workers, and helped build isolation and treatment facilities, as well as ensured the steady supply of daily necessities to aid Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic.

"The motherland is always Hong Kong's strong backing. Difficulties at hand can surely be overcome," Xi has said.

A crane loads a container carrying supplies for Hong Kong onto a truck at a railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, March 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Xi has stressed a full and accurate understanding of the "one country, two systems" principle and faithful implementation of it. As he has said, "one country" is like the roots of a tree and for a tree to grow tall and luxuriant, its roots must run deep and strong.

The central authorities adopted a raft of policies and measures in an effort to address both the symptoms and the root causes of relevant challenges Hong Kong faced.

The implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong was one such significant measure. It was followed by improvements to the electoral system. These have provided Hong Kong with a solid institutional guarantee to overcome immediate difficulties, achieve good governance, and ensure lasting peace and stability.

Under the new electoral system, Hong Kong has successfully held elections for the Election Committee, the seventh-term Legislative Council and the sixth-term chief executive. An increasing number of competent and patriotic people have entered the governing structure.

With these measures in place, social stability has been restored. For Hong Kong people and foreign residents alike, this means a safer living environment and more predictable business environment.

Citizens walk past a billboard advertising the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, in south China's Hong Kong, April 8, 2015. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

"The key to Hong Kong's success lies in its people's love of the motherland and Hong Kong, and their perseverance, pursuit of excellence and adaptability," Xi has said.

In 2018, Xi met Eric Kuo, a young Hong Kong entrepreneur, at a pilot free trade zone in Guangdong Province.

"I was deeply touched by President Xi's encouragement and grew more determined to start my own business on the mainland," Kuo said. His hi-tech company has quickly expanded, raking in annual revenue of over 10 million yuan (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) last year.

More opportunities are emerging for Hong Kong's young people on the mainland, as they are receiving greater assistance from job hunting to business establishment.

"An increasingly prosperous motherland serves as a source of strength for Hong Kong to overcome difficulties and challenges; it also presents a reservoir of opportunities for Hong Kong to break new ground, foster new driving force and create new space for development," Xi said in his trip for the HKSAR's 20th anniversary five years ago.
Burma Chinese Foreign Minister to Visit Myanmar for 1st Time Since Coup

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi / AFP

Chinas foreign minister will travel to Myanmar this weekend for a regional meeting, a junta spokesman said Tuesday, in what will be Beijings highest-profile visit since the military seized power.

China is a major arms supplier and ally of the junta and has refused to label the power grab that ousted Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government last year a coup.

Wang Yi will visit Myanmar to attend a foreign ministers meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP.

The meeting will be cohosted by the countrys military regime in the UNESCO World Heritage town Bagan in Mandalay Region.

The July 2-5 meeting will be joined by foreign ministers from China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Sakura hotel, Heritage hotel and Aureum Place Hotelall of which are owned by businesspersons close to the regimewill serve as venues for the meeting.

The spokesman said he was not sure whether a meeting between Wang and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing would take place.

The China-backed forum gathers countries that share the Mekong Riverknown in China, which controls its headwaters, as the Lancang.

Wang was last in Myanmar in January 2021. On that occasion he met with the countrys civilian President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the military chief Min Aung Hlaing. A few weeks later, Min Aung Hlaing staged a coup against the civilian government.

With Western governments imposing sanctions following the coup and a violent crackdown on dissent, the junta has turned increasingly to allies including China and Russia.

In April, Beijing said it would help safeguard Myanmars sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity no matter how the situation changes.

Wangs visit to Myanmar comes in the wake of attacks by anti-regime armed resistance groups on Chinese projects in the country for harboring regime soldiers, who have killed civilians and torched villages nearby.

Recently, Chinese-owned Wanbao Mining Company in Sagaing Region was attacked with explosives and its power cables were blown up. The company condemned the attacks but didnt comment on the sheltering of regime troops in its compound.

The Chinese foreign ministers visit also comes on the heels of the regimes recent transfer of Myanmars detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to solitary confinement in a prison from house arrest.

The issue is likely to be raised if Wang meets regime chief Min Aung Hlaing during the visit, as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has urged the junta to return Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to the home where she was originally detained. China has been tightlipped about the issue but has supported ASEANs earlier initiatives to bring Myanmar back to normalcy.

The junta is otherwise increasingly isolated on the international stage, with Cambodian leader Hun Sen the only foreign leader to visit since the putsch.

In February, Myanmars foreign minister was barred from attending a gathering of his counterparts in ASEAN over a lack of progress in defusing post-coup violence.

That same month, a United Nations expert on Myanmar said China and Russia were continuing to supply the military with weapons, including fighter jets and armored vehicles.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in the militarys crackdown on dissent since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.
Burma Nationalist Monks Recruit Pro-Myanmar Regime Militias in Sagaing

Ma Ba Tha monk U Wasawa. / CJ

Nationalist monks have been forming militias in the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region to counter peoples defense forces (PDFs) fighting Myanmars regime, according to residents.

Led by influential monk U Wasawa from the ultranationalist Association for Protection of Race and Religion (APRR), better known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha, monks have been rallying villagers to support military rule.

The monk has formed militias in Kyunhla, Zigon, Kantbalu and Taze townships, according to residents who refer to the groups as Pyu Saw Htee militias.

A Kyunhla resident said: Ma Ba Tha monks have been forming Pyu Saw Htee groups. They call them peoples militias. They are designed to crush the National League for Democracy [NLD] and other anti-regime forces in the name of race and religion. It is easy to sway rural communities under the pretext of religion. Villagers are being exploited.

Ma Ba Tha was created in 2012 out of the 969 movement, a nationalist campaign that called for the boycott of Muslim-owned businesses. In 2013, 969 members rebranded the group as the APRR, which came to be known as Ma Ba Tha. The groups rhetoric is to protect race and religion, which means protecting Bamar communities and Buddhism.

U Wasawa, who is a well-known Buddhist leader in Kanbalu, Kyunhla and Taze has been forming Pyu Saw Htee groups since November last year and he has assembled over 4,000 villagers, including more than 100 women, according to residents.

The monk became an abbot at Hmaw Taw in Kanbalu Township around seven years ago and has since engaged with the Ma Ba Tha. He has organized pro-military rallies at his monastery and participated in panel discussions organized by the pro-junta Myanmar National Post.

Armed police and Pyu Saw Htee fighters provide security for the monks monastery, according to sources.

The monk made no comment to The Irrawaddy.

A Kantbalu resident said: They accompany junta operations and they harm the people, together with soldiers.

Pyu Saw Htee militias have a significant presence in eight Kantbalu villages, he said.

Light Infantry Battalion 367 troops led by Captain Kyaw Thurein are based in Kyun Lel village, which has more than 350 households, in Taze Township. It trains and commands Pyu Saw Htee members from other villages. Junta soldiers also run an interrogation camp in the village where they conduct deadly interrogations of civilians, residents said.

Battalion 367 is based in Phaung Pyin under the 10th Military Operations Command.

A Kyunhla resistance fighter said U Wasawa often gave anti-NLD sermons and hate-filled speeches against non-Buddhists long before the 2021 coup.

Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told a press conference: We have formed peoples militias in villages where PDFs are aggravating villagers for not supporting them. But we dont supply arms to monks and there is no reason to arm them.

Other well-known Ma Ba Tha monks like U Viraraja and U Pandita are also forming Pyu Saw Htee groups in Sagaing.

A Buddhist monk, who is a member of an anti-regime strike committee in Mandalay, said: Monks are barred from carrying weapons and even living in conflict zones by Buddhas teachings and Vinaya [a monks code of conduct]. It is a sin. Those who support torture, robbing and killing do not deserve respect. If monks support those things, it is a cause for concern for religion. I condemn those acts that are also banned by Vinaya.

In March, U Wirathu and Ma Ba Tha monks traveled between villages that support the junta and military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and rallied them to fight the PDFs.

The involvement of Ma Ba Tha monks in Pyu Saw Htee is viewed by some observers as the regimes attempt to exploit religion.

They label those who they dislike as PDF fighters or their supporters and detain and often kill them. They also loot and vandalize the houses of NLD supporters. They are armed robbers, said a resistance fighter.

An allegedly leaked secret report from the Northwestern Command that recently went viral on social media said 77 peoples militias have been formed in Sagaing Region and over 2,000 weapons have been supplied to them. More groups are being formed in remote villages.

Pyu Saw Htee fighters are reportedly armed by the regime with BA63 assault rifles, rocket-propelled launchers and sniper rifles.

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Burma Over 750,000 People Displaced in Myanmar Since Coup

Civilians displaced by regime attacks in Bago Region. / KNU

Over 55,700 people have been displaced in Myanmar in June alone, as regime forces continue to raid and torch villages and kill civilians nationwide. In total, the number of internally displaced people (IDP) in Myanmar since last years coup is over 750,000, according to the latest figures released by the United Nations (UN) on June 28.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in its Myanmar Humanitarian Update for June that the estimated number of IDPs has passed 758,000, including more than 250,000 children.

In May, the number of IDPs was 694,300.

Myanmar had a large number of IDPs even before the coup, so the total number of IDPs in the country is now over 1.1 million, said UNOCHA.

The military regime has employed air and artillery strikes in southern Myanmars Kayah and Karen states, while escalating its raids and the torching of villages in northwest and western Myanmars Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin State since last month. All the affected regions are strongholds of armed resistance to the junta, with Sagaing suffering the most.

UNOCHA said that more than 18,058 civilian properties including houses, churches, monasteries and schools are estimated to have been destroyed since the military takeover.

The level of destruction of civilian properties, particularly homes, combined with the seemingly never-ending fighting will very likely prolong the displacement of the IDPs and will further deteriorate their already fragile living conditions, said UNOCHA in its June update.

The agency warned also that the suffering of people across the country will be prolonged as long as the current volatile security situation and its associated restrictions, such as bureaucratic processes and systematic blocks on access approvals, continue to hamper humanitarian access and delay the delivery of aid.

On Wednesday, the Karen National Union, the political wing of the Karen National Liberation Army, said that junta artillery strikes on Monday and Tuesday on areas it controls in Bago Region prompted more than 16,137 civilians from 30 villages to flee their homes.
Wedding season is in full swing as many lovebirds resume their wedding and honeymoon plans coming out of two years of pandemic restrictions.

With an estimated 4.7 million weddings expected to take place in 2022 and 2023, according to The Wedding Report, newlyweds are eager to celebrate their special nuptials with once-in-a-lifetime trips.

In fact, according to a survey of 1,500 couples by travel giant Expedia, 53% of couples plan to spend more on their honeymoons than originally budgeted, and 59% are interested in visiting a bucket-list destination. Plus, 65% are more likely to add a honeymoon fund to their wedding registry, prompted by the pandemic to prioritize a once-in-a-lifetime trip over traditional registry items.

For travelers planning an unforgettable escape, consider these popular international destinations and find the full list along with itineraries  complete with couple-friendly hotels and activities for two  at Expedia.com .

Dubai

Straddling the line of beach and big city, Dubai, which is situated along the Persian Gulf within the Arabian Desert, offers a luxurious recipe for romance. As the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, there is much to see and do, including spending days on the beach, shopping, going on a camel safari in the Red Dune Desert or exploring nearby Abu Dhabi and must-sees like Sheikh Zayed Mosque and Emirates Palace.

Paris

Located on the River Seine, Paris is one of the most romantic places in the world to honeymoon. If food is part of your love language, head to where the locals eat like Du Pain et des Idees for bread and pastries or Chez Imogene for crepes. Plus, no honeymoon is complete without a kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower  or views of the iconic landmark from Le Meurice, an Expedia VIP hotel located in the heart of historic Paris  and a visit to one of the many museums such as Musee du Louvre or Musee dOrsay.

St. Lucia

Dramatic volcanoes, lush jungles, pristine beaches and a wide assortment of boutique-style luxury hotels come together on one of the easiest islands in the Caribbean to reach. A nature-lovers paradise, days can be spent basking on Sugar Beach or on the water. Aboard the Tout Bagay catamaran cruise and tour, you can explore the coast and historical town of Soufriere, take a mud bath in the only drive-in volcano in the Caribbean, snorkel, swim and see Margot Bay and the twin peaks of the Petit and Gros Pitons.

Iceland

With otherworldly, dramatic landscapes full of glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls and fjords as well as city action, outdoor activities and spa experiences, the Land of Fire and Ice offers a perfect honeymoon smorgasbord. Celebrate your nuptials Icelandic-style with the seven-step ritual for two at Sky Lagoon, located just south of the capital city of Reykjavik, which is also home to Hotel Borg, a 99-room hotel with a full-service spa centrally located near additional attractions. Or maximize your time with a drive around the Golden Circle, a 186-mile route with views of Thingvellir National Park, Geysir Geothermal Area and the Gullfoss waterfall, three of southwest Icelands top natural wonders.

Maldives

Boasting more than 1,200 islands, the Maldives features a plethora of luxurious all-inclusive properties, most of which are on their own private islands. All the resorts offer aquatic experiences ranging from beginner snorkeling and sea turtle searching to world-class diving with hammerhead sharks as well as spas with everything from over-the-water treatment rooms with glass-bottom floors to private couples pavilions and romantic rose petal-filled soaking tubs.

SOURCE:

Expedia
On Wednesday morning, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) continue to monitor three systems, one likely to become a tropical storm during the next few days as it approaches the northern coast of Venezuela.

Should it develop into a named storm, it will be called Bonnie.

The NHC says conditions appear conducive development, with maximum sustained winds still close to 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher gusts.

For more, click here.

The NHC is also monitoring a tropical wave located over the central Atlantic is expected to slowly develop while it moves west-northwestward for the next few days.

The wave is forecast to move over the Windward Islands into the weekend then over the eastern Caribbean Sea where further development is unlikely due to unfavorable environmental conditions.

For more click here.
Technology consultancy Thoughtworks is offering a new scholarship for First Nations people together with private school General Assembly and not-for-profit Indigitek.

Two recipients will receive a full scholarship for General Assemblys (GA) extensive software development course along with a Thoughtworks internship opportunity.

The initiative aims to empower more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with opportunities in technology as they make up 3.3% of the overall Australian demographic and an even smaller percentage of the industry.

The scholarship will broaden the recipients horizons in learning and professional application for the Indigenous community, helping to overcome accessibility obstacles.

"Diversifying tech talent is core to General Assemblys mission to empower more people to pursue work they love, General Assembly vice president and chief operating officer APAC John Fong said.

Thoughtworks alongside Indigitek are part of growing industry efforts to transition discussion of access into tangible impact for Indigenous Australians and other communities underrepresented in tech, Fong added.

The Indigenous New Developer scholarship also aligns with Thoughtworks Australias vision to increase representation and bridge gaps for the First Nations community.

In 2019, Thoughtworks launched a First Nations Delivery Centre, an Indigenous-led initiative consisting of a local fully-remote team staffed at least 50% by First Nations technologists.

The company envisions building its First Nations Delivery Centre to a team of 100 within the five years to achieve over 3% representation for First Nations Peoples within the business.

Our mission at Thoughtworks and the First Nations Delivery Centre is to create careers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But its not enough for us to create job roles - we need to create new pathways into technology, too, said Thoughtworks Australia First Nations delivery centre lead Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker.

Few of us go to university, and even fewer study computer science or software engineering degrees. Thats why supporting non-university pathways into tech careers is so important. Having a diverse team of developers in the room when we are building new technologies is fundamental to building ethical and responsible technology.

For Thoughtworks graduate consultant Michael Velsigne, undertaking GAs Software Engineering Immersive course gave him the opportunity to change careers.

Joining Indigitek and talking with the community of other indigenous people who were already working in tech inspired me to apply for the scholarship. It has really opened up so many career possibilities that are only limited by my own imagination. The skills learned at GA were a key part of unlocking these growth paths for me.

The scholarship is exclusively available to young adults 18 years and older from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background.

Applicants require only foundational digital capabilities and aspirations for learning in the field - no tertiary background is needed. Scholarship award decisions will be made by General Assembly and Indigitek after an interview process.

Applications are now open and can be submitted via General Assemblys website.
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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

Mostly sunny skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 88F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Johnson City, TN (37604)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Johnson City, TN (37604)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. High 84F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

A few thunderstorms this evening. Mostly clear skies late. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Monticello, IL (61856)

Today

Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 91F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 77F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds light and variable.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.

Tomorrow

Partly to mostly cloudy with widely scattered showers or thunderstorms possible in the afternoon. High 88F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Colombia's Truth Commission, established to probe atrocities committed during the country's near six-decade civil conflict, presented its final, 896-page report on Tuesday.

The document is the product of years of work that included hearing testimony from more than 14,000 victims of the fighting between leftist guerillas, far-right paramilitary groups and state agents.

Authorities say the conflict resulted in some nine million people either killed, disappeared or displaced.

Also included in the report are the accounts of former fighters who gave up arms or are prisoners today, as well as soldiers and former presidents.

Priest Francisco de Roux, who headed the commission, handed the monster report to President-Elect Gustavo Petro during a ceremony at a theater in Bogota.

It makes for grim reading -- packed with accounts of forced disappearances, rape, massacres and torture, and concludes that Colombians suffer from "collective traumas" passed down "from one generation to another."

The Truth Commission, an extrajudicial body, is one of the entities set up as a form of victim reparation that came out of the 2016 peace pact that disarmed the FARC guerrilla group.

There is also a court to investigate and punish the worst crimes, and a special unit to find missing victims.

The report entitled "There is no future if there is no truth," will be published in chapters over the next two months, when the commission will officially cease to exist.

The priest handed the report to Petro with 19 recommendations to give full effect to the peace pact, including seeking peace with the ELN, the last guerrilla group operating in the country.

Outgoing President Ivan Duque, who was critical of the 2016 peace deal and of negotiating with guerrillas, did not attend Tuesday's ceremony.

Petro has said he would resume talks with the ELN, which were suspended under his predecessor.

Violence has flared up again in Colombia despite the peace accord.

Areas abandoned by the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group have become battle grounds for control of drug and illegal mining resources between armed groups -- including FARC dissidents -- holding many rural communities in a state of siege.
The United States will reinforce Europe's defences with a wave of new military deployments, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, as more Russian missiles smashed into Ukrainian cities.

News of the US plan came as NATO leaders met to welcome Sweden and Finland as candidates to join the alliance, a double blow to Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his bid to redraw Europe's security map.

Biden boasted that the US announcement was exactly what Putin "didn't want" and Moscow reacted with predictable fury, denouncing Sweden and Finland's entry plan as "destabilising" and accusing an "aggressive" NATO of seeking to contain Russia.

As Western leaders met in Madrid, in Ukraine officials complained that Russian missiles had hit civilian housing and businesses in and around the cities of Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv, leaving at least seven dead and 14 wounded.

In Kremenchuk, the town where a Russian missile on Monday destroyed a shopping centre and -- according to local officials -- killed at least 18 civilians, clearing operations continued.

A giant crane was working near the near the site of the impact and in the rubble-strewn parking area shopping trolleys piled with clothes and household goods lay abandoned.

Western leaders have dubbed the Kremenchuk strike a war crime, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that UN investigators visit. Russia said it targeted a Ukrainian depot storing Western arms.

- 'What needs to be done' -

The Russian defence ministry said it had inflicted severe casualties on Ukrainian troops defending the town of Lysychansk, in the eastern Donbas region, and said the Kharkiv attack had hit Ukrainian command centres and a training base for foreign "mercenaries".

Moscow's February 24 invasion of pro-Western Ukraine triggered massive economic sanctions and a wave of support for Zelensky's government, including deliveries of advanced weapons.

At this week's summit, two formerly neutral European countries -- Sweden and Russia's north-western neighbour Finland -- will be accepted as candidates to join NATO and Washington has announced that it will shift the headquarters of its 5th Army Corps to Poland.

An army brigade will rotate in and out of Romania, two squadrons of F-35 fighters will deploy to Britain, US air defence systems will be sent to Germany and Italy and the fleet of US Navy destroyers in Spain will grow from four to six.

"That's exactly what he didn't want but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe," Biden said, of Putin's efforts to roll back Western influence and re-establish influence or control over territories of the former Russian empire.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO's expansion was "the opposite" of what Putin hoped for, and said that the leaders meeting at the summit would "state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security".

Moscow rose to the bait.

- Weapons shipments -

"The summit in Madrid confirms and consolidates this bloc's policy of aggressive containment of Russia," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, Russian news agencies reported.

"We consider the expansion of the North Atlantic alliance to be a purely destabilising factor in international affairs."

The Swedish and Finnish leaders are to be welcomed as candidates for full membership in the alliance, after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to lift his threat of a veto -- the NATO ally accuses Stockholm and Helsinki of harbouring wanted Kurdish militants.

Turkey announced Wednesday that it would request the extradition of 33 alleged "terrorists" under the terms of the agreement signed Tuesday with Sweden and Finland to allow them to make membership bids.

On Tuesday, Zelensky addressed the NATO summit via video link, asking for modern artillery and financial support.

"We need much more modern systems, modern artillery," he said, calling financial support "no less important than aid with weapons".

NATO countries, which have already committed billions of dollars in military assistance to Kyiv, will agree a large military and economic support package to help them fend off the Russian invasion.

A sanctions task force of leading Ukraine allies has frozen more than $330 billion in financial resources owned by Russia's elite and its central bank since Moscow's invasion, it announced Wednesday.

- Missile artillery -

The Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force (REPO) said the allies had blocked $30 billion in assets belonging to Russian oligarchs and officials, and immobilised $300 billion owned by the Russian central bank.

Norway said it would donate three multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, following similar decisions made by Britain, Germany and the United States.

Kyiv wants the long-range missile artillery to counter Russia's superiority in shorter range canons on Ukraine's eastern battlefield.

Earlier this week, at their summit in Germany, the G7 leaders of the world's richest democracies agreed to impose new sanctions targeting Moscow's defence industry, raising tariffs and banning gold imports from the country.

But the Kremlin was unfazed, insisting that Ukrainian forces had to surrender to end the fighting.

"The Ukrainian side can stop everything before the end of today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"An order for the nationalist units to lay down their arms is necessary," he said, adding Kyiv had to fulfil a list of Moscow's demands.

burs-dc/jm
Migrants detained in Libya face horrific abuse, with women especially facing sexual violence, and often forced to submit to rape in exchange for food, UN investigators said Wednesday.

In a fresh report, the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya reiterated that the worst crimes under international law were likely being committed in the war-ravaged country, with migrant women suffering some of the worst abuse.

"The mission has reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, imprisonment, rape, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts have been committed in several places of detention in Libya since 2016," it said.

Migrants are routinely detained by authorities, human traffickers and others in Libya -- a key departure point for tens of thousands of people mainly from sub-Saharan Africa hoping to reach Europe.

Human traffickers have profited from the chaos that has raged since the 2011 toppling and killing of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Talks between rival Libyan governments are being held in Geneva this week over the rules for long-awaited elections, with an aim to end the chaos.

- 'Inhumane acts' -

The fact-finding mission report, to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week, said it had gathered broad evidence of "the systematic use of prolonged arbitrary detention" of migrants in Libya.

The investigators, who made several trips to Libya, described how migrants in detention face "acts of murder, torture, rape and other inhumane acts."

The report highlighted "sexual violence at the hands of traffickers and smugglers, often with the aim of extorting families."

"The mission has also documented cases of rape in places of detention or captivity whereby migrant women are forced to have sex in order to survive, in exchange for food or other essential items," it said.

In fact, the known risk of sexual violence is considered to great, the report said, that "some migrant women and girls get fitted with a contraceptive implant before travelling there to avoid unwanted pregnancy due to such violence."

- 'No choice' -

The investigators relayed some heartbreaking stories heard from migrants in Libya.

One woman, who was held in the northern town of Ajdabiya, "described how her captors demanded sex in exchange for access to water she direly needed to wash her six-month-old sick child's soiled clothes," the report said.

"I let them rape me. I had no choice. It was for my daughter. I could not leave her like that," she said, according to the report.

The fact-finding mission, which was created by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2020, will see its mandate expire in a few days.

But a group of African countries has presented a draft resolution to the council that would allow it to continue its work for another nine months.

In a big report presented last October, the investigators concluded that crimes against humanity had likely been committed in the country, including in detention centres and against migrants.

They have drafted a list of individuals and groups believed to be behind those crimes, but it remains confidential.

They are due to present another report in a few days providing more details on crimes committed in the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli, where dozens of mass graves have been discovered over the past two years.
The United States vowed on Wednesday to shore up Europe's defences in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as NATO declared Moscow the West's greatest threat.

Meeting in Madrid, alliance leaders said Russia "is the most significant and direct threat to allies' security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area".

This came as NATO welcomed Sweden and Finland as invitees to join the alliance and US President Joe Biden announced new deployments of US troops, ships and planes.

Biden boasted the US announcement was exactly what President Vladimir Putin "didn't want" and Moscow, facing fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces equipped with Western arms, reacted with predictable fury.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov denounced the US military build-up, and warned NATO members that the shifting balance of power "would lead to compensatory measures on our part".

"I think that those who propose such solutions are under the illusion that they will be able to intimidate Russia, somehow restrain it -- they will not succeed," he said.

NATO leaders have funnelled billions of dollars of arms to Ukraine and faced a renewed appeal from President Volodymyr Zelensky for more long-range artillery.

"Ukraine can count on us for as long as it takes," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, announcing a new NATO strategic overview that focuses on the Moscow threat.

"We cannot discount the possibility of an attack against allies' sovereignty and territorial integrity," the document, updated for the first time since 2010, said.

In a summit statement, they said: "Russia's appalling cruelty has caused immense human suffering and massive displacements, disproportionately affecting women and children."

Zelensky had earlier addressed the NATO chiefs by videoconference, calling for stricter economic sanctions, but afterwards his foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked Ukraine's western friends.

- 'What needs to be done' -

"Today in Madrid, NATO proved it can take difficult but essential decisions. We welcome a clear-eyed stance on Russia, as well as the accession for Finland and Sweden," he said.

"An equally strong and active position on Ukraine will help protect Euro-Atlantic security and stability."

While US and European chiefs expressed backing for Ukraine in Madrid, Indonesian President Joko Widodo became the first Asian leader to visit Kyiv since the war began.

Zelensky said he had accepted an invitation to attend the upcoming G20 summit in Bali, depending "on the security situation in the country and on the composition of the summit's participants".

It is not clear whether Putin will also be on the guest list in November, with some capitals pushing for his exclusion.

As Western leaders met in Madrid, in Ukraine officials complained that Russian missiles had hit civilian housing and businesses in and around the cities of Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv, leaving at least seven dead and 14 wounded.

In Kremenchuk, the town where a Russian missile on Monday destroyed a shopping centre and -- according to local officials -- killed at least 18 civilians, clearing operations continued.

A giant crane was working near the site of the impact and in the rubble-strewn parking area shopping trolleys piled with clothes and household goods lay abandoned.

Western leaders have dubbed the Kremenchuk strike a war crime, and Zelensky has demanded that UN investigators visit. Russia says it hit a depot storing Western arms.

- Foreign 'mercenaries' -

Ukrainian officials said that 144 of their soldiers, most of them former defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, had been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry said it had inflicted severe casualties on Ukrainian troops defending the town of Lysychansk, in the eastern Donbas region, and said the Kharkiv attack had hit Ukrainian command centres and a training base for foreign "mercenaries".

Moscow's February 24 invasion of pro-Western Ukraine triggered massive economic sanctions and a wave of support for Zelensky's government, including deliveries of advanced weapons.

At NATO, two formerly military non-aligned European countries -- Sweden and Russia's north-western neighbour Finland -- will be accepted as candidates and Washington has announced that it will shift the headquarters of its 5th Army Corps to Poland.

An army brigade will rotate in and out of Romania, two squadrons of F-35 fighters will deploy to Britain, US air defence systems will be sent to Germany and Italy and the fleet of US Navy destroyers in Spain will grow from four to six.

"That's exactly what he didn't want but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe," Biden said, of Putin's efforts to roll back Western influence and re-establish influence or control over territories of the former Russian empire.

- Missile artillery -

Sweden and Finland's path to NATO membership was opened after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to lift his threat of a veto -- the ally accuses Stockholm and Helsinki of harbouring wanted Kurdish militants.

Turkey announced Wednesday that it would request the extradition of 33 alleged "terrorists" under the terms of the agreement signed Tuesday with Sweden and Finland to allow them to make membership bids.

A sanctions task force of leading Ukraine allies has frozen more than $330 billion in financial resources owned by Russia's elite and its central bank since Moscow's invasion, it announced Wednesday.

The Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force (REPO) said the allies had blocked $30 billion in assets belonging to Russian oligarchs and officials, and immobilised $300 billion owned by the Russian central bank.

Norway said it would donate three multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, following similar decisions made by Britain, Germany and the United States.

burs-dc/kjm
The 2020 Korean sci-fi series "Alice" greeted the small screen with a new perspective on time travel concept and the sci-fi genre, coupled with the main actors' brilliant acting.

Kim Hee Sun, Joo Won and Kwak Si Yang successfully depicted the story of two people whose lives get entangled with one another, even after many years, sudden death and time changes.

This 2022, the cast of "Alice" returns with a slew of more promising dramas. Read on to know more!

Kim Hee Sun

After "Alice," Kim Hee Sun led the 2022 fantasy romance drama "Tomorrow" along with SF9 Rowoon and Lee Soo Hyuk.

She captured the hearts of many viewers with her amazing portrayal of a good-willed grim reaper. In addition to that, her striking pink hair also caught attention.

At the moment, she gears up for her upcoming black comedy drama "Remarriage & Desires," which tells the controversial things that take place in the remarriage department of upper-class companies.

The new series is slated to air on July 15 on Netflix. Moreover, Kim Hee Sun will also make her silver screen comeback with "Sweet Sea" sometime in the second half of 2022.

Joo Won

Joo Won will return to the acting scene with two new films!

In "Firefighter," he will portray the role of a fireman who gets caught in the biggest and hottest fire that changes his life.

Meanwhile, his titular role "Carter" is an action thriller that tells the story of a spy agent who wakes up one day in a motel room, void of any emotions and memories.

As he follows the higher ups' orders, he will join an unexpected mission which will allow him to discover truths about himself.

"Firefighter" and "Carter" haven't announced the exact release dates but the two films are expected to hit the screen in the later half of the year.

Kwak Si Yang

Kwak Si Yang showed off his impressive skills as an actor in many well-known dramas after "Alice."

Along with Kim Yoo Jung, Gong Myung and Ahn Hyo Seop, the actor decorated the historical romance drama "Lovers of the Red Sky," which received high ratings nationwide during its broadcast.

Kwak Si Yang also participated in JTBC's "Idol: The Coup" and Disney+ Korea's "Rookie Cops."

Currently, he stars in Seo In Guk and Oh Yeon Seo's romantic comedy series "Cafe Minamdang" as a barista-slash-homicide detective Gong Soo Cheol.

"Cafe Minamdang" airs every Monday and Tuesday on Netflix at 9:50 p.m. KST.





KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Girls' Generation Seohyun and Na In Woo's "Jinxed At First" was well-received by the public, much to the production unit's delight. In episode 3 and 4, the two poor souls find a hint of happiness in their problem-filled lives. Read more to find out what happened!

'Jinxed At First' Episode 3: Seul Bi Gets Kidnapped

Things get a heart-shaking turn when Seul Bi (Seohyun) gets kidnapped by a gang, after Go Myeong Seong's (Na In Woo) loan shark tried to sell her off.

Thankfully, the gang immediately gets taken by the police. However, Seon Min Joon (Ki Do Hoon) visits Go Myeong Seong's fish shop, shocked to see how well and alive his old friend is.

Not minding the danger awaiting for them, Seul Bi tries to abide by her mother's advice: to live the life she desires and be happy.

With that, Seul Bi removes her gloves that prevent her from touching people and seeing their future unintentionally.

At the end of episode 3, Seul Bi confesses that she ran away from home and begs Go Myeong Seong not to send her home, to which the latter agreed.

'Jinxed At First' Episode 4: Sparks Fly Between Seul Bi and Go Myeong Seong

Since Seul Bi decided to live normally, she begins to learn various household chores as a gesture to thank Go Myeong Seong's generosity.

Seul Bi also promises to make him the luckiest man among the market merchants who look down on him.

She works hard and stays true to her promise. Seul Bi uses her charms to attract customers, entertaining everyone with her bright personality.

However, their humble lives get threatened as Seon Min Joon tries to persuade Seul Bi to come home to appease his enraged father.

Meanwhile, Seul Bi and Go Myeong Seong enjoy a fun night with unlimited drinks and chicken wings.

Seul Bi, who has never tried alcohol before, gets drunk. She even vomits on Go Myeong Seong's shirt unknowingly.

To the latter's surprise, Seul Bi's drunken behavior becomes more intense as she kisses him good night.

The following day, Go Myeong Seong feels exceptionally awkward around the hungover Seul Bi. Thankfully, the latter doesn't remember a thing.

On their way to the market, the two find a lost dog which turns out to be a restaurant owner's son's dog.

The problem is that the young boy can't keep it as it is unsanitary for their family's business. Go Myeong Seong then volunteers to return the dog to Busan, where his grandmother lives.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
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The last ever assembly to be held at Ecole George Pringle Elementary in West Kelowna was conducted Wednesday. The school, which dates back to 1949, will be demolished this fall with a new high school opening on the site in a few years.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, center left, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Iceland's Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir pose for a group photo with Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia and NATO leaders before a gala dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP
A man fills up his truck with gas in Toronto, on Monday, April 1, 2019. A cut to the provincial gas tax promised by Premier Doug Ford before the June election will finally take effect on Friday.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Pleasant Prairie  The over 330,000 square-foot Kroger fulfillment center near LakeView Technology Academy, at 9091 88th Ave., officially opened Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new operation will fulfill home delivery of everything from groceries to beauty products to the region.

Village President John Steinbrink Sr. praised the collaboration between Kroger and the village, which he said would bring new jobs to the area.

Kroger is a welcomed community partner, and we look forward to seeing their investment in our community succeed. Our residents will be excited to know a facility in Pleasant Prairie can deliver fresh groceries right to the doorstep of our neighborhoods, Steinbrink said.

Gabriel Arreaga, Krogers senior vice president and chief supply chain officer, said in a statement that the new facility will create nearly 250 jobs and enable Kroger to expand its delivery services in the region.

We are thrilled to launch Kroger Delivery in Pleasant Prairie, continuing our long-standing engagement in the state of Wisconsin. Our tradition of fresh is all about our customers, and this true milestone moment incorporates end-to-end cold solutions, including customized refrigerated vans, providing Kenosha County residents with everything fresh, every time, Arreaga said.

County Executive Samantha Kerkman welcomed the state-of-the-art facility to the county, cutting the ribbon along with former Green Bay Packers player LeRoy Butler.

Utilizing the latest robotics and logistics technology, this e-commerce fulfillment center provides a vital role in offering access to fresh food, especially to those residents without easy access to groceries, Kerkman said. We look forward to providing the Kroger leadership team with a supportive business environment here in Kenosha County.

The new facility is part of Krogers national fulfillment network, a series of highly automated hub sites that utilize robots moving around on a 3d grid, called The Hive in releases, containing totes with products and ready-to-deliver orders. The robots take items from The Hive to be sorted before being loaded into delivery vans.

Kroger now has six fulfilment centers including Pleasant Prairie, with another nine planned across the country.

According to a press release from Kroger, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is supporting the project with up to $1.5 million in state tax credits to the Kroger Fulfillment Network and up to $500,000 in tax credits to Ocado Solutions, which licenses grocery fulfillment technology.

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Irish Water have issued a Boil Water Notice for Mullinahone and other communities close to the South Kilkenny border served by the Fethard Regional Water Treatment Plant.

Following consultation with the Health Service Executive, Irish Water and Tipperary County Council are issuing a Boil Water Notice with immediate effect to protect the health of consumers supplied by the Fethard Public Water Supply.

The notice has been put in place due to issues at the Fethard Regional Water Treatment Plant, affecting the treatment and disinfection process.

The notice affects approximately 6,700 people in Cloneen, Mullinahone, Drangen, Killenaule, Moyglass, Ballinure, Ballinunty, Glengoole, Gortnahoo and surrounding areas.

For customers who wish to check if their property is on the Boil Water Notice, please go to the Irish Water website and enter the propertys Eircode. Customers can also call the customer care helpline on 1800 278 278.

The Fethard town area is not under this Boil Water Notice as it is supplied from an adjacent supply.

Irish Water and Tipperary County Council continue to work to rectify the issues at the water treatment plant with a view to lifting the notice as quickly and as safely as possible. In the meantime, all customers on this supply are advised to boil their water before use until further notice.

Vulnerable customers who have registered with Irish Water will receive direct communication on this Boil Water Notice.

Irish Waters Pat Duggan said: Public health is our number one priority and we appreciate the impact that this notice will have on the community supplied by the Fethard Water Treatment Plant. However, the restriction has been put in place to protect our consumers. Irish Water and Tipperary County Council are working tirelessly to resolve the issues affecting the plant and lift the boil water notice early as it is safe to do so.

Customers in Cloneen, Mullinahone, Drangen, Killenaule, Moyglass, Ballinure, Ballinunty, Glengoole, Gortnahoo and surrounding areas must boil their water before drinking, preparing food, etc. However, customers in the Fethard town area are not under a Boil Water Notice as they are supplied by an adjacent supply. If anyone is unsure if the notice impacts on their residence or business, they can go to the Irish Water website and input your Eircode. The Irish Water customer care team are also available on 1800-278 278.

In line with HSE COVID-19 advice and the requirement for frequent hand washing, Irish Water advises that the water remains suitable for this purpose and boiling the water is not required.

Vulnerable customers are reminded that the water is safe to consume once boiled.

Water must be boiled for:

Drinking;

Drinks made with water;

Preparation of salads and similar foods, which are not cooked prior to eating;

Brushing of teeth;

Making of ice - discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers and filtered water in fridges. Make ice from cooled boiled water.

What actions should be taken:

Use water prepared for drinking when preparing foods that will not be cooked (e.g. washing salads);

Water can be used for personal hygiene, bathing and flushing of toilets but not for brushing teeth or gargling;

Boil water by bringing to a vigorous, rolling boil (e.g. with an automatic kettle) and allow to cool. Cover and store in a refrigerator or cold place. Water from the hot tap is not safe to drink. Domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink;

Caution should be taken when bathing children to ensure that they do not swallow the bathing water;

Prepare infant feeds with water that has been brought to the boil once and cooled. Do not use water that has been re-boiled several times. If bottled water is used for the preparation of infant feeds it should be boiled once and cooled. If you are using bottled water for preparing baby food, be aware that some natural mineral water may have high sodium content. The legal limit for sodium in drinking water is 200mg per litre. Check the label on the bottled water to make sure the sodium or `Na' is not greater than 200mg per litre. If it is, then it is advisable to use a different type of bottled water. If no other water is available, then use this water for as short a time as possible. It is important to keep babies hydrated.

Great care should be taken with boiled water to avoid burns and scalds as accidents can easily happen, especially with children.

Irish Water is working closely with Tipperary County Council to lift the notice as soon as it is safe to do so. Updates will be available on the Water Supply Updates section on water.ie, on Twitter @IWCare and via our customer care helpline, open 24/7 on 1800 278 278. Further information in relation to the Boil Water Notice is available from https://www.water.ie/ water-supply/water-quality/ boil-water-notice/

Irish Water is responsible for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services in Ireland. We are committed to continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support the growth needed in housing and across our economy, while protecting the environment and safeguarding water supplies.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the morning. Sunny skies this afternoon. Hot. High around 95F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low near 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 11 PM CDT WEDNESDAY... * WHAT...Heat index values between 100 and 106 can be expected this afternoon, followed by heat index values between 105 and 110 Tuesday and Wednesday. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest, and west central Illinois. Portions of central, east central, northeast, and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...From Noon today to 11 PM CDT Wednesday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses. 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. People in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Area can get information about cooling centers or energy assistance related to the excessive heat by calling the United Way of Greater Saint Louis at 800-427-4626, or if calling from a land line phone dial 2-1-1. You can also call Cool Down Saint Louis at 314-241-7668. &&
Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON MONDAY TO 11 PM CDT WEDNESDAY... * WHAT...Heat index values between 100 and 105 can be expected Monday, followed by heat index values between 105 and 110 Tuesday and Wednesday. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest, and west central Illinois. Portions of central, east central, northeast, and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...From Noon Monday to 11 PM CDT Wednesday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses. 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. People in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Area can get information about cooling centers or energy assistance related to the excessive heat by calling the United Way of Greater Saint Louis at 800-427-4626, or if calling from a land line phone dial 2-1-1. You can also call Cool Down Saint Louis at 314-241-7668. &&
Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang, second from right, holding talks with his Czech counterpart, Jozef Sikela, second from left, in Prague, June 28, in this photo, provided by his ministry. Yonhap





Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang has promoted Korea's capabilities in the nuclear energy field during his visit to the Czech Republic to win an order for a new power plant project there, his office said Wednesday.







Korea is currently bidding on the European nation's 8 trillion won ($6.19 billion) project to provide an additional reactor in its southern region of Dukovany.







During a meeting with his Czech counterpart, Jozef Sikela, Tuesday, Lee stressed Seoul's advanced nuclear power technologies and management prowess, which were shown through the Barakah project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.







Under the 2009 contract, Korea built four nuclear reactors in Barakah, 270 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi. In March, the No. 2 Barakah reactor began commercial operations about a year after the first unit.







"A nuclear power generation project requires more than a decade of construction and involves operations for more than 60 years. South Korea is a reliable partner in terms of economic feasibility, safety and ensuring the construction period," Lee said.







The Czech Republic launched a tender for the Dukovany project in March, and Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP), the U.S.' Westinghouse and France's EDF have passed a security appraisal.







Participants have to submit preliminary bids by November, and the winner bidder is expected to be selected by around 2024, the KHNP said.







During the meeting, the two ministers also agreed to boost cooperation in the small modular reactors (SMR) sector and hydrogen, as well as in such key industries as electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors and military equipment.







They decided to hold working-level meetings for follow-up discussions at an early date, the ministry said.







The new Yoon Suk-yeol government has been actively pushing to revive its nuclear energy industry, reversing the former administration's nuclear phase-out policy.







On Tuesday, Lee also met with Milos Vystrcil, the Czech Senate president, and explained the country's nuclear energy policy and technology capabilities, and asked for cooperation in deepening bilateral industry ties, according to the ministry.







The Senate president asked for South Korea's attention to the potential establishment of direct flights between the two nations and the establishment of a Korean cultural center in his country, as well as Seoul's possible extended support for Ukraine.







On Monday, the two ministers and some 400 officials in the nuclear power generation sector from the two nations held a joint session meant to deepen their relationship.







During the event, the two nations signed a total of 10 memoranda of understanding on nuclear energy and in the hydrogen field, which involved nine South Korean companies and institutions, including top carmaker Hyundai Motor, and 21 Czech entities, the ministry said.







Lee is in the Czech Republic for a three-day visit, which will be followed by a two-day stay in Poland. It is his first overseas trip since taking office last month. (Yonhap)


A bereaved mother, right, touches the sculpture of her son, who died during an inter-Korean naval skirmish near the western sea border two decades ago, at the Navy's Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, June 29. Yonhap



South Korea's Navy on Wednesday held a ceremony to commemorate the sacrifices of sailors killed in an inter-Korean naval skirmish near the western sea border two decades ago.



The memorial event took place at the Navy's Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, with the attendance of some 300 people, including the sailors' families and fellow troops.



The naval conflict occurred near the South's frontline island of Yeonpyeong on June 29, 2002, as two North Korean patrol boats crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, and launched a surprise attack on the South's Chamsuri-357 warship.



It left six South Korean sailors dead and 19 others injured. Around 30 North Koreans were thought to have been killed or wounded, according to the South's Navy.



The 2002 skirmish is also known as the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, as it followed a similar naval clash near the border island in 1999 that left seven South Korean sailors injured.



Starting this year, the Navy named the anniversary event the "victory" ceremony to honor the sailors who dedicated their lives to safeguarding the country's waters south of the NLL.



"The second Yeonpyeong battle was a victorious naval fight in which our service members blocked the North's provocations with their whole bodies and inflicted huge damage on the enemy," Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said. "It's a proud piece of South Korea's history."



Saying aloud the name of each fallen soldier, Lee also stressed, "Your noble sacrifices will not only remain in our hearts, but also stay alive in South Korea's history for good."



The minister also met the fallen troops' parents and praised their "indomitable" military spirits.



During the ceremony, the bereaved families participated in a wreath-laying event aboard Navy ships that bear the names of the fallen sailors.



The Navy currently operates six high-speed guided missile ships that have been named after the late sailors to continue their unfinished mission of defending the waters and frontline islands near the NLL.



"I believe my brother, who may now be anywhere like in the sky or at sea, is now protecting the Republic of Korea," said Yoon Young-min aboard the vessel named after the late Lt. Cdr. Yoon Young-ha, referring to South Korea by its official name.



Yoon welcomed the military's decision to call the commemoration a "victory" ceremony, saying it will help "upgrade" the honor of fallen sailors, including his brother.



Cdr. Lee Hee-wan, a survivor of the battle, also struck a positive note on the ceremony's new name, underscoring his late fellows are highly deserving of the special honor.



The NLL used to be a flashpoint of the Korean Peninsula, as the North disputed the NLL, arguing it was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led U.N. Command after the 1950-53 Korean War.



But tensions near the boundary appeared to have gone down as the North shifted its military focus to its nuclear and missile programs, with the South pushing to foster lasting peace on the peninsula. (Yonhap)




President Yoon Suk-yeol poses with U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders of countries participating in the 2022 NATO Summit during a gala dinner event at the Royal Palace of Madrid in Spain, Tuesday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



MADRID  The Yoon Suk-yeol administration has begun looking to Europe as a market that can offset Korea's decreased economic opportunities from its largest trading partner, China, amid a pessimistic outlook for the Chinese economy.



"China's economic growth is slowing down and the country is now refining its strategy to focus on its domestic demand," senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, Choi Sang-mok, said during a press briefing on Tuesday (local time).



"So the era of an export boom with China we have been enjoying for the past 20 years is seeing its end. That is why we need to find alternative markets and diversify our trade partners," Choi added.



Choi made the remarks amid Yoon's attendance at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain. The president is scheduled to have summits with the leaders of the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, France and the U.K., as well as having brief bilateral meetings with the heads of Canada and Romania on the sidelines of the summit.



"Along with the changing circumstance in China, Korea also faces an urgent need to explore and find new growth engines and expand economic security," Choi said. "And Europe meets all of these conditions."





Senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, Choi Sang-mok, speaks during a press conference at the Puerta America Hotel in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday. Yonhap
Nodira Janibekova, a member of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis in Uzbekistan / Courtesy of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Korea



By Nodira Janibekova



The Constitution is the foundation of the legal system of the country, which means that the law determines and solidifies its supremacy over other regulatory legal acts. This means that the Constitution must always correspond to the changes taking place in society, meet the new historical period and create conditions for the continuation of the democratic transformation of the country.



In terms of the development of the constitutions of different countries, in the 21st century, the constitutions of about 90 states have been amended and supplemented. It is noteworthy that they were warmly received by the people because they were initiated in support of fundamental reforms and coincided with a period of change in society. After all, constitutional reform is a process based on the consent of all layers of society.



Although the Constitution of Uzbekistan was adopted in 1992, the Basic Law has been amended several times to date, and it is no exaggeration to say that these changes have contributed to the evolution of our Constitution. During the pre-election meetings of the president, on the basis of the opinions of citizens, representatives of political parties and the general public, the head of state initiated amendments to the Constitution. It is noteworthy that nine main areas where amendments will be made have been identified.



At the heart of the constitutional changes and, in general, the reforms carried out in the country is the provision of human interests, carried out according to the principle of "man  society  state", instead of the previous "state  society  man."



The fact that the basic unit of society in our country is the family, as enshrined in the Constitution, determines the uniqueness of the Basic Law, which distinguishes it from the constitutions of other countries. Also, the protection of the rights of the elderly and people with disabilities, the elimination of child labor, the consolidation of the rights and obligations of youth in the Constitution will strengthen the status of the family and the social state. In this regard, the head of state proposes to adopt the principle, "New Uzbekistan is a social state," as a constitutional norm.



The requirement of today is to consolidate at the constitutional level the issues of development of the sphere of preschool, general education, higher education and science in order to educate smart, happy, courageous youth and lay the foundation for a third Renaissance in Uzbekistan.



Many environmental problems have arisen as a result of humans' impact on nature. Therefore, along with personal, political, economic and social rights, it is advisable to include in the Constitution an article on the environmental rights of the individual.



Of course, along with the implementation of constitutional reforms, it is necessary to analyze and study the experience of such transformations in foreign countries. In improving our Constitution, it is important to have not only the active participation of lawyers, deputies, senators, political scientists, scientists and artists, but also of every citizen.





Nodira Janibekova is a member of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis in the Republic of Uzbekistan.


President Yoon Suk-yeol holds a meeting with his staff ahead of the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday (local time). Yonhap



China expected to respond in less threatening manner



By Kang Seung-woo



Korea's first-ever participation in a NATO summit will serve as a stepping stone for the Asian country to demonstrate that it can play a larger role outside of its region as well as engage in discussions related to its national interests, according to diplomatic observers.



President Yoon Suk-yeol is now attending the summit in Madrid, Spain, where he is meeting with a number of world leaders. Although Korea does not belong to the 30-member alliance, it was invited for the first time along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand as the organization's Asia-Pacific partners.



"Basically, we participate in such multilateral forums to prevent our national interests from being discussed without our input, and in such processes, we aim to expand our interests without compromising our national interests," said Kim Yeoul-soo, chief of the Security Strategy Office at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs.



"That is why President Yoon decided to join the NATO Summit with a view for Korea to become a 'global pivotal state.'"



Yoon has pledged to turn Korea into what he calls a global pivotal state that  as he vowed in his inauguration speech, May 10  contributes to universal values and international norms, such as freedom, liberal democracy, human rights, sustainable growth and peace.



Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst and current policy analyst at the Rand Corporation, said Yoon's participation in the summit may serve as a critical "hook" for Seoul's integration into these high-profile multilateral organizations.



"Should this trip be successful, it will help burnish Seoul's international standing and demonstrate to the U.S. and NATO participants the potential for Seoul to play a greater role in such multi-party platforms," she said.



According to the presidential office, the government plans to enter into a new cooperation program with NATO in the second half of the year on the occasion of Yoon's attendance.



Harry Kazianis, the president of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank in the U.S., said there were many areas of cooperation that must be pursued, saying that Korea's military is one of the finest in the world, and NATO is the most powerful alliance ever created.



"Both sides should be attending each other's military drills, and NATO and Korean forces should also be actively training in each other's war games and simulated operations and do all they can to work together," Kazianis said.



"Both sides face authoritarian threats that have military arsenals that could kill millions, so Korea-NATO cooperation is essential."





President Yoon Suk-yeol, center, takes part in a group photo with U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders during a gala dinner held at the Royal Palace of Madrid, Tuesday (local time). Yonhap
By Noh Yang-geun





On the morning of June 10, I felt extremely fatigued and displayed the symptoms of a bad cold, so strong that I couldn't even eat breakfast. A nurse at a hospital took my temperature, which registered 39 degrees. Before I consulted the doctor, she examined me to see if I was infected by the COVID-19 virus. Fortunately I tested negative. Soon after the COVID-19 test, the doctor examined me with an X-ray test, which revealed that part of my lung had been affected by pneumonia. Handing me a letter of his opinion about my symptoms, the doctor told me to go to the emergency room of a general hospital right away.



I took a taxi to the emergency room of the Central Hospital for Veterans Hospital Service, where I underwent X-ray and CT scans. The examination results confirmed that I had pneumonia. I had to be hospitalized for 10 days. I shared a sick room with two Vietnam War comrades affected by defoliant.



Never before have I known that comrades affected by defoliant during their battle in the jungle have been leading such a painful and hard life, coming in and out of the hospital repeatedly. They have been suffering from various illnesses due to the defoliant poured down from the U.S. airplanes, some of which are potentially deadly. I asked them how much they receive every month as allowance for participating in the Vietnam War. They said that they receive only 570,000 won including 350,000 won uniformly given to every Vietnam War veteran.



That means that they receive only 220,000 won more in allowance for the after-effects of the harmful defoliant.



Mr. President, every one of your predecessors said in a speech delivered at the memorial service held on the memorial day of June 6 every year to the effect that they would do their best to treat men of merit who died in battle during the Korean War or on the battlefield in Vietnam with respect. Do you think that they did their best to treat men of merit with respect?



You promised to increase the salary of the rank-and-file to 2 million won during your presidential campaign. I think that you made a big mistake in deciding your priority. You should have promised to increase the allowance given to Vietnam War veterans affected severely by defoliant, the after-effect of which has been tormenting them incessantly.



A special bill, now pending in the National Assembly, was introduced by Rep. Sul Hoon, which stipulates that 10,780,000 won should be given to all Vietnam War veterans by the terms of one-time payment and 200,000 won more should be paid in addition to the 350,000 won given uniformly to them every month.



It is also stipulated that 70 percent of the amount mentioned above should be paid to the widows.



It is urgently needed to pass the bill as the Vietnam War veterans are dying almost every day. It is the hope of all the Vietnam War veterans that all the members of the National Assembly will do their best to pass the bill as soon as possible when the National Assembly returns to normalcy.





The writer (nyk7085@hanmail.net) is a Vietnam War veteran.


By Kasit Piromya





If the first meeting of the states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in January 2022 had taken place as scheduled after the treaty was adopted on July 7, 2017, at the United Nations and entered into force on Jan. 22 2021, the atmosphere would have been "business as usual." War in Europe seemed inconceivable. Even mentioning the deployment of nuclear weapons would have seemed absurd.



But now, in the midst of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine where the devastating toll in Ukraine is clear for the world to see, the fact that the TPNW's first meeting of states parties took place on June 21 to 23 in Vienna was a testament to the success of the meeting. There was great enthusiasm and great determination to pursue a common cause in the banning of nuclear weapons in spite of the reality that nuclear armed states have not budged.



Russian President Vladimir Putin's pronouncement that Russia's nuclear forces were on high alert jolted the international community to the prospect of nuclear weapons use. It also suggested that defeat on the conventional battlefield in Ukraine was not on Putin's agenda. He would  and could  go to the extreme end of catastrophic nuclear destruction. It is madness in the making.



The Vienna meeting, which brought together over 49 states as participants that have ratified the treaty, and 34 states as observers, and many representatives of 85 concerned NGOs, cannot take place in isolation or be shielded from the reality of the war in Ukraine and Russian nuclear saber rattling.



The conflict highlights the real dangers posed by nuclear weapons and how a member of the U.N. Security Council can easily become an irresponsible nuclear weapon state. It underlines the need for a treaty banning the possession and use of nuclear weapons.



The situation in Ukraine also shows us how diplomacy can fail. With each side entrenched, the result was war. Yet there were issues and demands that could have gone to the negotiating table. The failure of diplomacy in this case shows that the international community cannot take peace for granted. We cannot be complacent and carry on with business as usual. Maintaining the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and working toward nuclear disarmament requires determination and hard work.



Negotiating and upholding treaties such as the TPNW and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) needs commitment to shared peace and security. Diplomacy, not war, must remain our priority. Diplomacy requires the relentless effort to seek peace through dialogue with a spirit of compromise and mutual accommodation along with concern for our common humanity.



For the ban to prohibit nuclear weapons to eventually succeed, citizens must also play their part. They need to engage with the issues and pressure their national governments to give up nuclear weapons, to stop the reliance on nuclear deterrence and policies that support nuclear weapons. The push to eliminate nuclear weapons must come from both governments and the people they serve.



The task of the states parties to the TPNW and non-governmental organizations working on nuclear disarmament is to also raise awareness and educate publics of the very real and present danger of nuclear weapons so that they have the knowledge and the means to act.



In this regard, Japan as a country that experienced the trauma and devastation of nuclear bombs and is currently a country under the nuclear umbrella could play a pivotal role in opposing the possession of nuclear weapons and promoting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, can also play a leading role in the promotion of prohibiting nuclear weapons.



The war in Ukraine is a tragedy and a lesson on why nuclear weapons are so dangerous. But why should humanity live in fear of its own creation? This should be the impetus for publics and parliaments around the world to act.



Having witnessed the reality and consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict  a potentially long and protracted war with the specter of nuclear weapons looming over it  and observing the growing tensions in other parts of the world involving nuclear-armed states, we must switch course to conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and peacemaking.



The TPNW meeting of states parties not only provided an opportunity to discuss how to ban or prohibit nuclear weapons, but also to call on Putin to scale down his nuclear alert. The Vienna meeting should have called for a ceasefire in Ukraine as a prelude to the banning of the threat to use nuclear weapons. It was a timely and judicious opportunity to make such a call.



Citizens, states, and the United Nations can together play a role in the promotion of peace, disarmament, and the banning of nuclear weapons. Now is the time to act.





Kasit Piromya is former Thai foreign minister and ambassador to the Soviet Union, Indonesia, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. He is a member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (APLN). His article is published in cooperation with the APLN (www.apln.network).




Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 89F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 72F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Who are the best groups that shone the most in the first half of 2022? In a survey, K-pop acts including BTS, TWICE, fromis_9, and more dominated the final results. Keep reading to see the top 20 rankings!

BTS Crowned Best K-pop Group in First Half of 2022

From June 20 to June 26, a survey was conducted on the Idol Chart, "Who is the best group that shone in the first half of 2022?"

On June 27, the results were finally unveiled, and among nominees, BTS ranked first with 15,558 votes (about 58% of the vote) out of 26,772 votes.

Indeed, the septet comprised of Jin, RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook established their career with full-fledged group activities starting with a Seoul concert in January. It became the largest-approved mass gathering in South Korea since the pandemic restrictions with a total of 45,000 audiences.

In April, BTS then proved its fame and impact with two nominations for international music awards such as the Grammy and Billboard Music Awards. For the latter awards ceremony, they won three titles out of seven nominations. With this, the seven-member group became the most nominated and most awarded K-pop act in the ceremony's history.

Meanwhile, BTS also released its anthology album "Proof" on June 10, which contains nine years of history since its debut. "Yet To Come," the title song of the album, flaunts its popularity once again, achieving 113 million YouTube MV views in just two weeks since its release.

Fans anticipate if they will continuously shine this second half of the year, following the announcement of hiatus to focus on solo careers.

Top 20 Best K-pop Groups in First Half 2022: TWICE, fromis_9, More

Following BTS, TWICE, known for their honorific title, "Third-Gen Nation's Girl Group" came in second with 3,801 votes (about 14% of the vote).

This year, TWICE cemented their presence in the global market after completing concerts in three countries: Korea, the U.S., and Japan, as part of its fourth world tour, "III."

Some of their most notable achievement in 2022 include their record of being the first K-pop girl group to hold two separate arena tours in the worlds biggest music market with approximately 100,000 audiences.

Also, TWICE is the first female K-pop group to headline a stadium concert in the United States, particularly at the Banc of California Stadium.

In addition to this, their Japan concert also wrote new history as the first K-pop group to hold a solo three-day concert at the Tokyo Dome.

Lastly, fromis_9 ranked third with 2289 votes. This year, the girl group truly raised their status with their popular track, "DM," the lead song of its fourth EP, "Midnight Guest."

Through this album, they also broke its personal record of selling a total of 104,438 copies initial chodong (first-week sales).

On June 27, 2022, fromis_9 released their fifth EP, "From Our Memento Box," featuring the title track "Stay This Way," which had already surpassed 160,000 stock pre-orders, fromis_9's highest number of stock pre-orders to date.

Full list of 20 Best K-pop Groups 2022 in order:

1. BTS

2. TWICE

3. fromis_9

4. AB6IX

5. Oh My Girl

6. Rocket Punch

7. SEVENTEEN

8. aespa

9. NCT

10. LOONA

11. TXT

12. VIVIZ

13. Stray Kids

14. Dreamcatcher

15. WJSN

16. (G)I-DLE

17. IVE

18. LE SSERAFIM

19. Kep1er

20. ENHYPEN

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Eunice Dawson
Kep1er's "DOUBLAST" album sales in the first week have made the rookie act the seventh top-selling K-pop girl group in history. Continue reading to know how many copies the mini-album sold in just seven days.

'DOUBLAST' Makes Kep1er 7th Top-Selling K-pop Girl Group in First Week in History

On June 20, Kep1er made their first-ever comeback with their second mini-album titled "DOUBLAST." This EP features the title track "Up!" along with four B-side songs.

On the same day, Kep1er's second album sold an impressive sum of 153,094 copies on Hanteo-achieving the 10th highest first-day sales of any K-pop girl group in history, surpassing IZ*ONE's "Oneiric Diary."

According to Hanteo, Kep1er's "DOUBLAST" album sales in the first week reached a total of 287,109 copies (June 20 to 26). With this, the rookie girl group broke their own best record for first-week sales. Their debut album "FIRST IMPACT" only sold 206,569 copies earlier this year.

Notably, the second mini-album broke the record of "FIRST IMPACT" in just three days since its release.

Other than that, "DOUBLAST" puts Kep1er on the No. 7 spot on the list of top-selling K-pop girl groups in the first week in history. The rookie act now follows BLACKPINK, Red Velvet, IZ*ONE, IVE, TWICE, and LE SSERAFIM.

In the top 100 highest first-week sales of any K-pop album in history, Kep1er's second album is now at No. 85, surpassing MONSTA X's "NO LIMIT" that only sold 283,215 copies in November 2021.

Kep1er's 'DOUBLAST,' 'Up!' Enter iTunes Charts

Shortly after its release on June 20, Kep1er's "DOUBLAST" debuted at No. 3 on the Worldwide iTunes Chart and entered at No. 11 on the European iTunes Album Chart. It also landed inside the top 3 on iTunes Album charts in other countries, such as Brazil, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and more as of June 21.

Concurrently, the title track "Up!" debuted at No. 30 on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart. It also ranked within the top 10 on iTunes Song charts in different regions, including Finland, Peru, Latvia, the Philippines, Thailand, and more.

In South Korea, Kep1er's "Up!" entered the daily charts of Bugs and MelOn on the 20th. The song ranked No. 11 and No. 286, respectively. On the real-time charts of Bugs and Genie at 7 p.m. KST on the same day, "Up!" secured Nos. 2 and 174, respectively.

At 7 p.m. KST, the B-side songs in Kep1er's "DOUBLAST" also landed on Bugs. "LE VOYA9E" entered at No. 43, "Good Night" at No. 46, "Attention" at No. 48, and "Rewind" at No. 49.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Kep1er Hikaru Hand Gesture on Live Stream Draws Attention Online

Moreover, "Up!" entered at No. 175 on Spotify's Daily Top Songs South Korea Chart on the 21st, and made it to this week's Spotify K-pop Global Chart at No. 39.

On YouTube, Kep1er's "Up!" music video racked up 6.9 million views and 584,000 likes in the first 24 hours of its release. The MV ultimately reached 10 million views on the 22nd, 15 million views on the 24th, and 20 million views on the 25th.

As of this writing, the music video has garnered 24.2 million views and 783,000 likes.

In the past days, Kep1er has been performing "Up!" on several music shows, such as SBS's "Inkigayo," MBC's "Show! Music Core," KBS2's "Music Bank," SBS MTV's "The Show," and Mnet's "M Countdown."

For more K-pop news, follow and subscribe to KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article

Written by Maria Scott
By Jun Sheng

Not long ago, the US Secretary of State Blinken delivered a speech on China policy that highlighted the so-called China threats, smeared Chinas domestic and foreign policies, and once again accused it of coercive diplomacy. Yet this label is best pinned on the US itself.

In practicing its coercive diplomacy, the US leverages its superiority in the economic, military and other sectors to force other countries to meet its demands and change their way of action, all for the purpose of achieving its own strategic goals and maintaining its hegemony through improper means.

For many years, America has made no secret of its coercive diplomacy. In fact, it even takes pride in it, which is why it never hesitates to blatantly and arbitrarily bully other countries for its own interests, either through the threat of force or political isolation, economic sanction or technological blockade. Washington acclaimed its success in overthrowing the military regime of Haiti in 1994 as an example of American coercive diplomacy, and allocated about 30.3 billion U.S. dollar in the additional defense budget of 2003 for executing coercive diplomacy.

Being a master of coercive diplomacy, the US is not fastidious about who it coerces  whether its big or small, nearby or distant, a friend or a foe. The international community has suffered a great deal from it. The US has blockaded and sanctioned Cuba for more than half a century, and its sanctions on Iran have lasted more than 40 years. Countries like Venezuela and Syria are also victims of its long-term sanctions. At the same time, Washington doesnt hesitate to stab its so-called allies, like the EU and Japan, in the back either  which is not uncommon. Sometimes beating about the bushes, sometimes cutting right to the chase, the US has at its disposal numerous tricks to force its allies to adjust their stance and serve Americas interests. Barbara Wesel, a commentator for Deutsche Welle, said European countries have to pay a high political price in order to keep up the alliance with the US.

With regard to international affairs, the US has consistently put domestic law above international law and abused illegal unilateral sanctions and long-term jurisdiction, while its attitude toward international rules is rather selective, only using those in its favor while discarding those that are not. To maintain its hegemony, the US has formed cliques for bloc politics, instigated hostility between regional groups, and forced other countries and international organizations to pick sides. From the EU-US Dialogue to the AUKUS trilateral security partnership, from the Quad mechanism to Five Eyes, the US is holding up all kinds of banners of partnership while what its doing is creating division, egging confrontation, and benefiting itself at others expense. Its sustained attack on regional cooperation architecture under the outdated Cold War mentality has seriously undermined regional prosperity and stability.

The US plays the same game of threat and extortion with international organizations, either tearing up treaties or backing out of the organizations to serve its political agenda. For a long time, it takes the podium of the UN as its private turf and uses it to pressure other UN members; it took issue with the WHO to shirk responsibility for losing control of the pandemic; it withdrew from WHO and stopped exporting vital materials when the world was at a critical juncture of the anti-virus war, seriously threatening global public health and security

The international community has long realized who is coercing the whole world and destroying global peace and stability. The country that attempts to topple other countries and wreck up the world through coercion, sanction and bullying will end up hurting itself.
It might be time to buy a power generator, just in case.

There almost certainly will not be wide-scale power blackouts in Wisconsin this summer, but they are perhaps more likely in 2022 than they have been at any time since the modern energy grid was implemented.

Blackouts occur when power plants, wind turbines, solar panels and other contributors to the power grid are not making enough electricity to power everything they normally do. So, power is temporarily and intentionally cut off to certain areas to keep output below capacity, preventing potentially more catastrophic unintentional shutdowns.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned last month that parts of the upper Midwest, including all of Wisconsin, face a high risk of energy emergencies under certain conditions. Those conditions could include extreme heat, unexpected generator outages, incredibly low wind and/or lots of cloud cover all coming in conjunction, or some other unforeseen disaster such as the abrupt shutdown of an existing power plant.

In April, the Midwest grid operator  the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)  warned that generation capacity in the region including Minnesota and Wisconsin will be about 1,230 megawatts short of possible peak demand. With above-average temperatures forecast, MISO said it may need to rely on imports or emergency measures to maintain the grid.

MISO again said earlier this month that Wisconsin is to remain at high risk for blackouts throughout the summer, which has never happened before.

Lets roll

If blackouts occur this summer, they are likely to be what are considered rolling blackouts.

Rolling blackouts are when the operators of the power grid (in southeastern Wisconsin, thats We Energies) cut power in specified areas over a short period, and then do the same thing in another area. This prevents whole swaths of land from losing power all at once over a long period, while inconveniencing many for a few minutes or hours at a time.

Blackouts are more likely in summer during stretches of extreme heat, when most every home has its air conditioning turned on, thus greatly increasing demand across the whole energy infrastructure.

If members of the community by-and-large reduce power consumption by not using air conditioning or having it at a higher temperature that uses less power, rolling blackouts could be reduced or prevented.

Why is this a worry now?

The reason for concern is that the extra power capacity Wisconsin and the rest of MISO has is not quite as big as it was before. MISO mandates that every power producer in its grid be able to produce 10% more energy than anticipated peak load, said Brendan Conway, a spokesperson for WEC Energy Group, We Energies parent company.

Conway said the reason MISO and NERC are more worried now than in past years is the result of the closure of some power plants within MISO but outside of Wisconsin, decreasing the amount of extra power beyond anticipated peak loads that the whole grid can produce.

Peak load is the max power demand the power grid can expect at any one time. Conway referred to peak load situations as an everyone using their air conditioning nonstop kind of day.

Demand on the system is growing too, in part likely due to climate change making temperatures hotter and thus increasing the usage of air conditioning.

As WTMJ-TV reported earlier this month, the max temperature during summers in Milwaukee averaged 79.9 degrees Fahrenheit from 1991-2020, 1.9 degrees higher than 1981-2010. Climate Central, a nonprofit news outlet, reported that average summer temperatures in Milwaukee have risen 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit between 1970 and 2021.

About 6% of all U.S. electricity produced each year goes toward air conditioners, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Not everyone is in agreement about the likelihood of blackouts in Wisconsin this summer, however, with some saying MISOs and NERCs warnings have caused undue fear.

Little need to worry, officials say

Conway said Wisconsinites should not expect any blackouts. There has never been one since MISO was founded in 1998.

He added that, before blackouts would be scheduled, We Energies would first call for the public to decrease power use  asking customers to turn off lights as much as possible, turn off the air conditioning, that kind of thing.

Thats never happened before in We Energies history, Conway said.

What Im seeing is that the likelihood of that (blackouts in Wisconsin) is unlikely, said Michael Vickerman, policy director of RENEW Wisconsin, a Madison nonprofit that encourages implementation of renewable energy sources. If there are blackouts, they certainly wouldnt originate in Wisconsin, Vickerman said.

If Wisconsins energy producers fall short of demand, power could be imported from neighboring power grids, too. Wind turbine power generated in Iowa could fill Wisconsins gaps, and vice versa. Thats thanks to the system in place through MISO.

Vickerman pointed to how, last week, We Energies and Alliant Energy (which powers much of central and southwestern Wisconsin) extended the lives of three in-state coal plants by several years. That will help stabilize power in the state.

Two of the four units in We Energies Oak Creek plant, located just north of Caledonia, were due to shut down in early 2023 and the other two were to close in early 2024. Now, they are due to retire in May 2024 and November 2025, respectively.

Wisconsin Public Service Commission member Ellen Nowak likewise downplayed warnings.

While pointing out that there is always a risk of blackouts, Nowak said it would take a perfect storm  such as unplanned generator shutdowns combined with extreme heat or catastrophic weather  to trigger forced outages.

Im not hitting the panic button, but it is a wakeup call. I think its a good reality check about how the system works, said Nowak, the only Republican appointee on the three-member PSC, during an online meeting organized by Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce. She also called for continuing to delay the retirement of fossil fuel generators.

Reporting from Chris Hubbuch of Lee Newspapers contributed to this article.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris met the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK and the Ambassadors/ Permanent Representatives of the United States, Canada, India and France, on the sidelines of the 50th session of the Human Rights Council.

During the bilateral meeting with Miyake Shingo, Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Foreign Minister referred to the longstanding and mutually supportive friendship between the two countries and observed that the relationship with Japan is vital for Sri Lanka. He noted that, over the decades, Japan has been a close partner of Sri Lanka, and expressed appreciation for the assistance provided, particularly in the areas of skills development, computer technology, the construction of the Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital, assistance to the Rupavahini Corporation, the significant assistance provided recently for medical and pharmaceutical items, as well as Japans supportive stance on Sri Lanka. He also recalled the support extended by Sri Lanka to Japan at the San Francisco Conference at the conclusion of World War II. Sri Lanka wished to expand cooperation with Japan in the areas of digitalization, carbon credit, and ocean related activities including coast conservation, fisheries and global warming. Reference was also made to exploring cooperation in areas coming under the purview of the World Trade Organisation.

The Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan noted that Japan, too, wished to deepen and strengthen cooperation with Sri Lanka in international fora. He added that Sri Lanka and Japan were marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and expressed the hope that long before the 100 year celebration, the relations between the two countries would be elevated to an even higher level. He expressed interest in furthering cooperation with Sri Lanka in the areas mentioned.

At the meeting with the Ambassador / Permanent Representative of the USA to the Human Rights Council, Ms. Michele Taylor, the Foreign Minister explained the issues faced by Sri Lanka, and the socio-economic situation in the country.

Meeting Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, North Africa, the United Nations and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Foreign Minister discussed the upcoming Commonwealth Summit to be held in Kigali, Rwanda. The Foreign Minister observed that Sri Lanka considered the Commonwealth as an institution that can do much good in the present context. He also briefed Lord Ahmed on the situation in the country.

The Foreign Minister also had bilateral meetings with Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, Permanent Representative of India, Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, Permanent Representative of France and Ambassador Leslie E. Norton, Permanent Representative of Canada.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

16 June, 2022

Read more: www.mfa.gov.lk
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 29 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Anunta Tech, a leading Managed Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider, is excited to share that they have joined the Gartner Peer Insights Customer First program for Enterprise DaaS product(s) in the DaaS market.

Gartner defines DaaS Market as "solutions that provide a virtualized desktop or Windows application experience to workers, entirely from a remote hosted location such as the public cloud".

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"We are excited to be part of the Gartner Peer Insights Customer First program. We believe it showcases our commitment to deliver innovative DaaS products to our customers by putting them at the center," said Sivakumar Ramamurthy, CEO, Anunta Tech. "Over the years, we have sought open customer feedback to drive product innovations at Anunta and feedback received on neutral and industry-respected platforms like Gartner Peer Insights will augment our customer-first approach. We are grateful for all the feedback we receive from our customers in our journey to design innovative DaaS offerings."

Over the last decade, Anunta has become a trusted advisor in the DaaS market, forming long-term partnerships with global enterprises and enabling them in their digital transformation journey with continuous innovation and focus on end-user experience.

Also Read | Monkeypox Cases in UK Pass 1,000, World Total Now 3,413: UKSHAs Report.

The Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice Badge, Gartner, and Peer Insights are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer InsightsTM content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

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Chandigarh, June 29: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the second day of the two-day meeting of the 47th Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

The two-day meeting that began yesterday saw participation by Union Ministers of State for Finance and finance ministers of states and Union Territories as well as senior officials from the Centre and states. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman To Release Business Reforms Action Plan Assessment Report Tomorrow.

Sitharaman will brief the media on the outcomes of the meeting later this evening, Ministry of Finance said. The meeting of the GST Council was scheduled to be held in Srinagar was later shifted to Chandigarh.

"The 47th meeting of the GST Council will be held on 28-29 June, 2022 (Tuesday and Wednesday) at Chandigarh instead of Srinagar," the GST Council posted on the Twitter on June 18 to inform about the change of the plan.

The meeting of the GST Council comes after a gap of six months. Several states have urged the Centre to extend the deadline for compensation beyond June 30, 2022.

The previous meeting -- 46th meeting -- of the GST Council was held in the national capital on December 31, 2021. As the guaranteed five-year GST compensation to the states nearing its end, the proposal for its extension is likely to have come up in the ongoing meeting.

GST regime was introduced in the country with effect from July 1, 2017 and states were assured for compensation for loss of any revenue arising on account of implementation of the GST as per the provisions of the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 for a period of five years.

The Centre on May 31 cleared the entire amount of GST compensation payable to states up to May 31, 2022, by releasing an amount of Rs 86,912 crore.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the decision was taken to assist the states in managing their resources and ensuring that their programmes especially the expenditure on capital is carried out successfully during the financial year.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, Jun 29 (PTI) The 43-day Amarnath Yatra to the holy cave shrine located in south Kashmir Himalayas is all set to begin on Thursday after a gap of three years.

All arrangements have been put in place by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) to ensure smooth pilgrimage to the naturally formed ice-lingam at the cave shrine, officials said.

Also Read | Bigg Boss Contestant Manu Punjabi Reveals He Received a Similar Death Threat to Sidhu Moose Wala's.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday morning flagged off the first batch of pilgrims from Jammu base camp.

The first batch of 4,890 pilgrims left around 4 am from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for Kashmir Valley in a cavalcade of 176 light and heavy vehicles, the officials said.

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The Jammu and Kashmir administration is also augmenting the efforts of the shrine board by providing foolproof security cover along both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes to the holy cave, a senior official said.

The board has also made a provision of online 'darshan' for those who cannot physically undertake the pilgrimage.

"For the devotees who cannot come for the pilgrimage, they can avail the facility of online 'darshan', 'pooja', 'havan' and 'prasad'," the official said.

This year, the pilgrimage is expected to see higher than usual attendance of pilgrims as the Yatra is resuming after a gap of three years.

In 2019, the Yatra was curtailed days ahead the abrogation of Article 370. The pilgrimage did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While a senior army officer recently said the threat perception to the pilgrimage was more this year, unprecedented security arrangements have been made to ensure it remains incident-free.

Security personnel have been deployed three to four times more in strength for the pilgrimage, the officials said.

The security along both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes has been beefed up and new security pickets have been established to ensure that subversive elements are not able to disrupt the pilgrimage, they said.

To ensure only bona fide pilgrims are present at the pilgrimage, the SASB has asked all intending pilgrims to carry Aadhaar cards or any other biometric verified document with them.

Apart from the deployment, drone surveillance and RFID chips are also a part of the three-tier security arrangements for pilgrims.

The peaks leading to the holy cave from both the routes -- Pahalgam and Baltal -- have been covered by the security forces, the officials said.

They said sanitisation of the routes has been carried out and round-the-clock vigil is being maintained.

The officials said the pilgrimage would be monitored with the help of CCTVs and drones on both routes.

Apart from security, other arrangements have also been in an elaborate manner.

At the Baltal base camp, a 70-bed fully-equipped DRDO hospital has been set up for quality healthcare services to the pilgrims.

The hospital, funded by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, will have X-ray and ultrasound facilities, general and oxygenated wards, OPD, ICU, pharmacy and a laboratory.

The health department of the Union Territory administration has also made special arrangements for providing healthcare facilities to the pilgrims.

They have stationed 109 basic life support ambulances and 26 advance life support critical care ambulances at 55 locations en route Baltal and Chandanwari routes from Qazigund for the pilgrims.

The officials said this year, special focus is on cleanliness and the board aims for a "Swachh Amarnath Yatra".

Toilets have been provided all along the routes.

The pilgrimage will culminate on August 11, coinciding with 'Raksha Bandhan'.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow, Jun 29 (PTI) Following the murder of a tailor in Rajasthan, the Uttar Pradesh Police has stepped up vigil in its state, Director General of Police DS Chauhan said on Wednesday.

The top cop has also warned of strict action against anyone posting provocative posts on social media.

Also Read | Udaipur Beheading: One of Duo Who Killed Tailor Has Links with Pakistan-based Dawat-e-Islami, Visited Karachi in 2014, Says DGP.

"All UP police personnel posted across the state are on alert following the incident in Udaipur. We will take strict action against those who post provocative material on social media. Our priority remains to maintain law and order in the state in any case," Chauhan told the media.

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli was on Tuesday murdered at his shop in Udaipur for allegedly sharing a provocative remark made by now-removed BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammad.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Two Held for Raping 13-Year-Old Minor Girl, Filming Act and Sharing Online.

According to a senior official posted at Police Headquarters, social media units of in all districts have been asked to keep a close watch on posts and initiate immediate action if they spot any incendiary communal post.

District police chiefs have also been instructed to hold peace committee talks with local religious heads to mitigate any issue that could lead to a communal conflict.

The police administration is maintaining extra caution also because the state witnessed violent protests in several districts after the Friday prayers on June 3 and 10 against the remark made by Sharma.

(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 29 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday said by holding an all-party meeting in Rajasthan after the gruesome killing of a tailor in Udaipur, it has strengthened democratic traditions in times of crisis.

In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said this is in sharp contrast to the way he functions.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

"By holding an all party meeting and genuinely hearing suggestions from everyone, CM Ashok Gehlot has shown the way on how to build confidence and promote peace," Ramesh wrote on Twitter.

"The Congress strengthens democratic traditions and norms, especially in times of crisis. What a contrast to the Vishguru!" the former Union minister said.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Resigns As Maharashtra CM Ahead of Floor Test in Assembly, Says 'In Democracy, Heads Are Counted To Show Numbers, I Am Not Interested in That'.

Leaders of all political parties in Rajasthan strongly condemned the Udaipur incident and appealed for peace and restraint, as Chief Minister Gehlot chaired an all-party meet on the matter.

The parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), unanimously said such acts have no place in a civilised society and demanded strict punishment for those involved in it, according to an official statement.

They appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and harmony and said acting with restraint in this situation is the right way.

The statement said the case is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan police are coordinating with the central agency.

All the culprits involved in the incident and in the conspiracy behind it will be given the harshest punishment and justice will be provided to the victim's family, it added.

"Social harmony has always been maintained in Rajasthan. This is an attempt to disturb the social harmony of the state. The parties said they have full faith that the people of Rajasthan will not allow the plans of such anti-social elements to succeed," the statement said.

It added that the representatives of all parties, including the BJP, praised the Congress government in the state for taking timely action, without any laxity.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, Jun 29 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said the annual Amarnath Yatra strengthens the faith in the goodness of mankind and its successful conduct is the duty or every citizen of the Union Territory.

He said this at a meeting with leaders of political parties here.

Also Read | Udaipur Beheading: Tailor Kanhaiya Lals Body Had 26 Injury Marks, Say Sources.

"The Amarnath Yatra is a reflection of our composite culture and people belonging to all the faiths are contributing to make it successful. The pilgrimage strengthens our faith in the goodness of mankind and its successful conduct is the responsibility of every citizen of Jammu and Kashmir," Sinha said.

All the leaders at the meeting observed that the pilgrimage is like a big festival and a celebration of "Kashmiriyat", and said every citizen of the Union Territory will ensure warm hospitality and comfort of the pilgrims, according to an official spokesperson.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

The leaders appealed to people for their continuous support and assistance in the conduct of the yatra, which is the pride of Jammu and Kashmir and a reflection of unity in diversity, the spokesperson said.

They also observed that the annual pilgrimage is crucial to Jammu and Kashmir's economy and a livelihood source for a large number of locals.

Sinha apprised the meeting of the arrangements put in place for the yatra, besides the special places identified at all yatra camps for selling local products, including the famous art and handicraft of Jammu and Kashmir.

All the leaders of the prominent political parties of the Union Territory put forth their views and suggestions for a smooth and successful conduct of the Amarnath Yatra.

The LG said a similar meeting would be held after 10 days of the pilgrimage.

The leaders who participated in the meeting included National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Muzzafar Shah, Altaf Bukhari, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president G A Mir, BJP chief for Jammu and Kashmir Ravinder Raina, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen and G M Shaheen.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti did not attend the meeting.

(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 29 (ANI): Chennai South GST Commissionerate has realized Rs 5412 crores tax revenue for the Financial Year 2021-22 which is an increase of Rs 1091 crores i.e. 25.24 per cent when compared with Financial Year 2020-21 (Rs 4321.47 crores). The Chennai South GST Commissionerate has contributed 13.17 per cent (Rs 5412 crores) of Tamil Nadu Zone Revenue of Rs. 41090 Crores in Financial Year 2021-22 while this Commissionerate had contributed 13.07 per cent (Rs 4321.47 crores) of Tamil Nadu Zone revenue (Rs 33059 crores) in Financial Year 2021.

Chennai South GST Commissionerate has realized Cash Payments of Rs 1626.49 Crores in the current Financial Year 2022-23 upto the month of May 2022, which is Rs 531.72 Crores i.e. 48.56 per cent more than the revenue realized in the last financial year (Rs 1094.77 crores) for the same period. The Commissionerate gratefully acknowledge the stakeholders for achieving this milestone in the post-covid era, as per a press release from PIB.

Also Read | Udaipur Beheading: Tailor Kanhaiya Lals Body Had 26 Injury Marks, Say Sources.

The commissionerate is actively giving services to Taxpayers through Timely GST Registrations, On-time Refunds, GST Seva Kendra, Bulk SMS, Outreach programs, and Grievance Redressal sessions with special focus on MSME and Women entrepreneurs. In this Commissionerate, Artificial Intelligence is being actively implemented to track the tax evaders.

Chennai South GST Commissionerate has more than 30,000 Taxpayers under its jurisdiction. The major sectors contributing to its revenue are Motor Vehicles, Industrial tools and machinery, Courier services, Insurance services, Electrical and Electronics products and FMCG products, etc. This Commissionerate has realized Rs 5353.45 Crores in Cash set-off and Rs 21737.86 in ITC set-off for the Financial Year 2021-22, the release added.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

Chennai GST Audit-II Commissionerate was formed on July 01, 2017, covering the jurisdiction of Executive Commissionerates of Chennai South and Outer. The audit of GST units commenced during December 2019 adhering to the principles and policies outlined in the GST Audit manual 2019. During the year 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022) audit of 578 GST taxpayers was conducted and 3023 paras were raised involving a non-compliance detection of Rs 851.07 crores. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
IG CRPF Kashmir MS Bhatia Visited the holy cave and physically inspected the deployment of the forces on the ground. (Photo/CRPF)

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], June 29 (ANI): Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Wednesday physically inspected the deployment of the forces on the ground near the holy cave of Amarnath shrine.

Inspector General of CRPF Kashmir, MS Bhatia was also among those present during the inspection.

Also Read | Udaipur Beheading: Tailor Kanhaiya Lals Body Had 26 Injury Marks, Say Sources.

"Visited the Holy Cave and physically inspected deployment of the Forces on ground. Also interacted with the Jawans and stressed on synergy and joint efforts for a safe #Amarnath Yatra. Jai Hind #ShriAmarnathjiYatra2022@crpfindia," tweeted Bhatia today.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha earlier this week reviewed the security arrangements and preparations for Amarnath Yatra in Jammu.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

He also chaired a review meeting with Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Avny Lavasa, ADGP Jammu Mukesh Singh, and other officials.

Speaking to media persons, LG Sinha said, "Baba Amarnath yatra will be starting soon and all the arrangements have been done. This yatra has been important to boost the economy of Jammu and Kashmir. Lakhs of people are dependent on this yatra and all the people here are eagerly waiting for the yatra. All the security measures have been taken care of."

Earlier on Thursday, the LG also reviewed the security arrangements for Amarnath Yatra at Unified Command Meeting in Srinagar. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary and senior security officers from the Home Department, Jammu and Kashmir police, Army, Intelligence Agencies, CRPF, BSF, and others.

Detailed plans for telecom connectivity, health care, fire safety, electricity and water supply, weather forecasting, langar management, sanitation, lodging, and disaster management were reviewed by the Lt Governor. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) A delegation of BJP leaders from poll-bound Gujarat, which was on a two-day inspection of the AAP government's "Delhi Model", found two mohalla clinics and a school in a "poor condition" in Northeast Delhi on Wednesday.

The 17-member delegation, including former ministers and legislators, visited two mohalla clinics at Soniya Vihar and Chauhan Patti, both of which were not operational and a Delhi government school at Khajuri Khas, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders said.

Also Read | Udaipur Beheading: Tailor Kanhaiya Lals Body Had 26 Injury Marks, Say Sources.

On Tuesday, the delegation had visited schools and mohalla clinics in South Delhi and New Delhi.

"The reality of what (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal touts as his Delhi Model of governance is totally different from what he falsely claims. The mohalla clinics are showpieces while we have also noticed that schools are not up to the mark, let alone being of global standards as the AAP claims," one of the delegation members said.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, who accompanied the Gujarat BJP leaders, claimed that the mohalla clinics listed on the city government's website are "dysfunctional" without doctors or medicines.

The delegation members also shot videos and interacted with the locals.

"The water and power supply that Kejriwal says is free in Delhi is a big farce. Poor people either do not get any piped water or, if it is available, it is dirty and unfit for use. We also met people who have received huge electricity bills despite minimum consumption," another delegation member said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, has been trying to carve a space for itself in Gujarat that goes to polls later this year, touting its "Delhi model".

Several senior AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, have visited the state for meetings and roadshows in recent months.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had visited government schools in Bhavnagar, the constituency of Gujarat's education minister, in April and attacked the ruling BJP for the "poor" condition of education in the state.

The AAP is trying to expand its base in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh that are scheduled to go to polls later this year.

In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls, the AAP had failed to win any seat.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Jun 29 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said each penny plundered from the people of the state will be recovered from the "nexus of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats".

Mann further said his government will soon fulfil the "guarantee" of giving Rs 1,000 each to the women of the state, which was promised ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

Slamming the opposition for raising questions over the first budget presented by his government, Mann said the state government is committed to fulfilling its poll promises and would also augment resources and reduce the debt burden on the state.

Winding up the debate in the Assembly on the budget presented by Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, the chief minister said any person who looted public money will have to pay for it and his government will leave no stone unturned to put them behind the bars.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Resigns As Maharashtra CM Ahead of Floor Test in Assembly, Says 'In Democracy, Heads Are Counted To Show Numbers, I Am Not Interested in That'.

"Each penny looted from the people of the state will be recovered," Mann said while hitting out at the opposition that had accused his government of being neck deep in corruption.

"I vow on the floor of this august House that my government will never forgive corrupt politicians for their sins against Punjab and Punjabis even if they join any big or small political party," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said all the benami properties and the "corrupt nexus" behind those will be exposed before people.

He said politicians who have not even been named by government agencies for corruption are running from pillar to post seeking refuge, which reflects the fear in their minds about their sins.

Mann assured the House that no guilty person will be spared and strict action will be taken against them even if they join any other political party, in an apparent reference to some Congress leaders recently joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A verbal duel took place between the chief minister and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, with Mann accusing the lawmaker of interrupting him with his "running commentary".

Hailing the "pro-people" budget presented by the finance minister, the chief minister said the opposition has been caught in a peculiar situation as it has been jostling hard to find any shortcoming in such a "progressive" budget.

He added that for the first time, the core areas of education and health have been accorded top priority in the state budget.

Mann accused the previous governments of jeopardising the education and health sectors by giving space to private players for expanding their business.

However, he said this trend will be reversed by his government in the coming years through the strengthening of the infrastructure in both the sectors.

On the AAP's poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 to women, Mann said it will be implemented soon.

He said his government is in the process of resource mobilisation and once it is completed, this promise will be honoured.

"When we raise resources, be it in two months or four months, our next step will be to give Rs 1,000 each to the women of the state," he said.

Lambasting the opposition members for their "slanderous" propaganda on the choice of the Rajya Sabha members from Punjab by the AAP, Mann reminded them that none of the candidates was rejected by the people.

He said this was contrary to the earlier practice when those defeated in polls were sent to the Upper House of Parliament as "political refugees".

Mann said those questioning the AAP's choice of Rajya Sabha candidates should remember that former prime minister Manmohan Singh was a Rajya Sabha member from Assam and then from Rajasthan, despite the fact that he was from Punjab.

He said this budget is a roadmap for a progressive and vibrant Punjab as the people of the state have ousted the political parties that used to play musical chairs to loot them every five years.

The state government will check pilferage of public money and utilise the funds for the welfare of people, he said.

Listing several e-governance initiatives taken by his government, the chief minister said from the next session, the Assembly will also get a new look.

He said from the next session, touchscreens will be installed 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)
Kolkata, Jun 29 (PTI) Several states including West Bengal and some BJP-ruled ones demanded that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation mechanism be extended beyond the deadline of June 30 to support growth, Bengal minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.

The extension is needed to meet the shortfall in revenue loss, said Bhattacharya, minister of state for finance (independent charge), after conclusion of the two-day GST Council meeting at Chandigarh.

Also Read | GST Council Meet 2022: Unbranded Packaged Foods To Be Brought Under Goods and Services Tax.

"We said that extension of compensation is required to support growth which is echoed by certain BJP-ruled states as well. If that is not extended, growth will be seriously affected across states," Bhattacharya who attended the meeting told PTI.

The GST which substituted 17 state and central levies came into being on July 1, 2017, and states were then assured of compensation for the revenue loss for five years ending Thursday.

Also Read | GST Council Meet 2022: Online Gaming Is Gambling Like Casinos, Says Nirmala Sitharaman.

Regarding taxation of online gaming and casinos, Bhattacharya said that the matter had been sent to the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, which will hold a meeting on July 15.

The GST rates on online gaming and casinos were pegged at 28 per cent on the full value of the consideration. But Goa had sought a lower tax incidence as it is a high revenue earner of that state, she said.

Bhattacharya also said that there was also a proposal to set up a tribunal, and the next GST Council will meet next possibly at Madurai.

On the first day of the meeting, the council approved e-way bill on intra-state movement of gold, jewellery and precious stones to check evasion of tax and it had been decided that states can determine the threshold above which it will be made mandatory.

The council also decided to do away with the exemption on a host of items and services like packaged curd, lassi, and cereals. Besides, it took a decision that a 12 per cent tax on hotel rooms below Rs 1,000 per day will be levied, as against tax-exempt currently. PTI dc

(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 29 (PTI) Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd on Wednesday said it is ready with 70 lakh dosages of its Gemcovac-19 vaccine, the first indigenously developed mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 to be approved for restricted emergency use in adults.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has an annual capacity of producing 200 million dosages of the vaccine and is awaiting the government's nod to roll it out in the market.

Also Read | GST Council Meet 2022: Unbranded Packaged Foods To Be Brought Under Goods and Services Tax.

Gemcovac-19 had received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd, Chief Operating Officer Samit Mehta said Gemcovac-19 is the first mRNA vaccine developed in India and only third mRNA vaccine to be approved for COVID-19 in the world.

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In contrast to other mRNA vaccines that require to be stored at sub-zero temperatures, Gemcovac-19 can be stored at 2-8 degrees.

That makes it "unique in its deployability in countries like India" and other similar nations, Mehta said, highlighting the advantages of Gemcovac-19 in terms of logistics and transportation.

Gemcovac-19 will be available for adults above 18 years of age. It is a two-dose vaccine to be administered intramuscularly with a gap of 28 days.

When asked about the company's ability to supply the vaccine, he said, depending on the government's stand, Gennova has "seven million (70 lakh) dosages ready for immediate supplies".

The company said it aims to produce around 40-50 lakhs of doses per month and the capacity can be quickly doubled.

Mehta said while Gennova has an annual capacity to produce 200 million formulation dosages, as for the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) of the vaccine, it has capacity to produce 500 million dosages annually and the plan is to double it to 1 billion dosages this year.

On the market roll out of Gemcovac-19, he said, it would depend on what stand the government takes, either for its procurement or to make it available in the private market.

Commenting on the pricing of the vaccine, Mehta said, "It has not been fixed. There is still an ongoing discussion with the government."

However, he said, it would be "competitive" as compared to the other two mRNA vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer.

In India, he said, as per the emergency use authorisation Gemcovac-19 will be used for adults who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far.

The company, however, is planning to seek approval for using its vaccine for booster dose and trials will be conducted for mix-and-match with other COVID-19 vaccines. Also, it will target paediatric usage parallely.

On the safety of the vaccine, he said, there were "no adverse events" in over 4,000 adult volunteers who took part in clinical trials across stages.

Gennova said its COVID-19 vaccine has reached the primary end point of the Phase III clinical trial. The clinical data was evaluated by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). The vaccine was found to be safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic.

Mehta further said that WHO prequalification for supplying Gemcovac-19 to the global health organisation would be the next step for the company.

The company is looking to supply to countries in Latin America and South East Asia, he said, adding that it is in discussions with 25-30 countries through parent Emcure's network.

The exports of Gemcovac-19 could also be through Indian government's supplies to other countries as part of vaccine diplomacy and supplies to WHO, Mehta said.

"Beyond India, Gennova aims at providing sustainable access to low-and middle-income countries around the world to the vaccine to blunt the spread of pandemic," the company 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 [India], June 29 (ANI): The Supreme Court has started hearing the plea filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to hold the floor test on Thursday.

Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Prabhu mentioned the plea before a vacation bench headed by Justice Surya Kant and said, "I have 4 or 5 points. Will be brief."

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Singhvi said, "The letter which tells us about the floor test is dated June 28. Yesterday evening, the Leader of Opposition met the Governor. Media reports mentioned it was at 10 pm. Today, when we mentioned the matter, we received information about the floor test at 11 am tomorrow. Currently, two of the NCP MLAs are down with Covid and two Congress MLAs are abroad." He said the supersonic speed of the floor test left us with no time to call MLAs."

Singhvi said, "These people left from Maharashtra and went to Guwahati and on their way, they sent an email from an unverified account that we have no confidence in the Speaker. They have clearly walked across and hobnobbed with the Opposition."

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He asked, "After meeting the Leader of Opposition, how can the Governor call for a floor test without verification of the situation."

"The court must not allow a floor test to be held till the deputy Speaker decides on the disqualification petition against rebel MLAs," Singhvi told the Apex Court.

Citing the Uttarakhand Harish Rawat case, senior advocate AM Singhvi said, "A floor test was directed, but the disqualification decision was taken by the Speaker before the floor test. One day before the floor test, the President's Rule was imposed."

He also cited the Shivraj Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) case where an "artificial majority was sought to be created by engineering resignations."

Sunil Prabhu's lawyer told Supreme Court about a letter which tells us about the floor test. He said that on June 28, Opposition leaders met Governor and today morning, we received intimation about a floor test that is scheduled to be held tomorrow. Two NCP members are down with COVID and one Congress MLA is out of the country, he said.

He said, "There is the supersonic speed for the floor test. The floor test determines which government represents the will of the people. A floor test is supposed to find out the true majority. A true majority will include those eligible to be included."

Sunil Prabhu's lawyer submitted that the voting (in floor test) should not take place before the Speaker's decision. After his decision, the number of the members of the House will change. Supreme Court Bench, in response to Prabhu, said, "The disqualification case is pending before us, we will decide whether the notice is valid or not. But how is this affecting the floor test?"

As the political turmoil in Maharashtra continues to unfold, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis accompanied by 8 independent MLAs on Tuesday submitted a letter to the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded an immediate floor test.

"We have given a letter to the Maharashtra Governor demanding an immediate floor test," Devendra Fadnavis said.

Sources earlier today also learned that eight independent MLAs have sent an email to the registered email address of the Maharashtra Governor demanding for an immediate floor test. It is being reportedly said that Fadnavis will further demand a meeting with the Governor.

Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to the rebel MLAs to come for talks. "Don't fall prey to anyone's missteps. The honour given to you by Shiv Sena cannot be found anywhere. If you come forward and speak, we will sort out the issues. As Shiv Sena party chief and family head, I am still worried about you. Come here for a dialogue," he said.

Meanwhile, rebel leader Eknath Shinde stated that he will return to Mumbai soon and that his faction was taking "Balasaheb's Shiv Sena forward". Shinde has claimed the support of over 50 MLAs.

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 June 20 and camped in Gujarat's Surat. Later, the rebel MLAs shifted base to a hotel in Guwahati.

"10 people attacked a Shiv Sainik. His condition is fine. It is because of such Shiv Sainiks that our party is standing high. The person who got elected on a Shiv Sena ticket and is sitting in Guwahati got our Shiv Sainik attacked through his supporters," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.

The rebellion was triggered by a large section of Shiv Sena MLAs, who are currently camping in Assam.

The political tussle in Maharashtra between Shiv Sena and the rebel group led by Eknath Shinde has now reached the Supreme Court. The pleas filed by the breakaway camp challenge the disqualification proceedings against Shinde and 15 other rebel MLAs.

On Monday, a separate plea was filed by Shinde in the top court regarding the safety of the legislators who have challenged party chief and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala heard the pleas on Monday.

"This is the win of the Hindutva of Balasaheb Thackeray and the ideas of Anand Dighe," Eknath Shinde tweeted after the Supreme Court deferred the disqualification proceedings of rebel MLAs till July 11.

Earlier, two MLAs, on June 26, called for the removal of the Maharashtra Deputy Speaker, who could be the key decision-maker about the disqualification of the rebel MLAs. Mahesh Baldi and Vinod Agarwal, both independent MLAs and said to be close to the BJP, have moved for the removal of Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, who is from Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Independent MLA Mahesh Baldi from Uran assembly constituency reached Vidhan Bhavan today and submitted a letter to the office Deputy speaker saying that he cannot disqualify the 12 MLAs.

In his letter, he has cited several judgements of the Supreme Court. "The entire Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government doesn't have the majority and they can't disqualify any MLA. I am against Congress and NCP and if the MLAs are disqualified, we will also go to the Court," he said.

Notably, the Maharashtra assembly doesn't have a Speaker since February 2021. Also, the Deputy Speaker also approved the appointment of Ajay Chaudhary as leader of the ruling party Shiv Sena in the assembly in place of Eknath Shinde. Eknath Shinde has called the appointment illegal as Chaudhary's name was proposed by the "minority faction" as he represents the "real Sena".

Shinde, who has been replaced by Ajay Chaudhary as Shiv Sena's legislature party leader on Friday, is currently camping with over 40 rebel MLAs in Guwahati. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today wrote to rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and urged them to return to Mumbai and talk to him.

Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde today declared that he will go to Mumbai and "take Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy forward" as he spoke to reporters outside a hotel in Guwahati where he and other rebels have been staying for a week. Eknath Shinde, the leader of a staggering coup against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, claims that he has the backing of around 50 MLAs, nearly 40 from the Shiv Sena. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhopal, Jun 29 (PTI) AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said Congress is losing its relevance fast and should wither away which will pave the way for the beginning of new politics in the country.

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Taking a swipe at Congress, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief also said Narendra Modi could become the prime minister twice because of Congress' (performance).

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He dismissed the allegation that the AIMIM cuts into the votes of Congress in elections.

".....If that is the case then it seems Pragya Thakur (BJP MP from Bhopal) won the election and also the 22 legislators of Congress joined hands with BJP to bring Shivraj Singh Chouhan to power again due to AIMIM," he said sarcastically.

You see that Congress is going down. We expect the Congress will not only be weakened but should fade away so that a new politics can begin in the country. Narendra Modi became the prime minister twice due to Congress, Owaisi told reporters.

The Hyderabad MP said Congress's politics will finish if Muslims understand the exact share of their representation in political leadership.

He said the poor condition of Congress could be gauged from the fact that it failed to gather even 100 people when its leader (Rahul Gandhi) was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning.

Owaisi appealed to Muslim residents of the Hindi heartland to ensure their adequate representation in local bodies and the Assembly, and create leadership in alliance with Dalits and STs.

He said some legislators have been representing their respective constituencies for three decades but have failed to develop the education infrastructure, resulting in the lowest literacy among Muslims.

Queried on a proposal before the Maharashtra government demanding that Aurangabad city be renamed Sambhaji Nagar, Owaisi said the Maha Vikas Aghadi should first face the floor test in the state Assembly (on Thursday as directed by the state governor).

The Shiv Sena should take care of its flock and the government instead of Aurangabad, which is facing a water crisis, he said referring to the political crisis in Maharashtra.

Owaisi said the proposal to rename Aurangabad also poses a challenge for the NCP and Congress if they decide to support it.

"The NCP and Congress were appealing to people to not vote for AIMIM to keep Shiv Sena away from power. But they joined hands with Sena after (the 2019) elections to form a government (in Maharashtra). This is hypocrisy. These are double standards. I don't accept political secularism but believe in the Constitutional one, he added.

Replying to a query about the possibility of AIMIM tying up with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Owaisi said he didn't agree with the ideology of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Owaisi said the AIMIM will contest the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh which are due next year.

He reiterated the opposition to the 'Agnipath' scheme for recruitment into the armed forces.

On BJP MP Varun Gandhi questioning the need for post-retirement benefits for elected leaders when those being selected in the Agnipath scheme will not be given pension once their four-year tenure gets over, Owaisi said this proposal should come from the Prime Minister and all the BJP MPs.

The discrepancies in the 'Agnipath' scheme will divide the Army, 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)
Kulgam (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], June 29 (ANI): Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were neutralized during an encounter that broke out in Kulgam, informed the police on Wednesday.

The encounter site was very close to the pilgrimage route of the Amarnath yatra. Both the terrorists killed in the encounter were identified and categorized as local terrorists of the proscribed terror outfit LeT.

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"Both the killed #terrorists have been identified as #categorised local terrorists of proscribed #terror outfit LeT. Again an important #encounter as the operation site was very close to NHW (#Yatra route)," Tweeted the Jammu and Kashmir.

The encounter was started in the Nowpora, Mir Bazar area in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam on Wednesday.

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The security was tightened in Jammu and Kashmir with special emphasis on the use of over 130 sniffer dogs on the vehicle routes heading towards the shrine to ensure safe pilgrimage amid heightened terror threat.

A top government official, requesting anonymity, told ANI that this is the first time when the security forces have been using a maximum number of sniffer dogs to check the use of explosives by terrorists to disrupt the 43-day annual pilgrimage beginning on June 30.

"In this year's Amarnath Yatra, we have specially deployed a maximum number of sniffer dogs. Over 130 sniffer dogs are currently deployed on routes from Srinagar and Jammu towards holy Amarnath cave to detect explosives suspected to be used by the terrorist outfits to disrupt the annual pilgrimage," said the official.

Among the sniffer dogs deployed in Jammu and Kashmir are the most commonly used breeds-- German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and Labrador.

Amid the latest threats inputs regarding the use of grenades, sticky bombs, and Improvised Explosive Device; the security forces have been using sniffer dogs to avert any eventuality during the pilgrimage, which is being organised after a gap of two years.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had also informed the Central government last week that Pakistan-based commanders of proscribed terrorist organisations are trying terrorist activities by way of targeting minorities, security personnel and religious pilgrimages including holy Shri Amaranthji Yatra, Shri Vaishno Devi Yatra and other similar religious activities. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) A woman from Liberia has been arrested at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport for allegedly smuggling cocaine worth Rs 13.26 crore into the country, a statement issued on Wednesday by the customs department said.

The passenger was intercepted after her arrival from Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.

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During personal search of the woman, the customs officials noticed a bag containing 11 kurtas with large buttons randomly stitched onto them, the statement said.

All buttons, 272 in total, were cut open and 947 grams of cocaine was recovered from them, it said.

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The accused, holder of a Liberian passport, was arrested and the narcotic was seized, the statement added.

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Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will have to move the Supreme Court against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's letter mandating the Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation to face a floor test on June 30.

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Governor Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of the Shiv Sena-led government at 11 am on Thursday.

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Talking to PTI, Chavan said the apex court has maintained status quo over the case till July 11.

He was referring to Supreme Court's move on Monday of keeping in abeyance the disqualification proceedings before the Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly till July 11.

"The MVA will have to move the apex court against the governor's letter for a floor test. The deputy speaker (of the Assembly) will have to recognise the split in the Shiv Sena legislature party. The rebel MLAs have to give a letter that they have the support of the two-thirds of the legislature party and that they have merged with another party," he said.

Chavan said if the rebels vote against the confidence motion moved by the MVA government, then they stand to be disqualified.

Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday convened a meeting of the MVA leaders to discuss the situation arising out of the governor's letter.

Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he will reach Mumbai on Thursday for floor test against the beleaguered Sena-NCP-Congress government.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI): More than 50,000 visitors visited the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in two months since the inauguration from across India and the world. Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya which was opened to the public on April 21, 2022 has received an overwhelming response.

Within two months of opening, the Sangrahalaya has been visited by important dignitaries including Ram Nath Kovind, President of India; M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President; Chief Justice of India; Speaker, Lok Sabha; Members of the Union Council of Ministers; Governors of various states; Chief Ministers; judges of the Supreme Court; Chief Justices of High Courts; and Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of Union Territories.

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The visitors come from diverse sections of society and from all age groups. Family groups, tourist groups, young adults, people with special needs, and school/college groups frequent the Sangrahalaya. Interactive features of the Museum like a picture/walk with one's favourite Prime Minister and the helicopter ride have witnessed tremendous interest and been overbooked almost every day.

The Sangrahalaya is a tribute to every Prime Minister of India, and a narrative record of how each one has contributed to the development of our nation over the last 75 years. Visitors are acquainted with India's unique journey as a parliamentary democracy through the lives of its Prime Ministers, who came from every class and tier of society, for the gates of democracy are open to all.

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The Sangrahalaya tells the story of India after Independence in a comprehensive, objective, and interesting manner with technology-based interfaces like Holograms, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, interactive kiosks, computerized kinetic sculptures, smart phone applications, interactive screens, experiential installations etc. The unique mix of technology to present historical narratives here is a breakaway from conventional museum displays.

The logo of the Sangrahalaya signifying the rising hands of the people of India holding the Dharma Chakra also been highly appreciated as a design concept. The levitating national emblem at the reception has gained special popularity.

In feedback surveys, the vast majority described their visit as a memorable experience. Many have drawn parallels with some of the most popular international museums. On being asked what brought them to the Sangrahalaya, most responded that they want to know more about the lives and contributions of our Prime Ministers and through them the history of India after Independence.

Visitors, especially college goers, have found that the archival documents, correspondence, newspapers, and historical photographs opened for them a storehouse of authentic knowledge. The archival newspapers presented in the digital, as well as physical format covering various important events in the lives of Prime Ministers, especially attract visitors, many of whom are old enough to recall those newspaper headlines.

In his message, President of India, Ram Nath Kovind expressed his confidence, "hamare deshvasi svadhin bharat ke adarshon se prabhavit honge, rashtragaurav ka anubhav karenge tatha aur bhi behtar samaj, desh tatha vishva nirman ke prati prerit hote rahenge". (Our compatriots will be influenced by the ideals of Independent India, will feel national pride, and be inspired to build a better society, country, and the world).

Sangrahalaya has used only original pictures and videos and this has lent greater authenticity to the story it tells, and has received unanimous praise. The objectivity with which the lives and tenures of Prime Ministers have been exhibited is recognized by all. The seamless integration of technology with content has made the Sangrahalaya both educative and inspirational for people, especially for the young, who take great interest in technological interfaces installed here. The personal belongings of Prime Ministers kept in the Sangrahalaya also greatly attract the visitors. The Sangrahalaya fulfils a need felt by people for long of knowing the history of contemporary India, and of the political leadership of the country.

The Sangrahalaya would also announce shortly the inauguration of a high-tech light and sound show on India's successful space programme. (ANI)

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Chandigarh, Jun 29 (PTI) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested a drug inspector in connection with a bribery case, officials said.

The sleuths had nabbed Rakesh Kumar, a class IV employee of Civil Hospital, Pathankot, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000.

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In this case, Bableen Kaur, a drug inspector from Pathankot was also arrested later, an official statement quoting a spokesperson of the bureau said.

"Rakesh Kumar has been arrested on the complaint of a Pathankot-based man, who had approached the bureau informing that he had applied online for a grant of license to open a medical store at Mamoon," the spokesperson said.

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"The complainant was later called by Bableen Kaur, who told him to contact Rakesh Kumar, who was previously been posted with her," according to the spokesperson.

The complainant met Kumar on June 18 and was asked to pay a bribe of Rs one lakh, which was later reduced to Rs 90,000, for getting the license from Kaur.

The spokesperson informed that the complainant agreed to give Rs 30,000 as the first installment of this bribe on June 28.

A trap was laid and the vigilance team nabbed the Kumar while accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 in the presence of two official witnesses.

"Later on Bableen Kaur was also arrested for her involvement in this case," said the spokesperson.

He said an FIR has been registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act at VB Range police station, Amritsar. PTI SUN VSD

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Jaipur, Jun 29 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said his government has taken a serious view of the gruesome murder of a tailor in Udaipur, asserting such incidents cannot take place without involvement of radical elements at national and international levels.

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Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, was on Tuesday murdered by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to Islam.

The incident triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city.

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Mobile Internet services were suspended across all 33 districts of Rajasthan.

"We are taking the incident very seriously. This is not a ordinary issue and it cannot happen until there is a link with radical elements at the national and international levels. This is what experience says," Gehlot told reporters in Jodhpur before leaving for Jaipur to chair a law and order review meeting.

He said the plans, conspiracy of the accused and their links with national or international agencies will be disclosed.

Terming it as a gruesome incident, the chief minister said the murder of the tailor is highly condemnable.

He said the SIT has started its work and the government will be sharing its feedback after a law and order review meeting.

The Rajasthan Police had announced a special investigation team (SIT) soon after the arrest of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, in connection with the murder.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had beheaded the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Mohammad.

Lal was recently arrested by the local police over a post on social media. On June 15, while he was on bail, he told police that he was receiving threat calls.

The local SHO summoned both sides to the police station and settled the matter, an official said. After the murder, police suspended an assistant sub inspector for negligence at that time.

The assailants entered Lal's shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took measurements Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone.

The men fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip on social media. In another video, the alleged assailant said they beheaded the tailor and threatened the prime minister for lighting this fire.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati, Jun 29 (PTI) Dissident Shiv Sena MLAs and a group of independent legislators, led by Eknath Shinde, who have been camping at a hotel here since June 22, will leave for a neighbouring state of Maharashtra later on Wednesday, official sources said.

A chartered flight will depart from the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati in the afternoon with the MLAs, they said.

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"It will leave around 3 pm from Guwahati," the sources told PTI.

Asked about the destination, they said it is likely to be a neighbouring state" of Maharashtra.

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Three air-conditioned Assam State Transport Corporation have reached the Radisson Blu hotel to carry the legislators to the airport, the sources added.

Earlier in the day, Shinde had told reporters outside Kamakhya temple here that he will return to Mumbai on Thursday to "complete necessary formalities".

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Jaipur, Jun 29 (PTI) Leaders of all political parties in Rajasthan Wednesday strongly condemned the murder of a tailor in Udaipur and appealed for peace and restraint, as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot chaired an all-party meeting on the incident, officials said.

The parties, including the BJP, unanimously said such acts have no place in a civilised society and demand strict punishment for those involved in the crime, an official statement said.

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They appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and harmony and said acting with restraint in this situation is the right way.

The statement said the case is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and that the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police are coordinating with the NIA.

Also Read | Maharashtra Political Crisis: Disqualification Proceedings Have No Bearing on the Floor Test, Shiv Sena Rebel MLAs to Supreme Court.

All the culprits involved in the incident and in the conspiracy behind it will be given the harshest punishment and justice will be provided to the victim's family, it said.

"Social harmony has always been maintained in Rajasthan. This is an attempt to disturb the social harmony of the state. The parties said they have full faith that the people of Rajasthan will not allow the plans of such antisocial elements to succeed," it said.

The statement said the representatives of all parties including the BJP praised the state government for taking action in time and without any laxity.

Those who attended the meeting include Arun Chaturvedi and Ramlal Sharma from the BJP, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra, Rashtriya Lok Dal MLA Subhash Garg, RLP president Pukhraj.

CPIM MLA Balwan Poonia, CPIM secretary Amraram, CPI secretary Narendra Acharya, Kisan Mahapanchayat leader Rampal Jat, independent MLA Rajkumar Gaur, and independent MLA Sanyam Lodha also attended the meeting.

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New Delhi, June 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Tripura High Court orders that had sought from the Centre the details of threat perception based on which security cover was provided to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family in Mumbai.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala also issued notice on the Centre's plea challenging the orders of the High Court seeking security details of the Ambani family. Mukesh Ambani Resigns From Reliance Jio Board, Son Akash Ambani Made New Chairman.

"Issue notice returnable on July 22, 2022. Meanwhile, implementation of orders dated May 31, 2022, and June 21, 2022, passed by Tripura High Court shall remain stayed," the bench stated in its order.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told a bench that High Court had sought details of threat perception based on which security cover was provided to the Ambanis in Mumbai.

The Solicitor General said that the security provided to the family in Mumbai has nothing to do with the Tripura government and that High Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the PIL.

Earlier on Monday, he mentioned the matter for urgent hearing saying the High Court has summoned Union Home ministry officials to be present before it on June 28 with documents relating to threat perception.

The Central Government filed the appeal against the High Court's order asking the government to place the original file maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding the threat perception and assessment report of the Ambani family prepared by it.

The appeal in the apex court said, "The PIL is filed by an individual person who had no locus in the matter and was just a meddlesome interloper, claiming himself to be a social activist and student by profession."

"The petition is a misconceived, frivolous and motivated public interest litigation petition, where no violation of any fundamental right was even pleaded, the High Court has sought to exercise its judicial review jurisdiction over a decision which has been taken by trained experts on public order, individual and national security," the government in its plea stated.

The High Court has failed to appreciate that the family members were neither residents of Tripura nor any part of the cause of action remotely arising from Tripura existed. Therefore, the High Court had no territorial jurisdiction nor subject matter jurisdiction over the matter, it further stated.

(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 29 (PTI) Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hailed the government's decision to computerise Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), saying the move will improve their efficiencies and also enable them to become a nodal centre for providing other services like crop insurance.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved Rs 2,516 crore for computerisation of functional 63,000 PACS aimed at promoting financial inclusion. At present, majority of PACS are not computerised and still functioning manually, resulting in inefficiency and lack of trust in them.

Also Read | Bihar Shocker: Two Killed, Including Panchayat Samiti Member, by Gang in Purnia.

In an official statement, Shah said the government is committed to bring reforms in the cooperative sector.

The minister said the PACS are the smallest unit in the cooperative sector and their "computerisation will prove to be a boon for the sector." He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this visionary decision.

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Shah said these 63,000 PACS will be computerised at a cost of Rs 2,516 crore, which will benefit about 13 crore small and marginal farmers.

"In this digital age, the decision of computerisation of PACS will increase their transparency, reliability and efficiency and will also facilitate the accounting of multipurpose PACS," Shah said.

The Cabinet's decision, Shah said, will also help PACS to become a nodal centre for providing various services such as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) and Crop Insurance Scheme (PMFBY).

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ballia (UP), Jun 29 (PTI) Samajwadi Party ally Om Prakash Rajbhar targeted SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday, saying he had become the chief minister only by the grace of his father and that his party had not won any election under his leadership since 2014.

The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president also took swipes at Yadav over the SP's defeat in the recent Lok Sabha bypolls in Azamgarh and Rampur.

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On Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's claim that the BJP was going to win all the 80 seats in the next Lok Sabha polls, Rajbhar said it could be possible if the opposition does not remain united.

"What kind of a contest can you expect from a party whose leader does not take part in the election campaign?" Rajbhar quipped, taking an apparent dig at Akhilesh, who did not campaign either in Azamgarh, the seat he had vacated, or Rampur vacated by Azam Khan.

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When asked about his recent remarks that Akhilesh was doing politics from an air-conditioned room, Rajbhar told reporters, "He became the chief minister not on his own but by the grace of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav."

Known for making hard-hitting comments, Rajbhar further said, "Akhilesh Yadav should tell what work he has done so far on the ground. In how many villages he has held the meeting so far. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shiv Pal Singh Yadav were aware of the situation on the ground."

"The 2012 assembly elections were held under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav. In all the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections held in the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, be it in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2022, he has lost," Rajbhar added.

The SP faced a defeat in the Legislative Council polls too.

"Akhilesh himself should clarify that so far he has not won a single election," Rajbhar said, adding "Mulayam Singh Yadav is the leader of the masses. Akhilesh Yadav has got politics from his father in legacy."

After protracted family feud, Akhilesh took over the reins of the SP in 2016.

An influential OBC leader, Rajbhar's party won six seats in the recent state polls as a constituent of the SP-led opposition coalition.

To a question over the SP's performance in the recent Lok Sabha by-elections, the SBSP chief said the Akhilesh Yadav-led party itself invited trouble.

"No one can win the election by declaring the candidate on the last day of nomination after the bugle of the election is sounded," he said.

Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali, the BSP nominee in Azamgarh bypoll, bagged over 2.5 lakh votes and caused a dent in the SP vote share, paving way for the victory of BJP's Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua'.

Speaking about the 2024 next general elections, without naming the BJP, Rajbhar said those who wanted to form the government were working towards it.

On Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's claim of winning 80 seats in the state the 2024 polls, the SBSP chief said if the attitude of the leaders of opposition parties does not change, the BJP may win the expected number of seats.

If Mayawati and Akhilesh fight separately, the BJP can win 80 seats, he added.

All opposition parties, including Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, should be united against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh to protect the Constitution and reservation, and in the interest of the backward classes and Dalits, the SBSP chief stressed.

In response to a question about the distribution of seats for the Parliamentary polls, Rajbhar said the SP should contest from 60 seats and give the remaining 20 to its allies.

He expressed confidence that the SBSP will be given five seats in the opposition grouping.

(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 29 (PTI) The future of education lies in addressing the challenge to equity and access, with technology bringing a turning point in the Indian education system, according to CBSE officials.

"The future of education lies in addressing the challenge to equity and access. Technology forums or emerging areas of technology have brought about a turning point in the Indian education system. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is for everyone to see how technology is playing and driving the systems and processes of education.

Also Read | Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel Tests Positive for COVID-19.

"It is also necessary to place the impetus on the process of curriculum development as we adopt and adapt as per the requirements of the industry," Biswajit Saha, Director-Skills and Training, CBSE said.

"To build a tech-savvy education hub in India, the private and the public sector need to come together and drive the technologically enhanced curriculum under the ambit of the 21st century skills. A technologically enhanced learning ecosystem is needed to move to an outcome-based approach to gauge where and how education is truly being delivered to solve gaps in equity," he added.

Also Read | Bihar Shocker: Two Killed, Including Panchayat Samiti Member, by Gang in Purnia.

Saha made the comments during a roundtable on the transformational shift in the education sector brought by the pandemic and evolution of the education ecosystem.

According to Navtez Bal, Executive Director, Microsoft India, the World Economic Forum estimates that more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries got affected by school closures due to the pandemic.

"Technology played a pivotal role in maintaining learning continuity at this time and is enabling schools, teachers and students around the world to do more than ever before. At Microsoft, our aim is to create immersive and inclusive experiences that inspire lifelong learning, stimulate the development of essential life skills, and support educators in guiding and nurturing student passions," he said.

Microsoft has been working on the digital transformation of the education ecosystem in India, working closely with policymakers, schools, teachers and students to transform learning outcomes with technology. Recently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) collaborated with Microsoft to introduce coding and data sciences in school curriculum.

School principals shared their transition to online learning which was accelerated by the pandemic when a nationwide lockdown was announced to contain the spread of coronavirus and ultimately led to prolonged school closures.

Bhupinder Gogia, principal, Sat Paul Mittal School said, "To make learning engaging during the pandemic, we leveraged technological tools for virtual classes and to collaborate. The pandemic taught us to be open towards the idea of accepting answers from students on platforms, including both online and offline. We realised not every child is confident about voicing their opinions in an offline class."

Paramjeet Kaur Dhillon, founder principal, Kamla Nehru Public School said her school had started preparing as early as December 2019.

"Our teachers were already empowered and we prepared our lessons using OneNote, and Sway and Adobe. We used all possible tech tools and we were up and about by April 2020 to manage the move to a virtual classroom. I strongly believe that empowered educators lead to engaged classrooms.

"We have efficiently leveraged technology as the hub of learning, enabling accessibility in education, implementing gamification and I am proud to say that we have AI learning in addition to design thinking, web designing, multimedia, etc for our students," she said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Jun 29 (PTI) Very few people would have thought before the 2019 Assembly elections that Uddhav Thackeray had it in him to sever the ties with the old ally BJP, and become chief minister of Maharashtra as the head of an unlikely coalition with the NCP and Congress.

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Two and a half years later, 62-year-old Thackeray's innings as chief minister came to an end after Eknath Shinde, a senior Shiv Sena leader, rebelled against him and a majority of Sena MLAs joined the rebel camp.

Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray Announces Resignation as Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC.

Whatever I do, whether I desire it or not.... I do it with determination, Thackeray had said during his Facebook Live on June 22.

This determination has been a constant all through his political career that saw Shiv Sena witnessing ups and downs since he first took over as the acting president and party chief after his father Bal Thackeray's death in 2012.

The youngest son of Bal Thackeray, Uddhav, also known as 'Digga', started helping his father in the party affairs in the early 1990s.

A soft-spoken and quiet politician, he was elevated to the post of executive party president in 2001 over his younger cousin Raj Thackeray, considered to be more charismatic.

This elevation led to splits in the party. Senior leader and former chief minister Narayan Rane quit in 2005, followed by Raj. But through these storms, the Shiv Sena managed to win the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Thane Municipal Corporation elections in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017.

When Bal Thackeray died in 2012, many party critics predicted that this would be the end of the Sena. But Uddhav Thackeray managed to hold the party together, and also led its transformation into a mature political outfit from its earlier avatar as a party of street fighters.

Known as an ace wildlife photographer, he also dabbled in aerial photography. Some pictures of forts in Maharashtra, taken by him, adorn the walls of the New Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi.

In 2014, when the Shiv Sena and BJP parted ways to contest polls independently, Thackeray spearheaded his party's campaign to emerge as the second largest party in the state assembly after the BJP. But later the Shiv Sena again joined hands with the BJP as latter formed government.

In 2019, the two parties split over the post of chief minister and the Shiv Sena joined hands with the Congress and the NCP.

Thackeray became chief minister of this tri-partite alliance, which many predicted will come apart very soon.

Thackeray was also the first from the family to have occupied any public office.

His leadership during the worst phases of the coronavirus pandemic came in for praise. But a section of Shiv Sena leaders complained that he was inaccessible as party president and CM.

Several Sena leaders were also uncomfortable with the party's alliance with arch-foes Congress and NCP, which eventually proved to be the alliance's undoing.

Thackeray recently said he was never keen on becoming chief minister.

I told Pawar saheb (NCP chief Sharad Pawar)I go to the BMC for congratulating the mayor (after the mayoral election). How can I become the chief minister, he said during the Facebook Live on June 22, a day after Shinde's rebellion broke out.

It will be interesting to see if Thackeray now succeeds in reviving the fortunes of his weakened party.

(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 29 (ANI): Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday asked all ports to prepare a master plan in order to become Mega Ports by 2047.

The three-day Chintan Baithak of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) chaired by Sonowal, concluded on Tuesday.

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The baithak was organized with an aim to discuss and deliberate ideas and innovations that can propel India's blue economy.

The Chintan Baithak was co-chaired by Shripad Yesso Naik and Shantanu Thakur, Ministers of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and attended by Chairpersons of all major ports, and Senior Officials of MoPSW, for brainstorming on promoting India's marine economy.

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Speaking at the occasion Sonowal reiterated Centre's vision to develop and promote India's blue economy. He further suggested that all ports should prepare a master plan in order to become Mega Ports by 2047.

The Chintan Baithak witnessed deliberation on various innovative projects undertaken by them such as Buffer Parking Yard for Container Trailers, Smart Vessel Traffic Management System, 5G Network Pilot Project, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System for Oil Pipeline Operations, Automated Vehicle Scanning, RFID Scanning Of Personnel, Drone Surveillance, Green Warehousing System, Rejuvenation of Waterbodies, etc.

The three-day Baithak was divided into various sessions with exclusive themes focusing on various aspects and prospects of the shipping industry along with role to be played by the MoPSW towards nation's development. The session on 'Implementation of New Tariff Guidelines for existing projects and Ongoing Projects' pondered on the issue of tariff fixation of existing BOT operators. While the session on 'Ensuring level playing field amongst New and Existing Concessionaires in Context of New MCA' discussed the challenges brought by New MCA 2021 bringing in tariff dynamism based on market rates thereby resulting in a non-level playing field for old players.

The session on 'Integration of IWT, Coastal and Exim Transport' charted out the potential benefits of improving Port Cargo via Coastal and Inland Waterways Transport in terms of cost savings and emission reduction. Through a concerted effort by central and state governments, coastal and IWT can become complementing modes with Rail and Road Transport.

The Chintan Baithak also focused on 'New Generation Automated Technologies' wherein the application of various cutting-edge technologies such as drone surveillance, Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, etc, can significantly improve operations at Indian Ports. A presentation on Steps to be taken to compete with private/non-major ports talked about increasing competitiveness in the port sector and the positioning of major ports versus the non-major ports in India.

Sonowal suggested the major ports to draft land policy guidelines and explore the potential of satellite presence out of port limits. In order to make SPVs more efficient and effective, the Minister directed the officials to repurpose the SPVs so as to make them lean and agile towards achieving the desired objectives.

He also insisted on enhancing the operational performance of the Dredging Corporation of India and the importance of multimodal connectivity.

Also to increase the port performance, Sonowal suggested all the ports to develop an independent feedback mechanism to identify gaps and resolve them in consultation with all the stakeholders. It also proposed 100 per cent financial assistance for developing dedicated coastal berths at ports through Sagarmala programme and offering more berths in PPP mode.

It was suggested by the Minister that all ports must explore ways of adopting the intervention of VHF technology at their ports. The Green Ports Policy was also discussed, which will be applicable to all the major and non-major ports of India. The draft policy also suggested port authorities explore the option of project financing through multi-lateral development banks/other financial institutions/any green financing agencies. (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, Jun 29 (PTI) As the Shiv Sena faces perhaps its worst crisis since its inception with a rebellion by majority of legislators, Maharashtra minister and the party's youth wing leader Aaditya Thackeray is spearheading a counter-attack.

Also Read | Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel Tests Positive for COVID-19.

The tone and tenor of the Thackeray family scion, usually known as the Sena's new suave face, has changed in the last few days.

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When Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to rebel legislators who are camping in Guwahati to return, their leader Eknath Shinde said while the Sena chief was seeking reconciliation, his son Aaditya had labelled them as dirt from a nullah."

With as many as 39 Sena MLAs deserting the Thackerays, 32-year-old Aaditya has addressed party workers at multiple places, from Karjat in neighbouring Raigad district to Sena strongholds of Byculla, Kalina and Dadar in Mumbai.

The Yuva Sena led by Aaditya has also been at the forefront of protests against the rebel MLAs.

On the night when the Thackerays left `Varsha,' the official residence of the chief minister, and moved back to their personal residence `Matoshree', they received a grand farewell all through the route. To pacify swelling crowds, Aaditya again emerged out of Matoshree and waved at party supporters while showing his fist.

In his speeches, he has been calling the rebel MLAs traitors.

"Dirt has gone from the party. Now we can do something good," he said on Monday.

When allegations (of the rebels) target his father, he is bound to spearhead the attack against the rebels and he is doing it, Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande told PTI.

Sena MLA Ravindra Waikar, known to be close to the Thackerays and who is still by their side, said there was anger against the rebels and Aaditya has been meeting party workers and rallying support.

Sanjay Patil, a researcher with the Department of Civics and Politics in Mumbai, said Aaditya has been, in a way, leading the party for the last few months, as Uddhav Thackeray is plagued by health issues.

The chief minister underwent a spine surgery last November and operated from home for several weeks.

Aaditya also plays a key role in decision-making within the party, Patil said.

In 2019, Aaditya became only the second person from the Thackeray family to contest polls. His aunt Shalini had contested an election on the ticket of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by his estranged uncle Raj Thackeray.

After the Sena formed an unlikely alliance with Congress and NCP in 2019 after ditching the BJP, Aaditya Thackeray, a first-time MLA, was made minister in his father's cabinet, and given charge of the Tourism, Environment and Protocol departments.

The recent aggression must be stemming from the do-or-die situation the party is facing now and also (it comes) at a time when attempts are being made to erase the identity of the party by people who have been close to his family, Patil said.

Since he became a minister, Aaditya has also faced criticism for moving around in Mumbai's elite circles rather connecting with the Sena's mass base.

Last month BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis called him a "Mercedes baby" who can not appreciate the struggle of the Karsevaks who took part in the agitation for Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Thackeray had reportedly ridiculed Fadnavis over the latter's claim that he was present when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992.

"These Mercedes babies, born with golden spoon in the mouth, never had to do any struggle, nor did they see any struggle," Fadnavis had hit back.

(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 29 (PTI) A 25-year-old man from Udupi, who tried to fleece his parents by enacting an abduction drama, has finally landed in prison.

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Police sources said the youth, Varun Nayak, who was addicted to gambling was enjoying himself in Goa with friends when they hatched a plan for the kidnap drama.

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Nayak called his parents on the mobile phone of his friends and told them that he had been kidnapped by strangers and that they were demanding Rs 5 lakh as ransom.

The concerned parents lodged a complaint at the Udupi town police station. During investigation, the police got the information that the mobile phone of the location of the youth was in Goa and sent a team to the city.

The youth was picked up from a casino in the middle of Mandovi river where he was enjoying with friends.

Nayak was brought back to Udupi on Tuesday and during interrogation, he admitted that he had cooked up the story to get money from his parents.

Sources said he had earlier discontinued his studies half-way and was unemployed. The youth, who was produced before the local court, was remanded to judicial custody.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Visakhapatnam (AP), Jun 29 (PTI) Four naval sailors injured when they were engaged in testing of a gas turbine at INS Eksila, an overhauling location near a zinc factory at Visakhapatnam early Wednesday.

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According to an Eastern Naval Command release here, the injured personnel are being treated at the naval hospital INHS Kalyani near the naval base and are out of danger.

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A Naval official said, while the sailors engaged in testing work at the gas turbine at INS Eksila, they got injured. However, he did not clarify how they got wounded.

INS Eksila is a gas turbine testing location of the naval base in the city.

An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the incident, the release said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Madrid, Jun 29 (AP) Australia's prime minister is calling on China to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is welcoming NATO's interest in Asia-Pacific security.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Russia's attack has strengthened the resolve of democratic nations around the world to work in favour of a rules-based order.

Also Read | US President Joe Biden Announces US Reinforcement of NATO Forces in Europe To Meet Threats Amid Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

Albanese had what he called a very successful meeting with the leaders of Japan, South Korea and New Zealand on Wednesday in Madrid before all four joined the NATO summit being held in the city.

He said they discussed the summit's important focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Also Read | Mahesh Babu and Namrata Shirodkar Meet Bill Gates in New York (View Pic).

Australia has provided military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

 OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

French President Emmanuel Macron says Sweden and Finland will bring a significant contribution to the NATO alliance.

Macron's office said that during a meeting at the NATO summit on Wednesday with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the pair stressed the importance of sending a message of unity and strength amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Macron praised the deal reached on Tuesday with Turkey, which agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.

Both leaders also discussed the need to find ways to allow Ukrainian grain exports.

They agreed to continue to coordinate and work with the United Nations to achieve conditions to ensure the security of the port of Odesa and maritime convoys in the Black Sea.

Odesa is a major gateway for grain shipments and its blockade by Russia threatens global food supplies. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Seoul [South Korea], June 29 (ANI): After South Korea became the first Asian country to join NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), Chinese propagandist Hu Xijin threatened Seoul.

"If South Korea takes a path of turning hostile against its neighbours, the end of this path could be a Ukraine," tweeted Hu Xijin on Thursday.

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Hu is China's "best-known propagandist on the global stage" and his formerly high standing at the Global Times, owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party, suggests his statements have a degree of official sanction.

The warning for incoming South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is obvious -- Get too close to NATO and feel China's wrath.

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Russia, Ukraine's neighbour, launched "special operations" in the country on February 24 after Moscow accused Kyiv of turning hostile towards its neighbours.

However, this year's NATO summit at Madrid is a springboard for establishing a network of like-minded alliances and partnerships spanning the Trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, reported NK Pro.

Threatening to invade South Korea will do little to improve the image of China. Also, China finds it difficult to use the Ukraine template for South Korea's invasion as it may end up paying a heavy price- militarily, economically and diplomatically.

It's not clear whether Hu is suggesting China, South Korea's neighbour to the west, is prepared to invade the Korean Peninsula if Seoul joins international organizations Xi Jinping doesn't like, reported NK Pro.

Amid strong opposition from the US and its allies, China has been treading cautiously. It is testing waters to gauge how the west block would react in case it attacks Taiwan.

South Korea has a mutual defense treaty with the US, and there are 28,500 US troops stationed on the peninsula - backed up by thousands more in Japan, reported NK Pro.

Beijing is well aware of the fallouts and collateral damages in case it takes direct military action against South Korea. Thus, it has resorted to "cognitive warfare."

Social media platforms and technological solutions are generally used by China to spread misinformation to cause social unrest and lower people's morale.

Moreover, Chinese President Xi Jinping has permitted military operations outside China's borders in the backdrop of Beijing's assertiveness in the Trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The Hague (Netherlands), Jun 29 (AP) The Dutch prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent protest by farmers outside the home of the country's agriculture minister amid increasingly bold demonstrations against the government's plans to rein in pollution.

A small group of farmers clashed on Tuesday night with police stationed outside the home of Christianne van der Wal, the Cabinet minister overseeing the Netherlands' reforms to curb pollution. They spread manure on a nearby street. At another protest, farmers attacked a police car.

Also Read | US President Joe Biden Announces US Reinforcement of NATO Forces in Europe To Meet Threats Amid Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

The violence capped a second straight day of protests that included torching bales of hay near roads and blocking highways across the country with slow-driving or parked tractors.

The protests resumed on Wednesday with dozens of tractors blocking a highway close to the German border, traffic authorities said.

Also Read | Mahesh Babu and Namrata Shirodkar Meet Bill Gates in New York (View Pic).

The Netherlands' lucrative agricultural sector is protesting against a proposal, approved by lawmakers on Tuesday, to reduce emissions of pollutants like nitrogen oxide and ammonia by 50 per cent by 2030.

Provincial governments were given a year to draw up ways of making the cuts, which are expected to include buying out some farms with livestock that produce large amounts of ammonia.

Farmers argue they are being unfairly targeted and shown little concern for their futures.

Christian Democrat lawmaker Derk Boswijk tweeted on Wednesday that he was staying home after his family, including his 4-and 7-year-old children, received a visit. He added: This way of demonstrating serves no purpose. Stop it!

You can demonstrate, but in a civilised way, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said from a NATO summit in Madrid.

So don't block highways, don't set off fireworks outside a minister's house and spread manure and ... scare two children, and endanger families.

The Dutch national police chief also weighed in, saying officers have fined dozens of farmers in recent days and prevented more road blockades.

The right to demonstrate is a great asset, but there are limits to it, police commander Willem Woelders said. If there is a disturbance of public order or criminal offenses are committed, we will take action.

According to a national farm lobbying group, LTO, there are nearly 54,000 agricultural businesses in the Netherlands with exports totalling 94.5 billion euros (about USD 99 million) in 2019.

The protest at Van der Wal's home came on the eve of an announcement by the government that it planned to criminalise the practice, known as doxing, of publishing online personal details such as home addresses as a means of intimidation.

The legislation is part of a broader package of measures announced by the Justice and Security Ministry that it says is intended to safeguard the freedom of the press. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Beijing [China], June 29 (ANI): This year's G7 Summit held in Germany targeted China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to confront its global influence.

Alina Wang, writing in Vision Times said that on the first day of the summit, US President Joe Biden announced plans to raise USD 600 billion in order to create a new G7 initiative -- also known as the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) -- in an effort to counteract China's global influence through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as a number of recent developments in its naval and military programmes.

Also Read | Mahesh Babu and Namrata Shirodkar Meet Bill Gates in New York (View Pic).

Biden's remarks came after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned in a statement during the summit's first day that Washington and its Western allies would take aim at a "rapidly developing" China.

Sullivan added that the new G7 initiative aimed to curb China's growing military prowess and business operations via its BRI project, reported Alina.

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"(We) do think that there is increasing convergence, both at the G7 and at NATO, around the challenge China poses and around the need -- the urgent need for consultation and especially alignment among the world's leading market democracies to deal with some of those challenges," Sullivan told reporters on June 27.

Sullivan also raised concern over Beijing's 'debt-trapping' diplomacy during his talks with reporters.

"We want to stand for a set of principles, rules of the road that are fair and understood and agreed by everybody," Sullivan said. "And we want to ensure that we're working with like-minded partners to hold China accountable to adhere to those rules."

The new initiative is a revamping of the Build Back Better World initiative, which was introduced at last year's G7 summit. The updated PGII initiative seeks to offer an alternative to infrastructure models that sell "debt traps," the White House said following Biden's announcement on June 26.

In addition to "bullying" debt-riddled countries such as Sri Lanka and Djibouti to sign up for the BRI under the premise of handsome funding for large infrastructure projects, the Chinese regime has also been gaining favours via the BRI.

"Together with G7 partners, we aim to mobilize USD 600 billion by 2027 in global infrastructure investments," the White House's statement said.

What started out as an ambitious project (BRI) aimed at "facilitating trade and promoting connectivity and cooperation among countries in Eurasia Africa," has been plagued with financial problems compounded by China's stagnating economy due to the country's "zero-COVID" policies, and subsequent decline in consumer spending and major supply chain disruptions, reported Vision Times.

Analysts have warned that Beijing's project may well be on its deathbed as financial and logistical challenges brought about by the war in Ukraine, rising geopolitical tensions, and sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia -- a key trade partner for China -- are threatening to completely derail it.

This year's G7 summit has seen European Union (EU) leaders from France, Germany and Italy join forces with usual allies Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States in a three-day event starting on Sunday, June 26 and running until Tuesday, June 28.

In addition to the regular invitees, a few new countries were also invited to partake in the event this year -- with the G7 official website announcing that Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa were also invited to the summit taking place at the historic Garmisch-Partenkirchen resort located in the Bavarian Alps of Germany. (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 29 (ANI): US President Joe Biden congratulated Finland, Sweden and Turkey for reaching an agreement which will pave the way for the Nordic countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance.

In a statement, Biden said, "I congratulate Turkey, Finland and Sweden on signing a trilateral memorandum, which paves the way for Allies to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO at the Madrid Summit."

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US President recalled Finland's President Sauli Niinisto and Sweden Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's visit to the White House and said that they strongly support their membership.

"Their membership will strengthen NATO's collective security and benefit the entire Transatlantic Alliance. I look forward to working with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, our Allies, and with Congress to ensure that we can quickly welcome them into our Alliance," Biden said.

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"As we begin this historic NATO Summit in Madrid, our Alliance is stronger, more united and more resolute than ever," he added.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said that Turkey has agreed to support Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids, removing a major hurdle to the two countries joining the alliance.

In a statement, Niintso said that a joint memorandum on the matter was signed by Turkey, Finland and Sweden in Madrid. The joint memorandum underscores the commitment of Finland, Sweden and Turkey "to extend their full support against threats to each other's security," Niinisto said as quoted by CNN.

"The concrete steps of our accession to NATO will be agreed by the NATO allies during the next two days, but that decision is now imminent," he added.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he is "confident" that Finland and Sweden will be able to successfully join NATO after the signing of the trilateral memorandum of understanding.

"I'm pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports, and the fight against terrorism," Stoltenberg said, speaking to journalists in Madrid following the signing of the memorandum. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Copenhagen, Jun 29 (AP) A man held over a suspected Islamist deadly weekend shooting ahead of an LGBTQ festival in Oslo is still refusing to talk to police, making it hard to establish whether he had any accomplices, Norwegian authorities said Wednesday.

Zaniar Matapour, a 43-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, was arrested shortly after Saturday's predawn shooting in the Norwegian capital's nightlife district and was held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

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Two people were killed and more than 20 wounded in what the Norwegian security service called an Islamist terror act.

Prosecutor Brge Enkosen told a press conference Wednesday that the suspect's refusal to be questioned means we are still unsure whether (he) may have had accomplices. He added that police had offered to question Matapour without either sound or video recordings, but he declined.

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The suspect's lawyer, Bernt Heiberg, told The Associated Press in a text message that his client "has all along been sceptical about how the police will present a possible explanation for his alleged acts.

He has therefore decided not to give an explanation for the time being, Heiberg said.

Investigators have several hypotheses regarding a possible motive for the shooting although police have unsuccessfully tried to question Matapour since Saturday.

The gunman opened fire at three locations, including outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in downtown Oslo.

Police investigators have said it is too early to say whether the attacker specifically targeted the LGBTQ community. (AP)

(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 29 (ANI): During a court hearing in Pakistan's Mehar Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of Dadu District in the Sindh province, a Station House Holder (SHO) and an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) were imprisoned after they were found guilty of staging an encounter.

The SHO and ASI were found guilty during the hearing in a court of second civil judge for staging an encounter in the jurisdiction of the B-Section police station to arrest two suspects about two months ago, the Dawn newspaper reported.

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The order was passed after the forensic reports of the pistol, submitted by the police who allegedly recovered them from the suspects during the encounter, mentioned that no bullet had been fired from the weapon.

Meanwhile, the FIR, which was filed by SHO Asgar Ali Shah as the complainant, claimed that the suspects (Mashooq Qambrani and Ghulam Qadir Qambrani) were arrested after an exchange of fire with the police, the local media reported.

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ASI Sikandar Jatoi was the eyewitness to the incident. The court found the two police officers guilty and ordered their arrest.

Notably, the judge ordered the release of the suspects Mashooq Qambrani and Ghulam Qadir Qambrani.

SHO Shah and ASI Jatoi officials were later released on bail for a surety of PKR 20,000 each. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
By Ashoke Raj

Dhaka [Bangladesh], June 29 (ANI): Repatriation of Rohingyas are likely to figure on the agenda of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her upcoming visit to India, scheduled in September this year.

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Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen in an exclusive interview with ANI said that PM Hasina, who will arrive in India on a bilateral visit on the invitation of PM Narendra Modi, will raise the issue of problems arising from the illegal migration of Rohingyas to Bangladesh from Myanmar, like the growth of radicalization, drug trafficking, as well as, human trafficking of women and children.

"To us, the only feasible solution is the repatriation of (Rohingyas) to their Rakhine state (Myanmar). I am sure that when PM Sheikh Hasina will meet PM Narendra Modi then she will also raise the issue that how India can help us in this repatriation effort," said Bangladesh foreign secretary Momen said.

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Since August 25, 2017, more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh. This Rohingya refugee crisis is among the largest, fastest movements of people in recent history.

"Well we have been asking the international community to assist us not only in terms of humanitarian efforts that are required to maintain this huge population of over one million Rohingyas but at the same time we have to look towards some sustainable solutions for this problem, to us the only feasible solution is the repatriation of Rohingyas to Rakhine state from where they came (Myanmar)," said Momen.

The complex Rohingya refugee crisis erupted in August 2017, following attacks on remote police outposts in western Myanmar by armed groups alleged to be from within the community.

These were followed by systematic counterattacks against the minority, mainly Muslim Rohingya, which human rights groups, including senior UN officials, have said amounted to ethnic cleansing.

Speaking about the important role India can play in the repatriation efforts, the Bangladesh foreign secretary said: "We are talking to the Myanmar authorities, but I think other countries can be of some help or assistance if it is agreeable to Myanmar. Since India is a common neighbour to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, we have also requested in the past and will continue to request India to play a more active role in terms of repatriation especially when these Rohingyas go back to Rakhine state in Myanmar."

"If they can find the right conducive atmosphere that could be held for in terms of accommodation of their betterment healthcare and sustainable livelihood some initial help would be required and that was provided by country like India and if Myanmar agreeable on that, will be a game-changer for Bangladesh," Momen said.

The Bangladesh diplomat also said that he had highlighted the repatriation issue with his former Indian counterpart Harsh Vardhan Shringla last year. Momen also informed that the issue was recently discussed by External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar.

"I am sure PM Sheikh Hasina when she meets with PM Modi, will also raise how India can help us in this repatriation of Rohingyas," said Momen.

Over the past five years, refugees from the Rakhine state have been flooding into Cox's Bazar district in Bangladesh, to join the over 2,00,000 Rohingyas living there who had fled years before the crisis in 2017.

Today, it is estimated that over a million stateless Rohingya refugees live in the world's largest and most densely populated refugee camp, Kutupalong in Bangladesh. About half of the refugees are women and children.

"It is a very congested place in Cox's Bazar, we are trying to decongest it by moving a part of a population through Bhasan Char island, but then that is also a temporary solution," said Momen.

Bangladesh is worried about Rohingyas and their illegal activities in the country. Several Rohingyas have been booked in drug smuggling and child trafficking cases and there are fears about radicalization of the Rohingyas by third parties in the region.

"...More than 60 per cent of the Rohingya (refugees) are very young... there are fears that they could be some radicalisation (of them)...and obviously that can turn out to be a headache...not only for Bangladesh but beyond its (surrounding) region. ... Drugs and human trafficking including women and children en-route to Malaysia Indonesia and Thailand and also near the Andaman Sea (India) we have also found some activities," Bangladesh foreign secretary told ANI.

Bangladesh has recorded a sharp increase in the crime rate due to the migration of Rohingyas into the country and it's a matter of concern. As per police data in Dhaka, when the mass exodus happened in 2017 from Rakhine state in Myanmar to Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh.

"The Rohingya are engaged in 12 types of crime including murders, drug and human trafficking, arms and gold trafficking, rape, robbery, abduction, ransom and attacking law enforcement agencies. By October 2021, 71 murders, 762 drug trafficking, 87 arms cases, 28 human traffickings, 65 rape incident, 10 robberies, 34 abduction and ransom incidents and 89 miscellaneous crimes were filed in the local police station," Cox Bazaar District Police said.

At the upcoming United National General Assembly (UNGA), Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to speak and she is likely to raise the early repatriation of Rohingyas, seeking support global community. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
United Nations, Jun 29 (PTI) Voicing grave concern over reports of civilian deaths in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has said that critical civilian infrastructure in urban areas have become easy targets in situations of armed conflict.

Speaking at the UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine on Tuesday, India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador R. Ravindra said the conflict has resulted in the loss of lives and countless miseries for its peoples, particularly for women, children and elderly, with millions becoming homeless and forced to take shelter in neighbouring countries.

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Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Council that the Russian missile strike on a mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk killed 18 civilians and injured 59 and the final toll may be much higher.

"India remains deeply concerned over the situation in Ukraine," Ravindra said.

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The Council meeting was also addressed virtually by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, the second time that leader spoke directly to the powerful 15-nation UN organ since the start of the conflict in February.

Reports of deaths of civilians in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict are deeply disturbing and in this regard, we express our grave concern. In recent years, critical civilian infrastructure in urban areas have become easy targets in situations of armed conflict, Ravindra said.

India added that the issue of the protection of civilian objects in armed conflicts should be considered within the framework of applicable international law. Earlier, India had unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians in Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation.

Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Monday that any attack that hits a shopping mall is utterly deplorable.

DiCarlo said the "depravity of the war was again on full display yesterday following the missile strike in Kremenchuk, in the central Poltava region. Hundreds of people, perhaps even some trying to get a respite from the daily horrors of the war, suffered one of the most shocking attacks of the conflict when a shopping centre was hit by what are reported to be Russian missiles, she said adding that the incident, which should be investigated, was the latest in a new wave of airstrikes and missile attacks in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and other cities far from the frontlines, with many civilians killed or injured.

This horrific conflict, an open source of instability in Europe, shows no signs of abating, she said.

Ravindra added that from the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, India has been consistently calling for a complete cessation of all hostilities and advocated the path of peace, dialogue and diplomacy.

We support all efforts to alleviate the suffering of the people of Ukraine, especially talks between Ukraine and Russia. He noted that India has also been sending humanitarian supplies to Ukraine and its neighbours, which include medicines and other essential relief materials.

Underlining that the impact of the Ukraine conflict is not just limited to Europe, he said, the conflict is exacerbating concerns over food, fertilizer and fuel security, particularly in the developing countries.

It is necessary for all of us to adequately appreciate the importance of equity, affordability and accessibility when it comes to food grains. Open markets must not become an argument to perpetuate inequity and promote discrimination.

Ravindra told the Council that India is trying to increase the production of fertilizers. There is also a need to focus on the availability of fertilisers and keep the supply chains of fertilisers smooth at a global scale. Similarly, efforts should be made to ensure stability in the global supply of fuel commensurate with the demand, he said.

Ravindra added that India is committed to working constructively in mitigating the adverse impact of the conflict on food security. India has welcomed the recommendation of the Global Crisis Response Group Task Team to exempt purchases of food by the World Food Programme for humanitarian assistance from food export restrictions.

India has been providing financial assistance as well as supplying food grains to countries which are impacted by the Ukraine conflict.

India has exported 1.8 million tonnes of wheat to countries in need, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen in the last two months. We are also helping our neighbour Sri Lanka to ensure their food security, he said.

Zelenskyy said that Russia's actions in his country had now made it a terrorist state that should be expelled from the United Nations.

Noting that the UN does not have a legal definition of what constitutes a terrorist state, he stressed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates not only the meaning of this notion but also the urgent need to enshrine it legally.

Russia has no right to take part in discussions and votes on the war against Ukraine in the Security Council, he said, urging ambassadors to rid the delegation of the terrorist State.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad, Jun 29 (PTI) A top Chinese official on Wednesday called on Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and they discussed various matters of mutual interest.

Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Director of the Central Committee on Foreign Affairs, arrived on a two-day visit to Pakistan.

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He is accompanied by vice ministers for foreign affairs and commerce, vice chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), and deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Yang has a prominent role in China's foreign relations. He has previously served as China's Foreign Minister from 2007-13 and State Councilor from 2013-17.

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The top Chinese official met Prime Minister Shehbaz and discussed various matters of mutual interest, according to a statement by the PM Office.

Separately, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held delegation-level talks with Yang. The two sides discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, according to Radio Pakistan.

Yang also met Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the GHQ in Rawalpindi and matters of mutual interest, defence collaboration, progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and regional security were discussed during the meeting, according to a statement by the military's media wing.

The army chief said Pakistan values China's role in global and regional affairs and we look forward to enhancing our strategic partnership.

He reiterated that Pakistan remains committed to cooperating with its international partners for peace and stability in the region.

Yang thanked the COAS for special measures taken for the provision of a safe and secure environment for Chinese personnel employed on various projects in Pakistan and efforts towards regional stability, the statement said.

Earlier, the Foreign Office said Yang's visit is part of the regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and China.

Recently, these interactions included a virtual meeting between the foreign ministers on May 11 and telephone call by Prime Minister Shehbaz with Premier Li Keqiang on May 16. Foreign Minister Bilawal also visited China on May 21-22.

According to the Foreign Office statement, Director Yang's visit reflects the importance attached by Pakistan and China to further deepen their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

(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 29 (ANI): The US on Tuesday (local time) blacklisted 36 companies, including those from China and Pakistan, for supporting Russia in the Ukraine conflict.

US President Joe Biden's administration has added five companies in China to a trade blacklist for supporting Russia's military and defense industrial base.

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The agency also added another 31 entities to the blacklist from countries that include Russia, UAE, Lithuania, Pakistan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to the Federal Register entry. Of the 36 total companies added, 25 had China-based operations, reported Al Jazeera.

The Commerce Department, which oversees the blacklist, said the targeted companies had supplied items to Russian "entities of concern" before the February 24 invasion, adding that they "continue to contract to supply Russian entity listed and sanctioned parties".

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"Today's action sends a powerful message to entities and individuals across the globe that if they seek to support Russia, the United States will cut them off as well," Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a statement.

The firms' blacklisting means their US suppliers need a Commerce Department license before they can ship items to them.

Three of the companies in China accused of aiding the Russian military, Connec Electronic Ltd, Hong Kong-based World Jetta, and Logistics Limited, could not be reached for comment. The other two, King Pai Technology Co, Ltd and Winninc Electronic did not immediately respond to requests for comment, reported Geo News.

The United States has set out with allies to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion, which Moscow calls a "special operation", by sanctioning a raft of Russian companies and oligarchs and adding others to a trade blacklist.

While US officials had previously said that China was generally complying with the restrictions, Washington has vowed to closely monitor compliance and rigorously enforce the regulations.

"We will not hesitate to act, regardless of where a party is located, if they are violating US law," Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Rozman Kendler said in the same statement. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington [US], June 29 (ANI): The United States would provide nearly USD 55 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to the people impacted by the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan's southeastern part.

The funds will be used to deliver the essential food items, clothing, cooking utensils, blankets, jerry cans, and sanitation supplies to prevent waterborne diseases in the disaster-hit areas, Voice of America reported.

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According to the publication, the US has been the largest humanitarian donor to Afghanistan and over USD 774 million in humanitarian assistance over the past year

"The United States has an enduring commitment to the people of Afghanistan, and we welcome and encourage support from our international partners in this time of great need," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.

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The U.S. announcement came only a day after the United Nations appealed for USD 110.3 million in urgent humanitarian response to some 360,000 Afghans impacted by the earthquake, reported Voice of America.

The UN and the Afghan government have been largely involved in the operations to save civilians. However, the United Nations said it does not have heavy machines and equipment and relies on the Afghan authorities to provide it.

The United Nations has allocated USD 10 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Funds (UNCERF) on Sunday to support the people of Afghanistan affected by the earthquake that struck this week in the eastern part of the country.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator stated that the UN has released USD 10 million from UNCERF for the affected people of Afghanistan to help with the immediate response.

"Hundreds of people killed. Many more injured. Homes destroyed. Children buried in the rubble. The #AfghanistanEarthquake is the latest tragedy to befall the country. I released USD 10 million from @

UNCERF to help with the immediate response," Griffiths said in a tweet. On Wednesday, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Afghanistan including the capital city Kabul. At present, over 1000 people are estimated to have been killed across Barmal and Giyan districts in Paktika province, and Spera district in Khost province.

In addition, at least 1,455 people have been injured across three of the six most affected districts of Barmal, Giyan, and Spera - many of them seriously. Over 10,000 houses have been destroyed. In wake of this, India handed over the second batch of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan on Friday in the presence of Taliban officials.

The relief assistance handed over by the Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary (PAI), JP Singh consisted of essential items including family ridge tents, sleeping bags, blankets, sleeping mats, etc to support the people of Afghanistan in quake-affected regions.

The first consignment from India was handed over on Thursday. India also deployed a team to the Embassy in Kabul to coordinate the efforts of stakeholders for the delivery of humanitarian aid. The Taliban welcomed India's decision to return its technical team to continue humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the European Commission also announced 1 million euros in humanitarian funding for an estimated 270,000 people living in the affected areas requiring emergency assistance.

Immediate humanitarian assistance was dispatched to affected areas on June 22, including 10 tons of medical supplies sufficient for 5,400 surgeries and medical treatments covering 36,000 people for three months by WHO. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hollywood star Johnny Depp has not been offered an apology deal worth $300 million. One of the representatives of the Pirates of the Caribbean star has denied the existence of any such deal saying, "This is made up," reports NBC News. A media report had earlier said that after Depp won his defamation suit against Amber Heard, Disney offered the deal plus an apology letter to Depp with the request to return to the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise. Johnny Depp Reveals Disney Wanted to Cut Ties on Pirates of the Caribbean To Be Safe.

The NBC News report further states that Depp, who has played Captain Jack Sparrow in all the five Pirates movies, the latest being the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, has declined to be part of the franchise irrespective of how lucrative the offer is. The actor had made the statement in the court.

At one point during the trial, Heard's attorney Ben Rottenborn asked the actor, "The fact is, Mr Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film? Correct?" Depp replied in affirmative, "That is true, Mr. Rottenborn." Johnny Depp Gets Rs 2355 Crore Offer and an Apology Letter from Disney to Return as Pirates of the Caribbeans Jack Sparrow  Reports.

A Virginia jury later ruled that Heard was liable for defaming Depp. The jury awarded $10 million to Depp in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate later reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, which is the state's statutory cap or legal limit, making his total damages less than $10.4 million. Back in May, Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who is now working on two more films, was asked if Depp would be back for future projects. He told The Sunday Times, "Not at this point. The future is yet to be decided."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2022 11:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, June 29: Prominent Muslim organisations have condemned the the brutal killing of a tailor in Udaipur, calling it "un-Islamic" and asserting that no person has the right to take law into one's hands.

Bodies like All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind issued statements condemning the murder of Kanhaiya Lal by two men who had posted videos online that claimed they were avenging an insult to Islam. In a statement, the AIMPLB said such acts were against the principles of Islam and no one should take law in their hands.

"Insulting holy personalities of any religion is a serious crime. BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made derogatory remarks about the holy Prophet of Islam, which is very sad for Muslims. The government not taking any action against Nupur Sharma is like rubbing salt on the wounds. But despite this, taking the law into one's own hands and killing a person by declaring him a criminal is a condemnable act," the statement issued on behalf of AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani. Udaipur Beheading: NIA Registers Case Under UAPA, Says Accused Wanted to 'Strike Terror Among Masses'.

"Neither the law allows it nor does the Islamic Shariah justify it. Therefore, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board strongly condemns the incident in Udaipur (Rajasthan)," the statement said. The board also urged the government to make stringent laws regarding disrespectful comments against holy personalities and take immediate action in such cases.

The board also appealed to the Muslim community to act patiently and not take law into their own hands as well as not indulge in any such action that might disturb communal harmony in the country. In a statement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind general secretary Maulana Hakeemuddin Qasmi condemned the "brutal killing in Udaipur apparently on the pretext of the insult to the Prophet" and called it against the law of land as well as "against the religion of Islam".

He said whoever has perpetrated this incident cannot be justified in any way and the act was against the law of the land and "our religion". "In our country, there is a system of law, no one has the right to take the law into his own hands," Qasmi said. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said the Udaipur incident is "barbaric, uncivilised" and there is no room for justification of violence in Islam.

"We strongly condemn it. No citizen should take law in his own hands. Let the law prevail. The culprits should be dealt with according to the law of the land. In any case, peace should not be disturbed. Nobody should try to take the advantage of this ugly crime," it said.

Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, have been arrested for the murder. In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had beheaded the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well. Udaipur Beheading: Ala Hazrat Dargah Condemns Hindu Tailors Murder, Says Beheading Someone Is Not What Islam Propagates.

Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader who was suspended from the party over a controversial remark on Prophet Mohammad. Lal, the tailor, was recently arrested by the local police over some remarks made on social media by him.

Lal's killing triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and the curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city. The curfew remained imposed in seven police station areas of the city on Wednesday and mobile internet services were suspended across all 33 districts of the state, officials said.
Udaipur, June 29: The body of Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor who was brutally murdered by two men here, was handed over to family members after postmortem on Wednesday, officials said. Lal's funeral procession started from his house at sector 14 here amid tight security arrangements in the presence of hundreds of locals.

Leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria also visited Lal's house. Lal was on Tuesday murdered by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to Islam. The incident triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city. Udaipur Beheading Shocker: 'Taliban-Style' Murder Triggers Tension, CM Ashok Gehlot Appeals for Peace As He Reassures Strictest Punishment for Accused.

The curfew remained imposed in seven police station areas of the city on Wednesday and mobile internet services suspended across all 33 districts of the state, officials said. A day after the murder, heavy deployment of police has been made in the city.

In Jaipur, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has convened a high level meeting at 12 pm with state minister for Home Rajendra Yadav, Chief secretary Usha Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, DGP, DG Intelligence and other senior officers, official sources said.
Mumbai, June 29: Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday night at Raj Bhavan. In his meeting, Fadnavis urged the Guv to ask CM Uddhav Thackeray to prove confidence in his government. The former CM also sought a floor test. Fadnavis' meeting came hours after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said that he will be coming to Mumbai soon, and also claimed that he has the support of 50 MLAs with him.

As the Maharashtra political crisis enters the eighth day here are all the latest developments:

Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday resigned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra ahead of the floor test in Maharashtra. Addressing the state virtually, Thackeray said he is stepping down as the CM of Maharashtra. He will also resign as a member of the legislative council.

Check Tweet:

I am quitting as Maharashtra Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray says in live broadcast  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 29, 2022

Supreme Court, after hearing arguments made by all the parties, gave its decision on Shiv Sena's plea against the floor test. SC, in its judgment, allowed to conduct the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow.

Check Tweet:

Supreme Court gives go ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow; says we are not staying tomorrow's floor test. pic.twitter.com/neYAIftfWe  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Supreme Court reserves the order on the plea filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to CM Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30. Meanwhile, Supreme Court will pronounce orders on Shiv Sena's plea challenging the floor test at 9 pm today.

Check Tweet:

Supreme Court to pronounce its order at 9 pm  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

BJP MLAs Arrive at Taj President hotel Ahead of Floor Test Tomorrow:

#WATCH | Maharashtra BJP MLAs begin arriving at Taj President hotel in Mumbai for a legislative meeting of the party ahead of Floor Test tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/EC4Xvywipl  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta Starts Arguments for Governor of Maharashtra:

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta starts arguments for the Governor of Maharashtra. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta - First of all, the argument that this court has interdicted the Speaker is wrong. It is not this order but the law which has interdicted him.  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Eknath Shinde Has Support of 55 MLAs:

Supreme Court, during the hearing, asked Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul - how many MLAs are in the dissident group?

Advocate Kaul said the rebel group has the support of 55 MLAs. Out of 55, 39 MLAs are from Shiv Sena, which is why the great nervousness to facing the Floor Test. "Rebel MLAs are not leaving Shiv Sena. We're the Shiv Sena, we have an overwhelming majority," he added.

Check Tweet:

Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Eknath Shinde, says - There are 9 independent MLAs who have also given us support. It is the hopeless minority of 14 who are opposing us.  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Minister Aditya Thackeray Leave from Mantralaya:

#WATCH | Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray leaves from Mantralaya in Mumbai, after the state cabinet meeting concludes. pic.twitter.com/la9y25r4HE  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

My Own People Betrayed Me, Says CM Uddhav Thackeray in Cabinet Meet:

CM Thackeray said that all 3 parties came together & did good work in 2.5 yrs. He expressed his gratitude to all parties. Tomorrow, vote of confidence will take place & it will be decided if it's the end or not:NCP leader & Maharashtra min Jayant Patil after state cabinet meeting pic.twitter.com/qlITiLbDwf  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

The MVA-led Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday approved the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv. Navi Mumbai Airport's name will be changed to DB Patil International Airport.

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Maharashtra state cabinet approves the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv. Navi Mumbai Airport's name will be changed to DB Patil International Airport.  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

At Maharashtra Cabinet Meeting, Congress demanded to rename Pune city as Jijau Nagar and Navi Mumbai Airport to be named after DB Patil.

Check Tweet:

In the Maharashtra state cabinet meeting, Congress ministers demanded that Pune City be renamed Jijau Nagar: Maharashtra Congress  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

We are not rebels. We are Shiv Sena, Says Eknath Shinde:

We are not rebels. We are Shiv Sena. We are carrying forward the agenda and ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. We will work for the Hindutva ideology and development of the state: Eknath Shinde, at Guwahati airport#MaharashtraPoliticalCrisis pic.twitter.com/RGMdJ75dQV  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

"As far as disqualification issue is concerned, that matter is sub judice before us. We will determine it. How does the floor test depend on qualification or disqualification? Are these powers interchangeable or inter related?," Justice Kant asked the MVA lawyer.

"On one hand, court has stayed disqualification proceedings, on the other hand, MLAs are going to vote tomorrow, it's a direct contradiction," MVA lawyer told SC.

Check Tweet:

Supreme Court asks - Issue of disqualification is pending before us, but what is its relation to Floor Test, please clarify. Lawyer says  On one hand, court has stayed disqualification proceedings, on the other hand, MLAs are going to vote tomorrow, it's a direct contradiction.  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Check Tweet:

SC asks adv Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sunil Prabhu - Are you disputing that 34 members of your party haven't signed letter? Singhvi replies - There's no verification. Gov kept letter for a week & acted only when LoP met him.Every action of Gov is subject to judicial review  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and state minister Aaditya Thackeray along with other ministers arrive at Mantrayala in Mumbai for a cabinet meeting.

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Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and state minister Aaditya Thackeray along with other ministers arrive at Mantrayala in Mumbai for a cabinet meeting#MaharashtraPolitcalCrisis pic.twitter.com/l3L76zkoIG  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Devendra Fadnavis Speaks to MNS Chief Raj Thackeray

Amid the ongoing political instability in Maharashtra, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday spoke to MNS Chief Raj Thackeray and sought his help in the Floor Test scheduled for tomorrow. It must be noted that MNS has one MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Check tweet:

#MaharastraPoliticalCrisis | BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis spoke with MNS chief Raj Thackeray over the phone, asking for help in Floor Test scheduled for tomorrow. Thackeray agreed, he said that the party will vote. MNS has one MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly. (File photos) pic.twitter.com/z7YCnDInki  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

We are not worried about any floor test: Eknath Shinde

Ahead of the floor test in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said 50 MLAs are with him and they have 2/3 majority. He also said that they will reach Mumbai tomorrow. "We are not worried about any floor test. We will pass all things and no one can stop us. In democracy majority matters and we're having that," Shinde said.

Check tweet:

"We will reach Mumbai tomorrow. 50 MLAs are with us. We've 2/3 majority. We are not worried about any floor test. We will pass all things and no one can stop us. In democracy majority matters and we're having that" says Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde in Guwahati pic.twitter.com/cEmwwdICgZ  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Fadnavis to meet BJP leaders

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis has called a meeting of BJP leaders at his residence in Mumbai this afternoon.

'I'm with BJP since beginning'

Maharashtra Independent MLA Rajendra Raut on Wednesday said that he is with BJP since beginning. "Devendra Fadnavis took stand for me in the state Assembly," he said.

Check tweet:

Mumbai | I'm with BJP since beginning. Devendra Fadnavis took stand for me in the state Assembly...MLAs will get upset if work will not happen in their constituencies. Yes, there is no problem in that (of BJP coming to power in the state):Maharashtra Independent MLA Rajendra Raut pic.twitter.com/ZwmMVvNrdH  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

'We will win the floor test tomorrow'

Ahead of the trust vote against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil said that people are with us and we will win the floor test tomorrow and will form the government. "There is no need to worry," he said.

Check tweet:

People are with us and we will win the floor test tomorrow and will form the government. There is no need to worry: Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati#MaharashtraPolitcalCrisis pic.twitter.com/c59VsMkbKw  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Supreme Court to hear plea against floor test today

Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test and prove its majority in the House on Thursday (June 30). The court will hear the case at 5 pm today.

BJP, rebel MLAs prepare for the floor test

According to sources, rebel MLAs will be heading to Goa today; 70 rooms have been booked at Taj Resort & Convention Centre, Goa for them. Meanwhile, BJP has directed its MLAs to assemble at the Taj President hotel in Mumbai by today evening.

Check tweets:

BJP directs its MLAs to assemble at Taj President hotel in Mumbai today evening: Sources  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Rebel Maharashtra MLAs will be heading to Goa today; 70 rooms booked at Taj Resort & Convention Centre, Goa. They will then fly to Mumbai tomorrow and go directly to the Maharashtra Assembly: Sources  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

We will go to the Supreme Court: Sanjay Raut

Reacting to Governor's decision to call for a floor test, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that this is an unlawful activity as the matter of disqualification of our 16 MLAs is pending in Supreme Court.

Check tweet:

We will go to the Supreme Court (against the Maharashtra Governors decision to call for a floor test). This is an unlawful activity as the matter of disqualification of our 16 MLAs is pending in SC. The Governor was waiting for this moment only: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/nnqBLBPFqD  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Will go to Mumbai tomorrorw: Eknath Shinde

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with four other rebel MLAs offered prayers at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam. "I'm here to pray for the peace & happiness of Maharashtra. Will go to Mumbai tomorrow for the floor test & follow all the process," he said.

Check tweet:

I'm here to pray for the peace & happiness of Maharashtra. Will go to Mumbai tomorrow for the floor test & follow all the process: Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, in Guwahati, Assam pic.twitter.com/ErHwhz6Ny2  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Trust vote against CM Uddhav Thackeray on June 30

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written a letter to the state Assembly secretary asking him to convene a special session of the State Assembly on June 30, with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Check tweet:

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written to state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly on June 30, with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Uddhav Thackeray pic.twitter.com/9M5htIIE9R  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

According to reports, eight Independents have written to Maharashtra Governor seeking an immediate floor test. More importantly, Shinde is also likely to meet Guv Koshyari and a floor test might take place this week only.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2022 10:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The duo's singles were released earlier Tuesday. Variety further states that although Barker's condition is currently unknown, his daughter, Alabama Barker, shared a concerning message through her Instagram story later Tuesday, asking fans to "Please send your prayers."
In a shocking incident, two sisters were stripped and assaulted in their residence in the outskirts of Bengaluru for not being able to repay their education loan. The police for two days refused to lodge the complaint and it was only after the assault videos went viral that the complaint was finally registered.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. "The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated," HMO India said.

Check tweets:

MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated: HMO India pic.twitter.com/ZWxTa01rMC  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated.   , HMO India (@HMOIndia) June 29, 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.)
Norway to send rocket launchers to Ukraine.



Norway said on June 29 it would donate three multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, AFP reports. The delivery of the multiple launch rocket systems will be carried out together with Britain. The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 29, 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.)
This morning I met with President @Sanchezcastejon and thanked him for hosting the NATO Summit and for Spains 40 years of contributions to Transatlantic security.



Together, we launched a joint declaration reaffirming our close partnership on addressing global challenges. pic.twitter.com/OCRbAPnhFI President Biden (@POTUS) June 29, 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.)
London, June 29: Google searches are an effective tool to track and predict domestic violence, especially in times of crisis, such as the period that followed the Covid-19 outbreak, suggests a research.

When the Covid pandemic broke out and countries experienced a strict lockdown, news stories started reporting anecdotal evidence about women forced to live under the same roof with abusive partners.

A team of Italian researchers, including from Bocconi University in Milan, analysed the relations between Google searches for nine domestic violence-related keywords on one hand, and calls to the Italian domestic violence helpline 1522 and to the emergency number 112 in Lombardy.

The selected keywords were: 1522, abuse, home & abuse, home & rape, feminicide, rape, domestic violence, gender-based violence, and sexual violence. Google To Shut Down Hangouts in November 2022, Tells Users To Switch To Chat.

The idea underlying the study is that the Internet -- and Google in particular -- may offer a medium to anonymously voice concerns about abusive partners and collect relevant information, the team wrote in the paper published in the European Journal of Population. Calls to the helpline measure potential risk of experiencing domestic violence, while calls to the emergency number measure actual violence.

The frequency of queries for the keywords were consistently positively and significantly correlated with helpline calls across the whole investigated time period (2013-2020), with a time lag between search and call of around one week.

But their predictive power increased after the Covid-19 outbreak, when traditional help mechanisms became harder to reach. The team also observed a worrying socio-economic divide.

"Forecasts proved more reliable among high socio-economic status populations because they are better than other socioeconomic strata at googling effectively in this context," said Selin Koksal, a doctoral candidate in Public Policy at Bocconi.

"It may be the case that individuals with lower socio-economic status use dialect or less targeted keywords, which could prevent them from reaching accurate online resources for seeking help," Koksal added. Google Trains 8.4 Million MSMEs in Asia-Pacific Region, Helps App Makers in India.

The study advises policymakers to track domestic violence-related searches and to accordingly intensify their support activities, both reinforcing services where and when searches become more frequent and raising awareness through the media.

"They could also intervene in favour of disadvantaged people," Koksal said, "by promoting internet literacy and, in the short run, convincing Google to show domestic violence support services among the top results, as it has done in the US."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2022 06:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The death toll of Mexico migrants and asylum seekers of other nationalities in Texas inside a semi-truck rose to 51 on Tuesday. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) blamed their demise on several factors, including a lack of control from the "U.S. interior."

The death toll is now 51. Officials say it is the highest ever from a smuggling incident in the United States. @dallasnews



This is a horror that surpasses anything weve experienced before, said @Ron_Nirenberg https://t.co/aN074nxlFV  Jamie Landers (@jamielandersx) June 28, 2022

Dallas News reporter Jamie Landers confirmed the current number of deaths among Mexico migrants in the truck, explaining that the incident was connected to human smuggling in the U.S.

In his daily briefing, AMLO called the discovery of the migrants a "tremendous tragedy" and pledged that Mexico would work to send home the remains of their citizens.

Lopez Obrador then blamed the "poverty and desperation of our Central American brothers and of Mexicans," for the death of the migrants.

"It happens because there is the trafficking of people and a lack of control, in this case at the Mexican-US border, but also in the US interior" AMLO added.

Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard noted that Mexico's government joined the probe and will send a team to Texas to help in the investigation.

READ NEXT: 46 Migrants Found Dead Inside Semi-Truck in Texas; Greg Abbott Blames Joe Biden for Horrific Tragedy

US Border Crisis: Death of Migrants Inside a Semi-Truck in Texas

Precinct 1 Bar County Commissioner Rebecca Clay-Flores said in a news conference on Tuesday that the semi-truck, where the Mexico migrants and other asylum seekers of different nationalities were, was specifically found in San Antonio, according to CNN.

Police Chief Bill McManus on Monday said that authorities were alerted when a worker in a nearby building heard a cry for help. The worker, who was not identified, reportedly found the trailer with doors partially opened and witnessed deceased people inside.

Nearly two dozen Mexican migrants, seven Guatemalan migrants, and two Honduran migrants were among the dead. A federal law enforcement noted that 48 people died on the scene and two others died at hospitals.

Those found alive, including four children, were taken to hospitals. Authorities mentioned that survivors were "hot to the touch" and were suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

Authorities from Mexico confirmed that at least two Mexican migrants were treated for dehydration.

"None of these people were able to extricate themselves out of the truck," San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said, adding that the migrants were waiting for help when they arrived.

Hood added that the migrants inside the trailer are "too weak" to get out and get help themselves.

Officials are now working to confirm the nationalities of the remaining victims.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities noted that at least three people believed to be connected to the smuggling activity are now under the custody of law enforcement.

US Border Crisis: Joe Biden Comments on the Death of 51 Immigrants, Including Mexico Migrants

President Joe Biden commented on the deaths of 51 people, including Mexico migrants, hoping to enter the U.S. as "horrifying and heartbreaking."

"Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy," Biden further noted.

President Joe Biden then vowed that his administration would continue "to do everything possible" to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who want to enter the U.S.

Homeland Security Investigation acting special agent in charge, Craig Larrabee, said that the discovery of the semi-truck with at least 51 migrants, including Mexicans, was "the worst human-smuggling event in the United States."

READ NEXT: Mexico Authorities Discover Truck With Over 300 Migrants From 14 Countries

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Death Toll From Migrants Found in Truck in Texas Reaches 50, Mexican Authorities Say - From ABC News (Australia)
Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell had made headlines with her involvement with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and royal family member Prince Andrew.

Maxwell was sentenced to spend 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for scheming with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls.

Being part of the high society further escalated the coverage of Maxwell's case and provided the public a peek at her notable wealth.

Maxwell being out in the public eye has led people to question her net worth, wondering how she acquired her wealth and gained prominence in the upper-class social scenes.

READ NEXT: Former Buckingham Palace Official Says He Suspected Ghislaine Maxwell Had Intimate Relationship With Prince Andrew, Shows New Documentary

Ghislaine Maxwell Net Worth 2022

The U.S. Sun reported that Maxwell has a net worth of $20 million, raising questions how she accumulated such wealth and what she does for a living.

During the time of her arrest in 2020, Maxwell claimed to only be worth around $3.5 million. However, a Federal Bureau of Investigation forensic accountant found evidence that the socialite's net worth was closer to $20 million.

It included assets that were placed into a trust controlled by Scott Borgenson, who is a man she secretly married in 2016, according to a Celebrity Net Worth report.

Maxwell's father is also the late business tycoon Robert Maxwell, who previously owned The Daily Mail.

The imprisoned socialite attended Marlborough College followed by Oxford University before she started going out with Italian aristocrat Count Gianfranco Cicogna.

Writer Anna Pasternak was in the same social circle as Maxwell while in Oxford. She noted that it was clear to her that even as an undergraduate, Maxwell was interested in power and money.

Pasternak added that Maxwell was one of those people at parties "who always looked over your shoulder if there was somebody more powerful or more interesting."

In 1981, Maxwell lost her financial support when her father was found dead on his yacht.

Harry Mount, who was working at the New York branch of the Daily Telegraph, met Maxwell.

In 2021, he wrote that Maxwell had been left with an 80,000 a year income from a trust fund.

Ghislaine Maxwell Prison Sentence

Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday. She did not testify in her defense during the trial late last year, which ended with her conviction on five counts, including sex trafficking of a minor.

CNN News noted that Maxwell spoke in court to the victims shortly before the sentence was handed down.

Maxwell said at the podium that Epstein "should have been here before all of you," adding that it is not about the late sex offender, ultimately.

She apologized for the pain that the victims have experienced, adding that she hopes her conviction brings them "closure."

Prosecutors had originally asked the judge to sentence Maxwell to 30 to 55 years in prison, while the probation department recommended 20 years.

Maxwell's attorney requested a sentence between 4.25 and 5.25 years in prison.

Judge Alison Nathan said that Maxwell is not "punished in place of Epstein," rather she is being punished for the role that she played.

READ MORE: Prince Andrew Reportedly "To Be Banished" From Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee Celebration Amid Virginia Roberts Giuffre's Case

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein - from KTLA 5


The congressional hearings surrounding the events of the January 6 Capitol Insurrection continues, with the panel hearing from former president Donald Trump's former aide, Cassidy Hutchinson.

She told investigators during Tuesday's hearing that Trump was warned that some of his supporters were armed. However, Trump dismissed this and said that the protesters were not there to hurt him.

The 25-year-old former Trump aide also testified that security officials explicitly told Trump that it was not safe to go to the Capitol. However, Trump insisted that he wanted to join the crowd, which would soon turn violent and try to take the Capitol by force.

Aide Says Donald Trump Tried Reaching for Steering Wheel

Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony also revealed that Trump was so adamant about joining the crowd that it led to an altercation between him and his security detail of secret service agents. According to the former White House aide, she was told of the incident immediately after it happened. The head of Trump's security detail, Bobby Engel, was with Trump inside the presidential SUV, dubbed "The Beast," and corroborated the story.

According to the Associated Press, Hutchinson stated that Trump tried grabbing the steering wheel from the secret service agent driving "The Beast." Engel would then grab Trump's arm to prevent the former president if gaining control of the armored vehicle. Trump also tried to lunge at Engel using his free hand.

READ MORE: January 6 Hearing: Donald Trump Pressured Justice Department to Call 2020 Election 'Corrupt'

Chaos in the White House as Insurrectionists Breached the Capitol, but Trump Was Unconcerned

The former aide also corroborated the previous testimony by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that there was chaos within the White House on January 6, when Trump supporters overran police and took over the Capitol. Hutchinson also testified that Trump was not concerned at all about the violence unfolding, even as his supporters began chanting "Hang Mike Pence!"

In her testimony, Hutchinson talked about a conversation between Meadows and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone as the pro-Trump rioters entered the Capitol. According to Hutchinson, Meadows said that Trump thought that Mike Pence "deserved it." This is in reference to Trump's frustrations with his vice president refusing to break the law for him and overturn the elections.

CNN reports that Cipollone rushed into Meadows' office on the day of January 6 and warned the Trump Chief of Staff that people were going to die and that their blood was going to be in Meadows' hands. 5 people died immediately on the day of January 6, 2021, including one police officer.

Hutchinson's testimony also revealed that on January 7th, Trump was forced to do a speech to acknowledge that Joe Biden would be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. He did so because there was growing concern among his cabinet and Mike Pence regarding the failed coup attempt. This led to the cabinet talking about invoking the 25th amendment and kicking him out of power. However, this was only the secondary reason why trump delivered the speech, according to Hutchinson. The biggest reason was that he needed to condemn the violent attack to prevent it from affecting his legacy. However, Trump still did not want to call for his supporters to be prosecuted, nor did he want to call their actions "violent."

The committee would then ask Hutchinson what her real-time reaction was as the insurrection happened. She says that she felt frustrated and disappointed as a staffer. She also added that as an American, she felt that the rioters were unpatriotic. The former Trump aide would also call Trump's behavior on January 6 "unpatriotic" and "un-American."

READ MORE: January 6 Committee Says Mike Pence and Ginni Thomas Could Be Subpoenaed

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Former aide: Trump tried to grab car's steering wheel to go to Capitol Hill - Guardian News
The death toll of the fire during a prison riot in Colombia rose to 51, hours after authorities reported the initial number of the victims of the tragedy on Tuesday.

Colombia's National Prison System Director Tito Castellanos initially reported only 49 deaths in the fire that sparked during a prison riot. But hours after that, the Justice Ministry retracted the figure announced by Castellanos, updating the latest number of victims to 51, according to the Associated Press.

Speaking to Radio Caracol on Tuesday, Castellanos shared that it was still unclear if all of the dead in Tuesday's tragedy were prisoners. He further noted that 30 others were also injured in the aftermath of the prison riot, per The Guardian.

Colombia's Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz said that more than 20 inmates were being treated for injuries in the hospital. He added that two prison guards also sustained minor injuries.

The identities of the victims of the fire were not tet revealed by Colombian authorities.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Poverty, US Border Issues Blamed for Devastating Deaths of At Least 50 Migrants

Colombia Prison Riot Starts Fire

Castellanos noted that the fire broke out in the penitentiary in the western Colombian city of Tulua during an attempted prison riot.

The justice minister said that the prison, where the fire broke out, is a middle-security penitentiary where inmates serve either minor sentences or finish the last few months of their incarcerations.

Ruiz noted that the fire erupted around two in the morning on Tuesday after one inmate allegedly set a mattress ablaze during a brawl. Ruiz then noted that the flames spread across the prison wing.

Residents in the area witnessed smoke and flames inside the jail after the fire go out of control and engulfed the prison block, BBC noted.

"The penitentiary personnel tried to take care of it themselves, but the flames were too strong and we had to wait for the arrival of the firefighters to control the situation," Ruiz emphasized.

Firefighters and ambulance services were alerted of the incidents, and prison guards utilized fire extinguishers and other items to control the fire.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Inspector General announced that their agency will send a special commission to Tulua.

Colombia's prisons are known to be highly overcrowded as the facilities that can house 81,000 people holds at least 97,000 according to official figures.

Colombia's President Ivan Duque and President-Elect Gustavo Petro on Prison Riot

Colombia's President Ivan Duque extended his sympathies on what happened to the prison in Tulua.

Lamentamos los hechos ocurridos en la carcel de Tulua, Valle del Cauca. Estoy en contacto con el @DInpec, Gral. Tito Castellanos y he dado instrucciones para adelantar investigaciones que permitan esclarecer esta terrible situacion. Mi solidaridad con las familias de las victimas  Ivan Duque  (@IvanDuque) June 28, 2022

"We regret the events that occurred in the prison of Tulua, Valle del Cauca... My solidarity with the families of the victims," Duque said. The president added that he is in contact with Castellanos and has given instructions to carry out a probe and clarify the tragedy.

El estado colombiano ha mirado la carcel como un.espacio de venganza y no de rehabilitacion.



Lo acontecido en Tulua, como la masacre en la Modelo obliga a un replanteamiento completo de la politica carcelaria de cara a la humanizacion de la carcel y la dignificacion del preso.  Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 28, 2022

President-elect Gustavo Petro also expressed his thoughts in the aftermath of the tragic prison riot in Colombia, highlighting that the Colombian state sees prison as a space for revenge and not for rehabilitation.

"What happened in Tulua, like the massacre in La Modelo, forces a complete rethinking of prison policy in the face of the humanization of the prison and the dignity of the prisoner," Petro noted.

READ NEXT: 46 Migrants Found Dead Inside Semi-Truck in Texas; Greg Abbott Blames Joe Biden for Horrific Tragedy

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Behind Bars 2: The World's Toughest Prisons - Bogota, Colombia - From Free Documentary
Puerto Rico police have said that they recently raided a former addiction treatment center in the northern town of Carolina. There, they found what they described as the largest hydroponic marijuana greenhouse on the island.

According to the Associated Press, Police Commissioner Antonio Lopez Figueroa said that the town is just east of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. He said that they received a complaint about possible human trafficking activities in the area. This would lead them to a three-story building in Carolina, which held the large marijuana greenhouse.

Marijuana Greenhouse Contained Nearly 2,000 Plants

The Puerto Rican authorities have also stated that they discovered almost 2,000 marijuana plants within the former addiction treatment center. They also stated that the plants were "nearly six feet (two meters) tall." Police also found additional marijuana already packed and ready to be distributed.

Commissioner Lopez Figueroa said that they did not find anyone inside the building as the raid happened. They also did not find any weapons on the site. However, the police commissioner said that the investigation will continue regardless, and will seek out those responsible for what he dubbed as an "industrial-level production of pot."

READ NEXT: Puerto Rico Independence or Statehood? Major Party to Soon Reconsider or Reaffirm Stance

Medicinal Marijuana Legal in Puerto Rico, but Recreational Marijuana Is Not

In 2015, Puerto Rico's then-governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed an executive order legalizing the use of medicinal marijuana. However, according to Medical Press, while its medical use was legalized, its recreational use was not. This means that smoking pot is still banned in the U.S. territory.

Debates on legalizing the recreational use of marijuana are still going on the island. Representatives have proposed allowing individuals to legally possess the substance from 14 grams to 28 grams.

According to The San Juan Daily Star, one of the biggest supporters of legal marijuana use is Puerto Rico Representative Hector Ferrer Santiago. The Popular Democratic Party representative filed a bill earlier this year to decriminalize and regulate the use of cannabis among adults. It also plans to strengthen mechanisms so that minors in Puerto Rico could not have access to the substance,

The proposed law also contains penalties for dispensaries which fail to comply with regulations stated within the law. There will also be a $500 fine for any person found in possession of the substance that is in excess of the limits set. Adults can only possess up to 28 grams of cannabis, or 8 grams of THC for concentrated products. Edibles should also only have 800mg of THC. While the bill looks to make possession of marijuana legal, it would still regulate its use,

Legalizing cannabis in Puerto Rico could also mean money for the island territory. According to a current study of the commercial impact of marijuana on Puerto Rico, sales of cannabis use for adults could reach up to $522 million in the first year alone.

READ NEXT: Cuba: Latin Grammy Winner and Dissident Artist Sentenced to Prison

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WATCH: Lajas, Puerto Rico Growing Island's First Outdoor Medical Cannabis - One Caribbean Television
President Joe Biden and his administration on Tuesday unveiled a vaccine strategy in response to the emergence of the monkeypox virus in the United States.

The Biden-Harris administration described the vaccine strategy as its "first phase," in their announcement published by the White House, according to New York Post.

The administration went on to say that the plans unveiled on Tuesday are a "critical part" of its monkeypox outbreak response.

"The strategy aims to mitigate the spread of the virus in communities where transmission has been the highest and with populations most at risk," the announcement read, adding that the plan would distribute two-dose JYNNEOS vaccine and FDA-approved protection against smallpox and monkeypox.

The said remedies are intended for individuals 18 years and older.

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Pres. Joe Biden Administration Monkeypox Vaccine Strategy

According to the Biden-Harris Administration, the U.S. "has effective vaccines and treatments that can be used against monkeypox."

The announcement underscored that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received at least 9,000 doses of vaccines and 300 courses of antiviral smallpox treatments.

The vaccine strategy unveiled by President Joe Biden, and his administration, will also expand the deployment of vaccines across the U.S. The administration would allocate 296,000 doses over the coming weeks.

At least 56,000 of that number will be allocated immediately. At least 16 million additional doses will be available over the coming months.

Meanwhile, a White House official confirmed to the Post, through a phone call, that at least 800,000 doses will be imported in July and early August, with an additional 500,000 doses which were recently contracted for.

The monkeypox vaccine strategy would also make testing for the disease more accessible.

"The CDC has since scaled testing capacity to 78 sites in 48 states, primarily at state public health laboratories, with spare capacity to conduct nearly 10,000 tests per week nationwide," the announcement underscored.

Centers for Disease Controls and Preventions (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said that doctors should increase testing for the virus.

"I strongly encourage all healthcare providers to have a high clinical suspicion for monkeypox among their patients," Walensky said, adding that patients with a suspicious rash should be tested for the disease.

Monkeypox is a virus that can spread through close intimate contact. Its known symptoms are rash and fever.

Monkeypox is less transmissible than fast-spreading respiratory diseases. Early cases of monkeypox in the U.S. and Western Europe are linked to sexual contact among gay men who attended large events.

California Has the Highest Case of Monkeypox in the U.S.

On Tuesday, California became the state with the highest case of monkeypox. The Golden State recorded at least 66 monkeypox cases as of Tuesday, according to the data from CDC.

New York comes second with 63 cases, and Illinois at third with 45 cases.

All in all, the CDC noted that there are 306 cases of monkeypox/orhthopox virus across the U.S.

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WATCH: Concerns Over Monkeypox in the United States - From ABC News
Authorities in Mexico said the eight bodies found in a field in Yucatan state could be the group of workers kidnapped from a resort in the neighboring state of Quintana Roo.

Quintana Roo Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca told EFE on Tuesday that six of the eight bodies have already been fully identified, La Prensa Latina reported.

Montes de Oca said the bodies would be turned over to their families once the Yucatan Attorney General's office completes its forensic work and transfers the bodies across state lines.

The prosecutor noted that the bodies were found on Saturday in a field in Yucatan's municipality of Chikindzonot. Montes de Oca said the bodies bore signs of torture, and the victims had been dead for 72 hours at the time of their discovery.

The group of male workers vanished from the fishing community of Xcalak last Wednesday. Montes de Oca noted that authorities only became aware of the kidnapping after one of the victims escaped and reported the crime the following day.

The prosecutor said the kidnapped individuals, aged 18 to 45, had been working at a coastal ranch on the Xcalak-Mahahual highway near Costa Maya's major Caribbean cruise port.

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Bodies of Kidnapped Workers in Mexico Found by Farmer Near Mexican Resort

A farmer found the bodies in a field in Yucatan village just over the border from Quintana Roo. Yucatan prosecutors noted that the bodies do not appear to have been killed where they were found and were probably just dumped there.

CBS News reported that officials did not identify the abducted men. Xcalak had largely been spared the violence that has affected other beach towns in Quintana Roo state. However, packages of drugs have been reported to wash ashore there in the past.

According to Montes de Oca, they have already informed the families of six victims that they were certain of their identities, and all that was pending was the DNA test.

The prosecutor said some of these men were identified by their tattoos or other bodily marks. He added that the victims may have had some information about something important for the perpetrators.

Montes de Oca said the presence of drugs in the area could be the main line of investigation. However, he noted that they are also not ruling out that the crime may be related to property invasions.

Violence in Mexico's Resorts

In May, one person was killed, and six others were injured in shootings on the main boulevard in Mexico's Caribbean coast resort of Cancun in Quintana Roo state.

Last March, tourists also panicked as loud noises were heard at the international airport in Cancun, causing flights to be suspended for almost three hours, ABC News reported.

The National Guard said at the time that there was no evidence of any gunshots having been fired, adding that the bangs may have occurred after someone knocked over three free-standing vertical display stands in the terminal.

READ MORE: Jalisco Cartel Boss El Mencho's Daughter, La Negra, Freed After More Than 2 Years in U.S. Prison

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WATCH: Travel Warnings Issued Amid Cancun Crime Spree - From TODAY
Eva Mendes defended her partner Ryan Gosling after fans mocked his white-blonde hair for his role as Ken in the upcoming "Barbie" movie.

According to Daily Mail, the 48-year-old actress, who is of Cuban descent, addressed the issue during the episode of "The Talk" on Tuesday, when her co-host Natalie Morales mentioned the backlash.

"Yeah, well, people do know he's not playing a real person, right? He's playing a fake person," Mendes responded.

Mendes further noted that the first photo of Gosling as Ken in the "Barbie" movie was funny, and her partner was trying to be funny, so for her, "it worked on all levels."

Mendes defended her partner a day after Gosling was placed under scrutiny for his blonde hair. Fans were quick to react on Twitter, attacking the actor after his first character photo from the "Barbie" movie was released online.

One user posted a GIF of an animated Ken, emphasizing that the doll had brown hair.

Another "Barbie" fan also pointed out why Gosling was not suited for the role.

"The Barbie movie is gonna be incredible but Ryan Gosling is NOT Ken. He doesn't look like a Ken and the blonde hair is bad. His facial structure is absolutely not a Ken structure," the fan noted.

ik the barbie movie is gonna be incredible but ryan gosling is NOT. ken. he doesnt look like a ken and the blonde hair is bad. his facial structure is absolutely not a ken structure  mart  (@maryolyerr) June 23, 2022

Another Twitter user agreed that Gosling was not the perfect actor to play Ken's role in the "Barbie" movie.

"I'm sorry but Ryan Gosling as Ken isnt for me. His bleached hair really is a bad fit," the netizen said.

im sorry but ryan gosling as ken isnt for me  his bleached hair really is a bad fit  kaz (taylor's version) (@belIelaide) June 28, 2022

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Eva Mendes Gushes Over Ryan Gosling as Ken

Eva Mendes gushed over the first official promo image of Ryan Gosling's character as Ken when it was released by Warner Brothers earlier this month.

Mendes took to Instagram to share the photo and created a sweet hashtag, adding that she could not hide her excitement about seeing the film.

"So. F. Funny. So. F. Good. So F excited for you to see this...#Thatsmyken," Mendes said in her caption.

Mendes also mentioned in her show "The Talk" what her thoughts when she first saw her partner's appearance as Ken.

"Well first of all, I saw the photo, and the 14-year-old in me was like, 'Ahhh'," Mendes noted, adding that she was so taken by Gosling's transformation into the beloved Mattel doll that she asked if she could keep a piece of his costume.

The actress then revealed that she asked for the underwear that Ryan Gosling was wearing in the photo, and his partner was more than happy to hand over his Ken doll drawers.

"Anyways, I do have it. I'm wearing it right now. There was something about the image that sparked my little teenage [self]," Eva Mendes noted.

Ryan Gosling in 'Barbie' Movie

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie will give life to the iconic characters of "Barbie" and "Ken" in the film. On Monday, Robbie and Gosling gave fans another glimpse of what to expect in the "Barbie" movie.

The pair were seen wearing matching neon rollerblades and hot pink fluorescent outfits and were skating around Venice Beach. "Barbie" is set to hit the theaters on July 21, 2023.

READ MORE: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Marriage: Here's the Real Reason Why the Hollywood Actor Married His Ex-Wife

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WATCH: Eva Mendes Reacts To Ryan Gosling In 'Barbie' & 'The Gray Man' - From Access
Prince Harry was reportedly homesick and seemed unhappy despite the effort of Meghan Markle to create a "perfect LA life" for the two of them.

Daily Star reported that the comments came after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to California following their brief stay in the U.K. for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of this month.

Royal expert Duncan Larcombe claimed that Harry's "self-imposed exile" may be getting him down. Larcombe told Closer that Harry seemed homesick to him, adding that the Duke of Sussex suddenly started playing polo again and drinking with his new friends, which were all the things he used to enjoy doing in the U.K.

The royal author then commented on Markle, saying that Harry's wife is cheering him on the sidelines and helping create "this perfect LA life" for him to justify what Harry has "given up in the U.K."

Larcombe noted that Harry is a "very sociable person," adding that the Duke of Sussex has had many friends growing up, including his estranged brother Prince William.

The royal commentator added that Prince Harry must "sometimes wonder if everything he has given up has been worth it."

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Life in the U.S.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to give a rare peek of their lives for the docuseries with cameras entering their Montecito home in California.

According to Express, Netflix has signed a $100 million deal with the Sussexes. Larcombe also commented about the upcoming Netflix docuseries.

The royal biographer said it was an "understatement" to say that the Palace was "twitchy" about this. Larcombe noted that if the show goes ahead, the Queen "will almost certainly strip them of their titles."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted filming with Netflix during a trip to New York in September. But the details of the series remain under wraps.

There were reports that Netflix wanted to release the series at the end of the year, while others suggested that the Sussexes want it on screens in 2023.

Larcombe said if the sums of money involved in the Netflix deal are accurate, Netflix would want to show more than footage of Prince Harry "doing the washing up."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Businesses

The Sussex couple's companies include Peca Publishing and Hampshire LLC, named after the county where they reportedly enjoyed a "babymoon" in 2019.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently faced another backlash and received a stark warning from a royal expert after it was reported that they have more than a dozen different businesses.

According to Geo TV, royal expert Daniela Elser said that because the Sussexes have so many different projects, they have no time for themselves.

"Harry and Meghan might now be the proud owners of... a coop full of the world's most famous chickens and companies galore but one thing that could be in very short supply? Free time," Elser noted.

There were reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been setting up firms in an American tax haven. State filings showed that a lawyer and business manager for the Sussexes have incorporated 11 companies and a trust for the pair since April 2020.

The couple reportedly set up the firms in the state of Delaware, which does not tax business transactions and does not impose inheritance tax, even though they live and do business in California.

Harry and Meghan previously came under fire for their multimillion-dollar Netflix deal amid reports suggesting that the platform could lose 750,000 subscribers in the U.K.

Spotify also reportedly took Sussexes' podcast into "its own hands." The audio streaming platform has hired producers to manage every step of the couple's pet project.

READ MORE: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Opt Not to Hold Daughter Lilibet's Christening in U.K. As It's Likely Be in California: Royal Sources

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WATCH: Sharon Osbourne: I Feel Sorry for Prince Harry and Meghan - From Fox News
Mexican feminist groups have been helping counterparts in the United States to gain access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The high court overturned the landmark decision last week that allowed states to either ban or severely limit abortion rights in the country.

And as more and more American women are losing access to abortions, Mexican feminist collectives' networks in Mexico have pitched in, and these groups of activists are expected to ramp up efforts.

According to Associated Press, these may include smuggling abortion pills inside teddy bears, using a New York home as a pill distribution hub, and using a small apartment south of the U.S.-Mexico border as a safe abortion clinic.

NPR reported that most of the states seen to ban abortions would be red states that voted for former President Donald Trump.

Mexican Feminist Groups in Mexico See Rise of U.S. Women Seeking Their Aid

The organizations have stated that 1,700 women from the United States have sought their help this year. That number may seem small, but it has risen since the Supreme Court decision and is seen to increase even more.

According to Sandra Cardona, a member of one of these collectives based in Monterrey City, the demand will triple. She said that before the decision, they accompanied up to five women a month from the U.S. Now, they are accompanying between five to seven a week.

The strategy that these organizations employ is to promote a self-managed abortion. This means that women wanting to end their pregnancies must take misoprostol and mifepristone pills themselves.

However, representatives from these organizations would still accompany these women when they take the drugs. In most cases, they do this virtually.

The AP reported that these drugs are legal in the United States, with more than half of the abortions performed in the country in 2020 using them. However, they require a doctor's prescription, and in some states, they need a doctor present.

These drugs are also usually taken in women's health clinics, though many have been forced to close following individual states enacting more restrictive laws.

Like in the United States, abortion is also not completely legal in Mexico. The country is majority Catholic, and abortion is seen as a sin. Some 22 Mexican states have banned abortion, though 10 states have legalized it.

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How These Mexican Feminist Groups in Mexico Help American Women

How these organizations and collectives work all depends on their location. According to Unasse member Amelia Ojada, Mexican feminist groups operating far from the U.S.-Mexico border, such as Unasse in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, usually coordinate donations abroad to purchase pills.

However, more northern Mexican states that border the U.S. focus more on how they will transport pills. These include using toys, clothing, jars of vitamins, and more to hide and transport these pills.

They will then go inside so-called "medicine banks," which can be found in private homes in large cities in Texas. There are also some of these in New York. Though women there has more freedom when it comes to abortion rights.

After they reach the "medicine banks," these pills would then be distributed by volunteers keeping a low profile. They do this by several means, from hand-to-hand delivery to even mailing the pills.

However, even before they could arrive in their "medicine banks," border agents could still intercept volunteers crossing the border.

Marcela Castro of Green Tide Chihuahua told AP that it's like crossing the border with more illegal substances. She also said there were also women who lived between the two countries who carried the pills whenever they flew.

Cardona noted that they opened their doors to Americans five years ago. At first, most women thought they were getting scammed but were surprised how these organizations have been protecting them.

Cardona jested that their Paypal link has never been used so much. However, Cardona also pointed out that while the women realize they could do the abortion in their own homes, this becomes important later on, as these women can pass on the message.

So far, most Americans seeking help from collectives in Monterrey and Chihuahua have been Latina and Black.

READ MORE: First Mexican Woman to Play in Wimbledon Since 1996 Follows in Grandfather's Footsteps

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WATCH: Roe v. Wade Is Overturned. How Does This Affect You? - From CNN
An eight-year-old Florida boy took his father's loaded gun and fired off one shot that killed a baby and wounded a toddler.

According to Crime Online, the boy's father, Roderick Dwayne Randall, 45, was arrested on Sunday and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, two counts of culpable negligence, and tampering with physical evidence.

Randall was released later in the day on a $41,000 bond. Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons noted that Randall, his girlfriend, his son, and his girlfriend's twin two-year-old girls and a one-year-old girl were at the Lion's Motel in Pensacola earlier that day.

Randall reportedly left the motel room, leaving his loaded gun stored in a holster in a closet. Simmons said while Randall was gone and his girlfriend was sleeping, the Florida boy found the gun because he knew where it was hidden.

The boy then pulled the gun from the holster, started playing with it, and accidentally fired a round into the one-year-old girl.

READ NEXT: Texas School Shooter Sends Warning on Facebook Before Horrific Act: "I'm Going To Shoot An Elementary School"

Florida Boy Fatally Shoots Baby

Chip Simmons said the round went through the baby and killed her, while one of the twin two-year-olds was hit. Pensacola News Journal reported that the two-year-old toddler is recovering in a hospital.

When Roderick Dwayne Randall returned to the hotel, he grabbed the handgun and suspected drugs from the room before cops were called to the scene.

The Florida boy's father was legally prohibited from owning a gun based on previous felony convictions. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Randall was sentenced to five years in prison in 2001 for charges related to cocaine sales and possession.

The records also showed another two sentences in 2015: a one-year sentence for resisting arrest without violence and a 40-month sentence for fleeing and eluding law enforcement.

Simmons noted that the Florida boy's father has a 129-page criminal history, including 14 previous felony convictions. ABC News reported that relatives of the dead baby identified her as Kacey Bass. Kacey's mom was not charged.

U.S. Gun Violence and Children

Firearms are the second-leading cause of death in children in the United States after motor vehicle crashes. Science also reported that more children died from gun injuries than from cancer.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, guns killed nearly 3,150 people aged 1 to 19 in 2016, while cancer killed about 1,850.

Gun rights groups maintain that public health patients should steer clear of gun violence. Surgeons writing in JAMA Surgery also called on the CDC to restart their own gun violence research.

More than 40,000 health care professionals signed an open letter to the National Rifle Association complaining that the group has hobbled gun violence research. The researchers noted that more guns equate to a higher risk of homicide.

READ MORE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ignores U.S. Pres. Joe Biden's Request for National Guard Troops at State of the Union

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WATCH: Gun Violence: The Hidden War - From WION
Some jaw dropping cars have been seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in search operations carried out Laois, Kildare, Waterford, Laois and Dublin.

A garda statement said the search operation, carried out on Wednesday June 29, was conducted by Bureau Officers supported by the Dublin Armed Support Unit, the Eastern Regional Armed Support Unit, the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, The Customs Dog Unit, Kildare Detective Unit, Portlaoise Detective Unit and Detectives attached to the Dublin Metropolitan Region. The operation involved over eighty personnel searching fifteen search sites across four counties. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

"This mornings operation targeted an East European Organised Crime Group involved in the laundering of the proceeds of crime through the second hand car trade", said a statement.

It continued: "The OCG is also involved in the supply of vehicles to Irish OCGs throughout the country. Todays operation targeted assets, including properties acquired by the directors of the OCG". MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Gardai said assets seized included the following:

 One Tesla electric Vehicle

 Two BMW IX electric vehicles (221 Regs)

 Two Classic vehicles

 15,000 in cash

 A number of high value watches including Rolex and Cartier Brands.

Gardai said the operation follows from Criminal Assets Bureau search operations conducted during September and October 2021 during the course of which CAB seized eighteen high value vehicles including Audi Q7s, BMW X5s, Range Rovers, a Jaguar I-Pace and a Tesla. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

The statement added that the operation is significant in the context of the overall CAB proceeds of crime investigation targeting assets, including properties accrued by the directors of the OCG.

Gardai concluded that the investigation remains on-going.
A pilot project successfully trialled in Laois last year to address mobile phone coverage blackspots has now been launched nationally.

Get Connected, a community initiative run by telecoms infrastructure provider Cellnex, originally heard from several communities around Laois who were struggling with poor mobile phone coverage during the pandemic.

The Get Connected initiative has already been launched in nine counties, and has received multiple submissions from community groups, covering 37 different coverage blackspot locations. Cellnex is actively engaged in the initial locations to address the needs of various stakeholders, including support from the mobile operators to ensure service improvements can be achieved.

Working closely with local communities and local authorities in Laois, Cellnex has recently installed new infrastructure in Ballyfin, Castletown and Vicarstown that has transformed previous blackspots and delivered world-class mobile communications in the target rural areas.

These pilot schemes show that we have the ability now to fix existing mobile communications blackspots in these rural communities, said Colin Cunningham, Managing Director of Cellnex Ireland.

However, given the low population densities, the rollout of these proof-of-concept schemes underscores the fact that without some form of financial support, it will unfortunately not be viable for the industry alone to fix all of these blackspots and deliver the required connectivity to communities. We estimate the total number of blackspots in commercially challenging areas that need to be resolved is in excess of 200, Mr Cunningham added.

However, each rural location is unique and, in many cases, without external support, the market is not sufficient to support the investment required by both the infrastructure provider and the mobile operators.

There has been a seismic shift in the mobile communications needs of rural communities recently, as working from home and hybrid working is now the norm, Mr Cunningham said.

Irelands rural communities should not be left in the second tier of mobile connectivity. Cellnex is committed to playing its part and working closely with local authorities, mobile operators, Government departments and other stakeholders to address this issue. To meet the States target of delivering 5G to all populated areas, as set out in its ambitious National Digital Strategy, then we believe some level of funding support will be required. Some of the coverage blackspots can and will be addressed on a commercial basis; but many cannot. The initial pilot projects being delivered under Get Connected have proven that rural communities across the country have a pent-up demand for proper mobile connectivity.

Cellnex has invested more than 500,000 in the Get Connected initiative since it initially piloted the project in 2021, in an effort to highlight the viability of public and private collaboration for improved connectivity. Laois and Offaly were the first counties where Get Connected was piloted, with the positive responses from communities and Laois County Council serving as the catalyst for the national launch.

Residents and businesses in each of the three locations in Laois now have access to world-class mobile phone and broadband connectivity, all delivered from a modern slim-line pole solution, which is cost effective to deploy in a rural setting and is less visually obtrusive for the area. The solution being used is a result of a collaboration between Cellnex and local Irish suppliers based in the midlands.

Connectivity is absolutely vital to local rural economies, and we are delighted to have been able to work with the Get Connected programme and Cellnex to revolutionise the experience in these three villages and their hinterlands, said Angela McEvoy, Director of Services with Laois County Council.

Having top class mobile connectivity for businesses and residents in rural areas creates a level playing field with urban locations and will allow more of Laois to become a viable working-from-home location or a better base for hybrid working. This type of investment will allow local rural communities to thrive and will significantly benefit the quality of life for residents, as they wont necessarily have to commute to large urban centres, given the availability of high-quality mobile connectivity locally.

In the communities in question, Cellnex has fixed the coverage blackspots by using a series of unobtrusive street-based poles and street cabinets. These are designed to be able to carry services from several mobile companies, which reduces the proliferation of masts in communities and reduces the cost of deployment.

Caroline Hofman, CEO of Laois Chamber which has supported the initiative, said the provision of quality mobile services would deliver a huge boost to three Laois locations.

Poor mobile coverage and blackspots are something we have all experienced, locally and beyond. Thanks to Get Connected and Cellnex, communities are being empowered to collaborate and work to together to address these issues and find solutions.

The benefits of improved connectivity are wide-ranging for our members and the wider community in Laois. Laois is now one of the best-connected counties in Ireland, and it is fantastic to see this initiative being rolled out nationally.

Cellnex Ireland launched in 2015, with the acquisition of 300 sites from Irish state forestry company Coillte, and through further acquisitions and investment now has as portfolio of over 1,800 sites.

Cellnex specialises in maximising the efficient use of tower infrastructure through hosting the equipment of multiple operators on its sites, thereby reducing costs for users and reducing the proliferation of unnecessary towers. www.cellnex.ie

Cellnex Telecom is Europes leading operator of wireless telecommunications infrastructures with a portfolio of 130,000 sites including forecast roll-outs up to 2030. Cellnex operates in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and Portugal. Cellnexs business is structured in four major areas: telecommunications infrastructure services; audiovisual broadcasting networks, mission and business critical networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and ser-vices management (Smart cities e the Internet of Things (IoT)).

For more information, visit www.cellnextelecom.com
Young musicians from Music Generation Laois and Music Generation Waterford joined forces to perform at the opening of The Ireland Funds Worldwide Conference 2022.

The 33 young musicians dazzled guests U2s Adam Clayton and Minister for Education Norma Foley with a spectacular performance with world renowned Irish musician Sharon Shannon.

The Music Generation Laois Trad Orchestra were delighted to perform at such a significant event which marked a recognition for Arts and Culture in Ireland and celebrated Music Generations achievements over the past ten years. 15 young Musicians from Music Generation Waterford Traditional Ensemble and 18 young musicians from the Music Generation Laois Trad Orchestra, led by Musical Directors Nora Byrne Kavanagh and Siobhn Buckley, performed an energetic programme and a thrilling collaboration with Sharon Shannon.

Rosa Flannery, Music Development Officer Music Generation Laois, spoke afterwards.

Music Generation Laois were delighted to collaborate with our friends from Music Generation Waterford to perform at The Ireland Funds Annual Conference. Our musicians were outstanding! We are very grateful to U2 and The Ireland Funds for their support throughout our journey, and we look forward to the next 10 years as we continue to make music education accessible to all children and young people in Ireland, she said.

Music Generation Laois, led by Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board with support from Laois County Council, was established in 2012 and was one of the earliest Local Music Education Partnership to commence programming.

Since its inception, nationally Music Generation has invested 66.3 million in ensuring access to performance music education across Ireland. It has expanded to 29 counties and the number of children and young people participating in the programme has grown from 6,481 programme participants in 2012 to almost 80,000 today. The programme has delivered 490,000 hours of performance music education tuition since its inception and has increased its staff from one employee to 442.



Initiated by Music Network, Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Local Music Education Partnerships. Adam Clayton joined the celebration on behalf of U2 and acknowledged the achievement and impact Music Generation has had since its official launch.

U2 bass player Adam Clayton met some of the musicians. MORE BELOW PICTURE OF HIM MEETING THE LAOIS MUSICIANS.

We are immensely proud of everything that Music Generation has achieved during its first decade. We are also very grateful to you, The Ireland Funds for a partnership in sharing in our vision and helping us to bring this big idea to life. We believe that Music Generation has the potential to be one the U2s greatest legacies because of the positive and lasting impact that music education can have on the holistic development of children and young people," he said.

Music Generation Laois is led Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board with support from Laois County Council.

Music Generation Waterford is co-funded by Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board and Waterford City and County Council.

Music Generation is Irelands National Music Education Programme that gives children and young people access to high-quality, subsidised performance music education. Music Generation believes in every child and young persons musical potential and their innate artistry, that it is every child and young persons right to have the choice of access and the chance to participate as a musical citizen.

For further information visit: www.musicgeneration.ie
Five hundred modular homes are to be installed in around 20 sites across Ireland to help efforts to house Ukrainian refugees.

The two-bedroom units provided under a 100 million euro Government pilot initiative will be able to accommodate 2,000 people.

It is expected that the first of the units will be in place by November.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland since the outbreak of war in their homeland in February.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is working on identifying the sites for the homes. The units will all be sited on public land in urban areas. It is anticipated each site will house between 20 to 60 units.

The roll-out of the programme will be managed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the Office of Public Works. They will be involved in site preparation and the acquisition and installation of the modular units.

Installation work on the 500 homes is due to be completed by next year  a timeframe described as ambitious, but achievable by the Government.

Under the plan, Housing Minister Darragh OBrien will provide required planning exemptions to enable the OPW and its agents to access relevant sites immediately. The DCEDIY will then take responsibility for ownership of the modular units and their future use.

Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman said the move was an emergency response to the refugee crisis.

He said a significant number of Ukrainian refugees were currently housed in student accommodation and he said that would have to be freed up ahead of the start of the new academic year in September.

He added that many refugees are being moved into accommodation pledged by members of the public over the summer.

We saw today further attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine, we have to recognise that there will continue to be families who make the decision, the incredibly understandable decision, that they are safer outside of the country, he said.

So, its likely that Ireland and other EU member states will continue to see Ukrainians arriving seeking shelter and seeking safety and Ireland will continue to make all efforts to meet those needs, though recognising that with the pressures that sometimes the standard accommodation we provide is going to be lower than perhaps we provided at the start of the crisis.
Have you ever fancied being a real-life lady of the castle? Well, your Downton Abbey fantasies can come true thanks to the Curragh Racecourse and Barberstown Castle in Straffan, who are offering a 'title for life' to the winner of the Most Stylish Lady competition at Juddmonte Irish Oaks Day at the Kildare racecourse on July 16.

Unfortunately, the honorary title doesn't come with the palatial pad attached - but there's plenty more in the goody bag for the winner, including a helicopter ride to the Goffs Millions at the Curragh on September 24 and four tickets to the raceday; a VIP stay at Barberstown; a magnum of Taittinger champagne; a Tipperary Crystal hamper; a bespoke hat from Julie Kenny designs; a vintage selection of your choice from Heads Up Threads and a 2023 Curragh membership.

Broadcasters Marty Morrissey and Sinead Kennedy will choose the Most Stylish on July 16, and will have the honour of bestowing the aristocratic title on the lady picked.

Barberstown Castle Hotel is the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland. Amanda Torrens of Barberstown said "This is a Maiden Run for the Barberstown Castle Lady of the Curragh Contest, so we are thrilled to host and be associated with this auspicious event. It will be a flamboyant and fabulous social occasion, we are so looking forward to seeing the style and glamour on the day. Barberstown Castle has been at the heart of the horse racing and horse sale industries in Kildare Ireland since 1288. During their enduring history, there has been a steadfast interconnection between Barberstown Castle and all equestrian pursuits in the province.
New electric cars and high value watches are among items seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau during their latest operation.

According to An Garda Siochana, the operation - which took place today (Wednesday June 29) in Waterford, Kildare, Laois and Dublin - targeted an East European organised crime group involving the laundering of criminal proceeds through the second hand car trade.

The group is also reportedly involved in the supply of vehicles to Irish gangs throughout the country

Assets including properties were targeted by officers, who seized the following:

 One Tesla electric Vehicle

 Two BMW IX electric vehicles (221 Regs)

 Two Classic vehicles

 15,000 in cash

 A number of high value watches including Rolex and Cartier Brands

Today's operation was conducted by Bureau officers with support from the Dublin Armed Support Unit, the Eastern Regional Armed Support Unit, the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, The Customs Dog Unit, Kildare Detective Unit, Portlaoise Detective Unit and Detectives attached to the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

It follows on from Criminal Assets Bureau search operations conducted during September and October 2021 during the course of which CAB seized eighteen high value vehicles including Audi Q7s, BMW X5s, Range Rovers, a Jaguar I-Pace and a Tesla.

The investigation remains on-going.
The An Tostal Festival is back after two years of Covid restrictions, and we are delighted to announce that The Tumbling Paddies will perform a free music gig on the street on Friday 1st July from 9pm  11pm.

The Festival kicks off on Wednesday, 29th June and back by popular demand is our Drive In Bingo at 8pm in the Mart car park. Jackpot on the night is a whopping 500.



On Thursday, 30th June, The An Tostal Festival in conjunction with the Shed Distillery are delighted to host a Cocktail Masterclass in the HoneyBadger Bar at The Shed Distillery from 6.30 pm  7.30 pm.

Come along and learn how to make some delicious cocktails and hear the amazing story of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin.

Guests will be invited to sit back and relax in the majestic greenhouse while expert mixologist serves up some delicious cocktail samples. You can then relax and unwind with a refreshing Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin & Tonic.

Booking is essential as numbers are limited.



Thursday evening then just gets better and better as we head down to the Mayflower Community Centre for the very popular play The Handyman by Seamus O'Rourke, doors open 7.30pm.

After The Tumbling Paddies performance on Friday, 1st July there will be fantastic fireworks display from 11.30pm

Saturday, 2nd July is a jam-packed day of fun for all the family with a fun day in the Peace Park (behind Aras Padraig) from 2pm to 5pm.

On the day we will have a fantastic and ever popular Showcase of local art and crafts with various stalls and displays.

Corvenioes will put on a Wild West show, Leitrim School of Art will put on a workshop.



There will be music by Liam Fitz and there will be a display by the Road Safety Authority. There will be face painting, giant games, Bonny Baby, and Glamorous Granny competitions.

Later in the evening there will be a Remembrance mass for all the loved ones that we have lost since our last festival in St Patrick Church Drumshanbo at 8pm.



On Sunday, July 3rd we start off the day with Music by Jay O'Dee on the street from 3pm with the Parade from 4pm.

The Festival will be led by Kiltubrid Pipe Band and will officially opened by Drumshanbos own Mairin O'Keeffe. Mairin retired as Principal of Drumshanbo National School and we wish her many years of health and happiness for her retirement.



We will have the Crowning of our 2022 An Tostal Colleen, Niamh Mc Namara and we would like to thank our longest every reigning An Tostal Colleen Rachel Mc Donagh for all her help over the last 2 years.

After the parade we will have more fun and games in the car park with a magic show a puppet show and disco and a Road Safety authority display.

A festival of fun, music, games and something for everyone to enjoy, so come along and join in the activities.
An Egyptian woman walks past a poster of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi in March 2018 in Cairo. KHALED DESOUKI / AFP

A few days before the start of a "national dialogue" in Egypt, in early July, confusion continues to surround this roundtable meant to bring together the government and all the political forces of the country, with the exception of the Islamist movement of the Muslim Brotherhood. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi announced the initiative back in April, when the worsening economic situation started to raise fears of serious social tensions. The topics to be discussed during this major public forum are not yet known, nor is the list of participants. Silenced and persecuted over the past few years, opposition figures within the country are wavering between support for what could be a rare window of opportunity for discussion and skepticism about the risk of being used as little more than window dressing.

"The dialogue will not lead to radical change in Egypt. But the invitation to a dialogue has opened a margin of freedom. If it can be expanded  through the release of many political prisoners and an easing of the constraints on freedom of expression and on the activity of political parties  it will be a considerable achievement," said Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayed, a professor of political science at Cairo University. He is also one of the founders of the Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of left-wing, liberal and social democratic opposition parties.

Read more Subscribers only Egyptian president is the benevolent hero of a television series

Reduced room for maneuvering

The initial session, in early July, will only involve the 19-member committee that was formalized on Sunday, June 26. According to dialogue coordinator Diaa Rashwan, who is in charge of both the journalists' union and the information service of the presidency, "hundreds" of invitations have been sent out, including to Egyptians in the diaspora, to attend sessions planned for the second stage.

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The Muslim Brotherhood will not be involved. It was the main opposition force under Hosni Mubarak (in power from 1981 to 2011) at a time when the group was forbidden but tolerated. The brotherhood is currently banned, with its members either in exile or in prison. Dialogue negotiations will continue with other opposition forces within the country, but with limited leeway. Marginalized ever since Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi came to power in 2014, the opposition is concerned that the government will be satisfied with a simple public relations operation intended to improve its image in the West.

Eager to regain a presence on the political scene, the opposition has set its priorities: abolishing a pre-trial detention law, which allows for imprisonment without trial for up to two years; moving to a system of proportional representation in legislative elections; and reopening hundreds of blocked websites.

You have 33.18% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
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.

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.

Anger was also expressed at council properties which had been left vacant, with City West councillor Joe Leddin pointing 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.
THERE was an air of both sadness and happiness at St Mary's National School in Croom as staff and students marked the retirement of deputy principal and long-time teacher Catherine Kennedy.

Mrs Kennedy, who attended the school as a child and who worked there for the past 25 years, was even reunited with her junior infants teacher - Barbara Hogan - on her final day.

"I feel very grateful to be here today - you are a great bunch, I've had a great time here in Croom National School," she said as she addressed a special gathering of the school community.

Mrs Kennedy attended Mary Immaculate College and qualified as a teacher in 1984. She then spent time as a teacher in Naas and Feenagh before taking up a permanent role in Croom in December 1997.

In addition to her deputy principal role over the past seven years, she has taught senior infants and sixth class and she has also held a role as a special education teacher.

"Catherine is an incredible kind-hearted person and is always pro-child and student in every decision she makes. Her openness and honesty means that pupils connect with her easily and her ability to recognise a programme or activity that brings out creativity and joy in a child is second-to-none," said principal Emmett Murphy.

Canon Willie Fitzmaurice, chairman of the Board of Management, also paid tribute to the long-time teacher and deputy principal.

"It is with mixed feelings that we come together today - there is a sense of sadness, nostalgia, sentimentality but, above all, gratitude as we bid a formal farewell to Mrs Kennedy after he 25 years of service," he said.

"She has been a pillar here in this school community and many a teacher has leaned on her for advice and guidance and to avail her her deep practical wisdom," he added.

Pupils from every class in the school performed music or poems during the retirement party while Mrs Kennedy was also presented with gifts and cards and her very own 'Star of the Week' prize.
THE FOUR business owners affected by the all consuming fire in Ballyneety have worked for over 70 years between them at that location.

John OMahony Tyres, John Collins Wheelfix and Rory Brownes Garage were all under the one roof which they saw go up in flames last week.

The four men wish to thank people for the outpouring of support and goodwill since it happened.

Ive got loads of phone calls and loads of messages. People have been very good, said Mr OMahony.

Mr Collins said it has been unbelievable.

I had over 200 text message, between that and phone calls, people offering new sheds. You wouldnt believe the wonderful friends you have when it comes to something like this, said Mr Collins.

Mr Browne too got over 200 / 300 messages and over 100 phone calls. So many have offered to help, said Mr Browne.

Declan Gannon, of DG Autos, has his cars parked on the lot and continues to trade. He lost one car that was parked beside the building.

Mr Gannon said he has been offered the use of yards if he wanted to park his cars there but thankfully he can continue to trade.

People have been very good  saying if I need a hand with anything, said Mr Gannon.

The four men stress the most important thing of all is that nobody was seriously injured or worse.

Human life is more precious than tool boxes and all that kind of stuff. We can all rebuild, said Mr Browne. This is echoed by Mr OMahony and Mr Collins as they all try and find replacement premises as soon as possible. Mr Collins, who specialises in alloys, said he is also prioritising getting customers sorted out who had their wheels destroyed.

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Mr OMahony, Mr Collins and Mr Browne all tried to put the fire out with extinguishers but it they hadnt a chance after the explosion and all the flammable material caught fire. Mr Gannon was in Sixmilebridge at the time.

Mr OMahony said it was unbelievable. I never saw anything to up so quick, he said. Mr Collins said: It just took off. There was nothing you could do.

Mr Browne thinks that if a fire truck had been parked beside the building they wouldnt have been able to control it because it was that aggressive.

The business owners also thanked Limerick Fire and Rescue Service for their fast response and co-ordinated efforts to get it under control and stop it from spreading.
A CAR mounted the footpath and crashed into the railings of the People's Park in Limerick city, narrowly missing a pedestrian.

Gardai attended the scene of the single vehicle collision which occurred at the Lord Edward Street side of the park on Tuesday morning at around 7.30am.

One eye witness contacted Limerick Live to say a pedestrian had a "very narrow escape".

"The car was coming from the Carey's Road side. They lost control coming around the corner onto Lord Edward Street, jumped the footpath and smashed straight into the railings. It is right beside where there is one of the gaps to get into the park. It was an elderly lady driving.

"There was a person walking on the footpath just before where it happened. If they left their house a few seconds earlier they would have been rammed up against the wall," said the witness.

Damage to the concrete slabs and paint on the railings from the impact can be seen.

Gardai and an ambulance attended. It is understood the driver did not suffer serious injuries but was very shaken.

Separately, later that Tuesday, gardai attended the scene of a two vehicle road traffic incident on nearby Wolfe Tone Street at 2pm. No injuries have been reported.
COUNCILLORS are to discuss plans to introduce a clean air zone for Limerick city centre.

It follows a similar initiative which has been rolled out in Cork city earlier t this year.

As part of the CAZ activity programme in Cork, air monitors have been placed on a number of streets in the heart of the city centre.

These, the council says, will measure nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone and particulate matter over time.

Social Democrats councillor Elisa ODonovan is seeking to roll-out a similar project in Limerick and she will have a chance to discuss the proposal at the next meeting of the Climate Action, Biodiversity and Environment Strategic Policy Committee.

Her motion was originally before this month's meeting of the Metropolitan District but it was agreed it should be referred to the SPC instead as that is the forum where policy decisions are discussed.

It's not known how much such a project would cost to roll out in Limerick.
Over 220 million in core funding for early learning and school-age childcare providers has been announced.

The funding - launched yesterday (Tuesday June 28) by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman - will enable the provision of quality affordable services for children and their families across Ireland.

Services signing up to the scheme will be subject to a number of requirements, including ensuring no increase to 2022/2023 fees above September 2021 rates, issuing a statement to parents outlining what can be expected, implementing the national practice frameworks Aistear and Siolta, as well as providing transparent and validated financial reports.

Minister O'Gorman said, "Core Funding represents a new approach to how the State funds the sector.

"It entails a shift in the relationship between how State and providers collectively work together, with new responsibilities on both sides, to progressively deliver the vision of increasingly publicly funded and publicly managed early learning and care and school-age childcare to the benefit of children and their families."

The funding agreement for the Government's new 221m Core Funding for early learning and childcare services has been published.



This new funding approach marks the beginning of a new partnership, between the State & providers, working collectively for the public good.  Roderic OGorman TD (@rodericogorman) June 28, 2022

Funding for individuals will be calculated based on the number of places on offer, age group and hours of operation with additional funding for qualified graduates in certain leadership roles.

Applications for the core funding will open in late July 2022.

A Core Funding Ready Reckoner online tool is available in the meantime to give providers an estimate of what they can expect to receive under Core Funding.
Irish police have announced a full review of the case of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

The 39-year-old French filmmakers badly beaten body was found outside her holiday home in Schull, West Cork, in December 1996.

On Wednesday gardai said that, after a review by the assistant commissioner for organised and serious crime, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team will now conduct a full review of this case.

Police said the investigation into the murder has remained active and ongoing.

The police service said that when the review is finalised, the Serious Crime Review Team will provide recommendations to the local investigation unit.

Gardai said they continue to appeal to anyone who might have any information to contact them.

They added that as it is an ongoing investigation, police would be not commenting on the specifics.

In October 2020, the High Court in Ireland rejected an attempt by French authorities to extradite Ian Bailey for the murder.

Mr Bailey was facing a third extradition process to France in relation to the filmmakers death.

The court ruled that he would not be surrendered to France after a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued in 2019.

Mr Bailey, with an address at The Prairie in Schull, was convicted of murder in his absence by a court in Paris in May 2019.

The three-judge court imposed a 25-year sentence.

He had no legal representation for the case, did not attend the court and described it at the time as a farce.

He has always denied any involvement in Ms du Plantiers death.
Prosecutors in Germany are looking into allegations that Hyundai Motor and Kia employed defeat devices in diesel automobiles to hide the dangerous emissions that were released into the air.

140 officers searched eight locations in Germany and Luxembourg on June 28, according to a statement from the prosecution through email. Prosecutors said they are looking into individuals at both manufacturers as well as BorgWarner, Inc., which currently controls Delphi Technologies Plc, one of the two businesses that is said to have supplied the software for the diesel engines.

A Hyundai spokesman confirmed that the German offices had been searched and stated that the company was working with the law enforcement but failing to provide any additional information. Prosecutors also mentioned Robert Bosch GmbH as a software supplier, but representatives for Kia, BorgWarner, and Robert Bosch GmbH did not immediately respond to Bloomberg's emails requesting comment.

The lawsuit concerns 210,000 cars that were sold up until 2020 and that, according to the prosecution, contained software that "massively" lowered or turned off pollution reductions when the cars were driven on public roads. According to the statement, customers were not informed that they did not adhere to EU regulations.

Since US officials said they were looking into Volkswagen AG in 2015, the diesel scandal has rocked the auto industry. Other automakers were quickly affected, and several are still under investigation.

(With agency inputs)
MADRID : The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is on a course to admit Finland and Sweden following an agreement with Turkey, a move that would add vast territory and new military abilities in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.
An overwhelming share of Ukrainianssome 89%say it would be unacceptable to reach a peace deal with Moscow by ceding Ukrainian territory that Russian forces have seized in their invasion this year, a new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening international development cooperation between Libya and the German government
The Step Pyramid of Djoser is the oldest pyramid in Egypt. It was built about 4,700 years ago.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser, constructed at Saqqara about 4,700 years ago, was the first pyramid the Egyptians ever built.

The ancient Egyptian pharaoh that gave the pyramid its name, Djoser, sometimes spelled Zoser (though he was actually called Netjerykhet) ruled during Egypt's third dynasty. Scholars attribute the planning of the pyramid to Imhotep, a vizier who would later be deified for his accomplishments.

"Djoser is the name given to this king by New Kingdom visitors to the site over a thousand years later wrote Egyptologist Mark Lehner in his book "The Complete Pyramids: Solving The Ancient Mysteries" (Thames & Hudson, 2008).

The pyramid started off as a mastaba tomb  a flat-roofed structure with sloping sides  and, through a series of expansions, evolved into a 197-foot-high (60 meters) pyramid, with six layers, one built on top of the other. The pyramid was constructed using 11.6 million cubic feet (330,400 cubic meters) of stone and clay. The tunnels beneath the pyramid form a labyrinth about 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) long. The pyramid was covered with tura limestone, most of which is gone today.

Better protection?

In earlier times, pharaohs were buried in smaller mastaba tombs, which robbers could reach by digging in from the top, Reg Clark, an Egyptologist, wrote in his book "Securing Eternity: Ancient Egyptian Tomb Protection from Prehistory to the Pyramids" (American University in Cairo Press, 2019). The Step Pyramid of Djoser, Clark wrote, would have made it almost impossible for a robber to reach the burial chamber by digging in from the top. Protection from grave robbers may be a reason why the ancient Egyptians built the step pyramid, Clark wrote.

While the step pyramid may have offered enhanced protection, people eventually broke into it, and today most of the burial goods, including the mummy of Djoser, are long gone.

Not every mummy has been looted from the tomb, however. Recent archaeological work revealed three mummies dating to the late period (ca. 712332 B.C.) that were buried inside Djoser's burial chamber, according to a paper published in 2021 in the Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists (opens in new tab). This means that by the late period people had not only broken into the king's burial chamber but were burying more mummies inside of it.

The Djoser complex

The pyramid is at the center of a complex 37 acres (15 hectares) in size. A recessed limestone wall surrounds the complex; fake doorways as well as the real colonnade entrances are embedded on the southeast side, wrote Lehner.

A temple lies on the north side of the pyramid along with a statue of the king. A small stone structure known as a "serdab" surrounds the statue, with the king's eyes peeking out through a hole in the serdab. To the south of the pyramid lies a great court, with an altar and stones identified as boundary markers, Lehner noted.

The builders placed a number of facade "dummy" buildings in the complex, including a series of chapels in the southeast as well as north and south pavilions on the east side of the pyramid. These structures would have served ritual purposes and, curiously, they appear to have been partly buried by their builders, wrote Lehner. In the southeast side of the complex, next to the dummy chapels, lies a court where the king could enact the Heb-Sed jubilee festival, presumably in the afterlife.

Here we see a pavilion at the funerary complex of Pharaoh Djoser, Saqqara. (Image credit: Lola L. Falantes via Getty Images)

At the southern end of the complex lies the enigmatic "south tomb," with a chapel. It contains a series of tunnels that mimic those found beneath the pyramid itself.

"One room [in the south tomb] had carved limestone panels set into the walls depicting the pharaoh running the heb-sed race," wrote Aidan Dodson and Salima Ikram in their book "The Tomb in Ancient Egypt" (Thames & Hudson 2008). The heb-sed festival celebrated kingship, and during the festival the king would run around an open area. The south tomb may not have held any burials and its purpose is not clear, wrote Dodson, an Egyptology professor at the University of Bristol, and Ikram, an Egyptology professor at the American University in Cairo.

The complex is surrounded by a dry "moat" that is of varying depth and about 131 feet (40 m) wide, according to a study published in 2015 in the journal Archaeological Prospection (opens in new tab). A survey of the moat revealed that it served as a "huge quarry for material used for construction of the Step Pyramid," the team wrote in their paper.

Who is buried in the Djoser pyramid?

Beneath the step pyramid winds a bewildering array of tunnels and chambers, the center of which is a 90-foot-deep (28 m) shaft that, at its bottom, contains the burial chamber of King Djoser. The mummy of King Djoser is gone, but conservation work in the burial chamber has revealed 32 fragments of the king's granite sarcophagus, Zahi Hawass, a former minister of antiquities in Egypt, wrote in his paper. From the remains, archaeologists estimate that the king's sarcophagus originally weighed 1.76 tons (1.6 metric tons).

The builders initially planned to decorate the ceiling with limestone blocks engraved with five pointed stars, creating the illusion of a star-filled sky. Archaeologists found blocks from this planned ceiling during conservation work, according to Hawass, but for reasons unknown, the builders scrapped this decoration, leaving a ceiling of plain granite.

Tunnels and underground 'palace'

Two passages lead underground and branch off in three directions. They contain three magazine (storage) galleries, a special tunnel for offerings, and an uncompleted chamber that may have formed an underground "palace" of sorts, albeit one for the afterlife.

The underground "palace" has three false doors containing stele, or stone carvings, showing the king engaged in rituals. The chamber is decorated with blue faience tiles, perhaps meant to imitate the reed matting found in the king's real-life palace in Memphis, Lehner noted in his paper. This subterranean chamber was hastily completed.

A tunnel on the east side of the pyramid contains 40,000 stone vessels, many of them belonging to the king's ancestors. Archaeologists have found human remains and sarcophagi nearby, including the hip bone of a woman who was around 18 years old when she died, Lehner noted. Some of the female remains dated to generations before Djoser's time, leaving a question as to who they were, according to Lehner's paper.

Modern-day conservation

From 2006 to 2020, Egypt led a project to conserve the pyramid, with some help from engineers from a British engineering company called Cintec. At one point during the conservation efforts, giant airbags were used to hold up the pyramid's roof while workers repaired the structure of the pyramid.

Some of the pyramid's blocks had become loose and were put back during conservation efforts.

"The team was able to collect all blocks that were loose under the sand, treated them immediately, and chose the best of them to be placed back onto the pyramid after filling the gaps with mortar," Hawass wrote. "The mortar that was used has the same ratio of limestone to sand used by the ancient Egyptians."

The oldest standing step pyramid in Egypt, designed by Imhotep for King Djoser, located in Saqqara, an ancient burial ground at 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of modern-day Cairo. (Image credit: Richmatts via Getty Images)

Mark of respect

The construction of the step pyramid marked the beginning of an ambitious pyramid-building program that would culminate with the Great Pyramid at Giza. Imhotep, the man credited with designing the step pyramid, would eventually be regarded as a god of sorts.

Egyptologist Marc Van De Mieroop wrote in his book "A History of Ancient Egypt" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), that King Djoser (Netjerykhet) gave Imhotep a rare honor, allowing his name and titles to be carved on the base of one the king's statues. One of his titles calls him "chief of sculptors," a phrase fitting for someone who designed the first Egyptian pyramid.

Djoser would also continue to be revered and, centuries after he died, officials still wanted to be buried near his step pyramid. In 2022, archaeologists found the tomb of one such official , named "Mehtjetju," by the step pyramid. He lived about 4,300 years ago, centuries after Djoser's reign.

One long-standing question is: Where is Imhotep buried? Given Imhotep's association with the step pyramid, Egyptologists suspect that he may be buried near his most well-known creation. One possibility is that Imhotep was buried beneath the step pyramid, an idea that future research at the pyramid will examine, Hawass wrote in his paper.

Additional resources

You can learn more about how Egyptian pyramids were built in this Live Science article.

in this Live Science article. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has more information about the step pyramid and how to visit it on their website (opens in new tab) .

. The ministry has also helped create a virtual tour of the step pyramid which can be seen here (opens in new tab) .

Bibliography

Clark, Reg "Securing Eternity: Ancient Egyptian Tomb Protection from Prehistory to the Pyramids" American University in Cairo Press, 2019

Dodson, A & Ikram, S "The Tomb in Ancient Egypt" Thames & Hudson 2008

Hawass, Zahi "The Discovery of the Sarcophagus of Djoser and the restoration of the step pyramid" Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists, 2021

Lehner, Mark "The Complete Pyramids: Solving The Ancient Mysteries" Thames & Hudson, 2008

Van de Mieroop, Marc "A History of Ancient Egypt" Wiley-Blackwell, 2010

Welc et al "Western Section of the Dry Moat' Channel Surrounding Step Pyramid Complex in Saqqara in the Light of Ground-penetrating Radar Prospection" Archaeological Prospection, 2015

Originally published on Live Science on Sept. 10, 2012 and updated on June 29, 2022.
Click here to read the full article.

BritBox International, the British content specialist streamer operated by U.K. broadcasters BBC and ITV, has big growth plans.

While unveiling their new slate at an event in London on Wednesday, BritBox CEO Reemah Sakaan and CCO Diederick Santer revealed that the streamers spend on programming, via commissions, co-productions and acquisitions, has trebled and that the marketing budget has doubled. At the core of BritBox programming is mystery shows and the aim is to add a dozen of them every year and a further dozen in what the executives describe as the crime and beyond genre. The numbers are not set in stone.

Its a roadmap rather than a straitjacket, Santer told Variety. Theres plenty else going on, with different kinds of titles across different genres.

While the executives declined to put a financial value to the enhanced programming spend, Sakaan said that the streamer has been able to work to a really good level on acquired programming. The difference between a major acquisition and even a co-production, the tariffs arent wildly different anymore, Sakaan told Variety. Weve started from that base, but have now got significant headroom to be able to increase the frequency, as well as some growth in terms of the tariffs themselves. We will use both sides of that to be able to make budgets work. Either well do slightly fewer than 12 to nine and be a bit bigger, we stretch those a little bit further out  it really depends on what we see.

BritBox International was launched in the U.S. in 2017 and since then has expanded to Canada, Australia and South Africa, with its most recent launch being in April across the Nordics. BritBox U.K. is being integrated into ITVs upcoming streamer ITVX.

What were looking at now is a really broad shortlist of next wave markets and they are very geographically dispersed, Sakaan said.

With the international growth in mind, BritBox International, which has 2.6 million subscribers, is moving to a two-region structure  North America (covering the U.S. and Canada) and international markets (covering Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and future new markets), creating new regional leadership roles, all reporting into Sakaan.

Former NBCUniversal executive Kerry Ball joins BritBox International in the newly created role of chief acquisitions and commercial officer, responsible for group content acquisition and commercial strategy across regions and based out of London.

Moira Hogan has been upped to executive VP international markets and general manager APAC with overarching accountability for all international market territories, excluding North America. Hogan previously served as country manager for BritBox Australia. New markets launch director Neale Dennett, who instrumental in the launch of the service in Australia, South Africa and the Nordics, has been upped to senior VP international markets and general manager EMEA. Dennett will partner with Hogan on growth in all international markets.

An appointment to the role of executive VP North America and general manager group marketing services will be revealed soon. As well as managing the U.S., BritBoxs largest market, this role will oversee BritBox in Canada as well as managing the group-wide teams for creative, media buying and customer services and relationships.

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In a big win for major record labels, the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senates Judiciary committee late on Tuesday night.

According to a report in Billboard, the act, also called AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee.

The bill was the latest in a long campaign to repeal a 1987 amendment to the states Seven-Year Statute that allows record labels to sue artists if they leave after seven years after their contract was signed before delivering the full number of albums required under the contract. Labels can also sue artists for damages.

Artists rights groups  including the Black Music Action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition and Songwriters of North America  decried the decision but promised to continue the fight. It is heartbreaking that  for now  the artist community will continue to be denied equal protection. The FAIR Act was an opportunity for the community to come together and the labels refused to join, they said in a joint statement. This is a battle, not the war.

The California Music Coalition, which represents a group of California-based record that had opposed the bill  as did the recorded-music trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America  said in a statement: We applaud the Committees thoughtful decision to reject AB983, The Committee recognized that AB 983 would have radically destabilized recording agreements and Californias entire music economy, taking money out of the pockets of working artists to fund even bigger paychecks for wealthy managers and lawyers.

Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), author of the bill, also vowed to continue the fight. With resistance from industry and a tight timeline to pass a second committee, AB 983 unfortunately came up short of moving forward today, he said in a statement. I remain committed to ending contract terms that are overly restrictive, antiquated, and unnecessarily punitive towards recording artists and thank the sponsors for their support and partnership.

The Seven-Year Statute, which limits personal services contracts for state residents to seven years, was enacted in 1944 following the judgment in actress Olivia de Havillands lawsuit against Warner Bros. Pictures.

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Somewhere inside a dressing room, Jon Batiste is sitting at a piano. The Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist plays a familiar melody, but then he gets an alert on his phone: Prime Day is coming up next month.

Of course, this is all part of Batistes latest music video campaign for Amazons annual shopping event for scoring discounted gear, which runs from July 12 to 13 this year. If you havent seen it, get ready for one talking blender, a catchy twist on Billy Oceans Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car, and, yes, even a saxophone-playing teakettle.

I learned of that midway through the process, and it just made it all the more better, admits Batiste over the phone, calling from New York City. I love that kind of stuff.

The video delivers pure Eighties music video nostalgia, complete with a fog-covered dance floor, neon lights, and a song that nearly came together faster than a Prime membership can deliver a package to your doorstep.

The other wild thing about this process that I loved  Im used to just from working in TV and working in film  but we put this together in less than a week, Batiste says.

It was really a quick turnaround, Batiste continues. The musicians, and the orchestra, we had a small chamber orchestra in the studio  its layered in there. We had a horns section, all types of incredible musicians coming in and out over the course of a day-and-a-half putting it together, so it was just an incredible music experience.

Though Batiste worked with several musicians around New York City on the campaigns cover track, he explains the majority of it was recorded in Power Station, which is this incredible studio on 53rd Street in New York.

In the music videos intro, Batiste runs down his wishlist of items hes considering buying this year, from socks to piano polish. But what hes really searching for this year is something that didnt make it in the final cut: CDs to add to his collection. Theres something special about having liner notes, Batiste says.

That includes collaborations between Hazel Scott and Billie Holiday, any lost tapes by Nai Palm of Haitus Kaiyote, and a CD that features the clean version of Tupacs I Aint Mad at Cha. (It has a live band and a strings section, Batiste explains. Its amazing when you listen to the live version; its also the clean version, so they may have decided for the clean version they wanted to do a different arrangement.)

Amazon

Buy: Jon Batiste, 'We Are' $22.49

Batistes latest project for Prime Day arrives a few months after he won five Grammys in April, including Album of the Year for his critically acclaimed studio release We Are. Though Batiste is working on new music, the release date for the albums follow-up is still up in the air for now.

Im always working, Batiste tells Rolling Stone. Constantly creating. I dont stop. The creative process is a way of life for me, and Im always processing the world through my creativity, whether it be writing or painting or dancing. But definitely mostly through music-making. And albums are kind of these incredible timestamps of where I am, and where my processing of things has led me.

So Im at a point where I feel theres a body of work that could come of that, Batiste adds, but I dont really think about it like I need to put out an album but more this inevitable journey that leads to an album. And it feels like thats coming soon, but I dont want to say  I just kind of let the creative process lead me there.

Later this fall, Batiste will play both the Pilgrimage Music and Culture Festival and Roots N Blues Festival, and hell also premiere his much-anticipated American Symphony at Carnegie Hall alongside orchestrator Matt Wong and many of the musicians Batiste worked with for the Prime Day anthem. The symphony is going to be this incredible 40-minute long  four movements  all types of different musicians coming together from all walks of life, and just redefining the symphonic experience.
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Michaela Coel, John Turturro, and Paul Dano are joining in the Mr. and Mrs. Smith series at Amazon, Variety has learned exclusively.

The trio join previously announced series leads Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, who will star in the title roles. Exact character details for the other three actors are being kept under wraps, aside from the fact they will appear in guest star roles. John (Glover) and Jane (Erskine) as they are hired by a mysterious spy agency, venturing into espionage, marriage, and learning to intimately navigate both.

The castings represents a reunion of sorts for Turturro and Dano, who both starred in the hit DC film The Batman, though they did not share any scenes.

Coel is best known for the limited series I May Destroy You. Coel created, directed, and executive produced the critically-acclaimed show in addition to starring in the lead role. She received four Emmy nominations for her work, winning the award for best writing for a limited series. Coel will next be seen in the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She is also known for starring in shows like Black Earth Rising and Chewing Gum, having also served as a writer on the latter.

She is repped by UTA in the U.S., Maison Two in the U.K., and Tapestry.

Turturro most recently starred in the Apple series Severance, which is seen as a contender for Emmy nominations this year. He also recently starred in the HBO limited series adaptation of The Plot Against America and picked up an Emmy nomination for the HBO series The Night Of and an Emmy win for the USA Network series Monk. He is primarily known for his film work, starring in multiple Coen brothers films like Barton Fink, Millers Crossing, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Big Lebowski. He is also a frequent collaborator of Spike Lees, starring in films like Do The Right Thing, He Got Game, She Hate Me, and Jungle Fever.

He is repped by UTA and attorney George Sheanshang.

Dano earned strong reviews for playing The Riddler in The Batman and has turned in celebrated turns in films such as There Will Be Blood, Prisoners, Love & Mercy, and Little Miss Sunshine. He earned an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in a limited series for his role in Showtimes Escape at Dannemora, in which he starred alongside Patricia Arquette and Benicio Del Toro.

He is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, and Goodman Genow.

Glover is credited as the co-creator and executive producer on Mr. and Mrs. Smith alongside Francesca Sloane. Sloane also serves as showrunner. New Regencys Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer and Wells Street Films Jenny Robins will also executive produce. Sloane and Glover are both currently under overall deals at Amazon.

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Treating his fans to a fun throwback, Shawn Mendes recreated the cover of his 2016 album Illuminate for an Instagram post on Wednesday. The photo, which shows Mendes sitting on a wooden chair in front of a teal wall while holding a guitar, mimics the artists second studio album to perfection.

Mendes Instagram post, simply captioned back in time, shows the artists growth in the almost six years since the 2016 release of Illuminate, which hit featured songs like Treat You Better and Mercy. Since then, Mendes has gone on to host three tours, perform on Saturday Night Live twice, and release two more studio albums, including Wonder, for which he is currently on tour.

The Wonder tour kicked off on Monday, June 27, in Portland, Oregon. Prior to the tour, Mendes made a pledge to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent for each show on the schedule. He will not be the only artist to aim for an environmentally-friendly tour with other musicians, like Coldplay, trying for more eco-conscious performances.

Mendes film debut is also set for this fall. The artist will be voicing the titular lead in Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, a movie adaptation of the childrens book of the same name.
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Top Gun: Maverick and Stranger Things are among the films and TV that landed Location Managers Guild Awards.

The 9th Annual LMGI Awards honor outstanding and creative visual contributions by location professionals in film, television and commercials from around the globe. Winners will be honored at the LMGI Awards ceremony, returning to a live in-person event on Aug. 27.

Other nominated shows include for Outstanding Locations in a Contemporary Television Series Atlanta, Reservation Dogs and Succession.

This years Best Picture winner CODA was nominated for Outstanding Locations in a Contemporary Film, alongside Drive My Car, Everything, Everywhere All at Once, In the Heights, No Time to Die and Top Gun: Maverick

Palm Springs International ShortFest Announces Award Winners

The Palm Springs International Shortfest announced its winners. Among the films receiving top jury awards were, The Cave, The Sentence of Michael Thompson, Further and Further Away and The Right Words.

Everything Everywhere All At Once Leads Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Award Nominations

The Hollywood Critics Association has announced the nominees for its 5th annual Midseason Awards, which honors the best films released during the first half of each calendar year.

Leading the nominees is Everything Everywhere All at Once from Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, which collected eight nominations, including for best film. In addition, the Daniels picked up director and screenplay nominations, while Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu received notices for their performances. Closely following Everything Everywhere is Matt Reeves The Batman with five nominations, and Top Gun: Maverick with four nominations. The remaining nominees for best picture are Cha Cha Real Smooth, Elvis, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, RRR, The Northman, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Turning Red.

In addition to the major nominations, the Midseason Awards also include a most anticipated film category, for films set for the second half of the year. This years nominees include Avatar: The Way of the Water, Babylon, Dont Worry Darling, Killers of the Flower Moon and Nope.

HCA will announce the winners of the Midseason Awards on July 1, at 8 am PT, via the Hollywood Critic Associations Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages.

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Critical crew shortages caused by the ongoing U.K. production boom can be alleviated by an industry-led investment approach, a study published by the British Film Institute (BFI) recommends.

Film and high-end television production spend in the U.K. reached over $7.65 billion in 2021 and is forecast to hit $9.3 billion by 2025. A skills review commissioned by the U.K. Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport and executed by the BFI found that the boom is leading to increasing crew shortages at all levels, which are beginning to negatively impact the industry and contribute to highly stressed workplaces. The consequent production budget rises are affecting the independent sector most acutely, the review found.

U.K. production will require up to 20,770 additional full-time employees by 2025, needing an overall training investment of over 104 million ($128 million) a year, a figure which is approximately 1.4% of the projected level of production spend that year.

To meet the eye-watering demand, the production sector needs to contribute at least 1% of all production budgets to train their existing and future workforce, the review concludes.

The 1% could include contributions to the ScreenSkills film and high-end TV skills funds; spend on initiatives, which productions run themselves or which they outsource to training providers and partners; and contributions to the governments apprenticeship levy providing they are spent on crew skills and training.

The problem is serious and does need to be industrialized and needs an industrialized solution, Ben Roberts, CEO of the BFI, told a media briefing discussing the review.

If we can get this right, as well as investing in our crew and capitalizing on the opportunity presented by our industrys growth, we can accelerate creating a workforce that genuinely reflects our society. As we do that, we must also urgently address negative working practices and cultures, including the long hours routinely expected of crew, Roberts added.

The review warns that if the production sectors investment in skills and training doesnt adequately increase to meet the challenges, its recommended that U.K. government explore requirements to mandate investment in skills development and training that are linked to production spend.

Neil Peplow, BFI director of industry and international affairs, said: There is a genuine collegiate understanding across industry, that the only way were going to solve this is if we do it together. And so this is a chance for us off the back of this review to bring those people into that group to develop with industry, because then theyll take ownership of it, the processes and the mechanisms needed to create a structure around how we address all of those recommendations moving forward. And then also a way of us being able to ensure that that quantum of at least 1% is reached.

The key findings and recommendations include an industry-led and localized approach to investment in training; a more formalized approach to hiring, workplace management and professional development; stronger bridges into industry from education and other sectors; more comprehensive careers information, profiles and pathways; and better data to support policy and action.

The complex, interconnected nature of the issues and solutions means that to solve the skills shortages we  as an industry  need to address all the reviews key recommendations simultaneously, Peplow said. For instance, current retention issues and lack of diversity in our crews mean theres no point recruiting more new entrants unless we are addressing the workplace practices and culture. Theres no point sending people on training courses unless we are giving them enough time and experience in their roles. This isnt a menu of choices; its a blueprint for success.

To kick start delivery against the key findings, the BFI is launching four programs, including mapping crew and forecasting shortage; creating job descriptions; careers advice and guidance; and workforce diversity monitoring.

Meanwhile, the review has been welcomed across the U.K. industry, earning praise from the likes of BBC director general Tim Davie; ITV CEO Carolyn McCall; Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon; Kevin Trehy, executive VP, physical production at Warner Bros. Discovery; Alison Small, manager, Grow Creative U.K. for Netflix; Tim Bevan, co-chair of Working Title Films; Elizabeth Karlsen, co-founder of Number 9 Films; Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight; Max Rumney, deputy CEO of screen sector trade body Pact; Seetha Kumar, CEO ScreenSkills; Paul Evans, research officer at creative industries union Bectu; Peter Bazalgette, co-chair, Creative Industries Council; Adrian Wootton, chief executive of British Film Commission; and Alex Pumfrey, CEO of Film and TV Charity.

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A man claimed he witnessed a male being fatally shot in la chompa, a term used in Spanish for head, according to Laredo police.

However, an investigation revealed that Arturo Trevino Jr., 40, lied about the fatal shooting, states an arrest affidavit. He was charged with making a false report via an arrest warrant served on June 22.

The case unfolded at about 10:46 p.m. Feb. 5 in the 2700 block of Market Street, when officers arrested Trevino on warrants for burglary of a vehicle and criminal trespass. During the arrest, Trevino claimed he had witnessed a murder.

He added that three days ago, he witnessed a male shooting another person in the head in the brushy area of the dead end of the 3500 block of Paradise Drive. Trevino led officers to the dead end of Paradise, where authorities conducted a limited search for the corpse. Police called out the search due to limited visibility but left an officer there to guard the scene.

Trevino stated that at about 5 p.m. Feb. 2, he arrived at the home of a male in the 3500 block of Paradise to buy weed for personal use. Trevino drove to the location on his brown 2014 Honda Civic. A third male arrived shortly after at the location on Paradise.

Trevino stated he and the two men walked to the dead end of the street and entered the brushy area. They walked 20 minutes into the brush. Then, one male began yelling at the other saying Where is my money you owe me, states the affidavit.

Trevino stepped away to urinate and then heard two gunshots, he claimed. Trevino walked away. He later observed a male emerging from the brush. He told Trevino that the other man owed him $200 to $300 in marijuana, according to the affidavit.

The male told Trevino that the other person did not want to pay and told him le abri la chompa, meaning he shot him in the head. Trevino believed that the male was dead. Authorities searched the location for a possible murder. Trevino further stated to police that he believed the male was playing him a prank.

An aerial search of the area utilizing a drone yielded no results of a deceased person or evidence of a shooting in the area, according to court documents. Surveillance video obtained from the area did not corroborate Trevino statement that he walked with two other males to the dead end in the 3500 block of Paradise. On Feb. 8, detectives re-interviewed Trevino.

Arturo (Trevino) ultimately recanted his previous statement and admitted lying about the whole thing, states the affidavit.
Courtesy/Webb County Sheriff's Office

A man has been arrested for fleeing the scene of the crash and leading police on a chase in a marijuana-laden vehicle, according to Laredo police.

At about 3:04 p.m. June 17, an officer patrolling the 400 block of East Hillside Road observed a gold Dodge Durango crashing into another vehicle by Hillside and Springfield Avenue. The Durango fled the scene. A chase ensued when the Durango did not stop for the patrol unit.
Rome, Italy (PANA) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday welcomed the announcement by G7 leaders meeting in Elmau, Germany, that they will provide an additional US$ 4
A 47-year-old Cuban citizen has been sentenced to prison for his involvement smuggling narcotics to three cities in an operation dubbed The World is Yours, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Juan Suarez-Pupo pleaded guilty on March 29 to conspiring to distribute large quantities of marijuana and cocaine, according to court documents.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo sentenced Suarez-Pupo to 144 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Authorities said Suarez-Pupo was described as a leader within the drug trafficking organization and that he oversaw smuggling operations in both Texas and Florida.

Suarez-Pupo also had connections to supply sources in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. During the sentencing hearing, Suarez-Pupos extensive involvement in drug trafficking and his prior conviction of human smuggling was noted.

Co-defendant and Laredo resident Charlie Gonzalez, 36, was previously sentenced to 135 months for his role in the conspiracy to smuggle narcotics to Houston, Dallas and Louisville, Kentucky. Like Suarez-Pupo, Gonzalez was a leader within the drug trafficking organization and he had significant involvement. In addition, Marmolejo imposed a sentencing enhancement against Gonzalez for threatening the life of the federal agent who arrested him.

Additional co-defendants Ildefonso Martinez Jr., 40, of Laredo, and Jesus Antonio Trevino-Cabrera, 43, of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, were also previously sentenced for their involvement. They received prison terms of 36 and 26 months, respectively.

The investigation on a drug trafficking organization operating in Laredo began in April 2019. Authorities seized 1,355 pounds of marijuana and 22.04 pounds of cocaine. They also seized $26,000 in drug proceeds. The marijuana had an estimated street value of approximately $400,000 while the cocaine was worth $250,000.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol and the Laredo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Day prosecuted the case.
A man has been arrested in relation to neglect and possible torture of a dog that had to be euthanized, according to Laredo police.

Mario Guadalupe Arredondo, 52, was served with an arrest warrant on June 18 charging him with cruelty to non-livestock animals. Webb County Jail records show he was released the following day.

On May 31, police officers responded to an animal cruelty report in the 3900 block of Lee Avenue. An animal control officer stated that there was a structure fire at the location. Animal control was called for an injured dog that needed to be evacuated. The dog was taken to the vet for an evaluation.

It was determined that the dog did not sustain injuries consistent with the fire. Instead, the dog had major lacerations to its head. The dog also had ligature lacerations around the neck as if it was tied up with a wire, an arrest affidavit states.

Due to the animals extensive mortal injuries, he was ethically euthanized, states the affidavit.

The vet determined that the dog was mistreated, possibly tortured, and not given proper health care. Authorities said some of the injuries were several days old since they exhibited scabbing and scarring, court documents state.

Court documents state that the dog was a 4- to 5-year-old male gray Labrador mix. It had multiple infected wounds of various sizes around the head and neck area with pus draining from the wounds. The pus indicated that the injuries were several days old and it could have been caused by another animal attacking while it was chained, according to court documents.

The Labrador was dehydrated and weak, and could not respond to stimulus during the physical exam. In addition, the dog was covered in fleas and ticks. It had moderate to severe ear infection, according to court documents.

Police went to the property, a diesel mechanic shop. Authorities identified the owner as Arredondo. Police could not interview him because he was drunk, according to court documents.

During the investigation, Arredondo stated he did not know who the owner of the dog was. He did mention that he feeds and shelters the dog in the yard. Witnesses did state that they had seen the dog at Arredondos lot.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The Dutch prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent protest by farmers outside the home of the country's agriculture minister amid increasingly bold demonstrations against the government's plans to rein in pollution.

A small group of farmers clashed Tuesday night with police stationed outside the home of Christianne van der Wal, the Cabinet minister overseeing the Netherlands' reforms to curb pollution. They spread manure on a nearby street. At another protest, farmers attacked a police car. Several arrests were made.

The violence capped a second straight day of protests that included torching bales of hay near roads and blocking highways across the country with slow-driving or parked tractors.

The protests resumed Wednesday with dozens of tractors briefly blocking a highway close to the German border, traffic authorities said.

The Netherlands' lucrative agricultural sector is protesting against a proposal, approved by lawmakers Tuesday, to reduce emissions of pollutants like nitrogen oxide and ammonia by 50% by 2030.

Provincial governments were given a year to draw up ways of making the cuts, which are expected to include buying out some farms with livestock that produce large amounts of ammonia.

Farmers argue they are being unfairly targeted and shown little concern for their futures.

Christian Democrat lawmaker Derk Boswijk tweeted Wednesday that he was staying home after his family, including his 4- and 7-year-old children, received a visit. He added: This way of demonstrating serves no purpose. Stop it!

You can demonstrate, but in a civilized way, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said from a NATO summit in Madrid. So dont block highways, dont set off fireworks outside a ministers house and spread manure and ... scare two children, and endanger families.

The Dutch national police chief also weighed in, saying officers have fined dozens of farmers in recent days and prevented more road blockades.

The right to demonstrate is a great asset, but there are limits to it, police commander Willem Woelders said. If there is a disturbance of public order or criminal offenses are committed, we will take action.

Police said they arrested 10 protesters Tuesday in the eastern Netherlands and charged them with offenses ranging from public violence to attempted manslaughter.

It is unacceptable how, in some places in our unit, police officers have been attacked and cornered, Janny Knol, the police chief in the eastern Netherlands, said.

According to a national farm lobbying group, LTO, there are nearly 54,000 agricultural businesses in the Netherlands with exports totaling 94.5 billion euros (about $99 million) in 2019.

The protest at Van der Wal's home came on the eve of an announcement by the government that it planned to criminalize the practice, known as doxing, of publishing online personal details such as home addresses as a means of intimidation.

The legislation is part of a broader package of measures announced by the Justice and Security Ministry that it says is intended to safeguard the freedom of the press.
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Of the 20 hottest neighborhoods in the U.S. through the first six months of 2022, half are in the state of Texas, according to a report from real estate company Opendoor. San Antonio and New Braunfels, two cities with some of the largest population growth in the country, are home to four of the fastest-growing zip codes.

The 78130 zip code in New Braunfels is the fastest-growing neighborhood in Texas and the fourth quickest-growing area in the nation, according to the report. Neighborhoods in three different San Antonio zip codes, 78253, 78245 and 78254, also ranked in the top 20 hottest neighborhoods in the country.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  A fire at a prison in southwestern Colombia has killed at least 51 people and injured more than 20 others, authorities said Tuesday.

The director of the national prison system, Tito Castellanos, told Radio Caracol that it's not clear if all of the dead were prisoners. He initially said 49 had died, but the Justice Ministry later raised the toll to 51.
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BATON ROUGE (AP)  The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold a lower court ruling that Louisiana must draw new congressional districts before the 2022 elections to increase Black voting power.

As a result, Louisianas November congressional elections will be held using a Republican-drawn map with white majorities in five of six districts. The high court's ruling paused an earlier decision by a federal judge concerned the map violates the Voting Rights Act and dilutes Black voter clout.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, expressed disappointment with the development and reiterated his stance that creating a second African-American majority district was about simple math, basic fairness, and the rule of law."

Black Louisianans make up one third of our population, and one third of our districts should be majority Black when such a map can be drawn, and, as has been clearly demonstrated, that map is more compact, better adheres to the legal principles governing redistricting, and will perform, he said.

With the three liberal justices dissenting, the high court short-circuited the earlier order from U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick to create a second majority Black congressional district in Louisiana. As the map stands, five of Louisianas six seats appear likely to remain in Republican hands.

State Rep. Vincent Pierre, chairman of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, said he was disheartened by the Supreme Courts decision and added that hopes for change in the short term have been dashed. The Democrat described the map approved by the legislature as an obvious violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Democrats and the Black Caucus argue that by the numbers at least two of the six districts should have Black majorities.

The court's action is similar to an order issued in February in Alabama that allowed the state to hold elections in 2022 under a map drawn by Alabamas GOP-controlled legislature that contains one majority-Black district. Alabama has seven seats in the House of Representatives.

The justices are hearing arguments in the Alabama case in October. The Louisiana case will remain on hold under the court renders a decision on the Alabama case, the justices said.

Every 10 years, state lawmakers  armed with new U.S. Census Bureau information  redraw political boundaries for seats in the U.S. House, state Senate, state House, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Public Service Commission. The process ultimately affects which political parties, viewpoints and people control the government bodies that write laws, set utility rates and create public school policies.

This years redistricting process in Louisiana has been a tense political tug-of-war, with the Republican-dominated legislature and Edwards fighting over the boundaries since February, when lawmakers approved a congressional map with white majorities in five of six districts. The governor vetoed the map. However the legislature overrode the veto  marking the first time in nearly three decades that lawmakers refused to accept a governors refusal of a bill they had passed.

Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Slidell Republican and a leader in the remapping effort, has insisted that trying to include the states widely dispersed Black population in two separate congressional districts would result in two districts with very narrow Black majorities that could actually diminish Black voter power.

Hewitt tweeted on Tuesday that she was very pleased by the Supreme Court's decision and maintains that the map has always been constitutional.

Along with tense debate on Louisiana's House and Senate floor, the legal battle to determine the state's congressional boundaries has played out, simultaneously, at all three levels of the federal judiciary.

In early June, the federal judge Dick struck down the map for violating the Voting Rights Act, citing that the evidence of Louisianas long and ongoing history of voting-related discrimination weighs heavily in favor of Plaintiffs. Dick, who was appointed by then-President Barack Obama, ordered lawmakers to redesign the map and this time include a second majority Black district by June 20.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal briefly put a hold on Dicks deadline, but later removed the hold and scheduled to hear arguments in July.

With little willingness to compromise from the GOP and a tight deadline that was not extended, the session ended with no new map and as a result the task was passed to Dick. The judge scheduled a hearing on the issue for Wednesday, but it has been canceled following the Supreme Court's decision.
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A Laredo K-9 officer was recognized for his success in a national competition Monday.

Agent Brix was recognized by county leaders Monday for his outstanding achievement on the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association Competition. The dog obtained first place among 40 other teams as well as first out of 87 K-9 officers.

Brix and his handler Deputy Luis Agredano, along with Marc Cardenas and K-9 Ati, were the team that represented the Webb County Sheriff's Office in the competition on May 29 to June 3.

In this competition, the canine officers were put to test their drug-seeking skills by finding various hidden objects.

The more items found, the more points they received.

False alerts were also a qualifying factor, as points were reduced when a situation like this occurred.

However, the Laredo team took first place. This was especially thanks to Brix topping 87 other furry competitors.

The competition consisted of finding many narcotics in three minutes out of 100 items that they put. They timed you, and if you make a false alert, they bring your points down. It has to be a very specific alert, Agredano said.

Agredano shared that this achievement was accomplished since various federal agencies also cooperated with the training of these agents.

We trained with them every Thursday and Friday with Customs Border Protection, Border Patrol and the Police department, he expressed. We are working together.

We were three K-9s from the Sheriffs Office, the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association did a something new as we now competed as a team. Brix got the first place, so we had the most points.

karol.garcia@lmtonline.com

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MADRID (AP)  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organization's condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russia's war in Ukraine had created Europes biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

NATO also issued a warning about China, accusing it of bullying its neighbors and forming a strategic partnership with Moscow that poses a challenge to the West.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russias invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATOs open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble the old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy said by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough?

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

The question is, whos next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them, he said.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russia's future plans.

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliances rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the summit would send an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united.

Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead.

At the summit, the leaders published NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a strategic partner. At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATO's borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using "coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation" to extend its reach.

The document also set out NATOs approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China. For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region and NATOs desire to counterbalance China.

China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents, Stoltenberg said.

We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, and Chinas growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of our allies and our partners, he added.

The alliance said, however, that it remained "open to constructive engagement" with Beijing.

NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africas Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by "climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries' accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was absolutely confident Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the gray zone of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATO's collective defense guarantee.

Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible," he said.

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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.

___

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PHOENIX (AP)  Former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination for Arizona governor Tuesday, a move that comes a week before early ballots are mailed out and leaves just two top contenders in the GOP contest.

Salmon was widely seen as trailing former TV news anchor Kari Lake and developer Karrin Taylor Robson. Robson has been spending millions on her campaign in an effort to boost her political standing against Lake, a populist who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Salmon was increasingly seen as a spoiler who could split mainstream Republicans and pull votes from Robson.

Unfortunately, numbers are numbers, and it has become clear to me that the path to a first-place victory is no longer a realistic possibility," Salmon said in a statement. Republican primary voters deserve more than having their votes split on August 2nd, and so I am leaving this race for the same reason that I entered it: Because it is whats best for the people of Arizona.

Primary ballots will be mailed out next Wednesday, and Salmon's name will still appear on them. But he hopes pulling out now means voters will have enough time to learn he's no longer in the race.

Businessman Steve Gaynor announced in April that he was bowing out of the Republican primary because he saw little hope of winning in the crowded field. State Treasurer Kimberly Yee dropped out in January and instead is seeking reelection to her current office. Two other lesser-known Republicans will also be on the ballot.

Robson said Salmon has been a leader in the conservative movement for decades and is Arizona through and through.

I thank him for running an honorable campaign for governor, she said in a statement. "Arizona faces big challenges, and I have no doubt Matt will continue to find ways to serve this state he loves.

Lake also praised Salmon, and called for his supporters to back her campaign.

As Ive said from the beginning  if you love this state, this country and our America First ideals, I welcome you into our movement with open arms, Lake said in a statement.

Term limits bar current Republican Gov. Doug Ducey from running again in 2022. Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez are seeking the Democratic nomination.

Salmon announced his bid for the GOP nomination a year ago, trying a second time to win the governor's race he narrowly lost to Democrat Janet Napolitano nearly two decades ago.

Arizona has historically been a solidly Republican state, despite Napolitano's win in 2002 against Salmon. She squeaked out a 1 percentage point victory after an independent candidate managed to garner nearly 7% of the vote. She won a second term in a 2006 landslide.

That has changed in the past four years, as Democrats won U.S. Senate seats in both 2018 and 2020. Democrats had been seen as having a decent shot at winning the governor's officer again this year, but the flagging economy, increasing focus on border security issues and President Joe Biden's low approval numbers have made their road to the governor's office tougher.

Salmon served in the Arizona Legislature before winning three terms in Congress in the 1990s and leaving office to honor his pledge to serve only three terms. After his loss in the governor's race, he worked as a lobbyist and then served two more terms in Congress from 2013 through 2016. He had been working for Arizona State University when he announced his intent to run again for governor.

Salmon has spent the past year traveling the state on his campaign. He thanked his staff and campaign volunteers.

I want to reiterate my eternal gratitude for all of the Arizonans who have supported me this year, he said. "You are the backbone of this beautiful state, and I am eager to continue working with you in defense of freedom.
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KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces battled Wednesday to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock reverberated from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 in the center of the country two days earlier.

Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement.

Britains defense ministry said Russian forces were making incremental advances in their offensive to capture Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk province under Ukrainian control following the retreat of Ukraine's forces from the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and about half of Donetsk, the two provinces that make up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.

The latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Ukrainians were likely in a fighting withdrawal to seek more defensible positions while draining the Russian forces of manpower and resources.

Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Russia may think time is on its side due to the escalating costs borne by the West and fatigue as the war grows longer. The most likely scenario predicted by American intelligence, Haines said, is a grinding struggle in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall.

The U.S. correctly predicted Russia would invade Ukraine in February, but was wrong in assessing that it would quickly seize Kyiv. Speaking at an event in Washington on Wednesday, Haines said Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively the same political goals that he had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine and push it away from NATO.

We perceive a disconnect between Putins near-term military objectives in this area and his militarys capacity, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military is able to accomplish, Haines said.

Putin also said his goals in Ukraine have not changed since the start of the war. He said they were the liberation of the Donbas, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself. He made no mention of his original stated goals to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

He denied Russia adjusted its strategy after failing to take Kyiv. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the marks that were set for them for a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan, Putin said at a news conference in Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, crews continued to search through the rubble of the shopping mall in Kremenchuk where Ukrainian authorities say 20 people remain missing.

Ukrainian State Emergency Services press officer Svitlana Rybalko told The Associated Press that along with the 18 people killed, investigators found fragments of eight more bodies. It was not immediately clear whether that meant there were more victims. A number of survivors suffered severed limbs.

The police cannot say for sure how many (victims) there are. So we are finding not the bodies but the fragments of bodies," Rybalko said. "Now we are clearing at the very epicenter of the blast. Here, we practically cannot find bodies as such.

Several families stood by what was left of the Amstor shopping center Wednesday morning in hope of finding missing loved ones.

This is pure genocide, local resident Tatiana Chernyshova said while going to lay flowers at the site. Such things cannot happen in the 21st century."

We need to engage everyone to help stop the war, help us fight these scum  these Russian aggressors," Chernyshova said.

Psychologists working at the site with families said they were trying to help people come to terms with their loss.

We are trying to help them release their emotions now, as later it becomes harder and much more painful, said one psychologist, who did not give his name as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

After the attack on the mall, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of becoming a terrorist state. On Wednesday, he reproached NATO for not embracing or equipping his embattled country more fully.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy told NATO leaders meeting in Madrid, speaking by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough? Hasnt our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient?

He asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the NATO leaders they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday dismissed what she claimed was the Ukrainian governments blatant provocation in trying to blame the mall missile strike on Russia's military.

Britains defense ministry said there was a realistic possibility that the mall strike was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

Russian planners highly likely remain willing to accept a high level of collateral damage when they perceive military necessity in striking a target, the ministry said. It is almost certain that Russia will continue to conduct strikes in an effort to interdict the resupplying of Ukrainian front-line forces.

Russias military also is experiencing a shortage of more modern precision strike weapons, which is compounding civilian casualties, the British ministry said.

In southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike on a multi-story apartment building Wednesday in the city of Mykolaiv killed at least four people and injured five, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said. Mykolaiv is a major port and seizing it  as well as Odesa farther west  would be key to Russia's objective of cutting off Ukraine from its Black Sea coast.

Russia's defense ministry said in a statement that the missile strike on Mykolaiv targeted a base for training foreign mercenaries," as well as ammunition depots.

In other developments Wednesday:

 A senior Russian lawmaker warned that Lithuanias refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russias Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation.

The statement by Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russias parliament, followed the Kremlins warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to Kaliningrad. The region borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

 Russias foreign ministry summoned Norways charge daffaires to protest Oslos blocking of a shipment of supplies to a Russian coal-mining town in the Svalbard islands.

Although the Svalbards are Norwegian territory, a 1920 treaty allows all signatory countries the right to exploit its natural resources. Russia operates a coal mine in Barentsburg, a settlement of about 450 people, which relies on shipments from the mainland of food, machinery and other supplies. Norway imposed sanctions on shipments from Russia in April.

 Ukrainian military intelligence says that in the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war 144 Ukrainian troops were released from Russian captivity. Of those released, 95 were involved in defending the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraines devastated southern city of Mariupol before Russian forces captured it weeks ago. Denis Pushilin, the separatist leader in Donetsk, said an equal number of soldiers was released by both sides.

 European Union leaders approved a 600-million euro ($631 million) package to address food security issues brought on by the Ukrainian war in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

 British businessman Richard Branson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and also visited the Hostomel airport outside the city. Zelenskyy said Branson, whose Virgin Group includes an airline, may be interested in rebuilding the airport, which was badly damaged early in the war.

 Britain is imposing sanctions on Russias second-richest man and on a cousin of Putin's. Vladimir Potanin, owner of the Interross conglomerate, has continued to amass wealth while backing Putin, acquiring Rosbank and shares in Tinkoff Bankonith in the period following the invasion of Ukraine, a U.K. government statement said Wednesday.

The statement said Putins cousin, Anna Tsivileva, and her husband, Sergey Tsivilev, have significantly benefited from their relationship with Putin. Tsivileva is president of the JSC Kolmar Group coal mining company, and Tsivilev is governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region.

___

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Frank Griffiths and Sylvia Hui in London, Maria Grazia Murru in Kyiv, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  Two of Congress staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist alternatives to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday, even as the partys voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.

Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller won her primary over fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis just days after she called the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a historic victory for white life during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump. Her spokesperson said she misspoke.

Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican.

Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost in a rare runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell. But his Republican House colleague, Michael Guest, won a runoff race in the state, despite defying Trump and voting to create an independent commission to investigate last years insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago after a declining population cost the state a House seat.

In all, six states held congressional primary elections, primary runoffs or special elections. In addition to testing Trump's national influence, they provided hints of how voters are reacting to the high court's decision on abortion.

Some of the top elections:

BOEBERTS STAYING POWER

Boebert, a first-term firebrand, saw her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado become even more Republican after redistricting. She had little trouble with moderate state Rep. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slammed what he calls Boeberts extremism.

Boebert trumpeted her gun-toting Second Amendment credentials and opposition to COVID-19 restrictions that briefly shuttered her Shooters restaurant.

Long known for controversial statements, Boebert said Sunday, Im tired of this separation of church and state junk thats not in the Constitution.

The phrase doesnt expressly appear in the Constitution, though the First Amendment says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Thomas Jefferson was president when he wrote in an 1802 letter that such phrasing should amount to a wall of separation between church and state.

Boebert referred to Jefferson's writing as a stinking letter.

In Colorados deeply conservative El Paso County, meanwhile, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams for his 5th Congressional District seat. Williams failed to get the phrase Lets Go Brandon, code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his name on the ballot.

Lamborn faces an ongoing House ethics investigation over whether he misused official resources for personal purposes. He is an ardent opponent of abortion and backs the significant U.S. military presence in Colorado Springs.

TWO INCUMBENTS LOSE IN ILLINOIS

Miller bested Davis for the GOP nomination in a sprawling, heavily red district in central Illinois that was redrawn after the states shrinking population cost it a congressional seat.

Miller, first elected in 2020, is no stranger to controversy. She quoted Adolf Hitler shortly after winning her seat, saying during a rally that Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future. She later apologized after Democrats in Illinois called for her resignation. She also voted against certifying Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election and is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

On Saturday night, she made the white life comment as Trump stood behind her at a rally in Mendon, drawing cheers from the crowd. Miller has since said she's not racist, and her spokesperson said she had intended to say the ruling was a victory for the right to life.

Davis was a co-chair of Trumps 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. He had the backing of almost all of the districts 35 county party chairs and vowed to reimplement Trump policies, including walling off the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the state's 6th Congressional District, Casten defeated his fellow Democratic colleague Newman, who was first elected to the House in 2020. She faces an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation over whether she promised federal employment to a political opponent.

Casten is a two-term congressman who flipped a suburban seat in 2018 that Republicans had held for decades.

JESSE JACKSON'S SON WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a crowded field vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.

The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicago's South Side to Kankakee.

In Illinois' open 17th Congressional District, Esther Joy King won the GOP nomination, while Eric Sorensen, a former meteorologist, won the Democratic nomination. They are vying to replace five-term Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, who decided against seeking reelection in the largely rural swath of northwestern Illinois.

In Illinois' heavily Democratic 7th District, longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago beat progressive and gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins on Tuesday  though the margin was far narrower than his commanding primary win over her in 2020.

MISSISSIPPI RUNOFFS: ONE INCUMBENT WINS, ONE LOSSES

One of two Mississippi congressmen facing a rare primary runoff election lost his seat.

Palazzo blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the Biden administration for his defeat to Ezell, the sheriff of a coastal county. But the congressman had also been accused in a 2021 congressional ethics report of abusing his office by misspending campaign funds.

He said that Mississippi voters hired me to fight the woke, liberal agenda and to push back against government overreach, and Ive done that for 12 years.

But Palazzo also added: With COVID and because of what the Biden administration is doing to this country, they took their anger out on me.

Ezell said he won because of connections he forged during more than 40 years in law enforcement. When people call and need something, Ive been accessible to them.

Meanwhile, Guest won a GOP runoff against former Navy fighter pilot Michael Cassidy. Guest will face Democrat Shuwaski Young in November.

NEBRASKA SPECIAL ELECTION OVERLAPS WITH SENTENCING

Former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was sentenced to probation on Tuesday for lying to federal agents just as voters picked a replacement for the rest of his term.

State Republican Rep. Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to succeed Fortenberry, who served nine terms in the Republican-heavy district that includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller, rural communities. Theyll compete again in November to determine who serves a new term, beginning in January.

Fortenberry resigned in March after being convicted of intentionally misleading FBI agents about his knowledge of an illegal, $30,000 campaign contribution from a Nigerian billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.

A judge sentenced him to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and community service.

___

This story was first published on June 29, 2022. It was updated on June 29, 2022 to correct an erroneous report that Republican Rep. Michael Guest had won a third term. He won his GOP runoff and will face a Democrat in November.

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
People seeking abortions before six weeks of pregnancy cant be prosecuted in certain Texas counties based on pre-Roe Texas state laws from the 1920s, a Harris County judge ruled Tuesday.

The judge issued a temporary restraining order barring prosecutors from charging abortion providers and recipients under multiple 1925 laws still on the Texas books that criminalize abortion. The order will allow only abortion providers named in the suit to continue providing care until July 12 when the next hearing in the case is scheduled.

Clinics resuming care include Whole Woman's Health, the Alamo Womens Reproductive Services in San Antonio, Brookside Womens Medical Center and Austin Womens Health Center in Austin, as well as the Houston Womens Clinic and Houston Womens Reproductive Services in Houston.

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton announced Friday he would support local prosecutors immediately pursuing charges based on these antiquated laws minutes after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade Friday, in defiance of the 30-day limitation on enforcement of Texas abortion bans included in a trigger law passed last year.

The language of the temporary restraining order levied Tuesday does not wholly clarify where in Texas the block on prosecutions before 30 days from Friday's decision applies, according to Harris County Civil Attorney Christian Menefee.

Its not entirely clear that it applies to all Texas prosecutors, Menefee said. The courts jurisdiction is limited to the defendants in the case, Menefee explained, meaning the restraining order technically applies only in counties where defendants have prosecutorial authority.

The local prosecutors named as defendants in the suit are the district attorneys for Texas seven most populous counties: Jose Garza, Travis County district attorney; Joe Gonzales, Bexar County DA; Kim Ogg, Harris County DA; John Creuzot, Dallas County DA; Sharon Wilson, Tarrant County DA; Ricardo Rodriguez Jr., Hidalgo County DA; and Greg Wilson, Collin County DA.

[The restraining order] isnt necessarily binding on Texas other counties, said David Levine, professor at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. It would depend on how a Texas court would interpret the relationship between the state attorney general and all of those other county DAs, Levine continued. There are 247 Texas counties whose district attorneys are not named as defendants in the case.

Still, the judges temporary restraining order is an indication of how Texas courts in general may be looking at the validity of prosecutions based on Texas never-repealed abortion bans from 1925: It certainly sends a signal as to how judges are thinking about this throughout the state, said Menefee.

Menefee cautioned that regardless of any temporary reprieve from prosecutions within the 30-day trigger-law window, the legal forefathers of Texas six-week "Heartbeat Bill" abortion ban have been fighting for years to lay the groundwork to prosecute people under old Texas state laws.

The idea is to say that prosecutors can enforce these old laws because Roe v. Wade is no longer good law'," Menefee explained. What the judge said today is that these defendants in this case are restrained from prosecuting folks under these 1920s laws."

I think its a shameful day, when the Republican party and the attorney general are looking back to laws on the books in the 1920s," Menefee said. "We all know what kind of laws were on the books in Texas in the 1920sthey wouldve stopped me from becoming an elected official, wouldve stopped a lot of people from doing a lot of things."

Paxton did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
On a sweltering afternoon in Dallas, Kelly Neidert stood alone on a busy corner near the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She waved a handwritten sign reading "Dr. Lopez is transitioning little kids" as drivers passed, her eyes shielded from the summer sun by colorful 80s-style shades.

Neidert's sign took aim at Dr. Ximena Lopezs work as the leader of UT Southwesterns Genecis Clinic, which focuses on gender-affirming medical care, offering mental health services and hormone treatments for transgender youth.

The clinic won praise from UT Southwestern when it opened in 2015 and Lopez participated in a host of interviews to discuss her teams work with trans youth. However, in recent years, UT Southwestern began to shift away from publicly lauding the clinic and eventually moved to shut it down last November, suggesting Media attention and political and scientific controversy, as well as UT Southwesterns status as a state agency, were considered in the months leading up to these joint decisions, in a statement to the Dallas Morning News.

In response, Dr. Lopez filed a lawsuit to keep Genecis open, scoring two major wins in court during the past several weeks: one that granted her a temporary window for taking on new patients, another that suspended Texas attorney general Ken Paxtons office from getting involved in her case.

Neidert explained that Geneciss resumption of gender affirmation therapiestreatments a vast body of research shows yield marked improvements in transgender peoples long-term mental and emotional healthpushed her to organize last week's protest of Dr. Lopez.

"Thats why were out here: We dont think kids should be getting on hormones, on puberty blockers and all that," said Neidert, the only protester who showed last Wednesday afternoon.

Neidert was weathering the heat as a representative of Protect Texas Kids (PTK), an organization she founded in April that grew out of her far-right and anti-trans activism as a student at the University of North Texas Denton campus. As the leader of UNT's Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) chapter, Neidert engaged in activism that earned her national visibility: notoriety among the left and support from prominent political figures on the far-right.

The group's site paints transgender identity as a myth pushed by "the toxic, indoctrinating agenda of the left," and gender-affirming therapies as "part of the ongoing assault that has been ruthlessly waged against our children's identities, core development, and traditional values." Neidert plans to expand her ideas and her group from a North Texas base into the Greater Houston area beginning in the next few weeks, she said.

PTK will first protest outside of a downtown Houston drag brunch joint on July 10, according to Neidert. She also said she's slated to be a featured speaker at upcoming event with True Texas Project events, another North Texas far-right group that's working to build inroads into Harris County, but its leadership didn't immediately respond to an email confirming her involvement.

Expansion of Neidert's anti-trans activism into Houston comes amid a push by Texas lawmakers to eliminate gender-affirming therapies and cast transgender and LGBTQ people as pedophiles and "groomers," defined by the NSPCC as "when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them." Prominent far-right conservatives such as Marjorie Taylor Greene have echoed Texas leaders with proposed legislation aimed at banning drag performance in front of kids and shutting down gender affirming therapies.

The strength of a Texas Republican politicians stance against gender-affirming care and drag performance "has definitely become a litmus test" for true conservatism, said Andrea Segovia, senior policy and field advisor with the Transgender Education Network of Texas, following the ratification of the Texas GOPs new platform last week.

"It's either you're with us or against us," Segovia said. "That position that they're taking is leading to people's deaths. Them being uncomfortable with who somebody is and playing political games is literally causing people to die."

Neidert, who once described herself as a "Christian Fascist" on Twitter, decried Republicans who don't come out strongly enough against gender affirming therapies and drag performance, dubbing them "capitulationist conservatives." However, in the past week, Neidert's personal Twitter account was suspended after she tweeted, "Let's start rounding up people who participate in pride events." PTK's organizational account was also banned. Her TikTok account at one time had more than 64,000 followers, but was suspended months ago. However PTK's Facebook account remains active, but boasts fewer than 500 followers.

"Obviously that [tweet] was intended to be provocative," Neidert said. Im not calling for law enforcement to just go like round people up because theyre gay or whatever." She later clarified, however, that she and PTK do advocate for criminal charges against drag performers if kids are exposed to their performances. "When its in front of kids... like at these drag shows where they see the kids and interact with them, then yes I do think there should be criminal charges on those people."

Neidert has previously used social media to bolster her reputation as an ultra-conservative firebrand on campus. During her time leading YCT, Neidert became infamous for public displays espousing her far-right beliefs: She shouted through a megaphone advocating for in-person classes during a COVID surge; organized a campus event featuring anti-trans Republican state House candidate Jeff Younger as a speaker; and tweeted that "trans 'women' are men, actually," among other provocations.

The backlash from other students catapulted Neidert and the university into the national media spotlight, including appearances by Neidert on Fox News and Newsmax, and profiles of the then-22-year-old marketing major by Daily Beast and Texas Tribune, by which point she'd branded herself "the most hated conservative college student in [Texas]" in a tweet. Former Proud Boys lawyer Jason Lee Van Dyke voiced his public support and offered to work with Neidert if legal battles arose from her activities on campus. An online petition calling for her expulsion on the grounds that she "perpetuated a hostile environment by encouraging and disseminating transphobic rhetoric" on campus received more than 21,000 signatures.

Neidert said she is now riding the momentum and visibility she gained at UNT to build up PTK's membership numbers. "A lot of DFW people are familiar with my story at UNT, and know who I am, so I had people watching to see what I was going to do when I graduated," Neidert said. "That led to getting support from these people." This support included financial donations to support the group's activities, Neidert said. However, she declined to name any specific financial supporters.

In the lead-up to their planned protest in Houston next month, PTK will target other North Texas clinics that provide trans healthcare, Neidert said. "Well be out here all summer."
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 father of one has spoken of how he no longer feels safe walking the streets of Longford town after being kicked up to 20 times on the ground in front of his terrified 12-year-old son.

Thirty-four-year-old Francis Gavin was set upon by a two women and a man shortly before 2pm on April 28 last while walking along the Ballymahon Street area of town.

The Longford man said the incident unfolded just as he had been in the process of attempting to purchase a number of items for his son ahead of a holiday to Spain a few days later.

It was at that juncture, he said, the alleged suspects pulled up in a silver Ford Focus car before launching a violent and frenzied assault.

Two of them were women and one had a Lucozade bottle in her hand, he said.

The man came out (from the car) swinging boxes and I just told my son to run.

He ran for his life into Eurogiant and the three of them started attacking me (on the street).

"I was kicked around 15 to 20 times on the ground. I remember him (attacker) falling and I think his legs went dead from kicking me."

I genuinely thought I would never see my sons face again.

Francis sustained a number of cuts and bruises as a result of the incident, claiming many of those injuries came while falling to the ground as his alleged assailants unleashed their onslaught in full view of shocked bystanders.

I went out to casualty and the doctor said to me he was disgusted (by the incident).

He said he was sick of what is happening in Longford town.

Francis, who, by his own admission has been before the courts in the past for shoplifting and driving offences, said he believed he was targeted by a faction who firmly believed they were above the law.

This was about bullying and trying to take control, he said.

This gang want to take control of Longford and want it to themselves.

Now fully physically recovered, Francis conceded the episode was one which had left a deep and traumatic mark on his own self confidence, so much so that neither he or his son felt safe walking the streets of Longford town.

My son has not come down to Longford since, he said.

He is terrified and is in Dublin with his mother. I said to him: Are you coming down? All he said back to me was: No I wont daddy, I am too afraid to.

I am very cowardly too. I have never had to watch my back anywhere and now I am going around the town watching my back.

A garda spokesperson confirmed three people, two women aged in their fifties and 20s together with a man in his 30s had been arrested in connection to the incident but had since been released without charge.

A file will now be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as to whether any charges can be brought against the trio.
A Kenagh resident has expressed outrage at the vandalisation of a two century old structure.

The Kenagh lime kiln was recently restored using traditional methods to preserve the heritage of the historic feature.

It was only opened on June 17, Paddy Egan told the Leader, People from all over Ireland attended the opening. The restoration was undertaken by traditional stonemasons from Aughnacliffe, yet here we are speaking about an act of wanton vandalism.

The newly restored lime kiln is located on the popular forest walk to the lime tree avenue. It was restored using traditional lime mix: It a credit to the tradesmen and the council regeneration team who oversaw the work, Paddy said.

The freestanding single-bay lime kiln, was originally built in the 1820. Constructed of coursed limestone rubble it is comprised of a arched front, an former oven aperture, with dressed limestone voussoirs and cut stone lintel.

The Irish Inventory of Architecture highlighted the historic importance of the kiln: The interesting survival of a former lime kiln, probably built in the early-nineteenth century, which is of technical merit. It is well-built using local limestone and is an appealing and unassuming element of the agricultural/industrial and social heritage of County Longford.

The embankment to the rear was built to allow for the easy loading of limestone through an opening in the roof of the kiln. Lime kilns became popular in Ireland during the eighteenth century and were once quite a common feature in the rural landscape.

They were used to burn limestone to produce lime. Lime was used for building as a mortar and a render, or as a fertiliser. Lime was also used for lime-washing buildings, particularly farm buildings, as it was regarded as a cleansing agent at the time. The Kenagh kiln supplied lime for the Mosstown Estate.

Small rural lime kilns, like the Kenagh one, started to go out of common usage during the late nineteenth-century with the advent of industrial-scale lime production facilities and improvements in the transport network, particularly the development of the railways.

Paddy says the damage to the restored kiln is wanton: They took away a ring of stones that made up the chimney. They pulled out stones and pegged litter all around it. After all the work that went into the restoration it is shocking to think people could do this.
Local News, Crime, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island Published: June 29 2022

AG James Comprehensive Lawsuit Alleges 10 Gun Distributors Violated Local, State, and Federal Laws

New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed a landmark lawsuit against multiple gun distributors for fueling the gun violence crisis and endangering New Yorkers . In her nation-leading lawsuit, Attorney General James alleges that 10 gun distributors sold tens of thousands of illegal, unfinished frames and receivers to New Yorkers that were then converted into unserialized, untraceable handguns and assault-style weapons, known as ghost guns. These gun distributors violated several laws, including New Yorks licensing laws, by selling weapons to felons and others without a background check. Attorney General James lawsuit stands out by detailing how these businesses repeatedly undermined the law and flooded New Yorks streets with illegal ghost guns that harmed New Yorkers. For the first time, Attorney General James is invoking a newly enacted Public Nuisance statute to hold these gun distributors responsible. Following the U.S. Supreme Courts decision on New Yorks gun laws, Attorney General James is taking action to protect New Yorkers and combat the gun violence crisis.

The businesses named in Attorney General James lawsuit are among the nations leading gun distributors. They include Brownells, Inc. (Brownells), Blackhawk Manufacturing Group (80 Percent Arms), Salvo Technologies, Inc. (80 P Builder or 80P Freedom Co), G.S. Performance, LLC (Glockstore), Indie Guns, LLC (Indie Guns), Primary Arms, LLC (Primary Arms), Arm or Ally, LLC (Arm or Ally), Rainier Arms, LLC (Rainier Arms), KM Tactical LLC, and Rock Slide USA, LLC (Rock Slide).

While families mourned loved ones lost to senseless gun violence, gun sellers avoided accountability for the illegal and dangerous weapons they sold, said Attorney General James. There should be no more immunity for gun distributors bringing harm and havoc to New York. Todays lawsuit holds 10 gun sellers accountable for fueling the gun violence crisis and endangering New Yorkers. Illegal guns do not belong on our streets or in our communities and we will use every tool necessary to root them out.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today simultaneously filed a lawsuit against five of these gun distributors, Arm or Ally, 80P Builder, Rockslide USA, Rainier Arms, and Indie Guns, in federal court.

We are not going to let gun companies turn New York City into a city of mail-order murder, said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Whether they are hidden in the trunks of cars or packed in a plain brown box, ghost guns are illegal in our city, and we will take every lawful action possible to stop gun retailers from profiting at the expense of the safety of our city. Thats why, this morning, the City of New York filed its own lawsuit against five online gun retailers that are illegally selling and delivering ghost gun components to addresses here in this city. We will not stand by while illegal operators flout the law, endanger our communities, and kill our young people.

An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) linked tens of thousands of shipments to New York addresses to these businesses dating back to 2017. Undercover OAG and New York City investigators were recently able to purchase unfinished frames online from three distributors, who shipped them into New York without serial numbers or a background check. Based on the weight and size of the packages sent to the undercover investigators, OAG has reason to believe tens of thousands of shipments sent by these businesses contain unfinished frames and receivers. Local, state, and federal laws prohibit the sale of unfinished frames and receivers.

New York is grappling with a gun violence public health and safety crisis. A significant part of that crisis is attributable to an influx of homemade, unserialized guns, commonly known as ghost guns, which are created using unfinished frames and receivers.

Unfinished frames and receivers do not have serial numbers and can easily be used to make untraceable guns at home using basic tools. Unfinished receivers hold the upper, lower, and rear portions of a semiautomatic rifle together. Purchasers of unfinished receivers only have to make a few small changes with a common drill press to transform an unfinished receiver into an operational one. Once milled, a receiver may be readily turned into a fully-assembled, illegal assault weapon. Similarly, a purchaser of an unfinished frame can use commonly available tools to finish the frame, which may then be readily assembled into an untraceable handgun. The process can be completed in less than an hour, even by an amateur.

These weapons are just as lethal as any other handgun or rifle but are sold directly to consumers without a background check or any federally-required record of their sale. In many cases, the businesses named in Attorney General James lawsuit sold illegal unfinished frames and receivers to consumers with criminal records or other disqualifying conditions.

In May 2022, an individual with a criminal background, who was legally ineligible to own or operate a firearm, received shipments from Brownells after previously receiving shipments from Glockstore and Primary Arms. That same month, that individual allegedly used a ghost gun in a triple shooting that killed one person and injured two others in the Bronx.

The OAG and New York City Law Departments investigation found that Brownells and two other gun distributors, 80 Percent Arms and KM Tactical, known for their unfinished frames, receivers, and ghost gun kits, delivered orders to an individual living in New York who was a member of a far-right militia-style organization with a history of political violence. NYPD investigators later recovered two unserialized completed guns, 11 high-capacity magazines, four additional unfinished frames and receivers, as well as other gunmaking tools, from where he was staying.

The businesses named in Attorney General James lawsuit acknowledge in their marketing that the unfinished frames and receivers evade public safety measures. In fact, in many instances they use that as a selling point. In clear violation of federal law, 80 Percent Arms writes on its website, This means no RED TAPE including: NO Registering an 80% Lower, NO Transfer fees like a typical firearm, NO FFL Required, Ships right to your door. In addition, Glockstore touts on its website, You can build a completely legal handgun without any government oversight aka interferenceNo fuss, no muss, no registration, no records.

These prohibited products are routinely bought online and shipped to addresses across the city and state. Some are also bought in neighboring states and driven into New York. For example, in November 2021, law enforcement officials seized $16,200 worth of unfinished frames and receivers from an individual who bought the illegal products at a gun show in Pennsylvania and was later apprehended in the Bronx. Law enforcement officials claim that the individual planned to assemble the unfinished frames and receivers into complete, usable firearms and resell them illegally.

Unfinished frames and receivers are unquestionably illegal. Under New Yorks Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act and the Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act, possession or sale of an unfinished frame or receiver is a felony, as is the possession or sale of a ghost gun made from one. These distributors are legally obligated to reasonably ensure that their illegal products do not enter New York.

Ghost guns are proliferating across the nation and are being used in crimes at an exponential rate. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the number of ghost guns recovered at crime scenes nationwide has increased more than elevenfold in just six years, from 1,758 in 2016 to 19,344 in 2021. Throughout New York, including New York Citys five boroughs, the number of assembled ghost guns law enforcement recovered and properly identified, increased from just 44 in 2018 to 641 in 2021  a 1,357% increase. Moreover, as of June 17, 2022, there have been 373 recoveries of assembled ghost guns, putting New York on pace to recover over 800 ghost guns in 2022. The rise in ghost guns coincides with the rise in homicide and suicide rate across the state and nation.

Attorney General James lawsuit demonstrates how these businesses harmful practices evaded laws meant to protect New Yorkers and contributed to the overall gun violence epidemic in the state, including rising suicides, homicides, and domestic violence rates.

Attorney General James brings six claims against the distributors and invokes the Public Nuisance law for the first time. Under the Public Nuisance claim, Attorney General James asserts that these distributors have endangered the safety and health of the public by selling and bringing dangerous and illegal products into New York and by failing to adopt reasonable controls and procedures to prevent their products from falling into improper hands.

Through her lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court, Attorney General James is seeking to ban each business from selling, shipping, distributing, or otherwise supplying unfinished frames or receivers lacking serial numbers to New Yorkers; as well as to obtain restitution and damages; elicit public corrective statements from the businesses regarding their false and misleading statements and omissions; and obtain disgorgement.

In addition, Attorney General James lawsuit seeks to require each business to contribute to an abatement fund to eliminate the public nuisance for which they are responsible. The abatement fund would be used to combat New Yorks gun violence crisis.

New York's public nuisance law is a powerful tool for prosecutors and our communities to hold corporations accountable for irresponsible and reckless behavior, and today's filing shows our attorney general will use these powers against businesses that knowingly flood our streets with deadly, untraceable weapons, said State Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie. We passed this law to put bad actors in the gun industry on notice: You can no longer operate with impunity in our state. I'm proud of Attorney General James for today's filing on behalf of all New Yorkers, and look forward to working with her, Governor Hochul, and my other partners across government to take actions that protect New Yorkers from gun violence.

Uvalde. Buffalo. Sunset Park. New Yorkers are sick to their stomachs from bearing witness to horrific tragedies because of our federal governments failure to properly regulate guns, said State Senator Brad Hoylman. In the federal void, New York is leading the way. Last year, we made ghost guns illegal. They are dangerous, untraceable firearms bought by people looking to evade New Yorks robust background check requirements. Thanks to the leadership of Attorney General James, now the 10 firearm sellers across the state that sold tens of thousands of illegal, unfinished frames and receivers to New Yorkers will be brought to justice. I am proud of the progress we made and are continuing to make throughout New York state to help prevent further gun violence.

With the Supreme Court declaring open season for gun violence in our communities, its more important than ever that the state of New York and our law enforcement have every tool available to stop the senseless tragedy and get dangerous guns off the street, said State Senator Anna M. Kaplan. Attorney General James latest action to get ghost guns out of our community is vital to keeping our families safe, and Im proud to have sponsored the new law thats helping her to stem the flow of untraceable firearms into New York.

As the first lawsuit brought by the Attorney Generals office under New Yorks landmark Gun Industry Liability Law, it sends a crystal clear message to gun distributors and manufacturers across the state, said Assemblymember Patricia Fahy. If you engage in activities that exacerbate the proliferation of illegal weapons and accessories coming into New York, you will be held accountable. As the nation grapples with the scourge of gun violence, I am immensely proud to have sponsored this gun liability legislation last year with Senator Zellnor Myrie targeting these distributors, and commend Attorney General Letitia James for her aggressive action in pursuing this reckless conduct. This lawsuit will reverberate across the country.

As the sponsor of the Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receivers Act banning the sale and possession of ghost guns, I commend the office of Attorney General Letitia James for taking this vital action which will save lives, said Assemblymember Charles D. Lavine. We must continue to do whatever is necessary to stop the flow of untraceable weapons flooding into our communities.

For decades, New Yorkers have paid for the gun industrys reckless, dangerous, and illegal business practices with their lives, while the industry has gotten off scot free, said Nick Suplina, senior vice president of law and policy, Everytown for Gun Safety. But now that we have the tools to hold rogue gun suppliers accountable, those days are drawing to a close. Todays lawsuit from New York state is another example of how New York is combating our gun violence epidemic at its roots. As a New Yorker and as an advocate for gun violence prevention, I want to thank Attorney General James for her leadership.

To end the gun violence epidemic, we must hold accountable the bad actors who arent interested in responsible gun safety and who are willing to risk human lives in order to make a buck, said Daud Mumin, board co-chair, March For Our Lives. Gun sellers and manufacturers fuel the gun violence epidemic with their callous disregard for life, and they arent above the law. Attorney General Letitia James actions to enforce gun safety laws will save lives and were glad that young people and New Yorkers have a partner in her.

This lawsuit is historic and a shining example for states across the country to act immediately and forcefully to address gun trafficking and properly enforce our nations gun laws, said Kris Brown, president, Brady. This action will help stem the supply of deadly, untraceable, and illegal ghost guns that have proliferated across New York and the country. It will save lives and prevent these lethal weapons from fueling violence and crime. Brady applauds Attorney General James for her clear leadership in bringing this suit.

As New Yorkers confront the devastation of gun violence every single day in this state, nefarious gun dealers have been illegally flooding our New York communities with untraceable, unserialized firearm frames and receivers, said Rebecca Fischer, executive director, New Yorkers Gun Violence. For years, the gun industry has been profiting off of New Yorkers lives with zero accountability but now, thanks to New York's exceptional leadership, this state has a strong gun industry liability law. Today, we applaud New York Attorney General James and the city of New York for standing up to the gun lobby and filing this lawsuit to hold dangerous businesses liable for the death, harm, and trauma they have caused to New Yorkers.

The rapid proliferation of ghost guns poses a grave and growing threat to public safety, said David Pucino, deputy chief counsel, Giffords Law Center. These 10 gun distributors have endangered lives and have acted recklessly  and, as this lawsuit shows, illegally. We are grateful to Attorney General James and the New York City Law Department for investigating the tens of thousands of shipments that broke local, state, and federal laws. We stand with the Office of the Attorney General in their lawsuit against these distributors using New York's gun industry liability law. This lawsuit shows that this first-in-the-nation law will be a powerful tool to bring accountability to corrupt and irresponsible companies.
Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island Published: June 29 2022

The Suffolk County Sheriffs Proactive Impaired Driver Reduction Effort (S.P.I.D.R.E) Team arrested a driver who was almost four times over the legal blood alcohol limit for drunk driving.

On 06/29/2022, at approximately 2:20 a.m., Sheriffs Deputies observed Bryan Mora, 25, of Central Islip, NY, driving a vehicle on 5th Avenue in Bay Shore. Mr. Mora was observed failing to maintain his lane of travel by swerving over the white hash marks separating the lanes of travel several times. Deputies stopped the vehicle and Mr. Mora demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests that indicated he was intoxicated. At approximately 2:45 a.m. Mr. Mora was arrested and transported to 100 Center Drive, Riverhead, NY, where he submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .30% BAC.

Mr. Mora had a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated on April 26th, 2022. Due to this prior conviction and the high blood alcohol content, his car was impounded and Mr. Mora was arrested for Felony Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated.

In New York State, a BAC of 0.18 and higher results in charges of Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated. A second offence within 10 years upgrades the charges from a misdemeanor to a class E felony, with a minimum $1,000 fine, up to 4 years in jail, and a minimum 18-month drivers license revocation.

Sheriff Toulon applauds the hard work of the S.P.I.D.R.E Team. As we head into the summer months, our DWI Enforcement Team will be out every night looking for impaired drivers. This particular motorist was so intoxicated he could have killed or seriously injured other drivers or himself. I thank these highly trained Deputies for their vigilance and determination in keeping Suffolk County safe.
(Alliance News) - Consumer good giant Unilever PLC has sold its Ben & Jerry's business in Israel in a move that will allow the ice cream brand to remain available to consumers throughout the country and the West Bank.

Unilever has agreed to offload the division to Avi Zinger, the owner of American Quality Products, which is the current Israel-based licensee of Ben & Jerry's.

The deal will see the ice cream sold under its Hebrew and Arabic names throughout Israel and Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Ben & Jerry's, which is known for its progressive politics, announced last July that it would no longer produce ice cream for Israeli settlements on occupied lands.

It was one of the strongest steps so far by a well-known company against Israel's settlements, which are widely seen by the international community as illegal.

But it had faced calls to reverse the decision.

Unilever said it could not block the decision, due to a purchase agreement made in 2000 that allowed Ben & Jerry's autonomy over its social-justice policies, but that it retained control over financial and operational decisions and "therefore has the right to enter this arrangement".

Unilever said: "The new business arrangement follows a Unilever review of Ben & Jerry's in Israel after the brand and its independent board announced last year its decision to discontinue sales of its ice cream in the West Bank.

"Unilever has used the opportunity of the past year to listen to perspectives on this complex and sensitive matter and believes this is the best outcome for Ben & Jerry's in Israel.

"The review included extensive consultation over several months, including with the Israeli Government."

Some 700,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem and the West Bank  areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

The Palestinians, with wide international backing, claim both areas as parts of a future independent state.

Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and says it is part of its capital, but the annexation is not internationally recognised.

It says the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be resolved in peace talks. The international community overwhelmingly considers both areas occupied territory.

Unilever added: "Unilever rejects completely and repudiates unequivocally any form of discrimination or intolerance.

"Antisemitism has no place in any society.

"We have never expressed any support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement and have no intention of changing that position."

Shares in Unilever were up 0.4% to 3,758.00 pence each on Wednesday afternoon in London.

By Holly Williams, PA Business Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Shares in Goldstone Resources Ltd dropped on Wednesday after trading resumed, as it said that USD350,000 worth of gold was stolen from its Homase site in Ghana.

Goldstone's shares were temporarily suspended from trading on AIM at 8.10 pence each in London on June 10. On Wednesday midday, shares in the Ghana-focused gold producer and developer were down 12% to 7.10p each.

Goldstone said that shares were suspended following an armed robbery at its Homase site. Around USD350,000 worth of gold was stolen, but the company said that the loss is not expected to have a material impact on the financial performance.

Further, Goldstone expects to maintain regular production of gold dore throughout the rest of 2022.

However, the company said that the robbery has caused some short-term disruption to its operations and it is likely that this will continue into the third quarter.

The firm said: "The investigation into the robbery is ongoing and, concurrently, Goldstone is reviewing its security protocols. A new security company has been appointed and additional security measures are being implemented on an urgent basis to enhance protection for the company's operations, assets and personnel moving forward."

By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Orosur Mining Inc - Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company focused on South America - Announces positive assay results from follow-up soil sampling program at La Esfinge prospect at El Pantano, Santa Cruz province, Argentina. Results define a geochemical anomaly over a strike length over 1 kilometre, which is open to both east and west. The work has defined a high-priority exploration target, which Orosur will move forward will after the winter recess (at some point after early September).

"It is early days at El Pantano, but it is highly encouraging to obtain such positive results from what is essentially an untouched grass roots project. We look forward to returning after the winter, but work so far has supported our strategy of carefully selecting attractive earlier stage projects on the best possible terms," says Chief Executive Officer Brad George.

Current stock price: 8.02 pence

12-month change: down 45%

By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Windar Photonics PLC on Wednesday said its shares will be suspended on July 1 as it misses the AIM deadline to publish its 2021 results.

Windar Photonics shares were down 56% at 6.30 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

Meanwhile, the firm said it expected a lower profit for 2021 amid severe supply chain issues. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based light detection and ranging optimisation systems developer said its directors are seeking to finish the audit. It said it will publish its 2021 results as soon as possible.

As a result of the delay, the company will miss the June 30 deadline under AIM Rule 19. Its shares will be temporarily suspended from trading as of 0730 BST on Friday.

Turning to results, Windar expects 2021 revenue to fall 50% compared to 2020, for which it reported a revenue of EUR1.3 million in June last year. This is primarily due to project delays in China, the firm explained. The company expects its pretax loss to narrow in 2021 to EUR1.0 million from EUR1.3 million a year ago due to cost savings implemented in the second half of 2021. At December 31, 2021, the company's cash holdings amounted to EUR40,000. It added that its recognised deferred revenue stood at EUR1.0 million at the end of 2021.

Windar said its current order book for deliveries in 2022 stood at more than EUR4.0 million, of which EUR 2.5 million relates to orders secured from jurisdictions outside of China or already delivered to China.

Looking ahead, the company said the main challenge for delivery of products in 2022 will "continue to be related to the supply and sourcing certain key electronical components".

By Xindi Wei; xindiwei@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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(Alliance News) - Zambeef Products PLC on Wednesday promoted its Chief Financial Officer Faith Mukutu to chief executive, effective from July 1.

Mukutu will succeed Walter Roodt, who has been CEO of the Zambia-based cold chain foods and retail company since January 2020.

Roodt will continue full time with Zambeef focusing on strategic projects and livestock. He will also remain as an executive director of the company.

Mukutu joined the company in September 2019 as CFO.

Zambeef said that Mukutu's appointment "represents the confidence the board has in her ability to steer the business through the new phase of intended expansion."

Earlier this month, Zambeef announced plans for its USD100 million expansion strategy over the next three to five years.

The board has begun the search for a new CFO.

Chair Michael Mundashi said: "The board is confident that Faith's combination of financial aptitude, operational skill, strategic flair and capital markets experience is fundamental to delivering the strategic imperatives the company has embarked on."

Shares in Zambeef were untraded at 8.45 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
A total of 388 new cases of Covid has been confirmed in the Balearics in the past 24 hours taking the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak of the pandemic to 289,572, and an incidence rate to over 370 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for the past two weeks.

However, no new deaths have been reported in the last day, so the death toll remains at 1,424.

According to data from the Balearic Ministry for Health today, Mallorca has registered 186 new cases, Minorca 53, Ibiza 80 and Formentera four. For the rest (65) there is no island or municipality of residence.

The accumulated incidence rate for 14 days stands at 371.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while the positive test rate is 25.34 percent for seven days.

By islands, the one with the highest incidence rate is Formentera, with 529.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Ibiza (458.1), Mallorca (369.5) and Minorca (229.3).



It appears that European countries are seeing a significant increase in Covid cases spurred by highly infectious subvariants of Omicron, raising fears of a new global wave of the disease as immunity declines and the summer travel season gets underway.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned last week that the growth advantage reported for BA.4 and BA.5 suggest that these variants will become dominant throughout the European Union, and probably result in a surge in cases.

Infections are rising in multiple countries, including Portugal, Germany, France, Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Spain, according to the Our World in Data (OWID) project at the University of Oxford, which tracks the pandemic.

New studies have shown that Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have a growth advantage compared with earlier variants and appear to be good at evading the immune system.

In other words, neither previous infections nor vaccines provide particularly strong protection against the subvariants, which is why theyre becoming the dominant strains. BA.4 and BA.5 do not appear to lead to more severe illness, but, as with previous waves, the increase in cases could result in an uptick in hospitalisations and deaths, the ECDC has said.
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.
Venice Beach spotted Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling filming new scenes of Barbie.

The fans saw Margot Robbie and Gosling dressed up in neon clothes and having a fun time at the LA strip.

Robbie and Gosling wore a visor, flashy yellow elbow guards, and knee pads in matching outfits.

Both actors laughed and joked while they roller-skated on the Californian beach.

Between jokes, Margot Robbie almost lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"[The role] comes with a lot of baggage and a lot of nostalgic connections. But that comes with a lot of exciting ways to attack it," Margot Robbie told British Vogue.

Gosling is one of the favorite Hollywood actors. He once said he was not such a good actor, so people adapted the roles to Gosling.

"All my characters are me. I'm not a good enough actor to become a character," Gosling once said.

The new Barbie Movie:

Months ago, Margot Robbie posed as Barbie. The picture generated expectations about the film and the cast.

Barbie movie is hitting the movie theatres on July 21, 2023.

Actress Margot Robbie will star in the live-action film about the iconic doll.

Warner Bros announced the cast and release date for the new film.

Directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written by Noah Baumbach. The Barbie production is underway on the Mattel Films and Warner Bross project.

Both Gerwig and Baumbach worked previously in Lady Bird.

"People generally hear 'Barbie' and think, 'I know what that movie is going to be', and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they're like, 'Oh, well, maybe I don't..." said Robbie to British Voge regarding Greta Gerwig's role.
Study Aims to Enroll 250,000 Maryland Residents to Support Statewide My Healthy Maryland Study to Learn More About How Genes and Other Factors Affect Health

University of Maryland Medicine, the joint enterprise of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the University of Maryland Medical Center, and University of Maryland Medical System, today launched a landmark initiative called My Healthy Maryland Precision Medicine Research. The project aims to enroll 250,000 Maryland residents over the next decade who reflect the diversity of the state and want to play a pivotal role in helping researchers understand how genes and lifestyle affect an individuals health.

ENROLL TODAY: My Healthy Maryland Precision Medicine Research Study >

A particular focus will be on underserved populations who experience significant health disparities, causing more illness and shorter lifespans. The large-scale effort to collect broad sources of health data, including genetic information, will aid researchers in better understanding human genomic variation and its relationship to disease and treatment.

My Healthy Maryland is a pioneering initiative that aims to advance discovery related to health and disease and to accelerate the implementation of these discoveries. medical mysteries, generate knowledge, and accelerate discoveries that can improve the health of Marylanders for generations to come, said study principal investigator Stephen Davis, MBBS, FRCP, FACE, MACP, Theodore E. Woodward Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at UMSOM, and Director, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, and Vice President of Clinical Translational Science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Marylanders reflect a more genetically diverse community compared to the general U.S. population, with nearly one-third of residents identifying as African-American, more than 10 percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino, and 6 percent identifying as Asian. Maryland is also home to a large immigrant population: One in seven Maryland residents was born in another country, with El Salvador, India, China, and Nigeria among the top nations represented in the state. In addition, a significant percentage of state residents live in rural communities, and many live in coastal communities with differing environmental exposures and dietary habits compared to the nation as a whole.

This is an opportunity for the diverse Maryland community to team up with researchers to better understand how our biology, lifestyle, and local environment affect our health, said study co-leader Toni Pollin, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at UMSOM. We also expect it will help us accelerate our understanding of how individuals and their health care providers can use information about genetic variation to predict, prevent, detect, and treat disease.

Study participants will get periodic overall reports on the studys progress, especially research results that may lead to better ways to treat or prevent disease. They will also have the opportunity to enroll in new research studies. In the future, researchers also hope to offer study participants the opportunity to learn about their own genetic variations that may warrant follow-up medical evaluation.

We want to advance discovery related to health and disease and to accelerate implementation of these discoveries into more effective and safe individualized health care, said study co-leader Alan Shuldiner, MD, John L. Whitehurst Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Personalized & Genomic Medicine at UMSOM. This will help us maximize the value of health care delivery in Maryland and beyond.

A major part of the School of Medicines mission involves addressing the unique health needs of the local Maryland community. Our state has a vibrant and genetically diverse population, and we must work to fully understand how genes interact with our environment, especially for those living in economically disadvantaged communities , said Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, President and CEO, University of Maryland Medical System, added: As physicians, scientists and researchers, we are incredibly excited about the hope and promise that My Healthy Maryland offers. This is an example of academic medicine at its finest, bringing together exploration, research, and innovation to benefit the health of tens of thousands of Marylanders.

The University of Maryland Medicine partnered with digital health research company Vibrent Health to host the study on Vibrent Healths Digital Health Research Platform. This technology platform is designed to recruit and engage diverse research participants and intake data from surveys, genomics, biosamples, electronic health records, wearables, and other sources. The platform enables researchers to gain a well-rounded picture of the health of research participants.

We are thrilled to be a partner with University of Maryland Medicine to bring the latest data-driven digital health research technology to My Healthy Maryland, said Praduman PJ Jain, CEO and founder of Vibrent Health. We are dedicated to working with research institutions like UMSOM to make digital health research accessible to people from diverse communities who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical research.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 46 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.3 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has nearly $600 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (University of Maryland Medicine) has an annual budget of over $6 billion and an economic impact of nearly $20 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the Association of American Medical Colleges profile) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 start-up companies. In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Medical Schools, published in 2021, the UM School of Medicine is ranked #9 among the 92 public medical schools in the U.S., and in the top 15 percent (#27) of all 192 public and private U.S. medical schools. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is a university-based regional health care system focused on serving the health care needs of Maryland, bringing innovation, discovery and research to the care we provide and educating the state's future physician and health care professionals through our partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore professional schools (Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dentistry) in Baltimore. As one of the largest private employers in the State, the health system's more than 29,500 employees and 4,000 affiliated physicians provide primary and specialty care in more than 150 locations, including 12 hospitals and 9 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers. The UMMS flagship academic campus, the University of Maryland Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, is recognized regionally and nationally for excellence and innovation in specialized care. Our acute care and specialty rehabilitation hospitals serve urban, suburban and rural communities and are located in 13 counties across the State. For more information, visit www.umms.org.
Movies are fictionalized accounts of stories floating in the world. While some are complete works of fiction, some movies are heavily inspired from real-life incidents. While we love a good biopic where we get to know the reality of the personality, it is intriguing when you find out that a horror movie was inspired by something that happened in real life. Here are 4 Hindi horror thrillers which were based on real incidents:



1. Ragini MMS

The very controversial movie surrounding the story of a couple who go for a weekend getaway but end up being engulfed in a life altering paranormal situation was inspired by the real life experience of a Delhi girl named Deepika. As per reports, she even had a contract with Balaji Telefilms before her story was converted into a movie.

2. Trip To Bhangarh

The story, as the name suggests, is about a group of friends who plan a trip to the scariest place in India, Bhangarh and on returning, experience unnatural experiences. Real life folklore legend claims the land is cursed and no one is advised to go or stay in that place. The movie was inspired by several real life incidents of people who had experienced occurrences after visiting Bhangarh.

3. Mahal

This iconic horror thriller from 1949 was loosely based on the real life experience of actor Ashok Kumar. He claimed that he was once shooting at a hill station when he saw the corpse of a woman walking around. When he reported the incident to the Police, he found out that 14 years ago, a woman was found dead at that spot. The movie also follows a man who moves into a mansion and then is haunted by the ghosts of his previous life.

4. Stree

This superhit horror satire is loosely based on the story of Naale Ba of Karnataka. Legend has it that a witch would often knock doors at night and kill people. Her voice would be disguised as those of the persons family or friends and thus people would be fooled into opening the door for her.
Ever since Hollywood actor Johnny Depp gained a legal victory against ex-wife Amber Heard in a defamation suit filed against her, there have been all sorts of rumors going around on social media about what the actor will be doing next.

 Disney

And one such rumor that has gained a lot of attention from the media and fans alike is that of Depp returning to the big screens in his most iconic character - Captain Jack Sparrow.



Disney had dropped Johnny Depp from the popular Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise soon after Amber Heard had made allegations against the actor for being a wife-beater and abusive in his relationship.

Although the claims could never be verified, Depp instantly had a bone to pick with Disney that decided not to wait for a verdict or the truth before believing in the rumors and ending a long standing partnership they had with the actor. In fact, even during the infamous Depp vs Heard trial, Depp claimed how even if he was offered $300 million (Rs 2370 crore) and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get him to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film.

 Twitter

Looks like his claim was indeed true, after Johnny Depps representative has officially squashed all rumors of the actor even thinking of coming back to the series for the alleged $301 million, while speaking to NBC News.



Guess, that bridge is burnt forever!
When we think of billionaire men, we conjure images of men stepping out of five-star hotels in suits and getting into fancy chauffeur-driven cars. From their clothes and accessories to their cars, everything belongs to high-end brands. Such men hold immense power and this is often conveyed in their interactions with people.

However, Ratan Tata is different.

 BCCL

His wardrobe is similar to what your dad wears to the office. He drives his own car, insists on not getting special treatment in public and bears a humble countenance at all times. His humility is not just reserved for the camera and goes beyond just maintaining a good public image.



Ratan Tata has a heart of gold and it shows.

Here are five reasons why he is an inspiration to all:

1. He is a risk taker

 BCCL

Ratan Tata tapped into the pulse of Indian masses to understand their needs and daily lives. He realized that many Indian middle class families dream of buying their own car but often dont have the means to do so. Hence, he came up with Tata Nano, the one lakh car, in 2009. Within one week of its launch, the companys website crashed due to high interest and publicity.



Though the car is no longer under production, he fulfilled the dreams of many families of having their own car without burning their pockets.

2. He is an empath

A lot has been said about the tragedy of 26/11. The memory of the carnage and loss of life, is still painful. We won't forget the needless suffering caused across the city. But we remain proud of the spirit and the sense of unity of Mumbai. We can be hurt, but not knocked out. pic.twitter.com/8xghKMYG4f  Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) November 26, 2019

In the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks, Ratan Tata set up the Taj public Service Welfate Trust to help the victims and their families get rehabilitated. He visited familes of 80 Taj employees who were either killed or injured during the terrorist attacks. Moreover, since the Taj hotel fell under Tata Group, he played a significant role in re-building it and retaining its historical significance for the people of Mumbai.

3. He donates generously to noble causes

Tata Fellows presented their research to MIT president Reif and Mr. Ratan Tata in Mumbai https://t.co/t2aCImTJjh pic.twitter.com/6AbpaclkhN  MIT Tata Center (@TataCenterMIT) March 1, 2016

Ratan Tata donated $50 million to his alma mater, Harvard Business School for building an executive center. MITs Tata Centre of Technology and Design was also formed by him. He made IIT Bombay its highest donation ever by donating Rs 95 crore to form the Tata Centre for Technology and Design, similar to MIT, that would develop engineering and design solutions for those with limited resources. He also donated Rs 1500 crore towards Indias fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

The list of Ratan Tatas donations are endless, but he has never harped on his generosity.

4. For Ratan Tata, no job is too small or big

@RNTata2000

Sir see attached your pics of 1973 visit to Akola at Vidyarthi Brothers Nelco Radio distributor. pic.twitter.com/502Xd10I3K  VED PRAKASH (@admvkh) February 12, 2022

Ratan Tata started his journey at the Tata Group as an apprentice on the shop floor of the Jamshedpur plant. He built his career from the ground up, working in different companies within the Tata Group and eventually became the director of National Radio and Electronics (NELCO). It took him nine years to move from an apprentice to a director, however he never shied away from working hard and these years of struggle have shaped him into the man he is today.

Interestingly, Ratan Tatas career didnt start with the Tata Group. His first job was at IBM, but JRD Tata was disappointed that on returning from his university in the US, he didnt join Tata. He asked Ratan Tata for a resume, which he typed on a typewriter in the IBM office and the rest is history.

5. He is a big supporter and lover of his furry friends

Its no secret that Ratan Tata loves dogs. One of his best friends is Goa, a dog who rides the elevator with him to his office every morning and sits with him through all his meetings. Tata Sons' global HQ at Bombay House is home to several strays who are looked after by the group. Ratan Tata also found his assistant through their mutual love of dogs.

Shantanu Naidu was deeply impacted by the death of a stray dog in a car accident in Mumbai. He realised that most of these accidents happened because the driver couldnt see the dog during dark hours. As a solution, he created dog collars with reflectors to alert the drivers of dogs standing on roads at night.

Impressed by his idea and willingness to help dogs, Ratan Tata funded his project, Moto Paws, and hired Naidu as an assistant.

Ratan Tata breaks the mold of a popular businessman who uses his wealth to feed his vanity and bolster his power. Hes a man who lives for others and has worked endlessly to provide for those who have limited resources. May his story inspire everyone to make the world a better place to be in.
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Nearly two years after buying the Beaverton Tavern, Dennis Martin, Robin Smith-Martin and three of their four children have restored it and officially reopened it on Tuesday.

Bob and Connie Booth, of Sanford, were at the BT, as it is affectionately known, shortly after it opened at 4 p.m. Both anticipated the tavern's reopening. The revitalized business exceeded the Booth's expectations.

The food is fantastic  even better, said Booth, formerly of Beaverton and now a Sanford resident for 14 years. The renovations are nothing short of marvelous.

They both ordered the wet burrito, which was famous during the restaurants last reign. It continued to live up to its legacy.

Well be back, Booth said.

In summer 2020, the restaurant's previous owners were forced to close the BT. Smith-Martin, who also owns Smith Associates CPAs four locations, was making plans to buy it. Then the property went into foreclosure for $24,000 owed in back taxes.

The City of Beaverton stepped in and purchased the building on behalf of the Beaverton Downtown Development Authority. The DDA later sold it to Smith-Martin and her family for the back tax price, with the stipulation that it remain a restaurant.

From the beginning, Smith-Martin says all she wanted was to return the BT to its heyday  she noted it is a well-known establishment that helped put Beaverton on the map.

Taylor Eaton, a daughter of Martin and Smith-Martin, said customers seemed satisfied with the remodel. The owners did two soft opening dates leading up to Tuesday's reopening.

The soft openings were helpful," Eaton said. Weve got a lot of positive feedback. Weve got a lot of community support behind us."

Readying the restaurant for its reopening took longer than the owners first expected, Smith-Martin said. She said they had to gut the structure, yet they kept some items from the former business, such as some of the wood and part of the old tin roof. The kitchen, plumbing, electrical work and heating are all new. They also expanded the bar.

Delays in getting equipment and supplies also provided a challenge. The owners are still awaiting the delivery of a pizza oven.

The tavern is offering a limited menu due to a shortage in some food items, but they have kept all the Mexican entrees on the menu.

Because of the delays, the limited menu and an all-new staff, Smith-Martin asks patrons to be patient.

We are extremely happy this day is finally here, Smith-Martin said.

Jeanne Brunet and Tim Peterson, both of Beaverton, also were eager to visit the tavern. Peterson said they waited for a long time for this.

We are excited, Brunet added.

The opening came at a great time for Peterson because his cousins are traveling from Scotland next week and he didnt know where he would take them to eat. Now, he does.

Peterson remembers coming into the BT in the 1950s as a small child with his dad and grandfather. He doesnt remember what it was called then, but he remembers it being a bar and he would drink an orange pop. Peterson said the town lost a piece of itself when the restaurant closed, and now its come back better than ever.

This will be a jump (in business) for the town, Peterson said. This will definitely be a draw.

Some will notice a familiar face in kitchen manager Lori Grove, who worked at the BT years ago. New to the community and serving as bar manager is Kara Kohlhoff.

The staff is still finalizing its schedule, but for now, Beaverton Tavern opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at noon on Sunday.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Carbon monoxide poisoning killed three U.S. tourists found dead at a resort in the Bahamas in May, police announced Tuesday.

Authorities did not provide further details, saying the deaths were still under investigation.

The victims had been identified as Michael Phillips, 68, and Robbie Phillips, 65, from Tennessee; and Vincent Chiarella, 64, from Florida.

Chiarellas wife, Donnis Chiarella, 65, was found alive and airlifted to New Providence for medical treatment, then transferred to a hospital in Florida. Her condition was not immediately known.

The couples were staying in separate villas next to each other in the same building at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on the island of Exuma. It was not clear if the villas had carbon monoxide detectors and if they did, whether they were working.

Police have said that all four tourists went to a doctor the night before their bodies were discovered and had complained of feeling ill.

In a statement issued a month ago, Sandals said the deaths were in no way linked to the resorts air conditioning system, food and beverage service, landscaping services or foul play.

It was not clear what was the source of carbon monoxide that killed the tourists. A Sandals spokeswoman referred all questions to police, while Bahamian police spokesman Audley Peters said he was not able to provide the information at this time and did not respond to further questions.

Sandals said that carbon monoxide detectors have since been installed in all guest rooms at Sandals Emerald Bay, and will be installed in all guest rooms elsewhere.

We have taken additional measures such as engaging environmental safety experts for a comprehensive review of all systems across the resort, the company said.

The deaths come seven years after a Delaware family became seriously ill at a resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. authorities determined that methyl bromide, a highly toxic pesticide banned for indoor residential use in 1984, was to blame and had been used at that resort several times.
JERUSALEM (AP)  A new agreement in Israel will put Ben & Jerry's ice cream back on shelves in annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank despite the ice cream maker's protest of Israeli policies, according to Unilever, the company that owns the brand.

The Vermont company, which has long backed liberal causes, said it does not agree with the decision, and it's unclear if the product  which would only be sold with Hebrew and Arabic labeling  would have the same appeal to customers.

Israel hailed the move as a victory in its ongoing campaign against the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. BDS aims to bring economic pressure to bear on Israel over its military occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state.

Unilever, which acquired Ben & Jerrys in 2000 but distanced itself from the ice cream maker's decision last year to halt sales in the territories, said Wednesday that it had sold its business interest in Israel to a local company that would sell Ben & Jerry's ice cream under its Hebrew and Arabic name throughout Israel and the West Bank.

When Ben & Jerry's was sold, the companies agreed that the ice cream maker's independent board would be free to pursue its social mission, including longstanding support for liberal causes, including racial justice, climate action, LGBTQ rights and campaign finance reform.

But Unilever would have the final word on financial and operational decisions.

Unilever said it has used the opportunity of the past year to listen to perspectives on this complex and sensitive matter and believes this is the best outcome for Ben & Jerrys in Israel.

In its statement, Unilever reiterated that it does not support the BDS movement. It said it was very proud of its business in Israel, where it employs around 2,000 people and has four manufacturing plants.

Unilever sold the business to Avi Zinger, the owner of Israel-based American Quality Products Ltd, who had sued Unilever and Ben & Jerry's in March in a U.S. federal court over the termination of their business relationship, saying it violated U.S. and Israeli law.

Zinger's legal team said the decision by Unilever was part of a settlement. He thanked Unilever for resolving the matter and for the strong and principled stand it has taken against BDS. There is no place for discrimination in the commercial sale of ice cream, Zinger said.

Ben & Jerry's said that its parent company had taken the decision.

We do not agree with it, the ice cream maker said on its Twitter account, adding that it would no longer profit from sales of its products in Israel.

We continue to believe it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerrys values for our ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," it added.

Omar Shakir, the director of Human Rights Watch for Israel and the Palestinian territories, said Unilever sought to undermine Ben & Jerrys principled decision to avoid complicity in Israels violations of Palestinian rights, which his organization says amount to apartheid, an allegation Israel adamantly rejects.

It wont succeed: Ben & Jerrys wont be doing business in illegal settlements. What comes next may look and taste similar, but, without Ben & Jerrys recognized social justice values, its just a pint of ice cream.

Israel hailed the decision and thanked governors and other elected officials in the United States and elsewhere for supporting its campaign against BDS. It said Unilever consulted its Foreign Ministry throughout the process.

Antisemitism will not defeat us, not even when it comes to ice-cream," Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said. We will fight delegitimization and the BDS campaign in every arena, whether in the public square, in the economic sphere or in the moral realm.

BDS, an umbrella group supported by virtually all of Palestinian civil society, presents itself as a non-violent protest movement modeled on the boycott campaign against apartheid South Africa. It does not adopt an official position on how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved, and it officially rejects antisemitism.

Israel views BDS as an assault on its very legitimacy, in part because of extreme views held by some of its supporters. Israel also points to the group's support for a right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees  which would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish-majority state  and BDS leaders' refusal to endorse a two-state solution to the conflict.

Ben & Jerry's decision was not a full boycott, and appeared to be aimed at Israel's settlement enterprise. Some 700,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed and considers part of its capital. Israel captured both territories in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want them to be part of their future state.

Most of the international community views the settlements as a violation of international law. The Palestinians consider them the main obstacle to peace because they absorb and divide up the land on which a future Palestinian state would be established. Every Israeli government has expanded settlements, including during the height of the peace process in the 1990s.
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Connecticut lobster roll lovers' preferences may be summed up in two words emblazoned on a T-shirt: "NO MAYO."

Employees at Liv's Shack in Old Saybrook and Liv's Dockside in Clinton wear black T-shirts with the sentiment, designed with a graphic of a lobster and a stick of butter. The apparel reflects the restaurants' position that butter is best when it comes to lobster rolls, but the idea initially came about as Robert Marcarelli and other Liv's employees were serving the seafood sandwiches at farmers' markets.

Marcarelli, the operations director for the Liv's group of restaurants, found himself repeating "no mayo" frequently as customers asked about the rolls' preparation. When Liv's then signed on to vend at the Durham Fair, he had the idea to make the a T-shirt, so he didn't need to answer the same question "for four days, 12 hours a day," he said, laughing.

The cold-with-mayonnaise lobster roll style is more common in Maine and other New England states, but in Connecticut, butter is king  in fact, the Nutmeg State said to be the birthplace of the hot lobster roll.

According to local lore, the buttery delicacy was apparently first served in the 1920s at the former Perry's restaurant in Milford. In 2010, Robert Gregory, the town's former economic development director, told the Connecticut Post that in all those years, no one contested the claim.

Like Liv's, other shoreline lobster roll destinations like Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale in Madison and Westbrook, Lobster Shack in East Haven and Lobster Landing in Clinton stick to butter-only recipes.

Lisa Nichols / Hearst CT Media

"We serve the hot buttered Connecticut-style roll for no other reason than it just being simply delicious," Lobster Landing's Rachel Steponkus and Angela Morander recently told Delish. "With the cold ones, you can add more fillers, but with the hot ones, its simply lobster, lemon, and butter on a rollthats it."

However, a quick survey of about 20 popular Connecticut lobster roll spots' menus found the butter/mayo factor evenly split.

Some Connecticut lobster heavyweights make room for a cold version on the menu, including Flanders Fish Market in East Lyme and Captain Scott's Lobster Dock in New London. Ford's Lobster in Noank is famous for its "bisque bomb" (half a pound of buttered lobster in a bread bowl, topped with creamy lobster bisque), but the restaurant also offers a cold lobster roll with mayonnaise and celery.

Lisa Nichols

There's even a lobster salad roll on the menu at nationally-renowned Abbott's Lobster in the Rough, Ford's Noank neighbor, though its acclaimed hot lobster rolls come in three different sizes. Its sibling restaurant Abbott's Outpost in Mystic also offers both versions, along with other unique lobster dishes like crepes, tacos and dip with bacon and beer cheese.

When Matt Storch opened Match Restaurant in South Norwalk, he put a hot buttered lobster roll on the menu as an ode to Abbott's  just warm buttered lobster on a round, hollowed-out brioche roll, a nod to Abbott's bread choice of hamburger bun.

"I am a Connecticut purist, which is for me just lobster and butter. That's my personal preference," he said. "I think canned tuna fish deserves mayonnaise. I don't think $10.50 a pound  or whatever it is these days  fresh lobsters, that you have to work so hard to get the meat out, deserve that sort of treatment."

Thomas McGovern / Courtesy of Match Burger Lobster

But when he opened Match Burger Lobster in Westport in 2017, he added a chilled lobster roll to the menu, figuring he'd have some travelers coming to the restaurant who might want that version. He wouldn't settle for commercial mayo brands, though, making his own condiment with a touch of citrusy yuzu.

"To me, that was the purest and cleanest way I could deliver a mayonnaise-filled lobster roll," he said. Still, he says the hot buttered version makes up about 93 percent of his lobster roll sales in Westport.

Oyster Club in Mystic has typically served a hot buttered lobster roll since its debut in 2011, but this summer, its seasonal Treehouse menu, served on its rooftop deck, offers a bao bun with chilled lobster salad, aji amarillo, tarragon, chive and shallot furikake.

The menu offerings are "inspired by staying cool in the summer heat, featuring chilled, raw or gently cooked dishes," according to the Treehouse website, with raw bar items, crudos, cold salads, gazpacho and other cold seafood buns and maki rolls.

Catherine Dzilenski / Idlewild Photo Co.

Oyster Club owner Dan Meiser is "a butter guy, all the way, for sure," he said by text. "I love our chilled roll, but our hot buttered is my fave."

Then there's LobsterCraft, which got its start as a Fairfield County food truck a decade ago and has expanded to brick-and-mortar locations in Fairfield, Greenwich, West Hartford, Block Island and Sarasota, Fla.

"Captain Mike" Harden, a former Coast Guard captain and licensed lobster fisherman, offers a menu fairly daring for the state that popularized the no-frills version: a "Heat Wave" roll with spicy serrano and habanero pepper-infused butter, a lobster BLT roll, a surf-and-turf roll with lobster and flank steak, a "California" version with wasabi soy sauce, cucumber and avocado. The Dirty Maynard is LobsterCrafts take on cold Maine-style lobster salad, with mayonnaise, onions, celery and carrots.

Despite the creative flavor profiles, the Coastal Roll, LobsterCraft's flagship hot buttered roll, is still the best-seller by "six to one," Harden told Hearst Connecticut in October.

Leeanne Griffin

Though Liv's stands by its "no mayo" stance, Marcarelli said the Shack and Dockside will receive occasional requests for it. The question is more common at the Shack in Old Saybrook, which is within walking distance of Saybrook Point Resort & Marina and attracts a lot of travelers from outside Connecticut, he said.

"We'll do it for you," he said. "We just do a very minimal mayonnaise. We don't add celery, or any sort of fillers. We don't even stock that sort of thing. We believe in keeping it as pure as possible."
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A 32-year-old woman was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault as abortion protesters spent about 90 minutes inside the lobby of the South Carolina Statehouse during Tuesday's special session on the state budget, authorities said.

The woman was seen on videos on social media yelling at police and putting her hands on an officer. She faces up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail if convicted of third-degree assault and battery, according to police.
With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that collect personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use those data troves against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies.

History has repeatedly demonstrated that whenever people's personal data is tracked and stored, there's always a risk that it could be misused or abused. With the Supreme Court's Friday overruling of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, collected location data, text messages, search histories, emails and seemingly innocuous period and ovulation-tracking apps could be used to prosecute people who seek an abortion  or medical care for a miscarriage  as well as those who assist them.

In the digital age, this decision opens the door to law enforcement and private bounty hunters seeking vast amounts of private data from ordinary Americans, said Alexandra Reeve Givens, the president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based digital rights nonprofit.

IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING

Until this past May, anyone could buy a weekly trove of data on clients at more than 600 Planned Parenthood sites around the country for as little as $160, according to a recent Vice investigation. The files included approximate patient addresses  derived from where their cellphones sleep at night  income brackets, time spent at the clinic, and the top places people visited before and afterward.

Its all possible because federal law  specifically, HIPAA, the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  protects the privacy of medical files at your doctors office, but not any information that third-party apps or tech companies collect about you. This is also true if an app that collects your data shares it with a third party that might abuse it.

In 2017, a Black woman in Mississippi named Latice Fisher was charged with second-degree murder after she sought medical care for a pregnancy loss.

While receiving care from medical staff, she was also immediately treated with suspicion of committing a crime," civil rights attorney and Ford Foundation fellow Cynthia Conti-Cook wrote in her 2020 paper, Surveilling the Digital Abortion Diary. Fisher's "statements to nurses, the medical records, and the autopsy records of her fetus were turned over to the local police to investigate whether she intentionally killed her fetus, she wrote.

Fisher was indicted on a second-degree murder charge in 2018; conviction could have led to life in prison. The murder charge was later dismissed. Evidence against her, though included her online search history, which included queries on how to induce a miscarriage and how to buy abortion pills online.

"Her digital data gave prosecutors a window into (her) soul to substantiate their general theory that she did not want the fetus to survive, Conti-Cook wrote.

Fisher is not alone. In 2019, prosecutors presented a young Ohio mothers browsing history during a trial in which she stood accused of killing and burying her newborn baby. Defense attorneys for Brooke Skylar Richardson, who was ultimately acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges, said the baby was stillborn.

But prosecutors argued shed killed her daughter, pointing in part to Richardsons internet search history, which included a query for how to get rid of a baby. She was later acquitted.

INDUSTRY RESPONSE

Technology companies have by and large tried to sidestep the issue of abortion where their users are concerned. They haven't said how they might cooperate with law enforcement or government agencies trying to prosecute people seeking an abortion where it is illegal  or who are helping someone do so.

Last week, four Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate Apple and Google for allegedly deceiving millions of mobile phone users by enabling the collection and sale of their personal data to third parties.

Individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare will become particularly vulnerable to privacy harms, including through the collection and sharing of their location data, the lawmakers said in the letter. Data brokers are already selling, licensing and sharing the location information of people that visit abortion providers to anyone with a credit card.

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Governments and law enforcement can subpoena companies for data on their users. Generally, Big Tech policies suggest the companies will comply with abortion-related data requests unless they see them as overly broad. Meta, for instance, pointed to its online transparency report, which says we comply with government requests for user information only where we have a good-faith belief that the law requires us to do so.

Online rights advocates say that's not enough.

In this new environment, tech companies must step up and play a crucial role in protecting womens digital privacy and access to online information, said Givens of the Center for Democracy and Technology. For instance, they could strengthen and expand the use of privacy-protecting encryption; limit the collection, sharing and sale of information that can reveal pregnancy status; and refrain from using artificial intelligence tools that could also infer which users are likely to be pregnant.

WHAT ABOUT PERIOD APPS?

After Friday's Supreme Court ruling, some period-tracking apps tried to assure users that their data was safe. But it helps to read the fine print of the apps' privacy policies.

Flo Health, the company behind a widely-used period tracking app, tweeted Friday that it would soon launch an Anonymous Mode intended to remove personal identity from user accounts and pledged not to sell personal data of its users.

Clue, which also has a period tracking app, said it keeps users health data  particularly related to pregnancies, pregnancy loss or abortion  private and safe with data encryption. It also said it uses auditing software for regulatory compliance and removes user identities before their data is analyzed by the scientific researchers the company works with.

At the same time, the company acknowledged that it employs some carefully selected service providers to process data on our behalf. For those purposes, it said, we share as little data as possible in the safest way possible. But Clue offered no further details.

BURDEN ON THE USER

Unless all of your data is securely encrypted, theres always a chance that someone, somewhere can access it. So abortion rights activists suggest that people in states where abortion is outlawed should limit the creation of such data in the first place.

For instance, they urge turning off phone location services  or just leaving your phone at home  when seeking reproductive health care. To be safe, they say, it's good to read the privacy policies of any health apps in use.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation suggests using more privacy-conscious web browsers such as Brave, Firefox and DuckDuckGo  but also recommends double-checking their privacy settings.

There are also ways to turn off ad identifiers on both Apple and Android phones that stop advertisers from being able to track you. This is generally a good idea in any case. Apple will ask you if you want to be tracked each time you download a new app. For apps you already have, the tracking can be turned off manually.

___

Associated Press Writers Amanda Seitz and Marcy Gordon contributed to this story.
NEW HAVEN  Thirteen Connecticut residents  most of whom are from the Hartford area  and three others were charged earlier this month with gun possession and drug distribution offenses after law enforcement found three kilograms of heroin and 700 grams of fentanyl, according to a federal indictment.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in an announcement Tuesday that the drug distribution was gang-related.

Investigators had been monitoring the group at least since February, according to court documents.

The indictment alleges Luis Feliciano, also known as Louminaty, 38, of East Hartford and several others distributed fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack to customers and other distributors in the Hartford area. The group also sold these drugs to people in Bangor, Maine, and Schenectady, N.Y., according to Averys office.

On April 13, law enforcement raided Felicianos residence in East Hartford and an apartment in Hartford he used to store drugs. In the homes, police discovered more than three kilograms of heroin, about 700 grams of fentanyl, quantities of crack and powder cocaine and 40 rounds of ammunition, Averys office said.

Feliciano was arrested that day. The 15 others in the indictment have either been detained in state custody or were arrested after a federal grand jury in New Haven returned the indictment earlier this month, according to Averys office.

Below are the people charged in the indictment:

Luis Feliciano, aka Louminaty, 38, of East Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances; possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin; possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and cocaine; and unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon.

Jose Tirado, aka Joselito and Leet, 41, of Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances; seven counts of possession with intent to distribution, and distribution, of fentanyl; and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Carl Jones, aka M.O.B., 41, of Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances; two counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution, of fentanyl; possession with intent to distribute, and distribution, of crack cocaine; and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Luis Robles, aka Lou, 25, of Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances; possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine base (crack); and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Roberto Diaz, aka Dragon Eyes, 52, of West Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances.

Milton Rosario, aka Little, 39, of Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances.

Angel Delgado, 58, of Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.

Martin Maldonado, 33, of Hartford, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances.

Jeremy Ozuna, 27, of New Jersey, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances.

Robert Valle, 58, of Schenectady, N.Y., was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances.

Marsha Watson, 33, of Bangor, Maine, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances.

Devin Texira, aka LV, 25, of Hartford, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Joshua Rodriguez, 31, of Hartford was charged with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution, of fentanyl.

Joel Deleon, Jr., aka Psycho, 41, of Hartford, was charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Heriberto Mendez, aka Big Ed, 43, of Hartford, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Christopher Gilliard, aka CJ and Gilly, 34, of Hartford, was charged with three counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution, of fentanyl.
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HONG KONG (AP)  Hong Kong authorities, citing security reasons, have barred more than 13 journalists from covering events this week marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kongs return to China, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association and media reports.

The journalists represent at least seven media outlets, including international news agencies Reuters and Agence France-Presse and several others from Hong Kong, the association said in a statement posted online late Tuesday.

The authorities have made ad hoc and narrow interview arrangements at this important juncture and have put forth vague grounds for refusal, seriously undermining the freedom of the press in Hong Kong, the statement said. It said at least 10 journalists have been barred.

The Hong Kong Economic Journal said at least three other journalists from local news outlets were informed Wednesday that their applications to cover the July 1 events were rejected.

Hong Kong police have confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the city for the anniversary of the former British colonys return to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997. Xis visit will be his first trip outside of mainland China since the coronavirus pandemic took hold about 2 1/2 years ago. Police in Hong Kong, a special semi-autonomous region of China, have announced a raft of security measures, including road closures and a no-fly zone.

Strict requirements have been set for those attending the events. Journalists must have daily COVID-19 nucleic acid tests starting last Sunday and stay in a quarantine hotel from Wednesday.

Despite receiving initial approvals that included instructions for checking in to the quarantine hotel, some journalists received rejection notices on Wednesday while on their way to the hotel, while others were informed that they were barred from the events upon arrival, the Hong Kong Economic Journal said.

Authorities had invited media outlets to submit up to 20 applications to cover the events  which include a flag-raising ceremony and the inauguration of the new Hong Kong government  but later specified that only one journalist from each outlet could be sent to cover each of the two events.

Reuters said in a news report it submitted the names of two journalists to cover the events, and that both were rejected.

A Reuters spokesperson said the company was seeking further information on the matter.

The affected Hong Kong media outlets include the English-language South China Morning Post, the Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao and online news outlet HK01, the journalists association said. The South China Morning Post said in a news report that one of its photographers had been rejected, with no reason given.

Ming Pao and HK01 did not immediately comment. Agence France-Presse declined to comment and a South China Morning Post spokesperson declined to comment beyond their news report.

The affected media organizations were invited to send other journalists to cover the events, but the replacements must also meet the quarantine and testing requirements, according to the journalists association.

The Information Services Department, which sent out the initial invitations to media outlets to register to cover the events, declined to provide information on how many journalists were given accreditation and would not comment on a South China Morning Post report that one of the department's own photographers had been barred from the events.

The government is striking a balance as far as possible between the need of media work and security requirements," the department said in a statement. "We will not comment on the accreditation outcome of individual organizations and persons.
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CHICAGO (AP)  Illinois Republicans on Tuesday chose conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey to take on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire who easily won the Democratic nomination and who spent millions trying to get the rival he wants and increase his already sizable advantage in the state this fall.

Bailey, who defeated five other Republicans to win the nomination, is a farmer and staunch abortion opponent who received former President Donald Trumps endorsement Saturday.

Pritzker immediately framed the race as a referendum on the former president, who Illinois voters twice rejected by double digits. Taking the stage at his victory party, Pritzker told the crowd, I'm going to beat Donald Trump's candidate for governor, Darren Bailey.

Let me be clear, someone who seeks out and accepts the endorsement of a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic, twice-impeached former president does not deserve to come anywhere near this state's highest office, Pritzker said from a hotel in Chicago.

Bailey raised his statewide profile during the pandemic by opposing Pritzkers COVID-19 measures. He sued Pritzker over a stay-at-home order the governor issued, and was escorted off the floor of the Legislature for refusing to wear a mask.

On Tuesday, Bailey criticized elites like Pritzker, the GOP establishment and others who say he cannot win in November. He pledged to outwork his opponent and stand up for regular, working people across Illinois.

We were outspent by tens of millions of dollars in the primary and look what happened tonight. This is how its done, Bailey said.

He later added, Heres a tip and some advice for J.B. Pritzker: Start packing, friend, because on Nov. 8, youre fired.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune who is seeking his second term, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP primary, including with ads noting he is 100% pro-life. While those messages have raised Bailey's standing with Republican voters, they are likely to hurt him in a general election in a place where Democrats control all statewide offices and Trump lost handily.

Republican Richard Irvin, a former prosecutor who was the first Black mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, was seen as a top candidate when he joined the race, with financial backing from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin argued that he was the only GOP candidate who could beat Pritzker in November because he could win votes from Republicans, independents and some Democrats. But despite Griffin sinking $50 million into Irvin's campaign, he was damaged by repeated attacks from his rivals, including Pritzker.

Unlike the other GOP candidates, Irvin avoided talking about whether he voted for Trump. The mayor of Aurora instead focused on issues such as crime in Chicago and legislation signed by Pritzker that he said made policing harder. He said he opposes abortion except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother.

In a concession speech Tuesday, Irvin criticized Pritzkers meddling in the primary and wished Bailey well in the general election.

Listen, I hope this governor is wrong in his assessment that he can easily defeat the opponent he paid tens of millions of dollars to face. But if this governor is correct and if he does easily prevail, we as citizens must rise up," Irvin said.

Tim Zink, a 70-year-old retiree, wore a National Rifle Association T-shirt as he cast his ballot in the northern Illinois town of McHenry for Bailey.

I just like the way he stands on just about everything," Zink said. He added that he didn't trust Irvin, whom he called two-faced and friends with Pritzker.

Joe Berstein, from the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park, voted for Pritzker: So far I think hes doing a good job.

The other Republican candidates are business owner Gary Rabine, venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf and attorney Max Solomon.

Pritzker defeated a much lesser-known rival, Beverly Miles, for the nomination.

___

Associated Press/Report for America reporter Claire Savage contributed to this report.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she will move to end most abortions in the state by turning to the courts and asking them to relax the legal standard used to evaluate restrictions and to reverse a decision that halted a ban as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

That law bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, as early as six weeks and before many women know they are pregnant.

A state court judge found the 2018 law unconstitutional under previous Iowa Supreme Court rulings. However, the high court on June 17 reversed previous precedent, which would allow the law to be considered under a lower legal threshold. The court also suggested it might relax the legal standard even further.

Reynolds said she would pursue that change in the legal standard as well as seeking a reversal of the 2019 decision on the six-week ban.

A week after the Iowa court decision overturning its previous precedent that assured abortion was a fundamental right under the state constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed the right to an abortion under the U.S. Constitution.

Previously the U.S. Supreme Court guidance was that restrictions could not place an undue burden on women seeking abortions, but the recent decision rejected that. The ruling said a rational basis is the best test for abortion. Laws must be sustained if there is a rational basis on which a legislature could have thought it would serve a legitimate state interest.

Iowas ban on abortions after 20 weeks remains in effect while Reynolds pursues more restrictions.

Now is the time for us to stand up and continue the fight to protect the unborn, Reynolds said. The Supreme Courts historic decision reaffirms that states have the right to protect the innocent and defenseless unborn  and now its time for our state to do just that. As governor, I will do whatever it takes to defend the most important freedom there is: the right to life.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said he won't represent the state in the abortion requests for ethical reasons. He said he supported Roe v. Wade and the rationale that underlies it and that he supports the undue burden standard previously established by the federal courts.

He said he can't "zealously assert the states position because of my core belief that the statute, if upheld, would undermine rights and protections for women. He said in his 40 years in office it's only the second time he's chosen not to represent the state.

Alliance Defending Freedom and Iowa attorney Alan Ostergren have agreed to represent the state at no cost to Iowa taxpayers, Reynolds said.

The announcement suggests Reynolds and legislative leaders have decided go to court is a faster way to enact abortion limits than calling a special session to enact a new law. It also could be a political calculation for Reynolds and some GOP legislative leaders seeking reelection in suburban areas where abortion bans aren't popular. This approach places the burden on the courts to resolve the issue.

Iowa House Republicans goal is to protect the lives of the unborn. Thats why I support the governors decision on these legal actions as the best path forward to protect innocent life, House Speaker Pat Grassley said.

Senate Democratic leader Zach Wahls said Republicans won't stop until they have completely banned abortion without exception.

This is an incredibly dangerous action that threatens the health, safety, and future of Iowa women, he said.

The six-week ban does provide some exceptions, including for rape, incest and when the mother's life is in danger.

A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, which provides most abortions in the state, said Iowans deserve the right to control their bodies and futures.

"Iowa is headed down a dangerous path where Gov. Reynolds will have more say over our reproductive health than we do, said Sheena Dooley, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa.
NORWALK  Children who live side-by-side on South Main Street or in neighboring units at Meadow Gardens could soon attend the same elementary school for the first time in over 40 years.

City, state, school and community leaders celebrated the opening of a neighborhood school in South Norwalk on Tuesday outside the former Concord Magnet School (CMS) where early grade levels for the South Norwalk Neighborhood School will be established starting this fall.

A lot of people thought this probably wasnt going to happen, but now were seeing that light at the end of the tunnel. Were ready to start moving forward and you should see some progress in the relatively near future, Mayor Harry Rilling said.

The city recently acquired property at 1 Meadow St. Extension from Hatch & Bailey Co. to build a new school for the South Norwalk community. Construction is expected to begin in December 2023 with doors opening in fall 2025.

The budget for the school construction project has been set at $76 million and the new building will be one of the first to qualify for the new 60 percent state reimbursement rate. The city submitted the South Norwalk School application last week to the states Office of Construction Grants and Review.

More importantly, the area around the school will be made safe with proper streetscapes, people being able to use the sidewalks, people being able to drive into the area feeling its safe  its going to look a lot different than it looks now, Rilling said.

The city also allocated $1.5 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to improve area sidewalks and streets and create a safer environment for students and families.

Alan Lo, Norwalk Building and Facilities Manager, said the city will close on the property at the end of July. As part of the agreement, Hatch & Bailey Co. also negotiated with Courville Nurseries to vacate the property where it houses its wholesale nursery, according to Lo. The city is working with Courville to find a new location.

Students living in the South Norwalk community have not attended their own neighborhood school since the late 1970s when the district closed the Nathaniel Ely School to desegregate schools. Based on the current minority student population in Norwalk, children in South Norwalk are no longer required to attend schools outside their community.

Since the redistricting, students living in South Norwalk attended an assigned elementary school based on their address or if they lived in an area that was unassigned. The students were placed in schools based on enrollment numbers.

Its very difficult when youre a young person that has to get on a bus and travel for 40 minutes to another part of town to get educated  imagine then having to get on the bus back to your neighborhood where a young person you live next to, you havent seen all day, said Darlene Young, a council member for District B who represents South Norwalk residents.

Young believes the establishment of the new neighborhood school will create a sense of community that has been missing from the South Norwalk area for decades. She and Rilling committed to building a school that is state of the art.

State Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, and Superintendent of Schools Alexandra Estrella also addressed the question of equity that community members have asked for years, making sure South Norwalk students have access to the same opportunities as other students across the district.

Theres a commitment here among city leaders to ensure that not only do we have a great new school here, but we also have opportunities, and facilities, and programs that make sure all kids across the school district are treated in the same manner, Duff said.

Estrella added, It allows for so many of our parents to have access to the schools, to actively engage and support the learning of our students.  Im very excited about working in collaboration with all the people behind me to ensure  that excellence is at the forefront of everything we do for our South Norwalk students and they have access to the same resources that all students in Norwalk deserve.

The district has opened enrollment to South Norwalk families who want to enter their child into one of the two pre-K classes or the four kindergarten classes. If enrollment exceeds the number of spaces available, a lottery will be held.

Incubating the school while the new location is being built allows the school to start establishing its character and academic programs and makes for an easier transition once the new school building it ready, Estrella said in a statement.

As soon as CMS teachers and staff complete their move to the lower campus at Ponus Ridge School, the district will make cosmetic improvements to the Concord Street building. The school also needs to meet certain standards for its youngest students which involves lowering the toilet heights in the bathrooms, according to Sandra Faioes, Norwalk Public Schools assistant superintendent of business and operations.

The Carver Foundation is also using the second floor of the building for summer programming, and the district will work with their schedule to complete the needed facility improvements.

Estrella and the Board of Education held a meeting with South Norwalk families and community members on May 31 to brainstorm ideas for the academic theme and instructional focus of the new school. Through the process, stakeholders agreed upon an enrichment model that incorporates social justice and financial literacy as well as global citizenship, the arts and languages.

The new school building will accommodate up to 682 students once its finished. Each grade, kindergarten through fifth, will have four sections. The district expects to maintain enrollment at the school with some students choosing to enroll at the citys magnet schools.

emily.morgan@hearstmediact.com
BOSTON (AP)  Employees at Bostons Museum of Fine Arts ratified their first labor deal Tuesday, becoming the latest prestigious art institution to protect workers with a union contract.

The collective bargaining agreement is the first since museum workers voted to join the United Auto Workers Local 2110 in November 2020, the union and management said in a joint statement.

We are pleased to have reached an agreement on a union contract with the MFA that will provide a more equitable compensation structure and a democratic voice for the staff, union President Maida Rosenstein said in the statement. By establishing collective bargaining rights, the MFA staff is helping to bring about necessary systemic change for museum workers in general."

The union represents 227 of the museums administrative, technical, curatorial and conservation employees.

The agreement raises wages and minimum pay rates. Workers will receive at least a 5% increase on July 1, with some workers getting larger increases. Wages will be increased again by 3% on July 1, 2023, and again by 3% on July 1, 2024.

The Museum has estimated the total cost of the changes in wages to be 13.5% over the three-year term of the contract.

The New York-based UAW Local 2110 represents workers at dozens of cultural and educational institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, museums were forced to shut down and lay off workers, and many employees realized they had few legal protections, said Tom Juravich, a professor of sociology and labor studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The Museum of Fine Arts eliminated more than 100 jobs early in the pandemic, about half through voluntary early retirements and half through layoffs, according to a statement at the time.

Museums have treated their rank-and-file employees as little more than servants for years, and more workers have been unionizing as attitudes change among younger employees, especially, Juravich said.

There's a new generation moving into the field, and they are not impressed by the prestige of simply working at the finest cultural institutions in the world, they need to pay the bills, he said, pointing out that many likely have advanced degrees and substantial student loans.

Juravich said it's also difficult to justify working for subsistence wages when museum leadership is paid handsomely, and many museum boards of trustees are filled with society's wealthiest elite.

The MFA's unionized workers held a one-day strike last November to protest what they said were stalled contract negotiations. The museum, which has about 500,000 pieces of art and draws more than 1 million visitors per year, stayed open during the strike.

The museum said in addition to enhanced benefits for union workers, it has committed additional investments in compensation and benefits for all employees in the next three years.

Our employees make the MFA what it is; they ensure the highest care for the treasures that we hold in trust for future generations as we strive to be a museum for all of Boston, museum Director Matthew Teitelbaum said.
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Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald called out U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for suggesting the rights of same-sex marriages should be reconsidered.

McDonald, who is gay, criticized Thomas on Facebook for being hypocritical in the concurring opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade last week, CNBC reports.
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NEW YORK (AP)  The news story that reportedly caused former President Donald Trump to throw his lunch against a White House wall came from an exclusive interview that former Attorney General William Barr had arranged with The Associated Press.

The scoop, which was published on Dec. 1, 2020, quoted Barr as saying that the U.S. Justice Department had uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election. It was a bombshell that contradicted the concerted effort by Trump, his boss, to subvert the results of the election.

In testimony before the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson recalled hearing noise coming from down the hallway around the time the AP interview was published.

She noticed a door propped open in a West Wing dining room room where Trump had eaten, and a valet who was changing a tablecloth.

He motioned for me to come in and then pointed towards the front of the room near the fireplace mantle and the TV when I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor, Hutchinson said.

The valet told her that Trump was angry about Barr's interview with AP and had thrown his lunch against the wall, she said.

I grabbed a towel to clean up ketchup from the wall, she said.

The story had been written by AP Justice Department reporter Michael Balsamo, who had been told a day earlier that Barr wanted him to come in for lunch. In videotaped testimony to the committee, Barr said that he felt it was time to say something about the voter fraud claims.

Recognizing the importance of the statement when Barr said the department had uncovered no evidence of voter fraud, Balsamo asked him to repeat it, and he did. He quickly filed his story from an office in the Justice Department when lunch was over.

Neither Balsamo nor AP editors had any comment Tuesday about Hutchinson's testimony.

Shortly after the interview that day, Barr went to the White House for a previously scheduled meeting with Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, for whom Hutchinson was a special assistant.

I told my secretary that I thought I would probably be fired and told ... not to come back to my office, so you might have to pack up, Barr said in his videotaped testimony, released in an earlier hearing.

He was asked to see Trump, who was as mad as I've ever seen him, and suggested that the attorney general hated him.

Barr resigned as attorney general a few weeks later.

During his testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, Barr said My opinion then and my opinion now is the election was not stolen by fraud, and I havent seen anything since that election that changes my mind on that.
HARTFORD  Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock in the Caribbean, and sought his fortunes in a new land, America, achieving great successes as well as attracting powerful enemies.

His complicated story will be brilliantly told at Hartfords Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, in Hamilton, an epic musical crafted by Wesleyan University graduate Lin-Manuel Miranda, until July 10.

Beginning life as a poor orphan with Scottish blood, Hamilton comes to the land of opportunity to become an original Founding Father, financial wizard, astute strategist in war, powerful writer and orator, and right-hand man for President George Washington.

Pierre Jean Gonzalezs Hamilton manages to rise from poverty with a goal of making a difference, becoming a man of significance, a scholar, lawyer, statesman, and man who defiantly believes I am not throwing away my shot. Early on in America, he meets and is befriended by Jared Dixons Aaron Burr, a man who soon exhibits signs of jealousy, trapped by a competition he knows he cannot win.

Alongside Washington (Marcus Choi) Thomas Jefferson (Warren Egypt Franklin) and James Madison (Desmond Sean Ellington), Hamilton is quickly swept up in a revolution against Britains King George (Neil Haskell), helping to plan the siege of Yorktown.

He finds time to marry Eliza Schuyler (Stephanie Jae Park), often choosing his dedication to his country over his family.

As a co-author of the Federalist Papers and his selection as secretary of the treasury to the new nation, he engages in an affair that will later be used as ammunition to bring down his star. His ideas incur the wrath of many of his cohorts, and ultimately lead to his death in a duel with Aaron Burr.

This historical epic will cement Alexander Hamiltons importance in the story of our heritage, originally taken from a novel penned by Ron Chernow that Miranda read while on vacation in the Caribbean in 2004, on his honeymoon.

The show incorporates statesmen, suitors, sisters, sacred trusts, scandal, successes, shots, slaves, subjects, strategy, surprises, service, skirmishes, seduction, scoundrels and a stunning story. Clearly, Hamilton is the tale of Americas complicated history.

A cast of cultural diversity with constant movement on stage rules the day.

Incorporating hip-hop, rhythm and blues, Broadway show tunes, jazz and soul, Hamilton enjoys a grand set created by David Korins, period costumes designed by Paul Tazewell, illumination by Howell Binkley, sound mastered by Nevin Steinberg, orchestration by Alex Lacamoire, clever choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and superb direction by Thomas Kail.

Hamilton has won an impressive number of awards: Grammys, Tonys, Drama Desk, and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Come be caught up in the dramatic magic of the cultural and political tale that weaves our countrys history with the fate of one of its original heroes, Alexander Hamilton.

A ticket lottery for $10 is held every day for 40 lucky recipients. Go to hamiltonmusical.com/app to register. Also check bushnell.com regularly for late-release seats.

Try to be one of the 66,000 patrons who will see this production at the Bushnell over its three-week run. It is not a show to be missed.

For tickets ($59 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford, at 860-987-5900 or go online at bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Masks are required.
Editors Note: Hershel Woody Williams, who wielded a flamethrower to devastating effect on Iwo Jima and was the last living World War II recipient of the Medal of Honor, died early Wednesday in his beloved home state of West Virginia at the Huntington, W. Va., Veterans Administration hospital named for him, according to the Woody Williams Foundation. He was 98.

Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams of Quiet Dell, West Virginia, became a Marine legend on Iwo Jima with a 70-pound M2 flamethrower strapped to his back. But he says he still has promises to keep at age 97 even after a lifetime of postwar service to veterans and Gold Star families.

Trying to live up to the responsibility that comes with the Medal of Honor, Williams spent 33 years after the war with what was then known as the Veterans Administration, first as a counselor and then overseeing 16 VA offices across West Virginia to advise veterans and widows on their benefits.

But that was not enough in Williams' mind to fulfill the duty he saw goes along with wearing the nation's highest award for valor.

He saw a void in the recognition of Gold Star families' sacrifices, whether their loved ones fell in combat or succumbed to what became known as the "invisible wounds" of war. So he set out to plug the gap.

Through his Woody Williams Foundation, he began to raise money and rally community support to put up Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments to those for whom wars never end after the fateful knock on the door, despite cease-fires or withdrawal timelines.

Read Next: 'You Can Forgive Yourself:' Molly Helps Vets with PTSD, New Study Says

Currently, there are 86 monuments standing, with plans for 74 more. That might include one at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, near Marine Corp Base Quantico, if he can get the service to go along. Williams said he's been bugging the Marine Corps about that but has yet to make headway. "I haven't given up yet," he said.

Williams told Military.com that the inspiration that still drives him goes back to meeting Gen. A.A. Vandegrift, then the Marine commandant and another recipient of the Medal of Honor, after Williams received his award at the White House from President Harry S Truman on Oct. 5, 1945.

The general spoke of the two Marine riflemen who were killed giving Williams covering fire on Iwo Jima and all the others who didn't get to come home after the war.

"You wear the medal for them," Vandegrift told Williams. "The medal does not belong to you" but to the fallen and their families.

He added gravely, "Don't ever do anything that would tarnish that medal."

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 4 Hershel "Woody" Williams delivers remarks during the Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB 4) commissioning ceremony, March 7, 2020. (Amy Phan/U.S. Marine Corps)

Heartbreak Cutout

In 2010, Williams began looking for new ways to support military families. On a speaking engagement in West Virginia, he noticed a man had stayed behind, sitting alone with his head bowed.

"I had no idea why, Williams said. I asked if there was anything I could do to help. I got no response from him. A little later, he was still sitting with his head down. He was grieving. The only thing he said to me was 'Dads cry too.' I asked him if he could share with me what happened."

The man told him that his wife had died of cancer. Their only child, a son who had enlisted in the Army, was killed in Afghanistan after the mother's death.

"That's when it came to me that we need to do something" to recognize the families of lost service members, no matter how they died, Williams said.

There had been recognition over the years of Gold Star "Moms," he explained, but little attention was given to the impact of a service member's death on the entire family.

Williams came up with the idea for Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments to be installed around the country, with the goal of them becoming places for family members to meet and share their experiences with others who had been grieving alone.

He had ideas for what the monument should look like and the message it was meant to convey, and turned to Kenton Blackwood, senior designer and project manager at The Thrasher Group, in 2011 to come up with a final proposal.

The collaboration resulted in a design for four large slabs of polished black granite arranged in a graceful arc with an inscription on the front side: "A tribute to Gold Star Families and Relatives who sacrificed a Loved One for our Freedom."

The other side of each slab would feature artwork representing the themes of Homeland, Family, Patriot and Sacrifice.

But it was something missing from the final design of the monument that turned out to be its most striking feature. Instead of a three-dimensional figure of a saluting service member, there is a cutout leaving only a silhouette, symbolic of the missing service member who no longer can be touched or embraced.

Williams acknowledged initial misgivings about the cutout: He worried visitors might interpret it as a hole in the memorial. But he came to see the power in the missing figure. "I take credit for the design except for that one thing there," he said. "It is the keystone of the monument, no question in my mind."

The first monument was installed in 2013 at the Veterans Cemetery in Institute, West Virginia. Williams' foundation has since partnered with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPs, to install monuments nationwide.

"Woody is a national treasure," said Bonnie Carroll, president and founder of TAPS, which provides support to military families grieving a loss.

The communities where monuments are installed sometimes add their own inscriptions. Lynn Feehan, who was instrumental in bringing a monument last year to Pensacola, Florida, said a plaque was added, bearing an inscription that reads, "The open silhouette in the monument represents the void left by those who gave all."

The cutout has special significance for former Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Audri Beugelsdijk, whose newlywed husband, Navy Seaman Jason Springer, was lost at sea. He was serving aboard the Spruance-class destroyer Kincaid off Mexico's Baja coast when he went missing. He had mustered in the early morning of March 5, 1997, but never reported to his workspace, she said. He was presumed overboard, but a 23-hour search failed to find him.

There's a marker for him in a cemetery in Indianapolis, his hometown, but "he's not there," said Beugelsdjik, now the Survivor Care Team director for TAPS. "My husband never came home. I don't have a grave to go to." But she said she has found solace at the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument north of Dallas, where she lives.

"It's a place, a peaceful place, to go -- an incredibly meaningful place to be," Beugelsdjik said. "The symbolism [of the cutout] is so powerful. You can't help but find yourself there."

Others spoke to the monuments' symbolism in helping them cope with grief.

Mark Zook was outside in Port St. Lucie, Florida, one evening in October 2004 when a white van pulled up, and the driver asked whether this was the Zook home. Then, the van pulled into the driveway, and two Marines and a Navy officer stepped out.

Cpl. Ian Zook had deployed in August 2004 to Iraq with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. He had been wounded previously, and his father's first thought was that -- just maybe -- he had been wounded again.

Ian Zook had been riding in a Humvee that hit an anti-tank mine near the flashpoint town of Husaybah in western Anbar province near the Syrian border on Oct. 12, 2004. He succumbed to his injuries.

The Zooks were asked to join with other Gold Star families to serve as advisers to a board bringing a monument to Port St. Lucie. Williams came to the groundbreaking in February 2016.

"I met Woody for the first time, and we instantly became friends," Mark Zook said. "I was mesmerized by his sharpness, about what he wanted to do [through the foundation]."

The Zooks said the cutout in the monument symbolizes their son and all the other sons and daughters lost in war.

"They're gone but not forgotten," Mark Zook said. "There's probably not a day that goes by that we don't talk or say something about Ian. I've got a dogtag of his that I wear every day. It's always there. He's always there."

Two Tales of Going Above and Beyond

The U.S. awarded 473 Medals of Honor during World War II -- 27 for Iwo Jima alone. By 2020, only two recipients from that war were still living -- Williams and former Army Tech. Sgt. Charles Coolidge, of Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

Coolidge died in April at age 99.

Williams, now the only WWII veteran among the 67 living recipients of the Medal of Honor, said the death of his friend of more than 70 years, through their meetings with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, "has a great impact on me, simply because I am the last survivor."

Coolidge and Williams fought on opposite sides of the world across utterly different terrain in America's epic two-front struggle to defeat Japan and Germany.

Coolidge previously had been awarded the Silver Star in the fight for Anzio during the Italian campaign. The actions in October 1944 that resulted in his MoH came in the rain and cold of a desperate four-day firefight to hold off a superior German force backed by tanks in the forests of eastern France near the town of Belmont-sur-Buttant.

Years later, in a video for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Coolidge recalled an exchange with a German officer on the fourth day of the battle.

The German officer popped the lid on a tank and called out to him in what Coolidge recalled was perfect English: "Do you guys wanna give up?"

Coolidge shouted back: "I'm sorry, Mac, you've gotta come get me."

In Williams' case, he earned the MoH for a battle that began in February 1945 on a pork chop-shaped hunk of volcanic rock whose two airfields were vital to the planned U.S. invasion of Japan. He said units with the 3rd Marine Division were told on the ships that they were to be in reserve for what was expected to be a quick takeover of Iwo Jima.

But there would be no reserves in the bloody, five-week fight for the island that the Japanese had honeycombed with 11 miles of tunnels, hidden artillery batteries and a diabolically ingenious network of camouflaged bunkers and pillboxes with interlocking fields of fire.

On the third day of the battle, the Marine offensive against one of the airfields had broken down with heavy casualties against withering cross-fire coming from the Japanese defenders' heavily fortified pillboxes.

Then-Cpl. Williams found himself in a bomb crater to escape the cross-fire with an officer trying to figure out a way forward. Could Williams do something about the pillboxes with the flamethrowers and demolitions from his headquarters unit? Williams doesn't remember saying it, but others with him said he responded: "I'll try."

He crawled forward with the flamethrower, backed by four Marines with small arms. At one point, he climbed atop one of the pillboxes and stuck the nozzle of his flamethrower down an air vent to fire off a burst to wipe out the enemy.

Williams also recalled firing a burst from the flamethrower to eliminate four or five Japanese soldiers who came charging at him from around a corner of one of the pillboxes, but much of what happened during the four-hour struggle to neutralize at least five -- possibly seven -- of the pillboxes remains a blank to him.

His medal citation states that "he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another."

"His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strongpoints encountered by his regiment and aided vitally in enabling his company to reach its objective," the citation adds.

"It's one of those things that's bothered me ever since," Williams said of the gaps in his memory. "I've talked to psychologists, highly skilled people, asked them. They don't have an answer either. The only answer I've ever had that makes sense: If you don't have a reason, or you do not want to remember, your mind can shut that down and, if it does, it will never return."

Loss of Brother to Breakdown

Williams came to the VA by happenstance after the war when he was dealing with the loss of his brother to what has become known as the "invisible wounds" of combat.

William Gerald Williams had been wounded twice while serving with the 3rd Army of Gen. George S. Patton in the Battle of the Bulge. He later barely escaped when the train he was riding on was strafed by a German fighter.

His brother experienced what Williams called "a complete breakdown mentally. He was put in an Army mental hospital. They had him on medication and kept him quiet. He was in there 'til after the war. They kept him confined, diagnosed with 'psychological neurosis.'"

"When the war was over, he still wasn't in any condition to be sent home," Williams said. "They finally found some medication that kept him very quiet, very subdued."

His brother went home to West Virginia in late 1945, but "he didn't live very long after that," Williams said. "He didn't commit suicide. I think he just gave up."

Williams himself got home in November 1945.

"Things were starting to rebuild," he said, and he got a job in construction soon after returning. The job offer came "from a guy in my hometown. I'm positive in my own mind that he hired me because I had the Medal of Honor" and not because he had any skills in the trade, Williams said. "I knew farming and the Marine Corps. That's all I knew."

Then, there was a phone call "from somebody in the VA. At that point of time, I didn't know we had a VA, Veterans Administration. I didn't even know they existed. So I got this call and they wanted to know if I wanted to come and work for the Veterans Administration. I questioned, 'Well, what's that and what would I be doing?'"

"They said, 'You'd be trained as a veterans counselor and you'd be in an office and you'd be assisting veterans and their families with things that they are entitled to because of their service.' I said, 'No, I don't want that. I'm a farmboy, born and raised on a farm. I don't know anything but farming, and I don't want to be penned up in an office.' I hung up on 'em."

A few weeks later, there was a second call from the VA that stressed the bottom line on salary. The guy on the other end of the line told him, "This pays pretty good money."

"And I said how much, and he said it pays $2,980 a year," Williams remembered. "Well, I never heard tell of such money. I was making $36 a month in the Marine Corps. I told him I'll take it; I don't care what I'll be doing."

New Marine Great-Grandson

This past June 15, Williams participated in a Zoom event sponsored by the Veterans Breakfast Club discussion group in Pittsburgh with three other Iwo Jima veterans -- former Marine Sgt. Jack Watson, 97, of Pittsburgh; former Navy Radioman 1st Class Bob Young, 97, of Pittsburgh; and Marine Sgt. Larry Kirby, 97, of Beverly, Massachusetts.

All said they had been told aboard the ships that the assault on Iwo Jima was expected to result in a quick takeover of the island. Each spoke to the numbing sense of fear they had to fight off as the predictions proved illusory and the casualties mounted.

"I can tell you as one man we were as frightened as we could get," Watson said. "You couldn't dig deep enough into that sand."

Kirby spoke of his admiration for Williams in going forward with the flamethrower despite the chaos and carnage around him.

"Nobody respects or admires him more than his fellow Iwo Jima Marines because we were there to see what it was like, and that was a tough place," he said.

A week after the Zoom event, Williams was in dress blues, the Medal of Honor draped round his neck, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina, where aspiring Marines are drilled on their duty to live up to the never-quit legacy of those who fought on Iwo Jima and all the other battles in the gritty history of the Corps.

As an honorary official for the graduation parade, Williams saluted sharply as the 350 recruits passed in review, but his eye was trained on one in particular.

In a sense, Williams was there to pass the torch to a strapping 20-year-old recruit named Cedar Ross, his great-grandson, who was graduating from the demanding boot camp.

Williams' pride in his great-grandson swelled at learning that the exemplary performance of Ross during training had earned him a meritorious promotion to private first class at graduation.

Ross told CBS News that the drill instructors found out about halfway through training that his great-grandfather was Woody Williams. "The chief drill instructor told me, 'Ross, you're going to have big shoes to fill,'" the new Marine said. "I said, 'Yes, sir. Thankfully, I wear size 15.'"

Williams said of his great-grandson, "The only advice I think I gave him was to do the very best that he could and then to do a little more."

In his address to the new Marines, Lt. Col. Robert M. Groceman, commanding officer of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, told them to follow the example of those who went before them in the ranks, and to take pride -- at least for a day -- in what they had accomplished in passing the grueling training course.

"But tomorrow is no longer about you," Groceman said. "Tomorrow is about those Marines who came before us, whose legacy you are now a part of. Tomorrow is about those Marines to your left and to your right who are depending on you."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Related: Medal of Honor Recipient from Iwo Jima Battle Welcomes Great-Grandson into the Marines
Kate Horrell is a Military.com benefits columnist.

A June 1 update to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) website has left the system hard to log into, confusing and missing basic information, users are complaining. The federal government's Thrift Savings Plan is a federally defined contribution retirement account similar to a civilian 401(k). The TSP has 6.2 million account holders with a combined value in excess of $800 billion. The Thrift Savings Board rolled out a new website this month, after several weeks of transition during which TSP account holders could not access their accounts. The new website requires that account holders set up new login credentials and features an entirely new layout. Account holders have taken to social media to share their frustration with the new system and my testing confirms that its difficult to navigate, confusing and lacking major functions.

It is a beautiful, clean, unusable website, wrote user Elliot Unseth.

Here are some of the problems users are reporting. New login required. Some account holders report that they cannot create a new login online. This requires that a passcode be sent by physical mail to the address registered with TSP. For military members, this may be their home of record or current home location. If they are away, on deployment, training or other travel, they may not be able to retrieve that physically mailed passcode. Two-factor identification.The new TSP requires two-factor identification via a text message, with no provision to receive a code via email. That creates a significant issue for service members who do not have access to their cellphones, such as sailors aboard ships who may have access to the internet but not have cellphone service. It's hard to navigate. Typically, users going to the TSP website want to do one of three basic transactions: check their balance, see what funds their balance is invested in or retrieve a statement. But on the new website, only one of these three transactions is anywhere near easy. The balance is listed on the first page when you log in, but you have to scroll down to find it. Is it just me, or shouldn't that be front and center? There doesn't appear to be a way to find out what funds your account balance is invested in, though it does show a circle graph with your percentage of stocks and bonds. And there is no way to access statements on the website. You can generate a specific statement, going back to May 26, 2022, and have it sent to your messages. That's better than nothing, I suppose.

Photo: courtesy tsp screenshot 1800

Roth vs. traditional vs. tax-free account balances. The TSP offers both Roth and traditional IRA accounts, and military members may have balances that were earned in tax-free combat zones. On the old website, these account balances were easy to see. TSP user Jason Kappes told me via Facebook, "I literally can't figure out how to see my Roth vs. traditional allocations on the mobile site." I don't disagree with Jason. As far as I can tell, there's no way to find this information on the new website. That's kind of ridiculous. Beneficiary designations. Some account holders are reporting that their beneficiary designations did not transfer over. Then, when they try to set up designations, the online system requires a witness, who confirms via email. But the emails to the witnesses don't always go through. Service members (and any other TSP account holder) should regularly check to be sure that their beneficiary designations are listed the way they intend them to be listed. For my spouse, a retired sailor, it's unclear whether our secondary beneficiary designations are in place. Hes unable to see whether our TSP beneficiaries are set up properly. He can only see his primary designation, and cant confirm if the secondary designations are gone. Historical data. The new website only includes information from May 26, 2022. There is no way to access historical information and statements online. There is a social media rumor that if you can get someone to answer the phone, they may be able to send you a paper copy of a specific statement through the regular mail. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to get through by phone right now according to users. Thats a problem TSP officials also acknowledged in a letter to D.C. Rep. Eleanor Homles Norton, a non-voting representative to Congress, dated June 17.

The TSP response? While the letter to Norton noted the high call volume and that the transition to the new site would be bumpy, it doesnt give solutions to any of the specific programs.

Meanwhile, the TSP website has a page called Current Known Issues. Sadly, it also doesn't provide solutions to these issues. It helpfully suggests that if you're having trouble logging in, you might want to "try a different internet browser." It also reminds people to check their beneficiary designations. The page does state that you will not have access to any information from before the system transfer. There is no mention of the two-factor identification problem or the inability to see account balance types. The new TSP website has a long way to go to perform the basic tasks that it should be expected to perform. Service members should be able to log in efficiently, even when their operational requirements limit their cellphone access. Account holders should be able to quickly find their account balance, fund holdings and amounts in traditional, Roth and tax-exempt accounts. Statements should be readily available. Beneficiary designations need to come over from the old system, and the new email witness program needs to work. Fingers crossed they'll get these problems sorted out in a timely fashion. In the meantime, create your new login and check your beneficiary designations.

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday in favor of a former Texas trooper and Army Reserve captain who lost his job over a military-related illness and sued the state for violating the law that protects the jobs of part-time service members.

Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said that states do not have immunity from private lawsuits by veterans under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA.

As part of the case, Texas had argued that states, just like the federal government, are protected by "sovereign immunity" and can't be privately sued without their consent.

Read Next: Senators Block VA Review of Hospital Closures, Upgrades

But Breyer said that allowing states to have such immunity would permit them "to thwart national military readiness."

"Upon entering the Union, the States implicitly agreed that their sovereignty would yield to federal policy to build and keep a national military," Breyer wrote. "States thus gave up their immunity from congressionally authorized suits pursuant to the 'plan of the Convention,' as part of 'the structure of the original Constitution itself.'"

Army Reserve Capt. Le Roy Torres deployed in 2007 to Joint Base Balad, an installation with a 10-acre, open-air burn pit that belched smoke day and night over nearby work sites and quarters. Torres developed constrictive bronchiolitis, a debilitating lung condition, and other symptoms as a result of exposure to the smoke.

When Torres returned home to Texas, he sought to continue working as a state trooper. But his respiratory condition prevented him from performing operational duties, and while he requested an administrative position, he was instead encouraged to resign and told he must do so in order to apply for disability retirement.

Then the state rejected his disability retirement application.

Torres sued for more than $1 million in lost wages and retirement pay, arguing that the state was required to make accommodations for his service-connected disability. Texas moved to dismiss the case, claiming sovereign immunity. The lower court denied the claim but an appellate court reversed, and the case made its way up to the Supreme Court.

The case could have legal implications for any veteran who has been fired or pressured to resign from their state jobs as a result of their military service. Roughly 800,000 current or former Reserve and National Guard members work in state or local government jobs across the country, and advocates say Congress created USERRA precisely to protect service members' employment and accommodation rights.

In a brief to the court written earlier this year in support of Torres, the National Veterans Legal Services Program, joined by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Vietnam Veterans of America noted that the protections are particularly important to the post 9/11 combat veterans, many of whom have exposure-related illnesses, traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder.

"The Court's decision today is a resounding affirmation of the pledge our nation makes to servicemembers and veterans that they will not be discriminated [against] as a result of their service," said NVLSP director of litigation Renee Burbank in a statement Wednesday.

"We are gratified that LeRoy Torres and his family have been vindicated today and that all the other service members who experience disabling illnesses as a result of their military service have one less obstacle to overcome upon their return," Burbank said.

Breyer wrote that shielding states from such lawsuits is not in the national interest.

"The Court therefore holds that, in joining together to form a Union, the States agreed to sacrifice their sovereign immunity for the good of the common defense," Breyer wrote.

Justices John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh ruled with the majority. Justice Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett opposed, with Thomas writing the dissenting opinion.

In opposition, Thomas said the majority's decision rested on "contrived interpretations" of prior Supreme Court decisions.

"Constitutional text, history, and precedent all show that when the States ratified the Constitution, they did not implicitly consent to private damages actions filed in their own courts -- whether authorized by Congress' war powers or any other Article I power. Because the Court today holds otherwise, I respectfully dissent," Thomas wrote.

Brian Lawler, a former Marine officer and attorney with Pilot Law who served as lead counsel, said the decision sends the case back to Texas, where it will be tried on its merits.

"We thank the Justices for their thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion that will ensure all servicemembers have the same rights under USERRA; a statute designed to protect them all, not just some, from acts of discrimination by their employers, including state agencies," Lawler wrote in an email to Military.com. "[But] this journey is not over for LeRoy Torres and Rosie Lopez-Torres, it is just beginning."

The ruling marks a second substantial victory this year for Torres and his wife, Rosie, who founded the advocacy group Burn Pits 360 in 2011 to push for recognition and benefits for service members sickened by exposure to air pollution and other toxins in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

In March, the House approved sweeping legislation to expand Veterans Affairs health care and benefits to personnel harmed by burn pits and other military environmental exposures -- a bill for which the Torreses spent years lobbying and which gained momentum after Rosie Torres contacted New York 9/11 response activist John Feal and comedian Jon Stewart for help and support.

A version of that legislation, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act, passed the Senate and is expected to pass the House again before being signed by President Joe Biden.

Rosie Torres said Wednesday that the events of the past several months were "surreal," noting that a conversation over fairness between Le Roy and her children led to the initial filing. The ruling, she said, has given them "a piece of our lives back,"

"We pray that every veteran facing an injustice from job loss will look at this case as a reminder to never give up," Rosie Torres said in a text to Military.com.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime

Related: Lawmakers Investigate Cancer Cluster Among Veterans Who Served at 'K2' Base
UNITED NATIONS  Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Tuesday of becoming a terrorist state carrying out daily terrorist acts and urged Russias expulsion from the United Nations.

In a virtual address to the U.N. Security Council, Zelenskyy urged the U.N. to establish an international tribunal to investigate the actions of Russian occupiers on Ukrainian soil and to hold the country accountable.

We need to act urgently to do everything to make Russia stop the killing spree, Zelenskyy said, warning that otherwise Russias terrorist activity will spread to other European countries and Asia, singling out the Baltic states, Poland, Moldova and Kazakhstan.

What is punished at the level of specific criminals and criminal organizations must not go unpunished at the level of a state that has become a terrorist, he said. Daily terrorist acts. No days off. They work as terrorists every day.

In urging Russias ouster from the 193-member United Nations, Zelenskyy cited Article 6 of the U.N. Charter which states that a member which has persistently violated the principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

Russias expulsion, however, is virtually impossible. Thats because as a permanent council member Russia would be able to use its veto to block any attempt to oust it.

Ukraine called the council meeting after Russias recent upsurge in attacks including Mondays fiery airstrike on a crowded shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk that Zelenskyy said killed at least 18 people and wounded 30 others. Dozens are missing and body fragments have been found including hands and feet, he said, adding that unfortunately there may be more victims.

The Ukrainian leader began his speech listing Russias attacks in recent days and giving the first names and ages of many of the victims. He ended his address asking the 15 Security Council members and others in the chamber to stand in silent tribute to commemorate the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children and adults killed in the war.

All members rose including Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky.

When he took the floor later, Polyansky protested against giving Zelenskyy a second opportunity to address the Security Council, a decision by Albanian which holds the council presidency this month.

The Russian envoy said the Ukrainian presidents video address violated the councils traditions and existing practices which state that leaders who wish to speak to the council must be present in the chamber.

The U.N. Security Council should not be turned into a platform for a remote PR campaign from president Zelenskyy in order to get more weapons from participants at the NATO summit starting Wednesday in Madrid, Polyansky said.

He claimed that there was no Russian strike on the shopping center in Kremenchuk, saying Russian precision weapons struck hangars in the Kremenchuk road machinery plant with weapons and ammunition from the United States and Europe destined for Ukrainian troops in eastern Donbass.

The shopping center was some distance away but the detonation of ammunition created a fire which then spread to the shopping center, Polyansky said.

The Russian envoy told Western nations that by supplying weapons to Ukraine they were prolonging the time when Ukraines leaders will sit down at the negotiating table with a realistic position rather than with slogans.

We began a special military operation in order to stop the shelling of Donbass by Ukraine and so that the territory of this country, which has been turned into anti-Russia at the behest of a number of Western countries, as well as its nationalist leadership, ceases to pose a threat to Russia or the inhabitants of the south and southeast of Ukraine, he said. And until those goals are achieved, our operation will continue.

Britains U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward retorted that Russia can try to claim that nothing is true and make outrageous claims of Ukrainian provocations but the undeniable fact is that Russia invaded Ukraine.

There is one aggressor here, she said. The evidence will catch up with them and there will be accountability for these crimes."

Ambassador Zhang Jun of China, a close ally of Russia, called the conflict a geopolitical crisis with multi-faceted spillover effects and urged the international community to work together to create conditions for Russian-Ukrainian peace talks to end hostilities at an early date.

Attempts to weaponize the world economy and to coerce other countries into taking sides will artificially divide the international community, and make the world even less secure, Zhang warned. Delaying and obstructing diplomatic negotiations for geopolitical purposes will only add fuel to the fire to intensify confrontation and magnify conflicts. Inevitably, it will end up hurting themselves.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills, like many other Western ambassadors, accused Russia of destroying the shopping center, saying the attack fits into a cruel pattern, one where the Russian military kills civilians and destroys civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

He stressed that there is ample publicly available evidence that Russia, and Russia alone is responsible for this and other attacks.
MADRID  President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. will significantly increase its military presence in Europe for the long haul, including by establishing its first permanent presence in Poland, to bolster regional security after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the opening of the alliances annual leaders' summit in Madrid, Biden said NATO is strong and united" and that steps to be taken during the gathering will further augment our collective strength. The White House said Biden's commitments mean the U.S. will maintain a presence of 100,000 troops in Europe, up 20,000 from the levels before the Ukraine war began, for the foreseeable future.

Biden opened his participation in the summit by announcing the permanent basing of a U.S. military garrison in Poland. He also said the U.S. is sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the UK and will send more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

Today Im announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, he said.

Stoltenberg, who earlier Wednesday said the alliance was facing its biggest challenge since World War II because of Russia's aggression toward Ukraine, welcomed Biden's announcement.

This really demonstrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond, Stoltenberg said, thanking Biden for the "unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine.

Biden said the U.S. will permanently station the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland , a move that he said would strengthen US-NATO interoperability across the alliance's eastern flank. The move marks the first permanent basing of U.S. forces on NATOs eastern edge. Biden added that the U.S. is also stepping up its rotational deployments of troops to Romania and the Baltic region.

Celeste Wallander, an assistant U.S. secretary of defense for international affairs, told reporters that having a permanent presence in Poland will be key to helping NATO navigate the changed security environment in Europe caused by Russia's invasion. The U.S. supplies the bulk of NATO's military power.

U.S. officials emphasized that the permanent basing applied only to headquarters units, not combat troops, and was therefore consistent with a 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia in which the alliance agreed not to permanently base combat troops in Eastern Europe as it aimed to build more constructive ties in the post-Cold War environment.

Polands Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told Polands state PAP news agency that the decision to add U.S. command structure was a manifestation of the ever closer cooperation between the U.S. and Poland and would give give NATO allies a frontline insight into the Russian threat.

The combat units Biden is sending to Romania and the Baltic region are on rotational deployments, rather than permanent assignment, to remain in compliance with that agreement.

There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes, nor is there a requirement to do that," John Kirby, a spokesman for Biden's National Security Council.

Biden announced on Tuesday after arriving for the summit that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain, bringing the total number to six.

Biden predicted that meetings this week would make for a history-making summit as leaders were set to approve a new strategic framework, announce a range of steps to boost their defense spending and capabilities, and clear the way for historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin thought NATO members would splinter after he invaded Ukraine, but got the opposite response instead.

Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe, Biden said. Youre gonna get the NATO-ization of Europe. And thats exactly what he didnt want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe.

Turkey, the last remaining holdout to approve the Nordic countries accession into NATO, reached an agreement on the eve of the summit late Tuesday to support adding them to the 30-nation alliance.

While the White House said the U.S. was not a direct party to the negotiations, a senior administration official said Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to encourage him to clear the way for Sweden and Finland to join. The two leaders are set to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss other issues, the White House said.

Biden also sat down Wednesday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who are attending the NATO summit as the alliance looks to strengthen its ties in the Indo-Pacific region and address challenges from China.

The three leaders discussed North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Biden said the three found deeply concerning."

Biden said our trilateral cooperation in my view is essential and said the meeting was an opportunity for the leaders to coordinate a shared response, as U.S. officials say the isolated nation may soon conduct another nuclear test.

-

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this report.
There was nothing the U.S. military could do that President Theodore Roosevelt couldn't do better. Actually there was probably no activity anyone could do that Teddy wouldn't try to do better -- and in most cases, he did do it better.

Even when it came to the military, Roosevelt had a pretty good idea of what he was doing. A veteran officer of volunteers during the Spanish-American War (for which he would later be awarded the Medal of Honor), he knew what it took to be effective in combat, and much of it required physical fitness.

Roosevelt was a renowned athlete, fitness buff and lover of all things vigorous, and everyone, even back then, knew it. So it's kind of a mystery why the United States Army and Navy would decide to question or argue with the 26th commander in chief's policies on military fitness -- but they did. Here's how that turned out for them.

1. Roosevelt Instituted the First PT Tests.

Roosevelt first rose to the presidency after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. During his tenure in office, he noticed that some of the higher-ranking officers in the Army and the Navy seemed too corpulent for their roles as military leaders. Toward the end of his second term, he wrote to Secretary of War Luke E. Wright, asking if he could implement a fitness test.

He even wrote to the Secretary of the Navy Truman Newberry that he was "unpleasantly struck by the lack of physical condition" of naval officers, old and young. He suggested they be held to the fitness standards of the coastal artillery, an Army unit that had been restructured and upgraded during his tenure.

The last thing you want as a naval officer is Theodore Roosevelt calling you out. (U.S. Navy)

The result was a fitness test for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps that consisted of three areas:

A 50-mile walk within three consecutive days and in a total of 20 hours;

A ride on horseback at a distance of 90 miles within three consecutive days; or

A ride on a bicycle at a distance of 100 miles within three consecutive days.

2. He Led the First Army Fitness Test Run.

Roosevelt, after losing a Muldoon run challenge (a seven-mile jog after an eight-mile walk) to Brig. Gen. J. Franklin Bell, the commandant of the General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, gave a speech with Bell at the school. In the November 1908 address, he told the officers they should be in fit condition at all times, and then invited them to what the president initially referred to as a "stroll."

The president led Bell, Interior Secretary James R. Garfield and 58 other officers through a dense forest at faster than the U.S. Army's double-time pace. Along the way, they crossed deep streams and climbed a steep, 200-foot rock wall. Roosevelt called it a "bully walk" at the end of the day, while the Army brass struggled to move.

President Roosevelt on another "bully walk" with naturalist John Muir in Yosemite. (National Park Service)

3. When They Complained, Roosevelt Took Action.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone in the military was thrilled with the 51-year-old president's fitness standards. The Navy pushed back against the commander in chief, specifically taking exception to the 90-mile ride within three days. On Jan. 13, 1909, the president of the United States set out on a journey to show the Navy it would be OK.

This photo is a proven fake, but people believed it because it's something Teddy could and would do. The Navy got off easy.

At 3:40 that morning, Roosevelt; military aide Capt. Archibald W. Butt; Adm. P.M. Rixey, the surgeon general of the Navy; and Navy surgeon C.D. Grayson set out from the White House on a ride. Their journey took them to Warrenton, Virginia, where the group ate a meal and then promptly returned to Washington. The entire route was 106 miles long, completed in a third of the time required by the Navy.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville arrived at Brooklyn's Fort Hamilton on June 28, 2022, to make good on an error that happened nearly 80 years ago. The general finally presented 97-year-old William Kellerman with the Prisoner of War Medal, Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Kellerman believes the paperwork for medals was never filed with the War Department because his superior officer didn't believe the soldier's story of capture in the hedgerows of France, escape via stolen bicycle and unlikely survival.

The Army, having reviewed the story, believes it happened.

At just 19 years old, Pfc. Kellerman waited six days to land on Utah Beach after thousands of American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It was the beginning of a trip of a lifetime, one he was certainly not trained for.

As June turned into July, he and Company D of the 79th Infantry, 315th Regiment fought their way to the now-infamous inland hedgerows. On July 4, he was ordered to run a message to his battalion headquarters, because the company radio had been shot out by counter-attacking Germans.

Bullets flew overhead as he moved deliberately back to his battalion HQ. Control of the region was far from secured for the Allies, which was made apparent when Kellerman stumbled into a German tank, and he was surrounded by the German Wehrmacht, guns drawn. His CO's message would not be delivered -- not by Kellerman, anyway.

"I would run across the field and dive over the hedgerow headfirst, and pick myself up and go again," Kellerman said in a 2020 interview. "After about three or four of them, I picked myself up, and there's a German tank. And they pointed it at me, so I gave up."

Kellerman's family received a notice that their son, who had been drafted in 1943, was missing in action as of July 22, 1944. Neither the Army nor his family knew the young soldier had been captured by the Germans and began the long march to a prisoner of war camp, guarded by the Nazi SS.

He and dozens of other POWs were forced to march at night due to Allied fighters and bombing runs. During the day, they would hole up inside barns and other structures, given one piece of bread to eat. During a rest along the way to Germany one night, the Nazis allowed their prisoners to stop and rest. Kellerman saw his opportunity.

Knowing the SS guards only took a head count in the mornings, he dashed into a bank of bushes and waited for the group to march away. When they were long gone, he bolted for a nearby farmhouse, where the occupant took him in.

"I said, heck with this, and I crawled into the bushes," he said. "As soon as they were out of sight, I ran like hell in the other direction. I kept on going until it got light."

World War II veteran William Kellerman after being made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 2018 (left) and Kellerman during World War II. (Best Defense Foundation via Facebook)

The Frenchman burned his uniform and gave him a set of French civilian clothes, then politely told the American soldier to get out. If the Nazis found him there, everyone would die. He walked in the woods at first, but soon grew bold enough to walk the roads, even tipping his beret to passing German troops.

Kellerman soon came upon an untended bicycle, which he promptly stole so he could ride his way 600 miles toward friendly lines. He was aided again by French civilians as he rode, provided food and shelter, until his new bike's tire went flat.

The incognito soldier just happened to stop at a bike shop that was secretly a French Resistance headquarters. He was once again met with drawn guns. The Frenchmen all but interrogated him, taking time and effort in proving Kellerman wasn't a German infiltrator.

The resistance fighters moved Kellerman to a secret camp in the Freteval Forest set up by the British Special Operations Executive, where he joined almost 200 Allied soldiers and downed pilots. He stayed in the camp, codenamed "Sherwood," until Allied forces could reach it in August 1944. That's when the Army notified his family and battalion command he was alive.

Pfc. Kellerman then rejoined his unit and continued fighting with the 79th Infantry Division until he was wounded by a sniper on April 11, 1945. He was first sent to a field hospital in Czechoslovakia, but his wound became infected, so the Army moved him to a hospital in Germany, where his war ended. Soon after, the war in Europe was over

He left the Army in 1946, his incredible escape still unrecognized by the U.S. military.

It wasn't until he traveled to Normandy in 2018 that his daughter, Jean Kellerman-Powers realized his story was true. The French government awarded him the Legion d'Honneur for his service, because his time with the French Resistance documented the story. Ever since, Kellerman-Powers has been petitioning the Army to make it right.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville awards William Kellerman a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War Medal at Fort Hamilton, New York on June 28, 2022. (U.S. Army)

The Army says an administrative error in processing Kellerman's records was the reason for the delay.

"I'm so overwhelmed, it's hard to find words," Kellerman said after McConville presented him with the medals. "But your presence is my best present. It's like I've been in the shadows all my life and someone turned a light on and I can really see who I am."

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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29.06.2022 LISTEN

Stephen Atanga, better known as Don Little, Ghanaian actor and brand influencer, has said he wishes all the slay queens in Ghana will learn from Jackie Appiah's humble lifestyle.

I wish all the slay queens in Ghana will learn from her. You can't take anything from her, he said

According to Don Little, people in Ghana, including himself, like to show off everything they get to the rest of the world, but the rich, instead, use that energy and time to work for more of those properties.

I am in Ghana so I can only speak of Ghana. We the poor people in this country like to show off a lot. If a poor man in Ghana gets a small car, they will want to be seen everywhere with all the speed at which they drive and the loud music they play. But for the rich who drive the Range Rovers and Land Cruisers, you won't even hear when they are coming. Their music is on the low because they are planning for their next business, how to make more money," he said.

Speaking on the Accra-based Oman Channel's Judgement Day programme, monitored by Modernghana News, the actor said Jackie Appiah is very humble and respectful.

He noted that even with all the wealth God has blessed her with, she still ignores people who go hard on her on social media, citing Shatta Wales earlier attack on the actress this year as an example.

"This woman is humble and respectful. I think she has received proper home training. Upon all her success have you heard her speak anyhow before? Shatta Wale came out to make a lot of unsubstantiated claims about her. But you never heard her respond. She is thinking rich and progressive and that is how every human should be," he stated.

This follows the release of a video of Jackie Appiah's plush Trassaco mansion on social media by Nigerian actress and movie producer, Luchy Donalds, who was astonished.

The video received several rebuttals on social media, with some netizens believing the mansion was not built with Jackie Appiah's personal funds, but rather by some wealthy men with whom she has slept with.

But, according to Don Little, Jackie Appiah can afford to build the mansion herself.
Dancehall artiste, Charles Nii Armah, known in showbiz as Shatta Wale has pleaded guilty to the publication of false news.

He has since been fined GH 2,000 in default of which he will be imprisoned for three (3) months.

This was after he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty before His Worship, Emmanuel Essandoh of the Circuit Court 4.

The controversial artiste was brought before the Court for publishing on social media, prophecies of death which he claimed were about him.

His lawyer, Jerry Avenogbor, told the Court that he was a first-time offender who was remorseful of the act.

The prosecution on the other hand, led by ASP Maxwell Oppong did not oppose the change in plea.

Shatta Wale was arrested in October 2021 for publicizing false claims that he had been shot in a gun attack on him in Accra.

Prior to his arrest in a lengthy Facebook post, he apologized to his fans and people who had been affected by the prank.

According to him, he took the phones of the team members and made the fake post.

He made reference to a prophecy that was made by a preacher that he would be shot dead on October 18, 2021.

According to Shatta Wale, he was surprised that the security services could not give him protection after that prophecy, hence his decision to stage the fake attack.

His move however saw widespread condemnation from the public, with many calling for the artiste to be punished.

---citinewsroom
Convenor of Fixing The Country Ghana, Kofi Twum Boafo has said external factors are to blame for the current economic hardships in Ghana.

According to him, Ghana has been directly affected by the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.

He noted that contrary to comments that the Akufo-Addo government has mismanaged the economy, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine are to blame.

Speaking in an interview on Net 2 television, Kofi Twum Boafo said, once petroleum prices go up, of course, youll see the fares of transport going up and it also has an effect on the goods that we produce in the countryside and bringing them down to the cities.

So, food prices are going to go up. Again, unfortunately, the COVID-19 experience and the Russian invasion of Ukraine experience; the combined effect of the two really, are going to inflict untold hardship on Ghanaians.

He added that the increase in commodity prices has been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "Russia and Ukraine together account for 30% of the global wheat export. The longer the conflict the greater will be the disruptions to the global food supply. The country is also likely to slow global growth."

He further attested to the fact that the country is going through some challenges at the moment.
Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has questioned the Health Ministry's adoption of a sole-sourcing procurement option in 2010, in favour of Big Sea General Trading LLC in the procurement of the controversial 200 ambulances during the Mahama administration.

The ambulances, now described as not fit for purpose, have become the subject matter of a prosecution.

A former Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson is being tried for wilfully causing financial loss to the State, together with a former Chief Director of the Health Ministry, Sylvester Anemana, and a businessman, Richard Jakpa.

Mr. Agyeman-Manu told Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe's Court that the Health Ministry at the time justified the selection of Big Sea General Trading LLC on the basis that Big Sea was instrumental in arranged funding for the procurement of the 200 ambulances.

However, the Health Minister testified, that there is no document in the Ministry that shows that the arrangement for funding was done by Big Sea General Trading LLC.

The Minister, who is the 4the Prosecution witness in the 2.3 million financial loss trial, also testified that the Parliamentary approval obtained was only in respect of the Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited loan to be procured.

The approval, he said, did not cover the sole-sourcing procurement option later adopted by the Ministry.

The term sheet that was submitted to Parliament based upon which the approval was granted did not tell anyone who had been selected to do the supply of ambulances. That was why I said that this was a bit strange to me and this wasn't the correct move at the time.

According to Mr. Agyeman-Manu, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) at the time requested further information on the sole sourcing of Big Sea General Trading LLC for the procurement of the ambulances.

He maintained that, at the time that, Big Sea was instrumental in securing the 15.8 million loan facility from Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited.

However, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu insisted, I have not sighted any document of such nature in the Ministry being used to justify the single-sourcing procurement method in favour of Big Sea Trading LLC.

---citinewsroom
Spanish public prosecutors said Tuesday they have opened an investigation into the deaths of at least 23 migrants during a mass attempt to cross into Spain's Melilla enclave.

The announcement came a few hours before the United Nations denounced what it called "excessive force" by authorities on the border between Morocco and Spain and demanded an investigation into the migrants' deaths.

The tragedy occurred at dawn on Friday when around 2,000 migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, tried to break through the fence from Morocco into the tiny Spanish enclave.

Moroccan authorities said some had fallen while trying to scramble over the fence, giving an initial toll of 18 dead, but later raising it to 23 after another five migrants died of their injuries.

They said 140 Moroccan police were wounded.

There were very few details about the incident, but Spanish media showed images of many people lying on the ground, some with bloodied hands and torn clothes.

The death toll is by far the worst recorded in years of attempts by migrants to cross into Melilla, one of Spain's two North African enclaves which have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, making them a magnet for migrants desperate to escape grinding poverty and hunger.

In a statement, the Spanish prosecutors' office said the decision was made by Attorney General Dolores Delgado in order "to clarify what happened at the Melilla border", citing the "seriousness and gravity" of the incident and its impact on the individuals' fundamental and human rights.

"We saw the use of excessive force by the authorities, which needs to be investigated because it is unacceptable," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters in New York.

Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations' rights office called for an independent investigation "as a first step towards establishing the circumstances of the deaths and injuries", spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.

While it remained unclear how the deaths had occurred, Shamdasani said the office had received reports of "migrants beaten with batons, kicked, shoved, and attacked with stones by Moroccan officials as they tried to scale the barbed-wire fence" which is between six and 10 metres high.

The African Union has also called for an "immediate investigation," with AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat expressing "deep shock and concern at the violent and degrading treatment of African migrants attempting to cross an international border from Morocco into Spain".

In Morocco, prosecutors are moving to press charges against 65 migrants, mostly Sudanese, who took part in the storming of the border, a defence lawyer in Rabat said on Monday.
The Department of Gender in the Volta Region has expressed worry over the spike in adolescent pregnancies in the Volta Region over the past three years.

In 2020, 6,144 of such cases were recorded in the region, with figures rising to 6,294 in September 2021.

Speaking to Citi News during an engagement with some adolescent mothers in some districts of the Volta region, Regional Director of Gender, Madam Thywill Eyra Kpe noted that, child marriage has been on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Madam Thywill Kpe, the engagement forms part of a Global Programme under the UNFPA Seven Country Programme which aims at ending child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa.

We realized that child marriage is quite high when it comes to sub-Saharan Africa and teenage pregnancy has been identified as a cause and effect of child marriage. Teenage pregnancy has a serious implication on our population dynamics and this is aimed to globally end child marriage.

According to Madam Kpe, over 100,000 cases of teenage pregnancy has been recorded in the country, with the Volta region recording over 6,000 cases in 2020 and 2021.

She added that, there is an implication on development even if a single girl gets pregnant, and we are much concerned if 6,000 of them are getting pregnant.

Madam Thywill Kpe, the Volta Regional Director of the Department of Gender, also noted that, the department is engaging these teenage mothers to serve as ambassadors in their various communities to prevent further increase in cases of teenage pregnancy.

The UNFPA CP7 Programme is also targeting other groups such as parents, youth groups, faith-based organisations and 'okada riders' who some girls identified as key contributors to teenage pregnancies.

Some of the teenage mothers also noted that, their education has been affected as a result of their pregnancies.

They however hope to continue their education or learn a trade to better their lives.
Information Minister Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said that those who threw stones during the demonstration by Arise Ghana pressure group were all captured on tape hence, it will make it easier for identification for arrest and prosecution.

It is during prosecution in court that it will be determined whether these persons are Police officers as is being claimed by organizers of the demonstration, the Ofoase Ayirebi lawmaker said.

When they are arrested and put before court we will find out whether they are Police or not, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said on the Good Evening Ghana show Tuesday June 28.

He further said the Police should be commended for the high level of professionalism they exhibited during the demonstration.

First, we should commend the Policemen and women for their professionalism. The IGP was very clear that [the demonstrators] are supposed to be your brothers and sisters, treat them with decorum, assist them to exercise their constitutional right under Article 21(1)(d) which gives you the right to join an assembly to protest to as you please.

Even when they were attacked by these persons, though they had superior force that they could use even in their own defence , in compliance with the instruction of their superior they still kept their calm and did their best to control the situation.

There is an obvious attempt to create instability in our country at this time, we don't need to mince words about it . There is a trajectory, first, there was a group that wanted to demonstrate with weapons , then there was this group that said they wanted to demonstrate throughout the night till the following morning . The Police raised obvious security questions against that.

This is even day time, broad day light at Obra Spot here at Accra, you have people attacking Police in this manner, can you imagine what could have happened at night if some of these things were allowed to continue throughout the night , he said.

The Police announced that 12 officers have been injured during the demonstration by members of the Arise Ghana pressure group on Tuesday, June 28.

The injured officers have been transferred to the Police hospital in Accra for further treatment.

Some Police vehicles have also been damaged, the Police said in a statement.

The Police further described the development as shameful.

What a shame, we were there to protect you and ensure your safety, but you throw stones at us, injure and hurt us. This behaviour is unacceptable and must be condemned.

But a leader of the group, Sammy Gyamfi dismissed claims that members threw stones at the Police during the demonstration.

He described the persons who exhibited that conduct as agent provocateurs who were planted in their midst by the Police.

They are agent provocateurs planted in their midst by the Police, these are not members of the Arise Ghana. We arrested them and gave them to the Police.

We did not go there with sticks, we did not go there with stones, we went there with our voice to protest against the obnoxious e-levy which amounts to thievery.

He added our hands are clean, our conscience are clean, we believe in what we are doing.

Sammy Gyamfi further accused the Police of embarking on Public Relations (PR) gimmick to brand the demonstrators as violent citizens.

If you look at the statement being issued by the Police on their social media handles, you can clearly see through the PR gimmicks being mounted by the Police.

PR gimmick intended to brand Arise Ghana as violent citizens of this country. They described us as rioting demonstrators. No one who intends to embark on a riot will give the Police the Police 20 days notice to embark on a riot, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said.

3news.com
29.06.2022 LISTEN

Following the chaos that marred the first day of the Arise Ghana Kuromu Ay3hye demonstration, Edem Agbana, a leading member of the group, accused the police of acting unprofessionally.

According to Edem Agbana, the police acted in an uncivilized manner, citing an instance where a police officer threatened to shoot at the crowd amidst firing of teargas and rubber bullets at them.

He disclosed this to the media in the aftermath of the demonstration on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

They were not civil because there was an instance where a police officer told me that he will shoot at the crowd and I gave myself to him that shoot me because I am their leader, right there in front of the police service. The rest of the men had to separate us because I told him, he was holding his gun and said [I will shoot at the crowd] and I said shoot me first," he stated.

Prior to the protest on Tuesday, the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, told officers assigned to provide security for the Arise Ghana demonstration to treat the protesters with respect and dignity and offer assistance to anyone in need because they are all Ghanaians.

"We should continue to remember that those demonstrators are human beings like us; those demonstrators are Ghanaians like us; they are our brothers and sisters.

"Therefore, we should treat them with all the respect, the civility, and dignity that each and every human being deserves. In effect, we should treat them the way we would have loved to be treated if we were on the other side," he said.

However, Mr. Edem Agbana, speaking to the media amidst the turmoil, said the IGP was only pretending to be professional on camera but he failed to instil in his men professionalism.

He added that the IGP has become a celebrity IGP who goes around frying bofrot and kelewele but fails to instill discipline in personnel of the service.

"His men have not been civil. All that Dampare said and we have known Dampare, he is a celebrity IGP. He likes to speak nice things to the camera but he acts otherwise. He goes round frying Kelewele and bofrot and all that, that is not his work. He should come and see the unprofessionalism that has been exhibited by his men.

"Some of his men are extremely unprofessional, he must be held responsible," he added.

The demonstration, which was supposed to be peaceful ended in turmoil after the police claimed the demonstrators, in their quest to use an unprescribed route, pelted stones at them, which made them fire tear gas and rubber bullets to calm the situation.

Though the Arise Ghana demonstrators have refuted this claim by stating that the routes the police were describing as unprescribed routes were false in the sense that they have filed at the court a Stay of Execution, which means their initial agreement with the police still holds.

The leaders of the group (Sammy Gyamfi and Bernard Mona) debunked the allegations that their members pelted stones at the police. They noted that it was some disguised policemen planted among them who pelted the stones just to give the police a reason to unleash brutalities on them and mar the entire demonstration.

The police have since arrested about 28 protesters, yet the demonstration, according to Sammy Gyamfi will continue on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
29.06.2022 LISTEN

The Ghana Police Service has stated that, it has so far arrested 29 demonstrators in connection with the violent attacks at the Arise Ghana demonstration.

Videos are being reviewed to sight more culprits for further arrests.

In a statement on June 28, the police indicated that, per provisions of section 3 of the Public Order Act, (Act 491), organizers of the demonstration will be arrested and put before courts for attacks and damage to public property.

See details here

The Arise Ghana demonstration begun on June 28 as demonstrators took to the streets of Accra to demonstrate against the ailing economy and severe hardship in the country.

The Arise Ghana demonstration took place on June 28 at 8am at the Obra spot.

However, violence erupted when demonstrators started pelting stones at the police who in response fired tear gas at them.

12 policemen were injured and have received treatment.

The demonstration continues today, June 29.
Flagbearership aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has intimated that he will not entertain family relationships in his government.

According to Kennedy Agyapong, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Assin Central constituency, he will contest to become president.

He noted that when his dreams are accomplished, he will maintain a firm stance on discipline and anti-corruption.

Speaking on Suncity radio, a Sunyani-based radio station, on June 24, 2022, which was monitored by Modernghana News, he emphasised that he would not appoint any member of his family into his government.

"No member of my family will serve in my government. When it is time to fire you, you will be fired.

"Even my wife who is seated here (studios of a radio station), if my wife misbehaves as First Lady, she will revert to a housewife, he noted.

Kennedy Agyapong has declared his intention to contest the New Patriotic Party's flagbearer race.

He will compete with big guns such as the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Alan Kwadwo Kyeremateng, the minister of trade and industry and others.
The bird count gets underway -- two members of the superb starling family, a Nubian woodpecker, and so on.

The census unfolding in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro is part of a project with a dual aim -- using biodiversity to make money, which will then help to preserve natural resources and support local communities.

The 5,000-hectare (12,400-acre) terrain on the edge of Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya boasts elephants, giraffes, antelopes and lions.

The reserve's owners are the Maasai people, and no fence separates the land from territory used by herders for their cows, sheep, goats and donkeys.

These days, well-heeled visitors are returning to the reserve after the Covid-19 pandemic, which had wrenching financial consequences.

"Tourism completely collapsed, and we realised that we need to find other ways of rising revenue and income to be able to continue paying the leases," said Mohanjeet Brar, managing director of tour operator Gamewatchers Safaris, which rents Selenkay from the Maasai.

The reserve has an eye on the potential from carbon credits and planned biodiversity credits -- mechanisms designed to channel funds to landowners who preserve natural hotspots for rare species and carbon storage.

Data first

For Selenkay, the first step towards realising these gains is to collect data -- to make an inventory of the reserve's treasure house.

Tourism income supports the local community in many ways, helping to provide water for people and livestock and generating jobs. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

Cameras and acoustic recorders are being used to give an idea of which animals are present on the reserve and in what numbers, and these are supplemented by human observations.

Over one month, morning and evening, team members are stationed at specific points to make a tally of all the animals seen and heard for 10 minutes.

"Is biodiversity higher in the conservancy than outside the conservancy and what's driving that increase?" said Andrew Davies, an assistant professor at Harvard University in the United States, who is helping the research.

"Once we know that from a scientific perspective, we can begin thinking about making a credit to sell."

Helped by a drone, the researchers are also getting a picture of the amount of carbon stored in trees and in the soil.

Tourism income from Brar's company supports the local community in many ways, helping to provide water for people and livestock and generating jobs. All of the rangers and almost all of Selenkay's staff are Maasai.

Even so, living conditions are still difficult, said Noolasho Keteko, one of the women from the Maasai village bordering the conservancy.

The crop-haired mother of eight, adorned with colourful bead jewellery, also makes money from tourist visits to the mud-hut village and from selling jewellery.

Team members are stationed at specific points to make a tally of all the animals seen and heard. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

But when Selenkay closes in April and May for the rainy season, the village needs assistance, she explained.

People in the district want to prevent the land from being sold, turned into fields and fenced off, preventing wildlife from moving freely.

But a short distance from the reserve, a high fence already crosses the landscape to make way for fields.

Income from credits could ease the pressure on the environment, said one of the guides, Nicholas Koyieyo.

It would encourage herders to cut back on numbers of cattle, enabling grass and trees to regenerate, he said.

Market question

The big question is whether Selenkay's resources can be adequately monetised.

"Kenya has a very fast-growing population -- the land price is also high (and) there are many options for land use," Brar said.

The market for carbon credits is well-established, although far from perfect.

Under it, carbon polluters can offset their greenhouse-gas emissions by "purchasing" emissions that are reduced or saved by other members in the scheme.

But the much-touted market for biodiversity credits has yet to be created.

Cameras and acoustic recorders are being used to give an idea of which animals are present on the reserve. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

On Sunday, preparatory talks for a UN biodiversity summit due in December wound up in Nairobi after making scant progress.

"There's no biodiversity trading market and we have to develop that," said Davies.

"We need carbon as a first step to get the things going, to get trust from the landowners," he said.

"A lot of money needs to go back to the community, so if we start to get money and giving it to the community then they will have faith in us."
29.06.2022 LISTEN

Security Analyst, Mr. Richard Kumadoe has indicated that the Police should have caused the arrest of organisers of the Arise Ghana krom ay3 hye demonstration by now.

The first day of the demonstration on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, witnessed chaos when protesters pelted stones at the Police and Police vehicles.

Subsequently, the Police retaliated by firing tear gas and water cannons as a means to control the violent crowd.

In a press release from the Ghana Police Service, it has disclosed that it will be arresting the organisers of the Arise Ghana demonstration.

..the organisers of the demonstration will be arrested and put before court for the attacks and damage to public property, in line with the provisions of Section 3 of the Public Order Act, (Act 491), parts of a police statement signed by Chief Superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi said last night.

Speaking to TV3 on the New Programme on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, Security Analyst Mr. Richard Kumadoe says the Police should have caused the arrest already.

In his view, the delay to arrest the organisers may empower them to mobilise more protesters for the second day of the demonstration today.

They should have arrested them by now but, now that they have left the leaders, then it gives them the power to also mobilize their people.

I only hope and pray that we have only one country called Ghana and whether we are demonstrating or we are providing law enforcement, let us be circumspect, let us be prudent, and ensure that public safety is assured while we also achieve the aim of whatever we want to put across because there are many days are ahead and many things are going to happen, Richard Kumadoe shared.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police has confirmed that it has managed to arrest 29 protesters who allegedly caused the chaos.
A Security Analyst, Mr Richard Kumadoe has said the Police should have arrested leaders of the Arise Ghana demonstration for chaos that occurred, by now.

In his view, the Police have delayed in arresting them, a situation he said has allowed the leaders to mobilize more people for the second day of the demonstration today, Wednesday June 29.

The Ghana Police Service has served notice all organisers of Tuesday's demonstration by Arise Ghana will be arrested and arraigned before court.

The police say they are taking that action as a result of the attacks and damage caused to public property.

The action, according to the law-enforcement agency, is in line with provisions of Section 3 of the Public Order Act, Act 491.

Tuesday's demonstration dubbed #KromAy3Hye demo ended abruptly after police restrained the demonstrators from pouring onto Ring Road Central to March towards the Jubilee House.

Stones were pelted at the police, from persons accused by organisers as agent provocateurs planted within them by the same police, and tear gas were fired, that certainly from the police.

So far, 29 persons have been arrested.

Available video footages of the event are being reviewed and all other persons identified for taking part in the attacks as well as inciting the violence will be arrested and brought to face justice, the police said in a press release on Tuesday, June 28.

It observed that there is a calculated falsehood and misinformation being peddled by the leaders of the demonstration.

We urge the public to disregard the untruths and treat them with the contempt they deserve, for the footages and images of the event speak for themselves.

Commenting on this development on the New Day show on TV3 with Berla Mundi Wednesday June 29, Mr Kumadoe said They should have arrested them by now but, now that they have left the leaders, then it gives them the power to also mobilize their people.

I only hope and pray that we have only one country called Ghana and whether we are demonstrating or we are providing law enforcement, let us be circumspect, let us be prudent and ensure that public safety is assured while we also achieve the aim of whatever we want to put across, because there are many days are ahead and many things are going to happen.

He further said elsewhere, the Inspector General of Police would have resigned following the way the Police reacted to the situation.

In some countries, he would have resigned. Recently, some happened in other countries, black people generally dont resign, Africans dont take personal responsibility for the actions of their people, particularly when IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare instructed them to go out there and do A,B,C,D and they went to do exactly the opposite of what happened, that means leadership has a problem, there is miscommunication. Somebody is undermining somebody just as we saw in the case of the Takoradi girls.

3news.com
Naib Subedar Amrendra Kumar, who slipped and fell into a stream in Arunachal Pradesh nearly 72 hours ago, is yet to be traced.

According to the Army's Eastern Command, incessant rain and poor visibility in the rugged terrain is affecting search operations. Meanwhile, the JCO's wife Rekha Kumari has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, not to call off the search operation. Naib Subedar Kumar is a resident of Bokaro in Jharkhand.

"He was posted to the Red Shield Division (57 Mountain Division) and was on an operational patrol in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh around 2 p.m. on Sunday when he slipped and fell into the fast-flowing mountain stream. A search was immediately launched along the stream but the soldier could not be traced. Search is continuing downstream with the help of villagers and the civil administration. We are still hopeful that he will be found alive," an officer said.

According to relatives, senior officers from Naib Subedar Kumar's unit are maintaining regular contact with the family. "We have an idea of the terrain and the risks involved there. However, he is a battle-hardened soldier with survival skills. We have not given up hope. We are receiving messages from well-wishers and those are providing a lot of support. We just pray to God that the weather improves there to allow search parties to trace him," a cousin said.

There is significant Army presence in the district. Ziro, the district headquarter, also has an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG). According to another officer, air assets may be pressed into service as soon as visibility improves. On Wednesday, the weather remained cloudy with scattered rainfall in the region.

"We don't leave our soldiers behind. We shall trace him. Our only concern is that he may be injured and in need of medical assistance," he added.
The Ghana Police Service has secured an ex parte injunction to restrain families of the victims of the Ejura shooting from commemorating the 1st anniversary of the passing of the deceased.

The ex parte injunction was secured on Tuesday, 28 June 2022 at the Ejura District Court.

A statement issued by the families said they had planned Islamic prayers and Quran recitals for their departed loved ones on Thursday 30 June 2022.

According to the statement, the families were also planning to clean the cemetery where they are buried and to build a tombstone over their graves.

It continued that: We are shocked to find that our Courts are now been used to prevent us from mourning our dead relatives and performing the necessary customary and religious rites to observe their killing by the military.

Nothing can fully describe the pain we feel in this moment. Our families are broken and devastated by this act of insensitivity and moral injustice.

The families however hinted at holding a Press Conference to outline their next steps.

Two persons lost their lives and four others sustained injuries in a clash between protesters and a joint security force made up of military and police personnel on Tuesday, 29 June 2021.

The youth of Ejura were enraged by the murder of social media activist Ibrahim Muhammed, popularly known as Kaaka.

Kaaka, 45, a resident of Dagombaline at Ejura, was ambushed in front of his house when he was returning home on his motorbike at about 1:30 pm on Saturday, 27 June 2021.

He was rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital but was later referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital where he died while on admission on Sunday, 28 June 2021.

Source: classfmonline.com
Management of Ghana Post has visited the Royal Mail at its Mount Pleasant Mail Centre (Mount Pleasant), its largest sorting office in London, for knowledge sharing and a tour of its operations and sorting processes.

The visit, which was facilitated by Grow, Unite and Build Africa (GUBA) Enterprise, led the Ghana Post delegation to meet with key leaders including Antony Harvey, International Managing Director and Ben Holmes, Head of International Relations. The delegation was invited to a tour of Mount Pleasant by its manager, Jay Brooks.

Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Post, Bice Osei Kuffour said, The visit was amazing as it offered the opportunity for the Ghana Post team to experience how efficient the Royal Mail is and how the company has leapfrogged its challenges in its 500 years of operations.

Ghana Post being the most reliable service provider in the areas of postal, courier and e-commerce services and one of the best in the West Africa sub region has a lot to learn from the Royal Mail regarding investment in new areas of the postal value chain and the use of automation for an enhanced and efficient operation.

The Ghana Post team discussed possible areas of expertise and asked for technical assistance in the development of current processes to offer matchless mail service delivery in the sub-region.

The Royal Mail has moved from operating manually to automating its processes and operations with a key focus on the use of technology, Harvey of the Royal Mail indicated.

The companys use of technology enables it to process up to 40,000 letters a day at Mount Pleasant alone, using its Intelligent Letter Sorting Machines.

Due to the decline in letters owing to the high interest and trend in email use, the Royal Mail is currently prioritising parcel services across the UK with the establishment of parcel Super Hubs in the North-West of England and as of 2023, the Midlands.

With the surge in online retail sales, the Royal Mail is seeing a bigger drive for parcel services and is currently processing up to 800,000 parcels a day in its Warrington super hub.

The visit as facilitated by GUBA, among other things, is part of our agenda of ensuring synergy between indigenous Ghanaian companies and similar counterparts in Europe and the USA in possible areas of collaboration, knowledge acquisition and technical assistance, said Dentaa Amoateng MBE, CEO and President of GUBA Enterprise.

Other key representatives of Royal Mail who were present at the meeting include Nick Landon; Chief Commercial Officer, Kevin Cooper; Head of Processing Design and Eric Ashiagbor; London Jubilee Plant Manager.
Ningo Prampram Member of Parliament, Hon. Samuel Nartey George has given an assurance to all suffering Ghanaians to look forward to better days when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assume power at the end of the 2024 general elections.

The Parliamentarian passed these comments while speaking to the media on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 during the Arise Ghana krom ay3 hye demonstration.

Using biblical terms, Sam George stressed that although weeping may persist among the citizenry in current times, joy will soon come.

The President should stop flying in rented and luxurious jets and use the presidential jet that President Mahama used.

One day, we assure all and like the Bible says, weeping may endure for a while but joy comes in the morning. Our joy will come on the 7th of January 2025/ But between now and December 7, 2024, Sam George told journalists.

Unfortunately, the Arise Ghana demonstration that was expected to be peaceful ended in chaos.

The Police have reported that 12 of its officers deployed to protect protesters sustained various injuries from the stones pelted by the violent members of the protest.

In addition, the Police have disclosed that it has arrested 29 protesters who are currently in custody.

Meanwhile, the Police have indicated that organisers of the Arise Ghana demonstration will be arrested and put before court for the destruction caused to public property during the demonstration.
Popular broadcaster of the Accra-based peace FM, Odi Ahenkan Kwame Yeboah, has taken a swipe at the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ningo Prampram constituency, Sam Nartey George for his comments at the Arise Ghana demonstration.

According to the broadcaster, Members of Parliament like Sam George cannot deceive Ghanaians that they are suffering despite all the allowances and benefits they enjoy from government.

He noted that the lawmaker was just trying to deceive the protesters to do things that would incite violence.

Sam George is deceiving Ghanaians and the protesters, he is not suffering, no MP, despite the allowances and the numerous benefits they enjoy can tell us they are suffering.

He just went there to instigate violence so, in the end, he will be cruising in his air-conditioned V8 to his house, he said.

He said this in the twi local language during a newspaper review on Peace FMs Kokrookoo morning show on June 29, 2022, monitored by Modernghana News.

He was commenting on the chaos that marred the first day of the demonstrations on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
THE PRESIDENT has adopted three key presidential habits which I admire. Presidents who adopt such habits finally succeed in their endeavor to develop their respective countries. While they listen to the cries, complains, criticisms and insults, they talk less and with patience. They concentrate their efforts at finding solutions to the problems and complains raised. That is the mark of a good leader; a good and focused president for that matter. The truth is that when people know you are responsible and possess the can-do spirit, they demand from you. This is the position where the President has found himself in.

Prophet Moses was impatient. He easily got angry when the Israelites he led started complaining, nagging and apportioning blames. In fact, great grandpa Moses was not a good leader even though he had the full support of the mighty Hand of the God of Israel behind him. Barely six hundred men, women and children followed Prophet Moses from Egypt along the way to the promised land of Canaan but Moses could not withstand the numerous complains and at a point in time, he issued a very serious dicta like An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Moses was not the talkative type because he stammered. He, therefore, passed the test of one of the key habits of a leader. He talked less. But he failed in the other two useful habits. He was tired of listening to complains and he was impatient. When the Israelis complained of thirst in the hot desert, God instructed Moses to direct his rod at a rock for water to flow for the people to drink. However, the people's numerous complains angered him and made him strike the rock instead with his rod, attracting punishment from God. It was for such reason that God told him that his eye would see Canaan alright but his foot will never step on that soil. This came to pass.

The very day Nana Akufo Addo was sworn in as the Executive President of Ghana, Ghanaians started to complain. Wherever he went, the chiefs, the youth and a cross-section of the people complained of bad roads, lack of good drinking water, lack of school blocks, dumsor and unemployment, etc. The man patiently listened to all the complains since he knew he was voted into power to solve problems. Then the man hit the road, running like a hare. His predecessor had boasted that he had constructed and an unprecedented number of roads in the country and so when people started complaining of bad roads, President Akufo Addo got confused. As he was traversing the land to seek votes during the electioneering campaign, he noticed that the roads were very bad and he also complained. His competitor John Dramani Mahama, who got angry, said Nana Addo was sleeping when he traveled on those roads. Today, even though President Akufo Addo has not been speaking loudly of his achievements as far as road construction in Ghana is concerned, Ghanaians are living witnesses to the number of good roads, overhead bridges, flyovers and interchanges built, as well as other projects in the pipeline. As for the NDC apparatchiks, since they are wearing 'wooden glasses', they cannot see any of these projects. At least, I drove over the Tamale Interchange last week. And this is a project which was unthinkable.

Any half-hearted politician would have dropped the idea of free SHS when the idea faced harsh criticism from the NDC. Some said it could become possible in twenty years time whiles others like Okudjeto Ablakwa, (the Presidential Travels Specialist PTS), said free SHS would collapse in a matter of five years if it was introduced. Their boss himself, Mr. Mahama, said it was not feasible and that the NPP was using the promise as a political trick to win votes. The then candidate Akufo Addo kept his patience and kept hammering on the issue as he criss-crossed the country in his bid to become the President of Ghana. When they questioned where he was going to get money to execute the project, he kept silent. In fact, he kept all his trump cards on his chest, waiting for the opportunity to deliver them. As for insults, vilifications and sheer disrespect, the man Akufo Addo heard all and was able to contain them because he had and still has very strong shock absorbers, and the skin of a crocodile. Today, the first batch of the free SHS project are in tertiary and other higher institutions.

All the flagship programmes he promised and initiated are on track but as I wrote last week, he has been disappointed by the communication outfit of his party. The government talks of more than one hundred factories built under the One District One Factory Programme but we don't see them because, the leadership of the party, who are in the places where these projects are located, is not talking about it. MMDCEs are keen on awarding contracts while sitting in their air conditioned offices but shy away from showcasing such projects through the media for the people to see or even visit project sites to see the progress of work. Constituency and regional chairmen are also busy lobbying for contracts while the job of trumpeting the achievements of the government lies somewhere, unattended to. Heads must start to roll as soon as possible. There is no time to lose because election 2024 is just around the corner. The government must not wait till election is near before showcasing achievements like they did the last time around. The minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Dan Botwe and his deputy, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, my very good friends, should wake up from their slumber. MMDCEs must be made to expose the NDC communicators who continue to disturb our ears that nothing has been done in respect of the One Factory One District programme, roads, school blocks, dormitories, Agenda 111 etc.

Talking about school blocks and dormitories reminds me of what Mr. Mahama said when the double track system was introduced in the face of the huge intake of SHS students, following the introduction of free SHS. He teased the government by saying that the double track system is a traffic light system of education. Today, many SHS are not practising the double track system because school blocks and dormitories and other facilities have been built to accommodate the students. How will the person in Accra know of such achievements if he is not told? And who will tell them if not the MMDCEs and the constituency and regional communication officers? Or is it the case of a grab a post and go to sleep scenario? I hereby serve notice that if I wait for one month and nothing is done as far as showcasing the achievements of government is concerned; I will throw away my fountain pen and grab my trenchant pen, don my solid and shining armour of confrontational discourse and go to town with verbal showmanship. The result will be acidic, abrasive, caustic and nasty. MMDCEs, communication officers and of course, the Minister of Information, should go for their iron crash helmets when the time comes. After all, who am I, Angel Gabriel, for? No cigar today because I am already steaming with uncontrollable fury.

BY Eric Bawah

[email protected]
The Military Officer who was involved in the Zabramaline shooting incident has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.

Isaac Abbey, 37-years old, who was charged with protection of land and interest in land, carrying offensive weapons and trespassing, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The accused person has been granted bail in the sum of GHS100,000.00, each with two sureties.

The Court ordered that one of the sureties should be justified and that one of the sureties should be civil servant earning not less than GHS2,000.00.

Meanwhile, his accomplices, Godfred Amegbor, a 29-year-old mobile money vendor and Offei Darko, a 28-year-old musician are also on bail.

They were jointly being held for abetment of crime and trespass.

Darko is however facing three counts of causing harm and the use of offensive weapons.

They pleaded not guilty.

According to prosecution, Offei Darko, could not appear before court on their adjourned date and information received by the Court indicated that he had been admitted at the hospital due to the

beating he received on the day of his arrest.

Meanwhile, the Court has warned the Prosecution to prepare and serve all disclosures.

The Court presided over by Mr Sam Bright Acquah adjourned the matter to July 5, 2022.

Earlier, Prosecuting Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Augustus Yirenkyi told the Court that Abbey was a military officer with the Education Unit at Teshie, Darko was a musician, Amegbor was a mobile money vendor at Lapaz, Accra and Yahaya Tamimu, aged 32, was a trader.

The Prosecution said on June 4, 2022, Amegbor who was in a military uniform, captured on video posed as military officer stationed at the Education Unit in Teshie, and Darko joined Abbey in his Ford SUV vehicle to a construction site at Zamramaline, a community in Dansoman for an illegal demolishing exercise.

Mr Yirenkyi said they met a crowd including victims Faisal Khalid Azuma and Ali Hashimiru, who was currently on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, suffering from gunshot wounds.

The Prosecution said the victims confronted the accused persons and asked them of a court order that gave them the power to demolish the property on the land and that generated an intense argument between the two parties.

Mr Yirenkyi said Darko who was seen wielding a gun in a video, aimed and shot at the victims which led to Azuma sustaining injuries on his left ankle, Hashimiru to his stomach, a 13-year-old Fawzan Inusah, a passerby to his buttocks, and three others who were part of the crowd.

The Prosecution said Hashimiru and three others were rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Mr Yirenkyi said three were treated and discharged but Hashimiru was detained due to the severity of his injuries, whilst the 13-year-old Inusah was sent to Shukura Community Clinic where he was also treated and discharged.

After the shooting, suspect Abbey arrested the injured and brought him to the Dansoman Police Station and lodged a complaint of causing damage to his vehicle where the accused was arrested and detained for investigation.

The Prosecution said Darko and Amegbor were later arrested by the youth of Zamramaline and brought to the station severely beaten.

Mr Yirenkyi said victim Azuma and the two accused persons were sent to the Dansoman Polyclinic where they were treated and discharged.

During investigations, the accused persons alleged that the gun was taken from them by the crowd which assaulted them.

The case is still under investigation, according to prosecution.

GNA
Scientists have shown that after a few weeks of hand exercise, blood pressure returns to normal. A very long time is spent on getting results, while pharmacological activity and the therapeutic effect are contrasted.

As a few simple workouts can effectively manage hypertension, but not provide the purpose of providing quick relief, scientists advise paying attention to hand training to drop the pressure.

It will take a few weeks or perhaps months to stabilize the pressure, so you shouldn't anticipate a one-time effect, but the outcome will still be to your liking. It is even conceivable in some circumstances to decline blood pressure-regulating drugs after consulting with your doctor.



The silent killer, high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can cause a startling array of health problems, such as kidney failure, heart disease, and stroke. Photo credit: appreciategoods.com

In general, high blood pressure is a severe issue because it may essentially kill you from the inside out without you even being aware of it. Therefore, doctors advise older persons to consistently keep a blood pressure diary and young people to record their blood pressure at least sometimes.

You'll probably need to take cardio-protectants if your blood pressure increases above usual. However, you may also give the isometric grip technique, an alternative approach, a try.

An alternative approach is to train your hands using an isometric grip. Although muscles are used in this type of training, their size does not alter; neither do they lengthen or shorten, according to the Daily Record portal. Following 20 weeks of training, modifications in blood pressure measurements were apparent.

Similar trials were carried out by McMaster University in Canada, with participants working on hand grip three times each week. The investigation lasted for 8 weeks. The researchers found that arm exercises significantly lowered systolic blood pressure. 

One of the main arteries was also shown to become less rigid and more flexible after these exercises, according to an ultrasound study of blood vessels. This is an indication of the health of blood vessels.

What hand movements will help get blood pressure back to normal?

Compress a solid object

A dense sphere, a piece of pipe, a ball, or any other solid object would work well for this. With roughly a third of the full force, hold it in your palm. Hold for approximately 2 minutes before taking a 2-minute break and repeating with the other hand. For each, you'll need two strategies.

Draw the rope.

You will require a dense, strong rope that is around 40 centimeters long in this situation. It shouldn't flex. You need to make knots on both sides, around 10 centimeters from the ends. As if trying to break the rope, grab them in your hands and stretch the rope in various ways. Spend two minutes working out, two minutes resting, and then two more minutes working out.

Break the pipe

Nothing is broken here, you will need a wooden bar, a stiff piece of pipe, and a towel foundation for this workout. Take hold of the pipe firmly with both hands and make an effort to split it in half. Three-quarters of the maximal effort is performed for two minutes, followed by a two-minute break and another two minutes of repetitions.
The organisers of the Arise Ghana demonstration are set to drag the Ghana Police Service to court over the violent incident witnessed on day one of the krom ay3 hye demonstration.

Several Ghanaians converged at the Obra Spot at Circle on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, to participate in the Arise Ghana demonstration.

Unfortunately, what was to be a peaceful protest against the hardships in the country ended in chaos as Police fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber buttlets in retaliation to stones pelted by some of the protesters.

Subsequently, on Tuesday night, the Ghana Police Service issued a press release indicating that the organisers of the demonstration will be arrested and put before court.

..the organisers of the demonstration will be arrested and put before court for the attacks and damage to public property, in line with the provisions of Section 3 of the Public Order Act, (Act 491), parts of a police statement signed by Chief Superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi said.

Reacting to the Police statement today, Joshua Akamba who is a leading member of Arise Ghana has stressed that the leadership of the group will not be intimidated.

According to him, the group is also ready and will press charges against the Police over what happened during the demonstration.

We will make case against the Police. Whiles, they are making a case against us, we will also make a case, and we will press charges against them.

Tell them that we are not afraid of their intimidation. Nkrumah came out of jail and became president we will rescue this country, Joshua Akamba told TV3 in an interview.

Meanwhile, another member of the new group, Bernard Mornah has disclosed that Arise Ghana leaders are ready to honour invitations from the Police.
29.06.2022 LISTEN

American exceptionalism can be a dreary thing, and no more so than each time a US president promotes the countrys imperial credentials and continued prowess. But in matters of literacy, shared wealth, and health care, the US has been outpaced by other states less inclined towards remorseless social Darwinism.

The overruling of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization has created a sense that those outside the US will somehow draw inspiration from the example of the sacred foetus and the diminished autonomy of its carrier.

MSI Reproductive Choices, a group furnishing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries, was palpably concerned. As a global abortion provider, we know that the impact of this decision will be also felt around the word, warned Sarah Shaw, Global Head of Advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices. From the Global Gag Rule to US funded anti-choice groups who harass women outside our clinics and lobby governments to restrict access, decisions made in the US have an impact beyond their borders.

The organisations Africa Director, Banchiamlak Dessalegn is also worried about the repercussions of US judicial reasoning. Todays decision has the potential to harm women, not just in America but around the world, and undermine the efforts of countries across Africa to recognise a womans right to choose.

Beyond any discernible court legacy beyond national borders, the US role in stifling abortion arguments globally is far from negligible. Republican administrations since Ronald Reagan have made a habit of enforcing the global gag rule, also known as the Mexico City policy, limiting US aid regarding family planning services. Since 1973, Congress has tended to attach the ban to foreign aid spending bills where US funding will go to foreign groups that perform abortions or motivate individuals to seek them.

In terms of situating the shift Dobbs entails, the US finds itself keeping company with a small rear guard in the abortion wars. Since the 1990s, over 60 countries have taken the move of permitting or decriminalising abortion. A clutch of countries have bucked the trend, among them Poland, Malta, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

In Europe, the US example is likely to stir an anti-abortion frontline that has all been long battered. Agenda Europe, a network of anti-abortion, pro-Christian and far-right organisations comprising activists, commentators and politicians, is one of its most active collectives. Since the early 2010s, its participants have sought to generate critical support for the standard slew of causes: pro-life, pro-family, anti-LGBT rights. Their continued work has been significant enough to catch the interest of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPFPD).

On its own website, Agenda Europe seeks to correct egregious falsehoods about alleged extremism and militancy, objecting to the label of religious extremists attributed to them by such the EPFPD. Members of Agenda Europe promote the dignity of every human person, the importance of the family, and religious freedom, as enshrined in all major human rights treaties. As Europeans, our members share the Christian Philosophical and Intellectual foundations of our continent.

The abortion battleground reached Europes centre stage in June 2021, when the European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution urging EU countries to see any interference with access to contraception, fertility treatment maternity care and abortion as human rights breaches. While 378 MEPs voted in favour, 255 voted against, with the centre-right European Peoples Party and the European Conservative and Reformists arguing, much along the lines used in Dobbs, that such policy should be left to individual EU states. But even in the final text, its original drafter, Croatian Socialist MEP Pedrag Fred Matic, took issue with the presence a conscience clause that would permit doctors to withhold abortions on grounds of religion or conscience.

It was with a Christian Philosophical spirit that Poland imposed a near-complete ban on abortions which took effect in 2021. The state has also, in rather creepy fashion, created a pregnancy registry which has been seen as a surveillance tool that can be used to track women should they order abortion pills or seek an abortion overseas.

For all this pessimism, the already hefty movement in favour of abortion rights is just as likely to assert itself in the wake of developments in the US. Milly Nanyombi Kaggwa, senior clinical advisor for Africa at Population Services International, points out with necessary perspective that abortion is only strictly prohibited in 5% of countries.

Groups such as MSI Reproductive Choices have also drawn a line in the sand of resistance. To anyone who wants to deny someones right to make decisions about what is right for their body and their future, our message is We are not going back. Dobbs, in short, may prove on the international stage to be more damp squib than firecracker.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. Email: [email protected]
29.06.2022 LISTEN

Hunger is on the rise in Africa, making it more difficult for the continent to attain the right to adequate food. Amidst hunger in Africa is an avid reliance on foreign assistance. On 4th June 2022, the African Union chair, Macky Sall,,met with Vladimir Putin to discuss the food shortages in Africa resulting from the war in Ukraine.

Africa has over 300 million food-insecure people and about 60 percent of the worlds unused arable land. The potential for Africas food systems to support food rights is massive, but the region does not maximize food resources to cater to the needs of its ever-growing population. Thus regaining control over indigenous food systems could be a symbol of power for Africa. However, Africa needs to know that it can build a sustainable food system without continually relying on unequal foreign aid and food imports.

Africa can achieve freer food systems, by prioritizing food sovereignty. Food sovereignty will enable Africans to produce, distribute, and consume the most socially and environmentally appropriate food in their respective regions. Understanding the organizations and mechanisms controlling food resources can help Africa overcome a looming food crisis.

Presently, food systems in Africa continually take away the ability of farmers to grow and profit off indigenous crops. Thereby affecting farmers' freedom of choice in what to eat and how to eat it. In the pre-colonial era, African farmers cultivated a wide variety of nutritious seeds, and also engaged in a barter system of food trade. The system paved the way for nutrition security then.

However, colonialism came with an emphasis on the cultivation of grains like maize as a staple crop for Africans and as a raw material for export used in the production of biofuels. The effects of this system still linger and affect the agency of African farmers by prolonging the cycle of food insecurity. Farmers remain dependent on the system of cultivating globally acceptable crops to export raw materials while the continent imports much-needed food crops.

Africa also needs to rise above unfavorable trade regulations as well as violence, climate change, a lack of infrastructure, and drought to safeguard food security.

Developing appropriate agro-ecological interventions by region is a vital way out of Africa's food security problem. Such initiatives will highlight the agency and significance of Africa's indigenous farmers, who are the gatekeepers of sustainable agricultural techniques. The initiative will also improve rural African communities' abilities to combat food insecurity.

Food insecurity in Africa also serves as a warning to governments and regulatory agencies to resist indulging in land grabs that disproportionately harm rural African populations. Food and nutrition insecurity in Africa results from a long history of social, economic, and physical disregard for a substantial portion of the population's food rights. When agricultural policies are reorganized to cater to every African at all times, the disparities in the food supply in Africa will be addressed.

Inclusive agricultural policies are paramount to food security. Empowering indigenous women in agriculture is non-negotiable since their participation in agriculture improves the nutritional status of the entire household, particularly children. While smallholder farmers can be given direct control over their farms and food markets, policy initiatives must prioritize female participation. Better market access for female farmers who have traditionally been denied the right to own and use the land for agricultural production must also be promoted.

Changes in the food system that place indigenous smallholder farmers at the center of modern agriculture would help Africa alleviate food poverty. To avoid exporting Africa's wealth to foreign manufacturers, the agricultural manufacturing sector must be strengthened to accommodate African farmers' production operations.

Rather than corporate industrialization, agricultural industrialization in Africa should focus on grassroots integration of industrial activities to support food sovereignty. The support will allow infrastructural development and automating of agricultural activities of smallholder farmers to close the technology gap.

Feeding Africa necessitates the participation of every African and should go beyond seeking foreign assistance. Governments across Africa must unite to preserve people's right to food.

Anna Suberu is a writing fellow at the African Liberty, with works centered on food and development in Africa. She tweets at @anna_suberu
Auckland 29 June, 2022: (NZX: GSH ) Good Spirits Hospitality Limited (GSH) is pleased to advise that a wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a further venue in Aucklands premier hospitality precinct - the Viaduct, next to its popular Danny Doolans bar.

The purchase price is $250,000 plus an adjustment for inventory on hand.

As part of the purchase the GSH group will take an assignment of the current lease of the premises with an initial term of 6 years with 1 further right of renewal of three years.

The agreement is subject to the consent of GSHs financier and regulatory approval as required.

Geoff Tuttle, GSH CEO, said, The addition of this Viaduct venue will complement GSHs Danny Doolans site by extending its footprint and adding a new product offering to the brand. This new venue follows the successful development and opening of The Fox  A London Pub in December last year. We look forward to opening this exciting venture later this year.

ENDS

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29.06.2022 LISTEN

2014, First Junction, Teshie Nungua, Accra/Ghana, I crossed from the Trotro bus stop (the minibus heading for Tema) over to the Taxi rank. At the corner leading to Greda Estate, I saw a black Ghanaian woman dropping the rubber of the plantain chips to the ground, empty and finished. I picked it up holding it into her face. I asked:" Lady do you want me to take the plastic home or do you dispose at your house into your roller?" She kept quiet as I raised my voice as a man nearly 2 meters tall, the smallest man in my family after all. A man from the right a bit far from us shouted for all to hear while approaching us: "You white man are a true Ghanaian." The woman took the rubber from my hands and walked away.

Two weeks later a woman in the same taxi with me at the First Junction taxi rank threw her plantain chips rubber out of the window. I complained to her but she looked at me like being an alien.

2014, Community 2, Tema, Ghana

Christmas my wife and I visited our friend Sey changing from Trotro into the taxi to Community 5. A woman in front of us threw away a cane of soft drink. I run after her with her cane in my hand: "Lady do want me to dispose of it for you in my Boller or you will do it at your house?" She was shocked and kept quiet before taking the cane out of my hand.

2015, Accra Mall, Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout, Accra, Ghana, Bus station:

Two weeks after the 150 deaths at the Circle of Accra where my partner Debs Bediako also died and I was saved by 5 hours at the hands of the Lord, I sat in a Trotro for Estate Junction, Tema Community 18, end of Spintex. I saw a young man with his laptop on his knees. He threw out of the window his Trotro rubber of plantain chips and FanMilch ice cream. I walked over to face him with the rubbers in my hands: "Because of people like you, my partner and too many others died. You are a killer!" He looked at me as if I would be a mad white man and said: " No problem, as this place will be cleaned later." I knew he thought I am a mad white man not someone with sense and respect for nature and human life.

2004: My visit to Kisumu/Kenya left me stunned and shocked. Around Aga Khan Hospital and so many other places waste in the streets. 2009 returning to Kisumu Lake Victoria had disappeared from the bank where I had stood as the shoreline was covered by grass the lake only to be seen far in the distance.

2009: I was taken around Lome, Togo, and had to walk around the stadium on destroyed clothes and shoes underneath my feet to reach the nearby market. My partner said: "We will the potholes like this. Everywhere we have this problem so everywhere you can see this."

Neither in Kenya nor Togo or Ghana did I come across waste paper boxes in the public space or any white man dumping waste in public areas. Africa mostly is dirty at the hands of the locals. Rwanda is an adorable exemption even cleaner than my city of Hamburg, Germany very close to the hygienic situation of Singapore.

I know Africa and Africans can do much better.
Pollster Ben Ephson has said he is outraged at the Arise Ghana demonstrators and their leadership for insisting on marching in front of the Jubilee House  seat of the government  during their protest that started on Tuesday, 29 June 2022.

The protesters clashed with the police phalanx amid firing of rubber bullets and tear gas.

There were injuries on both sides.

So far 29 of the demonstrators have been arrested.

The police, in a statement, condemned the breach of agreement by the demonstrators.

Speaking on the Class Morning Show about the incident, Mr Ephson, who is the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch, told Kojo Oppong Asamoah that since the Kume Preko march led by Nana Akufo-Addo in the 90s against the introduction of Value Added Tax, demonstrations have become ineffective at getting governments to change their mind.

For instance, he noted that the E-levy was reduced from 1.75% to 1.5% not because of a demonstration.

In his view, the Arise Ghana demonstrators faulted by insisting on using the Jubilee House road when they had initially agreed with the police that it was out of bounds.

I think that the leaders of the Arise Ghana demonstrations have a responsibility for anything that happens because if youve agreed with the police that these are the routes we are going to take, the police said, well not allow you on this route, so, the police blocked the routes you originally wanted to use and you wanted to break through that, no responsible police officer or commander in charge will allow you, he said.

That one, no matter which government is in power  they [police] will not allow you. I think that the leaders have a responsibility to bear for their decision to go back on their agreed routes with the police, Mr Ephson stressed.

He wondered: What is so special that if you dont go to Jubilee House, you cant make your views known?

You want to go pass Jubilee House, the police says, we wont allow you, you agree: Ok, well go to a different route, then you want to go there [Jubilee House]  why, if you dont go to Jubilee House, cant you make your views known? Does going to Jubilee House make your message more sensible? If you have a message, pass it on, he fumed.

You cannot take the law into your own hands, an angry Mr Ephson said.

I repeat: I will not adhere to any group which will renege on an agreement with the police. Why do you want to go to Jubilee House? Has God told you if you go to Jubilee House, youll be heard better? You put peoples lives at risk.

My anger is that you agreed that well go through this path.

Mr Ephson said if the demonstrators have any information contrary to the alleged agreement they had with the police, then they should make if public.

Source: Classfmonline.com
29.06.2022 LISTEN

Our Position on the Crumbs

Jesus would be the first to admit how pleasantly shocking this response from the Canaanite woman was. Having been challenged from all angles to prove his God status; having been challenged with disbelieve from all camps across Israel, it came as such a pleasant surprisea shocking one, to meet this desperate mother who responded with: Yesbut even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table when He, occupied with a duty towards Israel, had tried dismissing her, a Canaanite, with this painful comment, It is not right to take the childrens bread and toss it to their dogs.

It is profound, is it not? For one to, in their desperation, liken themselves to dogsdogs who can make do with leftover crumbs that happen to fall from a masters table. But it is ridiculous, is it notthis anecdote? It is ridiculous to begin this piece with this analogy when the matter for discussion today is our nations local content and local participation lawsas they relate to our oil and gas sector. We sure cannot propose to be dogs, game for the crumbs in our very own home, can we? Such a resignationto be the masters as we are in our own homes, yet resign at the same time to being dogs only deserving of the leftover, fallen-over bread crumbs, such a resignation would not draw from Jesus, as it did in the case of this Canaanite woman, you have great faith! Rather, He would most definitely say something along the lines of, Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?... and by Galatians He would mean Ghanaians. But luckily things will not deteriorate to this pointwe hope.

On the concept of ours

We continue our musings with Dr. Kweku Ainuson, one of the nations prime business lawyer and law lecturer. The laws are fine; it is the enforcement thereofthats where the problem lies. It was important Dr. Ainuson began on this note because it happens too often It happens too often that whenever fractures in societal and national systems are identified, there is almost always an instinctive recourse to law blaming. In order to distract attention perhaps from our physical form and our physical partsthe destructive parts we have had to play in causing these fractures, we tend to point to the law, as principal cause, as the very entity needing change. And then energies and resources are exerted to rectify the law, only for situations to keep prevailing in their fractured-ness. Why? Because somebody enacted and rectified the lawsthe letter of the laws, without bothering to actually change the system.

Having joined the train of this over-three-centuries-old economic activity (fossil fuel production), Ghana has, as an upside, a wealth of knowledge on the global front on the subject matter from which to tap. The abundance of human knowledge on this sector extends to its laws; it extends too to the systems and structures prerequisite for the effective and propitious functioning of the sector. So since oil and gas exploration began as far back as the 1980s in this country, and gold was finally struck in 2007, the nation has made it a point to enact crucial legislations that would see to the smooth running of the sector, with senior oil-producing countries across the world as our templates. We did so even at the period when discovery in commercial quantities had not yet been madethis is what it means to lay the groundwork in preparation for the saviour. John the Baptist would be proud.

The Old Law

In the late 20century, the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Decree, 1984 (PNDCL 84) was enacted to regulate the then hopeful Ghanaian fossil fuel sector. Under section 23 of the Decree, where the obligations of the contractor were spelt out, we had in subsection 10, an obligation on the contractor or subcontractor to employ as far as is possible Ghanaian citizens; and in subsection 12, they were to as far as practicable utilise goods and services produced in Ghana in their operations.

Note that this was at a time when oil and gas exploration and production in the country was merely a pipe dream. This then being the case, the Ghanaian market, naturally determined by the laws of demand and supply, had no real tangible demand to cling to, so naturally Ghanaian petroleum goods and service providers and skilled persons needed to fulfil the above-stated legal provisions were scant. Yet the law endeavoured to imbibe in us this culture of it is ours; hence must directly benefit us very early in this whole journey. Yes, you can say that this is like that time that husband and wife got into an argument over who would get to ride in the front-seat of their unborn childs future car.

In section 23(13), the contractor and subcontractor were required to prepare and implement plans and programmes to see to the training of Ghanaians; and subsection 14 went further to require of these international oil companies (IOCs) the implementation of plans for technology and skill transfer. Under section 23(15)(c), they were required to open and maintain banks in Ghana. This was the legislative climate in the country up until the dream became reality in 2007, and actual work began in 2010the laws had to change to meet this very tangible reality.

The New Law

So in 2016, this old law was repealed and replaced with the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 (Act 919). We find under this new law, section 60 rehashing the requirement for the employment and training of Ghanaian citizens, and under section 61, there is the direction for the utilisation of Ghanaian goods and services. Under section 62, the obligation of technology transfer is reiterated; and section 63 comes in rehashing the obligation on the licensee [now included proudly], contractor, or subcontractor to prepare and submit to the Petroleum Commission, a local content plan.

Even prior to this re-enactment, there has been in existence, since 2013, the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013 (L.I. 2204), a law which was enacted to lend specificity and form to our nations plan of attaining utmost indigenous involvement in the industrya matter so urgent that it was deemed deserving of a body of laws of its own. Before we proceed in briefly dissecting L.I. 2204, a distinction (as inferred from the Regulations), between these two, very interconnected terms is necessary: local content and local participation.

Local content is defined under the Interpretation portion of the Regulations (regulation 49) as the quantum or percentage of locally produced materials, personnel, financing, goods and services rendered in the petroleum industry value chain, and which can be measured in monetary terms. The regulation however does not explain what local participation is. It is unclear whether we are to infer that the two are in fact one and the same thing. However, further reading of the Regulations reveal yet another form of local involvement, one not truly captured under this definition just given, one which is arguably the overarching aim, the ultimate endgame, one which has to do with the ownership, management, and control of petroleum businessesa form which we may aptly describe as local participation. So then, local participation may be defined as the quantum or percentage of ownership and management by locals in the petroleum industry. It is safe to say that local content is the steps taken to reach a brighter future of immense local participation.

Great Plans for Great Expectations

We always pass such brilliant pieces of legislations. L.I. 2204 is a fantastic piece of legislation. Not only does the Regulations make provision for, among others, the derivation of goods and services by IOCs from Ghana, the employment of Ghanaians, and the overall utilisation of local expertise in the petroleum business, it goes on to make a comprehensive list of the minimum level of local content prerequisite for each and every segment and subsegment of activities related to the industry. It stipulates a progressive local content expectation for each of these activitiesfrom the beginning of petroleum production activities, to five years in, and then 10 years into production. For each of these activities, for each of these landmark periods stipulated, the percentage of local content prerequisite is stipulated by law.

The law goes on to require of all IOCs the submission of local content plans for approval and supervision by the Commission. In situations where IOCs are unable to abide by local content expectations, they are to indicate in writing to the Commission, reasons why, and must include steps they have or endeavour to undertake to aid the rectification of those hurdles to local content enforcements stipulated. There are to be quarterly and annual reports provided for the Commissions review by these IOCs Dr. Ainuson notes.

Indeed, in the First Schedule of the Regulations (as regulations 10 directs us to), an exhaustive list and compartmentalisation of petroleum activities and services are made, with percentages of local content prerequisite indicated against them. For the goods and services local content requirement, all IOCs are to, according to the First Schedule, have a progressive local content level. At the beginning of an IOCs petroleum activities in the country, they are supposed to have not less than 10% local content in the goods and services acquired for their operations. 5 years into operations, this minimum local content level is to increase to 50%. Then 10 years on, this minimum requirement is to be raised to somewhere between 60  90%.

When it comes to the employment of Ghanaians, the law breaks down the industrys workforce into management staff, technical core staff, and all other staff. An IOC is required by the Schedule to have, at the start of operations, not less than 30% of all its management staff as Ghanaians. 5 years into operations, the minimum ought to be between 50% and 60%. 10 years on, this local content levels for employment of management staff by these IOCs must be somewhere between 70% and 80%. For technical core staff, the starting percentage is 20%, while its progression is same as the management staffboth 5 years and 10 years on. When it comes to all other staff, the starting local content level is pegged at 80%; five years on, levels must not be below 90%; 10 years into operations, levels must be a full 100%.

The Schedule goes on to give an exhaustive breakdown of the industrys types of goods and services, and gives for each of these products and activities, specific local content levels, and means of measurements to be employed by the Commissionall within the broad specifications for goods and services as already discussed.

Per the Second Schedule of the Regulations (jointly read with regulation 14), an IOC is required to provide the Commission quarterly forecasts, not later than the first day of each quarter indicating, among others, the goods and services they intend to contract for and their estimated values. In this case, the Commission is made privy before the factbefore actual purchasing or contracting is made. If there are actually Ghanaians capable of delivering on these stipulated goods and services, the Commission has ample time to be in the knowit wont then be expected to take lame excuses for non-enforcement from IOCs.

When it comes to the provision of goods and services, any non-indigenous Ghanaian company which intends to provide goods and services to an IOC is required by law to enter into a joint venture (JV) with in indigenous companyand must give this Ghanaian company an equity participation of 10%. This is provided for under regulation 4(6).

Local Participation

There is an ultimate aim to create for ourselves, an oil and gas industry largely owned and driven by Ghanaians. Regulation 4 of L.I. 2204 ambitiously stipulates, an indigenous Ghanaian company shall be given first preference in the grant of a petroleum agreement or licence This is a direction which could have been more religiously adhered to had the Ghanaian been equipped on all these crucial fronts, right from the very get-go with, among others, the needed financial resources and technical expertiseso as to be able to rise up to the challenge of claiming fully what is ours. But the facts on the ground say something different. Crippled with inadequate capital and technical know-how, the Ghanaian petroleum industry has proven itself in dire need of foreign hands. This need for foreign investment in the oil and gas sector is not particularly peculiar to Ghana. Worldwide, the petroleum industries of countries have shown themselves in need (in varying degrees) of FDIs. A nations situation is suboptimal, if its industry is largely foreign driven, as Ghanas is.

The entire Regulations, together with all other relevant legal provisions on the matter of local content and local participation, is an exercise in baby steps. Regulation 4, after opening ambitiously with its dictate of first preference, goes on to (in sub-regulation 2) stipulate the minimum Ghanaian equity participation needed for a petroleum agreement and licence to be legally valid; and it is meekly pegged at at least 5%the GNPCs involvement does not factor into this 5%. Even this 5% is amendable by the Minister of Energy and Petroleumif it is found that no indigenous company was able to satisfy this requirement of equity participation. Needless to say, the law balances ambition with reality.

The interest of Ghanaian companies in these petroleum agreements and licences when attained, must be protectedhence such licences cannot be transferred from Ghanaian hands into non-indigenous hands. All such transfers must be from one indigenous Ghanaian company to another. The law goes on to direct all IOCs to, before the start of their operations, submit a plan providing details on the equity participation of Ghanaians in these petroleum licences and agreements of theirs, the roles and responsibilities of these Ghanaian companies, and the strategies they (IOCs) are putting in place to ensure knowledge and skill transfer to these indigenous companies.

The local content and local participation laws of our country are, no doubt, an exercise in progression. The ultimate aim of these laws are to, as already indicated, serve as a means to a grand endan end where the Ghanaian is truly the owner of this very land called Ghana and the resources that may be contained within it. Under article 257(6) of the 1992 Constitution, we find all natural resources contained within the territories of Ghana being vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for the peopleGhanaians.

The people of Ghana are the principal persons of interest for the country of Ghana. Hence laws and prevailing circumstances that find them being dealt a bad hand across all the various segments of their social, economic, political lives, and in this particular case, in their countrys petroleum sector, are in the end, quite blatantly unconstitutional. The nations local content and local participation laws, they are cognisant of this fact. In fact, this is the bedrock on which these laws themselves are built. So the laws being perfectly laid, one can only conclude that the intended fruits are being reaped here and there. Or?

Spoiler Alert

After the law, must come enforcement. After the laws, must come accountability. Religious, unwavering accountability and enforcement is the only sure way of ensuring that these brilliant laws reap their intended benefits of sustained socioeconomic development. There is arguably little to no wiggle room in this law. The only gaping wiggle room seems to be in its enforcement. Because the narrative that has unfolded since 2010 has been: For many of us, the good times never came as Dr. Ainuson puts it. There was a whole fanfare when the nation, after decades of searching, finally hit oil in 2007. There was a whole fanfare, and promises of a very bright Ghanaian futurea future of exponential economic growth and overall improvement in the standard of living of Ghanaians when potential in commercial quantities was announced in 2010.

This fanfare was in no way a delusion on our part. Because since the discovery of mechanisation and the derivation of energy sources to fuel industry in the 18th century, an energy source like oil and gas has basked in the saviour throne for centuries, worldwide. Energy is that which drives industrialisation; industrialisation has been that which has driven and still drives this modern age of ours. So then, there is nothing outrageous about these petroleum-fuelled fanfares countries engage in. And there is definitely nothing absurd about the fanfare that surrounded Ghanas discovery of petroleum in 2007. Countries painstakingly exert energies and resources in search of oil and gas in hopes of a brighter future.

Isnt it a tragedy then, should these countries finally find this very thing theyve been dreaming of (oil and gas), yet find themselves, decades into the production of this energy source, none the betterthe dream attained yet deferred still, experiencing sustained economic dwindling (not economic growth)? When this happens, wouldnt one be right in wondering: what went wrong? And experts, having studied the matter closely, wont they be right in coining a term as grim as natural resource curse in description of this phenomenon of disappointment?

Ghana had great dreams for oil and gas, and this dream we sought to concretise with legislative and regulative enactments and environments such as the Local Content and Local Participation Regulations, 2013 (L.I. 2204). But as it stands, one is left to wonder if those undertakings we made for ourselves under this law has been met, and whether the overall dream of economic prosperity has also been met. The question in a nutshell remains: in these two extreme polar ends, a) natural resource blessings; b) natural resource curse, where does Ghana find herself? These are the types of questions we will find answers to in the subsequent article. But you do know the answer to this already, dont you? Right there in your pocket, you have those answers

[Published in the Business & Financial Times (B&FT) - 29th June, 2022]
The Kumasi High Court has set October 20 as the date to commence full trial in the matter involving Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka, the rejected Municipal Chief Executive nominee for Juaben in the Ashanti Region, who is facing 26 corruption charges.

The office of the Special Prosecutor opened investigations into bribery allegations against Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka after he was seen in a viral video demanding a refund of monies he had allegedly paid to assembly members, supposedly to facilitate his approval, after he was rejected for the second time.

Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka who is also the Juaben NPP Constituency Chairman, during his previous appearance in court however pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He appeared before the court for the second time on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

Lawyers for Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka and lawyers from the Office of the Special Prosecutor during the case management conference agreed that the substantive matter should be looked at from 20th October 2022.
The Peoples National Convention (PNC) has dissociated itself from the ongoing Arise Ghana protests.

The party says the marchers should rather suggest alternative solutions to the countrys economic problems through public for a and dialogue.

The two-day protest, which started on Tuesday, 28 June 2022, ends on Wednesday, 29 June 2022.

The first day was marred by violence as the demonstrators clashed with the police over route disagreements.

The police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd as some marchers pelted them with stones and other crude weapons.

So far, the police has arrested 29 protesters in connection with the disturbances.

The PNC, in a statement signed by General Secretary Janet Asana Nabla, said the party believes that demonstrations are a part of our democratic dispensation but street protests such as the one organised by Arise Ghana, must not and should not be the way a group vents its disappointment with the government, especially in this current circumstance.

It said: Certainly, street protests, as a form of demonstration, are becoming outmoded in modern democracies and protesting without providing solution is equally outmoded.

At this material moment, the PNC is calling on fellow Ghanaians, the Arise Ghana group, in particular, to rather demonstrate alternative policies that will aid the current government to ameliorate the current economic difficulty and to criticise the governments policies via public fora, organising institutional lectures, peacefully submitting petitions to the appropriate government institutions and making use of our court system to push through demands, amongst other means.

The PNC has taken note, with delight, the many pro-poor intervention policies and the adoption and deployment of IT infrastructure which are widely accepted now as the 4th industrial revolution.

The PNC has always advocated home-grown policies that must be adopted as a paradigm shift from the usual IMF and World Bank acid prescriptions that devastated many economies, especially Africa and Latin America.

The party noted: The COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war have greatly impacted the economy of Ghana and the world as a whole. The Director of the World Bank Prospects Group, Mr. Ayhan Kose, revealed that the latest projection for global economic growth has declined to 2.9% from 5.7% last year.

The PNC would like to advice the government to consider expanding the tax net and paying attention to property tax amongst several others, which would help in lessening the tax burden of the Ghanaian citizens, the party suggested.

The party further advised that the government prioritise investment in the agriculture sector, which, it believes, will help boost our agricultural output and reduce the $1.3 billion worth of rice, soya beans, maize and poultry importation into the country.

Our forex system must be reviewed, it added, noting that the black market must be regularised, as this is contributing to the scarcity of forex in the country.

The party also wants the government to spearhead the enactment of laws to account for the unexplained wealth of individuals and even groups in the country.

The PNC said it believes this will reduce corruption to its barest minimum.

Dissociating itself from the march, the party said it wishes to use this medium to serve notice that we are not part and we do not subscribe to the Arise Ghana demo.

It has come to our notice that one Awudu Ishaq is parading himself as the Communication Secretary of the party; the media and the general public should kindly treat him as an imposter. The Communication Secretary of the party is Mr. Samuel Ayesu, the statement noted.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Tuberculosis (TB) is still wreaking havoc in many countries including Ghana as four people die of the disease every hour in the country presently.

Globally, about 4,010 people die of TB hourly, available data has shown.

However, resources to address the disease is said to be very limited in Ghana.

Also, there is lot of stigmatization, myths and misconception of TB, which make the fighting of the disease very difficult.

People still believe that having a TB infection in Ghana is like somebody has placed a curse on you or the gods are punishing someone for doing something wrong, and because of that a lot of people are dying out of the disease, Mrs Cecilia Senoo, Executive Director of Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), a non-governmental organisation, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

She said because of the myths, there were still lot of people suffering and not accessing treatment because they are also poor.

There is also TB drug resistance, she indicated.

Mrs Senoo, who was talking to the GNA on the sidelines of a trainer of trainees workshop in Accra, said there was the need to mobilise domestic resources to control the disease and to reach the hard-to-reach areas as funding from the Global Fund and the USAID that support Ghana to fight the disease is inadequate.

She said resources were also needed to address the misconceptions around TB and the diagnostic systems, in getting the needed equipment that are required for TB testing in all endemic areas since the ones presently available were out of order.

TB is an airborne disease and affect many people including persons living with HIV who are very prone to the disease due to immunity issues.

Mrs Senoo, therefore, called on the Government to start looking at TB as one of the important public health conditions that needed investment.

The two-day workshop on the TB Impact Ghana App, (OneImpact's digital platform) is being organised under the HFFG's TB project known as the 'OneImpact TB Community-led Monitoring.'

It is a free software application that gives knowledge on TB, how it is spread, and treated, and facilities that provide treatment services.

The Stop TB Partnership Geneva, with support from USAID and the Global Fund provided the funds for the one-year (February 2022 to January 2023) project that is being implemented in four regions, namely, Greater Accra, Central, Eastern and Volta regions on a pilot.

THE HFFG is implementing the project in partnership with the Ghana National TB Voice Network, Stop TB Partnership Ghana, Young Health Advocates Ghana, Ghana Health Service and Ghana TB Control Programme.

Mrs Senoo said the training was to equip the trainers, who are mostly young people living with HIV and TB, to fully understand the digital App and also conduct training in their respective districts for TB advocates towards promoting accessible, equitable TB services.

Among the objectives of the training was to train advocates as trainers on the OneImpact technology for data collection as well as to discuss process of data collection and analysis for evidence-based advocacy at all levels.

It is also to discuss project activities, strategies and work plans for step down and smooth implementation while building the capacity of participants on media engagement and effective communication.

It will also orient participants on the status of TB in Ghana and their roles in the programme.

Mr Jerry Amoah-Larbi, National Coordinator, Stop TB Voices, described the app as very important since public education on TB had reduced drastically in the media due to the lack of resources.

So this is going to gather advocacy data for us to use in our advocacy work in our communities and in addressing stigma in accessing treatment, he said.

OneImpact community-led monitoring empowers people affected by TB to claim their rights, access health and support services, and report and eliminate TB stigma and discrimination, he added.

Ms Priscilla Ama Addo, President of the Young Health Advocates Ghana, said the youth identified with the new app which would help them to access information.

GNA
The police have picked up a gun-wielding man at the El Wak Stadium in Accra where Arise Ghana demonstrators had gathered for day two of their 2-day demonstration.

The police also advised Mr Joshua Akamba of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), upon seeing him with a weapon, to put it away since it was illegal for him to be armed at such an event.

Mr Akamba was then urged by the police to advise other demonstrators with guns to surrender them, which he did.

Meanwhile, pollster Ben Ephson has said he is outraged at the Arise Ghana demonstrators and their leadership for forcing to march in front of the Jubilee House  the seat of the government  during their protest that started on Tuesday, 29 June 2022.

The protesters clashed with the police phalanx amid the firing of rubber bullets and tear gas.

There were injuries on both sides.

So far, 29 of the demonstrators have been arrested.

The police, in a statement, condemned the breach of the agreement by the demonstrators.

Speaking on the Class Morning Show about the incident, Mr Ephson, who is the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch, told Kojo Oppong Asamoah that since the Kume Preko march led by Nana Akufo-Addo in the 90s against the introduction of Value Added Tax, demonstrations have become ineffective at getting governments to change their mind.

For instance, he noted that the E-levy was reduced from 1.75% to 1.5%, not because of a demonstration.

In his view, the Arise Ghana demonstrators got it wrong by insisting on using the Jubilee House road when they had initially agreed with the police that it was out of bounds.

I think that the leaders of the Arise Ghana demonstrations have a responsibility for anything that happens because if youve agreed with the police that these are the routes we are going to take, the police said, well not allow you on this route, so, the police blocked the routes you originally wanted to use and you wanted to break through that, no responsible police officer or commander in charge will allow you, he said.

That one, no matter which government is in power  they [police] will not allow you. I think that the leaders have a responsibility to bear for their decision to go back on their agreed routes with the police, Mr Ephson stressed.

He wondered: What is so special that if you dont go to Jubilee House, you cant make your views known?

You want to go pass Jubilee House, the police says, we wont allow you, you agree: Ok, well go to a different route, then you want to go there [Jubilee House]  why, if you dont go to Jubilee House, cant you make your views known? Does going to Jubilee House make your message more sensible? If you have a message, pass it on, he fumed.

You cannot take the law into your own hands, an angry Mr Ephson said.

I repeat: I will not adhere to any group which will renege on an agreement with the police. Why do you want to go to Jubilee House? Has God told you if you go to Jubilee House, youll be heard better? You put peoples lives at risk.

My anger is that you agreed that well go through this path.

Mr Ephson said if the demonstrators have any information contrary to the alleged agreement they had with the police, then they should make it public.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The ECOWAS Commission, through its Gender Development Centre (EGDC) and in partnership with the West Africa Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-WARO), is organising a regional capacity building workshop for staff of childcare centres in the beneficiary countries of the Support Project for the Protection of Child Victims of Rights Violation (PAPEV) from 28 to 30 June, 2022 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau.

The objective of this workshop is to help enhance the quality of protection services in centres for child victims of abuse and rights violation through the capacity building of childcare centre staff and administrators.

The workshop was officially launched by H.E. Mrs Maria DA CONCEICAO EVORA, Guinea Bissaus Minister of Women Affairs, Family and Social Solidarity. In her speech, she emphasised the importance of protecting the rights of children, victims of abuse, especially those moving across borders in the sub-region. "This workshop is an opportunity for all to effectively contribute to meeting the challenges related to the legal and psychosocial support of child victims of rights violation, but also to capitalize on the achievements of the PAPEV project regarding the protection of children in cross-border movement," added the Guinea Bissau Minister.

Prior to the official opening of this workshop, participants had the opportunity to listen to a series of remarks. First, the President of the Children's Parliament of Guinea Bissau who thanked the Government of his country and partners including ECOWAS and OHCHR for every effort to protect the rights of children.

In turn, speaking on behalf of Commissioner Siga Fatima JAGNE in charge of Social Affairs and Gender Department of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Awudu Ahmed GUMAH, Head of Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation and Acting Director of the EGDC, mentioned in his speech that building the capacity of child protection centres will lay the foundation for a more sustainable response to the growing threats of abuse and neglect of child rights in ECOWAS Member States. He continued his remarks by saying that:

Since the inception of the PAPEV project, ECOWAS and OHCHR have worked tirelessly to assist Member States to address critical issues related to the promotion of child rights and to protect children from human rights violations, particularly children on the move, including sexual and economic exploitation, violence, sexual slavery, rape, trafficking, early marriage, prostitution, female genital mutilation, begging, among others.

Speaking on behalf of Mr Andre ORI, the Regional Representative of OHCHR-WARO, Mrs Aminata KEBE, Human Rights Specialist at OHCHR and Regional Coordinator of PAPEV recalled that the research and analysis carried out in Guinea, The Gambia, Mali, and Niger, made it possible to measure the difficulties facing the childcare centres but especially the challenges related to meeting the needs of the children. She concluded by stating that: poor logistic resources and inadequate psycho-social care for children are the two main lessons drawn from this research, which has led to relevant actions to support countries in strengthening their national child protection systems.

The 30 participants in this workshop are from the six beneficiary countries of the PAPEV project (The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, and Senegal) with 5 participants per country, the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) and the West Africa Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-WARO).

During this workshop, there will be an official handing over of equipment and materials granted by the project to the Bissau AMIC Centre, Gabu AMIC Centre and the SOS Talibe Childcare Centre in Bafata, the Republic of Guinea Bissau.

Funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), PAPEV is being executed in partnership with the governments of the six beneficiary countries: The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. The aim of the PAPEV project is to support the States in their respective efforts to promote and protect child rights through the implementation of recommendations of international and regional child rights protection mechanisms and the promotion of a safe and fair environment for child victims of rights violation by addressing their legal, judicial, and social needs.

Source: ECOWAS
Peter Boamah Otokunor

29.06.2022 LISTEN

The Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to change the way he is managing the economy of the country if he wants peace.

Speaking to journalists after during the Arise Ghana demo on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, he said more demonstrations will be staged until the Ghanaian people see the change they want to see for the country to develop.

There is going to be a change, if we dont get the change under Akufo-Addo, we will get it under the NDC.

We will demonstrate over and over until Akufo-Addo changes. If he wants peace he should change the way he is managing the economy, Peter Boamah Otokunor told 3news during Wednesdays protest in Accra.

He continued, We want jobs, the people are clamouring for jobs, if you give them you will get peace. If he cant rule the country he should resign.

Several members of the opposition NDC and other political parties are marching in the capital this afternoon to protest the hardships in the country.

Unfortunately, day one of the demonstration on Tuesday ended in chaos when police fired tear gas in retaliation to stones pelted by some protesters.

Organisers of the demonstration dubbed krom ay3 hye has continued the exercise today with the assurance that it will be peaceful.
The Ghana Police Service has warned Ghanaians taking part in todays Arise Ghana demonstration of any attempt to attack them with catapults.

According to the Police, they have gathered intelligence indicating that some of the protesters about acquiring catapults during today's demonstration.

The Police caution that anyone who refuses to listen to the warning and goes ahead to use a catapult to attack officers will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Police intelligence indicates that some demonstrators are going around acquiring catapults with the intention of using them during the demonstration.

The police hereby caution these individuals who intend to foment trouble to desist from such an unlawful conduct as the police will take all necessary professionally driven measures to enforce the law and protect life and property, a police statement on its Facebook page has said this afternoon.

The Police are staying on guard and more vigilant today to ensure the violence that marred day one of the Arise Ghana demonstrations on Tuesday will not happen this afternoon.

The violence yesterday saw several protesters sustaining injuries. Some 12 police officers had to be taken to the Police hospital for medical care after sustaining injuries.

Today, the Police have confirmed the arrest of 29 protesters as it pursues others spotted on camera to have been involved in the chaos.
Kiwi Property has provided the NZX with a copy of the presentation and addresses to be made by the Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at the Companys Annual Shareholder Meeting 2022 to be held today.

Ends

Contact us for further information:

Clive Mackenzie

Chief Executive Officer

clive.mackenzie@kp.co.nz

Campbell Hodgetts

Head of Communications and Investor Relations

campbell.hodgetts@kp.co.nz

+64 275 634 985

About us:

Kiwi Property (NZX: KPG ) is one of the largest listed property companies on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and is a member of the S&P/NZX 20 Index. Weve been around for over 25 years and proudly own and manage a significant real estate portfolio, comprising some of New Zealands best mixed-use, retail and office buildings. Our objective is to provide investors with a reliable investment in New Zealand property through the ownership and active management of a diversified, high-quality portfolio. S&P Global Ratings has assigned Kiwi Property a corporate credit rating of BBB (stable) and an issue credit rating of BBB+ for each of its fixed rate senior secured bonds. Kiwi Property is the highest rated New Zealand company within CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) and is a member of FTSE4 Good, a series of benchmark and tradable indices for ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investors. Kiwi Property is licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. To find out more, visit our website kp.co.nz

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Kenyan investigators said Wednesday they had arrested a would-be MP for impersonating a police officer after she appeared in full regalia on a television programme where she talked about law and order.

The woman, identified as Monica Wamaitha Gitau, was taken into custody after police were notified of her appearance on a local language TV station, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on Twitter.

Gitau, who is running for parliament in Kenya's national elections in August, was asked about security and politics and provided responses dressed in the distinctive blue uniform of Kenya's police force.

Police were less than convinced about her credibility, the DCI said.

"She is currently assisting with investigations for the offence of impersonating a police officer."

According to a police report of the incident seen by AFP, when confronted Gitau claimed to have been a serving officer who retired in 2011.

"She couldn't give a satisfactory account on why she wore the persian blue colour police uniform with full police badges," the report said.

In 2013, Kenya pledged to root out impostors in its police force after the high-profile arrest of a man accused of masquerading as a top provincial security official for a decade.

Under-equipped, badly paid and trained, the police force has a poor reputation in the East African country, where it is considered among the most corrupt organisations in the country, according to Transparency International.

Under Kenyan law, someone found guilty of impersonating a police officer can receive a prison sentence of up to 10 years, a fine of up to a million Kenyan shillings ($8,500), or both.
The Paris Court of Appeal will on Wednesday rule on whether to extradite 10 former members of the hard left Italian extremist group the Red Brigades. The activists, who have been living in France for decades, are wanted by Italy for acts of terrorism committed between 1970 and 1980.

Ahead of the decision, former Red Brigade member Sergio Tornaghi, 64, said extraditing the eight men and two women made little sense, adding he refused to die in jail in Italy.

is wanted for his involvement in assassinations carried out by the Red Brigades who sowed chaos during the period in Italy known as the Years of Lead  named after the number of bullets fired  from the late 1960s to mid-1980s.

Ten people aged 61 to 78  eight men including Tornaghi and two women  will find out on Wednesday whether a French appeals court approves the extradition requests, potentially paving the way for imprisonment in Italy.

Those facing extradition are now aged between 61 to 78 years old.

Who's going to benefit if we rot in jail? Tornaghi told AFP. Even if there is a favourable opinion for my extradition, I will die in France. I'll let you imagine what that means.

Tornaghi is wanted for his involvement in assassinations carried out by the Red Brigades who sowed chaos during the period known as the Years of Lead  named after the number of bullets fired  from the late 1960s to mid-1980s.

He was sentenced in his absence for organising the murder of his factory's manager, Renato Briano, in the Milan underground in 1980.

Supporters of the group denounced a decision by French President Emmanuel Macron to authorise the examination of extradition requests despite a commitment for former president Francois Mitterrand to allow several hundred former Red Brigades members to rebuild their lives in France.

After 40 years in France, where he made a career in computers and had two daughters, Tornaghi said he did not understand the revival of extradition procedures against him.

"Extradition makes no sense, neither legal, nor human, nor political," Tornaghi said.

(with wires)
The National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joshua Hamidu Akamba has disclosed that the leadership of Arise Ghana is gathering footage of the police brutalities that happened at Obra Spot on Tuesday 28, 2022 to sue the law enforcers.

Members of the Arise Ghana were demonstrating to register their displeasure about the current economic hardships in the country.

We will also go to court with our footage of the police brutalities to sue the management of the police for the atrocities they committed against innocent Ghanaians who were seeking to register their displeasure, he said.

Mr Akamba made this revelation while speaking on Accra 100.5 FMs midday news on Wednesday 28, 2022 to react to calls that the police are seeking to sue the leaders of the demonstration.

It is important as leaders we counter sue the management of the police administration for the callous brutalities that reared their ugly head ahead of the march on Tuesday leading to the police gassing the protesters with tear gas, he noted.

He called on the media to make such footage available to the leadership of the group.

We need the evidence and if we have to pay for them we will, he said adding It is important we gather this evidence to confront the police with it.

So far 29 of the demonstrators have been arrested.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Regional leaders voiced alarm Wednesday over escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan in a disputed border area and appealed for dialogue to stem the crisis.

The calls by the African Union and another regional grouping followed claims by Khartoum that the Ethiopian army had executed seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian during a clash in the volatile Al-Fashaqa area last week -- allegations denied by Addis Ababa.

Sudan announced Monday it would recall its ambassador to Addis Ababa over the incident in Al-Fashaqa, a fertile strip of land that has long been a source of friction between the two states.

AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat "is following with deep concern the escalating military tension between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of Sudan and deeply regrets the loss of life at their common border," the pan-African body said in a statement.

Al-Fashaqa is a region of fertile farmland. By Aude GENET (AFP)

"The chairperson appeals for complete refrain from any military action whatever its origin and calls for dialogue between the two brotherly countries to solve any dispute."

The AU's concern was echoed by another regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which also called on the two countries "to actively seek diplomatic means to find a lasting and sustainable solution on the matter".

'Perfidious act'

Sudan on Monday accused Ethiopia of capturing the soldiers in Al-Fashaqa on June 22, announcing it was recalling its envoy and would lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council and regional organisations.

The army, which has been in power since a coup in October 2021, vowed that the "perfidious act will not pass".

And on Wednesday, the military published photographs of the slain soldiers, along with their names and ranks.

But Addis Ababa has in turn claimed that Sudanese forces had crossed into Ethiopian territory and that the casualties resulted from a skirmish with a local militia, denying its soldiers were in the area at the time.

The Ethiopian government said it rejected the "misrepresentation of facts" and that the incident was "deliberately concocted" to undermine relations.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (left) is pictured with Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Khartoum in 2019. By - (AFP/File)

The Sudan Tribune newspaper reported that the Sudanese army had launched an attack Tuesday on Ethiopian troops in the Al-Fashaqa area but this was denied by army spokesman Nabil Abdalla.

"We have not attacked anyone and we will not and we are not planning that. But we will not allow any armed force from another country that wants to cross our international border. It's our right legally to deal with it," he told AFP in Khartoum.

The report was also denied by the Ethiopian side, with an official saying on condition of anonymity: "This is not true, just unconfirmed and misinformation."

On Monday, Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited Al-Fashaqa, where he instructed soldiers "to not allow any new movements or encroachments on Sudanese lands and against its citizens."

Khartoum and Addis Ababa have been at odds for years over Al-Fashaqa.

The region, which lies close to Ethiopia's war-torn northern region of Tigray, has long been cultivated by Ethiopian farmers but is claimed by Sudan.

The dispute has sparked sporadic clashes between the two sides, some fatal.

The rift feeds into wider tensions over land and water between the neighbours, particularly stoked by Ethiopia's mega-dam on the Blue Nile.

Sudan and Egypt, both downstream countries, have been opposed to the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and pushed for an agreement on the filling of its reservoir and the dam's operations.

Tensions were heightened further after fighting erupted in Tigray in November 2020, sending tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into Sudan.

Sudan has been roiled by economic and political turmoil since Burhan led the military coup that upended a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of president Omar al-Bashir.
Mr. Prince Kamal Gumah

29.06.2022 LISTEN

An astute businessman and aspiring National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Prince Kamal Gumah has stated that his track records within the party make him the preferred choice for the position.

He stated that he has worked as a border guard in 1996 to prevent foreigners from voting in the Northern part of the country at a tender age with his father and grandfather.

He also added that his commitment to ensuring the success of the party in the diaspora was remarkable.

"I joined the North American branch in 2005 where I worked with the likes of Hon. Asenso Boakye. So we worked till 2012. I was then appointed as Nasara coordinator for the New Jersey chapter till 2018. And I was elected in 2018 as the organiser of the New Jersey chapter and I was appointed as Deputy Youth Organiser of the entire branch of the USA.

"In 2016 I was part of the group that adopted over 125 constituencies to support the NPP to win power. We supported the NPP with resources, and logistics for the famous constituency, Saboba to ensure we win the power for NPP.

Mr. Prince Kamal Gumah disclosed constituencies and individuals that benefited from his philanthropic activities.

"I supported most constituencies, in the 2020 elections, I donated 76 motorbikes to 24 constituencies, I constructed another 49 boreholes for 28 communities and most of the regions around the country benefited from my activities to support Nana Addo to win the election.

"When we were rolling out the trainer trainees program, I personally adopted another constituency to support them with food, drinks, and money for them to feed their polling agents. I was also part of more than 10 campaign teams.

He stressed that the party's agenda of securing total victory depends on the youth, adding that he will work closely to ensure it yields results.

"My first Constituency tour across the country was to see why in 2020 John Mahama was able to acquire that vote. My first tour was with the youth of this party even with what Nana Addo's government has acquired within 4 years was not reflected in the youth.

"70% of Nana Addo's vote came from the youth and if the youth are dissatisfied where is the youth," he said.

The development and progress depend on the progress of the youth.

Mr. Gumah hinted at creating an 'opportunity for all' for youth in order to empower as well as create more significant resources.

"The youth of our party needs more than just empowerment and you resource them very well and go out there to work and opportunities," he indicated.

"My number policy is to help youth organisers to have a permanent seat at the scholarship secretariat committee at their district level.

"If you are a youth organiser in your district and you are a committee member that interviews Ghanaians for scholarships definitely you are telling your constituency that you are in the right position to help your party.

"My policy of helping TESCON and party members to have scholarships is to make sure the youth organiser is part," he said.

He added that he would use the opportunity to also enrich the skills of youth through training programs, equipping them with resources to enable them to build their self-esteem levels.
The claim by the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, that the Ghana National Mosque that was built by a grant from the Turkish government was facilitated by former President John Mahama has been labeled repugnant lies by a Zongo youth group.

Sammy Gyamfi has been quoted as saying that the National Mosque was built by a grant from Turkey and that former President Mahama was the one who facilitated the construction.

This emphatic claim by the NDC national executive appears to have irked the Progressive Zongo Youth, who issued a statement expressing repugnance at what members describe as deliberate lies and propaganda by Sammy Gyamfi.

They say Sammy Gyamfi is only using the national mosque for cheap political points in his anti-National Cathedral crusade.

The group, which described Sammy Gyamfis claims as completely false, referenced an official document which set the record straight.

The statement also cautioned Sammy Gyamfi to respect Muslims, the men who facilitated the construction, the philanthropic Turkish NGO that fully funded the mosque and the sanctity of the mosque itself, by staying away with his propaganda and politics.

The Chief NDC Communicator, in his zeal to perhaps, bastardise the construction of the National Cathedral, was quoted by a number of publications, including Ghanaweb and Peacefmonline, as saying that former President John Mahama facilitated the construction of the National Mosque. He also also added

the National Mosque was financed through a grant from the Turkish government, the statement read.

The claim by Sammy Gyamfi that Mahama facilitated the construction of the mosque is an outrageous lie. As for the ridiculous claim that the mosque was funded through a grant from the Turkish government, it could only have come from a desperate propagandist trying to justify his opposition to the construction of the National Cathedral by making baseless claims with the National Mosque.

These claims by Sammy Gyamfi are not only lies and a shameless attempt to score cheap political points for former President Mahama, using the National Mosque, it is also disrespectful to Ghanaian Muslims, and the philanthropic NGO, which fully-funded the construction of the Mosque.

Below is the full statement:

PRESS STATEMENT BY PROGRESSIVE ZONGO YOUTH ON REPUGNANT LIES BY SAMMY GYAMFI THAT FORMER PRESIDENT MAHAMA FACILITATED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NATIONAL MOSQUE AND THAT IT WAS BUILT BY A GRANT BY TURKEY

The Progressive Zongo Youth has read with abhorrence the sickening politicization of the National Mosque in Accra, and the spread of lies about it by Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) .

The Chief NDC Communicator, in his zeal to perhaps, bastardise the construction of the National Cathedral, was quoted by a number of publications as saying that former President John Mahama facilitated the construction of the National Mosque. He also also added that the National Mosque was financed through a grant from the Turkish government.

These claims by Sammy Gyamfi are not only outrageous lies, his attempt to score cheap political points for former President Mahama, using the National Mosque, is also disrespectful to Ghanaian Muslims, and the philanthropic NGO, which fully-funded the construction of the Mosque.

In recent times, we have watched on and ignored attempts by various uninformed groups to spread misinformation and lies about the origin and funding of the National Mosque; but when a senior member of a leading political party joins this lying bandwagon and deliberately spreads falsehood, we cannot allow it to slide without setting the records straight.

The claim by Sammy Gyamfi that Mahama facilitated the construction of the mosque is a blatant h lie. As for the ridiculous claim that the mosque was funded through a grant from the Turkish government, it could only have come from a desperate propagandist trying to justify his opposition to the construction of the National Cathedral by making baseless claims with the National Mosque.

We dare say Sammy Gyamfi knows very well his claims are unfounded, but he still pushed it through, knowing that public records and the facts can never support his falsehood. Sadly he deliberately chose to push through his lies, clearly out of his disregard for Ghanaian Muslims, the donors and the sanctity of the mosque itself.

We do not believe Sammy Gyamfi, and those who reason like him, are oblivious of the origin and all the facts on the National Mosque. If they are, then they should seek for clarity and stop the lies and cheap politics with the national mosque.

We recommend to Sammy Gyamfi and his ilk, the official commissioning brochure of the National Mosque published on Friday July 16th 2021. In this comprehensive document, everything about the mosque, from origin to funding are clearly stated.

In pages 11, 12, and 13 of the brochure, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, in his welcome notes, gave a comprehensive account of the history behind the national mosque, including its origin, national mosque construction committee members, initial contributors and facilitators for the arrival of the Turkish NGO that fully funded the project through their charity organization. It was not a grant from the Turkish government as Sammy Gyamfi claimed, and nowhere in this comprehensive report was former President Mahama named as the one who facilitated.

In fact, the National Chief Imam's comprehensive down-memory-lane account, rightly credits the facilitator of the National Mosque, through whom the Turkish NGO decided to fund the construction of the mosque.

Facts about the national mosque, just as the mosque itself, are sacred. However, it has now become a new trend, for both opponents and supporters of the construction of the National Cathedral, to distort these facts to further their own agendas. We can forgive others, for this ignorant or deliberate posture, which continue to disrespect the efforts of many stalwarts and the financiers, but we cannot ignore the deliberate falsehood of Sammy Gyamfi.

Sammy Gyamfi can go on with his anti National Cathedral campaign; that is his business, and not our concern. But in pursuing his propaganda, he should leave the National Mosque out of it, and he should stop giving credit to people for roles they did not play.

The National Mosque, is a sacred monument of unity for all Muslims in the country irrespective of political affiliation, and it should not be the place for this kind of unfortunate politicization by Sammy Gyamfi.

SIGNED

ABDUL RAHMAN ISHAQ

(CHAIRMAN)

---3news.com
James P. Olshefskyan(left) presenting a certificate to Prof. Alex Dodoo after the meeting

29.06.2022 LISTEN

The Director of External Relations of ASTM International, a global standards organisation, James P. Olshefskyan has pledged the organisation's support to Ghana's efforts at creating a world class petroleum industry.

He said the American-based private standards-setting body, will provide technical assistance to build the capacity of local experts to enhance the reliability and profitability of Ghanas nascent oil and gas industry.

Mr James P. Olshefskyan made this known in a meeting with the Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Professor Alex Dodoo and the ASTM team on the sidelines of the 66th Council Meetings of the African Organisation for Standardisation ( ARSO ) in Yaounde, Cameroon on Tuesday.

He said the ASTM has developed standards in the petroleum industry that can support Ghana drive at building a robust industry.

" We will focus on capacity building to develop the capacity of local experts," he said.

Prof. Dodoo said the government was keen on realising its oil and gas potential in a sustainable manner to create jobs and support economic growth.

" We welcomes any mutually-beneficial partnership in that regard because our petroleum hub project is an indication of our interest in becoming a key player in the global petroleum industry, he said.

He said the government was positioning itself at the forefront of hydrocarbons production, hoping to create strong midstream and downstream industries in the next decade.

Petroleum Hub project

With more than 7 billion barrels of petroleum and 6 trillion cu.f of natural gas, Ghana holds the sixth largest proven petroleum reserves in Africa.

The country plans to set up a $60 billion Petroleum Hub in the Western region, aiming to become the centre for downstream in West Africa and a world-class exporter.

The hub will house four refineries with a combined capacity of 600,000 barrels per stream day, targeting to cover 50% of petroleum consumption in the sub-region. It plans to hold and redistribute 30 million metric tonnes of oil each year.

Petroleum standards in Africa

The Director-General of GSA, Prof Alex Dodoo said streamlining petroleum standards in Africa will promote consistency and facilitate compliance in the region.

Harmonizing standards in the region will allow players across the value chain to demonstrate that products, services or processes are in compliance with applicable legislation, while promoting business, the clinical pharmacologist indicated.

ASTM International and the American Petroleum Institute (API) are jointly working on a three-year project to harmonize petroleum standards in West Africa.

The project supports the capacity of developing countries in the areas of legal and regulatory frameworks, standards development, conformity assessment procedures, and private sector engagement.

We need to expand such capacity building programmes especially because of the African Continental Free Trade Area. That makes the harmonization drive more meaningful, Prof Dodoo said.
Professor Alex Dodoo (left), President- elect, African Organisation for Standardisation, interacting with Dr Hermogene Nsengimana, Secretary-General of ARSO, at the ongoing 28th ARSO General Assembly in Yaounde, Cameroon

29.06.2022 LISTEN

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has said it will ensure the strict enforcement of laws on standards.

This will serve as a guide for other African countries to build robust standards regimes to facilitate smooth trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

According to the Director-General of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, "the rules will be applied without fear or favour to serve the purpose for which they were made.

Prof. Dodoo said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the 66th African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) Council meetings in Yaounde, Cameroun, yesterday[June 28, 2022].

He, however, added that the GSA would open a window of assistance to manufacturers, service providers, exporters and importers to comply with the laws and the new quality culture on standards.

He said the GSA was now emboldened because in the last two months, the Cabinet gave approval to the National Quality Policy, while Parliament passed the GSA Bill.

Significance

Prof. Dodoo said the rigorous enforcement of the Standards Act, 1973 (NRCD 173) would also bring order to the public space, create jobs, generate revenue for the state and ensure discipline in society.

Parliament passed into law the Ghana Standards Authority Bill, 2022 on June 20, this year to empower the GSA to effectively deliver on its mandate.

The law also seeks to amend and consolidate laws relating to standards, conformity assessment and metrology (the art of measurements), as well as provide for related matters.

The law consolidates 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.

It also empowers the GSA to undertake its duties effectively in the areas of conformity assessment and metrology to ensure standards are adhered to in the country.

The GSA has developed more than 4,000 standards on almost every item and food product, including buildings, roads, hospital equipment, electrical cables and appliances, school uniforms, kenkey and sobolo in the country.

Council meetings

The ARSO Council meetings form part of the ongoing 28th ARSO General Assembly, which will close on Saturday.

The ARSO was formed in 1977, with the principal mandate to harmonise African standards and conformity assessment and procedures in order to reduce technical barriers to trade and promote intra-African and international trade, as well as enhance the industrialisation of Africa.

Prof. Dodoo is the ARSO President-elect and he will be sworn into office at the meetings tomorrow.

He said beyond the law and policy, the GSA had, for the first time, trained some officers on standards to physically enforce compliance and ensure conformity.

Partnership

At the council meeting, the Secretary-General of ARSO, Dr Hermogene Nsengimana, called for greater partnership between the international and African standardisation communities to harmonise conformity assessment regimes.

He said the African integration agenda, through AfCFTA, also required the universal membership of African countries in ARSO to establish and maintain common standards.
The Founder and leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Percival Kofi Akpaloo believes the Ghana Police Service should have allowed the Arise Ghana demonstrators to picket at the Jubilee House.

According to him, he doesnt understand why the Ghana Police Service will engage in a confrontation with the demonstrators over the matter.

I dont understand why the Police decided to use tear gas in controlling the crowd because the demonstration is a failed one because of the people who are leading it. The Police should have allowed them to go to the Jubilee House because there is nothing better they can do when they get to the Jubilee House.

You could clearly see that the demonstration was motivated by NDC people like Sammy Gyamfi, Joshua Akamba, and the rest which makes the aim of the demonstration politically motivated,  Kofi Akpaloo told Accra-based Neat FM.

The demonstration turned violent after the leaders of the pressure group and the police disagreed over the routes to use.

The police had been insisting on enforcing the orders of the court for the protestors to move through Farisco through TUC to Independence Square.
The security services in Ghana have been an enviable profession. These were some of the professions most people cherish and respect. The level of discipline and professionalism in these services have never been in doubt. Enlistment and training of persons into these services was invariably done professionally.

The security personnel have a unique role to play for Ghanaians. Their role is very distinct and peculiar. These security personnel have never reneged in executing their task. Indeed, they have been tried and tested; proven to be competent and of high standard beyond every reasonable doubt.

Ghanaians have unreservedly relied on these personnel for security. Our lives have always been secured because of the high level of discipline and professionalism they demonstrate.

However, the long, hard earned enviable reputation of the security services is fast eroding within a cross section of the service. The Ghana Police Service of recent times has been in the media. The service has not been in the media for good. It has carved an unenviable niche for itself.

The police whose core mandate is to protect the citizenry, have for some time now, put-up a very weird and contradictory behaviours on several occasions. These behaviours have created mixed feelings among the citizenry. The credibility of the police service has been eroded. How to restore the once hard earned credibility of the Ghana Police Service has hit road block.

Ghanaians have been expressing worry and frustrations at the numerous police engineered brutalities on civilians in recent times instead of protecting and defending them.

Police attacks on unarmed citizens in the Ayawaso by-election is a classical example. The shooting and killing of about eight (8) innocent citizens in Techiman South, Ablekuma and others during the 2020 elections, irritated lots of Ghanaians. The killing of two persons when residents of Ejura came out to protest the killing of a social media activist popularly known as Kaaka still remains fresh in the minds of Ghanaians. May his soul rest in perfect peace. What is more annoying is that justice has still not been served on those who carried out that heinous and dastardly act.

Another unprofessional display by some police officers is the recent reckless handling of the Islamic Senior High School students in Kumasi who were peacefully demonstrating to drum home the incessant knock down of their colleague students and staff by speeding vehicles. The actions of the officers in that incident painted a very bad picture about Ghana Police Service.

The most recent clash between demonstrators of Arise Ghana and the police yesterday cast lots of doubts in the minds of Ghanaians regarding the professionalism and independence of the Ghana Police Service. It is still unfathomable and mindboggling, what informed the actions of the police against Arise Ghana demonstrators yesterday.

There is therefore the need for the police service to be seriously scrutinized and streamlined to curtail or drastically minimize the police-civilians clash in the country. Dr. Dampare Addo has a lot to do to reform the police service in order to restore some credibility in the service.

The plethora of issues that I have catalogued send a strong signal that all is not well with the Ghana Police Service. It has increasingly been clear that a lot of half-baked persons have been allowed to pass out as police officers. The actions and inactions of some police officers shows that serious background works were not duly done before recruiting some persons into the service. It is also quite abundantly clear that, professionalism in the police service, has been sacrificed on the altar of politics.

I therefore wish to conclude by making a clarion on the IGP and the interior minister to take immediate steps to senate the police service. This can be done by professionally selecting and properly training qualified enlisted persons. Serious background checks need to be done before recruiting people into the service. Politicians should allow state institutions the liberty to work independently as enshrined in the 1992 constitution. The advertent manipulation of some security personnel against a cross section of Ghanaians do not auger well for Mother Ghana. security personnel who were politically recruited should pay their loyalty Mother Ghana and not the politician. The over politicization of state institutions by the Akuffo Addo led government is putting the country in jeopardy. He should put an immediate end to that.

[email protected]

0240371356
Pursuant to NZX Listing Rule 3.20.1(a), ArborGen Holdings Limited (ArborGen or the Company) advises that Ranjan Tandon has notified the Company that he will resign from the ArborGen Board effective 30 June 2022.

Mr Tandon has resigned from the ArborGen Board in order to devote more time to his other commitments, in particular his involvement in philanthropic and other business activities.

The ArborGen Board and management would like to recognise the significant contribution that Mr Tandon has made to ArborGen during his Board tenure and thank Mr Tandon.

ArborGens Chairman, Dave Knott, said Ranjan has invested considerable time and emotional energy to support the Company, and for that we are very grateful. We wish Ranjan the best for the future.

ENDS

ArborGen Announces Board Change

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The Drunkards Association of Ghana has appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to build a National Drinking Bar for members.

According to them, the nation needs a National Drinking Bar just like the National Cathedral.

He stated that during the peak of the covid-19 pandemic, Ghanaians were told strictly apply alcohol-based hand sanitiser and not prayers.

The Chairman of the National Drunkards Association , Mr Moses Dry Bone made this statement while speaking in an exclusive interview on Hot FM's 'Ay3 HU' social talk show hosted by Nana Ampofo.

He stated, "Nana Ampofo, we also need a National Drinking Bar. Oh, yes, we need a National Drinking Bar like how the President is building the National Cathedral. This would boost our tourism... local drinks like 'Alomo Bitters, Herbal Afrik, Palm Wine, Pito, Akpeteshie and Mandingo which would really create jobs".

The out-spoken President of the association backed his claims by indicating that," During the Covid-19 period, we were told to use alcoholic hand sanitizers...they never said we should pray...drunkards really survived the pandemic...so we are really important... The nation needs a National drinking Bar rather than the Cathedral".

Touching on the number of persons that constitute the Drunkards Association of Ghana, Moses Dry Bone revealed that the association has over 10 billion members.

He pleaded with the President to build the National Drinking Bar else, "We shall organise the biggest demonstration ever to hit Ghana".

---hotfmghana.com
Senegal's main opposition on Wednesday said it would halt street protests and take part in upcoming elections that it had threatened to scuttle after a row erupted over its candidates.

Tensions have been rising in the West African state ahead of the July 31 legislative vote, seen as a key test for President Macky Sall.

Three people died in outlawed demonstrations on June 17, according to opposition figures, and the authorities slapped a ban on a further protest called by the opposition for Wednesday.

But hours later, the country's leading opposition figure, Ousmane Sonko, said the protests were being halted "following appeals from the public, which expressed its concern over the (Muslim) festival of Tabaski" on July 10.

People were also worried about the risk of disruption for students taking important exams, he said.

"We have to shift resolutely towards preparing for the legislative elections of July 31," Sonko told reporters in the capital Dakar.

The opposition coalition Yewwi Askan Wi "will join these elections," fielding candidates in all 54 regional districts, he said.

The ballot is for the 165-seat National Assembly, where Sall supporters wield a majority.

"If Macky Sall loses, he won't be talking about seeking a third term," said Sonko, referring to opposition claims that the twice-elected president is seeking to extend his time in office.

Sall has remained vague on the subject.

Sonko came in third in the 2019 presidential elections and has already declared he will run in the 2024 ballot.

Tensions

Senegal has a general reputation for stability in a region where political turbulence is widespread.

But the country was shaken by several days of rioting in March last year, claiming around a dozen lives, after Sonko was accused of rape.

The political mood darkened again after Senegal's paramount court on June 3, citing technical grounds, tossed out the first-choice election candidates submitted by Yewwi Askan Wi, whose name means "Free the People" in Wolof.

Declaring the move to be politically motivated, the group's leaders called a protest on June 17.

In addition to the three deaths, around 200 people were arrested, the opposition said.

Two lawmakers were among those detained, one of whom was handed a six-month suspended term on Monday, while the other was released.

Another protest, scheduled for Wednesday, was banned by the prefect of Dakar, who declared there were "real risks" that the rally would be infiltrated by troublemakers and public order and property could be at threat.

It also said the demonstration would breach laws banning "disguised" propaganda taking place within 30 days of the official start of an election campaign.

The official start of campaigning for the legislative poll is July 10.

List problem

With the exception of a small number of lawmakers chosen by the Senegalese diaspora, seats in parliament are chosen according to national lists of candidates and a majority vote among the country's departments.

The ban on Yewwi Askan Wi's list applies specifically to first-choice candidates for seats contested by national lists, which included Sonko.

One of the names had been accidentally put down both as a first-choice candidate and as an alternate candidate, thus invalidating the list.

However, the coalition can still compete using the alternate candidates list.

Civil society campaigner Alioune Tine on Wednesday welcomed Sonko's announcement, which he said had come after the state "made a gesture by releasing the members of parliament."

"The conditions are now right for a political dialogue in the runup to the elections," he told AFP.

Sonko also called on the public to go into the street or onto their balconies on Thursday and bang on saucepans or other kitchen utensils for 30 minutes to show their discontent.
29.06.2022 LISTEN

Peter Boamah Otukonor, Deputy National Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a member of the Arise Ghana group has stated that they will pursue the Akufo-Addo government until his government resolves the country's economic woes.

He said government will not find peace until President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo changes the way he governs the country.

We will demonstrate over and over until Akufo-Addo changes. If he wants peace he should change the way he is managing the economy, he stated.

Speaking to the media on the second day of the Arise Ghana 'Kurom Ay3 Hye' demonstrations on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, he added that the country will bounce back under the next NDC administration even if the current administration fails to salvage the current difficulties.

He noted that the sole purpose of their protest was to compel government to provide jobs to unemployed youths and address the country's economic challenges.

There is going to be a change, if we dont get the change under Akufo-Addo, we will get it under the NDC.

We want jobs, the people are clamouring for jobs, if you give them jobs, you will get peace. If he cant rule the country he should resign, he added.
The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) to fast-track processes to address the rampant abuses of students in pre-tertiary schools.

In recent times, abuses including physical and sexual abuse have been recorded in a number of schools in the country.

One of such abuses that can be recalled this year is the incident at Bole Senior High School in the Savannah Region where Assistant Headmaster Issahaku Jeduah stands accused of raping a 21-year-old student.

According to the victim, the Assistant Headmaster executed his plan when he invited her under the pretense of advising her.

Raising concern about the abuses, GNECC has released a press statement urging GES and MoE to see to it that offenders are punished in accordance with the law.

The Coalition wants the Ministry and GES to ensure that the rights of students are protected at all times as they go through the various educational stages.

As a Coalition that is passionately promoting equitable and quality inclusive education for all Ghanaian children, therefore, we are deeply worried over these unfortunate and avoidable occurrences in our pre-tertiary schools as it has the potential of making the school environment dangerous for effective teaching and learning and thereby impacting adversely on learning outcomes.

As we commend the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education for their effort to make the school environment a better place for students, it is our expectation that the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education will fast-track the processes towards the redress of the occurrences of such incidences in our schools, parts of the GNECC press release dated June 28 reads.

GNECC proposes that GES strictly applies the appropriate penalties as captured in the Teachers Code of Conduct to promote safety within the school environment and deter teachers from causing harm to students.

Below is a copy of the GNECC press release:
Sammy Gyamfi, a leading member of pressure group, Arise Ghana, organisers of "Kurom ay3 hye" demonstration has said Ghanaians cannot keep paying the E-Levy.

He noted that the levy was just another means by the Akufo-Addo government to rob the already suffering Ghanaians of their hard-earned money.

Sammy Gyamfi, who is the National Communications Director of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) indicated that Ghanaians don't care about how government seeks to rescue the situation.

He noted that whether from the "IMF or Afghanistan all Ghanaians want to see is a better standard of living in the country.

We are tired of paying the e-levy, it is not a tax it is thievery. We dont care whether the government will go to IMF or will go to Afghanistan, he noted.

According to him, the E-levy must be repealed indicating that citizens cannot continue to pay till the next election.

We cannot continue to pay e-levy until 2024. For now, we are dying, we cant wait till 2024, the e-levy must be scrapped now, he intimated.

The demonstration ended at Parliament after the leaders of the protesters presented a petition to some leaders of the House.

Delivering his closing address, Sammy Gyamfi asserted that they will not rest until the president address their demands.

He noted that a date will be announced for the next demonstration.

We are going to announce the new dates for our next demonstration, we shall not rest until Akufo-Addo stops his thievery habit, we shall not rest stops his Serwaa Broni administration, he emphasised.
Market leaders, traditional authorities and institutional heads have received training to equip them as paralegals to address domestic violence and child abuse issues in the Bono East Region.

The participants in a two-day workshop were taken through the Childrens Act, Domestic Violence Act, Spousal and Human Rights, the constitution of Ghana, childs rights and marriage among others.

To help encourage victims to freely report domestic violence and child abuse cases, the paralegal units have been established at the various market centres to allow victims to call in to address their cases.

Madam Malonin Asibi, Head of Domestic Violence Secretariat at the Ministry of Gender inaugurated the Paralegals on Tuesday at Techiman the Bono East Regional capital.

She said this would allow victims who were mostly market women and vulnerable children to report case among other things.

Madam Asibi noted that domestic violence and child abuse was everywhere across the globe adding that efforts were being made to end or reduce it in this part of the world to help develop and make women and children more productive.

Madam Asibi hinted that the Ministry was in collaboration with the United Nations Fund for Populations Agency (UNFPA) to strengthen stakeholders on these platforms to fight and eradicate domestic violence and child abuse which has over the years denied women and children the dignity of life in society.

She disclosed that many of these cases were unreported and the need to institute strategic measures by creating an easy platform to allow cases to be reported was paramount since it contributes to addressing and solving cases of domestic violence among other things.

She urged Paralegals to contribute to ending domestic violence and child abuse issues in the communities by encouraging victims to report cases of such nature.

Police Detective Inspector Sabina Quandzie at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit in the Techniman Divisional Police Headquarters lamented the inability of victims to report cases of abuse to the unit for redress.

Dectective Inspector Quandzie noted that to address such cases the unit was working with other organizations such as the Gender Ministry, Department of Social Welfare and development partners to strengthen women and children who were the most victims to stand up against any violence towards them in the Bono East Region and country at large.

She mentioned that abuses such as rape, incest, defilement,spousal abuse, bad parenting, indecent assault and human trafficking activities must be reported so that culprits would be punished to deter others.

Detective Inspector Quandzie noted that cases of defilement and other domestic abuses has declined this year as compared to last year and this was due to the frequent education.

Nana Konadu Yiadom Divisional Chief of Ayeasu in the Techniman Traditional area pledged the support of the traditional authority to end domestic violence and child abuse as it did not augur well for the development of women and children in the communities.

Nana Yiadom mentioned that cases such as domestic violence would no longer be resolved out of court but would allow the law to take its full course since that was the only way to end the menace in the area.

He urged victims not to hesitate in reporting such cases to the authorities such as the police, paralegals and other stakeholders that matter so as to find lasting solutions to such cases.
29.06.2022 LISTEN

Police in Bekwai in the Ashanti Region have reportedly gunned down four suspected armed robbers after a five-member gang engaged them in a shoot-out on the Bekwai-Cape Coast highway today, Wednesday.

According to eyewitnesses, the police had a tip-off of a robbery incident and upon reaching the scene, the alleged robbers fled as the police gave them a hot chase.

The suspected robbers then engaged the police in a gun battle, which led to four of them being killed in the process.

According to the Assembly Member for the Essumeja electoral area, Kofi Frimpong, the four persons died on the spot while one other escaped.

They were robbing between the Bekwai and Fomena area. They were running away when the police gave them a chase. They took a turn from the highway into the bush to hide, but there was an exchange of gunshots and four of the five armed robbers were shot dead. The fifth one went deeper into the bush and escaped, he said.

Kofi Frimpong said he has indicated to community members that they should be on the lookout for a strange person in their midst and immediately inform the police about him.

Meanwhile, a search by the youth in the adjoining communities for the fifth suspected robber is yet to yield any positive results.

I made an announcement to the community members that if they see an alien, they should inform the police so that he will be arrested. Some community folks are engaged in a search but as of now, we have not found him, he added.
The National Peace Council (NPC) has called for strategic investment in the creation of sustainable jobs for Ghanaian youth to save the country from insurgencies being experienced in some West African countries.

More than three democratically elected Governments within the West Africa sub-region have been overthrown by military juntas since 2020, with the most recent one being Burkina Faso.

Mr George Amoh, Executive Secretary, NPC, said there should be urgent measures to address public concerns, especially on the labour front and youth unemployment to avert such insurgencies.

He said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday in Accra on the sidelines of a forum on Consolidation of peace in Ghana, which formed part of the Trades Union Congress's third biannual General Council meeting.

Mr Amoh said the labour force was critical in consolidating peace in the country, as such, the Government should pay heed to concerns raised by the Trades Union Congress, and other workers across the country.

Mr Amoh said: There's insurgency and violent extremism all around us; Burkina Faso, Togo, Cote D'Ivoire and Nigeria. So, as a country, we must protect the peace that we have, and the TUC is a credible partner that we can work with in realising this vision.

He called on the Government to address the structural bottlenecks and create decent and sustainable jobs for the youth, adding that: If people don't have jobs, they're vulnerable, and they can be used by any violent person to achieve their goals.

So, let's get more people employed and remove the structural difficulties and when we're able to do that we'll create the environment for peace to take place, the Executive Secretary said.

He urged the media to also support efforts of the Council, Government and all stakeholders to ensure that the country's peace was consolidated.

Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, the Representative of the Chief Imam on the Council added that: If you leave your young people without a job, then they can be a source of violence because they can be used for everything.

Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, Secretary General, TUC, assured that the Union would engage in peaceful negotiations to ensure that the country experienced no war.

He urged members of the Union across the country to contribute to the consolidation of peace in the country.

He described the move by the Peace Council to collaborate with the Union on ensuring peace in Ghana as laudable and used the occasion to call for TUC's inclusion on the Council.

Ghana was ranked first in West Africa and second in Africa in the recent global peace index by the Institute for Economics and Peace, and 38th among 163 independent states and territories.

The ranking was based on political stability, violent demonstrations, violent crime, weapons imports, internal conflict, and neighbouring country relations.

GNA
The Ghana Police Service has heaped praise on protesters following the successful end of day two of the Arise Ghana demonstration.

Unlike Tuesday where violence marred the first day of the demonstration, the picketing on Wednesday started on a good note and ended peacefully in the late afternoon.

Impressed with the conduct of protesters, the Police have issued a press release commending every Ghanaian that participated in the demonstration today.

The police wish to register their satisfaction with the successful outcome of day two of the Arise Ghana protest. The police provided the security and with support from the public and demonstrators, day two of the protest march was incident-free, part of the Police press release reads.

It adds, We are grateful to the general public for their cooperation and understanding in spite of the inconvenience the demonstration undoubtedly caused them.

Whilst we continue to register our disappointment at the riotous conduct of the demonstrators on the first day, we commend them for their comportment today which, we hope would provide lessons for future occasions to help deepen our democratic practices as a country.

While also commending personnel of the Service for the professionalism exhibited throughout the two days, especially on the first day, in the face of unprovoked attacks by the demonstrators, the Police further uses the opportunity to wish all injured police officers a speedy recovery.

Below is a copy of the Police release:
It is a total failure of the UN system which has been held to ransom by the US and US-led western countries.

by Anwar A. Khan

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to cease his invasion of Ukraine and withdraw his troops.

"The decisions of the coming days will shape our world and directly affect the lives of millions upon millions of people," Guterres told reporters at U.N. headquarters.

The use of force by one country against another violates the bedrock principles of the United Nations that all states have agreed to in its Charter, he said.

Guterres said the current military offensive is wrong. "It is against the (U.N.) Charter. It is unacceptable. But it is not irreversible," he said. "I repeat my appeal from last night to President Putin: Stop the military operation; bring the troops back to Russia."

It is a total failure of the UN system which has been held to ransom by the US and US-led western countries.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the negation of the Security Council resolution have given world-watchers an opportunity to assess the role of United Nations and its relevance today in maintaining order in the civilized world.

The UN Charter mandates the UN and its member states to maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, achieve higher standards of living for their citizens, address economic, social, health, and related problems, and promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.

However, the world is not run by peace-making philosophers and philanthropies, but the political and military leaders. The United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the word United States and since then US and its western allies have been virtually dictating terms for the functioning of UN and behaving as self-styled policemen of the world. The result was intense cold war between the US led NATO and Soviet Union and consequent rat race among opponent countries for missile and weapons and deployment of atomic weapons. The cold war ended with the break-up of Soviet Union.

If we analyse the current Russian invasion of the Ukraine, it becomes clear how this small country with good resources was used as a pawn by the America and its western allies. Ever since Ukraine became independent and showed a leaning towards the US and its European allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, vowed to bring back the past glory of the Soviet era for the Russians.

After he came to power, his popularity soared from two percent to 45 percent following his role in annexing Chechnya-- which is now known as Chechen, a constituent republic of Russia. In 2014 Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it and on March 18, 2014 it became a constituent republic of Russia when President Vladimir Putin signed the accession. In retaliation the US and their European partners signed several agreements with Ukraine and goaded it to join the NATO. The US tried to encircle Russia and bring nuclear and weapon arsenals to Russian doors.

Russian President Putin warned the west and Ukraine not to join NATO and cited it as the violation of Minsk treaty of 2015 between Russia and Ukraine brokered by the French President.

Now let us examine the scenario. America and its partners have a history of bombing the world all over like they did in Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq et al citing threat to international peace, but withdrawing without taking the affected countries and people into confidence.

America has bombed so far more than 30 countries and is responsible for blood baths and ruination of lives of millions of people. The way they withdrew and left behind their weapons in Afghanistan makes a mockery of the UN Charter. So far, the US has exercised the veto power more than 80 times. The Indian Governments response to the American-backed resolution in the UN Security Council on February 26, 2022 had wide acceptance among the Indian people as Russia has been a time-tested friend and exercised veto power in the UN four times in favour of India during the crucial times and especially in 1948 and 1971.

Putin may be a dictator in the eyes of West by violating the UN Charter and he has been threatening the use of nuclear power if US and NATO come to the rescue of Ukraine. But in this war, he is paying back the Americans in the same style in which they have been bombing other countries piggybacking the UN system. It is a total failure of the UN system which has been held to ransom by the US led western countries. We see the West has two value systems, one for them and the other for other countries.

The ineffectual nature of the United Nations, which has no intrinsic military power of its own, and its incapacity to confront belligerent nations invading other nations, has been demonstrated again and again, and one critic took note, tweeting, The United Nations died today (I personally think it was dead already but nothing left after tonight).

Writing about the United Nations in National Review in 2017, Andrew McCarthy opined:

When you pretend that all states are equal, that there is no difference between the good guys and the bad guys, that is always a coup for the bad guys. And thats what the U.N. is: a coup for the bad guys.

Article 1 of the United Nations Charter states: The Purposes of the United Nations are: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.

Article 2 adds, The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.  All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

Any war leads to catastrophic humanitarian toll. If I recall Pakistani war with strong support by the execrable Uncle Sam in 1971 waged against us causing Brobdingnagian sufferings to our people, my eyes well-up every time! I condemn Russia for this war on Ukraine. I condemn Uncle Sam and its widespread use of disinformation by its controlled media and social media outlets. Their steady stream of fabricated claims is putting additional lives at risk. We should commit to countering their disinformation campaign.

War is unjust and evil thing.

We should condemn the Russian invasion, but also recognize that the United States has been violating other nations sovereignty for about 10 decades.

Though U.S. and NATO policy in recent years has contributed to the current tragedy unfolding in Ukraine, responsibility rests unequivocally with the Kremlin. It is an illegal war of aggression which has quite deservedly resulted in worldwide condemnation.

Theres no excusing the invasion, but the double standards and hypocrisy coming out of Washington, D.C., are quite striking.

US-Russia rivalry is the fundamental contributor underlining the worst geopolitical crisis in the new century. For the US, NATO expansion is designed to ensure its "absolute security", but for Russia, it is an issue of life or death. NATO expansion has always been a sore spot, given the Russian view that this is a Cold War institution that persists as a mode of containment, according to Igor Zevelev, a Russian political scientist at the Wilson Center.

Thomas L. Friedman, an American political commentator and author, wrote in the New York Times that the American choice to expand NATO in 1990s was an "ill-considered decision". He recalled that Bill Perry, former defense secretary in the Clinton administration, in 2016 pointed out that the US should be blamed in the early years of NATO expansion since it led to a "bad direction", making Russians feel "very uncomfortable".

George Frost Kennan, the distinguished US architect of the strategy of containment against the Soviet Union, also expressed his frustration at NATO expansion in 1998, defining it as "the beginning of a new cold war", predicting that Russians "will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies". Kennan could not conceal his disappointment against this "tragic mistake", even saying it "would make the founding fathers of this country turn over in their graves". Unfortunately, Kennan's prediction finally came true.

Mearsheimer advised that the best strategy for Ukraine is to balance between Russia and the West, specifically, to "break off its close relations with the West, especially with the US, and try to accommodate the Russians". As former US congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said in an interview, "Biden can very easily prevent a war with Russia by guaranteeing that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO." However, people in the diplomatic establishment will never acknowledge this mistake, instead formulating a strategy to blame Russia and exploit the suffering of Ukrainian people.

Throughout this crisis, Ukraine has been a tool for the US to contain Russia. But they should never expect the US and NATO to sincerely offer any serious security guarantee.

The crisis offers a reflection of the cold-war mentality and zero-sum game pursued by the US for its own narrow geopolitical gains. The US must realize that the one playing with fire will inevitably get burned.

With the support of the United States, Ukraine can organise provocations that serve as a pretext for hostilities in the Crimea region. Uncle Sam has actually already turned Ukraine into his colony, which, if desired, can be used as a large military training ground near the Russian borders. But for now, what they did, provoke Russia.

Today, provocative actions continue in the long-suffering Donbas, but on instructions from Washington, Ukrainian militants will immediately switch to another territory.

Ukraine became a failed American colony; modern Ukraine was created as a country for death in the name of American interests.

The UN and its Secretary-General have emerged only as the apple polisher of Uncle Sam and its mango-twigs nations of NATO. So, the UN should cease to exist!

-The End 

The writer is an independent political analyst based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs.
Liontown Resources [ASX:LTR] shares were flat this morning, after announcements regarding a third Ford offtake and final investment decision (FID) for LTRs Kathleen Valley Project.

LTR shares rose as high as 17% in early trade before retracing. In late afternoon trade, LTR shares were up 4.5%.

Liontown managed to buck the trend on Wednesday, as most lithium stocks fell.

At the time of writing, Sayona Mining [ASX:SYA] was down 11%. Ioneer [ASX:INR] was down 9%. Leo Lithium [ASX:LLL] was down 9%. Li-S Energy [ASX:LIS] was down 10%, and Arizona Lithium [ASX:AZL] was down 8.5%.

Despite the spike today, Liontown is down 30% year to date as the lithium sector continues to cool.

Source: Tradingview.com

Liontown makes a binding deal with Ford

Liontown and Ford have executed a definitive binding offtake agreement for the supply of up to 150,000 dry metric tonnes (DMT) per annum.

The initial deal has a five-year term from the commencement of commercial production, which LTR expects to be in 2024.

The deal is the third and final offtake Liontown requires to develop its Kathleen Valley lithium project.

More on that later.

The binding offtake with Ford also includes a funding facility agreement with respect to a $300 million debt facility which will be used to fund the Kathleen project.

A Ford subsidiary will provide the $300 million debt facility to LTR.

Together with binding offtake agreements with Tesla and LG Energy Solution, Liontowns total offtake commitments now add up to 450,000dmt per annum of spodumene concentrate.

Thats about 90% of Kathleen Valleys production capacity.

The remaining 10% of LTRs spodumene will be used in future spot volume sales and smaller offtakes.

Kathleen Valley development gets the all clear

Given that the binding deal with Ford marks the third and final offtake required to develop the Kathleen Valley project, Liontown today also announced the final investment decision.

Liontowns board has now formally approved the development of the Western Australia project, with the FID clearing the way for construction to commence.

The $300 million debt facility, combined with last years $463 million capital raise, means that Liontown has now secured commitments for the required funds to support the full development of the Project through to first production.

Production will be expected in the Q2 2024 with early-grade control drilling in early 2023:

Source: LTR

LTR share price outlook

Liontowns CEO Tony Ottaviano commented on the news:

The signing of our third and final foundational offtake agreement is a momentous milestone for Liontown and the Kathleen Valley project, with approximately 90% of Kathleen Valleys start-up capacity now under secured long-term binding offtake agreements. Our disciplined approach to our offtake strategy has enabled us to build a customer base of Tier-1, globally significant customers in the EV battery supply chain, validating Kathleen Valleys status as a globally relevant lithium asset.

Fords binding offtake with Liontown highlights the intensifying resources arms-race between automakers and battery manufacturers.

With giant automakers like Ford making their EV intentions very clear, securing supply of critical battery materials is becoming more and more important.

Liontown has done well to leverage that into binding offtakes  plus a hefty debt facility to boot.

Now comes the time to execute.

The next years will not be easy, as LTR is set to ramp up spending to construct its lithium project in Western Australia.

Already Liontown has had to refine its capital cost estimates.

As part of its Kathleen Valley FID announcement, LTR revealed that its capital cost estimate has increased from $473 million to $545 million.

As Liontowns own managing director and CEO Tony Ottaviano noted:

Notwithstanding the significance of todays announcement, Liontowns central task lies ahead  safely building and commissioning our world-class Kathleen Valley Project. This process begins by immediately securing high-calibre contractors and business partners to ensure we can deliver the Project safely and efficiently. We remain on track to deliver first spodumene concentrate by Q2 2024.

Now, Liontown is one of several Aussie lithium stocks that have been boosted by their association with EV pioneer Tesla.

LTR shares leapt as high as 15% on the day of its Tesla offtake announcement.

Clearly, if you are one of Teslas chosen ones, the market takes notice.

What are some overlooked battery tech stocks on the ASX that can be Teslas next chosen ones?

Our small-caps expert Callum Newman has just recently released a new report, identifying three under-the-radar Aussia small-caps that can Elons Chosen Ones.

Regards,

Kiryll Prakapenka,

For Money Morning
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Until 31 July, tickets are at the discounted rate of 50+vat+booking fee, with Women in Dairy members receiving a 25% discount on the ticket price.

This year renowned clinical psychologist Dr Hannah Vickery, Director of Training at the Charlie Walker Institute, Reading, will lead motivational workshops equipping delegates with the skills to help them meet their goals.

She will discuss how delegates can motivate themselves and their team and the benefits they can bring to a business.

This years conference is designed to help delegates take that next step and push the barriers.

Women in Dairy patron and conference chair Di Wastenage said: Focussing on motivation will allow us to explore how we can find the energy and drive to set new goals. Everyone is on their own journey and having a plan for yourself and your business can bring tremendous personal and business rewards.
June 29, 2022 Open (Not Ukraine) Thread 2022-98 News & views (not related to Ukraine) ... Posted by b on June 29, 2022 at 14:59 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
June 29, 2022 Ukraine Open Thread 2022-99 Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ... The current open thread for other issues is here. Posted by b on June 29, 2022 at 15:00 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
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SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (AP)  Sen. Mike Lee won Utahs Republican primary Tuesday, brushing off attacks from two challengers who criticized him for his unwavering loyalty to former President Donald Trump and uncompromising lawmaking style.

Lees decisive victory marked a win for Trump-aligned Republicans and illustrated the risk GOP candidates take in primary elections when they criticize the former president, even in religiously conservative states like Utah where many voters disapprove of his foul language and rough-and-tumble politics.

The second-term senator handily defeated two well-funded opponents who didnt vote for Trump and attempted to appeal to voters disillusioned with the direction he's taken the Republican Party. But their efforts to frame Lee as a divisive politician who cares less about governing than he does television appearances and his allegiance to Trump ultimately fell short.

Lee deflected any GOP critiques in his victory speech, instead looking ahead to the November election where he'll face off against independent conservative Evan McMullin. Now that this primary is over my hope and my expectation is that Republicans will do what we do best  Lets come together, Lee said at a election night party at a suburban Utah events center.

Days after the decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion, he also framed his victory as a choice to embrace the inalienable right to life and Utahs values."

He now faces McMullin, who ran for president as a conservative alternative to Trump in 2016. He received more than one-fifth of the vote in Utah, where voters tend to be uncomfortable with Trump-style politics. McMullin left the GOP after Trumps ascendance and won backing from the state Democratic Party this year. He has kept pace in campaign contributions with Lee in this years Senate race.

Lee supporters gathered Tuesday at an event with about 100 people, many wearing navy-blue shirts saying I Like Mike while country music played and conservative commentator Glenn Beck spoke.

A montage played on a projector splicing together images of families, assault-style rifles, sunsets, clouds and single-family homes.

On the campaign trail, former state lawmaker Becky Edwards and political operative Ally Isom called Lee an obstructionist and drew attention to the leak of post-election text messages he sent to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The messages, they said, showed his early involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Lee encouraged Trump advisers to embrace discredited attorney Sidney Powell and later referenced his discussions with lawmakers in battleground states about appointing competing slates of electors to act contrary to the results, the messages showed.

Lee responded to criticisms saying that he merely encouraged Trumps team explore available legal avenues, noting that he ultimately voted to certify the results on January 6, 2021. Hes mostly remained above the fray and not responded to other intraparty attacks, instead focusing on tried-and-true rhetoric about the U.S. constitution and criticisms of federal overreach.

Isom positioned herself as a conservative alternative to Lee, agreeing with his positions on most issues but disapproving of his uncompromising approach. Edwards staked out more moderate positions, rebuking Trump for continuing to spread disproven claims of 2020 election fraud and saying she disagrees with the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Neither said they planned to back Lee in their concession remarks, as many primary candidates do after results come in. Edwards, who was second in voting, said in a statement she was proud of her campaign even though she lost and grateful for the tens of thousands of Utahns who supported our campaign with the hope for a better Utah.

Isom said in her statement she was proud she had given people hope.

Theres a better way to engage in meaningful dialogue and address issues facing our state and nation. And we owe it to our posterity to reach real solutions, get the right things done and bring about a new dawn for the Republican Party, Isom said.

This contested primary was a drastic departure from Lees first reelection campaign in 2016. That year, no primary challengers came forward to challenge him in arch-conservative Utah, after the one-time Tea Party insurgent successfully consolidated support from both grassroots conservatives and establishment Republicans.

Lee remains overwhelmingly popular among party activists, but there are some rumblings of dissatisfaction among both Republican insiders and the partys overall electorate. Many have publicly taken issue with his willingness to shut down the federal government and be the Senates lone no vote on proposed policies.

Utah GOP Chair Carson Jorgensen said primary voter enthusiasm suggested conservatives were energized heading into the midterm election.

The partys strong right now. We got good headwinds with everything happening and the effects of politics on peoples daily lives, he said, noting the effect of inflation, fuel prices and food prices, particularly on young families.

Post-primary, he said he planned to sit down with Lee to discuss how to consolidate support from the large contingent of Republicans who voted for Edwards and Isom, to convince them to back him over McMullin.

Lee could be in danger if McMullin can peel off Republican primary voters. Earlier this year, he convinced the states outnumbered Democrats to eschew a nominee from their party and get behind him instead, hoping that consolidating support from Democrats, independents and disillusioned Republicans could help unseat Lee.

Im extending an invitation to all voters who are discouraged, frustrated, and exhausted by Lees divisive and ineffective politics, McMullin said in a statement after Lees win, noting that about one-third of primary voters had cast ballots for other candidates, according to unofficial election results Tuesday night.

The Lee-McMullin race should test the extent to which criticisms of divisiveness and the increasingly polarized state of politics resonate in the state where the predominant faith is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the political culture is rigorously polite.
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MADRID (AP)  The latest on the NATO summit in Madrid:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning Finland and Sweden that if they welcome NATO troops and military infrastructure onto their territory, Russia will respond in kind.

He said Wednesday that Russia will have to create the same threats for the territory from which threats against us are created.

The two formerly nonaligned Baltic countries were formally invited Wednesday to join the Western military alliance.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the war in Ukraine has brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

___

 NATO calls Russia its most significant and direct threat 

 Biden, NATO to beef up force posture amid Russian aggression

 Explainer: How was Turkeys veto of Nordic NATO bid avoided?

 Macron says Russia cant win in Ukraine

 The AP Interview: Spanish PM says NATO summit to show unity

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

NATO country leaders and European Union heads of state and government got to admire some of the worlds greatest art and listen to a Ukrainian classical orchestra live as they gathered to dine at Madrids Prado Museum.

Wednesdays dinner  prepared by Spanish-US chef, Jose Andres  was preceded by a live performance by the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, which has been in exile because of the war.

U.S. President Joe Biden attended the event with his two granddaughters. The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and his brother, Wladimir were also there.

The group posed for a family photograph on either side of Diego Velazquezs Las Meninas, the museums crown jewel, before sitting down to eat in the Jeronimos Cloister annex.

The menu included a desert of strawberries from the Spanish city of Cuenca dressed in anis, violet caramel and with a typical Madrid barquillo finger wafer biscuit.

The starting course included cod with orange and beetroot along with a lobster-based cold soup with a fragrance of Spanish olive oil and basil. The main course was to be slow-roasted lamb with lemon puree.

___

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expressing optimism that humanitarian corridors could be opened to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world amid Russias war.

Tens of millions of people across the world are at risk of hunger as the four-month war has disrupted shipments of grain from Ukraine.

Speaking during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the margins of the NATO summit, Erdogan said, We are trying to solve the process with a balancing policy. Our hope is that this balance policy will lead to results and allow us possibility to get grain to countries that are facing shortages right now through a corridor as soon as possible.

Turkey has played a central role in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to try to reach an agreement that would allow for an increase of the amount of grain that can get out of Ukraine amid the conflict.

Some grain was transported west by rail out of Ukraine, but experts say restoring Ukraines ability to export grain through the Black Sea is necessary to have a significant effect on easing global food shortages.

Erdogan said that, Steps to strengthening NATO would also contribute to the Russia-Ukraine process.

During their meeting, Biden praised Erdogan for dropping his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO and for all the incredible work youre doing to try to get the grain out of Ukraine.

He said the pair would discuss both issues during their meeting.

Biden added: Youre doing a great job, I just want to thank you.

___

Ukrainians living in Spain held a peaceful protest in favor of the alliance, welcoming its support of Ukraine during Russias invasion.

Yuriy Chopyk, president of the Ukrainian Community in Spain, thanked NATO members and allied countries for their help but said the aid supplied so far is insufficient to defeat Russian troops.

NATO had to stop this war, because they are killing us, destroying the whole country, destroying the Ukrainian nation, he said.

Chopyk called for a redoubling of efforts with the supply of more weapons and military equipment.

We want to make a big appeal, NATO has to help stop this Ukrainian genocide that Russia is doing, he said.

The demonstration on Wednesday brought together some 50 people in a Madrid neighborhood close to where the two-day NATO summit is being held.

Thousands of police officers and security forces are guarding the capital ahead of the NATO summit and preventing demonstrations getting close to the summit site.

So far, two peaceful protests have been held against the summit on Sunday and Monday in Madrid.

___

Italian Premier Mario Draghi says plans for an increased U.S. military presence in Europe dont amount to a military escalation within NATO.

Draghi says the increase announced Wednesday by the White House would amount to just 70 additional U.S. troops on Italian soil and an air defense system that had already been planned.

But he added at the NATO summit in Madrid: You have to be ready.

Draghi said overall Italy is committing 10,000 troops to NATO. That includes 2,000 divided among the Italian command of NATO in Bulgaria, its presence in Romania and staffing of air patrols over the Baltics. Another 8,000 are on standby in Italy if eventually necessary.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he is deeply concerned that North Korea might test a nuclear weapon.

Biden discussed the threats from Pyongyang with Washingtons Asian allies Japan and South Korea on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Spain.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said a nuclear missile test by North Korea should be met with a coordinated reaction from the three countries present at the meeting.

I hope that response can be taken at a trilateral level, he said.

There were concerns that North Korea might test a missile while Biden visited South Korea and Japan last month. It ended up firing three ballistic missiles shortly after Biden left for home.

___

NATO says a stronger and more capable European Union defense architecture can be complementary and interoperable with the alliance.

In its new Strategic Concept- the alliances once-in-a-decade establishment of priorities and goals - NATO at its annual summit Wednesday described the EU as a unique and essential partner.

The document specifies that initiatives to increase defense spending and develop coherent, mutually reinforcing capabilities, while avoiding unnecessary duplications, are key to our joint efforts to make the Euro-Atlantic area safer.

The move echoes French President Emmanuel Macrons push to develop more EU defense autonomy. Macron, whose rotating presidency of the bloc of 27 is ending on Friday, has long been championing the idea of making the EU security less dependent on the U.S. and NATO.

___

Spains Queen Letizia has played tour guide to some of the first ladies of world leaders attending the NATO summit in Madrid.

The tour Wednesday included a group photograph in front of Pablo Picassos famous Guernica anti-war painting.

Accompanied by Spanish first lady Begona Gomez, the group zipped north on one of Spains bullet AVE trains to the city of Segovia where the queen showed them around the luxurious royal palace and gardens of La Granja de San Ildefonso.

The women then whizzed back by bullet train to central Madrids Puerta de Atocha station and crossed the road to the Reina Sofia art museum.

There, they saw Picassos large, black and white Guernica oil masterpiece, an iconic work that depicts the horror of a Nazi and Italian fascist air bombing of a Basque town during the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War.

___

Australias prime minister is calling on China to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine and is welcoming NATOs interest in Asia-Pacific security.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Russias attack has strengthened the resolve of democratic nations around the world to work in favor of a rules-based order.

Albanese had what he called a very successful meeting with the leaders of Japan, South Korea and New Zealand on Wednesday in Madrid before all four joined the NATO summit being held in the city.

He said they discussed the summits important focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia has provided military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

___

French President Emmanuel Macron says Sweden and Finland will bring a significant contribution to the NATO alliance.

Macrons office said that during a meeting at the NATO summit on Wednesday with Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the pair stressed the importance of sending a message of unity and strength amid Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Macron praised the deal reached on Tuesday with Turkey, which agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.

Both leaders also discussed the need to find ways to allow Ukrainian grain exports. They agreed to continue to coordinate and work with the United Nations to achieve conditions to ensure the security of the port of Odesa and maritime convoys in the Black Sea.

Odesa is a major gateway for grain shipments and its blockade by Russia threatens global food supplies.

___

BEIJING  China is rebuking NATO for what it calls the alliances Cold War mentality.

The comments came as NATO leaders held a summit in Spain, where they are expected to identify China as a challenge for the alliance.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said NATO should give up the cold war mentality, zero-sum game and the practice of creating enemies, and not to try to mess up Asia and the whole world after disrupting Europe.

He accused NATO members of creating tension and provoking conflicts by sending warships and aircraft into areas close to the Asian mainland and the South China Sea.

His remarks follow a recent interception of a surveillance aircraft from NATO member Canada by a Chinese fighter in international airspace, which Canadian officials described as reckless on the part of the Chinese pilot.

And U.S. ally Australia on May 26 said China committed a dangerous act of aggression against an Australian air force plane conducting aerial surveillance in the South China Sea.

Zhao also criticized sanctions brought against Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine it has refused to condemn or even describe as an act of aggression.

___

A senior European Union official is welcoming the chance for the bloc to strengthen its ties with NATO.

Charles Michel, President of the European Council, said the EU and the military alliance held common values which would be on show at the NATO summit starting Wednesday.

Asked if EU members should boost their defense spending in response to the Russian threat following the invasion if Ukraine, Michel said: Yes! Yes! Yes!

He added: And we are doing that because we have decided to increase (defense spending) by 200 billion euros in the following years (...) But its not enough.

Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are invited to a working dinner held with the leaders of the 30 members of NATO and other national leaders from Europe and the Pacific later at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The leaders of the six non-NATO members belonging to the EU will also attend the dinner, including Sweden and Finland who have asked to join the military alliance.

___

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has deplored NATOs failure to embrace his country and asked the alliance for more weapons.

Zelenskyy told a NATO summit in Madrid by video link that the alliances leaders either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

He also asked Wednesday for more modern artillery systems to fend off the Russias invasion, now entering its fifth month.

Zelenskyy bemoaned that Ukraines efforts have not merited closer ties with NATO.

He asked: Hasnt our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient? What else is necessary?

___

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says NATO must make clear to China that invading Taiwan would be a catastrophic miscalculation.

She said Wednesday that Chinas growing global influence and military clout was an issue for Euro Atlantic security.

NATO is expected to identify China as a challenge for the alliance when it sets out its strategy for the coming decade at a summit in Madrid.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Truss said that with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable military, there is a real risk that they draw the wrong idea which results in a catastrophic miscalculation such as invading Taiwan.

She urged NATO nations to develop closer economic and diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

___

U.S. President Joe Biden says Americas military presence in Europe is about to get bigger, as NATO responds to the threat from Moscow following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Biden says the U.S. is establishing a permanent headquarters in Poland, sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the UK and will send more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

The U.S. is also beefing up its military assets in Romania and the Baltic region.

Meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid for the alliances annual summit, Biden says: NATO is strong and united, and the steps were taking during this summit, were going to further augment our collective strength.

Today Im announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, Biden said, detailing the announcements.

A day earlier, Biden announced that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain.

The United States provides the bulk of NATOs military power.

___

U.S. President Joe Biden has lined up alongside the NATOs secretary-general and 29 other national leaders for a photo at the highly anticipated summit of the military alliance in Madrid.

Biden stood front-and-center alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, all three sporting blue ties to capture the colors of NATO.

The leaders then filed into a meeting room to start the opening session Wednesday, which is to focus on NATOs plans to boost its support for Ukraines amid Russias invasion.

The photo came minutes after President Biden announced that he will deploy more troops, planes and warships to Europe to boost NATOs rapid response force from 40,000 to 300,000 soldiers.

___

NATO leaders say bolstering the alliances forces in Eastern Europe as a bulwark against Russia is a key priority for the Madrid summit.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as he arrived for talks Wednesday that NATO needed to learn the lessons of the last few months and the need for NATO to revise its posture on its eastern flank.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said NATOs commitment to greatly increase its rapid reaction force for members nearest to Russia will make Europe safer.

He said: Russia is a threat for Europe and not only for Europe, but for all of NATO.

NATO has said it will boost its rapid response force from 40,000 to 300,000 troops for its eastern flank, which includes Polands borders with Ukraine and Belarus, a Russian ally.

The summits opening work session on Wednesday will focus on how NATO can give more support to Ukraine.

___

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said NATO members and others will continue to support Ukraines ability to defend itself against Russia for as long as necessary.

Speaking Wednesday at the start of the NATO summit in Madrid, Scholz said the military alliance and many, many other nations agreed that Russia had breached Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty when it attacked on Feb. 24.

Thats why its right that the countries gathering here, and many others, are contributing with financial means, humanitarian aid, but also by providing weapons that Ukraine urgently needs to defend itself, Scholz said.

We will continue to do this for as long and as intensively as necessary, so Ukraine can defend itself, he added.

___

Some 10,000 police are locking down Spains capital for the NATO summit.

The gathering of 40 world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, is taking place behind roadblocks formed by police vans and armored cars.

They are ringing Madrids vast IFEMA conference center on the edge of the city, where the talks open Wednesday.

Spains National Police have deployed surveillance drones, while the flying of civilian drones is prohibited during the event.

Local authorities have recommended that Madrid residents work from home if possible and avoid further complicating the traffic problems caused by the security apparatus.

___

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance faces its biggest challenge since World War II amid the war in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said at the start of the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday that the allies are meeting in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced.

This will be a historic and transformative summit, he told reporters.

Stoltenberg said the alliance is going to agree on deterrence to be able to deploy more combat formations and get more pre-positioned equipment in Eastern Europe by next year.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy is expected to address the 30 leaders via video link Wednesday, as Russias invasion stretches into its fifth month.

The gathering has already seen a breakthrough agreement between Turkey and Finland and Sweden for the Nordic countries to begin their accession process.

The asked to join the alliance after witnessing Russias brutal attack on its neighbor Ukraine, but Turkey had some misgivings that were overcome Tuesday.
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Midland Memorial Hospital has received two American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline Achievement Awards. MMH has been recognized for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke. That means more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke or heart attack, and heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the United States, respectively. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.
The National Quality Forum has selected Midland Healths Padmaja Patel to serve on its 2022 Leadership Consortium.

Patel currently serves as the medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Center at Midland Health and has been an advocate for offering a variety of comprehensive lifestyle intervention programs under physician supervision. Patel also has been awarded the prestigious status of fellow of ACLM for her outstanding achievement in the field of lifestyle medicine, according to Midland Health. She co-founded Healthy City, a non-profit organization, to raise awareness of the benefits of plant-based nutrition within her community.

The Leadership Consortium is a prestigious and exclusive forum of multistakeholder health care experts representing NQF Member Organizations, where they share their collective thought leadership to identify actionable strategies to improve health care quality and drive lasting change in key areas, according to the National Quality Forum. The groups guidance informs the direction of NQF programs and drives improvement across health care. Patel was one of 35 people selected for the consortium.

NQF has become an integral component of American health cares efforts to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of care delivery, said Leadership Consortium Co-Chair Peter Angood, MD, president & CEO, American Association for Physician Leadership. The Leadership Consortium continues to address significantly important topic areas by identifying the issues of concern, and then providing actionable solutions and next steps for helping to refine approaches on these various topic areas. By doing so, the Leadership Consortium itself is now becoming an important and influential group within health care.
GDCC Names Global Sales SVP

Netherlands-headquartered data collection firm Global Data Collection Company (GDCC) has appointed former Sytel exec, Richard Compton as Senior Vice President, Global Sales. He is based in the UK.



GDCC (Global Data Collection Company) works in both consumer and B2B research, with physical locations in seven countries and covering more than 40 languages globally on a day-to-day basis. Compton (pictured) joins after a decade at contact centre solutions provider Sytel, where he most recently served as VP EMEA & Global Market Research, managing the firm's MR team. Prior to this, he spent more than 25 years in the telecoms sector, initially as Sales Director and a shareholder of Sotel, before the business was sold to Convergent - later acquired by Azzurri Communications, where he latterly served as Director of Corporate Solutions.



Commenting on the appointment, Managing Partner Sanne Krom said: 'Richard brings a wealth of knowledge on the global market research industry, in general and telephonic research in particular. In addition, his no-nonsense approach to doing business is a very good fit with the GDCC philosophy.'



Web site: www.gdcc.com .




Kemlin Nembhard, executive director at the Women's Health Clinic, which offers reproductive care, including abortions, walks next to information pamphlets at the clinic, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on June 28, 2022.
Nobel Peace Prize co-winner 2021 Maria Ressa attends a ceremony for World Press Freedom day at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland on May 3, 2022.
People line up in the cashier line at the Guam Power Authority and Guam Waterworks Authority satellite office on June 20 at the Julale Shopping Center in Hagatna.
Local residents pay a visit to mourn for the victims at the scene where dozens of migrants were found dead inside a trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas, June 28, 2022.
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CHANDLERVILLE  Phillip Wessel has immersed himself in agriculture through the years, both on the family farm and in college.

This summer he will be deep into "die Landwirtschaft," spending three months studying farming in Germany through an international exchange program.

Wessel is one of five people selected for the intensive United Soybean Board program and one of just two from Illinois; the other is from Hopedale. Joining them will be students from Stony Point, North Carolina; and Woodward and Delmar in Iowa.

Wessel has a degree in environmental science, political science and marine biology from Nova Southeastern University and serves with AmeriCorps as a team leader for national projects, many focusing on sustainable agriculture.

His visit will be facilitated through the International Farm Youth Exchange Association, which will pair participants with a host family in Germany while they learn about production, trade and exports and imports. Students also will meet with members of the U.S. Soybean Export Council and the agriculture attache at the U.S. Embassy.

When he returns, Wessel will share what he learns about global agriculture and trade with farming organizations.

"I have received countless opportunities in life as a result of my family farm. I am grateful to now have the opportunity to represent soybean farmers across the United States," Wessel said prior to leaving in mid-June.

Iowa farmer April Hemmes, director of the United Soybean Board, said the program was an important way to connect with global food producers and explore other cultures.

"We, as soybean farmers, are proud to invest in these individuals and their professional development, since theyll carry the torch in ushering the next era of farming solutions," Hemmes said.
Chanin Wardkhian/Getty Images

The city will give $30,000 in aid to the Jacksonville homeless shelter over three months beginning in August.

City Council voted 9-0 Monday to provide $10,000 a month for three months to New Directions Warming & Cooling Center, 100 S. Fayette St. Had the funding not been approved, the shelter said it would have been forced to shut down after July.
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MEXICO CITY (AP)  The two cousins returned to the tiny, hardscrabble hamlet they grew up in in southern Mexico about two weeks ago to say goodbye in what has become a rite of passage for generations of migrants from their remote, impoverished mountainous region in Oaxaca state.

After the farewells in the community of Cerro Verde, Javier Flores Lopez and Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman began their trek north to the U.S-Mexico border and toward their final destination in Ohio, where construction jobs and other work awaited.

Flores Lopez is now missing, his family said, while Vasquez Guzman is hospitalized in San Antonio after surviving stifling heat inside a tractor-trailer near the Texas city that killed at least 53 people in the deadliest smuggling episode ever in the U.S. The perilous trip for migrants who climbed into what would become a death chamber for many reflects the growing risks people face in fleeing abject poverty, violence and other desperate situations in Mexico and Central America to seek a better life.

Cerro Verde is a community of about 60 people that has largely been abandoned by the young. Those who remain work earning meager livings weaving sun hats, mats, brooms and other items from palm leaves. Many live on as little as 30 pesos a day (less than $2).

The truth is people leave here out of necessity, said Felicitos Garcia, who owns a small grocery store in nearby San Miguel Huautla, adding that he saw the two men about two weeks ago. Life is tough here. People survive by growing their own crops like corn, beans and wheat. Sometimes the land gives and sometimes it doesnt, when the rains arrive late. There is nothing in place for people to have other resources. People live one day to the next.

It was not the first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border for Flores Lopez, now in his mid-30s, who left Cerro Verde years ago and went to Ohio, where his father and a brother live.

He was back home to see his wife and three small children briefly, said a cousin, Francisco Lopez Hernandez. Vasquez Guzman, 32, decided to go with his cousin for his first trip across the border and hoped to reach his oldest brother who is in Ohio as well.

While everyone knew the risks, countless people from Cerro Verde had made it safely across the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of smugglers, so it came as a shock, Lopez Hernandez said, to learn Vasquez Guzman was among 67 people packed into the trailer found abandoned Monday near auto salvage yards. The family believes Flores Lopez was, too, but they are still awaiting confirmation.

The driver along with two other men from Mexico remained in custody as the investigation continues.

Officials had potential identifications on 37 of the victims as of Wednesday morning, pending verification with authorities in other countries, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office.

The dead include 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduno, chief of Mexicos National Immigration Institute.

Identifying them has been challenging because some were found without identification documents and in one case carried a stolen ID. Remote villages, like Cerro Verde, have little to no phone service to reach family members and fingerprint data has to be shared and matched by the governments involved.

Vasquez Guzmans mother, who is trying to get a visa to see her son in Texas, raised him and his three siblings alone after their father died when Vasquez Guzman was 10. She now is the only one of the family left in Cerro Verde. Vasquez Guzman left when he was 18 and joined the Mexican military.

His oldest brother, Eloy, went to the United States just over a year ago and settled in Ohio, said Lopez Hernandez, who grew up on the neighboring ranch.

I imagine that he commented to him about how the work situation was and everything and how to make more money, Lopez Hernandez said. I imagine he called him so that he would come over, too, to have a better life. Thats the draw for why he was going.

Vasquez Guzman, who had been living in Mexico City the past six years, returned to Cerro Verde only to say goodbye to his mother, Lopez Hernandez said.

He knew it was an expensive and risky trip. Lopez Hernandez said most people rely on those who have made it to the U.S. to send them money for the journey, which usually costs around $9,000.

There are a lot of risks but for those who are lucky, the fortune is there, to be able to work, earn a living he said.

With so many leaving and heading to the United States, it is easy to find a smuggler and until now the people have gotten across safely, Lopez Hernandez said.

I dont know in this case if they changed or what happened, why they were abandoned, he said.

Lopez Hernandez, who also has a brother living in Ohio, has thought about joining him. But he said family, work, school and other responsibilities have kept him in Mexico.

This week, he asked his uncle if he had heard from Vasquez Guzman. He told him he was in Texas.

I told him, How cool, thats hes trying hard and well see him on his return,' Lopez Hernandez replied before they lost their phone signal.

He later learned from the Internet about the tragedy.

___

Watson reported from San Diego.
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One of the most contentious U.S. House primary races in recent Illinois history came to an end Tuesday as Mary Miller easily defeated Rodney Davis to secure the Republican nomination to the 15th District seat.

With almost 97% of the votes counted, Miller has 57% of the vote to Davis' 43%. Miller will face Democrat Paul J. Lange of Quincy, who ran unopposed for his partys nomination, in the Nov. 8 general election. Vote totals are unofficial until certified.

Miller won by comfortable margins in Cass, Greene, Pike and Scott counties, while Davis narrowly won Morgan County.

Davis conceded to Miller late Tuesday, clearing the path for her to be re-elected to Congress in November in a deeply Republican district.

Miller, 62, of Oakland has represented the old 15th District in Congress since Jan. 3, 2021. Davis, 52, of Taylorville has represented the old 13th District in Congress since Jan. 3, 2013. The new 15th District was created by the General Assembly based on results from the 2020 Census. It crosses the breadth of central Illinois, but the 13th District pierces through the heart of it, encompassing large parts of Springfield, Decatur and Champaign.

"I want to thank President Donald J. Trump, the leader of the America First movement. This win shows the strength and power of President Trump's endorsement," Miller said. "I want to thank my wonderful family and my supporters for your love, your prayers, and your support."

Davis congratulated Miller in an emailed statement. "It's been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Illinois. I'm proud of the work our team has done for our constituents since 2013," he said, while pledging to campaign for all GOP candidates this fall.

The election has been expensive, even by Illinois standards. Both candidates poured more than $1 million into campaign advertising with Davis spending more than twice as much.

A June 8 report from the Federal Election Commission showed Davis had collected nearly $3.5 million, spent $2.6 million and had cash on hand of $973,063. The same report showed Miller collected about $1.5 million, spent $1 million and had cash on hand of $515,396.

That total doesnt include satellite spending, which is political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns. According to the FEC, six organizations spent more than $9 million in support of and in opposition to both candidates.

The two incumbents traded barbs over who is the true conservative candidate in the race. Davis touted his legislative experience. Miller pointed to her endorsement by former President Donald Trump, which was sealed Saturday with his appearance at a Save America Rally at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Mendon.

On Saturday night, she made the "white life" comment as Trump stood behind her at a rally in Mendon, drawing cheers from the crowd. Miller has since said she's not racist, and her spokesman said she had intended to say the ruling was a victory for the "right to life."

Davis was a co-chair of Trumps 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. He had the backing of almost all the districts 35 county party chairs and vowed to re-implement Trump policies, including walling off the U.S.-Mexico border.
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NEW YORK (AP)  Nine months after she stepped into the job of New York governor as a relative unknown, Democrat Kathy Hochul easily locked up her party's nomination Tuesday, setting her on an expected glide path to win the office in November.

Hochul was serving as an under-the-radar lieutenant governor under the shadow of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo until last year, when he resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, catapulting her into office.

Hochul beat back primary challenges Tuesday from New York Citys elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams, and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate from Long Island. She now turns her eyes to becoming the first woman to win election to the New York governors office this fall.

In a nod to the barrier-breaking campaign, Hochul gave an election night speech Tuesday on a stage underneath a glass ceiling at an event space in Manhattan.

Im also here because I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, generations of women who constantly had to bang up against that glass ceiling. To the women of New York, this ones for you," Hochul said.

Hochul enters the general election campaign with a big advantage, running as the incumbent with a heavy fundraising advantage in a state that has more than twice as many registered Democrats than Republicans and has not had a GOP governor in 16 years.

She faces U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, who won the Republican Partys nomination Tuesday. Zeldin is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

Are we ready to fire Kathy Hochul? Zeldin said to cheers as he spoke at a victory party on Long Island.

The Long Island congressman will try to become the first Republican elected governor in New York since Gov. George Pataki was reelected in 2002.

This November, in the state of New York, one-party rule will end," he said. "Kathy Hochul will get fired. We will restore balance and common sense to Albany again.

Hochul's prospects are expected to be even stronger this fall after the U.S. Supreme Court last week overturned the Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights. She has made bolstering abortion rights a key plank of her campaign.

Hochul repeated that in her Tuesday night speech, proclaiming that the state had gone on offense to protect abortion rights" and "making the world know that New York State is a safe harbor for Americas women.

Since taking office in August, Hochul has sought to step out from Cuomo's shadow, promising a clean break from his administration. She has said she was not close to the former governor, who has denied wrongdoing, and was not around to witness any alleged misbehavior.

Still, Cuomos presence loomed over her campaign early on when he began making public appearances this past spring, criticizing Hochul and Democrats in Albany over their approach to crime and suggesting he might run for his old job. Despite suggesting he might run as an independent, the former governor ultimately did not file to run.

Zeldin is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015.

He defeated primary challenges from former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who frequently campaigned for his son.

He has focused his campaign on rising crime and criticized Hochul for not toughening the states bail laws, for imposing COVID-19 mitigation mandates and for rising costs. And despite Hochul seeking to project a fresh start from Cuomo, Zeldin has referred repeatedly to the Cuomo-Hochul Administration.

New Yorkers are hitting their breaking point. Theyre deciding whether or not to stay here or head to other places," he said.

He will have to persuade the states independent voters, which outnumber Republicans, along with Democrats in order to win the general election. Democrats are expected to focus on Zeldins vocal defense of Trump during both of his impeachments and objection to the election results. Hochul is also likely to focus on Zeldins statements praising the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and his comment that, as governor, he would appoint an anti-abortion state health commissioner.

We must answer one question, she said Tuesday night. Are we going to move New York forward, or let the far-right extremist drag our state backwards?

Hochul focused her campaign on steps she took to bolster abortion rights and moves to toughen the states gun laws after a racist mass shooting in Buffalo.

Suozzi and Williams criticized her for her endorsement a decade ago from the National Rifle Association and over her plan to spend more than $1.1 billion in state and county funds on building and maintaining a new stadium for her hometown Buffalo Bills.

She also faced questions about her choice for lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, who was arrested on federal corruption charges in April related to his campaign funds.

Benjamin pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Hochul pointed to the short time frame she had to pick a No. 2 and said she had been assured that any questions previously raised about Benjamins campaign fundraising had been resolved.

Hochul replaced Benjamin with Antonio Delgado, who stepped down from his seat in Congress to accept the role. Delgado, also Hochul's choice for a running mate, won his primary Tuesday. Zeldin's running mate Alison Esposito is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.

Tuesdays election in New York covered statewide offices and state Assembly races, but primary elections for U.S. House seats and the state Senate will be held Aug. 23. Those elections were delayed because of a redistricting lawsuit that led a court to throw out new political maps.

___

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.
While the November elections tend to get the attention, Tuesday's primary drew a steady flow of voters who said it was important to make their voices known in any election.

"I like to vote in every election there is  local, national, primary, general," Sal Vitale of Jacksonville said. "I always try to be present and cast my vote."

By 4 p.m. Tuesday, the county clerk's office had already received more than 600 votes through early voting.

County Clerk Jill Waggener said early indications were that turnout would be higher for this primary than in the past.

Waggener said it is important to vote in the primary to pick the best candidate to represent a person's party in November.

"What people are doing are nomination who they want on the November ballot," Waggener said. "We're nominating, not electing."

Pete Lira of Jacksonville said there can't be a general election without a primary. And it's the primary election that helps narrow the November ballot to the candidates the people want.

"It's the thing that gets the ball rolling," Lira said. "It you don't vote, your representative may not even be selected."

Caroline Sturgen of Jacksonville said she rarely votes in the primary, but there were a few candidates that she wanted to help gain a nomination this year.

"I had a couple of people that I wanted to vote for in particular," Sturgen said. "I may not be able to vote for them if they don't make it to the general election."

Sturgen said she might not always vote in a primary, if she isn't educated on the issues or candidates.

"As I've gotten older I've paid closer attention to politics," Sturgen said. "I try to pick someone with values similar to mine. It's there job to represent us."

Phronsie Spaulding of Jacksonville said she is trying to become more active to try and help influence a change.

"I feel like the government is a mess, that as a citizen I need to vote to change that," Spaulding said. "Not that one vote can change too much, but I can't really complain if I'm not participating."

Spaulding said she' often vote on candidates based on what they support or who they are attached to.

"If we want to change the way the world is, we are going to need to vote in the primary," Spaulding said.

Lisa Viles of Jacksonville said the decision last week by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade encouraged her to vote in the primary.

"I know it probably doesn't make a lot of difference," Viles said. "There weren't a lot of choices for many of the races."

Viles said she wants to be more active and try to influence the decisions made in the state and nation.
The release of Top Gun: Maverick made me nostalgic for the Ronald Reagan era, a period of industrial and military strength that led to the rise of Silicon Valley and U.S. dominance in high-tech manufacturing. Perhaps its deja vu.

When the original Top Gun was released, just as today, America and its allies faced daunting geopolitical and domestic threats. It may again be our capacity to use technology to defend and empower democracies to reverse course. It requires us to unleash the spirit of innovation and the dedication of our military and foreign policy specialists in a coordinated response.

Heres the duality. There are corporate and bipartisan efforts under way that can enable us to regain equilibrium. A combination of diplomatic and strategic actions will demonstrate that America is ready to reassert its position as leader of the Free World in partnership with our friends.

Despite ever-present concerns, I am reminded that by recovering American courage and conviction, we can mastermind a turnaround once again. Here are the steps I see as our four-throttle solution.

CEO and Investor Engagement: Palantir CEO Alex Karps recent visit to Ukraine for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky was a smart business and political move, which other CEOs should emulate. Palantirs public statement noted, With geopolitical tensions rising all over the world, enhancing security and protecting democratic institutions has never been more important.

Global energy and food shortages provide a chance  should they seize it  for American CEOs to provide public assurances of support for Ukraine and all those affected by the Russian invasion. The message should include declarations to stand by those who need our products to feed their citizens and maintain businesses.

A holistic industry sector approach to investment management also speaks volumes. For example, hundreds of biopharma CEOs and investors launched a petition to cease industry investment in Russia at the onset of the Ukraine-Russian war. Then they joined to set up a multi-million-dollar fund that provides medical aid to Ukraine.

Tech diplomacy: Creating a critical technologies target list and a coordinated response to active measures sponsored by Russia and China provide a systematic path to protecting our commercial and military infrastructure. Tech diplomacy is an evolving field, and groups such as the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue have elevated the need and serve as catalysts for building partnerships and alliances to bridge the experience gaps between innovators and policymakers while ensuring that U.S. and like-minded nations understand the critical emerging technologies and make informed laws and policy decisions.

Academic partnerships: Business schools ensure next-generation policy leaders learn the basics to support foreign policy goals. The SMU Cox School of Business Center for Commercial and Corporate Diplomacy brings together foreign policy experts to help them better understand how to help U.S. businesses compete overseas and leverage our technology to achieve policy objectives. The USC Marshall World Bachelor in Business explores the role of business in public-private partnerships and diplomacy, providing undergraduates with an understanding of an integrated response.

At campuses across the United States, the Athenai Institute, a nonpartisan student-led movement, has worked with state governments to remove Chinese influence on American campuses. They call for disinvesting institutional dollars that indirectly support human rights atrocities against the Uighurs and intimidation of Chinese students and their families.

Strategic American investment: As the Chinese invest in strategic technologies and expand their global presence, so must we. Regaining dominance in the semiconductor market becomes Job 1 again as CEOs increasingly raise attention to manufacturing shortages and dangers to our supply chain. Expanding  not decreasing  U.S. Navy ships would increase security and provide assurances to Asian economic allies in the face of growing Chinese naval power.

When things are tough, we crave heroes  whether in the form of a Hollywood fighter pilot or the unwavering resolve of Zelensky or Reagan. If one movie can re-ignite that inner spark, then grab another bucket of popcorn and settle in for the next showing.
In 1896, the Supreme Court foisted separate but equal upon American law and society in Plessy v. Ferguson. This ruling allowed states to pretend that in transportation (or schools or hospitals), separate can also be equal.

The question today is whether ubiquitous, well-intentioned demands for equity (call it equitism) might lead to a similarly problematic standard of separate, but equitable.

Plessy required conceit and deceit. The conceit was the presumption that public officials possessed sufficient wisdom, competence and resources to micro-manage resources such that whites and non-whites could be separated in ways that yielded equality. The deceit was the presumption that officials really wanted equality.

Today, well-meaning equitists intend no such deceit but practice a parallel conceit by reintroducing racial categorization into our institutions and assuming that governments will handle it better than their predecessors did.

Louisianas Separate Car Act of 1890 required white and Black railroad passengers to ride in separate compartments. Homer Plessys ancestry was one-eighth African and seven-eighths European. By outward appearance, he was white, but state laws defined him as colored. Seeking to challenge the law, Plessy sat in a whites-only car and was arrested. Seven justices upheld the law. Only Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented, arguing that constitutionally the law is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.

Enforcing the Separate Car Act required Louisiana officials to: officially define each racial category; construct a database applying these labels to every resident; determine what constitutes equality; require railroad personnel to act as agents of the state in enforcing the law; specify civil and criminal penalties for passengers and railroad officers violating the law; and harness police powers to punish passengers and railroad officers who violate the law.

Today, Justice Harlans principle of colorblindness has once again become controversial in certain circles because of entirely different motivations. In 2021, two physicians proposed race-based hospital admissions, arguing that racial disparities (give) the lie to the effectiveness of colorblind policies. In some states, access to lifesaving drugs depends partly on ones race.

The underlying argument is that structural racism is baked into American institutions, leading to disparities in health and other variables. The alleged curative is for central authorities to prioritize people of color over whites in distributing goods, services, money or privileges. A webpage of the George Washington Universitys Milken Institute of Public Health states this vision succinctly: Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

Those pushing equitism today in health care (and in education, employment, etc.) do not bear the racial animus that 19th century Louisiana legislators exhibited in passing the Separate Car Act. But one can still worry about the efficacy and ethics of todays curatives.

The relevant question is not whether the desire for some vision of equity is genuine but rather whether todays government officials are sufficiently wise, competent, resourceful and benevolent for us to entrust them to define and pigeonhole us by race (and other innate characteristics) and to micro-manage some of the most intimate aspects of our lives  health care.

One would also be wise to ask whether conferring such powers on governments will benefit or further harm those whom the policies are ostensibly supposed to help.
Last week, a political ad from disgraced former Missouri governor and Republican Senate candidate Eric Greitens was pulled from several social media sites for its alarmingly violent message.

The despicable ad depicted individuals in full military regalia employing a battering ram and hurling grenades into a barren residence. Holding a shotgun and grinning from ear to ear, Greitens says, Today, were going RINO hunting. He further encourages viewers to Join the MAGA crew, get a RINO hunting license.

RINO stands for Republicans in Name Only, a term initially ascribed to Republicans who dont always adhere to the party line. However, these days any GOP politician who refuses to embrace theories of blatantly false propaganda or deviate (no matter how benignly) from the rabid bubble of right-wing delusion are confronted with derision and become frequent targets of violence from die hard hardcore Trumpists.

Greitenss vile ad dropped days after Texas Republican convention delegates turned on two of its own conservative stalwarts. Sen. John Cornyn was loudly booed because hes was among 10 Republicans that negotiated with Democrats on a very modest gun reform bill after massacres last month at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket and a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.

Speaking of Texas, Republicans there adopted an aggressively far-right party platform that rejects the certified results of the 2020 presidential election, denounces homosexuality and LGBTQ people as abnormal, pushes for schoolchildren to learn about the humanity of the pre-born child, and wants the 1965 Voting Rights Act to be repealed and not reauthorized. Talk about a dystopian agenda.

Instead of rejecting odious messages of racism, sexism and xenophobia, many right-wing Republicans have seen an opportunity to regain executive power by coddling white supremacy and tapping into the regressive psyche of the nations most banal impulses. Several years later, we are still enduring the results of such retrograde maladies.

In recent years, right-wing violence has been more commonplace and culminated in deadly results, be it the murder of physicians and staff members at abortion clinics, to Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, and Jewish synagogue attendees in Pittsburgh, to the very recent Buffalo supermarket massacre last month.

Recently, we have witnessed a dramatic and ominous increase in colossal acts of violence and intimidation directed at those who are seen as foes of their political, social and cultural views. That includes liberal and progressive politicians, members of the LGBTQ community, immigrants, public health officials, election administrators, and just about anyone who do not support their agenda. Even more distressing, such troubling trends show no signs of abating.

This is not to say that some supposed RINOS are, indeed, their own worst enemy. In an effort to save face, these are the Republicans who engage in perverse doublespeak. They sporadically espouse pro-Trump rhetoric while trying to hide behind what minimal cloak of respectability they have remaining. Trying to eat their political cake and have it, too.

Make no mistake, the diehard base longs for the day when America returns to the nation it unmistakably resembled in the mid-19th century. The Jim Crow era of the mid-20th century was too benign for them. Their message is clear: either you are with them, or you are against them.

If you are a member of the latter category, they intend to deal with you by any violent means necessary. They have to be combated at all costs.
Russians fight to encircle Ukraines last eastern stronghold View Photo

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces battled Wednesday to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock reverberated from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 in the center of the country two days earlier.

Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement.

Britains defense ministry said Russian forces were making incremental advances in their offensive to capture Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk province under Ukrainian control following the retreat of Ukraines forces from the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and about half of Donetsk, the two provinces that make up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.

The latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Ukrainians were likely in a fighting withdrawal to seek more defensible positions while draining the Russian forces of manpower and resources.

Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Russia may think time is on its side due to the escalating costs borne by the West and fatigue as the war grows longer. The most likely scenario predicted by American intelligence, Haines said, is a grinding struggle in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall.

The U.S. correctly predicted Russia would invade Ukraine in February, but was wrong in assessing that it would quickly seize Kyiv. Speaking at an event in Washington on Wednesday, Haines said Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively the same political goals that he had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine and push it away from NATO.

We perceive a disconnect between Putins near-term military objectives in this area and his militarys capacity, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military is able to accomplish, Haines said.

Putin also said his goals in Ukraine have not changed since the start of the war. He said they were the liberation of the Donbas, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself. He made no mention of his original stated goals to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

He denied Russia adjusted its strategy after failing to take Kyiv. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the marks that were set for them for a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan, Putin said at a news conference in Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, crews continued to search through the rubble of the shopping mall in Kremenchuk where Ukrainian authorities say 20 people remain missing.

Ukrainian State Emergency Services press officer Svitlana Rybalko told The Associated Press that along with the 18 people killed, investigators found fragments of eight more bodies. It was not immediately clear whether that meant there were more victims. A number of survivors suffered severed limbs.

The police cannot say for sure how many (victims) there are. So we are finding not the bodies but the fragments of bodies, Rybalko said. Now we are clearing at the very epicenter of the blast. Here, we practically cannot find bodies as such.

Several families stood by what was left of the Amstor shopping center Wednesday morning in hope of finding missing loved ones.

This is pure genocide, local resident Tatiana Chernyshova said while going to lay flowers at the site. Such things cannot happen in the 21st century.

We need to engage everyone to help stop the war, help us fight these scum  these Russian aggressors, Chernyshova said.

Psychologists working at the site with families said they were trying to help people come to terms with their loss.

We are trying to help them release their emotions now, as later it becomes harder and much more painful, said one psychologist, who did not give his name as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

After the attack on the mall, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of becoming a terrorist state. On Wednesday, he reproached NATO for not embracing or equipping his embattled country more fully.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy told NATO leaders meeting in Madrid, speaking by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough? Hasnt our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient?

He asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the NATO leaders they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday dismissed what she claimed was the Ukrainian governments blatant provocation in trying to blame the mall missile strike on Russias military.

Britains defense ministry said there was a realistic possibility that the mall strike was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

Russian planners highly likely remain willing to accept a high level of collateral damage when they perceive military necessity in striking a target, the ministry said. It is almost certain that Russia will continue to conduct strikes in an effort to interdict the resupplying of Ukrainian front-line forces.

Russias military also is experiencing a shortage of more modern precision strike weapons, which is compounding civilian casualties, the British ministry said.

In southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike on a multi-story apartment building Wednesday in the city of Mykolaiv killed at least four people and injured five, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said. Mykolaiv is a major port and seizing it  as well as Odesa farther west  would be key to Russias objective of cutting off Ukraine from its Black Sea coast.

Russias defense ministry said in a statement that the missile strike on Mykolaiv targeted a base for training foreign mercenaries, as well as ammunition depots.

In other developments Wednesday:

 A senior Russian lawmaker warned that Lithuanias refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russias Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation.

The statement by Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russias parliament, followed the Kremlins warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to Kaliningrad. The region borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

 Russias foreign ministry summoned Norways charge daffaires to protest Oslos blocking of a shipment of supplies to a Russian coal-mining town in the Svalbard islands.

Although the Svalbards are Norwegian territory, a 1920 treaty allows all signatory countries the right to exploit its natural resources. Russia operates a coal mine in Barentsburg, a settlement of about 450 people, which relies on shipments from the mainland of food, machinery and other supplies. Norway imposed sanctions on shipments from Russia in April.

 Ukrainian military intelligence says that in the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war 144 Ukrainian troops were released from Russian captivity. Of those released, 95 were involved in defending the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraines devastated southern city of Mariupol before Russian forces captured it weeks ago. Denis Pushilin, the separatist leader in Donetsk, said an equal number of soldiers was released by both sides.

 European Union leaders approved a 600-million euro ($631 million) package to address food security issues brought on by the Ukrainian war in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

 British businessman Richard Branson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and also visited the Hostomel airport outside the city. Zelenskyy said Branson, whose Virgin Group includes an airline, may be interested in rebuilding the airport, which was badly damaged early in the war.

 Britain is imposing sanctions on Russias second-richest man and on a cousin of Putins. Vladimir Potanin, owner of the Interross conglomerate, has continued to amass wealth while backing Putin, acquiring Rosbank and shares in Tinkoff Bankonith in the period following the invasion of Ukraine, a U.K. government statement said Wednesday.

The statement said Putins cousin, Anna Tsivileva, and her husband, Sergey Tsivilev, have significantly benefited from their relationship with Putin. Tsivileva is president of the JSC Kolmar Group coal mining company, and Tsivilev is governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region.

___

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Frank Griffiths and Sylvia Hui in London, Maria Grazia Murru in Kyiv, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

By FRANCESCA EBEL and YURAS KARMANAU

Associated Press
Dutch PM condemns protests by farmers at ministers home View Photo

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The Dutch prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent protest by farmers outside the home of the countrys agriculture minister amid increasingly bold demonstrations against the governments plans to rein in pollution.

A small group of farmers clashed Tuesday night with police stationed outside the home of Christianne van der Wal, the Cabinet minister overseeing the Netherlands reforms to curb pollution. They spread manure on a nearby street. At another protest, farmers attacked a police car. Several arrests were made.

The violence capped a second straight day of protests that included torching bales of hay near roads and blocking highways across the country with slow-driving or parked tractors.

The protests resumed Wednesday with dozens of tractors briefly blocking a highway close to the German border, traffic authorities said.

The Netherlands lucrative agricultural sector is protesting against a proposal, approved by lawmakers Tuesday, to reduce emissions of pollutants like nitrogen oxide and ammonia by 50% by 2030.

Provincial governments were given a year to draw up ways of making the cuts, which are expected to include buying out some farms with livestock that produce large amounts of ammonia.

Farmers argue they are being unfairly targeted and shown little concern for their futures.

Christian Democrat lawmaker Derk Boswijk tweeted Wednesday that he was staying home after his family, including his 4- and 7-year-old children, received a visit. He added: This way of demonstrating serves no purpose. Stop it!

You can demonstrate, but in a civilized way, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said from a NATO summit in Madrid. So dont block highways, dont set off fireworks outside a ministers house and spread manure and  scare two children, and endanger families.

The Dutch national police chief also weighed in, saying officers have fined dozens of farmers in recent days and prevented more road blockades.

The right to demonstrate is a great asset, but there are limits to it, police commander Willem Woelders said. If there is a disturbance of public order or criminal offenses are committed, we will take action.

Police said they arrested 10 protesters Tuesday in the eastern Netherlands and charged them with offenses ranging from public violence to attempted manslaughter.

It is unacceptable how, in some places in our unit, police officers have been attacked and cornered, Janny Knol, the police chief in the eastern Netherlands, said.

According to a national farm lobbying group, LTO, there are nearly 54,000 agricultural businesses in the Netherlands with exports totaling 94.5 billion euros (about $99 million) in 2019.

The protest at Van der Wals home came on the eve of an announcement by the government that it planned to criminalize the practice, known as doxing, of publishing online personal details such as home addresses as a means of intimidation.

The legislation is part of a broader package of measures announced by the Justice and Security Ministry that it says is intended to safeguard the freedom of the press.

By MIKE CORDER

Associated Press
Fire kills 51 after apparent riot attempt at Colombia prison View Photo

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  A fire at a prison in southwestern Colombia has killed at least 51 people and injured more than 20 others, authorities said Tuesday.

The director of the national prison system, Tito Castellanos, told Radio Caracol that its not clear if all of the dead were prisoners. He initially said 49 had died, but the Justice Ministry later raised the toll to 51.

He said the fire broke out during what appeared to be an attempted riot early Tuesday at the medium security prison in the city of Tulua.

But Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz said two inmates had a fight and one of them set fire to his mattress, starting the fire.

Ruiz added that more than 20 inmates were being treated for injuries in hospital, and said that two prison guards sustained minor injuries.

President Ivan Duque expressed condolences to the families of those who died and said he had ordered investigations into the cause.
Mother Lode Job Training And Resiliency Village View Photo

Sonora, CA  A new initiative will help local people experiencing homelessness receive the information, skills and certificates needed to gain employment.

$250,000 in government funding to Mother Lode Job Training will go to a new program, entitled Project Reboot, in partnership with the local non-profit Resiliency Village.

With the assistance of Resiliency Village, Mother Lode Job Training reports that it will provide direct outreach to homeless individuals, including resume and job placement assistance, access to scholarships for job training, and supportive services like transportation, and clothing. Resiliency Village residents will receive intensive job training and paid work experience services in conjunction with the trauma-informed counseling and support that Resiliency Village provides.

The program will run through December of 2023 and it is anticipated to benefit 46 people facing homelessness in the four-county region of Tuolumne, Amador, Calaveras and Mariposa.

Mark Dyken, Resiliency Village Executive Director, states, We are excited to partner with MLJT on a project that can help rebuild lives and move people toward self-sufficiency. The dignity of meaningful employment is an important component in reaching the goal of stable housing. Community partnerships are vital to the success of non-profit work, and we are grateful for this opportunity.

Dave Thoeny, Executive Director of Mother Lode Job Training, adds, By combining the workforce development interests of the region with the profound needs of the unhoused, REBOOT offers a unique opportunity for innovation and rebirth in the Mother Lode, one that we hope can be replicated in other regions.

The $250,000 for the initiative is coming from the California Workforce Development Board in coordination with the California Employment Development Department, and the Department of Labor.

The mission of Resiliency Village is to improve the quality of life for unsheltered and otherwise traumatized residents. It provides on-site services, creative art therapies, and skill-building. It models a healthy lifestyle and supports the opportunity for a self-sustaining future through housing, healing and hope.

Mother Lode Job Training, established in 1983, provides no-cost workforce development services for job seekers and employers in the four-county region.
GOPs Kathy Salvi to face Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November View Photo

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Kathy Salvi, a suburban Chicago personal injury lawyer, won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Illinois on Tuesday, topping a field of seven candidates.

Salvi, 63, of Mundelein, will take on first-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November. Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War, is highly popular and was unopposed in the primary. She will be the clear favorite as she seeks a second term in November in a place where Democrats control all statewide offices and voters twice rejected President Donald Trump by double digits.

Salvi, who works in a Chicago-area law firm, is a former Lake County assistant public defender who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2006. She campaigned this year on a pledge to work to unify her party and maintains Duckworth is beatable because the fall election will be about the success or failure of the Biden administration.

While Illinois has elected GOP senators in the recent past, Duckworth defeated the most recent Republican to hold a seat  moderate Sen. Mark Kirk  by more than 10 points in 2016.

Salvi beat Peggy Hubbard, 58, a southwest Illinois political activist who attended the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and promotes the false claim that Trump won the 2020 election. Others who ran included two other Republicans who ran have been on the ballot in previous elections  the Rev. Anthony Williams, 67, of Dolton, and Jimmy Lee Tillman II, a Trump supporter and the son of former Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy Tillman.

Trump did not endorse anyone in the race.
Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump White House aide, now in spotlight View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  A year and a half after the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection, the most memorable recounting of former President Donald Trumps behavior that day came from a young woman who had graduated from college just a few years earlier.

Cassidy Hutchinson gave two hours of testimony on national television that cast Trump as enraged by efforts to keep his armed supporters from attending his speech before many marched to the Capitol and her boss at the time, chief of staff Mark Meadows, as unwilling to confront Trump and staring unresponsively at his cellphone during key moments.

Having once shed tears of joy after getting a White House internship, Hutchinson, now in her mid-20s, described how she grew disgusted by Trumps refusal to stop the rioters. And in a single afternoon, she went from being a former junior White House staffer, to high-profile star witness, with the scrutiny that comes with it.

We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie, she said.

The testimony helped fill in several key gaps about Trumps level of direct involvement that day, and placed Meadows and other key Trump officials at the center of events critical to investigations by the House committee and the Justice Department.

It amplified calls for Meadows to drop his fight against the committees subpoena and raised new questions about whether officials around Trump could face criminal charges.

I knew her testimony would be damning, tweeted Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications official who said she was friends with Hutchinson. I had no idea itd be THIS damning. I am so grateful for her courage & integrity.

Hutchinson showed her familiarity with better-known officials in the White House, referring at times to Meadows, security official Tony Ornato, and national security adviser Robert OBrien by their first names. Meadows, in turn, called her Cass, in her retelling of one story.

Her voice never broke as she recounted quotes from Trump and Meadows in her video depositions and under questioning from the committees Republican vice chairman, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Both women embraced after the hearing.

Cheney, a 55-year-old former State Department official and daughter of a vice president, spent decades in public life before her criticism of Trump led many in the GOP to turn against her.

Hutchinson, meanwhile, became Trumps focus for the first time. He pumped out harsh attacks on Truth Social, the website he created after Twitter banned him following the insurrection.

I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and leaker), he wrote.

He continued to post throughout the afternoon, accusing Hutchinson of lying, saying her body language is that of a total bull. artist, and describing her handwriting as that of a Whacko?

Allies of Trump and Meadows questioned some details of her testimony, which included stories she said she heard second-hand. One story that drew pushback was her allegation that Trump lunged for the steering wheel and assaulted a Secret Service agent when his detail wouldnt take him to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Meadows attorney, George Terwilliger, told The Associated Press that Hutchinsons testimony could not withstand even five minutes of fundamental cross-examination.

Most of it is based on hearsay, lack of first-hand knowledge and even just pure speculation as to what others were thinking, said or did, he said.

Several high-profile Republicans said Tuesday that Hutchinson was known to be close to Meadows and often accompanied him in meetings. The committee early in her testimony showed photos of her with Trump and other top officials.

Mick Mulvaney, who preceded Meadows as Trumps chief of staff, tweeted during the hearing that things just got a lot more interesting. He added that if the President knew the protesters had weapons, and still encouraged them to go to the Capitol, that is a serious problem.

Although the White House is perhaps the worlds most prestigious office building, much of the staff is young, sometimes even fresh out of college like Hutchinson. They often previously worked on the presidents campaign or the national party, and theyre distinguished by their ambition and willingness to work long hours for little pay.

Theyre also critical to any administrations machinery. They help with the logistics of media coverage, prepare for public events and answer the phones. Because theyre often within earshot as the countrys most powerful people gossip and plan, discretion is expected.

Young aides often go on to bigger government roles or prestigious positions in business or the media. Some run for office themselves.

Hutchinson had the same ambitions when she graduated, telling a college publication in 2018 that she wanted to be an effective leader in the fight to secure the American dream for future generations.

She described having been brought to tears when she received an email telling her shed been accepted to a White House internship program.

As a first-generation college student, being selected to serve as an intern alongside some of the most intelligent and driven students from across the nation  many of whom attend top universities  was an honor and a tremendous growing experience, she is quoted in a profile published by her alma mater, Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

She says in the article that she attended numerous events hosted by Trump and often watched out her window as Marine One would depart the White Houses South Lawn.

My small contribution to the quest to maintain American prosperity and excellence is a memory I will hold as one of the honors of my life, she said in the piece.

She joined the White House shortly after graduation and became Meadows aide in March 2020. Several months later, she would be in rooms where top Trump aides discussed how they could overturn his election loss.

She saw the aftermath of Trumps rage at Attorney General Bill Barr for telling The Associated Press that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud. Entering a private dining room, she saw a valet cleaning up a mess after Trump smashed a plate and the remains of his lunch on a wall.

There was ketchup dripping down the wall, and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor, she said Tuesday. The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney generals AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.

She grabbed a towel to help the valet clean up, she said.

There was no widespread election fraud. Trump lost more than 60 court cases attempting to prove wrongdoing.

On the morning of Jan. 6, she said Ornato, a Secret Service agent detailed to the White House, came to warn Meadows that many rallygoers waiting to hear from Trump had guns and other weapons, including spears attached to the end of flagpoles. Meadows didnt immediately look up from his cellphone, then later asked to confirm that Ornato had briefed Trump, she said. He had.

Terwilliger defended Meadows as able to multitask and to maintain calm during crises. And another former Meadows aide, Ben Williamson, tweeted criticism of what he called the nonsense suggestion that Meadows somehow didnt care about initial violence at the Capitol.

Hutchinson said she was close enough to Trump at one point to hear him demand that attendees not be screened so that they could fill the crowd, saying, I dont effing care that they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me.

And she alleged Trump became so irate at being driven back to the White House after his speech  when he exhorted his supporters to fight like hell  rather than the Capitol that he tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle away from a Secret Service agent who was driving.

Im the effing president, Hutchinson said she was told Trump had said.

Hutchinson recently switched lawyers, going from a former Trump White House official to Jody Hunt, a veteran former Justice Department official who served as chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and who emerged as a key witness for special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

While she did not seek out the attention accompanying her testimony today, she believes that it was her duty and responsibility to provide the Committee with her truthful and candid observations of the events surrounding January 6, said Hunt and co-counsel William Jordan in a statement. Ms. Hutchinson believes that January 6 was a horrific day for the country, and it is vital to the future of our democracy that it not be repeated.

___

Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.

By NOMAAN MERCHANT and ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press
PARIS (AP)  A total of 20 men were convicted Wednesday over the 2015 Paris attacks by Islamic State extremists on the Bataclan theater, Paris cafes and the national stadium.

Most attention has focused on the lone surviving member of the attack team, Salah Abdeslam. Others were found guilty of preparing the attacks, which killed 130 people, or hiding Abdeslam from police. Some are presumed dead in Syria and were tried in absentia. Some acknowledged helping the assailants but said they were unaware of the overall attack plot.

Some face charges in the related attacks in March 2016 on the Brussels airport and metro.

Here is a look at who they are, what theyre accused of and what sentences they were given in Paris:

ACCUSED IN COMMANDO OPERATIONS

Salah Abdeslam, 32: The only survivor of the 10 attackers who set out Nov. 13, 2015, wearing explosives vests for a series of coordinated attacks. His vest was later found abandoned, undetonated. For charges including terrorist murder and kidnapping, he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Mohamed Abrini, 37: Fought with Islamic State in Syria-Iraq, accused of a managerial role, transporting attackers and weapons. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 22 years.

Sofien Ayari, 28: Fought with Islamic State in Syria-Iraq, accused of training attackers, supplying weapons and plotting attack on Amsterdam airport. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Osama Krayem, 29: Fought with Islamic State in Syria-Iraq, accused of training attackers, supplying weapons and plotting a never-realized attack on Amsterdam airport. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

ACCUSED OF OPERATIONAL ROLE:

Omar Darif, aka Ahmad Alkhald (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Fought with Islamic State group, accused of training attackers, organizing attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 30 years.

Mohamed Bakkali, 35: Accused of helping plot the attacks, hiding and transporting the attackers. On charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Two brothers who converted to Islam and fought in Syria-Iraq, suspected of making video and audio messages in which Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, they were sentenced to life in prison with no parole.

Ahmed Dahmani, 33 (in prison in Turkey; tried in absentia): Fought in Syria-Iraq, accused of supplying weapons and explosives and helping prepare the attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Oussama Atar (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Accused of helping organize the attacks from Syria and Iraq and recruiting attackers. For charges including directing a terrorist group, he was sentenced to life with no parole.

Obeida Aref Dibo (presumed dead in Syria; tried in absentia): Fought with Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, accused of arranging for attackers travel, direct involvement in organizing attacks. For charges including complicity to terrorist murder, he was sentenced to life with no parole.

Adel Haddadi, 34: Fought in Syria-Iraq, accused of agreeing to take part in an attack; sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

Muhammad Usman, 29: Fought in Syria-Iraq, accused of agreeing to take part in an attack; sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

ACCUSED OF LINKS WITH TERRORISTS

Ali El Haddad Asufi, 37: Accused of accompanying or helping other members of the group; sentenced to 10 years in prison for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

Yassine Atar, 35: Accused of accompanying or helping other members of the group, sentenced to eight years in prison for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

HELPING ABDESLAM

Mohammed Amri, 33: Accused of helping Abdeslam prepare the attacks and flee France afterward for Belgium. For charges including criminal association with a terrorist enterprise, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Hamza Attou, 28: Accused of helping Abdeslam flee France after the attacks for Belgium. For charges of relations with a terrorist enterprise, he was sentenced to four years in prison, two of them suspended.

BELGIAN HELPERS

Ali Oulkadi, 37: Accused of helping Abdeslam prepare the attacks and hide from police after he fled to Belgium. For charges including criminal association with a terrorist enterprise, he was sentenced to five years in prison, three of them suspended.

Abdellah Chouaa, 41: Accused of helping the cell in Belgium without knowing its terrorist intent, he was sentenced to four years in prison, three of them suspended, for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.

Farid Kharkhach, 39: Accused of helping the cell in Belgium without knowing its terrorist intent, he was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud, but the terrorism charge against him was dropped.
LONDON (AP)  Deborah James, a British broadcaster who raised millions for cancer research and was recognized by Prince William for her work, has died. She was 40.

James hosted a BBC podcast called You, Me and The Big C" in which she spoke in a no-nonsense approach about living with bowel cancer. Her candid social media posts about her diagnosis and treatment, including videos of her dancing, garnered praise from the public.

She was diagnosed in 2016 and revealed in May that she was receiving end-of-life care at her parents' home in Woking in southern England.

She died Tuesday surrounded by her family, including her husband and their two children, according to a family statement posted on Instagram.

We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy. Deborah passed away peacefully," the statement said.

Prince William personally conferred James damehood in a surprise visit to the family home only days after she announced that she was receiving end-of-life care. He joined her and her family for an afternoon tea and champagne.

James thanked the royal at the time for going above and beyond to make a very special memory." She wrote on social media: Can't quite believe I'm actually a Dame!

William and his wife, Kate, paid tribute to James on Wednesday.

We are so sad to hear the heartbreaking news about Dame Deborah. Our thoughts are with her children, her family and her loved ones, the royal couple said in a tweet. Deborah was an inspirational and unfalteringly brave woman whose legacy will live on.

James launched her podcast with two other cancer patients in 2018. She set up the Bowelbabe Fund for cancer research after announcing that her life was drawing to a close. The fund has raised nearly 7 million pounds ($8.5 million) so far  well over her initial 250,000-pound target.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed her work, saying in a tweet that the awareness she brought to bowel cancer and the research her campaigning has funded will be her enduring legacy.

Because of her, many many lives will be saved.
BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union countries reached a deal following hard-fought talks that dragged into early Wednesday to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035.

The 27 EU members found agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing EU greenhouse gases by at least 55% in 2030 compared with 1990 rather than by a previously agreed 40%.

A long but good day for climate action: The councils decisions on Fitfor55 are a big step towards delivering the EU Green Deal," said Frans Timmermans, the European Commission vice-president in charge of the Green Deal, after the meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg.

The agreement on the five laws proposed by the EU's executive arm last year paves the way for final negotiations with the European Parliament. EU lawmakers are backing ambitious bloc-wide targets. final approval of the legislative package requires the Parliament to resolve differences with the blocs national governments over various details.

The council is now ready to negotiate with the European Parliament on concluding the package, thereby placing the European Union more than ever in the vanguard of fighting climate change," said Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French Minister for the energy transition.

The decision to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars and vans would effectively prohibit the sale in the 27-nation bloc of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel.

Europes leading clean transport campaign group, Transport and Environment, said the EU government's agreement was historic" as it breaks the hold of the oil industry over transport."

Its game over for the internal combustion engine in Europe," the group said.

Greenpeace was more skeptical, saying the 2035 deadline is too late to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

The deal poses a mighty challenge for German automakers, who have long relied on sales of increasingly big, gas-guzzling vehicles for their profits.

Following intense haggling within the three-party government, particularly between the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, German officials voted in favor of the compromise overnight.

The German government said the deal will also see the Commission make a proposal that will allow cars which run exclusively on climate neutral e-fuels to continue to be sold after 2035.

This is a huge step forward and steers the transport sector onto the path of climate neutrality, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, a member of the Greens, said. By declaring that only cars and light utility vehicles which emit no CO2 can be sold from 2035, we are sending a clear signal that we need to meet the climate targets. This gives the car industry the planning security it needs.

The EU wants to drastically reduce gas emission from transportation by 2050 and promote electric cars, but a report from the blocs external auditor showed last year that the bloc is lacking the appropriate charging stations. Transportation accounts for about 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU,

In addition to the landmark agreement on cars, the package also features a reform of the EUs carbon market and the creation of a social climate fund to help vulnerable households cope with the planned clean-energy revamp. That issue has become more politically sensitive as Russias war in Ukraine has sent fuel prices soaring.

The overall goal is to put the EU on track to become climate-neutral in 2050 and to prod other major polluters, including the United States and China, to follow suit.

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Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this story.

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Follow AP's coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
MADRID (AP)  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organization's condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russia's war in Ukraine had created Europes biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

NATO also issued a warning about China, accusing it of bullying its neighbors and forming a strategic partnership with Moscow that poses a challenge to the West.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russias invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATOs open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble the old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy said by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough?

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

The question is, whos next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them, he said.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russia's future plans.

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliances rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the summit would send an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united.

Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead.

At the summit, the leaders published NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a strategic partner. At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATO's borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using "coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation" to extend its reach.

The document also set out NATOs approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China. For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region and NATOs desire to counterbalance China.

China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents, Stoltenberg said.

We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, and Chinas growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of our allies and our partners, he added.

The alliance said, however, that it remained "open to constructive engagement" with Beijing.

NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africas Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by "climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries' accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was absolutely confident Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the gray zone of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATO's collective defense guarantee.

Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible," he said.

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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina businesswoman has been arrested in separate instances on charges stemming from complaints by elderly customers about her car repair shop, police said.

Roanoke Rapids police said Vivian Pompliano, 59, is facing three new counts of exploitation of elder/disabled person, a month after she was arrested following a complaint from an elderly woman that her late husbands car was being held at the shop for minor repairs, news outlets reported.
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Raynaldo Farias Tijerina and Cecil Colby Smith have both been added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Lists and one is believed to have ties to Amarillo.

Tijerina, 44, of San Antonio, has been wanted since October. Smith, 40, of Dallas, has been wanted since August.

According to a news release from the Department of Public Safety, Smith was convicted of violating a protective order/assault/stalking and was sentenced to four years of probation in 2022. The following year, he was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sexual assault of a child. The charges stem from incidents with a 13-year-old girl. Smith was sentenced to five years in prison. He was convicted in 2011 of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to eight years.

Smith was also released in 2017.

The Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office issued a warrant for Smiths arrest in August for child abuse by injury. The Dallas County Sheriffs Office issued a warrant for him in December for failure to register as a sex offender.

Smith is 6 feet tall and weighs 185 pounds. He has tattoos on his left cheek, neck, chest, both arms, both wrists and his left hand. He is believed to have ties in Amarillo, Longview, and in Oklahoma.

He is also known as Xavier Smith and Reginald Wright.

The reward for Smiths capture is $3,000, according to his Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender bulletin, which can be found here: https://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/MostWanted/SexOffenderDetails?id=538.

Tijerina has ties to the Tango Blast gang and has a lengthy criminal history.

Tijerina was convicted of murder in 1995 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. While there, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 more years. He was released on parole in January 2017.

In October, the Bexar County Sheriffs Office issued warrants for Tijerina for invasive visual recording and possession of child pornography and the Texas Board of Probation and Paroles issued one in November for a parole violation.

Tijerina is 5-foot, 11-inches and weighs about 195 pounds. He has tattoos on his face, neck, abdomen, left arm and left leg. He has brown eyes but may wear colored contacts.

He is known by the following names: Reynaldo Tijerina, Rey Tijerina, Ray Skinny Tijerina and Skinny.

The reward for Tijerinas capture is $5,000, according to his Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive bulletin which can be found here: https://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/MostWanted/fugitiveDetails?id=531.
NEW HAVEN  Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and civil rights leaders issued a call for justice Tuesday alongside the family of 36-year-old Randy Cox, partially paralyzed on June 19 while in the custody of New Haven police.

Cox  known as Double R for both Richard and Randy  was hospitalized and paralyzed from the waist down after police arrested him and transported him to the 1 Union Ave. lock-up on June 19. First a sudden braking by the officer driving a transport van (which had no seatbelts) above the speed limit caused Cox to fly headfirst against a wall, leaving him unable to move part of his body.

Then, at the detention center at police headquarters, officers forced him into a wheelchair, dragged him across the floor and placed him in a cell with his feet cuffed before an ambulance crew transported him to the hospital for surgery.

Cox repeatedly told officers he couldnt move; they accused him of just being drunk and ordered him to move. He remains in the Yale New Haven Hospital St. Raphael campus, where he has undergone two neck surgeries and is attached to a feeding tube and a breathing tube, unable to speak.

Crump, known for his representation in high-profile cases like the police killing of George Floyd, issued the call with the family of Cox and with state NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile (who also serves as criminal justice chair of the national organization), Greater New Haven NAACP President Dori Dumas and State Rep. Robyn Porter at a press conference held on the steps of the Elm Street state courthouse.

Justice for Randy read placards held by supporters accompanying them.

This is shocking. This is horrific. This is inhumane. We are better than this, New Haven. We are better than this, America. How many more times do we have to see Black people brutalized by the people who are supposed to protect them? Crump declared.

This is Freddie Gray on video. And all the world is watching, New Haven, Connecticut. Are you going to do the right thing?  Randy Coxs life matters!

The case has prompted a state investigation and the placing of five officers on administrative duty; city officials have expressed regret and promised to take more action to prevent an incident like this from recurring.

Crump is part of a legal team including, among others, local attorneys Jack ODonnell and Michael Jefferson. The team will fully explore every possible legal remedy to give full justice to Cox and his family, Crump said.

Crump drew a direct parallel Tuesday between Coxs case and George Floyds and said Cox will become the latest nationwide hashtag for people brutalized by the police and for calls for police reform.

If we learned anything from the George Floyd trial, when you have a citizen in your custody, you have him in your care. I dont know what its going to take for police officers around America to stop marginalizing people of color, especially Black people, when they say, You are brutalizing us, Crump said.

Why didnt they believe George Floyd when he said, I cant breathe 28 times? Why didnt they believe Eric Garner when he said, I cant breathe 19 times? And why didnt the New Haven police officers believe Randy Cox when he said, I cant move?  Why did they say, Youre not even trying? Why didnt they follow the policies when he said, I cant move?

Crump said he and Esdaile posted a video of the Cox incident on social media Monday night. Overnight more than a million people viewed the video and 10,000 people posted outraged comments.

He has a breathing tube in his mouth. He cannot speak for himself. He is paralyzed from his chest down. Even though he cannot move anything, he is sensing his reality that happened after those officers offered no professionalism, Crump said.

Coxs sisters Laquavius LeGrant, 39, and LaToya Boomer, 37, said she couldnt finish watching the videos of how her brother was treated.

Wheres the first aid training? Wheres the on the job training? Wheres the accountability? she said. Wheres the person who says, Maybe hes not joking?  Maybe hes in distress? Hes laying on the floor saying  Help, I think my necks broken.

She called for the officers involved to be fired and arrested.

Cox grew up in Newhallville and attended Lincoln-Bassett and Troup schools, she said.

Its really rough seeing him during visits to the hospital, his sister said. He can kind of nod his head yes and no. He can move his left arm. Thats about it.

The attorneys said that doctors are hopeful but not optimistic that his condition would improve.

I dont want to keep seeing him in that hospital room, said Coxs mother, Doreen Coleman. I want to see him in my house, asking if I need anything from the store.

We are going to get justice for him, Coleman declared.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp. plans to sell its campus in the San Francisco Bay area and give employees the option of moving to Houston in the latest business migration to Texas.

The second-largest US oil explorer will lease new office space in San Ramon, California, and maintain its corporate headquarters in the Golden State where its been located for more than 140 years, according to a statement Friday.
Annie Mulligan /Contributor

San Antonio-based H-E-B bested Amazon and was ranked the top online grocery retailer in the inaugural dunnhumby eCommerce Retailer Preference Index released on Tuesday, June 28.

In the index, dunnhumby polled 3,000 U.S. households and ranked 54 retailers. The list based its ranking on customer preference drivers of owned digital asset usage, ease and reliability, substitutes, products, and price. It also looked at retailers' composite score of change in web visits (2019 to 2021) from SimilarWeb, share of wallet online, and online penetration. Households surveyed shopped online for groceries at least once in the previous 30 days.
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Even though San Antonio and its surrounding areas received some rain fall this week, it was not enough for a few Hill Country towns to continue with their Fourth of July firework displays. On Wednesday, June 29, the City of Boerne announced it would be canceling the Independence Day Firework show due to the dry weather.

"We do not make this decision lightly," said Boerne communications director Chris Shadrock in a news release. "We know many people in our community look forward to this event each year, but we must continue to prioritize public safety, and reducing the risk of fire is paramount."
After enduring prolonged torture in her five months of life, Bonnie, the Australian Shepherd puppy, is getting cuddles, treats, and making strides in her rehab in foster care. The dog, who was so emaciated after having her mouth bound shut that she couldn't walk, is also gaining weight.

The blue-eyed puppy was surrendered to Animal Care Services in critical condition earlier this month, Lisa Norwood told MySA on Thursday, June 16.

"This is obviously something that didn't happen from one day to the next," Norwood says. "This is torture. This dog was denied the ability to drink water, to eat food, to breathe properly. This is a baby. This is going to be something that impacts her for the rest of her life, and all the more reason for us to find out who did this to her."

Two weeks later, Bonnie is making "great strides," San Antonio Pets Alive, ACS' rescue partner, says. Bonnie's distemper test came back negative. She's currently receiving treatment for other ailments.

Courtesy, San Antonio Pets Alive

"Bonnie has gained weight and now weighs 8.9 lbs," SAPA says in its update. "She has warmed up to her fosters and is learning to trust again. Bonnie even got the courage to stand up for the first time on her own this past weekend and isn't slowing down since then. She does great with her exercises as it involves food and yummy treats!"

Alexis Moore, SAPA spokeswoman, echoes the update, telling MySA little Bonnie is doing "so well." She says the dog has amassed a legion of fans since her harrowing story of survival spread throughout the city. So much so that an Instagram page dedicated to her is in the works.

"Big victories for our little fighter, Bonnie," SAPA says.

Courtesy, San Antonio Pets Alive

Moore says SAPA has received a plethora of adoption inquiries for Bonnie. She encourages the public to meet SAPA's other adoptable pets through their online database. All dogs and cats that are available for adoption are listed on the SAPA website. Potential owners can also fill out an application online.

ACS called on the public to contact the agency with any information on the torture of Bonnie. ACS was not immediately available to share any leads on a suspect on Wednesday, June 29. If investigators are able to find the suspect and prove the neglect, the charge is a 3rd degree felony and carries up to to 10 years behind bars.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska began the process of filing an appeal Wednesday, one day after he was sentenced to two years of probation for lying to FBI agents about an illegal campaign contribution from a Nigerian billionaire.

Fortenberry, a Republican, made clear after he was found guilty in March that he intended to challenge his federal conviction.
Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

University Hospital tweeted on Tuesday, June 28, that Celia Martinez Gonzales, who was shot in the face by her grandson and Uvalde shooter, was released over a month after the massacre at Robb Elementary School.

The hospital tweeted that it was "pleased to share some good news" when it announced that the 66-year-old woman was released from the hospital. A 10-year-old girl is still recovering at University Hospital but is in good condition, the Express-News reported.
Billy Calzada, Staff / Staff photographer

Gov. Greg Abbott held his first press conference in Eagle Pass on Wednesday, June 29, since 53 immigrants died after they were left in a semi-truck trailer on Monday, June 27. His response: more truck checkpoints along South Texas and Texas Department of Public Safety "strike teams."

Abbott also continued to blame President Joe Biden and his administration's policies "enticing" immigrants to cross the border, following up his tweet from the night the immigrants were discovered at the 9600 block of Quintana Road.
Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images

The death toll of the immigrants found in the back of a semi-truck on Monday, June 27 now sits at 51 as of Wednesday morning, June 29, as a new report says the truck might have been "cloned."

Betancourt Trucking and Harvesting owner Felipe Betancourt Sr. said that the immigrants were in a Volvo semi-truck that was copied to look like one of their commercial vehicles, the Express-News reported Tuesday, June 28. The owner of the Alamo, Texas-based company said that whoever obtained the vehicle copied everything from the color to the identifying number with the federal and state departments of transportation.
San Antonio man Brian Laque, 25, was shot twice while at Hills and Dales on May 16. His family says he is now paralyzed from the waist down after the incident.

According to the San Antonio Police Department, a fight broke out at the popular Northwest Side sports bar. Police said officers headed to the scene after a man pulled out a gun and shot a person in the torso. Police have not released an update on the suspect.

Laque was transported to University Hospital in critical condition at the time. He is expecting his first baby this September, his family told MySA.

The soon-to-be father created a GoFundMe account to help with his medical expenses on Tuesday, June 28. He explained how the damages to his body included a loss of a kidney, partial loss of his colon, severe damage to his liver, and his spinal cord was broken, which resulted to him being paralyzed from the waist down.

"I know that science says one thing and, yes I do have faith in prayer, but this all falls on God's hands and HIS plan for me," Laque wrote. "Unfortunately, the doctors feel that my spinal damages are irreversible. It is true that there is help out there for these kinds of situations but this help may take several months or longer."

He added that he'll need a wheelchair, a powered chair at some point, and transfer equipment. Laque wrote that he created the page after several of his family and friends asked him how they can help. So far, donations have raised more than $5,000 as of Wednesday afternoon, June 29.

"I am asking for your generosity, anything you can contribute will be greatly appreciated," Laque wrote. "I want to Thank everyone who can help financially and ask that you also keep me in Prayers as I still have a long road for recovery."
Update:

A spokesperson for the San Antonio Police Department says officers responded to a call for a suspicious person with a gun on the 15000 block of La Cantera Parkway. Multiple suspects were detained by law enforcement and there were no physical injuries reported, according to SAPD.

Original story:

The University of Texas at San Antonio sent an alert that UTSA and San Antonio police were actively searching for a "person of interest possibly armed."

A second alert has stated the suspects were apprehended and were not a threat to the campus.

People were instructed to avoid the area of La Cantera Woodline north of the school's campus.

Katy Barber

A post on Reddit noted a large police presence near the campus and a helicopter circling the area.

SAPD did not immediately respond to an information request from MySA.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week seemingly expressed support for the Supreme Court potentially overturning past rulings on cases involving the LGBTQ community following the downfall of Roe v. Wade on Friday.

In a separate concurring opinion Friday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas questioned a number of the high court's past rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, which established the right of same-sex couples to marry, and Lawrence vs. Texasa 2003 decision in which the court ruled against the state of Texas regarding a 1973 law criminalizing the act of sodomy.

Thomas also mentioned Griswold v. Connecticut, which established the right of married couples to use contraception without government interference. "In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous,'" Thomas wrote. "We have a duty to 'correct the error' regarding these established in those precedents."

During a Friday appearance on News Nation's "On Balance with Leland Vittert," Paxton said he would support the Supreme Court revisiting the cases mentioned by Thomas and defend Texas' long-unenforced law against sodomy.

"I'm sure you read Justice Thomas's concurrence where he said there were a number of other of these issues, Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell he felt needs to be looked at again," Vittert told Paxton. "Obviously the Lawrence case came from Texas... would you as attorney general be comfortable defending a law that once again outlawed sodomy? That questioned Lawrence again or Griswold or gay marriage? That came from the state legislature to put to the test what Justice Thomas said?"

"Yeah, I mean there's all kinds of issues here, but certainly the Supreme Court has stepped into issues that I don't think there's any constitutional provision dealing with," Paxton responded. "They were legislative issues and this is one of those issues and there may be more. So it would depend on the issue and dependent on what state law had said at the time."

Vittert pressed on, asking, "For the sake of time here, you wouldn't rule out that if the state legislature passed the same law that Lawrence overturned on sodomy, you wouldn't have any problem then defending that and taking that case back to the Supreme Court?"

Paxton responded: "Yeah, look my job is to defend state law and I'll continue to do that. That is my job under the Constitution and I'm certainly willing and able to do that."

Asked if he would support the Texas Legislature testing the law, Paxton demurred. "I'd have to take a look at it," the attorney general said. "This is all new territory for us so I'd have to how the Legislature was laid out and whether we thought we could defend it. Ultimately, if it's constitutional, we're going to go defend it."

Paxton's statements drew a swift rebuke from his Democratic opponent Rochelle Garza, who took to Twitter to call out the attorney general for his remarks during the interview. "Roe was just the first  they wont stop till they roll back all of our civil rights," Garza wrote. "We MUST kick Ken Paxton out of office this Nov. When Im Attorney General, Texans will have a Civil Rights Division to protect ALL of our rights. Yall means all. Period."

Conservative leaders from other states have since expressed support for Justice Thomas's opinion, including Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, who said he would support the Supreme Court reconsidering same-sex marriage. Utahs constitutional ban on same-sex unions still exists and could be reinstated if the high court were to overturn its earlier decision.

Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the time of this writing.
Dan Reynolds Photography/Getty Images

A new apartment complex with 378 units is planned for New Braunfels would help meet the needs of the city's continued growth as a housing shortage rages nationwide, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing.

The Prose apartment complex in New Braunfels is expected to take nearly two-years to complete and will begin construction on September 16, the filing notes.
Most farmers can no longer produce adequate food for their families, says Vladimir Chilinya. Profit-making entities control our food systems including the production and distribution of seed.

Chilinya is a Zambian coordinator for FIAN International, an organisation that campaigns for the democratisation of food and nutrition.

Worsening harvests, infertile soil and increasing food poverty are affecting the majority of small farmers across the globe, especially in the Global South. Wheat prices have surged by 59% since the start of 2022.

Last month, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned that the number of people living in famine conditions has increased by more than 500% since 2016, and more than 270 million people are now living in extreme food insecurity.

While Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated this crisis (Russia and Ukraine account for 30% of the worlds wheat exports, constituting 12% of traded calories), climate change and capitalism are the primary engines behind this global food emergency.

The IPCC has estimated that by 2030, global warming will have diminished the worlds average agricultural production by more than a fifth. In Zambia, the maize harvest for 2021/22 is expected to be down by a quarter, thanks to droughts and flash floods between 2019 and 2021, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan experienced their highest recorded temperatures in March and April since records began 122 years ago. India has since banned wheat exports (after the government failed to buy enough wheat to cover its food security programme), which has further exacerbated the global wheat shortage and soaring global food prices.

But the climate and food crises are not isolated phenomena. They are the result of a global capitalist system  and a neoliberal agenda  that has prioritised big corporate agricultural profits over people and the planet.

Corporatisation of Agriculture

This process really took shape during the so-called Green Revolution in India in the late 1960s. This movement was a collaboration between India and the US (with USAID and the Ford Foundation being key actors) and was dependent on agrochemical usage and intensive plant breeding.

High-yielding hybrid crops were introduced  the main one being IR8, a semi-dwarf rice variety  alongside the use of fertilisers, pesticides and lots of groundwater (these high-yielding crops required a lot more water). Calorific food was valued over nutrition, and these foods had costly inputs.

This shift towards big agriculture and more profitable monocultures made small farmers more dependent on expensive chemical fertilisers, forcing them into ever greater levels of debt. In India, 10,677 agricultural workers were reported to have taken their own lives in 2020, many of them farmers trapped by mounting debts resulting from the high costs of these farming inputs.

Unfair terms of trade and global lending  enforced by multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)  are also to blame.

Structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), introduced by the World Bank following the debt crisis across Latin America and Africa after the 1979 oil crisis, coerced poorer countries into privatising their public sectors and reducing their welfare mechanisms.

Adhering to strict policy packages in nearly every key sector  from agriculture to education and healthcare  became compulsory in exchange for any future loans from the bank or the IMF.

SAPs meant indebted countries across the Global South had to convert from prioritising indigenous crops that the local population depended on, to producing cash crops for export. As a result, local populations and farmers became more vulnerable to food scarcity  due to the negative ecological effects and decline in food accessibility.

Zambia: Seed Privatisation

In Zambia, for example, the structural adjustment agenda included the privatisation and liberalisation of the seed system. It began with the liberalisation and deregulation of ZAMSEED in the mid-1990s, which led to a decline in support for farmer cooperatives. In addition, the priority of maize as a cash crop has led to a decline in crop variety, meaning the local population has fewer food sources available.

Under recent policy changes, priority is given to maize production. This is one of the key drivers for monocropping, which is responsible for the reduction in varieties of available foods in Zambia, Chiliniya from FIAN told openDemocracy.

FIAN is documenting how the corporate control of agriculture is weakening food security. Seed systems have gone from being cooperative-led (which gives farmers more agency and fair prices) to being corporate-led (which prioritises profits).

Farmer-managed seed systems have been replaced by commercial seed systems, Chilinya said. Most smallholder farmers are unable to purchase seeds at the commercial price and hence they cannot grow any food.

These commercial seeds are also more vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. Most people focus on cash crops at the expense of other crops that are more resilient to extensive weather changes. In the wake of extreme weather changes like those experienced in 2020 and 2021, the country falls into a food shortage, added Chiliniya. According to the World Food Programme (WPF), 48% of the Zambian population is unable to meet minimum calorie requirements.

Kenya: Food Crisis

openDemocracy also spoke with food justice activists in Kenya, which is experiencing a severe food crisis. Land degradation is affecting food production in Kenya because of the overuse of chemical fertilisers, said Leondia Odongo, co-founder of social justice organisation Haki Nawiri Afrika.

As in Zambia, the disastrous legacy of SAPs is to blame. In 1980, Kenya was one of the first countries to receive a structural adjustment loan from the World Bank. It was conditional on reducing essential subsidies for farmer inputs, such as fertilisers. This process instigated a shift towards farming cash crops for export, such as tea, coffee and tobacco, instead of farming key staples for the local population, such as maize, wheat and rice.

Agricultural inputs that were previously provided to farmers free of charge went into the hands of private entities under the guise of efficiency, Odongo explained. This has resulted in smallholder farmers being abandoned to the mercy of transnational corporations in the seed and agrochemical industry, which dupe farmers with information about seeds and chemicals.
My Nashville Post role has evolved since 2000 when I joined the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister publication in 2008 (when I began doing some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have been managing editor of the Post since late 2011.

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KateLynn White graduated from Tennessee State University, where she was an editor of the student newspaper. She interned for The Tennessean and The Tennessee Tribune before joining the Nashville Post in 2022. She also contributes to the Nashville Scene.

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(Natural News) Essential oils are often used in aromatherapy or to freshen up the laundry. But did you know that using the right combination of essential oils can help disinfect the air in your home?

It might seem like keeping your windows closed is the best way to keep air pollutants out of your home, but doing this can cause respiratory problems or put your immune system at risk from indoor allergens.

Air quality in your home may diminish due to poor ventilation, which can then compromise your immune system. Fresh air helps your immune system fight off diseases more effectively.

Fresh air also supplies your immune system with the oxygen it needs to kill and destroy bacteria, viruses and germs. It also helps boost your white blood cell count. Essential oils work because they contain compounds that help protect plants from mold and bacteria. (Related: 8 Easy ways to improve indoor air quality.)

Essential oils that can help improve indoor air quality

Different essential oils are classified as antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiviral.

These antibacterial essential oils can help prevent antibacterial resistant diseases:

Basil

Cassia

Cinnamon

Clove

Cypress

Eucalyptus

Geranium

Lavender

Lemon

Marjoram

Melaleuca

Myrrh

Orange

Oregano

Peppermint

Rosemary

Tea Tree

Thyme

These antimicrobial essential oils can help protect you from germs that cause diseases:

Cinnamon

Eucalyptus

Geranium

Lavender

Lemon

Melaleuca

Ravensara

Rosemary

Thyme

These antiviral essential oils have been found to help prevent viral infections:

Basil

Cassia

Cinnamon

Eucalyptus

Frankincense

Lemon

Lemongrass

Marjoram

Melaleuca

Myrrh

Oregano

Thyme

3 Ways to disinfect the air at home with essential oils

Disinfecting the air at home isnt really that difficult or expensive if essential oils are available. You can either use a diffuser, a purifying room spray or Lampe Berger.

Diffuser

Diffusers utilize the healing properties of essential oils by breaking them down into smaller molecules and dispersing them into the air for a pleasant or calming effect. Using a diffuser may help improve and balance your moods.

A diffuser can also create a healthier environment by naturally purifying the air with healing essential oils.

If you have a diffuser at home, try the air-purifying essential oil blend below.

You will need:

10 drops tangerine oil

5 drops eucalyptus oil

5 drops lemongrass oil

5 drops tea tree oil

Purifying room spray

Use specific essential oil combinations to make a spritzing room spray that will help purify the air and freshen up any room.

Youll need vodka to make the room spray last for months. Vodka acts as a natural preservative and disinfectant. If you dont have vodka, you can also use witch hazel, which contains some alcohol (usually around 18 percent).

You will need:

Distilled water

Vodka or witch hazel

10 drops eucalyptus essential oil

10 drops lavender essential oil

10 drops lemongrass essential oil

10 drops peppermint essential oil

Preparation:

Fill an eight-ounce glass spray bottle 3/4 full with distilled water. Fill the bottle 1/4 full with vodka. Add the essential oils to the spray bottle. Before using, shake the bottle to incorporate the essential oils. Spray the mixture upwards to disinfect the air.

Lampe Berger

The Lampe Berger is considered the oldest and most effective way to remove bacteria and odors from the air you breathe.

The original Lampe Berger lamp was designed in France in 1898 by Maurice Berger, a pharmaceutical dispenser. The lamp was made to be used in hospitals to help eliminate airborne bacteria and fight sepsis.

A Lampe Berger works by burning oil very slowly via a catalytic converter (no flame). The device is said to kill 67 percent of all bacteria in your air and helps get rid of odor-causing molecules in the air through the process of catalytic oxidation. As a result, a Lampe Berge increases oxygen levels in the room to help fight disease.

Fragrances are available, but they can be expensive. To save a bit of money, make your own using essential oils.

Use a Lampe Berger if someone is sick at home and you want to help them get better faster.

You will need:

16 ounces 90 percent isopropyl alcohol

2 drops each of eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary and tea tree oils

Lampe Berger

Preparation:

Add 16 ounces of isopropyl alcohol to a glass jar, then add 10 drops of assorted essential oils to the bottle. Secure the top and shake the bottle well. Fill the Lampe Berger with the mixture. Set it aside to allow the wick to absorb liquid for up to 20 minutes. To use the Lampe Berger, light the wick with a lighter and let it burn for two minutes. Blow out the flame. If you still have heat after five minutes you did everything right. If not, you have too much oil in the Lampe Berger. If you havent burned a Lampe Berger in your home before or within several days, burn the Lampe Berger for one hour for every 600 square feet.

When using a Lampe Berger, remember that isopropyl alcohol is extremely flammable. Always be present in the room when using a Lampe Berger to prevent accidental fires.

Watch the video below to know more about the best essential oils for sleep and relaxation.

This video is from the Natural Remedies channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

ReadyNutrition.com

TheCuckoosNest.ca

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Chlorine dioxide solution (CDS) expert Marien Barrientos shared with host and health consultant Kerri Rivera how CDS was able to help Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) patients heal and recover.

On the June 23 episode of Champions with Kerri Rivera on Brighteon.TV, Barrientos told the host that she learned about chlorine dioxide 16 years ago when her mother, who was a heavy smoker, suffered chronic coughing.

Barrientos related that her mother had a chance meeting with Jim Humble, who discovered the benefits of using chlorine dioxide through his master mineral solution (MMS). Humble advised her mother to take a few drops of chlorine dioxide and said that she would be okay after taking it.

Her mothers chronic cough stopped after taking drops of MMS in just one day. Humble also told her mother that MMS treats diseases caused by any virus, fungus or bacteria. The CDS specialist also said that a nephew of her moms best friend was able to recover from HIV-AIDS after following the MMS protocol.

Barrientos, a stay-at-home wife and mother of four, became a great healer of people with COVID and other diseases. She is receiving people at her home to get chlorine dioxide and has given away many bottles of CDS for COVID patients in her home country of Mexico for free.

Barrientos is a member of COMUSAV, a global nonprofit organization made up of people whose desire is to learn, investigate and publicize different specialties in integrative medicine for the health of human beings.

When the pandemic started, Barrientos mother reminded her to get ready and have stocks of CDS in case someone gets sick in their family.

Aside from making CDS, she also made MMS along with her uncle Ricardo, who was also living in Torreon, Mexico.

The CDS specialist mentioned that their lawyer, who was one of the first people to get COVID in Torreon, was the first recipient of their CDS treatment protocol. (Related: Chlorine dioxide to treat COVID? YES, says Dr. Manuel Aparicio.)

The lawyer felt much better just a day after taking CDS.

Testimony of Mexican supermarket and department store owner about CDS goes viral

After curing their lawyer, Barrientos and her uncle sought people infected with COVID and encouraged them to take chlorine dioxide. Some people listened, while others did not.

One of the people who listened was Pedro Luis Bringas, the owner of Soriana, a popular supermarket and department store in Mexico. Bringas was able to recover from COVID after taking chlorine dioxide.

Bringas came to Torreon to thank Barrientos. The supermarket and department store owner gave a testimony that he was healed in just two hours by CDS after having a high fever and sore throat due to COVID.

Barrientos shared the testimony on her Telegram and it immediately went viral. Local newspapers picked up the story the following day.

Both Barrientos and Bringas also started getting calls from newspaper and magazine reporters who want to interview them about CDS.

German researcher Andreas Kalcker was also able to watch the viral video and congratulated Barrientos for her work.

Follow Cures.news for more news about chlorine dioxide.

Watch the full June 23 episode of Champions with Kerri Rivera below. Champions with Kerri Rivera airs every Thursday from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related articles:

New study proves that chlorine dioxide (MMS) blocks SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins from binding with human receptors.

Autism expert Kerri Rivera explains mechanism behind chlorine dioxide.

Heres what you need to know about chlorine dioxide (ClO2), the universal antidote.

Petition and PRAY for the release of Mark and Joseph Grenon, who were arrested for selling Miracle Mineral Solution as a coronavirus cure.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Comusav.com
(Natural News) Another facility that exists to help pregnant women save their unborn babies has been targeted by extremists following the landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Reports said the Life Choices clinic in Longmont, located just northeast of Boulder, was vandalized and set on fire over the weekend. On the exterior of the building was similar spraypainted messaging to what has been seen at other clinics across the country in recent days.

If abortions arent safe, neither are you, read one of the scrawled messages.

Bans off our bodies, read another at the entrance to the building.

The fire reportedly broke out at around 3:17 a.m. on Saturday. Authorities said the fire was intentional (obviously).

Life Choices describes itself as a Christ-centered ministry providing education, support, healing and limited medical services for sexual life choices.

Heavy smoke and other damage rendered the building unfit for the time being, which means that pregnant women in need who live around the area will have to travel elsewhere for reproductive health care.

Local media is urging area residents to check their home surveillance footage to see if they can help track down the culprits. A domestic terrorism group called Janes Revenge took credit for similar incidents in recent week, and could once again be the culprit in this latest one.

Firefighters who arrived on the scene in the middle of the night had to wear oxygen masks because of how thick the smoke was inside.

Be careful, normal Americans: The violent, bloodthirsty Left is on a rampage

It could be that all of these incidents are being provoked not by grassroots abortion supporters but by paid agitators. Or, it really could be deranged Leftists whose demons are lashing out in response to the SCOTUS decision.

Whether or not a woman can get an abortion will now be up to the states rather than the federal government. Many blue states, if not all of them, will still allow abortions, while many red states either already have or are in the process of banning them or heavily restricting them.

Damages to the Life Choices clinic in Longmont are estimated to be around $25,000.

At roughly the same time that this incident occurred, another one occurred at the Vermont State Capitol in Montpelier. Vandals smashed windows and spraypainted the same message outside that was seen in Longmont: If abortions arent safe youre not either.

It is almost like the criminals doing this are all reading from the same script, which makes sense as the American herd of abortion lovers tends to repeat the same mantras over and over again like mindless robots.

Law enforcement all across the country say that they are preparing for more of this, and much worse. It is inevitable, they say, that an increase in violence will ensue now that the Supreme Court has issued its final ruling.

In Jacksonville, Florida, the local sheriffs office said it would station an officer outside of an area crisis pregnancy clinic, while police in Little Rock, Arkansas, are in the process of installing a surveillance camera atop a crane near and abortion clinic.

The fact of the matter, though, is that abortion clinics are not the places being targeted. Crisis pregnancy centers that aim to save babies rather than let them get murdered are the sites of increasingly more serious crimes such as arson.

In recent weeks, according to nonprofit organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, there have been more than 40 incidents of violence, intimidation and vandalism at crisis pregnancy centers and churches across America.

The latest news about Roe v. Wade can be found at Abortions.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) We have held back on reporting this story until we heard from Dr. Madej, and we asked for prayers of support on social media for her and her boyfriend.

Yesterday we learned that Dr. Madej  an outspoken medical expert who has blown the whistle on vaccines and clot shots  was involved in the crash of a small aircraft. She suffered a broken leg and some fractures alone her spine, saying she was bruised all over and also apparently has a black eye. Her boyfriend suffered a cranial concussion and other injuries. Both were taken to the hospital for emergency surgery, and from what we know so far, both are currently recovering in the ICU.

Its a miracle we are alive

Today we have learned more details from Dr. Madej:

It is a miracle we are alive, she says. The plane in which she was a passenger was returning from Florida when the engine quit. This is extremely rare in small aircraft, by the way, as aircraft must adhere to very strict schedules of engine overhauls according to FAA regulations. (I am trained as a small aircraft pilot and used to fly Cessna aircraft, so I am very familiar with FAA regulations on plane maintenance. However, I no longer fly small aircraft due to the deep state using small aircraft accidents to assassinate their targets. Its too easy to fake a crash and eliminate people they dont like.)

We were gliding fine, said Dr. Madej, likely referring to whats called a glide path which is a specific angle of declination that allows an aircraft to maintain forward air speed as it loses altitude, allowing the pilot to maintain control over the flight surfaces. In effect, you are trading altitude for forward speed, so that you can glide the plane into a suitable emergency landing area. All small aircraft pilots are trained in this procedure, and it was common, I remember, for my instructor to turn off the engine during flight, even during night flights. We practiced glide path emergency procedures quite frequently.

She continues, and then rpm drops to zero in seconds and we drop like a rock.

I dont yet know what this means, since at this point the engine would have no longer been operating. However, the propeller may have stopped rotating since it was no longer under engine power, and it is possible that the glide path angle (and speed) for this specific aircraft makes it feel like youre plummeting quickly. Each aircraft has a different glide path angle and speed designation. For a Cessa 172, which is what I trained in, the typical glide path speed is around 75 knots. For the Piper aircraft in which Dr. Madej was a passenger, this speed would be something different.

In the crash, Dr. Madej says her tibia and fibula were cleanly severed and her foot was facing 120 degrees in the wrong direction. She says it took paramedics 30 minutes to reach them, as they crash landed in trees. However, her pilot was able to direct the plane to crash land along a loggers trail, which minimized the damage and probably saved their lives. That was another miracle in itself!

She says a search and rescue crew were trying to find them, and she screamed out for help, after which they were finally located.

She explained that the pilot (name withheld here) has 20 years experience as a pilot and suffered skull fractures, facial fractures, T 10 fracture and he had LOC.

Dr. Madej says she may be released by the hospital tomorrow.

Fuel can be tampered with

There is tremendous speculation on the internet about whether their small aircraft was tampered with in order to try to assassinate Dr. Madej. There is no current evidence of this that we are aware of, and the plane was obviously severely damaged in the crash to it may make a forensic examination impossible. However, from previous similar events, we know that the easiest way for a kill team to set this up is to tamper with the fuel.

Aviation fuel can be tampered with so that it gels over time, for example, and cannot be pumped through the engines fuel filter. This slow gelling effect is accelerated at altitude where temperatures are naturally colder. Aviation fuel can also be contaminated with water (either through condensation or a deliberate method), causing water in the fuel lines, which would cause the engine to cut out.

When small aircraft crash, they often ignite a large fuel fire, destroying the aircraft and its occupants. Thats because the wings of small aircraft are loaded with aviation fuel. Combined with sparks from the metal  or electrical sparks from the battery  its very easy to ignite the aviation fuel, resulting in a massive explosion. Fortunately, that did not occur in this crash.

Note that civilian aviation has a very good safety track record overall, that is until the vaccine clot shots started causing pilots to lose consciousness and crash their planes. However, vaccines are clearly not the culprit in this crash. This appears to be something related to the fuel composition, fuel lines, or other mechanical causes. However, we wont know for sure unless an investigation is conducted and allowed to be carried out without the truth being covered up. We dont have much faith that the NTSB will do an honest job on this, since they are controlled by the same corrupt federal government thats trying to carry out genocide with vaccines.

For now, please pray for healing and a speedy recovery for Dr. Madej and her boyfriend. Visit her website at CarrieMadej.com and you can watch lots of her interviews on Brighteon.com. (Just search the site for Madej and it will pull up many interviews.)

For everybody else on the front lines of the fight for health freedom, watch your six. Hide your location. Use VoltaWireless.com as your SIM card for your phone. (Use affiliate code BTV to get a discount on your first month. I have a full review coming soon)

Stay away from small aircraft, and avoid showing up anywhere in public where the time and location of your arrival is known in advance. These are very dangerous times, and people are being targeted for assassination.

The vaccine deep state will stop at nothing to silence the truth.
(Natural News) Journalist Alex Newman has blamed the global elites for the spread of communism around the world.

The spread of communism around the world had not just been facilitated by the globalist elites in the Western world, the super capitalists, the mega bankers and so on. It wasnt just facilitated, it wasnt just enabled, it was driven by them, Newman told host Dr. Peter Breggin during the June 22 episode of ReFounding America on Brighteon.TV.

The award-winning international journalist and author noted that a bunch of wealthy people financed German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their communist exploits. He added that the first major victory for the communists was the overthrow of the Russian Empire that led to the creation of the former Soviet Union. (Related: Globalists need war to enforce the Great Reset.)

Newman cited American historian Anthony Suttons book Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution, which showed that some of the most powerful banking houses on Wall Street gave an enormous amount of money to Russian communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. He also noted that the Soviet Union was built by Western capitalists and American mega-corporations.

According to Newman, the likes of well-known communist dictators Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro were supported by the Western elites who helped build their governments.

He said China is a very obvious example of a backward and poor nation that turned into an industrial superpower that rivals the United States militarily and economically through the deliberate intervention of Western elites.

Communism is the ultimate predatory system

For Newman, communism is the ultimate predatory system because it removes all human freedom and puts all decisions under the control of the government. It is the ultimate manifestation of the system that the predator class wants to design for us, Newman said.

According to Newman, the global elites recognize that pure communism could not survive economically and that communism couldnt sustain itself without being a parasite that sucks the wealth out of places like the United States.

He pointed out that people need to understand that the Western elites have made it all possible.

They enabled this, they helped it. And then it needs to be understood that the globalist elites prefer the Communist Chinese model to the American model. They dont want to live in a world where we have God-given rights and the government is in charge of protecting those. They dont want to live in a world with a rule of law where little people like us get free speech and get protections from an abusive government, said Newman.

China is both the key driver of the Great Reset agenda and the model of what the New World Order is going to look like.

Newman added that global elites are like some kind of mafia bosses, but with even less moral and ethical standards. These people are ruthless and they regularly turn against each other. They all want to be the top dog and be the evilest and the most powerful, he said.

Follow Communism.news for more stories about the spread of communism.

Watch the full June 22 episode of ReFounding America below. ReFounding America with Peter Breggin airs every Wednesday at 6-7 p.m. and Saturday at 1-2 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Masks, social distancing and virtual learning are really about the installation of COMMUNISM in America.

Watch what you feel: China now using emotion recognition technology to arrest people.

Former slave to communism has urgent warning for Americans: Defend your country or it will be destroyed.

NO LONGER A CONSPIRACY THEORY: Global elites have joined forces to form one world government.

Steel Truth: World globalist regime is running the US government  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

LibertySentinel.org
(Natural News) The majority of U.S. hospitals are still not transparent about their prices for in-hospital procedures despite transparency policies that were put in place back in 2019 for hospital procedures, joint replacement and others.

A Cleveland Clinic Foundation study found that only about a third or 32 percent of hospitals are completely transparent about their joint replacement costs, while a recent Rice University study also found that only 35 percent of Americas top hospitals disclosed their maximum, minimum and cash service prices.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital price transparency rule said all hospitals must provide a list of standard charges for all services and items online in a downloadable format. Each item or price must be identified by the code used by the hospital for billing, and the information must be freely provided without requiring access to personal information.

Each transaction, operation, pricing, total fees, payer-specific fees, minimum and maximum spot price and discounts must be made public and accessible to patients. It must also include a cost estimate for the 300 most common services. They also require that the information is machine-readable. This will allow patients to know what they should expect to pay and let them compare the prices with what they would pay if they go through insurance.

A study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association added to mounting evidence that hospitals are largely ignoring the law.

In analyzing 5,000 hospitals nationwide, the study found that only 300 or fewer than six percent were fully compliant with the rules of having published both machine-readable files and separate price estimators. Many other hospitals were partly compliant, but 50 percent had none of the required components. (Related: Hospitals raise their prices despite public outcry from over-burdened patients.)

Transparency rules put in place to reduce unnecessary costs

The Hospital Price Transparency Rule was put in place to reduce unnecessary costs and improve consumer-friendliness, however, this does not seem to be the case as hospitals and insurance companies set their own prices for different procedures, and patients usually have no idea what the costs entail until after they get the bill.

The Cleveland study only evaluated joint replacement surgeries, but these surgeries are very common with predictable costs and outcomes, so they are illustrative of a hospitals overall compliance.

The Rice University study also confirmed their findings, showing that more than 60 percent of the top-rated hospitals in the U.S. are not fully transparent for three different joint replacement surgeries, MRI, ultrasound and chest X-ray. (Related: As health care costs explode, hospitals are now trying to force patients to PRE-PAY for treatment.)

Other peer-reviewed studies also identified the lack of pricing transparency as one of the major causes of substantial spending on healthcare in the United States.

However, despite extensive research that showed the value of price transparency, the rule received severe pushback and has been the subject of lawsuits by major hospitals against the Trump administration when it was first introduced.

Hospitals that communicated with the media often cited resource constraints and administrative burdens for delaying their compliance. However, the CMS has previously shown that the benefits outweigh the risks when it comes to reducing healthcare overspending and reducing financial stress for customers because of price concerns.

A 2021 study also found that stiffer fines and tougher penalties can fix price transparency non-compliance for hospitals because despite giving 300 warnings in 2021, the CMS has not collected fines since the rules came into place, although the agency expanded potential nondisclosure fines from $109,500 in 2021 to more than $2 million per year per hospital in 2020, which suggests that they are looking into harsher penalties.

The Biden administration also pushed back enforcement of the major areas in the rule by six months, with the expectation that CMS will fully enforce the rule beginning June 1, 2022.

Visit HealthCoverage.news for more related news.

Watch the video below to know how lack of transparency could be dangerous for patients

This video is from the Prevent Global Genocide channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Trump smashes hospital bill secrecy sham, forces hospitals to publicly publish secret prices so that consumers can make informed choices.

Vatican caught up in money laundering scheme involving hospitals and charities.

Top reasons why healthcare professionals refuse to speak up about covid vaccine injury and death.

Would you pay $400 for hand sanitizer? Amazon should stop price gouging amidst coronavirus panic-buying, urges US lawmaker.

Hospitals raise their prices despite public outcry from over-burdened patients.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NBCNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A resort manager working for The Walt Disney Company blasted the media giant for shouldering the travel costs of employees heading to states where abortion is legal.

Florida congressional candidate Jose Castillo accused the company of trying to influence politics after it announced plans to cover abortion travel costs for other workers. The firms announcement came in the form of an internal memo released following the overturn of the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling on June 24.

According to the Disney employee, the memo serves as another attempt  to take a political stance that will inevitably alienate potential customers.

Disney knew full well that this memo would be leaked and make national news, Castillo told the New York Post. They sent it anyway because Disney wants to make a political statement and attempt, once more, to influence our countrys political process.

He added: As we have seen in recent months, Disneys political activism has hurt the company financially. It is my belief that the [Disney] board of directors is violating its fiduciary duty to shareholders by continuing to comment on divisive political matters. (Related: WOKE INSANITY: Disney to pay for employee abortions; Taco Bell hosts Drag Brunch to celebrate LGBTQ culture.)

According to the Post, Disney joined several other companies  including Mark Zuckerbergs Meta, American Express, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Apple, Starbucks and Lyft  in taking similar action following the overturn. Other firms such as McDonalds, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Tyson Foods, Walmart and Marriott did not issue statements.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that protected abortion as a federal right in a 5-4 vote. Five Republican-appointed justices on the bench voted yes, while the remaining three Democratic appointees voted no. Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, joined the majority opinion.

Of the five magistrates, three of them  Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett  were appointed by former President Donald Trump. Justice Samuel Alito was appointed by former President George W. Bush while Justice Clarence Thomas, the most senior on the bench, was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush.

Disney also pays for genital mutilation, aside from abortion

Prior to Castillos remarks, Disney had also been paying for surgical procedures and hormone supplements for its transgender employees  mainly through corporate insurance.

Christopher Rufo of the City Journal was responsible for revealing this bombshell to the general public by means of leaked footage. He posted on Twitter the video clip purportedly recorded during the Disney Reimagine Tomorrow virtual summit.

Disney has adopted a benefits program to assist employees and their minor children with gender affirmation procedures. This type of treatment typically includes puberty blockers, breast removal and genital surgeries for kids who are transitioning,' he wrote.

Rufos video showed an unidentified Disney employee explaining the companys efforts to support transgender employees.

The other big area we are working on is gender identity and expression, said the employee. We are doing all of this work to ensure that our employees and cast [members] can express their gender here authentically and proudly at the company. [Disney management is] working on coming up with guides on how to change your photo [and] information about pronouns.

The employee added that Disneys benefits team can provide more details about gender affirmation procedures, both for our employees who are transitioning or [already] trans, [and] also for our employees who have kids who are transitioning.

PJ Media columnist Megan Fox wrote that Disney, which built its brand on families with children and then turned on that customer base for the latest political fad that is harming children, deserves every bit of ruin and ridicule they are getting.

Watch Jose Castillo sharing his take on Florida stripping Disney of its self-governing status below.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to abolish Disney Worlds government.

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, sending issue of abortion back to states where it always belonged.

Disney corporate insurance pays for TRANS SURGERIES and HORMONES for employees and their children.

Corporate CEOs now thinking twice about caving to woke employees after Florida stands its ground against Disney.

Sources include:

WND.com

NYPost.com

PJMedia.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Now that the moral and legal atrocity known as Roe v. Wade has been overturned, Democrats are entertaining the rest of us by rioting in Democrat-run cities.

(Article by John Nolte republished from Breitbart.com)

Gee, who would have thought that the same people who want to kill innocent babies just because would become violent if they didnt get their way?

You see, thats the thing about Democrats

You take away their slaves; they start a whole Civil War.

You make killing innocent babies a little more difficult; they riot.

But just like most of the Civil War was fought in the Democrat partys slave-owning South, pro-abortion Democrats are not only rioting in their own cities; theyre rioting in cities where they still have the right to butcher innocent babies. So

L-to-the-M-to-the-F-to-the-A-to-the-O.

There is no reality TV I enjoy more than watching lazy Democrats riot in Democrat-run cities.

Look at these morons

Insurrection in Democrat-run Tucson

Video of tear gas deployed on #antifa rioters in Phoenix Arizona. They were allegedly attempting to breach the capitol building pic.twitter.com/efr4v9zP8U  AntifaWatch (@AntifaWatch2) June 25, 2022

Violence in Democrat-run Seattle

VIOLENCE INCREASING: Antifa militants attempt to shatter windows but security prevented them and they ran back into the crowd. Im keeping my distance for safety reasons. pic.twitter.com/7CbdcPNrLx  Katie Daviscourt?? (@KatieDaviscourt) June 25, 2022

Violence in Democrat-run Washington DC

One holds a smoke dispenser as the group continues marching through Washington DC pic.twitter.com/iivUzx0jhY  Lisa Bennatan (@LisaBennatan) June 25, 2022

Lawlessness in Democrat-run Los Angeles

BREAKING: PROTESTORS OVERTAKE FREEWAY, assault vehicles refusing to stop. THOUSANDS are now marching on the 110 Freeway North. pic.twitter.com/7K1oWUNnsE  Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) June 25, 2022

Democrat-run Dallas

Theresa lot going on at the pro-abortion protest in Dallas. None of it is good. pic.twitter.com/JcH9PJsakp  Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) June 25, 2022

This is glorious

Not only has the moral atrocity known as Roe v. Wade been overturned, but all the insurrectionist violence is taking place in Democrat-run shit holes.

This is whachoocall a win-win.

Out here in the Utopia we call MAGA Land  where we all own guns but (unlike Democrat-run cities) theres no gun violence crisis; where (unlike Democrat-run cities) people of all stripes live together in racial harmony without all the hate crimes; where (unlike Democrat-run cities) our air, water, and streets are safe and clean  watching Democrats further destroy their own cities is called the Summer TV Season.

It will be hard to top the 2020 and 2021 season, but out here in MAGA Land, the new Must-See TV is You-Get-What-You-Vote-For TV.

Read more at: Breitbart.com
(Natural News) U.S. Senate candidate and former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (R) appeared on Sirius XMs Breitbart News Saturday and spoke about his recent campaign ad that metaphorically talks about hunting RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only.

(Article by Nick Gilbertson republished from Breitbart.com)

The ad sent establishment Republicans and liberals into a tizzy. The America First candidate also detailed how RINOs have launched an all-out attack, along with leftist and establishment media, against his campaign in an effort to preserve the status quo in Washington, DC.

While speaking with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle, Greitens highlighted that the RINOs have failed America, adding:

You and I have talked about this Matt. Its not just the left with their tyranny and their crazy ideas and their attacks on the country that have put us in crisis, and its not just the mainstream media and their lies. Its also RINOs because of their corruption and their cowardice that have created this crisis. RINOs who stab President Trump in the back, RINOs who stab the American people in the back, RINOs who failed on election integrity, RINOs who failed to pass a border wall, RINOs who supported Joe Bidens $1.2 trillion green new deal, and RINOs just this past week who sold out America on the Second Amendment. People are sick of RINOs.

The former Governor then addressed his campaign ad in which he says: Today, were going RINO hunting, adding that the RINO feeds on corruption, and is marked by the stripes of cowardice. The ad was blacklisted by Big Tech, including Facebook and Twitter, as Breitbart News reported. Greitens told Boyle Saturday:

First of all, everybody in Missouri weve heard form and from the millions of people  we know that at its at least five million people  around the country whove watched it despite Big Tech censorship of the video, Patriots around the country are loving it because were making a very clear message that we do need to take on RINOs, and we talk about their corruption, we talk about their cowardice, and absolutely we have also upset the left.

He then emphasized the pride he feels over the enemies he has made including establishment staples like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove, in addition to far-left activists and organizations, as well as media outlets.

Im honored by the fact that Ive had George Soros come after me, that I have had the Satanic Temple sue me, Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell, CNN, The New York Times, all of the mainstream media because Im a MAGA champion, Im the America First champion, and that of course is also why were winning this U.S. Senate race here in Missouri.

Establishment Republicans recently forged a political action committee called Show Me Values, which is being funded by Missouri establishment conservatives as well as Rex Sinquefield, who Greitens previously noted has been an ardent supporter of Mitch McConnell.

He explained that the new anti-Greitens group is run by RINOs and allies to Mitch McConnell, dubbing the crusade a Missouri version of the Lincoln Project.

The America First candidate added:

Rex Sinquefield is funding this disgusting group, hes one of McConnells biggest donors and its important to note that Rex has ties, big ties to communist China, through his former company Dimensional Fund Advisors  theyre responsible for IP thefts, stealing American jobs, funding the Chinese Communist Military.

Boyle pointed out that John Wood,  the lead quote-unquote investigator, and I say quote-unquote because theres no real investigation happening, for the January 6th committee is apparently leaving his position and is considering an independent run for U.S. Senate in Missouri.

Theyre so terrified of Governor Greitens, they cant let him become Senator. It reminds me so much of Evan McMuffin, right, Evan McMullen the Never Trumper when he ran against Trump in 2016, Boyle added. He also likened the crusade against Greitens to the smear campaign against Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.

Greitens responded:

Exactly, look one of the reasons why they come after me, Matt, is because they know that in the United States Senate Im going to be President Trumps biggest champion, they know that Im going to be the biggest champion for the MAGA movement, Im going to be the biggest champion for America First and thats why they are so desperate to stop me. Thats why McConnell is coming after me, thats why Karl Rove is coming after me, thats why all of the RINOs in Missouri are coming after me, because they want to stop me and they are also really trying to stop President Trump and the America First movement. These RINOs have been fighting against President Trump since the moment, the moment he got into the race.

Greitens also touched on the America First GOP Senate candidates, like Blake Masters in Arizona, J.D. Vance in Ohio, Katie Britt in Alabama, and Adam Laxalt in Nevada, who have secured their nominations and look to shake up the status quo of the Washington swamp should they win their general elections.

Look, courage is contagious and youre going to have a new group of fired-up Trump-endorsed America First Senators who are going to be there to pursue the MAGA agenda, who are going to be there to fight for the American people, he said.

Theyre not after me, theyre not after President Trump, in reality, theyre after the American people, Im just in the way, President Trump is in the way.

Read more at: Breitbart.com
(Natural News) The announcement that Russia has defaulted on its debt is an attempt by Western central banks to hide the fact that it is destroying the global financial system by flooding it with more newly printed money.

Russia has supposedly defaulted on its external sovereign bonds for the first time since 1918. This is the culmination of severe Western economic sanctions preventing Russia from accessing its regular payment routes for its overseas creditors.

The country defaulted on about $100 million of interest payments despite having the resources to pay its bills because Moscow was blocked from accessing international financial transaction systems by the sanctions.

With Russia benefiting from the high price of its energy exports, it clearly has both the means and the desire to pay its foreign debt, said Giles Coghlan, chief analyst for financial company HYCM Group. Its a default in a technical sense, so many investors may be prepared to wait it out.

Russia itself has already rejected claims that it has defaulted on its debts. On Monday, June 27, the Kremlin called an external label placed on the countrys debts to be unlawful. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has also been saying for weeks now that any default declaration by the West would be artificially manufactured by the economic sanctions placed upon the country.

The Kremlin claims the country has enough money to fulfill its obligations to its foreign creditors and has been trying to make regular payments since the beginning of the war with Ukraine. Siluanov noted that Russian payments have made their way to their creditors and it was up to them to claim their money. (Related: HOW AMERICA ENDS: Putin announces new BRICS global reserve currency project to REPLACE the petrodollar.)

Europe and the United States are arguing that Russia has the power to end economic sanctions by the West and restore financial stability. All the country has to do is end its war in Ukraine.

Russia defaulting on debts doesnt really matter

Financial expert Gregory Mannarino noted that it doesnt actually matter whether or not Russia actually did default on its debts because the global debt market, which he said is completely controlled by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve, is trying to draw attention to Russia to keep people ignorant of what it is doing to the global financial system.

Spiking 10-year yields, emergency monetary policy by the ECB and the Federal Reserve managing the yield curve. This is quantitative easing on steroids, said Mannarino. And this is working. Its pushing cash back into the stock market, just as its meant to do.

What we have here, clearly  central banks managing the yield curve, pumping untold amounts of cash back again into the debt market, this Federal Reserve repo program that has gone absolutely ballistic  you know thats behind this. Theyre trying to fake the illusion of liquidity here in the market, continued Mannarino, who noted that the market is actually very illiquid.

This means that central banks are unable to sell or exchange their investments without incurring substantial losses.

Mannarino warned that the end result of this developing financial crisis is a central bank-enforced credit freeze.

Regular people will be afraid of keeping their money in the hands of central banks and therefore will want to take them all out as soon as possible. The ECB, the Fed and many other central banks will try to prevent this by locking up personal accounts.

Its just a matter of time before the entire system locks up, said Mannarino. Thats whats going to happen because its being done by design here.

Watch this video from financial expert Gregory Mannarino of Traders Choice as he explains how it doesnt actually matter if Russia defaulted on its debt.

This video is from the What Is Happening channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Russia responds to Lithuanias blockade of Kaliningrad with new threats of action, worsening fears of World War III.

European gas prices shoot up as Russia reduces supply to top buyers across the EU.

Biden quietly begs U.S. companies to buy Russian fertilizer to solve problem he helped create.

European Union caves to Putin: Green nations starving for energy now buying Russian gas in rubles, euros.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Bloomberg.com

NPR.org

Investopedia.com
(Natural News) One of the many negative side effects of COVID-19 vaccines is their ability to decrease a mans sperm count, a new Israeli study shows.

The study, which was carried out by researchers from Tel Aviv University, Shamir Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center and Herzliya Medical Center, outlined the potentially devastating impact of these vaccines on male fertility. It was published in the journal Andrology.

For the study, researchers studied male volunteers across six months. They tested their sperm parameters at different points before and after receiving a COVID vaccine. In addition, they were screened for previous infections with the virus and determined to be negative.

Other studies have shown that COVID infections do have a temporary negative effect on sperm parameters that seems to reverse roughly two to three months after infection. The same does not appear to be true of vaccines, however. In fact, the vaccines did not seem to negatively affect sperm count immediately. Instead, the difference was noted two to five months after vaccination and persisted throughout the rest of the study.

The study found that 75 to 120 days following the completion of vaccination, the mens sperm concentration was 15.4 percent lower than the baseline count taken before getting vaccinated, while their total motile count had also dropped by 22.1 percent. The figures past 150 days after completing vaccination showed that their levels remained lower than their pre-vaccination levels. The subjects were not tested after their third and fourth injections, but it is entirely possible that their sperm count and motility could have sustained further damage after subsequent doses.

The reasons for this effect are unknown, but it is hardly surprising. Indeed, the original bioavailability studies by Pfizer found that the lipid nanoparticles of the vaccine concentrated in ovaries and testes, among other organs, illustrating their potential to severely impair human reproduction.

COVID-19 vaccines also impacting female reproductive health

Among women who have received the COVID vaccine, there are strong signs that their reproductive health is being impacted as well. High rates of post-jab menstrual irregularities are being noted around the world, including early menopause, delayed menstruation and other issues.

Dr. Katarina Lindley of the World Council for Health noted: Its deeply concerning that we are faced with yet another alarming side effect from these experimental vaccines, one that has implications for the propagation of humanity. With babies as young as six months old now being injected, its clear that health implications could be felt for generations. Enough harm has already been done. Immediate action to remove these products from circulation is needed.

Meanwhile, Dr. Peterson Pierre of Americas Frontline Doctors has warned expectant parents that there has been a nearly 2000 percent rise in fetal deaths since COVID vaccines were rolled out. Data he presented from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 550 million COVID shots had been administered at the time, and there were 3,725 fetal deaths. This equates to one fetal death for every 147,651 shots. Compare this to the period from 2006 to 2019, when 4 billion administered shots were registered for different vaccines yet there were just 1,368 fetal deaths, which amounts to one for every three million shots.

So if you do the math, you realize that since the COVID shots have been available, theres been a 1,925 percent increase in fetal deaths, he concluded.

In a response from Pfizer and the Food and Drug Administration to a Freedom of Information Act request, 23 of 32 expectant mothers who received the companys jabs had miscarriages, and there was also a significant rise in ectopic pregnancy following vaccination. It is becoming clear that this is one of many vaccines that can seriously compromise reproductive health.

Sources for this article include:

WND.com

IsraelNationalNews.com

WorldCouncilforHealth.org
(Natural News) Americans who were upset with Republicans when then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to advance then-President Barack Obamas third Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, in 2016 because they knew he was a left-wing extremist owe the Kentucky Republican and the GOP, in general, a hearty thank you.

Since he was installed as the attorney general of the Justice Department, he has engaged in one war after another against perceived political opponents of the Democrat Party, including ordering the FBI to conduct investigations into parents who show up to school board meetings expressing anger and resentment at the adoption of divisive curricula like critical race theory and sexually inappropriate materials for young students.

Now, Garland has expanded his war on the majority of America, according to Revolver News:

Ladies and gentleman, we regret to inform you that Merrick Garland is at it again. His office just took two actions in two consecutive days that constitute a tacit legal insurrection against the United States of America.

Just yesterday, in an unprecedented move, our intrepid United States Attorney Generals office released a statement saying that the DOJ disagrees with the Courts ruling securing Second Amendment concealed carry rights.

The statement comes in response to a massive 6-3 ruling against an overly restrictive law in Democrat-run New York denying citizens of the state their Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense, requiring them to show special need for having a gun (meanwhile, the uber-left privileged in the state get whatever they want).

We respectfully disagree with the Courts conclusion that the Second Amendment forbids New Yorks reasonable requirement that individuals seeking to carry a concealed handgun must show that they need to do so for self-defense, the statement said on Thursday.

The Department of Justice remains committed to saving innocent lives by enforcing and defending federal firearms laws, partnering with state, local and tribal authorities and using all legally available tools to tackle the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our communities, the statement said.

Translation: Merricks Justice Department is disagreeing with a legitimate ruling on a fundamental constitutional right from the nations highest court, suggesting that the department will actually work with the deep-blue state to circumvent the ruling.

Then on Friday, Merricks agency issued yet another statement disapproving of the high courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade because there is no constitutional guarantee for abortions (or any medical procedure), sending the issue back to the states where it should have remained all along.

Today, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and held that the right to abortion is no longer protected by the Constitution, Garland said in the second statement.

The Supreme Court has eliminated an established right that has been an essential component of womens liberty for half a century  a right that has safeguarded womens ability to participate fully and equally in society. And in renouncing this fundamental right, which it had repeatedly recognized and reaffirmed, the Court has upended the doctrine of stare decisis, a key pillar of the rule of law, he continued.

The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Courts decision. This decision deals a devastating blow to reproductive freedom in the United States. It will have an immediate and irreversible impact on the lives of people across the country. And it will be greatly disproportionate in its effect  with the greatest burdens felt by people of color and those of limited financial means, he added.

Again, the high court did not take away a right; abortion was never a constitutional right to begin with, and thats what the ruling reflected.

While the DOJ has issued statements in the past on a number of occasions that the then-current AG is disappointed with rulings, never before has the department said it disagreed with a ruling, as if the AG even has a right to do so.

But it also suggests that the department also will refuse to enforce the ruling, which is de facto insurrection and, to paraphrase the Democrats, is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

DOJ does not issue statements like these disagreeing with Supreme Court rulings. It doesnt happen. It has no lawful basis. This can only be seen as a direct threat against the judiciary by Stasi agents. pic.twitter.com/JcJMBedpRX  Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 24, 2022

Keep your eye out for if the blue states ignore or refuse to implement the Supreme Courts ruling on concealed carry weapons, Revolver News reported.

The left is about to blow up whats left of our institutions. Prepare accordingly.

Sources include:

Revolver.news

Abortions.news
(Natural News) As you may have heard, e-commerce giant Amazon has had to drastically scale back its warehouse square footage in recent months due to labor and energy cost increases. Why, then, is the company simultaneously gobbling up land all across the country in key markets?

One of the companys most recent purchases was 193 acres of land located just outside of Round Rock, Tex., near Austin. Texas lenient land-use laws mean that Amazon can use this massive parcel for whatever it wishes  so what is on the agenda?

According to reports, Amazons land accumulation endeavors started about three years ago. The Seattle-based retail predator quietly started searching for land in Southern California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, and the Bay Area. Since that time, the company has just about tripled the amount of industrial space it owns in North America.

Between 2020 and 2022, Amazon acquired some 4,000 acres of bare land, says real estate researcher CoStar Group Inc. Some of this land will probably be used for new fulfillment centers, but the rest of what the company has planned remains unclear.

Buying land is a major shift for Amazon, which historically relied on a handful of developers to find property, build fairly simple warehouses and rent them back to the company, reports Supply Chain Brain.

Now Amazon is increasingly taking parts of the development process in-house, often bidding against long-time partners for the best space.

Do you want to live in an America with Amazon fulfillment centers in every corner?

During the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) plandemic, Amazon massively overbuilt its warehouse square footage as shopping volume saw massive declines. Despite this, the company now says that there will be no changes made to its long-term real estate strategy, which includes buying up lots of land.

More than likely, a lot of the land Amazon is buying will, in fact, be turned into fulfillment centers that are close to peoples homes. If it does not grab any land it can get, competitors like Walmart will capture the market instead.

Theres going to be something on the other side of all of this investment for the consumer, says John Blackledge, an analyst at Cowen and Company LLC. People will buy more on Amazon when they see they can get it in five hours instead of two days.

In the past two years, Amazon has spent approximately $2.2 billion acquiring new land and properties. This is considered to be a conservative estimate, suggesting that Amazon has actually spent much more money on land.

For many years before that, Amazon took a much different approach to its business. With Jeff Bezos at the helm, the company historically made very few investments in real estate  almost too few, by corporate standards.

That has since changed, and now Amazon is buying up land like crazy. What does the company have in store for the world moving into the future? Does it plan to control every aspect of the retail experience, becoming the only shop in town with a fulfillment center on every corner?

Amazons so-called Fresh grocery stores are another element in the companys business model. These Orwellian facilities feature thousands of surveillance cameras on the ceiling that watch customers as they put things in their carts and automatically charge them when they walk out the door.

It seems as though Amazon wants to own America. And it is accomplishing this by buying as much land as possible, much like how billionaire eugenicist Bill Gates is buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland all across the country.

More related news about Amazons predatorial business model can be found at JeffBezosWatch.com.

Sources include:

SupplyChainBrain.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Dr. Duke Pesta thinks Americans are not paying attention to the shocking changes happening in schools. The well-known university professor shared this view on the June 23 episode of Dr. Daniel Bobinskis Keep the Republic program on Brighteon.TV. When asked about the indoctrination happening in public schools, Pesta remarked that making people aware of it is very necessary because people are not aware or not paying any attention to the really big changes going on in schools now. According to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh professor, a teacher is not an effective teacher unless he or she can put childrens educational needs as their primary focus. The best teachers, he added, are the ones who are committed to opening up the academic world to their students. Pesta also shared his opinion on the LGBT ideology permeating American schools nowadays, following a TikTok video showed by Bobinski. He said that such narcissistic LGBT public school teachers are using children for their own psychic gratitude and vanity. The host of the Dr. Duke Show podcast added that those kinds of teachers are misleading children and projecting their own psychosis upon them. Bobinski agreed, adding that the term groomer came to mind. Pesta continued by saying that groomers are brainwashing children to accept all kinds of alternate, illogical and anti-scientific things.

Pesta outlines alternatives to public schools

The Keep the Republic host said he and his wife homeschooled their children, and subsequently took the opportunity to ask Pesta about his FreedomProject Academy (FPA). (Related: More parents report homeschooling their children amid coronavirus pandemic.)

The professor explained that the FPA is a solution for parents looking for alternatives to public school. Pesta noted that the academy is completely accredited and offers classes from kindergarten to high school.

FPA noted in its website that the academy remains staunchly opposed to the implementation of Common Core in public, private and homeschool curricula and will not tolerate Common Core teaching methods or materials in our own classrooms. This opposition had been possible because the academy did not accept a penny of state or federal money.

We are a live school, which means we have real teachers talking to kids. [We have] 20 to 30 kids in each class, depending on the nature of the class. The kids can talk to each other, so we do actually have a classroom environment that is state of the art, said Pesta.

The Dr. Duke Show host touted that the FPA teaches classical education and Judeo-Christian values  the kind of education American parents want. He added that FPA school children have never missed a single day of class due to the pandemic or a school shooter, and that they never had any interactions with LGBT teachers.

But for those who prefer homeschooling, Pesta said parents can typically do it for two to three hours daily. He explained that parents are able to work and spend a little time before, after and in-between work shifts to educate their children.

Its doable. If you want to make a commitment to helping your kid, you can do it, you definitely can do it. Youre living proof that its not expensive and its very effective, Pesta told Bobinski.

Brighteon.com

FPEUSA.org
(Natural News) A report by a Texas-based sector of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) said criminal groups that smuggle illegal aliens into the country use social media platforms to recruit minors as mules.

The report from CBPs Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol pointed to a trend of transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) using social medial to recruit minors for their smuggling operations.

With an increase in illicit activity, TCOs require more manpower to carry out their operations. Social media has become an avenue for human smugglers to target juvenile driver, said the report. TCOs are luring minors to smuggle migrants across border towns in the Rio Grande Valley and into the U.S. interior with the promise of fast cash.

The use of social media has allowed local smugglers to expand their networks reach. New recruits are not only from the Rio Grande Valley.

Drivers from San Antonio, Houston and other areas working as mules for the TCOs  some as young as 13 years old  have been arrested in pursuit operations, according to CBP. Most of these pursuits involve vehicles loaded with migrants well over the manufacturers intended passenger limit in order to maximize monetary gain, the report added.

The CBPs findings pointed out that TCOs convince young drivers that they will not face the same consequences as adults if apprehended, and that law enforcement will disengage a pursuit if dangerous conditions are present.

This is an alarming trend, because many of these teenagers underestimate the severity of the crime. Not only can they be prosecuted and sent to jail, but they also endanger lives through their actions. I encourage parents to talk to their children and educate them on the potential consequences and dangers of this trend, said Brian S. Hastings, chief patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley Sector. (Related: Bidens America: 13 dead in serious crash near Mexican border were illegal aliens being trafficked.)

Big Tech aids and abets violations of immigration law

According to CBP, the recruitment done by TCOs via social media was tied with the record number of illegal immigrants attempting to enter the country under President Joe Bidens lax border policy.

Agents have encountered more than 137,000 migrants between Oct. 1, 2021 [and] Dec. 31, 2021  which is a 163 percent increase over the same reporting period of the previous year. Agents have [also] seized over 11,000 pounds of narcotics this fiscal year [2022], which is approximately 43 percent of all narcotics seized by Border Patrol across the nation between the ports of entry.

But aside from their use as a recruitment tool for human trafficking, Big Tech platforms have also been utilized as tools to help illegal aliens avoid lawful deportation. According to the National Pulse, the TikTok app ran ads purportedly offering illegals a way to stay longer on American soil after entering in an unlawful manner.

The video ads that used mariachi or reggaeton tunes as background music featured an immigration lawyer dancing and showing work permits. They also featured the Spanish hashtag #arreglarsinsalir  which translates to fix without leaving. The ads ultimately exhorted viewers to schedule a legal consultation without needing to visit an embassy or consulate.

The TikTok ads promised viewers employee authorization in six months and a green card within two years, compared to other attorneys [that] have said you have no option. The ads appeared to target undocumented Latin American immigrants with strong ties to the U.S. and few to no existing options for obtaining legal status.

Immigrants who enter the country illegally, overstay a visa, or have certain criminal convictions or prior deportation orders [are the] population that the TikTok ads primarily target, remarked the Pulse.

Watch this Newsmax report about TCOs using a child to distract Border Patrol agents as illegals cross the border.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

229 illegals found in 12 stash houses during 10 days of human smuggling raids.

Insane Border Patrol car chase demonstrates how illegals put American citizens at risk on public roads.

The real cost of illegal immigration: Eight people COOKED to death in the back of a trailer in a Texas Wal-Mart parking lot.

Texas GOP lawmaker goes there, calls on Gov. Abbott to disregard hapless Biden regime and take control of border himself.

Sources include:

TheNationalPulse.com 1

CBP.gov

TheNationalPulse.com 2

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Three major energy firms in France told people to cut back on their energy usage at the soonest, lest the country spirals into an energy crisis.

Executives of the three energy companies  Engie Managing Director Catherine MacGregor, EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Levy and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne  issued the admonishment in a joint statement published in the French newspaper Le Journal de Dimanche.

The three bigwigs pointed to rising prices as a result of the energy crisis following the Russia-Ukraine war as a matter that threatens the social and political cohesion of France.

Acting this summer will allow us to be better prepared to tackle next winter and, in particular, to preserve our gas reserves, they said.

We therefore call for awareness and collective and individual action so that each of us  each consumer [and] each company  changes behavior and immediately limits consumption of energy, electricity, gas and petroleum products.

The effort must be immediate, collective and massive, the three energy executives noted, adding that every gesture counts.

France is one of many countries in the European Union (EU) that have been crippled by Russias decision to turn off supplies of natural gas flowing through the Nord Stream pipeline, in response to the Wests sanctions on Moscow. The resulting energy shortage, coupled with an over-dependence on clean energy under Paris zero coal policy, put France in a precarious situation. (Related: International Energy Agency head tells EU: Prepare for Russian gas shutdown.)

In a bid to address this energy shortage, the French government has proposed restarting the Emile Huchet coal-fired power plant near the countrys northwestern border with Germany.

According to Energy Central, the French Ministry of Ecological Transition revealed plans to reactivate the fossil-fuel plant as a precaution, given the Ukrainian situation. The ministry added that it is not ruling out operating the power plant, set to produce approximately one percent of the countrys electricity, for a few more hours if we need it next winter.

Germany, Italy also reeling from shutoff of Russian gas

The joint statement from MacGregor, Levy and Pouyanne followed neighboring Germany inching closer toward economic collapse. The abrupt cutoff of natural gas from Russia has left Berlin scrambling to figure out how to maintain ample energy supply come the winder.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who also serves as the countrys minister for economic affairs and climate action, remarked that he may be forced to shut down industry in order to keep the German power grid afloat. He previously appealed to the public to conserve energy.

Companies would have to stop production [and] lay off their workers. Supply chains would collapse. People would go into debt to pay their heating bills [and those] people would become poorer, said Habeck, who is a member of the Green Party in the German parliament.

Italy, also affected by the sudden stop of natural gas supply from Russia, took steps to ration its energy supply. Authorities issued a mandate limiting the use of heating and air conditioning within government buildings. The law, which took effect on May 21, prohibited schools and public offices from setting their thermostats below 25 C (77 F) in the summer and above 19 C (66 F) during the winter.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi remarked that while a gas embargo is not on the table, he stressed that the country would follow the decision of the EU on the matter.

Nevertheless, Draghi called on Italians to do their part in keeping energy prices low through a challenge issued in the form of a question: Do we want to have peace [in Ukraine] or do we want to have the air conditioning on?

Watch this One America News report below discussing the energy crisis the U.S. and the EU are about to face.

This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Russias Gazprom has cut natural gas flows to Germany by 60%  Western Europe is about to get the green energy nightmare it always wanted.

Western Europe forced to abandon failed green energy as Russian gas flows stop; Germany restarting coal power stations.

Netherlands joins Germany in abandoning green agenda, restarting coal plants to fulfill energy needs amid ongoing crisis.

Germany to reopen coal-fired power plants as Russia throttles Europes gas supplies.

European gas prices shoot up as Russia reduces supply to top buyers across the EU.

Sources include:

NewsPunch.com

Breitbart.com

EnergyCentral.com

ANSA.it

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Karen Federighi was a registered nurse living a simple life and working at a Florida hospital just over six years ago. But Federighis life took a dramatic turn when her father died and left her a large sum of money.

One day in January 2016, she heard a knock and found state police at her door. Right there and then, Federighi was informed that she was a ward of the state. The ward of the state means a child who, as determined by the state where the child resides, is a foster child or is in the custody of a public child welfare agency.

Even though Federighi lived on her own, had a job and was supporting herself, a jealous family member got a three-person panel to declare that she was mentally incompetent and unable to handle her own affairs. Nobody on that panel even bothered to check if Federighi was employed.

Federighi lost control of all her finances, making it basically impossible for her to travel. Her car, pets and all personal possessions were confiscated. She had to beg the state-appointed guardian to give her money to buy food. Because of this, she tried to escape by fleeing, but the state police chased her down and threw her into an assisted living home.

Someone was able to help her resettle in Los Angeles, but the legal struggle to regain control of her life drained all her money. She basically lost everything.

In her recent interview on the Stew Peters Show, Federighi slammed the government for allowing this organized illegal activity in the guardianship system. She agreed with Peters that her inherited money, along with taxpayer dollars, was used to fund her own kidnapping.

The Department of Children and Families [DCF], which includes Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services, receives federal funding from the government. And when DCF gets somebody into their custody, they receive additional federal funding for each person. And so its a huge racketeering, business involving the sheriffs, police, judges, lawyers and guardians, she said. (Related: CPS kidnaps three children after loving family seeks medical help.)

This racket involves insurance, Medicaid, Medicare and social security fraud. Federighi also exposed the Big Government for asking her to sign a document saying that she will not sue the people that did this to her. She said no.

So obviously, they know that they did wrong, they know that theyre breaking the law, Peters pointed out.

Being one of the leaders of the USA Citizens Guardianship Task Force, Federighi is now fighting to change Americas guardianship laws and procedures to make sure that government-backed kidnappings can never happen again.

Petition to abolish guardianship laws sent to Senate, Congress and Biden

Back in February, Federighi and two other victims and advocates sent a petition titled Abolish all Commission Codes for Guardianship/Conservatorship from Legislation Law Books to the Senate, Congress, and President Joe Biden.

I found a couple of other victims in Collier County, Peggy Dupree and Betty Gosnell, who were also kidnapped into fraudulent guardianships in 2020, she said.

Dupree is suing the county as well. She didnt lose her estate, but she lost her son. Her autistic son was treated by a doctor without her consent. She lost custody of her son when she alerted the authorities regarding this.

Its not just about the money, its about exposing how corrupt these guardianships are, and how it exposes the vulnerable and the weak, Dupree said in an interview with Fox4.

Apparently, lawyers are afraid to touch such cases.

Lawyers are afraid theyll be disbarred or sanctioned, and they demand like a $40,000 retainer fee. Our three cases combined could be a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case and would earn a lawyer millions of dollars, she said.

Guardianship is governed by state law and each state has its own set of guardianship laws. The Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship and Other Protective Arrangements Act, a model act developed by the Uniform Law Commission, uses the term guardian for a person appointed by a court to manage the care and wellbeing of another person; and conservator for a person appointed by the court to manage the property of another person.

However, states use those terms differently. California, for example, uses the term conservator for someone appointed to make personal and financial decisions for an adult.

The guardianship typically ends when the individual dies. Courts may also terminate the guardianship when the persons condition improves and he or she no longer requires the help of a guardian; the persons support systems improve and a less restrictive alternative can be used to meet the individuals needs; and there is evidence to show that the person does not need a guardian.

The individual can petition the court to request that the guardianship be terminated, or at least modified to regain some of the rights.

Visit Corruption.news for more news about the governments illegal organized operations.

Watch the full segment of The Stew Peters Show below.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Homeschool dad sues federal government for kidnapping his 7 children medical tyranny run amok.

New DC law strips parents of legal guardianship, allows predators to coerce children to vaccinate against their parents knowledge.

New CA bill could increase medical kidnapping of children by government whose parents refuse vaccinations.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

RedVoiceMedia.com

BeforeItsNews.com

Change.org

Fox4Now.com

Justice.gov
(Natural News) Vladimir Putin claims to have proof that CNN and Ukrainian neo-Nazis collaborated to film staged attacks on civilians.

(Article republished from En-Volve.com)

In a press release, the Russian Ministry of Defense MOD claimed Ukraines 72nd Centre for information and Psychological Operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in Kharkov are preparing a false flag and are working with CNN to broadcast this to the world.

The statement, titled, Statement of the Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, warned that Ukraine will soon unleash another cynical provocation with deaths amongst civilian population to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of launching indiscriminate attacks against civilian facilities.

Infowars.com reports: Russia alleged elements of the Ukrainian military are taking hospital staff and sick children from around Kharkov and moving them to the citys First Child Health Hospital, which is supposedly known to be wired with explosive mines.

The building of the hospital is mined and neo-Nazis are planning to explode it as soon as Russian troops launch artillery attacks at the military facilities in Kharkov, the Russian government said. Correspondents from leading Western news agencies have already arrived in the city to prepare fake photos and videos.

Who are these Western news agencies?

None other than CNN is directly named by Russia as having two reporters being escorted by 10 servicemen of Azov nationalist battalion.

The CNN correspondents were said to have arrived in Odessa for recording prepared terrorist attacks on civilian facilities in order to accuse Russia of using prohibited methods of warfare.

Continuing, the Russian government again said they do not have a policy of attacking civilian infrastructure, a notion supported by their slow-paced military tactics used in the Ukraine operation thus far.

Furthermore, the statement noted multiple instances where nationalist battalions, otherwise known as neo-Nazi brigades, have occupied and placed military equipment in educational institutions, houses of culture and other social facilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putins government warned the people of Europe and North America that the abovementioned and other provocations by the Ukrainian authorities about the atrocities of the Russians are soon to be widely circulated through the Western media and in various resources of the Internet.

This accusation coming from the worlds largest nation, which is constantly in the news regarding the war in Ukraine, is extremely hard to find online in America while it should be a massive story.

As independent journalist Clandestine joked in his Substack newsletter Thursday, Its fine. Just CNN working with Nazis in Ukraine to film a planned terrorist attack and blame it on Russia, to cover up for their Deep State overlords who got caught making bioweapons in Ukraine. Nothing to see here folks.

Dissecting the thought process behind false flag attacks being waged by Ukraine, Clandestine explained that logically speaking, it benefits Ukraine much more for Ukrainian civilians to die, than it befits Russia.

Civilians die and they can push emotional propaganda, the world comes to aid Ukraine, and Putin is viewed as a dictator. But what happens when Putin doesnt kill any civilians, and starts exposing the biolab network? The Nazis take it upon themselves to kill the civilians, he wrote.

It seems like the Deep State is becoming more desperate to cover up their crimes in Ukraine, from the illegal biolab network to shady business deals and money laundering.

Read more at: En-Volve.com
(Natural News) The Russian army, which has been significantly bloodied and battered by unexpectedly stiff resistance in Ukraine, has finally managed a second major victory by taking the city of Severodonetsk, much of which is in ruins.

Following Mariupol, Severodonetsk marks one of the rare instances of a complete victory for Moscow, though again, it has come at tremendous cost in terms of blood and treasure.

Russian forces have fully occupied Severodonetsk, the mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city said, confirming Ukraines biggest battlefield setback for more than a month after weeks of fighting to hold the strategic town and latest symbol of Ukrainian resistance, Al-Jazeera reported this week.

Russia invaded on February 24.

Russian missiles also rained down on western, northern and southern parts of the country on Saturday as Europes biggest land conflict since World War II enters its fifth month, the report added.

Severodonetsk was once home to around 100,000 people, but today most of it has been reduced to rubble, making it unlikely to ever be rebuilt.

The city is now under the full occupation of Russia. They are trying to establish their own order, as far as I know, they have appointed some kind of commandant, Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said in a national television broadcast.

Until now, Russias massive advantage in firepower had only yielded nominal gains in Ukraines east, but it appears to have been the difference-maker regarding Severodonetsk, according to reports.

The plan from Ukrainian officials was reportedly never to fend off the Russian advance, but rather fight a war of attrition leaving Vladimir Putins forces vulnerable to a counter-offensive, Sky News noted. Having withdrawn from Severodonestk, Ukrainian forces will be looking to mount another defense at the nearby city of Lysychansk, across the Siverskyi Donets river.

The latest victory for Russia, if you can call it that, comes after the militarys high command removed several general officers following weeks of little to no progress on the ground. They include the commander of Airborne Forces General-Colonel Andrei Serdyukov; and commander Southern Group of Forces General of the Army Alexandr Dvornikov, according to British intelligence, Sky News added.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told state media that Ukrainian attempts to turn the citys Azot chemical plant into a resistance point was effectively thwarted.

As a result of successful offensive operations, units of the peoples militia of the LPR [Luhansk Peoples Republic], with the support of Russian troops  completely liberated the cities of Severodonetsk and Borivske, he said.

The head of Ukraines military intelligence, meanwhile, described the fall of the city in tactical terms, allowing the countrys forces to fall back and regroup to higher ground in neighboring Lysychansk.

The activities happening in the area of Severodonetsk are a tactical regrouping of our troops. This is a withdrawal to advantageous positions to obtain a tactical advantage, said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

And again, its not like Russia has really won anything in exchange for all of the ordnance and lives expended, except dirt.

Russia is using the tactic  it used in Mariupol: wiping the city from the face of the earth, Budanov said.

Given the conditions, holding the defense in the ruins and open fields is no longer possible. So the Ukrainian forces are leaving for higher ground to continue the defense operations, he added.

That said, Russias next move, most likely, will be an advance on Lysychansk, Al Jazeera reported, along the Siverskyi Donets river. The Ukrainian command has said that the high price Russia had to pay for Severodonetsk will leave its forces vulnerable to a counterattack in the coming weeks, especially as Ukraine receives more lethal equipment and training supplied by the West.

In other words, this war isnt going to be over anytime soon.

Sources include:

AlJazeera.com

News.Sky.com
(Natural News) Pro-life pregnancy care centers are under attack in Canada. The Trudeau dictatorship is seeking to strip these centers of their charitable status, forcing them to pay higher taxes, if they are allowed to exist at all. The out-of-control Canadian government has also gone public with a smear campaign against all pro-life organizations, falsely accusing them of spreading judgmental, inaccurate information. These pregnancy care centers are some of the most charitable places for pregnant women. They are welcoming and compassionate, accepting women where they are in life. These centers provide counseling, education, healthcare services, and support for women and their babies.

Justin Trudeau wants to control their speech, shut them down, and forcibly submit women to abortions.

Trudeau regime is committed to taking action against all pro-life organizations

Since 2021, the left-wing totalitarians campaigned on revoking the charitable status of pro-life establishments across Canada. Over 15,000 Canadians have already petitioned the government NOT to strip pro-life pregnancy care centers of their charitable status. However, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, recently announced that the Government of Canada is committed to taking action against all pro-life organizations anyway. She claimed that the centers do not provide accurate or evidence-based information and judge women with no respect for their rights at all stages of their pregnancy.

She claimed that pregnant women are receiving dishonest counseling from pro-life pregnancy care centers. She said, registered charities that provide reproductive health services are required to provide ACCURATE, JUDGEMENT FREE and EVIDENCE-BASED [caps original] information to women

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) already screens for fraud within charities, and they have found no evidence of foul play across Canadas pro-life pregnancy care centers. Rebel News uncovered communications between the Trudeau government and the CRA, seeking to interfere and shut down the charitable status of pro-life charities. Researcher Patricia Maloney uncovered further documents showing that the CRA stood up to Trudeau and rejected his witch hunt toward pro-life charities.

Canadian government seeks to control speech, shut down support for pregnant women

By controlling speech in this way, the Canadian government wants to shut down compassionate care that supports life, dictating the type of counseling that pregnant women receive! Theoretically, the Trudeau regime wants to force all pregnancy care centers to offer abortion. If the Trudeau regime can compel speech and control the fundamental beliefs of people and their organizations, then what would stop them from dictating the speech of churches, ministries, missions, camps, Christian colleges and schools?

The regime has already seized the body autonomy rights of all people throughout the country, threatening jobs and societal participation if individuals do not go along with government-mandated spiritual oppression and the perpetual poisoning of their bodies. The regime has violently shut down those who dissented, seizing their bank accounts and trampling their futures. Forcing abortion onto women is the next step of this totalitarian regime  a regime that pays no regard to human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, life, or womens autonomy.

I believe that revoking the charitable status of Crisis Pregnancy Centers is just the first step, said David Cooke, Campaigns Manager for Campaign Life Coalition (CLC). The Trudeau Liberals are on the warpath to shut down every single charity in Canada that voices any pro-life beliefs whatsoever.

CLC has been working on the front lines, asking Members of parliament to oppose any bill, motion, or regulatory policy that seeks to penalize Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Canada. Thousands of people signed the petition, contesting Trudeaus war against pro-life pregnancy care centers.

Pregnancy resource centers help tens of thousands of new moms and pregnant moms in crisis each year, said CLC National President Jeff Gunnarson in a press release. They give of their donated resources and ask for nothing but the ability to offer their donors a charitable tax receipt. With this mandate, Mr. Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist, is attacking mothers and babies at their most vulnerable stage in life.

The Trudeau dictatorship hasnt brought forth real evidence of fraud against any of the pro-life charities. His regime is only smearing these charities by labeling them spreaders of dishonest counseling. The left-wing totalitarians are desperate to control people, limit their speech, dictate their outreaches, and manipulate women into submission.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

Assets.NationBuilder.com

RunwithLife.blogspot.com

CampaignLifeCoalition.com
A giant stingray, recorded as the largest freshwater fish, was caught on June 13, by fishermen in the Stung Treng region of northern Cambodia.

The female Urogymnus polylepis giant freshwater stingray weighed about 300 kg and measured 3.98 m in length, tail included. The amazing fish, also called a whipray, was 2.2 meters long.

Largest Freshwater Fish

The record-breaking giant stingray, which belongs to an endangered species, was given the name Boramy because it is Khmer for "full moon," and because of its rounded disc-like shape and the early evening release time.

The measurements were made by a group of international ichthyologists as part of the US-Cambodian "Wonders of the Mekong" project, in cooperation with the Cambodian Fisheries Administration, despite the fact that the discoveries were made by locals.

Dana Lee, a fisheries biologist with FISHBIO, was one of the researchers who assisted in measuring this river monster. According to Lee, it was a magical moment to catch the first glimpse of the enormous stingray as it was being dragged from the depths. He said that in his mind, the Mekong has always been a bit of a mythical place, and that this creature was almost like the river personified.

In addition to hosting the television program Monster Fish, Dr. Zeb Hogan, a specialist in giant fish and director of the "Wonders of the Mekong" initiative, also shared the same sentiment.

Hogan said that this is a remarkable discovery that justifies efforts to learn more about the mysteries surrounding this species and the amazing river stretch where it lives.

Hogan continues to say that although fishermen in Cambodia claim to have encountered stingrays weighing up to 500 kg, these claims have never been confirmed. The fact that the "Wonders of the Mekong" team was nearby, that the fishermen alerted them, and that the stingray was marked and released are all very fortunate.

Read also: Meet Kane Tanaka, World's Oldest Living Person Who Recently Turned 119!

Previous Gigantic Records

This is not the first world record to come from the enigmatic, uncharted waterways of mainland Southeast Asia.

The previous record-holder for the largest freshwater fish was a 293 kg, 2.7 m-long Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) discovered in another section of the Mekong River in June 2005.

As it is currently too close to call, the Mekong giant catfish and the giant freshwater stingray share the record for largest freshwater fish species.

Other candidates for the record include the dog-eating catfish, also known as the paroon shark, a closely related catfish (Pangasius sanitwongsei).

Outside of Southeast Asia, the arapaima (Arapaima gigas) of South America is thought to grow to a length of up to 4.5 m, which is longer than the Mekong megafish, but weighs only about 200 kg instead.

Change in Record Held

The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius), a former top contender that was once native to the Yangtze River Basin, reached a confirmed length of 3 meters and a verified weight of 300 kilograms, though much larger, unconfirmed specimens have been reported as long as 7 meters and weighing 450 kilograms.

Nevertheless, this species was formally recognized as extinct in 2020. It is likely that it went extinct between 2005 and 2010 as a result of overfishing and habitat loss. As a result, it currently holds the unfortunate record of being the most recent extinction of freshwater fish.

Related article: 109-Year-Old Tortoise Named Jonathan Hailed as World's Oldest Living Land Animal
When heavy machinery is operating and induced seismicity is present, an active underground mine can be a seismically active location.

Researchers have now shown how to extract and isolate the signals produced by mining activities from the local seismic background noise using data from a longwall coal mine.

Using seismic noise analysis to monitor potential hazards

According to Santiago Rabade, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah, and colleagues, this technique, which was detailed in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, might help monitor seismic occurrences and the structural integrity of the mine while activities continue.

Underground mines are called longwall coal mines to take long panels of coal from a huge wall or slice of coal.

The researchers used information gathered from a 17-geophone array on the top of one such mine for over a month.

The array was first put up to track the mine's seismicity and ambient seismic noise over time to detect potential subsurface changes.

Initially, Rabade and associates employed a cross-correlation technique, which contrasts the signals from every geophone station within 5-minute periods.

After additional investigation, the researchers were able to distinguish between periods with strong coherent signals and those without strong signals.

They concluded that the time windows with high signals were compatible with the development of mining, whereas the other windows show the region's typical, persistent seismic background noise.

The sources of the mining-dominated windows were then identified by the researchers using a geographical approach.

Their findings on time scales of 24 hours and 5 minutes were in good agreement with where the main longwall activities were located and where seismic occurrences had been seen.

If the sources are sufficiently coherent, the approach enables the discovery of several simultaneous sources, according to Rabade.

Furthermore, Rabade noted that the researchers haven't looked into whether the system can find various kinds of individual machines.

They believed that the signals coming from the longwall shearing machine dominate the position determined from the time windows with mining activities.

Read more: Flooding Due to Thunderstorms Threaten Areas from Texas to Missouri Next Week

Effects of coal mining

About 64% of the coal produced in the United States in 2020 came from surface mines.

These mining operations take the rock and soil away from coal seams and reserves.

In Wyoming's Powder River Basin, where coal reserves are close to the surface and may be up to 70 feet thick, are located the largest surface mines in the country.

Large portions of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia and Kentucky have been impacted by mountaintop removal and mining for valley fill.

Utilizing explosives, this method of mining coal removes mountaintops.

With this approach, the terrain is altered, and streams occasionally have rock and soil on top of them.

These flooded valleys may discharge water that contains toxins that endanger aquatic creatures downstream.

Surface mines often have a greater impact on the environment than underground mines. The land above mine tunnels, however, is susceptible to collapsing, and abandoned underground mines may leak acidic water.

Coal resources include methane gas, which can ignite if it gathers in deep mines. To make mines a safer place to work, this coalbed methane must be evacuated.

About 8% of the nation's overall methane emissions and 1% of its overall greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 came from coal mining and abandoned coal mines (based on global warming potential).

Coalbed methane is recovered from some mines and used or sold.



Related article: As Cold Front Approaches Houston, Texas, Strong Storms and Severe Weather Are Possible
After months of rainy weather, farms in the Lockyer Valley in southeast Queensland are just now beginning to dry up; thus, expectations for further rain this week's end are causing some farmers anxiety.

Due to an upper trough moving east through Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology predicted that by the weekend there will be more clouds, rain, and colder temperatures.

Troy Qualischefski, a farmer, warned that rain might impede summer crop planting of crops like onions.

Weather predictions in Queensland

According to weather predictions, the Sunshine Coast might receive up to 100mm between Saturday and Monday after receiving roughly 15mm between Tuesday and Friday this week, as per abc News.

The Sunshine Coast was enjoying its biggest June school holiday time ever, so accommodations weren't really concerned about the rain.

According to Landmark Mooloolaba managing manager Brett Thompson, the COVID-19 lockdowns had released so much pent-up energy that poor weather was not anticipated to have an impact on reservations.

Several months' worth of dry-season rainfall could fall in certain regions of the Northern Territory, Queensland, and eastern New South Wales, according to a warning from Weatherzone.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, a cloudband will begin to develop throughout northern Australia, bringing a few showers to the NT and far west QLD, according to the weather service.

Between Thursday and Saturday, the rain will increase in quantity and intensity as the cloud band steadily moves east.

In regions of the Northern Territory, Queensland, and eastern New South Wales that are typically dry at this time of year, flooding might result from this rain storm.

Also Read: 'Significant Flooding' Is Expected in Queensland, as the Bureau of Meteorology Issues a Flood Warning for the Majority of the State

Frosty conditions

One of the region's premier rodeos, the Saxby Round-Up, which is hosted at Taldora Station, 180 kilometers north of Julia Creek, has been canceled due to the expected rain.

President Colin Blacklock stated, "We have 600 to 700 people coming, so we don't want them trapped 180 kilometers out on a gravel road if we get the forecasted prediction."

Forecasters predicted that the rain will continue through the weekend and maybe into the first few days of next week.

The dry season in the Northern Territory, which lasts from May to October, is now in effect.

Normally, less than 5mm of rain will fall in the Territory and in rural Queensland at this time; however, modeling indicates that up to 100mm might fall over a seven-day period.

Yesterday, Oakey and Warwick both had 1C temperatures.

An upper trough over Western Australia is what is causing the icy weather.

An upper trough over Western Australia is what is causing the icy weather.

The chilly mornings will continue, with Mount Isa's highest temperature only expected to reach 15C on Friday.

Anyone who is familiar with Mount Isa will find that to be exceedingly cold, according to Jess Millward of 9News.

Let's look at the weather today in the region of the capitals.

The rainy weather across Australia, according to climatologist Chelsea Jarvis of the University of Southern Queensland, is being caused by warm waters off Australia's north and west coasts.

She responded, "I guess you could say we're in the midst of a warm water sandwich," as per 9 News.

Having experienced La Nia for two years has caused a significant buildup of warm water.

Storms and conduction, for example, use warm water as a source of moisture.

According to Ms. Jarvis, Queensland will likely receive more rain than average between now and October.

Related article: Heroic Snake That Saved Critters from Queensland Flash Floods Goes Viral on Tiktok
Tropical storm warnings for multiple countries in the Southern Caribbean region have been issued by the United States' National Hurricane Center (NHC), according to the latest update.

This comes as a weather disturbance from Africa was seen hovering over the Atlantic and Caribbean over recent days.

The looming threat raised concerns that it could potentially become the first named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane by the end of June, according to hurricane specialists.

If it does, the NHC will call it as Tropical Storm Bonnie, which is likely to bring heavy rain, flash flooding, and powerful winds across the region, including the Southeast US.

An aircraft from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called "Hurricane Hunter" has reportedly confirmed that the system has not met the criteria yet for it to be classified as a tropical storm.

The said criteria will be based on its intensified winds for it to be elevated into to a storm or hurricane.

In recent years, the Caribbean has been battered by violent storms in the form of either a tropical storm or hurricane from the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition, storms from the Pacific Ocean, which often head to the Gulf of Mexico via Mexico and other countries in Central America, has also wreaked havoc in the past.

Tropical Storm Warnings

The NHC on Tuesday, June 28, issued tropical storm warnings for several Caribbean island territories, including Trinidad and Tobago, due to the poorly defined system, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel.

Other territories affected are Grenada, Colombia, and some islands of Venzuela.

Based on its Two-Day Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook, the NHC in Miami, Florida said there is a chance for the system to intensify into a tropical storm in the next 48 hours or five days from 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

The more organized or structured form of the system could be a tropical storm called "Tropical Cyclone Two," according to the NHC outlook. This is based on the US hurricane agency's tropical cyclone climatology.

Also Read: Atlantic Hurricane Season to Begin in Early June

Hurricane Agatha

From late May to early June, Hurricane Agatha formed over the eastern Pacific Ocean and made landfall in Oaxaca state, Mexico. It brought torrential rain, massive flooding, and landslides, killing multiple people and resulting in missing persons.

According to Yale Climate Connections, the massive category 2 storm with 105 wind gusts of 105 miles per hour left 11 people dead and 32 missing, as well as affecting the western Caribbean, South Florida, and Cuba.

Agatha became the first hurricane in the region for the Pacific hurricane season this year.

Atlantic Hurricane Season

In the US, the Atlantic hurricane season poses more threat to the country compared to its Pacific counterpart.

This is due to the fact that most storms or hurricanes hailing from the Pacific rarely makes a landfall in West Coast, Southwest US, or even the southern states.

In the contrary, related storm systems from the Atlantic Ocean frequently moves in a northwestward or southwestward pattern.

This immediately puts the East Coast, the Deep South, and even countries in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea at risk.

Related Article: Hurricane Season: NHC Miami Issues Warning for Two Weather Disturbances over the Northern Gulf and Atlantic Ocean
A giant crocodile was caught alone by an Indonesian man named "Usman" who used only a rope as his instrument, according to a report on Tuesday, June 28.

The 14-foot (4.3 meters) crocodile was captured in the island of Sulawesi, where the large reptile had terrified its residents, as claimed by the crocodile's captor.

Community members from the Ambau Indah village praised the efforts of Usman, whom they have considered to have done a heroic act.

The 53-year-old man reportedly said he had to take the opportunity while the massive crocodile has not cause any major disaster against the villagers.

Usman believed mentioned that the crocodile had been roaming in the area for at least two days, claiming it could have been more dangerous if it entered through the drainage channels, as well as further inland or the rice fields.

In the past, the area had recorded multiple crocodile attacks, which is a rare phenomenon yet an evident one as part of the growing human-wildlife conflict worldwide.

The issue stemmed from the expanding human settlements into natural habitats once home to these wild animals.

Giant Crocodile Capture

An official from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency stated that the gigantic crocodile will be released into the wild after Usman caught and reported it to the local authorities, as reported by CNN and Reuters.

Local accounts indicated that the rare animal was also a victim of habitat loss due to flooding and it needs to be protected rather than get killed.

Also Read: Northern Territory's Crocodile Population Suddenly Increases After Pushed to the Verge of Extinction

Indonesia Crocodile Attacks

In the past several years, crocodile attacks have been reported across Indonesia, wherein some of the incidents are indicated below, according to The Jakarta Post.

In 2020, authorities recovered the body of a fisherman from a crocodile's jaw in North Sumatra.

The victim was bathing in a river when the reptile attacked him.

In the same year, a crocodile killed a fisherman whose boat capsized in a river in South Sumatra.

In 2019, two fatal crocodile attacks led to the death of a woman and a missing person in Southeast Sulawesi.

Both incidents transpired in the rivers of North Konawe regency.

Saltwater Crocodiles

Crocodiles are one of the largest reptiles on Earth, both prehistoric and historically.

The recent incident in Sulawesi fueled a stark reminder that there are still crocodiles living in the wild larger than imagined, but has not been discovered yet.

The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is considered to be the biggest crocodile species.

In modern history, the world's largest crocodile ever recorded was named "Lolong" from the Philippines, which measured 40 feet long and weighed over 17,000 pounds.

Lolong, a saltwater crocodile, died in February 2013.

According to Oceana, a non-profit organization, saltwater crocodiles normally live in "brackish" or "low salinity" water near coastal areas.

They can also reach over 23 feet and weigh over 2,200 pounds.

In terms of size, the saltwater crocodile is followed by the Nile crocodile, which are native in the freshwater habitats of Africa.

While crocodile or alligator attacks have been considered rare by experts, an aggressive behavior from the reptiles are mostly unprovoked; this is caused by other factors like food and territory.

Related Article: Nile Crocodile Named 'Bin Laden' Terrorizes Village, Eating 80 Locals
There are up to 200 desert tortoises available in the adoption program, all of different ages and sizes. The Arizona Game and Fish Department believes that illegal breeding is primarily to blame for the population growth.

Officials cautioned that although it is a common misconception, captive tortoises cannot be released into the wild because they could infect other wildlife with diseases. Captive tortoises can grow to be about 14 inches long and can live for up to a century.

Tegan Wolf, a coordinator for the AZGFD desert tortoise adoption program stated that even though many people wouldn't even think about keeping desert tortoises as pets, they make wonderful and lovable companions.

To protect the tortoise from potential dangers like fire pits, pools, or other animals, adopters must have a securely enclosed yard or build an enclosure or a burrow.

Only one tortoise can be adopted by each person. An additional tortoise of the same sex can be adopted if it is kept in a separate shelter or burrow. The enclosure must have a shelter to allow the tortoise to escape the summer heat and a place to brumate during the winter.

These tortoises cannot be transported across state lines, and breeding them is prohibited by federal law.

According to Wolf, a female tortoise can give birth to more than 800 young during her lifetime if she lives to be 80 years old.

Wolf continues by emphasizing how crucial it is to make sure the tortoises are not only housed properly but also have responsible owners.

Arizona Game and Fish Department Order 43

Every year, hundreds of captive desert tortoises are turned over to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for adoption. Because captive tortoises can spread diseases that could wipe out our wild population, these tortoises cannot be released back into the wild. Families can learn to appreciate desert wildlife by taking care of a tortoise and observing its natural behavior, even though desert tortoises are unusual pets and fascinating animals.

According to state law, desert tortoises can only be adopted by people who are bonafide residents of Arizona.

There can only be one desert tortoise in each household, according to Arizona Game and Fish Commission Order 43. Furthermore, breeding desert tortoises is prohibited by AZGFD Rule (R12-4-407). Since they brumate only during the cooler months, most people only adopt turtles from April 1 to September 30.

Read also: New Species: Desert Tortoise Has Third Species In Mexico, Say Researchers

Desert Tortoise Care

Adopters should also take into account that healthy tortoises can live up to 80-100 years. A long-term plan should be in place, such as a will or other succession plan, as the tortoise may outlive its adoptive family.

Contacting Desert Tortoise Adoption Program is advised for anyone looking to place their pet tortoise up for adoption. The team will provide both the previous and new owners with the necessary support.

If a person comes across a desert tortoise while they are in a "wild" area, it is likely that the turtle is wild and is simply going about its life. The conservation team requests people to leave the turtle alone and let it be. It is advised to get in touch with the team if the turtle is hurt.

The tortoise must be given back to the Desert Tortoise Adoption Program team if the tortoise caretaker dies without a succession plan.

Related article: Sonoran Desert Tortoises No Longer Endangered, Researchers Say


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South Africa: Autopsies conducted on 21 East London pub teens

Autopsies have been performed on the 21 teenagers who died in an unexplained incident at an East London pub on Sunday, says the Eastern Cape government.

The Eastern Cape government in a statement said samples have been sent to a lab in the Western Cape for investigation.

Provincial government spokesperson, Khuselwa Rantjie, said the report will be shared with the affected families as soon as investigations have been concluded.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) remains on the scene and continues to comb the scene for further clues in relation to the tragic incident.

Meanwhile, Rantjie said, engagements between government and the families determined that a mass funeral service will be held next week Wednesday.

Thereafter, families will be assisted with transportation of the remains to be interred at burial sites of their choice.

Government has expressed appreciation for support that has been received from all sectors of society in preparation for the funeral. Amongst those is AVBOB. The funeral palour has pledged burial costs support for each family.

The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) has waved the grave fees for the burial of the deceased and together with the provincial government, will facilitate other logistical needs to ensure a dignified send-off for the deceased.

Rantjie said food parcels and vouchers were on Wednesday morning delivered to assist with immediate needs of the families.

The provincial government, together with its partners, will continue to provide psycho-social support to the bereaved families and the broader community. This will include community debriefing sessions to assist everyone to cope with the impact of Sundays tragic event, she said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
In a recent article posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, scientists from Japan assessed the safety and immunogenicity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) BNT162b2 vaccine among lung cancer patients under treatment.

Study: Immunogenicity and safety of COVID-19 vaccine in lung cancer patients receiving anticancer treatment: A prospective multicenter cohort study. Image Credit: LookerStudio / Shutterstock

Background

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has impacted the management of cancer patients in many ways. SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations are given priority to cancer patients worldwide due to their poor outcomes during COVID-19.

However, there are not enough trials on the COVID-19 vaccine's safety and immunogenicity, specifically for lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Furthermore, it is unknown how immunogenicity varies according to the type of anticancer medications given to patients. Lastly, it is uncertain how the titers of anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) spike (S) protein immunoglobulin G (IgG), i.e., anti-RBD, as determined by two separate immunoassays among lung cancer patients differ.

About the study

The current prospective multicenter cohort investigation explored the safety and immunogenicity of the COVID-19 BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine among lung cancer patients undergoing anticancer therapy utilizing two immunoassays to quantify anti-RBD titers. The scientists compared the safety and immunogenicity of the BNT162b2 vaccine between lung cancer patients and individuals without cancer experiencing chronic illnesses following the initial and second vaccine doses.

For the research, the team enlisted lung cancer patients undergoing anticancer therapy and non-cancer patients with chronic conditions. All subjects had received two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination at three to four-week intervals (fully-vaccinated). Blood samples were taken pre and post the initial and second vaccine doses and three to five weeks following the second vaccination.

The study comprised 38 non-cancer participants and 55 patients with lung cancer for the vaccine immunogenicity assessments. After eliminating two ineligible patients, 91 patients finished the three blood sampling up to four weeks following the second vaccination. The team evaluated the vaccines' safety and immunogenicity in participants negative for anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) antibodies in both assays on 1) two weeks before the initial vaccination (S0), 2) one week after the second vaccination (S1), and 3) four  one week, i.e., 21 to 25 days, following the second vaccination (S2).

Furthermore, the anti-SARS-CoV-2 S protein S1 subunit RBD antibody concentrations were quantified utilizing the Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 S (Roche Diagnostics) and Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant (Abbott Laboratory).

Results

The study results showed that after the first and second dose of BNT162b2 vaccination, lung cancer patients demonstrated a marked hike in the geometric mean titer (GMT) of COVID-19 antibodies, which was substantially lower than the non-cancer patients. The GMTs for cancer relative to non-cancer patients were 30 versus 121 AU/mL on Architect; 4 versus 1.2 U/mL on Elecsys upon initial dose receipt, and after second vaccinations, 1632 versus 3472 AU/mL on Architect; 213 versus 573 A/mL on Elecsys. Indeed, the team discovered that lung cancer patients undergoing anticancer therapy had 98% seropositivity at a threshold value of 50 AU/mL.

Changes in the anti-RBD antibody titer before vaccination (S0), after first vaccination (S1), and after second vaccination (S2) between non-cancer and lung cancer patients. A Anti-RBD titer on Architect. B Anti-RBD titer on Elecsys. The GMTs of lung cancer patients were significantly lower than those of the non-cancer patients after the first vaccination (30 vs. 121 AU/mL, p<0.001 on Architect; 4.0 vs 1.2 U/mL, p<0.001, on Elecsys) and second vaccination (1632 vs. 3472 AU/mL, p=0.005, on Architect; 213 vs 573 A/mL, p=0.002, on Elecsys). Anti-RBD, anti-severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 receptor-binding domain spike protein IgG S0, within 14 days before the first vaccination; S1, within 7 days before the second vaccination; S2, 4  1 weeks (2135 days) after the second vaccination Architect, Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG  Quant (Abbott Laboratories); Elecsys, Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S (Roche Diagnostics)

In the multivariate assessment, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for seropositivity/seroprotection ( 150 AU/mL and  1,084 AU/mL in Elecsys and Architect assays) by the BNT162b2 vaccination was considerably low in individuals with lung cancer. According to the evaluation of the anticancer therapy types, the modified OR for seroprotection and seropositivity ( 150 AU/mL and  1,084 AU/mL in Elecsys and Architect assays) among lung cancer patients administering cytotoxic drugs was substantially low. These findings suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine's immunogenicity in lung cancer patients receiving anticancer treatment may not be as good as in non-cancer patients.

The controlled OR for 150 AU/mL on Elecsys and 1,084 AU/mL on Architect following two vaccine doses tended to drop in lung cancer patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), though the effect was statistically insignificant. Notably, the controlled OR for seroprotection in patients using immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) were 0.54 for 150 U/mL on Elecsys and 0.73 for 1,084 U/mL on Architect following the receipt of the second vaccine dose, which did not drop comparable to non-cancer patients.

In addition, after receiving either the initial or second BNT162b2 vaccine dose, lung cancer patients did not exhibit a rise in the frequency of adverse responses compared to non-cancer patients.

Conclusions

Altogether, the authors found that COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccination resulted in a significantly higher level of antibody titers and an acceptable safety profile in lung cancer patients receiving anticancer treatment in the present study, which may support the use of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in this patient population. However, compared to patients without cancer, these patients' immunogenicity may be insufficient.

The team recommended that the prioritization of cancer patients for COVID-19 vaccinations should be continued. Additionally, more research is required to evaluate whether greater SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses, a different type of vaccine, combining various vaccine types, the vaccination timing, or additional vaccine doses improve immunogenicity in cancer patients receiving treatment. Besides, for lung cancer patients receiving anticancer treatment, infection control interventions like universal mask use and social distancing continue to be crucial.

*Important notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Most teachers focus on academic considerations when assigning seats. A new study by Florida Atlantic University psychology researchers is the first to show that these classroom seat assignments also have important implications for children's friendships.

Results of the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, revealed that friendships reflect classroom seat assignments. Students sitting next to or nearby one another were more likely to be friends with one another than students seated elsewhere in the classroom. Moreover, longitudinal analyses showed that classroom seating proximity was associated with the formation of new friendships. After seat assignments changed, students were more likely to become friends with newly near-seated classmates than with those who remained or became seated farther away.

The students in our study spent most of every day with the same 15 or so classmates. By the middle of the school year, there were no unfamiliar peers. Yet when seat assignments changed, new seatmates were apt to become new friends, consistent with claims that exposure alone is not a sufficient condition for friendship. Apparently, proximity transcends familiarity by providing new opportunities for the kind of exchanges that form the basis of a friendship." Brett Laursen, Ph.D., senior author and professor of psychology in FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Participants in the study included 235 students (129 boys, 106 girls) in grades 3 - 5 (ages 811) who nominated friends at two time points (13 -14 weeks apart). Children attended a public primary school in South Florida that reflected public school students in the state in terms of ethnicity and family income.

For the study, teacher seating charts were used to calculate three forms of proximity for each pair of students in a classroom. Neighbor proximity described classmates seated directly beside one another in a row or at a table, and those seated directly across from one another at a table. Group proximity included classmates identified as neighbors as well as those who were near neighbors; the latter were either one seat away in the same row or diagonal to one another at the same table. Findings for group proximity were the most robust, suggesting that children are willing (and able) to overlook their nearest neighbors in favor of those seated close enough for sustained communication.

"Of course, students were not glued to their seats; interactions with far-seated peers undoubtedly occurred during lunch, recess and (in some classes) free time activities," said Laursen. "The fact that new friends tended to emerge among the newly near-seated  despite opportunities for engagement with other classmates  underscores the power of proximity in friendship formation."

Classroom proximity assumes outsized importance during the elementary school years because children this age have few other sustained opportunities to meet (and engage with) friends and because companionship is central to the definition of friendship. It has long been known that most children report that most of their friends are in the same classroom. We now know that they are probably seated nearby.

Elementary school children spend most of their days in assigned seats, in the company of classmates. In most elementary school classrooms, teachers decide who sits next to whom and, by extension, who interacts with whom.

"Taken together, our findings highlight the enormous influence that teachers wield over the interpersonal lives of children. With great power comes great responsibility," said Laursen. "We urge teachers to exercise their power judiciously. Unintended social consequences have been known to arise when adults meddle in the social lives of children."

Study co-author is Sharon Faur, a developmental psychology doctoral student in FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.
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Episode 7: Fighting for reproductive sovereignty

Rachael Lorenzo works to address reproductive health disparities in Native communities. In 2018, they founded Indigenous Women Rising, a fund that provides financial help for Native people seeking an abortion.

Historically, the federal government has restricted Native people's reproductive autonomy. Between 1973 and 1976, more than 3,500 Native people were sterilized without their consent.

Today, the chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service and the remoteness of many reservations create barriers for Native people to access testing for sexually transmitted infections, prenatal care, and contraception.

Lorenzo is determined to fight for their community.

"My people deserve accessible health care, and I will make it happen no matter what, because this is our land," they said.

Episode 7 explores efforts to protect and expand access to comprehensive reproductive and sexual health care in the face of historical and contemporary efforts of the government to control Native people's fertility.

Voices from the episode:

Rachael Lorenzo , co-founder of Indigenous Women Rising  @rlorenxo; @IWRising; @IndigenousWomenRising

, co-founder of Indigenous Women Rising  @rlorenxo; @IWRising; @IndigenousWomenRising Sarah Deer , distinguished professor at the University of Kansas  @SarahDeer72

, distinguished professor at the University of Kansas  @SarahDeer72 Sunny Clifford , reproductive rights advocate

, reproductive rights advocate Elizabeth Rink, professor of community health at Montana State University

Season 4 of "American Diagnosis" is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.

Our Editorial Advisory Board includes Jourdan Bennett-Begaye, Alastair Bitsoi, and Bryan Pollard.
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* pre-print server, researchers in the United States described a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) SP1-77 that broadly neutralized its multiple variants of concern (VOCs).

Study: Humanized antibody potently neutralizes all SARS-CoV-2 variants by a novel mechanism.

Background

Most previously known anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies block receptor-binding-domain (RBD)-binding to the host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-receptor and prevent the endocytosis step of SARS-CoV-2 entry. However, SP1-77 is unique because it binds the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein via novel complementarity-determining-region-3(CDR3) sequences to block viral and host cell membrane fusion.

The number of primary B cells in the immune system determines the primary B-cell repertoire (BCR) in humans and mice. A mouse has 1000-fold fewer B cells than a human; therefore, they express a tiny fraction of the CDR3 diversity compared to humans. Preliminary experimental data indicated rearrangement of a single human variable region of heavy (V H ) regions of immunoglobulin (Ig) and kappa light-chain variable region (V  ) of Ig could generate BCR repertoires capable of responding to diverse antigens due to immense CDR3 diversification.

About the study

In the present study, researchers used a humanized mouse model that generated more human-like CDR3 diversity to yield therapeutic mAbs that could neutralize several SARS-CoV-2 VOCs. This mouse model rearranged a single human V H gene segment (V H 1-2) and V gene segment (V  1-33).

They vaccinated these mice with recombinant stabilized soluble SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan-1 S trimer, or an RBD monomer fused to a nanobody "VHH7-RBD" twice, four weeks apart. Serum IgG titers at two and six weeks post-vaccination revealed all mice developed strong antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 S or RBD immunogens. After three weeks of the second dose, the team single-cell sorted fluorescence-activated 96 antigen-specific IgG+ B cells from each mouse. Next, they sequenced their Ig heavy chain (IgH) and Ig light chain (IgL) variable region exons.

Study findings

Since the humanized mice had human V H 1-2 and V  1-33, they contributed to the BCRs expressed by 100% and 11% of splenic B cells, respectively. Cytofluorimetry showed that splenic B and T cell populations in this mouse model were similar in numbers and characteristics to the wild-type mice. Additionally, they had a diverse V H 1-2- and V  1-33-based CDR3 repertoire.

The study experiments yielded nine S-specific B cell lineages, each expressing BCRs with unique CDR3s. In addition, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) identified six mAbs bound to RBD, with one termed SP1-77 potently neutralizing all currently known SARS-CoV-2 variants. It also robustly neutralized the recently emerging Omicron sub-variants, BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4/BA.5, and BA.2.12.1.

In a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) on the live SARS-CoV-2 virus, SP1-77 had the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) values ranging from 0.8 to 9.6 ng/ml. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) confirmed SP1-77 bound the back and right faces outside the receptor-binding motif (RBM) and did not compete with ACE2 for binding to the RBD or S trimer.

The cryo-electron microscopic (cryo-EM) structure of the full-length G614 S trimer in complex with the SP1-77 fragment antigen-binding region (Fab) validated the SPR findings. SP1-77 directly contacted the RBD, but also touched the N-terminal domain (NTD) from a neighboring protomer. The SP1-77-RBD interaction buried a 939 square angstroms (A2) surface area on the antibody and a 936 A2 area from the S protein. Furthermore, the IgH and IgL of SP1-77 contributed to 83% and 17% of the binding surface area, respectively. The Glycine339Asp and Asn440Lys mutations were at the edge of the SP1-77 epitope with their side chains pointing away from the binding interface, explaining why Omicron variants were susceptible to SP1-77 neutralization.

The researchers used a lattice light-sheet microscopy (LLSM) approach to demonstrate the SP1-77 neutralization mechanism. While pre-incubation of viruses with SP1-77 had a minimal impact on viral endocytosis, it dramatically inhibited fluorescence spreading within the endosome, indicative of viral-endosomal membrane fusion block. Together, these findings suggested that SP1-77 neutralized SARS-CoV-2 by blocking membrane fusion.

Modeled SP1-77 binding site on various SARS-CoV-2 variants. (A) The potential footprint of SP1-77 on the modeled RBDs from different SARS-CoV-2 variants in a top view. The RBD is shown in surface representation in gray with the SP1-77 footprint highlighted in green and the mutations in each variant in blue. The Fv region of SP1-77 is shown in ribbon diagram in green. Most mutations on spike variants are not located at the SP1-77 footprint. (B) Side view of a selected panel from A. (C) Structural comparison of the SP1-77 binding interface among the RBDs of wildtype G614, Mu and Omicron variants. The conservative nutation R343K in Mu preserves the salt bridge between the residue 343 in the RBD and the SP1-77 D99. The mutations in Omicron variant reconfigures the local conformation near the N343-glycan, which is on the edge of SP1-77 footprint. The RBD is colored in gray, the SP1-77 heavy chain in green and the light chain in light green. Mutations in the Mu and Omicron variants are shown in stick and ball model in blue.

Conclusions

The study provides the first insight into how a non-ACE2 blocking antibody can potently neutralize multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants. The unique binding characteristics and novel neutralization mechanism of the SP1-77, coupled with its broad and potent neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants, suggested that it could be therapeutic against current and yet to emerge VOCs. Also, SP1-77 might be used in cocktail mAb therapies, e.g., with LY-CoV1404, that neutralize multiple SARS-CoV-2 VOCs through an ACE2-blocking mechanism. Additionally, its novel neutralization mechanism could inspire the design of new vaccines targeting Omicron BA.2 and other VOCs.

Finally, the study highlighted the success of the V H 1-2/V  1-33-rearranging mouse model as a prototype for testing humanized antibodies and vaccine strategies against other diverse pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and influenza.

*Important notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
The monkeypox virus, which is a zoonotic DNA virus belonging to the family Poxviridae, was first identified in the Asian Macaca fascicularis monkeys in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1958. This virus was first found to infect humans in 1970 when it was isolated from a nine-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the smallpox vaccination regulations had been withdrawn from the region.

Study: Monkeypox: Another Sexually Transmitted Infection? Image Credit: Dotted Yeti / Shutterstock.com

Background

Previously, the monkeypox virus was endemic in West and Central African countries. The monkeypox virus can be further subdivided into two clades, with the central African (Congo Basin) clade often considered the more pathogenic clade that is associated with more severe disease.

In 2003, the first monkeypox outbreak was identified outside of Africa during a spillover event from wild rodents exported for pet use to the United States. During this animal-to-human transmission event, children from six American states were infected.

Since 2018, several monkeypox virus outbreaks have been reported in the United Kingdom (UK), Singapore, and the U.S. More recently, several other outbreaks have been reported in the U.K., as well as other European and non-European countries. In fact, as of June 28, 2022, over 2,600 human monkeypox virus infections have been confirmed worldwide.

The current monkeypox outbreak

The present monkeypox outbreak is marked by sustainable human-to-human transmission, even among people who have not recently traveled to nations where the virus is endemic. Furthermore, many of these cases have been reported among men who have sex with men (MSM), which has raised concerns about the possible sexual transmission of the monkeypox virus.

Some of the monkeypox cases identified during the current outbreak have been reported among individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), specifically in MSM populations. Moreover, the monkeypox virus was detected in the seminal fluid, as well as genital and rectal lesions, of four MSM patients with monkeypox infection from Italy.

Recent clinical evidence supports the probability that sexual transmission of the monkeypox virus has occurred during the current outbreak. Although further studies are needed to confirm global speculations, definitive evidence of infectivity is lacking. Nevertheless, viral shedding and its efficiency for sexual transmission have been confirmed.

The risk of monkeypox transmission through sexual contact emphasizes the need to increase awareness among the sexually active population to prevent future outbreaks. According to the European Centers for Disease Control (ECDC), vulnerable populations include those with multiple sexual partners, particularly those within the MSM and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community.

Is monkeypox a sexually transmitted infection?

Monkeypox infection was initially considered only zoonotic; however, the interhuman transmission of this virus through direct contact with lesions, respiratory droplets, body fluids, and contaminated materials has been reported for several years.

The likelihood that the monkeypox virus can be transmitted sexually would confer important inclusions during the evaluation of patients with HIV, as well as those with other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) who present with fever and lymphadenopathy followed by a vesicular-papular rash.

These considerations should also be extended to the assessment of patients with genital ulcers, particularly those who have recently traveled to locations with confirmed monkeypox cases. Notably, genital ulcers have been reported in 52 cases during the most recent monkeypox outbreak.

Preliminary data indicate that the factors that increase an individuals susceptibility to HIV infection can also increase their risk of being infected with the monkeypox virus. These risk factors include being a young male who has sex with other men, engages in risky behaviors and activities including unprotected (barrier-free) sex, is HIV positive, and has a history of previous STIs, like syphilis.

Prevention

Some of the approaches that can assist in preventing monkeypox transmission include the implementation of zoonotic disease programs, including interaction and integrated strategies with awareness regarding sexual health and education towards STIs. Furthermore, the active involvement of various national and international scientific associations may also assist in mitigating the current monkeypox outbreak and limit its ability to become another pandemic. Taken together, these efforts would also reduce the global public health burden imposed by STIs.
In a recent study published on the preprint server medRxiv*, researchers compare the neutralizing ability of antibodies induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta breakthrough infections and the third booster dose of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.

Herein, the researchers observe that symptomatic Delta breakthrough infections have similar efficacy as a third booster vaccine dose in inducing cross-neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants.

Study: SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection during the Delta-dominant epidemic and neutralizing antibodies against Omicron in comparison with the third dose of BNT162b2: a matched analysis. Image Credit: MK photograp55 / Shutterstock.com

Background

Current COVID-19 vaccines are associated with high efficacy in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, symptomatic COVID-19, hospitalization, and mortality. However, due to declining vaccine efficacy with time and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with high immune evasion capabilities, millions of breakthrough infections have been reported throughout the world. As a result, a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines has been recommended to maintain protection against these variants.

Previous reports suggest that anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in individuals who have received two COVID-19 vaccine doses and experienced Delta breakthrough infection are similar to those observed in people who have received three vaccine doses.

About the study

The current study included healthcare workers of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Japan. All participants attended a baseline serological survey in June 2021 and a follow-up survey in December 2021.

A total of 836 infection-naive participants were identified who had received two doses of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) at the baseline. Of them, 11 were identified to have Delta breakthrough infection at the follow-up.

In the current study, the scientists assess the anti-wildtype SARS-CoV-2, anti-Delta, and anti-Omicron neutralizing efficacy of antibodies in two-dose vaccinated individuals who have been infected with the Delta variant after vaccination. This neutralizing efficacy was then compared to that which was observed in infection-naive individuals with or without booster vaccination (third dose). For each case, infection-naive controls were randomly selected from participants with or without third booster vaccination.

Important observations

All study participants had comparable SARS-CoV-2 spike-binding antibodies at baseline. The highest level of neutralizing antibodies was observed against the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 strain, followed by the Delta variant. None of the participants had detectable neutralizing titers against the Omicron variant at baseline.

Neutralizing titers against SARS-CoV-2 strains

At follow-up, a 4.1- and 10.9-fold induction in neutralizing titers against the wildtype SARS-CoV-2 strain were observed among participants who experienced Delta breakthrough infection or received the booster vaccination, respectively. In contrast, neutralizing titers became undetectable in infection-naive participants who received two vaccine doses.

Regarding neutralizing titers against the Delta variant at follow-up, a 5.5- and 13.8-fold induction was observed among participants with breakthrough infection and those with booster vaccination, respectively. In contrast, a 2.8-fold reduction in Delta-neutralizing titers was observed in infection-naive participants who had received two vaccine doses.

All study participants who had received a booster vaccine, as well as two-thirds of those with breakthrough infection, exhibited detectable titers against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant at follow-up.

About three-fold reduced anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody titers were observed in participants who experienced a breakthrough infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant as compared to the levels observed in boosted participants.

Symptomatic vs. asymptomatic infection

Participants who reported symptomatic breakthrough infections exhibited a 3.8- to 17.7-fold induction in neutralizing titers against the wildtype, Delta, and Omicron strains at follow-up. In contrast, participants with asymptomatic breakthrough infections exhibited a 3.1-fold reduction in anti-wildtype titers and no induction in anti-Delta and anti-Omicron titers at follow-up.

Omicron vs. Delta neutralizing titers

Considering all participants, 85% and 89% had detectable neutralizing titers against the wildtype and Delta strains, respectively, at baseline. In contrast, anti-Omicron neutralizing titers were undetectable in all participants. Overall, anti-Delta neutralizing titers were 1.6-fold lower than anti-wildtype titers.

As compared to anti-wildtype and anti-Delta neutralizing titers, anti-Omicron titers were significantly lower in participants with breakthrough Delta infection and those who received a booster vaccine dose.

Change in the neutralizing and spike antibody titers in individuals who experienced breakthrough infection, received the booster vaccine, or were unboosted during follow-up. Shown are NAb titers against the original Wuhan strain (A), the Delta variant (B), and the Omicron BA.1 variant (C) determined by 50% focus reduction neutralization test (FRNT 50 ) using the serum at baseline and follow-up. Also shown are anti-spike antibody titers measured with the Abbott reagent (D) and the Roche reagent (E) at baseline and follow-up. Box plots show the median, interquartile range, and full range. The dushed horizontal lines indicate the LOD in the present analysis (NT 50 <40 in FRNT 50 and U/mL>25000 in Roche assay).

The fold-change values are estimated ratios of geometric means for antibody titers based on the GEE model (ns: not significant; *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001). Abbreviations: AU, arbitrary units; B, baseline; F, follow-up; GEE, generalized estimating equation; LOD, limits of detection; NT 50 , 50% neutralization titer; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Neutralizing and spike antibody titers after three vaccine doses, symptomatic and asymptomatic breakthrough infections. Shown are NAb titers against the original Wuhan strain (A), the Delta variant (B), and the Omicron BA.1 variant (C) determined by 50% focus reduction neutralization test (FRNT 50 ) using the serum at follow-up. Also shown are anti-spike antibody titers measured with the Abbott reagent (D) and the Roche reagent (E) using the serum at follow-up.

Patients with PCR-confirmed infection were all symptomatic (n=7), while those with seropositive on any of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein assays (Abbott or Roche assays) at follow-up were all asymptomatic (n=4). The bars indicate geometric mean titers, and I-shaped bars indicate its geometric standard deviations. The dushed horizontal lines indicate the LOD for FRNT 50 (NT 50 <40) and Roche assay (U/mL>25000) in the present analysis. Statistical significance was determined by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunns multiple comparison test (ns: not significant; *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001).

Abbreviations: AU, arbitrary units; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; LOD, limits of detection; NT50, 50% neutralization titer; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Implications

The current study highlights that both symptomatic Delta breakthrough infection and a three-dose COVID-19 vaccination regimen have equivalent efficacy in inducing neutralizing antibody titers against the wildtype SARS-CoV-2 strain, as well as both the Delta and Omicron variants.

Considering the much lower neutralizing titers against immune evasive variants like Omicron, the scientists recommend the implementation of infection-controlling measures, irrespective of the population-level vaccination coverage.

*Important notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people perceive the passage of time, according to an article published in the journal Science Advances.

At the end of the first month of social distancing, in May 2020, most participants in the study (65%) reported feeling time was passing more slowly. The researchers classified this perception as "time expansion" and found it to be associated with feelings of loneliness and a lack of positive experiences in the period.

An even larger proportion (75%) reported feeling less "time pressure", when the clock appears to go faster, allowing less time for day-to-day tasks and leisure. The vast majority of interviewees (90%) said they were sheltering at home during the period.

We followed the volunteers for five months to see if this 'snapshot' of the start of the pandemic would change over time. We found that the feeling of time expansion diminished as the weeks went by, but we didn't detect significant differences with regard to time pressure." Andre Cravo, first author of the article

Cravo is a professor at the Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo state, Brazil.

The study began on May 6, when 3,855 volunteers recruited via social media answered a ten-item online questionnaire and completed a simple task designed to gauge their ability to estimate short intervals (pressing start and stop buttons in 1, 3 and 12 seconds). They were then asked about their routine in the previous week (whether they had completed all the requisite tasks and how much time they had devoted to leisure), and how they were feeling now (happy, sad, lonely etc).

"They were invited to return every week for further sessions, but not everyone did," Cravo said. "In the final analysis, we considered data for 900 participants who answered the questionnaire for at least four weeks, albeit not all consecutively."

Using time awareness scales from 0 to 100 that are standard for this type of survey, the researchers analyzed the answers and calculated the two parameters  time expansion and time pressure  to see whether they increased or decreased week by week.

"Besides a rise or fall on the scales, we also analyzed the factors that accompanied the changes. During the five-month period, we observed a similar pattern: in weeks when participants reported feeling lonely and experiencing less positive affect, they also felt time pass more slowly. In highly stressful situations, they felt time pass more quickly," Cravo said.

When the first set of answers to the question on the passage of time was compared with the second, provided at the end of the first month of confinement, perceptions of time expansion had risen 20 points while time pressure had fallen 30 points, according to Raymundo Machado, a researcher at the Brain Institute of the Albert Einstein Jewish Hospital (HIAE) in Sao Paulo, and last author of the article. "These results are evidently affected by memory bias, however, because no measurements were made before the pandemic," he said.

Time slowed most for younger participants early in the pandemic, when compliance with social distancing rules was strictest. Except for age, demographic factors such as household size, occupation and gender, had no influence on the results.

For the authors, this may be an effect of the sample profile. Most of the volunteers (80.5%) lived in the Southeast region. A large majority were women (74.32%). Most had completed secondary school, and a great many even had a university degree (71.78%). In terms of income, roughly a third were upper middle class (33.08%). Sizable minorities worked in education (19.43%) and healthcare (15.36%).

"This is typical of online surveys, where a majority are women living in the Southeast with high levels of formal education. The influence of demographics might have been more evident if the sample had represented the Brazilian population better," Machado said.

Internal clock

Although the pandemic changed participants' perceptions of the passage of time, it apparently did not affect their ability to sense duration, measured by the button-pressing task. "All of us are able to estimate short intervals. When the results of this time estimation test [including overestimation and underestimation of the intervals] were compared with the time awareness scores, there was no correlation," Machado said.

According to Cravo, evidence from the scientific literature suggests the feeling that time is passing more slowly or more quickly is influenced mainly by two factors: the relevance of time in a particular context, and unpredictability. "For example, if you're late for work [so that time is relevant in the context] and have to wait for a bus [unpredictable timing], you have an extreme perception that the minutes aren't passing. When you're on vacation and having fun, time isn't relevant and appears to fly," he said.

The perception often changes when we recall past situations. "When you remember what you did during a vacation, time seems to have lasted longer. On the contrary, when you're standing in line, time goes all too slowly but when you recall the situation some time later, it feels as if it was over quickly," Cravo said.

In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, how people will remember the passage of time during the period of social distancing is unknown. "Several temporal milestones, such as Carnival, the June festivals and birthdays, had to be skipped in the last two years, so the question remains open," he concluded.
About 8% of Americans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives, but there are still few effective options to treat the condition.

There are some medical treatments for PTSD and psychotherapies for PTSD, but patients continue to suffer with symptoms that aren't responsive to the currently available treatments." Lesley Arnold, MD

June is PTSD Awareness Month, and the University of Cincinnati is currently enrolling patients for clinical trials examining the effectiveness of different medications to better treat PTSD symptoms.

The basics

Arnold said PTSD is a common and often chronic disorder that develops after a traumatic event that is either personally experienced or witnessed by a person.

"People with PTSD often re-experience aspects of the original trauma and can develop symptoms such as avoidance of trauma reminders, negative thoughts and feelings and increased alertness to their surroundings," said Arnold, director of the Women's Health Research Program and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience in the UC College of Medicine.

Most people who are exposed to a trauma will have an acute stress response in the moment, Arnold said, but about 30% of those who experience a trauma develop PTSD. Symptoms can last for months or years and also include disrupted sleep or nightmares, issues with memory or focus and depression and anxiety.

In people who are at higher risk for exposure to trauma, such as war veterans, PTSD occurs in even higher proportions, Arnold said. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated symptoms of PTSD for some individuals.

"It led to some isolation and made it difficult for individuals to seek treatment or to continue to engage in treatment," Arnold said.

New trials

Arnold and her team are focused on testing medication-based treatments that could help alleviate the symptoms of PTSD that have not responded to currently available medications, including sleeplessness and nightmares among others.

"The problem that we have is that there are two FDA medications approved for the treatment of PTSD, but these medications aren't effective for everybody, and they take a long time to work," Arnold said.

Each of the clinical trials will test different novel drugs that take new approaches to treat unregulated neurotransmitters in the brain that are involved in PTSD. The randomized trials will measure the effectiveness of the medications compared to a placebo control group.

"We are in urgent need of treatments for PTSD," Arnold said. "That's why these trials are so important because they offer a novel approach that we hope to be effective in helping patients overcome the problems associated with PTSD and return to full function."

Adults, both women and men, over the age of 18 with PTSD are eligible to participate in the trials, with patients with a variety of different trauma experiences being recruited. The trials will involve about three months of participation from patients.

"We're asking for volunteers to help us with our trials, those individuals who continue to have symptoms of PTSD," Arnold said. "We are conducting these trials actively, and I would encourage individuals to come forward to help."

Arnold said there has been an increased interest in finding drug treatments for PTSD in about the last five years.

"This is an exciting time and a hopeful time for people with PTSD because we are actively seeking out better treatments," she said. "There's been a growing interest and a recognition of the unmet need in this population, so I'm really gratified to be able to have these trials going on now and to be able to offer some hope to individuals with PTSD."

For more information on the PTSD trials at UC, call 513-558-6612.
Antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhi, the typhoid bacteria, have spread from South Asia to other countries nearly 200 times since 1990, new research suggests.

Every year, an estimated 11 to 20 million people suffer from typhoid and 128,000 to 161,000 victims die from the disease, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Typhoid spreads through water contaminated by an infected person's feces. Its symptoms include prolonged fever, nausea, rashes, headache and diarrhea or constipation.

S. Typhi can only infect humans, and by studying how closely related bacteria found in different places are, we discovered that typhoid had spread from South Asia, the home of typhoid, to many parts of the world many times." Gagandeep Kang, co-author of the study and professor at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory in the Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

The international team of researchers, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, say their findings highlight the need to treat drug-resistant typhoid as a global problem.

Kang tells SciDev.Net that the study analyzed the largest collection of sequenced data from S. Typhi. "By analyzing the genetic makeup of the bacteria, collected in different places and at different times, it was possible to build a story of what the bacteria have been doing over several decades," she says.

Published in The Lancet Microbe, the study involved whole-genome sequencing (an extensive method for investigating entire genomes) of 3,489 S. Typhi samples obtained between 2014 and 2019 from people living in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Sequencing was also carried out on 4,169 S. Typhi samples taken from over 70 countries between 1905 and 2018. In all, 7,500 genomes were sequenced and resistance-conferring genes identified.

The researchers say that although resistance to multiple, front-line antibiotics has generally decreased in South Asia since 2000, strains with resistance against major antibiotics such as macrolides and quinolones have increased and are being transmitted frequently to other countries. Globally, 70 per cent of the disease burden for typhoid fever is attributed to South Asia, which is followed by the sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia regions.

Resistant S. Typhi strains have spread between countries at least 197 times since 1990, the study said. Mostly originating in South Asia, these strains have spread to South-East Asia, East and Southern Africa and have been reported in Canada the UK and the US. The study said that since 2000, multi-drug resistant S. Typhi has declined steadily in Bangladesh and India and remained low in Nepal.

In Pakistan, however, the declining trend of multidrug-resistant typhoid in South Asia has been reversed by the emergence in 2016 of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) S. Typhi, which then rapidly replaced less-resistant strains.

According to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2006 and 2015, 79 per cent of US isolates of typhoid fever patients who traveled to Pakistan were resistant to fluoroquinolone. From 2016 to 2018, typhoid fever was diagnosed in 29 US patients who had traveled to Pakistan and five of them were infected with XDR S. Typhi.

Fluoroquinolones, the mainstay against multidrug-resistant S. Typhi in the 1990s, became ineffective by the 2010s and in 2016 Pakistan saw an outbreak of S. Typhi that was resistant to third-generation fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins, the study said. In 2021 resistance to azithromycin was found to have arisen in several S. Typhi strains, threatening the efficacy of all oral antimicrobials for typhoid treatment.

There are possibilities of the international burden of typhoid fever increasing owing to urbanization and climate change. "In addition, increasing resistance to antibiotic treatment is making it easier for typhoid to spread through overcrowded populations in cities and inadequate and/or flooded water and sanitation systems," says the WHO.

"Typhoid-resistant genes are present in multiple countries and will pose challenges in crafting effective antimicrobial regimens," Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the US-based Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells SciDev.Net.

"Although there have been improvements in water and sanitation in South Asia, antibiotic-resistant S. Typhi strains are dangerous and we should try to control them by reducing irrational use of antibiotics, improving the availability of diagnostics and introducing the very effective typhoid conjugate vaccines," said Kang.
Pancreatic cancer, though rare, is one of the deadliest of cancers, killing nearly 50,000 people yearly and doing so quickly, primarily because it metastasizes rapidly through the body. Barely one in 10 people survive beyond five years.

But a discovery by chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests a new way to slow or stop metastatic spread of pancreatic and perhaps other cancers.

In last week's issue of the journal Molecular Cell, Christopher Chang and his group at UC Berkeley, collaborating with Christine Chio's team at Columbia University in New York, report that metastasis is triggered by the loss of an enzyme that repairs oxygen damage to proteins.

Without this enzyme to erase the oxidative damage, one particular protein in cancer cells goes on to rev up energy production and seed new cancers around the body. The researchers confirmed this by knocking down levels of the "eraser" enzyme in mice and in cultured mouse and human cells, or organoids. In both cases, this promoted the migration of cancer cells and metastatic spread.

The researchers are now looking at other cancers to see if this new type of trigger is common and are pursuing ways to boost levels of the enzyme to prevent the metastatic spread of pancreatic cancer cells.

"We're actually looking at trying to activate or boost an eraser, something that will reverse and bring you back to your normal state," said Chang, the Class of 1942 Chair in the Department of Chemistry and professor of molecular and cell biology. "That's a very difficult thing to do because most of the time, when you think about cancer, you think about inhibiting something that is elevated in the disease."

The eraser enzyme normally fixes oxidative damage -; the addition of an oxygen atom -; to one specific amino acid component of proteins: methionine. Proteins are chains of amino acids -; there are 20 types in all -; that naturally fold into shapes that are critical to their function and activity. Chemical modification of any of these amino acids can affect both the shape and function of the protein, potentially activating or inactivating it.

"This is the first example of a methionine oxidation event that directly activates protein function to promote cell migration," said Chio, an assistant professor of genetics and development at Columbia's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Redox switches in cancer and aging

The protein impacted by methionine oxidation is called pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2). Chang's team profiled pancreatic cancer cells and found that oxidation of one of the many methionines on that protein triggered metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells. Looking more closely, they found that oxidation of that single methionine allowed the PKM2 protein to latch onto three others just like it to form a tetramer that supercharged the activity of energy-producing mitochondria in the cancer cells, making them migrate and seed new cancers.

These are like Lego blocks that come on and off. You can have one protein, which is a monomer; it can form a dimer when two come together; and then two more come together to make a tetramer. The tetramer is the strongest and most active, but usually it's reversible because you can erase that oxygen. But they're basically glued together when you have that methionine single oxygen atom modification." Christopher Chang, the Class of 1942 Chair in the Department of Chemistry and professor of molecular and cell biology

In normal cells, oxidation of methionine to a methionine sulfoxide is reversed by an enzyme that removes the oxygen atom -; that is, reduces it. That enzyme, methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MSRA), turns out to be suppressed in pancreatic cancer cells, which allows oxidation to trigger tetramer formation and boost respiration of cancer cells and subsequent migration and metastasis. It did not, however, cause the cancer cells to grow.

"We found that the MSRA protein -; what we call the eraser protein -; naturally removes methionine sulfoxides and makes them back into methionines," Chang said. "But as pancreatic cancer progresses, it gets down-regulated, and so you basically lose your eraser to bring everything back to normal. Those cancer cells then increase their mitochondrial respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. What the cancer does is reprogram itself to keep growing and growing."

The discovery of this oxidation-reduction, or redox, switch in pancreatic cancer suggests that similar switches may exist in other cancers.

"Our work identifies MSRA, an eraser of methionine oxidation, as a novel tumor suppressor that impedes metastatic dissemination," Chio said. "By elucidating the fundamental aspects of MSRA function in pancreatic cancer, our findings lay the groundwork for redox-based targeted therapies to suppress the metastatic progression of pancreatic cancer and potentially other tumor types."

Chang, who studies how protein modifications, like oxidation, affect their function, noted that methionine and another amino acid, cysteine, are unique in containing sulfur, which easily pairs with oxygen. As a result, the body needs specific enzymes to deoxygenate, or reduce, these two amino acids. Problems with these redox enzymes may be common, as in aging.

"More broadly, we're searching for other types of diseases where this single atom signal could also play a role," he said. "Once you lose the eraser, you basically have a bunch of extra marks on your proteome that are kind of written in ink, instead of in pencil."

The work was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health (R01-GM139245, R01-CA240654). Other co-authors include postdoctoral fellow Dan He, professor of chemistry Dean Toste and former doctoral student Alec Christian of UC Berkeley, and Huijin Feng, Belen Sundberg, Jiaxing Yang, Justin Powers, Richard Friedman and Michael Kluger of Columbia University.
Congress should crack down on Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors that sometimes deny patients vital medical care while overcharging the government billions of dollars every year, government watchdogs told a House panel Tuesday.

Witnesses sharply criticized the fast-growing health plans at a hearing held by the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations. They cited a slew of critical audits and other reports that described plans denying access to health care, particularly those with high rates of patients who were disenrolled in their last year of life while likely in poor health and in need of more services.

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), chair of the subcommittee, said seniors should not be "required to jump through numerous hoops" to gain access to health care.

The watchdogs also recommended imposing limits on home-based "health assessments," arguing these visits can artificially inflate payments to plans without offering patients appropriate care. They also called for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, to revive a foundering audit program that is more than a decade behind in recouping billions in suspected overpayments to the health plans, which are run mostly by private insurance companies.

Related to denying treatment, Erin Bliss, a Department of Health and Human Services assistant inspector general, said one Medicare Advantage plan had refused a request for a computed tomography, or CT, scan that "was medically necessary to exclude a life-threatening diagnosis (aneurysm)."

The health plan required patients to have an X-ray first to prove a CT scan was needed.

Bliss said seniors "may not be aware that they may face greater barriers to accessing certain types of health care services in Medicare Advantage than in original Medicare."

Leslie Gordon, of the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, said seniors in their last year of life had dropped out of Medicare Advantage plans at twice the rate of other patients leaving the plans.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), who chairs the influential Energy and Commerce Committee, said he was "deeply concerned" to hear that some patients are facing "unwarranted barriers" to getting care.

Under original Medicare, patients can see any doctor they want, though they may need to buy a supplemental policy to cover gaps in coverage.

Medicare Advantage plans accept a set fee from the government for covering a person's health care. The plans may provide extra benefits, such as dental care, and cost patients less out-of-pocket, though they limit the choice of medical providers as a trade-off.

Those trade-offs aside, Medicare Advantage is clearly proving attractive to consumers. Enrollment more than doubled over the past decade, reaching nearly 27 million people in 2021. That's nearly half of all people on Medicare, a trend many experts predict will accelerate as legions of baby boomers retire.

James Mathews, who directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on Medicare policy, said Medicare Advantage could lower costs and improve medical care but "is not meeting this potential" despite its wide acceptance among seniors.

Notably absent from the hearing witness list was anyone from CMS, which runs the $350 billion-a-year program. The agency took a pass even though committee Republicans invited CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to testify. Rep. Cathy Rodgers (R-Wash.) said she was "disappointed" CMS had punted, calling it a "missed opportunity."

CMS did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

AHIP, which represents the health insurance industry, released a statement that said Medicare Advantage plans "deliver better service, access to care, and value for nearly 30 million seniors and people with disabilities and for American taxpayers."

At Tuesday's hearing, both Republicans and Democrats stressed a need for improvements to the program while staunchly supporting it. Still, the detail and degree of criticism were unusual.

More typically, hundreds of members of Congress argue against making cuts to Medicare Advantage and cite its growing popularity.

At the hearing, the watchdogs sharply criticized home visits, which have been controversial for years. Because Medicare Advantage pays higher rates for sicker patients, health plans can profit from making patients look sicker on paper than they are. Bliss said Medicare paid $2.6 billion in 2017 for diagnoses backed up only by the health assessments; she said 3.5 million members didn't have any records of getting care for medical conditions diagnosed during those health assessment visits.

Although CMS chose not to appear at the hearing, officials clearly knew years ago that some health plans were abusing the payment system to boost profits yet for years ran the program as what one CMS official called an "honor system."

CMS aimed to change things starting in 2007, when it rolled out an audit plan called "Risk Adjustment Data Validation," or RADV. Health plans were directed to send CMS medical records that documented the health status of each patient and return payments when they couldn't.

The results were disastrous, showing that 35 of 37 plans picked for audit had been overpaid, sometimes by thousands of dollars per patient. Common conditions that were overstated or unable to be verified ranged from diabetes with chronic complications to major depression.

Yet CMS still has not completed audits dating as far back as 2011, through which officials had expected to recoup more than $600 million in overpayments caused by unverified diagnoses.

In September 2019, KHN sued CMS under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the agency to release audits from 2011, 2012, and 2013  audits the agency contends still aren't finished. CMS is scheduled to release the audits later this year.
In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers at the University of Southampton, University of Manchester, and the UK Health Security Agency analyzed the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic on the mental well-being of prison staff in England.

Study: The mental wellbeing of prison staff in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study. Image Credit: MIA Studio / Shutterstock

Background

The prison system in England and Wales comprises 117 prisons, housing about 80,000 inmates and 53,000 staff members. During the initial phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, prisons were characterized as high-risk sites for outbreaks due to overcrowding and a substantial likelihood of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in inmates and employees. In jails throughout England, SARS-CoV-2-associated infection control strategies implemented in March 2020 restricted the access of the residents to social events and visits, in-person education, work prospects, and training programs.

Correctional facilities employ a wide range of professionals, such as probation officials, prison officers, nurses, administrators, doctors, chaplains, psychologists, and managers. Despite some speculation that the pandemic and changes in prison regimes have negatively impacted the well-being of prison staff in England, there is little evidence to support this.

About the study

The cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the mental well-being of prison staff in England during the pandemic and determine the associated factors linked to well-being through online surveys and self-completed hardcopy. The research sites were 26 jails in England, selected to represent the broader closed prison estate in England. The study was open to all employees working in the 26 jails between July 20, 2020, and October 2, 2020.

The Short-version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) was used to measure the primary outcome of the study, i.e., well-being. Indirectly standardized information from the Health Survey for England between 2010 and 2013 and a one-sample t-test was used to compare staff well-being to that of the England population.

Relationships with measures of mental well-being were investigated using multivariate linear regression modeling, controlling for sex, age category, smoking status, ethnicity, presence of comorbidities, Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) region, and occupation.

Results

Overall, the study results demonstrated that 2,534 subjects were involved in the research, translating to a response rate of 22.2%. The study volunteers were, on average, 44 years old, 53% were women, and 93% belonged to the White ethnicity.

The mean SWEMWBS score of the sample was 23.84, whereas the normalized population mean score was 23.57. Indeed, the variation in means was statically relevant yet not at a clinically significant level, based on the cutoff of one point on the SWEMWBS scale. The results illustrated that prison employees in England during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had similar well-being status to the general English community before the pandemic.

Male sex, older age, Black British/Black ethnicity, working in the health staff team, employment in specific prison regions (e.g., R5 HMPPS region), and non-smokers were all substantially associated with higher well-being. However, the researchers also noted that the total predictive value of the model was low.

In contrast to earlier cross-sectional studies conducted before the pandemic, just 4.4% of staff ratings indicated potential mental illness in the current research. It was unclear why the results of the present study differ from those of studies conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic; possible explanations include discrepancies in study design or actual differences in the well-being of prison staff.

Conclusions

The authors claimed that with 2,534 participants, their study was the most extensive study to date to explore the mental well-being of prison staff in the UK and the first peer-reviewed study examining this during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study findings surprisingly implied that the mental well-being of prison employees was similar to the general England population before the COVID-19 pandemic as assessed by SWEMWBS. The decrease in prison violence since the commencement of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic may be one cause, while the exact cause was unknown.

The team stated that past studies that have examined prison employee well-being and recruited via trade union routes were less likely to be representative of the jail employee population than the sampling frame utilized presently, i.e., all personnel at 26 England jails. Well-being was assessed using SWEMWBS, validated across the UK population. The low response rate, i.e., 22.2%, and the fact that several of the variables in the regression model were self-documented raise the possibility of some bias.

Besides, the authors mentioned that qualitative research conducted in different prison settings might contribute to a better comprehension of employee well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic's effects on jails. Interventions to enhance the well-being of prison workers also require more research. Research in these areas in partnership with important organizations like the Prison Officers Associations and HMPPS would assist develop more effective techniques for boosting employee well-being and fostering a collaborative learning culture.

*Important notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
In a study of eye fluid from 38 patients, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have found that levels of a specific protein appear to help accurately predict whether people with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration may need lifelong, frequent eye injections to preserve vision or if they can be safely weaned off the treatments.

The researchers say the protein could also be targeted by new therapies to halt vision loss among patients with the disorder, caused by abnormal growth of blood vessels that leak fluid or bleed into the portion of the retina needed for central vision

The researchers' findings were published online June 2 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight.

Overall, age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss among people age 50 and older, affecting an estimated 7.3 million individuals in the United States.

Standard treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration requires monthly or twice-monthly eye injections of so-called anti-VEGF drugs that slow or stop the growth of leaky blood vessels and, in most cases, stave off further vision loss.

Because the injections are inconvenient, costly, uncomfortable, and carry risk of infection, retinal detachment and other side effects,

Sodhi's research team has long been studying ways to identify subgroups of patients who can safely reduce  or even cease  eye injection therapies without further vision loss.

The proteins in the eye may help us identify patients who can safely be weaned off these therapies or transition to other, new ways of delivering these drugs to the retina." Akrit Sodhi, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of ophthalmology and the Branna and Irving Sisenwein Professor in Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

For the current study, Sodhi's team investigated whether measurable levels of certain proteins in the eye could be used as predictors, known as biomarkers, of disease stabilization or progression despite treatment.

First, the team collected samples of eye fluid from 38 patients at the beginning of their treatment for macular degeneration at the Wilmer Eye Institute between 2013 and 2020 in two Maryland locations. These patients were then grouped based on the frequency with which they required treatment at the end of one year.

The researchers then screened the samples of each of these groups for proteins linked to the development of abnormal blood vessels. Among the proteins present, the researchers found that one, named angiopoietin-like 4, was present at higher levels in patients who required monthly treatment when compared with patients who were eventually able to reduce the frequency of injections or even stop treatment without further vision loss.

Using statistical models, Sodhi's team found that relatively higher levels of angiopoietin-like 4 (higher than 4.22 ng/mL) accurately predicted actual clinical outcomes in the patient population, identifying with 91% sensitivity those patients who would continue to require monthly eye injections to preserve their vision.

However, they found that measuring only angiopoietin-like 4 led to many false-positives, with one third of the patients flagged by the test not requiring monthly therapy.

In a bid to improve the accuracy of the prediction model, they paired measurements of angiopoietin-like 4 with VEGF, the protein specifically targeted by current wet macular degeneration treatments. With both of these proteins, the researchers were able to correctly identify with 76% sensitivity and 85% specificity patients who likely need monthly eye injections; this group of wet macular degeneration patients could benefit from newer longer acting anti-VEGF therapies.

In animal experiments, the researchers next examined whether blocking angiopoietin-like 4 in the eye could be a potential therapeutic approach for wet age-related macular degeneration.

The researchers used nanoparticles developed in collaboration with Jordan Green, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, to deliver RNA interference (RNAi) designed to target the expression of either angiopoietin-like 4 or VEGF in the retina in mice with eye lesions similar those in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.

Mice that received either the angiopoietin-like 4-blocking RNAi treatment or the VEGF-blocking RNAi treatment, both had lower levels of abnormal blood vessel growth than mice which received control treatment. However, in mice that received RNAi targeting both VEGF and angiopoietin-like 4, the treatment showed an additive effect, with even lower abnormal blood vessel growth than RNAi targeting either protein alone.

As an alternative to using RNAi as a therapy, the researchers tested a naturally-found protein called soluble neuropilin, which the researchers have previously shown have a quenching effect on VEGF and angiopoietin-like 4 in studies in diabetes. The researchers tested soluble neuropilin by injecting the protein into the eyes of mice. The test yielded similar results as the RNAi, effectively treating the growth of the abnormal blood vessels, revealing that targeting both angiopoietin-like 4 and VEGF together leads to effective relief of wet age-related macular degeneration lesions.

Collectively, these experiments provide the foundation for studies examining therapies targeting both VEGF and ANGPTL4, and help explain why elevated levels of these two proteins in the eyes of patients predicts how patients respond to current therapies targeting only VEGF.

"Angiopoietin-like 4 and VEGF act synergistically to create more severe choroidal neovascular lesions in the eye. They could, potentially, be used as both a biomarker as well as a treatment target," says Sodhi.
Two experts in palliative care from Lancaster University are involved in leading a 5M euro project to smooth the transition between hospital and home for patients with cancer to improve their quality of life.

Many incurably ill cancer patients in the last phase of life leave hospital with too little information or with uncertainty about access to palliative care. This can lead to a reduction in quality of life and hospitalizations that could have been prevented.

Professor Nancy Preston is a Co-Director in the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University and Emeritus Professor Sheila Payne is a former President of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC).

Together they will lead the Lancaster University element of a large European Collaborative project called Pal_Cycles with Dr Maddy French and Anthony Greenwood, also of Lancaster University, beginning in September 2022.

The project will receive over 5.3 million Euros over the next 5 years, with almost a million euros for Lancaster University.

We are investigating whether an optimal transition of care can be facilitated from the hospital to community care, so that patients can remain at home for longer, with better quality of life. Professor Nancy Preston, Co-Director, International Observatory on End of Life Care, Lancaster University

The basis of the program was developed during a study previously conducted in the Netherlands and will now be further developed and tailored towards other European countries, with the intervention part led by Lancaster University.

Professor Payne said: We need to take into account the differences in healthcare in the different countries such as how healthcare is organized, how do local customs for example related to referral differ, what training is required to implement changes.

The researchers will determine what the effects of the study are and also evaluate the costs. They will also look at whether the number of readmissions to the hospital decreases or not.

In addition, the project includes a study of the softer values of palliative care in different countries such as: Can you talk freely about the end of life, or is it a taboo? How do people deal with values such as hope and dependence, and what impact does that have on palliative care?

This international research project includes partners from nine European countries (Germany, England, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Portugal and Spain). The overall lead in Europe is Jeroen Hasselaar who said: We are going to carry out a clinical study in seven countries, in which we will further develop and apply a palliative care transition program that will improve care in the home situation. In this way, we want to further integrate palliative care services to improve well-being for those with cancer.
(Newser)  Update: Charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in connection with the Flint water scandal have been thrown out by the state's top court. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in a 6-0 decision Monday that while state laws authorize a judge acting as a one-person grand jury "to investigate, subpoena witnesses and issue arrest warrants," they are not allowed to issue indictments, as happened in Snyder's case, the AP reports. Snyder's lawyers said Attorney General Dana Nessel "and her political appointee Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud staged a self-interested, vindictive, wasteful, and politically motivated prosecution." Hammoud described the Flint crisis as " one of this countrys greatest betrayals of citizens by their government" and said the case isn't over. Our story from Jan. 13, 2021 follows:

As expected, Michigan's former governor has been charged in the Flint water scandal. Rick Snyder was charged Wednesday with two counts of willful neglect of duty, the Detroit Free Press reports. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the charges a day before her office is set to reveal new details in the investigation of the scandal, in which the city's residents' water was poisoned by lead after the source was switched to the Flint River in 2014. Legionnaires' disease outbreaks killed 12 and sickened more than 80, CNN reports.

The charges against Snyder are misdemeanors, and each is punishable by up to a year behind bars and a fine. Analysts say charging him so long after the crisis could make it difficult to convict, but they also note that if he is convicted, a judge could order the multi-millionaire to pay restitution. Snyder, a Republican, left his post two years ago. His lawyer calls the charges "outrageous" and says there is no evidence, the Detroit News reports. Former Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft was also charged Wednesday with the same counts as Snyder. Nessel's office will be discussing the probe Thursday at 11:30am local time. (Read more Flint water crisis stories.)
(Newser)  In yet another tragic hot car death, a 3-year-old boy died in the back of a hot SUV in Georgia after his grandmother forgot to take him out of the vehicle. Authorities say the grandmother had been out with Kendrick Engram Jr. and several other children and didn't take him out of his car seat when they returned to their Columbus home around 5:30pm on Sunday, WTVM reports. Their day out included a church service and a stop for food. At 8pm, the grandmother realized she hadn't seen Kendrick in a while and called his uncle, who had taken what he thought was an empty vehicle to go and buy ice cream.

The horrified uncle found that Kendrick was still in the third row of the SUV, authorities say. The boy was pronounced dead around 9pm. Temperatures hit the 90s that day and Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan determined that the boy died of asphyxiation after close to three hours in the vehicle, Fox reports. "There were signs that he had tried to climb out," the coroner tells WRBL. Police say it's not clear yet whether anybody will face charges in the death.

Kendrick was loved by his parents and six siblings and was "energetic, loving, and full of life," a GoFundMe fundraiser for funeral expenses says. According to SafeKids Columbus, Kendrick is the second child to die in a hot car in Georgia this year and the seventh nationwide. "If youre an adult, be responsible, the coroner says "The children are innocent. They cant help themselves and when you have a child that puts the responsibility on you. (Last week, a 5-year-old Texas boy died in a hot car while his mother was preparing his sister's birthday party.)
(Newser)  Scotland's leader told lawmakers in Edinburgh on Tuesday that she plans to hold a fresh referendum on Scotland's independence on Oct. 19, 2023even though UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson maintains it wasn't the right time for such a vote. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the question to be asked will be the same as that in Scotlands first independence vote in 2014: Should Scotland be an independent country? The UK-wide government of Johnson opposes a new referendum and has repeatedly said the issue was settled in 2014, when 55% said they wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Scotlands government requires a special order from Johnson to legally hold a referendum. Sturgeon said she will ask the UK Supreme Court to rule on the Scottish governments right to hold the vote if Johnson does not give the go-ahead, the AP reports.

Scotlands most senior law official referred the matter to the top court on Tuesday, she said. She added that she would be writing to Johnson to inform him of her plans. Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party and the devolved government in Scotland, insists its time to revisit the matter of independence, not least because of Britains exit from the European Uniona move opposed by a majority of Scots. Johnson said he would study Sturgeons plans for a second referendum, but stressed that the focus of the country should be on building a stronger economy." A spokesman for Johnsons office said his position is unchanged and he continues to think its not the time to be talking about a referendum," and that the government will not be drawn into hypotheticals about whether it would open negotiations for Scottish independence if Scots vote for it in a referendum next year.

Even if the referendum does go ahead as proposed, a majority vote will not by itself make Scotland independent from the rest of the UK. For Scotland to become independent following a yes vote, legislation would have to be passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments, Sturgeon stressed. Sturgeon maintains that her party's success in local elections last year gives her a mandate for a fresh referendum. While the Scottish National Party did not win overall control in the Scottish Parliament, the election of a record number of Scottish Green lawmakers means there is a majority for a new independence vote. Like Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland has its own parliament and devolved government and makes its own policies on public health, education, and other matters. But the UK-wide government in London controls matters such as defense and fiscal policy. (Read more Scotland stories.)
(Newser)  The US outbreak of monkeypox has reached 306 cases in 27 states and the District of Columbia; worldwide, more than 4,700 cases have been recorded in more than 40 countries outside the parts of Africa where the virus is endemic. Now, US officials are ramping up their response. The CDC announced Tuesday it is activating its Emergency Operations Center to respond to the outbreak, CNN reports. Health authorities are also expanding testing for the virus, upping the supply of monkeypox vaccine, and expanding recommendations for who should get vaccinated, the AP reports. Nine thousand vaccine doses had been distributed in the US already, but vaccine appointment slots were quickly filled.

Per the White House on Tuesday, 56,000 more doses of the Jynneos vaccine will be sent right away to areas where transmission is high; 240,000 more doses will follow over the next few weeks. By the end of fall, at least 1.6 million doses will have been made available in the US, the Biden administration announced. The highest case numbers are in California, New York, Illinois, Florida, and Washington, DC. Most of the cases have been found in men who have sex with other men, but anyone can get monkeypox, officials stress. Anyone who has been to a party or similar location where they think monkeypox may have spread should be vaccinated, officials say. If given early enough, the vaccine can reduce the severity of the illness even in people who've already contracted it. (An actor describes his experience with monkeypox here.)
(Newser)  "They don't have a scenario at the academy where we practice this one." So Vermont State Police Captain Matt Daley tells WCAX of an incident that saw two troopers threatened by the swinging bucket of an excavator. The troopers had arrived at Wayne Tallman's home in Hardwick on June 12 to arrest Brandon Tallman, his 24-year-old son, on assault and burglary charges stemming from an incident days prior, per the New York Post. It did not go smoothly. Dashcam video shows the troopers wrestling with Brandon and his mother, Amy, next to a driveway as an excavator allegedly operated by Wayne moves toward them. The bucket swings over the top of a police SUV, then repeatedly drops, getting closer and closer to the top of the vehicle.

At one point, the excavator itself moves forward in the direction of the troopers, who are seen shouting at the operator to stop. After a muffled conversation, the bucket swings toward the troopers. One, who's holding the two figures on the ground, falls backward to get out of the way. The second, who's standing, jumps back, then points his service weapon at the person in the machine. "It could have been, 'Sir, turn around, put your hands around your back, you're under arrest for an assault,' and they would have driven away," Daley tells WCAX. Instead, Wayne Tallman was arrested for aggravated assault on a protected official, resisting arrest, impeding an officer, and reckless endangerment, while his wife was issued a citation for impeding an officer. (Read more Vermont stories.)
(Newser)  Rep. Mary Miller, the Illinois Republican who recently "misspoke" and called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a "victory for white life," beat a fellow incumbent to win her primary Tuesday, the AP reports. The former President Trump-endorsed Miller, who also once quoted Adolf Hitler, was up against her colleague, Rep. Rodney Davis, in a newly drawn congressional district. More from Tuesday's primaries, which were held in seven states:

Businessman Joe O'Dea became one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year, beating Trump loyalist Rep. Ron Hanks in Colorados Republican primary for the US Senate, the AP reports.

Trump-backed farmer Darren Bailey easily cruised to the GOP nomination in the Illinois governor's race, which is just what current Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wanted to happen in the odd, historic primary.

Colorado Republicans rejected two of the states most prominent election deniers: Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who lost in the secretary of state primary, and State Rep. Ron Hanks, who lost his US Senate primary.

But also in Colorado, firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert easily defeated her primary challenger, moderate state Sen. Don Coram, the AP reports.

In Mississippi, Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy lost a runoff election to incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who defied Trump by voting to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Cassidy said in campaign speeches that Guest had done nothing to stop the persecution of Jan. 6 political prisoners.

Nine months after she stepped into the job of New York governor as a relative unknown, Democrat Kathy Hochul easily locked up her party's nomination Tuesday, setting her on an expected glide path to win the office in November, the AP reports.

Sen. Mike Lee won Utahs Republican primary Tuesday, brushing off attacks from two challengers who criticized him for his unwavering loyalty to Trump and uncompromising lawmaking style, the AP reports.

(Read more Election 2022 stories.)
(Newser)  Up to 60 people were involved in a brawl on a Carnival cruise ship, which ultimately required a Coast Guard escort back to New York on Tuesday. The fight erupted on a dance floor on the Carnival Magic around 5:20am Tuesday just before the ship was scheduled to wrap up its eight-day cruise of Dominicana, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas, per PIX11. It initially involved two people but another 40 to 60 soon got involved, according to WNBC. Carnival Magic said only that "a number of guests were involved in an altercation in a nightclub" before "our onboard security team intervened." It added "no serious injuries were reported."

Cruise officials informed the Coast Guard, which sent a boat from Staten Island to escort the ship to its Pier 88 dock, where members of the New York Police Department were waiting, per WNBC. The NYPD described it as an emergency docking, per PIX11, though Carnival Magic said it was a scheduled final stop in the round-trip cruise that departed June 20. The cruise line added authorities "met the ship to interview suspects and witnesses and conduct an investigation." It's not known whether the ship was within New York, New Jersey, or international waters at the time of the disturbance, WNBC reports. There has been no word on arrests. (Read more Carnival Cruise Lines stories.)
(Newser)  World leaders have called Vladimir Putin a terrorist and war criminal, and analysts have scrutinized the Russian leader's mental state. But Boris Johnson may be the first to bring gender directly into the mix, saying Putin's war is a "perfect example of toxic masculinity," per the Guardian. The UK prime minister offered his perspective in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF following the G7 summit. "If Putin was a woman ... I really don't think he would have embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has," Johnson said.

As the Guardian also notes, Johnson made a related reference at the opening of the summit during a photo op with other leaders when he suggested that everyone remove their jackets and "show that we're tougher than Putin ... show them our pecs." Per the Washington Post, Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov responded to Boris' most recent jab by telling state media, "Old Freud during his lifetime would have dreamed of such an object for research." Others, including Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, agreed with Johnson, at least in principle. "The world would be a better place if there were more women in positions of leadership," she said.

Before leaving Germany for a NATO meeting in Madrid, Johnson also took an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper to explain why Putin mustn't be allowed to succeed in Ukraine. Specifically, he urged Americans to maintain resolve: "I would just say to people in the United States that this is something that America historically does and has to do, and that is to step up for peace and freedom and democracy. And if we let Putin get away with it ... then the consequences for the world are absolutely catastrophic." (Read more Boris Johnson stories.)
(Newser)  The "right thing to do" has been done. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave unanimous approval to a plan that will see Bruce's Beach in Manhattan Beach returned to the heirs of the Black family that was run off the land in 1924. The Los Angeles Times calls it an "unprecedented plan" consisting of "legal, legislative, and very complicated real estate details." Once the property exits escrow and is officially in the Bruce family's hands, the county will begin renting it for $413,000 a year. The AP reports the site is home to the county's lifeguard training facility and parking lot, and will continue to be used as such. The family retains the option to sell it to the county for $20 million.

Bruce family lawyer George Fatheree told the board that "to our knowledge, this is the first time the government has returned property to a Black family after acknowledging it had been improperly taken. Were hopeful that it will not be the last." Starting in 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce owned a couple of lots along the beach where they operated a lodge, cafe, and dance hall. People called it Bruces Beach. The resort was the first seaside resort along the West Coast specifically for Black guests. Other Black families established cottages nearby. All endured harassment from the KKK and others until 1924, when the city used eminent domain to seize two dozen properties, giving the need for a park as the reason.

"It is well documented that this move was a racially motivated attempt to drive out the successful Black business and its patrons," the board said in a motion last week, per the New York Times. The Bruces' oceanfront lots went unused and were ultimately transferred to the state in 1948 and the county in 1995. Great-great-grandson Anthony Bruce says the damage to the family echoed through the generations. Rather than build generational wealth, Willa and Charles' son Bernard, his grandfather, lived a life marked by extreme anger over what had transpired, and Bernard's son ended up leaving the state, "tormented by this history." (Read more California stories.)
(Newser)  Months after winning a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to "expose abuse of power, use of violence, and growing authoritarianism" in the Philippines, Maria Ressa says local authorities have ordered her Rappler news site to shut down. Ressa, a former CNN bureau chief and Time Person of the Year, said Wednesday that the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission had upheld a 2018 ruling to revoke the operating license of Rappler after what Ressa called "highly irregular" appeal proceedings, per the BBC. Rappler is one of the only news outlets in the country that is critical of President Rodrigo Duterte's government.

The Philippine SEC in 2018 found Rappler's parent company "sold control to foreigners" in defiance of the country's ban on foreign ownership in mass media, then "created an elaborate scheme" to cover it up, per CNN. Rappler did receive funding from Pierre Omiydars Omiydar Network in 2015. But it denied it gave control to foreigners and later donated the funds to staff members, as the BBC reports. The Philippine SEC this week "affirmed and reiterated its earlier finding" that Rappler had given a foreign entity control. "This is intimidation, these are political tactics and we refuse to succumb to them," Ressa said Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch said it was a "spurious" move to "shut up Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, and shut down Rappler, by hook or by crook." The ruling comes days before Duterte is to be replaced by ally Ferdinand Marcos Jr.the son and namesake of a former dictator "who persecuted journalists, human rights activists, and political opposition" over decades, the BBC reports. Regardless, Ressa said Rappler would not throw in the towel. "We have existing legal remedies all the way up to the highest court of the land," said the journalist, per the AP. "It is business as usual for us since in our view, this is not immediately executory without court approval." (Ressa is appealing a six-year prison sentence for libel in a case that supporters argue is politically motivated.)
(Newser)  This story has been updated with sentencing details. The biggest trial in France's modern history has concluded after nearly 10 months, with all 20 defendants found guilty of charges related to the 2015 ISIS attack on the Bataclan theater and other Paris locations that killed 130 people. Salah Abdeslam is the only surviving member of the 10-person unit that attacked the city (the other defendants provided support and planning assistance). He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise, among other charges. The 32-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without parole, the country's toughest sentence.

The AP notes that the full-life sentence has only been handed down four previous times in France, all in connection with crimes involving the rape and murder of children. Eighteen other men were convicted of terrorism-related charges, and one was convicted on a lesser fraud charge. They were handed sentences ranging from two years to 30 years. Those receiving 30-year sentences included Mohammed Bakkali, a Belgian-Moroccan man guilty of playing a "key role in the logistics of the attacks," the BBC reports. Swedish citizen Osama Krayem and Tunisian citizen Sofien Ayari were sentenced to 30 years for planning a separate attack at Amsterdam's airport.

Fourteen of the defendants have been in court, including Abdeslam. Another is in prison in Turkey. The remaining five are thought to have been killed in Syria or Iraq. Over the course of the trial, Abdeslam proclaimed his radicalism, sobbed, apologized, and begged judges to forgive his "mistakes." But the Guardian reports that "it was the trials searing accounts of personal pain and resilience from survivors and the bereaved ... that were seen as a historic lesson in the psychological impact of terrorist attacks."

(Read more Bataclan stories.)
(Newser)  NATO declared Russia the "most significant and direct threat" to its members peace and security, as the military alliance met Wednesday to confront what NATOs chief called the biggest security crisis since World War II. The leaders are also set to publish NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals. The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a "strategic partner." Now, the alliance is set to declare Moscow its No. 1 threat, reports the AP.

NATO also promised to "step up political and practical support" to Ukraine as it fights off Russias invasion. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided NATO for not embracing his embattled country more fully and asked for more weapons to defeat Moscow's forces. He also lamented that NATO's open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

President Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the Madrid summit would send "an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united. ... Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent US base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the UK.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. Money could also be a sensitive issuejust nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense. (Read more NATO stories.)
(Newser)  Officials in Thailand say they arrested two women who were attempting to smuggle more than 100 live animals in their luggage. Per the Washington Post, the animals were detected during an X-ray scan at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where the women were attempting to board a flight to India. The cache included 50 lizards, 35 turtles, 20 snakes, two armadillos, and a pair of porcupines, all carefully packed in various containers. Two animals were dead, and a number of them were suffering from dehydration.

CBS News reports that the women were identified as Nithya Raja, 38, and Zakia Sulthana Ebrahim, 24. They were charged under Thailand's Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019 and hit with customs and health violations. One charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years. Thailand is a major hub of a global illicit wildlife trade worth some $150 billion annually, according to the Post. In recent years, the government has worked to tamp down on the problem, passing strict laws with hefty fines and lengthy prison terms.

Traffickers appear somewhat undeterred, as the latest bust comes after 636 animals were seized last month at the Suvarnabhumi airport alone. India is also a hotspot for the wildlife trade, particularly the Chennai airport, where the women were headed. Officials there have seized tens of thousands of animals in the past decade. The Wildlife Trafficking Alliance says the highly organized, illicit wildlife trade is "decimating many endangered species around the globe." (Read more smuggling stories.)
(Newser)  Sweden and Finland are one big step closer to joining NATO, which on Wednesday formalized its invitation to the two countries. The next step is for the 30 member states' parliaments and legislatures to ratify the decision, which is expected to move forward quickly, though the full process could take several months. Turkey on Tuesday agreed to end its opposition to welcoming the two new members, paving the way for Wednesday's move, which CNN calls NATO's "most consequential enlargement in decades."

The group said in a statement that "the accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process." The New York Times gives context, saying the move "underscores how the war in Ukraine has backfired for President Vladimir V. Putin, subverting Russian efforts to weaken NATO and pushing Sweden and Finland, which were neutral and nonaligned for decades, into the alliances arms."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed that sentiment, per Axios. He said the invitation "demonstrates that President Putin did not succeed in closing NATO's door. NATO's door remains open. And it also demonstrates that we respect the sovereign right of every nation to choose their own path." (Read more NATO stories.)
(Newser)  The boat of a North Carolina man missing since November has washed ashore thousands of miles away in the Azores Islands off Portugaland while there was no sign of Joseph Matthew Johnson, relatives still believe the 44-year-old will be found alive. Johnson was last seen leaving the Federal Point Yacht Club marina in Carolina Beach on Nov. 22, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. He was reported missing five days later when he failed to meet a friend for a previously arranged fishing trip. Carolina Beach police say they were contacted by Portuguese authorities when a boat registered to Johnson washed ashore last week in Sao Jorge, 2,700 miles from North Carolina and 900 miles from the Portuguese mainland.

Carolina Beach Police Sgt. Colby Edens tells CBS that the boat was covered in barnacles and seaweed, a sign it had been capsized at sea for "quite some time." Mary Kay Anderson, Johnson's mother, tells the Wilmington Star News that her son learned many survival skills in his 24 years with US Army Special Forces, which included time in Afghanistan. "It's not just hope," she says. "We know he's alive and are praying for his miraculous rescue." The US Coast Guard's search for Johnson in November was suspended after covering 7,500 square miles over 53 hours. (Read more North Carolina stories.)
An aerial view of the Clear Fire on Sunday shows the spread of the fire as it moves south, near the Kobe Ag, Quota and Anderson subdivisions. Isaac Solomon/Type 3 Team
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi reviewedthe solid fraternal Bahrain-Egypt relations, and ways to bolster the strategic cooperation between the two countries for the benefit of the two brotherly peoples.

HM the King held official talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi who arrived in Bahrain yesterday. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, attended the session of talks, held at Al Sakhir Palace.

HM King Hamad and President Al Sisi expressed their pride in the long-standing ties between Bahrain and Egypt and in their robust joint cooperation, confirming their keenness to broaden areas of bilateral cooperation. The Egyptian leader expressed his delight at the visit which, he said, confirms the depth of the fraternal relations and interconnectedness between the two countries.

He said: We are always keen on holding such meetings in order to enhance cooperation between our two brotherly countries across various fields. His Majesty welcomed the visit of the kingdoms distinguished guest, reflecting the specificity of the outstanding bilateral relations and embodying the keenness of the two countries leaderships on constant communication, coordination and consultation on various regional issues of mutual interest so as to the interests of the two countries and the issues of the Arab Nation.

He commended the major role played by the Egyptian expatriate community in Bahrain, citing their competence and contributions to the kingdoms development process, affirming that the deep-rooted Bahraini-Egyptian relations will continue to flourish.

HM the King lauded the pioneering progress march currently witnessed by Egypt, thanks to the approach adopted by President Al Sisi, praising Egypts numerous vital projects and landmark achievements across various fields.

HM King Hamad also praised Egypts pivotal role, as the cornerstone of security and stability in the region, highlighting its commendable efforts in championing the Arab causes and enhancing joint Arab action in the face of the challenges faced by the region.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava inaugurated the 34th CBSE Gulf Sahodaya Principals Conference organised by the Bahrain Chapter of CBSE Schools. The CBSE Gulf Sahodaya is a council of CBSE-affiliated schools from the six-member countries  Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE. The two-day conference was hosted by the Bahrain Chapter on 25 and 26 June.

The principals and delegates got together to promote cooperation among member schools, share expertise and undertake activities to improve the quality of education highlighting the theme of the conference Transforming Education.

The Bahrain Chapter Convener and Principal of Al Noor International School (CBSE Curriculum), Mrs Monika Sethi gave the welcome address and accorded a warm welcome to the Chief Guest, the Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Senior CBSE officials, the Managements of all CBSE schools of Bahrain, the Executive Committee members of the Gulf Sahodaya and more than 200 principals from the six GCC countries who joined the conference in hybrid mode.

In his address, HE Mr Srivastava praised the CBSE Schools for providing quality education to students across GCC countries and for helping the Indian diaspora by providing continuity and affordability in education. Dr Sanyam Bhardwa, Controller of Examinations CBSE, Dr Joseph Emannuel, Director Academics, and Mr J K Yadav, Regional Director CBSE, virtually addressed the principals and had live discussions with them. Prof.

Louise Auckland from Oxford University was the keynote speaker on Day 2 of the conference and spoke on The Brain and neuroplasticity. Another prominent keynote speaker and Chief Confluencer, Dr A Senthil Kumaran, of The Learners Confluence, spoke on Transforming Education. The vote of thanks for the two days conference was presented by Mr Gopinath Menon, Principal, The New Indian School, Bahrain.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Nawaf bin Mohammed Al Muawda has expressed gratitude to HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and to HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their tremendous support to the ministry.

Al Muawda also lauded the special care they accorded to the Bahrain Hajj delegation to ensure the highest standards of services for Bahrain pilgrims. The minister hailed the great attention and gracious hospitality provided by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to pilgrims by harnessing its potential and capabilities to provide the finest services.

Al Muawda was bidding farewell to the first group of Bahrain pilgrims flying to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. He stressed that all measures and precautions have been taken by the delegation committees to ensure the smooth performance of the pilgrimage and to provide all types of services at all times until their safe return home.

Al Muawda thanked Bahrain Airport Services for their commitment to ease the travel procedures of all pilgrims.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Takaful International Company and the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions signed at the headquarters of the Federation on the 23rd of June 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding to provide members of unions affiliated with the General Federation and members of the National Committee for Retirees with a customized range of personal line insurance covers at special prices.

The agreement was signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Essam Mohammed Al-Ansari, and the Secretary-General of the Federation, Abdulqader Al-Shahabi. Essam Al-Ansari stressed the company strives to develop its products and services, as the continue to enhance the channels to reach its customers, especially through digital means, expanding on the range of services provided electronically through its recently updated mobile application.

He also indicated the companys goals towards contributing to alleviating the financial burden of workers, members of unions affiliated with the General Union and members of the National Committee for Retirees. From his side, the Secretary-General of the General Union, Abdulqader Al-Shahabi, affirmed his wishes that the agreement would include a health insurance agreement, especially with the work progress to improve the health sector.

And provide various services that contribute to raising the standard of living for workers who are members of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions. Its worth noting that Takaful International Company is the first Islamic Insurance Company in Bahrain. It was established in 1989.
MBABANE  Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is important to the country as it can assist in improving the economy and standard of living.

An FDI is a purchase of an interest in a company by a company or an investor located outside its borders. His Majesty The King Mswati III participated in the first ever business seminar in the Republic of Singapore to explore and promote business opportunities between the two countries. The business seminar is aimed at the facilitation and enhancement of business exchange between the Republic of Singapore and the Kingdom of Eswatini for mutual benefits.

Organised

The seminar was organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) Africa Business Group whose chairman is Ranveer Chauhan. SBF is founded on principles to promote better understanding of business concerns and government policies. The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo had the opportunity to address questions from the SBF membership after the presentation by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA) ,outlining the advantages of doing business in Eswatini and also the available investment opportunities in the kingdom.

The presentation on Investing in the Kingdom of Eswatini  Tolaram Journey was done by the Managing Director of Tolaram Africa Haresh Aswani who shared their journey and experience with investing in Eswatini as Kelloggs Tolaram and gave a very compelling case to his fellow Singapore businesspeople to consider Eswatini as their manufacturing hub in the SADC Region. Some factors that the company considered was the strong government support to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), access to preferential markets, stable and free business environment and generous incentives including duty free importation of capital equipment, among others.

His Majesty in his remarks underscored the importance of FDI to the growth of a countrys economy. To attract FDI a country needs to have the appropriate policies and provide a conducive environment for businesses to trade without a hassle. His Majesty also noted that the visit to Singapore was part of the strategic engagement termed Peer Learning Opportunity for the Kingdom of Eswatini. The establishment of Kelloggs Tolaram in the Kingdom of Eswatini reinforces the relationship between the two countries and can be attributed to the competitiveness in doing businesses to which has helped the country remain atop in Africa when it comes to the World Bank ranking.

Support

The Kingdom of Eswatini has also put in place fiscal and non-fiscal support measures, to ensure the cost of establishing businesses and initial operational costs are reduced drastically through a range of incentives. Already we have seen new companies that have great potential in various sections such as manufacturing and agro-processing, mining and energy, agriculture, information, communication and technology and tourism. Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will bring numerous trade opportunities and our policies have been streamlined in anticipation of a renewed interest of multinational companies to invest in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
NEWTOWN  A second-term Democrat on the school board who said she felt politically squeezed has quit without notice in protest over Republican leadership.

I leave the board today because in the last six months I have seen a shift  a shift that calls into question what this board is and what this board should be, a shift that disregards experience for political will, said Rebekah Harriman, delivering a resignation speech at the close of a June 21 Board of Education meeting.

[I]n the past few months I have come to the hard and sad realization that my time on this board is no longer well spent, Harriman said at the meeting. And the sacrifice to my family simply is not worth it.

Harrimans resignation means that the seven-member Republican-controlled board will seek to appoint a registered Democrat to fill the remainder of Harrimans term, which expires at the end of 2023.

The board looks forward to hearing from (candidates) and hopes that we can fill Rebekahs shoes with another who is willing and able to help us continue our work of ensuring that every Newtown student flourishes, said board Chair Deborra Zukowski in a request for candidates.

Harrimans resignation comes at a point of transition for Newtown, as the district says goodbye to outgoing Superintendent Lorrie Rodrigue and prepares to welcome veteran Hamden educator Christopher Melillo as the new superintendent on July 1.

Harrimans resignation follows a strong showing by Republicans in the November elections, in which voters flipped the balance of power from a 4-to-3 Democratic majority to a 4-to-3 Republican majority.

Harriman prefaced her resignation statement by saying she had been in the political minority before when school board members from both parties were able to achieve amazing things collaboratively. She suggested that the new Republican leadership had lost sight of our one job  to serve our students, all our students, every single day.

Harriman during her statement said the board has moved away from transparency and honesty and come dangerously close to undoing so much of the groundbreaking work that previous iterations of the board have made.

Zukowski and other Republicans on the school board could not be immediately reached on Tuesday for comment.

The towns Republican Party defended the GOP-led board.

Normally the (Republican Party) would not comment on this as individual circumstances change and we respect that, however casting doubts on the ethics of fellow officials, and the insinuations of disrespectful behavior and partisanship toward other boards members are false narratives that need to be addressed as they undermine the entire (school board) going forward, the GOP said in a statement.

The three new members of the BOE and their first-time chairwoman have had an eventful term while settling into their roles; they have scrutinized tremendous amounts of important information, asked difficult questions on behalf of local families, and refused to be a rubber stamp, the GOP statement said. They have had to manage through returning to normal after the pandemic, addressing learning loss and labor shortages, working through very contentious issues  and unexpectedly needing to hire a new superintendent.

The board has 30 days to find Harrimans replacement.

The only specific issue Harriman raised as to the substance of her charges was in the area of DEI, an acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Harriman was referring to weeks of debate in the beginning of the year over the adoption of a new academic freedom policy that distinguished between teaching and indoctrination.

The policy, which requires the school district to make every effort to maintain an atmosphere of academic freedom within the schools that are without partisan, embrace diversity of thought, foster equity in perspectives, and inclusion of ideas, was adopted in February by all seven members of the school board.

During the debate, newly elected Republican school board member Don Ramsey asked the school districts DEI czar Wesley Johnson how he saw unity and patriotism in his work for the district.

I would hope patriotism can reflect all people, Johnson said.

Harrimans resignation drew a modest applause before Zukowski closed the public comment portion of the meeting.

Zukowski was the only member of the board to address Harriman.

Rebekah  we will be missing all of your talents and all of your contributions, Zukowski said.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
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NEW YORK (AP)  A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, while New York's first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape.

In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

Takeaways from the latest round of primary elections:

ABORTION IS ON THE BALLOT

The abortion debate consumed the nation this week, but there was no race where it mattered more than Colorados Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where businessman Joe O'Dea became one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year.

O'Dea beat back a stiff challenge from state Rep. Ron Hanks, a Trump loyalist who opposed abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.

O'Dea will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November, and if he wins, he would become just the third Senate Republican  and the only male  to support abortion rights.

He said he backs a ban on late-term abortions and government funding of abortions but that the decision to terminate a pregnancy in the initial months is between a person and their God.

Democrats had spent at least $2.5 million on ads designed to boost O'Dea's opponent by promoting, among other things, that he was too conservative for backing a complete abortion ban.

Democrats hoped that the Roe decision would give them an advantage in several swing states, including Colorado. But, at least for now, O'Dea's victory would seem to complicate the Democrats' plans.

A WIN FOR TRUMP OR THE DEMOCRATS?

In the final weeks of a campaign, Trump once again attached himself to a Republican who was leading the race. This time, it was farmer Darren Bailey in Illinois, who easily cruised to the GOP nomination in the governor's race.

But while Trump can add Bailey to his endorsement record, Democrats are betting that his victory may be short-lived.

Bailey now goes on to face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November general election, which is just what Pritzker and his allies wanted. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP nomination. Among other things, the ads reminded the state's Democratic-leaning electorate that he is 100% pro-life.

It's a risky gamble. While Bailey may look like an easier opponent in the general election, it's feasible that he could ride a red wave  if it materializes  to the Illinois governor's mansion. Pritzker's predecessor in office was a Republican.

Bailey showed off political acumen by besting the early Republican front-runner Richard Irvin, the mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, Aurora. Irvin lost despite being the beneficiary of a staggering $50 million investment from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin, who is Black, refused to say whether he voted for Trump and largely avoided talking about abortion, delivering the kind of moderate message that could have cut across ideological lines in a general election.

Instead, Republicans nominated Bailey, a Trump loyalist who reads from Bible verses in campaign videos and proudly touts his anti-abortion policies in a state Trump lost by 17 percentage points in 2020.

HOCHUL'S OPPORTUNITY

The scandals of the men around her did not derail New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who overcame primary challengers on the right and left to win her first election test as the state's chief executive.

Now, Hochul, New York's first female governor, is positioned to emerge as a leading voice in the Democratic Party as it navigates the post-Roe landscape.

The low-profile Hochul stepped into one of the nation's most prominent governorships last fall after Andrew Cuomo resigned in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. She had promised to restore New Yorkers' faith in their government, only for her handpicked lieutenant governor to be arrested this spring in a federal corruption probe.

Hochul was either consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction," charged one of her primary challengers, New York Citys elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams.

The attack ultimately didn't land in the primary. But don't expect such criticism to disappear as the race for New York governor enters its next phase.

Rep. Lee Zeldin emerged from a crowded Republican field to earn the GOP nomination for governor. He defeated Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York Citys former mayor Rudy Giuliani, among others.

And while Hochul has a serious reelection test ahead, look for her to step into the national spotlight as the abortion debate rages.

The Democratic governor said in recent days that New York would be a safe harbor for those seeking abortions.

ELECTION DENIERS GO DOWN

They celebrated their allegiance to Trump's baseless conspiracy theories on the campaign trail. But on Tuesday night, a handful of these so-called election deniers had nothing to cheer about.

In Colorado, Republican voters did not reward secretary of state candidate Tina Peters for championing Trump's lies about election fraud. She was bested by Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who previously led the state clerks association and defends the state's mail-in elections system.

Some officials in both parties worried that Peters would win the primary. That's even after Peters, the Mesa County clerk, was indicted for a security breach spurred by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election. The state GOP had called on her to suspend her campaign.

Now, Anderson, not Peters, will take on incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, whos led the national fight against 2020 election deniers.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Senate candidate Hanks had also promoted lies about the last presidential election. In addition to being an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, he had attended the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

And in Mississippi, Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy lost a runoff election to incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who had voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Cassidy said in campaign speeches that Guest had done nothing to stop the persecution of Jan. 6 political prisoners.

LIGHTNING RODS WIN

Two Republicans familiar with controversy tested for the first time whether Republican voters deemed them too extreme to go back to Congress. They both prevailed.

First-term Rep. Mary Miller, who campaigned alongside Trump over the weekend, defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis, who was considered more moderate. The primary victory all but ensures Miller will return to Congress for another term given the heavy Republican advantage in her 15th Congressional District, which is the most Republican district in the state.

Miller won just days after describing the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade as a victory for white life. A spokesperson later said she had intended to say the decision was a victory for a right to life.

Miller is no stranger to provocative statements. Soon after joining the House, Miller quoted Adolf Hitler, saying he was right to say that whoever has the youth has the future.

And in Colorado, Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert defeated a moderate state representative who had run a primary campaign focused on Boeberts extremism. It didnt work.

Boeberts controversial moves are many. She vowed to carry a handgun on the House floor. She faced calls for her censure last year after being caught on video making Islamophobic comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. And she heckled President Joe Biden in his first State of the Union address.

But after winning her primary, she is almost certain to return to Congress for another two years. Her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado became even more Republican after redistricting.

A ROE SHIFT IN NEBRASKA?

Nebraskas low-profile special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberrys term was not supposed to be close. Republicans have held the district for nearly 60 years.

Yet Republican Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks by only 4 percentage points on Tuesday.

The specific cause of the margin wasnt immediately unclear, although there was evidence of higher turnout in one Democratic-leaning county that could be related to the Roe decision.

Heading into election day, Flood appeared to have a strong edge in the district, which includes Lincoln, parts of suburban Omaha and dozens of smaller, more conservative towns. The district has nearly 68,000 more Republicans than Democrats and hasnt elected a Democrat to the House since 1964.

What happened? Lancaster County, home to the state capital and the University of Nebraska, offers some clues.

In 2020, Fortenberry won the district by nearly 22 percentage points, but he lost Lancaster County by less than 1 percentage point. In Tuesdays special election, the Republican Flood lost Lancaster County by more than 13 percentage points.

In the end, the swing wasnt enough to move a heavily-Republican district, but Democrats could look to the results for hope that the Roe decision will be a significant motivator for the Democratic base.

Incidentally, Fortenberry was sentenced to two years of probation on Tuesday for lying to the FBI. Flood and Pansing Brooks are expected to face off again in the November general election.
Orlando Residents Will Enjoy Weekly Flights to Freeport

NASSAU, Bahamas, June 29, 2022 /CNW/ -- Beginning Thursday, 30 June 2022, Bahamasair will relaunch a weekly nonstop flight from Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Florida to Grand Bahama International Airport (FPO) in Freeport, The Bahamas. Travelers can book these flights now and start planning their adventure in The Bahamas' second largest city.

Bahamasair's weekly nonstop flights from Orlando will operate every Monday and Thursday from June 30 through September 10. Introductory fares start as low as $297 round trip.

"Travel is back in a big way this summer, and we are ready for it. We are making travel for Floridians easier than ever with more nonstop service to The Bahamas," said the Honourable I. Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation. "Florida remains a priority market for The Bahamas, and we are thrilled to expand our flight offerings from the state with these weekly nonstop options from Orlando on Bahamasair."

There are activities for every kind of traveler throughout Grand Bahama, as well as new developments.

Lucayan National Park - Lucayan National Park is the second most visited park in The Bahamas . The 40-acre park is home to one of the world's longest charted underwater cave systems, as well as beautiful pine forests, mangrove creeks, coral reefs and the world-famous Gold Rock Beach.

Lucayan National Park is the second most visited park in The . The 40-acre park is home to one of the world's longest charted underwater cave systems, as well as beautiful pine forests, mangrove creeks, coral reefs and the world-famous Gold Rock Beach. Coral Vita - Coral Vita , a high-tech coral farm that aims to restore dying reefs, is now open to the public. Using cutting edge micro fragmenting technology, the farm grows coral 50 percent faster than normal growth rates and plants the newly grown coral back into degraded reefs in order to bring them back to life.

, a high-tech coral farm that aims to restore dying reefs, is now open to the public. Using cutting edge micro fragmenting technology, the farm grows coral 50 percent faster than normal growth rates and plants the newly grown coral back into degraded reefs in order to bring them back to life. Grand Lucayan Sale - A rebirth is on the horizon for Grand Bahama Island as an offer has been accepted for the purchase of Grand Lucayan, a beachfront resort located in the bustling city of Freeport . Electra America Hospitality Group (EAHG), a real estate investment firm, has entered into an agreement with Lucayan Renewal Holdings to buy the resort for $100 million , with nearly $300 million in renovations planned. The agreement is projected to be completed by summer 2022, with renovations and construction to follow.

A rebirth is on the horizon for Grand Bahama Island as an offer has been accepted for the purchase of Grand Lucayan, a beachfront resort located in the bustling city of . Electra America Hospitality Group (EAHG), a real estate investment firm, has entered into an agreement with Lucayan Renewal Holdings to buy the resort for , with nearly in renovations planned. The agreement is projected to be completed by summer 2022, with renovations and construction to follow. Goombay Summer Festival - At the festival, you can experience live Bahamian music, great local cuisine, authentically Bahamian Arts and Crafts, Junkanoo and lots more. This event is held every week on Thursdays from 6.00 pm to Midnight in July at Taino beach.

For those looking further ahead to winter escapes, nonstop flights from Orlando to GBI will return 17 November 2022  12 January 2023 and are available to book now. Those ready to pack their bags can book flights today on Bahamasair.com.

ABOUT THE BAHAMAS

The Bahamas has over 700 islands and cays, as well as 16 unique island destinations. See why It's Better in The Bahamas at www.bahamas.com or on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.

PRESS INQUIRIES

Anita Johnson-Patty

Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation

[email protected]

SOURCE The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation
SUDBURY, ON, June 29, 2022 /CNW/ - Frontier Lithium Inc. (TSX-V: FL) (FRA: HL2) (OTCQX: LITOF) ("Frontier" or the "Company") today announced the filing of its audited financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2022 (the "2022 Annual Financial Statements").

The financial statements and the related management's discussion and analysis have been filed on SEDAR and can be viewed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com .

The Company continues to advance its plans to develop a Lithium salts refinery plant in North America's Great Lakes region. Frontier targeting the delivery of a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") in 2022 assessing the viability of constructing and operating a fully-integrated lithium mining and chemicals company to deliver battery -grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide for the burgeoning lithium-ion battery market in North America.

Highlights For The Year Ended March 31, 2022 and Recent Developments

At March 31, 2022 the Company had cash and cash equivalents of C$17.7 million , leaving it well positioned to execute on its plan to complete the PFS and planned 15,000 metre drill program which commenced in May 2022 ;

the Company had cash and cash equivalents of , leaving it well positioned to execute on its plan to complete the PFS and planned 15,000 metre drill program which commenced in ; Successfully completed two financing activities: $2.4 million from April 2021 and $12.0 million from December 2021 ;

from and from ; Completed 3,325 metres during Phase X and XI drilling programs; and

Bolstered the Company's leadership with the appointment of Mr. Marc Boissonneault and Ms. Tess Lofsky to the Board of Directors, bringing extensive mining experience in leading mining production, metallurgical operations and capital projects globally and corporate and securities law, governance and compliance, respectively.

and Ms. to the Board of Directors, bringing extensive mining experience in leading mining production, metallurgical operations and capital projects globally and corporate and securities law, governance and compliance, respectively. Strengthened the Company's management team with the appointment of Mr. David Ewing as Vice President of Sustainability and External Affairs and Mr. Tony Zheng as Chief Financial Officer of the Company, bringing extensive experience in environmental matters and finance matters, respectively.

The Company also announces that the comparative figures in the 2022 Annual Financial Statements have been restated. The restated comparative figures in the 2022 Annual Financial Statements replace and supersede the corresponding information contained in the previously filed financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of the Company which should no longer be relied upon.

For further information regarding the restatement of the comparative figures in the 2022 Annual Financial Statements, please refer to the details in Note 15 of the 2022 Annual Financial Statements which are summarized as follows:

Change in Accounting Policy  During the year ended

March 31, 2022 , the Company changed its accounting policy for exploration and evaluation expenditures to expense them as incurred. Management considered that this change in accounting policy would result in clearer, more relevant and reliable financial information to reduce financial reporting complexity. Under the previous accounting policy, exploration and evaluation expenditures had been capitalized.





, the Company changed its accounting policy for exploration and evaluation expenditures to expense them as incurred. Management considered that this change in accounting policy would result in clearer, more relevant and reliable financial information to reduce financial reporting complexity. Under the previous accounting policy, exploration and evaluation expenditures had been capitalized. Related Party Disclosures  In addition to the matter noted above, it was determined that there were additional related party transactions in the prior year financial statements which had not been disclosed. The comparative disclosures in Note 12 have been revised accordingly.

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.

About Frontier Lithium

Frontier Lithium is a preproduction business that is targeting to become a manufacturer of battery-quality lithium materials to support electric vehicle and battery supply chains in North America. Frontier is developing the PAK Lithium Project which contains one of North America's highest-grade, large-tonnage hard-rock lithium resources in the form of a rare low-iron spodumene. The project continues to have significant exploration upside with potential to increase the lithium resource. The Company is a pure-play lithium development opportunity with the largest land position in a premium lithium mineral district located in Northern Ontario.

On behalf of Frontier Lithium.

Trevor R. Walker

President & Chief Executive Officer

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 release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's registered filings available at sedar.com.

SOURCE Frontier Lithium Inc.

For further information: visit www.frontierlithium.com or contact: Manager of Investor Relations and Communications, Bora Ugurgel, [email protected], +1.705.897.7622
The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network launch the toolkit, Confronting and Preventing Hate in Canadian Schools.

OTTAWA, ON , June 29, 2022 /CNW/ - In Canada, diversity is a fact, but inclusion is a choice. The Government of Canada is taking action to address the troubling rise in hate across the country, which is having devastating consequences on victims, families and communities.

Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, joined members of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network to launch its new toolkit, Confronting and Preventing Hate in Canadian Schools.

This toolkit will provide a comprehensive anti-racism education program to help equip educators, parents and communities better identify, confront and prevent hate in schools across Canada. It was created as part of the network's project, Containing and Countering Canadian Hate Groups, which monitors and reports on the activities of extreme-right groups.

The project is funded through the Government of Canada's Anti-Racism Action Program, which aims to address barriers to employment, justice and social participation among Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and religions minorities, as well as address online hate and promote digital literacy.

The Government of Canada is committed to preventing hate-motivated crime and addressing systemic racism and discrimination. We will continue our work as partners with equity-deserving communities to build a better, safer more inclusive and equitable future for all Canadians.

Quotes

"Hatred in any form is unacceptable and has no place in Canada. The increase of hate-motivated groups and ideologies is a disturbing reality in our country that we have a responsibility to address. That is why our government is supporting the efforts of organizations like the Canadian Anti-Hate Network to create real solutions to confront and prevent hate. Together, we will build a safer and more inclusive Canada for everyone."

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion

"Thanks to the Anti-Racism Action Program, the Confronting and Preventing Hate in Canadian Schools toolkit will help educators and parents protect kids from racist, gendered and anti-2SLGBTQ+ bullying. The toolkit will prevent children from being groomed and recruited by white supremacists."

Bernie Farber, Chair, Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Quick Facts

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network is an independent, non-profit organization that monitors, researches and counters hate groups by providing education and information on hate groups to the public, media, researchers, courts, law enforcement and community groups.

The Government of Canada provided $268,400 through the Anti-Racism Action Program to support the Canadian Anti-Hate Network's project, Containing and Countering Canadian Hate Groups.

provided through the Anti-Racism Action Program to support the Canadian Anti-Hate Network's project, Containing and Countering Canadian Hate Groups. Since October 2020 , the Anti-Racism Action Program has invested $35 million to support 175 anti-racism projects that aim to remove systemic barriers faced by Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and religious minorities.

, the Anti-Racism Action Program has invested to support 175 anti-racism projects that aim to remove systemic barriers faced by Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and religious minorities. Unveiled on June 25, 2019 , Building a Foundation for Change: Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy, represents an investment of close to $100 million , including $70 million to support community organizations across Canada in addressing anti-racism and multiculturalism issues.

, Building a Foundation for Change: Anti-Racism Strategy, represents an investment of close to , including to support community organizations across in addressing anti-racism and multiculturalism issues. Recognizing that Canada's fight against racism is far from over, Budget 2022 provides $85 million over four years, starting in 2022-23, to support the launch of a new Anti-Racism Strategy and National Action Plan on Combatting Hate.

fight against racism is far from over, Budget 2022 provides over four years, starting in 2022-23, to support the launch of a new Anti-Racism Strategy and National Action Plan on Combatting Hate. From March 29 to May 8, 2022 , the Government of Canada held consultations to gather input from individuals and populations who have experienced hate to integrate the unique reality of these communities from all regions of the country. These consultations were part of the development of the Canada's National Action Plan on Combatting Hate.

Associated Links

Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Confronting Hate and Preventing Hate in Canadian Schools toolkit | Canadian Anti-Hate Education

Building a More Inclusive Canada: Government of Canada Announces Funding for Anti-Racism Projects Across the Country

Budget 2022 - A Diverse and Inclusive Canada

Federal government launches national consultations for Canada's first ever National Action Plan on Combatting Hate

Building a Foundation for Change: Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 20192022

Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

For further information: For more information (media only), please contact: Arevig Afarian, Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and [email protected]; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, 819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155, [email protected]
OTTAWA, ON, June 29, 2022 /CNW/ - The number of people with dementia who go missing is steadily increasing across the country and delays in locating them can result in tragic outcomes.

Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, announced $2.1 million in funding to support a three-year University of Waterloo research project to enhance Canada's search and rescue system to better respond when people living with dementia go missing.

Sixty percent of people living with dementia will wander away at least once and some of them will do so repeatedly. This has an impact on search and rescue resources.

The project, entitled Managing Risks of Going Missing among Persons Living with Dementia by Building Capacities of SAR Personnel, First Responders and Communities, will help to build the capacity and understanding within the search and rescue community to work with this vulnerable population, build research partnerships and increase systemic coordination.

As the rates of dementia in Indigenous populations are disproportionately higher than the general Canadian population, this project will also develop protocols for first responders in two Indigenous communities as part of their work in seven provinces.

The Government of Canada is proud to support initiatives like this one, that will result in more effective and better-coordinated search and rescue capacity, and help keep Canadians safe.

Quote(s)

"Our population is aging and along with it, the number of people who go missing due to dementia is increasing. Through this partnership with the University of Waterloo, we will be able to build capacities, partnerships and coordination of search and rescue personnel, first responders, and communities to manage risks among persons living with dementia, and keep these vulnerable members of our communities safe."

- The Honourable Bill Blair, President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

"Today's announcement is a testament to the incredible quality of work being done by researchers and faculty at the University of Waterloo. I look forward to seeing the results and impacts of their project over the coming weeks, months, and years, as they continue to find world-class solutions that are helping our most vulnerable communities stay safe. Congratulations, and thank you for everything you do for the people of Waterloo and Canadians."

- The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Member of Parliament for Waterloo

"This new initiative emphasizes the importance of ensuring safe communities for Canadians. The increasing numbers of Canadians living with dementia at risk of going missing is a public health concern. We will build on existing expertise and partnerships to scale up strategies that enhance training, improve data collection, coordinate community resources, and prevent repeat missing incidents."

- Lili Liu, Dean of Faculty of Health, Professor in School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo

Quick Facts

The University of Waterloo will work with the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba and with Kahnawake Search and Rescue, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec . The project is developing additional partnerships in British Columbia , Alberta , Saskatchewan , Nova Scotia , and Ontario .





will work with the Peguis First Nation in and with Kahnawake Search and Rescue, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in . The project is developing additional partnerships in , , , , and . If a missing person with Alzheimer's disease is not found within 12 hours, there is a 50 percent chance that they will be found injured or dead from hypothermia, dehydration or drowning, making any search an emergency.





Much of the data available on wandering is from the United States . This project will involve data collection approaches to monitor the issue in Canada where climate, geography, funding, and culture differ.





. This project will involve data collection approaches to monitor the issue in where climate, geography, funding, and culture differ. The Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund, provides $7.6M in annual funding for projects that will improve search and rescue in Canada . This fund is designed to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and innovation of search and rescue in Canada .

Associated Links

SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada

For further information: Contacts: Annie Cullinan, Press Secretary, Office of the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, [email protected]; Media Relations, Public Safety Canada, 613-991-0657, [email protected]; University of Waterloo, Eugenia Xenos Anderson, Faculty of Health,, 519-888-4567, ext. 43994, [email protected]
MBABANE - Artificial insemination (AI) has been introduced to the local pig production to inflate production.

The introduction of AI in pig production would also expand the pigs market locally, making it sufficient for export. AI offers producers numerous benefits by allowing more extensive use of superior sires. AI can also enhance the rate of genetic improvement and in terminal mating systems, increase the consistency of market hogs produced. Eswatini is currently working with expertise from the Republic of China on Taiwan to run an AI programme to assist farmers in their pig production in the country. Pigs Artificial Insemination is said to carry more advantages than disadvantages compared to natural mating. Pigs production via AI is when semen from a proven boar is artificially collected, evaluated for quality and deposited into the cervix of a receptive sow.

Trained

In an interview with Director of veterinary Services, Dr Xolani Dlamini, from the Ministry of Agriculture he said farmers were trained to do their own insemination. The doctor also educated that carrying out the insemination without knowledge was dangerous because wrong timing could result to failure to conceive. Physical injury to the pig or self, Dlamini said. The doctor emphasised that it was important for the farmer to be trained on insemination. Dlamini also revealed that government was working with expertise from Taiwan to run the AI programme producing the semen at Mpisi farm, training the farmers and giving extension services. He also said the insemination process was done at the farmers place. The farmer goes to Mpisi farm to buy the semen, come back home and inseminate the pig that is on heat, he said. The Director encouraged farmers who wanted to learn to come forward and learn.

Organised

Minister of Agriculture, Jabulani Mabuza, advised farmers to form organised commodity groups to attain bargaining power in aspects ranging from bulk buying, input price negotiation, commodity price negotiations and other associated attributes. He said they should venture into production of animal feed especially the major feed ingredients in pig rations and fattening.

Add value to the final product through processing, packaging and branding, he said. The minister added that they should also explore other possible markets within the SADC region and beyond.

Mandla Mthupha, a swineherd based in Mandlangempisi said this is a valuable opportunity for the industry as it would expand their reach. He said it would be advantages to swineherds as it would increase production and supply to the local market thus generating profit. Once we have sufficient pigs to supply local market, it would be easy for us to expand to the international market as a brand, he said. The swineherd added that they fear that this move may force them to decrease the amount they charge for supplying the local market. He said if a market is flooded by a commodity, the demand decreases forcing supply to decrease as well.

Places to visit if one is interested to learn:

*Livestock Production Offices in Manzini (RA offices)

* Mbabane (Vet Offices)

*Nhlangano (Post Office)

*Siteki (Government Offices complex).

Advantages of AI over natural conception;

*Access to semen from outstanding boars

*Reduces stress from female which might result to no conception

*Reduction of disease transfer from boar to sow, sow to boar

*Fewer boars needed in the farm, savings on food costs and medicine costs for the boar.
ELMAU, Germany, June 28, 2022 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today concluded his participation at the G7 Summit in Elmau, Germany, where he announced significant new support for Ukraine. During the summit, he met with leaders of the world's leading democracies to further our coordinated efforts to continue supporting Ukraine, build a cleaner future for everyone, get COVID-19 vaccines to those who need them, and advance our shared values of democracy, human rights, and gender equality.

Building on the close collaboration of G7 partners in recent months to support Ukraine, Prime Minister Trudeau announced $151.7 million in new humanitarian, development, and peace and security support for Ukraine. This includes $75 million in humanitarian assistance to help get food, emergency cash and vouchers, protection, shelter and health services to Ukrainians. It also includes $52 million for agricultural solutions including grain storage units to help improve food security, $15 million to support lifesaving mine clearing efforts, and $9.7 million to support accountability for human rights violations. The Prime Minister also announced Canada will provide a $200 million loan to Ukraine through the International Monetary Fund to help meet its urgent liquidity needs. In addition, he announced $73 million in humanitarian assistance that Canada pledged on April 9, 2022, has now been allocated to address the crisis in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

At the Summit, G7 leaders committed to stand in unity to support the government and people of Ukraine in their fight for a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic future. This includes continuing to impose severe and direct economic costs on President Putin's regime. The Prime Minister announced new, targeted sanctions against 34 additional supporters of Putin's war and 48 entities in the Russian and Belarusian defence sectors. Canada will also sanction state-sponsored disinformation, ban the export of technologies that could improve Russia and Belarus's manufacturing capability, and ban the import of certain gold goods from Russia. G7 leaders issued a joint statement in which they reiterated their commitment to support Ukraine as it seeks to defend itself from Russian aggression.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven up the price of food and fuel, which is increasing the cost of living and creating food insecurity for people around the world, especially in the Global South. Last week, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, the Prime Minister announced $250 million in emergency food assistance and discussed with other Commonwealth leaders the impacts of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine on the world's most vulnerable, including rising food prices, critical shortages, and fears of famine. In Elmau, the Prime Minister shared these perspectives with other G7 leaders, who collectively committed an additional $4.5 billion (USD) to protect the most vulnerable from hunger and malnutrition.

Leaders had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Jutta Allmendinger, Chair of the 2022 Gender Equality Advisory Council, to discuss challenges related to gender equality, including the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on women and girls; increased vulnerability of Ukrainian women and girls to human trafficking; and the use of sexual violence in conflict.

Throughout the Summit, Prime Minister Trudeau spoke with G7 leaders and invited guests to reiterate the need for ambitious and coordinated action on climate change. Together, G7 Leaders will work to establish an open and cooperative Climate Club to accelerate progress toward the implementation of the Paris Agreement, which will complement Canada's climate leadership including through the global pollution pricing challenge. G7 leaders also committed to narrow the global investment gap for sustainable infrastructure and mobilize private investment, and recognized Just Energy Transition Partnerships as a means to support transitions to low carbon and climate resilient societies. They also committed to take immediate action to secure energy supply and stop the increases in energy prices, without compromising on our climate and biodiversity goals, including the clean energy transition.

To continue the fight against COVID-19, G7 leaders agreed to accelerate access to vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics in developing countries through the ACT-Accelerator. Prime Minister Trudeau highlighted that Canada has already contributed $732 million in multilateral funding for 2021-22 to meet its burden share and committed over $2 billion to date, making it one of the largest contributors. He also underlined Canada's international leadership beyond funding, with the Government of Canada playing an active role in the governance of the ACT-Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, across all levels.

At the conclusion of the Summit, G7 leaders issued a joint communique in which they agreed to jointly defend the rules-based international system and address the key challenges of our time. Guided by our shared values and our drive to making life better for people, leaders vowed to cooperate with civil society and partners beyond the G7 to strengthen the resilience of our societies, promote human rights online and offline, and achieve gender equality.

Quote

"At this critical time, we must continue to act together to defend peace, security, human rights, and democracy. At this G7 Summit, leaders worked together to further coordinate our efforts to support Ukraine, take ambitious climate action, and build strong economies with a better future for all people."

 The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick Facts

Since the start of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine , Canada has committed $1.6 billion in loans and $1.3 billion in direct support to Ukraine , including $320 million in humanitarian assistance.

military aggression against , has committed in loans and in direct support to , including in humanitarian assistance. During the Summit, Prime Minister Trudeau held bilateral meetings with the following leaders: the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , Boris Johnson , the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen , the Chancellor of Germany , Olaf Scholz , Prime Minister of Japan , Kishida Fumio, the President of France , Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of India , Narendra Modi , President of Indonesia , Joko Widodo , and the Prime Minister of Italy , Mario Draghi .

, , the President of the European Commission , the Chancellor of , , Prime Minister of , Kishida Fumio, the President of , Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of , , President of , , and the Prime Minister of , . Argentina , India , Indonesia , Senegal , and South Africa also participated in this year's Summit at the invitation of Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz.

, , , , and also participated in this year's Summit at the invitation of Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz. With the exception of 2020, the G7 leaders have come together each year since the 1970s to discuss issues of domestic and global concern.

Canada last held the presidency of the G7 in 2018. Germany holds the presidency in 2022, and Japan will hold it in 2023. Canada will next host the G7 in 2025.

last held the presidency of the G7 in 2018. holds the presidency in 2022, and will hold it in 2023. will next host the G7 in 2025. The Prime Minister also welcomed the news of the upcoming official visit of Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz to Canada from August 21 to 23, 2022 . During this visit, the two leaders will meet to strengthen the Canada - Germany strategic partnership and discuss ways the two countries can partner to promote energy security and the transition to clean energy technologies, including secure access to key resources.

from . During this visit, the two leaders will meet to strengthen the - strategic partnership and discuss ways the two countries can partner to promote energy security and the transition to clean energy technologies, including secure access to key resources. The Prime Minister also welcomed the news of the upcoming visit of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to Canada in September 2022 . The President's visit will coincide with the Canada-European Union CETA Clean Tech Summit, which will bring together experts and industry leaders with a view to promoting bilateral trade, innovation, and growth in clean tech sectors.

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SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

For further information: PMO Media Relations: [email protected]
These insights and more appear in the 2022 Mobility Trend Report , an exploratory report released by Volvo Car Canada Ltd. today. Placing a spotlight on how Canada's changing commuting habits are projecting a more sustainable future, the study indicates electric times ahead for the country.

The publication of the report coincides with Volvo Car Canada's announcement that all its MY23 vehicles will now come exclusively with electrified powertrains (mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or pure electric).

"Work and commuting routines have been disrupted and some are unlikely to return to what they were pre-pandemic," said Matt Girgis, managing director, Volvo Car Canada Ltd. "We wanted to explore this shift further to identify where that intersects with sustainable practice. As detailed in the Mobility Trend Report, we're ecstatic to see Canadians increasing affinity for electric vehicles and a move towards more eco-conscious options. As a leader in safety, sustainability, and innovation, we're proud to be a part of the country's shift towards more electrification."

Key findings from Volvo's 2022 Mobility Trend Report include:

45 per cent work from home or have a hybrid home and workplace model

As a result of today's gas prices, 53 per cent of Canadians have reduced the amount they drive

73 per cent of Canadians say it is important to contribute to a greener future with their car

51 per cent say gas prices are their top barrier to commuting followed by traffic (18 per cent) and family commitments (12 per cent)

57 per cent of Quebecers are considering or have been influenced by someone they know to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid EV

4 in 5 families in British Columbia are considering moving to an EV to create a greener future

In many ways, the insights in the report align with Volvo Cars' own vision for the future. By reducing emissions across its entire value chain, Volvo Cars aims to become a climate-neutral company by 2040. By 2025, it strives for 25 per cent of the material in new Volvo cars to consist of recycled and bio-based content, as part of its ambition to be a fully circular business by 2040. All Volvo cars now have an electrified version, and the company plans to only offer pure electric vehicles by 2030. As part of its ambitions to go completely leather-free, Volvo Cars is working actively to find high-quality and sustainable sources for many materials currently used in the wider car industry. The pure-electric C40 Recharge is the first Volvo to feature a 100 per cent leather free interior, including steering wheel, gear shifter and upholstery. Volvo's 'One Price Promise' provides C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge buyers a fair, transparent, and negotiation-free shopping experience.

To learn more about Volvo's full range of products, services and electric ambitions visit volvocars.com/en-ca.

About Volvo Car Canada Ltd.

Volvo Car Canada Ltd. is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Group of Gothenburg, Sweden. VCCL provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology, and training support to the 38 Volvo automobile retailers across Canada. For more information, please refer to the Volvo Cars Canada media website at: www.media.volvocars.com/ca/en-ca

SOURCE Volvo Car Canada Ltd.

For further information: Lucas Dias, Corporate Communications Manager, Volvo Cars Canada, Phone: +1 647 881 6878, [email protected]
A video purportedly showing a Congress MLA in Chhattisgarh allegedly instigating violence during the demonstration against the Centres Agnipath military recruiting plan has been forwarded by the BJP to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has been urged to take notice.

Vishnu Deo Sai, the leader of the BJP in Chhattisgarh, wrote to the National Probe Agency (NIA) on Tuesday requesting an investigation against Vikram Shah Mandavi, a Congress lawmaker from Bijapur, for allegedly inciting young tribal people to oppose the Agnipath programme. Additionally, he said that a plot was being developed to incite conflict in the state under the guise of the Agnipath project.

In an effort to incite peaceful tribals to engage in violence, Mandavi, who represents a tribally dominant and Naxal-affected region, made the statement. Clearly anti-national, his behaviour. The NIA should initiate an investigation into Congress involvement in the carefully orchestrated violence that took place during the demonstration against Agnipath Sai sent a letter.

Mandavi allegedly urged the youth to resist the Agnipath military recruiting programme of the Centre in a way like Bihar by torching cars and committing other violent acts.

The Agnipath Scheme, a recruiting programme for Indian youngsters to serve in the Armed Forces, was approved by the Central government on June 17, which was applauded by the three heads of the Indian Defense forces.
Eknath Shind and four other lawmakers paid a visit to the renowned Kamakhya temple in Guwahati today morning and offered prayers

Eknath Shinde, a rebel Shiv Sena MLA, and four other lawmakers paid a visit to the renowned Kamakhya temple in Guwahati today morning and offered prayers.

Shinde and other Shiv Sena dissident MLAs have been camped out in a hotel in this city for more than a week, which has caused a political crisis in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi administration. According to Shinde, who has the backing of over 50 MLAs, he will soon return to Mumbai and carry Balasaheb Thackerays legacy forward.

After visiting the temple, Shinde stated, Tomorrow, Ill be going back to Mumbai. At the temple, I prayed for the happiness of the Maharashtrians.

The dissident leader also said that he will participate in the Maharashtra Assemblys floor test.

In a letter to the chief minister of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari urged him to show his majority by calling a special session of the state legislature on June 30 at 11 a.m. The letter states that the floor test must be finished by 5 pm.

Devendra Fadnavis, the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, sent a letter to the states governor on Tuesday, requesting an immediate floor test, along with 8 other independent MLAs.
Rajasthan government on Tuesday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into claims that a man was reportedly killed by two men in Udaipur when it was daytime.

SIT includes Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Ashok Kumar Rathore from the Special Operations Group, Prafulla Kumar from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the Inspector General of Police (IG), and two officers with the rank of Superintendant of Police (SP) and Additional SP. A curfew has been put in place and internet connections have been halted in Udaipur.

Rajendra Bhatt, the divisional commissioner for Udaipur, pleaded with people to keep the peace.

We want Udaipur residents to uphold the peace. The family of (victim Kanhaiya Lal) would receive compensation in the amount of Rs. 5 lakhs, and the dependents have been promised employment through UITs placement service Bhatt stated.

After the event, a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reportedly sped to Udaipur, according to reports.

After inspecting the crime scene, the NIA team is expected to file a complaint in accordance with the terms of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, according to government sources.

The incident happened in the Maldas neighborhood of Udaipur. According to authorities, the two suspects released a video on social media shortly after the crime gloating about the beheading and also threatening the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the event, the two suspects were detained shortly after.
Rajasthan government stated on Tuesday that section 144 of CrPC will be enforced in all districts

Rajasthan government stated on Tuesday that section 144 of CrPC will be enforced in all districts for the upcoming month following the horrifying murder of a tailor in Udaipur, which triggered uproar throughout the whole state.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was established by the state government to look into the situation. The SIT is made up of the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Ashok Kumar Rathore from the Special Operations Group, Prafulla Kumar from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the Inspector General of Police (IG), and two officers with the rank of Superintendant of Police (SP) and Additional SP. On Tuesday, all internet services were shut off throughout the state.

Rajendra Bhatt, the divisional commissioner for Udaipur, pleaded with the populace to preserve tranquility. Every district of Rajasthans police force is on high alert.

Due to the current circumstances, Section 144 has been implemented throughout the state and the whole district. The organisers have cancelled the Shanti March. We ask the populace to uphold the peace. Police officers vacations have been cancelled, and they are expected to return back. They are being used for police enforcement work. Well make sure the peace is upheld and punish anyone trying to sabotage it harshly  said Vikas Sharma, the Ajmer SP.

An official with the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) is part of the NIA team, a source stated while requesting anonymity, adding that the action was taken in response to a directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

After inspecting the crime scene, the NIA team is expected to file a complaint in accordance with the terms of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, according to government sources.

The event happened in the Maldas neighborhood of Udaipur. According to authorities, the two suspects released a video on social media shortly after the crime gloating about the beheading and also threatening the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the event, the two suspects were detained shortly after.

According to authorities, one of the attackers, Riyaz Akhtar, used a sharp-edged weapon to strike Kanhaiya Lal while the other, Ghos Mohammad, videotaped the incident on his cell phone.

Meanwhile, the victim, a tailor, had published a social media message in support of Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesman who had made contentious comments against the Prophet Mohammad. Local markets in the vicinity were closed after the murder because the shopkeepers wanted justice for the victim.

To improve force mobility and keep cops on the ground, a statewide notice has also been sent to all superintendents of police and inspector generals.
HARTFORD  Owners of historic homes in 10 Connecticut urban centers are now eligible to apply for funds to enhance, restore and preserve their homes.

The Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Fund will select one recipient of a $10,000 grant each year. The property must have no more than four units and be located in Bridgeport, Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury or West Haven.

Edward Gerber joined Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin outside the historic Amos Bull House Wednesday to announce that applications have opened and must be submitted by July 8.

We are blessed in this state and particularly in this city to have extraordinary architecture, Bronin said. So many times, the owners of those buildings who love their homes, love their buildings, love their history  dont necessarily have the funds to preserve it.

Eligible properties must be owner-occupied. Projects may include removal of non-historic features such as vinyl siding. A full list of eligible and non-eligible projects can be found here.

The fund is a part of the work of Historic New England, a regional non-profit organization that supports preservation projects in New England.

Gerber lived in downtown Washington D.C. for most of his life before moving to Westport. In D.C., Gerber said he met many people who wanted to preserve their historic homes but lacked the money.

They couldnt get the money so they didnt do the project, Gerber said.

He launched the fund alongside Historic New England, where he serves as a board member, with support from Carissa Demore, team leader for preservation services.

It supports really thoughtful maintenance and restoration work by property owners and that kind of highly visible preservation work and investment goes a long way beyond individual property owners toward building a sense of place and sense of community our neighborhoods, Demore said.

emily.disalvo@hearstmediact.com
BRIDGEPORT  A New Haven man was sentenced to three years in prison for laundering money for lottery and romance scams that defrauded 200 victims of more than $5 million, according to federal prosecutors.

The victims were primarily elderly, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a statement Tuesday.

A grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment in March 2020 charging Ralph Pierre, 32, of New Haven, and four others with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Pierre was also accused of money laundering, according to court documents.

On Feb. 15, after a week of trial, Pierre was found guilty of conspiracy to commit laundering and money laundering. U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport sentenced Pierre on Tuesday to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Pierre is released on $100,000 bond and must to report to prison on Aug. 31.

The scheme dates to August 2015. From then until March 2020, Farouq Fasasi, Rodney Thomas Jr. and others used lottery, romance and other scams to induce elderly victims to provide money, gifts and personal details. The victims sent cash, money orders or checks through the mail to various addresses statewide and also wired or deposited money directly into the bank accounts of the conspiracy members, Averys office said.

For the lottery scam, scammers would contact victims either on the phone, online or by mail and tell them they won the lottery. The scammers then said that, for the victim to collect the prize, they must pay fees for taxes, shipping and processing, according to Averys office.

Often, once a victim sends a small amount of money, a scammer will ask for larger sums of money with a promise of more winnings, Averys office said. The victims never receive winnings.

In the romance scam, scammers take advantage of people looking for love and pretend to be prospective companions. They typically create fake online profiles on dating websites with false details, like the death of a spouse or being in the military, to lure victims in to trust them.

Once the victims trusted them, the scammer asks the victim for money, falsely claiming to need it for medical or business emergencies, to travel to see the victim or other purposes, Averys office said.

Investigators started looking into the group when they noticed a significant number of packages being sent to addresses in New Haven and Hamden, according to court documents.

Fasasi, Thomas, Pierre and others lived together at a home on Sherman Avenue in New Haven where many of the victims packages were delivered.

Pierre joined the conspiracy in July 2018 when he registered a fake charity called Global Protection Foundation. He opened at least four business bank accounts to launder funds from the scheme. Investigators said the bank accounts showed the nonprofit used little to no money for philanthropic purposes, according to court documents.

From July 2018 to November 2018, more than $200,000 was deposited and withdrawn across all of Pierres personal and business accounts, court documents state.

Pierre also endorsed checks and collected packages for the scheme, according to court documents.

Fasasi and Thomas were also found guilty in February of multiple charges stemming from the scheme. Averys office said that three others have been charged and convicted of offenses stemming from their participation in the scams.

For seniors who may be victims of financial fraud, please call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
MBABANE - Marching with empty caskets or coffins on the streets means a wish for more deaths.

This is an observation by the Witchdoctors Association of Eswatini, following sentiments shared by Pastor T.H Mahlalela. When addressing people in attendance at the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) meeting held at Mathendele Community Hall in Nhlangano last Saturday, Mahlalela was quoted having said a petition had to be delivered to the Prime Ministers Office in remembrance of the people who survived the June 29, 2021 massacre. He said they would carry caskets in remembrance of the lives that were lost last year.

Petition

We want to deliver the petition together with the caskets in Mbabane. We will be led by the survivors of lasts years massacre, Mahlalela was quoted saying before encouraging all those who would attend to brace themselves for anything. In response to Mahlalelas sentiments, Chairman of the Witchdoctors Association Makhanya Makhanya, said a person could march with an empty casket on the streets only if he/she wished for more deaths. He said the question would be who was wanted dead? Basiphahla ini, kumele kufe bani ngoba kujangaza nelibhokisi esitaladini kusho kutsi kufa akukeneli; futsi usakufisa kutsi kwenteke? Kuhlala njalo uhlolotela kufa ngekwenta kwakho sikutsatsa ngekutsi butsakatsi noma isatanism, Makhanya said in vernacular. Which is loosely translated to: What do they wish for. Who do they want dead, because marching with an empty casket on the streets is a wish for more deaths? It means the one making that wish is not satisfied with the deaths. To wish for more deaths by an action is an act of witchcraft or satanism.

It should be noted that a report from the Human Rights Commission pointed out that 46 people died during the unrest which culminated in looting, burning and vandalism of properties across the country last year. Government had on numerous occasions stated that investigations into the deaths were ongoing as it was not yet apportioned to anyone. Mhalalela further stated that they would hold a prayer at Mahhala, close to Eswatini Beverages, where he said some people were injured during last years June/July political unrest. He also stated that they would fetch the souls of the people, whom he claimed were killed, as it was culture that souls of the deceased were fetched from the spot where they had died. In reaction to this, Makhanya said in as much as it was culture to fetch souls of the deceased from the spot where they had their last breathe there were people who were responsible for doing that. He said souls of the dead were not fetched by strangers but the families of the deceased.

Deceased

One has to understand the whole exercise when fetching a soul of a deceased person. It has to be family members who will call the deceased by name and tell him/her what is happening. The family also has to communicate with the ancestors before taking the soul home. This exercise is not a joke and people should not take advantage of it, to mock the bereaved families. I believe the bereaved families have long fetched the souls of their loved ones, and diverted them to their resting places, he said. Makhanya also warned that one had to seek and get permission from government before he/she was seen performing rituals on a public road. He said any act conducted on governments property without permission was a punishable offence. We also have a concern about the souls which are wandering at Malagwane, but we cannot just remove them from the public road without permission from government, he said. He further asked, what the pastor had to do with politics, as his was to preach about the Kingdom of God which was about to come?
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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Arizonas attorney general says a total abortion ban that has been on the books since before statehood can be enforced and Louisiana's attorney general is warning doctors against performing abortions even while a ban there is temporarily blocked, as states grapple with long-halted laws in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The high court decision less than a week ago has set off legal battles in multiple states where lawmakers have sought to ban or restrict abortion.

In Arizona, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has said a law he signed in March banning abortions after 15 weeks took precedence over a total ban in place since at least 1901, 11 years before Arizona statehood. But Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a fellow Republican, said he was reveiwing the 1901 law in the wake of Roe and and providers immediately stopped performing the procedure out of fear of prosecution.

Brnovich on Wednesday sided with those who pointed to a specific provision in the new law that said it did not override the earlier one, which has been blocked since 1973. Brnovich says hell seek to have it unblocked.

Our office has concluded the Legislature has made its intentions clear with regards to abortion laws, Brmovich said on Twitter. ARS 13-3603 (the pre-statehood law) is back in effect and will not be repealed when the new law takes effect.

Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin the governors office was reviewing Brnovichs decision and had no immediate comment.

Earlier Wednesday, Louisianas attorney general issued a warning to doctors against performing abortions, despite a judges order blocking the state from enforcing its ban on the procedure.

In a letter to the Louisiana State Medical Society, Attorney General Jeff Landry said the state judges Monday order blocking enforcement has limited reach and abortion has been a crime since Fridays high court decision.

It is incumbent on this office to advise you that any medical provider who would perform or has performed an elective abortion after the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs is jeopardizing his or her liberty and medical license, Landry wrote, referencing the Friday decision.

Landrys spokesman did not immediately respond to a message asking whether his office would seek to prosecute doctors who perform abortions while the judges order is in effect. The three abortion clinics in the state have said they will continue operations while the order is in effect.

Kentuckys two abortion clinics meanwhile asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to block a state law that took effect after the Supreme Court ruling. Attorneys for a Louisville clinic argued that Kentuckys constitution allows for abortion, adding one clinic has turned away about 200 potential patients since the Friday ruling. A judge said he would rule on the request this week.

Louisiana and Kentucky are among states that had trigger laws designed to ban abortion, with few exceptions, in anticipation of a decision to overturn Roe.

In Ohio, lawyers abortion providers asked that states Supreme Court on Wednesday to use its powers to overturn a ban on abortions once cardiac activity is detectable. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and others argued the law violates the Ohio Constitutions broad protections of individual liberty.

A challenge to West Virginias abortion ban also was announced Wednesday by the ACLU of that state. The ACLU says the state ban dates back to the 1800s and has been superseded by numerous laws passed since, including a 20-week abortion ban that was passed in 2015 and acknowledges a patients right to an abortion.

___

Associated Press reporters Bob Christie in Phoenix, Julie Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this story.

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For APs full coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, go to https://apnews.com/hub/abortion.

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This story has corrected the spelling of Kanawha County.
NEW HAVEN  A sobbing Doreen Coleman, mother of Richard Cox Jr., who was seriously injured while being transported to the police station following an arrest, demanded justice in her first public appearance Tuesday.

I want people to know, that is my baby boy, my baby son, she said.  We are going to get justice for him. She asked for prayers for Coxs full recovery.

The press conference in front of Superior Court included attorney Ben Crump, who has worked on numerous cases of police abuse of Black people, including George Floyd.

LaToya Boomer, Coxs younger sister, said, When we were younger, we would tell people we were twins because we do look alike and we wanted people to think that he was older, she said.

As far as Randy, he loves his community, Boomer said. On June 19, Fathers Day and Juneteenth, he was at a community block party on Lilac Street, she said. He was helping out with the event. He was cooking on the grill. He was overseeing the kids. And he was kind of doing the traffic control because there were no police there.

Cox, known as Randy and R.R., was arrested at the party and charged with illegal possession of a firearm, among other counts. Police said he had a bottle of liquor in his hand and a gun in his waistband.

While Cox has not been convicted of a felony, according to the state judicial website, he has several convictions for third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, which disqualify him from being able to carry a weapon, according to his attorney, Jack ODonnell.

At a press conference later Tuesday, Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson, nominated to be the next police chief, said a detective had told him Cox previously had been convicted of a felony.

After the arrest, Cox was taken in handcuffs to the police lockup in a transport van when Officer Oscar Diaz suddenly hit the brakes and Cox was thrown head-first against the front wall.

While he called for help and said he couldnt move, Diaz and Sgt. Betsy Segui did not stop and wait for medical help, which is police protocol, but continued to the police station. After trying to get him to move, they dragged Cox out of the van by his feet and put him in a wheelchair.

He was then cuffed at the ankles and put in a cell. Three other officers who work in the detention area, as well as Diaz and Segui, have been placed on paid administrative leave while the state police conduct an investigation.

Boomer said she couldnt watch the video. I started watching the video and the treatment of him was a disgrace, she said. Wheres the first day of training, wheres the on-the-job training? Wheres the accountability? I want to know, wheres the person that sees whats going on and says, maybe hes not joking, maybe hes not drunk, maybe he is in distress.

Instead, she said, the officers said, No, youre not even trying. Get up, roll over. Turn on your back. Hes saying I cant move. She called for the officers involved to be fired and arrested.

Boomer said her family has pretty much lived in Newhallville our whole life. Cox went to Lincoln Bassett School, Troup Middle School and James Hillhouse High School and was in the talented and gifted program.

Hes in the community, hes outside every day. Hes around, Boomer said. Yeah, he has been in trouble before. But that doesnt mean you dont give someone care because theyve been in trouble before.

Boomer said the van passed two hospitals on the way to the lockup and the ambulance hadnt arrived at the Police Department when the van arrived.

Another sister, Laquavius LeGrant, said, How did we get here? Why are we here right now? How does what was supposed to be a routine transport to jail turn into my brother being paralyzed by having his neck broken?

Crump said of Coxs family, even though they are trying to keep the hope, Mama, they know the very daunting reality that this young man is facing, that he may not walk again.

Randy Cox is lying in that hospital bed, paralyzed from his chest down, because of the actions and inactions of the New Haven Police Department, Crump said.

I am here because when I look at that video, it shocks my conscience. And I believed when you all see the video its going to shock your conscience. The only question is, why when the police look at Randy Cox saying I cant move, why doesnt it shock their conscience?  Why didnt they use just an ounce, just an ounce of humanity?

Crump said the case reminded him of Freddie Gray, who died in Baltimore in 2015 under similar circumstances. This is Freddie Gray case on video, he said. Thank God, we got the video so they cant deny what happened.

He said to other attorneys, I know yall have even more video than what has been released to the public. And when you see the rest of the video, its going to be even more shocking, I believe. There is the allegation that the driver of the police wagon wasnt paying attention. He may have been using the cellphone.

Mayor Justin Elicker, at an afternoon news conference, said what happened to Cox was just terrible and completely unacceptable.  It falls short of the high standards that we hold ourselves to, and it will not be tolerated in the Police Department.

He said the city is offering support and prayers to the family. We want justice for Randy, he said. And thats why we are doing everything we can to ensure transparency for the Cox family, for Randy and for the public.

He said the public was alerted within 24 hours of the incident and all the video that was available was released within 48 hours. We have released all of the videos to the public including  the entire body camera from Officer Diaz, from when he started driving the vehicle to the detention center, Elicker said.

He said he talked to Coleman shortly after I became aware of the incident and that she was invited to watch the video before it was released to the public.

As mayor of the city I think its crucial that we share the facts, Elicker said. We are open. We are transparent. We acknowledge that while we have done much work to improve public safety in our city, there is more work that we need to do. And we are committed to doing this work.

At the morning news conference, Scot X. Esdaile, state president of the NAACP, said the response from the Police Department and the mayor was inadequate.

People from the community have been coming to us for years, talking about how they torture people in the back of paddy wagons, Esdaile said. They put individuals in the paddy wagons, they go real fast and they slam the brakes. At this particular time, he was in the back of the paddy wagon by himself. No one to break the fall. And then the compassion, the concern, the decency for another human, you did not see from anyone that was supposed to be taking care of Randy at that particular time.

He said the issue was not a few bad apples in the bunch. I disagree. This is a culture of the New Haven police, and the culture must change.

I understand what theyre referring to, Jacobson said. The policing is where it is now because of its history, and things that were done bad in the past. And we have to change it from front to back. Im not going to argue that at all. But I would say that the culture of the Police Department 24 years ago, all police departments compared to today, is a lot better. But we still have work to do.

I dont think that we have a culture in the New Haven Police Department of police brutality; weve had incidents, and weve held those officers accountable, Elicker said.

From my view of those videos, policing is hierarchical in a way where we need to ensure that were empowering more officers to have the tools that they need in a culture to say to another officer, even if it may be an officer that oversees them, hang on. Are we doing the right thing here?

In addition to criminal possession of a firearm, a Class C felony, Cox is charged with carrying a pistol without a permit and threatening, both Class D felonies, second-degree threatening, a Class A misdemeanor, and breach of peace, a Class B misdemeanor.

A crowd of several hundred people turned out at an event at the Stetson Branch Library on Tuesday night, organized by the NAACP, to support the family of Richard Cox and to hear updates from the family, legal team and activists.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382
GOSHEN  A 28-year-old Torrington man died in a motorcycle crash on North Street early Wednesday, according to police.

Connecticut State Police said Travis Raymond suffered fatal injuries in a crash on the 100 block of North Street around 5:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Police said Raymond was riding a motorcycle on Route 63 when he struck the rear of a car that was turning into a driveway.

The other driver involved in the crash suffered minor injuries and declined medical attention, according to police.

Police closed a portion of Route 63 from the intersection at Route 4 to the intersection at Route 43.

Police said the crash is under investigation.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and Democrat Joy Hofmeister easily won their respective primary races on Tuesday, both taking advantage of massive fundraising advantages over their opponents in a state where hot-button issues like abortion, firearms and the death penalty are likely to be a focus in the race.

Stitts feuds with fellow Republicans in the Legislature and with many Oklahoma-based Native American tribes didnt seem to bother GOP primary voters, although the strained relationship with tribes, which have grown more powerful with an influx of casino revenue in recent decades, likely will be a factor in Novembers general election.

Stitt, 49, the wealthy former head of a Jenks-based mortgage company, raised about $5.4 million, nearly 20 times as much as his three GOP primary opponents combined, and is a heavy favorite to advance. But the first-term governor also was forced to spend heavily on advertising to counter millions of dollars in dark-money attack ads that painted him as soft on crime.

We have made government more accountable to the people," Stitt told supporters at a watch party Tuesday night. We are delivering better services while keeping government small and limited."

His Republican primary opponents included the head of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Joel Kintsel, 46, political unknown Moira McCabe, 40, and former Tulsa police officer Mark Sherwood, 57, a naturopathic doctor.

On the campaign stump, Stitt focused on what he called Oklahomas Turnaround and emphasized the states low unemployment and rebounding economy, including more than $2 billion thats been socked away in state savings accounts. Even after four years in office, Stitt painted himself as a businessman and political outsider in the mold of former President Donald Trump.

On the Democratic side, Hofmeister, 57, a longtime Republican and two-term head of Oklahoma's public schools system, announced last year she was switching parties to run against Stitt. The two had clashed over the state's handling of COVID-19 in schools, including a prohibition on mask mandates, and Stitt's support for a voucher plan that would divert public education funds to private schools.

She defeated longtime Oklahoma Democratic Party loyalist and former state Sen. Connie Johnson, 70, who was a leading liberal voice during her 12 years as a state legislator.

As a lifelong Republican, Hofmeister doesn't provide as clear an alternative to Stitt as most Democrats would. She describes herself as pro-life," even though she says a decision on an abortion should be between a woman and her doctor. Johnson, on the other hand, was a staunch supporter of abortion rights during her time in the Senate.

I think Joy's positions are moderate, and I think she has the best chance, if anyone has a chance, to beat Kevin Stitt in the fall," said Michael Bowling, 46, a Democrat who cast his ballot for Hofmeister at the Crown Heights Christian Church in Oklahoma City.

Hofmeister had a major fundraising advantage over Johnson, raising more than $1.1 million compared to Johnson's $53,000. Of all the gubernatorial candidates, including Stitt, Hofmeister had the most cash on hand, about $490,000, heading into Tuesday's primary, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Independent Ervin Yen, an Oklahoma City anesthesiologist and former Republican state senator, and Libertarian Natalie Bruno of Edmond also will be on the November ballot.

___

Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
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NEW HAVEN  Several-dozen Morris Cove and East Haven neighbors of Tweed New Haven Regional Airport gave airport and city officials another earful about noise, traffic, fumes, too-late and too-early Avelo Airlines flights, saying neighborhoods on both sides of the airport are not suitable for expansion.

City and airport officials came prepared, however, announcing several changes geared to alleviate noise, fumes and parking issues.

Kathleen Spencer, who lives on High Street in East Haven, said its not fair for airport neighbors to have to suck it up for others who want to use the airport.

At times, it takes an hour to get up High Street, said Spencer, who has found dead birds in her backyard that she thinks are related to Tweed. This whole big airport, is it feasible for small towns?

Im old and I dont want to suck it up anymore, Spencer said. Ive worked too hard. The status quo is not fair to everybody. Its not for the good of everyone  and even if it doesnt affect me, it affects other people.

The last statement elicited applause from about 100 people who attended a Tuesday night forum.

Its all for Yale! screamed several people in the audience.

Why dont we go to Guilford and set up an airport? Spencer said, making a reference to the town where Tweed New Haven Airport Authority Executive Director Sean Scanlon, also a Democratic state representative, lives. Im mad as hell and Im not going to take it anymore!

The meeting at Nathan Hale School on Townsend Avenue was required as an annual condition of the Board of Alders approval last fall of a new, 43-year airport lease and sublease to Avports, Tweeds longtime operator, which has yet to be signed.

Officials, led by Mayor Justin Elicker and Scanlon, repeatedly told residents that officials take their concerns seriously and are working to address them.

Scanlon announced that Tweed has entered into an agreement with Park New Haven to offer off-site parking at Union Station, beginning Wednesday.

Well start advertising and have that available tomorrow, he told the Hearst Connecticut Media. Beginning Thursday, Tweed will offer a shuttle bus Thursdays through Sundays from Union Station to Tweed that will run every half-hour  and also will make it more convenient for people to get to the airport via the Shoreline East and Metro North commuter railroads, he said.

Parking at Union Station will be $10 per day, compared to $15, $20 and $25 a day at the three lots at Tweed. Details and reservations both for parking and the shuttle are available at https://parkhvn.com, Scanlon said.

Scanlon also announced that Tweed and Elicker are addressing complaints about noise, fumes and flight hours by reaching a voluntary flight agreement with Avelo to change some of their flight hours and change the way they start their engines and taxi to the runway to reduce both noise and fumes.

Effective immediately, there will be no scheduled departures after 10 p.m. and no scheduled arrivals after 11 p.m., Scanlon said.

Since May, we asked them to not take off in those situations where delayed flights might arrive in the evening or early morning, Scanlon said.

He said that as a father of young children, himself, I find those really late, 2 a.m., 1 a.m. flights to be unacceptable.

Tweed also is asking Avelo not to have flights take off earlier than 6 a.m. even if boarded and cleared for takeoff and said that will move to 6:30 a.m. as of Sept. 1, and to not have them idle on the tarmac until they are ready to take off, Scanlon said.

The airport has been working with Avelo since April and has gone from eight of 59 flights landing after midnight in April to 2 of 85 flights landing after midnight in May, and five of 97 flights landing after midnight in June, he said.

The city also will provide additional traffic calming and speed enforcement measures and the Police Department will add an additional officer to patrol the neighborhood at Tweeds expense, Scanlon said.

Scanlon said he was 100 percent committed to working with neighbors to address their concerns.

Tweed is currently in the midst of an environmental assessment that will address concerns about how proposed extension of the runway from 5,600 feet to 6,535 feet and construction of a new, 74,000-square-foot terminal on the East Haven side of the airport as part of a $70 million expansion project might affect neighbors.

Officials are probably a couple of weeks away from submitting a draft of the study to the FAA, Scanlon said.

During the meeting Tuesday, Elicker called for mutual respect.

That was the case in some instances but the crowd, made up largely of people who have grown increasingly frustrated as traffic at Tweed has increased in recent months, got testy in other cases.

One man said, If your environmental assessment doesnt include data for small particles, then it is useless.

They are carbon. They dont degrade, he said. They stay in your lungs just like coal in a coal miners lungs. He asked whether the study looked at 20 nanometer particles.

The honest answer is no, said Scanlon, adding that it was not something that the FAA required.

One man said that jet fuel is leaded fuel and raised questions about health effects.

Scanlon responded that Jet A, the fuel that Avelo and the vast majority of planes flying out of Tweed use, do not have lead in them. The overwhelming majority of the gas we sell is not leaded, he said.

Lighthouse Road resident Rachel Heerema, an organizer of the anti-Tweed expansion 10,000 Hawks environmental and advocacy group, said that to have a voluntary agreement that doesnt also include charter airlines, thats not good enough.

She called what Scanlon announced a start, but said its not sufficient.

We need more, we need better  and if it cannot be done, then we need to shut down the expansion, she said. She submitted petitions signed by 700 people calling for Tweed to restrict all flights to between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.  with a penalty of $5,000 per violation.

Heerema was one of several speakers who accused city and Tweed officials of not being willing to respond to them.

Elicker said thats not the case. Im happy to sit down with you, he told her. ... Im happy to meet with you.

Jean Edwards Chieppo, who started what now is called the Keep Tweed Small Facebook page,

pointed out that Save the Sound has asked for a more comprehensive environmental impact statement  and asked why the authority wasnt doing one.

Scanlon responded that when we started, the FAA told us what to do and this is what they told us to do. When were done, if the FAA thinks there are more questions to be answered, theyll ask that we do an EIS.

Courtney Sargent-Ferguson, who lives on Boston Avenue in New Haven, said she moved there when her son was 6. Hes now 11 and has epilepsy and breathing issues. She questioned whether Tweed is the reason why.

I shouldnt have to worry about my son and whether he can breathe, Sargent-Ferguson said. ... You need to come and stay here for a while.

Scanlon responded, Im also a parent and I would be in the very same boat if I were you. Im telling you that exactly what youre asking us to study, is what were studying.

Anthony Camposano of East Haven asked, Why is everyone, New Haven, East Haven, the airport ... allowing this? Why is no one representing us?

He also said he fears that freight operations are coming to Tweed and that eminent domain will be used to push people out of their homes.

Scanlon said the airport and the airport authority do not have authority to do eminent domain and we have no plan or interest in doing freight .... because to have freight at the airport, you have to have space  and we dont have space.

City Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli said later that only the city of New Haven has power of eminent domain and it only has it on the New Haven side of the airport, not on the East Haven side.

East Haven mother and activist Lorena Venegas, founder of the East Haven Politics Facebook page and a member of 10,000 Hawks, said that once you fill in the wetlands, then East Haven is ruined. Right now, you havent been able to build a ditch, she said, referring to work going on on the Tweed property. If you cannot build a ditch, you cannot build a terminal.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
MBABANE - Hancy Construction Company has promised its employees counselling a day after one of their colleagues died after falling from scaffolding while plastering at Mona Flats.

The incident which happened on Monday evening, left the employees traumatised. It was, therefore, unclear as to whether they would be able to cope the following day at work. To try and calm down the employees, the company decided to engage a psychologist to assist them before returning to work.

Confirmed

This was confirmed by Hancy Construction Foreman; Bonginkosi Zwane, when he was asked about the steps taken by the company to try and help those employees who witnessed the death of their colleague. He stated that they had met with their superiors to have a discussion on the matter and about the way forward. The employees were called yesterday morning for a serious discussion about a way forward, after the incident that claimed a life. The reason for the counselling is to help all those who were traumatised following the incident. We have resolved that they must all see a psychologist before they resume their work. This means everyone is expected to take part in the counselling session, said Zwane.

Comment

One employee, who preferred to comment on condition of anonymity, said they were called by their superiors yesterday morning, where they were told that they must all undergo a counselling session. He also stated that they were expected to start their counselling sessions today. Everyone is expected to go for counselling after the incident. We were told by our superiors that no one would be allowed to return to work unless we attended the counselling session.

Suspend

Zwane said the company decided to suspend its operation until further notice. He said the reason was to allow safety inspectors to do their investigation on the cause of the incident. The foreman did not specify the time frame when they were expected to continue building the structure, which was half way through. One impeccable source found on the site yesterday said an investigation was expected to commence as soon as possible with the aim of gathering all the facts about the incident. The source also revealed that it was going to take time for the company to resume its operation. Zwane confirmed that Hancys employees were not on duty as of yesterday and did not specify as to when they were expected to return to work.

Passing

Tibiyo TakaNgwane Managing Director Dr Absalom Themba Dlamini said they had received the sad news from Mandla Zwane of Tibiyo Properties (PTY) Ltd, on the passing on of a worker at Mona Flats on Monday after he fell from the building while plastering. He said it was an unfortunate incident. We got a report about the man who is said to be the owner of a sub-contractor who fell from the building. Hhawu uvele wabuya liwonkhe letulu, after the scaffolding broke down. We are saddened by the incident, said Dlamini. Mona Flats is owned by Tibiyo Properties. The name of the deceased will not be revealed as efforts to trace his family were futile.
The Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, denied a report alleging that some serving officers are planning to storm Abuja, to protest unpaid emolum...

The Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, denied a report alleging that some serving officers are planning to storm Abuja, to protest unpaid emoluments and poor working conditions.

Onyema Nwachukwu, Brigadier General, Director Army Public Relations in a statement described the reports as baseless, unsubstantiated and an attempt by some faceless enemies to dent the image of the military.

He said officers and men of the service witnessed exceptional positive changes in the moral and physical components of the force.

The statement further explained that the Nigerian Army under the current leadership had provided a conductive enablement for officers and men, which has motivated them to work tirelessly with all the logistics equipment that had been injected into the theatres of operations.

He said the army had provided welfare packages, prompt payment of salaries, operational allowances, medical facilities, as well as welfare flights to reduce the burden of troops travelling in and out of the theatres to see their loved ones.

Scholarships are also being awarded to children of officers and soldiers killed in action in the ongoing operations, he said.

He said the NA remained a symbol of national unity and cannot afford to be divided along ethnic or religious lines.
Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji on Wednesday visited the Lagos residence of former Governor of the State, Mr Ayodel...

Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji on Wednesday visited the Lagos residence of former Governor of the State, Mr Ayodele Fayose.

Oyebanji said the visit was to extend his courtesies to Fayose as a former governor of the state, who, according to him, demonstrated statesmanship by congratulating him shortly after he was declared winner of the June 18 election.

Former Governor Fayose, while receiving Oyebanji urged him to be magnanimous in victory and see himself as the leader of the people regardless of their political affiliation.

He promised to support Oyebanjis administration in whatever area his support would be needed, adding that the development of Ekiti State is a collective effort.

It is recalled that Oyebanji had earlier gone on a thank you visit to the Governor of the State, Dr Kayode Fayemi in Ado-Ekiti, a day after the incumbent Governor led two other APC governors to visit him at his Ikogosi Ekiti country home.

The Governor-elect has also visited the first civilian Governor of the state, currently Minister of Investments, Trade and Industry, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, at his Iyin-Ekiti country home earlier in the week.

He had earlier also visited Chief Deji Fasuan, the nonagenarian elder statesman who chaired the committee for the creation of Ekiti State, under whom he served as Secretary (to the committee) as well as the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, HRM, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has finally made contact with European club, Sevilla, over Jules Koundes transfer. Chelsea has been tracking K...





Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has finally made contact with European club, Sevilla, over Jules Koundes transfer.





Chelsea has been tracking Kounde since last summer, when they had agreed on personal terms with the Frenchman but failed to negotiate a fee with Sevilla who was adamant the player would only leave if his release clause was met.





A year later and under pressure to cash in, a 56 million offer would now be accepted for Kounde but Sevilla was left bemused by a lack of communication from Chelsea regarding a deal.





According to ABC Sevilla, Boehly has finally made contact over a transfer, reaching out to Sevilla on Wednesday morning to begin work on a deal for the centre-back.





There is a feeling from all parties that the transfer will be relatively uncomplicated to complete, with Sevilla lowering their asking price since last summer and Kounde happy with the personal terms that were already agreed with Chelsea a year ago.





Kounde joined Sevilla from French club, Bordeaux, back in 2019.





The 23-year-old immediately became a regular starter for the Spanish LaLiga giants and helped them win the Europa League during his debut season.





His impressive performances during the 2020-2021 season earned him a place in Didier Deschamps France squad for Euro 2020 last summer.
The youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, OYC, has called for the re-opening of Re...

The youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, OYC, has called for the re-opening of Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbakas Adoration Ministry, warning that a prolonged closure could spell doom.

NE recalls that the ministry was shut down after Mbakas outburst against the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.

A protest from the adoration parishioners did also not help matters as a man was seen in a viral video threatening to kill Bishop Callistus Onaga of the Enugu Catholic Diocese.

Mbaka had earlier come out to say that the young man in question has mental issues and declared that he would never be part of any plan to harm the Bishop.

Reacting in statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday, the OYC said the prolonged closure of the Adoration Ministry was a time bomb waiting to explode.

The statement was signed by the OYC National President, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike and the Secretary, Comrade Obinna Achionye.

The group said they had been making efforts to calm the frayed nerves of Fr. Mbakas followers, stressing that it would be difficult to hold them for too long.

While alleging deliberate plot to frustrate Fr. Mbaka out of the ministry, the OYC said, instead of being an upper room ministry which is what it is, like the Ebube Monso Ministry and the Catholic Prayer Ministry, Elele, Mbakas own has now been converted into a chaplaincy.

Our information revealed that there is a serious gang up and conspiracy against Fr. Mbaka, in addition to plans to take over everything he has laboured for in life, with a view towards crippling his source of magnified charity to the poor masses and send him out to overseas for further studies after 28 years of his priestly ordination.

The Ohanaeze youths also claimed to have uncovered plans to build a seminary at the Adoration ground, noting that, if actually it is about Peter Obi, Fr. Mbaka has even apologized for his statements, and we had expected the Church authority to forgive him in line with Biblical injunctions. After all, what he said was a prophecy, the right thing was to pray against it.

On the threat video, the group said the personality involved was a known mentally unstable character and that no one should lose sleep over his rantings.

They appeal to Bishop Onaga to consider the numerous people Fr. Mbaka puts food on their table everyday. We are saying this because should they take to the streets, it would be difficult to control them. In fact, the situation is just a bomb waiting to explode. We have been talking to them but we dont know how long we can hold them.

This is a man who takes care of over 25,000 persons either by direct employment or charity interventions. Such a person should not be treated with levity.

The Church should learn to practise what they preach on forgiveness. The Bible told us that forgiveness could be as much as 70 times 70. So, since the priest has apologized, the Church should look at the bigger picture and forgive him.
Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, says he is fasting and praying for divine guidance before deciding to support Atiku Abubakar, the presi...

Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, says he is fasting and praying for divine guidance before deciding to support Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 elections.

The governor spoke in a chat with Arise TV on Wednesday.

In May, Atiku had fended off a close challenge from Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, to clinch the PDP presidential ticket.

The candidate then named Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate despite the partys national working committee (NWC) endorsing Wike for the role.

The decision has since created a fissure amongst all individuals involved and their supporters.

Speaking on the development, Ortom praised Wike as somebody who stood for the party and made sure that things worked, adding that some of us believed in him as the partys best choice for the vice-presidential candidate.

He added that he will be supporting Atikus presidential bid only if God directs him.

All of us have our weapon; Wike can be something something but when it comes to mobilisation, impact, value addition and reaching out to make sure that the party works the man is an instrument. Hes somebody who stood for the party and made sure that things worked. Some of us believed in him, but unfortunately, it was somebody else. But the party is supreme, he said.

However, some of us have resorted to prayers. I have been in hibernation. Weve resorted to prayer: Lord God, where do we go from here. I believe as a Christian that power belongs to God. The Bible says a man can receive nothing except it is given to him from above.

I am praying. I have gone into hibernation. I am fasting and praying. So in the end, if God directs me that I should support Atiku, why should I not do it? After all, hes my party member. But I am waiting for him to do more. I expect him to reach out to Wike, who came second in the presidential primary. The man he denied the popular view of the PDP members  14 out of 17  who said Wike should be the vice-presidential candidate. I expect more explanation. I expect him to talk to Wike  whom we are supporting  first. I expect him to reach out to some of us so that together we can work as a party.
The Magistrate Court in Wuse, Abuja, has granted bail to Ameerah Sufyan. The Twitter user was charged by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)...





The Magistrate Court in Wuse, Abuja, has granted bail to Ameerah Sufyan.





The Twitter user was charged by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command for false kidnap alarm.





Ameerah was arrested on June 17 after days of search amid Nigerians condemnation of the government and security agencies over worsening insecurity.





The citizen claimed that she and 16 other residents of Abuja were kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to a forest.





On June 14, Ameerah alleged that the victims, including three pregnant women and two children, were abducted by men in police uniforms.





On Wednesday, the court granted the defendant bail over mental health issues.





Angry reactions are trailing verdict, with a tweep saying Ameerah could get away with murder.





Ustaz faeez @S_faeez92: Now Ameerah can kill and get away with that because she has mental problem Get your mental certificate and do any crime and get away with it.
Lovinas daughter lost her husband after he was hit by a car in 2020
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MBABANE  Mbuso Ncaza Nkosis mother is expected to come to Eswatini to testify in Sipho Shongwes murder trial.

This is the witness that this publication exclusively reported in February 2022 that yet another South African national would be paraded by the Crown to prove its case against Shongwe.

The date of the arrival of Nkosis mother has not been disclosed. In her evidence, she is expected to corroborate the evidence of her son pertaining to a bus that was purportedly gifted to him by Shongwe, allegedly as a token of appreciation for executing the killing of Victor Gamedze.

In his evidence, Ncaza told the court that when the vehicle was delivered, they found his mother, who informed him about its delivery. Yesterday, when the lead investigator, Senior Superintendent Sikhumbuzo Fakudze was led by Advocate Michael Hellens, he said Nkosis mother would testify in the matter, but did not disclose the date when she is expected to give her evidence. Fakudze told the court that the statement of Nkosis mother would be provided through Interpol. On February 17, 2022, Shongwes representative, Advocate Laurence Hodes, enquired from Nkosi about the whereabouts of the bus which was allegedly delivered to his (Nkosi) parental home in South Africa by one Aziz, who had been purportedly sent by Shongwe.

I dont know where it is, I am in jail, responded Nkosi. The advocate retorted: I dont understand. Its either there is a bus or there is none. Clarify. Nkosi said he received a call from Aziz when he was in prison and he told him that he had brought a 22-seater bus at Shongwes instruction. Nkosi said he requested Aziz and his uncle to depose to an affidavit because there were no documents about the bus. He told the court that his uncle and Aziz made the affidavit at a police station. The witness submitted that his uncle took the bus to his (uncle) brothers workshop outside Soweto. He further submitted that he had pictures of the bus.

Baby

Nkosi said when Aziz brought the bus to his home, he stated that it would benefit his then recently born baby to live comfortably. According to Nkosi, documents with a Matsapha United FC emblem, as well as EswatiniBank Cup and Premier League of Eswatini on them were found on the bus. Nkosi said he asked his mother to make copies of those documents, which he presented in court as part of his evidence. Advocate Hodes said Shongwe did not know how Nkosi got hold of those papers. Nkosi said he directed police officers to where the bus was.
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MBABANE  Despite calls to stall all operations for the protest march organised by the Multi-Stakeholders Forum (MSF), government says today is a normal working day in the country.

In an interview yesterday, Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo said Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, had issued a statement assuring emaSwati in their entirety, to remain calm and go ahead with their respective endeavours, as the kingdoms security services would work hard to ensure their safety and protection as they did so. Disturbances

Nxumalo said that did not mean that some rogue elements may not attempt to cause disturbances in order to gain undeserved attention. However, the law will continue to be maintained and enforced in the country regardless, said Nxumalo.

The government spokesperson added that as government, they were not yet aware of the contents of the petition that the MSF wanted to deliver to the PMs Office. He said they might only be able to see it tomorrow if and when the MSF delivered it. Nxumalo added that today was not a holiday in the Kingdom of Eswatini. He said holidays were gazetted first by the incumbent government, and announced accordingly.

Formations

They are not designated by any other entity in society, said Nxumalo. This comes after several political formations had called for today to be a public holiday in remembrance of the people who died during the June/July unrest last year. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintended Phindile Vilakati, said as police, they would stick to what was said by the PM on Monday during the press conference. The PM had said security agents would be available to protect the public. He said government would do everything to protect the lives of emaSwati, and to restore peace and order in the country. These criminals and their enablers will face the full might of the law, said Dlamini.

Meanwhile, MSF Chairperson Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko insisted that todays march was still on. When asked if they had their own security measures in place in order to keep participants safe, Maseko said they would have marshals who would be helping the participants. The permit for the march was denied by the Municipal Council of Mbabane. The MSF had initially applied to assemble and proceed from the Coronation Park to the PMs Office. The routes to be followed were from the Coronation Park, through Dr Sishayi Road and Usuthu Link Road to the Hospital Hill. Yesterday, Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) said they would be joining the march called by MSF. SWAYOCO President Sakhile Awviva Nxumalo said their plan as well was to join MSF in the march heading to the PMs Office to deliver the petition.

March

Nxumalo said they were aware that police might block those who may want to join the march along the way. He said in such cases, they were encouraging those who might be blocked to push the struggle in those places where they would be blocked. He said today there should be a demonstration everywhere in the country. Nxumalo said they were expecting many people to join the march. He went on to say they were calling upon all public transport workers to join them by parking their vehicles and also businesses to do the same. He said this should be done to honour those who lost their lives in the June/July unrest last year.
A trove of still-hidden church documents show a retired New Orleans priest was a serial pedophile who abused children for decades and was never reported to all relevant law enforcement authorities by Archdiocese of New Orleans officials, according to allegations in a court filing Monday by attorneys representing a person claiming to be one of the priests victims.

The filing in Orleans Parish Civil District Court is aimed at unsealing the documents as part of a lawsuit against the church and the Rev. Lawrence Hecker, who worked at more than a dozen churches across the area over four decades, including St. Frances Cabrini in New Orleans, St. Francis Xavier in Metairie and Christ the King in Terrytown.

Though the attorneys represent only one person claiming to have been abused by Hecker, the 14-page motion alleges that the documents in question  which the lawyers already have  show Hecker to be a serial pedophile who has sexually abused countless children.

While church leaders removed Hecker from ministry in 2002, the motion says the allegations against him werent publicly acknowledged until 2018 and have yet to be fully disclosed to law enforcement.

In arguing for unsealing the church documents, the attorneys compared Heckers case to that of the infamous former Massachusetts clergyman John Geoghan, who was accused of abusing 150 boys and was the focus of an explosive 2002 Boston Globe report which exposed how Bostons archdiocese covered up for molester priests.

A direct-line analogy can be drawn from this case to the Father John Geoghan cases in the Archdiocese of Boston, the filing said. The documents at issue will reveal in no uncertain terms that the last four archbishops of New Orleans knew that Lawrence Hecker was a serial child predator  and absolutely failed to properly report his crimes to the appropriate authorities.

The archdiocese hasn't filed a formal response to Monday's motion. A spokeswoman declined comment on the filing, citing a policy against discussing pending legal cases.

When Archbishop Gregory Aymond in November 2018 released a list of local clergymen, including Hecker, who had been credibly accused of child molestation, he said that the roster had been given to the Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office and would be made available to any other prosecutors interested in it.

Another new but decades-old claim of New Orleans clergy molestation is filed in court For the second time in a week, a man has come forward with new claims that he was molested decades ago by a New Orleans-area Catholic priest w

It isnt clear whether church files, other than the list itself, have been turned over to prosecutors  except perhaps in the case of disgraced deacon George Brignac, who has since been charged with child rape in Orleans Parish.

An attorney for Hecker couldnt be reached Monday. In a prior court filing, Hecker denied any wrongdoing.

The request for the public release of the church documents comes from attorneys Richard Trahant, John Denenea and Soren Gisleson, who are representing alleged victims in several other cases against the church.

The same attorneys are also fighting to make public communications between the archdiocese and the New Orleans Saints, as part of a separate civil case involving Brignac. The Associated Press has also argued that those documents should be made public.

Attorneys argue for, against releasing Saints-archdiocese emails; ruling deferred A former Orleans Parish Civil District Court judge on Thursday heard arguments for and against publicly releasing a trove of emails exchanged 

The plaintiffs filing says Hecker was first identified publicly as a child molester in the 2018 release by Aymond, which came 12 years after the archdiocese was first notified of an allegation against him. But the motion insists that the mere listing fell short of fully conveying the depth of Heckers disgusting crimes against children or the archdioceses equally disgusting suppression of those crimes.

The motion also alleges that the sealed documents reveal Hecker broke federal laws barring travel across state lines for the purpose of criminal sexual activity  violations that can carry stiff prison sentences. Such crimes have no statutes of limitation, the motion argues.

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The motion notes that there is also a law criminalizing the failure to report federal felonies to the government, and it alleges church bureaucrats may have violated that law in their handling of Hecker.

Though the motion refers to a separate filing simultaneously lodged under seal, it does not include the source documents to back up the various allegations.

Nonetheless, the motion explicitly accuses Aymond and his predecessors  Philip Hannan, Francis Schulte and Alfred Hughes, a former Geoghan supervisor  of knowing Hecker had preyed on children and yet failed to report him to authorities.

Hannan left office in 1988. On the list of credibly accused clergy released in 2018, archdiocesan officials said they first received an allegation against Hecker in 1996.

Schulte was archbishop from 1989 to 2002, when Hughes took over until 2009. Hannan and Schulte died in 2011 and 2016, respectively.

The suit at the center of Mondays motion comes from an unnamed man who says he was an underage student at St. Joseph School in Gretna in 1968 when Hecker fondled his genitals and those of other boys.

The plaintiff seeks damages from both Hecker and the local archdiocese.

The church turned over the documents mentioned in Mondays motion to the plaintiffs legal team during the discovery process, which began last year. But the church designated the documents as confidential and subject to a protective order.

Trahant, Denenea and Gisleson on Monday argued that the seal should be lifted because the documents contain information that could help the public protect itself from Hecker, 88, who still lives in the New Orleans area.

The attorneys contend there is legal precedent for the argument that disclosing information about public hazards trumps privacy concerns.

The archdioceses removal of Hecker from the ministry in 2002 occurred as the national scandal resulting from the Geoghan revelations reached a fever pitch. But a review of public records as well as archives of The Times-Picayune and the archdiocesan newspaper show the church continued maintaining ties with Hecker in later years.

A 2008 article in The Times-Picayunes community news section invited readers to congratulate Hecker on the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination by writing to him at his home in an archdiocesan apartment complex in Marrero.

Seven months before the release of the abusive clergy list, the Clarion Herald archdiocesan newspaper listed Hecker as one of 49 retired priests who would benefit from a collection of donations meant to cover medical and retirement costs. That month, the archdiocese also highlighted the 60th anniversary of Heckers ordination, describing him as a monsignor, a distinguished title given to long-tenured priests.

Archdiocesan officials have previously said that removal from ministry is not an exile from the church, and they have cited a continuing obligation to pay priests what they are due under their pension plan.

A hearing on the suit targeting Hecker is set for March 20.
Attorneys for a man who claims he was molested as a child by a predatory priest estimate that the clergyman has received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of financial support from the Archdiocese of New Orleans since his forced retirement, according to court documents filed Friday.

The filing in the lawsuit targeting former priest Lawrence Hecker, 88, and the archdiocese calls attention to a church practice that is common nationwide but infuriates abuse victims and advocates.

The church provides retired priests with a monthly income, car insurance and a choice of living quarters, even when, like Hecker, they filed retirement papers in the wake of a credible accusation of child sexual abuse.

The plaintiffs filing on Friday cites the archdioceses own policy manual to support its arguments.

An archdiocesan spokeswoman declined comment Friday but said, We pray for the victims and survivors of abuse every day and ask others to join in prayer for their healing.

The archdiocese has previously said it is obligated to pay priests what they are owed under their pension plan.

+2 Retired New Orleans priest likened in court docs to notorious Boston clerical abuser A trove of still-hidden church documents show a retired New Orleans priest was a serial pedophile who abused children for decades and was ne

Filed last April, the suit in question accuses Hecker of fondling the genitals of the plaintiff and other boys at St. Joseph School in Gretna in 1968. The plaintiff seeks damages from both Hecker and the archdiocese.

The archdiocese removed Hecker from the ministry in 2002 because he was a suspected child molester, but it waited until 2018 to publicly acknowledge those suspicions on a roster listing dozens of other credibly accused clergymen.

Fridays filing seeks to compel Hecker to provide answers to written questions from the plaintiffs lawyers  Soren Gisleson, John Denenea and Richard Trahant  who are representing roughly two dozen alleged clergy abuse victims in various cases.

Heckers attorney, Eugene Redmann, has filed a blanket denial of wrongdoing by his client. Hecker has refused to answer written questions from the plaintiff about whether the archdiocese has provided him housing, retirement benefits or income, saying that information is irrelevant.

Another goal of Fridays filing is to attack an argument the church has made: that it cannot be held liable for any of Heckers alleged crimes because they occurred outside of the performance of his priestly duties.

The plaintiffs lawyers note that the archdioceses most recent directory, from 2019, describes Hecker as retired. The local churchs policy handbook says all retired priests are entitled to a monthly income; medical insurance, plus dental and vision coverage; car insurance; continuing education; and their choice of archdiocese-owned living facilities.

Following his retirement, public records for years have shown Heckers home address as an archdiocese-owned apartment complex in Marrero. His current listed home address is at a privately owned apartment complex.

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Priests with same last name mixed up on New Orleans archdiocese's list of abusive clergy The Archdiocese of New Orleans recently dropped one priest from a list of clergymen facing credible claims of molesting children and replaced 

The manual provides three funding sources for retired priests benefits: an assessment paid by each church parish; an assessment from each parish for its assigned priests; and an allocation from an annual collection of donations from parishioners meant to cover priests retirement costs.

In other words, collections from Masses have been funding some part of Heckers retirement, the plaintiffs new filing asserts. Given that Hecker retired in 2002, the benefits he has received in the last 18 years are undoubtedly substantial.

Citing data from a website that estimates salary information for various professions, the filing posits that active priests in New Orleans make nearly $48,000  and that Hecker has been paid nearly half a million dollars since his retirement.

A conservative estimate of 50% of his salary as retirement would equate to approximately $24,000 per year and, when added to the last 18 years, would total about $432,000  not including his other benefits of health care, car insurance  and living expenses, the filing argues.

At least one other priest, Thomas Gaspard Glasgow, who was included on the list of those credibly accused of abuse is described as retired in the archdioceses 2019 directory.

Another priest whom the directory describes as retired, Las Vegas-based Brian Highfill, was suspended from public ministry in August 2018 while church officials investigated misconduct accusations against him dating back to the early 1980s. He is not listed on the archdioceses roster of credibly accused clergymen.

The arrangements highlighted in Fridays court papers are not unique to New Orleans. Reports show they exist in dioceses across the country, with advocates for clergy abuse victims often expressing outrage.

Ordained in 1958, Hecker worked at more than a dozen churches across the New Orleans area, including Our Lady of Lourdes in New Orleans, St. Francis Xavier in Metairie and Christ the King in Terrytown.

A filing Monday from the plaintiffs lawyers accused Hecker of being a serial pedophile who  sexually abused countless children prior to his removal from the ministry. The filing also contended that the church has never reported Hecker to all relevant law enforcement authorities, even though there is evidence that he committed crimes for which there is no statute of limitation and for which he could still be punished.

That filing seeks the public disclosure of records the plaintiffs attorneys already have, and which they argue show a shameful and possibly criminal cover-up of Heckers behavior.

The church has at least until March 12 to file a response in court to Mondays filing and until March 18 for Fridays motion.
A man accused of killing a New Orleans woman and then shooting a police officer in Tennessee has been found, authorities said Wednesday morning.

BJ Brown was taken into custody after a statewide manhunt, according to a 7 a.m. statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. They did not release any details about where or how he was found.

He is expected to face several charges, including second-degree murder in New Orleans and attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer in Tennessee.

Brown, 32, is accused of fatally shooting Cassandra Jones, 48, with an assault-style rifle Monday morning in the 1400 block of Iberville Street. Jones and Brown had a years-long relationship with multiple reports of abuse, according to court records.

Jones, a Mississippi native, was a mother of three and was a deputy clerk in Orleans Parish, according to First City Court Clerk Austin Badon. Read more about her.

A video of her killing was shared on social media and seen by thousands.

The graphic video, filmed from an upstairs window, shows Jones writhing on the ground in the parking lot. The assailant walks toward her swiftly and shoots her twice in the body at close range then walks away. Jones later died at a hospital, police said.

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After the shooting in New Orleans, Brown is accused of fleeing to Tennessee, where authorities say he shot a police officer during a traffic stop in Erin, which is about 65 miles west of Nashville, and then ran into the woods.

As of Tuesday night, the officer was is in stable condition in a hospital, police said.

Erin police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations issued a statewide alert and used canine units and helicopters to find him, officials said.

Check back for more as this story develops.
A temporary restraining order on Monday allowed abortions to resume again in Louisiana after a brief ban following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned decisions about abortion access to the states.

Medication abortions are increasingly common, with about 50% of abortions that occur before 8 weeks of pregnancy being induced by the abortion pill. Here's what you need to know about it.

What is the abortion pill?

People often use the term abortion pill to refer to two different medications taken in succession to end a pregnancy.

The first is called mifepristone, often sold under the brand name Mifeprex. Its a common medication used to treat many conditions. In a larger dose, it can be used to stop pregnancy by blocking the bodys production of the hormone progesterone, causing the embryo to detach from the uterine wall.

The second pill is called misoprostol. It causes cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus.

The medications are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to terminate pregnancies within ten weeks of a missed period.

What are Louisianas laws about accessing abortion pills?

When the state's laws mention abortion, they are typically referring to both surgical abortion and medication abortion.

Currently, medication abortion is legal in Louisiana because of a temporary injunction that puts the state's trigger laws on hold. That law bans abortions, including by medication, except in certain situations.

For now, laws governing abortion prior to Supreme Court decision are still in effect. They include:

Patients must wait 72 hours between an initial consultation and abortion.

Telehealth for a medication abortion is prohibited in Louisiana.

Physicians must prescribe the pill and be in the same room when it is taken.

Those under 18 must get parental permission or a judicial bypass to get an abortion.

How effective is the abortion pill regimen?

Studies have found the pregnancy is terminated successfully 99.6% of the time, with a 0.4% risk of major complications.

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What is the difference between abortion pills and emergency contraception?

Abortion pills are meant for women who are already pregnant.

Emergency contraception is not subject to Louisianas trigger laws. The laws, which are currently not in effect, specifically say emergency contraception is legal.

Plan B is one type of emergency contraception that can be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex to prevent a pregnancy from occurring. Others can be taken within 5 days.

Emergency contraception does not cause abortion, since it works by delaying or inhibiting ovulation. It will not work if the woman is already pregnant.

Can a person be criminally punished for sending abortion medication to people in Louisiana?

A bill authored by Slidell Republican Sen. Sharon Hewitt and signed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards allows the prosecution of prescribers that send abortion pills through the mail. It goes into effect August 1.

How will Louisiana enforce its criminal abortion laws? Officials arent sure yet As Louisiana enters an era in which abortion rights will be decided by a vehemently anti-abortion state government, observers and advocates ar

However, its unclear how that might be enforced. Critics have said it violates the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to regulate trade between states.

Legal experts said the matter will be litigated, along with many other questions about what overturning Roe v. Wade means for states, in the coming weeks and months.

There is a question as to whether or not states can prohibit medication abortions, because they are permitted by the FDA, said Tulane School of Law professor emeritus Keith Werhan, a constitutional law expert. But whether or not the federal permission to use medication abortions preempts state prohibitions, that's going to be litigated.

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said states cannot ban the medication based on a disagreement with the FDA that the pills are safe and effective.

Can a person be criminally punished for taking abortion medication?

Under Louisiana's abortion ban, who faces criminal penalties and what are they? Louisiana's new "trigger" law, which went into force when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sets out a long list of penalties for

Hewitts bill exempts pregnant women from being prosecuted for taking abortion pills. The state's trigger laws also exempt pregnant women from prosecution for taking abortion pills.
MATSAPHA - Over 30 members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) arrived at Mbikwakhe yesterday in search of weapons supposedly hidden in a flat of one of the suspects who were arrested for malicious injury to property.

Following the arrest of the two suspects; Thandokuhle Galimese Dlamini and Simanga Sigwili Vilakati, who were charged for malicious injury to property, the police visited one of the suspects rented flat at Mbikwakhe, where they reportedly knocked on peoples houses in search of weapons. This happened at around lunchtime yesterday. According to a source who witnessed the arrival of the police service vehicles, there were over 30 law enforcers, who arrived in five vehicles. The vehicles included a truck, Toyota Quantums and police vans, according to the source.

Raiding

The truck headed to a nearby shop while the other vehicles sped off and headed to the flats. Police officers were seen raiding houses in search of weapons, the source relayed. The source narrated that the police demanded to enter into the tenants houses and searched for guns. She further mentioned that it could not be ascertained whether the REPS officers found any weapons or not. However, the source mentioned that it did not take much long before the police officers were seen returning to their vehicles and leaving the area. When drawn for comment on the raid, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said; No comment. She further highlighted that she did not discuss or unpack police operations.

Suspects

Worth noting is that the two suspects are currently in police custody after the Crown applied that they would assist the police in a litany of offences of arson, which included three Inyatsi Construction sites that were affected. It was also said that the police needed them to assist in the arson attack at Madlangempisi Member of Parliament (MP) Sibusiso Scorpion Nxumalos homestead and Matsapha Police Camp, which were all reportedly under investigation. According to the Crown, the modus operandi of the charge, which the accused were facing was the same that was used in the attacks. The suspects are currently facing a malicious injury to property charge. They are represented by Lawyer Mathokoza Mbhamali.

Meanwhile, Mbhamali said he was yet to meet his clients to work on the charge that they were facing. The lawyer said they would not apply for bail as yet, for reasons that, it may most likely be denied. He said his clients houses were raided by police in search of weapons. Mbhamali said no weapons were found.
Bahrains Labour Fund Tamkeen has announced its support for GIG Gulf, previously known as AXA Gulf Insurance, on its recruitment of around 120 Bahrainis.

This is in line with Tamkeens mandate of empowering individuals to become the employee of choice locally and internationally. GIG Gulf offers talented Bahrainis the opportunity to obtain greater exposure and acquire skills within the insurance industry, boosting their competitiveness.

This initiative comes in partnership with the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), the organisation responsible for attracting direct investment into the kingdom.

Favourable business environment

GIG Gulfs new regional headquarters in Bahrain Bay was completed in 2020 and continues to serve four different countries within the region. This is evidence of the companys successful experience following the initial establishment of operations in Bahrain, which, alongside the kingdoms favourable business environment and the availability of experienced local talent, resulted in GIG Gulf increasing its employment and service offerings in the country.

The headquarters is home to 250 employees with a 60% Bahrainisation rate. GIG Gulf has committed to growing its operations in the kingdom, which currently hosts several departments including actuarial, finance, human resources, procurement, customer contact center, IT, and a regional training center which supports key business lines including motor, healthcare, property insurance and several other services to serve both individuals and enterprises.

With the companys objective of enhancing productivity and continuous development, it has achieved several key milestones including a 90% Bahrainisation rate amongst employees serving personal lines customers, as well as a diverse workforce made up of 50% women. This project will support the companys future growth plans across the region, enabled even more by a customer-centric workforce.

Supporting Bahrainis

Husain Mohamed Rajab, Chief Executive of Tamkeen, said: Our core mandate at Tamkeen is to support Bahrainis to become the employee of choice and enterprises to become the engine of economic growth, by enabling them to successfully seize opportunities that the new economic realities present in order to boost their contributions to the local economy, in line with the kingdoms national priorities.

We are fully committed to these objectives, and we welcome GIG Gulfs efforts in hiring and developing Bahraini talent. We look forward to seeing their continued growth and positive impact in the kingdoms economy especially within the high potential sectors, which includes the Financial Services sector, the largest non-oil contributor to GDP, which offers numerous growth opportunities.

Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of the Bahrain EDB added: The decision by GIG Gulf to invest in its new regional Headquarters in the kingdom is a testament to Bahrains strengths as a regional financial services hub and reflects the positive attributes that make Bahrain attractive to international companies. Bahrains strategic location at the heart of the Gulf, its highly skilled local workforce, and competitive operating costs are just some of the reasons that encourage leading companies to establish operations in the kingdom.

Talented workforce

Additionally, Paul Adamson, Chief Executive Officer, of GIG Gulf said: We have seen from our own employees how talented the Bahraini workforce is, and we are eager to continue to support the recruitment of highly qualified locals to build our talent pool within GIG Gulf. We are proud of our history of over 70 years operating in Bahrain and very excited by this new commitment and investment, which creates new employment opportunities for nationals and is key to building sustainable operations.

In line with Tamkeens commitment to upskill locals and create quality job opportunities within high-potential sectors like the financial services industry, Tamkeen recently announced an initiative in partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain, the London-based Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) to train and employ Bahrainis in the field of actuarial science which will support their growth within the insurance industry.

Earlier this year Tamkeen unveiled an organisation-wide strategic transformation plan that included the launch of 16 support programmes. The transformation initiative focuses on creating greater impact for the national economy in response to market needs.-- TradeArabia News Service
Microsoft has expanded its operations in Qatar with the opening of a new Lusail City facility, the companys fourth and largest in the country, part of a significant investment in Qatar. This includes the soon to be launched Microsoft Cloud Datacentre Region.

The launch of the new offices reinforces Microsofts commitment to establish Qatar as a knowledge and innovation hub, and will enable Microsoft to better serve its customers, collaborate with its technology partners and attract and develop top talent.

Microsoft was joined by Mohammed bin Ali Al-Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, as well as high ranking officials from the US Embassy in Qatar, to celebrate the official opening of its new state-of-the-art office in Burj Al Fardan, Lusail City.

Deeply rooted

The inauguration ceremony was live-streamed on Microsoft Teams to allow the companys employees in the wider Middle East and Africa region to be part of the celebrations.

Microsoft has been deeply rooted in Qatar and our commitment to help grow Qatars innovation economy has never been stronger, said Lana Khalaf, General Manager at Microsoft Qatar. With the launch of our new offices and our Customer Innovation Centre, customers and partners will have the opportunity to co-innovate, ideate and envision ground breaking solutions that will revolutionise their industries

Fuelling innovation

With one side of the office overlooking the Arabian sea and the other facing the desert, the eye-catching space fuses Microsofts global corporate identity with local Qatari flavor to capture the forward-looking, agile and resilient nature of Qatar.

The new Microsoft facility includes a Customer Innovation Centre that will host innovation and ideation workshops aimed at inspiring groundbreaking solutions that spur transformation across industries in Qatar. The office will play a vital role as an innovation hub for leading technology startups, students, and community organisations from across Qatar.

It will also serve as a regional hub for the companys talent, servicing Qatar and the wider Microsoft Middle East Cluster region. Work done at the facility will support the companys efforts to grow, retain, and recruit the most talented people to build the most cutting-edge solutions.

The new office was designed with the evolution of work in mind, presenting an inclusive hybrid workplace that empowers employees to better serve customers and collaborate with partners, whether they are in person or remote.

Future of work

Leveraging the companys latest future of work technologies, the sustainable, smart space facilitates seamless hybrid work that offers employees flexibility to divide their work time between the office and offsite locations, leading to increased productivity, higher employee satisfaction and enhanced team collaboration.

The office incorporates a Team Based Space design that pairs the latest technology with modern and collaborative workplaces and is fitted with the latest Microsoft Teams-enabled hardware and software to facilitate seamless hybrid work.

In designing the new office, we were guided by two main principles. The first was our determination to provide the best workplace for our employees, offering a highly engaging, inclusive, and flexible environment that leverages the latest modern work technologies to create future proof smart workspaces. The second was sustainability, to deliver the first office to be certified on the highest sustainability standards in the Middle East. I am extremely proud to say that we delivered on both of those objectives  while prioritising the focus on customers with our Customer Innovation Centre, Khalaf says.

Further recruitment

I look forward to welcoming customers, partners, visitors and Microsofts team members to our new office, and I am confident that this expansion will drive further recruitment and retention of the brightest talent who will be inspired to build cutting-edge solutions for organisations and people in the country.

In 2020, Microsoft announced ambitious commitments to become carbon negative by 2030 and remove more carbon from the environment than it has emitted since its founding by 2050. In line with these sustainability goals, this new facility is fitted with the latest green technologies to drive energy and water efficiency and is the companys first office in the Middle East to reach Level 1 on Microsofts Global Sustainability Standard.

The premises have also achieved a C-Grade Global Microsoft Accessibility Standard for extending equal opportunities for all employees to access their workspaces with features such as easily accessible parking spaces, automatic doors, room signs with Braille, and audible and visible alarm systems.-- TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain-based Northstar Technology, in collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Ingram Micro, delivered a business enhancing awareness event on Monday (June 28) highlighting the latest HPE products and solutions.

The three-hour event addressed topics which are fundamental to technological transition, says Jubran Abdulrahman, Executive Director of North Star.

Topics highlighted included Advancing your cloud experience with Composability, Cloud Services Reimagined and Power your Data from Edge to Cloud.

The specialist knowledge of the North Star team was supported by Omar Alsahli, Technology Consultant and Solution Architect, and Ali Almazidy, Hybrid IT Solution Specialist - Saudi Arabia & Gulf at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

HPE Synergy Composable Software Defined Infrastructure and Nimble Storage Disaggregated Hyperconverged Infrastructure (dHCI) were outlined as solutions and products to enhance companies existing IT infrastructure and frameworks at the event.

The sessions were outlined to emphasis the importance of business agility in tackling digital transformation and participating companies' personnel showed a keen interest in the topics discussed and were curious on the technical aspects during the Q&A break. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver more educational sessions that will help shape the IT infrastructure of the Kingdom, adds Abdulrahman. -TradeArabia News Service
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mentice, Gothenburg (STO: MNTC), a world leader in simulation solutions for image-guided interventional therapies, announced today that Medtronic, Dublin (NYSE: MDT), a global healthcare technology leader, has signed an agreement to acquire Mentice VIST simulation solutions and development services, in an initial order of USD 1.93 million. The initial order includes the development services and 10 simulation solutions for delivery in 2022 raising to an additional intention of 150 simulation solutions over 3 years.

"This agreement is, of course, an important commitment from Medtronic as the world's largest Medical device manufacturer though also to drive proficiency for physicians with aim of ultimately improving patient outcomes" says Goran Malmberg, CEO and Group President for Mentice, "this continues to underline our position as the leading provider of performance solutions for Image guided interventional therapies" Malmberg continues.

For further information, please contact:Goran Malmberg, CEO, MenticeEmail: goran.malmberg@mentice.comTel US: +1 (312) 860 5610Tel Sweden: +46 (0) 703 09 22 22

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/mentice-ab/r/mentice-receives-an-initial-order-of-usd-1-93million-for-simulation-solutions-and-development-servic,c3592955

The following files are available for download:
Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkiye and Air Serbia, the national airline of Serbia, announced an additional enhancement of their commercial cooperation with a new memorandum of understanding (MoU).



The MoU was signed in Doha during 78th IATA Annual General Meeting in the presence of the two companies CEOs - Bilal Eksi and Jiri Marek.



Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia will further explore the ways of deeper commercial cooperation, possibly leading to joint venture, which will enable the two companies to offer more competitive and more affordable flights between Turkiye and Serbia, improve the quality of services currently offered, as well as expand the offer and benefits for all passengers.



As a part of this expansion of cooperation, starting from July, Air Serbia will introduce additional flights on the Belgrade-Istanbul route, growing into 10 flights per week between Belgrade and Istanbul, while Turkish Airlines will allocate wide-body aircraft to this route twice a week.



Within the scope of agreed MoU, both parties will negotiate to boost existing cooperation in terms of codeshare, cargo and Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) while developing cooperation alternatives on passenger lounges in their networks.



Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said: "When we consider the global network today, we see how important partnership development in the global aviation industry. Increasing the bilateral relations between our countries and improving the cooperation through our networks are essential for us especially after the pandemic. In this regard, we are delighted to sign this MoU with Air Serbia to explore enhanced cooperation opportunities and negotiate further to expand our existing partnership now.



We would like to thank Mr. Jiri Marek and his team on this occasion for their continuous support on our common works which will further contribute to the improvement of the relations between our airlines, countries and communities."



On the agreement Jiri Marek, CEO of Air Serbia stated; We are pleased to further strengthen our good relations and cooperation with Turkish Airlines. It is our great pleasure to announce that Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines will continue to look for new commercial opportunities for creating efficient and mutually beneficial relationships, while considering the option of joining forces to achieve better connectivity and offer for our customers through possible Joint Venture on the services between Serbia and Turkiye. In this way, we are contributing to the further improvement of relations between our two states, in the interest of users and communities in both countries.



During their cooperation so far, the two companies have adopted and upgraded multiple times code-share agreements for flights to destinations within the networks of Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia.



Joint flights offer quick and practical connections for passengers travelling out of Istanbul, the biggest city in Turkiye and one of the most important air traffic hubs in the region, to Belgrade and onward, as well as for passengers travelling from the Serbian capital to Istanbul and onward.



In addition to that, Air Serbia added its JU code to flights of AnadoluJet, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, between Turkish capital Ankara and Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. At the same time, Turkish Airlines added its TK code to Air Serbia flights between Nis and Istanbul, as well as between Kraljevo and Istanbul, thus offering passengers access to the extensive global network of Turkish Airlines on the aforementioned flights.  TradeArabia News Service
The Australian Pink Floyd Show is coming to the Four Winds New Buffalo casino just over the border in Southwest Michigan.

The tribute act from the land down under will perform at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time Friday, Sept. 9 at New Buffalos Silver Creek Event Center at 11111 Wilson Road just across the state line.

Its All That You Feel World Tour brings the spectacle associated with the British pyschedelic group.

"The Australian Pink Floyd Show performs the music of Pink Floyd with note for note perfection," The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians said in a press release. "This critically acclaimed show has been astonishing audiences worldwide for more than three decades  always striving to reproduce the complete Pink Floyd experience and bring the music to new audiences. The show continues to include a stunning light and laser show, video animations, state of the art high resolution LED screen technology and other special effects. In addition, and in true Pink Floyd fashion, there are several huge inflatables including a giant pig and their own unique Pink Kangaroo."

Unlike most cover bands that often play Friday night sets at local neighborhood bars, the Australian Pink Floyd Show has gone on tour worldwide.

"Often described as being much more than a tribute band, the Australian Pink Floyd Show is the first Pink Floyd tribute show that took the concept into the worldwide arena circuit," the casino said in a press release.

The band covers all periods of the music of Pink Floyd, the progressive rock band that's a favorite among baby boomers.

"Representing music from every phase of Pink Floyds journey, from 'Ummagumma,' to 'The Division Bell,' and all points in between this tour will once again reinforce the Australian Pink Floyd Shows dedication to the heritage of Barrett, Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason with a show that pays sincere and genuine tribute to the legendary Pink Floyd productions," the casino said in a press release.

Tickets range from $51 to $80.

For more information or tickets, call 866-494-6371 or visit fourwindscasino.com.

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The 78th Annual General Meeting of International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Gulf Airs Acting Chief Executive Officer Captain Waleed AlAlawi as a key member of the 2023 Nominating Committee.

The Nominating Committee is appointed to make recommendations to the Annual General Meeting for appointments of members to the Board of Governors. This role is a further achievement for Gulf Air due to its importance in shaping the associations Board of Governors, said an airline statement.

The AGM held in Doha, Qatar (June 19 - 21) saw member airlines from all over the world attending and networking under one roof. The event included the election of the AGM president, speeches by various keynote speakers from the aviation industry, annual report of the air transport industry, and report of the Board of Governors. The meeting also included Diversity and Inclusion Awards, as well as speeches and workshops about economic outlook and climate change.

In addition, the event also included election of members to the Board of Governors and confirmation of appointments to the 2023 Nominating Committee.

Commenting on Gulf Airs recent achievement, Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry and Commerce and Chairman to the Board of Directors at Gulf Air, said: Congratulations to Gulf Air and to Captain Waleed AlAlawi for this appointment, which demonstrates again that the national carrier is a recognised international force in the aviation industry across the globe. It is a great achievement and a great responsibility. I am certain that Captain Waleed AlAlawis extensive aviation experience and international background will be a true asset to the committee, and that this opportunity will enable Gulf Air to continue to grow ties with the IATA members to shape aviation industry decisions going forwards in these complex times.

Captain AlAlawi commented: We are delighted to represent the Kingdom of Bahrain and our national carrier through this important role that secures our input as a major international airline, and further advances our role as a key player in the aviation sector. - TradeArabia News Service
The Indiana Secretary of Commerce will address the Gary Chamber of Commerce at an upcoming luncheon.

Secretary of Commerce and Indiana Economic Development Corp. CEO Bradley Chambers will give a talk to the Gary Chamber of Commerce at 11:30 a.m. July 11 at the Council Oak Steakhouse at the Hard Rock Casino, located at 5400 W. 29th Ave. off the Burr Street exit of the Borman Expressway.

Before leading the state's economic development efforts, Chambers founded Indianapolis-based Buckingham Companies, where he served as president and CEO. He led the company as it developed multifamily and mixed-use properties across the country, growing it to more than $3 billion in investments.

The Indiana University graduate also founded the Buckingham Foundation, which has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants and sponsorships to 600 nonprofits.

"A leader in investment, development and management of high-quality multifamily and mixed-use properties across the nation, Chambers is in charge of leading the State of Indianas economic development efforts," the Gary Chamber said in a news release.

The luncheon is open to chamber members and the general public. Tickets cost $25 and require paid reservations.

Attendees can pay by American Express, Master Card and Visa credit and debit cards.

To reserve a seat or table, call 219-885-7407 or email jbowden@garychamber.com.

For more information, visit www.garychamber.com.

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GARY  The Lake County coroner's office released the identity Wednesday of a 64-year-old man shot to death by police Sunday.

Robert J. Collins, of Gary, died from gunshot wounds after the shooting at his home in the 2300 block of Johnson Street in Gary, officials said. The death was ruled a homicide.

Gary police were dispatched about 4:40 p.m. to the home for a report of "a male with a gun who was making the residence unsafe," Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.

During the call, an officer "was forced to discharge his weapon, striking the male," she said.

Gary police records showed the nature of the call was "mental."

The officer who shot Collins was placed on desk duty until the conclusion of an investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Westerfield said.

A sheriff's spokeswoman declined comment on the investigation.

After sheriff's police complete their investigation, they typically turn over their findings to the Lake County prosecutor's office for a determination on whether the shooting was justified.

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The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday to review a lower court's decision not to dismiss a criminal indictment against Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.

Special Judge Jeryl Leach in March denied Martinez's motion to dismiss his indictment, which included a felony charge of resisting law enforcement and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Martinez has pleaded not guilty.

Martinez's attorneys, Paul Stracci and Michael Woods, accused Special Prosecutor Stanley Levco of unduly influencing "the neutral and detached atmosphere" of grand jury proceedings in January by soliciting legal opinions from an Indiana State Police commander.

The imposition on the grand jurors' independent judgment was so "flagrant" that a dismissal is required, the defense attorneys wrote in court filings.

"We are very pleased that the Court of Appeals has chosen to take a close look at our concerns with the grand jury proceedings," Stracci said.

Levco and his co-counsel, David Thomas, fought the interlocutory appeal and argued that Levco's questioning of the commander was proper under Indiana Rules of Evidence.

"Only in cases in which there is a flagrant imposition on the grand jurors will or independent judgment will a court find a violation of due process," the special prosecutors wrote. "Defendant made no factual showing to the trial court that met this rigorous standard, and the trial court denied his motion."

Martinez is accused of driving at up to 50 mph over the speed limit in Crown Point and Merrillville in mid-September, while two Crown Point officers were chasing his unmarked Jeep Trackhawk with their lights and sirens activated.

The sheriff has denied the allegations and characterized the indictment as a "political witch hunt" by a "rival politician." His trial is currently set to begin Aug. 15.

In a petition seeking the interlocutory appeal, the defense attorneys wrote Martinez will be harmed when a new state law takes effect Friday because he will be prohibited from carrying a firearm due to the indictment.

The sheriff could be further harmed if a determination regarding his appeal is withheld until after a possible conviction and judgment, they wrote.

If convicted, Martinez, a sworn law enforcement officer who also serves as an elected sheriff, could be further harmed because he could lose a merit law enforcement position and his public office.

"These losses would be substantial and material even if Sheriff Martinez prevailed on appeal post-conviction on the issue for which he requests this court to accept interlocutory jurisdiction," they wrote.

Levco and Thomas rejected Martinez's attorneys' position that they could not re-file a case against the sheriff if he were to prevail on appeal.

"Defendant claims a privileged status as an elected sheriff," the special prosecutors wrote. "Many average citizens lose the ability to carry a firearm once indicted or convicted of a felony, lose employment and professional licensing, and suffer all kinds of collateral consequences for their criminal transgressions, including liberty. So, defendant's claim of substantial damage and injury is no more than any other defendant facing felony charges, let alone substantially more."

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CROWN POINT  A Lake Criminal Court judge reduced bond Wednesday for a Gary woman charged in a shooting at a Hobart gas station but refused to grant any further reduction in a separate case linked to allegations she physically abused her child.

Zakira S. Porter, 36, was arrested May 27 by officers investigating allegations she fired shots at a man during a confrontation that day at the Luke Oil gas station at 3211 W. 37th Ave.

During the course of that investigation, police discovered Porter's 8-year-old daughter had scars all over her body. The girl told police Porter regularly hit her, often with an extension cord, "because she is mad," according to court documents.

Porter has pleaded not guilty to neglect charges in the child abuse case and to aggravated battery and other charges linked to the gas station shooting.

Her bond had been set at a total of $160,000 surety or $16,000 cash. Judge Salvador Vasquez reduced the total bond to $90,000 surety or $9,000 cash.

Porter's attorney, Adrian Guzman, said his client is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Porter, who owns beauty salons, has licenses to carry a handgun in Illinois and Indiana and would not be a flight risk because she intends to fight her charges, he said.

Porter can post a total bond of $25,000 surety or $2,500 cash, Guzman said.

Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson said Porter would be a flight risk and a danger to her daughter and the community if released.

Hobart police Cmdr. Nicholas Wardrip testified Porter gave an address in Gary, but he found eviction records for the residence from 2020.

In 2019, the Indiana Department of Child Services began an investigation because Porter's daughter arrived at school with a black eye, but Porter refused to cooperate, Wardrip said. She subsequently removed her daughter from that school, he said.

Wardip said photos of the girl's injuries, which the judge reviewed over objection from Guzman, were "just what's visible."

Vasquez said a bond of $100,000 surety or $10,000 cash in the shooting case was high compared to the courts' bond schedule, particularly because no one was wounded. He reduced Porter's bond in that case to $30,000 surety or $3,000 cash.

However, the judge refused to reduce Porter's bond of $60,000 surety or $6,000 cash in the neglect case.

"There is evidence there may not be a stable home environment and, quite frankly, looking at those photos kind of turned my stomach," Vasquez said.

Guzman said Porter objected to signing a no contact order, which would prohibit her from communicating with her daughter.

Vaquez set a hearing on the no contact order for July 11 and granted Anderson's request to schedule a trial in Porter's neglect case for the week of Oct. 24.

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CROWN POINT  A judge rejected a plea agreement Wednesday for a man accused of illegally possessing a gun he used to shoot at an East Chicago police officer in 2020.

Laron D. Mallette, 40, of East Chicago, could have faced a four-year sentence after pleading guilty June 1 to unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a level 4 felony, and attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said the plea deal was "absolutely inappropriate" considering Mallette's criminal history, character and a possible open case against him in Illinois.

Mallette admitted to shooting in the direction of a police officer and being a convicted felon and having a gun in his car Oct. 2, 2020, during a police pursuit in East Chicago.

The plea agreement called for Mallette to serve concurrent terms of four years in prison for the firearms count and three years for attempted battery.

"How is this appropriate?" Vasquez asked defense attorney Lonnie Randolph II and Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson.

Anderson said some of the drug charges that were to be dismissed as part of the plea agreement would have been difficult to prove.

Randolph said Mallette also was looking at a significant sentence in Illinois.

After the judge rejected the plea, Randolph asked for a continuance to further discuss the case with Supervisory Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz.

Vasquez set Mallette's next hearing for July 22.

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A 23-year-old man wanted since early 2021 on charges linked to a shooting in East Chicago was arrested Wednesday in Atlanta, authorities said.

Pierre W. Brewer is accused of shooting a man multiple times Jan. 16, 2021, in the 4000 block of Fir Street in East Chicago.

He was charged in March 2021 with attempted murder, three counts of battery and carrying a handgun without a license.

Brewer was also wanted on a warrant issued in September 2020 for being a felon in possession of a handgun in East Chicago, a warrant out of East Chicago City Court for disorderly conduct and a warrant in Fulton County, Georgia, for assault, according to the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.

The U.S. Marshals Service South East Regional Task Force worked with a Fulton County, Georgia, SWAT team to locate and arrest Brewer in the 3700 block of Martin Luther King Drive in Atlanta, officials said.

Brewer was expected to face extradition proceedings in Georgia before he's returned to Lake County.

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VALPARAISO  Drivers and passengers honked, whooped and hollered as pro-life and pro-choice protesters shared their views on the Porter County Courthouse lawn.

Its a Tuesday tradition, from noon to 1 p.m., for pro-life protesters to stand on the northwest corner of the courthouse lawn while pro-choice protesters stand a block away, offering an opposing view.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization case energized the protesters.

Im ecstatic. Its something I prayed for, pro-life protester Debbie Revor, of Valparaiso, said.

I was really angered and frustrated, pro-choice protester Zoe Irving, of Valparaiso, said.

Irving plans to vote in future elections because of her upset with the court ruling overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that provided the right to abortion.

Sue Thiry, of Valparaiso, had an unplanned pregnancy right out of high school. Her parents urged her to get married and raise the child, now a missionary and a pastor.

Revor had an abortion at the same stage in her life and became suicidal for several years, she said, before

Susan Schaefer, of Hobart, worried that Justice Clarence Thomas words about other landmark cases are a harbinger of doom for civil rights. I think they will piggyback onto others, restricting marriage equality and LGBTQ rights, she said.

I am a devout Catholic. The leadership that supports denial of rights are men. We need to have an attitude for each other of love and mercy, Schaefer said.

Pro-life protesters should go to gentlemens clubs where women are routinely objectified and mistreated, she said.

Dan Baggs said he hopes to turn all states pro-life. Were going to try to save as many babies as we can, he said. It helps in society. Maybe some of these people will discover a cure for cancer or a cure for Alzheimers disease.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have been disappointed greatly, Ryan Padlakovic, of Valparaiso, said, referring to the liberal Supreme Court justice who died in 2020 and was quickly replaced by Amy Coney Barrett.

Matthew Smith, of Valparaiso, said he founded the Youth Democratic Socialists of America chapter in Porter County. I just see this country falling behind other developed nations, he said.

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RENSSELAER  A man accused of breaking into a Wisconsin zoo, leading to multiple animals' escape, is being jailed in Jasper County, police said.

On Monday, the Rensselaer Police Department announced it has been in contact with the Baraboo Police Department in Wisconsin regarding the search for the suspect. Local police said Wisconsin authorities are aware Aaron Wayne Hovis, of Rensselaer, is in custody at the Jasper County Jail.

On June 7, the Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was broken into overnight, with several locks and doors to exhibits damaged, according to a report from Kenosha News.

As a result, two river otters and a pair of Great Horned Owls escaped. While three of the animals have since been found, one owl named Linda is still on the loose. The otters, Mitch and Moe, were found by kayakers not long after their escape four blocks from the zoo, and they were returned to their enclosures. The male owl, Jerry, was found three days later, and he is healing from two fractures in one of his wings.

A total of 15 cages had been opened, but the other animals had stayed in their enclosures, police said.

Zoo employees continued to search Linda the owl this week, who was seen roosting in a tree above a nearby llama barn. The Baraboo Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department said she appeared to be getting weaker, but she was still able to evade captors with flight, asking anyone near the zoo to contact authorities if they saw an owl on the ground.

On Tuesday, Linda was corralled and brought back to the zoo to undergo a medical exam. A zoo intern with the help of police caught her in a nearby garden.

"Thanks for all your calls and help in locating Linda and Jerry and reuniting all our animals at the zoo," the parks department said. "Special thanks to the Baraboo Police Department and our zoo staff for the extra time and efforts in safely getting our animals back home."

Zoo officials previously told media outlets that it is believed the primary motivation of the break-in was to release the animals.

Hovis was identified as a suspect in the break-in by Baraboo police, who intend to press criminal charges. Hovis was described as an "over-the-road truck driver.

The Baraboo Police Department told the Kenosha News that Hovis is the main suspect in the vandalism investigation and that he has no known connections to any animal rights groups.

Hovis was jailed June 17 at the Jasper County Jail on charges of intimidation and resisting law enforcement, according to Jasper Superior Court. Hovis also faces charges filed on June 9 including felony counts of bribery, theft and tax evasion.

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His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi today officially inaugurated the new passenger terminal at the Bahrain International Airport.

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, was present on the occasion, said a Bahrain News Agency report.

Upon arrival, HM the King, President El-Sisi and HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister were welcomed by the Board of Directors Chairman of the Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), Kamal bin Ahmed bin Mohammed; Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Mohammed bin Thamer Al-Kaabi, and senior officials from the management of the new Bahrain International Airport.

The guard of honour saluted the three leaders, and Bahraini Ardha songs were chanted to welcome them.

HM the King and President El-Sisi unveiled a commemorative plaque, marking the opening the new terminal.

HM King Hamad, President El-Sisi and HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister then toured the departure hall building and were informed about its various facilities that are equipped with the latest technology to serve passengers and all regional and international aviation companies.

HM the King expressed delight at Egyptian Presidents participation in the inauguration, which confirms the depth of the solid Bahraini-Egyptian relations.

HM King Hamad affirmed that the new Bahrain International Airport will consolidate the kingdoms status as a pioneering regional and international aviation sector hub, as well as support the national economy.

HM the King commended the tremendous efforts exerted by HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister to serve the nation and enhance its progress at all levels, valuing highly HRHs constant follow-up on the progress of the implementation of such a development monument in the aviation and logistics sectors.

HM King Hamad congratulated the Chairman and members of the Board of Directors of Bahrain Airport Company following the naming of the Bahrain International Airport as the Worlds Best New Airport at the Skytrax 2022 World Airport Awards held at the Passenger Terminal EXPO in Paris, France, stressing that the achievement reflects the prestigious status enjoyed by Bahrain thanks to its landmark achievements across various fields.

HM King Hamad asserted that the kingdoms development efforts are proceeding on the right track to build on previous achievements and ensure a better future for the nation and the citizens.

Earlier, the BAC Chairman thanked and expressed his gratitude to HM King Hamad for visiting the Bahrain International Airport to patronise the opening ceremony of the new passenger terminal, which is considered the largest infrastructure project in the civil aviation sector in the kingdom, and represents a qualitative leap in the field of services and airport facilities.

He said the project was implemented in a record period of time, and is considered the fastest in building airports in the world, noting that work started in April 2016 and the construction work was completed in 2020, without any problems and within the approved budget.

In line with HM the Kings directives to take care of the Bahraini citizen as they are the core and goal of development, we have invested in national competencies and cadres during the implementation period, and we are proud today that they are the ones who operate and maintain the airport, he said.

He affirmed that the project could not have achieved all its goals without HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Ministers unlimited support and constant follow-up on all its implementation phases.

He pledged to spare no efforts in order to continue enhancing the kingdoms status regionally and internationally.
This is opening up a whole new can of worms  we have seen problems with security contractors on the battlefield since 9/11, and theres been an improvement in oversight in that area, but that came after a decade of problems, said Laura A. Dickinson, a law professor at George Washington University, who has written extensively about the United States use of military contractors. With drones, this is a new area where we already do not have a lot of transparency, and with contractors operating drones theres no clearly defined regime of oversight and accountability.

Drones were first used extensively by the United States military in the Balkans in the 1990s. By the mid-2000s, the Air Force was flying more than a dozen drones a day in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. The number of flights rose steadily to about 60 in 2010, when the military began plans to scale back because the war in Iraq was winding down.

But in 2014, President Obama ordered a stepped-up military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Later that year, Mr. Obama, who had said that a small number of troops remaining behind in Afghanistan would have no combat role, decided to authorize a more expansive mission for them.

The Air Force was not prepared for this increased demand. Finding pilots was difficult. They typically work long hours in windowless rooms staring at computer monitors and do not get many days off. Many of those who fly armed drones have been found to have post-traumatic stress disorder because they have witnessed so many airstrikes. There is also a powerful perception in the Air Force that drone jobs are less prestigious and glamorous than flying more traditional military aircraft, and recruitment has been hard.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Newsmax yesterday that between 60 and 100 Ukrainian soldiers are killed and about 500 are wounded every day in the heavy fighting.

To fill gaps on the front line, Ukraine has deployed volunteers in a branch of the army called the Territorial Defense Force. Volunteers who had signed up to defend hometowns now find themselves deployed to the front. Sometimes they are trained only once they arrive because thats where the available weapons are.

Signs of morale lapses have surfaced. One unit recorded a video protesting the dire conditions. In interviews, soldiers said that their artillery sometimes goes quiet for lack of ammunition.

Throughout the war, the state of the Ukrainian military has been more difficult to assess from publicly available sources than that of the Russian invasion force. At the start of the war, about 30,000 Ukrainian troops were deployed in the Donbas region. The Ukrainian government has largely withheld casualty figures, and Western governments have not provided assessments as they have with Russian forces.
The Federal Trade Commission has accused Walmart of repeatedly failing to protect its customers from falling prey to fraudsters when using the retailers money transfer services.

The F.T.C. said on Tuesday that the giant retailer turned a blind eye while fraudsters stole hundreds of millions of dollars by using common schemes such as impersonating Internal Revenue Service agents or telling people they were relatives who needed help and then inducing them to transfer money using Walmarts transfer services.

While scammers used its money transfer services to make off with cash, Walmart looked the other way and pocketed millions in fees, Samuel Levine, the director of the F.T.C.s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
Some experts said the plan was also unfair to men at risk who will not have access to the Jynneos vaccine, especially those who have H.I.V. and cannot safely take the older smallpox vaccine.

There wont be enough to meet the need, said Elizabeth Finley, director of communications for the National Coalition of STD Directors. Plus, without better testing capacity, a strategy based on contacts with a positive case falls flat.

Its also not clear what qualifies as a probable exposure, she added: Do you need to know someone at the event tested positive, or do you just say, Oh, I went to a rave and I want to be safe?

Many clinicians are worried about side effects and scarring from the older smallpox vaccine, as well as the misinformation and vaccine hesitancy they might fuel, Ms. Finley said. Weve had clinicians say that theres no way in hell they would give somebody ACAM2000, she said.

The Jynneos vaccine, on the other hand, has never been used on this scale, and federal health officials said they would watch for unexpected side effects.

The administration has so far provided more than 9,000 doses of Jynneos vaccine and 300 courses of antiviral treatments to 32 jurisdictions in the country, officials said on Tuesday.
Antonio Delgado, the lieutenant governor of New York, won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, scoring a convincing victory over his nearest challenger, Ana Maria Archila, a longtime activist who had emerged as the left wings best chance of winning statewide office this election cycle.

Mr. Delgado prevailed despite his late entry into the race just last month, when Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed him as her second-in-command and running mate, replacing former Lt. Gov. Brian A. Benjamin, who was arrested on federal campaign finance fraud charges.

But in just a few weeks, Mr. Delgado, a former congressman from the Hudson Valley, managed to overwhelm his opponents with millions of dollars spent on television ads and campaign mailers. With Ms. Hochuls backing, he secured the partys institutional support and endorsements from major labor unions, giving him a definitive edge as he rushed to introduce himself to voters statewide.
In a brief concession speech, Mr. Giuliani struck a conciliatory tone, asking his supporters to back Mr. Zeldin. This is a movement that is just beginning, he said.

For his part, Mr. Zeldin had also hewed closely to Mr. Trumps policies when he was president, going so far as to vote to overturn the results of the 2020 election in key swing states. As a candidate for governor, Mr. Zeldin has somewhat moderated those conservative opinions  voicing skepticism about outlawing abortion in New York, for instance, and giving only muted support to the idea of another Trump candidacy  yet still managed to appeal to the die-hard Republican voters who typically vote in primaries.

The resulting general election campaign will still be an uphill climb for Mr. Zeldin, considering that registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than two to one in New York. (In pure statistical terms, Republicans are a third party in New York, as they are also outnumbered by nonaffiliated voters.) In order to win in November, Mr. Zeldin will need not only to galvanize his base but also to attract moderate swing voters who may be dissatisfied with Democrats, including President Biden and Ms. Hochul.

No Republican has been elected governor in the state since George Pataki defeated Carl McCall, a Democrat, and a billionaire third-party candidate, Tom Golisano, in 2002. The three most recent contests were easily won by Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who served until his resignation last August.

Mr. Zeldin, who is married with twin daughters, has since 2015 represented the eastern part of Long Island, encompassing a mix of suburban and more rural areas that could be critical in a general election. In 2021, Democrat-backed changes to bail laws, for instance, were potent issues for Republicans on Long Island, leading to a surge of wins in elections in Nassau County, adjacent to Mr. Zeldins district.

Results on Tuesday showed that Mr. Zeldin ran very strongly on Long Island, as well as in central and western New York, which could be battlefields in a general election in which neither he or Ms. Hochul hail from New York City.
For Ms. Hutchinson, part of public service is about answering questions from Congress. If not for her, we might never have learned just how out of control Mr. Trump appeared on Jan. 6: Following his incendiary speech at the Ellipse, she recalled being told by a security official, the president wanted so badly to join the angry mob that he hopped into the presidential limo and raged at the head of his security detail, Im the president, take me up to the Capitol now! (He tossed in an expletive for good measure.)

When the agent, Robert Engel, declined because of security concerns, the president lunged for the steering wheel, she said. When asked to remove his hand from the wheel, Mr. Trump then lunged toward Mr. Engel, as the scene was later recounted to Ms. Hutchinson in Mr. Engels presence. (The Times reported Tuesday night that Secret Service officials, speaking under condition of anonymity, said the agents in question were prepared to testify the president did not reach for the wheel of the vehicle and did not assault anyone.)

She also laid bare just how emphatically Mr. Meadows did not rise to meet the moment. Told of the weapons being carried by the crowd on Jan. 6, Mr. Meadows couldnt be bothered to look up from his mobile phone, she said. Again and again, as Ms. Hutchinson told it, the presidents aides, family members and a slew of sycophants (including the Fox News personalities Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham) sent texts and other entreaties for Mr. Trump to call off the mob. Mr. Meadows  more than once  noted that the president had made clear that he didnt want to calm the fury.

If Mr. Trump couldnt have his way, he was content to watch America burn.

One of the most breathtaking bits of Ms. Hutchinsons testimony was her recounting of what Mr. Meadows said when Pat Cipollone, then the White House counsel, expressed fear for the safety of Vice President Mike Pence, whom Mr. Trump had publicly castigated for not helping him overturn the vote. I remember Pat saying something to the effect of: Mark, we need to do something more. Theyre literally calling for the vice president to be effing hung, Ms. Hutchinson said.
Israels unprecedented national unity government sadly collapsed last week. Why should you care? Because in so many ways what ails Israeli politics today is just the Off Broadway version of the hyper-partisanship that has infected U.S. politics.

The victory-at-any-cost mentality of the Trump far right  which was vividly described in Washington on Tuesday during Cassidy Hutchinsons testimony to the Jan. 6 committee  is part of a broader trend of deeply antidemocratic values that are at odds with what many Americans and Israelis still aspire to. If this trend prevails, it will tear apart both societies, which is why the soul of Israeli democracy and the soul of American democracy are on the ballot in their next elections.

It is not inevitable. Bucking all the recent political trends  and in the wake of three inconclusive elections in two years  Israel did something quite remarkable a year ago: It put together a governing national unity coalition that for the first time included not only right-wing and left-wing Israeli Jews but also an Israeli Arab Islamist party that had won four seats in Parliament in the March 2021 election.
To the Editor:

Re Enraged Trump Encouraged Violence and Sought to Join Mob, Aide Testifies (front page, June 29):

Thank you, Cassidy Hutchinson, for testifying before the Jan. 6 committee. History will remember you just as it has the former White House counsel John Dean, whose testimony helped bring down Richard Nixon nearly 50 years ago.

If only your former boss, the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman  all of whom reportedly sought presidential pardons for their roles leading up to the insurrection at the Capitol  had your guts. Americans who believe in the rule of law and the Constitution are indebted to you, Ms. Hutchinson.

Denny Freidenrich

Laguna Beach, Calif.

To the Editor:

Remember the women, especially the invisible ones in low-level jobs. They hear and see everything. Their bosses often think that loyalty is their only quality, along with efficiency. It turns out many of them have brains, a conscience, integrity, courage.
The Bruces fought to keep their property through litigation, but they failed and lost their business. The city of Manhattan Beach paid them $14,500, and kept the land until it was transferred in 1948 to the state, which transferred it to Los Angeles County in 1955. The county ultimately developed a public park on the nearly 7,000-square-foot parcel.

Following Tuesdays vote, the transfer to the family will be complete after an escrow process, and the county will then rent the property for $413,000 a year while maintaining a lifeguard training facility there. The family has the option to sell the land later to the county for its estimated value of $20 million.

Anthony Bruce, 39, speaking on behalf of his family, described Tuesday as bittersweet.

On one hand, its the answer to our prayers, Mr. Bruce, a great-great-grandson, said. Its the relief that weve been waiting for. But on the other hand, its a reminder of the terrible and tragic events that took place before this happened.

George C. Fatheree III, a lawyer representing the Bruces, said in a statement on Tuesday that the return of the land is believed to be the first time in American history that a Black family has had property returned to them by a government.
Australia puts honey bees in lockdown

Canberra, June 29 (UNI) Millions of honey bees in Australia have been put in "lockdown" after deadly parasite varroa mite was discovered.

The parasite was first found at a port near Sydney last week. Till now, it has been spotted in hives 100 km away.

According to BBC, the "lockdown" rules have stated that the keepers inside a new biosecurity zone will not be able to move hives, bees or honeycombs until further notice.
After Ms. Hutchinson returned to the White House from the rally, she said, Mr. Ornato and the head of Mr. Trumps security detail, Robert Engel, described to her a shocking scene that had unfolded inside the presidents vehicle.

Told after his speech that he could not go to the Capitol because of security concerns, Mr. Trump became irate and said something to the effect of, Im the f-ing president, take me up to the Capitol now, Ms. Hutchinson testified she had been told.

When Mr. Engel responded that they needed to go back the White House, Mr. Trump reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel, and lunged at him, Ms. Hutchinson said.

Secret Service officials said Mr. Engel and the driver of Mr. Trumps SUV are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted by the president and that he did not reach for the wheel of the vehicle. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the potential testimony. The two men will not deny that Mr. Trump wanted to go to the Capitol, the officials said.

Around 2 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.

White House counsel warns Meadows: Something needs to be done or people are going to die.

Ms. Hutchinson testified that as she and other White House aides were glued to the television, watching the scene at the Capitol grow increasingly violent, Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, stormed into Mr. Meadowss office, and said something to the effect of, The rioters have gotten to the Capitol, Mark. We need to go down and see the president now.
It was un-American, Ms. Hutchinson said of the post. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.

She described how Mr. Meadows seemed almost frozen by the violence that was unfolding at the Capitol and how he told the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, that Mr. Trump was uninterested in trying to calm his supporters. He doesnt want to do anything, Pat, Ms. Hutchinson recounted Mr. Meadows as saying.

For decades, from Mr. Trumps earliest days in business in New York to the final moments of his presidency, various aides have tried to minimize his behavior. But other than Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trumps former personal lawyer, few have gone under oath to describe his temper and erratic personality to the extent that Ms. Hutchinson did.

Mr. Trump swiftly condemned Ms. Hutchinson on Tuesday on Truth Social, his social media network, as a total phony and a leaker, and asserted that he hardly knew her. But the committee, anticipating what has become Mr. Trumps standard reaction of disavowing any familiarity with his critics, established through photographs of Ms. Hutchinson with top White House aides shown at the hearing that she was, as Representative Liz Cheney, the vice chairwoman of the committee, put it, in a position to know a great deal about the happenings in the Trump White House.

She worked in the West Wing, several steps down from the Oval Office, Ms. Cheney said. Ms. Hutchinson spoke daily with members of Congress, with high-ranking officials in the administration, with senior White House staff, including Mr. Meadows, White House Counsels Office lawyers, and with Mr. Tony Ornato, who served as the White House deputy chief of staff.

Ms. Hutchinson, who grew up in New Jersey and received her degree in 2019 from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va., was the first in her family to graduate from college, according to a former colleague. She began her career in Washington as an intern on Capitol Hill for Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking House Republican.
Mr. Thayer said that when investigators watched surveillance footage from that early morning, they saw two men walk behind a dumpster and enter the basement doors of the property. About 20 minutes later, they left. Shortly after, the footage shows smoke emanating from the building, Mr. Thayer said.

Based on video surveillance, no other people were observed entering or exiting the building prior to smoke being present, according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint.

In the footage, one of the men is seen wearing black pants with white stripes on the side that are fitted below the knee, the affidavit states. In footage that was captured later that morning, as the fire destroyed the building, Mr. Khalil is seen wearing the same pair of pants, the affidavit states.

Mr. Khalil received a call on the day of the fire from one of his tenants, who told him that the pizzeria downstairs was burning, the affidavit states.

Mr. Khalil asked if La Casa Pizza, a restaurant he owns that is not in the building, was on fire, prompting confusion from the tenant, who is referred to as M.M. in the affidavit, because Mr. Khalil knew that he lived above Star Pizza Fish and Chicken.

M.M. believed it was strange that Khalil asked if M.M. was calling him about La Casa, the affidavit states.
One of his first legislative proposals once in office was a bill to remove Chicago from the state. When the pandemic began, he refused to wear a mask during legislative sessions and sued Mr. Pritzker to block public health mitigation efforts.

In 2020, Mr. Bailey advanced to the State Senate, where he and a few other conservative legislators from Southern and southeastern Illinois are collectively known as the Eastern Bloc.

Mr. Bailey, 56, began his campaign for governor in February 2021, a month into his State Senate tenure. He has spent the last 16 months barnstorming the states Republican precincts.

In that time, he gathered sufficient support from conservative voters aligned with Mr. Trump to survive a $50 million primary campaign from Mayor Richard C. Irvin of Aurora, who was backed by the hedge fund executive Kenneth Griffin, and a $12.6 million campaign from Jesse Sullivan, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who relocated to Petersburg, his Central Illinois hometown, to run for governor.
Democrats also spent money to shape three Republican primaries in Colorado on Tuesday for Senate, governor and the House  and lost in all three.

Worried that an eroding national political climate could endanger a Democratic incumbent senator, Michael Bennet, Democrats spent heavily to intervene in the Republican primary. They helped lift up State Representative Ron Hanks, a far-right Republican who marched at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

But the effort failed as a more moderate businessman, Joe ODea, won on Tuesday. His campaign celebrated by handing out faux newspapers to supporters at his victory party with the banner headline ODEA DEFEATS SCHUMER.

In his victory speech in Denver, Mr. ODea pledged to be like a Republican Joe Manchin and lampooned the failed intervention by Democrats as everything that the American people hate about politics.

It is pure cynicism and deceit, Mr. ODea said.

Illinois and Colorado were two of seven states holding primaries or runoffs on Tuesday, the first races since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week and thrust abortion back to the center of the American political debate.
Representative Markwayne Mullin advanced to a runoff with T.W. Shannon, a former speaker of the Oklahoma House, in the Republican special primary for the Senate seat being vacated by James M. Inhofe, who is retiring. The winner of the special election in November will hold the seat until January 2027.
Tina Peters, a county clerk who has been charged with seven felonies related to a scheme to surreptitiously copy sensitive voting data, lost her bid for the Republican nomination for Colorado secretary of state on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

She was defeated by Pam Anderson, a longtime local election official who served as a clerk and recorder for Jefferson County and as president of the statewide county clerks association. Late Tuesday, Ms. Peters was also trailing Mike ODonnell, a former nonprofit executive who has promoted numerous falsehoods about the 2020 presidential contest.

Ms. Peters is part of a movement of Trump-inspired Republicans who deny the 2020 elections legitimacy and are running to be the top election official in their states, including Jim Marchant in Nevada, Audrey Trujillo in New Mexico and Kristina Karamo in Michigan.
Secret Service officials who requested anonymity to discuss the potential testimony said that both Robert Engel, the head of Mr. Trumps protective detail, and the driver of Mr. Trumps sport utility vehicle were prepared to state under oath that neither man was assaulted by the former president and that he did not reach for the wheel. The officials said the two men would not dispute the allegation that Mr. Trump wanted to go to the Capitol.

Ms. Hutchinson did not witness the scene in the vehicle herself but said she was informed about it moments later by Anthony Ornato, the presidents deputy chief of staff and a former Secret Service agent, with Mr. Engel present in the room and not disputing it.

Either way, other veterans of the Trump White House who have broken with the former president said Ms. Hutchinsons testimony resonated with their own experiences. Mr. Trump was prone to temper tantrums, slamming his hands down on his desk and screaming at advisers he considered insufficiently loyal. As Ms. Hutchinson said, his destruction of dishware during an outburst following the election was hardly the first time he had taken his wrath out on the White House china.

His temper was scary. And swift, Stephanie Grisham, who served as his White House press secretary and communications director and as Melania Trumps chief of staff, said after the hearing on Tuesday. Hed snap and almost lose control.

She related a number of examples in her tell-all book published after she left office, and noted that when Mr. Trump descended into rage, his staff resorted to summoning an aide, nicknamed the Music Man, to play favorite show tunes they knew would soothe him, including Memory from the Broadway musical Cats.

Other presidents have exhibited erratic behavior behind the scenes, from Andrew Jackson to Lyndon B. Johnson. Richard M. Nixon threw an ashtray across the room upon learning of the Watergate break-in, and on another occasion was seen shoving his own press secretary. In the days of scandal that led up to his resignation, Nixon drank, talked to the paintings of past presidents and seemed so unstable that his defense secretary ordered generals not to carry out any orders he issued without checking with him or the secretary of state first.
Were going to get charged with every crime imaginable, Mr. Cipollone said, by Ms. Hutchinsons account.

One of the crimes Mr. Cipollone was concerned about, Ms. Hutchinson recounted, was the same one the committee had accused Mr. Trump of committing in a court filing this spring: the obstruction of a congressional proceeding  namely, the certification of the Electoral College vote inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.

A federal judge in a civil suit related to the House committees work also concluded this year that Mr. Trump and one of his legal advisers, John Eastman, most likely had committed felonies, including obstructing the work of Congress and conspiring to defraud the United States, through their efforts to block certification of the Electoral College results.

According to Ms. Hutchinson, another potential crime that worried Mr. Cipollone was incitement to riot. That offense, while simpler in theory than obstruction, requires prosecutors to reach a high threshold of evidence and prove that a defendants words presented an immediate threat of lawlessness or danger.

Some legal scholars said Ms. Hutchinsons testimony made the best case to date that Mr. Trump had in fact incited the crowd.

Until this point, we had not seen proof that he knew about the violence, said Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as the lead counsel during Mr. Trumps first impeachment and is currently running for Congress in New York. The testimony made very clear he was not only entirely aware of the threat, but wanted armed people to march to the Capitol. He was even willing to lead them.
The consequences of this concerted and largely U.S.-driven approach, the report said, led to a hardening of the conflict in which the civilian population has been the main victim.

Declassified documents used to compile the report, which were obtained by The New York Times, show that Washington believed for years that the Colombian military was engaged in extrajudicial killings and was working with right-wing paramilitaries, and yet continued to deepen its relationship with the armed forces.

The report, which was four years in the making and involved more than 14,000 individual and collective interviews, was a product of the 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and its largest rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. It is meant to aid in healing after the war, and included a new estimate of the dead: 450,000 people, nearly twice the number previously believed.

At a ceremony marking the reports publication, some victims cried in their seats, while others shouted for recognition for their loved ones. Some of the commissioners, who were responsible for creating the report, wore T-shirts that read: There is future if there is truth.
Mumbai,June 29 (UNI) Shiv Sena spokesperson and senior leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that, the MVA government of Maharashtra will challenge to state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari's directive asking Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to undergo a floor of test on June 30 to prove his majority.

Talking with media persons Raut said that the state Governor is doing this under pressure and it's is not correct to call a special assembly session to undergo the floor test .

Our legal team will approach the Supreme Court and we have confidence in the court, said Raut.

He said that the matter of disqualifying 16 Shiv Sena rebel MLAs is pending in the Supreme Court till July 11 then how can the governor call for a floor test.



Raut also alleged that the opposition leader Devendra Fadanvis is trying to the destabilize the MVA state government ever since it was formed.



Raut also accused that the state governor of not approving MVA government's file to nominate 12 MLCs for the last two years and now within 24 hours he issued direction to the state government to prove its majority after Fadanvis's letter to him last night .

UNI VKB ACL
LONDON  Deborah James, a British podcaster, writer and cancer campaigner who chronicled her struggle with an incurable bowel tumor with candor and vivacity, died on Tuesday, more than five years after the illness was diagnosed, at her parents home in Woking, south of London. She was 40.

The death was announced on her Instagram account.

Deborah passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family, read a post on that highly popular account, Bowelbabe, adding some last words from Ms. James:

Find a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope. And finally, check your poo  it could just save your life.

Ms. James co-hosted You, Me and the Big C, a BBC podcast about cancer; wrote a column about her journey through her illness for the British tabloid The Sun; tirelessly raised awareness and funds for the cause; and wrote a book, F*** You Cancer: How to Face the Big C, Live Your Life and Still Be Yourself (2018)
From the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv to the northeastern reaches near Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials reported more Russian missile and bombing strikes overnight. At least eight civilians, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed and dozens wounded, including a 3-month-old baby who was in a coma.

Vitaly Kim, head of the Mykolaiv regional military administration, said Tuesday that Russia had launched at least 11 missiles on targets in the region, and that while several had been shot down by air defense systems, others got through. Russians also shelled the small town of Ochakiv, on the Black Sea coast just east of the port city of Odesa, killing three people, Mr. Kim said.

In the Kharkiv region, near Russian territory, Russian forces continued to shell civilian areas, according to Ukrainian officials. At least five people were killed there in the last 24 hours and 22 wounded, including three children.

Among those wounded in the missile strike on the mall was a 22-year-old woman who had fled with her mother to Kremenchuk, in central Ukraine, from Kharkiv. We hoped we would be safe here, said the mother, Larisa, who did not feel comfortable sharing her last name. This is a deep trauma for my soul.

Natalia Humenuk, a spokeswoman for the armed forces in southern Ukraine, said that Russia had fired on Mykolaiv using the same Soviet-era anti-ship missiles that had struck the shopping mall.

The missiles are designed primarily to destroy aircraft carriers, and are considered highly inaccurate when used on land, posing a significant risk of collateral damage and civilian casualties. British military intelligence officials say Russia appears to have launched dozens of them against land targets because its forces lack more precise modern missiles.
Most dancers know the moment they caught the dance bug. For the choreographer Christopher Williams, growing up in Syracuse, it was at a performance of Les Sylphides, recognized as the first ballet blanc, or plotless ballet. This Michel Fokine work, originally performed by Sergei Diaghilevs influential Ballets Russes in 1909, presents a shimmering world in which a young poet meets a group of sylphs, their blindingly white long tutus casting the scene in a ghostly haze.

Over the years, Williams has held firmly onto that experience: It was the first ballet he saw, as he writes in program notes, that made me want to embody something hauntingly otherworldly.

Unearthly, ethereal, magical and, yes, otherworldly: These words are synonymous with Williamss dances, for which he has mined Greek mythology, folklore and the lives of saints. For his debut program at the Joyce Theater, which opened Tuesday, Williams pays homage to his own dance awakening  and to other works from the Ballets Russes  to create a new version of Les Sylphides.
Her giving was low-key, as were many things about Kohler. For one, she didnt like to be photographed, said Patterson, who worked closely with Kohler for seven years.

I didnt know about it, honestly, Patterson said of Kohlers previous giving. It was under the radar.

Beyond the parameters of visual art, performing arts and arts education, Kohlers vision for the Ruth Foundation was not specific about where its money should go, giving Patterson and the three-person board of trustees a lot of leeway.

Ruth was never prescriptive, Patterson said. She used to say, All the art for all the people.

Patterson added that Kohler had her own way of working: She was always idea-focused and always there to make things happen. Ruth followed the lead of artists. She always wanted to make sure that staff members were pushing themselves creatively.

Michelle Grabner, who, in addition to making her own art, teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has helped the foundation by nominating grantees, knew Kohler for decades.
This story is part of a new series exploring the world through books. Weve asked some of our favorite writers to recommend reading that helps you get to know their cities and tips on literary landmarks to check out. Well be traveling the world with them for the next few months, from Madrid to Mexico City to Istanbul and beyond. Sign up for the Books newsletter to make sure you dont miss any stops!

Lisbon has long been marked by a certain wistfulness. Perched at the westernmost edge of Europe, it has been a place of departures as much as of arrivals, its cobblestone streets perpetually echoing with the voices of those who have passed through. That is the city captured in Lisboa, Cidade Triste e Alegre, a symphonic graphic poem first published in 1959 by Victor Palla and Costa Martins, whose grainy black-and-white images caught the essence of a place longing for change.

But for those who come with that vision, the city today will surprise with its diversity and color. While life in Lisbon may still be threaded with melancholy  exorbitant rents in the city center have forced many historic bookstores and centennial shops to close, and many longtime residents to move farther away  its streets are rich with literary tradition and vibrant with the contributions of new arrivals.

You can stroll in the citys downtown and visit cafes, such as Martinho da Arcada, inaugurated in 1782, or A Brasileira, which opened in 1905 and where some of the countrys most renowned writers, including Fernando Pessoa, once met. Or you can take the rail line at Terminal do Rossio to Sintra, which was a source of inspiration for Jose Maria de Eca de Queiroz, one of Portugals great 19th-century novelists. But if you get off at the Amadora station and enter the Babilonia shopping center, you will find a lively mall that serves as a meeting point for the numerous migrant communities that make the city what it is today.
A more muscular NATO emerges

At a summit in Madrid yesterday, NATO outlined its new strategic vision, positioning Moscow as the alliances primary adversary and, for the first time, labeling China a strategic challenge.

The plan signifies a fundamental shift from the post-Cold War era, when the alliance saw Russia as a potential ally and did not focus on China at all. It followed formal membership invitations to Finland and Sweden  paving the way for NATOs most significant enlargement in more than a decade.

NATOs efforts to build power come as Moscows forces continue to hold the upper hand in the fifth month of their war in Ukraine, methodically gaining ground in the east as they reduce civilian areas to rubble. The secretary general of NATO announced plans to deploy thousands of new troops assigned to bases in eight countries on NATOs eastern flank.
Trump knew the crowd he had amassed in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, was armed and could turn violent, but he wanted security protections lifted, said Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, Trumps final chief of staff.

Hutchinson paraphrased the former presidents objections to the presence of magnetometers to detect weapons: You know, I dont f-ing care that they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f-ing mags away.

Hutchinson also testified that Trump had tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine from a Secret Service agent when he was told that it was not safe to go to the Capitol. Here are live updates.

Details: Meadows and Rudy Giuliani sought pardons from Trump after the riot, Hutchinson testified.

Rage: Inside the White House, Trump threw dishes, splattering ketchup on the wall, after learning that his attorney general had publicly shot down his false allegations of a stolen election, Hutchinson said.

Analysis: This is the smoking gun, said one expert, who told The Times that Tuesdays hearing had established a case for Trumps criminal culpability on seditious conspiracy charges.
Amazon moved to restrict items and search results related to L.G.B.T.Q. people and issues on its website in the United Arab Emirates on Monday after receiving pressure from the government there, according to company documents viewed by The New York Times.

The Emirati government gave Amazon until Friday to comply under threat of penalties, the documents show. It was not clear what those penalties would be. Homosexuality is criminalized in the Emirates, punishable by fines and imprisonment, according to the State Department.

Amazons restrictions on products in the Emirates are indicative of the compromises that tech companies are willing to make to operate in restrictive countries, even when professing to be adamant about free expression in their own country. Netflix has pulled shows in Saudi Arabia and censored scenes in Vietnam, Apple has stored customer data on Chinese servers despite privacy concerns, and Google removed an app for a Russian opposition leader last year after facing a threat of prosecution there.
The United States has accused five Chinese companies of violating sanctions against Russia by continuing to support Russias military, and took action this week to block them from buying American technology, the Commerce Department said.

In response to the invasion of Ukraine in February, U.S. authorities enacted sweeping sanctions and export controls that prohibit the sale of certain high-tech products, including advanced semiconductors, to Russia and Belarus. The addition of the Chinese companies to the export ban list shows the lengths that the Biden administration is willing to go to enforce its sanctions and could heighten tension with China over its ties to Moscow.

The companies that were added to the list on Tuesday are Connec Electronic, King Pai Technology, Sinno Electronics, Winninc Electronic and World Jetta Logistics. The Commerce Department said that these firms had continued to provide support to Russias military and defense industrial base and that their activities were contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
Head of consumer bureau inflames the Chamber

The Chamber of Commerce is targeting Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a public campaign, accusing him of trying to radically reshape the financial services industry.

As part of the campaign, which began yesterday, the trade group shelled out six figures for advertisements seeking to rein in an out-of-control Chopra. The group also filed six requests for records of communications between Chopras agency and the White House, and it sent two letters to the consumer bureau detailing what the Chamber called imprudent and unlawful actions. (One letter lays out the groups objection to the agencys policy tweak on examining financial institutions for discriminatory practices.)

A spokeswoman for the agency told DealBook: Scare tactics orchestrated by lobbyists for Big Tech and Wall Street wont deter the work of the C.F.P.B. to enforce the law. She added: Less than a year in, our approach is already paying dividends, with significant changes in bank overdraft policies and major reforms in the reporting of medical debt to consumer credit reports.

The trade groups move reflects growing fears in some Washington circles that Chopra has amassed too much influence since taking up the post in October. The Chambers chief policy officer, Neil Bradley, told DealBook in an email that Chopras efforts would upend the financial service system and that the group was hoping for congressional oversight.

The right has accused Chopra of unfair maneuvering, and the left has hailed him as a hero of the people. During a hearing in April, Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said the consumer agency had abused its power under Chopra. (Toomey did not respond to a request for comment on the Chambers campaign.) Separately, the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive competition policy group, said in a statement yesterday that Chopra was a cleareyed fighter for workers, small businesses and local communities, and that corporate lobbyists were trying to discredit him with a targeted smear campaign.

The director was once warmly welcomed by Republicans. In 2018, senators unanimously confirmed Chopra after Donald Trump nominated him to the Federal Trade Commission. Lawmakers knew Chopra from his previous roles at the C.F.P.B. and the Education Department, and Republicans did not then object to the appointment of a protege of their progressive colleague, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. But at the F.T.C., Chopras tactics and approaches quickly drew ire from the right, and by last year, when he was Bidens pick for C.F.P.B. director, 48 Republicans opposed him and two did not vote.
New Delhi, June 29 (UNI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday re-registered a case in connection with the killing of a tailor in Udaipur who had praised a former BJP spokesperson whose comments on Prophet Mohammad triggered widespread condemnation.

The latest development came after the Home Ministry asked the NIA to take over the probe from the Rajasthan Police.

NIA has registered a case under Sections 452, 302, 153 (A), 153 (B), 295 (A) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 16, 18 and 20 of UA(P)Act, 1967 against the accused who have conspired, planned and committed the heinous murder of Kanhaiya Lal on Tuesday, the agency said in a statement.
That is already happening. European countries are scrambling to build facilities to receive L.N.G. After Russias invasion of Ukraine, Germany has found itself in the dangerous predicament of being the largest buyer of Russian gas and yet having no L.N.G.-receiving terminals in case Moscow cuts off the fuel, as it is signaling it may do.

Berlin now plans to build as many as four receiving units. Finland, Estonia, Italy and the Netherlands are all considering building terminals or expanding existing ones. Some of these units are likely to be floating installations that can be towed elsewhere when their leases end.

The liquefied gas is coming at a steep price. In most years, the major markets for L.N.G. are Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and China. During the first five months of 2022, Asian imports fell by 8 percent, in part because of slowing demand from China caused by Covid lockdowns.

Whats helping to shift gas away from Asia toward Europe is not so much promises from politicians like Mr. Biden but astronomical prices  currently around nine times those of two years ago.

European prices have to rise to attract cargoes from Asia into Europe to fill the hole that has been created by Russia, said Neil Beveridge, an analyst at Bernstein. That requires some really high prices to do that.

Futures prices have been around $40 per million British thermal units, an industry measure. In energy terms that is comparable to more than $200 a barrel for oil, roughly double the current price for Brent crude, the international benchmark.
The Supreme Court declared clearly last week that there is no federal right to abortion. But how the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization affects the right to talk about abortion remains far from settled, teeing up what legal experts said was a looming confrontation over whether the First Amendment allows censoring speech about a medical procedure that will become illegal in much of the country.

In states where abortion is outlawed, for instance, how can women be informed of their options elsewhere? Will media outlets be free to publish advertisements across state lines from providers operating in states where abortion has not been outlawed  as the Supreme Court long ago ruled they could? Will women be allowed to accept information about abortion if they then decide to terminate a pregnancy but dont live in a state that allows it? What if states move to make this kind of exchange of information illegal?

You have the right, ostensibly, to talk about abortion, said Will Creeley, the legal director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The question then becomes whether that talk can be regulated if it aids and abets or encourages others to have an abortion.
The pandemic has been bad for the countrys local newspapers. But maybe not as bad as some people have feared.

Over 360 newspapers in the United States have gone out of business since just before the start of the pandemic, according to a new report from Northwestern Universitys journalism school.

That same pace  about two closures per week  was occurring before the pandemic. Many newspaper analysts had thought that the economic conditions created by the coronavirus, especially a decline in advertising, would cause the rate to increase considerably.
Then there are the digital payments services that straddle the line between technology and finance: Apple Pay; PayPal and its Venmo offering; and Square and its Cash app.

None of the companies responded to at least two messages seeking comment.

Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law Schools Cyberlaw Clinic, read these companies user agreements with her students for a recent course. We came to the realization that essentially all of them are bad, she said. Theyve all said they will comply with the legal process and will turn over documents either through warrants or a subpoena.

Tech companies have more experience with deliberating over whether to stand up to subpoenas for users private data. By comparison, financial services companies generally havent faced that much complexity, because new forms of payment dont come along nearly as frequently as new forms of communication, many of which introduce novel legal questions and the possibility of outrage from consumers and others.

Abortion rights and privacy activists are preparing for the fight.

I think everyone, including these companies, is trying to figure out what, if anything, can be done, said Dana Sussman, acting executive director at the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. One thing we are hoping to do is apply public pressure to fight these subpoenas. If they do, it will make it a lot harder for these prosecutors, who have limited resources and a lot of work to do in their communities with other issues.

Amie Stepanovich, vice president of U.S. policy at the Future of Privacy Forum, a nonprofit focused on data privacy and protection, said warrants and subpoenas can be accompanied by gag orders, which can prevent companies from even alerting their customers that theyre being investigated.

They can choose to battle the use of gag orders in court, she said. Sometimes they win, sometimes they dont.
This article is part of a special report on Climate Solutions, which looks at efforts around the world to make a difference.

LONDON  One day late in 2023 an almost-empty commercial airliner is expected to lift off on a trans-Atlantic flight between Britain and the United States that Prime Minister Boris Johnson casts as a once in a generation breakthrough for aviation and the battle against climate change.

With characteristic boosterism, Mr. Johnson has compared the event to the brave first nonstop flight across the Atlantic by a Vickers biplane in 1919, when British World War I veterans Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown struggled from St. Johns, Newfoundland, to Galway, Ireland.

Mr. Johnsons transport secretary, Grant Shapps, says next years flight will be nothing less than the dawn of an era of guilt-free flying for passengers worried that the aviation industry has so far contributed little to the scramble to reach anything like a Net-Zero world.
The most important thing to do now, before any hurricane warnings, is to make a family plan.

Prepare an emergency kit, including cash, prescription medicines and three days worth of food and water (for people and pets). If your house floods and you cant return immediately, this kit will be essential. Be sure to consider provisions for those with special needs, like older people. If you need help coming up with a list, this one from Wirecutter, a New York Times company that reviews products, has suggestions for any household.

If you live in a coastal area, its important to become familiar with community evacuation plans, zones and routes.

And plan a meeting spot for your family. Dont count on having cellphones.

Listen to local news media for the most up-to-date information on how to prepare and when to evacuate from the area. The biggest issue I see people running into is that they just wait too long, said Alberto Moscoso, a former communications director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. When it comes to hurricane and storm preparation, now is always the right time.
Over the past few years, this type of commentary  internet-video figures dissecting the output of other, more popular internet-video figures  has become its own small ecosystem. The people doing the commenting often appear on one anothers channels, where they discuss the absurdities of influencers and social-media culture. Their level of earnestness varies, but they are, generally, trying to be funny; even withering takedowns like Taylors are laced with quips. Their commentary has become one of YouTubes more popular genres, appearing among trending videos like Jimmy Fallon clips and James Cordens Carpool Karaoke.

There is, perhaps, a heartening inevitability to all this: Even in a world with no gatekeepers and limited moderation, a certain savvy will assert itself. YouTube even has its equivalents of tabloids and trade publications, covering salacious online drama or niche interests. But its the commentary YouTubers in particular who have become, in some cases, as popular as the stars they react to, leading to strange conflicts between fame and critical integrity  plus literal run-ins in the influencer-infested studios of Los Angeles. In 2019, the loutish influencer Jake Paul posted a video titled confronting internet bully cody ko, in which he tracked down Cody Kolodziejzyk, a commentary YouTuber who often discussed his work. Visibly enraged and complaining that anyone could be so full of hatred instead of spreading positivity, Paul recorded himself ambushing his critic  in a video he would monetize for income.

Kolodziejzyk and his comedy partner, Noel Miller, became popular on YouTube with a series called Thats Cringe, which mocked not just Paul but other internet celebrities. Kolodziejzyk and Millers fans, however, noticed that as the two rose to prominence, they became steadily more immersed in the world of the very media they were critiquing. Soon the subjects of their mockery started appearing on Kolodziejzyk and Millers own channel, creating hit videos by performing gestures of reconciliation with the comedians. Fans fretted about a conflict of interest that would incentivize Kolodziejzyk and Miller to pull their punches  a neat mirror to worries about access-based coverage in traditional journalism.

On a May 2021 episode of Kolodziejzyk and Millers podcast, for instance, they reacted to a particularly outrageous TikTok from Gary Vee, in which he urged an attendee at one of his self-help seminars to induce gratitude by imagining family members being shot in the face. Howling with laughter, Kolodziejzyk and Miller traded escalating riffs on the theme (Picture your family getting swallowed by 10,000 locusts!); a clip of the conversation became one of their most popular posts on TikTok. But soon Gary Vee himself caught wind and requested to be on the podcast. Appearing in a T-shirt that demanded POSITIVE VIBES ONLY, he parroted lines at Millers request (I need you to picture yourself swallowing a bag of nails!) while the hosts laughed credulously.
Todd Haynes doesnt exactly reinvent the rock-band-biopic documentary in The Velvet Underground, but there are times when he seems pretty close to it. The title is in some ways a misnomer: The focus isnt so much on the band as the Warholian cultural ferment of the 1960s that the group grew out of. (Its more underground and less, uh, velvet.) Dedicated to the memory of Jonas Mekas, who appears, and featuring excerpts from films by him and film-artist contemporaries like Bruce Conner, Stan Brakhage and many others, Hayness movie is as interested in picture, sound and sensation as it is in recording history.

The copious use of split screen evokes Warhols Chelsea Girls, a work that places imagery from two projectors side by side while the soundtrack alternates between the film strips, allowing viewers to draw connections. In a similar spirit, Haynes is devoted to capturing the cultural crosscurrents that shaped the band and its members.

John Cale, one of the bands founders, speaks of the influence of experimental musicians like John Cage and La Monte Young on the music he was making. Later, offering a fans perspective, the musician Jonathan Richman talks about hearing overtones that you couldnt account for while seeing the Velvet Underground play. The film critic Amy Taubin draws a link between Warhols silent films  meant to be played at the slower-than-standard speed of 16 frames per second  and the avant-garde music scene: It was all about extended time.

Hayness film doesnt avoid standard biographical details. There are tales of Lou Reeds prickliness and a long section about what happened to the band after its game-changing (if famously not best-selling) first album. But you dont have to be interested in the music, or music at all, to appreciate The Velvet Underground as a movie.
Families of some of the victims of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., invoked the exception in a suit against Remington Arms, the maker of a weapon used in the attack, reaching a $73 million settlement earlier this year.

New York lawmakers took advantage of the same exception to create a path for those affected by gun violence to sue manufacturers, distributors and retailers for damages. The law classifies the improper and illegal sale of firearms as a public nuisance.

Three states  California, Delaware and New Jersey  are considering or have passed measures modeled after New Yorks law.

In May, a federal judge dismissed a challenge from some members of the gun industry, who had argued that the law would be used unfairly to hold them responsible for the conduct of criminals who misused their weapons. An appeal is pending.

But, nationally, the scales remain tilted in the gun industrys favor. On Tuesday, Delaware became the first state to repeal a law modeled after the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but similar measures remain on the books in 34 other states, according to Brady, a gun control group.

The attorney generals lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, names 10 companies as defendants: Brownells, Blackhawk Manufacturing Group, Salvo Technologies, G.S. Performance, Indie Guns LLC, Primary Arms, Arm or Ally, Rainier Arms, KM Tactical and Rock Slide USA. It seeks a judicial order prohibiting the companies from sending gun parts to New York as well as restitution for the damage caused.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six and a half to eight years, writing that Mr. Parnas had lied and swindled and corrupted for his own benefit.

Parnas put himself above this country, his investors, and the public, they wrote.

In many ways, Mr. Parnass story can be seen as a parable of the Trump years, even if the offenses he was sentenced for did not involve the former president. A Ukrainian immigrant who grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Mr. Parnas used his proximity to power  and selfies with Trump-world figures  to advance his business interests.

He dined on cheeseburgers with Mr. Trump in a two-level luxury suite in the presidents Washington hotel, and he became close with Mr. Giuliani, helping him make connections in Ukraine.

Eventually, however, feeling abandoned by Mr. Trump after his arrest, Mr. Parnas renounced him. He then provided information to the House Intelligence Committee as part of its impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump.

Mr. Parnass lawyers, Joseph A. Bondy and Stephanie R. Schuman, cited that assistance as justifying a more lenient sentence, writing to the court that Mr. Parnas had given nearly 700 pages of documents to the House committee.

Mr. Bondy added that prosecutors in Mr. Parnass case apparently did not want to hear information he was willing to share, had kept him at bay before hearing what he had to offer, then had used that information to thwart his potential trial testimony, rather than to consider his attempt to provide substantial assistance in good faith.
An insurrectionist?

The accumulated evidence, capped by Ms. Hutchinsons testimony, will again raise another possible legal obstacle for Mr. Trump: disqualification from any future federal office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Known as the disqualification clause, the provision applies to anyone who took an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or gave aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

We have seen this challenge against others  like Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina  who were accused of insurrection. Triggering 14th Amendment challenges against Mr. Trump will be as simple as voters petitioning election officials in any state where he seeks to run to exclude him from the primary or general election ballot on the ground that he is constitutionally barred because of his role in the insurrection. As with the Greene and Cawthorn cases, the challenges would surely wind up in court. Ms. Greene and Mr. Cawthorn were both allowed to run for office, but the cases established important precedents, including the willingness of election officials and courts to consider the issue.

Moreover, those cases didnt have this amount of evidence, and there is likely more to come. The effort to bar Mr. Trump from running will be bolstered if the committee formally determines in its final report that he was an insurrectionist under the 14th Amendment, even more so if those findings are adopted by the full House.

Scholars have disagreed about how and in what scenarios Section 3 applies. For example, some point to a postbellum case to suggest that it cannot be carried out without congressional legislation. Other experts argue that there is no such requirement. After Tuesday, it seems likely that these and many other questions will be worked out by the courts.

Cliffhangers and villains

Each hearing has saved a surprise for the end. Last Thursdays, for example, ended with the revelations that six members of Congress had sought presidential pardons. On Tuesday it was screenshots, presented by Representative Liz Cheney, of messages presumably from supporters of Mr. Trump to witnesses, insinuating that Mr. Trump was watching and does read transcripts and knows youre loyal. They showed possible witness tampering and potential obstruction of justice.

The hearings have very gradually introduced villains, first focusing on Mr. Trump, then on legal helpers for his attempted coup, John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark. On Tuesday we met a fourth, Mr. Meadows. That is part of how the committee has been so shrewd; it has slowly expanded the cast of characters.
Over the ensuing decades, the justices continued to tinker with the machinery of death, as Justice Harry Blackmun once put it. The court developed a complex body of jurisprudence while letting hundreds of executions proceed. In 2002, for instance, the court prohibited the execution of people with intellectual disabilities; in 2005, it banned the execution of those who committed their crimes before age 18.

In early 2016, amid predictions that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency, there was hope among some death penalty lawyers that the court might be persuaded to strike down the death penalty for good. That evaporated with Donald Trumps victory and his three appointments to the court.

And yet the number of executions and death sentences are in decline. Civil rights lawyers  including many mentored by Mr. Amsterdam  developed strategies to persuade juries and prosecutors to spare the lives of their clients. They drew historical connections between the modern death penalty and the racist lynchings of earlier eras. They publicized the plights of death row prisoners like Karla Faye Tucker, who became a born-again Christian in prison and was executed in Texas in 1998 for the murders of two people. The aggressive defenses they mounted drove up the prosecution costs of pursuing death sentences, creating a fiscal-conservative argument against the death penalty. And they repeatedly won the freedom of people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. In 2000, the Republican governor of Illinois, George Ryan, halted all executions, noting that 13 prisoners had been exonerated since 1977  more than the number who had been executed in the state.

In the past decade, state courts in Delaware and Washington found their states death penalty systems unconstitutional, while governors in California, Oregon and Pennsylvania suspended all executions and state legislators approved bills to abolish the punishment in Colorado and Virginia that were signed by their governors. In New Hampshire, the state legislature overrode the governors veto of a bill that abolished the death penalty. District attorneys in major cities that used to churn out death sentences  Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New Orleans  said they would seek the death penalty rarely or not at all. Carol Steiker, a professor at Harvard Law School, told me recently that conditions on the ground seem ripe for continued decline of the practice in every way, and we may see little Furmans everywhere.

Last year, I discovered in my reporting that in at least half the states with an active death penalty, Republican lawmakers had recently sponsored or written bills to ban or constrain the punishment. The Republican-led legislature in Ohio, for instance, voted to prohibit the death penalty for defendants who had severe mental illness at the time of the offense. The Republican governor signed the bill. And some Ohio Republicans, along with fellow Republicans in Georgia, Utah and a few other states, are talking about abolishing the death penalty.

For a long time it gnawed at me, being pro-life, that I was willing to let somebody be killed, Jean Schmidt, a Republican and member of the Ohio House of Representatives, told Vox.
To the Editor:

Re Iran, Digging Tunnels, Fans Nuclear Fears (front page, June 17):

The diplomatic deadlock over Irans nuclear program has all the ingredients of a coming escalation. The United States and Iran, historical adversaries deeply wary of one another on the best of days, are engaged in a game of chicken. Both refuse to budge from their positions and expect the other to blink.

But neither side has a better alternative to re-entering the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. Because of high oil prices and Chinas willingness to buy its crude, Tehran may believe that it can get by if the talks collapse. But Iran cant bank on current market dynamics holding for a long period.

The likelihood of even stronger U.S. sanctions will complicate Irans ability to circumvent them  and the European Union, which previously opposed Washingtons sanctions but begrudgingly went along with them, will be active participants after blaming Iran for spoiling the diplomacy.
Some expansions of NATO have come after intense debate in the U.S. Senate, with lawmakers raising valid concerns about the alliance. For instance: whether its requirement for unanimous consent has become unwieldy with now dozens of nations as voting members. Other concerns include the cost of U.S. military deployments, although, unlike the accession of smaller nations with tiny armies, Sweden and Finland would significantly increase NATOs firepower. Other critics have wondered whether Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which declares an act of aggression against one member an act against the entire alliance, deprives Congress of its rightful role in declaring war.

Without the war in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland are unlikely to have felt the need for NATO protection. Sweden had not fought a war for 200 years, and Finland had long cultivated a policy of military nonalignment, though both nations are members of the European Union. But the Russian invasion shifted public attitudes swiftly. Both countries immediately sent supplies and weapons to Ukraine. Surveys in Finland and Sweden as the war began found support for joining NATO at 65 percent in Finland and 57 percent in Sweden. Both nations have strong militaries that could easily be integrated into NATO operations, and both nations are strong democracies, a prerequisite for membership.

NATO membership isnt automatic. New member states require the unanimous consent of all 30 existing NATO member states. In the United States, the expansion will require the support of at least 67 senators. Yet Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of NATO has said he expects the two countries will have be speedily admitted, especially with Turkey dropping its objections on Tuesday. Both Sweden and Finland are part of NATOs Partnership for Peace, a sort of associate member status.

The discussion at the summit about a larger, stronger NATO is playing out against the backdrop of a new strategic-concept document for the alliance  a vision for its trajectory for the next decade. As recently as a year ago, that document was poised to focus more broadly on China, climate change and cybersecurity  important priorities to be sure, yet superseded by events on the ground that create an opportunity for the alliance to concentrate on its core mission of safeguarding freedom and security in Europe by political and military means. The updated strategy also rightly addresses newer forms of warfare, from cyber and artificial intelligence to disinformation.
Calla Hales said she wore her bulletproof vest to work on Saturday for the first time in a long time. Hales is the executive director of A Preferred Womens Health Center, a clinic that provides abortion care in Charlotte, N.C., and has branches in Raleigh, N.C.; Augusta, Ga.; and Atlanta. Shes always worried about her safety, because of the endless stream of threats that abortion providers get. But when I talked to her last week, Hales was dubious about how useful the vest is: It doesnt cover her entire body so she knows it wont necessarily save her life.

Still, her loved ones were texting and calling her to make sure she had it on. Friday, the day that Roe v. Wade fell, was her first full day back in the office after recovering from a nasty case of Covid. Hales is pregnant with her second child and said I got hit hard, adding, I was in the E.R. and I thought I was miscarrying. It turned out, she said, that she had been coughing with enough intensity that she gave herself a subchorionic hematoma, which is bleeding beneath the membranes that surround the embryo in the uterus.

When we spoke, she said she was coming off a 12-hour workday, and was exhausted. It was the first time since she returned to work that she had a few moments to reflect on what had just happened. Though she was well aware that Roe was going to be overturned from the leaked draft in May of the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, Hales said that nothing could have prepared her for the post-Roe reality.
A variety of triggers can kindle wildfires on dry lands: high winds that send power lines careening into each other, stray cigarette butts, even sparks from train wheels. And, sometimes, electrocuted birds.

In 2017, a hawk carrying a snake lit a 40-acre blaze in Montana. The accidental arsonist was found crisped on the ground, its well-done dinner still grasped in its talons. The snake-hawk duo might have touched two power lines at once, forming a circuit that electrocuted both before they fell and ignited the grass. That was one of at least 44 wildfires caused by electrocuted birds in the United States from 2014 through 2018, researchers reported this month in the Wildlife Society Bulletin. Anecdotes of blazes caused by birds pop up occasionally, and researchers are still working to understand how much of a wildfire risk really results from such fowl play.

Such electrocutions typically occur in places with few trees, where bigger bird species may perch or nest on utility poles, said Taylor Barnes, a geospatial information system specialist at E.D.M. International, a consulting company for electric utilities, and one of the authors of the paper. A bird can rest on one wire with no problem. But touching two wires simultaneously or touching one wire and a piece of grounded equipment, such as a transformer, can cause trouble.
The Biden administration has considered other measures to keep American data away from China but has not publicly pushed TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese owner.

TikTok has maintained that it is taking steps to keep employees in China from gaining access to its data. Shortly before a recent news report revealed it was struggling to do so, it said it was routing all data from its U.S. users through servers controlled by Oracle.

Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said the company was engaging with lawmakers who had asked questions about its data practices. Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesman, declined to comment. Apple and the F.C.C. did not reply to requests for comment.

In his letter, Mr. Carr said he did not believe TikToks efforts would make a difference.

TikTok has long claimed that its U.S. user data has been stored on servers in the U.S., and yet those representations provided no protection against the data being accessed from Beijing, he wrote. Indeed, TikToks statement that 100 percent of US user traffic is being routed to Oracle says nothing about where that data can be accessed from.
Hunger predicated that we eat before checking into the hotel. We arrived at Ojai Rotie, a French-Lebanese patio restaurant downtown, 15 minutes before it opened, Type A personalities blazing. There was already a line, owing to Ojai Roties utterly craveable array of salads (get the purslane tabbouleh, $10), Lebanese-inspired dips (the muhammara and roasted eggplant are particularly deserving of the chefs kiss emoji, $16 each or three for $28), zaatar-dusted flatbread ($7, it comes with the spread of dips), and rotisserie chicken ($16 and up). Dessert here or shall we walk? asked Nicole. We elected to keep the car in its free parking spot and meander down the street to Ojai Ice Cream.

Until: Oooh wait, can we stop in here?

I dont know who said it first, because over the course of the next two hours, we all did. Ojai is a vacation shoppers paradise. On one side of Ojai Avenue: Fig Curated Living, a treasure trove of home goods, like earthen mugs emblazoned with iconic lyrics (I will survive, $24), Ali Golden, an on-trend womens clothing store, and Tala Design, another homewares store where Nicole convinced me to buy a smoked glass candle holder I didnt know I needed ($80). The real damage was done at Danski Ojai, where dresses fanned out from tightly packed racks. The owner hand selects everything from designers around the world, said Rosemary, the sales associate behind the register. That dress, the Kandinsky-esque number I had been eyeing, is from Japan. Its made of recycled plastic bottles.
I know you know how to drink wine, but I want to make sure you know how to taste it, Mr. Wilson said to a group on a recent public tour.

Each stop on the tour has its own highlight: the wine itself, the rows of grape vines carpeting hills, expert winemakers or a compelling history. In 2018, the Dahlonega Plateau was given the coveted designation as a viticultural area, the first with boundaries contained in the state of Georgia, by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which is under the Department of the Treasury. The 133-square-mile areas soil quality, sun exposure and climate make it ideal for growing grape varietals, including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and chardonnay, according to the bureau.

On a Pop the Cork stop in Cleveland, a city northeast of Atlanta, Serenity Cellars, known for its Tuscan-inspired red blends, makes music integral to the experience. Wine tasting flights are offered daily, but not after 6 p.m. on Fridays when live music starts. Guests can either do a five-sample tasting for $20 or a six-sample tasting for $35 that includes a souvenir glass. An employee, Eduardo deVelasco, is on hand to offer advice on the music and wine that should accompany a meal.
Hershel Williams, the last survivor among the 472 servicemen who were awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary bravery in World War II and the oldest living recipient of the medal, died on Wednesday in Huntington, W.Va. He was 98.

His death, at the Huntington Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was announced by the Woody Williams Foundation.

Corporal Williams was lying prone on the black volcanic ash of Iwo Jima the morning of Feb. 23, 1945, when he was startled by the sounds of cheering. Suddenly, the Marines around me starting jumping up and down, firing their weapons in the air, he told the Marine Corps History Division long afterward. My head was buried in the sand. Then I looked up and saw Old Glory on top of Mount Suribachi.
In New York, Ms. Hochul was never believed to be in danger against her two challengers, one more liberal and one more conservative than she is.

But Mr. Delgados victory was less assured. He faced a robust challenge from Ana Maria Archila, a former immigrant rights activist who made her name confronting Senator Jeff Flake in a Senate elevator during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Mr. Delgado, who joined Ms. Hochuls administration in May after his predecessor resigned in scandal, still took about 60 percent of the vote in a three-way race.

Surprisingly close, but no cigar, for Nebraska Democrats.

Few outside the Cornhusker State paid much attention to the special election to fill the House seat vacated by former Representative Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned after he was convicted of lying to federal investigators. It was widely assumed that Mike Flood, a Republican state senator, would coast in Tuesdays special election and again in November.

But the combination of a low-turnout contest, an under-the-radar effort from local Democrats and anger over the Supreme Courts decision last week ending the constitutional right to an abortion led the Democrat in the race, State Senator Patty Pansing Brooks, to come within a few points of Mr. Flood in a district Mr. Trump carried by double digits in 2020.
Michael Stenger, who resigned as the Senates sergeant-at-arms after the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol exposed a lack of security planning, died on Monday. He was 71.

His family announced his death but did not give a cause or say where he died.

Mr. Stenger resigned under pressure from Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, a day after the insurrection by mobs supporting President Donald J. Trump. Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, the incoming majority leader, vowed to fire Mr. Stenger if he was still in office on Jan. 20, 2021.

As the sergeant-at-arms, Mr. Stenger was the Senates chief law enforcement officer, a role that also involves enforcing its rules and coordinating official events and visits. The insurrection presented him with an unprecedented challenge.
Missouri overhauled its election rules on Wednesday, enacting a voter identification law similar to one the states highest court blocked two years ago and doing away with its presidential primary in favor of a caucus system.

The new law, which Gov. Michael L. Parson signed at the State Capitol in Jefferson City, requires voters to present a photo ID when casting a regular or absentee ballot. Those without such documentation will be required to fill out a provisional ballot that would be segregated until they provide photo identification or their signature is matched to the one kept on file by election officials.

The voter identification rule was the latest instituted in a Republican-controlled state, and reflected the partys continued mistrust of common voting practices, including the use of voting machines. It requires the use of hand-marked paper ballots statewide starting in 2023, with limited exceptions for certain touch-screen systems until the end of next year.
The former professional football star Herschel Walker, who was endorsed by Mr. Trump, dominated the Republican primary for Senate. He will face Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat and prolific fund-raiser, in the general election.

Victories in Pennsylvania

After a close race that prompted a recount, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Mr. Trumps choice, won the states critical Republican Senate primary, narrowly defeating David McCormick.

Doug Mastriano, a state senator and retired Army colonel who has propagated myriad false claims about the 2020 election and attended the protest leading up to the Capitol riot, won the Republican nomination for governor. Mr. Trump endorsed him just a few days before the May 17 primary.

Two wins and a loss in North Carolina

Representative Ted Budd, who was endorsed by Mr. Trump, won the Republican nomination for Senate, and Bo Hines, a 26-year-old political novice who enthralled Mr. Trump, was catapulted to victory in his Republican primary for a House seat outside Raleigh.

But Representative Madison Cawthorn crumbled under the weight of repeated scandals and blunders. He was ousted in his May 17 primary, a stinging rejection of a Trump-endorsed candidate. Voters chose Chuck Edwards, a state senator.

A split in South Carolina House races

Representative Tom Rice, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was ousted by his Trump-backed challenger, State Representative Russell Fry, in the Republican primary in the Seventh Congressional District.
In their relationships with President Donald J. Trump in recent years, Roger J. Stone Jr., his longtime political adviser, and Michael T. Flynn, who was briefly his national security adviser, have followed a similar trajectory.

Both were either convicted of or pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia. Both were pardoned by Mr. Trump after the 2020 presidential election. And both supported Mr. Trump in his relentless, multilayered efforts to reverse its outcome and remain in power.

The two were, in a sense, together again on Tuesday, when both were mentioned within an instant of one another at the House select committee hearing by Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, Mr. Trumps final chief of staff. Ms. Hutchinson told the panel that on Jan. 5, 2021, a day before the Capitol was stormed, Mr. Trump had directed Mr. Meadows to reach out to Mr. Stone and Mr. Flynn.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the sweep of its landmark 2020 decision declaring that much of eastern Oklahoma falls within an Indian reservation, allowing state authorities to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians on the land.

The ruling left in place the basic holding of the 2020 decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma, which was decided by a 5-to-4 vote and said that Native Americans who commit crimes on the reservation cannot be prosecuted by state or local law enforcement and must instead face justice in tribal or federal courts.

The vote on Wednesday was also 5 to 4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the court when the McGirt case was decided, casting the decisive vote.
Three Americans who were found dead under mysterious circumstances at a resort in the Bahamas in May died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the authorities said.

At this juncture of the investigation, we can officially confirm that all three of the victims died as a result of asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement on Tuesday.

The deaths had stumped investigators who were summoned to the Sandals resort on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas on May 6 after a staff member found one of the tourists, a man, unresponsive in his villa, the police said.
NAINITAL, India  The attackers recorded the gruesome killing on a mobile phone. Then they filmed themselves gloating about the act and threatening the prime minister.

The video  of two Muslim men killing a Hindu man on Tuesday in the state of Rajasthan because they said he had insulted the Prophet Muhammad  spread quickly in India. The authorities shut down the internet in the state over concerns that the case could kindle broader unrest. The men were arrested on terrorism charges, the police said.

The events that led up to the killing began with comments by Nupur Sharma, a spokeswoman for the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a television appearance last month, Ms. Sharma made insulting remarks about the relationship between the prophet and his youngest wife  remarks that were condemned by the Muslim world as profaning the prophet.
The Philippine government has again ordered that Rappler, the news website co-founded by Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, be shut down for violating foreign ownership rules, the latest blow against press freedom in the country.

Rappler has angered President Rodrigo Duterte for investigating his drug war, and the government has filed seven criminal cases against Ms. Ressa, relating to tax evasion, violation of foreign ownership rules and cyber libel.

In his 2017 State of the Nation speech, Mr. Duterte singled out the news organization, saying it was fully owned by Americans, a charge that Rappler has denied. (The Constitution prohibits foreign entities from owning domestic media organizations in the Philippines.)
At a government news conference in May, Chen Jun, the chief physician at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, said anxiety, fear and depression were inevitable under an extended lockdown. For most people the feelings would be temporary, he said.

But other experts have warned that the effects will be long-lasting. An editorial this month in the medical journal The Lancet said the shadow of mental ill-health would linger over Chinas culture and economy for years to come. It continued: The Chinese government must act immediately if it is to heal the wound its extreme policies have inflicted.

The long-term fallout of the containment policies was already becoming clear in the inquiries that Xu Xinyue, a psychologist, received in recent weeks.

When the pandemic began two years ago, said Ms. Xu, who volunteers for a national counseling hotline, many callers were scared of the virus itself. But recent callers from Shanghai had been more concerned with the secondary effects of Chinas controls  parents anxious about the consequences of prolonged online schooling, or young professionals worried about paying their mortgages, after the lockdown pummeled Shanghais job market.

Others were questioning why they had worked so hard in the first place, having seen how money could not ensure their comfort or safety during lockdown. They were now saving less and spending more on food and other tangible objects that could bring a sense of security, Ms. Xu said.
End of Reciprocal Healthcare Arrangements with Spain

On 31 December 2020, as a result of the UK and Gibraltars departure from the European Union, reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the EU came to an end.

As HMGoG has previously informed in its Technical Notices on this subject, and in its Guidance to Citizens issued earlier this year, the full effect of the above was tempered in so far as Spain was concerned through a bridging measure introduced pursuant to Spains Real Decreto Brexit and unilateral arrangements maintained in Gibraltar. Under Spains Real Decreto Brexit, reciprocal healthcare arrangements were extended to last until 30 June 2022.

HMGoG regrets to note that at yesterdays meeting of the Spanish Council of Ministers, the Spanish Government has decided not to extend this measure. It would have been HMGoGs preference for these arrangements, which deeply affect citizens on either side of the border on matters as essential as healthcare, to have been maintained. Indeed, HMGoG said it was prepared to continue with them.

However, because reciprocity is a key element to these arrangements which cannot work without coordination and provisions for reimbursement of costs etc., HMGoG has said it is left with no option but to discontinue them also in so far as treatment in Gibraltar is concerned.

The effect of the above is as follows:

Emergency Healthcare Treatment

Gibraltar residents insured under Gibraltars Group Practice Medical Scheme (the Scheme which provides free access to Gibraltar Health Authority services and which covers the vast majority of residents of Gibraltar) will, after 30 June 2022, no longer be able to access free emergency healthcare in Spain during a temporary stay in Spain.

Therefore, as from 1 July 2022, residents of Gibraltar should ensure that they have appropriate travel insurance with medical cover each time they go to Spain, irrespective of the duration of the stay and therefore irrespective of whether time spent is only for some hours (for example a shopping trip or going to Spain for a meal).

The consequence of not having this insurance would mean that persons would themselves need to pay for any access to Spanish healthcare  even if that access to healthcare is required in the event of an emergency or accident. Where medical attention is required the costs incurred may be considerable so you should ensure you have adequate insurance cover or alternatively the means to pay. HMGoG has said it cannot make itself responsible for any claims arising from a failure to insure against these risks.

The public is once again reminded that this has been the position in all EU Member States, other than Spain, since 31 December 2020. It will, as from 1 July 2022, also be the position in Spain.

As a result, and in so far as treatment in Gibraltar is concerned, HMGoG is obliged to inform that, as from 1 July 2022, the Gibraltar Health Authority will no longer provide free healthcare treatment to visitors to Gibraltar covered by Spains social security system.

Other issues affecting healthcare.

HMGoG is also obliged to inform that, as a result of the Spanish Governments decision not to extend these arrangements, the Income Tax Office will, as from 1 July 2022, stop issuing S1 Certificates to persons not covered by the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement who are frontier workers contributing to Gibraltars social security system.

Frontier workers affected should check with the Spanish Authorities whether, without an S1 Certificate, they would still be able to register for access to state-provided Spanish healthcare.

Persons covered by the Withdrawal Agreement

This Technical Notice does not affect the position of persons who fall within the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Further information.

This Notice is meant for guidance only.
KYIV, Ukraine  After Russian forces captured the southern city of Kherson, much of what the outside world knew about life under Moscows rule came from the citys mayor, who described a world of repression, insecurity and the mass detainment of hundreds of people.

On Tuesday, the mayor, Ihor Kolykhaev, was himself arrested, shortly after he arrived at the municipal headquarters where he had continued to work despite being ousted from office, local officials said. Russian soldiers bundled him into a bus emblazoned with the Moscows war emblem, Z, and took him to an unknown location.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian occupation administration, told Russian state media that Mr. Kolykhayev had been detained. He called the mayor a hero for the Nazi community and added, Finally, he has been neutralized.
At least one person was dead and another was missing on Wednesday after heavy thunderstorms lashed villages in southern Austria overnight, with record rainfall that pushed rivers over their banks and cut off some communities from recovery efforts.

The storms rolled in overnight from Italy and Slovenia, along Austrias southern border, said Michael Tiefgraber, a meteorologist with Austrias national weather service, the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. About 5.5 inches (nearly 14 centimeters) of rain fell over seven hours before tapering off about 9 a.m. local time, he said.

A river near Arriach, a village with about 1,500 people, overflowed in several sections, and the road leading out of the village was completely destroyed in several places, ORF, the national broadcaster, reported. A hydropower station just outside of Arriach was severely damaged, its operator said.
Police officials said that the messages had all come from the same Yahoo account and that Russia was the most likely culprit. But determining responsibility, they added, would take time and would depend on Yahoos providing full information about the account.

Russia last week vowed painful retaliation over what it claimed was a Lithuanian ban on freight traffic to Kaliningrad in response to European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. Lithuanias prime minister accused Russia of lying and ginning up a fake crisis to present itself as a victim, insisting that only 1 percent of the cargo transported to and from Kaliningrad had been affected by European sanctions.

The European blocs executive arm advised Lithuania in April that sanctions imposed on Russian goods prohibited the transport of sanctioned items through European territory. But, eager to avoid further escalation over Kaliningrad, the European Commission has since quietly backtracked. It had been expected to announce a final ruling this week but has so far avoided making a decision, at least publicly.
The European Union proposed on Wednesday a ban on the sale of flavored heated tobacco products, part of a broader campaign to phase out tobacco use and reduce cancer rates in the bloc.

The proposal, spurred by a surge in the sale of heated tobacco products, seeks to keep pace with new products entering the market and to protect younger people, Stella Kyriakides, health commissioner for the blocs executive arm, said in a statement.

With nine out of 10 lung cancers caused by tobacco, we want to make smoking as unattractive as possible to protect the health of our citizens and save lives, said Ms. Kyriakides, adding that her agencys mission was to reduce tobacco use to 5 percent in member states by 2040.
There is no question that Ukraine would benefit from NATOs defining credo, which says that an armed attack against any member is considered an attack against them all. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has signaled that he sees the possibility of Ukrainian membership as a strategic threat, and it appeared to be a pretext for his invasion.

U.S. officials say they will not appease Mr. Putin by quashing Kyivs ambition to join the alliance. But Washington and its European allies do not want to further antagonize Russia and risk a wider war.

France and Germany, among others, have in the past opposed or been skeptical of Ukraines inclusion. And analysts say that President Biden, wary of further U.S. military commitments, has also been reluctant to support Ukraines membership.

Even if Ukraine could overcome those hurdles, it could face other challenges.

NATO observes an open-door policy that says that any European nation that wants to join can do so, if it meets certain requirements. Among them is demonstrating a commitment to democracy, individual liberty and support for the rule of law. While Ukrainian leaders say their country meets that threshold, some American and European officials argue otherwise.
The expansion of NATO came after protracted negotiations with Turkey, a member of the alliance that had raised objections. Although it was still unclear Wednesday exactly what had persuaded Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to alter his stance, clues emerged. Some involved Turkeys concerns about Kurdish separatists.

Ann Linde, the Swedish foreign minister, said that Sweden and Finland had formally agreed not to lend support to Kurdish or other organizations that could harm Turkeys security, whether with weapons or other aid.

We dont do that today either, but now its explicitly written, Ms. Linde told Swedish Radio. She said her country would continue to provide humanitarian support to Kurds and others in northeastern Syria.

Both Sweden and Finland will also lift an informal arms embargo on Turkey imposed in 2019 after Turkey had intervened in northern Syria. As new members of NATO, Ms. Linde said, both countries would have new commitments vis-a-vis allies, and this applies to Turkey as well.

And the United States on Wednesday signaled a new willingness to sell upgraded F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, moving closer to satisfying the allys longstanding request.

American officials insisted the change was unrelated to the NATO expansion.

Reporting was contributed by Anton Troianovski from Paris; Michael Schwirtz from Athens; Ivan Nechepurenko from Tbilisi, Georgia; Megan Specia from Lviv, Ukraine; Julian E. Barnes from Washington; and Marc Santora from Warsaw.
ROME  U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an avid defender of abortion rights, met privately with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received communion from a priest during a papal Mass at St. Peters Basilica, according to an attendee.

Ms. Pelosi, who has denounced the Supreme Courts decision to strip constitutional protections for abortion as outrageous and heart-wrenching, sat in a V.I.P. diplomatic section of the basilica and received a blessing from Francis in private before the morning Mass celebrating the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul. She later lined up to receive communion from a priest with the rest of the congregants.

The Vatican did not return a request for confirmation about the meeting, but released a photo of Ms. Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, greeting Francis on the side of the basilica.
Prince Charles will stop accepting large cash donations for his charities, the BBC and other British news outlets reported on Wednesday, after he came under scrutiny over a report that he had accepted a $3.1 million donation, some of it in a suitcase and shopping bags, from a Qatari billionaire.

The announcement came as two charities run by Charles, the heir to the British throne, are facing criticism for how they have handled donations from the wealthy.

The Sunday Times reported this week that a former prime minister of Qatar gave Charles a total of 3 million euros in cash between 2011 and 2015 for one of his charities. On one occasion, the money was presented in a small suitcase and in bags from the English grocer Fortnum & Mason, the newspaper reported.
Ukrainian officials announced the largest prisoner exchange since Russias invasion, saying 144 soldiers were being returned to Ukraine, including dozens who defended Mariupol, a southern port city that became a symbol of Russian repression and Ukrainian defiance.

While the exchange has been shrouded in secrecy, Denis Pushilin, the head of Russian proxy forces in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, said that the same number of Russian and pro-Russian forces were returned in the deal.

More than 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in mid-May after holding out for months in bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol. Their surrender was carefully negotiated between Russia, Ukraine and international mediators, and marked the end of one of the wars most brutal battles.
It shows that the government is serious about prosecuting rape cases, she said.

Russian forces retreated from the areas surrounding Kyiv, including Viktoriyas village, throughout March. In the weeks that followed, Ukrainian authorities were inundated with accounts of atrocities, according to Lyudmyla Denisova, who was serving as the countrys top human rights advocate at the time. From April 1 until May 15, her offices psychological help hotline received 1,500 calls from people seeking assistance to cope with sexual crimes, torture and abuse, said Oleksandra Kvitko, who manages the hotline.

A mother called to report that her 9-month-old had been raped with a candle, Ms. Kvitko said. They tied the mother up and forced her to watch. The mother had called saying that she wanted to take her child and jump out of the window. Ms. Kvitko said it was her job to give the mother a reason to live.

The hotline has registered hundreds of calls about rape, but many of the victims were in a state of fragile mental health, Ms. Kvitko said, and were not ready to provide official testimony to the authorities.
Early June 2022, representatives of shipping companies and Customs authorities from across the globe came together to discuss ways to step up the fight against drug trafficking. The Conference was organized by the World Shipping Council (WSC) and the Container Control Programme (CCP), which is a joint initiative between the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization.

According to the UNODC 2021 World Drug Report, around 275 million people worldwide had used drugs in the last year, while over 36 million people suffered from drug use disorders. The resilience of drug markets during the pandemic has once again demonstrated traffickers ability to adapt quickly to changed environments and circumstances, with recent developments including increasingly large shipments of illicit drugs, as well as a rise in the frequency with which overland and waterway routes are being used for trafficking.1

The goal of the Conference was to counter these developments by enhancing relationships and communications between the ocean liner industry and Customs officials. The Customs authorities of Ecuador, Panama, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States presented their challenges and successes, sharing information on drug traffickers ability to abuse the ocean liner link in the supply chain and the tactics they employ. WSC member carriers provided insights into the everyday operations of the ocean liner industry and the strategies and procedures employed to prevent crime, as well as opening lines of communication to build relationships with Customs authorities.

Several recurring themes emerged during the Conference, most prevalent of which were the need for greater transparency of information on container shipment data, the need for cross-training efforts between Customs authorities and liner carriers, and the need to identify and remove insider threats. WSC, WCO and UNODC are very proud of the work done, and are confident that the relationships built in Brussels will result in new and enhanced efforts to combat the illicit drug trade.

Narcotics are a scourge for societies across the globe, destroying lives, families and communities. Liner carriers will not tolerate having their services abused by criminals, and WSC is committed to supporting the Customs community with insight into ocean liner industry operations, providing open communications and exchanging information to combat drug traffickers, said John Butler, President & CEO of World Shipping Council.

The UNODC and the WCO look forward to working with the WSC and its member shipping lines on training and awareness-raising activities. We need to sensitize each other to understand how we can work together for the benefit of us all, and increase the likelihood of detecting illegal shipments, while at the same time facilitating legal trade, said Norbert Steilen, WCO CCP Senior Coordinator.

Ketil Ottersen, UNODC Head of CCP, added: The team in charge of managing the CCP and all the 123 units created at ports across the world are committed to further developing the dialogue with the shipping industry to tackle the misuse of legitimate commercial transport by criminal organizations.

This Conference has brought together the best minds in the field, and WSC, WCO and UNODC will build on this network of people to enhance the fight against the illicit drug trade.
LVIV, Ukraine  After an airstrike leveled a shopping center in central Ukraine this week, attention once again turned to the large human cost of the war far from the battlefield.

But across the country, civilian deaths are also mounting slowly, day by day, in smaller-scale attacks that claim handfuls of lives. Even in cities and towns away from the wars fiercest fighting, civilian casualties have continued to steadily tick upward.

They might be going for military structures, but they are mostly hitting civilian infrastructure, Vitaly Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, said in a news briefing Wednesday. I think they are trying to frighten the local population and demoralize our military.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addressed the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, calling for the organization to brand Russia a terrorist state and dispatch investigators to inspect a missile attack on a shopping mall a day earlier in the city of Kremenchuk.

The Security Council had convened an emergency session at the request of Ukraine to discuss the attack, which set off a huge fire and has killed 18 people and injured at least 30. Both numbers are expected to rise, because many people are still unaccounted for.

Who among you does not agree that this is not terrorism? asked Mr. Zelensky, speaking via video in his second appearance before the council since the conflict began. The Russian state has become a terrorist.
For more than a decade, he was a feared presence in Iran, presiding over a vast intelligence apparatus. He crushed domestic dissent and political rivals, and expanded covert operations beyond Irans borders to target dissidents and enemies abroad.

Hossein Taeb, a 59-year-old cleric and chief of intelligence for the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, seemed untouchable.

That was until he was abruptly removed from his position last week, a casualty of a relentless campaign by Israel to undermine Irans security by targeting its officials and military sites, according to officials and analysts in both countries.
JERUSALEM  Unilever said on Wednesday that it had sold the Israeli arm of the ice cream maker Ben & Jerrys, nearly a year after Ben & Jerrys set off a fury in Israel by saying it would stop selling its products in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Unilever, a British conglomerate that bought the American company Ben & Jerrys in 2000, said it was selling its subsidiarys wing in Israel to the ice cream makers longstanding partner there, Avi Zinger, who would continue to sell the product in the West Bank as well as within Israel. The ice cream will have slightly different branding, with Hebrew and Arabic labels rather than English, Mr. Zinger said in a phone interview.

Ben & Jerrys independent board reserves the right to make decisions about social issues, while Unilever is responsible for financial and operational decisions, as part of the 2000 agreement. Unilevers decision on Wednesday was a culmination of an 11-month pressure campaign in which Unilever faced growing demands from critics to overrule its subsidiarys decision  as well as intense pressure from Palestinians and their supporters to double down.
Other potential risk factors include fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization.

But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes that roughly half of women who have an ectopic pregnancy do not have any known risk factors.

Why arent ectopic pregnancies viable?

Ectopic pregnancies are never viable, said Dr. Beverly Gray, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology and founder of the Duke Reproductive Health Equity and Advocacy Mobilization team. A fertilized egg cannot survive outside of the uterus.

There is no way to reimplant them, she explained. There is no way that pregnancy will survive.

A woman with an ectopic pregnancy may have a positive pregnancy test, but that is simply because the body is making human chorionic gonadotropin, the pregnancy hormone, Dr. Gariepy said, not because the pregnancy is proceeding normally.

And when a fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube, it puts a womans life at risk.

I sort of think of it as a ticking time bomb, Dr. Gray said, adding that in her experience, the condition is usually diagnosed between the fifth and eighth weeks of a pregnancy. This is a pregnancy that as it continues to grow will cause the tube to rupture and cause basically uncontrolled bleeding.

What is the treatment for ectopic pregnancy?

Dr. Gariepy said that in rare cases, the body will expel an ectopic pregnancy on its own. But for the vast majority of women, the only options are medication to remove the pregnancy or surgery.

If an ectopic pregnancy is diagnosed within a few days or weeks of implantation  at a point when there is no dangerous bleeding  doctors tend to use a medication known as methotrexate. It is given through an injection and stops cells from growing to end the pregnancy, which is then reabsorbed by the body over several weeks. Methotrexate is not the same drug used for a medication abortion, which involves taking two different drugs  mifepristone and misoprostol  24 to 48 hours apart in order to block progesterone and start uterine contractions.
Governor

Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Yorks first female leader, is looking to secure her partys nomination for a full term. She faces spirited challenges from Jumaane D. Williams, the left-leaning New York City public advocate, and Representative Thomas R. Suozzi, a centrist who has attacked Ms. Hochul for doing too little to address elevated crime. Read more
Senator James Lankford is expected to avoid a runoff in his G.O.P. primary, where his challengers include Jackson Lahmeyer, an evangelical pastor who has been endorsed by MAGA types, including Mike Lindell and Michael Flynn. Six Democrats, none of whom have held elected office before, are competing in the Democratic primary.
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill.  Illinois is quickly emerging as an island of abortion access for people in the Midwest and the South, as neighboring states move to ban the procedure after the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion. Providers in the state had been preparing for a surge of people seeking abortion services, but many said this week that they were still overwhelmed by patients reactions to the decision.

There were roughly 50,000 abortions performed in Illinois in 2020, and around one in five was for a patient traveling from out of state. There are currently 29 abortion providers in Illinois, but as clinics in surrounding states stop providing abortions or close altogether, these providers say they may not be able to meet the demand.

Illinois may be an island of abortion access A map shows the locations of abortion clinics likely to close in the Midwestern states that have already banned or are likely to ban the procedure, and clinics in Illinois, which are likely to remain open. Abortion provider Provider that could close WisCONSIN MichIGAN Milwaukee Iowa Detroit Cleveland Chicago Des Moines IndIANA Ohio Illinois Columbus Indianapolis Springfield MISSOURI Fairview Heights St. Louis Louisville KENTUCKY Nashville TennESSEE ARKANSAS Memphis Little Rock WisCONSIN MiCHIGAN Milwaukee Detroit Iowa Cleveland Chicago Des Moines IndIANA Ohio Illinois Columbus Indianapolis Springfield St. Louis Missouri Fairview Heights Louisville KENTUCKY Nashville TennESSEE ARKANSAS Memphis Little Rock WISCONSIN MichIGAN Milwaukee Iowa Detroit Cleveland Chicago Des Moines Ohio IndIANA Illinois Columbus Indianapolis Springfield St. Louis Fairview Heights MISSOURI Louisville KENTUCKY Nashville TennESSEE ARKANSAS Memphis Little Rock Source: Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health  University of California, San Francisco Note: Location data was not available for all facilities.

Four of Illinoiss neighbors immediately banned abortion after the courts decision on Friday, and two others  Ohio and Tennessee  now restrict the procedure to six weeks into a pregnancy. A ban in Michigan is temporarily blocked by a court there, and lawmakers in Indiana and Iowa are expected to consider abortion bans in the coming months.

The Planned Parenthood facility in St. Louis sends many patients to a sister clinic across the border in Illinois, where there are few restrictions on abortion. Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Without Roe, more than half of American women of childbearing age could live in a state where abortion is banned or the procedure is restricted. In 2020, the latest year of available national data, almost as many abortions occurred in the states poised to restrict the procedure as in those where it is likely to remain legal.

If clinics in those states go dark, it would represent a major victory for the anti-abortion movement. Yet demand for abortion services is not expected to fall by very much. Instead, many patients may seek care elsewhere, driving up demand for appointments in the states where abortion remains legal.

Abortions performed in 2020 A chart shows the number of abortions by state in 2020. About 157,000 abortions were performed in the states where abortion is likely to remain legal, and 413,000 were performed in the states where abortion is now prohibited or likely to be restricted, or where the legal status is uncertain. Del. Vt. R.I. Alaska D.C. Colo. N.H. Hawaii Maine N.Y. 110,400 Nev. Ore. N.M. Mass. Conn. Minn. Md. Wash. Calif. 154,000 Ill. 52,800 N.J. 48,800 517,000 abortions were performed in the states where abortion is likely to remain legal. Mont. Mo. S.D. Wyo. W.Va. Utah Ala. N.D. Ind. Idaho Ark. Va. Wis. Neb. Texas 58,000 Miss Iowa Kan. La. Ky. S.C. Ohio 21,000 Ariz. Tenn. Okla. Mich. N.C. Fla. 77,400 Ga. 41,600 Pa. 413,000 abortions were performed in the states where abortion is or is likely to be prohibited or restricted, or the legal status is uncertain. Mont. Del. Vt. Mo. S.D. R.I. Alaska D.C. Wyo. Colo. N.H. Hawaii W.Va. Maine Utah Ala. N.D. Ind. N.Y. 110,400 Idaho Nev. Ore. N.M. Ark. Va. Wis. Neb. Texas 58,000 Miss Iowa Mass. Kan. Conn. Minn. La. Ky. S.C. Ohio 21,000 Ariz. Tenn. Okla. Md. Wash. Mich. N.C. Calif. 154,000 Fla. 77,400 Ill. 52,800 N.J. 48,800 Ga. 41,600 Pa. 517,000 abortions were performed in the states where abortion is likely to remain legal. 413,000 abortions were performed in the states where abortion is or is likely to be prohibited or restricted, or the legal status is uncertain. Source: Guttmacher Institute

In Illinois, in particular, the demand will be intense. The state is uniquely situated geographically among states likely to limit abortion and broadly allows the procedure until later in pregnancy. Since 2017, state funds have covered the cost for residents enrolled in Medicaid.

Many clinics had been preparing for an influx of patients by working to extend clinic hours and increase staffing. And at least two new clinics in Illinois are set to open later this summer. But in interviews this month, many providers in the region said they were far from ready for what the end of Roe would bring.

People are calling who have appointments with us and want to know if abortion is still legal, people are calling from surrounding Midwest states to see if they can come to us because their appointments have been canceled and people are calling from states further away that we usually dont hear from, said Dr. Allison Cowett, the medical director of Family Planning Associates, a Chicago-based provider.

Before Friday, the clinic was typically able to offer patients an appointment within one week. Now it is booking appointments two weeks out.

Weve been preparing for months, but to have it actually be reality, youre never prepared for that, Dr. Cowett said.

A new clinic, and a program to help women get there

In the back of the Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights, Ill., a team of phone operators and case managers has created a first-of-its-kind call center to direct abortion patients to one of the two providers in southern Illinois. A third provider in the area, across the border with Missouri in St. Louis, stopped providing abortions on Friday when a state ban went into effect immediately following the Supreme Courts decision.

Not all of the patients who reach out require assistance, but anyone who raises a concern about getting to an appointment  I dont have a car. I cant afford the procedure. Who will watch my kids?  is connected with a case manager.

Kawanna Shannon, the director of patient access at a Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights, Ill., leads a team of case workers who help patients with logistics. Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Kawanna Shannon, the director of patient access who oversees the case management program, and her staff work to schedule flights; book bus tickets, ride shares and hotels; find child care for patients; and help them figure out how to pay for it all.

We wanted to take the pressure off of the patients having to look and hunt and figure out who can help them, Ms. Shannon said.

A significant portion of the case management work is connecting patients with national and local abortion funds, nonprofits that help cover the cost of the procedure and travel. Rarely does one fund cover the entire cost, and each has different criteria, such as a patients income and where she lives.

The Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights expects more patients will come to Illinois to receive abortion services from states across the South and the Midwest. Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Since the program started in January, it has helped 1,300 patients from both in and out of state obtain an abortion in southern Illinois. Patients typically receive between $900 and $1,500 in assistance to cover the cost of travel and the procedure.

The Fairview Heights facility opened in 2019 to accommodate an influx of patients from Missouri. It has seen roughly 8,000 patients each year for abortions, and it anticipates an additional 14,000 patients will seek services in the region now that Roe has been overturned, a representative for the Planned Parenthood affiliate said.

Abortion patients who traveled to Illinois in 2020 A map shows the volume of patients traveling to Illinois from nearby states for abortions in 2020, with 6,578 coming from Missouri and 1,878 from Indiana. Wisconsin 531 Michigan 56 Iowa 71 Ohio Less than 50 Illinois Indiana 1,878 Missouri 6,578 Kentucky 142 Tennessee 108 ARKansas 74 Wisconsin 531 Michigan 56 Iowa 71 Ohio Less than 50 Illinois Indiana 1,878 Missouri 6,578 Kentucky 142 Tennessee 108 ARKansas 74 Source: Illinois Department of Public Health

The call center has streamlined the process not only for patients but also for providers, who already were scrambling to accommodate hundreds of women traveling to southern Illinois from Texas and Oklahoma after those states enacted strict limits on abortion in the past year.

At the Hope Clinic for Women, an independent clinic in nearby Granite City, Ill., the logistics of actually getting patients to their appointment was becoming too onerous on clinic staff, said Dr. Erin King, the organizations executive director.

Hope Clinic was seeing between 30 and 35 patients a day, about two-thirds of whom required practical or financial help. Before the call center in Fairview Heights was up and running, Dr. Kings staff had to coordinate with more than 30 abortion funds in the region. Now, that work is overseen by Ms. Shannons team.

The reason it works so well here is because our patients are getting support from the same funds, coming to the same area, using the same airport, following the same directions to our clinics, Dr. King said.

Hanz Dismer, the clinics education and research coordinator, said the facility had experienced six times the normal call volume in recent days, and nearly all staff members had taken a shift answering phones. The wait time for an appointment for a medication abortion has now stretched to three weeks.

We opened the regional logistics center earlier this year in preparation for this exact moment, for the moment where we cant handle everything ourselves, Mx. Dismer said.

Pills offer a pressure release valve

In anticipation of higher demand, lawmakers who favor abortion rights in some states, including Maryland, have pushed legislation to allow non-physician health providers to perform abortions. Others, like those in Connecticut, have introduced legal protections for providers and for patients who seek services in their states but live in states that prohibit abortion.

In Illinois, providers are also expecting increased interest in medication abortion, which does not require a clinic visit. Out-of-state patients can cross the border into Illinois and meet with a provider virtually, and then have pills mailed to a post office box or a friend at any address within the state.

Telehealth can work as a pressure relief valve in Illinois, said Melissa Grant, the chief operations officer of Carafem, an organization that offers telemedicine appointments and sends abortion pills through the mail. Carafem also runs a clinic in Skokie, Ill., just outside Chicago. We have had people take virtual appointments in their car, in coffee shops, in libraries or just on a quiet corner with a set of headphones, she said.

Ms. Grant said more than 500 people had called on Friday, some of whom were seeking appointments, and others who were seeking clarity on the legality of abortion. About half the patients the clinic typically sees opt for virtual appointments, but Ms. Grant said she expected this share to grow as in-person appointments became harder to come by.

Members of an anti-abortion organization outside the Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights trying to stop cars from entering the parking lot in order to persuade patients to discuss alternatives to abortion. Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Family Planning Associates, the Chicago provider, is able to see a high volume of patients by having nurse practitioners and physician assistants oversee medication abortions, while physicians handle surgical abortions.

But even with what she called a very efficient model, Dr. Cowett was still concerned about the number of patients calling.

It will take folks more time to get through to us, and people will at some point be further along than the gestational age limit, she said. Abortion is legal until viability in Illinois, typically around 24 weeks into pregnancy. Procedures at more advanced stages of a pregnancy take longer and have a higher risk of complications, in addition to being more expensive, she said.

Im optimistic that we will meet the need, but Im not optimistic that they will get it in an efficient and timely manner, she said.
Imagine waking up one day and finding out that your face is associated with the phrase worst person you know on the internet. It sounds like a nightmare, but for one Spanish man, its real life.

Josep Maria Garcia, a 42-year-old man from Catalonia, Spain, had no idea he had become a global internet meme until he received a call from his brother-in-law telling him not to panic but to search the phrase worst person you know on Google. As soon as he hit the search button, paranoia washed over him. His face was everywhere! Trying to figure out why he had become the face associated with the negative phrase, Garcia eventually realized that it was all connected to a being event in 2014 when his brother-in-law took a test photo of him to check the lighting, which he then uploaded to Getty Images as a stock photo.

Photo: Public Domain

Garcias brother-in-law is a professional photographer and eight years ago, on a trip to Barcelona to take some photos for an American writer, he asked then 34-year-old Joep to pose for a photo so he could adjust the lighting. The picture turned out so good that they decided to upload it to the Getty Images stock photo catalog. Garcia says that he vaguely remembers his brother-in-law telling him that his photo was used for a satirical news article in 2018, but he didnt pay much attention to the news.

As it turns out, this particular satirical article was about the worst person you know making a great point, and since Googles algorithm doesnt seem capable of telling the difference between real news and satire, Joseps photo started showing up for the phrase worst person you know, eventually becoming a meme on social media.

You wonder, okay, now what happens, Josep recently told The Guardian. Will people show up here, wanting to get to know me? Or wanting to beat me up?

Photo: Josep Maria Garcia

Until recently, Josep Maria Garcias online fame as the worst person you know didnt affect his life at all. The meme had mostly gained traction on English social media, and none of the people in his town of around 26,000 people seemed to know about it. But then a journalist started dropping clues on how to find him in a series of social media posts, and eventually, internet trolls tracked him down.

Ive read comments that say he has the face of a Nazi supremacist or that there is no empathy in my look, Josep said. Ive got a lot of photos with that look  thats my look.

Although he has mostly shrugged off the hateful reactions to his photo, apparently the abuse got so bad that his brother-in-law eventually deleted the photo from his online portfolio. Still, his face will forever be associated with the phrase worst person you know and theres virtually nothing he can do about it.

Its not easy. Its surprising how many millions of hits there are, the Spaniard said. But its true that with the passing of time, you start to see it differently.
BGR Government Affairs is handling the Hong Kong-based World Dog Alliance, which is committed to ending the consumption of canines.

The Alliance also works to promote the harmonious interaction between humans and dogs and reduce the cruelty and abandonment of dogs.

It claims 30M dogs are slaughtered and eaten in Asia each year. Seventy percent of them were dognapped.

Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings introduced a bill in 2017 to ban the human consumption of dog and cat meat.

President Donald Trump signed that bill into law in 2018.

More than 30 Congressmen sent a letter to Trump in 2019 to support an international convention to prohibit the eating of dogs and cats.

BGR reps the Alliance on animal welfare issues.

Its lobbying team includes Fred Turner, who was chief of staff for Hastings; Mark Tavlarides, director of legislative affairs at the National Security Council; Lester Munson, chief of staff for Sen. Mark Kirk; and Maya Seiden, veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations.
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A judge has criticised the family of two sisters sexually abused by their older brother who tried to prevent the women from coming forward about the abuse in order to protect the family name.

Jailing Christopher Rafter (48) for four and a half years on Tuesday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said it was outrageous that family members criticised the sisters and ostracised them for their courage in disclosing the abuse, which he said destroyed their childhood.

They were little children in their own home, the judge said, adding that their brother bears the guilt and the responsibility for his abusive behaviour. It should not even have to be stated, the judge said.

In their victim impact statements read out in court, Dolores Prendergast and Linda Rafter said they hoped their actions in coming out about the abuse would help others carrying a similar cross.

Rafter, of The Hermitage, Portlaoise, Co Laois pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape and sexual assault of two of his sisters at the family home on dates between 1989 and 1993. He has no previous convictions.

Ms Rafter and Ms Prendergast were both younger sisters of Rafter, and were aged between 6 and 10 years and 9 and 11 years old at the time of the abuse. Rafter was aged 14 at the start of his offending and about 19 when it ended.

Both women waived their anonymity in order for their brother to be named.

Both women outlined in their statements how, after they made their disclosures, family relationships had broken down and their names were blackened and smeared by family members who claimed they were out for money and should get over it as it was 30 years ago.

The women described how they were not allowed attend their fathers funeral and had to watch via the parish web cam. They watched as their brother was being minded and fussed over.

One of the women said her brother had taken no responsibility for his actions and had been the core cause of the family breakdown. She said he had taken every avenue to avoid justice and pleaded at the eleventh hour like a rat caught in a trap.

Passing sentence on Tuesday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott paid tribute to the women for their courage in coming forward, saying they deserve nothing but praise from their community.

It is a difficult thing to do and a difficult path to take, the judge said. The personal price is a high one. It must not be hidden. People must have confidence to come forward and know when they do that they will be listened to.

Mr Justice McDermott said the women were subjected to further abuse by family members' desperate attempts to prevent reporting of their abuse for the sake of the family name.

The judge said Rafter engaged in a serious breach of trust when he abused his sisters, abusing one sister before moving on to the younger girl. He inflicted awful damage on their growth and development as children, he said. That effect is long-lasting and continuous.

The judge noted that the man was a child during much of the period of abuse and that he must sentence him accordingly. He handed down a sentence of six years and suspended the final 18 months on a number of conditions.

Ms Prendergast outlined in her victim impact statement that she no longer wanted to call the accused man her brother and referred to him as X.

She described herself as a survivor with no happy memories of her childhood. She said she would dread going home: Inside those four walls I had no protection.

She told of the devastation, heartache and disbelief after she disclosed to her mother what was happening and she rejected my truth. She realised her eight-year-old self had to protect herself.

I was utterly alone in the face of the abuse, she said and went on to detail how the lack of protection had impacted her in terms of self-love, confidence and her ability to trust, carrying these effects into adult life.

She said she had been shocked to the core to discover she was not the only victim and that she felt so guilty.

She said her mother had again rejected her truth when she made the disclosures for a second time in 2018 as an adult. She said her mother had tried to manipulate them with the shame of public knowledge for the family and her character was assassinated with vicious lies.

She said the exclusion of herself and her sister from the normal grieving process for deceased family members had a huge effect, adding another level of trauma.

She said she hoped her statement would encourage others to come forward, highlighting that no one should have to conceal sexual abuse.

Ms Rafter told the court that they deserved this justice. She said her brother began abusing her when she was just six years old and even her first holy communion was tarnished with the memory of rape. I would love to save six-year-old me from his clutches, she said.

She said sexual abuse was a life sentence for her and she sometimes felt God would have been kinder to take her at six years old, but hopes maybe her disclosure of abuse will help others.

She said she cannot comprehend her mother's reaction and feels she failed in her duty of care, considering herself the victim. She said her name was blackened and smeared to family members.

She said her family had stood by, knowing the truth, thinking only about their own needs and how it affected them in society. She said her parents were cold and dismissive, only feeling sorry for her brother.

She said her brother took no responsibility for his actions and was content to sit back and watch the family fall apart.

She said that sexual abuse should not be tolerated or accepted and that she hoped her story would make a difference to someone carrying a similar cross.

Evidence

The prosecuting garda told Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, that the abuse took place in the family home on some occasions when the childrens parents were out walking in the evenings.

The first victim described being woken at night by her brother fondling her. She said it happened on a regular basis and she would pretend to be asleep. The abuse later escalated to rape

The second woman also described being sexual assaulted by her brother and believed she was aged about nine when he first raped her.

One of the women described how as an adult she had spoken to her sister on the phone about her brother and discovered she had also been abused.

The court heard there was a confrontation of the accused by family members without either of the sisters present. He admitted his actions, said he was sorry and regretted what he had done. The women made a complaint to gardai in 2018.

Defence counsel said the accused was someone referred to in reports as having a mental health history, being a solitary figure and having vulnerabilities.

The garda agreed during cross examination that there had been an interaction with other family members and the two women had been asked not to go ahead with the complaint. The garda confirmed the accused had not been the instigator of that request.

Defence counsel said the accused mans life had been quiet, unexceptional and almost totally solitary. They said reports indicated a possibility of a mild cognitive disorder.

Defence counsel said the man struggled to demonstrate insight and the lack of expression of remorse indicated his own limited capacity rather than a failure to feel remorse. He is at low risk of reoffending.

He asked the court to take into account the man's limited mental capacity, guilty plea and that most of the offending occurred when he was a child at law.
A TOTAL of 36 companies from a wide variety of sectors have now registered for the first ever Offaly Job Fair which takes place this weekend.

Organised by Tullamore and District Chamber of Commerce, Offaly Job Fair takes place in the Tullamore Court Hotel on Saturday, July 2 next from 10am to 6pm

Organisers believe that up to 500 jobs will be available to job seekers from across the region

Firms from sectors such as construction, retail, finance, hospitality, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and engineering are set to take part in the job fair.

The job fair is aimed at a wide range of job-seekers  from the school leaver hoping to find an apprenticeship or further their education, to the commuter looking to work closer to home and enjoy a better work/life balance, to those looking to further their careers and to those financially stretched wanting to live outside the major cities where the cost of living is more affordable.

Those planning to attend are asked to pre-register at

www.tullamorechamberofcommerce.com/offaly-jobs-fair

Tullamore Chamber President Anthony Hanniffy said Offaly and Tullamore were great places to work and live in.

Mr Hanniffy stressed the Chamber has worked to support its members through some very difficult times in the recent past.

As we come out of the Covid landscape we consulted with local businesses on the type of supports that would benefit the local business community the most. We expected recent events to have negatively impacted businesses but were pleasantly surprised at the strength and resilience of our community, with most businesses looking to push forward and grow despite these challenging times. One issue that raised its head again and again during our conversations was the difficulty in getting staff, and it is from these seeds that the Offaly Job Fair have grown.

The Chamber President said the event wouldn't have been possible without the support of Offaly Local Development, Offaly Local Enterprise Office, LOETB and the Technical University of the Shannon.

I would like to thank them for the tremendous time and effort they have put in to help us to make this event a reality, added Mr Hanniffy.

He said the job fair was expecting to welcome Ukrainian job seekers who have fled to safety in Ireland and Offaly following the Russian invasion.

We all feel a great sorrow for recent events and sympathise with what you have gone through and what some of your families are still going through. We welcome you with open arms into our communities and will endeavour to assist you as best we can, stressed the Chamber President.

Mr Hanniffy said he was very upbeat about the future of business in Offaly.

We have a strong generation coming through into adulthood, our businesses are remaining strong and growing, our community spirit is high and these all make the county a wonderful place to live and work, he pointed out.

Among the firms taking part in the inaugural Offaly Job Fair are

Enva

Tullamore Credit Union

Supermac's

Lidl

the HSE

Grove Remote.ie

Tullamore Court Hotel

FRS Recruitment

Cardinal Health

Integra

Palladio Group

Spectrum Plastics

Zoetis

Nua Healthcare

Choice People

Bord na Mona

Glass Innovations, Ferbane

Acoustic Interiors

Simpli Baked

All Pro Recruitment

Banagher Concrete

Salutem Advisory

National Learning Network

Irish Whjeelchair Association

The Ability Programme

All About Trees

Home Instead

More details on the Offaly Job Fair can be found at www.tullamorechamberofcommerce.com or on the Offaly Job Fair Facebook page.
Dame Deborah Anne James was an English journalist, educator, podcast host and charity campaigner from London. In 2016, she was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer and went on to host the You, Me and the Big C podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live about her struggles with her illness.
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Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a breakthrough in an impasse clouding a leaders' summit in Madrid amid Europe's worst security crisis in decades triggered by the war in Ukraine. (June 29)


Irans lead negotiator in the talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal and removal of sanctions against Tehran will travel to Qatar on Tuesday for a fresh round of talks, a source said.



An informed source at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Tasnim that Ali Baqeri Kani will go to Doha on Tuesday, June 28, to...
Five years after the largest influx of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh camps, there has been little progress in the bilateral effort with Myanmar to return them to their country of origin. Since none of the 1.1 million Rohingya people could be brought back under the initiative taken by the two neighbors in 2018, Bangladesh...
Turkey has reached an agreement with NATO to support Finland and Sweden's membership applications to the Western alliance. The deal, which was signed in a memorandum, comes after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously opposed the two countries for their support or Kurdish organizations.
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President Joe Biden meets with NATO leaders during annual summit in Spain, June 28 through June 30, 2022 to determine the course of the alliance.


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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Multi-strategy venture capital firm Drive Capital has amassed $1 billion in two new venture funds, to fund Midwestern startups.

With the new funds, Drive has $2.2 billion in assets under management to support founders from pre-seed to IPO, said a press release from the Columbus, Ohio-based private investment firm.

It invests in market-defining startups located in the "Driveway", the underinvested region in North America between the Hudson River and the Rocky Mountains. The additional $1 billion further supports the "Driveway" thesis of democratizing access to venture capital.

"Technology used to be its own industry based in Silicon Valley but now, technology cuts horizontally through every business and industry. There are more billion-dollar opportunities east of the Rockies and west of the Hudson River than everywhere else in North America combined," said the release.

Drive was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 2013 with the simple yet radical idea: Founders should build where they're strongest. That is, they should be near their customers and where the pool of engineering and industry talent is deep and experienced.

"Even before COVID-19, the venture industry was coming around to the fact that not all great startup ideas were in Silicon Valley," said Chris Olsen, Co-Founder, and Partner at Drive Capital. "But too often that meant firms would pursue opportunities in emerging markets in China, India, or elsewhere."

"But Ame......................

To view our full article Click here


Gerald Balboa B. G., Opalesque Geneva: The war in Ukraine has generated a sharp increase in energy prices and significant volatility in European energy markets. Asia-Pacific economies are facing an energy crisis that threatens to worsen in coming months and reach historic proportions if the war continues. Coordinating with the International Energy Agency, the G7, during their 26-28 June annual summit, said they would explore measures to reduce price surges and prevent effects to economies and societies globally. But the consequences of sanctions and potential price caps have yet to be fully comprehended. From the perspective of Skylar, an energy-focused hedge fund, a heightened level of volatility in the energy markets should be the norm over the next 12 months and potentially beyond that. Depending on how various fundamental factors evolve, natural gas prices could test both the high and low prices seen in the last 12 months, thus creating great trading opportunities for its strategy, which is up 182% YTD. Skylar Capital Management LP is a hedge fund management firm located in Houston, TX, focused on the natural gas and power markets. The founder, William O. Perkins III, has over 30 years of experience in trading and risk management. He launched Skylar in 2012 after a successful tenure as a senior portfolio manager at Centaurus Energy, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund. Gerald Balboa, who has 30 years of experience in the energy markets and has been the COO and the CCO at Skylar since 2012, will present at the Small Managers - Big Alpha episode 9 webinar on July 7th, and talk about the anticipated natural gas production growth, natural gas storage expectations, power demand and the role natural gas plays in meeting power demand. The fund Skylar Capital Energy Global Master Fund, LP invests in energy with an emphasis on global natural gas and power. The $200m fund, incepted in September 2012, is up 182% YTD after returning 18% in May, and 107% in 2021. It has had four down years in its almost 10-year history. "In 2021, volatility and higher prices returned to the natural gas markets after over a decade of an oversupplied market," Gerald Balboa tells Opalesque. "This materialised as the market began to experience a tightening supply and demand balance due to multiple factors." The first factor was the decrease in investment in hydrocarbons as investors focused on renewables, which resulted in supply not keeping up with demand, he explains. The second factor came from the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, which required a balancing mechanism. Natural gas became the default energy source when solar and wind did not generate enough power. And lastly, U.S. LNG (natural liquid gas) was exported more as capacity increased. "Skylar generated more than 100% return last year by anticipating a tightening supply and demand balance as a result of identifying the above dynamics through the firm's fundamental analysis," he adds. "As the team's analysis indicated an evolution of the market conditions, the fund's portfolio was positioned to benefit from a higher volatility and higher price environment." The fund employs a fundamental, discretionary and analytical approach to trading. It targets absolute returns primarily through directional and relative value strategies. It calibrates exposure to its judgment of the market risk/reward profile. The fund uses trade futures and options, exchange-traded, and cleared instruments. Energy trading is based on deep fundamental analytics of global gas and power markets. The structure is that of a Cayman Master Feeder with onshore and offshore feeder funds. The principal and management are investors in the funds, aligning interest with outside investors.

Upcoming webinar : Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 9 of this groundbreaking webinar series presents another carefully screened panel of investment managers. In one hour, you'll meet them all, get to know their top quartile strategies, and since this is an interactive session, you will be able to ask questions. Who:

 Edouard Mercier, Ascender Capital

 Bastian Bolesta, Deep Field Capital

 Gerald Balboa, Skylar Capital Management

 Elias Nechachby, Icon-MoSAIQ-Carmika When: Thursday, July 7th at 11am ET / 4pm UK time / 5pm CET Free registration here: www.opalesque.com/webinar/




Opalesque Industry Update - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) could be the biggest beneficiary of the Russia-Ukraine war. That's according to a BanklessTimes analysis. The site reckons the UAE will attract up to 4,000 high net worth Russians fleeing their country. That figure is the highest that any country will attract this year. The group seeks a safe harbor for their wealth after it became untenable to continue operating from Russia. BanklessTimes's CEO Jonathan Merry had this to say following the development: "Russian capital is fleeing the ravaging sanctions that Moscow continues to attract for attacking Ukraine. Some global capitals have also ramped up pressure on them by either seizing their property or making it untenable to continue their businesses there. But the UAE hasn't imposed restrictions against Russia or its citizens. Besides, it offers a favorable business and social environment for the emigrating tycoons." Why is the UAE so popular among emigrants? The UAE's golden visa program has been a key motivator for the migrating Russians. Introduced in 2019, it offers 10-year-long residence visas to foreign investors and exceptional talent. The intention is to help them form deep and long-term relationships with the country. Its adoption enabled the UAE to jump from sixty-fourth to fifteenth in the Henley Passport Index rankings. It focuses on attracting tourism and investments through special visa waivers. In addition, the program has enabled the UAE to appeal to talent, wealth, and capital by adopting agile immigration policies. These include embracing an investment-friendly tax regime that has propped the region as a wealth hub. Moreover, the Emirates offers a healthcare system that matches any in the Western world. It has some of the lowest crime rates globally and an advanced educational system. Who are the winners and losers in this season's migration? Besides the UAE, Australia will also reap big from capital migration this year. Until 2019, it had been the preferred destination for migrating high net worth individuals (HNWI). It will gain about 2,500 HNWI this year due to the high standards of living it affords immigrants. Again, it's stable, guarantees economic freedom, and provides globally competitive healthcare and education systems. On the flip side, Russia is this season's biggest loser. The country will see some 15,000 millionaires ditch it for more favorable destinations. As stated, their major motivation is the avoidance of the global sanctions directed at Moscow. China will lose some 10,000 HNWIs, the same as India, which will bid farewell to 8,000 of them. Why should nations care about migrating millionaires? Despite constituting a small percentage of a nation's population, HNWIs are crucial to its development. This is because they own significant factors of production and play an active role in the thriving of local economies. Consequently, their exit indicates their lack of confidence in a particular economy. Significant exits are therefore detrimental to those economies. That's because capital flight leads to colossal losses of human capital. Additionally, nations lose out on the taxes these individuals would normally have paid on their earnings or wealth. But for the receiving nation, they're a boon; they bring all the benefits their countries of origin lost out on.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  A year and a half after the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection, the most memorable recounting of former President Donald Trump's behavior that day came from a young woman who had graduated from college just a few years earlier.

Cassidy Hutchinson gave two hours of testimony on national television that cast Trump as enraged by efforts to keep his armed supporters from attending his speech before many marched to the Capitol and her boss at the time, chief of staff Mark Meadows, as unwilling to confront Trump and staring unresponsively at his cellphone during key moments.

Having once shed tears of joy after getting a White House internship, Hutchinson, now in her mid-20s, described how she grew disgusted by Trump's refusal to stop the rioters. And in a single afternoon, she went from being a former junior White House staffer, to high-profile star witness, with the scrutiny that comes with it.

We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie, she said.

The testimony helped fill in several key gaps about Trump's level of direct involvement that day, and placed Meadows and other key Trump officials at the center of events critical to investigations by the House committee and the Justice Department.

It amplified calls for Meadows to drop his fight against the committee's subpoena and raised new questions about whether officials around Trump could face criminal charges.

I knew her testimony would be damning, tweeted Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications official who said she was friends with Hutchinson. I had no idea itd be THIS damning. I am so grateful for her courage & integrity.

Hutchinson showed her familiarity with better-known officials in the White House, referring at times to Meadows, security official Tony Ornato, and national security adviser Robert OBrien by their first names. Meadows, in turn, called her Cass, in her retelling of one story.

Her voice never broke as she recounted quotes from Trump and Meadows in her video depositions and under questioning from the committees Republican vice chairman, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Both women embraced after the hearing.

Cheney, a 55-year-old former State Department official and daughter of a vice president, spent decades in public life before her criticism of Trump led many in the GOP to turn against her.

Hutchinson, meanwhile, became Trump's focus for the first time. He pumped out harsh attacks on Truth Social, the website he created after Twitter banned him following the insurrection.

I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and leaker), he wrote.

He continued to post throughout the afternoon, accusing Hutchinson of lying, saying her body language is that of a total bull.... artist, and describing her handwriting as that of a Whacko?

Allies of Trump and Meadows questioned some details of her testimony, which included stories she said she heard second-hand. One story that drew pushback was her allegation that Trump lunged for the steering wheel and assaulted a Secret Service agent when his detail wouldn't take him to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Meadows' attorney, George Terwilliger, told The Associated Press that Hutchinson's testimony "could not withstand even five minutes of fundamental cross-examination.

Most of it is based on hearsay, lack of first-hand knowledge and even just pure speculation as to what others were thinking, said or did," he said.

Several high-profile Republicans said Tuesday that Hutchinson was known to be close to Meadows and often accompanied him in meetings. The committee early in her testimony showed photos of her with Trump and other top officials.

Mick Mulvaney, who preceded Meadows as Trumps chief of staff, tweeted during the hearing that things just got a lot more interesting. He added that if the President knew the protesters had weapons, and still encouraged them to go to the Capitol, that is a serious problem.

Although the White House is perhaps the worlds most prestigious office building, much of the staff is young, sometimes even fresh out of college like Hutchinson. They often previously worked on the presidents campaign or the national party, and theyre distinguished by their ambition and willingness to work long hours for little pay.

Theyre also critical to any administrations machinery. They help with the logistics of media coverage, prepare for public events and answer the phones. Because theyre often within earshot as the countrys most powerful people gossip and plan, discretion is expected.

Young aides often go on to bigger government roles or prestigious positions in business or the media. Some run for office themselves.

Hutchinson had the same ambitions when she graduated, telling a college publication in 2018 that she wanted to be an effective leader in the fight to secure the American dream for future generations.

She described having been brought to tears when she received an email telling her shed been accepted to a White House internship program.

As a first-generation college student, being selected to serve as an intern alongside some of the most intelligent and driven students from across the nation  many of whom attend top universities  was an honor and a tremendous growing experience, she is quoted in a profile published by her alma mater, Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

She says in the article that she attended numerous events hosted by Trump and often watched out her window as Marine One would depart the White Houses South Lawn.

My small contribution to the quest to maintain American prosperity and excellence is a memory I will hold as one of the honors of my life, she said in the piece.

She joined the White House shortly after graduation and became Meadows' aide in March 2020. Several months later, she would be in rooms where top Trump aides discussed how they could overturn his election loss.

She saw the aftermath of Trump's rage at Attorney General Bill Barr for telling The Associated Press that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud. Entering a private dining room, she saw a valet cleaning up a mess after Trump smashed a plate and the remains of his lunch on a wall.

There was ketchup dripping down the wall, and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor," she said Tuesday. "The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney generals AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.

She grabbed a towel to help the valet clean up, she said.

There was no widespread election fraud. Trump lost more than 60 court cases attempting to prove wrongdoing.

On the morning of Jan. 6, she said Ornato, a Secret Service agent detailed to the White House, came to warn Meadows that many rallygoers waiting to hear from Trump had guns and other weapons, including spears attached to the end of flagpoles. Meadows didn't immediately look up from his cellphone, then later asked to confirm that Ornato had briefed Trump, she said. He had.

Terwilliger defended Meadows as able to multitask and to maintain calm during crises. And another former Meadows aide, Ben Williamson, tweeted criticism of what he called the nonsense suggestion that Meadows somehow didnt care about initial violence at the Capitol.

Hutchinson said she was close enough to Trump at one point to hear him demand that attendees not be screened so that they could fill the crowd, saying, I dont effing care that they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me.

And she alleged Trump became so irate at being driven back to the White House after his speech  when he exhorted his supporters to fight like hell  rather than the Capitol that he tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle away from a Secret Service agent who was driving.

Im the effing president, Hutchinson said she was told Trump had said.

Hutchinson recently switched lawyers, going from a former Trump White House official to Jody Hunt, a veteran former Justice Department official who served as chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and who emerged as a key witness for special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

While she did not seek out the attention accompanying her testimony today, she believes that it was her duty and responsibility to provide the Committee with her truthful and candid observations of the events surrounding January 6, said Hunt and co-counsel William Jordan in a statement. Ms. Hutchinson believes that January 6 was a horrific day for the country, and it is vital to the future of our democracy that it not be repeated.

___

Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Tuesday, June 28

11:58 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence to check on a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old girl. Deputies contacted a 24-year-old woman who was with the juveniles. The woman said they were OK and sleeping. The deputies confirmed the girls were OK and cleared the scene without incident.

10:38 p.m.  Police were called to the 3400 block of Bay City Road for complaints of breaking and entering and violation of a personal protection order.

9:24 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township residence for a neighbor dispute. A 45-year-old woman and a 36-year-old woman were yelling at their 51-year-old neighbor. All parties were advised to stay away from each other, not speak to one another and not go onto each other's property. No assault occurred.

9:56 p.m.  A 22-year-old Mount Haley Township woman called the Sheriff's Office regarding an argument she was having with her 20-year-old boyfriend. They reside together with their three-week-old child. Both parties advised there was no assault. The woman went to her boyfriend's mother's residence in Bay City for the night. The man had an outstanding warrant out of Iosco County for a probation violation. He was later arrested and lodged on the warrant without incident.

10 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Hope Township residence for a verbal dispute between a 26-year-old man and his 25-year-old wife. The subjects were in the process of getting a divorce, and the woman wanted to retrieve some of her belongings. Deputies stood by while the woman gathered her personal items, and she left the property without incident.

10 p.m.  Deputies responded to a Mount Haley Township residence for a report of a 38-year-old man who was having suicidal thoughts. The man also had a self-inflicted cut on his arm. EMS arrived at the scene and transported the man to the Midland ER for an evaluation. A deputy completed a mental health petition.

9 p.m.  Police responded to the 6800 block of Eastman Avenue for a harassing communication complaint.

8:38 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township residence for a report of kids riding carelessly on a dirt bike. Contact was made with the juveniles' dad. They were informed of the rules associated with riding a dirt bike in the roadway.

7:36 p.m.  A 40-year-old Greendale Township man called regarding a civil standby request he had made. The man had requested a standby a couple weeks earlier to recover a vehicle from a residence. The resident there had told him not to go over to the property, and the standby was not approved at that time. At that time, it was requested that the man try to locate his title and contact the woman who had the vehicle. The caller just wanted it documented that since that time, the vehicle has been registered by someone else. The caller did not request a report for the time being.

8:18 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Hope Township residence for a neighbor dispute. The deputy contacted a 24-year-old man and a 60-year-old man. The situation was defused and the deputy cleared the scene without incident.

9:07 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to assist Michigan State Police with a two-vehicle crash. MSP told the deputy he was no longer needed once the scene was secure.

1:42 p.m.  Police responded to West Main Street and North Bent Oak Drive for a reckless traffic offense.

1:02 p.m.  The Midland County Sheriffs Office Detective Bureau received a call from the Department of Health and Human Services about a child being treated in Ann Arbor for serious injuries. When more was learned about the incident, it was discovered that a 6-year-old Midland County child had been injured on private property in a lawn mowing accident while in Saginaw County.

11:30 a.m.  Police were called to the 800 block of George Street for an auto theft.

9:47 a.m.  Deputies responded to an Ingersoll Township residence for possible stolen medication. Deputies spoke to the complainant, a 41-year-old woman, who advised her medication is missing, and after speaking with her doctor, she would like it documented. The woman believes she either misplaced her medication or someone broke into her house while she was at home and stole it. There are no suspects currently.

8:20 a.m.  A 20-year-old Greendale Township woman called 911, but the phone call disconnected shortly thereafter. Deputies called the woman back, and she advised that her boyfriend broke up with her after they got into a verbal argument. The woman advised nobody was assaulted, however he did yell at her before he left for work. The woman advised that she did not need law enforcement, but would call back if things escalated.

2:39 a.m.  Police were called to Sturgeon Avenue and Letts Street for a property crash complaint.

2:17 a.m.  A deputy assisted a 50-year-old man with a disabled vehicle in Lincoln Township. The deputy gave the man a ride to his residence, where he received help in retrieving the vehicle.

1:35 a.m.  Deputies responded to a private property farm tractor crash in Ingersoll Township. The tractor had minor damage. No crash report was completed.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

11:39 p.m.  A deputy spoke with a 41-year-old Porter Township woman regarding threats she received from a friend.

10:42 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to an Ingersoll Township location regarding a report of fireworks in the area. A deputy spoke with a 40-year-old woman who was lighting fireworks with her children. She was advised of the current fireworks laws.

9:51 p.m.  A deputy assisted a subject who was locked in at the Sanford Park.

8:40 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township apartment complex regarding a report of loud music inside the building. The deputy spoke with a 57-year-old male tenant who was listening to the radio. The man agreed to turn the music down.

8:24 p.m.  A Coleman gas station employee reported that $166.33 in gasoline was stolen by the driver of a new white truck.

7:36 p.m.  A deputy was sent to Midland Township for a report of kids riding carelessly on a motorcycle. Contact was made with a juvenile male and his mom. They were informed of the rules associated with riding a motorcycle in the roadway.

8:51 p.m.  Deputies responded to a Jerome Township residence for a 77-year-old Midland Township man who was found deceased by family members. The death was believed to be from natural causes.

4:44 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Greendale Township location for a criminal sexual conduct complaint. The deputy spoke with a 17-year-old girl and a 78-year-old resident regarding the accusations. This incident is under investigation.

2:59 p.m.  Deputies assisted a 62-year-old Jerome Township man who reported the woman in the next apartment kept banging on the walls and shut his hot water off. He contacted his landlord, who told him to call 911. The man did not want the deputy to contact the neighbor for fear of it making it worse. He will speak with his landlord about having the neighbor evicted.

2:21 p.m.  Police were called to the area of Eastman Avenue and West Wackerly Street for a personal injury accident.

8:43 a.m.  A Porter Township woman called to speak with a deputy. The woman is a resident at an adult foster care home. She had no emergency. She was told to speak with her mother and her caregivers, not to call 911 just to talk to somebody. This is an ongoing issue with this resident.

12:43 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence regarding a complaint about loud music. They contacted a 35-year-old man, who said he would turn the music down.

12:37 a.m.  Police were called to the 300 block of Dutch Drive for a domestic violence complaint.
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A 20-year-old Midland man facing murder and child abuse charges is accused of putting a four-pound blanket on his six-month-old daughter, leading to her asphyxiation.

Alex Lewis Marsh was bound over to Midland County Circuit Court on Wednesday on charges of felony murder, second-degree murder, and first-degree child abuse in connection with the death of his infant daughter.

Marsh appeared in the 75th District Court for his preliminary exam. He remains in the Midland County Jail without bond.

Marsh pleaded not guilty to the charges before Judge Michael Carpenter.

Marsh is charged with the death of six-month-old Scarlett, who police believe was killed May 17 by asphyxiation, according to Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks. Police were called on May 18, and Marsh was arrested by Midland Police on May 20.

Assistant Prosecutor Atea Duso called several witnesses, including the childs mother, Isabelle, who is Alex Marsh's wife.

Midland County EMS personnel Jamie Campbell testified that she and two other medical personnel arrived at the residence in the 2600 block of Abbott, where she said a firefighter was doing chest compressions on the child. Campbell said the child was on the floor, Isabelle was frantic, and Marsh was outside, quiet, at the door. Isabelle was asking what she could have done differently.

During the event, Campbell said Marsh mentioned he killed the baby, but she didnt know if that was due to shock or if he was confessing.

Midland Police Department Officer Brian Hanson, Michigan State Police Det. Sgt. Robert Scott, MPD Sgt. Ryan Duynslager and MPD Detective Mark Stefaniak also testified.

Through their testimony, the court learned that Isabelle worked third shift, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. On May 17, she said Marsh took her to work as usual and she assumed he had the baby in the car. She testified that she later learned the baby wasnt in the car that night. Marsh reportedly told multiple investigators that he took the baby that night but later said he left her at home so as not to disturb her sleep because she had been fussy.

She said the baby wasnt in the car when Marsh came to get her the next morning. To that, she bit her tongue so as not to argue and get home to the child.

When she got home, she went to the childs room and saw the blanket. She went to the crib and found her lifeless baby.

I dropped to my knees screaming, Isabelle said. She looked sick. She looked very, very sick.

She said she then ordered Marsh to call 911 and he didnt. She said she had to run out of the room and call 911 before doing CPR on Scarlett.

Isabelle also painted a picture of Marsh as non-existent and hesitant to play with his daughter. She also said she would use the baby monitor while she had the child, but that her husband wouldnt use it because the beeping annoyed him.

Investigators said there were many inconsistencies in the interviews with Marsh about the events. He initially said he checked the baby between 7 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. but later admitted he didnt.

Stefaniak noted the camera was turned off in the babys room, to which Marsh said he turned the camera off while his wife did CPR. In addition, the detective noted that Marsh made a couple of calls before authorities arrived, including checking on the tracking of a package.

In her closing, Duso said the child was admittedly being fussy and that Marsh "got frustrated and decided to make her be quiet."

He really didnt want anything to do with Scarlett, Duso said. He was hesitant to play with her. He didnt like to use the baby monitor, it annoyed him. He wanted to play video games.

"He was not concerned about that child.

Duso said Marsh went out of his way to get the heaviest blanket from his room and put it over the baby.

After her death, he returned the blanket to his room in an admitted effort to hide it from the police.

Any remotely logical person would know that was not a blanket you would put on a baby, Duso said. He didnt come back in to check on her for what he said was 12 hours."

Marshs attorney, Daniel Duke, asked Carpenter not to bind his client over to circuit court. Regarding the blanket, Duke said Marsh wasnt trying to hide it; he was distraught.

This was nothing more than a tragic accident, Duke said.
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NEW DELHI, India (AP)  Tensions were high Wednesday in the western Indian city of Udaipur, a day after police arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting a Hindu tailor's throat and posting a video of it on social media, in a brutal attack representing a dramatic escalation of communal violence in a country riven by deep religious polarization.

The killing comes after months of rising tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and has raised fears it will spark increased violence.

Authorities suspended internet services in the city and surrounding Rajasthan state in an attempt to prevent the gruesome video from being shared, while rushing additional police to Udaipur and banning large gatherings in an attempt to prevent religious unrest from escalating. In New Delhi, a few dozen people associated with right-wing groups demonstrated against the killing and demanded the culprits be hanged.

In recent months, there have been a spate of attacks by Hindu nationalists on minority groups  especially Muslims  who have been targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to interfaith marriages. Muslim homes have also been demolished using bulldozers in some Indian states, in what critics call a growing pattern of bulldozer justice against the minority group.

The animosity worsened in May when two spokespeople from Prime Minister Narendra Modis party made speculative remarks that were seen as insulting Islams Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha. Both were later suspended by Modis party.

The tailor who was slain on Tuesday, identified as 48-year-old Kanhaiya Lal, had reportedly shared a social media post supporting one of the spokespeople who were suspended for the Prophet Muhammad remarks, according to local media.

The two men who were arrested a few hours after the attack, identified as local Udaipur residents Gos Mohammad and Riyaz Akhtari, posted a second video of themselves in the aftermath of the killing, accusing Lal of blasphemy and threatening to kill Modi in the same way, smiling as they sat on a couch, brandishing long blood-covered knives.

In the video of the attack itself, one of the assailants can be seen being measured by the tailor, while the other one films.

The man being measured then attacks Lal with a knife, stabbing at him as the tailor desperately tries to fend him off with his hands. The man filming then apparently drops his phone and joins the attack, and Lal can be heard screaming for help as he is killed.

Police later said the men slit Lal's throat, and television reports aired footage of the tailor's bloody body on the ground.

Despite pleas from the police, both videos were still circulating on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook a day later.

Experts worry that the latest incident could worsen Indias religious fault lines that critics say have deepened since Hindu-nationalist Modi came to power in 2014.

The divisions were exacerbated by the remarks by his party's spokespeople about the Prophet Muhammad in May, which also led to a severe diplomatic backlash for Hindu-majority India from many Muslim-dominated countries.

This gruesome incident could lead to escalated religious tensions across India, especially with the ruling party espousing a very strident Hindu majoritarian cause, said Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a public policy think tank.

It is unlikely that this government or leadership would go out of its way to tell supporters to not get provoked, to urge for calm and peace, he said.

Attacks on people accused of alleged blasphemy are common in neighboring Muslim-majority countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan. But in India, where religious tensions often boil over into sporadic riots and deadly protests, incidents of brutal killings of this nature are rare.

In May, a Hindu man in the southern city of Hyderabad was stabbed to death in public by his Muslim wifes relatives. Last year, a Muslim man was beheaded by members of a vigilante group on orders of his girlfriend's Hindu family because they didn't approve of their interfaith marriage. In Rajasthan state in 2017, a Hindu man brutally killed a Muslim laborer and shared a video of the victim being hacked to death and then set on fire.

It was not clear whether the two alleged killers of the tailor had links to any terrorist organization, but Indias Home Ministry has dispatched a team from its anti-terror agency to Rajasthan to investigate. So far, the state police have not charged the two arrested men with terrorism.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a key Muslim body, condemned the killing in a statement and called it barbaric.

There is no room for justification of violence in Islam, it said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot promised a speedy investigation into Lals killing.

I again appeal to all to maintain peace, Gehlot said in a tweet.
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While some county prosecuting attorneys in Michigan have publicly announced their intentions to enforce or to not enforce a 1931 state law banning abortion, Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks is awaiting more clarity on the issue.

The Michigan law was rendered invalid by the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision, but could go into effect again after the high court reversed Roe v. Wade last Friday and returned the regulation of abortion to the states.

For now, though, abortion is still legal in Michigan, pending decisions by two judicial bodies and a possible statewide ballot proposal.

"Im trying to analyze the new decision," Brooks told the Daily News on Tuesday when asked whether his office would enforce the 1931 law, which is part of Chapter III of Act 328.

On May 17, the Michigan Court of Claims granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union that challenges the constitutionality of the 1931 law, which only allows abortion when it is deemed necessary to save the life of the mother.

The state legislature, which has Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House, has joined that lawsuit as a defendant in hopes of upholding the 1931 law, and is challenging the preliminary injunction.

"Obviously, I cant do anything until that (lawsuit) is resolved," Brooks said.

More Information Following is the text of the 1931 Michigan law outlawing abortion that was rendered invalid by the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade and could again go into effect pending appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court and the Michigan Court of Claims. Act 328 of 1931 CHAPTER III ABORTION 750.14 Miscarriage; administering with intent to procure; felony, penalty. Administering drugs, etc., with intent to procure miscarriage-Any person who shall wilfully administer to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, substance or thing whatever, or shall employ any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of any such woman, unless the same shall have been necessary to preserve the life of such woman, shall be guilty of a felony, and in case the death of such pregnant woman be thereby produced, the offense shall be deemed manslaughter. In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to prove that no such necessity existed. See More Collapse

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to recognize a right to abortion under the due process clause of the Michigan Constitution and to stop enforcement of the 1931 law.

After the Supreme Court ruling last week, Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald, Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy and Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Eli Savit told the Detroit Free Press that they would not enforce the 1931 law if it is upheld in court. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has also said she would not enforce the 1931 law.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, on the other hand, said in a written statement that it is his job to enforce the laws that are on the books.

"I do not believe it is proper for me to simply ignore a law, any law, that was passed by the Michigan Legislature and signed by the Governor," Becker wrote on Monday.

As for Brooks, he said he feels conflicted in terms of the 1931 law.

"I do believe on one hand it is my obligation to enforce the law as written by the legislature," he said. "I am troubled by the fact that the 1931 law does not provide exceptions for rape and incest."

Brooks noted that he must look at both the U.S. Constitution and the Michigan Constitution when considering enforcement of any law.

"The bottom line is theres a number of issues that need to be resolved before we could consider any enforcement of (the 1931 law). I dont believe we can enforce any current laws until we get decisions by the Michigan Supreme Court, and the Court of Claims as to the injunction," Brooks continued. "Really, we need guidance from the legislature."

When asked whether the 1931 law only holds abortion providers criminally liable and not mothers who undergo an abortion, Brooks said that is how he interprets the law.

"Yes, I read that statute as applying only to those that would perform an abortion procedure," he said. "There are some that read it otherwise. But thats not the way I interpret the statute."

State senate candidate, Oakland County prosecutor discuss future of abortion rights in Michigan

On Monday evening, the Women of Michigan Action Network and Karen McDonald co-hosted a public webinar titled "SCOTUS Ruling Impact: Repercussions of Losing Roe," which featured 35th District Democratic state Senate candidate Kristen McDonald Rivet and McDonald, who is her sister.

McDonald said she believes the Michigan Supreme Court will rule that the 1931 law is unconstitutional.

"In the Michigan Supreme Court, we have justices that we believe will strike that (law) down and uphold our right to choose. That could happen in a matter of weeks," McDonald said.

But McDonald emphasized that the key to preserving abortion rights is through the state legislature, and she said McDonald Rivet's race is key in Democrats' effort to supplant Republicans as the majority party in the Senate.

"If we dont flip this seat and three others (from Republican to Democrat), we will not be able to secure our right to choose," McDonald said.

McDonald said that, based on history, the Supreme Court's decision will not stop abortions from happening, and that it will have a disproportionate impact on people of color.

For her part, McDonald Rivet, who is running unopposed in the primary election, said she encourages people who support abortion rights to sign the Reproductive Freedom For All petition, to support pro-choice candidates such as herself, and to vote in the August 2 primary election and Nov. 8 general election.

That petition, which would amend the Michigan Constitution to guarantee the right to an abortion, already has the needed 425,059 signatures required for it to become a proposal on the November ballot.

State Rep. Glenn firmly against abortion

State Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, who is vying against three others for the Republican state Senate nomination to face McDonald Rivet in the November election, told the Daily News that she will always vote against abortion.

"As the mother of five and grandmother to nine, and somebody whos been endorsed by Right To Life in every election and by Black Americans For Life, I am solidly pro-life. I have a very opposite belief on this than my (potential) Democratic opponent," Glenn said.

Glenn does not anticipate that any new abortion-related legislation will be introduced from the Republican side. She is hopeful that the 1931 law will be upheld as constitutional.

"Michigan has a long history of protecting unborn children and being pro-life," she said.
Julie Ward, Ed.D. a human resources leader with more than 30 years of experience, has been named senior vice president and chief human resources officer at MyMichigan Health. She has been with the health system in the role of system vice president of human resources since 2021 and will now transition to senior vice president and chief human resources officer.

Julies commitment to excellence and human resources administration has been very evident during her time with the health system, said Greg Rogers, president and CEO, MyMichigan Health. One of her many accomplishments was evaluating and implementing a critical staffing stabilization plan during the peak of the pandemic that was very well received.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  A man held over a suspected Islamist deadly weekend shooting ahead of an LGBTQ festival in Oslo is still refusing to talk to police, making it hard to establish whether he had any accomplices, Norwegian authorities said Wednesday.

Zaniar Matapour, a 43-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, was arrested shortly after Saturdays predawn shooting in the Norwegian capitals nightlife district and was held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Two people were killed and more than 20 wounded in what the Norwegian security service called an Islamist terror act.

Prosecutor Brge Enkosen told a press conference Wednesday that the suspect's refusal to be questioned means we are still unsure whether (he) may have had accomplices. He added that police had offered to question Matapour without either sound or video recordings, but he declined.

The suspect's lawyer, Bernt Heiberg, told The Associated Press in a text message that his client "has all along been skeptical about how the police will present a possible explanation for his alleged acts.

He has therefore decided not to give an explanation for the time being, Heiberg said.

Investigators have several hypotheses regarding a possible motive for the shooting although police have unsuccessfully tried to question Matapour since Saturday.

The gunman opened fire at three locations, including outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in downtown Oslo. Police investigators have said it is too early to say whether the attacker specifically targeted the LGBTQ community.

On Wednesday, Norways domestic security agency lowered the threat scale to its second-highest level, saying the Oslo attack could potentially inspire others to carry out similar attacks.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  More than 500 inmates escaped from a heavily guarded drug rehabilitation center in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday after a suspicious death led to an outbreak of violence, police said.

The Kandakadu rehabilitation center, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, mainly treats prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes. Nearly 1,000 people were undergoing rehabilitation at the center, which is guarded by military troops.
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SAN ANTONIO (AP)  In the chaotic minutes after dozens of migrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer sweltering under the Texas sun, the driver tried to slip away by pretending to be one of the survivors, a Mexican immigration official said Wednesday.

The American truck driver, along with another U.S. citizen and two other men, remained in custody as the investigation continued into the tragedy that killed 53 people in the nations deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.-Mexico border. Federal prosecutors said two of the suspects, including the driver, face charges that carry a potential sentence of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

Two more people died Wednesday as the death toll slowly climbed since the discovery of 46 bodies Monday at the scene near auto salvage yards on the edge of San Antonio.

The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduno, chief of Mexicos National Immigration Institute.

Officials had potential identifications on 37 of the victims as of Wednesday, pending verification with authorities in other countries, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office. Forty of the victims were male, it said.

Identifying the dead has been challenging because some were found without identification documents and in one case a stolen ID. Remote villages where some of the migrants came from in Mexico and Central America have no phone service to reach family members and fingerprint data has to be shared and matched by the governments involved.

Javier Flores Lopez's family was waiting to find out whether he was on the truck. He had returned home to see his wife and three small children in southern Mexico and was going back to Ohio where his father and a brother live and he worked in construction. He is now among the missing and his cousin, Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman, is hospitalized in San Antonio, the family said.

The tragedy occurred at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them taking perilous risks to cross swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

While its not clear when or where the migrants boarded the truck bound for San Antonio, Homeland Security investigators believe it was on U.S. soil, near or in Laredo, Texas, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told The Associated Press.

The truck went through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo on Interstate 35 on Monday, Cuellar and Mexican officials confirmed. It was registered in Alamo, Texas, but had fake plates and logos, Garduno said.

Officials in Mexico also released a surveillance photo showing the driver smiling at the checkpoint during the more than two-hour trip to San Antonio.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that state troopers would set up additional truck checkpoints on highways, but he did not say how many. In April, Abbott gridlocked the 1,200-mile Texas border for a week by requiring every truck entering the state to underdo additional inspections as part of his ongoing fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.

Authorities were looking into whether the truck had mechanical problems when it was left next to a railroad track. The driver was apprehended after trying to disguise himself as one of the migrants, Garduno said.

Federal prosecutors identified the driver as Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, who was charged with smuggling resulting in death. Zamorano lives in suburban Houston and is originally from the Texas border city of Brownsville, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio.

He faces the most serious charges along with Christian Martinez, 28, who is accused of conspiracy and allegedly communicated with Zamorano about transporting the migrants.

Martinez was arrested in East Texas and will be transported to San Antonio. Zamorano was scheduled to have his first court appearance Thursday. It was not immediately known if either suspect had an attorney.

Two other men who are not U.S. citizens were also arrested on charges of illegal weapons possession. Prosecutors say investigators found the men at a San Antonio address where the truck was registered.

Some of the more than a dozen people transported to hospitals were found suffering from brain damage and internal bleeding, according to Ruben Minutti, the Mexico consul general in San Antonio.

Migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border, loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, said Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

The death count from Monday's tragedy in San Antonio was the highest ever from a smuggling attempt in the U.S., he said. Four years ago, 10 died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a San Antonio Walmart. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of the city.

Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), and those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated, authorities said.

It wouldnt have taken long for the temperature inside the truck to become deadly, said Jennifer Vanos, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who has researched child deaths in hot vehicles.

The tractor-trailer likely would have been hot even before anyone got inside and because of the high humidity, lack of air flow and so many people inside, their sweat couldnt evaporate to cool their bodies and they would have dehydrated quickly, she said.

With little information about the victims, desperate families from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones.

Felicitos Garcia, who owns a grocery store in the remote community of San Miguel Huautla in Mexicos southern state of Oaxaca, said the mother of Vasquez Guzman, who was hospitalized in Texas, had gone to the state capital to learn more about her sons condition and the whereabouts of his cousin, who is missing.

Life is tough here, Garcia said. People survive by growing their own crops like corn, beans and wheat. Sometimes the land gives and sometimes it doesnt when the rains arrive late. There is nothing in place for people to have other resources. People live one day to the next.

Identifying the victims was painstaking because among the pitfalls were fake or stolen documents.

Mexicos foreign affairs secretary identified two people Tuesday who were hospitalized in San Antonio. But it turned out one of the identification cards he shared on Twitter had been stolen last year in the southern state of Chiapas.

Haneydi Antonio Guzman, 23, was safe in a mountain community more than 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers) away from San Antonio when she began receiving messages from family and friends anxious over her fate.

Thats me on the ID, but I am not the person that was in the trailer and they say is hospitalized, Antonio Guzman said. My relatives were contacting me worried, asking where I was."

In some regions of Mexico, attempting to cross into the United States is a tradition that most youths in heavily migrant towns at least consider.

All of the young people start to think about going (to the U.S.) as soon as they turn 18, said migrant activist Carmelo Castaneda, who works with the nonprofit Casa del Migrante. If there arent more visas, our people are going to keep dying.

___

Verza and Sanchez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press Writers Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson in San Diego; Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan; Edgar H. Clemente in Villa Comaltitlan, Mexico; Sonia D. Perez in Guatemala City and Marlon Gonzalez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, contributed to this report.
BERLIN (AP)  Authorities in Austria declared a civil emergency Wednesday after some villages in the southern state of Carinthia were cut off by mudslides and flooding following heavy rainfall. One person was killed and another was reported missing.

Residents of the villages of Treffen and Arriach were told to seek safety in the upper levels of their houses, public broadcaster ORF reported.

The Austrian president appealed to residents in the affected areas to be cautious and thanked rescue teams for their help.

The destruction ... is dramatic. I appeal to everyone: Take care of yourself & your fellow human beings, Alexander van der Bellen tweeted. Many thanks to the Austrian Armed Forces, Red Cross, mountain and water rescue, fire department and police for their efforts.

Several people who were trapped in their homes had to be airlifted to safety by helicopter.

The mayor of Treffen, Gerald Ebner, said 20 homes and farms could not be reached by rescue teams.

We are trying to get the situation under control somehow," Ebner told Austrian news agency APA. "Currently, we are waiting for heavy equipment from the Austrian Armed Forces, which we urgently need.

The body of an 82-year-old man was found in a swollen creek on Wednesday afternoon, ORF reported.

A car driver, who was swept away by masses of water, was still missing. Rescue teams with dogs were searching the area, ORF reported.

A storm late Tuesday brought severe winds and heavy rain to the region and authorities warned that there was a high threat of further landslides amid normally small creeks that have turned into rushing streams by the rain.

Markus Mueller from the Arriach volunteer fire department told ORF that a main road that runs through the Gegendtal valley to Arriach was also severely damaged.

It is completely torn away in several places," Mueller said, adding that several districts in the flooded area had no electricity or drinking water, and that cell phone reception and landline connections were interrupted in some parts.

Emergency services, residents and numerous volunteers have been busy since the early morning hours clearing mud from basements, garages and ground floors, ORF reported.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Forecasters issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border as a tropical disturbance sped over the southern Caribbean on a path toward Central America.

The disturbance was expected to become a tropical storm soon and was likely to be near or over Nicaragua by late Friday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The disturbance was centered about 55 miles (105 kilometers) east-southeast of the northern tip of Colombia's Guajira peninsula late Wednesday. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving west at 21 mph (33 kph).

It was expected to become a tropical storm during its approach to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, though forecasters said its rapid pace and interaction with land might slow development.

As a result of the disturbance, the government of Venezuela shuttered schools, opened shelters and restricted air and water transportation on Wednesday as President Nicolas Maduro noted that the South American country already has been struggling with recent heavy rains.

"Care, caution, preparation, nerves of steel!" he said during a televised press conference as he ordered authorities to protect people.

Meanwhile, the government in the nearby Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao imposed a curfew that began late Wednesday morning, and ordered all businesses to close.

The disturbance earlier affected Trinidad & Tobago, where officials said the storms caused power outages and temporarily shut down wastewater plants, although no serious damage was reported.

A hurricane watch was in effect from the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border to Laguna de Perlas in Nicaragua. Meanwhile, a tropical storm warning was in effect for Curacao and Aruba as well as the coast of Venezuela from the Paraguana peninsula past the border with Colombia to the town of Santa Marta.

Up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) or more of rain could fall in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain were forecast for Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago and northeast Venezuela.
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdoulaye Diop, met on Tuesday in Bamako with members of the diplomatic corps to inform them on the progress of the transition process, an official source said here
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA)  The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday mandated the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, to go ahead with the probe of the crisis in the Judiciary by looking into the complaints raised in the petition by the Justices of the Supreme Court against Chief Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad who resigned last Sunday
Photo: (Photo : GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP via Getty Images)

When 2-day-old Maddilyn Rosalie was brought home by her grandma, the controversial TikTok star Veronica Merritt, and her mom Victoria Merritt from the hospital, she was welcomed by 11 uncles and aunts.

Baby Maddilyn will grow up in unique circumstances as her youngest uncle, Modi, is just two months older than her. Her mom's other siblings are between the ages of 2 and 17, so they will also feel like brothers and sisters to Maddilyn.

New mom Victoria beamed as she talked about her baby, telling the Insider that they keep saying how cute she is. She said her siblings wanted to take turns holding the infant, who weighed just under six pounds at birth.

Veronica thrilled with her new role as grandmother

Veronica said she was thrilled to be a grandmother at the young age of 37. She said she was more than happy to help take care of her grandchild, who has brought the total number of people in their household to 14.

Veronica, who has amassed more than 204,000 followers on TikTok as ThisMadMama, said her grandkid reminds her of a baby bird in a nest because she is so sweet and fragile. Maddilyn was born on June 18 after Victoria was in labor for 12 hours. Veronica said she was not allowed to attend the birth of her granddaughter because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the infant's father, Victoria's boyfriend, Leon, was there throughout the labor and delivery.

Veronica shared the happy baby news on TikTok, posting a video of her introducing her granddaughter on social media. She said in an interview that her oldest daughter Victoria was absolutely glowing after the birth, describing her as a good mommy.

Read Also: New Jersey Mom Shocked After Autopsy Shows Son's Treatment During Navy Seal Hell Week Training

Merritt clan just keeps on growing

Joining Veronica, Victoria, and Maddilyn in the 14-strong Merritt clan are Andrew, 17; Adam, 16; Mara, 14; Dash, 13; Darla, 11; Marvelous, 9; Martalya, 7; Amelia, 5; Delilah, 4; Donovan, 2; and 9-week-old Modi.

Veronica had her first kid when she was just 14 years old, and she said she has been pregnant for a cumulative nine years, which is almost a quarter of her life. She previously said in an interview that her desire for a large family was a compulsion, but despite initially planning to have 16 kids, she said she had decided that Modi would be her last child. Veronica added that she had given herself permission to stop.

The mom of 12 and now the grandma of one has frequently been attacked for her choices, according to the New York Post. She recalled in an interview how one critic on TikTok said her kids came from 11 different fathers. Veronica said people could think what they like, but her children have only two fathers. Her first marriage ended in 2005, and she is now separated from her second husband, Marty, with whom she shares all but two of her kids.

Related Article: New York Mom Prepares to Bring Home Miracle Baby After 12 Years of Heartbreak With 6 Miscarriages
Photo: (Photo : Getty images )

As the nationwide baby formula shortage has reached its fourth month, parents from Metro Detroit stumbled into something that helped them combat the milk crisis: each other.

The Detriot Area Formula Finders Facebook Group that started last month now has over 2,000 members online. Its founder, Berkley parent Heather Chesnutt, said that the group aims to help save parents time and money in searching for formula as online inventories struggle to keep up with the actual remaining stocks in the store, Yahoo! News says.

She said that the Facebook group aims to connect caregivers with individuals who are shopping by posting a picture of the formula aisle while at the store so they can also be a solution in finding the formula.

Expanded members and services

The group has grown to more than 2,000 members since it was formed. Members post the formula that they need, and other members either sell, exchange, or give away the formula to caregivers. The group administrator also sources formula from other local milk-finding groups, Michigan Radio reports.

Mommy Averi Wilson said that the group helped her as she has recently struggled to find a formula. The past week, she got connected with someone who had extra formula through the Formula Finders Facebook group. She said that a woman in the group saw her post about the trouble she was having in finding a particular formula. She messaged her, said she had some extra formula for what she was looking for, and wanted her to pick it up.

The group has a daily "last can" announcement where caregivers can post if they are down to their last. The post also means they must find milk in less than 24 hours.

Read Also: 5 Reasons Why Moms Use Formula Instead of Breastmilk

Problems with WIC

Chesnutt said that one of the group's purposes is to help WIC parents. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program is among the hardest hit by the formula shortage. It is a federally funded initiative implemented by the Michigan Department of Health to help low and moderate-income families access affordable, nutritious foods. The program has WIC credits that can be exchanged for Abbott baby formula brands and other foods at participating retailers.

When the formula shortage started, parents and children with WIC benefits found it more difficult to get milk because WIC credits are only accepted in person at a specific retailer where formula milk is often out of stock. In Michigan, half of the children born in the area benefit from the program. According to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin, around 85% of Michigan's formula-fed WIC participants were affected by the Abbott formula milk recall, Detroit New reports.

Places with available formulas would not accept WIC. In these stores, cans are expensive, so parents have to pay out of their pocket to buy the formula when they find it. Major stores like Costco and Target do not have WIC credit, and parents wish for stores that offer WIC to be expanded. Milk companies also tend to distribute formula to major stores with no WIC, so parents had to shell out for the milk.

With the rising price of gasoline, parents also find it expensive to scour formula milk everywhere. They admit that it's time-consuming and costly. Having an online group for an exchange of information is a big relief.

Related Article: How a Frugal Couple With 9 Children Spends $364 for Monthly Expenses in New York
Photo: (Photo : Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)

Dozens of migrants were found dead on Monday, June 27, in an abandoned big rig in San Antonio, Texas, in what appears to be the deadliest human smuggling case in modern United States history, according to CBS News.

Bexar County officials told reporters at a news conference that the tragedy's death toll had risen to 51 on Tuesday afternoon, and some of the deceased migrants could be teens who never reached adulthood.

Officials said most victims were found dead inside the tractor-trailer in the sweltering Texas heat. The unfortunate demise of three patients treated at Baptist Medical Center contributed to the number of deceased on Tuesday, June 28. According to hospital spokesperson Patti Tanner, two survivors remained in critical condition.

Death toll rising in human smuggling tragedy

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said that 16 people, including four children, were initially hospitalized. He added none of those kids had died. Bexar County officials said those who died were 39 males and 12 females.

Tom Peine, the assistant public information officer for the county manager's office, said it was possible that some of the victims had not reached adulthood. He added that potentially some of them are under 18, in the teenage range but not younger than that.

According to officials, the regional medical examiner would likely be able to identify 34 of the dead migrant victims at this point in the investigation. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday morning that 22 of the dead were Mexican nationals, while seven came from Guatemala and two were from Honduras. The nationalities of the remaining 20 dead migrants had yet to be confirmed.

Lopez Obrador said the Mexican government would be providing financial assistance to the family members of the dead. San Antonio Police Chief William P. McManus said in the press conference that three people were taken into custody following the discovery of the migrants in the big rig. He did not expand on their identities, with authorities still investigating if they were connected to the incident, according to News 4 San Antonio.

Read Also: New Jersey Mom Shocked After Autopsy Shows Son's Treatment During Navy Seal Hell Week Training

Truck with bodies found in an undeveloped area of San Antonio

The grim discovery was made early Monday evening near railroad tracks in an undeveloped area of southwest San Antonio. According to officials, a person who works in the area heard a cry for help and spotted at least one body.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that Homeland Security Investigations responded to the incident on Quintana Road near Cassin Road following a call from the San Antonio Police Department. They then found more than 40 deceased individuals at the scene.

The police chief said the survivors lacked water and air conditioning inside the truck. McManus said the patients that they saw were hot to the touch. NBC News reported that they were suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

Related Article: Indiana Mom Draws a Heart on Her Children's Hands Every Morning in Case of School Shooting
Photo: (Photo : RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)

While on a holiday in Malta, Andrea Prudente, 38, suffered an incomplete miscarriage and needed a life-saving spontaneous abortion that was banned in the country. At the risk of losing her life, Prudente, and her partner Jay Weeldreyer, 45, tapped their efforts and resources to fly to Spain so she could have the much-needed procedure.

Prudente's ordeal became an international issue that laid bare the problems with anti-abortion policies. Prior to leaving for their babymoon, the couple was not aware that Malta had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world.

Speaking with Malta Today, Prudente said that she's still in the process of grieving the daughter she lost but once she recovers and sorts through what she calls the "emotional wreckage," she plans on taking action against those who put her life at risk, including potentially suing the Malta government.

Read Also: Silent Miscarriage: Meghan McCain Opens up About Feeling Betrayed by Her Body

What Happened to Andrea Prudente in Malta?

Prudente was on the 16th week of a healthy pregnancy when she woke up in a pool of blood at their hotel in Malta. She and Weeldreyer were actually on the Mediterranean island for two weeks to celebrate their upcoming baby.

The pregnant woman was rushed to the Mater Dei Hospital, where doctors told the couple that she had an unviable pregnancy. Ultrasound results confirmed that she was bleeding because her placenta separated from her uterus, her water broke, and there was no more amniotic fluid, which meant that her baby will not survive. However, she needed an additional procedure as her miscarriage was incomplete.

Yet the doctors hesitated to perform a spontaneous abortion, the most logical procedure that will ensure Prudente will not die of sepsis. They were restricted by laws to intervene with the unviable pregnancy because the baby's heartbeat was still pounding. The couple was advised to wait for the heartbeat to stop but that raised Prudente's risk of hemorrhage and infection.

It felt like a fight for survival



Andrea Prudente had complications during her pregnancy whilst on holiday in Malta. She needed emergency treatment, but doctors were unable to help due to Malta's strict abortion laws. She spoke to @emmabarnett: https://t.co/iEE9uzBG0J pic.twitter.com/ZFBnIkLubz  BBC Woman's Hour (@BBCWomansHour) June 28, 2022

A few days after the incomplete miscarriage and still without any action from Mater Dei Hospital, Weeldreyer found a way to fly Prudente out of Malta and into Spain, where she could finally get the procedure. Travel was also a risk because the pregnant woman could bleed out but she finally "delivered" her dead daughter on a Saturday morning.

"It was really hard, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, beautiful and cathartic experience," Prudente told NBC News. "We just held her and we cried."

Outrage and Petition to Change Laws

Prudente and Weeldreyer said they are hurt and angry over what happened. To be clear, this pregnancy was wanted thus it was painful for the pregnant mom to go through a needed pregnancy termination.

Weeldreyer added that they felt attacked as a family when Prudente didn't receive the right medical care in Malta. The couple said they will use this experience to usher change so that no woman will go through the same thing again.

Following Prudente's case, 135 doctors in Malta filed a petition to ask the government to review its restrictive abortion laws. According to The Guardian, Malta has not changed this law since the 1850s. The law has not protected women from medical risks and the doctors who could help save lives.

Related Article: Roe Vs. Wade Overturned: 16 States, DC Will Still Protect Women's Right to Abortion Sans Supreme Court Policy
Photo: (Photo : Getty images )

The father of an eight-year-old boy was arrested Sunday, June 26, after his son fatally shot a one-year-old girl, Kacey Bass, and wounded Bass' two-year-old sister using a gun he left in a closet unattended, authorities announced.

The shooting happened on Saturday night in Pensacola. Investigators alleged the father, Roderick Dwayne Randall, attempted to cover up the incident by removing the gun and the suspected drugs from the room before calling authorities to the scene, ABC News reports.

Randall was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with evidence, culpable negligence, and failure to safely store a firearm.

The boy played with his father's gun

The incident happened in Lion Motel at 3100 block of Martin Luther King Driver in Pensacola, Florida. Randall was at the hotel with his girlfriend and four children: Randall's eight-year-old son, the girlfriend's one-year-old daughter, and her two-year-old twins, Law and Crime says.

According to Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons, Randall left the hotel but left his firearm in the closet, which he may have thought was a safe holster. His eight-year-old son, however, knew where he kept the gun. He pulled the gun from the holster, started playing with it, and fired a round into the one-year-old toddler, killing the baby. The bullet went through the toddler and hit her sister. A third child in the room, the twin of the injured girl, was unharmed. The injured two-year-old is recovering.

The one-year-old baby and the toddlers were sleeping in the hotel room when their eight-year-old brother shot them.

The sheriff said that the shooting was incidental.

The father returned to the hotel room after the shooting. Simmons alleged that he removed the gun and a bag of a suspected drug before returning to the room.

The victim's mother said that she was sleeping on the couch and did hear the gunshots, the arrest report stated.

Per Yahoo! News, Randall was legally prohibited from owning a gun as he had prior felony convictions. He spent five years in prison in 2001 for cocaine sales and possession charges. In 2005, he was sentenced to a year for resisting arrest without violence and a 40-month sentence for fleeing and eluding law enforcement.

Read Also: Tiktok Star Ophelia Nichols Ask for Help from 7M Followers to Find Her Son's Killer

Randall was booked into Escambia County Jail on Sunday morning and released on a $41,000 bond later that day. The mother was not charged in the incident.

Statistics for Accidental Gun Deaths

At the press conference, Simmons said his heart went out to the rest of the families, citing the incident as ridiculous. "This is not how we treat our children," he added.

As of February 2022, AfterMath cited that unintentional shootings affected more than 21 children, resulting in nine deaths and 13 injuries. Last year, at least 377 unintentional school shootings by children resulted in 154 deaths and 242 injuries.

Related Article: Yubo App Allegedly Used by Uvalde Gunman Upgrades its Safety Feature After the Shootout
Photo: (Photo : ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Florida mom Lex Ginger and her twin babies survived a rare type of pregnancy that happens in one in 60,000 cases. The 30-year-old gave birth to mono mono twins and lived to tell about her unique experience among her TikTok followers.

In a TikTok video, Lex shared that her 2019 pregnancy was a situation like no other. At seven weeks, she went to the doctor for help with her debilitating morning sickness.

The doctor scanned her womb to determine what could be wrong, and the mother was told that she was experiencing such intense symptoms because she was carrying twins. Lex was surprised because she had her first scan one week prior and was told thee was just one baby. The mom was in disbelief because the fetus in her womb "doesn't multiply like that."

However, her doctor said that since the twins appear to be very close together, based on the scans, then Lex might be carrying conjoined twins or mono mono twins.

Read Also: Pregnant Mom Has 1 in 70 Million Set of Quadruplets Conceived Without Fertility Treatments

What are Mono Mono Twins?

According to Columbia University, mono mono twins are short for Monochorionic-Monoamniotic twins. This pregnancy has both fetuses sharing one placenta and one amniotic sac. It's also possible for mono mono twins to be conjoined.

Mono mono twins form in the first few days of the pregnancy when the fertilized egg breaks apart. Dichorionic-Diamniotic or Di-Di twins are fraternal or identical twins with separate sacs and placenta, just like any single baby. Monochorionic-Diamniotic or Mono-Di twins are common to identical twins with the same placenta but separate sacs.

But while Lex was later relieved to confirm that her twins are not conjoined, her doctor further explained the situation with her unique pregnancy, making her cry. Mono mono twins have 50 percent of not surviving passed the 12th week of pregnancy. Her doctor even projected that her babies might only last 24 weeks.

The mom was also told she would have to work with a different doctor because her current one was honest enough to say she could not handle this rare pregnancy. Her doctor told her she was the first case in her entire career.

Lex was also advised to prepare for admission to a specialty 24/7 hospital care when she's in the second trimester, assuming that the babies survive the 12th week.

Raising Awareness for High-Risk Pregnancies

Lex, an attorney, opened up about her experience to raise awareness for high-risk pregnancies. Speaking with Today, the mom said she was suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) before getting pregnant. She also had a blood clotting disorder called factor V. Thus; it was a miracle to learn that she and her husband, Patrick, were expecting a baby.

At the first ultrasound, Lex recalled that her doctor did mention a strong cardiac activity, but they all assumed it was because she was carrying a healthy, single baby. However, her doctor advised her to come to the clinic for another check-up because she had symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum.

Lex said it was overwhelming to process everything, from her fertility issues to her first pregnancy to learning she's having twins and then finding out that it's a high-risk and a rare form of twin pregnancy. The mom had depression until the crucial 12th week, but with the help of her doctors, including a mental health therapist, Lex was able to pull through with flying colors and gave birth to two healthy boys via C-section at 32 weeks in May 2019. Max and Miles spent 30 days in intensive care before going home. They recently celebrated their third birthday.

Related Article: Molar Pregnancy: Mom Loses One Twin That Became a Cancer Tumor
Photo: (Photo : SEYLLOU / AFP)

Five men, including his brother, were convicted for killing Macdonald Masumbuka, 22, who had albinism, in 2018, and planning to sell his body parts as good luck charms.

People with albinism have long been victimized by witchcraft rituals, whose practitioners wrongly believe that their body parts bring good luck.

The Malawi High Court sentenced the five men to life with hard labor.

According to the Daily Star, the victim was lured by his brother to the graveyard where he was murdered, telling him that he had found a woman for him to marry.

Afterward, Masumbuka was reported missing in the southern district. Investigators found his torso and head after a month; however, his limbs had all been removed. According to investigators, as soon as Masumbuka arrived at the graveyard, he was ambushed and murdered.

Betrayed by kin and people in position of trusts

Other people involved in the crime were a Catholic priest named Thomas Muhosha, a herbalist, a police officer, and two other men. They were all given a lesser sentence of a 30-year prison term because they were only involved in the sales of Masumbuka's body parts.

Muhosha was suspended from the priesthood by the Catholic Church in Malawi in 2018 when his involvement became public.

Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda said that in coming up with the sentencing, she considered that Masumbuka was betrayed by the people close to him, his family. The judge also noted how the murder was meticulously planned and the violence in the manner of his death.

"MacDonald was betrayed by those he had trusted in, namely the brother, the priest, the policeman, and the clinical officer," Malawi's public prosecutions director Steve Kayuni pointed out. "These are positions of trust," he added.

Read also: Hunted Albino African Get New Limbs, Refuge

People with albinism are persecuted due to wrong belief

People with albinism have been the target of killings as people believe that they bring a certain charm and healing. Witch doctors have promulgated that their body parts are magical, which serves as their reason for using them in their rituals. Others are convinced that possessing their body parts could transmit their magical powers.

Aside from that, people with this rare kind of skin condition are murdered, under the impression they could cure one's sickness. Some are also raped because there is also the belief that it can cure AIDS.

However, there are also some who see people with albinism as cursed, and this causes them more misery as they are butchered to get rid of bad luck.

Albinism is a hereditary genetic condition that causes the total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair, and eyes; thus, their appearance.

Related Article: Indiana Couple Adopts 5 Kids with Special Needs, Now The Have 11 and Counting
Photo: (Photo : Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The daughter of Jane Roe, the plaintiff, and mother behind the controversial Roe Vs. Wade abortion case, has spoken up amid the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn the ruling on Friday, June 24, 2022.

Melissa Mills, the eldest child of Norma McCorvey, a.k.a Jane Roe, said in an interview that she was devasted by the ruling and believed that her mother would feel the same way had she lived through this monumental time in history. According to the New York Post, Roe died in 2017 at 69 years old due to a heart issue.

Mills also said it's now hard to imagine that Roe's grandchildren will not be able to uphold the rights she fought in court 50 years ago. She said that her mother did not just fight for herself but all women in America.

JUST NOW: "My mother would be devastated. Hard to believe her grandkids aren't going to have the same rights as we've had for 50 years."



Melissa Mills, daughter of "Jane Roe" pic.twitter.com/f1Y3RHwOHJ  New Day (@NewDay) June 27, 2022

The Roe vs. Wade ruling in 1973 protected other women regarding decisions about their reproductive health. After the recent overturn, the women lost the federal protection to seek abortion for pregnancies that could kill them, kill their child, or change their lives forever.

Read Also: Andrea Prudente Case: US Woman Denied Spontaneous Abortion to Save Her Life to Sue Malta Government

Who Was Jane Roe?

In 1969, Roe was pregnant with her third baby, but she did not want to proceed with the pregnancy. She belonged to the working class and suffered from depression. She believed that she could no longer raise another child; thus, she chose to have an abortion.

Because Roe was living in Dallas, Texas, where laws against abortion were restrictive, her friends said she could make a false claim and say that the baby was a product of rape by a group of Black men. However, Roe could not provide the evidence to support this claim. She also tried to have an illegal abortion, but the said clinic was no longer in business.

Roe was then referred to lawyers Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, who represented and won the case for her against the district attorney, Henry Wade. The trial reached the Supreme Court in 1973, and by then, Roe had given birth to the baby she wanted to abort since the case was not yet resolved in court.

Shelley Lyn Thorton Issues Statement

That baby was Shelley Lynn Thornton, who also issued a statement via ABC News to express her concerns about the overturn. She said that the decision to have an abortion is a private and medical choice "between a woman, her family, and her doctor" and that the changes in the ruling take away that fundamental right.

Roe gave up Thorton for adoption soon after her birth. Thorton was unaware of her significance in history in the U.S. legal system until she watched her biological mother talk about her struggles on the "Today" show in 1989.

Thorton once said that she was not pro-life nor pro-choice, but when she had an unplanned pregnancy in her early 20s in 1991, she did not choose abortion.

In 2021, Thorton appeared in public when Joe Prager published the book "The Family Roe: An American Story." She said that while she has met her half-sisters, she never had the chance to meet her biological mother face to face.

However, she and Roe spoke on the phone once, but it was not a pleasant exchange. Thorton was said to have stated that her association with Roe started and ended during her conception, per NBC News.

Related Article: Roe Vs. Wade Overturned: 16 States, DC Will Still Protect Women's Right to Abortion Sans Supreme Court Policy
Photo: (Photo : Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

A young girl who was beaten so badly that she suffered serious brain injuries now requires round-the-clock care and will never be the same again; family members told a judge before the kid's mom was sentenced to prison.

Millville native Elinette S. Muniz pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge in the case and was sentenced on Friday, June 24, to five years in prison under a plea agreement reached with state prosecutors, according to NJ Advance Media.

Muniz and her 28-year-old boyfriend Ricardo A. Ferrera were charged last year after they brought the unconscious four-year-old child to a hospital in February 2021. Doctors who treated the girl found multiple injuries, including damage to the little kid's chest, bleeding on the brain, cuts to her nose and mouth, and bruises all over her body, according to details included with the charges.

Relatives asked the judge to impose a life sentence on Muniz

The girl was later placed on a ventilator and transferred to a children's hospital. Muniz told investigators at first that the kid fell from a bunk bed and that injuries to her body and head were the result of seizures that caused her to fall, according to a report from BreakingAC.com.

Authorities said the 22-year-old Muniz admitted striking her child in the nose and mouth hard enough to draw blood after a search of the couple's apartment showed blood on the walls of her daughter's bedroom. The search also turned up multiple pieces of bloodied children's clothing, leading authorities to file charges against Muniz.

Muniz's mom and attorney suggested during the sentencing hearing that Ferrera was responsible for the child's severe injuries. He has not been charged with assaulting the girl, though. According to prosecutors, Ferrera, who is not the girl's biological dad, allegedly delayed getting the child help. He was indicted on a single third-degree count of endangering.

Roberta Doughty, the girl's great-great-aunt, asked the judge to impose a life sentence on Muniz. She argued that the five-year plea deal was inadequate, given what the kid suffered. In her victim impact statement, Doughty said that the young child would never be able to ride a bike, run, play with friends, dress up like a princess or even feed herself.

Read Also: Controversial TikTok Mom of 12 Now a Grandma at Age 37

Young girl now blind and paralyzed

The little child remains in a treatment facility where she receives 24-hour care after spending months in a children's hospital, followed by a stint in a rehab facility. The beating she experienced at the hands of her mother has left her blind and paralyzed, according to the Daily Voice. A tube has been placed in her head to drain excess fluid. A relative said that she also requires a feeding tube.

Muniz's mom, Arlene Rodriguez, spoke on her daughter's behalf, maintaining that she was not responsible for the kid's life-altering injuries. According to Rodriguez, the girl was safe and well cared for when her grandchild and daughter lived with her. She pinned the blame on Ferrera, accusing him of being a controlling and manipulative boyfriend.

Related Article: New Jersey Mom Shocked After Autopsy Shows Son's Treatment During Navy Seal Hell Week Training
Bucharest Airports National Company (CNAB) has awarded Alstef Group a baggage handling system and screening upgrade project for the international terminal at Henri Coanda International Airport in Otopeni, just north of Romanias capital city, Bucharest.

The project will be completed over two years and includes 56 new check-in conveyors, 12 self-service bag drops, a new outbound sortation system with five new Standard 3 screening machines, two new make-up carousels and a transfer connection to the domestic terminal.

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Alstef Group will also manage the civil works and HVAC associated with expansion to ensure a fully coordinated approach to the project phasing.

Thibault Chambon, regional sales manager for the Alstef Group, said, This is our first project working with CNAB and we have also been awarded a five-year operations and maintenance contract beginning at the completion of the project.

Henri Coanda International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Romania and one of two airports serving Bucharest. This is the first project in Romania for the Alstef Group, which is expanding its presence throughout Eastern Europe with the recent award of a major upgrade project at neighboring Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (Belgrade Airport) in Serbia.
Today, the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), a coalition that includes Apple opposition players such as Epic Games, Spotify and others, released a pair of new polls - a national battleground survey and a California statewide - that found likely voters in both political parties back legislation to address the anticompetitive practices of app store gatekeepers. The polls were conducted by Republican and Democratic firms.

The battleground survey included Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. This survey found that 68% of voters think Big Tech has too much power and 79% support efforts by Congress to pass the Open App Markets Act and open up the mobile app ecosystem to competition. In the California statewide survey, polling showed that 69% of likely California voters believe Big Tech has too much power and 75% support the Open App Markets Act.

Rick VanMeter, Executive Director for the Coalition for App Fairness: The numbers dont lie - voters across the country overwhelmingly want their members of Congress to stop Big Techs anticompetitive practices. Voters have made clear that they want flexibility and choice in how they access apps on their mobile devices. These findings demonstrate that reining in mobile app store gatekeepers by passing the Open App Markets Act is a winning issue for Republicans and Democrats alike. Congress has a simple choice: side with Big Tech or support the American people.

The Open App Markets Act, would fix the broken mobile app marketplace by requiring mobile gatekeepers to allow third party app stores and third party in-app payment systems. Additionally, the legislation prohibits anti-competitive practices, such as self-preferencing, by banning app stores from engaging in behaviors that put their products at an advantage over independent developers and competitors.

Key Findings of the Battleground Survey Include:

79% of likely voters support the Open App Markets Act

68% of likely voters say Big Tech has too much power

59% of likely voters say Apple has too much power

67% of likely voters say Google has too much power

72% agree Big Tech companies, like Apple and Google, limit competition and restrict innovation from independent app developers

72% of likely voters support the American Innovation and Choice Online Act

61% of likely voters say they would feel more favorable toward their members of Congress or Senator for supporting this bill

Key findings of the California survey include:

75% of California voters support the Open App Markets Act with 50% saying they strongly support the bill

62% of California voters disapprove of the job that Congress has done with regards to regulating Big Tech companies

Methodology:

On behalf of the Coalition for App Fairness, OnMessage Public Strategies fielded calls in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin between June 4-10, N=1600 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/-2.5%.

On behalf of the Coalition for App Fairness, Lake Research Partners designed and administered a California statewide phone survey, conducted from June 1 to June 12, 2022. The survey reached 800 California likely 2022 voters statewide.

The Coalition for App Fairness appears to frustrated with Senator Klobuchars inability to bring antitrust proposals to Congress for a vote before the mid-term elections. A Republican held congress would likely lessen the bills attack on Apple and Google App Stores and refocus on another agenda about diminishing social medias overall power in the U.S.

On June 4, Patently Apple posted a report titled Apples lobbying against a Proposed Antitrust Bill has so far seemed to be the most persuasive to lawmakers with lingering concerns about the legislation.

In that report, Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech stated that Apples lobbying has so far seemed to be the most persuasive to lawmakers with lingering concerns about the legislation, in part because its maintained a greater sense of credibility in Washington than some of its peers.

Many believe that the members of the The Coalition for App Fairness is simply trying to break Apples App Store rules so that industry players such of Epic and Meta could build Metaverse app stores on a platform that Apple created and bypass rgw tough security and privacy standards that Apple is famous for.
Ghanas ability to take advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been dealt a major blow after a baseline study found that only 5 percent of the countrys Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) export their products.



This was after surveying 84,592 MSMEs in 245 out 261 districts in Ghanas 16 administrative regions with most of the surveyed firms from the Ashanti (23,123, equivalent to 27.3 percent and Greater Accra (18,856, representing 22.3 percent) respectively.



The survey found that only 4,177 MSMEs from the 84,592  representing a paltry 5 percent of the enterprises  export their products and/or services.



According to the survey- which was sanctioned by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) under the GEA-Mastercard Foundations Young Africa Works Project and conducted by Palladium Group Ghana Limited  of the significant proportion of the MSMEs in all the 16 regions, 86 percent are operating in the informal sector; with the Western North Region recording the least.



The study further found that a significant majority (87 percent) of the enterprises are micro-sized. Again, the majority of micro- (33 percent), small (35 percent) and medium-sized (24 percent) enterprises operate within the handicraft sector; while majority of large firms are in the agro-processing, textiles and garments sectors.



The baseline study of the Ghanaian MSME landscape indicates that Ghanas MSME sector shows very minimal growth spurts  as firms start at a particular size and remain so throughout their lifetime, indicating that not much changes over time, Professor Ebo Turkson, an economist at the University of Ghana, explained this when he presented the findings.



These findings generally suggest that although Ghana has a very vibrant MSME sector, a large majority are micro-sized  not innovative, highly informal, constrained by access to credit and do not grow in higher size thresholds. If policy can enhance the productivity of MSMEs through innovative activities, it will encourage their participation in the export markets and partly address the issue of access to credit, he stated.



Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GEA, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, welcomed the surveys findings, saying in an interview with the Business and Financial Times (B&FT) that the baseline study has given the agency a better picture of the countrys MSME sector; and that will lead to the creation of bespoke interventions which ensure rapid scale-up with a focus on heightening exportation into other markets.



It shows potential, it shows opportunity; and this is a great time for us to enhance more people to exportbuild their capacity to export and take advantage of the continental free trade area, she stated.

Source: B&FT









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The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has directed the GCB Bank to compensate 76 former members of staff of the bank with three months net salary at the current salaries for each of the grades they were on before the termination of their contracts.



Per the orders of CHRAJ, the GCB must compensate the sacked workers within three months of CHRAJs decision, which was dated June 20, this year and signed by the Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Whittal.



The complainants are former members of staff of the defunct UT Bank and Capital Bank who became the responsibility of the GCB Bank which, on August 14, 2017, assumed the operations of the two banks under a Purchase and Assumption Agreement (PAA) after the operating licences of the two banks (UT Bank and Capital Bank) were revoked by the Bank of Ghana.



English and Mathematics



The GCB sacked the workers for not having passes in Mathematics and English Language on their examination certificates.



In its findings of fact, CHRAJ said, among others, that the complainants were not given prior notice that failure to obtain credit passes in English and Mathematics would be the basis for the termination of their appointments.



It further directed that the affected members of staff who entered tertiary institutions as mature students should be considered for re-instatement because they did not require passes in English and Mathematics, after passing the entrance examination to those tertiary institutions.



The commission further said former members of staff who had rewritten the Mathematics and English papers and passed and submitted their results to the GCB Bank should also be considered for re-appointment by the bank.



The decision by CHRAJ applied to two separate cases filed by the former workers  Eleanor Tettey and 36 others, and Sandra Dede Kumi and 38 others.



According to CHRAJ, the workers deserved to be compensated for the manner in which they were treated.



They should be compensated for the traumatic experience of losing their jobs when they had a legitimate expectation of being in the employment of the respondent after successfully passing all checks and being issued appointment letters and confirmation letters after they had worked for the requisite period of probation, it held.



Case



On May 29, 2019, a labour consultant, Seth Abloso, lodged a complaint on behalf of Ms Eleanor Tettey and 36 others, whose appointments had been terminated by the GCB Bank.



The complainants alleged discrimination and unfair and wrongful termination of appointment by the bank.



The reliefs sought included a declaration to the effect that the probation and issuance of new appointment letters, the reduction of salaries and the termination of their appointments were wrongful and in breach of their collective bargaining agreement.



They, thus, petitioned CHRAJ to direct the GCB Bank to pay compensation to all the affected ex-staff.



On April 23, 2021, another petition, Kumi and 38 others and the GCB Bank, was lodged, seeking the same reliefs as the previous case.



CHRAJ decided to stay investigations into the latter case and apply decisions arrived at in the Eleanor Tettey and 36 others v the GCB Bank to it.



It served the complaint on the respondent, the GCB Bank, for its comments, in line with the rules of natural justice.



Investigations



Beginning with its investigations, CHRAJ reviewed the GCB Banks responses, together with the statement and affidavit sworn by Tettey on behalf of the 37 others, together with 14 other documents.



In accordance with regulations Six and Seven of the CHRAJ (Investigations Procedure) Regulations 2010 (C.I. 67), the commission held 19 hearings after the review of documents.



It also interviewed an official of the National Accreditation Board to have an appreciation of the requirements for admission to various tertiary institutions.



From all that, CHRAJ gleaned seven issues to be answered in arriving at its decision.



The issues included whether the complainants should be reinstated by the respondents and also whether the complainants were entitled to compensation.



It applied the 1992 Constitution, the CHRAJ Act 1993 (Act 456), the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), the collective agreement between the GCB Bank (Local Union) and the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) in arriving at the decision.









Source: graphiconline.com









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The Police have arrested 29 demonstrators for their participation in violent attacks on the Police and some members of the public including school children during the Arise Ghana demonstration in Accra on Tuesday, June 28.



In a statement issued and signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Chief Superintendent of Police, Grace Ansah-Akrofi, available video footages of the event are being reviewed and all other persons identified for taking part on the attacks as well as inciting the violence will be arrested and brought to face justice.



"Also, the organisers of the demonstration will be arrested and put before court for the attacks and damage to public property, in line with the provisions of Section 3 of the Public Order Act, (Act 491)," a part of the statement read.



Read below full statement:

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Ghanas Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has indicated the progress made by the country as part of efforts to harness the urbanization process toward the sustainable development of the country.



The sector Minister disclosed that Ghana is among the countries that has so far shown great commitment in its quest to implement the United Nations New Urban Agenda, having submitted its progress of implementation as required under the Quito Agreement.



The New Urban Agenda, which was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador is a roadmap for building cities that can serve as engines of prosperity and centres of cultural and social well-being while protecting the environment.



The Agenda also provides guidance for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and provides the underpinning for actions to address climate change.



Delivering his statement during the Ministerial Roundtable at the World Urban Forum (WUF 11) in Katowice, Poland, the sector Minister recounted the strides Ghana has made through the development of various national regulatory frameworks to guide cities and human settlements towards the attainment of sustainable urban future.



This, Asenso-Boakye noted, is well integrated into the countrys national policy formulation, planning, budgeting and monitoring systems.







With the need to empower local and sub-national authorities towards the future sustainable urbanization drive, the sector Minister said the country has successfully deepened its regional and decentralization systems over the period while maintaining a dedicated Common Fund to support Local Governments.



Ghana has commenced a District Housing Scheme that seeks to provide funding for rental housing, at the district level through our national budget, the Works and Housing Minister added.



Acknowledging the importance of finance in urban and housing development, Asenso-Boakye said Ghana has successfully implemented strategic and robust programmes within the works and housing, water and sanitation, and transportation sectors of the economy to leverage on sustainable solutions to future urban challenges.



Despite the inherent challenges towards the sustainable future urbanization, Asenso Boakye expressed the hope that the opportunities that comes with the drive could be leveraged to accelerate the achievement of the countrys collective goals and aspirations

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah has described recent events in the country as signs of attempts to create instability.



He listed the violent incidents of June 28, 2022 during Day 1 of the Arise Ghana protests and the case of #FixTheCountry campaigners demanding to hold a protest with arms, weeks ago.



In an interview on the June 28 edition of Metro TVs Good Evening Ghana programme, the Minister stressed that the two incidents gave a clear trajectory of attempts at instability, linking same to terrorist alerts in recent times.



There is an obvious attempt to create instability in our country, we dont need to mince words about it. And there is a trajectory, first there was a group that wanted to demonstrate with weapons.



Then there was this group that said they wanted to demonstrate from the evening throughout the night till the next morning and the Police raise obvious questions he stressed.



He continued: This is even daytime, in broad daylight at Obra Spot here in Accra and you have people attacking police people in this manner, can you imagine what could have happened at night if indeed some of these things were allowed to continue.



He further accused the demonstrators of breaching the order given by the court relative to the approved route.



He said the Police had confirmed at a National Security briefing that tear gas was first fired at their personnel who had formed a barricade to force the protesters to use the agreed upon route.



Brief of what we know so far:



Police have announced the arrest of 29 people in connection with violent incidents that marred the June 28, 2022 Arise Ghana demonstration at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.



According to a statement dated June 28 and signed by Chief Superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi, Director of Public Affairs, the Police were also reviewing available footage with the view to making more arrests if need be.



"The Police have arrested 29 demonstrators for their participation in violent attacks on the Police and some members of the public including school children during the Arise Ghana demonstration in Accra the June 28, 2022 statement added.



The statement further disclosed that leaders of the protest will be arrested and arraigned for the attacks and damage to property according to provisions under relevant laws.



In an earlier statement, the Police said a dozen of its officers were injured in the clash and were receiving treatment at the Police Hospital.



A GhanaWeb reporter observed that stones were thrown at the police by some irate supporters following which tear gas and rubber bullets were fired as police moved to thwart the change of route for the protests.



Water canon was also deployed as some protesters mounted road blocks by burning tyres in the middle of the road.



Arise Ghana, an amalgamation of groups and individuals organized the two-day protest to highlight the rising cost of living and issues of misgovernance.



Despite a court order relative to time and route of the protest, the leaders insisted on following a route other than the one ordered by the court, an insistence by the Police that they obey the agreed upon route resulted in the skirmishes.











Source: graphiconline.com









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Mr Samuel Pyne, the Mayor of Kumasi, has bemoaned the destruction of a substantial number of fire hydrants in the metropolis.



This, he said, threatened them given the essence of the hydrants in firefighting, especially in times of emergencies.



To manage the situation, there is the need for the development of a hydrant master plan for Kumasi in collaboration with the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) he proposed.



He said this initiative would help determine, where and how to site fire hydrants for easy location and access to fire tenders in case of fire outbreaks.



The Ashanti Regional Command of the GNFS, in a recent fact-finding mission, identified that a considerable number of fire hydrants in the metropolis had been invaded by squatters, traders and artisans.



Some private developers have also virtually built on the facilities, denying the GNFS personnel access to these hydrants during emergencies.



Rapid urbanisation brings in its wake security and safety issues. Consequently, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) is being proactive in ensuring the availability of hydrants to aid firefighting, says Mr. Pyne.



He was addressing a meeting of the Assembly, at the Prempeh Assembly Hall, at Asem.



Mr Pyne observed that urban mobility had also become a huge challenge in Ghanas second-largest city, therefore, the KMA was working to come up with a mobility plan for the easy movement of goods, services and people.



In this direction, the authorities intend to develop a lay-by/ bus shelter master plan for the metropolis.



We need to find possible spaces at vantage points of our inner ring road to serve as bus stops, the Mayor stated.





Source: GNA









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The Ministry of Food and Agricultural has denied receiving monies from the Finance Ministry to settle debts owed to Fertilizer Suppliers under Government flagship Program, Planting for Food and Job.



A close source from the ministry told Despite Media's Sampson Kwame Nyamekye that no funds has been received from the Finance Ministry and they are looking forward to receiving such an amount since the pressure from the contractors is too much.



The failure of the government to pay fertilizer suppliers has made the majority of these contractors face bankruptcy forcing their banks to chase them for their monies.



The Minister, on the floor of Parliament, 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 an amount of GHC 485.90 million for payment under PFJ programme. An amount of GHC 278.57 million has subsequently been released to MOFA, Hon Ken OforiAtta has added.



According to one of these contractors, he said the Minister for Finance is trying every means to cover the debts by creating pressure between the implementing Ministry and the contractors.



We are very sure MOFA would have attended to us if the Finance Ministry had paid the money like the sector Minister claimed, he added.



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.



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 farmers 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: Sampson Nyamekye/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The land on which the National Cathedral is being constructed was acquired by the state in 1910, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has said.



He said the land measuring approximately 16.26 acres formed part of a large tract of land acquired by the State by a Certificate of Title dated September 29, 1910.



Answering a question on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Abu Jinapor said the land was, therefore, a public land, vested in the president of the republic on behalf of and in trust for the citizenry by article 257 (1) of the Constitution.



The sector minister was in the House to answer a question asked by Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, Member of Parliament of Adaklu, whether the government compulsorily acquired landed property that formed the site on which the National Cathedral was being built, if so, had the government fully compensated the previous owners as required by law.



"Mr Speaker, by section three of the Public Lands Ordinance, 1876 (Cap 134), the applicable law at the time, compensation was fully paid to the pre-acquisition owners.



"The land is, therefore, a public land, vested in the president of the Republic, on behalf of, and in trust for the people of Ghana, by Article 275 (1) of our national Constitution," he said.





Source: graphiconline.com









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I wasnt sure how to address her. Her name had somewhat changed since divorcing her husband of 27 years, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.



She went from Melinda Gates to Melinda French Gates - adding in her maiden name - when the couple announced theyd be parting ways.



However, when we first connected for our interview, she introduced herself as Melinda Gates. And that was that.



If it was up to me, I would have concentrated on her personal life. Life after marriage. What was the dating scene like for a billionaire divorced woman? Whod have the guts to ask her out? The stuff you and I are most curious about.



But she wanted to discuss her work.



The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is probably the biggest philanthropic effort in the world. A lot of the money has ended up in fighting some of the biggest killer diseases in Africa - including malaria.



She told me that she was frustrated that a lot of the progress made in the fight against malaria before the Covid-19 pandemic had been undone as malaria cases are going up.



But Ms Gates said she was optimistic about the development of vaccines.



We also talked about the impact of Covid and she hoped that richer countries would do more to support the recovery of African economies.



Towards the end of our chat, I ask her how she is holding up. It cant have been an easy year. She thanks me for asking and says that shes grateful that shes got a good circle of friends and family around her.



I thought you were going to tell me that you are going on a date, I jokingly said to her. She laughed and replied: Maybe in the future.



Still, I wanted to know what she thought of marriage.



She said she was happy for anyone whos lucky enough to find the right match.



I still believe in marriage.

Source: BBC









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The Former Minister for Finance, Seth Terkper, says the government needs a credible source of support like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the management of Ghanas economy.



According to him, for a nation to see economic prosperity the government either has to engage in the prudent management of the economy or in partnership with a body which is more credible.



Your (government) own revenue is being wasted on big, big agenda items and mind you, the fact that the money is being spent out of the budget on the Cathedral and other things which are coming out now, it does not add positively to our story. Because it means that the budget is not reflecting the expenditure.



So all that an analyst has to do is to take the amount that was spent outside the budget and add it to the budget numbers and you will get a new deficit figure which is much higher. Because the money came from revenue unless of course the revenue was also not recorded, he told Francis Abban on Morning Starr Tuesday, June 28, 2022.



Mr. Terkper reiterated that it takes a long period of time for a nation to have prudent economic management in place.



You program over time even if its a decade to win yourself off the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he added.



Meanwhile, the Dean Dean of Cape Coast University Business School, Professor John Gatsi has blamed Ghanas economic woes on the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.



His comment comes on the back of several tweets by a leading member of the NPP, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko Monday suggesting that Ghana may need help to win investor confidence in the economy as expected revenue from the controversial E-levy tumbles.



In a series of tweets, Mr Otchere-Darko said inflows from the much-touted Electronic Transaction have delivered only 10 per cent of the expected revenue.



Speaking on Starr FM. Mr Gatsi disclosed that the borrowing spree by the Finance Minister should be a major concern to the nation.



He cannot manage the Ghanaian economy only in 2022, he has been managing the economy since 2017 and cumulatively, his policy in terms of fiscal management has actually created a huge problem for this country.



And that I do not think that he himself is not aware. He is the one who presents the kind of borrowing that we need to do and that borrowing has created problems for the country. Therefore, we cannot blame any other person than the Finance Minister.



He continued: Most of the things he comes to Parliament to present, that is his belief that he has presented to Parliament. So we should hold him on those things rather than extending it to some individuals who have been considered to be of value to the government. But may not be in charge directly of affairs of this country.



Prof. Gatsi further stated that the Finance Minister must justify to Ghanaians the benefits his borrowing spree has brought to the country.





Source: starrfm









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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has joined in the chorus of condemnation after at least 23 migrants died as Moroccan security forces tried to stop them from crossing into the Spanish enclave of Melilla last week.



In a statement issued on Twitter, he said he was "shocked by the violence".



"The use of excessive force is unacceptable, and the human rights and dignity of people on the move must be prioritized by countries," he added.





I am shocked by the violence on the Nador-Melilla border on Friday which resulted in the deaths of dozens of migrants & asylum seekers.



The use of excessive force is unacceptable, and the human rights and dignity of people on the move must be prioritized by countries.  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) June 29, 2022





Between 1,500 and 2,000 migrants who had been camping in the Moroccan mountains surrounding Melilla descended on the city's border last Friday, a number of them carrying sticks, hoping to scale the border fences and therefore reach Spanish territory.



In the chaos that followed, many of them were crushed between the six-metre-high fences and Moroccan border guards, who used tear gas and batons on the migrants.



On Sunday, the head of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed his "shock and concern at the violent and degrading treatment of African migrants".

Source: BBC









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Angolas immediate former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, is in an induced coma in a hospital in Barcelona, a Portuguese news agency is reporting.



Jose Eduardo dos Santos is hospitalized in a clinic in Barcelona and is in a coma following a [relapse], after recovering from Covid-19, said Portugals state-owned Lusa News Agency, which extensively covers developments in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa.



There has been increased speculation about Mr Dos Santos health, with Portuguese Expresso Newspaper describing his medical condition as irreversible.



Meanwhile, the former presidents daughter, Tchize dos Santos, has criticized those preparing his funeral.



She also accused Angolas President Joao Lourenco of politicizing his fathers situation.



Jose Eduardo dos Santos served as the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017.

Source: BBC









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There have been bomb blasts in four separate places in Ethiopia's northern city of Bahir Dar, police have said, indicating a further deterioration of security in Amhara, the country's second largest region.



The explosions occurred in selected "strategic" places in the city, which is the regional capital, and were aimed at terrorising the public", according to a police spokeswoman.



She did not disclose whether there were any casualties, but confirmed that six suspects were apprehended in relation to the incidents.



Tensions have escalated in the region after the authorities launched what they called a "law enforcement operation" that has seen the arrest of thousands of individuals in the region.



There have been a number of anti-government protests in recent days following a massacre of ethnic Amharas in neighbouring Oromia region. More than 250 village farmers were killed in the incident.



Residents have told the BBC that the city was calm on Wednesday.



However, the latest developments indicate that there are simmering tensions that could pose significant challenges to a country blighted by widespread conflicts.

Source: BBC









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The National Service Scheme (NSS) and the National Teaching Council (NTC) will, from September this year, roll out a programme that will allow national service persons posted to the classrooms without teaching certificates but who are willing to teach after their service to obtain professional teaching certificates.



On completion of the one-year online professional teacher training programme, the service persons will be issued with postgraduate certificates in education and registered for the teacher licensure examination to become professional teachers, after which they will be considered for employment by the Ghana Education Service (GES).



This followed a memorandum of understating (MoU) signed between the two institutions which aims at improving teaching and learning in the classrooms.



Besides, the MoU fulfills provisions of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020, (Act 1023), which enjoins the NTC to ensure that only professionally trained and qualified teachers are deployed to teach in schools.



The Executive Director of the NSS, Osei Assibey Antwi, disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday in a follow-up to an announcement he made during the 12th Annual Terminal Congress of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) in Takoradi last Saturday to that effect.



At that congress, he had said starting from the 2022-2023 service year, prospective service persons to be deployed to the classroom would go through 14 days of pedagogical training and issued with a temporary certificates to teach.



The congress was on the theme: Enhancing the Welfare of National Service Personnel for Economic Revitalisation and National Development.



Mr Antwi said the scheme was collaborating with the relevant stakeholders, such as the NTC, the GES, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education Training Service and the vice-chancellors of public universities, to deliver the training programme.



NTC communication



In a memo to the NSS in February this year, which the Daily Graphic has seen, the NTC noted that as the country continuously faced inadequate qualified teachers in schools, it had, over the decades, leveraged the NSS to augment its staffing.



Signed by the Registrar of the NTC, Dr Christian Addai-Poku, the memo, however, stated that a huge number of the service persons who were deployed to the classrooms every year did not have any knowledge at all about teaching techniques and skills set.



Accordingly, it said it was imperative that the anomaly was corrected, in line with provisions of Act 1023, which criminalises teaching without appropriate authorisation by the NTC.



The National Teacher Council Law allows the NTC to set conditions to issue temporary certificates to people who, though not trained as teachers, are desirous to teach. It is, therefore, possible to apply this aspect of the law to the service persons, the memo stated.



Over the past four years, the NTC, like other African Union member nations, has embarked on a teacher professionalism exercise which seeks to ensure that only trained teachers who are licensed are sent to schools to practise as teachers.



Indeed, to attain the Sustainable Development Goals 4c (SDGs 4c), the SDG enjoins governments to ensure that only professionally trained and qualified teachers are deployed to schools.



This is further reinforced by Ghana's Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030 (ESP 20182030) through the implementation of the Pre-tertiary Teacher Professional Development and Management (PTPDM) policy. There is an abundance of evidence proving that getting the teacher factor right in the classroom means scaling about half of the hurdles causing poor school outcomes, it added.



Interventions



In his address at the NASPA congress, Mr Antwi had indicated that his outfit had initiated a number of interventions, such as NSS in Affordable Classroom Housing, NSS Youth and Women in Agriculture and NSS in Affordable Teachers Housing, aimed at supporting Ghanas development agenda, while creating job opportunities for the graduate youth.



These and others are geared towards improving the employment rate of national service personnel after their one-year mandatory service to the state, the NSS boss said, and urged NASPA and all service personnel to embrace the opportunities to transition into jobs after the training and certification.



Throwing more light on the schemes new mission of Deployment for Employment, Mr Antwi said it was crucial to enhance the welfare of national service personnel for economic revitalisation and national development.



The Omanhene of the Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, who chaired the event, urged national service personnel to wholeheartedly embrace the many innovative opportunities and interventions the scheme had made available to help them transition into the working world with hope.



He encouraged the personnel to be humble and patriotic and offer themselves to be trained, since the knowledge acquired in school alone could not guarantee them jobs.



The Omanhene admonished the youth not to offer themselves to be used by politicians who might have parochial interests.



Nana Nketsia commended the Kumawuhene, Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, for allotting large tracts of land to the NSS for its agricultural project.



He rallied support for the schemes agricultural project and called on the personnel to support and take up agriculture as a sustainable alternative livelihood venture.



The leadership of NASPA later presented citations to some management members of the scheme and Nana Kobina Nketsia V for their dedication to NASPA in resolving issues affecting the youth.









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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The Ghana Armed Forces are to undertake a joint military operation to curtail the spread of terrorism from the Sahel region towards the coastal states, including Ghana.



The operation, code-named Operation Enhanced Kundalngou, will see the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin mount a robust defence along the northern frontiers of the collaborating countries to bolster security in the operational area.



The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, disclosed this during a working visit to the Military Training camp at Daboya in the Savannah region.



Terrorists have increased their activities in the Sahel. Various armed groups now control large swathes of land in Burkina Faso and Mali. These groups have turned Mali and Burkina Faso into theatres of violence, attacking and killing civilians and security personnel on a daily basis.



In the last two years, they have also made incursions into Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast, attacking, kidnapping and killing people.



Security analysts believe the goal of the terrorists is to capture southern states, including Ghana. So far, all of Ghanas neighbours, including Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo, have suffered attacks.



The development has put the Ghana Armed Forces on high alert.

The Force has been undergoing a month-long multinational training exercise with the US Army in Ghana and Morocco.



Code named Operation African Lion, the initiative seeks to sharpen the skills of personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces to deal with the growing threat of violent extremism.



As part of the training, a simulation exercise was carried out at the Daboya Military Training camp, where the Ghana Army successfully ambushed and neutralized a terrorist attack on the camp.



The Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, who monitored the operation, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the personnel.



The leader of the American troops taking part in the Operation at Daboya, Lieutenant Colonel John Erwin on his part, was full of praise for personnel.



He charged Ghanaians to be vigilant and share information on suspicious persons or activities to the appropriate quarters.





Source: gbc









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 Komenda Sugar Factory is projected to undertake a production test run by the end of July 2022, Mr Alan Kyerematen, the Minister of Trade and Industry, has informed Parliament.



He said the Factory, which was currently undergoing major retooling and repair works, was about 98 per cent complete.



Mr Kyerematen made the revelation on the floor of Parliament in his response to a question by Mr Yusif Sulemana, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bole-Bamboi, who wanted to know from the Minister the state of the Komenda Sugar Factory.



The Minister in his account of the state of the factory said the installation of a new pipeline to and from the plant to the molasses tank was 100 per cent complete; adding that refractors and lagging work in the boiler furnace and chimneys are 100 per cent complete.



He said vacuum and water testing at the boiler house had been completed and that the boiler had started working, while steam pressure test was ongoing for the turbine to generate power of 3-megawatt (MW) electricity output.



Mr Kyerematen said equipment and machinery at the Millhouse, Boiling House, Boiler and Powerhouse sections of the factory had all been overhauled, repaired and components replaced where necessary.



He said raw sugar refining, enhancing from 8-10 tons per hour to 16-20 tons per hour had been completed.



He said electrical and instrument work with all the motors and the boiler section had been maintained and repaired, whereas construction of a new water reservoir of two million-litre capacity was completed and that the existing was 150,000 litres only.



The Minister said sandblasting to remove rust and prevent further corrosion of equipment to maintain the integrity of all mental surfaces at the factory had been completed.



He said construction of a new chemical storage warehouse, new canteen, and new washrooms for both genders were ongoing.



He said a new warehouse for raw sugar jumbo bags of one ton to 5,000 tons capacity for the storage of sugar was ongoing, stating that new baggage carrier platform construction work was completed.



Mr Kyerematen said the turbine for electricity production had been overhauled and it is under production test.



Mr Speaker, with respect to civil works, the whole factory building, and warehouse have been re-roofed to stop leakages and corrosion.



He said the raw material warehouse, as well as the fencing of the factory, were currently under construction.



The Minister said four acres of nursery land had been prepared for the cultivation of sugarcane to support sugarcane development in the catchment area; adding that there were further plans to expand it to 500 acres after the commencement of operations.



He said in addition, to the above, the Board of the Company was finalizing negotiations with traditional authorities to secure about 20,000 acres of land required for the plantation development in Sekyere Obuasi and Sekyere Hemeng in the Wassa East District.



Touching on another question by Mr Sulemana on the state of the Ghana Trade Fair Centre, Mr Kyerematen said the Trade Fair site was undergoing a major development exercise.



He said at the core of this transformation was the development of a state-of-the-art, world-class convention and exhibition centre and a mix-use commercial facility including hotels, corporate officers and retail and leisure centre.



Mr Speaker, the activities have been completed in respect of redevelopment exercise; project concept, and masterplan, design finalized; land title secured, and the site cleared in readiness for construction works to commence, Mr Kyerematen said.



He said the Ghana Trade Fair Company was currently engaged with private sector investors to come to a financial close for the syndication of financing for the project.





Source: GNA









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The Accra High Court will rule on the stay of execution application filed by pressure group Arise Ghana on Tuesday, 12 July 2022.



The group filed the application on Monday, 27 June 2022 following a ruling by the court stopping it from going ahead with its intended demonstration at night.



The group had said its planned demonstration would still come off.



In a statement issued by the group following the ruling of the court on the approved time and route for the demonstration, as proposed by the Ghana Police Service, Arise Ghana noted: The police has been duly served.



The group held the first of their two-legged protest on Tuesday, June 28 with the process being marred by a bloody clash between some protesters and the Police.



A number of Police officers are currently receiving treatment for injuries sustained, a police bus was vandalized and some three rioters arrested in the process.





Source: class fm









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The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has called on African governments to support indigenous farmers to harness traditional knowledge in organic farming.



Doing that, he said, would help advance international efforts against global warming and safeguard the environment in sustainable ways.



Indigenous farmers must be encouraged to tap into the best indigenous knowledge and practices in order to strengthen agriculture in the rural areas of Africa as the best guarantee of development for the people, he said.



Osagyefuo Ofori Panin made the call when he delivered the keynote address at the opening of the fifth World Organic Forum in Kirchberg/Jagst, Germany, yesterday[June 28, 2022].



He spoke on the topic: Impulse on the importance of organic farming for regional development in Ghana.



The forum

The four-day forum, which is being held on the theme: Localising SDGs: Creating a global network of regions on organic soil, is focused on the local implementation of the UN Agenda 2030, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), across the world.





Participants at the forum included organic food agricultural experts and representatives of civil society organisations, members of academia and farmers from Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Tanzania, Uganda, Romania, Bangladesh and Norway.



Discussions featured, among others, how to implement successfully the 17 goals in rural areas through a bottom-up approach and the building blocks needed for regional planning of the SDGs and how to measure them.



It is being organised by the Akademie Schloss Kirchberg, a renowned German institution focused on training on and promoting organic agriculture.



Sustaining traditional knowledge

Adorned in a rich Kente cloth, the Okyenhene, who was accompanied by some traditional leaders in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, said before the advent of so-called modern farming methods, indigenous farmers cultivated good food crops using organic materials in all the phases of production, harvesting, preservation and preparation of food.



He said local farmers had their own organic and biological fertiliser, ecological-based pest control materials made from organic human, animal and plant waste compost that were effective and safe.



It is through the basic indigenous knowledge of organic agriculture within our own age-old methods that African societies have been sustained for centuries and these need to be sustained and expanded to meet contemporary standards of our needs.



If efforts are to be made to produce more for the people and export in a way that does not damage the earths environment, our own bodies and livestock, we have no alternative but to embrace organic farming, he stated.



Harmful practices

He expressed worry over the fact that current food production was being threatened by harmful human practices.



Today, the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe which form our life support system are being threatened by reckless over-exploitation of resources, irresponsible mining and consistent spread of toxic chemicals in the soil from which our food grows.



In the end, poor indigenous people eat food that may have poisonous pesticide residues, he said.



Research

Osagyefuo Ofori Panin urged African governments to research into indigenous knowledge systems for the sustainable production of food and cash crops.



In doing that, he said, care should be taken not to import ideas and methods that worked elsewhere but might not work for Africans.



We must be partners in developing the standards by which organic food is marketed around the world and the effort at changing attitudes must be global, both in form and content, because that is the only way to ensure that a fair exchange of ideas can take place, he said.



The Okyenhene advocated the elimination of the use of synthetic fertiliser and pesticides, veterinary drugs, genetically modified seeds and breeds, preservatives, additives and irradiation in farming.



The aim of organic practices in agriculture and food management systems calls for a replacement of harmful materials with site-specific management practices that maintain and increase long-term soil fertility and prevent pests and diseases.



Ghanaian farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs who export to Europe and other places are aware that organic products sell more and can be kept for much longer because they do not have the harmful effects of toxic pesticides and chemical fertiliser, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin said.



Organic farming & SDGs

The Senior Manager of Global Policy of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFAOM)-Organics International, Gabor Figeczky, said since organic farming was one of the major contributors of the SDGs, his outfit was working in many countries to grow organic agriculture in a sustainable manner to be at par with conventional farming.



That, he said, would aid in local implementation of SDGs to promote good health and well-being (SDG 3), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), climate change (SDG 13), life on land and below water (Goal 15), among others.



The Founder and Chairman of Akademie Schloss Kirchberg, Rudolf Buhler, said advancing local anchoring of the SDGs in a practice-oriented manner would help promote the sustainable management of food supply and national resources, instead of their exploitation.

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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In the midst of the controversy that has dogged the building of the National Cathedral, the National Mosque and the purported role of the then government in building it has often been cited.



The latest to mention the facility located at Kanda in a Cathedral discussion is Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi, who claims former President John Dramani Mahama facilitated Turkish government support to help build the facility.



Making submissions on a political talk show on Peace FM, June 27, 2022; Sammy Gyamfi slammed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the controversies that have bedeviled the project and claimed that government should have allowed the Christian faithful to adopt the funding model Muslims supposedly used.



This particular Cathedral, there are a lot of issues with it because of how President Akufo-Addo personalized it from the outset.



It is not as if the churches and Christians came up to put efforts together just as our Muslim brothers sometime ago came together to build the National Mosque, so (that) the government should help by playing a certain facilitating role.



So, when President Mahama came into office, his first trip was to Turkey to facilitate that grant from the Turkish government to build that mosque, he claimed.



Reports have stated that the National Mosque was not built by a Turkish government grant but by a Non-Governmental Organization.



The issue of government involvement by way of facilitation has also been dismissed as untrue, that the NGO built the structure without any state involvement.



COMOG disputes similar assertion



Earlier this month, the Coalition of Muslim Organizations, Ghana (COMOG) challenged a similar claim by Dr. Opoku-Mensah of the National Cathedral of Ghana when he made statements on GBCs Talking Point programme to the effect that government played a facilitating role in construction of the National Mosque.



After a Monday, June 13, 2022 statement by COMOG disputing the claims, Dr. Opoku-Mensah issued an apology and retracted the said comments.



What I had been informed was facilitation - but not state resources - did not actually happen. I retract, and apologize, for the use of state facilitation in my response, and deeply regret the pain it might have caused the COMOG and the Muslim Umma in Ghana, the CEO pleaded.



While Dr Opoku-Mensahs claim was in justification of the governments decision to advance state money in support of the construction of the National Cathedral, the President of COMOG, Hajj Abdel-Manan Abdel Rahman in a statement called his claims a deliberate falsehood.











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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Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has reprimanded the Ghana Police Service for using the court to frustrate demonstrators in the country.



Organizers of the FixtheCountry Movement who were to hold a protest against the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration on June 4, 2022 were stopped by the Police after perusing their conditions to embark on the demonstration.



Although the Police was praised by many people because the June 4th demo was thought to be a ploy to stage a coup, the security service was however advised to renegotiate with the organizers and allow them to demonstrate but not with the guns and private security among other ridiculous demands they made.



Another group called "Arise Ghana" who are to start a demonstration today, June 28 to highlight economic and governance challenges under the Akufo-Addo regime have also been opposed by the Police.



The pressure group, in a statement, indicated that they "shall move through the Nima Police Station street to the Arko-Agyei inter-change and end at the Frontage of the Jubilee House where we will picket until 10PM but the Police has filed a case in court against them due to a disagreement on the time frame and the location.



According to a Police statement, "in the interest of Public Order and safety, we entreated the organizers to reconsider the time frame and start the demonstration early in the day and end before night falls" but "on June 22, 2022, the Police received a verbal response from the organizers to the effect that they are unable to change the time of the demonstration".



Due to the lack of agreement between the Police and the organizers on the time for demonstration and location for their planned picketing, the Police have had no option but to submit the process to the court for a determination. This was duly communicated to Arise Ghana in a letter on June 20, 2022," the statement further read.



Touching on the issue on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, Kwesi Pratt advised the Police to stop deliberately preventing people from embarking on demonstrations in the country.



He noted that it is every person's right to go on demonstration provided it doesn't threaten the country's security.



Mr. Pratt appealed to the Police "not to do those things that they sometimes deliberately do. This time they shouldn't do it. They must stop their deliberate way of impeding demonstrators".



He also asked them to review their stance on the Arise Ghana demonstration.



"I think that it's important that this demonstration is allowed to be held, you know, with all the changes which can be through dialogue between the organizers and the security officials, especially the Police", he stressed.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Minority in Parliament has called on the government to do everything possible to avoid payment of about $50 million judgment debt to Beijing Everyway Company for wrongful termination of contract.

Government in 2020 terminated the $100 million Accra Intelligence Traffic Management Project with the company and awarded it to Huawei.



Currently, Management of the Beijing Everyway is in arbitration with the government in London demanding $50 million payment in damages.



Addressing the media, the Minority Spokesperson on Roads and Transport , Governs Kwame Agbodza, urged the government to immediately settle with the company to avoid such payment.



Mr Agbodza, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adaklu, however, warned officials involved that any future NDC government would make them to answer for the decision to abrogate the valid contract without basis.



Background



He said somewhere in 2012 the government entered into a China Development Bank agreement with the Chinese Government to improve traffic management in Accra.



Mr Agbodza said subsequently, Parliament approved a commercial agreement for Beijing Everyway Company to be the contractors of that component of the project, which cost about $100million, and when there was a change in government the project was still ongoing.



"We are told that the developers have been working together with the Ministry of Roads and Highways and a control centre was built and duly inaugurated", he said.



He stated that from 2019, it appeared that there were some challenges which led the government to take the unilateral decision in 2020 to change the contractor from Beijing Everyway to Huawei.



"The interesting thing was that when they came to Parliament, it was the Ministry of National Security that brought a new bill. We were surprised because initially it was the Ministry of Roads and Highways that introduced the bill and we passed it for the implementation to start. The results was that despite all the arguments that were made by civil society, the media and MPs, the Majority in Parliament insisted that it was the right thing to do", he said.



Mr Agbodza said the Minority insisted in finding out what the Attorney-General's opinion was and were told that the Attorney-General okayed the abrogation .



"It turned out that as we speak, Huawei has taken over the project but nothing is happening. Secondly, Beijing Everyway Company has sued the Government of Ghana and as we speak, they are in arbitration in London and from what I know, they are demanding something close to $50million in damages, loss of revenue and legal cost, among other things", he stated.



The MP for Adaklu questioned the reasons why the government unilaterally terminated the contract knowing very well that the consequences would lead to the government losing revenue, which it badly needed currently.



Judgment debt



"I am just taking the opportunity to just caution the government to tread cautiously with what it has done with this. My information is that you are heading towards a judgement debt of almost $50 million and a further $25million wiaver that we have granted Huawei so government needs to be cautions with this," he reiterated.



The project



He said the project was basically to synchronise 257 traffic lights in Accra to be able to coordinate where there are traffic bottlenecks and from a central location that could be directed to give better flow of traffic at anytime.



"It would have been a very wonderful thing, if we did and I am told they have installed one at Kanda and around Castle as a way of showing what they are capable of doing.









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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Actress turned politician, Tonto Dikeh has said that she believes that she will succeed as Deputy Governor of Rivers State.



Speaking of her candidacy under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in an interview with Channels Television, Tonto Dikeh noted that despite being a subject of controversy, the decision to join politics was well thought out and is one she has worked towards for at least three years.



She also reiterated that she has never failed at leadership. The actress said; I am prepared for anything, truthfully. I have had three years to work on this, its not something that I just came out or emerged with. Weve had a lot of time to work on this and for this. Criticism, I am ready, non-criticism I am ready. So, it doesnt matter where the questions are coming from.



I have failed in my life and Im not denying that. Everyone has seen that.



But am I going to fail with leadership? Have I failed in leadership? Start from motherhood, have I ever failed in motherhood, talk about my foundation. I think it was one of the foundations that stood up for this country, in the time of the pandemic, with no assistance whatsoever. I did even more than the government.



Recall that the ADC governorship candidate in Rivers state, Tonte Ibraye, had presented Dikeh as his running mate on Friday ahead of the 2023 elections. Later the same day, the actress confirmed the nomination via her social media handles.









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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Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, arrives at the federal courthouse with his wife Svetlana Parnas in New York, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Parnas, 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. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
B.C. Premier John Horgan pauses as he announces he will not run in the next provincial election during a news conference in Vancouver, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Sept. 16, 2020, in Washington. Mullin is among the candidates running for Oklahoma Senate. With the announcement earlier this year that longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe plans to step down from office early, Oklahoma voters have the rare opportunity to cast ballots on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, for candidates for both of the state's U.S. Senate seats. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
One of Mexicos largest meat processors recently journeyed to the UK to meet with pork industry leaders, to find out more about the UK pork sector following the 50 million UK-Mexico market access deal in 2021.

Senior leaders from SuKarne took part in a two-day mission to London to hear from AHDB experts, government officials and pork processors, about industry topics such as antibiotic usage, production methods and UK export capabilities.

On the mission, SuKarnes CEO, Jesus Vizcarra Calderon, and two company directors met with AHDBs export team  to explore the opportunity for the shipping of UK pork to Mexico.

Market access to Mexico was granted late in 2021 for the UK, but was nonetheless a huge win for the industry, with the deal estimated to be worth around 50 million in the first five trade years. Mexico also imports an average of 106,000 tonnes of pork each month, so the newly-granted market access could prove to be a lucrative deal for the UK pork industry.

As such, AHDB is working in partnership with the UK government, UKECP and others to gain further market access for the export of UK offal to Mexico; currently the necessary documents are under review by the Mexican authorities.

During the visit, the SuKarne leaders were also given a butchery demonstration from AHDB butcher Martin Eccles, who showed the delegates how the UK was adding value to the carcass via innovative butchery.

Presentations were also given by AHDBs head of animal health and welfare, Mandy Nevel, and AHDBs internationals market development director Dr Phil Hadley. Plus, representatives from Red Tractor, the British Meat Processors Association, the British Pig Association and two leading pork processors.

AHDBs senior export manager fo the Americas, Susana Morris, said of the mission: It was an incredibly useful and productive meeting. During our time with SuKarne, AHDB was able to talk about the quality of UK pork, as well as our high welfare standards, UK assurance schemes, and what processors are doing to be more sustainable  something that was very important to SuKarne.

The Mexican delegates were also given the chance to sample various UK red meats, including pork, beef and lamb.

Ms Morris added: This was a great opportunity for us to show SuKarne the quality of our red meat and they were very complimentary of the dishes. We were delighted with the feedback, and we are hopeful this meeting will provide more opportunities for our red meat exporters in this new market.

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Gary Gelman Conquers Record-Breaking 2022 PokerNews Cup at Golden Nugget ($202,725)

June 28, 2022 Jeff McMillan Contributor

The 2022 PokerNews Cup has reached its end after a very successful tournament drew a huge field of 1,245 entries to blow past the $1 million guarantee and create a prize pool of $1,207,650, which made it the largest prizepool in Golden Nugget Las Vegas history.

At the end of the five days of action the winner of the $202,725 grand prize was Gary Gelman of Brooklyn, New York, who went from one of the short stacks at the start of the day to the winner.

This win is by far the largest in Gelmans career as he has been recording poker cashes since 2009, the majority of which are in the medium range according to The Hendon Mob.

This is definitely my biggest cash and this has been a long time coming.," he said.

Gelman wore a Ukrainian flag draped around him throughout the final table and he was asked to expand on that after his win.

It is special to me. I was born in Ukraine, I lived there with my parents when I was a kid. I also married a Ukrainian a few years ago. It has been real hard these last few months. We were actually in Kiev in February when the war started. We had to make our way out and we brought her mother back with us.

Showing that the situation is very close to him and he continued, When I made the final table I thought I would represent and luckily one of my friends on the rail had a flag and I decided to wear it today. And represented it well he did with his impressive victory.

One of the tenants of Gelmans game is the importance of having fun as he said prior to the final table and afterwards he added to that: Many players are robotic now and so are their games. I understand there is money involved but money is not everything and I just like to play cards and have fun.

2022 PokerNews Cup Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize Money 1 Gary Gelman United States $202,725 2 Daniel Hinh Australia $142,175 3 Forrest Kollar United States $92,095 4 Eoin Starr Ireland $68,185 5 Patrick Caulfield United States $51,555 6 Davic Von Schnehen United Kingdom $41,650 7 Levi Klump United States $34,380 8 Scott Stewart United States $27,120 9 Steven Sarmiento United States $20,275

The 2022 PokerNews Cup Final Table

Day 3 Path to Victory

Gelmans run started with a short stack on Day 3 but he was able to spin it up as things progressed. He entered heads-up play facing a 2:1 chip deficit against Daniel Hinh, the young Australian who also started the day as the short stack but found his way on the winning end of many spots to become a force.

The match became a two-hour battle as Hinh was never able to fully put the hammer down on Gelman, who chipped back slowly after a series of small hands. There was actually not any one huge defining hand during heads-up play that shifted the chips, but rather Gelman winning a series of pots and Hinh being unable to stem the flow. Gelman turned things completely after about an hour to have a 2:1 chip lead himself. Hinh would cut back some from there to make it even again, but Gelman would have the last laugh as his top pair held out versus the flush draw of Hinh on the final hand.

How did a joker end up on the flop in this hand?

Action of the Day

The day began with three big stacks and six short stacks to create an interesting dynamic in play. There would not be an elimination for the first two hours as the short stacks won all of the all ins.

Eventually, Steven Sarmiento was the first to go in ninth place as his jacks lost to a turned queen to hit king-queen. Scott Stewart went out the door shortly after that in eighth place to make the two largest career earners the first two to exit the stage.

Levi Klump then went out in seventh place after his aces were cracked by a flopped set of tens.

David Von Schnehen exited next after he had started the day as one of the three big stacks but was never able to get anything going and was taken out in sixth place.

The eliminations came quickly after that.

Patrick Caulfield would be eliminated in fifth place after he had a roller-coaster final table, starting as a short stack then going to the chip leader at one point before falling back down to short stack and going out in fifth.

Start of day chip leader Eoin Starr hit the rail in fourth place after he lost a few big all ins early on to cut his big stack away. He was able to scrap for a bit to survive a few more places but he would ultimately meet his demise.

Forrest Kollar ended his deep run in third place after he stayed steady for most of the day and was able to ride his comfortable stack to third where he would be swallowed up by the two larger stacks after very a brief three-handed play period to set up the aforementioned heads-up play.

Gary Gelman celebrates a well-earned victory!

That wraps things up for the 2022 PokerNews Cup. Thank you for following along and we look forward to having more PokerNews Cup events in the future. However, the 2022 Grand Poker Series at Golden Nugget rolls on until July 3. Click here for a look at the remaining schedule.

Sharelines Gary Gelman topped a 1,245-entry field to win the record-breaking $1,100 PokerNews Cup at @GNLVpoker.
Ivan Luca Denies Wiktor Malinowski His Third Super MILLION$ Title

June 29, 2022 Matthew Pitt Editor

Ivan Luca spoiled Wiktor Malinowski's comeback party by defeating the Polish high-stakes cash game guru when heads-up in the GGPoker Super MILLION$. Malinowski navigated his way from seventh-place at the start of the final table to heads-up, but the night belonged to Luca, who won his first Super MILLION$ title at his first such final table.

Super MILLION$ Season 2 Episode 47 Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Ivan Luca Russia $247,727 2 Wiktor Malinowski Macau $193,464 3 Chunlei Zhou Hong Kong $151,088 4 Konstantin Maslak Russia $117,993 5 Vlad Martynenko Ukraine $92,148 6 Yen-Liang "yao_poker" Yao Taiwan $71,963 7 Michael Addamo Hong Kong $56,200 8 Markus Prinz Austria $43,890 10 Lucio "WizardOfAz" Lima Brazil $34,276

Lucio "WizardOfAz" Lima sat down at the final table with the shortest stack and was the first of the nine finalists to bow out. Lima's tournament ended when he open-shoved for 360,748 chips from the small blind, and Malinowski called the 10.5 big blind shove from the big blind. Lima showed ace-five, Malinowski the queen-jack, and the latter turned a straight to reduce the player count by one. Ninth place weighed in at $34,276.

Eighth place was decided a short time later and it was Malinowski who claimed the scalp. Malinowski min-raised to 70,000 from under the gun with pocket jacks, Markus Prinz three-bet to 175,000 from the next seat along, doing so with an inferior pair of tens in the hole. Malinowski four-bet enough to put Prinz in for his last 272,745, and Prinz called. An ace-high board sent Prinz to the rail with $43,890 to show for his efforts.

Michael Addamo in happier times

Michael Addamo, a five-time winner of the Super MILLION$, was the next player eliminated. The aggressive Australian almost all his stack when Konstantin Maslak opened from middle position with pocket kings to 73,500, Addamo three-bet to 192,500 with pocket jacks, and then called when Maslak ripped it in for 1,162,442. Maslak's king remained true and Addamo was left nursing a 204,059 stack with the blinds at 17,500/35,000/4,500a. Those chips went into the middle on the very next hand with pocket sevens, which lost to the pocket queens of fellow short stack Vlad Martynenko. Addamo bowed out in seventh for $56,200.

Sixth place and $71,963 went to Taiwan's Yen-Liang "yao_poker" Yao. Malinowski opted to min-raise to 100,000 with the lowly ten-deuce of spades, and only Yao called, from the big blind with king-jack. A nine-jack-queen flop saw Yao check-call a 182,700 continuation bet from his Polish opponent. The turn was a king, improving Yao to two pair but Malinowski to a straight. Yao initially checked but then check-raised all-in for 724,210 when Malinowski tested the waters with a 160,000 bet. Malinowski instantly called, his hand held, and Yao fell by the wayside.

The final five became four with the elimination of Martynenko; the Ukrainian banked $92,148 for this deep run. Martynenko min-raised to 100,000 with ace-queen from under the gun, only for Luca to three-bet to 250,000 on the button with a pair of kings in the hole. Martynenko jammed all in for 1,059,335, and Luca made one of the easier calls of his career. The board ran out nine-high, and Martynenko was gone.

Konstantin Maslak

Maslak busted in fourth and collected $117,993. The Russian was down to around 12 big blinds when his internet connection cut out, and not for the first time. Malinowski asked his table mates to wait a while, but Maslak never reconnected. He was eventually all-in from the small blind with seven-six and lost to the ace-ten of Luca.

Three-handed play lasted more than 90-minutes and ended when Chunlei Zhou open-shoved for 20 big blinds from the small blind with ace-trey. Malinowski, never one to turn down a coinflip, called with pocket fours. The fours held on a king-high board, and Zhou headed to the cashier's desk to collect $151,088.

Malinowski took a commanding 7,762,232 to 3,637,768 chip lead into the heads-up battle against Luca. The stacks drew level before Luca claimed the chip lead for himself after Malinowski got a little frisky bluffing and then missing a draw. Luca never looked back from that point on.

The final hand saw Malinowski limp on the button with eight-four, and Luca check with the jack-five of hearts. A flop reading queen-six-ace with two hearts saw Luca check-call a 250,000 continuation bet. Luca checked again when an offsuit nine landed on the turn. Malinowski, who had no timebank left at this stage, bet 1,050,000 into the 1,060,000 pot with nothing but air. Luca called. A five on the river was greeted by another check from Luca. Malinowski emptied the clip and pushed all in for 2,161,444, only for Luca to tank-call with his pair of fives, busting Malinowski in second place for $193,464 and claiming the $247,727 top prize for himself.
James Todd Wins 2022 WSOP Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors ($161,256); $74,809 Raised for USO

June 28, 2022 Phil Toogood

On Tuesday, 21 players returned to play down to a winner in the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors and it took just five hours to determine a winner in James Todd, who claimed a $161,256 top prize and the gold bracelet.

After three days of play, starting with a record-breaking 3,209 entrants, a $1,315,690 prize pool was built. Of those entrants, 482 made the money. The bubble boys were Mackenzie Horwitz and Scott Ayers, who split the $800 minimum cash between them. Mackenzie was really happy to cash in his first WSOP event, playing in memory of his veteran brother.

Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors Final Table Results

Place Name Country Prize 1 James Todd United States $161,256 2 Brett Coltman United States $99,676 3 Patrick Pilko Austria $75,486 4 Randy Levin United States $57,554 5 Rigoberto Rodriguez United States $44,180 6 Nicholas Sena-Hopkins United States $34,146 7 Todd Saffron United States $26,574 8 Elias Neto Brazil $20,824 9 Maximo Martinez El Salvador $16,433 10 Zyad Qasem United States $13,059

Some amazing stories emerged through the days, PokerNews caught up with Jimmy Rogers on the Day 2 dinner break, who finished in the money in the event. Check out Jimmy's story here.

There were many notable runs from players with varied backgrounds including pro Barry Greenstein (63rd - $2,691), veteran and brain cancer survivor James Lovell (81st - $1,952), veteran and celebrity poker host Shaun Colquhoun (251st - $1,126), as well as many more.

Action was thick and fast, with the average stack coming into the day just under twenty big blinds. It didn't take long to lose 11 players and be down to our 10-handed final table.

Final Table Action

Salute to Warriors Final Table

Zyad Qasem was the first to fall to Todd. Followed by El Salvadorian Maximo Martinez who was all smiles all day. Martinez coined his own signature catchphrase when he doubled versus Qasem on Day 2, ''Punch to the Liver!''.

Next off the table was Elias Nato in eighth place, the Brazilian had his own cheering section and media team filming him on the day. He was short-stacked and couldn't find the double up. In seventh place was the cool and collected Todd Saffron, who was also eliminated by Todd.

The sixth-place finisher was Nicholas Sena-Hopkins, who cashed for $34,146 for his run. Short stacked for most of the day, he did well to ladder to sixth and was all in for his last two big blinds in a three-way pot, busting to Todd.

Rigoberto Rodriguez ended up getting it in with fives versus the jacks of Brett Coltman, he couldn't improve small blind versus button and his dance was done. Rodriguez was cracking jokes and having fun all tournament, bringing good energy to the tables.

Randy Levin lost out to Coltman, too. Short stacked, he tried to bluff Coltman off a flop, and unbeknownst to him, Coltman had bottom two pair and held. In third was Patrick Pilko, the Austrian busting to Todd in a flip situation. Pilko took over $75,000 for his finish.

Heads-up play took just three hands after Coltman moved all in and Todd called his all in of 26.8 million with an ace and three versus the king and seven of Coltman. With two pair on the flop, Todd had it all but locked up and the turn and river didn't help Coltman survive.

Runner-up Brett Coltman.

Winner's Interview

PokerNews caught up with a jubilant Todd after his victory. Todd, when asked what his expectations were this summer, said: ''I kinda did expect it, I came into this trip wanting and planning on leaving with a bracelet...I can't explain it'."

Confidence from Todd, but the confidence you need if you do actually intend on winning gold in such a big field.

Todd, who was composed all day long, credits both good sleep, his rail, and his work ethic for the victory. On that note, his girlfriend was on the rail nearly the entire Day 2 after flying in to support Todd.

''Her just being here, rooting for me, means the world ... You know I've been showing her pictures of bracelets, telling her I'm going to win, showing my clients. She believed in me the whole time, and so has my son,'' said Todd, who works as a personal trainer by trade.

"I did not serve, but my father served in the military. I love our service men and women, you know. It's such an honorable position and able to give back a bit'."

Todd also credits his spirituality for his victory. ''I felt God's peace with me the entire time."

It was by far Todd's biggest win of his career, who says he has been seriously into poker for the last 25 years but has paid for teaching services to improve his game as of late. That has paid dividends as he is now has a nice bankroll boost. Todd has no plans to give up his job as a personal trainer though, and has no major spending plans in his head yet, though he may buy some land in the mountains (he lives in Colorado).

''Maybe I'll take one more day off a week now," Todd said with a smile on his face.

Finally, talking about the tournament itself, Todd was asked how it feels to be part of something that transcends just winning money. He responded: ''It's going to help a hell of a lot of people. I did not serve, but my father served in the military. I love our service men and women, you know. It's such an honorable position and able to give back a bit''.

The players raised $74,809 for the USO (United Service Organizations) among other charities. No doubt many individuals and families will be helped with those funds and the awareness raised for multiple charities and organizations to help veterans and those affected by war is invaluable.

James Todd

That's a wrap from Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors at the 2022 WSOP, congratulations to champion James Todd! There are still many champions to be crowd and gold bracelets to be won. Stay with PokerNews for all the up-to-date information and coverage on the 2022 WSOP!

2022 World Series of Poker Hub Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2022 WSOP is here. Click here

Sharelines James Todd topped a 3,209-entry field to win the #WSOP2022 Event 54: $500 Salute to Warriors for $161,256.
On Tuesday, 21 players returned to play down to a winner in the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors and it took just five hours to determine a winner in James Todd, who claimed a $161,256 top prize and the gold bracelet.

After three days of play, starting with a record-breaking 3,209 entrants, a $1,315,690 prize pool was built. Of those entrants, 482 made the money. The bubble boys were Mackenzie Horwitz and Scott Ayers, who split the $800 minimum cash between them. Mackenzie was really happy to cash in his first WSOP event, playing in memory of his veteran brother.

Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors Final Table Results

Place Name Country Prize 1 James Todd United States $161,256 2 Brett Coltman United States $99,676 3 Patrick Pilko Austria $75,486 4 Randy Levin United States $57,554 5 Rigoberto Rodriguez United States $44,180 6 Nicholas Sena-Hopkins United States $34,146 7 Todd Saffron United States $26,574 8 Elias Neto Brazil $20,824 9 Maximo Martinez El Salvador $16,433 10 Zyad Qasem United States $13,059

Some amazing stories emerged through the days, PokerNews caught up with Jimmy Rogers on the Day 2 dinner break, who finished in the money in the event. Check out Jimmy's story here.

There were many notable runs from players with varied backgrounds including pro Barry Greenstein (63rd - $2,691), veteran and brain cancer survivor James Lovell (81st - $1,952), veteran and celebrity poker host Shaun Colquhoun (251st - $1,126), as well as many more.

Action was thick and fast, with the average stack coming into the day just under twenty big blinds. It didn't take long to lose 11 players and be down to our 10-handed final table.

Final Table Action

Salute to Warriors Final Table

Zyad Qasem was the first to fall to Todd. Followed by El Salvadorian Maximo Martinez who was all smiles all day. Martinez coined his own signature catchphrase when he doubled versus Qasem on Day 2, ''Punch to the Liver!''.

Next off the table was Elias Nato in eighth place, the Brazilian had his own cheering section and media team filming him on the day. He was short-stacked and couldn't find the double up. In seventh place was the cool and collected Todd Saffron, who was also eliminated by Todd.

The sixth-place finisher was Nicholas Sena-Hopkins, who cashed for $34,146 for his run. Short stacked for most of the day, he did well to ladder to sixth and was all in for his last two big blinds in a three-way pot, busting to Todd.

Rigoberto Rodriguez ended up getting it in with fives versus the jacks of Brett Coltman, he couldn't improve small blind versus button and his dance was done. Rodriguez was cracking jokes and having fun all tournament, bringing good energy to the tables.

Randy Levin lost out to Coltman, too. Short stacked, he tried to bluff Coltman off a flop, and unbeknownst to him, Coltman had bottom two pair and held. In third was Patrick Pilko, the Austrian busting to Todd in a flip situation. Pilko took over $75,000 for his finish.

Heads-up play took just three hands after Coltman moved all in and Todd called his all in of 26.8 million with an ace and three versus the king and seven of Coltman. With two pair on the flop, Todd had it all but locked up and the turn and river didn't help Coltman survive.

Runner-up Brett Coltman.

Winner's Interview

PokerNews caught up with a jubilant Todd after his victory. Todd, when asked what his expectations were this summer, said: ''I kinda did expect it, I came into this trip wanting and planning on leaving with a bracelet...I can't explain it'."

Confidence from Todd, but the confidence you need if you do actually intend on winning gold in such a big field.

Todd, who was composed all day long, credits both good sleep, his rail, and his work ethic for the victory. On that note, his girlfriend was on the rail nearly the entire Day 2 after flying in to support Todd.

''Her just being here, rooting for me, means the world ... You know I've been showing her pictures of bracelets, telling her I'm going to win, showing my clients. She believed in me the whole time, and so has my son,'' said Todd, who works as a personal trainer by trade.

Todd also credits his spirituality for his victory. ''I felt God's peace with me the entire time."

It was by far Todd's biggest win of his career, who says he has been seriously into poker for the last 25 years but has paid for teaching services to improve his game as of late. That has paid dividends as he is now has a nice bankroll boost. Todd has no plans to give up his job as a personal trainer though, and has no major spending plans in his head yet, though he may buy some land in the mountains (he lives in Colorado).

''Maybe I'll take one more day off a week now," Todd said with a smile on his face.

Finally, talking on the tournament itself, Todd was asked how it feels to be part of something that transcends just winning money. He responded: ''It's going to help a hell of a lot of people. I did not serve, but my father served in the military. I love our service men and women, you know. It's such an honorable position and able to give back a bit'."

The players raised $74,809 for the USO (United Service Organizations) among other charities. No doubt many individuals and families will be helped with those funds and the awareness raised for multiple charities and organizations to help veterans and those affected by war is invaluable.

James Todd

That's a wrap from Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors at the 2022 WSOP, congratulations to champion James Todd! There are still many champions to be crowd and gold bracelets to be won. Stay with PokerNews for all the up-to-date information and coverage on the 2022 WSOP!
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. High 87F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
SRS and Politics Reporter

I cover the Savannah River Site and politics. I previously covered government and politics for the Morning News in Florence. I am graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and the University of Charleston (W.Va.).
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 87F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
A new shoe store is coming to downtown Charleston next to a space that once sold footwear for many years, and an oyster bar is planned around the corner beneath a boutique hotel that recently opened on King Street.

Denver-based Freebird plans to open at 334 King St. in a retail space next to the former Bob Ellis shoe store at 332 King while The Quinte Oyster Bar will go in a space around the corner on George Street.

The upstairs of the three-story renovated space, as well as the adjoining building where Freebird will open, is now The Pinch Hotel with 22 rooms and three units that are considered residences for stays of 30 days or longer.

Construction recently began on upfitting the retail space for the shoe store. A Freebird representative said the store could open by the end of summer.

It's Freebird's first store in South Carolina. The retailer has eight others in Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Utah.

A Pinch Hotel representative said the oyster bar, which will serve cocktails and seafood and feature an 18-seat marble bar, could open by the end of the summer next to the lodging's entrance off George Street. The hotel also is planning to add a restaurant across the alley in the Lequeux-Williams House, a former private residence dating back to 1843, also on George Street.

The main dining area will have seating on the first and second floors, with a small bar with seating for six on the second level. A former carriage house in the back of the property will be converted into a bar with a wood-burning fireplace and additional seating. Opening timeframes have not been announced.

The Bob Ellis building sold for $9.5 million in 2017, a year after the 66-year-old, family-owned shoe business closed.

What's cooking?

The Charleston region's seventh Chipotle Mexican Grill will open June 30 in Berkeley County.

The restaurant is at 220 St. James Ave. in Goose Creek and will feature a digital order drive-thru pick-up lane. Hours will be 10:45 a.m.-10 p.m. The first 50 people in line on opening day will receive free Chipotle merchandise.

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based chain has six other restaurants in the Lowcountry in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston and Summerville.

Under construction

Four years after first being proposed, an addition to a Mount Pleasant shopping center is under construction.

The steel framing is now in place for an 8,482-square-foot expansion of Bowman Place Shopping Center near Bowman Road and Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. The new building, next to U.S. Highway 17 behind Nordstrom Rack, includes six spaces, ranging from about 1,400 to 2,836 square feet.

No tenants have been announced. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Four other buildings for retail and office tenants are planned between the new structure being built and Bowman Road behind the shopping center. Construction plans for those properties have not been announced.

Now perking

A new Goose Creek coffee shop is now open in its truck while it awaits a permanent site to be constructed.

Hurricane Coffee Co. can be found at 2424 N. Main St., between Gerald's Tires and the Carnes Crossroads neighborhood on U.S. Highway 17A.

In addition to regular coffee shop items, it also offers white coffee, which Hurricane's website says is the same as black variety but is roasted in a different manner.

"With approximately 5 percent more caffeine than black coffee, and a smooth, sweet, nutty taste, white coffee goes down quickly, and hits you even quicker," according to Hurricane Coffee's website. "White coffee is higher in antioxidants and acids than black coffee since all of the natural elements are not cooked out of the coffee beans during the roasting process."

Coastal Coffee Roasters provides roasting for the new business.

As for the new building, cafe owner Mistina Chambers said it will be built in the same location as the truck.

"However, due to delays and cost inflation, that project will be completed as able throughout the remainder of the year," she said.
Sigma Pi Phi, an African American fraternity that dates back nearly 120 years, has made a major contribution to Charleston's International African American Museum.

The group's foundation, known as the Boule, gave $100,000 to the museum that's nearing completion on the peninsula's waterfront.

The funds will support the IAAM in opening its doors early next year, including the hiring of staff and the development of public programming and education curriculum.

IAAM CEO Tonya Matthews said in a statement this week that she was "honored" that the Concord Street museum will become part of the fraternity's legacy.

"It is particularly meaningful to receive a gift from an African American organization that is more than a century old  a clear indicator that the African American journey is a story not only of resilience, but also of empowerment and community investment," Matthews said.

Founded in Philadelphia in 1904, Sigma Pi Phi describes itself as the "oldest Black Greek-letter graduate-level fraternity in existence."

The group has a Charleston chapter, which last week hosted a regional conference for the organization. The activities included a tour of the grounds of the soon-to-open IAAM, which is being built on a site that was once part of Gadsden's Wharf, a major port of entry during the transatlantic slave trade.

"Everyone was moved," said Dwayne Green, the secretary for the local chapter.

Green said some fraternity leaders also decided to become charter members of the IAAM to show their support.

Sigma Pi Phi presented its donation at a June 25 event that included local members and leaders from around South Carolina, including state Sen. Marlon Kimpson and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Another donation for $10,000 was given that day to the Mother Emanuel Memorial Foundation, which is building the Emanuel Nine Memorial.

The memorial to the nine members at Emanuel AME who were killed in a mass shooting in 2015 and the five people who survived that attack is expected to break ground at the church this fall.

Matthews said the fraternity's "commitment to education and working as a community to accomplish great things" resonates with the IAAM's mission.

"The fraternity is very active in giving money to causes that help move the community forward," Green said.

The IAAM announced June 1 that it plans to open the weekend of June 21, 2023, almost exactly 23 years since then-Mayor Joe Riley made a commitment in a speech to build a museum of African American history in Charleston.

After raising more than $100 million, organizers broke ground in mid-2019. Its stated mission is to honor the untold story of the African American journey at one of Americas most sacred sites.

Fundraising efforts didn't stop after construction began, and, so far in 2022, several major contributions have been announced.

Most recently, TD Bank said that it was donating $250,000 to fund a special series of large events. In March, North Charleston-based chemical maker Ingevity Corp. announced it would give $500,000 over four years to the IAAM.

Also this year, the Ford Foundation made a donation that brought its total contribution to about $1 million, and the Massachusetts-based Yawkey Foundation gave $1 million.
Columbia, SC (29201)

Today

Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Low 74F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Low 74F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
COLUMBIA  Four more businesses have moved into Northeast Richland's Village at Sandhill with another expanding, continuing to bring new tenants into the open-air shopping and residential center.

Leslie Cariens has just moved her business, Natural Wigs, from a Broad River Road retail strip into the central corridor of the village.

Cariens was looking to move to the Northeast and said she found the most attractive retail space available in the area to be in the village, far nicer than her previous space.

Her business helps people who need wigs to wear on a long-term basis. Most of her customers are referred to her because they are suffering from alopecia or undergoing treatment for cancer, she said.

Walk-in customers are not a big part of the business. She still decided to take an already well-decorated shop space in the center of the village.

"It's like a boutique," Cariens said.

Natural Wigs, which will hold a grand opening July 2, is just one of the latest batch of additional tenants to come to the village.

Other businesses coming soon or adding space, according to Bobby Balboni of NAI Columbia real estate, include:

A new location of sandwich shop chain Sub Station II.

Dessert and Tea, a shop featuring sweets and bubble tea.

A new beauty supply store, which has not been identified.

An expansion of Esther's Soul Food restaurant, which will take over additional nearby space that can be used to host events.

Several other new tenants for the village are likely to be announced soon, Balboni said.

The shopping complex has continued to rebuild its base of retail tenants by adding small businesses. For years, it struggled to make deals after being tangled in bankruptcy proceedings that made it difficult to reach terms on new leases, Patrick Palmer of NAI Columbia has said.
The kids are not alright.

Even before the pandemic began, more than 1 in 3 high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. In many communities, those numbers have skyrocketed. But in some places, educators and others are experimenting with new ways to address students' mental health needs  or reinvent old strategies. In this reporting collaborative, the Education Labs at AL.com, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee, The Post and Courier and The Seattle Times partnered with The Christian Science Monitor, The Hechinger Report and Solutions Journalism Network to produce this series of solutions-oriented stories.

Christina Cody has a tireless, we-can-make-it-work attitude.

No matter the problem, shes the kind of person who will offer up ideas one after another until she finds one that works.

Cody is a health and wellness specialist for Cherokee County Schools, a small, rural school district in the northwestern part of South Carolina. Over the past few years, she has been confronted with the growing youth mental health crisis at every turn. The reports from her colleagues filled her with worry. They would despair week after week as more students threatened to hurt themselves or others.

Some students were stabbing themselves with pencils or scissors. Others tore apart pencil sharpeners to get the blades and cut themselves. When the last school year started, there were seven mental health therapist positions to serve the districts 8,000 students. None were filled. Without them, educators did the best they could to help in a job they werent trained to do.

Students mental health needs were increasing well before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The needs have only grown since. More than a third of high school students nationally experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, with half feeling persistently sad or hopeless, according to a Centers for Disease Control Disease Control and Prevention study. In South Carolina, childrens emergency room visits for mental health needs are up nearly a third since March 2020, state officials have said. Suicide attempts also increased, particularly among teenage girls.

Thats just a lot of pressure, Cody said. You cant lose a kid. You cant. Its not an option.

Cody, ever the problem solver, started thinking of ways to fill the vacant positions.

South Carolina schools were some of the first in the nation to put mental health therapists in schools. More than two decades later, theyre seen as critical positions  but less than half of all schools in the state have one. The jobs start at $36,000 and require a master's degree. The persistently low pay makes these positions hard to fill in both urban and rural areas like Cherokee.

The struggles in South Carolina mirror a national problem: Over half of schools surveyed by the U.S. Department of Education report having inadequate access to licensed mental health providers.

Over the next few years, state officials want to dramatically increase the number of school therapists. Paying more is part of the plan  starting salaries could nearly double. But one of their suggestions is to do exactly what Cody ended up pushing for: Turn to private providers.

In the right place

Cody has spent almost her whole life in this rural area. As a teenager, she couldnt wait to get out. She went to college three hours away in Charleston and might have stayed there for good except her high school sweetheart got a job back home. Cody followed and took a job teaching in the district.

She feels like she ended up in the right place. She finds her work both fulfilling and varied, ranging recently from driving meals to students during the pandemic to serving as a friendly ear.

She is most animated when shes in front of a classroom or talking with students. Her face lights up when they get excited, and she grins and nods in agreement. She talks with them, not to them.

For nearly a decade she taught biology at Gaffney High, where she tried to make her lessons relevant to students. She paid close attention to topics that excited them. One day she found herself in the middle of an animated discussion between students about health outcomes. On every measure, there were broad disparities. She recalled one student asking, So you mean to tell me that because Im Black, I cant be as healthy as a White person?

Everybody felt the weight of that comment, she said.

They talked about how the problems were systemic and her students kept saying they needed to do something to fix that. The conversation stuck with her. She felt a gnawing sense of urgency to do more to address the physical and mental health issues she saw her students and their families struggling with daily. Cody left the classroom in 2014, but stayed with the district and moved into the job she has now focused on student health and wellness.

Her work looks a little different from school to school because she has made a point to listen to and elevate students ideas and solutions. At one school, they told her they needed more equipment for recess. At another, students asked for healthier snacks. Cody works to find grants to do each of the projects.

She focused more on physical health at the start. But mental health has become a bigger priority over the years. The only positive she sees is that people have become more comfortable talking about mental health. Before the pandemic hit, there was a lot of stigma attached to it.

Thats changing. When she brought together a group of 10 middle and high school students during the 2020-21 school year to talk about the problems facing teens, mental health was the top issue they flagged.

Students had lost classmates to suicide but still felt like many adults were scared to talk about it. Cortez Dawkins, a senior at Gaffney High, said it makes a lot of students feel like they have to deal with their mental health problems alone. Ellyson Tate, a freshman at the school, said students often feel like they have no one to turn to. Tate and a lot of her classmates often fly under the radar because they arent in immediate crisis.

Tate feels pressure to put on a happy face even when she doesnt feel that way because she doesnt want to disappoint people. She said adults dont ask how you are until you look depressed or sad. But even when asked, she doesnt always want to open up for fear of worrying someone. All that pretending takes a toll.

Its like I dont know whats the real me, she said.

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The group held a panel discussion to raise awareness that was broadcast live at each of the districts middle and high schools in spring 2021. Afterwards, teachers and parents told Cody it was the first time they realized the depth of what students were experiencing. They knew things were hard before the pandemic and they saw how life had gotten harder, but they hadnt grasped exactly how bad the situation was. They hadnt realized how many students were teetering on the edge, not in crisis, but not doing well, either.

As concerned as the adults were, many believed the needs would lessen once students returned to a more normal schedule. They didnt anticipate the delta and omicron COVID variants would disrupt schools once again.

They also didnt predict that all seven mental health therapist jobs in the district would be vacant last August.

They were in for a rude awakening.

They are in pain

Before the pandemic, the entire district might have one student make a threat to harm themselves or others each week.

Last school year, staff were assessing multiple threats daily, said Bessie Westmoreland, Cherokees director of student services. One middle school principal said his school saw 10 years worth of cases in one year.

Far more Cherokee students were diagnosed with depression or anxiety during the last school year than usual, Westmoreland said. They also saw it diagnosed more in younger students.

But at the same time, schools saw greater needs, they faced their greatest struggle filling positions to help students. Cherokee County has historically worked with the state Department of Mental Health, which fills the majority of school therapist positions around South Carolina. Low pay has led to many vacancies.

Thats the case now in Cherokee. Before the pandemic, they had seven school therapists staffed by the mental health agency. None were filled last August, and only two were eventually filled by the agency over the course of the school year. Cherokee is in the same boat as a lot of schools nationwide, 56 percent of which reported in April that they didnt have adequate access to licensed mental health providers.

School-based mental health therapists are seen as a particularly effective way of getting help to students who need professional support. Since children are already at school, parents dont have to take off work to get them to appointments. They miss less class because the commute to a therapists office is only a walk down the hall.

In-school therapists can also help overcome the stigma of going to a mental health clinic, said Regan Stewart, the director of the Medical University of South Carolinas telehealth mental health care program. Their school is a familiar place where students are comfortable.

Those benefits, however, rely on filling school-based counselor positions.

When she saw the usual positions were unfilled, Cody began exploring the idea of using private counselors. A friend of a friend introduced her to a woman who owns Innovation Counseling Services, a private counseling practice out of Spartanburg. With that introduction, the district started seriously exploring the idea of using an outside agency to staff its schools.

Westmoreland initially didnt want outside vendors. She worried about using people she didnt manage, but she became convinced they had no other option.

The first outside counselor was placed at Copeland Academy, the districts alternative middle and high school. She is there four days a week. At the end of the school year, they added a counselor at Ewing Middle School once a week. That brought the total therapists in Cherokee up to four  still less than the district wanted or had before the pandemic, but better than zero.

Gavin Fisher, Ewings principal, was elated when he heard his school would be getting a therapist.

If you can find 100, well take em, he said, only half joking.

This was his first year at Ewing, but Fisher is a veteran educator and principal. Fisher has never seen a school year like this one. Middle school is a notoriously hard time for tweens and teens going through puberty, even absent a pandemic. He believes all 600 students at his school would benefit from seeing a therapist. Mental health needs have trumped every other need in the building. Focusing on academics has been impossible.

None of that stuff matters to our kids when theyre hurting themselves, he said. They are in pain.

Westmoreland has noticed a difference between the schools with a therapist and those without. Its anecdotal, but the mood in those buildings is better, she said. She is hopeful behavioral and disciplinary incidents will start tracking down once the therapists are more established.

Having a dedicated mental health provider in the building has freed up other employees, like nurses and guidance counselors, to focus on the jobs they were trained to do. Its given everyone reassurance that theres someone in the building who can help students in need.

Cody sees the private counselors as one piece of the puzzle. The district will keep trying to fill the positions it has always had. If they fill them, the contractors will be additional support. If positions remain vacant, the contractors can help fill in those gaps.

At Ewing, Fisher feels optimistic about the next school year. He is under no illusion that one counselor one day a week will fix everything. But they had to start somewhere, and one at a time is better than nothing.

More Information If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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The kids are not alright.

Even before the pandemic began, more than 1 in 3 high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. In many communities, those numbers have skyrocketed. But in some places, educators and others are experimenting with new ways to address students' mental health needs  or reinvent old strategies. In this reporting collaborative, the Education Labs at AL.com, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee, The Post & Courier, and the Seattle Times partnered with The Christian Science Monitor, The Hechinger Report, and Solutions Journalism Network to produce this series of solutions-oriented stories.

Alabama schools were just starting a new venture to help students find mental health resources when COVID hit.

Mental health service coordinators are now in place in nearly all of Alabamas 138 school districts; they help smooth the path so more students can find resources. The new role came at a key time, officials say, and will help more communities wrestle with the best way to help more students.

We know first hand of several situations where, had some people not been in place, we would have lost several children, said Kay Warfield, of the Alabama Department of Education, who directs the coordinators from the state level.

Schools around the country are trying to staff up counselors and therapists, but experts say Alabamas creation of a bridge role could be a model. Mental health service coordinators take set up mental health awareness events, hold small group sessions with students and connect families with professional mental health services.

Someone who is focused on customizing and coordinating supports to better meet students evolving needs is an important function, said Robert Balfanz, director of the Everyone Graduates Center for Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Education.

Too often districts and schools fall back on a one size fits all approach, he said, for example, assigning every school a counselor or a social worker. But some schools may need this, and some other schools may need different types of student supports, and what schools need in the fall might be different from what they need in the spring.

The role

The coordinator position started as a state-funded pilot in 102 school districts during the 2020-21 school year. Districts had to apply for a $40,000 grant for the coordinators salary and agree to provide the coordinator a space and the freedom to interact with students, teachers and parents.

During the 2021-22 school year, 114 school districts received a grant and Warfield cobbled together enough money to add a dozen more. Her office conducts all of the training, but districts must foot the cost for coordinators to attend.

Students and schools really need the added focus on mental health after two years of COVID-related challenges, she said.

According to survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of high school students said they had poor mental health and just under half said they had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year.

The state is still gathering evidence to determine how well the program is working, Warfield said. Officials are looking at three measures  rates of absenteeism, rates of suspension and promotion and retention in third, sixth and ninth grades  to gauge the effectiveness of the coordinators.

During the 2018-19 school year, 11% of Alabama students were chronically absent, meaning they missed 18 or more days. Some student populations, including those who were economically disadvantaged, disabled, Black and American Indian, had rates higher than 12%. Some individual schools had absentee rates up to 48%.

Dorann Tanner, with Alabaster City Schools, a growing district south of Birmingham, said COVID restrictions and the uprooting of predictable routines were hard on everyone.

When it was time to come back to normal, she said, I think we realized that its not just a lightswitch.

You can't just go from being at home and all the precautions and all the anxiety and stress and worry that was just everyone was feeling and then just come back and be like, Oh, hey, the doors open. I'm good.

Connecting students with local mental health professionals

Tanner leads support services for Alabaster Citys 6,200-student district and has many years of experience as a social worker in the district.

She said adding a mental health services coordinator was a natural progression so the district could ease connections between families and mental health resources.

Debbie Brinson started as the districts mental health services coordinator in December 2020. Miss Debbie, as she is called, connects students and parents with mental health resources in the community.

Navigating the mental health world can be confusing for all of us at times, she said.

Brinson has been a part of the Alabaster community for a long time, so she is familiar with which practice or therapist might be the best fit.

If a student is referred to Brinson by a counselor or teacher, shell contact the childs parent to see what type of resources they may need and whether theyre receptive to assistance with their mental health.

Theres still a stigma in regards to mental health, she said.

Parents sometimes need some help understanding how services could help their child. Connecting with parents is crucial, she said, for good outcomes for students.

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The value of being able to identify and get services earlier for a child helps with the outcome and is going to help them when they become an adult  learning those skills and how to deal with something, she said.

Our kids go through a lot, Escambia County Schools mental health services coordinator Marlo Young said. One of my main goals was making sure that even when our community mental health centers may not have someone [available], our students have a safe person that they can talk to.

Improving mental health awareness in the greater community

Young, who just completed her second year as Escambia Countys mental health services coordinator, said she sees her role not only as a resource for the 4,000 students in the district but also as an advocate for raising awareness about the importance of taking care of your mental health in the greater community.

Escambia is a rural county in southern Alabama with just 36,000 residents. Young was born and raised there. During her first year as a coordinator, she organized a mental health awareness walk in Atmore, and while turnout was good, this year, she said, was even better.

Knowing whos who and where help and support are available is central to the job

We had a lot of support from the mayor, the police department, the Sheriffs Department, she said, as well as local businesses.

Laura Bruce, who serves as coordinator for another small district, Ozark City Schools, organized a poetry night for students where they could share facts about mental health. She also coordinated an Aware Fair on the Square event, where she arranged for free inflatables, rides and outreach from local social service agencies.

People got a chance to find out about resources they never knew existed around here, she said.

Assisting teachers and students inside schools

Beyond connecting families with professional help and galvanizing support for mental health awareness in their communities, coordinators adapt their skills to what their local schools need.

Young holds programs in the schools, bringing in mental health organizations to talk with students about bullying and suicide prevention. Shes there if a crisis arises, helping coordinate care and resources to ensure a student gets the help they need. She also helps teachers talk through a situation.

But she cant do the work alone. Rural community health centers in her area of south Alabama might not always have staff available when help is needed, and as service coordinators join systems, they also have advocated for additional staff to help them meet growing needs.

Young said she was happy district leaders hired three social workers at the start of the 2021-22 school year, one for each of the three feeder patterns in the county.

Historically, social workers have not been a part of Alabamas schools, and only 51 of Alabamas 138 school districts and two of eight charter schools employed a social worker during the 2021-22 school year.

No school district meets the National Association for School Social Workers recommendation to employ one social worker in every school building with a ratio of no more than 250 students per school social worker.

Ozark City has no school-based social workers, which means all adults are expected to help keep an eye on students, said Bruce, the district coordinator.

A lot of times, the guidance counselors will call me to ask me, Hey, do you just mind speaking to this young lady or this young man?

Bruce goes into each school at least once a week to hold small group workshops with students who have had discipline problems. Im there to encourage them to make better choices, she said.

Alabama schools have also struggled to provide enough counselors. The statewide ratio is 389-to-1, well above the American Counseling Associations recommended ratio of 250-to-1.

Just eight school districts met the recommended ratio during the 2021-22 school year.

Next steps

Balfanz said tracking outcomes should help state leaders figure out if the student supports are making a difference, and if not, then they get feedback that says perhaps a plan B is needed.

COVID made it difficult to collect hard data on attendance, Warfield said, so shes wary of using data from the past two school years to evaluate the coordinators effectiveness so far, but hopes to evaluate their efforts this fall.

Coordinators will be in every school district, charter school and statewide magnet school for the 2022-23 school year, Warfield said, with salaries funded by various pots of state money: $4.7 million in direct funding and the rest from money directed to improve school climate and culture.

Lawmakers also have funded district coordinators for the 2023-24 school year.

We all have mental health, Bruce said. How do you cope with bad news, good news? How do you look at your day? Do you look at it half full? Half empty?

AL.com education editor Ruth Serven Smith contributed to this story.

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GEORGETOWN  The Georgetown County Council approved a $97.7 million budget on June 28 to fund the county's operations for the next 12 months, with the 2023 budget representing a 7.8% increase from the previous year.

The unanimous 5-0 vote  with councilmen John Thomas having resigned in May and Raymond Newton absent on June 28  wrapped up a months long process, the end of which county finance director Karis Langston said she nearly celebrated with a dance in the county council chambers.

No one came forward to comment on the budget during a scheduled public hearing.

"I'd say the biggest challenge was we really wanted to do something for our employees," Langston told Georgetown Times. "And making that happen, and making it sustainable into future years, that was the biggest hurdle that we had to get over in the budget process."

The executive summary of the budget given to county council members mentions the challenge of maintaining competitive compensation as a future goal.

"Georgetown County was able to meet the goals and initiatives set for during the fiscal year 2022-23 budget process," the summary reads. "However, staff recognizes there is much more to be done in the future. Planning ahead to next fiscal year and beyond, one goal is our continued efforts to address employee compensation and benefits."

In the retention package unveiled last month, general county government employees  non-fire, EMS or law enforcement  will see 5% raises starting Jan. 1.

General employees with two years experience as of July 1 will see a $70 bonus per pay period for the rest of the fiscal year, totaling $1,820. General employees with less than two years experience as of the same date will see a $35 bonus per pay period, totaling $910 for the year.

Separate raises are also being given to county fire, emergency medical services and law enforcement employees.

The budget approved June 28 was briefly amended from the version given second reading in May, to offset matching grant funds for the county's storm water fund.
GREENVILLE  The fog of legitimacy in the Democratic runoff for the District 25 state House of Representatives seat has cleared, as the candidate who faced questions about his eligibility lost.

Wendell Jones beat Derrick Quarles, 661 votes to 540, in the June 28 runoff. Jones advances to the general election in November. The incumbent Democrat, state Rep. Leola Robinson-Simpson, is not running for re-election.

Two weeks ago, Jones was the top vote-getter in a crowded Democratic primary field, but couldn't secure enough votes to avoid a runoff.

The outcome for the southern Greenville County seat was thrown into doubt shortly after the first primary results were tallied. Two candidates who failed to make the runoff, Adriene Atkinson and Bruce Wilson, challenged Quarles' eligibility because of a previous felony conviction for grand larceny stemming from 2004.

In 2007, a judge revoked Quarles' probation. It was reinstated a year later. State law requires 15 years to pass before a candidate can be eligible to run, which means Quarles ostensibly would have had to wait until next year.

However, the state Democratic Party's executive committee last week voted to allow Quarles to remain on the ballot against Jones. Quarles had received pardons for four previous felony convictions, which he believed cleared him. He didn't seek a pardon for the juvenile charge because he said he believed it wasn't necessary.

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The committee allowed him to stay on the ballot on the condition he secured the fifth pardon in case he won.

While the race appears to be settled, there is still the possibility of challenges.

Earlier this week, Wilson told The Post and Courier that his legal objections to the election are far from over. On June 27, a judge denied Wilson's request to halt the runoff.

Wilson said that any results of the election will be in question, even if Quarles didn't win, because the primary should have been conducted again without him as a candidate.

The primaries are tainted either way, Wilson said. Its a big mess. Were still in the fight, and well be challenging everything.

Atkinson, who fell short of Quarles by 72 votes and protested that she should be elevated to the runoff, said she wouldnt protest the election any further and threw her vote behind Jones.
Inspectors watched as a worker at Roper Hospital in Charleston dunked only half of a dirty surgical tray into a cleaning solution in a sink, then pulled it out and piled surgical instruments back onto it.

When the inspectors asked when the other half would be cleaned, the employee replied, Ill go back and get to that.

The incident from a complaint survey in March found the hospital was not complying with federal standards for infection control and sterilization of surgical instruments and how the hospital monitors compliance with both, according to documents obtained by The Post and Courier.

The visit resulted in a statement of deficiencies from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services a month later.

The matter did not fall into a category of the most serious kind possible and should not threaten the hospital's continued accreditation with the federal agency, Roper St. Francis Healthcare CEO Jeffrey P. DiLisi said in a June 29 memo to employees.

The hospital has "gone above and beyond to resolve" the problems cited in the survey, he said in the memo.

The unannounced inspection was conducted by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on behalf of CMS. It began on March 15, just four days after a joint commission accreditation survey of Roper turned up a condition that poses a threat to patients and other individuals served, according to a document on the accrediting bodys web site.

The commission survey was on March 11 and the unannounced complaint survey began March 15.

Because accreditation by the commission is voluntary, there are some aspects and details that we do not disclose to the public, spokeswoman Maureen Lyons said. She would not address whether the two surveys were connected but noted that Roper has now received its full three-year accreditation.

DiLisi said the issues identified by the commission were "immediately resolved" but that days later the inspectors showed up to look at "issues that mirrored the ones previously identified."

DHEC spokesman Derrek Asberry said the "survey is still in progress" so the agency would not be able to release additional details.

"Once the survey is completed, a public report with any citations will be made available," he said, adding that the survey should be done in the next month.

The CMS Regional Office in Atlanta did not return calls this week seeking comment.

The complaint survey appeared to be narrowly focused on infection control in the hospital and sterilization in surgical departments. It found Roper was not in compliance with four Medicare standards related to surgery, infection control, patient rights and governance.

Among the violations:

Of four surgical instruments checked, all four were sterilized incorrectly or not to standards set by the manufacturers.

Of a dozen instruments used to check blood sugar levels in multiple patients, three were incorrectly cleaned before being readied for use on another patient.

Staff failed to document and record data needed to show sterilizations were done correctly.

The hospital failed to create a system for effectively monitoring, reporting and documenting problems with infection control and sterilization, and ensuring personnel were properly trained to do both.

The hospitals problems in the inspection report can be illustrated by what the inspectors saw in the hospitals Sterile Processing Department on the second floor. The inspectors found a technician washing surgical equipment in a sink. The temperature probe in the sink showed the water was 69.2 degrees. A sign on the wall above the sink said the water needed to be at least 80 degrees and that the equipment must soak for at least five minutes.

When inspectors asked the technician how long the equipment had been in the sink, they got a shoulder shrug and no verbal response, according to the report.

Days later, inspectors were in the sterile processing decontamination and pre-clean area. This kind of cleaning is essential before sterilization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because inorganic and organic materials that remain on surfaces of instruments interfere with the effectiveness of the sterilization.

Thats where inspectors saw the tech bring in the dirty tray, put half of it in the sink filed with cleanser and other soiled surgical instruments, and then load it up again.

In the case of the blood glucose meter, the inspectors saw a nurse and two patient care technicians  on different floors of the hospital on the same day  failing to clean the devices properly between patients. Those devices are supposed to be wet with disinfectant for two minutes to ensure any blood borne pathogens are killed, according to the manufacturers instructions.

But a nurse in the cardiac care unit cleaned the device with a disinfecting cloth for 17 seconds and it was dry after 45 seconds, according to the report.

On the third floor an hour later, after using one of the meters on a patient, a technician cleaned it for 15 seconds with a wipe and returned it to the nurses station for another use where it was dry a minute later, the inspectors found.

That afternoon, another technician on the fourth floor used the device on a patient and then wiped it for 18 seconds and then waited. The technician knew about the two-minute timeframe but was unsure how to accomplish this, according to the report. It was dry less than two minutes later, the inspectors found.

In the memo to employees, DiLisi said the hospital has taken extensive measures to address some of the issues cited in the inspection, including "strengthening education around disinfecting surfaces and medical devices, for example using sanitation wipes so that areas stay wet for the recommended two minutes."

The inspection report noted the hospital routinely did not follow its own policies and procedures for infection control, sterilization and oversight. The inspection found the sterile processing department did not use the correct type of sterilization with the four surgical instruments checked according to what the manufacturers recommended.

In the case of one flash sterilization meant to ready an instrument for immediate use, the item was actually left in the sterilizer for nearly an hour, which a Roper official admitted is problematic due to the potential for contamination as it sits there.

Roper has since made changes to its cleaning and sterilization procedures, including limiting the immediate use sterilization cited in the report to only "emergency situations identified by surgeons," DiLisi said.

The inspectors also found problem with logs meant to document precisely how the sterilization was done. Roper has an infection prevention plan for staff to follow standardized practices for appropriate cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing of medical equipment, devices and supplies, the report noted.

But a review of the minutes of the hospitals Infection Control Committee meetings as far as a year back found nothing to document the committee was monitoring the proper cleaning of devices like the blood glucose meters or the sterilizing of surgical equipment, the inspectors found.

Roper has since hired outside consultants to come in and "validate our practices, create action plans and simplify our processes" for employees by, for instance, providing visual aids, DiLisi said.

None of the issues cited by the inspectors resulted in a bad outcome for a patient, DiLisi said in the memo to employees.

Inspections and deficiency reports of this kind are common for hospitals, even those cited as among the nation's best, DiLisi said.
NORTH CHARLESTON  As the national blood shortage continues to affect millions of people across the country and in South Carolina, some residents are beginning to take the crisis into their own hands.

Raleigh Minning, cancer patient and mom of three, is one of them.

On June 27, Minning hosted her second mobile blood drive in her Archdale neighborhood with the help of The Blood Connection, a local donation center and the largest blood provider for Medical University of South Carolina.

As an incentive, Minning offers all donors a free pastry. Most of the time it's a apple cider donut from her home-grown bakery business, Made with Love Donuts.

So far 83 people have donated at Minning's blood drives. Each donor can help at least three people in need.

Susan Bird was one of the first donors at the June 27 drive. Her commute was short since she only lives a few houses down from Minning.

"When Raleigh had this event, I thought 'How do I say no," Bird said. "I'm just a few houses away and the doughnuts are delicious."

Mercy Myers, media coordinator for The Blood Connection, said people in the Lowcountry have really stepped up to host more local blood drives.

"We're always looking for blood drive hosts like Raleigh," Myers said. "It's a hard job to recruit enough people to donate blood, so we need members of the community to help."

Minning was diagnosed with stage three metastatic melanoma, a rare type of skin cancer, nearly three years ago when she was pregnant with her youngest child. Currently there is no evidence of the cancer in her system, but she wears a compression sleeve on her right arm for her lymphedema, a side effect of removing three lymph nodes and surrounding tissue.

"Because of my cancer, I can't donate," Minning told The Post and Courier. "But I wanted to help in any kind of way that I could."

Myers said a blood shortage would be obsolete if everyone donated twice a year, but a person can physically donate every 56 days.

Bird said she is thinking of donating more frequently now that she is "done babysitting" her grandkids.

"This time after the pandemic, now things are settling down," Bird said. "You want to do this kind of thing more."

Earlier this year, MUSC doctors said the blood crisis was the worst supply situation they had seen in 30 years.

At the time, at least two organ transplant surgeries had been postponed because of the hospital's low blood supply. One was a heart transplant.

Now approaching the July Fourth holiday, some are worried the shortage could get even worse.

I will say that historically even without a prior shortage or a pandemic, the July Fourth time period is typically a very tough time to have adequate platelets for transfusion, which are lifesaving to support pediatric and adult cancer patients, said Dr. Michelle Hudspeth, chief of the pediatric hematology and oncology division at MUSC Children's Hospital and Hollings Cancer Center.

MUSC needs 500 units of blood each week to fulfill all their surgery needs. Officials from the hospital say they are doing okay with the their current supply of blood products. However their partners at the American Red Cross still have a shortage of O negative and B negative blood units.

"Wed greatly appreciate more donations of those types to support critical services at MUSC," a spokesperson for the hospital told The Post and Courier.

Other medical centers across the Lowcountry are also urging residents to donate blood amid the shortage.

Colleton Medical Center in Walterboro is hosting a community blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 7 with The Blood Connection.

For more information, go to thebloodconnection.org/donate or call 864-255-5000 to make an appointment at an area blood drive.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include the name of the bakery involved in the blood drive, Made with Love Donuts.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. High around 90F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds light and variable.
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High near 85F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Scattered thunderstorms this evening. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Myrtle Beach, SC (29577)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. High 83F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 76F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Two people were killed in separate shootings several hours apart  first at a parking lot near King Street in Charleston and later at a North Charleston gas station.

Charleston police were dispatched around 11:45 p.m. June 28 to a parking lot near Radcliffe and King streets for reports of the first shooting, Inspector Mike Gillooly said. Officers provided medical care to a man suffering a gunshot wound, the inspector said, and he was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal identified the victim as Gaber Baghdady, a 65-year-old Hanahan resident.

Police later arrested Antwan Lamont Scott on allegations he fatally shot Baghdady during an attempted armed robbery, according to Gillooly. Authorities say Scott entered the southern eatery Toast All Day at 451 King St., where he shot the restaurant employee during a confrontation.

That location of Toast All Day closes at midnight, according to its website. Scott was a former employee of the restaurant group, Gillooly said.

Scott is being held at Charleston County jail on charges of murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary. A bond hearing is scheduled June 30.

The second homicide was reported around 3:30 a.m. June 29 at a Mobil gas station off Dorchester Road and South Allen Drive.

North Charleston police officers arriving at the business found a male victim suffering a gunshot wound, police spokesman Harve Jacobs said. He died at the scene.

Information about a suspect or motive was not immediately available. The coroner identified the victim as 17-year-old Charrod Phillips, a Moncks Corner resident.

Flowers, pinwheels, beads and a prayer candle were arranged in a memorial near one entrance into the gas station, though it was unclear if the memorial was for Phillips.

The gas station is located across the street from Beyond Our Walls, a community center that offers educational and cultural activities for children and adults.

The nonprofit's founder, Joyce Maybin Nesmith, was shot Feb. 26 after a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting shattered the front window of her home on South Allen Drive. Three other people were hit by gunfire that Saturday afternoon. One of them, 15-year-old Xiamere Moody, died the next day.

Deandre Brown was arrested this week on allegations he was responsible for shooting two of the surviving victims, including Nesmith. A suspect has not been arrested in connection to Moody's killing.

Multiple fatal shootings in a single night remains a rare occurrence in the Charleston area. But gun violence has been on the rise in recent years, contributing to a spike in homicides.

In 2020, homicide rates in South Carolina reached a peak not seen since the crack-cocaine epidemic of the early 1990s fueled a surge in killings.

North Charleston has had 17 homicides this year, all from gunfire. Last year, the city recorded 36 homicides, marking its highest death toll in years. All but two resulted from gunfire.

Charleston has recorded four homicides this year, but several more shootings could have turned deadly  including a Memorial Day mass shooting on Charleston's East Side that left nine people injured by gunfire. One victim in that shooting remained hospitalized for more than a week afterward.

In April, a woman was shot in the chest at point-blank range while walking on King Street. She was rushed to Medical University of South Carolina and survived the attack.

Shakayla Gilliard was charged with two counts of attempted murder in that shooting. She remained jailed without bail June 29.
NORTH CHARLESTON  An organization focused on improving the local criminal justice system is seeking representatives to advise its council.

The Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is seeking five residents to volunteer as community representatives for a two-year term.

The application is due by June 30.

Launched in 2015, the council brings together elected officials, judicial leaders, law enforcement, and community leaders to implement data-driven policies aimed at making the local justice system more efficient and fair while enhancing public safety. It receives funding from Charleston County and the MacArthur Foundation, according to a press release.

Community representatives are responsible for gathering input from Charleston County residents and advocating for their concerns.

The CJCC has in recent years worked to address racial disparities in Charleston County's jail population and developed tools to assist magistrates in making bail decisions.

In May, the CJCC announced it would help lead a local program to provide housing and other services for people caught in a cycle of homelessness and incarceration.

North Charleston resident Keith Smalls said being a community representative is a unique opportunity.

The advantage is just having the opportunity to engage all these key individuals who work within the system, he said. Where else would you be able to talk to the solicitor or a public defender or the chief of police and just walk up to them in a regular setting and have a good conversation with them?

Smalls, who also serves on the council's three-person executive committee, said he spent 19 years of his life incarcerated in the South Carolina Department of Corrections on drug-related charges. Today, as a CJCC community representative, he serves as a liaison between Charleston County justice officials and formerly incarcerated Charleston residents.

Through his role on the council, Smalls is able to spotlight the concerns and needs of people who are formerly incarcerated. One of his proudest contributions on the council, he said, was moderating a panel discussion on life after incarceration.

Its very rewarding," he said. "Especially when you see things happen that came out of the room  a new initiative, a new policy, a new procedure that law enforcement has implemented, that generated from that CJCC meeting.

The representatives the CJCC is seeking include residents from the local Hispanic and civil rights communities, as well as an at-large member.

CJCC Chairman and Charleston Police Department Capt. Jason Bruder said community engagement and input is essential to the council's work.

We realize the criminal justice system is just part of the community. Its just a system like all of the other systems out there  education, health care  all of that is part of the community," he said. "Some of our best discussions are when a community member goes why are you doing that? 

Bruder noted that the council values community representatives with real-life experience over textbook knowledge.

Im not worried about people being an expert. I want them to have experience and the courage to speak up," he said. "Thats really what we need.

The five selected applicants will join seven other community representatives serving out their 2021-2023 terms.

The council said it will announce its decisions in August.

More information can be found by visiting cjcc.charlestoncounty.org.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify that CJCC will help lead the local program to address homelessness.
COLUMBIA  A former Midlands Technical College student will spend five years behind bars for fraudulently amassing an arsenal of nearly 100 guns and tactical gear in a yearslong scheme that led federal agents to suspect he was plotting a mass shooting.

U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson on June 29 sentenced Edward Kimpton Jr. of Columbia to federal prison after a nearly three-hour hearing that featured dueling narratives about the threat posed by the cache of weaponry found at his home and storage unit.

Relatives and Kimpton himself insisted he would never hurt anyone. A forensic psychiatrist introduced by Kimptons defense attorney spoke to the difficulties posed by Kimptons autism spectrum disorder and the anxiety and depression that worsened after losing his father to a sudden heart attack in 2015.

But the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels, referenced evidence that Kimpton had researched mass shootings, including the 2015 Charleston church massacre, as well as witness statements that Kimpton was a bullied loner who gave off real school shooter vibes.

Anderson had to weigh Kimptons sentence as America grapples with yet another national debate over its abundance of mass shootings in the wake of last months massacres at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

We remain concerned today, Daniels said of Kimpton's gun trove. This is something we couldnt afford to be wrong on.

Daniels detailed the highly sophisticated scheme in which Kimpton amassed a haul of rifles, shotguns, pistols, bump stocks that can make semi-automatic rifles mimic machine guns, ammunition, gas masks, tactical grenades, body armor, knee pads, laser sights, sniper scopes, helmets and medical gear.

Kimpton used some 15 aliases and nearly 60 different email addresses to purchase from online sellers as far away as Washington state. He then disputed the charges by claiming he never received the guns and gear, collecting refunds from the sellers and shippers alike. In some cases, he also returned guns purchased online to retail stores to collect even more refunds.

Though Kimpton never held a job, authorities seized nearly $74,000 from his Bank of America account  money that will be used to pay some $44,000 in restitution to his victims.

Kimptons defense lawyer, Jonathan Harvey of Columbia, and several relatives insisted he is a gentle soul who never planned any violence.

Kimpton and prominent Columbia psychiatrist Donna Maddox described his gun collection as an effort to honor his connection with his late father, a retired Air Force sergeant who bonded with his son during trips to the shooting range. But Maddox said Kimptons autism turns such interests into obsessions.

Maddox said she had studied other mass shooters, including those with autism. Kimpton is single and struggled to make friends throughout school. But he doesnt share the anger, irritability and political ideology of many mass shooters, she testified.

Still, Anderson seemingly struggled to square those explanations with the totality of the firepower Kimpton amassed. Anderson gave Kimpton the maximum sentence available under Kimpton's plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"I've never had a case like this," the judge said. "I can't ignore all that."

Kimpton apologized repeatedly in court for stealing the guns. He said he researched mass shootings merely out of curiosity, just as he researched music and other topics online.

Just before sentencing Kimpton, Anderson said it was obvious the young man had potential.

You couldnt pull off this scheme without having a lot of intelligence and ability, Anderson said.

But he urged Kimpton to follow in his fathers footsteps when he gets out of prison in 2025, quoting from an obituary that described Kimpton Sr. as selfless to a fault.

Kimpton's sentence includes three years of supervised release after prison, including mandatory government monitoring of his computer.

He can never again own a gun.
State Rep. Krystle Matthews of Ladson won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and will face GOP incumbent Tim Scott in the November general election.

Unofficial returns June 28 showed Matthews leading Columbia preservationist Catherine Fleming Bruce by a 57 percent-43 percent margin with almost 95 percent of the vote in, according to unofficial S.C. Election Commission returns.

Matthews' did not respond to a request for comment but going from collecting one-third of the vote in the three-way primary two weeks ago, to getting nearly 60 percent in the runoff proves Matthew's hard work, her campaign advisor Brandon Upson said.

"She hit every region of the state in 10 days," Upson said late on June 28. "This is a testament of our hard work and it's how she's going to move forward, no matter what happened yesterday."

But to beat a "Goliath" like Scott, Upson said Matthews will have to broaden her campaign from now until November.

"All of the institutional machines that come around someone like him (Scott), she's going to have to build a machine of her own that can engage and turn out the electorate here," Upson said.

Bruce called the Matthews campaign to concede and offer congratulations once the Associated Press called the race about two hours after the polls closed. Although she was "out-raised and outspent by four times," Bruce said she is still proud of her campaign.

She did not declare support for Matthews in an interview late on June 28, but said she is looking at how to ensure the entire Democratic team can be successful in November.

"I will continue to work to deliver an alternative narrative to what the Republicans are doing," Bruce said.

Matthews said at a news conference last week that she built a coalition of supporters across the state since the primaries on June 14, and they've made sure she understood "they want a fighter and an energetic voice at the helm."

Matthews, 41, has touted her youthfulness, experience and energy as what separated her from Bruce.

In 2018, she became the first person to challenge Republican Rep. Bill Crosby since 2010, when he first won the District 117 House seat that Matthews now holds.

Matthews is concurrently seeking a third term at the state House of Representatives for her seat covering parts of Berkeley and Charleston counties.

Her campaign for Senate has focused on a number of areas including universal health care, lowering the cost of college education and raising the minimum wage.

Bruce finished first over Matthews and former Spartanburg County Democratic leader Angela Geter in the original primary on June 14 with about 34.71 percent of the vote.

A runoff was called when no candidate reached the 50-percent plus one vote mark.

Bruce, 60, pushed for affordable housing and easing income inequality, and acknowledged that her campaign funds didn't measure up to her opponent's.

Matthews has raised more than $100,000 on the campaign trail compared to Bruce's $26,000. But Scott's war chest supersedes them both. He ranks among Congress' strongest and has raised about $44 million, per the Federal Election Commission.

Beating Scott in November will be tough, as he is a prolific fundraiser and one of the most popular Republicans in the country.
The Medical University of South Carolina and one of its health centers were two of several Charleston area entities fined by the state for improperly disposing of infectious medical waste.

Among the waste, which ended up in multiple landfills throughout the area, were needles and medical equipment still containing blood and other bodily fluids, much of it packaged improperly in containers not sturdy enough to prevent leaks or punctures, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control inspectors in reports the agency shared June 29 with The Post and Courier.

MUSC and Ashley River Tower on Courtenay Drive were each fined $58,000, according to documents from DHEC. The Ashley River Tower facility specializes in digestive health, heart and vascular care.

Also named were Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, which was fined $55,000, and Naval Health Clinic Charleston in Goose Creek, which was fined $14,000.

Spokewoman Heather Woolwine confirmed MUSC has been working with DHEC to correct the problems, which the Charleston County Landfill drew attention to last fall.

"We immediately reached out to both our landfill and DHEC partners to determine the scope of the issue and to address it as quickly and as comprehensively as possible," Woolwine said in a statement. "MUSC took and continues to take extra steps to audit its waste to ensure it is being correctly sorted before sending it for appropriate disposal."

DHEC began looking into the issue in September, after a site manager for the Charleston County Landfill reported receiving multiple shipments of medical waste, which the landfill wasn't permitted to receive. During several inspections over the following weeks, authorities found glass medicine vials, IV tubing and other tubing containing blood, pieces of bodily tissue, multiple biohazard specimen bags, needle tips with enclosed blood, a pump containing blood and documents identifying MUSC as generator of the waste.

Oakridge and Berkeley County landfills also improperly received shipments of infectious waste from MUSC.

In total, MUSC was fined $116,000 for the violations, both of which have been paid in full, DHEC reported.

Charleston County Landfill and Republic Services Waste Transfer Station in North Charleston also received multiple shipments of infectious waste from Trident Medical Center last fall.

Like Charleston County Landfill, Republic is not permitted to receive infectious waste, according to the documents DHEC provided to The Post and Courier.

However, state inspectors reported finding bloody surgical trays, clear bags containing solid and infectious waste, needles and glass medicine vials.

Findings at Charleston County Landfill from Trident in October included bloody surgical table drapes, intubation equipment and supersaturated gauze.

"We're committed to complying with regulations, and we quickly took steps to address the findings," said Rod Whiting, spokesman for Trident. "Our efforts have been centered around colleague training and education. We want to make sure we are doing all we can to keep our colleagues, patients and community safe."

And in November, Moncks Corner-based solid waste processor Repower South Berkeley received multiple shipments of barbed dental broaches, glass carpules, dental burrs and needles from Naval Health Clinic in November.

Naval Health Clinic did not respond to requests for comment, but documents provided by DHEC state the clinic conducted additional staff training and internal audits in response to the state health agency's findings.

Like MUSC, DHEC reported Trident and Naval Health Clinic have corrected the violations and paid their fines in full.

The reports come the month after DHEC leveled Roper St. Francis with a fine for similar violations around the same time.

The Post and Courier reported last month that two of Roper St. Francis' hospitals, Roper Hospital in Charleston and Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital in West Ashley, repeatedly mishandled medical waste sent to Charleston County landfills in September and October.

A state inspector found bags filled with bloody gauze, gloves, medical vials and papers from Roper that were open and spilling onto the ground on several occasions.

Roper Hospital in Charleston was fined $50,000 and Bon Secours in West Ashley was fined $54,000, which has been paid in full, according to spokesman Andy Lyons.

Roper and Bon Secours both responded to DHEC's violations with corrective actions including a waste management plan that cost the hospital system $114,000.
NORTH CHARLESTON  An early morning shooting outside a gas station on Dorchester Road left one man dead.

North Charleston police officers responded just after 3:30 a.m. June 29 to a possible shooting at the Mobil gas station at 3615 Dorchester Road, spokesman Harve Jacobs said.

Officers found one man suffering a gunshot wound. He died at the scene, Jacobs said.

Information about a suspect or motive was not immediately available. The Charleston County Coroner's Office will identify the victim.

The man's death marked the 17th homicide reported in North Charleston this year.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon hours. High 88F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Goose Creek, SC (29445)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. High 88F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening followed by isolated thunderstorms overnight. Low 74F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Ellen Weaver won the Republican primary runoff for state superintendent of education June 28, claiming victory after her opponent Kathy Maness conceded the race before all the votes were counted.

Weaver, the head of the right-leaning think tank Palmetto Promise Institute, carried about 63 percent of the vote, according to unofficial late returns, to Maness' 37 percent, with better than 90 percent of the statewide vote counted.

The win was a turnaround from the initial primary voting two weeks ago when she came in behind Maness, the head of one of the state's top teacher associations.

Weaver will proceed to the general election in November where she will face Democratic candidate Lisa Ellis and Green Party candidate Patricia Mickel.

Until last week, Ellis was the head of the teacher advocacy organization SC for Ed but announced a leave of absence to focus on the race.

"The voters spoke loud and clear to put parents in charge, support teachers by restoring discipline and prepare our students with the skills the need to succeed," Weaver said.

Maness said she will keep fighting to put students first and improve South Carolina schools.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick welcomed Weaver's victory and said it was a step in keeping the direction of the state's public education under GOP leadership.

"We look forward to working together to ensure our school system puts the needs of our children first and does not focus on a one-size-fits-all approach in the classroom," he said.

"Further, we intend to keep this seat in Republican hands and can't wait to beat Democrats in November when South Carolina elects Ellen as the next State Superintendent of Education," he added.

The superintendent race kicked-off in October when current S.C. Superintendent Molly Spearman announced she was not seeking reelection after eight years in the position.

Weaver received the most campaign donations, gathering $300,000 that largely came from big-donors and school choice advocates, according to a Post and Courier analysis of campaign filings.

Some of these donors included Meeting Street Schools founder Ben Navarro and Truist bank group president and current gubernatorial appointee on the state Board of Education Mike Brenan.

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Former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who Weaver worked with for many years, also donated to her campaign.

Maness, on the other hand, collected approximately $115,000, much of which was from small donations from teachers and parents.

The two quickly emerged as front-runners in the six-way Republican primary June 14 with Maness receiving 31 percent and Weaver getting 23 percent of the votes. Shortly after the two candidates realized they would face each other in a runoff, the gloves came off.

Maness attributed her victory to her grassroots campaign made up of thousands of supporters and volunteers rather than backing from what she termed the mega-rich elite and D.C. special interests. In a statement to The Post and Courier, she said the results showed that South Carolina education cannot and should not be bought.

Weaver went after Maness for being a member of the education establishment. She said that while Maness was busy "applauding Joe Biden and working with national unions to keep classrooms closed and kids in masks, I was fighting alongside leaders like Governor Henry McMaster and Senator Tim Scott to stand up for parents rights, return to in-person learning, and expand school choice for families."

The tension ratcheted up the week before the runoff as endorsements came in for both candidates. Maness received support from Spearman and the sixth-place finisher in the primary, Lynda Leventis-Wells, who is a member of the Greenville County School Board. Weaver nabbed big names like Scott and state Rep. Russell Fry, who is running for Congress.

Weaver thanked the conservative voices for coming together and supporting her as a "voice of change" in South Carolina's education system.

Jon Parker, Maness' campaign spokesman, criticized the fact that many of Weaver's supporters were legislators and pointed out that Maness wanted to empower parents, not politicians.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon hours. High 89F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening followed by isolated thunderstorms overnight. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
SUMTER  Military retirees will no longer pay any South Carolina income taxes on their pensions under a new law meant to attract and thank veterans while also keeping their skills in the Palmetto State.

The law ceremoniously signed by Gov. Henry McMaster June 29 lets veterans keep all of their military pension payments, closing the loop six years after the Legislature partially exempted their retirement income.

"This is the day we thought would never come, but better late than never," Sen. Thomas McElveen said at the welcome center outside Shaw Air Force Base, which is part of his district and among the eight major military instillations operating in South Carolina.

The Sumter Democrat called the law, which actually took effect with McMaster's signature May 13, "the most important piece of legislation I've worked on" over his decade in the Senate while also noting his frustrations with seeing it repeatedly fail in his chamber.

House Speaker Murrell Smith said the effort started in 2010, after a retiring Air Force pilot told the Sumter Republican he wanted to stay but "it costs me money to live in South Carolina" as opposed to other states that already exempted military pensions from taxes.

"This is the way that we say 'thank you' to our veterans and to those who sacrifice to serve our country," said Smith, the chamber's newly elected speaker.

The partial victory that he and other sponsors pushed through in 2016 started a five-year phase-in of tax deductions of up to $17,500 annually for veterans under 65 and up to $30,000 for older veterans' pensions.

The full exemption brings South Carolina in line with a list that's grown to 35 other states. Advocates said it was essential to keep the state competitive for veterans deciding where to settle their families after decades of moves.

The new law is expected to reduce revenues by $8 million for the fiscal year starting July 1, in addition to a $23 million reduction from the fully phased-in 2016 law, according to estimates from the state's Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.

"We've touted ourselves as the most military state in the country. This is putting our money where our mouth is," said Bill Bethea, former chairman of the Military Base Task Force who helped drive the bi-partisan effort.

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South Carolina is home to nearly 400,000 veterans. About 64,000 of those are military retirees earning pensions after serving in the military at least 20 years, ranking the state eighth nationwide, according to the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

The law does not exempt any income that veterans earn from jobs they take after retiring from the military.

"South Carolina is a very popular state for retirees and they bring with them a lot of skills essential to our workforce," Bethea said after the celebratory signing.

"We have more jobs than people to fill them," he added. "Who better can you find than someone whos lived a disciplined life for 20 or 30 years?"

The event in Sumter corresponded to the release of an economic study showing the military contributes $34 billion to South Carolina's economy, representing 11 percent of the total economy and supporting more than 250,000 jobs either directly or indirectly.

The Charleston region, which includes Joint Base Charleston and the U.S. Coast Guard, still has the state's largest military presence, accounting for $12.7 billion of the total economic impact. The tri-county area is home to 15,600 service members, 75,200 veterans, 15,500 retirees and 5,400 Department of Defense civilian contractors, according to the study commissioned by the state veterans' agency and prepared by University of South Carolina economist Joseph Von Nessen.

Ranking second is the Midlands, which includes Fort Jackson and McEntire Joint National Guard Base, with a $6.6 billion economic impact, 18,000 service members, nearly 80,000 veterans, 16,500 retirees, and 3,400 civilian contractors, according to the study.

McMaster noted the law benefiting military retirees, which he's advocated since 2018, is part of a budget finalized this week that additionally cuts South Carolinians' income taxes by more than $700 million and provides taxpayers a one-time rebate of $1 billion total.

"This is just one wonderful thing to make a difference in South Carolina," he said of the pension exemption. "This was, is and always will be a great military state."
COLUMBIA  The probe into a recent leak of audio featuring a South Carolina state lawmaker making what she called "tongue in cheek" remarks to an incarcerated prisoner about questionable campaign practices is now in the hands of law enforcement.

Over the weekend, an edited version of comments made by Democratic state Rep. Krystle Matthews on a February jailhouse call was released by right-wing activist group Project Veritas.

The group has a reputation for trying to catch politicians, journalists, liberals and academics in compromising statements, though critics say their words are often taken out of context by its members and allies.

Some of the banter in the call included advocating for taking money from drug dealers and finding stealth candidates to run as Republicans.

I dont care about no dope money, give me that dope boy money," Matthews is identified as saying, according to the audio. "Where the duffle bag boys?"

Matthews easily won the statewide Democratic primary runoff June 28 for the nomination to be the party's challenger against Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Scott in November.

How the recording got in the hands of the group remains a mystery. The S.C. Department of Corrections said a copy of the call was forwarded to law enforcement.

A spokeswoman said the agency has no record of anyone requesting an original copy.

"We referred it to the appropriate law enforcement authorities," said spokeswoman Chrysti Shain, who noted jailhouse calls are public record. She confirmed what may have been a three-way call is not permitted under Corrections Department rules.

Representatives for the State Law Enforcement Division did not respond to a request for comment, while the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.

Project Veritas did confirm to The Post and Courier it obtained the recording just three days after the date of their February phone call between Matthews, D-Ladson, and an inmate at the Perry Correctional Institution in Pelzer  David Solomon Ballard who is serving time for threatening law enforcement.

Project Veritas' only released a 3-minute edit of a 43-minute call, which the Post and Courier later obtained via SCDC.

In the edited version, Matthews appears to advocate for candidates engaging in a number of campaign activities to win races in South Carolina. These included willfully accepting drug money for campaign donations, encouraging Democrats to run as Republicans and removing opponents campaign signs from peoples yards in an attempt to change the dynamics in South Carolina.

"Get you  find me somebody from your family that dont even know you donating to my campaign and put that (expletive) under they names, she said at one point.

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Matthews did not respond to multiple requests for an interview from The Post and Courier over several days.

Project Veritas has surfaced before in South Carolina. In 2017, the groups founder, James OKeefe, sent an actor to the two Department of Health and Human Services offices in the Lowcountry posing as an Irish Republican Army supporter seeking health care assistance as part of a larger effort to expose Medicaid fraud throughout the country.

Elsewhere, in 2010, O'Keefe and his colleagues were arrested in New Orleans in an alleged plot to tamper with sitting U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieus phone system. (O'Keefe later plead guilty to a misdemeanor in that case, and the court later found there was no intent to tamper with the phone system.)

Project Veritas declined to provide a full, unedited version of the conversation it has involving Matthews, saying that the audio clips largely spoke for themselves.

"As journalists, I'm sure you'll understand that we don't release anything beyond what we already put out," said Mario Balaban, media relations manager for the Project Veritas Action Fund.

The edited comments were quickly disbursed by major conservative figures like Lara Logan and Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said in a tweet Matthews "needs to go to jail, not the Senate."

Matthews has defended her comments in some media interviews, including with WCSC-TV saying that they were a "tongue in-cheek" effort to relate with a member of the Black community in a larger conversation about inspiring Black men and women to become more engaged in political activism and organizing in groups like the conservative Moms For Liberty.

"Communication is not about how you give it, it's also about how it's received," Matthews told the Charleston station in a June 28 Facebook Live interview.

"If you are talking in a manner where people can't understand the point you're trying to make or get to where you are, then you're defeating the purpose," she said.

It is unclear why Matthews was discussing politics with Ballard. A spokeswoman with the Department of Corrections said Ballard is active with the Charleston Black Liberation Fund, which considers him a political prisoner. The group declined any involvement in organizing the call.

In 2018, Ballard was sentenced to 14 years in prison for making social media threats against Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt and injuring a SLED agent during his arrest the previous December.

The S.C. House Ethics Committee released a statement June 28 saying it was aware "concerning statements" made by an unidentified member of the House. Committee Chairman Jay Jordan, R-Florence, said there would be no comment on the matter and the committee would only act on "verified" information.

Matthews is currently serving in the state Legislature and is simultaneously running to defend her House District 117 seat in November while at the same time she is seeking the U.S. Senate seat now held by Scott.
Gov. Henry McMaster turns to Sara Goldsby, director of the state Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, to thank her on June 22 for her agency's work in creating a guidebook for how opioid settlement money can be best spent to combat the drug crisis.
SPARTANBURG  Greenville Woodworkers Guild partnered with Mary & Martha Services of Spartanburg to design, build and donate red oak bunk beds for Ukrainian families who are now living in Spartanburg County.

The woodworkers guild designed and built 15 bunk beds. Joe Boyd, president of the guild, said his favorite part of the project was turning a hobby into something good for people who had to leave their home country.

Boyd said the Greenville Woodworkers Guild receives many requests to help charitable organizations. The request for the beds was received in May and they were finished in June.

We, like many people in Greenville, see the tragedies that are occurring in Ukraine, and we all want to help in some way, Boyd said.

Greenville-based Engineered Sleep Mattress Company also helped with the project by donating 30 mattresses.

We've had a couple other families that have had six or seven children, said Marcia Trott, executive director of Mary & Martha Services. Trying to find beds for that many people can be pretty daunting for the families.

Trott and her husband David founded Mary & Martha Services five years ago. The organization helps refugees, disaster victims and other people in crisis. Mary & Martha Services helps people resettle and rebuild by giving them household goods. Trott said Mary & Martha Services partners with more than 15 organizations.

So far, Trott said shes helped more than 250 people whove recently come to Spartanburg from Ukraine.
Matt Ridley is the co-author of Viral: The Search For the Origin of Covid-19. It has just been published in an updated paperback edition (in the UK, anyway). He summarizes The case for the lab-leak theory in a timely column for Spiked. It seems to me that Ridley makes a powerful case.

China has suppressed access to all information bearing on the lab-leak theory. Given that the CCP knows every jot and tittle of the evidence, its suppression is itself powerful circumstantial evidence in support of the lab-leak theory. Ridley confines this point to a glancing discussion in the penultimate paragraph:

In a court of law, a prosecutor would regard all this -available scientific evidence] as a strong case. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine, he would probably say, quoting Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. And then he would start going through the extraordinary litany of unhelpful obstacles that the Chinese government has put in the way of the World Health Organisation and everybody else who tries to get information on the early patients and what happened in the lab. When WHO investigators went to Wuhan in early 2021 they spent just three hours in the institute and visited the wrong lab (with the wrong biosafety level) on the wrong campus (in Jiangxia instead of Wuchang). As far as we know the WHO investigators were not shown the lower biosafety labs where the SARS-like virus work had been conducted.

This all goes to Chinas responsibility for the spread of the virus around the world and the related enormities it has caused. For some reason, however, this is an issue that has dropped from the public view of the Biden administration. President Biden himself has directed his ire on these enormities to the guy who preceded him. It is, shall we say, disgusting.

I say Ridleys column is timely because it arrives coincidentally with the revelation that, contrary to his public denials, Biden discussed Hunter Bidens Chinese connections with Hunter. Josh Boswell reports on the voicemail message the Daily found from Joe Biden on Hunters cell phone in the excellent Daily Mail story VOICEMAIL from Joe Biden to Hunter about NY Times report on his Chinese business dealings proves he DID speak to his son about his relationship with criminal dubbed the spy chief of China.' Boswell explains that the voicemail message comes from a backup of Hunters iPhone XS stored on his abandoned laptop.

The Daily Mail provides these handy bullet points for the story:

 Joe Biden called Hunter in December 2018 saying he wanted to talk to him after reading a New York Times story about Hunters dealings with the Chinese oil giant CEFC.

 Files on Hunters abandoned laptop previously disclosed by DailyMail.com show that he struck a deal with the Chinese company worth millions of dollars.

 The Times 2018 story pointed out CEFCs chairman Ye Jianming had been arrested in China and his lieutenant Patrick Ho had been convicted of bribery.

 Hunter accidentally recorded himself referring to Ho as the spy chief of China

 After seeing the story online, Joe called Hunter and left a voicemail

 I thought the article released online, its going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good. I think youre clear, Joe said in the voicemail. [Miranda Devine explains that Biden was referring to a New York Times story about the arrest of Hunter Bidens Chinese business partner Patrick Ho on bribery charges.]

 The message flies in the face of the presidents repeated denials that he ever discussed Hunters overseas business dealings with his son

Miranda Devine follows up in the New York Post column Why Hunters dealings with China arent a big fat nothing for his President father. Tucker Carlson featured Devine in a segment whose video is posted in Geoffrey Dickenss Media Research Center story Networks CENSOR Joe Bidens I Think Youre Clear Voicemail to Hunter. The Post has more here today. I have posted the MRC video below.
Democrats, desperate for a life line, are demagoguing the Dobbs decision for all they are worth. Take my state of Minnesota, where Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, two of Americas sleaziest politicians, are stoking Dobbs hysteria in hopes of hanging on to their jobs in November.

Of course, the Dobbs decision isnt going to have any impact in Minnesota. The states Supreme Court has held that abortion is a right sanctified under Minnesotas Constitution, so Dobbs is irrelevant here. And in any case, there is zero chance of the states legislature voting to ban or seriously restrict abortion on demand. But those facts havent deterred Walz from this absurd fundraising pitch:

But what is even more ridiculous is the pledge, made simultaneously by Walz and Ellison, not to extradite any women who come to Minnesota for abortions and are criminally prosecuted in the state from which they came:

Ellison held a press conference announcing his office would not assist any state in the extradition of their citizens who travelled to Minnesota to receive an abortion. Walz followed that with an executive order over the weekend telling state agencies under his control to decline requests for the arrest or surrender of any person charged with a criminal violation of a law of another state where the violation alleged involves the provision of, assistance with, securing of, or receipt of reproductive health care services. [Ed.: That means abortions.] During the press conference, he resorted to scare tactics just as he did repeatedly during the pandemic. You got a family member in Texas who calls and asks what you can do to help them, that phone call subjects you to Texas felony laws for aiding and abetting someone for making their own personal healthcare decisions.

Where to begin? First of all, the idea that making a phone call from Texas to Minnesota about abortion is a crime in Texas is ridiculous, as explained at the link. Walz should be ashamed of himself for that assertion, except that, as we have learned, the man has no shame.

And what is the theory on which another state might seek to extradite someone who obtained an abortion in Minnesota? No other state has jurisdiction in Minnesota, or any ability to criminalize getting an abortion in Minnesota. And in any event, the idea that some other state would do such a thing is crazy.

But the Democrats are desperate. They will say or do anything they think might help them hang on to their jobs in what promises to be an anti-Democratic Party tsunami.
There are about 15 million cars in Nigeria, but we use more SUVs than many countries around the world, if not all. So, lets say 50 per cent of these cars are small. That will be 7.5 million small cars multiplied by N10,000, making N75 billion. If the other 7.5 million big cars are taxed at, say, N30,000, that will make for N225 billion. This is a potential yearly collection, on this tax line alone. We could start very small and scale up later.

Weeks after the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the elections in 2015 and amid all the euphoria of the times, the party organised its first and only economic summit at the Hilton Hotel, Abuja. As a supporter of General Buhari then, I attended. I noticed that there were many professors of Nigerian descent invited from abroad. The atmosphere was optimistic. We thought we had finally gotten it right. But many of the professors, as well as the captains of industry, who were invited only came to lament about the scarcity of funds for economic development. A lot of the professors also came with dated ideas and I recall in one of the breakout sessions, former Minister Bolaji Abdullahi, while having a hard time convincing these pundits that basic education was a better investment than university education, with the scarcity of funds earlier alluded to. Someone like me was rather out of place there, because the conveners already had their famous and favourite intellectuals to call on to. I recall trying to get the attention of Governor Fayemi on a personal basis and being brusquely brushed off by him too. In that season, I made friends with Okoi Obono Obla and Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora.

But it was in the last plenary I attended that I got the inkling that we may had missed it, again. It was question and answer time, and as much as I tried, I was not called. But a white lady almost in front of me was recognised to speak. She got up and said this, exactly: Ive heard many people say that you do not have finance for your projects. Ive been to many countries in my time. Nigeria is the only country where you dont get charged for over-speeding. How then do you intend to get finance for your budgets? As a professional, she sat down after this short and direct question. She looked like a diplomat of sorts. But the organisers totally ignored this question, much to my dismay, and moved on to another question. The average Nigerian has no time for small fries like overspeeding tickets. Chances are that the lady was equally disappointed. But for me that day, that was it. After about 10 minutes, I got up and left. I had lived in London and I know how things work. I also understand the power of aggregating from a large number of people, small fines, fees, duties, rates, rents, levies, and taxes. I know that you may not succeed as a government if you ignore what you think are the little things. Of course, the Buhari administration is closing as one of the worst in our history. Not only have we seen two recessions in seven years, there is a chance we will see another one within the next few months, making it a record third recession under the same administration. Put that down to bad luck, but we also lost whatever was left of our societal discipline and too many of our people have become belligerent and destructive. And we are stuck with one of the lowest government revenue-to-GDP ratios in the entire world.

One unspoken reason behind our low revenue compliance and capability problem is that our elites are not yet ready to reach a consensus, to use their wealth to reboot this economy. I recall that some months back before the election frenzy, the vice president spoke about elite consensus. But he never followed this up. At his 2019 colloquium, Asiwaju Tinubu also emphasised the need to be more aggressive in getting government revenue up. He even offered himself as a sacrificial lamb by saying that if he was not paying enough taxes, he should be approached. I have noticed, however, that our finance ministers would rather not rock the boat, and our tax collectors are such that dont understand just how dedicated to their jobs they should be. Some of them always take sides with taxpayers, helping to rationalise why people shouldnt pay taxes. When an Inland Revenue Service man begins to say things like, shey you know they bought their own generator and did their roads, you know you have a problem. A tax collector must have a single-minded approach to his job, and only rationalise at the highest level. A trainee tax collector should do his job strictly, not assume the position of adjudicator for we taxpayers. For a culture of tax and other revenue compliance must be achieved in Nigeria if we are to make progress. And I am less particular about taxes than I am about other areas of government revenue such as:

1. Duties

2. Rates

3. Rents

4. Levies

5. Fines

6. Fees

Among others.

Now we are in deep trouble, as we owe very close to $100 billion. For context, as at 2006 when we were in a debt trap and begged for forgiveness from the Paris and London Clubs, we were owing just $35 billion. The Buhari administration alone has contracted almost $50 billion in new loans plus the devaluation of currency effect. The Jonathan government, with Mrs Okonjo-Iweala as coordinating minister, left our loans at $53 billion.

Back to the ladys question. Why do we not collect fines for overspeeding in Nigeria? It is just because we refuse to be organised. We also are uncontrollable. And any society that is uncontrollable, where every and anyone does things the way they like, will never make real progress. Our uncontrollability is the reason why people now see Nigeria as a pariah nation  a place to be avoided. Not only have foreigners stopped coming here, they are also sealing us from their countries. They are only interested in our best brains whom they hope to be able to reform. They have given up on us organising ourselves, and even we have since given up on ourselves. With EndSARS and other recent upheavals, our people became even more uncontrollable. A lot of Nigerians would rather make a big scene, and cause trouble, if they are asked to pay a fine for overspeeding. They will put it on Instagram Live and attempt to ridicule the law enforcers. Law enforcers too would rather just collect a small bribe and let the culprit go  money that should go to the state for, well, executing the budget. And then our professors will come to summits such as the APCs and lament how we dont have money to execute their brilliant ideas. Our government will also give up on getting organic revenues up, and choose to rather borrow instead. Now we are in deep trouble, as we owe very close to $100 billion. For context, as at 2006 when we were in a debt trap and begged for forgiveness from the Paris and London Clubs, we were owing just $35 billion. The Buhari administration alone has contracted almost $50 billion in new loans plus the devaluation of currency effect. The Jonathan government, with Mrs Okonjo-Iweala as coordinating minister, left our loans at $53 billion.

Perhaps a more serious and intractable issue facing us in this regard, is that we have too many big men, who run for free. There isnt anyone born of a woman in Nigeria who can stop the Nigerian big man and ask him to pay for overspeeding or for running traffic lights. Yet, these guys are the biggest culprits. They just dont give a toss about things like this. They are also the ones riding motorcades of many luxury cars, paid for by the taxpayer. Yes, the poor, disappearing, unfortunate, taxpayer.

As Another Administration Approaches

If we are not careful, the next administration, if it is populated by the usual mindset, will also complain about having no money to finance its otherwise lofty ideas. Already, Ive heard many people  a lot of them young folks  wondering where the funds will come from to run some of the ambitious projects of, say, a President Tinubu. I havent heard very ambitious ideas from the rest, who are basically trying to shrink public goods and pursue market determined prices for everything. And so, I was just thinking around this issue the other day and decided to explore just one item; vehicle taxes, or road tax, or car tax; call it whatever you wish. I discovered that Pakistan had recently doubled car tax on any car beyond 1600cc horse power, and tried to look at the revenue implication of a similar tax in Nigeria (even if collected at the state and local government levels). Lets start small. Say N10,000 tax per year on small cars. There are about 15 million cars in Nigeria, but we use more SUVs than many countries around the world, if not all. So, lets say 50 per cent of these cars are small. That will be 7.5 million small cars multiplied by N10,000, making N75 billion. If the other 7.5 million big cars are taxed at, say, N30,000, that will make for N225 billion. This is a potential yearly collection, on this tax line alone. We could start very small and scale up later. And if government can show integrity, fidelity, and example, this country can be transformed and its GDP can grow in double digits. We are coming from a negative position anyway. I believe that we can transform this country without the ongoing reckless borrowing that is mortgaging our unborn children.

The world is changing rapidly. Nigeria has only been left behind because of the attitude of we the people  the leaders and the led. We sort of believe that development will drop on our laps, or that God will neglect other peoples of the world and help us. Sometimes, we also believe that we can borrow our way out of underdevelopment or that the white man will gift us technology. It is that simple. We act like people with simple minds, make all the wrong assumptions, and complain later. Development is hard. Development is difficult. Development is long-term and requires pain, planning, and perseverance.

It is the seriousness around tax collection that makes South Africa budget seven times our own budget, in dollar terms, for her people, while we can only budget peanuts. The SARS (South Africa Revenue Service), collects at least R1.54 trillion every year. If we multiply this by 26 into the Nigerian naira, that comes to N40 trillion. Our entire federal budget is a mere N17 trillion, despite all the push from folks like me who have insisted that we budget higher for our people.

I recall the day I paid AED1,600 in Dubai for overspeeding. Some eight years ago, Dubai, which had transformed its economy away from crude oil and into tourism, also got smart and installed speed cameras everywhere. One day on my way from Al Ain, I was just blowing my speed normally, doing a modest 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), not knowing that they had dropped the speed limit to 80 kmph in some areas. What I paid that day alone is equivalent to N250,000 today. And that was not the only time that I was caught by the speed camera in Dubai, even in Umm Al Quwain. Nigerians are in Dubai, paying this every day. What this kind of tax does is however not just about raising money for government, but ensuring order in society. Abuja, our Federal Capital is today the most unruly, most undisciplined and, of course, the most corrupt city-state in Nigeria. Nobody has respect for traffic lights, not even the good old local taxis (they just dont care anymore). On a few occasions, the traffic police makes brisk business for their own pockets. Of course, if we cannot make Abuja sane, there is no hope for anywhere else. Shame on the Buhari government, but things must change.

It is the seriousness around tax collection that makes South Africa budget seven times our own budget, in dollar terms, for her people, while we can only budget peanuts. The SARS (South Africa Revenue Service), collects at least R1.54 trillion every year. If we multiply this by 26 into the Nigerian naira, that comes to N40 trillion. Our entire federal budget is a mere N17 trillion, despite all the push from folks like me who have insisted that we budget higher for our people. At the current level, our per capita budget is a mere $200 per person, while SA does as high as $3,000 per person. In Europe and the USA, this number is around $25,000 on the average. Why would any other country then have respect for us? We are not taking ourselves serious and we have consistently allowed monies that are due to government to flow instead into the pockets of individuals and gangs. This must change. Even tax havens like the Arab countries have embraced change. Where parts of Nigeria (particularly the North and East) are very resistant to taxation, even the Arab countries have introduced the value added tax (VAT) at 5 per cent (2017 in Dubai and 2018 in Saudi Arabia). Tax in the new age is godly, except you want to get into serious economic crisis.

The challenge for our government is how to show fidelity to the people. How do we show that government is not merely collecting from people to spend freely on their fancies? I believe this can be done. Under Governor Fashola in Lagos, this was done. Signposts littered Lagos showing what taxes were used for, while encouraging residents to pay more. People found themselves complying more. This must be done nationally. And why not? We are now in serious trouble and crisis, using 95 per cent of our meagre revenue to service the interest on our $100 billion debt. Our Federal Inland Revenue Service now collects close to N7 trillion, as against N40 trillion collected by the SARS of South Africa. We cannot continue like this. Certainly not. Nigerians should rally round to save their country, and invoke the wrath of Hades on that public servant who wishes to usurp their sweat.

Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, entrepreneur, and recent presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), can be reached through topsyfash@yahoo.com.
The Delta State Police Command has shared some security tips with Nigerians on how to stay safe amidst rising insecurity in the country.

The command shared the tips in a tweet on its handle @DeltaPoliceNG on Friday.

Virtually all parts of country currently battle with one form of insecurity or the other with various crimes going on, largely unabated.

Parts of the North-west is now being overran by rampaging bandits who kidnap for ransom and kill victims who cannot pay for their freedom.

While the North-central is also plagued by bandits and criminal herders who operate in parts of Kogi, Benue and Nassarawa, the North-east is still fighting an age-long battle war with Boko Haram and other insurgency groups such as ISWAP.

Even though authorities claim the insurgents have largely been degraded and are now focusing more on soft targets and solitary military formations, Boko Haram elements are still able to carry out attacks in many parts of the North-east including on military posts and formations.

The South-east and South-south regions are also battling with attacks from suspected separatists.

In its advisory, the police urged Nigerians to avoid showing off and many other norms in the society.

Read full list:

Weekend security tips

Tip 1. Never use car stickers that say where you work, especially if you have a prestigious job.

Tip 2. Never share pictures of your kids in their school uniforms or badges. Protect your kids!

Tip 3. When you attend parties, dont let the band get you so high that you start spraying money. Use an envelope

Tip 4. Dont be the one that tries to empty the ATM machine by making large withdrawals You dont need 50k in your wallet to feel like a man.

Tip 5. Always delete your bank transaction notifications, especially SMSyou really can memorize your bank balance.Shred ur POS/ATM receipts.

Tip 6. Dont go jogging while its dark, you really should be smarter than that. If you can, get someone trusted as company.

Tip 7. Always lock your doors, even if youre only going out to switch off your generator.

Tip 8. NEVER NEVER, NEVER EVER WEAR YOUR ID outside your work place. No one needs to know where you work

Tip 9. Be accountable to your spouse or parents, let someone know where you are at every point.

Tip 10. As much as you can, dont send kids alone on errand outside your house, they are soft targets.

Tip 11. Dont try to show that you are the richest in the neighborhood by making large donations in your estate meetings, learn modesty.

Tip 12. When you give, give with modesty and privately, learn to say I cant spare that amount now.

Tip 13. Dont stay late in your office long after closing hours. That deadline work can be done later or at home if you wish.

Tip 14. Make safety the number one factor in your decision always!

Tip 15. Mind what you post about yourself on social media.
Barely 24 hours after it was called out, the Nigerian Senate has reacted to the arrest and remand of former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, in the UK.

The Senate resolved to send a delegation of its committee on foreign affairs to London to see the couple.

The delegation will leave for the UK in two days.

The Senate also mandated its committee on foreign affairs to engage with the British High Commission to find more details on the case as far as the Commission is involved.

Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, made this known at the end of a closed door session on Wednesday.

At the end of the executive session which lasted about an hour, Mr Lawan announced that the lawmakers were briefed on the arrest of their colleague, Mr Ekweremadu, in London.

He said he had a personal engagement with Nigerian High Commissioner to Britain who has done so well to establish contact with Mr Ekweremadu  who has been able to get his team to be in the court in Uxbridge where he was taken to.

The High Commission, he explained, has been able to provide some consular services that included the engagement of lawyers who will defend the Enugu senator.

The Senate President also said they have limited opportunities to do beyond what has been done  because issue is already in court.

While he assured the family of Mr Ekweremadu that more will be done, he said a delegation will be sent to see the couple.

There will be a delegation to London to see Senator Ekweremadu and his wife. The delegation on the senate committee on foreign affairs will leave in two days.

We urge all institutions that can do anything to ensure that they do so, particularly the ministry of foreign affairs. And as for the Nigerian High Commission, we can ask for more but they have done us proud, he said.

The couple were arrested last week by the London Metropolitan Police. They were charged with alleged trafficking of one David Nwanini with the aim of harvesting his kidney.

The allegations were that Mr Ekweremadu and his wife brought 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 to treat their daughter who is suffering from kidney disease.

They were tried at the Uxbridge Magistrates Court in London and denied bail as the prosecutors reportedly informed the court that Mr Ekweremadu procured a passport for the boy and claimed he was 21 years old only to discover that he was 15 years old.

But the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), has, however, said the age of the alleged victim of organ harvesting, David Nwamini, was 21; contradicting the claims of prosecutors in London.

Many Nigerians had condemned the Senate for its silence on the issue at yesterdays plenary.

The House of Representatives invited the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz, to appear and brief relevant committees of the House on the ongoing trial in London of Mr Ekweremadu.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS), Idris Jere, was also invited.

If convicted, the Ekweremadus may get a maximum of life sentence or 12 months imprisonment or a fine or both on summary conviction under the United Kingdoms Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The Act read, A person guilty of an offence under Section 1 or 2 is liable (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
The Senate is set to begin the screening of the seven new ministers appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari last week.

The nominated ministers are Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh  Abia State; Umana Okon Umana  Akwa Ibom State; Ekumankama Joseph Nkama- Ebonyi State and Goodluck Nanah Opiah  Imo State.

Others are Umar Ibrahim El-Yakub  Kano State; Ademola Adewole Adegoroye  Ondo State; and Odum Udi  Rivers State.

The ministers will be screened individually and it will be done at plenary.

The exercise has been listed among the items on the Order Paper for the day and the nominees, this paper learnt are present at the legislative complex already.

Mr Buhari had written the Senate last Tuesday, nominating the seven ministers and seeking the lawmakers confirmation.

He said the confirmation request was made in accordance with Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

He, however, did not state their portfolios.

If cleared by the Senate, the ministerial nominees are to replace those who resigned recently to contest for other political offices.

ALSO READ: Buhari appoints seven new ministers

Some of the ministers who resigned are Rotimi Amaechi, Godswill Akpabio, Ogbonnaya Onu and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba who contested for the presidential primary.

Others are Uche Ogar who contested and won the fractional Abia State governorship primary and Tayo Alasoadura who contested and lost the APC senatorial primary.

They had resigned in accordance with the provisions of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act which states that No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.

Follow PREMIUM TIMES for live updates of the screening.




The Senate has confirmed the seven new ministers nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The confirmed nominees are Henry Ikechukwu  Abia State; Umana Umana  Akwa Ibom State; Ekumankama Nkama- Ebonyi State and Goodluck Opiah  Imo State.

Others are Umar El-Yakub  Kano State; Ademola Adegoroye  Ondo State; and Odum Udi  Rivers State.

The ministers were confirmed immediately after their screening exercise on Wednesday. The screening lasted about five hours.

They were screened individually during plenary.

While some ministers were asked to take a bow and go, others were asked random questions on the economy, education, insecurity, among others.

Many lawmakers spoke highly of the ministers, particularly the senators who represent the senatorial districts where the nominees hail from.

At the end of the screening exercise, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the exercise, put the question of their confirmation, to a voice vote and the lawmakers unanimously approved their appointments.

President Muhammadu Buhari had written the Senate last Tuesday, nominating the seven ministers and seeking the lawmakers confirmation.

He said said the confirmation request was made in accordance with Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

He however, did not state their portfolios.

The president is expected to swear in the ministers in the coming days and announce the ministries they will head.

The newly-appointed ministers are to replace ministers on Mr Buharis cabinet who had resigned to contest for other offices.

Some of the ministers who resigned are Rotimi Amaechi, Godswill Akpabio, Ogbonnaya Onu and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba who contested for the presidential primary.

Others are Uche Ogar who contested and won the fractional Abia State governorship primary and Tayo Alasoadura who contested and lost the APC senatorial primary.

They had resigned in accordance with the provisions of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act which states that No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.
The controversial water resources bill has been reintroduced to the House of Representatives.

The bill, sponsored by the Chairman of House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli (APC, Katsina), was read the first time on Wednesday.

The bill, which was introduced in the 8th Assembly, caused outrage then as some Nigerians interpreted the proposed law as a power grab by the federal government.

Prominent Nigerians who spoke against it included Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana (SAN) and Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State.

The bill was again introduced as an executive bill and passed in 2020.

However, the decision on the bill was rescinded by the House two months after a motion was moved by Ben Mzondu (PDP, Benue).

Mr Mzondu faulted the process of reconsidering the bill, noting that it was not properly passed.

Bill reintroduced

Mark Gbillah (PDP, Benue), expressed concern on the bill, stating that most Nigerians rejected the bill the last time. He said, some of us are not comfortable with this bill.

The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, said that governors contributed in the drafting of the new bill.

Apparently it is a new bill that all the governors of the federation both south and north participated in this bill and I want to take him by his word, he said.

Mr Gbajabiamila urged lawmakers to talk to their respective governors on the bill.

Talk to your governors both from the north and from the south and get their opinion on how it affects your states or your area of operation, he said.

Mr Gbillah rejected the explanation by the speaker, stating that lawmakers are constitutionally empowered to decide on legislation, not governors.

Whatever the governors might have agreed upon may not be acceptable to us. It is we that those powers as enshrined in the constitution to enact legislation that will be binding on this country, he said.

The back and forth between the two continued, as Mr Gbajabiamilaa disclosed that Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, also supported the bill.

But I am hoping that we can work in tandem with the governors on this particular issue. Like I said your governor (Samuel Ortom) was specifically mentioned as one of people that bought into it, the speaker stated.

Mr Gbajabiamila, therefore, directed the Chairman House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Fulata (APC, Jigawa) to ensure that all members get a copy of the bill ahead of its second reading.

Responding to the issues, Mr Soli said the minutes of the meeting with the Nigerian Governors Forum had been attached to the bill.

Let me assure my colleagues on my honour that the comments of the governors forum are attached to the bill and the comment of the attorney general which was requested by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources are attached to the bill. All attorney-generals of different states of the federation commented on the bill before they could address some of the issues that were raised on the floor.

I will not stand here to see a particular section of this country is shortchanged by a legislation of this country. If that happens Mr Speaker, I will withdraw the bill in the interest of this country, he said.

Following the assurance, the bill was allowed to pass.
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday, screened and confirmed the seven new ministers appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

They are Henry Ikechukwu  Abia State; Umana Umana  Akwa Ibom State; Ekumankama Nkama- Ebonyi State and Goodluck Opiah  Imo State.

Others are Umar El-Yakub  Kano State; Ademola Adegoroye  Ondo State; and Odum Udi  Rivers State.

There was no female among the appointed ministers.

The ministers-designate were screened individually during plenary on Wednesday.

The screening lasted about five hours and they were confirmed afterwards.

The screening

During the screening, some of the nominees were asked to take a bow and go, while others were asked random questions on the economy, education, insecurity, among others.

The Senates take a bow tradition is an unwritten rule which allows past or present lawmakers (at state and federal levels) to be let off the hook when they appear before the upper chamber for screening for a position they were appointed to.

Nominees who are accorded this honour are usually not asked any question during their screening.

Two of the seven nominees  Umar El-Yakub from Kano State and Goodluck Opiah, were asked to take a bow and go being a former member of the House of Representatives and Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly respectively.

One major act that characterised the exercise was the endorsement of the nominees by senators  particularly senators representing the constituency or state of such nominee.

Many of them would stand up, sing praises of the nominee and plead that he be allowed to bow and go.

The grilling

For the few nominees who were made to answer questions, their entire performance could be put at average.

The first nominee to be screened was Henry Ikechukwu from Abia State.

Mr Ikechukwu said he was exempted from the mandatory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in 2005 because because at that time, he was not eligible to serve.

He also said he comes from a private sector and will hit the ground running and serve diligently without fear or favour.

The nominee said he would advise the government to establish refineries in the local communities where they get oil.

The issue of employment and importing fuel and gas will be a thing of the past  if the government should build modular refineries.

On unemployment, he says Nigeria has a lot of graduates but we need more of technical graduates to do the work we need.

Another nominee, Umana Umana, from Akwa Ibom State said the key to curb borrowing in the country is more production.

When Mr Umana was asked his plans to end ASUU strike if appointed into the ministry of labour and employment, he said there is need for both parties to reach a compromise.

For a long time, ASUU has been sticking to their guns that all agreements must be implemented. The government and ASUU need to come to a compromise.

He also urged the National Assembly to consider higher budgetary allocation for the education sector.

Similarly, Mr Adegoroye from Ondo State said he is worried about the lingering ASUU strike.

I think that the government must do something about it. It must be solved once and for all. We must take concrete steps and the interest of the people must be considered.

I do not claim to have a monopoly of how to solve it. I can assure you that I will bring to bear my experience to ensure an end to the strikes.

The last nominee, Mr Udi from Rivers State, though not a former lawmaker, was praised and asked to take a bow and go.

Confirmation

At the end of the screening exercise, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the exercise, put the question of their confirmation, to a voice vote and the lawmakers unanimously approved their appointments.

He congratulated the ministers-designate and hoped for a peaceful working relationship with the Executive.

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to swear in the ministers in the coming days and announce the ministries they will head.

He had written the Senate last Tuesday, nominating the seven ministers and seeking the lawmakers confirmation.

He said the confirmation request was made in accordance with Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

READ ALSO: Buhari appoints seven new ministers

The newly-appointed ministers are to replace ministers in Mr Buharis cabinet who had resigned to contest for other offices.

Some ministers who resigned are Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Godswill Akpabio (Niger Delta), Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology) and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, (Minister of State for Education) all of who contested for the APC presidential primary. Mr Nwajiuba withdrew from the primary some days earlier.

Others are Uche Ogar who contested and won the fractional Abia State governorship primary and Tayo Alasoadura who contested and lost the APC senatorial primary.

Mr Ogar was Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development while Mr Alasoadura was his counterpart in the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry.

They had all resigned in accordance with the provisions of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act which states that No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.
Former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has explained why he believes Nyesom Wike will never support the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

Mr Fayose, in an exclusive telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, said power must shift to the southern part of Nigeria in 2023 after the expiration of President Muhammadu Buharis second term.

The former governor also recounted how Mr Atiku promised to make Mr Wike, the Rivers State governor, his running mate after he was declared winner of the PDP presidential primary election.

According to the former Ekiti governor, Mr Atiku failed to fulfil his promise to Mr Wike when he settled for the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate.

Wike never said he wanted to be VP, but when Atiku visited him, he was the one who said, I want you to be my VP. He said that to Wike. If that then changes, is Wike not supposed to be told? Is he not supposed to know?

He recalled that Mr Atiku had ignored the recommendation of a committee set up by the opposition party to pick his running mate.

PDP set up a committee to recommend a running mate for the candidate and the committee voted and picked Wike, but they didnt comply with the recommendation of the committee.

If the party is now a one-man show, we will show them that we can resist it. We are with Wike 100 per cent.

When they need Wikes money and Wikes support, they will say, Wike is good enough. Wike has been injured, but we will remain with him. Whatever he does is what we would do; wherever he asks us to go is where we will go.

When asked what would happen should Mr Wike ask them to support Mr Atiku, the former governor said: Wike will never say we should support Atiku.

Wike cannot come out to say he is supporting Atiku. I dare him to say so; because he knows that whatever he says will haunt him forever. If Wike supports Atiku, we will abandon him.

Atiku responds

Contacted for a response, Paul Ibe, Mr Atikus spokesperson, said his principal and the party will continue to appeal to aggrieved persons within their fold to embrace dialogue.

Because the bigger challenge is winning the election, kicking out the APC and stopping them from the many years of impoverishing our people, said Mr Ibe.

READ ALSO: Why Atiku rejected Wike as running mate

It is normal for our people to be aggrieved but the PDP has a way of resolving issues like this and that will be done and we all shall be happy.

Power to the south

On whether the plan is now to technically support the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, or his counterpart in the Labour Party, Peter Obi, Mr Fayose said: this is not about Bola Tinubu or Obi, but this is about our belief that power must come to the south and it is a struggle we must actualise.

Mr Fayose further explained that when the June 12 election was cancelled, the presidency was zoned to the southwest to pacify the southwest region.

When former President Goodluck Jonathan was over staying, it was believed that he was already using the northern slot. So, he was opposed and a northern candidate was installed through the APC.

This time, it is the turn of the south because Buhari has spent eight years. Why will PDP be insisting that it must again be the turn of the north.

Mr Fayose also stated that he does not care if his actions are perceived as anti-party activity.

 What I am saying is, it is the turn of the South, and if they want to expel me, to hell with them. I am not taking money from anyone to belong to this party.

If they want to rock this boat, we will help them to rock it.
Nigerian soldiers have reportedly killed 10 people and displaced several others in a community in Cross River State, Nigerias South-south.

The soldiers were said to be on a reprisal on June 26 in Nko community, Yakurr Local Government Area of the state, after one of their commanders was killed in the community, according to a report published by HumAngle.

The soldiers also razed some houses in the community, the paper reported with photos of burnt buildings sent in by witnesses.

The slain soldier was a part of the troops on a peacekeeping mission in the central part of Cross River where Nko and another community  Onyadama  have been engaged for about a decade in a violent dispute over farmland.

The police spokesperson in Cross River, Irene Ugbo, confirmed the death of the soldier.

HumAngle quoted a woman, Esther, who claimed her father was among those killed by the soldiers.

My father had arthritis, so he couldnt walk well, which made it difficult for him to leave his house. The soldiers locked him inside and burnt the house, she said.

This was done to other villagers too, she added.

Continuing, Esther said: My mother, Mary Offem, is in her 60s and currently hiding in the bush because the soldiers are still there.

She was the one who called to inform us about the incident. Shes in the bush with some other villagers as we speak. The experience has been terrible for me, and we need the authorities to stop the soldiers from shooting.

Onyeama Nwachukwu, the army spokesperson, confirmed the attack on the troops.

The troops were attacked and shot at with firearms. Five personnel who were critically wounded are currently under intensive medical care, Mr Nwachukwu, a brigadier-general, said, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Mr Nwachukwu, in the NAN report, did not speak on the reported killing of residents in the community.

The army spokesperson in Cross River also said he cant speak on the matter when reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the Cross River State government has announced the sacking of some traditional rulers in the warring communities.

Linus Obogo, the media aide to Governor Ben Ayade, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said the government has taken over the ownership of the disputed land.

Government has ordered the sustenance of army operations in Nko community until those behind the shooting of the six military personnel are produced or fished out, Mr Obogo said in the statement.

Explosives found in car

Troops on June 21 intercepted a car on a highway in Cross River, conveying explosives and ammunition towards the Obudu Mountains in the northern part of the state.

A statement from the army said the driver of the car attempted to evade security checks before the troops opened fire on the car tyres.

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.

Other items recovered in the intercepted vehicle are military uniforms and kits, the army said.
The Lagos State Government has developed a policy document on safe termination of pregnancy toward guiding healthcare professionals to provide safe and lawful abortion services in the state.

Olusegun Ogboye, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, said this at a stakeholders meeting to launch the document on Tuesday in Lagos.

Mr Ogboye said this in a statement by Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Director, Public Affairs in the states health ministry.

According to him, the 40-page policy document, titled Lagos State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications sets out guidelines for safe termination of pregnancy within the ambit of the criminal law of Lagos State.

Mr Ogboye noted that the document was to provide evidence-based data and information for health workers in public and private sectors with the requisite skills to provide safe termination of pregnancy to reduce preventable deaths.

He said that while therapeutic termination of pregnancy was permissible under the states law, the absence of clear guidelines had stalled the effective implementation at appropriate levels of care resulting in preventable deaths.

In 2011, the Lagos State House of Assembly updated the criminal code, providing for abortion to save the life and protect the physical health of the woman.

While physical health is covered under the Lagos legal framework, services conforming to the law have not been available in Lagos State health sector.

This document provides information on relevant laws applicable in Lagos State while providing standards and best practices with regards to legal indications, pre and post-procedure care, methods, and monitoring.

I must state here that this document has undergone wide consultation with relevant technical stakeholders within the legal and health service context in the state, he said.

Mr Ogboye said the process to develop the guidelines started in 2018 with the Safe Engage Project led by the ministry and hosted by the Society for Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Nigeria (SOGON), with support from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB).

He added that stakeholders in the state health sector worked with key opinion leaders in Lagos and the southwest region to develop a tailored advocacy tool for terminations within the legal context.

According to him, the advocacy messages on the Safe Engage project focused on two immediate outcomes.

He noted that the outcome include ensuring that safe abortion services were available within legal indications in Lagos and domesticating the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, supporting women to terminate a pregnancy caused by rape or incest.

To guide the implementation, one of the follow-up recommendations of the project was the adaptation of the National Standards and Guidelines for Safe Termination of Pregnancy within Legal Indications within the Lagos State context.

The Federal Ministry of Health had developed and disseminated the national guidelines on safe termination of pregnancy which highlights the compendium of conditions and circumstances under which termination of pregnancy could be instituted.

The guideline was intended to build the capacity of health professionals to identify pregnancies for which legal termination could be instituted.

Marie Stopes International in Nigeria in collaboration with the Population Reference Bureau proposed to support the state government to adopt the document, he said.

Mr Ogboye said the process for national guidelines adaptation included technical meetings to discuss sections of the law supporting safe abortion and conditions permitted within the legal framework to save the lives and the physical health of mothers.

He added that it also includes a validation meeting with the broader stakeholders to review the document.

We hope this dissemination today will help guide health providers to provide this service within the ambit of the law, Mr Ogboye said.

Also, Emmanuel Ajah, Country Director, Marie Stopes International Organisation Nigeria (MSION), said the development and dissemination of the policy document showed Lagos leading state-level intervention to stem the tide of unsafe abortion and give women and girls improved health outcomes.

Mr Ajah said abortion in Nigeria was not illegal but restrictive, noting that many health providers were unaware of the legal indications for safe termination of pregnancy.

He stressed that it was important for healthcare providers to make critical decisions based on sound medical judgment and not on religion, culture, or other biases, when a womans life is in danger, as prescribed in Nigerian laws.

Mr Ajah added that the policy was a demonstration of the commitment of the state to improve maternal health, especially mitigating the impact of unsafe abortion practices in the state.

Similarly, Innocent Ujah, former President, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said the guidelines would preserve the lives of pregnant women whose physical or mental health would be compromised with the continuation of their pregnancies.

Also, Ayodele Atsenuwa at the Law Department, University of Lagos, and also a consultant on the document development, said that the Lagos State Criminal law of 2011 only prohibits unlawful abortion.

Mr Atsenuwa noted that the document clarifies what lawful termination of pregnancy means in the context of the law, adding that education of law enforcement officers was critical with regards to understanding the context of the law. (NAN)
A human rights lawyer and activist, Malcolm Omirhobo, appeared before a judge at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Monday dressed as a traditionalist.

Mr Omirhobo had a red cloth wrapped across his waist, traditional beads hung on his neck, and his lawyers robe draped across him.

He had appeared in a similar fashion at the Supreme Court last week.

His actions came following the recent decision of the apex court that female Muslim students in Lagos should be allowed to wear hijab to school.

The lawyer, who hails from Delta State, described his dressing as one usually worn by Olokun worshippers.

It was gathered that his colleagues in the Lagos court looked amused as he took his seat to await the days proceedings to begin.

The lawyer was appearing before Tijani Ringim over two matters, but the judge insisted he must first address the court on why he should dress in that manner.

You cannot address the court like this as a professional, The Cable quoted the judge as saying.

I will adjourn your matter and you come and address the court if the rules allow you to appear in court like this.

Mr Ringim adjourned the hearing to October 10, 2022.

Supreme Court ruling

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.

Judge Grace Onyeabo of the Lagos State High Court had in a judgement, on October 17, 2014, upheld the state governments decision to ban the use of hijab in public primary and secondary schools in the state.

But the High Courts decision was upturned by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal in a judgement delivered on July 21, 2016.

In a unanimous judgement, the appeal court panel ruled that the ban on the use of hijab in public schools in the state was discriminatory against Muslim pupils.
Nigerian media entrepreneur and talk show host Funmi Iyanda held a private screening of the second season of her television show Public Eye.

The media personality premiered the first episode of Public Eye season two, at a private viewing event on Thursday, in Victoria Island Lagos state.

Nigerian celebrities and media personalities like Derenle Edun, Ireti Doyle, Zainab Balogun, Linda Ikeji, Frank Oshodi, Pamela Braide, Yinka Davis and lotto64banks attended the private viewing.

The guests watched the first episode of Public Eye season, which was about the insecurity in the country, the case of Oluwabamise Ayanwole, who went missing after boarding a Bus Rapid Transit and was later found dead.

Bamise, a 22-year-old woman, was allegedly killed by a BRT driver, identified as Andrew Ominnikoron, in March, on her way from work, after boarding a BRT from Ajah to Oshodi, Lagos State.

Pelumi Abegunde and Titilayo Abegunde, the older siblings of late Bamise, were also at the private viewing of the first episode of the show.

Public Eye Season Two

Ms Iyanda, who quickly rose to become one of Nigerias most-watched and revered TV personalities, launched the talk show Public Eye after years of taking a break from broadcasting.

She started the show in 2020, with the first season of Public Eye Live on Instagram, during the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.

When introducing the shows second season, Ms Iyanda said it is designed to provoke social change.

She noted that the show connects people with experts who would do a contextual analysis of their issues to seek solutions. It indicated that season 2 would have various topics and guests from across the country, including government officials.

She said: This season tackles different social issues such as Corporal Punishment in Schools, Loan (app) sharks, insecurity, women inclusion, the Japa trend, population explosion, renewable energy, Ibo apprenticeship system, rising food prices, Elections in Nigeria and a lot more.

Public Eye season 2, powered by the MacArthur Foundation, will feature guests from different parts of the country, government officials inclusive.

Background

Speaking at the event, Ms Iyanda, who has been a Tv host for over two decades, encouraged young journalists to carve a niche for themselves.

She said: When I started my career, I was very young; I was in my twenties, and I had no idea of the future. New Dawn, which everybody came to love so much when I was doing it, I did not know what I was doing; I was only doing my thing, she said.

Seeing a whole generation of people in media, technology, fashion, development, among others, gives me immense hope.

The veteran broadcaster, who started her career by producing and presenting Good Morning Nigeria, a breakfast television show on the Nigerian Television Authority, noted that her new show, Public Eye, will address the changes in the society and the actions of people in the community.

Ms Iyanda said she does not want to come on TV to do anything if she doesnt consider it practical.

She said: I respect the times that we are living in now because there is a lot of necessary conversation about what is wrong. However, a lot of the talks can be very divisive.

Also, in Nigeria, in particular, there is so much disillusion, and this disillusionment is understandable.

It is also essential to face the essentials, so do it. And sometimes I see many people talking and unaware of what needs to happen and how they can do it.

The veteran broadcaster said that Public Eye is geared towards bringing together many different perspectives of stories.

In 2011, Ms Iyanda was honoured for her web series by the World Economic Forum and named one of Forbes 20 Youngest Powerful Women in Africa.

New Dawn with Funmi started in 2000 and ran daily on NTA Channel 10 Lagos.

The shows success made it one of the best independently produced shows on NTA.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of three persons in an early Wednesday multiple accidents at Mile 12, Ogere, on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

Ahmed Umar, the Ogun FRSC Sector Commander, confirmed the incident to journalists in Abeokuta.

Mr Umar said the accident, which occurred around 3 a.m., involved an unregistered truck, another marked T 4916 LA, and a Nissan Micra car marked BDJ 257 XF.

The sector commander explained that the accident was caused by speeding and dangerous driving on the part of one of the truck drivers.

He added that one of the truck drivers was trying to negotiate a bend when the other truck which was coming from Ibadan, rammed into it

Since the crash obstructed the road, the driver of the Micra car ran into it but was able to control his vehicle with little damage on the car, he said.

He noted that seven people were involved in the accident, including one woman and six men.

Mr Umar said the remains of the deceased have been deposited at the FOS Morgue, Ipara.

Traffic has been diverted and FRSC personnel are still on ground trying to manage the situation and ensure that the obstruction is moved from the road, he said.

The FRSC boss warned against dangers of excessive speed especially when visibility is poor.

He advised motorists to drive cautiously, avoid speed and obey traffic rules and regulations.

(NAN)
The Oyo State High Court in Ibadan on Wednesday ordered the state House of Assembly to suspend the impeachment move against the Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan.

Justice Ladiran Akintola ruled that the lawmakers should maintain the status quo pending the hearing of the application for interlocutory injunction filed by Mr Olaniyans counsel, Afolabi Fashanu (SAN).

The judge, thereafter, adjourned the case until Thursday, for the hearing of the respondents reply.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Olaniyan instituted the suit against the House of Assembly, the Clerk, and the Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin, over the impeachment action against him by the lawmakers.

Mr Fashanu had earlier filed an application for an interim injunction restraining the Assembly from taking any step pursuant to the impeachment of the applicant.

He prayed the court to rule that the status quo should be maintained, pending the hearing, so that the application would not be defeated

Counsel to the respondents, A. A. Olabiyi, orally applied to the court for an extension of time to respond to the motion.

ALSO READ: Oyo senator defects to APC

Mr Olabiyi said that he was served the motion on notice at the close of work on Tuesday.

NAN recalls that following the defection of the deputy governor from the Peoples Democratic Party to All Progressives Congress, subsequently the legislative initiated impeachment moves against him two weeks ago.

He was accused of financial recklessness, gross misconduct, and insubordination, among other allegations. (NAN)
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday said Iyorchia Ayu remained its National Chairman.

The Senior Adviser to the National Chairman on Communication and Strategy, Simon Imobo-Tswam, reiterated this in a statement he issued in Abuja.

Mr Imobo-Tswam advised the public to ignore mischievous social media publications alleging suspension of Mr Ayu, describing it as the work of mischief makers and idle minds.

Earlier today, mischievous stories broke on the social media to the effect that Ayu has been suspended over allegations of misappropriation.

The stories further add that the Deputy National Chairman (North), Amb. Umar Damagun, has been appointed in his place in an acting capacity.

This is supposed to have followed a phantom emergency meeting of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), he said.

Mr Imobo-Tswam said even though the party did not wish to dignify falsehood with a response, an official reaction was necessary in order to stem the tide of misinformation.

He said Mr Ayu took a well-deserved two-week leave on June 12, nothing that he would be back on July 6 to resume duties.\

Mr Imobo-Tswam said as a stickler for due process, Mr Ayu formally handed over to the Deputy National Chairman (North), Mr Damagun, who had held forth admirably since that day.

It was in that acting capacity that he (Damagun) today, presided over the inauguration of the Osun State Gubernatorial Campaign Council, headed by the Governor of Bayelsa, Douye Diri, he said.

Mr Imobo-Tswam said if not that the authors of the mischievous posts were out to serve nefarious interests, they would have heard when Mr Damagun said during the ceremony on Wednesday that he was acting on behalf of Mr Ayu.

(NAN)
One of the hostages of the Kaduna -Abuja train staged a protest at the Kaduna State Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), demanding the unconditional release of other hostages still in captivity.

The lone protester, who does not want to be named, said she was among the 11 captives freed by the gunmen on 11th June following the intervention by Kaduna-based Cleric, Ahmad Gumi.

She was released after over 70 days in captivity.

She urged the Nigerian government to expedite efforts in releasing the rest of the 51 passengers still in captivity.

The protester said her husband is among the hostages still in captivity.

She said the children, women and others in captivity are being maltreated by the abductors.

I was with these people, so they need Nigerians help, they need peoples help they (captives) are not dead but they are in serious pain.

I cant sleep, my husband is still there with them (bandits) my friends are with them since day one. For them to release me back, I am incomplete, they need Nigerians prayer and support, she said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the gunmen who attacked a Kaduna-bound train in March and abducted several passengers, killed nine passengers during the attack.

Several others sustained gunshot injuries.

The gunmen had earlier released some hostages after they reportedly paid ransoms to secure their release.

Those released on June 11 include Jessy John, Amina Mohammed (Gamba), Rashida Busari, Hannah Ajewole, and Amina Jibril.

Others are Najib Daiharu, Gaius Gambo, Hassan Aliyu, Peace Boy and Danjuma Saidu.
The lawyer whose traditionalist attire has been raising eyebrows in courts, Malcolm Omirhobo, switched to the traditional legal robe Wednesday saying the spirit said we should do normal today.

He added: Dont be surprised if you see me the other way tomorrow.

Mr Omirhobo, a human rights lawyer and activist, made headlines last week when he appeared at the Supreme Court donning a combination of a lawyer and native doctors outfit.

The lawyer told journalists that his decision to incorporate a juju priests look into his dressing was due to the apex courts ruling allowing Muslim students in Lagos to wear hijab in schools.

Mr Omirhobo, who hails from Delta State, described his dressing as one worn by the Olokun worshippers.

I am being satirical, he told The Punch in an interview.

By that judgment, they are saying that wearing a hijab is a mode of worship by female Muslim pupils and any attempt to deprive them of that will amount to the violation of their fundamental human right, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and stopping or harassing them will amount to a violation of their right to dignity of their persons.

It is not just an Islamic or private school; it is a public school. Nigeria is a multi-religious society.

We have the traditional worshippers, Christians, Muslims, Rastafarians, Buddhists. The judgment implies that as long as we all have rights, we all can be allowed to go to our places of work or school in our religious attire.

On Monday, Mr Omirhobos appearance at the Federal High Court in Lagos amused some of his colleagues but irked others.

The lawyer was appearing before Tijani Ringim over two matters, but the judge insisted he must first address the court on why he should dress in that manner.

You cannot address the court like this as a professional, The Cable quoted the judge as saying.

I will adjourn your matter and you come and address the court if the rules allow you to appear in court like this.

Mr Ringim adjourned the hearing to October 10, 2022.

However, on Wednesday, he returned to the traditional lawyers robe and wig.

He said he was instructed to follow the professional dress code by the spirit.

Asked if the spirit was in conformity with the ethics of the law profession and dressing, Mr Omirhobo responded, What ethics are you talking about? Are you insulting my religion? Dont try it.

The Constitution, according to the Supreme Court, says I should dress according to my religious attire and you are insulting the Supreme Court, behave yourself.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Tuesday sought the support of security agencies in its bid to enforce the Nigerian Content Act in the oil and gas industry.

Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, made the appeal at a Nigerian Content Sensitisation programme for law enforcement agencies at the NCDMB Towers, Yenagoa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme has the theme Deploying Multi-Institutional approach to Nigerian Content Enforcement in the Oil and Gas industry.

The event was attended by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC).

The Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, the Department of State Services, DSS, the Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe, the Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, among others.

According to Wabote, the board is already working with the immigration service on an expatriate quota system.

He explained that it was pertinent for all security agencies to understand their roles in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD), to foster collaboration and effective implementation.

He said that building collaboration with institutions was one of the mandates of the Board, adding that the EFCC, ICPC, and others had statutory roles in the enforcement of the NOGICD Act.

He said: I think the two most important significant one is to enlighten stakeholders on what we do.

How we do it and the results we have been able to achieve.

The second is giving the participants the law enforcement agent.

As you can see it is also to highlight to them the roles to play that they are required to play (because) intervention is needed.

In order to help us prepare the provision of the Act, we have Customs, EFCC, ICPC, and DSS. These are all law agents that all have roles to play as we implement the Act, so those are the significance of the workshop.

For example, EFCC law provides for people complying with laws and laws are laws and if there is a breach, you need the authority to help you go after these people, so that is part of the law that most of them may be DSS, ICPC as the case may be.

Expatriate quota, we dont give quotas but we endorse in accordance with the law; we approve requests from the oil and gas industry.

People like immigration we work with them to ensure that the expatriates that we give approval to are those that are needed, and we go through the biometric process to ensure that we monitor those that were approved.

Custom to this role again, there are certain items that are banned from the oil and gas industry that we cannot import.

So, we work hand in hand to ensure that if those items are brought into the country, they are impounded to ensure the implementation of the Act and we need to collaborate with them to be successful with what we do, he said.

The Head of NCDMB Legal Services, Mr Naboth Onyesoh, said the Essence of the workshop is to assure and ensure that they are able to bring in relevant stakeholders to support in local content implementation and enforcement.

He said the idea was that local content was like a big load that no single entity can carry.

He said local content was a national economic agenda geared towards employment, creating industrialisation, ensuring capital retention in the country and so many activities revolving around the oil and gas industry.

He said: We know oil and gas remain the mainstay of our economy, so it is important that other agencies that are connected with economic activities understand what the mandates of the board are and where they can support to ensure compliance with relevant requirements.

With the oil and gas industry, that is the very essence of bringing in the relevant law enforcement agencies so that they will be able to partner with the board and collaborate to achieve collective impact in local content in the oil and gas industry.

(NAN)
Tanko Muhammad exited on Monday as the 16th head of the Nigerian judiciary since Independence after serving as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) for about two and a half years. He was immediately succeeded by Olukayode Ariwoola who hails from Oyo State.

Mr Muhammad, officially due for retirement when he clocks 70 in December 2023, abruptly left office 18 months ahead of time on Monday, citing health grounds.

In line with the norm, Mr Muhammads resignation paved the way for Mr Ariwoola, the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, to be sworn in by President Muhammadu Buhari as the acting CJN.

Mr Ariwoola is expected to remain as the acting CJN pending when the process of his appointment in substantive capacity will be concluded.

Nigerias chief justice, being the head of various key judiciary institutions and with power to make key appointments into the bodies, has an overbearing influence on the Nigerian judiciary.

Therefore, the personality of the CJN generally determines the direction the Nigerian judiciary faces during his or time in office.

There have been controversies about his age with his Wikipedia page indicating his year of birth as 1958 as against what is contained in his official records.

Below are seven major points, including his date of birth, that you need to know about the new CJN:

1. 17th chief justice since Nigerias independence

Since when the northern and southern protectorates were amalgamated into the entity Nigeria, 22 judges, including the newly appointed acting CJN, Mr Ariwoola, have presided over the affairs of the Nigerian judiciary.

Five of the 22 chief justices presided over Nigerias judiciary under the colonial rule up till when the first indigenous chief justice, then referred to as the Chief Justice of the Federation, Adetokunbo Ademola, was appointed in 1958.

In 1963, three years after Nigeria gained independence from the British colonial rule in 1960, Nigeria became a republic and the Nigerian Supreme Court was proclaimed.

The appeals to the British Federal Committee of the Privy Council stopped and the Supreme Court became the highest court in Nigeria.

Since the appointment of the late Mr Ademola as chief justice in 1958 up till Sunday, a total of 16 other chief justices have presided over the Nigerian Supreme Court and by extension the Nigerian judiciary.

Mr Ariwoola became the 17th chief justice on Monday.

Referring to Mr Ariwola as Nigerias 17th indigenous chief justice would imply counting a long-time Caribbean resident in Nigeria, Darnley Alexander, who was appointed in 1975 as a Nigerian.

Mr Alexander, who was then serving as the chief justice of the South Eastern State (now Cross River State), was appointed by the Murtala Muhammed military regime to replace Taslim Elias who was controversially removed from office. But excluding the late Mr Alexander from the list of former Nigerian indigenous chief justices, then Mr Ariwoola will be the 16th on the roll call.

The new chief justice, a Muslim from Iseyin in Oyo State, is the seventh person from the southern part of the country to hold the office since Independence, while the nine others were from northern Nigeria.

2. To serve two years in office

Mr Ariwoola, its curriculum vitae obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, was born on August 22, 1954. This means he will clock 68 on August 22.

If eventually confirmed as the next substantive CJN, Mr Ariwoola will hold office for about two years and two months which will end on August 22, 2024, the day he is expected to clock the mandatory retirement age of 70.

3. Education and legal training

According to his profile published on the Supreme Courts website, Mr Ariwoola started his primary education in Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole in Iseyin in 1959. He graduated from the school in 1966.

He attended Muslim Modern School in the same town from 1967 to 1969 and then proceeded to Ansar-Ud-Deen High School Saki, Oyo State, in 1970. He completed his High School at the Ansar-Ud-Deen High School, Saki, in 1974.

He was admitted into the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife) to study Law in 1977.

He graduated from the university with a Bachelors degree in Law (LLB) in 1980.

He was called to the Nigerian bar and got enrolled as a solicitor and advocate of the Nigerian Supreme Court in July 1981.

4. Teacher turned judge

Before his training as a lawyer Mr Ariwoola taught at Ansar-ud Deen Society Primary School, Atori, Iseyin in 1974.

After he was qualified as a lawyer and was practising in private law firms, Mr Ariwoola took up a part time teach at Civil Service Training School (now Simeon Adebo) Secretariat, Ibadan, Oyo State, in 1988.#

He also did part-time teaching at Extra Moral (Advance Level) Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, between 1984 and 1988.

He similarly did part-time teaching at the Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration, the Polytechnic Ibadan, between 1989 and 1992.

5. 40 years of legal career, 30 years on the bench

Altogether, Mr Ariwoola has put about 40 years into his legal career which started with serving as a state counsel during his national youth service at the Ondo State Ministry of Justice, Akure, between 1981 and 1982.

He later served as a legal officer at the Oyo State Ministry of Justice between 1982 and 1988.

From October 1988 and August 1988, the new chief justice worked in a private law firm, Chief Ladosu Ladipo, SAN & Co. Legal Practitioners, as counsel-in-chambers.

He later served as the principal partner of Olu Ariwoola & Co Mako Allah Champers in Iseyin from 1989 to 1992.

Mr Ariwoola continued his legal profession on the bench when he was appointed a judge of the Oyo State High Court in 1992.

After three years on the High Court bench, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 1995.

He was on the Court of Appeal bench until he was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2011. He is currently the longest serving Justice of the Supreme Court having spent a total of 11 years on the courts bench.

This marks the 30th year of his judicial career that started with his appointment as a High Court judge in 1992.

6. Protest letter

Mr Ariwoola, topped the list of the 14 Justices of the Supreme Court that recently sent a memo the outgone CJN to protest against the poor handling of their welfare and the operations of the court. The ripples created by the leaked memo had yet to die down when Mr Muhammad resigned on Monday.

Mr Muhammads resignation came days after denying the allegations levelled against him by his colleagues. But the issues had not been resolved before his exit on Monday.

7. Notable decisions

Mr Ariwoola was part of the seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by now retired Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, that gave judicial backing to the virtual court hearing on July 14, 2020.

He was also on the seven-judge bench led by his predecessor, Tanko Muhammad, that affirmed President Muhammadu Buharis victory in the 2019 general elections.

The panel, in its decision delivered on October 30, 2019, dismissed the suit of the then and now presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, challenging Mr Buharis victory in the February 23, 2019 presidential election.

He was also part of the Mr Muhammad-led seven-man panel that that the delivered the controversial judgement of the Supreme Court that sacked Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP as Imo State governor and replaced him with Hope Uzodinma of All Progressives Congress (APC) on January 14, 2020.

The same panel of which Mr Ariwoola was a part, delivered the Supreme Courts judgement on January 20, 2020 affirming the victories of Governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State in the 2019 governorship elections.

Again on March 3, 2020, Mr Ariwoola delivered the lead majority decision of the six of the seven judges on the courts panel, that dismissed Mr Ihediohas request for a review of the earlier verdict.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, on Tuesday, fixed July 15, for judgement in a suit seeking an upward review of salaries and allowances of Nigerian judges.

The judge, Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, slated the case for verdict after lawyers to the parties closed their arguments.

Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who represented the claimant, Sebastine Hon, posited among other depositions that the current economic reality in the country requires that the salaries and allowances of the nations judges be urgently improved upon.

Mr Awomolo adopted the four processes he filed and urged court to grant all the reliefs.

He said the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) directly involved refused to file any papers before the court.

The plaintiff sued the National Assembly as the 1st defendant, RMAFC as the 2nd defendant, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is 3rd defendant, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) as the 4th defendant.

While the NJC backed the suit, the National Assembly and the AGF opposed it. The RMAFC did not take a stance in the suit.

NJC backs suit

Kunle Adegoke, also a SAN, who represented the NJC, asked the court to grant all the prayers sought by the plaintiff.

Mr Adegoke recalled that the Nigerian government at reviewed judges salaries in 2008.

He pointed out that low wages had inflicted untold economic hardship on judicial officers in the country.

He Adegoke lamented that salaries judges salaries had been stagnant for over 14 years.

The National Assembly and the AGF opposed the suit on the grounds that the claimant lacks the right to institute the suit.

But Mr Adegoke maintained that the judicial precedents had liberalised the right to sue in issues of public interest.

He contended that Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders Act 2008 is inconsistent with section 84(3) of the constitution, and therefore called for modification of the Act to bring it in conformity with the provisions of the constitution.

Shabby treatment of judges must be addressed

Mr Awomolo, the plaintiffs lawyer, said all the parties in the suit unanimously agreed that the last adjustment of judges salary was done in 2008, and that none of the defendants had justified the reason for refusal to obey the constitutional provision.

Mr Awomolo said the shabby treatment meted to the judges under 84(4) of the constitution must be redressed.

The senior lawyer urged the court to stop the AGF from blowing hot and cold.

We have moved from mere technicalities to substantial justice, Mr Awomolo said, urging the court to hold the AGF to his public statements admitting poor remuneration of judicial officers.

AGF, National Assembly oppose suit

But the National Assembly which had asked the court to allow an out-of-court settlement in the suit.

At Tuesdays proceedings, Charles Yoila, the National Assemblys lawyer, made a u-turn.

Arguing against the suit, he said it is the law that (a) pre-action notice be issued to Legislative Houses disclosing the cause of action and reliefs before such action is brought to court.

He asked the court to strike out the name of the National Assembly from the suit on the grounds that the proper procedure was not followed.

In a similar argument, Ekene Elodimuo, who represented the AGF, adopted his written address and urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.

Mr Elodimo said the position of the AGF was based on what the law states, insisting that as laudable as the case is, the claimant has not shown any sufficient interest to file the suit for judges welfare.

Suit

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Hon had filed the suit seeking an order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) compelling the defendants  the AGF, NJC, the National Assembly and the RMAFC  to increase the salaries and allowances of judges in the country.

The claimant noted that the highest-paid judicial officer in the country  the Chief Justice of Nigeria, currently earns about N3.4 million per annum, far below what is earned by such an officer in other countries.

He prayed the court to order the defendants to increase the salaries and allowances of judges in the country.

Mr Hon stated that as a legal practitioner, who has practised in all the levels of courts in Nigeria, I know that poor pay for judicial officers is seriously affecting the quality of judgments and rulings those officers are delivering and the discharge of other functions associated with their offices.

He argued that the current economic reality in the country requires that the salaries and allowances of the nations judges be urgently improved upon.

Mr Hon, who quoted what all judicial officers currently earn as provided under Part IIB of the Schedule to the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Amendment Act 2008, said the paltry sums have discouraged him from aspiring to become a judge.

He pointed out that it is about 14 years since the salaries and allowances of judges were last reviewed upward in 2008 despite the loss of value of the naira vis-a-vis other global currencies like the U.S. dollar, the British pound sterling and the European Union (EU) euro, etc.

As of November 2008 when the amended Act was in force, the exchange rate between the naira and the U.S dollar was N117.74 to USD1.

The naira has considerably lost its value over time; but judicial officers in Nigeria have been placed on the same salary scale for up to 12 years, namely since 2008, he said.
At the Senate plenary on Tuesday, there was no mention of former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, or his recent arrest and remand in the UK.

The Enugu West senator was arrested alongside his wife, Beatrice, last week by the London Metropolitan Police.

The Police had charged the Ekweremadus for allegedly trafficking one David Nwanini with the aim of harvesting his kidney.

The allegations were that the lawmaker brought 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 to treat their daughter who is suffering from kidney disease.

The couple were tried at the Uxbridge Magistrates Court in London and denied bail as the prosecutors reportedly informed the court that Mr Ekweremadu procured a passport for the boy and claimed he was 21 years old only to discover that he was 15 years old.

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), has, however, said the age of the alleged victim of organ harvesting, David Nwamini, was 21; contradicting the claims of prosecutors in London.

The Service said documents provided by Mr Nwamini from the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) gave his date of birth as October 12, 2000.

Senate mum as Reps summon govt officials

Meanwhile, Nigerians expected the Senate to discuss the issue as a matter of national importance at plenary but this expectations were dashed as no one mentioned it.

Normally one of the senators from his home state would raise the matter and call for help for one of their own but the reverse was the case.

The two Enugu senators, Chukwuka Utazi and Chimaroke Nnamani, all members of the PDP as Mr Ekweremadu, were present at plenary and contributed to other issues that were deliberated on the floor of the Senate.

Mr Ekweremadu, 60, served as Chief of Staff and later Secretary to the Enugu State Goverment when Mr Nnamani was the governor of the state.

He later moved to the Senate in 2003 and served as deputy senate president for 12 years.

He is a member of the current ninth Senate.

It is not exactly clear if the Senates silence was a unanimous decision taken before Tuesdays proceedings.

Reps wade in

But while the upper chamber decided to be silent on Mr Ekweremadus ordeal, their colleagues at the House of Representatives not only deliberated on it but also invited the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz, to appear and brief relevant committees of the House on the ongoing trial in London.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS), Idris Jere, is also to appear before the committees.

The invitations were sequel to a motion sponsored by Abdulahi Abdulkadir (APC, Bauchi).

If convicted, the Ekweremadus may get a maximum of life sentence or 12 months imprisonment or a fine or both on summary conviction under the United Kingdoms Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The Act read, A person guilty of an offence under Section 1 or 2 is liable (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the United Nations (UN) continued support of Nigerias electoral system and closely monitor the 2023 General Elections against any form of manipulation.

The partys acting Chairman, Umar Damagum, made the appeal while receiving a team of Special Representatives of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, led by the Head of the UN Office in West Africa and the Sahel Region (UNOWAS), Ahmad Annadif, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Damagum, the partys Deputy National Chairman (North), said the UN and international community placed importance on the conduct of the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria.

He urged the UN to advise INEC to ensure that the 2023 General Elections are credible and transparent.

UN Development Organisation is one of the organs that ensure that things are done right and that is why it plays important role in the conduct of the 2023 General Elections.

We need your support to ensure that INEC is truly an election umpire.

There are a lot of reforms that have taken place which will be put to test in this coming elections.

We hope with the signing of the new Electoral Act, those reforms will alleviate some of our fears in the coming elections, he said.

Mr Damagum, who commended UN interest in the stability and development of Nigeria, said the country could not afford any form of electoral violence.

He expressed hope that APC would emulate the PDP by accepting defeat and peacefully handover power if it did not win the 2023 General Elections.

We hope they will continue to see Nigeria as one of the uniting factors on the continent so that we continue to lead by example.

We have been doing so since the coming of democracy in 1999 and we will continue to do so.

We will continue to do our part as an opposition party. You also have to continue to do your part to ensure that things are done rightly.

You can do that in advisory form or any other form in which you have been doing it, Mr Damagum said.

Also at the meeting, PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja, urged the UN to roll out its punishment for anyone who might want to disrupt the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.

He urged the UN to pay keen interest on issues of vote-buying and conduct of security personnel during the 2023 general elections.

Mr Arapaja said the recently conducted governorship election in Ekiti State was characterised by vote-buying, adding that the people should be allowed to make a free choice in an election without any money inducement.

A situation where people cannot change the situation they do not like is what we do not want, Mr Arapaga said.

In his remarks, the partys National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, urged the UN to pay particular interest to the peace of Nigeria as the 2023 general elections approach.

Mr Ologunagba urged the UN to work with the country to ensure no electoral violence was recorded during the 2023 general elections.

He said with the huge population of Nigeria, any electoral violence that could lead to mass emigration of Nigerians to other West Africa and the Sahel countries would have untold effects on countries in the sub-region.

In his remarks, Mr Annadif said they were on an official visit to Nigeria.

As you are all aware, Nigeria has an important role in the development and stability of the Africa and Sahel region.

As you are aware and as we will be conducting general elections in 2023, there are security challenges in the sub-region.

Nigeria has stability role in West Africa and Sahel region. That is why Nigeria is a concern to us.

We have met with politicians and key actors in Nigeria. We have met with INEC and CSOs, IPAC APC, and diplomatic corps in Nigeria.

The UN and all international communities hope and wish Nigeria conduct a credible and peaceful election that would contribute to the stability of the region.

This is why we are doing this re-election need assessment visit to see how we can contribute to the peaceful and credible elections in Nigeria, he said.

(NAN)
Two press freedom groups, International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria and the International Press Centre (IPC), have condemned the arrest and prosecution of two Bauchi-based journalists, Haruna Mohammed and Idris Kamal.

The police arrested and arraigned Mr Mohammed, the publisher of Wikki Times, a local newspaper in Bauchi and his reporter, Mr Kamal, before a magistrate court for alleged criminal conspiracy, defamation of character and cyber stalking.

The newspaper had published a story claiming that Yakubu Abdullahi, the member of the House of Representatives representing Bauchi Central Constituency, had allegedly made a series of threats to Hussaini Musa Gwaba, chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of Bauchi Local Government, who was found dead in his hotel room after he and other executives of the local government chapter of the party were sworn in.

The newspaper claimed that Mr Abdullahi was opposed to the emergence of Mr Gwaba as the chairman of the local chapter of the party. It added that Mr Abdullahi considers Mr Gwaba to be a threat to his political ambition.

Yakubu Muhammad, an editor at the newspaper, told PREMIUM TIMES over the phone that the police physically assaulted the journalists in detention.

In a statement, the IPI Nigeria Secretary, Ahmed I. Shekarau, condemned the arrest, detention and the subsequent arraignment of the journalists.

Anyone who is aggrieved by any news item published by WikkiTimes should seek redress in court instead of using the police or other security agents to harass the journalists, Mr Shekarau advised.

The IPI urged the Inspector-General of Police to call the police command in Bauchi to order and demanded the withdrawal and discontinuation of the vexatious charges filed against the two journalists with immediate effect.

Mr Shekarau said the charges against the journalists are bogus crimes often used to intimidate journalists.

Meanwhile, the International Press Centre (IPC) has also condemned the arrest of the journalists.

In a statement by the centres communication director, Toyin Ayoade, the IPC said the organisation is worried about the trend of arresting journalists for doing their job.

Since the petitioner alleged defamation, the Police should have in the first instance advised him to seek legal redress instead of illegally detaining the journalists for 10 hours on Monday, June 27, 2022, and subjecting them to physical and mental harassment in the process, Executive Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, said in the statement.

Mr Arogundade said the police must ensure that the journalists are safe.

Mr Arogundade said journalists should not be treated as endangered species in Nigeria.

In all circumstances, the security agencies must always strive to toe the path of the rule of law in handling complaints or petitions against journalists and other media professionals, just as they should normally do for all citizens, he said.
The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has dropped a charge of defilement filed against Kingsley Okwumbu, a former driver of Beehive Nursery and Primary School, Agidingbi in Ikeja, Lagos.

He was accused of raping a three-year-old pupil of the school.

In a legal advice with reference number LIP/MISC/2022/76/12, dated June 7, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, the charge against the 37-year-old school driver was dropped due to insufficient evidence.

The legal advice signed by the Director of the DPP, Babajide Martins, was in response to a letter from the Divisional Police Headquarters, Isokoko Division, Agege, Lagos, with reference number CR:3100/LS/ISK/VOL.TI/22, dated June 4.

The DPP, in its legal advice to the police, stated that there were insufficient facts to establish a prima facie case against Mr Okwumbu.

This office is of the view that there are insufficient facts to establish a prima facie offence of defilement of a child contrary to Section 37 of the Criminal Laws State, 2015 against Kingsley Okwumbu. the legal advice stated.

The legal advice stated that the timelines of the alleged crime provided by the complainant did not match with available documented facts.

Facts reveal that PageB1  Okwumbu was no longer the driver of the school bus as at March 23, when alleged incident occurred as PageB1 had been relieved of the duty of driving the school bus on March 14, for non-maintenance of the bus.

The statement of PageB3  Osem Aba Mathew (a new driver) who took over from PageB1 also revealed that each day pupils are picked from their respective houses.

There is an entry book and same is completed by bus attendant when pupils are returned. There was never a time when the bus driver was alone with any of the pupils in the bus.

The above casts a material doubt as to who in fact sexually defiled or molested Page A5 (the child).

The law is settled that where there is material doubt as to whether the defendant commits the alleged offence, such doubt shall be resolved in favour of the defendant, the legal advice stated.

The DPP noted that information in the duplicate case file revealed that while the mother of the toddler was bathing her child, she noticed that she cried anytime she wanted to wash her private part.

Upon inquiry, her daughter revealed that it was Mr Okwumbu that touched her wiwi bom bom.

DPP further said though medical report indicated blunt forceful penetration of the childs genitalia, as facts in the duplicate case file, the allegations against Mr Okwumbu were stoutly denied.

The DPP, however, noted that the law was that allegation of sexual offence by a child who had not attained the age of 14 and could not give sworn evidence must be corroborated.

In Nigeria, a person cannot be convicted of rape of a girl under 14 years of age upon the uncorroborated testimony of one witness, the DPP said

The legal advice stated that this was in accordance with the Section 179 (5) of the Evidence Act, Cap.112 of the Laws of the Federation, 1990 and Section 218 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. 77 of the Laws of the Federation, 1990.

In view of the foregoing, this office shall not prosecute Page B1- Kingsley Okwumbu, for the offence of defilement.

There are insufficient facts linking the Page B2- Grace Augustine (a bus attendant) and Page B3- Osem Aba Matthew (the new driver) to the alleged offence.

Page B1, B2 and B3 have no case to answer and are to be released and discharged forth will if still in custody, the DPP said.

NAN reports that on April 19, Magistrate Ejiro Kubeinje of an Ikeja Magistrates Court remanded Mr Okwumbu in Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly raping the pupil.

The magistrate also directed the police to send the case file to the Lagos DPP for legal advice.

Following the release of the legal advice by the Lagos DPP, the school management, in an update letter to parents dated June 24, expressed hope that the real perpetrator will be caught.

It was our insistence that the matter was taken to the Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Office, which shows we were ready to be open and transparent.

We still live with the hope that the true perpetrator, wherever the person may be, will be found and punished for this act and we prayed that the child will recover psychologically and physically from the ordeal.

Although the whole experience has been a very tiring one for everyone, we are glad for the opportunity it brought to do a thorough review and make improvements where necessary, the school management said.

(NAN)
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo presided over the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council(FEC) on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari was away on a state visit to Portugal.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, were at the meeting.

The ministers at the meeting were those of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Justice, Abubakar Malami, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

Others were those of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad Abubakar, Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi and Health, Osagie Ehanire.

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba and Minister of State for Health, Adeleke Mamora were also at the meeting.

At the last meeting on June 22, FEC approved N50 billion for the rehabilitation of roads in Taraba and Yobe as well as construction of injection substations to boost power supply in the Gwarinpa area of the Federal Capital Territory.

(NAN)
A ministerial nominee, Henry Ikechukwu, from Abia State has proposed that every Nigerian should have a technical skill as a way of addressing the issue of unemployment in the country.

While appearing before the Senate on Wednesday for screening, Mr Ikechukwu said Nigeria has lots of graduates but only those with technical skills are required.

We have a lot of graduates but we need more of technical graduates to do the work we need, he said.

He added that the federal government has no business establishing industries, rather the government must create synergy with the private sector.

Mr Ikechukwu also proffered solutions on the lingering energy crisis. He proposed that modular refineries should be established in all oil-producing communities.

He stated that this will address the issue of employment and importing fuel and gas.

There was also controversy on his membership of the ruling party. Yusuf Yusuf (APC, Sokoto) asked him about his membership of the APC.

However, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, responded that the president can nominate anyone irrespective of their political affiliation.

Mr Ikechukwu got bipartisan support from the three senators from Abia State. The Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, Theodore Orji and Enyinnaya Abaribe, all urged their colleagues to support him.

President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Mr Ikechukwu and six others to replace ministers that resigned to contest primary elections.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved reforms to shore up the non-oil revenue to N3.8 trillion and oil revenue to N160 billion annually.

Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, briefed State House correspondents after the FEC meeting on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting was presided over by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari is on a state visit to Portugal.

Mr Akande said the reforms would boost federal governments finance especially the non-oil revenue.

Among several of the memos presented was the one by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning on Accelerating Revenue Moblisation Reforms which is a derivative of Federal Governments Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative.

The significant progress that has been made in that initiative includes the raising of the Value Added Tax (VAT) from five per cent to seven per cent and other measures since 2019.

This particular initiative is something meant to address some of the fiscal challenges of the federal government as it is intended to raise Nigerias non-oil revenue potential.

So, it is estimated that with the implementation of this reform, it would result in a potential additional non-oil revenue and oil revenue generation of N3.8 trillion annually for non-oil revenue and N160 billion for oil revenue, he said.

READ ALSO: Buhari departs Abuja for Portugal

He said that there were also other significant memos presented by the Attorney-General of the Federation which was on the assent of Nigeria to the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime.

According to him, the convention is a comprehensive national legislation against cybercrime as a framework for technical assistance as well as international cooperation between state parties to it.

The Minister for Water Resources also presented a memo for the implementation of federal governments component for the execution of rehabilitation, expansion and upgrading of Gombe regional water supply project under the Nigeria National Water Resources.

And the council approved the sum of N939 million which has been provided for in the 2022 budget as a counterpart fund for this urban water supply improvement in line with the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy, Mr Akande said.

(NAN)
More investment is required in womens cooperatives for them to attain their full potential and make major contributions to the countrys economic growth.

This was the consensus at a high-level national symposium on womens cooperatives held in Abuja on Tuesday.

The symposium which brought together experts, policymakers and women in cooperatives was organised by the Cooperatives Financing Agency of Nigeria (CFAN) to celebrate the 2022 global cooperative day.

Speaking at the event, Chair, Nigeria Economic Society (NES), Ummu Jalingo, said adequate investment in women cooperatives will contribute to Nigerias development.

Ms Jalingo explained that cooperatives are a global driver of economic growth as they generated $2.98 trillion in annual revenue.

She said at least 12 per cent of people on earth are members of cooperatives. She said cooperatives provide jobs or work opportunities to 10 per cent of the employed population.

She noted that international cooperative movements represent 800 million members, more than the total population of the entire European continent.

She said women cooperatives may not be the solution to the worlds problems, but they are certainly part of the solution.

Ms Jalingo said the role of cooperatives in the countrys development can not be underestimated. She said cooperatives create a link amongst women which helps them arrive at great decisions.

Investment in women

Speaking at the event, Bala Kofarmata, a professor at the Dangote Business School, Bayero University, Kano, said investing in womens cooperatives is as good as investing in a household.

Mr Kofarmata said investment in cooperatives is vital to the growth, sustainability, and development of the countrys economy.

He noted that the federal government should be the major investor in women cooperatives, followed by other stakeholders and development partners.

He said to promote the womens cooperatives in Nigeria, the government must develop a framework that will support funding for such platforms.

Low level of investment in any sector will lead to slow growth, he said.

Mr Kofarmata said there is no clear effort to ensure the concrete development of womens cooperatives in the country.

He lamented that though Nigerian women constitute more than 50 per cent of the total population, they own less than 10 per cent of the countrys resources.

He said only 13 per cent of agricultural landownership goes to women despite constituting the majority labour force in the sector.

He said these statistics call for affirmative action to engage women in productive enterprises including cooperatives.

Collaborative efforts

A representative of the federal ministry of womens affairs, Atinuke Folashade, said globally, cooperative societies help to promote collaborative change, and contribute significantly to social integration, job creation and poverty reduction.

Ms Folashade said it is important for various stakeholders and cooperative organisations to partner with the ministry of women affairs to enable more women to benefit from various government interventions.

She said this will ensure they answer to community needs and adjust to local concerns; as well as build a peaceful society, and promote collaborative entrepreneurship and economic growth.

In her remarks, a representative of the federal ministry of labour and employment, Juliet Nwadi, said despite the increasing positive role of cooperative movements as a reliable strategy of development, womens participation and inclusion in cooperative activities are not very visible.

Ms Nwadi said her experience in Africa shows that women remain critical agents of development, especially in rural communities.

She said this is more apparent in societies where women and children are fast taking roles as heads of families and clans.

She, however, said more awareness is needed to ensure women are fully aware of opportunities that await them.

Majority of women especially those in the rural community lack the needed knowledge to access government-approved funds, she said.

The president of the AWITA-PAWED coalition, Ruth Agbo, said more collaborations and investment is needed to keep the cooperatives moving.

Ms Agbo said such investment can be in cash or kind. She urged the government to develop a framework that can accommodate women.

There is a need to establish a department to monitor and supervise activities of cooperative platforms. There are lots of benefits to cooperatives and this should be sustained by the government, she said.

Global cooperative day

The global cooperative day is marked on the first Saturday in July every year. It is an opportunity to promote the cooperative movement worldwide and to showcase the successes, challenges, and opportunities of cooperatives as a business model.

The symposium was supported by the dRPC and the Partnership for Advancing Women in Economic Development (PAWED) and was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

The executive secretary of CFAN, Emmanuel Atama, said the symposium marks a turning point in the annals of the womens cooperative movement in Nigeria.

Mr Atama said all discussions concluded at the event will be fully implemented.

He said women must become very practical to achieve substantial growth; noting that the womens cooperative train will become a moving train.

Mr Atama said the CFAN team will work with the PAWED team to generate a one-year work plan with deliverables and also do a quarterly review.
The families of the victims of the Kaduna train attack have asked the government to help free the hostages following reports that one of the hostages was shot.

The families visited some members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, urging the government to intensify the search for the abductees.

Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun), Manur Soro (APC, Bauchi) and 10 others had last week moved a motion on the floor of the House, calling for the release of the hostages.

Messrs Salam and Soro hosted the families at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.

Speaking on behalf of the families, the wife of one of the kidnapped victims, Matilda Kabir, said the uncertainty is killing. She said they dont know who the next victim would be.

Mrs Kabir said for 94 days, the families have been in anguish, not knowing the fate of their beloved ones.

The news we got this morning is one person was shot. We dont know who is next. My husband is there. We dont know if it would be any other person. Nigerians should help. My husband is in captivity.

They have been suffering. Imagine sleeping and standing there for 94 days! We are going to a hundred days. Please help us, she said.

Aminu Uthman, whose brother was abducted, urged the lawmakers to help pressurise the government to secure the release of those in captivity.

We are here to meet members of the House to continue pleading on efforts to release our family members because of the news we got this morning that one of the captives was shot. It is terrible news.

We are here to meet the right people to do the right thing to put more pressure on the federal government and security agencies to do more to get the captives released. Every second is very important, he said.

While responding, Mr Bamidele said the House is engaging relevant authorities on the matter.

He assured the families that the government will secure the release of the victims.

So as we are talking to the government, we are also in talks with the negotiators the middlemen, who are persons who directly talk to these abductors and we are very hopeful, that by the grace of God we would be able to get something tangible within the shortest possible time, he said.

Mr Soro also said they will meet with the Speaker, the Chief of Defence Staff and other security agencies over the matter.

Terror attack

A group of bandits had on March 28 attacked a Kaduna-bound train, and abducted several passengers while others were killed.

The group recently released 11 of the hostages, a deal facilitated by controversial Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi.

During Ramadan, they released the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan, after the payment of a ransom. The bandits, however, said he was released on compassionate grounds.

Months after, several of the abducted passengers are still in captivity.
Ayo Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State, has said Nigerias next president must be from the southern part of the country.

Mr Fayose, a former PDP presidential aspirant, said via his Twitter handle that the partys constitution allows for power rotation, adding that it is either a southern president or nothing.

The current President of Nigeria is a 2-term Northern Presidency, thus implying that it MUST be a Southern Presidency in 2023 or NOTHING. Awa South lo kan. Nigerians should await details soon.

PDP Constitution provides for a rotational Presidency. Section 3(c) provides that the Party shall pursue its aims & objectives by adhering to the policy of the rotation & zoning of Party & Public elective offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness.

When contacted over the phone to better clarify his position, Mr Fayose insisted that a southern president is a struggle that must be actualised.

He said the PDP has been fragmented after the exit of Rabiu Kwankwaso and Peter Obi, former governors of Kano and Anambra, respectively.

Mr Fayose also wondered why the PDP could not allow for a southern president at the expiration of the eight-year tenure of a northerner.

I am a senior politician in this country and I know what I am talking about and what I am doing. If we allow this country to become something else beyond our control, Our children will ask us in future.

If APC can be gentlemanly enough to concede the presidency to the south, what is PDP waiting for?

I am coming out very strongly and in the next few days, you will see the fireworks. Already Obi and Kwankwaso have left the PDP and they have taken some PDP votes along with them. So, PDP is fragmented seriously.

The Atiku camp are already behaving as if they have won the presidency already.
The House of Representatives has set up a committee to review the status of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.

The committee, Chaired by Victor Mela (APC, Gombe) was inaugurated on Wednesday by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.

Speaking at its inauguration, Mr Gbajabiamila said the committee has the mandate to examine all the MDAs with a view to establishing areas of conflict and duplications.

He stated that the committee must suggest amendments to relevant laws if there is a need to do so.

This committee is expected to come up with solutions to the apparent continuous conflict of functions and avoidable bickering among established Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), resulting in ineffectiveness, inefficiency and redundancy in the government workforce.

The Committee is therefore expected to engage relevant stakeholders and members of the public with a view to resolving the areas of conflict among the MDAs, which may require amending some laws and/or outright repeal, as the case may be, he said.

Mr Gbajabiamila urged the committee to involve relevant union groups to avoid labour-related disputes.

Speaking on the task, Mr Mela said the committee will conduct a thorough investigation that will have far-reaching decisions which will go a long way in strengthening identified agencies of the federal government by ending bickering and duplication of duties and responsibilities.

He urged the civil servants to cooperate with the committee to help eliminate the bickering among MDAs.

I want to assure Nigerians that the committee will conduct detailed investigations into the activities of some agencies and in the end, he said.

The resolution to embark on the investigation was a sequel to a motion moved by Sada Soli (APC, Katsina)
The police in Anambra State have killed two gunmen in Obosi, a community in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday.

He said the incident happened at about 11:39 p.m. on Sunday when operatives, on a routine patrol, accosted the gunmen.

Mr Ikenga said the hoodlums were operating in a white Toyota Hiace Bus, a red Toyota Corolla and a motorcycle along Obosi-Nkpor Road in the community.

The operatives engaged the armed men in a gun battle and neutralised two of the hoodlums, he said.

During the gun duel with the hoodlums, the superior firepower of the operatives made the assailants flee the scene with the Toyota Hiace Bus and motorcycle.

The police spokesperson said the command had intensified patrol in the area and also improved operational positioning to respond to distress calls to arrest the fleeing gunmen.

One pump action, one locally fabricated pistol and a red Toyota Corolla vehicle were recovered from the gunmen, according to the police.

Mr Ikenga said the police on the same day recovered a white Mercedes Benz 350, suspected to have been used by some criminals in the area.

He said the vehicle was recovered along Central School Road, Umusiomen, Ogidi, another community in the same council area.

READ ALSO: Police kill two persons for driving against traffic in Ogun

The police spokesperson said operatives rescued two suspects from an angry mob along Ziks Avenue in Awka, Awka South Council Area of the state, on Tuesday.

He said the suspects  Okoye Stephen, 19, and Chukwuemeka Nwudo, 27,  were caught while trying to rob a woman.

The suspects were already beaten to stupor by the angry mob before police rescued them, he said.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Echeng Echeng urged police operatives to sustain the tempo in the fight against crimes in the state, Mr Ikenga said.

Mr Echeng, who condemned the resort to jungle justice by residents in the state, said suspected criminals should be taken to the nearest police facility.

This will help the police to conduct proper investigations into the activities of the suspects and bring them to justice in accordance with extant laws, Mr Echeng said.
As we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the benefits will be vast, and not just to the climate. Energy prices will be lower and more predictable, with positive knock-on effects for food and economic security. When energy prices rise, so do the costs of food and all the goods we rely on. So, let us all agree that a rapid renewables revolution is necessary and stop fiddling while our future burns.

The only true path to energy security, stable power prices, prosperity and a livable planet lies in abandoning polluting fossil fuels and accelerating the renewables-based energy transition.

Nero was famously accused of fiddling while Rome burned. Today, some leaders are doing worse. They are throwing fuel on the fire. Literally. As the fallout of Russias invasion of Ukraine ripples across the globe, the response of some nations to the growing energy crisis has been to double down on fossil fuels  pouring billions of dollars more into coal, oil and gas that are driving our deepening climate emergency.

Meanwhile, all the climate indicators continue to break records, forecasting a future of ferocious storms, floods, droughts, wildfires and unlivable temperatures in vast swathes of the planet. Our world faces climate chaos. New funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional. Fossil fuels are not the answer, nor will they ever be. We can see the damage that we are doing to the planet and our societies. It is in the news every day, and no one is immune.

Fossil fuels are the cause of the climate crisis. Renewable energy is the answer  to limit climate disruption and boost energy security. Had we invested earlier and massively in renewable energy, we would not find ourselves, once again, at the mercy of unstable fossil fuel markets. Renewables are the peace plan of the 21st century. But the battle for a rapid and just energy transition is not being fought on a level field. Investors are still backing fossil fuels, and governments still hand out billions in subsidies for coal, oil and gas  some $11 million every minute.

There is a word for favouring short-term relief over long-term well-being. Addiction. We are still addicted to fossil fuels. For the health of our societies and planet, we need to quit. Now. The only true path to energy security, stable power prices, prosperity and a livable planet lies in abandoning polluting fossil fuels and accelerating the renewables-based energy transition.

we must make renewable energy technology a global public good, including removing intellectual property barriers to technology transfer. Second, we must improve global access to supply chains for the components and raw materials of renewable energy technologies.

To that end, I have called on the G20 governments to dismantle the coal infrastructure, with a full phase-out by 2030 for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and 2040 for all others. I have urged financial actors to abandon fossil fuel finance and invest in renewable energy. And I have proposed a five-point plan to boost renewable energy round the world.

First, we must make renewable energy technology a global public good, including removing intellectual property barriers to technology transfer. Second, we must improve global access to supply chains for the components and raw materials of renewable energy technologies.

In 2020, the world installed five gigawatts of battery storage. We need 600 gigawatts of storage capacity by 2030. Clearly, we need a global coalition to get there. Shipping bottlenecks and supply-chain constraints, as well as higher costs for lithium and other battery metals, are hurting the deployment of such technologies and materials, just as we need them most.

Third, we must cut the red tape that holds up solar and wind projects. We need to fast-track approvals and put in more efforts to modernise electricity grids. In the European Union, it takes eight years to approve a wind farm, and 10 years in the United States. In the Republic of Korea, onshore wind projects need 22 permits from eight different ministries.

Fourth, the world must shift energy subsidies from fossil fuels to protect vulnerable people from energy shocks and invest in a just transition to a sustainable future.

And fifth, we need to triple investments in renewables. This includes multilateral development banks and development finance institutions, as well as commercial banks. All must step up and dramatically boost investments in renewables.

There is no excuse for anyone to reject a renewables revolution. While oil and gas prices have reached record price levels, renewables are getting cheaper all the time. The cost of solar energy and batteries has plummeted 85 per cent over the past decade. The cost of wind power fell by 55 per cent. And investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels.

We need more urgency from all global leaders. We are already perilously close to hitting the 1.5C limit that science tells us is the maximum level of warming to avoid the worst climate impacts. To keep 1.5 alive, we must reduce emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by mid-century. But current national commitments will lead to an increase of almost 14 per cent this decade. That spells catastrophe.

The answer lies in renewables  for climate action, for energy security, and for providing clean electricity to the hundreds of millions of people who currently lack it. Renewables are a triple win.

There is no excuse for anyone to reject a renewables revolution. While oil and gas prices have reached record price levels, renewables are getting cheaper all the time. The cost of solar energy and batteries has plummeted 85 per cent over the past decade. The cost of wind power fell by 55 per cent. And investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels.

Of course, renewables are not the only answer to the climate crisis. Nature-based solutions, such as reversing deforestation and land degradation, are essential. So too are efforts to promote energy efficiency. But a rapid renewable energy transition must be our ambition.

As we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the benefits will be vast, and not just to the climate. Energy prices will be lower and more predictable, with positive knock-on effects for food and economic security. When energy prices rise, so do the costs of food and all the goods we rely on. So, let us all agree that a rapid renewables revolution is necessary and stop fiddling while our future burns.

Antonio Guterres is the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The Niger State government has declared Thursday and Friday as work-free days to enable civil servants who had not obtained their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), to do so.

The Commissioner for Information, Emmanuel Musa, disclosed this while addressing journalists on the outcome of the states weekly Executive Council Meeting at Government House Minna on Wednesday.

Mr Musa said the government harped on the importance of the PVC to the performance of their civic responsibilities.

The government said it did not want people, especially civil servants, to miss out on the opportunity of exercising their constitutional right of participating in the electoral process.

 The Government of Niger State acknowledges the importance of workers in the democratic process and is aware that the only way workers can give life to their aspiration for a worker-friendly government is through their votes.

 Consequently, Thursday and Friday have been declared work-free days in all government offices across the state, to enable all public and civil servants to pick their PVCs so they can perform their civic duty.

He said that the state government, along with security agencies, had taken concrete measures to deal with any form of security threats in the state.

Mr Musa solicited the support of traditional and religious leaders in mobilising residents to volunteer reliable information on bad characters in their midst.

He said that credible information on suspected miscreants would enable the security personnel to apprehend them for prosecution

(NAN)
Today, June 29, continues the second day of NATPE Budapest, which started yesterday at Intercontinental Hotel in a very positive mood and lively as the global industry start to do business in the usual way after the pandemic.

Clearly, there is a fresh energy between sellers and buyers and a genuine will to generate new businesses.

JP Bommel, President and CEO of NATPE: With buyer registrations at the 350 plus mark and more than 200 sellers, we are delighted to return to Budapest and look forward to putting on a great show. Many companies throughout the region have been unable to travel until now and coming to Budapest to network face to face is a great step forward for everyone.

He added: We are very pleased to see a strong line-up of Studios join us here, hot on the heels of the May Screenings, as well as a plethora of local content with international potential from the CEE region. US Studios here are A+E, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal Global Distribution and Paramount Global Content Distribution, which are also holding screenings. Additionally, YLE Finland as well as the Ukrainian Content Association are hosting screenings at the hotel.

While this year seems to be a big enthusiasm, there are also concerns and caution, especially due to the war in Ukraine that had disrupted the economy and the CEE region: as a general rule, global companies are not buying content from and to Russia and this had a clear impact in the industry.

The national pavilion #StandWithUkraine is hosting half a dozen of companies offering their contents in the market. Evgeniy Drachov, sales director, Film UA described an industry affected by war: We keep working in the most extremes circumstances focusing our production on feeding the buyers interest on Ukrainian culture and historic characteristics.

NATPE Budapest also welcomed a number of international pavilions including the ICEX (Spain) and ITO (Turkey). New exhibitors are in the Hungarian capital: the Polish Public Televisions TVP, ABC (Japan), Yes Studios (Israel), Leonine (Germany) and TRT-MISTCO (Turkey).

RTVE, Atresmedia, Mediterraneo, Onza, The Mediapro Studio and Filmax are the Spanish companies at Budapest. Some of them have underlined to PRENSARIO a re-birth of interest on Spanish-speaking content. Buyers interest is mostly focused of urban, romantic and office drama, they agreed. The CEE industry is also showing a rejuvenated interest on Latin American content, and it seems to happen that sellers of this region are working as a block.

Given the high consumption of TV during the pandemic, buyers show a strong interest on movies, fictional and documental material from the English, French and Turkish speaking countries to keep the offer fresh in the complex ecosystem of Free TV and OTT, etc.

Mariano Gutierrez Alarcon, from Budapest
"New Taipei City has been devoted to digital learning for years. We have observed that current online learning faces numerous challenges, such as a lack of interaction and sense of participation," said Chang Ming-Wen, New Taipei City Education Department Commissioner. "UNIVERSE by ViewSonic simulates real-world interactions. Teachers and students can create personalized avatars to further engage with each other in this 3D space. Moreover, UNIVERSE can also be applied to cross-school teaching, thereby bridging the resource gap between schools. We look forward to having New Taipei City as the world's first city to adopt Metaverse for all levels of education, leading the way for schools all over the world in transforming how we teach and learn digitally."

"Current online education platforms still focus on unidirectional communication. It not only limits the development of interactive courses for educators but also makes it difficult to evaluate student engagement during classes. Students cannot easily interact with peers and are prone to feel isolated," said James Chu, Chairman and CEO of ViewSonic. "UNIVERSE by ViewSonic is the strongest solution to resolve these issues by making online learning feel as if it were in-person. Through the cooperation with New Taipei City, all teachers and students will benefit from the most innovative learning pedagogies."

New Taipei City's Long Pu Elementary School has successfully piloted UNIVERSE by ViewSonic. After completing the course with 30 students on the platform, Shih Hsin-Yuan, a teacher at Long Pu Elementary School said; "Students entered the virtual classroom smoothly. Compared with the previous 2D online teaching tools, the 3D platform brought excitement and anticipation to the classroom, which greatly improves their concentration during class. This was a great encouragement for teachers. We are excited to embark on this journey with our children and see what new horizons this technology will bring!"

UNIVERSE by ViewSonic features immersive virtual learning spaces, such as classrooms, lecture halls, and collaborative spaces. Participants have intuitive and easy-to-use options for different modes of communication, such as true-to-life spatialized audio, chat messages, and emojis. The digital teaching tools allow teachers to share content on the screen, create pop quizzes, and split students into breakout rooms for group discussions. In addition, through the built-in browser, teachers can connect to ViewSonic's myViewBoard platform and use its advanced teaching tools.

At ISTE, UNIVERSE by ViewSonic drew strong interest in learning how a virtual environment can enrich online learning. Visitors to the ViewSonic booth had the opportunity to experience UNIVERSE first-hand. Educators responded favorably to the demo experience  sharing that they found it to be intuitive and easy to use, but at the same time recognized it as a powerful learning tool. Most importantly, they expressed enthusiasm over the possibilities of UNIVERSE in better engaging with their students, facilitating greater discussion and collaboration.

For a first look at UNIVERSE by ViewSonic, please see the video here: https://youtu.be/1CADhEJOdls.

About New Taipei City

Situated in the northern part of Taiwan; New Taipei City has an estimated population of over 3.9 millions and an area of 2052 km2. Given its location advantages, today's New Taipei City is a major city of Business Industries. New Taipei City has been on a mission, stresses on the importance of raising global competitiveness by working closely on industrial, cultural, tourism, transportation and city developments in order to accommodate the global trend; transforming into an international city.

About ViewSonic

Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, pen displays, commercial displays, All-in-One LED displays, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 35 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers "See the Difference." To find out more about ViewSonic, please visit www.viewsonic.com.

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Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1587181/Logo.jpg

SOURCE ViewSonic
Over the past twenty years, Lohmann's Industrial market segment has introduced and established a wide range of products and solutions for the construction industry. The certified Static Direct Glazing (SDG) method has proven its worth in the glazing process over these years. In this process, the insulating glass unit is bonded directly in the window sash, allowing narrower profile geometries or greater design freedom as well as new, maintenance-friendly material combinations. The uniform load transfer within the window frame construction also results in increased stability: a nuisance for burglars - in resistance classes RC2 and RC3, in accordance with the DIN EN 1627 standard and VE 08/4 (ift Rosenheim). But the environment is also taken care of here: the use of adhesive tapes demonstrably extends the service life of the windows. Narrower profiles also ensure that resources, weight, and the use of paints are conserved. For PVC windows, SDG is the ideal complement to coextruded reinforcements, as it helps make it possible to manufacture windows with steel-free profiles. This results in highly heat-insulating windows without the thermal bridge of steel. At the same time, dispensing with this building material not only saves costs, but also a lot of weight. Because without steel, the profiles are up to 60 percent lighter. Fittings and corner joints also benefit from the use of SDG adhesive tapes. They are relieved of stress and thus have a longer service life. In addition, the panes can be easily replaced at any time without having to replace the entire window sash.

At Fensterbau Frontale, the Lohmann "Bonding Engineers" will also present their new product variant for SDG Wood. SDG Wood offers the possibility to combine sealing and static optimization of wooden windows in one step. The use of the new adhesive tapes DuploCOLL56056 and DuploCOLL56057 allows sealing, increasing profile rigidity and relieving the load on fittings and corner joints in a single operation. The application is made on the painted wood and was tested according to the guideline of ift Rosenheim, VE 08/4 T5 for the first time in 2018 together with the company Remmers. Other varnish systems are currently being tested. New is the extra strong white liner, which provides additional stability during application and glazing.

Visit us in Hall 6 Booth 240 and see Lohmann's customized adhesive solutions for yourself.

www.lohmann-tapes.com

Founded in 1851, the family-owned company Lohmann GmbH & Co KG is considered a specialist in adhesive bonding technology. With annual sales of around 670 million euros, more than 1,800 employees in 24 branches and exclusive sales partners in over 50 countries, Lohmann is active around the globe. The headquarters are in Neuwied, Germany.

The company offers high-tech adhesive solutions for applications primarily in the automotive sector, construction & architecture, consumer goods, electronics, and graphic arts industries. Lohmann engineers' solutions range from multifunctional adhesive tapes to precision die-cut parts and process integration.

Contact:

Lohmann GmbH und Co. KG

PR & Corporate Communication Manager

Jennifer Virtue-Just M.A.

Irlicher Str. 55

56567 Neuwied

Tel: 02631 34 6245

[email protected]

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Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1671784/Lohmann_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG
The company expands all three of its core business lines into Kansas City on both the Kansas and Missouri sides

KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlas Real Estate, a full-service real estate company specializing in brokerage, property management and institutional acquisitions, has established a new office in Kansas City. The new branch office, the company's 10th in the U.S., will provide residents, homebuyers and real estate investors in the Kansas City metro area with Atlas' full suite of investment-focused real estate services.

"Atlas Real Estate's mission is to uplift humanity through real estate, meaning helping renters become first-time home buyers, helping homeowners become real estate investors, and educating homeowners on their ability to save for retirement and build generational wealth," shares Vincent Deorio, Vice President of Growth for Atlas Real Estate. "We are excited to share this unique approach with the Kansas City community and have already been so impressed by the opportunity we see for success within this market."

Kansas City has seen tremendous net in-migration in recent years. Cybersecurity, architecture engineering tech, and animal agricultural tech are core industry highlights in a region of 2.65 million people that LinkedIn ranked as No. 8 in net in-migration since the pandemic, and one of the top 15 metropolitan areas for tech jobs per capita. In fact, with more than 100,000 net-tech jobs, Kansas City grew 1.7% year-over-year in 2020, ranking it third in tech job growth after the well-known tech centers of Austin and San Francisco, according to the CompTIA Cyberstates 2021 report.

Unlike some other markets in the country where housing sectors are seeing some cooling, houses in the Kansas City metro area continue to sell at double-digit higher rates compared to the same time last year, according to May 2022 reports from the Missouri and Kansas Realtor Associations.

"This market has tremendous potential for growth in the next few years, and we are thrilled to have Atlas join the community as an enthusiastic contributor," said Tony Julianelle, Chief Executive Officer for Atlas. "We now have boots on the ground in our brokerage and property management divisions, and our investment team has been buying single family homes in the market for the past year."

Prior to this expansion, Atlas already had a presence in five states and nine metros nationwide and in Mexico, bringing the total number of residential units under management to more than 8,000. Since its inception in 2013, Atlas has been recognized as a leader in the real estate industry. Bank of America selected Atlas as one of its Colorado Companies to Watch and the company has recently received honors as a Top Workplace.

Atlas has a legacy of hosting educational events, helping to provide financial insights and real estate trainings to members of its communities. Atlas will soon offer Real Estate Investment Hour for the Kansas City market. Attendees will be able to connect with the local Atlas Real Estate team to learn more about how to pave a path toward financial security.

About Atlas Real Estate Atlas Real Estate is a full-service real estate company specializing in investment services, property management, institutional acquisitions, and buy/sell brokerage. Atlas is also a Zillow Flex Partner Agency. Since its inception in 2013, the company has made a commitment to Uplift Humanity Through Real Estate.

With offices in 11 markets, Atlas transacts over $1 billion in real estate annually and manages nearly 8,000 residential units. To learn more about Atlas, visit www.realatlas.com.

Media Contact:

Nicole Marshall

504.644.7335

[email protected]

SOURCE Atlas Real Estate
"Travel is back in a big way this summer, and we are ready for it. We are making travel for Floridians easier than ever with more nonstop service to The Bahamas," said the Honourable I. Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation. "Florida remains a priority market for The Bahamas, and we are thrilled to expand our flight offerings from the state with these weekly nonstop options from Orlando on Bahamasair."

There are activities for every kind of traveler throughout Grand Bahama, as well as new developments.

Lucayan National Park - Lucayan National Park is the second most visited park in The Bahamas . The 40-acre park is home to one of the world's longest charted underwater cave systems, as well as beautiful pine forests, mangrove creeks, coral reefs and the world-famous Gold Rock Beach.

Lucayan National Park is the second most visited park in The . The 40-acre park is home to one of the world's longest charted underwater cave systems, as well as beautiful pine forests, mangrove creeks, coral reefs and the world-famous Gold Rock Beach. Coral Vita - Coral Vita , a high-tech coral farm that aims to restore dying reefs, is now open to the public. Using cutting edge micro fragmenting technology, the farm grows coral 50 percent faster than normal growth rates and plants the newly grown coral back into degraded reefs in order to bring them back to life.

, a high-tech coral farm that aims to restore dying reefs, is now open to the public. Using cutting edge micro fragmenting technology, the farm grows coral 50 percent faster than normal growth rates and plants the newly grown coral back into degraded reefs in order to bring them back to life. Grand Lucayan Sale - A rebirth is on the horizon for Grand Bahama Island as an offer has been accepted for the purchase of Grand Lucayan, a beachfront resort located in the bustling city of Freeport . Electra America Hospitality Group (EAHG), a real estate investment firm, has entered into an agreement with Lucayan Renewal Holdings to buy the resort for $100 million , with nearly $300 million in renovations planned. The agreement is projected to be completed by summer 2022, with renovations and construction to follow.

A rebirth is on the horizon for Grand Bahama Island as an offer has been accepted for the purchase of Grand Lucayan, a beachfront resort located in the bustling city of . Electra America Hospitality Group (EAHG), a real estate investment firm, has entered into an agreement with Lucayan Renewal Holdings to buy the resort for , with nearly in renovations planned. The agreement is projected to be completed by summer 2022, with renovations and construction to follow. Goombay Summer Festival - At the festival, you can experience live Bahamian music, great local cuisine, authentically Bahamian Arts and Crafts, Junkanoo and lots more. This event is held every week on Thursdays from 6.00 pm to Midnight in July at Taino beach.

For those looking further ahead to winter escapes, nonstop flights from Orlando to GBI will return 17 November 2022  12 January 2023 and are available to book now. Those ready to pack their bags can book flights today on Bahamasair.com.

ABOUT THE BAHAMAS

The Bahamas has over 700 islands and cays, as well as 16 unique island destinations. See why It's Better in The Bahamas at www.bahamas.com or on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.

PRESS INQUIRIES

Anita Johnson-Patty

Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation

[email protected]

SOURCE The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation
Independence Day Vacationers Find Pump Price Relief With Shorter Distances, Carpools and American-Made Fuel Efficient Vehicles

CHICAGO, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey by the car-shopping marketplace Cars.com (NYSE: CARS) reveals that while 88% of American travelers plan to drive to their holiday destinations over Independence Day weekend, more than three-fourths say record-high gas prices have impacted plans, with many opting to stay closer to home or bring friends along to help chip in at the pump.

Distance is the predominant sacrifice. More than half of those surveyed say they'll be driving a shorter distance due to fuel costs, and while 62% of 2021 respondents said their goal was to get "as far from the house as possible" last Fourth of July, this year, 68% of road trippers will stay within 50 miles of home.

Continuing a Memorial Day travel trend, 45% of Fourth of July travelers will bring company along to offset the cost of gas, and the number surpasses 50% for those between 18-34 and those with a household income below $50,000.

"Road tripping for the Fourth of July is an American tradition, and understandably, gas prices are at the forefront of any road tripper's mind right now. Pent-up demand for travel is pushing vacationers to get creative with their road-trip strategies to curb costs rather than forgo their adventures completely," said Jenni Newman, Cars.com editor-in-chief. "Every little bit helps, but one of the biggest factors is fuel efficiency, and fortunately, there are a variety of vehicle options on the market for all lifestyles that will help maximize mpg, including many that are made right here in the USA."

Cars.com recently released its 2022 American-Made Index (AMI) , which features 95 cars that contribute most to the U.S. economy based on criteria ranging from U.S. factory jobs and manufacturing plants to parts sourcing. The index gives shoppers information to purchase the most American-made vehicles and direct their economic impact closer to home.

The Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Appearing in This Year's Cars.com American-Made Index Include:

Ranking (best MPG) American-Made Index Ranking Model on Cars.com's American-Made Index Version With Best MPG 1 65 Toyota Camry Hybrid (HEV) Camry Hybrid LE 2 56 Lexus ES Hybrid (HEV) ES 300h 3 90 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid RAV4 Hybrid 4 79 Honda CR-V Hybrid CR-V Hybrid 5 95 Hyundai Elantra Elantra SE 6 91 Honda Civic Civic EX 7 51 Toyota Sienna (HEV) Sienna with Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) 8 72 Toyota Highlander Hybrid (HEV) Highlander Hybrid with FWD 9 92 Toyota Corolla Corolla Hatchback SE with CVT 10 83 Nissan Rogue Rogue S and SV with FWD

To view the complete American Made Index, visit Cars.com/AMI , and to learn more about the recent Independence Day travel survey, great deals and other car-buying tips and tricks, please visit Cars.com/News .

Cars.com consumer survey, fielded June 14-17, 2022; 1,670 responses

Cars.com survey conducted June 24-25, 2021; 1,013 responses

Top 10 Cars.com American-Made Index vehicles with best mpg based on the trim/equipment for each model using data from the EPA

ABOUT CARS.COM

CARS is the leading automotive marketplace platform that provides a robust set of digital solutions that connect car shoppers with sellers. Launched in 1998 with the flagship marketplace Cars.com and headquartered in Chicago, the Company empowers shoppers with the data, resources and digital tools needed to make informed buying decisions and seamlessly connect with automotive retailers. In a rapidly changing market, CARS enables dealerships and OEMs with innovative technical solutions and data-driven intelligence to better reach and influence ready-to-buy shoppers, increase inventory turn and gain market share.

In addition to Cars.com, CARS brands include Dealer Inspire, a technology provider building solutions that future-proof dealerships with more efficient operations and connected digital experiences; FUEL, which gives dealers and OEMs the opportunity to harness the untapped power of digital video by leveraging Cars.com's pure audience of in-market car shoppers; DealerRater, a leading car dealer review and reputation management platform; automotive fintech platform CreditIQ and Accu-Trade a vehicle valuation and appraisal technology.

The full suite of CARS properties includes Cars.com , Dealer Inspire , FUEL , DealerRater , CreditIQ , Accu-Trade.com , Auto.com , PickupTrucks.com and NewCars.com . For more information, visit www.Cars.com .

SOURCE Cars.com Inc.
NANJING, China, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 24, China-Greece Protection, Renewal and Tourism Development of Ancient City International Cultural Salon was held in Nanjing. Professors, scholars, museum directors, and other experts from China, Greece, Italy and other countries gathered to exchange and learn from China and Greece in the aspects of ancient city protection and renewal and urban tourism development through online and offline methods, according to Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

"The protection of famous cities should not only preserve the characteristics of the city and the architectural style, but also the cultural heritage, the memory of the culture, and the space for communication between people, so that each city will have its own personality and characteristics." Professor Gong Liang, Director of the Council of Nanjing Museum, said there are 13 famous historical and cultural cities in Jiangsu. They are the accumulation of history and tradition, and the beauty of the city's neighborhoods. The cultural relics are integrated into people's lives.

Nicholaos Stampolidis, General Director of the Acropolis Museum in Greece,believes the protection of cultural relics is not limited to the relicsthemselves. He said Greece, like China, is effectively protecting and promotingcultural heritage in the best possible way.

Genovese Paolo Vincenzo, Italian architect, with the theme of "No History, No Future", described the cultural protection rules for Italian historic buildings and towns. He called for a comprehensive and wide-ranging discussion on the protection of historical heritage in China.

Eleni Mantziou, Professor at the National Technical University of Athens, explained how to give new life to the ancient Greek city through video. She took the Plaka area, the oldest neighborhood in Athens as an example, to describe the exploration of the protection and renewal of the ancient city.

Today, the area has a dedicated office where anyone can come and give advice on fixing problems with their house. The protection and renewal of the ancient city is an ancient and modern topic. The ancient city needs protection and update. On the premise of protecting the overall appearance as completely as possible, this salon focuses on excavating the urban history and humanistic connotations accumulated in the cultural heritage, and polish the "golden signboard" of urban cultural tourism.

SOURCE Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
Founded by impact technology veteran and former Goldman Sachs investment banker

AUSTIN, Texas, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearyst Inc., a sustainability technology and ESG platform company, announced today its mission to help businesses accelerate strategic sustainability initiatives while creating value for employees, customers, and investors. According to experts including McKinsey and BCG, the world needs to invest at least $3-5 trillion per year in order to transition the economy towards net-zero.

Clearyst was formed to bring together purpose-driven teams and innovation to achieve outsized business growth and impact through specialized sustainability tech solutions. Led by Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO Paul Ghiz, a 25-year impact technology leader, and Co-Founder, President, and COO Chris Robinson, former Goldman Sachs banker and Marine fighter pilot, Clearyst's world-class team brings deep expertise in ESG, sustainability tech, SaaS products, customer experience, people operations, finance, data science, and revenue operations.

Clearyst is building an AI platform and acquiring businesses to help companies quickly act on ESG and sustainability objectives through performance, intelligence, learning, and integration products. Clearyst's centralized shared services and proven framework will drive economies of scale and accelerate innovation through its operating companies.

"We are experiencing one of the largest and most important societal shifts in history with environmental, social, and governance priorities propelling businesses toward a more sustainable future," said Ghiz. "Today, employees want to support critical ESG imperatives such as clean air and water, employee equity, and mental well-being. Customers and investors are rewarding businesses who are acting on ESG. Our solutions will assist in ramping up the workforce to execute on key sustainability objectives and create more value for all stakeholders."

"Strong investor demand for companies operating more responsibly for the good of people and the world, along with ESG regulations in the works, have shifted the focus in the board room," said Robinson. "Both public and private companies, large and small, are seeking ways to align employees to meet sustainability goals and our solutions are going to greatly assist them in these efforts. We want Clearyst to serve alongside businesses during this journey and enable them to execute this the right way."

For more information on Clearyst or to receive updates visit www.clearyst.com.

About Clearyst: Clearyst is a technology platform company of modern sustainability tech and SaaS products and services to help businesses rapidly achieve ESG and sustainability needs and objectives. Clearyst tightly partners with the leadership of the operating subsidiaries to optimize, innovate, and scale. Sustainability and ESG technology companies ready to accomplish the next level of growth and impact should partner with Clearyst. To learn more about Clearyst, visit www.clearyst.com.

SOURCE Clearyst
CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leadership and communication expert David Grossman's latest book, "Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything," has been recognized by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) for worldwide Excellence in Communications in the publications category. The award is the fifth honor the book has received since its publication in August 2021.

Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything

Written for leaders who play a pivotal role in connecting, calming and inspiring their teams, the book focuses on the value of leading with empathy, humanity and authenticity  what Grossman calls Heart First Leadership. The Gold Quill recognition highlights the relevance and timeliness of Heart First Leadership, and the chapters in the book provide clear direction on how to be the very best leader and communicator possible. Chapters include:

Lead Yourself First

Know Your Audience and their Needs

Show Your Human Side

Communicate the Right Messages at the Right Times

Frame the Context and Make it Relevant

Talk Openly About What's Happening

Use the Right Channels to Communicate with Impact

Be Ready to Answer Questions

Be Respectfully Authentic

"It's an honor to have 'Heart First' recognized by IABC as a premier leadership and communication publication," said Grossman. "We need more humanity in the workplace today, and there are concrete actions leaders can take right away to turn worry and fear into defining moments that can bring employees together in the best possible ways and lift them up."

"Heart First" features interviews with 30+ top corporate leaders who shared stories, unique experiences and candid insights from a year full of challenges and surprising triumphs following the outbreak of the pandemic. "Heart First" also includes some of Grossman's most important learnings from several decades advising on leadership, communication and change. The book is in the hands of more than 5,000 leaders to date.

All Gold Quill entries are evaluated by an international group of highly experienced professional communicators, many of whom are previous Gold Quill Award winners. There are two types of Gold Quill Awards  Awards of Merit and Awards of Excellence, of which the latter is the highest honor. This year's Gold Quill Award winners were recognized at the IABC World Conference in New York City on June 28.

To learn more about Heart First and order copies, visit this page.

About David Grossman

A leading consultant, speaker and author, David Grossman ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CSP is one of America's foremost authorities on communication and leadership inside organizations. He is Founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, a Chicago-based leadership and communication consultancy that focuses on organizational consulting, strategic leadership development and internal communication for Fortune 500 clients. A source to media, David provides expert commentary and analysis on employee and leadership issues. He's been featured on "NBC Nightly News," WSJ.com, Today.com, in the Chicago Tribune, the World Economic Forum, LA Times, and CBS MoneyWatch, among others, and is a member of the Forbes Communications Council, an invitation-only community for executives in communications, marketing, and public relations. David is the author of several award-winning books, including "Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything," "No Cape Needed: The Simplest, Smartest, Fastest Steps to Improve How You Lead and Communicate by Leaps and Bounds," "You Can't NOT Communicate," and "You Can't NOT Communicate 2."

Please visit www.yourthoughtpartner.com for more information.

Contact: Kayla Ellsworth

The Grossman Group

[email protected]

312.927.4588

SOURCE The Grossman Group
Material from Plant Bowen in Cartersville, Ga., one of the biggest power plants in the country, to produce stronger and longer lasting bridges and roads throughout the Southeast

Largest project of its kind in the U.S. will keep millions of tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere

HOUSTON and ATLANTA, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eco Material Technologies ("Eco Material" or the "Company"), the leading producer of sustainable cementitious materials and near zero carbon cement replacement products, announced today an agreement with Georgia Power to harvest millions of tons of landfilled ash from Plant Bowen, one of the largest coal-fired power plants in North America.

Under the agreement, Eco Material will harvest approximately 600,000 tons of landfilled ash per year from the plant in Cartersville, Ga. The effort will remove and beneficially use more than 9 million tons. There is also the potential to expand operations to a second location and double annual production to over 1 million tons.

The ash from Plant Bowen will be used in concrete blends to repair and construct bridges, roads, and buildings in Georgia as well as throughout the Southeast.

"As the largest partnership of its kind in the U.S., this project will not only use material from landfills and ash ponds, but also keep millions of tons of CO2 from going into the atmosphere," said Grant Quasha, CEO of Eco Material Technologies. "The harvested material will be used in concrete to make stronger and longer lasting bridges and roads and serve as a model for helping forward thinking utilities like Georgia Power and Southern Company close landfills and ash ponds, while building a greener and more sustainable planet."

The material Eco Material is harvesting from Plant Bowen has been proven to enhance the strength, impermeability, and durability of concrete. The material will replace approximately 20 percent of carbon intensive Portland cement in concrete mixes. Portland cement accounts for approximately 8 percent of global carbon emissions.

"Georgia Power is always researching and exploring new and innovative ways to reuse coal ash that is beneficial to our customers and our communities. Finding and securing these opportunities to beneficially use coal ash will not only reduce and save space in landfills, but will also serve as a financial tool to help offset the cost of ash pond closures for our customers," said Aaron Mitchell, vice president of Environmental Affairs for Georgia Power. "As the largest project of its kind in this country, this project at Plant Bowen is historic for our company, and our entire industry, and we see the potential to expand beneficial use projects further in the future."

"As concrete manufacturers continue to work to achieve carbon neutrality in production, and power companies seek modern and innovative solutions for beneficial use of coal ash, this voluntary project in Georgia is a model for the industry, directly responding to both market and environmental needs," said Tom Adams, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association. "With the nationwide focus on improving American infrastructure including roads and bridges, demand for materials continues to outpace available supply, and collaborative projects such as this will be critical to bridging that gap in the future."

Eco Material is building a new plant onsite to harvest the landfilled ash at Plant Bowen. In addition to construction and other temporary jobs, more than 20 full-time jobs will be created for operation of the facility.

About Eco Material Technologies

Eco Material Technologies is the leading producer of sustainable cement alternatives in the U.S., serving over 4,000 unique customer locations from its 100+ sites across 45 states. The Company is the leading marketer and distributor of fly ash, with an approximately 50% volume share in the U.S. and the industry's only true national footprint of logistics networks and distribution channels. Eco Material also has a patented technology to convert fly ash and other materials into innovative, near-zero carbon building materials that react faster, match the one-day performance of, and after 28 days are approximately 20% stronger than traditional cement, all while reducing by approximately 99% the CO 2 emissions that are traditionally associated with cement production. The Company also provides mission-critical utility services, including operations support, waste disposal, and environmental remediation. For more information, visit www.ecomaterial.com.

About Georgia Power

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.7 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is recognized by J.D. Power as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook ( Facebook.com/Georgia Power ), Twitter ( Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower ) and Instagram ( Instagram.com/ga_power ).

Media Contact for Eco Material Technologies:

Joshua Greenwald, KCSA

[email protected]

Media Contact for Georgia Power:

Georgia Power Media Relations

(404) 506-7676 or (800) 282-1696

www.georgiapower.com

SOURCE Eco Material Technologies Inc
The 3.7 megawatt-hour portfolio will participate in the wholesale energy markets and deliver grid flexibility

HOUSTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy Toolbase, an industry-leading software provider of tools for project modeling, energy storage controls, and asset monitoring products for solar and storage projects is deploying its Acumen EMS controls software on a portfolio of standalone energy storage projects being developed and deployed by Ventura Energy, an owner and developer of renewable energy and energy storage projects. The five-site portfolio of standalone energy storage projects, deployed at critical water facilities, will participate in the wholesale energy markets and provide critical support to California's grid through a program facilitated by Leap, a leading provider of energy market access for distributed energy resources.

With California's goal of decarbonizing its electricity sector by 2045, the state has a massive opportunity to leverage its nation-leading fleet of behind-the-meter batteries to support grid reliability and drive renewable growth. As part of this effort, the Ventura Energy portfolio in Southern California will leverage Acumen EMS and Leap's platform to bid its price-responsive load into CAISO, delivering zero-carbon energy when dispatched and providing much-needed Resource Adequacy to the utility. The portfolio is made up of five sites, totaling 3.7 Megawatt hours (MWh) utilizing Tesla energy storage systems. Ventura's innovative project-financing model uses projected grid services revenues to deliver more cost-effective backup power to its customers.

"We're excited to deploy our first portfolio of grid-interactive projects working with Ventura and Leap," said Chris Sefel, the Manager of Enterprise Sales with Energy Toolbase, "We intend to replicate this model and enable many more ETB-controlled energy storage systems to participate in the wholesale energy markets."

The projects will enroll and make nominations into California's Demand Response Auction Mechanism (DRAM) program, which is a pay-as-bid auction program that aims to bolster grid stability by compensating demand-side resources, including energy storage systems, to curtail energy when the grid is strained. The partnership between Energy Toolbase, Ventura Energy, and Leap will enable all parties to maximize revenue and support for the grid through a performance-based revenue-share model for the portfolio.

"We are excited to get these projects energized, prove out this model, and then repeat this performance-based revenue share structure on future projects," said Clara Nagy McBane, the Founder and Owner of Ventura Energy.

"California has a large and growing base of distributed energy resources that can deliver critical flexibility to the grid and help avoid blackouts," said Jason Michaels, Chief Commercial Officer with Leap. "As a leading platform for modeling and operating commercial energy storage projects, Energy Toolbase is a natural partner for us to enable asset owners like Ventura to capture full value from their projects. We're excited to partner with Energy Toolbase and Ventura to provide resiliency and zero-carbon energy to the California grid."

Special Programs feature launched in ETB Monitor

Energy Toolbase recently launched its Special Programs feature on the ETB Monitor platform, which enables Acumen EMS-controlled energy storage systems to function as virtual power plants and participate in demand response or grid services programs. This feature allows customers to view, manage, and schedule participation into energy market programs, such as DRAM in California. Asset owners are able to extract the maximum value from standalone storage and solar + storage projects by co-optimizing value capture with behind-the-meter utility bill savings control strategies.

About Energy Toolbase

Energy Toolbase is an industry-leading software platform that provides a cohesive suite of project estimating, storage control, and asset monitoring products that enable solar and storage developers to deploy projects more efficiently. Energy Toolbase's SaaS products are used by over 1,000 distributed energy organizations worldwide. To learn more or request a free trial, visit: https://www.energytoolbase.com.

Energy Toolbase is backed by its parent company, Pason Systems, a leading global provider of data management systems and controls automation software for the energy industry. With a global footprint and 40-year track record, Pason enjoys one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PSI.

About Ventura Energy

Ventura Energy has 15 years of experience developing, engineering, and deploying more than one gigawatt-DC of solar and energy storage projects. Headquartered in San Francisco, with an office in Ventura, CA, Ventura Energy offers infrastructure, industrial, and business customers a broad array of renewable and resilient development, consulting, and financial and asset management services. https://ventura.energy

About Leap

Leap is the leading global platform for generating new value from grid-connected resources and devices through integration with energy markets. Leap does all of the heavy lifting, seamlessly connecting technology partners to high-value revenue streams and providing a simplified, automated access point for market participation with batteries, electric vehicle charging, smart thermostats, HVAC systems, industrial facilities, and other flexible assets. By making it easy for new distributed resources to participate in energy markets, Leap lays the groundwork for virtual power plants (VPP). Leap empowers its partners to provide resilient, zero-carbon capacity to the grid while strengthening engagement with their customers through new value streams. For more information visit: https://leap.energy/.

Media Contact:

Tracy Fosterling

505.803.2678

[email protected]

SOURCE Energy Toolbase
NEW YORK and COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Flash Labs Corporationa leading provider of blockchain and Web 3.0 solutionstoday announced that decentralized web 3.0 ecosystem Equinox will utilize its NFT Minting and NFT Marketplace to power its blockchain metaverse.

Flash Labs and Equinox announce partnership

Equinox began as a groundbreaking IDO launchpad experience, giving entrepreneurs a fair, decentralized platform from which to launch frontier technologies and concepts. With the implementation of Flash Labs' first-generation marketplace, the company has now evolved into a complete ecosystem comprised of a gaming guild, launchpad, game studio and NFT marketplace.

"Our platform gives play-to-earn powerhouses like Equinox the ability to host their own NFT marketplaces without using a third party," said Flash Labs CTO Patrick Deegan. "Data is value, and as the metaverse comes into its own, this partnership allows Equinox to stay ahead of the curve on critical elements like regulatory compliance, KYC, and storing complex income data."

Equinox focuses on building tools that make their users' lives more manageable and add tangible value to their ecosystem. The Equinox team works intensely to release new features and experiment with new ideas toward building the ultimate blockchain gaming ecosystem.

"We believe that blockchain gaming and the metaverse have a vast potential for reshaping the gaming industry and benefiting developers and gamers alike," remarked Equinox CEO Willy Kerr. "Creating opportunities within the space requires building connections and joining efforts with NFT marketplace pioneers like Flash Labs. By collaborating we can continue to connect to key players in the industry, exchange information about blockchain gaming releases, research, and analytics, as well as work together on driving the growth of blockchain gaming."

Flash Labs' mission is to offer blockchain-based solutions that bring value to its clients. Its NFT minting platform allows businesses to easily mint NFTs and enter the world of Web 3.0 at their own pace, whether it be a phased approach or an all-out conversion. The most recent release allows decentralized metaverse ecosystems like Equinox to enable monetization of digital assets with custom solutions like blockchain audit trails, wallet integration, fee automation and rights management.

"The team at Flash Labs develops Web 3.0 solutions that empower developers to preserve the sanctity of client and user data, while unlocking new opportunities by restoring the portability and agency of digital assets," stated Deegan. "We will continue to innovate and create new blockchain-based applications to streamline processes across industries."

About Flash Labs

Flash Labs Corporation (http://www.flashlabs.io/) is the NY-based, US affiliate of HN Inc., and subsidiary of Big Sun Holdings Group, Inc. Flash Labs is comprised of experts in blockchain technology, monetization of digital assets, decentralized identifiers, and creating solutions focused on the security, sanctity, monetization, and usability of data. Additionally, Flash Labs offers "best of block" blockchain development and consulting services with the flexibility of tailoring chain agnostic smart contracts to meet the needs of each client. To build a better society, Flash Labs is developing and building blockchain solutions for all industries, including finance, construction, well-being, energy, and smart cities.

About Equinox

Equinox (https://www.equinox.fund/), founded in 2020, started as a groundbreaking IDO launchpad experience, giving entrepreneurs a fair, decentralized platform from which to launch frontier technologies and concepts. The company has grown to become a complete ecosystem; gaming guild, launchpad, game studio and NFT marketplace specializing in blockchain, NFT, launchpad, metaverse, and cryptocurrency.

Media contact:

Peter Cooperman

646-854-3878

[email protected]

SOURCE Flash Labs Corporation
An estimated 126 million Americans are affected by a musculoskeletal condition, according to a report by the U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative. The report also estimates costs exceeding $200 billion each year for related treatment, medical care, and lost wages.

Through the new arrangement, HOPCo will develop and grow a clinically integrated network of community physicians and facilities treating bone, muscle and ligament conditions to participate in its Musculoskeletal Outcomes Management Program and risk-shared incentives. The program will initially focus on enhancing the quality and efficiency of care to Florida Blue's members being treated by HOPCo's network of health care providers for the most common bone and joint repair procedures. The intent is to expand to all 26,000 ICD codes related to prevention and management of musculoskeletal condition care.

As part of the program, HOPCo will support a network of community physicians and facilities aligned to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs. This network will leverage HOPCo's standardized care protocols and its proprietary claim analytics and outcome management tools.

"As a mission-driven organization, Florida Blue remains focused on affordable, high-quality health care solutions for Floridians," said Phil Lee, Florida Blue's Vice President, Strategic Provider Partnerships. "Treatment of bone, muscle and ligament injuries and conditions accounts for a significant portion of health care costs each year for Florida Blue and our members. By working with Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company, we look to expand our partnership with musculoskeletal providers to not only slow rising health care costs, but also enable healthier lives for our members."

Florida Blue is an innovative industry leader enabling healthy communities in the state of Florida. It continues to broaden the traditional scope of member care, shaping the evolution of value-based care to achieve better health. HOPCo is a leading provider of musculoskeletal practice and outcomes management, value-based health care solutions and care coordination for musculoskeletal care and clinically integrated platform development.

"We have proven the efficacy and benefits of this model in other markets across the country, and this collaboration is a significant step forward in the delivery of value-based care in Florida," said Dr. Wael Barsoum, President and Chief Transformation at HOPCo. "Our partnership with an organization with the size, scope and history of Florida Blue helps set the bar for changing the delivery of health care across the country."

Collectively, Florida Blue and HOPCo will create standard physician incentives for HOPCo's network of health care providers that include adherence to evidence-based clinical protocols, care coordination and medically appropriate sites of care. This will further both organizations' pursuit of the triple aim of value-based care: lower costs, higher quality, and better patient experience.

About Florida Blue

Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, has been providing health insurance to residents of Florida for more than 75 years. Driven by its mission of helping people and communities achieve better health, the company serves more than 5 million health care members across the state. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., it is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company (HOPCo)

Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company (HOPCo) is the national leader of integrated musculoskeletal value-based health outcomes management, practice management and health system service line management. This includes comprehensive expertise across all MSK specialties, including orthopedics, spine, hand, pain management, rehabilitation, and neurology. HOPCo's integrated care, analytics and facilities development platform has proven to increase the quality of patient care while reliably reducing the total cost of care across the care continuum for practices, health systems and payors alike. HOPCo's affiliated payors, practices and health systems successfully participate in highly efficient value-based contracting (bundled payments, population health programs, and other advanced risk-based arrangements) utilizing HOPCo's proprietary platforms, IT solutions, integrated analytics, and standardized care pathways. Visit www.hopco.com to learn more.

SOURCE Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company
Key Points Covered in the Pharma Clinical Trial Services Market Report:

Am I engaging with the right suppliers?

Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers?

Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for ERP Software?

What are the ERP Software category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx?

Key Global Suppliers in the Pharma Clinical Trial Services Market:

IQVIA Holdings

SGS

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings

o Know more..

This report offers detailed insights and analysis of the major cost drivers, volume drivers, and innovations of the Pharma Clinical Trial Services procurement and sourcing market, which the global suppliers have been leveraging to gain a competitive edge across regions.

This Pharma Clinical Trial Services procurement market study also includes a complete analysis of procurement strategies used by major category end-users in a wide range of industries while sourcing Pharma Clinical Trial Services.

In addition, this report investigates the most extensively used and high-potential pricing models used by buyers, which will help in determining business opportunities for revenue growth. These figures can assist buyers in generating cost reductions and identifying sales strategies.

Request a Report Sample to Gain Comprehensive Insights at Pharma Clinical Trial Services Market:

https://www.procurement.spendedge.com/report/pharma-clinical-trial-services-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report

Related Trending Topics:

1. Industrial Starch Sourcing and Procurement Report

2. Flow Wrap Packaging Procurement Research Report

3. Hydrochloric Acid  Procurement Forecast and Analysis Report

4. PVC Sourcing and Procurement Report

5. Plastic Containers Sourcing and Procurement Report

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About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contact

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
Download free sample report

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Polypropylene market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Polypropylene pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfil their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/polypropylene-procurement-market-intelligence-report

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors.

Identify favorable opportunities in Polypropylene TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

SpendEdge presents a detailed picture of this procurement market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our Polypropylene market procurement report covers the following areas:

Some of the top Polypropylene Market suppliers listed in this report:

This Polypropylene market procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

LyondellBasell Industries BV

Braskem SA

China National Petroleum Corp

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Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contacts

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
Pearl Harbor visitors now have access to an unforgettable new experience with The Top of the Tower Tour. The tour offers 360-degree views of America's WWII Aviation Battlefield from the tower's observation deck, thanks to an elevator gifted by the Shoen family of U-Haul. The attraction opened on Memorial Day.

But there is work still to be done.

U-Haul invites the public to follow its lead and help the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum finish restoring the Ford Island Control Tower.

While $7 million has gone into tower repairs over the last decade, the task of replacing the tower windows remains. Half of the $800,000 needed to complete the final restoration phase must come from donations. This initiative will help preserve Pearl Harbor's hallowed grounds and an irreplaceable WWII landmark while honoring the veterans of the Greatest Generation.

Of course, unplanned giving is not always an option during difficult economic times. Simply sharing word of the restoration project and donation opportunity is appreciated. Taking The Top of the Tower Tour in Honolulu, Hawaii is another great way to provide support.

Pearl Harbor holds special significance for U-Haul, which was started by a U.S. Navy veteran and his wife in 1945 as WWII was coming to a victorious end. U-Haul has been headquartered in Arizona since 1967. The Top of the Tower Tour offers views of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial featuring the USS Arizona Memorial, as well as Battleship Row, where eight ships were bombed and four sunken, the Arizona among them. Veterans affiliated with U-Haul who served in the Pacific Theater are honored with a display in the tower lobby.

"Reopening the Ford Island Control Tower is another way to honor the memories and preserve the stories of the brave individuals who sacrificed their lives defending our freedom," stated Joe Shoen, U-Haul Chairman and son of founders L.S. "Sam" and Anna Mary Carty Shoen.

Today, U-Haul actively recruits veterans and offers them hiring preference, while also working with numerous charitable organizations that support veterans' causes. Well over 1,300 veterans are employed by U-Haul.

Details of the tower renovations can be found at pearlharboraviationmuseum.org.

Contact:

Jeff Lockridge

Media & Public Relations

[email protected]

(602) 760-4941

SOURCE U-HAUL
Chickpea Protein's Versatility Will Be on Full Display as InnovoPro Curates a Savory Summer Experience

CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InnovoPro, a global leader in chickpea protein technology, will be attending IFT First Chicago 2022 from July 11th through July 13th to showcase the "all American" summer through plant-based proteins. Located in the iconic culinary city, IFT Chicago will be the largest B2B food innovation expo in the country. InnovoPro will be celebrating the special occasion by providing its own plant-based cheeseburgers to guests and attendees. The burger patty, cheese, and mayonnaise will all be made with InnovoPro's versatile chickpea protein.

InnovoPro's chickpea ingredients platform enables sustainable, great-tasting, clean-label solutions. The latest innovation CP-XTURA 65 (TVP), is a game-changing option for the fast-growing meat alternative market, delivering the same savory taste profile as traditional burger patties. The unique and delicious burger will be complemented by plant-based cheese and egg-free mayonnaise using InnovoPro's flagship protein concentrate, CP-Pro 70. InnovoPro's ingredients are non-GMO, gluten-free, and non-allergenic.

"We are excited to be able to share our take on such a classic facet of American cuisine, the cheeseburger, to an event as impactful as IFT Chicago," said Taly Nechushtan, CEO of InnovoPro. "InnovoPro's chickpea protein platform offers unbeatable taste and mouthfeel, has an excellent nutritional profile, and "free-from" properties, which enable us to bring a unique, flavorful experience to the US."

The IFT First will be held on July 11-13th at McCormick Place, Chicago. Visit InnovoPro at booth #S1771.

About InnovoPro

InnovoPro is committed to bringing a unique plant-based protein platform to the global food & beverage market, for creating nutritious, tasty, and sustainable food products. With an excellent nutritional profile, "free from" properties and wide usability in the food industry, InnovoPro's CP-Pro 70 concentrate is the best choice for the growing plant-based protein market. Now, with its growing recognition and infrastructure, InnovoPro is in the best position to scale up its innovative solutions worldwide.

Please visit innovopro.com for more information.

Media Contact

Harper Clark

[email protected]

Contact us: [email protected] Visit us: www.innovopro.com | LinkedIn

SOURCE InnovoPro
TEL AVIV, Israel, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Top Israeli government figures such as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, addressed the conference which is headed by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Prof Isaac Ben-Israel, known as the "father" of the Israeli Cyber industry. Leading American and British cyber officials also contributed, including Chris Inglis the National Cyber Director at the Executive Office of the President at the White House, Anne Neurberger the Deputy Assistant to the US President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies at the White House, and Lindy Cameron CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre. Private sector leaders including Ira Winkler, Chief Security Officer for Walmart, Tim Brown CISO of SolarWinds, Jane Horvath, Chief Privacy Officer of Apple, Jason Chan, Former VP of Information Security at Netflix, also addressed the conference. Supported by Israel's Ministry of Economy and Innovation, attendees joined from over 80 countries from all over the world. Guests included startups and major investors, together with numerous sponsors, and partners.

Cyber Week is jointly held by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC); The Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security at Tel Aviv University; and the Israeli National Cyber Directorate under the Prime Minister's Office. The gathering occurred against the backdrop of unprecedented cyber challenges and events including Russia's war on Ukraine. Speakers described a dramatic and concerning rise in cyber warfare as well as cybercrime - cyber-related damage is predicted to hit $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, while cybersecurity spending on data protection and risk management could reach $172 billion globally in 2022. Yet they also expressed hope in the effectiveness of properly implemented defenses and evolution in defensive cyber techniques to meet the challenge.

Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pointed out how "inevitably cyber is going to become one if not the most prominent dimensions of future warfare," while drawing attention to the vital need for global collaboration in the cyber sphere saying, "In cyber it's [collaboration] vital because the same bad guys who are attacking one company or country are attacking others at the same time. If you can share that information everyone else can defend themselves. It's like a pickpocket in a subway and if someone sprays them with red paint everyone can see and defend themselves."

Ira Winkler: CISSP, Chief Security Architect, Walmart outlined the important role government plays saying, "at a high level, governance tells people how to do things correctly with cyber security at the forefront." He also recognized the need to account for the human aspect of cyber and to be realistic when devising and implementing strategy, "A user is as much as part of the system as a computer. Stop expecting people not to click on suspicious content, but rather have a strong network protecting them."

Israel's Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, outlined the increasing shift of conflict to the cybersphere and that bad actors are already carrying out attacks via cyber, particularly Iran. The country uses "new [cyber] proxies [who] "are terrorists with keyboards," in addition to their direct actions. In response, Defense Minister Gantz stressed the need for private companies to follow government guidelines and cooperate saying, "Iran is first a global challenge, then it is a regional challenge, and only finally is it a threat to the State of Israel. The same goes for the cyber dimensions and the same framework of cooperation vis-a-vis Iran is expanding to cyber."

About CyberWeek:

Cyber Week is a leading international cybersecurity event that provides a unique opportunity for experts from industry, government, military and academia to share their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities in the field. Cyber Week is hosted by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center and the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security, at Tel Aviv University, headed by Major Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel together with the National Cyber Directorate at the Prime Minister's Office, The Ministry of Economy and Industry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Contact:

Joel Strauss

[email protected]

Strauss Communications

+1 9082808868

SOURCE Cyber Week
World Estimating, A Renowned Estimating Company Offers A Hefty Cut in Prices To Help Contractors Bid

DALLAS , June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- During a war-torn economy, the construction industry is suffering a great setback. The number of new upcoming projects is decreasing. The contractors are compelled to place more bids than before. To assist this challenge, World Estimating provides a discount of 30 percent on their Construction estimating services .

Construction Estimating Companies Construction Bid Estimating Services

World Estimating is a highly reputed estimating company based in Dallas, TX. This company has been providing estimating services at reasonable rates. They have gained respect among contractors, project owners, and builders. Now to assist the contractors that are facing problems with bidding, they are offering discounted bid estimating services .

While talking with the owner of the company Nathanial James, we have gained insight into their plan. "We understand that the construction industry is not in a good situation right now. Contractors are worried and to help them, we offer this discount. This discount is meant to help them bid more. Simultaneously, we offer monthly takeoff packages including 8-10 projects and starting from $1500 per month."

Our insight has also deepened after meeting an old client of theirs. "The current condition of the industry is not very good. There is a shortage of projects and are compelled to bid more. Working with World Estimating has benefited us for years. Today, their discount on electrical estimating services has facilitated us to bid on sufficient projects. Hence, we are hopeful to reach our annual millstone." Jason G. Lingenfelter Owner, Jumasons Electric Company.

Further talking with Nathanial James proved very beneficial to us. He has assured us that they will continue this in the future. "If contractors outsource to us at our offered rates, it will help them to save up to 60 percent of the full-time in-house estimator. This means cuts on all sorts of employee benefits."

About the Firm

World Estimating Services is an experienced estimating company. The company has hired diverse estimators and holds a pool of satisfied customers. They have been offering numerous estimating and takeoff services. Prominent among them include:

Construction Estimating Services

Material Takeoff Services

Construction Takeoff Services

Quantity Takeoff Services

Mechanical Estimating Services

Electrical Estimating Services

Lumber Takeoff

Drywall Takeoff

And others

Contact Info

Nathaniel James

World Estimating Services

+1 347 480-1903

[email protected]

www.worldestimating.com

SOURCE World Estimating Services
New Infographic Reveals Significant Speed and Scale of Regulatory Activity, Creating a Historical Compliance Challenge

ATLANTA, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LexisNexis Risk Solutions released the findings from a special edition of its Sanctions Pulse infographic focused on the sanctions that have emerged because of the Russia conflict against Ukraine. LexisNexis Risk Solutions analyzed sanctions data from core issuing regulators, the European Union (EU), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI, UK), to measure how significantly the sanctions landscape has changed through increased global sanctions on Russian entities, as well as current and future implications for compliance professionals.

Unprecedented sanctions activity over the past few months in response to the ongoing situation in Ukraine has spurred regulators to apply new sanctions and update and expand pre-existing regulations. It is the speed and scale of activity that shows no sign of ending anytime soon that constitutes a challenge for compliance professionals. With data analyzed from February 21, 2022, to March 31, 2022, there were 40 total updates to the EU, OFAC and OFSI lists, with a +2,384-net count of added destinations relating to Russia alone, compared to 150 net designation additions for all sanctions programs over the same period last year.

The findings show that regulators issued significant list updates across the six-week period, many concentrated towards the beginning of the conflict and sometimes several times in one day. This has had considerable implications for compliance professionals facing a combined challenge of scale, speed and complexity as they contend with a higher stack of alerts, additional pressures on the sanction list update processes and burdensome alert remediations.

Sanctions trends observed over the past several years accelerated in a matter of weeks in response to the situation in Ukraine. The United States, EU and United Kingdom led a common front, followed by countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Many European countries aligned with the EU including Ukraine, Georgia, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and the Balkan states, excluding Serbia. This activity extends beyond the West, with Japan, South Korea and Singapore implementing similar sanctions.

"No one can predict how the sanctions landscape will evolve in the coming months, but the scope of regulator activity concerning the situation in Ukraine has already made for a perfect sanctions storm, deploying virtually all typologies of sanctions to restrict dealings with certain individuals, companies, aircraft, ships, items or locations," said Vincent Gaudel, financial crime compliance expert, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "While governments are imposing these sanctions and restrictions to fulfill certain foreign policy objectives, the onus is on private companies to abide by them, resulting in massive compliance challenges which are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. The impact of this European conflict is global and will have an ongoing effect on global trade and economics, with supply chains and international relations experiencing disruption in the longer term."

View the infographic that details how the sanctions landscape has evolved between February 21, 2022, to March 31, 2022 here.

About LexisNexis Risk Solutions

LexisNexis Risk Solutions harnesses the power of data and advanced analytics to provide insights that help businesses and governmental entities reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the globe. We provide data and technology solutions for a wide range of industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare and government. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, please visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com and www.relx.com.

Media Contact:

Marcy Theobald

678.232.0948

[email protected]

SOURCE LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Dr. Massenburg's Work in Eliminating Racism, Empowering Women, and being a Role Model in the LGBTQ Community continues to inspire

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, the City of Cambridge, and the LGBTQ Commission recently named Dr. Kimberly Massenburg, Executive Director of the Margaret Fuller House, as one of the recipients of the 2022 Bayard Rustin Award.

Dr. Kimberly Massenburg, Executive Director of the Margaret Fuller House, is honored for her work in championing the rights of people in our community.

The award is named after Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), an openly gay American activist who fought for social change brought people of all backgrounds together, and created large scale movements with lasting impacts on our country. He was a human rights and labor activist and is credited as the chief organizer of the 1962 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

"The Bayard Rustin Award is given to someone whose work and service emulate Bayard Rustin's legacy and, like him, inspires us to make our world more inclusive. Dr. Massenburg's exemplary work and service to our community as Executive Director of Margaret Fuller House have benefited our most vulnerable and marginalized residents, said City of Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui.

"Margaret Fuller House, under Dr. Massenburg's leadership, has continued its impactful work by providing programming and services that have a tremendous impact on people's lives. Dr. Massenburg, like Bayard Rustin, brings people together to create favorable outcomes for those in our community who need it most," continued Mayor Siddiqui.

Dr. Massenburg (who has a Ph.D. in Education) was also honored in 2021 as Woman of the Year by the Cambridge YWCA for helping to eliminate racism, empowering women, and being a role model in the LGBTQ Community. She has brought a no-nonsense and compassionate approach to running the 120-year-old Margaret Fuller House Neighborhood House in Cambridge, MA. She's the nonprofit professional you read about; a powerhouse able to help people in need.

"It is an honor to advocate for all people, offers Massenburg. "I thank Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Counselor Denise Simmons, and the LGBTQ Commission for their vital work to ensure all our citizens can live with respect and be an integral part of our community without prejudice regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or class," states Dr. Massenburg.

In the shadow of Pride Month, in a world with so much divisiveness and strife, there is a bit of a slice of empathy and hopein Cambridge, MA.

About the Margaret Fuller House

Margaret Fuller House is a 501c3 charity and historic treasure widely recognized as one of Cambridge and Greater Boston's outstanding nonprofit organizations. The beloved 120-year-old neighborhood house provides an extensive range of essential and integrated human services programssocial, educational, housing, mental health, nutrition, and fitnesswhich significantly improve the lives of thousands of people in need each year, ages 5 to 100. For more information about our upcoming 120th Anniversary Gala, please visit margaretfullerhouse.org.

CONTACT

Media Inquiries

Sylvia R. Hampton

Hampton Bates Public Relations

PR Consultant for Margaret Fuller House

Mobile: 617-413-676

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Margaret Fuller House
Automotive powerhouse approaches $2B in revenue with more than 1,100 employees

BOSTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- McGovern Automotive Group, the New England auto powerhouse founded by industry veteran Matt McGovern, announces its acquisition of Lundgren CDJR: Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Dealer in Greenfield, MA. The landmark deal marks the group's 20th dealership acquisition in just 5 years - a monumental achievement for a privately held dealership group.

McGovern Auto has experienced explosive growth to achieve revenues near $2 billion, employing more than 1,100 people, and selling over 27,000 vehicles per year across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York. McGovern Auto has cemented its reputation as the region's premier provider of both new and used vehicles, with a diverse portfolio spanning luxury brands such as Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati, BMW, Audi, and family value brands such as Subaru, Chevy, Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai.

What lies behind McGovern Auto's runaway success? Key differentiators include:

Strategic Locations with Varied Brands - with a network of dealerships spreading from its Massachusetts base to New Hampshire and New York , offers customers a wide selection across 18 brands accommodating the interests of the entire family of drivers.

- with a network of dealerships spreading from its base to and , offers customers a wide selection across 18 brands accommodating the interests of the entire family of drivers. Streamlined Operational Approach - to continue turning legacy locations into top-performing dealerships within shorter time frames by deploying proven retail processes that are efficient, simple, and smart.

- to continue turning legacy locations into top-performing dealerships within shorter time frames by deploying proven retail processes that are efficient, simple, and smart. Putting the Best Team on the Field - with the now 20 dealerships providing an in-house training ground, they're continually attracting and developing automotive talent to promote into newly acquired dealerships.

"I started McGovern Automotive Group to build the best auto dealership group in the business with my own hands, without any bureaucratic influences from outside investors. I knew the most important action item was to recruit the most talented management team, which I quickly assembled from the many loyal relationships I cultivated during my 20+ years in the automotive sector. It is so enjoyable for me personally to work every day with a group of people that are all fully aligned with our mission," said Matt McGovern, CEO and Founder. "Our employees are hands-down our biggest asset, and the success we've had is testament to their hard work, commitment, and determination to be the best in the business; always going the extra mile to deliver value for customers."

McGovern Auto Group will continue embracing an expanded portfolio of full electric and hybrid vehicle offerings - the fastest-growing segment of the industry - as well as new acquisitions to consolidate its market leadership, build out its portfolio, and expand into new markets.

SOURCE McGovern Automotive Group
Tanya Wills joins as VP of NA Channel Sales & Alliances and Mandi Lapointe joins as Director of Global Partner Marketing

STOCKHOLM, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medius, a leading provider of AP Automation and wider spend management solutions, announces the appointment of two new Channel Leaders to its senior team.

Tanya Wills joins as VP of Channel Sales and Alliances for North America and Mandi Lapointe joins as Director of Global Partner Marketing. The new hires follow a string of senior leadership hires made in 2021 and 2022, including, CEO Jim Lucier, CSO Branden Jenkins, CMO Kim Albrecht, CRO Jeff Swan, and Matt Rhodus, VP of Business Development & Strategic Initiatives  all tasked with growing the business globally.

Wills and Lapointe join Medius as the company ramps up its channel strategy. The company is actively growing its channel and ISV partner programs to grow its reach and introduce a broader cross-section of customers to the benefits of AP automation. Medius's suite of products automates the process of receiving, handling, approving, and paying an invoice, and simplifies the onboarding and managing of vendors.

Tanya Wills, VP of North America Channel Sales and Alliances

Wills is a seasoned Global Channels and Sales Alliances leader, with more than 25 years of experience at leading tech companies, including IBM, Siebel Systems, SAP, and Microsoft. Tanya has held leadership positions in both domestic and international remits after starting her career in tech with IBM's premier sales training program.

Based in California, Wills will be responsible for building Strategic Alliances and Channels, and driving corporate partner expansion in the US, including the recruitment of new partners, and expanding the existing partner base. She will be reporting into Chief Revenue Officer at Medius, Jeff Swan, who joined the company in January 2022.

Wills joins Medius from Standing Up, where she was Vice President of Channel and Alliances strategy. Prior to that, she acted as Director of Partner Development (ISVs) at Microsoft for four years, after nearly 7 years with SAP in their Ecosystem teams.

Mandi Lapointe, Director of Global Partner Marketing

Lapointe joins Medius as Director of Global Partner Marketing and has over 16 years of experience as a sales and marketing professional in partner and channel. Prior to joining Medius, Lapointe held the positions of Senior Global Partner Marketing Manager at SAP and SAP Concur, and has experience at leading tech companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, and Zones.

In her new role, Lapointe will be responsible for the global partner marketing strategy. She will be reporting to CMO, Kim Albrecht.

Jim Lucier, CEO of Medius, comments: "Tanya and Mandi's expertise across Channel Sales, and Marketing will be critical as we expand Medius' global footprint and grow our partnership base. Medius is building significant momentum and bolstering our leadership position in AP automation - as we continue to forge ahead, I'm looking forward to working with Tanya and Mandi to leverage the expertise of the partner ecosystem to help us realize our company goals."

Tanya Wills, VP of Channel Sales & Alliances, comments: "As Medius enters its next chapter, I'm excited to bring my experience from tech titans to fast-growth startups to the table. I'm looking forward to working with such an outstanding team, to make Medius's partner vision a reality."

Mandi Lapointe, Director of Global Partner Marketing, comments: "I'm passionate about helping businesses thrive in today's complex, diverse, and social world. Having worked at large industry players, I'm excited to bring my experience in sales and marketing to Medius. I can't wait to get going, and to continue to grow the value of the partner community."

For more information, please contact:

Francesca Cahill

Fight or Flight for Medius

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/medius/r/medius-builds-senior-team-with-appointment-of-two-channel-leaders,c3592914

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/medius/i/mandi-lapointe,c3065595 Mandi Lapointe https://news.cision.com/medius/i/tanya-wills,c3065596 Tanya Wills

SOURCE Medius
The National Latina Business Women Association Inland Empire Institute (NLBWA-IE) and OCIESBDC have collaborated to bring $5K-$10K scholarships for 32 Emerging Latinas in Business through the CA Dream Fund program.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- National Latina Business Women Association Inland Empire Insitute In partnership with OCIE-SBDC , Riverside County Economic Development Agency , and County of Riverside . The NLBWA-IE institute support women to take advantage of opportunities and accelerate their businesses so they can achieve their goals.

This effort is designed to promote entrepreneurship and small business creation among segments of the state's population that face significant barriers to entry in today's technology-driven economy.

The Emerging Latina Entrepreneurship and Leadership Program is an intensive training 8 weeks, 2-hour sessions per week through select participating centers of the Technical Assistance Expansion Programs (TAEP) . This program seeks to enable and empower new small business owners  especially minority women in the Inland Empire  with the skills, knowledge, and support necessary to build and maintain a thriving business.

Graduates of the Emerging Latina Entrepreneur and Leadership program will have the opportunity to present their business plan to a panel of Access to Capital partners including; SBA, Bank of America, Chase, AMPAC, Accessity, and local small businesses. The roundtable discussion event entitled: "Financiando Tu Sueno: Acceso a Capital Empresarial" will be held at ExCITE Riverside on June 30 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm.

The goal of this program is to promote the growth of Latina/o, Women of Color, and the small business community in the county of Riverside by providing technical assistance, free consulting services and resources.

For more information, contact:

NLBWA-IE

[email protected]

Phone: (909) 204-7450

Follow:

Facebook

LinkedIn

Youtube

Instagram

SOURCE National Latina Business Women Association Inland Empire Institute
PORTLAND, Ore., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tigard Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic (TOFC), led by Dr. Ronald Bowman, has partnered with Unity MSK and is now part of the Northwest Extremity Specialists (NES) group in Portland, OR.

Unity MSK, which also partners with a large orthopedic practice, Los Angeles Orthopedic Surgery Specialists, in Los Angeles, is a management services company providing support to orthopedic and podiatry practices across the United States. Northwest Extremity Specialists is the largest podiatry practice in Oregon and the addition of Tigard Orthopedics and Fracture Clinic represents an initial expansion into the orthopedic specialty area.

"We are excited to partner with both Northwest Extremity Specialists and Unity MSK to expand our orthopedic practice here in Portland; all to the benefit of the patients and communities we serve. All three organizations are focused on providing the highest quality care to their patients and we think TOFC will provide a great foundation to build a growing orthopedics practice in the Portland metropolitan area," said Dr. Ronald Bowman.

Dr. Bowman has been practicing orthopedics in Portland for over 20 years. In addition to orthopedics, TOFC also provides physical therapy services to its patients. This physical therapy practice, led by Vincent Gonsalves, PT, DPT, will complement the two physical therapy clinics that operate under the name Creekside Physical Therapy under the NES umbrella of services.

"We are excited to take this step to partner with Dr. Bowman and add orthopedics to the services offered within the Northwest Extremity Specialists family. While expanding our services across the continuum of care, we will ensure that our patients can find the best podiatric and orthopedic care they need in a seamless, efficient manner", said Dr. Thomas Melillo, a lead partner physician with NES.

Tigard Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic will continue to operate under that name and remain at their current location at 9445 SW Locust St, Tigard, OR.

About NES

Formed in 2015, Northwest Extremity Specialists offers state-of-the-art medical and surgical treatment of the foot and ankle. NES' providers offer full-service podiatric care from 14 locations throughout the Portland metropolitan area. For more information, visit www.nespecialists.com.

About Unity MSK

Unity MSK is a national platform providing support services to practices offering the full continuum of musculoskeletal care. Unity MSK's scalable, best-in-class support promotes robust practice growth while allowing physicians to focus on providing the highest-quality clinical treatment for patients. Unity is led by a team of executives and administrative support specialists with extensive clinical support experience. For more information, visit www.unitymsk.com . If interested in discussing physician partnership opportunities, please contact Ryan Pahler at [email protected].

Media Contact

Ryan Pahler

Unity MSK

[email protected]

SOURCE Unity MSK
PRINCETON, N.J., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Innoveo, a global technology firm and pioneer in no-code platform-as-a-service, announced today that Oman Insurance company, one of the largest publicly listed insurers in the United Arab Emirates, has successfully gone live with its ZeroCode 'KUDOS' platform leveraging Innoveo Skye, driving near-immediate efficiencies and enhancing the customer experience.

Building with ZeroCode, Oman Insurance expanded its digital capabilities for fleet insurance across underwriting, quote and policy lifecycle management. Additionally, the business now offers partners a comprehensive digital platform with the ability to customize schemes across quotes, endorsements, and servicing.

"Innoveo has enabled us to build an experience that empowers our partners throughout the customer journey in a way that's personalized, streamlined and fast," said Sreedhar Suragouni, Chief Information Officer, Oman Insurance Company. "As the insurance landscape continues to evolve, staying ahead of the technology curve has helped us maximize efficiencies in our workflows and better serve our stakeholders."

"We're proud of the trust Oman Insurance has placed in Innoveo and the benefits we've helped them realize over the last few months building with our platform," said Vinod Kachroo, CEO at Innoveo. "They're the latest of our customers to experience the myriad benefits of no-code, including rapid development and significantly faster time to market."

About Oman Insurance

Oman Insurance Company (P.S.C.) was established in 1975 and is one of the leading insurance providers in the Middle East. Oman Insurance Company has operations across all emirates in the UAE as well as in Oman and Turkey. Oman Insurance provides a wide range of insurance solutions for individuals and enterprises in Life, Medical and General insurance. With a gross written premium of AED 3.54 billion in 2021, the UAE insurer is rated 'A' by AM Best, 'A' by Standard & Poor's and 'A2' by Moody's. www.omaninsurance.ae

About Innoveo

We believe you can build modern applications that deliver digital experiences and drive business growth without having to write any custom code. That's why it's our mission to empower enterprises in complex and regulated industries to re-imagine application development by enabling them to be connected, innovative, quick, and nimble. Backed by leading investors including Everstone Capital and Paulson & Co, Innoveo's cloud based, AI enabled no-code platform is currently in production globally at over 30 industry leaders across insurance, financial services, healthcare and real estate. With Innoveo, you'll get the solutions and industry expertise you want, plus a little extra: a thoughtful, no-nonsense experience delivered with a refreshing dose of honesty. For more information, visit: www.innoveo.com.

SOURCE Innoveo
ART PALM BEACH 2023 TO BE PRESENTED BY LA ART SHOW PRODUCER / DIRECTOR KASSANDRA VOYAGIS JANUARY 25-29, 2023

Palm Beach County Convention Center

LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Scott Diament and Rob Samuels of the Palm Beach Show Group, owners of The LA Art Show Modern & Contemporary, announced today the acquisition of Art Palm Beach. The show will be presented by LA Art Show producer / director Kassandra Voyagis, marrying the two fairs in a dynamic symbiotic state-of-the-art bi-coastal enterprise.

Palm Beach Convention Center

Now entering its 28th year, the LA Art Show will assume production of Art Palm Beach, carrying forward a highlight of the Palm Beach art season. The relaunched Art Palm Beach Show will build on the LA Art Show's reputation, expertise, success and growth, drawing distinguished exhibitors and collectors from around the world while offering galleries the opportunity to participate in two affiliated blue-chip shows, two weeks apart.

Featuring more than 100 prestigious art galleries, Art Palm Beach 2023 will return to the Palm Beach County Convention Center January 25-29, 2023, the ideal timeframe to hold a modern and contemporary art fair in the burgeoning South Florida / Palm Beach market. The fair offers collectors a new entree to explore and acquire the best of a broad selection of global contemporary and modern art in one of the world's most culturally sophisticated and affluent cities.

"I am honored to embark on this exciting new venture, bringing the art community together in Palm Beach, Florida, with the insight gained from our remarkable achievements in Los Angeles," said Voyagis. "With a focus on both coasts and an international profile, it is a thrilling prospect to facilitate this great event."

Exhibitor applications will be vetted by a dealer advisory committee, ensuring a roster of international galleries showcasing a varied selection of artworks from both primary and secondary markets. Art Palm Beach will differentiate itself from the long-standing February Palm Beach Show, which features art, antiques, jewelry and design, by focusing on international galleries representing notable emerging artists as well as top names from the contemporary, modern, classical modern, post-war and pop eras. Re-envisioned for 2023, the design of Art Palm Beach will resemble the engaging contemporary look of the LA Art Show.

Under the leadership of Voyagis, the 2022 edition of the LA Art Show was highly successful for both visitors and galleries, generating strong sales and attracting 20 percent more attendees than the 2021 show  the first live event at the LA Convention Center post lockdown.

The LA Art Show is part of the Palm Beach Show Group (PBSG), a full-service show production company. Positioned to benefit from the current real estate boom, proximity to Miami and wealth of the Tri-County Area, Art Palm Beach will also gain from PBSG's deep connection to the city's cultural scene and the Group's experience of operating in the convention center for 20 years. Both fairs will also benefit from the expanded outreach of a shared mailing list. PBSG President and CEO Scott Diament expressed great enthusiasm about the acquisition. "Modern and contemporary art galleries now have the opportunity to participate in two PBSG events, coast-to-coast, back-to-back. No greater concentration of major art clients exists in the United States than in Palm Beach and Los Angeles during the winter season," said Diament.

Previous Art Palm Beach owners, David and Lee Ann Lester of Next Level Fairs LLC, elected to sell after deciding to retire from the art fair circuit. "We're pleased to leave our existing Palm Beach fair and dealer friends in highly experienced and capable hands," said David Lester.

One of the largest international contemporary art fairs in the United States, the LA Art Show returns to the LA Convention Center February 15 to 19, 2023.

For more information or to apply to exhibit, visit:

www.ArtPalmBeachShow.com

www.LAArtShow.com

2023 Art Palm Beach

Dates: January 25- 29, 2023

Location: Palm Beach County Convention Center

650 Okeechobee Blvd. West Palm Beach, FL 33401

2023 LA Art Show

Dates: February 1519, 2023

Location: Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall

1201 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90015

Media Inquiries:

Fabrik Media

Megan Abrahams

[email protected]

(310) 571-8094

SOURCE Palm Beach Show Group
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 28th, members of the Philos Action League, joined by representatives from Pathways for Peace , Combat Antisemitism Movement , and the Anti-Defamation League , demonstrated outside Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) headquarters in a Sidewalk Stand against Antisemitism and in support of Israel's right to self-determination. The group confronted delegates arriving at the PCUSA's headquarters to vote on a controversial resolution to condemn Israel for its laws, policies, and practices they charge constitute apartheid. Yesterday's committee vote was just the latest in a string of anti-Israel measures the PCUSA has taken up since 2004, including multiple efforts linked to the BDS movement.

On Sunday, the Philos Action League delivered an open letter to PCUSA's Louisville, KY, headquarters and ten of its churches across the United States in a stand against antisemitism. Fifteen other organizations, Jewish and Christian, joined in the letter that urged General Assembly delegates to reject the overture because it fuels hate, even as antisemitic attacks are on the rise.

"Yesterday's committee vote to designate Israel an apartheid state will leave an indelible stain on the PCUSA's legacy. Should PCUSA ultimately pass this resolution it would stand with the most vocal and vile antisemitic critics of Israel whose goal is to see the Jewish state destroyed," said Luke Moon, the Deputy Director of The Philos Project. Moon, who was outside PCUSA headquarters today added, "Now, more than ever, Christians must stand with our Jewish brethren against the evils of antisemitism at home and abroad. We urge the PCUSA General Assembly to reject this overture and to refute rather than embrace the kind of hate and antisemitic propaganda that has fueled an uptick in violence against Jews in the United States."

In the days leading up to the vote and yesterday's Sidewalk Stand against Antisemitism, the Philos Action League ran a digital advertising campaign, including mobile billboards, in the Louisville area to invite others to join them in opposing the PCUSA resolution.

Philos Action League is a membership community of Christians who are committed to showing up, physically, in solidarity and friendship with the Jewish community when an act of antisemitism happens. PAL was developed by leaders at The Philos Project, an organization committed to promoting positive Christian engagement in the Near East, to move beyond mere words and put support for the Jewish community into practice.

SOURCE Philos Project
Prescient hires two new senior members and opens a new office in Barcelona.

LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Prescient, a biopharma product and portfolio strategy firm, has announced the recent appointments of Dr. Olga Fidalgo Gonzalez and Claudio Jouanneau as leaders in its Advisory business. Prescient has also expanded its global footprint with a new office in Barcelona.

Prescient hires two new senior members and opens a new office in Barcelona.

Olga is an Associate Vice President in our Advisory business. She is a medical doctor, with a master's degree in medicine of the pharmaceutical industry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and has completed the IESE Management Development Program and ESADE Leadership and Marketing Master. She has more than 30 years' experience working in the pharmaceutical industry in both large multinational and medium-sized companies such as Sanofi, Lundbeck and Ferrer, as well as at the consultancy firm KPMG, where she held various leadership positions. She has deep experience at international level across the whole pharmaceutical value chain in multiple therapy areas. At Prescient, Olga is responsible for championing the development of the Barcelona-based Advisory team, contributing to growing our European Advisory business and supporting our clients to address their strategic and operational challenges.

Claudio is a Director in our Advisory business. Since earning his MBA from the IESE Business School and a double BSc degree in chemical and mechanical engineering from the IQS School of Engineering (Universitat Ramon Llull), Claudio has spent his career in consulting roles at various firms including IQVIA and two of the 'Big Four' professional services firms. He has led and delivered strategy consulting projects across multiple therapy areas, especially in the fields of commercial strategy, commercial excellence/SFE, portfolio strategy, life cycle management, corporate strategy, M&A and market access strategy. At Prescient, Claudio is responsible for building our Spanish Advisory team and supporting the growth of our European Advisory business.

"As we continue to expand our presence and bring the best of product strategy advisory to biopharma clients, we are delighted to welcome Olga and Claudio as leaders in our rapidly growing team," said Dr. Luke Solon, Vice President and Head of European Advisory at Prescient. "Their combination of industry expertise, strategic advisory skills and scientific depth make them the perfect fit for Prescient as we bring a combination of deep consulting expertise, direct industry experience and scientific understanding together to partner with our clients and deliver impact."

Biographies and contact information for the Prescient Advisory team can be found on www.PrescientHG.com.

About Prescient

Prescient is a pharma services firm specializing in dynamic decision support and product and portfolio strategy. We partner with our clients to turn science into value by helping them understand the potential of their molecules, shaping their strategic plans and allowing their decision making to be the biggest differentiating factor in the success of their products. When companies partner with Prescient, the molecules in their hands have a greater potential for success than the same science in the hands of their competitors.

Founded in 2007, Prescient is a global firm with a footprint in ten cities across three continents. Our team of more than 500 experts partners with 27 of the top 30 biopharmaceutical companies, fastest-growing mid-caps and cutting-edge emerging biotechs, including some of the biggest and most innovative brands. More than 80% of our employees hold advanced life sciences degrees, and our teams deliver an impressive depth of therapeutic, clinical and commercial expertise.

Prescient has been a portfolio company of Bridgepoint Development Capital since 2021 and Baird Capital since 2017. For more information, please visit: www.PrescientHG.com.

Contact:

Christina Maffei

+1 908 342 3556

[email protected]

SOURCE Prescient Healthcare Group
Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG, said: "Siemens Xcelerator will make it easier than ever before for companies to navigate digital transformation  faster and at scale. By combining the real and the digital worlds across operational and information technology, we empower customers and partners to boost productivity, competitiveness and scale up innovations."

"Our leading portfolio is transformed towards more open applications, with more cloud-based and as-a-service solutions and IoT-enabled hardware that can be constantly upgraded. At the same time, collaboration will reach a new level with a growing ecosystem of partners."

"Today's launch of Siemens Xcelerator, this week's acquisition of Brightly Software and our expanded partnership with NVIDIA are major milestones in implementing our strategy to accelerate high-value growth," Busch concluded.

Enabling digital transformation, easier, faster and at scale

The open digital business platform creates value for participants by facilitating interactions and fostering innovation between multiple parties  customers, partners, developers etc. as no one can do it alone. With the launch of Siemens Xcelerator, step-by-step, Siemens will transform its entire portfolio of hardware and software to become modular, cloud-connected and built on standard application programming interfaces (APIs). The highest standards and value for all parties will be ensured by strong technical and commercial governance principles. Siemens and third-party offerings will adhere to the design principles of interoperability, flexibility, openness and as-a-service.

New SaaS launch  Building X

Siemens announced today the first new SaaS offering as part of Siemens Xcelerator. Building X is a new smart building suite to create a single source of truth (SSOT) that takes complexity out of digitalization and supports customers to achieve their net zero goals. It is an end-to-end data and analytics suite breaking down data silos across domains such as energy management, security and building maintenance. Building X is a modular, fully cloud-based open software suite, with AI enabled applications, strong connectivity and built-in cybersecurity.

On Monday, June 27, 2022, Siemens announced the agreement to purchase Brightly Software, a leading U.S.-based asset and maintenance management software company. The acquisition will add Brightly's well-established capabilities across key sectors to Siemens' digital and software know-how in buildings. It will be a core element of the Siemens Xcelerator for Buildings portfolio.

Siemens also plans to integrate its industrial internet of things (IIoT) solutions for industry as Industrial Operations X, which brings together solutions and applications from sensor to edge to cloud, IoT as-a-service and low code development capabilities, as well as a wide range of ready-to-use-apps. It enables the fusion of data from the real world of automation with the digital world of information technology, enriched by Siemens' comprehensive vertical IT/ OT integration knowledge and capabilities. Breaking down data silos will help companies to increase their performance, productivity, flexibility and sustainability.

Partnership announced with NVIDIA for new era of immersive digital twin technology

Siemens commits to join forces and grow a strong partner ecosystem, building on existing strategic partnerships including Accenture, Atos, AWS, Bentley, Microsoft and SAP. The intention is to expand the partnership ecosystem with small, medium and large companies.

The first major partnership agreement under the Siemens Xcelerator umbrella is with NVIDIA. The two companies today announced an expansion of their partnership to enable the industrial metaverse and increase use of AI-driven digital twin technology that will help bring industrial automation to a new level. As a first step in this collaboration, the companies plan to connect Siemens Xcelerator, the open digital business platform and NVIDIA Omniverse, a platform for 3D-design and collaboration. This will enable an industrial metaverse with physics-based digital models from Siemens and AI-enabled, physically accurate, real-time simulation from NVIDIA where companies make decisions faster and with increased confidence.

Confirmation of digital growth strategy and goals

The launch of the Siemens Xcelerator platform is the logical next step in Siemens' digital strategy. Siemens will be able to unlock significant value for existing and new customers, especially new ones in the segment of smaller and mid-sized businesses.

As part of the launch, Siemens confirms its growth targets for digital business announced at the last years' capital market day, of a compound annual growth rate of around 10 percent over the business cycle. Digital revenue in fiscal year 2021 stood at 5.6 billion. The launch of the business platform is also consistent with its move towards as-a-service offerings and will bolster the aim of increasing annual recurring revenue.

Roland Busch added: "This is the logical next step in the implementation of our digitalization strategy to enable even faster innovation and value creation. Siemens Xcelerator brings the power of our focused technology company together with a thriving ecosystem of technology partners. We are joining together to simplify digital transformation so that customers of all sizes can benefit at speed and scale."

This press release is available at https://sie.ag/3QVfzrl

For further information on Xcelerator, please see www.siemens.com/xcelerator

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/siemens_press

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains, and smarter buildings and grids, to cleaner and more comfortable transportation as well as advanced healthcare, the company creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers its customers to transform their industries and markets, helping them to transform the everyday for billions of people. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a globally leading medical technology provider shaping the future of healthcare. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power.

In fiscal 2021, which ended on September 30, 2021, the Siemens Group generated revenue of 62.3 billion and net income of 6.7 billion. As of September 30, 2021, the company had around 303,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.

Forward looking statement

This document contains statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Siemens that may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "look forward to," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "will," "project" or words of similar meaning. We may also make forward-looking statements in other reports, in prospectuses, in presentations, in material delivered to shareholders and in press releases. In addition, our representatives may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Siemens' management, of which many are beyond Siemens' control. These are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and factors, including, but not limited to those described in disclosures, in particular in the chapter Report on expected developments and associated material opportunities and risks in the Combined Management Report of the Siemens Report (siemens.com/siemensreport), and in the Interim Group Management Report of the Half-year Financial Report (provided that it is already available for the current reporting year), which should be read in conjunction with the Combined Management Report. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, should decisions, assessments or requirements of regulatory authorities deviate from our expectations, should events of force majeure, such as pandemics, unrest or acts of war, occur or should underlying expectations including future events occur at a later date or not at all or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements of Siemens may (negatively or positively) vary materially from those described explicitly or implicitly in the relevant forward-looking statement. Siemens neither intends, nor assumes any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.

This document includes  in the applicable financial reporting framework not clearly defined  supplemental financial measures that are or may be alternative performance measures (non-GAAP-measures). These supplemental financial measures should not be viewed in isolation or as alternatives to measures of Siemens' net assets and financial positions or results of operations as presented in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework in its Consolidated Financial Statements. Other companies that report or describe similarly titled alternative performance measures may calculate them differently.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this and other documents may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures.

Reference number: HQCOPR202206276493EN

SOURCE Siemens Digital Industries Software
Allison+Partners, Anomaly, Forsman & Bodenfors, and Observatory were among the winning agencies, in categories spanning Creative Strategy, Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility, Digital Craft, Brand Experience & Activation, Sustainable Development Goals, Pharma, Film and Film Craft, Creative Business Transformation, Design, Public Relations (PR), and Outdoor.

Cannes Lions Winners

Gold Lions

Creative Strategy  Breakthrough on a Budget: Forsman & Bodenfors + Visit Sweden "Discover the Originals"

Silver Lions

Creative Strategy  Travel /Leisure: Forsman & Bodenfors + Visit Sweden "Discover the Originals"

Pharma  Regulated: Direct to Consumer: Anomaly + Abbott "Now You Know"

Film Craft  Animation: Observatory + Chipotle "A Future Begins"

Film  Online Film  Retail: Observatory + Chipotle "A Future Begins"

Design  Special Editions & Bespoke Items: Forsman & Bodenfors + TRETORN "Sea Level Re-Boot"

Bronze Lions

Digital Craft  Motion Graphics Design & Animation: Observatory + Chipotle "A Future Begins"

Pharma  Regulated: Direct to Consumer: Anomaly + Abbott "Now You Know"

Film  Culture & Context  Corporate Purpose and Social Responsibility: Observatory + Chipotle "A Future Begins"

Film Craft  Achievement in Production: Observatory + Chipotle "A Future Begins"

Film  Travel/Leisure - Forsman & Bodenfors + Visit Sweden  Discover the Originals

Stagwell Agencies Credited on Integrated Work With Non-Stagwell Agencies

In addition to the above, Stagwell global communications firm Allison+Partners supported PR efforts for several Budweiser and AB/In Bev Lions-winning campaigns in partnership with We The Believers, including:

Gold Lions

Outdoor  Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility: Allison+Partners and Corona "Plastic Fishing Tournament"

Brand Experience & Activation: Allison+Partners and Corona "Plastic Fishing Tournament"

Sustainable Development Goals  Life Below Water: Allison+Partners and Corona "Plastic Fishing Tournament"

Silver Lions

Creative Business Transformation  Venture Creation & Design  Venture Models & Corporate Innovation: Allison+Partners and Budweiser Global "The Budweiser Energy Collective"

PR  Food & Drink: Allison+Partners and Corona "Sunbrew"

Outdoor  Live Advertising & Events: Allison+Partners and Corona "Plastic Fishing Tournament"

Bronze Lions

Direct  Corporate Purpose + Responsibility: Allison+Partners and Corona "Plastic Fishing Tournament"

"At Cannes Lions, Stagwell punched above its weight to take top accolades in creativity, digital expertise, and business transformation, proving once again our harmony of art and science drives results," said Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn.

"From the Speakers' Lounge to the panels and other marketing activations around the Croisette, Stagwell showed up big at our first-ever Cannes Lions as a company, and we're proud to come home with these esteemed awards that recognize the excellence of our teams," added Stagwell Chief Brand and Communications Officer Beth Sidhu.

Stagwell's agencies have won a total of 430 Cannes Lions Awards to date.

About Stagwell

Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 12,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

Contact:

Beth Sidhu

202-423-4414

[email protected]

SOURCE Stagwell Inc.
AUSTIN, Texas , June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) surpassed $50 million in home loan and related housing expense payments distributed to over 7,000 Texas households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the Texas Homeowner Assistance Fund (TXHAF), eligible Texans affected by the pandemic can catch up on past-due home loan, property tax, property insurance and homeowner or condo association payments.

"I've had a pretty rough couple of years, and I am grateful to get some help that I desperately needed to stay in my home," Vicki Drake, Angelina County homeowner said. "The Texas Homeowner Assistance application was very straightforward, and I even got a call from an agent who helped me upload the required documents. I've already recommended the program to several people."

Through TXHAF, eligible applicants can receive up to $65,000 in assistance for loans secured for manufactured housing, traditional home mortgages, and contracts for deed or land contract. Of the $65,000, up to $25,000 could be used to pay past due property taxes, homeowners' insurance and homeowner association fees. The total amount of assistance per household cannot exceed $65,000.

To qualify, homeowners must have a household income at or below 100% of the Area Median Income or 100% of the U.S. Median Income, whichever is greater. They also must have experienced a qualified financial hardship such as an increase in expenses or loss of income after January 21, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Full eligibility criteria is available at TexasHomeownerAssistance.com.

TXHAF is not only helping thousands of Texas homeowners in need, but also county governments across the state recover delinquent property taxes.

"Several people in our community have lost family members, lost their jobs and have gotten sick, so they have fallen behind on their mortgages and property taxes. This has been an amazing program to help those taxpayers," Maria O. Pasillas, El Paso tax assessor said. "I've heard from many citizens who are pleased with how easy it is to apply and get through on the phone for help with the application. I'm sure there are many more of our citizens out there who need assistance, and I encourage them to apply."

TDHCA still has over $600 million available and waiting for those in need. Homeowners can review the program eligibility criteria and apply online at TexasHomeownerAssistance.com. TDHCA is also contracting with intake centers throughout the state for this program so homeowners can get in-person help with the application process. Intake centers and locations will be announced soon.

"We encourage Texas homeowners in need of assistance to take advantage of this opportunity," explained Bobby Wilkinson, TDHCA's executive director. "We know many Texans were affected financially by the pandemic, and we're doing our utmost to get them back on stable financial ground."

For questions, the call center is staffed Monday- Friday 8 a.m.- 6 p.m and can be reached toll free at 833-651-3874. Help is available in multiple languages.

Link to soundbites with Bobby Wilkinson, TDHCA Executive Director

About the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is committed to expanding fair housing choice and opportunities for Texans through the administration and funding of affordable housing and homeownership opportunities, weatherization, and community-based services with the help of for-profits, nonprofits, and local governments. For more information about fair housing, funding opportunities, or services in your area, please visit www.tdhca.state.tx.us or the Learn about Fair Housing in Texas page.

SOURCE Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Lawyers, staff, and covered family members will have access to full care

HOUSTON, June 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boutique trial law firm AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, will institute a program to reimburse employees for travel expenses incurred to access reproductive healthcare and pregnancy-related decisions as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Because AZA's home state of Texas will no longer allow abortions and may restrict access to related care, the law firm will pay for travel to help employees and their family members access healthcare services they may not be able to obtain in this state. AZA will ensure that privacy rights are protected for anyone who uses this program.

"At AZA, our health benefits programs are designed to support employee health and safety. We see these travel expenses as part of supporting our employees' right to make healthcare choices for themselves," said AZA partner Jane Robinson, who leads AZA's appellate practice group. "AZA's employees and covered family members should continue to have access to full medical care even if they have to travel outside of Texas."

Daryl Moore, Of Counsel to AZA and a highly regarded former Harris County district judge, wholeheartedly supports this additional benefit.

"As a judge, I too often observed that who had access to justice was largely determined by who had the financial resources. Access to reproductive healthcare is the same. I'm proud to be at a firm that has stepped up to make sure women who need critical healthcare can access it without being penalized for it, financially or in the workplace," Judge Moore said.

AZA is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, healthcare, intellectual property, and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2022 among the best in Texas commercial law and intellectual property; by U.S. News  Best Lawyers' Best Law Firms as one of the country's best commercial litigation firms for 10 years running; has been named Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer; and was previously dubbed by Law360 a Texas Powerhouse law firm.

Media Contact:

Mary Flood

713-857-6560

[email protected]androvett.com

SOURCE AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing
PedAL is a key component of Dare to Dream, a bolder rebrand of the LLS Children's Initiative, which envisions a world where childhood blood cancer patients not only survive but thrive after treatment. As a multi-year initiative, Dare to Dream also expands education and support services for patients and families, drives advocacy and policy efforts, and increases investments in childhood blood cancer research.

"Because of the project's success over the past three years, we have increased Dare to Dream's ambitious fundraising goal to $175 million and are committed to fundamentally changing treatment and care over the next five years through advocacy, patient support, research and PedAL," Gwen Nichols, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at LLS and co-chair of PedAL, said.

The Need to Accelerate Safer Treatment Options for Kids

The goal of PedAL is to expedite the development of new targeted treatments for hard-to-treat childhood leukemias and replace one-size-fits-all chemotherapy with therapies tailored to each child's unique tumor biology.

"Children are not little adults. Their bodies work in different ways, and they undergo changes as they grow, which means we need different treatment approaches, especially for children with relapsed acute leukemias," Dr. Nichols said. "Our vision is to identify the unique tumor biology of each child's cancer to help match them with the most promising treatment."

Because blood cancers are more common in adults, there is a larger incentive for new treatments to be developed in that population, and progress for pediatric acute leukemia has fallen behind. For children, including those with aggressive forms of cancer, a delay in research and therapies can threaten their survival. Only 69% of kids with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) will survive more than five years. Even when treatments are effective, more than 70% of childhood cancer survivors have a chronic health condition and 42% have a severe, disabling or life-threatening condition 30 years after diagnosis.

"I lost my 9-year-old son, Zach, to AML following four years of brutal chemotherapy, full body radiation and three bone marrow transplants. Sadly, he died in the ICU on a ventilator from treatment-related toxicity. His little body couldn't take any more," said Julie Guillot, LLS ambassador and pediatric outreach chair. "Despite great progress, kids like Zach wait longer than adults to get access to new drugs. This is unacceptable. I'm hopeful that PedAL will enable every child  regardless of situation or location  to get access to cutting-edge personalized and targeted therapies faster. These kids want to live and deserve less toxic, more curative options."

In the PedAL screening trial (COG Study APAL2020SC), the unique tumor biology of each child's cancer is identified to help match them with the most promising treatment. Families can then choose to enroll eligible children in a PedAL therapeutic trial or any other clinical trial that best meets their needs.

"As we're learning that children have a unique disease with unique targets, efforts like PedAL are critical to address the specific needs of our youngest, most vulnerable patients by using new, safer therapies," said screening trial lead Dr. Todd Cooper, section chief of Pediatric Oncology and director of the Pediatric Leukemia/Lymphoma Program and co-director of the High-Risk Leukemia Program at Seattle Children's. "The screening trial is significant because it will identify biological targets in a child's specific leukemia cells and match them to clinical trials using targeted therapies. These tumor biology results will be assessed the same way from children around the globe, helping us advance research into more targeted treatments worldwide."

Harnessing Partnerships to Accelerate Science

PedAL is the first global master clinical trial for pediatric acute leukemia to be led by a nonprofit featuring a broad, global collaboration with industry leaders and academic institutions.

Through partnerships with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health; Children's Oncology Group (COG); and the European Pediatric Acute Leukemia (EuPAL) Foundation, PedAL trials will be available to children and families worldwide  bringing the dream of safer, more effective pediatric leukemia treatments closer to home for more people.

Multiple screening trial sites are open in Canada and the United States . The first therapeutic trial is open in the U.S. at Arkansas Children's Hospital, with more sites to open throughout 2022 and into the next year.

and . The first therapeutic trial is open in the U.S. at Arkansas Children's Hospital, with more sites to open throughout 2022 and into the next year. Led by the University of Chicago's Pediatric Cancer Data Commons (PCDC), the AML Data Commons will consolidate pediatric clinical trial data from multiple international institutions into a single, unified data set to ensure consistency in data collection, analysis and reporting. This will be the largest collection of data from children with leukemia available for researchers.

Pediatric Cancer Data Commons (PCDC), the AML Data Commons will consolidate pediatric clinical trial data from multiple international institutions into a single, unified data set to ensure consistency in data collection, analysis and reporting. This will be the largest collection of data from children with leukemia available for researchers. With support from LLS, the PCDC is also developing GEARBOx (Genomic Eligibility Algorithm at Relapse for Better Outcomes), a unique search tool that will help healthcare professionals all over the world quickly match patients who have relapsed or refractory disease to appropriate clinical trials and lifesaving treatments. In addition, all families and their clinicians can also access support from LLS Clinical Trial Nurse Navigators, registered nurses with oncology training who can help families understand and navigate the clinical trial enrollment process.

"PedAL brings together worldwide leaders in pediatric acute leukemia to conceive, develop and implement this groundbreaking global master clinical trial. With our partners, we will create the largest single source of data for children with acute leukemias and provide the opportunity for families to enroll their children in screening and therapeutic sites across the globe," said E. Anders Kolb, M.D., Nemours Children's Health, Delaware, Chief of Oncology and Hematology, chair of the COG AML Committee, and co-chair of PedAL. "We want to make PedAL accessible to as many children and their families as possible, which also aligns with the mission at Nemours Children's Health as we seek to expand access to care and create the healthiest generations of children."

For more information about PedAL, including trial details and who is eligible to participate, visit: lls.org/dare-to-dream.

About The Dare to Dream Project

Dare to Dream is a five-year initiative by LLS to transform treatment and care for pediatric blood cancer. Because kids are different and need to be treated differently, Dare to Dream will fund groundbreaking research and the LLS PedAL Master Clinical Trial as well as expand LLS support services and drive advocacy efforts to help all kids with blood cancers get accessible, affordable, quality healthcare.

LLS proudly and gratefully acknowledges all those contributing to the LLS mission, including corporate partners Walgreens, Burlington and Wawa, who have each pledged over $1 million to Dare to Dream. LLS also recognizes Sarah Asma and the Moore family; The Don & Lorraine Freeberg Foundation; The Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation; Norcross Foundation, Inc.; Joan and Paul Rubschlager; and The Bobby Zahurak Pediatric AML Research and Patient Support Fund for their outstanding contributions to Dare to Dream.

For more information about Dare to Dream, including resources for patients and their families, trial details, and eligibility, visit: lls.org/dare-to-dream.

About PedAL

As part of The Dare to Dream Project, the Pediatric Acute Leukemia Master Trial (PedAL) is the first-of-its-kind global master clinical trial for pediatric acute leukemia patients that will fundamentally change how children are treated. Prior to enrolling in therapeutic trials, patients enroll in the PedAL screening trial to identify the unique tumor biology of each child's cancer and help them to match with the most promising treatment. Multiple screening trial sites are currently open in the United States and Canada. At this time, one PedAL therapeutic trial is open in the U.S., with more planned globally. The screening trial will be available in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. To learn more about PedAL, visit lls.org/dare-to-dream.

PedAL would not be possible without the support of major foundation donors such as Gateway for Cancer Research, which pledged $1.5 million over three years to support genomic sequencing and flow cytometry, which will be conducted through the PedAL screening trial, and the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation, which has committed over $1.2 million over five years to support the PedAL Principal Investigators Fellowship Program, whose members will be leading the PedAL therapeutic trials.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a global leader in the fight against blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rye Brook, NY, LLS has regions throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org. Patients should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

For additional information visit lls.org/lls-newsnetwork. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About The Children's Oncology Group (COG)

COG (childrensoncologygroup.org), a member of NCI's National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), is the world's largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research. COG unites over 10,000 experts in childhood cancer at more than 200 leading children's hospitals, universities and cancer centers across North America, Australia and New Zealand in the fight against childhood cancer. Today, more than 90% of the 16,000 children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States are cared for at COG member institutions. Research performed by COG institutions over the past 50 years has transformed childhood cancer from a virtually incurable disease to one with a combined five-year survival rate of 80%. COG's mission is to improve the cure rate and outcomes for all children with cancer.

Contact:

Irene Tung

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

[email protected]

(718) 414-7910

SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market (2022-2027) by Device Type, Component, Applications, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market is estimated to be USD 4.37 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 9.6 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 17.04%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Airbus Defence and Space OY, Artevea Digital, BiTEA, Cobham, Consort Digital, DAMM Cellular Systems, ETSI, Hytera Communications, JVC Kenwood, Leonardo, Motorola Solutions, NPO Angstrem, Radlink, ROHILL Engineering, Sepura, Simoco Wireless Solutions, Thales Group, Tianjin Communication & Broadcast Group, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.

The report analyses the Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.

Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Demand for Mission Critical Communication

4.1.2 Rising Demand for Secure Communication and Public Safety

4.1.3 Rapid Growth Across Various Industrial Sectors

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Infrastructure Cost

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Increasing Use in the Transportation Sector

4.3.2 Technological Advancements in Terrestrial Trunked Radio

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Technical and Health Related Issues Linked to Terrestrial Trunked Radio



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market, By Device Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Portable

6.3 Vehicular



7 Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market, By Component

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Hardware

7.3 Services

7.4 Software



8 Global Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market, By Applications

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Aviation

8.3 Oil & Gas

8.4 Public Safety

8.5 Transportation & Logistics



9 Americas' Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Argentina

9.3 Brazil

9.4 Canada

9.5 Chile

9.6 Colombia

9.7 Mexico

9.8 Peru

9.9 United States

9.10 Rest of Americas



10 Europe's Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Austria

10.3 Belgium

10.4 Denmark

10.5 Finland

10.6 France

10.7 Germany

10.8 Italy

10.9 Netherlands

10.10 Norway

10.11 Poland

10.12 Russia

10.13 Spain

10.14 Sweden

10.15 Switzerland

10.16 United Kingdom

10.17 Rest of Europe



11 Middle East and Africa's Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Egypt

11.3 Israel

11.4 Qatar

11.5 Saudi Arabia

11.6 South Africa

11.7 United Arab Emirates

11.8 Rest of MEA



12 APAC's Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Australia

12.3 Bangladesh

12.4 China

12.5 India

12.6 Indonesia

12.7 Japan

12.8 Malaysia

12.9 Philippines

12.10 Singapore

12.11 South Korea

12.12 Sri Lanka

12.13 Thailand

12.14 Taiwan

12.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Competitive Quadrant

13.2 Market Share Analysis

13.3 Strategic Initiatives

13.3.1 M&A and Investments

13.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

13.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



14 Company Profiles

14.1 Airbus Defence and Space OY

14.2 Artevea Digital

14.3 BiTEA

14.4 Cobham

14.5 Consort Digital

14.6 DAMM Cellular Systems

14.7 ETSI

14.8 Hytera Communications

14.9 JVC Kenwood

14.10 Leonardo

14.11 Motorola Solutions

14.12 NPO Angstrem

14.13 Radlink

14.14 ROHILL Engineering

14.15 Sepura

14.16 Simoco Wireless Solutions

14.17 Thales Group

14.18 Tianjin Communication & Broadcast Group



15 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/b213xz

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Three national laureates  a neurobiologist from UCLA, a synthetic chemist from Caltech and a biomedical and mechanical engineer from Harvard  will each receive $250,000

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced today a neurobiologist, a synthetic chemist and a mechanical engineer as the laureates of the 2022 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists.

Each will receive $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific award for America's most innovative, young faculty-ranked scientists and engineers. The winners and their distinguished research:

Elaine Y. Hsiao , Ph.D., a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles for discoveries that expand the understanding of how the gut microbiome  the community of microorganisms that live in intestines  interacts with the nervous system. Her work could help improve maternal-fetal health and predict risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.





, Ph.D., a neurobiologist at the for discoveries that expand the understanding of how the gut microbiome  the community of microorganisms that live in intestines  interacts with the nervous system. could help improve maternal-fetal health and predict risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Hosea M. Nelson , Ph.D., a synthetic chemist at the California Institute of Technology , for developing a technique that will help organic chemists design and synthesize new molecules. Nelson has pioneered microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) as a tool to determine the positions of atoms within small molecules with unprecedented detail. Resulting insights can help accelerate development of new drugs and commercial chemicals.





, Ph.D., a synthetic chemist at the , for developing a technique that will help organic chemists design and synthesize new molecules. Nelson has pioneered microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) as a tool to determine the positions of atoms within small molecules with unprecedented detail. Resulting insights can help accelerate development of new drugs and commercial chemicals. Conor Walsh , Ph.D., a biomedical and mechanical engineer at Harvard University , for reshaping how humans can interact with machines through the development of a new class of lightweight, flexible and soft wearable robot technologies. This could dramatically improve mobility for disabled people, including people with ALS and those who have experienced a stroke.

"This award was created to inspire and encourage young, talented scientists to take risks and push the boundaries of science. We admire the laureates' dedication and tenacity and look forward to many more future discoveries," said Len Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries. He is head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation and a member of the President's Council of the New York Academy of Sciences .

Nicholas B. Dirks, president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, said, "This year's laureates have each conducted research that will benefit human health. Major developments in science and medicine are usually the result of major investments in research. We thank the Blavatnik Family Foundation for its generous philanthropic support of early-career scientists with this prestigious award."

The 2022 Blavatnik National Awards competition received 309 nominees from 150 research institutions across 38 states. Laureates must be faculty-level scientific researchers, 42 years of age or younger.

Three independent juries  one each for life sciences, chemistry and physical sciences and engineering  were composed of some of America's most distinguished scientists.

The juries selected the winners from a group of 31 finalists named earlier this month. More details on the laureates' research can be found here for Hsiao, Nelson and Walsh.

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists will celebrate the 2022 laureates and finalists in a ceremony on Sept. 19 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

About the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation in 2007 and independently administered by the New York Academy of Sciences, began by identifying outstanding regional scientific talent in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The Blavatnik National Awards were first awarded in 2014 and expanded in 2017 to honor faculty-rank scientists in the UK and Israel. By the end of 2022, the Blavatnik Awards will have awarded prizes totaling $13.6 million. Visit blavatnikawards.org for further information.

About the Blavatnik Family Foundation

The Blavatnik Family Foundation is an active supporter of world-renowned educational, scientific, cultural and charitable institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and other countries. The foundation is headed by Len Blavatnik, a businessman, philanthropist and founder and chairman of Access Industries, a privately held industrial group based in the U.S. with global strategic interests. Visit www.accessindustries.com or www.blavatnikfoundation.org for more information.

About the New York Academy of Sciences

The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that has been committed to advancing science for the benefit of society since 1817. With more than 20,000 members in 100 countries, the Academy advances scientific and technical knowledge, addresses global challenges with science-based solutions and sponsors a wide variety of educational initiatives at all levels for STEM and STEM-related fields. The Academy hosts programs and publishes content in the life and physical sciences, the social sciences, nutrition, artificial intelligence, computer science and sustainability. The Academy also provides professional and educational resources for researchers across all phases of their careers. Please visit us online at www.nyas.org.

Media contact

Kamala Murthy, [email protected], 212-298-3740

SOURCE New York Academy of Sciences
During the conference, around 130 talents with doctoral degrees came to Wangcheng District and held offline recruitment meetings with local businesses including Ausnutria Dairy Co., Ltd., Hunan Junxin Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. and Hunan Viscope Technology.

Among them, 42 percent of the attendees reached initial intentions with the recruitment institutions or companies on Wednesday.

Recent years, Wangcheng District has developed a set of policies to introduce, cultivate and motivate talents and create the "Talent first" environment in a bid to better facilitate local economic growth and contribute more to Changsha's capital economy boosting strategies.

Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/328770.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
This groundbreaking exhibition has been conceived to expand viewers' understanding of public housing, the depth of diversity of its residents and the importance of home to all human beings, concepts that resonated with Feinberg Foundation President Janice Feinberg. "I'm drawn to the NPHM's fundamental objectives: Dispelling racialized stereotypes surrounding public housing, which has sustained residents of all races, creeds and ethnic groups, and promoting the right of all people to have a place to call home," Feinberg, a longtime social justice advocate and social impact investor, said.

"Widespread thinking about public housing is often flawed, marred by stereotypes and full of misconceptions and factual inaccuracies. The daily lives of people living in public housing are often overlooked in our society, which tends to either sensationalize misfortune or celebrate exceptional and extraordinary achievement. This exhibit celebrates everyday people and everyday experiences, helping to ensure that never again will a single story be told as if it is the only one," NPHM Executive Director Lisa Yun Lee, Ph.D., explained.

"NPHM is committed to changing the narrative by foregrounding the stories of public housing residents in their own words through exhibits, oral histories and other modes of storytelling. At NPHM, we consistently advocate on behalf of the millions of people in the United States who still need affordable and stable housing today. The Feinberg Foundation's substantial investment helps make that work possibleand even more potent," Lee added.

Why More Inclusive Stories About Public Housing Residents Are Needed

More than 10 million people across the U.S. have lived in public housing over the past century. But since the 1990s, misconceptions about and a lack of commitment to public housing have fueled a disturbing trend. Thousands of public housing units across the country have been demolished and not replaced.

"It's shameful. Scores of thriving housing communities that sustained and nurtured thousands of people were dismantled. Families and children were displaced. But most significantly, the public doesn't have an accurate portrayal or a meaningful historical record of who these people were and how public housing improved their lives," Feinberg pointed out. "They were longtime Americans and immigrants from all walks of life. They worked in a myriad of professions, raised families and like most of us, led productive, meaningful lives. Public housing gave them a place to call home and thrive."

"If we don't preserve their stories, in time they will disappear. The National Public Housing Museum helps ensure that public housing residents aren't erased twiceboth in terms of their concrete, physical communities, and their individual and shared histories," Feinberg said.

Harnessing the Power of Storytelling to Elevate Everyday People

The $1 million donation will power an innovative exhibition that will occupy the NPHM's largest gallery at the museum's new home once construction is complete in 2023: "Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation: Everyday Objects from Public Housing." It will feature 20 to 24 objects collected from public housing residents in Chicago, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and in a rural community yet to be determined. Every 18 months, new objects from new places representing different residents and offering new perspectives will be rotated into the exhibition.

In a departure from typical museum conventions, labels throughout the exhibit will be written by public housing residents themselvesrather than curators or academicsexplaining the items' significance in their own words. Labels will be drafted by residents in workshops under the guidance of experienced, award-winning writers. The first workshops will be held with New York City Housing Authority residents in a workshop led by award-winning writer Audrey Petty. Object collection and writing workshops are funded by a grant the NPHM was awarded by the National Writing Project as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities award.

"The objects and stories of people of color, women and low-income families have not, for the most part, been preserved and interpreted in museums, which has led to an exclusionary narrative about our nation and what matters," Lee said. "This exhibit is a call to action for our country to be more inclusive regarding the stories we choose to preserve and the objects we deem worthy of collecting and sharing."

Championing Social Justice Issues, Including the Push for Affordable Housing

A longtime social justice advocate and social impact investor, Feinberg's deep interest in public housing was partly inspired by eye-opening theater and media works such as "The Project(s)," a 2015 production at Chicago's now-closed American Theatre Company that drew from numerous interviews with public housing residents and Ronit Bezalel's documentary, "70 Acres in Chicago," about the Cabrini-Green public housing development.

"Firsthand resident accounts, like the ones featured in the play and documentary and those included in NPHM's oral archives, are powerful aids that allow us all to expand and redefine our understanding of history," Feinberg said. "When stories aren't recorded, eventually they disappear. NPHM is working to prevent that from happening to the collective voices, memories and histories of public housing nationwide."

The Feinberg Foundation, helmed by Janice Feinberg and her brother, Joseph, and sister-in-law, Rhonda, is a private family foundation committed to effective community and cultural investments through its philanthropy. It is dedicated to supporting community-based organizations that improve the lives of economically under-resourced populations of Chicago and Los Angeles and serve the needs of children and youth.

About the National Public Housing Museum: The NPHM is the first cultural institution in the United States dedicated to interpreting the American experience in public housing. Its mission is to preserve, promote and propel the right of all people to a place where they can live and prospera place to call home. Using art, oral histories and material culture, the museum will archive and share public housing stories of hope and personal achievement, as well as stories of struggle, resistance and resilience. These stories create opportunities for visitors to understand and engage in innovative public policy reform to reimagine the future of our communities, our society and the places we call home. Its physical structure is currently in development and will be an adaptive reuse of the last remaining building of the former Jane Addams Homes on Chicago's Near West Side. When completed, visitors will interface with compelling, historically significant exhibits and engage with the provocative ideas of internationally renowned contemporary artists.

Media Contact:

Beshanda Owusu

Purpose Brand

[email protected]

773-398-9194

SOURCE National Public Housing Museum
Products are intended to meet consumer needs in the bear market, with the 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP launched as the first offering in the Crypto Winter Suite

ZURICH, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 21Shares AG ("21Shares"), the world's largest issuer of cryptocurrency exchange traded products (ETPs), today announced its Crypto Winter Suite  a set of products designed to help investors weather the bear market. The first product introduced in the suite is the 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP (CBTC), which launched today on SIX Swiss Exchange.

The 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP is designed to offer low-cost exposure to Bitcoin, as the lowest cost physically-backed Bitcoin ETP in the world. CBTC has a total expense ratio of 21 basis points (0.21%)  selected to reflect the 21 million cap on Bitcoin  which is 44 basis points (0.44%) below the next lowest product on the market. The product will lend a portion of the underlying crypto on a fully collateralized basis to offset operating cost. Lending on CBTC will begin once the product achieves sufficient scale.

Beyond the 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP, 21Shares will focus on building additional bear-market oriented products. The Crypto Winter Suite aims to provide investors with a variety of ways to enter the crypto ecosystem  whether that is at some of the lowest costs on the market for long-term strategic allocation, for shorter-term tactical allocation or in a more risk-controlled manner.

"Given the current market environment, many investors are looking to 'buy-the-dip' and generate the maximum potential long-term return," said Arthur Krause, Director of ETP Product at 21Shares. "Our Crypto Winter Suite will provide ways for investors to dip their toes in the water at some of the lowest costs on the market."

"While we're experiencing a tougher market today, interest in the long-game of cryptocurrency has not wavered," said Hany Rashwan, CEO and co-founder, 21Shares. "We've seen investor demand for low-cost exposure to this asset class  and the 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP  the first product in our new suite  does just that, at the most competitive pricing in the world. Our bear-market products provide investors with a robust toolkit for navigating the challenging market environment."

Today's announcement follows 21Shares' launch of the world's first USD Yield ETP last month, preceded by the company's entry into the United States with the launch of two new index funds , the release of a Layer1 Index ETP and DeFi ETP , and the world's first Bitcoin and Gold ETP . Additionally, 21Shares recently published its sixth issue of its State of Crypto Report , which explores current trends in the crypto industry and what investors are doing to successfully optimize their crypto portfolios.

To learn more about the 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP or the Crypto Winter Suite, please visit www.21shares.com .

Product Details

Security Designation 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP Fee 0.21 % ISIN CH1199067674 Issuer 21Shares AG Exchange Listing SIX Swiss Exchange Custody Copper Market Maker Flow Traders

Press Contacts:

Arielle Sobel, Head of Global Communications, [email protected]

Megan Enright, Communications Manager, [email protected]

About 21Shares:

21Shares takes innovation to the next level with the largest suite of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the world. In 2018 it pioneered the world's first cryptocurrency index listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange, and it continues powering its cryptocurrency franchise with cutting-edge research and groundbreaking approaches to product strategy. 21Shares aims to provide all investors with an easy, secure, and regulated way to buy, sell, and short cryptocurrency through existing bank and brokerage accounts. 21Shares is a Swiss company registered in Zug, Switzerland with offices in Zurich and New York City. For more information, please visit www.21shares.com .

Disclaimer:

This document is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for securities of 21Shares AG. Neither this document nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any offer or commitment whatsoever in any jurisdiction. This document constitutes advertisement within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act and not a prospectus. This document and the information contained herein are not for distribution in or into (directly or indirectly) the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan or any other jurisdiction in which the distribution or release would be unlawful. This document does not constitute an offer of securities to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, or Japan. The securities of 21Shares AG to which these materials relate have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There will not be a public offering of securities in the United States. This document is only being distributed to and is only directed at: (i) to investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"); or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"); or (iii) persons who fall within Article 43(2) of the Order, including existing members and creditors of the Company or (iv) any other persons to whom this document can be lawfully distributed in circumstances where section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply. The Securities are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. In any EEA Member State (other than the France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Lichtenstein) that has implemented the Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Regulation") this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation. Exclusively for potential investors in France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Liechtenstein the 2021 Base Prospectus (EU) is made available on the Issuer's website under www.21Shares.com. The approval of the 2021 Base Prospectus (EU) should not be understood as an endorsement by the SFSA of the securities offered or admitted to trading on a regulated market. Eligible potential investors should read the 2021 Base Prospectus (EU) and the relevant Final Terms before making an investment decision in order to understand the potential risks associated with the decision to invest in the securities.

SOURCE 21Shares
ABB's subsea power distribution and conversion technology decreases power consumption considerably while lowering carbon emissions and using power from the shore to save energy. The company installs powering pumps and compressors on the seabed in locations nearer to reservoirs to facilitate power savings. The reliable subsea energy supply reaches up to 100 megawatts of power, covers up to 600 kilometers into the sea, and reaches 3,000 meters of water depth in extreme conditions and high pressure. As a result, oil and gas companies now have access to a dependable subsea energy supply for the first time. ABB's solution is like no other in the industry, in terms of reach (distance) and water depth levels, meeting the needs of specific applications and market segments. The company's capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) advantages surpass those from competitors.

Maria Agustina de Sarriera, a Frost & Sullivan industry analyst, explained that "ABB's visionary and highly innovative solutions are technology advanced within the industry. The company has achieved transformational growth in the automation segment via its subsea technologies. The company has invested in research, design, and development over many years, in collaboration with Chevron, Equinor, and Total Energies, to develop this innovative power technology subsea systeminvesting about $100 million over the years."

ABB's commitment to creativity is evident in its subsea technological systems' design. The company's technological experts have designed equipment that can withstand more extreme conditions than those present in space exploration. The company's subsea equipment complies with enduring reliability standards and can remain for about three decades in extreme water depths with little to no maintenance and without disintegrating. ABB has achieved an elevated level of technology development through remarkable dedication, expertise, perseverance, and intensive collaboration with a team of about 200 scientists in a multi-year joint effort. The company's commercialization success of its subsea services is based on its product uniqueness and exclusivity that come with fulfilling unmet market needs and the locations of reservoirs.

The ABB Adaptive Execution approach focuses on the integration of innovative technologies, qualified expert teams, collaborative knowledge, agile processes, and proven methodologies into a highly evolved end-to-end solution. The ABB Ability platform minimizes risk, reduces the cost of major capital projects (by up to 40%), startup work hours (by up to 40%), and schedule (by up to40%) and optimizes operational efficiency. With positive future growth prospects and constant improvements and innovation, ABB will continue to experience sustainable growth in the future.

"ABB demonstrates outstanding innovation and technology development with its subsea electrification systems. The company highly differentiates itself from its competitors in the oil and gas automation industry by providing a solution to satisfy a market need not covered previously by any other company," noted Sarriera.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed a product with innovative features and functionality that is gaining rapid acceptance in the market. The award recognizes the quality of the solution and the customer value enhancements it enables.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About ABB

ABB (Swiss:ABBN) is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB's success is driven by about 105,000 talented employees in over 100 countries. www.abb.com

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Kristen Moore

P: 1.210.247.3823

E: [email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
TrustForge technology keeps sensitive data always encrypted during cloud processing

DENVER, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Agita Labs announced today that its TrustForge secure computation capability is now available in the Microsoft Azure cloud. Based on Agita's sequestered encryption technology, TrustForge enables users to upload data to the cloud while retaining complete control over who can view and process it. Both the data and its decryption keys stay encrypted at all times, keeping them safe from attackers, developers and IT staff.

Agita Labs CEO and co-founder Todd Austin said the company also has plans to make TrustForge available on Amazon Web Services and for on-premises installations by the end of 2022.

"Trying to find and fix every last vulnerability is a losing battle-the code is too complex and the attackers are too clever," said Todd Austin, CEO and co-founder of Agita Labs. "TrustForge tips the balance of power from the attacker to the defender by keeping data always encrypted and accessible only by a provably secure cryptographic enclave deployed in the cloud. Even if the system is hacked, data stays secure."

Austin explains that the principle behind TrustForgecomputing on encrypted datais similar to that of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), which uses elaborate mathematical equations to process encrypted data without revealing its contents. But, TrustForge differs in that it uses specialized hardware instead of math to keep data secure. That makes its computing overhead thousands of times smaller and avoids the cumbersome programming restrictions of FHE.

"Our TrustForge secure computation framework was designed with devops programmers in mind," said Alex Kisil, Agita Labs' director of engineering. "We can quickly deploy TrustForge to solve specific data privacy needs, to stop data breaches and give users and their customers peace of mind when sharing sensitive data,"

The technology's combination of high security, low computing overhead and ease of deployment enables cloud-based processing for data types that were previously too risky to trust to the cloud. Applications like medical EMR data, financial data, private machine learning and recommendation, privatized surveillance and genomics information can now be uploaded to the cloud for always-secure and auditable sharing.

Backed by Intel Corporation and a host of Bay area investors, Agita Labs' sequestered encryption technology has been designed to be secure, robust and accessible to programmers. It can be deployed quickly into existing cloud-based installations and accessed by programmers using simple encrypted-data-type extensions available in C++, Python and Javascript.

Agita Labs is a spin-off startup from the University of Michigan where Austin, along with chief scientist and co-founder Valeria Bertacco, worked on the DARPA-funded Morpheus secure CPU. Morpheus proved itself by successfully fending off 500+ attackers for three months. TrustForge brings the next generation of that technology to the cloud with improved security and programmability.

Media Contact

Sara McLean

Head of Business Development

Email: [email protected]

www.agitalabs.com

SOURCE Agita Labs
Under the terms of the agreement, Nala Robotics will custom design and install Pizzaiola at Slice Factory's newest locations to help fuel national expansion efforts. The pizza chain, which operates 12 locations in Chicago and surrounding the suburbs, has laid out an aggressive expansion plan heavily leveraging Nala Robotics technology and automation expertise. The flexibility of the fully automated robot chef will be able to cook Slice Factory's jumbo slice 28-inch and various Chicago-style stuffed pizzas, as well as serve up the restaurant chain's popular pasta dishes and assortment of chicken wings.

"Our partnership with Slice Factory, the first of many in the pipeline, represents another important milestone for Nala Robotics and the adoption of our restaurant-as-a-service platform," said cofounder and CEO Ajay Sunkara. "Our custom solution will help Slice Factory expand production to meet rising demand for the jumbo slice craze it created in the Chicagoland area, plus offer a wide variety of food options to keep customers happy, while also saving on labor costs."

To ensure efficiencies, the robotic operating system monitors more than 1,200 parameters every microsecond, ranging from robot field of vision and food quality to point-of-sales. Once a pizza order is placed, Pizzaiola will subsequently select, press and stretch the dough, add the sauce, cheese and toppings, and then cook, slice, and box the pizza based on customer preference. Pizzaiola also will be able to fulfil online orders and individual jumbo slices that can be scheduled for pickup at the chain's flagship Slice Thru drive-through within a few minutes of ordering.

"We're known for our jumbo pizzas and jumbo slices, and this partnership with Nala Robotics will help us improve production exponentially as we expand locations and service areas," said Slice Factory Founder and President Dom DiDiana, whose family moved from Naples, Italy, to Chicago in the mid-1990s and opened their first family-run Italian restaurant a few years later. "What's really exciting is that we now have the capability to run fully autonomous pizzeria-style restaurants with lots of menu items, while keeping our family recipes consistent with the same great taste and exceptional food quality our customers have loved for many years."

Nala Robotics' modular solution gives restaurants the opportunity to choose from a variety of pizza ovens, including other appliances such as friers, grills, pasta and salad stations. Monthly leasing options for Pizzaiola start at $7,000 per month. Email [email protected] for more information on pricing and customized solutions. Download a short video of Pizzaiola here or by visiting https://bit.ly/PizzaiolabyNalaRobotics.

About Nala Robotics

Nala Robotics is an AI technology company that is disrupting the culinary industry. Its innovations include the world's first fully automated multi-cuisine chef, a customizable robot that uses machine learning to cook infinite recipes replicated with exact precision anytime, anywhere. The company is successfully demonstrating its technology at three company-owned restaurants in Naperville, Ill. under the Nala Restaurants Group name. These include: One Mean Chicken, a fried chicken concept; Surya Tiffins, a South Indian eatery; and Thai 76, a fast-food Thai canteen. The company also offers meal-plan subscriptions and pre-packaged "grab and go" food options at these restaurant locations. Based in Arlington Heights, Ill., Nala Robotics has offices in California, India and Ukraine. For more information, visit https://nalarobotics.com/ or follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter @nalarobotics.

About Slice Factory

Slice Factory was founded to celebrate family and food  one slice at a time. The brand offers its authentic Chicago-style jumbo pizza slices to customers throughout Chicagoland with 12 locations, revolutionizing the way customers think about pizza served by the slice. Food and family will always be at the heart of the brand, where more and more guests are choosing the Slice Factory. To learn more about Slice Factory, visit https://www.theslicefactory.com.

SOURCE Nala Robotics
CALABASAS, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) (the "Company"), a leading provider of high-quality single-family homes for rent, today announced that S&P Global Ratings (S&P) recently upgraded the company's corporate credit rating to BBB from BBB-. The rating outlook is stable. American Homes 4 Rent's track record of strong operating results, persistent single-family rental demand tailwinds, and the company's commitment to its financial policies were all cited as key factors in the upgrade.

"Prudent balance sheet management has been a foundational cornerstone of American Homes 4 Rent," said Christopher C. Lau, Chief Financial Officer at American Homes 4 Rent. "We are pleased that S&P has recognized the continual improvement of our credit profile, as balance sheet strength and flexibility continue to remain top strategic priorities."

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high-quality, good value and resident satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of March 31, 2022, we owned 57,984 single-family properties in select submarkets in 22 states.

Additional information about American Homes 4 Rent is available on our website at www.americanhomes4rent.com.

Contacts:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

American Homes 4 Rent

Media Relations

Phone: (805) 413-5088

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent
Enrico Karsten is a highly regarded, people-orientated business leader who brings a wealth of experience in business strategy in the unified communication and IoT space. Already one year ago he was appointed as Managing Director. In this role he has led the day-to-day operations of Anywhere365 and  together with CFO Frans Koch  prepared the organization for further growth.

New phase of growth

"Today I proudly and confidently hand over the reins over the company to Enrico," said Gijs Geurts. "Having founded Anywhere365 10 years ago, I look back in gratitude and pride to all that we have achieved. Over 2,000 global enterprises have chosen Anywhere365 Dialogue Cloud as the native communication platform on top of their Microsoft investments and our revenue has grown 250% year-on-year over the past 3 years. I'm celebrating this change in leadership, as it marks a new phase of growth. Enrico is the perfect fit to lead this next phase, taking Anywhere365 to $ 100 Million revenue in 2024."

Cyrus Shey, managing partner, Bregal Milestone and non-executive director, Anywhere365: "Enrico brings an impressive background of deep experience and entrepreneurial drive to delight customers. In the past year, in his role as MD, Enrico has proven that his energy, dedication, leadership and commitment to customers are excellent qualities to lead Anywhere365 during the next phase of growth. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Gijs for his leadership for the past 10 years and we look forward to supporting Enrico to deliver an exciting future of profitable growth."

Maximize the value of time

"I am absolutely thrilled to start this in this position and would like to thank Gijs and the rest of the board for their trust," said Enrico Karsten. "The future of work, productivity and customer experiences is constantly evolving. But our aim remains solid and clear: we want to maximize the value of every minute in any customer dialogue. For enterprise companies, as well as their customers. We will keep focusing on beyond-smart routing, automation, digitization and a firm alignment with Microsoft's UC strategy. I am looking forward to work with the amazing people within Anywhere365 and our partners to further scale up the benefits of our platform, capture more market share, and become the leading Dialogue Routing Hub for the Microsoft ecosystem."

About Anywhere36

Anywhere365 is the leading cloud contact center and dialogue management platform for the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It was founded on the vision to maximize the value of time by reducing unnecessary dialogues. Award-winning Anywhere365 Dialogue Cloud platform enhances customer experiences as well as workforce productivity. It is found in 2,000+ of the largest international brands, such as Rabobank, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Nestle and more than 30 Fortune 500 companies. Anywhere365 has offices in the USA, UK, Australia, Germany, France and the Netherlands (HQ).

www.anywhere365.io

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850311/Enrico_Karsten.jpg

SOURCE Anywhere 365
MORRISVILLE, N.C., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance One International, LLC ("AOI" or the "Company") recently partnered with the Federal University of Lavras ("UFLA") in Minas Gerais, Brazil, to provide third-party, specialized training to its agronomic employees around the world. The program was established to promote an enhanced employee skillset, which ultimately can benefit AOI's contracted farmers through improved efficiencies and maximized income potential.

The virtual training program, "From the Seeds to the Cured Leaves," was conducted by UFLA agronomy professors and took place over the course of six weeks, bringing together AOI tobacco leaf agronomists from 18 countries on 5 continents.

"Our global agronomy team members have extensive agronomic knowledge about tobacco production, and most have been working with the crop for several years. This professional development program was organized to offer our employees a continuing education opportunity to deepen their knowledge on some of the most technical and scientific aspects of tobacco cultivation," said Helio Moura, AOI's global agronomy director.

Topics covered in the training ranged from methods to build soil fertility to tobacco ecophysiologythe connection between the plant and its environmentat varying stages of the crop production process.

"Crop production methodologies and best practices are rapidly evolving due to new technologies and research, as well as the impacts stemming from climate change," said AOI President Alex Strohschoen. "Ensuring our agronomists continue to advance their knowledge base not only encourages employee motivation and engagement, it also aids our global agronomy team in transferring this knowledge to our grower base, helping to strengthen the farmers' crop quality and yield and delivering value to our stakeholders."

The Company intends to expand the partnership to provide further training and education opportunities to employees. Additionally, the training sessions "From the Seeds to the Cured Leaves," have been recorded and will be available to employees to review.

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.

About Federal University of Lavras (UFLA)

Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) is one of Brazil's leading agricultural research universities. UFLA is committed to providing and fostering the development and continuous expansion of services to society and has produced more than 30 thousand professional graduates and post-graduate specialists acting throughout Brazil and abroad.

SOURCE Alliance One International, LLC
CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ARCH Venture Partners today announced the closing of ARCH Venture Fund XII, with $2.975 billion to invest in the creation, development and funding of early stage biotechnology companies. This new fund follows the January 2021 announcement of the $1.941 Billion ARCH Venture Fund XI.

"All the fundamental innovations in biotechnology are accelerating, with huge promise for new preventive, disease-modifying, and even curative treatments. Science doesn't care what markets are doing, and science moves forward. With over 35 years of venture experience, ARCH has been creating and consolidating companies for the long term. We would like to thank our limited partners for supporting our twelfth fund," said ARCH Co-founder and Managing Director Robert Nelsen.

ARCH investments made from Fund XII will reflect the firm's focus on companies formed around breakthrough technologies. This means investing in early stage biotechnology companies with potential to solve some of the biggest health challenges in areas including infectious disease, mental health, immunology, oncology, neurology, age-related diseases, manufacturing, clinical trials, genomic and biological tools, data sciences, and ways to reimagine diagnostics and therapies.

"Our approach has always been to pair great science with remarkable, proven teams to build disruptive companies. We believe in this model now more than ever. The science happening today is simply stunning and provides a broad base of innovation and discovery to bring forward," said ARCH Managing Director Kristina Burow.

"ARCH has the team, network, track record and insights to build the next wave of high impact and highly valued life science and health care sector leaders. We plan to do just that by working for our limited partners and working with our portfolio companies," said ARCH Co-founder and Managing Director Keith Crandell.

ARCH's Managing Directors include:

About ARCH Venture Partners

ARCH Venture Partners invests in advanced technology companies and is one of the largest early-stage technology venture firms in the United States. The firm is a recognized leader in commercializing technologies developed at academic institutions, corporate research groups and national laboratories. ARCH invests primarily in companies it co-founds with leading scientists and entrepreneurs, bringing innovations in life sciences and physical sciences to market.

For more information, visit www.archventure.com.

Contact:

Morgan Warners

FGS Global

[email protected]

SOURCE ARCH Venture Partners
- Dr. Batty Brings Significant Leadership Experience in Global Immunology and Clinical Development -

- Post Successful Financing, Artax is Filling Key Positions -

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Artax Biopharma, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on transforming the treatment of T Cell-mediated diseases, today announces the appointment of D. Scott Batty, Jr., M.D. as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Batty will direct the Company's scientific and clinical research programs, including Artax's ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating AX-158, the Company's first-in-class, oral small molecule immunomodulating agent that selectively modulates inappropriate T cell activation, a known cause of autoimmune disease. Importantly, AX-158 has the potential to treat T Cell-mediated diseases without the risk of immunosuppression.

Dr. Batty joins Artax with more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry in leadership positions, including as CEO and as CMO at private and publicly held companies, and as a transplant surgeon. Prior to joining Artax, Dr. Batty was VP of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs for CTI, Inc., a privately held contract research organization. Previous roles included Chief Medical Officer at Medeor Therapeutics, which developed an organ transplantation cell therapy platform to avoid the use of pharmacologic immunosuppression; Chief Executive Officer of ImmunArray Ltd., and Vice President of Global Medical Affairs for Genzyme Transplant and Oncology Group. Dr. Batty was also a Global Director of Medical Affairs for the belatacept immunosuppression program while at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

During his time in clinical practice, Dr. Batty was an attending surgeon at the Organ and Tissue Transplant Research Center, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Batty also specialized in liver transplantation, serving as Chief of Liver Transplant at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and later as Director of Liver Transplantation at Georgetown University Hospital, both in Washington, DC. Dr. Batty served in the US Army Medical Corps from 1986 to 2001, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He received his M.D. degree from Tufts University School of Medicine, conducted his surgical residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and completed a Multi-Organ Abdominal Transplant Surgery Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.

"As a transplant surgeon with a specialty in immunology, Dr. Batty's addition to Artax's leadership team will provide strategic guidance in advancing our clinical programs," said Joseph Lobacki, Chief Executive Officer of Artax Biopharma. "His clinical vision, focus on patient care, and proven leadership will strengthen our clinical development efforts and help progress our product pipeline."

"It is an honor to join a dedicated team focused on patients through transforming the treatment of T cell mediated diseases. We are committed to the important mission of clinically demonstrating that our immunomodulator AX-158 addresses these diseases without causing the debilitating, immunosuppressive side effects associated with current available therapies," stated Dr. Batty stated. "I am eager to apply my significant clinical development and provider experience to help tackle this serious and prevalent problem of immunologic diseases."

About Artax Science and Immunomodulation

A healthy immune system eliminates harmful foreign pathogens, while being tolerant of self-tissues and organs. The T Cell Receptor (TCR) is central to healthy T Cell function and a well-functioning immune system. When TCR signaling becomes dysregulated, T Cells behave abnormally. This behavior results in T Cell-driven conditions, including autoimmune diseases, T Cell malignancies (lymphomas), and induced T Cell pathologies in which medical treatments result in immune reactions (such as stem cell transplants resulting in acute graft-versus-host-disease or immuno-oncology treatments resulting in immune related-adverse events).

Artax believes immunomodulation - a mechanism through which our investigational agents assist in rebalancing the immune system and eliminating a cause of T Cell-mediated diseases, while not impacting patients' ability to effectively fight foreign pathogens - holds great potential.

About AX-158

AX-158 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule immunomodulating agent in clinical development for the treatment of T Cell-mediated diseases. AX-158 employs a novel mechanism of action that selectively modulates, or adjusts, T Cell responses that play a critical role in immune system function. AX-158 is a Nck SH3.1 domain inhibitor which selectively counteracts the role of Nck in T Cells. Nck is a protein that naturally amplifies T Cell signaling directly at the TCR, contributing to T Cell mediated disease. This process of immunomodulation assists the immune system to maintain healthy control and eliminates a direct contributor to T Cell-mediated diseases. Importantly, Artax believes that preclinical data suggests AX-158 will not be immunosuppressive and so will not impact the immune system's ability to mount a strong response to foreign pathogens and infections.

About Artax Biopharma

Artax Biopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company transforming T Cell-mediated disease treatment by developing innovative small molecules that modulate the immune system. Artax science holds broad potential to treat T Cell-mediated diseases such as autoimmune diseases; induced T cell pathologies (such as acute graft-versus-host disease and immune-oncology treatment-related adverse events); and T Cell malignancies, while simultaneously allowing the body to fight foreign pathogens. For more information, please visit: www.artaxbiopharma.com.

SOURCE Artax Biopharma
3 Day Startup and the U.S. Embassy of Vienna Host Sixth International Student Startup Exchange

AUSTIN, Texas, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 3 Day Startup (3DS) announced today the nonprofit organization is partnering with the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria to host twenty young entrepreneurs from Vienna in the entrepreneurship hub of Austin, Texas July 5 to July 19, 2022. Participants in the sixth annual 'Austria to Austin Student Startup Exchange,' will connect with local business leaders and entrepreneurs.

3 Day Startup

3 Day Startup global exchange programs are designed to increase collaboration between students in the U.S. and other communities, promote entrepreneurship and innovation, and deliver leadership development for positive change. Students will experience cultural immersion as they navigate Austin's entrepreneurial ecosystem with a focus on social entrepreneurship and circular economy. Participants will complete a startup bootcamp, pitch new business models, and build a U.S.-based peer and mentor network.

"A key part of the Austria to Austin Exchange program is introducing the next generation of global leaders to the city of Austin and all it has to offer as a creative and startup hub in the U.S.," said Erika Haskins, CEO of 3 Day Startup. "We are proud to showcase Austin's rich cultural and business opportunities, and connect our exchange participants with mentors and peers who exemplify Austin's climate and social entrepreneurship community."

3DS delivers entrepreneurship education and training to young adults and focuses on aligning new business models with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The nonprofit organization has delivered programming for young people worldwide since 2008. Over the past 12 years, 3DS have served more than 17,000 youth worldwide, helping program alumni raise $217 million in startup investment.

Program partners include Google, Austin Chamber, Austin FC, Notley, Austin Resource Recovery (City of Austin), Austin Young Chamber, the University of Texas at Austin Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute, Capital Factory, Big Austin, Tech Ranch, Impact Lab at Austin Community College, and Blue Sky Partners.

Learn more: https://www.3daystartup.org/a2a/

About 3 Day Startup

3 Day Startup (3DS) is an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas that empowers young leaders to leverage entrepreneurial thinking and new business models to solve the world's greatest problems. Visit www.3daystartup.org .

Media Contact: Erika Haskins | [email protected] | 317-864-3361

SOURCE 3 Day Startup
Contract award opens federal contracting opportunities for IT company

FAIR LAKES, Va., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Azoole, a joint venture between Chainbridge Solutions Inc. and CGI Federal Inc., is a proud recipient of the 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services (STARS) III Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), contract. This multi-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract is run by GSA and serves all federal agencies. Azoole's new IDIQ contract includes a 5-year Base Period with one 3-year Option Period and the opportunity to compete for task orders up to the $50 billion ordering ceiling.

"Azoole is incredibly proud to have been awarded the GSA 8(a) STARS III contract," stated Aarti Smith, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chainbridge Solutions. "The Azoole joint venture is an ideal partnership of unparalleled innovation and agility in IT that enables Chainbridge Solutions and CGI Federal to extend their reach to more federal customers and better serve their important missions."

STARS III opens the door to hundreds of opportunities for Azoole to deliver quality IT solutions to customers across the federal government. The contract enables Azoole the opportunity to support federal agencies with full-scope application services and modernization, including agile, DevSecOps, cloud, and low code/no code.

"Azoole represents the best of Chainbridge Solutions and CGI Federal, who share a goal of bringing technology that secures the people, assets and systems of the federal government," stated Stephanie Mango, President of CGI Federal. "With this strategic contract vehicle win, Azoole will be enabled to bring its IT security expertise to support the delivery of innovative solutions to solve some of the federal government's most complex challenges."

People are at the core of everything Azoole does the American citizen, the federal government employee, the contractor. Through innovative designs and agile delivery, Azoole provides business process services and implements technology-based solutions that make lives safer. For more information visit azoole.com.

About Chainbridge Solutions Inc.

Chainbridge Solutions Inc. an SBA-certified 8(a), Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), has been entrusted since 2010 to deliver modern, secure solutions to federal agencies and organizations. Chainbridge Solutions specializes in legacy application modernization through an agile methodology focused on human-centric design, strong customer engagement and rapid delivery through an iterative approach. Chainbridge Solutions brings strong expertise in Human Capital, Personnel Security and Investigative Case Management. Leveraging Machine Learning and robotic process automation, Chainbridge Solutions delivers smart, innovative solutions that offer workflow efficiencies, cost savings, and a user-centric experience to their customers. Learn more at chainbridgesolutions.com

About CGI Federal

CGI Federal Inc., a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Inc., is dedicated to partnering with federal agencies to provide solutions for defense, civilian, healthcare and intelligence missions. Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 82,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. With Fiscal 2021 reported revenue of C$12.13 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.

Contact: Kristin Brewer

Media Liaison

[email protected]

GSA #47QTCB22D0388

SOURCE Chainbridge Solutions
The first-of-its-kind event will bring together globally celebrated chefs and local Bahamian artists for a weekend of food, art, and culture

NASSAU, The Bahamas, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Baha Mar, the Caribbean's leading integrated luxury resort of choice located in Nassau, The Bahamas, is thrilled to announce the first The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival at Baha Mar, taking place October 21-23, 2022. Establishing Baha Mar as the premier culinary and art destination in the Caribbean, the three-day food and culture festival will be headlined by internationally renowned and celebrated chefs including Marcus Samuelsson of Marcus at Baha Mar Fish + Chop House, Daniel Boulud of Cafe Boulud, and Dario Cecchini of Carna, who will be joined by TV personality and culinary maven Amanda Freitag along with author and restauranteur Carla Hall, as well as Bahamian culinary artisan, event curator and chef, Simeon Hall Jr.

The 2022 Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival will kick-off with a welcome party hosted by Marcus Samuelsson on Friday, October 21. Throughout the weekend, guests will be able to enjoy a two-day culinary and arts expo featuring interactive cooking demos led by Baha Mar's leading epicurean talent and guest chefs, new exhibitions from local artisans in partnership with The Current curated by the resort's Executive Director of Arts and Culture John Cox, and a grand dine-around showcasing a taste of the very best of The Bahamas and Baha Mar's more than 45 celebrated restaurants, bars and cafes. All headlining chefs will each host exclusive, bespoke interactive experiences, to be announced later this summer. The celebration will conclude with a special ticketed event for an unforgettable al fresco dining experience with the festival's participating chefs and artists on Long Cay, Baha Mar's lush private island hideaway.

"We are thrilled to debut The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival at Baha Mar, which will highlight the resort as the culinary, art and cultural destination of choice within the Caribbean," said Graeme Davis, President, Baha Mar. "This premiere event will allow us to showcase the extraordinary culinarians, as well as artistic creativity found both at Baha Mar and throughout The Bahamas joined by international guest stars. We envision this festival becoming the leading celebration of food and art in the region, providing locals and visitors with the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the island's rich culture and gastronomic offerings."

"I'm so honored to be part of this monumental event, taking place at one of my favorite destinations, Baha Mar," said Marcus Samuelsson. "We've set the stage for a truly unforgettable festival, and myself, alongside my colleagues and friends, are excited to continue highlighting the local culinary scene, matched with unique Bahamian art and culture."

The Current Gallery and Art Center, Baha Mar's hub for compelling Bahamian artistic experiences, is focused on recognizing and supporting a strong creative community in Nassau through captivating exhibitions, workshops, discussions, and more. During the festival weekend, the gallery and studio will take guests on a cultural journey showcasing the local art and its artists displayed throughout the property. Attendees will also experience local artists creating unique pieces of work - live - inspired by the event's happenings and surroundings.

"The Current's art programs are one-of-a-kind, with a focus on promoting work from all types of creatives throughout the resort," said John Cox, Art Director of The Current Gallery and Art Center. "We are excited to be a part of The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival at Baha Mar, and to continue to share our passion for Bahamian art within the community and our visitors."

Tickets for the event are now on sale at bahamar.com/bahamas-culinary-arts-festival/ and are priced upon experience, ranging from $79 to $499. Guests can enjoy The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival at Baha Mar in spectacular fashion with the all-inclusive Festival Weekend Pass priced at $499, which features access to flagship events, as well as early access to some of the most exclusive, intimate chef experiences. The Festival Weekend Pass includes a premium welcome gift upon check-in, entry to The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Expo on Saturday and Sunday, and early access to intimate guest chef experiences, as well as admission to the Sundown & Sips party, Welcome Beach Party, and Grand Dine-Around. The full lineup of events will include:

Friday, October 21: Sundown & Sips hosted by Marcus Samuelsson at 6 pm (exclusive access for Weekend Pass holders); Welcome Beach Party at 7 pm

Saturday, October 22: The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Expo from 11 am  6 pm; Baha Mar Art Tour hosted by John Cox at 11am; The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Grand Dine-Around from 7-11pm

Sunday, October 23: Long Cay Luncheon at 11 am; The Bahamas Culinary & Arts Expo from 11 am  6 pm

Additional curated experiences will be announced in the coming months, including intimate culinary activities hosted by Baha Mar's leading chefs. For further information about the event, please visit bahamar.com/bahamas-culinary-arts-festival/ for full details on featured chefs and culinary concepts, event specifics, art exhibitions, and a link for easy ticket purchase.

About Baha Mar

Baha Mar is a master planned integrated resort development situated on 1,000 acres overlooking the world's famous Cable Beach. The white sand beach destination includes three global brand operators  Grand Hyatt, SLS, and Rosewood  over 2,300 rooms and more than 45 restaurants and lounges, the largest casino in the Caribbean, a state-of-the-art convention center, Royal Blue Golf Course, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature course, a brand new $200 million Baha Bay luxury water park, the Caribbean's first and only flagship ESPA spa, and over 30 luxury retail outlets. Baha Mar is a breathtaking location with dynamic programming, activities, and guest offerings in one of the most beautiful places in the world  The Bahamas. For more information and reservations, visit www.bahamar.com.

SOURCE Baha Mar
"This is exciting news for all of the communities we serve in central Texas," said Andrew Freeman, the Executive Director of BASIS Texas Charter Schools. "We're right on schedule as we continue to offer our incredible curriculum to more and more students in Texas every year."

Two campuses for K-12 students, opening Grades K-9 in August 2023

BASIS Cedar Park Primary and BASIS Cedar Park will both open in the fall of 2023 and offer grades K  9 in the first year to hundreds of students in each grade  "we're trying to meet a lot of demand in this part of Texas, particularly for the primary grades," said the founding Head of School of BASIS Cedar Park and BASIS Cedar Park Primary, Roberto Ramirez, who has been with BASIS Charter Schools as an educator and Head of School for more than a decade.

"BASIS Cedar Park will welcome one new grade level each school year, until it reaches full growth as a grades 6-12 campus during the 2026-27 school year," Ramirez said.

"We've been talking about building new schools in Cedar Park for years," said BASIS.ed Texas CEO Dr. Peter Bezanson. "In the wake of the excellent rankings for many of our schools in U.S. News & World Report this spring, it's fantastic to announce that our Cedar Park locations are in fact opening in 2023, and that a veteran BASIS educator like Roberto will lead these campuses."

Dr. Bezanson continued, "Now, as our students and families enjoy summer vacation, we're building another high-achieving school community in Texas. Like our other BASIS Texas Charter Schools in San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, and Pflugerville, BASIS Cedar Park and BASIS Cedar Park Primary will soon be among the top performing schools in the world!"

Open Enrollment for school year 2023-24 will commence in fall 2022

"While we will soon start construction on BASIS Cedar Park and BASIS Cedar Park Primary, we'll also soon begin filling student seats for the 2023-24 school year with our initial Open Enrollment period this fall," said Head of School Ramirez. "Open enrollment is when we encourage families to apply so they have a much better chance, indeed the best chance, to get a seat. In addition, in the coming months we'll offer tours, information sessions, and answer every last question that prospective families have."

Specific Open Enrollment dates will be announced closer to fall 2022. In the meantime, interested families can sign up for an interest list to learn more information about the campuses and the network, view progress on the new school building, explore the BASIS Charter School Curriculum, or find any other information at: https://enrollbasistx.com/cedarpark/.

Cedar Park school building and location

"The new school building will be incredible," Executive Director Freeman said. "It's a ground-up build, comprising both campuses, which will be two stories and together include 78,000 square feet. It will include kindergarten specific classrooms; AP science labs; two large multi-purpose rooms; a full gymnasium; a theater; outdoor play space; and all of the usual BASIS Texas Charter School amenities. This is truly an exciting project for families in the area. And the best part: the beautiful building will have one of the nation's top curriculums being taught inside!"

The schools will be located on a ten-acre parcel near the northwest corner of North Lakeline Boulevard and West Park Street in Cedar Park, in zip code 78613.

As Dr. Bezanson alluded to above, BASIS Texas Charter School students and educators are still celebrating the recent U.S. News & World Report 2022 state and national rankings, which were published this spring. In the rankings, BASIS San Antonio  Shavano Campus  the only BASIS Texas Charter School eligible for the esteemed publication's rankings this year  was the top non-selective school in the state of Texas, and #8 in Texas overall. It was also the #25 STEM school in the United States, and the #17 public charter school in the nation. Finally, in the publication's overall rankings, which ranked 17,843 schools nationwide, BASIS Shavano ranked #77 in the United States.

About BASIS Charter Schools

The BASIS Charter Schools network is among the best in the United States, whether assessed by national rankings across myriad publications, OECD/PISA scores, AP Exam scores, college admissions, merit aid earned, or any other measure. Our passionate and knowledgeable Subject Expert Teachers serve students in kindergarten through grade 12 using the STEM-inspired, liberal arts-focused BASIS Charter School Curriculum. Our acclaimed programfounded in 1998 and cultivating excellence every school year sinceeducates students at the highest international levels, preparing them to be participants, not spectators, in the 21st century global workforce. Starting in fall 2022, the BASIS Charter Schools network will celebrate its 25th academic year of serving students, and will do so at 37 public charter school campuses serving more than 22,000 students in Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

For more information, please visit basisedtx.com, enrollBASIStx.com, basised.com, or basisschools.org.

SOURCE BASIS.ed Texas
MINNEAPOLIS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has awarded more than $3.4M in grants to 21 nonprofit organizations in Minnesota. Grant awards are for one or two years and range from $25,000 to $100,000 per year.

Sixteen grants are part of the Healthy Start program, which supports efforts to improve access to quality early childhood care and education throughout the state. This effort has been a focus of the Blue Cross Foundation for more than 20 years, due to the well-known connection between education and health.

"Research shows that quality early childhood care and education results in better health from childhood to the adult years," said Bukata Hayes, chair of the Blue Cross Foundation board and vice president of racial and health equity at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "Increasing access to early childhood care and education also means that families across the state  particularly families of color, Indigenous families and those with low incomes  receive critical support. These efforts all contribute to ongoing progress toward racial and health equity."

"These grants address a critical need," added Carolyn Link, president of the Foundation. "We are proud to partner with our grantees in prioritizing early care and education in the communities we serve  efforts that will benefit all Minnesota children and the broader health system."

The following organizations were selected to receive Healthy Start grants:

African Economic Development Solutions, St. Paul

All Nations Rise, Ogema

Children's Defense Fund  MN, St. Paul

Fond du Lac Tribal College, Cloquet

La Red Latina de Educacion Temprana, Richfield

Lakes & Prairies CAP, Moorhead

MN Zej Zog, New Hope

Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, Northfield

Northland Foundation, Duluth

Northside Achievement Zone, Minneapolis

Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Bemidji

SPARK, St. Paul

United Community Action Partnership, Willmar

Voices for Racial Justice, Minneapolis

Wildflower Foundation, Minneapolis

YWCA, Minneapolis

Three organizations were also awarded grants as part of the Foundation's Access to Coverage program, focused on increasing health care coverage across Minnesota:

Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, Minneapolis

Northwest Indian CDC, Bemidji

United Community Action Partnership, Willmar

In addition, two nonprofits were awarded grants to help strengthen and build nonprofit capacity:

Nexus Community Partners, St. Paul

Voices for Racial Justice, Minneapolis

Read more about the grants here.

About the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation makes a healthy difference in communities by advancing health equity and improving conditions where people live, learn, work and play, awarding more than $75 million to over 600 nonprofits since it was established in 1986. For more information on Blue Cross' grantmaking programs, visit bluecrossmnfoundation.org.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation
NEW YORK and OTTAWA, ON and TUCSON, Ariz., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Critical Path Institute (C-Path) and Replica Analytics, an Aetion company, announced today a new partnership that involves leveraging synthetic data to further catalyze the generation of actionable solutions to accelerate drug development for rare diseases.

Replica Analytics will help generate synthetic datasets across rare and orphan indications in which patient-level datasets are often quite small, which heightens considerations regarding data privacy and accessibility.

Together with real data, these synthetic data will help maximize the utility of C-Path's Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data and Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP ), which provides a centralized and standardized infrastructure to support and accelerate rare disease characterization targeted to accelerate drug development. Additionally, the platform includes a framework that supports the rigorous conduct of natural history studies, with attention to established data quality standards, to be most useful to clinical trial design and regulatory review. It includes a robust, integrated database and analytics hub that allows for the aggregation of rare disease data from various sources and the efficient and effective interrogation of that data. Once added to RDCA-DAP, the synthetic data will also represent valuable real-world, electronic health record (EHR) based data available on the platform, opening doors to modeling and research based on longitudinal focused analyses.

"Our collaboration with Replica Analytics is important because synthetic data can add value to real-world data while observing data privacy considerations, which will help accelerate overall rare disease drug development," said RDCA-DAP Scientific Director Alexandre Betourne, Pharm.D., Ph.D. "The goal of RDCA-DAP is to provide a centralized and standardized infrastructure to support and accelerate rare disease characterization and therapy development, this collaboration is in line with our efforts."

Synthetic data generation (SDG) is a privacy enhancing technology that has been gaining rapid adoption, particularly in the life sciences sector. SDG uses AI to create machine learning models that learn the statistical patterns and properties of real datasets to generate data that retain the same characteristics as the original dataset, but with no one-to-one mapping back to an identifiable person. SDG can help amplify small datasets, simulate virtual patients to augment patients in existing datasets, and optimize the design of small sample clinical trials.

"We are certainly seeing a growing opportunity to partner with organizations like C-Path for generating datasets that are fit-for-purpose," says Khaled El Emam, Ph.D., SVP and GM of Replica Analytics. "Synthetic data, which preserves the integrity and utility of source data, as well as being privacy-protective, can be a very valuable tool to enable this collaboration."

In May 2022, C-Path hosted a webinar in which the Replica Analytics team introduced SDG and discussed the role the technology can play in researching and treating rare diseases. The event was recorded and can be viewed on C-Path's YouTube channel.

About C-Path

Critical Path Institute (C-Path) is an independent, non-profit organization established in 2005 as a public and private partnership. C-Path's mission is to catalyze the development of new approaches that advance medical innovation and regulatory science, accelerating the path to a healthier world. An international leader in forming collaborations, C-Path has established numerous global consortia that currently include more than 1,600 scientists from government and regulatory agencies, academia, patient organizations, disease foundations, and hundreds of pharmaceutical and biotech companies. C-Path U.S. is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, C-Path in Europe is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands and C-Path Ltd. operates from Dublin, Ireland with additional staff in multiple other locations. For more information, visit c-path.org.

Critical Path Institute is supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is 54.2% funded by the FDA/HHS, totaling $13,239,950, and 45.8% funded by non-government source(s), totaling $11,196,634. The contents are those by the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, FDA/HHS or the U.S. Government.

About Replica Analytics, an Aetion company

Replica Analytics is the premier science-based SDG technology provider to the healthcare industry. The company a pioneer in the development of unique technologies for generating privacy-protective synthetic data that maintain the statistical properties of real-world data (RWD). The company was acquired in late 2021 by Aetion, the leading regulatory-grade real-world evidence (RWE) technology provider. Replica Synthesis software provides a full suite of synthetic data generation and evaluation capabilities that can solve multiple grand challenges facing the life sciences industry, and health research in general. For more information, visit: https://replica-analytics.com/

About Aetion

Aetion is a healthcare analytics company that delivers real-world evidence for the manufacturers, purchasers, and regulators of medical treatments and technologies. The Aetion Evidence Platform analyzes data from the real world to produce transparent, rapid, and scientifically validated answers on safety, effectiveness, and value. Founded by Harvard Medical School faculty members with decades of experience in epidemiology and health outcomes research, Aetion informs healthcare's most critical decisionswhat works best, for whom, and whento guide product development, commercialization, and payment innovation. Learn more at aetion.com and follow us at @aetioninc.

SOURCE Replica Analytics
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Caldera, part of Dover (NYSE: DOV), recently announced an agreement with Barbieri under which Caldera will serve as the master distributor for all Barbieri electronic solutions worldwide, expanding on the brands' existing strategic partnership.

Barbieri develops and produces intelligent color measurement instruments for professionals in digital printing and is a color measurement market leader for large format, flatbed and industrial printing. As a long-standing strategic partner of Barbieri, Caldera will distribute the complete Barbieri product range.

"We're incredibly excited to expand our strong business relationship with Barbieri while increasing customer performance and satisfaction. Their color management products are best-in-class, and this agreement aligns with our focus on providing software to our customers that helps them deliver outstanding color quality," said Sebastien Hanssens, Caldera's VP of Marketing & Operations.

"In appointing Caldera as Master Distributor for Barbieri products, we're cementing one of our most important business partnerships. Caldera has consistently demonstrated an excellent understanding of our product range and our mission, and I feel confident in our future together," said Stefan Barbieri, CEO at Barbieri.

Barbieri electronics' range of spectrophotometers includes the following models: Spectro LFP qb, Spectro LFP qb Textile Edition, SpectroPad DOC, Spectro Swing and Spectro LFP S3. Barbieri's range of measuring devices will be available in two different lines the blue Barbieri line and the orange Caldera line.

About Caldera:

French software developer Caldera has been developing solutions for the wide-format digital printing industry since 1991. Its award-winning programs help print service providers to improve their productivity, cost-efficiency and color output. Caldera solutions provide advanced color management, prepress and image processing tools for the graphics, signage and textile markets. Additional information is available on the company's website at www.caldera.com.

About Dover:

Dover is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of approximately $8 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy & Fueling, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Climate & Sustainability Technologies. Dover combines global scale with operational agility to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for over 65 years, our team of over 25,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV." Additional information is available at dovercorporation.com.

Caldera Contact:

Sebastien Hanssens

+33 3 88210000

[email protected]

Dover Media Contact:

Adrian Sakowicz, VP, Communications

(630) 743-5039

[email protected]

Dover Investor Contact:

Jack Dickens, Senior Director, Investor Relations

(630) 743-2566

[email protected]

SOURCE Dover
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market is expected to clock US$ ~30 billion by 2030 owing to increasing awareness among the patients regarding early diagnosis & monitoring of CVDs. Cardiac monitoring devices are used to monitor heartbeat, assess the presence and severity of cardiac disease in patients, and evaluate the efficiency of drugs, interventions, and device implants. Cardiac rhythm management device includes implantable devices, leads, and accessories, as well as external devices to treat and manage arrhythmia-related diseases either too slow a heart rhythm (pacemakers) or too fast a rhythm (cardioverter-defibrillators) thereby helping patients to improve their overall health status.

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The global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market has been analyzed from four different perspectives  Devices for Cardiac Monitoring, Devices for Cardiac Rhythm Management, End User, and Region.

Market Driver

According to a paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that examined the total magnitude of CVD burden and trends over 30 years worldwide, the number of people dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) is steadily increasing, including one-third of all deaths globally in 2019.

The statistics highlight the urgent need for nations to set up public health initiatives that are both affordable and focused on lowering cardiovascular risk through modifiable behaviours. The leading cause of death worldwide, CVDparticularly ischemic heart disease and strokeplays a significant role in disability and rising health care expenses. While the number of CVD deaths climbed consistently from 12.1 million in 1990 to 18.6 million in 2019, the prevalence of all CVD cases nearly doubled from 271 million to 523 million. Ischemic heart disease and stroke accounted for the majority of CVD fatalities worldwide in 2019, growing significantly since 1990. While YLDs doubled from 17.7 in 1990 to 34.4 million in 2019, the global trends for DALYs and YLLs also climbed dramatically. Hence the growing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases globally, is directly driving the demand for basic to advanced cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices.

Excerpts from 'By Device Segmentation'

The global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management, the market has been segmented into pacemakers and defibrillators. Pacemakers are further bifurcated - by implantability [implantable pacemakers and external pacemakers] and by type [dual-chamber pacemakers, single-chamber pacemakers, and biventricular/CRT pacemakers].

Whereas, defibrillators are further categorized into implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) [S-ICD and T-ICD] and external defibrillators [manual external defibrillator, automatic external defibrillator, and wearable cardioverter defibrillator]. In this segment, defibrillators are leading the market with technological advancement, precision, and sensitivity for cardiac disease diagnosis and treatment. For instance, in November 2021, Vektor Medical received FDA clearance for vMAP: the first technology designed to identify arrhythmia anywhere in the heart within minutes by using ECG data. This technology does not require vests, CT or MRI imaging, or invasive mapping.

Request Sample Pages: https://growthplusreports.com/inquiry/request-sample/cardiac-monitoring-&-cardiac-rhythm-management-devices-market/7625

Excerpts from 'By End User Segmentation'

The global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market has been segmented majorly into three distinct categories depending on end user, viz. hospitals, clinics & cardiac specialty centers; home care settings; and ambulatory care centers.

The hospitals, clinics & cardiac specialty centers segment holds the largest share in the market in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market. The cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices belong to the category of critical disease management which requires quick attention from hospital care and medical experts. Also, the growth of the segment can mainly be attributed to the growing number of patients visiting hospitals for prediagnosis of heart conditions, the increasing number of cardiac implantation procedures and rising adoption of cardiac monitoring devices in hospitals during the pandemic.

Excerpts from 'By Region Segmentation'

The global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). North America is expected to command the largest share in the global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market, Factors such as the growing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in the region are increasing geriatric population, developed infrastructure, rapid adoption of technologically advanced products and growing awareness among the patients can be attributed for the large share of the region in the global market. After North America, Asia Pacific Countries such as India, China, and Japan in the APAC region, are projected to offer significant growth opportunities owing to the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and rising geriatric population in the region, followed by Europe & Rest of the World (RoW).

Excerpts from 'Competitive Landscape'

The prominent players operating in the global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market are:

General Electric Company

Abbott Laboratories Inc

Boston Scientific Corporation

Koninklijke Philips N.V

Medtronic PLC

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd

Schiller

Biotronik

BPL Medical Technologies

Nihon Kohden Corporation

Among others

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION Market Ecosystem Geographic Scope Timeline Under Consideration Historical Years  2018 & 2019 Base Year  2020 Forecasted Years  2021 to 2030 Currency Used in the Report RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Approach Data Collection Methodology Data Sources Secondary Sources Primary Sources Market Estimation Approach Bottom Up Top Down Market Forecasting Model Limitations and Assumptions PREMIUM INSIGHTS Current Market Trend (COVID-19 Perspective) Key Players & Their Competitive Positioning (2020) MARKET DYNAMICS Drivers Restraints/Challenges Opportunities GLOBAL CARDIAC MONITORING & CARDIAC RHYTHM MANAGEMENT DEVICES MARKET  ANALYSIS & FORECAST, BY DEVICES FOR CARDIAC MONITORING Electrocardiogram (ECG) Devices Resting ECG Stress ECG Holter Monitors Implantable Loop Recorders (ILR) Cardiac Output Monitoring (COM) Devices Minimally Invasive COM Devices Noninvasive COM Devices Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Monitoring (MCT/MCOT) Event Monitors

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DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Cell Therapy Technologies Global Market Report 2022, By Product, By Cell Type, By Process, By End User" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global cell therapy technologies market.



The report gives a guide to the cell therapy technologies market which will be shaping and changing our lives over the next ten years and beyond, including the markets response to the challenge of the global pandemic.

Reasons to Purchase

Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 12+ geographies.

Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.

Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.

Identify growth segments for investment.

Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.

Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.

Benchmark performance against key competitors.

Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.

Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

Where is the largest and fastest growing market for the cell therapy technologies ? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The Cell Therapy Technologies market global report answers all these questions and many more.



The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market.

It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography.

It places the market within the context of the wider cell therapy technologies market, and compares it with other markets.

The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market.

The market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the market, the influence of the COVID-19 virus and forecasting its growth.

Market segmentations break down market into sub markets.

The regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast growth.

It covers the growth trajectory of COVID-19 for all regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets.

Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market shares, and a description of the leading companies.

Key financial deals which have shaped the market in recent years are identified.

The trends and strategies section analyses the shape of the market as it emerges from the crisis and suggests how companies can grow as the market recovers.

The cell therapy technologies market section of the report gives context.

It compares the cell therapy technologies market with other segments of the cell therapy technologies market by size and growth, historic and forecast.

It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, cell therapy technologies indicators comparison.

Major players in the cell therapy technologies market are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Merck, MaxCyte, Lonza Group, Sartorius, Terumo BCT, Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, Avantor Inc., Miltenyi Biotec, STEMCELL Technologies Inc., Beckman Coulter, Danaher, Becton Dickinson and Company and GE Healthcare.



The global cell therapy technologies market is expected to grow from $2.96 billion in 2021 to $3.52 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.0%. The growth is mainly due to an increase in investments in cell therapies and the growth in research and development for cell therapy. The market is expected to reach $6.35 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 15.9%.



The cell therapy technologies market consists of sales of cell therapy technologies that are medicinal solutions used for developing and improving cell therapy, such as cell processing, cell banking, and point-of-care technologies. Cell therapy is a type of treatment used to inject active cells into the body of a patient for treating some disorders. This therapy seeks to treat diseases by altering certain sets of cells. In this technique, cells, which originate from the patient or a donor are modified outside the body and then injected into the patient.



The main types of products in cell therapy technologies are consumables, equipment, systems & software and is applied on the different type of cells including t-cells, stem cells, and other cells. Stem cells are special human cells that can become almost any type of cell in the human body. This can range from brain cells to muscle cells and is also used to fix damaged tissues. The different processes include cell processing, cell preservation, distribution, and handling, process monitoring and quality control and used in various sectors such as life science companies, research institutes.



Increasing investments by the government in cell-based research contributed to the growth of the global cell therapy technologies market. Governments are increasingly investing in research activities for developing therapies for diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and others. For instance, in November 2019, the Australian government released $150 million, over 10 years, for The Stem Cell Therapies Mission. The funding was obtained by Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), to support Australian researchers to deliver new therapies.

Moreover, in August 2019, Newcastle University spin-out Atelerix, pioneers in the storage and transport of cells at room temperature, were awarded a grant of 267,000 ($292,087) from Innovate UK, with collaborators Rexgenero and the cell and gene therapy catapult. Thus, the upsurge in government investments in cell-based research boosted the demand for the cell therapy technologies market in the historic period.



High costs associated with cell therapy is expected to restrain the market in the forecast period. The pressure to contain costs and demonstrate value is widespread. Political uncertainty and persistent economic stress in numerous countries are calling into question the sustainability of public health care funding. In less wealthy countries, the lack of cost-effective therapies for cancer has influenced the health conditions of the population and has led to a low average life expectancy.

For example, cell therapies, especially gene-editing cell therapies such as CAR-T therapy highly expensive. The two first CAR T-cell therapies, Kymriah and Yescarta, have been given price tags of $475,000 and $373,000 respectively, in the USA, with similar pricing in Europe. Thus, the high cost of cell therapy is restraining the growth of the market.



Strategic collaborations and partnerships between the industry players are gaining popularity in the cell therapy technologies market. Major companies are collaborating and partnering with other companies to developing new technologies in cell therapy areas for the treatment of a variety of diseases.



North America was the largest region in the cell therapy technologies market in 2021. Asia Pacific is predicted to record fastest growth over the forecast period. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The countries covered in the cell therapy technologies market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK and USA.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Cell Therapy Technologies Market Characteristics



3. Cell Therapy Technologies Market Size And Growth

3.1. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Historic Market, 2016 - 2021, $ Billion

3.1.1. Drivers Of The Market

3.1.2. Restraints On The Market

3.2. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Forecast Market, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

3.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

3.2.2. Restraints On the Market



4. Cell Therapy Technologies Market Segmentation

4.1. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market, Segmentation By Product, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Consumables

Equipment

Systems & Software

4.2. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market, Segmentation By Cell Type, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

T-cells

Stem Cells

Other Cells

4.3. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market, Segmentation By Process, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Cell Processing

Cell Preservation, Distribution, and Handling

Process Monitoring and Quality Control

4.4. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market, Segmentation By End User, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Life Science Companies

Research Institutes

5. Cell Therapy Technologies Market Regional And Country Analysis

5.1. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

5.2. Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market, Split By Country, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/n13apo

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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SOURCE Research and Markets
BEIJING, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past 25 years, since its return to the motherland, Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of China, has remained one of the most dynamic cities in the world. Meanwhile, China's decades-long drive for reform and opening up has stridden forward into the new era.

As the country opens its door wider, Hong Kong will see its position and role grow stronger rather than diminish, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2018.

Xi said, in particular, Hong Kong should leverage its extensive international connections and sophisticated professional services on the one hand, and rely on the mainland's huge market, complete industrial system and technological competitiveness on the other, calling on the city to become the beachhead in China's two-way opening-up.

Hong Kong's strengths

On July 1, 1997, China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was established. Since then, it has been running under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems," which stipulates that the main body of China adheres to the socialist system while capitalist system is retained in the SAR.

Addressing a meeting marking Hong Kong's 20th return anniversary in 2017, Xi said, "'One Country' is like the roots of a tree. For a tree to grow tall and luxuriant, its roots must run deep and strong."

On the basis of "One Country," "Two Systems" should and have every reason to stay in harmony and reinforce each other, he said, adding, "We must both adhere to the 'One Country' principle and respect the differences of the 'Two Systems.'"

Then a year later in 2018, in a speech to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up  "a crucial move in making China what it is today," Xi said that the "One Country, Two Systems" principle is the "biggest strength" of Hong Kong, and that the nation's reform and opening up set the broadest stage for the development of Hong Kong.

For one thing, the mainland has always been backing Hong Kong, especially in times of external crisis. For another, the Basic Law of the HKSAR protects private property and foreign investment, provides that Hong Kong shall not be subject to foreign exchange control, maintains its status as a free port, and guarantees the free movement of goods, property and capital in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been the world's freest economy, according to the Fraser Institute. And the city has maintained the honor since 1997. In the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2021 Annual Report, Hong Kong continues to be ranked first in "Freedom to Trade Internationally" and "Regulation" among five areas of assessment.

Hong Kong's role in RMB internationalization, BRI

In July 2019, China announced 11 measures in the financial sector to further advance opening up in the principle of taking actions "faster rather than slower and sooner rather than later."

As an international financial hub and a bridge for the nation's two-way opening up  bringing in foreign investment and going global, Hong Kong's role of being a testing ground for the nation's financial opening up has become increasingly prominent, according to financial professionals in Hong Kong.

In a research report released in March 2021, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited said that over the years, Hong Kong has been continuously enhancing its financial infrastructure, such as by introducing new systems to facilitate banks from all over the world to make renminbi (RMB) payments through the Hong Kong platform.

Hong Kong is the world's largest offshore RMB business center. According to the latest data from Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the RMB deposit balance in Hong Kong was 841.9 billion yuan (about $125.85 billion) at the end of April 2022, up by nearly 133 times from May 2004. Over 70 percent of the world's offshore RMB payments are handled in Hong Kong.

Furthermore, in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) outline, China states that it will support the HKSAR to strengthen its status as a global offshore RMB business hub and back its joining into the building of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a key part in the new pattern of China's all-round opening up.

Yi Gang, governor of China's central bank, said in December 2021 that Hong Kong can provide greater support to the financial connectivity under the BRI.

"As the gateway for mainland companies to go global, Hong Kong can improve financial services to better assist these companies' engagement in the BRI," he said. "As the global asset management hub, Hong Kong can also attract more international investors in the joint development of the BRI."

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-28/Hong-Kong-25-years-on-A-bigger-role-in-nation-s-opening-up-1bdUXnGH0wo/index.html

SOURCE CGTN
Construction of the Former German Governor's House in Qingdao (No.26 Longshan Road) began in July of 1905 and finished two years later. The building itself covers over 4,000 square meters, and the compound occupies an area of 26,000 square meters including the surrounding garden. Some 850,000 German marks were spent on construction.

This is a truly captivating building. It organically meshes with the surrounding city streets and Qingdao's Signal Hill, creating an unlikely, yet brilliant, display of European architecture in the Oriental city of Qingdao. Considered the "peak of German architecture in China," its level of elegance and decor ranks among some of the most magnificent architecture in China.

After doing some thorough research on the Governor's House, German video host Leo decided to head over to Qingdao and learn more about this historically significant piece of architecture. At the same time, the China Matters production crew also headed over to Hamburg and Mannheim in Germany. There, they interviewed the Storz brothers, descendants of the German Governor in Qingdao 100 years ago, and sat down with Dr. Norbert Egger, the former first mayor of Mannheim and an honorary citizen of Qingdao. In this video, they share their stories and views about the famous Governor's House and provide viewers with a complete picture of this impressive building that has stood tall in Qingdao for over one hundred years and counting.

Contact: Shao Dantong

Tel:008610-68996566

E-mail: [email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735490/China_Matters_Logo.jpg

Video - https://youtu.be/wXDieJnu0hI

SOURCE China Matters
ST. LOUIS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Christian Horizons, a leader in older adult living and support services, is proud to announce the appointment of its own Cathy Krewer, RN, MS, vice president of clinical professional development, to the Global Review Panel (GRP) of Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) in London. In this new role, Krewer will support Alzheimer's training programs through ADI's new accreditation scheme, across the globe. Krewer is the second U.S. citizen appointed to the GRP and the first U.S. citizen to be from the senior living and housing industry to serve in this role.

ADI provides accreditation to organizations offering professional and family training programs for caring for people living with dementia. Organizations which receive accreditation are considered to have met the high quality of care standards provided by appropriately trained professionals. Organizations submit their existing curriculums to the GRP, along with an extensive application, demonstrating that the training program reflects contemporary best practices. Programs can be sponsored by colleges and universities, Alzheimer's societies, and other public and private institutions. Accreditation can be obtained by programs aimed at family care partners, in-home workers, day center teams, and workers in senior housing settings.

"At Christian Horizons, we're deeply committed to offering comprehensive approaches to support older adults experiencing memory loss and Alzheimer's disease. Associate training and education is a key component to that," said Jennifer Knecht, Christian Horizons chief sales and marketing officer. "We're incredibly proud of Cathy's appointment and know her expertise will bring great value to the Global Review Panel."

Cathy Krewer, RN, MS, LNHA, BF-CMT practices as a community health nurse specialist with a focus on nursing care for the older adult. She has spent more than 30 years working in the long-term care industry in a variety of roles and settings. With a particular passion for the care of individuals with Alzheimer's and related dementias, she is certified master trainer for the Best Friends approach to memory care. More recent professional efforts have included a focus on development of education support training programs for direct care associates working in memory support. She earned her BSN from Southern Illinois University  Edwards and graduated cum laude from Northern Illinois University with a masters in Community Health Nursing. She currently resides in Florida with her family.

"We are so pleased to welcome Cathy to this international group," said Amalia Fonk-Utomo, head of accreditation for ADI. "Her work as a nurse with dementia expertise, along with her program and curriculum development experience, will be invaluable as ADI works to strengthen training programs around the world."

"Cathy's work has already transformed lives for Christian Horizons and their residents, associates and families. Her new role will support families and public health staff working in high-, middle- and low-income countries, and will globally impact care and services," said David Troxel, co-author of The Best Friends Approach to Dementia Care and a member of the GRP.

Alzheimer's Disease International is the international federation of Alzheimer and dementia associations around the world. In official relations with the World Health Organization, the organization's vision includes risk reduction, timely diagnosis, care and inclusion today, cure tomorrow. For more information about ADI and the accreditation process see Information and guidance | Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) (alzint.org)

Christian Horizons is a Dementia Friendly Ministry committed to fighting stigma surrounding dementia, offering community education, and providing contemporary residential, home, and hospice services focused on dignity, engagement and quality of life. Christian Horizons associates receive training on dementia and many of their communities now offer Pathway Memory Support programming, a comprehensive approach to care that focuses on activity and engagement. Developed in partnership with Troxel, the Pathway Memory Support program involves friends and family and creative approaches from expertly trained health support professionals.

As a faith-led, person-first organization, Christian Horizons is in service to a mission of empowering older adults in mind, body and spirit through faith-led service. Based in St. Louis, Mo., the organization owns and operates a portfolio of seven life plan campuses and five stand-alone older adult communities offering a mix of independent, assisted and supportive living; memory support; long-term healthcare centers and short-term rehabilitation. The organization also serves older adults through CareLink Home Care and Safe Haven Hospice in central Illinois; Senior Care Pharmacy Services; and New Horizons PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) in St. Louis, Mo. Learn more at https://christianhorizonsliving.org/ .

SOURCE Christian Horizons
Founded in 2000, netMercury is a distributor of critical parts and services to the global integrated circuit fabrication and technology industries with three locations in Dallas, Austin, and Phoenix. The Company's family of products includes system controls, temperature controls, high purity valves and fittings, fluid pumps, liquid flow controls, cleanroom equipment, consumables, vacuum pumps, and wafer process equipment, among others. netMercury also provides project management, including repair programs for equipment and components, custom kitting services for maintenance, and automated supply chain management replenishment services.

Together with netMercury, FloWorks will have over 45 branches globally, all strategically located in key markets to support customers focused on the chemical, sanitary, utility, refining, integrated circuit fabrication, microelectronics, life sciences, food & beverage, agriculture, and general industrial end markets.

"I am excited to welcome netMercury to the FloWorks platform as we continue to execute on our organic and M&A-driven growth strategies," said Scott Jackson, President and CEO of FloWorks. "This combination provides an exciting opportunity to build on both netMercury's and FloWorks' strong history in the integrated circuit fabrication and broader technology end markets to accelerate our compelling growth plans. We look forward to partnering with Terry and his team to build on netMercury's significant momentum, while continuing our shared 'customers first' focus."

"These two companies share a passion for providing customers with technical solutions and partnering with industry leading manufacturers, while building collaborative teams offering high touch local sales support and service," said Terry Hollingshead, President of netMercury. "We are confident that this transaction will provide our customers with access to greater resources while offering the same attention to detail, ingenuity, and sense of urgency in providing state of the art solutions to challenging problems. The future is bright for the netMercury team and our suppliers."

About FloWorks

FloWorks is a holding company of specialty flow control distribution providers with brands including Sunbelt Supply, SemiTorr Group, Oliver Equipment Company, Triple S, Major Inc., Genesis Systems Inc., and National Valve. The company is a specialty distributor of industrial flow control products and an expert provider of tailored technical solutions for processing applications in the industrial markets. FloWorks operates over 45 facilities worldwide. More information is available at www.gofloworks.com.

About netMercury

netMercury is a critical parts, materials, equipment, repairs, and value-added services distributor with over 30 years of experience supporting the global integrated circuit fabrication and high-technology industries. Offering a highly flexible business model, netMercury provides supply chain managers, empowered sourcing agents, distributors, and manufacturers' representatives, allowing netMercury to provide a broad range of products and services. More information is available at www.netmercury.net.

About Clearlake

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit, and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S. The firm's core target sectors are technology, industrials, and consumer. Clearlake currently has over $72 billion of assets under management, and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 400 investments. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA with affiliates in Dallas, TX, London, UK and Dublin, Ireland. More information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter @Clearlake.

Media Contacts:

Elizabeth Hawkins (FloWorks)

[email protected]

713.948.8809

Jennifer Hurson (Clearlake)

[email protected]

845.507.0571

SOURCE FloWorks and Clearlake Capital Group
"Andy's knowledge and leadership capabilities are already having a positive impact since he joined Code Ocean," said Simon Adar, Co-founder and CEO. "He's working across all critical elements of our business in a way that's galvanizing the team and creating a sharp focus for the company's business execution and growth."

Mr. Keane joining Code Ocean as Chief Operating Officer represents a major step forward for the company. He has significant experience building highly-effective teams, creating, and driving business growth. This includes his years at NVIDIA, where Mr. Keane founded the Tesla data center computing business, which now contributes more than $10 billion to the company's annual revenues.

"Code Ocean is changing critical dynamics in scientific research, allowing for greater efficiency and more rapid discovery," said Andy Keane, COO, Code Ocean. "I'm excited to join Code Ocean and contribute my experience in fast growing new businesses to institute best practices for scaling sales, marketing, and product development/roll-out. I'm also focused on our long-term success, making Code Ocean an important part of our customers' work and growth."

With the recent Release 2.0 of Code Ocean's Computational Lab, computational scientists create, organize and share computational research in a streamlined and automated lab. By removing overhead tasks and simplifying collaboration, researchers can focus on science. The company also recently announced $16.5 million in Series-B funding co-led by Battery Ventures and M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund. Code Ocean is currently hiring for all positions in engineering, science, marketing and sales. For more information, please visit https://codeocean.com .

About Code Ocean

Code Ocean is where great computational science is created, organized and shared in one place. The Code Ocean platform provides the best way for multidisciplinary scientists to standardize workflows, and to track and reproduce all computations and discoveries. By making it easier and more efficient for scientists to collaborate, Code Ocean improves reproducibility, optimizes return on IT investment, and saves time by automating repetitive functions. For more information please visit: www.codeocean.com and Twitter @CodeOceanHQ.

Code Ocean Media Contact:

Phillip Bergman

[email protected] ; Cell: 845-728-3984

SOURCE Code Ocean
The new Coinmetro Mobile App 5.0 version has been in development for over a year and is an effort to offer the best environment and tools for all the crypto needs of beginners and pros as well. The release features native app functionalities bringing more convenience and ease of use in 4 main sections: Dashboard, Market, Wallet, and Swap.

A redesigned dashboard now includes an upgraded sentiment widget, which allows users to track market dynamics and understand the amount of hype or fear surrounding a specific cryptocurrency without leaving the app and spending time on research. Verified users can see market sentiment of all listed assets with the Top 5 displayed in the dashboard to help them make informed decisions.

The feature aimed specifically at making crypto investing effortless for newcomers is the native Swap tab. Coinmetro users can buy and sell close to 50 cryptocurrencies with just one click, at a fixed rate and with no trading fee.

Kevin Murcko, founder and CEO of Coinmetro, said:

"As we always have, we are continuing to put our clients first and at the center of everything we do at Coinmetro. Regardless of the current market sentiment, we will keep providing the best experience to our loyal client base as well as the growing amount of incoming new users. While many crypto exchanges are laying off their staff and cutting expenses, we are actively hiring and laying the foundation for the next bull run. Despite the fear, crypto adoption will inevitably grow, with many more 'mobile natives' entering the space. By creating simple, transparent, and safe tools we ensure that the new generation of crypto users has unfettered access to the exciting world of modern finance."

The Mobile App 5.0 is just one of many developments the company has introduced since the beginning of 2022. Earlier this year, Coinmetro underwent a rebranding, changing its visual identity as well as refining its mission and values. In Q3 2022 the company plans to release the new version of its copy trading platform, which has seen great demand from Coinmetro's community and beyond.

For more information, please visit coinmetro.com .

About Coinmetro:

Founded in 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia by Kevin Murcko (Founder & CEO), Coinmetro is on a mission to ensure everyone, everywhere has safe access to life-changing opportunities. Boasting a fourfold YOY increase in the number of users in 2021 vs 2020, the company is one of Europe's fastest growing regulated cryptocurrency exchanges. Coinmetro's user-centered ecosystem offers a variety of simple, transparent tools for crypto investment, trading, and passive income.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850109/Coinmetro_Mobile_App.jpg

SOURCE Coinmetro Group
Request a Sample Report to learn about additional highlights related to market growth

Cold Chain Market 2021-2025 : Scope

The cold chain market report covers the following areas:

Cold Chain Market 2021-2025 : Market Challenge

The lack of infrastructure in developing countries will challenge the global cold chain market share growth during the forecast period. In developing countries such as India, the penetration of the cold chain is low due to the high fixed cost involved. Farmers in such countries do not prefer cold storage, as it increases the cost of their operations. Moreover, the lack of technical knowledge and insufficient transportation facilities act as a challenge for the adoption of cold chains among customers in these regions. These factors will make it difficult for customers to access cold chain facilities.

Cold Chain Market 2021-2025 : Segmentation

Type

Refrigerated Warehouse



Refrigerated Transportation

Application

MFS



Dairy And Frozen Desserts



FVB



Bakery And Confectionery,



Healthcare

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



South America



MEA

Learn more about the contribution of each segment of the market. Download a Sample

Cold Chain Market 2021-2025 : Regional Analysis

APAC will account for 36% of the market's growth during the forecast period. The large presence of both food and healthcare product suppliers and consumers will drive the cold chain market growth in APAC during the forecast period. China and India are the key countries for the cold chain market in APAC. Moreover, market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions.

Cold Chain Market 2021-2025 : Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Cold Chain Market, including Americold Realty Trust, Burris Logistics, Congebec Logistics Inc., Deutsche Post DHL Group, John Swire and Sons Ltd., Kloosterboer, Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC, NewCold Cooperatief UA, Nichirei Corp., and United Parcel Service Inc. among others.

Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" billed annually at USD 5000. Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights

Cold Chain Market 2021-2025 : Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will assist cold chain market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the cold chain market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the cold chain market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of cold chain market vendors

Related Reports:

Wine Logistics Market by Service and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Market by Service and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Cold Chain Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 16.92% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 256.58 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 16.23 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution APAC at 36% Key consumer countries US, China, UK, Germany, and India Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Americold Realty Trust, Burris Logistics, Congebec Logistics Inc., Deutsche Post DHL Group, John Swire and Sons Ltd., Kloosterboer, Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC, NewCold Cooperatief UA, Nichirei Corp., and United Parcel Service Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

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 - Air freight and logistics 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

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 Application

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: Application - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Application

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Application

5.3 MFS - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: MFS - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 18: MFS - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Dairy and frozen desserts - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: Dairy and frozen desserts - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 20: Dairy and frozen desserts - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 FVB - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 21: FVB - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 22: FVB - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.6 Bakery and confectionery - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 23: Bakery and confectionery - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 24: Bakery and confectionery - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.7 Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 25: Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 26: Healthcare - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.8 Market opportunity by Application

Exhibit 27: Market opportunity by Application

6 Market Segmentation by Type

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 28: Type - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 29: Comparison by Type

6.3 Refrigerated warehouse - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 30: Refrigerated warehouse - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 31: Refrigerated warehouse - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

6.4 Refrigerated transportation - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 32: Refrigerated transportation - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 33: Refrigerated transportation - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 34: Market opportunity by Type

7 Customer landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

8.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 36: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

8.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 37: Geographic comparison

8.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 38: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

Exhibit 39: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 40: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

Exhibit 41: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 42: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 43: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 44: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)

Exhibit 45: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 46: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ billion)



Exhibit 47: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 48: Key leading countries

8.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 49: Market opportunity by geography

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

9.1 Market drivers

9.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 51: Impact of drivers and challenges

9.3 Market trends

10 Vendor Landscape

10.1 Overview

10.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 52: Vendor landscape

10.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 53: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 54: Industry risks

11 Vendor Analysis

11.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 55: Vendors covered

11.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 56: Market positioning of vendors

11.3 Americold Realty Trust

Exhibit 57: Americold Realty Trust - Overview



Exhibit 58: Americold Realty Trust - Business segments



Exhibit 59: Americold Realty Trust - Key news



Exhibit 60: Americold Realty Trust - Key offerings



Exhibit 61: Americold Realty Trust - Segment focus

11.4 Burris Logistics

Exhibit 62: Burris Logistics - Overview



Exhibit 63: Burris Logistics - Product and service



Exhibit 64: Burris Logistics - Key offerings



Exhibit 65: Burris Logistics - Segment focus

11.5 Congebec Logistics Inc.

Exhibit 66: Congebec Logistics Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 67: Congebec Logistics Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 68: Congebec Logistics Inc. - Key offerings

11.6 Deutsche Post DHL Group

Exhibit 69: Deutsche Post DHL Group - Overview



Exhibit 70: Deutsche Post DHL Group - Business segments



Exhibit 71: Deutsche Post DHL Group - Key news



Exhibit 72: Deutsche Post DHL Group - Key offerings



Exhibit 73: Deutsche Post DHL Group - Segment focus

11.7 John Swire and Sons Ltd.

and Sons Ltd. Exhibit 74: John Swire and Sons Ltd. - Overview

and Sons Ltd. - Overview

Exhibit 75: John Swire and Sons Ltd. - Business segments

and Sons Ltd. - Business segments

Exhibit 76: John Swire and Sons Ltd. - Key news

and Sons Ltd. - Key news

Exhibit 77: John Swire and Sons Ltd. - Key offerings

and Sons Ltd. - Key offerings

Exhibit 78: John Swire and Sons Ltd. - Segment focus

11.8 Kloosterboer

Exhibit 79: Kloosterboer - Overview



Exhibit 80: Kloosterboer - Product and service



Exhibit 81: Kloosterboer - Key news



Exhibit 82: Kloosterboer - Key offerings

11.9 Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC

Exhibit 83: Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC - Overview



Exhibit 84: Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC - Product and service



Exhibit 85: Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC - Key news



Exhibit 86: Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC - Key offerings

11.10 NewCold Cooperatief UA

Exhibit 87: NewCold Cooperatief UA - Overview



Exhibit 88: NewCold Cooperatief UA - Product and service



Exhibit 89: NewCold Cooperatief UA - Key offerings

11.11 Nichirei Corp.

Exhibit 90: Nichirei Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 91: Nichirei Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 92: Nichirei Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 93: Nichirei Corp. - Segment focus

11.12 United Parcel Service Inc.

Exhibit 94: United Parcel Service Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 95: United Parcel Service Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 96: United Parcel Service Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 97: United Parcel Service Inc. - Segment focus

12 Appendix

12.1 Scope of the report

12.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 98: Currency conversion rates for US$

12.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 99: Research Methodology



Exhibit 100: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 101: Information sources

12.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 102: 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 provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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SOURCE Technavio
An investment of approximately $300 million in Waseca, Minn. facility will modernize production capabilities

CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), one of North America's leading branded food companies, today announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art vegetable processing plant in Waseca, Minn. The new 245,000 square foot facility, which processes fresh vegetables to support Conagra's frozen meals business and Birds Eye brand, was built from the ground up with a focus on maximizing automation to create greater efficiencies and enhancing food safety throughout.

"The significant investment in our new facility in Waseca is indicative of the strong opportunity we see in our frozen foods business," said Sean Connolly, president and chief executive officer, Conagra Brands. "Conagra is committed to investing in innovation across the company, including our supply chain. We are also pleased to make the investment in Waseca where Birds Eye has a long history."

The peas and corn processed at the new facility come from a network of nearby growers who use a variety of actions to help fight climate change, such as smart practices to save water, support biodiversity and improve soil health. Conagra has invested in technology in the fields to monitor the plants' nutrient needs using real-time data. This allows harvesting to sync with the facility's production schedule, so that the vegetables are picked at peak ripeness and transported directly to the new Waseca facility where they are received, washed and frozen within a few hours.

"Our teams looked at every aspect of the facility to identify automation opportunities to improve productivity and modernize food safety practices throughout our operations," said Ale Eboli, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer at Conagra Brands. "The state-of-the-art design and uniquely designed equipment featured in the facility process fresh vegetables in the most efficient and responsible way possible."

The new facility replaces a 92-year-old facility in Waseca and will provide approximately 20% more capacity for processing vegetables. On an annual basis, the facility can process and produce 120 million pounds of cut and cob corn, 45 million pounds of peas, and more than 20 million pounds of rice. In addition, Conagra anticipates the new facility uses approximately 25% less water per pound of product produced than the company's previous facility.

In fiscal year 2021, Conagra's Birds Eye brand generated more than $1.5 billion in retail sales. For more information on Conagra Brands, including innovation from the company's roster of iconic and emerging brands, visit conagrabrands.com.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), headquartered in Chicago, is one of North America's leading branded food companies. Guided by an entrepreneurial spirit, Conagra Brands combines a rich heritage of making great food with a sharpened focus on innovation. The company's portfolio is evolving to satisfy people's changing food preferences. Conagra's iconic brands, such as Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, and Slim Jim, as well as emerging brands, including Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera, offer choices for every occasion. For more information, visit www.conagrabrands.com.

For all media inquiries, please contact:

Tim Wrona

Conagra Brands

(312) 549-5400

[email protected]

SOURCE Conagra Brands, Inc.
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insight Partners published latest research study on Construction Composites Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Fiber Type (Glass Fiber, Carbon Fiber, Natural Fiber); by Resin Type (Polyester Resin, Vinyl Resin, Polyethylene) Application (Commercial, Industrial, Residential, Civil). The global construction sector is consistently witnessing high growth rate, majorly attributed to the rising demand for commercial and residential constructions. The composites materials have high strength and are corrosion resistant, chemical resistant, durable and flexible and capable of withstanding enormous heat. These benefits have attracted several construction companies and individual promoters across the globe. These benefits continue to gain customer traction in recent years, which is anticipated to create substantial market space in construction composites market. These construction composites are cost-effective and require less maintenance than normal construction materials.

Get Exclusive Access to Sample Pages of Construction Composite Market Size - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis with Strategic Insights at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00002834/

The increasing urbanization in the emerging economies is also helping the construction composite manufacturers to sell their products in large quantity, thereby fueling the growth of the market. In developed countries such as the US, the UK, Germany and China, the demand for composites is increasing continuously for civil construction applications. The major challenge faced by the construction composite manufacturers to attract their customers is the easy availability of alternative construction products.

Strategic Insights  Construction Composite Market

Report Coverage Details Market Size USD Value in 2021 Market Size USD Value by 2028 Growth rate Compound Annual Growth Rate During (2022-2028) Forecast Period 2022-2028 Base Year 2022 No. of Pages 150 No. of Tables Yes No. of Charts & Figures Yes Historical data available Yes Segments covered Type, Components, End-Use Industry and Geography 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

Construction Composites are being demanded in residential and commercial construction applications. In vehicles these composites would increase the fuel efficiency and provide structural stability to aircrafts, thereby resulting in high demand from aerospace and defense sectors. These composites have better insulation, water resistance, thermal resistance, and re-usability properties. These make them applicable for a wide range of applications.

The major driving factor for construction composites is growing urbanization, long life and low-cost maintenance of construction composites. Furthermore, technological innovation and advancement in innovative products is creating lucrative opportunities.

Place Your Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPRE00002834/

Market Report Scope/Inclusions

The "Global Construction Composites Market Analysis to 2028" is a specialized and in-depth study of the construction composites industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global construction composites market with detailed market segmentation by material, end-use, and geography namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America.

The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of more than 18 major countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region for the Construction Composites market.

The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. Further, the report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics affecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend.

Connect with Our Research Analyst On: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/speak-to-analyst/TIPRE00002834/

Construction composites are being demanded in residential and commercial construction applications. The growing urbanization and increased per capita income in many countries are giving constant rise to the construction industry, which has directly augmented the construction composites growth. Copious construction composite manufacturers invest in R & D activities to bring up new innovative technologies to provide additional properties and produce eco-friendly construction composites products.

However, high production cost of construction composites materials may hamper the over-market demand during the forecast period. Although, the increased product use and continuously growing construction sector will drive the consumption of construction composites.

The construction sector is continuously growing across the globe and witnessing high growth rate, majorly attributed to the rising demand for commercial and residential constructions. These composites in construction tends to increase strength, corrosion resistant, chemical resistant, durability, and flexibility, all these properties make them withstand enormous heat. These benefits have attracted several construction companies and individual constructors across the globe which has helped the construction composites market to grow. Further, these composites are gaining traction in high performance and technological advancement in construction activities.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Construction Composites Market:

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the world and is continuing to shatter several countries. To stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented lockdowns were enacted worldwide, and many manufacturing industry units were shut down. As a result, there is less demand for industrial items, which has hampered global economic activity. More than 78 percent of respondents claimed the COVID-19 pandemic had had a negative financial impact on their industry, according to a study conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers (US) in February and March 2020. The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19 crisis. Construction work stopped across the globe, especially in construction hubs like China, India, and Japan. Supply chain disruptions and work stoppages due to measures imposed by governmental authorities have affected the growth of construction composites.

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Key Recent Developments: Construction Composites Market.

In April 2021 , Heatcon, a US-based aerospace company partnered with Hexcel Corporation for an undisclosed amount. This partnership granted Heatcon to sell Hexcel's carbon fiber prepreg tapes and fabrics to support advanced air mobility vehicles and the unmanned aerial vehicles industry. Hexcel Corporation is US-based composite manufacturing company.

, Heatcon, a US-based aerospace company partnered with Hexcel Corporation for an undisclosed amount. This partnership granted Heatcon to sell Hexcel's carbon fiber prepreg tapes and fabrics to support advanced air mobility vehicles and the unmanned aerial vehicles industry. Hexcel Corporation is US-based composite manufacturing company. In March 2020 , Owens Corning, a US-based company manufacturing composites, acquired Hughes Brother's concrete reinforcement business Aslan FRP. This acquisition broadens the Owens Corning portfolio of composite solutions.

The report segments the global Construction Composites market as follows:

By Fiber Type

Glass Fiber

Carbon Fiber

Natural Fiber

By Resin Type

Polyester Resin

Vinyl Resin

Polyethylene

By Application

Commercial

Industrial

Residential

Civil

By Geography

North America

US

Canada

Mexico

Europe

France

Germany

Italy

UK

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

China

India

Australia

South Korea

Japan

Rest of APAC

Middle East and Africa (MEA)

UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Rest of MEA

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of SAM

Buy Premium Copy of Construction Composites Market Size, Share, Revenue, Strategic Insights and Forecasts 2022-2028 Research Report at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00002834/

Construction Composite Market - Company Profiles:

Strongwell Corporation

Trex Company Inc.

Bedford Reinforced Plastics

Hughes Brothers Inc.

Schoek International

Diversified Structural Composites

UPM Composites

Excel Composites

Pultron Composites

Fibergate Composite Structure, Inc.

Browse Latest and Related Reports:

Closed Molding Composites Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Fiber Type (Carbon Fiber Closed Molding Composites, Glass Fiber Closed Molding Composites, Others); Manufacturing Process (Vacuum Infusion and Bagging, Injection Molding Process, Pultrusion Process, Compressed Molding Process, Others); Application (Transportation, Aerospace and Defense, Electrical and Electronics, Wind Energy, Construction and Infrastructure, Others.) and Geography

Unidirectional Tapes (UD Tapes) Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - By Fiber (Carbon Fiber, and Glass Fiber), Resin (Thermoplastic Unidirectional Tapes, and Thermoset Unidirectional Tapes), End User (Sports & Leisure, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, and Others), and Geography

Composites in Oil and Gas Industry Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Fiber Type (Glass Fiber Composites, Carbon Fiber Composites); Resin Type (Epoxy Resin, Polyester Resin, Phenolic Resins, Others); Application (Pipes, Tanks, Top Side Applications, Others) and Geography

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Rebars Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Resin Type (Vinyl Ester, Polyester, Others); Fiber Type (Glass Fiber Composites, Carbon Fiber Composites, Basalt Fiber Composites); Application (Highways Bridges Buildings, Marine Structures and Waterfronts, Water Treatment Plants, Others) and Geography

FRP Vessels Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Fiber Type (Glass Fiber, Carbon Fiber, Others); Resin (Polyester, Epoxy, Others); Application (Automotive and Transportation, Water and Wastewater, Chemicals, Oil and Gas, Industrial, Others) and Geography

PPA Resin Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Product (Unreinforced plain resin, Glass fiber reinforced, Carbon fiber reinforced, Mineral-filled, Hybrid); End-user (Automotive, Electrical and electronics, Machinery, Personal care, Others) and Geography

Fiberglass Mold Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - By Type (Epoxy Resin, Vinyl Resin, Polyester Resin); Composite Type (Matrix, Continuous Phase); Application (Wind Energy, Marine, Aerospace and Defence, Automotive and Transportation, Construction, Others) and Geography

Monopropylene Glycol Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Grade (Technical, Food, Pharmaceutical); Application (Unsaturated Polyester Resin (UPR), Polyester Fiber Production, Food Additive, Heat Transfer Fluid, Pharmaceutical Solvent, Others); Source (Synthetic, Bio-based); End Use (Chemicals, Cosmetics and Personal Care, Pharmaceutical, Food and Beverage, Others) and Geography

Thermoset Composites Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Manufacturing Process (Lay-Up Process, Filament Winding Process , Injection Molding Process , Pultrusion Process , Other Processes); Fiber Type (Glass, Carbon, Others); Resin Type (Polyester Resin , Vinyl Ester Resin , Epoxy Resin , Other Thermoset Resins); End-Use Industry (Aerospace and Defense , Transportation , Marine , Construction and Infrastructure , Others) and Geography

Flame Retardants Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Type (Alumina Trihydrate, Brominated Flame Retardants, Antimony Trioxide, Phosphorous Flame Retardants, and others); Application (Unsaturated Polyester Resins, Epoxy Resins, PVC, Rubber, Polyolefins, and others); End-user Industry (Construction, Automotive & Transportation, Electronics, and others)

Coating Resins Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - By Resin Type (Acrylic Resin, Alkyd Resin, Vinyl Resin, Polyurethane Resin, Epoxy Resin, Unsaturated Polyester Resin, Saturated Polyester Resin, Amino Resin, Other Coating Resins); Technology (Waterborne Coatings, Solvent-Borne Coatings, Powder Coatings, High Solids Coatings, Radiation Curable Coatings, Others); Application (Architectural Coatings, Marine and Protective Coatings, General Industrial Coatings, Automotive Coatings, Wood Coatings, Packaging Coatings, Others) and Geography

Saturated Polyester Resin Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - By Type (Liquid Saturated Polyester Resin, Solid Saturated Polyester Resin) ; Application (Powder Coatings, Industrial Paints, Coil and Can Coatings, Automotive Paints, Flexible Packaging, 2k Pu Coatings, Others) and Geography

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SOURCE The Insight Partners
VANCOUVER, BC, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSX: CMMC) (ASX: C6C) (the "Company" or "Copper Mountain") will be hosting a conference call on Monday, July 25, 2022 at 7:30 am (Pacific Time) for senior management to discuss its second quarter 2022 results. The Company will be releasing its second quarter 2022 financial and operating results before markets open on Monday, July 25, 2022.

Dial-in information:

Toronto and international: 1 (416) 764 8650

North America (toll-free): 1 (888) 664 6383

Webcast: https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1557958&tp_key=b1495c40ef

Replay information:

Toronto and international: 1 (416) 764 8677, Passcode: 796638#

North America (toll-free): 1 (888) 390 0541, Passcode: 796638#

The conference call replay will be available until 8:59 pm (Pacific Time) on August 1, 2022. An archive of the audio webcast will also be available on the company's website at http://www.cumtn.com.

About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation

Copper Mountain's flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain Mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Copper Mountain Mine currently produces approximately 100 million pounds of copper equivalent per year. Copper Mountain also has the development-stage Eva Copper Project in Queensland, Australia and an extensive 2,100 km2 highly prospective land package in the Mount Isa area. Copper Mountain trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CMMC" and Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol "C6C".

Additional information is available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com.

On behalf of the Board of

COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION

"Gil Clausen"

Gil Clausen, P.Eng.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Website: www.CuMtn.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance and opportunities to differ materially from those implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include the risks set out in Copper Mountain's public documents, including in each management's discussion and analysis, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Copper Mountain believes that the information and assumptions 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 where required by applicable law, Copper Mountain disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crossware, a world-leading email signature solution for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Exchange and HCL Domino, today announced a corporate rebrand and launch. The timing of the recent corporate branding transformation aligns with the organization's desire to breathe a new sense of purpose and passion, bolstering employees and signaling to the world that this is a company prepared to evolve.

Crossware email signature rebrand

As Crossware reinvents itself in the digital space, the team is looking at their objectives with fresh eyes and a desire to be the flagship brand for those seeking a centralized platform for email signatures. The merger with SaaS giant eKomi in October 2021 was only the beginning of major changes about to take place, enabling Crossware to position itself for the future, adopting digital technology for the next generation and continued expansion around the world.

The elements of Crossware's brand evolution:

A single bold cross in red and orange adjacent to the company name reflects the drive and energy. We believe the fresh colors pop and will draw the attention of a global audience. The new branding will be rolled out worldwide and incorporates our new website - crossware365.com . The website redesign will provide an enhanced customer experience in multiple languages beginning with German, Spanish and Arabic.

"With new prospects arising from our aggressive digital acquisition strategies, Crossware expects to see a huge growth as global-wide companies adopt centralized email signatures and our branding becomes more recognized throughout the world," said Managing Director, Troy Adams.

About Crossware

The Crossware story began in 1992 in Denmark where founder, Per Andersen led a team creating software solutions for IBM Lotus (now HCL). In 1999, a love of New Zealand brought Crossware Down Under. Settling in Auckland, Crossware quickly grew to become the largest and most experienced HCL Lotus Software organization in the country.

This growth occurred due to the key insight that in a time of cluttered inboxes and email fatigue, sending data-driven personalized and relevant emails matters more than ever.

Crossware's powerful tools allow its clients to personalize company emails with intelligently applied ad banners, email signatures, disclaimers and more.

In 2013 as Microsoft business solutions grew, Crossware was the first to introduce an Email Signature Solution for Microsoft Office 365. Today, Crossware Mail Signature has over a million users across 80 countries.

For interviews, images or further information please contact:

Crossware Managing Director, Troy Adams

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +61 466384140

LinkedIn: Troy Adams

SOURCE Crossware
WASHINGTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) announced today that it has appointed Feroz Dewan to its Board of Directors and to the Board's Science & Technology Committee. This addition expands the size of Danaher's Board from thirteen to fourteen members.

Mr. Dewan is currently CEO of Arena Holdings Management, a global investment business. From 2003 to 2015, he worked at Tiger Global Management, most recently as Head of Public Equities. Prior to that, Mr. Dewan was a private equity investor at Silver Lake Partners.

Mr. Dewan earned his B.S. in Engineering with a Certificate in Applied and Computational Mathematics from Princeton University.

Steven M. Rales, Chairman of the Board of Danaher Corporation, said "We are very pleased to welcome Feroz to the Board. We expect that his financial acumen and technology expertise will be a tremendous benefit to Danaher as we strive to continue building sustainable, long-term value for all of our constituents."

ABOUT DANAHER

Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping its customers solve complex challenges and improving quality of life around the world. Its family of world class brands has leadership positions in the demanding and attractive health care, environmental and applied end-markets. With more than 20 operating companies, Danaher's globally diverse team of approximately 80,000 associates is united by a common culture and operating system, the Danaher Business System, and its Shared Purpose, Helping Realize Life's Potential. For more information, please visit www.danaher.com.

SOURCE Danaher Corporation
Vendor Landscape

The data center general construction market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as providing construction services as well as managed hosting services at affordable prices to compete in the market. ABB Ltd., AECOM, Arup Group Ltd., DPR Construction, Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc., Holder Construction Group LLC, Schneider Electric SE, Turner Construction Co., and Vertiv Holdings Co., among others, are some of the few key vendors competing to maintain their market position in the market. The key offerings of some of the key vendors are listed below:

ABB Ltd. - The company offers a wide range of services such as intelligent grid connection, data center power distribution, data center smart automation, and other services.

The company offers a wide range of services such as intelligent grid connection, data center power distribution, data center smart automation, and other services. AECOM - The company offers design management, contract development, quantity surveying and other services.

The company offers design management, contract development, quantity surveying and other services. Arup Group Ltd. - The company provides data center mission-critical facilities, which include architecture, sustainability consulting, and structural engineering.

Learn about the comprehensive list of vendors and their offerings. View a Sample Report

Key Market Segmentation

Segmentation by Type:

BBO:



The base building shell construction segment will contribute significantly to the market growth during the forecast period.





A rise in investment in data center construction globally will propel the demand for general construction services to manage the consulting and base building shell construction. This will drive the growth of the market in focus during the forecast period.



Architecture planning and designing

Request a Sample of this report for more highlights on the market segments.

Regional Market Outlook

North America will contribute 38% of the market growth during the forecast period. The growth of this region can be attributed to the increasing adoption of cloud services by several IT companies. If we look at the country-wise market growth, the US and Canada will contribute the highest market growth.

Download our sample report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries.

Latest Trends and Driv ers in the Data Center General Construction Market

Market Driver:

Increase in investment in data centers:

The need for data centers is increasing owing to a rise in the adoption of cloud services and the generation of large volumes of data across enterprises. Some companies, such as Google, Amazon.com, Apple, and Facebook, are investing in building their own data centers.

Market Trend:

High demand for cloud-based services:

Many companies have started to expand their cloud operations across various regions. For instance, in September 2019, OpenGov announced a plan to invest USD 51 million to improve its cloud-based IT services for government and civic organizations in the US. Thus, an increasing interest in cloud computing, owing to its benefits such as zero initial investment and high security, is driving the growth of the global data center general construction market.

Find additional information about various other market drivers & trends mentioned in our sample report .

Related Reports:

Data Center Interconnect Solutions Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Hyperscale Data Center Market by Infrastructure and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Data Center General Construction Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 10.14% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 8.76 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 8.73 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 38% Key consumer countries US, Canada, China, Germany, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled ABB Ltd., AECOM, Arup Group Ltd., DPR Construction, Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc., Holder Construction Group LLC, Schneider Electric SE, Turner Construction Co., and Vertiv Holdings Co. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for 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



Exhibit 03: Value chain analysis: Internet services and infrastructure

2.2 Value chain analysis

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 05: Market segments

3.2 Market segment analysis

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

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 10: Bargaining power of suppliers



Exhibit 11: Threat of new entrants

4.4 Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 12: Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 13: Threat of rivalry



Exhibit 14: Market condition - Five forces 2020

4.7 Market condition

5 Market Segmentation by Type

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Type

5.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 17: Base building shell construction - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

5.3 Base building shell construction - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 18: Base building shell construction - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)



Exhibit 19: Architecture planning and designing - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

5.4 Architecture planning and designing - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 20: Architecture planning and designing - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)



Exhibit 21: Market opportunity by Type

5.5 Market opportunity by Type

6 Customer landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 24: Geographic comparison

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 25: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 26: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

Exhibit 27: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 28: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

Exhibit 29: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 30: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)



Exhibit 31: South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 32: South America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

Exhibit 33: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

7.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 34: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)



Exhibit 35: Key leading countries

7.8 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 39: Landscape disruption

9.2 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 40: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 42: Market positioning of vendors



Exhibit 43: ABB Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 44: ABB Ltd. - Business segments

10.3 ABB Ltd.

Exhibit 45: ABB Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 46: ABB Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 47: ABB Ltd. - Segment focus



Exhibit 48: AECOM - Overview



Exhibit 49: AECOM - Business segments

10.4 AECOM

Exhibit 50: AECOM - Key news



Exhibit 51: AECOM - Key offerings



Exhibit 52: AECOM - Segment focus



Exhibit 53: Arup Group Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 54: Arup Group Ltd. - Product and service

10.5 Arup Group Ltd.

Exhibit 55: Arup Group Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 56: DPR Construction - Overview



Exhibit 57: DPR Construction - Product and service



Exhibit 58: DPR Construction - Key offerings

10.6 DPR Construction

Exhibit 59: Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc. - Overview

& Associates Inc. - Overview

Exhibit 60: Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc. - Product and service

& Associates Inc. - Product and service

Exhibit 61: Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc. - Key news

10.7 Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc.

& Associates Inc. Exhibit 62: Gensler. M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc. - Key offerings

& Associates Inc. - Key offerings

Exhibit 63: Holder Construction Group LLC - Overview



Exhibit 64: Holder Construction Group LLC - Product and service



Exhibit 65: Holder Construction Group LLC - Key offerings

10.8 Holder Construction Group LLC

Exhibit 66: Legrand SA - Overview



Exhibit 67: Legrand SA - Business segments

10.9 Legrand SA

Exhibit 68: Legrand SA - Key offerings



Exhibit 69: Legrand SA - Segment focus



Exhibit 70: Schneider Electric SE - Overview



Exhibit 71: Schneider Electric SE - Business segments



Exhibit 72: Schneider Electric SE - Key news

10.10 Schneider Electric SE

Exhibit 73: Schneider Electric SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 74: Schneider Electric SE - Segment focus



Exhibit 75: Turner Construction Co. - Overview



Exhibit 76: Turner Construction Co. - Product and service



Exhibit 77: Turner Construction Co. - Key news

10.11 Turner Construction Co.

Exhibit 78: Turner Construction Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 79: Vertiv Holdings Co. - Overview



Exhibit 80: Vertiv Holdings Co. - Business segments

10.12 Vertiv Holdings Co.

Exhibit 81: Vertiv Holdings Co. - Key news



Exhibit 82: Vertiv Holdings Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 83: Vertiv Holdings Co. - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

Exhibit 84: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 85: Research Methodology

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 86: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 87: Information sources



Exhibit 88: List of abbreviations

11.4 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 provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
Though DEI has been a trending topic in the business world in recent years, it is still an area in which many organizations and their leaders struggle. In a joint 2021 report from SHRM, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, and Trusaic, 67% of respondents said "their organization was, at best, only somewhat successful at creating a workplace that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive." Odunukwe continues: " A majority of DEI and HR initiatives created to support specific demographics only have partial success rates. This is both unacceptable and understandable, considering the obstacles organizations face when creating self-identification practices."

McLean & Company's Guide to Using Self-identification Questions Respectfully in HR breaks down the three categories of identity traits  inherent traits, acquired traits, and organizational acquired traits  to better assist leaders in understanding the role of identity traits in employee surveys. The guide also helps to establish the diversity traits that need to be captured and measured to further DEI and HR efforts and communicate data expectations and ethics. It provides a selection of sample identification questions that can be used to inform a self-identification survey.

"A shared challenge is a lack of prescriptive research on how to address the many competing considerations, such as legal, social, psychological safety and trust, when collecting, storing, and using sensitive employee information to progress DEI goals," Odunukwe adds: "Depending on the level of tolerance, organizations may avoid this exercise if they perceive the risk to be too great. This is why the new DEI-focused guide from McLean & Company is so relevant and supports organizations with an ethical and purposeful approach."

McLean & Company is committed to supporting people leaders in their efforts to employ an inclusive and intentional approach when gathering and measuring personal employee traits. The firm offers practical resources as well as various levels of support designed to meet organizations' unique HR needs, including DIY toolkits, guided implementations, workshops, and consulting.

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
JOHANNESBURG, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On 27 June 2021, iGAS, a subsidiary of CEF SOC Limited (CEF), together with Companhia Mocambicana de Gasoduto (CMG), a subsidiary of Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, EP (ENH), announced that they had exercised their pre-emptive rights to acquire a 30% equity interest in the ROMPCO pipeline ("the Transaction").

iGAS' and CMG's pre-emptive rights were exercised after Sasol announced on 14 May 2021 that SSA, a major subsidiary of Sasol, had concluded a sale and purchase agreement in terms of which SSA had agreed to sell a 30% equity interest (Sale Shares) in ROMPCO to an acquisition vehicle beneficially owned by a consortium, comprising Reatile Group Proprietary Limited and the IDEAS Fund managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers Proprietary Limited.

Following the fulfilment of all conditions precedent, the Transaction is now complete.

The Sale Shares have been sold for a consideration comprising an initial amount of R4,1 billion, subject to certain adjustments, and a deferred payment of up to R1 billion, which is payable if certain agreed milestones are achieved by 30 June 2024.

SSA retains a 20% shareholding in ROMPCO and Sasol will continue to operate and maintain the pipeline in terms of the commercial agreement between Sasol and ROMPCO, which is independent of the Transaction. Sasol's agreements with ROMPCO to transport gas to Secunda are unaffected by the Transaction and the tariffs remain as per the said agreements, which were approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

This Transaction marks the completion of the major transactions in Sasol's accelerated, strategy-aligned, asset divestment programme announced in March 2020. Sasol remains fully committed to its integrated natural gas business in Southern Africa, which is integral to Sasol's long-term strategy.

For further information, please contact:

Sasol Investor Relations,

Tiffany Sydow, Investor Relations Officer

Telephone: +27 (0) 71 673 1929

[email protected]

Disclaimer - Forward-looking statements

Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to our future prospects, expectations, developments, and business strategies. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and measures taken in response, on Sasol's business, results of operations, markets, employees, financial condition and liquidity; the effectiveness of any actions taken by Sasol to address or limit any impact of COVID-19 on its business; the capital cost of our projects and the timing of project milestones; our ability to obtain financing to meet the funding requirements of our capital investment programme, as well as to fund our ongoing business activities and to pay dividends; statements regarding our future results of operations and financial condition, and regarding future economic performance including cost containment, cash conservation programmes and business optimisation initiatives; recent and proposed accounting pronouncements and their impact on our future results of operations and financial condition; our business strategy, performance outlook, plans, objectives or goals; statements regarding future competition, volume growth and changes in market share in the industries and markets for our products; our existing or anticipated investments, acquisitions of new businesses or the disposal of existing businesses, including estimates or projection of internal rates of return and future profitability; our estimated oil, gas and coal reserves; the probable future outcome of litigation, legislative, regulatory and fiscal developments, including statements regarding our ability to comply with future laws and regulations; future fluctuations in refining margins and crude oil, natural gas and petroleum and chemical product prices; the demand, pricing and cyclicality of oil, gas and petrochemical product prices; changes in the fuel and gas pricing mechanisms in South Africa and their effects on prices, our operating results and profitability; statements regarding future fluctuations in exchange and interest rates and changes in credit ratings; total shareholder return; our current or future products and anticipated customer demand for these products; assumptions relating to macroeconomics; climate change impacts and our climate change strategies, our development of sustainability within our Energy and Chemicals Businesses, our energy efficiency improvement, carbon and GHG emission reduction targets, our net zero carbon emissions ambition and future low-carbon initiatives, including relating to green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel; our estimated carbon tax liability; cyber security; and statements of assumptions underlying such statements. Words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may", "endeavour", "target", "forecast" and "project" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that the predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. If one or more of these risks materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. You should understand that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors and others are discussed more fully in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed on 22 September 2021 and in other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make investment decisions, you should carefully consider foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events, and you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Sasol Limited
Strategic integration provides digitally-enhanced new account opening to joint customers

LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Docupace, the leader in cloud-based fintech digital operations software for the wealth management industry, today announces a new strategic integration with Axos Advisor Services, a prominent provider of comprehensive custody and securities clearing services to registered investment advisors (RIAs) and independent broker-dealers, to provide joint customers with a digitally-enhanced process for opening new client accounts.

"As a centralized back office nerve center for wealth management operations, deep integrations connecting the Docupace Platform with strategic partners is key differentiator of our platform," says Michael Pinsker, Docupace founder and president. "Connecting the Docupace's distinctive back office capabilities with category-leading partners like Axos rightly places automation and digitization at the heart of a financial advisory firms' business process strategy."

Connecting the powerful client data gathering tools, esignature capabilities and extensive forms library of the Docupace Platform with Axos' flexible custodial solutions for today's RIAs and broker-dealers helps pave the way for more financial advisors to serve more clients and serve them more completely.

"Using the right technology efficiently is an important key to success in today's competitive environment," says Mike Watson, SVP and Head of RIA Custody for Axos Advisor Services. "The Docupace integration allows us to deliver a best-in-class technology solution to RIAs, enabling them to seamlessly open client accounts and provide an optimal client experience."

Unmatched Network of Connectivity and Collaboration

A growing gap between the capabilities offered by "all-in-one" platforms and the experiences delivered to clients, financial advisors and administrative professionals is driving the financial advice and investment industry to evolve. In today's crowded and rapidly changing wealthtech marketplace, financial services institutions looking to achieve scalable back-office operations beyond the traditional all-in-one technology solution or cobbling together an array of individual plug-and-play products.

Through a one-of-a-kind network of proprietary capabilities, notable customers and like-minded wealthtech industry partners the Docupace Platform offers RIAs and broker-dealers an alternative "middle-ground" approach to optimize operations.

Think you know Docupace? Think Again. Click here to schedule a no-sales, just truth conversation with a Docupace Platform SME.

Special Joint Webinar "Best Kept Secrets of High-Performing RIAs" Coming in July

Deploying the proper technology and using it efficiently is one of the strongest growth drivers and the key to better serving clients. On Thursday, July 28 at 4:30, Axos Advisor Services and Docupace CEO David Knoch will be hosting a informative webinar "Best Kept Secrets of High-Performing RIAs" illuminating sustainable strategies growing RIA firms have leveraged to fuel their upward trajectory. Join us to learn more about how to maximize these top drivers of RIA firm growth:

Digitally enabled client onboarding

AI-powered tools to support clients and staff

Emerging fintech tools that can improve your client experience

Click Here to register for this free online event.

About Docupace

Docupace is a solutions provider focused on digitizing and automating operations in the financial advice and investment industry. Financial services firms use the Docupace Platform (a cloud-based, integrated software suite) to reduce back-office expenses, improve efficiency, strengthen recruiting, and enhance the experience of advisors and investors. With headquarters in Los Angeles, California, Docupace is proud to serve some of the largest independent broker-dealers and registered investment advisers (RIAs) in the financial services industry.

For more information, please visit www.docupace.com.

About Axos Advisor Services

Axos Advisor Services is an RIA custodian with a singular goal: to provide RIA firms and independent financial advisors with the individualized attention, intuitive technology, and knowledgeable consulting support they need to take their businesses to the next level and beyond. We are committed to knowing and having personal relationships with our RIA clients and to providing outstanding support to firms of every size. We focus on delivering flexible solutions, responsive service, innovative technology, and competitive pricing. Our powerful, yet easy-to-use technology gives financial advisors access to everything they need in one easy-to-use interface. Learn more at axosadvisorservices.com.

Media Contact: Ryan George, [email protected]

SOURCE Docupace Technologies, Inc.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market: Segmentation Analysis

The market research report segments the electric vehicle (EV) charging station market by Type (AC and DC) and Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East and Africa).

Revenue Generating Segment: The electric vehicle (EV) charging station market share growth in the AC segment will be significant for revenue generation. The growth is attributed to the advantages of AC charging stations, which are as follows - Low set-up cost & Low installation and maintenance cost.

The electric vehicle (EV) charging station market share growth in the will be significant for revenue generation. The growth is attributed to the advantages of AC charging stations, which are as follows - Low set-up cost & Low installation and maintenance cost. To know about the contribution of each segment - Click Now!

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market: Drivers

The key factors driving the global electric vehicle (EV) charging station market growth are the increasing number of M&A and strategic partnerships.

For instance, in October 2019 , ABB acquired a majority stake in Shanghai Chargedot New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (Chargedot), an e-mobility solution provider in China , and entered into an agreement with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). Such factors will further support the market growth in the forecast years.

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market: Trends

The increasing number of launches in the field of EV charging solutions is one of the key electric vehicle charging station market trends that are expected to impact the industry positively in the forecast period. The prominent vendors operating in the market have showcased and launched advanced EV chargers in the last couple of years.

For instance, in March 2022 , EVI Technologies, an EV charging solutions infrastructure company, announced the launch of its mobile application, which will be useful in locating nearby EV charging stations. Thus, the increasing number of EV charging solution launches will further support the growth of the market under focus.

To know about other drivers & trends along with the market challenges - Grab a Sample Research Report

Get ready to achieve excellent business outcomes from this exclusive Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market report by Technavio. The report will include highlights of the overall market which includes frequently asked questions such as -

What are historical revenue figures and estimated revenue figures as well as CAGR during the forecast timeframe?

What is the current trend taking place in the market space?|

Which are business tactics that will influence competitive scenarios along with defining the growth potential of the market?

What are market drivers, restraints, and challenges impacting demand & growth of the market?

Which regions & segments will garner massive revenue and emerge as market leaders in upcoming years?

The competitive scenario provided in the Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market report analyzes, evaluates, and positions companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered for this analysis include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc. Don't wait, Make a strategic approach & boost your business goals with our Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market Forecast Report - Buy Now!

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share is expected to increase to USD 121.23 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.36%. The automotive smart antenna market share is expected to increase to 40.03 million units from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 14.5%.

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 20.65% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 15.81 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 20.45 Performing market contribution APAC at 63% Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled ABB Ltd., Alfen NV, Allego BV, Besen International Group Co. Ltd., Blink Charging Co., ChargePoint Inc., Delta Electronics Inc., ENGIE EPS SA, Enphase Energy Inc., EV Safe Charge Inc., Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., Liikennevirta Oy Ltd., LS Power Development LLC, Schneider Electric SE, SemaConnect Inc., Shell plc, Siemens AG, Tesla Inc., Volkswagen AG, and Webasto SE 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 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 Content

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Type



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by Type

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by Type



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by Type

5.3 AC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on AC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on AC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on AC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on AC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 DC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on DC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on DC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on DC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on DC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 36: Market opportunity by Type ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 37: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 38: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 40: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 42: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 44: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 46: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 47: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 48: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 49: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 50: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 51: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 52: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 53: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 56: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 60: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 70: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 71: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 72: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 73: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 76: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 78: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 80: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 81: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 82: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 83: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 84: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 85: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 86: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 87: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 88: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 ABB Ltd.

Exhibit 89: ABB Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 90: ABB Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 91: ABB Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 92: ABB Ltd. - Segment focus

10.4 ChargePoint Inc.

Exhibit 93: ChargePoint Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 94: ChargePoint Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 95: ChargePoint Inc. - Key offerings

10.5 ENGIE EPS SA

Exhibit 96: ENGIE EPS SA - Overview

- Overview

Exhibit 97: ENGIE EPS SA - Product / Service

- Product / Service

Exhibit 98: ENGIE EPS SA - Key offerings

10.6 EV Safe Charge Inc.

Exhibit 99: EV Safe Charge Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 100: EV Safe Charge Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 101: EV Safe Charge Inc. - Key offerings

10.7 Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc.

Exhibit 102: Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 103: Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 104: Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. - Key offerings

10.8 LS Power Development LLC

Exhibit 105: LS Power Development LLC - Overview



Exhibit 106: LS Power Development LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 107: LS Power Development LLC - Key offerings

10.9 Schneider Electric SE

Exhibit 108: Schneider Electric SE - Overview



Exhibit 109: Schneider Electric SE - Business segments



Exhibit 110: Schneider Electric SE - Key news



Exhibit 111: Schneider Electric SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 112: Schneider Electric SE - Segment focus

10.10 Siemens AG

Exhibit 113: Siemens AG - Overview



Exhibit 114: Siemens AG - Business segments



Exhibit 115: Siemens AG - Key news



Exhibit 116: Siemens AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 117: Siemens AG - Segment focus

10.11 Tesla Inc.

Exhibit 118: Tesla Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 119: Tesla Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 120: Tesla Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 121: Tesla Inc. - Segment focus

10.12 Webasto SE

Exhibit 122: Webasto SE - Overview



Exhibit 123: Webasto SE - Product / Service



Exhibit 124: Webasto SE - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 125: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 126: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 127: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 128: Research methodology



Exhibit 129: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 130: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 131: List of abbreviations

About Technavio

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.

Contacts

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
Developed by the GNV Group and designed by the global architect studio Gomez Platero, the project will include 80 stylish state-of-the-art hotel rooms and 150 residences, in two SLS-style towers which will feature extravagant and theatrical design, contemporary art and luxury details, all in synthesis with the brand's DNA. The property will offer enchanting landscapes and beachfront views of the 20km of coastline, making it the ideal destination for those seeking adventure.

Chadi Farhat, Brand Chief Operating Officer of SLS at Ennismore states, "We are thrilled to be launching the SLS Hotel & Residences in Uruguay, and to bring the brand, synonymous with elevated hospitality and fresh perspective, to one of the most sought after destinations in South America. This announcement showcases the incredible global expansion of the SLS brand, and with its privileged location in the vibrant city of Punta del Este, we know it will be the ideal destination for our discerning SLS guests that continue to seek extraordinary experiences."

Alejandro Ginevra, President & CEO of GNV Group said, "It's with great enthusiasm and bursting energy that we embark upon building SLS Punta del Este, where dazzling natural scenery will be paired with unparalleled hospitality, services and amenities, curated for the standards of the most discerning and sophisticated of guests and residents alike. We are very proud to be part of this project to bring the first globally renowned branded hotel and residences to this amazing city and beach paradise. Punta del Este hosts the modern jetset. Its iconic landscape, glamorous parties, and chic bohemian vibe make it perfect for SLS."

The expansive property in the heart of Punta del Este, will be SLS Hotel & Residences' second property in the region, on the heels of the opening of SLS Puerto Madero in Argentina this Spring.

SLS Punta del Este Hotel & Residences will be one of the most unique vacation spots in Latin America, housing three exclusive restaurants, lounge & bar, rooftop pool, spa, fitness center, meeting rooms and kids club, in addition to an expansive commercial area. Combining exquisite architecture, high quality standards synonymous with SLS, and premier services, the hotel will bring a fresh perspective and a new standard of luxury to the region's hospitality offering.

Lifestyle is one of the fastest-growing segments of the hospitality industry, and lifestyle brands are recovering faster from the impacts of the pandemic, helped by strong local and domestic demand, in particular, for restaurants and bars. Ennismore is leading the way in lifestyle, with its collective of 14 brands representing 106 operating properties across 26 countries and over 140 hotels in the pipeline, with over 150 restaurants and bars.

ABOUT ENNISMORE

Ennismore is a creative hospitality company with a global collective of entrepreneurial and founder-built brands with purpose at their heart. It curates and manages unique properties and experiences in some of the most exciting destinations around the world.

Founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Sharan Pasricha, Ennismore and Accor entered a joint venture in 2021 to create a new autonomous entity, with Accor holding a majority shareholding. Creating the world's fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality company, it brings together Ennismore's know-how in building brands with creative storytelling, design, and authentic experiences, with Accor's wealth of knowledge in delivering scale, network growth and distribution.

Under the leadership of Sharan Pasricha, Founder & Co-CEO, and Gaurav Bhushan, Co-CEO, Ennismore comprises 14 brands - with 90 operating properties and further 160 in the pipeline - and a collection of over 150 culturally relevant and diverse restaurants and nightlife destinations.

Ennismore puts innovation at the centre of everything it does, with four dedicated in-house specialist studios, which obsess every guest touchpoint including Carte Blanched  a fully integrated F&B concept platform; a creative studio of interior and graphic designers; a digital product and tech innovation lab, and a partnerships and collaborations unit. Ennismore is committed to positively impacting the world, with a key focus on creating inclusive communities among its teams and in the places it calls home.

Ennismore has been included in Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies lists in 2020 and 2021; ranked#29 in FT1000: Europe's Fastest-Growing Companies; and is part of FT Future 100 - the UK's fastest-growing businesses that are shaping the future of their sector.

The Ennismore brands: 21c Museum Hotel, 25hours Hotels, Delano, Gleneagles, Hyde, J0&JOE, Mama Shelter, Mondrian, Morgans Originals, SLS, SO/, The Hoxton, TRIBE and Working From_.

ennismore.com

ABOUT SLS HOTELS & RESIDENCES

SLS is the home of an extraordinary experience coupled with a playful ambiance. Culinary artistry, theatrical interiors, subversive design touches and unexpected indulgences are at the heart of every SLS property. Collaborations with leading developers, architects, designers and chefs allow SLS to continue anticipating, innovating and shaping the future of luxury lifestyle living. With eight properties in Beverly Hills, Miami, Bahamas, Cancun, Dubai, and Buenos Aires, SLS is set to open two additional properties in Scottsdale and Saudi Arabia by 2024. Learn more at SLSHotels.com.

Press Contacts:

Emily Venugopal / Cara Chapman / Jennifer Isicoff: [email protected]

SOURCE Ennismore
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Elevator Service LLC ("ESI"), a leading elevator service provider in the Midwest, announced today that it has acquired Van Duinen Elevator Co., an elevator service company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This investment marks ESI's third add-on acquisition in the last six months.

Van Duinen Elevator has been serving the Grand Rapids market since 1972. Van Duinen has a long-tenured customer base of commercial and industrial properties that are local to ESI's core Grand Rapids market. Van Duinen's owner, Larry Burns, will be joining the ESI management team.

Larry Burns said of the decision to partner with ESI, "ESI has committed to utilizing its knowledge and resources to continue to its high-quality maintenance, repair, and modernization services to Van Duinen's customers. It has been a pleasure to work with Brett and the ESI team throughout an efficient transaction process. I look forward to the long-term partnership."

This acquisition is both highly strategic and synergistic given its close proximity to ESI. The acquisition of Van Duinen strengthens ESI's market density in West Michigan and will allow ESI to further extend its services in the southern Grand Rapids and lakeshore regions, all while leveraging ESI's capabilities and resources to serve Van Duinen's customers.

ESI was founded over 30 years ago and has been family-owned since its inception. Today, ESI currently operates in the five markets of Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Toledo, Detroit, and Columbus, and will continue its growth by partnering with leading Independents in attractive markets and recruiting talented elevator mechanics, executives, and salespeople. Brett McCay, President of ESI, said, "We look forward to bringing Larry onto the ESI platform and leveraging his deep knowledge base and skillset. This highlights our continued commitment to finding attractive opportunities in new markets with skilled and knowledgeable leaders."

ESI completed its investment in Van Duinen Elevator with financial backing from Carroll Capital, a Greenwich-based family office which originally partnered with ESI in 2019.

About ESI

ESI has served Michigan since 1987, performing elevator maintenance, repair, modernization, installation, and testing required by the State of Michigan to the commercial, municipal, industrial, and residential markets. ESI's team of highly skilled technicians and experienced staff can design, install, and maintain elevator systems that keep its customers' buildings running efficiently with the utmost respect for customers' operations. For additional information, visit www.esigr.com/

About Van Duinen Elevator

Van Duinen Elevator is an elevator maintenance, repair, construction and modernization company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Company has served commercial, municipal, industrial, and residential customers since its founding in 1972.

SOURCE Carroll Capital
The launch of Eurofins DiscoverX (Shanghai) Ltd. broadens its Asia-Pacific operations directly into the China market. This expansion establishes an operational base positioned to effectively serve China's growing biopharmaceutical sector with high-quality innovative products that accelerate drug discovery programs, contributing to improving global healthcare.

With this fully operational Shanghai office, Eurofins DiscoverX can more readily provide its product menu cell lines, assay reagents, enzymes and bioassay kits to the China market. The new Shanghai operation provides an efficient supply chain, local technical support, and the convenience for clients to pay in the Chinese Yuan (RMB) currency.

This operational expansion demonstrates the Eurofins DiscoverX commitment to providing end-to-end support every step of the way for global customers with a comprehensive menu of innovative and qualified products for drug discovery screening and QC lot release.

Contact Eurofins DiscoverX (Shanghai) Ltd.

email: [email protected]

Phone: +86.21.3620.2818

Address: Building 18, No. 2168 Chenhang Highway. Minhang District, Shanghai 201114

About Eurofins DiscoverX Products LLC

For drug discovery and development scientists, Eurofins DiscoverX is the trusted product solutions provider that can accelerate drug discovery programs with confidence with qualified reagents, cell lines, and assays ready to run today. Eurofins DiscoverX develops and manufactures cutting-edge assays, stable cell lines, membrane preps, enzymes, and reagents for drug discovery and development from our three R&D manufacturing Centers of Excellence  USA (San Francisco Bay Area, California, and St. Louis, Missouri) and the EU (Poitiers, France).

Rediscover how Eurofins DiscoverX's expertise and trusted products accelerate drug discovery programs and enable clients through testing phases with confidence. With end-to-end support every step of the way for your programs from Discovery to Q.C. lot release. Eurofins DiscoverX is part of Eurofins Discovery, the industry's leading drug discovery products and services provider. For more information, visit www.discoverx.com.

About Eurofins  the global leader in bio-analysis

Eurofins is Testing for Life. With 58,000 staff across a network of 900 laboratories in 54 countries, Eurofins' companies offer a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical methods.

Eurofins Shares are listed on Euronext Paris Stock Exchange.

SOURCE Eurofins DiscoverX
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, announced it is expanding its KPMG Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics (MADA) Program to drive practical use of the latest analytics technology and meet its vision of making KPMG the employer of choice where underrepresented talent can build thriving careers.

The award-winning, collaborative, first-of-its-kind program prepares students to hit the ground running in today's data age by providing specialized skills for practical use of the latest analytics technology needed in the current data-driven accounting environment.

KPMG is adding seven universities to the MADA program, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The firm will provide more than $7 million in scholarship funding over three years to the universities participating in the MADA program to encourage underrepresented individuals to pursue a graduate education.

This expansion aligns with the firm's Accelerate 2025 commitments and is one of several ways KPMG is creating pathways for underrepresented future leaders to build their careers in the profession and with KPMG as an employer of choice. The firm will continue to explore relationships with Hispanic Serving Institutions and Tribal Colleges and Universities, along with other universities to invest in a diverse, sustainable pipeline.

"Expanding the master's program will help close the gap between academic preparation and accounting career readiness," said Scott Flynn, KPMG Vice Chair  Audit. "Importantly, our HBCU-focused investments will support underrepresented individuals and diversify our profession, better enabling us to deliver quality and innovation long-term."

The firm has deepened its relationships with HBCUs. In FY21, hires from HBCUs have increased more than 40% over the previous year. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, there was a 13% increase in three-year retention rates of professionals from HBCUs and a 19% increase in the five-year retention rate of the firm's HBCU alumni.

The universities newly added to the program are:

Alabama State University's Percy J. Vaugh, Jr. College of Business Administration (HBCU)

College of Business Administration (HBCU) Bentley University's McCallum Graduate School of Business

Florida International University College of Business

College of Business DePaul University Kellstadt Graduate School of Business

Kellstadt Graduate School of Business Howard University School of Business (HBCU)

School of Business (HBCU) North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (HBCU)

(HBCU) Prairie View A&M University College of Business (HBCU)

Additionally, the firm plans to continue to collaborate with universities that have been central to the success of the MADA program for the past several years.

"We have more than 300 graduates of our Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics Program who are using their expertise to bring our clients greater insight and productivity in how we ingest and analyze data," said Becky Sproul, Talent and Culture Leader  Audit. "For audit professionals, comfort with both D&A and automation technologies is a core capability that we invest in through our MADA Program."

Since its launch in 2017, the KPMG MADA Program has been a collaborative effort with pioneering business schools across the United States. By continuing the curriculum-focused initiatives, KPMG aims to set the tone for academic innovation and influence the broader academic community to pursue an advanced curriculum that includes D&A and technology.

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP is the U.S. firm of the KPMG global organization of independent professional services firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The KPMG global organization operates in 144 countries and territories and has more than 236,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.

KPMG is widely recognized for being a great place to work and build a career. Our people share a sense of purpose in the work we do, and a strong commitment to community service, inclusion and diversity, and eradicating childhood illiteracy. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.

Contact:

Elizabeth Lynch

KPMG LLP

201-505-6316

[email protected]

SOURCE KPMG LLP
Awards include recognition in advisory services, artificial intelligence, security, sales, automation, and country partner categories

LONDON, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The EY organization today proudly announces being awarded seven 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The accolades include:

Global Advisory Services Partner of the Year for the third consecutive year

Global AI Partner of the Year

Global Security Partner of the Year

Global D365 Sales Partner of the Year

Global Power Automate Partner of the Year

Country/Region Partner of the Year for Australia and Hong Kong

The EY organization was also recognized as a global finalist in the PowerApps and Sustainability Changemaker categories, the Global Defense & Intelligence category for the organization's work in Chile, and the Customer Experience category for implementation of its Tax and Finance Operate solution.

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards acknowledge Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft-based applications, services and devices during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from a set of more than 3,900 submitted nominations from more than 100 countries worldwide.

Jim Little, EY Global Microsoft Alliance Leader, says:

"By collaborating with and leveraging Microsoft teams and technologies, EY teams have been able to supercharge business and data-driven transformations for clients, helping them meet today's challenges head on. Being honored with seven different awards, including Global Advisory Services Partner of the Year for the third year in a row, is a testament to the work being done by EY teams all over the world to unlock long-term value and exponential results for clients by combining innovative solutions powered by Microsoft technologies with business ingenuity and industry experience."

Nick Parker, Corporate Vice President of Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft, says:

"I am honored to announce the winners and finalists of the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. These partners were outstanding among the exceptional pool of nominees and I'm continuously impressed by their innovative use of Microsoft Cloud technologies and the impact for their customers."

Additional information about the criteria and submissions for the awards can be found, here.

For more information, please visit ey.com/microsoft.

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.

This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.

SOURCE EY
"We are excited to introduce ParkMobile to Fort Collins this summer and give our community an easy-to-use payment option for parking throughout town," said Eric Keselburg, Parking Services Manager for the City of Fort Collins. "By utilizing ParkMobile's services, we hope to unify the parking experience between the university and the city and make parking in Fort Collins a seamless experience."

Though this is the City of Fort Collins' first partnership with ParkMobile, the app is available at Colorado State University, and throughout the state. There are currently over 1.1 million ParkMobile users in Colorado, and the app's services can be found in Boulder, Colorado Springs, Estes Park, Vail, and more.

ParkMobile has over 36 million users across North America, is available for both iPhone and Android devices, and can also be accessed on a mobile web browser. To pay for zone parking using the mobile or web app, a user enters the zone number posted on signs around the parking spot, selects the amount of time needed, and touches the "Start Parking" button to begin the session. The user can also extend the time of the parking session on their mobile device.

"We are thrilled about our partnership with Fort Collins as they transition exclusively to ParkMobile for mobile parking payments," added Jeff Perkins, CEO of ParkMobile. "Colorado is a great market for us year-round, so we're excited to welcome Fort Collins to the family this summer."

About ParkMobile: ParkMobile, LLC is the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in North America, using a contactless approach to help millions of people easily find, reserve, and pay for parking on their mobile devices. The company's technology is used in thousands of locations across the country, including 8 of the top 10 cities as well as college campuses, airports, and stadiums. People can use ParkMobile solutions to quickly pay for on street and off-street parking without having to use a meter or kiosk. Additionally, ParkMobile offers parking reservations at stadium venues for concerts and sporting events. Reservations are also available in metro area garages, allowing people to drive into the city without having to worry about finding parking. ParkMobile has been named to the Inc. 5000, Deloitte Fast 500, Smart Cities Connect "Smart 50," and the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Top Workplaces. Additionally, the company won the 2022 Stevie Awards for Best Mobile On-Demand Application, the 2020 Stevie Awards for Achievement in Product Innovation, and the 2019 Stevie Awards for Most Innovative Tech Company and Best Travel App. For more information, visit ParkMobile.io or @ParkMobile on Twitter.

ParkMobile Contact: Mark Lister, SVP of Marketing, [email protected]

City of Fort Collins Contact: Anna Russo, Public Engagement Specialist for Transfort & Parking Services, [email protected]

SOURCE ParkMobile
Leading Fast-Casual Concept Signs Development Agreements to Expand Across Multiple Markets Throughout the State

WICHITA, Kan., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast-casual restaurant concept Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers announced today the brand's plans to further expand its Texas footprint with 57 new locations added to its development pipeline. The stores are set to be built throughout the state in markets that include Dallas/Fort Worth and several counties in both East and West Texas. This announcement comes on the heels of the brand's debut in North and South Dakota and adds to the development success attained since the beginning of the year.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers.

As part of its overall franchise growth strategy, Freddy's continues to identify Texas as a key state for development. The brand's ongoing expansion in the region reinforces how its unique position in the quick-service segment, and strong unit-level economics, create a promising business opportunity for multi-unit franchisees interested in adding a leading franchise concept to their portfolios.

"Our 63 operating locations in Texas have continued to perform exceptionally well, and we have witnessed firsthand how Freddy's resonates with the local communities across the state. This proven success has attracted best-in-class franchisees to join our network, and we couldn't be more excited," said Andrew Thengvall, Chief Development Officer at Freddy's. "These strong operators deeply understand their territories and share our commitment to bringing Freddy's craveable menu to the people of Texas."

To accelerate development in Texas, Freddy's is partnering with the following franchisees:

BSPub Holdings, LLC will develop five Freddy's locations in Texas . The new restaurants will be built in counties that include Ector , Midland , Burnet , Gillespie and Kerr .

will develop five Freddy's locations in . The new restaurants will be built in counties that include , , , and . Outlaw Management has agreed to develop three new Freddy's in the counties of Aransas , Calhoun and Victoria .

has agreed to develop three new Freddy's in the counties of , and . After acquiring 21 existing Freddy's units in Texas , Lone Star Custard committed to opening an additional 30 Freddy's locations with a focus on the greater Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

, committed to opening an additional 30 Freddy's locations with a focus on the greater metroplex. Ram-Z Restaurant Group, LLC has committed to 15 new Freddy's locations in Texas , with development set to take place in Denton , Collin , Rockwall , Anderson , Cherokee and Harrison . The group is also set to open new Freddy's restaurants in portions of Greg and Rusk counties.

has committed to 15 new Freddy's locations in , with development set to take place in , , , , and . The group is also set to open new Freddy's restaurants in portions of Greg and Rusk counties. Big Country Custard added an additional store to their original development agreement and is now set to bring four new restaurants to Texas . The added store will be in Brown County and is the first location the group plans to open for operation.

added an additional store to their original development agreement and is now set to bring four new restaurants to . The added store will be in and is the first location the group plans to open for operation. AOM, LLC signed a development agreement to open stores in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas . The group will also build new locations in Louisiana .

Freddy's has added 80 new units to its development pipeline since the start of 2022, and the brand is projected to open over 40 total locations across the country. Additionally, to continue its growth with non-traditional formats, Freddy's opened its first airport location in the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. These efforts, coupled with the brand's exceptional commitment to its franchisees, Team Members and one-of-a-kind Freddy's Guest experience, help support its greater development goal to double its footprint within the next four years, bringing the total unit count to 800 by 2026.

Franchise opportunities remain in areas across the U.S., including the Northeast, Upper Midwest, California, Florida, Oregon, and Washington and large metro areas such as Pittsburgh and many of its surrounding markets. For more information about development opportunities, contact Mary Coots, Director of Franchise Development, at [email protected] or 316-719-7854, or visit https://freddysfranchising.com.

About Freddy's

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers is a leading fast-casual franchise concept with more than 440 locations across 36 states nationwide. Founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 2002, the brand offers a unique combination of cooked-to-order steakburgers, all-beef hot dogs, shoestring fries and other savory items along with freshly churned frozen custard treats. Known for operating the Freddy's Way, Guests experience genuine hospitality and food prepared fresh with premium ingredients. This signature approach has fueled Freddy's ongoing growth throughout the U.S. and garnered national recognition from industry-leading rankings, including being named No. 1 on Forbes Best Franchises to Buy and No. 59 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. For more on Freddy's, visit the Newsroom and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information about development opportunities, visit https://freddysfranchising.com/.

Josh Morris| Account Coordinator

[email protected]

754.317.1794

SOURCE Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
GUIYANG, China, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. ("FTA" or the "Company") (NYSE: YMM), a leading digital freight platform, announced that the Company's Yunmanman and Huochebang apps resumed new user registration today.

As previously announced by the Company, the Cybersecurity Review Office ("CRO") of the Cyberspace Administration of China initiated a cybersecurity review of FTA's Yunmanman and Huochebang apps last July. FTA has fully cooperated with the CRO in the cybersecurity review and has taken comprehensive measures to address issues identified during the process. The CRO informed FTA that its Yunmanman and Huochebang apps may resume new user registration today.

About Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd.

Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YMM) is a leading digital freight platform, connecting shippers with truckers to facilitate shipments across distance ranges, cargo weights and types. The Company provides a range of freight matching services including freight listing service, freight brokerage service and online transaction service. The Company also provides a range of value-added services that cater to the various needs of shippers and truckers, such as financial institutions, highway authorities, and gas stations operators. With a mission to make logistics smarter, the Company is shaping the future of logistics with technology and aspires to revolutionize logistics, improve efficiency across the value chain and reduce its carbon footprint for our planet. For more information, please visit ir.fulltruckalliance.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements which are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: FTA's goal and strategies; FTA's expansion plans; FTA's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; expected changes in FTA's revenues, costs or expenses; industry landscape of, and trends in, China's road transportation market; competition in FTA's industry; FTA's expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, its services; FTA's expectations regarding its relationships with shippers, truckers and other ecosystem participants; FTA's ability to protect its systems and infrastructures from cyber-attacks; PRC laws, regulations, and policies relating to the road transportation market, as well as general regulatory environment in which FTA operates in China; the results of regulatory review and the duration and impact of any regulatory action taken against FTA; the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather conditions and production constraints brought by electricity rationing measures; general economic and business condition; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd.

Mao Mao

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Emilie Wu

Tel: +86-21-6039-8363

E-mail: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd.
"As the global industry leader, GDK is revolutionizing the doner kebab experience, and we're excited to bring our fresh, high-quality taste sensation to North Americans who are looking for an alternative to the burger and sandwich," said Belton. "We've assembled a team of stellar executives with a wealth of food and beverage experience, and we're excited to utilize their expertise to aid in our continued growth."

With global headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland, GDK is focused on providing its customers with fresh, premium, quality ingredients at affordable prices. As the fastest growing fast-casual restaurant group in the UK, GDK has over 125 restaurants in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and is now rapidly expanding rapidly into the US and Canada. GDK opened its first US site in New Jersey's American Dream Mall in 2021. In Canada, three locations are currently open; one in British Columbia and two in Ontario.

"It is exciting to have the opportunity to shape the creation of the processes, behaviors, and relationships with our franchisees to help GDK grow in North America," said Bray. "As we continue our quest to bring the doner kebab sensation to the people, I look forward to creating a guest experience that will keep them coming back again and again for our fresh food and great service."

The North American operation has ambitious growth plans for the US as it gets set to open ten locations in 2022, including its first two in the Houston area, Sugar Land and Houston Heights, the company also announced. Clyde Foods has signed on as a multi-unit developer in Houston, an agreement that includes 15 restaurants over the next ten years and five locations open by 2025. In the Dallas area, a franchisee has signed a multi-unit deal to develop five restaurants in Dallas and its northern suburbs.

GDK's New York franchisee has signed a development agreement for 25 restaurants over 15 years, with six locations open by the end of 2022. These strategic sites include Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Astoria in Queens. In Canada, the search is on for additional sites in Mississauga, Ontario and Surrey, British Columbia.

ABOUT GDK

German Doner Kebab is a fast-casual brand that is revolutionizing the market, providing guests with a premium, high quality approach, and elevated dining experience to traditional doner kebabs. GDK has over 125 restaurants globally and is the fastest-growing international kebab brand in the world. GDK opened its first restaurant in Berlin in 1989 and spent the next decade developing its products and recipes, creating its own unique blend of spices, innovating its signature sauces, and perfecting its distinctive handmade 'doner kebab' waffle toasted bread. GDK's gourmet doner kebabs are made using premium quality ingredients, lean succulent meats, and fresh locally produced vegetables that are delivered and prepared daily along with our handmade bread. With global headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland, the brand has grown at great pace in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East and now rapidly expanding in the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Ireland. GDK is an affiliate of the Hero Brands group. For more information, please visit germandonerkebab.com.

SOURCE German Doner Kebab (GDK)
Smoothie King conducted a competitive agency review focused on identifying a partner to lead with bold ideas and fully integrated expertise. GERTRUDE's forward thinking combined with proven expertise in connecting brands to culture and lifestyle led to GERTRUDE being named as the AOR over three other agency finalists.

"GERTRUDE's ability to lead strategically while finding unique ways to help brands stand out from inception through activation won over the Smoothie King management team," said Wan Kim, Chief Executive Officer for Smoothie King.

Rebecca Miller, Chief Marketing Officer at Smoothie King, added, "We're so excited to work with GERTRUDE because of their mastery in cultivating and shaping purpose-driven brands in the lifestyle space."

Established in 1973 and based in Dallas, TX, Smoothie King is driven by its mission of "inspiring people to live a healthy and active lifestyle," and their vision of "becoming an integral part of every health and fitness journey." Unknown to many consumers, Smoothie King's original founder also invented the name "smoothie" as well as the product itself. The brand is currently led by CEO Wan Kim, who bought the company 12 years ago.

Smoothie King has been under a major brand transformation for the past several years to actualize their mission, vision, and purpose-driven approach with new initiatives like Clean Blendsfocused on delivering their guests only clean ingredients, without any artificial additives, GMOs, trans-fats, gluten, or un-needed sugars.

GERTRUDE has been tapped to help tell Smoothie King's evolving story, GERTRUDE'S Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Otis D. Gibson, expressed, "We're proud to be entrusted on the front line for Smoothie King, a brand that leads in its category, and have the opportunity to help further expand its reach and propel them toward their next chapter in new and dynamic ways."

GERTRUDE's first work for Smoothie King launched this Summer around National Smoothie Day, June 21, 2022 with the "#SmoothieItOver" campaign that nods to notorious feuds while inviting Healthy Rewards members to smoothie it over with a friend or "former friend." Immediately following, GERTRUDE's "#OriginalAF#SlimAF" campaign spotlights the brand's legendary Angel Food strawberry-banana smoothie with a playful twistinforming guests they now have a choice between Angel Food Original, or brand new, equally delicious Angel Food Slim without added sugar.

ABOUT GERTRUDE

GERTRUDE, INC. is a global innovation, brand development, advertising, and marketing services consultancy that creates purpose-driven ideas, new products, and environments where people discover, rediscover, engage, and connect brands to culture. GERTRUDE has produced work for AB InBev, Adidas, CAT Footwear, DIAGEO, The Hershey Company, HP, Mars Wrigley, McDonald's, Microsoft, Near East, Ocean Spray, PepsiCo, Quaker, Red Bull, Rice-A-Roni, Singha Beer, Smoothie King, and Virgin. GERTRUDE operates along with divisions OZ MFG. COMPANY (Design + Digital), RAYE (Experiential + Architecture), and GERTRUDE's HQ building THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN (Content Factory).

www.gertrude.agency

ABOUT SMOOTHIE KING

Smoothie King Franchises, Inc., the original U.S. smoothie franchise, is a privately-held, Dallas-based franchise company with over 1,300 locations worldwide. Founded in 1973, Smoothie King has evolved into a lifestyle brand inspiring people to live healthy and active lifestyles via nutritious, great-tasting smoothies. The franchise earned No. 13 overall on Entrepreneur's prestigious Franchise 500 list in 2022 and ranked as one of the Fastest Growing Franchises. The company also debuted on the "Inc. 5000" list in 2018 and ranked as one of Franchise Business Review's Top Franchises of 2022.

www.smoothieking.com

AGENCY CONTACT:

Otis D. Gibson

Founder, Chief Creative Officer

312.266.4401

[email protected]

SOURCE GERTRUDE INC.
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 8; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 674

Companies: 41 - Players covered include Arlanxeo; BASF; Covestro; Daikin; DOW; DSM; Dupont; Exxonmobil; JSR Corporation; Kraiburg TEP GmbH & Co. Kg and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Type (Thermoset Elastomer, Thermoplastic Elastomer); Application (Tire, Non-Tire)

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 Automotive Elastomers Market to Reach $68.7 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Automotive Elastomers estimated at US$51.8 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$68.7 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% over the analysis period. Thermoset Elastomer, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 5.1% CAGR and reach US$42.7 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 Thermoplastic Elastomer segment is readjusted to a revised 4.5% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $14.4 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $14.1 Billion by 2026

The Automotive Elastomers market in the U.S. is estimated at US$14.4 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$14.1 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 7.8% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 2.7% and 3.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.4% CAGR. 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

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Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Fiber Optic Cable Market (2022-2027) by Fiber Type, Cable Type, Application, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Fiber Optic Cable Market is estimated to be USD 6.74 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 10.57 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.41%.



Market Dynamics

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Fiber Optic Cable Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are AFL Communications, Amphenol, ART Photonics, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, Coherent, Collins Aerospace, Commscope, Corning, Fiberoptics Technology, Nestor Cables, Nexans, Optical Cable, Radiall, Sumitomo Electric Industries, TE Connectivity, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Fiber Optic Cable Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.

The report analyses the Global Fiber Optic Cable Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.

Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Fiber Optic Cable Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Increasing Demand for The Internet

4.1.2 Rising Demand in Fiber to the X (FTTx)

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Higher Initial Installation Cost

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Advancement Technology in Fiber Optic Communication

4.3.2 Growing Telecommunication Industry in the Middle East & Africa

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Complex Installation Process and Surging Demand for Wireless Solutions



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Fiber Optic Cable Market, By Fiber Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Glass Optical Fiber

6.3 Plastic Optical Fiber



7 Global Fiber Optic Cable Market, By Cable Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Multi-Mode

7.3 Single-Mode



8 Global Fiber Optic Cable Market, By Application

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Communication

8.2.1 Telecom

8.2.2 Home Premises

8.2.3 Cable Antenna Television (CATV)

8.2.4 Industrial

8.2.5 Military

8.3 Non Communication

8.3.1 Telecom

8.3.2 Fiber Optic Lighting



9 Americas' Fiber Optic Cable Market

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Argentina

9.3 Brazil

9.4 Canada

9.5 Chile

9.6 Colombia

9.7 Mexico

9.8 Peru

9.9 United States

9.10 Rest of Americas



10 Europe's Fiber Optic Cable Market

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Austria

10.3 Belgium

10.4 Denmark

10.5 Finland

10.6 France

10.7 Germany

10.8 Italy

10.9 Netherlands

10.10 Norway

10.11 Poland

10.12 Russia

10.13 Spain

10.14 Sweden

10.15 Switzerland

10.16 United Kingdom

10.17 Rest of Europe



11 Middle East and Africa's Fiber Optic Cable Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Egypt

11.3 Israel

11.4 Qatar

11.5 Saudi Arabia

11.6 South Africa

11.7 United Arab Emirates

11.8 Rest of MEA



12 APAC's Fiber Optic Cable Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Australia

12.3 Bangladesh

12.4 China

12.5 India

12.6 Indonesia

12.7 Japan

12.8 Malaysia

12.9 Philippines

12.10 Singapore

12.11 South Korea

12.12 Sri Lanka

12.13 Thailand

12.14 Taiwan

12.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Competitive Quadrant

13.2 Market Share Analysis

13.3 Strategic Initiatives

13.3.1 M&A and Investments

13.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

13.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



14 Company Profiles

14.1 AFL Communications

14.2 Amphenol

14.3 ART Photonics

14.4 Carlisle Interconnect Technologies

14.5 Coherent

14.6 Collins Aerospace

14.7 Commscope

14.8 Corning

14.9 Fiberoptics Technology

14.10 Finolex Cables

14.11 Fujikura

14.12 Furukawa Electric

14.13 General Cable Technologies

14.14 Hengtong

14.15 Hitachi Cable America

14.16 II-VI

14.17 Leoni

14.18 LS Cable & System

14.19 Nestor Cables

14.20 Nexans

14.21 Optical Cable

14.22 Radiall

14.23 Sumitomo Electric Industries

14.24 TE Connectivity

14.25 W L Gore & Associates

14.26 Yangtze Optical Fiber And Cable (YOFC)



15 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1hyskt

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SOURCE Research and Markets
LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Infrastructure Partners ("GIP"), a leading independent global infrastructure investor, is pleased to announce it has reached an agreement, alongside our partner the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ("ADIA"), to acquire a 72.55% equity interest in VTG Aktiengesellschaft ("VTG"), the leading European railcar lessor, from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Joachim Herz Stiftung.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, VTG is a leading international wagon hire and rail logistics company whose more than 88,500 railcars comprise the largest privately owned fleet in Europe. VTG's diversified fleet and pan-European operations allow it to offer services to a wide range of customers across the industrial, logistics and railway undertaking sectors. The VTG platform provides a differentiated offering to its customers through ancillary capabilities, including rail logistics and repair and maintenance.

Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman and CEO of GIP said: "We are excited by this investment and the opportunity to leverage GIP's deep industry expertise in the rail sector to build on a market-leading European transport infrastructure platform. This acquisition is aligned with GIP's energy transition and decarbonisation strategy given significant government support for the European rail sector as one of the most cost-effective tools for delivering on net zero emissions targets. We look forward to partnering with ADIA to develop this unique platform."

Khadem AlRemeithi, Executive Director of the Infrastructure Department at ADIA, said: "The growth of Europe's rail freight market is backed by a modal shift to rail as a key enabler of the decarbonisation of supply chains. This investment in VTG aligns with our continued focus on pursuing infrastructure opportunities backed by strong energy transition-related tailwinds. For this transaction we have worked hand-in-hand with GIP, a long-standing partner, to invest in a market leading business with an established track record."

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory closing conditions.

About Global Infrastructure Partners



GIP is a leading independent infrastructure fund manager that makes equity and debt investments in infrastructure assets and businesses. GIP targets investments in the energy, transport, digital infrastructure, and water/waste sectors in both OECD and select emerging market countries. Headquartered in New York, GIP operates out of 10 offices: New York, London, Stamford (Connecticut), Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and Hong Kong. GIP manages c. US $84 billion for its investors. GIP's portfolio companies have combined annual revenues of c. US $68 billion and employ c. 104,000 people. For more information, visit www.global-infra.com.

About ADIA

Established in 1976, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ("ADIA") is a globally-diversified investment institution that prudently invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi through a strategy focused on long-term value creation. For more information: https://www.adia.ae.

SOURCE Global Infrastructure Partners
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Organ-on-a-Chip: Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The scope of this report covers various types of products available in the organ-on-a-chip market and potential application sectors in various industries. The organ-on-a-chip market is broken down into various segments.

An organ-on-a-chip is a type of artificial organ that possesses the capability to simulate activities, mechanics and physiological responses similar to that of an organ system. These are multi-channel 3D microfluidic cell culture chips that are primarily being used in life science and drug development research because of their ability to imitate human microenvironments in vitro.

The unique characteristics of organ-on-a-chip are worked out by integrating biology and advanced engineering. Cell biology, microfluidics and microfabrication are the core fields that have paved the way towards the development of organ-on-a-chip technology.



Organ-on-a-chip is considered to be a potential game-changing technology and is serving as a testing alternative that is replacing the use of animals in life science research, toxicology testing and drug development studies around the globe. Countries are focusing on this upcoming technology to produce safer and effective drugs.

It has been observed that pharmaceutical R&D expenses create a lot of burden on the healthcare industry because the drug discovery process requires huge investment but has a low success rate. Studies have indicated that using organ-on-a-chips for drug discovery and development studies will help to reduce the cost by 26% because many ineffective and toxic drugs can be eliminated at the preclinical stage before they enter human trials.

Also, rising demand for personalized medicines is also a contributing factor to growth in the organ-on-a-chip market. There are many diseases that still do not have any approved therapies for cures and depend only on symptomatic management, e.g., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cirrhosis, etc.

Therefore, organ-on-a-chip will be beneficial for such indications. More research and the increasing prevalence of cancer as well as neurogenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other rare indications will also be contributing factors for the market.



The North American region has the highest share of the organ-on-a-chip market, followed by Europe. This is because of the extensive research and developmental activities taking place in the region as well as the presence of major players, funding and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. All these factors contribute to growth in the organ-on-a-chip market.



It has been observed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the organ-on-a-chip market. This is because, due to the pandemic, many institutions across the world began research projects aimed at gaining an understanding of disease pathology and developing treatment options for coronavirus.

Finally, it has also been observed that companies are now moving from single organ on a chip to multiple organ on a chip to gain a better understanding of the toxicological impact of a drug.

Revenue forecasts from 2019 to 2026 are given for each type, application, offering and end user.The application segment is characterized by various types, including drug discovery and development, toxicological research, and physiological model development, and by end-use industry, including academic and research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, cosmetics industry and other end users. By type market is segmented to liver, lung, kidney, heart and others. The report also focuses on regional segmentation of the market.

Further, it explains the major drivers and regional dynamics of the global market and current trends within the industry. It also includes information about the industry structure and competitive landscape as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the market. The report includes detailed profiles of the major players in the global organ-on-a-chip market.



Report Includes

Analyses of the global market trends, with data from 2019 to 2021, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2026

Information on multi-channel 3-D microfluidic cell culture chip, and discussion of their ability to imitate human microenvironment in vitro

Evaluation and forecast the global organ-on-a-chip market size, and corresponding market share analysis by technology offering, organ type, application, end-user vertical and region

Discussion on how organ-on-a-chip is emerging as a priority testing alternative which is replacing animals in life science research, toxicology testing and drug development studies

Review of potential applications in pharmaceutical and life science research sectors, including preclinical drugs testing, drug screening, personalized medicine, phenotypic screening, lead optimization and disease modelling

Insights into the recent industry structure including the government programs and policies in support of organ-on-a-chip and coverage of revised laws involving animal testing

Review of patent grants for innovations in organ-on-a-chip technology across each major category

Descriptive company profiles of the leading global players, including 4Dcell, BiomimX, Emulate Inc., Kirkstall Ltd., Nortis and TissUse GmbH

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights



Chapter 3 Market and Technology Background

Introduction

Developments in Drug Discovery

1950-1970

1970-1990

1990-2010

2010 to the Present

Market Potential

Strategic Initiatives

Regulatory Framework

U.S.

European Union

China

Japan

Chapter 4 Market Dynamics

Factors Affecting the Organ-On-A-Chip Market

Market Drivers

Increasing Incidence of Chronic Diseases

Rising Demand for a Way to Enhance the Effectiveness of Clinical Trials

Increasing Investments for Drug Research and Development

Increasing Demand for Personalized Medicine

Market Restraints

Lack of Standardization

Chapter 5 Impact of Covid-19

Introduction

Outbreak Origins

Symptoms of Covid-19

Progression of Covid-19

Incubation Period

Epidemiology

Collaboration Between Organizations and Governments

Spread of Disease

Impact of Covid-19 on the Organ-On-A-Chip Market

Chapter 6 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Type

Liver

Liver-On-A-Chip Classifications Depending on Their Principal Actions

Heart

Kidney

Lung

Other Organs

Chapter 7 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by End-user

Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies

Cosmetics Industry

Academic and Research Institutes

Increasing R&D Spending

Other End-users

Chapter 8 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Offering

Products

Services

Chapter 9 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Application

Drug Discovery and Development

Toxicological Research

Physiological Model Development

Chapter 10 Global Organ-On-A-Chip Market by Region

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

U.K.

France

Germany

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

Australia

Rest of the World

Chapter 11 Industry Structure

Raw Material Suppliers

Quality and Technology

Terms and Conditions

Cost-Effective Components

Manufacturers

Distributors

End-users of Consumables

Competitive Analysis

Patent Landscape

Patent Review by Year

Patent Review by Country

Chapter 12 Company Profiles

4Dcell

Axosim

Beonchip

Biomimx

Bioivt

Cherry Biotech

Cn Bio

Elveflow

Emulate Inc.

Fluigent

Hesperos Inc.

Hurel Corp.

Insphero

Kirkstall

Mesobio Tech

Micronit

Mimetas

Nortis

Synvivo

Tara Biosystems Inc.

Tissuse Gmbh

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3kaps9

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Market: Analysis By Product Type, By Route of Administration, By End User, By Region Size and Trends with Impact of COVID-19 and forecast up to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

In 2021, the global systemic lupus erythematosus market was valued at US$1.89 billion. The market is projected to reach US$2.71 billion by 2026. The systemic lupus erythematosus market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.49% over the forecasted years 2022-2026.



SLE is a very undertreated disease with limited effective therapeutic options globally. The only available biologic therapy approved in this indication globally are GSK's Benlysta (approved by US FDA 2011 and China's NMPA in 2019), Astra Zeneca's Saphnelo (approved by the FDA in August 2021) and RemeGen's telitacicept (approved by China's NMPA in 2021). However, with significant unmet medical need, the market would grow in the years to come.





Market Segmentation Analysis:

By Product Type: The report identifies six segments on the basis of Product Type: Biologics, NSAIDs, Antimalarial Drugs, Corticosteroids, Immunosuppressants and Others. In 2021, the biologics segment lead the market accounted for 33.7% share of the market.

By Route of Aministration: The report includes bifurcation of the market into three segments on the basis of route of aministration: Oral, Intravenous and Subcutaneous.

By End User: The report includes bifurcation of the market into three segments on the basis end user: Hospitals, Drug Lab and Others.

Market Dynamics:

Growth Drivers: The market has been growing over the past few years, due to factors such as increasing healthcare expenditure, increasing female population, rapid urbanization, favorable Government initiatives, rising prevalence of SLE disease, etc. Several initiatives are taken by various organizations and government to aware people about SLE. With government support, various research institutes are providing drugs and therapies to the SLE patients. Several new drugs are under trial which are funded by government. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US is regularly releasing SLE disease statistics and warning citizens about the severe consequences of the disease, especially in women population.

Challenges: However, the market has been confronted with some challenges specifically, stringent regulatory environment, high cost of drug development, etc. Stringent regulatory environment is one of the major challenges to the systemic lupus erythematosus market. Traditionally, all vaccinations, medical gadgets, and helpful medications developed to treat certain diseases have undergone extensive testing in clinical trials to ensure their safety and feasibility in treating the disease. These trials are very time consuming and rules and regulations associated with it are very stringent. Due to this reason, research organizations or pharmaceutical companies have to experience slow progress towards regulatory approvals. The strict regulations would restrain the growth of the market.

Trends: The market is projected to grow at a fast pace during the forecast period, due to various latest trends such as rising clinical trials, adoption of stem cell therapy, rising awareness among people, etc. For the treatment of Lupus, stem cell therapy may be one of the most promising new dimensions of medicine, especially for those who do not respond well to more traditional kinds of treatment. Adoption of Stem cell therapy is increasing because this is a new and advance technique to treat lupus and that would boost the SLE market growth.

Key Players:

Hoffmann-LA-Roche Ltd.

Pfizer, Inc.

Abbvie, Inc.

Novartis AG

AstraZeneca Plc

GlaxoSmithKline Plc

Merck & Co., Inc.

UCB SA

RemeGen Co., Ltd.

Amgen Inc.

Biotest AG

Xencor, Inc.

Sanofi

Boston Pharmaceuticals

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Introduction

2.1 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): An Overview

2.2 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Segmentation: An Overview



3. Global Market Analysis



4. Regional Market Analysis



5. Impact of COVID-19



6. Market Dynamics

6.1 Growth Drivers

6.1.1 Increasing Healthcare Expenditure

6.1.2 Increasing Female Population

6.1.3 Rapid Urbanization

6.1.4 Favorable Government Initiatives

6.1.5 Rising Prevalence of SLE Disease

6.2 Challenges

6.2.1 Stringent Regulatory Environment

6.2.2 High Cost of Drug Development

6.3 Trends

6.3.1 Rising Clinical Trials

6.3.2 Adoption of Stem Cell Therapy

6.3.3 Rising Awareness Among People



7. Competitive Landscape

7.1 The US and China Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Market Players by Marketed Biologics for SLE Treatment

7.2 The US and China Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Market players by Pipeline Biologics for SLE Treatment

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tzrypv

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Golden Road Arts to Offer Free Art Lessons for Elementary & Middle Schoolers in Hillsboro Parks

HILLSBORO, Ore., June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Golden Road Arts, an Oregon-based nonprofit, is teaching free art lessons this summer for elementary and middle school children in 16 of the Hillsboro public parks.

Both Golden Road Arts and the Hillsboro Public Library are pleased to present this free Art in the Park series to the community once again. This is the second year Golden Road Arts will provide free art lessons for school-aged children.

Golden Road Arts to Offer Free Art Lessons for Elementary & Middle Schoolers in Hillsboro Parks

"It's a proven fact that children who are exposed to arts education do better in all their core classes," said Barbara Mason, founder of Golden Road Arts. "We want to expose these young children to art to enrich their lives and education."

The Hillsboro Public Library has presented Library on the Loose during the past few summers. By incorporating art, they are providing children with yet another creative outlet to grow.

Rocio Espinoza-Cotero, Library Outreach Coordinator with the Hillsboro Public Library, said, "we are excited to have Golden Road Arts present this program for us again this summer. The parents and children alike thoroughly enjoyed the free art lessons last summer. The parents shared with us how attending these events kept their children engaged during the summer  and inspired their creativity to continue throughout the year."

The children participating in this program will hear a story read in Spanish by Rocio Espinoza-Cotero, with Barbara Mason reading the story in English. Afterwards, students will participate in art projects designed to accompany the specially chosen library books. The kids who attend are given age-appropriate books in a take-home kit, along with a free coloring book created by Golden Road Arts.

In the months of July and August, Golden Road Arts will visit 16 total parks in Hillsboro every Tuesday and Thursday. The very first event will start at 11:30 a.m. on July 5 at McKinney Park. This summer's Art in the Park events, book selection and art projects celebrate the outdoors, nature and diversity.

The Tuesday events will correspond with free lunches distributed at the park for eligible school district families. To ensure all children can participate, the Tuesday events will be held during the day from 11:30 a.m.  1 p.m., while Thursday events will be held in the evening from 6 p.m.  7:30 p.m.

For park locations, dates and times  along with examples of each art project  please visit GoldenRoadArts.org. To learn more, or for press inquiries please contact Amy Stoner at (971) 335-9424, or email [email protected]

About Golden Road Arts

Golden Road Arts, the Oregon-based nonprofit 501(c)(3), was founded in 2019 by award-winning Printmaker and Arts Educator Barbara Mason to ensure elementary and middle school children have access to free art instruction and literacy lessons.

Golden Road Arts has a large online library of free art lessons available on its website. Its online art gallery generates sales to help fund the nonprofit. With the support of sponsors, donors, local partners and Northwest artists, Golden Road Arts is a resource for parents, teachers and children in Oregon and around the United States. Visit GoldenRoadArts.org to learn more.

Press Contact

David Leonnig

541-912-4159

https://www.goldenroadarts.org/

SOURCE Golden Road Arts


TSX: GPR | NYSE American: GPL

A strategic transaction that is the next step towards becoming a gold company focused on maximizing potential of the Tucano Gold Mine and pursuing further growth in Brazil

This news release constitutes a "designated news release" for the purposes of the Company's prospectus supplement dated October 15, 2021, to its short form base shelf prospectus dated September 10, 2021.

VANCOUVER, BC, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Great Panther Mining Limited (TSX: GPR) (NYSE-A: GPL) ("Great Panther" or the "Company"), a growth-oriented precious metals producer focused on the Americas, announces that it has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") with Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd. ("GSilver") to sell 100% of the Company's Mexican subsidiary Minera Mexicana El Rosario S.A. de C.V. ("MMR"), which holds the Guanajuato Mine Complex (the "GMC"), the Topia mine, and the El Horcon and Santa Rosa projects, all located in Mexico.

"This is a strategic transaction that places the GMC and Topia mines in the hands of an operator who is well positioned to unlock additional value from the assets and maintain a strong commitment to employees and local stakeholders," stated Alan Hair, Chair and Interim CEO. "Furthermore, GSilver's processing and tailings facilities in the district provide the platform for a near-term re-start of operations at the GMC.

"The sale of the Company's silver mines in Mexico will allow us to focus on maximizing the full potential of the Tucano Gold Mine in Brazil and complete the pivot to gold started by the Company in 2019. Our capital allocation priorities are focused on Tucano as this is where we see the greatest value creation potential for our stakeholders. We expect Tucano to return to steady-state production in the second half of the year and intend to continue investing into unlocking value both from the underground as well as the regional potential of the district. Our long-term objective is to grow further in Brazil. Divesting the Mexican silver assets best positions the Company to achieve these goals."

Under the terms of the Agreement, GSilver will purchase MMR for a total upfront consideration of US$14,700,000 million plus up to US$2 million in additional payments, payable as follows:

US$8,000,000 cash payable on closing

cash payable on closing A total of 25,787,200 common shares of GSilver valued at approximately US$6,700,000 based on current trading prices

based on current trading prices US$500,000 upon producing 2.5 million ounces of silver from the GMC and Topia

upon producing 2.5 million ounces of silver from the GMC and US$750,000 upon the price of silver closing at or above US$27.50 per ounce over a 30-day period in the two years following the Agreement

upon the price of silver closing at or above per ounce over a 30-day period in the two years following the Agreement US$750,000 upon the price of silver closing at or above US$30.00 per ounce over a 30-day period in the two years following the Agreement

In conjunction with closing, MMR will repay the balance outstanding of the Samsung lead concentrate prepayment facility, and accordingly Samsung will release the pledge of MMR shares associated with this facility. Great Panther has engaged GenCap Mining Advisory Ltd. as its sole financial advisor and McCarthy Tetrault LLP and RB Mexico Law-Abogados as its legal advisors in connection with the Agreement. Closing of the Agreement, expected in the third quarter of 2022, is subject to satisfaction of certain conditions including receipt of all requisite third-party and regulatory approvals.

ABOUT GREAT PANTHER

Great Panther is a growth-oriented precious metals producer focused on the Americas. The Company owns a portfolio of assets in Brazil, Mexico and Peru that includes three gold and silver mines, an advanced development project and a large land package with district-scale potential. Great Panther is focused on creating long-term stakeholder value through safe and sustainable production, reinvesting into exploration and pursuing acquisition opportunities to complement its existing portfolio. Great Panther trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange trading under the symbol GPR and on the NYSE American under the symbol GPL.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

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 Canadian securities laws (together, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding (i) the Company's ability to maximize the full potential of the Tucano Gold Mine in Brazil, (ii) GSilver's ability to maximize the potential of the GMC and Topia mine and to re-start operations at the GMC in the near-term, (iii) the consummation and timing of the Agreement, (iv) the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the Agreement (v) the strategic vision for the Company and expectations regarding exploration potential, production capabilities and future financial or operating performance once the Agreement closes, (vi) the success of future mine and operational planning and the Company's ability to unlock the underground and regional potential at Tucano, and (vii) the Company's ability to grow as a result of exploration or from accretive acquisition opportunities in South America.

These forward-looking statements and information reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic and regulatory risks and uncertainties, including risks described in respect of Great Panther in its most recent annual information form and management's discussion and analysis filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com and its most recent annual report on Form 40-F and management's discussion and analysis on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov .

There is no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove accurate or that actual results will not vary materially from these forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described, or intended. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements and information are designed to help readers understand management's current views of our near- and longer-term prospects and may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not intend, nor does it assume any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, changes in assumptions, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law.

SOURCE Great Panther Mining Limited
PHOENIX, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Planet Group (OTC PINK: GNPG) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Healing the Earth (HTE) has sold its second high-speed growing system to HG Livestock, LLC and it will be dedicated to growing barley fodder for beef cattle. The farm is located in Peyton, Colorado and the system will be installed into an existing farm building. The growing system is valued at $90,000 and will feed 12 animals, and its goal is to validate that this technology will work in higher elevations.

The Colorado beef industry is the State's largest agricultural segment and its beef sales total approximately $4.0 billion. The industry has 15,000 active producers, 2.85 million head, and creates 170,000 jobs. The National Drought Mitigation Center shows widespread and abnormally dry condition throughout Colorado and 2022 is the driest year to date over the last 128 years.

Mr. Steve Hammers, the President/CEO stated, "Only by using the latest food growing technology can the beef industry survive in Colorado, and I selected the Healing the Earth system because it provides daily organic, highly nutritious barley fodder using just 3% of the water as field produced crops, at a very competitive cost".

Steve continued "This system is so revolutionary that before I commit to feed hundreds of beef cattle, I want to validate its overall performance with a small herd. Then I will invite my friends and all other beef producers to visit my farm and see for themselves the value of this technology and how it can positively impact the beef business in Colorado".

This growing system was introduced by Dave Bjorklund, a partner of Pavise, LLC and it represents the first sale from HTE's independent sales and marketing company. Theo Chalgren, CEO and Managing Partner of Pavise, stated, "The world today faces a great challenge as it contemplates feeding its global population. Scarcity of water, supply chain issues and the skyrocketing prices of chemical fertilizers, threaten the very existence of many people on this planet. Beef cattle, fed by this nutritious, organic barley can provide the necessary protein for multiple global communities and we are grateful that Steve has the vision to embrace this disruptive and life-giving technology".

Dr. Pat Choate, President/CEO of HTE stated " This installation demonstrates that our organic growing system can be scaled from very small to very large operations and will still deliver the animal health benefits, improve growth rates, reduce veterinarian expenses, and a higher price when auctioned".

For additional information see: www.healingtheearth.net

About Green Planet Group, Inc.

The Company is comprised of four wholly owned subsidiaries: two operating companies and two development stage companies. The Company's Healing the Earth subsidiary has developed a new Fast Track growing system capable of growing vast amounts of fresh, organic food with extremely low water use. XenTx Lubricants produces lubricants and additives for gasoline and diesel engines which reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. AAQIS is developing a hydrogen generator which greatly reduces hydrocarbon emissions while improving fuel efficiency in internal combustion engines. Green Mining Technologies is developing restorative technology for placer mine tailings.

For more information see: www.greenplanetgroup.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements (as defined  Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Green Planet Group, Inc. cautions that the statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements and no guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from projections in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made.

SOURCE Green Planet Group, Inc.
SAN FRANCISCO , June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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: [email protected]

844-916-0895

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) Investigation:

The investigation focuses on Generac's claims that its acquisitions (including its 80% interest in Pramac and acquisition of Off Grid Energy) support the company's "Powering A Smarter World" strategic plan and on the role played by Generac's heavily touted strategic distribution partnership with Sunnova.

The company's 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 Pramac's ballooning receivables, calling it "a hallmark of channel stuffing"; (3) observed Generac's 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 Point's concerns that Generac's distribution partnership with Sunnova may have been structured to enable Generac to round-trip cash flows.

In response to Spruce Point's report, the price of Generac shares sharply declined during intraday trading on June 22, 2022.

"We're 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 firm's 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 [email protected].

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.

Contact:

Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895

SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
Handwriting Without Tears Print and Digital Solution is Proven to be an Effective Program for Handwriting Fluency.

NEW ORLEANS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- At ISTELive 22, Education's leading technology conference underway in New Orleans, early childhood education leader Learning Without Tears today announced that its flagship product, Handwriting Without Tears, achieved ESSA Tier 2-Level evidence in a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University School of Education's Center for Research & Reform in Education. This coveted Tier 2 efficacy rating allows schools across the country to meet requirements for ESSA funding of classroom curriculum.

"With its focus on effective technology in education, ISTE is the right place for us to share this news. It is gratifying to see Handwriting Without Tears print and digital solution meets the Tier 2-level efficacy designation," explained company CEO Terry Nealon. "We know from teachers, families, and students that Handwriting without Tears is a highly effective learning program  and now we have additional hard evidence from the independent and prestigious Johns Hopkins University that studied the effectiveness of our complete curriculum. This is very important for schools across the country, since Tier 2-level evidence can be a requirement for ESSA funding."

"Schools are looking for evidenced-based research," said Deborah King, Director of Research at Learning Without Tears. "Teachers want to know what works best, when it comes to the effectiveness of classroom curriculum and instruction. The conclusion of the research by Johns Hopkins University makes it clear that students using Handwriting Without Tears will be successful writers and build a strong foundation for literacy success in the future. The rigor used in this study, backed by Johns Hopkins University's reputation and independence, means that educators can respect the results and should see similar success when they bring Handwriting Without Tears into their own classrooms. This isn't guesswork; this is hard data of a highly positive outcome."

ESSA  The Every Student Succeeds Act - is a US law passed in December 2015 that governs the United States K12 public education policy. The law replaced its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, and modified provisions relating to the tests given to students and the required effectiveness of classroom materials. With this Tier 2-level designation, Handwriting Without Tears is now eligible for ESSA funding.

"Teachers are having to make up for lost in-class time," CEO Nealon continued. "Knowing which curriculum has been proven to work by independent researchers is a critical step in bringing effective learning products to the greatest number of students. With its Tier 2-level evidence rating, Handwriting Without Tears meets the rigorous efficacy requirements for schools to access ESSA funding sources. Teachers can have strong confidence that Handwriting Without Tears will help their students master handwriting, a crucial skill for literacy success."

Handwriting Without Tears is the flagship product of Learning Without Tears.

About Learning Without Tears

Learning Without Tears is a leading early education company offering a proven and unique approach to teaching and learning, from crucial readiness skills in Pre-K to foundational writing and typing skills, including handwriting, keyboarding and cursive. The elementary school-level programs benefit all learners with multisensory, developmentally appropriate, proven practices, and are used by millions of students around the world. Learning Without Tears professional development programs deliver early education expertise to thousands of teachers, tutors, and occupational therapists in the US and across the globe.

About The Research

Details from the research will be released in the coming days, but Johns Hopkins University School of Education's Center for Research & Reform in Education provided the following abstract to explain its findings:

In a study consisting of 804 grades K-2 students across 10 elementary schools in two districts, students who used Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) significantly outscored comparison students, who did not use HWT, on the Screener of Handwriting Proficiency. Subgroup analyses revealed that positive HWT impacts were found for Grade 1 students and students with reported IEPs. In addition, teacher perceptions of the HWT program were positive, with more than 80% of teachers agreeing they would like to use the program again next year.

SOURCE Learning Without Tears
Vendor Insights

The global Herpes Treatment Market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

The growing competition in the market is compelling vendors to adopt various growth strategies such as promotional activities and spending on advertisements to improve the visibility of their services. Some vendors are also adopting inorganic growth strategies such as M&As to remain competitive in the market.

The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including:

Bausch Health Companies Inc.

Cipla Inc.

Eli Lilly and Co.

Gilead Sciences Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc

Maruho Co. Ltd.

Merck and Co. Inc.

Novartis AG

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Viatris Inc.

Find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by vendors and their product offerings, Get Sample Report .

Geographical Market Analysis

North America will account for 41% of market growth. In North America, the US is the primary market for herpes medications. The market in this region will expand more slowly than the market in Asia. Over the course of the projection period, the presence of a sizable patient base will support the expansion of the herpes treatment market in North America.

Furthermore, countries such as the US, Japan, Germany, France, and the UK are expected to emerge as prominent markets for Herpes Treatment Market during the forecast period.

Know more about this market's geographical distribution along with a detailed analysis of the top regions. Buy the Sample Report Now!

Key Segment Analysis

The herpes zoster segment's market share growth for herpes treatments will be high. The herpes zoster market is anticipated to increase at a faster rate than average during the projected period due to the rising prevalence of the disease and anticipated therapeutic launches for its treatment. Herpes zoster instances are on the rise for a variety of reasons, including an increase in the elderly population and the number of immunocompromised individuals.

View Sample: to know additional highlights and key points on various market segments and their impact in coming years.

Parent Market Analysis

Technavio categorizes the global herpes treatment market as part of the global pharmaceuticals market within the global health care market. The end-to-end understanding of the value chain 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 global pharmaceuticals market includes the following core components:

Inputs

Inbound logistics

Operations

Outbound logistics

Marketing and sales

Service

Support activities

Innovation

Click Here for Sample Report for highlights on Parent Market Analysis and Value Chain Analysis affecting the Herpes Treatment Market.

Customize Your Report

Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights about this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time.

Do reach out to our analysts for more customized reports as per your requirements. Speak to an Analyst Now!

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Herpes Treatment Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 3.4% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 723.04 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.97 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW Performing market contribution North America at 41% Key consumer countries US, Japan, Germany, France, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Bausch Health Companies Inc., Cipla Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., Gilead Sciences Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Maruho Co. Ltd., Merck and Co. Inc., Novartis AG, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Viatris Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for 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

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 Type

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: Type - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Type

5.3 Herpes zoster - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Herpes zoster - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 18: Herpes zoster - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Herpes simplex - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: Herpes simplex - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 20: Herpes simplex - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 COVID-19 impact and recovery for the segment

5.6 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 21: Market opportunity by Type

6 Customer landscape

6.1 Customer landscape

Exhibit 22: 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 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 25: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 26: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 27: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 28: Objectives of European Patients' Forum



Exhibit 29: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.5 Asia - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 30: Asia - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 31: Asia - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.6 ROW - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 32: ROW - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: ROW - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

7.7 Key leading countries

Exhibit 34: Key leading countries

7.8 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 35: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 36: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Competitive scenario

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 37: Vendor landscape

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 38: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 39: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 40: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 41: Market positioning of vendors

10.3 Bausch Health Companies Inc.

10.4 Cipla Inc.

Exhibit 47: Cipla Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 48: Cipla Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 49: Cipla Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 50: Cipla Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 51: Cipla Inc. - Segment focus

10.5 Eli Lilly and Co.

Exhibit 52: Eli Lilly and Co. - Overview



Exhibit 53: Eli Lilly and Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 54: Eli Lilly and Co. - Key news



Exhibit 55: Eli Lilly and Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 56: Eli Lilly and Co. - Segment focus

10.6 Gilead Sciences Inc.

Exhibit 57: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 58: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 59: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 60: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Key offerings

10.7 GlaxoSmithKline Plc

Exhibit 61: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Overview



Exhibit 62: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 63: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Key news



Exhibit 64: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 65: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Segment focus

10.8 Maruho Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 66: Maruho Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 67: Maruho Co. Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 68: Maruho Co. Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 69: Maruho Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

10.9 Merck and Co. Inc.

Exhibit 70: Merck and Co. Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 71: Merck and Co. Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 72: Merck and Co. Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 73: Merck and Co. Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 74: Merck and Co. Inc. - Segment focus

10.10 Novartis AG

Exhibit 75: Novartis AG - Overview



Exhibit 76: Novartis AG - Business segments



Exhibit 77: Novartis AG - Key news



Exhibit 78: Novartis AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 79: Novartis AG - Segment focus

10.11 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Exhibit 80: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 81: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 82: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 83: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 84: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - Segment focus

10.12 Viatris Inc.

Exhibit 85: Viatris Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 86: Viatris Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 87: Viatris Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 88: Viatris Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 89: Viatris Inc. - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 90: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 91: Research Methodology



Exhibit 92: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 93: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 94: 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
To learn about additional highlights related to the market, Download a Sample Report

High-performance Electric Motorcycle Market: Segmentation Analysis

Segmentation by Service:

Based on service, the street segment will lead the market growth during the forecast period.

segment will lead the market growth during the forecast period. On-road high-performance electric motorcycles that are street legal are considered under this segment.

The presence of several street-legal, high-performance electric motorcycles across the different regions will drive the growth of the street segment.

Segmentation by Geography:

Europe will account for 43% of the market's growth during the forecast period.

will account for 43% of the market's growth during the forecast period. The declining prices of Li-ion batteries will drive the high-performance electric motorcycle market growth in Europe during the forecast period.

during the forecast period. Germany , France , and Italy are the key countries for the high-performance electric motorcycle market in Europe .

, , and are the key countries for the high-performance electric motorcycle market in . Market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in regions.

High-performance Electric Motorcycle Market: Major Vendors

The high-performance electric motorcycle market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. The report offers detailed information on the competencies, capacities, and products offered by major vendors, including ARC Vehicle Ltd., Bell Custom Cycles, Curtiss Motorcycle Co., Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd., Harley-Davidson Inc., Lightning Motors Corp., Sarolea Manx Ltd., Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd., TACITA Srl, and Zero Motorcycles Inc. among others. The key offerings of some of the vendors are listed below:

ARC Vehicle Ltd. - The company offers world's most advanced fully electric motorcycle of its kind, partnered with a fully integrated Human Machine Interface (HMI).

The company offers world's most advanced fully electric motorcycle of its kind, partnered with a fully integrated Human Machine Interface (HMI). Bell Custom Cycles - The company offers a full sport bike designed and packaged with a whopping 20kWh battery pack and motors capable of sub-200 hp.

The company offers a full sport bike designed and packaged with a whopping 20kWh battery pack and motors capable of sub-200 hp. Curtiss Motorcycle Co. - The company offers technically advanced bikes with features such as slimming effect, triple load path, power pak, centered power axis, etc.

The company offers technically advanced bikes with features such as slimming effect, triple load path, power pak, centered power axis, etc. Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd. - The company offers an Italian-styled naked sport bike with an upgraded power controller. It has precision braking and a clutchless design with incredible 400cc torque that allows this vehicle to move around with agility.

The company offers an Italian-styled naked sport bike with an upgraded power controller. It has precision braking and a clutchless design with incredible 400cc torque that allows this vehicle to move around with agility. Harley-Davidson Inc. - The company offers a premium, full-featured eBicycle with electric assistance up to 28 mph, designed for more convenient and fun commute.

For more information about the key vendors and their offerings, View our Sample Report Now

Related Reports:

Motorcycle Connected Helmet Market by Application and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

E-bike Drive Market by Motor Type and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

High-Performance Electric Motorcycle Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 27.56% Market growth 2021-2025 23.60 th units Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 14.53 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution Europe at 43% Key consumer countries US, Germany, France, Italy, China, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled ARC Vehicle Ltd., Bell Custom Cycles, Curtiss Motorcycle Co., Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd., Harley-Davidson Inc., Lightning Motors Corp., Sarolea Manx Ltd., Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd., TACITA Srl, and Zero Motorcycles Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for 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: Motorcycle 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 (units)



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 Type

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: Type - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Type

5.3 Street - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Street - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 (units)



Exhibit 18: Street - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Off-road - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: Off-road - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 (units)



Exhibit 20: Off-road - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 21: Market opportunity by Type

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 (units)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 (units)

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 (units)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 (units)

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 (units)



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 (units)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 (units)

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 (units)



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 (units)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 39: Impact of drivers and challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

Exhibit 40: Vendor landscape

9.2 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 41: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 42: Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 43: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 44: Market positioning of vendors

10.3 ARC Vehicle Ltd.

Exhibit 45: ARC Vehicle Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 46: ARC Vehicle Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 47: ARC Vehicle Ltd. - Key offerings

10.4 Bell Custom Cycles

Exhibit 48: Bell Custom Cycles - Overview



Exhibit 49: Bell Custom Cycles - Product and service



Exhibit 50: Bell Custom Cycles - Key offerings

10.5 Curtiss Motorcycle Co.

Exhibit 51: Curtiss Motorcycle Co. - Overview



Exhibit 52: Curtiss Motorcycle Co. - Product and service



Exhibit 53: Curtiss Motorcycle Co. - Key offerings

10.6 Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd.

Exhibit 54: Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 55: Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 56: Evoke Electric Motorcycles (HK) Ltd. - Key offerings

10.7 Harley-Davidson Inc.

Exhibit 57: Harley-Davidson Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 58: Harley-Davidson Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 59: Harley-Davidson Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 60: Harley-Davidson Inc. - Segment focus

10.8 Lightning Motors Corp.

10.9 Sarolea Manx Ltd.

Exhibit 64: Sarolea Manx Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 65: Sarolea Manx Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 66: Sarolea Manx Ltd. - Key offerings

10.10 Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 67: Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 68: Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd. - Product and service



Exhibit 69: Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 70: Songguo New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

10.11 TACITA Srl

Exhibit 71: TACITA Srl - Overview



Exhibit 72: TACITA Srl - Product and service



Exhibit 73: TACITA Srl - Key offerings

10.12 Zero Motorcycles Inc.

Exhibit 74: Zero Motorcycles Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 75: Zero Motorcycles Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 76: Zero Motorcycles Inc. - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 77: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 78: Research Methodology



Exhibit 79: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 80: Information sources

11.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 81: List of abbreviation

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

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
Wei Bangdeng, director of Xingzhou, said it took nearly 4 months for his team to design and produce the two NFTs. One, developed for Father's Day, features a representation of a Chinese father; and the other features artwork designed by the renowned inheritor of Chinese cultural heritage, Bailu Xiazi, depicting artificial intelligence (AI) developers who gathered at the iFLYTEK 1024 Global Developer Festival in the style of traditional papercutting.

Statistics show that the value of the Chinese digital collection market is estimated to grow to between 50 and 80 billion yuan within three years. iFLYTEK is positioned to play a pivotal role in standardizing practices, curbing market speculation, and cultivating creators in the industry through its AI technologies and open platform service.

The Xingzhou platform will play a supportive role in managing and creating virtual figures for iFLYTEK as part of the company's Super Brain 2030 Plan. The plan consists of a three-phase strategic initiative that will advance the quality and availability of personal robotics and artificial intelligence solutions to assist families and communities.

According to Wei, "By virtue of iFLYTEK's AI technologies and its large AI developer base, we will integrate internal and external resources to develop and release digital collections to appeal to more collectors and better motivate NFT creators, thereby creating a platform that enjoys healthy development."

About iFLYTEK  iFLYTEK is one of the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) and speech technology companies. For more information, please visit https://www.iflytek.com/en/.

SOURCE iFLYTEK
"Illusive is solving a problem that others cannot by focusing on protecting identity security vulnerabilities, which has galvanized worldwide demand for our solution," said Ofer Israeli, founder and CEO, Illusive. "There is a growing interest in Illusive Spotlight TM as our customers come to appreciate that stopping the menace of ransomware requires eliminating the identity security vulnerabilities related to those attacks."

Illusive's platform is a full lifecycle identity threat detection and response solution. Illusive Spotlight automatically and continuously discovers and mitigates privileged identity risks while Illusive Shadow protects against identity risks that can't be readily remediated. Despite the deployment of privileged account management (PAM), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and other identity and access management (IAM) solutions, research from Illusive reveals that exploitable identity risks are present on 1 in 6 enterprise endpoints.

Strong Product Demand Drives Sales Growth

Carlos Ferro joins Illusive as VP of Sales - EMEA and APAC, to guide and grow Illusive's presence in Europe. Carlos has more than 20 years of experience leading cross-functional teams, establishing operations, and achieving business objectives in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Prior to joining Illusive, Carlos served as VP of Sales at Thycotic, where he set operations in EMEA and APAC. Carlos has also held leadership positions in Symantec, Altiris, and Novell.

Kristen Twining joins Illusive as VP of Sales - Americas, where she will develop, grow, and lead Illusive's presence in North America. Kristen has more than 16 years of demonstrable sales experience. Prior to Illusive, Kristen was VP of Business Development at FireMon, where she achieved double-digit demand and ARR growth. Previously, Kristen served as VP of North America Inside Sales for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

"Kristen and Carlos are both extremely passionate about leadership and are eager to accelerate our growth and to inspire their teams to thrive in this rapidly growing market," said Israeli. "Identity is the number one attack vector, and both Carlos and Kristen are motivated by a true desire to help our customers find and fix their vulnerable identities."

Illusive Enhances its Innovative Solution

Sarit Kozokin joins Illusive as VP of Product Management, where she leads Illusive's product team with a specialization in product strategy, development, operations and launch. Sarit has more than 20 years of technology experience with a focus on software development, SaaS, and cybersecurity. Prior to Illusive, Sarit was Head of Product at Cyberint, Director of Product Strategy at Checkmarx, and Portfolio and Business Operations Manager, Product Management at IBM.

Meny Duek joins Illusive as VP of Research and Development, where he is responsible for driving excellence in technology. Meny has more than a decade of experience managing global organizations and large-scale engineering teams. Prior to Illusive, Meny was VP of Engineering in the Cloud Service division of Salesforce, where he managed a team of 150 engineers.

"Meny and Sarit are the perfect fit for Illusive because they have a proven track record of innovation in product development," said Israeli, "Illusive has a long history of industry accolades for our innovative solutions, but what is really exciting is how many new features and services we will continue to roll out to our customers. Illusive is in the business of discovery, but you haven't seen anything yet!"

Learn More about Illusive Spotlight

About Illusive

lllusive continuously discovers and automatically remediates privileged identity risks that are exploited in all ransomware and other cyberattacks. Despite best-practice investments to protect identities, including deployment of PAM and MFA, 1 in 6 enterprise endpoints holds exploitable identity risks.

Illusive makes it easy for security teams to get visibility into the vulnerable identities sprawled across an organization's endpoints and servers, then eliminate them or deploy deception-based detection techniques as a compensating control to stop attackers. Illusive has participated in over 140 red team exercises and has never lost one!

Founded by nation state attackers, Illusive's technology is trusted by large global financial companies, retailers, services organizations, and pharmaceutical companies.

For more information, visit www.illusive.com, contact us at [email protected] or follow on LinkedIn, @illusivenw on Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contact

Clinton Karr  Illusive

[email protected]

SOURCE Illusive Networks
SHANGHAI, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jun 24th, 2022, autonomous trucking startup Inceptio Technology was approved to test its L4 autonomous trucks without drivers in the driver's seat on public roads in Deqing, Zhejiang.

With this testing permit, Inceptio Technology now can conduct autonomous driving tests in a designated area without a safety driver present in the truck. From now on, Inceptio will enter a broader and higher-level stage of "Driverless" testing which parallel with a commercial scenario.
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global 3D Metrology Market (2022-2027) by Offering, Product Type, Application, End-User Industry, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global 3D Metrology Market is estimated to be USD 13.76 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 23.1 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10.92%.



Market Dynamics

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global 3D Metrology Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.



As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are 3D Systems, Inc., Baker Hughes Company, Bruker, Capture 3D, Carmar Accuracy co., Ltd., Intertek Group, Nikon Corp, Novacam Technologies, Perceptron, Inc., Zeiss group, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global 3D Metrology Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.

The report analyses the Global 3D Metrology Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.

Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global 3D Metrology Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Use of 3D Data for Modeling and Analysis in Various Industries

4.1.2 Increased Research and Development (R&D) Investments in 3D Metrology

4.1.3 Growing Need for Increasing Production Speed by Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Companies

4.1.4 High Focus On Quality Control in Manufacturing Sector

4.1.5 Rising Demand for Big Data Analytics

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Cost Associated With Setting up 3D Metrology Facility

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Growing Adoption of Cloud Computing Services

4.3.2 Rise in Demand for Industry 4.0

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Lack of Simplified Software Solutions

4.4.2 Lack of Expertise to Efficiently Manage 3D Metrology Systems



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global 3D Metrology Market, By Offering

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Hardware

6.3 Software

6.4 Services

6.4.1 After-sales Services

6.4.2 Software-as-a-service

6.4.3 Storage-as-a-service

6.4.4 Measurement Services

7 Global 3D Metrology Market, By Product Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Coordinate Measuring Machine

7.2.1 Bridge CMM

7.2.2 Gantry CMM

7.2.3 Horizontal ARM CMM

7.2.4 Cantilever CMM

7.2.5 Articulated ARMCMM

7.3 Optical Digitizer and Scanner

7.3.1 3D Laser Scanner

7.3.2 Structured Light Scanner

7.3.3 Laser Tracker

7.4 Video Measuring Machine

7.4.1 Vision System

7.4.2 Measuring Microscope

7.4.3 Optical Comparator

7.4.4 Multisensor Measuring System

7.5 3D Automated Optical Inspection System

7.6 Form Measurement Equipment



8 Global 3D Metrology Market, By Application

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Quality Control and Inspection

8.3 Reverse Engineering

8.4 Virtual Simulation



9 Global 3D Metrology Market, By End-User Industry

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Aerospace & Defense

9.3 Automotive

9.4 Architecture & Construction

9.5 Medical

9.6 Semiconductors & Electronics

9.7 Energy & Power

9.8 Mining



10

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Argentina

10.3 Brazil

10.4 Canada

10.5 Chile

10.6 Colombia

10.7 Mexico

10.8 Peru

10.9 United States

10.10 Rest of Americas



11 Europe's 3D Metrology Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Austria

11.3 Belgium

11.4 Denmark

11.5 Finland

11.6 France

11.7 Germany

11.8 Italy

11.9 Netherlands

11.10 Norway

11.11 Poland

11.12 Russia

11.13 Spain

11.14 Sweden

11.15 Switzerland

11.16 United Kingdom

11.17 Rest of Europe



12 Middle East and Africa's 3D Metrology Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Egypt

12.3 Israel

12.4 Qatar

12.5 Saudi Arabia

12.6 South Africa

12.7 United Arab Emirates

12.8 Rest of MEA



13 APAC's 3D Metrology Market

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Australia

13.3 Bangladesh

13.4 China

13.5 India

13.6 Indonesia

13.7 Japan

13.8 Malaysia

13.9 Philippines

13.10 Singapore

13.11 South Korea

13.12 Sri Lanka

13.13 Thailand

13.14 Taiwan

13.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Competitive Quadrant

14.2 Market Share Analysis

14.3 Strategic Initiatives

14.3.1 M&A and Investments

14.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

14.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



15 Company Profiles

15.1 3D Systems, Inc.

15.2 Accuscan

15.3 Applied Materials

15.4 Artec 3D

15.5 Automated Precision, Inc.

15.6 Baker Hughes Company

15.7 Bruker

15.8 Capture 3D

15.9 Carmar Accuracy co., Ltd.

15.10 Chotest Technology Inc.

15.11 Creaform

15.12 Cyberoptics Corp.

15.13 Faro Technologies

15.14 GOM

15.15 Hexagon

15.16 Ikustec

15.17 Innovmetric Software Inc.

15.18 Intertek Group

15.19 Jenoptik

15.20 Keyence Corp

15.21 KLA Corp

15.22 Metrologic Group

15.23 Mitutoyo Corp

15.24 Nikon Corp

15.25 Novacam Technologies

15.26 Perceptron, Inc.

15.27 Polyrix

15.28 Renishaw

15.29 SGS Group

15.30 Shining 3D

15.31 Trimble, Inc.

15.32 Zeiss Group



16 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8cbvgu

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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SOURCE Research and Markets
The application allows insurance providers to quickly perform a customer health check during the online interview process using a web-browser. The NuraLogix technology uses a conventional video camera to extract blood flow information from the face, in a patented process called Transdermal Optical Imaging (TOI), resulting in more than 30+ medical grade health and wellness measurements.

The NuraLogix technology was available for demonstration at the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) show in Las Vegas, Nevada from June 21 to 23.

The benefits of integrating a vital sign monitoring system into the insurance evaluation process are numerous: reduced costs of underwriting a policy, no nurses needed to conduct physical examinations or take fluid samples, improved compliance with the terms of lower-cost standard policies to avoid price increases, and more. This technology has also been shown to create a 'Sentinel Effect,' reducing fraud and improving the accuracy of questionnaire responses.

The Background

Currently in the insurance industry, providers calculate premiums for users, the amount users pay in exchange for coverage. Insurance premiums are based on a wide variety of factors such as age, gender, risk, type of coverage, location, and more. Providers calculate the likelihood the user will need to use the insurance, for example, younger people are less likely to need medical care, so their premiums are generally cheaper. Integrating the NuraLogix technology into the risk evaluation process allows insurers to calculate premiums using accurate health data of the individual and potentially even provide incentives to get healthier.

About AHIP 2022

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is the national association of nearly 1,300 members who provide healthcare insurance to more than 200 million Americans. As a national trade association in the health insurance industry, AHIP lobbies to create a more affordable healthcare system through research and policy. Their conference, AHIP 2022, (Formerly 'Institute & Expo') brings together the people, ideas, and solutions that guide greater health.

About NuraLogix

NuraLogix's technology is based on extensive peer-reviewed research and clinical studies, a fact which differentiates them from their competitors. NuraLogix has conducted multiple clinical studies and published research in many notable publications such as Frontiers in Psychology, Scientific Reports, and the Journal of Natural Sciences (JNS). NuraLogix currently holds 11 patents, with more pending. Their impressive client roster includes Japanese systems integration leader NTT Data; Sanitas, the second largest medical insurance company in Spain; and Lafiya Telehealth, a Nigerian-based health telehealth platform which provides 24/7 virtual healthcare services to residents in remote and rural areas.

To Learn More:

Visit our website:

NuraLogix - https://www.nuralogix.ai/

Disclaimers:

Note: In the United States, this product is for Investigational Use only. The performance characteristics of this product have not been established.

SOURCE NuraLogix Corporation
CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ipsos, a global leader in market and consumer research, has launched the Ipsos Experience Lab: a state-of-the-art User Experience (UX) facility designed to meet any client research need, from focus groups and interviews to device tests and simulations.

The 6,000-square-foot facility, housed on the 11th floor of downtown Chicago's architecturally significant Franklin Center, will assist Ipsos UXa team of researchers, design thinkers, developers, and artistsas they provide valuable insights on human behavior and decision-making.

The space has been structured for ease of collaboration and communication, with both a convenient location and a modular design.

"The lab was built to be a flexible, secure, interactive, and highly collaborative space in an amazingly diverse city," said Peter Mackey, Executive Vice President of User Experience. "When we were designing the lab, we worked directly with some of our clients to learn what would make it the ideal environment for them  not just for research, but as a place where people can be comfortable and think creatively. We really think both our clients and participants will enjoy spending time here."

The Ipsos Experience Lab prioritizes the comfort of clients and participants, with ample seating, lockers, and refreshments. Lab spaces and interview rooms are bright and spacious, but equipped for full functionality, with CCTV streaming and custom environmental lighting.

The centerpiece of the UX lab, a large multipurpose room, was built with extra-wide doors to accommodate oversize equipment and plumbing for appliance testing. It can be subdivided and restructured to simulate a variety of environments, from a smart kitchen to a medical station. The UX lab also offers smaller research rooms for 1-1 interviews, and observation spaces where large monitors can provide a video feed from any other room in the lab.

In our rapidly changing world, a deep understanding of how people experience products, systems, and services is crucial to success. The Ipsos Experience Lab has been built to deliver consistent, quality data on these experiencesand, in turn, to help clients keep their customers, employees, audiences, patients, or citizens at the heart of their design process.

Clients who are interested in reserving lab space or discussing a study can contact [email protected].

SOURCE Ipsos
CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenspoon Marder is pleased to announce partner Irina Dashevsky as co-chair of the firm's Cannabis Law Group. Ms. Dashevsky joined the firm in July 2021 as a founding member of Greenspoon Marder's Chicago office. In partnership with co-chair Nick Richards, they will further position the team for national expansion through continued client development, talent acquisition, and growth in states with evolving medical and adult use cannabis programs.

"Irina has proven to be a natural and motivated leader. She has been instrumental in the firm's Cannabis Law Group growth in the last year, and alongside Nick will continue to expand the national footprint of our practice," says Gerald Greenspoon, co-managing director of Greenspoon Marder. "I'm confident that with Irina's credentials and extensive insight on the complex nature of the cannabis industry, she will find even more success in this role," says Michael Marder, co-managing director of Greenspoon Marder.

From state-level licensing, real estate, regulatory and compliance to litigation and M&A, Ms. Dashevsky's practice includes nearly every aspect of the cannabis industry. She represents a range of cannabis clients, including public multi-state operators, state-licensed dispensaries, cultivators, infusers, distributors, new social equity entrants, ancillary businesses, and those looking to enter the cannabis space.

Ms. Dashevsky is a sought-after resource for her knowledge of the rapidly evolving cannabis industry across the U.S., in particular in Illinois and New York, known for her ability to help cannabis and hemp related businesses navigate the complex legal landscape. Prior to joining Greenspoon Marder, she served as co-chair of Locke Lord's Cannabis Industry Group. She regularly contributes to the firm's Cannabis blog and speaks to the press on legal cannabis issues.

About Greenspoon Marder

Greenspoon Marder is a national full-service business law firm with over 200 attorneys and locations across the United States. We are ranked among American Lawyer's Am Law 200, as one of the top law firms in the U.S. since 2015. Since our inception in 1981, our firm has been committed to providing excellent client service through our cross-disciplinary, client-team approach. Our mission is to understand the challenges that our clients face, build collaborative relationships, and craft creative solutions designed and executed with long-term strategic goals in mind. We serve Fortune 500, middle-market public and private companies, start-ups, emerging businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs nationwide. For more information, visit www.gmlaw.com.

SOURCE Greenspoon Marder
FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary

PALM BEACH, Fla., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Copper is one of the oldest metals ever used and has been one of the important materials in the development of civilization. Because of its properties, singularly or in combination, of high ductility, malleability, and thermal and electrical conductivity, and its resistance to corrosion, copper has become a major industrial metal, ranking third after iron and aluminum in terms of quantities consumed. The copper ore mining market consists of sales of copper ores and concentrates by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that mine copper ores. The industry includes establishments carrying out activities such as developing mine sites and preparing copper ores and recovering copper concentrates through precipitation, leaching and elector wining copper ores. A report from Market Reports World projected that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global Copper market size is estimated to be worth USD 255160 million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 343900 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period 2022-2028. It said that: "The market for copper mining is anticipated to increase at a considerable rate owing to increasing investments in construction projects which is a major consumer of copper industry." Another report from The Business Research Company added: "The growth in the copper mining market is due to increase in construction projects in rapidly developing countries such as China and India owing to rise in population and infrastructure." Active Companies in the markets today include Rockridge Resources Ltd. (OTCQB: RRRLF) (TSX-V: ROCK), Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) (TSX: TECK.A), Hudbay Minerals Inc. (NYSE: HBM) (TSX: HBM), Foran Mining Corporation (OTCQX: FMCXF) (TSXV: FOM), Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (OTCPK: CPPMF) (TSX: CMMC)

The Business Research Company continued: "The global copper mining market is further segmented based on type and geography. By Type - The copper mining market is segmented into refining industry, metal processing industry, chemical industry, others. By Geography - The global copper mining market is segmented into North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle East and Africa. Among these regions, Asia-Pacific copper mining market accounts the largest share in the global copper mining market. Autonomous drilling systems are being implemented by the copper mining industries to enhance safety, efficiency and productivity. This technology is being used to accurately identify drill location and drill production blast holes more effectively using advanced levelling technologies. Potential Opportunities In The Copper Mining Market With increase in building and construction projects, the scope and potential for the global copper mining market is expected to significantly rise in the coming years."

Rockridge Resources Ltd. (OTCQB: RRRLF) (TSX-V: ROCK) BREAKING NEWS: Rockridge Completes 3D Geophysics Modeling which Identifies 15 km Strike Length of Electromagnetic Conductors; Prepares for Fully-Funded Upcoming Drill Program at Knife Lake High-Grade Copper Project, Saskatchewan - Rockridge Resources Ltd. (Frankfurt: RR0) ("Rockridge" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has completed its 3D Geophysical Plate Modelling of the recently acquired VTEM data which will be used to further refine targeting for Rockridge's upcoming drill program starting in mid-July 2022 at its Knife Lake High-Grade Copper VMS Project located in Saskatchewan, Canada (the "Knife Lake Project" or "Property"). Rockridge is fully funded and permitted for this drill program.

The Company is pleased to announce that the VTEM survey data displays up to 15 km strike length of highly conductive near-surface anomalies hosted in prospective stratigraphy in regional target areas. The regional target areas, which includes the Gilbert Lake Targets, were previously identified through geological mapping, surface sampling and geochemical analyses as stratigraphy with high potential to host valuable copper occurrences and other sulphide mineral occurrences. This stratigraphy is interpreted to be the same horizon that hosts the Knife Lake Deposit.

Knife Lake VMS Project Location Map: https://www.rockridgeresourcesltd.com/_resources/images/Knife-Lake-Region-20210331-003.jpg

Rockridge's CEO, Jonathan Wiesblatt, commented: "We are very excited for the upcoming drilling at our flagship asset and look forward to potentially making a new discovery and advancing the project. The 3D modeling of the five plates has confirmed our strategy that the Gilbert Lake Target will be the primary focus on this upcoming drill program in mid-July 2022. The project remains an exciting exploration story that can offer investors exposure to a top mining jurisdiction and to commodities in high demand such as copper, cobalt and zinc. We look forward to updating our shareholders in the coming weeks."

Updates for Upcoming Diamond Drilling Program: The focus of the 2022 drill program will be on the highly prospective Gilbert Lake target area. The Gilbert Lake targets were identified from the results and interpretation of the 2021 geophysical, drill and field programs. Results from these programs show that airborne VTEM surveys can successfully identify zones of VMS-style mineralization hosted in favourable stratigraphy on the property. Additionally, the Company has now finalized the 3D modeling of the VTEM data focusing on the highest-priority drill targets for the upcoming program. Rockridge has signed all major contracts including the drill contractor, camp construction, and helicopter rental. The drill program is scheduled to commence in mid-July 2022. The Company has also received its Exploration Permit which expires in February 2024 and hence can conduct drilling, geophysical works and prospecting. CONTINUED Read this full release for Rockridge Resources at: https://rockridgeresourcesltd.com/news-and-media/news/

Other recent developments in the markets include:



Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) (TSX: TECK.A) recently announced that it will release its second quarter 2022 earnings results before market open on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.

A webcast to review the results will be held as follows on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET, Wednesday, July 27, 2022 or teck.com .

An archive of the webcast will be available at teck.com within 24 hours.

As one of Canada's leading mining companies, Teck is committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, zinc, and steelmaking coal, as well as investments in energy assets. Copper, zinc and high-quality steelmaking coal are required for the transition to a low-carbon world. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Teck's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TECK.A and TECK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TECK.

Foran Mining Corporation (OTCQX: FMCXF) (TSXV: FOM) recently provided assay results from 14 holes drill on the Company's 100%-owned Bigstone Project, located approximately 25 kilometres ("km") west of the McIlvenna Bay deposit. Drilling focused on both the Bigstone deposit and the Marconi prospect which is located 500 metres ("m") to the east. Together, these targets represent a large prospective copper, zinc, and gold mineralizing system that will be the focus of continued exploration during the 2022 summer program.

Dan Myerson, Foran's Executive Chairman & CEO, commented, "On the back of our new discovery at Tesla, we are excited to announce more exploration success at Bigstone-Marconi. These results continue to underpin our strategy to explore and discover near-mine opportunities under a centralized milling scenario. We continue to intercept high grade copper and zinc mineralization, but recent work outlines a substantial opportunity to also uncover extensive anomalous gold zones. It is evident that our exploration techniques are working, and this is only the tip of the iceberg given our vast canvas of targets. Through systematic exploration and drilling, there is significant potential to transform our properties into the next major mining camp in Canada."

Hudbay Minerals Inc. (NYSE: HBM) (TSX: HBM) recently announced that mining activities at the company's 777 mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba, have concluded after the reserves were depleted following 18 years of steady production. Closure activities at the 777 mine have commenced and employees and equipment are transitioning to the company's operations in Snow Lake, Manitoba.

"777 was a state-of-the-art mine that represented the pinnacle of a century of shared success for Hudbay and Flin Flon," said Peter Kukielski, Hudbay's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Though the closure of 777 marks the end of a mining era in Flin Flon, we will continue with exploration activities in the region. We care deeply about the community and creating a bright future for mining in northern Manitoba. Hudbay's transition to Snow Lake will help deliver that future and demonstrate our commitment to being a valued member of our communities."

Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (OTCPK: CPPMF) (TSX: CMMC) (the "Company" or "Copper Mountain") has recently been made aware by the ASX of media speculation regarding a possible transaction related to the Eva Copper Project in Queensland, Australia.

The Company's policy is not to comment on market speculation. The Company notes that it regularly reviews strategic opportunities to enhance shareholder value, and to this end, the Company has engaged Macquarie Capital to evaluate strategic opportunities regarding the Eva Copper Project. There are no pending transactions with respect to the Eva Copper Project of any nature at this time. The Company will update the market as necessary in line with its continuous disclosure obligations.

DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated twenty six hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by Rockridge Resources Ltd. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made 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". You are cautioned that such statements 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, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

Contact Information:

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+1(561)325-8757

SOURCE FinancialNewsMedia.com
The annual $1 million Genesis Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel" by TIME magazine, honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, commitment to Jewish values and the State of Israel.

Dr. Albert Bourla was announced as the 9th Genesis Prize Laureate in January 2022. The award recognizes his leadership in delivering a vaccine against COVID-19, which saved millions of lives during the pandemic. The Genesis Prize also celebrates the boldness of his vision and willingness to assume risks, which enabled delivery of the vaccine in record time.

In addition to honoring the vast humanitarian impact of Dr. Bourla's leadership, the award also celebrates his pride in his Jewish identity and heritage, and his strong support for the State of Israel.

The President of Israel Isaac Herzog said: "Albert Bourla was not deterred by high stakes, by naysayers, by conspiracy or by politics. He believed in the vaccine, and invested every ounce of himself in realizing what seemed at the time a far-fetched fantasy. The vaccine was developed in record speed, utilizing the technology of tomorrow to successfully hold back a devastating pandemic. A study published by The Lancet just days ago, points to nearly 20 million lives saved by COVID vaccines. Indeed, the vaccine gave us freedom we thought we lost. Albert, I congratulate you and your colleagues and counterparts, who are making such a critical impact on humanity, while embracing your Jewish heritage and values, and inspiring Jewish pride." Founder and Chairman of The Genesis Prize Foundation Stan Polovets added: "To save a human life is a fundamental Jewish value. Today we honor Dr. Bourla  a living embodiment of this ancient Jewish principle. We also celebrate the immense contribution of Jewish doctors who were on the frontline of the COVID pandemic for two years and who continue to save lives of people suffering in Ukraine today."

The ceremony opened with a moving tribute to the people of Ukraine and appreciation to the many Israeli and international Jewish organizations who are providing humanitarian aid. The Genesis Prize Foundation premiered a video "Jews in Medicine", exploring the roots and impact of Jews on the medical field from biblical times to the modern-day fight against the COVID pandemic (LINK TO VIDEO; for more details, please see section Jewish Contribution to Medicine).

2022 Genesis Prize Laureate Dr. Albert Bourla said: "I am honored and deeply humbled to receive the Genesis Prize. Honored because I never set out to be famous, and I never imagined that I would one day be up here with the illustrious nominees and past awardeesartists, philanthropists, and statesmen and stateswomen who show the world the best that the Jewish people have to offer. And humbled because this is not my awardit belongs to all Pfizer colleagues who worked tirelessly in the middle of a global pandemic to make the 'impossible possible' and give the world a chance to return to normalcy. Every life is precious and we must confront our challenges with courage, humility and perseverance. My Pfizer colleagues lived these values, and I am proud to be here in Israel to celebrate them and their extraordinary achievement."

Following the tradition established by the inaugural Genesis Prize Laureate Michael Bloomberg, Dr. Bourla announced that he will forgo the $1 million prize award and has asked the Foundation to donate the funds toward establishing the Holocaust Museum of Greece to be built in Thessaloniki.

Albert Bourla was born in Thessaloniki, home to an ancient Jewish community that traced its roots to antiquity. The vibrant Jewish community of 55,000 was almost completely wiped out during the Nazi occupation. Dr. Bourla's young parents narrowly escaped death and were among only 2,000 survivors. The Greek Holocaust Museum will immortalize the history of the Greek Jewish community from antiquity to modern age.

SOURCE The Genesis Prize Foundation
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Katten announced today that the firm's Intellectual Property (IP) practice along with four of its leading patent attorneys were recognized in IAM Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Professionals 2022, a directory that identifies the top patent professionals across the globe.

Katten was designated a bronze band for Litigation in New York for being "among the most competitive in the field" and was recognized for its strong Patent practices in Illinois and North Carolina.

Global IP chair Deepro R. Mukerjee and Patent Litigation co-chair Brian Sodikoff both earned silver rankings in New York and Illinois, respectively, for being "renowned" for their "top-end" work. Lance Soderstrom, co-chair of Patent Litigation, was awarded a bronze band for Litigation in New York for being "highly praised" in his field while Dr. Jitendra "Jitty" Malik, a partner in Charlotte commended for his extensive knowledge of life sciences and litigation experience, was named a "recommended individual."

"This recognition underscores the fact that Katten's IP patent attorneys are well equipped to handle the most complex and high-stakes litigations across the country," said Mukerjee, chair of Katten's global Intellectual Property department and a member of the firm's Board of Directors. "While Katten is well known for our handling of Hatch-Waxman cases on behalf of generic pharmaceutical companies throughout the US, we also are operating at the forefront of some of the most high-profile patent cases across an expansive range of major industries."

The directory praised Mukerjee and Soderstrom as "deeply skilled IP  and general  litigators and hands down the most efficient, reliable and responsive counsel you could hope to work with." They were acknowledged for their strong ability to "proactively spot issues, think outside the box, present solutions and produce results time and again  invalidating weak patents, prevailing on strong non-infringement defenses, obtaining highly favorable settlements and clearing legal paths."

Sodikoff, too, was distinguished in the guide's commentary. "Blended patent, regulatory and unfair competition law expertise gives him his edge, even against opponents from some of the most powerful law practices in the country," according to IAM Patent.

Malik was commended in the guide for being "an outstanding all-rounder in life sciences patent practice." The directory noted that "he prosecutes patent applications to successful grant seamlessly  in the United States and abroad" and is "equally capable of putting in tenacious performances in complex patent litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act and the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act."

The guide also highlighted Katten as a "go-to for many of the world's top generic drug companies" and praised the team for its ability to make "all the right strategic calls to drive optimal outcomes" for clients.

IAM Patent 1000 is the world's most extensive guide to leading private practice patent professionals and firms in key jurisdictions. Firm rankings are based on the depth of experience, market presence and the level of work in which firms are typically engaged. Individual rankings are based on feedback from peers and clients with knowledge of the professionals' practices and the markets in which they operate.

Katten is a full-service law firm with approximately 700 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm's core areas of practice include corporate, financial markets and funds, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, structured finance and securitization, transactional tax planning, private credit and private wealth. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals.

For more information, visit katten.com .

###

SOURCE Katten
FREDERICK, Md., June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- KTL Solutions today announced it has been named a finalist for the 2022 Microsoft Defense & Intelligence Partner of the Year Award. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.

KTL Solutions CEO, Timothy Lally, stated, "We are humbled and honored by this award. KTL Solutions' recognition for outstanding contribution to the Defense & Intelligence industry reinforces the strength of our service and dedication to providing our customers with world class IT solutions."

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft-based applications, services and devices during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from a set of more than 3,900 submitted nominations from more than 100 countries worldwide. KTL Solutions was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in Defense & Intelligence.

The Defense & Intelligence Partner of the Year Award recognizes a partner organization that excels at providing customer mission focused innovative and unique solutions and services based on Microsoft Platforms and Technologies to Defense and Intelligence customers, demonstrating thought leadership in their industry.

"I am honored to announce the winners and finalists of the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards," said Nick Parker, corporate vice president of Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft. "These partners were outstanding among the exceptional pool of nominees, and I'm continuously impressed by their innovative use of Microsoft Cloud technologies and the impact for their customers."

Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced annually prior to the company's global partner conference, Microsoft Inspire, which will take place on July 19-20 this year.

Additional details on the 2022 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner Network blog: The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found at Microsoft Inspire Awards page.

Media Contact: Stephen Reid, [email protected]

SOURCE KTL Solutions, Inc
Stuart Day, dean of KU Edwards Campus and School of Professional Studies, believes this new program addresses a growing need in the Kansas City area and beyond.

"There are no other in-state options for students to pursue a BPS degree," says Day. "The KU program is distinguished by its close connections with Lawrence and Edwards Campus academic programs, as well as community college partners like Johnson County Community College and Kansas City Kansas Community College. This bachelor's program was designed with attention to the transfer students entering the program, and the preparation of students to acquire professional and workforce-ready skills leading to employment immediately following completion of the bachelor's degree."

The goal of a professional studies program is to prepare students with highly valued and relevant skills to help them achieve their desired career objectives. The curricular flexibility allows students to pursue a wide variety of professional paths and management opportunities after graduation. Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to succeed in courses relevant to their anticipated professions including project management, healthcare management, and more.

The new online professional studies degree program, supported by the Johnson County Education Research Triangle (JCERT), aims to graduate professionals ready to fill in-demand jobs in the Kansas City area and beyond.

Media Contact:

Chris Gregory

[email protected]

SOURCE University of Kansas Edwards Campus
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA), a global automotive technology leader in Seating and E-Systems, will hold a conference call to review the company's second quarter 2022 financial results and related matters on August 2, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

To participate in the conference call:

Toll-free calls: 877-883-0383

International calls: 412-902-6506

The conference code is 5082523.

You also may listen to the live audio webcast of the call, in listen-only mode, on Lear's Investor Relations website at ir.lear.com. The webcast replay will be available two hours following the call.

Note: The second quarter 2022 slide presentation will be available on Lear's website before the earnings call begins on August 2, 2022.

SOURCE Lear Corporation
Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization against all known variants of interest and concern

INDIANAPOLIS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced a modified purchase agreement with the U.S. government to supply an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab for approximately $275 million. The existing U.S. government supply of bebtelovimab, including the new purchase, is expected to meet present demand through late August 2022. Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization activity against the most common, and fastest growing, Omicron variants (BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5) in the United States, in addition to all known variants of interest and concern.

"Lilly and its collaborators have partnered closely with the federal government throughout the pandemic to ensure broad and equitable access to our monoclonal antibodies," said David A. Ricks, Lilly's chair and CEO. "While Congress works toward additional COVID-19 funding, Lilly and the U.S. government will continue to work together to support the availability of bebtelovimab to maximize equity and accessibility in the U.S. market."

Delivery of doses will begin immediately and complete no later than August 5, 2022. The 2022 estimated financial impact of this agreement is approximately $275 million of revenue and approximately $0.08 of EPS. An option for an additional 350,000 doses to be exercised no later than September 14, 2022 will remain in the agreement.

This purchase has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under contract number W58P0522C0012.

Important Information about bebtelovimab

Bebtelovimab has not been approved, but has been authorized for emergency use by the FDA under an EUA, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

The emergency use of bebtelovimab is authorized only for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biological products during the COVID-19 pandemic under Section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C.  360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the declaration is terminated or authorization is revoked sooner.

Healthcare providers should review the Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers for information on the authorized use of bebtelovimab and mandatory requirements of the EUA. Please also see the FDA Letter of Authorization and the Fact Sheet for Patients, Parents and Caregivers on the authorized use of bebtelovimab.

Authorized Use and Important Safety Information

Bebtelovimab is authorized for use under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg):

with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and

who are at high risk i for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and

for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, for whom alternate COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

LIMITATIONS OF AUTHORIZED USE

Bebtelovimab is not authorized for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in geographic regions where infection is likely to have been caused by a non-susceptible SARS-CoV-2 variant based on available information including variant susceptibility to this drug and regional variant frequency.

FDA will monitor conditions to determine whether use in a geographic region is consistent with this scope of authorization, referring to available information, including information on variant susceptibility, and CDC regional variant frequency data available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions .

. FDA's determination and any updates will be available at: https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-legal-regulatory-and-policy-framework/emergency-use-authorization#coviddrugs

Bebtelovimab is not authorized for use in patients who:

are hospitalized due to COVID-19, OR

require oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support due to COVID-19, OR

require an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate and/or respiratory support due to COVID-19 and are on chronic oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support due to underlying non-COVID-19 related comorbidity.

Treatment with bebtelovimab has not been studied in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring high flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

Important Safety Information

There are limited clinical data available for bebtelovimab. Serious and unexpected adverse events may occur that have not been previously reported with bebtelovimab use.

WARNINGS

Hypersensitivity Including Anaphylaxis and Infusion-Related Reaction

Serious hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, have been observed with administration of other SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and could occur with administration of bebtelovimab. If signs and symptoms of a clinically significant hypersensitivity reaction or anaphylaxis occur, immediately discontinue administration, and initiate appropriate medications and/or supportive care.

Infusion-related reactions, which may occur up to 24 hours after the injection, have been observed in clinical trials of bebtelovimab when administered with other monoclonal antibodies and may occur with use of bebtelovimab alone. These reactions may be severe or life threatening. Signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions may include:

fever, difficulty breathing, reduced oxygen saturation, chills, fatigue, arrhythmia (e.g. atrial fibrillation, sinus tachycardia, bradycardia), chest pain or discomfort, weakness, altered mental status, nausea, headache, bronchospasm, hypotension, hypertension, angioedema, throat irritation, rash including urticaria, pruritus, myalgia, vasovagal reactions (e.g. pre-syncope, syncope), dizziness, and diaphoresis.

Administer appropriate medications and/or supportive care if an infusion-related reaction occurs. Hypersensitivity reactions occurring more than 24 hours after the injection have also been reported with the use of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies under Emergency Use Authorization.

Clinical Worsening After Monoclonal Antibody Administration

Clinical worsening of COVID-19 after administration of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody treatment has been reported and may include signs or symptoms of fever, hypoxia or increased respiratory difficulty, arrhythmia (e.g., atrial fibrillation, sinus tachycardia, bradycardia), fatigue, and altered mental status. Some of these events required hospitalization. It is not known if these events were related to SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody use or were due to progression of COVID-19.

Limitations of Benefit and Potential Risk in Patients with Severe COVID-19

Treatment with bebtelovimab has not been studied in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation. See Limitations of Authorized Use.

Adverse Reactions

Adverse reactions observed in those who have received bebtelovimab alone or in combination with bamlanivimab and etesevimab, at the authorized dose or higher are infusion-related reactions (n=2, 0.3%), pruritus (n=2, 0.3%) and rash (n=5, 0.8%). The most common treatment-emergent adverse events observed in subjects treated with bebtelovimab, alone or in combination with bamlanivimab and etesevimab, at the authorized dose or higher included nausea (0.8%) and vomiting (0.7%).

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Pregnancy

Severe hypersensitivity reactions and infusion-related reactions, have been observed with administration of bebtelovimab, including in pregnant patients. Pregnant patients who develop severe hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions should be managed appropriately, including obstetrical care. There are insufficient data to evaluate a drug-associated risk of major birth defects, miscarriage, or adverse maternal or fetal outcomes. Bebtelovimab should only be used during pregnancy if the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk for the mother and the fetus.

Breastfeeding

There are no available data on the presence of bebtelovimab in human or animal milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. Breastfeeding individuals with COVID-19 should follow practices according to clinical guidelines to avoid exposing the infant to COVID-19.

About bebtelovimab

Bebtelovimab (LY-CoV1404; LY3853113) is a neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 that maintains binding and neutralizing activity across currently known and reported variants of concern. Bebtelovimab has been studied for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 both as a monotherapy and together with other mAbs. Lilly has licensed and developed bebtelovimab after it was discovered by AbCellera and the scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center.

About BLAZE-4

BLAZE-4 is a Phase 2, randomized clinical trial evaluating treatment of subjects with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 (subjects with COVID-19 symptoms who are not hospitalized). The data supporting this EUA for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 are primarily based on analyses of data from the Phase 2 BLAZE-4 trial (NCT04634409), treatment arms 9-14. This trial evaluated the clinical safety and efficacy from subjects receiving 175 mg bebtelovimab, alone and together with 700 mg bamlanivimab and 1,400 mg of etesevimab. The authorized dosage of bebtelovimab is 175 mg given as an intravenous injection over at least 30 seconds. Clinical data confirm the neutralizing ability of bebtelovimab. The trial enrolled subjects who were not hospitalized and had 1 or more COVID-19 symptoms that were at least mild in severity.

About Lilly's COVID-19 Efforts

Lilly has utilized the full force of its expertise to develop the first monoclonal antibody authorized for Emergency Use (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  bamlanivimab, followed by the authorization of bamlanivimab with etesevimab and, most recently, bebtelovimab. The authorized dose of bebtelovimab is 175 mg given as an intravenous injection over at least 30 seconds.

While bamlanivimab together with etesevimab are not authorized for use in the U.S., at this time, the FDA will monitor conditions to determine whether use in a geographic region is medically appropriate, referring to available information, including information on variant susceptibility, and CDC regional variant frequency data available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions.

To date, over 700,000 patients have been treated with Lilly's monoclonal antibodies in the U.S., potentially preventing more than 35,000 hospitalizations and at least 14,000 deaths during the worst of the pandemic. Click here for resources related to Lilly's COVID-19 efforts.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help more than 47 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges, redefining diabetes care, treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects, advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease, providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders, and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/newsroom or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. P-LLY

Lilly Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about bebtelovimab as a potential therapy for patients with COVID-19, the supply, distribution and contracts with governments relating to bebtelovimab, and Lilly's development plans, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. However, as with any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of drug research, development and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that future study results will be consistent with the results to date, that bebtelovimab will prove to be a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19, that bebtelovimab will receive regulatory approvals or additional authorizations, that patients will volunteer to participate in clinical trials or achieve positive outcomes, that Lilly will obtain any additional purchase orders or supply contracts, or that Lilly can provide an adequate supply of bebtelovimab in all circumstances. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from Lilly's expectations, please see Lilly's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

For information on medical conditions and factors associated with increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html. Healthcare providers should consider the benefit-risk for an individual patient.

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
New Funding Enables Literacy Startup to Bring Better EdTech to Students Nationwide

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Literably , the reading assessment platform that empowers educators to "know every reader," today announced it has been named as a winner of The Learning Engineering Tools Competition. The new funding will enable Literably to advance the reach of its education technology solution and continue to deliver on its mission to remedy the critical issue of low literacy rates. The competition provides Literably with important resources to accelerate scalability and adoption of its literacy assessment platform across the United States.

The Learning Engineering Tools Competition aims to spur the growth of new and improved technologies that will help remedy critical issues in education for learners of all ages and across the globe while also advancing the field of learning engineering. The competition sparked tremendous interest from teams around the world, with more than 800 proposals competing for $4 million in prizes  making it one of the largest edtech competitions ever convened.

"All students deserve to be reading at grade level as soon as possible," said Tyler Borek, Literably's chief executive officer. "We plan to capitalize on our momentum and expand Literably to more districts across the US for the 2022-2023 school year."

The latest funding marks Literably's second grant announcement within one month. In May, the company announced it was awarded a prestigious $1 million dollar grant from the United States Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences' (ED/IES) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

About Literably

Literably is a diagnostic digital reading assessment platform that replicates teacher-administered assessments online and enables educators to know every reader. Literably provides literacy educators with an immediate, accurate and actionable picture of each student's reading capabilities and challenges. Schools use Literably to solve four primary challenges with conventional teacher-administered reading assessments: efficiency, consistency, data access and instructional next steps. Currently, Literably uses a blend of normed human grading and speech recognition to score two reading assessments online for schools and districts: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and Foundational Skills (FS). Research led by a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education has shown that Literably ORF can predict student performance on the Smarter Balanced assessment. Literably currently serves over 200,000 students at over 500 schools in 34 states. Literably was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

SOURCE Literably
China to Remain at Epicenter of Live Fish Carriers Market, Accounting for Over 2/5th of Total Sales

Fact.MR latest report provides an in-depth analysis of the global live fish carriers market for the forecast period of 2022 to 2032. The study analyzes various growth drivers somehow influencing the market dynamics. It also uncovers hidden opportunities across various segments in terms of carrier type, length, capacity, and region.

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global live fish carriers market size was valued at US$ 3.06 Bn in 2021 and is likely to surpass a valuation of US$ 3.2 Bn in 2022. Moreover, with growing consumption of seafood worldwide, the overall demand for live fish carriers is projected to rise at a steady CAGR of 4.9%, totaling a valuation of US$ 5.17 Bn by 2032.

Live fish carriers are vessels equipped with large water filled tanks used for the transportation of live fishes. They have advanced fish handling systems that supply the tanks with oxygen and a continuous flow of water.

Over the years, live fish carriers have become highly-sought after vessels used by companies to transport large volumes of live fish and other marine animals to meet the rising demand. Growing concerns regarding food insecurity coupled with increasing consumption of seafood is a major factor providing impetus to the growth of live fish carriers market.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, there was a massive increase of 122% in total food fish consumption from 1990 to 2018 and this number is expected to further surge during the forthcoming years due to rapidly growing population. This will in turn create demand for live fish carriers.

Similarly, advancement in live fish carriers is expected to boost the growth during the forecast period. Leading manufacturers like Rolls Royce, Kongsberg, and Saltship are continuously building advanced ships powered by electricity or LNG to comply with the regulations.

For Critical Insights on this Market, Get A Sample Report!

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=7507

Furthermore, growing popularity of offshore fish farming, rise in the number of commercial fishing companies, and flourishing seafood trade industry will expand the global live fish carriers market size during the forecast period.

Demand is especially high for salt live fish carriers due to their greater length and increased capacity. The salt fish carriers segment held the largest share of around 68.8% in the global live fish carrier market in 2021 and is likely to expand by 1.7X by 2032.

As per Fact.MR, China will retain its monopoly in the global live fish carriers market, accounting for around 19.6% share in 2021. Growth in the country is driven by flourishing seafood industry, increasing fish export business, and strong presence of leading live fish carriers manufacturers.

Key Takeaways:

Based on carrier type, salt fish carriers segment surpassed a valuation of US$ 2.1 Bn in 2021 and is likely to expand by 1.7X through 2032.

in 2021 and is likely to expand by 1.7X through 2032. By capacity, the 2500-5000 m3 live fish carriers segment is expected to create an absolute incremental opportunity of US$ 1.13 billion by the end of 2032.

by the end of 2032. Asia Pacific live fish carriers market is poised to exhibit strong growth throughout the forecast period.

live fish carriers market is poised to exhibit strong growth throughout the forecast period. With rapid expansion seafood industry, China live fish carriers market is set to grow at 6.2% CAGR during the forecast period, creating an absolute $ opportunity of US$ 547.9 Mn by 2032.

live fish carriers market is set to grow at 6.2% CAGR during the forecast period, creating an absolute $ opportunity of by 2032. Norway live fish carrier market is projected to surpass a valuation of US$ 514.3 Mn in 2022.

live fish carrier market is projected to surpass a valuation of in 2022. Top 5 companies in live fish carrier cumulatively is expected to account for around 21.5% share in 2022.

Growth Drivers:

Rising demand for seafood across the world will continue to boost the growth of live fish carriers market.

Growing popularity of offshore fish farming is expected to push the demand for live fish carriers during the forecast period.

Introduction of technologically advanced carriers with better fish handling systems and ecofriendly features will create lucrative opportunities for live fish carrier manufacturers during the forthcoming years.

Restraints:

Higher cost of live fish carriers is challenging the growth of live fish carriers market.

Low availability of technologically advanced live fish carriers across some developing and underdeveloped regions is also negatively impacting the market growth.

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Competitive Landscape:

Key players operating in the live fish carriers market are focused on developing new innovative solutions to cater to the changing end user demands. They have adopted various strategies such as new product launches, mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, etc. to expand their global presence and gain a competitive edge in the live fish carrier market.

For instance,

In December 2019 TERSAN launched NB1088 LNG powered live fish carrier with technologically advanced fish handling system.

TERSAN launched NB1088 LNG powered live fish carrier with technologically advanced fish handling system. In 2021, Kongsberg Maritime signed a US$ 8.2m contract with Myklebust Verft to design and equip a new Live Fish Carrier (LFC) for Solvtrans, a leading live fish transportation company.

Key Companies Profiled by Fact.MR

AquaShip

Verksted AS

kongsberg

Adria Winch

Macgregor

Rolls Royce

Peak Marine Tech

Artic Group

Havyard

Macgregor

Oliverdesign

Palfingure Marine

Saltship

More Valuable Insights on Live Fish Carriers Market

In the latest study, Fact.MR offers a 360-degree view of the global live fish carriers market for the forecast period of 2022 to 2032. The report also highlights key factors such as recent developments and growth drivers influencing sales in the live fish carriers market through detailed segmentation as follows:

By Carrier Type:

Salt Fish Carriers

Fresh Water Fish Carriers

Mixed Carriers

By Length:

Less than 50 m Live Fish Carriers

Live Fish Carriers 50 to 75 m Live Fish Carriers

Live Fish Carriers Above 75 m Live Fish Carriers

By Capacity:

Less than 2500 m3 Live Fish Carriers

2500 to 5000 m3 Live Fish Carriers

Above 5000 m3 Live Fish Carriers

By Country:

Spain

Norway

Poland

Germany

Denmark

Turkey

China

Vietnam

South Korea

Japan

Rest of the World

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Key Questions Covered in the Live Fish Carriers Market Report

What will be the demand outlook of the live fish carriers market in 2022?

What is the projected growth rate of the global live fish carriers market during 2022-2032?

Which are the key drivers bolstering growth in the live fish carriers market?

Which factors are hindering the growth in the live fish carriers market?

Which region is expected to exhibit the fastest growth in the global live fish carriers market during 2022-2032?

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About Fact.MR

Fact.MR is a market research and consulting agency with deep expertise in emerging market intelligence. Spanning a wide range  from automotive & industry 4.0 to healthcare, technology, chemical and materials, to even the most niche categories. 80% of Fortune 1000's trusts us in critical decision making.

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17-Year Industry Veteran Replaces Retiring President Gerald Melville

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Liz Zolcak has been named the new President of Fresh Thyme Market, succeeding Gerald Melville, who has announced his retirement after a 43-year retail career.

"I am thrilled and humbled to take on this exciting new challenge and to be trusted to lead such an incredible team," Zolcak said. "Gerald and I have been able to accomplish significant wins with the team during our time working together, and I'm looking forward to even more successes ahead."

Zolcak has 17 years of retail leadership experience and joined Fresh Thyme Market in 2020 as Vice President of Operations, overseeing the company's 71 stores. She previously led in both domestic and international operations with Kroger and ALDI, including roles as Vice President of Retail Operations for Kroger, Division President of Ruler Foods, and Marketing Director for ALDI.

Melville became President of Fresh Thyme Market in 2019, joining the retailer from Meijer, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based supercenter chain.

"My tenure at Fresh Thyme Market has been challenging and exciting," Melville said. "As I move on to my next phase, I'm very confident Fresh Thyme Market is poised for continued success as I hand the baton to Liz."

About Fresh Thyme Market

Fresh Thyme Market, a local, community-focused grocer with 71 stores in 10 states throughout the Midwest, was born from a genuine desire to help people live better and healthier lives. Every day Fresh Thyme Market works to be a trusted resource in our communities, bringing people access to real food at real affordable prices. With a local focus on what the community needs, each store provides fresh, natural and organic food at affordable prices. By offering an immersive, intuitive shopping experience, Fresh Thyme Market meets people wherever they are on their journey to living a healthier lifestyle. To learn more, visit freshthyme.com or keep in touch by liking Fresh Thyme at facebook.com/freshthymemarket , and following them at twitter.com/freshthymefm and https://www.instagram.com/freshthyme/ .

Media Contact:

Alex Penn

[email protected]

612-584-8242

SOURCE Fresh Thyme Market
Springfield, Ill., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. (LRS) announced today that Fulcrum Consulting, LLC, an IT staffing and management consulting firm headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, will become part of LRS' family of companies.

Fulcrum was founded in 2002 and is a Business Advisory, Project Management, and IT staffing industry leader in the Minneapolis area. The company will become an LRS subsidiary and will operate as a branch of LRS Consulting Services, the IT and engineering staffing division of LRS. The acquisition brings LRS' total employee count to more than 1000 worldwide.

Chris Walters, Senior Vice President of LRS Consulting Services, explained that Fulcrum Consulting is a perfect fit for LRS. "Fulcrum fits well with our corporate culture," Walters said. "The company recruits top talent, treats them with respect, has strong relationships with clients and consultants, and has a strong belief in ethics and honesty. LRS is dedicated to the same ideals."

Fulcrum's location in the Minneapolis area fits with the expansion plan that LRS Consulting Services has been pursuing for several years, according to Walters.

"Fulcrum's location in central Minnesota helps us achieve our growth goals in a new location," Walters said. "We are also acquiring an experienced IT staffing group that manages an established client base."

Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. (LRS) is a privately-held U.S. company with corporate headquarters located in Springfield, IL. Remote offices are located throughout the United States and in key geographic regions around the world. Industry analyst groups recognize LRS as a global IT leader. For more information, visit www.LRS.com.

2022 Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. All rights reserved. LRS and the LRS chevron logo are registered trademarks of Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Chris Walters

Senior Vice President

LRS Consulting Services

314-748-7009, ext. 3380

[email protected]

SOURCE LRS Consulting Services
"Creating a better future for the next generation is important to us, which is one reason we are focused on delivering on our climate goal to achieve net zero emissions from our global operations," said Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell CEO. "Renewable energy is an important component for how we will get there, and power purchase agreements are our preferred approach to decarbonizing our electricity supply. These strategic projects propel us forward in greenhouse gas emissions reduction, but they also provide scalability and support investment in new renewable energy capability."

ENGIE Limestone Wind Project

LyondellBasell signed a PPA with ENGIE North America (ENGIE) for 100 MW of renewable electricity sourced from ENGIE's new Limestone wind project in Texas' Navarro and Limestone counties. The project is expected to commence operations late in 2022.

The 12-year agreement is estimated to generate approximately 377,000 MWh of clean power annually, equivalent to around 135,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide or the yearly electricity consumption of more than 35,000 average American homes.

"This agreement demonstrates a collaboration to create a path forward that helps address the collective global challenge of climate change," said ENGIE Chief Renewables Officer David Carroll. "We are particularly honored to work with LyondellBasell on their first PPA agreement which will deliver steady economic and environmental value in the long run for both parties."

Buckeye Files Solar Project

LyondellBasell also signed a PPA with Buckeye Partners for 116 MW of renewable electricity sourced from its Files solar project located in Hill County outside of Dallas, Texas. The solar farm is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2023.

The 10-year agreement is estimated to generate approximately 251,000 MWh of clean power annually, equivalent to around 90,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide or the yearly electricity consumption of more than 23,300 average American homes.

"Buckeye is pleased to partner with LyondellBasell on this new power purchase agreement and to support their sustainability goals," said Buckeye CEO Todd Russo. "This partnership is illustrative of our focus on providing for the increasingly diverse energy needs of our customers, including solar power."

LyondellBasell's climate-related goals support the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and the transition to a low-carbon economy. By procuring at least half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, LyondellBasell estimates the company's scope 2 greenhouse emissions will be reduced by approximately 1.5 million metric tons. LyondellBasell's renewable energy goal supports its commitment to achieve net zero scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

About LyondellBasell

As a leader in the global chemical industry, LyondellBasell strives every day to be the safest, best operated and most valued company in our industry. The company's products, materials and technologies are advancing sustainable solutions for food safety, access to clean water, healthcare and fuel efficiency in more than 100 international markets. LyondellBasell places high priority on diversity, equity and inclusion and is Advancing Good with an emphasis on our planet, the communities where we operate and our future workforce. The company takes great pride in its world-class technology and customer focus. LyondellBasell has stepped up its circularity and climate ambitions and actions to address the global challenges of plastic waste and decarbonization. In 2022, LyondellBasell was named as one of FORTUNE Magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies" for the fifth consecutive year. For more information, please visit www.lyondellbasell.com or follow @LyondellBasell on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this release relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management of LyondellBasell which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. When used in this presentation, the words "estimate," "believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should," "will," "expect," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Actual results could differ materially based on factors including, but not limited to, the availability, cost and price volatility of utilities; our ability to meet our sustainability goals, including our ability to reduce our emissions and achieve net zero emissions by the time set in our goals; our ability to procure energy from renewable sources; and the successful construction and operation of the projects described in this release. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, which can be found at www.LyondellBasell.com on the Investor Relations page and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. There is no assurance that any of the actions, events or results of the forward-looking statements will occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on our results of operations or financial condition. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made and are based on the estimates and opinions of management of LyondellBasell at the time the statements are made. LyondellBasell does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change, except as required by law.

SOURCE LyondellBasell Industries
Milliman PPFI now releasing results on a monthly basis

SEATTLE, June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the latest results of its Public Pension Funding Index (PPFI), which consists of the nation's 100 largest public defined benefit pension plans.

During May, the Milliman 100 public pension funded ratio remained nearly flat for the month, inching down from 78.6% to 78.4%. May's relatively stagnant market provided a reprieve for these plans after the volatility experienced between February and April of this year. In aggregate, we estimate the PPFI plans saw investment returns of 0.16% in May, with individual plans' estimated returns ranging from -0.72% to 1.80%.

"Public pension funding dropped nearly seven percentage points  from a high of 85.5% at the end of 2021  as a result of asset value declines," said Becky Sielman, author of Milliman's PPFI. "In fact, in May investment returns helped these plans gain a small amount of market value, but the net negative cash flow from benefits being paid basically zeroed that out."

The total pension liability (TPL) continues to grow and stood at an estimated $5.825 trillion at the end of May 2022, up from $5.810 trillion at the end of April 2022. Currently 52 of the 100 plans have funded ratios between 60% and 90%.

For more information and to view the full Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index, go to http://www.milliman.com/ppfi/. To see Milliman's full range of annual Pension Funding Studies, go to https://www.milliman.com/en/retirement-and-benefits/pension-funding-studies. To receive regular updates of Milliman's pension funding analysis, contact us at [email protected].

About Milliman

Milliman is among the world's largest providers of actuarial and related products and services. The firm has consulting practices in healthcare, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services, and employee benefits. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent firm with offices in major cities around the globe. For further information, visit milliman.com.

SOURCE Milliman, Inc.
GUANGZHOU, China, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MINISO Group Holding Limited (NYSE: MNSO) ("MINISO," "MINISO Group" or the "Company"), a global retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products, today announced the launch of its global offering (the "Global Offering") of 41,100,000 ordinary shares of the Company, which is comprised of a Hong Kong public offering of initially 4,110,000 ordinary shares commencing on June 30, 2022, Hong Kong time (the "Hong Kong Public Offering"), and an international offering of initially 36,990,000 ordinary shares commencing today (the "International Offering"), and dual-primary listing of its ordinary shares on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Hong Kong Stock Exchange") under the stock code "9896."

As previously announced, the Company will hold an annual general meeting of shareholders on July 11, 2022, at which a proposal to amend and restate its memorandum and articles of association to, among other things, remove its weighted voting rights structure, will be voted on. The amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will take effect upon the consummation of the proposed listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, at which time all of the Company's Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares will be re-designated as ordinary shares.

The Company's American depositary shares (the "ADSs"), each representing four ordinary shares of the Company, will continue to be listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE"). Investors in the Global Offering will only be able to purchase ordinary shares and will not be able to take delivery of ADSs. Upon listing in Hong Kong, the ordinary shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will be fully fungible with the ADSs listed on the NYSE.

The initial number of ordinary shares under each of the Hong Kong Public Offering and the International Offering represents approximately 10% and 90% of the total number of ordinary shares initially available under the Global Offering, respectively, subject to re-allocation and over-allotment. Subject to the level of oversubscription in the Hong Kong Public Offering and pursuant to the claw back mechanism as described in the prospectus to be issued by the Company in Hong Kong dated June 30, 2022, the total number of ordinary shares available under the Hong Kong Public Offering could be adjusted to up to a maximum of 20,550,000 ordinary shares, representing approximately 50% of the ordinary shares initially available under the Global Offering. In addition, the Company expects to grant the international underwriters an over-allotment option to require it to sell up to an additional 6,165,000 ordinary shares of the Company in the International Offering, representing approximately 15% of the total number of ordinary shares initially available under the Global Offering.

The offer price for the Hong Kong Public Offering (the "Hong Kong Offer Price") will be no more than HK$22.10 per ordinary share, or US$2.83 per ordinary share (equivalent to US$11.32 per ADS) (the "Maximum Hong Kong Offer Price"). The offer price for the International Offering tranche of the Global Offering (the "International Offer Price") may be set higher than, or the same as, the Maximum Hong Kong Offer Price. The Company will set the International Offer Price on or about July 6, 2022, Hong Kong time, by taking into consideration, among other factors, the closing price of the ADSs on the NYSE on the last trading day on or before July 6, 2022 and investor demand during the marketing process. The final Hong Kong Offer Price will be set at the lower of the final International Offer Price and the Maximum Hong Kong Offer Price. The shares will be traded in board lots of 200 ordinary shares.

The Company plans to use the net proceeds from the Global Offering for its store network expansion and upgrade, supply chain improvement and product development, strengthening its technology capabilities, continuing to invest in brand promotion and incubation, capital expenditures, and working capital and general corporate purposes.

Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Limited, Haitong International Capital Limited and UBS Securities Hong Kong Limited (in alphabetical order) are the joint sponsors for the proposed Global Offering. Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Limited, Haitong International Securities Company Limited and UBS AG Hong Kong Branch (in alphabetical order) act as the joint global coordinators for the proposed Global Offering. Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Limited, Haitong International Securities Company Limited, UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and UBS Securities LLC (in relation to International Offering only) (in alphabetical order) are the joint bookrunners for the proposed Global Offering. Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Limited, Haitong International Securities Company Limited, UBS AG Hong Kong Branch, UBS Securities LLC (in relation to International Offering only) (in alphabetical order), Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited and GF Securities (Hong Kong) Brokerage Limited are the joint lead managers for the proposed Global Offering.

The International Offering is being made only by means of a preliminary prospectus supplement dated June 29, 2022 and the accompanying prospectus included in an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 31, 2022, which automatically became effective upon filing. The registration statement on Form F-3 and the preliminary prospectus supplement are available at the SEC website at: http://www.sec.gov .

The proposed Global Offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the Global Offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the Global Offering. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer or an invitation to buy any securities of the Company, nor shall there be any offer or sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. This press release does not constitute a prospectus (including as defined under the laws of Hong Kong) and potential investors should read the prospectus of the Company for detailed information about the Company and the proposed Global Offering, before deciding whether or not to invest in the Company. This press release has not been reviewed or approved by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange or the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

The price of the ordinary shares of the Company may be stabilized in accordance with the Securities and Futures (Price Stabilization) Rules. The details of the intended stabilization and how it will be regulated under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the laws of Hong Kong) will be contained in the prospectus of the Company dated June 30, 2022.

About MINISO Group

MINISO is a global retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Design, quality and affordability are at the core of every MINISO product it delivers, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products of these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a store network worldwide. For more information, please visit https://ir.miniso.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue," or other similar expressions. MINISO may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about MINISO's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's reports filed with, or furnished to the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and MINISO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For further information: Raine Hu, Monlise Wang, MINISO Group Holding Limited, Email: [email protected], Phone: +86 (20) 36228788 Ext.8039

SOURCE MINISO Group Holding Limited
According to the CDC , just one in four babies are breastfed during the recommended first six months after birth. Benefits for those who are breastfed can include reduced risks of asthma, obesity, Type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, ear infections, and infant death syndrome. Breastfeeding can also help lower a mother's risk of high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, as well as ovarian and breast cancer.

"We are proud to support efforts to improve mother and infant health in Ohio," said Ami Cole, plan president for Molina Healthcare of Ohio. "We are committed to connecting our members to providers who meet their clinical and cultural needs, and this is just one example of how we are fulfilling that commitment."

"Through partnerships with forward-thinking health plans like Molina, Pacify uses evidence-based strategies to increase member engagement, boost quality scores, improve health outcomes and reduce the cost of care," said Melanie Silverman, MS, RD, IBCLC, president and chief clinical officer of Pacify. "We are proud to partner with Molina in addressing inequities in the field of lactation. The lactation profession must prepare and train more IBCLCs with the goal of improving representation."

Those in Ohio interested in applying for the scholarship must fill out an application form by August 31, 2022. Applications will be reviewed and finalists interviewed by September 30, 2022. Winners will be announced and awarded the scholarships by October 17, 2022, before applicants apply in December to take the IBCLC exam in Spring 2023. Winners will also receive mentorship from women of color who are IBCLCs in the Pacify network.

About Molina Healthcare of Ohio

Molina Healthcare of Ohio has been providing government-funded, quality health care since 2005. The Company serves members through Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare-Medicaid (Duals) and Health Insurance Exchange programs throughout Ohio. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company (currently ranked 155), provides managed healthcare services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. Molina Healthcare served approximately 5.1 million members as of March 31, 2022, located across 19 states. For more information about Molina Healthcare of Ohio, visit MolinaHealthcare.com.

About Pacify

Pacify is the leading health technology company that provides 24/7 clinical and social support to new and expecting parents. Pacify's network of 100+ lactation consultants, clinicians and registered nurses have helped more than 100,000 families, reducing costs and improving outcomes in partnership with managed care organizations, health systems, non-profit organizations and employers across the country.

SOURCE Pacify Health
The USD 300 million acquisition facility will support SKY Leasing with the purchase of 12 off-lease Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is pleased to announce the closing of a limited recourse acquisition facility for SKY Leasing (SKY), where the bank acted as Co-Structuring Agent and Joint Lead Arranger.

The facility is unique as it provides the financing of off-lease aircraft with structural enhancements.

"We are very pleased with the outcome of this acquisition facility," says Matthew Crawford, EVP, Head of Capital Markets at SKY. "MUFG has been a great partner in helping us build out and diversify our fleet, a key pillar to executing on our overall strategy."

"SKY continues to be a strategic client for our aviation franchise," says Olivier Trauchessec, Co-Head of Global Aviation at MUFG. "We appreciated SKY's trust and creativity, and look forward to supporting the team with future financings."

MUFG has led and co-structured SKY's last two warehouse facilities. In addition, MUFG acted as Co-Structuring Agent of SKY's most recent ABS (SLAM 2021-1).

About SKY Leasing

SKY Leasing ("SKY") is a premier aircraft leasing asset manager with offices in Dublin, Ireland and San Francisco, California. It was founded in 2019, in partnership with M&G Investments which acquired a stake in the business. Since January 2020, SKY Leasing has executed $3.5B of aircraft transactions across its funds under management. As of May 2022, the portfolio has a weighted average age of 2.1 years and weighted average lease term remaining of 10 years. SKY's corporate mission is to be a leading capital provider to airlines globally. For more information about SKY Leasing, visit www.skyleasing.com.

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.'s U.S. Operations including MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation

The U.S. operations of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG), one of the world's leading financial groups, has total assets of $332.4 billion at March 31, 2022. As part of that total, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation (MUAH), a financial holding company, bank holding company, and intermediate holding company, has total assets of $159.2 billion at March 31, 2022. MUAH's main subsidiaries are MUFG Union Bank, N.A. and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. MUFG Union Bank, N.A. provides a wide range of financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, and major corporations. As of March 31, 2022, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. operated 297 branches, consisting primarily of retail banking branches in the West Coast states. MUFG Securities Americas Inc. is a registered securities broker-dealer which engages in capital markets origination transactions, domestic and foreign debt and equities securities transactions, private placements, collateralized financings, and securities borrowing and lending transactions. MUAH is owned by MUFG Bank, Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG Bank, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. Visit www.unionbank.com or www.mufgamericas.com for more information.

About MUFG

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world's leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with approximately 2,500 locations in more than 50 countries. The Group has about 170,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to "be the world's most trusted financial group" through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG's shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english .

Press contact:

Oksana Poltavets

(646) 767-1326

[email protected]

SOURCE MUFG
WASHINGTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A NASA aircraft will fly over the I-95 corridor from Washington to Baltimore and Hampton, Virginia, in support of an atmospheric campaign in the mid-Atlantic region between July 5 and 16, 2022.

The four-engine turboprop P-3 aircraft, based at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, will fly 5 days during the 12-day period at altitudes from 1,000 to 10,000 feet.

Each flight during the campaign will include one low level pass at 1,000 feet over I-95, two spiral tracks, ascending and descending, over Baltimore and one spiral track over Greenbelt, Maryland.

Additional passes during each flight will include a 1,000-foot pass over the Chesapeake Bay and one spiral track over Hampton, Virginia.

The P-3 can be tracked in real-time at NASA Airborne Science Program Tracker . Look for the plane icon labeled NASA P-3 (N426NA). Also, flight updates will be available via the Wallops Facebook and Twitter sites. The day before a flight, Wallops will post the estimated time the P-3 aircraft will fly over the I-95 corridor and Hampton.

The P-3 aircraft will carry instruments collecting atmospheric data over variable surface types such as urban, rural, vegetation and water to support a variety of scientific projects. The flight path was selected to correspond with ground instrumentation and previous NASA science flights. This allows scientists to compare the data with other instruments and time periods.

The flights are part of the Students Airborne Science Activation (SaSa) program coordinated by the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

This summer, the first student participants in the SaSa program will spend eight weeks gaining hands-on experience in all components of a scientific research campaign.

SaSa is on a mission to broaden the ethnic and racial diversity of researchers in the Earth sciences. The program is designed for first- and second-year undergraduates enrolled at Minority-Serving Institutions to participate in an authentic NASA field research campaign.

Students from Howard University in Washington; University of Maryland Baltimore County, Coppin State University, and Morgan State University  all three in Baltimore, Maryland; University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland; and Hampton University in Virginia, are participating the inaugural SaSa class.

To help retain students for careers in the geosciences, SaSa aims to make its participants feel welcome and supported in the field. The program offers multiple kinds of mentoring, discussions of the barriers faced and tools that helped others overcome the challenges to be retained in STEM, professional development, and networking opportunities.

SOURCE NASA
The film documents this story through the eyes of eight hosts from five rural guest houses throughout Moldova: Sergiu ( Hanul lui Hanganu ), Liuba ( Vila Roz ), Dan, Zaharia and Tatiana ( Casa Veche ), Ana ( Gagauz Sofrasi ), Olesea and Anatol ( Eco-Resort Butuceni ). On the unexpected front line of this humanitarian crisis, they immediately decided to open their guest houses, normally used for hosting tourists, to provide safe refuge and a welcoming smile to their Ukrainian guests.

Another important message: the viewer understands from this complex and dramatic context the nature of Moldovan hospitality. Genuine, even in times of crisis.

The film also tells the story of how a small tourism sector immediately united and acted in response to a humanitarian emergency, as seen through the Moldova for Peace campaign . This highlights tourism's potential strength and positive impact.

Finally, the documentary takes the viewer across Moldova to see some undiscovered places in this little known country. What you will see may surprise you, and the film invites viewers to visit and experience this hospitality for themselves.

The documentary gets its name from how the international press and United Nations began to refer to Moldova because of its heartfelt response to the refugee crisis, despite the country's small size of 2.6 million people and limited resources.

For more information about "A Small Country with a Big Heart" and how to host screenings of the documentary, please get in touch at: [email protected] .

The documentary is directed by Daniela Donici and Lucia Lupu with production by ANTRIM / Lulu Creative. Film image by Lucian Spataru. It is supported by the National Inbound and Domestic Tourism Association of Moldova (ANTRIM) and Moldova Travel with the support of the EDGE Buy-in Moldova Competitiveness Transition Activity funded by USAID.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Orrpzu202c

SOURCE National Inbound and Domestic Tourism Association of Moldova (ANTRIM)
PHILADELPHIA, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Closely monitoring this week's fatal Amtrak catastrophes in two states, national railroad disaster lawyers from Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky PC are urging swift action to dramatically improve safety  and save lives - at about 130,000 "passive" rail grade crossings. At least seven deaths combined have resulted from the starkly similar incidents in California and Missouri; Amtrak trains struck vehicles at controversial crossings that had no protective equipment, such as automatic warning signals and gates, to alert motorists of an oncoming train.

"How many more people have to die before this dangerous condition jeopardizing Amtrak passengers, crews, and motorists across America - is corrected?", asked attorneys-safety advocates Robert J. Mongeluzzi and Jeffrey P. Goodman of SMB.

Mr. Mongeluzzi said, "Investigations are tedious and will take a long time, but we already know from officials, including NTSB, that the Missouri rail crossing had been a source of serious safety concerns, and was identified for a safety overhaul. How do you explain the delay to the four families of those who died?"

Mr. Goodman added, "The NTSB has been advocating to government and industry for replacement of dangerous passive railroad crossings for more than two decades, and these latest fatal incidents underscore the need for immediate action," Mongeluzzi said. "Failure to act is a national disgrace."

Trial attorneys Mongeluzzi and Goodman have been among the lead lawyers in numerous catastrophic derailments including the 2015 derailment of Amtrak Train 188 that killed 8 people; the 2021 derailment of an Amtrak train in Montana that killed 3 people, and other fatal crashes in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. They have consistently advocated for sweeping rail safety upgrades, including Positive Train Control (PTC), better controlled crossings, and safer railcars, which would improve the survivability of accidents.

In addition to their experience representing victims in train derailments, Mr. Mongeluzzi and Mr. Goodman previously were the lead lawyers for the victims in the sinking of amphibious Stretch Duck Boat 07 in Branson, Missouri in 2018 that killed 17 people.

SOURCE Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky PC
LAS VEGAS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- OPTX, a leading casino intelligence agency, is excited to announce its partnership with Isleta Resort & Casino of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Isleta Resort & Casino has selected OPTX Slots and Slots AI for its slot analytics platform. While these products focus on the same operational department, the two products will contribute distinct operational value within Isleta's slots department. OPTX Slots contains real-time high-level daily KPIs, comprehensive reports, optimization tools, and machine performance tracking to help streamline daily operations and data-driven decision making. Slots AI utilizes AI and machine learning models to generate recommendations for relocation, conversion, removal, replacement, and revising of machines for total floor optimization.

Sue Mulholland, Slot Director at Isleta Resort & Casino, is looking forward to utilizing the OPTX platform. "After thorough research of all the options for slots floor optimization, we've decided to proceed with OPTX for a number of reasons. Most importantly, OPTX has an invariable track record of providing the most comprehensive intelligence in the market, putting its clients at the forefront of the casino industry." Mulholland further praised OPTX's Slots and Slots AI products, stating, "OPTX will provide powerful analytics and operational functionality for my entire department, helping us make smarter, faster decisions that will ultimately drive a better experience for our guests."

The opportunity to partner with yet another leading casino is a step forward in OPTX's mission to revolutionize the casino industry with never-before-seen technology. OPTX co-CEO Brooke Fiumara stated, "Isleta was looking for the best-in-class slot analytics and AI tool in the market to assist their team and drive profitability and performance. That is exactly what they will get with OPTX."

To learn more about OPTX and its revolutionary casino intelligence, visit https://optx.com/

ABOUT OPTX:

OPTX was founded in mid-2019 by former casino executives that believe only through the union of operations, people and technology can impactful results be achieved. The OPTX solution is designed from the ground up to simplify complex processes and improve operational efficiency. As an enterprise technology solution for casino operators, OPTX gathers the meaningful player data from multiple source systems, cleanses it and then presents it in an understandably clear way. For more information about OPTX go to www.OPTX.com .

SOURCE OPTX
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: 18; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 81219

Companies: 38 - Players covered include Akamai Technologies, Inc.; Amadeus IT Group SA; Amazon Web Services, Inc.; Atos SA; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Google Cloud Platform; IBM Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; Vmware, Inc. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Component (Software, Hardware); Application (Cloud Storage, Cloud Backup & Recovery, Cloud Security & Data Privacy, Web-Based Applications, High-Performance Computation (HPC) & Analytics); Vertical (BFSI, Gaming, Healthcare, Government, Academia & Education, Other Verticals)

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 Community Cloud Market to Reach $10.4 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Community Cloud estimated at US$2.6 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$10.4 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 25.7% over the analysis period. Hardware, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 23.8% CAGR and reach US$5.6 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Software segment is readjusted to a revised 27.3% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $1 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $1.8 Billion by 2026

The Community Cloud market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$1.8 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 25.1% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 22.9% and 22% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 18.1% 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.
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: 18; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 18501

Companies: 43 - Players covered include ABB Ltd.; Schneider Electric SA; Siemens AG; Texas Instruments, Inc.; Yokogawa Electric Corporation and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Component (Software, Hardware, Services); Application (Process Monitoring, Machine Monitoring, Asset Tracking, Safety & Surveillance); End-Use (Manufacturing, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Food & Beverage, Mining, Other End-Uses)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Spain; Russia; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (Australia; India; South Korea; and Rest of Asia-Pacific); Latin America (Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Rest of Latin America); Middle East (Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; and Rest of Middle East); and Africa.

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 Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) Market to Reach $8.3 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) estimated at US$3.9 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$8.3 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 13.2% over the analysis period. Hardware, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 12.7% CAGR and reach US$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 Software segment is readjusted to a revised 12.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $1.2 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $1.8 Billion by 2026

The Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1.2 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$1.8 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 17.3% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 9.3% and 11.6% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 10.4% CAGR.

Service Segment to Reach US$2.2 Billion by the year 2026

In the global Service segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 13.7% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$734.8 Million will reach a projected size of US$1.8 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. 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.
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- North Korea leads the world in crypto crime according to a new report from Coincub. An army of approximately 7,000 hackers has raised funds for the DPRK through a series of profitable cyberattacks. North Korea has over 15 documented instances of crypto crime, with proceeds conservatively estimated at $1.59 billion.

The US and Russia take second and third place in Coincub.com's inaugural crypto crime ranking. The United States is in second place due to the scale of its underground crypto economy and a series of high-profile scams. The U.S. had 14 documented instances of attributable crypto crime, with proceeds over $2 billion.

The sheer amount of ransomware coming out of Russia qualifies it for third place. The country is the point of origin for infamous malware strains like Conti, REvil, Ryuk, and Netwalker. Organized gangs of hackers often enjoy tolerance, if not outright approval from the Kremlin.

Large-scale fraud, exchange hacks, and Ponzi schemes mean that China places fourth on Coincub's crypto crime ranking. China also leads in fraud profits, with an 18% share of the world's crypto crime volume.

The United Kingdom takes fifth place due to the many hacks and scams that have taken place within its jurisdiction. The U.K. is a global hub for crypto fraud as lax corporate regulations allow fraudsters to obfuscate the source and destination of funds. In 2021 alone, 7,118 cases of crypto fraud were reported.

Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, the British Virgin Islands, and Seychelles rounded out the top 10 for crypto crime.

Despite crypto's reputation for crime, research shows that the crypto economy is relatively law-abiding. According to Coincub CEO Sergiu Hamza, "while crypto fraud reached an all-time high last year it still represents a small part of the total crypto market at 0.15%. In comparison, criminal activity makes up 2-5% of the world's GDP. It's clear that crypto transactions are not disproportionately related to illicit activities. Nevertheless, people still need to be vigilant about crypto crime by observing security best practices."

Crypto crime is still a pressing issue today, as seen by a recent $100 million hack on blockchain bridge Horizon.

Read the full breakdown of the worldwide crypto crime ranking here.

Editors' notes:

Coincub took data from over 244 instances of criminal activity connected to cryptocurrency to create this ranking. Coincub, the crypto ranking website, produces quarterly rankings for individual countries and continents, including top mining countries and most advantageous locations for trading and tax purposes. The crypto crime ranking category has been added for Q2 and will form part of quarterly rankings going forward.

About Coincub.com

Coincub.com offers bespoke information, guidance, and analysis on the workings of the crypto economy for both new and experienced crypto investors on a uniquely country-by-country basis. Full country rankings and exchange rates can be found on the website.

Contact:

Sergiu Hamza

Chief Executive Officer Coincub

[email protected]

+353 871756897

 Coincub 2022 - Your crypto country guide

All rights reserved - IPOI Reg No. 265792

5th floor, 40 Mespil Road, Dublin 4, D04C2N4, Ireland

SOURCE Coincub.com
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Solar Control Glass Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global solar control glass market reached a value of US$ 5.46 billion in 2021. Looking forward, the market is projected to reach a value of US$ 9.38 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.20% during 2022-2027.

Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, the analyst is continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different End-use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Solar control glass refers to a kind of glass with a special coating that is precisely manufactured to reduce the extent of heat entering a specific space. The solar control coating on the glass reflects heat from the sun back, outside of the area it has been installed on, such as a building, automotive, or a greenhouse. It significantly reduces the amount of heat that can pass through, thereby providing a more usable and comfortable space.

Along with absorbing and reflecting heat, these glasses also filter out light and offer reduced glare, thus maintaining a cozier interior in summers and reducing the need for air-conditioning. A varied range of aesthetics, such as reflective, tinted, and neutral, are offered by different types of solar control glasses. A combination of solar control glasses with LOW-E thermal insulation in dual glazing windows with self-cleaning systems provides optimal temperature all year round.



Solar Control Glass Market Trends

The global market is primarily driven by the increasing adoption of solar control glasses in automobiles. Since they reduce the heat load on the vehicle while minimizing the need for air conditioning, this results in higher mileage and reduced fuel consumption. This is further supported by the widespread preference of consumers toward cost-effective and energy-efficient vehicles.

Significant demand for solar control glass in residential and commercial buildings due to the rising awareness regarding the high air conditioning costs is also acting as a major growth-inducing factor. In addition to this, rapid urbanization, the escalating concerns regarding carbon dioxide emissions, growing consciousness regarding climate change, and the expansion of smart construction activities are some of the other factors contributing to the market growth across the globe.

Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being AGC Inc., arcon Flach- und Sicherheitsglas GmbH & Co. KG, Cardinal Glass Industries Inc., Central Glass Ltd., Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A., Euroglas GmbH, Guardian Industries LLC (Koch Industries Inc.), Nippon Sheet Glass Co. Ltd., PPG Industries Inc., Schott AG, Shanghai Yaohua Pilkington Glass Group Co. Ltd. and Sisecam (Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S.).



Key Questions Answered in This Report

How has the global solar control glass market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global solar control glass market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the glass type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the coating method?

What is the breakup of the market based on the nature?

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 solar control glass 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 Solar Control Glass Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Glass Type

6.1 Float Glass

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Heat Strengthened Glass

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Laminated Glass

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Tempered Glass

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Others

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Coating Method

7.1 Hard Coated

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Soft Coated

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Nature

8.1 Electrochromic

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Photochromic

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Gasochromic

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Others

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Application

9.1 Residential

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Commercial

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast

9.3 Automotive

9.3.1 Market Trends

9.3.2 Market Forecast

9.4 Others

9.4.1 Market Trends

9.4.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Region



11 SWOT Analysis



12 Value Chain Analysis



13 Porters Five Forces Analysis



14 Price Analysis



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Structure

15.2 Key Players

15.3 Profiles of Key Players

15.3.1 AGC Inc.

15.3.1.1 Company Overview

15.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.1.3 Financials

15.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.2 arcon Flach- und Sicherheitsglas GmbH & Co. KG

15.3.2.1 Company Overview

15.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.3 Cardinal Glass Industries Inc.

15.3.3.1 Company Overview

15.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.4 Central Glass Ltd.

15.3.4.1 Company Overview

15.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.5 Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A.

15.3.5.1 Company Overview

15.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.5.3 Financials

15.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.6 Euroglas GmbH

15.3.6.1 Company Overview

15.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7 Guardian Industries LLC (Koch Industries Inc.)

15.3.7.1 Company Overview

15.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7.3 SWOT Analysis

15.3.8 Nippon Sheet Glass Co. Ltd.

15.3.8.1 Company Overview

15.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.8.3 Financials

15.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.9 PPG Industries Inc.

15.3.9.1 Company Overview

15.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.9.3 Financials

15.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.10 Schott AG

15.3.10.1 Company Overview

15.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.10.3 SWOT Analysis

15.3.11 Shanghai Yaohua Pilkington Glass Group Co. Ltd.

15.3.11.1 Company Overview

15.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.11.3 Financials

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qzgyvx

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina , June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pan American Energy, S.L., Argentine Branch (the "Issuer"), a branch of Pan American Energy, S.L., a Spanish limited liability company ("Pan American," and together with the Issuer, "we" or "our"), today announced it has commenced an offer to exchange (the "Exchange Offer") any and all of its outstanding 5.000% Senior Notes due 2023 (the "Existing Notes") for its New Notes, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Exchange Offer Memorandum (the "Exchange Offer Memorandum"), dated June 29, 2022, and the related Eligibility Letter (as defined below) (together, the "Exchange Offer Documents"). Pan American will provide a full and unconditional guarantee in the form of a debt recognition obligation (the "Guarantee") in respect of the New Notes. Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Exchange Offer Documents.

The following table sets forth certain material terms of the Exchange Offer:

Existing Notes

Description CUSIP/ISIN Principal Amount Outstanding Exchange Consideration(1) 5.000% Senior Notes due 2023(2) Regulation S: CUSIP E7S78B AA0; ISIN USE7S78BAA00 Regulation D: CUSIP 69784D AA6; ISIN US69784DAA63 U.S.$120,000,000 U.S.$1,000 principal amount of the New Notes(3)



(1) Per U.S.$1,000 principal amount of the Existing Notes validly tendered and accepted for exchange at or prior to the Expiration Date (as defined herein) (such New Notes, the "Exchange Consideration"). The Exchange Consideration does not include the Accrued Interest (as defined herein), which shall be paid in cash together with the Exchange Consideration.

(2) The Existing Notes are currently listed and traded on the Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos S.A. (the "BYMA") through the Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires (the "BCBA") acting in accordance with the authority delegated by the BYMA to the BCBA and traded on the Mercado Abierto Electronico S.A.

(3) To be issued in registered, global form and represented by one or more Regulation S Global Notes deposited with a common depositary for Euroclear Bank SA/NV ("Euroclear") and Clearstream Banking, S.A. ("Clearstream").

The main purpose of the Exchange Offer is to provide Eligible Holders (as defined herein) with the opportunity to remain invested in the Issuer's debt securities by exchanging their Existing Notes for New Notes. The terms of the New Notes will be substantially identical to the terms of the Existing Notes, except primarily that the New Notes will provide an extended maturity and an increase in the rate at which interest will accrue. Regardless of the results of the Exchange Offer, the Existing Notes will mature on November 15, 2023, at which time the Issuer will fully repay any outstanding Existing Notes not tendered in the Exchange Offer, unless repurchased, redeemed or exchanged prior to maturity. Participation in the Exchange Offer is voluntary and there is no minimum or maximum tender amount for the Exchange Offer.

The tender of Existing Notes by an Eligible Holder pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Exchange Offer Memorandum and the acceptance thereof by the Issuer will constitute an agreement between such Eligible Holder and the Issuer in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Exchange Offer Documents. The Existing Notes exchanged in the Exchange Offer will be cancelled.

To be eligible to receive the Exchange Consideration, Eligible Holders must validly tender their Existing Notes at or prior to 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on July 15, 2022, unless extended by the Issuer in its sole discretion (such date and time, as may be extended, the "Expiration Date"). The deadlines set by any intermediary or relevant clearing system may be earlier than this deadline. Tenders of Existing Notes may not be withdrawn or revoked, unless required by applicable law. No alternative, conditional or contingent tenders will be accepted.

In addition to the Exchange Consideration, on the Settlement Date (as defined herein), Eligible Holders will be entitled to receive payment of accrued and unpaid interest from and including the interest payment date on November 15, 2021 to, but not including, the Settlement Date (rounded down to the nearest cent) paid in cash with respect to Existing Notes accepted for exchange (the "Accrued Interest"). Interest will cease to accrue on the Settlement Date for all Existing Notes accepted in the Exchange Offer. Tenders will be accepted and Accrued Interest will be paid through The Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). The delivery of New Notes will be made through Euroclear and Clearstream. Under no circumstances will any interest be payable because of any delay in the transmission of the Exchange Consideration or the Accrued Interest to Eligible Holders by DTC, Euroclear, Clearstream or any other clearing system.

Eligible Holders of the Existing Notes who are Argentine Entity Offerees or Non-Cooperating Jurisdiction Offerees may be subject to certain tax withholdings resulting from the exchange of their Existing Notes. See "The Exchange OfferAdditional Amounts" in the Exchange Offer Memorandum.

The Issuer expects to deliver the New Notes and Accrued Interest on July 21, 2022 in respect of Existing Notes which have been accepted for exchange in the Exchange Offer, which is the fourth business day after the Expiration Date (such date, as may be extended, the "Settlement Date").

To review the Exchange Offer Memorandum and participate in the Exchange Offer you must electronically submit an eligibility letter through the Eligibility Letter website (https://projects.morrowsodali.com/PanamericanenergyEligibility) (the "Eligibility Letter") certifying that you are an Eligible Holder. An "Eligible Holder" is a beneficial owner of Existing Notes that certifies that it is a person outside the United States (as defined in Rule 902 under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act")) who is: (A) not a "U.S. person" (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act); and (B)(i) each person who is shown in the records of DTC as a holder of the Existing Notes (also referred to as "Direct Participants"); (ii) any broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee or intermediary who holds Existing Notes; or (iii) each beneficial owner of Existing Notes holding the Existing Notes, directly or indirectly, in accounts in the name of a Direct Participant or other nominee or intermediary acting on the beneficial owner's behalf.

The New Notes and the Guarantee have not been registered under the Securities Act. The New Notes are being offered for exchange only outside the United States to persons other than "U.S. persons" (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act) and who are not acquiring New Notes for the account or benefit of a U.S. person, in offshore transactions in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.

For a description of the terms of the New Notes, see the Exchange Offer Documents.

The New Notes will constitute non-convertible negotiable obligations (obligaciones negociables) under Argentine Negotiable Obligations Law No. 23,576, as amended and supplemented (the "Negotiable Obligations Law"), will be entitled to the benefits set forth therein and subject to the procedural requirements established therein, and will be issued and placed in accordance with such law, Law No. 26,831, as amended and supplemented, including Law No. 27,440, as amended and supplemented, General Resolution No. 622/2013 issued by the Comision Nacional de Valores (the "CNV") as amended and supplemented (the "CNV Rules"), and any other Argentine applicable laws and regulations.

The Issuer is registered as a frequent issuer (emisor frecuente) with the CNV, under Register No. 12, authorized by Dispositions No. DI-2020-34-APN-GE of the CNV dated July 3, 2020, No. DI-2020-42-APN-GE#CNV of the CNV dated September 4, 2020, No. DI-2021-9-APN-GE#CNV of the CNV dated March 29, 2021 and No. DI-2022-14-APN-GE#CNV of the CNV dated May 5, 2022 (together, the "Dispositions"). The Issuer has registered with the CNV a U.S.$3,000,000,000 (or the equivalent amount in other currencies or units of value) Argentine frequent issuer prospectus dated May 6, 2022. The New Notes will be offered in Argentina by means of an Argentine exchange prospectus supplement (suplemento de prospecto y canje) in the Spanish language, in accordance with the CNV Rules, containing substantially the same information as the Exchange Offer Memorandum, other than with respect to certain information required under the CNV's frequent issuer regime provided in General Resolution No.746/2018 of the CNV and the CNV Rules (the "Frequent Issuer Regime"). The CNV's authorizations mean only that the information requirements of the CNV have been satisfied. The CNV has not rendered any opinion in respect of the accuracy of the information contained in the Exchange Offer Memorandum or the Argentine exchange prospectus supplement. In making a decision to participate in the Exchange Offer, Eligible Holders must rely on their own review and examination of the Issuer. The Exchange Offer Memorandum is not intended for Eligible Holders in Argentina.

Eligible Holders in Argentina are urged to read, must follow the procedures set forth in, and must rely exclusively on, the Argentine exchange prospectus supplement.

The public offering of the New Notes in Argentina is included in the authorization that the CNV granted to the Issuer to issue notes under the Frequent Issuer Regime, in accordance with Section VIII, Chapter V, Title II of the CNV Rules. Neither the Exchange Offer Memorandum nor the Argentine exchange prospectus supplement have been previously reviewed or approved by the CNV. The Issuer will file the final documentation related the New Notes with the CNV within five Argentine business days of the Expiration Date, in accordance with Article 74, Section VIII, Title II, Chapter V of the CNV Rules.

The Exchange Offer is subject to certain conditions, as more fully described in the Exchange Offer Memorandum, which may be asserted or waived by the Issuer in full or in part in its sole discretion. The Issuer reserves the right to, subject to applicable law, amend or terminate the Exchange Offer at any time and to not accept for exchange any Existing Notes tendered under the Exchange Offer. The Issuer will give you notice of any amendments or termination if required by applicable law.

Subject to market conditions and in its sole discretion, the Issuer may, in the future, make an offering of debt securities that will be fungible with the New Notes. However, no assurance can be provided that any such offering will be made.

None of the Issuer, Pan American, the Dealer Managers, the Argentine Dealer Managers, the trustee for the Existing Notes, the trustee for the New Notes or the Information and Exchange Agent makes any recommendation as to whether or not Eligible Holders of Existing Notes should participate in the Exchange Offer.

To reimburse the time and cost of processing the tender of Existing Notes in the Exchange Offer, the Issuer will pay a processing fee to brokers acting on behalf of certain Eligible Holders. This processing fee will be payable to brokers only with respect to individual tenders of up to U.S.$250,000 aggregate principal amount of Existing Notes per each Eligible Holder and will be in an amount equal to 0.25% of the principal amount of such tendered Existing Notes that are accepted for exchange. See "The Exchange OfferProcessing Fee" in the Exchange Offer Memorandum for more information regarding eligibility requirements and the process brokers must follow to obtain the processing fee.

Eligible Holders tendering Existing Notes in Argentina through participants in Caja de Valores S.A. ("Caja de Valores") must also comply with the applicable procedures of, and deadlines specified by, Caja de Valores in connection with a tender of Existing Notes. Caja de Valores is a Direct Participant in DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream.

Neither the delivery of the Exchange Offer Memorandum nor any offer of New Notes made thereunder will, under any circumstances, imply that there has been no change in our affairs or that the information set forth in the Exchange Offer Memorandum is correct as of any date subsequent to the date of the Exchange Offer Memorandum.

This press release is qualified in its entirety by the Exchange Offer Documents. This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or an invitation to participate in the Exchange Offer. The Exchange Offer is being made pursuant to the Exchange Offer Documents, copies of which will be delivered to holders of the Existing Notes, and which set forth the complete terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer. Eligible Holders are urged to read the Exchange Offer Documents carefully before making any decision with respect to their Existing Notes. The Exchange Offer is not being made to, nor will the Issuer accept exchanges of Existing Notes from holders in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to make such an offer.

Morrow Sodali International LLC is acting as the information and exchange agent (the "Information and Exchange Agent") for the Exchange Offer. Itau BBA USA Securities, Inc. and Banco Santander, S.A. are acting as dealer managers (the "Dealer Managers") for the Exchange Offer outside of Argentina. Banco Itau Argentina S.A. and Banco Santander Argentina S.A. are acting as dealer managers (the "Argentine Dealer Managers") for the Exchange Offer in Argentina.

For further information about the terms of the Exchange Offer, please contact the Dealer Managers at their addresses and telephone numbers set forth below. Questions relating to the terms of the Exchange Offer by Eligible Holders in Argentina should be directed to the Argentine Dealer Managers. Questions concerning tender procedures and requests for additional copies of this Exchange Offer Memorandum should be directed to the Information and Exchange Agent at its email address and telephone numbers set forth below or by accessing the Eligibility Letter website (https://projects.morrowsodali.com/PanamericanenergyEligibility).

DEALER MANAGERS

Itau BBA USA Securities, Inc.

540 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, New York 10022 United States of America Telephone (U.S. Toll Free): +1 (888) 770-4828 Telephone (U.S.): +1 (212) 710-6749 Banco Santander, S.A.

Ciudad Grupo Santander Avenida de Cantabria s/n Edificio Encinar, planta baja 28660 Boadilla del Monte Madrid, Spain Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 7418 709 688 / +44 (0) 7708 315 191 Attention: Liability Management

INFORMATION AND EXCHANGE AGENT

E-mail: [email protected]

In Stamford:

333 Ludlow Street, South Tower, 5th Floor

Stamford, CT 06902

United States of America

Telephone: +1 203 609 4910 In London:

103 Wigmore Street

W1U 1QS, London

United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 20 4513 6933

About Pan American

Pan American is a leading integrated energy company with upstream and downstream operations in Argentina, as well as upstream operations in Bolivia and Mexico. We are engaged primarily in the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, the refining of crude oil and the distribution and marketing of refined products. We are also engaged in oil and gas services and power generation including renewable energy projects in Argentina and Brazil.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, financial results, liquidity and capital resources, contingencies and other non-historical statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These statements should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this press release and in the Exchange Offer Documents. Neither the Issuer nor Pan American undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Investor Relations

Contact:

Pan American Energy, S.L., Argentine Branch.

Av. Leandro N. Alem 1180 (C1001AAT)

Buenos Aires, Argentina

(+5411) 4310-4100

https://www.pan-energy.com/

Contact: Michael Truscelli

Phone: +1 203 609 4910

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Pan American Energy, S.L., Argentine Branch
Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8676256-capital-concerts-pbs-a-capitol-fourth-2022/

Broadway legend and one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history, Chita Rivera, will lead a 65th anniversary celebration of WEST SIDE STORY featuring the National Symphony Orchestra who will perform a special musical tribute to one of Broadway's most successful shows. A theatrical icon, Rivera's electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of WEST SIDE STORY in 1957 brought her stardom. The segment will feature a performance of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's iconic ballad "Somewhere" by Tony, Emmy, and Grammy winner and two-time Oscar nominee, Cynthia Erivo.

The evening will also include a special tribute to our men and women in uniform and their families by Emmy Award-winning, multiplatinum selling recording artist and published author Rachel Platten who will perform her hit song "Stand by You."

The concert also marks the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Memorial, one of America's most famous and majestic landmarks. It was built as a tribute to a President whose leadership united the nation in a time of crisis, and whose eloquence spoke to our aspirations and dreams of a better tomorrow. The segment will feature a stirring performance of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Yolanda Adams live from the Lincoln Memorial.

Returning live from Washington, D.C., the top-rated, award-winning program available on television, radio and digital media puts viewers front and center for America's biggest birthday party. The celebration will be capped off with the greatest display of fireworks in the U.S.A. lighting up our nation's iconic skyline featuring twenty cameras positioned around the city to capture the best views. Accompanied by patriotic musical favorites, the fireworks extravaganza will also feature The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own," with a commemoration of its 100th anniversary.

A CAPITOL FOURTH airs on PBS Monday, July 4, 2022 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network. The program can also be heard in stereo over NPR member stations nationwide and will be streaming on YouTube and www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth and available as Video on Demand for a limited time only, July 4 to July 18, 2022.

Also participating in the event will be the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, U.S. Army Presidential Salute Battery, Members of the Armed Forces carrying the State and Territorial Flags, the Armed Forces Color Guard provided by the Military District of Washington, D.C., the Choral Arts Society of Washington and Patrick Lundy & The Ministers of Music.

A CAPITOL FOURTH is made possible by grants from The Boeing Company, the National Park Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Department of the Army, PBS and public television stations nationwide. Air travel is provided by American Airlines.

SOURCE Capital Concerts
Cites credibility, robust corporate governance practices and strong executive leadership

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and PUNE, India, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

News Summary

Persistent Systems (BSE: PERSISTENT) (NSE: PERSISTENT) has been acknowledged as an 'Honored Company', one of the seven such companies across Asia (ex-Japan) by highly regarded sell-side analysts in the '2022 Asia Executive Team - Small and Mid-Cap' rankings (ex-Japan) for the Technology IT Services and Software industry. The Company received this recognition owing to more than one published position in the rankings that includes, first rank in the Investor Relations (IR) Team category and third rank for its Investor Relations Program. Additionally, Sandeep Kalra, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Persistent ranked second among CEOs and Saurabh Dwivedi, Head  Investor Relations of Persistent ranked first in the IR Professional category.

Institutional Investor Magazine, a leading international publication for the investment community surveyed over 4,800 investment professionals to determine the winners of Institutional Investor's 2022 Asia (ex-Japan) Executive Team.

These ratings are an endorsement of Persistent's IR program from sell-side analysts based on several factors including roadshows/conferences/meetings, IR Team authority and credibility, accessibility of senior executives, responsiveness, earnings calls, business and market knowledge, timeliness of disclosure and consistency & granularity of disclosure.

Sandeep Kalra, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Persistent:

"Advancing our stakeholder engagement and communication with our shareholders and the investor community has been a priority for Persistent, right alongside our focus on clients, employees, partners, and communities. Our strong performance across various categories is a testament to our robust IR practices that we continually work to improve on and enhance. We would like to thank Institutional Investor and the IR community for their confidence in us to not only deliver industry-leading performance, but to also drive consistent and quality engagement with them."

Sunil Sapre, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Persistent:

"I would like to thank the investor community who participated in this process and chose to vote for the Persistent team, which has worked hard to transform the Company's investor relations for the past two years. This recognition is a confirmation of our strong IR personnel and framework, and we will continue to strive to achieve the highest standards of governance in our approach. As always, we look forward to engaging with the analyst community, credibly communicating Persistent's goals and performance as we evolve our business strategy and operations."

About Persistent

With over 18,500 employees located in 19 countries, Persistent Systems (BSE & NSE: PERSISTENT) is a global services and solutions company delivering Digital Engineering and Enterprise Modernization. Persistent was named to the Forbes Asia Best Under a Billion 2021 list, representing consistent top-and bottom-line performance as well as growth.

www.persistent.com

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

For risks and uncertainties relating to forward-looking statements, please visit persistent.com/FLCS

Media Contacts:

Keith Landis

Persistent Systems (Global)

+1 856 672 1753

[email protected]

Manohar Dhanakshirur

Archetype

+91 750 644 5361

[email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1022385/Persistent_Systems_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Persistent Systems
Pixability and GARM will build upon the YouTube and CTV Suitability and Performance industry education initiatives they've already developed together

BOSTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixability (www.pixability.com), the only provider of software and insights for video advertising on YouTube and other leading connected TV (CTV) platforms, today announced it has become an official member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), the cross-industry initiative established by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). The company has been tapped to play a leading role in helping to establish contextual, brand safety and suitability guidelines for the advertising industry while increasing trust and transparency for advertisers. Pixability has been working closely with GARM since the initiative's inception to help move the marketplace forward with regard to standards and education, and will now become a key member of a group of select ad technology companies that have been invited to officially join the initiative. In October 2021, Pixability released a major study in collaboration with GARM titled What Every Agency Should Know About Brand Safety, Brand Suitability & Performance on YouTube. The study became a critical educational resource for agencies and brands seeking a deeper understanding of safety and suitability issues on YouTube.

"In a short period of time, GARM has had an incredibly meaningful impact on our industry, bringing together key leaders from agencies, brands and platforms to set standards, ensure transparency, and give advertisers more in control," said David George, CEO of Pixability. "From the start, we've been working very closely with GARM and are thrilled to now be one of the first ad technology companies to be invited to become an official member of this important initiative."

GARM was established by the WFA to address the challenges resulting from harmful content on digital media platforms and monetization via advertising. It brings together advertisers, agencies, media companies, platforms, industry organizations and, most recently, ad tech providers. GARM's mission is to help the digital media ecosystem work together on shared priorities that will lead to the removal of harmful content from advertiser-supported social media.

"Brands play a pivotal role in online media operations and it's our responsibility to make sure that their advertising decisions support positive content and avoid harmful content," said Rob Rakowitz, Initiative Lead - Global Alliance for Responsible Media. "We are creating standards, promoting transparency and providing controls for advertisers who are addressing these challenges and we welcome the opportunity to work with companies who share our priorities. We are excited to partner with Pixability to ensure a safer online environment that builds trust with both marketers and consumers."

About Pixability

Pixability is a technology and data company that empowers the world's largest brands and their agencies to maximize the value of video advertising on YouTube, YouTube CTV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Hulu. The company's industry-leading optimization and insights solutions are independently verified by the YouTube Measurement Program, DoubleVerify, Oracle Data Cloud's Moat Measurement, Integral Ad Science and other third parties. Pixability's suite of solutions are used by the top media agencies and brands including Dentsu-Aegis, Havas, Interpublic Group, Omnicom, Publicis, and GroupM, as well as Swatch, Bose, KIND, Hilton, Jack in the Box, and Puma. For more information about Pixability, please visit www.pixability.com .

SOURCE Pixability
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) issued an Order requiring Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), wholly-owned subsidiary of PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE: PNM), to issue rate credits related to the retirement of the San Juan Generating Station (San Juan).

The Order calls for an immediate reduction to customer rates upon the retirement of each of the two remaining units of San Juan, resulting in an approximately $128 million pre-tax, non-recurring reduction to revenues over 2022 and 2023. The rate credits eliminate PNM's ability to recover costs necessary to support the transition to carbon free energy until they expire with the anticipated January 2024 implementation of updated customer base rates following a general rate review.

For the benefit of customers, PNM has been deferring the implementation of updated customer base rates since 2020. Today's order penalizes PNM for deferral of the rate review and is directly contrary to the Energy Transition Act and inconsistent with the prior NMPRC financing order, which was previously challenged and upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

"We wholeheartedly and unconditionally stand in continued support of New Mexico's landmark energy policy laid out in the Energy Transition Act and its provisions for carbon-free energy, reduced customer costs and support for impacted communities. Despite external challenges, our teams have worked to go beyond adoption of the legislation and find ways to achieve the carbon-free transition earlier and more cost effectively for customers," said Pat Vincent-Collawn, PNM Resources Chairman and CEO. "It is disheartening for PNM to be arbitrarily penalized today for opting not to file its planned customer rate increases over the last two years, a change made for the benefit of customers as we navigated the energy transition amid an unforeseeable global pandemic. We will appeal today's order."

Following the NMPRC vote to issue the Order during its open meeting, PNM filed an Emergency Motion for a stay of the rate credits pending its appeal. In the filing, PNM indicated that if the NMPRC has not acted upon the Emergency Motion by the time PNM files its Notice of Appeal with the New Mexico Supreme Court, PNM will file an emergency motion with the Court seeking an interim stay of the Order.

Today's order, and PNM's Emergency Motion filing, will be posted when available at https://www.pnmresources.com/investors/rates-and-filings.aspx.

Background:

PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) is an energy holding company based in Albuquerque, N.M., with 2021 consolidated operating revenues of $1.8 billion. Through its regulated utilities, PNM and TNMP, PNM Resources provides electricity to approximately 800,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas. PNM serves its customers with a diverse mix of generation and purchased power resources totaling 3.2 gigawatts of capacity, with a goal to achieve 100% emissions-free energy by 2040. For more information, visit the company's website at www.PNMResources.com .

CONTACTS:

Analysts Media Lisa Goodman Ray Sandoval (505) 241-2160 (505) 241-2782

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Statements made in this news release for PNM Resources, Inc. ("PNMR"), Public Service Company of New Mexico ("PNM"), or Texas-New Mexico Power Company ("TNMP") (collectively, the "Company") that relate to future events or expectations, projections, estimates, intentions, goals, targets, and strategies, including the unaudited financial results and earnings guidance, are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that all forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and estimates and apply only as of the date of this report. PNMR, PNM, and TNMP assume no obligation to update this information. Because actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, PNMR, PNM, and TNMP caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements. PNMR's, PNM's, and TNMP's business, financial condition, cash flow, and operating results are influenced by many factors, which are often beyond their control, that can cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Additionally, there are risks and uncertainties in connection with the proposed acquisition of us by AVANGRID which may adversely affect our business, future opportunities, employees and common stock, including without limitation, (i) the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the pending Merger, including the timing, receipt and terms and conditions of any remaining required governmental and regulatory approvals of the pending Merger that could reduce anticipated benefits or cause the parties to abandon the transaction, (ii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement, (iii) the risk that the parties may not be able to satisfy the conditions to the proposed Merger in a timely manner or at all, and (iv) the risk that the proposed transaction could have an adverse effect on the ability of PNMR to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with its customers and suppliers, and on its operating results and businesses generally. For a discussion of risk factors and other important factors affecting forward-looking statements, please see the Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q filings and the information included in the Company's Forms 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which factors are specifically incorporated by reference herein.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

GAAP refers to generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. Ongoing earnings is a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes the impact of net unrealized mark-to-market gains and losses on economic hedges, the net change in unrealized gains and losses on investment securities, pension expense related to previously disposed of gas distribution business, and certain non-recurring, infrequent, and other items that are not indicative of fundamental changes in the earnings capacity of the Company's operations. The Company uses ongoing earnings and ongoing earnings per diluted share to evaluate the operations of the Company and to establish goals, including those used for certain aspects of incentive compensation, for management and employees. While the Company believes these financial measures are appropriate and useful for investors, they are not measures presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company does not intend for these measures, or any piece of these measures, to represent any financial measure as defined by GAAP. Furthermore, the Company's calculations of these measures as presented may or may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. The Company uses ongoing earnings guidance to provide investors with management's expectations of ongoing financial performance over the period presented. While the Company believes ongoing earnings guidance is an appropriate measure, it is not a measure presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company does not intend for ongoing earnings guidance to represent an expectation of net earnings as defined by GAAP. Since the future differences between GAAP and ongoing earnings are frequently outside the control of the Company, management is generally not able to estimate the impact of the reconciling items between forecasted GAAP net earnings and ongoing earnings guidance, nor their probable impact on GAAP net earnings without unreasonable effort, therefore, management is generally not able to provide a corresponding GAAP equivalent for ongoing earnings guidance.

SOURCE PNM Resources, Inc.
LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Poderistas , a digital community built to celebrate Latinx culture and help Latinas harness their power, launched their Voice + Action = Poder Vote 2022 campaign. The campaign will look to motivate, inform, and mobilize Latina voters  one of the fastest-growing voting blocs in the United States  in this year's critical midterm election cycle. The organization is working to continue to build momentum after record breaking voter turnout among the Latino community in the 2020 presidential election.

The Voice + Action = Poder campaign will uplift actionable and accurate voting and civic engagement resources and information, making it easy for voters and organizers to own their power this year. The five-month campaign kicks off with the launch of the Poder Portal, powered by AARP. The portal will serve as a comprehensive voter resource and educational tool that is specifically tailored to Latina voters and the Poderistas community. According to a 2021 survey, the Poderistas audience is composed almost entirely of registered and habitually-engaged voters with deep roots in their communities. The Poder Portal is designed to go deeper than the basics, and includes resources to help the Poderistas community bring their network along with them - whether it be to the polls, volunteering on a campaign, or organizing around the issues that matter the most. The portal includes resources such as printable bilingual voter information that can be distributed at the community-level, and an interactive map of the United States that displays Latinx voter demographics and critical state-specific resources.

Throughout the remainder of the 2022 election cycle, Poderistas will host a number of events and activations, and will share actionable and clear content that will build momentum, and help Latina voters use their voice during this year's midterm elections:

Monthly Opportunities for Direct Action: The campaign will include monthly opportunities for direct action with Poderistas partners across the country. These direct actions will kick off with a virtual event in July co-hosted by VoteRiders - the only non-partisan, non-profit organization solely dedicated to voter ID education and assistance.

The campaign will include monthly opportunities for direct action with Poderistas partners across the country. These direct actions will kick off with a virtual event in July co-hosted by VoteRiders - the only non-partisan, non-profit organization solely dedicated to voter ID education and assistance. Flex Your Poder Voting Kits: Starting in August, the Flex Your Poder Voting Kit will be sold on Poderistas.com and other platforms. Each kit will include voter resources and exclusive election day 'must-haves' from Latinx small businesses.

Starting in August, the Flex Your Poder Voting Kit will be sold on Poderistas.com and other platforms. Each kit will include voter resources and exclusive election day 'must-haves' from Latinx small businesses. Poderistas GOTV Pop-Ups: From July through November, the Poderistas team will be on the ground in four states  Florida , Arizona , Texas and Nevada , all of which have high-stakes midterm elections and a high proportion of Latinx voters. The Poderistas GOTV Pop-ups will aim to empower Latinas everywhere to use their voice, take action, and own their power in this election cycle. Each multi-day Pop-up party will feature local art installations, giveaways, local neighborhood tours, and Poderistas Cafecito Chats, powered by AARP.

"Latina voters turned out in record numbers in 2020, which is a feat we are so proud of, but we can't stop there." said Poderistas co-founder, activist, actress, producer, and director Eva Longoria. "This year's midterm elections are incredibly consequential - for many of us, this election cycle could be one of our last chances at protecting our most foundational freedoms. We need Latina voters everywhere to come together and join Poderistas in taking action - let's use our power to make sure all our voices are heard at the ballot box. When we vote, and we bring everyone along with us, we can make the change we urgently need in our communities."

"We know where our community stands - Poderistas are informed, engaged, and excited to get more involved. Voice + Action = Poder is all about meeting our community where they are at, and helping them own the power that they already have," said Charlotte Castillo, Managing Director of Poderistas. "So you've voted in every presidential election? Great. But what about the midterms? So you're registered to vote? Great. But what about your mom? Your tias, and your cousins? This election cycle, there are 34 Senate seats and all 435 House seats up for election at a national level, along with critical seats up and down the ballot in every county, city, and state across the country. We've seen how deeply state and local politics can impact our day to day lives - sometimes seemingly overnight - so we need to take this opportunity to stand up and show up at the ballot box this year. We are stronger when we move together!"

"It's more important now than ever to use your voice and your power to vote," said AARP's Multicultural Engagement, Disparities and Equity Director, Lisa Simpson. "That's why we're thrilled to partner with Poderistas to ensure you have all the tools you need to make your voice heard during this election cycle. You have the power to help elect leaders who will take on the issues and concerns that matter most to you; and together, our voices will be the deciding factor in the 2022 elections."

Voice + Action = Poder is all about making it easy for Latina voters to own their power this year, and every election cycle going forward. For more information on how to get involved, please visit www.poderistas.com/poderportal .

ABOUT PODERISTAS

Poderistas, formerly known as She Se Puede, is a community built to celebrate our cultura and harness our PODER. Our ethos remains igual: To elevate, celebrate, and inspire Latinas to amplify their voices and actions on behalf of themselves and their communities. Poderistas is lifting Latina power and leadership. We are a place for affirmation and inspiration  the place that knows you, that gets you, and encourages you to go out and conquer the world. Welcome home. Visit poderistas.com for more  and follow us on Instagram !

Press Contacts

Cat Crandall/Brandon Bouchard/Kaila Williams/Ally Maldonado

[email protected]

SOURCE Poderistas
NEW YORK, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Wells Fargo & Company ("Wells Fargo" or the "Company") (NYSE: WFC) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 22-cv-03811, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Wells Fargo common stock between February 24, 2021 and June 9, 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 Wells Fargo common stock during the Class Period, you have until August 29, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Wells Fargo is a diversified financial services company that provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the U.S. and internationally.

In 2020, Wells Fargo expanded its so-called "Diverse Search Requirement", also referred to as a diverse slate hiring policy, requiring that at least 50% of interview candidates must represent a historically underrepresented group with respect to at least one diversity dimension (including race/ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ, veterans, and people with disabilities) for most posted roles in the U.S. with total direct compensation greater than $100,000 per year. In addition, at least one interviewer on the hiring panel must represent a historically underrepresented group with respect to at least one diversity dimension.

he complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Wells Fargo had misrepresented its commitment to diversity in the Company's workplace; (ii) Wells Fargo conducted fake job interviews in order to meet its Diverse Search Requirement; (iii) the foregoing conduct subjected Wells Fargo to an increased risk of regulatory and/or governmental scrutiny and enforcement action, including criminal charges; (iv) all of the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Wells Fargo's reputation; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On May 19, 2022, the New York Times published an article entitled "At Wells Fargo, a Quest to Increase Diversity Leads to Fake Job Interviews". Citing discussions with "seven current and former Wells Fargo employees", including Joe Bruno, a former executive in the Company's wealth management division, the article reported, in relevant part, that "[f]or many open positions, employees would interview a 'diverse' candidate", but that "often, the so-called diverse candidate would be interviewed for a job that had already been promised to someone else." The article further reported that Mr. Bruno was fired after "complain[ing] to his bosses" about the practice.

On this news, Wells Fargo's common stock price fell $0.44 per share, or 1.04%, over two trading sessions, closing at $41.67 per share on May 20, 2022.

On June 6, 2022, Reuters published an article entitled "Wells Fargo pauses diverse slate hiring policy after reports of fake job interviews." The article reported that "Wells Fargo . . . is pausing a hiring policy that requires recruiters to interview a diverse pool of candidates, after the New York Times reported such interviews were often fake and conducted even though the job had already been promised to someone else." The same article also reported that "[t]he bank also plans to conduct a review of its diverse slate guidelines, Chief Executive Officer Charles Scharf told staff on Monday, according to a memo seen by Reuters."

Then, on June 9, 2022, the New York Times published an article entitled "Federal Prosecutors Open Criminal Inquiry of Wells Fargo's Hiring Practices." The article reported that federal prosecutors are investigating whether Wells Fargo violated federal laws by conducting fake job interviews in order to meet the Company's Diverse Search Requirement. The article also revealed that, since the New York Times' May 19, 2022 article focusing on the bank's wealth management business, "another 10 current and former employees have shared stories about how they were subject to fake interviews, or conducted them, or saw paperwork documenting the practice", and that "sham interviews occurred across multiple business lines, including its mortgage servicing, home lending and retail banking operations."

That same day, Wells Fargo issued a press release entitled "Wells Fargo response to New York Times article", which confirmed that "[e]arlier this week, the [C]ompany temporarily paused the use of its diverse slate guidelines", and that, "[d]uring this pause, the [C]ompany is conducting a review so that hiring managers, senior leaders and recruiters fully understand how the guidelines should be implemented  and so we can have confidence that our guidelines live up to their promise."

Following these disclosures, Wells Fargo's common stock price fell $3.68 per share, or 8.62%, over the following two trading sessions, closing at $38.99 per share on June 13, 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

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
Recognized for being the industry's first software-definable sensor, supporting ADAS, trucking, robotics and industrial applications

PORTLAND, Ore., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PreAct Technologies, an Oregon-based developer of near-field flash LiDAR technology, today announces that its T30P Flash LiDAR has been named Most Innovative Product of the Year for Automotive and Autonomous Technologies as part of the Sensors Converge 2022 Best of Sensors Awards. The awards program is presented by Questex's Sensors Converge and Fierce Electronics and honors the best in sensor technologies and the sensor ecosystem, people and companies. The award recipients were selected by a panel of expert judges based on the products' value to the marketplace, the impact of the problems it solves or issues it addresses, as well as the uniqueness of the design.

PreAct Technologys T30P Flash LiDAR Named 2022 Most Innovative Product of the Year for Automotive/Autonomous Technologies at Sensors Converge

Paul Drysch, CEO and Co-Founder of PreAct Technologies received the award at the Sensors Converge conference held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. "Our team has worked tirelessly the past few years creating a near-field sensor and software suite that not only out-performs everything else on the market at an affordable price-point, but also facilitates the software-defined vehicle. This award validates our vision, the team's efforts, and our customers' commitment to our technology."

Charlene Soucy, Senior Director, Sensors & Electronics made the presentation, saying, "The winners have outdone themselves this year with their innovations and perseverance. We are thrilled to honor them as the best in the industry. We congratulate them on their well-deserved accomplishments."

PreAct's T30P Flash LiDAR is the industry's first software-definable sensor designed to integrate easily into a completely autonomous driving system stack for automakers, as well as trucking and robotics applications. Vehicles with software-defined architectures require sensor technology that can support over-the-air updates throughout the life of the vehicle, enabling OEMs to generate ongoing revenue by offering powerful new features and functionality, while making premier capabilities like ADAS relevant for the entire life of the vehicle.

For more information about Sensors Converge 2022, visit sensorsconverge.com . The event will return to Silicon Valley on June 20-22, 2023 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Stay connected with Sensors Converge on Facebook , LinkedIn , and Twitter .

About PreAct Technologies

PreAct Technologies creates the world's fastest flash LiDAR that powers near-field sensing and object tracking solutions for automotive, trucking, robotic and industrial markets. Its patent-pending suite of sensor technologies is also the only software-definable LiDAR on the market designed specifically to support the extended life of software-defined vehicles. The company is located in Portland, Oregon. For sales inquiries, please contact [email protected]. For more information, visit www.preact-tech.com.

PRESS CONTACT

Angela Simoes

4153022934

https://www.preact-tech.com/

SOURCE PreAct Technologies
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As we celebrate Pride Month, it's important to reflect on the progress that has been made for the LGBTQIA community. And who better to look up to than key opinion leaders (KOLs) who are making a big impact.

Here is a list compiled by the Analytics firm KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) of the top 8 LGBTQIA+ KOLs you should know about. From medical doctors and life-sciences researchers to astronomists, these experts are changing the world for the better and increasing leadership diversity at the same time.

Lisa N. Diamond

Lisa N. Diamond ( Wikipedia ) is the first KOL on our list and is an American psychologist and feminist. Diamond decided to make the focus of her career and research on same-sex sexuality after she came out as a lesbian. She focuses on sexual orientation development, several identity, and bonding. Diamond received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the APA committee, and her book, Sexual Fluidity, has received several awards. Diamond is one of the key opinion leaders (KOLs) attending this year's LGBTQ Health Conference.

Stefanie Elisabeth Windner

As an expert in cofilin loss, Stefanie Elisabeth Windner is quickly becoming one of the top Key Opinion Leaders in this field. Having voiced that being a queer person in the scientific community is isolating compared to being a white, heteronormative person, Windner emphasizes themselves as a queer scientist more than ever to create space for more queer scientists to break through into this industry. Windner picked her lab (Mary Baylies at SKI) carefully, knowing exactly the type of people they wanted to work with, as New York City was already a diverse place to be, and MSK does a good job of fostering diversity too.

Scott Keeney

Scott Keeney ( @Spo11Rulz ) is a molecular biologist scientist studies genetic recombination during meiosis using yeast and mice. Keeney's influence is far-reaching and inspires many in the LGBTQIA+ community to consider similar careers. Coming into this industry in 1997 as a gay scientist, and despite having only met straight scientists, Keeney came out in his senior year of college after taking some time. This was during the height of the AIDS epidemic, but choosing Berkeley as his grad school gave him an enlightening experience that enabled him to feel and be himself. However, as he went to an area where not many people were familiar with LGBTQ and most scientists were straight or not out, there were many situations that made it difficult to be a gay scientist, like not having Domestic Partnerships Benefits.

Kat Hadjantonakis

Kat Hadjantonakis is a development biologist and a member of the Developmental Biology Program at SKI, having graduated from the Imperial College in London. Hadjantonakis has made it public that they don't like labels, but this is what is making them a rising name in the scientific field and within the KOLs list. Hadjantonakis is a scientist and wants to be known as that, not wanting to claim a particular identity in a time where gender categories are blurring. They are not concerned about the people they work with knowing their sexual orientation, believing that science is the most important thing.

Kelly Chacon

Kelly Chacon ( @Kelly_N_Chacon ) has worked hard to become an innovator in bioinorganic spectroscopy and has received the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program award  one of the most prestigious awards, according to the NSF. Part of the funding they won is going towards an annual 2-day symposium that brings together graduate students from all backgrounds, including LCBTQIA+ students. This space enables students to share their experiences and science, and as a Key Opinion Leader could go on to make an even bigger impact on more aspiring students.

Raul Navarro

Raul Navarro is currently an assistant professor at the Occidental College, having graduated in 2014 with their PhD from the California Institute of Technology. Navarro identifies as LGBTQ and when they first started at Caltech had to learn to navigate the balance of feeling the need to compartmentalize their personal life and scientific life. However, they quickly realized that parts of himself influenced their scientific work  Navorro said he couldn't "navigate being a scientist without being someone who identifies as being queer." Working with vocal support in the form of Sarah Reisman, Navarro has become a mentor himself and a representation to so many other LGBTQIA+ students and has now made it onto the KOLs top 8 list.

Jane Rigby

Jane Rigby (@janerrigby) has been named the LGBTQIA+ Scientist of the Year, which was initiated by Out to Innovate after they made outstanding contributions for their work developing new techniques in galaxy evolution. Rigby has published 100s of publications, appeared in public presentations and has also been recognized for research, mentorship, and diversity-related work, which helps to make it a better work environment for new and upcoming LGBTQ scientists and doctors.

Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi

Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi (@CarolynBertozzi) has long been an advocate for diversity and a highly admired scientist, having come out in the late 1980s. Bertozzi is admired by many due to coming out during a time when it could have destroyed her career. The biochemist's work sees her trying to bridge the gap between chemistry and biology, focusing mainly on glycoscience.

Credits: Information extracted from the original news article by Key Opinion Leaders. Twitter: @KOpinionLeaders.

SOURCE Key Opinion Leaders, LLC
For over sixteen years, Pro Plumbing has offered high-quality plumbing, electrical, heating, and air conditioning services to homeowners throughout the Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Lexington, NC markets. With over 1,700+ reviews and an exceptional customer satisfaction rating, Pro Plumbing is one of the area's leading home service contractors. The Company will retain its iconic branding and exceptional customer service, while gaining access to industry-leading training, sales, marketing and operational resources.

"We are excited to expand our service territory in the Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point markets. Pro Plumbing has a dominant presence on the southern part of the Piedmont Triad and we see a lot of value in partnering them up with The Plumbing & Air Service Company. The Company's customer first approach and brand recognition made it an excellent fit for the Southern HVAC family of brands," said Jarrod Brinker, Chief Strategy Officer at Southern HVAC. "Our goal is to provide best-in-class service to the thousands of homeowners that call this area of North Carolina home. With more scale, we have the ability to invest in each and every employee and provide them with the tools and training needed to advance their careers. Customers can expect the same great service they have always enjoyed."

"We chose to partner with Southern HVAC because of the strong alignment with our company culture and values. We felt strongly this was the best choice for our customers and employees," said Thad Hedrick, President & Founder of Pro Plumbing Services, LLC. "I look forward to the partnership and seeing the continued growth of the company."

Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Lexington area homeowners can learn more about Pro Plumbing's products and services through their website, www.proplumbingserv.com or by calling (336) 490-5046.

Headquartered in Maitland, Florida, Southern HVAC operates heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical home service businesses in the United States. As part of the broader Southern HVAC team, Pro Plumbing joins Southern HVAC's family of eighteen other service brands across eight states.

Since its inception in 2016, Southern HVAC Corporation has remained one of the home service industry's premier growth platforms driving both organic initiatives and an accretive acquisition strategy focused on industry-leading brands. For more information about Southern HVAC's acquisition program, visit SouthernHVAC.com/acquisitions.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Southern HVAC
Nearly 90% have become less affordable, QS finds

LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, published today the 10th edition of the QS Best Student Cities rankings, which enable students to compare 140 premier educational destinations, including 30 new entries. London retains its status as the world's best student city for the fourth consecutive edition. Munich (2nd =) shares its silver medal with Seoul (2nd =). Zurich (4th) and Melbourne (5th) break into the top-5 while Edinburgh (10th) joins the top-10.

Methodology: QS ranks cities with a population of at least 250,000, and with at least two universities placing in the QS World University Rankings. The ranking offers a powerful lens into the sentiments of both prospective and former students, with over 98,000 survey responses contributing to the Desirability (prospective students) and Student View (former students) indexes.

2023 2022 City 1 1 London 2= 2 Munich 2= 3= Seoul 4 7 Zurich 5 6 Melbourne 6 5 Berlin 7 3= Tokyo 8 9= Paris 9 8 Sydney 10 12 Edinburgh 11 9= Boston 12 15 Hong Kong 13 17 Singapore 14 9= Montreal 15 13 Toronto 16 14 Vienna 17 19= Osaka 18 16 New York 19 19= Lausanne 20 18 Vancouver

London's leadership is supported by:

Its high concentration of world-class universities; it achieves the world's second-best score in the Rankings indicator.

indicator. Highly positive feedback from students that have studied in the city: it scores 98.5/100 for Student View , a result bettered only by Berlin .

, a result bettered only by . Outstanding career opportunities for graduates: it places fourth in the Employer Activity metric, scoring 92.7/100.

metric, scoring 92.7/100. Its high levels of openness to international students, which see it achieve the world's fifth-best score (94.9/100) for Student Mix.

Ben Sowter, QS Senior VP, said: "Responses to our surveys from students that have studied in London make it clear that it offers outstanding cultural, economic, and educational opportunities. With two of the world's ten best universities situated in the city, it remains a world-leading educational hub. Worryingly, cities are broadly becoming less affordable for students by QS' measures, with just under 90% declining in our Affordability metric."

Other highlights:

UK , Germany , and Australia are each home to two of the world's ten best student cities.

, and are each home to two of the world's ten best student cities. Paris rises to the eighth place. Barcelona (31 st ) is Spain's top-city.

rises to the eighth place. (31 ) is top-city. Canada boasts three top-20 student cities, while US, Japan and Switzerland have two each.

boasts three top-20 student cities, while US, and have two each. The US highest-ranking cities are Boston (11 th ) and NYC (18 th ).

highest-ranking cities are (11 ) and NYC (18 ). All the 18 US ranked cities decline in the Affordability indicator.

indicator. Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur break into the top-30.

and break into the top-30. Seoul (2 nd ) is Asia 's top-ranked city.

(2 ) is 's top-ranked city. China (Mainland) top entry is Beijing (29 th )

(Mainland) top entry is (29 ) India doubles its representation. Mumbai (103 rd ) is the highest ranked.

doubles its representation. (103 ) is the highest ranked. Latin America's number-one student destination is Buenos Aires (23 rd )

number-one student destination is (23 ) Sao Paulo (86 th ) and new-entry Rio de Janeiro (121 st ) are Brazil 's ranked cities.

(86 ) and new-entry (121 ) are 's ranked cities. Africa 's top city for students is Cape Town (78 th ).

's top city for students is (78 ). Dubai (51 st ) is the top-ranked city in the Middle East .

(51 ) is the top-ranked city in the . The fastest rising cities are Almaty (75th), Abu Dhabi (71st) and Ankara (77th).

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1503776/QS_Logo.jpg

SOURCE QS Quacquarelli Symonds
Agency to cover travel to Oregon for healthcare services

PORTLAND, Ore., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rain the Growth Agency, a leading independent, full-service DTC advertising agency, has announced a new women's healthcare benefit allowing employees and their partners to travel to Oregon to receive women's reproductive healthcare services if they do not have local access due to the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The benefit will cover travel and accommodations through a "no questions asked," completely confidential process. The agency launched the benefit internally earlier this year.

"As a women-led and founded organization, we are extremely disappointed in the Supreme Court ruling made last week," said Rain the Growth Agency's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Michelle Cardinal. "It's frankly shocking we need to make these considerations in 2022, but we are passionately committed to ensuring that our employees, who reside in more than 30 states, have equal access to the healthcare that they need."

The new benefit is added to Rain the Growth Agency's already comprehensive benefits package that takes working mothers and families into consideration. The agency is based in Portland, Oregon, but has virtual employees all around the country. The organization made the decision early into the pandemic to provide all employees with remote flexibility. Other benefits include up to 18 weeks of maternity leave for birthing mothers and 12 weeks for paternity leave.

Healthcare services will be covered under normal insurance plan benefits and time off will fall under paid family and medical leave. Employees are eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave each year.

"We are fortunate to be headquartered in the state of Oregon where women's reproductive health procedures are protected by law. As we collectively monitor the long-term impacts of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, we will continue taking part in discussions about how businesses can help protect rights for underrepresented people," said Jane Crisan, Rain the Growth Agency President and Chief Operating Officer.

Rain the Growth Agency joins other organizations such as Amazon, Walt Disney Co., Meta, Dick's Sporting Goods and Pinterest that are providing reproductive healthcare to employees who may no longer have access in their home states.

About Rain the Growth Agency

Rain the Growth Agency is an independent, women-led, performance-minded, fully integrated advertising agency. We link strategy, creative and production with audience targeting, dynamic cross-channel media investment and advanced analytics to achieve sales and branding goals simultaneously, without compromise. Our holistic Transactional Brand Building approach produces transformational growth for clients ranging from DTC fast companies and category disruptors to established brands with traditional models. For more than 20 years, we have been scaling businesses such as Peloton, Chewy, Wayfair, Headspace, Humana, USAA, 23andMe, SimpliSafe and 1-800 Contacts. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon and co-founded in 1998 by Michelle Cardinal, our agency has grown to 300 employees nationwide.

Media Contact Information:

Beatrice Livioco

[email protected]

SOURCE Rain the Growth Agency
Collaboration creates holistic affiliate and influencer program oversight through managed campaigns and self-service tools for Rakuten Advertising members

SAN MATEO, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rakuten Advertising is partnering with leading influencer marketing platform, Mavrck , to expand its influencer marketing services and create holistic program oversight, optimization and measurement for its affiliate advertisers. This partnership will seamlessly incorporate influencer marketing into Rakuten Advertising's managed affiliate campaign strategies and positions Rakuten Advertising to introduce a fully integrated self-service influencer solution.

Brands managing large-scale and targeted influencer campaigns with Rakuten Advertising will benefit from more sophisticated influencer discovery and curation, with streamlined onboarding, communication and reporting tools. A central dashboard will offer a complete view of their affiliate and influencer campaigns, empowering brands with a holistic vision of their full-funnel affiliate marketing strategy.

"Influencers have become more essential than ever, as brands seek to drive consideration and purchase activity through their Affiliate Marketing strategies," said Jeff Wender, CRO, Rakuten Advertising. "Partnering with an industry leader like Mavrck expands and enhances our influencer management capabilities and empowers brands to achieve their goals from awareness to activation, while delivering breakthrough performance objectives and results."

The partnership with Mavrck is Rakuten Advertising's latest and most significant move towards delivering a differentiated suite of influencer marketing solutions that will create the integration, insight and control brands need to succeed. More than 5,000 marketing professionals at more than 500 global consumer brands rely on Mavrck's technology to more effectively access and manage relationships with content creators. Since 2014, Mavrck has activated more than 3 million creators and paid more than $200 million in incentives.

"Rakuten Advertising is a proven leader and innovator in the affiliate marketing industry, and we are excited to launch this partnership with them," said Lyle Stevens, CEO and Co-Founder of Mavrck. "Affiliate marketing is a leading monetization strategy for creators, and by partnering with Rakuten, we can improve our offering while expanding our reach, diversifying our insights and advancing measurement and sales attribution. Together, we are strongly positioned to drive better business outcomes for both brands and creators with affiliate marketing."

To learn more about this partnership and Rakuten Advertising's influencer marketing suite, visit https://rakutenadvertising.com/content/influencer-marketing-solution/.

About Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten Advertising connects leading agencies, brands, and publishers to active and engaged consumers around the world. With access to Rakuten's diverse media properties and audiences, combined with an award-winning performance network and proprietary consumer research, Rakuten Advertising creates the right conditions to reach new customers and sustain long-lasting loyalty. Its foundation of advanced technology, data and strategic services positions Rakuten Advertising to offer a differentiated suite of marketing and advertising solutions while continually pushing the industry forward. It is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc. (4755: TOKYO), one of the world's leading Internet service companies. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices throughout EMEA, APAC, LATAM and North America. Learn more at www.RakutenAdvertising.com.

About Mavrck

Mavrck is the all-in-one, advanced influencer marketing platform enabling global consumer brands to harness the power of social proof that consumers trust today. Marketers use Mavrck to discover and collaborate with influencers, advocates, referrers, and loyalists to create trusted content and insights for customer journey touchpoints at scale. Using its self-service influencer manager, Mavrck allows marketers to take an automated and performance-based approach to influencer marketing.

Founded in 2014, Mavrck has offices in Boston and Denver. Mavrck's platform has been recognized for its superior offering by the Shorty Awards and Retail TouchPoints' Retail Innovator Awards, honored as "Best Influencer Marketing Platform" by Digiday, is the #1 influencer marketing platform for the enterprise on software review site G2, and was named to the 2019 and 2020 Inc. 5000. Mavrck was also named a "Leader" among the top influencer marketing platforms in Forrester's evaluation, The Forrester New Wave: Influencer Marketing Solutions, Q2 2020.

Contact:

Steven Shaw,

[email protected]

SOURCE Rakuten Advertising
BEIJING and HANGZHOU, China, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Roan Holdings Group Co., Ltd. ("Roan" or the "Company") (OTC Pink Sheets: RAHGF and RONWF), a comprehensive solution provider for industrial operations and capital market services, announced today that it has entered into a Letter of Intent (the "LOI") with Zhejiang Shangyu Cao'e River Economic Development Zone (the "Shangyu") as the Company executes on its strategic plan to provide planning, support, and operations for new energy storage, new materials and semiconductor related projects.

Pursuant to the LOI, the Company will be responsible for the initial planning, regulatory approvals such as environmental and safety assessments, and industrial operations for a new industrial park whose target tenants would engage in new energy storage production, system equipment manufacturing, new materials and semiconductor, with supporting upstream and downstream projects (collectively, the "Project"). Pursuant to the LOI, Zhejiang Shangyu Cao'e River Economic Development Zone will provide support and assistance to the Project, including but not limited to favorable government policy, funding, and other resources. The Project is strategically located less than one hour drive from Hangzhou City, and it is positioned as a high-end technology manufacturing industrial park with 66 Acres of land available for development. The Company will assist its project partners to set up an entire industrial chain in the industrial park and to build a sustainable industrial ecosystem by providing comprehensive industrial operations and capital solutions services for the following projects: energy core storage production, energy storage power plant system equipment manufacturing, new alloy material research and development production, micro display chip module and terminal equipment production and other related upstream and downstream projects.

"We are truly excited about this cooperation as the Project at Shangyu is a significant second step for our strategic expansion in the new energy, new materials and semiconductor industrial parks operations and development, following on the heels of our ongoing work in support of the establishment of a first new energy storage industrial park in Jiaxing. We believe that the new energy equipment manufacturing involved in this Project will supplement the new energy storage and battery projects in Jiaxing. We will adhere to our strategy of providing 'whole process and life cycle' comprehensive industrial operation solutions and services by connecting tenants in the Project upstream and downstream in the industrial chain. Rooted in Zhejiang Province, we will continue our expansion in the Yangtse River Delta Region and eventually grow nationwide. We further believe that our tailored industrial operation solutions for the industrial parks will help the industrial development of Hangzhou city and its nearby regions. In addition, our experience in the cooperating with multiple government agencies on major projects lay a solid foundation for further cooperation opportunities. With the implementation of the projects, our industrial operation services segment will create further value for our investors and shareholders in the future," commented Mr. Junfeng Wang, Chairman of the Company.

About Roan Holdings Group Co., Ltd.

Founded in 2009, Roan Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (OTC Pink: RAHGF and RONWF) is a comprehensive solution provider for industrial operation and capital market services. Adhering to the platform strategy of "cross collaboration, technology empowerment, sustainability and stability, and combination of operation and finance resources", the Company's services focus on the new energy, new materials, and semiconductor industries. At the same time, the Company focuses on the application of innovative technologies in the consumer industry with respect to financial consumption, cultural and tourism consumption, and great health ecosystem. Roan aims to provide comprehensive solutions and supporting services for diversified institutional and local government clients across the entire industry chain. Roan has offices in Hangzhou and Beijing and subsidiaries in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Tianjin. For more information, please visit: www.roanholdingsgroup.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to, among others, the consummation of the proposed transaction, and can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. Examples of such statements include our belief that the new energy equipment manufacturing involved in this Project will supplement the new energy storage and battery projects in Jiaxing, that we will adhere to our strategy of providing "whole process and life cycle" comprehensive industrial operation solutions and services, our further belief that our tailored industrial operation solutions for the industrial parks will help the industrial development of Hangzhou city and its nearby regions, that our experience in the cooperating with multiple government agencies on major projects lay a solid foundation for further cooperation opportunities, and our view that our industrial operation services segment will create further value for our investors and shareholders in the future, Such statements are based upon management's current expectations of the consummation of the proposed transaction, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Examples of such risks include whether the Project or the Jiaxing project will come to fruition, whether Shangyu will fund the project, whether there is demand for tenants in the project, and whether we can connect the tenants both upstream and downstream in the industrial chain. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors are included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under law.

IR Contact:

At the Company:

Katrina Wu

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +86-571-8662 1775

Investor Relations Firm:

Sherry Zheng

Weitian Group LLC

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1 (718)213-7386

SOURCE Roan Holdings Group Co., Ltd.
LOMPOC, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation thanked House appropriators for continuing to stress the need to implement proven, safe and humane fertility control but urged lawmakers to make greater investments in this key tool needed to keep wild horses and burros managed on the range.

The House Interior Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a $44.8 billion bill for Fiscal Year 2023 that includes $156 million for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program -- a $19 million increase over the program's 2022 budget.

The allocation includes up to $11 million "for research on reversible immunocontraceptive fertility control and its administration." Congress approved the same amount for "administration of and research of reversible immunocontraceptive fertility control" for 2022.

Return to Freedom (RTF) continues to emphasize that $11 million is a fraction of what is necessary in order to create a successful fertility control program in the West, one which replaces removals as the agency's primary management tool and saves taxpayer dollars over the long run.

"We applaud the Committee for continuing to support proven, safe and humane fertility control," said Neda DeMayo, president of RTF, a national nonprofit wild horse and burro advocacy organization. "However, we are concerned however that the fertility control language allows BLM to use the $11 million for research when there are decades of data to support scaling up existing fertility control now. We hope that the House and Senate will revise this language in the final funding package."

"Delaying the use of readily available fertility control shown to be proven, safe and humane by decades of peer-reviewed science will only continue kicking the can down the road with the agency's failed and inhumane practice of removing wild horses and burros from their rightful rangelands," DeMayo added.

The bill's accompanying report language "directs the Bureau to develop plans that ensure they can administer fertility control, conduct targeted removals from the most heavily and impacted population areas, expand long-term off range holding and any alternatives, and increase adoptions. To better accomplish these goals, the Bureau should establish public/private partnerships, to include working with veterans and wild horse organizations, to implement a robust immunocontraceptive fertility control program.

The Committee's direction to focus planning on fertility control is positive, as is a call for increased public-private partnerships that RTF has modeled and advocated for over two decades.

The Committee's direction to increase long-term holding also has the potential to be positive. It further directs a multi-agency Wild Horse Task Force to "examine how to increase off-range holdings that can sustain year-round grazing by many horses." RTF has repeatedly called for captive wild horses and burros to be moved from holding corrals to more natural and cost-effective pastures.

The Committee also directs the BLM to update it on the "efficacy of identifying and relocating horses to different Herd Management Areas," which RTF supports over removals to off-range holding, and especially with an emphasis on keeping family bands and herds together. RTF has advocated heavily for relocation projects as an alternative to fracturing herds and sending the horses to off-range holding corrals.

Though RTF's goal is to end removals as BLM's primary wild horse management tool, the Committee's direction to focus removals "from the most heavily and impacted population areas," if put into practice, would be a noteworthy break with what often appears to advocates as a failure to ecologically prioritize where wild horse and burro roundups are conducted.

The BLM has spent resources removing large numbers of horses from areas where they are most easily trackable. These are areas that are actually ideal for fertility control projects immediately as opposed to massive removals. Additionally, to continue removing horses with nowhere for them to go and without managing the reproduction of the horses left on those ranges has proven to increase reproduction and repeated removals within five years.

The bill contains other positive language supported by RTF, including:

--Continuing a prohibition on BLM and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) selling wild horses and burros to slaughter or euthanizing healthy equines.

--Repeating Congress's demand that "all removals are conducted in strict compliance with the Bureau's Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program and any population growth suppression strategies must be proven, safe, and humane."

--Calling for a multi-agency Wild Horse Task Force to review BLM's fertility control efforts and reviewing BLM's Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) "to make sure there are no weaknesses that would jeopardize the welfare of these animals." RTF continues to push for changes in the AIP's $1,000 cash incentive, which has resulted in an unknown number of wild horses and burros being held for a year until title is transferred, then sold at auctions frequented by kill buyers who ship equines to Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses.

--Emphasizing to the USFS "the importance of screening adopters and purchasers to ensure the welfare and safe outcomes for the horses and burros adopted and sold by the agency."

--Directing BLM to ensure the program is at full staffing capacity. The agency has had one staff person to review contracts, further slowing the implementation of needed fertility control. Another example: a lack of sufficient staff was found to be among the BLM policy violations a report found at Canon City, Colo., off-range holding corrals in the wake of the deaths of 145 horses there this spring.

The Committee directs the $71 million Species Management Research Program to supplement that funding to "significantly progress research on reversible immunocontraceptive fertility control for wild horses and burros."

The bill includes $1 million for the Foundation for America's Public Lands with a direction that it be used to assist BLM with "the challenge of wild free-roaming horses and burros" but provides no other instructions for its use.

While the bill's guiding report language contains a number of potential positives for wild horses and burros, the bill problematically affirms the BLM's May 2020 report to Congress: a vague and often self-contradictory plan of aggressive roundups with little use of fertility control before reaching the agency's arbitrarily set "Appropriate Management Level" (AML): its population target for wild horses and burros.

This is a continuation of BLM's failed approach of management by removal of wild horses while failing to address reproduction.

Population modeling by RTF and other stakeholders has shown that immediately implementing fertility control alongside any removal that BLM conducts is the only way to catch up with and stabilize herd growth so that on-range management can replace removals.

If BLM does not implement fertility control immediately, in a robust way, to slow (not stop) population growth, then the agency will continue to chase and briefly achieve its AML on some of the 177 Herd Management Areas, only to soon return to remove more wild horses and burros from their home ranges.

During Fiscal Year 2021, BLM removed 13,666 wild horses and burros from the range compared to just 1,160 fertility control treatments out of an agency-estimated 86,189 wild horses and burros on the range. For Fiscal Year 2022, BLM has set out to remove "at least" a record 19,000 wild horses and burros while treating just 2,300 with fertility control. This comes with 58,314 captive horses and burros in off-range holding as of May.

Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation (RTF ) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary, education, conservation, and advocacy since 1998. It also operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary at three California locations, caring for more than 450 wild horses and burros. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram for updates about wild horses and burros on the range and at our sanctuary.

SOURCE Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation
Throughout the summer, Saks is hosting a series of dinners with designers, influencers and media. To kick it off, Saks is throwing a celebratory dinner at a new restaurant in Southampton, co-hosted by Saks CEO, Marc Metrick, and Emmy-winning actress, TV personality and musical artist, Keke Palmer. Following the kickoff dinner, three more summer events will take place including an afternoon with designer Joseph Altuzarra at his home along with additional designer and influencer moments.

TRAVEL IN STYLE

From July through Labor Day, Saks is partnering with BLADE, the most renowned urban air mobility company. During three select weekends (July 15-16, August 5-6 and September 2-3), BLADE fliers will receive a gift from Saks upon check in, including exclusive beauty products from coveted brand U Beauty. In addition, BLADE fliers will enjoy the festive and delightful Saks in the City cocktails from L'Avenue at Saks in BLADE lounges. The BLADE helicopters from New York to the Hamptons will help vacationers travel in signature Saks style.

SAME-DAY DELIVERY

For the third year in a row, Saks is offering same day delivery to The Hamptons. Through Labor Day, Monday through Friday, customers can receive same-day deliveries when they place an order before 10 a.m. ET for a $25 fee. The service is available for the following addresses: Amagansett, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Montauk, Sag Harbor, Sagaponack, Southampton, Wainscott, Water Mill and Westhampton.

For more information on same-day delivery, contact [email protected] and to learn more about Saks, visit Saks.com.

ABOUT SAKS FIFTH AVENUE

Saks Fifth Avenue is the premier destination for luxury fashion, driven by a mission to help customers express themselves through relevant and inspiring style. Since 1924, it has delivered one-of-a-kind shopping experiences, featuring an expertly curated assortment of fashion and highly personalized customer service. Saks Fifth Avenue's unique approach combines an emphasis on the digital customer experience with a strong connection to a network of 41 extraordinary stores across North America for seamless, all-channel shopping. Shop on saks.com and the Saks app, or visit saks.com to find a Saks Fifth Avenue store location near you. Follow @saks on Instagram , TikTok , Facebook and Twitter , and @thesaksman on Instagram .

ABOUT BLADE

Blade is a technology-powered, global air mobility platform committed to reducing travel friction by providing cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested ground routes in the U.S. and abroad. Today, the Company predominantly uses helicopters and amphibious aircraft for its passenger routes and is also one of the largest air medical transporters of human organs for transplant in the world. Its asset-light model, coupled with its exclusive passenger terminal infrastructure, is designed to facilitate a seamless transition to electric vertical aircraft, enabling lower cost air mobility to the public that is both quiet and emission-free.

SOURCE Saks Fifth Avenue
SANDVIKEN, Sweden, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As previously communicated, Sandvik paused its business activities in Russia on February 28 due to Russia's war in Ukraine. Since then, the company has continuously been assessing and adjusting to the situation, and has taken the decision to wind down operations in Russia.

As a consequence Sandvik will record a non-recurring charge of about SEK 1 billion in the second quarter operating results (EBITA), of which SEK 0.7 billion is a write-down and SEK 0.3 billion a provision mainly relating to personnel costs. These costs will be treated as items affecting comparability. Following the write-down, total remaining assets related to Russia, excluding cash, amounted to approximately SEK 0.7 billion on May 31, 2022.

The wind-down process is ongoing and progressing in a controlled way, where Sandvik seeks to act responsibly towards its employees, and follows applicable regulations and sanctions. Depending on the progress of the wind-down procedures, additional costs may be incurred in the coming quarters.

In 2021, about 3.6 percent of Sandvik Group revenues was from Russian customers.

Stockholm, June 29, 2022

Sandvik AB

For further information, contact

Louise Tjeder

VP Investor relations

phone: +46(0)70782 6374

Johannes Hellstrom

Press and Media Relations Manager

phone: +46(0)707211008.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/sandvik/r/sandvik-announces-a-non-recurring-charge-for-the-second-quarter-related-to-russia,c3593159

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/208/3593159/1598448.pdf Sandvik announces a non-recurring charge for the second quarter related to Russia

SOURCE Sandvik
New alliance adds depth and veteran experience to the legal powerhouse

HOUSTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Schouest, Bamdas, Soshea, BenMaier & Eastham PLLC (SBSB Eastham) announced today that it is joining forces with The Bale Law Firm, an alliance that will combine Bale Law's decades of courtroom experience representing national and international business clients with SBSB Eastham's highly respected Maritime, Catastrophic Claims, Longshore, Defense Base Act, and Insurance Defense practices.

"Jeff Bale and his team of lawyers have the impeccable reputation of providing outstanding representation with proven results for their clients," said SBSB Founder and Managing Partner John Schouest. "By joining forces, we can afford our clients access to additional talent and a depth of expertise they can't find anywhere else. It really is just a perfect fit."

Like SBSB Eastham, The Bale Law Firm has a robust Admiralty and Maritime Law practice. It also focuses on energy-related litigation, Toxic Torts, Mass Tort litigation, Insurance defense and disputes, as well as Products Liability and Negligence cases, and business and commercial disputes.

Mr. Bale, who founded The Bale Law Firm, said the decision to join SBSB Eastham was an easy one. "We considered joining with other firms, but this was an opportunity that we are really excited about. We get to work alongside a group of lawyers we know and respect at a firm with the kind of pedigree that really speaks for itself."

"This gives us another team of exceptional lawyers, and we are thrilled to be joining forces with them," said Susan Noe Wilson, SBSB Eastham Partner and Head of Litigation. "We are also pleased to welcome Jeff's son, Ross Bale  the next generation of quality Bale trial lawyers  along with attorney Nolan Wleczyk."

This union comes just four months after SBSB merged with Eastham, Watson, Dale & Forney, LLP to create legal powerhouse SBSB Eastham. With the addition of Bale Law, the firm now has more than 113 lawyers in six cities across the country  Houston, Corpus Christi, New Orleans, Chicago, Boca Raton, and Milwaukee.

The firm's key practice areas include Admiralty and Maritime, Defense Base Act, Longshore, Business and Commercial Litigation, Business Transactions, Personal Injury Defense, Energy, Environmental and Toxic Torts, Transportation and Trucking, General Liability, Premises Liability, Labor and Employment, Workers' Compensation, Insurance, Arbitration, and Appellate.

SBSB Eastham is a group of experienced attorneys who have come together to form a law firm focused on client needs. The firm's goal is to be the go-to resource at every stage of the legal process, bringing deeper experience, deeper commitment, and deeper insights to help solve the most complex issues. In consultation or in the courtroom, the firm will aggressively pursue a client's best interests. For more information about the firm and its team of attorneys, visit www.sbsb-eastham.com .

Media Contact:

April Arias

[email protected]

800-559-4534

SOURCE Schouest, Bamdas, Soshea, BenMaier & Eastham
OREM, Utah, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SecurityMetrics is proud to announce that they have won the following awards from Cyber Defense Magazine (CDM), the industry's leading electronic information security magazine:

"Most Innovative Cybersecurity Book" for the SecurityMetrics Guide to PCI DSS Compliance.

for the SecurityMetrics Guide to PCI DSS Compliance. "Editor's Choice Penetration Testing" for their penetration testing team.

for their penetration testing team. "Top Women in Cybersecurity" awarded to Jen Stone .

"SecurityMetrics embodies three major features we judges look for to become winners: understanding tomorrow's threats, today, providing a cost-effective solution, and innovating in unexpected ways that can help mitigate cyber risk and get one step ahead of the next breach" said Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine.

SecurityMetrics is thrilled to earn these awards from Cyber Defense Magazine ( http://www.cyberdefenseawards.com/ ) because they demonstrate their commitment to helping organizations see the threats they've been missing and providing exceptional support and services to businesses worldwide.

"Most Innovative Cybersecurity Book" for the SecurityMetrics Guide to PCI DSS compliance.

Audit Director, Matt Halbleib (CISSP, CISA, QSA), said of the seventh edition of the SecurityMetrics PCI guide: "Our guide was specifically created to help merchants and service providers address the most problematic issues within the 12 PCI DSS requirements, including auditors' best practices and IT checklists."

You can access the SecurityMetrics free guide to PCI Compliance here .

"Editor's Choice Penetration Testing" for their penetration testing team .

SecurityMetrics penetration testers use ethical hacking methodologies to identify vulnerabilities and minimize risk, protecting organizations against the most current threats.

Knowing the root cause of vulnerabilities is the first step to addressing network issues. SecurityMetrics Pen Test Analysts offer advice tailored to the company's needs to remediate and maintain a secure network going forward.

"SecurityMetrics' Pen Testing has definitely helped us improve our network security in ways I could have never imagined. You just don't know what you don't know. I am absolutely confident in their team's abilities and my experience has led me to trust them implicitly as a security partner. Their depth of understanding is impressive, and their professionalism is unmatched." Morgan Leppink, Internet Ticketing Systems

"Top Women in Cybersecurity" awarded to Jen Stone .

In addition to her many professional certifications and extensive experience in cybersecurity, Jen Stone is an award-winning podcast host for the SecurityMetrics podcast and has authored dozens of blog posts for the SecurityMetrics blog.

Jen serves as a "Women in Technology" Mentor for SecurityMetrics. She leads group meetings and provides one-on-one mentorships with women who want to pursue careers in security. Jen says this is an important mission, because "only 14-18% of the IT security workforce are women, and we lose something when people with different perspectives are not involved in solving problems."

Jen is an avid supporter of the arts, volunteering her time in technical production for live events, including the largest aerial arts competition in the US and an award-winning haunted house in Salt Lake City, Utah.

For press inquiries, email [email protected].

About SecurityMetrics

SecurityMetrics secures peace of mind for organizations that handle sensitive data. They have tested over 1 million systems for data security and compliance. They understand the importance of industry standards, which is why they hold their tools, training, and support to a higher, more thorough standard of performance and service, so you never have a false sense of security.

As an Approved Scanning Vendor, Qualified Security Assessor, Certified Forensic Investigator, and Managed Security provider SecurityMetrics guides organizations through data security testing and compliance mandates (PCI, HIPAA, GDPR, HITRUST). With over 20 years of forensic investigations, penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and compliance audits, SecurityMetrics has tested over 1 million systems for vulnerabilities. The privately held company is headquartered in Orem, Utah where it maintains a Security Operations Center (SOC) and 24/7 multilingual technical support.

About CDM InfoSec Awards

This is Cyber Defense Magazine's tenth year of honoring InfoSec innovators from around the Globe. Our submission requirements are for any startup, early stage, later stage, or public companies in the INFORMATION SECURITY (INFOSEC) space who believe they have a unique and compelling value proposition for their product or service. Learn more at www.cyberdefenseawards.com

About Cyber Defense Magazine

Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of cyber security news and information for InfoSec professions in business and government. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting-edge knowledge, real-world stories and awards on the best ideas, products and services in the information technology industry. We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free, and special editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences. CDM is a proud member of the Cyber Defense Media Group. Learn more about us at https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com and visit https://www.cyberdefensetv.com and https://www.cyberdefenseradio.com to see and hear some of the most informative interviews of many of these winning company executives. Join a webinar at https://www.cyberdefensewebinars.com and realize that infosec knowledge is Power.

CDM Media Inquiries:

Contact: Irene Noser, Marketing Executive Email: [email protected] Toll Free (USA): 1-833-844-9468 International: 1-646-586-9545 Website: www.cyberdefensemagazine.com

SOURCE SecurityMetrics, Inc.
NEW YORK, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Unilever PLC ("Unilever" or the "Company") (NYSE: UL). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Unilever and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company which sells more than 400 products in over 190 countries, including Ben & Jerry's ice cream, which they acquired in 2000. In an attempt to preserve Ben & Jerry's longstanding "Social Mission," Unilever's acquisition of Ben & Jerry's included allowing for an independent board of directors, which was given primary responsibility for preserving and enhancing the objectives of the company's Social Mission (the "B&J Board").

More than 20 years after the acquisition, Ben & Jerry's remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever with an independent board addressing the company's Social Mission. Since the acquisition, the B&J Board continued its Social Mission by engaging in promotions and advocacy across a host of issues concerning the environment, voter turnout, fair trade, and genetically modified organisms. Today, the B&J Board, chaired by Anuradha Mittal ("Mittal"), consists primarily of social activists who joined long after Unilever's acquisition.

The B&J Board passed a resolution in July 2020 to end sales of Ben & Jerry's products in areas that the B&J Board considers to be Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel. According to Mittal, Ben & Jerry's CEO Matthew McCarthy ("McCarthy") chose not to "operationalize" the resolution immediately, thus temporarily thwarting the B&J Board's decision. During the morning of July 19, 2021, Unilever and its hand-picked CEO McCarthy "operationalized" the B&J Board's resolution to boycott Israel. Ben & Jerry's 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 & Jerry's would end sales of its ice cream in "Occupied Palestinian Territory", but Ben & Jerry's would purportedly continue to sell its products in Israel.

The decision by the B&J Board appeared to arise out of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions ("BDS") movement. The BDS movement is a pro-Palestinian movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. The BDS movement's objective is to coerce Israel into making concessions to the Palestinians by using boycotts and the like to exert economic and political pressure. Additionally, and of particular significance here, 35 U.S. states have adopted laws, executive orders, or resolutions aimed at discouraging boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel ("Anti-BDS Legislation").

During the morning of July 22, 2021, CNBC reported that the states of Texas and Florida were examining Ben & Jerry's actions in connection with the states' Anti-BDS Legislation. In addition to condemnation of Ben & Jerry's boycott by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, CNBC reported that Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who controls billions of dollars in assets for Texas' public pension funds, had already told his office to take action. Similarly, the state of Florida's CFO Jimmy Patronis ("Patronis"), who controls Florida's public pension funds, told CNBC that his office was already discussing the issue. In a letter reportedly sent to Ben & Jerry's CEO, Patronis wrote: "It is my belief that Ben & Jerry's brazen refusal to do business in Israel will result in your placement on the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List." The letter also stated that Florida would then "be prohibited from investing in Ben & Jerry's or its parent company, Unilever." Being added to the list also meant that Unilever would not be able to enter or renew contracts with the state or any municipality in Florida.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoltmann Law Offices announces the filing of a FINRA Arbitration claim on behalf of a group of eighteen investors against Cabot Lodge Securities. The claims filed are in connection with Cabot Lodge's recommendations that the Claimants invest in GWG L-Bonds in violation of Regulation Best Interest and the Colorado Securities Act. FINRA Case No. 22-01460. The Claimants are seeking rescission of their GWG L-Bond investments, compensatory damages, costs, interest, and reasonable attorney's fees.

The Claimants allege that by early 2020, Cabot Lodge lacked any reasonable basis to continue offering GWG L-Bonds to their clients, in violation of Regulation Best Interest. "It is the duty of every brokerage firm to perform reasonable due diligence on investments prior to offering them to their clients to ensure the brokerage firm understands the risks, characteristics, benefits, and costs of any security." Said Chicago Attorney Joseph Wojciechowski. "Firms comply with this obligation when they fully vet a securities offering through the firm's due diligence process to be aware of red-flags which may undermine the investment's ability to perform."

According to Chicago attorney Andrew Stoltmann: "By 2019, GWG was a fundamentally changed company. Its life settlement business was failing. L-Bond investor money was no longer going towards buying life insurance policies, but instead was being used to help GWG's then CEO and COO cash out to the tune of $30 million and absorb a business that had lost hundreds of millions of dollars itself. This Beneficient transaction resulted in GWG booking a $2.4 billion 'goodwill' line item, on their balance sheet, which represented 67% of the company's assets. All of this, the entire business, was dependent on selling L-Bonds to retail investors through this broker/dealer network. That is not a viable business model and these facts were either ignored by brokerage firms, or their due diligence investigation was so lacking, that they didn't know them." Mr. Stoltmann ended: "And virtually every single investor we've interviewed was either told by their financial advisor, or otherwise believed, that their L-Bonds were secured by GWG's life insurance portfolio, when that was never true."

According to Wojciechowski, "Brokerage Firms like Cabot Lodge have to answer for their non-stop approval of these GWG L-Bonds which as time went on became less viable investments. GWG admitted in its bankruptcy filing, that it used new L-Bond investor money to pay interest and principal payments to previous L-Bond investors. Why wasn't GWG buying more life insurance policies and managing that portfolio profitably? These are fundamental and basic issues that required vetting by brokerage firms that sold GWG L-Bonds to their clients."

Stoltmann Law Offices is currently representing GWG L-Bond investors in securities arbitrations against the brokerage firms who recommended the investment to them. Please visit www.stoltmannlaw.com to learn about legal options to or call us at 312-332-4200.

SOURCE Stoltmann Law Offices
MALVERN, Pa., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeScan, a world leader in blood glucose monitoring, today announced that the peer-reviewed journal Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics (DTT) has published Real World Evidence of Improved Glycemic Control in People with Diabetes Using a Bluetooth connected Blood Glucose Meter with Mobile Diabetes Management Application, describing results from a retrospective analysis of real-world data from more than 17,000 people with diabetes. A subset of these results was first presented at the 15th International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) in April.

Using real-world data, this study aimed to understand if using the OneTouch Reveal mobile app with the OneTouch Verio Reflect meter  synced via Bluetooth wireless technology  could support improved glycemic control for people with diabetes. Researchers examined anonymized blood glucose readings from over 17,000 people with diabetes from a LifeScan data-lake comprised of 4,154 people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 13,623 people with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

"This new real-world evidence provides further reassurance that the latest app-connected blood glucose monitors offer meaningful clinical benefits for people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Oliver Schnell, Founder and CEO Sciarc GmbH, Germany. "Along with improved glycemic control, pairing blood glucose monitors with apps also enables people with diabetes to easily and accurately share the data and insights remotely or in-person with their healthcare providers."

The retrospective analysis found that using the OneTouch Reveal app with the OneTouch Verio Reflect meter:

Improved glucose readings in range (70-180mg/dL) by +8.1% in T1Ds (37% of T1Ds saw a +10% improvement), and by +11.2% in T2Ds;

Reduced hyperglycemic readings (>180mg/dL) by -8.5% in T1Ds and -11.3% in T2Ds; and

Reduced mean glucose by -14.5mg/dL in T1Ds and -18.2mg/dL in T2Ds.

The data also showed that spending as little as 11 to 20 minutes per week in the OneTouch Reveal app led to:

Improved glucose readings in range in T1Ds by +8.4% and +11.8% in T2Ds; and

Reduced hyperglycemic readings (>180mg/dL) in T1Ds by -9.12% and -11.76% in T2Ds.

This analysis includes data from people with diabetes who had blood glucose (BG) data available in the data-lake for both the first 14 days using the OneTouch Verio Reflect meter with the OneTouch Reveal app (the baseline) and the 14 days prior to 90 days usage (90 days). A total of 2,069,390 and 4,550,601 BG results were available for the 4,154 T1Ds and 13,623 T2Ds, respectively, over the entire 90 days (See TABLE).

"We now know that connecting a mobile health app to a blood glucose meter, both of which are readily accessible, can add clinically significant benefit to people's diabetes management," said study co-author, Dr. Elizabeth Holt, Head of Global Medical, Clinical, and Safety, LifeScan. "These findings are particularly meaningful because over 95% of people with diabetes who monitor their blood glucose rely on blood glucose meters vs. more expensive continuous glucose monitoring devices."

Study Methodology

Anonymized glucose and app analytics were extracted from a LifeScan data-lake of 4,154 people with T1D and 13,623 people with T2D. Data from their first 14 days was compared to the 14 days prior to the 90-day timepoint using paired within-subject differences.

TABLE

Time on app (Per Week) 2 minutes 3 to 5

minutes 6 to 10

minutes 11 to 20 minutes 21 to 60

minutes >60 minutes Diabetes Type T1D (n=

355) T2D

(n=

849) T1D

(n=

514) T2D (n= 1265) T1D (n= 655) T2D (n= 1728) T1D (n=

721) T2D (n=

2439) T1D (n= 1107) T2D (n= 4701) T1D (n= 802) T2D (n= 2641) Mean Glucose

(mg/dL) +0.84 -5.05 -2.48 -14.20 -5.53 -17.79 -15.11 -17.81 -9.20 -19.60 -29.36 -22.40 % Readings in range (70 to 180mg/dL) +0.16 +3.00 +2.98 +8.13 +3.45 +10.54 +8.45 +11.87 +11.03 +12.18 +14.13 +13.40 % Hyperglycemic

readings (>180mg/dL) +0.05 -3.12 -2.78 -8.43 -3.48 -10.77 -9.12 -11.76 -11.51 -12.35 -15.33 -13.57 Average Test Frequency 3.02 2.15 3.15 1.99 3.19 2.02 3.05 1.97 3.04 2.04 4.08 2.66

About the OneTouch brand made by LifeScan

LifeScan is a global leader in blood glucose monitoring and digital health technology and has a vision to create a world without limits for people with diabetes and related conditions. More than 20 million people and their caregivers around the world count on LifeScan's OneTouch brand products to manage their diabetes. Together, LifeScan and OneTouch improve the quality of life for people with diabetes with products and digital platforms defined by simplicity, accuracy, and trust. LifeScan.com and OneTouch.com.

The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by LifeScan Scotland Ltd. and its affiliates is under license.

SOURCE Lifescan, Inc.
Tarkus Pharma Lab, the first pharmaceutical laboratory located in a Free Trade Zone in Colombia , has become a global industry benchmark, developing raw materials and final products derived from medical cannabis with the highest quality, and exporting to various regions of the world.

The National Institute for Drug and Food Surveillance (Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos) INVIMA in Colombia has certified this laboratory in Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to produce phyto-therapeutic products for free use.

BOGOTA, Colombia, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tarkus Pharma Lab, the first pharmaceutical laboratory of medicinal Cannabis located in Colombia's free trade zone in Bogota, was certified by INVIMA (the entity responsible for controlling and verifying that products comply with sanitary requirements for importation and distribution), with the endorsement of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), allowing the manufacture of phyto-therapeutic products derived from Cannabis for free use and with export potential.

Currently, the company has cannabis-derived raw materials, standardized mixtures and magister formulas. By obtaining the certification, the laboratory is authorized to produce finished phyto-therapeutic products (ingestible products for medicinal purposes from natural origin).

"To achieve this important step, we have the required investment and a team of experts in the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, we will place our products in pharmacies and department stores, facilitating access to thousands of people with chronic pathologies, so that they can enjoy the benefits offered by cannabis-based products," said Alejandro Venegas, CEO of Tarkus Pharma Lab.

Although the export of raw material does not require INVIMA certification, it is a requirement for the commercialization of the final labeled product that reaches consumers. For Tarkus, having the support of regulatory entities is a commitment to its customers, represented in quality assurance of raw materials and final products, as well as a seal of confidence for users.

Tarkus is looking for a local partner to enter the US market with high quality products with best in market prices.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than two-thirds of U.S. states have legalized medical cannabis. In addition, experts claim that the cannabis market in California will increase to USD $7.700 million by this year.

For further information https://tarkuslab.com

SOURCE Tarkus Pharma Lab
BANGALORE, India, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Elxsi, a global leading design company that blends technology, creativity, and engineering celebrating World Industrial design day with the launch of a worldwide design and innovation contest for design students.

As the world navigates through uncertain times, the design fraternity must lead the way for change, and with this in mind, Tata Elxsi invites young designers from across the globe to participate in this contest.

As part of the contest, participants must create a sustainable design solution that will address the future needs of consumer goods, healthcare and mobility industries. The process will involve predicting a trend that will emerge in the near future and creating a design that can fulfil this requirement keeping in mind that the solution must be scalable, repeatable and sustainable.

Tata Elxsi's Global Design Head, Nick Talbot, said, "Tata Elxsi is committed to using the power of design and design thinking to deliver relevant design solutions to customers in a way that includes sustainability as a central element of everything we do. This competition seeks the best and brightest ideas from our future designers and innovators to meet the challenge of providing products and services that customers need and want whilst improving our relationship with our planet and all the resources we need to care for."

Participants must submit their design concepts along with wireframing, video/animation, concept diagrams, and other supporting materials to make their ideas presentable and aid the jury's understanding.

The winning entry will be selected by an international jury and awarded a cash prize of US $ 10,000 along with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Global Design event in August.

Alongside the winner, each finalist will be recognized globally and receive an internship offer with Tata Elxsi. The last date to submit entries is 3rd August 2022.

Visit https://asset.tataelxsi.com/ignite-design-contest for information about the design contest and to participate.

About Tata Elxsi www.tataelxsi.com

Tata Elxsi is a fully integrated global design and technology consultancy creating innovative products, services, and experiences to build brands and help businesses grow. It has a multi-disciplinary team of over 9000 design researchers, strategists, product, UX / UI designers, technologists, and engineers. Tata Elxsi helps clients worldwide to bring new ideas and award-winning products and services to market. For over 30 years, we have been helping brands differentiate and win.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/742257/Tata_Elxsi_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Tata Elxsi
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE: TMHC) ("Taylor Morrison"), a leading national developer and homebuilder, announced today that it will release its second quarter 2022 results before the market opens on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Taylor Morrison will hold a conference call to discuss its second quarter results the same day at 8:30 a.m. ET.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on Taylor Morrison's website at www.taylormorrison.com on the Investor Relations portion of the site under the Events & Presentations tab. For call participants, the dial-in number is (844) 200-6205 and conference ID is 073087. The call will be recorded and available for replay on the Company's website.

Taylor Morrison's filings will be available on the Company's website or with the SEC at sec.gov.

About Taylor Morrison

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison is a leading national developer and homebuilder. We serve a wide array of consumers from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury and 55-plus active lifestyle homebuyers under our family of brandsincluding Taylor Morrison, Esplanade, Darling Homes Collection by Taylor Morrison and Christopher Todd Communities built by Taylor Morrison. From 2016-2022, Taylor Morrison has been recognized as America's Most Trusted Builder by Lifestory Research. Our strong commitment to sustainability, our communities and our team is highlighted in our latest annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report.

For more information about Taylor Morrison, please visit www.taylormorrison.com.

CONTACT:

Mackenzie Aron, VP Investor Relations

Taylor Morrison Home Corp.

(480) 734-2060

[email protected]

SOURCE Taylor Morrison
New platform allows traditional payment companies to capitalize on $1tn crypto market

TEL-AVIV, Israel, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TenureX , an interoperability platform that enables and streamlines correspondent banking relationships, today announces the launch of the latest version to its platform - a seamless way for payments companies to deploy a bridge between fiat and crypto while managing compliance requirements. This is an extension to TenureX's core API named Digital Transaction Certificate (DTC) which aims to bring a new level of transparency, control, and efficiency to the laborious and risky operations of this industry.

Cryptocurrency is becoming mainstream. Despite current volatility, it's estimated that the Web 3.0 economy has the potential to become a $1 trillion market opportunity, with investors continuing to pour billions into backing innovative crypto startups.[1] It's vital, therefore, that traditional payments companies are at the forefront of the trend if they hope to capitalize on it.

TenureX currently works with five major payment institutions, processing thousands of payments in a pilot of its crypto/fiat solution.

Izhar Arieli, CEO and founder of TenureX comments, "There are over 110,000 payments companies around the world, supporting different geographies and business types. We know that many of them are looking to add support for crypto-to-fiat businesses and expand their offering to their customer-base while creating new possibilities to grow and stay relevant."

"We at TenureX have built the infrastructure necessary for any payment company to support crypto businesses, in addition to traditional fiat transactions, in a matter of days and without compromising on risk and compliance, while improving - the same level of oversight and control."

"We're excited about what this latest development represents and, in particular, the potential for cryptocurrencies to help solve real-world problems, especially outside of major markets," says Arieli. "By the end of the year, we plan to support crypto payouts in more than 120 countries."

John Philpott, General Partner at FINTOP Capital adds, "We're delighted to support TenureX as it builds its latest platform, and we look forward to working with them as they continue to unleash innovation in the fields of crypto and decentralised finance, or DeFi."

TenureX was founded in 2020 by four banking experts with a range of industry experience. Its aim is to democratize correspondent banking by moving away from subjective, rigid, bilateral relationship banking. It provides a predictive real-time data-driven solution that reduces operating expenses through automation.

The company plans to make this update fully available to the market in Q4 2022.

To request access to the beta, please contact TenureX at [email protected] . For more information on the solution and its integrations, please visit tenurex.com

About TenureX

TenureX was founded in 2020 by four banking experts with a wide variety of industry experience. We know first-hand the frustrations and missed opportunities faced by non-bank financial institutions as they struggle to work together, and we are passionate about making things simpler for everyone in correspondent banking.

Our vision is to democratize correspondent banking by moving away from subjective, rigid, bilateral, relationship banking. Instead we'll build objective, streamlined, multilateral, transaction-based relationships.

For further information:

Izhar Arieli

CEO and Co-Founder

Phone:

+972(0)-73-326-0303 (ISR)

+1-605-836-8739 (USA)

Email: [email protected]

[1] Grayscale Research, "The Metaverse: Web 3.0 Virtual Cloud Economies", November 2021

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1838172/TenureX_Logo.jpg

SOURCE TenureX
Funding Will Support Programs in Urban Communities

NORTH BRANCH, N.J., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) is honored to be awarded a $50,000 grant from The Achelis and Bodman Foundation to support our equity initiative to make the Girl Scout Leadership Experience accessible to girls in our Emerging Markets: Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Irvington, East Orange, Orange, and Plainfield.

Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey

"The Achelis and Bodman Foundation is delighted to support the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey Emerging Markets Initiative," said John N. Irwin III, foundation chair. "My colleagues and I know the importance of this work. We are excited about the organization's commitment to growing membership and volunteer support to ensure that Girl Scout programs are accessible to all interested girls."

GSHNJ is committed to reaching girls in all our communities by forging strong local partnerships that will offer girls the tools to inspire personal growth, academic success, and civic engagement. "The Achelis and Bodman Foundation support will amplify our impact by helping to support a staff position dedicated to the unique needs in each of the emerging urban markets," explained Natasha Hemmings, CEO, GSHNJ. "We deeply appreciate that The Achelis and Bodman Foundation recognizes and supports the importance of Girl Scouts, and we look forward to accomplishing this important equity goal through its support."

About The Achelis and Bodman Foundation

The Achelis and Bodman Foundation was established in 2015, with the merger of The Achelis Foundation and The Bodman Foundation. The New York-based foundation supports non-profit programs in New York and New Jersey. The funding is spread over six program areas: Arts and Culture, Education, Employment, Health, Public Policy and Youth and Families.

About Girl Scout Heart of New Jersey

Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) believes in the power of every girl. Our leadership program is designed to help a girl discover who she is, what she can do, and connects her with a powerful community of girls and mentors to make it happen. With unique opportunities, Girl Scouts explore, learn, succeed and take action to make a difference in their community. Providing nearly 12,000 New Jersey girls access to premier leadership programs and mentors throughout Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union, southern Warren, and parts of Middlesex counties, GSHNJ offers girls a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership. GSHNJ has two service centers located in North Branch and Westfield, and operates three summer camps: Camp Hoover in Middleville, NJ, Camp DeWitt in Hillsborough, NJ, and The OVAL in Maplewood, NJ. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, please visit www.gshnj.org.

Media Contact:

Irene Laki

908-789-0700

Jaffe Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey
The chemical industry has finally woken up to the benefits of Industry 4.0 and is ready to spend in the face of challenges such as increasing margin pressures and a declining labor force

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- While still considered laggers in the digital transformation space, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the chemical industry to accept that digital transformation is critical to its future success. According to a new analysis by global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, chemical manufacturer's investment into digital transformation will grow at a CAGR of 6% between 2022 and 2031, reaching US$7.4 billion. Investment into data analytics to better understand plant conditions and optimize production will grow to be worth up to US$1 billion in 2031. Supporting this will be continued investment in industrial device and application services, alongside security, both seeing fair growth of CAGR 5.9% and 8.4% respectively.

"The chemical industry is facing significant challenges in both increasing margin pressures, calls for greater sustainability in production, and a declining labor force. As such, to increase production efficiency and maintain staff safety, chemical manufacturers are investing into technologies that monitor and analyze operations, simulate process optimization, and transfer key information from senior to junior staff," explains James Prestwood, Industrial and Manufacturing Research Analyst at ABI Research.

Technology suppliers providing software to the industry include AspenTech, Seeq, and IFS, and are underpinned by network industry giants such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Verizon. Finally, large suppliers such as Siemens, Hitachi Vantara, and Emerson, provide holistic solutions that aid chemical manufacturers in digitizing their operations end-to-end.

"Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital transformation agenda within the chemical industry has been pushed more into the spotlight. Plans that were slowly being implemented, or even relegated to pilot purgatory, have been given a new injection of life," Prestwood concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research's Digitalization in the Chemical Industry application analysis report. This report is part of the company's Industrial and Manufacturing research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present in-depth analysis on key market trends and factors for a specific technology.

About ABI Research

ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm delivering actionable research and strategic guidance to technology leaders, innovators, and decision makers around the world. Our research focuses on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces today.

ABI Research

For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific, or visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info:

Global

Deborah Petrara

Tel: +1.516.624.2558

[email protected]

SOURCE ABI Research
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Eye Tracking Market (2022-2027) by Offering, Tracking Type, Application, Industry Vertical, Mounting Type, and Geography, Competitive Analysis, Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Eye Tracking Market is estimated to be USD 667.15 Mn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 2587.61 Mn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 31.14%.

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Eye Tracking Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals.

As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks.

Company Profiles

The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Biopac Systems, Eyetech Digital Systems, Eyetracking Inc., Noldus Information Technology, SR Research, Tobii, etc.

Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.

Ansoff Analysis

The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Eye Tracking Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.

The report analyses the Global Eye Tracking Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.

Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Eye Tracking Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Report Description

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Rising Demand for Eye-Tracking-Based Assistive Communication Devices

4.1.2 Growing Penetration of Eye-Tracking Technology in Automotive & Transportation Industry

4.1.3 Rise in Consumer Electronics Devices with Eye-Tracking Technology

4.1.4 Increasing Demand for Contactless Biometrics

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Cost of Eye-Tracking Systems

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Penetration of Eye-Tracking Technology in AR/VR Devices

4.3.2 Increasing in Demand for Eye-Tracking Technology in Emerging Country

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Interoperability and System Integration Issues

5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis

6 Global Eye Tracking Market, By Offering

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Hardware

6.3 Software

6.4 Services

7 Global Eye Tracking Market, By Tracking Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Mobile Tracking

7.3 Remote Tracking

8 Global Eye Tracking Market, By Application

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Assistive Communication

8.3 Human Behavior & Market Research

8.4 Others

9 Global Eye Tracking Market, By Industry Vertical

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Retail and Advertisement

9.3 Consumer Electronics

9.4 Healthcare & Research Labs

9.5 Government, Defense, and Aerospace

9.6 Automotive & Transportation

10 Global Eye Tracking Market, By Mounting Type

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Head Mounted

10.3 Wheelchair Mounted

10.4 Table/Device Mounted

11 Americas' Eye Tracking Market

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Argentina

11.3 Brazil

11.4 Canada

11.5 Chile

11.6 Colombia

11.7 Mexico

11.8 Peru

11.9 United States

11.10 Rest of Americas

12 Europe's Eye Tracking Market

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Austria

12.3 Belgium

12.4 Denmark

12.5 Finland

12.6 France

12.7 Germany

12.8 Italy

12.9 Netherlands

12.10 Norway

12.11 Poland

12.12 Russia

12.13 Spain

12.14 Sweden

12.15 Switzerland

12.16 United Kingdom

12.17 Rest of Europe

13 Middle East and Africa's Eye Tracking Market

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Egypt

13.3 Israel

13.4 Qatar

13.5 Saudi Arabia

13.6 South Africa

13.7 United Arab Emirates

13.8 Rest of MEA

14 APAC's Eye Tracking Market

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Australia

14.3 Bangladesh

14.4 China

14.5 India

14.6 Indonesia

14.7 Japan

14.8 Malaysia

14.9 Philippines

14.10 Singapore

14.11 South Korea

14.12 Sri Lanka

14.13 Thailand

14.14 Taiwan

14.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific

15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Competitive Quadrant

15.2 Market Share Analysis

15.3 Strategic Initiatives

15.3.1 M&A and Investments

15.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

15.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements

16 Company Profiles

16.1 Biopac Systems

16.2 Converus

16.3 Ergoneers

16.4 Eyegaze

16.5 EyeSee Research

16.6 Eyetech Digital Systems

16.7 Eyetracking Inc.

16.8 Gazepoint

16.9 Imotions

16.10 Iscan

16.11 Mirametrix

16.12 Noldus Information Technology

16.13 PRS IN VIVO

16.14 Pupil Labs

16.15 Seeing Machine

16.16 SR Research

16.17 Tobii

17 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mofcil

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
BERWYN, Pa., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Triumph Group (TRIUMPH) [NYSE:TGI] today announced that its Interiors business was awarded a contract from Mammoth Freighters for composite air distribution ducts on the Boeing 777 Passenger to Freighter (P2F) conversions. TRIUMPH Interiors will provide manufacturing and engineering support services for the Mammoth Freighters' re-designed air distribution ducting system in the cargo compartment. With the recent increase in Passenger to Freighter conversions in the industry, Mammoth Freighters is establishing its position in 777 conversions and has commitments through 2026 and beyond.

"Supporting Mammoth Freighters, an experienced passenger to freighter provider, demonstrates that we can deliver exceptional value solutions to air freight operators," said Howard Sanderson, General Manager and Vice President of TRIUMPH Interiors. "We complement Mammoth's unique business model by offering an expanding portfolio of industry-leading P2F solutions, including integrated hydraulic power packs for the cargo door system."

TRIUMPH Interiors is a market leader in integrated design and manufacturing of thermo-acoustic insulation systems, air distribution system ducting, thermoplastic interior components, and other aircraft interior composite assemblies for major aerospace OEMs, with facilities located around the globe.

TRIUMPH, headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, designs, engineers, manufactures, repairs, and overhauls a broad portfolio of aerospace and defense systems and components. The company serves the global aviation industry, including original equipment manufacturers and the full spectrum of military and commercial aircraft operators.

More information about TRIUMPH can be found on the company's website at www.triumphgroup.com .

SOURCE Triumph Group
An estimated five million children in the region are malnourished, with 1.6 million experiencing severe malnutrition, putting their lives at risk. "Without an urgent response and scaling up of the humanitarian support, we risk 350,000 of these children dying," Concern's Regional Director for the Horn of Africa, Amina Abdulla, warned today.

Concern Worldwide has reached 2.5 million people with a range of assistance, including over 100,000 children, through nutrition interventions as part of its emergency response to the drought. It has scaled up its operations to reach an additional 1.5 million people since April. Its focus has been on providing cash support for families (to enable them to buy essentials such as water and food) and protecting critical services such as health and nutrition services.

"Scaling up of the emergency response to the drought is more important now than it has ever been, given the numbers we are looking at and what is anticipated in a few months," Ms. Abdulla said. "We need to scale up to prevent the situation from deteriorating further, or else we will surely not be able to cope with the numbers who will need assistance in the coming months."

During the drought of 2011 in the region, 13 million people needed humanitarian support in a famine, which resulted in 260,000 deaths in Somalia. Currently, there are 17 million people in need of humanitarian support in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia  and this figure is expected to rise to 20 million by September, she noted.

Ms. Abdulla said that an estimated 500,000 people are currently at risk of famine in the region. The number of cases of Cholera and Measles is also rising.

"The drought is taking a huge toll on livestock, with 1.2 million animals lost in Kenya over the last 18 months," she said. "Some 30% of livestock have died during the current drought in Somalia  a country where animals provide 80% of the country's income."

Concern's Country Director in Kenya Arshad Muhammad said the loss of livestock had led to displacement and dependence on humanitarian assistance of people in the country.

"The most vulnerable have been forced to reduce the amount of food they eat each day, as a fourth failed rainy season and the crisis in Ukraine has led to shortages of food and highly inflated prices. We are seeing a significant increase in the number of children under five requiring emergency treatment, but there simply aren't enough resources to meet the need, particularly in remote areas."

The drought is also taking a significant toll in Ethiopia. "Over eight million people rely on livestock for to make a living, but two million animals have perished and another 22 million are at risk of dying - they are weak and producing little milk, the main source of nutrition for children," said Concern's Ethiopia Country Director Barbara White.

"We focus on building people's ability to cope with emergencies, but this situation is now beyond that, and with rains expected to be below average in the coming season, it is a race against time to save people by providing basic food, water, and medical care."

The UN estimates that it will cost $4.4 billion to provide the necessary humanitarian support in the region up until August. However, donors' international response to appeals has fallen far short of targets.

The appeal for Somalia was just 27% funded, with the same response rate for South Sudan. Just 34% of the necessary funding was pledged for Kenya, while no fresh funding was pledged for Ethiopia.

Media Contact - Candance Patel-Taylor, (212) 557 - 8000, [email protected]

SOURCE Concern Worldwide US
TUCSON, Ariz. , June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In a stunning reversal of two Courts of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned their decisions in prosecutions of physicians who were denied a full good-faith defense in connection with their prescription of pain medications. One of the physicians had been sentenced to 21 years in prison, while the other physician received a 25-year sentence.

The Supreme Court agreed with the position taken in the amicus brief filed by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), which urged allowance of a good-faith defense. "Physicians should not be placed in a Catch-22 of denying patients pain relief or facing decades in prison if prosecuted for it," stated AAPS General Counsel Andrew Schlafly.

"Lengthy incarceration without proving criminal intent is tyrannical," states the AAPS amicus brief in Ruan v. United States, No. 20-1410. "A 21-year imprisonment for medicating pain deters all physicians against fully treating patients who suffer."

On Monday the Supreme Court held that "the Court of Appeals in both cases evaluated the jury instructions under an incorrect understanding of" the requirement of proof of criminal intent by the physicians. The Supreme Court concluded that "the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally acted in an unauthorized manner."

This ruling reversed the decision of the 11th Circuit in the Ruan case and the 10th Circuit in Kahn v. United States, No. 215261.

"It is rare for the Supreme Court to simultaneously reverse the decisions of two Courts of Appeals," Mr. Schlafly observes. "Perhaps the shocking sentences without proof by the government of criminal intent by the defendants compelled the Supreme Court to take its extraordinary action," he added. "The Justices unanimously agreed that this process for punishing physicians went too far and needed to be reined in."

Next the Courts of Appeals receive these cases back on remand in an opportunity for them to correct their errors.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. Its motto is omnia pro aegroto (everything for the patient).

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA) the premier market research company, today released its report titled "Smart Fitness - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" . The report presents fresh perspectives on opportunities and challenges in a significantly transformed post COVID-19 marketplace.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

What's New for 2022?

Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 5; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 868

Companies: 142 - Players covered include Apple Inc.; Fitbit Inc.; Garmin Ltd.; Jawbone; LG Electronics; MAD Apparel, Inc.; Nike Inc.; OMsignal; Pebble Inc.; Polar Electro, Inc.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Shanda Group; Sony Corporation; Sony Mobile Communications Inc.; Under Armour, Inc.; Xiaomi Inc. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Product (Smartwatches, Wristbands, Bike Computers, Other Products); Type (Head-Wear, Hand-Wear, Bike Mount, Other Types)

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 Smart Fitness Market to Reach $36.8 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Smart Fitness estimated at US$12.9 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$36.8 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18.7% over the analysis period. Smartwatches, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 19.7% CAGR and reach US$20.9 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Wristbands segment is readjusted to a revised 18.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $4.7 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $6.5 Billion by 2026

The Smart Fitness market in the U.S. is estimated at US$4.7 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$6.5 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 18.3% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 16.7% and 15.7% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 13% CAGR.

Bike Computers Segment to Reach US$4.1 Billion by the year 2026

In the global Bike Computers segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 16.9% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$1.3 Billion will reach a projected size of US$3.8 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. 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./



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https://twitter.com/marketbytes



Journalists & Media

[email protected]

SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Advanced identity verification technology and know your customer offerings provide seamless verification process for Twisto customers and ensures compliance

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Veriff , a global identity verification provider, today announced its partnership with Twiso , A Zip Company , a buy now, pay later (BNPL) business, to provide identity verification (IDV) services for online merchants. With this partnership, Veriff expedites the IDV process for Twisto customers, while ensuring compliance with know your customer (KYC) regulations.

Veriff's AI-powered identity verification technology is now available through Twisto's platform, enabling consumers to quickly and seamlessly verify their identities. Veriff provides best-in-class KYC verification with its video-first technology and offers an extra layer of protection for users through location verification.

"The BNPL payments market is highly regulated, and as a business in this space we need to ensure that we comply with KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations which require us to verify the identity of our customers," said Pavel Prucek, Head of Product at Twisto, A Zip Company. "The biggest challenge we faced was balancing the tradeoff between the customer friction and the reliability of data we gather in the IDV process. Veriff enables a seamless and quick IDV flow that also provides the customer data and information we need to ensure compliance."

Since integrating Veriff's technology, Twisto has experienced a customer conversion rate increase of almost 15 percentage points. The BNPL platform has also almost fully eliminated verification application returns due to Veriff's streamlined IDV process and ability to identify and flag low-quality or incomplete pictures submitted to the verification process.

"The last two years spurred a dramatic evolution within the financial services and online payments industry, resulting in a rise in stringent regulations to address growing fintech fraud rates," said Raul Liive, Head of Product at Veriff. "It's never been more critical for payments companies to remain a few steps ahead of these fraudsters while maintaining regulatory compliance. We're thrilled to partner with Twisto to ease the verification and compliance process for them and their customers."

More about Twisto

Twisto introduces a smart solution for payments and shopping. In 2013, it was the first to bring BNPL (buy now pay later) services into the Czech Republic. With Twisto Pay, people can defer the payment for their online shopping for 30 days with a single click, without registration and for free. Registered Twisto users have the possibility to pay with virtual or physical Twisto cards (run by Mastercard), pay with their smartphones through Apple Pay or Google Pay, settle their invoices by taking a picture with Twisto Snap or to split a bill between friends with Twisto Split. And they can defer payments for their shopping for up to 45 days. Twisto also enables them to divide the payment into installments with immediate approval or shop and pay in three without any fees. In 2018, Twisto successfully entered the Polish market. In 2021, the Australian fintech leader Zip acquired Twisto, which has become a key part of its European strategy. www.twisto.cz , LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram

About Veriff

Veriff is a global online identity verification company that enables organizations to build trust with their customers through intelligent, accurate, and automated online IDV. With the largest document specimen database on the market, Veriff's intelligent decision engine can analyze thousands of technological and behavioral variables in seconds, matching people to more than 10,200 government-issued IDs from over 190 countries. Founded in 2015, Veriff serves a global portfolio of organizations across financial services, crypto, gaming and mobility sectors. Veriff's clients include Blockchain, Bolt, Deel, Starship, Trustpilot, Uphold, Wise and others. Veriff employs over 500 people from 56 different nationalities in the U.S., UK, Spain and Estonia. www.veriff.com .

SOURCE Veriff
As Stellar Solar continues to expand its commercial portfolio with auto dealerships along with its ever expanding solar, battery storage and electric vehicle charging business, the show provided a perfect forum for a conversation about the auto and solar industries and how they are converging to help people electrify their lives.

SAN DIEGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stellar Solar, one of Southern California's most experienced solar and battery storage installers since 1998, and winner of the San Diego Union Tribune Readers Poll in the category of Best Solar Company again in 2022, had a unique opportunity recently to present a list of electric vehicle focused questions for auto analyst Michelle Krebs that included styling, the dealership model, service issues, anticipated model releases and autonomous vehicles. Krebs was a guest on the wide ranging cultural talk show Lick the Plate with host David Boylan, also Vice President of Marketing for Stellar Solar.

Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Michelle Krebs Stellar Solar founding partner and solar industry expert Michael Powers.

This is a repeat visit on the show for Michelle Krebs whose first appearance included highlights from the North American International Auto Show and from her illustrious career covering the auto industry. Given the auto industry's move towards electrification and show host David Boylan's role in promoting the synergies with the solar industry, Krebs was the obvious choice to invite back. Click here to listen to the interview.

Stellar Solar Founding Partner and solar industry expert Michael Powers, who has personally driven and advocated electric vehicles since 2010, was excited to submit a series of questions to such an auto industry insider: "Even 10 years ago, the forward thinkers in the solar industry were predicting the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, so to have all of the major automakers offering currently offering several EV options with more on the way is very exciting for us. Stellar Solar was ahead of the curve in offering EV chargers and battery storage to power EV's for several years now. David's connection with Michelle allowed me to pose some EV related questions that have been top of mind for some time, to an auto industry expert."

Krebs added: "What the solar industry is doing by powering auto dealerships with solar is a natural fit for both parties and provides excellent marketing opportunities to help spread the widespread adoption of EV's and solar. It was my pleasure to provide some insight from the auto industry perspective. That and it's always fun to join David Boylan to talk business along with some fun conversations on food and music, two of my other passions."

Stellar Solar provides no-pressure, virtual quotes for home and business owners interested in solar, battery storage and EV charging. Commercial sectors include, but are not limited to businesses, nonprofits, schools, auto dealerships and faith-based organizations.

About Stellar Solar

Stellar Solar is a leading California residential and commercial PV solar design and installation company, based in San Diego since 1998 with over 14,000+ installations across Southern California including notable commercial installations on The Salk Institute, US Foods, Cedars Sinai Hospital and more. Readers of the Union Tribune have voted them best solar panel company again in 2022 marking the sixth year in a row and tenth time in twelve years winning the award. Their 5 Star Reviews on Yelp, A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and high customer ratings on Angie's list are further testament to their standing as the leading solar, battery storage, and EV connectivity provider to homes, businesses, nonprofits and faith-based organizations in San Diego County. Learn more at www.stellarsolar.net

About Michelle Krebs

Michelle Krebs is executive analyst for Cox Automotive, based in in Detroit. An award-winning automotive writer, Krebs is a frequent guest on CNN, CNBC, FOX and other news programs. Before joining Cox Automotive, Krebs was a senior analyst and editor for Edmunds.com. She reviewed cars for The New York Times and participated in the selection of Motor Trend's Car/Truck of the Year. She was a reporter and editor for Automotive News. She served as president of the Society of Automotive Analysts and the Automotive Press Association. She is a graduate of Syracuse University.

Media Contact:

David Boylan

858.395.6905

[email protected]

SOURCE Stellar Solar
VANCOUVER, BC, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Virginia Graham, the key witness for Vincent Bugliosi against Charles Manson in the infamous Tate/LaBianca "Helter Skelter" murders that terrorized Los Angeles in 1969, has died. She passed away at age 89 of natural causes on April 17, 2022, at her residence in Phoenix, AZ, surrounded by friends.

Virginia's autobiography Manson, Sinatra and Me details her life as a Hollywood party girl and her encounters with former politicians and celebrities, including Frank Sinatra.

When Virginia found herself in trouble with the law, she ended up in jail. While there she met Susan Atkins, her cellmate, who confessed to Virginia about how she had butchered Sharon Tate and her unborn child. Atkins also told how she and her friends, all members of the Manson Family, were involved in what has become known as the Tate/LaBianca murders.

In her memoir Virginia revealed the true story behind Susan Atkins' prison confession about the Manson Murders, what led to her becoming a key witness for District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi in the Helter Skelter case, and that she went into hiding after the trial ended due to death threats against her life by Manson's followers. Virginia's testimony helped save the lives of many Hollywood celebrities, and she received recognition from Elizabeth Taylor for doing so.

The late Vincent Bugliosi wrote, "Virginia Graham had a heck of a run in her life as a party girl, and has told of her rollicking story very well in this poignant and sometimes very funny memoir of hers. She also happened to be a star witness of mine in helping me bring the Manson Family killers to justice, something for which I will always be very grateful to her."

Virginia Graham was born Virginia Kathleen Browne on Dec. 10, 1932, in Philadelphia, PA, to her parents William and Naomi Browne. Virginia's death was confirmed by her Publisher, Paul Rabinovitch, of CCB Publishing.

After Virginia went into hiding she later was a salon owner and managed a gallery in Hawaii where she sold celebrity art before she retired in Phoenix, AZ. She also rescued many cats and dogs throughout her life. Donations in her memory may be made to the Jerome Humane Society in Jerome, AZ. Virginia is survived by two sons.

SOURCE CCB Publishing
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Visby Medical , a leading medical diagnostic company, today announced that it expanded its over-subscribed Series E financing round to include an additional $35 million for a total of over $135 million raised in the round. The additional investment was led by Lightrock, who joined existing Series E investors including John Doerr, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, ND Capital, Artiman Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital, Blue Water Life Science Advisors and J Ventures.

The additional investment will be used to enable Visby Medical to scale production capacity, further expand the product menu to include advanced respiratory health tests, antimicrobial resistance panels, and deliver the power of PCR diagnostics to consumers at-home.

"At Visby Medical, we are revolutionizing patient care by developing diagnostics that healthcare providers can use to test for any infection at anytime, anywhere," said Visby Medical Founder and CEO Adam de la Zerda, PhD. "Especially during these times of market slowdown, our investors have shown significant confidence in Visby's innovative technology and mission. This funding will enable us to further our goal to provide the world's first instrument-free handheld PCR platform to accurately and rapidly test for a variety of serious infections to anyone who needs it."

Visby's patented gold standard PCR diagnostic technology is being developed in multiple therapeutic areas and is aimed to address a critical and growing global need: to combat the significant rise in infectious diseases. The FDA-cleared Visby Medical Sexual Health Click Test is already being used in U.S. CLIA-waived settings, such as Urgent Care and women's health clinics, to detect gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomonas via self-collected vaginal swabs and deliver results in less than 30 minutes, eliminating the need for presumptive treatment.

Ashish Puri, Partner at Lightrock, said, "Visby Medical have produced a diagnostics tool capable of transforming patient care, enabling accurate results over the course of patients' visit. The innovation behind this versatile product has the potential to decentralise lab testing, producing major benefits for communities around the world and opening up access to affordable healthcare results. Lightrock invests in businesses using scalable technologies to deliver real and significant impacts and Visby aligns perfectly with that vision."

About Visby Medical

Visby Medical is transforming the order of diagnosis and treatment for infectious diseases so clinicians can test, talk with, and treat the patient in a single visit. The Company's proprietary technology development program culminated in the world's first instrument-free, single-use PCR platform that fits in the palm of your hand and rapidly tests for serious infections. Originally developed for sexually transmitted infections, the Company's FDA-cleared, CLIA-waived Sexual Health Click Test for women returns accurate results within 28 minutes. The Visby Medical technology is also helping to fight the global pandemic via the Visby Medical COVID-19 Test, and its robust pipeline includes tests for other infectious diseases. Visby Medical is accelerating the delivery of fast and accurate, palm-sized PCR diagnostics to the point of care, and eventually for use at home.

For more information, visit www.visbymedical.com . Follow Visby Medical on LinkedIn ; Facebook , and Twitter .

Media Contact:

[email protected]

Investor Contact:

Mark Ibison

Chief Financial Officer, Visby Medical

[email protected]

SOURCE Visby Medical
Leading digital experience platform releases new features to give online brands a competitive edge during turbulent times

CAESAREA, Israel, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Webeyez (https://www.webeyez.com), the digital experience platform online businesses deploy to fix leaky funnels and grow revenue, today announced the launch of Webeyez 2.0: the company's most significant product launch since its founding in 2015.

"We're entering a challenging time for both online brands and consumers," said Uri Strauss, Webeyez co-founder and CEO. "Economic uncertainty, changing data privacy regulations, and a dizzying rate of new technology adoption mean that brands can't afford to be flying blind. They need ways to quickly identify and fix points of failure in the online customer journey."

Webeyez's core technology automatically surfaces  in real time  technical issues and goal failures that prevent conversions. With the launch of Webeyez 2.0, the platform helps brands get deeper insights, take action faster, and keep pace as their customers' needs evolve.

Key capabilities included in the Webeyez 2.0 include:

Lost Revenue Dashboard to quantify the revenue impact of every site issue  enabling data-driven issue resolution

to quantify the revenue impact of every site issue  enabling data-driven issue resolution Dynamic alerting when critical events reach a threshold  so teams can rest easy knowing Webeyez is monitoring their site 24/7

when critical events reach a threshold  so teams can rest easy knowing Webeyez is monitoring their site 24/7 Support for custom data (e.g,. search data) to provide enhanced visibility into all issues impacting the customer journey

(e.g,. search data) to provide enhanced visibility into issues impacting the customer journey Cross-site visibility for a portfolio of brands

Webeyez 2.0 is available as of today to all Webeyez customers. Key capabilities have been in beta with select customers for the past six months.

"Before Webeyez, we could not drill down to the actual customer behavior that was causing the drop in online conversions," said Sherry Shi, Chief Brand Officer at Diane von Furstenberg , a Webeyez customer and Webeyez 2.0 beta participant. With the new release, Webeyez "gives us X-Ray vision into the detail of what is happening within our website."

Webeyez clients include high-growth brands across e-commerce, gaming, travel, and financial services.

About Webeyez

Webeyez is the secret weapon that online businesses use to immediately fix leaky funnels and grow revenue. The platform illuminates every step of the onsite consumer journey and uses machine learning to surface and prioritize points of hidden friction  giving revenue leaders a heat-seeking missile to instantly identify issues causing conversion drops and revenue loss.

Media Contact

Jordan Elkind, Head of Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE Webeyez
Webcast and conference call at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET)

SEATTLE, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) will release second quarter 2022 results on Friday, July 29, before the market opens. The company will hold a live webcast and conference call at 7 a.m. Pacific (10 a.m. Eastern) the same day to discuss results.

To access the news release, live webcast and presentation online, visit the Investor Relations section on www.weyerhaeuser.com on July 29.

To join the conference call from within North America, dial 877-407-0792 (access code: 13724915) at least 15 minutes prior to the call. Those calling from outside North America should dial 201-689-8263 (access code: 13724915). Replays will be available for two weeks at 844-512-2921 (access code: 13724915) from within North America, and at 412-317-6671 (access code: 13724915) from outside North America.

ABOUT WEYERHAEUSER

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. We own or control approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manage additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. We manage these timberlands on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards. We are also one of the largest manufacturers of wood products in North America. Our company is a real estate investment trust. In 2021, we generated $10.2 billion in net sales and employed approximately 9,200 people who serve customers worldwide. Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WY. Learn more at www.weyerhaeuser.com.

For more information contact:

Analysts - Andy Taylor, 206-539-3907

Media  Nancy Thompson, 919-861-0342

SOURCE Weyerhaeuser Company
There are millions of people, all over the world, that have been touched by one form or another of cancer. Many more family members and friends share their feelings and pray to God every day for the people that have been diagnosed and are currently taking treatments or living in constant fear of falling again to this vicious sickness.

The book shows how God can prepare an individual for a mission in this world, even when sometimes the journey can be painful and seemingly dangerous. From being presumably on top of the world with numerous professions, cancer became the vehicle that brought this writer closer to God. It allowed him to find the words to spread His Holy Word to the world. Each poem in this book reminds everyone that God remains present in everything.

Malcolm Baxter shares, "A Narrative Poem", in both English and Spanish, expressing the feelings while suffering from cancer as a guest at the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Tampa. It expresses the fear, anxiety, discomfort, sadness, happiness, hopes, and faith in God during the time of cancer treatment and afterwards.

He tells of his astonishment at the beauty, cleanliness, and comfort at the Hope Lodge. He writes of his deep appreciation and gratitude to the staff and volunteers that do almost the impossible to satisfy the sick. The ironic yearning for the place where the author passed his sick days and the desire to share experiences with others currently going through this sickness.

During the time of his cancer treatment, the author established lasting friendships with people of different backgrounds, cultures, and countries. Such things helped him to write about the strength and beauty of different personalities that brought moments of great reflection, joy, and happiness to him, even in the middle of the pains and uncertainty of life. This shows how God is always present too, with love, during our sicknesses.

This book also presents several poems showing the role of a loving family as a great source of support during times of serious sickness. Again, the author shows that God's Word remains a clear guide to keep us walking together with love. The author reveals his Christian faith and feeling toward churches.

The book is useful to accompany any person with serious problems, especially those suffering from sicknesses like cancer, and others facing death, to look to the most powerful to ask for pardon, mercy, and help.

Published by Page Publishing, Malcolm Baxter's book brings a stirring journey of facing the adversity of disease, the chaos of life, and the hope one can get from God's undying love.

These verses help one find freedom from pain and inspiration to live in God's Word.

Readers who wish to experience this profound work can purchase this book of emotional and spiritually uplifting power at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors' books, including distribution in the world's largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Page's accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at www.pagepublishing.com .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1845751/00__Winston_E__Malcolm_Baxter.jpg

SOURCE Page Publishing
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: 6; Released: January 2022

Executive Pool: 30840

Companies: 21 - Players covered include ABB Group; Baumer Group; Curtiss-Wright Corporation; Danfoss A/S; Emersion Electric Co.; General Electric Company; Honeywell International, Inc.; Johnson Controls International PLC; Jumo AS; ProTAACS; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; SCHMIDT Technology GmbH; Schneider Electric SA; Shanghai Yuanben Magnetoelectric Tech Co., Ltd.; Shenzhen Sensor Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.; Siemens AG; Siko GmbH; Texas Instruments, Inc.; Yokogawa Electric Corporation and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: End-Use (Industrial, Energy, Other End-Uses); Product (Flow sensors, Temperature sensors, Gas sensors, Pressure sensors, Other Products)

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 Industrial Wireless Sensors Market to Reach $5.3 Billion by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Industrial Wireless Sensors estimated at US$3 Billion, is projected to reach a revised size of US$5.3 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.7% over the analysis period. Flow sensors, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 10.8% CAGR and reach US$1.7 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 Temperature sensors segment is readjusted to a revised 9.8% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $1 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $919.6 Million by 2026

The Industrial Wireless Sensors market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1 Billion in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$919.6 Million by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 9% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 8.9% and 7.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 7.8% CAGR.

Gas sensors Segment to Reach US$593 Million by the year 2026

In the global Gas sensors segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 12.3% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$236.8 Million will reach a projected size of US$533 Million by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. 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.
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Contract Logistics Market (In-house and Outsourced): Insights, Trends & Forecast (2022-2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global contract logistics market is forecasted to reach US$329.7 billion in 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.45%, for the time period of 2022-2026.



Factors such as the growing e-commerce industry, increasing food and beverages demand, improving consumer confidence index, rising urbanization levels, and rising focus on the green supply chain are expected to drive the market growth.

However, the growth of the industry would be challenged by a dearth of skilled professionals in developing economies and intense competition. A few notable trends include escalating consolidation activities, technological advancements, high adoption of the internet of things (it), and the emergence of blockchain services.



On the basis of functions, the in-house segment leads the global contract logistics market followed by outsourcing activities. Logistics for the manufacturing industry comes down to proper routing management. Logistics companies assist with bills-of-lading and freight scheduling to reduce the costs of shipping products to the vendors.

The fastest-growing regional market in Asia-Pacific. The growth would be supported by improving economic conditions, increasing the e-commerce industry and growing premium food & beverages demand, the contract logistics services.p>



Scope of the Report

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the global contract logistics market, segmented into in-house and outsourcing.

The major regional markets ( Asia-Pacific , Europe , and North America ) have been analyzed along with country coverage of China , Japan , Germany , UK, France , US, and Canada .

, , and ) have been analyzed along with country coverage of , , , UK, , US, and . The market dynamics such as growth drivers, market trends, and challenges are analyzed in-depth.

The competitive landscape of the market, along with the company profiles of leading players i.e. Deutsche Post AG (DHL Supply Chain), XPO Logistics, Inc., Kuehne + Nagel International AG, Hitachi Transport System Ltd, Ryder System, Inc. and Nippon Express Co., Ltd. are also presented in detail.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Market Overview

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Types of Contract Logistics Services

1.3 Supply Chain of Contract Logistics

1.4 Benefits of Contract Logistics

1.5 Impact of Covid



2. Global Contract Logistics Market Analysis

2.1 Global Contract Logistics Market Value

2.2 Global Contract Logistics Market Value Forecast

2.3 Global Contract Logistics Market Value by Segments

2.3.1 Global In-house Contract Logistics Market Value

2.3.2 Global In-house Contract Logistics Market Value Forecast

2.3.3 Global Outsourcing Contract Logistics Market Value

2.3.4 Global Outsourcing Contract Logistics Market Value Forecast

2.4 Global Contract Logistics Market Value by End Users

2.5 Global Contract Logistics Market Value by Region



3. Regional Contract Logistics Market Analysis

3.1 Asia-Pacific

3.2 Europe

3.3 North America



4. Market Dynamics

4.1 Growth Drivers

4.1.1 Growing E-Commerce Industry

4.1.2 Increasing Food and Beverages Demand

4.1.3 Improving Consumer Confidence Index

4.1.4 Rising Urbanization Levels

4.1.5 Rising Focus on Green Supply Chain

4.2 Key Trends and Developments

4.2.1 Escalating Consolidation Activities

4.2.2 Technological Advancements

4.2.3 High Adoption of Internet of Things (IoT)

4.2.4 Emergence of Blockchain Service

4.3 Challenges

4.3.1 Dearth of Skilled Professionals in Developing Economies

4.3.2 Intense Competition



5. Competitive Landscape

5.1 Global Contract Logistics Market

5.1.1 Key Players - Market Share Comparison

5.2 France Contract Logistics Market

5.2.1 Key Players - Market Share Comparison



6. Company Profiles

Deutsche Post AG (DHL Supply Chain)

Hitachi Transport System Ltd

Kuehne + Nagel International AG

Nippon Express Co., Ltd.

Ryder System, Inc.

XPO Logistics, Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/c9a1cq

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Surgical Clips Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global surgical clips market reached a value of US$ 405.2 million in 2021. Looking forward, the market is projected to reach a value of US$ 591.8 million by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.30% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, the analyst is continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different End-use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Surgical clips are made using inert and biocompatible materials, such as sterile titanium, polyester fiber, nickel, stainless steel alloy, aluminum, and cobalt. They are utilized for controlling duct and artery and removing an ovary, tube, gallbladder, or uterus during hysterectomy. They can also be used to close the cystic duct and artery in laparoscopic cholecystectomy and prevent bile leakage or bleeding. Presently, they are gaining traction as an alternative to suturing for ligation in patients undergoing several surgical procedures, such as cholecystectomies.



The rising number of individuals undergoing surgical procedures due to the widespread prevalence of chronic ailments, such as arthritis, cancer, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), represents one of the major growth-inducing factors. This can also be attributed to the growing geriatric population worldwide, which is more vulnerable to medical conditions that require surgical interventions.

Moreover, the implementation of stringent healthcare norms that promote safety and efficacy during invasive surgical procedures is impelling the market growth. Furthermore, the expanding medical tourism sector, coupled with the increasing popularity of cosmetic surgeries, is bolstering the market growth.

Apart from this, a significant rise in fatal road accidents and high hospital admission rates are catalyzing the demand for surgical clips around the wound. Besides this, as retained clips lead to diminished quality of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images and cause complications, researchers are developing safe variants that can be dissolved or absorbed by the body after a certain period. As they can reduce the rate of postoperative complications and minimize problems associated with diagnostic imaging, the demand for surgical clips is anticipated to rise in clinical use across the globe.

Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Ackermann Instruments GmbH, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Boston Scientific Corporation, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Grena Limited, Johnson & Johnson, LeMaitre Vascula Inc., LocaMed Ltd., Medtronic plc, Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. (Micro Life Sciences Private Limited), Scanlan International Inc. and Teleflex Incorporated.



Key Questions Answered in This Report

How has the global surgical clips market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global surgical clips market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the material type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the surgery type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the End-user?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global surgical clips 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 Surgical Clips Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Type

6.1 Ligating Clips

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Aneurysm Clips

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Others

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Material Type

7.1 Titanium

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Polymer

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Others

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Surgery Type

8.1 Automated Surgery Clips

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Manual Surgery Clips

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by End User

9.1 Hospital and Clinic

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Ambulatory Surgery Center

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Region



11 SWOT Analysis



12 Value Chain Analysis



13 Porters Five Forces Analysis



14 Price Analysis



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Structure

15.2 Key Players

15.3 Profiles of Key Players

15.3.1 Ackermann Instruments GmbH

15.3.1.1 Company Overview

15.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.2 B. Braun Melsungen AG

15.3.2.1 Company Overview

15.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.3 Boston Scientific Corporation

15.3.3.1 Company Overview

15.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.4 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

15.3.4.1 Company Overview

15.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.5 Grena Limited

15.3.5.1 Company Overview

15.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.6 Johnson & Johnson

15.3.6.1 Company Overview

15.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7 LeMaitre Vascula Inc.

15.3.7.1 Company Overview

15.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7.3 Financials

15.3.7.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.8 LocaMed Ltd.

15.3.8.1 Company Overview

15.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.9 Medtronic plc

15.3.9.1 Company Overview

15.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.9.3 Financials

15.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.10 Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. (Micro Life Sciences Private Limited)

15.3.10.1 Company Overview

15.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.11 Scanlan International Inc.

15.3.11.1 Company Overview

15.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.12 Teleflex Incorporated

15.3.12.1 Company Overview

15.3.12.2 Product Portfolio



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ye0h2f

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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For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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SOURCE Research and Markets
E-Crossover relies on smart pixel LED headlights in unique design

WIESELBURG, Austria, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The new Volvo C40 relies on LED lighting technology from Wieselburg-based automotive specialist ZKW. The headlight of the all-electric electric crossover has a pixel module with 84 individually controllable LEDs. The high-tech light illuminates the road particularly efficiently, adapts dynamically to traffic and avoids dazzling other road users. A front camera and radar permanently scan the road, allowing up to five vehicles to be blanked simultaneously. The design of the high-quality pixel LED light is unique: the hammer-shaped light arc sets visual accents that are distinctive for Volvo. "For Volvo, we develop distinctive headlight designs that impress with their innovative technology and memorable appearance and increase road safety," explains Dr. Wilhelm Steger, CEO of the ZKW Group.

Smart LED pixel light

The headlight in the new C40 combines daytime running light, position light and turn signal light in a particularly compact form. An adaptive lighting system with camera and radar sensor ensures a high level of road safety by optimally illuminating the road without dazzling oncoming traffic. This is achieved by individually controllable LEDs combined in the pixel module. A front camera and the radar eye detect oncoming vehicles or vehicles in front and activate or deactivate the LED light in the headlamp's pixel module via the control unit. Despite the compact dimensions of the front headlamp, the system achieves a high light output. The unique LED light was developed in Wieselburg, where the headlight is also manufactured. The pixel module electronics come from the ZKW electronics plant in Wiener Neustadt.

Super-flat projection modules

The powerful light output of the premium headlamp is achieved by the LED pixel module in combination with the innovative ForTIR elements. The so-called light finger ForTIR elements use the apron to project part of the low beam onto the road. These are particularly flat projection modules that are just 13 millimeters high and also serve as design elements in the main headlights. The front headlamp's light design, typical of Volvo, has the characteristic "Thor's Hammer" shape, in which special attention was paid to homogeneity. This design element is formed via the light guides and thick-wall optics in front of it, and unmistakably represents the C40 as a Volvo. "The combination of 84-LED pixel module, light finger ForTIR* elements and Thorhammer design is unique to Volvo," Steger explains. ZKW equips both the Volvo C40 and XC40 models with premium LED headlights, using the same headlight module as a basis.

Click to download images of the technology.

* light finger ForTIR = Innovative, very compact design-driven optical element for driving light function as a projection system in combination with totally reflective primary optics as a combined component.

About ZKW

The ZKW Group is the specialist for innovative premium lighting systems and electronics. As a system supplier, ZKW is a global partner to the automotive industry. The group develops and produces products based on our motto of "Bright Minds, Bright Lights," combining bright minds with modern production technologies to produce complex premium lighting and electronic modules for international automotive manufacturers.

Our top products include powerful and cost-efficient complete LED systems. The ZKW Group has a total of twelve locations worldwide, with intelligently networked development and production. In 2021, the Group employed around 10,000 workers and generated total revenues of 1.07 billion euros.

In accordance with the corporate vision "Ground-breaking premium lighting and electronic systems from ZKW for all mobility concepts of the global automotive industry", the company's primary goal is to produce top-quality high-tech products and to promote the development of innovative holistic lighting systems.

With our discoveries and inventions, the ZKW corporate group makes vehicles more desirable, more unique, safer, and more energy efficient.

Our 360 degree product portfolio includes headlamps and fog lamps, rear lamps, flashers, interior and license plate lamps as well as electronic modules. Major automotive manufacturers trust their brands to innovative products from ZKW. We are proud of our customers like BMW (BMW, Rolls Royce), DAIMLER (MERCEDES-BENZ Cars and Trucks), FORD (Lincoln, Ford), GEELY (Volvo, Polestar, Lynk & Co, Geely), GENERAL MOTORS (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac), Hyundai (Kia), JLR (Jaguar, Land Rover), Stellantis (Opel, Citroen), RENAULT/NISSAN (Infiniti, Alpine), VGTT (Volvo Trucks, MACK) and VW (Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Lamborghini, MAN, VW, Seat).

With intelligent lighting systems and innovative styling, ZKW is shaping the look and character of vehicles worldwide.

Contact

ZKW Group GmbH

Sandra Simeonidis-Huber

Group Communication und Marketing

Rottenhauser Strae 8

3250 Wieselburg

T +43 7416 505 2051

[email protected]

SOURCE ZKW Group
CO2 GRO Inc (TSX-V:GROW, OTCQB:BLONF) said it has sold a second CO2 Delivery Solutions to Hidroexpo S.A de C.V. in El Salvador marking the companys first repeat sale of the technology to a major international greenhouse vegetable grower.

The company said the CO2 Delivery Solutionsits proprietary technology that mists an aqueous CO2 solution directly onto pants in protected growth facilitieswould be installed in one of Hidroexpos 36 similar one-hectare greenhouses that grow bell peppers mainly for export.

CO2 GROs first sale to Hidroexpo announced in November 2021 came after a one-year technology trial that demonstrated a 20% increase in pepper production using CO2 Delivery Solutions when compared to peppers grown in ambient conditions.

A second trial at Hidroexpo has been completed and showed pepper production increased by 30% under the same conditions.
Elementos MD Joe David on site at Oropesa last week with Wave International executive general manager Ryan Hanrahan.

Elementos Ltd (ASX:ELT, OTC:ELTLF)s Spanish subsidiary Minas de Estano de Espana SL (MESPA) has executed several key contracts to support delivery of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Oropesa Tin Project.

To deliver the DFS, the company has appointed Wave Europe BV as the owners engineer to oversee, integrate and author the Oropesa Tin Project DFS Report.

In addition, Geociencia y Exploraciones Maritimas SL (GEM) has been contracted to finalise the development of the tailings dam and waste dump design while Norvento Ingenieria SLU has been contracted to develop the engineering for power connections to the local power grid.

The Oropesa DFS in conjunction with the Spanish regulatory approvals process is on track to be delivered during the March quarter of 2023.

Highly executable strategy

Elementos managing director Joe David said the new project contracts reflected significant progress of the DFS at the Oropesa Tin Project, which represented one of the worlds few undeveloped tin deposits that can be mined as an open pit.

Our vision to deliver the Oropesa Project and deliver tin into a forecast market deficit from 2025 is developing strongly.

The expertise and experience of our partners in combination with the continued dedicated work of the Elementos and MESPA team will ensure the delivery of not only the DFS but a highly executable strategy for project delivery and operations.

Wave already integrated

Wave is an Australian-owned specialist engineering and project delivery entity with a specific focus on critical minerals and European project development.

The owners engineer will provide study management services, discipline-specific expert owners engineers, capital and operating cost estimating, financial modelling services, DFS author and general study support.

Wave has already integrated into the Oropesa Tin Project working team made up of Elementos and MESPA employees, Spanish project managers Soluciones Concentradores y Procesos De Ingeneria (SCYPI) and other discipline-specific consultants.

David said Waves appointment followed several months of working together during which time Wave had distinguished itself.

Our integrated team has some significant study milestones to achieve in the next 10 months which we are more than confident of achieving with Waves support,

As a global company, Waves Brisbane and European-based study teams align well with Elementos Brisbane and Spanish working teams.

Wave currently has a large portfolio of critical minerals projects through the EU and the UK approaching financial close, whereby wave is heavily involved in both the technical and final financing activities.

This is in alignment with Elementos project objectives within the EU.

Oropesa Tin Project

Oropesa is one of the worlds largest undeveloped, open-cut mineable tin deposits, with access to world-class infrastructure and represents a near-term development and cash flow opportunity for Elementos.

The companys optimisation study for Oropesa has confirmed a robust case for upgrading the project scale to a 1.25 million tonnes per annum run of mine (ROM) rate, with average annual contained tin production projected at 3,350 tonnes per annum.

Elementos plans to undertake a definitive feasibility study (DFS) and finalise environmental permitting as its next steps in developing Oropesa.
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.
Eastern Metals Ltd (ASX:EMS)s diamond drilling campaign at Browns Reef in Central West New South Wales has yielded massive and disseminated sulphide mineralisation.

Two drill holes have extended the Evergreen lode a further 50 metres to the south of the area drilled by EMS earlier this year.

Visible zinc and lead

Both intersections included zones of significant zinc and lead sulphide mineralisation, based on visual logging of drill core.

One hit 6.4 metres of massive and disseminated sulphides from 198.4 metres down-hole, while the other intersected 9.1 metres of massive and disseminated sulphides from 293.5 metres down-hole.

Core from the mineralised intersections has been cut and sent to a laboratory for assay, when the company believes the true significance of these intersections will become clear.

The Evergreen lode now extends over a strike length of more than 150 metres and a vertical depth of 300 metres and remains open along strike in both directions and at depth.

Heavy rainfall delays plans

Following a long period of abnormal rains in the Central West of New South Wales, the company has suspended plans to test two additional holes for extensions to the lode to the north.

Lake Cargelligos mean rainfall to June is 217mm. In 2022, more than 499mm of rain has fallen. This has made access for heavy equipment like drill rigs difficult.

To avoid unnecessary damage to the farming property, the rest of the holes will be drilled after the ground dries out and access conditions permit rig access.

Managing director and CEO Wayne Rossiter said This follow-up drilling campaign has extended the Evergreen lode by at least a further 50 metres to the south and importantly we are seeing areas of massive sphalerite.

This program was the next step of a concerted drilling effort to build a potentially mineable tonnage at Browns Reef within the larger mineralised system.

We now have a mineralised area with a strike length of over 150 metres and a vertical depth of 300 metres that remains open along strike in both directions and at depth. Core has been cut with samples delivered to ALS in Orange.

Further disclosures will be made when the assay results become available.

Our drilling team and staff did an outstanding job completing these holes in difficult conditions. We look forward to the drilling of the planned step-out holes 50 metres to the north which we could not drill because of the difficult access caused by heavy rains this year.

About Browns Reef

Browns Reef lies 5 kilometres to the west of the town of Lake Cargelligo, 470 kilometres west of Sydney, on mining licence EL 6321.

The area surrounding Browns Reef is used for agricultural purposes, including grazing and cropping, and the deposit occupies a small part of the tenement.

Most of the deeper drilling to date has been confined to a zone approximately 2.7-kilometres long in the central to southern part of the tenement and is on the eastern flank of the interpreted 9-kilometre-long synclinal structure.

A conceptual exploration target of 27 to 37 million tonnes, averaging between 1.3-1.4% zinc, 0.6-0.7% lead, 9-10 g/t silver and 0.2-0.3% copper, has been reported for Browns Reef.
While the current focus of Technology Minerals PLC (LSE:TM1) is on the US and Europe, its suite of battery metals projects may soon include Cameroon.

Chief executive Alex Stanbury gives Proactive London an update on the exploratory licenses for its project in West Africa which he describes as an 'outlier' within the company's portfolio.

He adds while Cameroon is not the flagship project it's "got potential to be of scale".
Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) continues to expand its area of known mineralisation at the El Palmar gold-copper discovery in northern Ecuador after strong results have confirmed higher-grade copper and gold zones.

The latest results from five holes include:

153.4 metres at 0.47 g/t gold and 0.10% copper from surface, including 33 metres at 0.92 g/t gold and 0.16% copper from 88 metres;

69 metres at 0.39 g/t gold and 0.23% copper from 29 metres; and

104.6 metres at 0.45 g/t gold and 0.15% copper from 15 metres, including 49.8 metres at 0.67 g/t gold and 0.12% copper from 24 metres.

These results demonstrate that El Palmar has substantial scale and grades in line with those seen in many of the worlds high-profile porphyry deposits, including those nearby such as Alpala and Tandayama-American.

Looking ahead, Sunstones cash and equity investments remain strong at A$26 million, allowing expanded exploration activities at both El Palmar and Bramaderos projects.

Very valuable project

Sunstone managing director Malcolm Norris said We are expanding the size of El Palmar, and therefore its value, with virtually every hole.

There is also growing evidence of higher-grade copper domains with >0.2% copper and gold in excess of 0.35 g/t.

This should deliver a highly attractive gold-equivalent result once we have metallurgical results in hand.

The combination of the scale and the grades we are generating at El Palmar shows that this is clearly becoming a very valuable project in a world which desperately needs more large discoveries.

Sunstone has two such discoveries and I have no doubt that this will be increasingly recognised by the market, particularly as we move towards a maiden JORC mineral resource estimate at Bramaderos, and advancing our definition of the El Palmar ore body, over coming months.

Drill results

Drilling is defining higher copper grade domains at greater than 0.2% copper and 0.35 g/t gold.

In hole EPDD019, native copper has been identified locally with chalcopyrite and bornite.

Meanwhile, in hole EPDD020, copper mineralisation has been identified at depth and further north associated with local strong sheeted quartz veining.

Forward plan

Geological modelling of the El Palmar system is suggesting a steep northerly plunge to the group of intrusives that host, and are coeval with, the gold-copper mineralisation.

Soil sampling is also rapidly progressing and providing definition to additional targets within the concession in preparation for drill testing.

Interpretation of the Spartan magnetotelluric (MT) survey data is ongoing and is being integrated with magnetic models.

It is expected that an Orion 3D-DCIP survey will also be completed at El Palmar during 2022 to deliver high-confidence deep drill targets.

Meanwhile, at the Bramaderos Project in southern Ecuador, more assays and initial metallurgical results are expected within a fortnight.
AFC supplied units for the first and current Extreme E rally

AFC Energy PLC (AIM:AFC, OTC:AFGYF, ETR:QC8) said high oil and gas prices coupled with the transition towards net zero carbon has led to "unprecedented investment" in hydrogen developments.

The fuel cell specialist will deploy its first mobile hydrogen-based Power Towers later this year with construction sites the focus.

These case studies cannot be undervalued as a means of further validating our value proposition to the wider temporary power market," it said.

Initial revenue from these deployments will be built around short-term funded validations, which are expected to open up new growth opportunities to rent or sell fuel cell platforms thereafter.

AFCs comments came alongside half-year results to the end of March 2022 showing revenues of 276,000, most of which came from the electric vehicle rally Extreme E, for which it provides mobile power chargers.

Some revenues also came from its partnership with engineering group ABB, it said.

Losses in the six months amounted to 8.5mln (3.6mln), with cash use at 6.7mln to leave a balance of plus 48.6mln.

Adam Bond, chief executive, said: "I am pleased that following the launch earlier this year of our Power Tower fuel cell platform, AFC Energy will see several of these new systems being operated by strategic partners in off-grid environments in the coming months.

"We continue to assess our manufacturing scale-up and supply chain and are preparing for growth in system production and deployment.

The Power Tower, whilst currently focussing on hydrogen fuel, will also be able to meet the demands of clients for hydrogen carrier fuel compatibility later this year with the integration of methanol reformer technology.

We believe, based on market feedback, that this will lead to an increase in the number of systems deployed and also the size of those systems.
Proposed regulatory price controls for UK electricity distribution will offer lower returns for investors and higher efficiency targets for providers.

The UK energy regulator unveiled a 21bln upgrade to the country's electricity networks and insisted the overhaul will not mean a spike in energy bills for Britain's already squeezed households.

Ofgem unveiled the 20.9bn package to modernise the network and said the funding means operators will not have to pass on the costs to consumers.

Of the listed distribution companies SSE PLC (LSE:SSE) said the proposals are tough and stretching, while National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.) suggested it wanted to change some aspects before the final decision at the end of the year.

The five-year plan, covering April 2023 to March 2028, aims to build smarter regional energy grids, including 2.7bn of upfront funding to boost capacity, with the regulator saying the flexible funding arrangements will enable investment in the grid to increase with demand.

"These are challenging times, and this is the path out of relying on expensive and polluting imported fossil fuels and moving to a home-grown energy system, that exploits the best of modern technology to level out demand and reduce costs for consumers, Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, said.

The regulator said it will ensure costs are kept to a minimum while allowing funding for the improvements needed.

It will introduce a framework with a threshold for the maximum profits that network operators can earn from charges on consumers energy bills, with tough efficiency requirements for network companies and lower returns for investors.

Network operators usually recover their allowance from network charges on energy suppliers, which typically pass those costs onto customers through their energy bills.

The latest package aims to transform energy grids so they are smarter and more responsive to peak demand through cleaner energy sources on the path to net zero, rather than relying on expensive fossil fuel imports.

The regulator said it expects bill-payers to benefit from a small drop in network charges due to energy efficiency savings and by leveraging private investment.

New smart gadgets could draw energy from the grid at cheaper rates when demand is low or it's sunny and windy, balancing out power use, and saving consumers money, Ofgem said.

Ofgem will consult on the draft proposals by 25 August and a final determination is due in December.

SSE said for its Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Distribution (SSEN Distribution) arm the initial determination represents an increase of 18% its equivalent allowances in the previous regulatory period.

SSE said work is required to ensure the final settlement fully reflects customer and stakeholder needs.

National Grid said: We are working through the detail of these draft determinations, in particular the proposed reduction in totex across each operating company.

As we move towards final determinations, we will work hard with Ofgem to ensure we agree a price control that meets the outcomes our customers have asked of us, including resilient and reliable networks, as well as enabling the transition to net zero.

Analysts at AJ Bell said utility companies did not appear to be jumping with joy but that it was a sensitive political issue with consumers under considerable financial pressure from a sharp rise in energy bills.

Energy providers would argue they are under pressure to invest heavily to improve infrastructure, make sure the supply network is resilient, and that everything is being done to hit net zero targets.

On the other hand, the regulator has long had its eye on the amount of money these companies make, and whether their profits and dividends should be so high.

The analysts added: The regulator will have to tread a fine between making sure the countrys energy network is robust and efficient, while also being fair to the operators that they can do their job and make a small bit on the side. Its the size of that cake that remains the sticking point.

Shares in National Grid were up 0.7% at 1,077.16p by midday, while SSE, which is looking to sell a 25% stake of its distribution business, was down 2% at 1,632.5p.
Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (AIM:PHE, ETR:BT81) said it is looking to expand its "capabilities and activities", following the arrival of its new chief executive.

As part of its final results for the past calendar year and ahead of the publication of a new three-year strategy later this year, the company published a strategic report that included re-stablishing key imperatives and collaboration positions for the near-, mid- and longer-term.

The company reported year-end cash of 9.6mln, having raised a 10mln gross and provided a loan facility to the Protos project of 3.8mln of which 1.15mln had been advanced by the year end.

Total losses were reduced to 1.87mln from 15.83mln the year before, primarily due to a reduction in the impairment of goodwill.

Revenues rose to 0.70mln from 0.1mln thanks to further engineering support works provided to the Protos SPV.

Once the Protos project enters construction, it is currently intended that Powerhouse enters an agreement with the Protos SPV for the provision of owner's engineer services.

As the dynamic of change is so fast flowing in economies, Powerhouse has embarked on a process to reassess its purpose, its values, its structure, its processes, and its markets, said chief executive Paul Drennan-Durose, the cleantech veteran who was appointed in January.

The thrust of focus in 2022 is on the company setting about applying more rigour and scrutiny to delivering the technology and system readiness level of the core technologies it is developing and adopting and ensuring that the technology the company is forming and integrating is process capable.

This is a critical foundation, necessary for minimising risk and optimising potential when the company rolls-out a full-scale commercial operation.

To position Powerhouse's DMG technology as a converter of plastic waste to a synthetic gas that can be converted to hydrogen, and to support its growth and scale-up, he said the company has centred its main focus on several key strategic imperatives.

In the area of technology and innovation, there has been growing confidence in the generation of hydrogen at the test unit at Thornton in northwest England, with technological developments to be further supported by the creation of a 1.3mln Global Technology & Innovation Centre, as recently announced.

After delays in developing the first commercial scale application of Powerhouses technology at the Protos Energy Park in Cheshire were faced by partner Peel NRE in 2021 and in early 2022, Peel has begun a new competitive tender process that it expects to complete in September.

Planning approval was granted this month for a second UK waste-to-hydrogen facility from Peel NREs eleven primary target sites.

A collaboration agreement was signed with development partner Hydrogen Utopia International with the prospect of a plastics to hydrogen project at Konin, Poland.

Powerhouse said it is also exploring an evolution of its current business model with respect to partners overseas for future projects and "will consider alternative financing routes for project initiatives and will explore appropriate ways to invest funds in the development of projects internationally".

It said it is prepared to function as developer or as co-developer in key markets, where appropriate, to accelerate progress.
Ariana Resources PLC (AIM:AAU) posted higher profits in 2021 as it booked a gain of 6.4mln on the disposal of a big chunk of its gold mining interests in Turkey.

The junior cut its stake in the Kiziltepe mine and Salinbas project to 23.5% from 50%, with the gain helping profits in 2021 rise to 7.7mln from 5.1m with the sales generating 27mln overall.

Some of those proceeds have been paid out in special dividends amounting to 5.6mln so far, with another 1.8mln payout planned for October, but Ariana added it would also use the funds to broaden the spread and type of assets in its portfolio.

As well as Turkey. which also includes the Tavsan gold mine development, Ariana is invested in Cyprus, Kosovo and, through its Asgard fund, gold nickel-cobalt exploration in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, gold-copper exploration in Kazakhstan and gold-copper exploration in Laos.

The company presently has the capability and financial resources to hold a structurally more diverse portfolio of mineral exploration, development and mining project investments across a broader geography, said Kerim Sener, managing director.

Cash at the year-end amounted to 16.4mln.
Trinity Exploration & Production PLC (AIM:TRIN) said drilling has started on the first well of its 2022 six-well programme.

The Trinidad and Tobago-focused company has previously said its fully-funded drilling programme, which includes conventional infill wells, a horizontal well and a deeper appraisal well, will target an aggregate 450,000-1.1mln barrels of reserves at a cost of US$14-17mln.

AIM-traded Trinity said its management believes that the potential returns from the proposed horizontal and deeper appraisal wells could underpin a material increase in production rates and potentially unlock previously untapped deeper pools of hydrocarbons.

We have set ambitious drilling targets as we focus on a step change in production, which could be further augmented by potential developments at our Trintes, Galeota and Brighton assets," said chief executive Jeremy Bridglalsingh.

The company warned that poor weather conditions could hamper the work due to the current orange-level tropical storm warning in Trinidad.
WTI $111.76 +$2.19, Brent $117.98 +$2.89, Diff -$6.22 +70c.

USNG $6.55 +5c, UKNG 240.0p +72p, TTF 131.855 +6.355

Oil price

Oil rose sharply yesterday on the story I wrote about in the blog about the allegations that neither the UAE nor the KSA could add much to short term production, as Opec+ meets tomorrow we may see but I suspect that the 640/- odd thousand will be released without much chance of it actually reaching the markets.

Union Jack Oil

Union Jack has announced that following the passing of a special resolution of the Company at its Annual General Meeting on 23 June 2022, the Company is now pursuing a reduction of capital exercise through the court procedure.

The Capital Reduction involves an application to the High Court of Justice, followed by two court hearings, where the Courts will consider whether any creditors will be prejudiced by the Capital Reduction.

Once the Capital Reduction is complete and a positive result obtained, the Company will issue a further announcement outlining details of a share buy back scheme or the payment of a maiden dividend.

This is obviously very good news for UJO shareholders and assuming that a maiden dividend is to be paid shows just how far the company has come, particularly this year.

With exciting and regular news from Wressle where it should be remembered that management significantly increased its stake at depressed prices and West Newton where a substantial development is under way as well as other parts of the portfolio.

Expect the market maybe slowly to get to grips with a company that will likely start making meaningful returns to shareholders and be valued significantly higher accordingly.

Angus Energy

Angus has announced the conclusion of leak testing and the commencement of commissioning of the Saltfleetby Gas Field. The duration of commissioning is expected to take between one and two weeks with a target date for first gas export (ie sales) between the 7th and 12th July.

The hedged volume for July to September inclusive is for 3.375 million therms. The expected output during that period from existing wells B2 and A4, assuming a start date of 1 July is approximately 5 million therms and comfortably exceeds the hedged amount.

As Saltfleetby delivers on the last days of commissioning, Angus management must be delighted that not only is the first gas that is imminent but that it will comfortably exceed the hedged amount, previously a worry for some observers. This means that during the hedge period the company will easily start to accumulate revenues and remember it now has 100% of Saltfleetby which is accretive to shareholders.

Following the test results of RCS-1 on Monday I was very fortunate to be able to have an extensive chat with Arrow CEO Marshall Abbott.

I first asked him about the excellent well result and how the campaign has been so successful operationally. There is no doubt that this well was way better than expected particularly in the Carbonera formation which will be onstream this week and brought to appropriate capacity very carefully.

Indeed it is not only this well that has been a great success, the previous well, RCE-2 seems to be the gift that keeps on giving and is already producing some 500 b/d more than previously expected. These two wells alone are delivering better than modelled production and that is without making any efforts to raise flows unnecessarily fast.

On the political front, following the elections and the narrow success of Gustavo Petro to the Presidency it had been considered that as a left wing candidate he had had a strongly anti oil and gas stance. It seems that since taking office he has somewhat softened his stance and as oil and gas accounts for some 40% of exports and 5% of GDP it is already unlikely that the sector will be hit too hard. Add to that it seems that he will have no support from either house nothing major will be enacted.

I think that it is the initial ban on new licence grants and a ban on fraccing that may stick, Mr Abbott reminded me that with its huge acreage position they are in no need of new licences nor do they partake in fraccing.

An increase the tax rate from say 25% to maybe 35% wouldnt be the end of the world as with its 12% royalty on light oil Colombia is still rated as being in the top decile in the world for fiscal regimes.

Shareholders in Arrow can expect an updated CPR with its much more robust price deck and the company are well up with its production hopes. As a result of recent drilling the first target of 3,000 b/d by early next year looks to be eminently achievable whilst the longer term aim of some 10,000 b/d looks like being on within 3/4 years and I wouldnt bet against them on this front. The shares have fallen by 25% on political worries which I think are overdone, in my view the upside for Arrow is very substantial indeed.

Predator Oil & Gas

Predator has announced its audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021, extracts of which are set out below.

Highlights of Financial Results for 2021

Reduced loss from operations of 1,398,821 (2020: Re-stated loss of 1,589,070).

Reduced administrative expenses of 1,398,802 (2020: Re-stated 1,363,711)

Increased cash balance at period end of 2021 1,523,035 (2020: 1,325,751)Additional, restricted cash of USD1,500,000 (USD1,500,000 for the period ended 31 December 2021) Placed 53,000,000 new ordinary shares of no par value in the Company to raise 4,585,000 (before expenses).

Issued warrants to brokers to subscribe for 1,020,000 new shares exercisable at 0.105 before 12 March 2025 and 600,000 new shares exercisable at 0.150 before 18 June 2025

Debt-free and fully-funded for current commitments

Highlights of key Operational Activities in 2021

In Morocco MOU-1 was successfully drilled in 15.18 days on budget and within pre-drill budget guidance.

Pre-drill seismic amplitude bright spot and primary target validated by drilling results.

Formation gas shows whilst drilling and wireline NuTech log interpretation identified intervals within the primary target for rigless testing.

MOU-1 therefore suspended and completed for rigless testing.

Primary target confirmed as covering approximately 32 km and supporting pre-drill CPR Prospective Gas Resources of 295 BCF net to the Company

EIA for follow-up wells MOU-4, MOU-5 and MOU-NE commissioned.

New MOU-NE Jurassic structure covering 102 kmidentified.

Decommissioning of the CO2 EOR surface facilities and down-hole equipment at Inniss-Trinity commenced.

Planning with Lease Operators Ltd. for new CO2 EOR project in the PS1 field progresses with submission of an application for Certificate of Environmental Clearance.

FSRU LNG Project in Ireland secures collaboration agreement with supplier of gas, LPG and LNG in the UK and Ireland.

Successor authorisations to the Licensing Options 16/26 (Corrib South) and 16/30 (Ram Head) under active review by the Geoscience Regulation Office in Ireland.

Proposal submitted to evaluate the potential for the conversion of the undeveloped Ardmore gas field (Ram Head) to gas storage.

Highlights of Directorate Changes

Board strengthened with appointment of Lonny Baumgardner, with extensive Moroccan drilling and gas marketing experience, as Chief Operating Officer.

Post Period End:

295 BCF of Contingent Gas Resources likely to be commercially viable supported by independent CPR.

EIA approval for MOU-4, MOU-5 and MOU-NE received.

Civil works contract awarded for the construction of the MOU-4 well pad.

Source of long-lead well inventory items identified and purchase orders being prepared.

Confidentiality agreements executed with potential partners for follow-up drilling and potential gas development in Morocco.

Discussions opened with FRAM Exploration Trinidad Ltd. regarding a settlement to the dispute surrounding the premature termination of the Inniss-Trinity CO2 EOR project contrary to the terms of the Well Participation Agreement.

Final information submitted to GSRO to enable a decision on the Corrib South and Ram Head successor authorisations to be made.

Potential green hydrogen acquisition being evaluated.

Placed 11,500,000 new ordinary shares of no par value in the Company to raise 1,035,000 (before expenses).

Appointed Tom Evans and Alistair Jury as Non-executive Directors to replace Dr. Stephen Staley and Louis Castro.

Issued warrants to brokers to subscribe for 690,000 new shares exercisable at 0.09 before 17 March 2025.

Paul Griffiths, Executive Chairman of Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LSE:PRD) commented:

We are pleased to have reduced operating losses and administrative expenses in 2021 whilst increasing cash balances at the end of the period and maintaining a debt-free status. This has been achieved despite a significant increase in both operational activity and corporate strategic planning and execution.

Successful drilling and the completion of MOU-1 for rigless testing was a milestone achievement for the Company in that it established the Company as a highly competent operator whilst also unlocking the gas potential of a vast licence area in northern Morocco, linked via infrastructure to Europe, covering 7,269km.

Whilst disappointed with the manner in which the Inniss-Trinity CO2 EOR project was unilaterally and unexpectedly terminated by our joint venture partner, we are pleased that the project established Proof of Concept for CO2 EOR operations in Trinidad. This has allowed us to move forward quickly with a new CO2 EOR project better suited to our commercial guidelines for business development in Trinidad. We remain a niche provider of CO2 EOR services with unique practical operational experience and subsurface technical understanding of CO2 sequestration.

In Ireland we have maintained progressed on our applications for successor authorisations and towards gaining recognition of an FSRU LNG import facility as an important contributor to Irelands security of energy supply. We alone in Ireland have taken ownership of the FSRU concept based on managements long experience and understanding of the vital role of the Kinsale offshore pipeline and the importance of the Inch entry point to the gas grid.

The next stage of the Companys development will be challenging as we seek to take our various projects to the next level of financing which is why we have taken the opportunity to refresh the Board with Non-executive Directors with the necessary experience to encourage and oversee this critical next step.

Maintaining undiluted project equity has been a priority of the Company during the last 3 years as we juggle and develop our niche positions in three diverse geographies. With the focus now firmly on near-term security of energy supply we are now well placed to potentially trade our project equity for access to financial backing to take projects to development and cash flow as we understand and can navigate our way through the regulatory and environmental processes that would delay new start-up projects of a similar scale to ours.

We thank our shareholders for their continued support. The Company could not have achieved the progress it has made without our supportive shareholders. We will continue to apply our management philosophy and experience to the further development of our assets over the next 12 months. We are a small, cost-effective team that proportional to our size delivers operational success and strategic opportunities for potential project partners on a much larger scale.

A busy year as usual for PRD as Morocco continues to offer exciting prospects in one of the worlds highest demand areas for natural gas and most attractive fiscal policy. In Ireland what might eventually be a huge project is moving way faster than people may have expected and of course the company are still in C02 sequestration in Trinidad with previously announced legals under way.

Trinity Exploration & Production

Trinity has announced that drilling operations have commenced for the first well of its 2022 six well programme.

As previously outlined, the fully-funded drilling programme, which includes conventional infill wells, a horizontal well and a deeper appraisal well, is targeting an aggregate 450  1,100mbbls of reserves at a cost of US$14m  US$17m. These are significantly higher volumes per dollar of capital invested, that in a success case, would generate materially increased cash returns compared with previous drilling programmes.

Management believes that the potential returns from the proposed horizontal and deeper appraisal wells could underpin a material increase in production rates and potentially unlock previously untapped deeper pools of hydrocarbons. If successful, the horizontal well could yield production rates and returns c.3x those achievable from conventional infill wells, with the wider programme also benefiting from the mapping and integration of the 3D seismic acquired in 2020, enabling a more targeted and de-risked approach to the Companys drilling activities.

Overall, management is confident the Company can support a multi-year onshore drilling programme from the prospects and leads identified from the evaluation of the 3D seismic. The 3D seismic interpretation has, to date, identified a hopper of c.40 infill opportunities, which includes c.35 conventional wells and c.5 high angle/horizontal wells. The successful drilling of the deeper appraisal prospect would add more highly attractive prospects to the hopper, giving greater line of sight on the Companys ability to deliver on its stated ambition to double production by 2024.

While the Company has a firm timetable in place, inclement weather conditions could have an impact on workflow. Noting the current orange-level tropical storm warning in Trinidad, management will move to ensure the health and safety of its workforce and contractors  and if necessary may opt to briefly pause drilling operations.

Jeremy Bridglalsingh, Chief Executive Officer commented:

We are delighted to have recommenced our drilling activities. We have a significantly improved our understanding of our acreage through the 3D data acquired, underpinning our confidence in the current programme while also positioning the Company to take advantage of future opportunities. We have set ambitious drilling targets as we focus on a step change in production, which could be further augmented by potential developments at our Trintes, Galeota and Brighton assets.

This is a long time coming but no less good news for that, at last shareholders will be able to see Trinity using the drill bit to try and increase value for them. It will be a long haul but at least high oil prices will finally be making their way into the Trinity treasury.

SDX Energy

SDX has announced the spudding of the MSD-23 infill development well on 24 June 2022 at the Meseda Field, West Gharib concession, Egypt (SDX WI: 50%). MSD-23 is targeting the primary Asl Formation reservoir at around 4,000 feet MD (3,200ft TVDSS). MSD-23 is the fifth well in a fully funded, 13-well development campaign on the Meseda and Rabul oil fields in the West Gharib concession.

The fourth well of the campaign, MSD-24 (TD, 5 June 2022), has been connected to facilities and is currently producing at a gross rate of around 300 bbl/d which is in line with pre-drill estimates. Operations at the third well, MSD-20, continue.

The development drilling campaign is aimed at growing production to c.3,500  4,000 bbl/d by mid-2023.

Mark Reid, CEO of SDX, commented:

I am pleased to announce the spudding of MSD-23, the fifth well in the 13-well infill drilling campaign on the West Gharib Concession together with the commencement of production from the recently completed MSD-24 well. With gross production from the field now reaching 2,150-2,200 bbl/d we are anticipating further increasing production through the completion of operations at MSD-20 and the drilling of the eight remaining wells in the campaign over the next year. I look forward to updating the market further as the campaign progresses.

Very little comment required particularly as the company is in the middle of a takeout.
One of the key measures of sustainability in the fast fashion sector is being suspended due to criticism that it is too cosy with clothing companies and a vehicle for greenwashing.

A report in the New York Times earlier this month accused The Higg Materials Sustainability Index of being favourable towards synthetic materials and too close to the clothes makers.

Norway, meanwhile, has clamped down on its use as a marketing tool for clothing.

The Norwegian Consumer Authority warned retailer H&M two weeks ago over claims on its website that were based on the Higg Index.

H&M was one of the original devisors of the index alongside Walmart, Nike, Levis, and Patagonia.

Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a not-for-profit organisation, and partner Higg maintain the index, which, since 2021, has included an environmental impact section detailing the impact of items of clothing emissions, fossil fuels, water use, and water pollution.

This part of the index was suspended two days ago, a move that has been welcomed by fashion activists.

"If you think of a lifecycle assessment as a clock face, the Higg MSI is only looking at midday to 3pm  only a very selective part of the impact, said Philippa Grogan of fashion sustainability consultancy Eco-Age told the Guardian.

Members of the SAC number around 250 and includes Nike, Primark, Walmart, Boohoo and Amazon.
Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX:MGV) is an active explorer and a potential gold producing company.

The companys cornerstone project is the Cue Project in the Murchison Province of Western Australia where it holds 100% of the key project tenure containing the existing gold resources.

Musgrave also has a large footprint in the Musgrave Province of South Australia and continues to review new opportunities to identify additional projects that would complement the companys current activities and add value for its shareholders.
Golden Rim Resources Ltd (ASX:GMR)s Craig Mackay speaks with Proactives Andrew Scott about the binding sale of its Burkina Faso projects, which has netted the company US$15.5 million (A$22.3 million)  more than its current market cap. Mackay explains how the divestment was the right decision for GMR as it looks to accelerate its progress at the 930,000-ounce (over 1km) Kada Project in Guinea, where just last week it delivered exceptional results from RC drilling. The company is looking at a further 4km of bedrock mineralisation outside the resource. The non-core Burkina Faso projects provide the buyer BAOR SARL with an opportunity to develop a resource base of 2 million ounces of gold, however this was not part of GMRs future plans. The company will now fast track aggressive drilling and exploration to build its Kada resource base without further dilutionary capital raising for the foreseeable future. The GMR MD also explains his successful trip to the recent PDAC convention and the achievements that came from that.
Alto Metals Ltd (ASX:AME)s Matthew Bowles speaks with Proactive about the delivery of shallow, high-grade gold results from ongoing reverse circulation (RC) drilling, at the Indomitable Camp within the flagship Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia. Results included hits of up to 87 g/t, with a best intersection of 29 metres at 4.4 g/t gold from 29 metres, including 1-metre at 87.4 g/t from 45 metres. Altos managing director highlights the mineralisation that is defined over a 2-kilometre strike length, remains open and is within a +20-kilometre gold corridor which hosts the Vanguard (where it tripled the resource) and Havilah camps, within the Alpha Domain priority target area. The company now has assays pending from over 5,000 metres of RC drilling at the Indomitable Camp. Drilling is ongoing, as part of the updated mineral resource planned for the December quarter. Bowles believes the latest results support the view that there is huge scope to grow the gold inventory at the Sandstone Gold Project. The company has several work programs on the go.
As expected, the two-day rise of the ASX this week has come to a halt after Wall St markets plunged on Tuesday.

The S&P/ASX200 dropped 52.20 points or 0.77% to 6,711.40. Over the last five days, the index has gained 3.12% but is down 9.85% for the last year to date.

The bottom-performing stocks in the ASX 200 today were Tyro Payments Ltd down 16.67% and carsales.com Ltd down 12.16%.

Whats in the news

Under fire 1

Energy stocks and banks were those that bucked the trend today, with Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX:WDS, LSE:WDS, OTC:WOPEF) gaining 1.1% and National Australia Bank Ltd and Westpac Banking Corp up 0.9% and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) Ltd 0.9% higher.

While Energy was up, London-listed Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) was getting beaten down by the unions.

The Australian Workers Union and the Maritime Union of Australia accused the fuel giant of choking off global supply.

Shell has cancelled gas shipments from its floating Prelude facility.

The unions and Shell are in an ongoing battle over offshore working allowances, with unions asking for a 30% increase for those workers amounting to $117,000 per year. The unions are also calling for better working conditions and bans on contract workers.

Thats a lot to ask, but what has really got their goat is the cancellation of shipments of gas from Prelude until at least mid July.

"At this point the union has confirmed management has ordered the plant, which usually runs at 94% of maximum design capacity, to be reduced to 35% design capacity," The Offshore Alliance says in a statement.

AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton called Shell's action baffling.

"I honestly don't know if we are witnessing the work of unhinged industrial extremists or cover-up artists. Either way it is damaging, it is irresponsible and it should stop today," Walton said.

"Shell is, in effect, helping Vladimir Putin advance his goal of choking off the global gas supply purely so it can play hardball with a few hundred Australian workers who want nothing more than standard industry conditions."

Under fire 2

Digital regulators have set their sights on tech giants.

The ACCC, ACMA, eSafety and OAIC, which make up Australias digital platform regulators, will increase focus on mysterious algorithms and push for transparency in relation to the activities of big global tech companies.

The ACCC considers that the work of the Digital Platform Regulators Forum is key for our own work on digital platforms, particularly as we are currently reviewing whether there is a need for competition and consumer reform as part of our ongoing digital platforms inquiry, ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says.

Personal information is central to data-driven businesses and its protection critical to prevent online harms," Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk says.

"We will continue to work closely with other regulators through the forum to advance online privacy protections for Australians, protect individuals from harm in the online environment and ensure the best outcomes are achieved in the public interest."

Heres a look at five of today's top small-cap stories.

Chimeric Therapeutics licenses viral vector technology from University of Pennsylvania for CDH17 CAR T program

Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CHM) (Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CHM)) has expanded its licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania to include non-exclusive access to its lentiviral vector plasmid system, a viral vector technology critical for the manufacture of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.

Read more

Apollo Minerals higher on fielding further broad zinc-lead results, Dikaki East high-grade zone footprint doubled

The excellent results from our ongoing drilling campaign add to our confidence that Kroussou is province-scale and highlights the significant future exploration potential of the project, says Apollo Minerals Ltd (ASX:AON) MD Neil Inwood.

Read more

Sunstone Metals delivers strong assays that confirm higher-grade copper and gold zones at El Palmar in Ecuador

The combination of the scale and the grades we are generating at El Palmar shows that this is clearly becoming a very valuable project in a world which desperately needs more large discoveries," says Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) MD Malcolm Norris.

Read more

Latin Resources fields exceptionally bright kaolin from Cloud Nine infill program

Even ahead of a planned resource update, Latin Resources Ltd's Cloud Nine remains one of Australias largest underdeveloped kaolin-halloysite deposits.

Read more

Tietto Minerals extends Abujars gold footprint a further 4.6 kilometres with results up to 47.35 g/t

Tietto Minerals Ltd (ASX:TIE) has materially expanded the gold footprint of the Abujar Shear.

Read more

On your six

Heres a good one from our colleagues in the UK, looking at the many recent hydrogen deals around the world.

Why are so many hydrogen deals being announced around the world - an explainer

As ever more hydrogen projects are announced we look at why this almost ubiquitous chemical is in demand, as well as how to tell the truly green cleantech from the less environmentally beneficial.

Read more

The one for good luck

Musgrave digs up more high-grade gold at Cue

Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX:MGV, OTC:MGVMF)'s Rob Waugh updates viewers on the latest batch of high-grade gold mineralisation at the cornerstone Cue project in WA.

Watch
Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX:MGV, OTC:MGVMF) has demonstrated the potential of the flagship Cue Project in Western Australia to produce further gold ounces after hitting high-grade mineralisation outside the resource boundary at Amarillo prospect, part of the Western Trend that also includes Big Sky deposit.

Reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Amarillo, 800 metres north of Big Sky, returned relatively shallow, high-grade gold intersections, including:

17 metres at 2.5 g/t gold from 18 metres, including 2 metres at 12.7 g/t from 33 metres;

3 metres at 14.6 g/t from 60 metres;

12 metres at 2.0 g/t from 47 metres; and

9 metres at 2.3 g/t from 23 metres.

Musgrave will continue resource definition drilling at Amarillo, intending to produce a maiden mineral resource for the deposit in early 2023 and grow the Cue Projects 927,000-ounce resource further.

Exploration method delivers

These results further confirm that our exploration methodology at Cue is continuing to deliver, Musgrave Minerals managing director Rob Waugh said.

Further drilling is planned at the Amarillo discovery to support a maiden mineral resource estimate expected to be completed in early 2023.

The regional program of aircore drilling north of Amarillo has also identified new regolith gold occurrences that require further follow-up RC drilling.

This target area is an extension of the dolerite unit that hosts the high-grade West Island gold mineralisation on the Evolution JV (joint venture) to the north.

Drilling along the Western Trend to the north of Amarillo has also identified several near-surface, regolith-hosted regional gold targets within the southern extension of a dolerite unit.

This same dolerite unit extends 5 kilometres north into the Evolution joint venture tenements, host to the high-grade gold mineralisation at West Island.

Five new targets within the Cue Project have been identified, interpreted by Musgrave to be dispersed gold halos above a basement source. Aircore drilling results include:

10 metres at 1.2 g/t gold from 102 metres to EOH;

1-metre at 7.1 g/t from 113 metres; and

6 metres at 1.3 g/t from 42 metres.

Musgrave will follow-up on these targets with the first phase of RC drilling in July.
Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, OTCQB:NVAAF) has appointed experienced mining executive Anna Ladd-Kruger as independent non-executive chair of the board.

Ladd-Kruger will add to the technical and corporate governance as the company progresses the development of its flagship Estelle Gold Project in Alaska.

She is an accomplished, well-rounded mining executive with over 20 years of leadership experience with proven achievements in directing and leading mining organizations.

Ladd-Kruger was the former chief financial officer of McEwen Mining Inc (NYSE:MUX) where she was brought in to strengthen and lead the development of robust financial and accounting processes, systems and controls in the midst of the companys operational turnaround strategy.

She was key to the initial McEwen Copper Asset spin out and also served as its chief financial officer and director.

Former CFO of Trevali Mining

Ladd-Kruger was also previously the chief financial officer of Trevali Mining Corp (TSX:TV), an international base metals mining company.

As part of Trevalis original executive management team, she helped grow the company from a junior explorer with a market capitalization of $30 million to a mid-tier base metals producer that reached over $1 billion market capitalization on the TSX.

Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen said: Having known Anna for quite some time now the Board is excited that Anna has accepted our offer to join the Nova team as we grow.

With more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry, Annas strong financial background and experience, particularly transitioning Trevali Mining from a junior exploration mining company to a mid-tier producer, will be invaluable as we continue on our path to production and continue to increase resources at the Estelle Gold Trend, with our ultimate goal of becoming the next tier one, global gold producer.

Distinguished career

Ladd-Kruger has raised over $1 billion US dollars in debt and equity throughout her career in the mining sector.

She also served as the chief financial officer and vice president corporate development for a number of Canadian publicly listed junior mining companies and began her career working at Vale S.A.'s Thompson and Sudbury Canadian operations before joining Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K) as their North American Group Controller.

Ladd-Kruger currently sits on the board and serves as the audit chair of Integra Resources Corp (TSX-V:ITR) and also sits on the board of Excellon Resources Inc. (TSX:EXN)

Im thrilled to be joining the Nova Minerals world class team

Ladd-Kruger is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA, CMA), holds the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors designation, a Masters in Economics from Queen's University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia.

Ladd-Kruger said: Im thrilled to be joining the Nova Minerals world class team that complements my values of courage, creativity, and collaboration.

My experience in multiple major North American mining projects will further contribute as the company continues to progress and develop the exciting Estelle Gold Trend!

As part of the board changes, Louie Simens will step back into executive director role from the current interim chairman position held.
Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) said long-time chief executive and co-founder Ben Silbermann will step down from the social media platform, passing the reins over to former Google commerce executive Bill Ready.

Shares of Pinterest rose 9% in after-market trading on the news, reflecting a shift away from the company's advertising-based business model to e-commerce initiatives.

Pre-market on Wednesday an opening price of US$20.43, though shares have fallen 45.8% year to date and are down nearly 76% from their 52-week highs.

In Ready, the company gets a veteran of the search giant's commerce and payments divisions, who has also held senior positions at PayPal.

The company, which claims 430mln monthly users, said Silbermann will assume the new role of executive chairman and keep his board seat, while Ready will also join the board.

Silbermann co-founded the company in 2010 and has been CEO since, including overseeing the public listing in April 2019.

During his tenure as CEO, the company faced a series of challenges that ranged from missed quarterly user expectations to several workforce complaints, including two Black former Pinterest employees who filed suits claiming discrimination and retaliation which reportedly became the basis of a California workforce non-disclosure law.


VR Resources CEO Michael Gunning joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news the company has shared the assay results from the first two holes of the third drill program at its Hecla-Kilmer property located in Northern Ontario. Gunning telling Proactive the results of 80 metres at 0.67% TREO within 131 metres and the second hole 13 metres at 0.94% TREO within 88 metres seems to show the potential for a large volume of Critical Metals in the polymetallic breccia system. The company is expecting results from the remaining 6 holes over the next 2 - 4 weeks.
Madrid, June 29 : Turkey changed its position and has agreed to support Sweden and Finland's NATO membership applications during the ongoing NATO Summit in Madrid, while conflicts within the military bloc still remain.

After an extended meeting among leaders from the three countries together with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday afternoon, a trilateral memorandum addressing Turkey's security concerns was agreed and signed, paving the way for the two Nordic states' NATO membership applications, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that enables Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO," said Stoltenberg at a press conference on Tuesday night, explaining that the deal includes agreements on arms exports and a joint fight against terrorism.

"This will strengthen NATO, and it will also strengthen Sweden and Finland", said Stoltenberg, adding that now is the time for the 30 different parliaments to make a decision. According to NATO, all 30 members must approve a country's bid for it to be accepted into the alliance.

Although several NATO countries have already approved the two Nordic states' bid in mid-May to join the military alliance, the process has proven not to be as straightforward, as Turkey soon raised objections, citing Swedish and Finnish ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) Turkey labels as terrorist groups. Ankara has also voiced dissatisfaction with the Swedish arms embargo on Turkey.

Rounds of talks have been held in the past weeks at both Ankara and NATO headquarters in Brussels which aimed to resolve differences among the two Nordic states and Turkey.

Despite Turkey's green light on Tuesday, the NATO head admitted that conflicts within the military bloc still remain.

"There will still be conflicts within the defense alliance, but we have shown the strength of our alliance ..." Stoltenberg concluded.
Dhaka, June 29 : The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police of Bangladesh has seized the car of TikToker Bayezid Talha who had posted a video on Facebook after removing nuts from the Padma Bridge. Police are looking for Kaiser who was with him at the time of the incident.

Immigration authorities have been warned not to allow Kaiser, an expatriate Bangladeshi from Qatar to leave the country, said Muhammad Rezaul Masud, special superintendent of CID's Cyber Police Centre.

Earlier on Sunday, police detained Talha from Shantinagar in Dhaka and he was booked under the Special Powers Act. On Monday, a Shariatpur court granted a seven-day remand against Talha.

"We think it is a big crime to loosen the nuts of the bridge railings, recording the video, and capitalising it by hurting people's emotions...," said Rezaul Masood, Special Superintendent of Police for CID's Cyber Investigation Division.

"The toll tax collection of the 6.15 km Padma Bridge, built over Padma River in Bangladesh, crossed BDT 21 million mark. Thousands travelled across the bridge on Sunday after being inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, Pakistan sponsored Opposition Islamist groups in the country started a new smear campaign - questioning the quality of construction," an intelligence official told IANS, seeking anonymity.

"The long-awaited inauguration of Padma Bridge, one of the most challenging projects in the country, and the accomplishment of the mega project with our own fund is a matter of immense joy, pride and ability. It also upholds the dignity of the country," Sheikh Baharul Islam, a veteran Freedom Fighter and one of the founders of the Genocide Museum of Khulna, told IANS.

A student activist of the Pakistan-sponsored Opposition BNP -- Bayazid Talha was on the bridge to unscrew the nuts and bolts, and his video on TikTok led his party colleagues to unleash a social media campaign questioning the quality of construction.

Soon after the video went viral, the BNP from its verified Facebook page posted that the construction of the $3.6 billion bridge was deeply flawed and faulty.

When Hasina decided to build the bridge with country's own resources after the World Bank pulled out over unsubstantiated corruption allegations in 2012, BNP supremo Begum Zia had called the move as a "pipe dream" and asserted that the bridge will never be completed. Other BNP leaders joined the chorus with many even calling for resignation of Hasina.

Even the World Bank, which once cited the corruption allegations as reason to stop financing the project, is now congratulating Bangladesh and its people on completion of the much-awaited bridge.

Youths were seen going live on Facebook from the bridge asking for a boycott of the pro-Pakistan BNP-Jamaat alliance for the betterment of the country.

BNP's Facebook post after Talha's arrest triggered an uproar on social media among people from all quarters.

"You said this bridge would never become a reality. So fugitive criminal Tarique Rahman, come with your convicted corrupt mother Begum Zia and other leaders to see," some Bangladeshi netizens said on videos filmed on the "majestic" bridge.

That was also largely the public mood as hundreds attacked BNP activist Talha's video showing him loosening the nuts and bolts of the bridge.

Anik, a Dhaka University student mockingly said in his post: "... While people in thousands are rushing to get a glimpse of the bridge, BNP's politics to undermine this bridge would only make the party more unpopular, isolated and less trustworthy." In Bangladesh's bitterly polarised politics, baseless smear is a frequently used weapon. But despite the attempt to spread panic over the quality of construction, the mounting traffic on the bridge seems to indicate that the commuters are not taking Talha's TikTok video seriously.
Nairobi, June 29 : The African Risk Capacity, a specialised agency of the African Union, has said that it will extend insurance covers to the continent's agriculture and green energy sectors.

Lesley Ndlovu, CEO of African Risk Capacity told a continental forum in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that it will provide insurance to cover losses for farmers against common weather-related areas of drought, floods, and tropical cyclones, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We cover staple crops such as wheat and maize, cash crops including cocoa and livestock products to boost food security in Africa," Ndlovu said during the 48th Africa Insurance Organization Conference.

Currently, 35 African Union member states have joined the African Risk Capacity.

Ndlovu said that insurance covers aim to enable natural disasters affected populations to have the financial means to rebuild following a catastrophe.

"Our role is to complement government efforts which are the largest investor in the agricultural sector through various subsidy programs and also to protect the most vulnerable communities," he noted.

The pan-African body provides insurance covers to agricultural producers through governments, humanitarian agencies, and also directly to farmers through local partners.

Ndlovu revealed that his agency will provide insurance covers to increase access to renewable power sources in Africa.

He said that Africa's energy sector requires catalysts given the region's huge electricity production deficit.

"We will work to boost the production of solar, wind, and hydropower sources," he added.
Jammu, June 29 : The first batch of pilgrims for the Amarnath Yatra which begins on Thursday, was flagged off by J&K Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha from Jammu base camp on Wednesday.

The batch including 717 pilgrims who left for the north Kashmir Baltal base camp, was flagged off from Bhagwati Nagar base camp by Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha around 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Amarnath Yatra 2022 begins on June 30 and it will conclude on August 11 on Shravan Purnima coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.

The pilgrims left in a convoy for the Valley escorted by security forces. Both north Kashmir Baltal and south Kashmir Pahalgam routes of the Yatra are being security by hundreds of security forces drawn from the army, central armed police forces (CAPFs) and the local police.

For the first time, authorities have issued radio frequency identification (RFID) tag to each pilgrim so that his/her movement is monitored for safety and security purposes.

MeT department has forecast dry weather along both the Yatra routes on Wednesday.

Authorities have said around eight lakh pilgrims are expected to perform this year's Yatra which is being held after three years. In 2019, the Yatra was cut short ahead of the abrogation of article 370 while it remained suspended in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid pandemic.
Lucknow, June 29 : When the Yogi Adityanath government completes 100 days in power on July 5, the Chief Minister will tell the people about the goals achieved and the work done by his ministers.

Yogi Adityanath had set priorities, objectives, and targets for various departments soon after taking oath on March 25 to ensure better governance and service delivery.

Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony, Yogi had ordered ministers and officials of various departments to pinpoint work that needs to be done on priority and fix goals for each in time frames of 100 days, six months, one year, two years and five years.

He had asked them to make presentations before him.

The Chief Minister has also directed ministers and MLAs to interact with people of their constituencies to share the achievements and reiterate the government's commitment to make UP the best state in the country.

Besides stressing on meeting the targets set for the past 100 days, the chief minister is now ready to set goals for the next six months.

The list of achievements is likely to include holding of the third ground-breaking ceremony in which over 1,400 companies pledged investment of more than Rs 85,000 crore.

The Bundelkhand Expressway, which is nearing completion, environment clearance for the Ganga Expressway, MoU with IIT Kanpur for research in defence corridor will also be highlighted.

Almost 100 per cent of the eligible population in UP would have taken both doses of Covid vaccine by July 4 and the feat will be a feather in the government's cap.

The rising popularity of the 'One District One Product' scheme and its increasing reach through embassies in Japan, Egypt will also be showcased.

The victory in Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha byelections and presentation of a historic budget would also be listed as achievements.
New Delhi, June 29 : Muslim organisations have condemned the horrific beheading of a man in Udaipur and have said that the murder can never be justified.

Mushawarat President Navaid Hamid said, "The gruesome beheading in Udaipur is anti-Islamic and an open case of hate crime. Prophet Muhammad had never harmed any body in his entire life. Those pretending to indulge in crime because of the Prophet's love are criminals and need harshest punishment as per the law." He said, "I earnestly appeal PM @narendramodi ji to urgently consider addressing the nation for maintaining peace, calm and soothing sentiments." Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind too condemned the incident and its General Secretary Hakeemuddin Qasmi in a statement said, "The act is crime in the eyes of law, and our religion does not allow this." Many Muslim organisations have demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits.

Asaduddin Owaisi said, "I condemn the gruesome murder in Udaipur Rajasthan. There can be no justification for it. Our party's consistent stand is to oppose such violence. No one can take law into their own hands. We demand that the state govt take strictest possible action. Rule of law must be upheld " Leaders like Salman Khurshid too have termed the crime as heinous. "Udaipur killing most heinous and regrettable irrespective of the provocation assumed. We cannot allow our nation to be torn apart in this inhuman manner. No religion approves of killing human beings. Let us reaffirm positivity of faith," Khurshid said.
San Francisco, June 29 : Elon Musk-owned Tesla has reportedly shown exit door to approximately 200 workers from its Autopilot team and closed an office in California, media report says.

According to Bloomberg, the majority of those who were let go were hourly workers, said the people, who asked not to be identified as discussing private information.

As recently as last week, Musk had outlined plans to cut 10 per cent of salaried staff, but said he would be increasing hourly jobs, the report said.

Tesla started laying off salaried employees after Musk's announcement, which would result in reducing Tesla's total headcount by roughly 3.5 per cent.

Recently, a report said that Tesla employs more than 1,00,000 people across its facilities.

In a LinkedIn post, Iain Abshier had said that he had "a gut punch" that he would be included in the Tesla layoffs after just two weeks of work.

Another fired Tesla employee Robert Belovodskij wrote that he was notified that the offer he signed to come back to Tesla full-time has been "rescinded due to the current hiring freeze and 10 per cent workforce reduction".
Bogota, June 29 : At least 51 people died and 24 others were injured in a blaze at a prison in the southwestern Colombian city of Tulua, after inmates rioted and set fire to mattresses, local authorities have said.

The prison does not have a firefighting system, according to Tito Castellanos, director of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute. "What we initially managed to use were portable extinguishers." Once the fire broke out early Tuesday morning at the prison housing 180 inmates, a protocol went into effect to save those inside, and some guards were injured trying to help the inmates, he was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The injured, including two guards, were taken to local hospitals by Tulua firefighters, who brought the fire under control. According to health authorities, nine of the injured were in intensive care units due to severe burns and smoke inhalation.

As many as 49 of the inmates died at the prison and two others died after being taking to hospital.

No prisoners escaped during the riot sparked by a clash between some of the inmates, said Castellanos.

Colombian President Ivan Duque tweeted: "We lament the events that occurred at the Tulua prison ... I have ordered an investigation to clarify this terrible situation. My solidarity with the families of the victims." President-elect Gustavo Petro also lamented the incident and expressed his condolences to the bereaved families.
Sejong, June 29 : Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has said it would be a lack of courtesy for China to take issue with President Yoon Suk-yeol taking part in a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Han made the remarks during a dinner meeting with reporters Tuesday as Yoon was in Madrid to attend the NATO summit, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea is not a member of NATO but was invited to the summit along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand as the organisation's Asia-Pacific partners.

China has opposed Asia-Pacific nations, including South Korea, attending the NATO gathering.

"If it is necessary for our security, we should go," Han said. "It would be a lack of courtesy for China to say do it or don't do it. It is not in line with mutual respect." Last week, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked about China's opposition to South Korea's participation in the NATO Summit.

Kirby replied that, "China doesn't get a veto on what meetings the South Koreans attend and associate themselves with. And this isn't about an Asian version of NATO." Referring to Kirby's remarks, Han said, "I think that's the right thing to say." Yoon has criticised former President Moon Jae-in for giving the impression that South Korea was tilting toward China.

Perceptions that the Yoon government's stance on China have raised concerns that Beijing could retaliate against South Korea -- as it did when the US deployed the THAAD antimissile system to South Korea in 2017.

Asked whether South Korea would maintain its diplomatic stance even if China takes retaliatory measures shown in 2017, Han replied, "Of course." "If China is dissatisfied and says that it will take economically unfavorable actions when we seek to pursue the values that the world respects, it should be said that it is not the right thing to do," Han said.
Lucknow, June 29 : In a shocking incident, an advocate allegedly shot dead his wife for objecting to his liquor addiction, police said on Wednesday.

The accused was identified as Ashok Kumar Chaurasia while the deceased is Pushpa Chaurasia, residents of Thakurganj.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) West Zone Chiranjeev Nath Sinha said on Tuesday evening, the couple had a verbal spat over his addiction to liquor. In a fit of rage, Ashok lifted his handgun and opened fire at Pushpa hitting her on the chest.

"Pushpa was rushed to the Trauma Centre of KGMU where she was declared brought dead. She died of excessive bleeding and shock according to the doctors," said the ADCP.

Ashok has been arrested and the body sent for post-mortem.
Bengaluru, June 29 : In a shocking incident, two sisters were stripped and assaulted in their residence in the outskirts of Bengaluru for not being able to repay their education loan.

The police for two days refused to lodge the complaint and it was only after the assault videos went viral that the complaint was finally registered.

The shocking incident took place in the Doddabommasandra area in Anekal taluk, and the complaint was lodged against Ramakrishna Reddy, Sunil Kumar and Indramma.

According to the complaint filed, one of the victims had taken a loan of Rs 1 lakh loan at an exorbitant 30 per cent interest for the education of her children from one Ramakrishna Reddy, a resident of the Neriga village near Doddabommasandra.

However, she was asked to repay the entire loan amount at once. The villagers had brokered a peace deal that once they sell their land, the victim would repay the loan amount.

Despite this, the accused barged inside the residence and brutally assaulted and stripped the victims. The victim later approached the Sarjapur police station, but it is alleged that the police Inspector Raghavendra Imbrapur refused to take the complaint.

The inspector had asked the victims to talk to the accused for the settlement.

The brutal assault videos went viral on social media thereby creating a public outrage against the police and the accused persons.

The police then called the victims to the police station and lodged a complaint on Tuesday night.
Lucknow, June 29 : The Uttar Pradesh government will be launching a special drive to provide insurance coverage to farmers against potential crop damage.

The drive, slated to begin from the first week of July by the agriculture department, will be flagged off by Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi.

It will cover those development blocks which have lower farm insurance coverage under the Centre's ambitious PM Crop Insurance Scheme (PMCIS).

According to UP government sources, till date, compensation of Rs 3,074.6 crore has been deposited in the accounts of 27.5 lakh farmers in UP under PMCIS.

This includes payment of crop compensation of Rs 654.8 crore to over 7 lakh farmers in Kharif season 2021. In Rabi 2021-22, an area of 14.2 lakh hectares has been insured by 19.9 lakh farmers.

According to a directive issued by additional chief secretary, agriculture, Devesh Chaturvedi, the drive would cover selected development blocks in the eight aspirational districts - Bahraich (Risia block), Shravasti (Sirsia), Balrampur (Utraula), Siddharth Nagar (Latan), Fatehpur (Bijaipur), Chitrakoot (Ramnagar) and Chandauli (Niyamtabad).

The value of damage incurred to crops in UP more than doubled between 2018-19 and 2019-20, as per Union agriculture ministry data.

Prepared on the basis of state-wise business statistics as on August 31 last year, the data shows that the reported crop loss claims shot up from around Rs 470 crore in 2018-19 to over Rs 1,116 crore in 2019-20.

As against the claimed loss, the paid claims amounted to Rs 1,092 crore in 2019-20 as against around Rs 40 crore in 2018-19. The number of farmers who benefitted from the PMCIS rose from 6 lakh in 2018-19 to over 9 lakhs in 2019-20, the data shows.

Sources said farmers' participation in the crop insurance scheme needs special focus in pockets dominated by Dalits and Tribals.

For this, the state government plans to rope in not only district administration but also banks and Jan Suvidha Kendras.

The department also plans to disseminate information and success stories of farmers on social media.
San Francisco, June 29 : Photo-sharing social media platform Pinterest has announced that Ben Silbermann is stepping down as the current CEO and he will be replaced by Bill Ready.

The company said that co-founder, CEO and President, Silbermann will transition to the newly created role of Executive Chairman.

"Building Pinterest with such a wildly talented, kind and creative team has been the gift of a lifetime," Silbermann said in a statement.

Ready is joining Pinterest from Google, where he served as President of Commerce, Payments and Next Billion Users and oversaw Google's vision, strategy and the delivery of its commerce products.

Before Google, Ready served in various senior leadership roles at PayPal, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

"I have long admired the brand and platform that Ben and the Pinterest team have created and everything the Company stands for. I am excited to build on that foundation to further scale the Company's ecosystem and drive increased value for shareholders," Ready said.

With over 400 million monthly active users, Pinterest has built a healthy advertising business that generated strong cash flow and doubled revenue during the pandemic.

In addition, Pinterest has been laser-focused on putting Pinners first, continuously improving its roadmap, investing in creators, shopping and scaling internationally.
United Nations, June 29 : In the aftermath of Russia's missile attack on a crowded Ukrainian shopping mall, India has called the deaths of civilians "deeply disturbing".

India's Deputy Permanent Representative R.Ravindra said on Tuesday: "Reports of deaths of civilians in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict are deeply disturbing and in this regards we express our grave concern. In recent years, critical civilian infrastructure in urban areas have become easy targets in situations of armed conflict".

"The issue of the protection of civilian objects in armed conflicts should be considered within the framework of applicable international laws," he said, during a briefing on the Ukraine situation while not naming Russia as the perpetrator of the attack.

Monday's missile attack on the Kremenchuk shopping centre left at least 18 people dead and 21 missing while wounding scores.

India has been holding a delicate position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine criticising Moscow in diplomat speak without naming it, while facing criticism from some in the West that it was not sufficiently ranged against Russia.

But Ravindra noted that in April "India had (also) unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians in Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation".

After Russia withdrew from Bucha in March, bodies of several hundred people were discovered in mass graves and reports of attacks on civilians emerged.

"India has also been sending humanitarian supplies to Ukraine and its neighbours, which include medicines and other essential relief material", Ravindra added.

In a stinging attack on Russia, while briefing the Council, Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said: "The depravity of the war was again on full display yesterday following the missile strike in Kremenchuk".

"This incident, which should be investigated, was the latest in a new wave of airstrikes and missile attacks in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and other cities far from the frontlines, with many civilians killed or injured", she said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke through a video link, called for declaring Russia a "terror state" and punishing it.

He said that if any other country had committed the atrocities that Russia had, it would be considered a terrorist state, but Moscow was enjoying the privileges of being a permanent member of the Council.

Since Russia was denying that it had attacked the civilian target, Zelensky said a special representative of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres or a commission should investigate it.

Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyansky denied that his country's missiles had hit the shopping centre and had targeted "a high precision strike against warehouses with American and European arms and ammunition".

Nicolas de Riviere, the permanent representative of France, said that Russia targetted children, humanitarian workers and journalists, while targeting civilian infrastructure and warned that "war criminals" will face justice.

He said that Moscow was using food as a weapon and its actions could push one-fifth of humanity into hunger and poverty.

DiCarlo said: "Price shocks in the global food, energy and fertiliser markets are escalating in a world already grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change".

Ravindra said: "India is committed to working constructively in mitigating the adverse impact of the conflict on food security".

New Delhi has given financial assistance as well as foodgrains to countries affected by the conflict, he said.

In the last two months, it had sent 1.8 million tonnes of wheat to several countries including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen and was helping Sri Lanka, he added.

Ravindra said that developing countries were hardest hit by the food, energy and fertiliser crises.

Stressing "equity, affordability and accessibility when it comes to food grains", he said, "Open markets must not become an argument to perpetuate inequity and promote discrimination".

India was increasing the production of fertilisers, he said.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Los Angeles, June 29 : Reported Anti-Asian hate crime events in California, the most populous state in the United States, increased by 177.5 per cent from 89 in 2020 to 247 in 2021, said a report by the California Department of Justice.

The state, home to around 40 million residents, reported 1,763 hate crime events in 2021, a rise of 32.6 percent from 2020, and the highest since 2001, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the report titled "2021 Hate Crime in California." Reported hate crimes targeting Black people remained the most prevalent and increased by 12.5 percent from 456 in 2020 to 513 in 2021, while those anti-Hispanic or Latino increased by 29.6 percent from 152 in 2020 to 197 in 2021, the report said on Tuesday.

Reported hate crimes involving a sexual orientation bias increased by 47.8 percent from 205 in 2020 to 303 in 2021, it said.

The number of cases filed for prosecution by district attorneys and elected city attorneys involving hate crime charges increased by 30.1 percent from 2020 to 2021.

"Today's report undeniably shows that the epidemic of hate we saw spurred on during the pandemic remains a clear and present threat," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a press release on Tuesday, noting that reported hate crime has reached a level the state has not seen since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

"Now, more than ever, it is critical that we stand united -- there is no place for hate in California," Bonta added.
New Delhi, June 29 : As fires in electric vehicles (EVs) continue unabated in the country, an expert committee set up by the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has found safety system flaws in batteries of electric two-wheelers.

The electric two-wheeler manufacturers took shortcuts in order to bump up the production and meet the growing demand rather than looking into ensuring safety for the riders.

The expert panel, which has already shared safety recommendations with the EV manufacturers to fix bigger issues, is set to make its findings public anytime soon, according to sources.

The development was first reported by The Economic Times.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in April had warned EV makers that if any company is found negligent in their processes, "a heavy penalty will be imposed and a recall of all defective vehicles will also be ordered".

"We have constituted an Expert Committee to inquire into these incidents and make recommendations on remedial steps. Based on the reports, we will issue necessary orders on the defaulting companies," he had said.

The expert committee has found that the EV manufacturers offered no mechanism to identify overheating of cells and isolate failed battery cells.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which was earlier tasked with investigating electric two-wheeler fire incidents by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, also found serious defects in the EV two-wheeler batteries.

These defects occurred because the electric two-wheeler manufacturers like Okinawa Autotech, Pure EV, Jitendra Electric Vehicles, Ola Electric and Boom Motors may have used "lower-grade materials to cut costs", the DRDO probe had revealed.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has now issued new performance standards for lithium-ion batteries to safeguard the consumers amid the rising EV fire episodes in the country.

The BIS, which comes under the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry, published the "performance standards for electronic vehicle batteries" in a bid to keep a strict control over the manufacturing of EV batteries.

The new BIS standard called "IS 17855: 2022" has been designed for lithium-ion traction battery packs and systems of electrically-propelled road vehicles.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Congress on Wednesday distanced itself from its MP Manish Tewari's endorsment of the Centre's Agnipath scheme at a time when the party has launched nationwide protest demanding its rollback.

Asserting that the party will oppose the scheme with all its might, Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: "Manish Tewari, INC MP, has written an article on Agnipath. While @INCIndia is the only democratic party, it must be said his views are entirely his own & not of the party, which firmly believes Agnipath is anti-national security & anti-youth, bulldozed through without discussion." Speaking to IANS, Tewari had said that the process of Defence reforms, including right sizing the military started in the US way back in 1975 when Donald Rumsfield was the Defence Secretary in the Ford Administration and every successive administration has seen it through.

"Rumsfeld initiated the conceptual basis of preparing the armed forces for future warfare as he could envision the changing nature of the battlefield," he said.

"Even the Chinese started the process of right-sizing the PLA way back 1985." "PLA's size was cut by 10 lakh in 1985; 5,00,000 in 1997; 2,00,000 in 2003; 3,00,000 in 2015 and from 2017 onwards the People's Liberation Army of China is being further right sized from 20 to 10 lakh by 50 per cent," he said.

The defence reform is a part of a larger strategic horizon and not merely an act of internal reorganisation," the MP added.

Tewari in his book '10 Flashpoints 20 Years' has mentioned about why the country urgently needs defence reforms. Out of every Rupee spent on defence in India 25 paisa goes towards pensions only. Salaries take away an additional substantive chunk leaving little room for capital expenditure on defence modernisation, Tewari said.

"The reforms now being implemented by the government were recommended by the Kargil review committee (KRC) in 1999 and the Group of Ministers constituted to vet the recommendations too had supported the reforms, including right sizing the armed Forces.

"Even the Naresh Chandra committee had also endorsed many of the recommendations of KRC and GOM that Defence Forces need to be leaner in their disposition," he said.

Tewari's remarks are in contrast to the official line of the Congress on the Agnipath system. Last week, he had said in a tweet: "I do empathise with youth who have concerns over Agnipath recruitment Process. Reality is India needs a younger armed force with lighter human footprint savvy on technology, equipped with state of art weaponry. Armed forces of Union shouldn't be an employment guarantee programme."
Bengaluru, June 29 : Fintech platform Razorpay on Wednesday appointed Murali Brahmadesam as head of engineering and chief technology officer. Ex-CTO and co-founder Shashank Kumar will now take on the new role of co-founder and managing director at the company.

A veteran with more than two decades of experience, Brahmadesam earlier worked at Amazon and Microsoft in several technology and leadership roles.

"With over an 800-member engineering team today, we are constantly working towards solving some of the toughest challenges that businesses face today, with innovation at its core. Brahmadesam brings in-depth knowledge of managing technology functions at scale," said Kumar.

Brahmadesam will drive the overall engineering strategy and development at Razorpay.

"Razorpay has been at the forefront of inventing breakthrough products in business payment and banking that are being relied upon by millions of diverse businesses," said Brahmadesam.

Brahmadesam worked as global engineering leader for Aurora Database Engines and Distributed Storage at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The fintech platform currently has 2,300 employees.

Founded in 2014 by Kumar and Harshil Mathur, the company provides technology payment solutions to over 8 million businesses.

Razorpay is the second Indian company to be a part of Silicon Valley's largest tech accelerator, Y Combinator.

Investors such as Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, TCV, GIC, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Y Combinator and MasterCard have invested $741.5 million in the company to date.
Hyderabad, June 29 : Suspecting her character, an Assam native killed his wife by drowning her in a bucket and later committed suicide by jumping under a train.

The body of Mahananda Biswas (24), who was working as a security guard in a leading shopping mall in Hyderabad's upscale Banjara Hills, was found on the railway tracks near Lakdi Ka Pul Railway Station on Tuesday.

Police found a diary in the pocket and a phone. Since the writing in the diary was in Assamese, police called a friend of Biswas who translated the same. Biswas wrote that he had killed his wife and planned to take his own life.

Police then rushed to Biswas' rented house in Premnagar near Punjagutta. The house was locked and police broke it open to find the body of Pampa Sarkar (22) with her head drowned in a bucket.

Police investigation revealed that the couple had a love marriage one-and-half years ago. They had shifted to Hyderabad and were living in a rented house in Premnagar near Punjagutta in the heart of the city.

A police officer of Punjagutta police station said the investigations revealed that for a few days Biswas was suspecting the character of his wife. They had a fight over this. There was a quarrel again between them late Monday. Biswas beat up his wife and then drowned her head into a bucket full of water.

After making sure that his wife had died, Biswas locked the house from outside. The next day his body was found on a railway track.

Police shifted the bodies for autopsies and registered a case. Families of the couple have been informed about the incident.
Bengaluru, June 29 : The Karnataka BJP has started an online campaign titled "terrorist Congress" in the backdrop of the beheading of a Hindu man in Rajasthan's Udaipur.

The BJP in its online posts stated that "genocide of Hindus is taking place in the Congress-ruled state of India. The incident of Rajasthan is a testament to the fact that there will be no security for Hindus wherever the Congress comes to power," the post said.

The Karnataka BJP has demanded that the killers should be hanged to death, and has launched hashtag "terrorist Congress." "The Congress is a terrorist party. The main objective of Congress party is to appease fundamentalist elements. Why Congress is silent even after the inhuman incident," BJP said.

"Those who talk about the right to life, where have they gone now? the BJP questioned. The incident had taken place in the state where the national Chintan Shivir was organised. There is no security for Hindus in the state where 'Bharat jodo' call was given," the BJP said.

"Do you want to unite India over the dead bodies of Hindus? Congress practices selective sympathetic approach towards incidents of murders done with religious motives. If any party tries to find religion in human blood which is shed it is the Congress," BJP attacked.

"Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, who ridiculed the arrest of a journalist who questioned the Hindu belief system, even after the beheading incident is turning a blind eye and is silent over the issue," BJP said.

"Because of the over appeasement politics practiced by the Congress, fanatics have beheaded Kanhaiya Lal. During the tenure of Congress rule, Hindu youth Paresh Mesta, Sharath Madivala, Rudresh were killed in Karnataka," BJP said.
United Nations, June 29 : China's permanent representative to the United Nations has urged NATO not to fan bloc confrontation or a new Cold War by using the Ukraine crisis as an excuse.

"The Ukraine crisis has once again sounded the alarm for the world," Zhang Jun said on Tuesday while addressing a UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine.

"Security is indivisible. A blind faith in the position of strength, the expansion of military alliance, and the pursuit of one's own security at the expense of the security of other countries will inevitably lead to security dilemma," Xinhua news agency reported quoting Zhang.

Zhang noted that NATO's five eastward expansions after the Cold War have not only failed to make Europe securer, but also sowed the seed of conflict, a lesson worth reflecting on.

"The Cold War ended a long time ago. It is necessary for NATO to reconsider its own positioning and its responsibilities, completely abandon the Cold-War mentality that is based on bloc confrontation, and strive to build a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security framework in line with the principle of indivisible security," he said.

China pays close attention to NATO's strategic adjustment and is deeply concerned about the policy implications of its so-called "Strategic Concept," the envoy said.

Citing that certain NATO leaders lately painted other countries as a threat, Zhang underscored the fact that it is NATO itself that has made troubles in different parts of the world.

"We urge NATO to learn its lessons, and not to use the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to stoke worldwide bloc confrontation or a new Cold War, and not to look for imaginary enemies in the Asia Pacific or artificially create contradictions and divisions," he said.

Zhang stressed that China firmly opposes certain elements clamouring for NATO's involvement in the Asia Pacific, or an Asia Pacific version of NATO on the back of military alliances.

"The long-outdated Cold War script must never be reenacted in the Asia Pacific. The kind of turmoil and conflict that are affecting parts of the world must not be allowed to happen in the Asia Pacific," he said.

"Asia Pacific countries share the appreciation of the hard-won peace and prosperity, and the wish to focus on mutually beneficial cooperation in pursuit of common development and revitalization. Any attempt to go against the tide of history is doomed to fail," he said.

The continuation of the Ukraine crisis is regrettable and worrying, Zhang said, emphasising that dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way to restore and consolidate peace.

"For some time now, China has joined all peace-loving countries calling for a ceasefire. We have been committed to promoting peace talks, and making relentless efforts to de-escalate the situation, restore peace, mitigate the humanitarian situation, and stabilize the global economy," he said.

China supports direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and also welcomes the UN secretary-general's good offices on issues including grain export, said Zhang.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
San Francisco, June 29 : Cryptocurrency exchange CoinFlex's CEO Mark Lamb has revealed that early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver owns them $47 million and this is why the platform has frozen crypto withdrawals for its users.

CoinFlex froze crypto withdrawals on June 27, saying that it would restart withdrawals on June 30 with a condition that it needs to sell tokens related to a debt owed by a "certain high net worth individual".

It then did not name Ver, also known as Roger "Bitcoin Jesus" Ver.

Now, in a tweet late on Tuesday, Lamb revealed his name.

"Roger Ver owes CoinFlex $47 Million USDC. We have a written contract with him obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly. He has been in default of this agreement and we have served a notice of default," Lamb posted.

Lamb claimed that Ver has a long track record of previously topping up margin and meeting margin requirements in accordance with their agreement.

"We have been speaking to him on calls frequently about this situation with the aim of resolving it. We still would like to resolve it," the CoinFlex CEO said.

CoinFlex's crypto tokens are called rvUSD that promise a high 20 per cent return.

Lamb further said that CoinFlex categorically denies that it has any debts owing to Ver.

"His statement is blatantly false. It is unfortunate that Roger Ver needs to resort to such tactics in order to deflect from his liabilities and responsibilities," he posted.
Los Angeles, June 29 : Hollywood star Johnny Depp has not been offered an apology deal worth $300 million. One of the representatives of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star has denied the existence of any such deal saying, "This is made up," reports NBC News.

A media report had earlier said that after Depp won his defamation suit against Amber Heard, Disney offered the deal plus an apology letter to Depp with the request to return to the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise.

The NBC News report further states that Depp, who has played Captain Jack Sparrow in all the five 'Pirates' movies, the latest being the 2017 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales', has declined to be part of the franchise irrespective of how lucrative the offer is. The actor had made the statement in the court.

At one point during the trial, Heard's attorney Ben Rottenborn asked the actor, "The fact is, Mr Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film? Correct?" Depp replied in affirmative, "That is true, Mr. Rottenborn." A Virginia jury later ruled that Heard was liable for defaming Depp. The jury awarded $10 million to Depp in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

The Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate later reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, which is the state's statutory cap or legal limit, making his total damages less than $10.4 million.

Back in May, 'Pirates' producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who is now working on two more films, was asked if Depp would be back for future projects. He told 'The Sunday Times', "Not at this point. The future is yet to be decided."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, June 29 : The Greater Chennai Corporation has appointed a transperson for flying drones used for spraying larvicide to control the mosquito menace in the corporation.

The corporation in its council meeting on Tuesday adopted a resolution to this effect. The appointment which is on a contract basis will be provided to E. Prem (19), a transperson from Vellore.

Corporation officials told IANS that seven drone operators are required for spraying the mosquito larvicide but presently the Corporation would be hiring two, including the transperson. However, in the days to come, the rest of the five will be hired and transpersons will be given preference for the same.

Prem will start to work from July and will be paid a consolidated amount of Rs 25,000 as his monthly salary, corporation officials said.

The transperson was trained in flying drones at the Remote Pilot Training Organisation, Chennai operated by retired wing commander K.R. Srikanth.

The retired wing commander has trained 15 transpersons in drone operating and has provided them jobs in various places after identifying them through NGOs that are working for the rights of transgender community.
New Delhi, June 29 : Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test and prove its majority in the House on Thursday (June 30). The court agreed to hear the case at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Special Assembly will convene at 11 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Thursday. The day's proceedings shall be video-graphed and telecast live, with provisions for adequate security both inside and outside the legislature, the Governor has directed.

A 3-page letter to the effect was issued to the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary by the Raj Bhavan late on Tuesday -- soon after a delegation of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met the Governor and urged him for immediate directions to the MVA to prove its majority.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a vacation bench of the apex court headed by Justice Surya Kant and sought urgent hearing on the matter later in the day. Justice Kant told Singhvi that the court will hear the matter on Thursday at 5 p.m... "Whatever may be the outcome...we will hear the matter today," said Justice Kant.

The bench asked Singhvi to circulate the paperbook to all the parties involved in the matter and the court by 3 p.m. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, opposed Singhvi's submissions and urged the court to hear the matter on Thursday.

The bench said, "Keeping in view the mind of urgency that has been created, we will want to hear the matter today".

On June 27, the Supreme Court declined to pass an interim order on the MVA's counsel's submissions that there should not be any floor test in the Assembly till July 11, as it extended, till July 12, the time granted to the 16 dissident MLAs to submit their response to the disqualification notices.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala had said it cannot pass an order, which would create unnecessary complications. It told senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, representing the MVA government, that if anything illegal happens, then he can always come back to the top court.

As Kamat said if disqualification proceedings were put in abeyance, then there should not be any floor test in the Assembly, the bench said: "On presumptions, can we pass (an order)..." Then as Kamat urged the court to give his client the liberty to come to the court if there is an attempt to alter the status quo, Justice Surya Kant said: "Do you need our liberty... Let us not create any complications on the basis of apprehensions not founded now." The top court scheduled the matter for further hearing on July 11.

Kamat added that no court has ever granted a stay of disqualification process and the proceedings of the House will be interdicted as he questioned the maintainability of the petitions by Shinde and rebel Shiv Sena MLAs.

The top court was hearing the petitions by Eknath Shinde and other rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena challenging the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to them and also the appointment of Ajay Choudhari as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 29 : Online coding provider WhiteHat Jr, the beleaguered platform under edtech giant BYJU's umbrella, has laid off around 300 employees, after more than 1,000 of its employees resigned after being asked to return to office in April-May.

This time, most of the fired employees belonged to the code-teaching and sales teams at the platform and some of them worked in Brazil.

In a statement, the company said that "to realign with our business priorities, we are optimising our team to accelerate results and best position the business for long-term growth".

The edtech sector has been hammered by the global macroeconomic conditions and reopening of schools, colleges and physical tuition centres.

BYJU's had acquired WhiteHat Jr in July 2020 for nearly $300 million.

It reported a massive Rs 1,690 crore loss in the financial year 2021, while its expenses reached Rs 2,175 crore in FY21 -- compared to Rs 69.7 crore in FY20.

In the April-May period, over 1,000 of its employees --out of its 5,000-strong workforce that includes teachers which are on contractual basis, and hence not full-time employees, resigned.

WhiteHat Jr also shut its schools division that last year targeted to take its flagship coding curriculum to 10 lakh school students by the next academic year.

WhiteHat Jr's foray into teaching music online, offering guitar and piano playing, also yielded no fruitful results to date.

The company has said that the laid off employees were offered a month's salary as part of their severance.

BYJU's on Tuesday named Krishna Vedati as President of Global Growth and Strategic Initiatives, along with rejigging top leadership at K-12 creative coding platform Tynker (which it acquired for $200 million) as part of its US expansion.

Vedati, Co-Founder and CEO of Tynker, will report to BYJU's Co-Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran.

The edtech unicorn made at least 10 acquisitions for a cumulative transaction value of about $2.5 billion last year.
Kolkata, June 29 : The Congress on Wednesday won the bypoll to the ward number 2 of Jhalda Municipality in West Bengal's Purulia district.

The poll was necessitated after Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was shot dead on March 13. His nephew Mithun Kandu fought the poll.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently probing the murder of Tapan Kandu.

Mithun Kandu defeated the Trinamool Congress candidate, Jagannath Rajak by a margin of 778 votes, which was much higher than the 124 votes that his Late uncle had secured. The bypoll was conducted on June 26.

While political observers cited sympathy wave as the reason behind the victory of the Congress candidate, defeated Trinamool Congress candidate, Jagannath Rajak has claimed that sabotage by the district leadership of his own party resulted in such a defeat.

Soon after the results were declared, Mithun Kandu told the mediapersons that the people of the ward number 2 of Jhalda municipality have given a fitting reply to Trinamool Congress, whose activists were responsible for the assassination of his uncle.

Describing the results as a poetic justice, Tapan Kandu's widow, Purnima Kandu said she is sure that Mithun Kandu will fulfill the dream of his late uncle and work for the people who have voted him to power.

Ruling Trinamool Congress received yet another jolt in the bypolls for the ward number of 17 of Chandernagore Municipality in Hooghly district, where the CPI-M candidate, Ashok Gangopadhyay defeated the Trinamool Congress candidate, Sudip Kumar Nath by a margin of 130 words. The CPI(M) bagged the victory from this ward after a gap of 32 years.

However, Trinamool Congress candidates won the bypolls to the remaining four wards in Panihati, Bhatpara, Dum Dum and South Dum Dum municipalities all in North 24 Parganas.

The counting for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) polls, which was also conducted on June 26 is on and the final results are expected by early afternoon.
Rawalpindi, June 29 : Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the Kartarpur corridor was the practical manifestation of Pakistan's unwavering commitment to religious freedom and harmony, Geo News reported.

His comments came during a meeting with the British Sikh soldiers' delegation, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

During the meeting, General Bajwa said that Pakistan respects all religions and recognises the need for the promotion of religious tourism in the country, Geo News reported.

The British Sikh soldiers' delegation lauded the Pakistan Army's efforts in bringing peace and normalcy to tribal districts.

The delegation -- comprising 12 members, who visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) --was headed by Deputy Commander Field Army UK Major General Celia J. Harvey.

The delegation visited Lahore where it witnessed a flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border. It also visited Lahore Fort, Allama Iqbal Mausoleum, and the Badshahi Mosque.

During their stay, the British Sikh soldiers visited several religious sites in the country including Darbar Hazrat Mian Mir, Haveli Nau Nihal Singh, Gurdwara Janam Asthan Guru Ram Das, Samadhi Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Kartarpur Corridor, Nankana Sahib and Dera Panja Sahib.

The delegation also visited Orakzai District and witnessed Samana Fort, Lockhart Fort and Saragarhi Monument where it laid a wreath, the ISPR said.

This was the place where 21 Sikh soldiers laid their lives in 1897 as part of a British expedition and has much historical significance for Sikhs.
New York, June 29 : Tiny, robust immune particles derived from the blood of a llama -- a domesticated South American camelid -- could provide strong protection against every Covid-19 variant, including Omicron, and 18 similar viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1, responsible for the 2003 SARS outbreak, according to a study.

In a paper published in Cell Reports, the team from Mount Sinai Hospital suggests that these "super-immunity" molecules, known as nanobodies, could be precursors to a fast-acting, inhalable antiviral treatment or spray that could potentially be stockpiled and used globally against the evolving pandemic and future viruses.

Compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, llamas, camels, and alpacas have unique immune systems: they produce antibodies with a single polypeptide chain instead of two. This construct results in antibodies that are roughly one-tenth the size of normal ones, are exceptionally stable, and can firmly bind to disease targets.

Because of these unique properties, researchers can readily link multiple nanobodies like a daisy chain, so if a virus attempts to escape by mutating, another nanobody is ready to keep it in check.

"Because of their small size and broad neutralising activities, these camelid nanobodies are likely to be effective against future variants and outbreaks of SARS-like viruses," said lead author Yi Shi, Associate Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

"Their superior stability, low production costs, and the ability to protect both the upper and lower respiratory tracts against infection mean they could provide a critical therapeutic to complement vaccines and monoclonal antibody drugs if and when a new Covid-19 variant or SARS-CoV-3 emerges," Shi added.

In their study, Shi's team immunised the llama, named "Wally," with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD), the short fragment or spike of the virus that latches onto the protein on the surface of human cells to gain entry and spread infection.

They found that repeated immunisation with the RBD resulted in Wally producing nanobodies that recognised not just SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, but a vast array of other coronaviruses -- conferring what researchers referred to as "super-immunity." From this discovery, the team isolated and validated a large repertoire of highly potent antiviral nanobodies effective against a broad spectrum of SARS-like viruses.

"We learned that the tiny size of these nanobodies gives them a crucial advantage against a rapidly mutating virus," explains co-author Ian Wilson, Professor of Structural Biology at Scripps Research in California.

"Specifically, it allows them to penetrate more of the recesses, nooks, and crannies of the virus surface, and thus bind to multiple regions to prevent the virus from escaping and mutating," Wilson said.

From this structural information, the team designed an ultrapotent nanobody that can simultaneously bind to two regions on the RBD of SARS-like viruses to prevent mutational escape.

The resulting molecule (PiN-31) is extremely stable and, in its aerosolised form, can be used as an inhaled treatment or spray, which the same team showed in previous work can be effective against SARS-CoV-2.

"While more research is needed, we believe that the broad protection, ultrapotent nanobodies we were able to isolate in the lab can be harnessed for use in humans," said Shi.
Chennai, June 29 : Actors Jayam Ravi, Vishal and Khushbu Sundar were among scores of people who condoled the demise of actress Meena's husband, Vidyasagar, which has left the film industry shocked and deeply saddened.

Taking to Twitter, Jayam Ravi said, "Rest in Peace my friend Sagar. You fought so bravely. My heart goes out to Meena and Nainika. Our prayers to overcome this loss." Actor Vishal too expressed his condolences. He tweeted, "Really disheartening to hear the news that actress Meena's husband is no more! My heartfelt condolences to Meena.

May you stay strong and may his soul rest in peace." Actress Khushbu Sundar said she was heartbroken to learn of the news. Taking to Twitter, she wrote, "Waking up to a terrible news. Heartbroken to learn actor Meena's husband, Sagar, is no more with us. He was battling lung ailment for long. Heart goes out to Meena and her young daughter. Life is cruel. At a loss of words to express grief. Deepest condolences to the family." Scores of others too have been expressing their condolences to the family.

Vidyasagar, aged 48, passed away at a private hospital in the city on Tuesday night.

Sources close to the actress said that Vidyasagar was diagnosed with a lung ailment in March this year and had to be treated for it. Prior to that, he was down with Covid 19 but had managed to recover from it. Vidyasagar's health who was hospitalised for treatment of his lung problem, deteriorated on Tuesday night and he passed away at around 7 pm.

His funeral is to take place on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Phnom Penh, June 29 : Cambodia sets July 23, 2023 as the date for the seventh National Assembly election, according to a decision signed by the country's Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Wednesday.

"Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, interior minister, economy and finance minister, all ministers, and heads of all relevant institutions must carry out this decision with high efficiency from the date of signature," Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Prime Minister.

The southeast Asian country holds the general election once every five years.

In the last general election on July 29, 2018, the prime minister's ruling Cambodian People's Party won all the 125 seats in the National Assembly.
June 29 : Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone is a fashion inspiration to many. The actress made headlines for putting her best fashion foot forward in Cannes 2022. Deepika has once again shown her unbeatable elegance and charm at the event of the luxury jewellery brand Cartier held in Madrid.

The French brand recently released its latest jewellery collection Beautes du Monde. Many stars around the globe graced the occasion. Among celebrities like Rami Malek Yasmine Sabri and Annabelle Wallis, the b town beauty Deepika Padukone stood out with her unmatchable grace and beauty.

Taking to Instagram, the actress shared some stunning clicks of herself in a white gown with a plunging neckline. The dress features a train made of sheer net. She accessorized the look with a gorgeous necklace set from Cartier featuring diamonds and sapphires. Her hair was tied in a messy bun. The diva was decked up in subtle smokey eyes and nude lip colour.

Thank you, @cartierfor an elegant, inspiring eveningBeautes Du Monde @cartier, she wrote.

On the work front, Deepika was last seen in the Shakun Batra directorial Gehraiyaan. The 36-year-old has many films in the pipeline. She will be seen alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Pathaan, helmed by Siddharth Anand. The film is expected to release by January next year.

The actress is all set to make her debut in Telugu with Project K, a science fiction film by Nag Ashwin. She will also make a cameo appearance in her husband Ranveer Singhs film Cirkus. Hindi remake of Robert De Niro- Anne Hathaway Hollywood movie Intern will feature Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika in the lead roles. The film also marks Deepikas second production venture.
Los Angeles, June 29 : American auteur Woody Allen has plans of directing "one or two more" films. However, for him "the thrill is gone" for making movies because of the decline of the theatrical experience, reports 'Deadline'.

Allen expressed his wish during a conversation with Alec Baldwin, the actor who is currently facing legal proceedings for the fatal shooting of the Ukrainian cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the filming of the Western 'Rust' in October last year. The conversation between Allen and Baldwin was livestreamed on Instagram.

'Deadline' further states that while Allen plans to direct the movie, he hasn't revealed details about the project, the 86-year-old filmmaker said he will direct a film that will shoot in Paris in the late-summer or early fall. His most recent film was 'Rifkin's Festival', which grossed just $2.3 million, reaching the U.S. in a limited release earlier this year but making little impact in the marketplace.

The filmmaker has seen his career options narrow in recent years amid revived scrutiny around past allegations of sexual abuse. Book publisher Hachette also cancelled the publication of his memoir in 2020.

Even before Covid, Allen said, the challenging environment for traditional theatrical releases was starting to weigh on him. "When I started, you'd do a film and it would go into a movie house and movie houses all over the country, and people would come by the hundreds to watch it in big groups on a big screen," he said.

"Now, you do a movie and you get a couple of weeks in a movie house, maybe six weeks, four weeks, whatever. And then it goes right to streaming or right to pay-per-view, and people love sitting home with their big screens and watching it on their television sets." As a result, he continued, "It's not as enjoyable to me." Over five decades, from the 1960s through the 2010s, Allen averaged about a film a year, writing and directing more than 50 features. In his new day-to-day routine, the filmmaker said, "I don't have to be cold in the winter or hot in the summer or up at 5 o'clock in the morning, making decisions all day long.

I'm home and there's nothing I can do but exercise, practise the clarinet and write. I was home writing a lot. I wrote a couple of plays. ... I thought to myself, 'What if I didn't make films? This is a nice way to live.' And I thought, 'Well, maybe I'll make one or two more.'"
Chennai, June 29 : With the menace of drugs increasing by the day, the Tamil Nadu police have chalked out new strategies to curb its supply in the state.

The state home department has merged the Narcotics Intelligence Wing (NIW) of the state police with the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) and this will lead to more impetus on the drive against drugs in the state.

With the merger of both the police units, the agencies have got more teeth in achieving the goal of completely eradicating the supply, sale, and consumption of drugs in the state.

Additional Director General of Police, (Crime) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal who is leading the operations has instructed police officers attached to the Prohibition enforcement wing to ensure special attention near schools and colleges and to prevent any supply and sale of the banned narcotic substances in the campuses. Sources in the police told IANS that the ADGP had directed the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) to deploy plainclothes officers and shadow squads to prevent the supply of drugs to campuses.

The Prohibition Enforcement Wing is also directed to conduct raids at suspicious locations and places and people who have previous history of supplying and selling the banned substance.

The PEW has units in all the cities and in rural districts as well and the department has made parameters for assessing the performance of the officers. This includes arresting drug peddlers, conducting raids at suspicious places and busting the group involved in supply and sale of drugs, and participating in the drive against drugs.

The Tamil Nadu School education department has instructed the educational institutions in the state to form anti-drug clubs to create awareness against the consumption of drugs as also the evils attached with the use of drugs.

The club members will be checking on the presence of any suspicious persons around the school and immediately report to the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) officers who will be having a direct link with the club members throughout the school.

The ADGP told mediapersons that special emphasis has been taken to prevent the supply of ganja from Andhra Pradesh as that state is the main source of supply. He said that the Andhra Pradesh law enforcement agencies and the state government had responded well to the request from the Tamil Nadu side and have seized and destroyed a huge quantity of ganja.

The PEW and other officers are working closely with the Railway Protection Force and the Railway Police to prevent the transport of drugs into the state. The police wing of the railways is conducting surprise checks in long-distance trains to prevent any smuggling of the drug into the state.

Police ADGP also said that 12 habitual offenders were recently taken into custody and are now in judicial custody.
Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 : Actor-producer Vijay Babu, who got anticipatory bail from Kerala High Court in an alleged rape case on June 22, suffered a jolt on Wednesday when the state government moved the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of his bail.

Babu was given bail early this month by the Kerala High Court, while he was outside the country which is being challenged by the Kerala government.

Apparently on Monday, his arrest was recorded by the local police here and he was given bail.

According to the anticipatory bail conditions, Babu has been asked to appear before the police probe team starting June 27 and the police have been granted time to interrogate him: seven days between June 27 and July 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.

The court also asked him not to leave the state under any circumstances.

The police are using this time to take him to various places as part of evidence collection.

Babu got the anticipatory bail after almost two months of a long-drawn legal battle.

On April 22, an actress from Kozhikode filed a complaint in Ernakulam that she was raped and beaten by Babu several times in Kochi.

She also accused him of sedating her before sexual abuse.

As the news surfaced, Babu appeared live on his social media handle claiming that he was the "real victim" in this case, adding that he would take appropriate legal steps against the complainant whom he named.

The police, apart from the initial complaint, registered a second case against him for disclosing the name of the complainant.

Babu, who had left the country after the actress filed a case against him, returned after the court gave him a temporary relief that he will not be arrested till his anticipatory bail plea is disposed and till then whenever the probe team seeks his presence, he should present himself before them, which he did.

After fleeing the country, he had spent some time in the UAE and then moved to Georgia.
Rebel group of Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde and others speak at a final meeting before packing bags for Mumbai to attend the floor test of MVA Govt tomorrow Image Source: IANS News

Rebel group of Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde and others speak at a final meeting before packing bags for Mumbai to attend the floor test of MVA Govt tomorrow Image Source: IANS News

Guwahati, June 29 : Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said they are ready for the floor test.

He said this after visiting the famous Kamakhya Temple here, along with other four MLAs.

The temple management committee welcomed Shinde and other MLAs in the temple.

Shinde and other rebel Shiv Sen MLAs have been camping in Guwahati's Radisson Blu hotel for over a week now, and earlier a report came that the hotel was booked till June 30 for their stay.

"Will return to Mumbai tomorrow, prayed for the wellbeing of the people of Maharashtra here in the Kamakhya temple," said Shinde after visiting the temple.

He added, "Maharashtra Governor has convened. We will take part in the floor test in Maharashtra Assembly and will follow all the protocols." After the temple visit, the Shinde camp held a meeting in the hotel where all the rebel MLAs were present as was seen in a video that surfaced on Wednesday.

In this meeting, as sources reported, the rebel MLA Gulabrao Patil claimed, "People are with us and we will win the floor test tomorrow. We will form the government and there is no need to worry." Looking into the flood situation in Assam, Eknath Shinde tweeted on Wednesday, "Shiv Sena MLAs and allied MLAs, a decision has been made to contribute Rs 51 lakh to the Assam CM's relief fund to help the flood-affected people of Assam." Sources said, "The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs are likely to leave for Goa from Guwahati this afternoon. A SpiceJet flight is en route to Guwahati to take all the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Guwahati to Goa today." The flight is expected to leave Guwahati's Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport for Goa's Dabolim airport around 3 p.m., said the sources.
Chennai, June 29 : The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is to rent out bus shelters, electric posts for advertisements in a bid to spruce up revenue for the corporation.

The corporation has joined hands with the World Bank for this project of increasing revenue for the GCC and the bank will be providing an amount of Rs 22 crore for the project preparation and consultancy fee, an official with GCC told IANS.

A private consultant is already employed by the corporation to provide inputs on methods to shore up its revenue he said. The consultant in its report submitted to the corporation on Tuesday has suggested renting out 1000 bus shelters, 8000 electric posts in the corporation for advertising.

It has also suggested improving the public parking facilities as a major source of revenue generation for the corporation. The corporation will also be providing licenses to erect advertisement pillars.

The GCC will also bring professionals like doctors and Chartered Accountants who are doing their private practice under the tax net. Other self-employed professionals like architects and engineers will also be included in the proposal.

Corporation official also said that GIS mapping will be done on under-assessed properties in the corporation. Presently the corporation is netting a tax revenue of Rs 800 crore per annum and with these new measures, it is expected to increase the tax collection by Rs 1000 crore thus taking the total tax collected a year to Rs 1800 crores.

Corporation official told IANS that the aim is to increase the collection by Rs 3000 crore in a period of three years with a break up of Rs 1000 crore per year.

With the World Bank supporting the project and also funding it, the Corporation will be bound to complete the suggestions put forward by the consultant on time. This will speed up the execution of the project.
Singapore, June 29 : In a bid to expand its gaming footprint, tech giant Sony has launched new headsets and monitors under a new brand called "Inzone".

The new lineup, launched in Singapore, will feature two new wireless headsets, the Inzone H9 with 32 hours of battery life and Inzone H7 with 40 hours of battery life, along with a wired headset, the Inzone H3.

All three models are equipped with a flexible flip-up boom microphone with a mute function, allowing users to communicate effortlessly in-game with squad members.

"With Sony's strong history of high-end audio and visual technology products, we believe this new line will offer even more options for those looking to upgrade their current gaming systems," Yukihiro Kitajima, Head of Game Business and Marketing Office, Sony Corporation, said in a statement.

"We are committed to contributing to the growth of gaming culture by providing PC and PlayStation gamers with a wider range of options to enrich lives through gaming," Kitajima added.

The company said that Inzone monitors, which are not available in the Asia Pacific region, feature incredible, high-resolution and high-dynamic-range pictures, while the headsets include superior sound and 360 Spatial Sound for gaming.

Inzone H9 and Inzone H7 include an on-screen indication, so players can easily adjust settings on their headset and see the settings reflected on the screen in the PlayStation5 Control Center, along with gaming and chat balance, allowing players to change the volume balance between game audio and voice chat from the headset. It also comes packed with features including the ability to work with Tempest 3D AudioTech, which allows players to enjoy the immersive sounds when gaming with greater spatial expression.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Tripura High Court orders seeking to examine the security cover given to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family, and also issued notice on the Centre's plea against the high court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted before a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala that the high court wants to examine the threat perception and urged the court to stay the orders. After hearing arguments, the bench stayed the high court orders, passed in May and June, in the matter.

The matter is likely to come up for hearing next month.

On June 27, Mehta, while mentioning the matter, submitted: "We pointed out to the high court that the Bombay High Court rejected a similar petition..." He added that security provided to Ambanis has nothing to do with the Tripura government and the high court had no jurisdiction to entertain the PIL. Mehta said the high court has also sought the presence of the official from the Union Home Ministry, with documents related to threat perception, in the matter.

The Centre submitted that the high court passed an order in a PIL filed by an individual person who had no locus standi in the matter and was just a meddlesome interloper, claiming himself to be a social activist and student by profession.

"It is respectfully submitted that in the above thoroughly misconceived, frivolous and motivated PIL petition, where no violation of any fundamental right was even pleaded, the Hon'ble High Court has sought to exercise its judicial review jurisdiction over a decision, which has been taken by trained experts on public order, individual and national security", said the Centre's plea.

The plea added, "Thus, in the respectful submission of the petitioner, the very indulgence of the Hon'ble High Court to judicially review the decision of the Central government to provide security cover to some of the respondents suffers from patent and manifest errors of law and is perverse requiring interference of this court".

The Centre contended that it was further pointed out to the high court that, based on the threat report obtained by the security forces, 'Z+' category security was given to Mukesh Ambani in 2013 and 'Y+' category CRPF cover was given to Respondent Neeta Ambani in 2016. "It was also pointed out to the High Court that both the security covers to Respondents 2 & 3 were given on the basis of inputs and assessment report received from intelligence and investigation units and the expense for giving such security was also duly borne out by the said two Respondents", added the Centre's plea.

In an interim order issued on June 21, the high court had directed the central government to place the original file maintained by MHA regarding threat perception and assessment report in relation to Mukesh Ambani and his family.
Bengaluru, June 29 : Condemning the beheading of a young tailor for supporting BJP leader Nupur Sharma, Karnataka BJP on Wednesday said that the country should emulate Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath model to tackle religious fundamentalism.

While interacting with media, State BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel stated there is a need for the Yogi Adityanath model in the contemporary world. "There is a need for implementation of decisions taken by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"The terrorist activity has started again in the country. The merciless killing of Hindu tailor is a matter of shame. The killing of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha in Karnataka had also taken place on the same lines. The killers of Harsha in Shivamogga district of the state had slit the throat of Harsha and sent a video of to his sister," Kateel said.

There is foreign hand behind the Rajasthan incident. Such an incident had happened because of the appeasement policy of the Congress government in the state. Why is the Congress silent? It is important to know it's stand when incidents like this take place, he maintained.

"The Rajasthan incident is a challenge to humanity. To foment violence and murders are planned and society is broken. All this is being done in the name of jihad. The incidents which happened in Kashmir are taking place outside Jammu and Kashmir," Kateel stated.

There is an attempt to cultivate jihadi mindset in the society. Those attempts must be nipped in the bud. There should be a fear among those mindsets who try to stage manage beheadings and other activities, he said.

Meanwhile, Congress Opposition leader in Legislative Council B.K. Hariprasad has condemned the incident. In the pretext of this incident, issuing political statements is not good, he said. This is a country where people of all religions are living peacefully. Death must not be glorified.

"Earlier, a person called Shankar Lal had killed a minor. There was a murder taken place in Faridabad as the victim belonged to minority community. The five-year-old girl was killed in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. All these developments must be considered and all these incidents must be condemned. There was no intolerance in India. These developments are coming forward after the arrival of Vishwa guru (PM Modi)A8 years ago. The civil society must condemn this," he stated.
Bareilly : , June 29 (IANS) The Ala Hazrat Dargah in Bareilly has now joined other Muslim organisations in condemning the violent incident in Udaipur where a tailor was slain for supporting BJP leader Nupur Sharma's statement on the Prophet.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi said that Tuesday's incident had made the entire community bow its head with shame and remorse.

He said that the Prophet had never uttered a word against those who criticised him or even against his enemies.

"He always asked his followers not to even think of revenge against those who opposed him. Beheading someone is certainly not what Islam propagates. Islam does not believe in the sword-it believes in love and harmony," he said.

The cleric said that it was amply clear that the accused in the Udaipur incident did not believe in what Islam propagated.

"I feel an inquiry should be held against them and stern punishment should be given to them under the law for attempting to disturb the peace and harmony in the country and using violence," he said.

He also called upon Muslims to make conscious efforts to lessen the severity of the incident with their behaviour and inform the concerned authorities immediately if anyone tries to use Islam to create disharmony.
Islamabad, June 29 : At least five people were killed and two others injured after a passenger bus collided with a motorcycle and rickshaw in Sargodha district of Pakistan's Punjab province on Wednesday morning.

The accident took place on Khushab road in the district when the bus driver tried to pass a motorcycle and eventually hit the rickshaw coming from the opposite side, Xinhua news agency reported quoting police.

All the casualties were occupants of the rickshaw, the police said, adding that the accident occurred due to the bus driver's negligence.

Police said that the bus driver fled the site while the bus was taken into custody.
Panaji, June 29 : Ahead of the floor test as directed by the Maharashtra Governor, the rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena, who are camping in Guwahati, are likely to land in Goa or Karnataka's Karwar on Wednesday before proceeding to Mumbai on Thursday.

Speaking to IANS, Goa BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade pointed out, "If they reach late then they will stay here. But this is not confirmed. They may go to Karwar. But for that also, they have to land at the Goa Airport." Karwar is around 90 odd km away from the Dabolim airport in Goa.

Another senior Goa BJP leader said, "Going to Karwar may be another strategy as it is very close to Goa," he said.

Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test and prove its majority in the House on Thursday (June 30). The court agreed to hear the case at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

This new political development is taking place following the meeting of Devendra Fadnavis, Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday, who asked him to convene a floor test.
Seoul, June 29 : South Korea will invest 807.7 billion won (US$624 million) to build a local airport by 2028, with an aim to start its operations the following year, the Country's transport ministry said Wednesday.

The government will build a 2,500-meter runway, an airport apron that can accommodate five planes, a passenger terminal, a cargo terminal and other related facilities in Saemangeum, a reclaimed area located about 280 kilometers southwest of Seoul, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

The Saemangeum airport, if completed, can handle up to 1.05 million passengers and 8,000 tons of cargoes a year in 2058, Yonhap news agency reported quoting the statement.

The Saemangeum airport project is part of the government's efforts to seek balanced growth across the country.

The government seeks to transform Saemangeum -- more than four times the size of Manhattan -- into an eco-friendly waterfront city with high-end industrial, tourism and agricultural facilities, as well as science and research institutes.
Colombo, June 29 : Around 600 inmates escaped a rehabilitation centre in Polonnaruwa in central Sri Lanka on Wednesday after a fight broke out between two prisoner groups, said the police.

Police spokesman Nihan Thalduwa said that army soldiers and an additional police force have been deployed to the Kandakadu rehabilitation center to bring the situation under control, and a hunt has been launched for the escaped inmates, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thalduwa said the remaining 400 detainees at the centre were blocking the army and police from entering the premises.

The area around the rehabilitation centre, which holds around 1,000 detainees, has been cordoned off and security has been tightened in the neighboring areas.
Washington, June 29 : The White House said it will start distributing the monkeypox vaccines across the country to address the spread of the virus, focusing on people most at risk and communities with the highest numbers of cases.

The US Department of Health and Human Services will immediately send 56,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine to areas with high transmission.

An additional 240,000 doses will be distributed over the next few weeks, with even more to come this summer and fall, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the White House.

The White House on Tuesday said a combined 1.6 million additional doses would become available over the coming months.

The states with the highest numbers of monkeypox cases include California, New York, Illinois and Florida, as well as Washington D.C., according to the latest count from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We are recommending that vaccines be provided to both people with known monkeypox exposures who are contacted by public health and also to those people who have been recently exposed to monkeypox," said CDC director Rochelle Walensky.

Since the first monkeypox case was confirmed in the United States on May 18, 306 cases have been reported in 28 states as of Tuesday, according to the latest CDC data.

Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak
Kolkata, June 29 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has announced a cash award for anyone who can update the agency about the whereabouts of absconding Trinamool Congress leader, Vinay Mishra, who is the prime accused in the coal smuggling case in West Bengal.

The value of the cash award is Rs 1,00,000. The CBI has issued a newspaper advertisement with picture of Vinay Mishra and his address. In the advertisement, the CBI has assured that the name of the informer will be kept secret. Vinay Mishra's younger brother, Vikash Mishra is currently under the custody of the central agency sleuths.

"He acted as a middleman link to collect illegal gratification on behalf of public servants and used to give patronage and protection to the smugglers using his connection in lieu of money which had been routed through non-existent shell companies. He is medium built, height about 165 cm, DOB: 10.08.1985," CBI's advertisement describing Vinay Misha and his nature of crime reads.

As per the last information available with the CBI, Mishra is currently hiding in Vanuatu Island with a different identity. The CBI has also sought the assistance of Interpol to track Mishra.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the investigation arm of the Union ministry of finance, are conducting parallel probes in the coal smuggling case, whose total financial involvement as per the estimates of the central agency sleuths ranges to the tune of around Rs 1,300 crore.

The sleuths of both the CBI and the ED have recently grilled Rujira Narula Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress's national general secretary and party MP, Abhishek Banerjee in this connection. Rujira Narula was specially questioned about a Bangkok-based bank account, purportedly held by her, where huge amounts of money were transferred from West Bengal after converting them into Thai Baht. Earlier, the ED also questioned Abhishek Banerjee in the matter.
Bengaluru, June 29 : In a shocking incident, two sisters were stripped and assaulted at their residence in the limits of Sarjapur police station on the outskirts of Bengaluru. More shockingly, it is alleged that the police refused to lodge a complaint for two days. It was only after public outrage that the complaint was lodged.

The police on Wednesday arrested accused persons Ramakrishna Reddy and Sunil Kumar for the assault.

The incident took place in Doddabommasandra in Anekal taluk. The complaint was lodged against Ramakrishna Reddy and Sunil Kumar and Indramma. The third accused is yet to be arrested.

According to the complaint, one of the victims had taken a loan of Rs 1 lakh at an exorbitant 30 per cent interest for the education of her children from Ramakrishna Reddy, a resident of Neriga village near Doddabommasandra.

However, she was asked to repay the entire loan amount at once. The villagers had brokered an agreement that once they sell their land, the victim would repay the loan amount.

Despite this, the accused barged into their residence and assaulted and stripped the victims. They had approached Sarjapur police station in connection with the incident. However, it is alleged that Inspector Raghavendra Imbrapur refused to lodge the complaint.

The inspector had asked the victims to negotiate with the accused for a settlement. Meanwhile, the assault videos went viral on social media creating public outrage against the police and the accused persons.

The cops finally called the victims to the police station and lodged a complaint on Tuesday night.
New Delhi, June 29 : As we return to our lives in the new normal, students have slowly made their way back to school. Schools were once the epicentre of a childs daily life wherein they learned to socialize, and in the absence of the threat of COVID-19, one that they naturally integrated into. However, after two years of remaining indoors with close to no social interactions, they require time to adjust to this unexplored environment.

Children across the globe are showing symptoms of stress and trauma in post-pandemic times, though the degree of trauma experienced may vary depending on their developmental stage, and other external factors. Some symptoms are temporary, like increased episodes of crying (more while dropping children off at school), change in food or sleep patterns, nail-biting, thumb-sucking, displays of aggressive behaviour, etc. These symptoms, if addressed correctly, can guide children to develop stability in their emotions, and learn to understand them better.

In the context of children going to school regularly, it is without a doubt that children look up to their teachers to guide and help them navigate their overwhelming thoughts and feelings outside of their homes. They play a big role in acting as a bridge to the outside world and are responsible for providing a safe space in the school to help the little ones deal with separation anxiety brought on by being away from their homes.

Meghna Yadav, Child Psychologist and Head of Training, KLAY tells how teachers can provide a secure and enriching environment for children at school: 1. Learning through nature - In the past two years, children have been confined within the four walls of their homes, mostly glued to the screens in front of them. As they are back in school, children will once again get to engage with the world around them that they previously lost touch with. Teachers could go beyond the four walls of the classroom, and help children learn through nature. The research titled 'Do Experiences With Nature Promote Learning? studied the relationship between nature and learning, finding an improvement in attention, self-interest, discipline, and enjoyment in learning. Conducting classes around nature, perhaps in the school park or under a tree, will help teachers provide a calmer, quieter, and safer environment for children to learn in.

2. New technology in classrooms - Online learning during the pandemic opened up avenues for teachers to teach concepts creatively and broaden their horizons when it comes to imparting general awareness. A field trip, for example, could be organized in Italy where children learn about the art, language, and currency of the country virtually. Interactive learning helped teachers make stories like Gulliver's Travels come to life. Drawing from their experience of engaging technology during the pandemic, teachers will have to go beyond traditional modes of teaching and incorporate innovative tools to engage and spark children's curiosity. This will make children look forward to learning in school.

3. Employing 3 R's for emotional regulation: Teachers should keep the mantra of the three Rs in mind to help children navigate/process their anxieties- Reassure: Providing age-appropriate information to children about the school safety checks in general and at the same time, reassuring them that they are safe in classrooms, will curb their worries about health. Further, talking about ways to keep expressing themselves will send the message that teachers are available for them.

Routine: Giving predictability and structure to children's brains ultimately leads to a sense of control over any situation. Providing children with a set routine through classroom timetables involving fixed timings for activity time, circle time, outdoor playtime, and meal times will greatly reduce anxiety among children.

Regulate: Teachers need to regulate their own emotions to teach children self-efficacy as they begin new academic sessions. Children keenly observe and absorb the way adults respond to changing and stressful situations. So, teachers need to be role models for children by staying strong and calm in a tumultuous situations.

As the First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden once said, "Teaching is not a job. It's a lifestyle. It permeates your whole life." Teachers leave the best of themselves with children, who learn and grow into the future generations that lead the country. Bringing in their unique touch to support children requires training to meet the changing demands of children. Investing and developing essential skill sets that can ease children into school is instrumental in making them well-rounded adults.

(N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in)
Seoul, June 29 : Shares in Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia plunged on Wednesday, as German authorities raided the carmakers' local offices over suspicions they had installed defeat devices on some of their combustion cars.

On Wednesday, Hyundai plunged 5.7 per cent to 175,500 won ($135.17), and Kia plummeted 6.1 per cent to 76,900 won.

Among other affiliates, auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. fell 3.6 per cent to 199,000 won, and logistics firm Hyundai Glovis Co. shed 1.1 percent to 183,000 won, reports Yonhap news agency.

Hyundai confirmed the raid by German prosecutors, and it is working with the German authorities about the matter. It didn't elaborate on the investigation.

Defeat devices are mechanisms or software that can change vehicle emissions levels. Carmakers may use the devices to cheat on emissions tests.

Hyundai and Kia allegedly placed more than 200,000 diesel vehicles with suspected illegal defeat devices in the German market, according to foreign news media reports.

Germany has investigated carmakers operating in the country over possible manipulation of emissions in their combustion vehicles. Hyundai is one of the subjected companies, though the investigation could be expanded, people familiar with the matter said.

In South Korea, Volkswagen has struggled with weak sales due to the impact of the emissions cheating scandal that began in September 2015, when the United States discovered the German carmaker cheated on its local diesel emissions tests.

In July 2016, the group "voluntarily" stopped selling its vehicles in South Korea, as the Seoul government announced it would ban the sale of all Audi and Volkswagen cars, and impose heavy fines for emissions cheating.

The German carmaker, which sells vehicles under four brands -- Audi, Volkswagen, Lamborghini and Bentley -- resumed sales in Korea in early 2018.
New Delhi, June 29 : Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal has agreed to continue as the Attorney General (AG) for three more months following a request from the Central government, sources said on Wednesday.

Venugopal's tenure was to end on June 30.

A source familiar with the development said the AG has agreed to continue for three more months, or till the time the government finds a suitable replacement.

Venugopal, 91, was appointed by the President as Attorney General for India in July 2017 for a three-year term. His term was subsequently extended twice for a year each.

The source added that the AG had cited personal reasons for not continuing in the constitutional post. However, the Central government urged him to continue as the top law officer.

Venugopal is an eminent Supreme Court lawyer, who has appeared in several cases involving interpretations of the Constitution and is regarded as an expert on constitutional law. He was an Additional Solicitor General of India between 1979 and 1980. In 2002, Venugopal was awarded Padma Bhushan and in 2015, the Padma Vibhushan.

Venugopal was designated senior advocate by the Supreme Court in 1972.
Guwahati, 29 June : The rebel MLAs along with their leader Eknath Shinde are waiting at the Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati after visiting the Kamakhya temple in the day for the supreme court hearing scheduled at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. They will reportedly reach Mumbai on Thursday.

Earlier, around 50 rebel Maharashtra MLAs from Shiv Sena and Independent MLAs, on Wednesday along with their leader Eknath Shinde, left the Guwahati's Radisson Blu hotel and visited Kamakhya temple amid massive security.

The convoys of MLAs were seen to leave the hotel premises in individual cars and also in two Assam State Transport Corporation chartered buses and heading towards the famous Kamakhya temple atop Neelanchal hills on the bank of the Brahmputra river.

The MLAs waved hands at the journalists who were waiting outside the hotel for interaction with them. Inside the bus, they were heard chanting 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai' (Hail Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj), and 'Kamakhya Devi ki jai' (Hail Mata Kamakhya).

In the temple, Eknath Shinde spoke to the media, "We will reach Mumbai tomorrow. 50 MLAs are with us. We've over 2/3rd of the majority. We are not worried about the floor test. We will pass all the floor test procedures. No one can stop us. The majority matters in democracy and we're having that majority. No one in this country can disobey the constitution and laws. So, our victory is certain." In the temple, Eknath Shinde spoke to the media and said, "We will reach Mumbai tomorrow, 50 MLAs are with us. We've over 2/3rd of the majority. We are not worried about the floor test. We will pass the floor test. No one can stop us. The majority matters in democracy and we're having that majority. No one in this country can disobey the constitution and laws. So, our victory is certain." He further added, "We came here to Kamakhya temple to seek her blessings for the wellbeing of the people of Maharashtra. We will reach Maharashtra tomorrow." From the temple, they are heading back to the hotel Radisson Blu and will wait for the Supreme Court hearing scheduled at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Media reports stated that a chartered flight has been arranged at Guwahati's Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport to fly the Shinde MLAs back to Maharashtra. Tight security arrangements have been made at the Guwahati airport. They are reportedly heading to Goa for an interim stay.

As per sources, as many as 71 rooms at the Taj Hotel have been booked for MLAS of Shinde camp, in preparation for their arrival.
London, June 29 : Google searches are an effective tool to track and predict domestic violence, especially in times of crisis, such as the period that followed the Covid-19 outbreak, suggests a research.

When the Covid pandemic broke out and countries experienced a strict lockdown, news stories started reporting anecdotal evidence about women forced to live under the same roof with abusive partners.

A team of Italian researchers, including from Bocconi University in Milan, analysed the relations between Google searches for nine domestic violence-related keywords on one hand, and calls to the Italian domestic violence helpline 1522 and to the emergency number 112 in Lombardy.

The selected keywords were: 1522, abuse, home & abuse, home & rape, feminicide, rape, domestic violence, gender-based violence, and sexual violence.

The idea underlying the study is that the Internet -- and Google in particular -- may offer a medium to anonymously voice concerns about abusive partners and collect relevant information, the team wrote in the paper published in the European Journal of Population.

Calls to the helpline measure potential risk of experiencing domestic violence, while calls to the emergency number measure actual violence.

The frequency of queries for the keywords were consistently positively and significantly correlated with helpline calls across the whole investigated time period (2013-2020), with a time lag between search and call of around one week.

But their predictive power increased after the Covid-19 outbreak, when traditional help mechanisms became harder to reach.

The team also observed a worrying socio-economic divide.

"Forecasts proved more reliable among high socio-economic status populations because they are better than other socioeconomic strata at googling effectively in this context," said Selin Koksal, a doctoral candidate in Public Policy at Bocconi.

"It may be the case that individuals with lower socio-economic status use dialect or less targeted keywords, which could prevent them from reaching accurate online resources for seeking help," Koksal added.

The study advises policymakers to track domestic violence-related searches and to accordingly intensify their support activities, both reinforcing services where and when searches become more frequent and raising awareness through the media.

"They could also intervene in favour of disadvantaged people," Koksal said, "by promoting internet literacy and, in the short run, convincing Google to show domestic violence support services among the top results, as it has done in the US."
Kolkata, June 29 : Anit Thapa floated Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) -- a close associate of West Bengal ruling party Trinamool Congress -- is all set to form a new Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) board in the hills of Darjeeling in north Bengal.

While BGPM bagged 27 out of 45 seats in GTA, the semi-autonomous council for governing the hills, Trinamool Congress finished the tally with five in a virtually one-sided poll, where prominent hill- based political forces like Bimal Gurung's Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the national party like BJP abstained from participating in the polls.

Ajay Edward's newly floated Hamro Party managed to bag victory in eight seats, while five seats went in favour of the independents. Anit Thapa himself got elected from both the seats it contested. Incidentally, BJP has its elected MP from Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency since 2009. The polls were conducted on June 26, 2022 and polling percentage was extremely low at around 57 per cent.

According to political analyst expert in north Bengal and northeastern India affairs and writer of the book "The Buddha and Borders", Nirmalya Banerjee now it is to be seen whether Anit Thapa forms the new board in his own strength or does that in association with Trinamool Congress.

"I personally feel that Thapa is keen to maintain a cordial relationship with the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and hence he will invite Trinamool Congress to be part of the new board," he said.

However, at the same time, he added that the results would have surely been not so one-sided had GJM, GNLF and BJP not abstained themselves from the polling process.

"However, it is for definite that the results will push the demand for separate Gorkhaland state in the back- bench at least for quite some time now. So will be the demand for a permanent political settlement in the hills, he said.

After the victory, Anit Thapa said that the people of the hills have voted in favour of peace and development.

On Wednesday, the results for Siliguri Sub-divisional Council polls in north Bengal were also announced. Trinamool Congress rested control over 20 out of 22 gram panchayats under this council.

--IANS src/

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Houston, June 29 : Another migrant died at a local hospital, pushing the death toll in the tragedy in San Antanio, a city in Texas, close to the US-Mexico border to 51, authorities said.

At least 46 undocumented migrants were found dead inside an abandoned lorry next to railroad tracks in a remote area on the city's southern outskirts on Monday, Xinhua news agency quoted the authorities as saying.

Some of those found alive reportedly remained in critical condition on Tuesday. After the truck packed with nearly 100 people was discovered on Monday, at least 16, including four children, were taken to area hospitals due to heat exhaustion and dehydration, local officials said.

Among the dead, five were children. At least 27 were from Mexico, three from Guatemala and four from Honduras, local media reported, citing officials from these countries.

"CLONED" TRUCK The truck driver, who was caught in a nearby field after he fled on foot, and was described as a US citizen, is now in federal custody and expected to be charged, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told The New York Times on Tuesday.

Two other men, both Mexican citizens, were charged on Tuesday with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally, according to court documents and US authorities. Police arrested them at an address in San Antonio listed on the tractor-trailer's registration.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that someone had "cloned" the truck with the same color and identifying numbers from the US and Texas transportation departments as one owned by a South Texas trucking company in an apparent move to evade authorities.

A vigil was held in the rain Tuesday evening at a San Antonio park.

"It's unspeakable," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said on MSNBC Tuesday. "It's a tragedy beyond explanation." Those found alive were hot to the touch and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion. There was no sign of water in the refrigerated tractor-trailer and no visible working air conditioning unit, according to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood.

Temperatures in San Antonio climbed to 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 degrees centigrade) on Monday, while the heat in the packed trailer was likely way higher than that, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

FATAL BORDER CROSSING US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that initial reports showed that the tragedy was caused by smugglers or human traffickers.

"Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy," Biden said in a statement, one day after Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott blamed the deaths on what he called the president's "deadly open border policies." "My administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry," said Biden.

The US Customs and Border Protection said it encountered 239,416 people along the US-Mexico border in May, hitting a record high.
Jaipur, June 29 : Kanhaiya Lal, whose brutal and horrific murder shocked the nation, was cremated on Wednesday in Rajasthan's Udaipur in the presence of a large number of people who raised slogans demanding capital punishment for the accused.

The entire city remained shut in protest of the killing of Kanhaiya Lal. A large number of security forces were deployed to deal with any situation.

Earlier in the day, the body was taken to the residence after the post-mortem. Kanhaiya Lal's wife demanded that the killers be hanged.

On Tuesday, police arrested both the accused, Ghaus Mohammad and Riyaz Jabbar, from Rajsamand. Apart from these, three others have also been caught by the police.

The investigation has been taken over by the NIA, and a case was registered against both the killers under several sections of the IPC, including the Unlawful Activities (UAPA) Act.

According to sources, 26 wound marks were found on Kanhaiya's body out of which eight to 10 were only on the neck, the post-mortem report mentioned.

Both the attackers entered Kanhaiya's shop on Tuesday on the pretext of giving the measurement for clothes.

The slain tailor's relatives said that nothing less than capital punishment be awarded to both so that no one dares to repeat such an act in India.

The niece of the deceased said, "The accused tortured and killed my maternal uncle (Mama). They should be given capital punishment and nothing else, today they have killed him, tomorrow they will kill others. We want justice, they should be hanged. Otherwise, such people will be encouraged, they should get such punishment that no one can ever think of doing this again in the country." Meanwhile, the Central government sent anti-terror agency NIA to Udaipur to conduct a thorough probe into the matter and make a background check of the two arrested accused and to explore if there is a terror angle.

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered in the Talibani style by two persons on Tuesday in Dhanmandi police station area of Udaipur. They also posted a video on social media, saying that they did this to avenge the 'insult to Islam'.

The attackers had made an indirect reference to Nupur Sharma, who was suspended from the BJP for a remark on Prophet Mohammad.

The accused were taken into custody by the police. One of the two, Riyaz Akhtari has links with the Pakistan-based Dawat-e-Islami, which also has branches in India. Some members of Dawat-e-Islami were involved in several terrorist incidents, including the assassination of Salman Taseer, the Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Internet services have been suspended across the state and section 144 has been clamped in the state for a month.
New Delhi, June 29 : Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Delhi Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Wednesday condemned the brutal murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur and said it has shaken the humanity.

"The inhumane incident of the murder of a man named Kanhaiya Lal by two persons named Riyaz and Ghaus, and that too in the name of the Holy Prophet, is not only an act of cowardice but an act against Islam, unlawful and inhuman.

"I, myself and on behalf of the Muslims of India, with all the vehemence at our disposal, condemn this act," he said.

He said that Islam is a religion of peace and tranquillity. "The life of the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) is full of numerous examples of compassion, tolerance, generosity and humanitarianism." "Had the persons who committed this barbaric act studied the life and character of the Holy Prophet and had they been well versed with the spirit of Quran and shariah, they would not have committed the heinous crime," he said.

The Muslim organisations have condemned the horrific beheading of Kanhaiya Lal and have said that this can never be justified.

Mushawarat President Navaid Hamid said, "The gruesome beheading in Udaipur is anti-Islamic and an open case of hate crime. Prophet Muhammad had never harmed any body in his entire life. Those pretending to indulge in crime because of the Prophet's love are criminals and need harshest punishment as per the law," he said.

"I earnestly appeal PM @narendramodi ji to urgently consider addressing the nation for maintaining peace, calm and soothing sentiments," Hamid added.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind too condemned the incident and its General Secretary Hakeemuddin Qasmi in a statement said, "The act is crime in the eyes of law, and our religion does not allow this." Several Muslim organisations demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits.
Kolkata, June 29 : Naib Subedar Amrendra Kumar, who slipped and fell into a stream in Arunachal Pradesh nearly 72 hours ago, is yet to be traced.

According to the Army's Eastern Command, incessant rain and poor visibility in the rugged terrain is affecting search operations. Meanwhile, the JCO's wife Rekha Kumari has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, not to call off the search operation. Naib Subedar Kumar is a resident of Bokaro in Jharkhand.

"He was posted to the Red Shield Division (57 Mountain Division) and was on an operational patrol in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh around 2 p.m. on Sunday when he slipped and fell into the fast-flowing mountain stream. A search was immediately launched along the stream but the soldier could not be traced. Search is continuing downstream with the help of villagers and the civil administration. We are still hopeful that he will be found alive," an officer said.

According to relatives, senior officers from Naib Subedar Kumar's unit are maintaining regular contact with the family. "We have an idea of the terrain and the risks involved there. However, he is a battle-hardened soldier with survival skills. We have not given up hope. We are receiving messages from well-wishers and those are providing a lot of support. We just pray to God that the weather improves there to allow search parties to trace him," a cousin said.

There is significant Army presence in the district. Ziro, the district headquarter, also has an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG). According to another officer, air assets may be pressed into service as soon as visibility improves. On Wednesday, the weather remained cloudy with scattered rainfall in the region.

"We don't leave our soldiers behind. We shall trace him. Our only concern is that he may be injured and in need of medical assistance," he added.
Chennai, June 29 : Actress, producer and politician Khushbu Sundar on Wednesday urged the media to report responsibly after a section of it wrongly reported that Vidyasagar, the husband of actress Meena, had passed away due to Covid.

Vidyasagar (48) had been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai for a lung ailment.

Taking to Twitter, the actress said, "I very humbly request the media to be (a) little responsible. Meena's husband had Covid three months back. Covid worsened his lung condition. Please do not send out a wrong message and create any kind of fear or cause flutter by saying we lost Sagar to Covid. Yes we need to cautious, but please." The actress also expressed her condolences to the actress and her family.

She wrote, "Waking up to a terrible news. Heartbroken to learn actor Meena's husband, Sagar, is no more with us. He was battling lung ailment for long. Heart goes out to Meena and her young daughter. Life is cruel. At a loss of words to express grief. Deepest condolences to the family. #RIP" The funeral of Vidyasagar is to take place on Wednesday at the Besant Nagar Crematorium on Chennai.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, June 29 : The Vellore district police have constituted special police teams to increase patrolling in the city after two rapes of medical professionals -- a doctor and a nurse -- in a span of three months.

It is to be noted that the doctors and nurses work round the clock and sometimes go back home in the wee hours and the recent rapes have brought a difficult situation for the women hospital employees, including doctors and nurses.

On March 16, during early hours, a lady doctor from Bihar working in a prestigious hospital in Vellore was gang-raped by five persons, including two juveniles. They held the male friend of the doctor in captivity and later forced him to shell out Rs 40,000 using the ATM card.

The gang escaped after threatening the doctor and her friend with dire consequences if they revealed this to anyone. The lady doctor left for her native Bihar, the next day and from there filed an online complaint leading to the arrest of all the five including the juveniles. Three of them were sent to prison and the juveniles to shelter homes.

As if a repeat of the story on Saturday night, a nurse who was returning home after work was forced to consume alcohol in a moving car and raped. She reached her home on Sunday morning and attempted to kill herself. The family on coming to know of the trauma lodged a complaint with the police leading to the arrest of three people, including an advocate.

Vellore is a very important district of Tamil Nadu nearer to the state capital Chennai and houses the prestigious Christian Medical College, Vellore. One of the country's largest and rated college, Vellore Institute of Technology is also situated in this town.

Somasundaram, a local restaurant owner of Vellore while speaking to IANS said: " Vellore is a good town and has been developing by leaps and bounds. CMC Vellore and VIT bring thousands of people to this city and even the Railways have upgraded the station taking into consideration the huge rush. However, the police have to act tight and responsibly as a gang rape happening in the town three months after a doctor was raped has brought a bad reputation to the city. This has to be cleared and government and district administration must act tough." He said that the perpetrators of crime, especially that against women must be dealt by an iron hand, and if the police don't act tough, then situation of Vellore will turn worse and people will shy away from coming to the town.

Social activist and research scholar in social sciences, Kumarapandyan who stays at Vellore while speaking to IANS said: "The two gruesome rape incidents in a span of three months have given a bad reputation and name to Vellore. It is for the people of the town in association with the district administration and the police to bring an end to this menace. Once a city loses its name, it will be very difficult to regain it and Vellore is slowly losing that. We have to bring back the lost glory of the town and everyone must be in unison regarding such issues." Superintendent of Police Vellore, Rajesh Kannan told IANS that the police team have swung into action immediately after getting information about the incident and arrested all three people who have been accused of the crime. He said that there was no need for panic and that Vellore is safe for women and patrolling will be increased at all the odd hours of the night.
Mumbai, June 29 : Former 'Bigg Boss 10' contestant Manu Punjabi has shared a post on Twitter revealing about being threatened to be killed like Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala.

Manu has thanked the Jaipur police for arresting a man who tried to extort money from him. As per the reports he was told to pay up or else he would be shot dead like Sidhu Moosewala.

The Bigg Boss 10 and Bigg Boss 14 contestant took to his Twitter account to thank the cops.

He tweeted, "I feel blessed and thankful to @Tomarhricha Add SP RamSingh ji Comm Anand shrivastav Ji @jaipur_police to provide me security and find out the culprit. I got email, claiming to be from gang of #SidhuMooseWala murderers demanding 10Lakh or else they would kill me. Last week was stressful" As per the reports the Chitrakoot police arrested a 31-year-old man who had allegedly sent an email to Manu Punjabi asking him to pay Rs 10 lakh. He claimed that he was a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi group. The arrest was made from Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor area. Richa Tomar, deputy commissioner of police, has begun an investigation.

The man has been identified as Kulveer Singh Chauhan aka Tony and it seems that he was a drug addict.

Sidhu Moosewala was shot in broad daylight in Punjab. The horrific killing sent shockwaves across India and condolences poured in for the rapper.
New Delhi, June 29 : Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu, in his plea in the Supreme Court, termed the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test and prove its majority on Thursday (June 30) illegal, as he didn't take into account the Deputy Speaker's disqualification notices to 16 rebel MLAs.

Prabhu's plea said the Governor's communication, issued on June 28, which was received by them at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, is in complete defiance of the fact that the top court is seized of the issue of the disqualification proceedings against the rebel Sena MLAs.

It contended that the top court is considering the validity of the disqualification proceedings and has kept the matter for hearing on July 11, and the issue of disqualification is directly connected/interlinked with the issue of floor test.

"The Governor has also not bothered about the pendency of disqualification petitions nor has he taken into consideration that this court, while being seized of writ petitions challenging the issuance of notice by the Deputy Speaker has, vide order dated June 27, issued notice and directed the matter to be listed on July 11 for further consideration," said the plea.

As Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the plea before the court in the morning, the vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala agreed to take up the plea at 5 p.m.

The plea said: "It is most respectfully submitted that the said communications of the Governor are liable to be set aside since the Governor has illegally invoked Article 175(2) of the Constitution to send a message to the Assembly for conduct of a floor test.." The plea said the impugned directions ought not to have been issued without the aid and advice of the Council of the Ministers led by the Chief Minister.

"It is surprising that the Leader of Opposition admittedly meets the Governor at 10 p.m. on June 28 and the impugned communications are also of the same date. This only shows the undue haste with which the Governor has acted without even asking the CM of his views in respect of the political scenario in the state," it added.

The plea claimed that the directions, it seems, have been issued on the "aid and advice of the Leader of Opposition", which is clearly not contemplated under the constitution.

"In view of the undue haste with which the Governor has proceeded to act on the request of the Leader of Opposition to direct the conduct of a floor test, it is submitted that the impugned communication/directions is completely arbitrary and illegal and therefore violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, apart from giving a fillip to the Constitutionally abhorrent sin of defection which the Tenth Schedule seeks to curtail," it said.
New Delhi, June 29 : In a big overhaul as the Indian edtech space shrinks considerably, online learning giant BYJU's has cut at least 600 jobs -- asking 300 employees at its Toppr learning platform and another 300 at coding platform WhiteHat Jr to go.

For the layoff at Toppr which it acquired last year for $150 million, BYJU's confirmed the development, saying it has completed "the integration of Toppr and has absorbed almost 80 per cent of its talented workforce into the BYJU'S ecosystem".

After the acquisition was completed, Toppr's employees from the sales and marketing division were retained while those in other departments were asked to go.

The company spokesperson said that as the next step, "we are optimising teams to recalibrate business priorities and accelerate our long-term growth".

Earlier, online coding provider WhiteHat Jr, the beleaguered platform under edtech giant BYJU's umbrella that it acquired for $300 million, laid off around 300 employees, after more than 1,000 of its employees resigned after being asked to return to office in April-May.

This time, most of the fired employees belonged to the code-teaching and sales teams at the platform and some of them worked in Brazil.

In a statement, the company said that "to realign with our business priorities, we are optimising our team to accelerate results and best position the business for long-term growth".

The layoffs at BYJU's arrived amid reports that it has delayed payments to the stakeholders as part of its $1 billion acquisition of Aakash Educational Services, to which the company said that the acquisition process "is on track and is expected to be completed by August".

BYJU's acquired Delhi-based offline test preparatory services provider Aakash for $1 billion last year.

A company spokesperson told IANS that the acquisition of "Aakash is fully on track and all payments are expected to be completed by the agreed upon date, i.e., August 2022".

"Aakash is our most successful acquisition till date and we are very proud to have them in our fold," the company spokesperson added.

"Along with all our group companies, we continue to be perfectly poised to provide access to quality education in all learning segments from early learning to exam prep and career success," the spokesperson said.

Aakash Educational Services provides test preparation services for medical and engineering entrance exams, school/board exams, and other exams via Aakash Centres.

The edtech unicorn made at least 10 acquisitions for a cumulative transaction value of about $2.5 billion last year.

Led by the edtech platforms like Unacademy, WhiteHat Jr, Vedantu, FrontRow, Udayy, Lido Learning and others, over 10,000 start-up employees have been laid off in the country.

The layoffs come as the edtech sector has been hammered by the global macroeconomic conditions and reopening of schools, colleges and physical tuition centres.
Patna, June 29 : Four out of the AIMIM's five MLAs in Bihar left the party to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Wednesday.

The four MLAs are Muhammad Izhar Aasfi, the MLA from Kochadhaman, Shahnawaz Alam from Jokihat, Sayyad Ruknuddin of Bayasi, and Azhar Naimi of Bahadurganj Assembly constituencies - all in Bihar's Seemanchal area.

With this, the RJD has become the single-largest party in the 243-member Bihar Assembly with 80 MLAs, overtaking the BJP with 77 MLAs.

Tejashwi Yadav came to the Assembly with the four MLAs to meet Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha and inform him about the development.

With this, the AIMIM has been left with only one MLA - Akhtarul Imam, who is also the party's leader in the Assembly.

The merger of the AIMIM MLAs with the RJD assumes significance, as with this, the party-led alliance's strength has reached 96, along with 16 MLAs of Left parties. While, the Congress is out of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, it may back the RJD in case the party comes in a position of forming the government. If the 19 Congress MLAs are included, the number reaches 115 - just 7 short from a majority.

After the meeting with the Speaker, the four former AIMIM MLAs will meet RJD national President Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Earlier this month, Akhtarul Imam had said that his party members were being approached by bigger parties ever since the 2020 Assembly election but had remained loyal.

However, most of the AIMIM MLAs were apprehensive about their future, given their party's showing in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections where it had contested more than 90 seats but failed to win even a single one.

The AIMIM is seen as the BJP's "B team" to cut the votes of parties having a secular ideology. They hit the RJD's chances in more than 20 Bihar seats in the 2020 polls and five of them managed to win.

With this outcome, the AIMIM was enthusiastic about the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election but got no traction. With this, the AIMIM MLAs knew that the voters of Bihar may not support them in 2025 election and were wanting to merge with the RJD well before it.
Mumbai, June 29 : The funeral of Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry - the billionaire realty tycoon - was performed with full state honours at the Parsi Tower of Silence, here on Wednesday morning.

Mistry, 93, the Chairman Emeritus of the venerable 157-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group, passed away early on Tuesday at his home.

He is survived by his wife Patsy, daughters Laila and Aloo, and sons Shapoor and Cyrus.

A large number of family members, colleagues and other industrialists were present at the solemn ceremony with the Mumbai Police band paying their respects and a gun salute as Mistry's mortal remains draped in the National Tricolour were brought.

The prayer ceremony 'uthamna' shall be held at the Tower of Silence later this afternoon and the family has requested no condolence visits.

Born on June 1, 1929 in a Parsi family from Gujarat, Pallonji Mistry had his schooling in Mumbai and went to London for his higher studies and joined the family business later.

Pallonji Mistry enabled the family's business to venture into Middle East countries.

His father Shapoorji had bought shares in Tata Sons in 1930 and the stakes now are about 18 per cent.

It was in 2003, Pallonji Mistry surrendered his Indian citizenship and became an Irish citizen. He was married to an Ireland born national Patsy Perin Dubash.

Pallonji Mistry was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2016, India's third highest civilian award for his contribution to industry.

Top Indian personalities led by President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other dignitaries expressed grief over Mistry's passing.

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group started in 1865 with a notable construction history dating back to 1887 - Littlewood Pallonji & Co was one of the companies that helped to build a large Malabar Hill reservoir - is now a global diversified conglomerate with 18 major companies operating in six business segments - Engineering & Construction, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Water, Energy and Financial Services.

With a workforce of over 50,000 in over 50 countries, the group has developed several mega and iconic structures like RBI headquarters, SBI, HSBC, Grindlays Bank, Hongkong & Shanghai Bank and others in south Mumbai, besides other major infrastructure projects.

The Group had also produced the iconic Hindi film, K. Asif's 'Mughal-E-Azam' (1960), then the most expensive one and till date it reigns among the top popular movies of Bollywood.
Ahmedabad, June 29 : A 75-year-old woman from Zarwani village in Garudeshwar taluka fell ill and had to be taken for treatment. The old woman's son took her to Rajpipla. For that they had to reach the main road by walking for 4 to 5 kms on the riverbed. They made a video of this which went viral on social media.

With the onset of monsoon, the roads in the hinterland villages, including Zarwani, are not in a state for vehicles to reach there.

In the surrounding villages of Narmada, due to lack of paved roads or bridges over rivers, people have to walk four to five kms to reach the main road and if anyone falls ill in the village, they are forced to go to the hospital.

Dhiraj Vasava's 75-year-old mother, who lives in Zarwani's Ukhakund falia, fell ill. Eventually the old woman was taken to the hospital tied in a bedsheet. The tribals are forced to carry the sick patients to the hospital on their shoulders.

"My 75-year-old mother Devkiben fell ill and had to be taken to hospital. Since a vehicle could not reach our village, we wrapped her in a bedsheet and crossed the river to reach the main road. From there she was taken in a vehicle to Rajpipla Civil Hospital. The road has not been built in our falia for years," said Dhiraj Vasava, son of the patient.

Zarwani is located only 7 km from Kevadia and is being developed as a tourist destination.

Ghanshyam Patel, BJP president from Narmada, told IANS that this was done intentionally. All the villages have roads, and this village is being developed as a tourist place now. I am aware of the incident but someone made this video deliberately, he said.

Bhartiya Tribal Party MLA Mahesh Vasava told IANS that there are many scattered groups of houses on the hills, it's difficult for any vehicle to reach them especially during the monsoon season. They don't have basic facilities like primary health centres, schools, or any medical assistance nearby. So they have to reach the main roads by walking.
Hyderabad, June 29 : A war of hoardings broke out between Telangana's ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the saffron party's national executive and public meeting to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A hoarding criticising Prime Minister Modi cropped up on Wednesday near Parade Grounds in Secunderabad, where he is scheduled to address a public meeting on July 3.

However, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board authorities quickly removed the banner.

The hoarding in Telugu with hashtag ByeBye Modi, tagline 'Salu Modi-Sampaku Modi' (Enough Modi- Don't kill us Modi) and with a picture of Modi attracted the attention of passersby.

The hoarding highlighted six points, slamming Modi for 'killing' farmers with controversial farm laws, failing to provide jobs to youth, sudden lockdown, going back on the promise to give Rs 15 lakh to every citizen by bringing back black money and privatisation of LIC and other public sector undertakings.

Though who put up the hoarding was not mentioned on it but it was apparent going by the hashtag ByeBye Modi and the tagline being used on social media by the TRS supporters for the last few days.

Last week, the BJP had put up a hoarding at its office with the tagline 'KCR countdown has started'. The hoarding with a countdown clock carried the slogan 'Salu dora-selavu dora' (Enough sir, goodbye sir).

BJP national general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Telangana, Tarun Chug had formally inaugurated the countdown clock on June 25 and declared that 529 days are remaining for the TRS government and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR).

The BJP announced that it will install similar countdown clocks at all its offices in the state. The party has also launched a website with the slogan 'Salu dora- selavu dora' which has a ticking countdown clock. It also highlighted the failures of the TRS government.

TRS leaders had threatened to put up display boards of Modi with a garland of footwear around his neck across the state if the BJP did not remove the derogatory hoarding from its office.

TRS supporters have been putting up banners and hoardings during the visits by the Prime Minister to Hyderabad.

During Modi's visit to Hyderabad on May 26, banners with 17 questions were put up at different places in the city.

Most of the questions pertained to the commitments made by the Centre in 2014 during the formation of Telangana state which remained unfulfilled even after eight years.

The state's ruling party had asked Modi similar questions during his earlier visit to Hyderabad on February 5.

As the PM was in the city to unveil the statue of equality, the party had asked 'Where is equality for Telangana'.

A huge hoarding held by a group of youth on Tank Bund in the heart of the city had attracted the attention of all. It had several questions, reminding the Prime Minister of unfulfilled promises.

A two-day national executive of the BJP is scheduled to begin in Hyderabad on July 2. At the end of the executive, Modi and other BJP leaders will address the public meeting at Parade Grounds.
Mumbai, June 29 : Veteran actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, who plays a pivotal role in the recently released short film 'Veera' as part of the Army anthology 'Bravehearts', shares how the story "tugged at her heartstrings".

The film focuses on the character Veera, who initially believes that it is the bravery and patriotism that the country remembers and celebrates her father for, are what took her father away. She is shown preparing for her NDA examinations for which she has no willingness to pass or follow in her father's footsteps who's last wish was for her to join the Indian armed forces.

Despite her father being known as a martyr and a hero, Veera remains unaware of the love and appreciation until she discovers a hidden letter that her mother hands her over. The letter not only helps her discover herself but also helps her identify her true calling.

While young actress Aadhya Anand played the title role in the film, Suchitra played the role of Shalini Acharya, mother of Veera Acharya.

Talking about her role, Suchitra said: "The storyline was very powerful to me and tugged at my heartstrings. 'Veera' beautifully showcases how the life of an Army officer can even truly inspire the near and dear ones in the family. The respected responsibility of our soldiers is truly admirable even after they have lost their lives fighting relentlessly for the country. Being a part of Bravehearts is my way of honouring our brave martyrs." Aadhya shared her thoughts on the role of Veera saying, "Veera is a new age tale of a young girl, establishing her identity while seeking her father whom she has never had a chance to grow up with. Bravehearts is a series of untold stories of valour of men and women and their families serving our country who end up sacrificing themselves only to be forgotten. I am so glad that I got to portray such a strong character like Veera which is a tribute to our defence forces." The series 'Bravehearts' is released on the YouTube channel of Dice Media.
Hyderabad, June 29 : Former MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who quit the Congress last year, is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

BJP national General Secretary incharge of party affairs in Telangana, Tarun Chug along with state BJP President, Bandi Sanjay met Vishweshwar Reddy and invited him to join the party.

Reddy is likely to formally join the BJP in the presence of party's national President J.P. Nadda in Hyderabad on July 1, a day ahead of the party's national executive meet.

An engineer and entrepreneur, Vishweshwar Reddy is husband of Sangita Reddy, Managing Director of the Apollo Hospitals.

Reddy, who was with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) before switching over to the Congress, had earlier stated that both the Congress and the BJP can't be an alternative to the TRS.

He had also hinted at floating a new regional party with an aim to defeat the TRS in the 2023 Assembly elections, and was planning to bring together leaders of various smaller parties and even those TRS leaders who are unhappy with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to form an alternative.

In May last year, he had met Eatala Rajender after the latter was dropped from the Telangana cabinet by Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao following allegations that he had encroached lands of some farmers.

Rajender had later joined the BJP and was re-elected from Huzurabad Assembly seat on BJP ticket in the by-elections held in November last year.

Vishweshwar Reddy had fought and won the Lok Sabha elections from Chevella on TRS ticket in 2014. During his term, he was one of the richest serving MPs.

He is the only parliamentarian from India to be granted a US patent while serving as a Member of Parliament.

As an engineer by profession, Reddy had worked as an adjunct faculty in the New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ, and Essex County College, Newark, U.S. A successful software entrepreneur, he founded Citadel Research & Solutions, a company involved in engineering research and development.

He quit the TRS before the 2019 elections and joined Congress. He contested again from Chevella but lost to the TRS candidate.
London, June 29 : Researchers in the UK are probing a potential link between blood clots and long-term symptoms post a Covid infection, and whether a treatment of blood thinners may help reduce long Covid conditions, media reports said.

Long Covid is defined as having new or ongoing symptoms four weeks or more after the start of disease. The symptoms, which include fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of concentration and joint pain, may last up to months and even more than a year.

Previous studies have pointed out that a Covid infection increases the risk of blood clots. Infected people have a greater risk of related conditions including stroke, heart attacks and deep vein thrombosis, the Guardian reported.

Prof Ami Banerjee from University College London is leading a study called Stimulate-ICP, where 4,500 people with long Covid will be divided into four groups in which participants are allocated usual care, antihistamines, an anti-inflammatory or an anti-clotting drug for three months.

"That will allow us to say whether that improves the fatigue and other outcomes of people with long Covid," Banerjee was quoted as saying.

A study by researchers at University of Cambridge, called Heal-Covid, involves people who were hospitalised with Covid and aims to identify treatments that may help to prevent or reduce ongoing symptoms, the report said.

"Heal-Covid is not a study treating people with long Covid, we are aiming to prevent things getting to that point," said chief investigator Prof Charlotte Summers from Cambridge.

The team has recruited 1,118 participants, with one arm of the trial involving participants receiving blood thinners.

"The trial included anticoagulants as there was thought to be an increased number of large blood clots occurring in the post-hospital phase of the illness rather than microclots," Summers said.

Further, a team from University of Leicester is also probing the issue of clotting, the report said.

The post-hospitalisation Covid-19 study is looking at whether people with ongoing symptoms after hospitalisation have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. If this is found, it would be strong evidence that microclots are a substantial problem, Chief Investigator Chris Brightling, Professor of respiratory medicine at the University was quoted as saying.

"Whereas if we don't see that, that doesn't exclude the possibility that, obviously -- certain individuals get clots -- but it would make it less likely that it's intrinsically a major problem," he said.
Kiev, June 29 : Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has laid out eight priorities for Ukraine's cooperation with the European Union (EU), the presidential press service said.

While addressing a meeting held in the presidential administration on Ukraine's preparations for EU membership, Shmyhal said the EU candidate status obtained last week allows Ukraine to start sectoral negotiations with the bloc.

In particular, Ukraine plans to finaliSe the accession to the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure, which envisages a "customs visa-free regime" with the EU, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Shmyhal.

According to Shmyhal, Ukraine also plans to sign the Agreement on Liberalisation of Road Transport, which would cancel the obligation for Ukrainian haulers to obtain special permits for transporting goods in the EU.

Ukraine also wants to create a shared mobile roaming space with the EU and join the single zone of payments in euros free of any fees, Shmyhal said.

In addition, Ukraine aims to integrate its energy system into continental Europe's energy network and join the EU digital market and all European "green course" initiatives, Shmyhal said.

Another priority for Ukraine is to sign an industrial visa-free regime to open mutual access to industrial markets.

On June 23, EU leaders accepted Ukraine as a candidate for membership in the bloc.
New Delhi, June 29 : A day after the gruesome killing of a tailor in Udaipur, the Jamiat Ulema Hind termed it "un-Islamic" and condemned the killing in the name of the Prophet while demanding the arrest of those responsible for using derogatory language.

Maulana Arshad Madani, President Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind said "the Udaipur incident is a very tragic, un-Islamic and inhumane act, it is highly condemnable. The law of the state would work accordingly in this case as well. As we had opposed mob-lynching in many places, we also consider this inhumane act to be extremely dangerous to law and order. We are always against everyone taking the law into their own hands." Maulana Madani said that whatever happened due to the derogatory words against the Prophet was bad, but in order to maintain law and order and communal harmony in the country, it is necessary to show tolerance and patience.

He added that just as we oppose this incident, we strongly oppose insulting the dignity of any religious figure or hurting the feelings of those who believe in a religion by using derogatory words.

Maulana Madani stated that the silence of powerful people in the country, and not arresting the perpetrators has tarnished the image of the country all over the world.

"Therefore, we once again demand the government immediately arrest those who have insulted the Prophet and punish them severely according to the law so that no one will dare to do so again in the future, as well as Muslims all over the world can find peace and contentment," he added.
New Delhi, June 29 : The high-voltage political drama in Maharashtra that began with the revolt of senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on June 21 continues as Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, heading the Maharashtra Vikas Agahadi (MVA) government, faces the worst ever crisis of his political career.

The strength of the rebel Sena camp led by Shinde, currently camped in Guwahati, has grown continuously. Shinde has been claiming that he has the support of around 40 Shiv Sena MLAs and several Independent legislators.

The rebellion in Shiv Sena has put the fate of the MVA government in jeopardy. In a bid to save his government, Thackeray had on June 24 filed a petition against the rebel MLAs and demanded the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly to disqualify 16 MLAs from the Shinde camp.

On June 27, the apex court extended the deadline given to the lawmakers to file their responses to the disqualification notices issued against them till July 11. On Tuesday, Thackeray reached out to the rebel Sena legislators. In an emotional message to the rebel MLAs, he said, "You are still with the Shiv Sena from the heart." The alliance partners of MVA -- the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -- have assured support to Thackeray till the last moment in the current political crisis.

Sena heading the MVA government has 55 MLAs. NCP with 53 legislators and the Congress having 44 MLAs are the alliance partners in the state government. The opposition BJP has 106 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly which has a total strength of 288 members.

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, CVoter-IndiaTracker conducted a nationwide survey on behalf of IANS to know people's views about the fate of the MVA government.

During the survey, people were divided in their views about the Thackeray-led MVA government surviving a floor test.

According to the survey data, while 46 per cent respondents said that Thackeray will succeed in saving his government, 54 per cent of those interviewed did not share the sentiment.

Interestingly, during the survey, while the majority of NDA voters -- 66 per cent -- said that Thackeray will fail in the floor test, views of opposition supporters were divided on the issue. As per the survey data, while 55 per cent opposition voters asserted that Thackeray will survive the floor tests, 45 per cent believed otherwise.

The survey highlighted differences in the opinions of different social groups on the issue. While 69 per cent upper caste Hindus and 60 per cent Other Backward Classes stressed that the MVA government will fail in the floor test, 75 per cent Muslims and 67 per cent Scheduled Tribes (ST) expressed completely different views on the issue.

The views of the Scheduled Caste (SC) voters were also divided on the issue. As per the survey data, while 48 per cent of SC respondents opined that Thackeray will sail through the floor test, 52 per cent did not agree with the sentiment.

The survey further highlighted that majority Indians don't see any possibility of Thackeray and the BJP joining hands. During the survey, while 65 per cent respondents asserted that Thackeray and BJP will not come together, 35 per cent of those who participated in the survey said that the two can form an alliance.

Interestingly, during the survey, the majority of both the NDA and opposition voters opined that it is unlikely that Thackeray and BJP will forge an alliance. As per the survey data, 69 per cent NDA voters and 63 per cent opposition supporters clearly stated that the two former alliance partners will not come together once again.

Similarly, majority of the respondents from different social groups opined that Thackeray will not go with the BJP. During the survey, 6 per cent ST, 64 per cent SC, 65 per cent OBC, 59 per cent upper caste Hindu and 83 per cent Muslims said that Thackeray will continue with the MVA and he will not join hands with the BJP.
Ramallah, June 29 : A Palestinian was killed on Wednesday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Wessam Abu Bakker, director of Jenin Hospital, told Xinhua news agency that Mohammad Mer'ei, 25, was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers who had stormed the city.

He said that Mer'ei later succumbed to his wounds in hospital.

Meanwhile, Palestinian eyewitnesses in Jenin said that an Israeli army force stormed the city early in the morning to arrest Palestinian activists who were wanted by the Israeli security intelligence.

They added that fierce clashes broke out in the city between the Israeli army and dozens of Palestinians.

There was no immediate Israeli army response to Mer'ei's killing.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the young man's killing, saying in a press statement that Mer'ei's death is the result of "Israeli politicians who give instructions to the soldiers to kill." The ministry said it holds the Israeli government directly responsible.

"We call on the International Criminal Court to immediately start investigating the crimes of the Israeli occupation and the Israeli settlers," the statement said, adding that Mer'ei is "a direct victim of Israel's continued impunity."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
June 29 : Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor has unleashed his villain mode in Paris. The actor took to Instagram and shared photos of himself looking dapper as he held the Ek Villian mask in the streets of Paris. Arjun looked uber cool in a black blazer teamed with a maroon T-shirt and skinny black jeans.

"#EkVillainwas in Paris and is now headed to Mumbai for the Big launch. Brace yourselves for some epic villainy coming your way! #EkVillainReturns." he wrote.

Ek Villian returns after eight years, and the excitement is sky-high. The film is a sequel to the 2014 film starring Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, and Riteish Deshmukh. As the film gears up for release on 29 July, the promotional activities are in full swing. The film's first look was released on Monday and has made the fans go crazy.

The Mohit Suri directorial stars John Abraham, Disha Patani, Arjun Kapoor, and Tara Sutaria in lead roles. The film went on floors last year. The first schedule was shot extensively across multiple locations in Mumbai, and the second schedule took place in Goa.

The actor was recently seen vacationing with his girlfriend, Malaika Arora. The couple who made their relationship official in 2019 flew to Paris to celebrate Arjun's 37th birthday.

On the work front, Arjun was last seen in the 2021 film 'Bhoot Police.' Ajay Bahl's directorial 'The Lady Killer', a suspense thriller, will feature the actor in the lead. Apart from this, he has two other films gearing up to hit the theatres this year. 'Kutty', helmed by Vishal Bhardwaj, features Arjun in a pivotal role.
Phnom Penh, June 29 : Cambodian Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak on Wednesday told local exporters to reap the benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade pact, which came into force from January 1.

In a speech to some 350 officials and business executives at the first seminar on RCEP, Sorasak encouraged the exporters to seize the opportunities and maximize the benefits of RCEP, saying that the pact would provide them with tariff concession.

"RCEP will be a driving force for sustainable socio-economic development in Cambodia," Xinhua news agency reported quoting Sorasak as saying.

The regional trade pact comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

It will eliminate 90 per cent of the tariffs on goods traded between its signatories over the next 20 years.

The minister said under RCEP, Cambodia is expected to see a year's export growth between 9.4 per cent and 18 per cent, which will contribute to the national economic growth between 2 per cent and 3.8 percent.

He added that the mega-pact would help attract more foreign direct investment to the kingdom, where there are young labor force and low labor cost.

Sorasak advised exporters to try to understand the rules of origin for the export under RCEP and told them to apply for a certificate of origin through an automatic system if they wish to export their products under this pact.

Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said RCEP is very beneficial to Cambodia as it will give the country larger market access with preferential tariff.

"I have a strong conviction that more foreign investors, especially from China, will come to invest in Cambodia in order to export back to China and other RCEP countries," he told Xinhua.

"RCEP will give a big boost to our economy, especially during the post-COVID-19 pandemic era," he said.

According to a Ministry of Commerce's report, Cambodia's total export to the RCEP member countries amounted to 1.95 billion US dollars in the first quarter of 2022, up 11 percent from 1.75 billion dollars over the same period last year.
Paris, June 29 : Yael Braun-Pivet was elected on Tuesday as the new speaker of the French National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.

The French National Assembly's 577 members kicked off its first session on Tuesday by electing its first female speaker with 242 votes in her favor out of 462 voters, Xinhua news agency reported quoting French media.

Braun-Pivet comes from French President Emmanuel Macron's alliance Ensemble. After Macron was re-elected in April, Braun-Pivet was promoted as minister for France's Overseas Territories, according to the French state-owned television channel France 24.

For this first session, the deputies sat in alphabetical order instead of with their political party.

In her speech after being elected, Braun-Pivet said that the National Assembly should be a "foundation on which we can build consensus and compromises." The post of the National Assembly speaker ranks fourth in the French government after the president, the prime minister and the speaker of the Senate.

One of the key tasks of the speaker of the National Assembly is to conduct debates and ensure the rules are respected.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab headed by Bhagwant Mann presented its first budget on June 27.

In his first budget, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh announced that budgetary provisions have been made to provide 300 units of free electricity each month to every household in the state starting July 1.

The AAP had promised to provide 300 units of free electricity during the campaign for the Assembly elections in the state held earlier in the year. The free electricity scheme would put a burden of Rs 1,800 crore on the state exchequer. Notably, despite this sop of free electricity, no new taxes have been announced by the Bhagwant Mann government in its first budget.

The CVoter-IndiaTracker conducted a countrywide survey on behalf of IANS to know if the Punjab government can afford this subsidy on electricity.

During the survey, people were divided in their opinion on the issue. According to the survey data, while 49 per cent respondents said that the Punjab government can afford to provide 300 units of free electricity without inviting any financial duress, 51 per cent respondents did not share this sentiment.

The survey highlighted political polarisation in the views of NDA and opposition voters on the issue. While 60 per cent of the opposition voters said that the Bhagwant Mann government will be able to afford this subsidy on electricity, 65 per cent of NDA voters expressed a completely different opinion on the issue.

During the survey, while the majority of urban voters -- 60 per cent -- stressed that the Punjab government will manage to afford this subsidy on electricity, the views of rural voters were divided on the issue.

As per the survey data, while 53 per cent rural voters said that the Bhagwant Mann government will manage the finances to provide 300 units of free electricity, 47 per cent of rural electorate did not agree to this sentiment.
Panaji, June 29 : Calling the Shiv Sena rebel MLAs "a group of traitors", the party's Goa unit has condemned the BJP government in the coastal state for providing protection to the legislators who are likely to come to Goa.

"We condemn the BJP government of Goa, because the government machinery is being used to protect these traitors. Don't use the spending from the public exchequer for the benefit of the BJP, by giving protection to them. BJP should not use government machinery to protect them," Jitesh Kamat, chief of Shiv Sena in Goa, told IANS.

"@BJP4Goa is turning #Goa into wholesale political market, then by wholesale purchase of @INCGoa #MLAs and now by participating in the attempt of purchasing a bunch of traitors," Kamat tweeted.

He said that party leader Sanjay Raut had given the opportunity to these rebel MLAs to sit across the table and have discussion to resolve differences, if any, than to camp in other states. "But now that time has gone," Kamat said.

Meanwhile, heavy police force have been deployed at Goa airport at Dabolim and at the resort, where these MLAs would stay, with senior police officers monitoring the situation there.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition by Dr Mandati Thirupathi Reddy who had wanted to file his nomination for the Presidential election, but it was rejected by the returning officer, the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala told Reddy, who was petitioner-in-person, that no case was made for the interference of the court, as it dismissed his plea.

Reddy contended that the returning officer did not permit him to file his nomination for the ensuing election of President, but the bench noted that permission was not granted, as his nomination form did not comply with the mandatory statutory condition contained in the 1952 Act.

The bench said: "In view of the matter, the rejection of the nomination form of the petitioner does not suffer with any legal infirmity and no case of interference of this court is made out." Reddy is a native of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Another petition was filed by Delhi resident Bam Bam Maharaj Nowhattia, who has been unsuccessfully attempting to contest presidential polls since 2007. The bench said it seems he is a "seasonal activist" who wakes up after every five years to contest the election.

It told Nowhattia's counsel to withdraw the petition, and added that it was not scared of deciding it today itself if the plea is not withdrawn.

The bench said it is not a healthy practice, when an election is announced, the activist becomes active and pointed out that the petitioner made first representation in 2007 and for the next five years, he was in some kind of hiding. "Whenever the presidential election comes, then you become active and that is why, I said that he is a seasonal activist," added the bench.

The petitioner alleged that Section 5 B (1) (a) of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, bars a person from contesting the presidential polls if the candidature is not signed by 50 lawmakers as proposers and 50 as seconders.

At this, the bench noted that nobody has prevented the petitioner from challenging the validity of the provisions for all these years. It added that exemplary cost would be imposed if such petitions are pressed for hearing.

NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu and opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha are contesting for the top post in the elections slated for July 18. The counting of votes will take place three days after the polling.
Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 : There is never a dull moment in the ego filled Association of Malayalam Movies Artistes (AMMA) body, as a fresh war of words has broken out between two top film personalities.

Things have been fluid in the AMMA and this time it's on account of actor-producer Vijay Babu, presently on bail over charges of rape after a young actress accused him of the 'crime'.

On Sunday the office bearers of AMMA led by its president, superstar Mohanlal and its secretary Edavela Babu had to face a barrage of questions from the media on what action has been taken by AMMA against Vijay Babu.

Vijay Babu was present at the annual general meeting of AMMA held on Sunday.

The duo and a few other office bearers said that since a police probe is currently on and Vijay Babu, a member of the executive committee, has already stepped down from that post, let the verdict in the case come and depending on it appropriate action would be taken.

Edavela Babu answering a question stated that AMMA is a 'Club' and that triggered a war of words between former state minister and present legislator K.B.Ganesh Kumar and Babu.

What peeved Kumar, known for his razor sharp tongue, was Edavela Babu's letter to him which was posted in the Facebook page of AMMA, where he referred to a few previous instances of what stand Kumar took when members like Bineesh Kodiyeri, Jagathy Sreekumar and Priyanka faced charges.

Edavela Babu said in his Facebook post that Kumar did not want any action to be taken until the verdict in the cases which these stars faced came out and that's what the present committee of AMMA did in the case of Vijay Babu.

Babu also posted the meaning of the word 'Club' as given in Wikipedia and that appears to have hurt Kumar.

On Wednesday Kumar came out in the open and said, "I am not an English professor and maybe my English is not as good as his. We all know what Wikipedia is and he doesn't need to learn it from Babu. I am preparing a detailed letter addressed to the president Mohanlal wherein I will explain my position and want answers from him. Also I don't need to be taught the legal aspects as it was me who was present when AMMA was registered as a club 27 years back." The affairs of the AMMA were going peacefully, when in December an election to a few posts to the executive committee saw feathers being ruffled. A few people including Vijay Babu contested the elections and some of the candidates fielded by Mohanlal lost. Since then it has been an uneasy calm and now the first salvo has been fired between Babu and Kumar.
San Francisco, June 29 : Scammers are now using deepfakes and stolen personal information of people and applying for remote job interviews and work from home.

Such practices are being seen in the world of information technology as IT firms still allow most of their workforce to work from anywhere.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has warned of an increase in complaints reporting the use of deepfakes and stolen Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to apply for a variety of remote work and work-at-home positions.

Deepfakes include a video, an image, or recording convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.

"Complaints report the use of voice spoofing, or potentially voice deepfakes, during online interviews of the potential applicants. In these interviews, the actions and lip movement of the person seen interviewed on-camera do not completely coordinate with the audio of the person speaking," the FBI said in a statement.

At times, actions such as coughing, sneezing, or other auditory actions are not aligned with what is presented visually.

"Victims have reported the use of their identities and pre-employment background checks discovered PII given by some of the applicants belonged to another individual," said the FBI.

The remote work or work-from-home positions include information technology and computer programming, database, and software related job functions. Notably, some reported positions include access to customer PII, financial data, corporate IT databases and/or proprietary information.

The FBI in March last year warned that cyber-criminals will almost certainly use deepfakes for cyber and foreign influence operations in the next 12 to 18 months.
Amaravati, June 29 : Even as the government has rolled out the Agnipath scheme, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) has intensified its protests in Andhra Pradesh. The student organisation led agitations in three universities over three days.

Setting out on a 'Students Satyagrah' from Krishna Devaraya University on Monday, the protests reached Ananthapur, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati on Tuesday and Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntoor on Wednesday.

NSUI National General Secretary Nagesh Kariyappa said that the central government should do a rethink on the Agnipath recruitment scheme in the armed forces. "The government should rethink about the length of service, provision of no pension for those released early, and the 17.5 to 21 age restriction that now makes around 35 lakh aspirants ineligible for the post, We will raise this issue on the streets, in the parliament and if necessary will go to the court, we got huge response in all the 3 universities we reached in last 3 days," he stated.

Several students along with army aspirants participated in Tiranga rally inside the campus of Nagarjuna University on Wednesday followed by a signature campaign. Nagesh said that they will take the agitation to every university of the state by July 5. NSUI along with the leadership of the Congress will take up the issue in parliament and state assembly too, he added.
Chennai, June 29 : The next Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting will be held in Tamil Nadu's Madurai in August, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.

Announcing this at the press meet after the two-day meeting of GST Council held in Chandigarh, she said the next meeting will be held during the first week of August.

It will be held in Madurai at the invitation of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.

At Madurai, the temple town, the GST Council will also deliberate the report of the Group of Ministers (GOM) on the GST fitment on casinos, online gaming, and horse racing.

Sitharaman also said the Council was of the view that online gaming is nothing but gambling.
Panaji, June 29 : Commenting on the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, Congress' Goa unit president Amit Patkar on Wednesday said the BJP is using agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to suppress those who raise voice against them.

"In Maharashtra also, the BJP is using the same tactics. Because they are raising a voice against the BJP government (at the Centre), and this is happening," Patkar said.

According to him, the Congress, Shiv Sena and the NCP (alliance partners in Maharashtra) leaders were vocal against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"This government suppresses the voice of those who raise their voice against them. They have various government machineries like the CBI and the ED for the purpose." he said.

"BJP's modus operandi across the country is to suppress the voice of the Opposition by attacking them. This is happening in our state also. At Centre, they are targeting our leader (Rahul Gandhi) and here (Goa), they are targeting our Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo," Patkar said.

Earlier, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department had served showcause notice to 'Baga Deck' and 'Nazri Resort', reported to be belonging to Leader of Opposition and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, for allegedly violating TCP norms.

Earlier, on June 13, the Congress party in Goa had protested in the capital city for summoning former party president Rahul Gandhi by the ED in the National Herald case, terming it "vindictive politics by the BJP".
Madrid, June 29 : South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday said he is confident he can partner with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to develop bilateral ties.

Yoon made the remark following a four-way meeting involving Kishida and the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Madrid, Yonhap news agency reported.

"I came away confident that Prime Minister Kishida will become a partner in resolving issues between South Korea and Japan, and in developing bilateral ties for the two countries' future common interest," he told reporters.
Madrid, June 29 : US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting 'exactly what he didn't want' -- the NATO-zation of Europe, the media reported.

Biden praised the diplomatic breakthrough that resulted in Turkey pulling its objections from Sweden and Finland joining the alliance, marking its biggest expansion since the 1990s, the Daily Mail reported.

"Putin was looking for the Finland-ization of Europe and we're going to get the NATO-zation of Europe," Biden said when he met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg upon his arrival at NATO headquarters on Wednesday morning.

"And that's exactly what he did not want to do -- it's exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe. And I think it's necessary and I'm looking forward to it happening," the US President said, the Daily Mail reported.

Biden will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

On Tuesday evening, after multiple rounds of talks, Turkey lifted its objections to the two Nordic states joining the alliance.

"I am pleased to announce we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO," Stoltenberg said that evening when he announced the deal.

"Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism," he added.

The three nations agreed to protect each other's security as Europe faces its worst security crisis in decades in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In order to affirm the new members, NATO's 30 allied parliaments must ratify the decision by leaders, a process that could take up to a year.
Amaravati, June 29 : A day after he was suspended by the Andhra Pradesh government for the second time in less than two-and-a-half years, senior IPS officer A.B. Venkateswara Rao said on Wednesday that some individuals and forces were targeting him.

He told the mediapersons that some people are angry with him because as the then intelligence chief, he had foiled attempts to burn the state.

"Using Kodi Katti case as an excuse, they wanted to burn the state. Within a few hours, I effectively countered this. That's why some people are angry with me," he said without naming anyone.

'Kodi Katti' case refers to the knife attack on Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy by a youth at Visakhapatnam Airport in 2018.

Reddy, who was then the leader of opposition, sustained minor injury. The attacker used 'kodi katti' or a small knife which is used during cockfight.

A month after Rao's reinstatement following the Supreme Court order, the state government on Tuesday suspended him on charges of trying to influence witnesses pertaining to the criminal case against him.

Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma issued an order placing the former Intelligence chief under suspension under sub-rule (3) of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 The Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said he would challenge his suspension in a court of law and exuded confidence that it will not stand legal scrutiny. He argued that an officer can't be suspended twice on the same issue.

Rao claimed that there was no chargesheet filed against him and hence there was no question of influencing the witnesses. He said he had a lot of evidence to prove that every word in the FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is false.

The officer said there was no misappropriation of even one rupee. He said the Israeli company wrote to the government that it paid no commission.

In February 2020, the state government had placed Venkateswara Rao, the IPS officer of 1989 batch, under suspension for his alleged misconduct and irregularities in the purchase of security equipment.

The officer was working as Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) during the previous government Considered close to then chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Rao was removed as the intelligence chief after Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy assumed office in May 2019. He was waiting for a posting.

The police officer had approached Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had set aside the suspension on May 22, 2020.

The Supreme Court on April 22, 2022 dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the state government challenging Andhra Pradesh High Court order.

The Supreme Court made it clear that the suspension could be for a maximum of two years as per the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Amendments Rules, 2015. It said since the two year period was over, the suspension could no longer be in place.

In May, the state government issued orders revoking Rao's suspension with effect from February, 2022.

Though the officer had reported to the General Administration Department on May 19 for the posting, he was made to wait for nearly a month. He was finally appointed as commissioner, printing and stationery on June 15.

Rao said Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Srilakshmi has cases against her and chargesheets were filed against her but All India Service rules did not apply to her. "When the rules don't apply to her, how can they apply to me," he asked.

Srilakshmi is facing corruption charges in quid pro quo cases allegedly involving Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The IPS officer said several petitions and complaints were filed against him but during these three years there was no evidence that he did anything wrong.
New Delhi, June 29 : The IT Ministry has warned Twitter to comply with the new IT rules within the July 4 deadline or face stricter action.

According to reliable sources, the micro-blogging platform is yet to reply to two notices sent by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) last month.

The government told Twitter to act on the content take-down notices sent under Section 69 A of the IT Act along with non-compliance notices issued for not taking the content down.

Not complying with the IT rules, 2021 can result in Twitter losing its immunity as a social media intermediary under Section 79 of the IT Act, sources added.

A query sent to Twitter India went unanswered.

Last month, the IT Ministry issued a similar notice to the micro-blogging platform, directing it to appoint a resident grievance officer, a resident chief compliance officer, and a nodal contact person.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has republished a draft that reveals the plan to form an appeals panel that can reverse content moderation decisions by Big Tech companies like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

In republished draft changes to IT Rules 2021, the IT Ministry (MeitY) stated that the new amendment "will not impact early stage or growth stage Indian companies or startups." The IT Ministry is seeking public comments on the draft proposal in a 30-day time-frame.

Currently, content moderation decisions by Facebook, YouTube and Twitter can only be appealed in a court.

The IT rules also require big social media platforms to help the government trace the originator of messages in special cases. There will be a deadline of 30 days for appeals against decisions by company grievance officers and the appeals panel will get another 30 days to take up the matter and act upon it, according to the draft document.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 mandate that the intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, must establish a grievance redressal mechanism for receiving resolving complaints from the users or victims.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Election Commission on Wednesday announced the Vice Presidential election to be held on August 6 (Saturday).

The date on which counting, if required, shall be taken on the same day, said the EC in an official statement.

The term of the office of Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu is ending on August 10.

The last date for the filing of nominations is July 19 and the date for the scrutiny of nominations is July 20, it said.

"As per Article 68 of the Constitution of India, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of the outgoing Vice-President is required to be completed before the expiration of the term," the election watchdog said.

As per Article 66 of the Constitution of India, the Vice-President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

For this year, 16th Vice-Presidential Election, the Electoral College consists of 233 elected members of the Rajya Sabha,12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, and 543 elected members of the Lok Sabha, it said.

Electoral College comprises of a total of 788 members of both Houses of Parliament.

Since, all the electors are members of both Houses of Parliament, the value of vote of each Member would be the same i.e. 1 (one).

The Election Commission, in consultation with the Central Government, appoints the Secretary General of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, by rotation, as the Returning Officer.

Accordingly, the Secretary General, Lok Sabha will be appointed as the Returning Officer for the present election to the Office of the Vice-President of India.

The Commission has also decided to appoint Assistant Returning Officers in Parliament House (Lok Sabha) to assist Returning Officer, it said.

The EC also clarified that political parties cannot issue any whip to their MPs in the matter of voting in the Vice-Presidential election.

It is further clarified that as per Section 18 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, the offence of 'bribery' or 'undue influence' as defined in Sections 171B and 171C of IPC, by the returned candidate or any person with the consent of the returned candidate are among the grounds on which the election can be declared void by the Supreme Court in an election petition.
Chennai, June 29 : The forest officials of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) have constituted 24 teams to monitor the movement of herds of elephants from Kerala to Tamil Nadu forest areas.

The elephant migration from the forests of Kerala to the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) generally starts in August but this year it has already begun in June.

M.G. Ganesan, Deputy Director, ATR told IANS that the reason for the early migration of the elephants was not clear. He said that 24 special teams of forest watchers has been constituted to prevent man-animal conflict as the possibilities of migrating elephants reaching human settlements are higher.

Ganesh Ragunathan, Conservationist Biologist working with the Nature Conservation Foundation, told IANS that at least eight elephant herds comprising 10-15 members will migrate to Valparai and Manamboly forest ranges of the ATR every year.

According to senior forest officials, an elephant herd named Monica has already reached the Manombally forest range area on Saturday, June 25. Ganesh Raghunathan said that the herd that reached Manombally forest range is named Monica herd after its leader, a lady elephant named Monica.

He said, "We have been monitoring the Monica herd for long since 2002 and was led by the female elephant, Monica. The leader of the elephant pack, Monica died in 2018 but the herd comprising of eight elephants has already reached Monambally forest area." M.G. Ganesan said that the Monica herd enters the human settlements around evening and continues there for a couple of hours. The forest officer said that this was for getting food and called upon the people to monitor the movement of pachyderms.

Ganesh Raghunathan said that around 150 elephants reach the ATR every year. He called upon the general public not to burst crackers and provoke the elephants.
Guwahati, June 29 : The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs of Maharashtra and their leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday left Guwahati's Radisson Blu hotel where they were staying for the last eight days.

The Sena legislators left the hotel premises in three luxury Assam State Transport Corporation buses -- one carrying their luggage, and the other buses transporting the rebels and their leader Shinde.

The MLAs have left the city amid tight security. They are reportedly heading to Goa from here.

Media reports had earlier said the dissident MLAs will wait till the Supreme Court hearing which is scheduled on Wednesday evening. However, the rebels reached the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Guwahati to board a chartered flight.

At airport, the Sena MLAs were heard raising slogans such as "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai" (Hail Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj), and "Eknath Shinde sahab, tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain" (Eknath Shinde, you go ahead, we are with you).

"We are not rebels. We are Shiv Sena. We are carrying forward the ideology and agenda of Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. We will work for the development of Maharashtra following the Hindutva ideology," Shinde told the journalists at the airport.

"We will respect the decision of the Supreme Court. Tomorrow (Thursday), we will reach Mumbai and participate in the floor test. After the trust vote, there will be a party meeting where the further course of action will be decided." Reportedly, the MLAs are heading to Goa from Guwahati and will stay there on Wednesday night at Taj Resort and Convention Centre before reaching Mumbai on Thursday for the floor test.
Chennai, June 29 : The 25-hour countdown for the Thursday evening launch of Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, carrying three Singapore satellites, began on Wednesday evening, the Indian space agency said.

The mission is codenamed PSLV-C53/DS-EO by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

During the countdown, the rockets' engines powered by liquid fuel will be filled and all other systems will be checked.

The Indian rocket will carry three satellites -- the 365 kg DS-EO and 155 kg NeuSAR, satellites belonging to Singapore and built by Starec Initiative of South Korea.

The third satellite is a 2.8 kg Scoob-1 of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

If the launch is successful, the PSLV rocket would have launched 345 foreign satellites belonging to 36 countries since 1999.

According to the ISRO, the PSLV-C53 rocket is expected to blast off from the second launch pad at the Sriharikota rocket port at 6 p.m. on June 30.

The Indian space agency, ISRO will use the rocket's fourth and final stage as an orbital platform for six payloads, including two from Indian space start-ups, Digantara and Dhruva Aerospace.

The mission proposes to demonstrate the utilisation of the spent upper stage of the launch vehicle as a stabilised platform for scientific payloads, subsequent to the separation of the satellites.

The four stage expendable, 44.4 m tall PSLV-C53 has a lift-off mass of about 228 ton and total weight of the three satellites is 522.8 kg.

The rocket's four stages will be powered by alternating solid and liquid fuel.

Thursday's flight will be the 55th mission of PSLV and 15th mission using the PSLV-Core Alone variant.

In its normal configuration, the rocket will have six strap-on motors hugging its first stage.

In the Core Alone variant of PSLV, the six strap-on motors will not be there as the payload weight is less.

The Indian space agency has PSLV variants with two and four strap-on motors and larger PSLV-XL.
Chennai, June 29 : A special team of Tamil Nadu Police, which is investigating the Kodanad estate murder and heist case, questioned late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's driver Kannan for several hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, sources in the police told IANS.

While working for Jayalalithaa as her driver, Kannan had access to the Kodanad summer bungalow and estate owned by the former Chief Minister and her aide, V.K. Sasikala.

It may be noted that after the death of Jayalalithaa in December 2016 and the arrest of Sasikala in February 2017, a group of men had barged into the Kodanad estate bungalow on the intervening night of April 23-24. During the dacoity, a guard at the estate, Om Bahadhur, was killed while the other guard, Krishna Thapa, was grievously injured.

According to the police, the conspiracy to loot the Kodanad estate bungalow was hatched by another driver of the late Chief Minister, Kanagaraj. He made his accomplices believe that money to the tune of crores of rupees was parked at the estate bungalow.

Five days after the dacoity at the bungalow, Kanagaraj was run over by a moving vehicle on the Salem-Chennai highway while he was riding a two-wheeler.

Another accomplice in the heist, K.V. Sayan, who was at his native place in Palakkad, met with an accident on the same day when a truck rammed into the car he was driving. While Sayan escaped unhurt, his wife and daughter died on the spot.

A few months after the heist, the computer operator of the Kodanad estate, Dileep Kumar, committed suicide at his residence.

The probe into the Kodanad estate heist and murder was opened again after the DMK government assumed office and constituted a special investigation team.

DMK President M.K. Stalin during the campaign for the 2021 Assembly elections had said that if DMK was elected to power, his government would conduct a fresh investigation, and true to his words, the DMK constituted a special investigation team after Stalin became the Chief Minister in May 2021.
New Delhi, June 29 : A Delhi court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Punjab Police, who allegedly facilitated a fake visa racket operated by a couple in the national capital.

"The allegations against the applicant are serious in nature. Keeping in view the nature of offence and the fact that the investigation is at the initial stage as well as considering that the involvement of other persons behind the whole nexus is yet to be ascertained, no ground for anticipatory bail is made out," Patiala House Court vacation judge Manjusha Wadhwa said in an order dated June 28.

The accused couple - Parveen (32) and Priyanka Madhan (28) - were involved in arranging fake Polish visas along with their counterpart Vishal alias Paaji in Poland, and Punjab Police Assistant Sub-Inspector Jasbir Singh.

They were mostly operating in Punjab and adjoining Haryana and facilitating people in settling down in Europe through illegal means, according to police.

The prosecution said on June 15, Sarabjit Singh was found to have a fake and counterfeit resident visa of Poland on his passport and the present FIR was registered on the statement of the Departure Immigration Counter, IGI Airport, New Delhi.

Later, the police apprehended the couple as per Sarabjit Singh's statement during the interrogation and 16 passports and 10 debit cards have been recovered from them.

On the cash dealing allegations with the ASI and the couple, his counsel argued that he has made the payment of Rs 68,000, to the agency at the request of his friend Bitoo who approached him along with Sarabjit Singh's father.

His counsel argued that the applicant had transferred the amount from his own salary account maintained with HDFC Bank and the transaction was innocently done without any vested interest. He is ready to join the investigation and cooperate with the investigation agency in any manner, the lawyer said.

On the other hand, Public Prosecutor stated that WhatsApp messages between the agents and the ASI show that they shared the details of Sarabjit Singh's passport. The IO stated that during the interrogation, the agents disclosed that they have received Rs 68,000 from the account of the ASI.
Rajkot, June 29 : The Koli community's two leaders are at loggerheads, because of which the community feels that if these two leaders don't unite soon the community will suffer in the coming elections. The community has now decided to bring them together and convince them to bury their differences.

Former water resources minister Kunvarji Bavaliya and the BJP's former MP from Surendranagar Devji Fatehpura, Union Minister of State AYUSH Dr. Mahendra Munjapara and many other political leaders will attend the Velnath Bapu birth anniversary procession on July 1 in Rajkot, said Ranjitsinh Solanki, president of the Gujarat Koli Samaj.

This event is organized by the Samast Gujarat Koli Samaj Rajkot unit. Since some time, Kunvarji and Devji have been at loggerheads because of their political interests, as both are in the BJP and fear that they may lose political weight in the party.

Ranjitsinh said that the Samast Koli Samaj office bearers meeting took place on Tuesday in which it was decided to make eight major demands for the community. Whichever political party respects and accepts the community's demands, the community will extend support to that party.

The community's main demand is that the party will have to promise reservation as per the community population ratio, the state should allocate Rs 5000 crore to the Thakor Koli Development Corporation, the state government should build girls and boys hostels in every district. parties will have to allocate assembly seats to the Koli community members.

The government should withdraw all cases against the Thakor Koli community members that were registered in the 2015 reservation movement and allocate land for construction of temples and monuments for spiritual gurus of the community.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Twitter account that alerted Delhi Police regarding Alt news co-founder Mohammed Zubair's 'objectionable' post no longer exists on the social media platform.

As per the FIR copy of the case, accessed by IANS, the account, Hanuman Bhakt, bore the username @balajikijaiin.

Zubair, 33, is currently in police custody and is being questioned over one of his objectionable tweets which he posted in 2018.

After Zubair's tweet, his followers on social media amplified and created a series of debates and hate mongering in the thread.

According to the FIR, Zubair had used a screengrab of an old Hindi movie which showed an image of a hotel, with its board reading 'Hanuman hotel' instead of 'Honeymoon hotel'.

In his tweet, Zubair had written: "BEFORE 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel".

The complainant -- Twitter user @balajikijaiin, tagging the Delhi Police had written: "Linking our God Hanuman Ji with Honeymoon is a direct insult of Hindus because he is a brahmchari. Kindly take action against this." Noting the complaint, the police in the FIR said that the words and pictures used by Zubair in the tweet against a particular community were highly provocative and more than sufficient to incite feelings of hatred among people which can be detrimental for maintenance of public tranquility in the society.

Interestingly, it was the only tweet that was done from the said account which ultimately led to Zubair's arrest.

The issue of the said Twitter account's veracity also surfaced during Zubair's hearing on Tuesday.

His counsel Vrinda Grover said that if an anonymous Twitter handle chose to create mischief in the country, those reasons should be investigated.

The prosecutor, in her reply, said that the said account user is just a mere informer.

"He is not an anonymous complainant. His details are here. Without details, no one can get a Twitter account," the prosecutor replied.
Mumbai, June 29 : The cast and crew of the currently under-production film 'Dhak Dhak, which stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Sanjana Sanghi, Dia Mirza and Fatima Sana Shaikh in lead roles, has become the first film unit to ride from Delhi to Khardung La, the world's highest motorable pass located in Ladakh.

Actress Taapsee Pannu, who turned producer with the film, took to her Instagram to share the news with her followers.

Sharing a picture of the film's leading ladies posing at the signage, Tapsee wrote in the caption, "5,359 metres high. 4 women on their bullets. And a crew that didn't give up to become the first Hindi movie unit to travel all the way from Delhi to Khardung La via road to shoot all the way through! One of the World's highest motorable roads with I say the world's coolest team (sic)." Speaking about the film and the shoot, veteran actress Ratna Pathak Shah said in a statement, "If someone had told me 6 months ago that I would be riding a bike all the way to Ladakh at 65, I would have laughed! This film has been special to me in many ways.

"It has forced me to face my fears, taught me to trust myself, my colleagues and my crew in stressful situations, taken me to one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places in the world and introduced me to some wonderful people. When a film becomes an adventure for all involved, it stops being a product and becomes an experience. The story becomes a part of us!" Directed by Tarun Dudeja, 'Dhak Dhak' revolves around four women who embark on an adventurous road trip to the highest motorable pass in the world, as they indulge in a journey of self-discovery.
Mumbai, June 29 : As the first half of 2022 comes to a close, Bollywood actress Yami Gautam Dhar, who has had two releases so far -- 'A Thursday' and 'Dasvi' -- both OTT films, shared her experience for the year so far.

In her words, the first half has surprised her, courtesy the positive response from all quarters to both her releases.

Elaborating on the same, the actress said, "The first half of 2022 has been even better than how I had envisioned. Creatively, it has been very enriching and fulfilling so far. 'A Thursday' was a role I was craving to do because it was something I had never attempted before. When one's effort is acknowledged and appreciated in such a big way, it only encourages you to take bigger challenges and risks." "I am still receiving messages for my performance in 'A Thursday' and it makes me happier beyond words every single time. Even 'Dasvi' added so much to me as an actor. Learning a new dialect, playing a cop were experiences that will always remain significant in my journey when I look back," she added.

On the work front, Yami has projects like 'Lost' and 'OMG 2' in the pipeline.
Mumbai, June 29 : The Maharashtra cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray approved the contentious proposals of renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad as well as the new upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport, here on Wednesday.

Accordingly, Aurangabad and Osmanabad shall be rechristened as 'Sambhajinagar' and 'Dharashiv', respectively, in deference to the wishes of many locals and political groups.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport -- currently being constructed by the Adani Group in adjoining Raigad to decongest Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai -- shall be renamed after the late 'Dinkar Balu Patil', a prominent leader of the coastal Konkan belt, instead of the Shiv Sena founder, the late Balasaheb Thackeray, as earlier contemplated.

These major decisions -- among several others came at what is billed as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government's 'final cabinet' meeting, with all ministers of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance present.

The renaming of Aurangabad was among the crucial demands of the group of rebels who left Maharashtra late on June 20 putting the MVA government in a limbo and now the stage is set for a critical floor test to prove its majority on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Thackeray thanked all his cabinet colleagues and officials for their cooperation in the past two-and-half-years as all eyes were riveted to the ongoing Supreme Court hearing that could have a bearing on the MVA's future.
Hyderabad, June 29 : The Hyderabad Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) has apprehended four foreign nationals for drug peddling, police said on Wednesday.

A quantity of 110 grams of methamphetamine, 20 grams of cocaine, and five cell phones, all valued at Rs 13 lakh, were seized from their possession.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand told reporters that two Nigerians, a Tanzanian and a Yemeni national were arrested while two Nigerians, who are the main suppliers of cocaine and methamphetamine, are absconding.

Henry Chigbo Umebuenyi, 28, and Amobi Chuwudi, 21, both Nigerians, have been arrested for cocaine peddling. Divine EbukaSuzee, a Nigerian residing in Delhi, who is the main supplier, is absconding. The police also identified 17 consumers who are absconding.

Ahmed Kamal Ahmed Bakhrmua, 28, of Yemen and Mathias A Shawa (35), a Tanzanian, have been arrested for peddling methamphetamine. Emmnuel, a Nigerian residing in Bengaluru, who is the main supplier, is absconding. Six users have been identified and they are also absconding.

The accused told police that they were frequently visiting Bengaluru to procure narcotic drugs and bringing the same to Hyderabad and selling to customers to earn easy money.

The police reported the overstay and illegal activities of the arrested foreigners to the FRRO for their deportation. The FRRO Hyderabad issued the orders to initiated further legal proceedings against them on their illegal stay. A case under section 14 of Foreigner Act 1946 and Sec 2 of Passport (Entry into India) Act has been registered at Banjara Hill Police Station.

In another case, H-NEW apprehended five foreign nationals who were staying illegally in Hyderabad. They were found moving suspiciously at Paramount Colony, Banjara Hills and did not possess any valid passport and visa.

Three of them are Nigerians while two others are from Ivory Coast.

According to the police, they were staying even after expiry of their passports and visas and doing illegal activities.

Accordingly, a requisition was forwarded to FRRO Hyderabad to deport them to their native countries. Their temporary travel documents were collected from their respective embassies at Delhi and are being deported to their native countries, police said.

The five were identified as Ugwu Antony Sunday, 38, Obiora Peter Chukwuemeka, 30, and Umeojira Chukwudalu Kinglsey, 29, all from Nigeria and Kone Moussa and Asseu William Decostaire, 33, both from Ivory Coast.

--IANS ms/vd

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Dharwad, : June 29 (IANS) Shri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik on Wednesday announced the 'I am Kanhaiya Lal, I support Nupur Sharma' campaign at the national level condemning the beheading of a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur on Tuesday.

"Where have the intellectuals gone? They used to raise their voice on petty issues. Lakhs of us support expelled BJP leader Nupur Sharma. If you have courage come here," he challenged.

Hindu organisations will carry out a campaign throughout the country condemning Kanhaiya Lal's beheading. "We will show our might," he said.

"We have faced you (Islamic fundamental and invasive forces) for thousands of years and made you bite the dust. You will get answer for this incident of beheading also," he stated.

When Muslim merchants were banned from temple premises as per rules, the act of breaking of watermelons of a Muslim merchant by Shri Ram Sena activists was projected as an act of bloodshed. Muthalik said.

Now this beheading incident has happened. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah should open his mouth now, he demanded.

He asked intellectuals to get a fatwa issued against the accused. Stringent Acts such as TADA should be brought back, Muthalik said.
Chennai, June 29 : A 16-year-old girl who was forced to donate her oocytes, or ovary egg cells, by her mother and her stepfather attempted suicide on Wednesday, police said.

The girl, who is lodged in a shelter home after the police arrested her mother, stepfather and two others for the forcible donation, attempted suicide by drinking floor cleaner, but was rushed to Erode government medical college hospital and her condition is now stable.

The girl, according to the police, attempted to commit suicide after her request to shift her from the government shelter home to her relative's place went unheeded.

Forced to sell her oocytes, the girl had run away from home and complained to the police. She had told police that she was taken to fertility clinics at Erode, Salem, Krishnagiri, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

The police had arrested the girl's mother who admitted to the crime and said that an agent called Malathi was behind this. The family was given Rs 20,000 for each sale of oocytes out of which the agent used to pocket Rs 6,000.

Surampatty police station inspector, P. Vijaya told media persons that the girl who is lodged in the government shelter home had repeatedly requested the authorities to allow her to go to her relative's place in Salem. This was denied, leading to the girl's suicide bid.
Galle, June 29 : Veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon's with his brilliant fifer led Australia's dominance over Sri Lanka on the opening day of the first Test of the two-match series, at Galle International Stadium, here on Wednesday.

A total of 13 wickets fell on day one as Australia, led by Lyon's five-for, bowled Sri Lanka out for 212 in their first innings before reaching 98/3 at stumps and trailing by 114 runs.

Earlier Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and unsurprisingly, chose to bat first. Openrs Pathum Nissanka and Karunaratne got Sri Lanka off to a decent start. Both Cummins and Starc were guilty of bowling a few loose deliveries, which the Sri Lanka openers gladly punished.

Lyon was introduced early but did really bother the pair too much. Cummins though was persistent in his line outside off stumps and it finally reaped rewards when Nissanka (23) edged one to the keeper, breaking the 38-run opening stand.

Kusal Mendis' (3) stay at the crease didn't last long as he played a rash shot and was out caught at slips. Veterans Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews steadied the ship after the two quick wickets and were happy rotating the strike and accumulating the occasional boundary. Together, they took Sri Lanka to lunch at 68/2.

However, Lyon broke through immediately after lunch for Australia, dismissing the dangerous Karunaratne (28) with David Warner taking a brilliant diving catch. His fellow spinner Mitchell Swepson was on a hat-trick a little later, snaring Dhananjaya de Silva (14) and Dinesh Chandimal (0) off consecutive balls.

Niroshan Dickwella came out all guns blazing, smashing Lyon for three fours in an over. However, Cummins persisted with the off-spinner and the decision paid off as he scalped the big wicket of Mathews for 39.

Sri Lanka were in a big spot of bother at 139/6, with the tail exposed. Niroshan Dickwella was the last recognised batter but he got an able partner in Ramesh Mendis, who not only stuck around but also found the ropes to keep the scoreboard ticking. Dickwella, in the meantime, got to his fifty off just 42 balls and the pair took Sri Lanka safely to tea at 191/6.

The break once again came at the perfect time for Australia, who struck in the second over after tea to break the seventh-wicket stand worth 54 runs. Lyon snapped up Dickwella (58) and Lasith Embuldeniya in the next two overs to complete his five-for. Vandersay holed out in the deep as Sri Lanka were all out for 212.

In reply, David Warner was still in white-ball mode when he came out to bat, smacking Asitha Fernando for two fours in the very first over. Lasith Embuldeniya was given the same treatment.

The boundaries kept flowing from the bat of Warner and Usman Khawaja, with Australia going at close at more than five runs an over early on. Ramesh Mendis finally got Sri Lanka the much-needed breakthrough, with the arm-ball trapping Warner (25) in front of the stumps.

It looked like Marnus Labuschagne was set at the crease - he picked Embuldeniya apart for two boundaries before a bizarre reverse sweep brought an end to his innings. A massive confusion between Steve Smith and Khawaja saw the former cover almost three-fourth of the pitch, only to be sent back by the southpaw. Dickwella was quick to the ball and an accurate throw saw Smith back in the pavilion for just 6.

The last five overs of the day was combat by spin, with the ball beating the bat on numerous occasions. But, Khawaja and Travis Head managed to survive the period and remained unbeaten at stumps on day one for Australia.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 212 (Niroshan Dickwella 58, Angelo Mathews 39; Nathan Lyon 5-90, Mitchell Swepson 3-55) lead Australia 98/3 (Usman Khawaja 47 not out, David Warner 25; Ramesh Mendis 2-35) by 114 runs
Chennai, June 29 : The Board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), at its meeting on Wednesday, approved the participation of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) in Exchange Traded Commodity Derivatives (ETCDs).

The FPIs will be allowed to participate in Indian ETCDs, subject to certain risk management measures, the capital market regulator said.

According to the SEBI, the existing Eligible Foreign Entity (EFE) route, which required actual exposure to Indian physical commodities, has been discontinued.

Any foreign investor desirous of participating in Indian ETCDs with or without actual exposure to Indian physical commodities, can do so through the FPI route.

The FPIs will be allowed to trade in all non-agricultural commodity derivatives and select non-agricultural benchmark indices. To begin with, the FPIs will be allowed only in cash-settled contracts, the SEBI said.

The FPIs will be allowed to participate in Indian ETCDs, subject to certain risk management measures.

As regards the position limits for participation of FPIs in ETCDs, the SEBI said that the position limits for FPIs (other than individuals, family offices and corporate bodies) will be at par with those presently applicable for Mutual Fund schemes i.e. as a client.

Then, FPIs belonging to categories viz. individuals, family offices and corporates will be allowed position limit of 20 per cent of the client level position limit in a particular commodity derivatives contract, similar to the position limits prescribed for currency derivatives, it said.

A Working Group comprising of representatives from the SEBI and market participants has also been constituted to review/examine whether any additional risk management measures, are required to be prescribed for FPIs, it added.

The markets regulator said the participation of FPIs in ETCDs is expected to enhance liquidity and market depth as well as promote efficient price discovery.

The SEBI has already allowed institutional investors such as Category III AIFs, Portfolio Management Services and Mutual Funds to participate in ETCDs.

The ffective date will be notified by a circular, the SEBI said.

Welcoming the SEBI's move, Kishore Narne, Head - Commodities and Currencies, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said that though it had limited the participation to only non-agriculture and cash settled contracts for now, it may be a small step towards expanding the reach of our markets.

"As India grows as an economic behemoth it is important to integrate our commodity markets with the global markets, so this step opens up the gates for free flow of capital and ease of trading by foreigners which will reduce pricing gaps and would help in enhancing the liquidity in our markets," he said.

The SEBI Board approved amendment to SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 to remove applicability of the definition of "associate" as per the said regulations to such sponsors, which invest in various companies on behalf of the beneficiaries of insurance policies or such other schemes as may be specified by the Board from time to time.
Chennai, June 29 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has congratulated actor Suriya, who on Wednesday became the first actor from south India to receive an invite from the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscar Awards each year, to join it in 2022.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, while congratulating Suriya, said, the latter had become the first south Indian actor to receive an invite from the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which determines the winners of the Oscar Awards each year, to be a part of it.

The invite, the Chief Minister said, was a recognition of Suriya's evolved acting skills and his choice of stories that were focussed on societal well being.

Late on Tuesday, the Academy released the list of 397 distinguished artistes and executives it had invited to join the organization in 2022.

Membership selection, the Academy said, was based on professional qualifications, "with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity." This year's class of invitees includes 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners.
Chandigarh, June 29 : There is a strong resentment in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh against the Centre's Agnipath scheme for four-year contractual recruitment in the defence recruitment.

The BJP government led by Jai Ram Thakur is riddled with scams, ranging from the recruitment of police personnel to issuance of fake degrees at a price tag of Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

The main opposition Congress has been in full 'battle gear' to take head-on the ruling government in the assembly polls likely in November.

These were the views of two-time Congress legislator Rajinder Rana, who has learnt political lessons for years from his once-mentor and BJP's two-time chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, to whom he "taught" lesson by defeating him in the 2017 assembly elections.

He had defeated BJP's chief ministerial candidate Dhumal in a straight contest by 1,919 votes in Sujanpur, the seat the latter was asked to contest from.

In an interview with IANS here on Wednesday, Rana, who is one of the party's state working Presidents, said there is strong resent among the youth and people of Himachal Pradesh, who felt proud to serve the nation by donning an army fatigue, against the contractual recruitment in the armed forces.

"In my constituency, every third house has a family member in the armed forces. In some house, there are two-three family members serving the nation," Rana, a known social worker in the area who was once the election manager of Dhumal and he knows his family well, told IANS.

He said people of the Himalayan state, where there is 16 lakh unemployed, want to serve the nation owing to lack of work opportunities in the state. "They are also sturdy to serve the armed forces." "The Agnipath scheme is a fraud with the people of the state. There is a strong dissent even among parents of aspirant soldiers as you are going to employ a soldier at the age of 17-18 years when he has not even completed his education. At the age of 21-22, 75 per cent of them will be sent home without any social security incentive, including pension. We protest this scheme and it will be our main election issue," realtor-turned-politician Rana, who won Sujanpur seat in Hamirpur district for the first time in the 2012 assembly polls as an Independent candidate by a margin of 14,116 votes, told IANS.

The hill state has around 1.20 lakh serving defence personnel and almost equal number of ex-servicemen largely settled in Una, Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Mandi districts.

A large number of protesters tried to reach Dharamsala town in Kangra district where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to hold a roadshow on June 16, but were stopped by police several km before the venue.

The Congress is also eyeing to strengthen its vote bank against the resentment of government employees against the new pension scheme.

Rana said after the re-introduction of old pension scheme in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Congress in the state, if it returns to helm, will bring the old pension scheme.

The old scheme was done away by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime in December 2003. The national pension scheme took effect from April 1, 2004.

Around one lakh employees staged a protest in Shimla early this year, demanding scrapping of the new pension scheme. They say when it comes to financial benefits of the legislators, the government takes quick decision but when it comes to old pension benefits the employees, the government cites fund crunch.

There are about 2.25 state government employees, including about 30,000 contract, part-time, daily wage and para workers. The highest number of employees are employed in the education, public works, irrigation and public health, police and health departments.

Rana, who vacated the assembly seat and unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Hamirpur as a Congress nominee, said the leaked paper of the constable recruitment examination is one of the biggest scams in the country.

The scam is currently being investigated by the CBI and is likely to put the ruling BJP government in embarrassment in the run-up to the assembly polls.

So was the multi-crore fake degree scams by Manav Bharti University in Solan.

"Police records say 43,000 fake degrees were sold by the university across the country. In reality, the number of fake degrees could be 4 to 10 lakh," said the Congress legislator, who holds allegiance with party veteran and six-time Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh.

"The fake degree scam could be of over Rs 20,000 crore," he added.

The fake degree scam was unearthed in February 2019, a year after the University Grants Commission (UGC) received an anonymous complaint about the alleged sale of more than 5 lakh degrees by two private universities in Himachal, Manav Bharti University in Solan and APG in Shimla.

The Congress will soon announce a toll-free telephone number to get feedback from the public about the programmes to be included in its election manifesto.

"The Congress is totally united to take head on the ruling BJP. A strong anti-incumbency wave against the state ruling BJP -- evident from the loss of three Assembly and one parliamentary seat in the October 2021 bypolls -- will be seen in the assembly polls too.

"Also the state has been seeing a two-party system. A handful rebels from both the Congress and the BJP have been emerging from time to time, but after failing to mark their presence on the larger political landscape," said Rana, adding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is nowhere in the picture in the state.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
New Delhi, June 29 : The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the disqualification proceedings against the 16 MLAs have no bearing on the floor test scheduled for Thursday, and emphasised that they represent the Shiv Sena and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is in a "hopeless minority".

Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the rebel MLAs, submitted before the bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala that the top court, in its judgments, had said the disqualification proceedings against the MLAs have no bearing on the floor test in the House.

"We are the Shiv Sena and we represent the Shiv Sena (not the other minority)," he said, telling the court that there are 39 dissident MLAs, out of which 16 have been served with disqualification notices and emphasising that "the dance of democracy takes place on the floor of the House".

Kaul said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is "in a hopeless minority within the party itself, forget the House". He submitted that the best way to prevent horse trading is to conduct the floor test.

At this, Justice Surya Kant queried Kaul: "Is it your argument that there can be a very dangerous move against democratic morality, if the incumbent government were to use the office for disqualification, after learning that it has lost the majority?" Kaul added that if the floor test is delayed more, then the damage is caused to the Constitution. The bench then queried if the moment the Chief Minister shows reluctance, it prima facie gives the view that he has lost the confidence of the House.

Kaul then cited top court verdict in Shivraj Singh Chouhan (2020), which held a trust vote operates in a distinct field from the issue as to whether MLAs have embarked upon a voluntary act of resignation or have incurred the wrath of the anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule of the Constitution).

He said unless there is evident arbitrariness, a Governor has been held to be perfectly authorised to call for a floor test and that is not subject to aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu, contended that it won't be proper to have a floor test while tying the Speaker's hands and urged the court to either allow the Speaker to decide the disqualification proceedings or defer the floor test. The hearing in the matter is in progress.

Prabhu has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test and prove its majority in the House on Thursday (June 30).
Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 : The prime accused in the gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh on Wednesday said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was telling lies in the Assembly on Tuesday .

"The Chief Minister first said he doesn't know me, then he said she has come with UAE diplomats to his official residence. Let me tell you, I have gone to his official residence several times with UAE officials and also alone. I was allowed to walk into his residence and his office in the Secretariat without any security issues. I challenge him to release the CCTV visuals between 2016 to 2020 from his official residence and also at his office in the Secretariat," said Swapna to the media.

In the Assembly on Tuesday, Vijayan said Swapna is a person who is an accused in gold smuggling and other cases and the Congress led Opposition is treating her words as the ultimate truth and using them here. He also referred to her as someone who is now being guided by Sangh Parivar forces.

Swapna early this month testified before a magistrate under Section 164 (5) where she claimed that Vijayan and his wife and their daughter Veena had smuggled currency to the UAE.

Swapna said it was she who had facilitated numerous meetings with the UAE Consul General at the Chief Minister's residence which was against all protocol as permission was not taken from the Ministry of External Affairs.

"With regard to carrying currency in his luggage from here to the UAE, he used the diplomatic channel because here, given his position he can get through Customs and everything without any issues, but he wanted diplomatic immunity in the UAE and it was facilitated by us," said Swapna.

She then turned her ire against Veena Vijayan, daughter of Vijayan, and said she was the brain behind the sale of entire Kerala's health data bank that was handed over to Sprinklr (soon after the Covid pandemic set in).

"This was told to me by M. Sivasankar (the then principal secretary to Vijayan). He was very disturbed and told me that he might be in trouble. He shared all this with me because we were very close then. He was worried if he would be made the scapegoat and that he might be arrested as Veena was the master brain behind the data transfer to Sprinklr," added Swapna.

She said that she has given everything regarding Veena's IT company Exalogica to the national agencies and she also has copies of everything including videos.
Kolkata, June 29 : A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Wednesday, stayed the FIR by West Bengal police against Umesh Kumar, the key Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer involved in the probe in coal smuggling case in West Bengal.

The FIR was filed on June 21 at the Bishnupur Police Station under Diamond Harbour subdivision in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal alleging that Kumar had threatened and put pressure on some residents of Bishnupur to give statements as per their instructions and also record those statements. A special team of Diamond Harbour district police has started a probe in the matter.

However, on Wednesday, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri stayed the FIR for six weeks.

On Wednesday, the CBI counsel, Samrat Goswami argued in front of the bench of Justice Chaudhuri that the FIR was filed on the basis of false allegations. Goswami also alleged that the motivated FIR was filed intentionally to influence and create hurdles in the process of investigation in the coal smuggling scam.

Umesh Kumar was a part of the CBI team who went to the residence of Trinamool Congress' national general secretary and the party MP, Abhishek Banerjee's residence in South Kolkata on June 14 this year to interrogate his wife Rujira Narula Banerjee in connection with the coal scam. Incidentally, Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, is the party MP from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency.

Besides CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also conducting a parallel probe in the coal smuggling case in West Bengal. Abhishek Banerjee himself has faced questioning from both these agencies in this connection. The name of his wife surfaced after the investigating sleuths traced a bank account purportedly held by her in Bangkok where a huge amount of money reportedly involving the coal smuggling scam was transferred. Rujira Narula Banerjee, however, has denied knowledge of the said bank account.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Delhi High Court has expressed concern over the heavy traffic congestion in the national capital during the monsoons and the issue of storing rainwater, and directed the authorities to file a status report on the matter.

Citing the public importance of the isssue and referring to a media report, the bench of Justices Jasmeet Singh and Dinesh Kumar Sharma took suo motu cognizance in the matter.

"Let the parties file status report indicating (a) the steps taken by the agencies to store and harvest rainwater, (b) the steps undertaken to address and ease traffic jams/snarls in Delhi during monsoons and other periods," read a recent court order.

The court also issued notice to the respondents including the Central government, and the Delhi government among other departments concerned.

The matter was further posted for the next hearing on July 4 before the bench headed by Chief Justice.
Hyderabad, June 29 : In view of the national executive meeting of the BJP beginning here on July 2, Cyberabad police have prohibited flying of remotely controlled drones, para-gliders and remotely controlled micro-light aircraft around Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the venue of the two-day meet.

Cyberabad police have also imposed prohibitory orders from July 1 to 4. The orders under section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code prohibit any assembly of more than five persons.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner M. Stephen Raveendra on Wednesday issued two separate notifications in this regard.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, several union ministers, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, BJP national president J.P. Nadda and other top leaders will be attending the executive meet.

Drones, para-gliders and micro-light aircraft will not be allowed over 5 km radius from HICC within the jurisdiction of Cyberabad Police Commissionerate limits. The restrictions will be in force from 6 a.m. on June 30 to 6 p.m. on July 4.

Cyberabad Commissioner issued a notification under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to the notification, any person found violating the order shall be punishable under section 188, 121, 121(a), 287, 336, 337, 338 etc, of the Indian Penal Code.

The possibility of attacks by terrorist/anti-social elements by the use of para-gliders, remote controlled drones, remote controlled micro-light aircraft etc, may endanger peace and public tranquility, reads the notification.

The notification cited a memorandum issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, ISI Division/VIP Security, Government of India which brought to the notice that terrorist/anti-social elements may organize attacks through Para Gliders, Remote Controlled Drones, Remote Controlled Micro Light Aircraft etc, and that there is an increasing trend to use remote controlled drones for getting aerial views for live telecasts and photography of various events.

The memorandum prescribes that State/UT Police under various sections of State Police Acts and IPC will prohibit flying of such aerial platforms over the area bounded by a circle of five km radius from the State Secretariat Complex in state capitals and two km around strategic vital installations.
London, June 29 : In her first ever match against a Top 10 player, Jule Niemeier produced a near-flawless performance to upset No 2 seed Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-0 in just 58 minutes in the second round of Wimbledon 2022, here on Wednesday.

In each of her previous three matches against Top 20 opposition, the No 97-ranked German had taken the contest to three sets. But on her No 1 Court debut, Niemeier made no mistake in closing out a career-best win, racing through a second-set whitewash.

This time last year, Niemeier arrived at Wimbledon qualifying in hot form, but missed two match points against Natalia Vikhlyantseva in the final round. The 22-year-old had to wait until Roland Garros last month to make her debut in a Grand Slam main draw, and followed that with the biggest title of her career so far at the Makarska WTA 125.

Against Kontaveit, who has been suffering from Covid-19 after-effects over the past two months, Niemeier was able to translate her talent into a big-stage result for the first time. In her first Grand Slam third round, she will face either No.29 seed Anhelina Kalinina or Lesia Tsurenko.

Demonstrating both easy power on the forehand and easy touch on the drop, Niemeier finished with 13 winners to Kontaveit's seven, and 13 unforced errors to the World No 3's 24.

In another match of the day, last year's Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova needed just a few minutes on Wednesday to polish off a win. The former World No 1 defeated fellow Czech Tereza Martincova 7-6(1), 7-5 over two days to reach the second round.

No 6 seed Pliskova and World No 61 Martincova went toe-to-toe on Tuesday night with Pliskova squeaking out the first set from an early break down. Nothing separated the pair through 5-5 in the second set, when the match was postponed for lateness.

Returning to Court 1 on Wednesday, Pliskova broke Martincova right away before serving out the win. All told, Pliskova and Martincova had the same number of unforced errors, but Pliskova fired 29 winners, well outpacing Martincova's 12.

The 30-year-old Pliskova will return on Thursday to face British hope Katie Boulter in the second round. Pliskova and Boulter have split their two previous meetings, with the Brit's win coming just last week on the lawns of Eastbourne.
Panaji, June 29 : The Congress in Goa demanded setting up a committee under a sitting High Court judge to investigate how assembly records from 1963 to 2000 got destroyed.

Amarnath Panjikar, Congress Media Cell Chairperson, on Wednesday addressed a press conference here and said that the speaker of Goa assembly should lodge a police complaint in this regard.

"We demand the Chief Minister immediately conduct an inquiry of the matter by the sitting Judge of the High Court and investigate the serious lapse on part of the Government for the loss of the important documents. Government cannot turn a blind eye on this blunder and must dare to fix responsibility," Panjikar said.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday had said that assembly records of post liberation had got destroyed, while shifting the old secretariat from age-old Adil Shah Palace in Panaji to new assembly complex at Porvorim in 2000.

"When I became the speaker of Goa assembly, I came to know that these records were destroyed. I wanted to preserve them. But they were destroyed. I am sorry, this should not happen. Now since 2000, we are preserving and digitisation of the same is done," Sawant had said.

Panjikar said that the BJP government in the country is all out to manipulate history and destroy records of historic importance to create an impression that everything happened in the country only after 2014.

"They started with the 'Parivartan' agenda in 2012 and eventually transformed it into 'Modification'. It is shocking that the most irresponsible Chief Minister Pramod Sawant revealed it almost after five years, since he became the Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, that the important records of the speeches of tallest leader of the Bahujan Samaj and first Chief Minister of Goa Late Dayanand a.k.a Bahusaheb Bandodkar and other senior leaders are lost," Panjikar said.

"Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar must file an FIR immediately to investigate the lost records as claimed by the Chief Minister and should make the Chief Minister one of the accused," Congress spokesperson Adv. Shrinivas Khalap said.
Chennai, June 29 : The AIADMK's K. Palaniswami (EPS) faction, which has gained an upper hand, is trying to convince the other section, led by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam (OPS), on single leadership for the party, but the latter is not accepting the demand.

Sources in the AIADMK told IANS that senior leaders, including former ministers S.P. Velumani, P. Thangamani, and CVe Shanmugham, met Panneerselvam at his daughter's residence here but the senior leader did not relent.

The AIADMK General Council meeting will be held again on July 11 after the Madras High Court's division bench had ordered that no change must be made in the resolutions adopted at the June 23 meeting. This had upset the move of the EPS faction to get the General Council pass a new resolution making him the single General Secretary of the party.

The OPS faction has already appealed to the Election Commission against the appointment of A. Tamilmagan Hussain as the Presidium Chairman of the party and argued that no General Council meeting could be held under his chairmanship.

The EPS faction has moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court judgment, and while the AIADMK politics turning murkier, expelled interim General Secretary has commenced a state-wide tour touching to drum up support.

Both Sasikala and Panneerselvam belong to the powerful Thevar community, which is a major vote bank of the AIADMK in south Tamil Nadu, and it is playing the mediatory role between the two.

Meanwhile, AMMK General Secretary and Sasikala's nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran has alleged that crores of rupees were being spent by an individual to drum up support from AIADMK office-bearers to take control of the party.

He also said that this individual was "behaving like a demon" to take over the top post and June 23, when the General Council meeting was held, was a "black day" in the annals of the AIADMK.

Dhinakaran also lauded the boldness shown by Panneerselvam and AIADMK Deputy Secretary R. Vatihalingam, during the June 23 General Council meeting and walking out.

The statement of Dhinakaran is seen as a major move of the political alliance between Sasikala and Panneerselvam to take charge of the AIADMK.
Shillong, June 29 : Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said time has come for Meghalaya to oust the NPP (National People's Party) from power, which according to him is a proxy government run by the BJP.

After inaugurating the Meghalaya Trinamool Congress in Shillong AITC, the party launched a pan-state membership drive in the presence of Banerjee, who urged the people of the state to support the party in its endeavour to oust the NPP government which was a "proxy government run by the BJP".

He said: "Trinamool Congress is the only party that knows how to take the BJP head-on. We are the only ones who know how to show Amit Shah (Union Home Minister) his place. And that's why we have come here, to defeat divisive forces." Elaborating on the 'Be The Change' membership campaign wherein the people of Meghalaya can call on a phone number and extend their support, Banerjee said: "Time has come for another independence in Meghalaya. The people here will not compromise on their self respect and be at the mercy of other states." Slamming Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, the Trinamool Congress leader said: "Have you seen the body language of the CM when he meets BJP top brass in Delhi ? He is an elected Chief Minister representing 35 lakh Meghalayans, carrying their hopes and aspirations. Should he bow down to BJP leaders? Is this why Meghalaya voted for him? If the answer is no, please support Trinamool Congress." "Trinamool Congress' only aim is to save Meghalaya from the divisive politics of the proxy BJP government. Our only goal is also to empower the people, uphold the different ethnic cultures and celebrate the sacred land of Meghalaya."Hitting out at the BJP led government at the Centre as well as the state, Banerjee said: "Under the false narrative of double engine government, they are doing double heist and double robbery. We elected Conrad K Sangma with hope but he has become Con-Man Sangma." Asserting that the Trinamool Congress is a national party, he said: "The Opposition will try to brand us as Bengali, but I promise that Meghalaya will be run by the people of Meghalaya and not by Bengalis. Can the BJP put this on record that none of their governments will be run by Gujarat or Delhi ?" When asked about NDA's Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, the he said: "Trinamool Congress does not believe in token representation. If you (BJP) want to address the issues faced by SC or tribal communities, you have to end atrocities against them. We had a Dalit President earlier, but did things actually become better for the Dalit community ?" "Each one of you has to make a commitment to yourself that in 2023, Meghalaya will show the world its power, capability, and strength. Be it 2023 or 2024, a democratic sun should rise in the East." Trinamool's Meghalaya state president Charles Pyngrope, legislature party leader and former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and the party's Meghalaya in-charge Manas Ranjan Bhunia among others were present in the gathering.

The Trinamool Congress is trying hard to extend its political base in Assam, Tripura besides Meghalaya.
Patna, June 29 : After four rebel AIMIM legislators joined Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, Akhtarul Imam, the state president of the party said that they have cheated the people of Seemanchal and the Muslim community.

"The four MLAs have cheated the people of Seemanchal area and will not forgive them. People will teach them lesson in the next election. Those four MLAs have also cheated our national president Asaduddin Owaisi," Imam said while comparing rebel MLAs with Mir Jafar.

"The RJD is a party based on Muslim-Yadav equation and now they are talking about A to Z these days. When I left RJD, 5 MLAs won the assembly elections in 2020. Now, they have merged 4 MLAs in their party and I am sure in the next election our strength will rise to 24," he said.

The four rebel MLAs who have joined RID include Muhammad Izhar Asfi, MLA of Kochadhaman; Shahnawaz Alam, MLA from Jokihat; Syed Ruknuddin, MLA of Bayasi; and Azhar Naimi of Bahadurganj assembly constituency of Bihar's Seemanchal area.

With this, the RJD became the single largest party in Bihar with 80 MLAs followed by BJP with 77 MLAs.

Tejashwi Yadav met met Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha with four rebel AIMIM MLAs and later these four met RJD's national president Lalu Prasad.

"They have joined RJD as their ideology is similar to ours. The people of Bihar had given the mandate to us but they formed government from the backdoor. In Bihar, we are strong opposition and we are not very far from the majority. Still, we are not greedy for power unlike them. That is why BJP and the JD-U are humiliating each other every day, but are still in alliance and share power," Tejashwi said.
New York, June 29 : An international conspiracy to import opioids and other drugs from India and distribute them across the US has been busted with the conviction of the participants.

Federal Prosecutor Breon Peace, who announced the conviction of Ezhil Sezhian Kamaldoss on Tuesday, said: "He lined his pockets off the black-market sales of millions of illegal opioids and misbranded prescription pills without regard for the harm caused by the abuse of these highly addictive and dangerous drugs." Kamaldoss, 43, was also convicted of money laundering during the four-day trial in a federal court here and faces up to 50 years in prison.

Earlier this month another participant in the scheme, Velaudapillai Navaratnarajah, had admitted being guilty of conspiracy charges in the federal court, which amounts to a conviction, and is awaiting sentencing, according to prosecutors.

The participants in the conspiracy imported millions of Tramadol pills, as well as Alprazolam from India and repackaged them in a New York warehouse described as a "pill mill" and shipped them to customers throughout the US, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors introduced as evidence an audio recording made by an informant in which Navaratnarajah discussed the number and type of pills to package into envelopes.

Prosecutors said that a "cooperating witness" - the equivalent of an approver - admitted to bribing workers at John F. Kennedy International Airport to evade detection of the drugs.

They also produced hundreds of emails, text messages, and spreadsheets recovered from email accounts and electronic devices of the conspirators showing the receipt and distribution of the drugs.

The money laundering charges stemmed from Kamaldoss reinvesting his profits into the business and paying for shipping costs, in one case amounting to $200,000 with pills.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
New Delhi, June 29 : The CISF has apprehended four persons at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport who were found in possession of huge foreign currency with a face value of Rs 59 lakh, officials said on Wednesday.

A senior CISF official said that on Tuesday at around 11.20 p.m., on the basis of behaviour detection, surveillance and intelligence staff of the IGI airport noticed the suspicious activities at 'B' Gate area of Terminal-3.

Two passengers who were later identified as Subhan Ahmed and Jasvinder Singh were marked as "suspicious". They had come to the IGI to board a Chandigarh-bound flight.

On suspicion, the CCTV footage of their entire movement was observed, which revealed that Ahmed initially approached the J row of the check-in counter and checked-in one bag in Dubai-bound Emirates Airlines flight and collected his boarding pass.

Further, he went to washroom and after changing his dress, he again approached at B row check-in counter and collected his boarding pass for Chandigarh-bound Vistara Airlines flight.

On tactful questioning his accomplice Singh, revealed that Ahmed was carrying high volume of foreign currency and due to fear of detection, he changed his destination from Dubai to Chandigarh.

Singh also confessed that he checked-in one bag of Ahmed in his own name.

On physical checking of bags of both the passengers, 1,20,000 Saudi Riyals concealed between middle layer of the hand bag of Ahmed and 99,740 Saudi Riyals and $15,200 concealed between outer and inner layer of a tiffin box, which was kept in bag of Singh, were recovered.

Later, on scanning the CCTV footage, two more suspects Azim from departure area and Imran Ahmed bound for Mumbai by Indigo Airlines flight from B Gate area were intercepted by CISF personnel.

Later, all the passengers along with one visitor, and the recovered cash were handed over to the Customs officials for further action into the matter.
Srinagar, June 29 : Two local terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT were neutralised in an encounter with a joint security forces team in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday, police said.

Police said acting on specific input regarding the presence of terrorists in Nowpora, Mir Bazaar area of Kulgam, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by police and army.

"During the search operation, as the joint search party approached towards the spot where the terrorists were suspected to be hiding, terrorists fired indiscriminately which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter. Later on, the CRPF's 18 Bn also joined the operation," police said.

In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site. They have been identified as Yasir Wani, resident of Wangund, Kulgam and Raees Manzoor resident of Chotipora, Shopian.

"As per police records, both the killed terrorists were categorised and part of groups involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on police/security forces and civilian atrocities," police said.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar congratulated the joint teams for conducting the operation in professional manner without collateral damage. He also termed the operation as a big success as the operation site was very close to National Highway (Amarnath Yatra route).

Arms and ammunition including an AK-47 rifle and a pistol were recovered from the site of encounter.
Bhubaneswar, June 29 : The Odisha government has received investment intents worth more than Rs 21,000 crore with employment potential for 19,000 people in different sectors during Odisha Investors' Meet held in Dubai on Wednesday, officials said.

The meeting, jointly organised with FICCI and the Embassy of India in UAE, was held under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. A delegation of senior officials from the Odisha government attended the meeting.

The state has received the investment proposal on sectors like infrastructure, hospitality, logistics, chemicals, food processing etc.

The Chief Minister held meetings with few UAE-based industry captains and invited them to visit Odisha and has also assured all the companies of unmatched facilitation and support.

"Glad to meet PNC Menon, Chairman of @SobhaLtd at #OdishaInvestorsMeet in Dubai. Sobha Realty has expressed intent to invest Rs 5,000 crore in metals, metallurgy and hospitality sector in Odisha. Assured all support for faster grounding of projects," Patnaik said in a tweet.

He also met Ibrahim Sharaf of Sharaf Group in Dubai and welcomed his proposal to invest in Odisha in the logistics sector.

The Chief Minister also met KG Abraham, Partner and MD of NBTC Group of Kuwait. The company has proposed to invest Rs 5,000 crore to set up a urea plant in the state. Patnaik assured him to facilitate and support with industry ready infrastructure and skilled workforce.

In another tweet, Patnaik said: "It is a pleasure meeting Dr. Yousif Al Hammadi, MD of Tabreed Group at #OdishaInvestorsMeet in Dubai. Glad to share that the group expressed intent to invest Rs 1,000 Cr in an ICT Campus in Bhubaneswar. Assured all support for the speedier ground of the project." On this occasion, Patnaik announced the third edition of Make In Odisha Conclave, 2022 to be held in Bhubaneswar during November 30- December 4, 2022.

During the meeting in Dubai, DP World and Hindustan Ports Pvt Ltd expressed its intent to launch projects related to ports, SEZ and ICD with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore in Odisha.

Similarly, Dubai-based Sobha Realty has agreed to set up projects worth Rs 5,000 crore in the state, Chief Minister's Office (CMO) informed in a tweet.

Kuwait-based NBTC has expressed intent to set up an ammonia urea plant with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore while Twenty14 Holdings, a Abu Dhabi-based hospitality company, has agreed to set up a 5 star hotel and wellness centre in Odisha with an investment of Rs 500 crore.

The Lulu International Shopping Malls Pvt. Ltd. has proposed to set up shopping malls, hypermarkets & agri sourcing, and logistics hub in Odisha with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore. It will provide direct employment to 5,000 people and indirect employment to 10,000, it said.

Moreover, Abu Dhabi-based firm Tabreed, expressed intent to invest Rs 1,000 crore to establish an ICT campus in Bhubaneswar while Sharaf Group and Hind Terminals Pvt. Ltd. has expressed intent to set up a logistics park in Odisha with an investment of Rs 750 crore, the CMO said.

Besides, Arab India Spices LLC has agreed to set up a pulse splitting unit in Odisha against an investment of Rs 50 crore which will provide direct employment to 300 people and indirect employment to 500 people.
Kolkata, June 29 : The family members of Anis Khan, the student leader who died under mysterious circumstances at Amta in Howrah district of West Bengal on February 19, approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday against the earlier decision by a single- judge bench of the same court ruling out a CBI probe into the matter.

On June 21, a single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had ruled out a CBI inquiry into the matter and expressed trust on the probe by the special investigation team (SIT) of the West Bengal police in the matter.

However, not satisfied with the decision of the single-judge bench, Anis Khan's father, Salem Khan, approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court in the matter. The hearing in the matter will be conducted next week.

"I have no faith in the investigation by the state police SIT since my son was killed by police personnel only. All I want is a court-monitored probe by the CBI. I am sure that the truth will come out then," Salem Khan said.

Earlier also he had said that he would even go to the extent of approaching the Supreme Court with his demand for a CBI probe into the matter.

On February 19, Anis Khan was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his residence at Amta. His family members alleged that he was killed by policemen in uniform. The state police started investigation by forming an SIT under the leadership of Additional Director General of CID, Gyanwant Singh.

The SIT members also arrested a home guard and a civic volunteer in this connection.

On April 19, the SIT submitted an 82-page progress report on the investigation to the Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, wherein the investigating team hinted that Anis Khan's death was a case of suicide.
Mumbai, June 29 : On expected lines, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late on Wednesday quit his post and also as Member of Legislative Council - 9 days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was reduced to a minority with an unprecedented rebellion by the Shiv Sena legislators.

With this the two-and-half year old, three-party Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government experiment has collapsed, barely hours after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari ordered a floor test late on Tuesday night.

Thackeray announced his resignation - "I am quitting the post of CM" - in a public address to the people of the state on social media, in his familiar, cool, composed, father-figure style as he did regularly in the past two-and-half years.

"With your blessings and cooperation, I could manage it till now... I especially wish to thank Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and both the parties for extending their cooperation," he said.

Thackeray also acknowledged how the NCP-Congress ministers on Wednesday immediately agreed to the renaming proposals of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv, though conceding it was a much-delayed decision.

Touching briefly on his short-lived 31-month-long tenure and the 56-year-old party legacy that he carries forward, Thackeray recalled how many ordinary workers, autorickshaw drivers, paanwalas, etc, grew in the party, became corporators to ministers and became very big.

"Now those same people are 'naaraz' (disgruntled) and those who did not get anything are still loyal and stand strongly with Shiv Sena," he rued.

"I invited them (the rebels) several times to come and meet me and discuss their issues... whether they have problems with me, the Shiv Sena, the NCP, Congress or anything else... but there was no response," he noted with a tinge of sadness.

Thackeray said that those who became big on the strength of the Sena and Balasaheb Thackeray, if they believe that by topping his son, they will get "punya" (grace), let them have it.

"I was a reluctant CM.. The circumstances under which I came to the post is well known.. I am not hankering for any post. Before you, I hereby quit my post as CM.. I only need your love and affection," said CM, who had vacated the official quarters, 'Varsha' bungalow last week, hours after the rebellion erupted in full force.

Adding that he did not want the drama of any floor test or such politics, Thackeray also said he was quitting as Member of Legislative Council.

Taking a swipe, Thackeray said the Governor upheld democracy by acting on the Opposition's letter to order the floor test within 24 hours, and wished he (Governor) had done the same with the MVA's proposal to nominate 12 MLCs, now pending since November 2020 with Raj Bhavan.

Moments later, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including state President Chandrakant Patil, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and others celebrated the CM's announcement with cheers and distributed sweets.

Several rebel MLAs welcomed the developments and said the state will now be on the path of progress under the leadership of prospective CM Fadnavis.

Now, the floor shifts back to the BJP and Raj Bhavan where the formalities of the new prospective new government shall crystallise.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
Hyderabad, June 29 : Conjoined twins Veena and Vani defied all odds to clear Class 12 board exams in first class and they now want to become chartered accountants.

While Veena scored 712, Vani got 707 in the Intermediate Public Examination (IPE) conducted by the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE).

The 18-year-olds aspire to become chartered accountants. They expressed their aspiration before Education Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and Minister for Women and Child Welfare Satyavathi Rathod when they called on the twins on Wednesday to congratulate them on their success.

The ministers assured Veena and Vani all support for their higher studies.

"I am so proud of Vani and Veena. God has a special place in his heart for special children like you. I wish you the very best," Sabitha Indra Reddy tweeted after meeting the twins.

The conjoined twins had also done well in Class 10 board exams. Veena scored 9.3 GPA while Vani got 9.2 GPA.

In the Intermediate exams held last month, the twins had told the authorities that they don't want any special privileges. They also refused to avail of the extra time offered to them.

This was despite the Covid-19 pandemic affecting their studies.

Satyavathi said the twins excelled in the exams though the classes were conducted for only five months.

Veena and Vani were born to a poor couple in Telangana's Warangal district on October 15, 2003. The couple, both daily wage labourers, abandoned the girls saying they have no resources to take care of them.

Since then, the state government has been taking care of the two. Doctors could not separate the twins as they shared critical blood vessels.

Initially raised in a government-run hospital, they were later shifted to Shishu Vihar, the child care centre run by the Department of Women and Child Welfare.
Dubai, June 29 : The Odisha government has received investment intents worth more than Rs 21,000 crore with employment potential for 19,000 people in different sectors during Odisha Investors' Meet held in Dubai on Wednesday, officials said.

Riding on the last two years of a high level of investments approved by the Odisha government, amounting to over $50 billion since 2021, the state government is attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in sectors such as Metals and Metal downstream, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Textiles and Apparel including Technical Textiles, Food processing including Seafood processing, ESDM, Logistics and Clean Energy.

In this regard, the Odisha Investors Meet was held in Dubai under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, along with a delegation of senior officials from the government of Odisha.

The Investors Meet was jointly organised with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Embassy of India in UAE.

It was attended by more than 150 companies based out of the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from sectors comprising minerals and metals processing, petrochemicals, chemicals, plastics, heavy industries, clean energy, food processing including sea food processing, electrical equipment and electronics manufacturing, logistics and warehousing, real estate, and hospitality.

Leading industry associations from the region including Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) also participated in the event.

During the Investors Meet, highlighting the various advantages of Odisha state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik addressed the gathering underlining Odisha's Mineral advantage; Odisha's human resource advantage; the state's use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation and Odisha's progressive policy and governance advantage.

"Odisha holds the lion's share of India's mineral reserves with 96 per cent of the country's chromite reserves, 92 per cent nickel, 53 per cent bauxite, 45 per cent manganese, 35 per cent iron-ore, and 23 per cent coal reserves of India. This has made Odisha the largest producer of Steel, Stainless Steel, Ferro Alloys, Alumina, and Aluminium in India. Odisha also has 11 per cent of India's water resources. The state has a 480-km long coastline making it a natural choice for setting up ports, and for international trade," he said.

The State is home to a large and highly skilled workforce. Highlighting Odisha's human resource advantage, Patnaik said: "We have made good investments in setting up technical and professional institutes at all skill levels - ITIs, Polytechnics, and engineering and management colleges. Eleven of India's top 100 Industrial training institutes are in Odisha. With the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES), Singapore, the Government of Odisha has recently established the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar to prepare the Odia workforce for modern and new age industry." On Odisha's use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation, he said, the state's single window portal for investors, GO SWIFT has transformed the B2G interface with its user-friendly features which provide time-bound clearances for over 50 G2B services. Odisha is also home to over 1200 start-ups, many of which are in the technology space.

Patnaik also announced that the state would be conducting the third edition of its flagship Global Investors Meet - "Make In Odisha 2022" during November 30- December 04, 2022 at the state capital Bhubaneswar, India. The Chief Minister extended the invitation to businesses in the MENA region to attend the Make In Odisha 2022 Investor Meet and witness the opportunities the State offers.

UAE based multinational retail conglomerate, Lulu Group International signs MoU worth Rs 1,500 crore to explore investment opportunities in Odisha to set up Hypermarkets, shopping malls and Agri & Seafood sourcing and processing hubs in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Rourkela. This was announced by Lulu Group Executive Director Ashraf Ali MA during the meeting Patnaik in Dubai.

The team Odisha also conducted one-on-one B2G meetings with major companies of the region such as LuLu Group, NBTC Group, Sharaf Group, Twenty Fourteen Holding and Tablez Group, ERAM Group, Sobha Group, Arab and India Spices LLC, Tabreed, etc. The State Government invited them to explore Odisha in their future expansions and apprised them of the huge Indian and sub-continent market.

The government also assured all the companies of unmatched facilitation and support.
Srinagar, June 29 : A terrorist associate of proscribed terror outfit LeT was arrested from Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam on Wednesday in connection with a case pertaining to the busting of a narco-terror funding module, police said.

He has been identified as Showkat Ahmed Ganie alias R.K., resident of Shiekhpora Wathoora, Chadoora.A Police said during the investigation, it came to fore that the arrested terrorist associate was also involved in providing logistic support to proscribed terror outfit LeT by distributing proceeds of narcotics to active terrorists and terror operatives of the outfit.
Kohima, June 29 : The Election Commission has started the initial process to train up the district level officials on Wednesday even as the election to the Nagaland assembly is around eight months away.

Conducted by resource persons from the Election Commission and India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, a two-day training programme for the Deputy Commissioners and District Election Officers began to equip the district level officials with knowledge and skill for the general election to the Nagaland legislative assembly, expected to be held in February next year.

Inaugurating the training programme, Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer V. Shashank Shekhar emphasised the important role played by the district electoral machinery headed by the Deputy Commissioners and District Election Officers in the overall conduct and management of the entire electoral process.

He observed that recently the IAS Academy in Mussoorie along with the Union Ministry of Personnel had organised a commemorative webinar on 250 years of the institution of the District Collector.

The CEO also stated that election management and related work is a good area to serve society.

Shashank Shekhar hoped that all concerned will benefit from the knowledge of the resource persons.

The next general election to the Nagaland assembly is very crucial in view of the ongoing Naga peace talks between the central government and the Naga groups specially the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah).

All the political parties and the state government are keen to resolve the much expected Naga issue before the assembly polls. The all party opposition less government was formed last year to take forward the peace talk issue.

The NSCN-IM's repeated insistence on a separate Naga flag and Constitution have become a big hurdle in the way of resolving the much expected Naga issue.
New Delhi, June 29 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that it has arrested a Senior Divisional Signal and Telecommunication Engineer and a Chief Office Superintendent, both posted in the office of DRM, Ambala Cantonment, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1.80 lakh.

The accused have been identified as Vivek Langayan, the Senior Divisional Signal and Telecommunication Engineer, and Praween Kumar, the Chief Office Superintendent, both posted in the office of DRM.

A case was registered on a complaint against the accused on allegations of demanding bribe. The complainant, a contractor of Railways in Punjab and Haryana, was awarded two contracts through an open tender of Rs 92 lakh.

After the completion of the project, he had submitted revised estimates of Rs 1.15 crore.

Kumar allegedly demanded a bribe from the complainant in lieu of approval of the revised estimates, which was 2 per cent of the gross contract value on behalf of Langayan.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused while accepting a bribe of Rs 1,80,000 from the complainant.

"Searches were conducted at the residential and office premises of both the accused in Ambala, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents," said an CBI official.
Hyderabad, June 29 : Students of all schools in Telangana will have to practise yoga and meditation for five minutes daily.

They can practice it either in the school assembly or later in the classroom, the School Education Department announced on Wednesday.

Yoga and meditation has been made a part of the academic calendar.

According to the academic calendar for 2022-23 released on Wednesday, all schools affiliated to the state board will have no bag day on every third Saturday in the month.

The schools have been asked to allot one period in a week for communicative skills in English for all classes. This period may include newspaper reading, storytelling, storybook reading and drama/skit etc, in English.

The calendar has laid emphasis on co-curricular subjects - physical and health education, work and computer education, value education and life skills, art and cultural education. The Department has allocated 14 periods per week for primary, nine for upper primary, and eight for high schools. Students will also have informal assessment in these subjects.

According to the calendar, the Formative Assessment (FA)-I exams are to be conducted by July 21 and FA-II by September 5. While the FA-III is to be held by December 21, the FA-IV should be conducted by January 31, 2023 for classes X and February 28 for classes I to IX.

The Summative Assessment (SA)-I exams are scheduled from November 1 to 7. The SA-II for classes I to IX have been scheduled from April 10 to 17, 2023. Pre-final exams for class X will be held before February 28 and the SSC Board Exams in March, 2023.

The last working day for the academic year is April 24, 2023 and there will be summer vacation from April 25 to June 11, 2023.
New Delhi, June 29 : Nearly 70 members of right wing outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) were detained by the Delhi Police on Wednesday for protesting without due permission at the Jantar Mantar against the gruesome murder of a tailor in Udaipur on Tuesday, an official said.

"Around 70 members of the Bajrang Dal and VHP have been detained from Jantar Mantar who were protesting there without prior permission," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi), Amrutha Guguloth.

She further said that no FIR has been registered in this incident.

The members of VHP and Bajrang Dal gathered at the Jantar Mantar and raised slogans against the Udaipur barbarism and demanded justice for the deceased tailor.

The members were seen holding placards that read 'give death sentence to Hindu killers', 'we won't let India turn into a Taliban state', among several others.

In a gut-wrenching incident on Tuesday, a tailor was hacked to death in broad daylight inside his shop on a crowded street in Udaipur for supporting now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on social media over her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammed.
United Nations, June 29 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for "full respect for all religions" in the aftermath of the killing of a Hindu man in Rajasthan's Udaipur.

"We call for the full respect for all religions and for ensuring throughout the world that different communities can live in harmony and peace," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in reply to a question about "the resurgence of religious tensions" in India and Tuesday's killing on Kanhayia Lal, reportedly over a social media comment.

Asked on Tuesday about the arrest of journalist Mohammed Zubair, who is charged with hurting religious sentiments, Dujarric had said: "In any place around the world, it is very important that people be allowed to express themselves freely, journalists be allowed to express themselves freely and without the threat of any harassment." He was asked on Wednesday to clarify if that applied to journalists' comments about all religions and if it squared with the call for respecting all religions.

"We believe in the fundamental right of expression, of journalists to express themselves, and we also believe in the fundamental need for people to respect other communities and other religions," he said.

"We believe those two statements are very much compatible," he added.

Answering another question on the freedom of the media, he said: "Freedom of the press is freedom of the press, and it applies, for us, universally around the world, in 193 Member States. And those principles remain unchanged and unbowed." That question was regarding a video statement at the Security Council on Tuesday by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that journalists who "justified the actions of the Russian Army" would be punished.

Kanhaiya Lal was killed reportedly because of a social media post supporting Nupur Sharma, the suspended BJP spokesperson who had allegedly made comments considered by Muslims as derogatory to their prophet.

Two persons, who allegedly posted a video claiming responsibility for the killing, have been arrested.

Nupur Sharma also faces the same charges as Zubair of hurting religious sentiments, although concerning different faiths.

India has repeatedly criticised what it said were double standards in reacting to "religiophobia".

In the most recent statement on the subject, India's Permanent Representative T.S. Tirumurti told the General Assembly last week, "It's time that UN member states condemned hatred against non-Abrahamic religions as well and stop from being selective in combating religiophobias." (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
Srinagar, June 29 : Two terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT were apprehended by a joint security forces team from Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday, police said.

Police, along with army's 22RR and CRPF's 179Bn, at a joint checkpoint established at Chinar crossing, intercepted two persons moving suspiciously and caught them as they tried to flee from the spot.

During search, two pistols, two magazines and 14 pistol rounds were recovered from the possession of the two, identified as Adnan Ashiq War, resident of Warpora, Sopore and Zubair Ahmad Sofi, resident of Fatehgarh, Baramulla.

"Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested persons are uncategorised terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT and were in a constant search of an opportunity to carry out terror attacks on security forces and civilians," police said.

Police have registered a case and investigation has been initiated.
Mumbai, June 29 : Soon after his social media address to the people, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray drove down to Raj Bhavan and tendered his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari late on Wednesday.

Thackeray was himself driving the vehicle and accompanied by his wife Rashmi, and ex-Minister son Aditya Thackeray.

Soon afterwards, he returned to his residence 'Matoshri' in Bandra East with Shiv Sainiks raising slogans in his suport at several places en route.
Patna, June 30 : As the opposition parties in Bihar boycotted the Monsoon session of the Assembly over the Agnipath scheme, a group of more than 200 students protested in Patna and tried to enter the Assembly.

The protesters were stopped at JP roundabout on Wednesday leading to a confrontation between them and the police personnel. The demonstrators wanted to visit the Assembly and stage a protest there.

The students shouted slogans against the Central government and demanded withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme.

The protesting students also demanded the withdrawal of FIRs against the arrested students and their release from jail.

The opposition parties in Bihar protested against the Agnipath scheme and boycotted the proceedings of the Monsoon session.

On Wednesday, the fourth day of the Monsoon session, opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left parties sat on a 'dharna' outside the chamber of the Assembly Speaker and demanded a discussion on the Agnipath scheme in the Assembly.

Bihar has witnessed massive violence during the protest over Agnipath scheme from June 17 to 19.

Many trains were set on fire in the state, including state capital Patna. More than 1,000 students were arrested on alleged charges of arson and damaging government properties during the protest.
New Delhi, June 30 : Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday cautioned Acharya Pramod Krishnam not to cross the 'Lakshman Rekha and question his own government in Rajasthan over the brutal killing of a tailor in Udaipur on Tuesday.

Krishnam had questioned the police 'laxity' in the Udaipur incident, saying "after being threatened, why security was not given to Kanhaiya Lal (the Udaipur victim), police with murderers, why no action being taken against SSP DIG".

Acharya is a known supporter of Sachin Pilot and has been critical of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Reacting to his remarks, Ramesh said in a series of tweets, "You have crossed the Lakshman Rekha second time and what you have written is factually incorrect." Ramesh said, "By holding an all-party meeting and genuinely hearing the suggestions from everyone, the CM has shown the way as to how to build confidence and promote peace; Congress strengthens democratic traditions and norms, especially at times of crisis." Earlier, Krishnam had advised Uddhav Thackarey to step down as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, following which Ramesh had said that neither Krishnam is the party's official spokesperson nor it's an official party line.
Patna, June 30 : After four of five AIMIM MLAs joined the RJD, making it the single-largest party again with 80 seats in Bihar, Gopal Mandal, JD-U MLA from Gopalpur in Bhagalpur district, said that AIMIM leaders would not join hands with the JD-U due to its coalition with the BJP.

"The AIMIM leaders had only one option, i.e., to go with the RJD. They would not join the JD-U as we are running a government with the BJP in Bihar. The Muslim community are against the ideology of BJP. This is the reason why they did not join JD-U," Mandal said.

"Our leader Nitish Kumar has given respect to the Muslim community in Bihar, but as our party is running the government with the BJP, they would not join us," Mandal said.

Reacting to the RJD becoming the single largest party in the state with 80 MLAs, Mandal said that it would not affect the government.

"We have some differences with the BJP, but the government is running smoothly and it will complete the tenure of five years. And Nitish Kumar will remain the Chief Minister of Bihar for five years," Mandal said.

Earlier on Wednesday, four AIMIM MLAs -- Muhammad Izhar Aasfi, Shahnawaz Alam, Sayyad Ruknuddin and Azhar Naimi -- joined the RJD.


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Mployer Advisor has named more than 600 winners in over 50 regions as part of its second annual 2022 awards. The class of 2022 winners account for less than 5% of all brokerages nationwide. "We scored these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.

Mployer Advisor, the leading independent platform for employers to research, review, and evaluate insurance brokers is pleased to announce the winners of its Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards based in North Carolina. Mployer Advisor has named more than 600 winners in over 50 regions as part of its second annual 2022 awards. The class of 2022 winners account for less than 5% of all brokerages nationwide.

Mployer Advisors Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards Program evaluates brokerages based on the breadth and depth of their experience across employer industries, sizes, insurance products, and employer reviews. We recognize esteemed brokers that demonstrate market-leading competencies and a proven track record of success among employers, insurance providers, and peers.

The team at Mployer Advisor is proud to honor this group of top insurance consultants as part of the 2022 class for our second annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards, said Brian Freeman, the Founder and CEO of Mployer Advisor. Employer-sponsored healthcare and benefits cover over 150M Americans. Who an employer selects as their benefits advisor has more impact on cost and quality than who they choose as the insurance carrier. We scored these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.

Mployer Advisor determined the winners of the second annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards by analyzing each brokerage based on historical data, online reviews, their M Score rating, and demonstrated business experience.

The North Carolina job market is a competitive region in the U.S. Southeast, employing over 4.9 million people with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Offering competitive employee benefits is a critical factor in hiring top talent for the regions employers. Finding and partnering with a highly rated insurance consultant is imperative to retaining talent in any market.

The recipients of the 2022 Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards for North Carolina are as follows:



The above winners are a snapshot of Mployer Advisors matrices and proprietary M Score on June 1, 2022. To view a full list of consultants in North Carolina, visit MployerAdvisor.com.

To view a complete list of the 2022 recipients of Mployer Advisors Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards, visit https://mployeradvisor.com/best-insurance-brokers.

About Mployer Advisor:

Mployer Advisor is changing the way employers search, evaluate, and select insurance advisors. The intuitive platform connects employers and employees to great benefits and insurance plans by providing employers with actionable data to easily evaluate and select the best advisor for a companys specific needs. Most brokerages have a profile on Mployer Advisor, which provides independent ratings of insurance advisors to support employers. Insurance brokers cannot pay to influence their Mployer Advisor rating. Only highly rated brokerages are allowed to advertise on the platform. To learn more about Mployer Advisor, visit https://mployeradvisor.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: Rankings are dynamic, and this report may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Mployer Advisors website. Because Mployer Advisors research is ongoing, interested companies that want to join next years list are encouraged to claim their free profile on Mployer Advisor.

Media Contact:

Abbey Dean (Head of Content)

abbey.dean@mployeradvisor.com
Marcus Lewis, Full View Production Winning EY entrepreneur of the year validates the mission I set out from day one. Creating content that matters and impacts organizations' growth, awareness, and culture is paramount when the right people are telling these stories.

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Marcus Lewis of Full View Productions was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Michigan and Northwest Ohio 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 Lewis based on his entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

Winning EY entrepreneur of the year validates the mission I set out from day one. Creating content that matters and impacts organizations' growth, awareness, and culture is paramount when the right people are telling these stories. Detroit has been the introduction to industries; what better team to have on your side than a native Detroit team who understands community and culture.

As a Michigan and Northwest award winner, Marcus 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

Raj Vattikuti of Altimetrik

James Park of Fitbit

Daymond John of FUBU

Sheila Mikhail of AskBio

Mat Ishbia of United Wholesale Mortgage

Sponsors Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank and SAP America. In Michigan and Northwest Ohio, sponsors also include Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN), Trion Solutions Inc., Foley & Lardner LLP, and Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications.

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. Visit 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 to 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 MARCUS LEWIS

Marcus Lewis is the President and CEO of Full View Productions and a proud native of Detroit, MI. In 2009, Marcus founded Full View Productions which has now become the largest black-owned and operated production company in Detroit, MI.

Marcus was introduced into the world of film at an early age, filming local events, broadcasting TV programs, and developing content throughout the city. He quickly realized how powerful authentic storytelling through the art of video production could be and created a full-service production company. Operating a full-service production company in Detroit has allowed Full

View Productions to be the place for organizations to tell their stories authentically. With a staff of Detroit-based creatives, Full View works with local, national, and international companies to produce cinema-quality content that highlights brands, products, and initiatives.

Being a native Detroiter, Marcus understands the importance of community engagement. Full View Productions partners with local schools, nonprofits, and neighborhood organizations. One of Full Views points of pride is not only community engagement, but the impact on the broader community. Full View Productions has provided paid internships to local residents, engaged in community outreach, and organized holiday food distribution within the city of Detroit.

ABOUT FULL VIEW PRODUCTIONS

Full View Productions is a full-service video production company located in Detroit, MI. Full View works with clients to discover their needs, tell their stories using cinema-grade equipment and technology, and deliver engaging visuals that capture the clients vision. Full Views diverse portfolio of corporate videos, commercials, and creative content shows its dedication to developing outstanding ideas and providing production and post-production services.
AkkenCloud, Staffing adn Recruiting Software. "With over 200 tax credit professionals and a dedicated staffing industry team, Experian WOTC services provides a great potential for our customers to leverage the WOTC program," said Matt Gallagher, EVP of Sales at AkkenCloud.

Akkencloud, the Front Office, Middle Office, Back Office, and Payroll platform provider that helps staffing and recruiting organizations revolutionize their efficiencies, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with Experian Employer Services.

Experian Employer Services is the fastest-growing tax credit provider in the country, combining cutting-edge WOTC technology with the most efficient candidate experience on the market.

"With over 200 tax credit professionals and a dedicated staffing industry team, Experian WOTC services provides a great potential for our customers to leverage the WOTC program," said Matt Gallagher, EVP of Sales at AkkenCloud. "Experian WOTC platform is short and quick, resulting in the highest fill rates in the industry, and having this platform directly integrated into AkkenCloud makes it seamless for our customers."

The integration between AkkenCloud and Experian seamlessly presents the WOTC survey within the hiring workflow. Candidates can complete the questionnaire in less than 30 seconds, all without having to provide any additional or invasive personal information. The seamless nature of the integration reduces candidate abandonment, improves the time-to-hire, and maximizes a clients potential WOTC savings.

We are genuinely excited to be joining forces with AkkenCloud, said George Pearsall, Vice President of Staffing Industry Services at Experian Employer Services. AkkenCloud and Experian both believe in offering a fast and efficient candidate experience. The integration that weve built will allow clients to effortlessly capture all available tax credits, all without redirecting candidates to an outside website. Its perfect!

Click HERE to watch the AkkenCloud and Experian WOTC Webinar.

About AkkenCloud

AkkenCloud offers the most comprehensive front-Office, middle-office, and back-office staffing software with AkkuPay payroll for staffing agencies and recruiting agencies looking to increase efficiency, streamline operations, and grow revenue. Click HERE to schedule a Live Demo.

About Experian Employer Services

Experian offers employers a suite of specialized solutions with unmatched service, trusted expertise, and client-inspiring innovation. Services includes include tax credit administration, verification fulfillment, unemployment management, I-9 processing, and employment tax administration. Experian is focused providing an effortless employee experience, all while improving the bottom line of our clients. Please visit http://www.experian.com/employer-services to learn more.
Repool Aspiring managers are traditionally left to manage multiple disparate vendors while navigating complex legal and regulatory hurdles as they go through the fractured process of setting up their fund over many months. Were simplifying that process and democratizing access to private funds

Repool, a Y Combinator S21 fintech, announced today that it has come out of beta testing and launched its fund-in-a-box and fund administration solutions to automate and simplify fund services for emerging managers.

Founded in 2021, Repools team has rapidly developed technology that allows aspiring emerging managers and existing firms alike to easily launch funds. The company shared that it raised a $3.7M seed round in the fall of 2021 and has used the financing to expand its core team with key hires across Engineering, Finance, Business Development, and Marketing. Notable firms such as Canaan, Matrix, and Global Founders Capital participated in the round, alongside angel investors including founders from Brex, Jeeves, Mercury, Flexport, Outschool, Pilot, and Forge, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and Bank of America.

The startup has already launched more than a dozen funds with emerging managers keen for a partnership that simplifies an overwhelmingly intricate and time-consuming process. While traditional fund formation often takes several months to complete, Repool enables fund managers to be fully operational in just a matter of weeks.

Launching a hedge fund is notoriously complex, expensive, and antiquated, said Kevin Fu, Repools CEO and co-founder. Aspiring managers are traditionally left to research, seek out, and manage multiple disparate vendors while navigating complex legal and regulatory hurdles as they go through the fractured process of setting up their fund over many months. Were simplifying that process and democratizing access to private funds.

The company handles all aspects of fund launch from entity formation to legal documents, fund administration and accounting, compliance, brokerage set up, banking, and investor onboarding. Post-launch, Repools easy-to-use software enables fund managers to provide a seamless experience for investors interested in joining their fund. By automating these processes, Repool frees up a significant amount of time for fund managers to devote toward other aspects of fund management.

Weve built an end-to-end platform that makes the entire process of fund launch extremely simple for emerging managers, said Justin Carrao, Repools CTO and co-founder. We free them up to focus on value-add activities like strategy, execution, and fundraising.

About Repool

Founded in 2021, Repool was designed to modernize, automate, and simplify the antiquated hedge fund industry. Its fund-in-a-box and fund administration solutions allow aspiring emerging managers and existing firms alike to easily launch funds. The company has offices in San Francisco and New York. To learn more about Repool visit http://www.repool.com.
For Canadian builders, architects and code officials, CCMC evaluation is an extra measure of assurance that VERSATEX trimboards will comply with building codes almost anywhere in Canada,states Rick Kapres, VERSATEX sales VP.

VERSATEX Building Products announced today that the Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC) now lists VERSATEX premium PVC trimboard products in its Registry of Product Assessments.

According to VERSATEX sales VP Rick Kapres, For Canadian builders, architects and code officials, CCMC evaluation is an extra measure of assurance that VERSATEX trimboards will comply with building codes almost anywhere in Canada.

Supported by the Canadian government, the CCMC assesses materials for compliance with building, energy and safety codes. Mr. Kapres compared it to the familiar Code Compliance Research Reports (CCRR), on which the U.S. building industry relies for materials code compliance assessments.

He said the VERSATEX material that was assessed by CCMC is identical to CCRR-listed products already sold in the U.S. and Canada. Right now our packaging team is working hard to add the CCMC seal to our products as they come off the line. But, even without the CCMC mark, you can be sure VERSATEX products sold anywhere in the world share exactly the same superior qualities  durability, workability and finish  that VERSATEX users have relied on for more than a decade.

About VERSATEX

VERSATEX was founded in 2004 by industry professionals dedicated to bringing exceptional building products to the marketplace. Our unmatched quality and consistency generate PVC trim options that meet and exceed the needs of builders, architects, fabricators and homeowners. At the same time, our market-back approach focuses new-product development on customer requirements and innovations that make a real difference in efficiency and design.
Metcela, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class autologous cell therapies targeting serious cardiovascular diseases, today announced the closing of a $14 million Series C round. The financing was led by CYBERDYNE Inc. and CEJ Fund (the Cybernics Excellence Japan Fund 1 Investment Limited Partnership) operated by CYBERDYNE Inc.s subsidiary, with participation from Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd., Sony Innovation Fund and Reazon Holdings, Inc.

With this financing, Metcela will further expand the business ecosystems and infrastructure for autologous regenerative medicine products.

About This Round

Metcela has been working on the development of its lead cardiac fibroblast-based autologous cell therapy for heart failure treatment since its establishment in 2016. Additionally, Metcela acquired Japan Regenerative Medicine Co., Ltd. (JRM), also developing cardiac stem cell-based autologous therapy for pediatric congenital heart disease, in April 2022, to further reinforce the autologous cell therapy portfolios. Metcelas strong belief in minimally invasive and autologous treatment, not requiring immunosuppressive agents and prolonged hospitalization, is attracting more attention during global pandemic that the world have faced for the past 2 years.

In light of these circumstances, Metcela has conducted this fundraising in order to advance the establishment of a commercial manufacturing infrastructure for autologous products, and to further accelerate the research and development of other pipelines.

Use of Funds



Preparation for commercialization through establishment of manufacturing infrastructure

In preparation for the initiation of next clinical trials and commercialization of MTC001 and JRM-001, Metcela will strengthen its product manufacturing capabilities in cooperation with external partners. In addition, Metcela plans to start regulatory communications for the overseas and potential global clinical trials. Metcela will also work on the development of a drastically upgraded manufacturing process for autologous products to significantly reduce the manufacturing costs.

Strengthening new pipeline development capabilities

Metcela aims to further accelerate R&D efforts for existing clinical pipelines and seed technologies by first expanding the execution team. Metcela will also continue to strengthen its relationship with academic partners and medical community in the areas of basic research to have better understanding of and explore new applicable indications for its fibroblast-based technologies as well as newly added cardiac stem cell pipeline.

Reinforcement of R&D structure by expanding research facilities

Metcela plans to establish a new R&D base in Cyberdyne's Cybernics A Building, currently under construction in KING SKYFRONT in Tonomachi, Kawasaki. By introducing the latest research equipment and cell processing facilities, Metcela will be able to significantly expand its research and development capabilities of its own seed technology and manufacturing process.

About CYBERDYNE Inc.

The Group aims to realize Society 5.0/5.1, a new vision of society based on Techno-Peer Support. To realize this society, the Group works to create an industry based on innovative Cybernics Technology capable of fusing humans and cyberspace (virtual world)/physical space (real world). The foundation of Cybernics Technology is the Internet of Humans/Internet of Things (IoH/IoT), Robots, and AI. The technology connects various fields such as medicine, nursing-care, production, and other

workplaces with households. The Group aims to create a new industry based on this technology to solve various problems that exist in our society today. The Groups business has a unique advantage in accessing and integrating information inside the human body (such as Brain-nerve and vital systems) and information outside the human body (such as behavioral, life, and environmental). The information obtained will be sent to a supercomputer for analysis and AI Processing to discover innovative solutions to social problems. The Group simultaneously works on research and development, business development, and business alliances to establish such a system that could realize the future society of Society 5.0/5.1.

Websitehttps://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/

About Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd.

Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd. was founded in 1981 as a trading company specializing in medical devices in the cardiovascular field. Since then, the company has established its unique business model in which it has the trading company function that brings cutting-edge products from overseas manufacturers to Japan, and also the manufacturing function that develops and produces in-house products, reflecting needs of clinical practice. The company has business bases to cover all over Japan and close ties with physicians and medical institutions that are leading innovations in the cardiovascular field. Making use of such superior business resources, Japan Lifeline is pursuing initiatives to provide excellent medical devices to clinical settings.

Websitehttps://www.japanlifeline.com/

About Sony Ventures Corporation

Sony Ventures Corporation manages Sony Innovation Fund (SIF), which invests in all stages of emerging technology companies as well as in startups solving global environmental challenges. SIF engages with pioneering startups to help fuel the development of disruptive technologies, launch new businesses, and contribute to the environment while seeking return on investment. Sony Ventures Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, is headquartered in Japan.

Websitehttps://www.sonyinnovationfund.com/

About Reazon Holdings, Inc.

Reazon Holdings' vision is to be the best company in the world. To do that, they're developing four main businesses: Ad tech, Social gaming, Media and Food tech. By leveraging synergies among their businesses, Reazon Holdings continues to create new, unique businesses that other companies can't replicate.

Websitehttps://reazon.jp/

About Metcela Inc.

Metcela Inc., established in 2016, is a clinical-stage biotechnology startup pioneering the research and development of fibroblast and stem cell-based therapy for chronic diseases that currently have limited therapeutic options. MTC001 is a combination product of autologous cardiac cells (VCAM-1-positive Cardiac Fibroblast, VCF) and a novel catheter delivery system targeting chronic heart failure patients. MTC001 offers two major advantages over other cell therapies: (1) the therapeutic cells are autologous (patient-derived) and homologous (tissue-specific i.e. cardiac-derived), which is most suitable for the heart, as it is a highly immunogenic organ, and (2) the minimally invasive catheter system is equipped with a highly functional injection needle specifically designed for this therapy to achieve reliable and safe administration of the cells.

Website: https://www.metcela.com/en/
This partnership enables a winning combination of enhanced messaging consistency and enhanced content consistency, improving the brand strength and customer experience across digital channels.

Writer, the AI writing assistant for the worlds smartest brands, today announced that it has partnered with Contentful, the leading content platform for digital-first businesses. The collaboration between Writer and Contentful will be centered around helping marketers in their efforts to deliver consistent and on-brand content across every digital channel.

As the pace of digital adoption accelerates and business is conducted through digital channels with increasing frequency, content is playing an even more important role in the success of organizations and brands around the world. The Writer-Contentful partnership will help organizations maintain content governance, scale content production, and deliver best-in-class digital experiences for their customers.

Writer creates a single source for terminology management, makes brand compliance simple, and corrects off-brand writing in real time through in-line suggestions. Writer is focused on helping teams address challenges around scaling messaging, staying consistent with their brand, and encouraging healthy and inclusive communication.

Contentful unifies content in a single hub and structures it for use in any digital channel so digital teams can assemble content and deliver digital experiences faster and at scale. With an API-first approach, Contentful can be easily integrated with a companys existing systems and can be extended with custom-built apps or apps available from the Contentful app marketplace.

Thousands of brands and organizations around the world, including over 30 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on Contentful to create and deliver digital experiences across websites, mobile apps, digital displays and other connected devices. Writers customers who can now take advantage of the integration include Spotify, Pinterest, Intuit, and Accenture.

We are thrilled to announce this new partnership with Contentful, said May Habib, CEO of Writer. By providing the best quality standards and increased efficiency to our clients, well be able to deliver a better, easier, seamless way for everyone to be on-brand all the time, all while improving the user experience of individual customers. We have no doubt that this partnership will be a success and a benefit to our clients.

We are excited to partner with Writer on this integration that will deliver enhanced capabilities for our shared customers to manage language and messaging across every digital channel, said Jeff Blattel, Director of Technical Partnerships, Americas at Contentful. This partnership enables a winning combination of enhanced messaging consistency and enhanced content consistency, improving the brand strength and customer experience across digital channels.

About Writer

Writer is the leading AI writing + editing platform for teams. Our automated language generation and dynamic writing recommendations make it easy for teams to achieve content scale, brand alignment, and great writing across all types of content and communications, including marketing materials, technical documents, product descriptions, knowledge bases, HR messages, and more. Enterprise-class and simple to roll out, Writer is deployed widely at leading brands like Twitter, UiPath, UnitedHealthcare, Northwestern Mutual, Deloitte, and Squarespace.

The San Francisco-based tech company has raised $26 million from leading investors. For more information, visit https://www.writer.com or reach out to jillian@writer.com.

About Contentful

Contentful, the leading content platform for digital-first business, helps over 30% of the Fortune 500 and thousands of brands around the world create and manage digital experiences for their customers across any channel. It enables greater speed and scale than traditional CMS solutions. Contentful unifies content in a single hub, structures it for use in any digital channel, and integrates seamlessly with hundreds of other tools through open APIs. Companies such as Siemens, Plaid, Goodrx, Intercom, Notion, Staples and many others rely on Contentfuls platform. For more information, visit https://www.contentful.com/.
Zuddl Virtual and Hybrid Events Zuddl-Interprefy partnership is a powerful combination; this will enable businesses to host their events with the real-time interpretation that bridges the language gap, allowing organisers to bring together a global audience.

Zuddl, a unified event platform company with a presence in India, USA, and the UAE, has partnered with Interprefy, to offer clients real-time language translation at multilingual events. Live simultaneous interpretation and live-translated subtitles enable clients to listen, speak and connect in their own language, thereby boosting engagement and elevating the attendee experience at virtual and hybrid events.

Our partnership with Interprefy will make it even easier for events to transcend geographical barriers and increase accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity, comments Bharath Varma, Co-founder & CEO of Zuddl.

As organizations around the world continue to communicate and engage virtually, the need to provide live language access has significantly increased, said Richard Roocroft, Global Head, Strategic Alliances at Interprefy. Interprefys multilingual capabilities help drive engagement and foster inclusivity. We are on a mission, alongside Zuddl, to deliver powerful experiences and enable organizations to seamlessly connect with their global audience and community.

Businesses have faced considerable challenges in organizing a webinar or virtual event in multiple languages without incurring high costs and administrative burden associated with traditional interpretation. The Zuddl-Interprefy partnership is a powerful combination; this will enable businesses to host their events with the real-time interpretation that bridges the language gap, allowing organisers to bring together a global audience while saving time and resources resulting in the elevated attendance experience.

About Zuddl

Zuddl is a unified event platform, which helps enterprises design immersive branded experiences. . Large organizations across the world such as Google, Dicks Sporting Goods, Microsoft, Kellogg's, and Grant Thornton trust Zuddl to host their virtual events. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.zuddl.com

About Interprefy

Interprefy connects people in meetings and events in their own language through remote interpreting and live captioning. Its powerful platform and professional services revolutionize simultaneous interpreting by replacing cumbersome hardware with cloud-based software. So interpreters can deliver their services without needing to be onsite, while event participants
"By bringing together advanced imaging and molecular biomarkers, HALO Diagnostics and IncellDx will help drive early detection and precision diagnostics in our core urology market, as well as other key clinical ensembles in the future." - Dr. John Feller, Chief Medical Officer at HALO Diagnostics

A new standard of care for urogenital cancers is near. HALO Diagnostics, a precision diagnostics leader, has joined forces with IncellDx, a single-cell, molecular diagnostics company, to develop innovative testing for prostate and bladder cancers. Combined with HALO Diagnostics targeted imaging and therapy options, IncellDx will equip doctors with precise, key insights into multiple cancer markers  all designed to better diagnose, understand, and guide treatment for each patient.

Together, the companies will offer a robust suite of precision healthcare tools.



HALO Diagnostics clinical ensemble offers a full view into each patients health through advanced imaging and molecular diagnostics, including multiparametric MRI, PET / CT targeted scans, genetic screening, liquid biopsy, and genomic profiling.

IncellDxs screening technology includes a molecular assay kit that analyzes urine samples with speed, scale, and molecular resolution, providing doctors with critical biomarker information for diagnostic and treatment decisions.

Dr. John Feller, Chief Medical Officer at HALO Diagnostics, looks forward to this collaborations positive impact on physicians and their patients.

By bringing together advanced imaging and molecular biomarkers, HALO Diagnostics and IncellDx will help drive early detection and precision diagnostics in our core urology market, as well as other key clinical ensembles in the future.

We are very excited to partner with HALO Diagnostics and plant new possibilities for molecular diagnostics in the clinic, says Dr. Bruce Patterson, President and CEO of IncellDx. Our goal is to make our molecular technology a part of routine testing for all patients, helping to improve the standard of care for urogenital cancers.

About IncellDx

IncellDx, Inc., located in San Carlos, California, is a single-cell, molecular diagnostics company dedicated to revolutionizing healthcare, one cell at a time. By combining molecular diagnostics with high throughput cellular analysis, the company's focus is on critical life-threatening diseases in the areas of COVID-19, infectious diseases, and oncology / immune-oncology for cervical, head and neck, lung, bladder, breast, and prostate cancers.

For more information, please visit https://www.incelldx.com.

About HALO Diagnostics

At HALO Diagnostics, we recognize every patient is unique. Our focus is saving lives through early detection with precision diagnostics, preventing and conquering the top health diseases having a geometric impact on patient outcomes. We accomplish this with a personalized diagnostic ensemble including advanced imaging, genomics, non-invasive liquid biomarkers, and community-based data at scale combined with deep learning algorithms. By optimizing all these solutions under the HALO Diagnostics platform, we provide a one stop patient and referring physician experience and rapid, precise, actionable results to enable life-changing both early and late-stage treatments.

For more information, please visit https://www.halodx.com.
Mployer Advisor announces the 2022 winners of the "Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards" for Illinois. We scored these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.

Mployer Advisor, the leading independent platform for employers to research, review, and evaluate insurance brokers is pleased to announce the winners of its Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards based in Illinois. Mployer Advisor has named more than 600 winners in over 50 regions as part of its second annual 2022 awards. The class of 2022 winners account for less than 5% of all brokerages nationwide.

Mployer Advisors Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards Program evaluates brokerages based on the breadth and depth of their experience across employer industries, sizes, insurance products, and employer reviews. We recognize esteemed brokers that demonstrate market-leading competencies and a proven track record of success among employers, insurance providers, and peers.

The team at Mployer Advisor is proud to honor this group of top insurance consultants as part of the 2022 class for our second annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards, said Brian Freeman, the Founder and CEO of Mployer Advisor. Employer-sponsored healthcare and benefits cover over 150M Americans. Who an employer selects as their benefits advisor has more impact on cost and quality than who they choose as the insurance carrier. We scored these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.

Mployer Advisor determined the winners of the second annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards by analyzing each brokerage based on historical data, online reviews, their M Score rating, and demonstrated business experience.

The Illinois job market is a competitive region in the U.S. Midwest, employing over 6.1 million people. Offering competitive employee benefits is a critical factor in hiring top talent for the regions employers. Finding and partnering with a highly rated insurance consultant is imperative to retaining talent in any market.

The recipients of the 2022 Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards for the state of Illinois are as follows:



The above winners are a snapshot of Mployer Advisors matrices and proprietary M Score on June 1, 2022. To view a full list of consultants in Illinois, visit MployerAdvisor.com.

To view a complete list of the 2022 recipients of Mployer Advisors Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards, visit https://mployeradvisor.com/best-insurance-brokers.

About Mployer Advisor:

Mployer Advisor is changing the way employers search, evaluate, and select insurance advisors. The intuitive platform connects employers and employees to great benefits and insurance plans by providing employers with actionable data to easily evaluate and select the best advisor for a companys specific needs. Most brokerages have a profile on Mployer Advisor, which provides independent ratings of insurance advisors to support employers. Insurance brokers cannot pay to influence their Mployer Advisor rating. Only highly rated brokerages are allowed to advertise on the platform. To learn more about Mployer Advisor, visit https://myployeradvisor.com/https://mployeradvisor.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: Rankings are dynamic, and this report may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Mployer Advisors website. Because Mployer Advisors research is ongoing, interested companies that want to join next years list are encouraged to claim their free profile on Mployer Advisor.

Media Contact:

Abbey Dean (Head of Content)

Abbey.dean@mployeradvisor.com
Mployer Advisor announces the 2022 winners of the "Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards" based in the Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan area. We scored these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.

Mployer Advisor, the leading independent platform for employers to research, review, and evaluate insurance brokers is pleased to announce the winners of its Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards based in the Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan area. Mployer Advisor has named more than 600 winners in over 50 regions as part of its second annual 2022 awards. The class of 2022 winners account for less than 5% of all brokerages nationwide.

Mployer Advisors Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards Program evaluates brokerages based on the breadth and depth of their experience across employer industries, sizes, insurance products, and employer reviews. We recognize esteemed brokers that demonstrate market-leading competencies and a proven track record of success among employers, insurance providers, and peers.

The team at Mployer Advisor is proud to honor this group of top insurance consultants as part of the 2022 class for our second annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards, said Brian Freeman, the Founder and CEO of Mployer Advisor. Employer-sponsored healthcare and benefits cover over 150M Americans. Who an employer selects as their benefits advisor has more impact on cost and quality than who they choose as the insurance carrier. We scored these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.

Mployer Advisor determined the winners of the second annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards by analyzing each brokerage based on historical data, online reviews, their M Score rating, and demonstrated business experience.

The Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan markets are competitive regions in the U.S. Midwest, employing over 1.9 million people. Offering competitive employee benefits is a critical factor in hiring top talent for the regions employers. Finding and partnering with a highly rated insurance consultant is imperative to retaining talent in any market.

The recipients of the 2022 Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards for the Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan area are as follows:



The above winners are a snapshot of Mployer Advisors matrices and proprietary M Score on June 1, 2022. To view a full list of consultants in the Detroit and Ann Arbor area, visit MployerAdvisor.com.

To view a complete list of the 2022 recipients of Mployer Advisors Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards, visit https://mployeradvisor.com/best-insurance-brokers.

About Mployer Advisor:

Mployer Advisor is changing the way employers search, evaluate, and select insurance advisors. The intuitive platform connects employers and employees to great benefits and insurance plans by providing employers with actionable data to easily evaluate and select the best advisor for a companys specific needs. Most brokerages have a profile on Mployer Advisor, which provides independent ratings of insurance advisors to support employers. Insurance brokers cannot pay to influence their Mployer Advisor rating. Only highly rated brokerages are allowed to advertise on the platform. To learn more about Mployer Advisor, visit https://mployeradvisor.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: Rankings are dynamic, and this report may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Mployer Advisors website. Because Mployer Advisors research is ongoing, interested companies that want to join next years list are encouraged to claim their free profile on Mployer Advisor.

Media Contact:

Abbey Dean (Head of Content)

Abbey.dean@mployeradvisor.com

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Nerdery Innovation Studio offers new services to help companies innovate faster Through our Nerdery Innovation Studio, we co-create to help clients like PING, Polaris and Google push past roadblocks to produce a testable concept in a matter of weeks instead of years."

Nerdery, a premier digital product consultancy, announces the launch of three new, workshop-based services within its popular Nerdery Innovation Studio (NIS), which leverages Nerderys proven processes to equip companies to transform innovation by rapidly accelerating their path to creating breakthrough digital products. The three new service offerings include:



Product Mindset: Immerses teams in the product mindset, which ties agile development strategies to overarching goals. Clients come away with a custom action plan to help their teams apply learnings on an ongoing basis.

Digital Assessment: By analyzing a clients people, processes, and technology capabilities, Nerdery can determine key areas to invest in that help accelerate the digital transformation and provide the most return.

User-Centric Design: Through marketing analysis, competitive research, and Nerderys deep expertise in user-centered product development, NIS sharpens a products design to ensure its success.

These offerings round out the Nerdery Innovation Studio suite of services, which continue to offer:



Idea Incubator: NIS helps clients prioritize their opportunities and better understand what/when/how/who is needed to move their business idea into a working concept.

Rapid Prototype: By quickly pressure testing a product idea with business and IT partners, NIS helps clients get a clearer understanding of the effort and pathway needed to a future build.

As digital product experts, we live and breathe innovation every day, and sharing our proven secret sauce to support and build innovative and transformative work with other companies is a natural next step, said Rebekka DesLauriers, Nerdery Innovation Studio Portfolio Lead. Through our Nerdery Innovation Studio, we co-create to help clients like PING, Polaris and Google push past roadblocks to produce a testable concept in a matter of weeks instead of years.

Nerdery Innovation Studio engagements are driven by Nerd-facilitated workshop sessions and range from a few days to 3-4 weeks in length. Theyre tailored to each clients unique needs and specific challenges in order to drive value to the business and designed to quickly accelerate into subsequent phases to start building digital solutions.

To learn more about Nerdery Innovation Studio and new services, please visit http://www.nerdery.com/innovation-studio.

Or, view our recent panel event Sparking Innovation to learn from innovation experts how to discover real-world strategies for staying innovative and learn how to gain leadership buy-in for your ideas  through visualizing, positioning and telling your story.

ABOUT NERDERY

Nerdery is a premier digital product consultancy with depth of experience in strategy, design, technology and engineering, serving clients across a range of industries. Nerdery works alongside its clients to understand their goals and build digital products that transform business, create enduring customer connections and elevate the human experience. Much more than consultants, they are allies for the digital journey  a collection of strategists, designers, technologists and proud Nerds, who are united around a vision of relentlessly inventing a world that works better for all. Nerdery was founded in 2003 and has offices in Minneapolis, Chicago and Phoenix. Find out more at nerdery.com.
For organizations that prioritize feature-rich applications, highly integrated collaboration options and pricing flexibility, Microsoft presents a compelling choice.

A NYC area IT consultant and Microsoft Partner offers three reasons to migrate from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 in a new article on the eMazzanti Technologies website. The informative article first asserts that business priorities may influence an organizations preference for either product.

The author then presents the advantages that Microsoft holds in collaboration tools with its Teams app, including larger videoconference meetings. She then reviews the superiority of Microsofts feature-rich productivity apps and its flexible pricing options.

For organizations that prioritize feature-rich applications, highly integrated collaboration options and pricing flexibility, Microsoft presents a compelling choice, stated Jennifer Mazzanti, CEO, eMazzanti Technologies.

Below are a few excerpts from the article, 3 Reasons to Migrate from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365.

Seamless Collaboration

To begin with, Word, Excel and PowerPoint dominate the office productivity landscape. While Google allows users to create and edit simple Microsoft documents, its editing options are limited. With Microsoft, however, users can easily create, edit, and share complex documents and powerful presentations.

Additionally, with Microsoft Teams, users move seamlessly from collaborating on a document to chat and video, all without switching apps. And Teams offers more generous participant limits than Google Meet for video conferencing. While Google plans include participant limits of between 100 and 500, Microsoft participant limits start at 300 and go up to 1000.

Feature-Rich Productivity Apps with Desktop Option

Microsoft truly shines when it comes to functionality, and organizations that depend on extensive formatting options will lean toward Microsoft because of its desktop apps. The desktop option also means users can work offline. Google, on the other hand, delivers simplicity, offering only web-based productivity apps with relatively basic features.

Flexible Pricing

Microsoft and Google differ significantly in terms of pricing plans. Whereas Google offers just four business and enterprise plans, Microsoft offers six. More importantly, Microsoft allows organizations to mix and match plans. For example, consider if only a few employees require the additional storage and security options available in a higher plan.

Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 Migration Experts

The migration experts at eMazzanti bring the tools and expertise necessary for a smooth transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. From choosing optimal settings to launching robust teams, they make it easy to get the most out of Microsoft 365.

Have you read?

New Live Camera Feed in PowerPoint Brings In-Person Feel to Hybrid Meetings

Protect Microsoft 365 Data for Business Resilience

About eMazzanti Technologies

eMazzantis team of trained, certified IT experts rapidly deliver increased revenue growth, data security and productivity for clients ranging from law firms to high-end global retailers, expertly providing advanced retail and payment technology, digital marketing services, cloud and mobile solutions, multi-site implementations, 247 outsourced network management, remote monitoring, and support.

eMazzanti has made the Inc. 5000 list 9X, is a 4X Microsoft Partner of the Year, the #1 ranked NYC area MSP, NJ Business of the Year and 5X WatchGuard Partner of the Year! Contact: 1-866-362-9926, info@emazzanti.net or http://www.emazzanti.net Twitter: @emazzanti Facebook: Facebook.com/emazzantitechnologies.


According to new research by no-code software test automation platform company, Leapwork, 85% of U.S. CEOs think its acceptable to release software that hasnt been properly tested, so long as it's patch tested later. And 79% of testers say that up to 40% of software goes to market without sufficient testing. As a result, 52% of testers claim their teams spend five to 10 days per year patching software.

Overall, there is a huge disconnect between CEOs and testers regarding the adequacy of software testing. Despite the majority of testers expressing concern that insufficiently tested software is going to market, the overwhelming majority of CEOs (94%) say theyre confident their software is tested regularly.

CEOs are aware of the risks of insufficient testing, with 95% of CEOs saying they are concerned about losing their jobs in the wake of a software failure. About three-quarters (76%) of testers have the same fear. In addition, both CEOs and testers see risks to their companies due to insufficiently tested software. More than three-quarters of CEOs (77%) say software failures have harmed their companys reputation in the last five years.

Leapwork, in collaboration with market-research firm Censuswide, released The Leapwork Risk Radar, a new global research study that surveyed just under 500 U.S. and U.K. CEOs and software testers at companies larger than 500 employees across multiple industries. The survey outlines attitudes towards, and perceptions of, software testing within large organizations.

Christian Brink Frederiksen, co-founder and CEO at Leapwork, said: Our research shows the widespread issues that exist in software testing today. While CEOs and testers understand the consequences of releasing software that hasnt been tested properly, an alarming number still think its acceptable to issue it and prefer to rely on patch testing afterwards to fix any problems. This often comes down to not thinking there is a viable option and choosing speed over stability  a devils dilemma. But whats more concerning is the disconnect between CEOs and their developer teams, indicating that testing issues are falling under the radar and not being escalated until its too late.

Why software isnt tested properly

When asked why their software wasnt tested properly before being released, CEOs and testers cited faster development cycles, a lack of skilled developers and a lack of professional development, as well as the reliance on manual testing as primary reasons why. Detailed data points include:



Manual testing: Just under four in 10 CEOs (39%) cite reliance on manual testing as the main reason.

Underinvestment in automation and insufficient time: 40% of testers whose company uses or develops in-house software that goes to market without being insufficiently tested; say underinvestment in test automation is one reason, with only 43% claiming they are using some element of automation (i.e., an automation tool or a combination of manual and automation). Just over a third (34%) of testers cite lack of time. 29% say unable to test all software due to increased frequency of development.

Lack of skilled developers: Just over a third of CEOs (34%) and about four in 10 testers (42%) whose company uses or develops in-house software that goes to market without being insufficiently tested cite lack of available skilled developers. This gap indicates that the digital skills gap is still a big issue in the U.S. with companies struggling to find the right skillsets to manage test automation.

There isnt enough professional development: More than a third of CEOs (34%) say underinvestment in testing personnel including continuous professional development is the reason why software isnt tested properly, implying that teams arent focusing enough of their efforts on upskilling testers.

Frederiksen added: As more companies transition from manual testing to automation to meet the testing requirements of increasingly complex software, theyre struggling to find testers with the right digital skills to manage the process. Combine that with the pressure of meeting digital transformation goals and companies are cutting corners and taking unnecessary risks.

Weve seen the implications of huge software failures in the news, so on the current trajectory, more and more companies will struggle with failures and outages which could cost them a significant amount in financial and reputational damage. Businesses need to urgently consider a different approach and embrace no code test automation systems that don't require coding skills and free up their skilled teams to focus on the most high-value tasks.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITOR:

Research Methodology

The research was conducted by Censuswide and surveyed 240 U.K. and U.S. CEOs and 240 U.K. and U.S. Heads of QA, Manual Testers, Release Managers/Delivery Managers and Site Reliability Engineers/Executive; company size 500+, aged 18+ across banking and financial services, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, retail and eCommerce, telecoms and logistics and transportation.

About Leapwork

Leapwork empowers the worlds largest enterprises to adopt digital transformation securely and successfully with its unique, no-code automation platform. Unlike traditional automation approaches, Leapwork breaks down the barriers between humans and computers with an entirely visual no-code system that everyone can understand. Leapwork is used by global enterprises across all industries, from banks and insurance companies to life science, government and aerospace. Clients include Mercedes Benz, PayPal, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and BNP Paribas. The company is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has local offices across Europe, US and Asia.

To learn more about Leapwork, visit: https://www.leapwork.com/
Harry Colmer, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1930 and moved to Beverly Hills in October 1941, has completed his new book The White Apache and His Blood Brother: A Charming Story about Their Thrilling Adventures and Exciting Love Stories: a riveting and entertaining story that introduces Hank and Cord, two young boys living on an Apache reservation in the 1920s.

Hank is 100% Apache all the way. Cord is an orphaned white boy whose parents were killed in an automobile accident on a reservation road. He was adopted by chief Jack Silver Eyes, Hanks father. The boys become blood brothers. Cord wants to learn his genealogy. He learns of many exciting people in his bloodline.

The Second World War interrupts their schooling, so they join the Marine Corps as second lieutenants on the bloody frontlines of the Pacific Islands, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, etc. They both get wounded on Guadalcanal, transferred to the Mercy ship, docked at Quamaya Island. They cause quite a stir there, improving many miserable lives.

The war ends. They split from Quamaya, and returning home, they become very successful businessmen, bringing their tribes into the 20th century. Hank gets married.

The next fifty chapters are more exciting as Hank and Cord establish a Club for extremely rich millionaires looking for a way to help the worlds impoverished peoples. These two men solve the problem for these philanthropists who want to share their fortunes.

Harry Colmer is a 91-year-old former Marine Corps Tanker during the Korean War 1951-1952. As a 90mm tank gunner, he saw much combat from "Mouse Trap," providing cover for the Korean Marines, 38th Parallel, on top of a mountain in 56 degrees below zero weather. He lived through it all for a year; he knows what it is like. His book is fiction about World War Two, not the battles. The book is a tribute to all those who serve us in need. Semper Fidelis.

Published by Page Publishing, Harry Colmers engrossing tale is an exciting adventure ending in Cord's marriage. It is full of love and sex on the land, sea, and air.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase The White Apache and His Blood Brother: A Charming Story about Their Thrilling Adventures and Exciting Love Stories at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
J. Paul Hickey, a retired forty-eight-year veteran radio and TV journalist, who anchored ABC News Radios special coverage of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and worked on assignments that took him around the globe covering events that are now chapters in history books during his thirty-two years with ABC News, has completed his new book The Blood Island Brooch: a gripping and potent work of crime fiction that keeps the pages turning until its dramatic conclusion.

Jack Hennessey is a highly decorated former homicide detective who had a long, successful career. Yet in retirement, Hennessey is consumed by needless guilt, believing he had betrayed his best friend in a botched murder investigation. When the mangled body of a woman is found tangled in the rocks around Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, Jack sees finding her killer as a chance for redemption.

He discovers what seems to be the robbery of a priceless ruby brooch gone wrong is far more than simple homicide. The victim is African American, and her death leads Jack into a dangerous world of deep racial divides connected to slavery issues of Americas past and bigotry of its present. Along the way, he meets the dark underbelly of resistance and the seedy realm of organized crime.

The novel draws upon actual historical events and contemporary conflicts to frame the world of murder and betrayal Hennessey must negotiate.

Published by Page Publishing, J. Paul Hickeys engrossing book is an excellent choice for avid fiction readers.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase The Blood Island Brooch at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing understands that authors should be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
Jack Igo, who holds a B.S. degree in sociology from UMass Boston, has completed his new book Mjolnir: an insightful and captivating story that follows an elite group of fighters in WWII that fought for the German Army and defeated countless enemies through their immense skills in battle.

The Americans had bided their time, letting Russia soften Germany up before entering the war, Igo writes. Russia could wait no longer. The USA must enter the war if there was to be any hope of defeating Germany. So it was Mjolnir never skipping a beat. War is killing maybe in new ways, maybe in new places, but killing is the end result.

Mjolnir was the best there ever was. The eleven greatest hand-picked soldiers, combining to form the most elite unit in the world is an understatement. They did not lose; they never succumbed to the enemy. They hurt the enemy relentlessly, constantly outthinking the enemy. Never going with standard operating procedures, thinking outside of the box. Putting themselves inside the minds of their counterparts. When the US Army regiment expected mines, there werent any. When a US patrol expected an ambush, it never came. .... From the top officers to the grunt on the beach, the Germans had the advantage, they were defending their homeland, mothers, fathers, wives, and children. The Germans fought with love and passion. There was no fear because they knew there was only death. They fought until that option was forced on them, taking every enemy of the fatherland they could before that happened.

Children fourteen to twelve years and younger were formed into assassination and terrorist groups called werewolves. When a country wages war, they must be prepared to go to that extreme. There is no partial war, only total war.

Published by Page Publishing, Jack Igos fascinating tale shows the destruction of war on both sides and follows the Mjolnir as they spearhead the German advance across Europe.

Readers who wish to experience this mesmerizing work can purchase Mjolnir at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
Rita Horstman, who was raised in a rural area with a small Methodist church, has completed her new book The Lords Prayer and the Resurrection: A Battle for Jesus: a powerful examination of one of the most popular prayers used by most Christians. Though her professional development was in the fields of business administration and public affairs, her great-uncle, a pastor, was an excellent mentor, as were here grandparents, parents and other family members and friends.

Many people, through their lifetimes on this earth, struggle with the reason they are here, their purpose, their ultimate goal, and finding meaning in life. This book explores those often-unspoken questions through Scripture and personal reflection, providing comfort and inspiration through struggles and events that can challenge any persons beliefs, heart, and faith, Horstman said.

Published by Page Publishing, Horstmans inspirational work was written to remind readers of the power and the true meaning of the Lords Prayer. The prayer was written long ago and stated by Christ with instruction for His followers to pray. Most Christians know the Lords Prayer by heart, but not all Christians take the time to review the prayer, internalize its message, and renew their faith through it.

As people confront daily struggles and seek purpose in life, faith can falter. But the Lords Prayer provides everything necessary to put purpose back in our lives, answer readers nagging questions, and overcome struggles.

Horstman said people dont realize they are on a battlefield. This book reminds readers of the struggles the apostles went through to spread the gospel discusses challenges of today and reminds readers that Christ is the overcomer.

Readers who wish to experience this inspiring work can purchase The Lords Prayer and the Resurrection: A Battle for Jesus at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
Connecticut Innovations (CI), Connecticuts strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticuts innovative, growing companies, today announced that it invested $13.5 million across 34 transactions during the third quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, ending March 31, 2022.

Looking at investment breakdown, CI directed approximately $4.9 million toward healthcare companies, while $4.1 million was allocated across the technology sector. The remaining investment funds spanned areas such as climate-tech, consumer, and venture funds.

We are seeing a rightsizing of the market, which will affect the companies in our portfolio over the next several years, said Matthew Storeygard, senior managing director of investments at Connecticut Innovations. However, we continue to see tremendous progress with our portfolio companies, and we look forward to helping them grow as we near the end of the fiscal year.

There was an additional $96.7 million leveraged in outside capital during the third quarter.

This quarter, we invested in almost 10 new companies, while continuing to do follow-on investments for growing companies in the state, said Peter Longo, senior managing director of investments at Connecticut Innovations. We also participated in deals where we leveraged our dollars with other strong syndicates of investors.

Additionally, CI has had 173 angels invest $12.3 million across 44 qualified Connecticut businesses through the Angel Investor Tax Credit program year to date.

About Connecticut Innovations:

Connecticut Innovations (CI) is Connecticuts strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticuts innovative, growing companies. CI provides venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies, financial support for innovation and collaboration, and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, please visit http://www.ctinnovations.com.
Of Thunderstorms: a charming tale of a fathers love. Of Thunderstorms is the creation of published author Cosette Carter, a native of Western Oregon who later moved to Texas but has since returned to Oregon, where she resides in a small cabin in the woods.

Carter shares, Though this is a story of a thunderstorm, its really a story of how to face ones fears, whatever they may be. And although it was there and then, it has become the path to here and now, over and over again.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Cosette Carters new book features striking illustrations by Nicoleta Dabija.

Carter presents a touching story base on a real experience that explores emotions, fears, and the natural world within the pages of this captivating juvenile fiction.

Consumers can purchase Of Thunderstorms at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Of Thunderstorms, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Omnia Markets Home Page Were excited to move our platform forward by going live and making our data and analysis available to anyone interested in cryptocurrency

Just in time to help with investor uncertainty caused by the fall in cryptocurrency, Omnia Markets, Inc., a one-stop platform providing cryptocurrency-based data, proprietary and non-proprietary analytics, comprehensive and reliable industry market information and trends, is launching today.

The Version 1.0 platform fulfills the demand for increasingly cryptocurrency education including key information that is usually hard to find and never all on one site, such as the wash trading removed volume via the proprietary artificial intelligence cleansing algorithm. Omnia democratizes the industry, making data available to everyday investors, much of which is now only available to high income individuals on expensive terminals such as Bloombergs. These data include 180+ technical indicators, two AI/ML algorithms, access to the top actively traded coins , etc. The following is a breakdown:

1. One-of-a-kind platform: Omnia is democratizing features otherwise found in more expensive platforms for everyday investors and the community.

2. Value: Users are getting access to high-end features on a little-to-no-cost basis. These features are built from the ground up for the cryptocurrency industry to allow users to conduct in-depth analyses for their specific situations/investment criteria.

3. Education: Gets users on the same level of information access as more sophisticated investors that already have years of experience in conducting technical analysis. Omnia lays the basis for users to quickly understand what Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, DeFi, NFTs, and Bitcoin all are, while also teaching them how to use each indicator offered. While not a replacement for higher education and online schools like Coursera/Khan Academy, users don't necessarily have to take years of study before they are able to start trading.

4. Vision: A.I./M.L. concepts - Since there is so much data floating around the industry, Omnia weeds out the noise and provides actionable information and data via its AI/ML algorithms. While the platform is starting with two algorithms, Omnia will quickly expand over the couple of years while also bolstering the currently available algorithms by including deep learning to allow them to grow and mature over time and become more reliable. Omnia Markets is also building a unique ML-based reporting system to allow each user to create their own customized research reports based on their own criteria--allowing them to get a tailored look at the industry and assist in their research and investment needs.

5. Industry Insights: Our global insights team will provide users with the latest information on the industry and specifically look at how these pieces of information are impacting specific coin prices and the industry as a whole.

Omnia Markets is currently self-funded but is setting up for Reg CF and other fundraisers. Its functionality has been growing exponentially, establishing pillars in the industry with insights integration and global framework implementation along the way.

Were excited to move our platform forward by going live and making our data and analysis available to anyone interested in cryptocurrency, said Mitesh Shah, founder and CEO of Omnia. Two-thirds of the value of cryptocurrency has been lost during the last few months. Omnias platform can help get investors back on track. Were looking forward to improving and expanding our service as we increase users and visibility.

Omnia Markets will offer multiple levels for memberships-- basic and premium tier level services within the platform to better suit each user. All features of the site are available free to all users until subscription pricing is implemented at a later date. After which, a large portion of the analytical tools will still remain free to encourage and promote investors to do as much of their own research and analysis as possible.

Omnia Markets also announced today the appointment of Jason Fernandes to its Board of Advisors. He is an entrepreneur, blockchain speaker, and crypto analyst. As a teenager, Fernandes founded the internet portal ZeoCities.com, non-profit LDKids.org, and wrote for CHIP Magazine. Later, while studying at the University of Texas, Austin, Fernandes co-invented the worlds first legal Internet-based DVR, RecordTV, and was part of the founding team at PerceptiveI (a company that developed ECRM software for Fortune 500 clients).

In 2012, Fernandes was appointed monthly technology columnist for Indonesias GlobeAsia Magazine, and subsequently went on to found multiple award winning companies in the IOT/Blockchain space, most recently TokenJay.TV, a blockchain/cryptocurrency focused media outlet. A TEDx Speaker and ICOBench expert, Fernandes also speaks regularly on Blockchain/Cryptocurrency and has advised various international blockchain firms, political parties and state governments. He presently heads India Operations for XREX Inc.

For more information about Omnia Markets, please visit http://www.Omniamarketsinc.com.

About Omnia Markets, Inc.

Omnia Markets is a one-stop Artificial Intelligence platform providing expertise on financial analytics, trends, news, and information in the cryptocurrency industry.

The Company offers a decentralized cryptocurrency platform collecting, aggregating, and filtering information regarding crypto-companies and their coins. Creating the first A.I. cleansed database of cryptocurrencies available in the global market, the Company is addressing the concerns investors and consumers face by enabling them to effortlessly research crypto-companies and their coins. The Company provides the highest standards and proprietary analytical tools for investors and consumers to use when evaluating various cryptocurrencies.

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As part of its ongoing commitment to providing pro bono immigration assistance to people displaced by the war in Ukraine, global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP has assisted more than 100 Ukrainian refugees in the United States file for either Temporary Protective Status (TPS), employment authorization and/or advanced parole.

The firms strong partnership with the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and its Ukrainian Immigrant Assistance Project, has resulted in the majority of the Ukrainian TPS cases referred to the firm. The most recent wave, however, sprung from a legal clinic hosted by the New York City Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) June 16, and from an event hosted in the firms New Jersey office. The MOIA clinic served as the launch event for MOIAs $2 million Ukrainian Response Initiative, which partners with non-profit organizations to help currently residing and newly arrived Ukrainian New Yorkers access immigration legal assistance, translation services, social services, and other resources. MOIAs all-day event was staffed with Greenberg Traurig attorneys and summer associates.

"Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Greenberg Traurig attorneys and staff have dedicated hundreds of pro bono hours providing Ukrainians with legal advice concerning a variety of matters, including immigration relief. We are proud to tap into GTs strong immigration practice and assist the Ukrainian Response Initiative, providing comprehensive pro bono immigration legal services to Ukrainian refugees in the United States," Greenberg Traurig Global Pro Bono Chair Caroline J. Heller said. "Through trainings, donations, and direct legal assistance our firm continues to help immigrants who have been externally displaced navigate what can often be a complex and cumbersome immigration process."

Greenberg Traurig has deployed its considerable resources to help Ukrainians in several critical ways, including:



Ongoing attorney trainings, including one led by Shareholders Laura Foote Reiff and Kristen W. Ng for more than 200 attorneys, including clients, on the immigration relief available to Ukrainians in the United States and abroad.

Hosted a TPS clinic at our New Jersey office for a group that included GT lawyers and an in-house team from one of our large pharmaceutical clients. NYLAG trained the attorneys, who then met with their clients remotely to start to prepare Temporary Protected Status and Employment Authorization applications.

Various pro bono immigration-related and other legal services to refugees in the United States and internationally.

Committed to donating up to $2 million in humanitarian aid in addition to financial donations from attorneys and professional staff.

Numerous attorneys and staff in the firms Warsaw office are hosting Ukrainian refugees in their homes and donating and distributing food, clothing, and other essential items.

The firm has also aligned with leading Ukrainian law firm Avellum, based in Kyiv, by arranging to place a group of Avellum associates in such areas as Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate, International Arbitration & Litigation, Competition, and Tax in Greenberg Traurig offices. Initially, Avellum lawyers will be seconded to Greenberg Traurig offices in London, Amsterdam, and Berlin.

NYLAGs Ukrainian Immigration Assistance Program, which was launched in March, offers various types of legal assistance to Ukrainian nationals in the United States. This includes help in obtaining TPS and other forms of immigration relief; legal services for those facing deportation; advice and assistance for those seeking to reunite with or help loved ones in Ukraine; and up-to-date information and advice on the evolving crisis in the country.

Greenberg Traurig has a longstanding history of assisting refugees worldwide in times of crisis. After the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, Greenberg Traurig immediately moved to address the enormous humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan by training more than 100 Greenberg Traurig attorneys to assist in filing humanitarian parole applications. Thus far Greenberg Traurig has submitted applications for more than 140 families and about 637 individuals, with more applications in the pipeline. Greenberg Traurig has recently taken several asylum cases for Afghan families who were able to evacuate to the United States.

About Greenberg Traurigs Pro Bono Program: Greenberg Traurig lawyers across the firms offices provide pro bono legal services to the indigent and working poor, as well as to numerous civic and charitable organizations dedicated to assisting them. The firm focuses its resources on specialized and interrelated issues including civil rights and affirmative action, anti-human trafficking, family law matters, childrens rights, criminal appeals, immigration and political asylum, housing, and homelessness.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2400 attorneys in 43 locations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm, often recognized for its focus on philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono, reported gross revenue of over $2 Billion for FY 2021. The firm is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law 100, Am Law Global 100, NLJ 250, and Law360 (US) 400. On the debut 2022 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard, it is a Top 15 firm. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab and net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com.
oak9's grand opening of new global headquarters in Chicago "Every cloud native business is tasked with managing and mitigating cybersecurity risk. oak9 solves the #1 priority for these companies"

Summary:

> oak9, cloud native trailblazer known for developer-first IaC security, has raised $14 million in funding over the last 15 months.

> The latest round, led again by Menlo Ventures, includes two new investors - Cisco Investments and Morgan Stanleys Next Level Fund, while HPA tripled its investment.

> oak9 will use the funds in part to grow its free Community Edition and help launch a next-gen Security as Code offering to make cloud native security more accessible.

___

oak9 Inc., developer-first IaC security leader, announced $8 million in an additional round of financing including two new investment partners, Cisco Investments and Morgan Stanleys Next Level Fund.

The latest round of funding brings oak9 to $14 million raised over the last 15 months. Previous investors Menlo Ventures, which led the round, and HPA, which tripled its investment in oak9, are also part of the latest round.

oak9, which recently shipped an industry-leading Infrastructure as Code (IaC) remediation capability, will use the funds in part to grow its free Community Edition and help launch a next-gen Security as Code offering  a game-changer that will allow customers to extend oak9s proprietary security blueprints for additional guardrails.

Its a critical time in the IaC security space, said oak9 co-founder and CEO Raj Datta. Were seeing it all over the market: companies simply cannot hire enough security engineers to ensure proper security in their IaC and cloud environments. Budgets across the industry are being slashed and many companies are short on talent at a time when we need more of it, not less. oak9 helps alleviate that problem, reducing both costs and exposure by automating security so you can do more with less.

Cisco is committed to keeping developers secure and compliant in hybrid IaC environments," said Janey Hoe, vice president, Cisco Investments. We are energized by the developer friendly security controls and compliance checks enabled by oak9. The architecture of seamlessly embedding security in the development process is congruent with how we envision IaC to be secured in future.

We launched the Next Level Fund to identify diverse, disruptive startups and help them increase their visibility and accelerate their business, said Alice Vilma, Managing Director and Co-Portfolio Manager, Morgan Stanley Next Level Fund. oak9 fits the description as a disruptive startup that is helping to lead the charge in the emerging IaC security market.

The latest funding round continues strong momentum in 2022 for oak9, which recently moved into a new global headquarters on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and opened a new office in India, one of the fastest-adopting IaC markets in the world. oak9 is continuing its 2022 push to add more talent to meet strong customer demand and growth.

"As the markets adoption of Infrastructure as Code has accelerated, increased security of cloud applications has emerged as a critical need that oak9 can solve, said Alex Brown, Deal Lead and Board Observer at venture capital firm HPA. We've been pleased to see initial customers validate the impact of oak9s innovative Security as Code platform and prove out the company's vision. With recent enhancements to ease of use and speed of deployment, I expect we will see accelerated adoption of their security platform."

Every cloud native business is tasked with managing and mitigating cybersecurity risk. oak9 solves the #1 priority for these companies by remediating security and compliance issues in real-time," said Menlo Ventures' Venky Ganesan.

Learn more about oak9 at oak9.io.

About oak9

oak9 secures cloud native infrastructure for developers. oak9s Security as Code continuously finds, analyzes, and remediates security and compliance issues in real-time, as changes occur in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and deployed cloud workloads. oak9s proprietary Security as Code (SaC) blueprints support 20-plus compliance standards out-of-the-box including HIPAA, HITRUST, PCI, SOC2 and ISO27001. oak9s open-sourced Security as Code also enables security engineers to extend oak9 security blueprints for additional guard rails. Headquartered in Chicago, oak9 is a Built in 2022 Start-up to Watch backed by investors Menlo Ventures, HPA, Cisco Investments, and Morgan Stanleys Next Level Fund. oak9 partners with HashiCorp, AWS, and Microsoft, and actively supports the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). Keep in touch with oak9 on LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok, or visit oak9.io.

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Surviving Jim Crowism: Stories from a Sharecroppers Son: a powerful memoir with historical roots. Surviving Jim Crowism: Stories from a Sharecroppers Son is the creation of published author Lafayette Tom Garrett, who was born in rural East Texas to sharecroppers in Upshur County in December 1934. An avid hunter, he spent most of his adult life fighting against racism and other injustices he grew up experiencing firsthand. Garrett is retired from McDonnell Douglas Corporation and Cotton Belt Railroad (now Union Pacific) and currently tends his cattle farm and drives a school bus route in Estelline, Texas, all the while continuing to fight for justice whenever and wherever he can.

Garrett shares, More than nine million black American families migrated from the southern United States to parts of the north and west during the early to mid-1960s to escape the terror of Jim Crowism, a Southern strategy designed to strip away the dignity of Black Americans whose ancestors, by little more than two generations, were kidnapped from Africa and brought to America and enslaved.

Surviving Jim Crowism is a recollection of stories by Lafayette Tom Garrett, who was born in rural East Texas to sharecroppers. Like other young blacks growing up in the South, Tom enjoyed outdoor adventures, such as hunting opossums and snakes with his loyal coon dogs and going to the movies after a hard days work in the fields, all the while fighting against the racialized social structures that were intent on keeping him and his family down. As the pressure of Jim Crowism mounts, Tom traveled from Texas to Southern California, integrating movie theaters, schools, and restaurants along the way. Jim Crowism presented a significant challenge to Tom, but it wasnt insurmountable. According to Tom, Thanks be to God, we lived and survived in the world of Jim Crow.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Lafayette Tom Garretts new book examines the seemingly countless challenges faced by Black Americans in the early to mid-1960s.

Garrett presents a compelling discussion within the pages of an autobiographical work steeped in cultural heritage.

Consumers can purchase Surviving Jim Crowism: Stories from a Sharecroppers Son at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Surviving Jim Crowism: Stories from a Sharecroppers Son, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Rep. Landry speaking at an abortion rights rally in front of SCOTUS, March 2020.

Successive Governors of Louisiana since 2004 have prepared for all abortion clinics to be banned in the state if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and recent legislation signed by current Governor John Bel Edwards seems to expand that prohibition to include IUDs and other forms of birth control.

A lone voice objecting to these efforts is State Representative Mandie Landry, who from the moment her campaign was launched in a small district in Uptown New Orleans established herself as the new voice for the states reproductive rights movement.

In taking that role, she has been the object of local Republican fundraising campaigns for the majority of her colleagues, but the diminutive lawyer is used to the finger-pointing from the Right, since she has represented one of the states abortion clinics, an IVF clinic, as well as people seeking abortions. Before her election, Louisiana never elected a person who had those credentials to a state office.

As a reproductive rights advocate and educator, her concerns for Louisiana women have only grown while in office, and thus when the State Senator who represented her area abruptly resigned earlier this year, her supporters convinced her to seek the higher seat.

Standing with her in making that decision are women, new parents, health-care providers, trial attorneys and the states labor unions.

The extreme measures taken in Louisiana to prohibit of abortion even in cases of rape and incest, are dangerous to the health and well-being of women in this state, Rep. Landry said. The growing and dangerous assault on reproductive rights makes it more important than ever to elect strong and knowledgeable advocates especially since our reproductive rights were lost in state houses - and they will only be regained in state houses.

Women will undoubtedly be arrested in states like Louisiana with trigger laws, and I will never stop fighting because one day the tide will turn - and we need to be ready to spring into action quickly, she said.

Rep. Landry has been an effective advocate for women in the state. Thanks to her legislation, Louisiana became the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid for new mothers from 60 days to one year. Louisiana has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country. This new provision will provide immediate care to about 14,000 new mothers, and result in an almost $20 million increased investment in maternal health care in the state.

She also passed laws that banned the use of solitary confinement for pregnant teens and women, or for anyone who has just given birth; to allow young pregnant and parenting students to stay in public high schools to graduate; and created a refundable tax credit for burial expenses for women who pass away due to pregnancy complications. Her legislation also guarantees that 17-year-old abuse victims and witnesses are provided the same legal protections as all other minors.

Im looking forward to my election as a State Senator this November, said Representative Landry, who will find out on July 22 who else will compete with her for the seat. A strong, pro-choice woman has occupied this seat since the turn of this century and I intend to continue to honor.
Mike Walker, who was born in a small town in south-central Missouri, has completed his new book Welcome Sky Soldiers: Letters Home from Vietnam: a gripping and potent collection of letters written by the author during his time in Vietnam. The letters are published with all the grammatical errors, misspellings, and fractured sentences kept as they were originally written, often amid harsh jungle conditions, under duress with a pencil, and often on wet paper. Mike felt this would help convey, somewhat, the terrible conditions he and his fellow members of the herd were constantly facing.

Author Mike Walker volunteered for the draft and, after entering the military, volunteered for airborne training and became a regular member of the Army, not a draftee, as all paratroopers are volunteers. He was stationed in Germany with the Eighth Airborne Mechanized Infantry Division. Not wanting to miss the opportunity of experiencing war, Mike then volunteered for Vietnam. After a small leave at home, he then traveled to South Vietnam. After returning from the war, Mike became a proud graduate of Wichita State University and a small business owner. He and his wife, Cheryl, raised three boys and were blessed with eight wonderful grandchildren. Almost fifty years after the Vietnam experience, Mike wanted to share his experiences in writing.

Under each reproduced letter, Mike shares happenings during that timea diary of sorts. He also decided he would not spend much time with the blood and guts but devote most of the work to everyday goings-on, sharing both the funny and the serious.

Published by Page Publishing, Mike Walkers captivating work begins with his time spent in West Germany before moving on to South Vietnam.

Readers who wish to experience this informative work can purchase Welcome Sky Soldiers: Letters Home from Vietnam at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
ESPRO is taking advantage of our co-branding program, which enables the creation of many EV charging companies, equipping them with Noodoe EV OS and Noodoe EV charging hardware.

Noodoe EV, a global leader in EV charging technology, has expanded its business footprint to Thailand, co-branding with residential construction company ESPRO to install hundreds of charging stations around the Bangkok metropolitan area. The announcement was made by Noodoe CEO Jennifer Chang.

We at Noodoe are proud to extend our presence further into the Asian EV charging market with ESPRO powered by Noodoe, says Chang. ESPRO is taking advantage of our co-branding program, which enables the creation of many EV charging companies, equipping them with Noodoe EV OS and Noodoe EV charging hardware. Working with Noodoe allows one to grow a recurring revenue source by providing an EV charging management service  Noodoe EV OS  collecting fees for every single transaction. Our co-branding model runs parallel to the exponential growth projected by universal EV adoption.

Noodoes co-branding allows businesses to grow by offering customers completely autonomous, turnkey EV OS and charging station solutions. ESPRO first explains to customers the entire process. ESPRO then installs the advanced Noodoe EV stations run by the cloud-based EV OS. The result is that all involved share in a new EV revenue stream, powered by Noodoe. Companies co-branding with Noodoe include gas stations, hotels, retailers, installers, general contractors, solar panel installers, security firms, energy management firms, utilities and resellers.

For more information, go to http://www.espronoodoe.com

About Noodoe Inc.

To accelerate the world's transition to electric vehicles, Noodoe provides the mission-critical network operating system, Noodoe EV OS, that runs the EV charging networks for their operators.

Noodoe EV OS is one of the most advanced cloud-based operating platforms today; it is a charging network's "central brain" that runs all the charging stations across multiple locations and automates the entire operation of the EV charging network.

What makes Noodoe EV OS different is the core technology that empowers "extreme automation," which enables the operators to achieve the lowest possible operating cost. Controlling and running all EV charging stations, Noodoe EV OS fully automates everything  24/7 charging service delivery, automatic peak-hour price adjustment, automatic transaction billing, automatic payment processing, automatic bank transfer, automatic infrastructure diagnostics, and intelligent energy management. It's so automated that the network operators practically can generate revenue automatically and continuously.

Noodoe provides products and services that are used in 110 countries worldwide.

https://www.noodoe.com/

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Any time campaigns include an offline component  on the exposure or the conversion side of the equation  Reveal Mobile is working alongside marketers to ensure they have the insights and campaign intelligence they need.Andy Schrader, chief product officer

Reveal Mobile, the location intelligence and geofencing marketing software company, announced today the release of multiple new features to its geofencing platform, VISIT Local.

The platform, designed to help marketers improve the impact of digital and offline campaigns and deliver a higher return on ad spend, now gives users the ability to create and activate audiences based on the number of times a mobile device has visited a specific location, such as a retailer, restaurant, auto dealership, or other commercial location.

Targeting audiences based on visit frequency helps marketing acquire new customers who show flagging loyalty to their competitors, said Andy Schrader, chief product officer at Reveal Mobile. It enables marketers to build separate audiences for loyal and infrequent customers so they can message to them in a more relevant way. It also lets them exclude employees, further maximizing ad spend. Our customers have really become experts at growing market share by messaging to audiences who are most likely to convert. This new frequency feature makes that skill even more effective.

As part of VISIT Locals attribution reporting, the platform now includes estimated sales based on unique foot traffic conversions. Marketers can determine top line sales and return on ad spend, giving them greater insights into the value of campaigns.

Attribution reports in the platform are also archived indefinitely, so marketers can benchmark past performance against new ads and continuously improve the result they generate.

VISIT Local enables marketers to prove the actual value of their paid media investments, said Schrader. Any time campaigns include an offline component  on the exposure or the conversion side of the equation  VISIT Local works alongside marketers to ensure they have the insights and campaign intelligence they need.

These new features, which are available now to all VISIT Local customers, have been a primary driver in VISIT Local user growth. Reveal Mobiles customer base for VISIT Local has grown 73 percent since the start of the year. Customers use the platform for campaign planning and measurement an average of 20 times per month.

About Reveal Mobile

Reveal Mobile provides location intelligence, geofencing marketing and attribution solutions to ad agencies, retailers, media, restaurants and out of home companies. Creator of VISIT Local, the companys award-winning platform allows companies of any size to leverage location data to understand, reach and measure the right audiences. Mira, acquired by Reveal Mobile in 2021, is the leading location intelligence solution used in the out of home industry. Reveal Mobile is CCPA compliant and adheres to the Network Advertising Initiative code of conduct. The company is based in Raleigh, NC and New York, NY.

For more information, visit https://revealmobile.com. For insights on the marketing, advertising and ad tech industries, follow us on LinkedIn and visit our blog.

For a demo of VISIT Local, contact us.
"In all, I believe this will be a net positive, particularly for eCommerce companies. The capacity to refine one's results with additional filters means users are likelier to find what they're looking forand companies that offer value are likelier to receive traffic."

Terry Cane, COO of global SSL service domain registration and SEO hosting provider SEOHost.net (https://www.seohost.net), today expressed her opinion on a possible update to the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) that would see the addition of a sidebar to the search engine.

Initially spotted by digital marketer Ryan Mews, this sidebar will reportedly include a range of search filters based on a user's initial query. Judging by the screenshots, these filters appear to be largely semantic, and many seem primarily geared towards eCommerce. However, it's not clear whenor ifthis new feature will be incorporated, Cane believes that it would largely enrich the SERP.

"In all, I believe this will be a net positive, particularly for eCommerce companies," says Cane. "The capacity to refine one's results with additional filters means users are likelier to find what they're looking forand companies that offer value are likelier to receive traffic."

"With that said, it bears mentioning that this isn't the first time Google has tested search filters or sidebars," she continues. "This may either be a follow-up to previous tests conducted by the search giant, or a test of an entirely new feature. It's impossible to say for certain, and only the company's engineers truly know the roadmap."

Cane notes that if and when Google implements this change, it will likely have the same objective as when it releases an algorithm updatenamely, improving and enriching search results, allowing the best pages to rise to the top, and making it increasingly difficult to game the system.

"More and more, search engine optimization is a matter of quality rather than technical skill, just as it should be," Cane concludes. "I fully believe that, should Google eventually go forward with the implementation of a sidebar, that trend will continue. Keyword research will always be important to some extent, but in today's context, content is truly king."

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About SEOHost.net:

Located in Orlando, Florida, with locations worldwide, SEOHost.Net provides a wide range of services in both the U.S. and the E.U., including domain registration, SSL Hosting for SEO, as well as VPS, dedicated, and A-Class IP hosting. The company offers exceptional service with a strong service level agreement, multiple geographic locations, and free migration. For more information, visit https://www.seohost.net.


At Swan, education is our marketing, and theres no better way to educate the world on the potential of Bitcoin than through storytelling and high-production value content.

Swan Bitcoin, a Bitcoin financial services company, announced today the launch of Hard Money, an all-new weekly Bitcoin and financial news show, which is a co-production of Bitcoin Magazine and Swan Studios.

The show will air once a week on Bitcoin Magazines YouTube channel, with wider syndication to follow.

Natalie Brunell is an investigative journalist and educator who also hosts the Coin Stories Podcast. Prior to her decision to work in Bitcoin full-time, Natalie served as a senior correspondent and investigative reporter for Spectrum News 1 in Los Angeles, garnering an Emmy nomination for her investigative work.

In accepting the hosting position for Hard Money, Natalie said, The public deserves a thoughtful news program dedicated to documenting our changing economic environment and how Bitcoins adoption as a technology network is impacting communities. Legacy news, the world I come from, has largely missed the mark on Bitcoin and we are here to fill the void with balanced coverage, original stories, and thought-provoking analysis.

In addition to presenting the top headlines from the world of Bitcoin and finance at large, Hard Money will also feature packaged stories shot on location that demonstrate how Bitcoin is changing lives around the world.

Swan Bitcoins Swan Studios division is the first of its kind in the industry. Swans Founder and CEO, Cory Klippsten said, As a company born in Los Angeles, our proximity to Hollywood makes us acutely aware of the power of storytelling. At Swan, education is our marketing, and theres no better way to educate the world on the potential of Bitcoin than through storytelling and high-production value content. The future is bright because of Bitcoin, but we need to meet viewers where they are. This is why we started Swan Studios and why I am so excited about the launch of Hard Money.

Head of Swan Studios, Jason Don said, Bitcoin is a global phenomenon. Traditional Western media has only scratched the surface of whats happening with Bitcoin, and with this show we hope to really shine a light on the positive impact Bitcoin is having in communities large and small both at home and abroad.

For media inquiries, please contact Sarah Cohen at (310) 260-7901 or Sarah(at)MelrosePR(dot)com.

About Swan Bitcoin

Swan Bitcoin is dedicated to helping the next billion people understand Bitcoin and what it represents for our future. Swan produces high-quality Bitcoin education and takes pride in excellent, accessible customer service. Swan.com is the best way to accumulate Bitcoin with recurring and instant buys. The Private Client Services division helps high net worth individuals and entities build generational wealth around the world. Swans Advisor Services platform is the easiest and most secure way for financial advisors to provide their clients with direct exposure to actual Bitcoin. For more information, visit Swan.com.
Ryvers Divine: A Cry for Kingdom Charisma: a heartfelt memoir that examines a deeply personal spiritual journey. Ryvers Divine: A Cry for Kingdom Charisma is the creation of published author Tamesha Hill.

Hill shares, Crossing over into her thirties, and beating the odds of teenage motherhood, Tamesha finds herself questioning this glow everyone speaks of. She wants to agree with everyone but she knows something is missing. She has spent years crying silently and now, with more pressure to do great, the tears are more frequent.

Desperate for relief, she begins to seek God on a different level than what she has most of her life. She knows it is time and she is eager to do just that. Ryvers Divine gives a beginner friendly glimpse at accounts of a believer who found herself the kingdom way.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Tamesha Hills new book will encourage and inspire as readers explore the story of a womans battle for peace in Gods grace.

Hill offers readers an encouraging hand in hopes of helping others to find and nurture a deeper connection with God.

Consumers can purchase Ryvers Divine: A Cry for Kingdom Charisma at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Ryvers Divine: A Cry for Kingdom Charisma, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Tony Cassidy announces his return into the publishing scene with the release of Play Nancy Spain (published by AuthorHouse UK), the tale of a newly divorced single father as he enrolls in university, builds friendships and trust, and struggles to heal his heart and find new love.

It is 1980 and Toms marriage and his job as an assistant forester have unfortunately ended. After the lure of education prompts him to enroll at Ulster University as a mature student, he begins rebuilding his life. Although Tom knows that new beginnings can be scary, he immediately feels at home at Ulster. While balancing his duties as a single father with his academic obligations as a psychology student, Tom focuses on healing his heart and finding a way to move forward. Because the pain of his divorce continues to haunt him, he pledges to think hard before falling in love again.

In the meantime, Tom makes friends, goes on daily runs, and spends his evenings at local pubs. When he senses an undeniable connection with Laura, another student, he respectfully keeps his distance since she is already taken. But when he is unable to ignore his gut feeling that they are a perfect match, only time will tell if Tom can find a way to be with her, despite the obstacles.

This is a story of the human side of academia and a search for a new identity. Through it all there is the love for a young woman who seems out of reach but provide a source of inspiration through the turbulent years, Cassidy says. When asked what he wants readers to take away from the book, he answers, I think I would like readers to find some inspiration in the fact that change can be positive or negative but is determined by how you approach it. I hope they will feel that kindness and compassion can win through. For more details about the book, please visit https://www.authorhouse.com/en-gb/bookstore/bookdetails/840953-play-nancy-spain

Play Nancy Spain

By Tony Cassidy

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 170 pages | ISBN 9781665599238

E-Book | 170 pages | ISBN 9781665599221

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Tony Cassidy was born in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He now lives in Belfast with his daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. He is a professor of child and family health psychology at Ulster University. He has worked in several universities throughout the U.K. and Ireland. Play Nancy Spain is his debut novel.

AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrates over 23 years of service to authors. For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.co.uk or call 0-800-014-8641.
The Village at Mission, an upscale, rental-based senior living community operated by Tutera Senior Living & Health Care, announces the completion of phase 1 of a $6.5 million renovation. Since 1983, Tutera has worked to set the standard for upscale senior living in greater Kansas City and beyond.

The Village at Mission, an upscale, rental-based senior living community operated by Tutera Senior Living & Health Care at 7105 Mission Road in Prairie Village, Kansas, announces the completion of phase 1 of a $6.5 million renovation. A Grand Opening Ceremony and Open House Tour is scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. Tours are also available by appointment.

Tutera acquired The Village at Mission property in June 2021 and in June 2022, completed phase 1 of a 73,000 square-foot remodel of 26 resident apartments and first-floor common living spaces to meet Tuteras leading-edge brand standards. The residences have been modernized with new lighting, fresh furnishings, cabinetry, flooring, paint, and other upscale finishes. The common living space upgrades comprise an abundance of high-end dining and gathering places for social interaction and entertaining. This includes an elegant main dining area, bistro lounge, fireside lounge, fitness center, multipurpose room, activity/cooking room, and more. New furnishings complete the bright and airy, inviting spaces.

Since 1983, Tutera has worked to set the standard for upscale senior living in greater Kansas City and beyond, said Joe Tutera, CEO of Tutera Senior Living & Health Care. With the remodel, we are reinvesting in our community to not only benefit our valued residents but to also continue Tuteras leadership in delivering the highest-quality lifestyle in a competitive market.

During phase 2 of the remodel of The Village at Mission, Tutera will add 2,500 square feet for a state-of-the-art therapy gym, as well as 18,000 square feet for 20 newly constructed private rehabilitation suites on the first floor and 14 memory care suites on the second floor. With the addition, the community will encompass 93,563 square feet offering a continuum of care with assisted living, memory care, rehabilitation, and extended stay  all on one campus. Phase 2 work is expected to be complete in 2023.

Family is at the heart of everything we do, added Tutera. The renovation of The Village at Mission reflects our commitment to ensuring the happiness and wellness of our cherished residents and peace of mind for their families.

Country club-style amenities and services make The Village at Mission a sophisticated, yet comfortable community and include:



Restaurant-style dining

Healthy and satisfying menu options from in-house chefs, three times a day

Lounges for entertaining, cards, and other social activities

High-end beauty salon/barber

Fitness and therapy gym with HUR strength, balance and fitness equipment for active aging

Gracious accommodations with a variety of floor plans

Beautifully landscaped grounds

Wi-Fi throughout the community

Complete interior and exterior maintenance of apartment homes

Independent heating/air conditioning controls

Weekly maid and linen services; daily trash removal

Transportation services and scheduled group trips

Trained staff available 24 hours a day

Fully monitored emergency call system in bedrooms and bathrooms

24-hour security

Unlike other senior communities that require a buy-in or large upfront payment, The Village at Mission is a rental-based community for discerning seniors who want more choice and flexibility.

The Village at Mission is the proud winner of two five-star ratings from U.S. News & World Report in their listings of the Top Nursing Homes in Kansas. U.S. News & World Report rates nearly 16,000 senior living communities across the United States  324 of which are located in Kansas. Only 25 of the 324 Kansas communities have received a five-star rating.

Tutera tapped its 35+ years of award-winning senior living expertise to bring the services and amenities most valued by residents, their families, and staff to The Village at Mission. Leading the renovation efforts are Nearing Staats Prelogar & Jones (NSPJ) Architects (Prairie Village, Kansas) and Marian Tutera Design (Kansas City, Missouri).

About Tutera Senior Living & Health Care

Tutera Senior Living & Health Care is a locally owned, diversified post-acute senior health care provider operating 75 senior living communities in nine states throughout the country. As one of the nations premier senior care providers, Tutera Senior Living & Health Care offers its residents independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, post-surgery rehabilitation, and memory care. In 1983, Dominic F. Tutera, M.D., founded Tutera to provide compassionate patient care with the uncompromising values of integrity, respect, hospitality, and positivity. Tutera Senior Living & Health Care still embodies those values today. Tutera is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of its residents and their families through senior living and health care experts who inspire and promote individuality and personal happiness. For more information, visit http://www.Tutera.com.

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Named Best Boutique Agency in the U.S. by the Bulldog Awards, Violet PR's team has tripled in size within the last year. Photo courtesy of Violet PR. We are honored to have our agency recognized as a leader in the industry by Bulldog PR Awards, said April Mason, president and owner of Violet PR. Most meaningful is the recognition that our PR campaigns truly make a difference for the businesses and communities we work with.

Today, New Jersey-based public relations firm, Violet PR, announced that the company received a Gold medal award for Best Boutique Agency in the U.S. in the prestigious 2022 Bulldog PR Awards.

The Bulldog PR Awards, which rank the most outstanding PR and communications campaigns, celebrate excellence in public relations and communication. They are the only national public relations contest judged exclusively by working journalists. The judges evaluate the entries based on creativity, originality, strategy, execution and results.

We are honored to have our agency recognized as a leader in the industry by Bulldog PR Awards, said April Mason, president and owner of Violet PR. Most meaningful is the recognition that our PR campaigns truly make a difference for the businesses and communities we work with.

In addition to the high honor, Violet PRs campaign to establish its client Pittsburgh International Airport as a leader and innovator among mid-sized airports worldwide won a Silver award in the Best Government/Public Service Campaign category. Its campaign to drive national recognition and public and private funds to the historic Newark Symphony Hall won a Silver award in the Best Community Relations Campaign category.

Violet PR's winning media relations campaigns helped its clients recover from revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, more significantly, thrive.

The agencys campaign for Pittsburgh International Airport far surpassed its objectives and the client's expectationsgenerating 20 top-tier placements and more than 125 trade stories and securing coverage in top media outlets. The campaign positioned the airport as one of the top mid-sized airports in the world and a model for others due to its visionary leadership, new technologies and infrastructure investments.

Violet PRs winning community relations campaign for Newark Symphony Hall communicated the venues history, legacy and important role in Newark, New Jerseys resurgence. The campaign secured over 180 news stories and ultimately convinced N.J. Governor Phil Murphy to add a $5 million line item for the venue in the fiscal year 2022 budget.

"This year's entries were the most impressive I've ever seen, says Christopher Elliott, award-winning journalist, author, consumer advocate and long-time Bulldog Awards judge. They showed PR pros at their besthelping clients overcome seemingly impossible business challenges, navigating the treacherous waters of an unpredictable pandemic, or offering to assist the neediest in society. It's a defining moment for the industry. I'm honored to be a part of it."

As a certified Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) and a certified LGBT Business Enterprise, Violet PR seeks out opportunities to partner with organizations run by females and other marginalized groups. Violet PR also helps develop future PR professionals, participating in local university PRSSA chapters, speaking at colleges across the region, and providing internships and experience for students and recent graduates.

The Bulldog PR Awards received a record-breaking number of entries this year. To learn more about the 2022 Bulldog PR Awards, click here.

About Violet PR

Whether its rebranding a city, drawing attention to a revitalized neighborhood, or promoting a new sustainable development, Violet PR helps clients make a difference. Through a combination of news stories, social media and compelling content, our New Jersey-based boutique public relations firm helps clients attract more dollars and supporters. Follow Violet PR on Twitter @Violet__PR. For more information visit: http://www.violetpr.com.

About Bulldog Reporter

Bulldog Reporter has been providing news, best practices and insights to PR and communications professionals since 1980. Filled with insights on topics critical to PR pros and communicators, including media relations, crisis communications, influencer marketing and many other topics you won't find anywhere else, the Bulldog Reporter email newsletter brings you compelling and relevant articles, plus timely updates about journalist moves and agency news so you can stay on top of your PR game. The Bulldog Awards, the only PR awards program judged exclusively by working journalists, are run by Bulldog Reporter and celebrate the best and brightest in corporate communications and public relations. Bulldog Reporter, and the Bulldog Awards, are a subsidiary of Agility PR Solutions, a provider of media database, monitoring and PR measurement solutions for PR and communications professionals. For more information visit http://www.bulldogawards.com.
One of our primary goals is to introduce Georgian wines to a wider audience and continue the growth in the US. This SevenFifty promotion will bring positive attention to and interest in Georgian wines from top wine buyers in the US. - Tamar Metreveli, Head of Marketing and PR for Wines of Georgia

Wines of Georgia, the organization that represents and promotes the wines of the country of Georgia and financed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia, which is a legal entity under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and the countrys wineries, is excited to announce, as part of the 2022 US campaign, an upcoming partnership with SevenFifty, the online marketplace and platform that connects the beverage alcohol industry, for the month of July, 2022.

The month-long activation with SevenFifty is aimed at promoting awareness and sales of Georgian wines. The Wines of Georgia Takeover program will include a Wines of Georgia landing page with links to articles on SevenFifty Daily, websites, suggested search categories, product lists, and downloadable collateral, with anticipated outreach of over 200,000+ buyers per week. With the goal of encouraging additional sales and new placements of Georgian wines, the SevenFifty promotion will also include a cash incentive prize program for new orders placed from the custom SevenFifty list.

SevenFifty connects importers, producers, distributors, and retail and restaurant buyers. Over 50,000 suppliers and 80,000 buyers utilize the SevenFifty trade platform to conduct business and obtain information in over 49 US states. SevenFifty Daily is the corresponding online magazine about the business and culture of the beverage alcohol industry.

We are excited for the upcoming Wines of Georgia promotion with SevenFifty, noted Tamar Metreveli, Head of Marketing and PR for Wines of Georgia. One of our primary goals of this years campaign is to introduce Georgian wines to a wider audience and continue the growth of Georgian wine in the United States, a key export market for us, with great potential. This promotion will bring positive attention to and interest in Georgian wines from top wine buyers in the US.

Georgia is recognized as the birthplace of wine, with winemaking dating back 8,000 years. Home to more than 500 indigenous grape varieties, Georgia has nearly 55,000 hectares (nearly 136,000 acres) of vineyards, with 55% planted to white varieties and 45% to red, with the majority planted in the Kakheti region in eastern Georgia. The two most prominent grape varieties are Rkatsiteli (white) and Saperavi (red). Wine is produced using both traditional Georgian varieties and methods in qvevri (large clay vessels), as well as European varieties and winemaking methods.

One of the goals of the July promotion is increasing awareness and sales of Georgian white and amber wines through the SevenFifty marketplace search. Rkatsiteli, a native Georgian variety, is a major component in the countrys white and amber wines.

Rkatsiteli is an ancient grape that is Georgian through and through, notes Christy Canterbury, MW and Wines of Georgia Campaign Ambassador. It is impressively versatile. It can be made in international or qvevri styles, used in varietal or in blended wines, and even be made into brandy or used as a table grape.

Rkatsiteli is the leading white grape variety in Georgia, comprising 43% of all vineyard plantings across 20,000 hectares. It is native to Kakheti in eastern Georgia and is cultivated throughout the province, as well as in Kartli. Rkatsiteli is favored by growers because it is adaptable to site and can achieve relatively high sugars while retaining its acidity. It is arguably most expressive when grown in the northwestern part of the Alazani Valley in the Akhmeta-Ikalto zone, in the villages of Kondoli, Tsinandali, Kisiskhevi, Vazisubani and Mukuzani.

Rkatsiteli is produced through both traditional and European vinification methods, and is the principal grape in most Kakhetian white wines. Because Rkatsiteli has relatively quiet aromatics, it is often blended with 15-20% Mtsvane Kakhuri to add high-toned aromatics and softness. When vinified in the European style, Rkatsiteli offers subtle floral aromas with notes of citrus, quince, and apple. If vinified in qvevri, the wine typically is more powerful, moderately tannic, with crisp acidity; the oxidative handling elicits flavors of honey, dried orange peel, spices, apricot and other stone fruits. Rkatsiteli is predominantly vinified in a dry style, but it is also a core grape variety in the PDO Kardenakhi, a fortified wine, and is suitable for all styles of wine.

Mamuka Tsereteli, founder of Georgian Wine House, a top importer of Georgian wines based in the Washington DC-area, sees how beneficial a collaborative effort between importers is in growing consumer awareness around Georgian wine, and thus, increasing sales. He is looking forward to the SevenFifty partnership and its possibilities. Its important that we develop Georgian wine as a category. We need to have enough importers bringing in high-quality wines to establish Georgia as an interesting place to discover. When wine lovers are able to go into stores, ask for Georgian wines, and have a great selection from different producers, this should be our objective.

About Wines of Georgia - https://winesgeorgia.com

Wines of Georgia is a promotional campaign financed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia and wineries to educate the US wine trade and general public about the history, culture, quality and universal appeal of Georgian wines and the countrys qvevri winemaking tradition.
Businessman gets 20 years in presidents residence construction embezzlement case

MOSCOW, June 29 (RAPSI)  The Second Western District Military Court has sentenced Forum Holding CEO Dmitry Mikhalchenko to 20 years in high-security penal colony for embezzling nearly 1.2 billion rubles during the construction of a presidential residence near Moscow, RAPSI has learnt in the court.

On the totality of the committed crimes, he received the long jail term and a fine in the amount of one million rubles, the courts representative said.

The businessman was found guilty of the organization of a criminal community and large-scale embezzlement.

Other defendants in the case received prison terms ranging from 3 to 15 years. Moreover, the court granted a Federal Guard Services claim and recovered 1.2 billion rubles from the convicts as a compensation for the caused damage.

The court found that the gang members had stolen about 1.2 billion rubles from allocated from the budget for the construction of various state facilities with federal status in the presidents residence in Novo-Ogarevo in the Moscow Region. The accomplices intentionally overrated the value of works, equipment, and materials, according to case papers.

Earlier, in December 2018, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow found Mikhalchenko guilty of alcohol smuggling and sentenced him to 4 years and 7 months in prison. Mikhalchenko was arrested and detained in late March 2016. Investigators claimed that he had organized trafficking of alcoholic products from countries of the European Union. According to the prosecution, in 2015, the products were bought in European shops, collected in the port of Hamburg and then smuggled into Russia. The caused damage was estimated at more than 61 million rubles (about $1 million).




British man Pinner appeals death sentence in Supreme Court of DPR

MOSCOW, June 29 (RAPSI)  British citizen Shaun Pinner ordered to death in the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR), has challenged the sentence in the regions highest court.

The Supreme Court of DPR has confirmed the acceptance of his cassation appeal.

In early June, the judicial panel pf the Supreme Courts Appeals Chamber of the self-proclaimed republic considered a criminal case against Pinner, another Briton Aiden Aslin and Moroccan citizen Ibrahim Saadun. All of them were found guilty of mercenary activities, violent coup, committing a crime by a group of people in conspiracy and training with the aim to conduct terrorist activity. On the totality of the committed crimes they were sentenced to death.
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The Biden administration has cast a troubling cloud over the energy outlook for the Gulf of Mexico. New oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico have been halted at a time when oil prices have soared by nearly 200 percent and Putins unprovoked invasion has unsettled global energy security. The deliberate delay and obstruction of U.S. energy development is needlessly harming everyday Americans and our allies.

While the White House seeks to blame energy producers for high energy prices, companies have not been able to secure new offshore oil and gas leases since November 2020. This year will be the first year without an offshore lease sale since 1965  when Lyndon Johnson was president and Bonanza topped national TV ratings. Without new leasing, companies cannot replenish exploration portfolios, which is critical as most leases do not contain commercially viable amounts of oil or natural gas. The greater number of lease sales and the higher the amount of acreage, the greater the opportunity for U.S. oil and gas production. To put it another way, fewer oil and gas leases means less oil and gas production.

While the Gulf of Mexico sits locked away from leasing, President Biden is planning a trip to Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom's oil production will certainly be on the agenda. The U.S. has eased sanctions with Venezuela and continues to try to salvage its nuclear deal with Iran.

Instead of working with foreign regimes to secure additional supplies, the President should promote investment and new opportunities for increased oil production in our own backyard.

In order for the government to be able to lease offshore acreage for oil and gas production, the government is required to have a leasing program in place. On June 30th, the current leasing program for offshore oil and gas leasing expires and there will not be a new one in place for some time.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland recently said the Proposed Program for the next leasing program will be out before June 30th. This is only the second of three lengthy steps required in the development of a new offshore oil and gas leasing program. Based upon the delays inherent in the process, this will be the first time in history that an Administration will have failed to publish a final offshore leasing program before the expiration of the previous program.

Just as important as releasing a leasing program is promulgating a final program that provides a reliable and regular schedule of reasonable lease sales.

The 2017-2022 leasing program - developed by the Obama administration - included two region-wide lease sales per year in the Gulf of Mexico. Multiple region-wide lease sales per year provide the flexibility necessary for companies to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions and pursue the most promising prospects.

At a minimum, the Biden administration should ensure that the next leasing program follows the same reliable and regular schedule of reasonable, region-wide lease sales.

Prior to this point, every administration  whether they were Republican or Democrat  has fulfilled their legal obligation to maintain a leasing program and hold lease sales. Every prior administration has recognized the critical strategic advantages of an uninterrupted leasing program.

The delay in the leasing program could reduce American energy production by 500,000 barrels of oil per day  roughly what the U.S. was importing from Russia in 2020. Furthermore, 60,000 high paying and accessible jobs could disappear through substantial gap in the offshore leasing program.

The energy transition led by Gulf of Mexico oil and gas companies would be limited without new leasing. The U.S. offshore already produces among the lowest carbon barrels of the oil producing regions. The diverse ecosystem of companies that team up to produce low carbon barrels of oil from the Gulf of Mexico are innovating incredible solutions for addressing the climate challenge.

We need policies that enable the development of domestic oil and gas supplies, promote zero and low carbon energy, and strengthen national security. We can get to reliable, affordable, lower carbon, and secure domestic energy through the resumption of domestic offshore oil and gas leasing.

Erik Milito is the president of the National Ocean Industries Association.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 06/29/2022



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

pro Peta Murgatroyd has revealed she's suffered three miscarriages in two years, the latest of which occurred while Maksim Chmerkovskiy was out of the country.Peta, who has served as a professional partner on on and off since 2011, recently told People that she has been struggling to keep a pregnancy after welcoming her first child, her son Shai, with husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy in January 2017.Peta, 35, recalled having her third miscarriage in October 2021, when Maksim was away working in Ukraine as a judge on their version of .Peta said that days after testing positive for coronavirus, she found herself on the floor of her five-year-old son's bedroom, unable to move. She therefore called an ambulance to her Malibu home and was hospitalized."I had no strength. I couldn't open a dishwasher. I couldn't open the fridge to feed Shai, to get him some toast. It got so bad that my breath was starting to be affected. It was really dramatic," Peta told People."I felt like I was dying, but then I obviously knew what had happened. It was just all too much for my body and I couldn't do it. I couldn't believe that this was happening to me."Once at the hospital, Peta called Maksim and the pair spoke to a doctor using Speakerphone."I thought [the doctor] was going to reveal some really bad news. I was like, 'What's wrong?' His face dropped. He said, 'Did you know you were pregnant?'" Peta shared.Maksim, 42, apparently began to celebrate the news."He heard the doctor say, 'You're pregnant,'" Peta recalled.But Peta was actually being told she had lost the baby, which Maksim clearly misheard."I ultimately had no idea [I was pregnant], which in hindsight was better for my recovery because I didn't have that super joyous moment of, 'I'm pregnant again!'" said Peta, who began bleeding a couple of days earlier."I just had the moment of, 'You lost it.'"Maksim told People that the situation was "crazy" and he felt so "helpless" that he couldn't be by his wife's side during this difficult time."I haven't had depression; I would just call it some bad days, wondering when and why me? [I asked myself], 'Why can't I have another child when it was so easy in the past?'" Peta lamented.As for Peta's other two miscarriages, she experienced her first loss in Fall 2020 followed by another miscarriage nine months later in 2021.In Fall 2020, Peta went through a miscarriage five weeks into her pregnancy while shopping at a Whole Foods grocery store."It was so shocking and so out of the blue. I had walked [into the store] and it just all started happening. I was petrified. I was trying to tell myself, 'It's going to be okay.' Of course, deep down, I knew," Peta said.Peta admitted that she ended up in the store's bathroom "sobbing" and devastated."I'm surprised nobody walked in because I was crying so heavily and wailing, one of those deep cries. That was something that will probably live with me for the rest of my life, being on that toilet by myself, knowing what was happening and not being able to stop it," Peta said.Maksim called that first miscarriage the "darkest" point in their marriage. (The pair tied the knot in July 2017)."I think the darkest part is when the person you are in love with calls you and she says that she had a miscarriage in the bathroom, that's as dark as it can get," Maksim admitted.Peta opened up about feeling "completely embarrassed" and "ultimately ashamed" in that moment."I didn't even know how to utter the words and have that sentence come out of my mouth: I had a miscarriage," Peta said."I'm somebody who prides herself on health and wellness. I exercise every single day. But as I came to realize, that doesn't really go hand-in-hand with the reproductive system."Peta took "a very long time" to get over that trauma, adding, "It was months and months of crying most nights in bed by myself, crying in the shower, it was a lot of denial. What had I done wrong?"The couple sadly suffered their second pregnancy loss nine months later."I had to call him and say, 'It's happened again,'" Peta told the magazine, tearing up. "This was the first time that I heard him get really upset, which was hard to hear because I know how it affects him too."Peta apparently told herself at the time that she'd try to get pregnant again but would stop if she had to endure a third miscarriage."I said to myself after the second miscarriage, 'If there's one more, that's it. I'm not doing this again. I'm not doing it to me. I'm not doing it to [my family]. I don't want to go through this again.' Because it's so mentally taxing and just all around traumatic," the pro dancer explained."And at three, I kind of had my answer, like, that was my limit."Following the October 2021 miscarriage, Peta consulted with a fertility expert."They can never say, 'This is 100 percent the issue,' but they do believe I have PCOS, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which was a shock to me. I don't have any cysts on my ovaries, at all, but I do have hormonal imbalances that are maybe causing the eggs to not mature enough before they're released," Peta told People."There was concrete evidence in my bloodwork that something was off and something wasn't right."Peta said she felt so happy at the time having received answers and all the information she needed to move forward and make some big decisions for her family.Peta then decided to undergo IVF, with all of its medications and injections, in attempt to have a second child and give Shai a sibling."I chose [to try IVF]... I definitely could've pushed on and kept trying for the next couple of years to have a healthy natural pregnancy. And chances are, I might've got that because my egg count is good and there are a lot of things that are fine," Peta said."But ultimately, I knew within myself that I wasn't going to be happy waiting another couple of years, and what if that didn't work? I would've wasted another two years... when I know something is wrong."Peta disclosed how everything is "so far, so good" and her chances of getting pregnant again look "really, really promising."Peta gushed about finally feeling "excited" for the first time in nearly two years."I feel like I'm in such a better place. I honestly don't feel like I have anxiety right now because I feel like I have answers. Before, it was all the anxiety and stress, and now I have... hope and positivity. I'm just crossing my fingers... that this is going to work," Peta explained.And now that Peta's recent health history has been publicly disclosed, she said she feels like she "can breathe now.""I feel like I'm not carrying this huge burden and this backpack of trauma. It's just, like, I can let this secret out and have everybody know, and that's kind of what I wanted with this [interview]," Peta said."I just wanted everybody to know because on social media, it's the No. 1 question I get asked every single day -- it's, 'When are you going to get pregnant? Why aren't you pregnant? Why aren't you having more babies? Don't you want that for Shai?' There's a lot of that."Peta said one question in particular really stuck a chord with her."There was one comment in particular, like, 'How could you not?' [And that question] threw me off a ledge. I was like, 'If only you knew what was actually going on with my family, you would never say that,'" Peta noted.And in the meantime, Maksim shared how he is doing his absolute best to support Peta."I'm a changed man because of this experience," the former pro and guest judge added."I think that if you look around, you will find that most of your friends have had issues [trying to conceive]. I realized that this is more common and this is not being talked about."Maksim and Peta also went through another challenging time earlier this year when Maksim had to flee Ukraine in late February after Russia's "terrifying" invasion. It took over a week for Maksim to return home to the United States and reunite with his worried wife will stream its upcoming 31st season this Fall on its new home, Disney+.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 06/29/2022



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alum Katie Thurston has broken her silence on her breakup with John Hersey as fans continue to speculate what went wrong between them.When Katie, 31, announced last week she and John had called it quits on their relationship, she simply wrote on Instagram Stories, "Statement: no we aren't together," and declined to provide any details or specifics.On Wednesday, Katie conducted a Q&A session with fans on Instagram Stories, and one person asked if she's going to talk about what happened with John."This is a simple yet complicated breakup given that we were best friends before dating," Katie told the fan."We are on good terms so [we're] just finding a healthy balance of space in order for closure.""At the end of the day," she continued, "you just want the person you love to be happy and you support whatever path they want to take to find that."A little over one week after Katie announced her split from John, she has been focusing on herself and living the single life."If you've been following along, I have a couples' adventure book but no one to do that with," Katie said in a Wednesday Instagram Stories video. "This is part of my healing and closure."Katie also wrote that she's "discovering solo dating all summer long."In fact, she's running off to Mexico this upcoming weekend.On Monday, Katie wrote on Instagram Stories how she's finding inspiration for dating herself in a book entitled "Adventures for Couples.""My Love Language is Words of Affirmation. So I grabbed some dinner and some wine, and a journal, and headed to the beach," Katie shared earlier this week.During Katie's date with herself, she watched the sunset and wrote herself a love letter.Katie also wrote the following quote in the sand: "Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful."It is pretty evident Katie and John ended their romance on good terms based on the pair's recent activity.Katie and the 28-year-old San Diego bartender reunited and enjoyed a sunset visit to the San Diego County Fair late last week with several of their mutual friends, including The Bachelor alum Tammy Ly And John also defended Katie on social media shortly after their breakup made headlines.A troll wrote on the @BachelorWhatever Instagram account last week, "I feel like Katie is the reason she can't get a guy."John responded in the comments, "You will speak a finite number of words throughout your life. I urge you to speak more kindly, especially about someone you don't know.""I have never been so supported or unconditionally loved by a partner," he added. "Assuming and implying that Katie is doing something wrong does not sit right with me. The internet can be a mean place -- let's not add to it."When John confirmed his split from Katie, he wrote in a statement of his own, "I love being able to share special moments with you all -- the funny ones. The happy ones. The outrageous, embarrassing, and heartfelt ones. But I don't know if it will ever get easier to share the sad ones.""As Katie stated earlier, we are no longer dating. This decision was not made lightly, and it was obviously not an easy one to make," he continued."I appreciate every one of you that has supported us throughout this journey. We could not (and would not) be here without you."Katie and John's breakup appears to have happened very recently as John had posted an Instagram video of Katie walking their cats together on June 2. She was all smiles in the video and seemed happy.Katie and John met in early 2021 while filming the show, but they didn't go Instagram official with their relationship until late November 2021.Katie unveiled John as her boyfriend late last year by posting footage of John on Instagram Stories set to Taylor Swift 's "Begin Again," a song about falling in love all over again.The John dedication served as the conclusion of Katie's "12 Days of Messy" challenge in which she had been tasked with matching every song on Taylor's re-released "Red" album to one of her Season 17 bachelors.The former bank marketing manager and John revealed in April 2022 that they were living together at Katie's apartment in San Diego, and they gushed on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe " podcast that same month how they were madly in love.John had also purchased a van so he and Katie could travel across the country and visit different cities together.Katie, however, said of possibly getting engaged at the time, "Look, the last thing I need right now is any kind of engagement. I am very, very content with where I'm at in my relationship with John."Katie had said she didn't "feel pressure at all" for John to pop the question."I don't think there's pressure. But I definitely think people ask it a lot," Katie told Kaitlyn about a John engagement."Because they are so used to a very quick engagement. So in their minds, they're like, 'So when are you guys getting engaged?' But in the normal world when you aren't on a dating show, it's not normal to ask that after just a few months."John previously admitted his nerves got the best of him while filming and so he didn't make a good impression on Katie, who thought her initial conversations with John were "robotic" and rehearsed.Katie therefore got engaged to wildlife manager Blake Moynes during her season finale, which filmed in April 2021 and aired in August last year.Katie and John went public with their romance only three short weeks after Katie and Blake announced in late October they had split and decided to end their engagement.Katie faced backlash for having moved on from her former fiance too quickly with a "rebound," and Blake said on the "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast in November that he felt "flabbergasted," shocked and "speechless" upon finding out about Katie's romance with John.Blake also said he believed Katie had been emotionally cheating on him with John -- which Katie and John have both firmly denied in the press Katie admitted she and John considered hiding their relationship at first in fear of how Bachelor Nation might react to them."We were already talking about how to not be [seen and] known. But it's also like, 'F-ck that.' I want to live our best life. I want to live in my happiness. I went through hell and back being on TV," Katie said in April.Katie said she had determined that she owed it to herself to be in her "truest" and "happiest form.""At the end of the day, I was like, 'Life is too short. I've gone through so much and I just want to be happy.' And so that's ultimately what we did; we owned our connection not knowing it would take us to this day," Katie told Kaitlyn on her podcast.Katie previously said that John made her "want to be a better person.""He challenges me... He's very energetic and he keeps me young. He says I have the potential to be adventurous... and he makes me want to go and try new things," Katie recently shared.For Blake's part, he told Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti on their "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" in February that he was ready to put his romance with Katie behind him and put aside any hard feelings."I could probably talk to her and have a cordial conversation ," Blake, who initially felt blindsided by Katie and John's romance, confirmed in late March.Blake has also recently suggested he'd be open to dating both women from Bachelor Nation or someone without fame and a social-media following.Prior to starring on , Katie competed on Matt James ' season of The Bachelor.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
California lawmakers are moving to limit where firearms may be carried and who can have them
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High around 90F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High around 90F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Camp is a place to make friends, have fun, and enjoy traditions from a long time ago. At the Green Mountain Girls Camp, on the last night, the groups get to enjoy two special traditions that date back more than 50 years. During the day the campers collect pieces of nature and place them on a
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Brattleboro Union High School students gather to show support for the Black Lives Matter flag being raised in front of the school in 2018. The BLM flag will not be flying in front of Bellows Falls Union High School due to a new policy that allows only the United States or the Vermont state flags to fly.
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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.
WATERBURY  Seven Angels Theatre is presenting Italian Mom Loves You!, a comedy co-written and starring film, television and stage actor Daniel Franzese, with performances Aug. 12-21.

Franzese, who appeared in the movie Mean Girls and HBOs Looking, brings his popular "Italian Mom" character to the stage.

Italian Mom Loves You! is co-written by Franzese and Connecticut-based playwright Jacques Lamarre and will be directed by Michael Schiralli.

Franzese has been seen on film, television, stage, online, and on stand-up comedy stages across the United States. Film highlights include Bully, Stateside, Kill Theory, I Spit on Your Grave, Looking: The Movie, and, most notably, as Damian in Tina Fey's hit movie Mean Girls. He also has a lengthy television appearance resume.

Online, he has received millions of views as Antoinette, everyone's favorite Italian mom, in Sh*t Italian Moms Say 1-3 on YouTube and Tiktok, and in 26 episodes of Antoinette Nails Life 26 on IGTV. He has appeared in the viral musical parodies "Please Go Home," "Shake and Bake," and more on YouTube. Follow him @whatsupdanny on all social media and see Antoinette on Facebook.com/ItalianMom

The story: Its the day of Nanas surprise birthday party and everybodys coming. While trying to pull together a proper Italian festa, Antoinette is also juggling her ex, drama with her kids, a real estate transaction, and spying on her neighbor.

Franzese performs as his beloved YouTube and Instagram character live for the first time in this solo tour de force. Italian Mom Loves You! is a tribute to Italian-Americans and mothers everywhere, according to Seven Angels.

Performances of Italian Mom Loves You! will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday; and a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Aug. 20.

Tickets are $39-$49 and can be purchased by visiting SevenAngelsTheatre.org or by calling 203-757-4676. Groups and tours are welcome. Located right off I-84 in Waterbury, there is plentiful free parking.
WEST HARTFORD  Police say a 22-year-old man was charged with spray-painting 16 buildings, light poles, electrical boxes and telephone poles last week.

West Hartford Police said they were called to the 200 block of Park Road around 11 p.m. Thursday for a report of a suspicious person. Members of the Community Support Unit then found a suspect spraying graffiti on the side of a building behind Prospect Avenue, police said in a news release Tuesday.

Police detained the suspect, a 22-year-old man from Hartford, and said he admitted to spray-painting numerous buildings and pieces of property in West Hartford and Hartford. In West Hartford, police identified 16 buildings, light poles, electrical boxes and telephone poles that had been damaged.

The suspect was charged with 16 counts of third-degree criminal mischief. He was released from custody on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
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MOSCOW (AP)  A court in Moscow on Wednesday rejected a prominent Russian opposition figure's appeal of the 15-day jail sentence he received on charges of failing to obey police.

The decision by the Moscow City Court, the capital's highest municipal judicial body, came one day after Ilya Yashin was sentenced.

Yashin, who has publicly criticized Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, was detained late Monday in a Moscow park. Police said he grabbed an officer by his uniform and insulted police, which Yashin denied.

In May, Yashin was ordered to pay 90,000 rubles ($1,700) on charges of discrediting the Russian military.

Russia has cracked down on critics of its special military operation in Ukraine, A well-known dissident, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was arrested in April and remains jailed while awaiting trial on charges of spreading false information about the military. The offense carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years.

Also Wednesday, a Moscow court ordered the attorney for a jailed former journalist held for two months. Dmitry Talantov, who was arrested this week, also was accused of spreading false information on social media about the Russian militarys actions in Ukraine.

Talantov has defended Ivan Safronov, who has been jailed since July 2020 on charges of passing military secrets to Czech intelligence. Safronov insists on his innocence.

He wrote about military and security issues for major Russian newspapers before becoming an adviser to the head of the Russian space agency.
Experts at UN call for reexamination of June 14 mass trial that sent opposition activists to prison.

Opposition leader Kem Sokha, on trial for treason, leaves the courthouse in Phnom Penh following his a session on June 29,2022.

A court in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh warned opposition leader Kem Sokha not to engage in any further political activities after the prosecution played a recorded conversation he held with supporters ahead of recent local elections, the latest wrinkle in his trial that started more than two years ago on unsubstantiated charges of treason.

The deputy court prosecutor demanded Kem Sokhas arrest after alleging that he had met with allies in the northwestern province of Siem Reap prior to the June 5 vote for commune council seats and discussed politics.

Kem Sokha was released from pre-trial detention to house arrest in September 2018 and granted bail in November 2019 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the terms of which allowed him to travel within Cambodia but restricted him from taking part in any political activities.

An undercover investigator recorded one of the conversations, which was used as evidence in Wednesdays proceedings.

Kem Sokha was allowed to return home when the court session ended at 2 p.m.

His lawyer, Pheng Heng, told RFAs Khmer Service that Kem Sokha would be more careful about interactions in order to avoid new charges as the trial unfolds.

He didnt make any political speech, said Pheng Heng. He said that Kem Sokha has participated in public gatherings, like weddings, Buddhist ceremonies and a feast, none of which were political.

The deputy prosecutor thought it was political activity, but the defense thinks otherwise, Phen Heng said.

Kem Sokha is not part of any political party recognized by the Ministry of Interior. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)  which he co-founded with Sam Rainsy, who is living in self-exile in France  was dissolved by Cambodias Supreme Court in November 2017, two months after he was arrested over an alleged plot backed by the United States to overthrow the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years.

Kem Sokha therefore could not have been engaging in politics, his lawyer argued.

Wednesdays hearing was the 46th session of the trial that started prior to the coronavirus pandemic. While the trial was delayed by the courts closure during the height of the pandemic, critics believe that since then the authorities have been stalling in an attempt to keep Kem Sokha out of the public sphere to curb his political influence.

During the 46th session, the court did not address the underlying charges against Kem Sokha, but focused instead on his recent activities.

The case against Kem Sokha is clearly politically motivated, Yi Sok San, a senior monitor for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc), told RFA.

I urge the government to differentiate between politics and law, he said, adding that it was not fair to raise the new allegation against Kem Sokha without informing the defense.

CPP spokesperson Chhim Phall Vorun told RFA that the governments case is not politically motivated.

Experts condemn mass trial

U.N. human rights experts on Wednesday requested a review of a June 14 mass trial where 43 defendants with connections to the CNRP were convicted on charges of plotting and incitement, receiving sentences of up to eight years.

U.N. officials Vitit Muntarbhorn, who monitors human rights concerns in Cambodia, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, who tracks freedom of peaceful assembly issues, and Diego Garcia-Sayan, who promotes the independence of judges and lawyers, signed the statement.

The outcome of this first instance trial reinforces a troubling pattern of political trials peppered with judicial flaws, the experts said in a statement. We urge the government to urgently review and remedy the process to ensure the defendants access to justice.

Among the convicted activists is Cambodian American lawyer Theary Seng, who was recently moved from a prison in Phnom Penh to a more remote location, which the experts said makes family or consular visits more difficult.

On these grounds, the government is urged to review these convictions  and all pending similar cases  and to ensure future judicial proceedings adhere to international obligations, the experts said.

This is critical to ensure the trend of shrinking civic and democratic space in Cambodia, aggravated by these trials, is reversed. A hindered access to justice not only infringes the rights of the victims, but has an overall chilling effect on society, discourages participation in assemblies and associations, and contributes to the dangerous trend of closing of civic space, they said.

Cambodias mission to the U.N. rejected the assessment of the trial as misleading news.

The mission asserted that the trial was not politically motivated and said calling it as such was unfounded and prejudicial. It said that the experts narrative one-sided and biased.



Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
The naval exercise takes place as Beijing accused Western allies of trying to create an Asian NATO.

Ships from various nations taking part in this year's RIMPAC exercises. CREDIT: U.S. Navy

The worlds largest naval exercise, the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) started Wednesday, promoting maritime cooperation in a region being clouded by U.S.-China rivalry.

The U.S.-led war games, joined by all members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, sends a clear message to Beijing as tensions rise across the Taiwan Strait and the war in Ukraine drags on.

China has been criticizing the Quad cooperation between the United States, India, Japan and Australia, as an attempt to create an "Asia-Pacific version of NATO."

Some 26 nations with 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national land forces, more than 170 aircraft and approximately 25,000 personnel are taking part in the biennial RIMPAC 2022, scheduled for June 29 to Aug. 4, according to the U.S. Navy.

Five countries bordering the South China Sea  Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore  are amongst the participants. Three of them have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, where China declares historical rights over most of the sea.

RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise since the war games started in 1971.

Earlier this year, there were talks to include Taiwan which China considers a province that needs to be reunified, into RIMPAC but the move was not realized. Beijing said that such inclusion would have a strong political implication.

China was twice invited to participate in the RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but as bilateral relations have soured, Washington has kept Beijing out since 2018 in the context of Chinas militarization of the South China Sea.

An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Royal Australian Navy prepares to land on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), June 24, 2022. Credit: U.S. Navy Sewage of the Cold War

RIMPAC 2022s theme is Capable, Adaptive, Partners, and the main aim is to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to an announcement by the U.S. Navy.

Participating forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities from disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting.

The training program includes amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.

The drills will be conducted in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California region.

A number of U.S. partners and allies including NATO members Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and France are taking part.

China has been sneering at the presence of NATO countries in the region. The Chinese Permanent Representative to the U.N., Zhang Jun, said his country firmly opposes NATO's involvement in the Asia-Pacific region or the creation of an Asia-Pacific version of NATO.

An editorial in the Chinese Communist Partys mouthpiece Global Times went further saying: The sewage of the Cold War cannot be allowed to flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Analysts noted that the small Pacific island of Tonga is invited to RIMPAC for the second time.

This years invitation came as China and the U.S. and allies are squaring off for influence in the Pacific. Beijing reached a security deal with the Solomon Islands in March but failed to sign a bigger, more ambitious agreement with ten Pacific island nations.
Myanmars junta forces and KNU rebels have been fighting for four days with no end in sight.

Boh Salone (second from right) and comrades from the Karen National Defense Organization, June 29, 2022.

Military junta forces and allied militia have been fighting for four days against Kayin National Union (KNU) forces in eastern Myanmar's Kayin state, leading to heavy casualties on both sides, according to the KNU and Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO).

The exact number of casualties from fighting in Myawaddy township is still unknown as the fighting continues, said Boh Salone, an officer from the KNDO which is an ally of the KNU. He told RFA that KNU, KNDO and Peoples Defense Force (PDF) fighters have been targeting the military junta stronghold at the Ukrithta camp. Junta forces are fighting alongside the Border Guard Force (BGF) and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), carrying out major attacks and air raids against their opponents.



They have been bombing [us] with military aircraft for three days. Nine times yesterday and 10 more times today, he said. "We have casualties on our side and there have been many casualties on the regimes side too. The number of casualties is still unknown because the fighting has not finished yet.

RFAs calls to the military regime spokesman, inquiring about the ongoing fighting and the number of junta casualties, went unanswered on Wednesday.

A PDF member, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told RFA the military council has reinforced troops near its camp due to heavy casualties.

We are still fighting and the military aircraft are still overhead. The battle is still going on. The military council troops fled their camp yesterday and came back with reinforcements, he said, adding that military council soldiers from the 77th Brigade were involved in the fighting.

The PDF group affiliated with the KNU/KNDO, said on its social media site on Tuesday that eight members were killed during the four-day battle, which they are calling 'Venom'.

Ei Kyar Kway, a comedian turned revolutionary who joined the armed insurgency after the February 2021 military coup, and Civil Disobedience Movement participant, Deputy Sergeant Wai Lin Aung (nicknamed Zaw Win Htut), were among the dead, according to the statement.

The Ukrithta stronghold is located south of Myawaddy city which is controlled by the KNUs Brigade-6.

In December 2021, about 200 fully armed junta troops arrived at the new town of Lay Kay Kaw near Myawaddy and arrested several CDM staff and PDF members sheltering in a KNU-controlled area. Several days of fighting ensued between junta forces and the KNU, leading more than 70,000 residents to flee the area.
The party says the 77-year-old is at risk from poor conditions and lack of access to health care.

Myanmars deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) on Tuesday condemned the juntas decision to move party leader Aung San Suu Kyi from detention to a prison in the nations capital, citing poor conditions and lack of access to health care at the facility.

On June 23, the junta announced that Suu Kyi had been transferred to Naypyidaw Prison. The 77-year-old has been charged in 19 cases since her arrest during the militarys Feb. 1, 2021, coup and sentenced to 11 years in prison for six of them.

According to local media reports, authorities at Naypyidaw Prison began constructing a new building to house Suu Kyi last month and three female prison staffers have been assigned to monitor her. RFA reported last week that Suu Kyi had begun a new trial at a special court in Naypyidaw Prison.

Speaking to RFA Burmese on Tuesday, NLD Central Working Committee member Kyaw Htwe called the decision to move the party leader a stain on Myanmars history and warned that the military is fully responsible for her health and safety.

They werent satisfied with the arbitrary arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and now they have sent her to Naypyidaw Prison. This coup was one of the greatest mistakes in Myanmars history and can never be erased, he said, using an honorific for the imprisoned leader.

With the intention of undermining the aspirations of the country and subduing the people, they did this to her, a leader who cannot be left out of Myanmar politics, who is the only person capable of making important decisions for the country, and who until now, has the support of the international community and still fully represents the people. If any danger befalls her, the junta will be totally responsible.

Kyaw Htwe noted that Naypyidaw Prison  like many other prisons in Myanmar  is plagued by unsafe drinking water, insects such as mosquitoes and flies, sanitation problems and a lack of fresh air.

In a statement on Tuesday, the working committee also criticized the decision to move Suu Kyi, warning that it will be difficult to provide the elderly leader with timely medical treatment in the event of an emergency.

The NLD also slammed the junta for arresting a public leader who it said had committed no crime under any law, as well as threatening lawyers seeking to provide her with legal protection. The statement alleged that Suu Kyi had lost her legal right to defend herself and is therefore facing an unjust legal process.

Little is known about Suu Kyis status, but sources close to the NLD leader told RFA that after being transferred to Naypyidaw Prison, the military placed her in solitary confinement and prohibited her former aides from attending to her.

Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the transfer and conditions at the prison went unanswered Tuesday, although he confirmed to the media on Monday that Suu Kyi is being held in solitary confinement.

Zin Ko, a resident of the commercial capital Yangon, said he was shocked by the news of Suu Kyis imprisonment.

What worries me is that she will be alone in the prison with only prison staff nearby, so how will her daily needs be met? he asked.

[The public is] very shocked. Its very important for her to survive for the sake of our countrys future. She is one of the few good leaders who can rebuild our nation from ruin.

More pressure likely

News of Suu Kyis transfer came as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) special envoy to Myanmar, Prak Sakhorn, who is expected to visit Myanmar June 29-30, wrote an open letter to the juntas Foreign Ministry on Monday, expressing the blocs concern over Suu Kyis condition and urging the regime to return to her original place of detention. The junta immediately rejected the request in a statement to the media that said nobody is above the law in Myanmar and warned others about meddling in the affairs of a sovereign nation.

Myanmar-based political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe on Tuesday told RFA that the juntas move to imprison Suu Kyi will increase international pressure on the regime.

There are very few things that the U.N. or ASEAN can do effectively, but other countries have taken action against the junta [for violently oppressing the people of Myanmar] in their own way, he said, referring to sanctions imposed by the U.S., U.K. and European Union.

I think that more of this type of action is likely to happen.

Suu Kyi is facing an additional 13 charges, convictions on which could extend her 11-year sentence to more than 100 years in prison. The top leaders of the NLD-led government, members of Parliament and many opponents of the military coup are facing trial in the Special Court in Naypyidaw Prison. Those convicted are often transferred to Yamethin Prison near Naypyidaw.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on June 23 expressed concern for Suu Kyis well-being and said her transfer was in defiance of a recent call by the U.N. Security Council for Myanmar to release all political prisoners.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Observers say no resolution is likely if Prak Sokhonn sticks to the juntas playbook.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy to Myanmar Prak Sokhonn kicked off his second trip to Myanmar Wednesday to mediate the countrys political crisis despite being denied access to key stakeholders, prompting observers to question the value of his visit.

On Tuesday, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told the media that the envoy will be permitted to meet with regime chairman, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, during his five-day visit, as well as other members of the military regime, ethnic armed groups and individuals from some political parties.

The junta has said that Prak Sokhonn will hold a meeting on Friday with the 10 ethnic armed groups that recently met for peace talks with Min Aung Hlaing  seven of which have signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government since 2015, and three that have not. The talks were boycotted by Myanmars major ethnic armies for a perceived lack of inclusivity.

On Wednesday, Karen Peace Council (KNLA-PC) spokesman, Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt, whose group is among those will meet with Prak Sokhonn later this week, suggested that the envoy must meet with more than just those who have been approved by the junta if he hopes to resolve the countrys political stalemate.

Id urge him to meet, as a special envoy, with all those involved in the political crisis in Myanmar, he said.

Well also [push to] find out what ASEAN could do to bring about a political dialogue inclusive of all stakeholders. And then, as a next step, what ASEAN could do to bring about nationwide peace talks. We have all these in mind.

Prior to the trip, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen  whose nation holds the rotating chair of ASEAN  and Prak Sokhonn had requested permission for the envoy to meet with the head of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi and the partys president, Win Myint, but were refused by the junta. The pair are among several NLD officials who were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the militarys Feb. 1, 2021, coup and face multiple charges widely viewed as politically motivated.

During an emergency meeting on the situation in Myanmar in April 2021, Min Aung Hlaing had agreed to a so-called Five-Point Consensus to end violence in the country, which included meeting with all stakeholders to resolve the political crisis but has failed to keep that promise. Observers say that peace cannot be achieved without including the NLD leadership and other powerbrokers in the process  concerns that were echoed by Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt in his interview with RFA.

Multiple attempts by RFA to contact Zaw Min Tun for comment on Prak Sokhonns visit went unanswered Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the junta spokesman said that those facing trials will not be allowed to meet with the ASEAN envoy, adding that the military regime is working with certain groups to end the conflict in Myanmar, which has claimed the lives of 2,039 civilians since the coup, according to Bangkok-based NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The main point of the agreement is that we are discussing with practical organizations to reduce the tensions of the armed conflict, Zaw Min Tun said at the time, referring to the 10 ethnic armed groups that met with Min Aung Hlaing for peace talks.

Basic agreements have been reached in the negotiations. More discussions will be held later. We have paved the way [for Prak Sokhonn] to meet with the right people, except those who are still being prosecuted and those who are still facing legal action.

The military has said it plans to allow the envoy meet with some NLD members during his visit but has not specified who they are.

When asked who will hold talks with Prak Sokhonn, NLD central working committee member Kyaw Htwe said he could not comment on the matter.

Not optimistic

Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the office of Myanmars shadow National Unity Government (NUG) president, Duwa Lashi La, told RFA he is not optimistic about the outcome of Prak Sokhonns trip if the envoy fails to meet with the countrys key stakeholders.

Its impossible for the ASEAN special representatives efforts to be successful if he is only holding discussions with the junta and is refused a chance to meet with important stakeholders during his visit, he said.

I dont expect there will be any benefit for the people of Myanmar.

Kyaw Zaw reiterated calls for Prak Sokhonn to meet with all those involved in the conflict during his visit, not just with those who are chosen by the military.

Myanmar-based political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe also dismissed the likelihood of a solution to the countrys political crisis being reached if the opposition is denied a seat at the negotiating table.

The kind of result that people want will not come if things go on like this. Its a one-sided approach to find a political solution [only] through dialogue with pro-military groups and those who are close to the military, he said.

The desires and the perspectives of the people on the other side of the issue are being ignored. Thats why I dont think the solution that people hope for will come out of the visit.

According to a statement issued by Cambodias Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Prak Sokhonn will discuss the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, the provision of humanitarian assistance, and ways to facilitate a political dialogue after holding talks with all stakeholders.

The ASEAN special envoy visited Myanmar for the first time in March but was criticized for failing to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, and for failing to make significant progress in his mission to Myanmar.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Speeches by a top Xinjiang official also lay out the Chinese governments rationale for the crackdown.

Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo (L) gets up to leave as Shohrat Zakir (R), chairman of Xinjiang's government, applauds at the end of a meeting of the Xinjiang delegation at the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 12, 2019.

Classified speeches given by high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials describe Uyghurs and other Muslims as an enemy class whose traditions must be wiped away for China to survive, startling new evidence of the coordinated brutality authorities have deployed to force restive minority groups to assimilate.

The speeches are part of a trove of documents known as the Xinjiang Police Files, leaked records allegedly from internment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) that were released in May by German researcher Adrian Zenz, an expert on the region. The files contain information about more than 20,000 detained Uyghurs.

The internal-party speeches, labeled classified documents, show that Chinese government officials carefully planned what the United States and the parliaments of some western countries have said is genocide and crimes against humanity.

Among the documents is a May 2017 speech by Chen Quanguo, Chinese Communist Party secretary of the XUAR from August 2016 to December 2021, who said the Chinese governments crackdown in Xinjiang was not an act of stamping out criminals but rather an extinction war aimed at the Uyghur population. He called the Uyghurs an enemy class.

Chen described a strike hard campaign strategy of governing Xinjiang that was directed by the Chinese President Xi Jinping and included the imprisonment of Uyghurs.

According to the files, Chens instructions in his speech were based on directives received from Chinas central government.

Rights groups have issued reams of credible, well-documented reports about the detention of an estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the XUAR, along with widespread surveillance, discrimination, restrictions on culture and freedom of religion that the groups face, and severe rights abuses, including torture, sexual assaults, and forced labor.

Chen also said that those sentenced to fewer than five years in prison should be mobilized for learning law and bilingual learning, and be released only after they reached a satisfactory study level no matter how many years it took.

The former official said Uyghurs deemed untrustworthy or harmful by the Chinese government had to be educated to the extent that they were committed to completely freeing themselves from such ideas once they return to society.

But those whose outlooks could not likely be changed  unauthorized imams and two-faced people  should be detained or imprisoned indefinitely because they have the ability to guide the Uyghur community. The Chinese Communist Party uses the term two-faced to describe people  usually officials or party members  who are either corrupt or ideologically disloyal to the party.

Authorities in Xinjiang interrogate a Uyghur in a 're-education' camp in an undated photo from the leaked 'Xinjiang Police Files,' published by German researcher Adrian Zenz on May 24, 2022. Credit: Adrian Zenz/Xinjiang Police Files

Poisoned by terrorism, violence and extremism

The harmful people Chen Quanguo mentioned in his speech refers to Uyghurs the Chinese government considers to be poisoned by terrorism, violence and extremism or during contacts with foreigners. Chen said such people needed to be treated in what he called a peoples war.

Information in the Xinjiang Police Files and other research reports and leaked documents suggest that what Chen referred to as poison included Uyghur traditions and Islamic activities.

Speeches by Chen and Zhao Kezhi, the former Chinese minister of public security, indicated that there were millions of poisoned Uyghurs.

Adrian Zenz, who received the Xinjiang Police Files from an unnamed source, said Chinese authorities have detained Uyghurs not for crimes, but for their social connections.

[M]any of more than 2,800 people we have seen in the Xinjiang Police Files were detained because of their social networks, not because of any crime they committed, he said.

Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, a political analyst based in the U.S. and vice chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress, said the large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghurs by the Chinese government and what Chen describes as a peoples war are tantamount to publicly declaring the entire Uyghur people is the enemy of the Chinese state.

Another focal point of Chens speech was the extension of government control over Uyghur families. In his view, police could visit and monitor only a limited number of households under what authorities called the 10 Families, One Ring policy, creating a loophole in the surveillance of those who did not live in the vicinity of a police station.

In late 2017, Xinjiang authorities assigned cadres to visit and stay in the homes of Uyghurs, where they ate with the residents and in some cases slept in their beds, in what was a test-run of the Pair Up and Becoming Family program. Under the program, public servants were assigned to families and had to live with them in their houses for a few days every couple of months to monitor them.

Chen summed up the situation at the time: In the past, in some villages, our officials were afraid of being killed when entering their families to become relatives. Now the officials who enter the families are greeted by everyone at the dinner table.

Children play near a screen showing images of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kashgar, in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, June 1, 2019. Credit: AFP.

Eliminating budding risk

As far as Uyghur children were concerned, Chen said 1 million minors being educated in bilingual" kindergartens had learned the national language very well.

In just a few months it was possible for the children to sing the national anthem in Chinese and to love the great motherland, Beijing and Tiananmen Square, Chen said.

Only in this way can we make the next generation hopeful for long-term stability, follow the party and be grateful to the party, Chen said, without mentioning where the parents of the Uyghur children were or what they thought.

The Chinese state educating such a large number of Uyghur children would be devastating to Uyghur society, Kokbore said.

The Chinese governments education methods are driven by the notion of eliminating budding risk, so that the scale of the training continues until this danger is eliminated, Zenz said.

The leaked files contain another address by Chen to county-level Chinese officials in the XUAR on June 18, 2018. His speech was followed by a visit by then-Chinese Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi, who went to the region to inspect the camps while giving general instructions on how to continue the Xinjiang work.

Chens speech repeatedly refers to the Xi Jinping-led Chinese Communist Partys strategy of governing Xinjiang. He said Zhao conveyed Xis instructions and demands during his inspection, saying that the most important and leading task in Xinjiang is to achieve social harmony and long-term stability.

The XUAR government had to meet the demands laid out by Xi Jinping, no matter the cost, Chen said, emphasizing that the regions political situation was the key holding the entire country together.

Increasing the XUARs gross domestic product, or becoming a heroic model in economic development, was a secondary or tertiary priority, Chen said.

China's Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi stands in front of national flags before a plenary meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization National Security Council Secretaries summit in Beijing, May 22, 2018. Credit: AFP

10 Works

Chen then repeated that the guiding principle of everything is for the main goal had to be the permanent theme for the governance of Xinjiang.

While on his inspection tour, Zhao said in his address that the 10 Works had been carried out well, namely the strike hard campaign against violent terrorism launched in May 2014, the eradication of extremism, and the cutting off the four  Uyghur lineage, roots, sources and contacts.

Also among the completed 10 Works he cited were the deployment of Chinese public servants in Uyghur households, popularization of national language education from kindergarten to college, transformation through education, construction of the Integrated Joint Operations Platform the main system for mass surveillance in the region  and the expansion of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a state-owned economic and paramilitary organization also known as Bingtuan, to the XUARs south, where the majority of Uyghurs live.

Zhao said CCP General Secretary Xi Jinpings hopes were fully met. The five-year plan has been fully accomplished.

Speaking about the five-year plan, Chen went on to say that 2018 would be a year of consolidation.

We will upgrade these measures to the regularization phase over the next five years, he said. From then on, we will continue to strike in this direction, even when stability is achieved. If I stay in Xinjiang for 10 years, I will not let it go for a minute, so we will do this from top to bottom without losing any of our vigilance.

Repeating Zhaos assessment conclusion, Chen announced that the crackdown against the Uyghurs that began in 2013 was by 2018 a complete victory.

But he added that separatist, pan-Turkist and pan-Islamist forces in Xinjiang were still provocative.

We cannot relax from looking at our current victory, he said. This struggle of ours will never stop like the separatists thought it would. Some separatists are hiding in the current crackdown and are dreaming of reemerging if the situation becomes a little softer than before. This is a daydream they have. This hard strike of ours will not go away for a minute from now on. Our struggle, which has been achieved for five years, will continue in the next five years in the form of strike hard.

In his June 2018 speech, Chen also said the anti-separatist struggle in Xinjiang is long-term, complex, sharp, at times even extremely fierce; in a sense, this can also be said to be the eternal theme of Xinjiang.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Bui Thi Kim Phuong was on her way to attend the International Religious Freedom Summit in the U.S.

U.S.-based non-profit organization Boat People SOS (BPSOS) released a video on Monday of a speech given by Bui Thi Kim Phuong to the 2022 International Religious Freedom Summit.

In it, the wife of prisoner of conscience Nguyen Bac Truyen said she was banned from leaving the country by the Vietnamese government to prevent her speaking in the U.S. about her husband's situation and the issue of religious persecution in Vietnam.

Nguyen Bac Truyen was arrested in July 2017 under the charge of "subversion" and was sentenced to 11 years in prison during a trial in Hanoi in April 2018.

Phuong told RFA she has been banned from leaving the country since 2019.

In 2019, I was invited to attend a conference by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, but when I arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport, I was blocked from leaving the country, she said. They said the reason I was stopped was for security, social order and safety reasons.

I lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Public Security and the Immigration Department, and they replied giving the same reason."

Phuong said she has been invited every year since 2019 to attend a conference on religious freedom, and, although every year she still submits a complaint to the Ministry of Public Security to ask to be allowed to leave the country, she is not allowed to leave Vietnam.

In 2020, I was also invited, she said. I applied to the Vietnamese Government to ask if I was allowed to leave the country, and they answered with the same reason. In 2021, I also filed a petition to prepare to leave the country to attend the conference but the COVID-19 pandemic occurred.

This year, before this conference, I also submitted a petition to the Ministry of Public Security and the Immigration Department, but until today they have remained silent.

Her husband Nguyen Bac Truyen is an independent Hoa Hao Buddhist and an active human rights activist. When he was arrested, many organizations believed the arrest to be politically motivated and a case of religious persecution.

The International Religious Freedom Summit is an annual event. This year's conference runs from Tuesday to Thursday. Part of the program will be devoted to victims of religious persecution around the world to publicize and discuss their cases.

When asked about her feelings when being prevented from attending an international conference to fight for her husband, Ms. Bui Thi Kim Phuong said:

"Of course, deep down I am very angry and frustrated but, since I live in this regime, if they block me and I still go it will be very difficult since I am still living in this country."

She added that she still planned to speak out strongly to denounce the government persecution faced by her family and her religion.
MINSK -- Three Belarusian activists who were arrested for allegedly damaging railways in the country to disrupt Russian arms and troops supply to war-torn Ukraine may face the death penalty if convicted.

The Investigative Committee said on June 29 that a probe launched into the case of the three activists in the southeastern region of Homel had been completed, with the suspects expected to face trial in the near future.

The three men were among some 60 activists arrested for their alleged involvement in damaging Belarus's railways to impede the progress of Russian troops and arms to Ukraine as part of Moscow's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The other cases are still being investigated.

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.

The Investigative Committee did not identify the trio, giving only their ages -- 29, 33, and 51 -- and calling them 'traitors of the motherland."

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center has identified the men as Dzmitry Ravich, Dzyanis Dzikun, and Aleh Malchanau, all from the southeastern city of Svetlahorsk.

They have been charged with being members of an extremist group, carrying out a terrorist act, inflicting premeditated damage to communication lines, and high treason.

The campaign called "railways war" was initiated in Belarus by a group called BYPOL. Those involved in the campaign have been nicknamed "railway guerrillas."

Belarus is not a direct participant in the war in Ukraine, but it has provided logistical support to Russia for the invasion by allowing Russian forces to enter Ukraine via Belarusian territory.

Western nations have slapped Belarus, like Russia, with an ever-increasing list of financial sanctions in response to the Kremlin's war on Ukraine, and for Belarus's efforts to aid the Russian invasion.

Belarus is the only country in Europe that still uses the death penalty.

In May, the country's authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a controversial law amending the Criminal Code that allowed the use of capital punishment for "attempted terrorist acts."
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Despite lacking the necessary legal permits and facing growing pushback from local activists, a Chinese company is moving forward with plans to build a hydroelectric plant in southeastern Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The entire project is worth some $107 million and is the result of an agreement signed in Beijing in 2019 between Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and the state-owned China National Aero-technology International Engineering Corporation (AVIC).

The proposed plant is located close to the town of Foca within the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, some 25 kilometers from the Bosnian-Montenegrin border.

But activists have sounded the alarm over the project, noting that it still does not have the necessary environmental permits to begin construction and is lacking an environmental-impact study on how the plant will affect the Bistrica River. Despite these lingering concerns, ground was broken on the hydroelectric complex in December 2021 at a ceremony attended by Republika Srpska officials and representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Sarajevo.

"We have seen the draft [environmental] impact study that was submitted [and] it is very controversial [and] very poorly done," Jelena Ivanic, vice president of the Center for the Environment, a Banja Luka-based watchdog group, told RFE/RL. "[They] do not have specific data, so it is impossible for them to take the necessary measures to protect [against damage]."

Ivanic says the version of the draft impact study she saw does not mention a nearby hydroelectric plant located along the source of the Bistrica River and, according to her organization, the project only has permits for preparatory work, not full-scale construction.

Ivanic says that for these reasons the hydroelectric project is controversial, and it faced strong pushback during an April meeting between residents and officials, with many locals saying they opposed the project.

A Complicated Path Forward

Dejan Pavlovic, the acting director for the proposed hydroelectric complex, told RFE/RL that permits held by the project were valid and sufficient for the work under way, noting that currently only preparatory work such as building access roads, clearing vegetation, and flattening terrain was being done.

Pavlovic added that he had applied for permits to begin full-scale construction and expected them to be approved by August.

However, questions remain over the environmental-impact study for the project, which was put together by the Institute for the Protection and Ecology of the Republika Srpska, a public institution under the authority of the entity's Science and Technology Ministry.

Predrag Ilic, the institute's acting director, admitted to RFE/RL that errors occurred when the study was being put together and said that they would be rectified in the final version of the report. "We will make an updated study on all those comments [raised by the Center for the Environment]," he said.

Further complications exist around the financing for the project.

AVIC, which was placed under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury in 2021 for its close ties to the Chinese military, originally made promises to provide financing for the hydroelectric plants that it would also be the contractor for, but those talks have not progressed.

AVIC did not respond to RFE/RL's request for comment on its involvement in the project.

Talks involving financing from the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have also been floated, but currently only $15.7 million has been raised for the project as a loan by the state hydropower company Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska from a Bosnian bank.

Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska owns the subsidiary company, Hidroelektrane Bistrica, that is the holder of the concession for the project near Foca. The deadline for the hydroelectric power plant complex near Foca is the end of 2026.

China's Balkan Push

China has become a growing investor in the Balkans in recent years, with countries in the region -- including Bosnia -- signing on to its globe-spanning infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

According to a 2021 study by Bulgarian-based Center for the Study of Democracy, Bosnia, Hungary, Montenegro, and Serbia -- the regional leaders in terms of Chinese investment -- experienced a drop in their business environments and rule of law as Chinese capital flowed in.

The report notes the loopholes for Beijing-backed companies, such as receiving tax exemptions, the ability to bypass local labor laws, and other forms of preferential treatment are likely not the result of Chinese investment, but a contributing factor in attracting it.

Boris Mrkela from the investment-monitoring group Just Finance International says that similar factors are likely at play for AVIC at the power plant project near Foca. "According to our research, the constant among all Chinese investors in the Western Balkans is the readiness to start work on projects that lack significant permits," he told RFE/RL.

Chinese companies have faced similar controversy over projects in Serbia, such as a mining project in Bor and a tire factory in Zrenjanin, which also moved forward despite lacking the legal permits to do so.

Mrkela says that is a worrying trend for the Balkans, especially when it comes to the potential environmental impact the projects approved through loopholes could bring.

Written by Reid Standish in Prague based on reporting by Goran Katic in Bosnia
A court in Iran has denied an appeal by French citizen Benjamin Briere and confirmed his prison sentence of eight years and eight months for espionage, a charge he and his family have rejected.

Brieres Iranian lawyer, Saeid Dehghan, announced on Twitter on June 28 that the court had declared France a "hostile state."



The 37-year-old French tourist had traveled to Iran in a van in May 2020 and was arrested after flying a drone on the plains near the Iran-Turkmenistan border.



The trial lasted until February last year, when the Islamic republic's judiciary finally sentenced him to eight years and eight months in prison on charges of "espionage" and "propaganda against the regime."



At the time, Dehghan stated that he had been "accused of collaborating with governments hostile to Iran," while his client "was unaware of his new charge."

AFP quoted Briere's sister, Blandine, as saying the trial was "a masquerade" and part of a geopolitical game Tehran is playing.



Briere is one of more than a dozen foreign nationals or people with dual Iranian citizenship being held in Iran. Two other French nationals -- 37-year-old Cecile Kohler and her 69-year-old partner, Jacques Paris -- have also been detained in Iran, accused of seeking to foment labor unrest in the country.



Western countries have repeatedly charged that Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage.



The verdict also comes as Iran and world powers are seeking to reach agreement on reviving the 2015 deal over Tehran's nuclear program.

Negotiators from the United States and Iran are expected to hold indirect talks in Qatar on June 29 as they look to overcome hurdles to reaching a final agreement.

With writing and reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi
The Iranian Foreign Ministry says indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Qatar are continuing, denying an Iranian media report that they had ended.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said the two-day talks were not over and that another meeting would be held later on June 29 between Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, and Enrique Mora, the European coordinator of the talks.

"Talks continue in a serious and businesslike atmosphere," Kanani said.

The talks are aimed at overcoming differences over how to salvage a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and world powers.

Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reported earlier that the negotiations in Doha had ended without result.

The talks started on June 28 with Mora as the coordinator shuttling between Kani and U.S. special envoy Robert Malley.

"What prevented these negotiations from coming to fruition is the U.S. insistence on its proposed draft text in Vienna that excludes any guarantee for Iran's economic benefits," Tasnim said, citing informed sources at the talks.

Washington is seeking to revive the [deal] in order to limit Iran without economic achievement for our country, the report claimed.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on June 27 that the talks would focus on the lifting of U.S. sanctions.

The talks are separate from broader EU-mediated negotiations that have taken place in Vienna between Iran and major powers.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last week traveled to Tehran in a push to resuscitate negotiations over Irans nuclear program. EU countries have been forced to find oil suppliers other than Russia as they seek to lower their reliance on Russian energy amid the war in Ukraine.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran agreed to limits on its controversial nuclear program in exchange for relief from punitive sanctions imposed by the West. But the arrangement began to fall apart in 2018 when then- U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal.

Washington subsequently reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, while the Iranian government backed away from some of the commitments laid out in the deal.

Iran has been engaged for more than a year in negotiations in Vienna with Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and China directly -- and the United States, indirectly -- to revive the deal.

Negotiators were reportedly close to a new agreement in March, but the talks abruptly stalled in April, with Tehran and Washington blaming each other for failing to take the necessary political decisions to settle remaining issues.

One of them is Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the IRGC from its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's deputy prosecutor-general, Aset Shyndaliev, says six people were tortured to death after being arrested for taking part in January anti-government protests that led to the removal of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his relatives from the oil-rich Central Asian nation's political scene.

Shyndaliev said in a statement on June 29 that 232 individuals died during the protests, which were violently dispersed by law enforcement and armed forces. The previous death toll provided by the authorities was 230, including 19 law enforcement officers.

Shyndaliev added that eight officers of the Committee of National Security (KNB) and a police officer had been arrested on a charge of torturing suspects. Overall, he said, 15 officers are suspected of using torture and illegal methods of interrogation on people arrested during and after the unrest.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said earlier that 25 people were officially considered victims of torture by hot irons, which investigators used on them during interrogations related to the deadly unrest.

Shyndaliev's comments come amid demands by rights activists and some who survived the brutality for more transparency to get justice for the victims in ongoing probes over the use of torture.

Thousands of people were detained by officials during and after the protests, which President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence.

The unrest occurred after a peaceful demonstration over a fuel-price hike in the tightly controlled nation's western region of Manghystau on January 2 led to widespread anti-government protests.

Human rights groups say the number of people killed was much higher than any of the figures provided by officials. The groups have provided evidence proving that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

The government has not published the names of those killed during and after the unrest and has rejected calls by domestic and international human rights organizations to launch an international probe into the deaths.
TBILISI -- Tens of thousands of Georgians rallied on the streets of Tbilisi, angered by what the opposition sees as the governments failure to make progress on reforms that can boost the Caucasus countrys hopes of joining the European Union.

Participants of the July 3 event, organized by the Shame civic movement and other pro-democracy groups, also displayed support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, which occupies segments of Georgian territory captured in a short 2008 war.

Protesters holding flares and waving Georgian and EU flags and banners blocked traffic on the central Rustaveli Avenue and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and for a new government of national accord to be formed.

Georgia has been gripped by protests after EU leaders last month deferred Tbilisi's membership candidacy, recognizing it as a perspective member but insisting that candidate status could only be granted as soon as set priorities are met" and widespread reforms are put in place.

While deferring on Georgia, the EU at the same time 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 intensions.

Garibashvili has said his government is "mobilized" to meet the requirements set by Brussels "so that we get candidate status as soon as possible."

No immediate estimate on the number of rally participants was available, but an estimated 120,000 people took part in each of two previous rallies in the Georgian capital.

In one demonstration, Shota Digmelashvili of the Shame movement read out a manifesto and announced the launch of a new popular movement that will include opposition parties, civil society organization, journalists, and labor unions to make demands on the government.

The manifesto asserted that the countrys main obstacle on its European path is Bidzina Ivanishvili," the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party who is widely believed to be the top decision-maker in the South Caucasus country even though he does not hold office.

In May, the European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the EU to impose sanctions against Ivanishvili for his "destructive role" in Georgia's politics and economy. Ivanishvili insists he has retired from politics.

In a Facebook statement, rally organizers called on Ivanishvili to "relinquish executive power and transfer it, in a constitutional manner, to a government of national accord."

The statement said a new government could "carry out the reforms required by the EU, which will automatically bring us the status of an EU membership candidate."

"A next stage of our protests begins today. We will not disperse."

The government led by the Georgian Dream party has been hit by increasing international criticism over perceived backsliding on democracy, damaging its EU hopes.

The European Commission said the conditions that Tbilisi must fulfill include ending political polarization, progress on media freedom, judiciary and electoral reforms, and "de-oligarchization."

Georgian Dream officials insist they are following democratic principles and accused the opposition of "plans to overthrow the authorities by organizing anti-government rallies."

Opinion polls show that at least 80 percent of the Georgian population favor plans to join the EU, as well as NATO, amid perceived threats from Russia.

Georgias aspirations to forge closer ties with the West have long angered Russia. Tensions culminated in Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 after which Russia recognized South Ossetia and another region, Abkhazia, as independent countries and stationed thousands of its soldiers in those areas.

With reporting by AFP
1

The bravery and showmanship of a Kyrgyz horseman is on display as he thunders across the plain while engulfed in flames.to the nomadic lifestyle, as life on the mountains and on the steppes would be impossible without them.
NATO has declared Russia the "most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security amid Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The Western military alliance made the declaration in a statement as its leaders met in Madrid on June 29 to confront what NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called the biggest security crisis since World War II.

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.

NATO's declaration underscores how dramatically Russias invasion of Ukraine has unsettled Europes post-Cold War security order.

The alliance also promised to step up political and practical support to Ukraine in the face of Russias invasion.

Stoltenberg said Ukraine is fighting for its independence but also for Western values and security.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video address to the summit, chided NATO for not embracing his embattled country more fully and asked for more weapons to defeat Moscow's forces.

Zelenskiy told NATO leaders that Ukraine needs more advanced heavy weapons and additional financial support to stave off Russia's invasion, warning that Moscow's ambitions won't stop with his country.



"We need to break the Russian artillery advantage.... We need much more modern systems, modern artillery," Zelensky told a NATO summit in Madrid via video link on June 29, adding that financial support was "no less important than aid with weapons."

"This is not a war being waged by Russia against only Ukraine. This is a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe -- for what the future world order will be like," Zelenskiy said.

The statement also said that NATO leaders agreed on June 29 to formally invite Finland and Sweden to join the alliance after Turkey struck a deal with the Nordic duo to drop its objections.

"Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols," a declaration from a summit in Madrid said.

Russia's war on Ukraine raised fears in Finland and Sweden, prompting them to seek to join the 30-member alliance. Finland's long border with Russia means the Russian-NATO border will expand dramatically.

Finland and Sweden applied to join the military alliance last month, but their bids were held back by Turkey, which has accused both nations, particularly Sweden, of offering a safe haven to Kurdish militants who have been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state.

Stoltenberg also said he expected a swift ratification of Sweden and Finland joining the military alliance. Unanimous consent is required for NATO enlargement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond in kind if NATO set up infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they join the alliance. According to Russian news agencies, he also said he could not rule out that tensions would emerge in relations with Helsinki and Stockholm over their membership in NATO.

U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for dropping his opposition to Sweden and Finlands membership bids. At the same time, a Pentagon official signaled support for Turkey's plan to purchase additional F-16 warplanes.

Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told reporters on a conference call that the U.S. Defense Department fully supports Turkey's modernization plans."

"Turkey is a highly capable, highly valued, strategic NATO ally, and Turkish defense capabilities -- strong Turkish defense capabilities -- contribute to strong NATO defense capabilities," she said.

A plan to equip Turkey with F-35 stealth fighters fell through after Turkey bought S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, which the United States considered threatening to the security of the F-35 program.

Turkey then set out to buy new F-16 fighter jets, as well as upgrades for its existing fleet of the same planes, but that purchase was put on hold.

WATCH: Polish and Lithuanian leaders have expressed support for Ukraine and stressed the need for additional military assistance to Kyiv in the face of the ongoing Russian invasion. Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda talked to RFE/RL on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid on June 29.

Biden said earlier that the United States is strengthening its military presence in Europe in the face of new threats posed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Biden said the alliance will be "strengthened in all directions across every domain -- land, air, and sea."

Biden said at a meeting with Stoltenberg that Washington was boosting the fleet of U.S. naval destroyers from four to six in Rota, Spain, and would establish a permanent headquarters in Poland of the 5th Army Corps.

It will also send an "additional rotational brigade" to Romania, consisting of "3,000 fighters and another 2,000 personnel combat team" and will enhance rotational deployments in the Baltic countries, Biden said.

Two additional squadrons of the F-35 stealth plane will be sent to Britain and more air defense and other capabilities will be placed in Germany and in Italy.

"We're sending an unmistakable message...that NATO is strong, united, and the steps we're taking during this summit are going to further augment our collective strength," Biden said.

"We mean it when we say an attack against one is an attack against all," he told reporters at the start of a working session of NATO leaders.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and Time
Late on June 28, the leaders of Finland, Sweden, and Turkey signed a trilateral memorandum on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, paving the way for the Nordic duo to join the military alliance. But what did they actually agree to and what will happen next?

How Did We Get Here?

Everyone, including senior NATO officials and the political leadership of Sweden and Finland, expected that the pair would join the alliance without any obstacles after Stockholm and Helsinki sought membership in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

But in mid-May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced his opposition, highlighting a Western arms embargo on Turkey that both countries had joined and their alleged support of various Kurdish causes. What ensued was six weeks of political negotiations on various levels overseen by NATO, mostly in Brussels and Ankara, before they finally signed the three-page memorandum in the Spanish capital on June 28 after nearly four hours of talks. Both Finland and Sweden are now set to finally join the club.

What's In The Memorandum?

It largely focuses on three issues: fighting terrorism, the arms trade, and Turkish extradition requests.

For a long time, Finland and Sweden have classified the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization, but in the memorandum they commit to also "prevent activities of the PKK and all other terrorist organizations and their extensions, as well as activities by individuals in affiliated and inspired groups or networks linked to these terrorist organizations." They are also signing up to closer cooperation with Turkey to "prevent the activities of these terrorist groups."

Crucially, there is also a pledge not to provide support to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Defense Units (YPG), a Kurdish political party in Syria and its military wing that Ankara insists are closely associated with the PKK but many Western countries see as one of the most effective forces in fighting the Islamic State extremist group. Notably, there is no Turkish ultimatum in the memorandum to classify the YPG as a terrorist organization.

In another clear concession to Ankara, all three parties confirm that no national arms embargoes exist between them. But the biggest issue addressed is the future potential extradition of ethnic Kurds to Turkey, a sensitive topic in Sweden, which is home to an estimated 100,000 people of Kurdish origin.

The text states that "Finland and Sweden will address Turkey's pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly, taking into account information, evidence, and intelligence provided by Turkey." The document also notes that they will "establish necessary bilateral legal frameworks to facilitate extradition and security cooperation with Turkey, in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition."

It's possible that this deal will hurt Sweden's ruling Social Democratic Party in the parliamentary elections scheduled for September, and might be seen as a betrayal of the many Kurds seeking refuge in the country.

When Can Finland And Sweden Join NATO?

On June 29, NATO leaders will make the symbolic decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO. The actual accession protocol, however, will not be signed in Madrid but more likely in Brussels next week by the ambassadors of the 30 current NATO members.

Then the ratification process starts in all the members' national parliaments. Normally this takes around one year but there have already been commitments by various countries to speed up the process. That could mean Sweden and Finland become the 31st and 32nd NATO members as soon as this fall.

Why Is This Significant?

Firstly, it is a huge political shift for both Finland and Sweden. Helsinki will be abandoning the final vestiges of its unique Cold War status, which led to the coining of the term "Finlandization," where the Soviet Union allowed the country independence in exchange for Finland not opposing its bigger and more powerful neighbor's foreign policy. And for Stockholm, it might be even more momentous, as over 200 years of military nonalignment is about to be consigned to history.

Accepting the two new Nordic members will also have a huge impact on NATO. Finland, which still has universal male conscription, can boast a wartime strength of 280,000 troops and trained reserves of 900,000 men and women, making it one of NATO's biggest armies. Finland also meets NATO's goal of spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, something only nine current NATO members manage to do. Sweden also aims to reach that target in the years ahead and is one of the largest arms exporters in the world.

Not to mention the impact the expansion will have on the security and geopolitics of Europe. The entire Baltic region, with the exception of Russia, will soon be NATO territory and Finland's 1,300-kilometer border with Russia will become the military alliance's longest, with what is currently its biggest adversary.
The Russian parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, has approved a bill that would allow it to define any person who receives financial assistance from abroad as a "foreign agent," a change making it easier for the state to target its domestic critics.

The bill, approved on June 29, must still pass through parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, before it is signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has used the so-called "foreign agent" law for the past decade to label and target critics who it feels are engaged in political activity and receive foreign funding.

The new law tweaks that to say all individuals who receive financial support from abroad or who "are under foreign influence" can be defined as "foreign agents." It also broadens the definition of political activities to include a vague clause covering any activities that "contradict the national interests of the Russia Federation."

Individuals who are officially labeled as "foreign agents" will no longer be able to receive state grants for creative activities, work as teachers, organize public events, or work at structures that distribute information.

Russia already maintains multiple lists of individuals and entities it considers to be working as "foreign agents."

Among other things, the designation requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance, and which are considered by the government to be engaged in political activities, to register as "foreign agents," to identify themselves as such, and to submit to cumbersome audits.

They also must label any content they produce with an intrusive disclaimer or face criminal fines for not doing so. Kremlin critics say the "foreign agent" designation brings up Soviet-era connotations that are intended to stigmatize any independent civic activity in Russia.

The "foreign agent" law has been increasingly used by officials to shutter civil society and media groups in Russia.

The original 2012 legislation targeted NGOs and rights groups but has since been expanded to target media organizations, individual journalists, YouTube vloggers, and virtually anyone who receives money from outside of Russia and, in the eyes of the Kremlin, voices a political opinion.

RFE/RL has 18 Russian-national journalists on the government's "foreign agents" list.

The U.S. government-funded independent broadcaster suspended its operations in Russia in March after local tax authorities initiated bankruptcy proceedings against its Russian entity and police intensified pressure on its journalists.

The bankruptcy proceedings stemmed from the company's refusal to comply with the labeling mandate or pay the millions of dollars in fines that have piled up for not adhering to the law.

RFE/RL has rejected the foreign agent label, saying it connotes that it is an enemy of the state.
The Moscow City Court has rejected an appeal filed by prominent Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza against a lower court decision to place him in pretrial detention after he was arrested for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian Army.

Kara-Murza tweeted on June 29 that the hearing was held behind closed doors under the pretext that the judge did not want to disclose information about the politician's family residing abroad. Journalists were present only for the handing down of the court's decision.

The 40-year Kremlin critic was detained in April and sentenced to 15 days in jail on a charge of disobedience to police. He was later charged with spreading false information about the Russian Army and placed in pretrial detention for two months.

On June 8, the Basmanny district court extended Kara-Murza's pretrial detention until at least August 12.

Russia's Investigative Committee is conducting a probe into allegations that Kara-Murza distributed false information about the army while speaking to lawmakers in the U.S. state of Arizona.

Kara-Murza has rejected the charge, calling it politically motivated.

His arrest came amid a mounting crackdown by Russian authorities on opposition figures and any dissent to the ongoing war in Ukraine that Moscow launched against its neighbor on February 24.

In early March, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that calls for lengthy prison terms for distributing "deliberately false information" about Russian military operations.

The law envisages sentences of up to 10 years in prison for individuals convicted of an offense, while the penalty for the distribution of "deliberately false information" about the Russian Army that leads to "serious consequences" is 15 years in prison.

It also makes it illegal "to make calls against the use of Russian troops to protect the interests of Russia" or "for discrediting such use" with a possible penalty of up to three years in prison. The same provision applies to calls for sanctions against Russia.

A close associate of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, Kara-Murza is best known for falling deathly ill on two separate occasions in Moscow -- in 2015 and 2017-- with symptoms consistent with poisoning.

Tissue samples smuggled out of Russia by his relatives were turned over to the FBI, which investigated his case as one of "intentional poisoning."

U.S. government laboratories also conducted extensive tests on the samples, but documents released by the Justice Department suggest they were unable to reach a conclusive finding.
On June 10, Albina Abayeva posted a short remark on the social network VK: Gazprom zp has come, it said in Russian.



Cryptic, but in context the meaning was clear: Her husband, who was fighting in Russias war against Ukraine, had received his wages from the military, and they came through Gazprombank.



The bank connected to state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom is the third-biggest in Russia, after Sberbank and VTB. And its the only one of the three that has not been hit with the harshest kind of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States -- an exception that results from the fact that EU countries pay Russia for natural gas, a major source of revenue for the assault on Ukraine, through Gazprombank.



A new report by Schemes, an investigative unit of RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, documents a wide range of evidence showing that a substantial number of the Russian soldiers and security-force members who have been deployed to Ukraine have received their regular military pay and combat bonuses via Gazprombank.

Schemes Report: The Russian Army's 'Cash Box'

There is Abayeva, whose husband, Vadim Abayev, has indicated on his page on the Russian social network Odnoklassniki that he serves in the 6th Separate Tank Brigade.

Reached on the phone by Schemes, Abayeva confirmed her husband had received salary money and combat pay through Gazprombank, saying the bank does not provide a breakdown between the two. She later changed the name she uses on the social network.

Among several others, there is also Lyudmila Reshetnikova, who reported in the same VK forum that combat pay had come in via Gazprombank. On her page, she identified her husband as Aleksandr Reshetnikov and indicated that he is at war. As of 2020, he served in a radiation, chemical, and biological protection brigade in the Russian military.



After Schemes journalists expressed interest in the payment of military wages through Gazprombank, the moderator deleted about 14 pages of discussions.

It is not clear what proportion of Russian military personnel, or of Russian soldiers, receive payments via Gazprombank. Several other banks are also authorized to process military pay, including Sberbank and VTB.



And there is no evidence that if the United States and the EU were to impose tough sanctions on Gazprombank, these payments would dry up. While sanctioned banks such VTB and Sberbank are frozen out of dollar and euro transactions and and cut off from the SWIFT global payments messaging system, Russia has its own system, and domestic ruble transactions are generally unaffected by the sanctions Western states have imposed on Russia over its aggression against Ukraine  which began in 2014 and was massively escalated on February 24, when President Vladimir Putin launched a large-scale invasion that has killed tens of thousands of people, forced more than 12 million to flee their homes, and turned a number of cities and towns in the north and east to rubble.

Conduit For Payments



Sanctions are "highly unlikely to affect domestic payments in rubles. Such payments would generally be outside the reach of U.S. sanctions," Brian O'Toole, a former senior adviser at the U.S. Treasury Department and an analyst at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, told RFE/RL.



But for many in Ukraine, the fact that a bank that has escaped severe sanctions is the conduit for payments to the soldiers who are killing and maiming their compatriots is particularly unpalatable.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on the EU to impose the toughest form of sanctions on all Russian banks without exception.



"This applies first of all to Gazprombank -- one of the main wallets financing the anti-European policy of the Russian Federation, Zelenskiy said on June 11. And, of course, for its own benefit, the EU must work much faster to completely abandon Russian energy resources. This is a fundamental security issue.

But while the West has imposed milder sectoral sanctions on Gazprombank, and the EU is seeking to slash its dependence on Russian energy supplies, there is no indication that the bloc is as about to impose more severe sanctions on the bank.



Sanctions on Gazprombank would be equal to an embargo on Russian gas, which is now not in the cards, Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Belgium-based think tank focusing on Europes economy, told NBC News earlier in June.



Britain, which is no longer in the EU and is less reliant on Russian energy exports than other European nations, has imposed tough sanctions on Gazprombank.



Zelenskiys chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told NBC News that the United States and the EU should sanction Gazprombank, not just for its role in helping Russia accrue revenue from its energy sales, but because Gazprombank is directly involved in supporting Russias military, state-owned companies, and other institutions that are sustaining the invasion of Ukraine.



While other Russian banks are also being used to pay the soldiers fighting in Ukraine, there is concern in Kyiv that Gazprombanks avoidance of sanctions is making it stronger and more financially robust.



"There is a problem that Gazprombank is functional, continues to receive huge revenues, and more and more customers of other Russian banks, affected by sanctions, are switching to it. That is, it is such a haven to avoid sanctions on the financial system," Tetyana Shevchuk, legal counsel for the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Ukraine, told Schemes.



In May, the Ukrainian Defense Ministrys intelligence department said that the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, has intensified international settlements through Gazprombank.

Meanwhile, evidence gathered by Schemes shows that Gazprombank, which in 2016 reported issuing a bank card bearing a star symbol and the words Army of Russia, has ties with the military that go deeper than the payment of wages and combat bonuses.



Since the February invasion of Ukraine, Gazprombank representatives have attended ceremonies held by military units around Russia marking the anniversary of their formation and other milestones.

In April, an officer of the bank met with the wives of servicemen from a military unit based in Naro-Fominsk, outside Moscow, some of whom have been part of the invasion force. The topic was social support for military families, the repayment of loans, and the registration of debt deferrals.



Moreover, Gazprombank may also be in use as a conduit for payments for military equipment used by Russian forces in the assault on Ukraine.



The Ukrainian defense intelligence department said in April that payments for military equipment purchased for the 47th Guards Tank Division, a Russian unit that is involved in the fighting, were made through two banks, one of which was Gazprombank.



Gazprombank did not respond to a request for comment from Schemes on the banks cooperation with The Russian Defense Ministry.

Written by Steve Gutterman based on reporting by Heorhiy Shabayev, Natalie Sedletska, and Kyrylo Ovsyaniy. Todd Prince contributed to this report.
Russian forces continue to press ahead with their assault on Lysychansk, with regional officials saying the situation was "very difficult" in the last Ukrainian holdout in the east as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy again called on the West to deliver more advanced heavy weapons to allow his forces to stave off Moscow's artillery onslaught.

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.

Ukraine's Armed Forces General Staff said on June 29 that Russian troops were trying to surround the hilltop city of Lysychansk, a key battleground in Moscow's attempt to conquer Ukraine's industrial heartland of Donbas.

The head of the military administration in Luhansk, where Lysychansk is situated, reported increased military action, saying there was "fighting everywhere" around the city.

"The Russians are using every weapon available to them...and without distinguishing whether targets are military or not -- schools, kindergartens, cultural institutions," Serhiy Hayday said.

"The situation in Lysychansk is very difficult," Hayday said on television.

"Everything is being destroyed. This is a scorched-earth policy."

He added that the situation in Lysychansk resembles that in its twin city Syevyerodonetsk where Russian forces started destroying building after building. Syevyerodonetsk fell to Russia on June 25.

British intelligence said that Russian forces continue to make progress in their efforts to encircle Lysychansk. It said that, since June 25, Russian forces have advanced a further 2 kilometers near the Lysychansk oil refinery, south of the town.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on June 29 that the outlook remains "pretty grim" and said Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to take most of Ukraine.

"We continue to be in a position where we look at President Putin and we think he has effectively the same political goals that he had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine," Haines told a U.S. Commerce Department conference.

Haines said U.S. intelligence agencies consider the most likely scenario in the near future is that the war will become a grinding conflict in which Russian forces only make incremental gains but no breakthrough toward Putin's goal.

But the intelligence agencies are considering two other possible scenarios: a major Russian breakthrough and Ukraine succeeding in stabilizing the front lines while achieving small gains, perhaps near the Russian-held city of Kherson and other areas of southern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told NATO leaders who have gathered for a crucial summit in Madrid that Ukraine needs more advanced heavy weapons and additional financial support to stave off Russia's unprovoked invasion, warning that Moscow's ambitions won't stop with his country.



"We need to break the Russian artillery advantage...We need much more modern systems, modern artillery," Zelenskiy told a NATO summit in Madrid via video link on June 29, adding that financial support was "no less important than aid with weapons."

NATO responded by branding Russia the most "direct threat" to allied security and vowed to modernize Ukraine's military.

Zelenskiy also accused Russia of intentionally targeting civilians in Kremenchuk, where at least 18 people were killed and dozens are still missing after a missile attack on a crowded commercial center.

"A Russian missile hit this location precisely. Deliberately.... It is clear that Russian killers received those exact coordinates," Zelenskiy said in his regular evening video address. "They wanted to kill as many people."

Britain's Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence bulletin on June 29 that there is a "realistic possibility" the missile strike on the Kremenchuk shopping center was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.

It said that Russias lack of accuracy in conducting long-range strikes has previously resulted in mass civilian casualty incidents, including at the Kramatorsk railway station on April 9.

The British report said it was "highly likely" that Russian strikes will continue to cause further civilian casualties given Russias shortage of more modern precision strike weapons and the professional shortcomings of their targeting planners.

The mayor of the southern city of Mykolayiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, said a missile strike killed at least three people in a residential building in the city on June 29 in an attack that Russia said was meant to destroy a training base for foreign fighters. The regional governor said later the number of dead was four.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, toward Ukraine's east, the head of the regional administration, Valentyn Reznychenko, said on June 29 that the bodies of a man and a woman had been found buried under the rubble of a building that was hit by a Russian missile the previous day..

He had earlier said that Russia had fired six missiles in the region on June 28, three of which were shot down.

Separately, the Moscow-installed military administration ruling the area around the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson said it is preparing to hold a referendum on joining Russia.

"Yes, we are preparing for a referendum -- and we will hold it," said Kirill Stremoussov, the deputy head of Kherson's military and civil administration in a video published on Telegram.

Stremoussov said Kherson should become "a full-fledged member" of Russia.

Earlier, the Russia-installed officials said their security forces had detained Kherson city Mayor Ihor Kolykhayev on June 28 after he refused to follow Moscow's orders. A local official said the mayor was kidnapped.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, CNN, and BBC
Ukraine's Defense Ministry has announced a prisoner exchange involving 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including scores of defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol.

"This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders. Among them, 43 servicemen of the Azov Regiment," the main intelligence directorate of the Defense Ministry said on June 29 on Telegram.

It did not specify when and where the swap took place or how many Russian prisoners were part of the exchange.

The head of a Russia-backed separatist group in Ukraines Donetsk region also reported a prisoner exchange with Kyiv, saying the number of fighters exchanged was 144 on each side.

Denis Pushilin said 144 Russia-backed separatists and Russian soldiers would return home as part of the exchange.

"We handed over to Kyiv the same number of prisoners from Ukrainian armed units. Most of whom were wounded, Pushilin said on Telegram.

There had been concerns over the fate of Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner by Russian forces after they abandoned the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol.

Some prominent Russian lawmakers last month said there should be no exchange of members of the Azov Regiment, which Russia considers a neo-Nazi organization.

Russia said some 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken into custody when it took over the steel plant. Pushilin said at the time he thought the prisoners would face a tribunal.

Ukrainian officials and relatives of the soldiers had urged Moscow to treat the men as prisoners of war, and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshuk said that Kyiv would fight for their return.

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged prisoners several times since Russia invaded on February 24.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
A former San Ysidro superintendent who was the subject of an audit that found he may have engaged in fraud or misappropriated district funds has filed a defamation lawsuit against a trustee who made public allegations against him.

Julio Fonseca, who was in charge of the San Ysidro School District for about two years, claims in the lawsuit that trustee Rodolfo Linares implemented a campaign of defamation against him in the wake of his resignation in September.

The lawsuit claims the campaign was malicious, despicable and intended to harm (Fonsecas) reputation both publicly and privately. In addition to defamation, the lawsuit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress against Linares.

Linares, who learned about the lawsuit from The San Diego Union-Tribune, called it laughable.

He said he stands 100 percent by the allegations he has brought to light.

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I have all the evidence to back it up, he added.

The lawsuit was filed in San Diego Superior Court on June 12, about a month after an independent state audit of payments made to Fonseca and former Deputy Superintendent Arturo Sanchez-Macias was completed. The audit found Fonseca and Sanchez-Macias were overpaid more than $147,000 each in payouts for vacation days and term life insurance.

The findings, which were turned over to the District Attorneys Office, appear to support some of the allegations Linares made two months after Fonsecas resignation. The trustee claimed Fonseca and Sanchez-Macias inappropriately converted vacation days and life insurance policies into cash payments.

During the November rally outside the school districts office, Linares also called for the resignation of Sanchez-Macias, who had stepped into the top post.

In addition to the accusations that Fonseca was inappropriately paid for vacation days and term life insurance, the lawsuit claims Linares alleged:

The school board never voted to approve those expenditures;

Fonseca and another individual had purposely confused and manipulated the board discussions to deceive the board about the deferred term life insurance policies;

Fonseca stole money from the school districts students;

Fonseca covered up a $113,000 payment to a former district employee.

The payment presumably refers to the money the district of about 4,700 students paid an employee who filed a wrongful termination claim. The employee, Jose Enrique Gonzalez, had spoken out about an alleged relationship between Fonseca and a woman he hired.

The suit alleges Linares, who was elected to the board in November 2014, knew that these statements were false and/or that he had no reason to believe that said statements were true, and acted in reckless disregard of the truth in making said statements to cause Fonseca emotional distress.

The lawsuit claims the statements are false and libelous, and clearly exposed plaintiff to hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy because the defendant stated the plaintiff had committed crimes, that he was unethical and was abusing his position.

The lawsuit seeks punitive damages.

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
New staff senate president Rushondra James begins term

Rushondra James, assistant dean for students services in the College of Information and Communications, begins her term as staff senate president.

Rushondra James never planned on being staff senate president. When she first joined the University of South Carolina staff in 2009, she didnt even plan on being here long.

But a lot can happen in 13 years. A temporary position working with undergraduates in the College of Social Work expanded to a full-time gig, an adjunct instructor role and more and more responsibility. Then, in 2017, she moved to the College of Information and Communications, where she has spent the past five years as an assistant dean for student services.

By the time staff senate formed as an official university body in 2021, James was committed to using the institutional knowledge she had acquired to improve employer-employee relations across campus. She also looked forward to making new contacts from other units and collaborating with them on new initiatives.

Being a longtime staffer, you see a lot of changes, you hear a lot, you see people come and go, and you begin to see areas that you can help improve upon, she says. You have a perspective that's unique.

So when she was tapped to be vice president during the senates inaugural year, she naturally answered the call. And when she was subsequently tapped to be president, succeeding Shelley Dempsey, she may have been a little more hesitant, but she was still ready for the challenge.

I initially was just going to do the VP role, I didnt want I want to be the president, she says. However, I'm always a believer that if it scares you, do it. That's when you lean in.

Besides, the role suits her personality and capitalizes on her skillset. As an undergrad at Howard University, where James earned a bachelors in journalism before earning a masters in social work and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies here, the Orangeburg, South Carolina, native developed the skills to lead and the confidence to be a vocal advocate for her peers and constituents.

Being a longtime staffer, you see a lot of changes, you hear a lot, you see people come and go, and you begin to see areas that you can help improve upon. Rushondra James, staff senate president

I'm not one to shy away from talking and speaking my mind, she explains. I figure, Well, if I'm going to say something, I want it to be in a place where it could be most effective, and I think the most effective place is in a staff senate environment.

As outgoing vice president, James is proud of the work done during the senates inaugural year. In addition to passing resolutions relating to covid mask protocol and diversity, equity and inclusion, the newly-formed staff senate began the push for better representation on university-wide job searches and established a foundation for the bodys future.

The challenge of the inaugural year was just having to create a process, she says. You don't have a blueprint.

Now, as the bodys second president, she wants to build on that blueprint  to ride the momentum, as she puts it  by advocating on behalf of fellow staff and amplifying staff voices and staff presence on campus.

I hope a year from now to have achieved to at least two things, she says. One is professional development of staff senate, to help all senators feel empowered in their current work. The second is to continue to see staff and the staff senate inserted in the conversation. When people think 'faculty and student,' they should also, automatically, think 'staff'  we need that inclusion in thought, word and deed.

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A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo, Keio University, and the Toyohashi University of Technology has recently demonstrated supernumerary robotic arms that are operated by foot movements of the user in a virtual environment. The technology has shown that participants of the study could feel the robotic arms as an extension of their bodies.

Supernumerary Robotic Arms; An Extension of the Body

The recent study gives more insight into the design of human augmentation systems that can be used in the future more naturally and freely without the restrictions of cognitive efforts, such as the user's body.

In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, titled "Embodiment of supernumerary robotic limbs in virtual reality," Ken Arai, a doctoral student, together with Masahiko Inami, a professor from the University of Tokyo, and their colleagues have developed a novel supernumerary robotic arm that works alongside its user's foot movements via a virtual reality environment. The demonstration has shown that users of the robotic arms considered them part of their bodies.

In order for researchers to extend the bodily functions of the said robotic third and fourth arms, it is vital that the user can perceive the arms as an extension of its own body which will lead to easy manipulation, similar to how we manipulate our natural limbs.

The group performed several experiments to capture the perceptual changes when the user embodies the arms after using and learning about the third and fourth robotic arms. The bodily phenomenon of visual-haptic interaction with the robotic arms and the sensation that the number of a person's limbs has increased have just been revealed for the first time in a recent study.

ALSO READ: Google's Mysterious Sentient AI Dangerous? Narcissist Bot Could Escape to Do Bad Things





Human Limbs and the Embodiment of Robotic Arms

As humans, numerous tasks in our daily lives are accomplished because of the skillful manipulation of our limbs. Tools are also used to finish difficult tasks that our bodies alone aren't able to do. The recently developed supernumerary robotic arms aim to provide an extension of the body's functions by adding extra limbs, third and fourth robotic arms, using the appropriate human-computer interaction systems. Experts expect that the other robotic arms will be able to move as intended naturally, just like how participants of the study naturally use their arms and legs. On the other hand, whether users perceive the robotic system as an extension of their body needs further investigation, reports EurekAlert.

The study's results suggest that the augmentation of human bodily functions by adding extra limbs has generated sensations that the users have acquired additional parts that are different from their innate body parts. The findings contribute to the creation of novel methods for evaluating supernumerary robotic systems from the embodiment perspective. Furthermore, the embodiment of supernumerary robotic limbs may expand in the near future and refine research in embodiment and cognitive sciences.

RELATED ARTICLE: Elon Musk Confirms September Launch of AI Humanoid Optimus That May Have the Ability to Walk, Dead-Lift

Check out more news and information on Tech and Innovation in Science Times.
SEELEY LAKE - Alpine Artisan, Inc. (AAI) continues to support Artists in the Schools for Seeley Lake and Swan Valley students by securing a second $2,500 grant from the Montana Arts Council's "Artists in the Schools" Experiences Program. AAI received their first grant last fall. This enabled them to help with Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) 21st Century program, to bring in an instructor from Movements-4-Movement into SLE, Swan Valley Elementary School and Seeley-Swan High School, said Jenny Rohrer, AAI program director. This second grant will enable AAI to extend that work from July through November.

"This program has been very enlightening as instructor Katie Thompson works with the students to build confidence, express themselves emotionally and gain confidence in their classmates through movement," Rohrer said.

The grant allowed Thompson to offer Movements-4-Movement sessions at Seeley Lake Elementary for three- to eight-year-olds with two one-hour sessions June 14-16.

Thompson from Missoula is a full-time teacher at Roots Gymnastics and Dance in Missoula. Thompson began her dance career in Maine and has studied all over, participating in various performances from New York to Seattle. Thompson has been teaching dance for 20 years this fall.

"A big part of what we do is introduce movement to people that might not have a lot of access to it in a different way," Thompson said. Students are shown various exercise-type movements which can resemble hip hop at some points along with techniques to display emotions without words.

"Our philosophy is that movement is a universal language and through that a deeper understanding about how we move through the world," Thompson said. "We can then help [them] to be a better part of it and learn how to express themselves in ways beyond words."
Letter to the Editor

A number of people -- private citizens, elected legislators and state staff -- achieved a quiet accomplishment recently. During the 2021 Legislative Session, two bills (SB 262 and SB 263) were passed to revise the duties of the Forest Lands Taxation Advisory Committee (FLTAC) and charge that advisory committee to examine and modernize the tax rate on Forest Land (Class 10) properties. Members of FLTAC have been meeting since July 9, 2021. Members include four forestry experts appointed by both parties of Montanas Senate and House, along with two industrial forest landowners, two nonindustrial forest landowners, and a county commissioner appointed by the Governor. The FLTAC is supported by staff at the Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) and accepts public comment.

Between July 2021 and April 2022, FLTAC held seven meetings and numerous subcommittee meetings to analyze and develop recommendations to forward to the Legislative Revenue Interim Committee. The advisory committees review included productivity and stumpage value, wood production and agriculture-related income.

Montanas industry professionals have seen 32 mills closed since 1990 -- only five remain. In 2000, there were over 4,300 production workers in our wood products industry with nearly $150 million in wages and 1,177 million board feet produced here.

By 2021, workers tally 1,515 and wages totaled less than half of the 2000 figure, and production rates dropped to 421 million board feet. Private timberland ownership is declining, yet product demand and costs continue to increase. The work by FLTAC examined DOR methodologies and made recommendations to update tax policy in a manner reflecting the industrys current status.

FLTACs meeting in April resulted in the following recommendations be incorporated into a draft bill for the 68th Legislative Session: revise the DOR reappraisal cycle for forest properties to a two-year schedule beginning in tax year 2025; utilize a 10-year averaging method; revise the tax rate for tax years 2023 and 2024; and to require FLTAC meet at least once annually. The Revenue Interim Committee unanimously adopted the recommendations during its June 18 meeting.

The recommendations by FLTAC are common-sense taxation revisions in support of Montanas forest land industries. It was my honor and privilege to serve alongside all advisory committee members including Gordy Sanders, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, Seeley Lake and Randy Mannix, Helmville.

Thank you.

Rep. Becky Beard, HD80-Elliston, FLTAC Chair

Elliston, Montana
San Jose city officials on Tuesday repealed a decades-old ban on car cruising  joining a statewide movement in which lowrider groups have been urging city leaders to rescind similar bans that they say are discriminatory against Latinos and lowrider culture.

The San Jose City Council voted unanimously to overturn an ordinance that prohibits vehicles from cruising on specific downtown streets. Council Member Maya Esparza was absent.

The law was created in 1992 in an effort to address crime, gang violence and traffic-related incidents, which are often unrelated to the cruising itself, city officials said.

Council Member Raul Peralez, who introduced the proposal in May, said Tuesday the ordinance was a blatantly discriminatory and inherently racist policy that targets Latinos and communities of color who embrace the lowrider culture instead of addressing traffic and public safety concerns, such as sideshows and reckless driving.

We absolutely want our Police Department to focus on those (incidents) and this (ordinance) doesnt stop any of that from happening, said Peralez.

San Jose police have not enforced the law or issued citations for cruising in decades, according to Peralez and the Police Department.

San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata on Tuesday asked the council to not overturn the ordinance, saying it was a tool that would allow law enforcement officials to address traffic concerns he said were associated with cruising. In a written memo, Mata had suggested two alternatives that included either temporarily suspending the ban for six months before a final decision or allowing local car clubs to cruise during permitted events in coordination with the department.

I think that the issue that we have with the amount of vehicles on the streets ... is the difficulty of movement for both pedestrians and the vehicles that gather, said Mata.

In response to the Police Departments concerns, council members said the city has other existing laws that law enforcement can use to address issues, such as loitering and other illegal activities, that may arise from cruising events.

Peralez said local car clubs were interested in coordinating a plan with the Police Department to ensure public safety during larger cruising events.

Tuesdays vote came at a time when lowrider clubs across the state have asked their cities to reverse similar bans on cruising. The State Assembly on Monday passed a resolution that celebrates lowrider culture and encourages cities to repeal cruising bans.

In Sacramento, city officials unanimously voted in May to revoke a ban on car cruising. In Southern California, National City temporarily lifted its ban to allow a local lowrider group to police themselves during cruising events for a six-month trial period.

While lowriders have cruised on streets despite the bans, many say the ordinances criminalize a tradition that began in the 1940s and celebrates Mexican American culture.

Several cities in the state have upheld a 1982 state law that allowed cities to prohibit cruising due to crime, noise and air pollution concerns, according to Assemblymember Luz Rivas, D-North Hollywood (Los Angeles County).

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.

Lowriders in Sacramento and San Diego urged San Jose officials during public comment Tuesday to overturn a ban that is an old form of prejudice and racism, said Francine Mata of the Sacramento Lowrider Commission.

San Jose artist Ricardo Cortez asked the council to remove the archaic no cruising signs on city streets.

If San Jose truly wants to live up to being inclusive and welcoming for everyone, these archaic profiling signs must come down, not only for what they represent, restricting our culture, but taking them down for what it will mean for future generations of kids, said Cortez.

Robert Diaz of the United Lowrider Council of San Jose said repealing the ordinance was overdue.

Cruising is an expression of art and cultural identity. Its a perfect time (to overturn the ordinance) as San Jose possesses a rich history, thriving culture and amazing diversity within it, he said.

Jessica Flores (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
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UPDATE: 13 firefighters reported injured since the Rices Fire began

A vegetation fire that started Tuesday in the area of Rices Crossing in Nevada County burned several structures and was threatening hundreds more, authorities said.

The fire, dubbed the Rices Fire, scorched 510 acres as of 6:30 p.m. and forced evacuations near Rices Crossing and Cranston roads near North San Juan in the county, officials with Cal Fires Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit said.

Update: Firefighters expect to increase Rices Fire containment despite warm weather

The fire was 0% contained and was threatening more than 500 structures and critical infrastructure, including Pacific Gas & Electric Co. power lines, water delivery systems and South Yuba State Park, Cal Fire Unit Chief Brian Estes said during a Tuesday evening news conference.

Cal Fire officials said they received reports of destroyed structures but did not immediately have a confirmed figure, Estes said. The fire was burning in brush, oak and heavy timber between the south fork of the Yuba River and the main Yuba River drainage, Estes said.

The fire was first reported at about 2 p.m. Estes said there were some efforts by locals to put out the fire when it first broke out, but the confluence of weather conditions  including temperatures in the high 90s, low humidity and south-westerly winds  spread the flames.

Cal Fire NEU

The fire was moving at a moderate rate of speed and the incident commander reported multiple spot fires, Cal Fire officials said. Between 40 and 50 fire engines, seven hand crews, seven bulldozers, up to 10 air tankers and five helicopters were battling the fire on Tuesday, Estes said.

Roughly 350 firefighters and personnel were battling the blaze and Estes said upward of 700 firefighters are expected to be assigned to fight the fire on Wednesday.

Our main efforts right now are to keep it from dropping into the Yuba River drainage, Estes said, adding that if the fire crosses into Yuba County from Nevada County, that could have tremendous impacts on local communities.

Estes said officials are expecting there to be some slight humidity recovery over night into Wednesday morning which will be really critical to our suppression efforts, but said winds have the ability to turn in the regions canyons.

Instead of them blowing up canyon and up drainage through the daytime hours, they will reverse as that nighttime air cools and wants to burn down, Estes said. We always have to look at that potential for the fire to change directions and start burning in the opposite direction. We do have contingency lines in place for that issue.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A photograph captured from a Cal Fire aircraft shows massive clouds of white smoke rising from the heavily vegetated land below.

Nevada County Sheriffs Office ordered evacuations for the area north of Pleasant Valley Road from Bridgeport, and east to Birchville Road up to the Yuba County line. An evacuation warning was also issued for the Birchville and Sweetland Road areas, sheriffs officials said.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

Road closures were in effect for Birchville Road at Highway 49 and Pleasant Valley Road at Bridgeport, Nevada County sheriffs officials said.

Shortly before 4:45 p.m., Yuba County officials said two zones in the county were under evacuation advisories, which means residents in those areas should be on alert for changing conditions. Officials described those zones as including the areas north of Marysville Road, Troost Trail, Fairhaven Drive, Lake Francis Road, and south and east of Marysville Road.

Evacuated residents can seek temporary refuge at Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City, sheriffs officials said.

Residents who need to lodge their animals may take their animals to the Nevada County Fairgrounds, sheriffs officials said.

Nevada County sheriffs deputies were expected to patrol evacuated areas throughout the night, sheriffs officials said shortly before 7:30 p.m.

While there were no nighttime water drops scheduled for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, Estes said that Cal Fire has aicraft flying above the blaze gathering intel and will be flying through the night.

Lauren Hernandez (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez
California Department of Justice officials inadvertently publicized the personal information of thousands of concealed carry permit holders, officials said.

The issue occurred with the departments launch of 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal on Monday, according to the Fresno County Sheriffs Department, which issued a statement on the issue on Wednesday morning.

CalMatters reported that the dashboard was taken down after reporters discovered that the open database included the names, home addresses and other personal information of more than 200,000 concealed carry permit holders in the state. The dashboard had been posted for fewer than 24 hours.

According to Attorney General Rob Bontas office, that information included the names, date of birth, gender, race, drivers license number, addresses and criminal history of people who were both granted and denied a concealed and carry weapons permit between 2011 and 2021.

As of Wednesday morning, the dashboard was still unavailable.

Tony Botti, public information officer for the Fresno County Sheriffs Office, said that some California sheriffs were examining the dashboard when they discovered the issue, and they reported it to the California State Sheriffs Association, who contacted the DOJ. Following the attorney generals announcement Wednesday afternoon, which detailed the information released, Botti said the situation was even worse than we first thought.

He said it was important for the Fresno office to put out a public announcement about the situation because the county has the most current concealed carry weapon permits in the state, with over 15,000.

Fresno County issued almost 46,000 concealed carry permits over the past decade, according to data from the DOJ dashboard pulled by CalMatters before it was taken down. By contrast, San Francisco issued 11 over the same period of time.

Fresno county officials wrote that, even though the dashboard has been taken down, portions of private information may have been posted on social media websites, and encouraged anyone who learned their identity has been compromised to report it to their local law enforcement agency.

In a news release about the launch of the dashboard on Monday, Attorney General Bontas office said that, through the dashboard, the DOJ sought to balance its duties to provide gun violence and firearms data to support research efforts while protecting the personal identifying information in the data the department collects and maintains.

On Wednesday afternoon, the DOJ confirmed the incident and said that it would notify anyone whose data was exposed, in accordance with California law. It also will provide credit monitoring services for those impacted.

This unauthorized release of personal information is unacceptable and falls far short of my expectations for this department, Bonta said in a statement. I immediately launched an investigation into how this occurred at the California Department of Justice and will take strong corrective measures where necessary.

The California Department of Justice is entrusted to protect Californians and their data, he added. We acknowledge the stress this may cause those individuals whose information was exposed. I am deeply disturbed and angered.

Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria

@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev
Scientists said it will be nearly impossible to identify the great white shark that attacked a swimmer near Lovers Point beach in Pacific Grove, leaving him with significant wounds on his legs, stomach and arms.

While we can recover DNA from a bite to help determine species, doing the same from a shark after an incident is highly unlikely and we do not have DNA tests for individual sharks, John Ugoretz, marine program manager at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, wrote in a statement about the violent incident on the morning of June 22.

Firefighters searched the water with drones and the Department of Fish and Wildlife gathered evidence for a forensic investigation, ultimately determining that the shark that bit Steve Bruemmer, 62, would remain shrouded in mystery, despite news reports speculating that the animal measured 20 feet, and crowning it the worlds largest great white shark.

What I know is that all those headlines are based in pure speculation  they did not come from us, said Ken Paglia, a spokesperson for Fish and Wildlife.

More for you Shark attack near Monterey leaves man seriously injured

A representative for the Pacific Grove Police Department also said she had no idea where the 20-foot number originated. At least one news report attributed it to the victim, who said in an interview that experts had estimated the sharks size  which would have made it among the worlds largest  based on the severity of the bites. Bruemmer declined to comment through a spokesperson Wednesday.

Sharks cruising along the California coast typically range from 7 to 18 feet long, said Andy Dehart, president and CEO of Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Fla. Dehart said he believes the animal that bit Bruemmer must have been massive, though likely not 20 feet long, given the purported nature of the wounds and the treatment required by a trauma surgeon at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.

Like his counterparts at Fish and Wildlife, Dehart said that officials have little chance of finding and apprehending the shark, nor is it fair to accuse the shark of premeditatively attacking people. White sharks in particular are difficult to trace in part because they move frequently and travel extreme distances, Ugoretz said. He noted that these marine predators seldom interact with people and are not expected to ever become problem animals, in the vein of coyotes or mountain lions.

A shark that bites a human has probably mistaken the person for prey, Ugoretz said, incorrectly believing the person was a seal or sea lion.

They dont feed on humans, retired UC Davis Professor A. Peter Klimley said, pointing out that humans are too full of sinewy muscle to appeal to a predator that mostly hunts blubbery seals and sea lions.

Klimley has written numerous papers on shark behavior and said the animals chance interactions with people usually occur if the sharks pass by a beach or populated area while migrating from one seal colony to another.

Although last weeks shark encounter sowed panic among beachgoers and law enforcement who closed Lovers Point beach and Sea Palm turnout for three days following the attack, some marine experts did not seem surprised. Several cautioned that humans who swim in the ocean were encroaching on the sharks habitat, not the other way around. Though we may use the ocean as a tourist draw and source of recreation, Ugoretz warned that its still a wilderness.

In California, even close to shore, the depths drop off pretty quickly, Dehart said, adding that most people who spend a lot of time swimming in the ocean may not realize how close they get to sharks on a regular basis.

Yet if the enduring power of Jaws and lurid shark-attack headlines has cemented our fear of these animals, Dehart cautions that they have far more reason to be afraid of us. Each year, he said, humans kill 73 million sharks globally through targeted fishing. By contrast, people report fewer than 100 shark bites.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
Ethels Fancy, a hyper-seasonal Palo Alto restaurant from a chef with experience at Bay Area Michelin-starred restaurants, has finally set an opening date after months of delays.

Owner Scott Nishiyama will open Ethels Fancy at 550 Waverley St., between University and Hamilton avenues, on July 27. His first restaurant will be more casual than the fine dining establishments where he cut his culinary teeth, including Yountvilles renowned French Laundry, Chez TJ in Mountain View and Restaurant Daniel in New York City.

The menu will be driven by what Nishiyama finds at the farmers market. Think baby artichokes charred over a hearth grill, served with a green goddess vinaigrette and Parmesan shavings. Peak season tomatoes might accompany miso-infused eggplant grilled over charcoal. A crunchy, light corn fritter will get seasoned with celery salt and topped with a creamy bay shrimp salad. Summer vegetables will also star alongside meats like soy-glazed pork ribs.

The food draws inspiration from Japan, France and Italy, but Nishiyama said he didnt want to be pigeon-holed or be labeled as a particular cuisine. Its really more about the product and letting those ingredients shine in the best way possible.

Provided by Scott Nishiyama/

Nishiyama wants Ethels Fancy to feel like a lively dinner party, so everything on the menu is geared toward sharing. People will be able to have a full meal in the dining room  which includes a 12-seat communal table that he hopes will encourage interaction  or drop in at the bar for drinks and snacks. He anticipates a chefs table in front of the open kitchen will be in high demand. Thats where, like at a sushi bar, cooks will pass dishes directly to diners.

Cocktails will also be driven by seasonal ingredients, Nishiyama said. He brought on Jon Sloane, the former lead sommelier for three-Michelin-starred Quince in San Francisco, as general manager and to help oversee the wine program.

Ethels Fancy will take reservations and walk-ins. The restaurant will be open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, then add lunch and possibly brunch down the line.

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Ethels Fancy, named for Nishiyamas grandmother and mother, has been in the works since 2017, when Nishiyama started hosting pop-up dinners. He eventually took over the Waverley Street space after the beloved, longtime Prolific Oven bakery closed in 2019. The project was delayed by the pandemic and then supply-chain issues.

Ethels Fancy. Opening July 27. 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 5-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 550 Waverley St., Palo Alto. ethelsfancypa.com

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
Sebastopol officials floated a new condition Tuesday night for a prominent Wine Country restaurateur accused of sexual harassment: His new restaurant can serve alcohol, but he can never enter it.

The Sebastopol Planning Commission took a hard line against granting an alcohol use permit to Lowell Sheldon, whos been accused of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior by almost a dozen of his former employees, as he works to open a new Georgian restaurant in the city.

During an online meeting, the four present commissioners voiced concerns about his presence at the new business, Piala. They suggested that they could be more comfortable granting the liquor permit on the condition that Sheldon never step foot on the premises and will discuss further terms at their next meeting on July 12. Sheldon and two partners are opening the Georgian restaurant at 7233 Healdsburg Ave., and appealed the planning directors decision earlier this month to deny Pialas liquor license.

Its the latest challenge for Sheldon as he attempts to move forward with his career following last years allegations. Most recently, the Sonoma County permit department asked that he withdraw his application to redevelop the historic Freestone Hotel after determining its inconsistent with the countys general plan. Sheldon told The Chronicle that his team has since reworked its proposal in the hope of moving forward with the project.

Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle 2017 / Special to The Chronicle

Tuesdays meeting was highly unusual for the Sebastopol Planning Commission, with impassioned debate about sexual violence, power dynamics and redemption within the scope of a government body that usually deals with zoning ordinances and parking concerns.

About 50 people attended on Zoom, and others submitted more than 100 letters, more public comment than member Paul Fritz said hes seen in his nearly seven years on the commission. One letter included a partially redacted 2021 police report documenting an anonymous womans allegation of sexual assault against Sheldon. Women who identified themselves as victims of Sheldons misconduct urged the commission against approving the liquor license, concerned it could be harmful for the community. His supporters, meanwhile, criticized the idea of permanently blacklist(ing) Sheldon, who previously co-owned Sebastopol restaurants Fern Bar, Handline, and the now-closed Lowells.

To approve Pialas alcohol use permit, the commission must find that the proposed use will not adversely affect the health, safety or welfare of both employees and customers, according to city code. Commissioners said they werent convinced Sheldon has demonstrated thats the case.

Would I feel comfortable to have my daughter work there? said vice chair Evert Fernandez. The answer is that I couldnt say honestly I would.

In a September investigation by The Chronicle, 11 former staffers who had worked with Sheldon between 2015 and 2021 accused him of sexual harassment or creating a toxic work environment. Fern Bar, Handline and Khom Loi cut ties with Sheldon last year. He has denied most of the allegations.

Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle 2021

Offers from Sheldon and his team to limit his presence at Piala did little to assuage concerns. His attorney proposed new conditions to the commission on Monday, including that Sheldon would not be involved in the day-to-day management of Piala and that he wouldnt drink alcohol there unless dining as a customer. An outside human resources firm would handle any employee complaints or concerns. One of his two partners, Jeff Berlin, who previously ran Oaklands A Cote, is slated to oversee hiring, training and daily operations at Piala. If theres an unexpected staffing shortage and Sheldon must fill in temporarily, he would not be allowed to supervise employees, they said.

In a statement, Sheldon emphasized the personal work hes done to acknowledge the mistakes and the impact my lapses in judgment have had, including attending therapy and workshops on power dynamics. His attorney said hes willing to not work at Piala when customers are present, and is open to a mandated one-year review of the permit.

But Sheldon was unwilling to be barred from the restaurant entirely. He wants to be able to dine at Piala when it opens, he said.

I can agree to every other mitigation ... but if we cant find a way to allow me to be a citizen in this town, then we cant agree to that, Sheldon said.

Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

Opponents expressed concern that the proposed restrictions wouldnt have prevented Sheldons alleged misconduct in the past, much of which former employees said occurred at restaurants after hours and involved alcohol. Commissioners agreed, suggesting that even if Sheldon is there as a diner, people in the restaurant will know who he is ... and he will have a position of authority, commissioner Fritz said.

It is foolish to think he will not ever be present on premise. When he shows up as a diner consuming alcohol, he has the potential to be a threat to diners and workers safety, said Alexandra Lopez, a former employee of Sheldon at Fern Bar. Why is Lowell necessary to Pialas existence at all?

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Timothy Ryan, a former Handline employee, said his power and influence was very clear working there, even when Sheldon wasnt in a day-to-day managerial role. He definitely made his presence known and his influence and his investment known.

Defenders of Sheldon said it was inappropriate for the Planning Commission, tasked with a permit approval, to judge his behavior like a court of law. Zachary Douch, a former planning commissioner, voiced support in a Monday email to the commission for granting the alcohol permit.

I understand this has gotten wrapped up in litigation about who Lowell is ... but I think its important for the planning commission to not feel like its role is to adjudicate that, said Stuart Gross.

Provided by Lowell Sheldon

Bob Haroche, attorney for the Piala team, said that hes not aware of the city of Sebastopol denying any business an alcohol permit on the basis of such allegations against one of its owners.

We ask that you dont hang a scarlet letter around this man but let him and his partners open what will undoubtedly be an outstanding new addition to Sebastopols food scene, Haroche said.

Commissioners said they were supportive of Piala as a restaurant, which can open without the liquor license. But the Piala team said the business success, like most restaurants with slim margins, depends on being able to serve alcohol.

Its unclear whether the city and Sheldons team will be able to agree on further restrictions to discuss on July 12. If the planning commission votes to uphold the permit denial, Sheldon and his team could then appeal the decision to the City Council.

Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
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French luxury conglomerate Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) has acquired Joseph Phelps Vineyards, a leading Napa Valley winery. This marks the fourth Napa winery for LVMH, which also owns Domaine Chandon, Newton Vineyard and a majority stake in Colgin Cellars. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Joseph Phelps is best known for its Insignia wine, first produced in 1974 and widely credited as legitimizing the category of Bordeaux-style red blends in California. The company has grown considerably during its nearly 50 years, now owning 425 acres of planted grapevines in Napa Valley and 100 in Sonoma County, where it operates a second winery in the unincorporated community of Freestone.

The winery was founded in 1973 when Joseph Phelps, a construction executive in Colorado, relocated to the Bay Area. Phelps loved wine, especially French wine, and his company got a job building a winery. He decided he wanted a winery of his own. Phelps bought a 670-acre cattle ranch in an area of eastern St. Helena known as Spring Valley. That remains the winerys home (though not all of the acreage is planted with vines). Representatives of the Phelps family declined to comment for this story.

Early vintages of Joseph Phelps wines, crafted by winemaker Walter Schug, marked a meaningful departure from the conventions of Napa winemaking at the time. The winery produced a Syrah  a grape from Frances Rhone Valley that was seldom made into a varietal wine then. And Insignia, considered to be the first American blend of Bordeaux grapes  including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec  with a proprietary cuvee name.

Erik Castro/Special To The Chronicle 2012

Both Insignia and the Syrah paved the way for other California wineries to make proprietary Bordeaux-style blends and to embrace Rhone grape varieties.

In the 1990s, Phelps expanded into Sonoma County by planting two vineyards in its western extremes with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the traditional grape varieties of Frances Burgundy region. Though relatively unproven at the time, this coastal area  which recently gained appellation status as the West Sonoma Coast  has since become one of the most highly regarded areas for Burgundian wines in California. Again, Phelps was ahead of the curve.

Since Phelps death in 2015, family members including his son, executive chairman Bill Phelps, have led the winery.

LVMH runs about 60 brands in various industries. Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Tiffany & Co., Sephora and Christian Dior are among its well known holdings in fashion and beauty. Its wine and spirits portfolio includes some of the most prestigious properties in France: Dom Perignon, Ruinart, Chateau dYquem, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Krug and Veuve Clicquot  in addition to its namesake brands, Champagnes Moet & Chandon and Cognacs Hennessy.

John Storey/Special to the Chronicle 2018

The same year that Phelps founded his winery, Moet & Chandon started its own Napa project, Domaine Chandon. The success of the sparkling wine-focused producer, based in Yountville, kicked off a wave of investment in California by Champagne houses. Champagne Taittinger started Domaine Carneros, G. H. Mumm opened Mumm Napa Valley and Champagne Louis Roederer founded Roederer Estate.

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Newton Vineyard, in which LVMH purchased a majority stake in 2001, suffered extensive damage at its Spring Mountain estate during the 2020 Glass Fire. The winery is currently in the process of rebuilding. It bought its shares in Colgin, a winery in Napas Pritchard Hill area whose wines sell for $675, in 2017.

Winemakers Ashley Hepworth, who makes Phelps Napa Valley wines, and Justin Ennis, who makes the Sonoma Coast wines, will stay on board after the sale. The two Phelps family members who currently work for the winery, Elizabeth Phelps Neuman and Will Phelps (both grandchildren of Joseph Phelps) will also stay for the time being.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles senior wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
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Fort Point Beer Co. has closed its Lower Haight taproom for good, 2 years after opening. The San Francisco brewery quietly poured its last beers and served its last hot dogs at the Haight Street parklet on Sunday.

Fort Points taprooms at the Ferry Building and on Valencia Street remain open. The Lower Haight closure reflects a longer-term effort to refocus the business on those two flagship locations, said CEO Justin Catalana. During the pandemic, the team also permanently shuttered Mill Valley Beerworks, its original brewery, as well as abandoned plans to open a taproom in Oakland.

The decision was made to do fewer things but do them better, Catalana said.

The Lower Haight taproom was formerly Black Sands Brewery. After Black Sands put itself up for sale in 2018, Fort Point bought the business. At the time, Fort Point was already busy building out its Valencia Street beer hall, so didnt have the bandwidth to complete the extensive renovations that the Lower Haight space needed, Catalana said. They continued operating it as Black Sands, figuring theyd soon have the time to embark on a rebuild.

But then the pandemic hit, and construction at Lower Haight was put on pause. We were hanging on with the hopes of making it happen there, said chief brand officer Dina Dobkin. Eventually, Fort Point built a parklet and was able to resume service there in April 2021, but ultimately decided not to invest in the full-scale renovations the team had once envisioned.

Since its founding in 2014, Fort Points colorful cans have become practically ubiquitous in the Bay Area, with beers like KSA, a Kolsch-style ale, and Animal, a tropical IPA, exploding in popularity. The founders have said they want to be known as the quintessential San Francisco brewery.

During that time, Fort Point went from having no taprooms to many taprooms to, now, fewer taprooms. Its main production brewery is located within the federally operated Presidio Trust, which prohibits alcohol sales, so it was never able to host customers there. (Mill Valley Beerworks, which Catalana and his brother Tyler opened in 2010, was a separate brand.) The brewery always relied primarily on the wholesale market, selling beer to grocery stores, restaurants and bars.

Despite its continued reliance on wholesale, Fort Point began to dip its toes in the taproom business in 2016. First, it opened a kiosk at the Ferry Building, serving beer and fancy hot dogs. Then, in the year before the pandemic, it opened Lower Haight and Valencia Street, and also announced plans for Oakland. The Valencia Street location was its most ambitious, with an eye-catching design and a debut food menu from noted local chef Eric Ehler.

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We were very optimistic about the idea of having multiple taprooms, Catalana said of the pre-pandemic outlook. Weve seen it play out well with other breweries.

But now, the downsizing of Fort Points taproom footprint is equally deliberate, he said. The brewery wants to invest more in the Valencia Street and Ferry Building locations  no word yet on exactly how  and continue building its wholesale business, which currently accounts for 80% of the companys beer sales, said Catalana. In terms of overall sales, Catalana believes that Fort Point is one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in California.

In the short term, its sad, Catalana said of the Lower Haight closure. We loved that location. That neighborhoods really special. But overall its a smart business decision, and it will help us move forward.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles senior wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
South Africa: R103m Gauteng Health PPE tender set aside

The Special Tribunal has ruled that a R103 million Gauteng Health Department personal protective equipment (PPE) tender awarded to Zakheni Strategic Supplies is unlawful and invalid.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) successfully applied to the tribunal to have the tender set aside following investigations into how it was awarded.

In her judgment, tribunal President Judge Lebogang Modiba ordered the company to pay back any profits derived from the tender.

The irregular manner in which the contract was awarded constitutes a material infraction to the constitutional values of fairness, transparency, equity, effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Therefore, it is just and equitable to set aside the contract.

On the authority in All Pay, Zakheni is not entitled to profit from an irregular contract. I find no basis to exercise my discretion to permit Zakheni to benefit from the contract under the present circumstances. It is therefore just and equitable that Zakheni is ordered to account to the department for the profits earned or stands to earn from the impugned contract and to be divested of such profits, she said.

SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, explained that the judgment is a culmination of extensive investigative work done by the unit into the Gauteng Health tender.

The SIU investigation in the Department of Health revealed that Zakheni was awarded a R103 million tender without following regulations governing public procurement. [The] SIU probe uncovered that on 19 April 2020, the department, through its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Kabelo Lehloenya, received a quotation from Zakheni for the supply to the department of specified PPE items like gloves and mask.

Twenty-four hours later, the department issued a commitment letter to Zakheni, signed by the CFO. In terms of the commitment letter, Zakheni would supply PPE to the Department to the value of R103 770 000, he said.

According to Kganyago, the company has been ordered to hand over any financial statements to the unit.

In terms of the Special Tribunal order, Zakheni is ordered to render to the Registrar of the Tribunal and to the SIU, within 30 days, audited financial statements for the financial year covering the period during which the parties performed under the impugned contract, to the extent that the audited financial statements reflect all financial information pertaining to the impugned contract.

The order by the Special Tribunal is a continuation of the implementation of the SIU investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover assets and financial losses suffered by State institutions and/or to prevent further losses, Kganyago said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
UPDATE: Here are the June 30 updates on COVID in the Bay Area and California

COVID-19 cases in California remain stubbornly high, with the Bay Areas rate of infections continuing to outpace other regions across the state. Hate crimes in California shot up 33% to nearly 1,800 reported incidents in the second year of the pandemic. Vaccination campaigns narrowed disparities in COVID death rates in California, especially for the Latino community, which was hit disproportionately hard in the early days of the pandemic.

Latest updates:

U.S. buys 105 million COVID vaccine doses for fall campaign

U.S. health officials said Wednesday they have agreed to purchase another 105 million doses of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine in anticipation of a fall booster campaign, the Associated Press reports. The $3.2 billion deal announced by the Biden administration comes as federal scientists consider how to update the vaccines to better protect Americans from the rapidly evolving virus. Federal officials said the purchase agreement includes the option to purchase a total of 300 million doses, including a mix of doses for both adults and children. The first shots would be delivered by early fall, pending a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to authorize new versions of the shots. A decision is expected from the FDA in the coming days following a Tuesday meeting in which outside advisers recommended modifying the vaccines to better target the omicron variant. The current vaccines retain strong protection against hospitalization and death, but their ability to block infection dropped markedly when omicron appeared.

California updates definition of a close contact to acknowledge COVID is airborne

Health officials in California expanded the definition of a close contact to more accurately acknowledge that COVID-19 is an airborne disease, as many infectious disease experts have insisted since the first few months of the pandemic, and not one spread by respiratory droplets. The California Department of Public Health now defines a close contact as someone who shares the same indoor airspace with an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. For purposes of isolating and quarantining periods, the previous definition determined someone was considered a close contact if they were within six feet of a COVID-19 case for the same duration of time.

The state has also updated its guidance to note that newer variants of the virus have evolved to have a shorter incubation period (on average 2-3 days) and now defines the infectious period as two days before an infected person had any symptoms through day 10 after symptoms first appeared, and 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved. For asymptomatic persons, the infectious period is through day 10 after the initial test, or 5-10 if testing negative on day 5 or later. These new definitions will have a significant impact on employers obligations and workplace policies on exposure notifications, testing and face coverings as the number of individuals who will be considered to be in close contact with an infected individual will expand, the California Medical Association said in a statement. Employers should review and update their current workplace safety policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the new guidance from CDPH.

The latest surge isnt over: New variants may lift case numbers again

Two new highly infectious and immune-evasive coronavirus variants are now dominant in the United States, according to estimates released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and together they likely will drive the Bay Areas long spring surge well into summer, health experts say. Its become apparent that the pandemic pattern people have become accustomed to over the past two and a half years  a rise in cases over several weeks, followed by a relatively short plateau and then a rapid drop  isnt playing out this time. Read more about what impact BA.4 and BA.5  both subvariants of omicron  will have in the Bay Area, where cases appear to be climbing again after several weeks of sluggish decline.

BA.4, BA.5 driving up global COVID cases following brief reprieve, WHO says

The number of weekly COVID-19 cases globally has increased for the third consecutive week, after a declining trend was observed since the last peak in March 2022, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday. The agencys latest epidemiology report says there were over 4.1 million cases reported worldwide last week, an 18% increase as compared to the previous week. The WHO said rapid-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of omicron are making up an increasing proportion of sequenced samples. This pandemic is changing but its not over, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing. We have made progress, but its not over.

Pandemic made people unhappier than ever, poll suggests

The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic was harder than the first, with people reporting a sharp rise in daily negative thoughts and a decrease in positive experiences, according to Gallups latest annual global update on emotions. A survey of 127,000 adults in 122 countries addressing five primary emotional touchstones found that in 2021 and the first few months of 2022, about 42% said they experienced worry, 41% experienced stress, and 31% physical pain. About 28% of the respondents reported feeling sadness and 23% anger. All five emotions, except anger, showed marked increases from 2020 when they were already at or near record highs. The people surveyed also said that feelings of enjoyment, smiling and the sensation of being well-rested had vanished over the past year.

COVID mutating in ways that could make it resistant to treatments

Several naturally occurring mutations of Mpro, the main protease of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, could soon increase its resistance to antiviral treatments such as Paxlovid, according to a study published Wednesday in bioRxiv. Taken together, this study identified several nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) resistant hot spots that warrant close monitoring, while highlighting the future risk of mutants with multiple substitutions at these sites, the authors said. Many health experts believe mutations in newer variants such as BA.4 and BA.5 may be causing an increase in rebound infections. Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research and a prominent voice on the pandemic, indicated on Twitter that this could be the case with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who on Tuesday announced he is on his second round of Paxlovid after again testing positive for the virus.

Maternal deaths rose 33% in first year of COVID pandemic

Maternal deaths increased substantially in the U.S. after March 2020, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics published Tuesday in a study in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from the University of Maryland and Boston University found that there was a relative increase of 33.3% in the early months of the pandemic, with even larger increases for Hispanic and Black women. Comparing multi-year data from 2018 through 2020 to death rates in the first year of the pandemic, they found that 1,588 deaths, or 18.8 per 100,000 births, happened before COVID crisis, compared with 648, or 25.1 per 100,000 births, during the first year of the pandemic. By race, maternal mortality in Hispanic women increased by 78% and in Black women by 40.2%, compared with 17.2% in white women. We need more detailed data on the specific causes of maternal deaths overall and those associated with COVID-19, said study author Eugene Declercq in a statement. Potentially we could see improvements in 2021 due to the rollout of vaccines, as well as the extension of postpartum care provided for Medicaid recipients as part of the American Rescue Act of 2021 in some states. Were going to continue to examine this.

Tiger dies at Columbus Zoo from COVID-19 complications

A 14-year-old Amur tiger has died at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium due to complications from COVID-19. Jupiter passed away on Sunday after developing pneumonia, according to a Facebook post from the zoo. Jupiter had been on long-term treatment for chronic underlying illnesses, which made him more susceptible to this virus, the zoo said. Jupiter is the first animal at the Columbus Zoo to succumb to COVID-19. The tiger first appeared ill last Wednesday, the post added. When this continued into the next day, Jupiter was anesthetized for examination and treatment. Initial exams suggested an infection, and treatment was started. Unfortunately, Jupiter did not improve with this treatment and remained reluctant to move and eat, the zoo said. He passed away the next night. As a precautionary measure, we are requiring staff working with cats, great apes and mustelids (i.e. otters, wolverines) to wear masks when within six feet of these animals. These animals are more susceptible to contracting COVID-19.

Impact of long COVID could be seen for years, Americas health officials warn

The Pan American Health Organization is calling on health systems in the Americas to prepare for the impact of long COVID. Carissa F. Etienne, the director of the agency, said on Wednesday that with an estimated 10% to 20% of people who have COVID-19 likely to experience ongoing symptoms and the Americas having reported more than 161 million COVID-19 cases during the past two years, millions of people could potentially be affected. The pandemic has surprised us time and time again, and many of its effects will linger for years to come, Etienne said during a media briefing. She emphasized the continued effectiveness of masking and physical distancing. The best way to avoid post-COVID condition is by not getting COVID, she said. New infections across the region  which includes North America, South America, and the Caribbean  rose by 13.9% from last week, according to agency data.

U.S. to step up variant tracking efforts with more cost effective approach

An interdisciplinary research team has developed a rapid, affordable method to detect the circulation of coronavirus variants, the National Health Institute announced on Wednesday, using a customizable genotyping approach to identify known variants and subvariants. The study results, published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, show the approach can augment current surveillance methods that use comprehensive next-generation sequencing of virus samples, helping focus sequencing efforts on samples representing unknown and emerging variants. Currently, only a fraction of positive test samples are sequencedaround 5% in the United States, according to the NHI. All the materials that are associated with this genotyping assay are commercially available, said co-author Emily Kennedy, a tech facilitator with the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Tech program. Links to those resources are provided in the paper so that we can share this information as a public health tool.

BA.5 drives a new wave of COVID infections in New York City

New York Citys average coronavirus test positive rate reached 9.94% Tuesday, the highest level since Jan. 24, according to health department data. In parts of the city it is as high as 17%. Dr. Jay Varma, an epidemiologist at Cornell and former Mayor Bill de Blasios top public health advisor, said infections appear to have stabilized at a high level in the city, rather than dropping like they have in previous surges. Hospitalizations and deaths continue their downward trajectory from late May and mid-June, respectively. The decline of reported COVID-19 cases in NYC has stopped. Reported cases are at a high plateau, which means actual transmission is very high when you account for the >20x under-counting, Varma tweeted. This is likely the beginning of a BA.5 wave.

First reported case of a person getting COVID from a cat

Researchers in Thailand say they have documented the first confirmed case of a pet cat infecting its owner with coronavirus, according to a report in Nature. Weve known this was a possibility for two years, Angela Bosco-Lauth, an infectious-disease researcher at Colorado State University in Fort Collins who was not involved in the study, told the journal. The study was published earlier this month in Emerging Infectious Diseases by infectious-disease researcher and physician at Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai, southern Thailand, said a veterinarian in Thailand was diagnosed with COVID-19 after being sneezed on by an infected cat owned by an infected patient. Genetic study supported the hypothesis of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from the owner to the cat, and then from the cat to the veterinarian. Researchers say that such cases of cat-to-human transmission are probably rare. Experimental studies have shown that infected cats dont shed much virus, and shed for only a few days, Leo Poon, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, told Nature.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Fewer than 34% of eligible Americans have received life-saving booster shots

Just over a third of eligible Americans have received a first booster shot of coronavirus vaccine, even though public health officials say the booster offers essential protection against newer COVID variants, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 1.7% of children ages 5- to 11-years-old, who just became booster-eligible in May, have received the extra shots. About 28.7% of eligible teens age 12 to 17 are boosted, along with less than 40% of eligible 18- to 49-year-olds. Among those now eligible for two boosters, more than 55% of those 50-64 have received the first booster, as have 72% of those 65 and older. Only 8.1% of the former group and 21% of the latter has received two shots. Because most older adults received their shots many months ago, they are now at greater risk for infection, hospitalization, and death, according to CDC.

Fauci says he has a much worse rebound infection following Paxlovid treatment

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the White House, said he is experiencing a rebound COVID-19 infection after completing his initial course of the Pfizer antiviral Paxlovid. Speaking at a Foreign Policy Global Health Forum event on Tuesday, Fauci said that after he recovered from his initial bout with the virus, he tested negative for three days before testing positive again with an antigen test on the fourth. And then over the next day or so, I started to feel really poorly, much worse than in the first go around, Fauci said. So I went back on Paxlovid and right now I am on my fourth day of a five-day course. He added that he is now feeling better but not completely without symptoms.

Panel urges FDA to OK boosters targeted to omicron

Federal vaccine advisers on Tuesday urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move toward authorizing a COVID-19 booster shot that targets the omicron variant  the parent of today's dominant subvariants in the United States. The FDAs vaccine advisory committee recommended including an omicron component for booster vaccines. It is a first step toward potentially making omicron-specific boosters a reality as soon as October, with the goal of better protecting Americans against variants that the current vaccines dont work as well against. Vaccines already in use tend to hold up well against severe disease and death, if people are boosted, but not as well at preventing infection. Read more about whats at stake with the FDAs deliberation and decision on new COVID booster shots.

Omicron subvariants BA.4, BA.5 causing more than half of COVID cases in U.S.

The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of omicron made up a combined 52% of COVID-19 cases in the United States last week, according to estimates published Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highly transmissible sublineages are crowding out BA.2 and BA.2.12.1, with BA.5 making up about 36.6% of new cases nationally and BA.4 about 15.7%. The proportions are roughly the same in the Northern California region. Many public health officials are uncertain about what impact these newer BA.4 and BA.5 mutations will have in terms of more severe disease outcomes.

Convicted killer Scott Petersons court hearing delayed due to COVID

A hearing for convicted murderer Scott Peterson in Redwood City was delayed because of COVID-19, a court spokeswoman for Santa Clara County said Tuesday. One of Petersons attorneys tested positive for the virus, according to Deputy Court Executive Officer Sarah Lind, who spoke with KTVU. Peterson was also exposed to COVID at San Quentin, she added, and is under loose quarantine. He has been seeking a retrial since he was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and unborn son 20 years ago.

Hate crimes in California rocket up again in second pandemic year

Hate crimes in California shot up 33% to nearly 1,800 reported incidents in 2021, the highest since after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the state Attorney Generals Office said Tuesday. Crimes against Asian Americans, which had increased startlingly in 2020 after the emergence of the coronavirus in China, were up again, rising 178% to 247 incidents, said Attorney General Rob Bonta. Crimes against Black people were again the most prevalent in 2021, climbing 13% during 2021 to 513 reported incidents. Hate crimes motivated by sexual-orientation bias increased nearly 50% to 303 incidents. One hard truth in our state, just as we see across the nation, is that the epidemic of hate we saw spurred on during the pandemic remains a clear and present threat, said Bonta, a Democrat, at a news conference. Each of these incidents represents an attack on a person, a neighbor, a family member, a fellow Californian. Bonta blamed the upswing in anti-Asian American crimes on the bigoted words of our former president that turned a trickle of racial animosity into a flood.

California health workers slated to get pandemic bonuses of up to $1,500

Frontline health care workers in California who worked through the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic are set to receive a bonus from the state under a budget deal reached by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders. Eligible full-time employees may receive up to $1,500: part-time employees $1,250, and physicians up to $1,000, per Assembly Bill 184. The Legislature finds and declares that stability in the California health care workforce will further its efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and address other public health issues that face Californians, the lawmakers said.

What COVID-19s evolution means for our future

Will we ever be able to get ahead of the relentless coronavirus? Its surpassed the expectations of health experts and scientists: With each mutation, its more infectious than ever and, pandemic fatigue aside, is on track to maintain a major role in our lives. On The Chronicle's Fifth & Mission podcast, Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday explains the evolution of the virus in discussion with host Cecilia Lei. Listen to hear what experts have to say about this wily coronavirus and what they are learning.
Regarding Opposition may kill bills to address mental illness (Bay Area & Business, June 26): My son is 38 years old and has spent the past 14 years living on the streets. He has been assaulted, arrested and almost died three times because of his untreated mental illness.

These groups that oppose any efforts to improve our failing system do not understand psychosis, and they should not be allowed to stand in the way of desperately needed changes. They have been pushing back for decades against any reforms to a system that has created desperate situations for families. If we keep listening to the same voices we will have the same failures.

Its time to listen to families who have lived with the consequences of withholding medically necessary treatment.

What are the rights are opponents to these measures protecting? The right to sleep on the sidewalk and eat out of garbage cans? The right to hear voices that threaten and torture them? How about instead providing them with the right to receive life-saving interventions?

Patricia Fontana, Berkeley

COVID advice unclear

Regarding How to coexist with COVID (Insight, June 26): From someone who is trying to be responsible and navigate with family, friends and work colleagues through these times in public spaces, I am left not fully understanding Dr. Monica Gandhis recommendations.

The doctor is not recommending masking generally (also stating that it is not demonstrated that masking was effective the past two years) nor continuing symptomatic testing and self isolation. I am happy that only two people died in San Francisco in June. Yet this is little comfort to four close friends and family who became very sick in May, all fully vaccinated and boosted, who each required over a week to recover.

Dr. Gandhi has no clear road map for individuals, families and people returning to work and school. I would like this opinion piece balanced by other medical professionals  maybe including Dr. Bob Wachter. Political satirist Bill Maher is going to broadcast these opinions broadly and this may further erode confidence in U.S. public health policies.

Lee Moulton, San Francisco

Disclose crisis offerings

Regarding Bonta warns consumers on crisis pregnancy centers (News, June 26): I appreciate the coverage of Attorney General Rob Bontas warnings about pregnancy crisis centers that mislead women to think that they can get abortion services there even though they dont actually offer them. Instead, the centers attempt to dissuade women from getting abortions, often through misinformation.

Existing consumer protection laws dont seem to have curbed these centers mendacious conduct. How about a law that mandates full disclosures of all reproductive health care services offered  and not offered  by businesses that purport to offer such services?

Ruth Borenstein, San Francisco

Stop investments in oil

Regarding Pension systems to continue investing in fossil fuels (Bay Area & Business, June 26): Im a 10th-grade chemistry teacher at Washington High School in San Francisco and teach climate change as part of our curriculum. I was disappointed that SB1173, which would have forced the states two biggest pension systems to divest from fossil fuel companies, has been killed.

When I teach about climate change, I find that there is very little question among students about whether climate change is real. The question is instead, What are our leaders doing about it? and Why havent adults done more to address it over the past 20-plus years?

While concerns about the financial health of our retirement systems are valid, shutting down the debate without even hearing the arguments, particularly from our youth, is not the right approach. We need to urgently consider and debate all options to address this crisis.
The amount of money it takes to be considered wealthy in the Bay Area remains millions of dollars higher than in other big metropolitan regions  and has increased substantially from last year, according to the latest edition of Charles Schwabs survey on wealth.

Respondents to the 2022 Modern Wealth Survey said it will take an average net worth of $5.1 million to be considered wealthy in San Francisco in 2022, compared to $3.8 million in 2021  thats an increase of 34% in one year, and more than double the national average. In 2020, respondents said it took $4.5 million to feel wealthy in San Francisco. The nationwide average also increased from 2021 to 2022, but by only 15%.

To be financially comfortable, a San Francisco resident would need a net worth of $1.7 million, versus $1.3 million in 2021 and $1.5 million in 2020. Nationwide, respondents said it takes $774,000 to be financially comfortable.

Survey respondents were asked at what level of personal net worth a person in their area would be considered wealthy, and financially comfortable. While net worth was not explicitly defined in the survey, it generally includes the value of all of a persons assets, including their home and mortgage balance, minus their liabilities.

The two average net worth values from San Francisco respondents were by far the highest out of the 12 total metro areas surveyed. The second-highest net worth of $3.9 million to be considered wealthy came from respondents in Southern California, which includes Los Angeles and San Diego counties, followed by New Yorks figure of $3.4 million. Denver respondents gave the lowest net worth at $2.3 million.

To be considered financially comfortable, New York respondents said an average net worth of $1.4 million would do the trick, while Southern Californias figure came in third at $1.3 million. Denver again came in with the lowest net worth of $671,000.

According to Charles Schwab, 750 San Francisco residents ages 21 to 75 participated in the survey from Feb. 10 to Feb. 27. The other major metros included 500 to 750 survey respondents, depending on the area.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Last years survey focused on the pandemics impact on finances, priorities and planning for the future. This years survey included questions about saving, investing and values in the workplace.

Nearly all San Francisco survey takers found it important to be fulfilled by their work (91%), while only 55% agreed that work defines who they are. In choosing a new job, 94% of respondents said work-life balance and salary are influential factors. Of lowest importance was stock options or equity compensation (65%) and job title (57%).

A high number of respondents (75%) said its a priority to use their money for causes they care about, while 85% said they agree that their personal values play an important role in how they manage their finances. About three-quarters (74%) of San Franciscans said they are likely to change their lifestyles in the next year to have a more positive impact on the world.

Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com
The Arena, a column from The Examiners Al Saracevic, explores San Franciscos playing field, from politics and technology to sports and culture. Send your tips, quips and quotes to asaracevic@sfexaminer.com . Sign up for his weekly newsletter here . And follow him on Twitter @alsaracevic .
Lincoln Mitchell has written numerous books and articles about The City and the Giants. Visit lincolnmitchell.com or follow him on Twitter @LincolnMitchell
Jodi H. via Yelp

LATEST June 29, 10:20 a.m. When Fort Point Beer Company first took over for Black Sands Brewery in Lower Haight, the brewery owners were excited to push forward their expansion plans in yet another San Francisco neighborhood, Justin Catalana, Fort Point co-founder and CEO, told SFGATE in an email. Unfortunately, as it did to many, COVID-19 threw a wrench in their plans. With the new location requiring further investment and another renovation to fully become what the company envisioned, Fort Point ultimately made the decision to close.

"As San Franciscos hometown brewery, well be focused on making our primary retail locations, Valencia and Ferry Building, even better, and rebuilding our wholesale business as the city comes back to life," Catalana said. "While we're sad to say goodbye to Lower Haight, we're energized to keep our focus on the San Francisco market, and we're grateful to our community in Lower Haight and beyond for their support over the years."
Fish are falling from the sky in parts of San Francisco, and a boom in coastal anchovy populations is to blame.

Reddit user sanfrannie posted earlier this month that about a dozen 8-inch silver fish rained down from the sky onto their friends roof and back deck in the Outer Richmond. Several other users commented with similar experiences  one person said they heard a whoosh sound behind me and heard a massive splat before seeing fish scattered on a nearby driveway. Another commented that they almost got hit by a fish waiting for a bus in the Castro, and a third person said they assumed a band of roving kids were doing a Tik Tok sardine-throwing challenge on a roof somewhere after seeing several fish fall onto an Outer Richmond sidewalk.

Local fishers and researchers are blaming seabirds that, because of an explosion in the anchovy population off the coast of the Bay Area, now have more fish than they know what to do with.

From Half Moon Bay to Point Reyes, people are telling me theyve never seen bait this thick, said Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Community Fishing Association. I heard stories just last week from guys who said that the water out there was just covered with thousands of birds, and the birds were just sitting on the water with anchovies in their mouths because they cant eat anymore.

Jim Ervin, retired laboratory analyst at San Joses Environmental Services Department, wrote in a June 11 blog post for UC Davis Otolith Geochemistry & Fish Ecology Laboratory that the anchovy population just exploded in Lower South SF Bay.

The monthly totals in April and May were 29 and 52, respectively, the post says. The total number leaped to over 2,600 for the June trawls. This is the second-highest monthly total we have ever seen.

Adam Ratner, associate director of conservation education at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, attributes the phenomenon to normal patterns of upwelling, a process in which cold, nutrient-dense water rises from the ocean depths, replacing warmer water at the surface.

"The water temperatures right now do appear to be colder than normal, and this has provided some much-needed food for animals such as anchovies, seabirds and marine mammals," Ratner said. "It is unclear how long this burst of cold water will last, and we know with climate change that the trend is pointing towards warmer water temperatures becoming the norm, but for the time being, this appears to be providing some additional support for fishing communities, migrating whales and our local sea lions."

According to Collins, the water this year is the coldest local fishermen have seen in a long time, and the anchovies are a testament to that.

It's just totally healthy ocean out there right now. I heard guys telling me about pelicans that, instead of diving to fill their mouths up, theyre just skimming the water and getting full mouths of anchovies, Collins said.

As far as the fish raining onto city streets, birds like these pelicans are almost certainly to blame.

The anchovies are in pretty big numbers right now, and are pretty close to shore, said Whitney Grover, interim deputy director at the Golden Gate Audubon Society. So were experiencing a lot of these seabirds fishing, and then if they fly back over the land on the way to wherever theyre going, sometimes they drop fish.

Grover said that some bird species like the double-crested cormorant prefer to stay more inland, near freshwater lakes, but will travel to the coast when theres a large number of fish to feed on. Brown pelicans also tend to fly longer distances on daily foraging routes. Birds like these could explain people having to dodge falling fish in neighborhoods like the Castro.

I could see them going to Ocean Beach and picking up some anchovies, then flying right over San Francisco and over the Castro to go into the bay, Grover said.

The boom in anchovies has also brought in large numbers of marine mammals that feed on forage fish. So while things might get a little slimy if youre planning on hitting the waves, its the perfect time to try out some whale watching.
It is difficult to overstate the symbolic power of the Golden Gate Bridge and its hold on the civic imagination.

Or the vehemence with which opponents tried to keep it from ever being built.

Critics depicted the bridge as financially unsound, legally dubious, an aesthetic blight and an engineering hazard in the decade before the start of construction in 1933. The battle was most fierce in the fall of 1930, when voters in six counties were asked to allow $35 million in bond sales for construction.

We know the outcome: one of the few structures in California that genuinely deserves to be called an icon. But, on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the span's completion, a look back at the fight shows how little has changed in terms of the attacks that are aimed at major alterations to the landscape - and the difficulty that one generation has in predicting how future generations might choose to live and the values they might hold.

'Go slow'

The skepticism toward a bridge now taken for granted was on full display on Oct. 16, 1930, when the influential Commonwealth Club gathered to hear a debate on the merits of the bond measure.

The proponents on hand included Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer who wanted to span the entrance to one of the world's great harbors with a 4,200-foot roadway suspended from two 746-foot towers, 220 feet above water.

But the focus was on the findings of the club's committees on harbor development and state highways, which provided ample ammunition for voters seeking reasons to vote no.

Among the arguments:

-- Any bridge with a clearance of less than 250 feet could blockade the harbor as the size and height of international vessels increased.

-- The south tower's siting "shows definite weakness," warned an engineer: "more thorough drilling with detailed mapping on more sections must be done."

-- "Have we any assurance that $35 million is the final figure?" asked statistician H.P. Melnikow. He also questioned the motives of Strauss and his consulting engineers since "they are (financially) interested in this matter and are trying to sell it to us."

-- Traffic projections were "over-optimistic," declared another subcommittee, and "we would have liked to have seen the district's plans and estimates reviewed by an entirely disinterested body of technical experts before the people were asked to vote."

No formal position was taken by the Commonwealth Club, founded in 1903 as "an open forum for the discussion of disputed questions." But the two committees agreed the bond measure should be rejected "at this time." In the words of one researcher, "San Francisco should go slow, and be sure that any project will not jeopardize San Francisco's credit for more vital essential things."

Illustrious foes

The committee findings soon became fodder for a newspaper advertisement that began "MR. TAXPAYER: This Ad is published to save you money - READ IT." After all, they echoed what opponents had been saying all along: Things were moving too fast. There were too many unanswered questions. The numbers couldn't be trusted.

The ad was one of many placed by the Taxpayers' Committee Against Golden Gate Bridge Bonds. With a membership list that included future Mayor Roger Lapham and City Engineer M.M. O'Shaughnessy, this was no mere collection of gadflies. Such opponents insisted they weren't against the idea of a bridge, simply the reality of this one.

"I am in favor of a bridge across the Golden Gate if it can be physically and feasibly built," O'Shaughnessy declared in one ad. His statement then cautioned that toll bridges "too numerous to mention" didn't generate the traffic necessary to pay the costs of needed maintenance.

And when newspapers supporting the bond ridiculed naysayers for "old fogeyism" or worse - one editorial cartoon portrayed shipowners, ferry companies and the Taxpayers' Committee as "the dead hand of greed" - the response was pained outrage.

"Can it not be realized that the shipping interests see beyond the immediate future?" asked an alliance of 56 steamship companies in an election day ad. "That our only concern is apprehension over the throttling effect this huge artificial barrier at the harbor entrance would have upon the future trade and commerce of this great seaport?"

Variations of all these criticisms had been heard since the War Department in 1924 approved the concept of a spanned Golden Gate. Put to the public vote, however, the bond measure passed 145,057 to 46,954.

From bridge to BART

What is striking in retrospect isn't how wrong the arguments turned out to be - the $35 million indeed covered the cost of construction, for instance - but how familiar they still sound: We need more details, the details we do have can't be trusted, and there are better alternatives.

Look no further than the ongoing campaign against California's high-speed rail system. Before voters approved bonds to help fund the effort in 2008, opponents depicted it in ballot arguments as a "boondoggle" that would benefit "out-of-state special interests." Since then they've used the environmental review process and other venues to challenge the financing, ridership projections and route of the still-evolving plan.

There were similar objections to the Bay Area Rapid Transit system before its approval in 1962 by 61 percent of the voters in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Nine years later, as opening day approached, critics were more virulent than ever.

"BART will be especially effective in destroying neighborhoods," warned the weekly Bay Guardian, which also called the system "the ultimate money drain." But wait, there's more: "It's designed to handle peak-hour commuter traffic, which occurs only three hours per day. ... The other 8,160 hours per year much of its equipment will lie idle and unproductive."

One difference in recent decades is the rise of environmental concerns. The only hint of such issues in 1930 involved aesthetics, as when novelist Gertrude Atherton and sculptor Haig Patigian were among 14 luminaries who put their name to an ad that began "The Golden Gate is One of Nature's Perfect Pictures - Let's Not Disfigure It."

More common was the tone of the election day editorial in the San Francisco Call-Bulletin. It rhapsodized that passage of the measure would show the world "we are breaking down our walls, we are building a mightier city than you have ever seen ... the happiest, bravest and most prosperous city in the world."

Such rhetoric would have no traction now; a legacy of the 1960s is that people who fight large-scale change aren't caricatured as old fogies. The presumption is that they're on the side of the angels, battling gentrification or ecological harm or other threats to the common good.

Attitudinal change

If there's a moral to the story of the birth of the Golden Gate Bridge, it's that there are times when change within a city, region or state comes at an exponential scale. On such occasions, the cultural status quo is threatened.

When nature lovers fretted that the gloried Golden Gate would be marred by an immense weave of concrete and steel, they couldn't imagine that each would exalt the other - just as opponents of the Transamerica Pyramid couldn't imagine the 853-foot tower would become a popular symbol of the city almost as soon as it opened in 1972.

Similarly, critics who disdained BART as nothing more than a corporate tool had no conception that today it would be used heavily at all hours. Increasingly, its stations are the centerpiece of "transit villages" being planned or built through the East Bay.

This doesn't mean that skeptics of big plans are small-minded. Some large projects should not be built. But the what-ifs and worst-case scenarios can blind us to the fact that projects of a certain scale often reshape the landscape in ways we can't imagine. And sometimes, the landscape is the better as a result.

John King will discuss the Golden Gate Bridge and its cultural reach at 6 p.m. May 25 at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission St., San Francisco. More information on the free event is at bit.ly/K8ve0B.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A multinational task force designed to seize Russian oligarchs' wealth has blocked and frozen $30 billion in sanctioned individuals' property and funds in its first 100 days in operation, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

Thats on top of the yachts, other vessels and luxury real estate that have been impounded as well as $300 billion in Russian Central Bank funds that have been immobilized, the department said.

We continue to increase Russias cost of its war, Treasury said of the REPO task force, short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs.

The program is designed to drain Russia of its resources as President Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine, but civil rights advocates have raised concerns about potential overreach.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland convened the REPO task force in March in conjunction with a number of other countries, which work together to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and other individuals allied with Putin. The European Commission has set up its own Freeze and Seize Task Force to work in conjunction with the REPO group.

The collective has worked to impound bank accounts, assets and properties. For instance, earlier this month, the U.S. announced sanctions on God Nisanov, one of the richest men in Europe, and Alexey Mordashov, one of Russias wealthiest billionaires, along with his wife and two adult children.

"REPO members will continue to track Russian sanctioned assets and prevent sanctioned Russians from undermining the measures that REPO members have jointly imposed, Treasury said.

With sanctions increasing, there are growing concerns that seizures are being carried out on non-Americans outside of the judicial review process, with big consequences for sanctioned individuals who may not be able to challenge the seizures.

Attorney Tom Firestone, who specializes in international investigations for business clients, said seizures "can have consequences for innocent people who have nothing to do with the war  we need to be careful not to penalize innocent people.

We've seen a tremendous expansion of the sanctions," Firestone said. The U.S. government is going after a variety of targets. There is a lot of uncertainty about where it is all going."

The American Civil Liberties Union has contested bills  including the House-passed Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act  that would make seizure of Russian assets easier for the government.

The government said that in a wartime environment that has spawned a worldwide food crisis we are seeking to maximize the impact of sanctions on designated persons and entities while guarding against spillover that affects global commodities markets and food supplies.
In early June, during an uptick in COVID-19 cases, Alameda County was the only Bay Area county to bring back an indoor mask mandate.

At the time, county Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said, Putting our masks back on gives us the best opportunity to limit the impact of a prolonged wave on our communities.

But regional case data provides no discernible evidence that the rule, which was lifted June 25, succeeded at that goal.

The graphs below compare Alameda Countys seven-day average case rate from the past two months to rates in neighboring Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties. Contra Costa and Santa Clara, in particular, are natural comparisons to Alameda, because they have similar vaccination rates and demographic data. San Francisco, on the other side of the bay, provides an additional point of reference. All data comes from the California Department of Public Health.

The case rate curves for Alameda and Contra Costa counties are near-identical. Because the neighboring counties are similar in so many respects, if masking policy had an impact on pandemic outcomes, one would expect to see some sort of discrepancy in the graph.

San Francisco and Santa Clara had higher case rates than Alameda County throughout the current surge, including pre-mask mandate. Once the mandate was introduced, the three counties all followed the same trend line, casting doubt on whether the mask mandate did anything to curb transmission at the community level.

SFGATE sent Moss these graphs via email and asked whether he can point to any evidence that his countys mandate had an impact on reducing caseloads.

We believe the recent mask order contributed to the improvements we are now observing with COVID-19 in Alameda County, Moss said in a statement. Conditions are more stable now than at the time the Order was put in place.

Published evidence shows that high levels of community masking lowers transmission rates and survey data displayed an increase in masking during the recent Order timeframe, he added. In fact, Alameda County observed higher masking rates than anywhere else in the Country at the time.

The Alameda County Health Department did not respond to follow-up questions on how Moss determined his county had higher rates of masking than anywhere else in the country, and how, if that statement were true, the graphs wouldn't cut against the claim that "high levels of community masking lowers transmission rates."

Alameda Countys mandate was implemented not long after the New York Times published an article titled "Why Masks Work, but Mandates Haven't. The piece states that high-quality, well-fitting masks can help minimize an individuals risk of catching or spreading COVID-19, but community-level mandates have failed to affect case rates because the virus is so contagious that it spreads easily in the moments when people take their masks off to eat, drink or be comfortable.

After viewing the case rate graphs, UCSFs Dr. Bob Wachter  one of the regions more cautious COVID-19 experts and a supporter of mask mandates  echoed many of that articles sentiments, stating that mandates dont appear to increase the probability of people wearing good masks correctly. Many people find it difficult to wear an N95 for long periods of time, instead opting for lower-quality cloth or surgical masks.

If the mandate came with enforcement of wearing a good (N95 or equivalent) mask correctly, it might demonstrate a significant advantage in preventing cases, he wrote to SFGATE in an email. But there is no real enforcement (certainly not of correct masking using a good mask), which means that the rates of effective masking probably isnt very different in [the Bay Area counties being compared].

If, in order to have an impactful mask mandate, enforcement teams must ensure that people are correctly wearing N95s indoors, it seems like a policy doomed to fail whenever implemented. It also raises questions of whether the costs of such enforcement would exceed the benefits.

Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, with high rates of vaccination and infection-acquired immunity from the past two surges, are well-protected from severe disease and death. Over the past two months, hospitalizations across the Bay Area have come nowhere close to the winter omicron numbers, which may not have accurately reflected the actual impact of the disease on hospitals. Alameda County's hospitalization-per-capita numbers are comparable to Contra Costa's and Santa Clara's.

Wachter has long pointed out that anyone who wants to limit their chance of catching COVID-19 can easily do so by wearing a well-fitting N95 when they go out in public, with or without a mask mandate. Its rare for physicians to catch the virus while wearing N95 masks, he told SFGATE, even when interacting with patients who have tested positive.

Wachters UCSF colleague Dr. Jeanne Noble, too, is a proponent of high-risk individuals protecting themselves through careful mask usage. Mandates, she told SFGATE in April, drive people to wear low-quality masks, which are not likely to make any measurable difference in viral transmission so it doesnt matter whether you or others are wearing one.

Mask mandates may create a false sense of reassurance to those who truly need the extra protection, Noble said in April. The severely immunocompromised person  should be using an N95 in crowded spaces when viral prevalence is high. They should not opt for a cloth or surgical mask because other people around them are masked and therefore assume it is 'safe enough' to avoid the tight fitting and uncomfortable N95.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  Dutch police on Wednesday released without charge two Belgians who were arrested a day earlier on suspicion of involvement in a daring smash and grab jewelry heist at a prestigious art fair.

Police in the southern Limburg province tweeted that the Belgians, aged 22 and 26, were detained shortly after the armed robbery at the TEFAF fair in Maastricht because their behavior was suspicious enough at that moment to merit it.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The House Jan. 6 committee has heard dramatic testimony from former White House aides and others about Donald Trumps relentless efforts to overturn the 2020 election  and his encouragement of supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol bent on achieving his goal. But the big question remains: Was any of it criminal?

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide in Trumps White House, added fresh urgency to the question Tuesday as she delivered explosive new testimony about Trumps actions before and during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. She said Trump was informed that there were armed protesters at his morning rally before he stood onstage and told them to fight like hell at the Capitol. Then he argued with his security detail, she said, trying to go with the crowd.

Trump's aides knew there could be legal consequences. Hutchinson said White House Counsel Pat Cipollone told her we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if Trump had gone to the Capitol that day as Congress was certifying President Joe Bidens win. Cipollone said Trump could be exposing himself to obstruction of justice charges or defrauding the electoral count, she said.

On the heels of Hutchinson's public testimony, the House committee on Wednesday issued a subpoena for Cipollone, saying in a letter that while he had provided an informal interview on April 13, his refusal to provide on-the-record testimony made their subpoena necessary.

The Justice Department has recently expanded its investigation into the Jan. 6 attack, targeting some of Trumps allies in Washington and around the country who participated in his scheme to invalidate Biden's victory. But prosecutors have not indicated whether they will bring a case against the former president.

A look at potential crimes, and what Congress and the Justice Department might do:

WHAT HAS THE EVIDENCE SHOWN?

Witnesses have testified that Trump was repeatedly advised by campaign aides and top government officials that he had lost the election to Biden and that his claims of widespread voter fraud were divorced from reality.

Yet he pressed ahead, shouting the false allegations that culminated in the riot at the Capitol.

Still in office, he leaned on the Justice Department to get government law enforcement officials to take up his cause. He pressured the states  asking Georgia's secretary of state to find votes, for example  and Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the joint session of Congress that day.

Hutchinson testified that Trump said he wanted metal detectors removed from the area near where he was delivering a speech on Jan. 6. He said it did not matter to him if the supporters, who were to head to the Capitol, were carrying weapons because they were not there to hurt him.

Trump took to his social media website on Tuesday to deny much of Hutchinsons testimony, which was based on both her own interactions with Trump and information from others who talked to him that day.

WERE ANY CRIMES COMMITTED BY TRUMP?

He hasn't been charged, but legal experts believe the testimony, presuming it can be corroborated, does give prosecutors avenues to pursue.

Federal law, for instance, makes it a crime to incite, organize, encourage or promote a riot like the one that enveloped the Capitol. But that's a high bar for prosecutors to clear. Trump's exhortation to fight like hell could be construed as a more general call to action. He was acquitted by the Senate of an incitement charge in his impeachment trial after the insurrection.

Still, a federal judge in February, in rejecting a request by Trump to toss out conspiracy lawsuits from Democratic lawmakers and two Capitol Police officers, said Trump's words plausibly led to the riot. And Hutchinson's first-hand account of hearing Trump complain about metal detectors suggested he was aware that some supporters were capable of violence but brushed it off.

A more likely option for prosecution, said Jimmy Gurule, a former federal prosecutor who is a Notre Dame law professor, would be to pursue a case that Trump conspired to defraud the United States through his wide-ranging efforts to overturn the election and to obstruct the congressional proceeding at which the results were to be certified.

That broad statute was cited by the House committee when it asserted in a March legal filing that it had evidence Trump had engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

He was perpetuating the big lie. To what end? To remain in power and to prevent Biden from assuming the reins of the presidency, Gurule said. It was fraud on the American people.

Some legal experts say it doesnt matter if Trump believed the election was stolen or not. But others say much would depend on the presidents intent and state of mind and whether he supported activities he knew to be unlawful. Though witnesses have testified under oath about telling Trump he had lost, it would be hard to prove what he actually believed.

I can confidently say that any serious felony-level federal crime that is going to be charged here is going to require proof beyond a reasonable doubt of criminal intent, said Samuel Buell, a Duke University criminal law professor.

"Any argument that he doesn't believe that he's doing something that is against the law ... is still an argument he can make and still something the prosecutor has to prove.

WILL THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ACTUALLY BRING A CASE?

That's anyone's guess. The congressional hearings have produced eye-popping testimony, but the one-sided presentation of facts, with no opportunities for cross-examination of witnesses, is a far cry from the burden of proof and trial constraints in criminal prosecutions.

One of the more striking accounts from Hutchinson  that Trump, irate at being driven to the White House instead of the Capitol on Jan. 6, tried to grab at the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle  was something she heard second-hand, likely inadmissible before a jury.

There are clear signs prosecutors are moving beyond the rioters, serving subpoenas last week on multiple state Republican Party chairmen in examining a scheme by Trump allies to create slates of alternate, or fake, electors in an attempt to subvert the vote.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, a former federal appeals court judge and circumspect by nature, has pledged the Justice Department will hold accountable wrongdoers at any level  more than 800 people have been charged so far  but he has not said one way or another that he's considering a case against Trump.

Some Democrats in Congress have been pressing Garland to act. The Jan. 6 committee itself could make a formal criminal referral based on its more than 1,000 interviews. The Justice Department wouldnt have to act on such a referral, but it has been pressuring the panel to hand over its interview transcripts as it weighs making its own case.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to commennt.

There's no legal bar to prosecuting Trump as a former president. Since he is no longer in office, Justice Department legal opinions that shielded him from criminal charges no longer apply.

But while it may be hard for the department to turn away from a case if the cumulative evidence is provable beyond a reasonable doubt, there are other factors to consider. No former president has ever been prosecuted by the Justice Department, and a criminal case against the already polarizing former president risks dividing the country even further.

Trump has also been laying the groundwork for another presidential run, and the department may want to avoid any perception that it is targeting a political adversary of Biden in the heat of an election.

It will be, Buell said, one of the hardest issues that any U.S. attorney general has ever confronted.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The African Union says it is deeply concerned by the escalating military tension between Ethiopia and Sudan after seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian were killed in a border dispute.

The statement Wednesday by the chairman of the continent-wide organization urged both countries to cease armed hostilities and hold talks.

The incident happened in the disputed area of al-Fashaqa, which is known to Ethiopians as Alfashga.

Sudans Foreign Ministry reported the eight victims had been taken into Ethiopia after the soldiers were held captive in an area inside Sudan on June 22. A separate statement from Sudan's military described the killings as a cowardly act and said Khartoum would retaliate.

Ethiopian authorities have denied its government troops were responsible for the killings. A spokesman for the Ethiopian military blamed Sudanese forces for illegally entering Ethiopia and clashing with a local militia.

Independent investigations into the matter can be launched with the participation of the two sides, Getinent Adane said.

Residents of Tach Armacho, an Ethiopian town near the Sudan border, told The Associated Press by phone that their area was hit by heavy artillery fired from Sudan until Tuesday afternoon.

Ties between the neighboring countries have deteriorated in recent years amid a long-running border dispute over large swaths of agricultural land in the al-Fashaqa area. Sudan insists the lands are within its borders, according to an agreement that demarcated the boundary between their territories in the early 1900s.

Sporadic clashes have erupted over the past two years in that area, after Sudan said it reclaimed most of its territory and called on Ethiopia to withdraw troops from at least two locations it says are inside Sudan.

In November, Sudan said six of its troops were killed in an attack by Ethiopian military and militia forces in the area. The two nations have held talks, most recently in Khartoum in December 2020, to settle the dispute over al-Fashaqa, but have not made progress.

Ethiopia, in turn, says Sudan took advantage of the deadly conflict in Ethiopias northern Tigray region to enter Ethiopian territory. It has called for Sudanese troops to return to positions they held before fighting erupted in Ethiopia's Tigray region in November 2020, pitting Ethiopias federal forces against regional fighters.
SAO PAULO (AP)  The head of Brazilian state-run bank Caixa Economica Federal resigned Wednesday amid a sexual harassment investigation against him.

The website Metropoles reported Tuesday that prosecutors were investigating accusations by at least five staffers against Pedro Guimaraes, who is a close ally of President Jair Bolsonaro. The case is sealed, according to Brazilian media.

I have to step away at this moment so I don't weaken the collection of achievements that don't belong to me personally" at Caixa, Guimaraes said in a statement, adding he had Bolsonaro's support at every hour he held the job.

Caixa is a key bank for Brazil since it pays many government handouts.

The case is yet another blow for Bolsonaro, who trails former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in opinion poll as they head toward October's elections.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  While Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to make California a sanctuary for women seeking abortions, his administration won't spend public money to help people from other states travel to California for the procedure.

Newsom's decision, included in a budget agreement reached over the weekend, surprised abortion advocates who have been working with the governor for nearly a year to prepare for a potential surge of patients from other states coming to California for abortions now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.

California's operating budget, which is scheduled for a vote in the state Legislature on Wednesday, includes $20 million for an Abortion Practical Support Fund to pay for things like airfare, lodging, gas and meals for people seeking abortions in California. But the money can only be used to help people who already live in California, not people traveling from other states. The fund will accept private donations, but its unclear if that money can cover out-of-state travel expenses.

A spokesperson from Newsom's office said the governor chose to focus on strengthening and expanding California's existing abortion services. During a news conference on Friday, Newsom noted the budget contains tens of millions of dollars to support the state's abortion clinics  funding he said could free up their budgets so they could use their own money to help women travel to California.

We're being realistic. You're going to ask, Are we going to pay for everyones travel and accommodations for 33 million people, of which 10% may seek care in California?' Come on. We have to be realistic about what we can absorb, Newsom said. It's not just the government providing and supporting. It's all of us. It's you, it's me, it's everyone contributing.

California's budget includes $40 million to cover abortions for women who can't afford them, including women from other states who travel to California. But Jessica Pinckney, executive director of Access Reproductive Justice, a California nonprofit that helps women pay for the logistics of an abortion, said travel is often one of the biggest barriers women face in seeking reproductive care.

Including out-of-state travel is absolutely necessary to reduce the barriers and burdens to those who are coming from hostile states, she said.

Travel within California is important too, she said, because 40% of the state's 58 counties don't have abortion clinics, accounting for 3% of California's female population. Many of them are low-income.

There certainly is a benefit to having in-state travel financial support for Californians, she said. But the out-of-state piece really gets at the folks who are being impacted by the fall of Roe.

While the state Legislature will likely approve the state budget on Wednesday, lawmakers can still make changes to it later. The current budget proposal allows the Abortion Practical Support Fund to also accept private donations. Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner's office said they would try to clarify that at least the private money could be used to cover out-of-state travel expenses.

But Pinckney said she and other advocates will ask lawmakers for an amendment to let the public money also cover out-of-state travel expenses.

Pinckney's nonprofit, Access Reproductive Justice, normally raises between $3,000 and $8,000 per month. Pinckney said they've raised about $100,000 in the five days since the Supreme Court ruling.

Still, they helped about 500 people last year. So far this year, their numbers have doubled each month compared to last year. Pinckney said she wouldn't be surprised if they end up helping 2,000 people or more.

We need public funding in order to encourage private funders to contribute, she said.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the other four countries along the Caspian Sea on Wednesday reaffirmed their shared commitment to keep foreign militaries out of the region.

The presidents of Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan met in Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat, for a summit to discuss regional cooperation and international issues.
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CAIRO (AP)  A flimsy rubber boat collapsed and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libyas coast, leaving at least 30 people including women and children missing and feared dead, an international charity said Wednesday.

Officials said meanwhile they found the bodies of 20 migrants who they said died of thirst in the desert close to the border with Chad.

The deaths marked the latest tragedies involving migrants who use Libya as a transit point on a perilous journey to Europe.

The vessel sank in the deadly central Mediterranean Sea route, said Doctors Without Borders, also known by its abbreviation MSF for the French name of the group.

A rescue ship operated by MSF reached the boat, and managed to rescue dozens of other migrants including some women, the charity said. A pregnant woman died on board the rescue ship, Geo Barents.

The missing migrants include five women and eight children, MSF said.

We have seen so many people drowning  men, women and children  and we will never forget the day we had yesterday. We tried to save them but we couldnt save them all," a 17-year-old boy from Cameroon said in a testimony posted by MSF on Twitter.

Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the countrys lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and set off on risky sea voyages.

Among the rescued migrants from Monday's boat sinking was a woman who lost her child in the sinking and another one who said she lost two children, the charity said. Three people on board needed emergency care, including a 4-month-old baby and they were evacuated to Malta. The infant was evacuated along with his mother, MSF said.

The survivors are exhausted; many have ingested large amounts of seawater and multiple people suffered from hypothermia after spending many hours in the water, said Stephanie Hofstetter, MSF medical team leader on board.

The charity has called for Italian and Maltese authorities to determine a port of safety to allow the disembarkation of survivors.

The loss of life is the latest tragedy at sea involving migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from the North African nation in a desperate attempt to reach European shores.

This is an example of what happens weekly, if not daily in the Central Mediterranean, said Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration. The lack of active monitoring and search and rescue by State actors makes it extremely difficult for us to have the full picture.

In recent years, the European Union has cooperated with Libyan authorities to prevent the crossings in policies criticized by rights groups.

Rights groups and U.N. agencies have for years documented systematic abuse of migrants in Libya including forced labor, beatings, rapes and torture. The abuse often accompanies efforts to extort money from families before migrants are allowed to leave Libya on traffickers boats.

Libyan authorities said Wednesday they found the bodies of 20 migrants who died from thirst in the desert 120 kilometers (around 75 miles) from the border with Chad.

The Ambulance and Emergency Authority in the southeastern city of Kufra said the migrants were on their way from Chad to Libya when their vehicle broke down around 310 kilometers (192 miles) south of the city.

It was not immediately clear when the vehicle broke down.

The agency posted footage online showing rescue workers putting the dead migrants into black body bags before moving them to waiting vehicles.
THURMONT, Md. (AP)  Crews battled a fire at an overnight summer camp in western Maryland on Wednesday morning, but no injuries were reported, officials said.

Firefighters were initially dispatched about 7:30 a.m. for a report of a fire in a building at Camp Airy for Boys in Thurmont, Frederick County Division of Fire & Rescue Services spokesperson Sarah Campbell said.

When units arrived on scene, no one was in the building, but they found smoke showing through the roof and a second alarm was initiated, Campbell said. It took about 100 firefighters from Maryland and Pennsylvania three hours to bring the fire under control, but crews were still extinguishing hot spots in the building in the afternoon, she said.

Without fire hydrants near the camp, firefighters drew water from a large pond and two pools to battle the flames, Deputy Chief Kenny Poole said at a news conference.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the dining hall and no other buildings were involved, Campbell said. Investigators wont be able to enter the building to determine the origin and cause of the blaze until the fire is out completely, she said.

In a Facebook post, the camp said it was too soon to know the extent of the damage the dining hall, but everyone is safe and accounted for. The dining hall is a hub of activity, so they are relocating many activities, the camp said. The Jewish overnight camp for boys and nearby Camp Louise for girls in Cascade were founded in the 1920s, according to their website.

Breakfast prep had begun when the smoke was noticed and people got out quickly, Marty Rochlin, director of the camp said at a news conference. They are planning to carry on camp as regularly as possible, he said.

Its a building most of us grew up in, had all our meals in as campers and as staff, Rochlin said. Thankfully, its just a building. Camp can continue because camp is the people.
MOSCOW (AP)  The lower house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved the critical second reading of a proposed law that would allow the banning of foreign news media in response to other countries taking actions against Russian news outlets.

The proposal must still pass a third reading in the Duma and secure the upper house's approval before going to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law. But the Duma's approval on second reading, when a proposal still can undergo substantial changes, almost always prefigures a law's enactment.

Russia has repeatedly complained in recent months that Western countries were improperly restricting Russian media by banning their operation or denying visas to their journalists. In early June, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called in representatives of American media, including The Associated Press, to warn that they could be denied renewal of their visas and accreditation.

The draft law also calls for allowing Russia's prosecutor general to cancel the registration of media outlets for disseminating illegal, dangerous, unreliable publicly significant information or information expressing clear disrespect for society, the state, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as aimed at discrediting the Russian armed forces, state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

Many foreign news organizations suspended or curtailed their operations in Russia following the passage in March of a law calling for up to 15 years in prison for reports seen as discrediting the Russian military.

The foreign ministry in May ordered the closure of the Moscow bureau pf the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in response to Canadas ban on RT, a Russian state-controlled broadcaster.

In February, as Russia built up troops along Ukraines border, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle was ordered to close in Moscow after Germany banned the broadcast of RTs German-language programs.

Before the vote on the second reading, Vladimir Solovev, the head of the Russian Journalists' Union, told the committee preparing the draft that the measure was justified by an "information war unprecedented in history against Russia.

Russia in recent years has persistently clamped down on independent journalism. Following the start of the Ukraine conflict, many significant independent news media shut down or suspended operations. Those included the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, whose editor, Dmitry Muratov, was last year's co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A former U.S. Coast Guard employee has pleaded guilty in a test score-fixing scheme that happened over seven years at an exam center in Louisiana, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, in a news release Tuesday, said Eldridge Johnson entered the plea June 23 to one count each of bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Johnson faces up to 15 years for the bribery charge, five years for the conspiracy charge and a fine of up to $250,000, Evans' office said.
DETROIT (AP)  Michigan authorities have long promised to hold key officials criminally responsible for lead contamination and health problems arising from a disastrous water switch in Flint in 2014.

There's not much to show more than eight years later.

The latest: an extraordinary rebuke Tuesday from the state Supreme Court, which unanimously dismissed indictments against former Gov. Rick Snyder and eight others.

The attorney general's office is promising to press on, though hurdles remain even if fresh charges are pursued, including the age of any alleged crimes and a dispute over documents that could take years to resolve.

Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud, who has led the investigation since 2019, said she's committed to seeing this process through.

A look at where things stand:

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SUPREME COURT?

The court ruled 6-0 that a judge hearing evidence in secret while sitting as a one-person grand jury had no authority to issue indictments, derisively likening it to closed-door justice in the Middle Ages.

The method is so unusual in Michigan that the court said it apparently had never been challenged. Prosecutors typically file charges, then lock horns with defense lawyers in front a judge who decides whether there's enough evidence to go to trial.

Snyder, a Republican, faced indictment for willful neglect of duty. Flint managers appointed by him tapped the Flint River for water in 2014 while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was under construction. Lead from the city's aging pipes infected the system for more than a year because the corrosive water wasn't properly treated.

Snyder's health department director, Nick Lyon, and Michigans former chief medical executive, Dr. Eden Wells, were charged with involuntary manslaughter for nine deaths related to Legionnaires disease. Experts say Flints water might have lacked enough chlorine to combat bacteria.

CAN NEW CHARGES BE FILED?

Yes, in a more traditional way, but defense lawyers will aggressively challenge them again.

There is a six-year deadline to file misdemeanors, such as the two counts against Snyder and two against former Flint public works chief Howard Croft. Nearly seven years have passed since Snyder acknowledged in 2015 that Flint had a dangerous lead problem and switched the city back to a regional water system.

That's going to be a problem for a number of these prosecutions, said attorney John Bursch, a member of Lyon's legal team.

Lyon and Wells were accused of failing to alert the public in a timely manner about the Legionnaires' outbreak. They deny wrongdoing. The deaths appear to fall within the 10-year limit to file felonies.

It is a great injustice to allow politicians  acting in their own interests  to sacrifice government servants who are performing their roles in good faith under difficult circumstances, Lyon said Tuesday, referring to Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat.

ARE THERE OTHER STICKY ISSUES?:

Millions of documents  and millions of dollars.

When Nessel's staff took over the Flint water investigation, they seized Snyder-era records from state government that apparently included confidential documents and papers protected by attorney-client privilege.

Defense lawyers cried foul, insisting the records should have been screened by an independent team. They've won so far in two courts, though prosecutors claim it could cost more than $30 million and take years to look at the documents, depending on the number.

The cost and time are irrelevant, Lyon's lawyers said in opposition to an appeal pending at the state Supreme Court.

No amount of time or money allows the prosecution to keep and use privileged materials against a criminal defendant, attorney Ronald DeWaard wrote.

HAS ANYONE BEEN CONVICTED?

The criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis began in 2016 under then-Attorney General Bill Schuette and special prosecutor Todd Flood. No one has been sentenced to jail.

Seven people pleaded no contest to misdemeanors that were eventually scrubbed from their records. They included Liane Shekter Smith, who was head of the states drinking water division, and Stephen Busch, another key water expert.

Flood insisted he was winning cooperation from key witnesses and moving toward bigger names, but he was canned after Nessel took office in 2019.

Shekter Smith was the only state employee to be fired because of what happened in Flint. But an arbitrator said she was wrongly dismissed in the rush to find a public scapegoat, and the state agreed to pay her $300,000.

Busch was paid $522,000 while on leave before returning to work last November, according to records.

Charles Williams II, a Detroit pastor and civil rights activist, said accountability is overdue in Flint.

Families in the majority-Black city, he added, deserve truth and justice."

___

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
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BERLIN (AP)  The daughter of two Malian refugees has become the first Black member of a state government in Germany.

Aminata Toure was named Wednesday to the Cabinet of Governor Daniel Gunther in Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein, on the border with Denmark.
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BERLIN (AP)  A spokeswoman for Olaf Scholz says the German Chancellor doesn't feel the need to apologize to a reporter for curtly dismissing her question at the end of the Group of Seven summit he hosted this week, prompting widespread criticism.

Rosalia Romaniec, a Polish-born journalist for German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, had asked Scholz on Tuesday whether he could elaborate on the security guarantees for Ukraine discussed by G-7 leaders during their summit.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian militant early Wednesday in the occupied West Bank during clashes that broke out during an arrest raid, Palestinian officials said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Mohammad Marei, 25, was wounded by Israeli gunfire near Jenin during an arrest raid by the Israeli military and later died.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed Marei as one of its fighters, and said he died performing his duty and carrying the banner of Jihad and resistance.

The Israeli military said that while troops arrested two Palestinians in the northern West Bank city, Palestinians hurled explosive devices at soldiers, who responded with gunfire. It confirmed that a Palestinian was shot, but gave no additional details about the man's condition. The army said no troops were injured in the overnight arrest raids.

Recent months have seen a rise in deadly violence in the West Bank. The Israeli military has carried out near-daily raids following a string of deadly attacks by Palestinians inside Israel that killed 19 Israelis, with several of the attackers coming from the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

Several dozen Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids. Most of the dead were alleged to have opened fire on Israeli forces or hurled stones or firebombs at them. The dead also include two apparent passersby.

Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 130 settlements scattered across the West Bank, many of which are fully built up and now resemble suburbs or small towns. Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state. Israel views the West Bank as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.

The Palestinians and much of the international community view the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace because they absorb and divide up the land on which a future Palestinian state would be established.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  The impact of the predicted tsunami of Connecticut state employees retiring from government service appears smaller than first feared, given an uptick in hiring and current state workers withdrawing their retirement paperwork in advance of Friday's deadline, according to Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration.

It's more like a summer storm than a tsunami, the Democrat said Wednesday, noting how the state is on track to end the fiscal year with the same number of employees that it had a year ago.

More than 6,000 people were hired during the current fiscal year, which ends Friday. That's about 1,000 more than usual, according to the state's chief human resources official. Lamont and others credited a new state labor agreement that includes higher wages and bonuses, new hybrid and telework opportunities, and the state's improved talent recruitment efforts, as well as workers' personal economic circumstances with encouraging people to apply for state jobs or keep the ones they already have.

We're seeing individuals pull back their paperwork and say, 'I've decided to stay.' And we're really encouraged by that, said Michelle Gilman, commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services.

State employee unions, however, contend that there is still a public service crisis and that critical state services are at risk. They argue there were serious staffing shortages that predate the current surge in retirements.

We are down 500 front-line staff throughout our state prisons, and that does not even include the June retirements or the 100 additional posts we were promised would be filled, said Collin Provost, a correctional officer and president of AFSCME Local 391, in a written statement. This alarmingly low level of staffing puts correctional officers at risk every day.

As of Tuesday, 4,232 people had filed retirement applications with the Office of State Comptroller since January. There are roughly 48,200 full-time employees throughout state government.

Data from the comptroller's office indicate more than 200 state workers who submitted nonbinding intents-to-retire letters to their agencies ended up pulling those applications. As of Tuesday, 1,361 letters of intent had been filed but ultimately 1,142 final retirement applications had been received by the office. Letters of intent are not required so the data is expected to change between now and Friday.

While some workers have rescinded their retirement applications at UConn, hundreds are still expected to leave state service. At Storrs and the regional campuses, the university originally anticipated about 430 retirements but reduced the predicted number to about 385. As of Wednesday, a UConn spokesperson said 394 retirement applications had been filed, with only about 16 people rescinding their paperwork.

At UConn Health, 347 employee retirements have been processed. Fewer than five applications had been rescinded, the spokesperson said.

The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities reports it expects to see 727 full-time retirements. That's compared with 235 last fiscal year and 183 in fiscal year 2020.

The state's Judicial Branch expects about 95 employees to retire as of July 1. A spokesperson said some people this month rescinded their intent to retire, but it's not at a volume that is out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Jim Tamburro, executive director of the Office of Legislative Management, said roughly 14 legislative staff will be retiring and that is the number we anticipated.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  A Rhode Island resident previously convicted of bank robbery pleaded guilty Wednesday to being in possession of a gun that a juvenile used to accidentally shoot himself in the knee, federal prosecutors said.

Branden Eddie Smith, 37, was prohibited by law from having the gun because he was convicted of bank robbery in Nevada in 2017, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Rhode Island.
FRANKFORT  Manistee and Benzie counties had 14 candidates who became firefighters this month after about six months of training.

Jeff Kamaloski, course manager, county training coordinator and Manistee County Firefighters Association vice president, said the firefighters were trained in a list of skills.

Kamaloski said the 14 graduates learned basic firefighting techniques, search and rescue, vehicle extrication and hazardous materials responses, among others.

This is the basic training for firefighters to be on a fire department, its kind of the first step for everybody, he said. That certifies them to the Firefighter II level for the state of Michigan. Its a little over 300 hours of classroom and practical training.

Candidates started training in January and took their final exams earlier this month. The firefighters graduated on June 18 and the ceremony took place at the at the Frankfort Fire Department.

Kamaloski said Manistee County Firefighters Association typically offers the training about every other year and that there are usually about 10-20 candidates.

Every fire department is struggling to find membership right now, he said adding that if anyone is interested in joining their fire department, they should contact the local departments to learn more.

This training is put on free for everybody and wed love to have more people step up. Its not an easy job but find the right people and its very rewarding, Kamaloski said.

The graduates are as follows:

 Roger Ballard  Norman Township Fire Department;

 Christopher Cervantes  Frankfort Fire Department;

 Jared Cook  Bear Lake Township Fire Department;

 Patricia Dixon  Cleon Township Fire Department;

 Crystal Falk  Filer Township Fire Department;

 Brent Frederick  Homestead Township Fire Department;

 Angela Goldwater  Onekama Township Fire Department;

 Isaac Mead-Renius  Homestead Township Fire Department;

 Michael Munsell  Filer Township Fire Department;

 Hunter Rose  Homestead Township Fire Department;

 Travis Saunders  Cleon Township Fire Department;

 Lonnie Spence  Arcadia Township Fire Department;

 Douglas Thomas  Homestead Township Fire Department; and

 Colin Vanvoorst  Onekama Township Fire Department.
Brendan and Isabel Kiel make the best of a dangerous incident on their wedding day.

Brendan and Isabel Kiel make the best of a dangerous incident on their wedding day. Photo provided/Andi B Photography

Newlyweds Brendan and Isabel Kiel, accompanied by their wedding party, were heading to their reception in Holland when their rented Hummer limousine burst into flames.

Their wedding photographer, Andi for Andi B Photography, caught the fire on camera. She continued shooting photos and video as the group made the best of the dangerous incident standing on the I-96 shoulder for about an hour.

Andi's footage of the limo scene has gone viral on social media including shots posing with Jamestown Township firefighters and Ottawa County sheriffs deputies.

Andi reported that everyone was safe and the party carried on "via highway style" until a bus came to take the group to the reception, a bit fashionably late.

"The ceremony had just ended and we were on our way to take pictures and head to their reception in Holland, Michigan when this all went down," Andi said. "The limo driver initially pulled over because the engine was overheating."

"We all got out because the AC kicked off and we were getting hot in the limo  thank God!  because the smoke almost immediately started turning black and the driver could see a fire starting under the limo," Andi continued. "So, we all started walking down the side of the highway and within minutes the engine exploded."

Photo provided/Andi B Photography Photo provided/Andi B Photography Wedding photographer Andi documented the wedding party before, during and after the fire.

Items lost in the fire included the boys' jackets, the girls' purses, shoes and bouquets according to Andi, who was thankful she grabbed her photography equipment before leaving the limo.

The limo company said they'd be taking care of all expenses, including the lost belongings.

Andi B Photography Andi is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan but is willing to travel for bookings. Contact Andi here. See More Collapse

"Everyone was in great spirits and stayed so positive and calm throughout it all," Andi said. "They truly made the most of the situation. And it was easily the wildest experience I ever had while shooting a wedding."
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  Missouri voters will have to show photo identification to cast a regular ballot in the November election as a result of a law signed Wednesday by Gov. Mike Parson that caps a nearly two-decade-long push by Republicans for stricter voting requirements.

The new Missouri election law also will open a two-week window for people to cast absentee ballots in person without needing to cite a reason why they can't vote on Election Day  a provision pushed by Democrats as a compromise for not attempting to block the photo ID requirement.

The law will take effect Aug. 28, just a few weeks after the state's Aug. 2 primaries.

It comes amid a renewed national emphasis on election laws. Democrats in many states have sought to expand voter access following widespread mail-in voting during the pandemic-affected 2020 elections while many Republicans have pursued new voting restrictions that they contend would cut down on the potential for fraud.

Missouri's measure was backed by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. who called it one of the strongest election laws in the country.

"It makes sure that its easy to vote, it's harder to cheat and the people can have trust in the results, Ashcroft said.

Seventeen states besides Missouri had voter photo identification laws in effect as of this spring, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and 19 states had identification laws that accepted proof other than photos.

Missouri's new law also bans the use of drop boxes to collect absentee ballots, mandates cybersecurity reviews and prohibits private donations for elections, with exceptions for personal protective equipment, water or food for election workers. It abolishes Missouris presidential primary, leaving parties to instead hold caucuses or conventions, and it allows voters to register by party starting in 2023.

Missouri Republicans have sought for years to impose photo ID requirements but have been rebuffed by courts. The state first adopted a photo ID requirement in 2006 that was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.

In 2016, Republican lawmakers referred to the ballot a constitutional amendment authorizing photo ID that was approved by 63% of voters. But lower courts placed a hold on the accompanying law enacting the actual photo ID requirement. In January 2020, the state Supreme Court struck down a misleading and contradictory provision requiring a sworn statement for voters without a photo ID to cast a regular ballot.

Missouri's latest law states that people without a government-issued photo ID can cast provisional ballots that will be counted if they return later that day with a photo ID or if election officials verify their signatures. Like the previous law, it requires the state to provide a free photo identification card to those lacking one to vote.

During legislative debate, Democrats denounced the photo ID requirement for erecting a barrier that they said could disproportionately affect minority voters. Some Black lawmakers called it egregious and shameful.

"What youre trying to do is take us back to Jim Crow, Democratic Rep. LaKeySha Bosley said during debate last month.

Ashcroft rejected assertions that the photo ID mandate harms minority voters.

It seems pretty racist to me to say that the color of skin determines whether or not someone knows how to get an ID, Ashcroft said Wednesday.
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)  The mother of a U.S. military veteran who went missing after he traveled to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia has spoken with her son by telephone, the family said Wednesday.

Lois Bunny Drueke, of Tuscaloosa, answered a call from what appeared to be a Russian exchange and talked to son Alex Drueke on Tuesday for nearly 10 minutes in their first conversation since he and Andy Huynh, another Alabama veteran who traveled to Ukraine, were captured after a fight earlier this month in Ukraine.

Apparently at the prompting of his captors, Drueke said the people holding him were anxious to begin negotiations and that he had food, water and bedding, Bunny Drueke said in a statement released by her family.

He sounded tired and stressed, and he was clearly reciting some things he had been made to practice or read, but it was wonderful to hear his voice and know hes alive and alright, she said.

Drueke said he hadn't been in contact with Huynh for several days, according to the woman. The United States has said both men should be protected as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.

Huyhn's fiance, Joy Black, said his family was thrilled the Drueke was able to speak with his mother.

We are still hoping to get a similar communication from Andy, she said.

Druke and Huynh didn't return to a meeting spot after their group came under heavy fire in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border on June 9. The two traveled separately to help Ukraine and became buddies there in part because of their shared Alabama background, relatives have said.

The U.S. State Department said it was looking into reports that Russian or Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine had captured at least two American citizens. If confirmed, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began Feb. 24.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  North Carolinas hemp industry appears to have avoided a shutdown, as the General Assembly gave its final approval Wednesday to legislation that would make its products permanently exempt from the states controlled substances law.

The Senate voted 41-2 for a House measure that means the production and sale of industrial hemp and products derived from hemp like CBD can still be lawful. The bill now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper's desk for his expected signature.
LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina man who told deputies that he fatally shot a woman who broke into his home has been charged with murder after investigators determined the woman had been a guest at the home, a sheriff's office said.

The Davidson County Sheriffs Office said law enforcement responded to a 911 call about a shooting at a home in Lexington on June 22, news outlets reported.
NEW YORK (AP)  New York City Mayor Eric Adams suggested Tuesday that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani be investigated for filing a false police report for claiming he was assaulted by a heckler who clapped him on the back Sunday at a Staten Island grocery store.

Someone needs to remind former Mayor Giuliani that falsely reporting a crime is a crime," Adams told reporters, saying he'd watched security video that undercut Giulianis harrowing account.

Giuliani, 78, described being hit so hard it felt like being shot with a gun.

The heckler, who police said cried out Whats up scumbag? as he walked away from Giuliani, was arrested and spent more than 24 hours in jail before his arraignment Monday on misdemeanor charges including third-degree assault.

Adams said he thinks Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon has the wrong person that hes investigating.

When you look at the video, the guy basically walked by and patted him on the back, Adams said. It was clear that he was not punched in the head. It was clear that it didnt feel like a bullet. It was clear that he wasnt about to fall to the ground.

Adams and McMahon are Democrats.

Giuliani, a Republican, served as mayor from 1994 to 2001, gaining widespread praise for his leadership after 9/11. Now suspended from practicing law, he served as the personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump and took on a leading role in disputing the results of Trumps 2020 election loss.

Sundays supermarket incident happened as Giuliani was campaigning for his son, Andrew, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesdays primary.

McMahons office declined comment on Adams' calls for an investigation into Giuliani. A message seeking comment was left with the New York City police department, where Adams once served as a captain.

Giuliani gave a profanity laced response when asked about Adams comments by the New York Post. He called the mayor a "scumbag.

The heckler was released without bail Monday. He is due back in court Aug. 17. Court records indicate he is now represented by a private lawyer, who did not respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday. A public defender group that represented him at his arraignment decried the mans arrest.

Giuliani was standing with a group of people when a man walking past reached out, touched his back with an open palm and then said something as he walked away.

Giuliani said the man accused him of being a woman killer, which he took to be a reference to the Supreme Courts ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

In security video, Giuliani barely reacts when his back was touched, but speaking to fellow Republican radio host Curtis Sliwa on WABC, he said it felt like somebody shot me. Later, in a news conference on Facebook, he said it was as if a boulder hit me.
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NEW YORK (AP)  New York City and state officials announced lawsuits Wednesday against 10 sellers of gun parts that the officials said can be assembled into untraceable ghost guns and sold without background checks.

State Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the weapons sold by online ghost gun retailers have been found at a growing share of New York's crime scenes.

These are dangerous weapons, Adams, a former police officer, said at a Manhattan news conference with James and other officials. We should not think these are just kits used for hobbyists. They are being used by murderers. All of them are illegal.

President Joe Biden announced in April that the U.S. Justice Department was working on new regulations to crack down on ghost guns, which have no serial numbers and have been used in shootings around the country.

The New York attorney general's lawsuit against 10 online gun sellers was filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan under a state law passed last year that allows New York to target gun makers as public nuisances. It seeks an order banning the companies from sending gun parts in New York as well as restitution for gun violence victims.

New York City's law department filed a separate federal lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop five of the companies from selling to customers in the city.

James, a Democrat like Adams, said the companies have sold tens of thousands of illegal ghost guns to New Yorkers, including guns that have actually claimed lives.

The lawsuits were filed days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a century-old New York gun law restricting who can carrying a concealed handgun in public.

Christian Waugh, an attorney for Orlando, Florida-based Indie Guns LLC, one of the companies named in the New York lawsuits, said in a statement, This is a groundless attempt to once again burden and limit the rights of New York City residents under the Constitution only days after the Supreme Court of the United States rebuked New York City for other unconstitutional restrictions on those rights.
ROME (AP)  Pope Francis urged the Catholic faithful Wednesday to stop exploiting the old Latin Mass for ideological reasons and to start discovering the beauty of the new liturgy that grew from the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Francis penned a letter to rank-and-file Catholics as part of his long-term effort to crack down on the spread of the traditional rite and its supporters. He called on the faithful to abandon our polemics over the liturgy, which he said risked the very communion and unity of the Catholic Church.

I dont see how it is possible to say that one recognizes the validity of the council  though it amazes me that a Catholic might presume not to do so  and at the same time not accept the liturgical reform, Francis wrote.

The timing of the document's release seemed intentional: It was issued on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, an important feast day for the Catholic Church in which the unity of the church, and the communion between its archbishops and the pope, are emphasized.

Francis began his crackdown on the pre-Vatican II Mass in 2021, when he re-imposed restrictions on celebrating the rite that had been loosened by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. Francis said then that he had to take action because Benedicts reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by Catholics opposed to Vatican II.

Indeed, Catholic traditionalists attached to the old rite, also known as the Tridentine Rite, have become some of the biggest opponents to Francis and his belief that the church should be a field hospital that welcomes everyone and where the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but rather medicine for the weak.

Francis further clamped down on the Latin Mass later in 2021 by forbidding the celebration of some sacraments according to the ancient rite.

In both instances, his directives were aimed at bishops and religious superiors. His letter Wednesday was aimed instead at rank-and-file Catholics and included a call for seminarians and their teachers to embrace the Vatican II reforms and learn the way to celebrate the liturgy according to them.

We cannot go back to the ritual form which the council fathers ... felt the need to reform, Francis wrote.

Francis has repeatedly spoken out against traditionalists, decrying their rigidity and inward focus, lamenting that their nostalgia for the past was gagging the acceptance of Vatican II. Those 1960s meetings modernized the church and led to the Mass being celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.

Writing Wednesday, Francis said he imposed the 2021 crackdown so that the church may lift up, in a variety of so many languages, the one and the same prayer capable of expressing her unity. He added that I intend that this unity be reestablished in the whole church of the Roman rite.

To combat what he has called a tendency toward restorationism, Francis has called for the faithful to spend the next two years preparing for the Churchs 2025 Jubilee year by rereading the Vatican II texts and learning more about what led to the reforms in the first place.

At an event Tuesday launching the Jubilee preparations, the Vatican organizer, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, said the aim was to arouse curiosity in those who have no memory of the event and to help them enter into the essence of the council in order to discover the innovative longing that enabled the church to consciously enter the third millennium of its history.
NEW YORK (AP)  A portrait filled the last vacancy on the photo wall at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Wednesday, concluding the almost 16-year-long project to memorialize the hundreds killed as a result of the terrorist attacks of 2001.

Antonio Dorsey Pratt's portrait, provided through Voices Center for Resilience, an organization started after 9/11 that is dedicated to remembering the victims, was hung on the wall. Pratt was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald Forte Food Service on the 101st floor of the north tower of the old World Trade Center.
RABAT, Morocco (AP)  Activists on Wednesday urged Morocco to launch an unbiased investigation into the deaths of at least 23 migrants who were trying to enter Spains North African enclave of Melilla last week.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights demanded in a letter to the general prosecutor at the Nador Court of Appeal that an investigation be opened into the events before any burials of the dead.

They died when hundreds of migrants attempted to scale the heavily guarded border fence between Nador and Melilla. More 200 migrants and security officers were injured.

The only condition for transparency regarding the Black Friday events in Nador is the opening of a judicial inquiry, carrying out the necessary autopsies, and helping to identify the victims," the association said in a statement.

Spains prime minister has defended the way Moroccan and Spanish police repelled migrants as they tried to cross the shared border, depicting the attempt as an attack on Spains borders. His left-center government is trying to improve ties with Morocco following an acrimonious diplomatic dispute over Western Sahara.

Earlier the association claimed that city officials were burying unidentified dead migrants in at least 21 graves dug in a local cemetery.

The association said that many migrants are currently being held by police pending trial. The majority are from Sudan and Chad.

A delegation from the Moroccan state-affiliated human rights organization CNDH visited the Nador hospital Wednesday to see injured migrants, and visited the morgue where the bodies of victims are held. The group says the visit is part of a fact-finding mission about last week's events.

Activists say that is not enough. A sit-in is planned for Friday outside the parliament building in Rabat to show support for migrants who lost their lives at the Mellila border.

Opposition parties in the House of Representatives have called Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita to the stand and demanded an explanation for what took place at the Melilla border.

Human rights groups have deplored the treatment the migrants received from police on both sides.
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MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa said her Rappler news website was operating business as usual Wednesday and would let Philippine courts decide on a government order to close the outlet critical of the outgoing Duterte administration and its deadly drug crackdown.

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday affirmed its revocation of Rapplers license over a breach of the ban on foreign ownership and control of media outlets.

The case is one of several against Ressa and Rappler seen as part of an assault on press freedom under President Rodrigo Duterte, who leaves office Thursday and will be succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the namesake son of the late dictator.

Ressa revealed the shutdown order against Rappler while speaking Tuesday at the East-West Center in Honolulu. Part of the reason I didnt have much sleep last night is because we essentially got a shutdown order, Ressa told the audience.

She told reporters later in a Zoom interview that Rappler would continue to stand up for its rights. Youve heard me state repeatedly over the last six years that we have been harassed. This is intimidation. These are political tactics. We refuse to succumb to them," Ressa said.

Rapplers attorney, Francis Lim, said the website had legal remedies available to question the SEC's administrative decision in the courts. "And we are confident that at the end of the day we shall prevail, Lim said Wednesday in Manila.

Rappler is facing government retaliation for its fearless reporting about rights abuses in the drug war,' Duterte and Marcos use of disinformation on social media, and a wide variety of rights abusing actions over the past six years," Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. This is an effort to shut up Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, and shut down Rappler, by hook or by crook.

Ressa and Russian Dmitry Muratov last year became the first working journalists in more than 80 years to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Muratov's newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, suspended operations in March after pressure from Russian authorities. It was the last major independent media outlet critical of President Vladimir Putins government left in Russia after others either closed or were blocked following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February.

Ressa co-founded Rappler in 2012. After Duterte took office in 2016, it increasingly began reporting on the nighttime police raids that left hundreds and then thousands of mostly poor, petty drug suspects dead in overwhelmed morgues. Police said they were acting in self-defense when officers gunned down alleged drug dealers. Few suspects were questioned in what human rights activists soon described as extrajudicial executions.

Duterte and other Philippine officials have said the criminal complaints against Ressa and Rappler were not a press freedom issue but part of normal judicial procedures arising from their alleged violations of the law.

However, Duterte has openly lambasted journalists and news sites who report critically about him, including the countrys largest TV network, ABS-CBN, which was shut down in 2020 after lawmakers refused to renew its 25-year license.

As Rapplers president and CEO, Ressa faces several criminal complaints over the website's news operations. She was convicted of libel in 2020 and sentenced to six years in prison but has remained free on bail while the case is on appeal.

___

AP journalists Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and Kiko Rosario in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Rhode Islands governor signed legislation Wednesday setting the most ambitious target in the nation to require the state to be powered completely by renewable energy.

The legislation accelerates plans for the electric grid to operate with 100% renewable energy, so the goal is achieved in 2033.

It's the most ambitious timeline in the country  Oregon is the next closest state, with legislation that requires retail electricity providers to reduce emissions by 100% by 2040, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are currently 10 states with a 100% renewable portfolio standard or clean energy standard, with most timelines between 2040 and 2050, the NCSL said.

Democratic Gov. Dan McKee signed the bill at a solar farm in North Providence that was built at the site of the former municipal landfill. McKee said the state has momentum on clean energy and an opportunity ahead of us like weve never seen before.

The renewable energy legislation was championed in the state Senate by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat.

It states that all of the energy provided to Rhode Island by 2033 would come from renewable energy, either directly from renewable energy resources or through offsets in the regional market.

Ruggerio wanted to set the date as 2030 but that was changed during the legislative process to allow more time for offshore wind projects to come online and for battery storage technology to develop. Ruggerio said at the bill signing that the 2030 target was tremendously ambitious, while 2033 is realistic and a great effort to move forward on renewable energy that will create jobs and contribute to a clean environment.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signed an executive order when she was Rhode Island's governor in 2020 that aimed to make the state the first in the nation to be powered completely by renewable energy by the end of the decade. But state law required annual 1.5 percentage point increases in the amount of electricity required to be generated from renewable sources through 2035.

Rhode Island's General Assembly also approved legislation this year to require the states electric utility to contract for up to 1,000 megawatts of new offshore wind capacity. The first U.S. offshore wind farm opened off Block Island, Rhode Island in 2016.

McKee is among a group of 11 East Coast governors that signed on to a formal partnership with the White House last week to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Bidens plan for climate change.
MOSCOW (AP)  Lithuanias refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russias Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation, a senior Russian lawmaker warned Wednesday.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russias parliament, said that if the Kalingrad region faces blockade it could lead to an armed conflict.

The Russian state must protect its territory and ensure its security, Dzhabarov said in televised comments. If we see that a threat to our security that is fraught with a loss of territory, we will certainly take extreme measures and nothing will stop us.

Dzhabarov's statement followed the Kremlin warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to the Kaliningrad region that borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania, raising fears of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.

A Russian attempt to use force against Poland or Lithuania would trigger a direct conflict with NATO, which is obliged to protect any of its members under its charters mutual defense clause.

Lithuania has emphasized that the ban on the movement of sanctioned Russian goods was part of the fourth package of EU sanctions against Russia, noting it only applies to steel and ferrous metals starting on June 17. It has rejected Russias description of the move as a blockade, stressing that unsanctioned goods and rail passengers can still move through Lithuania.

In line with the EU decision, however, the transit of some other Russian-produced items will be banned in July, shipments of coal will be stopped starting in August and shipments of oil and oil products will be halted in December.

Russia has charged that the restrictions on transit have violated earlier agreements with the EU envisaging a free flow of goods to the region.

Earlier this month, Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful secretary of Russias Security Council and a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, warned that Moscow will respond with unspecified measures that will have a significant negative impact on the population of Lithuania.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  A contingent of South Dakota Republican lawmakers on Wednesday formally announced they were forming a group billed the South Dakota Freedom Caucus" as they try to drive politics further to the right in a Statehouse where the GOP holds every statewide office and 90% of the Legislature.

In its first official statement, the caucus called for an immediate special legislative session to address the state's abortion laws. The state already has a trigger law that banned abortion last week when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but the GOP is pushing to bolster that prohibition.

Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and legislative leaders are already planning a special session, but have not said when it will be or what specific legislation will be considered.

The formalization of the Freedom Caucus threatens to drive a further wedge among GOP lawmakers in Pierre. Republican House lawmakers have fought with the governor and establishment Republicans who control the Senate in recent years over issues like COVID-19 vaccine exemptions, transgender athletes, tax cuts and commercial surrogacy with hardline conservatives pushing the Legislature to take more aggressive positions.

A score of the most socially conservative House Republicans has informally rallied on those issues, referring to themselves by monikers like the conservative caucus or basement caucus. They have often taken a contrarian stand and showed a willingness to defy Noem.

Republican Rep. Tony Randolph, who is the Freedom Caucus vice-chair, declined to say how many lawmakers are part of the group outside its three officers. He said they were looking to recruit members, but insisted they were not splitting from the Republican caucus.

We are not trying to create a new party, Randolph said. We are still Republicans  nothing has changed.

But Randolph charged that the Republican Party has been infiltrated recently by Democrats-turned-Republican who do not hold to the party's platform. He added that the new caucus would look to halt the expansion of state government while promoting gun rights and life.

We believe that life begins at conception and ends at natural death  period, Randolph said.

House Republican leaders Reps. Kent Peterson and Chris Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Freedom Caucus. Senate Republican leader Sen. Gary Cammack said he had recently learned about the caucus and declined to comment further on it.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Health officials in South Korea on Wednesday approved the country's first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 years or older, adding another public health tool in the fight against a prolonged pandemic.

In clinical trials involving some 4,000 participants in South Korea and five other countries, SK Biosciences two-dose SKYCovione vaccine appeared to be more effective than the broadly used AstraZeneca shots in building immunity against infections, officials at South Koreas Food and Drug Safety Ministry said.

It isnt immediately clear how officials will administer the newly developed vaccine or how big of a role the shots will have in the next phase of the pandemic. The shots were designed for the original version of the coronavirus, not the more transmissible omicron variant that wreaked havoc in the country earlier this year. U.S. vaccine giants Pfizer and Moderna have been speeding up their development of booster shots targeting omicron and experts say its possible the virus could evolve again in the coming months.

South Koreas mass immunization campaign has been mainly dependent on Pfizer and Modernas mRNA shots. But officials say protein vaccines like SKYCovione, which are similar to shots used for years against the common flu and hepatitis B, could appeal to people who are hesitant to use vaccines developed with newer technologies.

The approval (of SKYCovione) internationally confirms the abilities of our companies to develop COVID-19 vaccines, Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-kyoung said in a briefing. She said SK Bioscience is seeking an approval from the World Health Organization for its shots, which would potentially open export opportunities.

South Korea has eased most of its virus restrictions after battling an omicron surge earlier this year, but some experts say the country may see another rise in infections despite a high vaccination rate because of waning immunities and the possible emergence of new variants.

The country reported 10,463 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, its first daily increase over 10,000 in 20 days. Health Ministry official Son Youngrae said during a separate briefing its too early to tell whether the country is facing another surge after a months-long downward trend.
DETROIT (AP)  The state must release details about a tax credit granted to General Motors, the Michigan Supreme Court said Wednesday in a dispute over public access to information.

In a 7-0 decision, the court ruled against the Michigan Economic Development Corp., part of state government, which had argued that GM's tax credit cap was protected from disclosure under law.
Weeks after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas has approved $105.5 million in school safety and mental health resources, a press release from Gov. Greg Abbotts office said. A $100 million plan was initially proposed by Texas House Speaker Rep. Dade Phelan on June 13.

About half of the funds ($50 million) will be used to purchase bulletproof shields for school safety officers, a specific request from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Other initiatives funded include $5.8 million to expand Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine statewide, $4.7 million to increase multisystemic therapy across the state, $10 million in total for rapid response training for law enforcement and $17.1 million for school districts to purchase silent panic alert technology.

The expansion of coordinated specialty care teams, funding for the Texas School Safety Center and the expansion of fusion center research and capabilities was also funded.

These initiatives, which cost $100.5 million, will be funded through a budget execution, which allows the state to transfer funds from one area of the approved budget to another. The funds will be transferred from the general revenue appropriations approved for the Texas Education Agency, according to the budget execution document. The funds are from a budget surplus and will not affect current school operations of funding, the document said.

An additional $5 million will be provided to the Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Center to provide resources to the Uvalde community and prepare an assessment for the Texas State Legislature. These funds will be transferred from money appropriated to the Health and Human Services Commission, the budget execution document said.

Each of the initiatives will not be funded beyond Aug. 31, 2023, unless the Legislature chooses to do so, the document said. None of the initiatives address gun policies in the state.

"The State of Texas is acting swiftly to ensure our schools are secure and that children, teachers, and families across Texas have the support and resources they need to be safe as we work to prevent future tragedies like the heinous crime committed in Uvalde," Abbott said in the release. "Our communities  urban and rural  are stronger when Texans are safe and healthy, and I thank my partners in the legislature for quickly addressing the need to expand critical mental health and school safety initiatives in the Lone Star State."
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  Police in North Macedonia say two migrants were killed in the south of the country early Wednesday when a freight train hit them as they slept next to the tracks in the dark.

The nighttime incident occurred outside Miravci, a village near the border with Greece. Police said they believed the two migrants died instantly. They gave no information on the identities or nationalities of the victims.
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PHOENIX (AP)  Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed the Republican running against Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who last week gave powerful testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Bowers, who is blocked by term limits from seeking another term in the Arizona House, is running for an open seat in the state Senate. Trump praised his GOP primary rival, former Sen. David Farnsworth, for supporting the lie that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.

Bowers must be defeated, and highly respected David Farnsworth is the man to do it, Trump said in his endorsement. He will straighten things out and secure your Border.

In his testimony last week, Bowers walked through what started with a Trump phone call on a Sunday after he returned from church. The defeated president laid out a proposal to have the state replace its electors for President Joe Biden with others favoring Trump.

I said, Look, youre asking me to do something that is counter to my oath,  Bowers testified.

Bowers insisted on seeing Trumps evidence of voter fraud, which he said Trumps team never produced beyond vague allegations. He recalled Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani later told him, Weve got lots of theories, we just dont have the evidence.

Bowers earned national acclaim with his folksy recitation of the pressure he faced from Trump and his allies, including angry and noisy protests outside his home as his adult daughter lay dying inside from an extended illness.

His performance also drew scorn from Trump allies. Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward tweeted her own support for Farnsworth the next day.

Bowers said in an interview with The Associated Press that day that he thinks the voters will back him because of his honesty.

Frankly, we feel good that this will will bring out a large independent group who finally see somebody that they feel they can put some confidence in as Republicans" Bowers said. I think thats our strongest part.

The Legislature's 2022 session ended last week and early ballots will be mailed out next week for the Aug. 2 primary. Bowers said he's focused on winning the seat in the east Phoenix suburb of Mesa.

He said the voters will decide whether it is him or Farnsworth they want in the state Senate.

But its not David Farnsworth  it's Donald Trump, Bowers said. David is just a surrogate. And if they want Donald Trump in this position, they they should vote for David.

Bowers did make some waves when he told the AP before he testified in Washington last week that he would vote for Trump again if the choice were between him and President Joe Biden.

That comment ended up in national headlines, since it came in the same interview where he called the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election unconstitutional. He said that Trump's actions have hurt the nation and created distrust in elections, which he said are fair.

He has worked to clarify that remark since it was published. He told the AP that he's even more opposed to Trump after appearing before the commission investing the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. He said he was floored while hearing first hand what Trump did to other officials, including pushing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Brad Raffensperger to find the 11,000 votes Trump would need to reverse is loss in the Peach state.

I want a robust, open, fair, honest primary election, and I want choices other than Donald J. Trump, Bowers said. And there are some great choices available, and I hope we can get them over a finish line and not him.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)  Cain Velasquez, the former UFC heavyweight champion accused of trying to kill the man he claims molested his 4-year-old son, is suing the man and his family who own a day care where the alleged molestation occurred.

Velasquez was arrested in San Jose, California, last February after he shot at a pickup truck carrying the man through busy streets in three Silicon Valley cities, ramming the vehicle with his own truck during a high-speed chase, prosecutors said.

A judge in March denied bail to Velasquez, who faces attempted murder and multiple gun assault charges. His attorney, Mark Geragos, has said he plans on vindicating Velasquez in court.

Velasquez claims in a civil lawsuit that Harry Goularte sexually molested Velasquezs son while the boy was attending a day care run at a home by Goulartes mother, Patricia Goularte, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The Times said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a minor. Harry Goularte was living at the home and working for the day care during the time of the alleged molestation, according to the court filing.

Stephen Defilippis, an attorney for Goularte, didn't immediately respond Wednesday to a call seeking comment on the lawsuit.

The child care business and its owners fostered and maintained an environment where the children could be molested, sexually abused and harassed, Velasquez said in the court filing. The lawsuit accuses Goularte and his family of negligence and sexual battery.

Goularte, 43, was charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a minor by the Santa Clara County district attorneys office. He has pleaded not guilty and trial is scheduled for September.

Velasquez, 39, is due back in court in August, the Times said.

Velasquez transitioned to pro-wrestling after retiring from his MMA career in 2019. A former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, he earned title belts in 2010 and 2012.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. special envoy for Congo warned Wednesday that the M23 rebel group has increasingly acted as a conventional army during escalating military action in the countrys volatile east and could threaten the U.N. peacekeeping force charged with protecting civilians.

Bintou Keita urged the U.N. Security Council to fully back regional efforts to defuse tensions between Congo and Rwanda over M23 rebels and other armed groups that have raised fears of war between the neighboring countries.

She also urged Congo and Rwanda to seize the opportunity to resolve their differences at an upcoming summit hosted by Angolas President Joao Lourenco in the capital, Luanda.

Eastern Congo, which borders Rwanda, lives with the daily threat from dozens of armed groups that jostle for a piece of the regions rich mineral wealth, which the world mines for electric cars, laptops and mobile phones. The M23, one of the most notorious rebel groups, surged into action this year and captured a key trading town in eastern Congo this month.

Congo has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23, which Rwanda has long denied. Each country has accused the other of recent incursions.

On June 20, east African leaders meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, responded to the threat of war by instructing a new regional force to deploy in eastern Congo and ordering an immediate cease-fire.

Keita told the Security Council that during the most recent hostilities, the M23 has conducted itself increasingly as a conventional army rather than an armed group.

The M23 possesses firepower and equipment, which is increasingly sophisticated, specifically in terms of long-range fire capacities, mortars and machine guns as well as precision fire against aircraft, she said. The threat that this poses both for civilians and U.N. peacekeepers who have a mandate to protect them is evident.

The M23 offensive has had a major impact on civilians, causing the death of 23 people including six children in May and June, and displacing more than 170,000, the U.N. special representative said.

Keita warned that if the M23 continues its well-coordinated attacks against the Congolese army and the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MONUSCO with increasing conventional capabilities, the mission may find itself confronted by a threat that goes beyond its current capabilities.

She also cited threats from other armed groups.

As government forces and the U.N. peacekeeping body shifted troops to focus on the M23, Keita said other armed groups sought to take advantage of the resulting security vacuum, increasing attacks in North Kivu and Ituri provinces that killed more than 150 civilians between May 28 and June 17.

Keita later told reporters that deployment of the regional force authorized at the Kenya meeting should complement U.N. peacekeepers: "The most important element and feature for us is coordination, coordination, coordination.

Fortunately, she said, the regional force will be based in Goma, eastern Congo's largest city, where U.N. peacekeepers have a coordination center with the Congolese army. She also stressed the importance of the regional forces commitment to human rights.

Keita said MONUSCO has been informed that the regional forces headquarters will be deployed by the end of July and its troops should come sometime in August.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills told the council the United States insists that the regional force's deployment be closely coordinated with U.N. peacekeepers and conducted under international law and existing Security Council sanctions resolutions.

Keita said she was encouraged by the commitment of Congos government to pursue consultations with armed groups and encourage them to lay down their arms and join a national disarmament program, adding that several groups expressed their willingness.

Julienne Lusenge, president of the Congolese organization Female Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development, told the council about the impact of the worsening conflict in the east on women, saying mothers are cooking soil to feed their children instead of boiling corn or soya.

Lusenge also told the story of a woman whose family mortgaged land to pay $700 to ransom a relative. She was kidnapped when she went to deliver the money, forced to cook the entrails of a man who had been killed that were fed to prisoners, and repeatedly raped. After being released, she was detained by another group as she headed home, held as a sexual slave and forced to cook and eat human flesh. She escaped, returned to her village, and learned the family member she went to ransom had been murdered.

Lusenge urged the Security Council to end any ambiguity of what is happening in the east, saying U.N. experts have shown Rwandas involvement with the M23. And she urged increased protection for civilians to prevent deaths and sexual violence against women and girls, medical and psychological support for survivors, and strengthened dialogue to end the violence and restore stability to eastern Congo.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to maintain the U.N. peacekeeping mission in turmoil-wracked Mali, while condemning the West African nation's military rulers for using mercenaries that commit human rights and humanitarian violations.

The council also expressed grave concern at the deteriorating political and security situation in the West African nation.

Russia and China abstained on the French-drafted resolution that extends the mandate of the mission until June 30, 2023, with its current ceiling of 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 international police.

Mali has been in turmoil since a 2012 uprising prompted mutinous soldiers to overthrow the president. The power vacuum that resulted ultimately led to an Islamic insurgency and a French-led war that ousted the jihadists from power in 2013.

But insurgents remain active and extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have moved from the arid north to more populated central Mali since 2015, stoking animosity and violence between ethnic groups in the region.

Malis current ruling junta, which seized power in August 2020, has grown closer to Russia as Moscow has looked to build alliances and gain sway in Africa.

The junta has hired mercenaries from Russias Wagner Group, which has been accused by the European Union and human rights groups of violating human rights and international humanitarian law. The Kremlin denies any connection to the company, but Western analysts call it a tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Wednesdays vote, Frances U.N. ambassador, Nicolas De Riviere, said violations of human rights and humanitarian law by terrorist groups as well as Malian armed forces accompanied by members of the Wagner Group must stop.

Warning that insecurity in Mali is rising, he said the U.N. mission must be given access to areas where alleged violations are committed to fulfill its mandate and publish quarterly human rights reports as the resolution demands. He said that those responsible for violations must be brought to justice.

Amid tensions with Malis military rulers, France announced in February that its military forces would be out of the country by this summer. But France proposed continuing to provide aerial support to the U.N. peacekeepers, who need the capabilities of attack helicopters. Mali strongly objected to a continued French air presence, however, and the French offer was dropped from the resolution.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills said one reason the United States supported the resolution was because it strongly condemns the alarming increase in violations and abuses against civilians and again calls for all parties to cease committing or abetting any violation or abuse. He said that this includes terrorist armed groups, the Malian armed forces, and the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group.

The resolution authorizes the U.N. mission to assist Malian authorities in promoting and protecting human rights. The force also is to monitor, document, conduct fact-finding missions, help investigate and report publicly" to the Security Council on humanitarian and rights violations, including sexual violence and human trafficking, and to contribute to efforts to prevent such violations and abuses.

It also authorizes U.N. peacekeepers to carry out other priority tasks, including supporting implementation of a June 2015 peace agreement and the current political transition, supporting the restoration of state authority to central Mali and stabilizing the region, protecting civilians and creating safe environments for delivery of humanitarian aid.

Explaining Russias abstention, the countrys deputy U.N. ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva, pointed to the resolutions intrusive wording  on human rights, saying it will not help ensure that Mali can exercise its right to protect its own citizens.

We are concerned that this might be used by those who want to tarnish the work of the transition government and are not pleased with its independent foreign policy approach, she said. We to a degree have become used to the fact that our Western colleagues time and again try and push `fakes into the council about the apparently disruptive work of Russia in Mali when Moscow is helping the country combat terrorism.

Last Friday, Malis junta leader signed a new law paving the way for elections and a return to constitutional rule in 2024. The law would allow Col. Assimi Goita, who is president of the transitional government and other military members, to be candidates, according to a copy of the legislation seen by The Associated Press.

The resolution on Mali also gives Security Council backing to continued support for the regional counterterrorism force known as the G5 Sahel, which Malis military rulers announced they were pulling out of in May. The G5 Sahel force, which also includes soldiers from the neighboring West African states of Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad, was created in 2014 and actually deployed troops in 2017.

The council said it will continue providing medical evacuations and access to life support consumables and use of engineering plant equipment. It asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to enhance exchange of information between the peacekeepuing force in Mali and the G5 Sahel states through provision of relevant intelligence.
SANAA, Yemen (AP)  A car bomb targeting a top provincial security official in the southern Yemen city of Aden killed at least six people Wednesday and wounded eight others, Yemeni officials said.

A car carrying explosives detonated while the convoy of a security official from a neighboring province was driving by, the officials said. Three of his guards were wounded in the explosion.

The officials said two security personnel died later from their wounds, bringing the death toll to at least six people, including four civilians.

The top security official for Lahj province Brig. Gen. Saleh Sayed was not seriously hurt, added the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Videos from the scene showed the dead and injured lying in a minibus, while a cloud of black smoke rose from the explosion site.

The bombing was the latest to target security officials in the key port city, which serves as the headquarters of Yemen's internationally recognized government.

Aden has been the seat of the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi since the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sanaa in 2014, triggering the countrys protracted civil war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The city has been rocked by frequent bombings in recent years blamed on local affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The Houthis have also targeted the city with ballistic missiles and explosives-laden drones.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  North Carolina House Republicans pushed Wednesday for a constitutional amendment that would have voters elect members of the State Board of Education from each congressional district, a move that would erode dramatically the governors appointment authority to the panel.

The current rules have 11 members appointed by the governor serving on the board alongside Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and State Treasurer Dale Folwell. The board would expand under the amendment to 14 elected members  in line with North Carolina gaining a congressional seat in 2022  and add the statewide-elected superintendent of public instruction as chairperson.

The proposed amendment, if approved by the General Assembly in the final days of the legislative session, would appear as a ballot question in the November general election.

Every voter will have an equal opportunity, rather than a single individual who resides in the governors mansion, (to be) able to pick those people for the voters, said bill sponsor Rep. Hugh Blackwell, a Burke County Republican, who chairs the House Education Committee.

The education committee voted 14-7 to recommend the legislation, which also passed the House Rules Committee later Wednesday. The full House won't consider it until Thursday  a sign that prospects for legislative passage this year could be waning, as the session is likely to end this week.

Because the bill seeks to amend the state constitution, it must pass both chambers with a three-fifths majority of the total legislative body, regardless of how many lawmakers are present. That means the bill would need some bipartisan support to reach voters. Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto power does not apply to constitutional amendments.

Some Democrats on the committee argued a system based on congressional districts, rather than the eight current education districts drawn by the General Assembly, could reduce minority representation on the board. They cited past controversies over redistricting and allegations that boundaries were tainted by racial bias.

Whether its partisan or not, the children are children, and they should not be put in the position to not have representation, Rep. Kandie Smith, a Pitt County Democrat, said Wednesday. Changing to this type of structure is going to put (minority students) at greater risk.

But bill proponents say the amendment could resolve a conflict of authority between the elected superintendent of public instruction and the appointed board members, while giving parents greater influence over their childrens education.

Changes would take place in early 2024 if voters approved the amendment and apply first to elections that November, weeks before Cooper leaves office due to term limits.

Board member terms would be reduced from eight years to four. Any appointments made by the governor to fill a vacancy would require General Assembly confirmation. Current rules already subject the governor's board picks to similar legislative approval.

The proposal defies a broader national trend toward governor-appointed education boards.

Governors appoint all or some education board members in 38 states, according to the National Association of State Boards of Education. Seven states and the District of Columbia elect their entire board, while three states elect a portion of their members.

Cooper has named Democrats to several board seats since he took office in 2017.

The boards Democratic majority in 2021 voted to adopt new K-12 social studies standards that encouraged teachers to discuss racism, discrimination and the perspectives of marginalized groups. Republican members called the standards anti-American, anti-capitalist and anti-democratic.

To suggest that education is a nonpartisan issue is maybe to deceive ourselves, Blackwell said.

___

Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Adopting a cat can be one of the greatest decisions you ever make. It can even be life-changing. The little (or not so little) guy or gal you bring home just may end up being your best friend, your breakfast chit-chat companion, your most trusted confidant, and a tugger of heartstrings. Each cat has their own personality, some with more attitude than others, some with more energy, some with an endless need to be on your lap, and others who would prefer to keep a respectful distance at all times. You never really know what youre getting into when you walk in to adopt a cat from an adoption center, or when youre scanning online for your new best fur friend, but thats part of the joy of the journey  getting to know your new cat.

However, the decision to adopt a cat shouldnt be taken lightly. There are many factors to be taken into consideration when adopting a cat (or cats!). Youll need to think about how much time and energy you will have to dedicate to your cat, budget for emergencies in addition to the routine costs of caring for your pet, and you will also likely need patience and a certain tolerance for a bit of mess.

We spoke to TikTok veterinarian Dr. Hunter Finn, as well as Kristie Buccella, Shelter Director of North Shore Animal League America about everything you need to know before adopting a cat.

Adopting a cat: What to know

If you have never adopted a cat before, you may be a bit overwhelmed, so starting with the basics, well look at where to adopt a cat and what youll need to prepare before you bring them home.

Where to adopt a cat

There are plenty of places to find your new furry family member, from shelters to agencies, to rescuing a cat directly from the street in your neighborhood, to Craigslist the options go on and on. However, as Buccella says, Theres no need to purchase a pet when so many homeless ones are patiently waiting in shelters. The more animals that are adopted, the more room a shelter has to rescue additional homeless animals. At North Shore Animal League America we like to say when you adopt, you save two lives: the animal you take home and the one who now has an open space to be rescued by us.

The adopt dont shop motto holds up, with Dr. Finn adding that There is no shortage of cats who need homes in this world, unfortunately. So a solid first stop for adopting a pet would be heading to your local shelter. The only cons to adopting a cat from a shelter are that It may be months or years before you truly get to see the cat's personality and play styles, and that you really have limited information on their medical history, which can be tough at times especially if you are adopting an older animal. However, there will be a factor of the unknown regardless of where you bring your pet home.

Another route would be to go through a pet adoption agency. Some pros about pet adoption agencies are that they really put in their due diligence to make sure that the pets they home dont end up back in the shelter or on the street. That means that every prospective pet parent is most likely going to be put through a rigorous application process in order to qualify. For this reason, Dr. Finn notes that when going through an agency, you can be denied for reasons outside of your control. They are in place to help make sure animals do not get returned to shelters or put in harmful situations but sometimes can be tough to get the animal you want if you dont meet certain criteria.

A third option is to go through a foster program, which wont necessarily have a brick-and-mortar location, but Some of these groups do pop-up events at local pet stores, some do in-person appointments and facilitate one-on-one meetings between animals and potential adopters. There are a lot of good people working together to find animals the homes they deserve, says Buccela.

What to buy for a new cat

Before you make the final call to adopt a cat, youll need to make sure you have a few necessities before you sign any papers and bring him home. According to Buccela, those necessities are:

Food and water bowls

Dr. Finn says, Some cats enjoy drinking water from a fountain and I usually recommend these to my clients.

Litter box

You can splurge on a self-cleaning box, but theres really no need to get anything fancier than a simple pan.

Litter

Your cat may be picky about their litter, so you may have to try a few different kinds before you find the Goldilocks litter. There is clay litter, pellet litter, fancy smart cat litter that indicates potential health issues, and there are even toilet training kits if you are feeling brave.

A comfortable bed

A few toys

There is no need to go overboard, just a few to tide them over until you figure out what kinds are your new cats favorite. Some like laser toys, some simple fake mice, some like the crinkly kind  you never know! Buccela also says that Wand toys are always excellent choices as they mimic prey-like behavior creating a high energy, high-value play interactions.

There are also a few things that youll want to eventually get for your new adopted cat, but dont need the minute you get home. Those things include:

Pet insurance. Dr. Finn says, I absolutely recommend pet insurance, you just need to decide what your needs are. Personally, I think that emergency type insurance is the best insurance to have rather than insurance plans for wellness visits. You can always plan for wellness visit costs, but emergency situations happen unexpectedly and can become quite costly. Buccella recommends Fetch Pet Insurance. An emergency kit. Buccella says, You can purchase them pre-assembled or put together your own kit but they should include basic supplies: For more information about a First Aid Kit and Disaster Preparedness for your pets, please visit our site. Cleaning supplies. Dont underestimate the volume of shedding a new cat can bring into your home, so its definitely worth it to invest in cleaning products from Swiffers Heavy Duty pet line, suggests Dr. Finn. A sturdy scratching post. This is your best bet to both keep your cats claws from getting too long and uncomfortable (or even dangerous to their own health), and protect that couch you saved up for though that second part is not guaranteed. Cats will do what they please, after all! Enrichment. This type of play mimics a cats natural instinct to hunt as they would in the wild, which is often an overlooked basic need for your cat. Some cats like chasing while others like hunting and perching. Dr. Finn has laid out a step-by-step guide to keep your cats mind and body stimulated:

Find a number of toys or objects that resemble birds. Examples include feathers, stuffed toys covered in feathers, objects suspended in air, and toys making chirping noises. Entice your cat to play by making each object move and fly through the air. Does your cat follow the object? Does he/she follow all of the objects or ignore most of them? Take note.

Next, put those objects out of the kitty's sight, and try objects resembling mice, such as fur, stuffed animals, furry mice, and balls. How does your cat react when you make each of these objects move? Does kitty want to chase it? Or is he/she waiting for you to bring the feathers back out?

Try both bird toys and mouse toys at the same time by alternating them about every 20 seconds. Which does the kitty prefer? Does he/she prefer some of each kind?

Finally, put all of these toys away, and try toys resembling bugs. You can try a laser toy, a string with a knot on the end, and some dry food or treats tossed across the floor. How does your cat react? Try to alternate with the bird toys and mouse toys to see which prey is best. If your cat seems to enjoy feathers and/or objects in the air, choose toys resembling birds. If your cat prefers furry toys and/or toys moving on the ground, choose objects resembling mice. If your cat likes tiny objects with lots of movement, choose toys resembling bugs.

What to buy for senior cats

There arent many things that youll need for a senior cat that you wouldn't need for a younger cat. However, you may need an extra item here and there.

A few things you might need down the line for an older cat:

Pet staircase. So that they can cuddle with you even if they can no longer leap as they used to. Dental upkeep products. Our pets teeth need care too. You can find dental care in the form of solutions, treats, and little brushes Raised food bowls. As cats reach older age, it is more of a strain to perch so low to reach their food. Raised food bowls make for a more natural eating position which may be much more comfortable for an older cat

Adopting a kitten: What to know

Where to adopt a kitten

While it may seem like a totally different process, the options for kitten adoption are pretty much the same. Buccela clarifies, At North Shore Animal League America the process is the same. No matter what animal you may intend to adopt, when you arrive at our Adoption Center youll meet with a member of our Adoptions Team who will work one-on-one with you to determine the kind of animal that is the best fit for you and your family to adopt. The same will be true at shelters, foster programs, and all of the rest.

Another thing to consider when planning to adopt a kitten, is Kittens are adorable  and exhausting. Kittens are a lot of work and you need to be prepared for their energy, their mischievousness, and their curiosity, says Buccella. Its for this reason that two kittens are often better than one. This is ideal as not only do they socialize with each other, they entertain each other and use up much of that kitten energy playing with one another.

What to buy for a new kitten

Same story for what youll need for a kitten, save for potentially needing to feed her kitten food rather than adult food, and maybe stocking up on some antibiotic cream for all of those inevitable, playful kitten scratches!

All in all, youll have to be patient with your new family member. Dr. Finn reminds us, It may take months before you feel that bond and they feel comfortable with you, or it may be like that from day one. Buccella adds, Dont take it personally if your new cat is hiding and fearful at first. Plenty of playtime, treats, and a little TLC goes a long way in getting your cat to comfortable in his/her new home.

If youre still struggling with your decision, North Shore Animal League has created a Get Pet Ready guide for anyone thinking about becoming a pet parent to help you assess whether this is the right time to adopt, as well as offering some tips to help alleviate the natural anxiety that comes with bringing home a new member of the family. Visit www.animalleague.org/getpetready for more info.
WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, June 28, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Midland/Odessa has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

West Central Reeves County in southwestern Texas...

* Until 945 PM CDT.

* At 642 PM CDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of

rain have fallen. 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 West Central Reeves County

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

In hilly terrain there are hundreds of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

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.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of southwestern Jim

Hogg, northwestern Starr and southeastern Zapata Counties through 700

PM CDT...

At 642 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near

Lopeno. This storm was nearly stationary.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 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...

Lopeno, New Falcon, Falcon State Park and Morales-Sanchez.

This includes US Highway 83 between mile markers 776 and 792.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm and may lead to

localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded

roadways.

Occasional to frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with

this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm.

Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle.

LAT...LON 2684 9896 2679 9895 2678 9893 2667 9888

2657 9915 2682 9921

TIME...MOT...LOC 2342Z 074DEG 4KT 2674 9905

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN

MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, June 28, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Midland/Odessa has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Northeastern Ward County in western Texas...

* Until 1130 PM CDT.

* At 818 PM CDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1.5 and 3 inches of

rain have fallen. 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...

Monahans, Thorntonville, Wickett and Roy Hurd Memorial Airport.

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.

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 945 PM CDT THIS

EVENING FOR WEST CENTRAL REEVES COUNTY...

At 819 PM CDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy

rain across the warned area. Between 2 and 3 inches of rain have

fallen. Flash flooding is ongoing.

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 West Central Reeves County

In hilly terrain there are hundreds of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Privacy policy announcement is the foundation for citizens to protect the right on their data when there are disputes.



In the meeting, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Vietnam Patrick Haverman praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Government in offering online public services for its citizens.

However, despite the Covid-19 pandemic leading to more use of online service, the number of people using these services is not high enough. Statistics from the survey for Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) in the two years of 2020 and 2021 show that only 3.5 percent of the surveyed experienced the national public service e-portal.

To be successful in digital transformation, personal data protection according to the UNs standards is critical, including such features as fair and lawful personal data processing; clarification of personal data collecting and processing; necessary personal data collecting only; safe storage of personal data; transparency and accountability ensuring.

However, UNDP survey shows that most localities have not fully observed legal regulations on private data protection. For instance, only 1/63 public service e-portals and 3/63 provincial e-portals display contact information of the unit in charge of personal data protection. Only 9 out of 130 emails inquiring those e-portals about the matter are properly responded.

One of the most concerning results of the survey is the misunderstanding and misclassification of the legal responsibilities among managers of personal data, in particular among the governing agency (the Peoples Committee of cities, provinces), operation agency (corresponding departments of Information & Communications), and platform developers. This might lead to no ground to attribute responsibility to when an incident happens, which is extremely dangerous.

By Anh Phuong  Translated by Vien Hong
Takeaway : An employer did not violate California's wage statement statute by failing to provide a wage rate or hours worked for a true-up of overtime pay for the preceding month's work based on the flat rate bonus paid that month. The law requires wage statements to provide hours worked and wage rates for the current pay period only.

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Section 226 of the California Labor Code requires employee wage statements to include all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee.

An employer did not violate Section 226 by failing to state a wage rate or hours worked for a true-up of overtime pay for the preceding month's work based on the flat rate bonus paid that month, a California appeals court ruled. The law requires wage statements to provide hours worked and wage rates for the current pay period, not rates or hours for prior pay periods, the court said.

The employer is a telecommunications corporation providing voice, video, data, Internet and professional services to businesses, consumers and government agencies. It has branches around the world, including in California. The employee worked for the employer as a premises technician from January 2014 until October 2015. The employee's duties included installing and repairing the company's products.

The employee sued the employer for many violations of the California Labor Code, including a claim that the employer failed to furnish accurate and complete wage statements. The trial court dismissed this claim before trial, and the employee appealed.

Proper Construction of Wage Statement Statute

The reviewing court noted that its role on appeal was to determine what the state legislature had intended in passing the wage statement law. A court must determine legislative intent first by looking at the words of the statute, the appellate court said. When a statutory term is not defined, it can be assumed that the legislature was referring to the conventional definition of that term, and a court must give the words in a statute their plain and commonsense meaning.

For regular pay and regular overtime, the wage statements listed the "rate" and "hours" for that pay period, as required by state law. The employer, however, also included a lump sum on certain wage statements titled "OVERTIME TRUE-UP PMT." For the overtime true-up, the employer left the "rate" and "hour" columns blank. This was the entry that the employee challenged.

The overtime true-upadditional overtime wages owed based on performance bonuses earned in earlier periodswas calculated using a complex formula involving bonus amounts and hours from prior pay periods. Pursuant to the company's incentive program, each month employees earned points that could be exchanged for merchandise based on the achievement of specified metrics. The employer assigned the points a cash value for tax purposes. It generally listed these monetary amounts on the first wage statement of the month after the employee earned them.

The employer was required by law to include the value of the points, which was a form of bonus, in the regular rate pay for the purposes of calculating the employee's overtime pay. Because employees earned the bonus over the course of an entire month and the bonus amount was not known until the close of that month, there was no way to determine the overtime owed in relation to that bonus on a pay period by pay period basis. Instead, the employer calculated the additional overtime owedthe overtime true-upafter the close of the month and generally reflected it in the next month's first wage statement.

The trial court found that the employer's wage statements complied with statutory requirements, ruling that an employer must identify only the hourly rate in effect during the pay period for which the employee was currently being paid and the corresponding hours worked.

The appeals court noted that the statutory interpretation issue was straightforward: Did the requirement to list on the wage statement "hourly rates in effect during the pay period" and the "corresponding number of hours" worked at such rates encompass a requirement that the employer list the rates and hours from prior pay periods underlying an overtime true-up calculation?

The appeals court agreed with the trial court that the statute contained no such requirement.

Section 226 is explicit that it requires a list of hourly rates during the pay period. The appeals court refused to read into the statute a requirement that an employer include hours and rates from prior pay periods when the legislature omitted such a requirement.

Adding requirements for wage statements was especially unwarranted here, the court said, when payment was not a simple matter of multiplying a pre-determined rate by overtime hours, but an after-the-fact calculation based in significant part on the amount of bonus the employee happened to earn the prior month.

The court affirmed the trial court's order dismissing the wage statement claim before trial.

Meza v. Pacific Bell Telephone Co., Calif. Ct. App., No. B317119 (June 17, 2022).



Joanne Deschenaux, J.D., is a freelance writer in Annapolis, Md.


Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that his government wants Telangana to be known as the startup state of India and Hyderabad as the startup capital of India.

He was speaking after inaugurating the second phase of T-Hub, billed as the world's largest technology startup incubator, in Hyderabad.

Spread over 370,000 square feet and designed to house more than 1,500 startups, the swanky campus has come up at Raidrugi, a part of the information technology corridor.

The Chief Minister claimed that T-Hub, which was launched in 2015, has now become a national role model. He recalled that it was founded to bring in the best talent from across the country to nurture a startup ecosystem.

"Today, I can proudly say we have created a world-class entity at T-Hub to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. Our state's startup policy is progressive, it has helped forge fruitful partnerships with both corporates and academia. This is something very uniquely wonderful about our state," he said.

KCR, as the leader is popularly known, pointed out that T-Hub has impacted over 2000 entrepreneurs and seen $1.19 billion raised in funding by T-Hub startups. It has facilitated connections with venture capitalists and angel investors, establishing a brand name synonymous with innovation.

He also noted that Telangana state's startup ecosystem is valued as among the top 10 global ecosystems in affordable talent, and is among the top 15 startup ecosystems across Asia in attracting funds.

"In 2021, the startup ecosystem of Telangana was valued at $4.8 billion. Among cities in India, Hyderabad offers the best standard of living, and we want Hyderabad to be known as the startup capital of India. Our startups are providing valuable collaboration to the main sectors of our economy, namely IT, life sciences, aerospace, and defence, and automotives, including electric vehicles," he said.

Noting that many startups have also created products and solutions relevant for social sectors like education, health, agriculture, sanitation, and environment, KCR said all this became possible due to the very progressive policies in the state like TS-IPass, TSBpass, and Telanganaas start up and innovation policy.

"We have made doing business easier for the startups, ensuring that they receive mentorship support, get connected with knowledge institutions and corporates as per their requirements, receive funding support, and most importantly receive automatic job orders from government departments if their product or solution is of relevance to us."

He recalled that the journey of T-Hub started as an idea, eight years ago, when Telangana became the youngest state in India.

Around the fulcrum of T-Hub, the government promoted sister institutions to support different requirements of an entrepreneur. Today all of these institutions also, namely We-hub, T-Works, TSIC, RICH, and TASK, have become champions in their own right, he claimed.

KCR said the first phase of T-Hub showed that there is a huge appetite for entrepreneurship among the youth in India. "We felt we must capitalise on this appetite. That we must provide them with best support from the startup stakeholders and give them a space for high-quality incubation and acceleration. Three years ago, our government decided to invest in the 2nd phase of T-Hub. This new facility is five times bigger. Our aim is to incubate the next generation of startups that would one day be strong pillars for our Indian economy. We hope that, through T-Hub, these startups can strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit and bring global recognition to our state and the country with their accomplishments."

Stating that India is only weeks away from celebrating the 75th anniversary of its independence, he underlined the need to provide a clear vision and roadmap for the country about its future, especially to youth. "Young India is an aspirational India. It wants to be challenged and seeks to compete globally. Our government recognised this aspirational India early on and wanted to put young India on the global map. We wanted to build an India known equally for its entrepreneurial and technology capabilities," he added.
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Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been racking up the frequent flyer points since New Zealand ended its COVID-induced hermit status. And next week, shes hopping back across the ditch for her second trip to Australia of the Albanese era, along with a business and trade delegation.

We hear a key stop on her tour is ANZs Docklands HQ, where the Kiwi delegation is set to meet the banks senior leaders. As a corporate meet and greet, it makes sense  ANZ is the biggest bank in New Zealand, and one of Arderns predecessors Sir John Key sits on its board.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern chums it with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office. Credit:AP

But its not quite as glam as St Jacindas recent US tour, where she was feted as a liberal icon, giving a commencement address at Harvard, appearing on comedian Stephen Colberts Late Show and chumming it with President Joe Biden, all as her domestic approval ratings plummeted.

Maybe shes better off on the road.
Adelaide man accused of plotting act of terrorism

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Pretty sure Ive discovered how to get rid of the gender pay gap.

Heres why men get the big bucks and the bonuses. Michelle Ryan, director of Australian National Universitys Global Institute for Womens Leadership, is blunt.

Men talk. A lot. In all the ways they get attention, men take up space. They take credit for womens achievements, its attention-seeking, look-at-me behaviour. And we dont even notice men are taking up all the space - but its how we determine worth, says Ryan.

Research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency reveals men get paid more than women across industry, role or age. When blokes say show me the money, we say yes.
NSW will extend its free flu shots program until mid-July to encourage the millions yet to receive a vaccine to come forward, as cases continue to present to hospitals.

The free shots will be available from GPs and pharmacies until July 17. Health Minister Brad Hazzard has urged parents to take children for their vaccination over the school holidays.

Its really worrying that just over 18 per cent of children and teenagers have had a flu jab; and for kids aged six months to five years, the figure is 25 per cent, Hazzard said.

The state had record numbers of flu infections in June, due to an earlier than usual flu season and increased testing. PCR tests for COVID-19 also returned results for other respiratory viruses.
The Victorian governments new planning minister, Lizzie Blandthorn, is under pressure to recuse herself from all matters involving her lobbyist brothers clients after warnings about potential conflicts of interest.

On Wednesday, The Age reported on conflict-of-interest concerns about Blandthorn, given her brother John-Paul Blandthorn is a director of Labor-linked lobbying firm Hawker Britton, which represents major development, construction and infrastructure clients. He is also a former senior adviser to Premier Daniel Andrews.

Planning Minister Lizzie Blandthorn (second left) with Premier Daniel Andrews this week. Credit:The Age

Hawker Britton clients listed on the Victorian lobbyist register include developers Dennis Family Corporation, Intrapac and Caydon, construction giant John Holland in its role building the West Gate Tunnel, builder Winslow Group, Melbourne Airport, McDonalds and the Shopping Centre Council.

Integrity experts say the Blandthorn appointment highlights major weaknesses in Victorias outdated rules on lobbying and the revolving door of political insiders who move between working in government and working for businesses seeking favourable decisions from government.
Yagan Squares troubled market hall is tipped to reopen in summer 2023, with a multi-venue concept plan to revitalise the ailing space just weeks away.

DevelopmentWA confirmed it has signed a heads of agreement with Nokturnl co-founders Drew Flanagan and Ross Drennan, the brains behind The Beaufort in Highgate and Fremantles The Old Synagogue.

Nokturnl Events founders Ross Drennan and Drew Flanagan. Credit:Philip Gostelow

It comes after last months announcement that the state government had committed a further $7 million to revamp the commercially unsuccessful space, including the reconfiguration of the market hall to accommodate a new venue.

Drennan said architects were finalising concept plans and they hoped to open the new venue next year.
Australias energy market operator is preparing for more coal-fired power stations to close down many years earlier than planned and expects all of Victorias coal plants to be shut by 2032, demanding a massive expansion of renewable energy and 10,000 extra kilometres of power lines to connect the grid.

In its official 30-year road map released on Thursday, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it expected 60 per cent of the eastern seaboards coal fleet to exit the electricity grid within the next decade by 2030 while the last remaining plant will shut by 2042.

The market operator has warned coal plants may close even earlier than the updated forecast released on Thursday. Credit:Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

AEMO, which manages the electricity system across the country, has spent the past two years consulting 1500 stakeholders to deliver its Integrated System Plan to show what it expects the energy grid will look like out to 2050.

In order to maintain reliable and affordable power during the transition to clean energy, AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman said that by 2050, wind and solar farms must grow ninefold and the amount of backup supply for renewables must triple, while 10,000 kilometres of new power lines is needed  enough to link Sydney to Mumbai.
The NSW government instructed a senior bureaucrat to rescind a verbal offer to a successful female candidate for a US trade commissioner role, before former deputy premier John Barilaro later applied and was appointed to the plum post.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown told an upper house inquiry on Wednesday she was directed to stop the recruitment process of Jenny West for the trade posting due to a change in government policy.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown gives evidence to the upper house inquiry. Credit:Janie Barrett

Brown is the first witness to give evidence to the upper house inquiry examining Barilaros controversial appointment to the $500,000-a-year job based in the US, which he created as trade minister.

Brown said the direction to halt Wests recruitment followed a decision of a cabinet subcommittee and would have come through Barilaro, who was the responsible minister at the time. However, she later added that it came through his office.
John Barilaro will formally start as US trade commissioner in less than two weeks, as a parliamentary inquiry revealed a chosen candidate was dumped after cabinet agreed to change the rules around the plum overseas appointments.

As the Barilaro appointment saga continues to plague the Perrottet government, an upper house inquiry has heard the government instructed a senior bureaucrat to rescind a verbal offer to a successful female candidate, before the former deputy premier was appointed to the post.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown gives evidence to the upper house inquiry. Credit:Janie Barrett

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown on Wednesday said she was directed to stop the recruitment process of Jenny West for the trade posting due to a change in government policy.

Brown was the first witness to give evidence to the inquiry examining Barilaros controversial appointment to the $500,000-a-year job, which he created as trade minister.
The floods which struck the NSW Northern Rivers region during this years big summer wet were a personal and financial tragedy from which it will take years to recover.

The cost has been put at more than $1.5 billion; four people lost their lives; 169,000 people were forced to evacuate and about 4000 buildings have been rendered uninhabitable.

Floods such as these are likely to grow in severity as a result of climate change, so it is vital that the state is prepared. Unfortunately, NSW still seems to be making it up as it goes along.

The Herald begins today a series of stories on the floods which highlight some of the problems. Catherine Naylor and Heath Gilmore report that the Bureau of Meteorology briefed the State Emergency Service with information that should have been given to residents, allowing them to be better informed about whether to stay or go in the middle of the night of February 27 and early the following morning. Key officials with responsibility for flood warnings were absent on the evening before the flood.

Unsuspecting residents had little chance to move to higher ground and found themselves clinging to their roofs as the torrent engulfed their streets.
Brazils Filipe Toledo won the Oi Rio Pro Saquarema for the fourth time on Tuesday, scoring a perfect 10 in the final against young countryman Samuel Pupo to cement his spot at the top of the world championship tour ratings.

Toledo has made five of the eight man-on-man championship tour finals this season and never looked likely to miss out at the home country event he has commanded in recent years.

His razor-sharp turns and unmatched ability to land progressive aerial manoeuvres made him a favourite with the big home crowd, who roared in approval when he made a big full rotation air early in the final.

Brazilians dominated the mens side of the contest at Saquarema, a beach town about 100km east of Rio de Janeiro, taking all four semi-final berths for the first time in a World Championship Tour event.
SABA:--- The recent announcement by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), concerning another increase in the maximum rates for the distribution of electricity, has understandably raised concerns in the community.

Saba Electric Company N.V. (SEC) and its shareholder the Public Entity Saba (OLS) met on Monday, June 28. Both acknowledge the economic burden being experienced by the general population and empathize with the community. It was agreed upon during the meeting that both parties would explore solutions, both short- and long-term, to further reduce SECs cost and address the increases in the cost-based tariffs which are calculated by ACM. These calculations are based on the energy law which is established for Saba, St. Eustatius, and Bonaire.

Contrary to concerns that the rates have been increasing monthly, this is not the case as the rate has been the same since January 2022. What has increased is the actual consumption of energy by the households. Historically, energy usage is always higher in the summer months when the temperature is higher. Each energy bill illustrates the kWh usage over the period of one year so that customers can easily monitor their monthly and annual consumption.

The new maximum rates set by the ACM should be applied as of July 2022 electrical bills, which consumers will receive in August 2022. The new rates have not been applied to the most recent bills.

Fuel Prices

The escalating global energy prices are a concern throughout the world, and Saba is no exception.

Unfortunately, SEC and the public entity cannot control these external factors. SEC is in frequent contact with its fuel supplier to keep the fuel cost at a minimum. Nonetheless, the price of fuel that the SEC pays has increased by 223% from June 2020 to June 2022. This has a considerable impact on the rate calculation.

Solar Park/Renewable Energy

The solar park produces between 35 to 40 percent of the total production. On a day with the optimal sun, the island is completely powered by solar and battery power between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The power from 5:00 PM until 8:00 AM is produced by conventional diesel generation. When the island is being supplied energy from the solar panels, the diesel generators are not being used, thus reducing fuel usage. However, because of the exorbitant fuel prices, the amount of fuel being saved because of the solar panels is not sufficient to offset the current fuel prices. Thus, the calculation shows that the rate should increase significantly.

Without the fuel savings from the solar park, the variable tariff would be at least US $0.10 higher per kWh used by the consumer. The investment for the solar park is not factored into the rate that is passed on to the customer because the project was fully subsidized.

SEC, along with the Public Entity Saba, is working on a project to move to near 100% renewable energy, which will significantly reduce dependence on diesel fuel and SECs operational costs. But this is a long-term solution. In the short term, both parties are exploring options to avoid such a sharp increase in the rates which have been calculated by ACM and would impact energy bills as of July. Both SEC and the public entity stressed that households should monitor their consumption as much as possible and to explore energy-saving options such as using LED bulbs and limiting air-conditioning usage.

Subsidy for low-income households

Due to increasing energy costs, a subsidy has been granted by the Netherlands for low-income households that will receive a one-time compensation of US $850.00 that will be applied as a credit for electricity usage. It is estimated that this will apply to approximately 400 households. The details are being worked out by the Community Development Department and the Public Entity Saba. More information about this will be shared at a later date.
(This article is the third and last in a series of essays written by Dr. Nilda Arduin to commemorate 1 July 1863, the Abolition of slavery within the Dutch Kingdom) - July 2022

An often-heard statement in reference to descendants of enslaved Africans in the diaspora is that they are Angry Blacks, in particular when they talk about the inherited pains, exploitation, humiliation, shame, and confusion still being experienced today. I confess that at times I have questioned this as being a possible defense response by descendants of the imperial masters/the colonists to cover their own anger when faced with the discussion about historical facts and truths of the Transatlantic slave trade and their inheritance. Possible anger as a result of unmet expectations, disappointment, and perceived threat when those historically and structurally considered to be in a place of submission, have the courage and audacity to question the established institutions founded on the reality of slavery.

In seeking answers to the many racial conflicts and contentions around the world, I am learning more about the science regarding the effects of (trans)generational trauma. Historical trauma, being intergenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group that has a history of being systematically oppressed. According to research, common symptoms of intergenerational trauma may include low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, insomnia, anger, and self-destructive behaviors. It has been argued that this type of trauma often goes unrecognized and allows the cycle to continue.

Though the Transatlantic slave trade and its effects on todays societies have been pushed to the back burner as so called being the past, the science referred to above places the discussion of the Colonial era back on the agenda around the world, hence the Black Lives Matter Movement. Healing from trauma is complex and not easy. Therapists however agree that healing starts with awareness and mindfulness. A general consensus is that trauma cannot heal as long as it remains in the subconscious mind. As such the discussion about Posttraumatic Slavery Syndrome is on.

Acknowledging the realities of the colonial past has slowly started by some major cities and universities in the Netherlands. As such the project mapping slavery.nl shows where some of the profits from slavery and the slave trade are invested.

Considering that every generation is responsible for the well-being of the next generation, intergenerational responsibility, dealing with unresolved issues of our colonial past is a joint responsibility of both the Afro-Caribbean and the Caucasian people within the Dutch Kingdom. Intergenerational responsibility is not only a matter of dealing with the past but more so a matter of and for the future. Glen Hellberg, a psychiatrist specializing in transcultural psychiatry and former President of OCaN (Overlegorgaan Caribische Nederlanders) observes that it is not strange that slavery is prominently featured in the discussion about racism in the Netherlands. He argues that trauma transcends generations. He stated that: The first generation witnessed it and kept silent, the second generation experienced it and discovered in therapy that they were walking around with the problems of their parents, and the third generation started to ask questions. As such I argue that it is time for the next step; this generation should work towards providing comprehensive answers to the questions asked.

Consider the stages outlined by the scholar Poka Laenui (Hawaii), including thoughts of Virgilio Enriques, in the process of decolonization: 1) Rediscovery and Recovery, 2) Mourning, 3) Dreaming, 4) Commitment, and 5) Action. According to Laenui each phase can be experienced at the same time, or in various combinations and do not have clear demarcations between each other.

In closing this series of articles, I invite the readers of my trilogy to check yourself and establish your personal level of awareness and consciousness about the Transatlantic slave trade and its effects on todays societies. Government and Parliament are encouraged to take stock and lead by incorporating some space to deal with this matter in the National Vision of Sint Maarten to move the country forward; possibly according to the stages of Laenui. And lastly, the European partner in the Dutch Kingdom, to consider serious and tangible steps towards greater understanding and empathy for the stories shared by those coming from the Caribbean parts of the realm. We cannot change the past but are obligated to show willingness to take responsibility for future generations. On both sides of the ocean, we need to process and prepare ourselves to engage in meaningful intra-regional conversations as we move forward.

Consider the following actions and discussion points:

- Reflect on your personal awareness regarding the not-so-distant joint colonial past, and the way forward as we commemorate the Abolition of slavery on the 1st of July.

- Discover and try to understand your own conscious and subconscious thoughts and attitudes pertaining to racial issues. Are you, or have you labeled others as Angry Blacks? (This exercise may require the assistance of therapists to recognize and process the effects of the discoveries!).

- Comment on, and or counter (if deemed erroneous) any part of the trilogy published in this series to commemorate the Abolition of slavery in order to further the discussion within the Dutch Kingdom in an open and fair manner.
PHILIPSBURG:--- President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Stuart Johnson held an urgent virtual meeting with the Government subsidized school boards.

"The payment of the vacation allowance throughout all schools on St.Maarten has my full attention and I will not stop until everyone receives what is rightfully due to them," Johnson stated.

Present in the meeting was representatives of the SVOBE, SKOS, MAC, CBA, SPCOBE, and NIPA School boards.

The meeting was held on ZOOM on Tuesday, June 28th, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.

One of the main concerns coming out of the meeting was that school boards feel they are being held hostage with no communication forthcoming from Government, Johnson said.

Why is the Government not responding to the school boards or even to the WITU? Johnson questioned.

You write letters and receive no response which is totally unacceptable, he added.

The 12.5% cut to the annual subsidy of the Government subsidized school boards is having a severe effect on the quality of education and the working morale of staff members.

Government should be leading by example! Johnson stated.

"One of the concerns expressed by School Boards is that they received several letters of instruction from the Government of St. Maarten, mandating that the laws on the Cost-cutting measures must be upheld. Additionally, the school boards are required to submit an overview of the percentage calculations for the 12.5%, Johnson said.

In the meeting school boards mentioned without an explicit instruction issued by the government in writing to School boards, releasing them from liability and retracting the instruction on the 12.5% ( for which the vacation allowance is 6%), the boards are not in a legal position to execute the vacation allowance, Johnson concluded.

A joint letter by the school board and WITU will be sent to the Minister of Education Drs. Rudolph Samuel to convene an urgent meeting with the WITU and the subsidized school boards within a short timeframe.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Earlier this week, the Ministry of VROMI was presented with the final report of the Systemic Investigation on the Solid Waste Collection Tender (SWC) (2021-2026), which concludes the investigation by the Ombudsman. The Systemic Investigation was embarked when two bidders that participated in the SWC tender filed official complaints at the office of the Ombudsman concerning the outcome of said tender.

Prior to commencing the investigation, the Ombudsman requested the Ministry to respond to the complaints filed which the Ministry complied with and the Ombudsman subsequently decided to start a systemic investigation into the SWC tender process. It is important to note that it is the prerogative of the Ombudsman, based on the National Ordinance of the Ombudsman to start a systemic investigation into the work of the Government, regardless as to whether a complaint is filed or not.

During the process of the Systemic Investigation, the Ministry provided the feedback as requested by the Ombudsman along with additional information beyond what was requested by the Ombudsman to ensure a complete and thorough investigation. For several months during the investigation, a multitude of documents and correspondences was shared between the Ministry and the office Ombudsman. During this period, the Ombudsman and staff members were extended an invitation by the Ministry to in order to discuss and provide clarity into the many documentation in multiple boxes that were submitted by the Ministry. Although the mentioned invitation by the Ministry was declined by the Ombudsman, the Ministry thereafter suggested providing in-person feedback on the documents, but this offer was also declined by the Ombudsman. It is therefore unfortunate to now read that the Ombudsman finds that the Minister refused to provide certain information, while many attempts were made at doing just that Minister Doran eluded.

The Ministry is of the opinion that it has provided the requested documentation as well as additional documentation to the Ombudsman and that it has therefore complied with the investigation of the Ombudsman.

During said Systemic Investigation, the Department of Infrastructure, Cabinet, the act. The Secretary-General and the Minister of VROMI were invited to meetings at the Ombudsmans office. These meetings took place in the format of interrogation and were attended by all invited whereby answers to the questions posed by the Ombudsman and colleagues were provided.

At these meetings, the Ombudsman recorded the hearings but refused to allow the persons invited to hearings to also record the hearings. Requests for copies of the recordings after the conclusion of the hearings were also not honored; even after all persons were heard. The Ombudsman was made aware that her stance on the recording of persons and specifically not allowing them to also record in return, is in violation of the rules set forth by other Ombudsman colleagues and offices (see www.nationaleombudsman.nl and the report (rapport 2014/166) published by the National Ombudsman in 2014 (in the Netherlands).

It is also noteworthy that the report of the Ombudsman includes a section on post-awarding of the SWC contracts. The Ministry does not align itself with this section as it falls completely out of the scope of the investigation as indicated by the Ombudsman. When an entity that has been awarded a parcel in the SWC does not live up to its expectations based on the contract in place, then the Ministry should act according to clauses in the contract for enforcement. Enforcement of a contract is a right afforded to a party in a contract; it does not indicate an issue with the awarding of said contract.

The duration of contracts is known when they are entered into by parties. The Ministry works to avoid allowing the terms of contracts to lapse, thereby allowing those who were awarded contracts under a previous tender, to continue working under expired contracts. This puts undue pressure on the budget and it also provides those with existing contracts an added benefit of collecting funds beyond the duration of their contract. It also goes against article 47 of the Comptabiliteitslandsverordening.

It was for this reason that the Department of Infrastructure was reminded that time was of the essence in preparing the necessary tasks related to executing the tendering process.

When the then department head requested the Minister of VROMI for additional manpower, the Minister responded by providing the requested help. It is no secret that the Ministry of VROMI (among others) is short-staffed. The Ministry has been working diligently, within the confines of what is possible to fill vacancies to improve services rendered. As many may know, recently a job mixer was held to recruit potential candidates which was well attended and have provided some solid candidates for said vacancies.

Prior to the awarding of contracts for the SWC tender, the process went through the Department of Infrastructure Section of Contracts, the Dept. Head of Infrastructure Management, the financial controller, the act. Secretary-General, Cabinet, Councils of Ministers and was checked and verified by the Governor and his cabinet. For this reason, the Ministry of VROMI respectfully does not share the position of the Ombudsman that the tender was neither fair nor transparent. The Ministry was requested to provide feedback on the preliminary findings of the report and complied also indicating that the report of the Ombudsman was found to be incomplete in details and therefore affecting the conclusions and outcome of said report. The Ombudsman has included the letter sent by the Ministry as a response to the report in question, but the Ministry has noted that the Ombudsman did not provide any feedback on said response in her final report.

Despite not agreeing on the final report of the Ombudsman, it is abundantly clear that the Ministry and Ombudsman share (among others) one main and similar goal, to promote good governance. A tender procedural document was prepared in December 2021, which is used within the Ministry and applied to each tender. It is good to see that the Ombudsman shares this initiative of the Ministry in her recommendations. The Ministry will discuss this report internally and provide feedback to the Ombudsman on her suggestions made in her report.

The Ministry of VROMI will continue to work endlessly on improving in all areas as well as continue to uphold the good governance which is being pursued by the Government of Sint Maarten. In closing the Ministry of VROMI looks forward to great cooperation between the two entities.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on June 29, 2022.

The Central Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 9.30 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is:

Approval provisions President of Parliament to participate in Board of Directors of Parlatino (IS/968/2021-2022 dated June 2, 2022)

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules and all health and safety protocols, including the wearing of a mask.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, Soualiga Headlines, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and www.youtube.com/c/SintMaartenParliament
PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in an urgent Public meeting on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

The Public meeting is scheduled for 15.30 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure (VROMI) is requested to be present.

The agenda point is:

The Final Report of the Ombudsman regarding tendering and awarding process of the garbage collection contracts 2021-2026 (IS/1103/2021-2022 dated June 28, 2022)

Members of Parliament, M.D. Gumbs, C.T. Emmanuel, S.A. Wescot-Williams, and R.A. Peterson requested this meeting.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules and all health and safety protocols, including the wearing of a mask.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, Soualiga Headlines, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and www.youtube.com/c/SintMaartenParliament
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Committee of Finance (CF) of Parliament is scheduled to meet on June 29, 2022.

The Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at for 14.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Finance will be present.

The agenda point is:

Presentation by and discussion with the Ministry of Finance, regarding the Ministry's position on the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender on St. Maarten, as well as any planning and execution efforts by the Ministry on the legal use of cryptocurrency by Government and the private sector, including the required steps by Government for Country St. Maarten to realize fiscal gains through cryptocurrency (IS/929/2021-2022 dated May 23, 2022)

Member of Parliament, M.D. Gumbs requested this meeting.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules and all health and safety protocols, including the wearing of a mask.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, Soualiga Headlines, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and www.youtube.com/c/SintMaartenParliament
PHILIPSBURG:--- On May 11, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Mr. Reynolds Oleana on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (OCW) and by Drs. Peggy-Ann Dros-Richardson on behalf of the National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA).

The purpose of this MOU is to form sustainable cooperation with the NIPA to offer vocational programs on levels 3 and 4 for Saba and Sint Eustatius.

This will happen in close collaboration with the schools for secondary education on Saba and Sint Eustatius. These schools currently only offer vocational programs on levels 1 and 2.

However, the job market on the islands requests personnel on levels 3 and 4 in different areas. With this initiative NIPA will be offering a Social Pedagogical Worker Course level 3, for the upcoming academic year starting August 2022.

Another course that NIPA will be offering in the near future, is Hospitality and Tourism Management on Saba and Sint Eustatius, based on the needs of the Hospitality & Tourism Industry.

The Dutch Caribbean Ministry will provide the finances to NIPA for the services to be offered, based on this MOU and a specific SLA. Historically there was always a collaboration between the 3 Windward Islands. The NIPA was designed and built also with this in mind. Students from Saba and Sint Eustatius already go to Sint Maarten to the NIPA to follow courses on level 3. With this initiative it is also possible for workers in the industry and for students with a level 2 diploma, to follow those courses on their respective islands.

The National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) is well aware that it is the key institution for creating professionals in St. Maarten. NIPAs goal is to increase the number of local skilled professionals on the island and in the region. NIPA is confident that it has the human resources necessary to facilitate this need to increase the skilled populace.

NIPA hopes that the community of Saba and Sint Eustatius will make use of this opportunity and in turn, use their knowledge and skills to further contribute to nation-building
~ Parliament must approve the law in order for the country to move forward.~

PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs announced on Wednesday that the conditions to remove the 12.5% cuts from the salaries of civil servants and workers from semi-public sectors have now been reduced to 4.

The Dutch government had proposed 8 new conditions which were not accepted by the Caribbean countries. She said after collaboration and discussions with the State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen the conditions have been reduced to four, however, St. Maarten still has serious conditions with one of those conditions as such St. Maarten is not in agreement.

Jacobs said the condition that St. Maarten is not in agreement with would actually bind the hands of parliament, this she said has to do with the law for top income earners and the 25% cut. She explained that the Dutch Government is of the opinion that the cuts on employment benefits can only take place when they receive approval from their parliaments. Therefore, the government of St. Maarten cannot agree to the conditions that were put forth and as such will continue to work on the law.

The Prime Minister explained that St. Maarten already passed the law, and the country is not in arrears of having the law, so having that as a condition for St. Maarten before the measures can be de-escalated is very much unfair.

Due to this development, the Prime Minister said that this would cause a delay for the payments to be made before the summer recess, especially since parliament will be going on recess, this she said could jeopardize peoples ability to properly prepare for the hurricane season especially seeing it was done as a means of solidarity.

Jacobs said St. Maarten has met all of the other conditions and has continued to move forward based on agreements made with the unions while they continue to work on the law that would allow them to deescalate the measures.

She indicated that Aruba approved their law on Tuesday while Curacao is yet to do so. She made clear that St. Maarten will not agree with the conditions unless the law goes to parliament.
Golden Rim divests Burkina Faso gold assets for US$15.5M cash

West African gold explorer Golden Rim Resources Ltd (ASX: GMR; Golden Rim or Company  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/golden-rim-resources-ltd/ ) is pleased to announce it has executed a binding agreement to sell its Kouri and Babonga gold projects in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Highlights

Total consideration of US$15.5 million (approx. A$22.3 million).

Four staged cash payments over 12 months.

First payment of US$600,000 (A$860,000) due within 15 business days.

Second payment of US$5.4 million (A$7.7 million) due within 30 days.

Sale to private BurkinabA mining company, BAOR SARL (BAOR).

Transaction is not subject to Golden Rim shareholder approval.

As at 27 June 2022, Golden Rim had a market capitalisation of ~A$15 million.

As at 31 March 2022, Golden Rim had cash reserves of A$4.25 million.

Golden Rim will use proceeds from the transaction to advance its 930,000oz[1] gold Kada Gold Project (Kada) in Guinea.

Golden Rim is awaiting latest auger drilling and geophysical survey results at Kada to plan follow-up drilling.

Golden Rima?s Managing Director, Craig Mackay, said:

aSecuring this deal to divest our non-core Burkina Faso gold assets is a fantastic outcome for Golden Rim and our shareholders that looks to deliver immediate and impactful value from projects which are no longer part of our core operations. While we have been focussed on our transformational new Kada oxide gold project in Guinea, our projects in Burkina Faso have been sitting on the backburner and are attracting little market value.

aWith a resource base of 2Moz gold and extensive upside, the Burkina assets offer an exciting opportunity for an emerging BurkinabA mining company, such as BAOR SARL, and we wish the company much success with its plans.

aWith the sale funds from these projects, we can accelerate our activities at Kada and ensure aggressive drilling and exploration to build our resource base without further dilutionary capital raising for the foreseeable future. This is a great outcome for our company and shareholders, and we are excited to deliver it.a

Key Transaction Terms & Conditions

Golden Rim has signed a binding sale agreement to sell 100% of the shares in its Burkina Faso subsidiary company that owns and operates its Kouri Gold Project (Kouri) and Babonga Gold Project (Babonga) for cash payments totalling US$15.5 million.

The key terms and conditions of the sale are as follows:

Cash payment of US$600,000 within 15 business days of signing.

Cash payment of US$5.4 million within 30 days of signing.

Cash payment of US$6.0 million within 6 months of signing.

Cash payment of US$3.5 million within 12 months of signing.

Should a payment not be made by the due date, BAOR will be provided with a notice of breach, incurring 8% interest on outstanding monies. If the funds plus outstanding interest are not paid within 30 days, Golden Rim may terminate the Agreement, and any payments already received by Golden Rim are not refundable.

Golden Rima?s shares in the subsidiary company are transferred to BAOR on the completion of the sale and when full payment has been received by Golden Rim.

The transaction is not subject to shareholder approval.

Sale Assets

Golden Rima?s Kouri and Babonga gold projects are located in eastern Burkina Faso.

At Kouri, Golden Rim discovered and has outlined an Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 50Mt at 1.3g/t gold for 2Moz[2]. Kouri covers 325km2 of highly prospective Birimian greenstones. Recent exploration has successfully located several high-grade gold shoots.

Babonga is located 41km north-east of Kouri on the same greenstone belt. The project covers 77km2 and first-pass air core drilling conducted by Golden Rim discovered gold mineralisation in bedrock over 1km.

About BAOR

BAOR is a mining company based in Burkina Faso with regional ambitions. BAOR aims to create a major African mining group with its financial partners and is managed by Mr Roger Bambara, a business leader with significant experience in insurance. The acquisition of the Kouri and Babonga gold projects by BAOR is its starting point.

Contact Information:

Golden Rim Resources Ltd

ABN 39 006 710 774

Craig Mackay

Managing Director

+61 3 8677 0829

craig@goldenrim.com.au

This announcement was authorised for release by the Board of Golden Rim Resources Ltd.

Competent Persons Statements

The information in this report relating to previous exploration results and Mineral Resources are extracted from the announcements:; Kada Maiden Mineral Resource 930Koz Gold dated 3 March 2022;. ASX announcement: Kouri Mineral Resource Increases by 43% Increase to 2 Million ounces Gold dated 26 October 2020; Bedrock Gold Discovered at Babonga, Burkina Faso dated 27 February 2017. These reports are available on the Companya?s website (www.goldenrim.com.au). The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in these announcements and, in the case of the Mineral Resource estimate, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed.

The information in this report that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Craig Mackay, a Competent Person, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Mackay is a full-time employee of the Company and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the aAustralasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reservesa?. Mr Mackay consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this document are or maybe aforward-looking statementsa and represent Golden Rima?s intentions, projections, expectations or beliefs concerning among other things, future exploration activities. The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Golden Rim, and which may cause Golden Rima?s actual performance in future periods to differ materially from any express or implied estimates or projections. Nothing in this document is a promise or representation as to the future. Statements or assumptions in this document as to future matters may prove to be incorrect and differences may be material. Golden Rim does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy of such statements or assumptions.

ABOUT GOLDEN RIM RESOURCES

Golden Rim Resources Limited is an ASX listed exploration company with a portfolio of advanced minerals projects in Guinea and Burkina Faso, West Africa and in Chile, South America.

The Companya?s flagship project is the advanced Kada Gold Project in eastern Guinea. Guinea remains one of the most under-explored countries in West Africa. Golden Rim has outlined a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource of 25.5Mt at 1.1g/t gold for 930Koz[3], the majority of which is shallow oxide-transitional gold mineralisation. Golden Rim is focussed on growing the Mineral Resource. Most of the 200km2 project area remains poorly explored and there is considerable upside for the discovery of additional oxide gold mineralisation.

The Company discovered and has outlined an Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 50Mt at 1.3g/t gold for 2Moz[4] at the Kouri Gold Project, located in north-east Burkina Faso. Kouri covers 325km2 of highly prospective Birimian greenstones. Recent exploration has successfully located several high-grade gold shoots. The Company has signed a binding sale agreement for the divestment of its Burkina Faso assets.

In northern Chile, Golden Rim has the Paguanta Copper and Silver-Lead-Zinc Project. Historically a silver mine, the Company has outlined a Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.4Mt at 88g/t silver, 5.0% zinc and 1.4% lead for 6.8Moz silver, 265Mlb zinc and 74Mlb lead[5] at the Patricia Prospect. The Mineral Resource remains open. At the Loreto Copper Project, an Option and Joint Venture agreement has been signed with Teck Chile whereby Teck Chile can acquire up to a 75% interest in the project.

ASX:GMR

Market Capitalisation: A$15 million

Shares on Issue: 314 million

T + 61 3 8677 0829A |A E info@goldenrim.com.auA |A goldenrim.com

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

[1] ASX Announcement: Kada Maiden Mineral Resource 930koz Gold dated 3 March 2022.

[2] ASX announcement: Kouri Mineral Resource Increases by 43% Increase to 2 Million ounces Gold dated 26 October 2020 (Total Mineral Resource includes: Indicated Mineral Resource of 7Mt at 1.4g/t gold and Inferred Mineral Resource of 43Mt at 1.2g/t gold).

[3] ASX Announcement: Kada Maiden Mineral Resource 930koz Gold dated 3 March 2022.

[4] ASX announcement: Kouri Mineral Resource Increases by 43% Increase to 2 Million ounces Gold dated 26 October 2020 (Total Mineral Resource includes: Indicated Mineral Resource of 7Mt at 1.4g/t gold and Inferred Mineral Resource of 43Mt at 1.2g/t gold).

[5] ASX announcement: New Resource Estimation for Paguanta dated 30 May 2017 (Total Mineral Resource includes: Measured Mineral Resource of 0.41Mt at 5.5% zinc, 1.8% lead, 88g/t silver, 0.3g/t gold; Indicated Mineral Resource of 0.61Mt at 5.1% zinc, 1.8% lead, 120g/t silver, 0.3g/t gold; Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.3Mt at 4.8% zinc, 1.1% lead, 75g/t silver, 0.3g/t gold).
EnWave Sells 10kW Machine to Fungaria Snack Ltd. for Fruit and Vegetable Production in Hungary

EnWave Corporation (TSX-V: ENW | FSE: E4U) (aEnWavea, or the \Company\  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/enwave-corp/ ) announced today that it has received a signed purchase agreement from Fungaria Snack Ltd. (aFungariaa) for a 10kW Radiant Energy Vacuum (aREVaa) dehydration machine to be located at their production facility in Budapest, Hungary. The 10kW machine was commissioned in February 2021 as part of a technology evaluation, and will be utilized for the development and commercialization of premium fruit and vegetable snacks for the Hungarian market.

Fungaria is looking to capitalize on the steadily growing snack sector in Hungary by introducing single ingredient, better-for-you, nutritious snack options inclusive of local flavours and ingredients.

About EnWave

EnWave is a global leader in the innovation and application of vacuum microwave dehydration. From its headquarters in Vancouver, BC, EnWave has developed a robust intellectual property portfolio, perfected its Radiant Energy Vacuum (REVa) technology, and transformed an innovative idea into a proven, consistent, and scalable drying solution for the food, pharmaceutical and cannabis industries that vastly outperforms traditional drying methods in efficiency, capacity, product quality, and cost.

With more than forty-five royalty-generating partners spanning twenty countries and five continents, EnWavea?s licensed partners are creating profitable, never-before-seen snacks and ingredients, improving the quality and consistency of their existing offerings, running leaner and getting to market faster with the companya?s patented technology, licensed machinery, and expert guidance.

In addition, EnWave established a Limited Liability Corporation, NutraDried Food Company, LLC, to manufacture, market and sell REV-dried snack products within North America, including the popular Moon CheeseA brand, and serve as a co-manufacturer for third parties.

EnWavea?s strategy is to sign royalty-bearing commercial licenses with food and cannabis producers who want to dry better, faster and more economical than freeze drying, rack drying and air drying, and enjoy the following benefits:

Food and ingredients companies can produce exciting new products, reach optimal moisture levels up to seven times faster, and improve product taste, texture, color and nutritional value.

Cannabis producers can dry four to six times faster, retain 20% more terpenes and 25% more cannabinoids, and achieve at least a 3-log reduction in crop-destroying microbes.

Learn more at EnWave.net.

EnWave Corporation

Mr. Brent Charleton, CFA

President and CEO

For further information:

Brent Charleton, CFA, President and CEO at +1 (778) 378-9616

E-mail: bcharleton@enwave.net A A A A A

Dan Henriques, CFO at +1 (604) 835-5212

E-mail: dhenriques@enwave.net A

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Safe Harbour for Forward-Looking Information Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking information based on management\-s expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company\-s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures, and the expected synergies following the closing are forward-looking statements. All third-party claims referred to in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate. All third-party references to market information in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate as the Company did not conduct the original primary research. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated 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.

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.
Uranium and tin

What connects both raw materials is the Ore Mountains, where there are still many raw materials today.

Commodity prices are high, so perhaps the Ore Mountains are once again coming into the focus of commodity companies. Located in the Czech Republic and Germany, the first silver was found in the Ore Mountains around the year 1168. A massive mining industry was the result. In 1491, a rich vein of ore was discovered and thus tin mining was the main activity in the eastern Ore Mountains. The silver discoveries later decreased and silver mining lost its importance at the end of the 19th century. This was not least because the currency in the German Reich was changed from silver to gold. When the Second World War ended, Russian occupation forces discovered uranium. Uranium was then mined for decades. With reunification, this also came to an end. The last tin was mined in the Ore Mountains in 1991.

Tin is a metal in demand today. Climate change, the electrical sector and many technological components need tin. There is expected to be a tin deficit from 2030 at the latest. The situation is similar with uranium, which is once again in demand. At this time, when energy shortages are looming and sufficient energy supply has come into focus, uranium is experiencing a new era. Many prices are rising because manufacturers often need energy-intensive production for their goods. In addition, there is a risk that Russia will turn off the gas tap altogether. Climate change and the reduction of CO2 emissions are issues that will help shape the future. So, investing in companies that care about the future supply of tin and also uranium should not be a bad idea.

Tin One is handling the development of the Syrymbet tin deposit in Kazakhstan. The plan is to build a mine and processing plant based on a feasibility study.

Uranium Energy  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=470uITYna_E  is a very fast growing pure-play uranium company. The company is advancing environmentally friendly and low-cost uranium projects in the USA.

In accordance with A34 WpHG I would like to point out that partners, authors and employees may hold shares in the respective companies addressed and thus a possible conflict of interest exists. No guarantee for the translation into English. Only the German version of this news is valid.

Disclaimer: The information provided does not represent any form of recommendation or advice. Express reference is made to the risks in securities trading. No liability can be accepted for any damage arising from the use of this blog. I would like to point out that shares and especially warrant investments are always associated with risk. The total loss of the invested capital cannot be excluded. All information and sources are carefully researched. However, no guarantee is given for the correctness of all contents. Despite the greatest care, I expressly reserve the right to make errors, especially with regard to figures and prices. The information contained herein is taken from sources believed to be reliable, but in no way claims to be accurate or complete. Due to court decisions, the contents of linked external sites are also co-responsible (e.g. Landgericht Hamburg, in the decision of 12.05.1998  312 O 85/98), as long as there is no explicit dissociation from them. Despite careful control of the content, I do not assume liability for the content of linked external pages. The respective operators are exclusively responsible for their content. The disclaimer of Swiss Resource Capital AG also applies: https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/disclaimer/
I had the best time playing Humphrey out in Guadeloupe and whilst I was delighted that he got his happy ending with Martha, I always wanted to know what happened next. So its a joy to be putting his crumpled jacket back on and seeing how life has panned out for him back in the UK. Working with Sally is a dream, and I cant wait to continue Humphrey and Marthas story and solve a few seemingly impossible mysteries along the way. Kris MarshallRed Planet Pictures, the production company behind the hugely popular, international hit drama, Death in Paradise, is to expand the shows universe with a brand-new series, Beyond Paradise, for BBC and BritBox international, which reveals what happened to DI Humphrey Goodman after he left the sunny shores of Saint Marie.Beloved by millions of fans worldwide and one of the most popular shows on TV in more than 90 countries across the globe, the phenomenon that is Death in Paradise has kept armchair detectives enthralled for over a decade.One of the shows most popular characters, the endearingly awkward and rather unconventional DI Humphrey Goodman, led the islands police team in solving the most mysterious of murders. However, when Humphrey fell hopelessly in love with island tourist, Martha Lloyd, he decided to leave the sun-soaked paradise to follow her back to the colder climes of the United Kingdom.Co-commissioned by BBC One and BritBox International, and reuniting Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton in the lead roles, Beyond Paradise is a new, original drama which picks up Humphrey and Marthas story as they navigate a new life together in the idyll of rural Britain.Seeking a quieter life away from the stress of the city, Humphrey has taken a job as Detective Inspector in fiancee Marthas hometown. However, they soon find that country life is anything but peaceful and Humphrey cant help but be distracted by the towns surprisingly high crime rate with a new, and very different, case challenging him each week.Kris Marshall says: I had the best time playing Humphrey out in Guadeloupe and whilst I was delighted that he got his happy ending with Martha, I always wanted to know what happened next. So its a joy to be putting his crumpled jacket back on and seeing how life has panned out for him back in the UK. Working with Sally is a dream, and I cant wait to continue Humphrey and Marthas story and solve a few seemingly impossible mysteries along the way.Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures, Tim Key says: We always knew there were more Humphrey Goodman tales to be told and with the brilliant Tony Jordan leading the writing team, bringing all the Death in Paradise spirit, humour and joy to this brand new, original series, we cant wait to get started. While Humphrey is used to contending with fiendishly clever puzzles, the biggest challenge of all is navigating his private life and finding out what happens beyond the happy ever after. Were delighted to be working with Kris and Sally again and creating a little bit of Paradise in the UK.Tommy Bulfin, Commissioning Editor, BBC, Drama adds; We are delighted to welcome fan-favourite DI Humphrey Goodman back to the BBC. Luckily for us, his knack for cracking the trickiest crimes is as much needed in rural England as it was on the sun-kissed shores of the Caribbean. We cannot wait to see what he and Martha get up to next.Diederick Santer, COO for BritBox International states: Death In Paradise is beloved by BritBox audiences around the world, so were delighted to bring Kris, and Humphrey, back to the UK for a whole new set of mysteries. Full of Tony Jordans trademark wit and warmth, we hope this will be both a treat for existing fans and new ones.Mark Linsey, MD of Scripted at BBC Studios, the international distributors of Beyond Paradise and Death In Paradise says: The team at BBC Studios has worked successfully with Red Planet Pictures and BBC One for over a decade to bring the hit entertaining series Death In Paradise to audiences across the globe from France, to South Africa, to Sweden, to across Asia. It is a show that is beloved by viewers of all ages, so to bring a new series with the popular Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton reprising their roles, is excellent. We know that international audiences will be excited to go on a whole new set of investigative adventures with the pair in their new setting in the UK.Created by Tony Jordan and Robert Thorogood, Beyond Paradise is a co-commission between BBC One and BritBox International and will be produced by Red Planet Pictures, part of the Asacha Media Group.Founder and Executive Chairman of Red Planet Pictures, Jordan, will act as showrunner and lead a team of writers working across the 6x60 series. Jordan, Tim Key and Belinda Campbell will be executive producers for Red Planet Pictures, and Diederick Santer and Tommy Bulfin will executive produce for BritBox International and BBC respectively. BBC Studios brokered the co-production deal with Britbox International and will handle international distribution. The series is produced by Lindsay Hughes and directed by Sandy Johnson.Filming will start on location in the UK later this year and further details, including additional casting, will be announced in due course.
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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press.

More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe thats exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under the Mann Act, a more than century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex.

Some of the New Orleans cases under review allege abuse by clergy during trips to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida. And while some claims are decades old, Mann Act violations notably have no statute of limitations.

Its been a long road and just the fact that someone this high up believes us means the world to us, said a former altar boy who alleged his assailant took him on trips to Colorado and Florida and abused him beginning in the 1970s when he was in the fifth grade. The AP generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The FBI declined to comment, as did the Louisiana State Police, which is assisting in the inquiry. The Archdiocese of New Orleans declined to discuss the federal investigation.

Id prefer not to pursue this conversation, Archbishop Gregory Aymond told the AP.

The probe could deepen the legal peril for the archdiocese as it reels from a bankruptcy brought on by a flood of sex abuse lawsuits and allegations that church leaders turned a blind eye to generations of predator priests.

Federal investigators are now considering whether to seek access to thousands of secret church documents produced by lawsuits and shielded by a sweeping confidentiality order in the bankruptcy, according to those familiar with the probe who werent authorized to discuss it and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Those records are said to document years of abuse claims, interviews with accused clergy and a pattern of church leaders transferring problem priests without reporting their crimes to law enforcement.

This is actually a big deal, and it should be heartening to victims, said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and chief executive of Child USA, a think tank focused on preventing child abuse. The FBI has rarely become involved in the clergy sex abuse scandals. Theyve dragged their feet around the country with respect to the Catholic Church.

The U.S. Justice Department has struggled to find a federal nexus to prosecuting clergy abuse, hitting dead ends in cases as explosive as the ones outlined in the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report that disclosed a systematic cover-up by church leaders. Federal prosecutors subpoenaed church records in Buffalo, New York, the same year in an inquiry that similarly went quiet.

The issue has always been determining what is the federal crime, said Peter G. Strasser, the former U.S. attorney in New Orleans who declined to bring charges in 2018 after the archdiocese published a list of 57 credibly accused clergy, a roster an AP analysis found had been undercounted by at least 20 names.

Strasser said he naively believed a federal case might be possible only to encounter a host of roadblocks, including the complexities of putting the church on trial for charges like conspiracy.

But federal prosecutors have in recent years employed the more narrowly focused Mann Act to win convictions in a variety of abuse cases, including against R&B star R. Kelly for using his fame to sexually exploit girls, and Ghislaine Maxwell for helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. In 2013, a federal judge in Indiana sentenced a Baptist pastor to 12 years in prison for taking a 16-year-old girl across state lines for sex.

Among the priests under federal scrutiny in New Orleans is Lawrence Hecker, a 90-year-old removed from the ministry in 2002 following accusations he abused countless children. Hecker is accused of abusing children decades ago on out-of-state trips, and other claims against him range from fondling to rape.

Hundreds of records currently under the confidentiality order will reveal in no uncertain terms that the last four archbishops of New Orleans knew that Lawrence Hecker was a serial child predator, Richard Trahant, an attorney for Heckers alleged victims, wrote in a court filing.

Hecker is still very much alive, vibrant, lives alone and is a danger to young boys until he draws his final breath, Trahant wrote.

Asked by telephone this week whether he ever abused children, Hecker said, Im going to have to hang up.

More recent allegations are also drawing federal attention, including the case of Patrick Wattigny, a priest charged last year by state prosecutors after he admitted molesting a teenager in 2013. His attorney declined to comment.

Wattignys 2020 removal from the ministry came amid a disciplinary investigation into inappropriate text messages he sent a student. The case sent shockwaves through the Catholic community because church leaders had frequently characterized clergy abuse as a sin from the past.

It was happening while the church was saying, Its no longer happening, said Bill Arata, an attorney who has attended three of the FBI interviews.

These victims could stay home and not do anything, he added, but thats not the kind of people they are.

Clergy abuse is particularly fraught in Louisiana, a heavily Catholic state that endured some of the earliest scandals dating to the 1980s. Last year, it joined two-dozen states that have enacted lookback windows intended to allow unresolved claims of child sex abuse, no matter how old, to be brought in civil court.

But with few exceptions, most notably a former deacon charged with rape, the accused clergy have escaped criminal consequences. Even at the local level, cases have been hamstrung by statutes of limitation and the political sensitivity of prosecuting the church.

The archdioceses 2020 bankruptcy case has also frozen a separate court battle over a cache of confidential emails describing the behind-the-scenes public relations work that executives for the NFLs New Orleans Saints did for the archdiocese in 2018 and 2019 to contain fallout from clergy abuse scandals.

While the Saints say they only assisted in messaging, attorneys for those suing the church have alleged in court records that Saints officials joined in the churchs pattern and practice of concealing its crimes. That included taking an active role in helping to shape the archdioceses list of credibly accused clergy, the attorneys contend.

Attorneys for those suing the church have attacked the bankruptcy bid as a veiled attempt to keep church records secret  and deny victims a public reckoning.

Those victims were on the path to the truth, Soren Gisleson, an attorney who represents several of the victims, wrote in a court filing. The rape of children is a thief that keeps on stealing.

___

Contact APs global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexicos state election board on Tuesday certified results of a primary that was nearly derailed by county officials amid voter anger and distrust fueled by unfounded conspiracies about vote-counting equipment and election procedures.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, both Democrats, voted together to endorse the election results as members of the state election canvassing board, at a sparsely attended meeting in the state Capitol. A third board member, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon, had a scheduling conflict and was attending a retreat with chief judges and court executive officers.

County commissioners in politically conservative Otero County initially refused to certify local primary election results because of unspecified concerns with Dominion voting systems, a target of widespread conspiracy theories since the 2020 presidential election.

Two of three county commissioners relented and certified the primary results under an order from the New Mexico Supreme Court and pushback from state election regulators and prosecutors.

Outbursts from angry crowds were on display in Torrance and Sandoval counties as local boards certified their local primary results. Those county commissions later approved resolutions that highlight dissatisfaction with election procedures.

Toulouse Oliver said an independent auditor reviewed the primary results with no findings of irregularities. Responding to anger that roiled the county election certification process, Toulouse said we are just trying to be as transparent as possible about all the different checks and balances that go into ensuring an accurate, fair election.

She urged people who are concerned about the way elections are run to learn more and volunteer to work as poll workers. She said her office is strategizing currently about how do we better work with and educate county commissioners.

If you have concerns about the integrity of the election, put your money where your mouth is and go work the polls and be part of making sure the election is run legally and fairly, she said.

At the same time, New Mexico's top election regulator said that the primary adhered to state and federal election law, and warned that a refusal by county boards to certify the election would disenfranchise voters.

Had Otero County not certified, they would have just effectively flushed 7,300 votes down the drain for every candidate on the ballot that was entirely within that county, said Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat who is running for reelection in November against Republican nominee Audrey Trujillo.

In the wake of the election standoff, Torrance County commissioners have approved a resolution that seeks to verify and audit the outcome of the primary election using a hand-tally method.

The all-Republican commission continues to raise concerns that the current criteria for certifying state-owned Dominion machines may be outdated. The machines also are tested locally prior to each election in view of the public to ensure they provide an accurate count.

Toulouse Oliver offered assurances that New Mexico is using the most current standards available in the U.S. for certifying vote-tallying machines and related computer coding. She said that state law allows for a discretionary recount with specific procedures.

Election experts say hand-counting of ballots is not only less accurate but extremely labor-intensive, potentially delaying results by weeks if not months in larger counties. They also say its unnecessary because voting equipment is tested before and after elections to ensure ballots are read and tallied correctly.

Automatic recounts have been ordered in six local election contests for judges, county commissioners and county assessor with narrow margins of victory.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  U.S. Sen. James Lankford won Tuesdays GOP primary outright in his race for reelection to another six-year term in the U.S. Senate, while U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former House Speaker T.W. Shannon advanced to a runoff in Oklahoma's other U.S. Senate race.

Oklahoma had the unique situation of races for both U.S. Senate seats on the ballot following Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's announcement in February that he wouldn't finish his term. Inhofe's announcement set off a flurry of activity among Republican politicians, and Mullin's entry into the race left open his 2nd Congressional District seat in eastern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma's Senate races aren't expected to have much of an impact nationally, since both GOP nominees in the U.S. Senate races will be heavy favorites to keep the seats in Republican hands in November. Oklahoma hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in more than 30 years.

Lankford, 54, defeated Tulsa pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, 30, and Joan Farr, 67, of Broken Arrow.

Ive had the pleasure of having a few interactions with Sen. Lankford, and I think hes pretty professional," said Evan Sellars, 22, who cast his ballot for Lankford in Oklahoma City. I think for the most part hes doing a pretty good job."

Lahmeyer, a political newcomer endorsed by ex-President Trumps former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, had accused Lankford of not being conservative enough and criticized him for not endorsing Trumps false claims about the 2020 election outcome.

On the Democratic side, Oklahoma City attorney Jason Bollinger, 30, and cybersecurity expert Madison Horn, 33, are the only candidates in a six-person field who had raised much money, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Neither Horn nor Bollinger captured more than 50% of the vote, setting up a head-to-head showdown between the two candidates in an August runoff.

In Oklahoma's other U.S. Senate race, to replace Inhofe, a stalwart in Oklahoma GOP politics since the 1960s, Mullin and Shannon, both 44, emerged from a 13-candidate Republican field seeking to become Oklahoma's newest U.S. senator. Among the other challengers were state Sen. Nathan Dahm, 39; Inhofes longtime chief of staff Luke Holland, 35; and ex-Attorney General and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.

There seems to be little difference among the Republican candidates in both races on key issues, as all have expressed frustration with President Joe Biden's administration, opposition to restrictions on firearms and support of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion.

The winner in the race for Inhofe's seat will face Democrat and former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, 46, who is not related to Madison Horn, along with a Libertarian and an independent, in November's general election.

___

Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  Sri Lanka may be compelled to buy more oil from Russia as the island nation hunts desperately for fuel amid an unprecedented economic crisis, the newly appointed prime minister said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would first look to other sources, but would be open to buying more crude from Moscow. Western nations largely have cut off energy imports from Russia in line with sanctions over its war on Ukraine.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, Wickremesinghe also indicated he would be willing to accept more financial help from China, despite his countrys mounting debt. And while he acknowledged that Sri Lankas current predicament is of its own making, he said the war in Ukraine is making it even worse  and that dire food shortages could continue until 2024. He said Russia had also offered wheat to Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe, who is also Sri Lankas finance minister, spoke to the AP in his office in the capital, Colombo, one day shy of a month after he took over for a sixth time as prime minister. Appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resolve an economic crisis that has nearly emptied the countrys foreign exchange reserves, Wickremesinghe was sworn in after days of violent protests last month forced his predecessor, Rajapaksas brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, to step down and seek safety from angry crowds at a naval base.

Sri Lanka has amassed $51 billion in foreign debt, but has suspended repayment of nearly $7 billion due this year. The crushing debt has left the country with no money for basic imports, which means citizens are struggling to access basic necessities such as food, fuel, medicine  even toilet paper and matches. The shortages have spawned rolling power outages, and people have been forced to wait days for cooking gas and gasoline in lines that stretch for kilometers (miles).

Two weeks ago, the country bought a 90,000-metric-ton (99,000-ton) shipment of Russian crude to restart its only refinery, the energy minister told reporters.

Wickremesinghe did not comment directly on those reports, and said he did not know whether more orders were in the pipeline. But he said Sri Lanka desperately needs fuel, and is currently trying to get oil and coal from the countrys traditional suppliers in the Middle East.

If we can get from any other sources, we will get from there. Otherwise (we) may have to go to Russia again, he said.

Officials are negotiating with private suppliers, but Wickremesinghe said one issue they face is that there is a lot of oil going around which can be sourced back informally to Iran or to Russia.

Sometimes we may not know what oil we are buying, he said. Certainly we are looking at the Gulf as our main supply.

Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in late February, global oil prices have skyrocketed. While Washington and its allies are trying to cut financial flows supporting Moscows war effort, Russia is offering its crude at a steep discount, making it extremely enticing to a number of countries.

Like some other South Asian nations, Sri Lanka has remained neutral on the war in Europe.

Sri Lanka has received and continues to reach out to numerous countries for help  including the most controversial, China, currently the countrys third-largest creditor. Opposition figures have accused the president and the former prime minister of taking on a slew of Chinese loans for splashy infrastructure projects that have since failed to generate profit, instead adding to the countrys debt.

Critics have also pointed to a beleaguered port in the hometown of then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Hambantota, built along with a nearby airport as part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative projects, saying they cost too much and do too little for the economy.

We need to identify what are the projects that we need for economic recovery and take loans for those projects, whether it be from China or from others, Wickremesinghe said. Its a question of where do we deploy the resources?

The prime minister said his government has been talking with China about restructuring its debts. Beijing had earlier offered to lend the country more money but balked at cutting the debt, possibly out of concern that other borrowers would demand the same relief.

China has agreed to come in with the other countries to give relief to Sri Lanka, which is a first step, Wickremesinghe said. This means they all have to agree (on) how the cuts are to take place and in what manner they should take place.

Sri Lanka is also seeking financial assistance from the World Food Programme, which may send a team to the country soon, and Wickremesinghe is banking on a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. But even if approved, he doesnt expect to see money from the package until October onwards.

Wickremesinghe acknowledged that the crisis in Sri Lanka has been of its own making. Many have blamed government mismanagement, deep tax cuts in 2019, policy blunders that devastated crops and a sharp plunge in tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic. But he also stressed that the war in Ukraine, which has thrown global supply chains into a tailspin and pushed fuel and food prices to unaffordable levels, has made things much worse.

The Ukraine crisis has impacted our ... economic contraction, he said, adding that he thinks the economy will shrink even further before the country can begin to recoup and rebuild next year.

I think by the end of the year, you could see the impact in other countries as well, he said. There is a global shortage of food. Countries are not exporting food.

In Sri Lanka, the price of vegetables has jumped threefold while the countrys rice cultivation is down by about a third, the prime minister said.

The shortages have affected both the poor and the middle classes, triggering months of protests. Mothers are struggling to get milk to feed their babies, as fears of a looming hunger crisis grow.

Wickremesinghe said he felt terrible watching his nation suffer, both as a citizen and a prime minister.

He said he hasnt ever seen anything like this in Sri Lanka  and didnt think he ever would. I have generally been in governments where I ensured people had three meals and their income increased, he said. Weve had difficult times. ... But not like this. I have not seen ... people without fuel, without food.

___

Associated Press writers Bharatha Mallawarachi and Krishan Francis contributed to this report.
STAMFORD  City representatives are wrestling with whether Stamford should embrace one of the state's strategies for solving Connecticut's affordable housing crisis.

State legislation passed in 2021 puts the future of so-called accessory dwelling units squarely in the hands of local officials. Though the Connecticut General Assembly aimed to make ADUs permissible in every single family zoning district without special permission from town officials, it also granted towns the ability to opt out of the rule by January 2023.

City and state officials began taking sides on the issue at a three-hour board of Representatives subcommittee meeting last week  yet the city Zoning Board is the body that can ultimately steer Stamford toward opting out, according to the law. Zoning officials must host a public hearing and give the opt-out a majority vote before the Board of Representatives weighs on the issue, if at all.

If the Zoning Board does not vote, the city cannot opt out.

The implications of that choice are magnified for Connecticut's second largest city. Unlike all of its neighbors, Stamford does not allow ADUs.

The ADU question has plagued Connecticut politics for the larger part of two years. Housing advocates in 2020 began to float the homes  which are secondary residences on single-family properties  as one solution to statewide housing woes. Over the past two years, their existence and eventual incorporation into state statute has intensified the debate over local zoning control.

State Rep. Kimberly Fiorello, R-149, a fierce opponent of the law invited to speak at the meeting by the Board of Representatives, called the opt-out provision "one of the best parts about this bill" at the Thursday meeting. Alongside WestCOG Executive Director Francis Pickering, she advised that Stamford opt out of the ADU legislation.

Pickering and she followed different philosophies in suggesting the city opt out.

While Fiorello expressed more concrete concerns about the housing strategies embodied by the bill, Pickering's concerns leaned more procedural.

"Even if you believe that the law is written perfectly and will always be perfect for every environment in your municipality, if the law is revised at a future point, you still are ceding local control to the state," he said. Pickering argued that ceding control to the state could keep Stamford from enacting rules that better suit its residents.

His logic proved popular among some Land Use Committee members, including majority leader Rep. Nina Sherwood, D-8; Rep. Jeffrey Stella, D-9; and Rep. Virgil De La Cruz, D-2.

"When we have an opportunity to have more control about how we use our land, I think it's a mistake not to take it, given our situation here," Sherwood said.

The idea of passing local rules instead of accepting the state's legislation failed to persuade representatives in favor of embracing ADUs. Reps. Don Mays and Ashley Ley, both of North Stamford, were supporters of keeping the state rules in place. Ley, a professional urban planner, attempted to dispel some of the anxieties surrounding legislation, including the notion  raised by some members  that the bill eliminates single-family zoning districts.

Structures built or changed into homes "would still need to comply with the underlying zoning of a district," Ley said. She used her own neighborhood as an example. A house built in North Stamford, which is served by septic tanks instead of sewers, could not add another unit to the property if the infrastructure could not support it, she explained.

Mayor Caroline Simmons has also supported ADUs in Stamford, both during her time as a legislator and since taking over as Mayor in 2022. She voted for the accessory dwelling unit legislation during her time as a state legislator.

Though Simmons did not explicitly state whether or not she supports opting out of the ADU rules, mayoral spokesperson Lauren Meyer said "her opinion is articulated in (a letter) she sent to the board."

Simmons called ADUs "an incremental but beneficial step toward addressing some of the urgent issues cities and towns across Connecticut face related to housing" in a letter addressed June 23.

At the end of the hours-long conversation, Sherwood acknowledged that any future action would have to come from the Zoning Board. Though the Board of Representatives cannot kickstart the formal public hearing process on accessory dwelling units, she asked that the Zoning Board do it instead.

"Let's open the doors to the residents of the city. Let's ask them what they think about this bill, and let's really listen to what they have to say," she said.

veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com
SAINT CLAIR  Dozens of people lined up Tuesday morning outside the newly opened PrimoHoagies restaurant for a chance to get a free sandwich.

The hoagie franchise based in Westville, New Jersey, celebrated the grand opening of its 89th store with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The first 100 customers in line received a free Primo-size, or 9-inch, hoagie from the restaurant, which is in the Coal Creek Commerce Center in Saint Clair.

PrimoHoagies corporate representative Katie Licciardello introduced the stores owners, Mike Rich and Terence Ryan.

Since 1992, weve been serving the highest quality Thumanns meats and cheeses, sliced fresh and piled high on our award-winning seeded roll, Licciardello said.

Rich then made his opening statement.

Thank you to everyone at Primos who helped make this happen, he said. Everyone on our team and our family company is always looking for ways to help grow the community, and were excited to add Primos to the Coal Creek Commerce Center.

After the ribbon-cutting and ceremonial bread-breaking, the restaurant officially opened its doors and started taking orders. The restaurant has 22 employees, including manager Jess Dabashinksy.

Tom Dempsey, Tamaqua, was the first customer in line. A fan of PrimoHoagies Italian subs, he wanted to make sure he got a free hoagie at the grand opening.

A lot of hoagie places have filler meat, like ham, he said. But this place just has all Italian  no filler.

Famed for its Italian hoagies, PrimoHoagies offers several other types of sandwiches, such as cheesesteaks, tuna, chicken, Diablo, vegetarian and specialty options. The hoagies come in three sizes  small (6 inches), Primo (9 inches) and whole (22-24 inches).

Bob Payne, of Saint Clair, had never been to a PrimoHoagies, but he wanted to experience a real hoagie and ordered a sharp Italian.

I wanted something that was built like an Italian hoagie, he said.

Mike OBrien, of Pottsville, ordered an extensive assortment for his family that included sandwiches like the Diablo, the Abruzzi, the R Special and the Bada Bing.

Theyre very good, he said. We needed some around here.
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President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that increasing the US military deployments in Romania will benefit the country as well as the security of the entire region.

"President Biden's announcement of additional troops in Romania by deploying a brigade combat team in our country, once again expresses the strength of our strategic partnership with the United States of America. Increasing US military deployments, which I have constantly backed, will benefit Romania as well as the security of the entire region," said Iohannis on the sidelines of his participation in the NATO Summit in Madrid.

He said that at the beginning of the summit he had a short discussion with Biden and the main subject was the increase of the American military presence in Romania and implicitly in the region with a brigade combat team.

"During the actual session, President Biden reiterated and said that he would increase the military deployments in Romania with a brigade combat team. That means that a brigade will be set up along the way, which will be led from that command. The technical details are to be discussed in the coming days and weeks, negotiated between diplomats and between the military so that we know what time frame we are in. It is important - and I find it very important - that there is this intention stated by the US President to significantly increase the American military presence in Romania, to come to the level of a brigade. The rest of the details will certainly be communicated when negotiating and making very concrete decisions, but the announcement is very, very good for us," Iohannis added.

The US will ramp up US forces in in Europe, US President Joe Biden told the NATO summit on Wednesday to make sure NATO is ready to meet potential threats from air, land and sea.

President Klaus Iohannis attends the NATO Summit in Madrid June 29-30.

AGERPRES
President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that Romania has "very concrete" expectations of the NATO Summit, indicating a significant consolidation of the Eastern Flank, an increase in the number of allied soldiers, the designation of the Black Sea as an area of strategic interest, Russia to be considered a significant threat to the Alliance, and the battle groups to be raised to brigades.

"NATO is the guarantee of our security, and in these difficult times, when Russia attacked our neighbor Ukraine, we realize how important the NATO umbrella is for our security, for the security of every Romanian. This Summit has been described by some as historic and I think they are right. In fact, the summit began last night. There were informal meetings, there was a formal reception at the King of Spain, but the discussions were already focused there. The atmosphere, in my opinion, is a positive one, a good one, although the security situation and the economic situation are not great," said the president, ahead of the NATO Summit.President Iohannis presented Romania's expectations of the summit."I, my team, Romania, have very concrete expectations of this summit. We expect, for example, that a meeting will be decided, a significant consolidation of the Eastern Flank, the Eastern Flank where we are located, which means that we expect a significant increase in the number of allied soldiers who will be stationed on the Eastern Flank and, implicitly, of course, in Romania as well. We expect the Black Sea area, where we are and where the war is taking place, to be declared an area of strategic interest to NATO. We expect Russia to be declared the most important danger zone, so Russia to be declared a significant threat to NATO, because this is what it is. We expect quite concretely - to give examples of this kind - for the battle groups that have been proposed and are being set up on the Eastern Flank to become bigger, to become brigades," said the head of the state.Iohannis said that Romania supports the "open doors" policy, pointing out that Tuesday night's talks were aimed at accepting Sweden and Finland into the North Atlantic Alliance."So high expectations from us, high expectations from the allies and the general expectation is for NATO to prove that it is united and strong and I believe that at this Summit we will prove this," the Romanian president said.President Klaus Iohannis is attending the NATO Summit in Madrid on Wednesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, the head of state attended a gala dinner hosted by King Philip VI and Queen Letizia in honor of the heads of state and government attending the Alliance Summit.
GRANITE CITY  Union officials and regional leaders on Wednesday promised to fight deep cuts at a century-old steel plant here, in the crosshairs of a company shifting gears.

The plants owner, Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp., said this week it is working on plans to sell key parts of Granite City Works to Chicago-based SunCoke Energy and end steelmaking in late 2024. Nearly 1,000 jobs would be eliminated.

U.S. Steel said it would continue finishing steel at the plant, and SunCoke plans to convert the facilitys blast furnaces into a 2-million-ton pig iron operation producing the building blocks for steelmaking at other company facilities. But that will only sustain about a third of the current workforce.

Dan Simmons, president of the local chapter of the United Steelworkers, called the decision a betrayal.

Today Granite City Works is a viable and profitable steel operation, Simmons said in a statement. However, in pursuit of financial greed, USS plans to turn its back on both the skilled, hard-working steelworkers who have made this company successful and the community that has sustained it.

Officials vowed to fight the loss of the jobs. Granite Citys a town of fighters, and were getting our ducks in a row to battle this, Mayor Mike Parkinson said.

But for the company, it fits with a strategy of building better, not bigger. U.S. Steel, one of the largest steel companies in the country, presented the news to investors as repurposing an older, coal-fired plant to fuel its growing fleet of newer, more efficient electric-powered operations. Its a step competitors have already taken. Its safer, its cleaner and its cheaper, said steel industry analyst Gordon Johnson, founder of GLJ Research in New York.

There has been a Granite City steel plant longer than there has been a Granite City.

St. Louis industrialists looking to make steel on cheap land across the river opened the plant that would become Granite City Works in 1895, a year before the city was incorporated. It supplied rolled sheets to a sister stamping plant.

By the end of the next decade, it employed more than 1,000 people and had taken its place as a cornerstone of a town boasting connections with 10 rail lines and calling itself The City of Great Industries.

But when foreign competition and a collapse in demand brought the industry crashing down in the 1970s and 1980s, Granite City went with it. The plants workforce dropped from a peak of 5,000 in the mid-1970s to 2,800 by late 1982.

U.S. Steel bought the operation in 2003 from a bankrupt National Steel, and, five years later, shuttered the plant, sending the town reeling. Cafes saw their lunch orders dry up. Trucks that once buzzed in and out of the mill disappeared. Thousands of workers flooded the unemployment line. They came back the next year, but in 2015, it happened again.

When former President Donald Trump announced new taxes on imports in 2018 and U.S. Steel reopened once more, there was hope the good times were back. Trump himself came to Granite City and delivered that very message.

Were watching this one closely, and its going up, Dave, only up, Trump told U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt, who joined the president on stage during his speech.

But the next year, U.S. Steel spent $700 million to buy a stake in northeast Arkansas Big River Steel mill and its cleaner, cheaper electric furnaces, taking a step it once resisted.

Analysts asked Burritt then if the Big River buy meant a shutdown was coming in Granite City. He called their suggestions premature.

But on Tuesday, the call came down and the worries began anew.

These guys make a good wage, said Mayor Parkinson.

Craig McKey, a vice president at the union local, said the last time the place closed down, people lost their cars and their houses.

Parkinson said hes doing all he can to stave that off. He spent the morning going from phone call to phone call reaching out to the company, state officials and the states congressional delegation for help.

The company has tried to pull out of Granite City before, he said, and they havent succeeded yet.

But McKey, who has worked at the plant for more than 25 years, worried that this time might be the one that does it.

I fear for the worst, he said.

Granite City braces for future without steel plant Residents, leaders and workers fear for the future if a deal struck by U.S. Steel to effectively close Granite City's mill.

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Katie Kull Katie Kull covers public safety for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She previously wrote about local government for the Springfield News-Leader. In her spare time, you can find her cooking, riding horses or spending time outdoors. Follow Katie Kull Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis board has signed off on tax incentives for a developers plan to add 118 apartments in the Central West End.

The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority approved up to 10 years of tax abatement for Pier Property Groups $33.5 million project that will add five stories atop the Reliance Building, at 490 North Kingshighway Boulevard.

PPG is likely to donate funds to the Kingshighway corridor improvement project that would upgrade infrastructure in the neighborhood in exchange for the incentives. The company is still negotiating the total amount with LCRA, said PPG owner Michael Hamburg.

The existing building will be used for parking, and a nearby building on McPherson Avenue will be demolished for the project.

The Reliance Building was built in 1925 as a two-story showroom and service center for the Castles-Wilson Buick Co.

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Carter Revard, a poet who grew up on an Osage reservation, received a Rhodes scholarship and became an English professor at Washington University, will be remembered at 2 p.m. June 29.

Revard died Jan. 3 at age 90. His memorial, in the Women's Building Formal Lounge on the campus of Washington University, will "celebrate his life, share stories, and reflect on the great impact he had on this community," the university says in a news release.

Carter taught in the university's English department for over 30 years, retiring in 1997. He published scholarship on Middle English poetry and was especially known for his research on the medieval manuscript known as Harley 2253.

He was also by most accounts the most significant American Indian poet from Oklahoma, according to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. He wrote poetry with some Native America themes, while sometimes using forms known to medieval writers.

Carter's collections include: "Ponca War Dancers" (1980), "Cowboys and Indians, Christmas Shopping" (1992), "An Eagle Nation" (1993), and "How the Songs Come Down" (2005); as well as essays, "Family Matters, Tribal Affairs" (1998), and a mixed-genre memoir, "Winning the Dust Bowl" (2001).

More information about Revard is in his obituary.

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You cant help but be charmed by the current of weirdness that washes through the computer-animated Despicable Me franchise.

Take, for instance, Minions: The Rise of Gru  the second prequel to the main movie series and the sequel to 2015s Minions  which debuts this week in theaters.

It introduces a collection of colorful new villains, including Jean Clawed, whos voiced by Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Nun-chuck, a Lucy Lawless-voiced character who, yes, is a nunchucks-wielding nun.

Yet while a young version of the series antihero, Gru (voiced, as always, by Steve Carell), is front and center in this romp, the draw continues to be the Minions. The odd but obedient little yellow fellows  voiced distinctly and clever again by the uniquely gifted Pierre Coffin  are worth the price of a ticket.

After an adventure that ultimately landed them in the late 1960s, we meet back up with them, serving a nearly 12-year-old Gru, in the mid-1970s.

Gru worships a daring supervillain team of the day, the Vicious 6. In the movies opening minutes, the group travels to Asia to steal a powerful item known as the Zodiac Stone. After the gangs leader, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), narrowly escapes with it, another member, the Afro-sporting Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), snatches it and literally cuts him out of the team, filling the sudden leadership void herself.

Gru is thrilled when hes granted a chance to join the Vicious 6 and excitedly heads for an interview in their secret lair within the music store Criminal Records. There, Gru meets a future associate, then-aspiring mad scientist Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), but the interview is a bust.

However, in hopes of impressing Belle Bottom and company, Gru swipes the Zodiac Stone. Instead, that puts him in their crosshairs and leads him to his favorite baddie, Wild Knuckles, who becomes his mentor.

Meanwhile, the familiar Minion trio of Kevin, Stuart and Bob are worried about Gru and try to catch up with him, while a new minion character, the larger, almost-round and highly chatty Otto tries to redeem himself after disappointing Gru.

Others contributing voice work include Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Master Chow, an acupuncturist who tries to teach kung fu to Kevin, Stuart and Bob; and Julie Andrews, who returns as Grus mother.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is directed by Kyle Balda, who helmed Minions and 2017s Despicable Me 3, with help from co-directors Brad Ableson (The Simpsons) and Jonathan Del Val (The Secret Life of Pets). The screenplay is by Mattew Fogel, with Brian Lynch and Fogel sharing credit for the story.

Along with Chris Meledandri  founder of the production company behind the films, Illumination  and others, theyve shaped another adventure that is constantly entertaining, never more so than when the Minions are being, well, Minion-y.

Early on, after a school career day in which Gru announces to his snickering classmates that he wants to be a supervillain, he and the boys empty out a theater to watch Jaws, have a blast playing their own versions of pinball, Pop-A-Shot and Whack-A-Minion, er, Whack-A-Mole and delight in eating ice cream in front of folks on exercise bikes.

Gru is a little less successful when it comes to telling a compelling story. Although a few sweet moments are shared by Gru and Knuckles, the new characters  most noticeably Belle Bottom  arent well developed. Thats one reason why the story told here  as with the previous Despicable tales  likely will prove to be forgettable.

Ultimately, the Minion-fueled gags are enough, such as when our fearless trio takes the place of a flight crew and attempts (yikes!) to fly a passenger jet to San Francisco. We wont spoil all the fun, but be aware it is one of at least two instances where youll get a peek at bare Minion behind.

Its another clever, weird and, again, entirely Minion-y experience.

What Minions: The Rise of Gru  2 stars out of four  Run time 1:27  Rating PG for some action/violence and rude humor
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  The Orlando Museum of Art has parted ways with its CEO in the days after the FBI raided the Florida museum and seized more than two dozen paintings attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that are the subjects of an investigation into possible wire fraud and conspiracy.

The museum's board of trustees is extremely concerned" about the exhibition of 25 paintings whose authenticity has been challenged, as well as an inappropriate" email former CEO and director Aaron De Groft sent to an academic art expert when she asked that her name not be used in promoting the works, Cynthia Brumback, the museum board's chair said in an emailed statement Tuesday night.

We have launched an official process to address these matters, as they are inconsistent with the values of this institution, our business standards, and our standards of conduct," Brumback said.

The statement didn't say if De Groft resigned or was fired, and a museum spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to an emailed question about that on Wednesday.

In the email to the unnamed art expert, De Groft urged her to shut up," and he threatened to tell her employer that she was paid $60,000 to write a report about the pieces, when she said she no longer wanted to be associated with promoting the works and would consider it defamatory if the museum continued to use her name, according to a search warrant released Friday, the day of the FBI raid.

You want us to put out there that you got $60 grand to write this? OK then. Shut up. You took the money. Stop being holier than thou. You did this not me or anybody else," De Groft said in the email quoted in the search warrant. Be quiet now is my best advice. These are real and legit. You know this. You are threatening the wrong people. Do your academic thing and stay in your limited lane."

De Groft didn't respond Wednesday to an email message sent via LinkedIn.

According to the search warrant, federal art crimes investigators have been looking into the 25 paintings since shortly after their discovery in 2012. The controversy gained more attention after the Orlando exhibit opened in February.

Basquiat, who lived and worked in New York City, found success in the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. The Orlando Museum of Art was the first institution to display pieces said to have been found in an old Los Angeles storage locker years after Basquiats 1988 death from a drug overdose at age 27.

Questions about the artworks authenticity arose almost immediately after their discovery. The artwork was purportedly made in 1982, but experts have pointed out that the cardboard used in at least one of the pieces included FedEx typeface that wasnt used until 1994, about six years after Basquiat died, according to the search warrant. In addition, television writer Thad Mumford, the owner of the storage locker where the art was eventually found, told investigators that he had never owned any Basquiat art and that the pieces were not in the unit the last time he had visited. Mumford died in 2018.

De Groft has repeatedly insisted that the art was legitimate.

Before coming to Orlando, De Groft was director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and deputy director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
When it comes to celebrating Independence Day, what better way than to pop open a sparkling wine produced in the United States? There are certainly plenty of good-quality, affordable ones, including those made through the process known as the methode champenoise or methode traditionnelle. This labor-intensive method, which is used to make real French Champagne, requires the wine to go through a second fermentation in its own bottle rather than a tank. The following are two examples.

Treveri Cellars Blanc de Blancs, Columbia Valley, Washington

Bought  Total Wine & More, 90 Brentwood Promenade Court, in June for $10.99

Description  Its hard to beat such a good domestic methode champenoise wine at this price. What makes it even more unusual, is that its a blanc de blancs, meaning its made solely from white grapes  in this case chardonnay. It comes from the family-owned Treveri Cellars, which focuses on 100% varietal sparkling wines. Elegant, delicate and refreshing, this dry sparkler tastes of crisp green apples and ends with a long, citrusy finish. It can be enjoyed on its own or with snacks, seafood and other light fare.

Domaine Ste Michelle Brut, Columbia Valley, Washington

Bought  Total Wine & More, 90 Brentwood Promenade Court, in June for $13.99

Description  If you like your sparkling wines with just a touch of sweetness, give this one a try. Although its labeled brut, which means dry, this wine borders on off-dry. It comes from Domaine Ste Michelle, Washington States oldest winery and one of its largest. A blend of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, this is a more complex and bigger-bodied wine that tastes of stone fruit, apples and citrus. It would go great with popcorn and other salty snacks, spicy Asian cuisine and even dessert.

Follow Gail on Twitter @GailAppleson.
WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News)  A strain of the superbug MRSA has emerged in pigs that is highly resistant to antibiotics and a growing cause of human infections.

University of Cambridge researchers said this particular strain of MRSA, short for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has shown up in livestock over the past 50 years, probably due to widespread antibiotic use in farming. They said it is a potential threat to public health.

Historically high levels of antibiotic use may have led to the evolution of this highly antibiotic-resistant strain of MRSA on pig farms, said Dr. Gemma Murrayn of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, U.K. She worked on the new study while a member of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge.

We found that the antibiotic resistance in this livestock-associated MRSA is extremely stable  it has persisted over several decades, and also as the bacteria has spread across different livestock species, she said in university news release.

The strain  called CC398  is dominant type of MRSA in pigs and other European livestock and a growing cause of human MRSA infections. Its associated with infections in people who have and have not had direct contact with livestock.

Although antibiotic use in European farming is lower than it once was, ongoing reductions in use are likely to have only a limited impact because the strain is so stable.

A notable case is in Danish pig farms. The proportion of MRSA-positive herds there increased from 5% in 2008 to 90% in 2018. Though pigs test positive for MRSA, it doesnt make them sick.

Understanding the emergence and success of CC398 in European livestock  and its capacity to infect humans  is vitally important in managing the risk it poses to public health, said senior author Lucy Weinert of the University of Cambridge.

Three mobile genetic elements in the MRSA genome are responsible for its ability to infect humans.

To study the issue, researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of two genetic elements called Tn916 and SCCmec. These confer antibiotic resistance in MRSA. They have remained stable in pigs for decades and persist when jumping to humans.

A third mobile genetic element called Sa3, which enables the CC398 strain of MRSA to evade the human immune system, was found to have frequently disappeared and reappeared over time, in both humans and livestock. This suggests that CC398 can rapidly adapt to human hosts.

Cases of livestock-associated MRSA in humans are still only a small fraction of all MRSA cases in human populations, but the fact that theyre increasing is a worrying sign, Weinert said.

The European Union is banning zinc oxide, which has been used to prevent diarrhea in piglets, because of concerns about its environmental impact and promotion of antibiotic resistance. This ban may not reduce the prevalence of CC398, the authors said, because the genes that confer antibiotic resistance are not always linked to those that confer zinc treatment resistance.

The World Health Organization considers MRSA one of the greatest threats to human health.

The findings were published June 28 in the journal eLife.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on MRSA.

SOURCE: University of Cambridge, news release, June 28, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Even though Black people may be more likely to live near a hospital with a certified stroke center, those who need the specialty care are still more likely to receive it at a hospital with fewer resources.

And this can hurt their chances for recovery, a new study shows.

"Black, racially segregated communities tended to cluster in areas with large populations, where stroke care must accommodate a much higher level of demand," explained Dr. Renee Hsia, from the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, and a core faculty member at the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

"Crowding may prevent patients from accessing the stroke center, and even if they do access it, they may not be able to be seen as quickly due to shortages of beds, critical care physicians, nurses and equipment," Hsia said in a university news release.

In the study, the researchers tracked patient demographics of general acute-care hospitals in the United States that offered stroke certification over a 10-year period. They found that among 4,984 hospitals, 961 were stroke-certified in 2009 compared to 1,763 in 2019.

Centers can be certified as primary stroke centers, which provide standard care, to comprehensive stroke centers that can treat the most complex cases.

Being treated at a stroke center is associated with lower rates of mortality and severe disability, recent studies have shown. Reasons for that include rapid triage, specialized neurosurgeons on duty, advanced imaging facilities and swift access to thrombectomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove a blood clot from inside an artery or vein.

The study found that residents of majority Black communities were 67% more likely to live near hospitals with specialty stroke centers compared to majority white communities. Yet, when researchers adjusted for population and hospital bed capacity, they found that Black people were 26% less likely to receive care there.

There is greater demand for stroke care in Black communities, the study noted.

Researchers also compared access using income, finding that residents in predominantly high-income areas were 3.4 times more likely to live close to a hospital with a certified stroke center compared with residents in predominantly low-income areas.

Patients in rural areas were also much less likely to be served by hospitals with certified stroke centers than those living in urban areas.

Population size and a community's underlying needs should be a part of the decision to open a new stroke center, Hsia said.

"Currently, the distribution of stroke care is more motivated by profit potential, rather than community need. We found that for many in low-income, minority and rural communities, specialized stroke services are not even an option," Hsia said. "Policymakers may want to consider how they can reduce financial barriers for hospitals in these communities where certified stroke centers are needed."

The findings were published June 27 in JAMA Neurology.

More information

The American Stroke Association has more on stroke prevention.

SOURCE: University of California, San Francisco, news release, June 27, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
TUESDAY, June 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Facebook and Instagram have started taking down posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to get them after the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. These posts told women how to get abortion pills through the mail even in states that had banned them.

Facebook and Instagram have begun deleting posts that mention abortion pills and specific versions of the pills such as mifepristone and misoprostol, the Associated Press reported. These posts also spiked Friday morning on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and TV broadcasts, according to the media intelligence firm Zignal Labs. By Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 mentions, the AP reported.

Posts for abortion pills on Facebook and Instagram were deleted moments after they appeared, the AP noted. A Facebook account was tagged with a "warning," when Facebook said it violated its standards on "guns, animals, and other regulated goods." However, when an AP reporter made the exact same post but changed the words "abortion pills" to "a gun," the post remained untouched. The same thing happened to a post to mail "weed."

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told the AP that company policies ban the sale of certain items, including guns, alcohol, drugs, and pharmaceuticals. He did not explain the discrepancies in enforcing that policy. "We've discovered some instances of incorrect enforcement and are correcting these," Stone acknowledged.

On Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said states should not ban mifepristone. "States may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA's expert judgment about its safety and efficacy," he said in a statement.

Some Republicans have tried to stop their constituents from buying abortion pills through the mail, with West Virginia and Tennessee banning doctors from prescribing the pills via telemedicine, the AP reported.

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has praised his fathers legacy and glossed over its violent past as he was sworn in as Philippine president. His rise to power comes 36 years after an army-backed People Power revolt booted his namesake dictator father from office. In his inaugural speech, Marcos Jr. said his father accomplished many things and built better roads that had not been done since the countrys independence. Activists and survivors of the martial law era say the stunning election victory was pulled off by whitewashing the Marcos familys image. Protests took place at the same time as Marcos Jr. took oath at the steps of the National Museum in Manila. He called for unity and avoided the mention of abuses under his father's rule.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill will leave office six months before her third term ends, telling The Associated Press she is resigning Thursday, effective at noon, to spend more time with her husband, who is facing serious health problems.

The veteran Democrat, who was first elected as the state's top elections official in 2010 after serving 17 years in the Connecticut General Assembly, said that it was a hard decision, considering this is an election year, and that she feels responsible for making sure it runs smoothly. However, Merrill, 73, said she can no longer juggle the job and helping care for her husband.

It's too much for me. I can't do both, and I have to be at home, she said during an interview Tuesday in her office, where she was packing up old photos of her days in the legislature. I don't have full-time caretakers, and it wouldn't work, anyway. He's very dependent on me, and I'm dependent on him in a lot of ways.

Merrill's husband, Dr. Stephen Leach, 78, has been living with Parkinson's disease for years and has been dealing with various health setbacks more recently, she said.

The two, who live in Storrs, have been a couple for about two decades. Merrill recalled Tuesday how her husband would patiently sit in the gallery of the House of Representatives until late into the night when she was a state representative, waiting to drive her home after debate would finally wrap up.

He was such a supporter, she said. The least I can do is support him back. That's how I feel about it.

Merrill announced about a year ago that she would not be seeking a fourth term, saying it was time for a new generation to step up with new ideas on how to further modernize voting and protect voters rights. But since then, she's been grappling with how to finish out her term, given her husband's changing medical condition.

I've been thinking about this for months and trying to figure out if I can manage it, said Merrill, who has spoken multiple times with Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont about her family's situation.

He's been terrific, and he gets it," Merrill said. Family first.

Merrill plans to make a public announcement about her resignation Wednesday. It will then be up to Lamont, who faces reelection in November, to select her replacement since the General Assembly is not currently in session. Lamont's office said the governor will announce an appointment soon.

Denise Merrill is a dear friend to me, and her exit from public service is a tremendous loss for the people of Connecticut, Lamont said in a written statement, crediting her with becoming one of the most respected secretaries of state in the country" and lauding her efforts to boost election participation.

Denise has delivered results, and our state is stronger because of her efforts, he said. "My prayers are with her and her family, and I thank her for everything she has given to Connecticut.

While Scott Bates currently serves as deputy secretary of the state, a job he has held since January 2017, there is no requirement that Lamont choose him. Bates, a former senior adviser with a nongovernmental organization that works on political party development and good governance issues worldwide, is also a former chair of the Connecticut Port Authority.

I'm sure that whoever the governor appoints, we'll be in good hands, she said, noting that elections are strong in Connecticut.

She listed the numerous initiatives her office and the General Assembly have taken over over the years to beef up digital security, train and certify local election officials, fully staff the office, and take steps to make it easier for people to vote, including the implementation of online voter registration, Election Day registration, automatic voter registration through the motor vehicles department, dropboxes for absentee ballots, and a ballot tracking system.

Merrill, a former president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, is leaving office at a time when secretaries of state and election clerks across the country have had to deal with death threats, harassment and unfounded accusations of fraud. While Merrill has received some public criticism from Republicans at times, she said it pales in comparison to what her colleagues are experiencing in other states.

I always make the point that Connecticut has great elections. We're doing a wonderful job  2020 was the best election I can remember, even in the face of COVID and all the changes we had to make," she said. "So I think that has helped people feel like, 'Oh, in Connecticut, we're pretty good. Maybe those other states are having trouble.'

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TAYLORVILLE, Ill.  A brutal, nearly seven-month-long primary election campaign saw U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, ousted by fellow Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, in Illinois' 15th Congressional District in Tuesday's election.

The incumbent lawmakers were thrown together in a newly drawn 35-county district by Springfield Democrats who controlled last year's Congressional redistricting process. They engaged in an extremely negative campaign in which each accused the other of not being conservative enough.

Davis, a mainstream conservative with a bipartisan streak, conceded the race just after 9 p.m. to Miller, a far-right freshman firebrand who had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

"I'd like to congratulate Congresswoman Miller and President Trump on their victory tonight," said Davis, who had represented what was originally the 13th Congressional District since 2013. "This was a hard-fought campaign, and I wish her the best in representing the citizens of the 15th District."

The 15th, which stretches west to east across central Illinois from the Iowa and Missouri state lines to the Indiana state line, was drawn to pack as many Republicans in as possible.

As a result, the newly minted district would have voted for Trump by 68% in the 2020 election, making it one of the most conservative in the country.

Miller was hosting a post-election event at a hotel in Quincy, not far from where she was embraced by Trump on Saturday.

At the rally, Miller described the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade as a victory for white life. A spokesperson later said she had intended to say the decision was a victory for a right to life.

The Illinois congresswoman is no stranger to provocative statements. Soon after joining the House, Miller quoted Adolf Hitler, saying he was right to say that whoever has the youth has the future.

Davis is a powerful, more moderate lawmaker who is the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, which deals with election legislation and the Capitol complex.

Despite not having Trump's endorsement, Davis, speaking with reporters just hours before polls closed, said he felt confident in his ability to pull it out Tuesday.

"I have built, with the help of my great team, an organization that has knocked on almost 125,000 doors," Davis said. "We see that data that's coming in from those doors every single day. We are very confident just like I was confident in 2020 that tonight's going to be a great election night for us."

Contact Brenden Moore at 217-421-7984. Follow him on Twitter: @brendenmoore13
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Lewis Reed had his day in court.

But he didnt have anything to say.

Reed, the former president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, wasnt in federal court to answer to the indictments filed last month accusing him of bribery. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, and further action is likely months away.

But on Wednesday, one of Reeds actions while president of the board was at the center of a civil trial on the 12th floor of the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse. At issue is a simple question: Is it a First Amendment violation if a public official blocks a constituent on the Twitter account that they use for public business? Thats what Reed  or one of his employees  did on Jan. 26, 2019, to Sarah Felts, a St. Louis resident who is active in Democratic politics.

Felts filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Reed with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and the First Amendment Clinic run by law professor Lisa Hoppenjans at Washington University.

Her lawsuit is similar to others filed around Missouri and the country alleging that elected officials who use their Twitter accounts as a public forum cant block constituents from the debate, especially if their reason for blocking is that the official disagrees with the opinion expressed in a persons tweet.

In 2019, a Missouri judge ruled that a state lawmaker had violated the First Amendment by blocking a constituent  in this case, her opponent for public office  on Twitter. That ruling was later overturned by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which determined the state representative wasnt using her Twitter feed as a public forum.

The year before Felts filed her lawsuit, a federal judge and an appeals court had ruled that it was a violation of free speech rights for former President Donald Trump to block followers on Twitter. That case was later dismissed on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court as moot because Trump was no longer president and no longer had a Twitter account.

A similar dynamic has played out in this case, with Reed having resigned his post following his indictment. But the underlying First Amendment issues still deserved an airing in court, U.S. District Judge John A. Ross ruled earlier this month in allowing the trial to go forward.

So there was Felts taking the witness stand on Wednesday, explaining why she was upset that Reed had blocked her after she had asked him a question related to the debate over closing the citys Medium Security Institution known as the workhouse.

Its really important to me to participate in my government as much as I can, she said. Felts started a Twitter account in 2009, around the same time I met her. She was an intern in the Missouri Capitol then. Now shes the digital strategy manager for Planned Parenthood of Missouri, where she frequently interacts with public officials (and journalists) on Twitter as part of her job.

So why did Reed block her?

Given a chance to explain, he took the Fifth. In answer to every question posed by ACLU attorney Tony Rothert, Reed, on the advice of his attorney in the criminal case, exercised his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, and he refused to answer questions.

That decision will throw a legal wrench into the judges deliberations because Felts attorneys told Ross they will now try to exclude Reeds depositions and affidavits from the evidence. Ross took the case under advisement Wednesday after a one-day trial.

Key to the judges ruling will be whether he believes Reed used his Twitter account in his official capacity. Evidence put on by Felts attorneys sought to establish that Reed used his Twitter feed as a public forum to discuss public policy.

The feed was linked to the citys website, and it was sometimes managed by his legislative director, Mary Goodman, a city employee. Goodman suggested that at least some of the times when she accessed the account, she was doing so as a volunteer for Reeds campaign, not as a city employee. Those blurred lines, between official business and campaign business, are at the center of both federal cases involving Reed, one in the criminal court and this one, in civil court.

The city counselors office, which is representing Reed in this case, has denied that Reed violated Felts free-speech rights by blocking her on Twitter. And that, Rothert says, is why the ruling from Ross is still important.

Other city officials maintain official Twitter accounts like Mr. Reeds to communicate with constituents, Rothert says. Not resolving this case would invite those officials and their successors, as well as Mr. Reeds successors, to revert to Mr. Reeds unconstitutional policy of blocking users based on viewpoint.

From City Hall to the Capitol, metro columnist Tony Messenger shines light on what public officials are doing, tells stories of the disaffected, and brings voice to the issues that matter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  A Berkeley man has been charged with the fatal shootings of two men in Pine Lawn on Friday.

Trevontae Sain, 20, was charged Monday with two counts each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the deaths of Jacob Pierce and Marcko Willingham, according to the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.

North County Police Cooperative officers found the men shot in the 4500 block of Hamilton Avenue around 7:15 p.m. They were later pronounced dead, and the Major Case Squad was asked to investigate.

Pierce, 19, was from Arnold, and Willingham, 24, was from St. Louis.

Sain was being held on $500,000 cash bail at the St. Louis County Justice Center. His next court date is scheduled for July 5.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ST. LOUIS  A prominent nonprofit formed in the wake of the Ferguson protests has turned its sights on what it calls the St. Louis regions fragmented 911 system.

Forward Through Ferguson publicly launched Transforming 911 Tuesday, a project collecting stories and data related to 911 calls around St. Louis.

So far, the nonprofit published top findings from an analysis of five years of St. Louis County Police Dispatch calls along with stories and photos by photographers with Humans of St. Louis collected from residents with experiences around calling 911.

The nonprofit hired AH Datalytics to first analyze over 1.7 million 911 calls made to the St. Louis County Police Departments 911 center from 2015 to 2020, including calls the department fields for more than 40 municipal police departments that contract with the agency for dispatch.

Forward Through Ferguson also conducted dozens of interviews with public safety officials, dispatchers, and community leaders for the project, according to the nonprofit.

While a full report is set to come out later this year, initial findings published Tuesday describe a 911 system that includes 15 different 911 centers in St. Louis and St. Louis County, causing callers to sometimes get routed to the wrong center at first and variations in service. Some of the smallest 911 centers serve less than 10,000 people with only a few employees tasked with answering calls, according to the project.

The protocols, codes, and training used and received by those call takers and dispatchers vary widely, the findings state.

The Post-Dispatch has previously reported that there has been some consolidation in recent years of the citys patchwork of 911 centers, down from more than 20 separate centers a decade ago. Bridgeton became the latest municipality to close its city-run dispatch center in April to contract with St. Louis County police, bringing the annual cost for 911 down from $820,000 to $155,000 for the city.

Transforming 911s analysis also found most 911 calls to St. Louis County Polices dispatch center in the years studied were for non-criminal incidents. Only about 1 in 20 are for violent crime, according to the findings.

The analysis also includes a look into police funding in the region, finding that in 14 out of 15 St. Louis-area cities examined police departments were the most heavily staffed department.

In connection with the project, Forward Through Ferguson is part of a regional organizing effort between advocacy groups pushing more police agencies in St. Louis County to consider using civilians to respond to some 911 calls rather than police officers, Forward Through Ferguson spokesperson Jia Lian Yang said Tuesday.

Cities across the country, including St. Louis, have launched 911 civilian response programs, ranging from St. Louis Crisis Response Unit program, which partners civilians with police officers, to sending civilians alone to nonviolent calls without any police response at all like Denvers Support Team Assisted Response Program.

Transforming 911 is continuing to seek stories of residents experience calling 911 at www.transforming911.org.

Forward Through Ferguson is a nonprofit formed by the Ferguson Commission.

The commission was created in 2014 by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as a group of regional experts tasked with recommending policy changes in response to the Ferguson protests over police killing of Michael Brown.

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY  A Pine Lawn man has been accused of stealing jewelry off the body of a driver who had been killed moments earlier in a two-car collision, police said.

Elmer Perry, 46, of the 4400 block of Jennings Station Road, was charged Tuesday with stealing, a class D felony, according to the North County Police Cooperative.

Maj. Ron Martin of the police cooperative said Perry approached the scene of a crash in the 4200 block of Jennings Station Road shortly after it happened about 9:45 p.m. Sunday.

The crash killed Arthur L. Fulton, 46, of the St. Louis area, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Moments after the crash, before emergency personnel arrived, a man approached the vehicle that Fulton was in and took his jewelry, Martin said. Perry was later taken into custody, and Martin said he admitted taking the items. The jewelry has been returned to Fulton's family, Martin added.

Perry was being held Tuesday in the St. Louis County Justice Center on $25,000 cash-only bail.

Fulton's 2012 Cadillac had been hit by a northbound 2008 Mercedes Benz after Fulton pulled from a driveway onto Jennings Station Road.

The Mercedes caught on fire, and the 28-year-old man driving the Mercedes suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital for treatment.

Arrest reports show that the Missouri Highway Patrol cited the 28-year-old driver of the Mercedes on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The Post-Dispatch typically does not identify suspects until charges are filed.

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WENTZVILLE  The Wentzville Police Department on Tuesday released video footage of an officer shooting and wounding a man while he was threatening to kill himself outside an AutoZone on April 20.

Daniel Phillips was shot by police just hours after prosecutors allege he kidnapped a former girlfriend near Troy, Missouri. While he was with her, Phillips reportedly threatened the ex-girlfriend with a gun, but she later was released unharmed.

Charges allege the 54-year-old Bowling Green, Missouri, man was in a car with two acquaintances whom he had paid for a ride when a relative of one of the two called to warn them Phillips may have been involved in a kidnapping.

They pulled off the highway, feigning car trouble, and went into the AutoZone in the 1200 block of West Pearce Boulevard in Wentzville and called police.

Phillips could be seen in the police body camera footage as police arrive and open the cars passenger side back door. He was sitting in the back seat with a handgun pointed at his temple. No one else could be seen in the car at that time.

I am going to shoot myself, I aint going to shoot you, Phillips says to the officer.

At no point can he be seen pointing the gun toward officers in the footage.

Police officers demanded several times that he drop the gun, but Phillips did not comply. He then closed the car door and immediately one officer fired at least a dozen rounds at the car door.

Philips can then be seen dropping his gun onto the ground out of the window before officers pull him out, lay him face down on the ground and cuff him.

Im bleeding bad .... Im dying, man, Philips said while on the ground.

It appeared he suffered a gunshot to the arm. Officers put a tourniquet on his arm to stop the bleeding and he was then treated at a hospital.

The Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), a task force in St. Charles County, investigated the shooting. This was its first case since its inception in April, when the the multijurisdictional unit was formed to conduct investigations of high-level and officer-involved critical incidents.

Wentzville police Sgt. Jacob Schmidt, in the video released Tuesday, said evidence from CIRTs investigation has been given to the St. Charles County prosecutor for review.
CHICAGO  Illinois Republicans on Tuesday chose conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey to take on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire who easily won the Democratic nomination and who spent millions trying to get the rival he wants and increase his already sizable advantage in the state this fall.

Bailey defeated five other Republicans to win the nomination. The farmer from Xenia is a staunch abortion opponent who received former President Donald Trumps endorsement Saturday. Bailey raised his statewide profile during the pandemic by opposing Pritzkers COVID-19 measures. He sued Pritzker over a stay-at-home order the governor issued, and was escorted off the floor of the Legislature for refusing to wear a mask.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune who is seeking his second term, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP primary, including with ads noting he is 100% pro-life. While those messages have raised Baileys standing with Republican voters, they are likely to hurt him in a general election in a place where Democrats control all statewide offices and voters twice rejected Trump by double digits.

Bailey rejected the idea that he cannot win and criticized establishment Republicans for contributing to decades of mismanagement in the state.

Were going to send a message to the Republican establishment that we will not be bullied into sacrificing our principles to elect their candidates, he told a crowd at a campaign stop in rural Illinois this month.

Republican Richard Irvin, a former prosecutor who was the first Black mayor of Illinois second-largest city, was seen as a top candidate when he joined the race, with financial backing from billionaire Ken Griffin. But despite Griffin sinking $50 million into Irvins campaign, he was damaged by repeated attacks from his rivals, including Pritzker.

Unlike Bailey and his four other rivals, Irvin avoided talking about abortion or saying whether he voted for Trump. The mayor of Aurora instead focused on issues such as crime in Chicago and legislation signed by Pritzker that he said made policing harder. He said he opposes abortion except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother.

Irvin also argued that he was the only GOP candidate who could beat Pritzker in November because he could win votes from Republicans, independents and some Democrats.

In a concession speech Tuesday, Irvin criticized Pritzkers meddling in the primary and wished Bailey well in the general election.

Listen, I hope this governor is wrong in his assessment that he can easily defeat the opponent he paid tens of millions of dollars to face. But if this governor is correct and if he does easily prevail, we as citizens must rise up, Irvin said.

Tim Zink, a 70-year-old retiree, wore a National Rifle Association T-shirt as he cast his ballot in the northern Illinois town of McHenry for Bailey.

I just like the way he stands on just about everything, Zink said. He added that he didnt trust Irvin, whom he called two-faced and friends with Pritzker.

Joe Berstein, from the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park, voted for Pritzker: So far I think hes doing a good job.

The other Republican candidates are business owner Gary Rabine, venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf and attorney Max Solomon.

Pritzker defeated a much lesser-known rival, Beverly Miles, for the nomination. He has said hes not afraid of any rival heading into November.

Ill face anybody on the other side of the aisle and well win, Pritzker said.

Miller ousts Davis for 15th district seat

Another key race in the state was for the 15th Congressional District, where U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Mary Miller, R-Oakland, were vying for votes across the 35-county district on Tuesday.

Davis conceded to Miller just after 9 p.m. Tuesday night.

The incumbent lawmakers, thrown together by Springfield Democrats who controlled last years Congressional redistricting process, had engaged in whats been an extremely negative campaign in which each accused the other of not being conservative enough.

Davis is a mainstream conservative with a bipartisan streak, a reflection of the swingy 13th Congressional District that he has represented since 2013.

Miller, on the other hand, is a far-right freshman firebrand who eschews bipartisanship in the name of the America First agenda of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed her.

The 15th, which stretches west to east across central Illinois from the Iowa and Missouri state lines to the Indiana state line, was drawn to pack as many Republicans in as possible.
ST. LOUIS  Gov. Mike Parson was in St. Louis on Tuesday to introduce a statewide crime reduction plan developed by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce.

"Safer Missouri, Stronger Missouri" was developed using crime statistics and by consulting Missouri business leaders, community organizers and public safety officials, according to the chamber. It lays out several recommendations:

 Deploy evidence-based and hot spot approaches to crime reduction.

 Increase tools to support policing.

 Address substance misuse and mental health.

 Reduce recidivism among those on probation or parole.

 Improve training and employment opportunities for incarcerated individuals.

 Increase public safety staffing.

 Improve public perception of law enforcement.

 Increase prosecutorial consistency and transparency.

The chambers report, released this week, found Missouri ranks sixth in violent crimes per capita, ninth in property crimes per capita and fourth in gun deaths in the country.

Theres too many positive things happening in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, theres too many good things happening in these cities and were not talking about all the goods things, were always talking about violent crime all the time, Parson said.

Those who spoke at Tuesdays press unveiling at the Wainwright Building included Sandra Karsten, Missouris director of public safety; Maleah Evans, executive vice president of TREMCO; Julie Russell, executive vice president and head of behavioral health and wellness at Concordance; and Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City.

This story has been updated to accurately reflect the Concordance representative present at the event.
CLAYTON  A former senior investigator for the Jan. 6 committee is making a run as an independent for Missouris open U.S. Senate seat.

John Wood, 52, who also served as U.S. attorney for Missouris western district, predicted in an interview Tuesday that former Gov. Eric Greitens would win the GOP primary on Aug. 2 and said voters deserved an alternative in the heavily Republican state.

Woods entry will represent a seismic shift in the Senate race  if he can generate the financial backing and grassroots support necessary to mount a serious campaign to fill retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunts seat.

To make the Nov. 8 ballot, Wood needs to turn in 10,000 signatures to the secretary of states office by Aug. 1.

I am not looking to be a spoiler. Im in this race to win it, Wood told the Post-Dispatch. I think that there is a coalition of common-sense voters that can be put together.

Wood said he aims to win support from Republicans, independents and conservative and moderate Democrats. Attracting Republicans would likely be easier if Greitens wins the nomination.

The former governor has alienated many in the party over the years. In March, his second ex-wife, Sheena Greitens, accused him of domestic abuse under oath in court documents, saying the former governor caused one of their two sons to lose a tooth.

Most recently, Greitens drew nationwide criticism for pretending to go on a hunt for RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only, in a campaign video.

This RINO-hunting business has become a national story and I think that that advertisement is an embarrassment to our state, and its dangerous, Wood said. I think Eric Greitens is a danger to women, hes a danger to children, and hes a danger to our democracy.

Another Republican Greitens has alienated: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom Greitens has said he would vote against as party leader.

But Wood said he would support the Kentucky senator, and that he would welcome McConnells backing.

I would (like McConnells support), Wood said. And, if Im elected, I will support Mitch McConnell for Senate majority leader, and Eric Greitens will not.

Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, who predicted in February an independent would run, said he would back Wood.

Danforth said Tuesday he had a Super PAC, Missouri Stands United. And my Super PAC would support him if he becomes a candidate, which I think he will.

Wood described himself as a lifelong Republican and I continue to be a Republican to this day, but that probably both parties primaries are becoming a race to the bottom to see who can be the most divisive and the most extreme.

He pointed to Democrat Lucas Kunce, the top fundraiser in the Senate race, for using militaristic language and imagery during the campaign. (Trudy Busch Valentine, a second Democrat who has won major endorsements, has struck a more conventional tone.)

Lucas Kunce, who looks like hes got a good shot at being the Democratic nominee, has described himself as being a hand grenade, and said just pull the pin and roll me into the Senate so I can blow things up, Wood said. I know that rhetoric may motivate a small group of people, but I dont think its what the vast majority of Missouri voters want.

Asked why a Democrat should vote for Wood, he said, There are a lot of Democrats who want to see Missouri send somebody in the mainstream to the U.S. Senate.

As you know, were a heavily Republican state. I think its appropriate that a senator from Missouri caucus with the Republican Party.

Wood added that even though he might differ with potential Democratic supporters on some issues, I represent their values and what theyre looking for from a senator.

He said he would put the country first and be part of a governing coalition.

Stance on guns, abortion

Wood said he would have voted in favor of the gun safety law President Joe Biden signed into law last week, which earned support from 15 Republican senators, including McConnell and Blunt.

I support Second Amendment rights, Wood said. But I applaud Senator Blunt for being part of a bipartisan effort to take guns out of the hands of the most dangerous people.

On abortion, Wood said: I have the greatest respect for the dignity of women who are faced with an unwanted pregnancy, but I also believe that life begins at conception.

And in the end I think that the interest in life should prevail, and so I am pro-life but believe there should be exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother or serious health risks to the mother, he said.

On the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which established the right to an abortion, and the resulting state-by-state approach to abortion laws, Wood said its the legally correct place for the country to be in.

Its a difficult spot for the country to be in because its such a divisive issue, and one where people on both sides are very emotional, but I think it is the correct interpretation of the Constitution.

Asked whether he wanted the court to revisit other decisions it has made, such as legalizing same-sex marriage and the right to contraception, Wood said largely a political consensus has emerged around some court decisions.

I dont think that it would be good for the court to revisit all of those issues, he said. I dont think its good to have the court overturn too many precedents too quickly.

On the climate, Wood said, I believe in limited government and free market principles, but I also believe that climate change is real and that human activity is contributing to it.

He said the best way to help disadvantaged communities is to create jobs and opportunity.

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.

He served as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri from 2007 to 2009, under former President George W. Bush. He also served as chief of staff to George W. Bush-era Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, deputy associate general counsel to Attorney General John Ashcroft, and in the White House under Bush at the Office of Management and Budget.

Wood was brought onto the Jan. 6 committee by the Republican co-chair, Rep. Liz Cheney. Before joining the committee, Wood worked as general counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Posted at 6 a.m. Wednesday, June 29.

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JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation Wednesday that will criminalize homelessness by banning people from sleeping on state-owned land.

Under a new law that has raised red flags among advocates for homeless Missourians, the attorney general would get the power to sue local governments that dont enforce the ban.

The changes approved by the Republican governor have been called insane and a step backward in how state and local governments address homeless people.

The new law, which was approved by lawmakers in the final week of the Legislatures annual session, is aimed at encouraging a new approach to homelessness by prioritizing short-term shelter for unhoused people.

The proposal would act as a reversal of the popular housing first policy, which aims to provide people foundational stability by getting them into permanent housing.

Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, R-Sikeston, said giving homeless individuals a free apartment is not getting to the root of the problem.

They need mental health treatment, substance abuse counseling and support beyond just a roof over their head, Rehder said during debate on the issue this spring.

The proposal, which was sponsored by Rehder in the Senate and Rep. Bruce DeGroot, R-Ellisville, in the House, would direct existing funds to build short-term shelters, largely in the form of encampments with six-month stay limits.

These facilities would be required to meet certain livability requirements, be monitored by police and social workers, and collect data on the mental health, substance abuse and other issues affecting the tenants.

The measure institutes penalties for residing or sleeping on state land without permission.

After one warning, for example, anyone found camping on state land would face a Class C misdemeanor, a charge punishable with up to a $750 fine and 15 days in jail.

The bill also removes funding from localities with high homeless populations that refuse to enforce local ordinances that bar the homeless from public camping and obstructing sidewalks.

Tim Huffman, an associate professor of communications at St. Louis University and co-chair of the St. Louis Regional Commission on Homelessness, earlier told the Post-Dispatch that the provisions are a dig against progressive cities in Missouri.

This is going backwards 30 years, Huffman added.

The proposal in Missouri is based on model legislation advanced by the Cicero Institute, a Texas think tank founded in 2016 by Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of the Palantir and other tech companies.

As of 2020, Missouri had more than 6,500 homeless individuals, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Witnesses noted that due to the difficulty surveying homeless individuals, this was likely an undercount.

The states homeless population dropped by about 4,000 between 2011 and 2014 and remained relatively stable up to the latest 2020 count.

The legislation is House Bill 1606.

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ST. LOUIS  Living space is so limited at a controversial lock-up for some of Missouris most troubled residents that they arent kept away from roommates who test positive for COVID-19.

Stan Schell, 74, said this scenario recently played out for him in Farmington at Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Services, or SORTS, a Missouri Department of Mental Health program for sexually violent predators civilly committed against their will.

In a letter, Schell said he lives in a small room with three other patients. He said two of them tested positive May 31. Schell said his request to move the men into isolation elsewhere was denied.

I was told by a staff member to wear a mask to protect myself, he wrote. As no one can sleep in a mask, and the fact that I had two roommates coughing virtually all night long, I found that suggestion insincere.

He said he tested positive on June 6. Though he was ill, it wasnt as severe as his first bout in October 2020.

I find the fact that the facility chose to take a chance with my life rather than follow accepted isolation protocol appalling, he wrote.

Department of Mental Health spokeswoman Debra Walker verified by email that the protocol Schell described is accurate at SORTS in Farmington, as well as at other Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center facilities.

(T)he practice is to quarantine the ward, and isolate the positive patients to their room, since all patients in the same room are exposed, Walker wrote. Due to limited living areas  reassigning individuals to other bedrooms when one roommate tests positive was actually resulting in more clients being exposed. Keeping positive and exposed roommates in their room has helped contain additional outbreaks.

SORTS has been a controversial program since it began in 1999. Growing every year, it holds people against their will as patients because of what they might do. Theyve already served prison sentences for their convicted sex crimes. Few get out. Some patients, including those who were elderly, have died while trying to complete treatment, which caught the attention of a federal judge who once said SORTS had systemic failures but ultimately passed scrutiny.

On Wednesday, Schell, who said he was a former recruiter who used to live near Maryland Heights, was one of 159 patients at SORTS in Farmington. There were 110 patients at a second SORTS facility at Fulton State Hospital, which apparently hasnt been hit as hard by COVID.

Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center in Farmington, including the SORTS program there, has had 795 COVID-positive cases among staff and one staff death, according to state data. There have been 157 COVID cases involving patients and five patient deaths.

Fulton State Hospital has had 539 COVID-positive cases among staff, none fatal. There have been 156 COVID cases among patients and one death.

(T)here is more space available due to unused wards in the SORTS building that are available for future expansion, Walker wrote about Fulton. As a result, she added, COVID-positive patients can be isolated in a separate room there.

On Wednesday afternoon, there were 42 active cases among staff statewide and 19 among patients.

Reached by telephone from his ward, Schell wasnt satisfied with the states response. He said there was extra room to isolate patients in Farmington.

Its not logical, he said. We had other beds available.

Posted at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.

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CLAYTON  St. Louis County Executive Sam Page on Wednesday backed a proposal before the County Council to set aside $1 million in federal pandemic aid to help people get abortions in other states.

The proposal is a response to the states ban on most abortions, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Page on Wednesday said the Supreme Court decision endangered the lives of millions of Americans and triggered a major public health crisis in Missouri.

Abortion should be legal, safe, accessible, and affordable, Page said in a prepared statement delivered at a news conference.

He urged the council to support a proposal by Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, to use about $1 million in federal pandemic aid to fund travel, child care and other logistics for people traveling across state lines, likely to Illinois, to get an abortion.

The money would not be spent on any abortion procedure or be used to encourage or counsel a procedure, Page said.

Other details of the proposal have yet to be set. The council is expected to discuss the measure at a July 9 hearing on plans for roughly $75 million remaining in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Missouris abortion ban, approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2019, was triggered in separate actions by Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt after the high courts ruling.

Missouris law declares abortion a felony, except in cases of medical emergency, and does not include exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on Wednesday reiterated a vow not to enforce the abortion ban, claiming discretion to choose not to put resources toward criminalizing abortion. Bell said he didnt consider abortion a matter of public safety.

Anti-abortion groups have said they will challenge the use of any public dollars to support access to abortions in other states, arguing that it violates state law.

Page said the initiative qualified for federal funding because it addressed a matter of public health, citing similar legal interpretation by attorneys for the city of St. Louis.

This money will ensure women, especially those who cannot afford or otherwise do not have access to quality health care, can get the care they need.... We will not participate in counseling, we will not participate in paying for abortion services, state law is clear and we will follow the state law.

Asked about a possible legal challenge from Schmitt or anti-abortion groups, Page said his administration would move forward in the way we think is the best for residents of St. Louis County, and well see what happens.

Political opponents

Page, a Democrat, is running for a second, full term in office after winning election in 2020 to complete a term vacated by Steve Stenger. He faces Jane Dueker, an attorney and former lobbyist, in the Aug. 2 Democratic Primary.

Dueker on Wednesday appeared to agree with her primary opponent.

We need to keep abortion safe, legal and accessible, Dueker said in a brief written statement. I support St. Louis County funding womens access to quality health care.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face either state Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, or his challenger in the Republican primary, Katherine Pinner. Pinner as of Wednesday had not appeared to mount a campaign.

Dogan, who said he is pro-life, said he didnt support any public dollars going toward abortion, which he said should be banned  except in cases of medical emergency, rape and incest.

He was the lone Republican in the Missouri House to vote against the abortion ban in 2019, because it did not include exceptions for rape and incest.

Dogan said he supported state funding for greater access to birth control and contraceptives, but was very concerned about taxpayer money going to fund abortions. He said the plan would still support abortion even if it didnt pay directly for the procedure.

If theyre not also funding logistical support for other health care procedures ... thats a tell, he said, that this is about helping fund abortion.

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CLAYTON  Cal Harris, chief of staff for St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, resigned abruptly Wednesday, a week after a councilman asked law enforcement officers to investigate a video of a county employee engaged in a sexual act at the county building.

Councilman Mark Harder, R-7th District, said in a news release that he had received an anonymous video on June 22 of a male county employee in a sexual act with a woman in what appeared to be an office on the executive floor of the county building in downtown Clayton.

The employee, whom Harder did not name, could be identified in the video because he was wearing a county ID badge with his name. The video, Harder said, appeared to have been recorded by the male participant in the sex act.

Believing the woman might be a possible crime victim, Harder said he met with law enforcement officers on June 23.

He declined to comment to the Post-Dispatch, referring questions to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

But a source who had seen the video and retained possession of a copy told a reporter Wednesday that the male in the video was Harris, and that Harris name on the ID badge could be made out in a screen capture from the video.

The source shared the screen-cap with a reporter. The image did not include any faces but showed a clearly identifiable county government employee badge that included Calvin Harris name and photo.

The source, who said he had been recently interviewed by highway patrol investigators, asked not to be identified out of concern of interfering with a possible criminal investigation.

The source said the video was sent last week from an account that included the handle St. Louis County concerned citizen but did not otherwise identify the sender.

In his brief resignation email to Page, sent at 1:45 p.m., Harris made no mention of an investigation, but instead cited the recent death of a close relative and upcoming family relocation.

It is in the best interest of the County for me to step down from my duties and focus on my family and mental health, he said.

Harris did not respond to requests for comment.

Harder, in his news release sent just before 5 p.m., said he was releasing this information to the public for the purposes of transparency, and called on Pages office to cooperate fully with any law enforcement investigation.

Page spokesperson Doug Moore said the county executives office had no comment.

Spokespeople for the Clayton police and the highway patrol could not be reached for comment.

Harris, who had been spokesman for the city of Baltimore, was hired in January. He replaced Winston Calvert, who had been Pages chief adviser and chief strategy officer.

The job title for Harris came with a change in operations for Pages office. The county executive made Harris his lone direct report, revising an earlier system in which Calvert was one of Pages three direct reports along with Chief Administrative Officer Deanna Venker and Chief Policy Adviser Cora Faith Walker. (Walker died on March 11.)

Harris had been hired from a handful of finalist candidates that had included some current members of Pages administration.

He was previously a spokesman for the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, a regional communications director for Mike Bloombergs presidential campaign, and a senior adviser to Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloways unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2020.

Harris grew up in St. Louis and in Ferguson. He also previously co-founded a lobbying firm, Pine Street Strategies, along with former Democratic state Rep. Don Calloway, of St. Louis.

The firm, based in Washington, has lobbied for clients including Anheuser-Busch InBev and the National Bankers Association. He cut ties with the firm in 2019 before working for the city of Baltimore.

Harris salary as Pages chief of staff was $156,000.

Updated at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.

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Nassim Benchaabane Reporter covering St. Louis County politics. Born in Algeria but grew up in St. Louis. Previously reported for The Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi, and at the Wichita Eagle in Wichita, Kansas. Follow Nassim Benchaabane 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
JEFFERSON CITY  A special Senate committee opened testimony Wednesday on migrants entering the U.S. and their effect on Missouri.

The panel, which is set to meet between now and Jan. 1, was formed by Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, to look at ways to identify or discourage illegal immigration.

Yet, its not clear if the committees existence is aimed more at addressing a growing problem or if it is a continuation of a Republican effort to make the nations southern borders a political issue.

Brown said illegal drugs that are coming across the southern border are burdening local law enforcement and social service agencies.

Our federal government has failed to make progress in stemming the tide of illegal immigration that is plaguing our country, so its imperative the states take action on their own, Brown said.

He also said it has become an issue for businesses.

They are taking jobs from Missourians. The state is not getting any benefits, Brown said. The state is being cheated out of tax revenue.

The hearing comes at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them crossing swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

On Monday, the bodies of 53 migrants were discovered on the outskirts of San Antonio in what is believed to be the nations deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.-Mexico border. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals, including four children. Three people have been arrested.

On Wednesday, the panel heard testimony regarding workers being brought to Missouri illegally who do not pay taxes or follow Missouri labor laws.

Rep. Jim Murphy, a south St. Louis County Republican, said migrants are entering the county carrying drugs creating death and destruction in our cities.

What do we do to curb the import of drugs into our cities? Murphy said.

Murphy also said state law needs to be tightened to address companies that illegally use undocumented laborers.

Ben Terrell, a legislative liaison for the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said the agency does not look at immigration status when investigating labor complaints. Rather, those issues are typically forwarded to the federal government.

Sen. Doug Beck, D-St. Louis, agreed that the agency should crack down on companies that exploit migrant workers by skirting state tax laws and paying them cash.

Joyce Mucci, a former field representative for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told the panel that the state should require all companies operating in Missouri to use an electronic verification system to check the citizenship status of employees.

Its a deterrent, said Mucci, who said she was relying on a study by former Kansas Secretary of State Chris Kobach, who works for a scandal-tainted border wall group.

Sen. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, slammed Mucci for calling migrants illegal aliens.

Its very offensive, Washington said.

FAIR has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, saying its leaders have ties to white supremacist groups.

Missouri politicians have long used immigration as a cultural wedge issue, like guns, abortion and transgender rights.

In October, for example, Attorney General Eric Schmitt traveled to Texas to announce the filing of a lawsuit seeking to restart construction of former President Donald Trumps failed border wall.

Schmitt, who is running for U.S. Senate, joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton along the banks of the Rio Grande, just west of downtown El Paso, to announce the lawsuit.

Schmitt also has joined with Paxton in a lawsuit seeking to reinstate a controversial Trump administration program that required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for decisions in their U.S. immigration cases.

One of Schmitts GOP opponents, former Gov. Eric Greitens, also has said the U.S. should continue building the border wall.

Rep. David Gregory, R-Sunset Hills, who is running for state auditor, has invoked the southern border in his campaign, even though the auditor has little to do with immigration policy.

The launch of the committee follows an announcement by Gov. Mike Parson that Missouri would join 25 other states calling for the establishment of the American Governors Border Strike Force, a multistate effort to disrupt criminal organizations, combat human smuggling and stop the flow of illegal drugs.

Brown said the next hearing is scheduled for July 20.

Posted at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.

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JEFFERSON CITY  Although Gov. Mike Parson is a cattle farmer and a major supporter of agriculture, he is considering wielding his veto pen on a package of tax credits designed to help rural Missouri.

With the governor planning to issue a round of vetoes on Friday, the legislations demise would put several rural tax credits in jeopardy after they were allowed to expire in January.

The legislation would reauthorize tax credits for young farmers, meat packing facilities, the charcoal-making industry, ethanol retailers and biodiesel producers.

At issue for Parson is that the legislation approved by the House and Senate doesnt extend the tax credits for a long enough period of time. His office would not confirm this week whether a veto is imminent.

Under the legislation, the tax credits would expire in two years. Parson, before legislators adjourned in May, had called for a six-year sunset provision.

The measure was sponsored in the House by Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, who said farmers need a lot of tax credits and incentives to keep providing products from their farms to markets.

A nonpartisan fiscal analysis shows the credits could cost the states general revenue fund up to $40 million.

Farm groups also were pressing for a longer time shelf life for the tax credits.

We are disappointed the Legislature did not extend the programs for the full six years, but we are appreciative of the work they were able to accomplish. We know that Governor Parson will keep the best interests of farmers and ranchers in mind when reviewing the agriculture omnibus bill, said Eric Bohl, spokesman for the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Mike Deering, who oversees the Missouri Cattlemens Association, said he would not guess what Parson might do with the legislation.

I am not going to speculate on what gets a signature and what doesnt. I do know Gov. Mike Parson is a farmer and has always been a friend to farm and ranch families in this state. Thats not going to change, said Deering, who campaigned with Parson in the 2020 election.

The legislation is House Bill 1720.

Posted at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, June 29. Kurt Erickson  573-556-6181 @KurtEricksonPD on Twitter kerickson@post-dispatch.com

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ST. LOUIS  Former Alderman Jeffrey Boyd resigned this month after federal prosecutors accused him of accepting bribes in return for helping a businessman purchase property from the citys land bank.

But the staff of the St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority still wants to wait for Boyds successor to be in office before selling any more property in the city ward he represented for nearly two decades.

The LRAs deferral of sales in the 22nd Ward suggests that aldermanic courtesy  an issue brought to the fore by this months federal indictments of Boyd, former 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad and then-Aldermanic President Lewis Reed  isnt a tradition St. Louis officials will curb quickly.

Aldermen wield influence throughout the city bureaucracy, from deciding which variances are approved to where speed humps are installed. The indictments unsealed this month accused Collins-Muhammad and Boyd of using their influence to get city staff working on LRA sales or tax abatements  and profiting from it. They and Reed have all pleaded not guilty.

At its monthly meeting Wednesday, LRA staff recommended all sales in the north St. Louis wards formerly represented by Collins-Muhammad and Boyd be deferred until aldermanic leadership is in place. The LRA board took no action on offers in the wards, affecting some 30 properties that had received offers.

St. Louis Development Corp. staff employees oversee the LRA, and its governed by a three-member board appointed by the St. Louis mayor, comptroller and school district. The staff and board process of dozens of offers each month to buy the thousands of properties it owns, largely concentrated in north St. Louis wards such as the 21st and 22nd.

SLDC spokeswoman Sara Freetly said in an email that LRA staff asked the board to wait for new aldermen to ensure community engagement is conducted.

But she also wrote that aldermen do not play a role in LRAs decision making. Their support, she said is one form of community input and other community partners that may be impacted by a sale of LRA property, such as neighborhood associations, can also weigh in.

The LRA is a special creature of Missouri law, created in 1971 to accept title to the exploding number of abandoned, tax delinquent properties left behind from the exodus of people to the suburbs.

The statute governing LRA says nothing about aldermanic involvement, or the need for a support letter. But LRA staff and the board over the decades have largely deferred to the alderman representing the area before agreeing to sell properties. That influence has led to a wards alderman blocking purchases for political reasons, despite the land banks massive number of vacant, unused properties.

LRA directors, Freetly said, have the sole responsibility to make decisions on the sale of LRA properties.

Alderpersons do not control the process in any way, Freetly wrote. There has been a history of allowing alderpersons to provide perspective on sales; along with community organizations. Moving forward the LRA board will be implementing standardized practices and protocols that are driven by a score card and metrics that align with the mission of LRA and the Roadmap to Economic Justice.

According to the indictment, Boyd is accused of accepting bribes in return for submitting an aldermanic support letter to LRA on behalf of a businessman who wanted to buy land bank property. Boyd also made calls to former LRA Director Laura Costello, who was fired in April before the indictments were made public.

I talked to LRA and I convinced them that, um, I need them to support what you put down, Boyd is recorded telling the businessman. And so, I made them nervous.

After the indictments, SLDC staff announced it was pausing LRA sales from July through October, a move it had been considering for months. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has pointed to the LRA deferral as part of SLDCs efforts to assess and standardize its practices and processes.

Four offers on the LRA agenda Wednesday, two in the 2nd ward and two in the 26th ward, were delayed, with staff citing the suspension of LRA sales. But the board acted on most other offers. Freetly said some of the offers were deferred so staff could do a deeper analysis.

Alderman Shane Cohn has proposed legislation making some reforms to SLDC in response to the indictments, including removing the requirement that an aldermanic letter of support be submitted before SLDC awards business and nonprofit grants under a new program funded with federal COVID-19 relief money.

A Jones spokesman said Wednesday the mayor believes that the LRA system is antiquated and supports SLDCs freeze on new LRA applications and purchases as well as the agencys efforts to standardize the process.

Jones last week told St. Louis Public Radio in an interview that she had been working with SLDC and its executive director, Neal Richardson, on reforms even before the indictments. And she signaled was open to limiting the authority of aldermen in its decisions.

No longer can we have a process where the alderperson has ultimate veto authority, Jones said.

Posted at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.(tncms-asset)2d05be1e-b542-11e8-b614-00163ec2aa77[0](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)7d4fa962-e823-11ec-85aa-00163ec2aa77[1](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)a3c8f36a-e674-11ec-907b-00163ec2aa77[2](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)c8f93caa-e28f-11ec-90e6-00163ec2aa77[3](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)fc5ab2b0-b5d3-11ec-8ab4-00163ec2aa77[4](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)9f0fdc62-a9e9-11eb-bf07-00163ec2aa77[5](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)1e1cc9f4-45f4-11e9-8823-00163ec2aa77[6](/tncms-asset)

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HILLSDALE  In mid-June, during one of the hottest spells of the year, Darnita Robinson said her landlord stopped by with an odd request. He wanted to measure the doors.

Robinson shrugged it off, went about her business. She soon noticed the front door of the rental home was gone. So were the back and basement doors.

Took them right off the house, said Robinson, 39, recalling the story Tuesday with a Legal Services of Eastern Missouri attorney and a Post-Dispatch reporter.

Whats more, she said, Frank Hunt, the owner of the home in the 6500 block of Jesse Jackson Avenue, ran off with the utility meter and cut the PVC waterline in the basement. She said she reported the incident to Hillsdale Police.

Robinson, who is disabled, and her caregiver slept in shifts on the first night without doors. By the next day, Robinson said, she was admitted to the hospital. She said she was having seizures.

On Tuesday, Robinson had a black eye that she said she got from falling down, intoxicated. A neighbor said ambulances regularly come to the home.

While Ameren has since replaced the meter, the water and doors havent been fixed. Robinson said she borrows water from a neighbor to flush the toilet. She said she warms up water in the microwave to take a bird bath.

The caregivers dog, a black Labrador named Daisy, ran off after the doors were removed.

A copy of Robinsons most recent lease agreement with Hunts Housing LLC was dated March 1, 2020. It mentions the lease is for a period commencing on March 1, 2021. The document listed rent at $685 a month, a level that could be raised after the first year.

Robinson said Hunt told her in recent months that he wanted to sell the home, which has an appraised value of about $25,000, according to St. Louis County. She said she told him she needed more time to find a place.

Reached by telephone Tuesday afternoon, Frank Hunt said in a brief interview: I actually sold the house. They are actually supposed to go by to board the house up.

Robinson said people unknown to her came by late last week, taking furniture and partially boarding up the back doors, which spurred another call to Hillsdale Police.

Darnita hasnt paid no rent since November, Hunt said. I bet she didnt tell you that. Call my lawyer if you have any other problem.

He hung up without naming his attorney.

Robinson said she pays her own rent from her monthly disability check. She said she hadnt paid rent since the end of April because things werent being fixed, like the plumbing, broken front window and leaky ceiling.

It rains in the house, she said.

She said she knocked on the nearby door of Hillsdale Mayor Dorothy Mama Moore for assistance. Moore, one of the longest-serving elected officials in St. Louis County, didnt respond. Nor did she stop Tuesday when a reporter tried to flag her down when she drove by the home in question.

Robinson said her caseworker encouraged her to contact Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.

Why is this person walking the streets? attorney Robert Swearingen said in an interview about the doors and other features removed. He just stole their home. He stole their ability to live in this house safely and securely.

He said some landlords try to remove tenants without going through the proper channels. Its quicker, he said, and can happen without serious repercussion.

Its not a crime, he said. Whats the downside for a landlord? Maybe a lawsuit?

In this case, Swearingen said, the immediate priority was to find a place for Robinson and her caregiver to live. Then, he said, they could focus on filing a lawsuit alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, conversion and illegal eviction.

You cant forcibly evict somebody without going to court, he said.

In an added twist, on June 17, not long after the doors were removed, Hillsdale police Capt. Herbert Simmons pulled Robinsons caregiver, Carlos Munson III, over in the 1900 block of Kienlen Avenue. He was driving an unregistered white van. Munson was also ticketed for driving without a license and other infractions, records show.

Three days later, Hillsdale Officer Jesse Sproat wrote Munson another batch of similar tickets. He said the officer left the stack of tickets inside the house. Without a front door, there was easy access.

Robinson and Munson have been using the van to secure items while they look for a new place to live.

Hillsdale police Chief John Bernsen said Tuesday there is an open investigation regarding the removal of the doors and electric meter. He said the people who came to the home last week to board up the doors and remove items represented new ownership.

Bernsen said he told them on the scene: You have to go through regular protocols for evicting people.

Yet as kind of a mediation between two parties, he said he helped establish a deadline to move out by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Bernsen said there were two sets of traffic tickets because the violations continued on separate days.

I have helped them many times, he said. They arent being forced out.

Posted at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 28.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  In the wake of a fatal Amtrak train crash in rural Missouri that left four people dead and dozens injured, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday that the federal agency has recommended lights and bells at crossings since the 1990s.

Homendy noted that the passive crossing where the crash occurred did not have active lights or bells to warn drivers of oncoming trains, saying the NTSB has recommended those measures since 1998. About half of the countrys crossings remain passive crossings.

We still dont see action on that. Its been 24 years and that recommendation is still as important today as it was in 1998. Lives could be saved, Homendy said.

A state report issued in February showed the crossing where the deadly crash occurred was due for those upgrades  a project analysis ballparked the cost at around $400,000  and neighbors told The Star on Monday that concerns have been raised there for years.

Homendy said the NTSB was beginning its investigation by examining the events leading up to the crash. Evidence gathering was to include a digital download of information from the on-board recording system, Homendy said, which would show factors such as the use of the train horn, the speed of the train before impact and how the brakes were applied.

The safety board did not have any concerns about mechanical issues on the train or the tracks, she said.

The NTSB was aiming to release certain findings abut the crash, including the trains speed, as early as Wednesday, Homendy added.

The NTSB briefing came as a 14-member team from the agency arrived Tuesday morning to investigate the crash that occurred when the Amtrak train struck a dump truck Monday at a crossing near Mendon, Missouri, which is about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City. The crash was first reported at about 12:43 p.m. Monday, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The Amtrak train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago and carrying approximately 275 passengers and 12 crew members. Two passengers aboard the train were killed as rail cars tumbled off the tracks, landing on their side. A person in the dump truck also was killed.

A third passenger later died at University Hospital in Columbia, authorities said Tuesday. Authorities had not publicly identified the four who died.

On Tuesday, the patrol said 150 people were transported to area hospitals with various injuries.

Some of the passengers were taken to Northwestern High School in Mendon after the crash. Several there told The Star of a harrowing experience as they expressed gratitude for the response of emergency medical workers and thanks to escape with their lives.

Meanwhile, Amtrak, a federally-subsidized passenger rail provider, has said the company dispatched its own emergency response teams to assist with recovery and investigate the crash. Speaking to passengers in Mendon on Monday evening Mary Bis, senior director of emergency management for Amtrak, extended our apologies for the situation.

2022 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com.
GALVESTON, Texas (AP)  A man already sentenced to death for a cold-case killing in Oklahoma pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday in the deaths of three girls whose disappearances in Texas also went unsolved for decades.

William Reece, 62, pleaded guilty in a courtroom in Galveston in the 1997 killings of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood and 17-year-old Jessica Cain of Tiki Island. He then pleaded guilty in nearby Angleton later Wednesday to murder in the disappearance and death of 20-year-old Kelli Cox of Denton. He was sentenced to life in prison in each case.

Reece was serving a 60-year prison sentence for a 1998 Texas kidnapping in 2016 when he began cooperating with investigations of the other cases.

Smither failed to return from a morning jog in Friendswood in April 1997. Her remains were found more than two weeks later about 30 miles (50 kilometers) away in a retention pond near Pasadena, a Houston suburb.

Cain had been missing since August 1997, when her abandoned car was found on Interstate 45 near Tiki Island, a community across from Galveston Island. In April 2016, Reece led investigators to Cain's remains in a pasture on the southern fringe of Houston.

Also exhumed from that site were the remains of Cox, a University of North Texas student who was last seen in Denton in 1997. Reece is awaiting trial in Brazoria County on a capital murder charge in Cox's death.

He was sentenced to death last year for the 1997 killing of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnson of Oklahoma City.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A 32-year-old woman was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault as abortion protesters spent about 90 minutes inside the lobby of the South Carolina Statehouse during Tuesday's special session on the state budget, authorities said.

The woman was seen on videos on social media yelling at police and putting her hands on an officer. She faces up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail if convicted of third-degree assault and battery, according to police.

The woman was one of about 200 protestors who filled the second floor lobby of the Statehouse between the Senate and House chambers and a third floor balcony.

Most were part of a planned outdoor protest of people angry about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights case. They decided to come inside during the Legislature's special session Tuesday to consider whether to override the governor's budget vetoes.

Less than a dozen people who want to outlaw all abortions were inside the capitol and the two sides yelled at each other before the abortion rights protesters started to chant.

Statehouse security threatened the demonstrators with arrest for breaching the peace if they continued to chant loudly and the group left he Statehouse to protest outside.

The protesters did not interrupt the House and Senate, which finished the special session a few hours later.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NEW YORK  If you are having trouble keeping track of all the consumer boycotts swirling around, you are not alone.

A quarter of Americans are boycotting a product or company they had spent money on in the past, according to a recent survey from online loan marketplace LendingTree.

Whether because of political differences, or stances on social issues, or concerns about environmental impact, people are expressing themselves not only with their voices, but with their wallets.

The numbers are big, because people have become more willing to come out and take a political stance in recent years, said Matt Schulz, LendingTrees chief credit analyst. One of the ways people can have their voice heard in an impactful way is through a boycott.

Boycotts are not new: In fact when LendingTree ran this survey in the summer 2020, with the country roiling from protests following the murder of George Floyd, the percentages were even higher.

In the most recent survey, of over 2,100 consumers in April, the segments of society most likely to be boycotting some product or company were six-figure earners (37% of them do so), Gen Z (32%), Millennials (28%), those whose political affiliation is Democratic (31%) and Republican (24%).

Boycotts can extend to travel as well: 24% of respondents said they have scratched states or countries off their itineraries because of legislative or policy disagreements.

Those numbers dont surprise me, because people are becoming more aware of where to spend their money or not spend it, said Adrianne Wright, founder and chief executive of Rosie, a storytelling agency for nonprofit organizations.

Its good to rally and march, but just gathering may not get the outcomes youre looking for. To move the world forward, you have to think about how to make good trouble, and get more creative with your tactics.

During the administration of President Donald Trump, for instance, the Grab Your Wallet movement (grabyourwallet.org) compiled a spreadsheet of Trump-connected businesses to avoid, to protest the Trump administrations serial targeting of women, immigrants, and communities of color.

As an example on the other side of the political spectrum, Disney recently faced calls for a consumer boycott, related to its opposition to Floridas so-called Dont Say Gay bill.

And on the hot-button topic of Russia, Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld has been assembling a list of companies (both American and international) that are still operating in Russia, despite widespread anger in the West over its invasion of Ukraine.

The most-cited reason for boycotting? Political donations, mentioned by 39% of respondents in the LendingTree survey. That was followed by treatment of employees (34%), stance on social issues (33%), and policy positions (30%).

When to take action?

The real challenge for consumers: How much to let political and social issues guide your purchasing decisions. There are so many potential subjects you might disagree on with a company, that it would be very easy to enter any mall or supermarket and be completely paralyzed.

On a practical level, it requires a huge amount of time and effort to stay current on the issues of every company you do business with on a daily basis. It is also challenging to boycott multinationals which may make hundreds of different products.

Companies can feel like they are being put in a box. Taking a political stance may please some consumers but anger others. Not taking a stance can do exactly the same thing.

Even trickier for companies: consumers most likely to boycott are the biggest earners, according to LendingTree. Among those with six-figure incomes, 77% of them are more likely to spend their cash at businesses that share their political or social beliefs.

Thats a big deal, because businesses tend to listen to people who spend the most money with them, said Schulz.

For consumers, it is a matter of picking your battles. We are all so exhausted and overwhelmed with all the issues coming up every single day, so I would say choose one or two issues that are near and dear to your heart, Wright said.

You cant do everything all at once. So what are the issues that break your heart? Then look at the products and services in your life, the ones you come into contact with on a daily basis, and look at the alignment between those products and those issues.
DENVER (AP)  Republicans in Colorado rejected two prominent candidates whose political profiles were centered on election falsehoods in a fresh reminder that fealty to former President Donald Trump's lies about mass voter fraud is no guarantee of success with conservative voters.

Tina Peters, the Mesa County clerk who became nationally known after being indicted for her role in a break-in of her own county election system, lost her bid for the GOP nomination for Colorado secretary of state. Instead, Republicans selected Pam Anderson, a critic of Trumps election lies and a former clerk in suburban Denver who is well-regarded among election professionals. She is now positioned to challenge Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

I will continue my fight for restoring the confidence of Colorado voters against lies and the politicians or interest groups that seek to weaponize elections administration for political advantage, Anderson said after her victory.

One of Peters top Colorado allies, state Rep. Ron Hanks, lost his bid for the partys Senate nomination to Joe ODea, a businessman who has repeatedly acknowledged that President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election. That was a sharp contrast with Hanks, who attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, doesnt believe Biden is a legitimate president and says he discovered a new, animating purpose fighting election fraud after 2020.

Greg Lopez, a former suburban Denver mayor who was placed on the ballot after promising the state GOP convention that hed pardon Peters if elected governor, lost the nomination for that post to Heidi Ganahl, a member of the state university board of regents and a more traditional Republican. She'll campaign against Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in November.

In other elections beyond Colorado on Tuesday, Trump's efforts to rewrite the results of the last campaign seemed to lack a punch. In Mississippi, Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican who bucked Trump to vote for an independent Jan. 6 commission, beat back a challenge from an air force pilot. And in Oklahoma, Sen. James Lankford easily defeated a GOP primary challenge from an evangelical pastor who complained he hadnt echoed Trumps election lies.

The contests played out at the midpoint of a primary season that has tested the resonance of Trump's elections falsehoods, which have been roundly rejected by elections officials, his own attorney general and the courts, including by judges he appointed. Trump has had some success this year, with candidates who deny the results of the 2020 election having won GOP primaries for the chief elections post in Alabama, Indiana, Nevada and New Mexico. In Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, who was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, won the GOP nomination for governor and, if elected, would be in position to nominate the secretary of state to oversee elections.

But there have been other notable high-profile defeats, especially in Georgia, where Trump recruited challengers to the Republican governor and secretary of state who refused to improperly declare him the winner of the state in 2020. Both easily beat back their challenges.

Trump did not formally endorse Peters or Hanks, though Peters appeared at his Florida resort and counts among her top backers his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

At her party south of Denver, Peters indicated she'll continue to disbelieve election results. Donning a T-shirt emblazoned with #JailJena in a reference to the Democratic secretary of state, Peters claimed with no evidence there was fraud in Tuesday's election and that looking at the results, its just so obvious it should be flipped.

The primaries were held at a volatile moment in the nation's politics, just days after the Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right of women to obtain an abortion.

After that ruling, abortion took on a greater role in Colorado's Senate race. ODea is a rare Republican supporter of most abortion rights. He backs a ban on late term abortions but said the decision earlier should be between a mother and her God. He will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November. Bennet won his toughest race in 2010 by slamming his GOP challenger for opposition to abortion rights.

Hanks opposes abortion in all circumstances, including rape, incest or to save the mothers life. Viewing him as the easier candidate to beat in November, Democrats spent more than $4 million unsuccessfully boosting his candidacy.

A similar strategy worked in Illinois, where state senator and farmer Darren Bailey gained a late-stage endorsement from Trump over the weekend. Democrats also spent more than $16 million to elevate him over Richard Irvin, the first Black mayor of Aurora, the states second largest city. Irvin was seen as a far more formidable challenger to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and was backed heavily by Republican donors.

Speaking at his victory party, Bailey said he was standing up for regular people and vowed to outwork Pritzker and win in November.

Now the elites and the press say that Pritzkers a shoo-in. They say our fates set, that a farmer cant beat a billionaire, Bailey said. Friends, the funny thing is, these same people said we couldnt win the primary.

Beyond Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi and Oklahoma, elections were held in Utah, New York, Nebraska and South Carolina. Tuesday marks the final round of multistate primary nights until August, when closely watched races for governor and the U.S. Senate will unfold in Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Missouri and other states.

Not all races were decisive rejections of election denial. In Utah, two Republican critics of Trump unsuccessfully targeted Sen. Mike Lee, accusing the two-term senator of being too preoccupied with winning the former president's favor and helping him try to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Also in Colorado, firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert easily defeated her primary challenger, moderate state Sen. Don Coram.

Other than the governor's race primary, Illinois also featured two, rare incumbent vs. incumbent congressional primaries as a result of House districts being redrawn during last year's redistricting. Democratic Rep. Sean Casten defeated Rep. Marie Newman in a Chicago-area district. And GOP Rep. Rodney Davis, one of the last moderates in the Republican caucus, fell to Trump-backed Rep. Mary Miller, who at a rally with the former president this weekend described the Supreme Court decision as a victory for white life. A spokesman said she meant to say right to life.

In the smaller towns of Illinois, conservative voters were hankering for a change. Toni Block, 80, of McHenry, about 45 miles northwest of Chicago, voted for Bailey in the gubernatorial primary.

Hes got all the good things that we need to get back to, Block said. Not only is he a Trump supporter, he has our values.

In Mississippi, six-term Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost his primary after a report from the congressional ethics office last year accused him of misusing campaign funds.

In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who became the state's chief executive last fall when Andrew Cuomo resigned during a sexual harassment scandal, easily fought off primary challenges from the left and center. She will face Rep. Lee Zeldin, who won the GOP's nomination against a field that included Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York mayor and Trump confidant Rudolph Giuliani. Trump did not make an endorsement in the race.

Associated Press writers Sara Burnett in Chicago and Claire Savage in McHenry, Illinois, contributed to this report.

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen did more than strike New Yorks may issue subjective concealed carry permitting scheme. The ruling also told lower courts that attempting to balance the individuals Constitutional right to keep and bear arms against the governments interest in controlling that right violates the Constitution.

In other words, the Supreme Court told the lower courts to cut it out.

Thats significant, since it was a practice adopted by lower courts to seemingly always justify keeping gun control laws in place that ranged from subjective may issue concealed carry permitting laws to bans on entire classes of commonly-owned firearms and standard-capacity magazines.

The majority 6-3 opinion specifically singled out the courts two-step process that has been applied to Second Amendment cases. That was a legal theory proposed by Justice Stephen Breyer in his dissent in District of Columbia v. Heller, but which the majority expressly rejected.

Despite the popularity of this two-step approach, it is one step too many, wrote Justice Clarence Thomas in his opinion which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. .....
WASHINGTON  Two of Congress staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist alternatives to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday, even as the partys voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.

Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller won her primary over fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis just days after she called the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a historic victory for white life during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump. Her spokesperson said she misspoke.

Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican.

Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost in a rare runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell. But his Republican House colleague, Michael Guest, won a runoff race in the state, despite defying Trump and voting to create an independent commission to investigate last years insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago after a declining population cost the state a House seat.

In all, six states held congressional primary elections, primary runoffs or special elections. In addition to testing Trumps national influence, they provided hints of how voters are reacting to the high courts decision on abortion.

Some of the top elections:

Boeberts staying power

Boebert, a first-term firebrand, saw her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado become even more Republican after redistricting. She had little trouble with moderate state Rep. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slammed what he calls Boeberts extremism.

Boebert trumpeted her gun-toting Second Amendment credentials and opposition to COVID-19 restrictions that briefly shuttered her Shooters restaurant.

Long known for controversial statements, Boebert said Sunday, Im tired of this separation of church and state junk thats not in the Constitution.

The phrase doesnt expressly appear in the Constitution, though the First Amendment says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Thomas Jefferson was president when he wrote in an 1802 letter that such phrasing should amount to a wall of separation between church and state.

Boebert referred to Jeffersons writing as a stinking letter.

In Colorados deeply conservative El Paso County, meanwhile, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams for his 5th Congressional District seat. Williams failed to get the phrase Lets Go Brandon, code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his name on the ballot.

Lamborn faces an ongoing House ethics investigation over whether he misused official resources for personal purposes. He is an ardent opponent of abortion and backs the significant U.S. military presence in Colorado Springs.

Two incumbents lose in Illinois

Miller bested Davis for the GOP nomination in a sprawling, heavily red district in central Illinois that was redrawn after the states shrinking population cost it a congressional seat.

Miller, first elected in 2020, is no stranger to controversy. She quoted Adolf Hitler shortly after winning her seat, saying during a rally that Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future. She later apologized after Democrats in Illinois called for her resignation. She also voted against certifying Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election and is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

On Saturday night, she made the white life comment as Trump stood behind her at a rally in Mendon, drawing cheers from the crowd. Miller has since said shes not racist, and her spokesperson said she had intended to say the ruling was a victory for the right to life.

Davis was a co-chair of Trumps 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. He had the backing of almost all of the districts 35 county party chairs and vowed to reimplement Trump policies, including walling off the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the states 6th Congressional District, Casten defeated his fellow Democratic colleague Newman, who was first elected to the House in 2020. She faces an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation over whether she promised federal employment to a political opponent.

Casten is a two-term congressman who flipped a suburban seat in 2018 that Republicans had held for decades.

Jesse Jacksons son wins Democratic primary

Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a crowded field vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.

The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicagos South Side to Kankakee.

In Illinois open 17th Congressional District, Esther Joy King won the GOP nomination, while Eric Sorensen, a former meteorologist, won the Democratic nomination. They are vying to replace five-term Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, who decided against seeking reelection in the largely rural swath of northwestern Illinois.

In Illinois heavily Democratic 7th District, longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago beat progressive and gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins on Tuesday  though the margin was far narrower than his commanding primary win over her in 2020.

Mississippi runoffs: One incumbent wins, one loses

One of two Mississippi congressmen facing a rare primary runoff election lost his seat.

Palazzo blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the Biden administration for his defeat to Ezell, the sheriff of a coastal county. But the congressman had also been accused in a 2021 congressional ethics report of abusing his office by misspending campaign funds.

He said that Mississippi voters hired me to fight the woke, liberal agenda and to push back against government overreach, and Ive done that for 12 years.

But Palazzo also added: With COVID and because of what the Biden administration is doing to this country, they took their anger out on me.

Ezell said he won because of connections he forged during more than 40 years in law enforcement. When people call and need something, Ive been accessible to them.

Meanwhile, Guest won a GOP runoff against former Navy fighter pilot Michael Cassidy. Guest will face Democrat Shuwaski Young in November.

Nebraska special election overlaps with sentencing

Former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was sentenced to probation on Tuesday for lying to federal agents just as voters picked a replacement for the rest of his term.

State Republican Rep. Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to succeed Fortenberry, who served nine terms in the Republican-heavy district that includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller, rural communities. Theyll compete again in November to determine who serves a new term, beginning in January.

Fortenberry resigned in March after being convicted of intentionally misleading FBI agents about his knowledge of an illegal, $30,000 campaign contribution from a Nigerian billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.

A judge sentenced him to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and community service.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)  The mother of a U.S. military veteran who went missing after he traveled to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia has spoken with her son by telephone, the family said Wednesday.

Lois Bunny Drueke, of Tuscaloosa, answered a call from what appeared to be a Russian exchange and talked to son Alex Drueke on Tuesday for nearly 10 minutes in their first conversation since he and Andy Huynh, another Alabama veteran who traveled to Ukraine, were captured after a fight earlier this month in Ukraine.

Apparently at the prompting of his captors, Drueke said the people holding him were anxious to begin negotiations and that he had food, water and bedding, Bunny Drueke said in a statement released by her family.

He sounded tired and stressed, and he was clearly reciting some things he had been made to practice or read, but it was wonderful to hear his voice and know hes alive and alright, she said.

Drueke said he hadn't been in contact with Huynh for several days, according to the woman. The United States has said both men should be protected as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.

Huyhn's fiance, Joy Black, said his family was thrilled the Drueke was able to speak with his mother.

We are still hoping to get a similar communication from Andy, she said.

Druke and Huynh didn't return to a meeting spot after their group came under heavy fire in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border on June 9. The two traveled separately to help Ukraine and became buddies there in part because of their shared Alabama background, relatives have said.

The U.S. State Department said it was looking into reports that Russian or Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine had captured at least two American citizens. If confirmed, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began Feb. 24.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was nothing extraordinary, but in the middle of war it offered an escape for some residents. In a few moments on Monday, it suddenly became a hellish inferno after it was hit by a Russian airstrike. Authorities say at least 18 people are dead, more than 20 are missing and scores are wounded. The Kremenchuk mall is now the latest addition to the allegations of war crimes levied against Russia in the Ukraine war. One mall employee who said he had stepped outside for a cigarette when the air raid siren went off estimated 1,000 people had been in the mall, contradicting Russias claim it was empty.
Nearly two decades after a disabled 9-year-old Missouri boy went missing, his father has been convicted of killing him. St. Louis County jurors on Friday found 49-year-old Dawan Ferguson guilty of first-degree murder. Jurors deliberated less than three hours. Ferguson will be sentenced to life in prison without parole, which is mandatory in non-death penalty first-degree murder cases in Missouri. Ferguson called 911 from a pay phone on June 11, 2003, and said his vehicle was taken in a carjacking with his son, Christian, inside. Prosecutors at trial this week said the carjacking never happened. Fergusons lawyers said there was no evidence of murder. The childs body was never found.
Recently, a rare celestial phenomenon nicknamed the great parade of planets was reported by news outlets worldwide. The event, which had not been seen in 18 years, began on June 14 and ended on Monday. It featured five planets and the moon appearing in a line, simultaneously visible from the ground. For those of us of a liberal bent, it feels as if the planets have been aligned against us since 2016, starting with the refusal of the Senate to vote on Judge Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court.

Now, just as then, the Republican minority in Congress is obstructing nearly all of the Democratic presidents proposals. And now, just as then, the signs are everywhere. Overturning Roe v. Wade was just the beginning. If you disbelieve me, reflect.

It wasnt just the boisterous Trump machine riling up those who believed they were being left behind or who felt discriminated against because of their light skin color, but also the reluctance of Sen. Bernie Sanders and his followers to support Hillary Clinton after she won the Democratic nomination.

It was FBI Director James Comeys new investigation of supposedly leaked emails from Clintons home computer a few months before the election, which left many citizens convinced that Americas adversaries may have gained access to government secrets.

It was people who didnt want a woman as president even though theyd deny having such a prejudice. It was people listening to President Donald Trump decrying science during the coronavirus epidemic and suggesting that disinfectant or medication used primarily to deworm livestock could cure the scourge if ingested.

It was discovering that friends and family whod seemed sensible beforehand denying that we now had a president who was overtly sexist and racist, who governed by vindictiveness, firing anyone who disagreed with him, and who called hate mongers good people.

It was Democrats striving to go high, in former first lady Michelle Obamas words, when even now Republicans continue to cleave to a man courting those who go low. And then Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. These are the events that predicated the Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe.

Even before the leaked draft of the abortion decision occurred earlier this year, I had no doubt whatsoever that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. I even expected the decision would be made on a Friday shortly before the justices scheduled recess, thereby allowing states to enact their trigger laws and leaving news organizations worldwide scrambling to comment on its effect.

In hindsight, some members of Congress whod been on the confirmation panel of the three Trump Supreme Court nominees say they now feel blindsided because these candidates said or implied that they would not re-adjudicate established law like Roe. To that, I say: Really? How many job applicants offer up answers that they think the prospective employer is looking for, even if their true feelings differ? Why wouldnt you think an applicant for a Supreme Court appointment would act differently?

Now, almost 50 years after the Roe v. Wade decision, women all across the country have been stripped of the right to control their bodies. This decision is not just a slippery slope, its the tip of a Titanic-sized iceberg. Once an established right has been taken away, where will it stop?

Perhaps the court will accept a case advocating the obliteration of the 13th and 14th Amendments altogether and reinstate slavery. Or, since women have no authority to control what is growing in their uteruses, perhaps theyll hear a case proposing overturning the 19th Amendment, thereby prohibiting voting rights to women. After Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that prior opinions concerning contraceptives, LGBTQ rights and marriage equality might be the next targets of the court, actor Samuel L. Jackson tweeted the question I too wondered, namely: why the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case banning states from prohibiting interracial marriage  as is Thomass  was not on his hit list.

Ive heard more than one person say that they dont vote because all politicians are crooked. Forget that. Now is not the time to boycott voting. If women want to restore control over their own bodies, they must start by voting against politicians that have joyfully taken away that right, from the local level up. The planets will continue to be aligned against us all if those women dont.

Janet Y. Jackson is a Post-Dispatch columnist and an Editorial Board member.
I am one of those RINOs youve heard so much about recently. Those of us who have been labeled Republicans in Name Only are an endangered species in the now deep-red state of Missouri.

I am much more than that phrase would indicate. Here are a few more ways I would describe myself. I am a wife, a mother, a registered nurse, a spiritual person actively involved in a faith community, a volunteer, and a St. Louis Cardinals fan. I am grateful to be an American. I am deeply patriotic. I believe in the rule of law, free markets, and the Constitution.

And, apparently, I am now a target of political violence. I am to be hunted by members of my own political party, according to former Gov. Eric Greitens, who has declared there should be no bagging limit and no tagging limit for recipients of his RINO hunting permit. This makes me scared for myself and my family. I do not find the political violence rhetoric humorous, and I am certainly not alone in this.

Last week, fellow RINO and Jan. 6 House Select Committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois shared a death threat he received in the mail. A domestic terrorist, who addressed the letter to Kinzingers wife, Sophia, called for the couple and their 5-month-old baby to be executed. The Kinzinger family was a target of such hate because the congressman dared to highlight the truth about the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

These threats of political violence have unfortunately become commonplace and seem to be increasing. The extreme right has been fed countless lies and propaganda. Elected members of the Republican Party who know better have been too silent and, dare I say, complicit. As of this writing, only one elected Republican official has condemned Greitens deeply irresponsible ad. That one is one of Greitens U.S. Senate Republican primary opponents, Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz.

It does not seem that long ago that Republicans like Kinzinger and me were active members of the party, and that party had a platform of ideas and values we believed in. Now we are hated because we dared to put country over party and spoke out about former President Donald Trump. We have been banished to the outskirts, waiting to be prey, with the term RINO attached to our identity.

Many say we should remain active in the Republican Party and try to reform it from within. But this iteration of the Republican Party does not want me or my ilk to be a part of it. Rather its more radical elements would prefer to bust into my home, throw a flash grenade and hunt me and my family with assault rifles. Not to mention their ideas and tactics are no longer conservative in the ideologic sense. Why would I want to associate or remain a member of such a group?

So, what is a RINO to do, no matter what state you live in? First and foremost, we try to keep ourselves and our families safe. We would contact law enforcement immediately if threatened, openly denounce threats of political violence, and reach out to Republican elected officials and ask that they too denounce the threat posed to their fellow constituents.

We also would consider leaving the Republican Party. Reject the political extremes, on either side. Tell the truth and reject the lies of election fraud. Work to change the system by supporting electoral reforms like ranked-choice voting. Encourage the updating of the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

I am doing what I can to support Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, in her reelection bid. Cheney was recently called a Stalinist by a fellow Republican.

Some might considering voting for moderate Democrats if they deem it acceptable or preferable to voting for someone on the radical right. They can begin the hard work of forming a new party and not accept the status quo answer that it cannot be done or cannot be successful. They can support one another and acknowledge that the threats of political violence are real. Pay attention to state and local races, as well as the national ones. Consider running for public office. Watch and pay attention to the Jan. 6 Select Committee hearings. Stay true to themselves and their principles. Perhaps most importantly, they should vote.

No one should be made to feel unsafe anywhere in America, especially in their own states, by their potential next senator. I love my fellow Missourians, not hate them. I love my fellow Americans, not loathe them. If rejecting threats of political violence, telling the truth, and putting country first makes me a RINO, then I will wear it proudly.

Lynn Schmidt is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. lynnschmidtrn@outlook.com On Twitter: @lynnschmidtrn
Tuesdays blockbuster testimony before the House Jan. 6 Select Committee brought the American public directly into former President Donald Trumps inner White House sanctum to understand his thinking and motivation as the Capitol insurrection was being planned and launched. The evidence and testimony strongly suggest that he knew an attack was planned, that some attackers were armed, and that he was directly involved in the insurrections violent outcome. Trump allegedly was so anxious to be a witness to the siege that he physically grappled with his limousine security personnel when they told him he could not go to Capitol Hill amid the Jan. 6, 2021, pandemonium.

Testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, portrayed the president alternately as a willing conspirator and power-crazed madman. He threw dishes in anger when told by then-Attorney General Bill Barr that there was no legal justification to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. In addition to allegedly reaching for the steering wheel of his limousine, he may have reached for the throat area of a security adviser who told him conditions on Capitol Hill were too dangerous for him to go there during the insurrection. That account is, at best, third-hand and requires corroboration under oath from those directly involved. But the account doesnt conflict with other witness accounts to Trumps violent behavior and Barrs conclusion that Trump had become unhinged.

When advised that there were people carrying assault rifles and handguns just beyond the security perimeter for his Jan. 6 rally, Trump angrily protested as Hutchinson stood nearby in a security tent, Theyre not here to hurt me. He and Meadows seemed entirely uninterested in the presence of armed men among the crowd members who, soon afterward, stormed the Capitol. If Trump didnt know what their plans were, how else could he have been so confident that they werent there to hurt him  especially since Trump and his spin doctors repeatedly blamed Antifa leftists for the siege?

Hutchinson also recalled a meeting with Meadows two days before the rally in which he warned her that things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6. That remark followed concerns she and others raised after reading security briefings about potential violence that day. She said Trump also was aware of those reports. Yet he proceeded with the rally and insisted on language in his speech directing the crowd toward the Capitol to fight.

For many Americans, such revelations only confirm what theyve known from the beginning about the man who, upon entering the White House in 2017, was deemed by 27 psychiatrists around the country to exhibit dangerous sociopathic tendencies. Shockingly, Republicans across the country still regard Trump as some kind of savior who was robbed of reelection in 2020 and who deserves to represent the party in the 2024 race. Its doubtful their devotion to Trump will be swayed, as if to confirm his 2015 statement that he could shoot someone in the middle of Manhattan and not lose their support.

Those who havent drunk the Trump Kool-Aid should be more convinced than ever that he belongs in jail. The case has never been stronger for that outcome, and judging from recent FBI raids and seizures, the Justice Department seems to think likewise. The FBI appears to be closing in, having searched the house of Trump lawyer Jeffrey Clark with a warrant while he had to stand on the street in his pajamas. Separately, agents seized the phone of John Eastman, another Trump legal adviser. These actions strongly suggest that the Justice Department is building a case for criminal prosecution.

Trump, in predictable fashion, tried to portray Hutchinson as a nobody whom he barely knew at the White House and who was disgruntled after being refused a position on Trumps post-White House team. During her testimony, the committee displayed photos of her in close proximity to Trump in his Air Force One presidential office. Other White House insiders back the credibility of her account.

Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinsons role or her access in the West Wing either doesnt understand how the Trump [White House] worked or is attempting to discredit her because theyre scared of how damning this testimony is, former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews tweeted.

Nevertheless, the committees case would be strengthened if other witnesses could summon Hutchinsons courage and testify. What the committee wont receive is cooperation from the cowards who bent the law to the breaking point and subsequently requested pardons from Trump or exercised their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination when appearing before the committee.

Among those who also allegedly sought a pardon was Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the fast-talking, sanctimonious Trump defender who encouraged the presidents defiant stand and worked overtime to help block House confirmation of the 2020 election result. Jordan claims he cant recall details of the multiple telephone exchanges he had with Trump and Meadows on Jan. 6, but records show he had a 10-minute call with Trump that morning. Hutchinson said Jordan called Meadows later, as the insurrection was in progress, with chants of Hang Mike Pence audible in the background.

These credible allegations bear all the hallmarks of a coup engineered directly from the White House with the presidents full knowledge and cooperation. Efforts by the likes of Jordan, Meadows and others to block the facts from public exposure appear to be quickly unraveling. This is the salve that a wounded nation so desperately needs if it is ever to heal.
Soaring gas prices have made road trips more expensive, while also contributing to increasing costs for airfares. And while youll likely not fly in an electric plane anytime soon, this might be the year of the electric car road trip.

Even if you dont own an electric car yourself, its fairly easy to rent one. And given high gas prices  averaging $4.95 per gallon nationwide and a mind-boggling $6.37 in California, according to AAA data from June  electric cars might be among the cheaper ways to travel.

Heres what you need to know if you're considering an EV car rental.

Look to major rental car companies

Many major rental car companies, including Hertz and Enterprise, offer electric vehicles, at least at some locations. The Enterprise website makes it especially easy to find an electric vehicle with its filter tool, allowing you to narrow results to hybrid and electric cars only.

During the first weekend of June, you could rent a Nissan Leaf for $210 per day from the San Francisco International Airport Enterprise, or a Tesla Model S for $275. Meanwhile, a Toyota Corolla went for $200 from the same location.

It doesnt take a lot of driving to justify the $10 price increase in the Leaf versus the Corolla in terms of gas savings. And considering gas prices are averaging about $6.52 per gallon in San Francisco, according to AAA, the cost to refill the Corollas roughly 13-gallon gas tank would be about $85, making the pricier Tesla Model S seem like a deal if youre driving a lot.

Know that electric vehicle fleets are growing

You might not be able to find electric vehicle availability this summer, especially if youre traveling in a less-populated area. Rental cars, in general, can be tough to find, and limited availability makes finding electric vehicles even tougher. But dont give up on the idea of an electric vehicle road trip, as youll likely find more availability soon as rental car companies expand their fleets.

In November 2021, Hertz added Tesla Model 3s to most of its locations in major U.S. cities, plus some in Europe. The company also ordered 100,000 Teslas that it expects to join its fleet by the end of 2022, which it claims would make it the largest EV rental fleet in North America.

And this spring, Hertz announced a partnership with Swedish electric car maker Polestar, in which it promised to purchase up to 65,000 Polestar vehicles over the next five years. Polestar electric vehicles are set to arrive in North American Hertz rental locations by the end of this year.

Look to nontraditional rental car companies

Major rental car companies arent the only place to rent an electric vehicle. They also frequently appear through rental car alternatives like Turo and Getaround.

Most of these alternatives are peer-to-peer sites that operate similarly to Airbnb, where you book cars from the cars owner, who is likely just a regular person making some side income while their car isnt in use.

During July Fourth weekend, renting a car in Honolulu puts you face to face with gas prices around $5.55 per gallon. But head to Turo, and youll find dozens of Tesla models available, and even a couple of other EV options, like a Nissan Leaf and a Polestar. Prices are set by the owner, and most Tesla Model 3s go for just over $100 per day.

Not only are cars rented through these car rental alternatives often cheaper than had you rented from a conventional company, but they might be your only option given how the major car companies are still replenishing their fleets.

I rented an electric car. Now what?

Driving an electric car means no more gas station stops, but it adds on stops to charge it.

Ideally, youll want to charge your EV at the same place youre spending the night. Many hotel and vacation rental companies have made it easier with filters of their own to browse accommodations that offer electric vehicle charging. Its also increasingly common to find hotels promoting electric vehicle charging as a guest benefit  often at no cost.

Some vehicle manufacturers, such as Hyundai, Nissan and Tesla, also provide complimentary public charging, according to the nonprofit Center for Sustainable Energy.

If you cant find a free charger, factor the cost to charge your electric vehicle into your overall vacation budget. The Center for Sustainable Energy analyzed the cost to charge from EVgo, which has more than 850 charging stations nationwide, and found that charging a 40-kWh battery with a 150-mile range would cost between about 8 and 9 cents per mile.

To put that into context, driving a 2018 Toyota Camry the roughly 600 miles round-trip between Los Angeles and Yosemite National Park would cost about $95 in gas, according to AAA estimates. In contrast, the cost to charge an EV would be about half that.

If you frequently rent electric vehicles, consider charging those expenses to a credit card with electric vehicle rewards.

Also account for the time needed to charge your electric car. Depending on the voltage of the outlet or charge, it can take anywhere from about 15 minutes to several hours. Do your research ahead of time so you dont find yourself sitting in a random city for hours as you charge your car on your way to your destination.

The bottom line

With gas prices high, renting an electric car can make financial sense. Even if an electric vehicle seems like its a car fit for someone in a tax bracket higher than your own, that might not be the case when renting a car this summer. The sticker price of the rental might be higher, but dont overlook the fact that increasing gas prices might cause the total price to be even more.

Sally French writes for NerdWallet. Email: sfrench@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SAFmedia.

The article Want a Gas-Free Road Trip? Consider Renting an EV originally appeared on NerdWallet.
DGAP-Ad-hoc: OPDEnergy, S.A. / Key word(s): Capital Increase

OPDEnergy, S.A.: INTENTION TO FLOAT ON THE SPANISH STOCK EXCHANGES



29-Jun-2022 / 08:00 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





INTENTION TO FLOAT ON THE SPANISH STOCK EXCHANGES

OPDENERGY HOLDING, S.A. (Opdenergy or the Company and, collectively with its subsidiaries, the Group) announces today its intention to proceed with the initial offering (the Offering) of new ordinary shares (the New Shares) to qualified investors. The Offering is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to 200 million to fund its business plan.

The Company also expects to offer a portion of the New Shares in the Offering to certain employees of the Group (the Employees) and to certain members of the Senior Management, the CEO and certain persons closely related or linked to the Company, the Senior Management or the ultimate beneficial owners of the Companys shareholders (collectively, the Related Investors). The Employees and Related Investors will be residents in Spain and the European Union, respectively.

Additionally, the Company expects to offer a portion of the New Shares in the Offering, less than 8 million in gross proceeds, to all type of investors (the Public Investors) located in Spain.

The Company intends to apply for admission of its New Shares and existing ordinary shares to be listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia Stock Exchanges (respectively, the Admission and the Spanish Stock Exchanges) for trading through the Automated Quotation System (Mercado Continuo) of the Spanish Stock Exchanges.

INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

Opdenergy is a well-established and fully integrated independent producer of sustainable energy, focused on the production of solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind power, present in selected stable and fast-growing Tier I renewable energy markets. In particular, Opdenergy is present and has pipeline projects in five markets in Europe (Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France and Poland), in the United States and in three markets in Latin America (Chile, Mexico and Colombia). Opdenergys vertically integrated approach, with in-house expertise and integrated capabilities across the entire value chain, ensures invaluable understanding and control over the projects development, structuring, financing, construction, and operation and maintenance.

As of the date of this announcement, the Company has a portfolio of opeRating, Under Construction and Pre-Construction renewable energy plants with a gross installed capacity of c.2.4 GW, out of which c.783 MW correspond to Pre-Construction assets. The Companys operating and Under Construction plants include 34[1] solar PV plants and one onshore wind plant, with an aggregate gross installed capacity of c.1,586 MW (including plants where the Company owns a non-controlling interest) and an attributable installed capacity of c.1,470 MW. Approximately 902 MW of gross installed capacity correspond to 20 wholly-owned solar PV plants located in Spain and c.100 MW correspond to one solar PV plant located in the United States, all of which are Under Construction. The remaining gross installed capacity of c.584 MW (c.468 MW on an attributable basis) correspond to operating plants. In addition, the Company has an attractive growth profile with a pipeline of projects with an aggregate potential gross targeted installed capacity of c.10.8 GW, of which c.1.7 GW relate to projects marked as Advanced Stage and c.1.1 GW relate to projects categorized as Farm-Down[2].

The Offering represents the next step in Opdenergys long-term development and ongoing transformation to become a large-scale geographically diversified independent power producer (IPP) and allows Opdenergy to fund its business plan until 2025. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to contribute towards the equity portion of the capital expenditures associated with the development of its target for 2025, which is to reach a capacity of c.3.3 GW of assets in operation and Under Construction (the 2025 Target). This means more than doubling its current gross operating and Under Construction capacity and increasing its actual operating capacity by approximately six times (c.6x).

Opdenergy has a clear vision and a well-defined strategy oriented towards the achievement of its medium-term targets while promoting a sustainable development. The Company is focused on attractive Tier I countries, creditworthy investment-grade off-takers, and hard currency-denominated (or hard currency-linked) energy sales, which are supported by long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) or other types of remuneration arrangements such as public remuneration plans with fixed or stabilized remuneration prices (or a combination thereof), for most of its power production, providing the Company with significant visibility and stability in its future revenues. In particular, the Company has c.2,658 MW of assets with secured long-term PPAs, of which c.584 MW correspond to their operating assets and c.2,075 MW to their Under Construction, Pre-Construction and two assets within their pipeline.

Opdenergy has a proven track-record in executing renewable energy projects and delivering targets. Since its inception in 2005, they have successfully executed multiple M&A and financing agreements, of which it is worth noting the Bruc Transaction which includes the sale of 1,101MW at ready to build stage (RtB) (subject to the satisfactory of certain conditions to be completed).

The Company is led by a dynamic, highly qualified and experienced management team, with over 60 years of combined experience in the sector and a proven track-record identifying and executing new market and development opportunities, that has been directly responsible for the growth experienced by Opdenergy over the past few years.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is at the core of Opdenergys strategy and its key initiatives position the Company to play a very active role in the ESG transition, providing an opportunity to invest in an asset that will contribute positively and actively to the transition towards a decarbonized world while targeting sustainable long-term returns. Opdenergy is committed to maintaining best-in-class corporate governance practices to ensure a sound, long-term oriented governance. In 2021, the Company designed its Sustainability Master Plan which sets out its ESG goals for the years 2022 to 2025, which is included and further described in the sustainability report published on 14 June 2022.

Luis Cid, CEO of Opdenergy, stated:

"Our goal of becoming a listed company is a key milestone for Opdenergy. The funds obtained with the Offer will allow us to continue developing renewable energy projects in our markets, with a profitable and business-oriented strategy, focused on sustainability, and on continuing to supply clean energy to our customers in Europe and America. The company has a portfolio of high-quality operating and under construction projects, well diversified and backed by a large pipeline with which to execute our business plan for the coming years, which positions us as a great value option for investors in the current context.

DETAILS OF THE OFFERING

The Offering will consist of a primary offering of a number of New Shares of the Company to (i) qualified investors (the Qualified Investors) and investors who buy or subscribe securities for a total consideration of at least 100,000 per investor, (ii) the Employees and the Related Investors, as well as (iii) the Public Investors (representing less than 8 million in gross proceeds).

The Company expects to raise gross proceeds of up to 200 million through the issuance of the New Shares. Current Opdenergys shareholders are not expected to sell shares in the Offering, but are expected to grant an over-allotment option of existing shares of the Company.

The Company is in advanced discussions with an investor (the Cornerstone Investor) which expressed an interest to subscribe for approximately 25% of the Offering, subject to certain conditions including an offer price representing an equity value, before the issuance of New Shares, of up to 575 million.

Following admission to listing of the New Shares and the existing ordinary shares of the Company, is also expected that the Company, Selling Shareholders, directors and key managers enter into lock-up commitments with respect to their holdings in the Company's share capital, effective for a predetermined period of time following the Offering, in line with market practices and subject to customary exceptions and waiver by the joint global coordinators. The Employees subscribing for New Shares will also be subject to a lock-up restriction for a predetermined period of time following the Offering.

Banco Santander, S.A., Barclays Bank Ireland PLC and Societe Generale will be acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners (the Joint Global Coordinators) for the Offering. JB Capital Markets, Sociedad de Valores, S.A. will be acting as joint bookrunner (and together with the Joint Global Coordinators, the Joint Bookrunners) for the Offering. Banco Cooperativo Espanol, S.A. and GVC Gaesco Valores, Sociedad de Valores, S.A. will be acting as co-lead managers (and together with the Joint Bookrunners, the Underwriters). Banca March, S.A. and Renta 4 Banco, S.A., will be acting as placement agents (and together with the Underwriters, the Managers).

Public Investors will be required to place their orders through Renta 4 Banco, S.A. and to hold a cash account and a securities account with Renta 4 Banco, S.A.

Further details of the Offering will be included in the prospectus to be filed by the Company with the Spanish Securities Market Commission (Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores or CNMV) in connection with the Offering and the Admission, and to be published in due course and which will supersede this Announcement in its entirety (the Prospectus). The Prospectus will include full details on the Offering and the specific timetable. Upon approval, it will be available in the respective websites of Opdenergy (https://www.opdenergy.com/en/) and the CNMV (www.cnmv.es).

FOR INVESTOR ENQUIRIES

Isabel Troya Smith

Investor Relations & Communications Director +34 914 559 996



itroya@opdenergy.com

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Gonzalo Torres

KREAB +34 610 275 845

gtorres@kreab.com Eva Tunas

KREAB +34 635 186 419

etunas@kreab.com

IMPORTANT NOTICE

For the purposes of this section, Offered Shares shall be understood as the New Shares and the existing ordinary shares in respect of the over-allotment, if applicable.

This announcement (the Announcement) and the information contained herein are not for release, distribution or publication in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction. The Offering and the distribution of this Announcement 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. This Announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction where such offer, sale or subscription would be unlawful and the Announcement and the information contained herein is not for distribution or release in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into such jurisdictions.

The information contained in this Announcement does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this Announcement.

This Announcement is an advertisement and does not constitute a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC (the Prospectus Regulation). The information and opinions in this Announcement are not based upon a consideration of any particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers may wish to seek independent and professional advice and conduct their own independent investigation and analysis of the information contained in this Announcement and of the business, operations, financial condition, prospects, status and affairs of the Company. Any purchase of or subscription for Offered Shares of the Company should be made solely on the basis of the information to be contained in the Prospectus, once and if published. The Prospectus is expected to be approved by the CNMV in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation regime. Once approved, the Prospectus will be available at the Companys registered offices, on its corporate website and on the website of the CNMV (www.cnmv.es). The Prospectus may contain information different from the information contained in this Announcement. The approval of the Prospectus by the CNMV will not constitute an evaluation of the merits of the transactions proposed to investors. Investors should carefully read the Prospectus before making an investment decision in order to fully understand the potential risks and rewards associated with the decision to invest in the securities referred to herein.

Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), except to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act who may acquire, or may consider the acquisition of, the Offered Shares for their own account or for the account of a QIB and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There is no intention to register any securities referred to herein in the United States or to make a public offering of the securities in the United States. There will be no public offer of the securities referred to herein in Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa.

In member states of the European Economic Area (the EEA), this Announcement is only addressed to and directed at persons who are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation. In the United Kingdom, this Announcement and any other materials in relation to the securities referred to herein are only being distributed to, and are only directed at, and any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to, and will be engaged in only with, a qualified investor (as defined in the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) (i) having professional experience in matters relating to investments so as to qualify as investment professional under Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the Order); (ii) falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order; or (iii) being a person to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated. This Announcement and its contents must not be acted on or relied upon in the United Kingdom or in any member state of the EEA by persons who are not qualified investors. The communication of this Announcement in the United Kingdom or in any member state of the EEA to persons who are not qualified investors is unauthorized and may contravene applicable law.

With respect to the Public Investors, the Company will not provide information different from the one included under the Prospectus as it is acting under the exemption set out in article 34 of the Securities Market Law approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015 of October 23 and article 3.2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

The Managers and their respective affiliates are acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with the anticipated Offering. They will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the anticipated Offering and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company and the selling shareholders for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, or for providing advice in relation to the anticipated Offering, the contents of this Announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein.

The Offering and/or the Admission may be influenced by a range of circumstances such as market conditions. There is no guarantee that the Offering will proceed and that the Admission will occur and you should not base your financial decisions on the Companys intentions in relation to the Offering and the Admission at this stage.

In connection with the anticipated Offering, each Manager and any of its respective affiliates, may take up a portion of the Offered Shares as a principal position and in that capacity may retain, sell, offer to sell, purchase or otherwise deal for its or their own account(s) such Offered Shares and any securities of the Company or related investments and may offer or sell such securities or other investments in connection with the Offering or otherwise. Accordingly, references in this Announcement or the Prospectus, once and if published, to the Offered Shares being issued, offered, subscribed, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt with should be read as including any issue, offering, subscription, acquisition, placement of or dealing in such Offered Shares by or to the Managers and any relevant affiliate acting in such capacity. In addition, certain of the Managers or their affiliates may enter into financing arrangements and swaps in connection with which they or their affiliates may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of Offered Shares. The Managers do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

None of the Managers, or any of their respective affiliates or any of the respective directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents of any of their foregoing entities accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this Announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the Announcement) or any other information relating to the Company, its subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

This Announcement includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws of certain applicable jurisdictions. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms advanced stage, expects, intends, may, pipeline, potential, should, targets and will as well as their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this Announcement and include statements regarding the Companys investment strategy and the Companys intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the Companys financial performance, prospects, growth, pipeline, strategies and the industry in which the Company intends to operate.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions, including, among others, those related to the evolution of the industry, regulatory and economic trends and the Companys ability to successfully fund and carry out its growth plan, meet its targets and execute its pipeline. Such assumptions are inherently subject to significant business, operational, economic and other risks and uncertainties. You are hereby cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Companys actual financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, size of its portfolio, and development of the industry in which it will operate, may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement. In addition, even if the Companys financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, size of its portfolio, and development of the industry in which it will operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement, those results or developments may not be indicative of the Companys results or developments in subsequent periods and may be impacted by important factors. No representation or warranty is made that any forward-looking statement will come to pass. No one undertakes to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statement.

The definition and classification of the pipeline of the Company, which comprises Farm-Down, Advanced Stage, Early Stage and Identified Opportunities, may not necessarily be the same as that used by other companies engaged in similar businesses. As a result, the expected capacity of the Companys pipeline may not be comparable to the expected capacity of the pipeline reported by such other companies. In addition, given the dynamic nature of the pipeline, the pipeline is subject to change and certain projects classified under a certain pipeline category as identified above could be reclassified under another pipeline category or could cease to be pursued in the event that unexpected events occur.

The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice.

Information to distributors: Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended (MiFID II); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any manufacturer (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Offered Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such Offered Shares are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the Target Market Assessment). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the Offered Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Offered Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Offered Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Managers in connection with the offering to Qualified Investors will only engage with investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Offered Shares.

Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Offered Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.[1] One of these 34 plants is Puglia solar PV plant which consists of seven separate plants. The seven solar PV plants comprising Puglia are held through three different SPVs and are considered to be a single solar PV plant for management purposes.

[2] This category falls into the Pipeline because it includes assets that are expected to be transferred once these reach ready-to-build status, and thus do not contribute to Opdenergy's 2025 Target, which is to reach a capacity of 3.3 GW of assets in operation and Under Construction.
Achim Computer, a major North Korean PC (personal computer) manufacturer recently announced its new PC on the closed (to the outside world) North Korea intranet, Hi-res color photos were featured which revealed more about the new Achim PC than intended. While this PC was the first sixth generation PC for the North Korean consumer market, most of its high tech (water cooled, multicore CPUs) features first appeared in most countries seven years ago. Apparently, the plan was to use vintage 2015-16 components to indicate the new PC has not violated the sanctions imposed in 2017 that banned selling electronic components and similar tech to North Korea. The most recent components are smuggled in from China and used for secret, usually military, projects. North Korea uses hundreds of local hackers to steal large sums (hundreds of million dollars) each year. While most of the North Korea hackers are stationed in China, they are all trained in North Korea. Thats why North Korea allows their trusted and usually affluent minority access to locally made PCs.

The new Achim PC tried to make it appear that its components were all legal (pre-2017 sanctions) but when Western experts on PC manufacture examined the photos they could spot some post-2017 components. It is believed that, if a foreign PC expert could examine and disassemble a new Achim PC, even more sanction violations would be found. Before 2017 Achim legally partnered with the Chinese PC firm Panda Electronics to obtain components. Apparently that relationship quietly continued after 2017.

North Korea resisted consumer electronics for as long as possible but that began to change about fifteen years ago when it was noted that a growing number of people were obtaining Chinese cell phones, video players and even PCs. Most of the users were children of the elite or members of the growing donju class of entrepreneurs. North Korea legalized the donju to provide essentials the government could no longer procure and distribute. The donju paid taxes and fees and were preferable to a growing black market. There was some economic growth until 2017 but then increased sanctions (because of the nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs) and covid19 shutdowns saw more (over 60 percent) of the population slipping into poverty, hunger and even death by starvation. The rest of the population did well, especially the 12 percent who lived in Pyongyang, the capital. About 30 percent of the population live in cities that have a significant minority of affluent families (government officials and donju) and amenities similar to the capital. These amenities include access to consumer electronics and regular electrical power. The electricity supply is most reliable in the capital, but some other major cities have better access to electricity, even if they have to use local generators regularly. The power supply and relative affluence is the reason about 20 percent of households have at least one PC. The PCs are made locally and for the really fortunate there is access to the North Korean intranet (an internet restricted to North Korea.)

The North Korea PCs use a locally developed hack proof Red Star PC OS (operating system). That OS is hackable but because few North Korean PCs have access to the world-wide Internet, it doesnt matter much. The Red Star vulnerabilities first became known in 2016. Where there is one vulnerability there are many, at least when it comes to exploits (OS vulnerabilities) that allow hackers to get in via a network. Many Internet security experts saw this as inevitable after the 2014 North Korea decision to increase Internet access and computer use for students and trusted members of the population. Most of these users only have access to the North Korean intranet Internet. This local Internet is called Bright and initially consisted of a few thousand web pages on 28 different websites, all hosted within North Korea and mostly containing educational or propaganda material plus government announcements of importance. Since then the number of web sites have increased, each of them government approved and monitored. The news sites on Bright give the government version of the news. Discussion is permitted, but constantly monitored for disloyalty. Bright is isolated from the international Internet and access to Internet sites outside North Korea is strictly monitored, as is email outside the country. Anyone who misuses either Bright or the international Internet access is severely punished. While Internet access is sought, it is also feared by North Korea users.

Since the 1990s North Korea has been seeking out more people with a talent for using the Internet, primarily for espionage and cyber (Internet based) combat and crime (to raise money for the nukes and missile work). Since the early 1990s North Korea has been training a small number of people (a few hundred a year) as network engineers and hackers. Once the Internet became a big deal in the late 1990s North Korea increased training activity but found few North Koreans had any exposure to the Internet or PCs. At that point more and more of the elite families (a few hundred thousand people) began acquiring personal computers. The youngsters in those families, like kids everywhere, took to this new technology. The current (since 2011) North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, was only 31 years old when he took over and grew up during all this and is a big fan of PCs and all manner of tech. He is mainly responsible for the increased access to the Internet for more North Koreans.

Kim Jong Uns father, who ran the country from 1994 to 2011 was also a tech fan and understood the usefulness of the Internet. But he also feared the Internet, as does his son. In 2010 the secret police were ordered to crack down on North Korean PC users (a few percent of the population, most belonging to the ruling Communist Party elite) who were still using copies of Windows XP (a pirated, Chinese language, version) operating system. That crackdown was because the government had banned the use of Windows in 2009. In that year North Korea ordered everyone to switch to a new operating system, a version of Linux (Red Star) in the Korean language with a graphical interface that was very similar to Windows XP. The secret police wanted the Chinese language version of Windows gone in order to make it more difficult for North Koreans to communicate in Chinese, and to watch videos. XP was much better equipped for video than the new Linux OS. Red Star 2.0 appeared in 2011 with an interface similar to that found in Windows 7. The latest Red Star 3.0 appeared in 2016 with an interface that looks like Mac OS 10. It's still Linux inside but now optimized for ease-of-use by North Koreans. That includes a keyboard showing the differences between the North Korean and South Korean dialects. This makes it difficult to use South Korean keyboards, which use more advanced tech and features.

Currently Red Star 4.0 is being tested. It has new features for users and probably even more new features for government censors and monitors of what North Koreans are doing on their PCs. In response to this more North Koreans who can afford PCs are also obtaining (legally since 2008) cell phones, which are not made in North Korea but imported from China with North Korean government approved software installed and labeled as North Korean. This has provided North Korean hackers the opportunity t0 discretely modify these cell phones to provide access to the outside world Internet and the ability to hide illegal apps and content (South Korean and other foreign videos). North Korean cell phones use a modified version of Android OS that tries to disable things users want most. Using these hacked cell phones is a felony that is punished by years in a labor camp. Cell phone hackers face execution.
Army Capt. Denis Majewski, an outlaw troop commander assigned to the 4th Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment, leads a convoy in a tactical road march from the Niinisalo Training Area in Finland, May 8, 2022. Exercise Arrow is an annual, multinational exercise where armed forces from the U.S., U.K., Latvia and Estonia, train with the Finnish Defense Forces. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elizabeth MacPherson)

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June saw the formation of a new government after several years of efforts to overcome clan and warlord objections to democracy in general. The elections were held and results certified on May 15th producing a parliament and new president. The parliament met four days ago and approved the presidents selection of a new prime minister. The prime minister has to f0rm a government by filling dozens of key jobs with candidates that will not cause disputes in parliament over who got what. Somalia is still dominated by the power of the clans and the blind loyalty to clan even when it harms national unity. Overcoming this factionalism in a democracy is often very difficult. So far it appears that a majority of Somali leaders are willing to give a clean government a chance to work in Somalia. The key test is forming the new government successfully.

Major suppliers of foreign aid are optimistic enough to restore suspended aid programs. The United States ordered several hundred special operations and other troops to return to Somalia. In late 2020 the previous U.S. government ordered all U.S. troops out of Somalia. This was completed by January 2021 as 700 U.S. troops left Somalia, most for reassignment elsewhere in Africa.

The departing American troops missed the most were Special Forces and SEAL operators training and advising their Somali counterparts. The American troops in Somalia also handled intelligence collection and monitoring things in general. This was supposed to continue from a major American special operations base in neighboring Djibouti, as will the use of American UAVs, based in Djibouti, to search for Islamic terrorists and carry out airstrikes when the opportunity presents itself. That did not happen because the new (since January 20, 2021) American government soon ordered a halt to the use of UAVs over Somalia. Al Shabaab and ISIL gunmen began moving around confident that they were not making themselves vulnerable. This enabled al Shabaab to be more aggressive in controlling civilian populations and collecting taxes from farmers that had little or nothing because of the drought and refusal of aid agencies to send food and other supplies to these areas because al Shabaab charged high cash transit fees, then stole much of the aid for resale in markets where the starving farmers could not afford it.

The 2021 moratorium on American UAV use over Somalia ended after a year because there was a new government willing to cooperate in getting emergency food aid to those who needed it most. To make this work there would be a revival of what happened in 2017 when American UAV operation resumed as Africom (U.S. Africa Command) increased its use of unarmed and armed UAVs over Somalia. This led to about 170 UAV airstrikes that killed nearly a thousand al Shabaab and ISIL members. In 2020 there were fifty of these UAV airstrikes. For 2021 there were seven UAV airstrikes, the last one on January 29th, just before the U.S. ban on UAV operations in Somalia began. Most of the UAV attacks were against al Shabaab targets with a few directed at ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) forces in the north. In 2019 there were 63 UAV attacks in Somalia for the entire year. The 2020 attacks killed several senior leaders although most UAV attack missions were in support of Somali Army operations, especially in southern Somalia where the remaining al Shabaab strongholds are. The loss of American trainers and advisors for special operations for the Somali army in the south and the PSF in the north has led to more Islamic terrorist activity. The Americans finally decided to return Special Forces and intel troops to Somalia and resume aerial surveillance of areas where al Shabaab is most active and to carry out air strikes against key al Shabaab leaders in an effort to disrupt and substantially weaken al Shabaab activity in Somalia. This approach to Islamic terrorism had worked in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel and, with a legitimate government in Somalia, it might work there as well.

All this positive activity by the new government has foreign donors willing to continue and increase economic and military aid. Foreign money as well as peacekeepers were already being withdrawn before the new government was established. The UN had already started the process of pulling out the 20,000 peacekeepers. Foreign aid donors have adopted a send the aid to where it will do the most good approach. That policy put Somalia at a disadvantage because much, if not most of its aid was stolen and never reached those who need it. If the new government can demonstrate an ability to change the wicked ways of its predecessors, the aid will resume and increase. Somalia and other nations in the region need this because the region is suffering from one of its periodic droughts, and a major one at that. In the past these major droughts would cause visible declines in the population. After World War II (1939-45) foreign aid by a growing number of countries and NGOs (Non-government Organizations) made it possible to prevent these starvation deaths, at least in countries that could distribute the aid effectively. Somali was one of the nations that had trouble doing that, mainly because Somalia was still a deeply divided region because of the persistence of many powerful clans that looked after their own even if it meant other Somalis suffered. The clan loyalties are still a problem and a major factor in delaying fair elections of a national parliament.

Renewed Diplomacy

The new government has also restored good relations with Kenya. This includes cooperation with Kenya in dealing with al Shabaab activity in northeast Kenya, where Mandera county has long suffered from Somali violence. This includes al Shabaab roadblocks to check vehicles for non-Moslems, who are often kidnapped or killed. Counter-terror efforts have largely kept al Shabaab terrorists out of the capital (Nairobi), which is a thousand kilometers from Mandera, and that is what national politicians focus on. There have been two al Shabaab attacks in Nairobi since 2013. The latest one was in 2019. Politicians have priorities and problems get more attention the closer they are.

Al Shabaab has long sought to drive all non-Moslems out of northeastern Kenya because a lot of ethnic Somalis and Moslems live there. Over 80 percent of Kenyans are Christian and only twelve percent Moslem, most of them ethnic Somalis. There are also tribal problems in Mandera. One area along the Somali border has long been the scene of fighting between the Kenyan Murule (ethnic Somali Moslems) and the Marhan from across the border in Somalia. In 2015 about a hundred Marhan warriors crossed the border and raided Murule territory. Despite Kenya sending more soldiers and police to Mandera the violence continues. The Marhan have long been accused of supporting al Shabaab while the Murule oppose Islamic terrorism and al Shabaab efforts to chase Christians from the Mandera region.

Somali refugees and ethnic Somali Kenyans living in Kenya near the Somali border have been a major source of al Shabaab recruits for raiding and terrorism in Somalia as well as Kenya. Somali violence, both from al Shabaab and clan disputes, is less frequent throughout Somalia but persists on both sides of the Kenya border. On the Somali side is the autonomous Somali region of Jubaland. Across the border are the Kenyan counties (provinces) of Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir and Marsabit. Occasionally the violence extends to cities elsewhere in Kenya. What is keeping al Shabaab active here and not elsewhere in Somalia are lucrative smuggling operations the Islamic terrorists dominate along the border.

In addition to bordering Somalia, there are several other reasons for all the Somali violence in this part of Kenya. First there is the usual pervasive corruption in Kenya and Africa in general. In addition, Somalia is recognized as the most corrupt nation in the world. Al Shabaab takes advantage of police corruption in Kenya, where the largely Christian police are particularly brutal towards ethnic Somali Kenyans. Similar attitudes are directed at the Somali refugees. That brutality and discrimination makes Kenyan Somalis reluctant to cooperate with police in finding al Shabaab terrorists or smugglers. About 76 percent of the four million Kenyan Moslems are ethnic Somalis who are citizens. Kenyas Moslem minority has been known to harbor Islamic terrorists. Most Kenyan Moslems live in coastal cities like Mombasa, where about a third of the 1.1 million population is Moslem. A lot of ethnic Somalis and Moslems live in northeastern Kenya and that is a problem when most of the soldiers and police are Christians and non-Somali. Al Shabaab exploits this friction to continue recruiting in Kenya and enjoying some local support in the Kenyan border areas.

June 25, 2022: The new Somali parliament approved Abdi Barre as the new prime minister in the new government (since May 15th) of president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Only 220 of the 275 member parliament were present to approve Barre with a unanimous vote.

June 23, 2022: President Mohamud visited UAE (United Arab Emirates) to discuss renewed UAE economic support for the new Somali government. The UAE is a major investor in East African nations but had reduced such activity in Somalia because of the delays in forming a government. UAE leaders now believe Somalia is suitable, and safe, for renewed investment and economic development. The former Somali government had welcomed Turkish aid, which was mainly military and provided troops loyal to the former government that opposed and delayed fair elections. The new government now joins most other Middle Eastern governments in opposing Turkish efforts to interfere with rather than invest in countries like Somalia. Turkey does participate peacefully in building economies in the region but will also get involved in local politics as long as it favors Turkey.

June 20, 2022: Down south, across the border in Kenyas Mandera county, al Shabaab Islamic terrorists from Somalia destroyed a communications tower that disrupted communications for many residents. Al Shabaab considers Christian Kenyan rule of Mandera illegitimate because of the large number of ethnic Somali Kenyans and Somali refugees living in the area.

June 17, 2022: In central Somalia (Galmadug) a large force of al Shabaab gunmen attacked the town of Bahdo for the second time this year. Both attacks were repulsed but this time local militias and the small detachment of Somali police had been reinforced with soldiers and additional police. Not only was the attack repulsed but the soldiers, along with nearby reinforcements, pursued fleeing attackers and eventually killed at least 46 of them. Six of the dead were identified as foreigners. The January attack cost al Shabaab 17 dead. Al Shabaab regularly uses roadside bombs to attack security force convoys. The government has sent more troops and army commandos to Galmadug, to search out and attack al Shabaab camps. Somalis welcome the return of 450 American Special Forces troops who are essential in training Somali commandos and upgrading training for the Somali army in general.
Cloud vs. On-Prem vs. Hybrid Streaming Workflows

A basic metaphor I've used frequently to describe to my non-technology-steeped friends what I do for a living (or technology as a whole, for that matter) is that of a pendulum. At one extreme, there's a particular worldview ("VHS is better!") that's juxtaposed against an equally hardline opposing worldview ("Betamax for the win!"). As the two worldviews compete for superiority (or market dominance), the two points to which the pendulum swings color how one seesor even interacts witha particular technology's place in the world. Marketing these two opposing views will, naturally, lean a prospective user toward one of the two extremes to the exclusion of any value the other holds.

Yet, as we all know, the reality of the "better" technology is often somewhere toward the middle of that pendulum's arc. VHS might not have as good quality as Betamax, I hear my mid-1980s self saying, but it's sure cheaper to buy a VHS copy of a particular movie from Walmart than it is to buy the better-quality Betamax copy from BMG Record Club's monthly "pick hits," which isn't carried in any local store.

So what does the pendulum metaphor have to do with streaming? Quite a bit, actually. Those who have been around the industry for any length of time have been caught up in at least one of the choose-a-camp eras, whether it was the early days of RealPlayer versus QuickTime or, more recently, the HLS versus DASH discussions (which also stand in as a closed system versus open source placeholder for the larger debate around free and open source software, or FOSS).

This brings us around to another pendulum swing: cloud-centric versus on-prem production workflows. Is there a middle ground? That question was front and center for a panel I hosted at Streaming Media Connect in February 2022. The panelists' experience includes traditional broadcast, episodic, and motion picture workflows, and each has a preferred approach. But each has also, at one time in their career, acknowledged and embraced the middle ground of hybrid production workflows.

The term hybrid comes with its own set of distinctions, although they can be a bit muddied. Rather than trying to generate one conclusive definition for hybrid workflows, I'm going to look at four key areas: multi-cloud solutions, reasons to consider the cloud, security, and challenges with cloud-based solutions.

Multi-Cloud or Multi-Region? Varying Cloud Approaches

Bill Thompson, director of Signiant's software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, kicked off the session by talking about the need to deliver SaaS solutions that are purpose-built for media delivery as well as tweaked for use by multiple cloud providers. "A lot of what you do in one cloud is slightly different from doing it in another cloud," he said. "So the development work, I wouldn't say it's times two, but they're substantially different."

One challenge that Thompson pointed out is the need to test two different variations of services, one for each cloud. That's what a company like Signiant does for its SaaS solutions, but Thompson also noted that there are other ways to approach redundancy in cloud solutions. "I think what most people do is within a single cloud using multi-region implementations," he said. "So that if U.S. East goes down in Amazon Web Services [AWS], as it did in early December, our back end  fails over to U.S. West. AWS doesn't have a lot of outages, so they're pretty rare, but it would be even rarer if the East Coast and the West Coast go down at the same time."

Renard T. Jenkins, SVP of production integration and creative technology services at Warner Bros. Discovery, agreed. "Each one of them [cloud providers] are proprietary," he said. "They are that way for business reasons. I think where we're getting to right now, and I hope that we'll get there, is the ability for us to have a transactional layer and that transactional layer between clouds that allows for standardized messaging where you can actually send and communicate between clouds even though you're not expecting them to act in the same way. That is where I think we need to really put our focus and put our effort and our time."

Space, Speed, and Scale

One issue, especially in corporate environments, is a lack of space to add in new media workflows alongside traditional media, whether that traditional media is print (such as newspaper press rooms) or broadcast (such as a typical multi-person control room at major news production facilities). In keeping with the pendulum metaphor, I asked the panelists how production workflows balance those traditional IT needs (routing everything through a data center that the company owns) with relying on third-party cloud solutions.

"I think that answer is kind of on a per-project basis," said Ben Ratner, live operations manager at CNN, part of Warner Bros. Discovery "Some things are just going to work better in the cloud, and some things aren't, especially older things that have all of the inertia and all of the expertise of on-prem or hybrid." Ratner went on to say that his workspace is "literally in a reclaimed phone booth" at a CNN corporate location that now doubles as his control room. "You just couldn't do it if I needed to have three giant racks in here."

On the delivery end of things, though, there's another concern: the question of scale and how that affects the pendulum swinging from on-prem to cloud to somewhere in the middle.

On the distribution side, of course, there is scaling the delivery to the number of clients who are watching streams, said Loke Dupont, solution architect at TV 2 in Denmark. "We also get a lot of content that's not necessarily produced in-house. Oftentimes, we will get licensed catalogs of content and basically have to ingest 10,000 hours of content that nobody planned for  until somebody decided to license that content." Dupont noted that this frequent problem often directly impacts whether a cloud or on-prem solution is chosen for the time being. "Sometimes, if you need to do that in a very short time frame, it can be challenging with on-prem gear," he said, "since you have to source hardware and get it installed. Especially at the current time we are living in, sourcing hardware and getting it there on time is not necessarily an easy job."

Hybrid workflows come with their own challenges. "I think the industry as a whole has gotten used to the hybrid model," said Jenkins, "as a way to sort of bridge what you're doing today with what you'd like to do tomorrow. The issue that a lot of people have is that they are used to having things near them. They're used to having control over everything within their environment."

Security Concerns

Jenkins noted that, especially if they follow industry-standard practices around security, companies with on-prem data centers "probably do have the most secure place that you're ever going to have your content." But the emphasis on security might just hinder the ability to scale. "If you want to have scalability, with the ability to do it very quickly, you take the cost out of the equation right now," Jenkins said. "If you want something that you're going to be able to spin up quickly, spin down quickly, start a channel, [and] do all these types of things that we would like to do within this space, you need to look at the cloud."

Signiant's Thompson agreed about the need to assess security solutions for cloud-based providers. "We move people's content from their [Amazon] S3 bucket into their file storage or to another cloud," he said, "so it's always starting and ending in their own storage. But all during that time, it's fully encrypted. We can't open the file. So we feel pretty good about providing a solid, secure place where we handle their files." Thompson also pointed out that Signiant isn't just resting on its own security laurels. "We use well-recognized third-party security firms that audit every SaaS release we do," he said. "They open it up and do all sorts of crazy testing on it. You have to have a strong security pedigree. We happen to use the same security firm as the Disney organization does, so we feel pretty good about that. But we spend a lot of money and a lot of effort on security. There's no getting around it."

Challenges for Cloud-Based Production

Having talked about some of the benefits of cloud-based production workflows, what are the potential challenges? One incorrect assumption is that the cloud is designed just for the replacement of on-prem workflows.

"A lot of cases I've seen are people doing what's often called lift and shift,' or basically taking their on-prem service and putting [it] in a cloud environment," said Dupont. "That's not going to give you what you want. That's going to be a very expensive way to run virtual servers. That's not what AWS and Azure and Google can do. You've got to sort of adapt to the facilities each provides."

Dupont added that cloud-based solutions also require a different type of skill set than that of the typical IT or media expert who may already be on staff. "If you have workflows that scale up and down a lot, if you set it up right, when they scale down, you'll pay almost nothing. And then, of course, when you scale up, you'll pay for it," said Dupont. "But, usually, when you need to scale up, it means that you have some revenue at the other end attached to that. So I would, in most circumstances at least, say [it makes sense to hire] the developers to do that instead of just running the same workflow that you do on-prem and [on] virtual machines."

Jenkins agreed. "When you think about getting into this space, you do have to think about the personnel that you have currently in your facility," he said. "There is going to be sort of a ramp-up time. There has to be training for those engineers that are in place today, and then you do have to do exactly what Loke saidyou've got to enhance that group with the proper personnel to actually help you bridge that gap that you're asking about."

Another topic that came up was latency in cloud-only workflows, with something as simple as audio issues. "Latency is an issue for a couple of reasons," said Ratner. "At the very core of it, you have people in different locations, and it's that traditional, Hey, it's a delay before I hear you and a delay before you hear me back' that we all deal with [for on-camera talent]. From a pure content level, that's an issue. But the other major, major issue I have with latency is on the control room side, which is intercom. You have not just your talent talking, but also everyone behind the scenes. Just latency of people talking and hearing things at different times on different devices, I think, is going to be one of the long-term problems that is going to be very, very hard to solve. Because ultra-low latency isn't enough. A quarter second is way too much."

As part of my background is in videoconferencing, in which a latency of 250 milliseconds is on the upper end of usable content, I asked Ratner about stories I'd heard of small productions actually using a conference call as an audio bridge to have synchronized, very, very low latency phone conversations among team members. "It's a stop gap, because even with that, first of all, you're physically muting and unmuting, and you don't have all of the things like different party lines and the ability to individually talk to people in the same way," said Ratner, comparing an audio bridge to a robust intercom system. "During COVID, [audio bridges] got a lot done for a lot of people, but the fact of the matter is it takes electrical signals a certain amount of time to get from place to place. WebRTC and any other protocols can't cancel out all of those [control room] speakers and all of those people talking at the same time. Even two people in the same room will be sending signals at slightly different times."

Challenges for the Future

If we go back to the pendulum metaphor from the beginning of this article and think about the middle ground, there seems to be two key takeaways from this panel of experts. First, as Dupont noted, there's a misconception that all cloud services are created equal. "I think it's important to learn how each individual cloud works, because they don't necessarily work the same," he stated. "As Bill [Thompson] said, a lot of these customers are choosing multiple different clouds because some of them are good at one thing, and some of them are good at other things. I can certainly understand that if you haven't read about it or haven't really sort of looked into how they work, it can be intimidating. And it's probably also not a good idea to just go in with that assumption and say, OK. This is just any other data center.' Because in reality, it's probably not."

Second, when considering hybrid approaches, remember that private clouds and public clouds serve specific purposes. In fact, Jenkins advocates tying private clouds to public clouds. "I believe in bridging your private cloud with your public cloud," he said, "and I think that is the direction that will get people to jump on board a lot faster. You have to get comfortable with the fact that there is just a significant security integrated into the major cloud instances and the major SaaS providers. When you're inviting them into your home, you need to make sure that you vet them in the same way that you would vet something that you were building internally," he said, referencing the integration of a public cloud or SaaS solution into an on-prem workflow. "If you do that, then I think there's going to be more of a comfort level from the security standpoint."

Finally, there are always challenges that will arise when production teams aren't face to face with one another. "I envision a world in the cloud, and even if you're hybrid, where you have an on-prem control room but people out in the field," said Ratner. "If so, you're never going to be able to use speakers ever again in a control room if you want people not to hate themselves and want to not work for you because they keep hearing echoes in the headsets. Outside of a string of paper cups, I'm not sure if there's any magical way to get that [audio latency] low enough to be the true real-time [equivalent] of a physical control room with everyone on-prem together. I don't know of any legitimate way to make that work, just because of how physics and internet speeds work."

That's a good challenge for all of us audio-focused technicians who live and work in the hybrid world between cloud-only and on-prem solutions. But we're not going to solve it with the VHS versus Betamax mentality of two technologies that can't coexist with each other.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2022 / LOVE Pharma Inc. ("LOVE" and or "the Company") (CSE:LUV)(FSE:G1Q0), announces it has completed a second closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement. The Company accepted subscriptions for 50,735,771 units at a price of $0.011 per unit, for gross proceeds of $558,093.50. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at $0.05 for a period of two years from the date of closing, subject to the option of the Company to accelerate the expiry date in the event that its shares trade at $0.15 or more for 10 consecutive days.

The Company paid $32,655.48 in cash and issued 2,968,680 broker warrants on the same terms as noted above, to qualified finders. Securities issued pursuant to this tranche are subject to trading restrictions until October 30, 2022.

Proceeds will be used for working capital and to review possible acquisitions.

About Love Pharma Inc.

With a focus on the global sexual Health and Wellness markets, Love Pharma Inc. (CSE:LUV) (FSE:G1Q0) was founded in 2020, with a mission to bring to market innovative products that enhance sexual health and wellness while providing an improved quality of life. Love Pharma holds exclusive licenses to produce market, package, sell, and distribute patent-protected therapeutic and pharmaceutical products throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 (604) 343-2977

E-mail: [email protected]

www.love-pharma.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

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", "may" 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, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, lack of investor demand for Bitcoin and/or Bitcoin futures exchange traded funds, and dependence upon regulatory approvals. 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.

SOURCE: Love Pharma Inc.

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Alida has also maintained its distinction for Best Support and Easiest to Do Business with in the Mid-Market Relationship Index Report for 5th quarter in a row

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Alida, a leader in Total Experience Management (TXM), today announced it has been recognized by G2, the worlds leading business solutions review website, as a Leader in the Experience Management Software category across the Overall and Mid-Market Grid Report. Alida has also received award badges for Best Support and Easiest to Do Business in the Mid-Market Relationship Index Report, as well as the Users Love Us'' badge.

G2 recognitions are based on customer satisfaction scores, derived directly from user reviews, and market presence, which includes consideration for seller size and social impact. Best Support and Easiest to Do Business With badges are awarded based on results from G2s Mid-Market Relationship Index Report. The Users Love Us badge is earned after collecting 20 reviews with an average rating of 4.0 stars. Alida has received the Users Love Us badge consistently for the last 21 quarters, since Spring 2017.

Alida is honored to be recognized as a Leader in Experience Management Software by our own customers," said Ross Wainwright, CEO at Alida. "As a company in the Voice of the Customer (VoC) industry, we place high value on listening to our customers and innovating for them. With over 175 customer-led product enhancements to the Alida TXM platform in just two years, we are dedicated to supporting organizations in elevating their customers' experiences.

For inclusion in the report, a product must have received 10 or more reviews. Some of the reviews about Alida include:

Rankings on G2 reports are based on data provided to us by real software buyers, said Sara Rossio, Chief Product Officer at G2. Potential buyers know they can trust these insights when researching and selecting software because theyre rooted in vetted, verified, and authentic reviews.

For more information on Alidas products and how they can help your organization uncover and action your customers truth, visit www.alida.com/products.

About G2

G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 60 million people annually  including employees at all of the FORTUNE 500  use G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews. Thousands of software and services companies of all sizes partner with G2 to build their reputation, manage their software spend, and grow their business  including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom, and Adobe. To learn more about where you go for software, visit www.g2.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Alida

Alida believes in a world where customers are respected as the ultimate source of truth. Because knowing the whole truth about your customerseven the parts that are hard to hearcan help companies make better decisions that drive long-term customer loyalty and growth. With the Alida Total Experience Management (TXM) Platform, leading brands like HBOMax, Adobe, Red Bull, and J.Crew turn their customer truth into action to power exceptional customer, employee, product, and brand experiences. Founded over 20 years ago, Alida helps the worlds largest brands improve their total experience with its team of 500+ experts across 11 countries.

Join us on our mission to reimagine the experience at www.alida.com and @alidaTXM.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005159/en/

Media

Genevieve Raveau

Senior Manager, Global PR

[email protected]

Source: Alida
SACRAMENTO, Calif. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BPM LLP, one of the 40 largest public accounting and advisory firms in the country, intends to expand its footprint in Northern California, adding a Sacramento office through a combination with Avaunt Ltd. CPAs and Consultants expected to be complete August 1. This news follows BPMs recent announcement of its upcoming combination with Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Elliott CPA Group Inc. expected for July 1.

As a firm, BPM is committed to meeting clients where they are, which is why we are so pleased Avaunt plans to join us, providing an office and top-notch resources in Californias capital city, said BPM North Bay Partner-in-Charge Michelle Muth Ausburn. Throughout their long history in the market, Perry, Dorothea and their team have demonstrated a people-first approach much like BPMs. Our deep relationships and business connections are instrumental to helping our clients get established, grow and mature.

Founded by Perry Ghilarducci in 1985, Avaunt Ltd. focuses on serving businesses in the restaurant and hospitality space, as well as medical industry practices and professionals. With a growth-oriented approach, the firm helps guide clients throughout their business lifecycles with tailored services and solutions that take them from startup through exit.

The Sacramento region has seen unprecedented growth in the last five years, and we could not be happier to combine forces with the 900+ members of the BPM team to meet the market demands, noted Ghilarducci. BPM brings new depth to the services we currently offer our clients, as well as an expanded menu of solutions that will help further our clients business goals in the region and well beyond.

Avaunt Ltd. will rebrand under the BPM name. The Sacramento office benefits from synergies with BPMs other Northern California regional offices, located in Fairfield, Menlo Park, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa, St. Helena, Stockton and Walnut Creek. BPM also has a strong presence in Southern California, as well as offices in Oregon, Washington and India. The Firms specialized professionals span across the globe.

About BPM

BPM LLP is one of the 40 largest public accounting and advisory firms in the United States. With a global team of more than 900 colleagues, we help clients succeed around the world. We offer a cross-functional approach that gives clients direct access to the best and most qualified resources. To learn more, visit our website.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005038/en/

Jessica Hekmatjah

Chief Marketing Officer

BPM LLP

[email protected]

415-288-6228

Source: BPM LLP
Provides Triterras and Kratos platform members access to cross-border payments and foreign currency exchange solutions

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corpay1, a FLEETCOR (NYSE: FLT) brand and global leader in business payments, and Triterras Inc. (OTC Expert Market: TRIRF), a global fintech company and leading innovator of inclusive finance solutions for the worlds micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are pleased to announce a new collaboration between Corpays Cross-Border business and Triterras Inc.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005035/en/

Through this collaboration, both Triterras and its Kratos platform members* can gain access to and utilise Corpays innovative solutions to help mitigate foreign exchange exposure for their day-to-day business needs. Additionally, Corpay Cross-Borders award-winning platform will enable both Triterras and Kratos members to manage their global payments from a single point of access. Clients who choose Corpay for their global payments and foreign currency exchange transactions will undergo Corpay Cross-Borderss onboarding process, which includes but is not limited to due diligence checks and know your client (KYC) procedures.

Were very excited to onboard Triterras as a new customer, as well as our new partner. I am confident that both Triterras and Kratos platform members looking to better streamline their payments processes and effectively manage their FX exposure will benefit from access to our comprehensive cross-border payments and currency risk management solutions, says David Britten, Managing Director APAC, Corpay Cross-Border. Our team in APAC looks forward to helping these enterprises power their cross-border payments, execute plans to manage their currency risk and support their aspirations to grow their businesses globally.

Were always looking for ways to fortify our Kratos platform to potentially save our clients time and money. Corpay offers Kratos membersas well as Triterrasworld-class payments and foreign exchange hedging solutions that give MSMEs a competitive edge and keep their businesses safe. Were extremely glad to have a relationship and collaborate with Corpay to help make MSMEs run smarter across their daily trading operations, said Srinivas Koneru, Founder and CEO of Triterras.

About Corpay

Corpay is a global leader in business payments, helping companies of all sizes better track, manage and pay their expenses. Corpay provides customers with a comprehensive suite of online payment solutions including Bill Payment, AP Automation, Cross-Border Payments, Currency Risk Management, and Commercial Card Programs. As the largest commercial issuer of Mastercard in North America, Corpay handles over a billion transactions each year. Corpay is part of the FLEETCOR (NYSE: FLT) portfolio of brands. To learn more visit www.corpay.com.

About Triterras

Triterras is a global fintech company co-headquartered in Singapore and Dubai and leading innovator of inclusive finance solutions for the world's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The company launched and operates Kratosone of the worlds largest digital financing platforms--to directly connect MSMEs with lenders online and source capital across commodity trading, supply chain, logistics, and ecommerce finance. For more information, please visit www.triterras.com.

1Corpay (a Fleetcor (NYSE: FLT) brand) in this document primarily refers to the Cross-Border Division of Corpay https://payments.corpay.com/cross-border; a full listing of the companies that are part of the Corpay brand is available here: https://payments.corpay.com/compliance.

* Subject to credit and compliance approval from the relevant Corpay company.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as expect, estimate, project, budget, forecast, anticipate, intend, plan, may, will, could, should, believes, predicts, potential, continue, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include [Triterras] expectations with respect to future performance, operations and product offerings. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside [Triterras] control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include but are not limited to risks and uncertainties incorporated by reference under Risk Factors in [Triterras Form 20-F (SEC File No. 001-39693) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on March 7, 2022 and in Triterras other filings with the SEC] as well as risks related to the adoption and implementation of Corpay to Triterras and the Kratos platform members. [Triterras] cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. [Triterras] cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. [Triterras] does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005035/en/

Corpay:

Brad Loder

VP, Cross-Border Marketing

(647) 627-6635

[email protected]

Triterras, Inc.:

Gregory Papajohn

Office of Corporate Communications

+1 (917) 287-3626

[email protected]

Source: Corpay
QooQoo onboards Bob LaRoche as new staff Senior Business Strategist

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- QooQoo, a growing healthcare marketing agency in Southern California, announced the staff addition of Bob LaRoche as Senior Business Strategist. The position is a new one at the agency. The role goes beyond brand promotion and leverages healthcare industry insights, strategies, and tactics that impact the clients overall growth metrics.

Clay Daniells, QooQoo founder and CEO, says adding this new capability is particularly advantageous for new and existing clients. With his 20-plus years experience, this role is made for Bob LaRoche. He has exceptionally good insight into how clients businesses and brands need to work together, Daniells explains. Most healthcare marketing agencies dont think this way. Bob is really creating something new. Clients are excited.

Bob LaRoche built his career through a unique combination of sales, sales management, and marketing leadership. During his impressive tenure in the healthcare field, he has honed his unique strategic perspective through service in multiple clinical specialties, including gastroenterology, cardiology, orthopedics, dermatological surgery, and wound care. Bobs industry experience includes Bard, Vision Sciences, Circe Biomedical, Cambridge Heart, InfraReDx, Candela Corporation, US Endoscopy, Momelan Technologies, and 3M/Acelity.

We are extremely fortunate to have Bob join QooQoo, Daniells says. His expertise and insights are beyond measure. His understanding of the business of medical device and diagnostics is what our agency needs  and what our clients need in this time of heightened competition.

The agency reports that LaRoches primary role will be to provide QooQoo clients marketing communication strategies and tactical execution plans. His first assignments include participating in current projects with his former employer and QooQoo account, 3MTM, and bolstering new business initiatives.

About QooQoo

QooQoo is a creative brand agency that identifies, creates, and manages the real-time impact of ideas throughout the marketing cycle, giving clients the power to spread the QooQooness through one-to-one, one-to-some and one-to-many interactions that change minds and markets. QooQoo services include strategic planning, creation, execution and delivery in branding, digital social media, sales, and traditional channels for healthcare manufacturers.

www.itsqooqoo.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005001/en/

Media Contacts:

Gala Struthers

Chief Marketing Officer

949.278.4581

[email protected]



Avalon Ansara

Account Coordinator

949.558.4132

[email protected]

Source: QooQoo
GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IACTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("IACTA"), an innovation leader in ophthalmic therapeutics, today announced the expansion of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with the appointments of Dr. Richard L. Abbott and Dr. Lixin Xie. Dr. Abbott and Professor Xie join an established group of global advisors who will provide strategic insight and guidance to complement the company's expertise in ophthalmology.

"As we progress our pipeline of ophthalmic therapeutics, we are excited to strengthen our SAB with two key members to support our evolution into a clinical-stage and global development accelerator company," said Damon Burrows, Chief Executive Officer of IACTA. "Both Dr. Abbott and Professor Xie bring unique perspectives and will provide valuable insights to support the advancement of our novel treatments for patients suffering from dry eye disease and ocular pain, as well as other potential programs across the ophthalmic space."

"IACTA's approach to developing effective eye care treatments represents a promising path to treating patients with ocular pain who want to avoid opioids and their side effects," said Dr. Richard L. Abbott. "I look forward to collaborating with the team on the edge of innovative discoveries in the ocular market for patients with unmet needs."

"I am pleased to join the Scientific Advisory Board at IACTA, a company committed to pioneering research in ocular diseases," said Professor Xie. "I look forward to supporting the advancement of IACTA's clinical pipeline during this transformative period for the company."

Dr. Richard L. Abbott serves as the Secretary for Global Alliances for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). He also serves as the Secretary-General of Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, an international body committed to global vision research, education, and service. Previously, Dr. Abbott was President of the AAO, as well as the President of both the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology and the Pan American Ophthalmological Foundation. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the U.S. President's 25-year Volunteer Service Award, the Sir Stuart Duke Elder International Gold Medal, the International Golden Service Award from the Chinese Academy of Ophthalmology, the AE Maumenee Pan American Medal for Distinguished Service to Latin America from the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology, the Asia Pacific Cornea Foundation Medal from the Asia Pacific Cornea Society, the Mark Tso Golden Apple International Teaching Award from the International Council of Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he has authored or co-authored 90 scientific publications and 32 book chapters and has delivered over 800 invited lectures and 36 named lectures.

Dr. Lixin Xie is an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, where he serves as professor, researcher, and doctoral supervisor. He is also the honorary Chairman of Asia Corneal Society and Chinese Ophthalmological Society, the Professor of the Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Eye Institute, and the Director of Qingdao Eye Hospital. Dr. Xie performs clinical diagnoses of corneal and cataract disease while pioneering research on corneal endothelial cells, infective corneal disease and slow-release drug injection into the eyes. He is the first individual who has won 15 scientific progress prizes at the national and provincial levels and four national invention patents. Dr. Xie has publicized works on Corneal Transplantation Science and Corneal Disease in addition to publishing 356 academic papers in both domestic and abroad journals of ophthalmology.

About IACTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

IACTA is an innovation leader in ophthalmic therapeutics, led by former top executives from one of the leading eye care companies in the world. The company currently has four products in development for major market opportunities. IC 800 is a novel, non-opioid, dual enkephalinase inhibitor (DENKI), being studied for the treatment of acute ocular pain. In addition, IACTA's IC 265, is a SYK kinase inhibitor being developed as a potential novel treatment for dry eye disease. Solidified by management's world-class, proven R&D experience and supported by the company's IPAC subsidiary in Asia, IACTA is equipped to identify high-quality pharmaceutical technologies, create novel formulations, develop clinic-ready assets, and manage regulatory and intellectual property challenges to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative NCEs. For more information, please visit www.iactapharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made under the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include the potential for IC 800 and IC 265. Any forward-looking statements in this press release represent the Companys views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update this information as a result of future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

IACTA is a registered trademark of Iacta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and DENKI is a trademark licensed to Iacta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005104/en/

Investor Contact:

Stephen Jasper

Gilmartin Group

(858) 525-2047

[email protected]

Source: IACTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- According to the OECS release on June 12 (CET), Justin Sun led the Grenada delegation to attend the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12). As the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO, Sun spoke during the conference on climate change, food security, SIDS (Small Island Developing States), e-commerce, and other topics.

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H.E. Mr. Justin Sun (Photo: Business Wire)

In the conference, Sun stated that as a small island developing state (SIDS), Grenada relies heavily on a predictable, transparent, and efficient multilateral trading system (MTS) and that in recent years, Grenada has been focusing on developing digital economy and e-commerce through blockchain technologies to support the WTO's Work Programme on E-Commerce.

Justin Sun also called for addressing the current COVID-19 vaccine inequity at the conference. He argued that WTO members must identify an IPR exemption agreement on an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines.

The WTO MC12 was also delayed twice due to the impact of COVID-19, which was seen as the key issue of the conference. The WTO Ministerial Conference is normally convened every two years. Members participate as delegations, which consist of ministers in commerce and trade, agriculture and other departments related to trade, as well as WTO ambassadors.

According to WTO's website, the Geneva Package, as the WTO MC 12 outcomes are being called, resulted in a series of key trade initiatives. The package adopted by WTO members includes Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity; Decision on World Food Programme (WFP) Food Purchases Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions; Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics; Decision on the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); Decision on the E-commerce Moratorium and Work Programme and Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628006213/en/

Name: Jessica ZHANG

E-mail: [email protected]

Source: TRON DAO
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kao Corporation, a Japan-based Group whose brand portfolio includes Attack, Biore, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, released progress reports on its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategythe Kirei Lifestyle Plan. Details of its progress is released in the Kao Sustainability Report 2022. The report discloses the achievements of the key leadership action themes of 2021 as well as the internal carbon price increase to 18,500 yen/ton-CO2 to promote decarbonization. It also outlines revisions made to Kaos biodiversity policy, and details the establishment of the new ESG steering committees, which will strengthen Kaos ESG governance structure. It is available in English on Kaos website from today.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005506/en/

Kaos ESG Strategy Kirei Lifestyle Plan (Graphic: Business Wire)

Kao Sustainability Report 2022

https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/pdf/#area-LocalNavBottom01

For over 130 years, Kao has worked to help consumers lead fulfilling lifestyles. In April 2019, Kao established the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which is an ESG strategy that includes 19 leadership actions to achieve a sustainable and desirable way of living. The Japanese word 'kirei' describes something that is both clean and beautiful. For Kao, Kirei not only encapsulates appearance, but also attitudeto create beauty for oneself, other people, and for the world around us. Since its start in 2021, the Kao Group Mid-term Plan 2025 (K25) has proclaimed protecting future lives and promoting sustainability as the only path as its vision. The Kao Group will continue to integrate its ESG strategy into its management practices. It will also develop its business, provide better products and services for consumers and society, and work toward its purpose, To Realize a Kirei World in Which All Life Lives in Harmony.

The Director, Managing Executive Officer in charge of Kaos ESG Division, Dave Muenz, delivered this message regarding the progress of the Kirei Lifestyle Plan announcement: The expectation of our stakeholders for companies like Kao to help build a more sustainable society is intensifying year on year. Driven by the companys long held value of Integrity as the only choicedoing what is right and holistic even if it may not be the easiest optionKao has taken steps in 2021 that will help us continue to be a force of positive impact to the people that we serve, including setting ambitious decarbonization goals of aiming for carbon zero by 2040 and carbon negative by 2050. This year, our ESG governance structure has been reinforced by setting up four ESG steering committees that will address decarbonization, plastic packaging, human rights and DEI*1, and chemical stewardship. As a company dependent on natural capital such as palm oil, we have published a new policy around procurement which will help us work across our supply chain to ensure traceability and identify risks by arranging third-party audits of our suppliers. Kao will continue to work through collaborations and partnerships to create a Kirei Life for all.

*1 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

A leading international nonprofit organization, CDP, has included Kao in its prestigious A List across three categories for the second year in a row. Also, the Ethisphere Institute, a leading US think-tank, has named Kao one of the Worlds Most Ethical Companies for 16 consecutive years.

New Initiatives to Promote a Kirei Lifestyle

1. Raising the internal carbon price to 18,500 yen/ton-CO2 to promote decarbonization

In 2006, Kao introduced an internal carbon price system to curb CO2 emissions. Last year, it announced a new decarbonization goal and has increased the target rate of CO2 emission reduction from 22% in Scope 1+2*2 CO2 emissions (absolute value) to 55% (taking 2017 as the base year) by 2030. Consequently, Kao has raised the internal carbon price from the conventional 3,500 yen/ton-CO2 to 18,500 yen/ton-CO2*3. It will also promote the use of energy-saving equipment, the use of equipment with low CO2 emissions, and the procurement of renewable energy.

*2 The volume of greenhouse gases emitted directly by business enterprises and other organizations.

*3 This rate is the estimated 2035 carbon tax rate, based on the carbon tax rates included in the 2021 IEA World Energy Outlook. It is assumed that in the future, newly introduced equipment will continue to operate after 2030.

2. Establishment of the ESG steering committees to strengthen ESG governance structure

Since April 2022, in order to implement ESG initiatives reliably and promptly, the ESG steering committees have been newly established under the ESG Managing Committee to build a flexible and robust ESG governance structure to address the four priority issues of decarbonization, plastic packaging, human rights and DEI, and chemical stewardship. The executive-level leaders serve as the owner, and in conjunction with the ESG Managing Committee, recommendations will be made to each division and Group company. In each division, ESG is incorporated into divisional policies, goals, and plans to build effective governance. ESG governance structures at Group companies overseas are also organized into divisions, and are operated by group companies according to the content of activities.

3. Revision of biodiversity policy

Kao operates by benefiting from many biological resources such as palm oil, paper, and pulp. In 2011, Kao formed the Basic Policies on Conservation of Biodiversity and has been working to develop new technologies that contribute to sustainable raw material procurement and biodiversity conservation. The modern world aims to reduce the negative impacts on nature and biodiversity, increase actions that have a positive impact, and reverse the trend of biodiversity loss. With the revision of the global biodiversity goals at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in 2021, existing policy has been revised and in April 2022, the Basic Policy on Biodiversity was formed.

For the Key Leadership Action Themes: 2021 Activity Results, click the following URL.

https://www.kao.com/global/en/news/sustainability/2022/20220629-001/

About the Kirei Lifestyle Plan

Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve peoples lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestylesa Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word kirei describes something that is clean, well-ordered and beautiful, all at the same time. The Kao Group established its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan in April 2019, which is designed to deliver the vision of a gentler and more sustainable way of living. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives and have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.

For more information please, click https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/

About Kao

Kao creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Biore, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,420 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,500 people worldwide and has 135 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information.

https://www.kao.com/global/en/

Related Information

Kao launches new ESG Strategy Kirei Lifestyle Plan to support consumer lifestyle changes

https://www.kao.com/global/en/news/sustainability/2019/20190422-001/

Kao Sustainability website

https://www.kao.com/global/en/sustainability/

Kao Integrated Report 2022

https://www.kao.com/global/en/investor-relations/library/reports/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220628005506/en/

Media inquiries should be directed to:

Hiwako Yoshino

Corporate Strategy

Kao Corporation

Tel.: +81-3-3660-7043

Source: Kao Corporation
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

KELOWNA, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kiboko Gold Inc. (TSX-V: KIB) (Kiboko or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has completed its upsized initial public offering (the Offering) and listing on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V). The Offering was conducted by Haywood Securities Inc. as the sole agent (the Agent). Kibokos common shares are expected to commence trading on TSX-V on July 5, 2022, under the symbol KIB.

The Offering consisted of 8.0 million units ( each a Unit) at a price of $0.25 per Unit, 5.52 million flow-through units (each a FT Unit) at a price of $0.29 per FT Unit, and 5.54 million Quebec charity flow-through units (each a QCFT Units) at a price of $0.44 per QCFT Unit, issued pursuant to the final prospectus dated June 22, 2022 (the Prospectus) for total aggregate gross proceeds to Kiboko of $6.0 million, which included 1.79 million QCFT Units issued pursuant to the full exercise of the Agents over-allotment option. Kibokos common shares were listed on the TSX-V on June 29, 2022 and are expected to commence trading under the symbol KIB on July 5, 2022.

Each Unit and QCFT Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a Share) and one common share purchase warrant (each whole such warrant, a Unit Warrant). Each Unit Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $0.40 for a period of 60 months from the date of issuance. Each FT Unit is comprised of one Share and one common share purchase warrant (each whole such warrant, a FT Unit Warrant). Each FT Unit Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $0.45 for a period of 60 months from the date of issuance.

The Company will use the gross proceeds from the flow-through portion of the Offering for Canadian exploration expenses on its property located in Quebec that will qualify as flow-through mining expenditures, as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada). The Company will use the net proceeds from the non flow-through portion of the Offering to fund the Companys business, as further described in the Companys Prospectus.

Insiders of the Company acquired an aggregate of 1,277,240 Units (representing 7% of the total aggregate number of units sold under the Offering), which is considered a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101). The Company has relied on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(b), respectively, of MI 61-101 in respect of such insider participation. All Shares held by insiders of the Company are subject to a voluntary 4-month lock-up agreement. 13,462,001 of the Shares held by Insiders are subject to a three-year National Policy 46-201  Escrow for Initial Public Offerings (NP 46-201) escrow arrangement. An additional 350,000 common shares are subject to a Tier 2 value escrow release schedule pursuant to the policies of the TSX-V.

Immediately following the closing of the Offering, Kiboko completed debt settlement agreements to settle obligations relating to accrued consulting fees and expenses totalling $130,000 owed to two officers of the Company and will issue an aggregate of 520,000 Units at a price of $0.25 per Unit on a non-brokered basis in settlement thereof (the Debt Settlement Units). The Debt Settlement Units are subject to a statutory four-month hold period and a three-year NP 46-201 escrow agreement.

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Companys Convertible Loan Agreements, the principal and accrued interest of these loans, totalling $1,110,673 in aggregate as at June 29, 2022, was converted to equity through the issuance of an aggregate of 4,442,692 Units at a price of $0.25 per Unit (Convertible Loan Units) on a non-brokered basis. The Convertible Loan Units are subject to a statutory four-month hold period.

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Amended and Restated Option Agreement with Tres-Or Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: TRS) (Tres-Or), Kiboko issued Tres-Or 6,002,400 Shares of the Company having a value of $1,500,000 based upon the non-flow-through offer price of the IPO on a non-brokered basis (the Property Consideration Shares). The Property Consideration Shares are subject to a 12-month lock-up agreement (the Lock-Up Agreement) and a sale and transfer agreement for as long as Tres-Ors ownership percentage of Kiboko is at least 5%, calculated on a non-diluted basis, from the date of issue (Lock-Up Agreement). Notwithstanding the foregoing restrictions, no earlier than December 30, 2022, Tres-Or is permitted to transfer all or a portion of the Property Consideration Shares to the shareholders of Tres-Or by way of a dividend, return of capital or otherwise (the Shareholder Distribution), in accordance with applicable corporate and securities laws and stock exchange rules. Any Property Consideration Shares not distributed under the Shareholder Distribution will remain subject to the Lock-Up Agreement. Also pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Option Agreement, the Company has returned 2,000,001 Tres-Or common shares and 1,000,001 Tres-Or warrants held by the Company to Tres-Or. The final step for Kiboko to complete the earn-in agreement with Tres-Or is to make a final cash payment of $350,000 in the next 30 days, which the Company intends to do with a portion of the net proceeds from the Offering.

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agency Agreement, the Agent was paid a corporate finance fee of $75,000 through the issuance of 300,000 Units at a price of $0.25 per Unit. In addition, the Agent received a commission of $313,667 in cash and 958,935 non-transferable common share purchase warrants (each, an Agents Warrant). Each Agents Warrant is exercisable into one Share at a price of $0.40 per share for a one-year period. The following cash finders fees will also be paid in connection with the Offering: 3% finders fee payable to LHC Mine Finance Ltd. for a total amount owed of approximately $2,000; and 2% finders fee payable to Sidex Limited Partnership for a total amount owed of approximately $6,000.

As a result of the foregoing transactions and closing of the Offering, Kiboko has 44,137,093 common shares issued and outstanding.

Additionally, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Amended and Restated Option Agreement, Kiboko has transferred 2,000,001 common shares and 1,000,000 warrants of Tres-Or held by the Company to Tres-Or. As a result, Kiboko no longer holds any securities of Tres-Or.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Units, the FT Units, the QCFT Units, the underlying Shares and Unit Warrants, FT Unit Warrants and the Shares issuable upon exercise of the Unit Warrants and FT Unit Warrants, have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the Units, FT Units, and QCFT Units may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, or pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Kiboko in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

More information regarding the Offering is found in the Prospectus, which is available under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com.

About Kiboko Gold Inc.

Kiboko is a new public company (TSX-V: KIB) founded by a management team and board with a track record of successfully financing and advancing exploration projects towards development, particularly those dominated by coarse gold mineralization. This team includes Jeremy Link, President, CEO, and director; Brad Boland, EVP and CFO; Dr. Olivier Femenias, director and VP Geology; and Ivor Jones, VP Technical Services & Project Evaluation; and Independent Directors, Jon Morda (Lead Director), Craig Williams, and Amanda Sorsak.

The Company has an option agreement that provides Kiboko the option to earn a 100% interest in the 234 mineral claims that make up the Harricana gold project (Harricana Project or the Project). The Project is a consolidated 102 km2 prospective land package that is strategically located 55 kilometres (km) north of Val-dOr, Quebec, in the world-class Abitibi greenstone belt. Kiboko has compiled, digitized, and validated a new geospatial dataset for the Project from historical records that includes geological mapping, geophysics, geochemistry, numerous bulk samples, and assay data from 937 diamond drillholes totalling 139,397 m.

The Harricana Project benefits from an exceptional location, close to operating mines, with excellent access and proximity to existing infrastructure, including road, rail, and clean, low-cost, renewable hydroelectric grid power. The Project is also located predominately on Crown forestry land which provides access to an extensive forestry road network across the property and a streamlined drill program permitting process. Kibokos current Environmental, Social and Governance activities include a commitment to hiring and contracting locally whenever commercially reasonable, and ensuring protection of the environment during its exploration activities.

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

This news release and the Prospectus contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding: the Companys use of the proceeds of the Offering and the expected date that the Companys common shares will commence trading on the TSX-V are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as will or variations of such word, or statements that certain actions, events or results will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. The forward looking information in this news release is based upon certain assumptions that management considers reasonable in the circumstances, including that its capital needs will be as currently projected, that the Company will be able to successfully obtain all necessary permits and approvals to complete the Offering and conduct its business as currently proposed to be conducted, and that the skill and expertise of the Companys management will be sufficient to achieve its business objectives.

Risks and uncertainties associated with the forward looking information in this news release include, among others, commodity prices are volatile and may be lower than expected; the business of exploration for minerals and mining involves a high degree of risk, as few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; the Company has limited operating history; the Companys operations are reliant on a limited number of properties; the successful exploration and development of the Harricana Project depends on the skills of the Companys management and teams; the Company may fail to comply with the law or may fail to obtain or renew necessary permits and licenses; the Company expects to incur losses and experience negative operating cash flow for the foreseeable future; there is no guarantee that the current tax laws and administrative practices of both the federal and provincial tax authorities will not be amended or construed in such a way that the tax considerations for a subscriber holding flow-through shares will not be altered in a materially unfavourable way; the Company may not use the proceeds from the Offering as described in this new release; the Company may not be able to obtain sufficient financing to pursue all of its intended exploration activities or continue on a going concern basis. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those 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 forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information or for any other reason except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005827/en/

Jeremy Link

President and CEO

[email protected]

+1 (778) 381-5949 x 1

Brad Boland

Executive Vice-President and CFO

[email protected]

+1 (778) 381-5949 x 2

Source: Kiboko Gold Inc.
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR) will host a conference call and webcast beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, August 4, 2022 to discuss second quarter 2022 earnings. The company plans to release its financial and operating results before the market opens that morning.

A webcast link and related presentation material will be included on the Investors page of the companys website at http://ir.murphyoilcorp.com.

Date: Thursday, August 4, 2022

Time: 9:00 a.m. EDT

Toll Free Dial-in: 888-886-7786

Conference ID: 14108968

ABOUT MURPHY OIL CORPORATION

As an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, Murphy Oil Corporation believes in providing energy that empowers people by doing right always, staying with it and thinking beyond possible. Murphy challenges the norm, taps into its strong legacy and uses its foresight and financial discipline to deliver inspired energy solutions. Murphy sees a future where it is an industry leader who is positively impacting lives for the next 100 years and beyond. Additional information can be found on the companys website at www.murphyoilcorp.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identified through the inclusion of words such as aim, anticipate, believe, drive, estimate, expect, expressed confidence, forecast, future, goal, guidance, intend, may, objective, outlook, plan, position, potential, project, seek, should, strategy, target, will or variations of such words and other similar expressions. These statements, which express managements current views concerning future events or results, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause one or more of these future events or results not to occur as implied by any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to: macro conditions in the oil and natural gas industry, including supply/demand levels, actions taken by major oil exporters and the resulting impacts on commodity prices; increased volatility or deterioration in the success rate of our exploration programs or in our ability to maintain production rates and replace reserves; reduced customer demand for our products due to environmental, regulatory, technological or other reasons; adverse foreign exchange movements; political and regulatory instability in the markets where we do business; the impact on our operations or market of health pandemics such as COVID-19 and related government responses; other natural hazards impacting our operations or markets; any other deterioration in our business, markets or prospects; any failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals; any inability to service or refinance our outstanding debt or to access debt markets at acceptable prices; or adverse developments in the US or global capital markets, credit markets or economies in general. For further discussion of factors that could cause one or more of these future events or results not to occur as implied by any forward-looking statement, see Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and any subsequent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Current Report on Form 8-K that we file, available from the SECs website and from Murphy Oil Corporations website at http://ir.murphyoilcorp.com. Murphy Oil Corporation undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005908/en/

Investor Contacts:

Kelly Whitley, [email protected], 281-675-9107

Megan Larson, [email protected], 281-675-9470

Source: Murphy Oil Corporation
The leading polymer 3D printing OEM scales down its production-grade technology to make it accessible to all professional users

The first desktop 3D printer from Nexa3D, the ultrafast XiP, is now shipping

The XiP enables desktop manufacturing with 7x faster print speed than traditional desktop SLA printers

Introduced at Formnext 2021, the first XiP orders are on the way to customers in the US and Canada

VENTURA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ultrafast industrial 3D printing leader Nexa3D is now shipping market-ready desktop XiP 3D printers to customers. Since introducing its first Lubricant Sublayer Photo-curing (LSPc) system for the desktop at Formnext in November 2021, Nexa3D has seen the new products waitlist extend to hundreds of product designers and creators looking to increase the throughput and efficiency of desktop 3D printing.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005205/en/

The XiP desktop 3D printer from Nexa3D is now shipping in the US and Canada. The XiP features ultrafast speeds, a large build volume, and a validated, user-friendly workflow. (Photo: Business Wire)

We designed the XiP to fill a need in the market, said Michael Currie, Vice President, General Manager Desktop Business Unit. The last thing this industry needs is another me-too desktop 3D printer, so we did something very different. Every aspect of the XiP was thought and rethought to heighten capabilities, increase productivity, and eliminate the pain points of other resins systems out there today. Its a hugely exciting time for our team, and we cant wait to hear what people are printing now that they can access industrial strength at desktop size.

XiP Specs

Designed with productivity and sustainability in mind, the XiP offers best-in-class technical specifications to turn ideas into tangible reality faster than ever before.

Key 3D printer specs include:

Large build volume: X: 195 mm, Y: 115 mm, Z: 210 mm

4.8 liter print volume

High-resolution, 4K monochrome 9.3 LCD screen

52 m pixel size

50 m / 100 m / 200 m layer thickness

Ultrafast LSPc technology enables more productive and accurate 3D printing compared to other 3D printing technologies. The XiP takes that capability, proven on the industrial NXE 400 and NXE 200 systems, to the desktop. With a larger build area, 7x faster print speeds, and more efficient post-processing than comparable commercial technologies, LSPc empowers users to create at the speed of thought.

The XiP desktop 3D printer is a truly exciting machine, and Ive been excited to incorporate it into my company's prototyping and rapid product manufacturing workflow, said Rob Wiggins, Owner, Get It Done Dudes LLC. The effort and attention to detail that the team at Nexa 3D have incorporated into the production of the XIP, along with its software and key features  speed, quality, and ease of use  are thrilling. Ive used a lot of desktop 3D printers in my work before but theres always been some piece missing, whether it be quality and materials to match speed or some kind of limitation in workflow. The XiP helped me gain ground in creating Hollywood-quality designs like nothing else. This system is something special, and I cant wait to make more magic with it.

Aluminum  among the most recycled and recyclable materials on Earth  features heavily into the product design. A sturdy aluminum enclosure and reusable material containers bring a sleek look and sustainable mindset into the XiP while also precluding the need for specialized waste streams. End-of-life should be far from mind though, as the industrial system is designed for long-term and upgradeable usage in high-volume environments.

For every XiP 3D printer sold, Nexa3D will plant 10 trees in its Nexa3D Forest in Tanzania, built on a partnership with ForestNation and in fulfillment of its promise to digitize the worlds supply chains sustainably.

XiP It

Every XiP comes with a tool kit comprising hand tools and a roll-out clean work surface. Accessories sold with the XiP extend productivity in an integrated office or lab environment. These include:

Wash+Cure Station  convenient all-in-one post-processing at the desktop

xClean Part Washing Solution  more environmentally friendly than traditional IPA solutions

XiP AiR Desktop Filter and Purifier  work safely

Packages for the XiP have been developed for specific needs for professional users, from individual creators to low- to mid-volume dental labs to teams of industrial designers. Each package is designed to enable new users to set up and be printing quickly, including all necessary equipment, accessories, and consumables. Package pricing starts under $8,000.

Bundle options are the XiP Individual Package, the XiP Dental Package, the XiP Team Package, and the XiP Team Dual Package.

Now shipping to the US and Canada, the XiP is available for purchase. Global availability will be opening soon through direct channels as well as select reselling partners.

Shop now for the XiP here and find out more here.

About Nexa3D

Nexa3D is passionate about digitizing supply chain sustainably. The company makes ultrafast polymer 3D printers that deliver 20X productivity advantage, affordable for professionals and businesses of all sizes. Partnerships with world-class material suppliers unlock the full potential of additively manufactured polymers for volume production. Automated software tools optimize the entire production cycle using process interplay algorithms that ensure part performance and production consistency, while reducing waste, energy and carbon footprints.

For more information on Nexa3D and its products, visit the Nexa3D website, or connect socially on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005205/en/

Sarah Goehrke

Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Ecosystems

[email protected]

Source: Nexa3D
Following 25th anniversary, company achieves top scores for professional development, inclusion, and more

WOODBRIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ExtensisHR, a nationally recognized Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and HR Outsourcing (HRO) services provider, proudly announces it has been named a 2022 Top Workplace by NJ.com. This award comes on the heels of ExtensisHR celebrating its 25-year anniversary, commemorating over two and a half decades of growth, innovation, and simplifying human resources.

The Top Workplace list is based solely on employee feedback conducted by research partner Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey measures several aspects of corporate culture, including workplace satisfaction, leadership approval, and advancement opportunities. Notably, ExtensisHR received top scores in the professional development, employee concerns, and inclusion categories.

An honor like this is only possible because of our people, said David Pearson, ExtensisHRs Senior Vice President of People and Culture. It is their vote of confidence that has enabled us to achieve great success throughout our 25-year company history, and there is nothing more rewarding than receiving positive feedback directly from our team. We remain committed to being a great employer and fostering an inclusive environment where employees feel respected, valued, and a true sense of belonging.

Last year, ExtensisHR earned a 2021 Great Place to Work Certification and was the recipient of multiple 2021 Stevie Awards for Great Employers, in recognition of its employee engagement, strong leadership, and professional development resources. Through its You, Supported program, ExtensisHR employees are offered competitive health and wellness benefits, progressive paid time off, a hybrid work environment, education and career training, peer-to-peer mentorship, virtual and onsite team building events, and more.

During this very challenging time, Top Workplaces has proven to be a beacon of light for organizations, as well as a sign of resiliency and strong business performance," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward. Top Workplaces draw on real-time insights into what works best for their organization, so they can make informed decisions that have a positive impact on their people and their business.

ExtensisHR is actively hiring across all departments! Click here to learn about our open positions.

About ExtensisHR

Founded in 1997, ExtensisHR is a leading national Certified Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and HR Outsourcing (HRO) solution provider, focused on delivering exceptional customer service. We specialize in tailored HR solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses, with a comprehensive portfolio including human resources, benefits, payroll, Work Anywhere technology, risk and compliance, employee management, recruiting, and more. To learn more or to become a broker or business partner, visit: www.extensishr.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

About Energage

Making the world a better place to work together. Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 14 years of culture research and the results from 23 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit Energage or Workplaces.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005026/en/

Media:

Stephanie Clark

ExtensisHR

[email protected]

732-236-5224

Source: ExtensisHR
Noxxon Pharma to Become TME Pharma

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), announced today the results of its 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM), which took place on June 29, 2022, at 02.00 p.m. CEST. Shareholders representing a total of 9.33% of the total issued and outstanding share capital on June 1, 2022, were represented in person or by proxy.

All proposed resolutions submitted to the AGM were approved, including the company name change from NOXXON Pharma N.V. to TME Pharma N.V.

Aram Mangasarian, CEO of NOXXON Pharma, commented: Our new name, TME Pharma, reflects the companys transformation into an oncology biotech and matches our strategy to deliver best-in-class therapeutics targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME) in the most aggressive cancers. We believe that our unique approach enables anti-cancer treatment combinations that will have a greater therapeutic impact in cancer indications that respond poorly to available therapies.

The company has reserved a new trading symbol, ALTME, and plans to submit notice of the company name change to the Euronext Growth Paris. The company expects to trade under the new symbol within the next few weeks. Until then, it intends to continue trading under its current stock symbol, ALNOX.

The full list of resolutions approved by all participating shareholders can be found below.

Item Resolution 2.d: Adoption of the annual accounts 2021 Accepted 2.e: Release from liability of the members of the board of directors Accepted 2.f: Release from liability of the members of the supervisory board Accepted 3.a: Re-appointment of Dr. Aram Mangasarian as member of the board of directors Accepted 3.b: Re-appointment of Bryan Jennings as member of the board of directors Accepted 4.a: Re-appointment of Dr. Maurizio PetitBon as member of the supervisory board Accepted 4.b: Re-appointment of Dr. Cornelis Alexander Izeboud as member of the supervisory board Accepted 5: Appointment of Baker Tilly (Netherlands) N.V. as statutory auditor for the financial year 2022 Accepted 6: Partial amendment of articles of association in relation to the name change to TME Pharma N.V. Accepted 7: Partial amendment of the articles of association in relation to the increase of the authorized share capital and the introduction of a class of convertible preference shares Accepted 8: Partial amendment of the articles of association in relation to reinstating a transitional provision to increase the authorized share capital Accepted 9: Delegation to the board of directors to issue ordinary shares and/or preference shares and to limit or exclude any pre-emptive rights in connection therewith Accepted 10: Renewal of the delegation to the board of directors to acquire shares Accepted 11: Amendment of Sec. 3.4 of the remuneration policy regarding the compensation structure of non-executive directors in relation to grant of options Accepted

The presentation outlining the agenda items and voting results of the AGM is available online. The minutes of the AGM will soon be made available on the company website.

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.

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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.
PUTEAUX, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

As per its commitment, the ORPEA Group (Paris: ORP) has posted on its website the summary of the final conclusions of the audits carried out by Grant Thornton and Alvarez & Marsal, on the subject relating to the care of nursing homes residents in France and on employment law topics, thus completing the external surveys commissioned by the Board of Directors.

This follows the publication of the preliminary results of the audits on 26 April 2022 and the publication on 8 June 2022 of the final conclusions of these firms regarding the use of public funds and business relations with third parties, including some public officials, to which reference is made where applicable.

Philippe Charrier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said:

 With the publication of these last two sections on the care of nursing homes residents in France and on labor policies, we are fulfilling the commitment made on 26 January to shed light on the allegations made against the ORPEA Group in the book. Yet, this endeavor for transparency doesnt end here: my successor as CEO, Laurent Guillot, will actively pursue this dialogue with all our stakeholders.

The Grant Thornton and Alvarez & Marsal report allows us to rule out the allegation of a system of widespread abuse. It notably refutes the notion of a rationing of protection as well as several allegations concerning meals and food. However, it does report shortcomings and inadequacies in the handling of adverse events, in the managerial incentive system and in the management of human resources. We have announced and implemented a first set of measures to correct these malfunctions. Remaining true to our commitment to sustainable improvement, we continue to develop our practices with special attention to exemplarity in order to provide the best possible support to vulnerable people.

I would like to once again thank all residents, patients and their families for the trust they continue to place in the group, as well as all of our employees for the engagement they demonstrate on a daily basis. We are also grateful to the 1,900 people who took part in roundtable talks (Etats Generaux) in our French nursing homes, participating in very rich discussions which will contribute to the group's actions in the coming months. 

Care of residents in French nursing homes and employment laws topics

With respect to the allegations related to the care of residents in French nursing homes and employment law, ORPEA notes in particular that the firms Grant Thornton and Alvarez & Marsal:

found no evidence to support the following allegations: systematic shortages of incontinence products; rationing on food and in particular on rusks and madeleines; unjustified restrictions applicable to procurement requests for new equipment or products (including protection); discriminatory practices in the hiring process;



observed: that there is a procedure for monitoring and prescribing a  DCP  (Daily Cost Price) for food, which however provides that staff meals do not reduce the DCP of residents' meals; that the meat portions served in the evening are reduced, without this limitation resulting in calorie and protein intakes being below official recommendations, as proteins are essentially provided during lunchtime; that the systematic use of Protipulse (protein-rich food supplement) only concerned a limited number of facilities, and this during the health crisis; the existence of a chronic understaffing situation, which must be considered against the backdrop of a tight employment market in the nursing home sector, it being specified that the practices of the ORPEA Group do not make it possible to offset these difficulties affecting the sector; that the management of care personnel expenses is still too dependent on the occupancy rate and profitability objectives; the existence of procedures for reporting adverse events that comply with regulatory requirements, but insufficient staff awareness on their implementation, resulting in the absence or delay of reports; an overly complex procedure for handling complaints and claims which does not allow for an efficient and exhaustive follow-up; a remuneration and incentive policy that is biased for regional directors due to its overly financial approach. Il it however noted that quality criteria are used for facility directors; a policy that favors offering time off in lieu for overtime hours rather than direct payment, exacerbating the problem of understaffing; incompleteness of staff files in 5% of cases and shortcomings regarding pre-hiring statements (DPAE) in 49% of cases; a significant proportion of fixed-term contracts (22%), in particular for Nursing Assistants (33%), of which 8%, based on the sample analyzed, do not comply with the regulation on the replacement of permanent staff who are absent or awaiting the arrival of a new permanent staff member; a majority of dismissals for serious misconduct, half of which were due to abandonment of position, and a rate of dispute of dismissals for serious misconduct, or real and serious cause of 12%, leading in a significant proportion of cases to a requalification of the dismissal; the existence of situations in which the maximum number of residents has been exceeded, without it being a systematic policy; failures in the processing of satisfaction questionnaires.



As announced on 26 March 2022, prior to the submission of the findings of these reports, ORPEA implemented a range of remedial measures aiming at correcting its internal processes with the purpose of eradicating the practices identified above, where they still existed.

It is reminded that the work of Grant Thornton and Alvarez & Marsal is necessarily limited and partial, their purpose being to verify allegations made in a book published in January 2022.

The ORPEA group, under the leadership of its new Chief Executive Officer, is determined to continue and correct the deficiencies identified above, to acquire the necessary human resources and to allocate the financial means necessary to do so.

About ORPEA (www.orpea-corp.com)

Founded in 1989, ORPEA is one of the world leaders in Dependency care (nursing homes, assisted living, post-acute and rehabilitation hospitals, mental health hospitals, home care services)

ORPEA is listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000184798) and is a member of the SBF 120, STOXX 600 Europe, MSCI Small Cap Europe and CAC Mid 60 indices.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005885/en/

Investor Relations

ORPEA

Benoit Lesieur

Investor Relations Director

[email protected]

Investor Relations

NewCap

Dusan Oresansky

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

[email protected]

Media Relations

Image 7

Charlotte Le Barbier

Tel.: +33 (0)6 78 37 27 60

[email protected]



Caroline Simon

Tel.: +33(0)6 89 87 61 24

[email protected]

Source: ORPEA Group
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Procure Analytics (PA), North Americas premier data-forward group purchasing organization for Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO), Packaging, and Freight, announces the appointment of four executives to senior positions. Jason Patrick joins PA as Chief Revenue Officer. Eugene Gene Hugh takes on the role of Chief Financial Officer. Jay Black will serve as Vice President of Business Development. Fred Renteria, VP of Business Development, is promoted to Senior Vice President of Member Success and Revenue Operations. The four executives are based at PAs Atlanta headquarters.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005738/en/

Jason Patrick, Chief Revenue Officer, Procure Analytics (Photo: Business Wire)

This is an extremely strong group of experienced and talented professionals, who all share PAs passion to provide the highest quality service and needle-moving value to our members, said PA Chair and CEO, Suja Katarya. Their leadership and energy will further strengthen our ability to deliver the analytical tools, project management, and white-glove service that drive continuous value growth for our members, ranging from SMEs to Fortune 100 companies.

Chief Revenue Officer, Jason Patrick

Jason Patrick brings deep experience building high performance, customer-focused sales and marketing teams. Prior to joining PA, Jason served as the Vice President and General Manager for North, Central and South America at LS Retail, a world-leading provider of unified commerce software solutions for retail and hospitality companies. He has worked in a variety of strategic and executive positions at technology service and analytics companies including Calero-MDSL, SAP, and Ernst & Young. Jason is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds an M.S. in Systems Engineering (Health Systems) from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Chief Financial Officer, Eugene Hugh

Prior to joining PA, Gene Hugh served as Vice President of Corporate Systems, Procurement, and Vendor Management at Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE), one of the largest exchanges and clearing houses in the world and parent to the New York Stock Exchange. He also held senior roles in the Finance organization where he oversaw FP&A, strategy, and M&A. As a member of the Finance and Corporate team, he was integral in establishing the finance operations and successfully integrating more than 20 acquisitions. Gene holds a B.A. in Financial and International Economics from Emory University.

Vice President of Business Development, Jay Black

Jay Black joins PA from Deem, Inc., a cloud commerce company delivering commerce-as-a-service based solutions across the travel ribbon, where he was Vice President of Business Development. He previously served as Vice President for management consulting firm Insight Sourcing Group, leading the firms group purchasing practice InsightGPO, and as Senior Director, Private Equity and Logistics for CoreTrust, as well as Executive Director for CoreTrust Europe. He is a graduate of Martin Methodist College with a B.A. in Business, Management, Marketing and related Support Services.

Senior Vice President of Member Success and Revenue Operations, Fred Renteria

Fred Renteria joined PA in 2018 as Vice President of Business Development. Prior to joining PA, Fred was the Vice President of Purchasing and Vendor Services at the Miner Corporation where he held responsibility over parts suppliers, third-party labor contractors, in-direct spend, and fleet management. Before Miner, Fred managed both Capital and Expense spend for 2,000 stores at The Home Depot based out of Atlanta. Renteria earned an M.B.A. from CIMBA in Asolo, Italy and a B.S. from The University of Texas at Austin.

At PA, our motto is We never stop. Never stop driving value for our members and suppliers. Never stop innovating. Never stop growing, said company President Billy Medof. Were delighted that these four seasoned leaders, and all of the PA team, are working together to make big things happen for our members every day.

About Procure Analytics

Procure Analytics (PA) is the premier data-forward group purchasing organization specializing in Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO), Packaging, and Freight. PA combines $1.5b+ of purchasing leverage and supplier relationships, together with dedicated advisors, proprietary analytics, and artificial intelligence, to drive ongoing value and supply chain resiliency for our members. PAs analytical and reporting tools offer the insight needed to optimize MRO, Packaging, and Freight  all at no cost to members. https://procureanalytics.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005738/en/

Procure Analytics

404-902-5373

[email protected]

PRESS CONTACT:

Erin Whitney

TagTeam Global

497-415-3015

[email protected]

Sara Coulter

TagTeam Global

201-819-1403

[email protected]

Source: Procure Analytics
First SES C-band satellite dedicated to freeing up lower 300 MHz of C-band spectrum will ensure SES can continue providing video and data services to its customers while enabling wireless operators to quickly deploy 5G services across the US

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SES announced today that the SES-22 satellite was successfully launched into space onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceXs Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, at 5:04 pm local time.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005978/en/

SESs C-band Satellite Successfully Launched Onboard SpaceX Rocket (Photo: Business Wire)

The first of SESs C-band satellites dedicated to freeing up the lower 300 MHz of C-band spectrum is built by Thales Alenia Space, and will operate in the 135 degrees West orbital slot. It will deliver TV and radio to millions of American homes and provide other critical data transmission services. SES-22 is expected to start operations by early August 2022.

The launch of SES-22 is part of a broader Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program to clear a portion of C-band spectrum to enable wireless operators to deploy 5G services across the contiguous US (CONUS). In response to a mandate from the FCC, satellite operators such as SES are required to transition their existing services from the lower 300 MHz to the upper 200 MHz of C-band spectrum to make room for 5G.

To meet the FCCs accelerated deadline of clearing C-band spectrum across the US by December 2023 while maintaining uninterrupted services, SES will launch five satellites  SES-18, SES-19, SES-20, SES-21 and SES-22 in 2022.

We are thrilled with the successful launch of SES-22, thanks to our partners at Thales Alenia Space and SpaceX, said Steve Collar, CEO of SES. The launch of SES-22, together with other upcoming C-band satellite launches scheduled this year, will enable us to continue providing the high-quality services that our customers have been accustomed to over the last several decades, while freeing up spectrum that will enable the US to rapidly unlock the promise of 5G.

The successful launch of SES 22 is the result of our long-standing and fruitful collaboration with SES, said Herve Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. This achievement reflects the robustness and flight-proven heritage of our Spacebus 4000 B2 platform combined with our ability to timely and quickly deliver SES-22, two key elements leading to the decision of SES working with us to replace its existing C-Band fleet.

The SES-22 spacecraft had a fast on-ground delivery time as satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space shipped it only 22 months after it was ordered. SES-22 is the seventh SES satellite launched by SpaceX over the last 10 years.

More information of SES-22 and other C-band satellites available here.

Follow SES on:

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram

Read our Blogs >

Visit the Media Gallery >

About SES

SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the worlds only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the worlds leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SESs video network carries ~8,200 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 366 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.

Follow Thales Alenia Space on:

LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

About Thales Alenia Space

Drawing on over 40 years of experience and a unique combination of skills, expertise and cultures, Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Governments and private industry alike count on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite-based systems that provide anytime, anywhere connections and positioning, monitor our planet, enhance management of its resources, and explore our Solar System and beyond. Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the parent companies Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of services. Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of approximately 2.15 billion euros in 2021 and has around 8,900 employees in 10 countries with 17 sites in Europe and a plant in the US.

www.thalesaleniaspace.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005978/en/

Suzanne Ong

External Communications

+352 710 725 500

[email protected]

Sandrine Bielecki

Thales Alenia Space Press

+33 (0)4 92 92 70 94

[email protected]

Catherine des Arcis

Thales Alenia Space Press

+33 (0)4 92 92 72 82

[email protected]

Source: SES
THOMASVILLE, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cleaver-Brooks, Inc. (the Company) announced today that it has posted its annual report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, on the Companys secure investor website. The annual report is being furnished pursuant to the Indentures governing the Companys 7.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2023 (the 7.875% Notes) to holders of the 7.875% Notes, certain equity investors, qualified prospective investors in the 7.875% Notes, and certain broker-dealers and securities analysts.

The Company also announced that it will host an investor conference call to discuss annual 2022 financial results on Friday, July 8, 2022, at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time. Access to the investor conference call will be limited to holders of the 7.875% Notes, certain equity investors, qualified prospective investors in the 7.875% Notes and certain broker-dealers and securities analysts. The Company has posted specific instructions on how to access the investor conference call on its secure investor website.

If you are a holder of the 7.875% Notes, a qualified prospective investor in the 7.875% Notes, or a qualified broker-dealer or securities analyst who would like to access the secure investor website, but have not yet been certified by the Company, please click on the Investor Relations link on our website at cleaver-brooks.com for information on how to become certified.

About Cleaver-Brooks

Cleaver-Brooks provides boiler rooms solutions to customers in a wide range of industries and end markets around the world. The Companys main products include firetube packaged boilers, industrial watertube boilers, modular boilers, commercial watertube packaged boilers, waste heat recovery systems, burners, boiler room accessories and the aftermarket parts and service associated with these products. For more information, access the Cleaver-Brooks website at cleaver-brooks.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005326/en/

For Further Information, Contact:

Darren K. Allen

Chief Financial Officer

229-558-5503

Source: Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.
Jason Trubowitz Joins The Agency as The Head of The Media Department

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tierney, an IPG agency, announced today its newest hire, Jason Trubowitz, to serve as the EVP/Media Director leading its planning, paid media, and data & analytics practice. With over 20 years of experience in the advertising industry, Trubowitz joins Tierney to instill a heightened sense of collaboration and innovation across teams.

Our agency philosophy is rooted in how we work. A seasoned thought-leader and digital pioneer recognized for his collaborative approach and strong relationships, we are thrilled to have Jasons perspectives and leadership augment our talented team of media professionals. We live in a data-driven world, but that doesnt mean we sacrifice creativity. Jason understands the intersection of creativity and data, how it drives consumer behavior, and how it fuels smart solutions and results for our client partners, said Tracey Santilli, President of Tierney.

As Trubowitz makes his transition to Tierney, he plans to lean into the teams hunger for learning and lead with an inter-disciplinary, people-centric management style. In an era of digitization multiplying consumers choices, Trubowitz has a strategic approach that will help distinguish Tierneys media practice and cut through the clutter.

My goal as head of the media department is to empower, teach and learn from my team but also to build strong partnerships with all of our clients, said Trubowitz. What excites me most about working at an integrated agency, is the ability to be a true extension of our clients teams.

Before being brought in to lead Tierneys media department, Trubowitz spent the last two decades working both in advertising agencies and in-house on the client side. He spent his early career, leading media planning efforts for brands that dominate their product categories, like Diageo, The Coca-Cola Company, and Walmart. Trubowitz continued his profession in media planning in the news division at NBCUniversal and UnitedHealth Group, where his leadership spanned the Fortune 500 companys entire portfolio of brands. Much of his passion for advertising stems from Trubowitzs education in psychology, in which he holds a bachelors degree from Skidmore College.

Psychology is a big part of what we do given the fact that were trying to reach people at certain times, said Trubowitz. Our advertising messaging and our media is more accessible and really is about how people think, behave, what they do, and when they do it. We need to get back to a little bit more of the art versus the science. Its important that we understand opportunities that are out there in the marketplace to reach our consumers, added Trubowitz.

Trubowitz has received numerous company awards from previous employers in recognition of his excellence in innovation and collaboration. Tierney is a 2022 Philadelphia Inquirer Top Workplace and always looking for skilled, passionate talent across specialties.

About Tierney:

Tierney is a leading full-service strategic communications agency, offering integrated advertising, PR, media, social media, and digital solutions. Tierney is headquartered in Philadelphia and operates offices in New York and Harrisburg. The company is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG). Start a conversation at hellotierney.com and follow us on social media @hellotierney.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005767/en/

Tiffany Ramsey

Tierney Agency

[email protected]

702-460-1300

Source: Tierney
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Trackforce Valiant, a leading provider of security workforce management solutions, today announced the acquisition of TrackTik Software, one of the most innovative and fastest growing cloud-based security workforce management providers. The combination of these two companies has created a new dominant market leader in providing visibility and control for the physical security workforce.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005064/en/

We are very excited to welcome TrackTik into the Trackforce Valiant family, said Trevor Campion, CEO of Trackforce Valiant. Now more than ever, we believe in the importance of providing the right security solutions for companies of all sizes and business needs. The addition of TrackTik enables us to provide a wide range of technology options that are purpose-built for the unique needs of physical security operations.

TrackTik was founded in 2013 with the mission of providing a complete set of tools through easy-to-use software and taking the fear out of technology in order to put it to work for security workforce management. From their origins in Montreal, Canada, TrackTik provides solutions to over 35 countries across 6 continents and has been steadily innovating the way companies leverage workforce technology for security operations. The platform provides a full suite of applications, combining the needs of back-office administration to front line security operations.

As a result of this new venture, physical security companies now can leverage the combined best practices of two leading security workforce management providers, providing multiple options for how they can manage security operations. Additionally, the combined technology teams of Trackforce Valiant and TrackTik Software will enable the company to further innovate and enhance their solutions further than any other software provider in the industry.

The physical security market continues to grow, and with that so does the need for solutions that can grow with them, said Simon Ferragne, CEO of TrackTik. This acquisition positions us as the dominant leader for security workforce technology, and we are thrilled to work together to continue our mission to build innovative, leading-edge solutions for our customers.

Both companies will continue to maintain operations in service of their customers and partners, with Trevor Campion overseeing the combined organization as CEO, and Simon Ferragne, TrackTiks CEO, entering the role of CTO. Simon Ferragne and TrackTiks investors, CDPQ Investissements, Georgian, Klass Capital, Inovia Capital, Intercap, and Schauer Ventures have reinvested a portion of their proceeds in the newly combined entity to help foster continued growth in the company. TrackTik will continue to operate and maintain its presence in Quebec as one of Canadas top small and medium employers. Trackforce Valiant and TrackTik will collaborate on developing and innovating security solutions that include Time and Labor Management, Guard Touring, Incident Management, Dispatch and Mobile Patrol, as well as Billing and Payroll management.

About Trackforce Valiant

Trackforce Valiant is a leader in complete security workforce management solutions. More than 300,000 professionals at over 30,000 customer sites in 45 countries use Trackforce Valiant every day to ensure the delivery of reliable security services, improve operational efficiency and optimally manage their human capital. For nearly 30 years, Trackforce Valiant has provided fully integrated security solutions to its partners and customers. Thanks to its security expertise and state-of-the-art information systems technology, Trackforce Valiant proudly offers the most effective solutions available on the market. Clients include the world's leading security guard service providers, as well as major airports, universities, and corporations across the globe. Additional information is available at https://www.trackforcevaliant.com.

About TrackTik

Founded in 2013, TrackTik is a privately-owned, VC-backed Canadian scale-up of 200+ employees providing a cloud-based workforce management solution in the physical security industry. Headquartered in Montreal, with offices in the UK and a presence in various provinces in Canada and the Netherlands, TrackTik serves 780 customers in more than 35 countries. TrackTik quickly established itself as a market leader with the mission to seamlessly connect humans, workflows, and systems to deliver a better way of working to the physical security workforce. TrackTiks integrated suite of automated tools fluidly connects frontline operations and back-office management allowing managers to follow the progression of field workers, reduce manual tasks, lower cost, glean actionable insights from data to demonstrate value, promote operational efficiency and boost productivity, job satisfaction, and retention. Additional information is available at https://www.tracktik.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005064/en/

For press inquiries, please contact:

Fortress Strategic Communications

Evan Bloom, CEO

Tel: + 1 315-744-4912

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.fortresscomms.com

Source: Trackforce Valiant
DINUBA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Something new is happening in the world of cantaloupe! According to the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, which represents all growers of cantaloupe in California, cantaloupe growers around the world are increasingly planting newer varieties that have longer shelf life, which helps to reduce food waste.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005870/en/

California cantaloupe growers want people to know these new varieties offer consumers that same great cantaloupe taste they love, along with some extra benefits, said Garrett Patricio, of Westside Produce, a California melon supplier. (Photo: Business Wire)

California cantaloupe farmers are no exception. This summer nearly all of the states cantaloupes  which are harvesting now  will be newer, longer shelf-life varieties. And this means your old method for selecting a good one has changed.

California cantaloupe growers want people to know these new varieties offer consumers that same great cantaloupe taste they love, along with some extra benefits, said Garrett Patricio, of Westside Produce, a California melon supplier. But with these new varieties comes some new rules to follow when selecting a ripe cantaloupe at your grocery store.

Selecting the perfect cantaloupe has often been considered challenging for many people. But, according to Patricio, new cantaloupe varieties make that process easier in many ways.

Plant breeders are constantly working to improve cantaloupe varieties to give you the best eating experience possible, says Patricio. These new varieties are bred to be sweeter and to have firmer flesh, which means they last longer on store shelves and in peoples refrigerators. This means they can help people stretch their food dollars and less food ends up in the trash.

Patricio also explains that under a program known as the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, farmers are required to test their melons for sugar content before they harvest. The sugar requirement is enforced by the California Department of Food and Agriculture for all cantaloupes produced in the state.

We do this by testing for brix, which is a measurement of sugar content, explains Patricio. California cantaloupes must have at least 12 brix when they are harvested. However, many new cantaloupes are actually harvested at close to 14 or 15 brix. Meaning you can expect a very sweet eating experience and shoppers can have confidence when it comes to picking out the perfect cantaloupe in stores.

The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board also offers some updated tricks and tips for selecting the perfect cantaloupe.

How to Pick a New Variety Cantaloupe

A Little Green is OK



While a cream color is always a good indicator of a mature melon, new varieties may often have a somewhat green hue. Dont be deterred by a slightly green cast on new variety of cantaloupes.



Cracking Isnt Always a Bad Thing



If the blossom end (the end opposite the stem) is beginning to show a bit of cracking, this can be a good indicator of ripeness, so dont worry that the cracking is a defect. Another sign of ripeness, this blossom end will be somewhat soft to the touch, meaning it gives slightly when pressed gently with the fingers.



Stem or No Stem  Either is Fine



The stem end of newer cantaloupe varieties may be smooth, but its just as likely to have a bit of stem left on the melon. A good sign of a mature melon is that some netting is growing up the stem. Netting is the raised net-like texture on the shell of the cantaloupe.



The Nose Doesnt Always Know



Newer cantaloupe varieties dont emit a natural gas called ethylene, which enhances ripening. This is one reason they last longer, but it also means they dont give off the same traditional, sweet melon smell, even though they typically have higher sugar content than the old varieties.

Note: Please note that todays new cantaloupe varieties are NOT produced using genetically modified breeding techniques but are done using traditional cross pollination methods for varietal development.

Learn more information about new cantaloupe varieties and how to select them here. Or download a cantaloupe selection guide here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005870/en/

California Cantaloupe Advisory Board

Marilyn Freeman

[email protected]

Source: California Cantaloupe Advisory Board
By David Gaffen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices slid about 2% on Wednesday as a rise in U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories and worries about slower economic growth around the world offset ongoing concerns about tight crude supplies.

Brent futures for August delivery fell $1.72, or 1.5%, to settle at $116.26 a barrel. The August contract will expire on Thursday and the more-active September contract was down $1.35 to $112.45.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for August fell $1.98, or 1.8%, to settle at $109.78.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. crude inventories fell last week even as production hit its highest level since April 2020 during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Fuel stocks rose as refiners ramped up activity, operating at 95% of capacity, the highest for this time of year in four years. [EIA/S]

"The EIA report put a damper on the market. The rise in gasoline and distillate inventories eases the pressure a bit and the uptick in U.S. production also factored into the price decline," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

Those surprise inventory gains caused U.S. gasoline and distillates futures to drop about 3% and 4%, respectively. Traders said crude futures followed the fuel prices lower.

Also putting pressure on oil was a rise in the U.S. dollar against a basket of other currencies to its highest since hitting a 19-year high in mid June. A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies.

Brent and WTI gained about 7% over the prior three sessions on worries about tight supplies due in part to Western sanctions on Russia.

"Given that almost 1/5 of global oil producing capacity today is under some form of sanctions (Iran, Venezuela, Russia), we believed there is no practical way to keep these barrels out of a market that was already exceptionally tight," JP Morgan said in a research note.

But investors are also concerned that slowing economies could dent energy demand as central banks hike interest rates to battle inflation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will not let the economy slip into a "higher inflation regime" even if it means raising interest rates to levels that put growth at risk, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

Uncertainty in global oil and gas markets could stay for some time to come as spare capacity is very low while demand is still recovering, Shell PLC Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies such as Russia that form the OPEC+ group, began a series of two-day meetings on Wednesday with sources saying chances of a big policy change look unlikely this month.

Analysts are concerned that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may not have enough spare capacity to make up for lost Russian supply. French President Emmanuel Macron said this week he was told these producers will struggle to increase output further.

However, the UAE energy minister said the country, which is producing about 3 million bpd, has some spare capacity above its OPEC quota of 3.17 million bpd.

Analysts also warned that political unrest in Ecuador and Libya could tighten supply further.

In Russia, the Black Sea Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal will resume loading oil from its second single mooring point on July 1.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, Florence Tan in Singapore and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Jason Neely and David Gregorio)
TELUS Corporation (NYSE: TU) today announced that its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into a purchase agreement with an entity affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) relating to the acquisition by TELUS of 3,000,000 multiple voting shares (the Purchased Shares) in the capital of TELUS International (Cda) Inc. (TELUS International) from BPEA.

The purchase of the Purchased Shares is being made pursuant to the private agreement exemption set forth in section 4.2 of National Instrument 62-104.

Following thoughtful consideration, it is our strong belief that this represents an attractive opportunity to invest further in TELUS International, commented Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. This share purchase is reflective of our strong, ongoing confidence in the continued prospects and robust profitable growth trajectory of the TELUS International organization, and demonstrates our continued support for our TELUS international team and their strategic objectives.

The Purchased Shares represent approximately 1.5% of the outstanding multiple voting shares of TELUS International and approximately 1.1% of all outstanding shares. The Purchased Shares are being acquired for a purchase price of US$22.00 per Purchased Share, representing aggregate consideration of US$66,000,000.

Before giving effect to the purchase, TELUS held an aggregate of 146,504,019 multiple voting shares of TELUS International and no subordinate voting shares, representing approximately 73.28% of the outstanding multiple voting shares, 70.93% of the outstanding voting rights attached to all shares of TELUS International and approximately 55.04% of the total shares outstanding. After giving effect to the purchase, TELUS will hold an aggregate of 149,504,019 multiple voting shares and no subordinate voting shares. Upon completion of the acquisition, the shares held by TELUS will represent approximately 56.17% of the outstanding shares of TELUS International, 74.78% of the outstanding multiple voting shares of TELUS International and 72.38% of the outstanding voting rights of TELUS International.

TELUS purchased the Purchased Shares for investment purposes and may or may not purchase or sell multiple voting shares, subordinate voting shares or other securities of TELUS International in the future on the open market or in private transactions, depending on market conditions and other factors. TELUS currently has no other plans or intentions that relate to its investment in TELUS International. Depending on market conditions, general economic and industry conditions, TELUS Internationals business and financial condition and/or other relevant factors, TELUS may at any time develop other plans or intentions in the future relating to one or more of the above items. A copy of the early warning report to be filed by TELUS in connection with the acquisition will be available on TELUS Internationals profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Alternatively, you may contact Robert Mitchell (TELUS Investor Relations) at 1-800-667-4871 in order to obtain a copy of the report.

The headquarters and principal executive offices of TELUS International are located at Floor 7, 510 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 0M3
Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) disclosed:

On June 27, 2022, Whirlpool Corporation (the Company), through its subsidiary Whirlpool EMEA SpA, entered into a share purchase agreement with Arcelik A.S.(Arcelik) to sell the Companys Russian business to Arcelik for deferred payments. The sale includes the entirety of the Companys operations in Russia, including the Companys manufacturing site in Lipetsk, Russia, and the sales organization in Moscow, Russia, as well as sales operations in Kazakhstan and other select CIS countries.

The deferred payments are expected to be made over a ten-year period and are subject to a cap based on the net asset value of the business as of closing, which is currently estimated at approximately 220 million. The deferred payments, subject to regulatory authorization or confirmation, will be based on business conditions, distributable reserves, defined liabilities, and cash and receipts existing on the balance sheet at closing. The purchase agreement is subject to additional conditions for closing, including obtaining regulatory approval and other customary conditions. The sale is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2022.

After closing, the Lipetsk site will continue to manufacture appliances under the Indesit, Hotpoint and Stinol brands.

The Company expects to record a loss between $300 million to $400 million during the second quarter of 2022 in connection with the transaction. The final amount is subject to changes based on the movements in working capital accounts, divestiture related costs and impacts of foreign currency.

The Company, as a U.S. company, is taking this action given the current operating environment in Russia and has concluded the agreement to be the best course of action for its employees, shareholders and overall business.

The Company does not expect to provide any further information regarding the transaction until it reports earnings results for the second quarter.

The information in this Form 8-K is being furnished and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section. The information in this Form 8-K shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as shall otherwise be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.


FILE PHOTO: A small toy figure and representations of the virtual currency bitcoin stand on a motherboard in this picture illustration taken May 20, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

By Elizabeth Howcroft

LONDON (Reuters) - Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) has entered liquidation, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, in the latest sign of the market downturn hurting the crypto industry.

Singapore-based 3AC is one of the higher profile crypto investors to have run into difficulties following the sharp sell-off in the market for digital currencies seen in recent months.

Crypto broker Voyager Digital issued 3AC with a default notice on Monday after it failed to make payments on a loan of 15,250 bitcoin (approximately $324 million) and $350 million worth of USDC, a stablecoin.

A British Virgin Islands court order also dated on Monday ordered 3AC's liquidation.

Consultancy firm Teneo have been appointed as liquidators.

Top cryptocurrency bitcoin has plunged some 37% in June, trading around $20,000 on Wednesday, compared with its all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021.

News of 3AC's liquidation was first reported by broadcaster Sky on Wednesday.

On June 15, 3AC's co-founder sought to address liquidation rumours in a tweet, saying the company was "fully committed to working this out", without going into further detail.

3AC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, editing by Sinead Cruise)
FILE PHOTO: An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured at 50 ImClone Drive in Branchburg, New Jersey, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said on Wednesday it will supply additional doses of its COVID-19 antibody drug to the U.S. government in order to meet demand through late August.

As per the modified supply agreement with the government, Lilly will provide an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab for about $275 million. The drug has also shown effectiveness against the Omicron variant.

The FDA authorized the drug earlier this year for emergency use in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progression to severe disease, including hospitalization or death.

Lilly said bebtelovimab retains effectiveness against Omicron as well as its fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which now make up more than 50% of COVID cases in the United States.

Lilly said delivery will begin immediately and U.S. has an option to buy additional 350,000 doses till September 14.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
New capabilities for simple, secure configuration of edge services required to manage applications at scale across Kubernetes

BOSTON, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ambassador Labs , the cloud native developer experience leader, today announced the newest release of Ambassador Edge Stack , an integrated edge solution that empowers developer teams to quickly configure the edge services required to build, deliver, and scale applications for Kubernetes. HTTP/3 support has been added to Ambassador Edge Stack v3.0 and Emissary-ingress , the CNCF project originally donated by the company, making it simple for developers to manage and observe traffic from the Internet to their Kubernetes services, and to do so with resilience and security at scale. Ambassador Labs also announced a series of learning programs, including the new Kubernetes Learning Center (KLC) site designed to boost skills for developers and platform engineering teams.



Ambassador Edge Stack is a trusted self-service edge offering that eliminates the ops change request backlog and gives power to the developers to implement policy changes to support faster app release cycles with confidence, said Richard Li, co-founder and CEO at Ambassador. Our newest release reinforces our commitment to the developer experience as they take ownership of the full app lifecycle. An intuitive interface makes it simple for developers to own policy changes at the edge - with full visibility into any and all changes made - so they can release applications fast, more frequently and with the highest level of security.

A Comprehensive Edge Stack

Ambassador Edge Stack shifts the responsibility of edge configuration away from the platform teams and gives developers self-service access to the most comprehensive set of capabilities required at the edge. Developers can pick and choose which capabilities best support their requirements for fast, scalable app delivery, and ops teams can set cluster-wide guardrails for safety and security. Ambassador Edge Stack includes a modern ingress controller for always-on application availability with fine-grained traffic management controls. It also supports a variety of protocols that developers are familiar with, including gRPC and gRPC-Web and new support for HTTP/3 , and support for automatic retries, timeouts, circuit breakers, and rate limiting to maximize application availability.

"Our team at Mercedes-Benz uses Ambassador as an Ingress for all HTTP communications from 12 million cars in production. We see about a billion hits per day, serving 14 million requests at its peak through Ambassador in a five-minute interval through all our regions combined. Mercedes-Benz collects roughly 9 terabytes of traffic from requests in a day, says Nashon Steffen, Staff Infrastructure Development Engineer at Mercedes-Benz. Ambassador makes it very easy for us to manage endpoints across all our regions worldwide and is able to seamlessly adapt and work with every regions 80 different endpoints, each with varying configuration requirements."

Ambassador Edge Stack with new HTTP/3 protocol support makes it easier than ever for developers to configure even more services at the edge so they can run applications and alert teams to all new application functions faster and with greater security. With 73% of running browsers and over 25% of websites using the HTTP/3 protocol to exchange data on the web, Ambassador Edge Stack customers now benefit from even more protocol choices to deliver and manage microservices at scale. HTTP/3 is especially beneficial for users with lossy networks, such as cell/mobile-based apps, IoT devices, or apps serving emerging markets. The increased resilience through rapid reconnection and the reduced latency from the new protocol will benefit all types of Internet traffic, such as typical web browsing/search, ecommerce/finance, or the use of interactive web-based applications, all of which can encounter packet loss of 2%+ on the underlying networks.

The newest release of Ambassador Edge Stack follows recent technology partnerships and product innovations, all designed to unlock developer productivity for cloud native teams. These include:

New Docker Extension for Telepresence that allows Docker Desktop users to instantly bridge local workstations with Kubernetes clusters in the cloud and test local changes against remote dependencies as well as share previews with developer team members.

that allows Docker Desktop users to instantly bridge local workstations with Kubernetes clusters in the cloud and test local changes against remote dependencies as well as share previews with developer team members. New Ambassador Cloud Team Edition with new capabilities and pricing designed for distributed development teams to accelerate Kubernetes adoption as they code, test, ship and run cloud native applications.

with new capabilities and pricing designed for distributed development teams to accelerate Kubernetes adoption as they code, test, ship and run cloud native applications. Member of the Steering Committee for the new Envoy Gateway project that will make it easy for developers to use Envoy in the future as a reference API gateway for cloud native development and delivery.



Learning Kubernetes as a Team

Ambassador Labs has launched a new Kubernetes Learning Center (KLC) site, instituted by requests and feedback from the companys global developer community. The KLC site is a free online destination that offers a variety of hands-on training content learning opportunities for developers , platform engineers , architects, DevOps engineers and more. Additionally, the company remains committed to helping developers accelerate their Kubernetes journey via the  Golden Path Pizza Party , free technical lunch-and-learn program designed to help teams adopt Kubernetes using proven architectural patterns and trusted open source tools.

Additional Resources

About Ambassador Labs

Ambassador Labs, the cloud native developer experience leader, enables developers to code, test, ship, and run applications faster and easier than ever. Maker of top Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) open source projects, including Emissary-ingress and Telepresence , Ambassador Labs delivers a developer control plane for Kubernetes that integrates the development, deployment, and production infrastructure for developers and organizations worldwide including Microsoft, PTC, NVidia, and Ticketmaster. Ambassador Labs is backed by top investors including Insight Partners and Matrix Partners. Learn more and get started for free at www.getambassador.io .

Media Contact:

Lisa Williams

[email protected]

(339) 788-0067
LYON, France and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amolyt Pharma, a global company specialized in developing therapeutic peptides for rare endocrine and related diseases, today announced that the company has added highly experienced biotech executive Mark Sumeray, M.D., MS, FRCS, as chief medical officer. Dr. Sumeray joins Amolyt from Amryt Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chief medical officer since September 2016.

We are very pleased to have Mark join our team, said Thierry Abribat, Ph.D., founder, and chief executive officer of Amolyt Pharma. We believe his experience in clinical development, particularly with endocrine and other rare diseases, will be essential as we continue to advance our lead program AZP-3601 through clinical development for hypoparathyroidism and actively prepare the first clinical trial for our second program AZP-3813 for acromegaly.

Dr. Mark Sumeray added, I am impressed with the pipeline of therapeutics that the Amolyt team is assembling to treat endocrine diseases, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to join the team at this exciting stage in the companys development. Hypoparathyroidism and acromegaly are just two examples of rare but debilitating diseases in need of effective new treatment options, and I look forward to leading the ongoing advancement of these clinical programs while further expanding the companys pipeline of innovative programs in parallel.

Dr. Sumeray joins Amolyt with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, medical devices and biotech industries, both in the U.S. and EU. Prior to joining Amolyt, he spent six years as chief medical officer at Amryt Pharmaceuticals where he supervised the development, regulatory and safety departments of the company. He led the clinical and scientific interactions with global health authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, and was closely involved in the approval and launch of new treatments for patients with acromegaly and other diseases. Prior to Amryt, Dr. Sumeray served as chief medical officer at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals and earlier in his career, he led the US cardiovascular and metabolic medical affairs team at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He spent nine years in clinical practice in the NHS, specializing in cardiovascular surgery and physiology.

Dr. Sumeray received his bachelors and medical degrees from University College London and FRCS qualification from Royal College of Surgeons.

About Amolyt Pharma Amolyt Pharma, a clinical stage biotechnology company, is building on its teams established expertise in therapeutic peptides to deliver life-changing treatments to patients suffering from rare endocrine and related diseases. Its development portfolio includes AZP-3601, a long-acting PTH analog as a potential treatment for hypoparathyroidism, and AZP-3813, a peptide growth hormone receptor antagonist for the potential treatment of acromegaly. Amolyt Pharma aims to further expand and develop its portfolio by leveraging its global network in the field of endocrinology and with support from a strong syndicate of international investors. To learn more, visit https://amolytpharma.com/ or follow us on Twitter at @AmolytPharma.

Media: Cherilyn Cecchini, M.D.LifeSci Communications [email protected]+1.646.876.5196

Investors:Ashley RobinsonLifeSci Advisors, LLC[email protected]+1.617.430.7577

Source: Amolyt Pharma
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (BIGG or the Company) (CSE: BIGG; OTCQX: BBKCF; WKN: A2PS9W), owner of Netcoins (Netcoins.ca) (Netcoins), the online cryptocurrency brokerage that makes it easy for Canadians to buy, sell, and understand cryptocurrency, is pleased to announce the launch of 4 new coins on the platform: ADA, SOL, DOT and GALA.

On March 24th, Netcoins received approval for an update to its restricted dealer license, which was requested in late 2021, enabling a broader offering of coins on the platform. These 4 coins represent the fourth major rollout of coin additions. With 36 listed coins, Netcoins now has the third most coins offered among legal and regulated crypto trading platforms in Canada.

Information on ADA, SOL, DOT and GALA can be found on coinmarketcap.com at the links below:https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cardano/https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solana/https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polkadot-new/https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gala/

Mark Binns, Netcoins CEO, remarked Today we are very excited to launch two more of the top 10 coins globally by market cap, ADA and SOL, along with #11 DOT. These coins recently became available to Netcoins for listing under a regulated environment. We believe strongly that moving in lock step with regulation, and our customers safety and best interests, is the path to long term growth and success. We welcome the traders and HODLers of ADA, SOL, DOT and GALA to Netcoins starting today.

On behalf of the BoardMark BinnsCEO[email protected]

Investor RelationsVictoria Rutherford[email protected]T: 1.480.625.5772

About BIGG Digital Assets Inc. BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (BIGG) believes the future of crypto is a safe, compliant, and regulated environment. BIGG invests in products and companies to support this vision. BIGG has four portfolio companies: Netcoins (netcoins.ca), Blockchain Intelligence Group (blockchaingroup.io), TerraZero (terrazero.com) and Luxxfolio (luxxfolio.com).

Blockchain Intelligence Group builds technology to power compliance and intelligence for the crypto future. Banks and crypto companies depend on our technology to monitor risk from crypto transactions. Investigators and law enforcement quickly identify and track illicit activity. Blockchain Intelligence Group is trusted globally by banks, crypto companies, law enforcement, fintechs, regtechs and governments.

Netcoins develops brokerage and exchange software to make the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency easily accessible to the mass consumer and investor with a focus on compliance and safety. Netcoins utilizes BitRank Verified software at the heart of its platform and facilitates crypto trading via a self-serve crypto brokerage portal at Netcoins.app.

TerraZero is a vertically integrated Metaverse development group and leading Web 3.0 technology company specializing in the Metaverse space. The Companys Metaverse agnostic vision is to develop, acquire, and finance the Metaverses most promising companies, entrepreneurs, and developers. TerraZero also owns digital real estate and provides offices and services to those interested in the Metaverse. BIGG owns ~30% of TerraZero.

Luxxfolio is a publicly traded, vertically integrated digital asset company based in Canada. It operates an industrial scale cryptocurrency mining facility in the United States powered predominately by renewable energy with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and generation of digital assets. Luxxfolio provides a liquid alternative for exposure to digital assets for the broader capital markets. BIGG owns ~15% of Luxxfolio.

For more information and to register to BIGGs mailing list, please visit our website at https://www.biggdigitalassets.com. Or visit SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include completion of the search technology software and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as may, expect, estimate, anticipate, intend, believe and continue or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of BIGG. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because BIGG can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from BIGGs expectations include, consumer sentiment towards BIGGs products and Blockchain technology generally, technology failures, competition, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, BIGG disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, BIGG undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this Press Release.

Source: BIGG Digital Assets Inc.
CLAs investment banking team advises on the sale of Highland, Illinois dealership

Highland, Ill., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), one of the leading professional service firms in the United States, announced that it helped the Rehkemper family find a new owner for its Tri Ford dealership in Highland, Illinois.

Started in 1968 by David Rehkemper, Ed Moenster, and Clinton Rogier, Tri Ford became one of the largest businesses in Highland, Illinois by delivering great customer care and service. By 2006 David Rehkemper had become the sole proprietor of Tri Ford. Throughout the years, Mr. Rehkemper had received numerous awards from Ford, including the prestigious Ford Chairman's Award several times. With Davids passing in 2010, Monica Rehkemper stepped into the role of sole owner-operator, and along with her son Eric, continued to build a premier customer-focused dealership operation.

After operating the dealership for more than a decade without David at her side, Monica eventually decided it was time to move on to the next chapter of her life. She reached out to CLA to find the next steward for the legacy she and David built over the years. After speaking with numerous prospective buyers, including detailed discussions with several high-quality groups, Monica made the decision to transition ownership to a highly regarded dealership organization in the St. Louis area, Lou Fusz Automotive Network.

It was a pleasure to work with Monica and help her achieve these retirement objectives, said Ben Axelrod, head of the investment banking practice at CLA. We knew it was important to Monica to not only find a strong operator who would continue to build on what Dave, Monica, and Eric have built, but also somebody who has a fantastic reputation in the community and the close-knit dealership ecosystem in the area.

Axelrod continued, With the Fusz organization, we found a highly experienced, professional team set on curating their expansion in the greater St. Louis area and the state of Illinois. Lou Fusz Automotive was a great fit for Monica and Erics objectives and we wish the team at Lou Fusz Ford of Highland success in the next chapter of this dealership.

Monica Rehkemper, president of Tri Ford, Inc., said, The sale of our store brings many emotions as we have been rooted here for over 50 years, but I am thrilled with the outcome. I know the Fusz family will continue to provide members of the Tri Ford community with great care and service. I also know they look forward to affording our great team at Tri Ford opportunities for success and growth in the future.

The CLA team included Terry Werner, David Wiggins, and Pat Fuist in the national dealership practice, and Ben Axelrod of CLA Wealth Advisors.

CLA investment banking professionals provide sophisticated corporate finance advisory and investment banking services to lower middle-market businesses and owners. The practices services include mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, and other transaction-related advisory services.

For more information on CLA and its investment banking practice, visit CLAconnect.com/services/investment-banking.

Securities products, merger and acquisition services, and wealth advisory services are provided by CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors LLC, a federally registered investment advisor and member FINRA, SIPC.

About CLA

CLA exists to create opportunities for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting 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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Potsdam, NY, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A group of Clarkson University Engineering Students recently traveled to the New York State Police Troop B Barracks in Ray Brook, NY to conduct a dog seat belt safety test. As a part of Dr. Carl Hoovers Experimental Methods in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering class; Abigail Jacunski 23, Kristina Franklin 23, and Hannah Orton 23 were tasked with planning their own experiment, executing it and assessing the results. Its an opportunity for them to dig in deep on a hands-on project of their own choosing, said Dr. Hoover.

Explaining the groups motivation for choosing this topic, Junior Engineering student Abigail Jacunski reflected There is not much about dog seat belts on the internet, most of the dog seat belts that are out there haven't actually been tested-they are just a way to restrain the dog in the car. We wanted to see what is the safest one for the dog.

A repeatable substitute for an auto impact was an important part of this experiment. The solution was the Seat Belt Convincer, a device which the NY State Troopers use to simulate a low speed (5-10 mph) auto collision. A car seat with a harness is attached to a ramp and allowed to slide down and impact the padded lower end of the incline. For the Experimental Methods class, this was the stage they needed to run their tests.

Not on real dogs of course! The students needed an anthropomorphic test device (ATD) or crash test dummy so they purchased stuffed animal dogs and filled them with sand to get closer to the weight of a real dog. They designed instrumentation and control circuits to be able to measure the dogs in an impactand then hopefully identify certain configurations of the harness to be able to tell whats safe and whats not safe for the dogs, Dr. Hoover said.

The students used piezoelectric pressure sensors, load cells and accelerometers to measure the forces exerted on the stuffed dog during the test. This information was recorded to a nearby laptop and a cell phone used as a secondary recording device.

Speaking about the follow-up work to be done Abigail shared I really like analyzing the data, going through writing MATLAB programs and doing math to find out what our results are from the raw data that we collect today. These results will be put together into a scholarly paper hoping to contribute to this question that theyre working on.

Clarkson engineering students in Dr. Hoovers class are encouraged to explore experimental projects that positively impact society, the economy or the environment. During the semester, students propose engineering tests based on their own ideas for broader impacts. They develop a formal test plan around a key question, write a procedure, choose measurement techniques, select test equipment, and analyze test data.

The planning process involves a schedule, budget and safety risk assessment. Teams share project progress during weekly stand-up reports with their peers, who provide constructive feedback. Students finalize this Clarkson test engineering experience by writing a scholarly paper and presenting their work to the class.

Abigail, Kristina, Hannah and their puppy pals Paulo and Pawger extend their thanks to Mr. Brendan Frost and the NY State Police Troop B Forensic Identification Unit for making their dog seat belt safety test possible.

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Melissa Lindell Clarkson University 315-268-6716 [email protected]

Source: Clarkson University
MONTREAL, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the fourteenth consecutive year, CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) has earned a place on the Corporate Knights Best 50 Corporate Citizens list.

We are pleased to have made the top 50 Best Corporate Citizens list. CN believes in Delivering Responsibly. This means moving our customers goods safely and efficiently, ensuring we deliver in an environmentally responsible manner; attracting, developing, and retaining top diverse talent; helping to make the communities we serve safer and stronger; and adhering to the highest ethical standards. This is the way we approach our job.

Tracy Robinson, president and chief executive officer of CN.

To determine the ranking, Corporate Knights analyzed 332 large Canadian organizations against Canadian and global industry peers. Corporate Knights assessed companies performance using 24 quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs) related to resource management, employee management, financial management, clean revenue, clean investment and supplier performance. For more information about the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada and the full rankings, visit https://www.corporateknights.com/rankings/best-50-rankings/2022-best-50-rankings

CN has committed to reducing emissions and improving its carbon intensity by 43% by 2030 based on 2019 levels, consistent with stabilizing global temperatures. CN has also formally committed to a 2050 net-zero target for carbon emissions by joining the Business Ambition for 1.5C and the United Nations Race To Zero campaigns, as announced in November 2021. As part of its sustainability strategy to reduce freight transportation emissions through innovation, CN plans to continue to lead the sector by deploying low and no-carbon technologies. The Company has recently announced the purchase of Wabtecs FLXdrive battery-electric freight locomotive, the first 100% battery heavy-haul locomotive in support of its ambitious long-term goals.

For more information on CNs commitment to a sustainable future, please visit the 2020 Delivering Responsibly Sustainability Report.

About Corporate KnightsCorporate Knights Inc. includes the sustainable-business magazine Corporate Knights and a research division that produces rankings and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. To read the press release, please visit https://www.corporateknights.com/us/press-releases/.

About CNCN is a world-class transportation leader and trade-enabler. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year. As the only railroad connecting Canadas Eastern and Western coasts with the Southern tip of the U.S. through a 18,600-mile rail network, CN and its affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity and sustainable trade since 1919. CN is committed to programs supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

Contacts:

Media Investment Community Mathieu Gaudreault Paul Butcher Senior Advisor Vice-President Media Relations Investor Relations 514-249-4735 [email protected] (514) 399-0052 [email protected]

Source: Canadian National Railway Company
GRASS VALLEY, CA, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire  Today BrewBilt Brewing Company (the "Company") (OTCPINK: BRBL) CEO Jef Lewis announced its systems, materials and processes create the highest quality craft beers.

Lewis stated, BrewBilt Brewing is devoted to the modern execution of traditional styles utilizing hand-crafted, industry-leading equipment combined with an artful approach and a passion for quality. A focus on regionally-sourced local malt, premium hops, and pristine water gives us a dynamic palette for distinctly satisfying beers. Inspired by European brewing tradition and American craft innovation, we aim to create beers that reflect a sense of place and our shared brewing philosophy for your ultimate drinking pleasure. Our expert staff are industry veterans who use American made, professional-grade brewing equipment and ingredients to deliver outstanding craft beer to North America and Europe.

Lewis further stated, Like any other great product, our craft beer begins inside our professional-grade American-made stainless steel brewhouse. Many breweries in the USA have sacrificed producing a quality beer by using low-cost Chinese stainless steel. American stainless steel is three times stronger than Chinese, and in addition to its higher overall strength, American stainless steel has lower oxidation levels than Chinese stainless steel. This means that American stainless steel is less likely to rust over time and it will degrade much more slowly than the competition. This affects the craft beer process and can mean the difference between a mediocre craft beer and a great tasting craft beer. It also affects the shelf life and the relationship with your customers.

Lewis continued, More important is our society and vibe here in the USA when it comes to our environment and planet. American stainless steel is made with the environment in mind, because we are held to a set of higher standards created by organizations like The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) that determine the appropriate chemistry mixes for different types of stainless steel. These standards are intended as an environmentally clean and safety precaution to ensure the right quality of metal is being used for the right product. Companies in China are producing steel at a faster rate, flooding the market, and dropping prices. It is produced at a rapid rate and is not held up to the same quality standards as American stainless steel.

All in all, American stainless steel has so many advantages compared to Chinese stainless steel that the decision is a no-brainer. China has produced roughly half of the worlds steel in recent years, but the countrys iron and steel industry is a major source of air pollutants, especially particulate matter, SO2 and NOx emissions. Although China has attempted to cut steel production to mitigate pollution, some plants are ramping up capacity, and Chinas steel output is on the rise.

Follow us on Twitter (@BrewBiltBrewing) and Instagram (@BrewBilt_Brewing)

ABOUT BREWBILT BREWING COMPANY: (http://www.brewbiltbrewing.com)

Located in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California, BrewBilt Brewing Company produces its own BrewBilt branded beers, as well as providing private label and contracting brewing services. BrewBilt Brewing grew out of BrewBilt Manufacturing Inc., an iconic company that has been handcrafting custom breweries and fermentation systems since 2014. BrewBilt Brewing's production staff consists of industry veterans that will use high quality brewing equipment and ingredients to deliver outstanding craft beer to California and beyond.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance, nor should they be relied upon as representing management's views as of any subsequent date. The forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include, without limitation, the Company's ability to effectively execute its business plans; unforeseen construction delays; the Company's need for additional capital; changes in general economic and financial market conditions; changes in the competitive environment; litigation; losses, customer bankruptcy, claims and assessments; and regulatory or legislative requirements affecting the Company's business. Management may elect to update forward-looking statements at some future point; however, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

Contact:Jef Lewis, CEOBrewBilt Brewing Company - BRBL(530) 802-0036[email protected]

Source: BrewBilt Brewing Company

Source: BrewBilt Brewing Company
ATLANTA, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Discount Dumpster has recently formed a partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), committed to helping preserve our national forests and parks. This partnership has many potential benefits for dumpster rental waste management in Atlanta, GA, and national forests in Georgia, like the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.

This is part of Discount Dumpster's mission to become a carbon-neutral company. Estimates show that up to 40 pounds of CO2 are released into the atmosphere for every pound of trash disposed of. Many people can produce up to 2.2 pounds of waste per day, which goes to local landfills. Due to this, Discount Dumpster pledges to plant one tree in an Atlanta-area National Park for every local Atlanta roll-off dumpster they rent.

"Nature is the lifeline of our world. Without it, we lose a key part of what makes living on this planet so special."

Planting a tree for each dumpster rented does more than just combat CO2 emissions from waste. It helps offset emissions from hauling debris. Roll-off dumpster trucks can burn up to 20 gallons of diesel fuel every day, getting only eight miles to the gallon. Planting a single tree can help offset the effects of these emissions over time. For every footprint Discount Dumpster creates, they work to neutralize it.

"Nature is the lifeline of our world," said Preston Dunn, co-founder of Discount Dumpster. "Without it, we lose a key part of what makes living on this planet so special." These convictions are shared across the company, self-aware of the environmental footprints it leaves behind and actively seeks to curb the effects of this footprint.

About Discount Dumpster

Discount Dumpster is a national dumpster rental company that services over 30 states throughout the U.S. However, Discount Dumpster operates dumpster rental waste management services in the local Atlanta, Georgia, community. They have a local office and services the greater Atlanta Metro Area, including:

Acworth, GA

Alpharetta, GA

Austell, GA

Brookhaven, GA

College Park, GA

Decatur, GA

Doraville, GA

Duluth, GA

Dunwoody, GA

East Point, GA

Fairburn, GA

Forest Park, GA

Johns Creek, GA

Jonesboro, GA

Kennesaw, GA

Lilburn, GA

Mableton, GA

Marietta, GA

Morrow, GA

Norcross, GA

Peachtree Corners, GA

Powder Springs, GA

Riverdale, GA

Roswell, GA

Sandy Springs, GA

Smyrna, GA

Snellville, GA

South Fulton, GA

Stockbridge, GA

Stonecrest, GA

Suwanee, GA

Stone Mountain, GA

Union City, GA

Tucker, GA

Woodstock, GA

To find the best dumpster rental price in the Atlanta area, request an instant quote or schedule a dumpster delivery, interested customers can contact Discount Dumpster on their website www.discountdumpsterco.com or by calling (404) 905-6007.

Contact: Please direct all inquiries to David Baur-Ray, [email protected]

Related Images

Image 1: Discount Dumpster Main Logo Discount Dumpster rental's main logo

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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Discount Dumpster Main Logo Discount Dumpster Main Logo

Source: Discount Dumpster
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation (Fujifilm), today announced that four doctoral students have been awarded the Fujifilm Fellowship at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Since its launch in 2019, the program has now provided 17 fellowships for PhD students who are enrolled at HMS and focused on translational medicine, the process of applying basic research in the laboratory for new therapeutic development.

The mission of the program is to equip promising scientists with the specialized skills needed to translate their research findings into next-generation medical solutions for patients. Specifically, the program awards two years of research funding to students from across the nine HMS-based life sciences Ph.D. programs. HMS leadership selects all program beneficiaries.

Taking new therapies from bench to bedside requires exacting work carried out by dedicated and innovative scientific thinkers, says Yutaka Yamaguchi, general manager, Life Sciences Business Division, FUJIFILM Corporation; chairman and chief executive officer, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, Inc. Fujifilm is proud to support Harvard Medical School as it helps to shape our worlds future scientists. We extend our congratulations to the four highly esteemed doctoral fellows who recently received grants for the promise their work holds in advancing the field of translational medicine.

The following Ph.D. candidates at HMS have been named the newest Fujifilm Fellows:

Sebastian Degner is a first-year student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program and has a background in cancer research and a strong propensity for business and entrepreneurship. His experience includes research stays at prestigious institutions in both Germany and the U.S. including the Department of Applied Tumor Biology at Heidelberg University Hospital and Naxerova Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. Sebastians major research interest is leveraging insights gained from studying somatic and tumor evolution to develop novel therapeutic approaches for human cancer.

Michelle Ma is a candidate in the Molecules, Cells and Organisms Ph.D. program and a member of the Fischer Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She focuses on protein complexes and pathways that contribute to the control of gene expression associated with human disease and cancer. Ultimately, Michelle hopes her research will contribute to therapeutic innovation by expanding the prospects for the design of new targeted protein degraders.

Alexandra Probst is enrolled in the Biological Sciences in Public Health Ph.D. program and a member of the Catteruccia Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Alexandra is interested in identifying and characterizing mosquito stage Plasmodium targets in an effort to combat malaria, the third leading infectious disease killer with over 200 million cases each year worldwide. Growing insecticide resistance threatens the efficacy of current vector control strategies. Alexandra believes her work holds exciting promise for a novel way of fighting one of humanitys oldest diseases.

Siddharth Raju is a candidate in the Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology Ph.D. program. His field of study is genetics and infectious diseases. In March 2020, Sid joined the Sabeti Lab, where he seeks to understand how respiratory viruses manipulate host genomic organization. Ultimately, Sid hopes his research will help inspire novel therapeutics by guiding the development of medical countermeasures that directly interfere with early molecular pathogenesis, as well as and more accurately predict disease course in the clinic.

Fujifilms commitment to these fellowships and to supporting the life sciences community at Harvard is unwavering, commented Bruce E. Novich Sc.D., division president, FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation. Our goal is to inspire and assist the brightest minds to drive forward innovative strategies aimed at addressing some of the worlds major health problems.

In addition to their Ph.D. program, Fujifilm Fellows are enrolled in the Therapeutics Graduate Program, a new curriculum that focuses on pharmacology, toxicology, and drug discovery. Here they receive rigorous multidisciplinary training in identifying and developing novel therapeutics, understanding and investigating mechanisms of drug action, analyzing the reasons for clinical failures, and developing new compounds and applying them in preclinical and clinical studies to improve the treatment of disease.

About Fujifilm FellowshipThe Fujifilm Fellowship program was designed by Fujifilm and HMS to advance translational medicine research by investing in the next-generation of scientists. The selected beneficiaries who have been admitted to Harvard Medical Schools Therapeutics Graduate Program will receive financial assistance to pursue their education and research in therapeutic innovation. HMS leadership selects all program beneficiaries. For more information, please visit https://www.fujifilmfellowship.com/

About FujifilmFUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation is the regional headquarters for the Americas. It is comprised of more than 20 affiliate companies across North and Latin America that are engaged in the research, development, manufacture, sale and service of FUJIFILM products and services. The companys portfolio represents a broad spectrum of industries including medical and life sciences, electronic, chemical, graphic arts, information systems, industrial products, broadcast, recording media, and photography. For more information, please visit: https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/about/region.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver Value from Innovation in our products and services in the business segments of healthcare, materials, business innovation, and imaging. Our relentless pursuit of innovation is focused on providing social value and enhancing the lives of people worldwide. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information about Fujifilms Sustainable Value Plan 2030, click here. For the year ended March 31, 2022, the company had global revenues of approximately 2.5 trillion yen (21 billion $USD at an exchange rate of 122 yen/dollar). For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

###

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

Christine Jackman FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation 9142614959 [email protected]

Source: FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation
LAS VEGAS, NV, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GEMXX CORPORATION (THE COMPANY), (OTC PINK: GEMZ) $GEMZ gives corporate update.

The Company and management team have been working very diligently over the last several weeks to ensure all the filings, disclosures, financials and corporate information are up to date and have filed a Form 1-A Offering Statement. We are pleased with the progress and hope to achieve a qualified and Approved Form 1-A in the near future. stated Jay Maull, CEO of GEMXX Corporation

The Company is highlighting recent significant achievements:

First, the Company has been working hard to ensure all financials, disclosures, corporate information and other required information on both EDGAR and OTC Markets is current and up to date. The Company wants to build on its continued success and graduate to a higher exchange as soon as possible stated Mr. Maull.

Second, As of June 28, 2022, the Company has filed its Tier 1, Form 1-A to raise up to $6,000,000 USD at $0.40 per share pursuant to the Offering Statement https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/html?id=15915851&guid=idnwkegWbjWWvoh. Shareholders, investors, institutions and financiers interested in participating in the Reg A Financing are urged to visit www.gemxx.com or contact company officials for more information.

Third, the Company is engaging with several interested parties that wish to participate in the Regulation A financing in order to fund the companys growth plan, which includes mine expansion, increased production to meet global demand, as well as diversification of its operations. By executing on our overall business plan, and also investing in precious metal mining operations, the Company will be one step closer to being fully integrated from mine-to-market. added Mr. Maull.

Fourth, the Companys management team headed by Jay Maull are attempting to expand the Companys business through strategic partnerships and acquisitions. GEMXX is currently in discussions with several companies that have been identified as acquisitions for GEMXX or partners that support the overall industry stated Mr. Maull.

ABOUT GEMXX CORPORATION

GEMXX Corporation is a publicly traded, mine-to-market gold, gemstone and jewelry producer with global reach that owns mining resources, production facilities, and operating assets. GEMXX controls each stage of its production including gold mining, gemstone production, jewelry manufacturing and global distribution.

GEMXX is a producer of top quality finished Ammolite and Ammolite jewelry. The companys world class gemstone cutters and jewelry designers are continuously leading the Ammolite industry in new and exciting directions. Our management team is made up of the industry's leading experts with a combined total of 160 years of Ammolite gemstone and jewelry business experience

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTThis press release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "believes," "expects," "potential," "plans," "suggests," "may," "should," "could," "intends," or similar expressions. Many forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results implied by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to continue to enhance our products and systems to address industry changes, our ability to expand our customer base and retain existing customers, our ability to effectively compete in our market segment, the lack of public information on our company, our ability to raise sufficient capital to fund our business, operations, our ability to continue as a going concern, and a limited public market for our common stock, among other risks. Many factors are difficult to predict accurately and are generally beyond the company's control. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

GEMXX CorporationPR CONTACT: Jay Maull(702) 930-1815[email protected]www.gemxx.com

Source: GEMXX CORP.
PHILADELPHIA, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GR8 People, the only talent acquisition platform to source, attract, engage and hire every workforce type in one seamless experience, celebrates todays announcement that its Chief Product Officer and Co-founder, Jayne Kettles, has been selected as one of TAtechs 100 Most Influential TA Thought Leaders.

In appreciation of the award, Jayne shared, I am proud to be part of such an accomplished group and congratulations to all who share this recognition. From the beginning, our entire team has worked to deliver world-class solutions that exceed expectations and empower winning outcomes for some of the most innovative hiring organizations, RPOs and their leaders. To always be a step ahead for them, and for us, is what drives GR8 People as a team. Today, I could not be prouder that we partner with customers like Informatica, Talbots, Electronic Arts, T. Rowe Price, and hundreds of others around the world.

Jayne is among the talent acquisition and recruiting industrys biggest innovators and female founders. Of note, prior to GR8 People Jayne co-founded and grew VirtualEdge Corporation (VE) into a worldwide HR technology leader, seeing it through its successful acquisition by Automated Data Processing, Inc. With more than 20 years in the enterprise software industry, Jayne is regularly called on to be a featured speaker and panelist at major technology industry conferencesmost recently the HR Technology Conference & Expo and the World Staffing Summitand has shared her perspective and industry insights on multiple podcasts.

As a driving force behind the companys product direction and a shining example of GR8 Peoples commitment to teamwork, platform excellence and superior customer service, Jayne has built a winning legacy centered on transformative technology for talent acquisition with an eye focused on meeting the needs of today and tomorrow.

About TAtech The mission of TAtech is to provide the information, research, networking opportunities, advocacy and support that helps members realize their vision and achieve real and sustained success. The members of TAtech work in many different ways, but share a single, motivating vision: to enhance all facets of talent acquisition through the application of the very best technology and expertise in the world.

TAtechs 100 Most Influential TA Thought Leaders celebrates people who are truly setting the agenda for innovation and understanding in talent acquisition strategy and management and talent technology. Each, in their own way, is making an important contribution to such mission-critical areas as improving the effectiveness and efficiency of recruiting operations, forging productive and mutually beneficial relationships with hiring managers, identifying, and implementing state-of-the-art talent acquisition tools, educating corporate leaders on the essential business role played by talent acquisition and to continuously optimizing the candidate experience.

ABOUT GR8 PeopleGR8 People is for everyone in recruitment who wants to do their job better, faster and more simply. Our global technology platform sources, attracts, engages and hires every workforce type in one experience thats seamless, boundless and effortless. Built with best-in-class, automated workflows, it helps every user perform at their best.

Contact:Alex Adams[email protected]215-693-1192

Source: GR8 People
OAKVILLE, Ontario, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The countdown to Canada Day is on and MADD Canada is asking all Canadians to do their part to keep roads, waterways and trails safe this long weekend by never driving impaired.

No one ever thinks they will be affected by impaired driving. But it can happen in the blink of an eye, and when it does happen, it is devastating, said MADD Canada National President Jaymie-Lyne Hancock, whose brother D.J. was killed by an impaired driver in 2014. As you plan your celebrations for this holiday long weekend, please make sure sober transportation is at the top of your list.

Every year, hundreds of Canadians are killed and thousands are injured in impaired driving crashes. These tragic outcomes can be prevented by:

Never driving a car, boat, ATV or any other vehicle while impaired;

Never getting into a vehicle being operated by someone whos impaired;

Calling 911 if you see a driver you suspect is impaired.

Always plan ahead so you know how you are getting home safely.

Impaired driving is not an accident, its a choice, said Ms. Hancock. Make the responsible choice and arrange for a sober ride if youre going to be consuming alcohol, cannabis or other drugs.

Those looking for a safe, sober and reliable ride home at the push of a button can check out Uber, MADD Canadas Official Designated Driving App. Visit https://www.uber.com/ca/en/ for more information.

For more information, contact: Jaymie-Lyne Hancock, MADD Canada National President, 705-623-3148 or [email protected] . Deb Kelly, MADD Canada Communications Manager, 1-800-665-6233 ext. 240 or [email protected] .

Source: MADD Canada
Donlin Golds Largest Drill Program in Over 10 Years Advancing in Preparation for Feasibility Work

Strong Treasury of $142 Million in Cash and Term Deposits; $25 Million of Receivables in 2023

Building on the success of the 2021 drill program, drilling commenced in February 2022 with four drill rigs operating for 34,000 meters of planned drilling. As of mid-June, more than 70% of planned drilling is complete. The first set of assay results for this years program are expected to be published this summer.

The 2022 drill program continues to yield encouraging results. In 2022, under the largest budget in over a decade, geologic modelling and interpretation work to update the resource model is underway, including engineering activities for use in an updated feasibility study that, subject to Donlin Gold LLC Board approval, is expected to commence in the second half of 2022.

NOVAGOLDs robust balance sheet of $142 million in cash and term deposits as of May 31, 2022, with additional funds of $25 million due in July 2023 from Newmont Corporation, should be sufficient to advance Donlin Gold to a construction decision.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC. (NOVAGOLD or the Company) (NYSE American, TSX: NG) today released its 2022 second quarter financial results and an update on its Tier One1 gold development project, Donlin Gold, which NOVAGOLD owns equally with Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick).

Details of the financial results for the quarter ended May 31, 2022 are presented in the consolidated financial statements and quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q on June 29, 2022 that is available on the Companys website at www.novagold.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.

In the second quarter 2022, the following milestones were achieved at Donlin Gold:

The drill program is progressing ahead of schedule with 24,000 meters completed to date of the planned 34,000-meter drill program.

The site crew (150 employees, contractors and student interns), a majority of which are local hires from 24 Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) communities in Alaska, are working on a two-week rotation schedule and continue to advance project activities at a good pace.

In May, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC)s Division of Water upheld the 401 Certification of the Clean Water Act (CWA) which had been remanded to the ADEC on December 29, 2021, for consideration of additional information provided by Donlin Gold.

Donlin Gold participated in and sponsored statewide events and, together with its Native Corporation partners, Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC), carried out a wide range of critical support and engagement activities throughout the Y-K region. These included: Finalizing a Shared Value Statement with Stony River, a village from the Y-K region for a total of nine Shared Value Statements to date (Akiak, Sleetmute, Kalskag, Napaimute, Crooked Creek, Napaskiak, Nikolai, Tuluksak, and Stony River). These agreements include educational, environmental, and social initiatives to help support villages; Serving as a principal partner in the 50th Iditarod Race in March with mushers and their teams from around the world participating in the 1,000-mile-long sled-dog race in Alaska, also called The Last Great Race; Holding the Lower Kuskokwim School Districts annual College and Career fair with 30 vendors and 89 students attending the virtual event; Working with TKC to charter flights with drinking water to Red Devil, one of the local communities on the Kuskokwim River, following a flood due to ice break-up in May that temporarily contaminated the local water wells; and Sponsoring multiple Y-K community events and gatherings as well as statewide events, including the Skwentna 200 snowmobile race, the Native Youth Olympics and the Arctic Encounter Symposium  the largest annual Arctic policy event held in the United States.



________________________1 NOVAGOLD defines a Tier One gold development project as one with a projected production life of at least 10 years, annual projected production of at least 500,000 ounces of gold, and average projected cash costs over the production life that are in the lower half of the industry cost curve.

Presidents Message

Donlin Golds Largest Drill Program in More Than 10 Years Progressing Ahead of Schedule

The prime focus of our activities this year is to undertake a 34,000-meter drill program with tight-spaced grid drilling as well as in-pit and ex-pit exploration; and to input the results from this drilling into the geologic modelling and interpretation work that is being used for updated resource models. In addition to the engineering studies being undertaken, this program will as a whole enable commencement of an updated feasibility study. The Donlin Gold total 2022 expenditures are anticipated to be $60 million (of which NOVAGOLDs portion is 50%). The budget also supports the advancement of environmental activities, and finances community and external affairs efforts.

Following the excellent results of 2021, we are encouraged by the significant drill program for 2022, with drilling also focused on upside prospects in the ACMA and Lewis pits where drilling so far has been limited. In the second quarter 2022, the team of 150 people at Donlin Gold are advancing drilling activities at a good pace, with more than 70% of the planned drilling completed to date. We expect the first set of assay results from the 2022 drill program to be issued this summer.

The health and safety of our workforce, both at NOVAGOLD and at Donlin Gold, is a priority. Both NOVAGOLD and Donlin Gold have implemented strict safety protocols, and COVID-19 mitigation measures are still in place at Donlin Gold to ensure the staff rotations in and out of the camp are conducted in both an efficient and safe manner.

The 2021 drill program results are being incorporated into updated geologic and resource models as well as mining schedules and life of mine business plans ahead of the update to the feasibility study, which is expected to commence in 2022, subject to a formal decision by the Donlin Gold LLC Board.

Onwards and Upwards

Donlin Gold is fortunate to enjoy time-tested partnerships with Calista and TKC, owners of the mineral and surface rights, respectively. The projects location on private land specially designated for mining activities through the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) constitutes a key attribute that distinguishes it from most other mining assets in Alaska. Our longstanding commitment to meaningful tribal consultation throughout project development and permitting has been demonstrated over decades of reliable and dependable engagement with the community.

And it shows. Donlin Gold received its federal permits in 2018 and most of the key State permits are also in place. This represents a tremendous achievement and the product of a substantial undertaking, over many years, to ensure a diligent, thorough, transparent, and inclusive process for all involved  including stakeholders from the Y-K region.

On May 16, 2022, ADECs Division of Water upheld the 401 Certification of the CWA which had been remanded to the ADEC on December 29, 2021. On June 13th, 2022, Earthjustice and Orutsararmiut Native Council (ONC) requested that the ADEC Commissioner conduct an additional adjudicatory hearing on the part of the Division of Waters decision related to potential water temperature effects in Crooked Creek.

In 2021, the State of Alaskas issuance of water rights for the mine and transportation facilities was appealed to the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR). On April 25, 2022, the ADNR Commissioner denied the appeal; however, Earthjustice, ONC and five villages appealed the Commissioners decision in Alaska Superior Court on May 25, 2022. A briefing schedule has not yet been set by the Court. Donlin Gold and the owners will continue to support the State in its defense of their thorough and diligent permitting process.

On September 20, 2021, ADNRs issuance of the Right-of-Way (ROW) lease for the portions of the natural gas pipeline on State lands was separately appealed in Alaska Superior Court by two parties: (1) Earthjustice representing ONC, the native villages of Eek, Chevak, and Kwigillingok, and Cook Inletkeeper; and (2) Robert Fithian, an adventure business owner who operates near the ROW. On April 5, 2022, Earthjustice filed its opening brief, ADNR and Donlin Gold then filed their response briefs on June 16, 2022. Mr. Fithian filed his opening brief on June 8, 2022, ADNR and Donlin Gold are working on their response briefs.

Donlin Gold has applied for a new air quality permit from ADEC to be in place when the extension of the current permit expires in mid-2023. We anticipate that ADEC will issue a draft of the new permit for public comment in the second half of 2022. We are also working with the ADNR, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and our Alaska Native Corporation partners on re-locating certain public easements and ROWs in the mine and transportation facility areas for public safety purposes. Alternate routes will be constructed and available before any existing planned routes are closed (some of which are not passable during much of the year). We anticipate that the proposed re-locations will be issued for public comment sometime in 2022.

Donlin Gold, working with its Native Corporation partners, continues to support the State of Alaska to advance other permits and certificates for the project. The field work related to the issuance of the Alaska Dam Safety certificates is expected to recommence during the second half of 2022 or the first half of 2023.

Native Corporation Participation and Consistent Community Engagement

NOVAGOLD prides itself on having been a longstanding leader in ESG. We are committed to delivering long-term value to all our stakeholders through responsible mining, the protection of human life, good stewardship of the environment, and adding value to the local communities in which we operate. Donlin Golds Native Corporation partners, Calista and TKC, provide valuable insight about their region, way of life, culture, and ANCSA mandate, under which the Donlin Gold lands were selected and set aside for mining activities to promote the economic prosperity of their shareholders. As private landowners, Calista and TKC are committed to developing a mining operation that is consistent with the Elders vision of responsible development  one that creates jobs and economic benefits for the communities while mitigating impacts to the environment and protecting local culture.

In the second quarter, Donlin Gold participated in and sponsored multiple local events with Calista and TKC, providing a wide range of critical support and engagement activities throughout the Y-K region. This encompassed a broad array of projects including the signing of a new Shared Value Statement with Stony River, a village in the Y-K region, for a total of nine Shared Value Statements to date (Akiak, Sleetmute, Kalskag, Napaimute, Crooked Creek, Napaskiak, Nikolai, Tuluksak, and Stony River). In addition, we undertook numerous educational, environmental, and social initiatives to help support villages, such as working with TKC to charter flights with drinking water to Red Devil, one of the local communities on the Kuskokwim River, following a flood in May as a result of the ice breakup that temporarily contaminated local water wells, supporting the Skwentna 200 snowmobile race, and sponsoring the Lower Kuskokwim School Districts annual College and Career fair with 30 vendors and 89 students attending the virtual event.

Additionally, Donlin Gold sponsored statewide events including the Native Youth Olympics and the Arctic Encounter Symposium  the largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States. Donlin Gold was also the principal sponsor of the 50th anniversary of the Iditarod, the 1,000-mile sled-dog race, often referred to as The Last Great Race. This event holds a special connection with the gold rush days in Alaska and is a reconstruction of the freight route to Nome through which much needed supplies as well as news from afar were once delivered. In March 2022, 49 mushers and their dogs participated in the race, with numerous volunteers and veterinarians to support and care for the mushers and dogs along the various checkpoints.

A Rare High-Quality Gold Asset in a Jurisdiction that Welcomes Responsible Development

In our view, Donlin Gold is a rare gold development asset. The reason for such a unique status, beyond providing investors with pure leverage to gold, lies in the projects key attributes  namely: Size (no gold mine ever began production with 39 million ounces in Measured and Indicated Resources, inclusive of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves); Scale (expected to be a million-ounce-per-year producer with a projected mine life of at least 27 years); Low Cost (anticipated to be one of the lowest cost producers due to the high-grade large-scale open-pit, grading 2.24 grams per tonne2 or twice the industry average for an open-pit project3); Growth (excellent exploration potential beyond the planned 27 years of production with defined resources located on only three kilometers of an eight-kilometer mineralized belt, which itself represents less than 5% of the total land package); and Jurisdiction (having the good fortune of being located in Alaska, one of the safest jurisdictions in the world, on private land specifically designated for mining by our partners Calista and TKC).

It is our belief that Donlin Gold is poised to become the greatest gold story in the development space. We have protected these resources, substantially de-risked Donlin Gold over many years, committed to responsible mining, dedicated to building trust and transparency, and continuing to work to find ways to improve and enhance the project as well as building a legacy.

________________________2 Donlin Gold data as per the 2021 Technical Report and S-K 1300 Report (both as defined herein). Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.52 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 534 Mt grading 2.24 g/t, each on a 100% basis and inclusive of Mineral Reserves, of which approximately 4 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 267 Mt of Indicated Resources inclusive of Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD through its 50% ownership interest in Donlin Gold LLC. Exclusive of Mineral Reserves, Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 1 Mt grading 2.23 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 69 Mt grading 2.44 g/t, of which approximately 0.5 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 35 Mt of Indicated Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Donlin Gold possesses Proven Reserves of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.32 g/t and Probable Reserves of approximately 497 Mt grading 2.08 g/t, each on a 100% basis, of which approximately 4 Mt of Proven Reserves and approximately 249 Mt of Probable Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Mineral Resources and Reserves have been estimated in accordance with NI 43-101 and S-K 1300. 3 2020 average grade of open pit and underground deposits with gold as primary commodity and over 1 Moz in measured and indicated resources is 1.12 g/t, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Strong Balance Sheet to Undertake Donlin Gold Activities and Studies

In looking back at our successive milestones over the past decade, we are grateful to all who contributed to our progress to date in advancing the Donlin Gold project. Having a solid treasury for more than 10 years has afforded us the opportunity to advance our corporate strategy without going back to the market to raise funds. With $142 million in cash and term deposits as of May 31, 2022, with $25 million due in July 2023 from Newmont Corporation, and an additional payment of $75 million contingent upon the owners of Galore Creek making a construction decision, we believe we have resources that are more than sufficient to advance Donlin Gold activities up to a construction decision.

Our staunch shareholders  some of whom have provided support for well over a decade  together form an important part of the equation. Our largest institutional investors such as Paulson & Co., Fidelity Investments, BlackRock, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, First Eagle, and EXOR see the investment opportunity in NOVAGOLD and clearly understand how the extraordinary gold development asset that is Donlin Gold can provide true octane to their portfolios as the increasingly strong case for gold unfolds and gathers momentum. The Company is very appreciative of their continued interest and commitment.

It is because of the teams of dedicated professionals at NOVAGOLD, Donlin Gold, Barrick, Native Corporation partners Calista and TKC, contractors, and representatives from the federal and state agencies who adhere to best practices that we can responsibly advance this important, high-quality gold asset up the value chain. We are grateful to them all.

NOVAGOLDs valued leadership team and Board of Directors go above and beyond in providing strategic guidance and upholding the highest standards in environmental, financial, corporate governance and ethical business practices, and I am so thankful for their solidarity and steadfast dedication. Together we mourned the recent and tragic passing of our dear colleague and long-term Board member, Igor Levental, with whom I had the great pleasure of working for well over 30 years  including at Homestake Mining Company and International Corona Capital Corporation. He will be sorely missed, as will be his exceptional counsel, characteristic sense of humor, and singular love of life. In many respects, our collective success has been and shall remain one of Igors greatest legacies as we look forward to the future with confidence and optimism. As our Chairman, Dr. Thomas Kaplan, wrote in a heartfelt Tribute here: Onwards and Upwards: A Tribute to a Cherished Friend, Igor Levental, invoking a sentiment with which Igor would wholeheartedly agree, Onwards and Upwards.

Sincerely,

Gregory A. LangPresident & CEO

Financial Results

in thousands of U.S. dollars, except for per share amounts

Three monthsendedMay 31, 2022$ Three monthsendedMay 31, 2021$ Six monthsendedMay 31, 2022$ Six monthsendedMay 31, 2021$ General and administrative expense (1) 5,371 4,992 10,548 10,321 Share of losses  Donlin Gold 8,441 4,198 12,481 6,166 Total operating expenses 13,812 9,190 23,029 16,487 Loss from operations (13,812) (9,190) (23,029) (16,487) Interest expense on promissory note (1,684) (1,480) (3,196) (2,914) Accretion of notes receivable 209 854 419 1,708 Other income 317 (705) 841 (784) Net loss (14,970) (10,521) (24,965) (18,477) Loss per share, basic and diluted (0.04) (0.03) (0.07) (0.06) At At May 31, 2021$ Nov 30, 2021$ Cash and term deposits 142,292 169,124 Total assets 178,514 198,852 Total liabilities 122,859 120,570

(1) Includes share-based compensation expense of $2,105 and $2,095 in the second quarter of 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $4,196 and $4,137 in the first six months of 2022 and 2021, respectively.

In the second quarter of 2022, Net loss increased by $4.4 million from 2021, primarily due to the expanded Donlin Gold work program. Lower accretion income due to the maturity of the $75 million Newmont note in July 2021 and higher interest expense on the Barrick promissory note was offset by foreign exchange movements.

In the first six months of 2022, Net loss increased by $6.5 million from 2021, primarily due to the expanded Donlin Gold work program. Lower accretion income and higher interest expense on the Barrick promissory note was offset by an increase in the fair market value of marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

In the second quarter of 2022 cash and cash equivalents decreased by $4.8 million, primarily to fund our share of Donlin Gold and for corporate administrative expenses, partially offset by a net $8 million received from term deposits. The decrease in cash used in the second quarter of 2022 compared to 2021 was due to the net increase in net proceeds received from term deposits, partially offset by the expanded Donlin Gold work program.

In the first six months of 2022 cash and cash equivalents decreased by $18.8 million, primarily to fund our share of Donlin Gold, for corporate administrative expenses, and for withholding taxes on share-based payments, partially offset by a net $8 million received from term deposits. The increase in cash used in the first six months of 2022 compared to 2021 was due to the expanded Donlin Gold work program, the timing of corporate liability insurance payments, increased withholding tax on share-based compensation in 2022 (no cash was used for CEO and CFO withholdings in 2021), partially offset by a net increase in net proceeds received from term deposits.

At the end of the second quarter, cash and term deposits were $142.3 million (cash $72.3 million, term deposits $70 million). An additional payment from Newmont of $25 million comes due in 2023 related to the sale of NOVAGOLDs 50% interest in the Galore Creek project in 2018, along with a note receivable for $75 million contingent upon approval of a Galore Creek project construction plan by the owner(s). At present, we believe we have sufficient working capital available to cover anticipated funding of the Donlin Gold project and corporate general and administrative costs until a decision to commence engineering and construction is reached by the Donlin Gold board for the Donlin Gold project, at which point substantial additional capital will be required.

2022 Outlook

We anticipate spending approximately $46 million in 2022, which includes $13 million for corporate general and administrative costs; $3 million for withholding taxes on PSUs and other working capital; and $30 million to fund our share of expenditures at the Donlin Gold project, including:

$17 million for the 2022 drill program (approximately 34,000 meters of core drilling) Grid drilling (mineralization continuity and geologic structural controls in three areas of the deposit) In-pit and ex-pit exploration Platform mapping to confirm mineralization continuity and key geological controls in representative areas of the deposit

$9 million for external affairs, permitting, environmental, land and legal activities, and

$4 million for project planning and fieldwork (dam and water structures, metallurgical testing, mining studies, hydrogeology and geochemistry, and infrastructure planning).

NOVAGOLDs primary goals in 2022 are to continue to advance the Donlin Gold project toward a construction decision; maintain or increase support for Donlin Gold among the projects stakeholders; promote a strong safety, sustainability, and environmental culture; maintain a peer-leading reputation for NOVAGOLD, its governance practices and its project among shareholders; and manage the Company treasury effectively and efficiently. Our operations primarily relate to the delivery of project milestones, including the achievement of various technical, environmental, sustainable development, economic and legal objectives, obtaining necessary permits, commencement of feasibility studies, preparation of engineering designs and the financing to fund these objectives.

Conference Call & Webcast Details

NOVAGOLDs conference call and webcast to discuss these results will take place on July 6, 2022, at 8:00 am PT (11:00 am ET). The webcast and conference call-in details are provided below.

Video Webcast: www.novagold.com/investors/events North American callers: 1-800-319-4610 International callers: 1-604-638-5340

NOVAGOLDs quarterly reporting schedule for the remainder of 2022 will be as follows:

Q2 2022  Wednesday, July 6, 2022; A conference call and webcast will be held to discuss the second quarter results at 11 a.m. ET.

Q3 2022  Tuesday, October 4, 2022; financial statements and a Donlin Gold project update will be released after market close. A conference call and webcast will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 11 a.m. ET.

About NOVAGOLDNOVAGOLD is a well-financed precious metals company focused on the development of its 50%-owned Donlin Gold project in Alaska, one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource categories, inclusive of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves (541 million tonnes at an average grade of approximately 2.24 grams per tonne in the Measured and Indicated Resource categories on a 100% basis),4 Donlin Gold is regarded to be one of the largest, highest-grade, and most prospective known open-pit gold deposits in the world.

According to the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report, once in production, Donlin Gold is expected to produce an average of more than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life on a 100 percent basis. The Donlin Gold project has substantial exploration potential beyond the designed footprint which currently covers three kilometers of an approximately eight-kilometer-long gold-bearing trend. Current activities at Donlin Gold are focused on State permitting, optimization work, community outreach, and workforce development in preparation for the eventual construction and operation of this project. With a strong balance sheet, NOVAGOLD is well-positioned to fund its share of permitting and optimization advancement efforts at the Donlin Gold project.

Scientific and Technical Information

Certain scientific and technical information contained herein with respect to the Donlin Gold project is derived from the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report5. Henry Kim, P.Geo., Senior Resource Geologist, Wood Canada Limited; Mike Woloschuk, P.Eng., VP Global Business Development & Consulting, Wood Group USA, Inc.; and Kirk Hanson, MBA, P.E., Technical Director, Open Pit Mining, Wood Group USA, Inc. are the Qualified Persons responsible for the preparation of the 2021 Technical Report, and each is an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). Wood prepared the S-K 1300 Report.

Paul Chilson, P.E., who is the Manager, Mine Engineering for NOVAGOLD and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has approved and verified the scientific and technical information related to the 2022 Donlin Gold project drill program, the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report contained in this media release.

________________________4 Donlin Gold data as per the 2021 Technical Report and the S-K 1300 Report, as defined below. Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.52 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 534 Mt grading 2.24 g/t, each on a 100% basis and inclusive of Mineral Reserves, of which approximately 4 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 267 Mt of Indicated Resources inclusive of Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD through its 50% ownership interest in Donlin Gold LLC. Exclusive of Mineral Reserves, Donlin Gold possesses Measured Resources of approximately 1 Mt grading 2.23 g/t and Indicated Resources of approximately 69 Mt grading 2.44 g/t, of which approximately 0.5 Mt of Measured Resources and approximately 35 Mt of Indicated Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Donlin Gold possesses Proven Reserves of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.32 g/t and Probable Reserves of approximately 497 Mt grading 2.08 g/t, each on a 100% basis, of which approximately 4 Mt of Proven Reserves and approximately 249 Mt of Probable Reserves is attributable to NOVAGOLD. Mineral Resources and Reserves have been estimated in accordance with NI 43-101 and S-K 1300. 5 The Company retained Wood Canada Limited (Wood) in 2021 to update content in its previously filed Donlin Creek Gold Project, Alaska, USA, NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Second Updated Feasibility Study, effective November 18, 2011, and amended January 20, 2012. This update resulted in a report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Donlin Gold Project, Alaska, USA with an effective date of June 1, 2021 (the 2021 Technical Report) and was filed on August 31, 2021. The Company is a registrant with the SEC and is reporting its exploration results, Mineral Resources, and Mineral Reserves in accordance with Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K  Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations (S-K 1300) as of November 30, 2021. While the S-K 1300 rules are similar to National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects rules in Canada, they are not identical and therefore two reports have been produced for the Donlin Gold project. The Company requested that Wood prepare a Technical Report Summary of the Donlin Gold project, Alaska, USA using the standards of S-K 1300 and it is titled S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary on the Donlin Gold Project, Alaska, USA (S-K 1300 Report), current as of November 30, 2021. Wood incorporated 2020 costs and new gold price guidance to meet the Companys reporting requirements. The resultant 2021 Technical Report and S-K 1300 Report showed no material change to the previously reported mineral resources or mineral reserves.

NOVAGOLD Contacts:Melanie HennesseyVice President, Corporate Communications

604-669-6227 or 1-866-669-6227

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This media release includes certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, potential, possible, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results will, may, could, would or should occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on several opinions, estimates and assumptions that management of NOVAGOLD considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date such statements are made, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that may cause the actual results, activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the anticipated results of the 2022 drill programs; the anticipated timing of certain judicial and/or administrative decisions; the 2022 Outlook; the timing and potential for an updated feasibility study on the project; our goals for the remainder of 2022; anticipated benefits from the 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022 drill programs including an improved geological model for Donlin Gold; ongoing support provided to key stakeholders including Native Corporation partners; the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of Donlin Gold; the potential development and construction of Donlin Gold; the sufficiency of funds to continue to advance development of Donlin Gold; perceived merit of properties; mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; Donlin Golds ability to secure the permits needed to construct and operate the Donlin Gold project in a timely manner, if at all; legal challenges to Donlin Golds existing permits; the Donlin Gold LLC Board approval to advance Donlin Gold up the value chain; the success of the strategic mine plan for Donlin Gold; the outcome of the planned tight spaced and exploration drilling; and the conversion of Galore Creek into a mine and the receipt of $25 million due in July 2023 from Newmont Corporation and the $75 million contingent payment from Newmont. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent the expectations of NOVAGOLD managements estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the need to obtain additional permits and governmental approvals; the timing and likelihood of obtaining and maintaining permits necessary to construct and operate; the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; the coronavirus global pandemic (COVID-19); uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drill results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; changes in mineral production performance, exploitation and exploration successes; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in the United States or Canada; the need for continued cooperation between Barrick and NOVAGOLD for the continued exploration, development and eventual construction of the Donlin Gold property; the need for cooperation of government agencies and Native groups in the development and operation of properties; risks of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather, disease pandemics, non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological structures, ore grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; whether a positive construction decision will be made regarding Donlin Gold; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in NOVAGOLDs most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, particularly the "Risk Factors" sections of those reports and other documents filed by NOVAGOLD with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. Copies of these filings may be obtained by visiting NOVAGOLDs website at www.novagold.com, or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, or at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained herein reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections of NOVAGOLD on the date the statements are made. NOVAGOLD assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Source: NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (TSX: NVO, NVO.WT & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) reports that all resolutions proposed to shareholders at the annual general meeting of shareholders held today passed, including the election of all of the director nominees listed in the management information circular dated May 2, 2022. Voting as to each of the director nominees was as follows:

Name of Nominee Votes Cast FOR % Votes Cast FOR Votes WITHHELD % of Votes WITHHELD Michael Barrett 54,210,700 82.164% 11,768,097 17.836% Ross Hamilton 61,310,782 92.925% 4,668,015 7.075% Quinton Hennigh 60,269,166 91.363% 5,697,631 8.637% Michael Spreadborough 61,249,282 92.857% 4,711,515 7.143% Amy Jo Stefonick 64,793,834 98.230% 1,167,563 1.770%

Refer to the report of voting results filed today under Novos profile at www.sedar.com for further details.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo operates its flagship Beatons Creek gold project while exploring and developing its prospective land package covering approximately 11,000 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders. For more information, please contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail [email protected].

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

Michael Spreadborough

Michael Spreadborough

Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO

Source: Novo Resources Corp.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. (Pender), the manager of the Pender mutual funds (the Funds), announces that the risk rating of Pender Global Focused Fund (PGFF) has changed. As part of its review of the investment risk level of its mutual funds and applying the standardized risk classification methodology as set out in Appendix F to National Instrument 81- 102 - Investment Funds, Pender has determined that the investment risk level of PGFF has changed and the change was reflected in the Funds annual simplified prospectus renewal, which was filed on June 28, 2022.

PGFF Risk Rating Change

New Risk Rating Prior Risk Rating High for all Classes Class A, Class E, Class F, Class H, Class I, Class N and Class O: Medium to HighClass A(US$), Class F(US$) and Class N (US$): High

A summary of the methodology used by Pender to identify the risk rating of each of the Funds can be found in the Funds simplified prospectus available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. This methodology is also available by calling toll-free 1-866-377-4743 or sending an email to [email protected].

The risk rating for each of the Funds is reviewed at a minimum on an annual basis, as well as when a Fund undergoes a material change. No material changes have been made to the investment objectives, strategies or management of the Pender Funds.

About PenderFund Capital Management Ltd.Pender was founded in 2003 and is an independent, employee-owned investment firm located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Our goal is to protect and grow wealth for our investors over time. We have a talented investment team of expert analysts, security selectors and independent thinkers who actively manage a suite of differentiated investment funds, exploiting inefficient parts of the investing universe to achieve our goal.

For more information on Pender and for standard performance information on our funds, please visit www.penderfund.com and www.fondspender.com.

Please read important disclosures at www.penderfund.com/disclaimer.

For further information, please contact:Melanie Moore Vice President of Marketing, PenderFund Capital Management Ltd.[email protected](604) 688-1511Toll Free: (866) 377-4743

Source: PenderFund Capital Management Ltd.
An exterior view shows a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Novi, Michigan, U.S., January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin

(Reuters) -Bed Bath & Beyond Inc on Wednesday replaced Chief Executive Officer Mark Tritton as part of a management shake-up to reverse a slump in its business, the home goods retailer said.

Shares fell 13% in premarket trading as the company's first-quarter net sales slumped 25%, rounding off a year of sales slipping below market expectations.

The rejig at the top management comes just a few months after activist investor and billionaire Ryan Cohen criticized the retailer for an "overly ambitious" strategy, overpaying top executives and failing to reverse market share losses.

Cohen, who is also the chairman of GameStop Corp, had disapproved of Tritton's $27 million compensation over the last two years, saying it was far more than what top bosses earned at bigger retailers including Macy's, Kohl's, and Dollar Tree.

"Mr. Tritton should recognize that chief executives who are awarded outsized compensation and seek frequent publicity also invite much higher expectations when it comes to growth and shareholder value creation," Cohen said in March.

The company subsequently reached an agreement with Cohen by appointing three new directors, two of them to the committee exploring options for its baby products unit.

On Wednesday, it named the head of the strategy committee and independent director Sue Gove as Tritton's replacement on an interim basis.

Tritton was made CEO in 2019 soon after the retailer settled with another set of activist investors who had criticized it for failing to adapt quickly to a shift in consumer preference to shop online.

Bed Bath & Beyond also replaced its chief merchandising officer Joe Hartsig with Mara Sirhal, general manager of its Harmon health and beauty stores, as it looks to overcome supply chain issues that have plagued it for most of the pandemic.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
The company logo for Xerox is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) -Printer maker Xerox Holdings Corp said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer John Visentin, 59, has died due to complications from an ongoing illness.

Xerox called Visentin's death unexpected and said it has named Steve Bandrowczak, president and chief operations officer, as interim CEO.

Visentin, who was also the vice chairman, joined Xerox as its CEO in May 2018 after he was nominated by Carl Icahn. The activist investor's firm is the biggest shareholder of the company, according to Refinitiv data.

Prior to that, Visentin had been hired as a consultant by Icahn to assist in his campaign against Xerox, when he pushed the company to explore strategic alternatives.

Visentin was also at the helm of the company when it failed at its $35 billion hostile takeover attempt of HP Inc, a merger which Icahn had pushed for in 2020.

In the same year, Xerox, which has been facing a slowdown in demand as businesses cut down on printing their paperwork, laid out a three-year cost-cutting plan under Visentin.

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Recently, Cactus Option LTD, an investment company in Cyprus that is the new leading brand in quantitative trading technology, announced that it will launch on 7/6.





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The term Quantitative Trading has become increasingly popular in the market. Its name comes from the method of using computers to analyze large amounts of transaction data to develop investment strategies. The charm of quantitative trading lies in the combination of massive data and artificial intelligence, which can obtain excess returns.

Cactus Option LTD is a company registered in Cyprus. It is an experienced and promising private equity firm that was formally founded in 2008.

CACTUS is a trading platform built by the company's 14 years of accumulated financial transaction data and a powerful intelligence network. CACTUS uses the Quantum EX (QEX) quantitative trading model. Similar to other quantitative trading, QEX requires a lot of data for analysis. In computer science, "garbage in, garbage out" is the concept that flawed input data produces flawed output. Likewise, inaccurate data cannot formulate good strategies. CACTUS' strong advantage comes from having the high-quality data obtained by its former company.

Although the biggest advantage of quantitative trading is that it is completely operated by programs, without human emotions and other factors, immutable code is still not enough to deal with dynamic markets. CACTUS' approach combines the QEX quantitative trading model with the top elite trading team to achieve a "human-machine collaboration" and make up for what the trading tool lacks.

Financial inclusion is the next goal of CACTUS. The company hopes that investing is no longer the preserve of Wall Street, and that everyone has access to financial investments and better opportunities to build wealth. CACTUS has also established a global education foundation, which will first launch in Africa, where education suffers from the most inequalities. This is so that local children can receive a better education and use the knowledge they have acquired to create a better future.

Media Contact:

Company Name: Cactus Option Ltd

Contact Person: Fabian Brown

Email: [email protected]

Country: Cyprus

Website: https://www.cactus-opt.com/



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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: PEX) (OTCQB: PEXZF) ("Pacific Ridge" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that field crews have been mobilized to the Kliyul copper-gold project ("Kliyul") and that camp construction is underway. The exploration camp at Kliyul will also support exploration activities at the RDP copper-gold project ("RDP"), which is located 40 km to the west (see Figure 1).

Pacific Ridge anticipates that the planned 6,000 m diamond drill program at Kliyul will commence sometime next week and that the planned 1,500 m diamond drill program at RDP, under option to Antofagasta Minerals S.A. ("Antofagasta"), a wholly owned subsidiary Antofagasta PLC (ANTO: LSE), will start at the beginning of August. Priority drill holes at Kliyul include a step-out to the west of hole KLI-21-037 (316.7 m of 0.75% CuEq or 1.17 g/t AuEq) as well as step-outs to the south and east of KLI-21-036 (437 m of 0.61% CuEq or 0.96 g/t AuEq) and hole KLI-21-38 (342 m of 0.50% CuEq or 0.78 g/t AuEq).

"Pacific Ridge's busiest exploration season in decades is about to begin," said Blaine Monaghan, President and CEO of Pacific Ridge. With a planned 6,000 m drill program at Kliyul, the largest ever drill program at Kliyul, and a partner funded drill program at RDP, shareholders can look forward to a steady stream of news."

Figure 1

Location of Pacific Ridge's Projects





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Kliyul

The exploration program at Kliyul will utilize two drill rigs under contract from Dorado Drilling Ltd. This will be the largest ever diamond drill program at Kliyul and will focus on expanding mineralization at the Kliyul Main Zone ("KMZ") laterally and to depth. Drilling in 2021 at KMZ returned the longest and highest-grade intersections ever encountered at Kliyul (see Table 1) and mineralization remains open in all directions. Pacific Ridge has modelled the known mineralization using major element geochemistry, trace element geochemistry and alteration mineralogy. These models combined with geophysical signatures, primarily from IP and magnetics, have defined priority step-out targets to the west, to the south, to the east, and at depth (see Figures 2 and 3). In addition to diamond drilling, the Company is planning an IP survey over the Bap Ridge and M-39 targets, and an airborne magnetic survey over a 4-km long mineralized trend that hosts additional porphyry targets (see Figure 4). The surveys will be used to refine targets for possible drill testing during the 2022 program and to define future drill targets.

Table 1

2021 Kliyul Assay Results Summary

Hole From(m) To(m) Width(m) Cu(%) Au(g/t) CuEq(%)** AuEq(g/t)*** KLI-21-036 12.0 449.0* 437.0 0.22 0.60 0.61 0.96 Includes 12.0 65.0 53.0 0.22 0.83 0.75 1.17 And 12.0 33.0 21.0 0.34 1.30 1.17 1.84 And 47.0 65.0 18.0 0.22 0.89 0.79 1.23 Includes 143.3 435.0 291.7 0.28 0.74 0.75 1.18 And 294.0 435.0 141.0 0.36 1.11 1.07 1.68 KLI-21-037 12.3 579.0* 566.7 0.20 0.44 0.48 0.76 Includes 12.3 329.0 316.7 0.30 0.70 0.75 1.17 And 62.0 73.0 11.0 0.42 1.22 1.20 1.88 And 90.0 122.0 32.0 0.52 0.88 1.08 1.70 And 146.0 161.0 15.0 0.39 1.19 1.16 1.81 And 238.8 288.1 49.4 0.66 1.50 1.62 2.53 And 243.9 268.0 24.1 1.09 2.21 2.50 3.92 KLI-21-038 9.0 516.0* 507.0 0.15 0.39 0.40 0.63 Includes 9.0 351.0 342.0 0.17 0.50 0.50 0.78 And 9.0 43.0 34.0 0.27 0.72 0.73 1.15 And 108.0 136.0 28.0 0.21 0.60 0.59 0.93 And 153.1 186.0 32.9 0.24 0.78 0.73 1.15 And 261.0 349.0 88.0 0.26 0.84 0.80 1.25

* End of hole

**CuEq = ((Cu%) x $Cu x 22.0462) + (Au(g/t) x $Au x 0.032151)) / ($Cu x 22.0462)

***AuEq = ((Cu%) x $Cu x 22.0462) + (Au(g/t) x $Au x 0.032151)) / ($Au x 0.032151)

Commodity prices: $Cu = US$4.00/lb and $Au = US$1,750/oz.

Factors: 22.0462 = Cu% to lbs per tonne, and 0.032151 = Au g/t to troy oz per tonne.

Recovery is assumed to be 100% - there has been no metallurgical testing on Kliyul mineralization.

Figure 2

Plan View of KMZ, Kliyul West and Kliyul East superimposed on IP Chargeability - 200 m Depth





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Figure 3

Cross Section of KMZ, Kliyul West and Kliyul East Targets on IP Chargeability - 300 m clipping





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Figure 4

Kliyul Target Areas





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Pacific Ridge can acquire up to a 75% interest in Kliyul and Redton from Aurico Metals Inc. ("Aurico"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Centerra Gold Inc. ("Centerra") (TSX: CG) (NYSE: CGAU), by making cash payments totaling $160,000, issuing 3.5 million shares, and spending $7.0 million on exploration by December 31, 2025 (see news release dated January 17, 2020). The Company expects to make the required exploration expenditures to earn the 75% interest in Kliyul and Redton after this year's exploration program.

RDP

The Company recently optioned RDP to Antofagasta, whereby Antofagasta can earn a 75% interest in RDP by spending $10,000,000 on exploration over eight years and delivering a preliminary economic assessment report (see news release dated February 8, 2022). Mineralization at the Day target (see Figure 5) includes pyrite, magnetite, chalcopyrite, minor molybdenite, and traces of bornite as disseminations and fracture fillings in diorite and adjacent altered volcaniclastic rocks. Historical drilling includes 2,472 m in 19 drill holes. Drill highlights include 0.67% Cu and 0.93 g/t Au over 58.8 m (drill hole D-74-1) and 0.54% Cu and 0.69 g/t Au over 57 m from 13.1 m depth (drill hole D-92-1). Mineralization at the Roy target consists of a quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite stringer stockwork within a monzonite intrusive. Trench sampling in 1990 encountered 0.121% Cu and 0.55 g/t Au over 62 m within an 80 m trench. Only a single drill hole has been documented at Roy, hole EQ-11-01. This hole was drilled in 2011, the last time RDP was explored, and returned 0.11% Cu and 0.64 g/t Au over 122.95 m from 3.05 m depth.

Figure 5

RDP Target Areas





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Antofagasta is funding a 1,500 m diamond drill program at RDP with a focus on the Day and Roy targets. Drilling is expected to commence in August.

About Pacific Ridge

Our goal is to become British Columbia's leading copper-gold exploration company. Pacific Ridge's flagship project is the Kliyul copper-gold project, located in the prolific Quesnel Trough, approximately 50 km southeast of Centerra Gold Inc.'s Kemess mine. In addition to Kliyul, the Company's project portfolio includes the RDP copper-gold project (optioned to Antofagasta Minerals S.A.), the Chuchi copper-gold project, the Onjo copper-gold project, and the Redton copper-gold project, all located in British Columbia.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Blaine Monaghan"

Blaine Monaghan

President & CEO

Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd.

Corporate Contact:

Blaine Monaghan

President & CEO

Tel: (604) 687-4951

www.pacificridgeexploration.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pacific-ridge-exploration-ltd-pex-

https://twitter.com/PacRidge_PEX

Investor Contact:

G2 Consultants Corp.

Telephone: +1 778-678-9050

Email: [email protected]

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.

The technical information contained within this News Release has been reviewed and approved by Gerald G. Carlson, Ph.D., P.Eng., Executive Chairman of Pacific Ridge and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 policy.

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 exploration drilling and other activities and events or developments that Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. ("Pacific Ridge") expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this news release include plans for a 6,000 metre diamond drill program, an IP and airborne magnetic survey at Kliyul, a 1,500 m diamond drill program at RDP, and making the required exploration expenditures to earn a 75% interest in Kliyul and Redton after this year's exploration program. Although Pacific Ridge 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 forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include the potential for Onjo to host an alkalic porphyry copper-gold deposit at depth and plans to launch an exploration program later this year with the objective of defining future drill targets. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These statements are based on a number of assumptions including, among other things, assumptions regarding general business and economic conditions, that one of the options will be exercised, the ability of Pacific Ridge and other parties to satisfy stock exchange and other regulatory requirements in a timely manner, the availability of financing for Pacific Ridge's proposed programs on reasonable terms, and the ability of third party service providers to deliver services in a timely manner. 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. Pacific Ridge 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 applicable law.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Foremost Lithium Resource & Technology Ltd. (CSE: FAT) (OTCQB: FRRSF) (FSE:F0R0) (WKN: A3DCC8) (www.foremostlithium.com) ("Foremost Lithium", "Foremost" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered in to an agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Strider Resources Ltd. ("Strider") pursuant to which the Company has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the PEG NORTH CLAIMS located in the historic Snow Lake mining district in Manitoba (the "Peg North Claims"). The Peg North Claims consist of 28 claims hosting five known pegmatite dykes, [Cerny, et. al.1981] [1] and captures the northern extension of the Crowduck Bay Fault and surrounding area, known for its lithium-enriched pegmatite dyke clusters. The acquisition pursuant to the Option Agreement will significantly expand the Company's Snow Lake lithium holdings by 16,697 acres (6,757 hectares) to an amalgamated 43,031 acres (17,414 hectares) in the prospective Snow Lake pegmatite fields. The location of the newly acquired Peg North Claims is illustrated in Figure 1 below. In connection with this important acquisition, the Company wishes to take this opportunity to provide a comprehensive update and overview of the status of each of the properties comprising the Company's impressive package of lithium and precious metals assets.

John Gravelle, President & CEO of Foremost Lithium, states: "We now hold and/or have the right to acquire an aggregate of over 43,000 acres, (17,400+ hectares) of what Foremost considers to be tier-one lithium exploration properties in Snow Lake, Manitoba. This substantial increase in hectares will add to Foremost's previously disclosed inventory of 30 high-quality drill targets to explore and develop. The electrification movement is amongst us and the increased demand for lithium will be here for decades to come. This strategic option of the Peg North Claims continues to demonstrate Foremost's commitment to deliver long-term shareholder value."

Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Foremost has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Peg North Claims, subject only to a 2% net smelter return royalty granted to Strider (the "NSR") (the "First Option") in consideration for making aggregate cash payments of $750,000, issuing Strider common shares having an aggregate value of $750,000, and incurring an aggregate of $3,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Peg North Claims on or before the fifth anniversary of the effective date of the Option Agreement. The Common shares will be issued at a deemed price equal to the greater of (a) the average closing price of the Company's shares on the CSE for the last 30 trading days prior to the date such shares are issued; and (b) the minimum price permitted under the policies of the stock exchange.

In connection with signing the Option Agreement, the Company will make the initial option payment to Strider of $100,000 in cash and issue Strider an aggregate of 526,316 common shares at a price of $0.19 per share.

Once the First Option has been fully exercised, the Company may, at any time prior to commencement of commercial production on the Peg North Claims, exercise a second option to acquire one half (1/2) of the NSR (1%) for a cash payment of $1,500,000.

[1] P. Cerny, D.L. Trueman, D.V. Ziehlke, B.E. Goad, and B.J. Paul, "THE CAT LAKE-WINNIPEG RIVER AND THE WESKUSKO LAKE PEGMATITE FIELDS, MANITOBA." Manitoba Department of Energy and Mines, Mineral Resources Division Economic Geology Report ER80-1. 1981





Figure 1 - Foremost Lithium Snow Lake District Claim Map showing the Jean Lake, Zoro, GRC and Peg North Claims assets. Foremost now controls an amalgamated 17,414 hectares (43,031 acres) in the highly prospective Snow Lake pegmatite fields, including the entire northern extension of the Crowduck Bay Fault



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Foremost's initial exploration plans for these claims include a LiDAR survey (to discover never-before-seen outcrops for prospecting), an airborne high-definition magnetic survey, and follow up Mobile Metal Ions soil geochemistry ground proofing of high priority magnetic anomalies. This work will be carried out to define quality drill targets.

John Gravelle, President & CEO of Foremost Lithium, continues: "Foremost's acquisition of the Peg North Claims was a priority due to its excellent exploration potential based on the northeast extension of the Crowduck Bay and related faults that host the Thompson Brothers lithium mineralized pegmatite dykes. The mapped presence of lithium bearing pegmatites east and southeast of the Peg North Claims make this property prospective for lithium bearing pegmatite dykes." Mr. Gravelle further continues: "I'd like to personally express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. Mark Fedikow, Foremost's Vice President of Exploration, and Dan Ziehlke of Strider Resources for their work to complete this transaction."

Technical information contained in this press release, regarding the Peg North Claims, the Zoro Lithium Project, the Jean Lake Lithium and Gold Property, the Grass River Property and the Hidden Lake Lithium Property has been approved by the Company's VP of Exploration, Dr. Mark Fedikow, P.Eng., P. Geo, who is a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Dr. Fedikow holds Honours B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in geology, geophysics and geochemistry from the University of Windsor, Canada, and a Ph.D. in exploration geochemistry from the School of Applied Geology, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

The technical content of this news release regarding The Winston Project has been approved by Dr. Michael Feinstein, CPG, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.





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DESCRIPTION AND STATUS OF FOREMOST'S PROPERTIES

Zoro Lithium Project, Manitoba Canada

The Zoro Lithium Project is located at the east end of the 200 km long and 70 km wide Paleoproterozoic Flin Flon-Snow Lake Greenstone Belt approximately 20 km east of the historic mining town of Snow Lake (Figures 1 and 2). The project consists of 16 claims with a total of 3,603 hectares including the 100%-owned Zoro1 claim, that hosts the primary source of lithium on the property in Dyke 1, and the Green Bay and Manitoba option properties. Foremost holds the rights to 100% of the lithium resources on these properties. Nearby infrastructure includes a power line servicing the town of Snow Lake approximately 5 km south of the property, the Snow Lake airport, and an all-weather gravel road 11 km west of the property, as well as a rail link located at Wekusko Siding, 20 km to the south of Herb Lake Landing which is 30 km south of the property.

Geological Setting1

The Zoro Lithium Project is underlain by ocean floor volcanic rocks of the Roberts Lake allochthon and lesser amounts of Missi Group sedimentary rocks. The Ocean Floor rocks comprise mafic volcanic and related intrusions and the Missi Group consists of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and quartzo-feldspathic gneiss and migmatite. The Ocean Floor mafic volcanic rocks adjacent to the pegmatite dykes consist of a fine to medium-grained strongly foliated dark green lithology. These andesitic to basaltic lithologies are locally interbedded with volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks and all are intruded by a quartz-phyric granite intrusion (Figure 3).

Pegmatite dykes generally strike northwest to north-northwest with steep dips and crosscut the regional foliation at a low angle. The dykes tend to be concentric in internal structure and the grain size of the constituent minerals (potassium feldspar, quartz, spodumene and black tourmaline) coarsens towards the center of the dykes. This pattern may be locally interrupted by patches of saccharoidal albite, large muscovite aggregates and coarse albite stringers with garnet and beryl. Spodumene is concentrated in the cores of the dykes. Some of the dykes have been split into sub-parallel veins by post-emplacement tectonic activity.

Approach to Exploration

Integrated exploration on the project consists of soil and rock geochemical surveys, a drone magnetic survey, prospecting, and mapping all followed-up with diamond drilling. This has led to the discovery of 16 previously unknown spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes and the delineation of multiple lithium targets. To date, 70 drill holes for 9,915 m have been completed on the property.

Source of Lithium

The principal source of lithium on the property is spodumene-bearing Dyke 1 with an inferred resource of 1,074,567 tonnes at 0.91% Li2O, 182 ppm Be, 198 ppm Cs, 51 ppm Ga, 1212 Rb, and 43 ppm Ta at a 0.3 percent Li2O cut-off .1 Please refer to the Company's NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Zoro Lithium Project, Snow Lake, Manitoba" dated effective July 6, 2018, prepared by Dr. Mark Fedikow, P. Geo, and Scott Zelligan P. Geo. Tantalum mineralization has also been intersected in Dyke 1 with an assay of 0.113% Ta2O5 (cf. November 1, 2017 news release). Elsewhere on the property assays of 2.42% to 7.28% Li2O have been documented from spodumene-bearing pegmatite Dyke 5 on the property3 (cf. Green Bay Mining and Exploration Ltd. Corporation File).

Metallurgy

Preliminary metallurgical testing by SGS Canada Inc. of a spodumene concentrate from Dyke 1 indicates that a high-grade (6% Li2O) lithium concentrate can be produced from Dyke 1 mineralization using industry standard methods.2

Recent Exploration

Lithium

In 2022, a ten-hole 1,509-meter drill program was undertaken to test Mobile Metal Ion ("MMI") soil geochemical anomalies and assess the deeper levels of high-grade spodumene pegmatite Dyke 8 discovered in 2018.

The sixteenth spodumene-bearing pegmatite dyke on the Zoro property was discovered during this program. It was intersected by two drill holes (c.f. April 26, 2022, news release). DDH FM22-70 drilled at -50 degrees inclination intersected two pegmatite intercepts totaling 4.9 meters with up to 15% light green spodumene crystal aggregates. A second hole, DDHFM22-70B was drilled at a steeper inclination of -65 degrees to undercut the first pegmatite intersection. This hole intersected a five-meter intercept of the same spodumene mineralized pegmatite as hole FM22-70. The host rock to these pegmatites is a fine-grained foliated basalt. The location of Dyke 16 in relation to all other pegmatite dykes intersected on the Zoro property is illustrated in Figure 4.

Dyke 8

High-grade spodumene pegmatite Dyke 8 was discovered on the Zoro property in 2018 by the drill testing of a Mobile Metal Ions soil geochemical anomaly. Drill hole Far18-35 testing the MMI anomaly intersected 36.5 m of spodumene-bearing pegmatite. Assay results from hole FAR18-35 included three separate intercepts of high-grade lithium including 12.3 m of 1.1% Li2O, 4.4 m of 1.2% Li2O, and 2.2 m of 1.5% Li2O (cf. April 26, 2022, news release).

In 2022, DDHFM22-71 was drilled at -65 degrees to undercut the 2018 pegmatite intersections. A 4.5-meter spodumene-bearing pegmatite was intersected between 70.45 and 75.89 meters before being truncated by a fault. This intercept is 37 meters below the previous 2018 drill intercepted Dyke 8 spodumene mineralization. A further pegmatite was intersected below the fault between 84.4 and 86.65 meters.

To date, Dyke 8 has drill indicated dimensions of 120 m in length, 5-15 m in width and has been drilled to a depth of 157 m (cf. April 26, 2022, news release).

Gold

Numerous intersections of core intersected mineralized zones characterized by disseminated and veinlet arsenopyrite with lesser chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and pyrite. Mineralized sections were intersected in silicified and variably altered dacite and basalt volcanic rocks with or without quartz veins.

Assay Samples

A total of 19 core samples of pegmatite have been collected from drill core. Fourteen samples were collected from pegmatite with visible spodumene, and five samples were collected from pegmatite without visible spodumene. Nine samples were collected from lithologies other than pegmatite. Fifty-seven samples were collected from core mineralized with disseminated and stringer arsenopyrite and lesser pyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite for gold assay.

After logging and photographic recording, all core samples were sawn in half and one half of the core has been shipped to Activation Laboratories (Ancaster, Ontario). Remaining drill core is stored in a secure facility in Snow Lake.

Pegmatite samples will be analysed using UT-7 lithium and related element analysis after total dissolution by sodium pyrophosphate with finish by ICP-MS. Samples for gold assay were undertaken on 30-gram samples with fire assay and finish by Instrumental Neutron Activation.

Results for all samples are pending but will be reported in a news release and on the website once available.

Future Exploration

Exploration on the property is ongoing with prospecting, mapping and geochemical surveys following up on a recently completed (June 2022) drone magnetic survey. The drone survey was completed by EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. Interpreted results from the drone magnetic survey will provide the focus for ongoing exploration. A drone-assisted LiDAR survey is planned for the summer of 2022.

1: Fedikow, M.A.F. and Zelligan, S. 2018. NI 43-101 Technical report on the Zoro Lithium Project, Snow Lake, Manitoba; 188p.

2: Grammatikopoulos, T., Aghamirian, M., Fedikow, M.A.F. and Mayo, T. 2020 : Mineralogical characterization and preliminary beneficiation of the Zoro Lithium Project, Manitoba, Canada: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1007/S42461-020-00299-2.

3: Green Bay Mining and Exploration Ltd. Corporation File: 1956: Manitoba Mining Recorder, Corporate and Assessment Files.





Figure 1. Location map for the Zoro Lithium Project.



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Figure 2: Regional geology map of the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Greenstone Belt and the location of the Zoro Lithium Project.



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Figure 3. Geological setting of the Zoro Lithium Project with claim boundaries.



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Figure 4. Location of Dyke 16 in relation to previously discovered pegmatite dykes on the Zoro Lithium Project.



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Jean Lake Lithium and Gold Property, Manitoba Canada

The five claim, 1002-hectare Jean Lake Lithium and Gold Property is situated in west-central Manitoba, 15 kilometers east of the historic town of Snow Lake. It is hosted by the Early Proterozoic (1.832 Ga) Rex Lake Plutonic Complex which is a circular intrusion 8 km in diameter. The property hosts the historic west-northwest striking Beryl lithium pegmatites rediscovered in August of 2021 in blasted trenches beneath 80 years of organic deadfall and glacial sediment. The 270-degree trending dykes are characterized by coarse grained light green spodumene crystals in a matrix of potassium feldspar, quartz, and muscovite. The host rocks are coarsely porphyritic gabbro. The property also hosts the shear zone-hosted Sparky Gold Occurrence discovered in 1918. The gold mineralization is associated with disseminated and near-solid fracture fillings consisting of fine-grained to blocky arsenopyrite with lesser pyrite and chalcopyrite hosted within sheared and silicified massive basalt and gabbro.

The location of the Beryl Pegmatites ("B1" and "B2") is illustrated on a Jean Lake claim map in Figure 1. B3 is a pegmatite without visible spodumene.

Recent Exploration

Lithium

Five representative rock chip samples of spodumene-bearing mineralization were collected in August, 2021 from blast material in two trenched locations of the Beryl Pegmatites. Two of the samples were apple green, coarse grained spodumene (Far21-1 and -2)) and three samples were from straw-coloured, finer grained spodumene (Far21-3,4 and 5)).

Samples were shipped to Activation Laboratories in Ancaster (Ontario) for analysis, applying the UT-7 method which uses a total dissolution of the sample by sodium peroxide fusion and ICP-MS finish. This analytical approach is the standard analytical technique employed by the Company on its Zoro and Jean Lake lithium projects for the analysis of pegmatite.

Results indicate all samples returned high-grade lithium contents regardless of the textural characteristics of the spodumene (Table 1).

Table 1. Lithium analyses for two styles of spodumene mineralization at the Beryl Pegmatite,

Jean Lake Property, Snow Lake area, Manitoba.

Element Li20% Li2C03%





Beryl Pegmatite B1:



FAR 21L-1 3.89 9.63 FAR 21L-2 5.17 12.78





Beryl Pegmatite B2:



FAR 21L-3 4.74 11.71 FAR 21L-4 4.09 10.11 FAR 21L-5 3.81 9.42

Gold

Fifteen representative rock chip samples from the Sparky Occurrence returned assay results with maximum contents of 20.9 g/t gold (Table 2). All but one sample exceeded 1 g/t gold. Grab samples representative of mineralization exposed in outcrop and in pits were collected from pervasively silicified wall rock containing brecciated and mineralized quartz veins. The deformation observed in the rocks sampled is attributed to faults cutting the eastern portion of the Rex Lake Pluton which is bounded on the east by the crustal scale Crowduck Bay Fault.

Gold assays are determined by fire assay using a 30-gram sample followed by an instrumental neutron activation finish.

Table 2. Summary of gold assay results, Jean Lake Property.

Sample UTM East UTM North Grams Per Ton/ Gold G/T Gold

Datum: NAD83 Zone 14





FAR21G-1 451647 6076201 1.6 1.66 FAR21G-2 451647 6076201 138 ppb 0.138 FAR 21G-3 452451 6076406 20.9 20.9 FAR 21G-4 452451 6076406 8.6 8.66 FAR 21G-5a 452409 6076351 1.9 1.93 FAR 21G-5b 452409 6076351 1.8 1.84 FAR 21G-6a 452377 6076246 11.2 11.2 FAR 21G-6b 452377 6076246 6.4 6.42 FAR 21G-7 452356 6076171 2.0 2 FAR 21G-8a 452417 6076377 7.6 7.63 FAR 21G-8b 452417 6076377 8.6 8.66 FAR 21G-9 452366 6076105 4.0 4.05 FAR 21G-10 452395 6076407 1.3 1.38 FAR 21G-11 452356 6076171 1.0 1 FAR 21G-12 452441 6076396 1.2 1.29

Laboratory contamination was not detected in the analysis of the samples based on the replicate analyses of the method blank. The analysis of both internal standards and International Reference Materials indicates the analyses are accurate and reproducible.

Ongoing exploration consisting of prospecting and geochemical surveys is planned to commence in June, 2022 utilizing the results from recently completed (April, 2022) drone-assisted magnetic surveys. The drone surveys were completed by EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. Drone-assisted LiDAR surveys are planned for the summer of 2022.





Figure 1. Location of the Beryl Pegmatites (B1 and B2). B3 is a barren, non-spodumene-bearing pegmatite that is on trend (270o) with B1 and B2.



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Grass River Claims Property (GRC) Manitoba, Canada

The recently acquired Grass River Claims Property consists of 27 claims totaling 14,873 acres located 30 km east of the historic town of Snow Lake and 6.5 kilometers east of the Company's Zoro Lithium Project. The GRC hosts multiple pegmatites exposed in outcrop and 7 drill-indicated spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes.

The bulk of mineral exploration in the Snow Lake area was undertaken in the late 1950's and was primarily designed to assess the general area for base metal massive sulphide mineralization. Ground geophysical surveys (electromagnetics and magnetics) were the primary tool coupled with boots on the ground prospecting. Many holes were drilled to assess base metal environments. During the drilling of geophysical targets, several spodumene pegmatites were intersected1.

A total of 10 pegmatites are exposed in surface outcrop on the property and together with the 7 drill-indicated spodumene-bearing dykes (Figure 1) will be part of the exploration focus in 2022. Ongoing data interpretation of results from a drone-assisted magnetic survey completed by EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. in June of 2022 will guide follow-up prospecting and geochemical surveys expected to commence in July of 2022. These surveys will be supplemented with a drone-assisted LiDAR survey planned for July 2022. A drill program is planned for later in the year

Results of the magnetic and LIDAR surveys will be released in a news release and on the Company's website when complete.

1: Cancelled Assessment File 90611, Manitoba Mining Recorder, Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development.





Figure 1. Compilation of pegmatites exposed in surface outcrop1 and drill intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatite2 on the Grass River Lithium Property, Snow Lake area, Manitoba.



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Data Sources

1: Bailes, A.H. 1985: Geology of the Saw Lake area, Geological Report GR83-2, 47 pages and Map GR83-2-1.

2: Cancelled Assessment File 90611, Manitoba Mining Recorder, Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development.

The Hidden Lake Lithium Property Northwest Territories, Canada

The Hidden Lake Lithium Property is located 45 km east of Yellowknife, NWT (Figure 1) and consists of 5 contiguous claims, totaling 1,659.29 hectares (Figure 2). The property is just north of Highway 4 (Ingraham Trail) providing excellent access. The exploration target on the property is lithium-bearing spodumene pegmatite dykes which are visible from aerial imagery as elongated white linear features visible through vegetation and soil due to their high reflectance.

Geological Setting

The Hidden Lake Property lies within the southern Archean Slave Craton of the Canadian Shield which is comprised of Mesoarchean gneissic basement covered by the Neoarchean Yellowknife Supergroup supracrustal assemblage. The Yellowknife Supergroup consists of a thick sequence of metavolcanic rock and metasedimentary rock which is dominated by a regionally homogenous sequence of interbedded greywacke-mudstone turbidites of the multiply deformed Burwash Formation east of Yellowknife (Figure 3). This region was subsequently intruded by the Prosperous suite of S-type biotite muscovite leucogranite plutons which are spatially associated with granitic pegmatites.

Granitic Pegmatites

These pegmatites intrude both the surrounding Burwash Formation and the granitic plutons and form the Yellowknife Pegmatite Field. Depending on their proximity to the granite intrusion, the pegmatite complexes commonly show regional zoning in their mineralization and can be rare element bearing. Lithium enrichment occurs in an outer zone typically 2 to 3 kms from the intrusion accompanied by Be, Ta, Nb and Ca enrichment (Sinclair, 1996).

The lithium bearing pegmatites that are targeted for exploration are white to light grey, coarse to very coarse-grained, and comprised of K-feldspar (microcline), plagioclase (albite), quartz, muscovite and spodumene with trace amounts of apatite, biotite, tourmaline, columbite and montebrasite. The dykes consist of long, discontinuous bodies oriented in an NNE-SSW direction (between 010 and 020) and range from 3 to 11 m wide and 300 to 800 m long. The bodies are zoned and spodumene content typically ranges from 10% to 20% by volume, with up to 35% locally within the center of the bodies. Spodumene crystals were green to light greenish grey, up to 60 cm long and were typically oriented parallel to the dyke boundaries along the edges and perpendicular to the boundaries in the center of the dykes (Sinclair, 1996).

Historic Work

Initial prospecting of the Yellowknife district originated when rare-element pegmatites were first discovered in the 1930's, followed by the discovery of lithium-bearing pegmatites in the 1950's. The most significant historic exploration carried out on the property has been undertaken on the D12 pegmatite that was first discovered by the Geological Survey of Canada in1947. It is described as a 1,000 ft. long and 30 ft. wide, spodumene-bearing pegmatite dyke. It has since been subjected to trenching and detailed mapping1. In 1978, Canadian Superior Exploration Ltd. mapped and sampled several spodumene-bearing dykes on and surrounding the current Property, the largest of which was D122. Chip samples collected from the historic trenches at D12 yielded 1.37% to 3.01% Li2O (NWT Geoscience Detailed Showing Report ID 085INW0042).

2016 Exploration

Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd. (Dahrouge) undertook exploration work in 2016 and 2017 on behalf of 92 Resources Corporation3. This work consisted of prospecting, grab sampling, detailed mapping, and channel sampling. Only the results of the 2016 program are relevant to the Hidden Lake Property.

Prospecting in May of 2016 included outcrop examination and the collection of 5 grab samples from the D12 dyke. The samples were sealed in labelled bags and shipped to Activation Labs Ltd. (ActLabs), in Kamloops, B.C., where they were analyzed using the sodium peroxide fusion ICP-OES + ICP-MS Ultratrace 7 package (UT-7). Those samples with a Li value above the detection limit of 10,000 ppm underwent the sodium peroxide fusion ICP-OES lithium ore analysis package (Code 8 Li Ore).

Subsequently a channel sampling program was completed between August 16th and September 7th, 2016. A total of 308 channel samples were collected from 61 channels cut across dykes D12, HL1, HL3 and HL4 Table 1.

Table 1: 2016 channel sampling details.

Pegmatite Length (m) Number Number



of Channels of Samples D12 350 15 85 HL1 690 16 65 HL3 800 15 89 HL4 400 15 69

Results

In 2016 a total of 5 grab samples and 308 channel samples were collected during the two Hidden Lake field programs carried out in 2016. Five grab samples from dyke D12 assayed 1.63 - 3.06% Li2O. Channel sample results were presented as weighted averages for individual channels for each dyke. The thickest section of D12 was 11.58 m wide and returned a weighted average of 1.53% Li2O and included a 9.02 m section of 1.90% Li2O. A channel from the HL1 dyke assayed 1.26% Li2O over 8.72 m and an 8.78 m channel from the HL3 dyke assayed 1.58% Li2O. A 5.78 m channel from HL4 assayed the highest Li2O of 1.71% over 5.78 m. Significant grades of tantalum were recorded with an average of 54 pm Ta2O5 for the four dykes. The maximum value was 402 ppm.

2018 Exploration

Dahrouge also undertook an exploration program in 2018 on behalf of Foremost Resources4. The purpose of the drilling was to test the vertical continuity of spodumene mineralization in the subsurface. This work took place between May 22nd and June 10th, 2018 and consisted of 1079.37 m of core drilled in ten drill holes on pegmatite dykes HL-001 through HL-003 and D-12 (Figure 4). A total of 197 core samples were collected and submitted for assay at SGS Mineral Services Lakefield facility. Intersected pegmatites were typically composed of quartz, plagioclase, feldspar, muscovite, spodumene and accessory minerals consisting of tourmaline and epidote.

Drill hole specific information including core samples collected for assay is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Pegmatite intersection and sample collection summary.

Hole ID Target Easting Northing Overburden Depth (m) EOH Depth (m) Pegmatite Intersection Sum (m) Number of Samples HL18-001 D-12 374935 6936971 0.00 109.00 15.10 34 HL18-002 D-12 375023 6937090 4.23 101.34 10.98 26 HL18-003 D-12 374893 6936899 5.16 108.94 11.12 19 HL18-004 HL-1 373748 6936978 5.25 106.19 7.95 19 HL18-005 HL-1 373361 6937389 6.45 108.82 3.79 16 HL18-006 HL-4 373440 6937524 0.30 108.94 7.72 16 HL18-007 HL-4 373407 6937465 0.10 109.00 5.98 13 HL18-008 HL-4 373361 6937389 0.00 108.94 5.62 12 HL18-009 HL-3 373364 6937097 0.70 109.20 8.68 20 HL18-010 HL-3 373306 6937011 1.05 109.00 8.97 22







Total: 10793.37 m 171.82 m 197

Results

Pegmatites intersected in this drill program were marked by fine to very coarse grained spodumene crystals varying from 7-10 modal percent in dyke HL3 to 15-25% modal percent spodumene crystals in dyke D12.

All spodumene-bearing dykes tested during the 2018 drill program intersected high-grade 1.0-2.0% Li2O over individual widths that varied from 2.0 to 9.2 m or total widths of between 3.79 m and 15.10 m (Table 3; cf. September 10, 2018, news release). The assay results for 2018 drill core confirm the presence of high grade spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes on the property and reflect the historic assay results from 2016 surface channel samples.

Table 3. Summary of assay results, 2018 Hidden Lake drill program.

BHID Li2O (%) Ta (ppm) Cs (ppm) Nb (ppm) Length (m) Dyke D-12: HL18-001 1.5 33.4 40.6 48.7 9.0 Dyke D-12: HL18-002 1.7 34.0 33.2 45.3 5.0 Dyke D-12: HL18-003 1.6 32.4 47.2 44.4 9.2 Dyke HL-1: HL18-004 1.6 24.4 29.0 29.0 7.0 Dyke HL-1: HL18-005 1.2 41.8 33.1 45.8 2.0 Dyke HL-3: HL18-006 1.4 21.5 46.2 25.6 7.0 Dyke HL-3: HL18-007 2.0 43.6 32.9 52.8 5.2 Dyke HL-3: HL18-008 1.3 42.5 40.9 54.6 3.8 Dyke HL-2: HL18-009 1.5 7.8 28.6 12.0 2.0 Dyke HL-2: HL18-010 1.0 15.1 31.4 17.2 7.0

Assay

Pegmatite intersections in the drill core were sawn in half with one half of the sample collected for assay. The samples were shipped to Activation Laboratories (Ancaster, Ontario) digested with a sodium peroxide fusion followed by ICP-OES/MS analysis. Assay results are summarized in Table 3.

Future Exploration

Future exploration is planned to expand the lithium resource at Hidden Lake with additional diamond drilling based on an integrated exploration plan using state-of-the-art drone assisted geophysical surveys and rock and soil geochemical techniques.

1: Mulligan, R. 1975. Geology of Canadian Lithium Deposits. Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Report No. 21

2: Morrison, M. 1978. Report on a trenching programme and geological survey of the LU3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 mineral claims, Yellowknife area. NWT assessment report 080847.

3: Goreham, J. 2018: 2016 and 2017 geological and geochemical exploration on the Hidden Lake property, Yellowknife, N.W.T. report for property owner 92 Resources Corp., 29p.

4: Wood, A. 2018: Summary memo for the 2018 Hidden Lake P1 drill program, Yellowknife area, N.W.T., 12p.

Sinclair, W.D., 1996. Granitic Pegmatites; in Geology of Canadian Mineral Deposit Types, (ed.) O.R. Eckstrand, W.D. Sinclair and R.I Thorpe. Geological Survey of Canada, Geology of Canada. No. 8 p. 503-512.





Figure 1. Location of the Hidden Lake Lithium Property, Yellowknife area, N.W.T.



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Figure 2. Current claim map, Hidden Lake Property, N.W.T.



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Figure 3. Geological setting of the Hidden Lake Lithium Property.



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Figure 4. Summary of drill hole locations and targets, Hidden Lake Lithium Property, N.W.T.



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WINSTON PROPERTY NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES

Dr. Michael Feinstein, CPG, QP, has visited the Winston Project area on ten separate occasions since October 2020. He conducted confirmatory sampling of the known historic mines, as well sampling the prominent structural trends along strike.

All samples were collected under the direct supervision of Dr. Michael Feinstein, and securely transported to the Tucson facility of ALS Laboratories for analysis. Ore characterization samples from these three mines returned peak values of: 66.5 g/t gold with 2,940 g/t silver from Little Granite, 26.8 g/t gold and 940 g/t silver from Ivanhoe, and 44.9 g/t gold and 517 g/t silver from Emporia.

This sampling confirmed the occurrence of high-grade material at all three of the historic mines, but also in several locations away from these areas. Foremost expanded its footprint, increasing the property from 415 acres to 2,980 acres, and increased its mineral rights from 14 to 150 BLM Lode Mining Claims. Previously, no modern exploration efforts have systemically assessed the northern portion of the Chloride District.

Winston Project



*Highest Grade Sample From Each Mine



Mine Au_ppm Ag_ppm Little Granite 66.5 2,940 Ivanhoe 26.8 940 Emporio 44.9 517 Prospecting Best 41.5 4,610

Project Highlights

The project has contiguous landholdings totaling approximately 150 claims covering almost 3,000 acres. Claims are targeted along footprint of mineralization extending for more than 8 km of strike.

Historic drilling in early 1980s suggests potential for high-grade ore shoots within larger mineralized envelopes. The Chloride District saw a rush of miners and prospectors in the 1860s-1890s, a period of renewed mining activity in the 1980s, and has been largely unexplored by modern methods.

Potential for District-Scale discovery in a Precious Metal Endowed Low-Sulphidation Epithermal Vein System.

Ground geological mapping and surveying has utilized high resolution satellite imagery and LiDAR (laser-generated infrared light beams) to construct a detailed digital model of the area. This 3D GIS will be used for all drill targeting and project planning. Special attention will be given to maintaining a high level of vertical accuracy due to the local topography.

Exceptional results from property-wide confirmatory sampling completed in 2021 include:

-Measured width Highlights:

3.35 g/t Au with 245 g/t Ag from a 0.3m channel sample inside the Little Granite Decline.

1.97 g/t Au with 232 g/t Ag from a 0.3m channel sample across JAP vein at LG mine.

29.2 g/t Au with 462 g/t Ag from a 0.6m continuous chip sample in north zone.

3.2 g/t Au with 34 g/t Ag from a 1.0m continuous chip sample in north zone.

0.75 g/t Au with 489 g/t Ag from a 0.3m continuous chip sample in north zone.

-Prospecting Highlights:

Sample 1671079 collected at a prospect pit in recently staked ground returned 41.5 g/t Au with 4,610.0 g/t Ag.

Samples 1671021, 1671024, 1671027 were collected from the same vein trend over 300m of strike

#1671021 returned 20.6 g/t Au with 21.0 g/t Ag.

#1671024 returned 12.3 g/t Au with 381.0 g/t Ag.

#1671027 returned 5.7 g/t Au with 254.0 g/t Ag.

For the 155 samples across the project, gold values range from Below Detection (BD;

Geological Setting of the Winston Project

The Winston Project, situated in the historic Black Range Mining District of southwestern New Mexico, covers 36 square kilometers of the northern portion of the Chloride District. High-grade deposits of silver and gold were discovered in 1880 and the area was a major producer until the 1893 silver price crash. Little production or modern exploration has occurred since.

The mineralization is of the well-documented Low-Sulphidation Epithermal type. Deposits of this style are emplaced throughout the Cordillera of North and South America and elsewhere in similar tectonic settings. This style of mineralization is known world-wide and hosts some of the highest-grade gold/silver mines, such as: Hishikari in Japan, Fruta del Norte in Ecuador and Round Mountain in Nevada.

On the Winston Property, the primary structure is the Paymaster Fault which is readily traced both on the ground and by satellite imagery. Locally, the mineralized veins are generally associated with north-south trending structures. The overall controlling geological feature is known as the Rio Grande Rift, which extends into northern Mexico hosting several past and present silver mines.

Foremost's Winston Project enjoys a close association with volcanic host rocks which formed at a similar time as the mineralization. Individual mines and prospects generally show strong controlling geological structures, typically north-south high angle faulting associated with the Rio Grande Rift (RGR). The RGR is a crustal-scale feature which extends over 1,200 kilometers, from northern Mexico to central Colorado.

Precious metal deposits of note along the RGR include the historic Creede Mining District in southwestern Colorado. The timing of mineralization is within several million years of that on the Winston Project, where alteration minerals have been dated at approximately 26.5 Ma. The Creede District has recorded production of over 84 million ounces of silver. Hecla Mining Corp., a premier US silver producer, is undertaking a major effort in the Creede District to bring a new mining complex online.

Located 100km to the east, The Mogollon District in western New Mexico has produced more than 13 million ounces silver and 270k ounces old. Mineralization is of the same Low-Sulphidation Epithermal Vein Type. Summa Silver is currently exploring the Mogollon Camp.

Little Granite Mine

The Little Granite Mine is a past-producing high-grade silver-gold mine hosted in Tertiary volcanics. The main vein has been traced for over 200 meters by past drilling and underground workings and remains open along strike to both the north and south, and at depth. Historically reported high-grade values were confirmed in limited re-sampling by Foremost in late 2020. Historic drill reports suggest the primary vein widens to more than 4m (12ft) true width, at depth.

Ivanhoe - Emporia Mines

The Ivanhoe - Emporia is a past producing gold-silver mine. Its main shaft was sunk to 384 feet depth with a 370 ft. decline and multiple working levels. There is potential for large tonnage of lower grade, stockwork veins surrounding high grade veins mined in the past. The strike continuation needs to be explored as favorable structural conditions persist along the bends and jobs of the Paymaster Fault.

Conclusion

Foremost is committed to commence a drill program in 2022 on multiple targets on the property. Past preparatory work for drilling has included data compilation both of historic and recent work, along with acquisition of high-resolution LiDAR data to allow construction of an accurate terrane model. This property had little to no modern exploration since the early 1980s and with such high-grade samples returned, the Company is keen to see the full potential from the Winston Gold/Silver Project.

There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. The potential quantities and associated grades have not been defined by drilling, but historic production in the district reflects the potential scope of orebodies which may be encountered. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the delineation of a mineral resource.

QA/QC Statement-

166 samples have been processed by ALS Laboratories' ("ALS") for Precious Metals and Multi-Elements. All Foremost's (previously FAR Resources) rock sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC") protocol which includes the insertion of blind standard reference materials at regular intervals. Samples were maintained by Dr. Feinstein and securely transported to ALS sample preparation facilities in Tucson, Arizona and Reno, Nevada. Sample pulps were sent to ALS's labs in Vancouver, Canada, for analysis.

All samples were of hard rock and prepared by fine crushing to 70% passing

ALS Laboratories is independent of Foremost and its Vancouver facility is ISO-17025 accredited. ALS also performed its own internal QA/QC procedures to assure the accuracy and integrity of results. Parameters for ALS' internal and Foremost's external blind quality control samples were acceptable for the samples analyzed. Foremost is not aware of any sampling, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

QP Statement-

Michael Feinstein, PhD, CPG, is the Qualified Person (Q.P.) responsible for the technical material contained in this document. All samples are collected and maintained in accordance with established QA/QC protocols. Samples were analyzed by Fire Assay and ICP-MS. Internal laboratory QA/QC protocols were followed and 5% external standards are submitted with all sample batches. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed by Dr. Michael Feinstein, CPG, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Foremost Lithium

Foremost Lithium is a resource exploration company committed to having a critical role in the production of high-quality battery-grade lithium hydroxide to fuel the electric vehicle and battery storage market. Given the importance and global focus on increasing energy decarbonization, especially when it comes to vehicles, the Company is hyper-focused in continued exploration and growth on its five lithium projects in Manitoba being Jean Lake, Grass River, Zoro, Jol and the Peg North Claims, and its Hidden Lake lithium project in the Northwest Territories. Foremost Lithium also has an interest in the Winston Gold/Silver Project in New Mexico, USA.

For Further Information Please Contact:

John Gravelle, President and CEO

[email protected]

Foremost Lithium Resource &Technology

1 604 330-8067

Follow us and contact us on social media:

Twitter: @foremostlithium

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foremost-lithium-resource-technology/mycompany

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForemostLithium

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on management's best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, statements with respect to the changes to management of the Company, for closing of the proposed acquisition, future acquisition and dispositions of mining and exploration interests, furure financing needs and activities, the plans for future exploration and development of the Company's properties Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ""expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts" , "anticipates" "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the receipt of all necessary approvals for the proposed acquisition, completion of the Company's recently announced financing, risks related to the Company's exploration properties; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions, actual results of current exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of commodities including lithium and gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining consumables, possible variations in reserves; 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; delays in the completion of exploration, development or construction activities, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in jurisdictions in which the Company operates. Although the Company 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. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. Please refer to the Company's most recent filings under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting the Company and its business.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) ("Forum" or "the Company") is pleased to announce geochemical results from its winter diamond drill program (8 holes for 2,062 metres) on its 100% owned Wollaston Uranium Project, located 10km southeast of Cameco's Rabbit Lake mill and 30km southeast of Orano/Denison's McClean Lake mill (Figure 1).

HIGHLIGHTS

Anomalous radioactivity in four holes with up to 0.21% uranium and associated nickel in an area of intense alteration, bleaching and secondary hematite at the Gizmo target.

Boron (an indicator of proximal uranium bearing fluids) returned up to 2,200ppm

Nickel, copper and cobalt locally elevated (up to 365ppm, 114ppm and 318ppm respectively) within the alteration zone at Gizmo.

Ken Wheatley, Vice President, Exploration, commented, "We are quite pleased to see the combination of the extreme alteration and elevated geochemistry at the Gizmo gravity target. Drill hole WO-02 has the strongest uranium mineralization and the depth of the alteration is increasing to the south. The EM conductor also lies to the west and north of this fence, so further drilling will investigate these areas. This is a great start for our first drill program on this project that has rapidly become one of our premium projects."

Gizmo Gravity Target

Four out five holes intersected extreme alteration on the Gizmo gravity target, returning anomalous geochemistry indicative of a uranium mineralizing event (Figure 2 and 3). Anomalous uranium and geochemical pathfinder elements are reported below:

WO-01: 11 metres of 1,555ppm boron from 79 to 90 metres depth

WO-02: 10 centimetres of 2,120ppm uranium and 365ppm nickel from 163.45 to 163.55 metres depth

WO-03: 6.5 metres of 94ppm uranium; 287ppm boron from 101.6 to 105.4 metres depth

WO-04: 0.5 metres of 143ppm uranium from 111.5 to 112 metres depth and

5.5 metres of 190ppm uranium from 136.3 to 141.8m depth.

A cross-section of holes WO-01 and 02 is shown in Figure 4.

Further drilling is strongly recommended on the Gizmo target, both to the south because of the increasing alteration, and to the west and north where the historic electromagnetic (EM) conductor lies. An airborne EM survey is planned to cover the entire project this summer to upgrade the historic EM data in detail, accuracy and consistency. Further ground gravity surveys are recommended in areas of conductor complexity identified by the airborne survey.





Figure 1: Location of Forum's Wollaston Uranium Project. The project is located on Highway 905, 10km south of Cameco's Rabbit Lake Uranium Mill and 30km south of Orano/Denison's McClean Lake Uranium Mill (yellow squares). Uranium mineral deposits are outlined in red.



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Figure 2: Drill Hole Locations on Gravity Background. The dashed lines are the traces of historical EM conductors. An airborne electromagnetic survey is planned for the entire project area in advance of further drilling.



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Figure 3: Uranium mineralization in core returned from WO-2 and WO-4.



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Figure 4: Cross-Section WO-01 and 02. Note the large area of alteration at the top of the holes, which is considerably more developed within WO-02. Further drilling is recommended in this direction, as well as to the west on this target.



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Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Samples include both systematic chip samples (10 metre intervals) and split core (0.5 metre intervals) that are submitted to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SSC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for analysis. All samples are analyzed using ICP-MS for trace elements reported as partial and/or total digestion, ICP-OES for major and minor elements reported as total digestion, and fusion solution of boron by ICP-OES reported as total digestion.

Ken Wheatley, P.Geo., Forum's Vice President of Exploration and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

About Forum Energy Metals

Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) is a diversified energy metal company with uranium, copper, nickel, and cobalt projects in Saskatchewan, Canada's Number One Rated mining province for exploration and development, a strategic uranium land position in Nunavut and a strategic cobalt land position in the Idaho Cobalt Belt. For further information: https://www.forumenergymetals.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Forum's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the historical data, the work expenditure commitments; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund future exploration or development programs; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; changes commodity prices, litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or an inability to obtain permits required in connection with maintaining or advancing its exploration projects.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

President & CEO

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.

For further information contact:

Rick Mazur, P.Geo., President & CEO

[email protected]

Tel: 604-630-1585

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) (OTCQB: PEMSF) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company"), a British Columbia copper explorer, is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has now commenced at its flagship Jean Marie copper project, located in north-central British Columbia.

During 2021, PEMC completed a comprehensive exploration program at Jean Marie that was designed to incorporate all existing historical data on the property with data collected during the 2020 and 2021 exploration programs. As a result, PEMC has delineated 2 high priority drill targets for diamond drilling during the 2022 exploration season.

Brad Peters, President and CEO of Pacific Empire, commented, "We are excited to test our highest priority targets at Jean Marie with diamond drilling. The Jean Marie project has drill-proven potential to host a significant copper discovery. Our initial objective is to test below shallow historic drilling at Target 1 where new geophysics suggests this zone extends at depth, dipping to the east. Our interpretation is that there is a copper porphyry centre at depth and that intervals encountered in shallow drilling bodes well for high grades at depth. One of the most intriguing targets is Target 2 which is the location of the most significant geochemical anomaly on the property. Our work during 2021 suggests this anomaly is till transported therefore, rather than focusing on the centre, our priority target is the northern margin of the geochemical anomaly. It will be exciting to drill-test this sizeable anomaly and we look forward to cost-effectively advancing Jean Marie and appreciate the project's location, ease of access and nearby infrastructure."

Target 1

Target 1 is located in the area of the historical A and B Zones. Although previous drilling at both of these zones encountered widespread copper mineralization, drilling was shallow and the area between was only tested with three shallow holes. Of particular importance in this area is the presence of a mineralized hydrothermal breccia that was encountered in drill hole J97-11 and occurred within an interval that graded 1.19% copper, and 5.74 g/t silver over 27 metres. Drilled to a depth of only 276 metres, J97-11 is one of the deepest holes on the property and the presence of a mineralized brecciated intrusion suggests that there is the potential for a mineralized hydrothermal system at depth in this area.

Cross Section Target 1



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Plan View of Target Areas 1 & 2



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Target 2

The area of Target 2 is immediately to the northwest of the most significant copper/molybdenum soil anomaly on the property. This geochemical anomaly is characterized by a large number of samples greater than 1000 ppm copper and 100 ppm molybdenum in till over 3 km length. The center of this soil geochemical anomaly was drilled in the 1970's, only one hole returned significant copper mineralization (JPH74-15) averaging 0.2% copper over the entire length of the hole. This hole is the closest hole drilled to PEMC's interpreted bedrock source of copper mineralization. The LiDAR survey and surficial mapping completed by PEMC during 2021 clearly demonstrate that the till was transported with the ice flowing from west to east, pointing to a bedrock source of mineralization at the head of the geochemical anomaly. This area has never been drill tested.

Plan View of Target 2



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About Jean Marie

The Jean Marie property is a copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect located 50 km south of Northwest Copper's Kwanika Copper-Gold deposit and 50 km west of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Mine in central BC. The property covers over 12,000 hectares and has multiple mineralized zones which are open for expansion with drilling. Drill results demonstrate kilometer-scale base and precious metal mineralization over a large, under-explored property with multiple untested diamond-drill targets.

Drilling in the 1990's returned near surface intercepts of up to 244m of 0.28% copper, 0.007% molybdenum and 1.1 g/t silver, in a broad area located close to the pluton, volcanic contact. Two of the holes intercepted a distinct quartz breccia which returned up to 27 metres of 1.19% copper, and 5.74 g/t silver.

Drilling was limited to a maximum depth of 288 metres below surface and mineralization remains unbounded at depth and along strike to the NW and SE. Of the 96 holes drilled on the property since the 1970's 76 are less than 130 metres in depth with numerous short holes that were mineralized over the entire length.

Jean Marie Project Location



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About Atlas Drilling Ltd.

Atlas Drilling Ltd is a large and well-respected drill contractor located in Kamloops, BC, Canada. Atlas Drilling Ltd. has been servicing drill projects in British Columbia for over twenty five years. It is full service drill company with a large amount of support equipment including bulldozers, skidders, excavators, water trucks and truck-trailer for transporting equipment. Atlas Drilling has a helicopter to transport their crew in and out of job sites that are not accessible by trucks.

Qualified Person

Thomas Hawkins, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Company, serves as a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein.

About Pacific Empire

Pacific Empire is a copper exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The Company's strong portfolio of gold-enriched copper projects in British Columbia, is the culmination of perseverance through one of the longest bear markets in the resource industry.

British Columbia is a "Green" copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access and infrastructure in close proximity to the end market.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

"Brad Peters"

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

Tel: +1-604-356-6246

[email protected]

www.pemcorp.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129489
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - RIWI Corp. (TSXV: RIWI) (OTC Pink: RWCRF) (the "Company" or "RIWI"), a global trend-tracking and prediction technology firm, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Research on Mobile ("ROM"), with an expected close date within the next 2 to 10 days. ROM is a leading research technology company that has developed and commercialized unique, mature, and proprietary survey software. ROM's software profiles survey respondents and dynamically matches them to global research marketplaces from which commercial customers buy data. In this manner, ROM's software can provide survey respondents in 80 countries across the world on an on-demand, rapid-response basis.

RIWI's purchase of ROM will offer RIWI several benefits to support the growing data needs of the Company's current and future customers, including: (a) an expansion into programmatic sampling to supply survey respondents for the major research marketplaces servicing commercial businesses based across the world, (b) the ability to support longer-form, highly targeted surveys and message tests across the world, (c) enhanced survey access into several countries where RIWI has high demand for customer projects, and (d) the sequential development of new data products guided by an enhanced technology team.

"The acquisition of ROM will accelerate our vision to become the world's most trusted and transparent source of global data," said Greg Wong, RIWI's Chief Executive Officer. "ROM's management team has deep experience in both technology development and the global survey market and will immediately add depth to our leadership and technical team. This acquisition will accelerate our growth path through new customers, new product offerings and through new, transactional revenues. We are thrilled to welcome the exceptional ROM team to RIWI," added Mr. Wong.

"We are delighted to be part of RIWI," said Nader Kobeissi, ROM's Chief Executive Officer. "RIWI's vision and ambition to become the world's most trusted and transparent source of data coincides perfectly with all the values that led us to build ROM from day one. We are very eager to integrate our programmatic and API technology to the already existing robust RIWI technology stack, to grow together as one, and to provide our clients with even better and faster cutting-edge solutions to meet their ever evolving insights needs," said Mr. Kobeissi.

ROM was founded in 2018 and has offices in Paris, France and Istanbul, Turkey and is trusted by leading research marketplaces such as Lucid, CINT, Pure Spectrum and others. ROM has also been featured in the Sample and Fielding section of Lucid's map of key research technologies as can be seen here. In its last fiscal year ending December 31st, 2021, ROM had unaudited annual revenues of 1.1 million Euro and 80,000 Euro in net profit.

Neil Seeman, RIWI's Founder and Chairman, has written about RIWI's acquisition of ROM and why the transaction aligns with the mission and goals of RIWI. His essay is online at: https://riwi.com/insights/a-message-from-riwi-founder-neil-seeman-on-riwis-acquisition-of-rom/.

Transaction Details ("the Transaction")

Under the terms of the arms-length Transaction, a total purchase consideration of USD $525,000 of cash ("Consideration") will be paid by RIWI to ROM in connection with the closing of the Transaction. The Consideration includes $125,000 held back for any post-closing adjustments. In addition, ROM may be entitled to receive additional earn-out payments subject to the satisfaction of certain revenue and profitability targets as well as employee retention targets for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 RIWI fiscal years. No debt has been issued nor will any finders fees be paid as part of this transaction.

The Transaction is expected to close within the next 2 to 10 days.

About ROM

Launched in Sept 2018 to primarily cater to research client needs in the Middle East, ROM quickly pivoted its business model by developing a unique mobile-first platform that is 100 percent API-based. That breakthrough innovation immediately gave the company a global appeal and today allows it to source approximately two million respondents per month, from 80 countries. ROM's software system bridges the gap between advertising technology ("Ad tech") and research technology ("Res tech") and serves clients spanning across all five continents.

About RIWI

RIWI is a global trend-tracking and prediction technology firm. On a monthly or annual subscription basis, RIWI offers its clients tracking surveys, continuous risk monitoring, predictive analytics and ad effectiveness tests in all countries - without collecting any personally identifiable data. https://riwi.com

RIWI CORP.

Signed: "Greg Wong"

Greg Wong, Chief Executive Officer

For more information, please contact RIWI at [email protected] or call 1-88-505-RIWI (7494)

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 INFORMATION:

Information and statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation that involves risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information included herein is made as of the date of this news release and RIWI does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking information unless required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and reflects management of the Company's expectations or beliefs regarding future events. This forward-looking information is based, in part, on assumptions and factors that may change or prove to be incorrect, thus causing actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/129414
News Summary

American Logistics earned the highest level of data security certification after a critical-evaluation process and rigorous assessment.

Data breaches pose a constant threat, with over 22 billion records exposed in 2021, and the HITRUST r2 Certification provides the ultimate assurance of data security.

HITRUST certification provides optimum confidence, validating American Logistics' institutionalized data protection to ensure both clients' and internal environments remain safe.

ST. GEORGE, Utah, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Logistics LLC, a national leader of providing high-quality transportation management for the healthcare industry, today announced their Common Security Framework (CSF) certification with HITRUST  the pinnacle of compliance for organizations that manage Protected Health Information. HITRUST is a non-profit organization formed specifically to create and maintain the CSF, which addresses security, privacy, and regulatory challenges facing organizations today. HITRUST facilitates a comprehensive framework of prescriptive and scalable security controls, including federal and state regulations, standards, and contexts and incorporates a risk-based approach to their rigorous certification process.

American Logistics announces their Common Security Framework (CSF) certification with HITRUST.

Data breaches are increasing across industries at an exponential rate, and the growth of technology in the health industry relies on both security and compliance. HITRUST is the most widely applied security framework in the United States. Certification with HITRUST is laborious and intense, and the American Logistics' Information Security Team leader, Tim Vockrodt, articulates why it's worth the effort and why this industry-leading certification is vital. Vockrodt explains, "The HITRUST certification provides clients the ultimate confidence to know we are protecting their data to the highest industry standards. We've institutionalized protection of member data to ensure that both clients' and our own internal environments are safe."

HITRUST's assessment is similar to ISO 27001/27001, though it is much more complex and rigorous. HITRUST assessment consists of 19 control categories containing numerous objectives that map to a multitude of system controls. On average, there are around 360 total security requirements that every company creating software for the healthcare/pharma industry must follow.

What does this mean for American Logistics' customers and the health plan members they serve? It means they have assurance that the company has methodically safeguarded their data and mitigated data security risks  and that the systems in place to secure data have been validated by an objective, robust level of scrutiny. To put it simply, HITRUST assessment offers the most stringent, specific, and greatest reassurance that your data with American Logistics will be protected.

The comprehensive process is painstakingly meticulous, and Vockrodt credits the entire American Logistics team for their dedication and effort in achieving successful r2 certification  the highest level possible. Developed by an advisory council led by members from the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, and other privacy and security leaders, HITRUST CSF is currently in its ninth release.

Eugene Fry  a certified HITRUST CSF Practitioner with over 40 years of IT experience  has worked with American Logistics during certification processes and concluded, "I have been impressed with American Logistics' security program and the maturity of their commitment to information security and thorough preparation for their audits and assessments." In his role as Information Security Auditor for KirkpatrickPrice (a licensed CPA firm, PCI QSA, and a HITRUST CSF assessor), Fry worked with American Logistics on their information security compliance goals and observed their progress from start to finish  both for their SOC2 and HITRUST compliance initiatives.

Industry experts rely on HITRUST because its certification process evolves according to the industry's changing conditions and regulatory requirements. And new releases each year mean that maintaining certification is a top priority for American Logistics. In fact, Vockrodt and his team are always working to ensure the privacy and security of patient data is sustained.

Vockrodt adds, "As faithful stewards of data, we are making constant improvements and evolving with security needs, knowing that HITRUST will ask the right questions for continuous improvement with each new certification release."

About American Logistics

American Logistics, founded in 1999 and headquartered in St. George, Utah, is an industry leading, technology-enabled services company known for delivering high quality transportation management for healthcare payors and systems nationwide. The company is committed to innovative coordination for Medicaid and Medicare populations that lack access to care for healthier living through its proprietary technology, remarkable people, and quality transportation provider network across the United States. To learn more about the American Logistics pledge to add equitable transportation options and improve health outcomes for your valued patient populations, please visit americanlogistics.com.

American Logistics Media Contact:Brandon Piersant | Chief Marketing Officer[email protected]

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SOURCE American Logistics
Cross-Industry Business Leaders Celebrated for Achievements and Community Impact

NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ascend Foundation hosted a one-of-a-kind vibrant Ascend A-List Awards Gala at the iconic Plaza Hotel in New York City on Monday evening to celebrate Pan-Asian business leaders. Spotlighting resilient, impactful, and courageous leadership during disruptive times, honorees were recognized for their professional achievements and advancement of others in their industries or for being catalysts for change in their workplace and society.

The leadership and attainments of this exemplary group of Pan-Asian executives serve as a model for future generations.

The Honorable Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City, made a special appearance to address the Asian and business communities at this sold-out celebration and was introduced by Seema Mody, Master of Ceremonies for the event, CNBC Global Markets Reporter and Host, "Trading Nation".

Ascend Foundation congratulates the 2022 Ascend A-List honorees: Anu Aiyengar, J.P. Morgan; Aditya Bhasin, Bank of America; Muhammad Bhayat, Grant Thornton LLP; Chi-Foon Chan, Synopsys Inc.; Timothy Chandran, Ericsson; Lisa Chang, The Coca-Cola Company; Alex Chi, Goldman Sachs and Co.; Marvin Chow, Google LLC; Rishi Chugh, KPMG LLP; Ajay Dhaul, Johnson & Johnson; Tracey Doi, Toyota Motor North America; Julia Gouw, Piermont Bank; Rohit Gupta, Enact Mortgage Insurance; Xihao Hu, TD Bank; Derek Idemoto, Cisco; Simmi Kelly, Altria; Reshma Kewalramani, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Anand Kini, NBCUniversal; Michael Ku, Pfizer Inc.; Sandra Leung, Bristol Myers Squibb Company; Jean Lu, Vanguard; Vasant Narasimhan, Novartis; Dinesh Nirmal, IBM; Roger Park, Ernst & Young LLP; Reshma Shetty, Ginkgo Bioworks; A.N. Sreeram, Dow; Padmasree Warrior, Fable Group Inc.; PK Yegneswaran, Merck & Co., Inc.; Deborah Yeh, Sephora.

"The leadership and attainments of this exemplary group of Pan-Asian executives serve as a model for future generations. The positive impact they provide reinforces Ascend Foundation's focus on mobilizing leaders with initiatives that address pressing societal needs, support communities and develop future API leaders," said Anna Mok, President & Co-Founder, Ascend & Ascend Foundation.

"It is an honor to be selected for this award with this group of esteemed leaders," said Reshma Kewalramani, Chief Executive Officer and President Vertex Pharmaceuticals. "The Ascend A-List Awards has turned a spotlight on the very important need for the Asian American community to support each other, motivate and inspire each other, and pay it forward to the next generation of leaders."

"What a wonderful way to celebrate Asian success in North America," said Sandeep Gupta, Event Chair, Past Board Director & Officer, Ascend. "Our awardees individually and collectively, inspire us and create a sense of belonging for all of us to grow and surpass our aspirations and achieve more than our full potential in the workplace and in society."

About Ascend Foundation and Ascend

The Ascend Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to educate, advocate, and enable Asian and Pacific Islander (API) business leaders to reach their full potential and make greater positive societal impacts. Ascend Inc. is the largest non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America with a mission to drive workplace and societal impact by developing and elevating all API business leaders and empowering them to become catalysts for change.

Contact: Peyen Fong, 212-248-4888, [email protected]

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SOURCE Ascend Foundation
Age is the biggest risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease. A person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years after the age of 65. One in six people over the age of 80 currently have dementia - many of them have Alzheimer's disease. By the time a person reaches the age of 85, 1 in 3 people will have it.

NAPA, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In Truth, Lies & Alzheimer's - Its Secret Faces, behavioral specialist Lisa Skinner provides a roadmap to distinguish normal aging from something more troubling by identifying the common early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. With an aging herd of politicians making key decisions for America, it's important to ask about the cognitive health and fitness of our country's current leaders.

"I wanted to take action  not just stand idly on the sidelines and wait to see what happens," said Skinner. "It is important to be proactive, learn about the symptoms of Alzheimer's and memory loss, take action and get involved in the process."

"One of the key functions that our brains perform is that of perception. In a person living with dementia, the ability to perceive things the same way you do diminishes and will affect that person's judgment both visually and conceptually. Their level of confusion will increase over time."

Today, you're nobody in Washington unless you're 80.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is 81 and her deputy, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, is 82. The No. 3 Democrat, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, is 81. Bernie Sanders is 80. Joe Biden, who turns 80 next November, is the oldest person to take office as president. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is 79. Senator Charles Grassley is projecting a youthful 88 years old and Dianne Feinstein, at 89, is the oldest sitting U.S. senator. Former President Donald Trump is 76.

Don Lemon, CNN host, said people should know the "health, history, both physically and mentally" of the president of the U.S. He said that the president is a "nice man" but he is going to be 80 and as a man in his 50s, Lemon himself has "trouble recalling things."

"I'm not as sharp as I used to be. And the job of president of the United States is a really, really tough job," Lemon said. "I'm sure he's up to the job, but it is my job as a journalist to ask."

We do ask candidates for the presidency to disclose their medical histories; however, we currently have no mechanism to evaluate their past and present mental health.

A study done by Jonathan Davidson of the Duke University Medical Center reviewed biographical sources for the first 37 presidents who served from 1776-1974. The study found that half of those men had been afflicted by cognitive decline, which could have impacted their ability to perform their jobs.

Rumors often circulated about President Reagan's mental status. The media often reported instances of him being dazed and confused during his two terms in office. Reagan was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Quickly the debate pivoted to whether he had been exhibiting signs of dementia while occupying the White House.

Buy the Book at Amazon.com: Hardback Paperback Kindle WorkBook

About Lisa Skinner

Best-selling author Lisa Skinner is a behavioral specialist with more than a quarter-century of experience in the field of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. She is a Certified Dementia Care Trainer through the Alzheimer's Association.

Skinner has appeared on national and regional media broadcasts including CBS News, NBC News, Fox News, ABC News, and in USA Today, and Health & Fitness.

Contact: Dianemarie (DM) Collins at (775) 825-1727 [email protected]; @DMCollins; www.truthliesalzheimers.com

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SOURCE Lisa Skinner
Voter-Approved Measure LL Creates New Educational Opportunities for Vista Unified Students

ESCONDIDO, Calif., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Erickson-Hall Construction Co. and Vista Unified School District celebrated the groundbreaking of the Rancho Buena Vista High School's new Career Technology Education (CTE) building. The project was funded by Measure LL, a $247 million general obligation bond approved by voters in November 2018, targeted at supporting college and career readiness, repairing aging facilities, and improving security. Located at 1601 Longhorn Dr. in Vista, CA, Rancho Buena Vista High School's new CTE building joins Erickson-Hall's robust portfolio of K-14 educational facilities throughout Southern California.

The modern CTE building will serve students working towards a variety of career goals by providing a hands-on learning environment, preparation for future vocations, and a realistic view of the work world. Design was led by architect of record Josh Eckle at AlphaStudio Design Group. The Project Executive for Erickson-Hall Construction is Jim Fisher.

Attending the groundbreaking ceremony were members of Vista Unified School District leadership, Rancho Buena Vista High School students and staff, and members of the development team. Program speakers included:

Dr. Matt Doyle, Superintendent of Vista Unified School District

Mr. Cipriano Vargas, Board President of Vista Unified School District

Mrs. Debbie Morton, Board Vice President of Vista Unified School District

Dr. Jose Villarreal, Principal of Rancho Buena Vista High School

Linda Latimer, Chair of the Citizen Bond Oversight Committee

Dr. Matt Doyle, Superintendent of Vista Unified School District, states, "With this new CTE building, we will be able to expand career and technical education access to students aligned to the growing priority work sectors in San Diego County and the Southern California region. This new facility will enable Rancho Buena Vista High School to offer construction, welding, and metal working pathways. We're excited about how this facility will transform the educational experience for our students and expand their career opportunities upon graduation. I thank and sincerely congratulate all of our program partners, and the community for their vision and investment in education."

About Erickson-Hall Construction Co.

Erickson-Hall is a recognized industry leader and has completed over $1.5 billion in successful construction projects, of which $1 billion has been for K-14 education developments. The employee-owned company has been serving the Southern California markets of San Diego, Imperial, Orange and Riverside Counties since 1998. Services include preconstruction, general contracting, construction management, design-build, design assist-build, lease-leaseback and program management for educational, fire, essential services, civic, parks, recreation, faith-based, office and healthcare facilities. The company has an award-winning portfolio of completed projects and has received numerous awards for safety. For more information, visit www.ericksonhall.com and find us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/erickson-hall-construction-company.

Media Contact: Beth BingerBCIpr619-987-6658[email protected]

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SOURCE Erickson-Hall Construction Co.
LEESBURG, Va., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This Sunday, July 3rd, Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are hosting a live special event in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The Court's decision in Dobbs overturned the 49-year old Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. The event titled "Celebrating Dobbs, Celebrating Life" will be livestreamed this Sunday starting at 7 PM Eastern. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who led the state's efforts asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, will address the event alongside many other pro-life leaders.

WHO:

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council president

Michael Farris, ADF president & CEO

Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel Senior Pastor

Lynn Fitch, Mississippi Attorney General

Jim Daly, Focus on the Family president & CEO

Kristen Waggoner, ADF General Counsel

Ryan Bomberger, The Radiance Foundation founder

Melissa Ohden, saline abortion survivor; Abortion Survivors Network founder & director

Kathy Sparks Lesnoff, Mosaic Pregnancy & Health Centers president & CEO

WHAT: Celebrating Dobbs, Celebrating Life Webcast

WHEN: This Sunday, June 26th at 7 PM Eastern

WHERE: Watch online at https://adflegal.org/celebratinglife

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/family-research-council-alliance-defending-freedom-hosting-celebrating-dobbs-celebrating-life-301578273.html

SOURCE Family Research Council
Contract modifications provide for T-AO 211, T-AO 212 and ESB 8

SAN DIEGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics NASSCO, a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today that it was awarded $600 million in U.S. Navy contract modifications for long-lead-time material to support construction of the seventh and eighth ships in the John Lewis-class fleet oiler (T-AO) program, as well as the sixth ship in the Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) program.

"NASSCO shipbuilders are honored to build T-AO 211, T-AO 212 and ESB 8," said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. "The NASSCO team is excited to work with our Navy partners to ensure the success of both historic programs which are critical in supporting the Navy's forward presence."

The contract modifications for long-lead-time material provide $500 million for T-AO 211 and 212, and $100 million for ESB 8.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2023 and continue into 2027, providing the opportunity to sustain and grow the workforce along San Diego's working waterfront. NASSCO's unique location in San Diego Bay provides shipbuilders and skilled tradespeople with access to the nation's leading maritime support businesses, and highly trained employees allow NASSCO to build and repair Navy ships in an efficient manner.

In 2011, the Navy awarded NASSCO with a contract to design and build the first two ships in the newly created Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) program, the USNS Montford Point and USNS John Glenn. The program evolved, adding the USS Lewis B. Puller, USS Hershel "Woody" Williams and the USS Miguel Keith, USNS John L. Canley and the USNS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), configured and renamed as ESBs. ESBs are highly flexible platforms designed to support multiple maritime-based missions, including Air Mine Counter Measures (AMCM), Special Operations Forces (SOF) and limited crisis response. Acting as a mobile sea base, the 784-foot ship has a 52,000 square-foot flight deck to support MH-53, MH-60, MV-22 tilt-rotor and H1 aircraft operations. Following the delivery of the first five ships to the U.S. Navy, the sixth ship, the USNS John L. Canley, was christened on June 25. The USNS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), the seventh ship, is currently under construction.

In 2016, the Navy awarded NASSCO with a contract to design and build the first six ships in the next generation of fleet oilers, the John Lewis-class (T-AO 205), previously known as the TAO(X). Designed to transfer fuel to U.S. Navy carrier strike group ships operating at sea, the 742-feet vessels have a full load displacement of 49,850 tons, with the capacity to carry 157,000 barrels of oil, a significant dry cargo capacity, aviation capability and up to a speed of 20 knots. The first ship, the future USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205), is scheduled for delivery later this year. The future USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), the future USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207), and the future USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208), are currently under construction.

General Dynamics NASSCO specializes in the design and construction of Navy and commercial ships and is a major provider of repair services for the U.S. Navy, with capabilities in San Diego; Norfolk, Virginia; Mayport, Florida; and Bremerton, Washington. More information about General Dynamics NASSCO is available at www.nassco.com.

General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $38.5 billion in revenue in 2021. More information about General Dynamics is available at www.gd.com.

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SOURCE General Dynamics NASSCO
TEMPLE, Texas, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Temple Economic Development Corporation (Temple EDC) today announced that H-E-B, the San Antonio based supermarket chain, will be expanding their Temple, Texas distribution facilities with a new automated frozen distribution line. Pending final negotiations with Temple EDC and the City of Temple the project will grow H-E-B's current facility footprint by 325,000 sq. ft. and will add over 100 jobs to the local economy.

"It is our privilege to continue to work with H-E-B as they grow their presence in Temple, Texas" said Adrian Cannady, President and CEO of Temple Economic Development Corporation. "H-E-B has seen many cycles of growth and expansion throughout their time in Temple and we are proud of the opportunities they continue to bring to our region. This expansion project, paired with Temple's strategic location and immediate access to I-35, will work to strengthen H-E-B's operations in Texas."

"As H-E-B grows into new markets across Texas, expansion of our Temple facilities supports our commitment to be the best retailer in Texas," said Chad Madison, group vice president of H-E-B warehousing.

H-E-B's Temple Distribution warehouse supports over 100 H-E-B retail stores across the region, from Austin to Dallas, and has been operating in the Temple community since 2010. With over 117 years in business H-E-B is one of the nation's largest independently owned food retailers and sees $36 billion in annual sales. The company is in the permit stage of the expansion with construction slated to begin by the end of 2022, and project completion expected in 2024.

"Temple is a community where growing businesses like H-E-B can thrive. We are thrilled that H-E-B has chosen to expand its footprint in our city and look forward to the new opportunities that will be available to our community," said Assistant City Manager of Temple, Erin Smith.

To learn more about this project and sites available in Temple, Texas, visit www.templeedc.com.

ABOUT TEMPLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

The Temple Economic Development Corporation (Temple EDC) is a nonprofit organization that serves as the designated economic development entity for the City of Temple, Texas. Temple EDC strengthens relationships, builds partnerships, and provides solutions that cause entities to choose Temple. To learn more about doing business in Temple, visit TempleEDC.com.

ABOUT H-E-B

H-E-B, with sales of $36 billion, operates over 420 stores in Texas and Mexico. Known for its innovation and community service, H-E-B celebrates its 117th anniversary this year. Recognized for its fresh food, quality products, convenient services, and a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, H-E-B strives to provide the best customer experience and lowest prices. Based in San Antonio, H-E-B employs 145,000 Partners in Texas and Mexico and serves millions of customers in more than 300 communities. For more information, visit HEB.com and HEB.com/newsroom.

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SOURCE Temple Economic Development Corporation
SEATTLE, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Outreach, the Sales Execution Platform helping revenue organizations deliver efficient, predictable growth, announced that Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi is joining the company as an Advisor. Partovi is a technology entrepreneur and investor, and brings decades of experience working with fast growing companies to help Outreach execute on its mission of unlocking the world's selling potential.

"Hadi and I share a deep belief that technology can positively change people's lives. Through Code.org, Hadi has introduced the possibility of a career in software engineering to millions of students around the world," said Outreach CEO and Cofounder Manny Medina. "At Outreach, we have a similar vision to help millions of people transform their economic situation via a career in sales. The sales profession provides the fastest way out of poverty. Outreach's technology platform empowers sales reps from all backgrounds to have equal economic opportunity."

"I'm honored to become an advisor to a values-led company like Outreach," said Partovi. "I look forward to working closely with Manny and the leadership team as they help companies around the globe maximize their revenue potential by closing the Sales Execution Gap."

Partovi founded two startups: Tellme Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft; and iLike, which was acquired by News Corp. He was an early advisor or investor at airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, and Uber. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Axon. As CEO of the education nonprofit Code.org, he has provided hundreds of millions of students around the world with access to computer science curriculum.

About OutreachOutreach is the Sales Execution Platform helping revenue organizations deliver efficient, predictable growth. We are helping organizations achieve their growth potential by delivering sales execution workflows that leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to close execution gaps across the entire sales cycle, from prospecting to deal management to forecasting. Outreach is the only company to offer sales engagement, revenue intelligence, and revenue operations together in one platform. More than 5,500 companies, including Zoom, Adobe, Okta, DocuSign, and SAP, depend on Outreach to power their revenue organizations. Outreach is a privately held company based in Seattle, Washington, with offices worldwide. To learn more, please visit www.outreach.io.

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SOURCE Outreach
HEFEI, China, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iFLYTEK, one of the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) and speech technology companies, recently launched its digital collection app Xingzhou, "Star Day" in English, with two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) released for sale on June 20.

Wei Bangdeng, director of Xingzhou, said it took nearly 4 months for his team to design and produce the two NFTs. One, developed for Father's Day, features a representation of a Chinese father; and the other features artwork designed by the renowned inheritor of Chinese cultural heritage, Bailu Xiazi, depicting artificial intelligence (AI) developers who gathered at the iFLYTEK 1024 Global Developer Festival in the style of traditional papercutting.

Statistics show that the value of the Chinese digital collection market is estimated to grow to between 50 and 80 billion yuan within three years. iFLYTEK is positioned to play a pivotal role in standardizing practices, curbing market speculation, and cultivating creators in the industry through its AI technologies and open platform service.

The Xingzhou platform will play a supportive role in managing and creating virtual figures for iFLYTEK as part of the company's Super Brain 2030 Plan. The plan consists of a three-phase strategic initiative that will advance the quality and availability of personal robotics and artificial intelligence solutions to assist families and communities.

According to Wei, "By virtue of iFLYTEK's AI technologies and its large AI developer base, we will integrate internal and external resources to develop and release digital collections to appeal to more collectors and better motivate NFT creators, thereby creating a platform that enjoys healthy development."

About iFLYTEK  iFLYTEK is one of the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) and speech technology companies. For more information, please visit https://www.iflytek.com/en/.

CONTACT:

Grayson Midkiff[email protected]

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SOURCE iFLYTEK
Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization against all known variants of interest and concern

INDIANAPOLIS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced a modified purchase agreement with the U.S. government to supply an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab for approximately $275 million. The existing U.S. government supply of bebtelovimab, including the new purchase, is expected to meet present demand through late August 2022. Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization activity against the most common, and fastest growing, Omicron variants (BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5) in the United States, in addition to all known variants of interest and concern.

"Lilly and its collaborators have partnered closely with the federal government throughout the pandemic to ensure broad and equitable access to our monoclonal antibodies," said David A. Ricks, Lilly's chair and CEO. "While Congress works toward additional COVID-19 funding, Lilly and the U.S. government will continue to work together to support the availability of bebtelovimab to maximize equity and accessibility in the U.S. market."

Delivery of doses will begin immediately and complete no later than August 5, 2022. The 2022 estimated financial impact of this agreement is approximately $275 million of revenue and approximately $0.08 of EPS. An option for an additional 350,000 doses to be exercised no later than September 14, 2022 will remain in the agreement.

This purchase has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under contract number W58P0522C0012.

Important Information about bebtelovimab Bebtelovimab has not been approved, but has been authorized for emergency use by the FDA under an EUA, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

The emergency use of bebtelovimab is authorized only for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biological products during the COVID-19 pandemic under Section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C.  360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the declaration is terminated or authorization is revoked sooner.

Healthcare providers should review the Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers for information on the authorized use of bebtelovimab and mandatory requirements of the EUA. Please also see the FDA Letter of Authorization and the Fact Sheet for Patients, Parents and Caregivers on the authorized use of bebtelovimab.

Authorized Use and Important Safety Information Bebtelovimab is authorized for use under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg):

with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and

who are at high riski for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and

for whom alternate COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

LIMITATIONS OF AUTHORIZED USE Bebtelovimab is not authorized for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in geographic regions where infection is likely to have been caused by a non-susceptible SARS-CoV-2 variant based on available information including variant susceptibility to this drug and regional variant frequency.

FDA will monitor conditions to determine whether use in a geographic region is consistent with this scope of authorization, referring to available information, including information on variant susceptibility, and CDC regional variant frequency data available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions.

FDA's determination and any updates will be available at: https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-legal-regulatory-and-policy-framework/emergency-use-authorization#coviddrugs

Bebtelovimab is not authorized for use in patients who:

are hospitalized due to COVID-19, OR

require oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support due to COVID-19, OR

require an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate and/or respiratory support due to COVID-19 and are on chronic oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support due to underlying non-COVID-19 related comorbidity.

Treatment with bebtelovimab has not been studied in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring high flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

Important Safety Information There are limited clinical data available for bebtelovimab. Serious and unexpected adverse events may occur that have not been previously reported with bebtelovimab use.

WARNINGS Hypersensitivity Including Anaphylaxis and Infusion-Related Reaction Serious hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, have been observed with administration of other SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and could occur with administration of bebtelovimab. If signs and symptoms of a clinically significant hypersensitivity reaction or anaphylaxis occur, immediately discontinue administration, and initiate appropriate medications and/or supportive care.

Infusion-related reactions, which may occur up to 24 hours after the injection, have been observed in clinical trials of bebtelovimab when administered with other monoclonal antibodies and may occur with use of bebtelovimab alone. These reactions may be severe or life threatening. Signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions may include:

fever, difficulty breathing, reduced oxygen saturation, chills, fatigue, arrhythmia (e.g. atrial fibrillation, sinus tachycardia, bradycardia), chest pain or discomfort, weakness, altered mental status, nausea, headache, bronchospasm, hypotension, hypertension, angioedema, throat irritation, rash including urticaria, pruritus, myalgia, vasovagal reactions (e.g. pre-syncope, syncope), dizziness, and diaphoresis.

Administer appropriate medications and/or supportive care if an infusion-related reaction occurs. Hypersensitivity reactions occurring more than 24 hours after the injection have also been reported with the use of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies under Emergency Use Authorization.

Clinical Worsening After Monoclonal Antibody Administration Clinical worsening of COVID-19 after administration of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody treatment has been reported and may include signs or symptoms of fever, hypoxia or increased respiratory difficulty, arrhythmia (e.g., atrial fibrillation, sinus tachycardia, bradycardia), fatigue, and altered mental status. Some of these events required hospitalization. It is not known if these events were related to SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody use or were due to progression of COVID-19.

Limitations of Benefit and Potential Risk in Patients with Severe COVID-19 Treatment with bebtelovimab has not been studied in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation. See Limitations of Authorized Use.

Adverse Reactions Adverse reactions observed in those who have received bebtelovimab alone or in combination with bamlanivimab and etesevimab, at the authorized dose or higher are infusion-related reactions (n=2, 0.3%), pruritus (n=2, 0.3%) and rash (n=5, 0.8%). The most common treatment-emergent adverse events observed in subjects treated with bebtelovimab, alone or in combination with bamlanivimab and etesevimab, at the authorized dose or higher included nausea (0.8%) and vomiting (0.7%).

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS Pregnancy Severe hypersensitivity reactions and infusion-related reactions, have been observed with administration of bebtelovimab, including in pregnant patients. Pregnant patients who develop severe hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions should be managed appropriately, including obstetrical care. There are insufficient data to evaluate a drug-associated risk of major birth defects, miscarriage, or adverse maternal or fetal outcomes. Bebtelovimab should only be used during pregnancy if the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk for the mother and the fetus.

Breastfeeding There are no available data on the presence of bebtelovimab in human or animal milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. Breastfeeding individuals with COVID-19 should follow practices according to clinical guidelines to avoid exposing the infant to COVID-19.

About bebtelovimab Bebtelovimab (LY-CoV1404; LY3853113) is a neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 that maintains binding and neutralizing activity across currently known and reported variants of concern. Bebtelovimab has been studied for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 both as a monotherapy and together with other mAbs. Lilly has licensed and developed bebtelovimab after it was discovered by AbCellera and the scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center.

About BLAZE-4 BLAZE-4 is a Phase 2, randomized clinical trial evaluating treatment of subjects with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 (subjects with COVID-19 symptoms who are not hospitalized). The data supporting this EUA for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 are primarily based on analyses of data from the Phase 2 BLAZE-4 trial (NCT04634409), treatment arms 9-14. This trial evaluated the clinical safety and efficacy from subjects receiving 175 mg bebtelovimab, alone and together with 700 mg bamlanivimab and 1,400 mg of etesevimab. The authorized dosage of bebtelovimab is 175 mg given as an intravenous injection over at least 30 seconds. Clinical data confirm the neutralizing ability of bebtelovimab. The trial enrolled subjects who were not hospitalized and had 1 or more COVID-19 symptoms that were at least mild in severity.

About Lilly's COVID-19 Efforts Lilly has utilized the full force of its expertise to develop the first monoclonal antibody authorized for Emergency Use (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  bamlanivimab, followed by the authorization of bamlanivimab with etesevimab and, most recently, bebtelovimab. The authorized dose of bebtelovimab is 175 mg given as an intravenous injection over at least 30 seconds.

While bamlanivimab together with etesevimab are not authorized for use in the U.S., at this time, the FDA will monitor conditions to determine whether use in a geographic region is medically appropriate, referring to available information, including information on variant susceptibility, and CDC regional variant frequency data available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions.

To date, over 700,000 patients have been treated with Lilly's monoclonal antibodies in the U.S., potentially preventing more than 35,000 hospitalizations and at least 14,000 deaths during the worst of the pandemic. Click here for resources related to Lilly's COVID-19 efforts.

About Eli Lilly and Company Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help more than 47 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges, redefining diabetes care, treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects, advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease, providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders, and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/newsroom or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. P-LLY

Lilly Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about bebtelovimab as a potential therapy for patients with COVID-19, the supply, distribution and contracts with governments relating to bebtelovimab, and Lilly's development plans, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. However, as with any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of drug research, development and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that future study results will be consistent with the results to date, that bebtelovimab will prove to be a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19, that bebtelovimab will receive regulatory approvals or additional authorizations, that patients will volunteer to participate in clinical trials or achieve positive outcomes, that Lilly will obtain any additional purchase orders or supply contracts, or that Lilly can provide an adequate supply of bebtelovimab in all circumstances. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from Lilly's expectations, please see Lilly's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

For information on medical conditions and factors associated with increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html. Healthcare providers should consider the benefit-risk for an individual patient.

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SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
GOTHENBURG, Sweden , June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mentice, Gothenburg (STO: MNTC), a world leader in simulation solutions for image-guided interventional therapies, announced today that Medtronic, Dublin (NYSE: MDT), a global healthcare technology leader, has signed an agreement to acquire Mentice VIST simulation solutions and development services, in an initial order of USD 1.93 million. The initial order includes the development services and 10 simulation solutions for delivery in 2022 raising to an additional intention of 150 simulation solutions over 3 years.

"This agreement is, of course, an important commitment from Medtronic as the world's largest Medical device manufacturer though also to drive proficiency for physicians with aim of ultimately improving patient outcomes" says Goran Malmberg, CEO and Group President for Mentice, "this continues to underline our position as the leading provider of performance solutions for Image guided interventional therapies" Malmberg continues.

For further information, please contact:Goran Malmberg, CEO, MenticeEmail: [email protected]Tel US: +1 (312) 860 5610Tel Sweden: +46 (0) 703 09 22 22

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/mentice-ab/r/mentice-receives-an-initial-order-of-usd-1-93million-for-simulation-solutions-and-development-servic,c3592955

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SOURCE Mentice AB
SINGAPORE, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MioTech, Asia's leading sustainability solutions provider, announced today the opening of its Singapore office, alongside the appointment of Thomas Yap as General Manager of Southeast Asia. The expansion will accelerate MioTech's pioneering of carbon and ESG technology across the region and worldwide.

Having cemented its leadership position in Greater China, MioTech looks to broaden its presence into Southeast Asia's foremost finance hub. As disclosure requirements continue to develop, MioTech's data and platforms empower financial institutions, banks and asset managers in their ESG and climate reporting, financial products as well as in green investment and portfolio decision-making.

Simultaneously, MioTech supports the corporate sector in achieving their sustainability goals, engaging companies to report ESG data and carbon footprints to stakeholders. It also works with corporations especially across high-emitting industries to curb emissions and to develop carbon assets with its IoT-enabled carbon accounting software and net zero advisory teams. Through Singapore, the company will tap into Southeast Asian economies undergoing energy transition and actively participate in growing carbon markets.

"Singapore plays a critical role in connecting Asia and the world, possessing a wealth of talent and established ESG regulations. Joining the Singapore market enables MioTech to have a greater influence on the world," said Thomas Yap, General Manager at MioTech.

"I'm delighted to have Thomas join MioTech's talented team," said Jason Tu, CEO and Co-founder of MioTech. "Having led software development for over 20 years in Asia-Pacific, Thomas possesses the rich industry knowledge and skills needed to drive our South East Asia expansion".

To complement its increased presence in the region, MioTech also launched its Singapore and Southeast Asia ESG dataset which marks the region's first-to-market ESG data coverage. This represents an important milestone not only for the company but also for the entire ESG and data landscape. As of date, MioTech's rich data repository includes over 4 million public and private companies globally.

About MioTech

MioTech uses artificial intelligence to solve the sustainability, climate change, carbon emissions reduction, and social responsibility challenges faced by financial institutions, corporations, governments and individuals. Its comprehensive coverage of ESG data helps financial institutions make the right decisions in green finance and responsible investments. Its software helps corporations manage ESG reporting, improve energy efficiency, track and reduce carbon emissions. Its app builds green-conscious communities and promotes low-carbon lifestyles among individuals.

Founded in Hong Kong, MioTech also has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore. Its world-renowned investors include ZhenFund, Horizons Ventures, TOM Group, Moody's, HSBC, Guotai Junan International, GIC, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

For more information, please visit https://www.miotech.com

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SOURCE MioTech
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 28th, members of the Philos Action League, joined by representatives from Pathways for Peace, Combat Antisemitism Movement, and the Anti-Defamation League, demonstrated outside Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) headquarters in a Sidewalk Stand against Antisemitism and in support of Israel's right to self-determination. The group confronted delegates arriving at the PCUSA's headquarters to vote on a controversial resolution to condemn Israel for its laws, policies, and practices they charge constitute apartheid. Yesterday's committee vote was just the latest in a string of anti-Israel measures the PCUSA has taken up since 2004, including multiple efforts linked to the BDS movement.

On Sunday, the Philos Action League delivered an open letter to PCUSA's Louisville, KY, headquarters and ten of its churches across the United States in a stand against antisemitism. Fifteen other organizations, Jewish and Christian, joined in the letter that urged General Assembly delegates to reject the overture because it fuels hate, even as antisemitic attacks are on the rise.

"Yesterday's committee vote to designate Israel an apartheid state will leave an indelible stain on the PCUSA's legacy. Should PCUSA ultimately pass this resolution it would stand with the most vocal and vile antisemitic critics of Israel whose goal is to see the Jewish state destroyed," said Luke Moon, the Deputy Director of The Philos Project. Moon, who was outside PCUSA headquarters today added, "Now, more than ever, Christians must stand with our Jewish brethren against the evils of antisemitism at home and abroad. We urge the PCUSA General Assembly to reject this overture and to refute rather than embrace the kind of hate and antisemitic propaganda that has fueled an uptick in violence against Jews in the United States."

In the days leading up to the vote and yesterday's Sidewalk Stand against Antisemitism, the Philos Action League ran a digital advertising campaign, including mobile billboards, in the Louisville area to invite others to join them in opposing the PCUSA resolution.

Philos Action League is a membership community of Christians who are committed to showing up, physically, in solidarity and friendship with the Jewish community when an act of antisemitism happens. PAL was developed by leaders at The Philos Project, an organization committed to promoting positive Christian engagement in the Near East, to move beyond mere words and put support for the Jewish community into practice.

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SOURCE Philos Project
NAPLES, Fla., June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/  Pro Music Rights (PMR), one of the world's largest music licensing companies, is pleased to announce that it has closed an undisclosed funding round of $5,500,000 USD, valuing Pro Music Rights, Inc. at $422,583,333 USD.

About Pro Music Rights, Inc. (ProMusicRights.com)

Pro Music Rights, Inc., announces the closing of a funding round of 5.5M USD and a valuation of $422,583,333 USD

Pro Music Rights the 5th public performance rights organization (PRO) ever formed in the United States. Its licensees include notable companies like TikTok, iHeart Media, Triller, Napster, 7Digital, Vevo, and hundreds of others. Pro Music Rights controls an estimated market share of 7.4% in the United States, representing over 2,500,000 works that feature notable artists such as A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil Yachty, MoneyBaggYo, Larry June, Trae Pound, Sause Walka, Trae Tha Truth, Sosamann, Soulja Boy, Lex Luger, Lud Foe, SlowBucks, Gunplay, OG Maco, Rich The Kid, Fat Trel, Young Scooter, Nipsey Hussle, Famous Dex, Boosie Badazz, Shy Glizzy, 2 Chainz, Migos, Gucci Mane, Young Dolph, Trinidad James, Fall Out Boy, and countless others. For more information, please visit promusicrights.com.

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SOURCE Pro Music Rights, Inc.
LAS VEGAS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Realty ONE Group, a modern, purpose-driven lifestyle brand and ONE of the fastest growing franchisors in the world, has received a 2022 Gold [email protected] award presented by Franchise Business Review and based on survey responses from corporate franchise staff that revealed high employee satisfaction.

The company has a large global network of raving fans and nearly 100 corporate staff who through the survey, ranked the company high on its culture, job satisfaction, engagement, management and brand leadership.

"Our COOLTURE and love for each other and our community is number ONE and that really shines through in surveys like this," said Kuba Jewgieniew, CEO and Founder of Realty ONE Group.

This year, Realty ONE Group was ranked a Top 100 Recession-Proof franchise by Franchise Business Review and the company claimed the No.1 spot for real estate franchisors on Entrepreneur's highly competitive 2022 Franchise 500(R) List.

The UNBrokerage, as it's known in the industry, now has more than 18,000 real estate professionals in more than 400 offices in 49 states, Washington D.C. and Canada and will be opening in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Italy, Singapore, Spain and Portugal in addition to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

Learn more at www.OwnAOne.com.

About Realty ONE Group

Founded in 2005, Realty ONE Group is an industry disruptor, radically changing the face of real estate franchising with its unique business model, fun coolture, technology infrastructure and superior support for its real estate professionals.The company has rapidly evolved to include more than 18,000 real estate professionals in over 400+ offices across 49 U.S. states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, Italy, Spain, Singapore and Costa Rica. Realty ONE Group ranks in the top one percent in the nation by REAL Trends, has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a Top 5 Real Estate Franchise and has been on Inc. 500's list of the Fastest-Growing Companies for seven consecutive years. Realty ONE Group is surging ahead, opening doors, not only for its clients but for real estate professionals and franchise owners. To learn more, visit www.RealtyONEGroup.com.

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SOURCE Realty ONE Group
New alliance adds depth and veteran experience to the legal powerhouse

HOUSTON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Schouest, Bamdas, Soshea, BenMaier & Eastham PLLC (SBSB Eastham) announced today that it is joining forces with The Bale Law Firm, an alliance that will combine Bale Law's decades of courtroom experience representing national and international business clients with SBSB Eastham's highly respected Maritime, Catastrophic Claims, Longshore, Defense Base Act, and Insurance Defense practices.

"Jeff Bale and his team of lawyers have the impeccable reputation of providing outstanding representation with proven results for their clients," said SBSB Founder and Managing Partner John Schouest. "By joining forces, we can afford our clients access to additional talent and a depth of expertise they can't find anywhere else. It really is just a perfect fit."

Like SBSB Eastham, The Bale Law Firm has a robust Admiralty and Maritime Law practice. It also focuses on energy-related litigation, Toxic Torts, Mass Tort litigation, Insurance defense and disputes, as well as Products Liability and Negligence cases, and business and commercial disputes.

Mr. Bale, who founded The Bale Law Firm, said the decision to join SBSB Eastham was an easy one. "We considered joining with other firms, but this was an opportunity that we are really excited about. We get to work alongside a group of lawyers we know and respect at a firm with the kind of pedigree that really speaks for itself."

"This gives us another team of exceptional lawyers, and we are thrilled to be joining forces with them," said Susan Noe Wilson, SBSB Eastham Partner and Head of Litigation. "We are also pleased to welcome Jeff's son, Ross Bale  the next generation of quality Bale trial lawyers  along with attorney Nolan Wleczyk."

This union comes just four months after SBSB merged with Eastham, Watson, Dale & Forney, LLP to create legal powerhouse SBSB Eastham. With the addition of Bale Law, the firm now has more than 113 lawyers in six cities across the country  Houston, Corpus Christi, New Orleans, Chicago, Boca Raton, and Milwaukee.

The firm's key practice areas include Admiralty and Maritime, Defense Base Act, Longshore, Business and Commercial Litigation, Business Transactions, Personal Injury Defense, Energy, Environmental and Toxic Torts, Transportation and Trucking, General Liability, Premises Liability, Labor and Employment, Workers' Compensation, Insurance, Arbitration, and Appellate.

SBSB Eastham is a group of experienced attorneys who have come together to form a law firm focused on client needs. The firm's goal is to be the go-to resource at every stage of the legal process, bringing deeper experience, deeper commitment, and deeper insights to help solve the most complex issues. In consultation or in the courtroom, the firm will aggressively pursue a client's best interests. For more information about the firm and its team of attorneys, visit www.sbsb-eastham.com.

Media Contact: April Arias [email protected] 800-559-4534

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SOURCE Schouest, Bamdas, Soshea, BenMaier & Eastham
ATLANTA, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TQIntelligence, a National Science Foundation-funded organization transforming behavioral healthcare for at-risk youth through artificial intelligence (AI) and voice recognition technology, today announces it is appointing Mark Feinberg as its new Chief Operating Officer effective July 1, 2022.

Mark has held multiple executive leadership positions before joining the TQIntelligence team where he helped lead multiple teams from growth stage to exit. He is also a partner in Feinberg Capital Advisory services, a boutique investment and advisory firm. In this new position, Mark will assume various responsibilities to support the unparalleled growth the organization is experiencing.

"The addition of Mark to our team is the right step for TQIntelligence, as we continue to grow," said Dr. Yared Alemu, founder and CEO of TQIntelligence. "Mark's background and experience will not only support, but develop, strengthen, and expand partnerships, allowing our technology to help those who need mental health support, and the mental health provider community."

Mark is a mental health advocate and is passionate about social justice and mental health access in underserved communities, and recently resigned his role as chief executive officer at two ventured-back tech companies to focus his attention on the growing mental epidemic.

"I am thrilled to join such a talented team of innovators and mental health experts at a critical time when our country faces unparalleled mental health challenges," said Mark, "TQIntelligence's powerful solution is instrumental in transforming behavioral healthcare services for children and at-risk youth. This organization has and will continue to save lives and enable an increased level and quality of care."

About TQIntelligence

TQIntelligence is a voice artificial intelligence (AI) technology company eliminating disparities in mental health treatment, which are primary sources of chronic poverty and educational underachievement. By leveraging voice biomarkers and AI technology, TQIntelligence objectively identifies pediatric trauma and emotional distress, notifying therapists in real-time, during sessions. The technology also remotely monitors patients to support therapist management of high-risk patients. Based in Atlanta, TQIntelligence's early research and ongoing product development have been supported by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Family Ties Enterprises, Georgia HOPE, Thompson Family and Child Focus, Google for Startups, Google Black Founders Fund, Google Atlanta Founders Academy, Goodie Nation, Kravis Lab for Social Impact, ATDC, The Georgia Minority Business Development Agency, Jumpstart Foundry, Startup Health, Village Capital, ASCEND Atlanta, ACE and Invest Atlanta.

To learn more about TQIntelligence, visit: https://www.tqintelligence.com/

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SOURCE TQIntelligence
The book features insights from top insurance sales leaders in the US, highlighting their industry outlook, sales priorities and market opportunities

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vymo, the sales engagement platform of choice for financial service institutions, has released, 'Kaleidoscope', a book that captures key sales insights from insurance leaders across the US.

Featuring conversations between Vymo's Co-founder & CEO, Yamini Bhat, and top insurance industry leaders, the book outlines focus areas and strategies that address the digital skill gap within frontline sales teams and illustrates how to deliver unmatched customer experiences.

The book captures the thoughts of seven top digital transformation leaders who share their digital strategies and crystallized learnings. Readers will be able to gain a deep understanding of how technology is shaping the sales workforce while discovering new strategies and tactics gleaned from customer data that traditional CRMs fail to offer.

"We're humbled to gain perspectives from industry leaders whose foresight has helped not only their organizations but the industry as a whole in building a digital-ready workforce," said Bhat. "This is a playbook for driving frontline sales transformation, backed with real lessons from 300K salespeople using Vymo today. I am grateful to each leader who took the time to share their unique perspective, thoughts, and ideas and I am excited to continue to make inroads into the North American market with a purpose-built, single-view sales engagement platform that enables insights-driven customer conversations and touchpoints."

The PDF version of the book is free-of-charge and available for download on the Vymo website starting today. A commemorative, hard copy of the book will be launched soon. To get your copy, head to getvymo.com/kaleidoscope.

About Vymo

Vymo is the Sales Engagement Platform of choice for 65+ global financial institutions, including Berkshire Hathaway, BNP Paribas, AXA, Generali, Sunlife, and AIA. Vymo helps improve sales outcomes through bottom-up insights and interventions. Vymo is recognized by Gartner as a Representative Vendor in the Sales Engagement Market Guide and is funded by Bertelsmann India Investments, Emergence Capital, and Sequoia Capital.

For more information, visit www.getvymo.com.

Resources

Download the report for free - https://www.getvymo.com/kaleidoscopeKnow more about sales engagement effectiveness - https://www.getvymo.com/why-vymoTalk to an expert - https://www.getvymo.com/request-a-demo

Media Contact:

Gunjan Saha[email protected]

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1850111/Vymo_Kaleidoscope.jpgLogo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1026997/Vymo_Logo.jpg

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SOURCE Vymo
Joins deep leadership bench leading accelerating software and technology development program

TOKYO and PALO ALTO, Calif., June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. ("Woven Planet"), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation ("Toyota"), today announced that John Absmeier will join the Company as chief technology officer, effective July 25, 2022. He will report to Woven Planet CEO James Kuffner.

Toyota created Woven Planet to help accelerate its transformation to a mobility company through the development of products and services that can improve quality of life by reinventing mobility for people, goods, and services. Absmeier's hiring reflects the growth of Woven Planet's software engineering and technology development capabilities following its acquisition of Lyft Level 5, CARMERA, and Renovo Motors in 2021.

As CTO, Absmeier will apply his deep experience in the automotive and software industries to oversee the company's technical direction. In addition to advising on the adoption of new technologies, he will lead Woven Planet's engineering teams and the company's Security and IT divisions, splitting his time between Japan and the United States.

COMMENT FROM JAMES KUFFNER, CEO, WOVEN PLANET"I am thrilled to welcome John to Woven Planet. His outstanding academic credentials, proven leadership, and extensive automotive, technology, and business experience makes him an incredible asset as we accelerate the development of advanced mobility products and services. Moreover, his servant leadership principles and values align very closely with who we are and what we believe is possible through mobility."

COMMENT FROM JOHN ABSMEIER, CTO, WOVEN PLANET"I am honored and humbled to serve as Woven Planet's Chief Technology Officer," said John Absmeier. "It is an opportunity of a lifetime to help accelerate the company's mission to deliver safe, intelligent, human-centered mobility to all. Together with Toyota, we will delight customers with new and meaningful mobility experiences today and into the future. I look forward to helping in every way and with everyone along this amazing journey."

Absmeier is a technology forward business leader with more than 25 years of experience leading software and technology programs at both start-ups and publicly traded companies globally. John joins Woven Planet from Lear Corporation, where he led all aspects of innovation and technology as the Chief Technology Officer. He previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager at Harman International and Vice President of Smart Machines at Samsung Electronics, where he led the acquisition of Harman by Samsung. He started his career at Delphi, where he held multiple roles of increasing responsibility, including Managing Director of Delphi Labs @ Silicon Valley and Autonomous Driving as well as Business Director for Electronic Controls and Electrification in Asia-Pacific. Absmeier served in the U.S. Marine Corps and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Management of Technology from the University of California at Berkeley. He also serves on the board of directors of Sensata Technologies, the California Mobility Center, and Voltaiq companies.

ABOUT WOVEN PLANETWoven Planet is building the safest mobility in the world. A subsidiary of Toyota, Woven Planet innovates and invests in new technologies, software, and business models that transform how we live, work and move. With a focus on automated driving, robotics, and Woven City, Woven Planet builds on Toyota's legacy of trust to deliver secure, connected, reliable, and sustainable mobility solutions for all.Learn more at https://www.woven-planet.global/en

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SOURCE Woven Planet
E-Crossover relies on smart pixel LED headlights in unique design

WIESELBURG, Austria, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The new Volvo C40 relies on LED lighting technology from Wieselburg-based automotive specialist ZKW. The headlight of the all-electric electric crossover has a pixel module with 84 individually controllable LEDs. The high-tech light illuminates the road particularly efficiently, adapts dynamically to traffic and avoids dazzling other road users. A front camera and radar permanently scan the road, allowing up to five vehicles to be blanked simultaneously. The design of the high-quality pixel LED light is unique: the hammer-shaped light arc sets visual accents that are distinctive for Volvo. "For Volvo, we develop distinctive headlight designs that impress with their innovative technology and memorable appearance and increase road safety," explains Dr. Wilhelm Steger, CEO of the ZKW Group.

Smart LED pixel lightThe headlight in the new C40 combines daytime running light, position light and turn signal light in a particularly compact form. An adaptive lighting system with camera and radar sensor ensures a high level of road safety by optimally illuminating the road without dazzling oncoming traffic. This is achieved by individually controllable LEDs combined in the pixel module. A front camera and the radar eye detect oncoming vehicles or vehicles in front and activate or deactivate the LED light in the headlamp's pixel module via the control unit. Despite the compact dimensions of the front headlamp, the system achieves a high light output. The unique LED light was developed in Wieselburg, where the headlight is also manufactured. The pixel module electronics come from the ZKW electronics plant in Wiener Neustadt.

Super-flat projection modulesThe powerful light output of the premium headlamp is achieved by the LED pixel module in combination with the innovative ForTIR elements. The so-called light finger ForTIR elements use the apron to project part of the low beam onto the road. These are particularly flat projection modules that are just 13 millimeters high and also serve as design elements in the main headlights. The front headlamp's light design, typical of Volvo, has the characteristic "Thor's Hammer" shape, in which special attention was paid to homogeneity. This design element is formed via the light guides and thick-wall optics in front of it, and unmistakably represents the C40 as a Volvo. "The combination of 84-LED pixel module, light finger ForTIR* elements and Thorhammer design is unique to Volvo," Steger explains. ZKW equips both the Volvo C40 and XC40 models with premium LED headlights, using the same headlight module as a basis.

Click to download images of the technology.

* light finger ForTIR = Innovative, very compact design-driven optical element for driving light function as a projection system in combination with totally reflective primary optics as a combined component.

About ZKWThe ZKW Group is the specialist for innovative premium lighting systems and electronics. As a system supplier, ZKW is a global partner to the automotive industry. The group develops and produces products based on our motto of "Bright Minds, Bright Lights," combining bright minds with modern production technologies to produce complex premium lighting and electronic modules for international automotive manufacturers.Our top products include powerful and cost-efficient complete LED systems. The ZKW Group has a total of twelve locations worldwide, with intelligently networked development and production. In 2021, the Group employed around 10,000 workers and generated total revenues of 1.07 billion euros.In accordance with the corporate vision "Ground-breaking premium lighting and electronic systems from ZKW for all mobility concepts of the global automotive industry", the company's primary goal is to produce top-quality high-tech products and to promote the development of innovative holistic lighting systems.With our discoveries and inventions, the ZKW corporate group makes vehicles more desirable, more unique, safer, and more energy efficient.Our 360 degree product portfolio includes headlamps and fog lamps, rear lamps, flashers, interior and license plate lamps as well as electronic modules. Major automotive manufacturers trust their brands to innovative products from ZKW. We are proud of our customers like BMW (BMW, Rolls Royce), DAIMLER (MERCEDES-BENZ Cars and Trucks), FORD (Lincoln, Ford), GEELY (Volvo, Polestar, Lynk & Co, Geely), GENERAL MOTORS (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac), Hyundai (Kia), JLR (Jaguar, Land Rover), Stellantis (Opel, Citroen), RENAULT/NISSAN (Infiniti, Alpine), VGTT (Volvo Trucks, MACK) and VW (Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Lamborghini, MAN, VW, Seat).With intelligent lighting systems and innovative styling, ZKW is shaping the look and character of vehicles worldwide.

ContactZKW Group GmbHSandra Simeonidis-HuberGroup Communication und MarketingRottenhauser Strae 83250 WieselburgT +43 7416 505 2051[email protected]

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SOURCE ZKW Group
FORM 6-K

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Report of Foreign Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of June, 2022

Commission File Number: 001-12518

Banco Santander, S.A.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Ciudad Grupo Santander

28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Spain

(Address of principal executive office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:

Form 20-F X Form 40-F

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):

Yes No X

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):

Yes No X

Banco Santander, S.A.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Item 1 Report of Other Relevant Information dated June 29, 2022

Item 1

Banco Santander, S.A. , in compliance with the Securities Market legislation, hereby communicates the following:

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Banco Santander, S.A. (the  Issuer ) hereby announces that it intends to carry out on 8 July 2022 the total redemption and cancellation of the following issuances:

(i) Issuance of Banco Santander, S.A Territorial Covered Bonds Series 18  June 2020 with ISIN code ES0413900665, for a total amount of two billion euros (EUR 2,000,000,000), the Final Conditions of which were registered with the registries of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission on 2 June 2020;

(ii) Issuance of Banco Santander, S.A Territorial Covered Bonds Series 20  July 2020 with ISIN code ES0413900681, for a total amount of two billion euros (EUR 2,000,000,000), the Final Conditions of which were registered with the registries of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission on 14 July 2020;

(iii) Issuance of Banco Santander, S.A Territorial Covered Bonds Series 22  May 2021 with ISIN code ES0413900715, for a total amount of one billion euros (EUR 1,000,000,000), the Final Conditions of which were registered with the registries of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission on 18 May 2021.

The redemption and cancellation to be carried out on 8 July 2022 will be implemented through the early cancellation of each of the territorial covered bonds, which constitute the issuances described above, being all of them held by the Issuer.

This is hereby reported as other relevant information for the appropriate purposes.

Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), 29 June 2022

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, thereunto duly authorized.
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of June 2022

Commission file number: 001-34936

Noah Holdings Limited

No. 1687 Changyang Road, Changyang Valley, Building 2

Shanghai 200090, Peoples Republic of China

(86) 21 8035 9221

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F x Form 40-F 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): 

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Exhibit 8.2, Exhibit 23.4 and Exhibit 23.5 to this current report on Form 6-K shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into the registration statement on Form F-3 of Noah Holdings Limited (File No. 333-265732), and shall be a part thereof from the date on which this report is furnished, to the extent not superseded by documents or reports subsequently filed or furnished.

2

EXHIBIT INDEX

3

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, thereunto duly authorized.

Noah Holdings Limited By: /s/ Qing Pan Name: Qing Pan Title: Chief Financial Officer

Date: June 29, 2022

4

Exhibit 8.2

Legal Opinion

To Noah Holdings Limited

Building 2, 1687 Changyang Road,

Shanghai 200090

Peoples Republic of China

June 29, 2022

Dear Sir/Madam:

1. We are lawyers qualified in the Peoples Republic of China (the  PRC ) and are qualified to issue opinions on the PRC Laws (as defined in Section 4 below). For the purpose of this legal opinion (this  Opinion ), the PRC does not include the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macau Special Administrative Region and Taiwan.

2. We act as PRC legal counsel to Noah Holdings Limited (the  Company ), a company incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands, solely in connection with the offering of Class A ordinary shares of par value US$0.0005 per share of the Company, as described in the prospectus supplement dated June 29, 2022 (the  Prospectus Supplement ), which supplements the base prospectus contained in the Companys registration statement on Form F-3 filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the  SEC ) on June 21, 2022.

3. For the purpose of the filing of the Prospectus Supplement, we have been requested to provide this Opinion in connection with the Section Taxation in the Prospectus Supplement regarding PRC taxation.

4. The following terms as used in this Opinion are defined as follows:

PRC Laws means any and all laws, regulations and rules currently in force and publicly available in the PRC as of the date hereof.

5. This Opinion is rendered on the basis of the PRC Laws and we express no opinion as to any other laws and regulations. There is no guarantee that any of the PRC Laws, or the interpretation thereof or enforcement therefor, will not be changed, amended or replaced in the immediate future or in the longer term with or without retrospective effect.

6. Based upon and subject to the foregoing and subject to the disclosures contained in the Prospectus Supplement, we are of the opinion that, as of the date hereof, so far as the PRC Laws are concerned, the statements set forth in the Prospectus Supplement under the heading Taxation  Peoples Republic of China Taxation, to the extent that the discussion states definitive legal conclusions under PRC tax laws and regulations, subject to the qualifications therein, constitute our opinion on such matters.

This Opinion is rendered to you for the purpose hereof only, and save as provided herein, this Opinion shall not be quoted nor shall a copy be given to any person (apart from the addressee) without our express prior written consent except where such disclosure is required to be made by applicable law or is requested by the SEC or any other regulatory agencies.

We hereby consent to the use of this Opinion in, and the filing hereof as an exhibit to, the Prospectus Supplement, and to the use of our firms name under the captions Taxation and Legal Matters in the Prospectus Supplement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we fall within the category of the person whose consent is required under Section 7 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the regulations promulgated thereunder.

[The remainder of this page is intentionally left blank]

Yours faithfully,

/s/ Zhong Lun Law Firm

Zhong Lun Law Firm

Exhibit 23.5

June 29, 2022

Noah Holdings Limited

Building 2, 1687 Changyang Road,

Shanghai 200090

Peoples Republic of China

Re: Consent of Frost & Sullivan

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Reference is made to the registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-265732)(the Registration Statement) and a preliminary prospectus supplement (together with the base prospectus included in the Registration Statement and any documents incorporated by reference therein, the Preliminary Prospectus) of Noah Holdings Limited (the Company) filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on June 21, 2022 and June 29, 2022, respectively, in connection with its public offering of its securities (the Public Offering).

We hereby consent to the use of and references to our name and the inclusion of information, data and statements from our research reports and amendments thereto (collectively, the Reports), and any subsequent amendments to the Reports, as well as the citation of our independent industry reports and amendments thereto, (i) in the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto; (ii) the Preliminary Prospectus, (iii) Exhibit 99.1 to the current report on Form 6-K, titled Noah Holdings Limited Supplemental and Updated Disclosures, furnished to the SEC on June 21, 2022, which is incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement, (iv) in any written correspondence with the SEC, (v) in any other future filings with the SEC by the Company, including, without limitation, filings of prospectus supplements to the base prospectus included in the Registration Statement, annual reports on Form 20-F, current reports on Form 6-K and other SEC filings (collectively, the SEC Filings), (iv) on the websites or in the publicity materials of the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, (v) in institutional and retail roadshows and other activities in connection with the Public Offering, and (vi) in other publicity and marketing materials in connection with the Public Offering.

We further hereby consent to the filing of this letter as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto and as an exhibit to any other SEC Filings by the Company for the use of our data and information cited for the above-mentioned purposes.

Yours faithfully,

For and on behalf of

Frost & Sullivan (Beijing) Inc., Shanghai Branch Co.
Armys Class of 2026 has arrived on campus.

More than 1,200 new cadets reported Monday to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to start their in-processing and begin their 47-month experience.

This year, West Point received about 12,600 applications from aspiring students, the academy said.

The breakdown of the new cadets: Roughly 38% of minority enrollment included 144 African Americans, 143 Hispanic Americans, 163 Asian Americans and 23 Native Americans. Also, 261 women, 11 combat veterans and 16 international students.

Cadet Kai Youngren of the Class of 2023, the Cadet Basic Training commander, said in a West Point news release that part of meeting the challenge of shaping over 1,200 new cadets is learning everyones quirks to adequately guide them to success.

Being responsible for over 1,200 people is an incredibly enormous responsibility, Youngren said. Learning to pay attention to the smallest details, to check on your cadets and remain positive each and every day in order to inspire the vast quantity of the regiment is something thats going to be very, very useful for me when I take over a platoon of 40 people.

As part of the process, the new cadets changed from their civilian clothing to Army Physical Training Uniforms. They received marching and saluting instructions, haircuts and medical services. They also entered oath rooms, where they signed the official paperwork, stood at attention, raised their right hand and took their oath, solidifying their presence at West Point.
NEW ORLEANS  A former U.S. Coast Guard employee has pleaded guilty in a test score-fixing scheme that happened over seven years at an exam center in Louisiana, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, in a news release Tuesday, said Eldridge Johnson entered the plea June 23 to one count each of bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Johnson faces up to 15 years for the bribery charge, five years for the conspiracy charge and a fine of up to $250,000, Evans' office said.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 29.

Johnson was an examination administrator at an exam center for the agency in Mandeville, Louisiana. He gave exams merchant mariners were required to pass in order to obtain licenses to work in various positions on ships.

Beginning in 2011 and continuing until about the time of his retirement in January 2018, Johnson engaged in a scheme to receive bribes from mariners who had applied for licenses, Evans said. Johnson offered and sold various forms of assistance, including reporting false information to the Coast Guard and selling exam questions and answers to mariners before they took the tests, he said.

The conspiracy conviction relates to his post-retirement conduct, in which he acted as an intermediary for employee Dorothy Smith who entered false exam scores in exchange for money. Prosecutors said Smith took bribes to fix exam scores and used intermediaries to connect her to maritime workers who were willing to pay.

Smith and another employee, Beverly McCrary, pleaded guilty in the case and are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 15.
Former Marine Gen. and Defense Secretary James Mattis married a physicist in a ceremony officiated by an Elvis impersonator Saturday in Las Vegas, according to reports.

The 71-year-old, who led the U.S. Central Command from 2010-2013 and served in President Donald Trumps cabinet from January 2017 to January 2019, married Christina Lomasney in a riverside ceremony, Politico reported Tuesday.

Photographs tweeted by the news organization, which reported that the couple met in a bar, show a beaming Mattis and Lomasney standing with the Elvis impersonator who officiated the ceremony.

Maximilian Uriarte, the creator of the comic Terminal Lance about life in the Corps lower ranks, tweeted that a weekend-in-Vegas wedding was very on-brand Marine Corps.

Brian Mills, the Elvis impersonator who claimed credit for the union responded: 80,000 couples are getting married here in 2022. Many of them arent Marines. He was one of the happiest Grooms Ive had in 20 years, though.

Mattis fashioned a reputation among Marines as a warrior monk who wielded knife hands during four decades of infantry leadership that included the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bachelorhood during his military career allowed Mattis a single-minded focus on his career and a passionate engagement with the militarys traditions and history, according to a May 22, 2017, profile in the New Yorker magazine.

After leading troops in Afghanistan after 9/11, Mattis commanded the 1st Marine Division during the invasion of Iraq and later during the first battle of Fallujah in 2004, which became pivotal as Iraq descending into a sectarian insurgency.

Lomasney, a onetime project manager at Boeing and a tech entrepreneur, is director of commercialization at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., the GeekWire website reported Tuesday.
NAIROBI, Kenya  The African Union says it is deeply concerned by "the escalating military tension" between Ethiopia and Sudan after seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian were killed in a border dispute.

The statement Wednesday by the chairman of the continent-wide organization urged both countries to cease armed hostilities and hold talks.

The incident happened in the disputed area of al-Fashaqa, which is known to Ethiopians as Alfashga.

Sudan's Foreign Ministry reported the eight victims had been taken into Ethiopia after the soldiers were held captive in an area inside Sudan on June 22. A separate statement from Sudan's military described the killings as a "cowardly act" and said Khartoum would retaliate.

Ethiopian authorities have denied its government troops were responsible for the killings. A spokesman for the Ethiopian military blamed Sudanese forces for illegally entering Ethiopia and clashing with a local militia.

"Independent investigations into the matter can be launched with the participation of the two sides," Getinent Adane said.

Residents of Tach Armacho, an Ethiopian town near the Sudan border, told The Associated Press by phone that their area was hit by heavy artillery fired from Sudan until Tuesday afternoon.

Ties between the neighboring countries have deteriorated in recent years amid a long-running border dispute over large swaths of agricultural land in the al-Fashaqa area. Sudan insists the lands are within its borders, according to an agreement that demarcated the boundary between their territories in the early 1900s.

Sporadic clashes have erupted over the past two years in that area, after Sudan said it reclaimed most of its territory and called on Ethiopia to withdraw troops from at least two locations it says are inside Sudan.

In November, Sudan said six of its troops were killed in an attack by Ethiopian military and militia forces in the area. The two nations have held talks, most recently in Khartoum in December 2020, to settle the dispute over al-Fashaqa, but have not made progress.

Ethiopia, in turn, says Sudan took advantage of the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region to enter Ethiopian territory. It has called for Sudanese troops to return to positions they held before fighting erupted in Ethiopia's Tigray region in November 2020, pitting Ethiopia's federal forces against regional fighters.
SAN ANTONIO  In the chaotic minutes after dozens of migrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer sweltering under the Texas sun, the driver tried to slip away by pretending to be one of the survivors, a Mexican immigration official said Wednesday.

The driver along with two other men from Mexico remained in custody as the investigation continued into the tragedy that killed 53 people  the nation's deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Two more people died Wednesday as the death toll slowly climbed since the discovery of 46 bodies Monday at the scene near auto salvage yards on the edge of San Antonio.

The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduno, chief of Mexico's National Immigration Institute.

Officials had potential identifications on 37 of the victims as of Wednesday, pending verification with authorities in other countries, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office. Forty of the victims were male, it said.

Identifying the dead has been challenging because some were found without identification documents and in one case a stolen ID. Remote villages where some of the migrants came from in Mexico and Central America have no phone service to reach family members and fingerprint data has to be shared and matched by the governments involved.

Javier Flores Lopez's family was waiting to find out whether he was on the truck. He had returned home to see his wife and three small children in southern Mexico and was going back to Ohio where his father and a brother live and he worked in construction. He is now among the missing and his cousin, Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman, is hospitalized in San Antonio, the family said.

The tragedy occurred at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them taking perilous risks to cross swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

While it's not clear when or where the migrants boarded the truck bound for San Antonio, Homeland Security investigators believe it was on U.S. soil, near or in Laredo, Texas, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told The Associated Press.

The truck went through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo on Interstate 35 on Monday, Cuellar and Mexican officials confirmed. It was registered in Alamo, Texas, but had fake plates and logos, Garduno said.

Officials in Mexico also released a surveillance photo showing the driver smiling at the checkpoint during the more than two-hour trip to San Antonio.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that state troopers would set up additional truck checkpoints on highways, but he did not say how many. In April, Abbott gridlocked the 1,200-mile Texas border for a week by requiring every truck entering the state to underdo additional inspections as part of his ongoing fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.

Authorities were looking into whether the truck had mechanical problems when it was left next to a railroad track. The driver was apprehended after trying to disguise himself as one of the migrants, Garduno said.

Some of the more than a dozen people transported to hospitals were found suffering from brain damage and internal bleeding, according to Ruben Minutti, the Mexico consul general in San Antonio.

Migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border, loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, said Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

The death count from Monday's tragedy in San Antonio was the highest ever from a smuggling attempt in the U.S., he said. Four years ago, 10 died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a San Antonio Walmart. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of the city.

Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), and those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated, authorities said.

It wouldn't have taken long for the temperature inside the truck to become deadly, said Jennifer Vanos, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who has researched child deaths in hot vehicles.

The tractor-trailer likely would have been hot even before anyone got inside and because of the high humidity, lack of air flow and so many people inside, their sweat couldn't evaporate to cool their bodies and they would have dehydrated quickly, she said.

With little information about the victims, desperate families from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones.

Felicitos Garcia, who owns a grocery store in the remote community of San Miguel Huautla in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca, said the mother of Vasquez Guzman, who was hospitalized in Texas, had gone to the state capital to learn more about her son's condition and the whereabouts of his cousin, who is missing.

"Life is tough here," Garcia said. "People survive by growing their own crops like corn, beans and wheat. Sometimes the land gives and sometimes it doesn't when the rains arrive late. There is nothing in place for people to have other resources. People live one day to the next."

Identifying the victims was painstaking because among the pitfalls were fake or stolen documents.

Mexico's foreign affairs secretary identified two people Tuesday who were hospitalized in San Antonio. But it turned out one of the identification cards he shared on Twitter had been stolen last year in the southern state of Chiapas.

Haneydi Antonio Guzman, 23, was safe in a mountain community more than 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers) away from San Antonio when she began receiving messages from family and friends anxious over her fate.

"That's me on the ID, but I am not the person that was in the trailer and they say is hospitalized," Antonio Guzman said. "My relatives were contacting me worried, asking where I was."

In some regions of Mexico, attempting to cross into the United States is a tradition that most youths in heavily migrant towns at least consider.

"All of the young people start to think about going (to the U.S.) as soon as they turn 18," said migrant activist Carmelo Castaneda, who works with the nonprofit Casa del Migrante. "If there aren't more visas, our people are going to keep dying."

___

Verza and Sanchez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press Writers Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson in San Diego; Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan; Edgar H. Clemente in Villa Comaltitlan, Mexico; Sonia D. Perez in Guatemala City and Marlon Gonzalez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, contributed to this report.
MEXICO CITY  Abortion pills smuggled into the United States from Mexico inside teddy bears. A New York home used as a pill distribution hub. A small apartment just south of the U.S.-Mexico border converted into a safe place for women to end their pregnancies.

Networks of Mexican feminist collectives working with counterparts in the United States are ramping up their efforts to help women in the U.S. who are losing access to abortion services to end their pregnancies.

With the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the landmark decision that gave women the right to access abortion last week, these networks of activists are preparing to be busier than ever. So far this year, according to the organizations, they have helped at least 1,700 women living the U.S. who have sought their help.

The number may seem anecdotal, but it's exponentially higher than what they saw before. With a number of U.S. states already enacting abortion bans since the court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, the activists expect the pace to continue increasing.

"The demand is going to triple," said Sandra Cardona of "I Need an Abortion," a collective based in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey, 138 miles from Texas. "Before we accompanied about five women a month from the United States; now there are five to seven a week."

These organizations' strategy is clear: a self-managed abortion, that is to say, putting the abortion-inducing misoprostol and mifepristone in the hands of women who want to end their pregnancies and accompanying them, usually virtually, when they take the drugs.

The drugs are legal in the United States and more than half of the abortions performed there in 2020 used them, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization. But there they require a doctor's prescription, some states require a doctor to be present and they are usually taken in women's health clinics, many of which have been forced to close.

In addition to the 13 states that already have laws banning abortion, there are another half-dozen that have almost complete bans or that do not permit them after six weeks, when many women do not know they are pregnant.

So there's no doubt that the alternative will be abortions at home. And that is something with which the Mexican activists have a lot of experience. Even though Mexico's Supreme Court ruled last year that it was unconstitutional to consider abortion a crime and 10 states have made it legal, not all have abortion services and abortion, with some exceptions, remains a crime in 22 states of the strongly Catholic country.

"At the same time that we were taking it for granted in the United States, people in Mexico, advocates in Mexico, have been working and testing narratives and building, building power, convincing people that their message was the correct one," said Texas state lawmaker Erin Zwiener during a visit to Mexico in May.

Mexican activists built networks, battled the stigma, pushed for legal changes and little by little made headway, Zwiener said.

Their strategy since January has been the same, but cross-border.

Collectives far from the U.S. border like Unasse in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula coordinate donations from abroad to buy the pills, explained Amelia Ojeda, one of its members. Others to the north, focus on getting the pills into the United States inside toys, jars of vitamins or sewn into the hems of clothing.

"Those who are detected at the border, it's like you were crossing drugs," said Marcela Castro of Green Tide Chihuahua, a state bordering Texas. There are also women who live between the two countries and carry them when they fly.

The pills are then stored at so-called "medicine banks," that are really private homes in strategic cities in Texas or even in New York where abortion remains legal.

From there they are distributed by low-profile volunteers by any means available -- hand-to-hand, through the mail, etc. -- to women across the country who need them. Most are in states like Texas and Oklahoma that have imposed bans, but also states where abortion remains legal but women prefer to end their pregnancies in the privacy of their homes.

"The new modern menace is a chemical or medical abortion with pills ordered online and mailed directly to a woman's home," Randall O'Bannon, an anti-abortion activist, said at a national convention last week in Atlanta. "With Roe headed for the dustbin of history, and states gaining the power to limit abortions, this is where the battle is going to be played out over the next several years".

"Medication abortion will be where access to abortion is decided," said Mary Ziegler, a professor at Florida State University College of Law who specializes in reproductive rights, told the AP last month. "That's going to be the battleground that decides how enforceable abortion bans are."

Las Libres -- The Free -- one of the most experienced groups in Latin America has a strong network network of allies in Mexico. Just there people have helped 1,500 women living in the United States this year with pills, information and accompaniment.

Veronica Cruz, their director, said that has been possible because of the help of some 100 volunteers, mostly in New York and California. But facing growing demand, she said, they need "more medicine, more hands and more heads that want to collaborate."

As battles play out in U.S. state courts, the fear among activists grows.

"In such a litigious country (like the United States), the risks are taken seriously," said Castro of the Chihuahua group. "And they're besieged on all sides," she added, noting the financial penalties or even prison sentences that those who help could be subject to in some states.

I Need an Abortion receives women in its office in Monterrey. "The majority tell us they prefer talking and having first-hand information," they take the pills and cross the border back to Texas, said director Sandra Cardona.

Others decide to have the abortion in the collective's offices, which is Cardona's house.

When they arrive, they stand with their mouth hanging open when they see what they call the "aborteria."

"It's really crazy," Cardona explained. "They tell us, 'but this isn't a clinic! It isn't a shady place! It's not scary!'"

"Well, of course, it's a home!" she said.

Cardona has opened their doors to women for five years. Since May, they have outfitted a small apartment on the second floor of her home with a desk and sofa bed where women have gone through the whole process in privacy or with accompaniment based on their preference.

At first, women don't believe they give away the pills for free, because some have been scammed online, and they're surprised to feel so psychologically protected.

One even told them "that if she didn't have to pay we weren't a serious organizations," Cardona said laughing. They give them the option of making a donation. "Our Paypal link has never been used so much."

After their abortion, most realize they could have done it in their own homes. And that, says the activist, is important because the message gets passed on.

So far, most of the women seeking assistance from the collectives in Monterrey and Chihuahua have been Latina and Black.

Cruz was surprised because most of those who contacted The Free spoke English, suggesting to her a big pending issue: undocumented migrants.

"The women who most need it, who don't even have internet access, still haven't made it to us," she said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for a significant upgrade of his countrys ties with NATO, as he became the first Japanese premier to attend a summit of the alliance.

His comments at the gathering in Madrid marked the latest step toward a more robust security posture for Japan, which has maintained its US-drafted pacifist constitution unchanged since 1947.

Kishida said his presence at the meeting, alongside his counterparts from Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, showed that security in Europe couldnt be separated from that of the Indo-Pacific, a Japanese foreign ministry official told reporters.

Reiterating concerns about attempts to change the status quo by force in the South and East China Seas, the premier said he was looking forward to an early visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Kishida also called for an overhaul of a 2014 document that lays out nine areas of cooperation between Japan and NATO, such as cyber defense and maritime security.

The premier took part in a separate meeting with leaders from a group Japan refers to as the AP4: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Kishida called for the four Asia Pacific partners to take part in NATO meetings regularly.

He also attended a trilateral summit with Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden.
(Tribune News Service)  With one foot in the door on European Union membership, Ukraines leadership is feeling if anything even more bitter about NATO as the military alliance gathers in Spain for its annual summit.

Ukraine is told you are not a member because we do not want you, President Volodymyr Zelenskyys Deputy Chief of Staff Ihor Zhovkva, who is responsible for foreign policy, said in an interview in Kyiv. NATO is telling us we are not giving you anything.

The alliances members including the U.S., U.K. and nations across Europe have of course sent large arrays of weaponry into Ukraine to help it fight Russias invading forces.

Those weapons have steadily grown in intensity to include more offensive arms and, this week, a pledge from the U.S. to ship an advanced surface-to-air missile defense system. NATO states have also provided financial aid to keep the Ukrainian government operating.

But the alliance as a whole, according to Zhovkva, has fallen short, and Ukraines expectations for Madrid are low.

Obviously what we want to achieve, he said, speaking at his office along the darkened, sandbagged corridors of the presidential building, is unanimous, vocal support for Ukraine.

With Ukraine under intensified missile attacks, including on a shopping mall Monday with at least 18 people killed, Zelenskyy will address the alliances 30 leaders by video. Zhovkva will be there in person to press his countrys case.

Ukraine has written its aspiration to join the transatlantic military alliance into its constitution, and has been seeking a so-called membership action plan to make that happen, so far without success and against strong opposition from Moscow.

Zelenskyy has said he is ready to consider committing to some form of neutrality, as demanded by Moscow, but only in exchange for firm security guarantees from Ukraines partners.

NATOs political support is important, Zhovkva said, just as it is from the Group of Seven, whose leaders just met for three days in Germany, or any other international body.

He acknowledged, too, that much of the vital bilateral military Ukraine is getting comes from NATO members, including Poland, the U.K. and the U.S. Yet Ukraine expected more practical support from NATO, arguably the only body equipped to offer effective security guarantees against a nuclear armed Russia.

The government in Kyiv asked NATO for weapons before the war, for a no fly zone after it began, and for a membership perspective throughout, Zhovkva said, adding we received zero answer.

Many NATO members, including the U.S., fear that enforcing a no-fly zone would lead quickly to a direct confrontation between nuclear powers. Offering membership now, meanwhile, could give credence to Russian President Vladimir Putins justification for the war as a response to NATO expansion, and could again lead to a rapid escalation.

The broader stance of the alliance might smart less if NATO members individually had been faster to provide the heavy weapons Ukraine believes it needs to survive, if not win the war.

Now in Ukraine we are living a little bit quicker, he said. People are dying.

A new draft security concept for the alliance needs to acknowledge clearly that its primary threat is Russia and that the best defense it has against that threat is Ukraine, Zhovkva said.

With a military that has proved its ability and direct experience in fighting Russian armed forces, he said his country would benefit  rather than jeopardize  the security of other NATO members.

Adding Sweden and Finland to the alliance or expanding its rapid 15-day response force would all improve Europes security, according to Zhovkva. But imagine what would have happened, he said, if Ukraine had taken 15 days to deploy its forces once Russia invaded on Feb. 24.

___

2022 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
UNITED NATIONS  Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Tuesday of becoming a terrorist state carrying out daily terrorist acts and urged Russias expulsion from the United Nations.

In a virtual address to the U.N. Security Council, Zelenskyy urged the U.N. to establish an international tribunal to investigate the actions of Russian occupiers on Ukrainian soil and to hold the country accountable.

We need to act urgently to do everything to make Russia stop the killing spree, Zelenskyy said, warning that otherwise Russias terrorist activity will spread to other European countries and Asia, singling out the Baltic states, Poland, Moldova and Kazakhstan.

What is punished at the level of specific criminals and criminal organizations must not go unpunished at the level of a state that has become a terrorist, he said. Daily terrorist acts. No days off. They work as terrorists every day.

In urging Russias ouster from the 193-member United Nations, Zelenskyy cited Article 6 of the U.N. Charter which states that a member which has persistently violated the principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

Russias expulsion, however, is virtually impossible. Thats because as a permanent council member Russia would be able to use its veto to block any attempt to oust it.

Ukraine called the council meeting after Russias recent upsurge in attacks including Mondays fiery airstrike on a crowded shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk that Zelenskyy said killed at least 18 people and wounded 30 others. Dozens are missing and body fragments have been found including hands and feet, he said, adding that unfortunately there may be more victims.

The Ukrainian leader began his speech listing Russias attacks in recent days and giving the first names and ages of many of the victims. He ended his address asking the 15 Security Council members and others in the chamber to stand in silent tribute to commemorate the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children and adults killed in the war.

All members rose including Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky.

When he took the floor later, Polyansky protested against giving Zelenskyy a second opportunity to address the Security Council, a decision by Albanian which holds the council presidency this month.

The Russian envoy said the Ukrainian presidents video address violated the councils traditions and existing practices which state that leaders who wish to speak to the council must be present in the chamber.

The U.N. Security Council should not be turned into a platform for a remote PR campaign from president Zelenskyy in order to get more weapons from participants at the NATO summit starting Wednesday in Madrid, Polyansky said.

He claimed that there was no Russian strike on the shopping center in Kremenchuk, saying Russian precision weapons struck hangars in the Kremenchuk road machinery plant with weapons and ammunition from the United States and Europe destined for Ukrainian troops in eastern Donbass.

The shopping center was some distance away but the detonation of ammunition created a fire which then spread to the shopping center, Polyansky said.

The Russian envoy told Western nations that by supplying weapons to Ukraine they were prolonging the time when Ukraines leaders will sit down at the negotiating table with a realistic position rather than with slogans.

We began a special military operation in order to stop the shelling of Donbass by Ukraine and so that the territory of this country, which has been turned into anti-Russia at the behest of a number of Western countries, as well as its nationalist leadership, ceases to pose a threat to Russia or the inhabitants of the south and southeast of Ukraine, he said. And until those goals are achieved, our operation will continue.

Britains U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward retorted that Russia can try to claim that nothing is true and make outrageous claims of Ukrainian provocations but the undeniable fact is that Russia invaded Ukraine.

There is one aggressor here, she said. The evidence will catch up with them and there will be accountability for these crimes

Ambassador Zhang Jun of China, a close ally of Russia, called the conflict a geopolitical crisis with multi-faceted spillover effects and urged the international community to work together to create conditions for Russian-Ukrainian peace talks to end hostilities at an early date.

Attempts to weaponize the world economy and to coerce other countries into taking sides will artificially divide the international community, and make the world even less secure, Zhang warned. Delaying and obstructing diplomatic negotiations for geopolitical purposes will only add fuel to the fire to intensify confrontation and magnify conflicts. Inevitably, it will end up hurting themselves.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills, like many other Western ambassadors, accused Russia of destroying the shopping center, saying the attack fits into a cruel pattern, one where the Russian military kills civilians and destroys civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

He stressed that there is ample publicly available evidence that Russia, and Russia alone is responsible for this and other attacks.
The U.S. will add air defenses in Germany and Italy, establish a permanent Army garrison in Poland and put additional warships in Spain, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday as NATOs summit in Madrid got underway.

Biden said the U.S. Armys V Corps headquartered in Poland will become permanent, and a new rotational brigade will operate out of Romania, giving the military a boost in the strategic Black Sea region.

In Poland, V Corps forward post will be a garrison headquarters with a field support battalion assigned to it, according to the Pentagon.

These forces  the first permanent U.S. forces on NATOs Eastern Flank  will improve our command and control capabilities, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Some of Bidens announcements could have referred to plans that were already in the works, such as the decision to put two F-35 squadrons in the United Kingdom. But the addition of air defenses in Germany and Italy appears to be a new measure.

We are sending an unmistakable message that NATO is strong and united, Biden said.

Adding firepower in Europe has been a high priority for the Army in recent years as it seeks to bring back at least some of the weapons stocks that were commonplace during the Cold War.

In Germany, the United States will station an air defense artillery brigade headquarters, a short-range air defense battalion, a combat sustainment support battalion headquarters and an engineer brigade headquarters  adding 625 military personnel in all, the Pentagon said.

And in Italy, a short-range air defense battery with 65 troops will be set up.

The U.S. also will enhance rotational deployments to the Baltic region with a mix of armored, aviation, air defense and special operations forces, the White House said. The commitment of an additional Army brigade in Romania also means two such units will now be operating on a rotational basis in Europe. The Army also has a rotational tank brigade based mainly in Poland.

Bidens announcement set the stage Wednesday in Madrid, where allies agreed to a new strategic concept that will serve as a guidepost for the alliance for the next decade.

The document, which calls Russia NATOs top security threat, also named China as a new challenger to the Western military alliance.

Allies also backed a series of moves that focus on strengthening defenses along the eastern flank, including increasing the size of the quick-reaction force from 40,000 to 300,000 troops.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that he expects the expanded NATO Response Force to be operational by next year.

Allies agreed to increase the size of multiple multinational battlegroups operating along the alliances eastern flank, where more heavy weaponry will be positioned for quick access in a crisis.

We meet in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War, Stoltenberg said. And we see that allies are able to demonstrate unity.

Still, the NATO commitments for troop boosts in the east could fall short of some expectations. The Baltic states and Poland had hopes for significant increases in the numbers of forces permanently stationed in their respective countries.

It wasnt immediately clear whether Biden intends to push the total of F-35 squadrons based in the U.K. from two to four, but that appears unlikely. The U.S. also will increase the number of destroyers in Rota, Spain, from four to six, something commanders in Europe have sought for years.

During talks Wednesday, allies also formally invited Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, an expected move made possible after a breakthrough in negotiations Tuesday between the two countries and Turkey.
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NAPLES, Italy  U.S. military hospitals in Europe are gearing up to vaccinate babies and young children against COVID-19 as the number of infections caused by subvariants continues to rise across Europe.

Doses of the vaccine for children under 5 will be shipped to Air Force, Army and Navy installations in Europe starting Friday, according to the Defense Logistics Agency.

The order consists of 4,000 doses of the Pfizer shot and 4,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine. It will be shipped by commercial air, meaning most locations will see the arrival of the vaccines three or four days later, a DLA spokeswoman told Stars and Stripes.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month cleared the way for vaccination for those ages 6 months to 5 years old, and in the U.S. inoculations for that age group are already underway.

The Defense Health Agency, which oversees military medical facilities, couldnt provide a specific time frame for administration of the shots for eligible children. But it said all Defense Department sites had placed pre-orders for the Moderna or Pfizer pediatric vaccine or both.

Navy bases in Italy and Spain all said in recent days that they expected to receive the shots soon and would post notifications on their Facebook pages when they are available.

But Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Crete, which is dependent-restricted, said parents who want eligible children to get the vaccine should call the base clinic by July 6 so it can determine how much to order.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Army, which serves the largest U.S. military population on the Continent, expects its allotment to arrive in early July, said Gino Mattorano, spokesman for Regional Health Command Europe.

Air Force families assigned to Ramstein Air Base in Germany are being directed to the Armys Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for the under-5 vaccine, a base spokeswoman said last week.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 infection rates and, in some cases, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions, are rising as health officials grapple with the latest wave of the virus after much of Europe relaxed restrictions in time for the summer tourist season.

On Tuesday, the Italian Health Ministry reported 69 deaths and 83,555 new infections, the highest daily number of new infections since April 20, according to the ministry website.

The percentage of ICU beds filled with COVID-19 patients in Italy also had risen to 3%, up one percentage point in 24 hours but well below the alert level of 10%, the Italian news agency Ansa reported Tuesday.

In the last week, hospital admissions related to COVID-19 grew by 17.7%, Ansa reported Wednesday, citing an Italian Federation of Health and Hospital Companies report. Admissions in pediatric wards grew by 13.3%, especially in very young children ages 0-4, according to the report.

Earlier this month, Italy extended its mask mandate for most public transportation until Sept. 30. Airplane passengers are not subject to the mandate.

Germany and Greece also are reporting an increase in cases. Greek officials are thinking about reinstating COVID-19 restrictions in the fall, the online news agency The Greek Reporter said Tuesday.

European Union countries agreed Tuesday to extend use of a COVID-19 certificate designed to ease travel between member nations until next year, as governments rethink COVID-19 strategies, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

For example, Frances health minister, Brigitte Bourguignon, recommended this week that people wear face masks in crowded places and on public transportation, according to the AP report.

Stars and Stripes reporter Jennifer Svan contributed to this report.
MADRID  NATO declared Russia the "most significant and direct threat" to its members' peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organization's condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russia's war in Ukraine had created Europe's biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

NATO also issued a warning about China, accusing it of bullying its neighbors and forming a "strategic partnership" with Moscow that poses a challenge to the West.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russia's invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought "the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War."

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATO's open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

"The open-door policy of NATO shouldn't resemble the old turnstiles on Kyiv's subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay," Zelenskyy said by video link. "Hasn't Ukraine paid enough?"

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or "face a delayed war between Russia and yourself."

"The question is, who's next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them," he said.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russia's future plans.

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliance's rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the summit would send "an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united."

"We're stepping up. We're proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been," said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATO's 30 members currently meet the organization's target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies "to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead."

At the summit, the leaders published NATO's new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a "strategic partner." At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATO's borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using "coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation" to extend its reach.

The document also set out NATO's approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China. For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region and NATO's desire to counterbalance China.

"China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents," Stoltenberg said.

"We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, and China's growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of our allies and our partners," he added.

The alliance said, however, that it remained "open to constructive engagement" with Beijing.

NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africa's Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by "climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity"  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries' accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was "absolutely confident" Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the "gray zone" of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATO's collective defense guarantee.

"Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.
Press Release

June 27, 2022 President Duterte urged to veto the Vape Bill as a final act of service to Filipinos before stepping down on June 30 Statement of Senator Pia S. Cayetano Principal sponsor, Sin Tax Law of 2020 (RA 11467) I have received reliable information that the enrolled copy of the Vape Bill was officially transmitted to Malacanang by the House just this Friday, June 24, with barely three working days left before the term of outgoing President Rodrigo R. Duterte ends. Five months have passed since the Senate and House approved the bicameral version of the Vape Bill on January 26. And so clearly, the transmittal of the bill at this late hour is a devious attempt to evade scrutiny by the outgoing administration, and to get the bill passed on to the next administration. Despite the shortness of time, the President and his team can act on this before noon of June 30, when President Duterte's term ends. Relevant agencies - including the Department of Health (DOH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and even the Department of Education (DepEd) have expressed their position to VETO the Vape Bill! I reiterate my call and echo the appeal of medical associations and health groups, including DOH, FDA, and DepEd, for the President to veto the Vape Bill as one of his final acts of service to Filipinos. I know our President as a staunch health and anti-smoking advocate. If passed, the Vape Bill that is masquerading as a health bill will promote vaping and overturn the protective measures we fought for under the Sin Tax Law, namely: (1) regulation is transferred from FDA to DTI; (2) minimum age of access to vapes is lowered from 21 to 18; and (3) more flavors allowed, instead of just plain tobacco and menthol. It's shocking, to say the least, if we consider how differently the US is addressing this vape pandemic. The US FDA recently banned Juul, and yet, here in the Philippines, we will loosen the restrictions by making the Vape Bill a law? Ang Presidente ay Pangulo ng Pilipinas hanggang 11:59 ng Hunyo 30. Hanggang sa huling saglit ay umaasa ako na ipaglalaban nya ang kalusugan ng Pilipino. And this the President can do by vetoing the Vape Bill. Mahal na Pangulo wag n'yo pong pabayaan ang Pilipino. Veto the Vape Bill.
KREMENCHUK, Ukraine  Russian forces battled Wednesday to surround the Ukrainian military's last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, as shock reverberated from a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 in the center of the country two days earlier.

Moscow's battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russian forces pushing toward two villages south of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement.

Britain's defense ministry said Russian forces were making "incremental advances" in their offensive to capture Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk province under Ukrainian control following the retreat of Ukraine's forces from the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and about half of Donetsk, the two provinces that make up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.

The latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the Ukrainians were likely in a fighting withdrawal to seek more defensible positions while draining the Russian forces of manpower and resources.

Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Russia "may think time is on its side" due to the escalating costs borne by the West and fatigue as the war grows longer. The most likely scenario predicted by American intelligence, Haines said, is a "grinding struggle" in which Russia consolidates its hold over southern Ukraine by the fall.

The U.S. correctly predicted Russia would invade Ukraine in February, but was wrong in assessing that it would quickly seize Kyiv. Speaking at an event in Washington on Wednesday, Haines said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has effectively the same political goals that he had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine" and push it away from NATO.

"We perceive a disconnect between Putin's near-term military objectives in this area and his military's capacity, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military is able to accomplish," Haines said.

Putin also said his goals in Ukraine have not changed since the start of the war. He said they were "the liberation of the Donbas, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself." He made no mention of his original stated goals to "demilitarize" and "de-Nazify" Ukraine.

He denied Russia adjusted its strategy after failing to take Kyiv. "As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching the marks that were set for them for a certain stage of this combat work. Everything is going according to plan," Putin said at a news conference in Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, crews continued to search through the rubble of the shopping mall in Kremenchuk where Ukrainian authorities say 20 people remain missing.

Ukrainian State Emergency Services press officer Svitlana Rybalko told The Associated Press that along with the 18 people killed, investigators found fragments of eight more bodies. It was not immediately clear whether that meant there were more victims. A number of survivors suffered severed limbs.

"The police cannot say for sure how many (victims) there are. So we are finding not the bodies but the fragments of bodies," Rybalko said. "Now we are clearing at the very epicenter of the blast. Here, we practically cannot find bodies as such."

Several families stood by what was left of the Amstor shopping center Wednesday morning in hope of finding missing loved ones.

"This is pure genocide," local resident Tatiana Chernyshova said while going to lay flowers at the site. "Such things cannot happen in the 21st century."

"We need to engage everyone to help stop the war, help us fight these scum  these Russian aggressors," Chernyshova said.

Psychologists working at the site with families said they were trying to help people come to terms with their loss.

"We are trying to help them release their emotions now, as later it becomes harder and much more painful," said one psychologist, who did not give his name as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

After the attack on the mall, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of becoming a "terrorist" state. On Wednesday, he reproached NATO for not embracing or equipping his embattled country more fully.

"The open-door policy of NATO shouldn't resemble old turnstiles on Kyiv's subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay," Zelenskyy told NATO leaders meeting in Madrid, speaking by video link. "Hasn't Ukraine paid enough? Hasn't our contribution to defending Europe and the entire civilization been sufficient?"

He asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the NATO leaders they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or "face a delayed war between Russia and yourself."

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday dismissed what she claimed was the Ukrainian government's "blatant provocation" in trying to blame the mall missile strike on Russia's military.

Britain's defense ministry said there was a "realistic possibility" that the mall strike "was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target."

"Russian planners highly likely remain willing to accept a high level of collateral damage when they perceive military necessity in striking a target," the ministry said. "It is almost certain that Russia will continue to conduct strikes in an effort to interdict the resupplying of Ukrainian front-line forces."

Russia's military also is experiencing a shortage of more modern precision strike weapons, which is compounding civilian casualties, the British ministry said.

In southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike on a multi-story apartment building Wednesday in the city of Mykolaiv killed at least four people and injured five, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said. Mykolaiv is a major port and seizing it  as well as Odesa farther west  would be key to Russia's objective of cutting off Ukraine from its Black Sea coast.

Russia's defense ministry said in a statement that the missile strike on Mykolaiv targeted a base for training "foreign mercenaries," as well as ammunition depots.

In other developments Wednesday:

 A senior Russian lawmaker warned that Lithuania's refusal to allow some goods targeted by European Union sanctions through to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad could trigger a military confrontation.

The statement by Vladimir Dzhabarov, a deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russia's parliament, followed the Kremlin's warning that it will retaliate against restrictions of transit to Kaliningrad. The region borders EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

 Russia's foreign ministry summoned Norway's charge d'affaires to protest Oslo's blocking of a shipment of supplies to a Russian coal-mining town in the Svalbard islands.

Although the Svalbards are Norwegian territory, a 1920 treaty allows all signatory countries the right to exploit its natural resources. Russia operates a coal mine in Barentsburg, a settlement of about 450 people, which relies on shipments from the mainland of food, machinery and other supplies. Norway imposed sanctions on shipments from Russia in April.

 Ukrainian military intelligence says that in the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war 144 Ukrainian troops were released from Russian captivity. Of those released, 95 were involved in defending the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine's devastated southern city of Mariupol before Russian forces captured it weeks ago. Denis Pushilin, the separatist leader in Donetsk, said an equal number of soldiers was released by both sides.

 European Union leaders approved a $631 million package to address food security issues brought on by the Ukrainian war in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

 British businessman Richard Branson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and also visited the Hostomel airport outside the city. Zelenskyy said Branson, whose Virgin Group includes an airline, may be interested in rebuilding the airport, which was badly damaged early in the war.

 Britain is imposing sanctions on Russia's second-richest man and on a cousin of Putin's. Vladimir Potanin, owner of the Interross conglomerate, has continued to amass wealth while backing Putin, acquiring Rosbank and shares in Tinkoff Bankonith in the period following the invasion of Ukraine, a U.K. government statement said Wednesday.

The statement said Putin's cousin, Anna Tsivileva, and her husband, Sergey Tsivilev, have "significantly benefited" from their relationship with Putin. Tsivileva is president of the JSC Kolmar Group coal mining company, and Tsivilev is governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region.

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Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Frank Griffiths and Sylvia Hui in London, Maria Grazia Murru in Kyiv, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed.
The talks with Turkeys president had been going around in circles for hours on Tuesday afternoon when the delegations decided to take a breather.

At stake was whether Sweden and Finland would be able to move forward with their applications to join NATO and ahead of the meeting their expectations had been limited. Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reiterating his demands that his counterparts from Stockholm and Helsinki crack down on Kurdish groups that Ankara views as terrorists in order to lift his veto on their accession. That looked politically impossible.

During the first two hours, nothing moved, Finland Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said in an interview. But then there was a coffee break.

When they returned to the negotiating table, the two sides managed to hammer out a way for the two Nordic countries to address Erdogans security concerns that was palatable for both sides.

Sweden and Finland were able to explain our work against terrorism and how we have tightened legislation and will continue to strengthen it, Sweden Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said in an interview.

During the coffee break theres always a possibility to use a bit of creativity and find language that suits everyone, Haavisto added. We succeeded on that.

The move will reshape European defense by lengthening NATOs border with Russia and offering more protection to the exposed Baltic countries on the alliances eastern frontier. It capped more than a month of sometimes acrimonious negotiations and periods of Turkish stonewalling as Sweden and Finland tried to convince Ankara to remove its block. All 30 members need to sign off on the process.

Andersson, Finland President Sauli Niinisto and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Chief Jens Stoltenberg met with Erdogan for four hours ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid to hammer out the agreement. Stoltenberg and Erdogan also had a one-on-one.

The meeting between Erdogan and Stoltenberg was more of the social kind and during that delegations were engaged in talks over several variations, Niinisto told reporters. The final wordings were crafted in the hallways.

The Nordic nations have insisted on moving through the accession process in tandem, and Turkey appeared to accept that, Haavisto said on Wednesday.

Our main goal coming to Madrid was to ensure our united front would not be broken, he said. It affects our defenses, it affects our future cooperation.

Haavisto added that many NATO members had communicated with Erdogan, including U.S. President Joe Biden, underscoring the importance of reinforcing the alliances open-door policy.

A senior U.S. administration official said Bidens goal this week was to help get the deal across the finish line. Biden told Erdogan Tuesday morning in a phone call that he should seize the moment and finalize negotiations for an agreement during the Madrid summit.

Finland and Sweden will still face a period of uncertainty while they await formal approval from member nations and before the military alliances mutual defense clause takes full effect.

Were concerned about what is called the gray zone  between putting in the application and finally getting the green light  means for our security, Haavisto said, adding that Russias war in Ukraine adds an element of chaos to the situation. We have an unpredictable period.
DAMASCUS, Syria  Syria said Wednesday it will recognize the "independence and sovereignty" of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and contacts will be established to set up diplomatic relations.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry announcement came days after President Bashar Assad met with a joint delegation from both regions in Damascus.

Earlier this month, Russia claimed to have taken control of 97% of one of the two provinces that make up Ukraine's Donbas, bringing the Kremlin closer to its goal of fully capturing the eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow's forces hold nearly all of Luhansk province. And it appears that Russia now occupies roughly half of Donetsk province, according to Ukrainian officials and military analysts.

Syria is a strong ally of Russia, which joined Syria's conflict in September 2015 helping tip the balance of power in favor of Assad's favor.

The brief Foreign Ministry statement carried by Syrian state news agency SANA on Wednesday gave no further details.

"The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic," the statement, quoting an unnamed official, said.

It added that contacts are ongoing with both regions "to strengthen relations including setting up diplomatic relations."

After abandoning its bungled attempt to storm Ukraine' capital of Kyiv two months ago, Russia declared that taking the entire Donbas is its main objective. Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian government forces in the Donbas since 2014, and the region has borne the brunt of the Russian onslaught in recent weeks.
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  Emerging from World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established by 10 European countries, the United States and Canada to form a bulwark against the communist-ruled Soviet Union. It was a pillar in the new world order that was to last for the rest of the century and into this one.

In the years following World War II, Turkey found itself in a unique geopolitical position, at the crossroads of numerous civilizations, many of them at odds: Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus. And sandwiched between the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to the south.

Turkey felt empowered with that position  and vulnerable.

It was eager for protection and status. In 1950, Turkey dispatched its troops to support U.S. and United Nations forces repelling North Koreas attempted invasion of the southern part of the peninsula, an action that won enduring praise from the West.

And so in 1952, Turkey joined NATO, hoping to bolster its aspiration to a Western identity and to ensure its security, especially against an ascending Soviet Union. It was the first expansion of NATO after its founding in 1949.

That makes the problems NATO is having today with Turkey all the more curious. Once fearing the Soviet Union, Turkey now is out of step with NATO policies in its friendliness with Moscow, buying Russias weapons and refusing to join U.S.-led sanctions against the Russian government.

Most of these shifts can be traced to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was elected prime minister in 2003 and has not left power since.

The most recent obstacle that Erdogan threw in NATOs path was his refusal to sign off on efforts by Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. The two Scandinavian countries see Russias invasion of Ukraine as a warning sign  Finland shares an 800-mile border with Russia  and have determined to abandon decades of strategic neutrality to become NATOs 31st and 32nd member states.

Approval of new membership must be unanimous, giving Ankara power to block the deal. Erdogan maintained that his opposition was rooted in what he calls Swedish and Finnish tolerance of Kurdish activists who have fought his government politically or militarily.

But on Tuesday, as a NATO summit was gathering in Madrid, the alliances secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that Turkey had withdrawn its opposition and Finland and Sweden would be able to pursue membership. However, Erdogan did not confirm that news publicly, and it was not clear what, if any, concessions he was able to extract in arriving at that position.

Concessions were the real goal, several analysts said  from NATO and especially the United States. The Biden administration has kept Erdogan at arms length over his human rights record, arrests of thousands of dissidents and journalists, and his intervention in Syria that slaughtered U.S.-supported Kurds and backed Russia and, ultimately, the government of Bashar Assad.

A Biden administration official said Tuesday that no concessions were granted.

What Erdogan is trying to do is engage Biden, said Bulent Aliriza, a founding director of the Turkey project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington.

Erdogan had close relations with former President Donald Trump, who declared himself a big fan of the Turkish president when he welcomed him to the White House in 2019. By contrast, President Joe Biden has had a couple of telephone conversations with the Turkish leader  including one on Tuesday  and met him only on the margins of international conferences, as will happen at this weeks NATO meeting in Madrid.

Turkey has also sought to parlay the Russian war in Ukraine to its favor by showing NATO how it can be a valuable partner, despite its friendliness with Moscow. Members of the Erdogan family build and sell drones to the Ukrainian military. Erdogan has hosted peace talks, which have so far been unproductive, between the governments of Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and is reportedly attempting to open Black Sea ports blockaded by Russia to free up Ukrainian grain exports.

The invasion has been a window of opportunity for Erdogan, said Gonul Tol, who heads the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute in Washington. It has allowed him to attempt to rebuild the image of Turkey as a key NATO ally  a valued partner, as opposed to a year ago when Turkey was portrayed as a Trojan horse in NATO.

But, she warned, Erdogan could easily overplay his hand.

Maximalist demands could undermine the goodwill, Tol said.

Turkey was also the first, and until recently only, Muslim country in NATO. (Albania joined in 2009.) Before Erdogans tenure, however, Turkey was steadfastly secular; women were actually barred from wearing head scarves in many venues. That also has changed in the nearly two decades of Erdogan rule. He is a devout Muslim, and he has introduced religion into public life in contravention to the principles of Turkeys founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Though a religious government also goes against the grain in NATO, it is Turkeys military ties with Russia that have most concerned the U.S. government and lawmakers in Washington, who demanded sanctions against Ankara.

Despite repeated warnings from Washington and NATO, Erdogan in 2019 purchased a large number of Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. They are not compatible with NATO weaponry, and Western officials were worried that the purchases would give Russia access to NATO intelligence and equipment specs.

Turkey still looks to its NATO membership for prestige, gravitas and panache, said Sinan Ciddi, a Turkey specialist at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a professor at the U.S. Marine Corps University. And NATO values Turkey as a buffer and prime geostrategic real estate.

Turkey, with one of the largest militaries in all of Europe, has also sent troops to Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo to back up U.S. and U.N. peacekeeping forces.

But, Ciddi said, Erdogan can turn the tables on the United States and NATO.

Earlier this month, Erdogan welcomed the disgraced crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, to Ankara less than four years after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, an act that U.S. intelligence says was ordered by Mohammed.

The killing provoked outrage throughout NATO, the U.S. and even Turkey at the time. But now Erdogan, facing dire economic conditions domestically and a potentially difficult election next year, must look for friends where he can, analysts say.

Erdogans relationship with Russia is complex, said Henri Barkey, a Turkey-born former State Department official who is now a professor at Lehigh University and adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. For example: showing support for Ukraine but also needing Moscow to fight Kurds in Syria.

But in the end, like Putin, Erdogan is his own worst enemy, Barkey said, noting that his actions undermine his credibility and they dont trust him.

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JERUSALEM  Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian militant early Wednesday in the occupied West Bank during clashes that broke out during an arrest raid, Palestinian officials said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Mohammad Marei, 25, was wounded by Israeli gunfire near Jenin during an arrest raid by the Israeli military and later died.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed Marei as one of its fighters, and said he died "performing his duty and carrying the banner of Jihad and resistance."

The Israeli military said that while troops arrested two Palestinians in the northern West Bank city, Palestinians "hurled explosive devices" at soldiers, who responded with gunfire. It confirmed that a Palestinian was shot, but gave no additional details about the man's condition. The army said no troops were injured in the overnight arrest raids.

Recent months have seen a rise in deadly violence in the West Bank. The Israeli military has carried out near-daily raids following a string of deadly attacks by Palestinians inside Israel that killed 19 Israelis, with several of the attackers coming from the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

Several dozen Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids. Most of the dead were alleged to have opened fire on Israeli forces or hurled stones or firebombs at them. The dead also include two apparent passersby.

Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 130 settlements scattered across the West Bank, many of which are fully built up and now resemble suburbs or small towns. Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state. Israel views the West Bank as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.

The Palestinians and much of the international community view the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace because they absorb and divide up the land on which a future Palestinian state would be established.
ISLAMABAD  Afghan finance and central bank officials from the Taliban-led government departed for Qatar on Wednesday to meet with U.S. officials, the Taliban said. The meeting follows last week's deadly earthquake, which brought into focus how relief and emergency aid efforts have stumbled under the weight of the country's spiraling economic woes.

The quake in southeastern Afghanistan killed around 770 people, according to U.N. figures, though the Taliban put the death toll at closer to 1,150, with thousands injured. The U.N. says 155 children are among those killed in what was the deadliest earthquake to hit the impoverished country in two decades.

Several thousand homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Paktika and Khost provinces. Despite international aid efforts by U.N. agencies and countries in the region, survivors say they need more help to subsist.

"We ask for assistance because all our houses are destroyed and we cannot live inside them. People need assistance, we don't have tents or a place to stay," said a resident of Khost province, Tawar Khan.

Overstretched aid agencies say last week's earthquake underscored the need for the international community to rethink its financial cut-off of Afghanistan and freezing of the country's reserves. Nearly half of Afghanistan's population of 38 million cannot meet their basic food needs. The government is unable to pay public sector wages on time or import what the country needs.

Taliban government officials and U.S. officials were slated to meet in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday to discuss Afghanistan's economy and banking sectors, among other issues, said Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad. He said the Afghan delegation, led by Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, is meeting with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and officials from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that senior Biden administration officials are working with the Taliban leadership on a mechanism to allow Afghanistan's government to use its central bank reserves to deal with the country's severe hunger and poverty crises while erecting safeguards to ensure the funds are not misused.

Following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan last summer and the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there, some $9.1 billion of Afghan foreign reserves were frozen, with the Biden administration freezing $7 billion of that. The rest is largely held in Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, where it also has not been released to Afghanistan's new rulers.

No government has yet recognized the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan. The former insurgents have resisted international pressure to maintain the previous rights gained by Afghan women, instead imposing restrictions on women's dress and limiting access to schools for teenage girls.

Afghan central bank official Shah Mehrabi confirmed to The Associated Press that talks have been ongoing for some time to agree on mechanisms to release some of the Afghan foreign reserves to prop up the afghani currency. This, he said, would help stabilize prices and allow the country to import vital goods to stave off hunger and economic collapse.

"The reserves belong to the Afghan people to be used for the purposes of bringing about stable prices," said Mehrabi, a U.S.-based professor of economics at Montgomery College in Maryland and a member of the Afghan central bank's Supreme Council. He also chairs its audit committee.

Mehrabi said he's been involved in the conversations around Afghanistan's financial reserves, though he's not part of the Qatar meeting. He has suggested that one way to build trust between the two sides would be for the U.S. Treasury Department to release a limited, monitored amount of $150 million a month to help Afghanistan's economy and meet the needs of ordinary Afghans. Mehrabi said Afghan central bankers like himself work independently of the Taliban or any Afghan leadership.

"We have to able to look at restoring confidence in the private sector," he said. "Reserves will play an important role in allowing businesses to pay for critical imports."

In February, President Joe Biden signed an order to split $7 billion of Afghanistan's reserves, with half for humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and the other $3.5 billion for Sept. 11 victims' plaintiff fees. The move was slammed by Afghans who say the money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.

Without access to the country's foreign reserves, the afghani has plummeted in value and Afghans have struggled to withdraw money from local banks. International sanctions have also choked off international bank transfers into the country with some exceptions for aid agencies. The Taliban has sought ways to collect taxes and other fees to keep the government running.

The U.N. warns that 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year. Already, increasing numbers of families are reporting multiple children in the same household dying of malnutrition.

So desperate are families that some fathers have sold their minor-aged daughters into marriage, using the down-payment to feed the other children to avoid starvation. Severe drought and climate change have exacerbated the crisis, with around 22.8 million people  more than 55% of Afghanistan's population  experiencing high levels of acute food shortages.

Even before the Taliban takeover last year, Afghanistan's economy had been deeply reliant on foreign aid. The International Committee of the Red Cross is paying the salaries of health care staff and the operational costs of more than 30 hospitals across the country, including one that has treated victims of the earthquake.

The quake struck a remote, deeply impoverished region of small towns and villages tucked among rough mountains near the Pakistani border, collapsing stone and mud-brick homes and in some cases killing entire families. Survivors have had to dig through debris with their bare hands to search for missing loved ones as the ground continues to rumble with more aftershocks.

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Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
A federal court Tuesday allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, while in Texas  which is already enforcing a similar ban based on an embryo's cardiac activity  a judge temporarily blocked an even stricter decades-old law from taking effect.

The moves were among a flurry of action at courthouses across the country after the U.S. Supreme Court last week overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled that terminating a pregnancy is not a constitutional right.

Statewide bans or other restrictions that were either left on the books for generations, tied up by legal challenges or specifically designed to take effect if Roe were to fall are now in play as a result of the high court's ruling. Roughly half the states are expected to prohibit or severely limit the procedure now that the high court has left it up to them.

Since Friday, judges have agreed to allow bans or other restrictions to take effect in Alabama, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. But abortion bans remained temporarily blocked in some states, including Louisiana. Decisions are pending in Florida and Indiana, while abortion rights advocates dropped some of their legal efforts in Minnesota and Missouri.

Some clinics initially turned patients away after the high court ruling, then reopened as judges ruled in their favor. That happened in Louisiana on Tuesday. In Texas, at least one abortion provider said it would reopen after Tuesday's ruling.

Texas already bans most abortions after about six weeks  before many women know they are pregnant  under a law that took effect in September and makes no exception in cases of rape or incest. But a judge in Houston, a Democratic city in a conservative state, blocked enforcement for now of an even stricter law that calls for a statewide ban on virtually all abortions.

That law has been on the books for decades but was nullified while Roe was in place. A separate, so-called trigger law that would prohibit virtually all abortions in Texas is set to take effect in coming months.

In Tennessee, the action by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a six-week ban came ahead of a trigger law that's expected to further restrict abortion by mid-August, according to a legal interpretation by the state's attorney general. Both measures would make performing an abortion a felony and subject doctors to up to 15 years in prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision opened the gates on a wave of litigation. One side is seeking to put statewide bans into effect swiftly, while the other is trying to stop or at least delay such measures.

Much of the court activity focused on trigger laws adopted in 13 states that were designed to take effect quickly upon last week's ruling. Additional lawsuits also target old anti-abortion laws that were left on the books and went unenforced under Roe. Newer abortion restrictions that were put on hold pending the Supreme Court ruling are also coming back into play.

Wisconsin's Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a ban that has been on the books for 173 years. Abortion opponents argued it's now in effect, and abortion providers in the state have stopped offering the procedure. But Attorney General Josh Kaul said an abortion-friendly law passed in 1985 supersedes the older law.

In Mississippi, Jackson Women's Health Organization filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to stay open, after the Republican attorney general published notice that the state's trigger law would take effect in 10 days. Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she would turn to the courts to try to end most abortions in the state.

Federal cases were dismissed in some states and may be refiled in state courts, where state constitutional issues will be raised. The dismissal of a case in Utah led lawmakers to say that a 2019 law banning abortion after 18 weeks of gestation would now go into effect. But Planned Parenthood called the dismissal a "procedural move" and said it could still challenge the ban. A day earlier, a judge blocked enforcement of a near-total ban on abortion for at least two weeks.

In some states, laws that would prosecute abortion doctors or facilitators are a target. An Arkansas prosecutor sent a letter to a Planned Parenthood facility on Tuesday warning about the penalties of the state's abortion ban, even though the clinic hadn't been providing them before the law took effect. In Massachusetts, Democrats unveiled a bill echoing an executive order signed by the Republican governor that aims to protect abortion providers and individuals seeking abortions from actions taken by other states.

About 200 abortion-rights supporters gathered inside the South Carolina Statehouse on Tuesday, a day after a federal court ruled that abortion restrictions could take effect immediately there. One woman, who was seen on videos yelling at police and putting her hands on an officer, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault.

Merritt Watts, another protester, told the AP she moved to South Carolina from California last year and if she still lived in California, she would have "completely different rights."

"I used to think of red states as someone else's problem, but it's not," the Charleston resident said. "They deserve what Californians have."

___

Forliti reported from Minneapolis and Mulvihill from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Jamie Stengle contributed from Dallas. Other Associated Press writers across the U.S. also contributed.
NEW YORK  Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes by a judge who said fraud had become "a way of life" for Parnas.

Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on grounds that he'd cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get Ukrainian leaders to investigate President Joe Biden's son.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didn't give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors.

The judge also ordered Parnas to pay $2.3 million in restitution.

The various schemes Parnas deployed to get money that prosecutors claim say fueled a lavish lifestyle led Oetken to say that for Parnas, fraud "was essentially a way of life, a way of doing business."

Addressing the court before the sentence was announced, Parnas sobbed and apologized to those who had lost money investing in his business ventures.

"A lot that you heard is true, your honor. I have not been a good person my whole life. I've made mistakes. And I admit it," Parnas said. "I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all people who are my friends, all people who trusted me, and I lied to them to further my personal agenda."

The criminal case against Parnas was not directly related to his work for Giuliani as the former New York City mayor lobbied Ukrainian officials to launch an investigation of Biden's son, Hunter.

Instead, it zeroed in on donations Parnas had illegally made to a number of U.S. politicians using the riches of a wealthy Russian to jump-start a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, Parnas also pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee, that promised it could protect people against fraud.

That new company hired Giuliani as a consultant at a time when some Ukrainian figures were trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, agreeing to pay him $500,000.

Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island attorney who put up the cash to pay Giuliani, told the judge during the sentencing hearing that he hoped the former Manhattan federal prosecutor would return the money, since Fraud Guarantee turned out to be a fraud.

"My bet is he's going to give me that money back," he said, adding that he didn't blame Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the scheme.

Outside of court, Parnas said that he didn't believe Giuliani would return the money.

"I don't think he'll pay him back because, as you can see, he's gone down the path of no return. He's just an evil man, unfortunately, and somebody that I'm very, very sad that I had to meet," he said.

Giuliani, who was working at the time as a personal lawyer for Trump, has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani's interactions with Ukrainian figures violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

Parnas and a business associate, Igor Fruman, attracted attention from reporters after arranging big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump.

An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to promote a new energy company.

During Parnas' sentencing hearing, the judge also heard from others who had lost money with him in failed business deals.

Dianne Pues said the businessman "destroyed my life" when he failed to repay money she and her husband had loaned him to produce a movie called "Anatomy of an Assassin."

Parnas promised he would become a new person, sometimes turning around in court to looked for victims as he expressed contrition.

"I'd like to apologize to Mr. Gucciardo. Even though I never spent a dollar of his money. I lied to him and used our friendship. Charles, I am sorry," he said.
(Tribune News Service)  The phrase "nuclear energy" conjures images of large steaming towers or Tony Stark's arc reactor from the iconic "Iron Man" movies. But two Seattle-based startups are designing nuclear technologies small enough to pick up and carry that, thanks in part to buy-in from the Defense Department, they hope will fuel a new generation of spaceships.

Seattle's Avalanche Energy and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation received undisclosed amounts of funding from the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit in May to further develop two different approaches to small-scale nuclear power.

Avalanche is pushing the boundaries of nuclear fusion while Ultra Safe aims to revolutionize nuclear radioisotope batteries, like those that power Mars rovers. Both companies are expected to deliver functional prototype spacecraft to the Pentagon by 2027.

"Nuclear is an interesting area because traditionally that's been mainly in the realm of government," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Ryan Weed, the program manager for the Defense Innovation Unit's nuclear propulsion and power program. The unit  the Pentagon's outpost in Silicon Valley  works exclusively with private sector companies to adapt emerging technologies for military use.

After six decades of materials science research, nuclear fuels are relatively safe and are being embraced in the private sector. The climate crisis has also shifted public opinion toward accepting nuclear as a viable replacement for fossil fuels. Massive advances in computer modeling have made commercial development of nuclear power more feasible, said Chris Hansen, a fusion researcher who leads a lab at the University of Washington.

Washington state has a relationship with nuclear research dating back to the World War II-era Hanford site, which produced most of the plutonium for the U.S. Setting aside its morally complex history, Hanford undeniably fostered a "culture of nuclear expertise" in the state, said Scott Montgomery, a lecturer at the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies.

Today, the state is a hub for commercial nuclear startups, particularly companies trying to crack small-scale nuclear fusion. Unlike fission, which generates energy by breaking down heavy radioactive metals like uranium, fusion occurs when two smaller atomic nuclei collide to form the bigger nucleus of a different element, releasing energy in the process.

Avalanche co-founder Brian Riordan likes to visualize fusion as trying to stick together two Velcro-covered magnet balls.

"The Velcro acts over a very short distance, but if you were able to get them close enough, and the Velcro was strong, they would stick," Riordan said.

It's hard to achieve fusion because, like the Velcro-covered magnets, the positively charged ions naturally repel each other. It's even harder to package it in a small container. Case in point  more than 35 countries have spent years, and billions of dollars, constructing the Iter Tokamak reactor in southern France. The machine won't turn on until 2025 and won't be commercially viable until at least 2035.

In the meantime, Seattle startups are making headlines.

The biggest engineering roadblock to fusion is getting the machine to produce more energy than it consumes, but Seattle-based Zap Energy proclaimed last week that it expects to have a working prototype within the year. In 2021, Everett-based Helion Energy announced it would begin building the first commercial nuclear fusion reactor in Everett with a forecast completion date of 2028.

Avalanche, co-founded by ex-Blue Origin engineers Riordan and Robin Langtry, entered the race to fusion in 2018 and has patented a new lunchbox-sized fusion reactor dubbed "Orbitron."

The device combines two existing instruments in a vacuum chamber  an "orbitrap," which harnesses positively charged ions in a small orbit around a negatively charged cathode, and a "magnetron," which generates a stream of electrons. Introducing electrons into the reactor neutralizes the positive charge and allows for a greater number of ions to enter the space, and packing more ions into that small space exponentially increases the chances for fusion.

The team is refining the first prototype and plans to scale up to a bigger device in August. The main engineering challenge will be miniaturizing the high-voltage conductor so it fits in the desired package but still supplies enough energy to the cathode so that the ions orbit fast enough to fuse together.

Eventually, the finished product should produce between 5 and 15 kilowatts, although users could group many units together to produce much greater amounts of power. The size makes Orbitron conducive to space travel, which sets Avalanche apart during the Pentagon contract selection process, said Weed, the Defense Innovation Unit project manager.

While Avalanche attempts to unlock small-scale fusion, Ultra Safe is developing a new and improved "nuclear battery" called EmberCore. These devices are essentially hot, radioactive rocks that steadily release energy as they decay.

"You can use the hot rock as a hot rock, or you can wrap power conversion technology around it to turn that heat into electricity," said Adam Schilffarth, director of strategy for Ultra Safe's advanced technologies division.

NASA has historically used plutonium for radioisotope batteries, like the ones that power the Curiosity rover on Mars and the Voyager 1 and 2 deep space probes. However, plutonium is an expensive, rare and dangerous substance. Ultra Safe has explored different isotopes, like cobalt-60 and thulium, which can be scaled to produce 10 times the energy of traditional plutonium systems while being safer and more cost-effective.

The first EmberCore product Ultra Safe brought to market is the size of an apple. It operates like a "hand warmer" for moon landers so they can survive a 14-day lunar night, said Chris Morrison, chief engineer for the EmberCore project. The final prototype for the Pentagon will be the size of a small filing cabinet.

Weed said EmberCore and Orbitron may allow spacecraft to travel farther and eliminate reliance on solar panels. With such large power capacities, these technologies could also spawn a new generation of spacecraft that can easily jump between Earth's orbit levels. That could open the door to all kinds of commercial space travel, tourism and trade.

"These new propulsion systems will enable us to have known new missions, and so it'll affect how we employ space power," Weed said. "It'll definitely be a game changer."

2022 The Seattle Times.

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TYLER, Texas (Tribune News Service)  A Tyler man has pleaded guilty to federal charges in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston.

Derek Robert Hamm, 38, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, violating the Stolen Valor Act, using a fraudulent military discharge certificate, and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 makes it illegal to fraudulently wear medals, embellish rank, or make false claims of military service to obtain money, employment, property, or some other tangible benefit. As part of the plea agreement, Hamm agreed to pay restitution of at least $2.3 million and forfeiture of the proceeds of his criminal conduct, including jewelry, automobiles, and cash proceeds in the amount of $1,675,000.

According to court documents, Hamm invented a persona of being a wealthy and successful war hero. Hamm held himself out to be a former member of the Army Special Forces who had served multiple tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. He claimed to have been awarded a Purple Heart, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Cross for his service.

Hamm also represented that he was related to Harold Hamm, the billionaire oilman in Oklahoma, which he claimed gave him access to financial resources and oil industry expertise. Through this larger-than-life persona, Hamm created an extensive network of friends who introduced him to potential investors. Those investors believed Hamm's claims and invested in what they expected to be worthwhile ventures spearheaded by a trustworthy and capable entrepreneur.

In reality, Derek Hamm was nothing of the sort. Hamm was not a decorated war hero. He was no oil industry tycoon. He was not related to Harold Hamm. He did not spend investors' funds on the latest oil industry technology or new oil wells. Within hours of receiving investors' funds, Hamm spent their money on himself and his family, including expensive jewelry, vehicles and vacations to expensive resorts on private charter planes. All the while, Hamm represented to investors that he had invested their money in successful oil industry projects. Because of the Hamm war hero persona, the investors trusted Hamm even as their invested funds failed to produce any returns.

"Whenever people invent achievements and claim valor for things done by others, they tarnish the legacy and service of those men and women who have made real sacrifices in service to this country," Featherston said. "That is especially true when someone uses the valor of such service to ultimately steal from people. Hamm's repugnant actions are an insult to true American heroes who received real recognition for their real achievements."

Hamm also pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition. Hamm was convicted in Smith County in 2020 for theft of property, a state felony. As a felon, Hamm is prohibited by federal law from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition. According to court documents, Hamm was in possession of dozens of firearms, including several rifles with high-capacity magazines, and ammunition for those firearms.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Hamm with federal violations on January 20, 2022. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

(c)2022 Weatherford Democrat (Weatherford, Texas)

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The United States has accused several companies and research institutes in China of supporting Russias military after the Ukraine invasion began, in one of the first concrete signs of Chinese entities allegedly helping Russia against Washingtons wishes.

The Commerce Department said it was adding five of the companies to a trade list known as the Entity List as punishment. It also accused two Chinese research institutes already on the list since 2018 of supporting Russias military in recent weeks. Entities added to the list are effectively blocked from buying U.S. technology.

All of the companies and institutes have signed recent contracts to continue supplying Russias military, in violation of U.S.-led export controls aimed at blocking Russias access to high-tech components and equipment, the Commerce Department said.

Todays action sends a powerful message to entities and individuals across the globe that if they seek to support Russia, the United States will cut them off as well, Alan Estevez, undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, said in a statement.

The newly listed companies with offices in China were Connec Electronic Ltd., King Pai Technology Co., Sinno Electronics, Winninc Electronic and World Jetta, a logistics company. Three of them also have offices in other countries  Russia, Vietnam, Lithuania and Britain, the Commerce Department said.

The entities already on the restrictions list since 2018 are China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 13th Research Institute (CETC 13) and its subordinate institution, Micro Electronic Technology in China, the Commerce Department said.

The companies could not immediately be reached to comment.

Chinas embassy in Washington denied that it had provided any assistance to Russias military. Chinas position on the Ukrainian issue is consistent and clear, it said in a statement. We have been playing a constructive role in promoting peace talks and have not provided military assistance to the conflicting parties.

The statement added, China and Russia maintain normal energy and trade cooperation, and the legitimate interests of Chinese companies should not be harmed. It said sanctions such as the Entity List are against international law and basic norms governing international relations.
WASHINGTON  The last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, Hershel Woody Williams, died Wednesday at the age of 98, according to a statement by the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation.

Williams was a 21-year-old corporal during the Battle of Iwo Jima when his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity on Feb. 23, 1945, earned him the nations highest award for valor in combat, according to his Medal of Honor citation.

At the time, he was the last demolition sergeant standing from his unit. With four riflemen covering him, he singlehandedly used a flamethrower to destroy seven enemy pillboxes from which Japanese troops were firing machine guns, according to the Pentagon.

On one occasion, he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flamethrower through the air vent, killing the occupants and silencing the gun, his medal citation reads. On another, he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon.

His efforts helped to neutralize what was considered one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strong points encountered by his regiment, according to the citation. President Harry S. Truman presented him with the Medal of Honor on Oct. 5, 1945.

The death of Williams marks the loss of "an important link to our nations fight against tyranny in the Second World War," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

"I hope every American will pause to reflect on his service and that of an entire generation that sacrificed so much to defend the cause of freedom and democracy," he said.

Williams was discharged in 1945 but stayed in the Marine Corps Reserve until retiring with 20 years of service, according to the Pentagon. He spent more than three decades working as a veterans service representative at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He also worked to honor the families of the fallen through his Woody Williams Foundation, which hosts outreach programs, awards scholarships and has helped construct 103 monuments honoring Gold Star families across all 50 states, according to the foundation website.

An American treasure and an extraordinary man both on and off the fields of battle, he left an enduring legacy of service to his country with his many initiatives on behalf of veterans and Gold Star families, the museum foundation said. Woody was truly one of the greatest of the greats.

Hershel "Woody" Williams, America's last living WWII #MedalofHonor recipient, passed away this morning at 98. Woody exemplified a life of service through his bravery during the Battle of Iwo Jima, as an advocate for veterans & through the @WWFoundation serving Gold Star Families. pic.twitter.com/ydZzuy171V  National Medal Of Honor Museum (@MohMuseum) June 29, 2022

On March 7, 2020, the Navy honored Williams by commissioning the USS Hershel Woody Williams, an expeditionary sea base, in his honor.

With his death, there are now 63 living Medal of Honor recipients, according to the museum foundation. However, the number of recipients will grow to 66 when President Joe Biden awards Army Spc. 5 Dwight W. Birdwell, Army Spc. 5 Dennis M. Fujii and Army Maj. John J. Duffy with Medals of Honor on Tuesday.

Army Staff Sgt. Edward N. Kaneshiro will also be awarded a Medal of Honor posthumously at the ceremony next week.
(Tribune News Service)  John Paradis trusted that the recommendation to close the Veterans Affairs hospital in Northampton, Mass., was faulty, and could be successfully contested. But he did not think discussions to shutter the facility would unravel so quickly.

A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel living in Northampton, Paradis was a leading local voice against the potential closure of the medical center, recommended in a March report by the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of a nationwide restructuring of VA facilities.

For three months, the possibility that the hospitals services could be relocated as far as an hour away hung over the heads of the 21,000 central and western Massachusetts veterans who rely on the medical center. They worried that drive times for currently local health care would grow, that transportation barriers would prevent disabled service members from easily accessing treatment, and that civilian doctors were unprepared to absorb a massive influx of veteran patients.

By Tuesday morning, those fears had begun to dissipate. A bipartisan team of senators successfully blocked the appointment of commissioners who would review the VAs recommendations on whether to shutter or relocate some of its facilities. The Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission  whose members required Senate confirmation  was effectively dead in the water.

It was very welcome to hear, Paradis said. The facts and recommendation were deeply flawed, and if the recommendation had come to fruition it would have resulted in a reduction in services, which was not the intent, and that was unacceptable. It was so astoundingly rejected by so many people that I didnt think it could make it through a laborious process.

As mandated by the 2018 VA MISSION Act, federal officials reviewed the use of VA facilities nationwide and made an initial recommendation to close or move some of them in March.

Northamptons Edward P. Boland VA Medical Center was one of the veterans hospitals initially slotted for closure, while other clinics across the country were recommended for relocation or rebuilding. Legislators intended for the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission to examine the recommendations and make a final proposal to President Joe Biden on how to handle each individual facility.

But on Monday, a dozen Democrats and Republicans led by Sen. Jon Tester of Montana agreed to block appointments to the panel. With the AIR Commission left empty, senators had effectively killed a years-long VA reorganization effort that began under former President Donald Trump.

Theres a very positive message in this, Paradis said. Veterans and citizens, when you see something wrong, you need to speak up and make your voice heard. The veteran community said loud and clear that this would have such a negative impact on our quality of life that it couldnt happen. Thats how government works, our elected representatives listened to us and acted on our behalf. To see this level of bipartisan support is really positive and good to see.

The recommendation to close the hospital may have been fatally flawed from the beginning. The preliminary report on VA facilities relied on data that was incomplete and out of date, congressional watchdogs found.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough acknowledged the data issues during a conversation with Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern in May, the congressmans office said. But federal officials had also overlooked considerable facilities upgrades at the Northampton hospital, McGovern told the VA secretary.

On Tuesday morning, veterans and those who advocated on their behalf celebrated the news that the hospital would remain open.

I was very happy, needless to say, said Steven Connor, director of Central Hampshire Veterans Services. I didnt think that this particular thing, not selecting any commissioners, would be the way out.  If you asked me a week ago Id say we had a really good argument, because the recommendations were built on faulty data.

Its great news and I think a testament to public reaction and information and pushback against a large and bureaucratic and somewhat broken system, said Bruce Buckley, chief executive of Soldier On, a nonprofit providing housing to formerly homeless veterans. Sometimes the bureaucracy overwhelms logic, and in this case, it didnt.  Im glad that logic and process won out.

Mondays actions in the Senate were the culmination of a months-long effort to keep the Northampton VA running.

It began in March, when the initial recommendation to close the hospital was met with swift, vocal opposition from veterans and lawmakers alike.

Thats a whole bunch of crap, said Gumersindo Gomez, a Vietnam veteran and executive director of the Bilingual Veterans Outreach Centers in Springfield. I dont like any of it.

McGovern and fellow Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal quickly pledged to keep the hospital open, committing to raising the issue with Biden if necessary. Soon, nearly the entire state congressional delegation was allied against the potential closure.

At a March 28 rally just outside the VA complex, veterans, nurses, lawmakers and supporters braved biting cold and flurrying snow to protest the hospitals potential departure.

This is fundamentally unfair, said state Sen. John Velis, a Westfield Democrat and chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. So many veterans use this place as a home. So many veterans get treatment at this facility. This is absolutely wrong, and we cant stand for it.

Some speakers described the struggles of commuting to VA facilities an hour away for treatment. Velis said his constituents would simply stop going to appointments if a hospital near Hartford was their only option.

David Felty, the president of Homeward Vets and commander of VFW Post 8006 in Florence, said the mere thought of closing the hospital has increased the anxiety of veterans who wonder what the future of their health care may look like at private, for-profit facilities.

This facility is and always has been a vital part in providing care to the veterans in need here in western Massachusetts, Felty said.

Throughout the last three months, veterans have shared gripping, heartfelt stories of their care at the VA.

Vietnam veteran David Keller struggled with PTSD and anxiety after returning home, but the medication he was prescribed wasnt helping, he told McGovern at an April 20 town hall dedicated to addressing the VAs recommendations. He said he felt lost and hopeless.

Instead of committing suicide I went to Leeds, Keller said, referring to the Northampton village where the VA hospital is located. Without the Leeds hospital, I probably wouldnt be here.

I handled Agent Orange when I was over in Southeast Asia, Verne Sund, 73, of Greenfield, said in May. I had cancer in my esophagus. And it just ate my  I couldnt eat anything. If it wasnt for that VA hospital, I would be dead today. They recommended a doctor and everything. They operated on it. And the doctors down there in Leeds were excellent. You couldnt ask for better physical therapy and everything else.

On Tuesday, advocates repeatedly praised McGoverns efforts to keep the hospital running.

This is exactly what you expect from government, Paradis said. He championed our interest, he held listening sessions with us. It was incredible to see the outpouring of support from the community at large.

The congressmans office said he planned to continue working to make sure other proposals to close VA facilities through this process would not move forward.

Both Paradis and Connor said that despite their happiness over Monday nights news, the job was not done.

We need to stay ever vigilant for the forces out there  and they are out there  who want to dismantle [the VA system], Paradis said.

Alright, well that takes care of that, Connor said after hearing that the Northampton VA would remain open. But its an ongoing battle and veterans get caught in the middle of it. I see it all time.

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(Tribune News Service)  What do a bottle of Newman's Own salad dressing, a province in Afghanistan and a San Diego-based weed brand have in common? They're all weapons Marine veteran and cannabis company president and chief executive Bryan Buckley is wielding in an effort to help veterans combat post-traumatic stress and opiate addiction.

A few months ago, Buckley talked about his unlikely journey from Marine to marijuana magnate on a mission. He said it began after he'd experienced the plant firsthand in the summer of 2016.

"I'd transitioned out of the military  I'm 100% disabled  and I was just having a really rough time sleeping at night," Buckley said. "And that's when someone was like, 'Hey, you want to try some cannabis?' And when I took it, [it felt like] a warm blanket hit my brain. It was kind of like my mind was finally at peace."

That same year, in a Southern California meeting with members of Congress, he made the case for cannabis' potential in helping heal the wounds of war.

"They were like, 'I would say right now I'm sure it works but I'm not going to walk out that door and make that statement in front of the TV or anything,'" Buckley said, adding that the reluctance to show public support came with a potential path forward. "Literally, I looked at a Paul Newman salad dressing bottle [with its] 100% of profits to charity.  Why don't we do 100% of our profits to help fund our research?"

Buckley held his right arm up to reveal the inspiration for the cannabis brand's name inked in neat, blocky all-cap letters on his bicep: HVGC.

"Helmand Province was by far the most volatile area in Afghanistan," he said about the country's southern region, a longtime center for opium poppy production and the Taliban insurgency. "When I served as a Marine Raider, I was in the First Ranger Battalion, and when you go to Helmand Valley and you serve there, you become part of the Helmand Valley Gun Club and you get an HVGC tattoo. When we came up with the concept for this company, we wanted to keep a military niche, so we threw it up on the wall, and it hit us really quick: Helmand Valley Growers Co."

The "we" Buckley referred to includes co-founder and fellow Marine Raider veteran Andy Miears (another former Marine Raider, Matt Curran, would join them later), and the brand they created is awash with subtle riffs on military motifs.

The logo is a cannabis leaf and five-star Southern Cross constellation (the latter holds historical significance for the Marine Raiders because it was used as a navigation aid during World War II) that resembles an embroidered military unit patch. The packaging includes color-coded boxes that may remind you of armed forces uniforms: olive green (for hybrid products), desert khaki (for sativas) and black (for indicas).

To date, the sales of HVGC cannabis products have channeled $57,000 to the Battle Brothers Foundation an Oceanside, Calif., nonprofit whose veteran-focused efforts include funding the studies Buckley hopes will be proof enough to move forward. But the goal, he said, is "a few more hundred thousand [dollars] away."

Battle Brothers is collaborating with Israeli-American medical research company NiaMedic for the study, and the partners have already received institutional review board approval to move forward. (IRBs focus on protecting the welfare of human research subjects.)

The results of a medical study published earlier this year in the peer-reviewed academic journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research found cannabis "might hold promise as an alternative treatment for PTSD," but the official position of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs  via its National Center for PTSD website  is that "cannabis is not recommended for the treatment of PTSD."

Although the formal studies Buckley hopes will convince Congress aren't yet fully funded, the brand has found a way to help ailing veterans in real time, said Corey Potter, HVGC's director of sales.

"Prior to us actually bringing any products [to] shelves, we test these out on veterans that are already dealing with PTSD," he said. "We'll sit down with them. We'll talk with them about some of the issues and symptoms that they have, [the] things that are associated with post-traumatic stress. So once we have an idea of some of the challenges that they're facing, we can say, 'Hey, try this.'"

That's in line with Buckley's all-hands-on-deck mentality when it comes to helping fellow vets.

"I don't know why we're not flipping every stone to see what solution we can find for these great men and women," Buckley said. "They raise their right hand and sign a blank check payable with their lives. So why aren't we doing everything possible for them? I can look someone in Congress straight in the face and say, 'You sent me to war. Now's your turn to fix me.' And what can they say to that?"

At the same time, Buckley knows all too well that the wheels of progress move slowly at the federal level.

"I think if you sit and wait on the government, you're gonna be waiting for a long time," he said. "So let's grab the bulls by the horns and do it ourselves and prove it to them. I'm not going to run up the hill. I'm going to walk around it."

2022 Los Angeles Times.

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Maceo A. Walker was 20 when he was killed in the battle of the Cinquale Canal, a little remembered, four-day struggle between men of the segregated African American 92nd Division and German forces in northern Italy during World War II.

It was a bloody battle, fought in the rain and mud as enemy artillery pounded the Americans crossing the waterway in 1945. Walker, a native of Baltimore and the only child of a butler and his wife, was lost in the chaos. His body was never found.

Seventy five years later, Army genealogists, seeking to put names to unidentified remains of some of the dozens of men killed in the battle, could find only two living relatives of Walkers who might provide DNA for family comparison.

One, a second cousin, was a man in New York City named Shelton Lee, who went by the nickname, Spike. The other was Lees brother, David.

While experts later determined that DNA from the famous filmmaker and his brother could not be used for comparisons because they were on another branch of the family tree, the Pentagon gained a high-profile ally in its effort to help Black families who may have relatives missing in World War II.

Earlier this year, Spike Lee made a public service video announcement for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), urging people who think they might have a relative who went missing in the war to contact the agency.

Its not just my cousin, Lee said in an interview at the time, but all those brothers in the 92nd division. Buffalo soldiers, who fought for this country, who believe in this country, and came home to the United States and were still not full class citizens.

On June 21, experts working on a project to identify lost men of the famous Black division, exhumed from a cemetery in Italy two bodies of soldiers from the 92nd killed in the fighting there.

One set of remains, designated X-124 was initially recovered near the Cinquale Canal after the battle, and experts wondered if it could be Lees second cousin, officials said.

The bodies were exhumed from the Florence American Cemetery, where almost 4,400 U.S. servicemen and women who perished during World War IIs Italian campaign are buried. They will be flown to a government laboratory in Nebraska for analysis.

The work is part of an effort by the DPAA to account for 53 men of the much maligned 92nd division who were listed as missing in action during World War II. The agency has already accounted for hundreds of service members missing from the war.

They were essentially fighting a war on two fronts, said Sarah A. Barksdale, a DPAA historian working on the project: One on the battlefield, and one in the segregated Army and segregated America.

The project is not going to make up for the treatment they received, she said. But I think its really important to make sure that theyre part of our countrys memory of World War II.

So far, only three from the division have been identified. And the DPAA says it has been hampered, in part, by the difficulty in locating living relatives willing to provide their DNA for comparison with the DNA from unidentified remains.

Even when relatives are found, African Americans can be suspicious of government intentions and wary of providing DNA, officials said.

The government has a history of unethical medical treatment of Black Americans, most notably during the notorious Tuskegee experiment of the mid 1900s, in which infected participants in a syphilis study were not told a treatment for the disease had been found.

Lees 2008 movie, Miracle at St. Anna, based on author James McBrides 2003 novel of the same name, tells a story of soldiers from the 92nd Division.

Although the film was partly shot on location in Italy where the 92nd fought, neither Lee nor McBride then knew of Lees family connection to the division and the Italian campaign.

I never knew Maceo A. Walker existed, Lee said.

McBride said in an interview: The 92nd was  should be  the most fabled Black unit in World War II. Its been overlooked by historians for years.

In the segregated army of World War II, the 92nd Division was called the Buffalo division, a moniker initially given to Black American soldiers who served in the western U.S. in the late 1800s.

The 92nd Division was mostly made up of Black American soldiers and White officers. It was poorly trained, poorly led, and largely unready when it was thrown into the fighting in Italy in 1944 and 45, historians have said.

The U.S. and its allies there were trying to dislodge strong Nazi forces in the mountainous landscape of northern Italy.

In February 1945, Walkers 366th regiment and other elements of the 92d fought a bitter standoff with the Germans around the canal, after which they were withdrawn, amid bitter criticism from the Army brass.

Lt. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott Jr., said: The infantry of this division lacks the emotional and mental stability necessary for combat, according to Hondon B. Hargroves 1985 book, Buffalo Soldiers in Italy.

But 700 men from the division gave their lives in Italy, the DPAA says, and thousands more were wounded. Almost half of the fifty men still unaccounted for are from Walkers battered 366th regiment.

Two men from the division, Lt. Vernon J. Baker and Lt. John R. Fox, were given the Medal of Honor, the nations highest award for valor. Fox was killed in action.

They and five others from different outfits were belatedly given the honor in 1997 by President Bill Clinton. They were the first Black veterans of World War II to be given the nations highest award for valor  fifty two years after the war ended.

Walker, a private first class in Co. I of the 366th, was killed February 10, 1945, according to the DPAA. The circumstances of his death are not known.

Walker was born in Baltimore, according to government records. His father, Lewis or Louis, was from Mt. Victoria, a tiny crossroads community fifty miles south of Washington in rural Charles County, Md.

When World War II broke out, Walker was living with his father and mother, Patricia, in an apartment on Winthrop avenue in New Rochelle, N.Y., according to Census records. His mother reported that she was a part time maid in a private home.

The family lived in an African American neighborhood where many people worked as maids, butlers, chauffeurs, laundresses and cooks, according to the Census.

Lewis Walker was listed as a chauffeur and butler for the wealthy clothing manufacturer David Crystal and his wife, Ida, sometimes in New Rochelle and sometimes in Hollywood, Fla., where the Crystals also had a home.

Maceo Walker was 18 when he registered for the draft the day after Christmas, 1942. He was active with the Winthrop avenue branch of the Boys Club of New Rochelle, and attended the Catholic Church of the Holy Family, according to a news article after his death.

He had a first cousin, Jacqueline Shelton Lee, who would become Spike Lees mother, according to Laurie A. Jones, an Army casualty specialist who is overseeing the historical research on the Walker case.

Walker enlisted in the Army on July 20, 1943, and was sent overseas in November 1944, according to records and the newspaper story.

The 366th regiment had mainly done guard duty at air bases before being sent to Livorno, on Italys northwest coast about 35 miles south of the Cinquale Canal, on Nov. 26, Hargrove wrote.

There, it was expecting to have three months of intensive training before entering combat, he wrote.

Instead, four days later, its companies were entering action, he wrote.

The battle at the Cinquale Canal happened over four days, from Feb. 8, 1945 to Feb. 11, 1945, Hargrove reported.

As the Americas struggled across the waterway, they were pummeled by enemy artillery, including guns taken from a warship and hidden in a tunnel in the mountains, Hargove wrote.

The sound of gunfire ... never ceased, recalled Lt. Dennette Harrod, of the 366th regiment. The sound and the sight of the heavy shells falling and exploding among us was terrifying, but we stayed there until ordered back.

Groups of men were killed by single artillery shells, and the water in the canal was tinged red with blood, one officer remembered.

I dont know how we did it, but we kept moving up, through all that shelling and mortar and machine gun fire, losing killed and wounded every step of the way, Lt. Harrod remembered.

The second day of the battle, it rained heavily. The Americans fought their way north of the canal and began moving inland. On Feb. 10, Walkers Co. I attacked and was hammered by enemy artillery fire and counter attacks, Hargrove wrote.

Walker was killed that day, exactly where and how are uncertain. That night it rained again. The next day the Americans were ordered to retreat south of the canal.

Five days earlier, Walker had written to his mother, according to a newspaper article announcing his death. She would not get the letter until Feb. 17, probably unaware he had been killed.

Walkers parents were told of his death in March 1945.

The body identified as X-124 was found by an Army graves registration team in April, 1945, north of the Cinquale Canal, Barksdale, the DPAA historian, said earlier this month.

It was in an isolated spot and the body may have been buried by the enemy, she said. According to military records posted on the internet, the body was missing its arms, chest and head, perhaps the result of a powerful artillery blast.

Present were the legs, except for the left thigh bone and both kneecaps. The feet, pelvis and lower spine were there. There were also a pair of wool pants and wool underwear with the remains. But there was no identification.

The soldiers age was estimated to be over 20 and his height, 5-foot-8. Walker stood 5-foot-8 and had just turned 20.

If the remains cannot immediately be linked to Walker, the DPAA said it has DNA from ten other candidate families it can try for comparison.

Discovering the remains of these soldiers and trying to find out where their families are is part of our duty as a nation, McBride, the author, said. These were brave men.
The court heard that Buti Sashi (26), formally of Tyrconnell Grove, Inchicore, Dublin 8 regrets his wrongdoings

A Dublin man who was involved in the theft of 35,000 and the assault of two women has been sentenced to five years in prison.

A Dublin company that received an email to update the bank details of one of their suppliers did so and later went on to pay two outstanding invoices to this company. However, several days later, when the company placed an order, they were informed they could not do so until the outstanding invoices were paid.

Garda Sergeant Niall Godfrey told the court that gardai were contacted when both companies discovered that possible email fraud had been committed.

As a result, Gardai were in a position to identify the bank account which belonged to Buti Sashi (26), formally of Tyrconnell Grove, Inchicore, Dublin 8.

The court heard the home of Sashi was searched, and documents relating to the bank account in question were seized. He was then arrested and detained. Sashi confirmed the bank account was his and told gardai that he allowed a prostitute to use his bank account.

Gga Sgt Godfrey told the court that the woman in question could not be located. In addition, a total of just over 35,000 could not be recovered as online bank transfers and ATM withdrawals had emptied the account.

Detective Garda Karen Ryan told the court that in 11 June 2017, Sashi offered to pay an escort 80 for her services. While at her apartment in the Dominick Street area of Dublin City, she noticed that he kept moving cushions on her couch.

After the sexual encounter had finished, Sashi moved toward her and began to choke her. A second woman was present in the house, and he demanded his 80 back; otherwise, he would kill her.

A knife was discovered after the incident hidden behind the cushions on the couch, which the injured party disposed of. The court heard that she did not report it straight away, but when she did, she gave details regarding the accused's tattoos and phone number.

The court heard that gardai traced the mobile phone number to a sim card purchased in the Meteor store on Grafton Street. CCTV footage was obtained from the shop, and Sashi was identified.

The court heard that two weeks later on 21 June, 2017, a woman who worked as a receptionist for a group of escorts informed one of the women that she had a booking. The man came to the specified address in Heuston South Quarter, and 100 was paid to the woman.

The woman performed oral sex and had intercourse with the man. When they had finished and the man had returned from the toilet, he placed a large kitchen knife to the woman's neck. Other people in the house came to the women's aid, and the 100 was returned to the man to get him to leave.

Garda Gareth Daly told the court that an investigation took place and the phone number used to book the escort was the phone number of Buti Sashi.

The court heard that Sashi pleaded guilty in December 2020 to theft regarding a Dublin based company. Furthermore, Sashi pleaded guilty to the assault of both women and the theft of the cash he had paid to them for their services on the day this trail was due to begin in November 2021.

Mr Maurice Coffey, SC, defending, told the court that his client had given his bank details to a prostitute, and he was naive to do so. He said his client was addicted to drugs at the time of the offences and his life was out of control.

The court heard that he regrets his wrongdoings and that these were cowardly offences.

Judge Martin Nolan said the accused comes before the court for three criminal offences. First, he assaulted and choked two ladies. He attempted to extract money by hurting them and threatening them. These were vulnerable women.

Judge Nolan said it seems to some degree that these attacks were planned. The pleas of guilty will be taken into consideration.

For the count of assault on each of the ladies, Judge Nolan sentenced Sashi to three years in prison for each assault with both sentences to run concurrently.

For the count of theft of 35,000, he sentenced Sashi to two years in prison which will be backdated for time already served in custody and consecutive to the three years for the assault charges.
It is understood that a man walked into the venue and threw the petrol bomb inside before fleeing the scene

A man is due in court this morning after a petrol bomb was thrown inside a busy south Dublin pub.

Gardai said the man, in his 20s, had been arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged incident of criminal damage to a licensed premises on Loughlinstown Drive, Co Dublin on Saturday, June 18.

He has now been charged and is expected to appear before a sitting of Dun Laoghaire District Court at 10.30am.

Earlier it had been reported that gardai were seeking witnesses after a man threw a petrol bomb inside the Lough Inn Pub in Loughlinstown shortly after midnight on Saturday, 18 June while groups of patrons, including a hen party, were socialising inside.

It is understood that a man walked into the venue and threw the petrol bomb inside before fleeing the scene. A video of the aftermath of the incident, which shows customers scrambling to put out flames, is circulating on social media.

No injuries were reported but the pubs interior was damaged in the attack.

A garda spokesperson had earlier said: Gardai are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this incident to contact them.

Any person who was on Loughlinstown Drive and surrounding areas between 11.30pm on Friday night and 12.30am on Saturday morning and who noticed any unusual activity is asked to contact gardai.

Similarly, any road users who were in the area at this time and who may have camera (including dash cam) footage, is asked to make this available to investigating Gardai.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Shankill Garda Station on 01 666 5900, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

A DJ playing at the pub posted on social media about the incident, saying: Gigging away, happy in Loughlinstown, a big hen night on. Some guy runs in and throws a petrol bomb at the bar. Place was in flames, smoke and screams. Barman got it out eventually with a fire extinguisher. Pub was full of people.
Martin McAleer (19) was arrested over the weekend after a "high-powered" Audi was spotted fleeing a property in Monaghan and driving at a "high rate of speed" on the M1

A teenager accused of carrying out burglaries across three counties in recent months has been granted bail despite garda objections.

Martin McAleer (19) was arrested over the weekend after a "high-powered" Audi was spotted fleeing a property in Monaghan and driving at a "high rate of speed" on the M1.

The accused, of St Aidan's Close in Tallaght, appeared in court today charged with burglary in Carrickmacross last Saturday, as well as being in possession of a hatchet, screwdriver, gloves and a mask.

He is further charged with burglaries in Westmeath and Louth in April and was remanded in custody with consent to bail.

James O'Reilly

Co-accused James O'Reilly (26), of Ard Mor Walk in Tallaght, also appeared in court charged with burglary offences. He did not make an application for bail.

Gda Conor Tuite, of Ardee garda station, told the contested bail hearing that last Saturday evening gardai received reports of four males running from the scene of a burglary in Carrickmacross.

He said they ran towards a "high-powered" Audi RS6 estate which he observed several minutes later in Ardee travelling south.

Gda Tuite said he saw the car overtaking traffic at high speed while pedestrians were present before losing sight of the vehicle.

Gardai later observed the Audi travelling south on the M1 at "an increased high rate of speed" and undertaking vehicles on the hard shoulder lane. The car then stopped near junction 10, and four males exited before fleeing across the carriageway.

Drogheda District Court heard Martin McAleer was arrested in a field nearby. He had scratches on his arms and head, and was covered in twigs and leaves, which Gda Tuite said was "indicative of him travelling through hedges".

Evidence was also given that property taken from the burglary, including passport photos belonging to the occupant, were found in the Audi.

The garda said he was confident from the evidence that the accused was one of the members involved in the burglary.

Martin McAleer was also charged with three other offences.

They include two burglaries in Westmeath on April 26, during which jewellery worth 3,350 was taken from a residence in Rathowen and 1,000 in cash was stolen from a property in Killucan.

He is further accused of burglary at a property in Castlebellingham, Co Louth, the following day.

Gda Tuite said that Martin McAleer was identified from CCTV footage from two of the incidents by a garda who was familiar with the accused.

The witness agreed with Ronan O'Carroll BL, defending, that the garda who made the identification was not in court to give evidence.

He also agreed that the four males seen fleeing from the Carrickmacross incident were wearing face masks, but added that they got into a specific vehicle later spotted on the M1 which had property from the burglary inside.

The presiding judge said that a strong objection had been made but that the accused was entitled to the presumption of innocence.

She said she would release him on bail under certain conditions, including a 3,000 independent surety, a curfew, signing on daily at Tallaght garda station, and surrendering his passport.

Mr McAleer must also have no contact with his co-accused and stay out of Louth, Westmeath and Monaghan.

He was remanded in custody with consent to bail. Both men were also granted legal aid and will appear before Drogheda District Court again on July 4.
Jessica Serra said she had met a man on a night out who told her that if she allowed him to use her bank account, he would give her 3,000

A woman who agreed to let a man she me on a night out to use her bank account in exchange for 3,000 she needed for surgery in Turkey has been given a suspended sentence.

The bank account of Jessica Serra, who was described as vulnerable, was then used to launder 72,000 stolen from Bus Eireann in a so-called email misdirection fraud.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that in October 2019, Bus Eireann received an email purporting to be from GoBus advising it of that company's new bank account details.

Staff at Bus Eireann updated its bank details for GoBus, and a few days later, 72,000 was paid from Bus Eireann to the new GoBus bank account.

Bank of Ireland subsequently contacted GoBus to inform it that it suspected fraudulent activity on its account. GoBus informed Bus Eireann of this, and it was discovered that the 72,000 paid by Bus Eireann was not received by GoBus.

Gardai were contacted and the fraudulent bank account was frozen. A meeting was arranged between the bank and the holder of the bank account, Serra (30) of Margarets Road, Finglas, Dublin 18,

Gardai attended this meeting and arrested Serra. Garda Conor ODwyer told the court that Serra informed them she had met a man on a night out who told her that if she allowed him to use her bank account, he would give her 3,000.

At the time, Serra hoped to travel to Turkey for surgery, but she declined the offer. The court heard that Serra was quoted 6,000 for her surgery in Turkey, and she reconsidered the offer and contacted the man. When her bank account was frozen, only 44,000 was present.

Gda ODwyer told the court that Serra has no previous convictions and is from Italy originally. She has previously worked as a babysitter and for Dunnes Stores.

Mr Diarmuid Collins, BL, defending, told the court that his client has significant mental health issues and suffers from depression. During her garda interview, Serra was visibly upset and feared that as her father is in poor health, she may never see him again.

Mr Collins told the court that Serra is a vulnerable and easily manipulated woman.

Judge Martin Nolan said the accused acted recklessly and knew that she was acting wrongfully when she took the money. Her early guilty plea, her full admissions and lack of any previous convictions would all be considered as mitigating factors.

Judge Nolan sentenced the accused to two years in prison but suspended it in full under the conditions that she keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
They have been engaging with a number of other crime organisations in terms of supplying them with cars, the source added.

A gang who have been selling vehicles to one of the factions involved in the deadly Drogheda feud as well as other organised crime groupings across the country were raided today by CAB for the third time in less than a year.

The Criminal Assets Bureau carried out 15 searches in four counties in the planned operation today.

Senior sources say that the Eastern European gang whose leader is based in the Kildare town area have been significant sellers of cars to criminal groupings for years but it is their links to the Drogheda feud gang that have brought them to major the attention of specialist garda units.

It is suspected that this gang have been using their money to invest in all types of property including buying land and sites, a senior source said.

They have been engaging with a number of other crime organisations in terms of supplying them with cars, the source added.

In todays raids four luxury cars were seized at the same Co Kildare address  these are two BMW IX electric vehicles (221 Regs) as well as two classic vehicles.

A Tesla electric Vehicle was seized at a separate property.

Five vehicles were seized by CAB today

None of these seized vehicles were stolen and it is suspected that the gang have been importing other cars into the country which they have then selling onto the gangs on both sides of the border.

A total of 15,000 in cash as well as a number of high value watches including Rolex and Cartier Brands were also seized.

The searches happened in counties, Kildare, Waterford, Laois and Dublin today.

The search operation was conducted by Bureau Officers supported by the Dublin Armed Support Unit, the Eastern Regional Armed Support Unit, the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, The Customs Dog Unit, Kildare Detective Unit, Portlaoise Detective Unit and Detectives attached to the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

The operation involved over eighty personnel searching fifteen search sites across four counties.

Luxury watches were seized by CAB

This mornings operation targeted an East European Organised Crime Group involved in the laundering of the proceeds of crime through the second-hand car trade.

The OCG is also involved in the supply of vehicles to Irish OCGs throughout the country. Todays operation targeted assets, including properties acquired by the directors of the OCG, a garda spokesman said.

The same gang were targeted in CAB raids last September and October in counties Dublin and Tipperary in which 18 high value vehicles including Audi Q7s, BMW X5s, Range Rovers, a Jaguar I-Pace and a Tesla were seized.

READ MORE: CAB seize electric cars, luxury watches and 15k in raids targeting European crime gang

READ MORE: Gardai suspect spotters and truck drivers being flown to France by gang to bring back drugs

In the Tipperary raid in October, a motor dealership was targeted in which 11 vehicles in total were seized and removed from the search site, four of which were detained for customs and VRT offences. 11,000 in cash was also seized in that operation.

A month earlier at a Dublin 15 car dealership, seven high value vehicles were seized with a total value of 270,000 on September 6 last.

The operation included the subsequent seizure of a Jaguar I Pace vehicle valued at 80,000 on September 28.

There have been no arrests so far in the detailed investigation.
What is going on is one of the bigger drug investigations in Ireland at the moment.

Detectives are working on theory that a gang based in the south-east of the country have teamed up with a cross-border crime organisation to form one of the countrys biggest drug import networks.

Specialist officers are examining links between a number of prominent haulage companies. They are also investigating whether truck drivers are being flown to France to return to ports here by ferry in trucks containing drugs, and other criminals are being sent to the continent to act as minders for shipments.

In the latest bust suspected to be linked to the gangs, gardai and customs seized 1.3m-worth of cocaine and heroin in Rosslare Europort on June 19.

A Lithuanian national aged in his 30s was arrested at the scene and questioned for a number of days at Wexford garda station has since been released without charge, pending the preparation of a file for the DPP .

This suspect, who works as a truck driver, was arrested after he arrived to collect an unaccompanied trailer that had arrived on a ferry from Dunkirk in France.

What is going on is one of the bigger drug investigations in Ireland at the moment. What is important is the analysis of phones and linking the activities of various transport companies to each other, a source said.

The drugs that were found in the bust earlier this month were discovered in a hidden compartment of a refrigerated trailer that contained legitimate goods from France.

A prominent line in the extensive garda investigation is whether the seizure of more than 5kg of heroin and 8kg of cocaine at Rosslare Europort this month is linked to the same gang who attempted to traffic 2.8m-worth of cocaine through the port last November.

As part of that investigation, four people were arrested  including a man working in Rosslare Europort who was suspected of being the inside man for a massive drug distribution network.

All four were later released without charge and a file on that case is being prepared for the DPP.

Novembers seizure also involved the interception by customs officers of an unaccompanied freight trailer from Dunkirk Port which contained a consignment of thousands of fish boxes.

The alleged drug importation mastermind has links to the Kinahan cartel and has been a major target for specialist gardai for years.

The man was a person of major interest in a detailed investigation in September 2018, when gardai seized more than 900,000 in illegal cash connected to the Kinahan cartel.

The cash had been concealed in bags containing onions, and gardai believe it was due to be exported from Rosslare Europort.

Despite being questioned in that case, the man was not charged in relation to the seizure.

He is now suspected of forming an alliance with criminals based in the border region who have significant operations in counties Monaghan, Cavan and Armagh, according to sources.

With the Kinahan cartel under increasing pressure because of sanctions imposed on them by the United States, there are concerns that the gang involved in this distribution network could become major players as they interact with other serious crime groups nationwide.

Wexford drug squad gardai are working with a team from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and other European police forces on the case, which is described as complex .

This is bigger than any particular seizure, no matter how significant a single seizure is, the source added.
Following a review by Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team will now conduct a full review of this case.

Garda chiefs have announced they will conduct a full review into the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in December 1996.

Following the probe by the serious crime review team, recommendations will then be made to local cops probing the high-profile case.

The news came in a statement by the Garda press office today.

The Garda investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier has remained active and ongoing, the statement said.

Following a review by Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team will now conduct a full review of this case.

On the finalisation of this review, the Serious Crime Review Team will provide recommendations to the local investigation team.

The statement added: An Garda Siochana continues to appeal to anyone who may have any information on this crime to contact the Garda investigation team at Bantry Garda Station 027 20860 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

As this is an ongoing investigation, An Garda Siochana will be not commenting on the specifics of the investigation.

Ian Bailey

The development comes in the wake a preliminary Garda scoping exercise review about whether a fresh investigation was warranted.

In April, we revealed that Ian Bailey had written to the Garda Commissioner asking about the status of a potential cold-case review into the killing of Sophie.

It is the third time Mr Bailey has written to the countys top garda seeking a full review, which he insists would clear his name.

READ MORE: Ian Bailey writes third letter to Garda chief about Sophie Toscan du Plantier 'review'

READ MORE: Family releases new photo of Sophie Toscan du Plantier to mark 25th anniversary of her murder

The body of the mother-of-one (39) was found on December 23 1996 at the entrance to her holiday home at Dreenane near Toormore. She had sustained severe head injuries.

Ian Bailey was twice arrested but never charged in Ireland in connection with Ms Toscan du Plantiers murder.

The writer was convicted in 2019 in France in absentia of the Frenchwomans murder, and sentenced to 25 years.

He has repeatedly denied involvement in the killing.
The drugs originated in Spain and were destined for an address in County Westmeath

Revenue have seized 44kg of herbal cannabis worth over 900,000 in Dublin and Athlone.

As part of routine operations, Revenue Officers, with the assistance of detector dog Milo, discovered 39kg of drugs at Dublin Port today.

The cannabis with a value of 800,000, was concealed in boxes containing food stuffs, that had arrived in a consignment from Spain and were destined for an address in Dublin.

Separately today, also as part of routine operations, Revenue Officers examined parcels at a premises in Athlone, and seized over 5kg of herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of more than 107,000.

The illegal drugs originated in Spain and were destined for an address in County Westmeath.

Investigations into both seizures are ongoing. These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting the importation of drugs.
An order was made by authorities regarding a baby in danger'

Over 4.5 kilos of cocaine was found surrounding the four-month-old baby

A baby has been found in a pile of cocaine while police officers searched a house in Belgium.

The four-month-old was found in a bedroom in Brussels where cocaine was found spread across the floor.

The raid by cops came about by chance after they stopped the suspect for a traffic violation and made the decision to search his home after analysing his mobile phone.

Police said they found over 4.5 kilos of the drugs as well as Kinder Eggs stuffed with cocaine and scales.

The public prosecutor immediately drew up a report to be submitted regarding the minor in danger.

One suspect was arrested and it was reported his wife and mother-in-law were in the house at the time.

The suspects wife was arrested but was released after questioning.

In the living room of the house the police found 16,295 in cash and seized two vehicles, luxury watches and a television.

A police spokesperson said: The local criminal investigation department of the Brussels Capital/Ixelles police zone made a disturbing discovery on Tuesday, 21 June, during a house search. In a pile of drugs, we found a baby was growing up in that environment.
Michael Franzese claims to have been making around $8m (7.6m) per week at the height of his mob career

Michael Franzese said Cillian Murphy's portrayal of Thomas Shelby was what a "real mob guy should be"

An ex-mafia mob boss has praised Cillian Murphys portrayal of the leader of the Peaky Blinders gang, Thomas Shelby, as what a real mob guy should be.

Michael Franzese is the son of Sonny Franzese, another mob boss who was part of the Colombo crime family in the New York area.

Michael was once listed as number 18 in Fortune magazines Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses, and claims to have been making around $8m (7.6m) per week at the height of his career.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1986 for conspiracy but was rearrested in 1991 for breaching parole.

He became a born again Christian during his second stint in jail and now works as a motivational speaker and writer.

Cillian Murphy in his Peaky Blinders role as Tommy Shelby

Speaking on his podcast, the former mobster said of Murphys performance of Tommy Shelby: I just love his demeanour

He doesnt get crazy, he doesnt fly off the handle

Franzese said it was Murphys understated style of acting in the cult show which won him over.

He tries to be low key, hes not ostentatious, said the New Yorker.

He added: Hes kind of what a real mob guy should be, yknow, he really plays the role well.
In December, a jury convicted Maxwell of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts and two conspiracy charges.

Sarah Ransome and Elizabeth Stein, victims of Jeffery Epstein, arrive for the sentencing of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial in New York. Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid   REUTERS

Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday for helping the financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

The stiff sentence was the punctuation mark on a trial that explored the sordid rituals of a predator power couple who courted the rich and famous as they lured vulnerable girls as young as 14, and then exploited them.

Prosecutors said Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial, sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, and couldnt have done so without the help of Maxwell, his and one-time girlfriend who they said sometimes also participated in the abuse.

In December, a jury convicted Maxwell of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts and two conspiracy charges.

Sarah Ransome and Elizabeth Stein, victims of Jeffery Epstein, arrive for the sentencing of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial in New York. Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid   REUTERS

US District Judge Alison J Nathan, who also imposed a $750,000 fine, said a very significant sentence is necessary and that she wanted to send an unmistakable message that these kinds of crimes would be punished.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to give her 30 to 55 years in prison, while the 60-year-olds defence sought a sentence of five years.

Maxwell, wearing a blue prison uniform and a white mask to conform with coronavirus rules, looked to one side as the sentence was announced We will continue to live with the harm she caused us, said Annie Farmer, one of the four accusers who testified against Maxwell, before the sentencing.

When she had a chance to speak, Maxwell said she empathised with the survivors and that it was her greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein.

Maxwell called him a manipulative, cunning and controlling man, echoing her defence attorneys assertions that Epstein was the true mastermind.

Maxwell, who denies abusing anyone, said she hoped that her conviction and her unusual incarceration bring some measure of peace and finality.

Judge Nathan refused to let Maxwell escape culpability, making clear she was being punished for her own actions, not Epsteins.

She called the crimes heinous and predatory and said Maxwell as a sophisticated adult woman provided the veneer of safety as she normalised sexual abuse.

Several survivors described their sexual abuse, including Farmer, who said her sister and herself tried to go public with their stories about Epstein and Maxwell two decades ago, only to be shut down by the powerful couple.

Inside the crowded courtroom, three of Maxwells siblings sat in a row behind her while most of the others in attendance were members of the media.

Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe recounted how Maxwell subjected girls to horrifying nightmares by taking them to Epstein.

They were partners in crime together and they molested these kids together, she said, calling Maxwell a person who was indifferent to the suffering of other human beings.

Epstein and Maxwells associations with famous people were not a prominent part of the trial, but mentions of friends like Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Britains Prince Andrew showed how the pair exploited their connections to impress their prey.

Over the past 17 years, scores of women have accused Epstein of abuse, with many describing Maxwell as the madam who recruited them.

The trial, though, revolved around allegations from only a handful of those women.

Four testified that they were abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epsteins mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

Three were identified in court only by their first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy: Jane, a television actress; Kate, an ex-model from the UK; and Carolyn, now a mom recovering from addiction.

The fourth was Farmer, the sole accuser to identify herself in court by her real name.

They described how Maxwell charmed them with conversation and gifts and promises that Epstein could use his wealth and connections to help fulfill their dreams.

Then, they testified, she led them to give massages to Epstein that turned sexual and played it off as normal.

Carolyn testified that she was one of several underprivileged teens who lived near Epsteins Florida home in the early 2000s and took up an offer to massage him in exchange for $100 bills in what prosecutors described as a pyramid of abuse.

Maxwell made all the arrangements, Carolyn told the jury, even though she knew the girl was only 14 at the time.

The allegations against Epstein first surfaced publicly in 2005.

He pleaded guilty to sex charges in Florida and served 13 months in jail, much of it in a work-release program as part of a deal criticised as lenient.

Afterward, he was required to register as a sex offender.

In the years that followed, many women sued Epstein over alleged abuse.

One, Virginia Giuffre, claimed that Epstein and Maxwell had also pressured her into sexual trysts with other powerful men, including Prince Andrew.

All of those men denied the allegations and Ms Giuffre ultimately settled a lawsuit against Andrew out of court.

Federal prosecutors in New York revived the case against Epstein after stories by the Miami Herald in 2018 brought new attention to his crimes.

He was arrested in 2019, but killed himself a month later.

Eleven months after his death, Maxwell was arrested at a New Hampshire estate.

A US, British and French citizen, she has remained in a federal jail in New York City since then as her lawyers repeatedly criticize her treatment, saying she was even unjustly placed under suicide watch days before sentencing.
Following a police investigation into the incident, officers found the driver of the van did not stop after hitting the man

A man in his 30s has been arrested in London after a 62-year-old Irish pedestrian was killed in a hit and run.
One man has been arrested and initial investigations suggest the victim and suspect were homeless

Police secures the area around a district court after a man left a severed human head in front of the court building in Bonn, Germany, June 28, 2022. The police have arrested a man and a homicide commission will start an investigation, a newspaper said, adding that a body was found on the bank of the Rhine river in the city which police is examining its connection with the head. REUTERS/Stephane Nitschke   REUTERS

A man has been arrested after a severed head was left on the steps of a court in Germany.

Eyewitnesses called police early on Tuesday evening after spotting the man placing the body part outside the main entrance to Bonn district court.

German police said a body they believe to belong to the severed head was found a few hundred metres away near the Rhine River.

The suspect, a 38-year-old man from Bonn, was arrested after being found near the court building.

Police said the detained man is known to officers, particularly for narcotics crime.

The victim has not yet been identified but is thought to be a 44-year-old man, according to German newspaper General Anzeiger.

Investigators said initial inquiries suggest both the suspect and victim were homeless.

No weapon has yet been found.

Police said no suspicious activity was reported in the area, and they are seeking witnesses.

The background to the crime is still unclear, General Anzeiger quoted police spokesman Robert Scholten as saying.

We only have two locations so far. The route taken by the suspect is also not known. At the moment we can only describe the scene.

Images taken at the scene on Bonns Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz showed police vans blocking the road while a blanket concealed the head from view.

Bonn Police said in a statement: At around 5.35pm, witnesses informed the police control centre that a human head was lying in front of the Bonn courthouse on Wilhelmstrasse.

After the first arriving police forces confirmed this initial report, a suspect was identified and arrested in the immediate vicinity.

A little later, further investigations led to the discovery of a corpse in the area of the old customs.

The suspect is a 38-year-old man who is known to the police in particular for narcotics crime. The victim has not yet been identified.

Both the suspect and the victim can be assigned to the homeless scene according to the first investigations. A possible instrument of the crime has not yet been found.
Postings bar pets, guests and even access to communal areas as housing charity warns of fewer rights when living with a landlord

With the stock of available rental homes at an all-time low, concerns have been raised about the increased restrictions being placed on tenants by landlords occupying the houses they are letting.

Landlords argue some properties are unsuitable for home-working due to a lack of space, while housing charities believe the Covid-19 pandemic has led to tenants experiencing more restrictions in the houses they are renting.

Legal experts have also warned that landlords are worried about insurance issues in the event of someone being injured while working from home, with employment law solicitor Richard Grogan saying: Nobody wants to open that Pandoras Box.

A number of adverts currently on rental website Daft.ie state that tenants cannot work from home and will not have access to communal areas in the properties.

Other posts say tenants cannot have guests or visitors.

House is owner-occupied, as the owner works from home the sitting room is not a shared area at any time, one advert says.

Midi sized box room for rent with wardrobe and side locker. No work from home set-ups as it wont suit the atmosphere, another says.

This house would suit someone friendly and tidy who likes to socialise but live an independent lifestyle, and, ideally, someone who doesnt work from home, says another.

Another advert said the owner is looking for someone over 30, who does not work from home and has no pets.

The Sunday World contacted more than 30 landlords who did not mention remote working in the property description  the majority occupying the houses they are renting  and 10 said working from home would not be suitable due to reasons such as a lack of space and the owner being at home during the day.

Some did not reply and 12 said prospective tenants can work remotely.

One also replied with a list of questions including: What is your income?, What is your lifestyle like?, Do you smoke or have a pet? and What do you eat for dinner?

Gavin Elliott, legal officer with housing charity Threshold, said there is a lot of ambiguity when it comes to tenants having a right to work from home.

He also warned that tenants who live with their landlords are not protected by the Residential Tenancies Act and do not enjoy the same rights as other renters.

It is something we have always seen in the student accommodation market, where tenants were being restricted in that they could only rent Monday to Friday, he said.

But certainly during and post-Covid restrictions about what people can and cant do in the property, and what part of the property they can use, has become a little bit more common.

If youre a licensee [renting a house where you live with the landlord] you have very few rights and no access to Residential Tenancies Board, and that scenario can come as a bit of a shock to people. There are some people who know what theyre getting into, and they are moving in knowing that they have limited or no rights as there are so few places to rent. People are accepting situations they wouldnt find ideal normally.

Employment law solicitor Mr Grogan said private landlords are facing the same problems as employers when it comes to remote working.

The first issue that of course comes up is restrictive covenants, particularly for apartments. Apartments usually have a clause in that they will not be used for business purposes. Now, if you have someone working from home there is an argument this is a change of use and is a breach of the covenant.

The second one is insurance. Whether it is an apartment or private home, the insurance is on the basis that it is primarily a residential premises and not a workplace. If people are working from home consistently they need a printer, but maybe also a shredder for confidential documents, so if some five-year-old sticks their finger in a shredder, who is responsible?

The Irish Property Owners Association, an organisation representing private landlords, also highlighted some concerns about remote working including health and safety issues and disputes arising between tenants in shared accommodation.

Working from home may disturb other people in the house who have a right to live normally and make normal noise, said Margaret McCormack, information officer with the IPOA.

Tenants at home will often want to listen to music or carry out an activity that results in noise causing problems in shared property.

Utility bills in a house share are normally divided equally however if some of the occupants are working from home this will distort the amount each person has to pay, with additional heating and electricity being used causing friction and dissension.
It's really critical that resources are directed towards people who are on low and fixed incomes - otherwise, we're going to see more people pulled into poverty

The charity has launched its pre-budget submission in which it is calling on the Government to increase weekly social welfare rates by 20.

SVP has also called for the Fuel Allowance payment to be increased by 15 a week, and expanded to 32 weeks.

The demands follow the 191,000 requests for help for help the charity receive late year and the assistance to the tune of 14.6m for people who could not afford food that they paid out.

While some 4.7m was given in supporting access to education, and 4.1m for those struggling with their utility costs.

SVP research and policy Officer Issy Petrie says for a lot of people, it is the first time they've had to reach out.

"We absolutely are seeing people coming to us for the first time.

"People who maybe wouldn't have been struggling before, they would have been just about managing.

"But now faced with rising costs - whether that's their energy, whether that's transport, running a car - they may have a bill come in that they simply can't pay.

"Or they're finding that their food budget that used to just about cover their costs isn't going far enough and they're really having to prioritise and cut back."

She says the Government needs to focus on those with low incomes.

"It's really critical that in this upcoming budget, resources are directed towards people who are on low and fixed incomes - otherwise, we're going to see more people pulled into poverty.

"We are really calling on the Government to recognise the urgency of the situation and provide a sustained solution throughout the year, so that people know that they have the income supports that they're going to need".
He rejected a claim from TD Paul Murphy of "sidling up" to the nuclear powers tonight at a leaders' meal dubbed the "EuroAtlantic" conference

The Taoiseach has denied that his presence in Madrid at an EU-Nato meeting is a deliberate move to chip away at Ireland's military neutrality.

He rejected a claim from solidarity People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy of "sidling up" to the nuclear powers tonight at a leaders' meal dubbed the "EuroAtlantic" conference.

Mr Murphy said the Taoiseach was "undermining what's left of this country's neutrality."

Mr Martin said it was not a fair analysis. "First of all, all of the world's democracies are here. I don't know why Paul Murphy would have a problem with me meeting with the President of the United States, for example, or indeed other leaders across Europe, all of whom, by the way, had sought and tried to prevent war and sought peace," he said.

Leaders from Joe Biden to Emmanuel Macron "did everything they possibly could" to prevent the war in Ukraine," he said, calling the gathering tonight at the Prado Museum a "watershed moment."

The democracies involved shared values of freedom of speech and assembly and a free media, he said. "I think it's important at international gatherings like this that we in Ireland are part of the conversation, the Taoiseach said.

"The world is going through a watershed moment in terms of having huge impacts from energy to food to the migration crisis, and Ireland should be there as part of that conversation with like minded democracies."

The criticism of his taking part was thus "wholly unfounded.

Asked whether the possibility of Ireland joining NATO was suddenly becoming thinkable for Ireland, Mr Martin first emphasised that other neutral countries are in attendance at the dinner and conference in Madrid.

"There are positives to Ireland's neutrality. We're not politically neutral. And obviously to change neutrality is something that ultimately the Irish people would have to have a say in, he said.

"I've put forward the idea of a Citizens' Assembly to have a reflective, informed debate on that issue of military non-alignment. That is the essential definition of Ireland's neutrality. We are politically part of the European Union, and we were strongly supported of democratic principles and values.

"We're not neutral on those matters, and our membership with the UN Security Council reflect reflects our commitment to universal values of the United Nations."

Mr Martin arrived into broiling Madrid today to attend a EuroAtlantic dinner that will see an Irish Head of Government sharing a meal with NATO members for the first time.

A consultative dinner of democratic countries is being hosted by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, which includes all 27 EU member states and all 30 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), with much crossover between the two.

But the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea are also attending, making it the largest international security summit since the end of the Second World War.

The Taoiseach said he was there in listening mode, as the leader of a neutral country.

I look forward to engaging with a number of other leaders in Madrid," he said.

But his staffers emphasised Ireland's official line - that this country backs continuing cooperation as a militarily neutral state. Such communication - now taking place on the margins of the main Nato summit - is seen as benefitting "international peace and security."

While in Madrid, the Taoiseach will also have a number of bilateral meetings with other leaders, including with PM Jonas Stre of Norway, which is a NATO member, PM Katrin Jakobsdottir of Iceland, also a Nato member, and Chancellor Karl Nehammer of Austria, which - like Ireland - is one of the shrinking number of neutral countries in Europe.

Mr Martin, who will also attend an Irish-Spanish business event, made no apology for consulting with heavily-armed NATO countries, including the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose United Kingdom is one of several states that have deployed nuclear weapons in readiness for attack - although NATO is a self-declared defensive alliance, pledged to make no first strike.

"Russias military aggression against Ukraine has highlighted more than ever the importance of solidarity and cooperation between likeminded partners. In particular, it is a keen reminder of the absolute necessity of upholding a rules-based international order, and the dire consequences for all of us when that order is undermined," Mr Martin said ahead of his meetings.

"As our societies face complex and unpredictable threats aimed at destabilising the foundations of our democracies, it makes sense to bolster international cooperation to work to uphold democratic values and our commitment to that rules-based international order."

The Taoiseach first attends a reception at the official residence of Ireland's Ambassador to Spain, Frank Smyth, to meet key members of the business community - and personnel representing Irish agencies working in Spain, such as Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

A spokesman said all the countries that Ireland would hold talks with shared a commitment to multilateralism. There is no scheduled meeting with Boris Johnson, whom the Taoiseach has accused of acting in a unilateral way on the Northern Ireland Protocol and legacy issues.
Ms Ni Chofaigh alleges discrimination on the grounds of gender by way of sexual harassment in July 2019 and subsequent victimisation  all of which is denied by RTE.

The broadcaster had been set to begin her evidence today at a hearing in Lansdowne House in Dublin 4  but only her legal team and that of RTE appeared this morning.

Up to a dozen other witnesses are set to give evidence in the case  but the WRC now says the press must not name any of them.

Ms Ni Chofaigh alleges discrimination on the grounds of gender by way of sexual harassment in July 2019 and subsequent victimisation  all of which is denied by RTE.

At the opening of a brief hearing this morning, Mairead McKenna SC, who appeared for the State broadcaster instructed by Ailbhe Moloney of Arthur Cox, applied for an adjournment.

Unfortunately this matter cannot proceed in circumstances where a number of key witnesses have contracted Covid-19 and are therefore not in a position to be in attendance, she said.

Claire Bruton BL, appearing for Ms Ni Chofaigh instructed by Aileen Fleming of Daniel Spring Solicitors, confirmed Ms McKenna had discussed the matter with her and that the adjournment was by consent, given the circumstances.

At a hearing on 4 May, RTEs lawyers sought anonymity for the alleged perpetrators and a direction to the press not to name them in the event of a slip-up by counsel.

READ MORE: Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh to tell Workplace Relations Commission she was sexually harassed at RTE

READ MORE: Bowel cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James dies aged 40

The parties legal teams have agreed to use code names to refer to the alleged perpetrators in public session and the adjudicating officer, Breiffni ONeill, said he was making direction to the press not to name them.

Today Mr ONeill said he would be issuing a further direction requiring that the media not to name any of the witnesses.

That includes all of the witnesses for both sides, he said.

He said further that he would be excluding the public from the hearing room when the time came to hear evidence on what happened in a hotel following an alleged incident at a photoshoot in July 2019.

There are a couple of high-profile individuals  notwithstanding any anonymity order I just dont want their names to make their way out, he said.

Theyre nothing to do with the incident, but their names should not come out, he said.

Ms Bruton said her client was likely to require between three and four hours to give her primary evidence and perhaps more.

The matter has been adjourned to September 8th and is expected to run over the course of four days, but may go into a fifth.
The distinctive blue and yellow GAA shorts featured in the series launched a thousand fan memes and had Gucci designing imitation pairs for sale.

Paul Mescal's signed GAA shorts, a signed script of the first episode of 'Normal People' and a signed hardback book of scripts

A pair of iconic GAA shorts which featured in the landmark Irish drama Normal People are being auctioned off to supported Ukrainian filmmakers.

As part of a campaign organised by a group of independent Irish filmmakers, Element Pictures, and Director Lenny Abrahamson, Paul Mescal's signed GAA shorts, a signed script of the first episode and signed hardback book of scripts from the multi award-winning series Normal People have been donated to the unique fundraiser in support of film makers affected by the crisis in Ukraine.

The online auction has been launched today and it will continue until Sunday July 17th and 6pm on easyliveauctions.com.

All funds will go to the Ukranian Documentary Filmmaker Festivals (Docudays.ua) Ukraine Appeal to support filmmakers still documenting the war and to the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk Ukraine appeal to support filmmakers from Ukraine and Russia who may need to relocate.

The distinctive blue and yellow GAA shorts featured in the series launched a thousand fan memes and had Gucci designing imitation pairs for sale.

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones in Normal People

Normal People was BBCs most streamed show of 2020, racking up 62.7 million streams from its launch in April to December.

The show and all involved have multiple award nominations and wins, including four Emmy nominations, seven BAFTA nominations, and a Best Actor win for Paul Mescal.

The Normal People auction is being organised by Orla Murphy who in March gathered together a group of independent Irish filmmakers to raise funds and awareness.

The group has already raised just over 10,000 to support their colleagues impacted by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

In sending these funds to our fellow filmmakers we are also sending a message of solidarity, hope and respect, Ms Murphy.

"What is happening in Ukraine is utterly devastating. Along with Lenny Abrahamson, we at Element are proud to be supporting these charities and admire their brilliant work to help film makers" added Ed Guiney, Founder and Company Director of Element Pictures.

Meanwhile, Chief Programmer of Docudays.ua Darya Busel said Ukrainian filmmakers are risking their lives and mental health to document the atrocities of war and let the world know about the war crimes.

"I'm sure the films that will emerge from the work that is being done now, will help us to understand this historical moment, when the whole world has to reconsider the principles on which it is built, she said.
Closed borders and Covid infection rates are being blamed as reasons for a labour shortage in the 2022 kiwifruit harvest.

The harvest of New Zealands largest horticultural produce is now largely complete.

Almost all 2800 growers orchards from Kerikeri in the north to Motueka in the south picked for consumers.

The 2022 season was expected to have a record-breaking crop of at least 190 million trays of kiwifruit, overtaking last years record of over 177 million trays.

On average, each tray has around 30 pieces of kiwifruit.

However, revisions in the forecast indicate that this years volume will be below 2021.

Current thought to the reduction is due to labour supply, crop loading and weather. Investigation is this space is ongoing.

This year also marks the first year that Zespris new RubyRed kiwifruit was picked as a commercial variety, which was then followed by the gold and green varieties.

The sweet, berry-tinged tasting red kiwifruit was picked for supermarket shelves in New Zealand and overseas markets.

Despite the uncertainty of seasonal labour supply at the beginning of the year, all growers had the opportunity to have their kiwifruit picked and packed.

The success of the 2022 kiwifruit harvest hinged on the ability for industrys supply chain to operate effectively with a restricted labour supply under the changing Covid-19 settings.

The 24,000 seasonal workers required to pick and pack the crop were restricted due to Covid-19 infection rates, as well as closed borders, which limited the 6500 backpackers traditionally utilised for harvest operations.

CEO of New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc Colin Bond says that experience of Covid-19 from the two previous seasons gave the kiwifruit industry the foresight to streamline processes across the supply chain to mitigate foreseeable risks.

Colin Bond.

Growers and the wider industry were under immense pressure to ensure that New Zealands kiwifruit were harvested.

Our industry plays a critical role in employing both permanent and seasonal workers as well as supporting local businesses associated with the industry in our kiwifruit regions across New Zealand.

I would also like to make special mention of the RSE workers from the Pacific Islands who stepped up under extraordinary circumstances to fill roles where New Zealanders could not be found.

Getting all the fruit off the vines would have been unlikely without them.

To attract seasonal workers to pick and pack in the harvest, NZKGI implemented the fourth year of its campaign to advertise seasonal jobs to New Zealanders.

The campaign included implementation of a diverse range of mediums to promote roles as well as information on what to expect about working in the industry.

Almost all packhouses told NZKGI that they would be paying at least the living wage of $22.75 per hour.

Kiwifruit picking was also expected to exceed the living wage with an average of $27 per hour paid last year when the minimum wage was $20 per hour.

NZKGI is currently surveying the industry to ascertain the final payrates for the 2022 season.

Growers have experienced a continuation of increased costs this year such as payrates, impacting upon their businesss profitability.

The increase in areas such as labour, fuel and shipping, alongside the forecast lower crop volume will impact upon grower returns. Grower returns are important not only for growers, but also for the economic contribution that the growers bring to their communities.

The kiwifruit industry is an important player for communities across New Zealand, contributing $2.2bn in 2021.
The number of young New Zealanders and Spaniards who will be able to travel and work in each other's countries has increased from 200 to 2000 after a meeting between the two countries' leaders.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Spanish President Pedro Sanchez have just met in Madrid.

The leaders last year signed a joint declaration of strategic partnership between the two countries.

Ardern says the boost to the Working Holiday/Youth Mobility Scheme reflects the strength of the relationship between Spain and New Zealand.

"New Zealand and Spain are great friends, with many shared values. The meeting today gave us the chance to discuss how we can continue to strengthen our ties through trade, co-operation in areas of shared interest and our people. I look forward to hosting President Sanchez in New Zealand in the future," says Ardern.

The leaders discussed deepening trade and economic links between the two countries and agreed a "high quality" deal between New Zealand and the European Union would "play an important role in creating opportunities for New Zealand and Spanish businesses in Europe and the Indo-Pacific".

"I shared with President Sanchez my view on what a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and New Zealand could represent. It would allow us to showcase sustainability and climate in a trade agreement - an issue the EU cares deeply about," says Ardern.

Ardern and Sanchez discussed regional issues in the Indo-Pacific and the war in Ukraine.

They also officially launched the "Global Values Partnership" which is a "reflection of the shared vision between Spain and New Zealand for the world that the countries want to shape together".

The partnership is based on the desire between the two countries to support a "rules-based international order through greater and better cooperation, including multilaterally".

The leaders also agreed to adopt an action plan on seabird conservation "to strengthen cooperation on concrete projects to protect seabirds including the endangered Antipodean albatross whose migratory patterns include the area in which New Zealand and Spain operate".

Speaking to reporters after their meeting, Ardern says Spain has "long been supportive" of a trade deal between New Zealand and the EU as they saw the opportunity to create a "gold standard", embedding sustainability and climate awareness into any deal.

"And we talked about what we can do to make sure that we get that agreement over the line with other EU members," she says.

France, with its desire to protect its own domestic agricultural industry, has pushed back hard on a deal with New Zealand. Ardern had this message ahead of her meeting with President

Emmanuel Macron overnight NZ time.

"If you can't sign up to an agreement with New Zealand, then who can you, because we're demonstrating how and why it's so important that we put into action, all those values that France has been promoting, for instance, around the climate."

In the closing stages of the negotiations, she says the "nitty gritty" details are for ministers to hammer out; her role is to "make sure that those leaders ensure that their negotiating teams know how much this agreement means".

The aim is to get a "commercially meaningful" and high quality deal, and it is "not a given" it will be concluded this trip.

"We are here to keep the momentum up around the negotiations and putting a lot of effort into what has been roughly four years of negotiations," Ardern says.

"It does demonstrate these can be very protracted, and that's because we are seeking the best possible deal that we can get for our exporters in a very difficult environment."

While in Madrid, Ardern will address NATO in an "intervention", having been invited to attend alongside other Asian partners.

She is interested in giving New Zealand's perspective on the Ukraine conflict, but also hearing from European leaders who've either visited Kyiv recently, or who are in regular communication with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ardern, like Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has now received an invitation to visit Ukraine, but it's not one she'll be able to take up, mainly due to "back-to-back" travel commitments over the next month.

"But my key message back to the leadership in Ukraine would be that our support will continue regardless of a visit or not," she says.

"New Zealand is standing in solidarity with Ukraine, and I hope they have seen that throughout ongoing support."

Ardern will attend the NATO summit overnight Wednesday New Zealand time; it will be a "closed shop" in terms of media access to the leaders' speeches but she said New Zealand's "fiercely held independent foreign policy" will be a key focus.

"And that continues to this day, despite the very contested environment that we are within, but it will be important for me on that stage to articulate those independent values and what that means with a conflict like the war in Ukraine."

Ardern will deliver a speech, likely focused on the Christchurch Call to eliminate extremist content online, at a conference focused on democracy-affirming technologies.

The Christchurch Call will also be on the agenda when Ardern meets with Emmanuel Macron, as well as New Zealand/EU trade negotiations and the war in Ukraine.

-RNZ/Katie Scotcher.
Tauranga City Councils new office building at 90 Devonport Road is set to be the largest mass timber office building in New Zealand.

It will target a net zero carbon footprint for the buildings construction process, council says in a statement released today.

Property development and investment company Willis Bond has worked alongside Warren and Mahoney architects to design the 10,000sqm building.

The plan is to use engineered timber in place of most traditional concrete and steel elements, with a view to reducing embodied carbon  carbon emitted through the manufacturing, transportation and installation of building materials and components  to its lowest possible point.

The building also features rainwater harvesting, electric vehicle charging and facilities that encourage active transport options.

The building is targeting the highest 6 Green Star - Design and As-Built NZv1.0  Design Review Rating, demonstrating world leadership in sustainability.

Willis Bond Executive Chair Mark McGuinness says the project sets a new precedent for innovative and sustainable building design in New Zealand.

Our goal is always to keep as much carbon in the ground as possible and to walk with a light footprint. What makes this project unique is the scale at which weve been able to achieve this.

Tauranga City Council last year confirmed the leased building would accommodate all council administration staff under one roof.

This was followed by Councils recent approval of the Refreshed Civic Masterplan, Te Manawataki O Te Papa, which will see the development of a new Civic Whare (public meeting house), Library, Museum and Exhibition space in Taurangas city centre over the next eight years.

Commission Chair Anne Tolley says sustainable outcomes were front of mind when considering a new, purpose-built office space.

We wanted to push the boundaries to design a wholly-sustainable, future-focused workplace which maximises the use of natural materials, such as the exposed timber columns which celebrate the uniqueness of the building, says Tolley.

Willis Bond and Council staff continue to work with mana whenua to ensure that matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge systems) principles are incorporated and add to the look and feel of the building.

This will be our home for at least the duration of the 15-year lease, so its important that we get it right and create a facility that both speaks to its Tauranga Moana origins and provides a welcoming and people-friendly space for our staff and the community.

Tolley says the ability to bring all administration staff together in one building will have significant cost and efficiency benefits, while the long-term lease arrangement means there will be no construction outlay, which will also help the council stay within its required debt limits.

Construction of the building is expected to commence in late-2022 and be completed before the end of 2024.
Losing greenspace and access to the Tauranga Harbour are some of the reasons people are opposed to reclassifying part of Marine Park for education purposes.

Supporters say it is a no brainer and a marine facility would have wide reaching benefits for the Bay of Plenty.

Tauranga City Council is proposing to change the classification of 7000m2 of land at Marine Park in Sulphur Point from recreation reserve to local purpose reserve.

The change will enable a marine research and education facility to be built by the University of Waikato in future.

This is the second attempt to enable the build, the council sought to revoke the reserve status in 2018, but it was blocked in July 2020 by then Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage.

Now the proposal is to retain the reserve status but reclassify six per cent of it.

On Monday, the council held hearings after a month of consultation on the reclassification.

There were 323 submissions to the council with 65.9 per cent in support of the reclassification, 33.4 per cent were opposed and 0.6 per cent were neutral.

Submitter Ron Pinkham labelled the university selfish for wanting that particular piece of land.

It's self-serving and I feel that it's egotistical and a complete lack of attitude towards people of Tauranga in pursuing this application.

If this goes ahead it is potentially denying the people of Tauranga the opportunity of having this reserve developed in the way it was originally set out and intended.

Pinkham questions if the university really needs that that specific site.

Peter Jones told the commissioners Tauranga is very lucky to have that greenery next to the port, because not many ports have a big grass reserves alongside them.

Don't go taking the last bit of green grass we've got over near the port and bung a building smack in the middle of it, says Jones.

I know it's a reserve and it's being kept as a reserve, but I don't think you should put buildings on it.

He was also concerned the facility would take up space that is used for parking cars and boat trailers during peak times when the other carparks are full.

There is a boat ramp in the Marine Reserve and the green space is used as overflow parking when required.

An aerial view of proposed area for reclassification. Photo: Supplied/ Tauranga City Council.

Geoff Hambling has a trailer yacht and uses the boat ramp regularly.

He says the facility is already struggling to cope, without buildings on it, especially on weekends.

His main concern is continued access because the boat ramp provides access to water deep enough to launch boats on any tide.

Being a boating person, what I can tell you is that the really critical part about that land is not even the area or how much land it is. It's where it is, says Hambling.

It is the only remaining piece of deep water access that is available to the public.

During the submission hearing on Monday, council advised it has set aside funding in the long term plan for a new six lane boat ramp at Marine Park.

Not everyone is opposed to the reclassification.

Mount Maunganui College teacher Jim Critchley says use of the space as a marine science and education facility is a no brainer.

To have a space like this, that not only the university students will use, but now we can get school students through I think it's going to be amazing for the area, says Critchley.

Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston asked the science teacher if the facility will support the education of his students.

100 per cent, says Critchley.

He says University of Waikato chair of coastal science Professor Chris Battershill has already had some of his college students through the current facilities.

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt. Photo: Salina Galvin photography.

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt says the Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency strongly supports the change in classification.

Tutt says the facility will enable research of environmental factors and marine biotechnologies.

This is an economy that is high growth, but low value and it's really, really important that we can grow value in our economy.

Marine will be increasingly important for New Zealand as we face challenges, for environmental reasons, with the other ways that we farm our land.

"The study of marine environments for food, nutritional supplements, fertilisers, bioactives, and the like is really important to increasing the value of the economy.

Tutt says there are already businesses springing out of the research the university does at its current Sulphur Point facility.

That's something that we want to encourage in the future.

Local Democracy Reporting contacted the University of Waikato to respond to peoples concerns raised at the hearings.

University of Waikato senior deputy vice-chancellor Alister Jones says the university hasnt been involved in the reclassification process or lobbied the council during it.

If the reclassification is confirmed, the university will still have to put a bid in to lease the land and meet the criteria set by the council, says Jones.

The planned facility would be a world-class marine research and education facility for Tauranga, allowing valuable, practical and cutting-edge research to be carried out.

This will help address major climate change issues within the marine environment while aiding development in the agritech space.

The public would also be able to access the centre with education for the wider community a key focus.

It'll be a high tech marine learning environment for the general public as well as the research facilities.

University of Waikato senior deputy vice-chancellor Alister Jones. Photo: Supplied.

He said the current rented facilities arent fit for purpose and the university, Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council have all looked for areas where the facility could go.

There are very limited opportunities, says Jones.

He says the proposed site has good public access, water deep enough to launch boats and easy access to salt water for aquariums.

It is a fantastic opportunity. We have long wanted to be able to deliver world-class marine research and teaching in the Bay of Plenty.

If the facility wasnt built at Sulphur Point the university would have to go to Whakatane for a suitable site, says Jones.

In response to the comment the university is selfish, Jones says: This facility is the absolute antithesis of selfish.

It becomes a public asset as opposed to a university ivory tower.

The university has worked hard over many years with the Tauranga City Council, iwi, community and local stakeholders to find a solution that is fit for the future and that will grow marine and coastal research, attract more students into science, educate the public and ultimately have a positive impact on our environment, including climate change.

Universities are there for the community, we're there as a public good.

Deliberations are set for July 25, where the council will either confirm or abandon the reclassification.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Andrew Rooney had uploaded more than 1000 drumming videos to YouTube before the first lockdown hit and overnight he gained international recognition.

Most of the New Zealanders early videos were just of himself practicing and various performances.

More recently, the musician has been doing interviews, performance recordings and reaction videos to drumming performances.

He has a degree in Jazz Performance and, aside from being called on for studio and live gigs, has been teaching the drums for 13 years.

The YouTube channel Andrew Rooney Drums has grown exponentially over the last two years and now has just under 82,000 subscribers.

Notable guests on the channel have been world renowned Benny Greb, John Hammond, Elizabeth Zharoff, and Ash Soan.

Nine-year-old child prodigy Nandi Bushell, who shot to fame after challenging Dave Grohl to a drum-off and then performed with the Foo Fighters, is also a fan of Andrew Rooney Drums.

Thank you so much for your kind words. P.S. it was Taylors son with him at the drums. Love your channel. Love and respect, Nandi Bushell commented on Andrews reaction video to her performance.

Along with Andrews YouTube success, he has been asked by Modern Drummer magazine (one of the most famous drumming magazine worldwide) to contribute and has joined the Drumeo team, which is arguably the largest drumming education platform worldwide.

Andrew kindly made time for us via Zoom and told us about his newfound success.

I was counselling at a summer camp in the States when I realised that I needed to quit the job back in New Zealand and go to music school, Andrew says.

Everyone thought I was crazy, I mean, study music? What are you going to do? But I did it and the rest is history. I became a tutor and a full-time drummer after that. It was the best thing I ever did.

Starting a YouTube channel was something Andrew says he did more for his own improvement as a drummer and not likes or subscribers.

In music school our professors recommended we record ourselves as much as possible- its the best way to improve. I wish I had started doing it earlier, but thats how my channel started- me looking to get better. For me it was purely a practice log, he says.

The subscriber success wasnt instant.

I started the channel in 2013 and the first video that went big was not until the COVID lockdown in March/April 2020. There was a long history of seven years of constantly uploading with over 1000 videos on my channel, there was no thought of likes or getting an audience, he says.

Helen King, who runs HK Productions, specialises in podcast editing and helping podcasters launch.

Helen sees success as a factor relative to the podcaster.

I think for independent podcasters success can mean different things. Based on looking at his (Andrew Rooneys) social media and his YouTube and having a listen, he has found his niche and he has really catered to it well, Helen says.

She feels that this is potential formula for success for other would-be podcasters.

Finding ones niche, especially for independent podcasters, can catapult them into different platforms and help them define what sort of niche they want to service and then create content specifically for that niche of people and I suspect thats what Andrews done with the drumming world.

When asked what advice Andrew would give a podcaster/YouTuber starting out in an arguably already saturated market he shares his thoughts on his own success.

Thats the million-dollar question and Im definitely no guru. I had so many videos on the channel, eventually one was going to hit. The original intent was never to be famous or grow a big audience, the question you need to ask yourself is would I do this anyway? Is this something I need to do? Would I listen to this? There is no magic formula, Andrew says.
Taurangas gender diverse community is grieving the loss of a safe place after a suspected arson at the Historic Village.

A fire razed a building the organisation leased in partnership with RainbowYOUTH on June 16.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Gender Dynamix  a charitable trust supporting trans people (transgender, nonbinary, and those questioning their gender identities).

Einstein Hale says their members have been stressed, grieving and upset since the fire.

The youth we serve were worried about another attack but on our other building.

We have all been focused on grieving the time spent in that building finding safety, community, and support from our providers.

Overall, the gender diverse community of Tauranga is working towards healing along with our sibling organisation who we shared that building with, RainbowYOUTH.

Einstein Hale. Supplied photos.

Einstein says the organisation started in that building in 2020.

They say their community members were the ones who sanded down the walls, painted it, cared for it, cried and healed with in, and found their takatapui family within it.

We have had so many share the loss of the building, it feels like the loss of a second home. Sometimes a safe space is more than just a space.

The first arson attack against our building, when it was just our organisation in there, felt terrible, though luckily it was put out quickly.

Unfortunately this time, someone succeeded in destroying a safe space for marginalised people.

Gender Dynamix serves on average about 1000 contacts every three months in Tauranga.

Einstein says they serve children 12 and under, teenagers, adults and family members.

Part of the Gender Dynamix crew in Tauranga.

The organisation runs five weekly groups and sees many individuals and their family members.

We currently have six staff members, four of which are gender diverse.

Community members serving their community. We are the only organisation like us in the country, right here in the BOP.

Since the LGBTQIA+ abuse allegations at Bethlehem College, Einstein says the community has been feeling a great deal of stress.

The arson attack has in no way helped. But, we are focusing as a gender diverse and the overall LGBTQIA+ community on supporting one another during this time.

We are lucky to have our main site untouched by the arson attack. However, I do believe RainbowYOUTH is searching for a new space.

We informed out sibling LGBTIA+ organisation they can hold their teen support group in our main office until they find a new space.

People wanting to know more about the Gender Dynamix organisation can visit their website: www.gdnz.org, or social media pages: Facebook & Instagram- genderdynamixnz

A Givealittle page has also been set up to help Gender Dynamix of Aotearoa rebuild resources and provide additional supports to the gender diverse community during this challenging and distressing time.

All money from this fundraiser will be donated to Gender Dynamix Charitable Trust. Alternatively, they are accepting donations directly via their website https://www.genderdynamix.org.nz/donations.
Last week, the trade ministers of the World Trade Organizations (WTO) 164 Member States gathered in Geneva for the postponed biennial ministerial conference - the MC12. Expectations of concrete results ahead of the conference were lukewarm, but now is seems fair to say that the multilateral trading system is showing signs of life once again.

The World Trade Organizations common trade agreements and rules provide predictability, and make it easier for companies working in international trade. All trade that is not regulated by free trade agreements is regulated by the WTO, and with common rules for 164 Member States, it is clear that the organisation is of considerable importance for a trade-dependent country such as Sweden.

In recent years, however, the organisation has come under pressure and been criticised in various quarters. Negotiations have stalled or been sluggish, and the dispute resolution systems review body is not working effectively. In addition, the 12th ministerial conference, which was originally scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan in 2020, had been postponed due to the pandemic. The last time that all trade ministers met was in Buenos Aires in 2017, but this also saw a lack of concrete results. Therefore, the level of expectation on the WTO in the run up to MC12 was higher than usual.

The conference closed almost two days later than originally foreseen, and several negotiations were concluded. The fact that the Member States finally managed to reach agreement - following many lengthy negotiations - demonstrates that the WTO does indeed remain highly relevant. With the pandemic continuing to impact many countries and with future challenges linked to climate change, this is a positive development; now, global solutions are needed more than ever.

In simple terms, the Member States reached agreement in five major areas of negotiation; agriculture and food security, the phasing out of harmful subsidies to the fishing industry, trade and health (including the temporary suspension of patent rights against the COVID-19 vaccine), the extension of the e-commerce moratorium banning Member States from imposing tariffs on electronic transfers and the overall reform of the organisation.

WTO reform

A reform of the WTO has long been required for all the functions of the organisation - negotiation, monitoring and dispute resolution - and it is an area that has been pursued by many Member States for some time. Now, the Member States have - among other things - agreed to establish a functioning dispute resolution body by 2024. The agreement also emphasises the importance of strengthened cooperation and cooperation between the WTO and other stakeholders. Such a dialogue between the WTO and the business community is a key issue for the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Duties on digital transfers

Since 1998, there has been a moratorium that bans WTO members from imposing tariffs on electronic transfers. Although the term electronic transfers is not clearly defined, it is considered to include software, e-mails, music, movies and video games that are transmitted digitally. Ultimately, there was considerable uncertainty as to whether the moratorium would be extended, with India and Indonesia and others taking a firm stand. However, the negotiations were concluded and the moratorium will be extended until the next ministerial conference, something that is extremely important for the business community in light of the digital transition.

Trade, health and the revocation of patents on COVID-19 vaccine

The Member States have adopted a declaration on trade and health - the WTOs response to the pandemic. From the perspective of the business community, it is positive that the countries have succeeded in agreeing that, in future, export restrictions and trade barriers for healthcare-related goods and services should be avoided as far as possible. For the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, it has been particularly important to include clear wording on the importance of services in the trade response to the pandemic.

In addition, the Member States have reached a conclusion over the issue of vaccines (the so-called TRIPS waiver). The decision to suspend patent rights on vaccines for COVID-19 will allow developing countries to derogate from intellectual property obligations on vaccines - without seeking the patent holders permission  in order to stimulate domestic production. All developing countries are covered by this, with the exception of those that have already announced - through binding commitments - that they do not intend to take advantage of the waiver. China, for example, has done so, which has been important for the United States in the negotiations. The TRIPS waiver, on the other hand, is not without its problems. The erosion of intellectual property rights does not address the problems that currently exist surrounding vaccine availability, and risks reducing the incentives for innovation in the pharmaceutical industry for possible future pandemics.

Phasing out of harmful fishing subsidies

Following 20 years of negotiations, the Member States have now agreed on rules to ban subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) as well as on subsidies for fishing activities that fish in overfished stocks. Other parts of the negotiations, such as rules on general subsidies that contribute to overfishing, were left unresolved for the time being, as India and a few other countries seek longer phasing-out periods and less stringent rules. Although fisheries subsidies are not a key issue for Swedish business, the outcome is important both to show that countries can still conclude agreements that cover all countries within the WTO, and because it is in line with sustainability goal 14.6 of the 2030 Agenda.

Agriculture and food security

Recognising that trade disruptions, volatile markets and soaring food prices can undermine food security in many countries, the Member States adopted a declaration on food security. In this, the countries committed to taking concrete measures to facilitate trade in food and agriculture. They also emphasised the need for agricultural products and foodstuffs to be able to cross borders easily, and for the countries not to impose export bans or restrictions in a way that is incompatible with WTO rules.
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gururajrv Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: KA 01-09 Posts: 1,026 Thanked: 1,894 Times

Re: Next-gen Mahindra Scorpio | Now revealed as Scorpio-N shows how overwhelming the response on / off the forum is!



Mahindra deserves a big applause for executing everything to the Z. You guys are pioneers in SUV making and it shows it in every bit of the last 3 cars you launched - Thar, 7OO & the Scorpio-N.



White looks dashing on this well-proportioned and well-designed car. The apprehensions on the rear is now stands knocked off. Its pretty decent at the rear, nothing flashy as I initially thought considering you didnt expose much of the rear.



Clearly, youre setting benchmarks Mahindra! This car will sell easily even if youd not used the Scorpio monicker! The only downer from the marketing front is that lame DADDY claim on all your posters! Come on! Okay, firstly - I had to scroll down a lot on this page to get to this dialogue writing boxshows how overwhelming the response on / off the forum is!Mahindra deserves a big applause for executing everything to the Z. You guys are pioneers in SUV making and it shows it in every bit of the last 3 cars you launched - Thar, 7OO & the Scorpio-N.White looks dashing on this well-proportioned and well-designed car. The apprehensions on the rear is now stands knocked off. Its pretty decent at the rear, nothing flashy as I initially thought considering you didnt expose much of the rear.Clearly, youre setting benchmarks Mahindra! This car will sell easily even if youd not used the Scorpio monicker! The only downer from the marketing front is that lame DADDY claim on all your posters! Come on!
darkLightning BHPian

Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Bhopal Posts: 185 Thanked: 625 Times

Re: Start of Something New | Introducing Piccolo - My Honda CB350 Anniversary Edition Ownership Revi Need of Bike - Me and my wife (married 2020, girlfriend since 2013) have been on the lookout for buying a new vehicle for us since around 2018, the choices have oscillated between cars, SUVs, bikes, pickup trucks, caravans and what not, noteworthy mentions being Royal Enfield Thunderbird, Ford Endeavour, Maruti Gypsy, Isuzu V-Cross, Tata Safari (The Original), Honda City, Ford Ecosport, Kawasaki Versys 650, Kawasaki W800, Renault Duster. All the discussions ultimately led to one reason or another for not making the purchase, I can honestly write a very long story about this aspect however that's maybe for another day. Long story short - In Feb 2022 we decided that it is time now finally to purchase a bike in Bhopal which we will be using for long trips.



Selection process - Towards the end of 2021 our needs were slightly different and we were contemplating on buying a smaller bike primarily with next two years in mind, I had even put up a post here on the forum asking opinions for the same



The list of requirements we prepared came up to be like this - Comfortable to sit on for long hours for both rider and pillion Comfortable to go over bad roads Should not feel the stress if driving for 6-7 hours or more in a day Should have relaxed driving dynamics. Luggage carrying should not be a bother No compromise on reliability and durability The saddle time should bring smile on our faces and not adjustments to our mind

Our budget was in the range of 2-3L on road and I don't like riding at a speed where I cannot fully control the bike so I was not really looking at any of the high speed bikes like KTM, they are simply not my cup of tea.



Alternatives Considered

So with the requirements and thought process cleared we went into the market to explore what options we have, much of the details about the different manufacturers we gave a thought to has been listed in the above linked thread so here I will go over the alternatives that were thought of in the following order -



Bikes thought of but not looked at -

Suzuki Gixxer 250 (Not fan of styling), Yamaha FZ-25 (Good allrounder, nothing special as such), FZ-X (Under powered), Honda Hornet 2.0 & CB200X(Smaller than what we wanted), Bajaj Dominar (Good bike however I am apprehensive of Bajaj bikes in general and wanted something simpler), Apache RR310 ( Too sporty), KTM ADV 250/390 (Pillion seat did not look too good and KTMs are too orange for my liking), Royal Enfield 650 twins (Too many modifications required for making it comfortable)



Bikes looked at but not considered for test drive -

Hero XPulse twins (Fabulous bikes, definitely would have been top choice if solo rides were to be aimed, however relative lack of power and pillion seat comfort go against them), Honda CB300R (Pillion seat is too small, relatively less simplistic machine), Honda CB350RS (Pillion seat is too small), Royal Enfield Classic (I like the colours of Classic 350, everything else in it I don't like)



Bikes considered for test drive but not provided by dealership - This is a disappointing section as it contains two bikes which would have been in my ideal top 3 candidates if only I could have test driven them -

Royal Enfield Himalayan - The RE dealerships in my city are adamant on selling only Classic 350, For Himalayan their answers were very straight, there is no test drive of Himalayan, no demo vehicle either, if you want to try Himalayan you have to find your own way, we will sell you Himalayan directly and you need to make full payment then we will allot a bike for you. Royal Enfield Meteor 350 - Here the dealership was at least a little apologetic, they had no test drive vehicle for Meteor there was one display model which belonged to someone from showroom, we can sit on it. I dejectedly sat on the bike and I can say Meteor's saddle is a very comfortable place to be in, but something was ergonomically awkward about the overall riding posture especially the wide fuel tank.

No way was I going to put my money on a bike without test drive and dealership was not that interested either, they were perhaps counting how many Classic 350 they can sell instead of time wasting with me.



Surprise entrants -

Just after this disappointing experience with last Royal Enfield showroom when I was walking out my eyes caught something on the other side of road, fresh spankingly bright, newly launched Yezdi triplets standing outside of Jawa dealership on the opposite side of the road. I looked at my wife and we said why not ? so we hopped on to the Jawa dealership and the experience could not have been any more different.



The showroom staff immediately attended to us, keenly listened to our queries, took some basic info then their immediate question was



Which all model you want to test drive now ?

I said what would you suggest ?



And then I took test drive of Jawa 42 2.1, Yezdi Roadster and Yezdi Scrambler, Yezdi Adventure had some issue so they asked to come back later for test drive which I did.



Bike I did not like after test drive -

Jawa 42 2.1 - I was never really considering Jawa earlier because of their low ground clearance and smaller size especially for pillion seat and the test drive re-affirmed my concerns, add to it the bike felt unusually wide as well. As for the driving experience from test drive the bike never really felt settled, I managed to stall it 5 times in first and second gear over a distance of probably 500 metres maximum.

Bikes I rejected after test drive -

Yezdi Scrambler - In my opinion this sibling is the best to ride among the three Yezdi's, it's compact, eager and the roughness of engine suits it's scrambler character as well. The test ride was short but engaging. Primary reasons for Scrambler to be rejected were it's short pillion seat and there is some way to go for Yezdi engines to be considered smooth, let alone be in league with a Honda. Another curious observation I have for scrambler is it's lack of low end torque, I found a medium sized pothole on a turn, brought the bike to standstill inside it and tried to judge how much effort will be required to come out of it, turns out quite an effort which is weird for a scrambler, I can say my Splendor required probably lesser effort. Yezdi Adventure - This Himalayan look-a-like is a serious bike and means business, I was considering it as an option for some time but ultimately rejected it because this cannot be the only bike in garage which is something I was not originally targeting at but Honda gave me that option and I do have to frequently pick and drop my wife to her work place where she goes wearing a Saree, so the pick up and drop duties will automatically fall on my humble Wego if I buy a full blown ADV styled bike. No major observations from TD except that refinement and low end torque can be improved a lot.

The Runner-up - And the above listings finally lead us to the bike which can claim the spot of runner-up in my search and that spot belongs to



Yezdi Roadster - Before I go further I have to stop and appreciate the sales staff at Classic Legends dealership who can serve a few humble pies especially to the Royal Enfield staff. These guys were the best out of all dealerships I went to and if you give these guys well rounded products they can for sure increase sales by a huge margin. Anyways going back to Roadster the competition between CB350 and Roadster was neck to neck, Roadster definitely looks better than CB350, where it ultimately lost was in engine smoothness, I was ready to compromise on everything else if this bike was more refined. Add to it the tuning of Engine is such that it doesn't like pottering around at lower revs. Roadster is in my opinion the proper option for someone who is eyeing majority of highway riding and very rare city rides. It has some way to go to be a finished product but the path is right. Good luck Classic Legends.



Noteworthy mention - Royal Enfield Thunderbird and Honda CBR250R were the original choices which we had thought of during one of our discussions in 2020 before CB350 was launched, however as they were discontinued with BS6 norms so did not had a choice.



The Winner



Now that we have discussed about all the alternatives that were considered, I will brief about my thoughts and reason for going with Honda CB350,



First up as far as my previous riding experience goes I learnt how to ride bike on my 2010 Splendor Plus (Arjuna) with which me and my wife have a lot of special memories. Unfortunately due to some reasons my Splendor was not with us regularly since 2018 and was being driven by some other person which took a heavy toll on it. Whenever we thought of buying a new bike automatically comparisons were made with our Arjuna and a question came out that we were unable to answer, Will there be any bike that can give us as good memories as her ? ,



Cue 2020 and Honda comes out with CB350 which is received well by the Indian audience but not without a cheeky quip that CB350 looks like a Splendor on Steroids, whereas at the same time somewhere in Bhopal watching the pics and videos of CB350 a version of this thought crosses my mind - This bike looks like a worthy successor to Splendor.



Anyways with no Big Wing dealership in Bhopal I parked my thoughts on CB350 to the back of the queue and moved on with life. However sometime in first quarter of 2021 I came across a Honda stall in a mall in Bhopal with CB350 on display, As expected I got instantly hooked and got to know that a Big Wing dealership is going to open up within next few months in Bhopal and as of that time they were starting delivery of CB350 through Red Wing outlets (Normal Honda showroom) as the initial batch of CB350 was already allocated for Bhopal. I sat on the bike with my wife and immediately felt the dimensions and size of CB350, I liked what I saw and gave me details for Test Drive expecting a call within next few days however nothing happened. Again I parked CB350 to the back of my mind till the time Big Wing dealership comes fully live.



Then towards the end of 2021 Honda launches Anniversary edition of CB350 and some accessories as well, Now the Green monotone with brown split seats was exactly the kind of look I am keen on ( an ode to military colours), Honda got my attention but I was not sure if I wanted to purchase CB350 at that point. One thing I knew was that if I purchase CB350 then I am not going to think about selling it ever.



Feb 2022 - When we have finally made the decision that we want to buy the bike for us, naturally CB350 is at the top of list. However even though I have ridden a number of different two wheelers over the years there is a hesitation in my mind as I have not driven anything of the Bullet category before so how to handle that weight, the power all such questions were there in my mind.



First test ride - On my first test ride with CB350 (roughly 4 km, DLX Model) immediately it became apparent that this bike is quite easy to handle, yes the weight is there but there is something about the characteristics of this bike which make it very easy and natural for me. The DLX model has one major issue which is it's super weak horn. I went through gravel, rough roads, potholes, broken sections, smooth road all of these were handled well by suspension. Acceleration was swift but somehow I never managed to go above 40 kmph in this test ride, probably some hesitation at my end. A curious aspect I felt was how natural operating the bike came to me, I could precisely connect with the Engine and guess it's stress levels, gear shifts as well were butter smooth, clutch super light, there was just something that I cannot explain but the bike felt extremely familiar to me. I came back mighty impressed however there was one doubt in my mind, the whole test ride felt pretty easy and natural will this mean that the fun and novelty of riding it will soon wear off ?



Second test ride - Pondering over the thought I ask the dealership for a second test ride to which they are happy to oblige, this time the test ride will be from my home so that my family can also take a look, While the first test ride included all sorts of good and bad roads and demonstrated the easy going characteristics and capabilities of the bike, this second test ride (roughly 10km, DLX Pro Model) included a stretch on State Highway inside the city where I can push the throttle open a little bit and when I did it oh boy the roar with which the bike came to life, there was a composed and powerful pull from the engine that instantly made me feel the power this bike possesses and the character it has waiting to be explored. I managed to reach 70 kmph in no time, the bike felt planted though out the ride. I thoroughly enjoyed the second test drive and before giving it back to the test ride staff I tried to move the bike around in off condition testing if I can handle the weight of it and for sure the weight seems well balanced and easy to handle. The DLX Pro model also takes care of horns, the dual horn setup is sufficiently loud without doing overkill. After the second test ride I was sure of one thing, we can keep comparing all the bikes for their features and what not however as far as riding pleasure and engine refinement is considered, this Honda is in a league of its own. One mental observation I had was to keep in mind the larger length of bike than what I am used to when going through intersections. After the first test ride I had a doubt in mind ? well turning the throttle on solved that concern in one go for me I experienced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both in this test ride.



Next couple of weeks are spent on pondering about the alternatives and comparisons,



Riding posture - CB350 and Roadster are both good in this regard, no immediate weakness apparent.



Pillion comfort - The seat of CB350 is quite long, comfortable and the almost flat design of split seats gives enough option for rider and pillion both to move around if required. Roadster keeps pillion more engaged due to its slightly raised pillion seat.



Accessories - The stock accessories from Honda are decent to start with, Yezdi does not have much accessories available.



Features - CB350 has all that I am looking for, Roadster does not have navigation.



Reliability - Roadster is new, CB350 does not have any major reliability concern reported yet, the ECU issue that caused power loss on heights was resolved before Anniversary Edition launch and this edition comes with latest ECU update. The issue of brake pads wearing off faster than they should was also not there on newer batches as per my understanding.



The Ride- CB350's torquey and easy going nature fits my bill better.



The connect and Honda effect - My mind was still bamboozled as to how this bike managed to connect so much with me in such a short duration, something I have only felt my Splendor in all these years, I never managed to connect this much with my Wego as well even through practically I have been using it for 4 years. Then suddenly when randomly going through the user manual of my Splendor I realised that the engine in my Hero Honda Splendor Plus (BS II Model) was also in all it's essence a Honda engine and it clicked to me why the CB350 and Splendor engine behave so similar yet so different. Now all those discussions heard over the years that if you ride a Honda you won't be satisfied with anything else started coming back to my mind and it all started making sense



So ultimately all things considered all discussions led us to declaring CB350 as the clear winner every time. And hence the search was over with the winner finalised. Me and my wife (married 2020, girlfriend since 2013) have been on the lookout for buying a new vehicle for us since around 2018, the choices have oscillated between cars, SUVs, bikes, pickup trucks, caravans and what not, noteworthy mentions being Royal Enfield Thunderbird, Ford Endeavour, Maruti Gypsy, Isuzu V-Cross, Tata Safari (The Original), Honda City, Ford Ecosport, Kawasaki Versys 650, Kawasaki W800, Renault Duster. All the discussions ultimately led to one reason or another for not making the purchase, I can honestly write a very long story about this aspect however that's maybe for another day. Long story short - In Feb 2022 we decided that it is time now finally to purchase a bike in Bhopal which we will be using for long trips.Towards the end of 2021 our needs were slightly different and we were contemplating on buying a smaller bike primarily with next two years in mind, I had even put up a post here on the forum asking opinions for the same https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...uld-i-buy.html (Looking for a faithful companion for the next 2 years | Which motorcycle should I buy?) . However those requirements and constraints were no longer in place and the primary reason for this purchase was to buy a bike which we both would love to travel on (solo rides will not be that much) and keep with us for as long as we can.The list of requirements we prepared came up to be like this -Our budget was in the range of 2-3L on road and I don't like riding at a speed where I cannot fully control the bike so I was not really looking at any of the high speed bikes like KTM, they are simply not my cup of tea.So with the requirements and thought process cleared we went into the market to explore what options we have, much of the details about the different manufacturers we gave a thought to has been listed in the above linked thread so here I will go over the alternatives that were thought of in the following order -Suzuki Gixxer 250 (Not fan of styling), Yamaha FZ-25 (Good allrounder, nothing special as such), FZ-X (Under powered), Honda Hornet 2.0 & CB200X(Smaller than what we wanted), Bajaj Dominar (Good bike however I am apprehensive of Bajaj bikes in general and wanted something simpler), Apache RR310 ( Too sporty), KTM ADV 250/390 (Pillion seat did not look too good and KTMs are too orange for my liking), Royal Enfield 650 twins (Too many modifications required for making it comfortable)Hero XPulse twins (Fabulous bikes, definitely would have been top choice if solo rides were to be aimed, however relative lack of power and pillion seat comfort go against them), Honda CB300R (Pillion seat is too small, relatively less simplistic machine), Honda CB350RS (Pillion seat is too small), Royal Enfield Classic (I like the colours of Classic 350, everything else in it I don't like)This is a disappointing section as it contains two bikes which would have been in my ideal top 3 candidates if only I could have test driven them -No way was I going to put my money on a bike without test drive and dealership was not that interested either, they were perhaps counting how many Classic 350 they can sell instead of time wasting with me.Just after this disappointing experience with last Royal Enfield showroom when I was walking out my eyes caught something on the other side of road, fresh spankingly bright, newly launched Yezdi triplets standing outside of Jawa dealership on the opposite side of the road. I looked at my wife and we said why not ? so we hopped on to the Jawa dealership and the experience could not have been any more different.The showroom staff immediately attended to us, keenly listened to our queries, took some basic info then their immediate question wasI said what would you suggest ?And then I took test drive of Jawa 42 2.1, Yezdi Roadster and Yezdi Scrambler, Yezdi Adventure had some issue so they asked to come back later for test drive which I did.And the above listings finally lead us to the bike which can claim the spot of runner-up in my search and that spot belongs toBefore I go further I have to stop and appreciate the sales staff at Classic Legends dealership who can serve a few humble pies especially to the Royal Enfield staff. These guys were the best out of all dealerships I went to and if you give these guys well rounded products they can for sure increase sales by a huge margin. Anyways going back to Roadster the competition between CB350 and Roadster was neck to neck, Roadster definitely looks better than CB350, where it ultimately lost was in engine smoothness, I was ready to compromise on everything else if this bike was more refined. Add to it the tuning of Engine is such that it doesn't like pottering around at lower revs. Roadster is in my opinion the proper option for someone who is eyeing majority of highway riding and very rare city rides. It has some way to go to be a finished product but the path is right. Good luck Classic Legends.Now that we have discussed about all the alternatives that were considered, I will brief about my thoughts and reason for going with Honda CB350,First up as far as my previous riding experience goes I learnt how to ride bike on my 2010 Splendor Plus (Arjuna) with which me and my wife have a lot of special memories. Unfortunately due to some reasons my Splendor was not with us regularly since 2018 and was being driven by some other person which took a heavy toll on it. Whenever we thought of buying a new bike automatically comparisons were made with our Arjuna and a question came out that we were unable to answer,Cue 2020 and Honda comes out with CB350 which is received well by the Indian audience but not without a cheeky quip that CB350 looks like a Splendor on Steroids, whereas at the same time somewhere in Bhopal watching the pics and videos of CB350 a version of this thought crosses my mind -Anyways with no Big Wing dealership in Bhopal I parked my thoughts on CB350 to the back of the queue and moved on with life. However sometime in first quarter of 2021 I came across a Honda stall in a mall in Bhopal with CB350 on display, As expected I got instantly hooked and got to know that a Big Wing dealership is going to open up within next few months in Bhopal and as of that time they were starting delivery of CB350 through Red Wing outlets (Normal Honda showroom) as the initial batch of CB350 was already allocated for Bhopal. I sat on the bike with my wife and immediately felt the dimensions and size of CB350, I liked what I saw and gave me details for Test Drive expecting a call within next few days however nothing happened. Again I parked CB350 to the back of my mind till the time Big Wing dealership comes fully live.Then towards the end of 2021 Honda launches Anniversary edition of CB350 and some accessories as well, Now the Green monotone with brown split seats was exactly the kind of look I am keen on ( an ode to military colours), Honda got my attention but I was not sure if I wanted to purchase CB350 at that point. One thing I knew was that if I purchase CB350 then I am not going to think about selling it ever.Feb 2022 - When we have finally made the decision that we want to buy the bike for us, naturally CB350 is at the top of list. However even though I have ridden a number of different two wheelers over the years there is a hesitation in my mind as I have not driven anything of the Bullet category before so how to handle that weight, the power all such questions were there in my mind.On my first test ride with CB350 (roughly 4 km, DLX Model) immediately it became apparent that this bike is quite easy to handle, yes the weight is there but there is something about the characteristics of this bike which make it very easy and natural for me. The DLX model has one major issue which is it's super weak horn. I went through gravel, rough roads, potholes, broken sections, smooth road all of these were handled well by suspension. Acceleration was swift but somehow I never managed to go above 40 kmph in this test ride, probably some hesitation at my end. A curious aspect I felt was how natural operating the bike came to me, I could precisely connect with the Engine and guess it's stress levels, gear shifts as well were butter smooth, clutch super light, there was just something that I cannot explain but the bike felt extremely familiar to me. I came back mighty impressed however there was one doubt in my mind,Pondering over the thought I ask the dealership for a second test ride to which they are happy to oblige, this time the test ride will be from my home so that my family can also take a look, While the first test ride included all sorts of good and bad roads and demonstrated the easy going characteristics and capabilities of the bike, this second test ride (roughly 10km, DLX Pro Model) included a stretch on State Highway inside the city where I can push the throttle open a little bit and when I did it oh boy the roar with which the bike came to life, there was a composed and powerful pull from the engine that instantly made me feel the power this bike possesses and the character it has waiting to be explored. I managed to reach 70 kmph in no time, the bike felt planted though out the ride. I thoroughly enjoyed the second test drive and before giving it back to the test ride staff I tried to move the bike around in off condition testing if I can handle the weight of it and for sure the weight seems well balanced and easy to handle. The DLX Pro model also takes care of horns, the dual horn setup is sufficiently loud without doing overkill. After the second test ride I was sure of one thing, we can keep comparing all the bikes for their features and what not however as far as riding pleasure and engine refinement is considered, this Honda is in a league of its own. One mental observation I had was to keep in mind the larger length of bike than what I am used to when going through intersections. After the first test ride I had a doubt in mind ? well turning the throttle on solved that concern in one go for meI experienced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both in this test ride.Next couple of weeks are spent on pondering about the alternatives and comparisons,CB350 and Roadster are both good in this regard, no immediate weakness apparent.The seat of CB350 is quite long, comfortable and the almost flat design of split seats gives enough option for rider and pillion both to move around if required. Roadster keeps pillion more engaged due to its slightly raised pillion seat.The stock accessories from Honda are decent to start with, Yezdi does not have much accessories available.CB350 has all that I am looking for, Roadster does not have navigation.Roadster is new, CB350 does not have any major reliability concern reported yet, the ECU issue that caused power loss on heights was resolved before Anniversary Edition launch and this edition comes with latest ECU update. The issue of brake pads wearing off faster than they should was also not there on newer batches as per my understanding.CB350's torquey and easy going nature fits my bill better.My mind was still bamboozled as to how this bike managed to connect so much with me in such a short duration, something I have only felt my Splendor in all these years, I never managed to connect this much with my Wego as well even through practically I have been using it for 4 years. Then suddenly when randomly going through the user manual of my Splendor I realised that the engine in mySplendor Plus (BS II Model) was also in all it's essence a Honda engine and it clicked to me why the CB350 and Splendor engine behave so similar yet so different. Now all those discussions heard over the years that if you ride a Honda you won't be satisfied with anything else started coming back to my mind and it all started making senseSo ultimately all things considered all discussions led us to declaring CB350 as the clear winner every time. And hence the search was over with the winner finalised. Last edited by darkLightning : 17th June 2022 at 21:38 .
What just happened? Brendan Carr, a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, has called on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their respective app stores following new reports that users' data is being accessed by the Chinese-based employees of its parent company ByteDance.

"TikTok is not just another video app. That's the sheep's clothing. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing," Carr tweeted.

The already-popular TikTok saw an uptick in users during the pandemic and now boasts over 1 billion MAUs (monthly active users). This is despite long-held privacy and national-security concerns over China-based ByteDance accessing sensitive information about those who use the short-form video platform.

The new reports that Carr mentions comes from BuzzFeed News. The publication writes that leaked audio from more than 80 internal ByteDance meetings confirmed that engineers had repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users between September 2021 and January 2022. The report was published a few hours after TikTok said it had migrated 100% of US user traffic to a new Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

TikTok is not just another video app.

That's the sheep's clothing.



It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.



I've called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn  Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022

Carr included in his tweet a copy of the letter he sent to Apple boss Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking for TikTok to be removed from the companies' respective app stores. He states that the app "poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting combined with Beijing's apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data."

"TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface," Carr wrote. "It's not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. That's the sheep's clothing. At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data."

The Trump administration fought a long-running battle with TikTok, including a threat to ban the app if a US buyer did not purchase it. Microsoft and Oracle seemed interested but neither company made a move. The deadline to buy eventually passed without the government implementing a ban.

Masthead credit: drserg
Why it matters: The shift to a hybrid work model with many employees working from home has opened up a new avenue for malicious actors. Security researchers warn that a sophisticated malware campaign has been targeting North American and European home and small office networks through router malware that has largely gone unnoticed until recently.

Last year, cyberattacks against corporate networks reached record-setting levels in terms of frequency and size, mostly because of the Log4J vulnerability that was left unpatched by many organizations for several months. Earlier this month, a new and hard-to-detect malware was discovered on Linux-based systems that had been stealing credentials and enabling remote access for malicious actors.

In a similar vein, a new stealthy remote access trojan dubbed ZuoRAT has been detected by security researchers at Lumen Black Lotus Labs. The team that discovered the new threat believes it has been infecting a wide range of home and small office (SOHO) routers across Europe and North America with malware that can take control of devices running Windows, Linux, or macOS.

This has been going on since at least December 2020, and ZuoRAT is believed to be part of a much broader malware campaign that took advantage of the sudden and massive shift to remote work and study. The malicious actors chose to attack consumer-grade routers with exploitable firmware that is rarely monitored and patched, if ever.

Black Lotus Labs researchers claim they've identified at least 80 targets so far, and found ZuoRAT to be surprisingly sophisticated for malware that's intended to compromise SOHO routers sold by Asus, Netgear, DrayTek, and Cisco.

The malware campaign leverages no less than four different pieces of malicious code, and ZuoRAT is worryingly similar to other custom-built malware written for the MIPS architecture such as the one behind the infamous Mirai botnet of yesteryear.

Once ZuoRAT makes its way into a router, the malicious actors can use DNS and HTTP hijacking to install additional pieces of malware dubbed Beacon and GoBeacon, as well as the widely-used Cobalt Strike hacking tool.

Researchers explained the campaign is aimed at several US and Western European organizations and the attackers have gone to extreme lengths to hide their activity through obfuscated, multistage C2 infrastructure. And while it's only a suspicion at this point, the analyzed data indicates the attackers may be operating in the Chinese province of Xiancheng using data center infrastructure from Tencent and Alibaba's Yuque collaboration tool.

The good news is that router malware like ZuoRAT can be flushed out with a simple reboot of the infected device since that would wipe its files which reside in a temporary folder. A factory reset would be even better, but if the infected devices also contain the other pieces of malware they won't be as easy to remove.

Security analysts and system administrators can find more details about the technical aspects of the ZuoRAT campaign, including indicators of compromise and possible prevention tools, by reading the full report and consulting the Black Lotus Labs GitHub.
In context: Brazil's government doesn't the best relationship with Apple, and it could get even worse if the country follows Europe in making USB-C mandatory on all mobile devices, a move at odds with Cupertino's lightning port-only iPhone design.

The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) of Brazil has launched an open public consultation on a proposal to make USB-C the required standard for all smartphones sold in the South American nation.

Earlier this month, lawmakers in the European Union finally reached an agreement requiring all new phones, tablets, and other small electronics sold in the region to use USB-C as the charging port. The EU is giving device makers until the fall of 2024 to comply with the rule, which follows over a decade of arguments pushing for a universal charging solution.

These days, of course, virtually all Android smartphones come with USB-C charging ports. But despite changing to this type of connection in its tablets, Apple's iPhones still use Lightning ports. That could change next year, though, when the first iPhone packing a USB-C port is rumored to launch.

Brazil is still only in the consultation phase in which companies and the public can share their opinions on making USB-C mandatory for smartphones. If the proposal is passed, the port will become a requirement in the country as of July 1, 2024.

Anatel notes that switching to USB-C entirely will reduce e-waste and be more convenient for consumers. But enforcing the regulation will likely bring higher costs and could stifle innovation by companies looking to develop new and improved charging standards.

It's not just Europe and Brazil going down this path. A group of Senate Democrats is urging the US Commerce Department to force smartphone makers to adopt a universal charging standard that will reduce e-waste and environmental damage.

"The EU has wisely acted in the public interest by taking on powerful technology companies over this consumer and environmental issue," the senators wrote. "The United States should do the same."

Brazil has also been battling Apple over its decision to stop bundling wall chargers with its iPhones. Cupertino was hit with a $2 million fine last year for violating consumer protection laws and failing to prove the claimed environmental benefits of dropping the charger. More recently, a Brazilian judge told Apple to compensate an iPhone customer $1,000 for not including a charger in the box.
In context: You are probably familiar with the three more prominent single sign-on services (SSO)  "sign in with" Google, Facebook, and Apple, but there are more. In fact, if you want to create an Epic Games account, you can register using those three or with your existing accounts for Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Online, and Steam, giving you seven ways to authenticate your account.

While SSO options offer the convenience of not creating yet another username and password to remember, they do have drawbacks. For one, you do have to give up a little of your privacy when using these authentication services, but earlier this month, we showed you how to revoke permissions to your personal information from the big three. Another problem they pose is remembering which SSO you used for every website you've visited. Signing in with Google can be particularly tricky since those with multiple Google accounts may have forgotten which one they used to register.

Fortunately, the developers at 1Password announced a new feature to help users with these situations. The 1Password manager has always been reliable for storing and retrieving all of your passwords and logging you in automatically. Starting today, users can save their SSO registrations, and 1Password will treat them just like regular passwords. Once saved, 1Password will use those SSOs to log users in automatically. Not only does it remember which SSO service you used for any website, but it also sorts out which of the multiple Google accounts you may have used during registration. The feature is currently in beta but is open for everyone to try.

Recently, there has been a big push to create a "passwordless" internet experience. Apple already has a Passkey feature coming up in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura that utilizes the "fast identity online (FIDO) protocol developed in cooperation with the FIDO Alliance. Google and Facebook have also joined the Alliance and promised to start implementing passkeys later this year. This new authentication method should make signing into any account a seamless experience.

While 1Password does not yet have passkey support, it recently joined the FIDO Alliance and has plans to implement a "universal sign-in" method in the future. Like SSO services, not all websites support passkeys yet. So it might be a while before 1Password releases its solution. In the meantime, existing users can now worry less about what authentication method they use for a given website.

Unfortunately, 1Password is no longer free to use. It switched to a subscription model a while back. Personal accounts run $3 per month, and family subscriptions are $5. New users might be put off by that since so many other free options are available. However, all 1Password subscriptions come with a 14-day free trial, including the Team and Business plans.
Forward-looking: Hyundai is slowly climbing in EV market share in the US and Europe, and it has grand ambitions to capture seven percent of the global EV market by 2030. While a full reveal is scheduled for next month, the South Korean automaker is already teasing everyone with a first look at the much-awaited Ioniq 6 all-electric sedan.

Not too long ago, Hyundai was in talks with Apple to build an electric car. The South Korean automaker seemed interested in lending its expertise to the Cupertino giant, which had long been rumored to be working on a self-driving car. However, those discussions quickly fell apart as Apple executives were worried about information leaks. Similarly, Hyundai executives remained divided on whether or not they saw Apple as a great fit for a potential partnership.

Earlier this year, Hyundai stopped research and development on combustion engines, adding to a growing list of companies committed to going all-electric in the coming years. During its 2022 CEO Investor Day forum, the Hyundai Motor Group presented its bold electrification roadmap through 2030 that includes no less than 17 new battery-powered electric vehicles.

Today, Hyundai offered the first look at its upcoming all-electric sedan, the Ioniq 6. It looks a lot like the Prophecy concept EV it showcased back in 2020, and as noted by Top Gear, it seems to be inspired by classic, streamlined designs from the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Stout Scarab or the Tatra 87.

Details are scarce now, as Hyundai wants to make a full reveal on July 14. Still, the company did tease an ultra-low drag coefficient of just 0.21, which is among the lowest you can get with most cars on the market today. That's thanks to the streamlined design with a low nose and active air flaps, among other things.

The Ioniq 6 shares the same E-GMP platform as the Ioniq 5 crossover, which is rated for up to 315 miles on a single charge, and since the Ioniq 6 is a smaller, low-drag car, it will not only be cheaper but might also offer more range.

The cocoon-shaped interior features sustainable materials, and a couple of touchscreens give it a futuristic look. However, Hyundai design chief Sangyup Lee told Ars Technica the company opted for physical buttons for things like audio and climate controls.

"The touchscreen is great when this car is [in] stationary condition, but when you're moving, touchscreens can be dangerous. So we always think about the right balance, user experience, and the buttons and the combination with the voice activation together. In the future, obviously, voice activation is going to play the major role versus touchscreen, but this is still in transition. For us, anything that relates to the safety, we use hardware. Anything not related to safety will use a touch interface."

Production of the Ioniq 6 is expected to start next month in South Korea. In the meantime, Hyundai is also spending $10 billion to accelerate electrification and autonomous vehicle development in the US, $5.5 billion of which will go towards building a battery manufacturing facility in Georgia.
(Photo : by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 10: Apple's Stan Ng talks about the new Apple Watch series 5 during a special event on September 10, 2019 in the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple's Cupertino, California campus.

Apple loses to AliveCor after a lengthy legal struggle over patent infringement found in the Apple Watch. This was reported recently, adding fears that the decision might not be in favor of Apple on other similarly-natured lawsuits in the past.

AliveCor Favored by International Trade Commission Over Apple Row

AliveCor reported that an International Trade Commission (ITC) administrative law judge delivered the first ruling. AliveCor specializes in personal ECG technology, which the Apple Watch Series 7 models employ.

Following filing a patent infringement complaint against Apple in December 2020, mobile ECG business AliveCor moved its case to the ITC in April 2021. An ITC judge has endorsed AliveCor and urged the International Trade Commission to investigate the dispute.

The verdict, according to Priya Abani, CEO of AliveCor, is a clear declaration that our intellectual property (IP) rights and patents are still valued. Furthermore, "even a powerful business like Apple cannot simply violate them to hinder innovation" by infringing on intellectual property rights.

Abani went on to say that since then, their attention has been on more than just owning up to their ideas. However, AliveCor stated that its goal was to constantly provide fantastic goods for its clients while offering them appropriate options to check and monitor their heart health. This is also why AliveCor developed devices such as the KardiaBand, the first FDA-approved ECG device attachment for the Apple Watch.

Apple Has Been Battling Multiple Lawsuits From AliveCor Ever Since

If the complete ITC examination concludes that Apple infringes on AliveCor's patents, importation of the Apple Watch into the US may be prohibited. AliveCor claims in their case that Apple willfully duplicated its patented technology in order to eliminate it as a market rival.

The filing of the case advances AliveCor's goal of obtaining redress for Apple's deliberate violation of AliveCor's patent rights. According to AliveCor, this is also to resist Apple's efforts to eliminate AliveCor as a competitor in the heart rate analysis market for the Apple Watch.

AliveCor also filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in May 2021, and all of its charges revolve around the company's Apple Watch ECG concepts. The business also says in the action that Apple "harmed competition, limited consumer choice, and potentially harmed public health."

AliveCor also filed a complaint against Apple in December, citing identical patent infringements. The lawsuit claims that the features provided in the Apple Watch Series 4 and later infringe on three AliveCor patents. AliveCor claimed restitution for damages to its firm for its attorney expenses and other expenditures related to the litigation, in addition to Apple stopping the alleged infringement.

AliveCor provides a variety of personal mobile ECG devices. KardiaMobile, the company's flagship product, is a single-lead personal ECG. It introduced the KardiaBand in 2017 as an add-on device for Apple Watch bands, but it discontinued sales immediately after Apple's own ECG capabilities were available.

AliveCor has acquired FDA approval for the KardiaMobile 6L, a six-lead portable ECG that offers cardiologists six alternative perspectives on the electrical activity of the heart. It also developed KardiaCare, a subscription service that provides subscribers access to a suite of services that assist users in interpreting their cardiac data, monitoring risk factors, identifying symptom triggers, and measuring the impact of lifestyle adjustments.

The business introduced three more cardiac disorders to its product range earlier this year: sinus rhythm with supraventricular ectopy (SVE), sinus rhythm with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), and sinus rhythm with broad QRS.

Related Articles: Apple Watch: OS 9 To Bring Blood Pressure Monitor, AFib Capabilities-Analyst Say Glucose Monitor is Far Off

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Apple and Google have been called to remove TikTok from the App Store and the Play Store by a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

TikTok, which garners millions of downloads on Google Play Store for Android users and Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads, is under fire after a recent BuzzFeed report alleges that the data of its US users are accessible in China.

(Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In this photo illustration, the download page for the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on August 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order.

This time, an FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, is asking two renowned tech giants, Google and Apple, to remove the China-based video sharing service from their official app marketplaces.

Apple, Google Called to Remove TikTok

As per a news story by Business Insider, the FCC commissioner wrote a letter to the big bosses Google and Apple, namely the Chief Executive Officer of Alphabet Inc., Sundar Pichai, and the CEO of the Cupertino-based tech giant, Tim Cook, respectively.

The letter of Carr to the two tech executives provides references to the story of BuzzFeed, according to a recent report by Apple Insider.

The FCC commission began the letter cited the BuzzFeed report, which alleges TikTok of collecting sensitive data of its users in the US and allowing its top brass in China to access it.

The BuzzFeed story says that the report is based on a leaked audio recording and statements from nine employees of TikTok. It further alleges that the engineers in China are looking into the private users data of users in the US.

Read Also: Google Play Store Kicks Out Apps Secretly Collecting User Data! Outdated Apps To Be Removed?

TikTok a National Risk?

All that said, the FCC commissioner now asks Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their app stores for being an "unacceptable national security risk."

(Photo : KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

An illustration picture taken on April 21, 2022 in Moscow shows a smart phone screen bearing the Google Play store application logo.

Carr also says that it is due to its extensive data harvesting combined with Beijing's apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data."

On top of that, the commissioner also asserts that TikTok violated the rules and regulations of Google and Apple. He says that the "pattern of conduct and misrepresentations regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive US user data."

(Photo : CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

This illustration photo shows the Apple app store logo reflected from an iPhone onto the back of an iMac in Los Angeles, August 26, 2021.

Furthermore, the FCC commissioner boldly argued that TikTok is "not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes."

It is worth noting that the video sharing platform has become popular to young folks, thanks to its entertaining content, such as trendy dance and laughable clips.

But Carr says it is more than just that, claiming that all the fun videos are merely "the sheep's clothing."

The commissioner told Google and Apple that "TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data."

TikTok is not just another video app.

Thats the sheeps clothing.



It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.



Ive called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn  Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022

Related Article: Google Play Store Kicks Out Apps Secretly Collecting User Data! Outdated Apps To Be Removed?





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Written by Teejay Boris

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Google has announced in a blog post that it is going to launch the "Carbon Footprint for Google Workspace" in 2023.

The upcoming feature is an expansion of the search giant's "Carbon Footprint for Google Cloud" calculator, which was introduced in 2021.

Google's Carbon Footprint Workspace

According to Gizmodo, Google's new feature will allow companies that use Google Workspace to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions that are connected to their usage of Google services such as Drive, Gmail, and Meet.

The carbon footprint calculator will include both the direct emissions from Google's energy usage and the less direct ones.

Also Read: Google's Engineering Support to Back Up Normative For a 'Starter Version' of New Carbon Emissions Tracker

How the Calculator Works

All the things that you type using Google's services are stored in a server that recalls them online and files them via a supply of electricity. With the new feature, the search giant will show companies the overall climate impact of their portion of the servers.

The tool was announced together with other initiatives ahead of the Google Cloud Sustainability Summit.

The companies that want to get an accurate calculation of their total emissions, this tool will be very helpful.

However, Google did not specify what it wanted companies to do with the results and what they can do to lower their emissions.

Aside from the Workspace carbon calculator, the search giant also announced a new energy and emissions tracking tool, and new sustainability-focused partnerships.

The company also stated that it will be launched an option for Google Cloud users to source their server storage from low-carbon locations.

Companies can choose to check a box that restricts their Cloud service to those generated in a select group of places powered by renewables.

Google's Climate Change Pledge

In 2020, Google has made one of the most ambitious environmental commitments out of all of the tech giants. It has promised that it will work to run its operations purely on carbon-free energy by 2030, according to The Verge.

It has also announced that it has purchased enough carbon offset to cancel out all of the planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions that the company has released since it was launched in 1998.

In 2007, Google has been carbon neutral, which means that it offsets the emissions it generates from burning fossil fuels by investing in renewable energy projects or other initiatives that draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into its storage, according to Bloomberg.

However, relying on offsets does not actually absolve Google out of fossil fuels. The company released 4.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2108, which is the amount that is more than 1 million passenger cars put out in just a year.

Google's pledge announcement came after California continues to suffer from the smoke that comes from blazes, and it is made much worse because of climate change.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company has until 2030 to chart a sustainable cause of Earth or we may all "face the worst consequences of climate change."

Pichai added that we are already feeling the impacts from the wildfires in the United States to flooding in many parts of the world.

Related Article: Google is Tracking Weather Patterns to Make Its Data Centers More Environment Friendly

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Written by Sophie Webster

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Spectrolab manufactures the solar cells that landed on the moon. These solar cells were a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company, which has helped power the US' space for the past six years. This includes NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity, which lasted 15 years in operation on Mars.

(Photo : Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images)

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - APRIL 27: In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti onboard, on April 27, 2022 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

One of the recent successes of Spectrolab is from the International Space Station (ISS) whose main flagship solar arrays are 100 percent powered by the company's space-grade solar cells. These also comes with the biggest power-generating panels that were ever deployed in space.

Spectrolab built the first-ever 200,000 original solar cells that keep the ISS powered since 2000. It also manufactured and deployed the cells for Boeing's CST-100 Strainer spacecraft that will be used to transport the ISS crew.

Also, two additional solar arrays that feature the company's cells were launched to augment the ISS power system. In the next two years, four more arrays will launch.

Also Read: NASA is Decommissioning the ISS by 2031-Extends Support from 2024 to 2030 But Will They Destroy It?

The ISS

Sprectrolab has new ISS arrays, which are half the size of the space station's original arrays. These are stronger and more efficient, which makes them even more powerful. They can produce over 120 kilowatts of electricity and combined with the eight originals, these new six arrays will produce 215 kilowatts.

Therefore, the ISS will have a 20 to 30 percent power boost to their systems and equipment. It will also enable new research capabilities, a bigger permanent crew of seven, and new commercial modules that are slated in the coming years.

The six new ISS arrays are equipped with over 1,150 solar power modules and 55,000 solar cells. Two of these arrays were installed in 2021 that marked a significant structural change to the ISS in ten years.

Spectrolab is also expecting an increase in demand for modular solar cells and flexible arrays . They also see a power demand in Earth's orbit as the need for space power continues to grow. With that, Spectrolab will scale up to meet that demand.

Spectrolab is also planning to use its solar cells to power the next-generation of orbital power platforms. These include deep-space missions for exploring our solar system, near-Earth space missions for docking spacecraft, and high-altitude platforms for telecommunications, aviation, and weather.

These power platforms will feature solar arrays, which will be high-performing, lightweight and thin. They will also be smart and electronically controlled. This will power next-generation spacecraft and enable new applications in space.

About Spectrolab

Spectrolab has made a name for itself in aerospace and defense technology. They have pioneered innovative, high-performance power systems for the U.S. government, international customers, and commercial markets.

Spectrolab also works closely with its commercial partners to develop and implement customized solutions that exceed their power needs and requirements.

Related Article: Elon Musk To Save ISS From Russian Space Agency's Threat? Here's How SpaceX Can Help

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Elon Musk finally reached 100 million Twitter followers. This means he is now the 6th individual on the social media platform to achieve this number of followers.

(Photo : Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Tesla head Elon Musk talks to the press as he arrives to to have a look at the construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin on September 03, 2020 near Gruenheide, Germany. Musk is currently in Germany where he met with vaccine maker CureVac on Tuesday, with which Tesla has a cooperation to build devices for producing RNA vaccines.

As of writing, the former U.S. President Barack Obama still has the most number of followers on Twitter, with over 132 million.

He is followed by Justine Bieber (with over 114 million) and Katy Perry (with over 108 million). Meanwhile, Elon Musk has around 100.2 million Twitter followers, making him the fifth most-followed Twitter user.

Elon Musk Now Has 100 Million Twitter Followers!

According to Mashable's latest report, Elon Musk is popular on Twitter since he is quite active. He commonly posts his rants and other opinions on social media platforms.

(Photo : Photo by Patrick Pleul - Pool/Getty Images)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Armin Laschet, CDU Federal Chairman and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, talk during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory on August 13, 2021 in Grunheide near Berlin, Germany. The US company plans to build around 500,000 of the compact Model 3 and Model Y series here every year.

Also Read: Elon Musk Gets Twitter Board's Approval Over Takeover | What Does This Mean

However, some Twitter users noticed that he has been quite inactive on the online platform. If you will visit his official Twitter account, his last tweet was on June 21.

His latest Twitter post is about the issue with Dish Network's 120Ghz band.

"If they are successful, it would hurt the least served and completely unserved of the world. Very messed up," said the billionaire via his official Twitter account.

While some of his fans are worried about him being inactive on Twitter, other individuals said that he is focusing on Tesla and SpaceX.

This is already given since the giant automaker is expanding the Gigafactory Texas. Meanwhile, SpaceX is preparing for more commercial spaceflights.

Are Elon Musk's Followers Bots?

It is hard to conclude that the 100 million followers of Musk also consist of bots. But, The Verge reported that the issue of fake accounts on the social media platform is still worsening.

Previously, Twitter said that only 5% of the user accounts are bots or fake. However, Musk himself claimed that the fake accounts are more compared to the recent statistics provided by the social media giant.

Meanwhile, some experts are worried that the bot issue can affect Elon Musk's Twitter deal.

On the other hand, during the recent Twitter townhall meeting, Elon Musk said that excellent employees could work remotely.

For more news updates about Elon Musk and Twitter, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Twitter is Down! Users Only See a Poodle When Clicking a Site

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Written by: Griffin Davis

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(Photo : Unsplash/CHUTTERSNAP) EV

China has announced that it wants electric vehicles to make up 40% of new vehicles sold by 2030. However, the local government needs to figure out how to keep all of the EVs charged.

China Wants to Switch to EVs

In January, Chinese government guidelines required that each parking space in new residential buildings come with charging stations for electric vehicles.

Some cities have already required this and have subsidized the cost of adding EV chargers to older residential buildings and parking lots, according to Global Electricity.

However, the driving habits in China differ from those in the United States. Chinese car owners rely on public charging stations, unlike their Western counterparts.

State Grid and Southern Grid, the two main state electric companies in the country, maintain networks of high-speed charging stations along the highways.

Meanwhile, private electric companies are the ones that install charging facilities within the villages and cities, according to Wired.

Also Read: Chinese Gaming Industry Sees Massive Strides as Monetization Regulations Diminish

Putting a Strain on the Grid

The Chinese government's new guideline regarding the charging stations for EV vehicles is easier to apply to new neighborhoods, but for the older ones, it can put a strain on the grid, and even the utility companies are reluctant to make any upgrades.

Instead, the companies are direct charging providers to build stations where the grid is strong enough for EV charging, but the problem is the locations are not convenient for drivers.

Also, the EV chargers built along the highways and at public stations are too slow. Several outlets billed as fast chargers only offer 50kW charging, and it takes about an hour to charge an EV fully.

Roadside stations are required to offer 100kW charging or higher, which can replenish a vehicle in only 15 minutes.

China aims to have 40% of the vehicles in the country to be electric by 2030, which means that a lot more vehicles will need to be charged.

This requires the Chinese government to place charging stations across the country by 2025 to meet the needs of more than 20 million cars.

China's Big Tech Crackdown

The Chinese government seems to have a tight grip on the tech industry. Aside from the EV charging station requirements, authorities have also introduced new laws to limit the amount of time that children can play online games.

In August 2021, Chinese officials became more strict with how long players under the age of 18 spend online. The regulatory intervention is designed to tackle internet addiction amongst the youth.

Anthony Fung, a professor in digital media at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, has stated that the government doesn't even talk about its policies. They implement them.

In March 2022, China expanded the video game rule to streaming services and several social media platforms. The government also launched new rules around algorithmic recommendations, according to SCMP.

However, the gig economy workers who rely on algorithmic decisions were heavily hit by China's new law.

Graham Webster, a research scholar at Sandford University's Cyber Policy Center, told Wired that the Chinese government was able to move quickly in developing and putting into effect its new regulations.

The effectiveness of the new regulations is still being questioned as they are adding a massive burden to tech companies and the people who rely on them.

Related Article: China's Huawei, Baidu, Xiaomi Invests $19b on Electric Vehicle Ventures, Self-Driving Technology

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Written by Sophie Webster

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Unlocking the Potential of the UK Japan Relationship Through Technology

Guest blog by Clark Vasey, Head of Corporate Affairs from Fujitsu UK on strengthening the UK-Japan strategic partnership through innovation and trade

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UK and Japan in 2020 we have seen a welcome strengthening of the relationships between the two countries. This is creating opportunities for companies of all sizes in both the UK and Japan to grow and flourish in each others markets bring economic benefit to both countries.

Tech is right at the heart of the potential that this growing relationship can bring. From the ambitious Digital Chapter and mechanisms for shared innovation in the free trade agreement to the joint announcement of digital collaboration in May 2022 tech is critical to what both countries can achieve together. Both countries are committed to flourishing science and technology super powers with leadership in critical areas of emerging technologies. As both the UK and Japan have set out their strategies for technology it is clear both countries are ambitious about the future with shared strategic goals.

Password to watch the video: LTW2022

As both governments increase their work together, the tech sectors of both countries are no less ambitious and indeed are critical to unlocking the potential of this collaboration.

This is why techUK and JEITA established the UK Japan Tech Forum to bring together tech companies from both countries to demonstrate the benefit of increasing trade and investment in technology. Chaired by the Head of Fujitsu Europe, Paul Patterson, the Forum brings together industry and government together to explore opportunities and discuss how we can go further to achieve more together.

At Fujitsu we have talked about the benefits from building an Innovation Bridge between the UK and Japan. Increasing the flow of technology and innovation between the UK and Japan can help solve big challenges to benefit business, government and society. The UK Japan Tech Forum can help realise this great bridge of innovation.

We are already seeing the benefits this international partnership through increasing trade and investment. The Forum is here to enable this to go further by bringing together UK and Japanese tech companies of all sizes interested in growing this relationship and reaping its benefits.

Its an exciting time to be part of UK and Japanese tech so for companies who want to be part of this innovation bridge the Forum is keen to hear from you.

To learn about how to get involved in the UK Japan Tech Forum or for more information please contact Jana Psarska at [email protected]

You can also join us on 4 July for the UK-Japan Tech Forum meeting to discuss future opportunities for UK-Japan cooperation on tech and innovation. Register here.
[Pick] "Why do I have to show the voice confirmation?" Passenger who made a fuss in the plane, was finally tried
Press Release

June 28, 2022 On inclusion of Tiangco in intel report submitted to Senate

'A failure of intelligence'Sen. Nancy

...says she's dismayed over NICA's F6 list Sen. Nancy Binay today spoke in defense of Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco saying the inclusion of the mayor's name in a Senate committee report is a result of failed intelligence. Binay said that Tiangco has been very active and vocal about smuggling and diversion of marine and aquatic products in Navotas City which are being imported by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). "Napaka-imposible at no way na maging protector si Mayor Toby. I know him personally and I believe his name shouldn't have been in the list in the first place. Sa totoo lang, ever since, sobrang active ni Mayor Toby laban dyan sa pagpuslit ng mga BFAR imported products. Sa mga nangyayaring milagro doon sa mga entry points sa Navotas, si Mayor mismo ang sumulat sa DA para i-report ang smugglingpero dedma lang ang DA. Ang city government na mismo ang nag-file ng mga kaso sa DOJ laban sa smugglers dahil nga parang walang pakialam ang DA. So, ganito na ba ang intel natinall of a sudden we turn the table against the whistleblower?" the senator pointed out. Binay noted that the inclusion of Tiangco in the NICA report submitted to the Senate lacks details and explanation, has no material basis, and is a product of misinformed guesses. "Sa Senado, yung intel reports should provide clarity and guidance for us senators. We have seen NICA reports culled from fake sources and social media posts being submitted to the Senate. Oftentimes, laziness and incompetence are the reasons why these reports backfireNICA somehow fails to fact check and, most often, gets the facts wrong. Ang nakakalungkot, faulty intel can damage and scar innocent people's reputation," she added. In previous Senate committee hearings, senators have often questioned faulty intel reports from NICA which are later discovered gathered from unverified open sources, unreliable intel, and Facebook posts. FOCUS ON FISHING INDUSTRY On the opening of the 19th Congress, Binay said she is set to file a resolution calling for an inquiry on the reported smuggling in the fisheries sector, and what should be done to help and support fisherfolks and the fishing industry. "Sa pagbubukas ng 19th Congress, dapat mapag-usapang muli ang problema natin sa industriya ng pangingisda at pamamalakaya. Balak kong mag-file ng mga resolusyon kung paano natin matutulungan ang ating mga mangingisda, at paano solusyunan ang problema sa smuggling. Kailangan ng mas malalim at mas focused na diskusyon at talakayan kung ano'ng naging problema ng mga mangingisda; ano na ba ang nangyayari sa modernisasyon sa ilalim ng AFMA, at iba pa," the senator noted. Binay, however, said she hopes that the smuggling problem in the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Customs be immediately addressed by the incoming administration. "Pagdating sa usapin sa problema ng smuggling, kailangan ng convergence from all government agencieslocal and national. This way, we can prevent smuggled food products and inputs get through our ports and borders. Pero ayusin muna natin ang binibigay nating impormasyon dahil nakasalalay doon ang laban kontra smuggling," the senator said. From 2016 to 2022, about 103 cases related to agricultural smuggling, with a total value of P1.35 billion smuggled products, have been filed. On record, the National Prosecution Service filed agricultural smuggling-related cases only against four people, one of the cases has been dismissed due to lack of evidence.
A Baton Rouge Police officer is the subject of a criminal probe into allegations that he leaked evidence from open investigations, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

The department said in a press statement that the officer is on administrative leave pending the criminal probe. Details such as his name, rank, what evidence he allegedly revealed and who he shared it with were not provided.

The same two-page release had information about three more internal and criminal probes within BRPD  two of which are already public knowledge: First, the arrest of Benjamin Zeringue, a former officer accused of dumping guns that were evidence in years-old cases; and second, a probe into Sgt. John Dauthier, the department's representative on a disciplinary board who retired last week amid frustrations over the fairness of the chief's internal discipline process.

BRPD's narcotics unit imploded last year. Here's how it's still affecting court cases. Two brothers received reduced sentences more than five years after they were arrested on drug charges stemming from the testimony of a disgrac

A fourth investigation is ongoing, too, the statement says, and is "addressing another potential breach within the ranks." Asked for more details, BRPD spokesperson Lt. Don Coppola would say only that all the investigations are "ongoing administrative matters."

BRPD chief Murphy Paul touted the investigations as an example of his administration's focus on rooting out misconduct within the department's ranks.

"Despite numerous attempts to interfere with recent investigations, we will continue to aggressively pursue the truth that the public deserves," he said in the press statement.
An Australian-founded eco-friendly NFT music marketplace has raised $6 million in funding from the likes of actor Hugh Jackman and musician Bernard Fanning, with a goal of getting artists onboard the emerging - but contentious - NFT space.

Founded by Max Shand, a venture capitalist, music writer and the first employee at tech giant Afterpay, Serenade offers artists a way to create limited-run digital pressings of their albums as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which fans can then purchase alongside various other digital collectibles.

Serenade founder Max Shand says he is conscious of the negative perception of NFTs within the music industry.

The sale of that digital pressing gives you a direct new revenue stream from fans and a relationship to your superfans that you can develop over time. It also allows artists to do things that have been either too expensive - such as a box set - or just not feasible, Shand told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Serenade has also been approved in the UK and in Australia to be the first chart-accredited NFT platform, meaning sales of digital pressings on the platform will count towards artists ranking on the charts.
Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern has been racking up the frequent-flyer points since New Zealand ended its COVID-induced hermit status. And next week, shes hopping back across the ditch for her second trip to Australia of the Albanese era, along with a business and trade delegation.

We hear a key stop on her tour is ANZs Docklands HQ, where the Kiwi delegation is set to meet with the banks senior leaders. As a corporate meet and greet, it makes sense  ANZ is the biggest bank in the country, and one of Arderns predecessors, Sir John Key, sits on its board.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda delivers the keynote address at Harvard University. Credit:AP

But its not quite as glam as St Jacindas recent US tour, where she was feted as a liberal icon, giving a commencement address at Harvard, appearing on comedian Stephen Colberts Late Show and chumming it with President Joe Biden, all as her domestic approval ratings plummeted.

Maybe shes better off on the road.
A man has been charged over his alleged role in the murder of Mahmoud Brownie Ahmad, who was shot dead in Sydneys south-west two months ago.

Police believe the 49-year-old man was involved in the planning of Ahmads murder and have charged him with accessory before and after the fact to murder.

Mahmoud Brownie Ahmad was shot dead in April.

The man was first arrested on drug and criminal charges in Campsie on May 2 when police seized more than 25 kilograms of methylamphetamine, worth more than $22 million, from his Wetherill Park home.

Police also seized $200,000 in cash and cloned number plates.
But the independents and crossbenchers were always going to complain loudly, and so they have. Instead of cups of tea and a chat, we have had days of megaphones at 20 paces.

Fridays announcement that incoming crossbenchers would see their allocation of advisers cut from four to one was portrayed by ministers as a response to tighter budgetary conditions, and by Albanese as a return to normal after Scott Morrisons largesse in this area.

Those who noted the sharp increase in the number of crossbench MPs were reminded that Albanese had been leader of the House in Julia Gillards minority government, when good relations with key crossbenchers were crucial to passing legislation. He knows what its like in terms of dealing with people respectfully across the chamber, Gillard told the ABC earlier this month.

Perhaps there is a compromise on the way but, really, why should crossbenchers have eight staff, while backbenchers have just four? The government has offered them one extra personal adviser, plus the four electorate officers everyday backbenchers enjoy. Perhaps they deserve one more to cope with the challenges of having to be across the sweep of legislation, but cutting their staff from eight to five doesnt seem outrageous.

There are dangers and opportunities for the crossbenchers. The threat by some to block legislation in the Senate until the government backs down on staffing  they claim they may not be able to properly scrutinise bills  must surely be an option of last resort. One of the reasons they were elected is that voters have had enough of wrecking tactics in parliament and want to get things done. Kooyong MP Monique Ryans warning that the independents will now target Labor seats at future elections because of this decision was disingenuous  as if keeping their staffing numbers would have meant no challenges to Labor.

It is to be hoped that the new arrivals and their more senior crossbench colleagues can work out ways to support each other, both in constructive negotiations with the government over staffing and in the longer term should those talks prove fruitless.

On election night, Labors Tanya Plibersek insisted that as far as the ALP was concerned, a win is a win. Yet, as both major parties have discovered in the past decade, wins can be frittered away and political capital wasted. The challenges ahead  environmental, geopolitical, economic and social  require renewed attention to governing on behalf of all Australians, and that means more than lip service to their elected representatives, especially from a government with a slim majority.

The crossbenchers of all political persuasions deserve to be treated with respect, but not with kid gloves. We are entering a fascinating time in Australian politics, and one in which the major parties may never dominate in quite the same way as before. The new government needs to consult and bring people with it where it can. On some issues, the crossbench will have some sway; on others, the government will pursue the agenda it took to the election. The independents represent just one electorate; the government must have a broader agenda.
Kuala Lumpur: Australia is wargaming with allies about the best way to stand up to Russia at next weeks G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali without derailing Indonesias presidency of the group of leading economies.

Russias embassy in Jakarta has confirmed the attendance of its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at the two-day meeting on the holiday island, which will bring him face to face with Australias Penny Wong and other counterparts from around the world.

Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine will be an unavoidable topic in Bali despite the G20s emphasis on economic recovery and Australian officials have had talks with representatives from other nations about how to best convey their anger towards Moscow there.

Sergey Lavrov has served as Russias Foreign Minister since 2004. Credit:Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to supporting Indonesia in its moment in the sun as head of the G20 this year despite the continuing inclusion of Russia. It is a different approach to that of predecessor Scott Morrison, who had in March frowned upon the invitation of Putin, describing the idea of sitting around a table with the Russian leader as a step too far.
"I am a Very. Good. Person." On a recent episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the couture-clad Southern belle Sutton Stracke hurled those words at multi-millionaire and former Bosnian refugee Diana Jenkins, as if they were warning shots backed by heavy (and surely very expensive) artillery. How dare you reference the things I have done? reads the thought bubble above Stracke's head. That is not who I AM!

Perhaps you're allergic to drawing sociological insights from Andy Cohen's clubhouse (is a Bravo-watching, drama-loving voyeur just not who you ARE?). But you're not likely to find an interaction that better sums up the lengths to which Americans go to stake their claim in the right identity bucket with the right compatriots on the right side of history. Divorcing who we are from what we do (and who we do it to) ties us in quite a knot  and playwright Steph Del Rosso does her best to unravel it in her new play 53% Of, now running off-Broadway at Second Stage Uptown's McGinn/Cazale Theater.

Del Rosso in no way tries to reconcile the space between people's actions and identities. No metaphysician in the world could do enough logical somersaulting. Instead, she attempts to expose all parts of America's wretched political spectrum (particularly its Caucasian portions) for playing the same ludicrous game. And while her play's title directly references the infamous 53% of white women who voted for our he-who-shall-not-be-named 45th President in 2016 (his name is never actually spoken in the play), don't be fooled into thinking the remaining 47% are spared from culpability.

Anna Crivelli and Cathryn Wake as Denise and Vicky, conservative moms of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

( Joan Marcus)

Representatives of the 53% are the women we meet in Del Rosso's opening scene. In a festooned living room in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, we find Denise, Leslie, Sue, and Vicky (Anna Crivelli, Marianna McClellan, Grace Rex, and Cathryn Wake, respectively)  a group of local moms who fight for the honor to introduce then-candidate Donald Trump at a school event (scenic designer Emmie Finckel uses Christmas decor, cutesy Home Goods signs, and an extra-large American Flag to turn the stage into a suburban Republican wonderland). PJ, a blue-collar outlier sourced from Facebook who joins the group (played by a cheerfully confrontational Eden Malyn), ends up throwing everyone into a tizzy  particularly our turtlenecked Denise (on-the-nose but cleverly malleable costumes by Lux Haac), who desperately grasps for the thing that makes her different from the crass and conspicuously racist woman who just crashed her party.

This identity crisis is followed by two more (members of the all-female cast double and triple up on their sometimes gender-bending roles): An inauguration party scene with these dissatisfied women's cheating husbands, pervaded by an undercurrent of "I may cross some lines, but I would never cross that line"; followed by a peek inside the lives of the ladies' woke, New York counterparts. Here we meet a group of millennials who spend their evenings sitting around a Brooklyn apartment meditating on their white guilt, debating the ethics of corporatized donuts, and brainstorming marches like they're prom themes. These women also spare some time to panic about how they may have alienated KJ (Ayana Workman), the only Black woman to once attend these inane meetings and then conspicuously stop showing up (Workman gives a lovely if all-too-brief performance in the play's final scene as the poster child for women of color whose voices are drowned out by all the white noise).

Eden Malyn, Marianna McClellan, and Anna Crivelli as Republican husbands RJ, Larry, and Derek.

( Joan Marcus)

If you're hoping to gain some new insights into the collective psyche of the white women who voted red in 2016 (and 2020), be warned that 53% Of and its misleading title will leave that itch unscratched (even in light of recent Supreme Court events, most of the play's triggering comments are too broad to be truly cutting). Del Rosso's play is not in the business of reframing the past, or humanizing the frustrated Trump voters of America. On the contrary, Del Rosso and director Tiffany Nichole Greene confiscate layers of depth and nuance from both sides of the aisle in order to draw clear parallels between their respective strategies of living selfishly while proclaiming ultimate righteousness (despite the sense of caricature on both sides, Del Rosso has a firmer grasp on her New York characters, which comes through in the actors' performances).

It's certainly a fair observation, but one that is not made with enough refinement to distinguish comparison from moral equivalency  or to make a bold case for moral equivalency, if we're really looking to rile up our white, liberal theatergoers. Instead, we're left a bit stuck between heightened absurdism and diluted political commentary, and we're able to slip through the cracks with an easy out of: I'm nothing like any of those people.

Crivelli, as all three of her characters  conservative Denise, lascivious Derek, and platitude-spouting Dana  becomes the mouthpiece for the bipartisan cries of "I'm a good person." And while it's interesting to see how this self-preservation instinct manifests on both sides of our culture war, it registers more as the playwright's frustrated reflections than a pointed thesis. We might catch glimmers of Denise, Derek, and Dana's parallel realizations that their "good person" proclamations are built on houses of straw. But the real story, which we never get to see, is how they might sweep up the wreckage and start again. Unless that's as far-fetched as a Housewives dinner party without tears.
You've never seen a Hamlet like this, and there's a reason for that. Robert Icke's sleekly modern yet textually faithful production originally played London's Almeida Theatre in 2017 before transferring to the West End where it won a galaxy of five-star reviews. Now making its North American premiere at Park Avenue Armory, it is the dramatic equivalent of a ruined orgasm  which is clearly titillating to many British theater critics.

As designed by Hildegarde Bechtler, Elsinore looks like the office of a well-funded tech start-up: Sliding glass panels separate rooms in what appears to be an old brick warehouse in DUMBO (or perhaps an old brick castle in Denmark). Upstage, Gertrude (Jennifer Ehle) and the newly crowned Claudius (Angus Wright) celebrate their nuptials as Hamlet (Alex Lawther) broods downstage about how it hasn't been two months since his father (Gertrude's first husband and Claudius's brother) died. But then the ghost of the old King (David Rintoul) appears on the castle's CCTV (Tal Yarden's horror film video design represents the most pulse-quickening element of the production). He tells Hamlet how Claudius murdered him, and commands him to avenge his death  a task to which the eternal grad student is entirely unsuited.

Alex Lawther stars in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Robert Icke, for Almeida Theatre at Park Avenue Armory.

( Stephanie Berger)

His voice wrapped in an inky cloak, Lawther (who did not appear in the London run) is the very essence of sadness presented in an incongruously cherubic form. The actor is 27 but looks much younger than that, which is remarkable in an era that favors the heightened pathos and political resonance of a middle-aged Hamlet battling a conspiracy of the elderly.

There are downsides to having such a young actor play Shakespeare's most difficult role. Lawther doesn't so much saw the air with his hands as much as he conducts the verse emerging from his mouth, as if leading the Elsinore philharmonic. Musically, his delivery is perfection, but I kept wondering if his hand business was a crutch  a young actor flailing in a sea of words. I suspect that he would float just fine without all that exertion.

Sound designer Tom Gibbons makes Lawther's voice echo through the Drill Hall during his soliloquys, which are presented with the lights (designed by Natasha Chivers) bumped up to make it clear the Prince of Denmark is addressing us. It feels like a lecture from the newest superstar intellectual (certainly, one can glean more insight from Hamlet than the entirety of the TED Talk canon). Icke ensures that the words are all there with a cut of the text that goes beyond shaggy (there are sections I've never heard performed onstage). At three hours and 45 minutes, this is sure to thrill Shakespeare completists, if not casual theatergoers.

Angus Wright, Jennifer Ehle, and Peter Wight appear in William Shakespeare's Hamlet at Park Avenue Armory.

( Stephanie Berger)

Icke's Hamlet further benefits from fleshy, revelatory supporting performances: Kirsty Rider's Ophelia is the ultimate innocent bystander, driven to destruction by the machinations of the powerful (her flowers are presented as self-inflicted wounds). Ehle and Wright depict a convincing second marriage based on real affection and trust, the breaking of which is more devastating than anything else in the production. Ehle's Gertrude carefully walks the line between monarch and mother, never abandoning one for the other until the very end. The look on her face when she makes that fateful decision is seared into my memory (Ehle is a last-minute addition to the cast, stepping in for Lia Williams who was sidelined by an injury). When Hamlet picks up a handgun and starts pointing it at people, everyone contributes to making the moment feel frighteningly real, especially Peter Wight, whose Polonius collapses in a bloody heap in Gertrude's walk-in closet.

Lucid interpretations of the text and committed performances support a strong directorial vision, which situates itself at the newsworthy intersection of mental health and firearms. Icke's Hamlet would seem to have everything going for it  so why does it feel like such a slog?

Tia Bannon, Jennifer Ehle, Angus Wright, Alex Lawther, Kirsty Rider (on screen) watch The Mouse-Trap scene (performed by Ross Waiton and David Rintoul onstage) in Robert Icke's production of Hamlet at Park Avenue Armory.

( Stephanie Berger)

A huge factor is Icke's determination to thwart dramatic satisfaction in the moments we most expect it: When Claudius storms out from The Mouse-trap (which goes on entirely too long), it doesn't lead to chaos and Hamlet gloating about how he caught the King. Instead, the assembled court stares at two stalled actors for an uncomfortably long time until a member of the stage crew announces the first of two intermissions. Then there's the sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes (an explosive Luke Treadaway), usually presented as the action-packed finale of a wordy play about indecision. Here, it is underscored by Bob Dylan's "Not Dark Yet," its mellow melancholy acting as a wet blanket on a smoldering fire (realistic fencing choreography by Thomas Schall). The moment is beautiful and heartbreaking but eschews any trace of suspense in favor of inevitable doom, which arrives not with a bang but a whimper. This Hamlet doesn't so much defy augury as wave a white flag of surrender.

Of course, we know how this 400-year-old tragedy is going to end, but the art of reviving such a well-known play is in momentarily tricking us into thinking it might conclude a different way. This doesn't seem to interest Icke in the slightest, which may delight any disciples of Brecht that have wandered in from Park Avenue. Personally, I was relieved when Fortinbras (a sturdy and terse Nikesh Patel) finally swooped in and took over from these dithering Danes.
The Wyoming Supreme Court today issued an order of public censure of Cheyenne attorney Gay Vanderpoel Woodhouse.

The order stemmed from a disciplinary complaint against Woodhouse that was submitted to the Office of Bar Counsel of the Wyoming State Bar by a Cheyenne couple whose LLC was sued by Woodhouse in 2020.

The lawsuit related to a start-up business that operated a workout facility modeled on the Ninja Warrior television series.

Two LLCs partnered to operate the gym via a third LLC in which the two member LLCs owned equal shares.

Woodhouse sued on behalf of one of the member LLCs seeking various relief against the other member LLC and the LLC that operated the gym.

Although the complaint was styled as something akin to a derivative action, Woodhouse did not comply with statutory prerequisites to bring a derivative action.

The District Court for the First Judicial District (Sharpe, J.) granted opposing counsels motion to disqualify Woodhouse based upon a conflict of interest.

Thereafter, Judge Sharpe granted the defendants motion to dismiss the lawsuit, holding that Woodhouses complaint failed to state a claim because it was not pled in compliance with statutory prerequisites to bring a derivative action.

Once the underlying litigation resolved, the Office of Bar Counsel proceeded with investigation of the disciplinary complaint and concluded that there was clear and convincing evidence that Woodhouse violated Rule 1.7 (concurrent client conflict of interest), Rule 3.1 (asserting a claim lacking factual or legal basis) and Rule 8.4(d) (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice) of the Wyoming Rules of Professional Conduct.

The matter proceeded to a hearing before the Board of Professional Responsibility, with the hearing panel finding that Woodhouse violated Rule 1.7 and Rule 3.1 but not Rule 8.4(d). The hearing panel submitted a report of its findings to the Wyoming Supreme Court along with a recommendation for issuance of a public censure to Woodhouse.

In approving and adopting the BPRs report and recommendation, the Court ordered Woodhouse to pay an administrative fee of $750.00 and costs of $50.00 to the Wyoming State Bar.

Order of Suspension
Photo: Blair Caldwell

If you were trying to count Taraji P. Hensons outfit changes at Sunday nights BET Awards, dont bother. Even Henson doesnt remember exactly how many outfits she had onstage, and thats not including the corset and YSL net dress she wore to Diddys after-party. (The official count is 14.) Every look came with new hair and nails  Henson has her own home salon, so if you thought she wasnt going to use this chance to turn out upwards of ten wigs, think again.

It was a packed night  Brandy and Jack Harlow teamed up to put their beef to rest, Lizzo performed dressed like a golden disco ball, and Mariah Carey made a surprise appearance that Henson says even she didnt see coming. It is not easy to host an awards show days after a shattering Supreme Court decision, but thanks to Henson and her many outfits, the night felt like a chance to feel joy for the first time that weekend.

Photos: Blair Caldwell. Photos: Blair Caldwell.

When we called her Monday afternoon, she was icing her feet and getting ready to fly back to Atlanta.

How the hell did you swing all of those outfit changes?

A lot of times I didnt make it to the dressing room, I was right on the side of the stage with a bunch of people covering me up. You gotta make it happen.

The hair was all wigs, and the nails were press-on, so my nail tech had everything prepared ahead of time. I was so impressed with the auntie nails. The artwork on those was amazing. She had my name spelled out with hardware. There were earrings and rings on them, jewels, crystals, denim. There were also Coogi patterns on them because I was wearing a Coogi sweater dress. That whole look was just different, you know? It was the culture. I have a salon and I love doing my own nails, but Ive never done anything like that before. That was orgasmic to me.

Photo: Blair Caldwell

How did hosting this year feel different than last?

Grander, probably because of all the surprises. When I spoke to Brandy, she couldnt tell me what she was doing. She was, like, Im doing something really important, but I cant say anything. She blew my wig back coming out with Jack Harlow. And no one saw Mariah Carey coming.

You and a few other presenters talked about Fridays SCOTUS ruling during the night. What it was like to process Fridays news while prepping for the night?

We had to address it. It affects us all. I mean, what show are we putting on? Who are we trying to reach if were not talking about whats really happening in the world? As an artist I kind of feel obligated  like its what I should do. People look to us, because we have a voice and we have a microphone, to kind of be their voice. And I care. So we knew we wanted to make a statement.

Photos: Blair Caldwell. Photos: Blair Caldwell.

Even before Fridays decision came out, you mentioned on Peoples podcast youre considering living abroad. Are you even more serious about that now?

Yeah, cause  I dont know about this place anymore. Whats to come? They take that away, whats next? Im hoping Spain, Italy, or the South of France. They all seem like neutral zones where I can be Black and its not a problem or a threat.

You also mentioned youre planning a vacation with Mary J. Blige. Whats your dream destination for a girls trip?

A yacht in the Mediterranean sea.

Thats how you can spend all your time if you end up in Europe.

That part.

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Law enforcement officers work at the scene where people were found dead inside a trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas, on June 27, 2022. (Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters)

2 Mexican Suspects Connected to Texas Smuggling Deaths in Truck Charged by Prosecutors

Two illegal aliens from Mexican allegedly linked to the deadly smuggling operation that left 51 men and women dead in the back of a sweltering semi-trailer in Texas were charged by federal prosecutors with firearm-related offenses on Tuesday.

According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, Juan Francisco DLuna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio DLuna-Mendez were charged with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally. Both had overstayed their B-2 visas. Their first hearing will be held on July 1.

The men were discovered after authorities traced the trucks registration to a San Antonio residence that was then put under surveillance, the complaint states.

The men were seen exiting the residence in separate vehicles after which they were pulled over by police and two of the guns were discovered. After obtaining a search warrant, more firearms were discovered in the house. Each suspect is charged with three firearms offenses, each of which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

A third suspect, described as a U.S. citizen, who reportedly drove the truck, has not yet been charged but was taken into custody and remains in hospital.

Law enforcement officers investigate a tractor-trailer carrying illegal immigrants, including dozens who died, in San Antonio, on June 27, 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)

Prosecutors have requested the two Mexican suspects be held without bond.

The bodies of 46 illegal immigrants were discovered in the back of a semi-trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio on Monday in what U.S. and Mexican authorities described as the deadliest human smuggling incident in recent times.

Sixteen individuals, a mix of adults and minors, who were found alive in the truck were transported to the hospital, where an additional four later died.

Temperatures at the location where the truck was found, near some train tracks, had swelled to a high of 103 Fahrenheit (around 39 Celsius).

Official Responses

The nationalities of the 51 dead included Mexicans, Guatemalans, and Hondurans, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency didnt provide information about the nationality of the remaining passengers.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday said poverty in the victims home countries and U.S. border security problems were to blame for the incident.

These unfortunate events that of course have to do with the situation of desperate poverty of our Central American brothers, and of Mexicans, he said during his daily briefing. [It] happens because there is also human trafficking and lack of controls, in this case, on the border with the United States and inside the United States.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, more directly blamed the tragedy on the open border policies of President Joe Biden.

These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law, he wrote on Twitter.

Law enforcement officers work at the scene where people were found dead inside a trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas, on June 28, 2022. (Reuters/Go Nakamura)

But the White House disagrees that the southern border is open, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre telling reporters, The fact of the matter is the border is closed.

On Tuesday, Biden described the incident as horrifying and heartbreaking in a statement in which he vowed to crack down on the multi-billion-dollar criminal smuggling enterprises that have helped fuel a record number of migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since he took office in January 2021.

Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, Biden said.

Allen Zhong contributed to this report.
The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics centre in Boves, France, on Aug. 8, 2018. (Pascal Rossignol/Reuters)

Amazon Joins Major Retailers Limiting Purchases of Emergency Contraceptive Pills

Amazon has joined a growing number of companies that are limiting sales of emergency contraceptive pills amid a surge in demand following last weeks Supreme Court ruling that ended the constitutional right to have an abortion in the United States.

The online retailer confirmed to CNBC that it has placed a temporary limit on purchases of the morning-after pills to three per week.

Emergency contraceptive pills reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. They can also be taken after birth control failure, and are most effective within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

According to earlier reports, Amazons website showed that users can only purchase up to three Plan B products, which is a popular brand of the drug Levonorgestrel.

A generic version of the drug called My Choice could also be purchased for up to 30 units.

However, as of June 29, stocks of Plan B are low while My Choice pills are unavailable to purchase from the website.

The Epoch Times has contacted Amazon for comment.

The Seattle, Washington-headquartered e-commerce giant is the latest company to limit sales of emergency contraceptives after CVS Health Corp, Walmart Inc, and drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp announced similar moves on Monday amid unprecedented demand for the pills.

CVS limited purchases of over-the-counter emergency contraceptives to three per customer, while Walmart limited pills available to four or six per customer, spokespersons for each of the companies confirmed to The Epoch Times.

Increased Demand

Many of our products have online purchase limits in place. During times of fluctuating demand, these limits may change, a Walmart spokesperson said, noting that the limit was put in place to prevent stockpiling and reselling of the pills at higher prices.

A Rite Aid spokesperson told The Epoch Times: Due to increased demand, at this time we are limiting purchases of Plan B contraceptive pills to three per customer.

CVS has since removed the cap on purchases after sales returned to normal levels.

The limits on the purchases come as women across the country are reportedly stocking up on the emergency contraceptives amid fears that they might be pulled off shelves following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 precedent that legalized abortion in the United States.

The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

However, women who live in states that have restricted abortions are still able to travel to other states where such laws are not in place, such as California, New York, and Nevada.

In the meantime, Planned Parenthood Federation of America has warned Americans not to stockpile emergency contraceptives to ensure that women have enough access to them.
Americans Should Play Game of Chess, Not Game of Money, in Competition with China: Reagan Admin Official

The United States should adopt an "offensive-defensive" technology strategy instead of a "shopping list," the official says

What was a conceptual cornerstone of President Ronald Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative is needed now in America more than ever in the face of rising threats from the Chinese Communist Party, a former Reagan administration official warns.

Michael Sekora, director of the once-classified Project Socrates, says the project was meant to find out what was making America weakmilitarily and economicallyand turn the tide around.

When we founded Socrates, we had a twofold mission, Michael Sekora told The Epoch Times in an interview in June. Number one, determine the true underlying cause of U.S. economic and military decline; and number two, once we understood the underlying cause, develop the means to reverse the decline that would ensure Americas superpower status for generations.

As the director of Socrates, Sekora had at his fingertips resources from the intelligence committee, academia, and cutting-edge industry research institutions, which gave him a birds-eye view of the landscape of the most strategically important technologies at the time.

I looked at Japan, I looked at the Soviet Union, I looked at the French, I looked at the Germans  I saw something interesting, Sekora explained. They were, basically from the national level, influencing the flows of technology in and out of the country, offensively and defensively.

That was when Sekora and his team proposed Socrates, which he called a strategy to play a game of chess in technology exploitation, to the closest advisers of Reagan and then Reagan himself.

Its not a central-planning scheme nor an industrial policy; Socrates was a whole-of-society gameplan that placed technological superiority as the central objective, Sekora told The Epoch Times.

Sekora said he and his team then proved to Reagan, by applying the Socrates framework to the Strategic Defense Initiative, that the program would be a game-changer when implemented nationwide while aligned with the U.S. founding principles of self-governance and self-enterprise.

Thats why Reagan loved Socrates, Sekora said, adding that Reagan had an executive order drafted close to the end of his presidential term that would have implemented Socrates across America, but was later nullified by President George H. W. Bush.

A Declining America

According to Sekora, Project Socrates was born because the Reagan administration saw the United States as being superseded by its competitors in technological and economic prowess after World War II.

At the end of World War II  the United States was the only country left with the capabilities to satisfy the worlds needs, Sekora said. So the requirements to actually build products and services that were competitive vanished.

As a result of this lack of competition, Sekora explained, U.S.-based companies shifted their modus operandi from being driven by technology-centered planning to a finance-based one.

In finance-based planning, the foundation of all decision making is optimizing the utilization of funds, Sekora said. You start with the money, you end with the money. Thats MBA at Harvard Business School.

In comparison, a society with technology planning centers its decision-making around exploiting current and future technology in a coordinated and strategic manner, which would guide the allocation of money, manpower, and resources accordingly, Sekora explained.

Sekora said that with resources in the intelligence community, open-source information centers, and industry research support, he had a birds-eye view of the performances of U.S. competitorsincluding Japan, the Soviet Union, and Chinain commercialmilitary fields.

He said that these nations were all using or starting to use technology-centered planning in society, which gave them a decisive advantage over the United States finance-planning-driven system.

Back in the early [1980s], we were losing industry after industry to Japan, Sekora said, referring to the United States 20th-century commercial competition with the country. While companies like General Motors were looking at profit margins, Sekora added, Japanese companies were systematically and strategically acquiring industries with a central objective of obtaining a lead in technology over the United States.

The solutions proposed by think tanks and policymakers at the time, according to Sekora, were one-liners that consisted of band-aid solutions.

Today, Sekora said, the decision-makers in America are making the same mistake with China.

Dangerous

According to Sekora, the Chinese Communist Partys whole-of-society approach to technology strategy is similar in form to Japans strategy in the 20th century, but much more threatening to the United States.

Chinas national technology strategy is addressing all sectors of competitionmilitary, economic, political, social, said Sekora.

He described how Chinas technology strategy operates in a two-tiered system. One tier consists of the Chinese Communist Party, which works closely with and directly commands major players like Huawei to gain advantages in the technological playing fieldusing methods both illegal, such as technology theft, and legal, such as the acquisition of technology companies with the primary objective of obtaining their technology, as well as anything in between.

The other tier consists of the rest of the tech ecosystem in China, where the smaller companies follow in the footsteps of the major players. In doing so, both tiers would act concurrently to further the technologicaland therefore economiccompetitiveness of the country.

This meaningful exploitation of technology, combined with an efficientvicious, but efficientcentrally-planned society, makes China dangerous, Sekora said.

Game of Chess

Sekora believes that to regain a competitive edge in technology over China, America must undergo a paradigm shift in its way of thinking and in its way of approaching technology strategy, and become more strategic.

Currently, the United States has been pouring money into foundational research and development without thinking too much about how this foundational research gives the country an edge in technological competitiveness, Sekora said.

He believes the United States approach would not work against China because instead of being a technology strategy, he describes it as a financial strategy for technology.

These integrated attacks of Chinawhere its economic, military, social, political, everything elsecan only be addressed [by] the same integrated approach from the U.S., Sekora said.

Instead, he proposed in Project Socratesapproved by and designated in Reagans executive orderthe establishment of a National Technology Strategy Board.

The board would include representatives from all strategic sectors in the United States, including military, financial, and commercial sectors, and would give guidance to the industry on the current strategic-technological priorities of the country.

Whats different about this proposal from that adopted by the Chinese regime, Sekora noted, is that the U.S. board would allow U.S. organizations of all sizes to work in symbiotic relationships with general guidance from the top instead of being a government-dictated structure.

The board would create what Sekora calls a four-dimensional technological space, a database of all current and future technological capabilities of the United States and its adversaries.

This database would present opportunities, risks, and constraints in technological development from a holistic perspectivea cross-industry, cross-sector birds-eye view, similar to what Sekora had when he founded Project Socrates.

Individual organizations, from the major corporations to small-and-medium enterprises, would be able to observe this technological space and wargame accordingly, Sekora said. Such a wargame would include strategies such as blocking technological transfer and theft, achieving efficiencies by joint technological development, and optimizing resources to align with national technological development priorities.

These organizations would therefore be able to work together in symbiotic relationships in a coherent, flexible, and independent manner, now they are more aware of the guiding priorities set forth by the national technology board and the competitive landscape, Sekora said.

Currently, Sekora is working with members of the U.S. Congress to propose this modern version of Project Socrates, a plan he calls the Socrates Automated Innovation Revolution.

Its a game of chess of technology  played both offensively and defensively, Sekora said. Bottom line is, were in a cold war with China. It is being exploited or being executed in the technology space. Technology space is the foundation of all competitive advantage.

Winning in this space is the only way the United States can win against China, Sekora said.
Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray is seen on Parliament Square with an amplifier on June 29, 2022. (Sophie Wingate/PA Media)

Anti-Brexit Campaigner Mulls Riding Around Parliament After Loudspeakers Seized Under New Law

An anti-Brexit protester said on June 29 that he might get a rickshaw and have a little whizz around Parliament after police told him to not blast his amplifiers near the building.

Steve Bray, a regular protester in Westminster known as Stop Brexit Man, had other amplifiers seized by police on June 28, hours after new laws in the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts (PCSC) Act came into effect.

The new law expanded the controlled area around Parliament, meaning that amplified noise equipment is banned in a wider area than before.

Other parts of the law, initially designed to target guerrilla protests by groups such as Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion, give police controversial new powers to set restrictions on noisy and disruptive protests.

Metropolitan Police officers swooped in on Bray in Westminster at about 1 p.m. on June 28, telling him that his amplifiers would be seized if he continued to use them in the area. They later took the equipment after Bray kept carrying on as normal.

Bray and a small group of protesters moved to other spots on June 29 with more amplifiers. But they were told by officers that the new spots are still part of the designated area where amplifiers are banned and that their new equipment would be seized if they continued.

Bray was seen on June 29 playing the 1975 Bay City Rollers song Bye Bye Baby overlaid with the lyrics Bye Bye Boris, referring to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as another protester banged a tin and dared officers to arrest me.

Undated photo showing Steve Bray outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. (Yui Mok/PA Media)

In a statement on Tuesday, the Met Police said: The man was using the equipment in a zone where the use of amplified equipment is prohibited.

He was spoken to by officers on multiple occasions in relation to specific legislation regarding the use of the amplifying equipment and that it would be seized if he persisted.

He was also reported for the offence. (This means that he will be considered for prosecution for the offence).

Well Get a Rickshaw

Speaking to the PA news agency following the incident on June 28, Bray branded the PCSC Act as a fascist law thats been rushed through Parliament, taking away our rights to protest.

They want protesters to just stand there with their hands folded, but protest is all about sound and vision. Without that, youre not a protest, but they dont want dissent and they dont like me, the anti-Brexit and anti-Tory protester said.

Bray said officers told him that he had been summoned and that hell have to go to court, with the equipment being held as evidence.

Im gonna elect trial by jury, and lets hope its 12 remainers, he said, insinuating the juries will make their judgment based on their opinion on Brexit.

He also said on June 29 that he had ordered more amplifiers.

Im going to link four amps together, not this week, maybe next week, and itll be twice as loud as it was here to compensate for the move to the corner, he told the PA news agency. In fact, Im going to wire eight together.

Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray is seen outside the Houses of Parliament in London on April 8, 2019. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

After being told that the new spots are still part of the designated area, Bray said, Maybe Ill strap that to my back, but its heavy, or get on a bike. Well get a rickshaw, and well have a little whizz around.

Donations to Brays fundraising page have shot up to 120,600 pounds ($146,200). More than 6,000 contributions have been made in the 99 weeks since the page was created.

Controlled Area

Officers said Brays equipment was being seized under section 145 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which gives the police the power to seize prohibited items in a controlled area around Parliament.

The controlled area, where amplifying equipment and tents are banned, was expanded on June 28 when relative provisions in the PCSC Act came into force.

Explanatory notes of the new law (pdf) said the expansion came after the Joint Committee on Human Rights recommended further legislation to protect the right of access to the parliamentary estate in a 2019 report (pdf) on the increased threat level to lawmakers.

PA Media contributed to this report.
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)

Any Chinese Attempt to Invade Taiwan Would Be Catastrophic Miscalculation: UK Minister

Any attempt by Chinas communist regime to invade Taiwan would be a catastrophic miscalculation, Britains Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Madrid, Truss said Beijing is in danger of making the same mistake that Russian President Vladimir Putin made in Ukraine.

Weve seen increased collaboration between Russia and China and we know that China is watching Ukraine closely. Theyre expanding their military capability and theyre extending their global influence, she said.

Truss said that NATOs new strategic report will make specific reference to China because it isnt just an issue for the Indo-Pacific region, its also an issue for Euro-Atlantic security.

She warned: I do think that with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable military there is a real risk that they draw the wrong idea which results in a catastrophic miscalculation such as invading Taiwan.

Economic Alternatives Needed

The foreign secretary said it is important that the free world work together to help ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself and to stress the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

She said Western nations needed to develop economic alternatives to China to ensure they do not become dependent on it in the way some countries are on Russian oil and gas.

This isnt just about hard security. It is about economic security, said Truss.

She said the increased dependency of Europe on Russian oil and gas contributed to a sense in which Russia felt enabled to invade Ukraine.

She said the West needs to learn the lesson as soon as possible, avoid becoming strategically dependent on China, and make sure it has strong alternatives.

The China Challenge

The Madrid summit will focus on NATOs future in response to not just Russias invasion of Ukraine but also the emergence of China as a military threat.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the allies will agree that China is a challenge to our values, to our interests, and to our security.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the British Armys Chief of the General Staff, said at a London event on June 28 that the West cannot ignore the exponential rise and chronic challenge of China, not just within the South China Sea but through its sub-threshold activities across the globe.

He said European countries should take up the burden of defending their own continent to free up U.S. resources that can be used to tackle the threat posed by the Chinese regime.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Riot police surround the Arizona Capitol after protesters reached the front of the Arizona Sentate building following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, in Phoenix, on June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona Republicans Seek to Prosecute Pro-Abortion Protesters Over Attempted Breach of Senate Building

Arizonas Republican lawmakers say they will review footage of the June 24 pro-abortion protest and attempted breach of the state Senate building in Phoenix to identify those involved.

We are a state that believes in law and order, said Arizona House Majority Whip Leo Biasiucci.

I am hopeful that with all of the footage from that night, those involved in trying to break into the capitol will be charged with the same charges as those involved on Jan. 6 [2021 at the nations capitol].

Biasiucci said that if law enforcement officials decline to act, the Senate will likely hold a hearing to determine who was involved in the violent protests.

It is imperative that we move quickly on this investigation and turn over all evidence to law enforcement. This behavior will not stop unless those involved are exposed and prosecuted to the fullest, he told The Epoch Times.

Security Barrier for High-Risk Situations

About four years ago, GOP state Senate President Karen Fann spearheaded an effort to deploy a permanent security barrier around Arizonas Capitol complex for high-risk situations similar to what was later seen during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.

That effort fell by the wayside, said state Senate Republican caucus spokeswoman Kim Quintero.

Like other state lawmakers and the governors office, Fann plans to revisit the proposal in the coming months, Quintero said.

She said Fann received numerous requests from Senate members to launch an investigation into the attempted insurrection of June 24.

There are a number of security cameras on the premises that captured a lot of footage that night, as well as cellphone videos, Quintero told The Epoch Times.

[Fann] will be reviewing all of that with law enforcement, the House, and the Governors Office in the coming weeks and months to see if there are any further prosecutorial actions that need to be taken to hold those accountable for violence and destruction.

Lawless Riot

State Sen. Wendy Rogers, another Republican, described the June 24 attempted break into the Senate building as a lawless riot by anti-lifers.

Department of Public Safety team members used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

We were told on the floor to assemble. The Senate building was in danger of being breached, Rogers told The Epoch Times. We were told to remain calm and proceed to the tunnel to go over to the House. As we were doing that, the mood was very professional and calm.

We eventually came back upstairs, and it was decided we would finish out the night in a Senate hearing room because the chamber had remnants of tear gas, which made it hard for some of us to do our business.

Rogers said the video captured several protesters throwing their body weight against the far western door of the Senate building, causing damage.

These anti-lifers [were] just threateningly trying to break in, she said.

Rogers said the protestors may not have known that several state lawmakers carry concealed firearms.

We carry at the Senate. We carry at the House. Members carry. It has been a historical precedent for years and years and years.

These thugs need to know if they come after the 48th state of Arizona, theyre not getting very far. Were not having it. This is not a scenario like what happened at the federal U.S. Capitol [on Jan. 6, 2021]. In Arizona, we will protect our capitol.

In the meantime, Rogers said state Attorney General Mark Brnovich needs to investigate what some lawmakers call an insurrection.

That needs to happen now. I would call it a violation of the rule of law. It was an angry crowd that tried to interrupt us doing the peoples business.
FILE - A person waits in line to vote in the Georgia's primary election on May 24, 2022, in Atlanta. More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data analyzed by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Army Vet Wins Colorado GOP Bout Between Political Newcomers

A former U.S. Army officer and West Point graduate running for his first political office has won the June 28 Republican primary in Colorados Congressional District 7 (CD 7).

Erik Aadland, an Iraq/Afghanistan combat veteran awarded the Bronze Star for valor, edged economist Tim Reichert and 2016 Jefferson County Trump campaign chair and 2020 Republican National Convention delegate Laurel Imer to win the GOP nod in CD 7.

Aadland, who has worked as an oil and gas industry project manager for the last decade, will take on state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat, in Novembers general election.

Pettersen was unopposed in the Democratic primary after qualifying for the ballot through the assembly process. Political parties in Colorado conduct preliminary county, district, and state-level assemblies to designate primary candidates. Candidates can also petition for direct access to the primary ballot.

Pettersen was placed on the ballot in assembly votes, and no challenger petitioned to face off in a primary. Her nomination was assured when she garnered the endorsement of retiring Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.).

Perlmutter has represented CD 7 for 16 years, but post-2020 Census redistricting has made what had been a Democratic stronghold more competitive for Republican candidates.

The refashioned CD 7 no longer includes some Denver suburbs while adding rural mountain areas to the mix.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State Office, as of May 1, there are 142,996 registered Democrats, 128,404 registered Republicans, and 234,980 registered voters unaffiliated with any party in the new district.

Despite a D+6 rating, the number of independent voters makes the district competitive, according to FiveThirtyEight. The Cook Partisan Voting Index rates CD 7 likely Democratic but also competitive.

Those independents44 percent of about 515,000 registered voterswill determine who wins in November, not only in CD 7 but in local, state, and congressional elections across Colorado, where 46 percent of the states 3.73 million voters are registered as unaffiliated with a party.

Independent voters can also essentially chart what candidates win primaries since Colorado law allows them to cast ballots in one primary of their choice.

Aadland told The Epoch News last week that appealing to independent voters in the district was a cornerstone of his strategy in distinguishing himself from opponents who touted similar conservative America First agendas that addressed border security, election integrity, gun-owners rights, school choice, parents rights, restricting abortion, support for law enforcement, and the reversal of Democratic energy policies.

Aadland said he checks all the boxes for CD 7 conservative voters but can win in a general election in the blue-tinged purple district because he is the only veteran and oilfield worker in the racecharacteristics that voters will identify with.

He said that veterans are absolutely garnering voters interest because veterans have demonstrated service and the proven capacity to work through ideological differences to produce tangible results that benefit all.

We need people of character, and veterans have demonstrated that, Aadland said.

Arland, Reichert, and Imer all campaigned as political newcomers representing something new and dynamic in the party.

Reichert, who contributed $500,000 to his campaign, said he had no tolerance for career politicians who have stopped working for Coloradans and only entered the campaign after developing an eight-point plan Handshake with the Middle Classdesigned to help restore the Middle Class.

Imer, a grassroots activist with real-world experience as a small business owner and home-school mom, was the first to declare in the race, even before Perlmutter announced his retirement, and told The Epoch Times last week that her string ground game would prove to be the difference.

Ive been on the ground for a year-and-a-half, talking with voters who are itching for someone new, something different, she said.

In Pettersen, Aadland will face a veteran progressive activist active in state campaigns for more than a decade. Elected to the state Senate in 2018, she was set to run for CD 7s congressional seat in 2020 before Perlmutter decided to seek an eighth term.
Banned in San Francisco Over Abortion Advocacy, Nancy Pelosi Receives Communion in Papal Mass in Rome

Over a month after being denied communion in her home city of San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has received communion on Wednesday at a Mass with Pope Francis in Rome.

The California Democrat, who is visiting Rome on a family vacation, was spotted during the official livestream of Pope Francis Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peters Basilica.

It was not immediately clear if the Pope was aware of Pelosis presence. According to the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, the Pope holds a General Audience every Wednesday, and the tickets are always open to the public and free of charge, meaning that anyone with a ticket may receive communion at this particular event.

Pelosis attendance of the papal Mass comes more than a month after Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco decided not to admit her to communion because of her active advocacy for abortion.

Cordileone notified Pelosi, a self-described devout Catholic, of his decision on May 19. He explained the ban in a letter sent the day after to the administrators and lay worshipers within the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others, Cordileone wrote in the message to Pelosi. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.'

Cordileone said Pelosi had never responded to his many requests to talk with her about her attempt to codify the U.S. Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in federal law. The decision, which legalized abortion at a federal level over the past decades, is no longer valid.

As you have not publically repudiated your position on abortion, and continue to refer to your Catholic faith in justifying your position and to receive Holy Communion, that time has now come, the archbishop wrote, noting that the speaker may only be admitted to communion again until she publicly repudiate[s] her pro-abortion advocacy and confess[es] and receive[s] absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.

Pelosi has since maintained her stance on what she calls privacy rights and freedom of reproductive health. After the June 24 ruling that overturned Roe and handed the question of abortion access back to individual states, Pelosi denounced the high courts conservative majority as extremists who work to punish and control the American people.

Democrats must continue our fight to expand freedom in America. Doing so is foundational to our oath of office and our fidelity to the Constitution, she said in a message to her fellow Democrat members of Congress.

Pelosi met with Pope Francis last October, when she traveled to Italy to deliver the keynote address at the opening session of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit. She also met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Beijings Claim to Sovereignty of Taiwan Strait Undermines US One China Policy

Commentary

The Chinese regime recently claimed sovereign rights on the entire Taiwan Strait, adding that U.S. warships sailing through it were partaking in provocative behavior. Beijings new move might have put the U.S. government in a more difficult position to continue its One China policy.

On May 23, U.S. President Joe Biden commented during a visit to Japan, that if China invades Taiwan, the United States will intervene militarily. But later during a White House press briefing, a spokesperson clarified that the U.S. One China policy had not changed.

Many pundits came to the conclusion that Biden again made an error, but few realized his statement was not a contradiction of the One China policy. The deviation from Biden to the White House spokesperson was only a difference between two sides of the same coin.

If the Chinese regime breaks the peace in Taiwan Strait, the U.S. military may be left with no other option but to intervene militarily.

Policy Versus Principle

In order to understand why a military intervention does not contradict the One China policy, it is necessary to know the differences between the U.S. One China policy and Chinas One China principle.

One China policy essentially means that the United States will not establish a formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, but the One China principle means that Taiwan is a part of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

The common ground between the U.S. policy and Chinas principle is there are no formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Taiwan. But the two sides have not come to any agreement over if Taiwan belongs to China.

U.S. President Richard Nixon speaks with Chinese Prime minister Zhou Enlai (R) during an official visit to China in February 1972. (Xinhua/AFP)

The United States and the PRC signed and published three joint communiques in 1972, 1979, and 1982 under the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan.

These communiques were the founding stones of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

In the first document signed in 1972, the United States stated: The government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. In the following two documents signed in 1979 and 1982, the United States reaffirmed the same position.

What did the U.S. government admit in this statement?

The U.S. government only admitted that it acknowledges, neither recognizes nor agrees, that the Chinese believe Taiwan belongs to China. The word China in this statement did not specifically mean the PRC.

There have been two governments in China: The communist government in Beijingcalled the Peoples Republic of China, and the government of Taiwancalled the Republic of China.

It is worth noting that the government of Taiwan declared a national emergency between 1947 and 1991 which included a series of laws that had the purpose of taking back control of mainland China. In other words, the governments on either side of the Taiwan Strait claimed the sovereignty of the other sides territory.

The approach of the U.S. government was not to agree with either side but to choose only one side to establish a formal diplomatic relation with. Therefore, the U.S. government only acknowledges the positions of both sides, but neither agrees nor recognizes their positions.

Following the formalization of the diplomatic relation between the United States and the PRC, most other Western countries established their relationship with China in a similar way. They only acknowledged or understood the Chinese position, but did not formally recognize or agree that Taiwan is part of the PRC. This strategy has been called the strategic ambiguity.

It is also worth noting in that three joint communiques, the U.S. government consistently used the word acknowledge in the English version of all three documents. In the Chinese version of these documents, the word acknowledge was correctly translated into Chinese only in the first document signed in 1972, but in the two latter documents, the word was translated into Chinese as recognize or agree. The English version of the three documents was consistent, but the Chinese version wasnt.

It is clear that when these documents were signed, the U.S. government and the Chinese regime held significant disagreements on how to identify the relationship between the PRC and Taiwan. However, the United States and the PRC decided to formalize the relationship between the two nations while keeping their differences.

Taiwanese sailors salute the islands flag on the deck of the Panshih supply ship after taking part in annual drills, at the Tsoying naval base in Kaohsiung on Jan. 31, 2018. (Mandy Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

Bottom Line and Boundary

It is important to note that in the three communiques, the U.S. government asked China to keep the peace in the Taiwan Strait in a return for the U.S. promise of not establishing a formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.

In other words, it was a bargain of quid pro quo: as long as China keeps the peace in the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. government would not establish a formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.

The bottom line of the U.S. One China policy is peace in the Taiwan Strait while establishing no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan is just the boundary of the policy.

In the first joint communique signed in 1972, the U.S. government clearly stated that it reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by Chinese themselves. With this prospect in mind, it affirms the ultimate objective of the withdrawal of all U.S. forces and military installations from Taiwan.

It is clear that the higher principle, or the ultimate U.S. interest presented in the document, was peace.

Peace was also the precondition for the then U.S. government to withdraw its military forces from Taiwan.

The joint communique signed in 1979 further emphasized the purpose of, and the U.S. interests in, the normalization of U.S.-China diplomatic relations: The United States of America and the Peoples Republic of China reaffirm the principles agreed on by the two sides  Both wish to reduce the danger of international military conflict. Neither should seek hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region  Both believe that normalization of Sino-American relations is not only in the interest of the Chinese and American peoples but also contributes to the cause of peace in Asia and the world.

In the joint communiques signed in 1982, the U.S. government once again affirmed its peacekeeping principle when it comes to resolving the Taiwan question.

The basis of U.S.-China relations has always been the three communiques, which unmistakably stated the ultimate principle of U.S.-China relations is to keep the peace over the Taiwan Strait. An invasion of Taiwan by the PRCs military will breach the three communiques, resulting in the end of U.S.-China relations. The U.S. president and the U.S. Congress shall then have every right to militarily intervene in Chinas invasion of Taiwan.

This means that a U.S. military intervention in any war that China could impose on Taiwan would not contradict the U.S. One China policy.

Taiwans Importance

Since joining WTO in 2001, there has been a continuous development of Chinas economy, its military, and its tech industry. It has enabled the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime to become aggressive as it expands its global power.

The CCPs record of human rights violations, and coercive behavior in trade, economic, and foreign relations has been a concern for some Western leaders.

To counter the regimes global expansion, the United States government under President Barack Obama started its rebalancing strategy in the Asia-Pacific region in 2011.

President Donald Trump, in the first year of his leadership, put into use a much more proactive approach known as the Indo-Pacific Strategy with Biden continuing in the same direction.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a joint news conference following the bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, on May 23, 2022. Biden reiterated U.S. commitment to defending Taiwan in case of an attack by Beijing. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

As stated in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, the region stretches from the U.S. Pacific coastline to the Indian Ocean, covering more than half of the worlds population, and nearly two-thirds of the worlds economy. The strategy calls this region the worlds center of gravity.

Amid all this, China, through its rapid and coercive expansion, has shown that its the main threat to the peace in the region and countries have been subsequently banding together.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy has three important arms: Japan, Australia, and India. While Japan and Australia are traditional allies of the United States, India is a new ally.

But among the three Japan is the most important.

Japan has the worlds third-largest economy and it is geographically located to provide support to two frontline U.S. allies facing Chinas escalating threat: South Korea in Northeast Asia, and Taiwan in East Asia.

But Japan has a fatal weakness. It is an island nation, and its economy heavily relies on imports and exports. Japan is the worlds fourth-largest export country and fifth-largest importer. Almost one-third of its economy relies on foreign trade, which makes the South China Sea the lifeline of Japans economy. About one-third of global trade currently is transported through there.

Beijing has been making man-made islands from atolls in the South China Sea since 2013.

Chinas leader Xi Jinping made a promise to Obama in 2015 that the PRC would not militarise these islands but what occurred was the opposite.

If the Chinese regime controls Taiwan, along with those man-made islands, it will hold a master hand over the South China Sea, and, in that, greatly control an important element of Japans economy.

Taiwan is also a key part of the supply chain of the U.S. semiconductor industry with the island nation processing the worlds most advanced semiconductor chip-making factories.

A Taiwanese landing ship is surrounded by amphibious assault vehicles during a life-fire drill, some 4 miles from the city of Magong on the outlying Penghu islands on May 25, 2017. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Dulles under President Dwight D. Eisenhower conceived the Island Chain Strategy in 1951. The strategy was designed to surround the Soviet Union and the PRC in the West Pacific using three chains of islands in the Pacific Ocean. In this strategy, Taiwan bears great importance.

After U.S.-China diplomatic relation was formalized in the 1970s, the Island Chain concept was no longer a major theme in U.S. foreign policy as China had a falling out with the Soviet Union. However, with the current continuous building of the China-Russia alliance, the Island Chain strategy and the importance of Taiwan have once again become important.

Taiwan, although only about one-sixteenth of Ukraines size and nearly half of Ukraines population, bears an irreplaceable role in defending the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.

Therefore, as the One China policy continues in the foreseeable future, it may be wise for the leaders of the Western world, especially U.S. leaders, to reaffirm their solid support to Taiwan, including military intervention if the PRC leadership decides to break the peace of the Taiwan Strait.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 12, 2022. (Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

Beijings Recent Allegations Against India Could Be Pretext for Future Attack: Expert

Its been two years since Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed at the inhospitable heights of the trans-Himalayan Galwan Valley in Ladakh in June 2020.

While the military standoff continues between the two sides, the Chinese communist leadership has again levied charges against India that experts say could be a pretext for an attack on the worlds largest democracy.

Just three days before the second anniversary of the bloody Galwan conflict, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe blamed India for the standoff at a major security summitthe International Institute for Strategic Studies 19th Shangri-La Dialoguein Singapore.

Wei claimed that China wasnt responsible for the standoff and that Indian weapons were found on Chinese territory.

The merits of the China-India border conflicts are very clear, and the responsibility does not lie with China, said Wei while responding to questions from a journalist on June 12.

A lot of weapons owned by the Indian side. They have also sent people to Chinese territory.

Chinese Aggression

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a track record of unilaterally altering its border claims with India since 1952. Frank Lehberger, a Europe-based sinologist and expert on greater China, told The Epoch Times that Weis speech in Singapore was carried out at the behest of the communist leadership and that his statements could be a pretext for future operations against India on the disputed border.

Copying Putin in Ukraine, Xi could also be tempted to use bogus accusations as a pretext for a future special operation of PLA troops in Ladakh or anywhere else on the Sino-Indian border, said Lehberger.

India and China fought a war in 1962, and Indian and Chinese soldiers were engaged in a bloody conflict in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, after which both sides began to rapidly ramp up their military presence. Meanwhile, 15 rounds of military talks have made little headway.

The last round of unsuccessful talks took place on May 31. However, the two sides have decided to hold the 16th round of military talks in the near future to achieve disengagement at all friction points in the disputed border region.

Claude Arpi, a French-born sinologist, told The Epoch Times that Weis statements could be a pretext for a future military operation, but India is geared up to face any attack.

It was not the case in May 2020. Even if they [CCP] have greatly improved the infrastructure on their side, particularly in the Aksai Chin area, they cant expect today a quick and decisive victory in eastern Ladakh, said Arpi.

Aksai Chin is an uninhabited cold desert under the Kunlun mountains. Today it lies at the junction of India, China, and Pakistan-controlled territories. Originally claimed by India as part of its greater Ladakh region, the CCP started its conquest in 1952 by building the G219 highway connecting Xinjiang and Tibet.

Arpi authored two books on the 1962 India-China war and other books on Tibet and the Sino-India territorial dispute.

Through its continuing salami slicing tactics, Chinas Peoples Liberation Army continues to move south from the road to where the disputed border stands today.

This map shows how the claim lines between China and India changed in the region, including Aksai China and Ladakh. (Wikimedia Commons)

Wei Follows Xis Orders

Weis allegations that Indian weapons were on Chinese territory and that India is responsible for the Galwan conflict are made at the behest of the CCPs Central Military Committee (CMC), according to China observers.

Wei is a member of the CMC, and according to Lehberger, the defense minister plays only a secondary role in important military mattersthe CMC is the central system of Chinas military department.

The CMCs senior vice chairman, Gen. Xu Qiliang, who is more powerful than Wei, officially met the last U.S. defense secretary for a substantive no-nonsense talk in 2018, said Lehberger.

Nowadays Xu must not meet foreigners at home or abroad and must dispense propaganda nonsense  that is Weis main task now. On trips abroad, Wei is tasked with acting as some kind of external military propagandist for [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping and his CMC, said Lehberger.

He added that Wei was tasked by Xi to challenge the established international law and order and to confuse the global public opinion through his talks at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Now Wei is accusing QUAD member India of doing whatever [they are doing] on the Chinese side of the line of actual control  an integral part of Xis long-term strategy in Asia, said Lehberger.

Xis Strategic goal is to obliterate the sovereignty of the nations all over Asia, with military or other subversive means.

Arpi said that Weis statements at the security summit were meant to support the CCPs domestic narrative ahead of the 20th Congress, which will be held sometime in the second half of this year.

They want the Chinese people to believe that India attacked PLA in eastern Ladakh. The 16th round of the commander-level talks between the two countries is going to be held soon. Not much [militarily] will happen in my view before the 20th Congress, said Arpi.

Lehberger said that Weis comments at the Shangri-La Dialogue could shed light on how the top Chinese leadership views the India-China border conflict and the domestic and geopolitical context in which the Chinese leaders are defining their tactical responses on the issue.

Domestically, Weis comments are meant to disburse Xis message to the nationalist crowds of jingoist, COVID-frustrated Chinese, who will be pleased that China is apparently becoming Asias top player and will be more likely to support Xi more fervently, Lehberger said.

Internationally, Xi aims to make the United States look weak and incompetent in protecting the interests of its allies in Asia, he added.

Chinese regiment commander Qi Fabao shouts to an Indian soldier who wants to negotiate with him at Galwan Valley, an India-China border region, in June 2020. (Screenshot/Weibo)

Understanding Chinas Grand Plan

Pooran Pandey, an international relations analyst who currently advises and writes for think tanks in Africa, Europe, and the United States, including the California-based Global Techno Politics Forum, told The Epoch Times over the phone that India shouldnt read much into Weis remarks because theyre more of a rebuttal to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austins statements at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

In a speech on June 11, a day before Wei delivered his remarks, Austin condemned China for hardening its position on the disputed border with India.

Pandey believes New Delhi should focus on understanding Beijings mid-century global agendas that will have a direct and long-term bearing on India. He said Chinas main focus is its grand plan that involves surpassing the United Statesmilitarily and economicallyby 2045.

He added that the Chinese leadership wouldnt do anything detrimental to its agenda, including taking further action that could worsen the situation in Galwan or Ladakh.

[The] Chinese are working on their grand plan, and within that, there could be many small plans. And this is where I think India would really need to do its own work and engage with the world at large, said Pandey.

On the issue of long-term bilateral engagement, he emphasized the need for India not to trust the Chinese regime and to deal with it head-on.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm takes questions during a media briefing at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 23, 2021. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Biden Energy Secretary Violated Federal Hatch Act When She Promoted Democrats: Special Counsel

U.S. Energy Secretary and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm violated the Hatch Act when she endorsed the Democratic Party in her capacity as a federal official during an interview last year, said the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) this week.

Granholm, the OSC said, explicitly endorsed Democrats during an Oct. 6 interview in her official capacity as Secretary of Energy with Marie Clare.

OSC has concluded that Secretary Granholm engaged in political activity when she gave this response promoting the electoral success of the Democratic Party, Erica Hamrick, the deputy chief of the OSCs Hatch Act Unit, told the Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust in a response letter. The group requested that the OSC investigate whether she violated the Hatch Act after the interview was released.

While she then attempted to backpedal by stating that she was using Democrats as a substitute for certain policies, at bottom she told listeners that they needed to vote for Democrats so that more Democrats would be elected to pass the legislation they wanted, Hamrick also wrote, according to several news outlets. Her attempt to backpedal does not change the meaning of her words or undo the fact that she was talking about the Democratic Party throughout her statement.

The OSC, which is tasked with investigating possible Hatch Act violations, said that Granholm has been advised that if in the future she engages in prohibited political activity while employed in a position covered by the Hatch Act, we will consider such activity to be a willful and knowing violation of the law, reported the Detroit Free Press. Without elaborating, the office added that she did not have significant training on Hatch Act matters when she conducted the interview last year and has since received that training.

During her October 2021 interview with Marie Claire, Granholm was asked about how voters could become more involved in having specific policies addressed in Congress.

The good news is that  voting gave Democrats a bare majority [in Congress], Granholm said in response. She then quickly went back on her statement, saying, I am using Democrats as a substitute for the policies that you believe in, the policies that you would like to see happen.

The Hatch Act, which was passed in 1939, prohibits federal government officials from partaking in activities that attempt to bring success or failure to a certain political party, a political candidate, or a political group when that person is on duty, in a federal room or federal building, using a federally owned or leased vehicle, or while wearing a uniform or wearing official insignia, according to the OSCs website.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Energys office for comment.

A spokesperson for the agency said that Granholm received the training since her interview.

Secretary Granholm takes her ethics obligations seriously, the spokesperson told Fox News. And, she remains laser focused on delivering President Bidens equitable clean energy agenda which will help lower energy costs for American families and enhance our nations security.
Biden Spoke to Hunter About China Business Deals, Voicemail Reveals

A recovered voicemail reveals President Joe Biden called his son, Hunter Biden, in late 2018 to discuss a New York Times report on the latters dealings with a Chinese oil tycoon who had been charged with financial crimes.

The leaked voicemail contradicts Bidens claims that he never spoke with Hunter about his overseas business transactions.

I think youre clear, Biden said to Hunter in the audio, first released by Daily Mail on June 27. And anyway if you get a chance, give me a call, I love you.

The voicemail, dating back to Dec. 12, 2018, came from Hunters old iPhone backup on his abandoned laptop. It came after the NY Times published an article detailing Hunters ties with Chinese oil giant CEFCs former chairman, Ye Jianming, who was arrested in China on bribery charges in 2018.

Hey pal, its Dad, Biden began with his message. Its 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you get a chance, just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I just wanted to talk to you.

I thought the article released online, its going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good, he said.

NEW: In 2018, Joe Biden left a voicemail for Hunter saying he wanted to talk to him about a New York Times report on Hunters business deals in China. Biden repeatedly said he never discussed business with Hunter. pic.twitter.com/7r9VatHUoH  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 27, 2022

Hunter Bidens Chinese Business Dealings

The NY Times reported on a private meeting between Ye and Hunter in Miami in May 2017.

Moreover, when a top aide of Ye, Patrick Ho, was arrested by the FBI for corruption and bribery in 2017, Ho reportedly called Bidens brother, James Biden. The latter later told the NY Times that he believed the call was intended for his nephew Hunter.

According to a disclosed letter, CEFC China Energy also paid Hunter $1 million to find a U.S.-based attorney for Ho, whom Hunter once called the spy chief of China.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Biden repeatedly denied any knowledge of his sons overseas business dealings.

I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings, Biden said at a Democrat fundraiser in Iowa in 2019, accusing then-President Donald Trump of trying to smear him.

During the second presidential debate in 2020, Biden went further, claiming that stories about his sons laptop were a Russian plant.

Since taking office, Biden has denied such allegations on several occasions, both in person or via his press spokespersons.

The White House didnt immediately reply to a request for comment.

SMOKING GUN! Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) wrote on Twitter upon the release of the voicemail message. Even Big Tech cant ignore [President Bidens] Hunter problem anymore, he said in another post.

Its time for a hearing, the GOP lawmaker concluded.
Bill Gates attends the 2022 TIME100 Gala in New York on June 8, 2022. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)

Bill Gates-Linked $13.5 Million Farmland Purchase Triggers Pushback in North Dakota

The sale of over 2,000 acres of North Dakota farmland to an entity linked to Bill Gates, the fourth-richest man in the world and Americas largest private owner of farmland, has attracted scrutiny from the states top prosecutor.

Red River Trust, a Texas-based entity with ties to Gates, in November purchased 13 parcels of land near the borders of Minnesota and Canada, a move that North Dakota officials said may violate the states corporate farming laws. Over 2,100 acres of land in North Dakotas Pembina and Walsh counties were sold in the transaction, regional agricultural publication AgWeek reported. The company paid a total of $13.5 million, records The Epoch Times obtained from the two counties show.

The trust is located in Lenexa, a suburb of Kansas City, and shares the same address with Cottonwood Ag Management, a subsidiary of Cascade Investment, an asset management firm controlled by Gates, as well as Oak River Farms/Midwest, which has been previously traced to the billionaire Microsoft founder.

The trustee of Red River Trust is Peter Headley, whose LinkedIn profile identified him as head of agriculture investment for Cottonwood Ag since April 2017.

A research report last January found Gates to be Americas biggest private farmland owner, having acquired over 242,000 acres of land across 18 U.S. states. The amount is still less than 1 percent of the nations total farmland.

The seller of both land deals was Campbell Farms, a family-owned potato farming group headquartered in Grafton, North Dakota. The three brothers William P. Campbell, Gregory T. Campbell, and Thomas S. Campbell signed the agreements handing over land ownership to Red River Trust, according to Pembina and Walsh county records.

On June 21, North Dakotas Attorney General Drew Wrigley penned a letter asking Red River Trust to explain how it plans to use the land to comply with state law. The regulation (pdf), with some exceptions, largely bars trust corporations and limited liability companies from owning or leasing farmland or ranchland, he wrote in the letter, warning that companies who fail to meet the regulations face up to a $100,000 fine.

Vogel Law Firm, which represents Red River Trust, told the North Dakota attorney generals office that the trust has met the state law requirements by leasing the purchased land to Campbell Farms for farming.

The Campbell family has a history of operating these Pembina and Walsh County farmlands, which has continued under the ownership of Red River Trust, Matthew Thompson, an attorney with the law firm, wrote in a June 24 letter obtained by The Epoch Times.

The attorney generals office has closed the inquiry.

Residents Livid

The states agriculture commissioner, Doug Goehring, said that the reaction from the public to the deal was far from positive.

Ive gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, its not even from that neighborhood, he told North Dakota TV station KFYR-TV. Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.

In a recent media interview, though, Wrigley appeared to downplay the issue.

I dont know that its quite as volatile a situation as some have depicted, he told The Associated Press. Its taken off, its all over the planet, but its not me sticking a finger in the eye of Bill Gates. Thats not what this is.

He said his office makes such corporate farming inquiries as a matter of course.

Its 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, theyre informed theyre going to have to divest of the land.



Gates made his first public comment about his farmland investments in March 2021, during an Ask Me Anything session on the social media platform Reddit.

Why are you buying so much farmland? asked one Reddit user.

My investment group chose to do this. It is not connected to climate, Gates wrote in response. The agriculture sector is important. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions.

Gary Hubbell, a real estate broker and accredited land consultant at United Country Ranch Properties in Colorado, said he sees a lot of resentment and resistance to [Gates] acquisitions.

Not to say that we dont appreciate people who amass large holdings, because its an integral part of our business, Hubbell told NTD, the sister media of The Epoch Times. But they are no longer really a part of the community, and it seems that Bill Gates, his goals are contrary to many of the established practices and traditions of those communities.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Headley, Cascade Investment, Cottonwood Management, Campbell Farms, and Oak River Farms for comments.
Ouro Preto and Manaus are classic examples of Brazilian architecture

With its simple white facade, the Brazilian church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks in the historic town of Ouro Preto looks like any church. But once inside the church, decorated in a lavish Baroque style, one journeys to a glorious past. Bright colors, gold, and detailed ornamentation are only a few of the striking elements inspired by the European Rococo and the Brazilian Baroque styles.

As the centuries passed, Brazil welcomed a variety of architecture styles. In fact, people in Brazil made their cities a reflection of European architecture. As visitors walk along the streets of Ouro Preto, Brazil, they can admire beautiful examples of the Brazilian version of Baroque, as well as Rococo and Neoclassical architecture.

Ouro Pretos Brazilian Baroque Architecture

Brazilian building styles started with settlements built by the indigenous people. Local residents used leaves, vines, fibers, and wood to build their shelters. While indigenous architecture was functional and European architecture was more aesthetic, they had one thing in common: the local fauna and flora. From the 16th century, Brazilian architects incorporated these local elements into European architectural styles.

The first wave of Brazilian architecture started with Portuguese colonial architecture. This style first emerged in the 16th century, when Portuguese explorer and nobleman Pedro Alvares Cabral first came to the New World. Following Cabral, Portuguese immigrants wanted to reproduce a style close to what they knew in the homes they had left.

Although Ouro Preto did not see this style, major cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, followed the Portuguese colonial style, easily recognizable through lime or brightly colored facades, symmetry and recessed alcoves and windows. The architectural style was popular until the 18th century.

Portuguese colonial architecture was followed by the Baroque style. Brazilian Baroque emerged in the state of Minas Gerais, where, south of the states capital of Belo Horizonte, the town Ouro Preto was one of the first to adapt European Baroque into their unique Brazilian style. Ouro Preto is one of the most important colonial towns, because it is where gold was first found.

Interior of St. Francis of Assisi church in Ouro Preto, Brazil, April 2020 (DOUGLAS MAGNO/AFP via Getty Images)

After the discovery, Ouro Preto became a mining town and architects followed the Baroque style known as Barroco Mineiro. After all, what is more baroque than gold? The style literally translates to Mining Baroque (from the town of Minas, which means mines in Portuguese) style.

The style typically includes Baroque and Rococo elements such as gold, elaborate detailing, ornamentation, and lavish colors. It also uses local materials such as cedar wood and soapstone and local decorative elements, such as the beautiful Brazilian fauna and flora. There are many beautiful examples of this style, which can be admired in colorful ornate buildings, theaters, palaces, and churches.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Ouro Preto is an example of the Brazilian Baroque architectural and decorative style. (Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

The church of St. Francis of Assisi in Ouro Preto is an example of the Brazilian Baroque architectural and decorative style. The church also incorporates Rococo elements of gold, painted ceilings, and detailed carvings of local flora and fauna. This church was designed by the first major architect of Brazil, Antonio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho. With his other artistic skills of sculpting and woodcarving, he created an enduring Brazilian style.

Although he worked in other cities, most of Aleijadinhos work is present in Ouro Porto as one of the most important figures of Brazilian Baroque architecture, blending Rococo and Baroque styles. His opulent style contrasted with the sobriety of other churches.

The imposing facades of this style evoke a sense of grandeur. After the opulence of the Baroque style, Europe shifted to a simpler architectural style, and Brazil followed.

Brazilian Neoclassicism in Manaus

Neoclassicism came as a reaction to the Baroque style, as a desire for a simple yet elegant architectural style that had arrived in Europe. Architects were inspired by Greek and Roman architectural floor plans, triangular roofs, and multi-story columns. Once again, Brazil took to the new European style and, once again, Brazil made the style its own.

Many cities moved from ornamental facades and colorful buildings to building the Neoclassical style with simpler facades of marble, limestone, and white soapstone. Some cities built structures entirely in a Neoclassical style, such as the city of Manaus, located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

Brazilian Neoclassical felt like Europe in the tropics. Cities continued to grow and develop as Brazilian rubber exports grew. The wealth from rubber exports, much like that from Brazilian gold, led to grand structures. Theaters became very popular, as they were a symbol of wealth and status among Brazils elites. Most were built in Amazonas, which soon became the wealthiest region of Brazil, just like Minas Gerais a century earlier.

The old fish market, part of the Mercado Adolpho Lisboa on the banks of the Rio Negro in Manaus, Brazil, circa 1960. (Getty Images)

The city of Manaus showcases a perfect example of Brazilian Neoclassicism. The city hosts the Amazon Theatre, built according to Neoclassical European architecture. What makes it so uniquely Brazilian is that it is built in the middle of a rainforest. Once again, the natural elements are incorporated into the traditional styles. The theater not only symbolizes the historical importance of Brazilian rubber in the countrys economic prosperity, it also symbolizes Brazilian culture. The dome is composed of 36,000 tiles in the same colors as the Brazilian flag. The theater was listed as a national landmark in 1996.

The Teatro Amazonas, or Amazon Theatre, an opera house in Manaus, Brazil, circa 1960. (Harvey Meston/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Interestingly, like other traditional Brazilian structures, most of the construction materials and decorative elements were imported from Italy, France, and Scotland.

Inside, Neoclassical architecture and decorative elements continue to mesmerize. The ceiling has four paintings representing the Arts and the columns are carved with masks to honor great composers.

Brazilian Architecture Comes Into Its Own

Traditional Brazilian architecture is now recognized internationally. Most Brazilian cities represent different architectural styles influenced by Europe through the centuries, and are now UNESCO World Heritage sites, as they show great craftsmanship and beauty. The Amazon Theater in Manaus is a UNESCO world heritage site.

As the first Brazilian town to be so recognized, Ouro Preto is also a UNESCO world heritage site as of 1980, with 11 chapels, 13 churches, bridges and museums that represent Brazilian Baroque. Other cities followed, such as the colonial city of Salvador.

Much more than places on a map, Brazilian cities with traditional architecture are a tribute to the national and international architects and artists of the past. Their craftsmanship is a tribute to a unique and internationally acclaimed style.
Singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on July 22, 2019. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

Britney Spears Ex-husband Ordered to Trial on Stalking Charge

VENTURA, Calif.A California judge found Monday that there is enough evidence against a man once briefly married to Britney Spears who showed up uninvited at the pop stars wedding to go to trial on a felony stalking charge.

After a two-hour preliminary hearing, Ventura County Judge David Worley ruled that 40-year-old Jason Allen Alexander should be held to answer on the charge, along with misdemeanor counts of trespassing, vandalism, and battery, court records showed.

Not guilty pleas to all the charges were entered by an attorney for Alexander, who did not attend and remains jailed.

Spears married longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari at her home in Thousand Oaks, California, on June 9, in front of several dozen guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton, and Madonna.

Alexander, a childhood friend of Spears to whom she was married for less than three days in 2004, appeared uninvited at the house before the ceremony, livestreaming his raid on Instagram.

Richard Eubler, a since-fired security guard for Spears, testified at Mondays hearing that Alexander got inside her house and up to the locked door of Spears bedroom while she was inside, according to multiple media reports.

Eubler said Alexander had also tried to enter the property in the days before the wedding.

Alexanders attorney, Sandra Bisignani, argued there was no evidence he had any intention of harming Spears.
California Low-Income Apartments Cost Over $1 Million to Build

Commentary

The California housing lunacy just gets worse and worse. Not long ago I commented on a Los Angeles audit revealing that the city was building housing for homeless at a cost of up to $837,000 per single unit. Now, a Los Angeles Times study of state records reveals that the state is subsidizing low-income apartments that cost in excess of $1 million each to build!

Any California developer will tell you that the biggest impediment to new housing in the state are the onerous building codes and permit requirements. Californias are among the most onerous, requiring environmental impact reviews, soil reports, coastal commission reviews, energy efficiency requirements, design reviews, and workforce and procurement rules.

The hallmark of progressive leadership is to create a problem through overregulation or bad policy, and then propose solutions that require big government solutions. And never trust the free market to solve a problem. By way of example, Los Angeles and San Francisco created a homeless problem by not enforcing their no camping laws. Their solution is to build free, permanent government housing for all of the homeless campers. Similarly, California has driven up the cost of new housing through onerous building requirements, and now seeks to solve the housing shortage problem by giving billions in government subsidies for so called low-income housing.

This years state budget includes $17 billion for housing and homelessness programs. That amounts to almost $1,000 out of the pocket of each California taxpayer. Why so much? In part because of the exorbitant building costs.

Driving the cost is not just the onerous building regulations. To get the subsidies the government requires union workers. In addition, it requires a lot of red tape. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, a 2018 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 14 percent of the price tag for Californias affordable housing projects was made up of consulting fees and other administrative coststhe highest in the country and more than developers spend on the land itself.

Even the king of progressives, Governor Gavin Newsom, has complained about the number of hoops developers must jump through before getting building approval. Ive just had enough with TCAC and CDLAC and OPRs and CalVets and HCDs and CalHFAs, the governor mockingly said, referring to various state departments involved in financing housing projects. He made no mention of the fact that it was his party that created this hodgepodge of departments.

Then you have the fact that the projects are not placed in the least expensive parts of the state, but rather in some of the most expensive. The three most expensive projects identified by the Los Angeles Times are located in the city of San Francisco. One project was planned for the surfside town of Solana Beach, also at a cost of over $1 million per unit.

Putting low-income housing in Californias most expensive real estate markets only makes sense if you look at it through the eyes of progressives. They see everything in terms of equity, i.e., equal outcomes. In their utopian dream there should no such thing as an unaffordable place to live. Just as they believe in open borders, i.e. permitting anyone in the world to freely cross our southern border and to come live in America, they believe that people should be able to live in the neighborhood of their choosing. If it is too expensive, the government will simply correct that by building low-income housing there.

We see the same mentality in Los Angeles in addressing the homeless problem. Rather than building temporary shelters in the least expensive parts of the city, L.A. builds permanent housing in the most expensive areas. One significant project is about a block from the beach in Venice, one of L.A.s biggest tourist destinations. The Los Angeles City Council is also studying a proposal to convert a parking lot on the beach in Pacific Palisades, one of L.A.s most beautiful beaches, into homeless housing.

The progressives reason that this is where the homeless currently live, so this is where the housing is needed. But naturally the homeless are there. We would all love to live in an oceanfront property. However, most understand they cannot and instead find a place to live in a more affordable area. They commit to working hard in hopes of moving up into a better neighborhood. Progressives would favor a lottery system, whereby all have an equal chance of living in the nicer neighborhood (provided, of course, that the lottery resulted in the proper representation of each minority and LGBTQ+ community).

If you do not live in California and are enjoying a good laugh at the expense of Californians, wait until you hear this. Your money is being used for this. According to the Los Angeles Times, California is using $1.75 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds to help finance proposed low-income developments. Yes, California is taking your tax dollars, received from the federal government for the purpose of alleviating pain caused by the pandemic, and spending them on million-dollar apartments in expensive neighborhoods.

This is what Build Back Better looks like.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
California to Help First-Time Homebuyers With Down Payment

SACRAMENTOLawmakers are hammering out the details of a billion-dollar proposal to help first-time home buyers cover their down payment, as part of the 20222023 state budget signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom June 27.

Proposed by California Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), the California Dream for All program would help pay 17 percent of the home price to make homeownership more affordable for first-generation homeowners.

The California Dream for All program will give more people the chance to break free from the cycle of renting, become the first in their families to own a home, and make it possible for more people to set their children and grandchildren on a path to success. This has the ability to change peoples lives, Atkins said in a statement last month.

The program requires the state to invest $1 billion per year for ten years, which has been included in the states $300 billion legislative budget.

To [make] the states homeownership landscape more equitable, inclusive, and attainable for Californians, the program could cover all or most of the down payment, which in turn allows lower-income homebuyers to forego costly mortgage insurance, Atkins said. Each eligible buyer can save up to about $1,000 per month.

However, when the homeowner refinances or sells the home, the share of the home value originally covered by the state should be paid back. The funds will be reinvested into the program to help more homebuyers purchase their first home, according to Atkins.

Avid supporters of the program include California State Treasurer Fiona Ma and some real estate organizations.

Given that the current median price of a first-time home in California exceeds $590,000, conventional down payments of 20 percent have become unrealistic for far too many in the Golden State, Ma said in the statement.

President of the California Association of Realtors Otto Catrina said [h]omeownership is a key element to securing housing and economic security for working Californians, building intergenerational wealth and creating stronger communities across our state.

However, some experts said government funds will make homes more unaffordable in California.

Jim Righeimera real estate developer and a former president of Huntington Beach Fountain Valley Association of Realtorssaid the program would drive up the demand in the housing market, which would lead to higher home prices.

Its completely economic illiteracy, to think that giving people free down payments for houses could do anything except raise the cost of houses even higher, Righeimer told The Epoch Times.

Agreeing with Righeimer, Moussa Diopan assistant professor of real estate at the University of Southern Californias School of Public Policysaid higher demand means higher prices unless there is enough supply.

Its gonna help some people buy a house, but if the program is significant enough, it can make prices go even higher unless supply can respond, Diop told KSBY last week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Anita Annad listen to Minister for Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly prior to the opening session at the NATO Summit in Madrid on June 29, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson)

Canada Announces Four New Embassies as NATO Leader Presses for More Defence Spending

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada will open four new embassies in Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Armenia, and will reinforce its presence in Latvia amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The minister made the announcement today at the NATO summit in Spain, where Canada is facing pressure to increase its defence spending to two percent of GDP, a target all members agreed to in 2014.

Joly says Canada must push back against Russian influence, including its soft power, disinformation campaigns and brute force, and diplomacy is one of the most effective ways to respond to these challenges.

To that end, she says Canada will strengthen its diplomatic presence in the four countries as well as appoint ambassadors for the new embassies, while increasing its footprint in Latvia.

She also responded to remarks made by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said he expects Canada to fulfil its commitment to other members and increase its defence spending to meet the needs of an increasingly dangerous world.

Joly told reporters that Canadians can be proud of the countrys work within NATO and in the Ukrainian conflict in general, including training 30,000 Ukrainian forces and leading a battlegroup in Latvia.
Cancelling Australias Founding Father Weakens the Constitution: Prominent Legal Group

One of Australias foremost legal associations has pushed back calls to cancel Sir Samuel Griffith, a pivotal figure in Australias history, as it argued doing so would undermine the nations rule of law.

It comes after Indigenous artist Fiona Foley proposed to removed Griffiths name from Griffith University and instead call the institution Dundalli University. Dundalli is the name of an Indigenous warrior who led the resistance to European settlement in South-East Queensland.

The suggestion was a response to historian Henry Reynolds controversial book Truth-Telling, published in 2021. In his book, Reynold accused Griffith of being an enabler of massacres by not doing enough to prevent the clash between Europeans and Indigenous clans in Australia.

However, the Samuel Griffith Society, which is set up to encourage greater understanding of Australias Constitution, defended Griffiths legacy, arguing Australians continue to enjoy its benefits, more than a century after his death.

Xavier Boffa, the chief executive of the society, wrote in a newsletter sent to its member on Tuesday that we can ill-afford to allow moves to cancel Griffith to go unanswered.

To do so risks fundamentally weakening our Constitution and everything that it representsthe principle of responsible government, our federal system, the separation of powers and the rule of law, Boffa said.

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, the Queensland Premier who was the guiding hand behind Australias Constitution. (AAP image)

A Founding Father of the Australian Constitution

Griffith is recognised as one of Australias founding fathers who drafted the nations first criminal code and co-drafted the Constitution.

He became Australias Chief Justice in 1893, and was also involved in the drafting of the deferral Judiciary Act 1903, which established the High Court of Australia.

Boffa previously argued that while he didnt agree with all of what Griffith did as a politician, none of that detracts from the significance and value of his work as a jurist and drafter of the Constitution.

Just as we can acknowledge the talent of great sportspeople, artists, and musicians without necessarily endorsing all of their actions or beliefs, we should be able to separate the good done by those who came before us from debates about more contestable aspects of their legacies, he wrote on the Spectator Australia on June 27.

The chief executive further warned that the move to cancel Griffith might be pretext for fundamentally rewriting the Constitution itself.

The comment comes as the new Labor government pushed to implement the Uluru Statement fully. This includes amending the Constitution to entrench an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, establishing a truth-telling process to record past and ongoing injustices against Indigenous Australias, and creating a treaty.

However, prominent Indigenous community leader Warren Mundine said the current concept of truth-telling is rooted in the narrative of guilt and victimhood. He added that Australia is one of the most successful country in terms of its efforts to improve Aboriginal Australians life.

Truth-talking is about a conversation. Its about us having a conversation, talking about the real history of Australia, and working together to move forward, he told The Epoch Times.

Its not throwing names and insults at each other and making people feel guilty or feel like theyre victims.
Dozens of illegal immigrants were trapped in an 18-wheeler in Texas. At least 50 of them died from the San Antonio heat. Republicans are putting the blame on President Joe Biden.

With gas prices still lingering at record levels, will the prices come down any time soon? Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce joins us to discuss.

The Biden administration is touting an action plan following the Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe v. Wade. What does the health secretary say is being considered, and why do pro-life advocates say one of the moves could violate the law?

More primary races are underway Tuesday night. Governors in New York and Illinois face the voters, as Republicans vie to take back the majority in Congress. Meanwhile, new analysis shows that around 1.7 million people are switching their party affiliation.

Is the Hispanic vote the firewall that will stop the Democrats from retaining power in Congress? Pastor Mark Gonzalez says it will.

The United States imposed a new round of sanctions on Russia. The Treasury Department announced the United States and key allies will ban imports of Russian gold.

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Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Jan. 6 committee on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on June 28, 2022. (Andrew Harnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Cassidy Hutchinson Testimony at Jan. 6 Hearing Would Be Inadmissible in Real Court: Attorney

Most of Cassidy Hutchinsons testimony this week in front of the Jan. 6 Committee would not be allowed in court, according to Pennsylvania Republican trial attorney Wally Zimolong.

Hutchinson, 25, is the former aide to President Donald Trumps chief of staff Mark Meadows. She testified that Trump protested in a car when a Secret Service agent told him they would not take him from the site of his speech to the Capitol where people were gathering. Trump lunged for the cars steering wheel and then toward the agent, she told the committee.

But Hutchinson was not in the car. She relayed a story she heard about the car ride.

None of that would ever be admitted in court. Its classic hearsay, Zimolong told The Epoch Times. An attorney would get up and say Objection, hearsay, and every single judge in America would say Yeah, youre right. You cant testify to what someone told you, or what someone said. Its the first thing you learn in evidence class in law school.

This illustrates the larger problem with the Jan. 6 hearing, Zimolong said: There is no cross examination so only one controlled side of the story is being told.

Pennsylvania Republican Trial Attorney Wally Zimolong (Courtesy Zimolong LLC.)

This person is being exalted as a star witness, but if she walked into a civil or criminal courtroom and tried to offer that testimony, most of it wouldnt even be allowed. She would be shut down immediately by a judge, so I dont think shes a star witness at all. From a lawyers perspective, this committee is a total sham.

Anyone who cares about justice should be concerned.

If you think that the events of Jan. 6 were unAmerican and unbecoming of our American system of government, I dont know how you cant think this Jan. 6 Committee and the way this is playing out is not equally unbecoming, Zimolong said. Theyve completely dispensed with the rule of law and due process. This investigation has expanded and in a way that is political persecution, something I never thought that I would see in this country.

If you care about that type of thing, it shouldnt matter if you think Trump is the worst person in the world. I think there are certain lines that we shouldnt cross in this country, including prosecutions and investigations that are politically motivated.

Cross Examination Vital to Process

Zimolong believes anyone who is being honest can see the Jan. 6 Committee is about politics, and without cross examination, its impossible to get to the truth.

In the Jan. 6 Committee, there is no opportunity to cross examine the witnesses that have been presented against the president. That doesnt mean that those witnesses are lying. But it begs the search for the truth.

Its one-sided evidence, albeit under oath, where theres no chance to either impinge the credibility of the witness, or put that testimony in context. Those are the two main points of cross examination: to convince the truthfulness of the witness, or put the witnesss statements in context, Zimolong said.

When you when you cross examine somebody, or somebody gives testimony under oath, its not a binary choice of, Is the witness lying, or is the witness telling the truth? Its more nuanced. Its critical that what they be saying is put in context, and they explain their basis for making certain statements. That can only be borne out when an adversary has a chance to cross examine the witness.

Using the example of a car crash, Zimolong explained a witness might testify that there was a vehicle speeding down the street that crashed into another vehicle. In the mind of the witness, that is true.

But in cross examination, the witness is asked how they know the car was speeding. The witness explains that they heard the engine revving but their back was turned, and they did not see the vehicle or the crash.

Both are truthful, but its a much different story at that point, Zimolong said. I think anybody would agree that the gravity of the testimony is significantly diminished, just by that line of questioningthat single fact that the witness heard it and deduced that there was a high rate of speed, rather than seeing it. All these things are important, and thats why you have an adversarial system.

The question to ask the folks supporting the Jan. 6 Committee, he says, is this: If they were charged with a crime, would they rather their case be adjudicated in a court where they have the right to cross examination, a right to present evidence that is in their favor, and a right to confront their accusers? Or are they okay with having their guilt or innocence hinge on a hearing that is being conducted like that of the Jan. 6 Committee?

I dont think anybody could credibly say, Oh no, I have no problem. Let my guilt or innocence lie on the same procedures as the Jan. 6 Committee,' Zimolong said.
Gas prices nearing $5.00 a gallon are displayed at Chevron and Shell stations in San Francisco, Calif., on July 12, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Chevron Selling California Headquarters, Moving Jobs to Texas

Chevron is planning to sell its current headquarters in California and will cover the costs of some employees to relocate to Texas.

The company told The Wall Street Journal and local media on June 24 that it will still be based in California, but will leave its Chevron Park campus in San Ramon, located in Californias East Bay Area. The company has been headquartered in California for more than 140 years.

The current real estate market provides the opportunity to right-size our office space to meet the requirements of our headquarters-based employee population, the company told the San Francisco Chronicle and the Houston Chronicle. The move is expected to occur during the third quarter of 2023. Chevron will remain headquartered in California, where the company has a 140-year history and operations and partnerships throughout the state.

Chevron didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

The companys plan to exit its current headquarters follows similar moves by large U.S. corporations including Boeing, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, Citadel, and Caterpillar.

Earlier this year, ExxonMobil said it would move to the Houston area from Irving, Texas, in 2023.

We greatly value our long history in Irving and appreciate the strong ties we have developed in the North Texas community, Darren Woods, Exxons chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement about the move. Closer collaboration and the new streamlined business model will enable the company to grow shareholder value and position ExxonMobil for success through the energy transition.

Meanwhile, Boeing, Caterpillar, and Citadel have said they would leave the Chicago area to move their operations to Virginia, Texas, and Florida, respectively. Raytheon said it would relocate to Virginia from Massachusetts.

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, the richest person in Illinois, announced recently that his hedge fund would move to Miami from Chicago. Griffin previously cited the citys high murder and violent crime rate for wanting to move, saying that its difficult to attract top talent to the Windy City, where around 800 murders were recorded in 2021.

If people arent safe here, theyre not going to live here, Griffin told The Wall Street Journal 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.

Several other former California-based companiesincluding Tesla, Oracle, and Hewlett Packardhave moved to Texas in recent years. Oracle was long based in Silicon Valley before completing its move to Austin, Texas, in 2021, while Hewlett Packard moved to the Houston area in 2021.

In December 2021, Tesla announced via the Securities and Exchange Commission that its move to Austin, Texas, was complete.
Workers arrange steel rims for export at a wheel factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, on Nov. 22, 2017. (China Daily via Reuters)

China Extends Anti-Dumping Tariffs on EU, UK Steel Fasteners Imports

BEIJINGChinas commerce ministry said on Tuesday it would extend anti-dumping tariffs on certain steel fasteners imported from the European Union and United Kingdom for five years.

The anti-dumping tariffs will be imposed from June 29, the ministry said in a statement.

By Emily Chow in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing Newsroom
A People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone is seen a day before the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, on Sept. 27, 2021. (NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas War Machine Is Betting the Future on Drones

News Analysis

A swarm of drones flies through the night sky over the Pacific.

Shrouded in darkness and less than 100 miles from the California coastline, they move in groups of four and six, stalking U.S. Navy vessels. They whir about over the ships bows, gathering intelligence to deliver to faceless masters.

They match the speed of the naval vessels, flying unimpeded in low visibility for as long as four hours at a time. The alarmed crews of the ships have no idea where they came from or what their purpose is.

This isnt the plot of an up-and-coming spy thriller, but a series of actual events that took place in July 2019.

The chilling encounters raised alarms throughout the Navy and brought forth an investigative apparatus composed of elements of the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and FBI. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of the Pacific Fleet were kept primed with updates on the situation.

If the drones were not operated by the American military, these incidents represent a highly significant security breach, reads one investigative report based on the ships logs.

Yet the nature of the drones, where they came from, and who deployed them remained a mystery for more than two years.

However, a new investigative report published in June by The Drive shed light on the incidents, which totaled at least eight encounters involving several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that were previously simply referred to as UFOs in the press.

The report, based on Navy materials newly obtained through multiple Freedom of Information Act requests, pinpoints the launching point of the drones as a civilian bulk carrier operating in the area at the time. That ship, the MV Bass Strait, is owned and operated by Pacific Basin, flagged out of Hong Kong.

The Navy assessed that the commercial cargo ship was likely conducting surveillance on Navy vessels using drones, the report reads.

During its first-ever operational voyage, the ship may have been linked to previously unknown incidents in March and April 2019, including intelligence collection operations targeting the USS Zumwalt, Americas most advanced surface combatant.

Active surveillance of key naval assets is being conducted in areas where they train and employ their most sensitive systems, often within close proximity to American shores, the report reads.

A model of an FL-71 drone is seen on display at the Chinese Defense Information Equipment and Technology exhibition in Beijing on June 18, 2019. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Growing Drone Force

Its too early to say what connection the crew of the Bass Strait, Pacific Basin, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) share. Nevertheless, the incident underscores the central role that drones are to play in the next stage of modern warfare and how theyre already shaping the battlefield and intelligence gathering processes.

As it so happens, the CCP is betting big on drone warfare. The regime has invested heavily for more than a decade into everything from cheap and expendable commercial quadcopters to resource-heavy high-altitude long-endurance drones.

Indeed, the CCP and its military wing, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), have undertaken numerous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) projects since the early 2000s. However, the first appearance of a large-scale Chinese-built stealth drone came shortly into CCP leader Xi Jinpings tenure.

Likely built from data obtained from the Iranian capture of an advanced U.S. drone in 2011, Chinas Sharp Sword was just the first of many advanced UAVs, built through the assistance of foreign technologies gathered as part of the regimes comprehensive program of technology theft.

Since then, the CCP has funded dozens of varieties of UAVs using a plethora of state-owned corporations that also build the regimes space and missile technologies. From larger combat drones, such as the Sharp Sword, to small quadcopter drones, such as those spotted near California, to rocket-powered supersonic vehicles intended to zip through the sky gathering targeting information, the CCP buys everything drone-related.

The CCP is also already building out its drone capabilities across the spectrum of its military assets, deploying those capabilities in some of the worlds most contested regions.

Chinas third and newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, is expected to host a variety of drones. Its electromagnetic catapult system will prove invaluable for quickly launching differently weighted drones with adjustable torque.

That effort will likely build on operational lessons learned from the past several years, as Chinas second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, was spotted in early June with a small fleet of commercial or commercial-derivative drones on its flight deck, according to one reports analysis of images that appeared on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

[The images] do underscore the Chinese Peoples Liberation Armys ever-increasing efforts to develop and field various types of unmanned aircraft, including those that can operate together in networked swarms, and often with an eye toward performing various roles in the maritime domain, one report reads.

If that werent enough to underscore the regimes ambition to dominate the strategic space with a new, drone-first approach to military engagement, theres now the case of the Zhu Hai Yun.

The Zhu Hai Yun is a 290-foot ocean research vessel designed to deploy various underwater and airborne drones for various purposes. The ship is also a drone and can either be remotely controlled by a pilot or left to navigate the open seas autonomously.

In the words of its manufacturer, its the worlds first intelligent unmanned system mother ship.

Although Beijing has officially described that mothership as a maritime research tool, a South China Morning Post report stated that the vessel indeed hosts military capabilities that can intercept, besiege, and expel invasive targets.

That news is likely to displease U.S. military leadership, which isnt likely to deploy its own such vessel for six more years.

Watching, Learning, Preparing



As the pace of Chinas military drone development has accelerated, the rate of international incidents related to drones has also increased.

Chinas HSU001 underwater drones are seen during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

In August 2021, Japan Self Defense Forces led multiple sorties of fighter jets over several days to intercept PLA drones caught flying south of Okinawa, Japan. The drones, comparable in size to U.S. Predator and Reaper drones, were believed to be collecting strategic intelligence on the Miyako Strait, which provides the PLA with a critical point of entry to the Pacific and has been the site of increasing Chinese military excursions for the past decade.

The incident serves as a poignant reminder of what so much of Chinas drone fleet serves to do: secure vital strategic intelligence for the coordination of military actions.

Its this point that brings one back to the issue of just what several groups of drones launched from a Hong Kong freight ship were doing spying on U.S. Navy vessels near the coast of California. If such actions were directly or indirectly tied to the sprawling military-security apparatus of Chinas communist government, what would be the end goal for the intelligence gathered? Whats the action in actionable intelligence?

To that question, one analysis found that 2019s adversary drones were meant to stimulate Americas most capable air defense systems and collect extremely high-quality electronic intelligence data on them.

By gathering comprehensive electronic intelligence information on these systems, countermeasures and electronic warfare tactics can be developed to disrupt or defeat them, the report reads. Capabilities can also be accurately estimated and even cloned, and tactics can be recorded and exploited.

That swarm could have been, and likely was, sucking up, or helping another nearby platform suck up, all that sensitive  data on the most capable warships on earth and at very close range.

In essence, the drones were achieving two things. The first was the blanket intelligence gathered from spying on U.S. naval vessels up close. The second was learning what would draw a U.S. response and what that response would be.

In this way, the drones were baiting U.S. naval vessels, soaking up intelligence about their response (or lack thereof) for future actions that could not only inform the Chinese military about the technical specifications of U.S. ships, but also how to manipulate their crews and protocols to learn how U.S. forces would behave in conflict.

Winning the Next War



Such tools have very real consequences for the United States, its allies and partners, and the greater liberal international order. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in the acute threat of a CCP invasion of the democratic Taiwan, which has maintained its de facto independence since 1949.

Despite that independenceand despite the fact that the CCP has never ruled the islandthe regime has made the forced unification of Taiwan with the mainland a central point of its current focus. Drones are to play a central role in that endeavor, it appears.

In late 2021, the PLA launched a miniature aircraft carrier designed to deploy and recover swarms of drones. Such staging vehicles are designed to work alongside surface combatants to disrupt military operations in the maritime domain by swarming enemy targets or rendering them less effective through distraction.

Vehicles honk while passing by protesters in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to condemn the Chinese Communist Party on Chinas National Day on Oct. 1, 2020. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

One examination of Chinas drone capabilities by The Drive found that drone swarms of various kinds are only more and more likely to be a component of future conflicts that China might find itself involved in, whether these being operated by Chinese forces or other parties.

Such drone technologies would offer decisive advantages  in scenarios revolving around the defense of Taiwan against a Chinese invasion, according to the report.

As such, it shouldnt be thought of as surprising that the regime would focus so much strategic thought on a myriad of drone types for military use.

Indeed, according to the results of a wargame conducted by the U.S. Air Force, China would likely deploy hundreds if not thousands of drones in autonomous swarms during an invasion of Taiwan. Designed to collaborate with other drones in the network, such swarms offer both resiliency and an offensive capability unmatched by many of Chinas more conventional arms.

This is particularly true when it comes to Chinas strategic ambition to drive the United States out of the Indo-Pacific and away from defending Taiwan.

All isnt without hope for Taiwan and the United States, however. Indeed, after years of wargames demonstrating resounding U.S. losses over a hypothetical defense of Taiwan, the United States scored a sure, albeit pyrrhic, victory in its most recent wargame in 2021.

What would be the key to victory in repelling a CCP invasion of Taiwan? Drone swarms of its own.

As one summary reads, Swarming capabilities are seen even by top U.S. think tanks and the Pentagon as being so critical to future conflicts that they could be decisive in a major peer-state battle, such as one over Taiwan.

What must be at the forefront of the minds of strategists everywhere is the fact that the U.S. Air Force fought its hypothetical war with China with a notional force. That is, one that had drone technologies that the United States hasnt actually deployed yet.
Pro-life supporters celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 24, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Court Restores Culture of Life

Commentary

The cries from the left predicting the end of the world in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a familiar sound.

We heard the same after the historic reform in welfare in 1996 when Aid to Families with Dependent Children, which effectively subsidized low-income women to have children out of marriage, was replaced with Temporary Assistance for Needy Familieswhich introduced the idea of workfare.

The reform, the left screamed, would throw low-income women mercilessly to the streets. But the result was quite the opposite. We had a dramatic decrease in welfare cases and increase in work among low-income women.

Human beings respond to incentives and to the realities around them.

When those incentives inspire responsibility, productivity, and creativity, this is what we get. When incentives inspire irresponsibility and dependence, this is what we get.

What we call morality, the morality rooted in biblical truths that still influence and guide large parts of the American population and that served as a guide to many more in our past, provides the rules and framework that sustain life and living.

Everyone that knows me knows how I celebrate this court decision that overturns that decision in 1973 that opened the door to the destruction of 60 million-plus pregnancies.

That decision introduced a culture of death to our nation.

When I say a culture of death, I dont only mean the widespread physical destruction of infants in the womb, which is what the decision brought about.

A culture of death means introduction of behaviors that threaten the future of our communities, of our nation.

When we lose appreciation for the sanctity of life, along with this we lose the sense of sanctity of behavior that brings life to the world. Marriage and sex become no longer responsible expressions of love and creation but expressions of egoism and self-gratification of the moment.

Sadly, and predictably, following the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, we saw collapse of the institution of marriage and of childbearing.

The fertility rate in the United States today is at a historic low and well below the rate necessary for the population to replace itself.

This is what I call a culture of death.

An aging nation, where the number of souls departing exceeds the number of new souls being brought forth, is not a nation with a future.

Particularly troubling is the disproportionate extent to which the culture of death has rooted itself in black communities.

About one-third of the nations abortions are performed on black women.

In 1960, the percentage of black adults and white adults, age 25 and above, who had never been married was almost identicalaround 10 percent. By 2012, among whites this increased to 16 percent, but among blacks to 36 percent.

Black poverty is largely centered in black households headed by single women.

Sadly, the Congressional Black Caucus wants to perpetuate the culture of death. They decry the courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

But the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is not a ban on abortion. It is a rejection of the bogus decision that claimed the U.S. Constitution grants abortion rights.

Those on the left, who regularly express their concerns about our democracy, now have things the way they want it.

The future of abortion lies in democracy. Each state will decide if they want a culture of death.

My prediction is Americans will choose life. And black Americans will choose life.

The result will be a rebirth of the American family, children, and future.

Yes, I am rejoicing that so many will be called Mom this time next year and am praying that God will shower their offspring with a double portion of His blessings.

There is great reason today to celebrate in America.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Press Release

June 28, 2022 De Lima welcomes resumption of ICC investigation on Duterte's drug war Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima welcomed the decision of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request the latter to lift the suspension on the preliminary investigation on the killings and other alleged rights abuses under the Duterte administration. De Lima, a social justice and human rights champion, said it is clear that the present government, including its Department of Justice (DOJ), has not conducted any meaningful investigation of the extra-judicial killings committed by state security forces and state agents in the course of Duterte's murderous war on drugs. "I welcome with great relief and optimism the decision of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request the latter to lift the suspension on the preliminary investigation of the Philippine situation," she said in her Dispatch from Crame No. 1271 released yesterday. "The OTP has seen through the ruse that the so-called DOJ investigation is, calling it a mere desk investigation that has not amounted to anything substantial to unearth the principals behind the Duterte government's EJK policy," she added. The OTP filed a motion asking for the lifting of the deferment investigation into the drug war killings and those allegedly carried out by the Davao Death Squad (DDS) when Duterte was Mayor of Davao City. "The prosecution requests the chamber to authorize the resumption of the Court's investigation in the Situation in the Philippines, notwithstanding the deferral request," ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a request to the pre-trial chamber in The Hague last June 24. "After a careful and thorough review of all the information provided by the Philippines, as well as other information available publicly... I have concluded that the deferral requested by the Philippines is not warranted, and that the investigation should resume as quickly as possible," Khan said. Reportedly, ICC suspended its investigation into Duterte's drug war in November last year at Philippines' request, with government officials citing their own investigations into the killings. De Lima said Duterte's officials should have known that the ICC Prosecutor "is not and cannot be deluded," saying the latter is sharp and incisive enough to know that the purported DOJ investigation fell short of the ICC's standards and expectations. "Not only does said probe cover a miniscule fraction - only 52 - of the thousands of suspected EJK cases and involving only 'low-level' perpetrators, there is also no showing that the very role or conduct of the 'PNP and government leadership' is being seriously looked into," De Lima said. "The ICC's consistent investigative policy is to focus on 'persons bearing the greatest responsibility' for these crimes against humanity. And such a tack is not at all mirrored in the DOJ's investigation as it has clearly spared the top perpetrators," she added. Additionally, De Lima also welcomed the statement of the incoming National Security Adviser, Dr. Clarita Carlos, that the Philippine government should allow the ICC investigation to be undertaken and to let a team of scholars accompany them. "The adoption of Dr. Carlos' position by the next administration will only demonstrate to the world that the incoming Philippine government will value human rights more than its predecessor. As she said: 'human rights is primary' and that 'the first protection is the protection of the individual,'" said De Lima. It can be recalled that De Lima was the very first to sound the alarm on EJKs being committed in the guise of Duterte's drug war, via her privilege speeches and Proposed Senate Resolution No. 9, directing the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights to investigate the rampant summary executions of suspected drug offenders, which she filed last July 2016. The lady Senator from Bicol also submitted a communication to the Office of the Special Prosecutor of the ICC last October 2017 to complement the communications submitted by the late Atty. Jude Sabio, and former lawmakers Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV and Gary Alejano relative to Duterte's drug war. This 18th Congress, De Lima reintroduced a measure, logged as Senate Bill No. 371, seeking to define and criminalize acts that constitute extrajudicial killings and ensure accountability for said crimes.
Harrah, Oklahoma, on June 28, 2022, the day of the midterm primary election in the state. (Jeff Louderback/Epoch Times)

Crowded Oklahoma US House Primary Heads for Runoff

Oklahomas 2nd Congressional District Republican primary is headed for a runoff after no one in the crowded 14-candidate field surpassed 50 percent of the vote on June 28.

With more than 95 percent of the votes reported at 12:11 a.m. on June 29, former state representative Avery Frix received 14.7 percent of the vote and was projected to advance to the runoff.

His challenger in the runoff remained to be determined with roughly 600 votes separating Josh Breechen and John Bennett, in second and third place respectively.

Frix and his Republican opponent will meet in the August 23 runoff to determine who will face Democrat Naomi Andrews and independent Ben Robinson in Novembers general election.

Oklahomas 2nd district includes most of eastern Oklahoma from Texas to Kansas. The House seat has been occupied since 2012 by Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who stepped away from that role to run for Senate to replace retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)

Mullin also advanced to an August 23 runoff in a Republican primary that featured 10 candidates.

Quapaw Nation secretary-treasurer Guy Barker gave his campaign a $770,000 loan, the most money spent in the race.

John Bennett, a former Oklahoma state representative and former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, Cherokee Nation tribal councilor Wes Nofire, state representative Dustin Roberts, and Muskogee chief of police Johnny Teehee were also on the ballot.

Economy Pharmacy CEO Chris Schiller, former state representative David Derby, state Sen. Marty Quinn, retired Marine Clint Johnson, former Oklahoma state representative candidate Rhonda Hopkins, retired Army combat veteran Erick Wyatt, and former school superintendent and Marine Corp. contractor Pamela Gordon composed the remainder of the field.

All five of Oklahomas seats in the U.S. House are on the ballot this year.

In Oklahomas 1st Congressional District, incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin Hern was unopposed in the primary and will face Democrat Adam Martin and independent candidate Evelyn Rogers in Novembers general election.

Hern, who sponsored the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, is endorsed by Trump.

Incumbent Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) won the 3rd Congressional District primary and will be opposed by Democrat Jeremiah Ross in November.

In the 4th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a member of the Chickasaw Nation who has held the seat since 2002, defeated Norman pastor James Taylor and Franke Blacke. He will face Democrat Mary Brannon in the general election.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice, who twice voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump, prevailed in the 5th Congressional District primary. The former Oklahoma state senator will face Democrat Joshua Harris-Till and independent David Frosch in November.
A logo sits illuminated outside the Microsoft pavilion on the opening day of the World Mobile Congress at the Fira Gran Via Complex in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 22, 2016. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Demand Surges For Pirated Microsoft Products in Sanctions-Hit Russia

Russian citizens are increasingly searching for pirated Microsoft products online after the company stopped in-country sales following Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

Google searches for Windows 10 activation methods in Russia have risen by 80 to 250 percent during the past 90 days, according to a June 27 report by Kommersant newspaper. One of the fastest-growing queries in June was for the free download of Microsoft Excel, with searches growing by 650 percent.

End-consumers do not yet have problems with registering and activating products. As for legal entities, it all depends on whether the company is under sanctions or not, Igor Martyushev, director of development of electronic services and software solutions at Marvel Distribution, said to Kommersant.

Martyushev estimates the current level of boxed Microsoft OS stocks to last for several months. There have been no new deliveries of boxed OS, he added.

Russian citizens buying a boxed version of Windows OS or a laptop that comes pre-installed with the OS will only be able to use it if they select a country other than Russia or Belarus during the registration process, according to the paper.

Microsoft had suspended new sales of its products and services in Russia on March 4, just days after the Ukraine invasion. The tech firm is also significantly scaling down operations in the country, the company said to Bloomberg.

Over 400 employees will be affected by the move. We are working closely with impacted employees to ensure they are treated with respect and have our full support during this difficult time, the company stated.

Switching to Software Alternatives

Moscow has asked government departments and state-owned companies to cease using Windows OS and switch over to Linux, according to a June 24 report by The Moscow Times.

On a public procurement website, hundreds of contracts for buying and installing Linux, worth billions of rubles, have been posted by entities like Rosatom, Gazprom, clinics, and so on.

Russia is also facing problems when it comes to industrial sector software used in farms, factories, oil fields, etc. Industrial manufacturers like SMS Group GmbH and Siemens AG have been forced to shut down operations in Russia due to international sanctions.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Elena Semenovskaya, a Russia-focused analyst at IDC, said that sourcing software for computer-aided design and manufacturing is turning out to be a key issue that might be a drag on the countrys development.

Russian analogues in this area are much weaker and the need is high, Semenovskaya said. But for now the approach is to rely on piracy and outdated copies, which is a dead-end and not sustainable.
Attendees raise candles and phone flashlights to music during a candlelight vigil for Miya Marcano at Arden Villas in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 1, 2021. (Chasity Maynard/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

DeSantis Signs Miyas Law for Slain Orlando College Student

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.A measure that seeks to make apartment complexes safer by requiring background screenings of employees was quietly signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 27.

In a private ceremony, DeSantis said the bill, designated as Miyas Law, was signed in honor of Miya Marcano, an Orlando college student who was killed in October 2021 by a maintenance worker at the apartment complex where she lived, according to a statement from the governors office.

Marcano was a 19-year-old Valencia College student who went missing, and was found dead a week later. Her body had been bound with duct tape near another apartment complex.

Law enforcement determined during their investigation that the maintenance worker had used a master key to access her apartment.

Every tenant deserves to be safe in their own home, DeSantis said in the statement. By signing this legislation, we are making it safer to live in a rental unit and giving renters more peace of mind in their homes.

Miyas death was a tragedy, and our prayers continue to be with the Marcano family, he continued. I am proud to act on their behalf.

Miya Marcano in a file photo. (Orange County Sheriffs Office)

Yma Scarbriel, Marcanos mother, called the bills signing bittersweet.

Everything has been so dark and hectic throughout, but today we have a bit of a bright light, she said in the statement.

We fought so hard to get her bill where it is today. Im just grateful for everyonethe public, our familieseveryone who stood behind us and fought tirelessly to help us get where we are.

Scarbriel and her daughters father thanked the lawmakers who sponsored the legislation and DeSantis for signing it into law.

My daughter is my world, Marlon Marcano said in a statement.

With the passing of Miyas Law, I am extremely grateful to everyone involved and I want the community to know that we will do everything we can to ensure what happened to our Miya doesnt happen to anyone else.

The new law requires landlords to maintain a key log of who has access to apartments and must provide tenants with 24 hours notice before entering units for non-emergency repairs. Before, it had been 12 hours. Meanwhile, the key log and background screenings will be subject to inspection annually and regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The bill was a bipartisan effort between lawmakers this past legislative session, co-sponsored by state Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando), Rep. Robin Bartleman, (D-Weston), and Rep. Scott Plakon, (R-Longwood).

While Miyas family will never receive justice and nothing can bring back their daughter, I do hope that with this new law going into effect, in honor of Miya, that some peace will be brought to the family in knowing that their daughters death was not in vain, Stewart said in a statement.

Marcanos killer was identified by the Orange County Sheriffs Office (OCSO) as Armando Caballero, 27. Officers had found out he had been making unwanted advances toward her. Days after the murder, Caballero killed himself before Marcanos body was discovered.

Marcano worked in the front office of her complex and was reported missing after she didnt show up for work on Sept. 24, and subsequently missed a flight to Fort Lauderdale to visit her family.

A cause of death was never determined as the medical examiner described her body as nearly completely skeletonized. Black duct tape was found around her neck, wrists, and ankles, according to an autopsy report.

Sheriffs investigators said Marcano was most likely killed inside her apartment after a struggle and then put in the trunk of Caballeros car from her bedroom window.

In the past, Marcanos family has accused OCSO of not taking Marcanos disappearance seriously and maintained that because she had duct tape on her that she was more than likely alive when placed in the trunk of Caballeros car.

Steward said that the family and the sheriffs office as well as other groups were able to work together to get the bill passed in the legislature.

Stewart said they were able to add key protections and include a provision to curb human trafficking that prohibits hourly rentals at lodging establishments.

This was the hardest bill I have ever had to push through in my lifetime, the lawmaker said. It was very challenging.

While the law will apply to apartment complexes with 25 units or more, it doesnt include condos, Stewart said.

This is going to hopefully give [renters] a sense of security, knowing that if theyre going to live in apartments that theres going to be safety measures in place.

I think this will go a long way in cutting back on perhaps as little as theft, but also stalking and things of more serious nature.
A nuclear propulsion Ohio class submarine, the USS Florida sails on Jan. 22, 2003 off the coast of the Bahamas. Australia as part of the AUKUS deal will get the tech for nuclear powered subs. (David Nagle/U.S. Navy/Getty Images)

Having Australian Nuclear Subs Operational By 2030 is Extremely Optimistic Says Defence Minister

Australias Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has said he believes the 2030 deadline for the country to have nuclear subs in our waters is optimistic in the extreme.

Marles who is also Australias defence minister said that he believed the deadline set by the previous Australian government was in the 2040s rather than 2030.

I think the truth of where the former government left us at the time of the election is that they were looking at a new nuclear submarine in the 2040s. That is where they were at, Marles said on the ABCs Radio National on Wednesday.

Now we will be looking at every option available to try and bring that time forward, but I think to bring it forward to eight years from now would be extremely optimistic.

Australias Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 11, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Deputy Prime Minister admitted that this would leave Australia with a capability gap and that they were considering all possibilities to close the hole in Australias defence, including extending the life of the Collins Class submarines.

Were not ruling that out by any means, he said. I think life-of-type extensions will play an important part here but we are very open-minded about whatever options there are in terms of close the capability.

Concerned Nuclear Deal Sends Wrong Message

The comments from Marles come after one of Australias long-term Asia-pacific allies Malaysia has reiterated its concerns over the nuclear submarine deal to Foreign Minister Penny Wong who is currently on a diplomatic visit to the south-east Asian nation.

Malaysias Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato Sri Saifuddin Bin Abdullah noted in a joint press conference with Wong on Wednesday that Malaysia highly values the regional peace and security of the ASEAN region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, speaks next to Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah during a press conference at foreign ministry in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Dec. 15, 2021. (Jai Huzaini/Ministry of Foreign Affair via AP)

We want to maintain the South China Sea in particular and the region as a whole, as a region of peace, of commerce, of prosperity, he said. And we had a very candid discussion on AUKUS just now and I thank the Foreign Minister for explaining the current governments position. And Malaysias position remains the same.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had previously said in May that the AUKUS deal could have potential knock-on effects arguing that if China, for example, wanted to help North Korea buy nuclear-propelled submarines Malaysia could not say no because AUKUS has set a precedent

Wong who is making her first visit as Australias foreign minister to the country of her birth noted the Australian government considered it important to listen to the concerns of countries in the region, including Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia and that they would respond to them respectfully.

Australia Seeks to Keep Region Peaceful

However, she added that the deal was not going to turn Australia into a nuclear power.

What we are doing is replacing an existing capability with a new capability and that is nuclearpowered submarines, Wong said. The propulsion system is powered by nuclear power. But we remain very clear that we do not seek, and nor would we ever seek, to have any nuclear capability on our submarines.

Wong said that the government was aware that the region was being reshaped economically and politically and that Australia would always operate on the basis of keeping the region peaceful.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from L-R:

Malaysias Saifuddin Abdullah, Philippines Teodoro Locsin, Singapores Vivian Balakrishnan, Cambodias Prak Sokhonn, Indonesias Retno Marsudi, Laos Saleumxay Kommasith and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi pose for a group photo during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Phnom Penh on Feb. 17, 2022. (Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP via Getty Images)

Australia will always operate on the basis that we have this objective: a region that is peaceful, a region that is stable, a region that is prosperous, a region in which sovereignty is respected, and, importantly, a region where rules enable some predictability to State behaviour and to the way in which disputes would be dealt with, she said.

Meanwhile, a study by the Lowy Institute has revealed that 70 percent of Australians are in favour of the country obtaining nuclear-powered submarines.

Additionally, the institute revealed that the number of Australians who want defence spending to be increased has jumped 20 points since 2019 to 51 percent.

A previous version of the article stated that Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was optimistic the subs would be in the water by 2030. This was incorrect and the Epoch Times apologises for this error.
Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, speaks at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 29, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

FCC Commissioner Calls on Apple and Google to Ban TikTok From App Stores

In light of national security threats posed by TikTok, Commissioner Brendan Carr called on both Apple and Google to ban TikTok in their app stores.

Brendan Carr, the Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) addressed the security issue in an open letter to Apple and Google on June 24.

He highlighted on Twitter: TikTok is not just another video app; Thats the sheeps clothing; and It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.

Replying to Carrs post, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also wrote, For YEARS, @BrendanCarrFCC & I have been warning about Communist China using TikTok to steal American technology and data and the dangerous threat this app poses.

National Security Threat

As indicated in Carrs letter, TikTok is owned by Beijing-based Byte Dancean organization that abides by the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) surveillance demands.

Bipartisan leaders in both the Senate and House have flagged concerns, Carr said.

In the letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Carr mentioned that multiple U.S. military branches; and national security agencies such as the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the TSA; have banned TikTok. Military troops and their dependents are also urged to erase the app from their personal phones.

Members of the City Youth Organisation hold posters with the logos of Chinese apps in support of the Indian government for banning the wildly popular video-sharing Tik Tok app, in Hyderabad on June 30, 2020. (Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images)

Carr requested both Apple and Google to comply with their app store policies that claim to protect consumer privacy and safeguard their data.

He demanded both operators respond by July 8, 2022, in the event of not removing TikTok from the app stores, with the basis for your companys conclusion that the surreptitious access of private and sensitive U.S. user data by persons located in Beijing, coupled with TikToks pattern of misleading representations and conduct, does not run afoul of any of your app store policies, Carr wrote.

Human Rights Abuse

When the Trump administration banned TikTok via an Executive Order in 2020, TikTok rebutted: TikTok has never, and will never, waver in our commitment to you. We prioritize your safety, security, and the trust of our communityalways.

However, as Carr mentioned in his letter, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million in 2021 to settle lawsuits alleging that the app clandestinely vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China (and to other servers accessible from within China) vast quantities of private and personally identifiable user data and content that could be employed to identify, profile, and track the physical and digital location and activities of United States users now and in the future.

A man posses for a picture taken by the smartphone app Tiktok. (AFP/Getty Images)

In June 2021, President Joe Biden issued an order that revoked former President Donald Trumps 2020 bans of TikTok and WeChat, but stated that: If persons who own, control, or manage connected software applications engage in serious human rights abuse or otherwise facilitate such abuse, the United States may impose consequences on those persons in action separate from this order.

Casey Fleming, a cyber security expert and CEO of strategic advisory firm BlackOps Partners, told The Epoch Times in February: All of your data on that phone, everything you do, and everything that you have stored on your phone is being sent out of the country, possibly to be used against you.

As Carr said, TikTok doesnt just see its users dance videos.
In this file photo, E-cigarettes appear on display at Vape store in Chicago. (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)

FDA Issues Two Warning Letters to E-cigarette Businesses for Unauthorized Sales

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted warning letters on June 28 to two e-cigarette businesses, VAPORIZIT LLC and Elk River Vapor Shop, for selling e-cigarette products not previously on the market.

According to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, new tobacco products, including vapes, need a pre-market authorization order to be sold in the United States.

However, the FDA found Elk Rivers Crack the Whip 6mg 60 ml and Peach Wht. Grape 3mg 60ml were new products not previously commercially marketed in the United States. Therefore, the products need FDA marketing authorization orders to allow the stores to sell them legally.

The company has over 1,100 products listed with FDA and has opened four stores across Alabama and Tennessee.

VAPORIZIT, with over 12,800 of its products listed with the FDA, was warned for selling Vaporizit Cosmic Cow e-liquid products without FDA approval, as the vape has not been marketed commercially before.

However, Victory Liquid, a business founded before VAPORIZIT in 2013, sells the same product on its website, though it is not known which company sold it first.

VAPORIZIT and Elk River Vapor Shop have 15 working days from June 28 to address any violations and bring their products into compliance, announce the date they will discontinue sales, or provide reasoning if they believe their sales were not a violation of the food and drug policies.

Nicotine Takedown

The news comes weeks after the FDA took action against another major e-cigarette company, Juul Labs. The popular e-cigarette brand was swiftly banned by the FDA on June 23, with all of its products found to be unauthorized for sale due to lacking sufficient evidence on the products toxicology.

The ban has since been temporarily paused after Juul appealed the FDA decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which granted the company sufficient opportunity to hear further arguments on the matter.

Juul was banned two days after the Biden administration announced a plan to set a lower benchmark for the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a brief on June 21, outlining plans to set a lower ceiling for nicotine levels in cigarettes and other similar products.

Trials for drugs to treat tobacco and nicotine addictions were announced by Achieve Life Sciences, a late-stage clinical pharmaceutical company based in Seattle and Vancouver. The company announced phase two trials on June 29 to test the safety and dosage of their drug cytisinicline in the cessation of smoking and nicotine addictions.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House January 6 committee on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on June 28, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Former Meadows Aides Jan. 6 Testimony Denied by Trump, Secret Service

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, is facing criticism from President Donald Trump and members of the Secret Service for alleged false statements to the Jan. 6 Committee on June 28 while under oath.

For some observers, Hutchinsons testimony as a top former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was much anticipated, as Meadows himself has refused to cooperate with the controversial commission.

In December, the House of Representatives voted to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing two subpoenas by the commission, kicking the charge over to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for adjudication.

Even though Merrick Garlands DOJ had already decided on a separate instance to pursue criminal proceedings against Steve Bannon, a conservative commentator and former adviser to Trump, in June the DOJ announced that Meadows would not face charges.

During the Tuesday hearing, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Ranking Member Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) referenced this decision, calling it puzzling that the DOJ should reward Meadows for [his] continued attack on the rule of law.

This latest hearing of the committee was called at the last minute, with Thompson explaining that new information about what was going on in the White House on and around Jan. 6, 2021, should be heard by the American people immediately.

Cheney explained further near the start of the hearing.

Today you will hear Ms. Hutchinson relate certain firsthand observations of President Trumps conduct on January 6, Cheney said. You will also hear new information regarding the actions and statements of Mr. Trumps senior advisors that day, including his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and his White House counsel.

In a statement on her behalf after the hearing, Hutchinsons counsel said: Ms. Hutchinson is justifiably proud of her service to the country as a Special Assistant to the President. While she did not seek out the attention accompanying her testimony today, she believes that it was her duty and responsibility to provide the Committee with her truthful and candid observations of the events surrounding January 6. Ms. Hutchinson believes that January 6 was a horrific day for the country, and it is vital to the future of our democracy that it not be repeated.

Things Might Get Real, Real Bad: Alleged Meadows Comment to Hutchinson

During her testimony, Hutchinson alleged that the White House was aware that the rally planned for Jan. 6 could spiral out of control.

The Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally had already been in the works to protest the certification of electoral votes amid ongoing disputes over voter fraud.

Though the protest was intended to be a peaceful demonstration, Hutchinson suggested that Meadows and other White House staff had a notion that it may get out of hand.

Hutchinson said that on Jan. 2, 2021, four days before the planned rally, she escorted top Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani out of the White House, and the two discussed the upcoming rally and the possibility of taking it to Capitol Hill.

Coming back inside, Hutchinson said, I found Mr. Meadows in his office on the couch. He was scrolling through his phone. I remember leaning against the doorway and saying, I just had an interesting conversation with Rudy, Mark. Sounds like were going to go to the Capitol.

He didnt look up from his phone and said something to the effect of, Theres a lot going on, Cass. But I dont know. Things might get real, real bad on January 6, she claimed.

Not mentioned by the committee were the repeated requests for National Guard reinforcements from U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund in advance of the rally.

Sund, equally aware of the possibility that the rally could become dangerous, made several requests to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her subordinates that the National Guard be brought in to bolster the defenses of the Capitol. These requests were denied, leaving the Capitol less prepared than it could have been.

Though Republicans have continued to emphasize this shortfall, and have promised to look into it with their own probe if they take the House, the January 6 committee has not touched the issue.

Hutchinson Alleges Trump Disputes With Secret Service on Jan. 6

Hutchinson also related several alleged disputes between Trump and the Secret Service on Jan. 6.

According to Hutchinson, the first of these came during Trumps rally at the Ellipse earlier in the day. The rally, Hutchinson said, looked too small to Trump.

She said he blamed this on the use of magnetometers by the Secret Service. Magnetometers, used by security forces to detect weapons, had been placed at the entrance to the Trump rally that day.

Upset by the smaller crowd size, Trump allegedly asked the Secret Service to remove them.

I dont [expletive] care that they have weapons, theyre not here to hurt me, take the [expletive] mags away,' Hutchinson claimed Trump said. Let my people in, they can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the [expletive] mags away.'

Later, Hutchinson said, Trump grew frustrated after the Secret Service refused to allow him to join supporters at the Capitol protest because the area had not been secured.

Hutchinson then claimed that Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent in anger after they refused to take him to the Capitol before trying to seize the steering wheel from the driver of his vehicle.

In a tweet, former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney expressed trust in Hutchinsons claim, but suggested that, if it is a lie or a misrepresentation of what happened, it could force Meadows and others to testify before the Jan. 6 panel.

My guess is that before this is over, we will be hearing testimony from Ornato, Engle, and Meadows, Mulvaney wrote in the tweet. This is explosive stuff. If Cassidy is making this up, they will need to say that. If she isnt they will have to corroborate.

I know her. I dont think she is lying, he added.

Trump, Secret Service Deny Hutchinsons Claims

Trump called parts of Hutchinsons testimony to the January 6 committee a fake story.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, [Hutchinsons] Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is sick and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself. Wouldnt even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing.

Trump also referenced another claim made by Hutchinson during the testimony.

According to Hutchinson, Trump threw his plate of food against the wall in the White House after AP unveiled an interview with then-Attorney General Bill Barr claiming that no widespread fraud had taken place in the 2020 election, a claim that remains disputed.

Following the outburst, Hutchinson claims, she went to help the White House valet clean a splatter of ketchup off the wall.

Her story of me throwing food is also false, Trump stated, adding, and why would SHE have to clean it up, I hardly

knew who she was?

Earlier in the day, Trump had also indicated that Hutchinson was far removed from his inner circle, casting further doubt on her wide-reaching claims.

I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and

leaker), Trump said.

He also said that after he left the White House, Hutchinson had attempted to join his team in Florida, but he refused her personally, suggesting she may have had a lingering animus against him.

She requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request down, Trump said. Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible? I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didnt want her to go, or be a member of the team. She is bad news!

Reports have also come in from Secret Service agents suggesting that Hutchinsons claims about Trump lunging at and trying to seize control of the White House limo were false.

Reportedly, a source close to the Secret Service told NBCs Peter Alexander that both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, [and the agent allegedly lunged at by Trump] and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.

Given her distance from the president, and given the denials streaming in in the aftermath of the last-minute hearings, Hutchinsons testimony remains largely contested and uncorroborated.

Hope of Trump Indictment, Preventing Possible Reelection Bid, Underpins Hearings

Members of the Democrat-dominated Jan. 6 Committee have made no effort to hide their hope that Trump will face criminal charges for his actions on and leading up to Jan. 6. Charges that lead to a conviction of insurrection may put an end to his chances of running for re-election, which he has indicated he may do.

I would like to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump or anyone else, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on ABC News This Week. They need to be investigated if theres credible evidence, which I think there is.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the committee has laid out in various legal pleadings the criminal statutes that we think have been violated, and claimed that the panel has evidence that Trump knew Democratic rival candidate Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

I think we can prove to any reasonable, open-minded person that Donald Trump absolutely knew because he was surrounded by lawyers, Raskin said on CNNs State of the Union. He continues to spread [doubts about the 2020 election results] to this very day. He continues to foist that propaganda on his followers.

I certainly think the president is guilty of knowing what he did, Kinzinger said when asked during an appearance on ABCs This Week if Trump should face criminal charges. Seditious conspiracy. Being involved in these, you know, kind of different segments of pressuring DOJ, Vice President, etc.

It remains unclear whether the DOJ will take the unprecedented step of opening a criminal investigation of Trump, whatever the calls from members of the panel.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger arrives at the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 22, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger to Be Buried July 2 in New Jersey

Former U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger will be buried on July 2, after a funeral Mass in Maywood, New Jersey, the Trinka-Faustini Funeral Service announced.

Stenger, 71, died early on June 27, although word of his death didnt circulate widely until that night.

Michael C. Stenger

No cause of death has been released.

A resident of Falls Church, Virginia, Stenger retired from his sergeant-at-arms post after the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Michael Conrad Stenger was born July 11, 1950. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, then embarked on a 35-year career with the U.S. Secret Service. He rose to the position of assistant director.

Stenger joined the staff of the U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms in 2011. He was appointed sergeant-at-arms in April 2018 by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, becoming the 41st person to hold that title since April 1789.

Stenger maintained core values in his Senate post, a co-worker wrote online.

From the beginning, he was a breath of fresh air. He brought the perspective of a regular person to a place known for outsized egos, said Don Kellaher, former U.S. House deputy sergeant-at-arms. Mike never forgot where he came from. The best personification of a Jersey Boy.

Stenger stepped down after McConnell requested his resignation following the Jan. 6, 2021, security debacle. U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving also lost their jobs as a result of mistakes made that day.

While Sund had requested help from the National Guard on Jan. 6, Irving and Stenger deferred, saying they would run it up the chain of command.

In his testimony before a congressional committee on Feb. 23, 2021, Stenger said there needed to be an investigation of paid provocateurs at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

There is an opportunity to learn lessons from the events of January 6th, Stenger told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on Rules and Administration. Investigations should be considered as to funding and travel of what appears to be professional agitators. First Amendment rights should always be considered in conjunction with professional investigations.

The law enforcement coordination in the National Capital Region should be reviewed to determine what can be done in a more efficient and productive manner, Stenger said. Intelligence collection and dissemination, training, and concepts on the use of force must be consistent. This integration should be accomplished without regard to self-serving interest and cost.

The funeral Mass for Stenger will take place at 10 a.m. at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Maywood, New Jersey, followed by burial in Paramus, New Jersey. He is survived by his wife Janet, two children, and two grandchildren.
(L-R) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron take their seats to attend a meeting of five G-7 leaders at Elmau Castle, southern Germany, on June 28, 2022. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

G-7 Takes Aim at China Over Unfair Trade Practices, Human Rights, Ties With Russia

The Group of Seven (G-7) criticized the Chinese regime on June 28 over its unfair trade policies and human rights abuses. The G-7 leaders also urged Beijing to drop expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea and press Moscow to stop its invasion of Ukraine.

At the end of the three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps, leaders of the worlds wealthiest democratic nations issued a highly critical communique that laid out a range of challenges posed by the communist regime in China. The document focused on Beijings unfair trade practices, a complaint that first appeared in last years document.

In 2021, G-7 leaders first discussed the need for a unified position in countering Beijings non-market policies and practices.

The collective statement is unprecedented in the context of the G-7, acknowledging the harms caused by Chinas non-transparent, market-distorting industrial directives, an unnamed senior U.S. administration official said at a June 28 press briefing.

The White House statement noted that countries outside the group would also be consulted on collective approaches to counter Beijings unfair trade policies and practices. The G-7 includes the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Japan.

Leaders will build a shared understanding of Chinas non-transparent and market distorting interventions and other forms of economic and industrial directives, the White House statement reads.

We will then work together to develop coordinated action to ensure a level playing field for our businesses and workers, to foster diversification and resilience to economic coercion, and to reduce strategic dependencies.

U.S. President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend the G-7 group photo on the first day of the G-7 summit at Schloss Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on June 26, 2022. (Stefan Rousseau-Pool/Getty Images)

On the first day of the summit on June 26, G-7 leaders unveiled an infrastructure plan in which they pledged to raise $600 billion in public and private sectors over the next five years to finance projects ranging from digital infrastructure to health care for less developed countries.

The initiative would counter Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also called One Belt, One Road), a multi-billion dollar plan that has been criticized as a form of debt trap diplomacy that saddles poor and developing nations with unsustainable debt levels while bolstering Beijings political influences in those countries.

Human Rights Abuses

The communique states that G-7 leaders are gravely concerneda term not used in last years summitabout the human rights violations in China, particularly forced labor in Xinjiang and Tibet.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has incarcerated more than 1 million Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in internment camps in the far-western Xinjiang region, where detainees have been subjected to forced sterilization, torture, political indoctrination, and forced labor.

The G-7 will accelerate progress to tackle forced labor, with the goal of removing all forms of forced labor from global supply chains, including state-sponsored forced labor, such as in Xinjiang, according to a White House fact sheet.

Washington highlighted the efforts made by the Biden administration to combat the CCPs human rights abuses by banning imports made by forced labor in Xinjiang. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act came into effect on June 21.

G7 countries committed to take further measures to strengthen cooperation, including through increased transparency and business risk advisories, and other measures to address forced labor globally, the White House statement reads.

The group also called on Beijing to honor its commitments by restoring Hong Kongs rights, freedoms, and autonomy.

Aggression in Indo-Pacific

The communique called out Beijings maritime claims in the East China and South China seas and its unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.

We stress that there is no legal basis for Chinas expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, it states.

The document highlighted the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait amid growing concern that Beijing could use the RussiaUkraine war as an opportunity to seize Taiwan. The CCP views the self-ruled democratic island as its own territory, to be taken by force if necessary.

The communique reminded Beijing to uphold its obligations under the U.N. Charter and abstain from threats, coercion, intimidation measures or use of force.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced a no limits partnership during their meeting in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

ChinaRussia Ties

The G-7 leaders also urged China to press Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Western officials have been concerned over the burgeoning alliance between Beijing and Moscow since they first announced a no limits partnership on Feb. 4.

The communique was released hours before U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders headed to a NATO summit in Madrid. NATO is expected to address the Chinese regimes growing threat, calling the country a systemic challenge in its new strategic report.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Gun Owners Private Information Breached After California Unveils Firearms Portal

Firearms owners who have a concealed carry permit in California had their data leaked Monday after Attorney General Rob Bonta launched a 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal, according to gun rights groups.

According to gun news outlet The Reload, personal information was leaked online for at least 2,891 people who live in Los Angeles County and have standard licenses. That includes 420 reserve officers, 244 judge permits, and 63 people with employment-related permits.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a dashboard portal was to serve as an information hub between gun owners for transparency purposes.

Transparency is key to increasing public trust between law enforcement and the communities we serve, he said in a news release on Monday.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) said that users of the California dashboard were able to download information that identified concealed carry weapons holders, including their names, addresses, and date of birth.

NRA is monitoring the unfolding situation in California and will keep gun owners apprised of any further developments, the group said.

By Tuesday, the California Department of Justice appeared to have removed the dashboard portal from its website. When trying to access the website, an error message reads: Website temporarily unavailable. Please try again in a few minutes. We are working to bring the site back online as soon as possible.

Stunning

But the California Rifle & Pistol Association (pdf) said that hundreds of thousands of gun owners in California might be affected by the breach of the dashboard portal.

While the Portal now has finally been pulled down off the site, it left confidential information exposed for a minimum of twelve hours. The data was likely downloaded hundreds of times and it leaves gun owners concerned about where their information may end up, the association said.

This is a privacy breach of stunning proportions, the group added. The incompetence that the Attorney General has displayed in allowing such sensitive data to be accessed is shocking.

The California Department of Justice told The Reload and PCMagazine Monday that it is investigating an exposure of individuals personal information connected to the DOJ Firearms Dashboard, adding, Any unauthorized release of personal information is unacceptable.

The state agency is working swiftly to address this situation and will provide additional information as soon as possible, the spokesperson said.

And some local law enforcement officials in California said that concealed carry permit owners should make sure their homes are secure because home addresses were part of the data breach.

Its concerning anytime information that specific is released to the public, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims told ABC30 in reference to the leak. Of course, what we tell the public all the time is to protect your personal information.

The Epoch Times has contacted the California Justice Department for comment.
A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a girl on a street in Lahore, Pakistan, on June 27, 2022. Pakistan launched a new anti-polio drive on Monday, with the goal to vaccinate a million children across Pakistan. (K.M. Chaudary/AP Photo)

Gunmen Kill 2 Policemen, Polio Worker in Northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on Pakistani police escorting a team of polio workers Tuesday during a door-to-door inoculation campaign in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold, killing two policemen and a polio worker, police said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in North Waziristan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack came a day after the government launched another nationwide anti-polio campaign amid a spike in attacks.

A passerby was also wounded, said Aziz Ullah, a local police official. The attackers fled the scene.

Since April, Pakistan has registered 11 new polio casesall in North Waziristan, where parents often refuse to inoculate children. The outbreak has been a blow to the Islamic nations efforts to eradicate the disease, which can cause severe paralysis in children.

Pakistans anti-polio campaigns are regularly marked by violence. ISIS terrorists often target polio teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic. In 2021, Pakistan reported only one case, raising hopes it was close to eradicating polio.

North Waziristan was a base for myriad terrorist groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, until a massive military offensive in recent years claimed to have cleared the region, forcing many terrorists to flee to Afghanistan. But attacks have been increasing lately, adding to concerns the assaults could further jeopardize anti-polio campaigns.

Pakistans Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attack and ordered an investigation.

The U.N. childrens agency took to Twitter to condemn the attack, saying @UNICEF joins @GovtofPakistan in condemning the attack which reportedly killed a polio worker & security personnel & injured a child in North Waziristan. Those killed were among hundreds of thousands of heroes who work selflessly to #EndPolio. We express our sympathy to families.

Earlier, UNICEF posted an appeal on Twitter, urging parents to inoculate their children. The goal of the latest campaign was to vaccinate 12.6 million children under the age of 5 across Pakistan.

Together, we can #EndPolio! Please make sure that every child is immunized against this deadly virus, UNICEF said.

Shahzad Baig, a coordinator for Pakistans polio program, also urged all parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated instead of hiding them or refusing to (let them) take the necessary drops.

It is important to realize that the polio virus still exists in our surroundings and no child is safe until all children are truly vaccinated, Baig added.

Shuja Khan, a Pakistani father whose son was stricken by polio in North Waziristan, posted a video message on Twitter. Holding his boy in his lap, he appealed on parents to inoculate their children and avoid his familys ordeal.

Until this week, Pakistans health authorities had carried out three nationwide anti-polio drives this yearin January, March and in May. During the March campaign, gunmen in northwestern Pakistan shot and killed a female polio worker as she was returning home after a day of vaccinations.

And in January, gunmen shot and killed a police officer providing security for polio vaccination workers, also in the countrys northwest.

By Riaz Khan
FILE PHOTO: New York Governor Kathy Hochul arrives for a bill signing ceremony, enacting a package of bills on gun control in the Bronx borough of New York City, U.S., June 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Hochul Wins, Zeldin Leads in New York Gubernatorial Primaries

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who as lieutenant governor assumed office in Albany last August when Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign amid scandal, is one step closer to being the first woman ever elected as chief executive of the Empire State.

The Buffalo native defeated moderate Long Island Congressional Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Brooklyn progressive Jumaane Williams in New Yorks June 28 Democratic primary to earn the partys gubernatorial berth in falls general election,

Hochul will face the winner of the Republican primary in November. Four-term Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) was in the lead as of 9:49 p.m. ET on Tuesday, but the race was still too early to call.

The June 28 primary was only for statewide offices and state assembly races, essentially serving as New York Primary Day Part 1. Primaries for the states 27 congressional districts and 63 state senate districts, will be staged on Aug. 23.

A May court ruling that threw out and refashioned the new post-2020 Census political maps drawn by the Democrat-controlled State Assembly fostered the delay of congressional and state senate elections to August.

In March, there were 11.9 million registered voters in New York, down from 12.4 million in 2020, with 5.93 million or 49.8 percent registered as Democrats. There were 2.65 million registered as Republicans, less than half those registered as Democrats, with more than 3 million unaffiliated voters not registered with any party. Only voters registered with a party can participate in the states closed primaries.

New Yorkers havent elected a Republican to statewide office since George Patakis second re-election in 2002 and have never elected a woman to serve as governor.

Before being selected by Cuomo as his 2014 running mate, Hochul served between 2011 and 2013 as New Yorks 26th congressional district representative, the first Democrat to represent the district in 40 years. She was defeated in her reelection bid by Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.)

She assumed office after Cuomo resigned amid multiple sexual harassment allegations, but her administration has also been marked by scandal.

In April, her handpicked lieutenant governorstate Sen. Brian Benjamin, a Manhattan Democratwas arrested in a federal corruption probe.

Williams, from the left, and Suozzi, from the right, ran aggressive campaigns that alleged Hochul was either too conservative or too liberal.

Williams serves as New York City Advocate, which is first in line to succeed the citys mayor and essentially serves as the city council president. He attacked Hochul for earning her an A rating from the National Rifle Association when she represented CD 26.

He was supported by progressives, including the Working Families Party. Williams also lost the 2018 lieutenant governor primary race to Hochul by seven percentage points.

Suozzi campaigned primarily on what he called Hochuls tolerance for rising crime. He said she has failed to address the states heavily criticized bail laws.

Zeldin outpaced a crowded Republican primary field that included former New York City mayor Rudy Giulianis son Andrew Giuliani, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, and businessman Harry Wilson.

Despite his former personal attorneys son being in the race for governor, former president Donald Trump did not issue any endorsements in the primary.

Zeldin was endorsed by the states GOP and Conservative party committees and former vice president Mike Pence.
How Roe Repeal Will Change California Politics

Commentary

The repeal of the Roe v. Wade abortion decision by the U.S. Supreme Court will change California politicsbut not in the way people are expecting. The assumption is it will help Democrats and hurt Republicans. And it will continue Gov. Gavin Newsoms ascension as a leader of the Democrats progressive faction.

Instead, it could become a perpetual question put on the ballot every time theres a November election.

Newsom himself has taken the lead by declaring California an abortion sanctuary state. California can play an outsized role at this moment, he said just after the ruling came down on June 24. I want folks to know, all around the rest of the country, and in many parts of the globe, that I hope were your antidote to fear or anxiety. Perhaps to the cynicism that many of you are feeling about fate and the future.

And he pushed through State Constitutional Amendment 10 for the November ballot. If passed by voters, it will embed the right to an abortion in the California Constitution. He said, We are ensuring Californians will have the opportunity this November to enshrine the right to choose in our state Constitution.

On June 27, he also signed an Executive Order banning using state personnel or funds for any inquiry, investigation, or proceeding initiated in or by another state that seeks to impose civil, criminal, or professional liability upon a person or entity.

Its hard to see how the EO is anything more than grandstanding. Axios reported June 24, Abortion clinics across the country close after Roe v. Wade ruling. No need for anything from California.

Back to the States

The court ruling only restores the status quo ante 1973. Back then, California and New York already had legalized abortion. In 1972 and before, there was no posturing by governors over the issue.

What the new court decision does, instead of inflaming the issue, is to defuse it. The very structure of the country is made up of 50 free and independent states, as the Declaration of Independence says. Those states came together first to throw off the British tyranny, then to form a new nation under the Constitution. Whose Tenth Amendment guaranteed, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

As Clarence Thomas wrote in his majority opinion, the Constitution nowhere mentions abortion. Nor do any of the amendments. The matter was entirely left to the States respectively.

California Status

As to California itself, the abortion amendment, which almost certainly will pass, wont change anything. In 2002, the state Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis anticipated Roe might be overturned in the future because of justices appointed by President George W. Bush. The Legislature passed SB 1302, the Reproductive Privacy Act, which codified Roeeven though abortion already had been legal here since 1967.

One of the Bush justices, Samuel Alito, indeed, turned out to be the author of the majority opinion in the 2022 case, Dobbs v. Jackson.

The pro-life groups are unlikely to expend much money and energy on defeating the new California constitutional amendment because it wont change anything.

Instead, I think they will save their money to advance their own pro-life constitutional amendment in 2024. It would repeal the amendment on this Novembers ballot, as well as the 1967 law. Likely such a ban would failthe first time. But later?

California Demographic Changes

Californias initiative and referendum system was instituted in 1911 by Gov. Hiram Johnson, a Progressive, which meant something different in those days than today. As he said of his reforms, they do give to the electorate the power of action when desired, and they do place in the hands of the people the means by which they may protect themselves.

Although California is a heavily Democratic state, the partys constituencies dont always hold the same beliefs as the party. In 2008, state voters passed Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage, despite strong objections by the Democratic Partys leaders. White and Asian voters rejected the initiative. But as the Washington Post reported at the time:

Any notion that Tuesdays election represented a liberal juggernaut must overcome a detail from the voting booths of California: The same voters who turned out strongest for Barack Obama also drove a stake through the heart of same-sex marriage. Seven in 10 African Americans who went to the polls voted yes on Proposition 8, the ballot measure overruling a state Supreme Court judgment that legalized same-sex marriage  Similar measures passed easily in Florida and Arizona. It was closer in California, but no ethnic group anywhere rejected the sanctioning of same-sex unions as emphatically as the states black voters, according to exit polls. Fifty-three percent of Latinos also backed Proposition 8, overcoming the bare majority of white Californians who voted to let the court ruling stand.

The initiative was overturned by court decisions in 2015.

Although the percentage of black Californians has declined slightly since 2008, that of Latinos has increased from 28 percent in 2010 to 39.4 percent in 2021.

Of course, we dont know exactly how the politics of abortion will play out in 2024 or 2026 or 2028, among Latinos or any other ethnic group.

But assuming there is a constitutional amendment banning abortion on the ballot in 2024, it would attract vast national attention and many tens of millions of dollars for each side from all across the country. And it well could pass and ban abortion in California.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
First and foremost, this article is only for those who are financially responsible. Credit cards shouldnt be part of a financial strategy conversation unless its proven that bills can be paid without paying overdraft fees. That being said, credit cards can be a powerful tool if you know about them and know how to use them properly.

Originally, I was in the camp of taking a scissor out and cutting up my credit cards and of those around me who were willing to do so. Since digging a little deeper into the subject, Ive found that there are many benefits to using them in an effective manner. Piling up travel miles and reward points are extremely valuable. Who wouldnt like a free ride to a weekend getaway or what have you?

Advice From the Top

Even after all these years of following personal finance trends, reading books, and trial and error, it took a passing comment by a mentor to get me to focus on the aforementioned benefits. At a business lunch, he was boasting about his free trip to Mexico. This, of course, perked my ears up as I conjured up a sense of curiosity.

When I asked him to elaborate, he mentioned that he put every penny of his monthly expenses on a credit card in order to stockpile credit card points. This had gone against everything I had ever learned! How could he be so reckless!

It took a step back for me to realize, wait  am I wrong? Hes rich and successful, he must be doing something right.

Thats when I came to the conclusion that its perfectly okay to use credit cards if you are disciplined enough to pay them off every month. In essence, as long as you arent paying interest on your principle, itd be a smart move to get your cash back or travel miles that you deserve. In many ways, I felt foolish for not coming to this conclusion myself but hey, live and learn. This casual conversation brought upon some research as to what which cards are best for me and my clientele.

Travel

Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card: Ill be honest, in researching the best travel cards, I found myself applying for this one personally. I guess thats a good sign! See rewards below:

1.5 points for every $1 spent on purchases

20,000 online bonus points after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 dayswhich can be redeemed for a $200 statement credit toward travel purchases

No annual fee

The introductory rate of zero percent for the first 12 billing cycles

20,000 bonus points if you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days

If there were a Tinder of credit cards, Id be swiping right!

Cash Back

American Express Blue Card Preferred: If youre a big online shopper, the current deal offered for this card will entice you. Ten percent of your Amazon purchases up to $200 is what they are advertising. On top of that see the additional perks they are offering:

3 percent Cash Back at U.S supermarkets up to $6,000 (then 1 percent)

2 percent back at U.S gas stations and department stores

1 percent other purchases (subject to terms and limitations)

Final Thoughts

Honestly, as long as you are paying your bills every month, there is no wrong answer here. At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference. Only now, you will not be able to plead ignorance to leaving money on the table when it comes to making the most out of your credit cards.

Despite the stigma against credit cards, these types of incentives reward those who are financially responsible and disciplined. It is no surprise why these types of folks continue to get ahead.

Lastly, there are a couple of additional reasons to employ the strategy of dumping all of your monthly expenses onto your credit card or cards.

Whether you are a small business owner who is financing your business with credit cards or just a personal finance geek, record keeping is extremely important. Business owners can simply print out their yearly summaries and give them to their accountant. At that point, they can focus on other parts of their business like payment solutions or invoicing efficiencies. It relieves the stress of having to crunch the numbers as much as they normally do.

Personal Finance Benefits

As far as personal finance benefits, it will be an asset to know exactly what percentage you are spending on certain types of expenses. Itll give you the big picture of your money.

The only thing that will throw a wrinkle into this is if you make a lot of ATM withdrawals, as cash is hard to track.

Paying yourself first is the conventional wisdom of all personal finance junkies. Many people transfer their money right off the top of their paycheck and move it to savings, which is good practice. Just make sure to give yourself some room, as you dont want to pay unnecessary overdraft fees. Large banks have charged ATM and overdraft fees topping $6 billion dollars of late.

Dont become a statistic!

By Eric Estevez

The Epoch Times Copyright  2022 The views and opinions expressed are only those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.
Incumbent Fends Off Upstart in Mississippi GOP Primary Runoff

Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) on June 28 won the GOP primary runoff election for Mississippis 3rd Congressional District.

With 84 percent of the ballots reported at 9:36 p.m., Guest drew more than 67 percent of the votes, defeating challenger Michael Cassidy.

I called Mr. Guest earlier to congratulate him on his win. I want to thank everyone who supported my campaign and believed in me and our cause, Cassidy said.

And urge all of you to not lose faith in the America 1st cause despite todays setback. I am confident that the future belongs to us.

Guest will face Democrat Shuwaski Young in the Nov. 8 general election. Young won the June 7 Democratic primary in Mississippis 3rd district.

Cassidy narrowly defeated Guest in the first round of the primary on June 7, earning 47.5 percent of the vote to Guests 46.9 percenta result in line with voter dissatisfaction over incumbents in many other races across the country.

The June 28 result ends a contentious primary season in the district.

The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a national super PAC backed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), injected over $600,000 in outside spending to oppose Cassidy.

One CLF attack ad against Cassidy accused the US Navy veteran and current reservist of pushing an extreme socialist agenda.

They drew that conclusion from a Mississippi Today analysis of spending proposals previously on Cassidys campaign website.

Cassidy described the ads characterization of his views as a complete lie and misrepresentation in a June 24 interview with The Epoch Times. He claimed he was merely brainstorming possibilities on his website.

Cassidy has also been labeled a carpetbagger by the Guest campaign because he was not born in Mississippi.

In June 27 comments to The Epoch Times, Cassidy said that line of attack was a slur against service members who move at the behest of the military.

Cassidy, in turn, has stressed Guests previous support for a commission to examine the events of Jan. 6.

Cassidy has also attacked Neshoba County Republican Chair David Carter, a Guest ally, for allegedly encouraging Democrats to vote for Guest over Cassidy in the runoff.

The Epoch Times has identified a Facebook profile for a David Carter who describes himself as Neshobas Republican chair.

In a June 20 public post, that user solicited support from Democrats.

You can vote even if you did not vote on June 7. Even if you are a Democrat, you can still vote for a Republican in the [runoff] and then vote for a Democrat in November. There is only one real Republican in the [runoff], he stated in that post.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Carter and to Guests campaign for comment.

Mississippi has an open primary system and any eligible voter is free to cast a ballot in a political partys primary. However, crossover voting is not allowed, said Kendra James, a spokeswoman with the Mississippi Secretary of States Office, in a June 28 email to The Epoch Times.

While Mississippi Code 23-15-575 once outlawed participation in a primary unless the participant intends to support the nominations made in the primary, that language was revised in 2017.

The code now bars people from voting in different parties primaries on the same date. It also bars them from voting in a given partys second primary election if they cast a ballot in a different partys initial primary election.

Like Guest, Cassidy has questioned his opponents conservative bona fides.

His website notes that a Christian election guide, iVoterGuide.com, rates him more conservative than Guest. Guest merely leans conservative, according to that source.

Heritage Actions Scorecard, by contrast, rates Guest as more conservative than the typical House Republican, with a particularly high 94 percent rating during this session.

I cant speak to that organization, Cassidy told The Epoch Times on June 24 regarding Heritage Action.

Guest has repeatedly declined interview requests from The Epoch Times.

The runoff attracted national attention, with FiveThirtyEight describing it as one of two June 28 elections in Mississippi worth watching, alongside the contest between incumbent congressman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) and Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell in Mississippis Fourth District.
Jan. 6 Panel Releases Incomplete Texts to Suggest Sen. Ron Johnson Was Involved in Electoral Conspiracy

The Jan. 6 Committee in a recent release tried to discredit Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) by unveiling text messages purportedly showing that the Wisconsin Republican was part of a multifaceted conspiracy to hand a false electoral slate for Michigan and Wisconsin to Vice President Mike Pence.

Specifically, the Jan. 6 panel suggested that Johnsons chief of staff, in communication with a top Pence aide, had plotted to hand Pence an alternate slate of electors for President Donald Trump to be read in Congress on Jan. 6, when Congress convened to certify the reported results of the 2020 election.

However, this narrative does not align with the facts.

After the story hit headlines, Johnson released the full text messages, showing that the Jan. 6 panel, as it has done in the past, had been selective about which text messages it revealed.

According to interviews and testimony, the Trump campaign team had undertaken an effort behind the scenes to recruit alternative electors who would switch their vote from Biden to Trump amid ongoing contentions over election fraud.

On Jan. 6, a Trump campaign official reached out to Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) to ask him to relay one such alternative slate of electors for the states of Michigan and Wisconsin to Pence just hours before the certification of the results was set to happen.

Kelly reached out to James Troupis, a Pennsylvania lawyer, to relay the request.

The Text Messages

At 11:36 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Troupis texted Johnson: Need to get a document on Wisconsin electors to you [to hand to] the VP immediately. Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately. Thanks, Jim T.

Johnson, who was unclear about what was going on, asked his chief of staff, Sean Riley, to untangle the situation.

Riley proceeded to reach out to Chris Hodgson, a top Pence aide.

Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS, Riley wrote in a text to Hodgson.

What is it? Hodgson replied.

Alternate slate of electors for MI and WI because archivists didnt receive them, Riley explained.

Do not give that to him, Hodgson replied.

In the Jan. 6 panels public release, thats where the story ended, giving the impression that Johnson had had a much larger and more conspiratorial role in the situation.

However, additional texts released by Johnson and his team show that Riley quickly relented and acceded to Hodgsons dictate not to hand the electors to Pence.

[Pence is] about to walk over to preside over the joint session, Hodgson wrote to Riley, saying that Pence already knew about the alternate slate. [The alternate electoral votes] were supposed to come in through the mail.

I can do that [have the slate mailed for archival purposes], Riley said, indicating that he was standing down. Anything else?

The VP absolutely should not receive any mail that hasnt been screened, Hodgson said.

Understood. Johnson understands, Riley replied.

Johnson proceeded to text Troupis back to inform him of what had been learned from Hodgson. This second text to Troupis came at 12:46 p.m., just an hour and ten minutes after the affair began.

We have been informed the VP cannot accept any unsealed mail and I cannot hand it to him, Johnson said.

Misrepresentations, Allegations of Bias

Thus, Johnsons role in the events described was greatly magnified by the Jan. 6 panel, which has already faced scrutiny from Republicans for alleged partisan bias.

This bias is due in part to the lack of any real opposition voices on the panel.

After the committee was formed in a mostly party-line vote, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) attempted to appoint Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to serve on the panel as ranking member.

Despite an uninterrupted tradition spanning over 200 years, whereby the minority leader was permitted to choose his partys representatives on congressional committees, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) refused the request.

Instead, she unilaterally overruled McCarthy, placing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)an outspoken Trump critic who voted for his impeachment in the wake of the Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rallyin charge of the GOP side of the panel. Pelosi also appointed Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), another Trump critic who voted for his impeachment, on the committee, and these two are the only Republican voices that sit on the panel.

Under normal conditions, the minority party would have had the opportunity to present its own evidence, and likely would have produced the evidence absolving Johnson of any culpability. But given the lack of opposition voices on the panel, this did not happen.

Flawed Evidence

During its first public hearing, the Jan. 6 panel displayed no less than four edited texts or tweets as evidence to bolster its claims that Jan. 6 constituted an insurrection orchestrated in a behind-the-scenes plot by Trump and his allies.

On June 28, the panel called a last-minute hearing to listen to testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

During her testimony, Hutchinson claimed that Trump had lunged at a Secret Service agent in anger and tried to take control of the wheel of the White House limousine after being denied a request to attend the march on the Capitol. She also claimed that Trump had thrown a plate against a wall in anger after then-Attorney General Bill Barr said that there had been no widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Trump quickly denied the allegations, and two Secret Service agents have reportedly said that they would testify under oath that Hutchinson lied.
Japan Terminates Funding for Coal Power Plants in Indonesia and Bangladesh

Japan will stop providing loans for two key coal-fired power plant projects in Indonesia and Bangladesh, citing its commitment to phase out coal power plants in line with the Group of Seven (G7) nations.

The two projects involved the Indramayu coal plant in Indonesia and the Matarbari coal plant in Bangladesh.

Japans Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Hikariko Ono said on June 22 that Japan has decided to stop financing the Indramayu coal plant due to the Indonesian governments decision to abandon the project.

Indonesian state-owned electricity company PLN, which operates the Indramayu power station, said that it would cancel the project to meet the countrys goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060.

PLN took the initiative to stop borrowing [funds for the project] as part of PLNs efforts to reach [our] carbon-neutral goal by 2060, Gregorious Adi Trianto, PLN vice president of corporate communications, told The Jakarta Post.

As for the Matarbari coal power plant Phase-2, Japan said it decided to terminate funding for the project owing to international discussions on coal-fired power generation.

The project had aimed to build a 1,200-megawatt power plant in the southeastern region of Bangladesh.

At the G7 summit in June 2021, Japan agreed to end new international direct support for coal-fired power generation facilities for which emission reduction measures have not been taken by the end of 2021, Ono said.

Following that, Bangladeshs Energy Minister Nasrul Hamid said the government had decided to scrap the Matarbari Phase-2 project and build an alternative power plant instead.

The construction of Matarbari Phase-1 began in 2018 and was set to become operational by 2024.

We have already canceled the Matarbari phase-2 project. We plan to build a liquified natural gas (LNG)-based power plant. The plant will be interconnected with the LNG terminal, Hamid said, according to The Daily Star.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the first day of the three-day G-7 summit at Schloss Elmau, Germany on June 26, 2022. (Sean Gallup/Pool/Getty Images)

Japan, US to Coordinate in Setting Caps on Russian Oil Prices: Official

Japan has agreed to coordinate with the United States in setting a price cap on Russian oil exports to pressure Moscow to halt its aggression against Ukraine, according to a Japanese official.

Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G-7) summit on June 26 and agreed on the importance of setting a price cap on Russian oil, The Asahi Shimbun reported, citing an unnamed official.

Kishida told reporters on June 28 that the G-7 leaders have decided to consider imposing a price cap on Russian oil while ensuring market stability.

G-7 leaders from the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union (EU) said June 28 that they would explore imposing a cap on Russian oil prices to prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression.

We welcome the decision of the European Union to explore with international partners ways to curb rising energy prices, including the feasibility of introducing temporary import price caps where appropriate, the G-7 leaders said in a communique.

U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, European Council President Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the G-7 summit in Germany on June 28, 2022. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Among options under consideration include a possible comprehensive prohibition of all services that are linked to the transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally.

This is unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultation with international partners, according to the communique.

We invite all like-minded countries to consider joining us in our actions.

Russian Oil and Fuel Revenue Increase

The United States and the EU have sanctioned Russia and banned imports of Russian oil since its invasion of Ukraine in February. While these had led to a decline in Russian export volumes, Russian revenues increased last month because of higher crude oil and fuel prices.

With higher crude oil and product prices globally, Russian oil export revenues are estimated to have increased by $1.7 billion in May to about $20 billion, the International Energy Agency stated in its June report.

Despite the bans, the EU remained the main destination for Russian exports last month, making up 43 percent of Russian flows, followed by just over a quarter to China.

Kishida said earlier this month that Japan will take time to phase out Russian oil imports since the country is heavily dependent on imports. Russian oil imports accounted for about 33 million barrels of Japans overall oil imports, or 4 percent, for 2021.

As for the timing of the reduction or stoppage of [Russian] oil imports, we will consider it while gauging the actual situation, he told reporters.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Airplane model is placed on displayed Spirit Airlines and jetBlue Airways logos on June 21, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Illustrations/Reuters)

JetBlue Refuses to Give up Its Quest for Spirit Airlines

CHICAGOJetBlue Airways Corp. on Monday ratcheted up its bidding war with Frontier Group Holdings for Spirit Airlines Inc. as the race for the ultra-low-cost carrier enters the final stretch.

Both bidders see Spirit as an opportunity to expand their domestic footprints at a time when the U.S. airline industry is dogged by labor and aircraft shortages. Either of the deals would create the fifth-largest U.S. airline.

Under the new offer, JetBlue offered a ticking fee, which would give Spirit shareholders a monthly prepayment of 10 cents per share between January 2023 and the closing of the deal, raising the overall value of the deal to $34.15 per share.

The New York-based carrier also increased the breakup fee to Spirit by $50 million for a total of $400 million if the deal fails to get regulatory approval. It will also prepay $2.50 per share as a cash dividend to Spirit stockholders following approval of the transaction.

The latest offer came after Frontier last Friday raised its bid for Spirit.

Frontiers revised offer persuaded shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) to reverse its position and recommend Spirit shareholders back a merger with the Denver-based budget carrier. Glass Lewis, another proxy firm, has also recommended the Frontier deal.

Spirit shareholders are due to vote on the merger deal with Frontier on June 30.

Frontier Chief Executive Barry Biffle told Reuters on Monday the companys revised offer for Spirit will be enough to secure a merger deal with the ultra-low-cost carrier.

Were really excited about it and getting good feedback, Biffle said.

JetBlue, however, is not ready to give up. On Monday, it again urged Spirit shareholders to vote against the Frontier deal, saying its proposal offers them more value and certainty.

By Rajesh Kumar Singh
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during the daily briefing at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, Mexico, on June 28, 2022. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Lack of Controls in US Border Contributes to Horrible Migrant Deaths: Mexican President

The devastating situation in the migrants home countries and the status of the U.S.-Mexico border were to be blamed for the tragic incident that happened in San Antonio, Texas, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday.

At least 50 migrants died after being stuck inside a sweltering semi-trailer in San Antonio in one of the deadliest human trafficking incidents in recent history, U.S. and Mexican officials said on Tuesday.

The illegal immigrants were discovered dead inside the trucks trailer on the outskirts of the Texas city on Monday, where temperatures swelled to a high of 103 Fahrenheit.

Members of law enforcement investigate a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, on June 27, 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)

Some 22 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans, and two Hondurans were identified among the dead, Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter on Tuesday. There was no information on the nationality of the other 19, Mexican officials said.

More than a dozen people were transported to hospitals for heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors, but no children were among the dead, the San Antonio Fire Department said.

These Deaths Are on Biden

The Mexican president offered condolences to the relatives of this catastrophe and said poverty in the migrants home countries and the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border contributed to the tragedy.

These unfortunate events that of course have to do with the situation of desperate poverty of our Central American brothers, and of Mexicans, he said during his daily briefing. [It] happens because there is also human trafficking and lack of controls, in this case, on the border with the United States and inside the United States.

Lopez Obradors comments echoed what Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said after the incident.

Abbott criticized President Joe Bidens border policies vehemently and said the deaths of the migrants are the result of Bidens policies.

These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law, he wrote in a social media post.

However, the White House insisted that the border is closed and blame the human traffickers.

This incident underscores the need to go after the multi-billion dollar criminal smuggling industry preying on migrants and leading to far too many innocent deaths, Biden said in a statement on Tuesday. My administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied the allegation that the southern border is open.

The fact of the matter is the border is closed, she stated in response to a question about the migrant deaths.

Enrico Trigoso and Reuters contributed to this report.
Protesters stand on the back of a truck during the Freedom Convoy demonstrations against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Liberal Government Agrees to Release Cabinet Documents Related to Emergencies Act

The Liberal government has agreed to release the cabinet documents it used to justify invoking the Emergencies Act after a request made by the Public Order Emergency Commissioner.

The head of the Public Order Emergency Commission, Paul Rouleau, had requested that the Liberal government waive cabinet confidencethe privilege to protect the disclosure of discussions between federal cabinet ministersto provide the commission with the relevant documents they used in the decision to invoke the act.

This exceptional step recognizes the fundamental importance of the Commissions work and how critical these documents are in inquiring into why the Government declared a public order emergency, the commissions co-counsels Shantona Chaudhury and Jeffrey Leon said in a June 28 statement.

On behalf of Commissioner Rouleau, we took the position that Cabinet documents must be released to facilitate the Commissions examination and assessment of the basis for the Governments decision to declare the emergency and fulfill the Commissions mandate.

According to the statement, this is only the fourth time since Confederation that a federal commission of inquiry has been given access to cabinet confidence.

On Feb. 14, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a state of emergency and invoked the Emergencies Act, giving police additional powers to remove Freedom Convoy protesters from Ottawas downtown core. Convoys of trucks had arrived at the national capital in late January to protest federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other related public health restrictions.

After the act was invoked, police carrying batons and anti-riot guns shut down the remaining demonstration in Ottawa and arrested protestors. The act also gave authorities the power to force towing companies to remove trucks and vehicles parked in Ottawas downtown core.

Financial institutions were also instructed to freeze the bank accounts of individuals and companies suspected of donating to the convoy without the court order usually required to do so.

The government has now committed to providing the commission with the information cabinet had when it decided to declare a public order emergency. The Liberals had previously argued that the documents were protected under cabinet confidence.

As required by the Emergencies Act, the Governor in Council established the Public Order Emergency Commission on April 25, to conduct an independent public inquiry into the governments emergency declaration. The inquiry must submit its final report to the government, with findings and recommendations, by Feb. 6, 2023.

The commission said it has not yet received cabinet documents but expects them to be delivered shortly.

In a separate statement on June 28, the commission announced 20 entities to be granted standing, which will allow individuals or groups certain privileges in the public inquiry, such as the ability to suggest witnesses or conduct cross-examinations.

The entities awarded standing include the Government of Canada, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and the cities of Ottawa and Windsor in Ontario. Five groups and individuals associated with policing and law enforcement, a group of convoy organizers and participants, and a coalition of Ottawa business and community associations have also been granted standing.
Local Sheriff Ousts Incumbent Republican in Mississippi US House Primary Runoff

Palazzos relations with veterans was a matter of dispute

Mike Ezell, a local sheriff, defeated Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) in the June 28 GOP primary runoff for Mississippis 4th Congressional District, marking the end of a race that intensified after a June 7 primary election split the vote among multiple candidates.

With 83.9 percent of the ballots counted at 10:04 p.m., Ezell had 53.1 percent of the vote and was declared the winner by The Associated Press.

After Palazzo and Ezell finished first and second in the June 7 primary, every other candidate endorsed Ezell.

Were just over-the-top excited about the win last night. Im really thankful for everybody that showed up and supported us, Ezell told The Epoch Times in a June 29 interview.

He said he had a brief conversation with the losing incumbent, Palazzo, last night after the results were announced.

Although the district is a Republican stronghold, Ezell said he isnt taking a victory in November for granted.

Were going to keep workingwere not going to assume anything, he said.

The contest has been riven by dueling accusations of corruption and mismanagement.

Ezell, the sheriff of Jackson County, highlighted an ongoing investigation of Palazzos alleged ethical lapses, including the personal use of money from his campaign to improve a riverfront property he expected to sell.

The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) reported in 2021 that there is substantial reason to believe those and similar accusations. The House Committee on Ethics has not yet followed up by forming a subcommittee on the case.

Thats a cloud thats been hanging over his head for over a year, Ezell told The Epoch Times in a June 21 interview.

Palazzo maintained he would be vindicated by a fuller investigation by the ethics committee, saying he would welcome such a move.

In a June 21 interview with The Epoch Times, he called it a false political attack by my opponents.

Under Ezells leadership, meanwhile, the Jackson County Sheriffs Department has not been free of controversy.

In 2021, for example, inmates sued Jackson County Jail over alleged civil rights violations, citing lights in their cells that were on twenty-four hours a day.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Ezell for comment.

Some Veterans Wary of Palazzo

Another flash point has been Palazzos availability to local veterans. Palazzo is himself a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

While Palazzo said he has helped veterans secure assistance and medals, Ezell has argued that local veterans think Palazzo is hard to reach.

To learn more about what veterans on the ground really think, The Epoch Times randomly contacted veterans organizations throughout the district.

While none of the organizations had a stance on the election, individual veterans voiced their opinions in interviews.

They expressed frustration with Palazzos leadership in the district, which he began serving in 2011.

Hes done nothing positive for the veteranshe talks a lot, said Russell Peters, who spoke with The Epoch Times on June 28 from an American Legion post in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Peters, who said he served in the U.S. Air Force during the 1980s, estimated that eight out of 10 of those at his post support Ezell over Palazzo.

Ive never heard of anyone hes helped, said Michael Lock, who was reached at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on June 22.

His office has never returned one of my phone calls, added Lock, who told The Epoch Times he served in the Gulf War.

Jeff Barnes, a veteran who described serving in both the Gulf War and the Iraq War, told The Epoch Times on June 27 that Palazzo had failed to live up to the promise of his 2010 campaign.

At that time, he ran on the slogan, Fire Pelosi!

The guy he beat, Gene Taylor, even though he was a Democrat, if you called his office, someone from his staff would call you back and would do their level best to help you with their issue, he said, referring to Palazzos predecessor in the district.

He contrasted that with Palazzo, who he said has been unavailable to constituents.

A former coworker of Ezells at the Pascagoula Police Department, Barnes had nothing but praise for the candidate.

Mike Ezell is probably one of the most above-board, honest individuals that Ive ever met, he said.

In Barnes view, Ezell does not play games with departmental subordinates who commit unethical or illegal acts.

In 2015, Ezell fired a deputy who uttered racial slurs while gaming on Xbox Live.

A spokesman for Palazzo said the office had no case files for Barnes or Lock.

It seems clear they are connected to our opponent and from his area and know him, which leads me to believe this is more about the election and less about any legitimate casework issues they have, he added.

The Palazzo campaign provided The Epoch Times with the names of veterans they said benefited from the congressmans assistance.

I got good help, said James Harris, Sr., who spoke with The Epoch Times in a June 28 interview. He said Palazzo had helped him with medical claims that had been denied for decades after his stint in the Army during the early 1970s.

He added that veterans seeking help with their Veterans Administration claims should follow up with Palazzos office, which he said would monitor those claims.

Hes certainly No.1 in my book, said Ken Duncan.

Duncan, who said he served in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, received a belated Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound he sustained, thanks in part to Palazzos help.

Palazzo arranged a large ceremony complete with coverage from local and regional media.

He wanted to present it [to me], Duncan said.

Army veteran Steven Stockstill struck a somewhat more neutral tone on the election. He said he didnt care which candidate won in the June 28 runoff.

Palazzo is from the coast, and as far as my knowledge, I dont think hes been that helpful to anybody I know, said Stockstill, who spoke to The Epoch Times from an American Legion post in Picayune, Mississippi.

Echoing Barnes, Stockstill added that Democrat Gene Taylor had assisted some of his friends with claims or other concerns.

The winner of the Republican primary is all but sure to sail to victory in the general election as the district is considered safely Republican.
Police move to disperse a crowd of pro-abortion activists protesting the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court, in Los Angeles on June 24, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Man Charged for Allegedly Using Flamethrower Against Police

LOS ANGELESA man who allegedly fashioned a makeshift flamethrower out of a spray-paint can and lighter and hurled it at a police officer during a downtown abortion-rights march was charged Tuesday with two felony assault counts.

Michael Joseph Ortiz, 30, was charged with one count each of assault with intent to commit mayhem and assault upon a peace officer or firefighter, along with allegations that he personally used a deadly weapon and that he had two prior convictions in 2016 for resisting an executive officer.

It was not immediately clear when Ortiz would appear at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse for arraignment.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore expressed dismay at the act Tuesday, calling it a disturbing elevation of attacks on police officers.

That is a very troubling development and one that well watch closely, Moore told the citys Police Commission on June 28. And I look to the [District Attorneys] Office  for their help and support in the full prosecution of this individual who was involved in this terrible attack on officers.

Ortiz was arrested during Friday nights protest, which began as a rally against the U.S. Supreme Courts decision striking down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 precedent that largely legalized abortion in the United States.

The police chief said Ortiz was carrying five cans of spray paint, suggesting a plan to repeatedly use the makeshift weapon.

He was not there for any lawful protest or demonstration regarding the Supreme Courts decision, Moore told the commission.

Moore, who said an officer suffered slight burn injuries on his hands from the suspects use of the flamethrower, again lamented the infusion of a small disruptive group into an otherwise largely peaceful and law-abiding group.

Moore said fringe or extreme groups or individuals will take advantage of peaceful gatherings to create chaos and turmoil.

Overall, he said protests that erupted following Fridays court decision have been largely peaceful, with the exception of people marching onto freeways Friday evening and some clashes involving the flamethrower and pyrotechnics.

He said five officers were injured during the protests, including the officer burned by the flamethrower. Another officer was injured by people setting off pyrotechnics, and one officer was struck by a large rock thrown from the crowd, Moore said.

According to Moore, there were a total of six rounds of less-than-lethal munitions fired by officers during the protests, all on Friday night. One was fired at the suspect wielding the flamethrower, with others fired at a person throwing a bottle containing an unknown liquid toward officers, one trying to take an officers baton, and one at a person throwing a pyrotechnic device.
A gas pump displays the price of fuel at a gas station in McLean, Va., on June 10, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Many Americans Facing Severe Hardship From Elevated Gas Prices: Gallup Poll

Elevated gasoline prices are squeezing U.S. citizens, making life financially harder and forcing them to cut back on spending, according to a new Gallup poll.

Among the respondents, 67 percent said recent gas price increases were causing them hardship, which is the highest level since May 2011. This is up from 52 percent in April, according to survey results published on June 28.

While most Americans said they were facing moderate hardship rather than severe, the percentage of those facing severe hardship rose from 14 percent to 22 percent.

Among households earning below $40,000 annually, eight in 10 said gas prices were causing them financial hardship, with 40 percent saying its been severe. In households making between $40,000 and $99,999 per year, 73 percent were facing financial hardship, with 20 percent describing it as severe. About 50 percent of households making more than $100,000 experienced hardship due to high gas prices, with 12 percent describing it as severe.

Americans are changing their spending habits because of rising gasoline prices. When it comes to vacation plans, 55 percent of respondents have been forced to alter them, up from 46 percent in May. More than six in 10 Americans have been driving less this summer than they would have.

At the beginning of 2021, Americans were paying slightly more than $2 per gallon of gas. As of June 29, the average nationwide price of regular gas was $4.868 per gallon, according to data from AAA. Among the 50 states, 12 had prices exceeding $5 per gallon, with California registering the highest, at $6.299.

Tax Holiday

To tackle high gasoline prices, the Biden administration has proposed a tax holiday. At present, the federal government taxes 18 percent on a gallon of gasoline and 24 percent on a gallon of diesel. Biden has asked Congress to suspend these taxes for a three-month period, until the end of September.

However, the idea has been met with strong opposition, with many claiming it would have minimal to no effect on easing the burden on citizens. While Republicans such as Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have criticized the tax holiday, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) are also skeptical about the plan.

A gas tax holiday is a poor, short-term, pandering non-solution to the very real energy supply problems in the US and the world, Chris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Oilfield Services, told The Epoch Times in a June 23 email.

We are short supply. Any real solution would be supply enabling, like getting the government out of the way of domestic production. We dont need subsidies or help, we simply need roadblocks removed.

Under the Biden administration, oil lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico have been canceled, and the $9 billion Keystone XL Pipeline has been shut down.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
A protester holds the torch from Lady Liberty alongside other pro-abortion protesters gathered outside the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., on May 3, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Michigan Legal System in Disarray After Roe v. Wade Decision

Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, a Democrat appointee and Planned Parenthood donor, is the presiding judge in a case brought by the non-profit organization and an abortion provider against the state of Michigan that could keep performing abortions legal.

The case before Gleicher seeks to establish that abortion is a right implied in the state constitution, and therefore a 1931 state law still on the books that made performing an abortion a felony (except to save the life of the mother) is unenforceable.

In 1996, Gleicher, as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer argued unsuccessfully in a losing case before the Michigan Court of Appeals for abortion as a state constitutional rightthe same point of law she is now being called upon to decide as a judge.

Attorney General Dana Nessel. (Office of the Attorney General of Michigan)

In its 1997 decision in Mahaffey v. Attorney General, the appeals court stated in part,  we cannot conclude that the intent of the people that adopted the 1963 constitution was to establish a constitutional right to abortion.

The appeals court noted abortion was a criminal offense at the time the Constitution was written and had been for 32 years.

The ruling said, An examination of Michigan Supreme Court precedent also leads to the conclusion that there is no right to abortion under the Michigan Constitution.

Until the appeals court ruling is overturned, it is the guiding principle for cases in all state jurisdictions.

Had Gleicher prevailed, the Mahaffey case would have effectively done away with Michigans Informed Consent Law, which requires ultrasound images to be shown to the mother of the child before an abortion procedure, and the legally mandated 24-hour waiting period.

Gleicher, who has been transparent about her donations to Planned Parenthood and her representing pro-abortion causes in the past, can under Michigan judicial rules have her impartiality challenged by the defendant in the case.

The defendant is the State of Michigan, which is being represented by the office of Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, who has repeatedly publicly declared that her office will not enforce the revived 1931 law.

Nessel, who is seeking a second term in this falls general election, did not question Gleichers ability to be impartial.

She has repeatedly stated that the attorney generals office is operating under the status quo prior to the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24 and that she would not enforce the statute she is now being called upon to defend.

On May 17, 2022, Gleicher issued a 27-page preliminary injunction temporarily banning enforcement of the states 1931 abortion law to prevent harm to the plaintiffs until their case is tried on its merits and decided.

Defendant Attorney General concurs with the plaintiffs argument that the (1931 law) is unconstitutional, noted Gleicher in her order.

In the injunction, Gleicher also laid out the case that the 1931 law violates guarantees implied in the Michigan constitution protecting liberty, the individuals right to bodily integrity, the right to be left alone, bodily autonomy, equal protection, due process, and privacy in connection with abortion.

Forced pregnancy, and the concomitant compulsion to endure medical and psychological risks accompanying it, contravene the right to make autonomous medical decisions, wrote Gleicher.

This spring Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, a first-term Democrat seeking reelection in November, filed a lawsuit against 13 county prosecutors serving in the 13 counties in Michigan which have an abortion clinic, to prevent them from enforcing the 1931 abortion statute.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing on April 13, 2020. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, Pool)

Two Republican prosecuting attorneys represented by attorney David Kallman of the Great Lakes Justice Center contend that the injunction preventing them from enforcing an existing state law is an undue interference with their prosecutorial discretion and would keep them from doing their sworn duty.

Kallman told The Epoch Times, The court of claims case is a sham. Ms. Nessel must be recused.

One of the Republican prosecutors Whitmer is suing, Jerry Jarzynka, of Jackson County, told The Epoch Times, I believe we have righteousness on our side. I feel passionate about defending a prosecutors broad discretion over when and when not to bring charges.

The 1931 law carries a penalty of up to four years in prison for any doctor who performs an abortion that is not necessitated by saving the life of the mother.

It also outlaws the advertisement and sale of any fluid, powder, or pill designed to induce an abortion.

Jarzynka and Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker, a Republican, have challenged Gleichers injunction in court, as have some Republican state legislators.

On April 7, 2022, Whitmer used an executive prerogative to ask the Michigan Supreme Court for an expedited ruling declaring that abortion is a state constitutional right.

She renewed that call on June 24 and pressed it again on June 27, citing uncertainty and confusion in Michigans legal system and among abortion providers and hospital groups.

The Michigan Supreme Court has not, to date, agreed to hear the case.
A Microsoft logo is seen on an office building in New York City, on July 28, 2015. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Microsoft Faces Investor Call to Publish Global Tax Affairs

LONDONInvestors managing more than $350 billion of assets have demanded that Microsoft publish more transparent tax and financial information, as tech giants face growing scrutiny globally over their tax affairs.

A shareholder resolution on tax transparency had been filed to Microsoft ahead of its annual investor meeting this year, said the organiser of the action, Britain-based proxy advisers Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC).

Investors including Nordea, AkademikerPension and Greater Manchester Pension Fund had backed the resolution, PIRC said.

The resolution calls on the company to publish financial and tax information on a country-by-country basis outside its home market of the United States so investors can assess whether it is paying fair taxes and identify any risks posed by tax reforms.

It also calls on Microsoft to produce a tax transparency report in line with the tax standard of the Global Reporting Initiative, a standards organisation.

A similar resolution has also been filed to tech giant Cisco, PIRC said.

Investors voted on a tax transparency resolution at Amazons investor meeting in May, but it and other investor-led resolutions failed to get sufficient support to pass.

Microsoft and Cisco were not immediately available for comment.

By Iain Withers
Millennials Set to Overtake Baby Boomers in Australia

Australias population is going through a generational shift, with the baby boomers no longer being the largest demographic in Australia as the cohort continues to shrink while the millennials expand through migration.

According to the 2021 census, baby boomers and millennials now each has over 5.4 million Australians, or 21.5 percent, tieing first as the largest generational group. In the 1966 census, baby boomers made up almost 40 percent of the total Australian population.

However, the data shows the important role that the elder generation has now taken in providing childcare, often for their grandchildren. Around one in eight also reported that they took care of other peoples children and were the generation most likely to help the others through volunteering and unpaid assistance.

Meanwhile, many millennials are going through a period of upskilling, with the group representing 40 percent of people undergoing vocational education.

Further, almost half of people currently in regular service for the Australian Defence Force are millennials.

The national population has also increased by over two million people, or 8.6 percent, to a total of 25.5 million which means in just 50 years Australias population has doubled.

Australian statistician David Gruen said the census provides rich information about the nation and how it has changed over the years.

Every stat tells a story and today we are sharing a glimpse into the stories of almost 25.5 million Australians. This accurate and valuable data reveals who we are as a nation and how we have changed, he said.

A general view is seen as a businessman crosses George Street in Sydney, Australia, on June 1, 2020. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Australian Families

The census also captures a snapshot of the changing landscape of Australian families.

Over 5.5 million couple families were counted, of which 53 percent had children living with them.

The remaining couples did not live with any children, a statistic that has been steadily rising.

The census also recorded over one million single-parent families for the first time, with four out of five of those parents being female.

The data also suggests that COVID-19 affected the ability of grandparents to care for their grandchildren after there was a drop of 50,000 baby boomers who took that responsibility in 2021 compared to 2016.

Within the home, over 5.5 million people are reported to speak in a language other than English, with over a quarter of people born overseas.

However, Australia and England remain firmly in their positions as the top two countries of birth, but India has overtaken China and New Zealand to third place.

The number of people that speak Punjabi at home jumped by 80 percent, the largest increase in languages other than English used at home.

However, the top five reported ancestries have remained the same; English (33 percent), Australian (30 percent), Irish (9.5 percent), Scottish (8.6 percent), and Chinese (5.5 percent).

Meanwhile, over 800,000 people (3.2 percent) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, an increase of 25 percent since 2016.
Scientists have developed small translucent slides that can produce two incredibly different images, depending on the direction that light passes through them. (image: Ella Maru Studio)

Nanoparticles Could Be the Key to Cheaper, Faster and More Reliable Internet

Australian National University (ANU) physicists have developed new tech that controls the direction that light can and cannot travel in using nanoparticles, possibly discovering the path to cheaper, faster and more reliable internet.

In collaboration with colleagues from Singapore, China and Germany, ANU scientists have developed small translucent slides that produce two different images, depending on the direction that light passes through them. For example, at first, a slide may produce an image of a microscope but once it is flipped it produces an image of a collection of wheels and cogs, and this is but one of a large number of possibilities.

The particles control the flow of light like road signs control traffic on a busy road by manipulating the direction in which light can, or cant, travel, project leader, Sergey Kruk from ANUs Nonlinear Physics Centre said in an ANU media release.

Some particles allow light to flow from left to right only, others from right to left or the pathway might be blocked in either direction.

While the purpose of these images is mainly artistic, they demonstrate the potential for this new technology, said Lei Wang from Southeast University in China.

In real-world applications, these nanoparticles can be assembled into complex systems that would control the flow of light in a useful mannersuch as in next-generation communications infrastructure, said Wang.

Dr Sergey Kruk is a Fellow at the Non-Linear Physics Centre at the Australian National University (image: Jamie Kidston/ANU).

What This Tech Means For Future Technology

The researchers note the breakthrough has the potential to create new light-based devices that may not only be the key to improved and less expensive internet, but also the basis for multiple technologies of the future.

Kruk said that control of light flow at the nanoscale guarantees that light will go where it is supposed to go and avoid where it is not.

We exchange enormous amounts of information with the help of light, he said. When you make a video call, say, from Australia to Europe, your voice and image get converted into short pulses of light that travel thousands of kilometres through an optical fibre over the continents and oceans.

Unfortunately, when we use current light-based technologies to exchange information a lot of parasitic effects might occur. Light might get scattered or reflected, which compromises your communication.

Kruk said that many issues with current technologies would resolve if the light was guaranteed to flow exactly where it needed to.

On a general note, the traffic control of light at the nanoscale that we are working on resembles similarities with the traffic control of electrical currents inside our computer chips (performed with nanoscale semiconductor diodes and transistors).

If information is handled using beams of light instead of electrical currents, certain tasks may be performed much faster.

He said that the broad deployment of tiny tech that controls light flow could inspire technological and social changes reminiscent of those triggered by diodes and transistorssmall components that control electricity flow.

Control over the flow of electricity at the nanoscale is what ultimately brought us modern computers and smartphones. It is therefore exciting to envision the potential of our emerging technology for controlling the flow of light.

Dr. Sergey Kruk is a Fellow at the Non-Linear Physics Centre at the Australian National University (image: Jamie Kidston/ANU).

Rival Technology

A useful device for optical communications is an optical isolator, Kruk said in an email to The Epoch Times. It allows light to propagate forward, but not backward thus protecting sophisticated communication systems from parasitic backward light scattering and reflections.

Although like the new tech developed by ANU, optical isolators can control light flow, they have drawbacks.

Current optical isolators are quite big and expensive. Commercial isolators that we buy for our lab are typically several cm in size and cost over $1000, he said.

This research direction may reduce the size of optical isolators to the nanoscale (nanometre one billionth of a metre) and also to reduce the cost to a fraction of a dollar.

A wide deployment of small and cheap optical isolators would facilitate the development of faster, more reliable, and cheaper internet.

However, Kruk said that, at the moment, there is an important difference between the newly developed slides and the optical isolators.

Our slides change the colour of light, or in other words, the frequency at which the wave of light oscillates, while an optical isolator does not.

The two W. M. Keck Telescopes in Hawaii observe the galactic centre. Using the adaptive optics technique, the lasers create an artificial star in the Earths upper atmosphere, which allows measurement of the lower atmospheres blurring effects (that makes stars twinkle in the night sky). The blurring gets corrected in real-time with the help of a deformable mirror. (Ethan Tweedie)

Plans to Address the Device Altering Light Colour

Kruk said that nonlinear opticshow materials interact with very bright light beams, like lasers is the fundamental physical principle that permits asymmetry in the way that light interacts with the translucent slide.

In this work, we employed nonlinear optical phenomenon called third-harmonic generation which triples the frequency of light.

He said that, at the moment, the team is working on applying a second optical phenomenon called nonlinear self-action, which will maintain the asymmetrical transmission of light whilst sustaining its frequency.

For the first step, we chose third-harmonic generation as it works well with siliconone of the easiest materials for nanofabrication (computer chips are made from silicon, therefore nanofabrication techniques are very mature).

For the second step based on self-action (e.g. no frequency change), we research several a bit more exotic materials, and high-quality nanofabrication is one of the challenges.
NATO heads of states and governments pose for a photo during a NATO summit in Madrid, on June 29, 2022. (Susana Vera/Reuters)

NATO Formally Invites Sweden and Finland to Join Alliance

NATOs leadership formally invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the military bloc on June 29 after Turkeys president signaled that he wouldnt block their bids.

Today we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign Accession Protocols, NATO said in a declaration following meetings in Madrid. The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on June 28 said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wouldnt block the two nations from joining the alliance if they met his demands. Earlier this year, both Sweden and Finland announced their intentions to join NATO after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

All 30 NATO members would have to sign off on allowing Finland and Sweden to join. Both countries are European Union members, and they likely meet most, if not all, of NATOs requirements to enter the alliance.

Finland shares a lengthy land border with Russia, while Sweden shares a maritime border with Russia. For years, the Nordic nations have resisted joining the bloc even during periods of Soviet aggression. Norway, meanwhile, has been part of NATO since 1949 and is considered a co-founder of the alliance.

Ratification in allied parliaments is likely to take up to a year, but once thats done, Finland and Sweden will be covered by NATOs Article 5 collective defense clause, putting them under the United States protective nuclear umbrella.

That always takes some time. But I [also] expect that to go rather quickly, Stoltenberg said on June 29, noting that the allies were ready to have the ratification done as soon as possible. We will make sure we are able to protect all allies, including Finland and Sweden.

Turkeys Role

On June 28, Erdogan told reporters that he had spoken with President Joe Biden over the phone before leaving for Madrid, saying that Finlands and Swedens applications would be considered.

The PKK will be on our agenda in my bilateral meetings, he said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party, a Marxist group that has been deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and many other countries.

The move, meanwhile, is sure to irk Russia even further. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long said that NATO isnt merely defensive in nature and said the alliance has been attempting to expand eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Russian media this week that Sweden and Finland joining NATO would force Moscow to place more weapons along its border, including nuclear systems.

In the event of such an expansion of NATO, the length of its land borders with Russia will more than double, Medvedev said. Its not the best prospect for them to have our Iskanders, hypersonic missiles, warships with nuclear weapons on their doorstep.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Orange County Power Authority: The Perfect Crime (Part 2)

Commentary

Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) arrived on the scene promising to deliver astounding amounts of uber-clean electricity to consumers it switched, without consumers knowledge, from Southern California Edison (Edison) into its own clean energy program.

A simple review identifies OCPA cant even provide half of what it claims.

All Californians throughout the state receive the same mix of energy from Californias electric gridthe giant transmission towers and spiderweb of wires that span over the state and help deliver power from disparately located power plants.[1]

Power flowing onto the grid is produced by a combination, or mix, of what is known as base load electricity and intermittent electricity.

OCPAs misdirection takes root here.

Over-promising, Under-delivering

Californias electric grid cannot function without a steady supply of electricity from base load resources flowing over its wires. Base load includes gas-fired, coal-fired, nuclear, geothermal, and large hydroelectric power plants.

Base load power is the foundation of Californias economy. Without it Californias electric grid would destabilize into immediate blackout. Accordingly, our grid operates with the following variables:

A given amount of steady and reliable base load generation is required each day, throughout the day, depending on projected electricity demand for the state, including reactive power.

Second, grid operators accommodate, or allow intermittent energy onto the electric grid in accordance with Sacramento law, AB 32, which encompasses the regulations for Californias clean energy rollout, the Renewable Portfolio Standard.

Unlike base load, the electricity produced by intermittent resources (wind and solar) changes from moment-to-moment with wind speed and sunlight, and wreaks havoc for the electric grids primary needbalance of input electricity supply with Californias electricity demand. That balance also changes moment-to-moment, such as if you turn on an oven, or your neighbor switches off a pool pump.

When you see a windmill or solar panel, you know a gas-fired power plant or coal plant somewhere is ready to step in and produce additional electric power for the grid in an instant. The reality is renewable power requires a lot of base load type generation to hold its hand, a requirement that OCPA recently failed to satisfy when lining up inadequate supplies of back-up generation, earning itself a $2 million fine from California regulators.

A second compounding issue for solar power (and wind to a lesser extent) is the timing of its production. Rather than arriving to the grid as a steady supply over a 24-hour period, solar arrives in a giant wave. Everyday. That wave dwarfs Californias energy demand because much of the solar power cannot be consumed when it arrives.

The following image shows the daily arrival of this disruptive supply that must be addressed before the grid goes into an imbalanced condition where energy supply exceeds energy demand, causing a blackout.

Californias grid operators regularly order solar farms to stop sending much of their power to the grid, or order less of it. Nevada and Arizona are periodically paid to take Californias over-supply in a costly practice known as negative-pricing (paid for by OCPA).

All of these measures, which keep that over-supply of solar off the grid where it would cause a blackout and damage the system, are what the electric industry refers to as curtailment. Each of these cost OCPA money, your money in the form of higher electricity prices.

OCPA claims battery storage cures intermittency and curtailment ills by storing excess power for use as desired, but regulatory data shows batteries barely dent the states energy picture. This is not to disregard batteries short lives, loss of charging ability, and associated human rights violations in poor countries that mine for rare elements that are in limited supply, required to make the batteries based on todays technologyall of it pointing to blackouts.

Renewables Buried Pollution

Even if newly developed battery technology eventually solves storage issues, where do OCPA and the rest of California find several million acres for all of the wind and solar, plus twice that acreage for dedicated battery charging? The wind does not always blow in the new energy world.[2]

When electricity shortages arrive with a Green New Deal-type system that does not properly function, OCPAs touted Basic Choice products at-parity-with-Edison prices will skyrocket, putting a decidedly different perspective on the agencys simplistic view of the market.[3]

An example of the coming impracticality is easy to consider. Closure of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, scheduled for 2024 and 2025, would require a wind farm occupying approximately one-half million acres to replace the nuclear plants electricity output. Add another 1 million+ acres for dedicated battery charging.[4]

Where is that land? What about required land for windmills and solar farms after all of Californias other power plants are dismantled? There is discussion of placing these resources off of the coast (in the fog and shipping lanes).

None of this is to disregard the pollution and mining associated with manufacturing OCPAs solar panels and windmills, in addition to end-of-life disposal issues.

What happens to that waste?

Windmill blades have a life expectancy of about 20 yearsthen they are often simply buried in landfills. Windmill blades are made of fiberglass and do not decompose, a legacy for future generations.

Decommissioned wind turbine blades in a staging yard in Sweetwater, Texas. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Californias electricity outlook is unstable as the state races toward a future that is anything but renewable or environmentally sensitive, a future increasingly reliant on intermittent wind and solar generation.

Governor Newsom and President Biden are undermining electric reliability and stability with policies that support retirement of base load type gas and coal power plantsneeded when the power from clean intermittent renewables declines.

Part III of this series pulls back the curtain on OCPAs renewable energy products, revealing the extent of its unfulfillable promises and the wasted money for shell games that leave the community no better off.

Notes

[1] Municipal utilities such as Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) operate their own transmission systems. In 2020 LADWPs reported renewable energy content included in its overall energy mix was 36.7 percent, slightly higher than Californias 33.09 percent of the states total energy mix.

[2] Wind farms are experiencing wind droughts. Fortune, Sept. 16, 2021, The U.K. went all in on wind power. Heres what happens when it stops blowing, by Sophie Mellor.

[3] OCPA board chair Mike Carroll at April 5, 2022 board meeting: But I just wanted to say what really jumped out at me, other than all the detail and the sheer breadth of the fact that were going to be, or that we are, the greenest or one of the greenest electric providers in the nation  which is really fun as that  rolls off the tongue.

[4] Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is scheduled to close in 2024 and 2025. There is discussion about possibly delaying those dates; however, such an arrangement is complex, time consuming, and involves multiple parties with differing agendas.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A South African wildlife guide with a lifelong love of black leopards has realized his dream of seeing the biggest species on his bucket list for the very first time. His stunning close-up photos will leave you breathless.

Nick Kleer, 34, lives a nomadic lifestyle mainly as a wildlife guide on safari in South Africa or photographing wild animals with the aim of sharing his passion with the world.

After months of planning, Kleer traveled to a region of northern Kenya in March 2022. After several weeks spent searching a vast area, he finally laid eyes on the elusive black leopard. With immense respect for the big cats natural habitat, with help from locals, he safely snapped a series of photos.

The feeling of first laying eyes on this cat remains the highlight of my entire career, Kleer told The Epoch Times. I have wanted to see a black leopard my entire life, inspired by the black panther in the Jungle Book story.  People often speak of black panthers; in fact, they are referring to either a black leopard or black jaguar.

Fortunately, prior sightings and regional research using camera traps pointed to the most likely spots for a black leopard sighting. During the course of his trip, Kleer saw three.

I was in a region of Kenya where the Samburu tribe lives, he explained. For the most part, the people of this region are cattle, sheep, and camel herders. I stayed at various locations in this district in my search for these cats, and had assistance through local guides and from speaking to local researchers and shepherds.

Black leopards and jaguars are rare, Kleer says. Their dark coloration owes to an over-production of melanin; for this to happen in a cub, both its mother and father must carry the gene.

Unlike other leopards hes photographed, Kenyan black leopards are mainly nocturnal. This expedition took place at night using spotlights.

Spotlighting has to be done in a way so as not to disturb the animals natural nightly activities, he said. If the animal is on the hunt, for example, we go lights down.

Opportunities are normally brief. Luckily, I have been photographing for a number of years, so I am able to quickly get the right settings to capture the shots Im after.

Kleer, who shares his big feline photos on Instagram, said the sightings left him speechless.

Hes always used Canon cameras, he said, and currently shoots with a Canon 1DX Mark III and a few different lenses.

Hes had years to hone his craft. Growing up in South Africa, he often visited game reserves, where he first started photographing animals around age 11. He turned pro after becoming a wildlife guide 13 years ago.

Kleer said: I have always been particularly interested in big cats, but my love extends to all species.  I believe that through photography and videography I can spread love for wildlife to all corners of the globe.

The photographer, who thinks travel is the very best thing one can spend time or money on, has traversed the globe taking photos. While he cant bear to choose a favorite destination, places hes visited include South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, the Republic of Congo, Brazil, India, and Alaska.

Kleer has snapped numerous species in different wildlife hotspots along the way.

One of my recent highlights would be the grizzly bears in Alaska, he shared. They are only photographable for the summer months, as they hibernate through winter and can be seen feeding on sedge grasses and berries or hunting fish.

(Courtesy of Nick Kleer)

It is truly spectacular being up close, on foot, with these wonderful animals, as they are massive and have very interesting social interactions with one another. I look forward to returning there in the near future.

The more people engage with nature, the better the chances that wild areas will be preserved for the benefit of everyone and all future generations, he said.

I encourage all readers to get out into nature and spend as much time as possible in forests, around the ocean, near streams, and with animals, he added. I cannot explain how good it is for your soul, and wellbeing in general, to spend time out in nature.

More photos of black panthers by Nick Kleer:

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Pro-Beijing Disinformation Operators Target Australian, US, Canadian Rare Earth Miners

A pro-Beijing online influence campaign known as Dragonbridge is focusing on major Australian, U.S., and Canadian rare earth miners who pose a threat to Chinas dominance of supply chains for the precious resource, according to a cybersecurity firm.

Dragonbridge comprises a network of thousands of inauthentic accounts spread across social media platforms, websites, and forums that promote the political interests of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), according to U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which has been tracking the campaign since June 2019.

Earlier this year, Mandiant identified fake social media and discussion forum accounts posing as Texan residents and feigning concern over environmental and health issues surrounding the construction of a major rare earths processing facility by Australias Lynas Rare Earths, the worlds largest rare earth miner outside China.

The campaign also leveraged existing criticismincluding from U.S. politiciansof U.S. President Joe Bidens decision in March to invoke the Defense Production Act to expedite rare earth production.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, completion of the project would see Lynas produce approximately 25 percent of the worlds supply of rare earth element oxides.

One social media account owned by a Jackie Eberhart states: We must stand up and boycott Lynas. For the health of the local people and for the sake of our next generation.

Screenshot of Dragonbridge-backed social media campaign targeting Australian rare earth miner Lynas (Courtesy of Mandiant).

A screenshot of Dragonbridge-backed social media campaign targeting Australian rare earth miner Lynas (Courtesy of Mandiant).

A Cox Teri claimed, If nothing is done, Lynas waste discharge will directly or indirectly affect the health of local residents, and this pollution is irreversible.

Online Influencers Target Key Competitors to China

In early June, cyber campaigns were begun against Canadian miner Appia Rare Earths and Uranium Corp. after it announced the discovery of a new rare earth deposit in Northern Saskatchewan in Canada.

U.S. rare earth supplier USA Rare Earth faced similar treatment after announcing plans for a new processing facility in Oklahoma in mid-June.

Mandiant said it contacted all three miners (Lynas, Appia, and USA Rare Earth) about the activity.

While the activity we detail here does not appear to have been particularly effective and received only limited engagement by seemingly real individuals, the campaigns microtargeting of specific audiences suggests the possibility of using similar means to manipulate public discourse surrounding other U.S. political issues to the PRCs advantage, Mandiant said in a statement on June 28.

Notably, Dragonbridges targeting of additional rare earths mining companies underscores the campaigns ability to monitor developments and respond accordingly, as well as its investment in attempting to ensure the PRCs market dominance in the industry.

Rare earths and critical minerals are used in a range of high-tech products, including missile guidance systems, aircraft engines, smartphones, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbines.

Currently, however, Chinese firms dominate the resource supply chains, sparking concerns that it could be leveraged in a geopolitical dispute.

China currently controls 50 percent to 60 percent of global rare earth mining, 80 percent to 90 percent of the market in the intermediate processing stage where the elements are separated and refined into metals and alloys, and at least 60 percent to 70 percent in downstream manufacturing for products like permanent magnets, according to Kristin Vekasi, a professor of political science at the University of Maine.

Mandiant said Dragonbridges activities revealed how attuned the group was to the strategic interests of the Chinese Communist Party.

We may see other global competitors to PRC firms in other industries targeted by such information operations.
Oklahoma Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) talks to voters at a primary day campaign event on June 28 in Oklahoma City. (Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times)

Oklahoma Republican US Senate Primary to Be Resolved in August Runoff

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on June 28 secured the most votes in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate but did not clear the 50 percent threshold necessary to avoid a runoff.

With 73 percent of the votes reported at 10:33 p.m. on June 28, Mullin received 43 percent of the vote followed by T.W. Shannon, who advanced with 17 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ.

The winner of the runoff is widely expected to win in the general election in the deep red state on Nov. 8 and fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)

Former Oklahoma Speaker of the House and current bank CEO T.W. Shannon speaks to the press following his advance to the U.S. Senate primary runoff election in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 28, 2022. (Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times)

Kendra Horn, who served as a U.S. representative in Oklahomas 5th Congressional District from 2019 to 2020, was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face the winner of the runoff in November.

Thirteen Republican candidates battled to replace Inhofe, who took office in 1994 and was elected to a fifth term in 2020 before announcing in February 2022 that he would retire, effective January 3, 2023.

Mullin, a former professional mixed martial arts fighter who was first elected to Oklahomas 2nd Congressional District in 2013, held a comfortable lead in the polls. He also had a 3-to-1 advantage in fundraising over the other candidates.

The 44-year-old Mullin owns Mullin Plumbing and Mullin Farms among several other businesses. He is a staunch advocate of former president Donald Trumps America First platform and is an outspoken supporter of the Second Amendment, the pro-life movement, and completing the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

T.W. Shannon is a candidate in Oklahomas June 28 Republican US Senate primary. (Courtesy of T.R. for Oklahoma)

A former Oklahoma House speaker, Shannon finished second to Sen. James Lankford in the 2014 GOP primary. He was an Oklahoma state representative from 2006 to 2014 before leaving the state legislature and serving as CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank in Oklahoma City.

A member of the Chickasaw tribe, Shannon has received $1.7 million from the Oklahoma Conservative Alliance, a super PAC that is exclusively backing him.

Mullin and Shannon have similar views on multiple topics, including religious values, protecting the Second Amendment, and abortion. Like Mullin, Shannon is pro-Trump. Both candidates have not been shy about voicing firm opinions.

Shannon, who is black, is against abortion, has called Planned Parenthood racist, and in May tweeted, Black babies have been targeted by the abortion lobby and the Dems since day one. Dont you dare say Black Lives Matter til you admit that black babies matter.

Shannon also speaks out about claims that America has systemic racism.

That narrative goes something like this, unless youre from a specific zip code, of specific heritage, then America doesnt work for you and the truth is thats a lie, Shannon told KOCO News 5 in Oklahoma City. Im proof that narrative is a lie.

In late April, in response to the five fetuses that were discovered in Washington D.C. and speculated to have perished because of partial-birth abortions, Mullin introduced the Partial-Birth Abortion is Murder Act.

If signed into law, the legislation would increase penalties for individuals who violate the Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003 to a minimum of five years and a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On June 7, before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a militant pro-abortion group called Janes Revenge vowed unrest, vandalized a pregnancy center in Asheville, N.C., and left threatening words in graffiti.

The same organization has reportedly taken credit for more than a dozen attacks in recent months at churches and pregnancy centers.

Congressional Republicans, including Mullin, urged the Department of Homeland Security to classify Janes Revenge as a domestic terrorist organization.

Its past time the Biden Administration quits with the complacency and investigates these members for exactly what they are: domestic terrorists, Mullin told reporters.

Mullin and his wife, Christie, met in elementary school and they have six children, three biological and three adopted.

The couple tried for seven years to have a child, but Christie suffered from endometriosis, Mullin explained. Christie had a miscarriage, which was emotionally devastating for the couple.

It is hard to understand why anyone would say, Its just a fetus, and end that life, Mullin told The Epoch Times. I have respect for mothers who were courageous and delivered their babies to give parents who cannot have children the opportunity to provide loving homes.

These are future leaders, future parents, future entrepreneurs, and future Americans, and they deserve the right to be born, said Mullin, who is a member of the Cherokee tribe. The Roe v. Wade decision is a positive start, but we need to keep fighting to make sure that no baby can be killed.

In a deep red state, all candidates are proponents of Trump, though the former president has not endorsed anyone. Trump won Oklahoma with 65 percent of the vote in 2020.

Mullin is not guaranteed victory in a runoff, even with a substantial lead in the polls, according to Oklahoma City political consultant Mark Yates.

The landscape completely resets in a runoff, Yates added.

If Yates is correct, Shannon will benefit.

Mullin agrees that a runoff is ideal for candidates who are behind in the polls.

If I was in second place, I would love the idea of a runoff, Mullin told The Epoch Times with a grin when he was asked about the concept of runoffs. Its a different story when you are leading in the polls, and if you finish in first.

If a runoff happens, and we are there, it is like starting a new campaign, Mullin added. You only have one opponent instead of 12, and it is important to reach as many people as possible since, typically, runoffs have a lower voter turnout.

In the Republican primary for Oklahomas other Senate seat, Lankford easily defeated Tulsa area pastor and businessman Jackson Lahmeyer.

Lankford, who was first elected to his Senate seat in 2014, secured 74 percent of the vote.

Lahmeyer, who was backed by Trump adviser Roger Stone and former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, received 20 percent.
Campaign signs are seen outside of a polling location in Palos Hills, IL on primary day on June 28, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Republican Keith Pekau to Face Incumbent Democrat Rep. Casten in Illinois US House Race

Republican Keith Pekau won a Republican U.S. House primary election in Illinois on June 28 and will face incumbent Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) in the general election in the fall to represent the states 6th Congressional District.

Illinois 6th district is a Democratic-leaning House seat that is considered winnable by Republicans in a midterm year when the presidents party typically loses ground. Nationwide, Republicans need to flip a net of five House seats to gain the majority.

The district, which covers some of the most conservative Chicago suburbs, had the states only primary fight between two Democratic incumbents, Casten and first-term Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.)

The new map drawn by the state legislature last year redistricted Newman out of her old district, prompting her to seek reelection in Castens district instead.

Among the two, Casten positioned himself as more moderate than Newman. For example, on health care, Newman supports a single-payer, universal health care system while Casten favors keeping the private sector.

Casten has raised $3.2 million, almost twice that of Newman, according to campaign finance data published by Federal Election Commission (FEC.)

Meanwhile Keith Pekau ousted fellow suburban mayor Gary Grasso in the Republican primary. Each touted successful governing records, respectively, on pandemic handling and crime control.

On issues, Grasso is more towards the center than Pekau. For example, Grasso is open to discussions on gun control measures, while Pekau thinks the focus should be on criminals, not guns.

Grasso has raised $621,217, including a $250,000 loan from himself, while Pekau has collected $374,601, according to FEC.

Other Republican candidates included engineer and lawyer Scott Kaspar, small business owner Rob Cruz, and energy consultant Niki Conforti.
Hongkongers Were Taught a Lesson: Never Discuss Democracy and Human Rights Again, Pro-Beijing Lawmaker Says

Scholars CounteredSo what should we talk about then? Dictatorship?

Rita Fan Tsui Lai-tai, a member of the CCPs rubber-stamp legislature, looked back on the past 25-years since the handover of Hong Kong to China, and said with affirmation, The last 25 years have taught us an invaluable lesson. It teaches all Hongkongers to not talk about democracy and human rights ever again.

With that being said, scholars rushed to counter-argue Fans lesson theory: If we dont talk about democracy, what should we talk about then? Dictatorship?

Zhao Ziyang, former vice-chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) once said it was given that Hong Kong should be governed with democracy.

During her interview with Hong Kong Commercial Radio, Fan spoke of her beliefs that the basic rights Hongkongers wished to have were to get reciprocal rewards for the jobs they do, to live a stable life, and possibly with a bit of gain. She continued, If we cant even achieve that, it is useless to talk about democracy.

Hongkongers are now halfway through the so-called Unchanged 50 years. Professor Chung Kim-wah, former assistant professor at the Department of Social Applied Science at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of PORI, Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, debated what Fan had said. Chung recalled that democratic development had been Hongkongers demand for the past few decades.

Different organizations had been giving the Hong Kong government pressure and demanding open-source governance, also known as open politics in the 1970s. Then in the 1980s, when sovereignty returned to China, there was only one demandfor democracy to return to the people of Hong Kong. Beijing did not object to the demand back then. The former premier of the Chinese Communist Party, Zhao Ziyang, even showed his support to democratic governance by sending personal notes to two of the university student councils here in Hong Kong.

Chung thought Fan was only twisting the facts to fit the current political environment.

According to records documented in May 1984, Zhao expressed his stance in a letter responding to the student council at the University of Hong Kong.

In his note, Zhao wrote,  The execution of democratized political systems of Hong Kong, which some of you may call democracy governance for Hong Kong, should be realized.

Rita Fan: Universal suffrage will only happen when people have a change of heart.

Wong Wai-kwok, former assistant professor at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the Baptist University of Hong Kong, pointed out, that no one should apply common sense or logic in an attempt to understand whatever the pro-Beijing parties say, because they are full of twisted facts and propaganda.

Professor Wong believed that the demands of democracy and human rights are the basic rights any functioning government should give to its people. People should not need to be begging for them.

If we dont talk about democracy and human rights, what else is there to talk about? Dictatorship? Wong continued, that the biggest issues in Hong Kong for the past 25 years have been public policies and the landslide of governing power to the capitalists and CCP-worshiping figures. Hongkongers cant have stable or plentiful lives. Same with mainland China, as long as the power remains among a certain group of people, they will only care about their interests, not their peoples.

In terms of the political system, pro-government politician Rita Fan openly terrorized the Hong Kong public, Universal suffrage will only happen, when and if people have a change of heart, which means only when most Hongkongers identify and embrace themselves as Chinese nationals, and will not do anything detrimental against the country or Hong Kong.

Professor Wong argued that the Basic Law had appointed the chief executive of Hong Kong and the Legislative Council who would eventually achieve universal suffrage. Nominations, candidacy, and voting should have zero elements or influence of political censorship.

However, Fans muddling of one man, one vote with national development will only make one impression on the public: an excuse to break promises.

Fan also accused the pro-democracy parties of not listening to opinions after the Aug 31, 2014 (831) Decision was made by the CCPs rubber-stamp legislature in 2014.

The 831 Decision is the framework for the decision on the issues of universal suffrage for Hong Kongs Chief Executive and the formation details of the Legislative Council.

Fan also mocked the pan-dem members, that they had overestimated themselves and their abilities, while completely ignoring the wisdom and power of China and wound democracy back to almost eight years prior. Fan also claimed, that there is plenty of room within the 831 Framework for gradual democratization.

This is not the first time that Rita Fan criticized the democrats for rejecting The 831 Decision. In 2017, Fan claimed that The 831 Decision would allow expansions of the voters foundation in the elections for the Hong Kong Chief Executive; Democrats were way out of their political league when they fought against the decision and wished for the central governments withdrawal of the 831 Framework.

The 831 decided not to implement citizen or political party nominations. The CCP authority also stipulated the number and structure of the nomination committee; any candidate for the chief executive election must be supported by more than half of the nominating members, to become an official candidate to run their campaigns. The 831 Decision also limited the number of candidates to two or three persons.

On Sept. 26, 2014, Hong Kong citizens, along with secondary and university student organizations launched a series of civil disobedience campaigns to fight for universal suffrage in Hong Kong for the following 79 days.

Protesters spontaneously occupied major roads and highways for sit-ins and marches. Their primary demands were the withdrawal of the 831 Decision, the rights for civil nominations in chief executive elections, and the abolition of the functional constituency for the Legislative Council.

In the interview, Rita Fan fired shots at the citys education system and Hong Kong youth, arguing that young Hongkongers had been misled due to the lack of national education, and it was proven by their participation in the 2019 anti-extradition movement and the yearly June 4 Vigil and Assembly, which are both anti-CCP and anti-government.

With no evidence, Fan seemed certain that these protesting organizations had received funds through agencies under the U.S. Congress. Fan continued her allegations, that many young teachers were influenced by foreign powers, and thought what they wanted was democracy. The teachers had an idea that the Communist Party was a one-party regime or dictatorship. Fan guessed that the youth in Hong Kong had been deprived of opportunities in understanding China. This resulted in students blindly following and longing for the western culture in the past 25 years, and had zero appreciation of their own motherland.

Hans Yeung Wing-yu, former manager of the Department of Development at Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) and a secondary school educator, retorted that, except traditional imperial examinations, all other 20th-century philosophy and education systems are foreign or western.

Unless Fan wants to resume the imperial examination system in Hong Kong, it is completely meaningless to point fingers at the Hong Kong education system and educators, while accusing them of being influenced by foreign powers. Yeung concluded.

Yeung believed that Hong Kong education must be a mix of both east and west. For so long, the Hong Kong education had never had any prejudice against the perception of China. Yeung questioned whether both Fan and the pro-government parties wanted to abolish the current education system, which is fact-based and prejudice-free in Hong Kong, and force-feed the governments version of education to students instead.

If foreign powers becomes the scapegoat to cut back on western elements in education, Hong Kong students will never become global citizens of the 21st century. Yeung warned.

The CCPs one-party dictatorship caused corruption and especially the tragic June 4, Tiananmen Square Massacre. These are all undeniable historic facts. Yeung added that a democratic system is beneficial to eliminating social conflicts.

Hans Yeung challenged Fans theory, Without democracy, the Communist Partys propaganda of serving the people is only a deceptive slogan. Before the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the Communist Party also used democracy to lure intellectuals. So is Ms Rita Fan Tsui Lai-tai insinuating Mao Zedong and others had deceived the people of China using democracy?
First Lady Jill Biden visits the CREADE refugee center in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain, on June 28, 2022. (Spanish Royal Household via Getty Images)

Russia Bans Biden Family Members, Officials, and Others in Retaliatory Sanctions

CEO says he's 'proud' to be sanctioned

Russia on Tuesday banned U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and her daughter from entering the country in retaliation for the growing number of U.S. sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the countrys foreign ministry announced.

In total, 25 U.S. citizens were included in the round of retaliatory Russian sanctions, including academics, U.S. government officials, and other individuals.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that the family of U.S. President Joe Biden was banned in response to the constantly expanding U.S. sanctions against Russian politicians and public figures.

In addition to the presidents family members, six senators were on the stop list, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.).

The senators were accused of formulating the Russophobic policies of the United States, along with members of the so-called McFaul-Yermak International Expert Group, which drafts recommendations concerning anti-Russia restrictions.

 In response to the constantly expanding US sanctions against Russian politicians and public figures, the stop list shall include 25 American citizens. The list as follows   https://t.co/0f2nsxYf7E pic.twitter.com/2jSeBL6TtD  MFA Russia  (@mfa_russia) June 28, 2022

When asked about the sanctions by reporters during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Madrid, where the president will attend the NATO summit, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called them cynical.

I have no reaction to that other than it just goes to show you that the Russian capacity for these kinds of cynical moves is basically bottomless, so it probably shouldnt come as a surprise to any of us that they would do something like this, Sullivan said.

The United States has sought to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine with personal and economic sanctions, including cutting off Russian oil and gas.

Sanctioned CEO Proud

Among the individuals banned in Russias round of sanctions is James Hodson, the CEO and cofounder of an organization that provides relief to Ukrainians on the ground in areas under attack through the use of technology platforms.

I am proud to have been recognized by the Russian Federation for the work that myself and my colleagues have been doing to help Ukraine to defend its democracy from a terrorist-led war of endless rotting Soviet-era ammunition, superficial lies, and medieval-colonial ideology, he told The Epoch Times in an email.

One of the applications created by Hodsons AI for Good Foundation is Svidok (witness in Ukrainian), which is used to gather evidence of war crimes and to preserve and share Ukrainians experiences.

The other is LifeForce, a real-time platform that ensures people find what they need, when they need it (for food, basic goods, medicine, health care, shelter, transportation, and emergency response), while making it practically infeasible for the Russian military to gather information on civilian targets, and providing the government with detailed information on supply and demand dynamics in areas under siege, Hodson said.

Hodson is also part of a working group that advises on the recovery of Ukraines economy after the conflict and participates in the Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Russian Sanctions.
Smoke rises over a residential building hit by a Russian military strike, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on June 29, 2022. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

Russian Missiles Rain Down on Ukraine as West Pledges Enduring Support

KYIVRussian forces struck targets in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine on Wednesday and intensified attacks on fronts across the country as NATO members met in Madrid to plan a course of action against the challenge from Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the NATO leaders his country needed more weapons and money to defend itself against Russia, warning that Moscows ambitions did not stop at Ukraine.

At the summit, President Joe Biden announced additional U.S. land, air, and sea deployments across Europe, including a permanent army headquarters in Poland, in response to threats from Russia.

The mayor of Mykolaiv city said a Russian missile strike killed at least three people in a residential building there, while Moscow said its forces had hit what it called a training base for foreign mercenaries in the region.

In the east, the governor of Luhansk Province said there was fighting everywhere in the battle around the hilltop city of Lysychansk, which Russian troops were trying to encircle.

The governor of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine said Russian shelling had increased there too in the past few days.

Several villages have been wiped from the face of the earth, Kryvyi Rih governor Oleksander Vilkul said.

The stepped-up attacks come as Russian President Vladimir Putins forces make slow but relentless progress in a war now in its fifth month.

Far from the fighting, leaders of NATO countries were meeting in the Spanish capital Madrid to thrash out policy in response to Russias actions.

Zelenskyy, in a video link-up from the capital Kyiv, demanded more weapons from the West and said Ukraine needed $5 billion per month for its defense and protection.

The new U.S. Army headquarters in Poland announced by Biden at the summit, with an accompanying battalion, would be the first permanent U.S. deployment on NATOs eastern flank.

Bidens plans also include sending extra warships to Spain, fighter jet squadrons to Britain, ground troops to Romania, air defense units to Germany and Italy, and a range of assets to the Baltics.

The Atlantic alliance would defend every inch of its territory: We mean it when we say an attack against one is an attack against all, he told reporters.

The NATO summit will also welcome membership applications from formerly neutral Sweden and Finland, which overcame objections from Turkey.

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said NATOs expansion was destabilising and did not add to its members security.

A smoke rises over remains of a building destroyed by a military strike, as Russias attack on Ukraine continues, in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, on June 17, 2022. (Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters)

Eastern Front

Fighting also raged further east in Luhansk Province, a key battleground in Russias assault on the industrial heartland of the Donbass region.

There is fighting everywhere. The enemy is trying to break through our defences, Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said on television.

The battle for Lysychansk in Luhansk follows the fall of Sievierodonetsk, its sister city across the Siverskyi Donets River on Saturday.

Its capture would expand Russian control of the Donbass, one of Moscows strategic objectives.

The Moscow-imposed military-civilian administration in Kherson region said it had begun preparations for a referendum on joining Russia, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Kherson, a port city on the Black Sea, sits just northwest of the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

By Pavel Polityuk
Shell CEO Warns of Very Low Spare Capacity, Highlights Problematic Gas Situation in Europe

Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell, recently warned about the low spare capacity in the oil markets and raised doubts about replacing Russian gas with LNG in Europe.

I do believe that were going to be facing quite a bit of uncertainty in markets for some time to come, van Beurden told reporters, according to Reuters. Spare capacity is running very, very low, he added while pointing out that the global oil and gas market is still in its recovery phase.

The supply situation is tight as Russias refined product exports are restricted due to sanctions, he said. The Shell CEO also blamed China for deliberately or for domestic reasons not exporting petroleum products.

Among OPEC, only a few countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are said to have excess spare capacity. Aramco, the state-owned oil giant in Saudi, has claimed that it can output up to 12 million barrels of oil per day, a million more than the August target of 11 million barrels per day set for the kingdom by OPEC+.

However, Aramco had an output of 11 million barrels per day for just eight weeks in its history. Whether Saudi Arabia can sustain this level of output for the remainder of 2022, and further into next year, is uncertain.

On the sidelines of the G-7 summit, French President Emmanuel Macron was heard telling President Joe Biden about his concerns regarding UAE and Saudi Arabias ability to raise output. UAE leader Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan told me two things. Im at a maximum, maximum [production capacity]. This is what he claims, Macron said, according to Reuters.

And then he said [the] Saudis can increase by 150 [thousand barrels per day]. Maybe a little bit more, but they dont have huge capacities before six months time.

European Gas Supply Situation

While speaking to reporters, van Beurden also revealed his concerns about the gas supply situation in Europe. The maintenance of Nord Stream 1 has resulted in a decline in Russian gas supplies, due to which European buyers are turning to LNG imports. This has triggered concerns about supplies ahead of the peak winter season demand, van Beurden said.

The Shell CEO thinks it is impossible to replace the entire pipeline gas capacity out of Russia with LNG. If Europe is not willing to take significant measures like rationing and energy savings, things can get problematic, he warned, according to Reuters.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said that Europe will have to cut down its gas use by 30 percent by mid-February if gas flows from Russia are stopped.

Depending on its timing, a complete cut-off of Russian gas supplies to Europe could result in storage fill levels being well below average ahead of the winter, leaving the EU in a very vulnerable position, Birol said. In the current context, I wouldnt exclude a complete cut-off of gas exports to Europe from Russia.
This undated photo made available by the National Park Service in September 2021 shows fossilized human footprints at the White Sands National Park in New Mexico. (NPS via AP Photo)

South African Human Fossils More Than a Million Years Older Than Previously Thought

Fossils of early human ancestors that were found in a cave in South Africa are now thought to be a million years older than originally estimated, thereby shaking the current scientific understanding of human evolution and its origins.

Fossils from the Sterkfontein Cave, belonging to the genus Australopithecus, were initially thought to have been from 2 to 2.6 million years ago. But researchers who used a new technique to date the fossils found them to be from 3.4 to 3.6 million years ago, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on June 27.

The new dating makes these fossils older than the famed Lucy fossil from Ethiopia, which was dated to 3.2 million years.

The fossils are from Member 4 infill of Sterkfontein which contains the richest deposit of Australopithecus fossils anywhere in the world. The first Australopithecus fossil was discovered in the caves back in 1936, with hundreds being excavated since then.

Previous dating methods of Member 4 fossils were based on calcite flowstone deposits discovered in the cave fill. But careful observation revealed that the method underestimates the age of fossils. The new study used radioactive decay of rare isotopes like beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 in the mineral quartz to date the fossils.

These radioactive isotopes, known as cosmogenic nuclides, are produced by high-energy cosmic ray reactions near the ground surface, and their radioactive decay dates when the rocks were buried in the cave when they fell in the entrance together with the fossils, said Darryl Granger of Purdue University in the United States, lead author on the paper, in a June 27 news release published at EurekaAlert.

Human Evolution Chronology

The new dating has important implications for the theory of hominin evolution. Hominin is a term used to refer to members of the Hominini zoological tribe, of which only one species exists at presentthe Homo Sapiens or current human beings.

Younger hominins like Homosapiens and Paranthropus are dated to about 2 to 2.8 million years. Based on earlier dates, the South African Australopithecus was seen as too young to be their ancestors. Homosapiens and Paranthropus are thought to have more likely evolved in East Africa.

With the new dating pushing back the South African Australopithecus by a million years, this chronology comes into question.

The discovery will undoubtedly re-ignite the debate over the diverse characteristics of Australopithecus at Sterkfontein, and whether there could have been South African ancestors to later hominins, Granger said in the news release.
South Korea's Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon (L) and Ryu Peob-min (2nd from L), a trade ministry director, attend an inaugural meeting of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) in Toronto, Canada, on June 14, 2022 (Courtesy of the South Korean trade ministry).

South Korea Joins US-Led Mineral Security Alliance, Aims to Curb Chinese Dominance in Critical Minerals Supply

South Korea has announced its participation in the U.S.-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) to cut its heavy reliance on Chinese mineral and raw materials imports.

The announcement of joining the MSP came shortly after South Koreas decision in May to participate in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

IPEF outlines the United States key priorities to align with allies and partners to compete more effectively with communist China in the race to lead global technology development and norms.

Seouls foreign ministry said on June 15 that the countrys decision to join the MSP is a follow-up measure to the U.S.-South Korea summit in May and to pave the way for supply chain diversification.

The MSP is an international alliance with aims to secure a stable and diverse mineral supply chain. Member countries include the United States, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Commission, Finland, France, Australia, and Norway.

The partnership is widely seen as an effort to curb Chinese dominance in the critical minerals market.

Critical metals include cobalt, copper, precious metals, nickel, uranium, lithium, magnesium, and many others. They are raw materials used in critical industries such as semiconductors, telecommunications, computing, aerospace, defense, and electric car batteries.

Since China controls over two-thirds of the global production of rare earth elements crucial to modern technologies, a cutoff of those supplies will significantly harm other economies.

In many instances, Beijing has weaponized its dominance in the minerals market by threatening to cut off supplies to other nations.

For example, in 2010, Beijing blocked its rare earth product exports to Japan over the long-standing dispute about control of unpopulated islands in the East China Sea, after a hot exchange between ships from Japans naval self-defense force and Chinese fishing vessels.

Japan did not relinquish its claims to the islands amid the tension but actively warns other nations of Chinas unreliable trading practices, including recent warnings from Japans Ambassador to Australia, Yamagami Shingo, as Beijing employed similar tactics by imposing quotas and large tariffs on Australian goods coming into China. Beijings move came after Australias call for an investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To reduce reliance on China, U.S. President Joe Biden in March invoked the Defense Production Act to spur greater domestic output of key minerals in the United States.

South Koreas membership in MSP is another move to curb Chinese influence by the Yoon Suk-yeol government after joining the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Having China as its largest trading partner, South Korea had, for over a decade, managed to mostly maintain balanced economic ties between the two powerhouses.

However, under a new administration, Seoul has made a clear shift in cementing a business partnership with Washington over Beijing.

The shift appears to be driven by the destabilized global supply chains caused by the pandemic and growing threats to its economic and national security.

A recent analysis published by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) showed that 75 percent of South Koreas key imports came from China.

The study analyzed South Koreas import reliance on the United States, China, and Japan, which are responsible for 90 percent of the countrys imports. The category of key imports was assigned to 228 items that rank in the top 30 percent in import dollar value.

The study found that 172 out of 228 items (75.5 percent) came from China, 32 (14 percent) came from Japan, and 24 (10.5 percent) from the United States.

Some of the key imported goods from China include electronics, machinery, computers, steel, organic and inorganic compounds, glass, medical products, and industrial raw materials such as non-ferrous metals, the report says.

Prominent examples of Chinese imports include manganese, which is critical for steel manufacturing; graphite, which is an essential electric vehicle battery anode material; and magnesium, which is important for lightweight automobile production.

Last year, a shortage of urea supplied by China threatened to cripple economic activity in South Korea. Among other uses, urea is used to cut emissions in diesel vehicles and make fertilizer.

In mid-October, China reduced its urea exports due to a coal shortage, putting South Korea in a deep crisis as the countrys nearly 4 million diesel vehicles cannot operate without urea, sending its logistics industry into chaos.

The incident highlighted the resource-poor countrys heavy reliance on China for the essential items it needed to maintain business as usual. Since then, major South Korean industries have begun accelerating plans to build diversified production bases worldwide.
New police recruits await an inspection by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick during a passing out parade in Hendon, London, on April 8, 2022. (PA)

Special Measures Colossal Slap in the Face for Rank-and-File Police: Retired Officer

A retired Metropolitan Police officer said the decision by Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to put the force into special measures is a colossal slap in the face for the rank-and-file officers who are struggling to cope with a massive increase in demand.

It comes as the Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, accused the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, of being asleep at the wheel when it comes to the Metropolitan Police.

It has emerged that the head of HMICFRS, Matt Parr, wrote to the acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Stephen House, saying he had substantial and persistent concerns about the Met for a considerable time. He said action was needed on training, the response to 999 calls, and a backlog of online child abuse investigations.

Chris Hobbs, a retired Metropolitan Police officer, said morale was already very low in the Met and he said the decision to introduce the Engage process, which is effectively special measures, would be a kick in the teeth for frontline police officers who were being criticised on all sides.

He said the timing of the HMICFRS intervention was odd considering the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, was about to appoint a new commissioner to replace Cressida Dick, who resigned in March.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at a memorial service for murdered Sergeant Matt Ratana in Westminster, central London, on Nov. 29, 2021. (Victoria Jones/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Hobbs told The Epoch Times, Its come out of the blue  it does seem a little odd unless they want to force the new commissioner to tackle the issues immediately.

The Job Was Too Big for Her

He defended Cressida Dick, who he said was not incompetent, but he added, The bottom line is that the job was too big for her  in fact the job is too big for anyone.

Hobbs said he was sorry Nick Adderley, chief constable of Northamptonshire, had not applied for the job because he thought he would instantly have the support of rank-and-file officers and would be able to bring about big changes.

The Metropolitan Police has suffered a string of scandals over the last two years: the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer; racist, misogynist, and homophobic messages exchanged by officers at Charing Cross police station; the strip-searching of Child Q; and the seemingly incomprehensible failures in the investigation into serial killer Stephen Port, which led to the decision on June 23 to reinvestigate police officers.

In March the HMICFRS also published a report that said the Mets approach to police corruption was fundamentally flawed and not fit for purpose.

Hobbs said: The senior leadership have not defended officers properly. They have allowed rank-and-file officers to be smeared as corrupt, misogynist, racist, and brutal and that is simply not the case  but it increases the level of abuse police officers receive on the streets and frankly its not fair.

He conceded: There are issues about training. Its a bit of a shambles. But this insistence that all officers need a degree, or need to study for a degree, is ridiculous.

Hobbs said many officers who were doing early, late, or night shifts were then expected to study for a degree and write dissertations when they were not working and he said many had told him they simply cant cope.

People in the crowd turning on their phone torches in Clapham Common, London, for a vigil for Sarah Everard in March 2021. (PA)

Another ludicrous decision was to make response officers [those dealing with 999 calls] investigate crimes as well. When do they have the time to do it? Its not fair to them and its not fair to the victims of the crimes they are supposed to be investigating, he added.

The HMICFRS letter said the Met had many young and inexperienced recruits who had been brought in to replace thousands of officers whose jobs were cut under austerity measures introduced by David Camerons government, and it said too many of them were not being given the right leadership or guidance.

Frontline Officers Wet Behind the Ears

Hobbs said: The criticism of inexperienced officers on the frontline is a valid one. They dont run away but they are sometimes making poor decisions  often they are wet behind the ears and they need that old hand who could get them out of trouble, but they are not around.

The Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, told Parliament on Wednesday he supported the HMICFRSs decision and said: The public put their trust in the police and have every right to expect the countrys largest force to protect them effectively and carry out their duties to the very highest professional standards. They expect them to get the basics right. While very many Metropolitan Police officers do just that  it is clear that public confidence has been seriously undermined.

He then accused the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan of being asleep at the wheel and said: We expect him to provide an urgent update explaining how he intends to fix this as soon as possible. Now is not the time for the mayor to distance himself. He must lean in.

The Metropolitan Police issued a statement on Tuesday night, in which it said: We recognise the cumulative impact of events and problems that the Met is dealing with. We understand the impact this has had on communities and we share their disappointment. We are determined to be a police service Londoners can be proud of. We are talking to the inspectorate about next steps.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Doctors Challenging Opioid Convictions

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of two doctors challenging convictions on drug distribution charges for over-prescribing controlled opioids on the rationale that their actions may have been in good faith.

The justices ruled 90 on June 27 (pdf), siding with Dr. Xiulu Ruan and Dr. Shakeel Khan.

Justice Stephen Breyer argued that their trials were unfair because jurors were not required to consider whether the two convicted doctors had good faith reasons to prescribe numerous off-label opioid prescriptions.

Both doctors were registered under the Controlled Substances Act, allowing them to prescribe controlled substances to patients.

However, prosecutors at their trials argued that the prescriptions were unauthorized, meaning the drugs were prescribed not for a legitimate, medical reason.

Breyer, who is retiring at noon on June 30, the end of the courts current term, wrote that for doctors with evidence that they have authority to prescribe controlled substances, prosecutors would need to prove they knowingly or intentionally acted in an unauthorized manner.

He wrote that the CSA registered doctors intentionally prescribing addictive drugs in an unauthorized way is illegal, but not the drugs themselves.

We normally would not view such dispensations as inherently illegitimate; we expect, and indeed usually want, doctors to prescribe the medications that their patients need, Breyer wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing on behalf of himself and fellow conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett, said he agreed with the decisions but said the reasoning could result in confusion.

The two cases have been returned for further proceedings in lower courts.

The Defendants Cases

The remanded cases come as the country has faced a growing opioid crisis for over 20 years, with the death toll continuing to grow.

According to statements from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Ruan practiced medicine in Alabama and Khan practiced in Arizona and Wyoming. The two were sentenced to 21 and 25 years in prison respectively, in separate criminal cases.

Ruan and his business partner were convicted for running a clinic that issued nearly 300,000 controlled drugs from 2011 to 2015 (pdf). Of particular importance was the prosecutors finding him to almost exclusively prescribe Subsys and Abstraltwo brand-name instant-release fentanyl drugsfor off-label neck, back, and joint pain, even though it was indicated as a prescription for breakthrough cancer pain in opioid-tolerant patients.

Ruan and his partner also received kickbacks from the manufacturer of Subsys in exchange for prescribing great quantities of the drug, putting him as one of the top prescribers of Subsys in the United States, according to DOJ statements.

The two also purchased around $1.6 million worth of stocks in Galena Biopharma, the manufacturer of Abstral. From 2013 to 2014, he and his partner were the number one and two prescribers of Abstral in the United States respectively. the statements said.

Kahn and his brother were convicted for unlawfully prescribing large quantities of opioids in single transactions and often with other potentially toxic drugs, resulting in at least one patient dying of an overdose.

The two were convicted as doctors running pill mills, though both argue that they did in good faith.
Supreme Court Upholds Federal Anti-Discrimination Law Protecting Veterans

Texas violated a federal anti-discrimination law protecting veterans by refusing to rehire a former state trooper after he was injured in the Iraq War while serving as a U.S. Army reservist, the Supreme Court ruled in a 54 decision on June 29.

The Biden administration had previously urged the court to reject the case, but switched sides during oral arguments on March 29, saying the Texas Court of Appeals erred when it struck down the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) as unconstitutional.

The lower court held that Congress lacks the authority under its war powers to authorize veterans to sue states such as Texas that havent consented to be sued.

Passed in 1994, the act requires state and private employers to restore former employees returning from military service to the same position. A newly disabled employee must be given a position of similar status and pay.

The thinking behind it was that leaving former service members without a legal remedy for employment discrimination could interfere with the federal governments ability to provide a strong national defense by making soldiers reluctant to serve, knowing that their job may not be waiting for them when they return.

Petitioner Le Roy Torres sued his former employer in Texas state court in 2017, seeking more than $5 million.

Torres served 18 years in the U.S. Army Reserve while employed as a state trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

After he was deployed to Iraq in 2007, his lungs were damaged by toxic fumes from the now-infamous open-air burn pits that were used on military bases to burn everything from trash to ammunition to medicine to human waste.

He was diagnosed with constrictive bronchiolitis, according to his petition (pdf) to the Supreme Court.

Torres was honorably discharged a year after his deployment and asked the department for a job in a different position because his injuries prevented him from performing all of his previous duties as a state trooper.

The department offered him a temporary position in his previous capacity and said he would be fired if he didnt report for duty.

Instead, Torres resigned and founded Burn Pits 360 with his wife, Rosie. The nonprofit advocates for service members and families of service members who were injured as a result of toxic burn pits while serving their country.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion (pdf) in Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety (court file 20-603), reversing the judgment of the Texas Court of Appeals and [remanding] the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Breyers opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, along with justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Brett Kavanaugh. Kagan also filed a separate concurring opinion.

Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.

Breyer wrote that the Constitution gives Congress the authority to raise and support armies and to provide and maintain a navy.

Relying on that authority, Congress enacted the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Texas claimed that the act didnt apply to it because, as a sovereign state, it never consented to be sued.

This case asks whether states may invoke sovereign immunity as a legal defense to block such suits. In our view, they cannot, Breyer wrote. Upon entering the union, the states implicitly agreed that their sovereignty would yield to federal policy to build and keep a national military.

States thus gave up their immunity from congressionally authorized suits pursuant to the plan of the convention, as part of the structure of the original Constitution itself.

Breyer was referring to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia that drafted the U.S. Constitution, which replaced the problematic Articles of Confederation that governed the republic in its early days and which the framers thought provided a too decentralized structure for the government.

Thomas pushed back against the majority in his dissenting opinion.

He noted that in Alden v. Maine (1999) the court found without qualificationthat the powers delegated to Congress under Article I of the United States Constitution do not include the power to subject nonconsenting states to private suits for damages in state courts.

No longer, Thomas continued.

Today, by adopting contrived interpretations of Alden and the recent decision in PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey  the court holds that at least two [and perhaps more] Article I war powers do, in fact, include the power to subject nonconsenting states to private suits for damages in state courts,  and that Congress has exercised that power by enacting USERRA.

The attorney for Torres welcomed the new ruling.

We thank the justices for their thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion that will ensure all service members have the same rights under USERRA; a statute designed to protect them all, not just some, from acts of discrimination by their employers, including state agencies, Brian Lawler of Pilot Law in San Diego told The Epoch Times by email.

This journey is not over for [retired Captain] Torres, it is just beginning as we now move to Texas to try his case on the merits.

The Epoch Times reached out for comment to Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II, who represents the state in the Supreme Court, but he did not respond as of press time.
Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh attend the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 5, 2019. (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Upholds Oklahoma Child Neglect Prosecution in Ruling That Curbs Tribal Criminal Authority

In a complex 54 ruling that narrows its own 2020 decision enhancing tribal authority in Oklahoma, the Supreme Court ruled on June 29 in favor of the states prosecution of a non-Native American man convicted of neglecting his young Indian stepdaughter on Indian territory.

The decision is a win for the state of Oklahoma and the principle of state sovereignty.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion (pdf) in the case, known as Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (court file 21-429). His opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.

To be clear, the court today holds that Indian country within a states territory is part of a state, not separate from a state, Kavanaugh wrote. Therefore, a state has jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed in Indian country unless state jurisdiction is preempted.

He also noted that federal law does not preempt the states authority to prosecute regarding crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country.

The new decision comes after the high courts July 9, 2020, ruling that most of eastern and some of central Oklahoma is Native American land because it hosted Indian reservations. The ruling threw the justice system in the state into disarray.

Gorsuch wrote the courts 54 decision (pdf) in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which was joined by the four liberal justices who sat on the court at that time.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon, died Sept. 18, 2020, and was replaced weeks later by the conservative Barrett, then-President Donald Trumps nominee.

The courts liberal justices often vote as a bloc, which suggests the outcome in the Castro-Huerta case may have been different if the courts composition hadnt changed after the McGirt ruling.

The effect of the McGirt ruling was that prosecution of Native Americans on the affected lands may only be pursued in tribal courts or in federal courts under a federal statute enacted in 1885 called the Major Crimes Act, which put some crimes under federal jurisdiction if they were committed by an Indian in Indian country.

Another court clarified that the reservations belonged to the so-called Five Civilized TribesCherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole.

In the case at hand, respondent Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta, an illegal alien who isnt an Indian, was convicted of neglecting his 5-year-old stepdaughter, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who has cerebral palsy and is legally blind.

The abuse took place on the Cherokee Nation reservation. Castro-Huerta received a prison term of 35 years.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the mans conviction, finding that the crime had occurred in Indian country. The appeals court also held that the McGirt decision extends beyond the confines of the Major Crimes Act to all crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country.

But the new Supreme Court opinion states that despite McGirt, the state may prosecute Castro-Huerta for crimes in Indian county.

This case presents a jurisdictional question about the prosecution of crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country: Under current federal law, does the Federal Government have exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute those crimes? Kavanaugh wrote.

Or do the Federal Government and the state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute those crimes? We conclude that the Federal Government and the state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country.

Kavanaugh recounted the facts of the case.

In 2015, Castro-Huerta lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his wife and their children, including Castro-Huertas then-5-year-old stepdaughter.

One day, his sister-in-law dialed 911 after discovering the sick girl. She weighed only 19 pounds; was dehydrated, emaciated, and covered in lice and excrement; and investigators found that her bed was crawling with bedbugs.

When questioned, Castro-Huerta admitted that he had severely undernourished his stepdaughter during the preceding month, the justice wrote.

Oklahoma charged both Castro-Huerta and his wife with criminal child neglect. Both were convicted. While Castro-Huertas appeal was before the state courts, the Supreme Court issued the McGirt ruling, holding that because Congress had never properly disestablished the Creek Nations reservation in eastern Oklahoma, the reservation remained Indian country, according to Kavanaugh.

The eastern part of Oklahoma, including Tulsa, is now recognized as Indian country, he wrote. About two million people live there, and the vast majority are not Indians.

The parties in this case all agree that the federal government has jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country, but it was unclear if the federal governments jurisdiction was exclusive, or whether the state also has concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Government.

Following the reasoning in McGirt, Castro-Huerta argued that the federal governments jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by a non-Indian against an Indian in Indian country was exclusive and that the state was therefore without jurisdiction to prosecute him.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals sided with him, finding that the state couldnt prosecute him and overturning his conviction.

While the appeal was ongoing, a federal grand jury indicted Castro-Huerta for the same conduct. He cut a deal with prosecutors for a 7-year sentenceinstead of the previous 35-year sentenceafter which he would be deported from the United States.

The Constitution allows a state to exercise jurisdiction in Indian country, Kavanaugh wrote. Although federal law may preempt that state jurisdiction in certain circumstances, Indian country is part of the state, not separate from the state.

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and [remanded] the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

In his dissent, Gorsuch said the court was wrong to side with Oklahoma.

Now, at the bidding of Oklahomas executive branch, this court unravels  lower-court decisions, defies Congress statutes requiring tribal consent, offers its own consent in place of the tribes, and allows Oklahoma to intrude on a feature of tribal sovereignty recognized since the founding, he wrote.

One can only hope the political branches and future courts will do their duty to honor this nations promises even as we have failed today to do our own.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, hailed the court majority for affirming that Indian country is part of a state, not separate from it.

Todays ruling is a clear victory for all four million Oklahomans, the state of Oklahoma, and the rule of law.

I am heartened that the Supreme Court ruled in our favor, allowing Oklahoma to prosecute non-natives who violate the law and protect native victims, Stitt said in a statement.

Since the courts 2020 McGirt decision, federal prosecutors have declined thousands of cases like Castro-Huerta  [and] justice has been delayed and denied to thousands of native victims in our state for no reason other than their race.

Now Oklahoma law enforcement can help uphold and enforce the law equally, as we have done for over a century.

Oklahoma-based U.S. Attorneys Christopher Wilson, Clinton Johnson, and Robert Troester said in a joint statement that they will continue to enforce federal law in Indian country.

The Biden administration participated in the case in a friend-of-the-court capacity.

The Epoch Times reached out for comment to counsel for Castro-Huerta, Zachary Charles Schauf of Jenner and Block in Washington, but did not receive a reply as of press time.
Chloe Cole speaks at an Assembly committee hearing for Senate Bill 107 in Sacramento on June 28, 2022. (Screenshot)

Teen Who Had Double Mastectomy Regrets Gender Journey

A 17-year-old girl who regrets having both of her breasts removed as a result of so-called gender-affirming care testified before a California Assembly committee hearing June 28, urging state lawmakers to reject proposed legislation that would make California a transgender sanctuary state.

I was medically transitioned from ages 13 and 16, Chloe Cole from the Central Valley told the public safety committee, saying she suffered irreversible consequences from surgeries and hormone treatment.

The committee passed the controversial Senate Bill (SB) 107, which proponents say would provide refuge for trans youth, their parents, and those who advocate for and provide gender-affirming health care  for minors.

The bill would prohibit law enforcement agencies from arresting or extraditing parents charged in other states or nations for child abuse or other crimes related to allowing minor children to receive these medical treatments.

A California Assembly committee passes Senate Bill 107 in Sacramento on June 28, 2022. (Screenshot)

Cole said when she was younger, her parents took her to a therapist who affirmed my male identity and brushed off concerns about the efficacy of hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries.

My parents were given the threat of suicide as a reason to move me forward in my transition, she said.

Cole said at age 15, she told her therapist she wanted to remove her breasts. She attended a top surgery class with a dozen other girls her age or younger.

None of us were going to be men, we were fleeing from the uncomfortable feeling of becoming women, Cole said.

She went through with the surgery and her endocrinologist put her on puberty blockers and injectable testosterone after two or three appointments, she said.

Despite having a therapist and attending the top surgery class, I really didnt understand all the ramifications of any of the medical decisions I was making. I was incapable of understanding, and it was downplayed consistently, she said. My parents, on the other hand, were pressured to continue my so-called gender journey with the suicide threat.

I will never be able to breastfeed a child. I have blood clots in my urine. I am unable to fully empty my bladder. I do not yet know if I am capable of carrying a child to full term. In fact, even the doctors who put me on puberty blockers and testosterone do not know.

She urged the committee to reject the trans sanctuary state bill and put safeguards in place so that painful experiences like hers are not repeated.

Children cannot consent, she said.

Erin Friday, an attorney, argued against the bill, claiming it unconstitutional for California to disrespect the laws of other states.

She argued SB 107 would not just provide sanctuary for parents fleeing the law in other states, but would make California a refuge for all children who want to access transgender medicine and surgery.

No questions asked. No real mental health assessment, no minimal diagnosis and no parental consent. So long as the minor child can get to California, she can order up any type of irreversible treatment, she said.

Erin Friday speaks at an Assembly committee meeting in Sacramento on June 28, 2022. (Screenshot)

Friday, a parent of a teen who once suffered from whats called Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, but no longer identifies as trans, has previously testified that SB 107 would be a big mistake that would only worsen the largest medical scandal in history, and spread transgender ideology, which she described as a social contagion.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored the bill, said its intended to protect families and trans youth and medical professionals from being prosecuted for child abuse in other states.

Texas, for example, is cracking down on the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones on minors, andin some casesgender surgery on minors.

These parents, who are doing just trying to do right by their kids and accepting their kids for who they are and supporting them are being told youre a criminal for doing that, Wiener said. Its disgusting; its despicable, and California should have no part of that.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) speaks at an Assembly committee hearing for Senate Bill 107 in Sacramento on June 28, 2022. (Screenshot)

Martin Campos of Trans Family Support Services said the group is currently working with out-of-state residents faced with the decision of whether or not to uproot their family and livelihood to seek out refuge in an affirming state such as California to flee anti-trans legislation at home.

Parents should not be concerned about facing legal ramifications while seeking medically necessary gender-affirming services for their youth. Nor should youth have to endure the trauma that is created by having their parents face those ramifications, Campos said.  All this bill is seeking to do is allow transgender youth to thrive.

Ebony Harper, the executive director of California Transcends, shared a personal story with the committee.

I identify as the black trans woman, Harper said.  I was a trans youth at 13. I grew up in South Central California and at 13 I was kicked out of my house, which was the story for most transgender people from my era, if you were between the particular intersections of being black and transgender. And I spent many years on the streets, in jails institutions because it was the Dark Ages. Trans folks were considered mentally confused people that could not participate in society.

In the 90s, a lot of trans people died because they didnt get the health cares they needed, but today the transgender community in California is thriving and prospering, Harper said.

The 13-year-old me thought I was going to end up dead before I hit 21. And here I am advocating in my 40s and still going strong and having the fortitude of support with senators like Scott Wiener, the Lieutenant Governor and other folks in government, Harper said.

I think trans transcends politics, Harper said. And so you have seen that our community recently has been politicized, which is causing a lot of trauma and pain in our community.
Texas Attorney General Launches Investigation Into Walmarts Prescription Opioid Sales

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday said he is investigating retail giant Walmart over potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act relating to its sales of prescription opioids.

In a statement, the Republican said he has issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID), or type of subpoena, to Walmart that will allow him to obtain information relevant to the investigation.

Under the CID, Walmart will be required to submit documentation relating to orders of opioids from January 2006 to the present day to the Drug Enforcement Administration and all state agencies in Texas, Paxton said.

Paxtons investigation will focus on sales, promotions, dispensing, and the distribution of prescription opioids from Walmart and whether or not the retailer improperly filled prescriptions for controlled substances.

It will also focus on whether or not Walmart failed to report suspicious orders, as required by law.

I have fought for Texans who have been tragically impacted by the illegal marketing and sale of opioids, which have caused addiction and the untimely deaths of thousands of people each year, Paxton said. I am committed to holding pharmacies accountable if they played a role in this devastating epidemic.

Walmart said in a statement to Fox News that it would answer Paxtons questions and was confident about its record on opioid safety, noting that pharmacists at the company have declined to fill hundreds of thousands of questionable opioid prescriptions, which has sometimes led to it being criticized for being overly cautious, by medical groups, doctors, and even by the Texas Medical Board.

Never Manufactured, Marketed, or Promoted Opioids

The company has never manufactured, marketed, or promoted opioids, and pharmacists arent doctors and dont write opioid prescriptions, Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said.

Walmart and our pharmacists are torn between the demands on pharmacists imposed by opioids plaintiffs on one side and health agencies and regulators on the other, and patients are caught in the middle.

Opioids, including those that are both prescribed and illicit, have claimed the lives of over 564,000 people from 1999 to 2020, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2020 alone, there were 91,799 drug overdoses, of which nearly 75 percent involved an opioid.

More recently, a wave of fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths have hit America, with fatalities from the powerful synthetic opioid more than doubling in 30 states in just two years, according to data from the nonprofit group Families Against Fentanyl.

Walmart was previously sued by the Department of Justice over its alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis across the nation, with the DOJ alleging that the retailer had unlawfully dispensed controlled substances from pharmacies it operated across the country and unlawfully distributed controlled substances to those pharmacies throughout the height of the prescription opioid crisis.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, Walmart said the DOJs investigation was tainted by historical ethics violations and that the lawsuit invents a legal theory that unlawfully forces pharmacists to come between patients and their doctors, and is riddled with factual inaccuracies and cherry-picked documents taken out of context.

That lawsuit was temporarily put on hold but is scheduled to resume on July 11.

Walmart, along with pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens, was also found liable in November for fueling the opioid epidemic in two Ohio counties. A federal judge will decide in the spring how much the three pharmacies must pay in damages to Lake and Trumbull counties.
Texas Man, 19, Arrested for Threat to Carry Out Mass Shooting

A 19-year-old Texas man who reportedly has mental health issues was arrested after telling a coworker that he wanted to carry out a mass shooting.

Rodolfo Valdivia Aceves was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning and charged with the third degree felony of making terroristic threats, according to Bexar County police records. He is being held on a $50,000 bond.

San Antonio outlet KSAT reported that a female coworker alerted her superiors about Aceves after he shared with her his thoughts about carrying out a mass shooting on June 24 while they were evacuating work because of a fire alarm.

According to the coworker, Aceves told her that pulling a fire alarm would be a good way to carry out a mass shooting and that because he had previously told her he was tired of living and owned a gun, she believed him capable of following through with his threat.

Acevess coworker was also reportedly afraid because Aceves knew where her children attended school. She also reportedly told police that the 19-year-old considered the Uvalde school shooter an idol.

The coworker reportedly didnt tell anyone about Acevess threat on the Friday because she was afraid of retaliation but did so on Monday, when police were called to the Amazon delivery facility where they worked and arrested him, according to KSAT.

Credible Threat

A San Antonio police officer told Yahoo News in a statement that the threat was credible.

Based on information gathered, an employee of the location heard the suspect claiming he was going to do a mass shooting at this place of business, said San Antonio Police Officer Ricardo Guzman.

Credible information to support the threat was developed during the investigation by homicide detectives.

The suspects father reportedly told police during questioning that Aceves had been committed to a mental health facility twice when he was 16 and that his purchase of a rifle made his relatives afraid based on his past behavior, according to KSAT.

Police records show that Aceves was processed into custody on Monday afternoon after being arrested at 2:13 a.m.

A person found guilty of a third-degree felony faces a penalty of between 2 and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 under the Texas penal code.

The Epoch Times contacted San Antonio Police Department for further comment.

Correction: The article has been update to correctly name San Antonio. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
Texas Sheriff Drives 4 Illegal Aliens to International Bridge, Deports Them

KINNEY COUNTY, TexasKinney County sheriffs deputies responded to a suspected smuggling vehicle on a county road early in the morning on June 29. During the ensuing pursuit, the fleeing driver lost control of the vehicle and flipped it.

The driver, a Mexican national wearing a cartel-related medallion, was taken into custody and is facing at least seven felony charges, according to Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe.

Of the five passengers, all illegal immigrants, one female was taken to the hospital in Del Rio for non-life threatening injuries, while the remaining four declined medical treatment.

Coe said Border Patrol told him they could take the four uninjured illegal aliens into custody for processing only if they had been checked medically first.

Well they had declined any type of medical help, Coe told The Epoch Times. So I cant let them walk the streets. I cant say, Hey, go, be free. Because I still have to protect the Constitution and protect the people in the county.

Coe said he loaded the three males and one female into his truck and drove to Eagle Pass, about an hour away, and dropped them off at the port of entry between the United States and Mexico.

In response to a question by The Epoch Times about the sheriffs move, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the sheriffs in Texas play a vital role up and down the border.

I applaud all of our sheriffs for having to respond in unprecedented conditions. And thats causing all of us to use unprecedented action, Abbott said during a press conference in Eagle Pass on June 29.

And so whether its doing what that sheriff in Kinney County is doing, or what were doing, such as turning back more than 20,000 people, we all have our own tools and strategies that we use to either turn back or to return people across the border.

Coe said he agrees with Abbott that local law enforcement shouldnt have to be tying up so many resources on the border issue.

But to let them go, undocumented, unaccounted for, just go because of a policyI couldnt do it. Its going to be the exception rather than the rule. But at the same time, if Border Patrol wont take a group for whatever reason, I dont have a choice.

He said hes not sure if there will be any legal ramificationsWell see what happens.

Kinney County deputies have arrested 66 smugglers so far in June as the county remains a thoroughfare from the U.S.Mexico border to San Antonio.
A general view of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta on Sept. 30, 2014. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)

The CDC Is Deceiving the Public Again

Commentary

If you have to go to the hospital, you dont want to end up in a dangerous one.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) knows which hospitals are riskiest, but its hiding that information from youyour safety be damned. The feds seem to think they work for the hospital industry, not for you.

Whenever a hospital has a superbug outbreak, the CDC conceals the hospitals identity, referring only to Hospital A. A lot of good that does patients looking for safe care, especially patients with compromised immune systems, cancer, or HIV.

Its no joke to find out, after youre already in the hospital, that a superbug is raging from room to room or has invaded the nursery where your newborn will be placed. Thats what happens when the CDC hides outbreaks.

Now the CDC is playing statistical tricks to hide how many people have caught COVID in hospitals and to block the public from seeing which hospitals have had the biggest problem.

The stakes are high: 21 percent of patients who catch COVID in the hospital never make it out, according to Kaiser Health News.

While the pandemic may be fading, vulnerable patients need to know which hospitals proved proficient at preventing the spread of COVID inside their walls. Its a safety measure.

Over the course of the pandemic, thousands of patients went into the hospital for other reasonssuch as hip surgery, kidney disease, or a heart attackand got infected with COVID.

The CDC is rigging the definition of hospital-acquired COVID to hide this problem.

The agency says only patients who test positive after being hospitalized for at least 14 days are considered infected by the hospital. That eliminates almost everyone. The average patient stays only 4.6 days.

The CDC definition also excludes any patient who left the hospital and then developed symptoms or picked up the virus in the emergency room.

Its a coverup. The UK and many European countries count COVID infections diagnosed seven or eight days after patients enter as hospital-acquired.

At some hospitals, more than 5 percent of patients caught COVID in the hospitals, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of state data and Medicare billing data. The CDC refuses to identify these hospitals, defying Freedom of Information Act requests from the media.

When a plane crashes, the Federal Aviation Administration doesnt conceal the identity of the airline. Why does the CDC cover up for a hospital?

To be fair, some regions and some hospitals were hit harder than others by the pandemic. But its also true that some hospitals took precautions to stop the virus from spreading and succeeded in providing safer care than others.

Some hospitals tested all incoming patients for the virus and retested them days later to be sure. Testing proved critical, because most patients who contracted COVID in the hospitals got it from another patient. At Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, eight out of nine patients who became infected caught COVID from the patient sharing their room, according to the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Why didnt all hospitals test? Blame the CDC, which left it to the discretion of the facility.

New Yorkers should demand to see the data the CDC is hiding. Hospital-acquired COVID is a problem here. In January, during the Omicron surge, rates of hospital-acquired COVID were higher in New York than the national average, though lower than in Washington, D.C., according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of unpublished federal data. Trouble is, citywide averages dont tell you what you need to knowthe adequacy of infection prevention in your hospital.

Its time to end the CDCs secrecy in the service of hospitals. The CDCs ploy to hide hospital-acquired COVID is a red flag.

Call the CDC the Centers for Deception and Coverups. The nation should be demanding a health agency that deals honestly with the public. If you have health problems, your life could depend on it.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Erosion of the Rule of Law

Commentary

One of the key pillars undergirding the unprecedented successes of the American republic has been our embrace and adherence to the rule of law. The founding generation believed that nobody was above the law and that the law applied impartially to all (well, at least to all free men).

Over generations of American history, there have been corrections and improvements to our practice of the rule of law as well as setbacks and departures from that principle. On the positive side, racial minorities and women have been added to the list of those who are equal before the law.

On the negative side, the corruption of cronyism (aka special interest politics) has grown to gigantic proportions, and the intellectual sophistries of Marxists, communists, social justice frauds, et al. have perverted the rule of law by claiming that the only way to achieve justice (equal treatment before the law) is to deny justice (equal treatment before the law) to politically out-of-favor targets.

There was a time in American history when communities could function nicely with tiny police forces. Thats because the predominant Christian ethos of earlier generations of Americans bred citizens who, although they could be boisterous and rowdy, were essentially law-abiding people whose moral conscience served as a more effective policing agent than uniformed officers could possibly be. Those days, alas, are long gone as is so depressingly obvious when one reads accounts of school shootings or the weekly murder toll in Chicago.

The ongoing loss of respect for the rule of law is evident in ways both large and small.

Some Examples

One of the small ways involves the controversy over disqualifying mail-in ballots for which the external envelope wasnt dated as required by state law. Personally, I think the date requirement is pointless. Its simply too easy for people to write down the wrong date, either intentionally or accidentally. But my opinion about the law doesnt matter; its the lawperiod.

All the caterwauling protestations that nobody should be disenfranchised are neither relevant nor true. Nobody was disenfranchised. Nobody was kept from receiving, completing, and mailing a ballot. It isnt the systems fault that certain individuals disqualified their own vote by omitting a date. This is like the infamous case of the woman suing McDonalds for spilling coffee on herself and getting burned. The ridiculous notion that everything unpleasant that happens to us is somebody elses fault has to go. If you dont follow the plain, simple instruction to write a date on your ballot envelope, then you werent disenfranchised; you invalidated your own vote.

Another seemingly small incident happened a few weeks ago when Special Prosecutor John Durhams seemingly airtight case against Michael Sussmann resulted in a jury verdict of not guilty. The paranoid among us might wonder if there was jury tampering. To me, the illuminating moment came when one of the jurors told the press that there are more important things in the world than lying to the FBI. True, but so what? The jurors civic duty was not to rule on larger philosophical issues, but on the narrow factual point of whether Sussmann had, in fact, lied to the FBI. All the evidence seemed to indicate that he had, and the jurors statement indicated that she believed that Sussmann had possibly lied, but that didnt stop the juror from disrespecting the specific law against lying to the FBI, thereby disrespecting the rule of law in general.

The rule of law is on shaky ground on a larger scale, too. Where to start? Fossil fuel companies are hyper-regulated and heavily taxed to help subsidize competing energy-producing technologies. The attorney general directs the FBI to monitor parents at school board meetings as potential terrorists while making no arrests of those who have made overtly terroristic threats accompanied by actual acts of violence against the property of pro-life individuals and organizations. Government pressures peaceful American citizens to submit to COVID-19 jabs while ignoring vaccination requirements for noncitizens pouring over the southern border. Examples of double standards abound. Double standards, of course, are the death knell for the rule of law; they mean one law for thee and another for me.

Ignoring the Constitution

From another perspective, that laws are selectively enforced or ignored shouldnt surprise us when, for decades, the federal government has ignored parts of the Constitution that it finds inconvenient. Just to scratch the surface: We use unconstitutional money and most federal agencies exist without any specific constitutional authorityan unhealthy (and bankrupting) expansion of federal power resulting from ignoring the 10th Amendment and grotesquely mutilating the general welfare and commerce clauses.

Today, we hear rumblings from progressives about packing the Supreme Court and ending the filibuster. The transparent goal is to dismantle traditional democratic safeguards, establish one-party hegemony, and replace the rule of law with top-down central planning by a dictatorial elite.

We have a president who ignores the laws of the land when it suits him (e.g., his open border policy).

For decadesat least since Roe v. Wade in 1973the Supreme Court has periodically usurped the legislative prerogative of Congress, writing some of the rules by which we live. The most egregious recent example of judicial usurpation was the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015 by which five Supreme Court justices redefined marriage. Two years after nullifying the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, the Court presumed to replace Congresss definition of marriage with the Courts own definition. A supine Congress, filled with members whose primary concern is to win re-election, rolled over and let the Court get away with commandeering the legislative function.

Need for Respect

We can take some encouragement from the Courts constitutionally principled decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, but its too early to conclude that the pendulum is swinging back and the rule of law is making a comeback. No law or Constitution can enforce itself. Its up to all of us to uphold the rule of law. That means that we accept and abide by laws even when we dont like them until we can persuade our legislators to change them. Respecting the rule of law means respecting our fellow citizens. We need to understand that, in a democratic pluralistic society, we will often disagree and that sometimes we will be in the majority and other times in the minority. We accept that arrangement for an eminently pragmatic reason: so that we can coexist and function as a society. That Americans are issuing death threats today because they dont like a Supreme Court ruling indicates that the rule of law remains at risk.

Losing the rule of law and replacing it with an Orwellian system in which all are equal, but some are more equal than others, would be an unspeakable tragedy. It would be the end of the USA as we know it. Let us pray that we pull back from the precipice before its too late.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Great Reset in Action: Ending Freedom of the Press, Speech, and Expression

Commentary

Governments, corporations, and elites have always been fearful of the power of a free press, because it is capable of exposing their lies, destroying their carefully crafted images, and undermining their authority. In recent years, alternative journalism has been growing and more people are relying on social media platforms as sources of news and information. In response, the corporate state, digital conglomerates, and the mainstream media have been increasingly supportive of the silencing and censoring of alternative media outlets and voices that challenge the official narrative on most issues.

At the recent World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Australian eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant stated that freedom of speech is not the same thing as a free for all, and that we are going to need a recalibration of a whole range of human rights that are playing out onlinefrom freedom of speech  to be free from online violence. Meanwhile, the Canadian government is seeking to restrict independent media and the freedom of expression via the implementation of Bill C-11, which would allow it to regulate all online audiovisual platforms on the internet, including content on Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, and podcast clients.

Similarly, the UK is seeking to introduce an Online Safety Bill, the United States paused the establishment of a Disinformation Governance Board following backlash, and the European Union approved its own Digital Services Act, all of which aim to limit the freedom of speech. Attempts by elites and politicians to silence dissenters and critical thinkers is not something new. In fact, history is full of examples of the persecution of men of science, the burning of scientific books, and the systematic eradication of the intelligentsia of the subjected people.[1]

However, these current efforts to curtail freedom of speech and press by supposedly liberal governments are still somewhat ironic, given that even the most intolerant of churches, the Roman Catholic Church, even at the canonization of a saint, admits, and listens patiently to, a devils advocate. The holiest of men, it appears, cannot be admitted to posthumous honors, until all that the devil could say against him is known and weighed.[2]

The corporate state, digital conglomerates, and the mainstream media want to ensure that they have the exclusive authority to dictate peoples opinions, wants, and choices through their sophisticated propaganda techniques. To do so, they have even resorted to transforming falsehoods into truth. In fact, the word truth has already had its original meaning altered, as those who speak the truth on certain subjects are now regularly accused of spreading hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation.

Presently, truth is no longer something to be found, with the individual conscience as the sole arbiter of whether in any particular instance the evidence (or the standing of those proclaiming it) warrants a belief; it becomes something to be laid down by authority, something which has to be believed in the interest of the unity of the organized effort, and which may have to be altered as the exigencies of this organised effort require it.[3]

However, modifying the definition of truth comes with the potential for great peril, as truth-seeking often contributes to human progress in that it leads to discoveries that ultimately benefit society at large. It should be noted that truth is by no means the only word whose meaning has been changed recently in order for it to serve as an instrument of propaganda; others include freedom, justice, law, right, equality, diversity, woman, pandemic, vaccine, etc. This is highly concerning, because such attempts at the perversion of language, the change of meaning of the words by which the ideals of the ruling class are expressed is a consistent feature of totalitarian regimes.[4]

As a number of liberal-democratic governments increasingly move toward totalitarianism, they want people to forget that there is the greatest difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it has not been refuted, and assuming its truth for the purpose of not permitting its refutation.[5] According to them, public criticism or even expressions of doubt must be suppressed because they tend to weaken public support.[6]

In fact, they believe that all views and opinions that might cast doubt or create hesitation need to be restricted in all disciplines and on all platforms. This is because the disinterested search for truth cannot be allowed when the vindication of the official views becomes the sole object of the ruling class.[7] In other words, the control of information is practiced and the uniformity of views is enforced in all fields under totalitarian rule.

The suppression of freedom of the press, speech, expression, and thought means that current and future generations will be deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.[8] They are also at risk of becoming ignorant of the fact that the only way in which a person can know the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind.[9] That is to say, current and future generations will be unaware that the steady habit of correcting and completing ones own opinion by collating it with those of others, so far from causing doubt and hesitation in carrying it into practice, is the only stable foundation for a just reliance on it.[10]

At present, it is likely that the masses do not regard freedom of the press, speech, expression, and thought as being particularly important, because the great majority are rarely capable of thinking independently, that on most questions they accept views which they find ready-made, and that they will be equally content if born or coaxed into one set of beliefs or another.[11] Nevertheless, no one should have the power and authority to select those to whom freedom of thought, enlightenment and expression is to be reserved.[12]

In fact, John Stuart Mill went so far as to claim that if all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.[13] He further added that silencing the expression of an opinion is essentially an act of robbing the human race, which applies to both current and future generations.[14] Even though the suppressors can deny the truth to people at a particular point in time, history shows that every age having held many opinions which subsequent ages have deemed not only false but absurd; and it is as certain that many opinions, now general, will be rejected by future ages, as it is that many, once general, are rejected by the present.[15]

If current efforts to suppress freedom of the press, speech, expression, and thought succeed, then the search for truth will eventually be abandoned and totalitarian authorities will decide what doctrines ought to be taught and published.[16] There will be no limits to who can be silenced, as the control of opinions will be extended to all people in all fields. Accordingly, contemporary authoritarian policy makers need to be reminded about the crucial importance of freedom of speech, expression, and thought, which the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in the 1957 case Sweezy v. New Hampshire when it ruled that

to impose any strait jacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would imperil the future of our Nation. No field of education is so thoroughly comprehended by man that new discoveries cannot yet be made . Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise, our civilization will stagnate and die . Our form of government is built on the premise that every citizen shall have the right to engage in political expression and association. This right was enshrined in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Exercise of these basic freedoms in America has traditionally been through the media of political associations . History has amply proved the virtue of political activity by minority, dissident groups, who innumerable times have been in the vanguard of democratic thought and whose programs were ultimately accepted. Mere unorthodoxy or dissent from the prevailing mores is not to be condemned. The absence of such voices would be a symptom of grave illness in our society.

References

F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (New York: Routledge 2006), p. 168. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Kitchener: Batoche Books, 2001), p. 22. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 167. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 161. Mill, On Liberty, p. 21. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 164. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 165. Mill, On Liberty, p. 19. Mill, On Liberty, p. 22. Mill, On Liberty, p. 22. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 168. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 168. Mill, On Liberty, p. 18. Mill, On Liberty, p. 19. Mill, On Liberty, p. 20. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 165.

From Mises.org

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Trials of LAs Unvaccinated City Workers

Commentary

For nearly a year, the lives of LA city employees who have chosen not to be vaccinated for COVID-19 have been turned upside down as they live each day with uncertainty and find themselves navigating a Kafkaesque labyrinth of local government bureaucracy.

The reason for this is Ordinance No. 187134. Passed and approved by the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti in the summer of 2021, the ordinance henceforth required all current and future city employees of Los Angeles to be vaccinated for COVID-19 barring approval for a medical or religious exemption.

However, city employees who sought religious exemptions through the proper procedures sometimes still found themselves lost in the purgatory of an opaque process, seemingly rigged against them by faceless bureaucrats.

Pearl Pantoja, for example, has worked in the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation for 17 years. She also considers herself a person of faith. For religious reasons, she chose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Thus, she submitted a request for a religious exemption and abided by other requirements, such as regular testing, while she awaited a response to her request.

In a phone interview, Pantoja said she received that response in March of 2022. Her request had been denied and this is when she began to realize the nightmare into which she was awaking.

The response for the denial was a canned response  Pantoja explained. Its the same which every single denial has received. So there were no specifics. There were no details. [It] was very much very generic. You dont meet the criteria. And that was that.

Hence, Pantoja said she requested additional information regarding the criteria she failed to meet, thinking perhaps that by better understanding the criteria she would better be able to complete the appeal she would soon submit. But, Pantoja stated, her request for this additional information went unanswered and soon she found her appeal was denied too.

Once more, there was no reasoning provided, Pantjoa claimed. It was just simply, Oh, your appeal was denied. And thats it. No one called me. No one talked to me. No one tried to explain anything.

Since then, Pantoja said she went on to submit additional requests and resubmit her documentation for the exemption she believes is rightfully hers along with additional notes regarding how she was unclear about what the arbiters of her fate were actually asking for and how she felt they hadnt taken the time to read her previous request and appeal based on the canned responses of the denials.

Yet, in the end, Pantoja said, I basically received a response saying that I had completed the process. That the city had done everything in their power as far as process goes. And, basically, I have 42 days in which to become compliant with vaccination or I will be sent home.

At this point, Pantoja added, I am so heartbroken, distraught, in shock over this whole thing. I just dont understand it and the parts I do understand are so frustrating because it seems because I am a religious person, Im being held to a different standard and not being treated equally like anyone else, any other employee.

According to Angelica Anselm, one of the four co-founders of Roll Call 4 Freedom, an anti-mandate coalition fighting against the ordinance, experiences such as that of Pantoja are all too common.

Most of those [who have submitted a request for a religious exemption] have been denied, Anselm stated in a phone interview. And then some of their appeals  have also been denied, she added.

Everyone else, Anselm said, is kind of in this limbo state where theyve submitted it [a request for an exemption], but they havent been approved [or denied] yet.

Following the denial of a request or subsequent appeal, Anselm explained, the next action the city takes against non-compliant employees is to give them a period in which to become compliant by becoming fully vaccinated for COVID-19. After that period, if they are still unvaccinated and are a civilian employee, they are put on unpaid leave, lose their benefits, and are eventually sent to a Skelly meeting; if they are law enforcement, they are given 30 days paid leave and eventually sent to a board of rights.

Both the Skelly meeting and board of rights serve as something akin to a trial at which city employees can advocate for themselves and explain why they disobeyed the ordinance.

After Pantoja is sent home when her 42 days to become compliant with the ordinance run out, she will eventually have the opportunity to defend herself at a Skelly meeting.

Mike McMahon, a 14-year veteran of the LAPD and one of Roll Call 4 Freedoms other co-founders, is currently defending himself through his board of rights.

Unlike Pantoja though, McMahon never submitted a request for an exemption.

When the ordinance was passed in August, 2021, McMahon said, he found himself distraught by the unconstitutionality of these mandates, of forcing us to participate in these things in order for us to maintain our status within society.

I could have very easily submitted a religious exemption, he stated, [But] I felt so strongly, that this isnt just about religion. This is about our freedom as individuals. You know, it goes back to natural law, John Locke, and being able to decide what goes into my body is my choice. So I refused to submit a religious exemption based on my strong beliefs that [the ordinance] is unconstitutional. And I also refused to test.

Subsequently, McMahon said, he was brought up on administrative charges for refusing to comply with the citys mandate. His board of rights was then set for December 68. The first two dates for his board of rights took place as planned. The third, McMahon said, was moved several weeks out. Then others were added as time went on. It has been a lengthy and taxing ordeal for McMahon. His next date for his board of rights is July 1. He is unclear how long this will continue.

Reflecting on the process, McMahon explained, Its hard to state what its like because, to me, its not fair. Youre going through the procedural matters of labor code violations  but then you have what was the mindset of Mike McMahon going into the meeting that he was brought into on November 3 where I ended up refusing to acquiesce to those mandates.

Describing himself as an independent thinker who worked to educate himself about COVID from the start of the pandemic by reading articles from both medical journals and COVID contrarians, McMahon said, Ive testified a grand total of about five and a half, six hours about my own mindset and what I know about COVID-19 and the PCR test and the issues that I have with the vaccines and all that.

McMahon said he believes the COVID vaccines to be ineffective and linked to numerous adverse events. He also does not believe regular testing to be appropriate in this context.

A steady stream of scientific publications give credence to McMahons contentions about the purported safety and effectiveness of the vaccines, as well as call the utility of regular COVID testing into question.

However, even if he is vindicated by science, McMahon finds it frustrating that In cases like my board, they dont want to hear the science behind it . They just want to say, Youve disobeyed the order of a chief so youre guilty.

Whether McMahon will be successful though remains to be seen.

To the best of her knowledge, Anselm said, as of mid-June, only one person non-compliant with the city employee vaccine ordinance had been successful advocating for themselves through a Skelly meeting or a board of rights.

McMahon though remains optimistic for his case and hopeful that it will have some kind of impact.

You know, Im looking to set precedent whether its good or bad, he said. You know, if its good, if one wins, we all win and thats citywide. You know, if I lose, that just means that theres a blueprint for people to come back to and say, Well this worked, but this didnt and lets go from there.

The number of individuals citywide such a win would impact remains something of an unknown.

Back in September 2021, the Los Angeles Daily News reported on a memo from Mayor Eric Garcettis office sent to elected officials that indicated 6,000 of L.A.s nearly 60,000 city employees planned to seek an exemption while an additional 24,000 failed to meet an early deadline to report their vaccination status.

In November 2021, there were reports of 777 LA city employees either on unpaid leave or vulnerable to being placed on unpaid leave due to non-compliance with the mandate, although this number gives no indication of how many city employees were still in the process of working to attain an exemption or which type of exemption they were pursuing.

Anselm estimates the current number of employees still working their way through the exemption process or defending themselves through Skelly meetings or boards of rights to be close to 17,000 based on information gathered by her organization and communications with similar groups in California.

When citing this number though, Anselm, who is also the wife of a member of the LAPD, emphasized, I think the most important component to this is that its not just 17,000 employees that are facing potential termination. Its 17,000 families that are going to be without a paycheck and without insurance.

From the Brownstone Institute

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Location of the Miravci village in North Macedonia in 2022. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Train Kills 2 Illegal Immigrants Asleep by the Tracks in North Macedonia

SKOPJE, North MacedoniaPolice in North Macedonia say two illegal immigrants were killed in the south of the country early Wednesday when a freight train hit them as they slept next to the tracks in the dark.

The nighttime incident occurred outside Miravci, a village near the border with Greece. Police said they believed the two illegal immigrants died instantly. They gave no information on the identities or nationalities of the victims.

Illegal immigrants often use rail tracks as a guide while clandestinely heading north toward central Europe. A similar accident killed 14 migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia in 2015.

Police said they have intercepted hundreds of illegal immigrants in recent months as the so-called Balkan route, which runs through North Macedonia, has become more active following the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Campaign signs are seen outside of a polling location in Palos Hills, IL on primary day on June 28, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Trump-Endorsed Darren Bailey to Face Pritzker in Illinois Governor Election

Trump-Endorsed Darren Bailey on June 28 won the six-way Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary election. He will face Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, in the fall.

Bailey drew 57 percent of the vote as of 10:57 p.m. on Tuesday, easily defeating the other Republicans in the race.

A third-generation farmer and two-term state senator, Bailey runs on a conservative platform to fully free the state from COVID restrictions, protect the rights of the unborn, and support the Second Amendment.

A staunch critic of Pritzkers COVID mandates, Bailey filed the states first lawsuit challenging the governors pandemic executive orders and was granted a temporary restraining order.

He has also long condemned the Chicago Democratic machines outsized influence on state politics. Having signed off a resolution to kick Chicago out of Illinois two years ago, Bailey now runs to save the largest midwestern city from what he calls destructive liberal ideas, according to his speeches on the campaign trail.

Just two days before the primary, former President Donald Trump endorsed Bailey at a rally for U.S. Rep. Mary Miller in Mendon, Ill. In return, Bailey voiced his support for a potential 2024 Trump presidential run.

Bailey received $9 million, the lions share of his campaign funds, from Republican billionaire Richard Uihlein, according to campaign filings maintained by the Illinois Board of Elections.

Bailey also got a boost from the Uihlein-supported independent expenditure committee People Who Play By the Rules. Under the law, such committees must act independently from candidates.

Uihlein gave $8 million to the committee, whose expenditures all went to communications (mailers, TV ads, digital ads, and so on) opposing one-time frontrunner Richard Irvin, according to committee filings with the state.

Meanwhile, according to multiple media outlets, the Pritzker-supported Democratic Governors Associations has spent tens of millions of independent dollars in the Republican primary to prop up Bailey, the rationale being that Pritzker could easily beat pro-Trump Bailey in a blue state like Illinois.

Richard Irvin, mayor of the states second-largest city and a former prosecutor, ran on a moderate Republican platform to drive down crime rates, balance the state budget, and clean the corruption-plagued statehouse.

In contrast with Bailey, Irvin does not publicly align himself with Trump. Though pressed multiple times on the campaign trail, Irvin did not disclose whom he voted for in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Irvin received a whopping $50 million from Illinoiss richest man and mega Republican donor Ken Griffin, according to filings with the state. The Irvin campaign was managed by the same team that had elected moderate Republican Bruce Rauner as Illinois governor in 2015.

A longtime frontrunner until around May, Irvins ratings dropped significantly during the last stretch of the primary battle. The drop came after Pritzker spent tens of millions on ads attacking Irvin in the GOP primary, scores of inconsistencies surfaced between Irvins mayoral records and campaign stances, and Irvins questionable involvement in his girlfriends assault case was publicized by the local media.

Weeks after Irvin plummeted in polls, Griffin announced that he was moving his multinational hedge fund firm Citadel from Chicago to Miami.

The six-way GOP gubernatorial primary also included venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, former military lawyer Paul Schimpf, businessman Gary Rabine, and private attorney Max Solomon.

Gov. Pritzker faced no serious challenger in the Democratic primary. A billionaire member of the family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker contributed $90 million to his reelection campaign in January, according to a quarterly report published by the Illinois Board of Elections.
Supporters of former US President Donald Trump pray the Save America Rally at the Adams County Fairgrounds on June 25, 2022 in Mendon, Illinois.(Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

2 Trump Targets Fall, 2 Survive June 28 Primary Challenges

Two Republican congressional incumbents who incurred former President Donald Trumps wrath were defeated, while two others survived inter-party challenges in June 28 runoffs and primaries.

Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), whos being investigated for alleged federal campaign violations, fell in a Republican runoff, while Trump-endorsed incumbent Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) defeated Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) in their Illinois GOP primary.

The incumbents join Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), and Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) as GOP lawmakers whove fallen into the former presidents disfavor and lost their primary battles.

Reps. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), who voted in favor of forming a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol, survived a runoff, and Blake Moore (R-Utah), who also supported bipartisan legislation to create the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, easily won his GOP primary.

Those races were among dozens of local, state, and congressional races as voters in seven states cast ballots in June 28 runoffs and primaries, capping a busy month of preliminary contests to finalize November general election ballots.

The June 28 contests included five Senate primaries in four states and three gubernatorial primaries, including in New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul easily won her Democratic primary and will face Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) in November..

Zeldin was the top vote-getter in a four-way GOP primary to win the partys nomination. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giulianis son, Andrew Giuliani, finished second.

Despite his former personal attorneys son being in the race for governor, Trump didnt issue any endorsements in that primary.

Oklahoma Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) talks to voters at a primary day campaign event on June 28 in Oklahoma City. (Jeff Louderback/Epoch Times)

Oklahoma

In the race to succeed 87-year-old Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who was elected to a fifth term in 2020 before announcing his retirement in February, Republicans will need to go to the polls again.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) outpolled T.W. Shannon by 26 percentage points in the Republican primary but fell short of winning 50 percent of the vote in the 10-candidate field to avoid an Aug. 23 runoff.

With 92 percent of the tally counted, Mullin had 155,969 votes, or 43.6 percent of the total, to second-place Shannons 62,696 ballots, which amounted to just 17.5 percent, but good enough to get him to the runoff.

The winner will take on former Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.), who represented the states 5th Congressional District in 2019 and 2020. She faced no opposition in the Democratic primary.

Oklahomas junior Republican senator,. James Lankford, easily swept past pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, whod been endorsed in his primary by Mike Lindell and Gen. Michael Flynn.

The Associated Press called Lankford the winner with just 8 percent of the vote counted and the incumbent holding a 7222 percent advantage.

Lankford will be heavily favored in November to defeat the winner of an Aug. 23 runoff between Madison Horn, a cybersecurity executive, and Jason Bollinger, a former U.S. State Department employee, who finished first and second, respectively, in a six-candidate Democratic primary but failed to accrue 50 percent of the vote.

As projected, Gov. Kevin Stitt brushed aside three challengers in his Republican gubernatorial primary, capturing nearly 70 percent of the vote.

Stitt will seek a second term in November against Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, who switched parties last year to run as a Democrat. She defeated Connie Johnson in the Democratic primary.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell unseated five-term incumbent Palazzo by winning the runoff rematch of their June 7 GOP primary in the states 3rd Congressional District.

With 95 percent of the vote tallied, Ezell had 30,196 votes, or 53.8 percent, to Palazzos 25,928, or 46.2 percent.

While Palazzo is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for potentially violating campaign finance laws, Ezells win is a bit of an upset, considering he raised and spent half the money the incumbents campaign did.

In another Mississippi congressional district where an incumbent was challenged from within party ranks, Rep. Michael Guest easily outpolled U.S. Navy veteran Michael Cassidy in their runoff.

Guest, who voted in favor of forming the Jan. 6 committee, had more than 41,100 votes to Cassidys 20,264, with 95 percent of the vote tallied, doubling the challengers ballots and advancing to Novembers general election.

State Rep. Krystle Matthews defeated author and preservationist Catherine Fleming Bruce in their runoff to secure the Democratic Partys nod in challenging incumbent Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in November.

Matthews outpolled Bruce despite the release of a Project Veritas audio recording of a February phone call in which Matthews can be heard strategizing on utilizing Democrat sleepers to run as Republicans in local elections, and requesting drug money from a Perry Correctional Institution inmate.

The 2022 primary racesfor Illinois governor turned out to be one of the most expensive in the nation. A campaign sign for billionaire incumbent J.B. Pritzker is seen outside a early voting location in Chicago, IL on June 24, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Illinois

Voters picked party candidates for 17 U.S. House seats, while Republicans selected Kathy Salvi to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IIl.), and Darren Bailey to take on incumbent Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker in November.

Bailey, a downstate pro-Trump conservative state senator and staunch critic of pandemic mandates, captured nearly 60 percent of the vote, with 60 percent of the tally counted, in his three-way GOP gubernatorial race.

He easily outpaced venture capitalist and first-time candidate Jesse Sullivan and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, neither of whom had garnered more than 15 percent. Pritzker didnt face a competitive primary.

In the GOP U.S. Senate primary, Salvi, an attorney from Mundelein, emerged from a seven-candidate scrum to advance to Novembers general election against Duckworth, who was unopposed in her partys primary and is the odds-on favorite to win a second term in November.

In 2006, Salvi lost a six-candidate GOP primary bid for Congress and survived being labeled the establishment pick by several of her opponentsmost notably Navy veteran Peggy Hubbard, who campaigned as the Washington elites worst nightmare and finished second on June 28.

Among the states 17 U.S. House seats, The Cook Political Report rates five in Democratic-leaning districts as winnable for Republican candidates in 2022.

A voter fills out his ballot in Palos Hills, Ill., on June 28, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

In the newly refashioned 15th Congressional District, Trump-endorsed Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) cruised past Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) in a post-2020 census clash of redistricted GOP incumbents.

Davis incurred Trumps enmity when he supported the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 protest, a panel which never convened. He didnt, however, back the House committee now probing the Capitol attack. Miller won Trumps nod, which included his attending a June 25 rally on her behalf.

With more than 84 percent of the tally counted, Miller held a 25-point edge over Davis, who had represented the 13th Congressional District since 2013 but was denied a sixth term in the district by post-census remapping.

In the 13th District Republican primary to succeed Davis, educator and small business owner Regan Deering was neck-and-neck with Jesse Reising, founder of the Warrior-Scholar Project and a former federal prosecutor. The two were separated by 1.5 percent, with 65 percent of the vote tallied.

The winner will face Nikki Budzinski, a former union organizer and former chief of staff of the Office of Management and Budget in the Biden administration, who easily won the Democratic primary for the 13th District.

Campaign signs are seen outside of a polling location in Palos Hills, IL on primary day on June 28, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

In the 17th Congressional District, redrawn to annex more Democratic-leaning urban centers into the district, meteorologist Eric Sorensen won the Democratic primary and, in November, will face Esther Joy King, a real estate lawyer and former U.S. Army captain who easily captured the GOP nod in the partys primary.

Sorensen and King will battle for the seat being vacated by the retirement of five-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.).

In another matchup of incumbents fostered by redistricting, two-term Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) defeated first-term Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) in the 6th Congressional District Democratic primary. Casten will face GOP primary winner, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in November.

Lauren Boebert, now representative-elect, speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in Colona, Colo., on Oct. 10, 2020. (Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images)

In a prickly purple state where the rural-urban divide is a significant factor, three congressional races were drawing national attention, most notably the 3rd Congressional District, where Trump-endorsed Republican incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) convincingly defended her seat, sweeping past rancher and state Sen. Don Coram in the districts GOP primary.

In the states 7th Congressional District, Erik Aadland, an Iraq/Afghanistan combat veteran awarded the Bronze Star for valor, edged economist Tim Reichert and 2020 Republican National Convention delegate Laurel Imer to win the GOP nod. He will take on state Sen. Brittany Pettersen in Novembers general election.

In the newly created 8th Congressional District, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer edged three rivals in the Republican primary to advance to the general election against state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Utah

All four of the states incumbent Republican U.S. House representatives were challenged by party rivals but survived their primaries to advance to November contests as overwhelming favorites.

In the 1st Congressional District, Moore captured nearly 60 percent of the tally to outpace Andrew Badger and Tina Cannon easily. Moore voted twice to keep Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as Republican House conference chair and supported bipartisan legislation to form the commission to investigate the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol.

Five-term Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) crushed Erin Rider in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. Reps. John Curtis (R-Utah) and Burgess Owens (R-Utah) also won their primaries in routs.

In the GOP primary for U.S. Senator, incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Lee tallied twice as many votes as challenger Becky Edwards. Lee is a virtual lock to win a third term in November.

After the June 28 elections, 29 states will have completed inter-party rounds leading up to falls 2022 midterm elections.

The primary pace slackens in July, with only Maryland on the docket, before picking up in August. Of the 19 states with primaries still on tapLouisiana and Rhode Island dont have primaries15 will stage them between Aug. 2 and Aug. 23.
Zara Aleena, who detectives believe was attacked by a stranger while walking along Cranbrook Road in the direction of Gants Hill station in London in the early hours of June 26, 2022. (Metropolitan Police)

UK Family Pay Tribute to Beloved Human as Man Is Charged With Her Murder

The family of a woman who was murdered in east London as she walked home in the early hours of the Sunday morning have paid tribute to a beloved human and said she had passionate spirit and indomitable energy.

Zara Aleena, 35, suffered fatal head injuries after being attacked as she walked towards Gants Hill Tube station in Ilford.

Jordan McSweeney, 29, has been charged with murder, attempted rape, and robbery and will appear at Thames Magistrates Court in east London on Wednesday.

Aleenas family issued a tribute to her, through the Metropolitan Police, in which they described her as a beloved human, child, niece, cousin, granddaughter, friend to all and added, She was a joy to all of us.

The family said Aleena, who worked as an administrative assistant at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, cared for her mother and grandmother and added: Caring for others came so naturally to her. Zara was friendly, she was everybodys friend. She was everybodys daughter, everybodys niece, everybodys sister, everybodys cousin. She was pure of heart.

Gants Hill Undergound station in Ilford, east London, on Jan. 24, 2022. (Chris Summers/The Epoch Times)

The murder comes nine months after Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, was bludgeoned to death as she walked through a park in southeast London after dark.

In March 2021, Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marking executive, was abducted, raped, and killed by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, as she walked home from a friends house in south London.

A Woman Should be Able to Walk Home

Aleenas family said: She was fierce. She didnt just survive, she thrived  She walked everywhere. She put her party shoes in a bag and donned her trainers. She walked. Zara believed that a woman should be able to walk home. Now, her dreams of a family are shattered, her future brutally taken.

They added: Sadly, Zara is not the only one who has had her life taken at the hands of a stranger. We all know women should be safe on our streets. She was in the heart of her community, 10 minutes from home.

Her family said Aleena was happy and, having completed a legal practice course, was able to work as a solicitor.

She had only recently started working for the Crown Prosecution Service and planned to complete her two-year work placement in order to become a fully qualified solicitor.

McSweeney, who is not expected to enter a formal plea on Wednesday, is likely to go on trial next year.
UK to Extend Quotas and Tariffs on Steel Imports

The UK will depart from its international legal obligations and extend the quotas and tariffs on five categories of steel imports, a government minister announced on June 29.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told Parliament the measure was to prevent serious injury or the threat of serious injury to UK steel producers.

Steel goods from Ukraine are exempt from the tariffs, in a bid to support the East European country in its fight against Russia, the minister said.

The main opposition Labour Party welcomed the announcement, but some Conservative MPs were unhappy with the move down the protectionism route rather than seeking to cut energy costs for the sector, with a Scottish National Party lawmaker.

Following the exit from the European Union, the UK rolled over EU trade remedies, including safeguards on 19 categories of imported steel products, meaning a certain quota of products could be imported in a category before a 25 percent tax was imposed.

The EU tariffs were initially introduced in 2018 as a retaliatory measure after the U.S. Trump administration imposed tariffs of 25 percent on foreign steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

The UK government last year removed the safeguards on four of the 19 categories but extended the measures by three years for 10 of the categories.

The safeguards on the remaining five categories, namely gas pipes, hollow sections, two categories of large welded tubes, and other welded pipes, were extended by one year, and therefore were due to expire on June 30.

Trevelyan said they would be extended for a further two years, ending on June 30, 2024, along with the safeguards on the other ten categories.

National Interest Trumps International Obligations

Trevelyan said after considering the recent report by the Trade Remedies Authority, she had concluded that there would be serious injury or the threat of serious injury to UK steel producers if the safeguard on the five additional categories of steel were to be removed at this time.

The minister blamed the decision on the uncertain geopolitical and economic waters, including the pandemic, Russias invasion of Ukraine, and the global disruptions to the energy markets and supply chains. She also stressed the strategic significance of the steel industry.

Trevelyan acknowledged that the move departs from our international legal obligations under the relevant WTO [World Trade Organisation] agreement, but argued that sometimes issues may arise where the national interest requires action to be taken which may be in tension with normal rules or procedures.

Trevelyan told Parliament she had been and would continue dealing with the International part of these processes to ensure WTO members understand why we have taken this decision and therefore will choose not to bring retaliatory charges to any other industry.

She also said the government decided to suspend quotas and tariffs on Ukrainian steel goods for the next two years.

Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the announcement was a welcome relief to the steel sector, adding, It is not anti-competitive to provide a level playing field for our steel industry. He also supported the suspension of safeguards on imports from Ukraine, but said it was regrettable that the government only made the announcement in the eleventh hour.

Opposition

Conservative MP Anthony Mangnall, a member of the International Trade Committee, said, I never thought being a free trader in this party would be such a unique rare position to hold.

Mangnall said hes fully supportive of supporting the steel industry but not through protective measures.

I ask the Secretary of State what message is this meant to send to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, or any other country that were signing free trade agreements with when we end up citing national interest over the agreements that weve signed, he said.

Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said, I do have concerns that weve gone down the protectionism route rather than cutting the energy costs.

Bone said Trevelyan had mentioned net-zero more times than youve mentioned cutting the energy costs, referring to the governments plan to decarbonise industries including the steelmaking industry.

Its no good talking about green steel in the future if we dont have an industry, he said.

Conservative former minister Sir Christopher Chope questioned the governments plan to guarantee that a derivative industry in his constituency of Christchurch can get supplies of clean British steel in two years time.

If not, isnt she going to need to abandon this doctrine about net zero because whats more important than actually being able to supply homegrown steel for people in Christchurch to manufacture to export?

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons ethics chief Lord Christopher Geidt resigned, 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 Johnson over steel tariffs.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Crude oil pipes and valves at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, on June 9, 2016. (Richard Carson/Reuters)

US Emergency Oil Reserves Fall to 25 Days as Biden Releases More Crude Into Market

U.S. President Joe Bidens efforts to lower energy prices have reduced the nations emergency oil reserves, new data show.

According to the Department of Energy, inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) declined by 6.9 million barrels in the week ending on June 24. Federal government data show that 6 million barrels of sour crude and nearly 1 million barrels of sweet crude were injected into the energy market during this span.

In total, the worlds largest emergency supply of crude oil stood at 497.9 million barrels, its lowest level since April 1986.

With the U.S. consuming close to 20 million barrels per day, based on the Energy Information Administrations (EIA) 2021 estimate, the country still maintains a 25 days supply.

At this rate, the SPR will shrink to its lowest level in 40 years by the fall, as its supply is dwindling faster than the output of some medium-sized countries that are a part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including Algeria and Angola.

U.S. President Joe Biden announces the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day for the next six months from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve during remarks at the White House on March 31, 2022. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The petroleum reserve was established in 1975 following the 19731974 oil embargo. The U.S. government wanted to prevent future supply disruptions, so it initiated the worlds largest known emergency supply, with underground tanks being located in Louisiana and Texas.

Tapping Into Stockpiles

According to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the president has the authority to order crude releases from the reserve if he declares a severe energy supply interruption that could threaten the economy or national security.

Some lawmakers have proposed restricting releases unless Congress approves legislation or a joint resolution.

The White House has been tapping into these stockpiles to help stabilize the global energy market and bring down oil prices. In November, Biden released 50 million barrels of crude from the reserves. Two months later, the administration authorized the release of more than 13 million barrels.

In March, the White House confirmed that it would release 1 million barrels per day of oil for six months, the largest-ever SPR reduction.

The scale of this release is unprecedented: the world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million per day rate for this length of time. This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as [a] bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up, the administration said in a statement.

A woman fills her car with gas amid record petrol prices in Irvine, Calif., on Feb. 23, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

While the decision provided temporary relief to skyrocketing commodity prices, industry experts dismissed the move, arguing that it wouldnt resolve energys structural imbalance that has been years in the making.

There are many factors behind rising energy costs, from geopolitical volatility and supply chain constraints to policy uncertainty, and the American people deserve real solutions, American Petroleum Institute (API) CEO Mike Sommers said in a statement. [The release] may provide some short-term relief, [but] it is far from a long-term solution to the economic pain Americans are feeling at the pump.

U.S. Chamber of Commerces Marty Durbin, whos also the president of the Global Energy Institute, said the administration was misdiagnosing the problems, one of which is their own reluctance to process permits.

Buyback Campaign

In response to growing concerns about a depleted reserve, the Department of Energy revealed plans to replenish emergency stocks. This fall, it will begin a buyback process to repurchase 60 million barrels of oil, or one-third of the six-month 180-million-barrel emergency release.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the largest emergency supply in the world, is a valuable tool to protect the American economy and consumers from supply disruptionswhether caused by emergencies at home or petrol-dictators weaponizing access to energy resources, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

As we are thoughtful and methodical in the decision to drawdown from our emergency reserve, we must be similarly strategic in replenishing the supply so that it stands ready to deliver on its mission to provide relief when needed most.

Still, has this broader strategy paid off?

Since the announcement this past spring, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices have surged by more than 6 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, also advanced by about 5 percent on Londons ICE Futures exchange. The national average for a gallon of gasoline has climbed by about 12 percent to $4.87, although it recently topped $5.

Best Solution?

Despite being poised for a decline of about 3 percent in June, U.S. crude is still up by roughly 50 percent year-to-date. Although the White House is exploring multiple avenues, such as urging OPEC to open the taps and pushing gas stations to diminish the pain at the pump, the best solution is greater North American output, according to Tortoise Senior Portfolio Manager Rob Thummel.

The best solution remains increasing oil and natural gas production from reliable supply sources like U.S. and Canada that will assist in balancing the global energy markets and reduce the geopolitical risk premium embedded in global oil and natural gas prices resulting in lower prices at the pump, Thummel said during a recent TortoiseEcofin QuickTake podcast.

Biden announced last week that hes encouraging Congress to lift the 18-cent federal gas tax for three months.
President Joe Biden (L) meets with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain, on June 29, 2022. (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

US Ramping Up Military Posture in Europe With Permanent Base in Poland

The United States will create a new permanent army headquarters in Poland and deploy additional land, air, and sea forces across the length and breadth of Europe in response to threats from Russia, President Joe Biden said on June 29.

Im announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changed security environment, as well as strengthening our collective security, he told reporters during a briefing joined by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid.

Were going to continue to adjust our posture based on the threat, in close consultation with our allies.

The Biden administration said the United States would take several additional actions including some deployments already announced since the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

Establish a permanent headquarters for the U.S. Armys 5th Corps in Poland

Almost double the number of U.S. Navy destroyers stationed at Spains Rota Naval Base. The number will reach four to six once this deployment is completed

Added 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Europe, bringing the total of U.S. military personnel in Europe to 100,000

Position a rotational Brigade Combat Team (BCT) in Romania that will add 3,000 fighters and another 2,000 personnel

Send two additional squadrons of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Britain

Add 625 troops in Germany to oversee and carry out air defense artillery operations, combat sustainment support, and engineering missions

Station a short-range air defense battery in Italy, adding 65 personnel

Enhance U.S. rotational deployments in the Baltic states including armored, aviation, air defense, and special operations forces

The White House said that the new stationing of U.S. forces in Europe is to support NATO and to deter any aggression against our allies.

Were sending an unmistakable message, in my viewand I think yours as wellthat NATO is strong, united, and the steps were taking during this summit are going to further augment our collective strength, Biden told reporters during the briefing.

Stoltenberg told Biden the increase demonstrates the U.S. leaders decisive leadership.

Were going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet threats from all directions across every domain, Biden said. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been.

The United States has not communicated with Russia about the decisions since theres no requirement to do so.

There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes, nor is there a requirement to do that, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a press call.

Polish President Andrzej Duda hailed the decision for a permanent NATO base in Poland, a move that Warsaw has long lobbied for.

Biden said clearly that for the first time in NATO history, there will be a permanent U.S. military presence in Poland in the form of the 5th Corps command. Its a long-awaited decision, Duda said in a tweet.

Reuters contributed to the report.

Allen Zhong senior writer Follow Allen Zhong is a long-time writer and reporter for The Epoch Times. He joined the Epoch Media Group in 2012. His main focus is on U.S. politics.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with SemaConnect CEO Mahi Reddy at the Prince George's County Brandywine Maintenance Facility during a visit to announce the Biden administrations Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan, in Brandywine, Maryland, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Volkswagen, Siemens Among Companies Investing Over $700 Million to Boost EV Charger Production

Private companies including Volkswagen and Siemens have pledged to invest more than $700 million to boost U.S. manufacturing capacity for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, the White House announced on Tuesday.

The move is set to increase domestic capacity to manufacture more than 250,000 new EV chargers every year and will add at least 2,000 jobs, while making EV charging more affordable, accessible, and equitable, according to the Biden administration.

The investment will also support the $7.5 billion approved in Bidens Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build a network of EV chargers across the nation.

According to the announcement, Volkswagen unit Electrify American pledged an investment of $450 million, which will support the swift deployment of up to 10,000 ultra-fast chargers at 1,800 charging stations across the United States; more than the number of high-power chargers currently available in the country.

Siemens also announced an investment of more than $250 million and is on track to build 1 million EV chargers over the next four years. The Munich, Germany-headquartered company will also expand its Grand Prairie, Texas and Ponoma, California EV charger plants.

Just 9.7 percent of households in cities across America have access to a public EV charging station within a quarter of a mile, or a five-minute walk, from their homes as of 2021, according to a report by location analytics firm Mobilyze.ai.

Most of those who do have better access tend to live in wealthier areas in cities like New York and Chicago, while black and Latino communities have notably fewer charging stations than those in white neighborhoods, according to the report.

Tackling the Climate Crisis

However, electric vehicles are still significantly more expensive than conventional vehicles, mainly owing to the raw materials such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium that are used in the battery.

Russia is home to the worlds largest nickel producer, Norilsk Nickel, which produced 145,817 metric tons of nickel in 2021 and is also a large provider of aluminum, which is used in batteries.

Meanwhile, China is the largest battery manufacturer in the world, with more than half of all lithium, cobalt, and graphite processing and refining capacity located in the country.

President Joe Biden has set a goal of creating a national network of 500,000 public charging stations, to be in place by 2030, and aims to ensure that 50 percent of new vehicles sold in 2030 are electric.

Biden has also activated the federal governments purchasing power to acquire more zero-emission vehicles by 2027 and 100 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Todays announcements demonstrate how the president is catalyzing private investment to boost our domestic manufacturing capacity, enabling America to create a national network of chargers, and create thousands of new high-quality, union jobs building, installing, and maintaining it, the White House said.

Today, the auto industry renaissance continues as the private sector steps up to invest in American-made charging across the country.

Earlier this month, Biden proposed new minimum standards and requirements for projects funded under its national program to boost the countrys network of EVs, which would ensure a unified network of chargers with similar payment systems, pricing information, charging speeds, and more.
What If People Actually Controlled the Government?

Commentary

Imagine, if you will, the following system.

Government is managed by elected representatives who are in turn elected by the people. Government is further restrained by checks and balances between three branches, each of which is accountable ultimately to the people who live under the laws.

Unlike the ancient system of government in which the only people who were truly free were the aristocracy, under this new system, every adult citizen has political rights. No one rules over anyone without accountability.

Also part of this, no one in government has a permanent job that is exempt from oversight. The laws and rules under which people live are not invented by faceless bureaucrats but rather by representatives with names who can be voted out.

In that way, we give the idea of freedom the best-possible hope.

Sounds dreamy? A bit. We havent had that system in the United States for a very long time, even if what I just mapped out seems more or less like what the U.S. Constitution set up.

There are two main reasons why we are so far from that ideal.

First, the U.S. system was supposed to exalt the juridical sovereignty of the several states so that the central government was of secondary importance.

Second, a fourth branch of government gradually came into existence. It is what we now call the administrative state. It consists of millions of employees with maximum power who answer to absolutely no one. The Federal Register lists 432 agencies that currently employ people who are beyond legislative reach but they still make policy and determine the structure of the regime under which we live. But we the people have no real control over them.

Not even the president can control them. This system was created with one piece of legislation in 1883 called the Pendleton Act. The New Deal exploited the new system. The administrative state even got its own constitution in 1946 called the Administrative Procedures Act. The 1984 Supreme Court decision in Chevron v. NRDC even entrenched deference to the agencys interpretation of the law.

The result is something the Founders never imagined: hundreds of three-letter agencies exercising hegemonic control over the country. Everyone got to know this system well from 2020 as the CDC invented myriad rules on the spot that shut businesses and churches and even legislated how many people you could have in your home for a party.

This problem vexxed Donald Trump, who came to power with the promise to drain the swamp. He soon discovered that he could not because most federal employees were beyond his reach. Things got wildly out of hand after he made the enormous error of greenlighting lockdowns in a March 16, 2020 press conference. After that point and all the way until the election, his presidential powers slipped ever further as the administrative bureaucracy wielded power without precedent.

Two weeks before the election, the Trump administration innovated a solution. It was Executive Order 13957 that created a new category of federal employment called Schedule F. Any employee involved at any level in political making would be subject to presidential oversight. It makes sense: these are executive-level agencies so the president, because he bears responsibility for what they do, should have some personnel control over them.

This order was immediately reversed by Biden when he took office, leaving Schedule F a dead letter. The administrative state is once again safe from oversight.

Let us quote Trumps executive order at length so that we can see the thinking here. Then well deal with various objections. It reads as follows:

To effectively carry out the broad array of activities assigned to the executive branch under law, the President and his appointees must rely on men and women in the Federal service employed in positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character. Faithful execution of the law requires that the President have appropriate management oversight regarding this select cadre of professionals. The Federal Government benefits from career professionals in positions that are not normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition but who discharge significant duties and exercise significant discretion in formulating and implementing executive branch policy and programs under the laws of the United States. The heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) and the American people also entrust these career professionals with nonpublic information that must be kept confidential Given the importance of the functions they discharge, employees in such positions must display appropriate temperament, acumen, impartiality, and sound judgment. Due to these requirements, agencies should have a greater degree of appointment flexibility with respect to these employees than is afforded by the existing competitive service process. Further, effective performance management of employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, the Governments current performance management is inadequate, as recognized by Federal workers themselves. For instance, the 2016 Merit Principles Survey reveals that less than a quarter of Federal employees believe their agency addresses poor performers effectively. Separating employees who cannot or will not meet required performance standards is important, and it is particularly important with regard to employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions. High performance by such employees can meaningfully enhance agency operations, while poor performance can significantly hinder them. Senior agency officials report that poor performance by career employees in policy-relevant positions has resulted in long delays and substandard-quality work for important agency projects, such as drafting and issuing regulations. Pursuant to my authority under section 3302(1) of title 5, United States Code, I find that conditions of good administration make necessary an exception to the competitive hiring rules and examinations for career positions in the Federal service of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character. These conditions include the need to provide agency heads with additional flexibility to assess prospective appointees without the limitations imposed by competitive service selection procedures. Placing these positions in the excepted service will mitigate undue limitations on their selection. This action will also give agencies greater ability and discretion to assess critical qualities in applicants to fill these positions, such as work ethic, judgment, and ability to meet the particular needs of the agency. These are all qualities individuals should have before wielding the authority inherent in their prospective positions, and agencies should be able to assess candidates without proceeding through complicated and elaborate competitive service processes or rating procedures that do not necessarily reflect their particular needs. Conditions of good administration similarly make necessary excepting such positions from the adverse action procedures set forth in chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code. Chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, requires agencies to comply with extensive procedures before taking adverse action against an employee. These requirements can make removing poorly performing employees difficult. Only a quarter of Federal supervisors are confident that they could remove a poor performer. Career employees in confidential, policy-determining, policymaking, and policy-advocating positions wield significant influence over Government operations and effectiveness. Agencies need the flexibility to expeditiously remove poorly performing employees from these positions without facing extensive delays or litigation.

Part of the order pushed an internal review of all agencies to reclassify employees, thus making them subject to normal standards of employmentthe same ones that every person in the private sector adheres to.

Why is there resistance aside from the high-stakes effort to keep the current despotism in place? Lets look at the sincere objections.

Schedule F would bring back the spoils system

The term itself is a smear of system in which the elected leadership can actually make a difference in public life. Are cronies hired? Yes. Are good people sometimes fired? Probably. But the alternative is dictatorship by the bureaucracy itself and that is what is truly intolerable. Instead of the spoils system, a state in which the elected leaders can enact policy by controlling personnel is called representative democracy. It is also the system the Constitution gave us.

Trump issued Schedule F because he wanted more power

Depends on what you mean by more power. More power over the bureaucracy, yes, but the driving motivation here was to emancipate power from being ruled by bureaucrats that he could not control. It was also designed to stop the bureaucracy from working directly with the media to undermine through lies and smears the work of the administration. In words, elected leaders absolutely do need more power over the deep state.

This would gut government of expertise

There is this strange presumption that educational credentials and a permanent job equals expertise plus good outcomes. That is very obviously untrue. Good outcomes come from basic competence and a work ethic. Those are in short supply in government precisely because the turnover rate is less than zero, unlike the private sector. Anyone who has worked in a federal agency knows this. The best way to unleash genuine expertise is through normal job accountability.

Presidents would use this to politicize the bureaucracy

This is a decent point but the bureaucracy is already heavily politicized, and always in the direction of policies that push more power and money toward the government. Everyone knows this. Is there a danger that a radically and dangerous president would press bureaucrats into even further politicization? Yes, but there is an easy solution to this one: cut the reach and power of the agencies themselves, consistent with the Constitution. Finallya crucial pointelected leaders could override the influence of private industry which has captured their operations.

Bureaucracies would get around this by minimizing Schedule F designations

They would certainly attempt this but that would require that employees refrain from policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions. That would be very great! If they eschewed Schedule F and did that anyway, the Office of Personnel Management could hunt them down and the agency itself would be responsible for illegal actions.

There are surely some downsides to the system as Trump imagined it but all of them trace to the inflated powers of the federal government itself. Yes, a vastly ambitious government machinery will always need bureaucracies and they will always have problems with waste, abuse, and unneeded exercise of power. Perhaps, then, the best long-term effect of Schedule F would be to inspire a rethinking of governments role in a free society.

It seems remarkable that the executive order creating Schedule F was issued at all. It needs to be pressed upon any future reformers as a path to revisit, ideally with legislative support. Until that time, there will continue to be the grave problem that our elected officials are positioned to be little more than dancing marionettes while the administrative state wields all the real power.

From the Brownstone Institute

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a White House daily press briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on June 15, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House Responds to Calls to Provide Abortions on Federal Land

The White House on Tuesday pushed back on left-wing suggestions that the federal government should allow abortion services to be provided on federal land following the Supreme Courts decision to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are among those who called on the federal government to use federal land to provide abortions in states that restrict the procedure, which religious groups and some conservatives say is murder and has caused significant damage to the concept of the traditional family unit.

Warren, while providing few details, told The Washington Post that the federal government could set up Planned Parenthood abortion tents with trained personnel in some Republican-led states. Furthermore, Warren added that the federal government should declare a national emergency following the ruling.

But White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that such a move is unfeasible.

With this proposalwe understand the proposal is well-intentioned, but heres the thing: It could actually put women and providers at risk. And importantly, in states where abortion is now illegal, women and providers who are not federal employees, as you look at the federal land, could potentially be prosecuted, she told reporters.

Jean-Pierre added that there are actually dangerous ramifications to doing this and added that the White House is looking at an array of other actions.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday told CNN that the administration is not looking into allowing abortions to be carried out on federal lands when she was asked about those proposals.

I mean, its not right now what we are discussing, Harris told the network. But I will say that when I think about what is happening in terms of the states, we have to also recognize  that we are 130 odd days away from an election, which is going to include Senate races.

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday said that the federal government will take action against states if their laws violate federal law.

If we see a state, for example, trying to deny a particular patient care in an emergency room, which could include abortion services if it is appropriate to preserve that womans life or health, we will take action, and we will do everything we can, Becerra said at a news conference.

In striking down Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Courts majority argued that until the later part of the 20th century, abortion as a constitutional right was entirely unknown in American law

When Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three-quarters of the States made abortion a crime at all stages of pregnancy, the ruling stated. The abortion right is also critically different from any other right that this Court has held to fall within the Fourteenth Amendments protection of liberty.
V is for vaccine.

Elmo got a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, according to Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street."

In a public service announcement posted to YouTube, the beloved 3-and-a-half-year-old Sesame Street star talked with his dad about what it was like to get the shot.

There was a little pinch, but it was OK, Elmo said in the video.

Elmos dad said he had a lot of questions for the pediatrician, who assured him that vaccinations are safe and effective for children.

Was it safe? Was it the right decision? I talked to our pediatrician so I could make the right choice, Louie said in the PSA. I learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep himself, our friends, neighbors and everyone else healthy and enjoying the things they love.

COVID-19 vaccinations for the youngest Americans started last week. That means U.S. kids under 5  roughly 18 million youngsters  are eligible for the shots.

U.S. regulators authorized shots from Moderna and Pfizer. The Moderna vaccine is two doses and the Pfizer shot is three.

Last November, Big Bird got vaccinated  sparking criticism from some conservative politicians. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, called it government propaganda.

The CDC advises vaccination even for those who already had COVID-19 to protect against reinfection, and says it is OK to get other vaccines at the same time.
That release could not be found.
Nigeria is caught in a maelstrom. Ravagers roam across the land unchallenged, extracting tolls in tears and blood from citizens. They expropriate land and govern according to their lust for violence. There is hopelessness in the streets as the country sinks deeper and deeper into a bloodfest. Insecurity will be the toughest trial of the next administration.

Insurgency, banditry and kidnapping have become a quotidian aspect of the Nigerian life. Killings and kidnappings have persisted with each incident surpassing the previous in gruesomeness, audacity and ruthlessness.

Over 5,067 citizens were reported killed in 2021  according to TheCable Index. 14 Nigerians were killed every day from January to December, 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, 1,743 Nigerians were killed -- with Niger, Zamfara topping the list of victims. This figure surpassed the number of civilians reportedly killed in the first month of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Last Thursday, a divisional police officer (DPO) who was leading his men to rescue kidnap victims in Nasarawa was himself stolen by these dare-devil freebooters. His abductors demanded five million naira before he would be freed. What could be more embarrassing? A few days ago, some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were kidnapped on their farm. In Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna, citizens have resigned to a doomed existence. The situation appears hopeless.

Nigerians held high hopes for the Buhari administration because of the presidents promise to roll back the crushing boulder of insecurity. There was a surfeit of hope and trust in the president being a retired army general. But clearly, the administration is overwhelmed and has surrendered to the fierce and cold grip of these death-dealers from the netherworld.

How will Bola Tinubu, APC presidential candidate; Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, and Peter Obi, Labour Party presidential candidate, address this challenge? What is their experience in managing crises? What solutions have they suggested in their public statements? And how did they respond to security troubles in their time in public office?

We need to stir disciplined conversations on the most pressing issues  not inanities -- and interrogate those that have come forward to lead the country on matters of governance.

BOLA TINUBU

Tinubu has been an advocate of state police. He had emphasised the primacy of state police a number of times in public discourses. In a statement in 2020, the APC presidential candidate said state policing is the viable path to securing Nigeria and Nigerians. Hear him: The time has come to take the necessary legal actions to allow for the creation of state police and the recruitment and training of many more police officers. Such state-created forces should be based on the modern tenets of community policing and optimal relations and cooperation with local communities. Measures such as these are needed to cure present gaps in how military and law enforcement treat the general public.

It is obvious the present security set-up cannot guarantee the protection of citizens. Recently, Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, whose state has suffered much devastation from the devilment of terrorists, called for the creation of state police. Bello Matawalle, another governor whose state (Zamfara) is in the throes of terror, a few days ago asked residents to take up firearms and defend themselves. What could be more depressing?

Really, I agree there is a need for the retooling of the current security architecture which is unwieldy and cannot cover many parts of the country, leaving ungoverned spaces for terrorists to annex. But if Tinubu becomes president, can he pull off the creation of state police? The national assembly has a critical role to play as well as the state houses of assembly because the constitution will need to be amended to accommodate the new force. Currently, policing is the exclusive preserve of the federal government. I believe unbundling the current policing arrangement where orders will have to come from Abuja for an operation in Okitipupa is long overdue.

PETER OBI

Obi has been unequivocal about the place of job creation as a counteragent to insecurity. He has said many times that unemployment is the instigator of insecurity. I agree, but not absolutely.

The Labour Party presidential candidate once said: The state of insecurity under this administration is the worst the country has ever experienced. To address it, we need to look at the economy and focus on reversing the loss of jobs.

Unemployment is a vector of insecurity, no doubt. But it is simplistic to assume that unemployment is the sole agent of the crisis. I will grade job creation; welfare guarantees and provision of common facilities as basic duties of government. But insecurity goes deeper than job statistics. Even countries like the US with relatively impressive job statistics are still plagued by violent crimes. So, essentially Peter Obi needs to work out his security blueprint and strategy.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Atikus antiserum to insecurity is the mixture of job creation and boosting the police number. He has said on different occasions that with job creation and effective policing the crime rate will plummet.

Every part of this country is dealing with one aspect of insecurity or the other, I will be very tough on law and order. I will increase the number of policemen in this country. I will equip them, I will also increase the number of the armed forces, equip them very well, just like we did from 1999 to 2015. It is only when you secure the country, there is peace, there is law and order, you can deal with economic challenges, he said in May at a meeting with delegates in Ogun state.

I agree with Atiku on his prescription. But are we not taking the same route as before as regards recruiting more police officers? It has been done before, but what has changed? In the past, as it is in the present, the recruitment of police officers was often steeped in controversy and allegations of corruption. Will Atiku alter the status quo, if he becomes president?

I urge the candidates to release their security strategy documents so that Nigerians can better assess their readiness to address this challenge. It should not be the same perfunctory performances and histrionics  Nigeria is at war.
An inmate confined in Kuje Custodial Centre of Nigerian Correctional Service identified as Mr Chinwendu Heart has bagged a Second Class Upper degree in Theological Studies from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

The information was made known in a statement by the FCT Correctional Centre Command's Public Relations Officer, Mr Chukwuedo Humphrey, on Wednesday, in Abuja.

He said the Librarian of the university, Dr Angela Okpala, who presented the certificate on Tuesday, urged the graduate to be a good ambassador of the university as well as the correctional service.

Mr Ibrahim Shehu, the officer in charge of Kuje Custodial Centre said that the inmate had shown an exemplary character over time.

He said, The inmate has always been diligent with his studies and also lived an exemplary life in custody.

Shehu urged other inmates to use the opportunity of the free education from NOUN and improve themselves, saying that education was the bedrock of human development.

Meanwhile, the graduand, Heart, who expressed happiness, said he had come into the Kuje Custodial centre without a secondary school certificate.

He said that with the encouragement of the staff, he had now got a University degree and that he hoped to utilise the offer of NOUN and study to get a PhD.

He also admonished other inmates to engage themselves in these regimes of reform in the custodial centre instead of being idle and giving in to social vices.
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has consciously and consistently pulled great efforts in supporting the development of Nigeria owing to the astronomical growth in the youth population. The 21st century has seen the rapid advancement in technology revolutionizing the world and Nigeria is not left out.

Huaweis vision in Nigeria is to create an ICT ecosystem which will form the foundation in the digitalization plan for the nearest future. This is important given that advancement in digital technology knowledge will facilitate the national economic diversification plan and also provide job opportunities for Nigerian youths.

Huawei has been on the Nigeria soil for over 21 years. The company has donated state of the art ICT equipment to over 20 schools and ICT educational institutions across Nigeria through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

One of which was the remodeling of the ICT lab donated to the Government Secondary School, Ilorin, Kwara State. Speaking to the press, the National President of the Old Boys Association stated that it gladdens the heart of the students and teachers in the great institution to know that the students can digitally communicate, create, disseminate, store and manage information while teaching and learning via ICT.

The lives of the students of Ogedengbe High School of Sciences was affected by the kind gesture of Huawei one of the oldest serving schools in Ilesa, Osun State by providing new science laboratories, internally generated electricity, water supply, tables and chairs. The School Principal, Mrs. Felicia Orimoogunje, lauded Huawei for the supportive development of Nigeria through technology innovation, knowledge transfer, talents training and CSR activities. She stated that Huawei has improved the knowledge and exposure of over seven hundred senior secondary school students and placed them on a pedestrian for success in the nearest future.

Recently, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, in partnership with the Special Intervention Program on Communal and Societal Development (SIPCOD) upgraded and equipped an E-learning Centre to with 58 state-of-the-art computers among others in Sardauna Memorial College, Kaduna State. This gesture was to enable to student compete favorably in the global world.

The principal of the school, Mr. Jamare Tukar stated that since the upgrade of the E-Learning centre, the teachers have had a splendid time imparting knowledge to 1,022 students. The students can now compete favorably with their counterparts in the world. He further explained that the E-Learning Centre has gone a long way in bridging the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) gap in the school.

Huawei has stayed committed to the lives of Nigerians across different social classes. Through Huaweis CSR programmes ample opportunities have been extended to students across Nigeria. Students now have a chance of being successful in ICT. Huawei will continue to invest in this collaboration with various schools. The beneficiaries of this initiative is expected to increase greatly and continously as various e-learning centers would be built across Nigeria.
Without resort to half-truth, it would be recalled that in 2021, cases of monkey pox were reported in Nigeria in the following states: Delta, Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Federal Capital Territory, Niger, and Ogun.

However, since then, there have been cases of monkey pox with most recent cases that have been reported among US travelers returning from Lagos and Ibadan. Not only that, the current publication of Disease Outbreak News by World Health Organization (WHO), which is an update to the previously published Disease Outbreak News of 29 May, 2022 provides short summaries of guidance, including on vaccination, and it has remained a cause for concern.

It reported that Since 13 May, 2022, and as of 2 June 2022, 780 laboratory confirmed cases of monkey pox have been reported in 27 Member States across four WHO regions that are not endemic for monkey pox virus, and added that epidemiological investigations are ongoing. Thus, most reported cases so far have been presented through sexual health or other health services in primary or secondary health care facilities and have involved mainly, but not exclusively, men who have sex with men (MSM).

While the West African clade of the virus has been identified from samples of cases so far, most confirmed cases with travel history reported travel to countries in Europe and North America, rather than West or Central Africa where the monkey pox virus is endemic. The confirmation of monkey pox in persons who have not travelled to an endemic area is atypical, and even one case of monkey pox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak. While most cases are not associated with travel from endemic areas, Member States are also reporting small numbers of cases in travelers from Nigeria, as has been observed before.

Without any iota of exaggeration, since September 2017, Nigeria has continued to report sporadic monkey pox cases. For instance, on May 26th 2022, a monkey pox National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was activated in response to a risk assessment of the national and global monkey pox situation. As gathered, the essence of activating the EOC was to enhance the coordination of relate preparedness/response activities across the country, and there were twenty-one (21) new suspected cases reported in Epi week 24, 2022 (13th to 19 th June 2022) from fourteen (14) states  Bayelsa (3), Edo (3), Adawama (2), Borno (2), Gombe (2), Akwa Ibom(1), Oyo (1), Bauchi (1) Delta (1), Ekiti (1), Kano (1), Kwara (1), Lagos (1) and Ogun (1).

In the same vein, there were five (5) new positive cases in Epi week 24, 2022 from four (4) states  Bayelsa (2), Edo (1), Ogun (1) and Lagos (1).

As if the foregoing grim statistics are not enough, from January 1st to 19 th June 2022, there have been 162 suspected cases in total and 41 confirmed cases from sixteen (16) states  Lagos (8), Adamawa (5), Bayelsa (4), Delta (3), Edo (3), River (3), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Imo (2), Plateau (2), Nasarawa (1), Niger (1), Oyo (1), Ondo (1) and Ogun (1). One death was recorded in a 40-year-old man with co-morbidity that was receiving immunosuppressant drugs.

In the same vein, from September 2017 to 19th June 2022, a total of 674 suspected cases have been reported from 33 states in the country, and of the reported cases, 267 (39.6%) have been confirmed in 23 states - Rivers (55), Bayelsa (47), Lagos (38), Delta (32), Cross River (16), Edo (13), Imo (10), Akwa Ibom (7), Oyo (7), FCT (8), Plateau (5), Adamawa (5), Enugu (4), Abia (3), Nasarawa(3), Benue (2), Anambra (2), Ekiti (2), Kano (2), Niger (2), Ogun (2), Ebonyi (1) and Ondo (1).

Literarily icing the cake of the foregoing data is that in addition, from September 2017 to June 19th, 2022, a total of nine (9) deaths have been recorded (CFR= 3.4%) in six states - Lagos (3), Edo (2), Imo (1), Cross River (1), FCT (1) and Rivers (1).

Given the foregoing dingy statistics, it is expedient to ask How can monkey pox be contained? The foregoing question cannot be farfetched as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization asserted that monkey pox is unlikely to become a pandemic as the focus towards its ameliorationis on identifying possible cases and containing the outbreak as soon as possible, adding that people should protect themselves from the damage of chronic inflammation.

The health bodies explained that science has proven that chronic, low-grade inflammation can turn into a silent killer that contributes to cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2diabetes and other conditions.

While advising that people should protect themselves from the damage of chronic inflammation, the bodies advised that three important steps can help stop this outbreak:

First and foremost is that early symptoms should be recognized as early symptoms are flu-like, including fever, fatigue, headache, and enlarged lymph nodes. Similarly, a rash appears a few days later, changing over a week or two from small flat spots to tiny blisters similar to chickenpox, then to larger, pus-filled blisters.

The health bodies added that the rash often starts on the face and then appears on the palms, arms, legs, and other parts of the body, and explained that if monkey pox is spread by sexual contact, the rash may show up first on or near the genitals.

In addition to the foregoing, it was advised that steps to stop the spread should be taken as the pox spreads through respiratory droplets or by contact with fluid from skin sores. The bodies warned that anyone who has been diagnosed with monkey pox, or who suspects they might have it, should avoid close contact with others. Once the sores scab over, the infected person is no longer contagious.

In a similar vein, they advised that health care workers and other caregivers should wear standard infection control gear, including gloves and a mask.

They explained that in the current outbreak that many cases began with sores in the genital and rectal areas among men who have sex with men, so doctors suspect sexual contact spread the infection. As a result, experts are encouraging abstinence when monkey pox is suspected or confirmed.

Also, recommended as a way of curtailing the spread is the use of vaccination to help break the chain.

It was further warned that Monkey pox is closely related to smallpox. People who received a smallpox vaccine in the past may have some protection fro m monkey pox.

d against.


Cabinet waives tariffs on car seats

BANGKOK: The cabinet yesterday (June 28) agreed to waive tariffs on child safety seats until the end of next year to allow more time to promote their use.

Safetytransport

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 29 June 2022, 08:52AM

A technician demonstrates the use of car booster seats at the National Institute for Child and Family Development, Mahidol University, in Nakhon Pathom province, in May 2022. Photo: Chanat Katanyu

Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said the 20% tariffs would be waived until Dec 31, 2023, to ease the financial burden on consumers because the Land Traffic Act would require child seats in vehicles from Sept 4 this year, reports the Bangkok Post. The waiver will become effective after it is published in the Royal Gazette. The spokesman did not mention the date of the publication. Mr Thanakorn said most child seats available in the country were imported. Locally made ones were scarce because of insufficient demand. The newly amended law requires children under six years old to be restrained in a car seat or a special seat for safety in a moving vehicle.
Ghislaine Maxwell gets 20 years for sex trafficking

NEW YORK: Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday (June 28) for helping late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, capping the former socialites sordid fall from grace.

crimesex

By AFP

Wednesday 29 June 2022, 09:33AM

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell - seen in this undated photo with her long-time associate Jeffrey Epstein - unsuccessfully urged a light sentence for the disgraced socialites sex trafficking conviction. Photo: AFP

The Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell appeared not to react as New York Judge Alison Nathan handed down the term in a packed Manhattan federal court.

The sentence was much less than prosecutors sought but still means the 60-year-old friend to royalty and former US presidents is likely to spend much of the rest of her life in jail.

Nathan called Maxwells crimes heinous and predatory as she went with the amount of time recommended by the US probation office, rejecting Maxwells claims that she was pursued by prosecutors only because Epstein escaped trial by killing himself in prison.

It is important to emphasize that although Epstein was central to this criminal scheme, Ms Maxwell is not being punished in place of Epstein or as a proxy for Epstein, said the judge.

Maxwell was convicted late last year on five of six counts, the most serious for sex trafficking minors following a month-long high-profile trial in New York.

The charges stemmed from crimes committed against four women between 1994 and 2004.

Prosecutors successfully proved that she was the key to Epsteins scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages, during which he would sexually abuse them.

Two of Epsteins victims, identified as Jane and Carolyn, testified that they were as young as 14 when Maxwell began grooming them.

Maxwell expressed sympathy for the victims during a statement in court yesterday, saying she was sorry for the pain that you experienced but blamed Epstein.

I believe that Jeffrey Epstein was a manipulative, cunning and controlling man who lived a profoundly compartmentalized life and fooled all of those in his orbit, she said.

Prosecutors had called for Maxwell to receive between 30 and 55 years in jail, saying she was an adult who made her own choices.

In a statement, Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the 20-year term holds Ghislaine Maxwell accountable for perpetrating heinous crimes against children, he said.

Annie Farmer, the only victim not to testify under a pseudonym, welcomed the sentence as proof that it is never too late for the truth to come out and never too late for there to be accountability.

Appeal

Maxwell has already been held in detention for some two years following her arrest in New Hampshire in the summer of 2020, meaning she will likely be released in her late 70s, possibly earlier for good behavior.

Ghislaine must die in prison, accuser Sarah Ransome told reporters outside court before Maxwells fate was delivered.

Her sentencing completes a dramatic fall for the former international jetsetter who grew up in wealth and privilege as a friend to royalty.

Maxwells circle included Britains Prince Andrew, former US president and real estate baron Donald Trump and the Clinton family.

In February, Prince Andrew settled a sexual abuse lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre, who said she had been trafficked to the royal by Epstein and Maxwell.

Maxwells lawyers asked Nathan to show leniency and sentence their client to no more than five years.

They said she had suffered 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, they wrote in submissions this month, adding that Maxwell cannot and should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible.

Money manager Epstein, then aged 66, hanged himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting his own sex crimes trial in New York.

Maxwells lead attorney Bobbi Sternheim told reporters that she would appeal the sentence.

In April, Nathan rejected a request by Maxwell for a new trial.

She unsuccessfully argued that a juror, who had boasted of helping convince fellow panelists to convict Maxwell by recalling his own experiences as a sex abuse victim, had biased the jury.
Ready for BIE inspection for Phuket Expo 2028 bid, urges Governor

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew yesterday (June 28) delivered his message for all government agencies on the island ready for an inspection visit by representatives of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) later this month as part of Thailands bid for Phuket to host World Specialised Expo in 2028.

tourismeconomics

By The Phuket News

Wednesday 29 June 2022, 11:06AM

Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew delivering his message yesterday (June 28). Photo: PR Phuket

The message was first delivered at a meeting at the new Phuket Provincial Hall on Tha Kraeng Rd in Phuket Town, then delivered again later at a meeting at the old Provincial Hall on Narisorn Rd.

The need for the preparations follows formally presenting its bid to the BIE in Paris last week, Governor Narong explained.

The bid was presented by a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as the Minister of Public Health. Supporting the bid is the Ministry of Public Health and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said Governor Narong, who also joined the delegation.

The BIE team will perform an inspection of the proposed site of the main convention centre to be used to host the expo, Governor Narong added.

The site, an area of 141 rai 2 ngan 64 square wah in Mai Khao, is to have a world-class International Health and Wellness Center operated by Vachira Phuket Hospital, the main government hospital on the island, he said.

The preparation of the location must be carried out to support the in-depth survey activities of the BIE committee in Phuket on July 25-29, Governor Narong pointed out.

This is to ensure that all sectors are ready to present themselves as hosts of the Specialised Expo 2028 in Phuket and ensure that the event proceeds smoothly according to the intended objectives, he added.

The BIE committee who will come to inspect the area must be most impressed and see the readiness of Phuket to host Expo 2028, he said.

The private sector is willing to support the province in all matters. Currently, there is a public relations campaign for establishments and hotels, and local residents have been informed of the proposal to host such a world-class event in order for the public to have knowledge and understanding of the bid.

The BIE committee will ask questions, and we need to be able to answer the committees questions, Governor Narong explained.

A RUN FOR PHUKET EXPO2028 event will be held to promote Phukets bid to host the expo, he added.

Also discussed was the current state of the road construction project along Route 4027 through Pa Khlok, and the project to improve the road connecting Baan Para to Muang Mai.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 26C. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by some light rain after midnight. Low 17C. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
News

alert featured

Chaos reigns at Montreal passport offices

Amanda Polese / By Amanda Polese The Suburban Line beginning in front of Guy-Favreau Complex Passport office Amanda Polese / By Amanda Polese The Suburban Individuals who have been waiting in line overnight with camping supplies

The situation at the passport office at the Guy-Favreau Complex has not gotten better as people continue to wait in line for their passports. When The Suburban was there, the line of people waiting began on Rene-Levesque Blvd. and Jeanne-Mance St. and ended at the corner of Saint-Urbain St. and De La Gauchetiere St. Many had been camped out overnight.

According to those in line, the office closed its doors before the holiday weekend without providing any information on the situation, leaving many with no choice but to wait until it reopened. They closed their doors around 10 a.m. saying that the office was full and did not provide any other details, Isabelle, who was waiting in line for her daughters passport, told The Suburban. We didnt even know if it was worth it to wait but many of us had no choice. What was really frustrating people was the lack of communication.

The communication is better today but there is still little to no information, another woman in line, Veronique, told The Suburban. Louise had been waiting in line for 30 hours and she is planning on leaving to visit family with a group of ten. She is the only one without her passport. She came to the office last week but was told to come back this week, 24-48 hours before she was leaving.

My priority is to get my passport that I was supposed to receive at the end of May, Louise told The Suburban. I have nothing to lose by waiting here, but I know there is no guarantee that I will get it in time. Many in line are in the same situation as Louise, having sent their passport requests months ago with no information since.

Max, who has been waiting all night, said the situation was tense throughout the evening. He was supposed to receive his passport on June 16. He made friends with two other men in line, one of whom was approached by a drunk man in the middle of the night and feared for the safety of others. I dont think its handled properly but what can we do but wait? Max told The Suburban.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Mostly sunny. High 26C. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by some light rain after midnight. Low 17C. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Have an interesting bit of news youd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com .
NED BRISTOL is a retired editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be contacted at nedbristol@msn.com .
EDWARDSVILLE  A Class X armed violence charge was filed Tuesday against a Florissant man accused of multiple weapons-related crimes.

Deandre L. Smith, 38, of Florissant, Missouri, was charged June 28 with armed violence, a Class X felony; unlawful possession of a stolen firearm, a Class 2 felony; unlawful possession of weapons by a felon and unlawful possession of firearms ammunition by a felon, both Class 3 felonies; and unlawful possession of cannabis 100-500 grams and aggravated unlawful use of weapons, both Class 4 felonies.

Also, Lateasha S. Grant, 29, of St. Louis, was charged with unlawful possession of a stolen firearm, a Class 2 felony, and aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony, in the same incident.

The cases were presented by the Granite City Police Department.

According to court documents, on June 27 Smith allegedly had a stolen Glock 22 handgun, loaded and accessible in a motor vehicle, and Grant was carrying a Torres G2C 9 mm handgun loaded and accessible in the vehicle. Smith also allegedly had 9 mm and .223 caliber ammunition and 100-500 grams of cannabis.

Smiths armed violence charge stems from the drug charge.

Smith has a 2006 conviction for criminal possession loaded firearm, third degree, out of Greene County, New York.

Bail for Smith was set at $200,000 and for Grant at $50,000.
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ALTON  Since Marqueta Goins was 15 years old, she's helped children of all ages and now she has focused on empowering adolescent youth by giving them opportunities, like she had.

When Goins, originally from Springfield, Illinois, was a teenager she began working at inner-city daycare centers through a city program that employed lower income youth. New nonprofit Be A Bridge, founded by her and her husband, Mark Goins, also has a youth workforce and economic development component in development and so much more already established.

The youth workforce and economic development program seeks to connect youth to employment, job skills training and financial literacy. It also encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, while building self-esteem and vocational skills. Also, Be A Bridge provides programs that seek to mentor, empower, educate and love African American youth in the community, she explained.

After working at daycares during her youth Marqueta Goins became involved with the NAACP pilot program Back To School/Stay In School, and she also worked with the Children's Defense Fund, the Urban League and her church. Today, Be A Bridge partners with local churches and businesses in Alton, including LaMay's Catering's Jason Harrison who donated his space for Be A Bridge to use each week for its groups this last year.

"The group just grew too large for my house and he offered LaMay's Catering," Goins said.

Specifically the mission of Be A Bridge is to build relationships and bridge adolescent youth to opportunities that prepare them for successful futures.

Mark and Marqueta Goins, who moved to Alton 13 years ago when they married, started thinking about forming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit a couple years ago. The Goinses have five children and they began opening their home to teens who they knew, cooking if a teen wanted or needed a meal and just hanging out.

The couple reached out to attorney Ebony Huddleston at Huddleston Law Firm to help them register as a nonprofit.

"She was a big help. And it's just, kind of, grown," Marqueta Goins recalled. "I realized, in my living room, that the community needed to be involved in the youths' lives, especially adolescent youth. It was just African American teens, during all the George Floyd stuff, and they needed a space to talk  a safe space, that wasn't structured or formal.

"Then I felt like community involvement is important in these youths' lives," said Goins, who has been in outreach and youth development for more than 20 years, including in St. Louis and East St. Louis.

Ultimately, she wants Be A Bridge to provide outreach for all races and ethnicities of adolescents.

"Another component we really want is cultural awareness, which is super important," she said. "Our ultimate hope is diversity and conversations among our youth, to change what it's been like, bring cultural awareness in experience to this younger generation, dissolve misconceptions and prejudice.

While now at its infancy, Be A Bridge has just begun.

"I feel like God has gifted me with a bridge for teens," Goins said. "I want to be that, provide a hub or space they can come to, to be a bridge to a teen where they can come if they have needs. It's our hope. The vision is big and my mind never stops. It's all volunteer and we hope the impact is great."

The Goinses looked into what it took to form a 501(c)(3); and she met with already up-and-coming as well as thriving nonprofits.

"I felt like what these youth needed was actually its own nonprofit," said Goins, who met with an attorney with her husband and founded Be A Bridge, while she continued to meet with adolescent girls and found a dedicated volunteer with Amy Williams, of Godfrey, co-founder of the Williams Family White Dove Release.

She met Williams while the two were dropping off their children at preschool. When Goins was asked to lead a Girl Circle, a program of the YWCA of Alton, she asked Williams to do it with her. Williams led a group of younger girls and Goins led adolescent girls group.

"While doing that, I saw a bigger need and I told her, 'I need you to stick with me, I'm going to start something,'" Goins said. "Amy is, like, everything."

Be A Bridge's first event was a Juneteenth party, June 18, 2021, in the Goinses' backyard.

"That was the launch," Marqueta Goins said.

Since then Be A Bridge includes a Youth Like You co-ed teen group that meets monthly, girls support groups that meet Mondays, and fostering a peer community among youth, giving them a foundational support system that embodies the love of Christ.

Be A Bridge programs in development include fine arts and Serve Saturdays, which would take place a few times a year when youth would serve the community or the community would serve the youth.

Be A Bridge's Dance Haus classes started Wednesday through Aug. 10 at Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway, in Alton. The free summer dance intensive teaches African, contemporary, modern and jazz styles. Dance Haus is open to boys and girls in middle and high school. Registration is at Be A Bridge Facebook page or call 618-737-2299; space is limited. A showcase will take place Aug. 13.

Plans are in progress for the first Serve Saturdays to take place in September and do a free laundry day for Be A Bridge teens and any parents who need access to laundry service.

"I've talked to an owner at a laundromat and he's really excited about it," Goins said. "It's still developing but we're looking for churches and businesses to donate quarters and laundry pods, different laundromats to connect with the community, but also to serve and be served. It'll be like a 'back-to-school laundry' situation."

The Bridge Church is a partner already in Serve Saturdays.

"I think it's going to be beautiful," she said.

Be A Bridge's fine arts sector, slated for a fall launch, is to help its adolescents have healthy self expression. The program will include dance and music lessons, which Goins' husband will lead, as well as some art classes paired with Be A Bridge's support groups, targeting spiritual growth, interpersonal skills, mentoring and empowerment.

"I've been in several community meetings, and I feel you have to have youth empowerment and they need our support to take charge of their lives and become great leaders in our community," Goins said.

"These groups of kids deal with a lot of stress. This will help them deal with stress while celebrating their individuality and culture."

To learn more, get involved and donate email beabridgenfp@gmail.com, visit www.beabridgenfp.org, message the Be A Bridge Facebook page and/or call 618-737-2299. Monthly supporters are needed to continue to grow the programs. Donation can be made through Be A Bridge's website or Facebook page.
GRANITE CITY  The announcement that U.S. Steel is considering the sale of the iron-making side of its Granite City Works facility would mean the closure of much of the steel-processing side of the plant and the elimination of about 1,000 jobs starting in 2024.

On Tuesday the company announced tentative plans to sell the two blast furnaces at the U.S. Steel-Granite City Works to SunCoke Energy Inc., which operates a facility in Granite City providing coke for operation, and the signing of a non-binding letter of intent with the other company.

Dan Simmons, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1899 called the announcement a betrayal of workers. Company officials said it was a necessary move and part of a larger company-wide strategy. The local represents about 1,400 union workers at the plant and as well as 500 more at other local companies.

"Our conviction remains that steel mined, melted, and made in America is vital to our national and economic security," David B. Burritt, president and CEO of U.S. Steel, said in a prepared statement.

We are strategically investing in our raw materials that will feed the advanced steel mills of today and tomorrow, making us increasingly self-sufficient," he said. "Its another way that were supporting domestic manufacturing, simplifying complex global supply chains, addressing the sustainability demands of our customers, and ultimately creating profitable steel solutions for people and the planet."

State Rep. Amy Elik, R- Fosterburg, called the news "devastating.

These are good-paying union jobs," she said. "We cant keep losing manufacturing jobs. Our state needs to do everything it can to create more jobs in the Metro East. I am fully committed to growing our manufacturing base right here in the Metro East and will continue to support policies that do just that.

The announcement also was met by concern from elected and business officials.

"Any announcement with US Steel has a big impact on the region, Granite City Mayor Michael Parkinson said in a released statement. Like many elected officials, I am evaluating the impact to Granite City.

Preliminary reports initially call for more investment and property taxes for us with potential long-term job impact more on the Metro-East region, he added. We need to build a strong Granite and region so working with our elected officials is important for me."

Rosemarie Brown, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of Southwestern Madison County, said they found out about U.S. Steels plans Tuesday from press releases by the company and United Steel Workers of America.

Steel manufacturing has been a vital part of this area and has benefited our entire region since 1895, she said in a released statement. However, we are not blind to the fact that change is inevitable. This Chamber will continue to look at the future with cautious optimism, as we continue to work tirelessly for our business community and our dedicated workforce.

State Reps. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, and Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, issued a joint statement in response to the possible plans.

We are incredibly concerned by U.S. Steels current proposal to change operations at Granite City Works, and are doing everything we can in partnership with local, state and federal leaders to maintain the plants existing operations and workforce," the laawmakers said in a released statement.

"This region, and the committed, skilled and experienced workforce of Granite City Works, are advantageous assets for U.S. Steel that deserve to be invested in," the statement read. "Despite significant adversity in recent years, the dedicated employees of Granite City Works have always been ready to step up and deliver. We strongly encourage U.S. Steel to pursue a more positive direction, and choose to invest in Granite City and the working families who call our community home.



SunCoke has been operating the coke plant, a vital part of the steelmaking process, since it was built in about 2009. In one form or another Granite City Works has been a major presence in the city since the 1890s.

As part of the agreement SunCoke would build a 2-million-ton granulated pig iron production facility. U.S. Steel would supply the iron ore for the facility from its mines and have the right to 100 percent of the pig iron production for the next 10 years. The pig-iron would be used in production at electric arc furnaces (EAF) at other locations.

If everything goes according to plan, permitting and construction would take about two years. Jobs would not be impacted until that was completed, tentatively in 2024.

The company is placing a great deal of emphasis on EAFs. Part of the reason for the switch is that EAFs are more carbon-friendly, and part of the companys plans to reduce emissions.

Amanda Malkowski, media relations manager for Pittsburg-based U.S. Steel, confirmed Wednesday that the move would eventually mean the closure of much of the steel-processing side of the Granite City plant and the loss of two-thirds of the jobs at the facility.

She said the Galvalume Finishing Line would continue operating, but other steelmaking operations will eventually idle, specifically citing the hot strip mill.

Being self-sufficient as a company is really critical, she added. We want to have control of our supply of pig iron as much as possible. The deal with SunCoke, if it goes through, would give us 100 percent of the pig iron production.

Simmons said the announcement has "grave future implications" for the members of the United Steelworkers employed by USS at its Granite City Works, as well as all Granite City residents.

The announced potential agreement could cause the permanent shutdown of the steel making and finishing operations at the Granite City Works, he added. The result will be the permanent loss of close to 1,000 jobs at The Mill.

He called the potential shutdown a betrayal by U.S. Steel that would abandon Granite City workers responsible in part for its record profitability.

Simmons said the company relied on the activism and support of its employees and Granite City residents during the fight against the dumping of foreign steel on American markets. As essential workers during the COVID epidemic, he said workers contributed towards the record profits of the company.

He said Granite City Works is a very efficient plant, but U.S. Steel now fails to meet its obligation" to invest in it. Instead, he said, the firm will take the wealth created by its workers and invest in facilities in Arkansas while closing steel operations here.

Simmons called on the company to meet with union officials to discuss alternatives to the drastic impact on workers and the community

The steel mill has been in operation in one form or another since the mid-1890s. It was originally part of the National Enamel Stamping Corp., or NESCO, which produced the enameled granite-ware that gave the city its name.

After World War II demand for enamelware was drastically reduced and the industry eventually faded. But the mill remained as Granite City Steel and was later taken over by National Steel Corp.

At its peak employment in the late 1970s, the mill and related operations had more than 2,500 workers. However, a major downturn in the steel industry in the early 1980s cause major restructuring. Yet while there were far fewer workers, production increased as the operation became much more efficient.

In the early 2000s National Steel went into bankruptcy and sold its assets to U.S. Steel. Because it sold assets only, U.S. Steel did not have to take on any of the legacy costs that had plagued the steel industry for decades.

Because of market conditions, the plant has been idled twice, in 2009 and 2015.

In 2018 then-President Donald Trump visited the facility after putting tariffs in place that company officials said were directly responsible for the facilitys full reopening.

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, an industry trade group, U.S. Steel production year-to-date is about 44.16 million net tons, a decrease of 2 percent over last year.
EDWARDSVILLE  A homeless Collinsville man was charged with being a sex offender at a home daycare facility.

Michael E. Totty, 57, listed as homeless out of Collinsville, was charged June 28 with child sex offender-have connection with day care, a Class 4 felony.

The case was presented by the Illinois State Police.

According to court documents, on June 27 Totty, a registered child sex offender, allegedly was at a home day care facility while it was being used for child care. Court records show Totty was charged with child pornography in 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison. In 2012 he was convicted of failure to report change in address/employment.

The Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registry noted he was 43 and the victim was 12 at the time of the offense.

Bail was set at $50,000.

Totty was also charged on May 12 with unlawful failure to register as a sex offender (second subsequent offense), a Class 2 felony. According to court documents, on May 11 Totty failed to register with the Collinsville Police.

Other felony charges filed Tuesday by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Richard K. Hardy, 41, of Florissant, Missouri, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. According to court documents, on June 27 Hardy allegedly had a loaded and accessible Glock 19X 9 mm handgun in a vehicle without a valid concealed carry permit. Bail was set at $20,000.

 Glen Sills, 26, of Ferguson, Missouri, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On June 27 Sills allegedly was driving a Volkswagen Passat when he attempted to flee from a Granite City police officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. Bail was set at $10,000.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  A county judge in Williamsport has to decide whether to force officials to provide voter-by-voter electronic election records after the state Office of Open Records ruled Pennsylvania law makes them confidential.

Heather Honey, who heads the Lebanon, Pennsylvania-based firm Haystack Investigations, sought in October a digital copy of Lycoming County's cast vote record for the 2020 General Election in which Democratic challenger Joe Biden unseated Republican President Donald Trump.

Lycoming told Honey no, saying Honey was essentially asking for the contents of ballot boxes and voting machines, information that the state Election Code declares off-limits for public inspection.

In a January decision, Office of Open Records appeals officer Erin Burlew agreed with the county elections director that the cast vote record is the digital equivalent of the contents of ballot boxes.

Honey challenged that decision in county court in February, likening the cast vote record to a spreadsheet and describing it as merely a digital report tallying the results of ballots scanned into a tabulator. The CVR is a report that is prepared after an election from a desktop computer that is not and never was the contents of a ballot box.

Thomas Breth, a Butler-based lawyer for three Williamsport area residents who were allowed to join the case  a local businessman, a retired state trooper and Republican state Rep. Joe Hamm  said that during a hearing last week there was evidence that the records Honey wants are randomized and could not be used to determine how any identifiable individual voted.

The whole argument that somehow this cast vote record would enable anybody to match up an elector to a ballot is incorrect, despite officials claims to the contrary, Breth said.

Honey told the court the records she seeks do not link ballots with individual voters in a way that would identify them, and that they can help people double check the work of election officials in counting total votes. At least one county has granted her the cast vote record data, Breth said.

CVRs are important public records, she wrote in the February lawsuit, acting as her own lawyer. CVRs allow the public to inspect the adjudication process because only the CVR shows the number and character of corrections made when the votes are tabulated.

Honey has not returned messages seeking comment, nor did lawyers for Lycoming County.

But in an April brief, the county argued that the records in question were the equivalent of ballot boxes.

That modern technology has removed the physical box does not mean that this information is subject to public disclosure, they wrote.

Earlier this month, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's acting secretary of state, Leigh Chapman, asked to intervene in the Lycoming County case, saying Honey has or is likely to file similar requests for the cast vote records in the state's other counties.

Agency spokeswoman Ellen Lyon declined comment, citing ongoing litigation, but the state's lawyers have said the cast vote records are produced before tabulation and counting of votes has occurred.

Thus, this record is not, as petitioner Honey argues, a digital tally,' the Department of State argued in a June 8 request to join the Lycoming County litigation. Overvotes may be displayed, which are resolved through other aspects of the EMS software. In other words, the data will be unprocessed and considering it on its face will be problematic.

Some systems even capture scans of the ballots, similar to photocopies or photographs, and therefore may potentially expose the identity of a voter, the state wrote. Cast vote records' data can lack randomization, they said, so the data Honey seeks can be compared with the polling place's numbered list of voters to create insight into how a person voted.

In a Nov. 8 email to county election officials, Department of State elections bureau director Jess Mathis advised them against releasing the voting records.

Breth said the two days of testimony in the case this month contradicts those concerns about voter privacy and show the state has certified that Lycoming's election system upholds constitutional secret ballot requirements.

He noted the state Right-to-Know Law does not permit agencies to consider how a requester plans to use public records.

The publics not as dumb as the secretary of the commonwealth leads us to believe, Breth said. 'You're not smart enough to get this data because you might get confused.' Its offensive.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois has launched a new program to help investigate gun crimes.

Crime Gun Connect will digitize gun records, making it easier for law enforcement agencies to trace crime-gun records.

To solve crimes committed using firearms, we are turning more and more towards technology and increasing information sharing opportunities to help expand the reach and coordination of law enforcement agencies and the justice system, said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly.

ISP created a portal that has grown over the years into a one-stop-shop where law enforcement can get intelligence for crime-gun related enforcement, and now includes the Crime Gun Connect tool, he said.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the existing process requires requests on paper, slowing investigations. Crime Gun Connect was developed in collaboration with the state police and Everytown for Gun Safety.

The searchable digital database contains more than 100,000 crime gun trace records dating back to 2009, using data from about 200 Illinois law enforcement agencies. More than 60% of firearms recovered from Illinois crime scenes originate out of state, Raoul said, making the new platform essential in monitoring gun trafficking.



The platform is available to Illinois law enforcement agencies enrolled in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) eTrace system that have opted in to collective data sharing through eTrace. Collective data sharing allows agencies to share crime-gun trace records with other participating agencies.

Kathleen Sances, President and CEO of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC said tracking the flow of illegal guns, and going after straw purchasers, were proven strategies to reduce gun violence.

"This portal will enhance the ability of all law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute illegal gun trafficking and gun crimes in Illinois," she said. "Under the new bipartisan federal gun law signed by President Biden, straw purchasers are now subject to 15-year federal prison terms. Illinois new gun data portal can help turn these stricter statutory sentences into reality  helping stop the flow of illegal guns to gangs and others engaged in criminal violence." This joint development by the Attorney General and the State Police is the exact kind of cooperative law enforcement effort that Illinois needs.

Illinois also has launched a free online resource that lets the public access crime-gun data online. Available on the Attorney General's website, it also provides aggregate totals of crime-gun recoveries by region and illustrates how many of the firearms were first sold by out-of-state retailers.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Indirect negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers ended Wednesday in Qatar after failing to make significant progress amid a growing crisis over the Islamic Republic's atomic program, diplomats said.

The Doha talks broke up after two days without any sign of a breakthrough, months after talks in Vienna among all of the deal's parties went on pause." In the time since, Iran shut off surveillance cameras of international inspectors and now has enough high-enriched uranium to potentially fashion into at least one nuclear bomb if it chose.

And with Iran and the U.S. blaming each other for the talks' failure, it remains unclear when  or if  there will be another round of negotiations.

European Union mediator Enrique Mora on Twitter described as intense the two days of talks in Doha.

"Unfortunately, not yet the progress the EU team as coordinator had hoped-for," Mora wrote. We will keep working with even greater urgency to bring back on track a key deal for non-proliferation and regional stability.

Mora's comments came hours after the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to Irans hard-line Revolutionary Guard, described the negotiations as finished hours before they ended and having no effect on breaking the deadlock in the talks.

Tasnim claimed that the American position did not include a guarantee for Iran benefiting economically from the deal, quoting what it described as unnamed informed sources.

Washington is seeking to revive the (deal) in order to limit Iran without economic achievement for our country, the Tasnim report claimed. A key sticking point has been American sanctions targeting the Guard.

U.S. Special Representative Rob Malley spoke to the Iranians through Mora during the talks. Mora then took messages to Irans top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

After the Tasnim report, Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani issued a statement describing the talks as being held in a professional and serious atmosphere. He later said that Iran and Mora will be in touch regarding the continuation of the route and the next stage of the talks.

However, it remains unclear if there will be another round of talks on the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The State Department said that Iran "raised issues wholly unrelated to the JCPOA and apparently is not ready to make a fundamental decision on whether it wants to revive the deal or bury it.

Indirect discussions in Doha have concluded, and while we are very grateful to the EU for its efforts, we are disappointed that Iran has, yet again, failed to respond positively to the EUs initiative and therefore that no progress was made," the State Department said.

Iran and world powers agreed in 2015 to the nuclear deal, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, raising tensions across the wider Middle East and sparking a series of attacks and incidents.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a pause since March. Since the deals collapse, Iran has been running advanced centrifuges and rapidly growing stockpiles of enriched uranium. However, Tehran continues to suffer under intense economic sanctions while the West hopes to again curtail Iran's nuclear program.

The incentive for Washington and Tehran to keep the prospect of a deal alive is strong, even as the actual likelihood of achieving a compromise diminishes, said Henry Rome, an analyst with the Eurasia Group tracking the negotiations. For that reason, we would expect the sides to resume talks in Doha in the near future, although we are not optimistic about a breakthrough.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  U.S. Sen. James Lankford won Tuesdays GOP primary outright in his race for reelection to another six-year term in the U.S. Senate, while U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former House Speaker T.W. Shannon advanced to a runoff in Oklahoma's other U.S. Senate race.

Oklahoma had the unique situation of races for both U.S. Senate seats on the ballot following Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's announcement in February that he wouldn't finish his term. Inhofe's announcement set off a flurry of activity among Republican politicians, and Mullin's entry into the race left open his 2nd Congressional District seat in eastern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma's Senate races aren't expected to have much of an impact nationally, since both GOP nominees in the U.S. Senate races will be heavy favorites to keep the seats in Republican hands in November. Oklahoma hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in more than 30 years.

Lankford, 54, defeated Tulsa pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, 30, and Joan Farr, 67, of Broken Arrow.

Ive had the pleasure of having a few interactions with Sen. Lankford, and I think hes pretty professional," said Evan Sellars, 22, who cast his ballot for Lankford in Oklahoma City. I think for the most part hes doing a pretty good job."

Lahmeyer, a political newcomer endorsed by ex-President Trumps former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, had accused Lankford of not being conservative enough and criticized him for not endorsing Trumps false claims about the 2020 election outcome.

On the Democratic side, Oklahoma City attorney Jason Bollinger, 30, and cybersecurity expert Madison Horn, 33, are the only candidates in a six-person field who had raised much money, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Neither Horn nor Bollinger captured more than 50% of the vote, setting up a head-to-head showdown between the two candidates in an August runoff.

In Oklahoma's other U.S. Senate race, to replace Inhofe, a stalwart in Oklahoma GOP politics since the 1960s, Mullin and Shannon, both 44, emerged from a 13-candidate Republican field seeking to become Oklahoma's newest U.S. senator. Among the other challengers were state Sen. Nathan Dahm, 39; Inhofes longtime chief of staff Luke Holland, 35; and ex-Attorney General and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.

There seems to be little difference among the Republican candidates in both races on key issues, as all have expressed frustration with President Joe Biden's administration, opposition to restrictions on firearms and support of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion.

The winner in the race for Inhofe's seat will face Democrat and former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, 46, who is not related to Madison Horn, along with a Libertarian and an independent, in November's general election.

___

Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
ROME (AP)  U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peters Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position in support of abortion rights.

Pelosi attended the morning Mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis bestowed the woolen pallium stole on newly consecrated archbishops. She was seated in a VIP diplomatic section of the basilica and received Communion along with the rest of the congregants, according to two people who witnessed the moment.

Pelosis home archbishop, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, has said he will no longer allow her to receive the sacrament in his archdiocese because of her support for abortion rights. Cordileone, a conservative, has said Pelosi must either repudiate her support for abortion or stop speaking publicly of her Catholic faith.

Pelosi has done neither. She called the recent Supreme Court ruling removing constitutional protections for abortion an outrageous and heart-wrenching decision that fulfils the Republican Partys dark and extreme goal of ripping away womens right to make their own reproductive health decisions.

And she has spoken openly about the Catholic faith, including at a diplomatic reception at the residence of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Tuesday evening marking Independence Day.

Speaking to a crowd of ambassadors, Vatican officials and other Rome-based Americans, Pelosi noted the Catholic virtues of faith, hope and charity and the important role they play in the U.S. Embassys mission.

Faith is an important gift, not everyone has it but it is the path to so many other things, she told the crowd.

Pelosi met with Francis on Wednesday before the Mass and received a blessing, according to one of the Mass attendees. A photo released by the Vatican showed Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, greeting Francis off to the side of the basilica.

Francis has strongly upheld the church's opposition to abortion, and on Wednesday said church leaders must continue to care for human life. But in his homily, Francis also instructed the new archbishops to welcome everyone into the church, including sinners, and to not remain pinned to some of our fruitless debates.

So many times we become a church with open doors, but only to send people away, to condemn them, he said.

After the Mass, Pelosi visited the Sant'Egidio Community, a Catholic charity close to Francis where she met with refugees helped by the group. At an event to award the charity with $25,000 in State Department funding, Pelosi referred to the need to preach the Gospel with actions, not just words.

We had the pleasure of attending Mass this morning with His Holiness and many many many leaders of the church, Pelosi said. In the spirit of St. Francis, which is the name of His Holiness and my city of San Francisco, I thank you for preaching the Gospel, sometimes using words.

While Francis presided over the Mass, he did not distribute Communion himself and Pelosi received the sacrament from one of the many priests who distributed it. From the time he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, Francis has rarely distributed Communion, precisely to prevent the sacrament from becoming politicized.

Last year, President Joe Biden, another Catholic who also supports abortion rights, said after meeting with Francis that the pontiff told him to continue receiving the sacrament. Biden later received Communion during a Mass in a Rome church that is under the authority of Francis as bishop of Rome.

Pelosis partaking of the sacrament inside the Vatican during a Mass presided over by the pope was even more significant, and a sign of Francis unwillingness to refuse Communion. Francis has described the Eucharist as not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

Asked about some U.S. bishops who wanted to refuse Biden the sacrament, Francis told reporters during an airborne press conference in September that priests shouldnt be politicians and condemn their flock but should be pastors who accompany the faithful with tenderness and compassion.

There was no immediate public response from Cordileone, the San Francisco archbishop, who this week is hosting a liturgy conference that has been in the Catholic news because of its organizers and sponsorship deals.

The Vatican has not ruled on the specific matter of Communion and politicians supporting abortion in a major teaching document, though the churchs in-house canon law says people in a situation of persistent sin shouldnt be allowed to receive Communion. It has also issued guidelines for the behavior of Catholics in political life, exhorting them to uphold principles consistent with church doctrine.

The then-head of the Vaticans doctrine office, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger  the future Pope Benedict XVI  told U.S. bishops in 2004 that priests must deny the sacrament if a politician goes to receive Communion despite an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin, including the sin of consistently campaigning for permissive abortion laws.

Ratzinger wrote a confidential letter outlining the principles to U.S. bishops in response to their question about whether to deny Communion to John Kerry, who was the Democratic nominee for president. In the end the bishops ignored Ratzingers advice and voted instead for the policy currently in place allowing bishops to decide themselves whether to withhold it.

___

Paolo Santalucia and Alessandra Tarantino contributed.
GODFREY  On Saturday, July 9, the Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois, Community Cultivators, and the Village of Godfrey will host a Pollinator Party at the Jaime Hines Prairie at LaVista Park in Godfrey in honor of the regions ongoing work to protect pollinators and create a culture of conservation.

The event includes childrens activities 9:30-10 a.m. and the sculpture unveiling at 10 a.m. Light refreshments will be provided. Register to attend at bit.ly/pollinatorparty22.

During the event, community artists will unveil the Prairie Portal  an outdoor sculpture designed by Merrilyn Shoemaker and Tom Cundiff  and guests can learn about the role of prairies and pollinators such as Monarch butterflies.

The Jaime Hines Prairie at LaVista is in its third year of growth thanks to Godfrey resident and native plant enthusiast Trevor Bennett. He worked with the Village of Godfrey's Parks and Recreation Department to establish phase one of the prairie, said Christine Favilla, co-Coordinator of the Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois.

We are proud to support the movement across Illinois to stop the decline of Monarchs and other pollinators by supporting policies and practices that protect these critical species and their habitats," she said. "Sierra Club Illinois aims to educate and inform community members about the importance of pollinators, and this beautiful sculpture is an incredible educational instrument to that end.

Community Cultivators and the Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois funded the design and construction of the sculpture as part of its efforts to restore the biodiversity and ecology of Illinois pollinator landscapes. The two groups plan to continue to plant native plants, maintain the prairie and educate residents through programming. Interpretive signage will be installed at the prairie this summer.

I originally suggested this project in 2020 and am proud to have championed and supported the project throughout the process, said Janet Riehl, local artist and advocate. The Prairie Portal shows us how beauty and function come together to give us a powerful ecological message on the importance of native habitat and pollination.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  Syria said Wednesday it will recognize the independence and sovereignty of Ukraines eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and contacts will be established to set up diplomatic relations.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry announcement came days after President Bashar Assad met with a joint delegation from both regions in Damascus.

Earlier this month, Russia claimed to have taken control of 97% of one of the two provinces that make up Ukraines Donbas, bringing the Kremlin closer to its goal of fully capturing the eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscows forces hold nearly all of Luhansk province. And it appears that Russia now occupies roughly half of Donetsk province, according to Ukrainian officials and military analysts.

Syria is a strong ally of Russia, which joined Syrias conflict in September 2015 helping tip the balance of power in favor of Assads favor.

The brief Foreign Ministry statement carried by Syrian state news agency SANA on Wednesday gave no further details.

The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Luhansk Peoples Republic and the Donetsk Peoples Republic, the statement, quoting an unnamed official, said.

It added that contacts are ongoing with both regions to strengthen relations including setting up diplomatic relations.

After abandoning its bungled attempt to storm Ukraine capital of Kyiv two months ago, Russia declared that taking the entire Donbas is its main objective. Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian government forces in the Donbas since 2014, and the region has borne the brunt of the Russian onslaught in recent weeks.
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PARIS (AP)  The lone survivor of a team of Islamic State extremists who terrorized Paris in 2015 was convicted Wednesday of murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the deadliest peacetime attacks in French history.

The special terrorism court also convicted 19 other men involved in the assault on the Bataclan concert hall, cafes and the national stadium, which killed 130 people and injured hundreds, some permanently maimed. It also led to intensified French military action against extremists abroad and a lasting shift in France's security posture at home.

Survivors and victims' families emerged from the packed courtroom dazed or exhausted after an excruciating nine-month trial that's been crucial in their quest for justice and closure.

Chief suspect Salah Abdeslam was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise. The court found that his explosives vest malfunctioned, dismissing his argument that he ditched the vest because he decided not to follow through with his part of the attack on the night of Nov. 13, 2015.

The other nine attackers either blew themselves up or were killed by police that night.

Abdeslam, a 32-year-old Belgian, was given France's most severe sentence possible. The sentence of life without parole has only been pronounced four times in the country  for crimes related to rape and murder of minors. Neither he nor his lawyer spoke publicly after the verdict.

Of the other defendants, 18 were given various terrorism-related convictions, and one was convicted on a lesser fraud charge. Some were given life sentences; others walked free after being sentenced to time served.

They have 10 days to appeal. The sentences were broadly expected, and those present expressed little surprise; mainly, a bit of relief.

I hope to be able to put the word victim into the past, said Bataclan survivor Arthur Denouveaux.

When things like this happen you have no reparation possible. Thats why you have justice, he said, even if justice cant do everything.

During the trial, Abdeslam initially proclaimed his radicalism but later appeared to evolve, weeping, apologizing to victims and pleading with judges to forgive his mistakes.

For months, the packed main chamber and 12 overflow rooms in the 13th century Justice Palace heard harrowing accounts by the victims, along with testimony from Abdeslam. The other defendants were largely accused of helping with logistics or transportation. At least one is accused of a direct role in the deadly March 2016 attacks in Brussels, which also was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The trial was an opportunity for survivors and those mourning loved ones to recount the deeply personal horrors inflicted that night and to listen to details of countless acts of bravery, humanity and compassion among strangers. They wanted to tell the accused directly that they have been left irreparably scarred, but not broken.

I feel like Ive grown up thanks to the trial, said David Fritz Geoppinger, who was held hostage in the Bataclan. Its important as a victim to hear justice speak.

France was changed in the wake of the attacks: Authorities declared a state of emergency and armed officers now constantly patrol public spaces. The violence sparked soul-searching among the French and Europeans, since most of the attackers were born and raised in France or Belgium. And they transformed forever the lives of all those who suffered losses or bore witness.

Presiding judge Jean-Louis Peries said at the trial's outset that it belongs to international and national events of this century.  France emerged from the state of emergency in 2017, after incorporating many of the harshest measures into law.

Fourteen of the defendants were in court, including Abdeslam. All but one of the six men convicted in absentia are presumed killed in Syria or Iraq; the other is in prison in Turkey.

Most of the suspects were accused of helping create false identities, transporting the attackers back to Europe from Syria or providing them with money, phones, explosives or weapons. Abdeslam was the only defendant tried on several counts of murder and kidnapping as a member of a terrorist organization.

Not everyone is a jihadi, but all of those you are judging accepted to take part in a terrorist group, either by conviction, cowardliness or greed, prosecutor Nicolas Braconnay told the court in closing arguments this month.

Some defendants said innocent civilians were targeted because of Frances policies in the Middle East and hundreds of civilian deaths in Western airstrikes in Islamic State-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq.

During his testimony, former President Francois Hollande dismissed claims that his government was at fault. The Paris attackers did not shoot, kill, maim and traumatize civilians because of religion, he said, but fanaticism and barbarism.

The night of the attack was a balmy Friday evening, with the citys bars and restaurants packed. At the Bataclan concert venue, the American band Eagles of Death Metal were playing to a full house. At the national stadium, a soccer match between France and Germany had just begun, attended by then-President Hollande and then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The sound of the first suicide bombing at 9:16 p.m. barely carried over the noise of the stadiums crowd. The second came four minutes later. A squad of gunmen opened fire at several bars and restaurants in another part of Paris.

Worse was to follow. At 9:47 p.m., three more gunmen burst into the Bataclan, firing indiscriminately. Ninety people died within minutes. Hundreds were held hostage  some gravely injured  for hours before Hollande ordered it stormed.

During closing arguments Monday, Abdeslams lawyer Olivia Ronen told a panel of judges that her client shouldn't be convicted of murder because he was the only one in the group of attackers who didnt set off explosives to kill others that night.

She emphasized through the trial that she is not providing legitimacy to the attacks by defending her client in court.

Abdeslam apologized to the victims at his final court appearance Monday, saying that listening to victims accounts of so much suffering changed him, he said.

Georges Salines, who lost his daughter Lola in the Bataclan, felt Abdeslam's remorse was insincere. I dont think its possible to forgive him," he said.

But for Salines, life without parole is going too far.

I dont like the idea of in advance deciding that there is no hope," he said. "I think it is important to keep hope for any man.

___

Surk reported from Nice, France. Associated Press writers Alex Turnbull, Oleg Cetinic and Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed to this report.
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump says he will lead the legal fight on behalf of a Black man in Connecticut who was seriously injured in the back of a police van when the driver braked suddenly
A man who stored more than 1,000 counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine or fentanyl in a childs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack in the Rhode Island apartment he shared with his three children has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison
Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Tri-Cities Airport officials said the facility experienced a 51% jump in passenger traffic from January to May of this year compared to the same period in 2021. This region is currently underserved with the number of seats versus the number of people wanting to travel, noted Tri-Cities Airport Authority Executive Director Gene Cossey in a news release issued Wednesday.
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TROY  A Rensselaer County jury is deciding the second-degree murder case of Jahquay Brown, the alleged wheelman in a drive-by shooting that killed an unintended victim: 11-year-old Ayshawn Davis.

Jurors began their deliberations just before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday after receiving instructions from Judge Jennifer Sober. They will resume deliberations Thursday morning.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hauf told jurors that Brown, now 22, drove a friends blue Honda Accord to Old Sixth Avenue in Troy. There, the prosecutor said, an accomplice in the car named Joseph Evans fired five shots at about 11:20 p.m.

Davis, who was standing outside a building on Old Sixth Avenue, was shot in the head.

Evans, 21, also known as Joey Buckz, has not been charged in connection with Davis' death.

On the night of the shooting, Brown and Evans had been at a memorial for a recently slain friend  Tyshawn Q. Daniels  identified in court as Boogie, the prosecutor said. Daniels was killed because of a social media beef, Hauf told jurors while playing a video of Browns Sept. 23, 2020, interview with Troy police While at the memorial, Evans and Brown saw a Facebook Live post from gang rivals in Troy mocking Daniels death while on Old Sixth Avenue.

Evans and Brown, known as Jabba, decided to take it to the streets and went to Troy to retaliate with Brown behind the wheel, Hauf said.

What were they doing? They were hunting  hunting for people to shoot because of Boogie, Hauf told jurors, highlighting Browns own words to police.

Im not trying to prove to you that they intentionally went out to put a bullet in an 11-year-old child and I dont need to prove that, Hauf continued.

Im proving that they went out together driving with the same mental intent, the same idea: Avenge Boogie. These kids arent going to talk st to us on Facebook. Were going to take it to the streets. They took it to the streets. They did. Joseph Evans fired five bullets out of that car as (Brown) was driving. And they killed an 11-year-old kid.

The shooting of the child was linked to longtime violent feuding between individuals affiliated with gangs in uptown Albany (West Hill), such as Brown, and rivals in Troy, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Brown survived being grazed in the head by a bullet in Albany in 2019.

Evans was charged with weapon possession in connection with the shooting of Daniels  but not as a participant in the crime.

Davis had his whole life ahead of him, Hauf told jurors.

Hauf, who spoke for about an hour and 10 minutes, said he did not need to prove Brown was the triggerman, but that he acted in concert with Evans.

Brown is not charged with intentional murder but showing a depraved indifference and wanton disregard for human life in the murder of Davis by intentionally aiding Evans.

If he cared about anybody potentially getting shot, he wouldnt have driven him, Hauf said. He would have not been in the car. He would have stopped.

Police found the .40 caliber handgun used in the killing in a backpack in Browns home on Saratoga Street in Cohoes. Test-firing of the weapon yielded fragments of bullets found at the crime scene, Hauf said.

In addition, Bluetooth technology showed that a cellphone titled Jahquay was paired with the Honda Accord in the hours before and after the shooting.

In a summation of less than 15 minutes, Robert Molloy, the defense attorney for Brown, acknowledged his client was at the scene.

But he said there was no proof that his client and Evans had the same intentions.

They want you to assume that Jahquay Brown knew what Joey Evans was going to do and knew it ahead of time, Molloy told the jury, saying it was a smokescreen to suggest his client and Evans were of the same mind.

He said jurors may not like everything they heard about Brown, including the false leads he gave Troy police when he was first interviewed. He said it was out of misplaced loyalty or perhaps fear.

Brown could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.
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A week after COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for kids aged 6 months to 5 years, some parents are still struggling to find shots for their little ones this summer.

Health authorities and practitioners cite supply issues, complicated guidelines, lack of demand and administrative challenges for holding off on creating clinics for the youngest age group.

The shots are largely offered by appointment through pediatric offices, many of which only offer COVID-19 vaccines to established patients, raising concerns about access in high-poverty rural and urban communities, where pediatric care is less reliable.

In some parts of the Capital Region, just one pediatrician serves thousands of patients, according to a recent analysis from Brightside Up, a child care resource agency.

CapitalCare Family Practice River Road in Schenectady sent a letter to parents saying it would be unable to meet the "significant administrative and staff requirements" associated with providing the COVID-19 vaccine to children under 5.

"Considering our current resources and patient needs, if we provided the vaccine, it would compromise the care and access we provide our patients," the group wrote in an email to patients.

Select Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacies are offering vaccines, but only for ages 3 and up, according to their websites.

In general, non-pediatricians are reluctant to vaccinate toddlers and infants, who can be difficult, uncooperative patients, health care experts said.

When the Pfizer vaccine was first approved for school-aged children, the state Department of Health and county health departments launched robust vaccination campaigns, which included walk-in clinics in schools and community centers. For children under 5, the rollout has been bumpier.

New York State Association of County Health Officials Executive Director Sarah Ravenhall said the majority of county health departments are working with pediatricians to create more vaccination opportunities.

The-age-5-and-under population requires specific expertise so its important to move carefully to ensure the most effective vaccination program," Ravenhall said. "However, each county is unique, not only in the demographics and health status of their communities but also in the availability of pediatric providers. Therefore, each county, along with their pediatric providers, will necessarily identify what works best for their service area.

Schenectady County briefly opened enrollment for a community vaccination clinic that was to take place over the weekend pending further guidance from the state Department of Health. When the guidance came out last week, the clinic was canceled.

"We are still working out a plan to offer vaccines to some of our youngest residents in the safest way possible," county spokeswoman Erin Roberts said. "Once we have more details we will get the information out to the public. We encourage anyone who is looking to vaccinate a child under the age of five to reach out to their primary care provider and we will continue to do all we can to support our local healthcare providers."

State Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes, who owns Marra's Pharmacy in Cohoes, said he is not currently vaccinating children 5 and under due to lack of demand.

"There's always a concern about wasting doses. We've had very limited requests in Cohoes," McDonald said. "It's a very interesting time of the year. A lot of people are on vacation. A lot of people are checked out."

Running a clinic for younger children is more complicated than running an adult clinic. The technique is also slightly different for infants, who receive shots in the thigh instead of the arm, McDonald said.

He noted that each Pfizer vial contains 10 doses. If a patient doesn't return for the second or third shot in the series, those doses are tossed out.

"We're not going to open a vial for one dose a day. That's just a waste of resources," McDonald said.

Low demand is attributed in part to the perception that COVID-19 doesn't pose a threat to infants. While severe COVID-19 is extremely rare for children under 5, babies and toddlers were more vulnerable to recent strains of the virus.

Hospitalization rates for children under 5 were five times higher nationally during the peak of the omicron variant in January, compared with the delta variant peak in September, according to doctors at Albany Med.

The Capital Region's hospital systems, St. Peter's Health Partners and Albany Medical Center, are working to plug some of the gaps in access.

Saint Peter's has six pediatric offices across the Capital Region administering the three-dose Pfizer series that are currently accepting new patients.

Albany Med Pediatrics at 391 Myrtle Ave. has a limited number of appointments for the three-dose Pfizer vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years on Saturday, July 9, and Saturday, July 16. Further clinics, which are available to non-patients regardless of insurance coverage, will be scheduled if there is demand, according to a hospital spokesperson.

A challenge with the latest iteration of the Pfizer is that two doses were shown in trials to be ineffective at protecting against COVID-19 in 2-to-5-year-olds, so it's important that the series is completed, experts say.

"The most significant logistical challenge in administering the vaccine is ensuring that patients return for their full series of vaccines," Albany Med Director of Communication Sue Ford said in a statement.

Most providers are offering the Pfizer vaccine because they are already familiar with administering it, but some parents said they would prefer the two-dose Moderna vaccine because of its efficiency.

Each shot in the Pfizer series is separated by six weeks, which means children entering pre-school in the fall won't be fully inoculated against the virus when school starts.

Adam Mandel, the father of a 1-year-old and 4-year-old from Albany, considered driving to New York City or Vermont to obtain the elusive two-dose Moderna vaccine.

He finally scored an appointment for his pre-schooler at a Walgreens in Amsterdam, an hour from his home, and then drove out to Queensbury for a doctor who was offering Moderna doses to non-patients in the youngest age bracket.

"I was anticipating a comparable experience to when my cohort got vaccinated  mass vaccination clinics and public awareness efforts," Mandel said. "It's disheartening that, after years of waiting, my family was left to figure this out on our own and experienced real barriers. My sense of urgency does not appear to be shared or validated."

Parents who scored Moderna appointments for their youngest children said it brought a sense of relief.

Albany father Brendan Kennedy said he was able to set up Saturday appointments for his toddler, preschooler and infant through the family's usual health care provider, Schoolhouse Road Pediatrics in Albany.

For the last two years, he and his wife fretted over every sniffle and COVID-19 notification from their child's preschool. They also worried about exposing their parents, Kennedy said.

Aside from a few tears, the doses went smoothly, according to Kennedy.

"We've just been waiting in stasis for this day to come and then it came and it was just uneventful," he said.

Parents in search of a COVID-19 vaccine provider for their child can visit www.vaccinefinder.org.
Blue Carreker was on vacation in Italy on Friday when her phone started buzzing with urgent texts and emails.

News of the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade instantaneously reached the former longtime spokeswoman of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, nearly 5,000 miles away and six hours ahead of Albany.

I wasnt shocked because we knew it was coming, said Carreker, who spoke with me by phone Sunday from Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily. She said the U.S. Supreme Courts historic and far-reaching decision to reverse after nearly 50 years the constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. was widely reported by Italian media.

I felt this had been coming for a while, but its still infuriating, frightening and deeply saddening, said Carreker, who was the voice of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood from 1997 through 2013, serving as vice president for public affairs and media relations. She also volunteered for several years for the organization before she became an employee. She later spent eight years as a campaign manager for Citizen Action of New York.

I reached out to Carreker because she was a smart, helpful and insightful public relations person when I wrote stories about Planned Parenthood. After 16 years on the front lines, she developed a nuanced understanding of the fraught history and pitched battles over abortion and womens reproductive rights led primarily by the Christian right and Roman Catholics in the Capital Region and across the country.

Hundreds gathered Friday night outside the state Capitol to protest the Supreme Court decision. Many expressed frustration and anger. Signs read, Abort the Court. Some likened the gathering to a vigil for the loss of a womans constitutionally protected freedom to terminate a pregnancy. Rallies and demonstrations were held in numerous cities around the country.

The stunning decision reverberating across Americas cultural landscape was the first time the nations highest court had taken away an individuals right anchored in the Constitution and left abortion up to individual states and their lawmakers. The formerly widely available and common medical procedure will soon be banned or severely limited in about half the states.

Carreker felt the seeds for overturning the landmark 1973 decision had been planted long before former President Donald Trump appointed three conservative judges in a single term, giving conservatives a supermajority on the Supreme Court. The vote was 5-4 in favor of overturning Roe and removing the right to an abortion. By a 56 percent to 40 percent margin, respondents opposed the courts decision, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll taken immediately after Fridays decision.

Despite the way sex is used to sell and market a lot of things in America, there is still a puritanical strain in our culture and were very uncomfortable in this country talking about sex and sexual activity, Carreker said. A very strong and fervent minority believe abortion is a sin and a killing of an innocent life based on their faith. They have been willing to push that belief aggressively, relentlessly and even violently for decades and have now made it the law of the land.

Since 1977, there have been 11 murders, 42 bombings, 196 arsons, 491 assaults and thousands of criminal incidents directed at patients, providers and volunteers, according to the National Abortion Federation, which tracks statistics nationwide. The group reported a significant increase in incidents of violence in 2021.

We had to deal constantly with intimidation, threats, violence, the doctors getting killed, mobs of Operation Rescue radicals chaining themselves to our doors to block access to our clinics, Carreker said.

It was a very scary time, but we stuck together and got through it, she said. We had a tremendous network of supporters and defenders and the vast majority of the community was on our side.

Carreker was critical of the Democratic Partys lackadaisical response in countering the religious rights aggressive and often violent tactics. I remember Hillary Clinton came to Planned Parenthoods statewide advocacy day and used phrases like a necessary evil. The weak language left a pit in my stomach.

Anti-abortion activists later switched to a tactic telling women abortion was a decision they will regret for the rest of their lives. It preyed on womens fears and it worked, Carreker said.

The roots of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood date to the 1934 founding of the Albany Womens Health Center run by Dr. Frances Vosburgh on State Street near the Capitol. By 1940, nearly 500 women received birth control services annually, but pressure from the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany forced the closure of the clinic in 1942. With the introduction of the birth control pill in 1960, patient visits climbed to about 10,000 by 1965, when Planned Parenthood moved to Lark Street.

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood received a license to provide abortion services in Albany and Hudson in 1984, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany filed a lawsuit and a lengthy legal battle ensued. Executive Director Ruth Klepper was a heroic, beloved leader of Planned Parenthood during those tumultuous decades. The agency relocated and opened a new Albany health center on Central Avenue in 2010 and upgraded its facilities in Hudson in 2019 and Troy in 2020.

I covered Schenectady for the Times Union in 1985 when Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson was located on Union Street. Carreker also worked at that location. Anti-abortion activists set up a storefront operation directly across the street with garish oversized images of mutilated fetuses in the window. I wrote stories about the intense level of harassment and intimidation against patients, including demonstrators shouting at them with bullhorns. Planned Parenthood later moved to State Street.

Carreker grew up in the GE Realty Plot in the 1950s and 1960s, the daughter of Eisenhower Republicans. Her father worked at General Electric and her mother raised three daughters.

In the late 1970s, a relative diagnosed with schizophrenia disappeared for weeks and returned pregnant. She did not know who the father was and was not mentally fit to raise a child. There was a lot of agonizing over it, but I feel they made the right decision to end the pregnancy, she said.

Carreker was a college student in 1974 when she had an unplanned pregnancy. I decided I was not ready to be a parent and bearing a child to give up for adoption was not a choice I wanted to make, she said. Planned Parenthood had the abortion procedure available and it was the right decision for me.

Carreker gave birth to two sons in the 1980s. One lives in Californias Bay Area and the other lives in a two-family house in Troy he shares with Carreker. I took them to rallies and demonstrations as kids and talked with them about sex education starting at an early age, she said. They are strong advocates for all aspects of womens rights.

She recalled when her younger son was in third grade in Scotia and the teacher asked her pupils to name the most famous building in the area. Her sons hand shot up. The teacher called on him.

The Planned Parenthood building in Albany, he answered.

Paul Grondahl is director of the New York State Writers Institute and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpaul@gmail.com

Correction: This article has been updated. Blue Carreker's father worked for General Electric. She worked at Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood and Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson in Schenectady.
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MALTA  Hudson Valley Community College is bringing more of its campus to Saratoga County, expanding access for hundreds of students who currently drive south to Troy for classes.

On Wednesday, officials broke ground for a new STEM building next to the TEC-SMART facility. The 14,500-square-foot building will have classrooms for health care, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and skilled trades programs.

Currently, 1,500 students drive past the site on their way to HVCCs main campus in Troy, President Roger Ramsammy said.

He dubbed the site HVCC North and said it will help provide trained employees for job sectors that are desperate for highly skilled workers.

Our local employers have been asking for this for quite a while, he said.

U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, joined the groundbreaking, saying he wanted to celebrate the expansion of opportunity.

Training more workers is critical to grow the green energy and STEM innovation economies, Tonko said.

If we do not have the human infrastructure, we are failing in that attempt, he said.

The plan also calls for renovation of the TEC-SMART facility, with state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories, particularly to train workers for the semiconductor manufacturing field.

Johanna Duncan-Poitier, senior vice chancellor for Community Colleges and the Education Pipeline for the State University of New York, praised HVCC for its work connecting educational programs with GlobalFoundries and other employers.

There are people all around the world who are taking a look at this work, she said. I hear, Oh Ive heard about HVCC and its many partners.

She credited Tonko and others with funding infrastructure support for the semiconductor industry many years ago.

Now, that has led to even more demand for skilled workers, she said.

The work you do todayis truly transforming the future, she said.
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TROY The disappearance of 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwalker from Washington County nearly 15 years ago has remained unsolved.

But State Police say a tip prompted officers to search a wooded area near the South Troy Dodgers baseball fields on Wednesday.

Barbara Reeley, his adoptive grandmother, said she received a phone call on Wednesday from State Police alerting her to the search of the heavily wooded area off Springwood Manor near the fields after they said they received a lead.

They got a tip and they said it was a good tip, Reeley said. I dont know any other details.

The ball fields are located near where Reeley and her husband once had a clay studio.

Reeley now lives in Sumterville, Fla. Her husband, Dennis Smith, and former Cambridge-Greenwich Police George Bell, the law enforcement official who led the yearslong search for Jaliek, died within weeks of each other in 2018.

The new lead, she said, gives her hope.

This morning, I was a total wreck. Its so sad to think if they find Jaliek, itll be skeletal remains, Reeley said. But its better to find remains than nothing and to know where he is. And then we can have closure and we can at least be able to rest.

Law enforcement provided little information on what prompted the search, including why they listed an underwater recovery team as part of the group that searched the wooded area Tuesday.

State Police cannot provide specific information at this time in regards to the lead or the outcome of the search as this remains an open and ongoing investigation, police said in a statement.

The Times Union has been interviewing subjects for the last three months for an upcoming project on Jaliek's unsolved disappearance, including an interview with Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan Tuesday.

Jaliek was 12 years old when he was last seen on Nov. 1, 2007. According to his father Stephen Kerr, who adopted him in 2003, the two stayed at a relative's unoccupied home in Greenwich. Kerr told police Jaliek was gone when he woke up the next morning.

Reeley said she was appreciative to law enforcement for keeping the investigation open.

Im so thankful to law enforcement, Reeley said. Even though its a cold case, theyre continuing to search. Maybe theyll find something tonight.

Investigators elevated Jaliek's missing person case to a probable child homicide case in 2012 after following more than 500 leads. That announcement came days after police, acting on a tip, used cadaver dogs to search for the boy's body at a Troy property but found nothing.

Previous high-profile leads have fizzled, including the discovery of a partially buried skull in state wetlands along the Hudson River in Greene County in 2017.

Tips on the case can be submitted to State Police at 1-800-GIVE-TIP or through crimetip@troopers.ny.gov.
The most damning testimony yet in the January 6 Committee Hearings was made public today when a former aide in the Trump administration revealed excessively detailed information.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to President Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, publicly told the Committee today that, amongst other things, President Donald Trump wanted to go the Capitol Building with rioters Jan. 6, 2021 as they raided the building to try and stop the approval of the 2020 presidential election results. An election that Trump lost to current President Joe Biden.

Hutchinson testified Trump tried to grab the wheel of the vehicle he was being transported in by the Secret Service after he was told he had to return to the West Wing of the White House. She then followed that testimony, which she pointed out was relayed to her, by saying Trump went for the restraining agent's clavicle with his free hand.

"I'm the f-ing president, take me to the Capitol," Hutchinson said Trump stated in her testimony.

See what Hutchinson had to say in the full hearing video:

Hutchinson provided even more detailed information as to Trump's actions and remarks at the White House on Jan. 6 and to several of Trump's top loyalists who knew what was going to happen on Jan. 6 on Jan. 2. She said obstruction of justice was one of the many subjects discussed.

The Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection began with a rally Trump had on The Ellipse, a park adjacent to the White House. And it was at that rally Hutchinson said Trump got mad because he knew some of his supporters had weapons, including firearms, on them but were having trouble getting into the rally because of metal detectors at the entrance.

Hutchinson said Trump wanted those detectors turned off because those with the weapons weren't there to kill him.

When all was said and done, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who is the committee's vice chair, said Hutchinson received a message that is believed to be from Trump's representatives.

"[A person] let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he's thinking about you. He knows you're loyal, and you're going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition," the message read by Cheney said.

There are now talks of investigating witness tampering.
Allegations against Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard keep coming, even after the legal window opened by the Child Victims Act has closed.

We're not referring to claims that the former head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany failed to properly address the crisis of child sexual abuse by priests, or that Bishop Hubbard's diocese systematically concealed credible allegations. Those assertions are no longer in dispute, given that the former bishop has admitted as much in court depositions.

We're referring to allegations that Bishop Hubbard was a direct participant in the abuse. Nine individuals have made such claims; seven have filed lawsuits against him, the diocese, or the Catholic church.

The latest allegations, as detailed in a Times Union story by Brendan J. Lyons, are leveled by two brothers who say Bishop Hubbard took part in assaults allegedly perpetrated by Gary Mercure, a former priest convicted of raping altar boys and now serving time in prison. The men say then-Rev. Mercure and Bishop Hubbard on several occasions sexually abused the older brother in Lake George motels, in the rectory of Our Lady of Annunciation in Queensbury, and in Rev. Mercures vehicle.

Bishop Hubbard, through his attorney, denies the claims, and he deserves the presumption of innocence.

Meanwhile, many in the Capital Region may still struggle to reconcile his admitted failures with the man they admired, the former "street priest" who so often stood up for society's victims as he rose through the diocese hierarchy. That he did so little for the church's victims is tragic and disillusioning.

But what about today's diocese? Is it doing enough to support victims? The brothers' experience suggests not.

Their claim against the diocese and Our Lady of Annunciation under New York's Child Victims Act, which ultimately allowed a two-year window for old sexual abuse cases, has been stymied by a bare-knuckled legal tactic that led to the tossing of their lawsuit.

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The dismissal centered on the dioceses argument that the pair had relinquished any future claims when they signed a legal release in 2016 to each receive $90,000 for trauma therapy. The brothers say they would not have signed the agreement had they known it would bar them from future claims against the diocese.

Kathryn Barrans, a spokeswoman for the diocese, said it has provided considerable assistance to the victims/survivors in this case," noting the "payment for ongoing counseling assistance for them and a family member to the health care provider of their choice."

That may be true, but it is no reason to deny the brothers their day in court or the possibility of additional compensation for their pain. Indeed, this legal hardball is another impediment to the transparency and honesty needed to begin healing the wounds of the abuse scandal.

It is also in violation of the compassion, mercy and moral clarity that church faithful have every right to expect from an institution they look to for spiritual leadership. The diocese can and must do better.
ALBANY  The first round of New York's primary races unfolded Tuesday with some anticipated victories in the gubernatorial bouts but at least one apparent startling state Assembly upset in the Hudson Valley.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's incumbency and significant campaign coffers  outpacing all other candidates running for governor  proved to be an insurmountable challenge for New York City Advocate Jumaane Williams and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi. She was declared the winner by the Associated Press within 35 minutes of polls closing.

Did Andrew Giuliani get any traction from his dad's ties to Donald Trump?

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin cruised to victory in the GOP primary with many having wondered if the party favorite could face trouble from Andrew Giuliani, one of three challengers for the Republican line. It didn't turn out well for Giuliani, who quickly conceded to the Long Island congressman who will now turn his attention to November and Hochul.

Were there any unexpected outcomes in the primary?

Williams, the progressive who rarely appeared upstate during his campaign, stunned many political observers when he placed second in the Democratic primary by outpacing Suozzi with an unofficial 19 percent of the vote to the congressman's 12 percent (late Tuesday results).

Did the Assembly primaries result in any upsets?

Incumbent Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill faced one of the most stunning outcomes with the 26-year incumbent trailing Democratic newcomer Sarahana Shrestha by more than 500 votes as polls closed. The first-generation immigrant from Nepal had pledged to beat Cahill and "change the culture of Albany."

Who won the Democratic LG primary?

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado ran away with the Democratic primary and was declared the winner within 20 minutes of Hochul getting the nod. The projected surge by Ana Maria Archila, who had vied to become the first Latina elected to statewide office, fell short.
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ALBANY  Lawmakers are returning to the Capitol Thursday for an "extraordinary session" to address any fallout from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the right of someone to carry a concealed firearm, but there is also a push to take further action in response to the court's recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

The abortion issue includes state Attorney General Letitia James' opinion that there are no legal issues with a proposed "Equality Amendment" that could further solidify the right in New York to an abortion, same-sex marriage and other rights under the states constitution, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The support may have cleared the path for the amendment to be taken up by lawmakers during this week's special session, although elected officials would not disclose the details of their deliberations on Wednesday afternoon.

If the amendment makes it onto the agenda Thursday, it would mark an unlikely turnaround for an amendment that appeared to be on hold until next year after lawmakers left Albany earlier this month at the end of their scheduled legislative session without reaching a consensus on it.

The urgency to pass the amendment is based on a time clock for how long it takes to pass a constitutional amendment in New York. If it is not passed by early August, it would not be able to appear on a ballot in 2024's election. Advocates worry that without it passing this year, it would delay the long process to 2026. The amendment could potentially still reach voters by 2025, an off-cycle low turnout election; voting rights constitutional amendments were soundly rejected last year during the off-cycle election.

James spoke with the offices of state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie in recent days to assuage legal concerns, according to sources.

Certain lawmakers have raised concerns about whether the potential constitutional amendment would infringe on or suppress religious rights as a result of unintended consequences.

Gov. Kathy Hochul affirmed her strong support for the amendment on Wednesday when asked about the issue.

"Just want to get it done," said Hochul, who encouraged lawmakers to finish negotiations on any unresolved issues over language. "I want them to work it out."

Hochul has campaigned on pushing for a constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion. She won her Democratic primary with over two-thirds of the vote of the electorate on Tuesday.

"With so much at stake and Roe v. Wade on the chopping block, governors are the last line of defense to protect abortion and in New York the Republican candidates want to strip it away," stated a TV ad for Hocul that was released last month.

The TV ad, which mirrors other campaign messaging, adds, "but Kathy Hochul won't let that happen."

"She's working to amend the state constitution so that no matter how the Supreme Court rules in Washington, your right to a safe abortion is protected in New York," the narrator on the Hochul campaign ad says.

Hochul has balanced two pledges to voters on abortion: She is working on a constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion and said that while she's in office the state won't be able to roll back abortion rights.

The push for the amendment is based on a concern by some advocates about what could happen if Hochul is not governor. Advocates on the issue, like Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts and the New York Civil Liberties Union, are pressing the issue while Democrats control the Legislature and the executive chamber.

A constitutional amendment protecting the right to an abortion would insulate it from rollbacks if the leading elected officials in office in New York decide they want to alter the law  the 2019 Reproductive Health Act, which codified the right to an abortion in state law but not within the constitution.

A constitutional amendment in New York though would not protect against a national ban on abortion that could come down from Washington, according to Vincent M. Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School.

"If the federal government outlawed marriage equality or outlawed abortion, then New York can't really do anything about that," said Bonventre, explaining that federal law supercedes state law, even if it is in the state's constitution.

The scenario NYCLU and other advocates play out as happening, outside of a political regime change in New York, is the U.S. Supreme Court rolling back other rights, like same sex marriage or intercourse. The constitutional amendment would provide broad protection against any of the potential rollbacks in a variety of equal rights issues. The majority justices that ruled to overturn Roe V. Wade  returning the issues of abortion to state's elected representatives  explicitly noted in their ruling it only applies to abortion.

The Equality Amendment, sponsored by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, both Manhattan Democrats, would guarantee that "no person shall be denied equal rights" based on their "race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, or sex including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression."

The amendment is framed to protect those rights under a standard of equality instead of the traditional, and now crumbling, standard of privacy.

New language, updated this week, adds a clause intended to explicitly protect religion: "Nothing in this section is intended to alter or diminish the existing protections for region set forth in articles three and eleven of this constitution."
ALBANY  The city's Roman Catholic Diocese on Wednesday announced an initial proposal to use a court-supervised mediation plan to compensate the more than 400 victims of sexual abuse who have filed claims against the diocese, individual clergy and others under the state Child Victims Act.

The proposal, which must be approved by a state Supreme Court justice, would seek to "maximize the monetary recovery for victim/survivors on a fair and equitable basis and to accelerate the payments," according to a release distributed to dozens of attorneys on behalf of the diocese by Michael L. Costello, the diocese's longtime attorney.

"The diocese seeks to avoid the costly expenses and prolonged delays that would otherwise be associated with continued litigation with plaintiffs and their counsel and insurers and their counsel or a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case," the statement reads.

The statement adds that under the proposal, representatives of the diocese, as well as insurers and alleged victims of sexual abuse, would "participate in a mediation under the supervision of an agreed neutral mediator for the purpose of ... creating a fund based upon negotiated contributions of the diocese, its affiliates, and insurers; determining and paying victim/survivor claims; and establishing protocols and remediation procedures to redress allegations of and prevent abuse."

In a separate statement released Wednesday, Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, who took over leadership of the 14-county Albany diocese in 2014, said that "two divergent courses of action are shaping up in the diocese of Albany. One is the path of litigation; the other is to file for bankruptcy. ... In either scenario, the amount of funds available to be disbursed to survivors is the same."

"While I will continue to do all in my power to assist and accompany survivors and loved ones in recovery, including in their spiritual healing, I understand that my efforts are naturally difficult to trust," Scharfenberger said in the letter. "It will be hard for many to believe that I am acting or speaking from my heart, or that what I do or say is credible. I still believe it is worth reaching out to survivors and their loved ones at this juncture to describe a path to justice for all survivors under the (Child Victims Act)."

The state legislation, signed into law in 2019, opened a "lookback window" for previously time-barred civil claims involving sexual abuse of minors. The initial one-year window for filing claims was extended to August 2021 due in part to the interruption in the courts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The civil actions filed as a result have led four New York dioceses  including Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse  to declare bankruptcy.

Scharfenberger said the mediation plan took shape over many months and would ensure that "the greatest portion of the funds will go to survivors, and less for legal and court fees."

He added that it would also prevent those "who sued first depleting them, leaving less or no funds for those who sued later."

Neither Costello's statement nor Scharfenberger's letter mentions what if any transparency concerning the church's handling of decades of abuse allegations might accompany its settlement proposal. An appellate court recently rejected the diocese's efforts to keep secret the psychological treatment records of suspected pedophile priests  a ruling that could affect thousands of Child Victims Act cases across New York and not only in the 14-county Albany diocese.

The appellate panel also upheld state Supreme Court Justice L. Michael Mackey's decision ordering the diocese to turn over the personnel records of at least 48 priests whom the church determined had been credibly accused of child sexual abuse over a period stretching from 1946 to 1999.

There's no indication that ruling is connected to the mediation proposal, but it potentially impacts the pre-trial discovery process in hundreds of cases filed against the Albany diocese. It was also significant because there was little legal precedent in child abuse litigation prior to the enactment of the Child Victims Act.

Mallory Allen, an attorney who represents dozens of alleged sexual abuse survivors in Albany and across New York, denounced the proposal as "nothing but a last-ditch effort to avoid transparency and accountability with more false promises of fair compensation."

"The diocese ... has wasted years of time and millions of dollars fighting survivors in court and defending its bishops who allowed children to be sexually abused," she continued.

Allen added their cases "are not going to go away because of yet another mediation program that is predestined to fail because it is funded by an entity that doesnt want to be held accountable or pay fair compensation to survivors."

The appellate division case in Albany was centered on a lawsuit in which the attorneys for an alleged abuse victim sought records outlining the "sexual deviancy" treatment received by the Rev. Edward Pratt and other priests. Pratt is a former vice chancellor who was once ex-Albany Bishop Howard J. Hubbard's second in command. Hubbard also has been accused of sexually abusing children  allegations he denies.

The alleged victim in the Pratt case, Michael Harmon, said he was abused in the 1980s by the former vice chancellor, including inside the chancery in a room across the hall from where Hubbard lived. Harmon has said that while the ex-bishop never abused him, Hubbard was aware that the boy would spend multiple nights each week in Pratts bedroom.

The diocese had argued that the psychological treatment records of the priests were subject to patient-physician privileges, but Mackey had ruled that privilege was waived when the priests' medical records were shared with Hubbard.

At that point, the court ruled, they fell into the realm of business records subject to disclosure to the plaintiffs.

The diocese also had fought against the release of information about alleged victims of suspected abusive priests or others. Attorneys for plaintiffs have argued that information on other alleged victims is critical to their ability to show what the diocese knew about abusive priests  including many who were returned to ministry after receiving treatment only to commit abuse again.

Although the diocese has publicly supported the Child Victims Act  after years of the Catholic church lobbying against its passage  and attested to its efforts to help alleged victims, its legal team has also waged a fierce battle in court to prevent the release of many of the records that documented the abuse and their internal handling of it.

Several months ago, Mackey also ordered the release of a lengthy deposition of Hubbard that took place a year ago when the former bishop was questioned for four days by attorneys representing dozens of individuals who filed claims under the Child Victims Act.

During the deposition, Hubbard testified under oath that he and the diocese had systematically concealed incidents of child sexual abuse and did not alert law enforcement agencies when they discovered it, saying their actions were, in part, intended to avoid scandal and preserve "respect for the priesthood."
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ALBANY  Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, a lifelong resident of Schenectady County and a member of the Assembly since 2013, defeated Justin Chaires in the Democratic primary for the 111th District.

But the incumbent's primary victory came as a Hudson Valley Democrat  26-year incumbent Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill  was the projected loser in a race in which he was trailing Democratic newcomer Sarahana Shrestha, a first-generation immigrant from Nepal, when polls closed. Shrestha held a nearly 600-vote lead, although absentee ballots are still to be counted, according to the state Board of Elections.
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ALBANY  Ten firearms distributors accused of illegally selling thousands of "ghost gun" kits to New York residents are being sued by the office of state Attorney General Letitia James, who alleges they endangered the public by selling the unfinished weapons to individuals who in many instances had criminal backgrounds or were not lawfully permitted to possess them.

The untraceable firearms, including assault-style rifles and semiautomatic handguns, have proliferated, increasingly finding their way into the hands of individuals, including criminals, who have not obtained permits or undergone federally mandated background checks. The kits can be assembled by anyone with minimal skills.

James' office, in a statement, said the state is "grappling with a gun violence public health and safety crisis" that it said contributes to the increasing number of homicides, other firearm-related crimes and suicides.

The online companies often sell the integral base parts of firearms that are needed to build a gun  those parts are called "receivers" and "lowers"  to individuals who have not obtained permits or undergone federally mandated background checks to possess the weapons they build.

The attorney general's office has pursued criminal cases against ghost gun companies and their customers dating back years. In 2019, James' office sent a letter to 17 ghost gun companies warning them to cease selling their products illegally in New York. That letter was issued 10 days after the Times Union published a story highlighting how law enforcement agencies across New York had been seizing more of the guns  which are sold 80 percent finished to avoid federal regulations that do not define them as firearms until they are fully built.

Underground gun brokers also travel to other states to buy the unfinished weapons, which they transform into fully functioning firearms and sell illegally in New York.

James characterized her civil complaint filed in state Supreme Court in New York County as a "nation-leading ... landmark lawsuit against multiple gun distributors for fueling the gun violence crisis and endangering New Yorkers."

The businesses named in the lawsuit are include Brownells, Inc., Blackhawk Manufacturing Group (80 Percent Arms), Salvo Technologies, Inc. (80 P Builder or 80P Freedom Co), G.S. Performance, LLC (Glockstore), Indie Guns, LLC (Indie Guns), Primary Arms, LLC (Primary Arms), Arm or Ally, LLC (Arm or Ally), Rainier Arms, LLC (Rainier Arms), KM Tactical LLC, and Rock Slide USA, LLC (Rock Slide).

"While families mourned loved ones lost to senseless gun violence, gun sellers avoided accountability for the illegal and dangerous weapons they sold," James said in a statement. "There should be no more immunity for gun distributors bringing harm and havoc to New York. ... Illegal guns do not belong on our streets or in our communities and we will use every tool necessary to root them out."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams simultaneously filed a lawsuit against five of the gun distributors in U.S. District Court.

Although James and Adams referenced multiple cases of violence or illegal sales involving New York City violence, there has been a surge in ghost guns used in crimes or possessed illegally across the state and in the Capital Region.

The attorney general's office said it conducted an investigation that linked "tens of thousands of shipments" of firearms parts to New York addresses dating back to 2017. Undercover investigators recently purchased unfinished frames online from three distributors, who shipped them into New York without serial numbers or a background check being conducted on the customers, according to the attorney general's office.

Thousands of kits used to build the guns are sold annually across the nation by online mail-order companies, which exploit a loophole in federal and state gun control laws by providing "unfinished" hardware with the drill bits and instructions  including video tutorials  needed to make a fully functioning firearm.

An Arkansas company that was highlighted in the 2019 Times Union story last subsequently shut down its website.

The increase in self-manufactured guns occurred for years as many political leaders focused their legislative efforts on strengthening background checks for firearms permits and cutting off easy access to certain assault weapons.

Federal law allows someone to make a firearm for personal use but does not require them to obtain a serial number or to register the weapon. But New York law requires anyone in possession of certain firearms, especially handguns, to obtain a permit and have it registered.

The lawsuit asserts that the companies often tout as a selling point in their marketing materials that the unfinished guns evade public safety measures.

The attorney general's office said one of the companies, 80 Percent Arms, writes on its website: "This means no RED TAPE including: NO Registering an 80 percent Lower, NO Transfer fees like a typical firearm, NO FFL Required, Ships right to your door."

In November, law enforcement officials seized more than $15,000 worth of unfinished gun parts from an individual who bought them at a Pennsylvania gun show. He was later apprehended in the Bronx, where police said he planned to assemble them into functioning firearms and sell them illegally.

The attorney general's lawsuit seeks to ban the gun brokers from selling, shipping, distributing or otherwise supplying unfinished guns  including frames and receivers  lacking serial numbers to New Yorkers. The six claims in the lawsuit also seek restitution and damages; payment of gun sale proceeds and public statements from the businesses correcting their allegedly false and misleading advertisements.

The lawsuit also seeks to force each business to contribute money to an "abatement fund ... to eliminate the public nuisance for which they are responsible." That money would be used to combat gun violence, the attorney general's office said.

The attorney general's announcement came as Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a policy plan in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week overturning a New York law on concealed carry gun permits.

"The Supreme Court decision was a setback for us, but I would call it a temporary setback," Hochul said at the New York State Intelligence Center during a meeting of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns.



The proposed changes in state law, which are expected to be voted on by lawmakers Thursday, include restrictions on where someone with a concealed carry permit can bring their firearm and the training and screening they need to be able to acquire it.



The ban would include government buildings; health and medical facilities; places where children gather, including day care centers, parks, zoos and playgrounds; public transportation; polling places; educational institutions; and any private property or business that does not have a sign that explicitly says that concealed carry is welcomed there.



State officials expect to tighten the requirements for storing a firearm in a vehicle.

A gun owner would need at least 15 hours of in-person training, including on a firing range, to receive a concealed carry permit. State officials also want background checks for all purchases of ammunition for guns that need a permit.
Following consultation with the Health Service Executive, Irish Water and Tipperary County Council are issuing a Boil Water Notice with immediate effect to protect the health of consumers supplied by the Fethard Public Water Supply.

The notice has been put in place due to issues at the Fethard Regional Water Treatment Plant, affecting the treatment and disinfection process.

The notice affects approximately 6,700 people in Cloneen, Mullinahone, Drangan, Killenaule, Moyglass, Ballinure, Ballinunty, Glengoole, Gortnahoo and surrounding areas.

For customers who wish to check if their property is on the Boil Water Notice, please go to the following link on the Irish Water website: https://www.water.ie/?map= supply-and-service-updates, and enter the propertys Eircode.

Customers can also call our customer care helpline on 1800 278 278. The Fethard town area is not under this Boil Water Notice as it is supplied from an adjacent supply.

Irish Water and Tipperary County Council continue to work to rectify the issues at the water treatment plant with a view to lifting the notice as quickly and as safely as possible. In the meantime, all customers on this supply are advised to boil their water before use until further notice.

Vulnerable customers who have registered with Irish Water will receive direct communication on this Boil Water Notice.

Irish Waters Pat Duggan said: Public health is our number one priority and we appreciate the impact that this notice will have on the community supplied by the Fethard Water Treatment Plant.

However, the restriction has been put in place to protect our consumers. Irish Water and Tipperary County Council are working tirelessly to resolve the issues affecting the plant and lift the boil water notice early as it is safe to do so.

Customers in Cloneen, Mullinahone, Drangen, Killenaule, Moyglass, Ballinure, Ballinunty, Glengoole, Gortnahoo and surrounding areas must boil their water before drinking, preparing food, etc. However, customers in the Fethard town area are not under a Boil Water Notice as they are supplied by an adjacent supply.

If anyone is unsure if the notice impacts on their residence or business, they can go to the Irish Water website and input your Eircode. The Irish Water customer care team are also available on 1800-278 278.

In line with HSE COVID-19 advice and the requirement for frequent hand washing, Irish Water advises that the water remains suitable for this purpose and boiling the water is not required.

Vulnerable customers are reminded that the water is safe to consume once boiled.

Water must be boiled for:

Drinking;

Drinks made with water;

Preparation of salads and similar foods, which are not cooked prior to eating;

Brushing of teeth;

Making of ice - discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers and filtered water in fridges. Make ice from cooled boiled water.

What actions should be taken:

Use water prepared for drinking when preparing foods that will not be cooked (e.g. washing salads);

Water can be used for personal hygiene, bathing and flushing of toilets but not for brushing teeth or gargling;

Boil water by bringing to a vigorous, rolling boil (e.g. with an automatic kettle) and allow to cool. Cover and store in a refrigerator or cold place. Water from the hot tap is not safe to drink. Domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink;

Caution should be taken when bathing children to ensure that they do not swallow the bathing water;

Prepare infant feeds with water that has been brought to the boil once and cooled. Do not use water that has been re-boiled several times. If bottled water is used for the preparation of infant feeds it should be boiled once and cooled. If you are using bottled water for preparing baby food, be aware that some natural mineral water may have high sodium content. The legal limit for sodium in drinking water is 200mg per litre. Check the label on the bottled water to make sure the sodium or `Na' is not greater than 200mg per litre. If it is, then it is advisable to use a different type of bottled water. If no other water is available, then use this water for as short a time as possible. It is important to keep babies hydrated.

Great care should be taken with boiled water to avoid burns and scalds as accidents can easily happen, especially with children.

Irish Water is working closely with ** County Council to lift the notice as soon as it is safe to do so. Updates will be available on our Water Supply Updates section on water.ie, on Twitter @IWCare and via our customer care helpline, open 24/7 on 1800 278 278. Further information in relation to the Boil Water Notice is available from https://www.water.ie/ water-supply/water-quality/ boil-water-notice/

Irish Water is responsible for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services in Ireland. We are committed to continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support the growth needed in housing and across our economy, while protecting the environment and safeguarding water supplies.
GAA shorts signed by Irish actor Paul Mescal are among the Normal People items up for auction to raise money for Ukrainian filmmakers.

The signed blue and yellow GAA shorts, a signed script of the first episode of the award-winning series based on a novel by Irish author Sally Rooney, and a signed hardback book of scripts, featuring photography by Enda Bowe, are up for auction from Wednesday June 29 until Sunday July 17 at 6pm.

The campaign was organised by the Irish group Filmmakers supporting Filmmakers, director Lenny Abrahamson and Element Pictures.

Funds raised in the auction will go to the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI), to the Docudays.ua Ukraine Appeal to support filmmakers documenting the war in Ukraine, and to the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) Ukraine appeal to support filmmakers from Ukraine and Russia who may need to relocate.

Veteran film set auctioneer Sean Eacrett is to host the auction on easyliveauctions.com.

The GAA shorts, which are the same style as the ones worn in the series by Bafta winner Mescal, prompted the creation of a number of internet memes and led to luxury Italian brand Gucci designing imitation pairs.

The Normal People auction is being organised by Orla Murphy, who set up the Filmmakers supporting Filmmakers group in March and has since raised more than 10,000 euro to support filmmakers impacted by the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Murphy said: In sending these funds to our fellow filmmakers we are also sending a message of solidarity, hope and respect.

Founder and company director of Element Pictures Ed Guiney said: What is happening in Ukraine is utterly devastating. Along with Lenny Abrahamson, we at Element are proud to be supporting these charities and admire their brilliant work to help filmmakers.

Darya Busel, chief programmer of the Ukranian documentary filmmaker festival Docudays.ua, said: For the past four months, Ukrainian filmmakers are risking their lives and mental health to document the atrocities of war and let the world know about the war crimes, but not only that  they are gathering footage for future films.

Im sure the films that will emerge from the work that is being done now will help us to understand this historical moment, when the whole world has to reconsider the principles on which it is built.

These films to come will help us to face our traumas and to reconnect with ourselves.

Because the worst thing the war is doing to you is that it takes your life from you. In every possible way; you can no longer plan anything, you are parted with your loved ones, you lose your home and everything youve been working so hard your whole life for and in the end, one day, you can even be killed.

Its true that maybe cinema cannot change anything in the short term but it can definitely change a lot in the long perspective. On behalf of our colleagues in Docudays and in Ukrainian film, I am very thankful to all who donate to support us in doing this important work.

Orwa Nyrabia, of ICFR Ukraine, said: We established ICFR because we believed that film people everywhere are a community, that attacking one film person anywhere is an attack on all of us, that with such acts of solidarity we can show the whole world that film people will stand up for each other.

With our Irish colleagues efforts, that faith is renewed.

The plight of our Ukrainian colleagues today concerns all of us, and no matter how small or big our contributions can be, they first and foremost send a message that is not financial; we are with you, you are not alone.
Undeclared cocktails, 150,000 illegal cigarettes and herbal cannabis with a combined value of over 330,000 euro have been seized in three separate operations in the past week by Irish authorities.

On Monday June 27, revenue officers seized over 1,700 litres of cocktails at Dublin Port, following the search of a convoy of vehicles from the UK that were en route to a music event in Dublin.

The undeclared alcohol had an estimated retail value of more than 23,000 euro, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of around 12,000 euro, according to Revenue.

Separately on Monday, as part of an intelligence-led operation, Revenue officers seized 150,000 NZ Black Power branded cigarettes at Dublin Airport.

The illegal cigarettes, which were discovered in an air cargo consignment originating in Lithuania and destined for an address in Dublin, had an estimated retail value of around 103,000 euro, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over 82,000 euro.

Last Wednesday June 22, Revenue officers seized approximately 11kgs of herbal cannabis at Dublin Airport, with an estimated value of 211,000 euro.

The illegal drugs were discovered concealed in an air cargo consignment, originating in the US and destined for an address in Dublin, labelled as sleeping bags, insulated socks and waterproof parts.

The seizures are part of Revenues ongoing operations to target smuggling.
There is a culture within the hospitality sector which allows for certain levels of exploitation of workers, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.

Siptu representative Denis Hynes said the industry has bottomed out, with thousands of staff leaving hospitality to work elsewhere.

The Joint Committee on Tourism heard how business in the hospitality and tourism sectors are still struggling to recruit staff.

Mr Hynes told the committee that working conditions are driving workers away from the sector.

A recent study by Failte Ireland found that 68% workers are paid less than the current living wage.

Mr Hynes said the same survey found that many staff have complained of not getting proper work breaks and having their hours changed last minute.

Around 33% did not get additional payment for working on bank holidays.

The industry has bottomed out with thousands leaving to take up employment elsewhere, he added.

There is a culture which is recognised of certain levels of exploitation.

We must ensure all workers are protected.

Not every employer is bad, but unfortunately there are some that are and some that take advantage.

Research carried out into the hospitality sector found that over 40% of workers did not return to their job in the hospitality sector after the pandemic.

Dr Deirdre Curran, an academic researcher at NUI Galway, said there is a chronic labour shortage in hospitality and tourism.

One message is to find way to give silenced workers a voice, Dr Curran added.

In my professional opinion, we are at a unique tipping point.

The pandemic facilitated pause-for-thought for hospitality workers, employers, and their representative bodies.

Many of the employee challenges presented here far out-date the pandemic and yet, for decades little or nothing was done to address them.

The current shortage of staff has forced employers to pay attention to long-standing issues.

Much of what their representatives are proposing are short-term, fracture-filling, quick-fixes which will, at best, deal with an immediate crisis of labour.

She said that if the industry is cleaned up, it would make the hospitality sector a place where workers feel they can stay and valued.

Fiona Dunne, of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said that data for the tourism and hospitality sector indicates it is characterised by low wages, increased part-time work and precariousness.

Ms Dunne also said that bad employment practices, breaches of employment law, exploitation, and mistreatment are among the reasons for people leaving the industry.

These facts alone make this sector a challenge for anyone considering applying to work within it, and adding in limited career pathways and progression, to us the reasons for these difficulties facing employers are self-evident, she added.

There were also calls to allow for unions to be allowed to go into work places and speak to hospitality workers.

Dr Curran said that many workers are not aware of their rights.

The bigger concern is ill treatment of workers and the lack of employees voice.

A lot of workers dont know what their rights are.

We need to teach workers what their rights are.

If employment rights are breached, workers dont go looking for help, they dont know the WRC (Workplace Relations Commission) exists.

She also said that many hospitality workers were not members of a union, while many did not know they were unions for hospitality workers.

Dr Curran also said there is evidence that workers have to compensate for staff shortages, with many having to work extra hours and train new staff.
Colorado Republicans have rejected an indicted county clerk as their nominee for secretary of state, choosing a former local official who ran on a platform of taking politics out of running elections
Internets phishing targeted allegedly straight dudes "looking for love" via app.



Here are the scintillating deets regarding a sordid story that kinda proves that the LGBT "community" is a lot bigger, deeper and more connected to "traditional" American families than most people would suspect . . .



"He met a man over the dating app Grindr, secretly recorded sexual activity between them and then threatened to leak the video to the mans wife.

"HE wanted $3,000 to keep quiet, court papers say. During a text message conversation in mid-February, as the money exchange was being arranged, he apparently did not know that a Kansas City police detective was reading the messages and responding back.



"In one of the messages, he allegedly said: I assure you that if you notify anyone and or think I am not serious and try to roll me on this purchase I will make sure you never cheat on your wife again, adding you shouldnt take her for granted.



"In a police interview, he allegedly admitted that he was sleeping with married men and secretly recording the encounters. He said he did the same thing to about 10 men in total, asking for payments that ranged from $200 to $2,000, according to court records. "



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Man secretly taped sex with married KC area men, threatened to tell wives: court records A 39-year-old man admitted in federal court Tuesday to extorting money from married men in the Kansas City area with whom he was having extramarital affairs, according to court records.

Developing . . .


Recently . . . There has bee a great deal of hopeful chatter about the conservative tendencies of Latino voters. Most of it is 100% correct . . . There's also a great deal of support for MAGA and strong leaders like former Prez Trump.

However and by the same token . . .

I know my people and they're very big on personal connections and the cult of personality.

Accordingly . . . And a bit of explanation as to why The Dotte was divided by the GOP . . .

The quasi-urban enclave of Latino voters, leaders & residents think of Rep. Sharice Davids as an honorary Latina and they'll likely continue to support her given that nobody else really bothers to talk to this smallish community.

Don't get it twisted . . . Right now Latino voters in Kansas are NOT an important voter niche and WILL NOT swing an election.

However . . .

We just wanted to offer a real world perspective . . .

Yes, the Latino community has more conservative tendencies than most white suburban neighborhoods. But PERSONAL CONNECTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT to these voters and politicos like Former Guv Brownback, (yes, even) Kris Kobach and now Rep. Sharice have done an exceptional job of talking with residents in this part of town and Latinos in general . . .



Here's one example regarding a controversial issue and the precarious future of so many beautiful brown babies . . .



Latino communities, along with other communities of color, have had trouble accessing reproductive health care for many reasons. The most common barriers they face are lack of insurance coverage whether due to their employment or immigration status the inability to take time off work, and the general availability of health clinics, particularly in rural places where many Latinos live.



Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) told Latino Rebels she expects women of color to be disproportionately impacted, especially those living in rural areas. She also noted that last Fridays decision puts other aspects of reproductive healthcare at risk.



I think that the implication of overturning 50 years of precedent is a huge concern, especially given some of the really extreme things that are in the footnotes, talking about extreme stuff like contraception.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Violence is on the rise throughout the metro . . . Here's one local report that documents a fatal shooting in an otherwise peaceful part of town.



Check-it . . .



"The shooting happened at around 7:42 p.m. in the 28000 block of Oberdiek Lane. When deputies arrived, a 31-year-old man was found suffering from gun shot wounds in the yard of a residence . . . The incident is being investigated as possible homicide. The Sheriff's Office has identified two individuals as people of interest in the case . . ."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Platte County Sheriff's Office investigates after man shot to death KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Platte County Sheriff's Office is investigating after a man was shot to death Monday night. According to Maj. Erik Holland, the shooting happened at around 7:42 p.m. in the 28000 block of Oberdiek Lane. When deputies arrived, a 31-year-old man was found suffering from gun shot wounds in the yard of a residence.

Platte County deadly shooting being investigated as a homicide PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. - The Platte County, Missouri Sheriff's Office is investigating after a man was shot and killed Tuesday night. Deputies responded to a shooting just after 7:40 p.m. in the 28000 block of Oberdiek Lane. When they arrived they found a 31-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound in the yard.

Deputies seek two in relation to Platte County homicide Platte County Sheriff's Office SOURCE: Platte County Sheriff's Office Platte County deputies are looking for a man and woman identified as people of interest in a homicide investigation.Deputies say 22-year-old McKayla Archambeau and 32-year-old Cordero Cervantes may know something about the shooting of a 31-year-old man found dead near Highway 45 and Oberdieck Lane Tuesday evening.

Platte County authorities seek man and woman after deadly shooting in front yard PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Platte County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating a man and woman in connection with a homicide from Tuesday night. Deputies responded at 7:42 p.m. to a home on Oberdiek Lane south of Kisker Road in Platte City in response to a shooting.

Developing . . .
3,700 Ontarians over 60 have died since mid-December, despite narrative that COVIDs worst was over, Toronto researchers reveal.
The CBSA is working with government and industry partners to mitigate long border wait times this summer. The agency is offering tips to travellers to make the process easier for themselves and other travellers. - Metroland file photo
Pearson International Airport has seen a number of issues over the past several days that have led to "challenges" with baggage, according to the GTAA. - Steve Russell/Toronto Star file photo
Melisa Ellis is the founder of Nobellum Enterprise, a social enterprise and technology non-profit which will fund Black STEM entrepreneurs selected through a July 9 contest at University of Toronto Scarborough. - Melisa Ellis photo
Guelph cartoonist was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, complete with a striped green-and-white medal presented by France Consul General Tudor Alexis
The UNC says governments five-week revision programme for SEA students who underperformed is merely a quick fix and not a real solution. Speaking during their weekly Sunday media conference, MP Anita Haynes said this years results had little to do with the pandemic.
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
Law enforcers and intelligence of Ukraine are doing everything to identify all Russian servicemen who are responsible for terror against Ukrainian cities. Their names, faces, and personal information on all those terrorists will be known to the world.

Thats according to President Volodymyr Zelensky's video address to the nation, released overnight Wednesday.

Ukrainians!

All our defenders!

I have just taken part in a special meeting of the UN Security Council convened at the request of Ukraine. Convened by Albania - this state presides in the Security Council. We have taken advantage of all international levers to bring Russia to justice for state terrorism. For everything done by the Russian army against Ukrainians in Kremenchuk, in Ochakiv, in Lysychansk, in Kharkiv, in Dnipro, in many, many other cities of Ukraine. As of this evening, the total number of Russian missiles that have hit our cities is already 2,811. And there are many more air bombs, many artillery shells...

The UN Security Council today stood in silence to commemorate all Ukrainians killed by the Russian army on our land. The members of the Russian delegation looked at everyone present in the Security Council and also decided to stand up - just so as not to look like outright murderers. But everyone knows that it is Russian terror, it is the Russian state that is killing innocent people in this war waged against the Ukrainian people.

I called on the UN to use the existing mechanisms of the Charter to stop Russian manipulation of the Organization's structures and to set up a special tribunal to investigate the actions of the Russian occupiers on Ukrainian soil.

Ukraine's law enforcement and intelligence agencies are doing their best to identify all Russian servicemen responsible for the terror against our cities. The names, faces and all information about each of these terrorists will be known to the world. None of them will be able to avoid responsibility, and personal sanctions will not be enough for these people. A sentence and imprisonment are the minimum they deserve.

And I wish to say separately about the responsibility of those Russian propagandists who lie about this terror, who are trying to justify the actions of the Russian army. Each of you will also be punished. We have all the evidence of what the Russian troops are doing against our people.

Today, I want to end this address with one such piece of evidence - so that no one dares to deceive about the missile strike at the shopping mall in Kremenchuk. The Russian missile hit this very object, purposefully. Obviously, that was the order. It is obvious that Russian assassins received such coordinates for this missile. They wanted to kill as many people as possible in a peaceful city, in a regular shopping mall. Here is what happened in Kremenchuk:

And for this act of state terrorism, as for all others, Russia will be responsible. On the battlefield in Ukraine, by the strengthening of sanctions and, of course, in the tribunal.

I am grateful to everyone who defends Ukraine. Today I signed a new decree on awarding our heroes. 314 more combatants were awarded state awards.

Eternal glory to our defenders!

Glory to Ukraine!
Germany and the Netherlands will soon hand over six more Panzerhaubitze2000 self-propelled artillery units to Ukraine.

Thats according to German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Ukrinform reports citing DW.

"In Germany, we have decided that we can give Ukraine three more Panzerhaubitze2000. Together with the Netherlands, it will be six," Lambrecht said.

At the same time, she acknowledged that Germany has now exhausted its resources to provide artillery units of this type and is no longer able to transfer them to Ukraine without reducing the countrys own defense capabilities.

"Thus, I have reached the absolute limit of what is responsible. But it is responsible, indeed, because Ukraine must be supported now," the minister said.

It should be recalled that earlier Germany had already handed over seven such systems to Ukraine, and the Netherlands  five. In May, the Ukrainian military trained to operate them at a German test site.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces killed about 35,450 Russian soldiers between February 24 and June 29, including 200 in the past day alone.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said this in a Facebook post, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Ukrainian defenders also destroyed 1,572 (+5) enemy tanks, 3,720 (+16) armored fighting vehicles, 781 (+3) artillery systems, 246 (+3) multiple launch rocket systems, 103 (+1) anti-aircraft warfare systems, 217 (+0) warplanes, 185 (+0) helicopters, 640 (+4) operational and tactical level UAVs, 142 (+3) cruise missiles, 14 (+0) warships/boats, 2,598 (+9) other vehicles and tanker trucks, and 61 (+0) pieces of special equipment.

The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the past day in the Bakhmut area, the General Staff said.
At least 341 children have been killed and 627 injured in Ukraine since the Russian invasion started in late February.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said this in a Telegram post, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"More than 968 children have been affected in Ukraine as a result of full-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation. As of the morning of June 29, 2022, the official number of child victims over the past day has not changed - 341. The number of those injured has increased to over 627," the report said.

Currently, most casualties were recorded in Donetsk Region (338), Kharkiv Region (183), Kyiv Region (116), Chernihiv Region (68), Luhansk Region (58), Kherson Region (52), Mykolaiv Region (48), Zaporizhzhia Region (31), and Sumy Region (17).

A total of 2,092 educational institutions were damaged across Ukraine as a result of Russia's daily air and artillery strikes, and 213 of them were destroyed completely.
NATO will continue to provide unprecedented support for Ukraine to ensure its right to self-defence to create the conditions for its victory in the war for its freedom.

We will demonstrate that NATO's door remains open by inviting Finland and Sweden to join our Alliance. We will adopt a more comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine. And sustain our unprecedented support for the country's self-defence to ensure that Ukraine prevails. I am glad that President Zelensky is joining us today. The bravery of the Ukrainian people and armed forces have inspired the world. NATO Allies continue to stand with Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in his opening remarks at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As Stoltenberg noted, the Madrid Summit takes place in a more dangerous and competitive world where authoritarian regimes are openly challenging the rules-based international order.

We will agree NATO's new Strategic Concept, the blueprint for our future security.

We will further strengthen our deterrence and defence. With more forces, increased readiness, and stronger capabilities. We will make sure that our Alliance is properly resourced to face new security challenges, NATO Secretary General added.

NATO summit takes place in Madrid on 28-30 June. The Heads of State and Government consider the ways to strengthen deterrence and defense policies and to develop the Alliance's defense capabilities in the new security situation that has emerged since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Germany's energy dependence on Russia could be created deliberately so it is necessary to investigate the reasons behind the move.

Thats according to Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German parliament, Bundestag, with the CDU / CSU, who spoke with Guildhall.

Its really the dependency which was created by Chancellor Schroeder and Chancellor Merkel in the last 16 to 20 years, and this dependency was on purpose. And we have to really investigate what the reason was that we cut off a lot of suppliers from Norway, the Netherlands, Algeria, and other countries, why we did not build LNG terminals instead of receiving Russian gas, the deputy said in a comment.

He stressed the need for an investigation to find out why this dependency was created on purpose.

The politician added that it is his task to explain to the German population that the higher bills are not the result of the ongoing war but rather the consequence of Russian energy policies, aimed including at destroying Germanys energy independence.

Earlier, the German Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection stated that in order to achieve Germany's energy independence from Russian gas supplies, a national effort is required, both at the level of the federal government and local authorities, and at that of private companies and households. By 2024, the level of Russian gas consumption in Germany can be reduced to 10%.
The Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force has blocked or frozen more than $30 billion worth of sanctioned Russians assets in the first 100 days.

The relevant statement was made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Blocked or frozen more than $30 billion worth of sanctioned Russians assets in financial accounts and economic resources, the report states.

This sum does not include the value of yachts and luxury real estate owned by Russian oligarchs.

REPOs work is not yet complete. In the coming months, REPO members will continue to track Russian sanctioned assets and prevent sanctioned Russians from undermining the measures that REPO members have jointly imposed. Together, we will ensure that our sanctions continue to impose costs on Russia for its unprovoked and continuing aggression in Ukraine and to prevent funds and economic resources from being provided to or for the benefit of designated persons, the REPO Task Force noted.

A reminder that, in March 2022, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland held an online meeting with the representatives of Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Commission to set up the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force.

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for doing everything possible to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain, with security guarantees provided to all interested parties.

The leader addressed the issue while speaking with the press following talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I told President Zelensky that Ukraine is very important in global food security, so we must do everything possible to ensure the smooth export of grain from Ukraine and security guarantees for all stakeholders to ensure exports through Ukrainian seaports," said Joko Widodo.

He added that he supports the UN's efforts to unblock Ukrainian food exports.

As Ukrinform reported, Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Kyiv on the morning of June 29. During the visit, before meeting with the Ukrainian leader, he visited Irpin to see the devastation caused by Russian troops.

Tomorrow, June 30, the President of Indonesia will visit Moscow, where he will meet with Putin.

As a result of hostilities and the blockade of Ukrainian seaports in Ukraine, more than 20 million tonnes of grain set to be exported under the UN World Food Program are stuck in Ukrainian silos.
Six countries of the UN Security Council have published a joint statement, joined by Ukraine, strongly condemning Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, including on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, and voiced support for the Ukrainian people.

The document was published by the United States Permanent Mission to the UN.

Today the Security Council convenes under the agenda item Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine an urgent meeting to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine following the most recent strikes on civilians by Russian forces in Kremenchuk.

We, members of the Security Council namely France, Ireland, Norway, United Kingdom, United States, and Albania, joined by Ukraine, reiterate our full support for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, the statement reads.

Read also: President Zelensky calls on UN to deprive Russia of its powers in General Assembly for violating the

They strongly condemn the intensification of Russian missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, targeting residential areas and civilian infrastructure, over the period of 25-27 June 2022.

We condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians as a result of these missile attacks, in particular the attack that hit a crowded shopping center in Kremenchuk, Poltava region of Ukraine. This strike was a blatant attack on civilian infrastructure and civilian population, the statement stresses.

The countries decried these acts as violations of international humanitarian law and reiterated their call to strictly abide by the Geneva Convention of 1949.

We demand an immediate cessation of the hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, of all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and the full and immediate withdrawal of the Russian forces and military equipment from within Ukraines internationally recognized borders and territorial waters, the statement reads.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the UN Security Council held an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to support peace and security in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that his participation in the G20 summit will depend on the security situation in Ukraine in the relevant period and the composition of participants in the event.

Zelensky addressed the question following talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I am grateful, Mr. President, for your personal invitation for me to take part in the G20 summit. Of course, I accept this invitation. Ukraine's participation will depend on the security situation in Ukraine and the composition of the summit participants," Zelensky said.

In turn, the President of Indonesia announced that he had extended an invitation to President Zelensky in person to take part at the G20 summit in November.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Kyiv on the morning of June 29. During the visit, he visited Irpin to see the devastation caused by Russian troops before meeting with the Ukrainian leader.

Tomorrow, June 30, the President of Indonesia will visit Moscow, where he will meet with Putin.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and his Indonesian counterpart Retno LP Marsudi signed an intergovernmental agreement on the abolition of short-stay visa requirements.

This was reported by the MFA Ukraines press service, Ukrinform reports.

The document was signed in Kyiv on Wednesday, June 29.

The deal will allow Ukrainians visa-free travel to Indonesia for up to 30 days during each visit, and Indonesian citizens to Ukraine  for up to 30 days during a 60-day period.

The Foreign Ministry added that Ukrainian citizens have been able to enter Indonesia without a visa since 2016, in accordance with a unilateral decision of the Indonesian side. Under the new agreement, Ukraine and the Republic of Indonesia will establish a mutual regime of visa-free travel for all categories of citizens on a permanent basis.

Read also: Indonesian President calls for doing everything possible to unblock Ukrainian grain exports

The agreement will enter into force upon completion of national procedures by both parties.

As reported, on the morning of June 29, Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Kyiv. During the trip, he visited Irpin, Kyiv region.

Tomorrow, June 30, the President of Indonesia will come to Moscow, where he will meet with Putin.
Russia sees any talk of concessions or even negotiations as a weakness, with blackmail, bloodshed, and destruction being the backbone of Russia's foreign policy.

Andriy Yermak, head of the President's Office, said this in a speech at the NATO summit, Ukrinform reports, citing the President's Office.

He noted that Russia uses all terrorist methods, including mass murder, torture and destruction. Yermak also stressed that Russia has planned in advance the energy and food crises, which are already beginning to negatively affect all people on the planet. And all this is aimed at breaking the resistance of individual states and putting pressure on the world community, he said.

"Finally, the last argument is blackmail with nuclear weapons. However, Russia sees any talks of concessions or even negotiations as a weakness. Unfortunately, blackmail, bloodshed and destruction are the backbone of Russia's foreign policy," Yermak said.

He added that Russia is increasingly convinced that it cannot defeat Ukraine on the battlefield, so it is increasingly resorting to bloody terror - the killing of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

"In recent days, hundreds of missiles have been fired at dozens of Ukrainian cities. Every day, tens of thousands of munitions of various types hit our residential neighborhoods, kindergartens, hospitals and power plants. This is done deliberately. The whole world now knows about the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, where the day before yesterday a Russian missile hit a regular shopping mall. There were about a thousand people inside. They were going shopping - women, children and the elderly," Yermak said.

He stressed that Russia's actions are classic terrorism on an incredible scale, unprecedented since World War II.

"They seek to destroy the Ukrainian state and erase from textbooks even mentions of the Ukrainian people. But we know for sure: if we give in today, they will go further tomorrow. After 2014, Ukrainians paid with their own blood to prove the axiom: Russia always violates the agreements it signs," Yermak added.

According to him, Russia follows ideologies and practices reminiscent of the worst dictatorships of the previous century.

"History has taught us that the aggressor's appetites grow with each concession. That is why the security of not only Europe, but also the whole of humanity is threatened. And we believe that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, NATO will inevitably be drawn into the war. In addition, the unpunished aggressor gives grounds for other criminals to build their own plans of aggression," Yermak said.

According to him, more and more politicians around the world believe that Russia should not win the war it has started against Ukraine. "This is good. But the point is that not everyone realizes that Ukraine must win this war. This is a guarantee that Russia will not 'be able to repeat' the same thing with any other country," he said.
The visit by British billionaire Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, to Ukraine is another evidence that the world and famous people support Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this in a Telegram post, Ukrinform reports.

"The visit by British businessman Richard Branson to Ukraine is another reminder that the world and famous people continue to support us. We talked about maintaining the world's attention to the war in Ukraine, as well as prospects for cooperation in postwar reconstruction," Zelensky wrote.

He also thanked Branson for his kind words about Ukrainians and his willingness to help.

According to the President's Office, during the meeting, Zelensky and Branson discussed the issue of maintaining a high level of the world's attention to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The billionaire noted that he constantly supports Ukraine, its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the introduction of the toughest sanctions against Russia and those who support and finance the war.

In this context, Zelensky said that in addition to fighting the enemy on the battlefield, Ukraine has focused its efforts on two areas: imposing sanctions against the aggressor and providing security guarantees for Ukraine. To this end, the International Advisory Group chaired by Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been set up to develop proposals for security guarantees for Ukraine, as well as the Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Sanctions against Russia has been established.

The parties also discussed energy efficiency projects and prospects for cooperation in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine. The Virgin Group founder noted that he was impressed with the optimism of Ukrainians and the fact that even in such difficult moments they think about rebuilding the country.

Branson said that he had come to see for himself the situation in Ukraine and discuss how big international business can help the country.

"We came to see what we can do to help in this difficult time. Today we saw Kyiv and surrounding cities. We visited Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel," Branson said.

The head of state thanked the entrepreneur for visiting Ukrainian towns affected by the Russian invasion, and noted that what he saw in these settlements was only a small part of the crimes that Russia had committed in Ukraine.

Photo: President's Office
The meeting of culture ministers of Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States took place in Lviv on June 29.

Representatives of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania and Hungary came to the country, while delegates from Latvia joined the event online, at the invitation of Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Thats according to the ministrys press service, Ukrinform reports.

Among the participants of the meeting were Piotr Glinski, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland; Simonas Kairys, Minister of Culture of Lithuania; Martin Baxa, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic; Natalia Milanova, Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic; Sergiu Prodan, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Moldova; Tarvi Sits, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture of Estonia; Diana Baciuna, State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture of Romania; Gabor Chaba, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary.

Consequently, the ministries of culture of the participating countries have signed a joint declaration, which reflects their interests in development and cooperation. They also condemned Russias actions threatening Ukraine's cultural heritage and cultural values.

The day before yesterday a missile hit a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, where more than 20 people died, many of them have not been found yet. We have been living in such a world for more than 120 days, and every day we hear not only about explosions, but also about hostilities. The country, which is in Europe, is on fire. Our cultural sites are also on fire. I am grateful to many for their understanding and for the constant support we feel. Undoubtedly, friends in need are friends indeed. But in order to win this war, we on the cultural front, as well as on the military one, desperately need help of the civilized world for the country. This meeting of the ministers is unprecedented and I am pleased to state that we have common goals and have reflected it in the declaration," said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

The common goals of the signatory countries include protection and preservation of Ukraines cultural heritage as part of the cultural heritage of mankind; protection of the cultural and media field from propaganda and neocolonial narratives; and establishing a common position in the international arena aimed at countering Russian aggression toward Ukraine.

Among the specific steps of international partners that Ukraine is expecting is support for joint projects aimed at:

digital transformation of cultural heritage management;

support of assessment, restoration and reconstruction of destroyed and damaged cultural heritage sites, in particular in the form of cultural patronage;

support for institutions and specialists responsible for the protection and management of cultural heritage (museums, reserves, research centers); and

methodical supervision and expertise.

In addition, the document lays down
June 29 2022

Midlothian Council has approved a redesigned Easthouses Primary School by jmarchitects and Hub South East on the site of the former Newbattle High School.

Replacing previously approved designs by AHR the school centres on a U-plan building with twin wings of classrooms wrapping around a central courtyard, of a smaller scale than the former high school.

Providing places for 459 children together with 16 places for children with additional needs and an 80 place nursery the school is expected to move on-site in April 2023 for completion in 2024.

Midlothian Councils cabinet member for education, councilor Ellen Scott said: The new school will be a high-quality and inspiring learning space for pupils, encouraging them to achieve their potential while also relieving pressures on surrounding schools, in particular Newtongrange Primary.

The remainder of the former high school site will deliver 98 homes.
(@FahadShabbir)

President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Muhammad Shakeel Munir, on Wednesday leading a delegation visited HITEC University Taxila Cantt as a part of efforts to promote academia-industry linkages

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Muhammad Shakeel Munir, on Wednesday leading a delegation visited HITEC University Taxila Cantt as a part of efforts to promote academia-industry linkages.

Muhammad Faheem Khan Vice President ICCI, Ch. Muhammad Ali, Hamayun Kabir, Engr. Azhar ur islam, Akhtar Hussain, Sheikh Muhammad Ijaz, Muhammad Saeed Khan, Rana Qaisar Shehzad, Muhammad Naveed Malik, Adnan Mukhtar, Ashfaq Chatha, Rashid Minhas, Umer Ismail and Khalid Chaudhry were in the delegation, said a press release issued here.

The delegation visited various departments and the display centre of the university, adding the delegation discussed areas of collaboration with HITEC University to achieve beneficial results for the industry and academia.

Speaking on the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, appreciated the efforts of HITEC University, Taxila for providing quality education and excellent learning environment to its students.

He also shared the key issues of industry and hoped that the students of HITEC University Taxila would try to find out their innovative solutions.

He said that the developed countries achieved better economic growth by developing strong academia-industry linkages and we should follow the same approach to make Pakistan a progressive and prosperous country.

He said that universities were doing a lot of good research work and emphasized that they should focus on applied research and commercialization of research projects that would be more beneficial to the industry as well as economy.

ICCI President stressed that at least 50% content of the research works should be based on local content as currently majority of content in research works was based on foreign content.

He said that ICCI has already signed MoUs with various universities to promote academia-industry linkages, which are very important to produce demand-driven students and meet the needs of industry.

He said that ICCI would like to develop strong liaison with HITEC University to further strengthen linkages between industry and academia that would produce win-win outcomes for them.

Prof. Dr. S. Kamran Afaq, Acting Vice Chancellor, HITEC University, Taxila Cantt gave a presentation to the ICCI delegation about his university.

He said that advanced labs, innovative and interactive teaching methodologies, foreign qualified, experienced faculty, conducive research opportunities, and academia-industry linkages have all been merged to place HITEC University among top emerging universities of Pakistan.

He said that HITEC university gives a lot of emphasis on industry-academia linkages and would work closely with ICCI to take these initiatives forward. Both sides discussed a future roadmap for joint collaboration that would produce beneficial outcomes for academia and industry.
Kyiv, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :Ukrainian intelligence said Wednesday that 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including scores of defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, had been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.

"This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders," the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine's defence ministry said on Telegram.

It did not specify when and where the swap took place or how many Russian prisoners were released as part of the exchange.

It added that 43 of the freed servicemen belonged to the Azov regiment, a former paramilitary unit that is now integrated into the Ukrainian army.

Russia considers the unit a neo-Nazi organisation and has previously said its soldiers should stand trial.

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged prisoners several times since Russia invaded on February 24.

The most recent previous exchange took place on Tuesday and involved 17 Ukrainian prisoners.
(@FahadShabbir)

WINDHOEK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :Namibia plans a Biomass Industrial Park project in the north-central town of Otjiwarongo which will process more than 300 tonnes of encroacher bush biomass per annum while creating several value-added chain by-products such as animal feed and many more, officials said Wednesday.

According to the Otjozondjupa Region Governor, James Uerikua, the project to be operated on a 100-hectare piece of land, will produce annual outputs of 191,500 tonnes of wood chips, 20,000 tonnes of charcoal, 12,000 tonnes of char briquettes, 160 tonnes animal feed, 4,500 tonnes bio-fuel and 600 tonnes biochar tonnes respectively.

He said the project is expected to boost Otjiwarongo's economy through the creation of jobs while unlocking business markets for locals.

"The final products are to be exported to Germany as the European country seeks to phase out coal power production. This project is expected to leverage value addition synergies for a robust local market for wood-based products to unlock new market opportunities domestically and beyond," he said.

Namibia and Germany began discussing the potential of a biomass partnership in September 2020, when a Namibian delegation of government officials, sector representatives, researchers and experts, and environmental non-governmental organizations attended a biomass conference in Germany.

Biomass is a renewable source of energy obtained from organic matter such as wood products, dried vegetation, and crop residues. Its emission levels are said to be significantly lower compared to fossil fuels.
Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :Former US president Donald Trump angrily lunged at his Secret Service driver and grabbed at the steering wheel of his limousine in a bid to join the crowd as it marched on the Capitol on the day of the deadly insurrection, an aide testified Tuesday.

In some of the most explosive testimony so far to the House committee probing the violence, Cassidy Hutchinson, an assistant to Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, said the president had demanded to be taken to the Capitol after his speech near the White House.

Trump became irate when he was told that it was impossible for security reasons, and he tried to wrestle the Secret Service for control of his official car, Hutchinson testified.

"I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now," Trump said, according to Hutchinson, who testified that the story was relayed to her by another administration official.

Trump, apparently watching the televised hearing, attempted to discredit Hutchinson in real time in a multiple-post rant on his social media network, dismissing the episode as a "fake story" and calling the hearing a "kangaroo court." US media later reported that the Secret Service agents involved may be willing to testify and deny Hutchinson account.

The US Secret Service did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

The congressional panel has spent a year investigating the January 6, 2021 riot that temporarily halted the certifying by Congress of the presidential election result.

It has now held six public hearings to outline its initial finding -- that Trump led a criminal conspiracy to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden that led to the violence.

Hutchinson was a central figure in the administration and able to offer the committee its first blow-by-blow account of activity inside the White House.

She testified that Trump and some of his top lieutenants were aware of the possibility of violence -- contradicting claims that the assault was spontaneous and had nothing to do with the administration.

Hutchinson said she recalled Meadows saying four days before the insurrection: "Things might get real, real bad on January 6.

" Hutchinson had sought out her boss, she said, after a White House meeting involving Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani. As they were leaving, Giuliani asked her if she was "excited" for January 6.

When she asked what Giuliani meant, Hutchinson recalled that he "responded something to the effect of, 'We're going to the Capitol.'" "'It's going to be great. The president's going to be there. He's going to look powerful... Talk to the chief about it. He knows about it.'" She told Meadows what Giuliani had said, she testified.

"He didn't look up from his phone and said something to the effect of, 'There's a lot going on, Cass, but I don't know. Things might get real, real bad on January 6,'" Hutchinson told the hearing.

Meadows and Trump were aware of the possibility of violence, including that members of the pro-Trump mob were armed when they gathered near the White House on the day of the riot, Hutchinson said.

When she told Meadows violence had erupted, Meadows "almost had a lack of reaction," Hutchinson said.

Vice chair Liz Cheney said the committee had obtained police reports that people at the Trump rally on the Ellipse had knives, Tasers, pepper spray and blunt objects that could be used as weapons.

Police transmissions played at the hearing showed that others outside the rally had firearms including AR-15 semi-automatic rifles.

Hutchinson described an exchange between Meadows and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone soon after the rioters broke into the US Capitol, during which the lawyer said Trump needed to call off the mob chanting for his vice president Mike Pence to be hanged.

"He doesn't want to do anything, Pat," Hutchinson recalls Meadows telling Cipollone. Trump "thinks Mike deserves it," Hutchinson recalled Meadows adding.

Meadows, who asked for a pardon related to January 6, refused to testify before the panel since handing over thousands of text messages and other documents in the early stages of the investigation.

The latest hearing was announced at last minute amid concerns for Hutchinson's security. Cheney suggested that that former Trump officials were trying to intimidate witnesses.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

San Antonio, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :The death toll of undocumented migrants who were abandoned in a scorching-hot trailer in Texas rose to 51 Tuesday, as President Joe Biden blamed "criminal" professional smugglers for the tragedy.

Rebeca Clay-Flores, a Bexar County official, reported the new tally of "39 men and 12 women" dead, following the Monday discovery of the tractor-trailer on an isolated road in her district.

She did not say how many survivors remained in hospital, but the number could be around 11 based on initial figures that officials gave, including possibly four children.

The Department of Homeland Security announced it had opened a criminal investigation, as Biden took aim at human smuggling gangs.

"The tragic loss of life in San Antonio, Texas that took place yesterday is horrifying and heartbreaking," he said in a statement.

"This incident underscores the need to go after the multi-billion Dollar criminal smuggling industry preying on migrants and leading to far too many innocent deaths," he said.

According to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the dead whose identities are known, 22 were from Mexico, seven from Guatemala and two from Honduras.

"It's a tremendous misfortune," he told reporters.

It was the deadliest single incident involving migrants along the southern border in memory, and drew more attention to the risks that hundreds of thousands of people face seeking to enter the United States from Mexico without permission.

On Monday, the high temperature in San Antonio was 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius), and the temperature in the unvented trailer would have been much higher.

By Tuesday afternoon, authorities had removed the trailer from where it had been abandoned with its human cargo, on a narrow road sandwiched between train tracks and auto junkyards.

Replacing it were makeshift crosses adorned with artificial flowers.

"I feel that if these people walk hundreds of miles to get over here, it wouldn't hurt us to walk maybe one mile to put the crosses and candles," said Angelita Olvera, who lives nearby.

"Hopefully, whoever had them in the trailer will pay the consequences," she said.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said authorities were first alerted to the trailer by an emergency call at about 5:50 pm local time (2250 GMT) on Monday.

"A worker who works in one of the buildings up here behind me heard a cry for help," he told reporters.

The worker "came out to investigate, found a trailer with the doors partially open, opened them up to take a look, and found a number of deceased individuals inside," McManus said.

Three people have been taken into custody but officials gave no further details.

The tragedy came five years after 10 migrants were found dead in a trailer with broken air conditioning and clogged ventilation holes near San Antonio.

In recent weeks Border Patrol officers have discovered other attempts to bring undocumented travelers into the country in large trucks.

On June 14, 80 people from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were discovered inside a tractor-trailer when it was inspected by agents at a highway checkpoint north of Laredo, a border hub in south Texas.

Three weeks earlier, agents intercepted a trailer with 48 people inside near Sierra Blanca in western Texas.

Jesus Thompson, 60, lives just across the train track from where the people in the trailer were found.

"People from Mexico and Guatemala come here to seek the American dream," he said.

"I would tell the people who are there and who are fleeing to think about it before coming here, because there is a tremendous risk, and especially now that the weather is very hot." The case immediately became a focus of politics when Republicans attacked Democratic President Biden for allegedly being soft on immigration.

"These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies," said Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Under Biden more than 200,000 people attempting to enter the country illegally have been interdicted at the border each month and sent back.

But there is no good estimate of the thousands more that succeed in staying inside the country.

Biden said he had already launched an anti-smuggling campaign that focused on the networks and arrested 2,400 people in recent months.

"Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy," he said.

The migration issue will be a key agenda item when Biden hosts Mexican counterpart Lopez Obrador for talks on July 12.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2022 ) :Journalists should not be jailed for what they write, tweet and say, a spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres said in response to the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in India, asserting that it is important that people be allowed to express themselves freely without the threat of any harassment.

According to Kashmir media service,Fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on Monday for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets posted in 2018. He was produced before a magistrate, who sent him to police custody.

Responding to Zubair's arrest, Spokesman for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said, "In any place around the world, it is very important that people be allowed to express themselves freely, journalists be allowed to express themselves freely and without the threat of any harassment." Dujarric was responding to a question at the daily news briefing at the United Nations on Mohammad Zubair's arrest.

"Journalists should not be jailed for what they write, what they tweet and what they say. And that goes for anywhere in the world, including in this room," Dujarric said in response to another question by a Pakistani journalist on whether he is also calling on Mohammad Zubair's release from custody.

Zubair's arrest came days after the Gujarat authorities arrested Teesta Setalvad on the charges of "criminal conspiracy, forgery and placing false evidence in court to frame innocent people" in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The UN Human Rights agency has voiced concern over the arrest and detention of social activist Ms Setalvad and called for her immediate release.

Setalvad was detained on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by her along with Zakia Jafri, whose husband Ehsan Jafri was murdered during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The petition sought to probe the role of PM Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat's Chief Minister.

"#India: We are very concerned by the arrest and detention of #WHRD @TeestaSetalvad and two ex-police officers and call for their immediate release. They must not be persecuted for their activism and solidarity with the victims of the 2002 #GujaratRiots," UN Human Rights tweeted on Tuesday.

A court in Ahmedabad on Sunday remanded Ms Setalvad and former state director general of police RB Sreekumar into police custody till July 2 in a false case of fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Former IPS (Indian Police Service) officer and accused Sanjiv Bhatt, who is serving life sentence in a custodial death case and is lodged in a jail in Palanpur in Banaskantha district, will be brought to Ahmedabad on a transfer warrant.

Ms Setalvad, Mr Sreekumar and Mr Bhatt are accused of abusing the process of law by conspiring to fabricate evidence with an attempt to frame innocent people for an offence punishable with capital punishment in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

An FIR was registered against Ms Setalvad, Mr Sreekumar and Mr Bhatt on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to the then chief minister Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 riots cases.
New Interdisciplinary Projects Planned for Community-Engaged Research Initiative

Wed, 06/29/2022 - 14:23pm | By: Van Arnold

The Center for Community Engagement and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) have announced two interdisciplinary research and creative activity projects which will feature in the inaugural 2022-24 Interdisciplinary Investigations Research Series.

The aim of the Interdisciplinary Investigation Research Series is to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration to address community-identified needs, enhance community capacity to solve pressing challenges, and to prepare the next generation of engaged scholars. The initiative is underwritten by the Southern Miss Fund for Academic Excellence.

Since 2015, Interdisciplinary Investigations has brought together faculty from across colleges and campuses to explore fascinating topics from multiple disciplinary perspectives, said Ann Marie Kinnell, director of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development We are excited to connect this work to the universitys long-standing commitment to community-based teaching and research. We thank Provost (Steve) Moser and the Southern Miss Fund for Academic Excellence for their continued support.

Research projects that are selected to be part of the series must involve faculty and community members working collaboratively to produce research or creative work that addresses community challenges or effects social change.

Dr. Nora Charles from the School of Psychology (left) and Dr. Laura Gulledge from the School of Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security

The first project, Research in Juvenile Justice, will be facilitated by Dr. Laura Gulledge from the School of Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security and Dr. Nora Charles from the School of Psychology, partnering with the Forrest County Juvenile Detention Center. Gulledge and Charles will teach an IDS 350 course, cross listed with CJ 480 and PSY 492, to introduce students to the topic of juvenile delinquency, research methods in the juvenile justice system, and various professionals who work in the field.

In the second year of the project, Gulledge, Charles, and selected students will research the effectiveness of a youth mentorship program at the Forrest County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC). Research findings, which will be presented to JDC, will measure improved behavior at the JDC, increased youth well-being, and decreased future criminality.

I am looking forward to applying a community-oriented lens to the study of juvenile delinquency and hope that students will find this eye-opening and enriching, said Charles. Through our course and research project, students will have real-world experiences related to the justice system and hear from a variety of professionals in the field. This is all valuable experience that can enhance their career development.

Dr. Candice Salyers from the School of Performing and Visual Arts (left) and Dr. Katrin Pesch from the School of Coastal Resilience

The second project will be led by Dr. Candice Salyers from the School of Performing and Visual Arts and Dr. Katrin Pesch from the School of Coastal Resilience, partnering with the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain (LTMCP). In spring 2023, Pesch and Salyers will offer IDS 350: Moving Environments: Creative Outreach in the Mississippi Coastal Plain (cross-listed with FLM 478, SUS 350, and DAN 324,) in which students will learn about the environmental humanities and how art is integrated into educational, activist, and aesthetic movements. Students in the class will develop writing, video, and dance works that support LTMCPs educational outreach goals.

The degradation of our coastal wetlands is among the severe environmental problems Mississippi is facing, and we are grateful for this opportunity to collaborate on producing creative work that calls awareness to this issue, Pesch and Salyers said in a statement. In addition, we look forward to working with our students at LTMCPs sites in the coastal landscape and to empowering them to take action to support their restoration."

During year two of the research series, Pesch and Salyers will work with selected students from the class to collaborate on a dance film exploring kinesthetic empathy between human bodies and bodies of water in Mississippi landscapes.

USM has a wealth of resources, from scholarly expertise to the enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity of students, said Christy Kayser, director of USMs Center for Community Engagement. The II Research Series provides a mechanism for applying resources to some of our communitys most critical issues.

Learn more about the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development online at www.usm.edu/ispd and the Center for Community Engagement at www.usm.edu/cce.
USM Hosts Prestigious Psychology Society Meeting on Hattiesburg Campus

Wed, 06/29/2022 - 15:52pm | By: David Tisdale

More than 50 scholars from across the U.S. and around the globe with expertise in the study of perception and action, cognitive psychology and experimental psychology convened on The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Hattiesburg campus June 23-25 for the 2022 North American meeting of the International Society for Ecological Psychology (ISEP).

The interdisciplinary event included topical panel discussions and poster presentations, featuring cognitive psychologists, kinesiologists, philosophers, engineers, university faculty and graduate students. Dr. Alen Hajnal, an associate professor in the USM School of Psychology and coordinator of both its Brain and Behavior Ph.D. Program and Perception Action Cognition Laboratory, was principal organizer of the meeting, held at the Trent Lott Center.

According to Dr. Hajnal, the purpose of the event was to further the understanding of cognition from a perspective treating the mind, body and environment that surrounds us as one system that should be studied together, using the scientific method.

This was the first in-person gathering of this group after [mandated restrictions lifted from] COVID, and we had lively, informative discussions and presentations, tremendous networking opportunities, and the establishment of new science collaborations between participants in the study of cognition, he further noted. Were grateful for the support of the University in hosting this event.



McKenzie Gunter, a recent graduate of Western Kentucky University who is coming to USM this fall as a graduate student in Dr. Hajnals Perception Action Cognition Lab, made a poster presentation on her collaborative research project, Aging and the Perception of Tactile Speed. Gunter said the meeting was a good opportunity to get a glimpse into the world she will be researching in for the next few years in graduate school.

For an incoming graduate student, it really meant a lot to have a chance to present here, and the opportunity to meet with and talk to scholars in the field from varying age groups and fields of expertise, Gunter continued. Its been an amazing experience because Ive learned a lot from seeing and hearing about all of the other research that has been presented and discussed.

The USM School of Psychology is in the College of Education and Human Sciences. For more information about the college and school, visit usm.edu/education-human-sciences.
In a letter to Caritas Spain, Pope Francis highlights the important work of the charity organization, and encourages its discernment for new paths as it celebrates its 75th anniversary.

By Benedict Mayaki, SJ

Pope Francis has applauded the work of Caritas Spain and urged the Church's humanitarian arm to persevere in its service to those in need, as the organization celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

On the occasion of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of Caritas Espanola, I wish to send you and all the members of that Institution my cordial greetings, said Pope Francis in a letter addressed to Manuel Breton Romero, President of Caritas Spain.

Holding up the motto for the celebration: 75 years of love for others, Pope Francis said that it is a service that continues in the present and opens to the future with hope, knowing how to see the face of Christ crucified in so many people who suffer, offering them friendship, help and consolation.

The Pope invited Caritas to celebrate the Jubilee as a propitious occasion to thank the Lord, and to discern the paths for this new stage with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Three characteristics

Pope Francis, in the letter, indicated three characteristics that cannot be missing in Caritas itinerary of discernment, starting with keeping in mind that the charity organizations journey is a journey of the least.

The poor and the excluded are the privileged recipients of the Gospel; they occupy a preferential place in the heart of God, to the point that he himself became poor, said the Pope, stressing, that we cannot wait for them to knock on our door, but we must go out to meet them, seek their good and their full development, recognizing their dignity and their rights.

The Holy Father also noted that Caritas journey is a path of mercy in the style of God. Thus, to follow this path, an attitude of continual conversion and configuration to Christ is necessary.

Only to the extent that we make their sentiments and attitudes our own, will our charity be more active and effective, he affirmed.

Thirdly, the Pope encouraged Caritas Spain to set upon a path of renewal because the new realities of poverty require that we care for both people and our common home. He added that we should also be ready to walk the paths of the culture of encounter and charity, articulating the local with the global, working from those close to us, but with a universal horizon.

Persevere in service

In conclusion, Pope Francis encouraged Caritas Spain to "persevere with joy and determination in the activities and projects that they carry out in the Spanish dioceses, and which extend beyond territorial borders in favor of so many brothers and sisters who need our closeness, love and solidarity."
Pope Francis expresses his condolences to victims of a tragedy in San Antonio, Texas, in which 46 migrants were found dead in an abandoned lorry.

By Francesca Merlo

Pope Francis has expressed his closeness to victims in a tragedy that occurred on Monday in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

At least 46 people were found dead inside a lorry, in what appears to be a human smuggling attempt along the United States-Mexico border.

People fleeing poverty in Central and South America often undergo perilous and expensive journeys to try and cross the US-Mexico border, in hope of reaching a better life in the United States. Many die on these journeys, if they are not stopped, detained and sent back before arriving at their destination.

According to the San Antonio Fire Chief, Charles Hood, another 16 people - including 4 children - found in the trailer were transported to hospital in critical condition and are being treated for exhaustion and heat stroke.

The tragedy appears to have been the result of desperation and probably of the scorching heat that has been gripping the southern state, where temperatures have been over 39 degrees for days.

The vehicle with fake number plates was discovered by agents of Homeland Security Investigation next to railway tracks in a remote area on the citys southern outskirts. Three people were taken into custody over the incident.

Law enforcement officers work at the scene where people were found dead inside a trailer

Read also 27/06/2022 Spanish Bishops appeal for better migration policies The Spanish Bishops Conference calls for an investigation into clashes that left over 23 people dead at Spains North African enclave of Melilla, and asks for new migration ...

Pope Francis' closeness

Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the victims of Monday's tragedy through a tweet published on his account (@pontifex) on Tuesday.

The tweet reads:

"I sorrowfully heard the news of the tragedy of the #migrants in Texas and #Melilla. Let us #PrayTogether for these brothers and sisters who died following their hope of a better life; and for ourselves, may the Lord might open our hearts so these misfortunes never happen again."
Vietnams digital economy has seen significant growth over the last decade and is expected to be valued at US$57 billion by 2025. The countrys digital...
Joint drills by the United States, South Korea and Japan have a "sinister aim" toward North Korea and are part of a dangerous prelude to the creation of an "Asian version of NATO," North Korean state news agency KCNA said on Wednesday.

The reports on KCNA came hours before leaders of South Korea and Japan are due to attend NATO's annual summit as observers for the first time. They will also meet with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss North Korea, the first such trilateral summit since 2017.

The three countries will also conduct a combined missile detection and tracking exercise near Hawaii in August, called Pacific Dragon.

"The U.S. is getting hell-bent on the military cooperation with its stooges in disregard of the primary security demand and concern by Asia-pacific countries," KCNA said.

In a similar statement over the weekend, the North's foreign ministry said the drills showed the hypocrisy of U.S. offers of diplomatic engagement and dialog without preconditions.

North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, including of its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, and there are concerns it could be preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017.

South Korea and Japan are both U.S. allies, but their relationship with each other has been strained by historical tensions over Japan's occupation of Korea from 1910-1945.

Washington has pushed Seoul and Tokyo to cooperate more in the face of threats from North Korea, as well as to counter the rising influence of China.

"The scheme for formation of the U.S.-Japan-South Korea military alliance, motivated by Japan's and South Korea's kowtowing to the U.S., is evidently a dangerous prelude to the creation of 'Asian version of NATO'," KCNA said, accusing Washington of fomenting a new Cold War.

KCNA carried a separate commentary by Kim Hyo-myung, a researcher at North Korea's International Society for Political Research, who said NATO was responsible for the war in Ukraine, and that there are "ominous signs that sooner or later the black waves in the North Atlantic will break the calm in the Pacific."

"NATO is nothing more than a servant of the realization of the U.S. hegemony strategy and a tool of local aggression," Kim wrote.
The African Continental Free Trade Area has been operating for more than a year with the aim of cutting red tape to expand inter-African trade and lift millions of people out of poverty. But the largest trade pact in the world, in terms of member countries, has seen slow progress and mixed results. Anne Nzouankeu reports from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in this report narrated by Moki Edwin Kindzeka. Videographer: Anne Nzouankeu
The African Union called for restraint Wednesday after clashes between Ethiopia and Sudan in a disputed border area. The tensions broke out after Sudan accused Ethiopia of executing seven of its troops, which Ethiopia blamed on a local militia.

The statement appealed for complete refrain from any military action, whatever its origins, and called for dialogue between Sudan and Ethiopia to resolve any dispute.

Sudan on Tuesday captured Jabal Kala al-Laban, an area on the border, after using heavy artillery a Sudanese military source told Reuters.

Shawgi Abdulazim, a Sudanese political analyst, said a broader conflict is unlikely because both countries are politically and economically fragile and a conflict could have disastrous effects.

He said if war happens, it will affect the humanitarian situation in both countries, resulting in an influx of refugees and displaced people. It would also further impact the situation in Djibouti, Somalia, and South Sudan amid an expected hunger crisis in the region.

Sudanese journalist Abdelmoniem Abuedries doubts the conflict will escalate.

I dont think this will lead to broader conflict, it will continue to be small clashes here and there," he said. "Always these small clashes are happening at the beginning of the rainy season in this area, because the farmers start cultivating their farms.

The clashes have taken place around the al-Fashaqa region, where land disputes between Sudanese and Ethiopian farmers have simmered for decades.
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This week, the Group of Seven leaders launched a $600 billion global infrastructure initiative they say will compete with Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Telfs, Austria, with reporting from Patsy Widakuswara in Washington.
A vast majority of Australians now see China as a military threat to their country, according to a respected Sydney-based research organization. Russias war in Ukraine has also been identified as a major security concern in a recently released survey by the Lowy Institute that says Australians are worried about Russias invasion of Ukraine and the potential for conflict between China and Taiwan.



The poll released Monday has also shown that trust in China and confidence in its President, Xi Jinping, is at record lows in Australia.



Natasha Kassam is the Lowy Institutes polling director. She told VOA the poll reflects a growing sense of apprehension in Australia.



In 2022, Australians are most concerned about China and the potential for a war over Taiwan between the United States and China. This is really looming large for Australians after Russias invasion of Ukraine, which I think was a reminder for most Australians that they should not take their safety and security for granted.



Australia has fallen out with China in recent years over significant geopolitical issues, including Beijings territorial ambitions in the South China Sea and the COVID-19 pandemic. Australias call for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 became a source of intense friction.



It was first detected in China, but Beijing saw Australias demand for a global inquiry as criticism of its handling of the virus. In apparent retaliation, China imposed restrictions of a range of Australian imports, including restrictions on coal and wine.



Kassam says many Australians worry what China might do in the future.



Three-quarters of the Australian public say that China may pose a military threat to Australia in the next two decades. It really shows that while Australians are focused on the potential for conflict in the region whether that be in Taiwan or over other disputed areas, they are really concerned about the way in which China has been treating Australia.



The recently elected Canberra government is attempting to sooth tensions with China, which is Australias biggest trading partner.



But analysts have said fresh tensions have emerged recently as Beijing attempts to boost its security and trade presence in the Pacific, an area Australia regards as its traditional sphere of influence.



The Lowy Institute survey indicates strong support for the Australia-U.S. alliance that dates back to the early 1950s.



Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they saw the alliance as very or fairly important, a nine-point increase from last year.



However, the survey indicates that while military ties with the United States are the bedrock of Australias national security, they are considered to be both a strength and a potential weakness because they could drag Australia into a war in Asia.



The Lowy Institute poll samples the views of about 2,000 people. The annual survey began in 2005.
A Truth Commission presented its final report on Colombia's armed conflict Tuesday, urging the government, military and rebel groups that are still fighting in the countryside to recognize the suffering victims have endured and ensure that political disputes are no longer solved through violence.

The commission is made up of academics and representatives of civil society groups and was set up as part of a 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that ended five decades of conflict in which at least 450,000 people were killed.

It was tasked with documenting war crimes and publishing its findings in a digital format that will be available to the public. The commission also issued a series of recommendations aimed at stopping future conflicts from taking root in Colombia, including changes to drug policy and transformations in the nation's military forces.

The commission's final report is based on interviews with 30,000 war victims, military leaders, former guerrilla fighters and five former Colombian presidents.

The 900-page report said 50,000 people were kidnapped between 1990 and 2018 as a result of Colombia's armed conflict, often by rebel groups who kept hostages for ransom. It also said that more than 7 million people were forced to flee their homes and that 56,000 civilians were killed by Colombia's armed forces, including 6,300 people who were killed in remote areas and presented to authorities as rebel fighters killed in action.

The report called for major changes to Colombia's military and police forces, which have received more than $8 billion from the U.S. over the past two decades.

It said the military's objectives should be re-evaluated and that all human rights violations committed by security forces should be tried by civilian courts.

The truth commission's report also discussed drug related violence in Colombia and called on the nation's government to regulate the drug trade so that its profits go to government agencies and not drug trafficking groups. It suggests that Colombia restart peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army, Colombia's largest remaining rebel groups.

The Truth Commission's recommendations are not legally binding. But some will likely be implemented by Colombia's new government, which will take over in August. President-elect Gustavo Petro attended the ceremony where the report was presented to the public and said its recommendations would "effectively become part of Colombia's history."

The leftist senator, who was once a member of a rebel group, said during his campaign that he will re-establish diplomatic relations with neighboring Venezuela whose socialist government is not recognized by the United States. Petro has also called for reforms to Colombia's defense forces, suggesting the police should stop being used for military operations and be placed under greater civilian oversight.

The presentation ceremony was not attended by President Ivan Duque, who was in Portugal for the U.N. Ocean Conference. So the Truth Commission's president, Jesuit priest Francisco de Roux, handed the report and its recommendations to Petro instead.

"We are confident that President Petro will incorporate these recommendations into institutional spaces of dialogue and debate, so that we can make the changes that are needed," De Roux said.

A separate war crimes tribunal called the Special Jurisdiction for Peace is also investigating crimes that happened during the armed conflict.
Internet services have been suspended in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, while in the city of Udaipur, a curfew is in place over fears of retaliatory communal violence following the killing of a Hindu tailor, allegedly by two Muslim men.

Following their arrests, the suspects reportedly said that they killed the Hindu man because he insulted the Prophet Muhammad by supporting Indian politician Nupur Sharma and sharing a related post in social media.

Sharma, a spokesperson of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made controversial comments about the Prophet Muhammad last month. Sharmas remarks triggered a diplomatic storm, with many Islamic countries condemning the comments and registering protests against India. The BJP then suspended her from the party.

Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, was briefly detained by police after sharing the controversial tweet earlier this month and had been receiving death threats from unknown people since then. His family on Wednesday criticized police for not providing him with protection.

The Indian government has sent a special team of the National Investigation Agency, the countrys anti-terrorism agency, to look into whether the killing was linked to any terrorist group.

On Tuesday, tensions climbed when two video clips of Lals killing went viral on social media.

One of the clips, allegedly made by his killers, shows the two men attacking him with cleavers. In the other, the two men allegedly declare that they have beheaded the tailor and threaten Prime Minister Modi, while brandishing the cleavers.

One of the two men also allegedly said in the video, We live for the Prophet Muhammad, as we are ready to die for him.  Listen, Narendra Modi, you lit the fire, but we will douse it and, if God is willing, our daggers will reach your neck soon, too.

A senior Rajasthan police official urged the media to stop showing the video because it is too ghastly to watch.

Hindu nationalists are calling on the Muslim suspects to be treated as terrorists and hanged. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Twitter that the case will be handled by a special investigation team and speedier justice and strict punishment will be ensured.

Please stay calm and dont help serve the assailants motive of spreading discord in the country, Gehlot said.

The tailors killing has been widely condemned by Muslims, with many calling the act completely un-Islamic.

Indias largest Islamic organization, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, called the killing barbaric and uncivilized.

There is no room for justification of violence in Islam.  We strongly condemn it. No citizen should take law in his own hands, a tweet from the organization said.

New Delhi-based Muslim community leader Zafarul-Islam Khan said that the Udaipur killing is completely illegal and deplorable.

The criminals must be appropriately punished but a minute probe is also necessary to uncover the conspiracy behind the killing.  The probe must also focus on who benefits from this crime. It flows into the polarization politics and demonizes Muslims, Khan told VOA.

Another Muslim community leader, Syed Azharuddin, described the killing as inhuman and un-Islamic.

We strongly condemn this killing. The culprits should be dealt with strictly, through the legal process, Azharuddin told VOA.

Let us not forget that the Quran teaches us saving a human is equivalent to saving entire humanity vis-a-vis killing a human is equivalent to killing entire humanity."
Ethiopia's ruling party said this week it wants the African Union, partnering with the United States, to mediate any peace talks to end the war with Tigrayan forces. But the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF, has said it does not trust the AU and wants Kenya to mediate.

Some worry the conflicting desires from the two sides this early in negotiations may not bode well for future talks.

"The position of Tigray's government seems to be based around a concern from the outset of the conflict that the African Union commission chairperson expressed some support for the Ethiopian federal military campaign in Tigray," said William Davison, analyst with the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based research organization. "I don't think the Ethiopian government feels the African Union has much coercive power at its disposal and, therefore, it's a mediator that it's better able to handle."

The AU headquarters is located in Addis Ababa.

Solomon Guadie, a lecturer in law at Jigjiga University in Ethiopia, said he suspects Kenya would not be a neutral party in negotiations.

"Kenya has certain border and environmental issues with regards to Ethiopia," Guadie said. "Maybe that might be involved into any impartiality and factors that may affect neutrality, so I think the African Union is a better place than Kenya."

But Davison said these kinds of disagreements are normal and can be overcome.

"There's no particular reason why the Kenyan government can't work alongside the African Union and its envoy as a sort of compromise solution, and that's certainly what's necessary, given what's at stake here," Davison said. "It's vitally important that these sorts of procedural wrangling don't distract from the parties getting down to talks."

Complicating the negotiations is the fact some analysts and politicians have said peace talks should involve actors in the conflict apart from the TPLF and the government  in particular, the Ethiopian regional governments of Amhara and Afar and the national government of Eritrea.

Eritrean troops joined the Ethiopian government in fighting against the TPLF in the north of Ethiopia, bringing to an end a decades-long standoff between the two nations.

The war between Tigrayan forces and Ethiopia's federal government has raged since November 2020.

An estimated 5.1 million people were displaced by the conflict in 2021. Ghent University in Belgium says up to a half-million people have died because of the conflict, either in fighting or as a result of the humanitarian crisis it has caused.


Before he began the journey that ended in disaster, Jose Luis Vasquez lived in a remote mountainous community in southern Mexico, where a single telephone connects a few indigenous families to the outside world, local residents said.

Now the 31-year-old is in a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, after becoming severely dehydrated in a sweltering semitrailer in which at least 53 migrants died in the deadliest human smuggling tragedy in recent U.S. history.

Vasquez had recently left the Mexican army, according to his uncle Aquilino Guzman, who said he had seen his nephew several weeks before he left for the United States. But Vasquez had not shared those travel plans with his uncle, Guzman said.

"I guess it was the same story as always," Guzman told Reuters. "Looking for better opportunities."

Guzman belongs to one of dozens of families awaiting word of loved ones, after the government said 27 Mexicans had died in Texas. Nearly two dozen Central Americans also died, according to the Mexican government.

Oaxaca's government is seeking a humanitarian visa for Vasquez's mother to be with her son while he recovers in Texas.

Vasquez, whose condition and hospital stay were announced by the Mexican government, could not immediately be reached for comment. He set out for the U.S. border with his cousin, Javier Flores, said Manuel Velasco, a relative of Flores and municipal secretary of the nearest town, San Miguel Huautla.

The last time Flores called his family was June 19, when he told them he already had crossed the border and was hiding in a house in Texas, according to Velasco. Flores' family is now anxiously hoping for news that he is alive.

"He told me he was going to look for a better life," Flores' mother, Virgilia Lopez, told Reuters. "To send his kids to school, help them get ahead and have a better future."

Honduran brothers Fernando Jose Redondo and Alejandro Miguel Andino left their town in the northwest of the country on June 4, along with Andino's wife, Margie Tamara Paz, according to media interviews with the brothers' mother, Karen Castillo.

Identification documents of the three migrants were found among the bodies in the truck in Texas, according to the Honduran government. Castillo said she lost contact with her sons, aged 19 and 22, on Saturday morning.

Andino had nearly completed a degree in marketing, while Paz, 24, held an economics degree, but they could not find work in Honduras, Castillo told Honduran television.

"They had dreams as a couple, they had goals, and here they wouldn't fulfill them," she said.

Adela Betulia Ramirez, whose ID was also found among the dead, left her small town on the Atlantic coast of Honduras on May 26, her cousin Claudia Vallecillo told local media.

Ramirez's fiance, mother and siblings had sent the 28-year-old money to get to Los Angeles, where they live.

"She told me she was going because she wanted to be with her mother and her siblings," Vallecillo said.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that then-President Donald Trump became increasingly angry and volatile about his 2020 reelection loss, testifying that he agreed with rioters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 last year when they called for the hanging of then-Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to block the election outcome.



Hutchinson said that as some of the thousands of Trump supporters at the Capitol chanted "Hang Mike Pence!" Trump told her boss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, "Mike deserves it."



She quoted Meadows as saying that Trump "doesn't think (the anti-Pence protesters were) doing anything wrong."

Trump supporters had erected a gallows on the National Mall within eyesight of the Capitol, although Pence's security detail rushed him to safety as the mayhem raged. Some rioters came within about 12 meters of reaching him.



Later, Trump tweeted that "Mike Pence didn't have the courage" to block Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump in the 2020 election. But it was not until more than an hour later that Trump finally told his supporters in a video message to leave the Capitol, after earlier ignoring pleas from family members, including his daughter Ivanka, a White House aide, and other advisers to publicly call off the riot.



The Secret Service is denying the incident in Trumps limo occurred and offering to testify before the panel to that effect. And Trump is denying on social media feed many of the other accusations.

WATCH THE HEARING:

Hutchinson, who worked in an office just steps from Trump's Oval Office, said she learned from Anthony Ornato, a Meadows aide responsible for coordinating Trump's security detail, that the then-president, after a rally near the White House before the mayhem at the Capitol, attempted to grab the wheel of his limousine from a Secret Service agent and demanded to go to the Capitol to join his supporters.

Trump had told thousands of supporters at the rally that he would join them in walking to the Capitol, but his security detail had determined it was too dangerous and instead drove him back to the White House.



Hutchinson said she was told by Ornato that, once in the limousine, Trump was "under the impression  he thought they were going to the Capitol" and was "very, very angry" when he realized they were not.



"I'm the 'effing' president, take me to the Capitol," Trump demanded, according to Ornato's recounting of the incident to Hutchinson.



She testified that Ornato told her Trump grabbed the steering wheel but was pushed away by his chief security agent, Bobby Engel.



"Sir, you need to take your hand off of the steering wheel, we're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol," Hutchinson said, quoting Ornato's retelling of what Engel told Trump.



"Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Engel and when Mr. Ornato recounted the story to me, he motioned to his clavicles," Hutchinson testified.

Earlier that day, according to Hutchinson, Trump had been informed that many of the supporters whom he was urging to march to the Capitol were armed and equipped with body armor. Hutchinson said the president was angered that the Secret Service was using magnetometers to check for weapons at the entrance to the rally and confiscating those it found. Trump reportedly said he wasn't in any danger and complained that keeping people out of the rally made the crowd look smaller.



More than a month before, on Dec. 1, 2020, then Attorney General William Barr, the country's top law enforcement official, had told the Associated Press that Justice Department investigators had not found evidence of election fraud sufficient to overturn Biden's victory. Trump lost more than five dozen election lawsuits claiming fraud.



Hutchinson said Trump was furious when told of Barr's remark to the AP reporter. She learned of his anger when she encountered a White House valet cleaning Trump's private dining room next to the Oval Office.



Trump, she said, had thrown his lunch against a wall, shattering a plate and splattering ketchup on the wall.



Hutchinson said that both Meadows and a Trump attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, sought pardons for their roles in trying to keep Trump in power.



But Trump, while pardoning other aides for their possible crimes before leaving office, did not act on the requests from Meadows or Giuliani, nor on similar demands from a half-dozen Republican congressmen Hutchinson said had requested pardons.



Hutchinson's testimony came in the House of Representatives committee's sixth hearing this month, with two more set for mid-July.



One of those hearings is set to detail the involvement of right-wing extremists in the insurrection at the Capitol and the other to explore what Trump was doing at the White House as he watched the riot unfold on television for more than three hours, ignoring all entreaties to tell the rioters to leave the Capitol.

Previously, an array of witnesses, in taped testimony and in person before the panel, have described how Trump and his allies sought to pressure Pence, the Justice Department and state officials to upend the congressional certification of the election results on January 6, 2021.



At the rally before the insurrection at the Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell" to block congressional approval of Biden's victory.



About 2,000 of Trump's supporters stormed past law enforcement officials into the Capitol, ransacking congressional offices, vandalizing the building and scuffling with police. More than 800 have subsequently been charged with offenses and more than 300 have pleaded guilty or been convicted in trials. Sentences have ranged from a few weeks in prison to more than four years.



In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each state's number of electoral votes is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. The rioters who stormed the Capitol tried to keep lawmakers from certifying Biden's eventual 306-232 victory in the Electoral College.



At the heart of Trump's effort to stay in power was an audacious plan espoused by Giuliani and conservative lawyer John Eastman to get legislatures in states Trump narrowly lost to appoint new electors supporting him to replace the official ones favoring Biden.



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 outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Last week, FBI agents raided the Washington-area home of a former assistant attorney general, Jeffrey Clark, who wanted Trump to name him attorney general in the last month of his presidency so he could advance Trump's erroneous claims of vote fraud, which were at odds with Barr's conclusion.



Trump appeared willing to make the Clark appointment but backed off when top Justice Department officials said Clark, an environmental lawyer, was not qualified to be the country's top law enforcement official and threatened to quit en masse if he were named.



In addition, FBI agents, in a separate encounter in the southwestern state of New Mexico, seized the cell phone of Eastman.



A prosecutor in Atlanta, the capital of the state of Georgia, has convened a grand jury to probe Trump's effort to overturn the vote in that state. Trump asked the state's 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 minimal voting irregularities, not enough to overturn Biden's Electoral College victory.



In addition, Trump was told it would be illegal for Pence to unilaterally block Biden's victory as Pence presided over the congressional Electoral College vote count. Trump privately and publicly demanded the vice president block certification of Biden's victory and to this day contends he was cheated out of another White House term.
A German court on Tuesday handed a five-year jail sentence to a 101-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard, the oldest person to go on trial for complicity in war crimes during the Holocaust.

Josef Schuetz was found guilty of being an accessory to murder in at least 3,500 cases while working as a prison guard at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, from 1942 to 1945.

Given his age, Schuetz is highly unlikely to be put behind bars.

The pensioner, who now lives in Brandenburg state, had pleaded innocent, saying he did "absolutely nothing" and had not even worked at the camp.

"I don't know why I am here," he said at the close of his trial Monday.

But presiding judge Udo Lechtermann said he was convinced Schuetz had worked at Sachsenhausen and had "supported" the atrocities committed there.

"For three years, you watched prisoners being tortured and killed before your eyes," Lechtermann said.

"Due to your position on the watchtower of the concentration camp, you constantly had the smoke of the crematorium in your nose," he said. "Anyone who tried to escape from the camp was shot. So every guard was actively involved in these murders."

More than 200,000 people, including Jews, Roma, gays and regime opponents, were detained at the Sachsenhausen camp from 1936 to 1945.

Tens of thousands of inmates died from forced labor, murder, medical experiments, hunger or disease before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops, according to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum.

Contradictory statements

Schuetz, who was 21 when he began working at the camp, remained blank-faced as the court announced his sentence.

"I am ready," said Sc

huetz when he, dressed in a gray shirt and striped trousers, entered the courtroom in a wheelchair.

Schuetz was not detained during the trial, which began in 2021 but was postponed several times because of his health.

His lawyer, Stefan Waterkamp, told AFP he would appeal, meaning the sentence will not be enforced until 2023 at the earliest.

Thomas Walther, the lawyer who represented 11 of the 16 civil parties in the trial, said the sentencing had met their expectations and "justice has been served."

But Antoine Grumbach, 80, whose father died in Sachsenhausen, said he could "never forgive" Schuetz as "any human being facing atrocities has a duty to oppose them."

During the trial, Schuetz had made several inconsistent statements about his past, complaining that his head was getting "mixed up."

At one point, the centenarian said he had worked as an agricultural laborer in Germany for most of World War II, a claim contradicted by several historical documents bearing his name, date and place of birth.

'Warning to perpetrators'

After the war, Schuetz was transferred to a prison camp in Russia before returning to Germany, where he worked as a farmer and a locksmith.

More than seven decades after World War II, German prosecutors are racing to bring the last surviving Nazi perpetrators to justice.

The 2011 conviction of former guard John Demjanjuk on the basis that he served as part of Hitler's killing machine, set a legal precedent and paved the way for several of these justice cases.

Since then, courts have handed down several guilty verdicts on those grounds rather than for murders or atrocities directly linked to the individual accused.

Among those brought to late justice were Oskar Groening, an accountant at Auschwitz, and Reinhold Hanning, a former SS guard at Auschwitz.

Both were convicted at the age of 94 of complicity in mass murder but died before they could be imprisoned.

However, Schuetz's five-year sentence is the longest handed to a defendant in such a case.

Guillaume Mouralis, a research professor at France's National Centre for Scientific Research, told AFP the verdict was "a warning to the perpetrators of mass crimes: whatever their level of responsibility, there is still legal liability."
Police in Delhi have arrested the Muslim co-founder of a fact-checking website for allegedly hurting religious sentiment of Hindus. Media rights activists called the action a new low for press freedom in India.

Journalist Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, was arrested Monday after being accused of insulting Hindu beliefs in a tweet he posted in 2018. Zubair regularly highlights the marginalization of minority Muslims and identifies fake news in his tweets.

The tweet that led to Zubairs arrest carried a photo of a hotel sign repainted from Honeymoon Hotel to Hanuman Hotel. Monkey god Hanuman is revered by Hindus.

Along with the photo, which was a screenshot from a 1983 Bollywood comedy, the text in the tweet said, Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel.

On June 19, a Twitter account called Hanuman Bhakt, (follower of Hanuman, in Hindi), shared the 2018 tweet and charged that linking the monkey god to honeymoon was a direct insult to Hindus, and urged Delhi police to take action against Zubair.

Delhi police said Zubairs tweet was highly provocative and more than sufficient to incite feelings of hatred.

Transmission and publication of such posts have been deliberately done by Mohammed Zubair @zoo_bear through electronic media to insult the religious feelings of a particular community with the intent to provoke breach of peace, the First Information Report filed by police said.

Vrinda Grover, Zubairs lawyer, said Zubair is being targeted because he is a journalist and speaking truth to power.

Many others tweeted the same, but the only difference between those handles and my client is his faith, his name and his profession, Grover said to the court, referring to Zubair being Muslim and a journalist.

Refused bail

Zubair was refused bail Tuesday before being remanded to four days of police custody.

Apart from being a critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government, Zubair has been known for routinely tracking and highlighting anti-Muslim hate speeches, mostly by Hindu right-wing activists.

Recently, he highlighted allegedly derogatory comments made by Nupur Sharma, a spokesperson for Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), about the Prophet Muhammad. His tweet on the issue was widely shared and sparked strong protests against India from many Muslim countries.

Tens of thousands of Hindu nationalists came out in support of Sharma. They held rallies across the country and launched a #ArrestZubair campaign on Twitter. On social media, many of them said that Zubair often posted tweets insulting Hindu gods and goddesses and he should be prosecuted.

#ReleaseZubair trending on Twitter

Following Zubairs arrest Monday, #IStandWithZubair and #ReleaseZubair began trending on Twitter in India, with journalists, opposition party leaders and rights activists expressing solidarity with him.

Opposition party leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, Every person exposing BJPs hate, bigotry and lies is a threat to them.

Delhi-based Muslim community leader Zafarul-Islam Khan said Zubair is being targeted because he consistently exposed the lies spread by the Hindutva [right-wing Hindu] groups.

Under this regime, anyone who opens his mouth and raises his head must be put down. The plan is to silence all critics so that peace of graveyards sways over India, Khan told VOA.

"Another low for press freedom in India"

Demanding Zubairs immediate release, Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement: The arrest of journalist Mohammad Zubair marks another low for press freedom in India, where the government has created a hostile and unsafe environment for members of the press reporting on sectarian issues.

Calling Zubairs arrest clearly a petty, vindictive, and vengeful act, Rohit Chopra, an associate professor at Santa Clara University, told VOA that through his work, Zubair has shown how the current government, its officials and supporters routinely spread fake news to demonize minorities, critics and their political opponents.

Ashok Swain, head of the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, said the charges against Zubair are fictitious, and the severity of action against him is more because he is Muslim.

When the critic is from a minority community, the governments action becomes much more severe, as it not only prohibits others from raising their voices but also makes the core majoritarian supporters of the ruling party happy, Swain told VOA.

Audrey Truschke, associate professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University, said Zubairs arrest is a startling move by an authoritarian state whose intolerance grows by the day.

These are indeed dark times for India, which is already one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Indias government shames itself, tarnishes its reputation, and harms its own citizens by continuing down this horrific path, Truschke told VOA.

India fell eight places in the 180-country World Press Freedom Index this year. In 2021, it ranked 142. In 2022, it ranks 150th.
U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan expressed new worries Wednesday about the North Korean nuclear threat as they met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid.



In brief comments ahead of their trilateral meeting, Biden said, We remain deeply concerned [that North Korea] has continued escalatory ballistic missiles and tests and [has the] potential to conduct a nuclear test.



Biden said the United States, South Korea and Japan have a shared objective, including a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and a free and open Indo Pacific.



South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to evolve. And the global landscape is facing increased uncertainties, thereby rendering our trilateral partnership all the more significant.



Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he was deeply concerned over the possibility of further provocation by North Korea, including nuclear testing. Through this meeting, I hope that trilateral cooperation regarding our response to North Korea will be solidified.



A subsequent White House statement about the meeting said Biden underscored the United States unshakable commitment to the defense of both Japan and South Korea.



At a dinner Tuesday hosted by Spains King Felipe VI, Yoon and Kishida expressed hopes for improved bilateral relations between their two countries during a three or four-minute meeting, according to the South Korean presidential office.

Yoon told Kishida he plans to resolve pending issues between Korea and Japan as soon as possible so that the two countries can move forward in a future-oriented manner, Seoul officials said.



Kishida said he hoped the South Korean president would restore extremely severe relations to a healthy state, according to Japans Kyodo news agency.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between the top leaders of South Korea and Japan since December 2019. Since then, ties have plummeted due to lingering disputes related to Japans brutal 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.

Yoon, who took office last month, is a conservative who has promised greater cooperation with Japan on issues such as North Korea, which has accelerated its nuclear weapons development.

Yoon and Kishida, who have both aligned their countries in a more explicitly pro-Western direction, are attending the NATO meeting as observers. It is the first time the top leaders of South Korea and Japan have attended a NATO summit.

On Wednesday, Yoon and Kishida will meet U.S. President Joe Biden for a trilateral summit in Madrid. The meeting will focus mainly on North Korea, according to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

South Korea and Japan are both key allies of the United States, but are often suspicious of each other. Occasional flare-ups in the countries historical disputes have posed a major challenge to trilateral cooperation on issues such as North Korea or China.

The latest round of tensions was sparked in part by recent South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who were forced to work during Japans colonial occupation of Korea.

Japan says the reparations issue was resolved with a 1965 treaty that normalized Japan-South Korea relations. It has complained that subsequent South Korean governments have not accepted further Japanese apologies and attempts to make amends.

Japanese and South Korean officials had hinted that Yoon and Kishida may hold a longer meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit. But subsequent media reports indicated that more substantive engagement may have to wait until Japan holds key upper house elections next month.
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

11:05 p.m.:

9:20 p.m.: President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would respond in kind if NATO deployed troops and infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they join the U.S.-led military alliance, Reuters reported.

"With Sweden and Finland, we don't have the problems that we have with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead," Putin told Russian state television.

"But they must understand there was no threat before, while now, if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in kind and create the same threats for the territories from which threats towards us are created."

He said it was inevitable that Moscow's relations with Helsinki and Stockholm would sour over their NATO membership.

8:25 p.m.: Russia said it's ready to work with the United Nations to combat the risks of a global food crisis and was willing to meet its obligations to export food and fertilizers, Reuters reported.

The commitments were made Wednesday in a conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Lavrov's ministry said in a statement.

However, the statement stopped short of announcing any new concrete steps, and repeated earlier Russian charges that Ukrainian actions and Western sanctions were to blame for the crisis.

7:41 p.m.: Britain on Wednesday announced sanctions on oligarch Vladimir Potanin, described by London as Russia's second-richest man and who has been buying assets from firms exiting Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Potanin, known as Russia's "Nickel King," was included in the latest wave of sanctions listings by Britain, which included business figures, financial firms and other entities, Reuters reported.

Britain, along with Western allies, has been imposing sanctions against Russian elites, banks and strategic industries since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Russia says it is conducting a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

6:51 p.m.: Global exports of semiconductors to Russia have plummeted by 90% since the United States and allies placed export controls on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Raimondo, speaking at an annual Commerce Department conference, also said that controls placed on Russia's aerospace sector were hammering its ability to generate revenue and support military aviation.

The shortage of chips prompted Russia's automobile industry to suffer a record slump in output in May, when is produced 3,720 cars compared with about 112,000 in May 2021, the state statistics service said on Wednesday.

6:17 p.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday unveiled the organization's Strategic Concept that featured China for the first time.

5:40 p.m.: Syria said Wednesday it will recognize the "independence and sovereignty" of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and contacts will be established to set up diplomatic relations, The Associated Press reported.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry announcement came days after President Bashar Assad met with a joint delegation from both regions in Damascus.

Earlier this month, Russia claimed to have taken control of 97% of one of the two provinces that make up Ukraine's Donbas, bringing the Kremlin closer to its goal of fully capturing the eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories.

Syria is a strong ally of Russia, which joined Syria's conflict in September 2015 helping tip the balance of power in favor of Assad's favor.

5:05 p.m.: The lower house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved the critical second reading of a proposed law that would allow the banning of foreign news media in response to other countries taking actions against Russian news outlets, The Associated Press reported.

The proposal must still pass a third reading in the Duma and secure the upper house's approval before going to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law. But the Duma's approval on second reading, when a proposal still can undergo substantial changes, almost always prefigures a law's enactment.

The draft law also calls for allowing Russia's prosecutor general to cancel the registration of media outlets for disseminating "illegal, dangerous, unreliable publicly significant information or information expressing clear disrespect for society, the state, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as aimed at discrediting the Russian armed forces," state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

4:33 p.m.: Sergii Marchenko is the minister of Finance of Ukraine.

4:03 p.m.: Trade through Lithuania to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad could return to normal within days, two sources familiar with the matter said, as European officials edge toward a compromise deal with the Baltic state to defuse a row with Moscow, Reuters reported.



Kaliningrad, which is bordered by European Union states and relies on railways and roads through Lithuania for most goods, has been cut off from some freight transport from mainland Russia since June 17 under sanctions imposed by Brussels.



3:15 p.m.: Russia said on Wednesday that restrictions imposed by Norway were blocking goods for Russian-populated settlements on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and threatened unspecified "retaliatory measures" unless Oslo resolves the issue, Reuters reported.



Svalbard, midway between Norway's north coast and the North Pole, is part of Norway, but Russia has the right to exploit the archipelago's natural resources under a treaty signed in 1920, and some settlements there are populated mainly by Russians.



Norway, which is not in the EU but applies EU sanctions against Russia, has said sanctions would not affect the transport of goods by ship to Svalbard. But much of the freight for the archipelago's Russian settlements passes first through a checkpoint into mainland Norway, which is closed to sanctioned goods.



2:30 p.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about a diplomatic resolution to the war in Ukraine on Wednesday but gave no specifics on the way forward for negotiations, VOAs State Department bureau chief Nike Ching reported.

2:18 p.m.: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expressing optimism that humanitarian corridors could be opened to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world amid Russias war, The Associated Press reported.



Tens of millions of people across the world are at risk of hunger as the four-month war has disrupted shipments of grain from Ukraine.



Speaking during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the margins of the NATO summit, Erdogan said, We are trying to solve the process with a balancing policy. Our hope is that this balance policy will lead to results and allow us possibility to get grain to countries that are facing shortages right now through a corridor as soon as possible.



2:02 p.m.: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke by phone Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer reported. UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, "They discussed the situation in Ukraine, including efforts to get Ukrainian grain and Russian grain and fertilizer back onto the global market." Talks are ongoing and Dujarric had no breakthroughs to announce.



1:46 p.m.: Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda talked to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday.



1:29 p.m.: The Biden administration threw its support on Wednesday behind the potential sale of U.S. F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a day after Ankara lifted a veto of NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, Reuters reports.



Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs at Pentagon, told reporters on a call that strong Turkish defense capabilities would reinforce NATO's defenses.



"The United States supports Turkeys modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security," she said.



1:11 p.m.: Ukraine's Defense Ministry has announced a prisoner exchange involving 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including scores of defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.



1:04 p.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to take most of Ukraine and the picture for the war there remains "pretty grim," the top U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.



"We continue to be in a position where we look at President Putin and we think he has effectively the same political goals that we had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine," Avril Haines, the U.S, Director of National Intelligence, told a Commerce Department conference.



12:56 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has accepted an invitation to attend the autumn G20 summit in Bali, but his participation will depend on which leaders are also attending, a thinly veiled reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

12:34 p.m.: The war in Ukraine that has stalled its wheat exports will keep global prices high into the 2022/23 season, putting millions more people at risk of undernourishment, the United Nations' food agency and the OECD said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.



Russia and Ukraine are the world's first and fifth largest wheat exporters accounting for 20% and 10% of global sales, respectively, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the closure of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, nearly halted exports.



Grain exports from Ukraine are only 20% of capacity as alternative channels, such as rail and road, are not as efficient as maritime routes, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.



12:15 p.m.: The U.N. atomic watchdog said on Wednesday it had again lost its connection to its surveillance systems keeping track of nuclear material at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe's largest, which the watchdog wants to inspect.



12:01 p.m.: With Coke and Pepsi having suspended sales in Russia, the makers of Cola Chernogolovka hope to slake the thirsts of Russians including at big American fast food chains.



Chernogolovka, a drinks company named for a town outside Moscow where it was founded in 1998, told Reuters on Wednesday it has more than doubled its presence in hotels, restaurants and cafes so far this year, and is now supplying Russian outlets of Burger King and KFC.



"We think this is far from the limit," the company told Reuters in response to questions.

11:46 a.m.:



11:33 a.m.: The bank connected to state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom is the third-biggest in Russia, after Sberbank and VTB. And its the only one of the three that has not been hit with the harshest kind of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States -- an exception that results from the fact that EU countries pay Russia for natural gas, a major source of revenue for the assault on Ukraine, through Gazprombank.



A new report by Schemes, an investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys Ukrainian Service, documents a wide range of evidence showing that a substantial number of the Russian soldiers and security-force members who have been deployed to Ukraine have received their regular military pay and combat bonuses via Gazprombank.



11:17 a.m.: Amid concerns about wheat shortages in Russia and Ukraine, Thai economists say demand for this years rice production is set to rise, driven by the war in Ukraine and its impact on rising global commodity prices. For VOA, Steve Sandford spoke to Thai experts about the expected increases, along with the added challenges for rice producers and workers.



11:06 a.m.: Ukraines Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, on Twitter Wednesday welcomed the NATO summit statement declaring Russia its most significant threat and vowing to support Ukraine. Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO leaders, "This is not a war being waged by Russia against only Ukraine. This is a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe - for what the future world order will be like."



10:51 a.m.: NATO has declared Russia the "most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security amid Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.



The Western military alliance made the declaration in a statement as its leaders met in Madrid on Wednesday to confront what NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called the biggest security crisis since World War II.



NATO's declaration underscores how dramatically Russias invasion of Ukraine has unsettled Europes post-Cold War security order.



The alliance also promised to step up political and practical support to Ukraine in the face of Russias invasion. Stoltenberg said Ukraine is fighting for its independence but also for Western values and security.



The statement also said that NATO leaders agreed on Wednesday to formally invite Finland and Sweden to join the alliance after Turkey struck a deal with the Nordic duo to drop its objections.

10:40 a.m.: As the ruble strengthens to levels not seen in seven years, Russias minister of economic development warned Wednesday that the countrys businesses could suffer if the trend persists, The Associated Press reported.



I think my colleagues will confirm that the profitability of many industries, even export-oriented, has become negative at the current exchange rate, economic development minister Maxim Reshetnikov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.



If such a situation will last for several more months, I think many enterprises may come to the idea not only of curtailing investment processes, but also of the need to adjust current production plans and reduce production volumes, he said.

10:31 a.m.: The U.N. Human Rights Office on Wednesday released a new report that shows the shocking toll of the war in Ukraine. It was presented by Matilda Bogner, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, who said, The daily killing of civilians, the torture, disappearances and other violations must stop.



10:17 a.m.: China is rebuking NATO for what it calls the alliances Cold War mentality, The Associated Press reported. The comments came as NATO leaders held a summit in Spain, where they are expected to identify China as a challenge for the alliance.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said NATO should give up the cold war mentality, zero-sum game and the practice of creating enemies, and not to try to mess up Asia and the whole world after disrupting Europe.

He accused NATO members of creating tension and provoking conflicts by sending warships and aircraft into areas close to the Asian mainland and the South China Sea. Zhao also criticized sanctions brought against Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine it has refused to condemn or even describe as an act of aggression.

10:04 a.m.: A senior European Union official is welcoming the chance for the bloc to strengthen its ties with NATO, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, said the EU and the military alliance held common values which would be on show at the NATO summit this week.

Asked if EU members should boost their defense spending in response to the Russian threat following the invasion if Ukraine, Michel said: Yes! Yes! Yes!

He added: And we are doing that because we have decided to increase (defense spending) by 200 billion euros in the following years (...) But its not enough.

9:52 a.m.: "They are looting toilet bowls and women's underwear," says a Ukrainian soldier in a dismissive assessment of Russian forces. Soldiers from the Ukrainian 3rd Separate Tank Brigade spoke to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service about their experiences in battle in eastern Ukraine.

9:41 a.m.: Russian forces battled Wednesday to surround the Ukrainian militarys last stronghold in a long-contested eastern province, The Associated Press reported. Moscows battle to wrest the entire Donbas region from Ukraine saw Russia forces pushing toward two Luhansk province villages south of the city of Lysychansk while Ukrainian troops fought to prevent their encirclement.

Britains Defense Ministry said Russian forces were making incremental advances in their offensive to capture the city. Lysychansk is the last major area of the province under Ukrainian control following the retreat of Ukraines fighters from the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk.

Russian troops and their separatist allies control 95% of Luhansk and hold about half of Donetsk region, the other province that makes up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.

The latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, said the Ukrainians were likely in a fighting withdrawal to seek more defensible positions while draining the Russian military forces of manpower and resources.

9:33 a.m.:

9:16 a.m.: In a phone video, a police officer in the besieged Ukrainian city of Lysychansk recorded his personal account of trying to help civilians under fire with food and support. The city is nearly surrounded and is situated near Sievierodonetsk, where Russian forces claim control. Vans evacuating people come under constant fire. Lysychansk remains the last major city in the Luhansk region controlled by Ukrainian forces. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has this report.

9:02 a.m.: Russian forces struck targets in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine on Wednesday and intensified attacks on fronts across the country as NATO members met in Madrid to plan a course of action against the challenge from Moscow, Reuters reported.

In the east, the governor of Luhansk province said there was "fighting everywhere" in the battle around the hilltop city of Lysychansk, which Russian troops were trying to encircle.

The governor of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine said Russian shelling had increased there too in the past few days. "Several villages have been wiped from the face of the earth," Kryvyi Rih governor Oleksander Vilkul said.

8:30 a.m.: Russia's space agency published the coordinates of Western defense headquarters including the U.S. Pentagon and the venue of this week's NATO summit in Madrid, saying Western satellite operators were working for Russia's enemy Ukraine, Reuters reported.

8:23 a.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the United States is sending additional naval destroyers to be stationed in Spain, establishing a permanent headquarters for the U.S. 5th Army Corps in Poland, adding a rotational brigade of 3,000 troops and 2,000 other personnel to be headquartered in Romania, and sending two additional F-35 fighter jets to Britain, VOA News reported.

"Today, I'm announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe to respond to the changed security environment, as well as strengthening our collective security," Biden said in Madrid, where NATO leaders are gathering for a summit that will include discussion of support for Ukraine and how the alliance will adapt to face current and future challenges.

Biden said that at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin "has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very tenets of rule-based order," the United States and its allies are "proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, and it's as important as it ever has been."

8:14 a.m.: Ukraines Interior Minister Denys Monastrysky said there was no hope of finding survivors under the debris of the Kremenchuk mall after a Russian missile strike earlier this week, the Kyiv Independent reported Wednesday. Monastrysky said rescuers were continuing to retrieve fragments of bodies from under the collapsed structure. During rescue operations, two emergency service workers were injured when concrete slabs shifted, the newspaper reported.

8:09 a.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden's administration added five companies in China to a trade blacklist on Tuesday for allegedly supporting Russia's military and defense industrial base, flexing its muscle to enforce sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.



The Commerce Department, which oversees the blacklist, said the targeted companies had supplied items to Russian "entities of concern" before the Feb. 24 invasion, adding that they "continue to contract to supply Russian entity listed and sanctioned parties."

7:52 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has deplored NATOs failure to embrace his country and asked the alliance for more weapons, The Associated Press reported.

Zelenskyy addressed a NATO summit by video link on Wednesday.

He warned the leaders gathered that they either had to provide Ukraine with the help it needed to defeat Russia or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

7:37 a.m.: Poland on Wednesday hailed U.S. President Joe Biden's commitment to establish the 5th Army's Headquarters in Poland as the realization of a long-held dream that would send a clear signal of deterrence to Russia.



Biden told a NATO summit in Madrid earlier on Wednesday that the United States will ramp up its forces and equipment across Europe and set up a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to potential new threats from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.



"It is a success which comes from long and consistent negotiations on this matter and, at the same time, a very clear sign that the Americans intend to increase, not decrease, their presence in Poland," Jakub Kumoch, the Polish president's foreign policy adviser, told Reuters when asked about Biden's announcement.



7:20 a.m.: Amid Russia's war on Ukraine, the Turkish deal with Finland and Sweden opens the door to momentous NATO enlargement, as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports in this news analysis.

7:05 a.m.: Pro-government Turkish media lauded a deal to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO as a triumph for President Tayyip Erdogan, saying on Wednesday he had wrested concrete gains from the West in the country's fight against terrorism, Reuters reported.

The 11th hour agreement on Tuesday, which caught many by surprise, lifted Ankara's veto over the Nordic states' membership bids. It ended a weeks-long dispute that tested the defence alliance's unity against Russia's invasion of Ukraine ahead of this week's NATO summit in Madrid.

"President Erdogan's Madrid Victory," said a Sabah newspaper headline, above a photo of him standing next to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the centre of a group photo after the accord was signed.

"Erdogan's decisiveness and leadership vision won acceptance for all of Turkey's arguments in the fight against terrorism," the paper said.



6:46 a.m.: NATO said Wednesday it would increase support to its vulnerable partners and continue to assist Ukraine in its defense against Russias military incursion.

6:35 a.m.: Pope Francis on Wednesday called the bombing of a crowded shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk the latest in string of "barbarous attacks" against Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Ukraine said at least 18 people were killed and about 60 injured on Monday by a Russian missile strike. Russia's defense ministry said it had hit a legitimate military target in the city, and that the shopping center was not in use.

Pope Francis also renewed his call for an end to "senseless war."

6:16 a.m.: Britain announced sanctions on oligarch Vladimir Potanin on Wednesday, describing him as Russia's second-richest man.

"Potanin continues to amass wealth as he supports Putins regime, acquiring Rosbank, and shares in Tinkoff Bank in the period since Russias invasion of Ukraine," the government press statement accompanying the announcement said.

5:25 a.m.: Reuters reported that Russia could cut some state spending to channel funds for foreign currency interventions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday, as Moscow looks for ways to keep a lid on the rouble's strengthening, which is making exports less competitive.

With Russia looking for ways to soften the blow of unprecedented Western sanctions on its financial sector, Siluanov said his ministry would also suggest allowing export-focused companies to receive proceeds from non-residents in cash.

4:20 a.m.: The United States is changing its force posture in Europe based on threats coming from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine and other directions, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday during a NATO summit in Madrid.

He confirmed the U.S. will raise the number of destroyers in Spain to six from four and said Washington will send two additional F-35 squadrons to Britain and establish the 5th Army headquarters in Poland.

4:10 a.m.: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the host of this week's NATO summit, said on Wednesday that the alliance was delivering a strong message to President Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine: 'You will not win.'

Earlier, Sanchez said that Russia would be identified as NATO's "main threat" in its new strategic concept, as opposed to a strategic partner previously.

"We are sending a strong message to Putin: 'you will not win'," Sanchez said in a speech.

4 a.m.: NATO allies will continue to supply Ukraine with weapons in its war against Russia for as long as necessary, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Madrid on Wednesday.

"It is good that the countries that are gathered here but many others, too, make their contributions so Ukraine can defend itself - by providing financial means, humanitarian aid but also by providing the weapons that Ukraine urgently needs," Scholz told reporters as he arrived for the second day of a NATO summit.

"The message is: We will continue to do so  and to do this intensively  for as long as it is necessary to enable Ukraine to defend itself," he added.

3:45 a.m.:

3:30 a.m.: Russian gas producer Gazprom said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine through the Sudzha entry point was seen at 42.1 million cubic meters on Wednesday compared with 42.2 mcm on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

An application to supply gas via another major entry point, Sokhranovka, was again rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said.

3 a.m.: Dozens of people were still missing on Wednesday after a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in central Ukraine two days ago that killed at least 18, while a regional governor said the situation was "very difficult" in Lysychansk in the east, Reuters reported.

Ukraine said Russia had killed civilians deliberately when it pounded the mall in Kremenchuk. Moscow said the mall was empty and it had struck a nearby arms depot.

"Russian missile hit this location precisely. De-li-be-ra-te-ly ... It is clear that Russian killers received those exact coordinates," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy said in an evening video address. "They wanted to kill as many people."

Authorities said around 36 people were still missing.

2:45 a.m.: NATO leaders are gathering in Madrid, Spain, for a summit that will include discussion of support for Ukraine and how the alliance will adapt to face current and future challenges.

The leaders are expected to agree to boost support for Ukraine as it defends itself from a Russian invasion.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters the gathering will be a historic and transformative summit for our alliance, adding that it comes amid the most serious security crisis we have faced since the second world war.

Russias attack is also influencing NATOs own long-term plans, with a new strategic concept that includes what the alliance has called its changed security environment. The guiding agreement will also address other challenges, including China.

In the short term, NATO is strengthening its readiness to respond to outside threats, including boosting the number of troops under direct NATO command and pre-positioning more heavy weapons and logistical resources.

As NATO members consider the applications for Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, the summit is also set to include talks about reinforcing partnerships with non-NATO countries. Participating in the summit are leaders from Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Other areas of discussion include terrorism, cyberattacks and climate change.

2:30 a.m.: The Moscow-imposed military-civilian administration in Ukraine's Kherson region said it had begun preparations for a referendum on joining Russia, Reuters reported Wednesday citing Russian state news agency TASS.

2:20 a.m.: Defense minister Ben Wallace said on Wednesday that Britain will need to bolster its spending on defense if it wanted to maintain a global leadership role after 2024, when his department's current budget allocation will be reviewed.

"If Britain wants to maintain this leadership role post-2024 we're going to have to see probably greater investment," Wallace said on Sky News.

2:10 a.m.:

2 a.m.: Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska says it was a "colossal mistake" for Russia to destroy Ukraine with its military operation, a rare rebuke from a member of Russia's elite, Agence France- Presse reported.

"Is it in Russia's interest to destroy Ukraine? Of course not, that would be a colossal mistake," he tells a rare press conference in Moscow.

Deripaska, founder of the aluminium giant Rusal, also says "there's no potential for a change of regime. The opposition had withdrawn from the life of the country".

1:44 a.m.: Reuters updated its earlier report of the Russian strike on a residential building in Ukraine's southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday increasing the death toll to three people and five were wounded. Local authorities said they have launched a rescue effort for survivors, the report added.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said eight missiles had hit the city and urged residents to evacuate. He said the building appeared to have been hit by a Russian X-55 cruise missile.

Photographs from the scene showed smoke billowing from a four-story building with its upper floor partly destroyed.

1:30 a.m.: Reuters reported that two people were killed and three wounded by a Russian strike on a residential building in Ukraines southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday morning, regional governor Vitaly Kim said.

The governor did not clarify whether it was a bomb or missile strike, artillery or mortar shelling.

1:01 a.m.: Pro-Moscow forces have detained Igor Kolykhayev, the elected mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian media reported, according to Agence France-Presse.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson administration, told state news agency RIA Novosti the Ukrainian official is a "nationalist" hero who has "very much harmed the process of denazification."

Kherson, which had 300,000 inhabitants before the start of Moscow's offensive, fell into Russian hands barely a week into the war.

12:01 a.m.: The Biden administration said on Tuesday it has added 36 companies to a trade blacklist, accusing five firms in China of supporting Russias military and defense industrial base, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Targets also include companies from Russia, UAE, Lithuania, Pakistan, Singapore the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to the Federal Register entry.

The United States has joined with allies to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for his Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine by sanctioning a raft of Russian companies and oligarchs and adding others to a trade blacklist. Moscow has called it a special military operation.

While U.S. officials had previously affirmed that China was generally complying with the restrictions, the U.S. government has vowed to closely monitor compliance and rigorously enforce the regulations.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
It is a mantra that fans of American cop shows around the world can recite by heart.



"You have the right to remain silent," a police officer advises a suspect under arrest. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you can't afford an attorney, one will be provided to you."



The so-called "Miranda warning," routinely administered by American law enforcement since the 1960s, came into the national spotlight last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers can't be sued for not advising detained suspects of their right to remain silent during an interrogation.



To be clear, the ruling doesn't remove the requirement that police "Mirandize" suspects before questioning them. It does, however, shield officers from civil liability if they fail to do so, potentially reducing their incentive to comply.



"That's the sense in which this is a setback for the full promise of Miranda," Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said of the court's 6-3 ruling June 23 in the case known as Vega v. Tekoh.



The case stemmed from the interrogation of a suspect by a Los Angeles police officer in 2014.



Terence Tekoh, a nursing assistant, was accused of sexually assaulting a female patient at a hospital. Sheriffs Deputy Carlos Vega questioned Tekoh without reading him the Miranda warning and obtained a written apology.



Prosecutors later used the statement to charge Tekoh with sexual assault. But after a jury acquitted him, Tekoh sued Vega and others for damages under a civil rights statute known as Section 1983. The law allows individuals to sue state officials over "deprivation" of constitutional rights and privileges.



The key question before the Supreme Court was whether failure to read the Miranda warning constitutes a violation of the U.S Constitution's Fifth Amendment that could be litigated under Section 1983.

Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said it did not.



"In sum, a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution," Alito wrote, adding that a Miranda violation is not grounds for bringing a lawsuit under Section 1983.



Instead, a defendant's "remedy" is to have his or her statement excluded at trial. But Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the three dissenting liberal justices, noted that "sometimes such a statement will not be suppressed."



"And sometimes, as a result, a defendant will be wrongly convicted and spend years in prison," she wrote.



The ruling brought criticism from civil rights groups.



"After today, people can no longer sue law enforcement for purposefully violating their Miranda right, resulting in officers acting with impunity for their unlawful actions," said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in a prepared statement.



Enshrined in a landmark 1966 Supreme Court case known as Miranda v. Arizona, the "Miranda warning" was designed to prevent coercive police interrogative tactics.



Brought by Enresto Miranda, an Arizona man convicted of rape and kidnapping based on a forced confession, the case exposed widespread police use of coercive tactics and even violence to obtain incriminating evidence from suspects.



"There had been a lot of Fifth Amendment violations taking place," said John Malcolm, vice president for the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation. "Sometimes you were literally being beaten to get confessions but that was not really most of what was going on. People were being tricked into confessing. They were being told that they really didn't have a right to have counsel."



"And the court determined in its infinite wisdom that as a matter of fundamental fairness people needed to know what their rights were before they would find themselves unwittingly giving them up without that knowledge," Malcolm told VOA.

Siding with Miranda, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution's Fifth Amendment required that police officers must advise "the defendant of the right to remain silent and the right to speak with an attorney before the interrogation started."



That started what has since become a mandatory law enforcement practice in the United States. The U.S. is not the only country with Miranda rights. According to the Federation of American Scientists, 108 countries and jurisdictions have some version of the Miranda warning enshrined in their legal systems.
It is a mantra that fans of American cop shows around the world can rattle off by heart.

You have the right to remain silent, a police officer advises a suspect under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cant afford an attorney, one will be provided to you.

The so-called Miranda warning, routinely administered by American law enforcement since the 1960s, came into the national spotlight last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers cant be sued for not advising detained suspects of their right to remain silent during an interrogation.

The ruling does not remove the requirement that police Mirandize suspects before questioning them. It does, however, shield officers from civil liability if they fail to do so, potentially reducing their incentive to comply.

Thats the sense in which this is a setback for the full promise of Miranda, Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said of the courts 6-3 ruling issued June 23 in the case known as Vega v. Tekoh.

No one can be "a witness against himself

The case stemmed from the interrogation of a suspect by a Los Angeles police officer in 2014.

Terence Tekoh, a nursing assistant, was accused of sexually assaulting a female patient at a hospital. Sheriffs Deputy Carlos Vega questioned Tekoh without reading him the Miranda warning and obtained a written apology.

Prosecutors later used the statement to charge Tekoh with sexual assault. But after a jury acquitted him, Tekoh sued Vega and others for damages under a civil rights statute known as Section 1983. The law allows individuals to sue state officials over deprivation of constitutional rights and privileges.

The case raised a question the Supreme Court had not addressed before: Can a defendant sue a police officer for violating their Constitutional rights by not giving them a Miranda warning?

The U.S. Constitutions Fifth Amendment says no person can be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself

Citing prior court rulings, conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Miranda is a set of rules designed to protect the Fifth Amendment, rather than a Constitutional right.

In sum, a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution, Alito wrote for the majority, adding that such a violation is not grounds for bringing a lawsuit under Section 1983.

Alito noted that defendants have the right to have their un-Mirandized statements excluded at trial.

But that remedy is not enough, liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent. Sometimes, she wrote, a statement will not be suppressed.

And sometimes, as a result, a defendant will be wrongly convicted and spend years in prison, she added.

The ruling brought criticism from civil rights groups.

After today, people can no longer sue law enforcement for purposefully violating their Miranda right, resulting in officers acting with impunity for their unlawful actions, said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in a prepared statement.

Original case brought by ACLU

Enshrined in a landmark 1966 Supreme Court case known as Miranda v. Arizona, the Miranda warning was designed to ensure that suspects know their rights before making a statement to police.

The case was brought by the ACLU on behalf of Enresto Miranda, an Arizona man convicted of rape and kidnapping based on an involuntary confession.

It came at a time when American police officers faced accusations of using coercive tactics to obtain confessions from suspects.

There had been a lot of Fifth Amendment violations taking place, said John Malcolm, vice president for the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation. Sometimes you were literally being beaten to get confessions but that was not really most of what was going on. People were being tricked into confessing. They were being told that they really didnt have a right to have counsel.

And the court determined in its infinite wisdom that as a matter of fundamental fairness people needed to know what their rights were before they would find themselves unwittingly giving them up without that knowledge, Malcolm told VOA.

Ruling in favor of Miranda, the Supreme Court ruled that during an interrogation police officers must advise a suspect that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says can be used against him in a court of law, that he has the right to the presence of an attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning.

Reading these rights has since become a mandatory law enforcement practice in the United States. The U.S. is not the only country with Miranda rights. According to the Federation of American Scientists, 108 countries and jurisdictions have some version of the Miranda warning enshrined in their legal systems.
More than 100 people, including many women, have been murdered in a Syrian camp in just 18 months, the United Nations said Tuesday, demanding countries repatriate their citizens.

The Al-Hol camp is increasingly unsafe, and the child detainees are being condemned to a life with no future, said Imran Riza, U.N. resident coordinator for Syria.

Al-Hol, in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, was meant to be a temporary detention facility.

However, it still holds about 56,000 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, some of whom maintain links with the Islamic State jihadist group, which seized swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The rest are citizens of other countries, including children and other relatives of IS fighters.

Some 94% of the detainees are women and children, Riza, who has visited Al-Hol a handful of times, told reporters in Geneva.

"It's a very harsh place, and it's become an increasingly unsafe place," he said.

There have been "around 106 murders since January last year in the camp," and "many" of the victims were women, he added. "There's a great deal of gender-based violence. ... There's a lot of no-go areas."

'Innocent' children

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violence was spiking in the camp, with another murder Tuesday  the seventh since June 11.

Out of 24 people murdered inside the camp this year, 16 were women, the Observatory added.

Riza said there were around 27,000 Iraqi detainees, 18,000-19,000 Syrians and around 12,000 third-country citizens.

While there have been some repatriations to Iraq, many other countries which "need to be accepting their people back" were refusing to do so.

"The majority of the population there are children. They are innocent. If you leave them in a place like Al-Hol, you're essentially condemning them to not having a future," Riza said.

Riza said that when boys turn 12, 13 and 14 years old, they are taken away from their families and placed in a different center, where their future is one of radicalization and joining a militia.

"The only solution is emptying the camp," he said.

'Cascade of crises'

Syria's civil war erupted in 2011 after the violent repression of protests demanding regime change.

It quickly spiraled into a complex conflict that pulled in numerous actors, including jihadist groups and foreign powers. The war has left around half a million people dead and has displaced millions.

Riza said the levels of need in Syria were unprecedented and increasing, with 14.6 million people requiring humanitarian assistance  up 1.2 million since 2021  and the highest since the civil war began.

Riza said the country was facing a "cascade of crises," with the key factor now the economic decline dragging down socioeconomic conditions.

"The impact on Syrians is devastating, and families are increasingly pushed into destitution," he said.

More than 90% of the Syrian population is estimated to live below the poverty line.
Rights groups are urging Thailand not to send any of some 50 Uyghurs it has been holding captive for the past eight years back to China, fearing a repeat of 2015, when the government forcibly returned more than 100 Uyghurs to China.

Thailand is believed to be holding more than 50 Uyghurs in immigration detention centers across the country, most of them since at least 2014.

The United States and others have accused Beijing of genocide over its treatment of the predominantly Muslim minority group living in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region, and urged countries that Uyghurs have fled to for safety not to force them back.

Beijing denies persecuting the group.

In Thailand, more than a dozen rights groups, led by the Peoples Empowerment Foundation, handed the Foreign Affairs Committee of parliaments lower house a petition on June 15 asking for its help to spare the detained Uyghurs a forced return.

The first thing is to guarantee [the] safety of them in Thailand. They must be not sent back to China. That is the most important message that we send to the MPs, foundation chair Chalida Tajaroensuk told VOA last week.

She said the groups were spurred to action after hearing from sympathetic but confidential sources within the Thai government late last year that Beijing may be stepping up its efforts to retrieve the Uyghurs.

Neither Chinas Foreign Affairs Ministry in Beijing nor its embassy in Bangkok replied to VOAs repeated requests for comment.

Human Rights Watch has over the years documented overwhelming evidence showing serious abuses of ethnic Uyghurs by Chinese authorities, including arbitrary detention and forced disappearance, torture and other repression, said Sunai Phasuk, senior Thailand researcher for the U.S.-based rights group, which also backs the petition.

In effect, Chinese authorities have turned Xinjiang ... into a detention camp, he said.

No clear assurance

Like Chalida, Sunai fears a repeat of 2015, especially once China starts to lift COVID-linked entry restrictions.

There has been no clear assurance that they will not repeat this again, so the danger [for] Uyghurs who remain in Thailand can be considered as still imminent, he said.

Chalida said most of the Uyghurs being held in Thailand were among the hundreds arrested in 2014 for entering the country illegally, after fleeing China in hopes of settling safely elsewhere. Many Uyghurs aim for Turkey, where they claim kinship with the Turkic majority, other Muslim-majority countries, or the West.

Thailand deported 173 of the Uyghurs, mostly women and children, to Turkey in July 2015. A week later, it deported another 109, mostly men, back to China, setting off a wave of condemnation at home and abroad. In Turkey, irate locals stormed the Thai consulate, smashing windows and pulling down the Thai flag.

At the time, Thai authorities said 50 Uyghurs were still left in Thailand to have their country of citizenship verified. No Uyghur deportations have been reported since.

Neither Thailands Foreign Affairs Ministry nor the national police forces Immigration Bureau, which runs the detention centers holding the Uyghurs, would tell VOA how many were in the centers now.

Chalida said her sources in the government and detention centers put the number at about 56.

Opposition lawmaker Rangsiman Rome, who accepted the July 15 petition as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, confirmed the figure. He told VOA it came to him from a government official who briefed the lower houses Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights Committee, which he also serves on, a few months ago.

He said he would try to leverage his committee posts and seat in parliament to press the government on what, if any, plans it has to get the Uyghurs out of limbo, and to make sure it never sends them back to China.

I strongly believe that if [the] Thai government sends them back to China, its like we send them to death, he said.

Not humane

Immigration Bureau spokesman Achayon Kraithong said the government had no plans to send them anywhere for now. Those decisions were up to other agencies, he added, mainly the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The National Security Council did not reply to VOAs requests for comment.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesman Tanee Sangrat said Thailand will continue to take care of them until a practical and viable solution for the group can be found.

He would not say whether Thailand had ruled out forcing them back to China, or why it hasnt let them leave for other countries.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, who chairs Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ochas Security Advisory Committee, said Thailand was stuck between the competing wishes of the Uyghurs and China.

Some of them [the Uyghurs] would like to go ... to different countries in Europe, to the United States. Some of them want to go to Turkey, to Indonesia and other [countries]. And China wants all of them to be returned. This is why this has stalled, he told VOA.

Panitan said his team prepared a list of recommendations for solving the impasse about two years ago. He would not discuss the details.

But in general, we recommended, based on [the] prime ministers and deputy prime ministers initiatives, to follow the international practices of repatriation [of] people to the destination without sending them to harms way, he said, while weighing relevant laws, national security and humanitarian issues.

Until the government does decide where to send the Uyghurs, Chalida said it should at least let them out of the detention centers, where her sources tell her some are suffering both physical and mental health problems from the conditions. The Foreign Affairs Ministry says authorities are making regular improvements to the centers to care for mind and body alike.

Even so, Panitan, speaking only for himself, said Thailand should settle their fate as soon as possible.

Personally, I think we should end this issue one way or the other, he said, This is not humane to treat these people this way.
Future waves of COVID-19 might be predicted using internet search data, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

In the study, researchers watched the number of COVID-related Google searches made across the country and used that information, together with conventional COVID-19 metrics such as confirmed cases, to predict hospital admission rates weeks in advance.

Using the search data provided by Google Trends, scientists were able to build a computational model to forecast COVID-19 hospitalizations. Google Trends is an online portal that provides data on Google search volumes in real time.

"If you have a bunch of people searching for 'COVID testing sites near me'  you're going to still feel the effects of that downstream at the hospital level in terms of admissions," said data scientist Philip Turk of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, who was not involved in the study. "That gives health care administrators and leaders advance warning to prepare for surges  to stock up on personal protective equipment and staffing and to anticipate a surge coming at them."

For predictions one or two weeks in advance, the new computer model stacks up well against existing ones. It beats the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions national ensemble forecast, which combines models made by many research teams  though there are some single models that outperform it.

Different perspective

According to study co-author Shihao Yang, a data scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the new model's value is its unique perspective  a data source that is independent of conventional metrics. Yang is working to add the new model to the CDC's COVID-19 forecasting hub.

Watching trends in how often people Google certain terms, like cough or COVID-19 vaccine, could help fill in the gaps in places with sparse testing or weak health care systems.

Yang also thinks that his model will be especially useful when new variants pop up. It did a good job of predicting spikes in hospitalizations thought to be associated with new variants such as omicron, without the time delays typical of many other models.

"It's like an earthquake," Yang said. "Google search will tell me a few hours ahead that a tsunami is hitting.  A few hours is enough for me to get prepared, allocate resources and inform my staff. I think that's the information that we are providing here. It's that window from the earthquake to when the tsunami hit the shore where my model really shines."

The model considers Google search volumes for 256 COVID-19-specific terms, such as "loss of taste," "COVID-19 vaccine" and "cough," together with core statistics like case counts and vaccination rates. It also has temporal and spatial components  terms representing the delay between today's data and the future hospitalizations it predicts, and how closely connected different states are.

Every week, the model retrains itself using the past 56 days worth of data. This keeps the model from being weighed down by older data that don't reflect how the virus acts now.

Turk previously developed a different model to predict COVID-19 hospitalizations on a local level for the Charlotte, North Carolina, metropolitan area. The new model developed by Yang and his colleagues uses a different method and is the first to make state- and national-level predictions using search data.

Turk was surprised by just how harmonious the result was with his earlier work.

I mean, they're basically looking at two different models, two different paths, he said. It's a great example of science coming together."

Using Google search data to make public health forecasts has downsides. For one, Google could stop allowing researchers to use the data at any time, something Yang admits is concerning to his colleagues.

'Noise' in searches

Additionally, search data are messy, with lots of random behavior that researchers call noise, and the quality varies regionally, so the information needs to be smoothed out during analysis using statistical methods.

Local linguistic quirks can introduce problems because people from different regions sometimes use different words to describe the same thing, as can media coverage when it either raises or calms pandemic fears, Yang said. Privacy protections also introduce complications  user data are aggregated and injected with extra noise before publishing, a protection that makes it impossible to fish out individual users information from the public dataset.

Running the model with search data alone didn't work as well as the model with search data and conventional metrics. Taking out search data and using only conventional COVID-19 metrics to make predictions also hurt the new models performance. This indicates that, for this model, the magic is in the mix  both conventional COVID-19 metrics and Google Trends data contain information that is useful for predicting hospitalizations.

"The fact that the data is valuable, and [the] data [is] difficult to process are two independent questions. There [is] information in there," Yang said. "I can talk to my mom about this. It's very simple, just intuitive.  If we are able to capture that intuition, I think that's what makes things work."
South Africa's state-owned power company, Eskom, said some workers were returning to their posts Wednesday, amid a strike over pay issues that caused severe nationwide power cuts. The rolling blackouts have dealt a blow to South Africa's already ailing economy.

Some of the striking workers who are members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA)  have heeded the call to return.

But the exact number of those who have resumed duties is still unclear, as the workers walked off the job without approval. Eskom's spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, said while some are back at work, there is still a high level of absenteeism.

He explained that despite the workers returning, the country remained on what is known as a Stage 6 alert regarding the outages.

"The system will still take some time to recover. As a result of the strike, maintenance work has had to be postponed and this backlog will take time to clear," Mantshantsha said.

Stage 6, also known as loadshedding, means many areas are without electricity for at least six hours a day on a rolling basis. Eskom resorted to that stage only once before, for three days in December 2019.

The alert level is expected to go down in the coming hours.

Regular power cuts started in South Africa back in 2007 due to increased demand and aging coal power stations.

Energy analyst Chris Yelland said the strike, which started last week, simply aggravated an already bad situation.

"Eskom says that there were a number of units that had come off even before the industrial action but because of the industrial action, key people were not able to get access to the power stations," Yelland said. "As a result, picketing at the power stations, intimidation, acts of violence and so people that needed to bring these units back on stream were not available."

Workers from the two unions went on strike to demand pay increases of 10 and 12 percent. Union leaders will meet with Eskom on Friday to discuss the company's latest offer, reported to be a 7 percent raise.

Meanwhile, Yelland is calling on the government to get rid of the regulations that give Eskom a near-monopoly over South Africa's electricity market.

"And every effort should be made to remove all the restrictions that are preventing the private sector from building their own generation capacity. And that means domestic, commercial, industrial, mining, agricultural," Yelland said. "They've all got to come to the table and be allowed to build their own generation facilities."

If the government doesn't act, he said, the blackouts will steadily worsen.

Economists, meanwhile, have warned of a ratings downgrade if the situation doesn't change quickly.


A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, while New York's first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape.

In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won.

Takeaways from the latest round of primary elections:

Abortion on the ballot

The abortion debate consumed the nation this week, but there was no race where it mattered more than Colorado's Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where businessman Joe O'Dea became one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republican in the nation to win a statewide primary this year.

O'Dea beat back a stiff challenge from state Rep. Ron Hanks, a Trump loyalist who opposed abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.

O'Dea will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November, and if he wins, he would become just the third Senate Republican  and the only male  to support abortion rights.

He said he backs a ban on late-term abortions and government funding of abortions but that the decision to terminate a pregnancy in the initial months is ``between a person and their God.''

Democrats had spent at least $2.5 million on ads designed to boost O'Dea's opponent by promoting, among other things, that he was ``too conservative'' for backing a complete abortion ban.

Democrats hoped that the Roe decision would give them an advantage in several swing states, including Colorado. But, at least for now, O'Dea's victory would seem to complicate the Democrats' plans.

A win for Trump or for the democrats?

In the final weeks of a campaign, Trump once again attached himself to a Republican who was leading the race. This time, it was farmer Darren Bailey in Illinois, who easily cruised to the GOP nomination in the governor's race.

But while Trump can add Bailey to his endorsement record, Democrats are betting that his victory may be short-lived.

Bailey now goes on to face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November general election, which is just what Pritzker and his allies wanted. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP nomination. Among other things, the ads reminded the state's Democratic-leaning electorate that he is ``100% pro-life.''

It's a risky gamble. While Bailey may look like an easier opponent in the general election, it's feasible that he could ride a red wave  if it materializes  to the Illinois governor's mansion. Pritzker's predecessor in office was a Republican.

Bailey showed off political acumen by besting the early Republican front-runner Richard Irvin, the mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, Aurora. Irvin lost despite being the beneficiary of a staggering $50 million investment from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin, who is Black, refused to say whether he voted for Trump and largely avoided talking about abortion, delivering the kind of moderate message that could have cut across ideological lines in a general election.

Instead, Republicans nominated Bailey, a Trump loyalist who reads from Bible verses in campaign videos and proudly touts his anti-abortion policies in a state Trump lost by 17 percentage points in 2020.

Hochul's opportunity

The scandals of the men around her did not derail New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who overcame primary challengers on the right and left to win her first election test as the state's chief executive.

Now, Hochul, New York's first female governor, is positioned to emerge as a leading voice in the Democratic Party as it navigates the post-Roe landscape.

The low-profile Hochul stepped into one of the nation's most prominent governorships last fall after Andrew Cuomo resigned in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. She had promised to restore New Yorkers' faith in their government, only for her handpicked lieutenant governor to be arrested this spring in a federal corruption probe.

Hochul was either ``consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction," charged one of her primary challengers, New York City's elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams.

The attack ultimately didn't land in the primary. But don't expect such criticism to disappear as the race for New York governor enters its next phase.

Rep. Lee Zeldin emerged from a crowded Republican field to earn the GOP nomination for governor. He defeated Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York City's former mayor Rudy Giuliani, among others.

And while Hochul has a serious reelection test ahead, look for her to step into the national spotlight as the abortion debate rages.

The Democratic governor said in recent days that New York would be a ``safe harbor'' for those seeking abortions.

Election deniers go down

They celebrated their allegiance to Trump's baseless conspiracy theories on the campaign trail. But on Tuesday night, a handful of these so-called election deniers had nothing to cheer about.

In Colorado, Republican voters did not reward secretary of state candidate Tina Peters for championing Trump's lies about election fraud. She was bested by Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who previously led the state clerks' association and defends the state's mail-in elections system.

Some officials in both parties worried that Peters would win the primary. That's even after Peters, the Mesa County clerk, was indicted for a security breach spurred by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election. The state GOP had called on her to suspend her campaign.

Now, Anderson, not Peters, will take on incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who's led the national fight against 2020 election deniers.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Senate candidate Hanks had also promoted lies about the last presidential election. In addition to being an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, he had attended the ``Stop the Steal'' rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

And in Mississippi, Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy lost a runoff election to incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who had voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Cassidy said in campaign speeches that Guest had done nothing to stop ``the persecution of Jan. 6 political prisoners.''

Lighting rods win

Two Republicans familiar with controversy tested for the first time whether Republican voters deemed them too extreme to go back to Congress. They both prevailed.

First-term Rep. Mary Miller, who campaigned alongside Trump over the weekend, defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis, who was considered more moderate. The primary victory all but ensures Miller will return to Congress for another term given the heavy Republican advantage in her 15th Congressional District, which is the most Republican district in the state.

Miller won just days after describing the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade as ``a victory for white life.'' A spokesperson later said she had intended to say the decision was a victory for a ``right to life.''

Miller is no stranger to provocative statements. Soon after joining the House, Miller quoted Adolf Hitler, saying he was right to say that ``whoever has the youth has the future.''

And in Colorado, Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert defeated a moderate state representative who had run a primary campaign focused on Boebert's extremism. It didn't work.

Boebert's controversial moves are many. She vowed to carry a handgun on the House floor. She faced calls for her censure last year after being caught on video making Islamophobic comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. And she heckled President Joe Biden in his first State of the Union address.

But after winning her primary, she is almost certain to return to Congress for another two years. Her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado became even more Republican after redistricting.

A Roe shift in Nebraska?

Nebraska's low-profile special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's term was not supposed to be close. Republicans have held the district for nearly 60 years.

Yet Republican Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks by only 4 percentage points on Tuesday.

The specific cause of the margin wasn't immediately unclear, although there was evidence of higher turnout in one Democratic-leaning county that could be related to the Roe decision.

Heading into election day, Flood appeared to have a strong edge in the district, which includes Lincoln, parts of suburban Omaha and dozens of smaller, more conservative towns. The district has nearly 68,000 more Republicans than Democrats and hasn't elected a Democrat to the House since 1964.

What happened? Lancaster County, home to the state capital and the University of Nebraska, offers some clues.

In 2020, Fortenberry won the district by nearly 22 percentage points, but he lost Lancaster County by less than 1 percentage point. In Tuesday's special election, the Republican Flood lost Lancaster County by more than 13 percentage points.

In the end, the swing wasn't enough to move a heavily-Republican district, but Democrats could look to the results for hope that the Roe decision will be a significant motivator for the Democratic base.

Incidentally, Fortenberry was sentenced to two years of probation on Tuesday for lying to the FBI. Flood and Pansing Brooks are expected to face off again in the November general election.
Afghanistans Islamist Taliban have invited about 3,000 religious scholars and tribal elders from across the country to a meeting Thursday in Kabul, where officials said national unity would be discussed.



The men-only session in the Afghan capital is the first of its kind and is seen as an attempt to promote domestic legitimacy for the insurgent-turned-ruling group so it can secure much-needed international recognition.

The Taliban seized power from the internationally backed Afghan government last August, when the United States and NATO partners withdrew their final troops from the country after almost 20 years of military intervention.



Taliban Acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi said Wednesday that prominent university professors, national businessmen and influential personalities would also attend the gathering, saying an Islamic system of governance and economics, as well as social issues facing Afghanistan, would be discussed.

'We respect them a lot'



This will be a positive step for stability in Afghanistan and strengthening national unity, Hanafi told state broadcaster RTA.



"The women are our mothers, sisters. We respect them a lot. When their sons are in the gathering, it means they are also involved, in a way, in the gathering," he said when asked whether female delegates had been invited to Thursdays event.



No country has yet recognized the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, mainly because of their harsh treatment of women and girls. The Islamist rulers have suspended secondary education for most teenage girls, ordered women to wear face coverings in public and barred them from traveling beyond 70 kilometers without a close male relative.



The Taliban are also being pressed to govern the country inclusively and give all Afghan groups proper representation to ensure long-term national stability.

Critics questioned the legitimacy of Thursdays grand meeting in the absence of women, who make up almost 50 percent of the countrys estimated 40 million population.



An allegiance from 3,000 selected guests by [the] Taliban in a meeting will not help fix any of the problems [facing the country], nor confer any internal or external legitimacy to [the] Taliban, said Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan official and political commentator.



The book of God in Islam is gifted to women and men equally. Depriving women to have a voice in society is going against the precepts of Islam, Farhadi told VOA.



The Taliban takeover and their subsequent installation of an all-male interim government prompted Washington and other Western countries to immediately halt financial assistance to largely aid-dependent Afghanistan, seize its foreign assets  worth more than $9 billion, mostly held by the U.S.  and isolate the Afghan banking system.

Economic upheaval

The action and long-running terrorism-related sanctions on senior Taliban leaders have thrown the cash-strapped country into a severe economic upheaval, worsening an already bad humanitarian crisis blamed on years of war and persistent drought.



The U.S. and the world at large have been urging the hardline group to reverse some of its curbs on women and ensure inclusive governance if it wants the global community to consider the Talibans demand for diplomatic recognition.



Taliban leaders have rejected calls for removing the restrictions on women, insisting they are in accordance with Afghan culture and Shariah, or Islamic law.



Durable peace and reconciliation also require inclusive administration, represented by all political, religious and ethnic groups, said Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

It is vital that national ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including minority women in Afghanistan, are included in all decision-making processes, Bennett remarked at an online seminar Tuesday.



Rina Amiri, the U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights, while addressing the seminar, suggested rights-related issues would require engagement with the new rulers in Kabul.



We try to identify very specific measures that the international community can consider and can try to move forward and also how we can press the Taliban to do more because they are right now the reality in the country, Amiri said

Washington-based Freedom House, a pro-democracy organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, organized the seminar.
The United States and the Taliban are scheduled to hold talks in Qatar later this week that are expected to focus on economic and banking sanctions on Afghanistan, where last weeks devastating earthquake has worsened a humanitarian crisis.



Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, along with senior Finance Ministry officials and representatives of the Afghan central bank, traveled to Doha Wednesday to attend the meeting.

Muttaqis office said U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West, accompanied by Department of Treasury officials, will lead the U.S. delegation at the talks in the Qatari capital.



U.S. officials are reportedly working with the ruling Islamist group on a mechanism to allow the Afghan central bank to use its frozen foreign funds, worth billions of dollars, to deal with a hunger crisis stemming from years of Afghan war and persistent drought, according to a report this week in The Washington Post.



The proposed framework would have to ensure the Taliban insurgent group-turned-rulers do not benefit from the money and it is used only to avert a humanitarian disaster in a country where the United Nations says more than half its estimated 40 million people is in need of emergency aid.



Western countries froze around $9 billion in Afghan central bank assets, mostly held in the U.S., after the Islamist Taliban seized power from the internationally backed Afghan government last August as American and NATO troops withdrew from the South Asian nation.



Western countries also suspended financial assistance to largely aid-dependent Afghanistan, isolating the countrys banking sector in the wake of long-running terror-related sanctions on the Taliban.



Last week, U.S. President Joe Bidens administration acknowledged that efforts were underway to seek a resolution to the Afghan funding problem and get funds moving.



We are urgently working to address complicated questions about the use of these funds to ensure they benefit the people of Afghanistan and not the Taliban, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Saturday.



Biden issued an executive order in February that was aimed at freeing half the $7 billion in frozen Afghan central bank assets on U.S. soil. The money would be used to benefit the Afghan people while the rest would be held for the ongoing terrorism-related lawsuits in U.S. courts against the Taliban.



But humanitarian challenges have intensified in parts of Afghanistan. A powerful earthquake on June 22 killed some 1,150 people, including at least 155 children, and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in hardest-hit southeastern Paktika and Khost provinces, according to Taliban officials and global aid agencies.



The disaster reportedly prompted Biden aides to begin talks to allow Afghanistan at least partial use of the frozen funds, while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban.



So, in signing an executive order several months ago, the president took a significant step to preserve these funds and ensure they go toward benefiting the people of Afghanistan. If the president hadnt taken this action, the funds would have remained tied up for years, Jean-Pierre reiterated on Saturday.



The Biden administration announced on Tuesday the United States will give nearly $55 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to people in Afghanistan impacted by the earthquake.

The State Department said the funds will be used to deliver essential food items, clothing, cooking utensils, blankets, jerry cans, and sanitation supplies to prevent waterborne diseases in the disaster-hit Afghan areas.



The United States has an enduring commitment to the people of Afghanistan, and we welcome and encourage support from our international partners in this time of great need, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.



U.S. officials noted that Washington has been the largest humanitarian donor to Afghanistan and committed more than $774 million in humanitarian assistance over the past year.



No country has yet recognized the Talibans interim government, citing concerns over terrorism and human rights, particularly restrictions on womens rights to education and work.
The early morning sun peaks over the leafy Thai hillside as a crew of 20 migrant workers toss fresh rice seedlings into the soaked paddy fields, signifying the start of the rice season in northern Thailands Chiang Mai Province.

Speed and agility are the driving forces for the group of male and female laborers, mostly from neighboring Myanmar, who get paid by the hectare to plant the crop, earning as much as $35 a day, but working dusk to dawn.

The men and women have crossed into Thailand - some illegally - to earn a higher-than-average wage as word of rising rice production in the country translates into added days in the field.

Amid concerns about wheat shortages in Russia and Ukraine, Thai economists say demand for rice is set to rise this year, driven by the war in Ukraine and its impact on global commodity prices.

For Thailand, as the worlds third highest exporter of the crop - behind India and Vietnam - there is hope of added benefits for the workers.

While analysts predict Europes wheat shortage will help increase profits for rice producers as a substitute crop, many in the labor force face other obstacles.

I want the government to help us farmers more, not just help the middleman, because were investing more money into this business than they are. Fertilizers are expensive, the cost of workers is high, and its not worth it, says farmer Prajuk Kantiya, who oversees the work crew.

A weak Thai baht currency has helped make rice export prices more attractive but the long-term sustainability of increased rice production raises questions.

Economist Nisit Panthamit, a professor at Chiang Mai University, points out the need for a balanced plan and better technology that will encourage and support the next generation of farmers in Thailand beyond Ukraines crisis.

The income of the farmer should be better and going up in the long run, but the productivity, how can you reduce the risk and reduce the cost of production that will be a sustainable way for farmers to gain on the world levels?

Government research centers are exploring new technology to cut costs for Thailands agricultural sector.

We are trying to incorporate newer techniques in farming in our Young Smart Farmer project, such as by using drones and other equipment that can lower the cost of farming and make it more convenient for farmers to plant their crops, explains Nipon Boonmee, a director at the Chiang Mai Rice Research Center.

We also have another project that focuses on experimenting with the environment's effects on different rice strains. For instance, were analyzing which species of rice can adapt the best to environmental changes and which days are the most suitable for planting because we understand that the world is changing, Boonmee tells VOA.

While the plans sound good for the long term, local farmers currently face more pressing issues.

Added expenses, like rising fuel and fertilizer prices as a result of Russias invasion, along with the fallout from trade restrictions and price hikes have hit farmers wallets.

As the price of the rice goes up, the amount of money we use to invest in supplies, like gas and fertilizer, will also increase, which it has. A bag of fertilizer used to cost 600 baht ($20) now its 1,000 baht.($30) Its no surprise that the cost of buying rice has increased, Boonmee adds.

Last month, Thailands prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, announced plans to talk with Vietnam to discuss the possibilities of a joint global price increase on rice, though questions remain as to who will benefit.

Even if the price goes up today, we cannot just immediately produce additional supplies, explains economist Panthamit. To make things that work in a sustainable way in the long term, we have to make sure to balance the supply and demand.

Still, Thailands rice exports are benefiting from a rebound in global demand as the coronavirus pandemic eases. That means for workers like Kantiya, who was unemployed because of the COVID-19 lockdown, the future looks brighter.

Even after my quarantine period, my post-symptoms made it hard for me to work, Kantiya explains to VOA, as he rests at the edge of a newly planted field.

I think there will be a higher demand for rice supplies because of all the war that's going on and Id be grateful if I could get a good price on rice.
Amid concerns about wheat shortages in Russia and Ukraine, Thai economists say demand for this years rice production is set to rise, driven by the war in Ukraine and its impact on rising global commodity prices. For VOA, Steve Sandford spoke to Thai experts about the expected increases, along with the added challenges for rice producers and workers.
For nearly 50 years Tiffany's Show Pattaya, a cabaret in eastern Thailand, has been a venue for pageantry and a haven for transgender people, providing jobs, skills and a rare platform during times when gender equality was little understood and far from Thai political debate.

But as Tiffany's marked global Pride Month on June 25 by hosting the world's biggest transgender pageant  Miss International Queen  the wider battle for equality in Thailand has never been closer to being won.

After years of campaigning by LGBTQ activists, Thai lawmakers are considering several bills, some of which could legalize same-sex unions, and in the process make Thailand only the second place in Asia to do so, after Taiwan.

But a Thai parliament stacked with conservative army-aligned politicians stands in their way.

It will ultimately decide which  if any  of the range of bills becomes law.

The most progressive under consideration is the Marriage Equality Bill, which recognizes same-sex marriages and affords legal rights, including adoption and inheritance.

It passed its first reading on June 15 on a wave of public support driven by Thailand's progressive youth.

"Let's wait and see if the bill passes the next readings," said Kwanlada Rungrojampa, Thailand's representative at Miss International Queen.

"At face value, Thailand may seem like we have gender equality, but legally speaking we do not."

To change that, the bill must survive committee hearings and two more parliamentary votes. There are concerns a watered-down version  called the Civil Partnership bill  may emerge in its place.

Sponsored by the government of Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, who draws his support mainly from older, conservative forces tied to the establishment, that bill's wording allows for civil unions but stops short of the full rights protected by marriage.

"The majority of lawmakers are seniors, so any changes are difficult to make  they are the generation of change-resistors," said Alisa Phantusak, whose father established Tiffany's as a leading Pattaya tourist attraction in 1974.

"This law shouldn't be hard to pass. The bottom line is very simple  equality."

'This is it'

After years of false starts on gender rights and equality in the kingdom, there is widespread concern that any law that finally makes it onto the statute books will fail to significantly move the dial.

"Conservatives are still very worried about how it might affect religious groups as well as the pre-existing social expectations upheld by heterosexual couples," said Kath Khangpaiboon, an academic at Bangkok's Thammasat University and a long-time gender equality advocate.

Ultimately, political timing may hold the keys, she said, explaining Prayuth's widespread unpopularity may lead him to feed his conservative political base rather than move with the moment.

"Thanks to the vibrant social movement during Pride Month, parliament may have felt the pressure to pass the first reading of the Marriage Equality Bill," Kath said.

"But let's not forget that the Prayuth government is on their way out in terms of reputation and a general election is just around the corner."

On Saturday night (June 25) Miss Philippines Fuschia Anne Ravena won the Miss International Crown from contestants from as far apart as Puerto Rico and Laos, Japan and India.

But away from the glamour, the contestants shared stories of discrimination from their countries  as well as hope for a world moving slowly, if patchily, towards greater recognition of their gender.

"(In Honduras) You cannot be free. you are judged, you don't have the right to have a job, to decent healthcare, to study," said Luciana Romero, representing Honduras.

"That is why I live in the United States. I am free thereit has given me that space, it has given me love, it has given me understanding."

For Catalina Cabella, a full-time nurse who works in Manhattan, the chance to compete (as Miss USA) is a sign of how fast societies in some countries are moving  often leaving the law struggling to catch up.

"We're getting the spotlight and we have a chance to share some really big messages that could possibly change the perspective of our peers," she said, describing pageantry as another part of her "humanitarian mission" alongside nursing.

"This is itwe're here," she said.
A U.N. investigator warns that systematic and widespread repression in Belarus is eroding peoples civic and political rights. The investigators report was presented Wednesday at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council. Belarus boycotted the meeting.

Special Rapporteur Anais Marin says the human rights situation in Belarus has gone from bad to worse. She says authorities are enacting laws that are stripping the rights and freedoms of their citizens.

She says the criminal code has been amended to restrict freedom of expression, the right to peacefully assemble and other fundamental rights. She says the new laws retroactively criminalize activities that previously were only considered administrative offenses.

Speaking through an interpreter Wednesday in Geneva, she warned the action raises the troubling prospect of potential abuse resulting from the arbitrary application of very restrictive legislation.

Emblematic in that respect is that the scope of the death penalty in Belarus has been expanded by including cases of planning or attempts to plan terrorist acts. Terms that are not clearly defined moreover. This paves the way for abusive application of the death penalty, even if no crime has been committed.

Investigator Marin says the deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus has resulted in the significant shrinking of civic space. She says the government is pursuing a deliberate policy to eradicate all media and expression of dissent.

Marin says 1,214 people are imprisoned in Belarus on politically motivated charges. She says the climate of fear and impunity in Belarus has forced tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of repressed and intimidated Belarusians into exile. She speaks through an interpreter.

Let me add that my mandate has been informed of severe repression by the authorities against anti-war protesters in Belarus, but also difficulties and cases of discrimination and hate speech that certain Belarussians have been forced to leave their country have endured since the start of the Russian armed aggression in Ukraine.

Marin urges the international community to support and protect the human rights of those Belarussian nationals that have been forced into exile due to repression and intimidation by the state.

Belarus boycotted Wednesdays meeting, renouncing its right of reply. Contacted by VOA after the meeting, the Belarussian U.N. mission in Geneva said it had no comment.
In his first oral report since beginning his job as the United Nations special rapporteur on Burundis human rights, Fortune Gaetan Zongo appealed to Burundian authorities to grant him access to their country to properly discharge his mandate to investigate alleged violations in that country.



Zongo noted with satisfaction that since the start of his mandate on April 1, Burundis return to the international scene had begun with the lifting of sanctions by the European Union, the United States and others. In return, he said Burundi has begun interacting with international and regional actors.



Additionally, he said Burundi has made some progress on human rights. He noted that Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye has pardoned more than 5,000 people in detention and freed some journalists and civil society representatives, as well. He spoke through an interpreter.



But despite this major progress achieved since 2020, additional efforts are still necessary in the area of fighting impunity, in beefing up institutions, notably in the justice sector, the police and the army," Zongo said. "In protecting the enjoyment of public freedoms and expanding the democratic space through effective participation of civil society and the media.



Zongo said he intends to fulfill his mandate in an impartial manner and will examine documents from all sources regarding the human rights situation in Burundi.



However, he noted he only has access to partial information, achieved through secondary sources. That, he said, could tarnish the credibility and neutrality of his effort.



From the height of this tribune, I would like to request of the Burundi authorities the possibility of interacting with them  visiting this brotherly country in order to better understand the realities on the ground, the countrys opportunities, as well as the challenges and priorities of that country.



Burundis ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Renovat Tabu, said Burundi has achieved major progress in implementing reforms and promoting good governance, social justice, and freedom of expression.



He said his country was aware of the crucial role played by the council in reinforcing, promoting and protecting human rights across the world. But he added that Burundi would not accept any mechanism or political attempts to interfere with the domestic affairs of sovereign states.



The comments effectively shut the door on Zongo visiting Burundi  at least for the time being.
A multinational task force created in March as part of Western efforts to press Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine says it has blocked or seized more than $30 billion worth of assets owned by Russian oligarchs.

In addition to confiscating luxury yachts, jets, mansions and other assets belonging to allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the task force, known as REPO, says it has frozen about $300 billion in Russian Central Bank reserves.

"REPOs work is not yet complete," the group said in a joint statement released Wednesday. "In the coming months, REPO members will continue to track Russian-sanctioned assets and prevent sanctioned Russians from undermining the measures that REPO members have jointly imposed."

The U.S. departments of Justice and Treasury launched REPO (Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs) on March 16 as part of sweeping international sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Besides the United States, its members include Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Commission. REPO members work together to investigate and prosecute Putin allies and seize their assets.

In addition to REPO, the U.S. Justice Department has set up an interagency task force for this purpose, called Task Force KleptoCapture, while the European Commission has created its own Freeze and Seize Task Force to enforce international sanctions on Russia.

To date, Task Force KleptoCaptures effort has resulted in significant asset seizures.

In April, Spanish authorities, acting at the request of the Justice Department, seized a $90 million super yacht owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.

In May, Fijian law enforcement seized a $300 million yacht owned by another sanctioned Russian oligarch, Suleiman Kerimov. The 106-meter luxury Amadea arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday, the Justice Department said.

1,000-plus individuals sanctioned

Between them, the U.S. and the European Union have sanctioned hundreds of Russian entities and over 1,000 Russian individuals since the start of the war in Ukraine. In the latest move on Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against 70 Russian entities, many deemed critical to Russia's defense capabilities, and 29 Russian individuals.

Thats on top of a U.S. ban on imports of Russian oil and a recently imposed embargo on gold imports from Russia  punitive measures intended to deprive Moscow of the funds to underwrite its war on Ukraine.

"We continue to increase Russias cost of its war, REPO members said. We remain committed to fully implementing and enforcing our economic and financial sanctions and remain vigilant against sanctions evasion and circumvention.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and its Western allies are debating what to do with the frozen Russian assets.

While the lions share of the $300 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank reserves are held in European banks, tens of billions are located in the U.S.

The Ukrainian government says it wants them for postwar recovery. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the cost of rebuilding his countrys economy and infrastructure could run up to $600 billion and demanded war reparations by Russia.

Several European nations such as Lithuania and Estonia have backed Ukraines call for a transfer of the seized Russian assets to Ukraine.

But President Joe Bidens administration has been more circumspect on whether the Russian Central Bank reserves should be handed over to Ukraine.

Instead, the Justice Department has asked Congress for expanded authority to forfeit Russian assets and transfer some of the proceeds to Ukraine.

In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would encourage the use of sanctioned Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine, according to Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski, who sponsored the legislation. The Senate version of the bill has yet to make its way out of the Foreign Relations Committee for consideration by the full chamber.
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to Chinas rule, the United States and Britain joined other democracies urging Beijing to honor its commitments to ensure autonomy and freedoms to the former British colony.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend events marking the anniversary in person. It would be the first time Xi has left mainland China since the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, the State Department issued a security alert urging U.S. citizens in Hong Kong to remain vigilant, exercise caution in the vicinity of large gatherings and avoid taking photographs of police without permission.

President Xi Jinping is likely to visit Hong Kong June 30-July 1 for events marking the 25th handover anniversary and inauguration of the Chief Executive, the State Departments Bureau of Consular Affairs said in a Twitter Post. Hong Kong Police Force may deploy 10,000+ police officers for security during the visit.

G-7 calls on China to honor commitments

Leaders from G-7 countries pressed China to act in accordance with its obligations under a U.N. filed treaty, the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

We call on China to honor its commitments made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which enshrine rights, freedoms and a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong, said the G-7 Leaders Communique on Tuesday.

In Hong Kong, the police are tightening security, banning the use of drones across Hong Kong and implementing road closures.

Beijing has restricted rights of free speech and assembly in Hong Kong in recent years, say critics.

A sweeping national security law was imposed in the summer of 2020 to clamp down on dissent in Hong Kong following the massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests since 2019.

Earlier this year, a U.S. State Department report said the government of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) took new actions directly threatening U.S. interests in Hong Kong and eliminating the ability of Hong Kongs pro-democracy opposition to play a meaningful role. Those actions have breached PRCs obligations under the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, which promised Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy.

For its part, Chinese officials said Hong Kong is a domestic matter and the U.S. should not interfere.

"What the U.S. is really up to is to meddle in Hong Kong affairs and make Hong Kong a bridgehead for infiltration and interference against the mainland, said Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement earlier this month. Beijing has accused Washington of attacking and smearing the 2020 national security law.

According to Hong Kongs Census and Statistics Department data, the number of U.S. companies with regional headquarters in Hong Kong has dropped to its lowest point in years.

The number of parent companies from three other G-7 countries (France, Germany, and Japan) with regional headquarters in Hong Kong also fell. Critics say this is an indication that Hong Kongs appeal as a global financial center is eroding.

This week, in a joint communique, the G-7 leaders agreed to confront what they said is the PRCs non-transparent and market-distorting practices.

Leaders call out China's economic behavior

A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Tuesday that this was unprecedented as leaders were calling out China's economic behavior for the first time at the G-7 level.

"With regard to Chinas role in the global economy, we are continuing to consult on collective approaches, also beyond the G-7, to challenges posed by non-market policies and practices which distort the global economy," said G-7 leaders.
In the last decade, the military has redoubled its efforts in the far north, investing billions of dollars upgrading air and missile defenses while completely revamping the foundational structure of its Army forces.

Yet despite the geographic and environmental challenges, the U.S. military has staked its claim there since the 1860s, when the U.S. bought the territory from Russia and nearly a century before Alaska became a U.S. state.

The state is more than double the size of Texas with a population about the size of Washington, D.C.

Alaskas often harsh environment makes year-round living difficult at best, with some areas accessible only by boat or aircraft.

Known as Americas Last Frontier, Alaska conjures up thoughts of polar bears, subzero temperatures and expansive areas of little-explored terrain around the Arctic Circle.

At Eielson Air Force Base, near the Arctic Circle, the Air Force just added 54 of the nations new F-35 stealth fighter jets. The jets, perched at the top of the world, are prepared to respond to conflicts anywhere in the northern hemisphere.

The base operates year-round, even in skin-burning minus 50-degree weather, when airmen can withstand the frigidity for only minutes at a time.

In warmer weather, the base hosts multiple Red Flag Alaska exercises: war games for thousands of American troops to train in combat-like situations with allies from around the globe.

At Clear Space Force Station, about 160 kilometers southwest of Eielson, the U.S. Space Force, Alaska Air National Guard and members of the Missile Defense Agency monitor threats in space, including North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

In December, the Clear station team received a new tool in their missile-tracking arsenal, the Long Range Discrimination Radar, or LRDR, which officials say is the most sophisticated ground-based radar on the globe, capable of seeing farther than other ground-based radars while simultaneously differentiating among multiple small objects.

At Fort Greely, an Army garrison about 120 km south of Eielson, a team of soldiers protects 40 ICBM-killing weapons known as Ground Based Interceptors in silos deep underground. The U.S. recently added 20 silos there, which will house new and improved anti-ICBM weapons known as Next Generation Interceptors around 2028.

At the Armys Fort Wainwright, near the Arctic Circle, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near in the states largest city, Anchorage, soldiers this month were assigned a new identity, transforming from a hodgepodge structure under the U.S. Army Alaska flag to the newly resurrected 11th Airborne Division. The Arctic Angels, as theyre called, vow to regain American dominance in the Arctic.

VOA visited each of these military locations to get a first-hand look at the new upgrades in action, hidden in plain sight deep within the remote Alaskan wilderness.
Reacting to a surprising and growing monkeypox outbreak, U.S. health officials on Tuesday expanded the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus.

They also said they are providing more monkeypox vaccine, working to expand testing, and taking other steps to try to get ahead of the outbreak.

"We will continue to take aggressive action against this virus," said Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, who has also been playing a role in how the government deals with monkeypox.

The administration said it was expanding the pool of people who are advised to get vaccinated to include those who may realize on their own that they could have been infected. That includes men who have recently had sex with men at parties or in other gatherings in cities where monkeypox cases have been identified.

Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.

The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. It does not usually spread easily among people.

Last month, cases began emerging in Europe and the United States. Many  but not all  of those who contracted the virus had traveled internationally. Most were men who have sex with men, but health officials stress that anyone can get monkeypox.

Case counts have continued to grow. As of Tuesday, the U.S. had identified 306 cases in 27 states and the District of Columbia. More than 4,700 cases have been found in more than 40 other countries outside the areas of Africa where the virus is endemic.

There have been no U.S. deaths and officials say the risk to the American public is low. But they are taking steps to assure people that medical measures are in place to deal with the growing problem.

One of the steps was to expand who is recommended to get vaccinated. Vaccines customarily are given to build immunity in people before they are ever infected. But if given within days or even a few weeks of first becoming infected, some vaccines can reduce severity of symptoms.

A two-dose vaccine, Jynneos, is approved for monkeypox in the U.S. The government has many more doses of an older smallpox vaccine  ACAM2000  that they say could also be used, but that vaccine is considered to have a greater risk of side effects and is not recommended for people who have HIV. So it's the Jynneos vaccine that officials have been trying to use as a primary weapon against the monkeypox outbreak.

So far, the government has deployed more than 9,000 doses of vaccine. U.S. officials on Tuesday said they are increasing the amount of Jynneos vaccine they are making available, allocating 56,000 doses immediately and about 240,000 more over the coming weeks. They promised more than 1 million more over the coming months.

Another change: Until now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that vaccines be given after exposure to people whom health officials identify as close personal contacts of cases. But on Tuesday, CDC officials say they are expanding the recommendation to people who were never identified but may realize on their own that they may have been infected.

"It's almost like we're expanding the definition of who a contact might be," said the CDC's Jennifer McQuiston. If people have been to a party or other place where monkeypox has been known to spread "we recommend they come in for a vaccine," she said.

The CDC's expansion follows similar steps taken in New York City and the District of Columbia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia a terrorist state on Tuesday and urged the United Nations to send a commission to investigate a deadly missile strike on a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk.

Who of you does not agree this is terrorism? The Ukrainian leader asked in remarks beamed into the U.N. Security Council chamber in New York of Mondays strike on a shopping mall that killed at least 18 civilians, and other Russian attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in recent days.

Zelenskyy said in any other part of the world, any group that killed civilians the way Russia is doing in Ukraine would be considered terrorists.

Therefore, what is punished at the level of criminals and criminal organizations must not go unchecked at the level of the state, which has become a terrorist, he said of the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy listed several new Russian attacks carried out Tuesday, just hours before his address. At least eight civilians were killed in strikes on the southern port city of Mykolaiv and the northeastern reaches near Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city. Among those killed was a 6-year-old girl. Dozens were injured, including a 3-month-old baby who was in a coma.

Moscows Security Council envoy protested the Ukrainian president being allowed to address the council, saying Zelenskyys appearance was last-minute and arranged without consulting all council members.

Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said Zelenskyys address was intended to win sympathy and weapons from attendees at the NATO summit commencing in Madrid.

Polyanskiy also dismissed allegations that the shopping center in Kremenchuk had been hit, saying it was not near Russias target.

In reality, there was no strike on the shopping center, Polyanskiy declared. The Russian armed forces used precision weapons to strike hangars with Western weapons and ammunition received from the United States and European countries in the area of Kremenchuk road machinery plant.

NATO impasse overcome

Earlier Tuesday, Turkey lifted its objections to Finland and Sweden joining NATO. The three nations signed a memorandum in Madrid at the start of the NATO summit, confirming Ankaras support.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted confirmation of the agreement.

Turkey had threatened to veto the two Nordic states bids to join the Atlantic alliance over what Ankara sees as their support for Syrian Kurdish fighters of the PKK-linked YPG group. Ankara considers the PKK a terrorist organization.

Finland and Sweden support the YPG, as do some NATO members, including the United States, in the war against Islamic State.

Finland has constantly taken these concerns seriously, President Sauli Niinisto said in a statement. Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. As a NATO member, Finland will commit fully to the counterterrorism documents and policies of NATO.

The war in Ukraine is expected to be among the major topics at the summit.

At our NATO summit, we will step up support for our close partner Ukraine now and for the longer term, Stoltenberg declared.



NATO allies stand with you, Stoltenberg said after talking with Zelenskyy.



In talks with the NATO secretary-general ahead of the summit, Zelenskyy stressed the need for a powerful missile defense system for Ukraine to prevent Russian terrorist attacks.

Stoltenberg said Monday that the Western military alliance is declaring a sevenfold increase in the number of its troops on standby alert  from 40,000 to more than 300,000.

New sanctions



Russias stepped-up attacks came as the United States again ramped up sanctions against Moscows defense entities and individuals carrying out President Vladimir Putins war, now in its fifth month.

The U.S. State and Treasury departments imposed sanctions on Russias largest defense conglomerate, the state corporation Rostec, and dozens of Russias defense industry-based entities. The U.S. agencies also sanctioned an individual in Ukraine they said was illegitimately installed as a mayor by Russia, as well as 19 Rostec board members and nine of their adult family members.



G-7 actions

Leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized economies concluded a meeting Tuesday in Germany by expressing support for Ukraine and pledging to continue to impose severe and immediate economic costs on President Putins regime for its unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine.



The statement said the G-7 countries would boost their efforts to address the wider impact of the war, including on global energy and food supplies.



The leaders also said they will consider ways to bar services which enable transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally, unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultation with international partners.



They said such a plan would allow the most vulnerable countries to maintain access to Russian energy markets.



In addition to efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy supplies, rounds of sanctions already enacted have targeted Russian energy exports to both pressure Putin to end the war and to try to hamper Russias ability to fund its war effort.



Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
WASHINGTON 

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that then-President Donald Trump became increasingly angry and volatile about his 2020 reelection loss, testifying that he agreed with rioters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 last year when they called for then-Vice President Mike Pence be hanged for refusing to block the election outcome.



Hutchinson said that as some of the thousands of Trump supporters at the Capitol chanted "Hang Mike Pence!" Trump told her boss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, "Mike deserves it."



She quoted Meadows as saying that Trump "doesn't think (the anti-Pence protesters were) doing anything wrong."



Trump supporters had erected a gallows on the National Mall within eyesight of the Capitol, although Pence's security detail rushed him to safety as the mayhem raged. Some rioters came within about 12 meters of reaching him.



Later, Trump tweeted that "Mike Pence didn't have the courage" to block Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump in the 2020 election. But it was not until more than an hour later that Trump finally told his supporters in a video message to leave the Capitol, after earlier ignoring pleas from family members, including his daughter Ivanka, a White House aide, and other advisers to publicly call off the riot.

Hutchinson, who worked in an office just steps from Trump's Oval Office, said she learned from Anthony Ornato, a Meadows aide responsible for coordinating Trump's security detail, that the then-president, after a rally near the White House before the mayhem at the Capitol, attempted to grab the wheel of his limousine from a Secret Service agent and demanded to go to the Capitol to join his supporters.

Trump had told thousands of supporters at the rally that he would join them in walking to the Capitol, but his security detail had determined it was too dangerous and instead drove him back to the White House.



Hutchinson said she was told by Ornato that, once in the limousine, Trump was "under the impression  he thought they were going to the Capitol" and was "very, very angry" when he realized they were not.



"I'm the 'effing' president, take me to the Capitol," Trump demanded, according to Ornato's recounting of the incident to Hutchinson.



She testified that Ornato told her Trump grabbed the steering wheel but was pushed away by his chief security agent, Bobby Engel.



"Sir, you need to take your hand off of the steering wheel, we're going back to the West Wing, we're not going to the Capitol," Hutchinson said, quoting Ornato's retelling of what Engel told Trump.



"Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Engel and when Mr. Ornato recounted the story to me, he motioned to his clavicles," Hutchinson testified.

Earlier that day, according to Hutchinson, Trump had been informed that many of the supporters whom he was urging to march to the Capitol were armed and equipped with body armor. Hutchinson said the president was angered that the Secret Service was using magnetometers to check for weapons at the entrance to the rally and confiscating those it found. Trump reportedly said he wasn't in any danger and complained that keeping people out of the rally made the crowd look smaller.



More than a month before, on Dec. 1, 2020, then Attorney General William Barr, the country's top law enforcement official, had told the Associated Press that Justice Department investigators had not found evidence of election fraud sufficient to overturn Biden's victory. Trump lost more than five dozen election lawsuits claiming fraud.



Hutchinson said Trump was furious when told of Barr's remark to the AP reporter. She learned of his anger when she encountered a White House valet cleaning Trump's private dining room next to the Oval Office.



Trump, she said, had thrown his lunch against a wall, shattering a plate and splattering ketchup on the wall.



Hutchinson said that both Meadows and a Trump attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, sought pardons for their roles in trying to keep Trump in power.



But Trump, while pardoning other aides for their possible crimes before leaving office, did not act on the requests from Meadows or Giuliani, nor on similar demands from a half-dozen Republican congressmen Hutchinson said had requested pardons.



Hutchinson's testimony came in the House of Representatives committee's sixth hearing this month, with two more set for mid-July.



One of those hearings is set to detail the involvement of right-wing extremists in the insurrection at the Capitol and the other to explore what Trump was doing at the White House as he watched the riot unfold on television for more than three hours, ignoring all entreaties to tell the rioters to leave the Capitol.

Previously, an array of witnesses, in taped testimony and in person before the panel, have described how Trump and his allies sought to pressure Pence, the Justice Department and state officials to upend the congressional certification of the election results on January 6, 2021.



At the rally before the insurrection at the Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell" to block congressional approval of Biden's victory.



About 2,000 of Trump's supporters stormed past law enforcement officials into the Capitol, ransacking congressional offices, vandalizing the building and scuffling with police. More than 800 have subsequently been charged with offenses and more than 300 have pleaded guilty or been convicted in trials. Sentences have ranged from a few weeks in prison to more than four years.



In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each state's number of electoral votes is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. The rioters who stormed the Capitol tried to keep lawmakers from certifying Biden's eventual 306-232 victory in the Electoral College.



At the heart of Trump's effort to stay in power was an audacious plan espoused by Giuliani and conservative lawyer John Eastman to get legislatures in states Trump narrowly lost to appoint new electors supporting him to replace the official ones favoring Biden.



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 outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Last week, FBI agents raided the Washington-area home of a former assistant attorney general, Jeffrey Clark, who wanted Trump to name him attorney general in the last month of his presidency so he could advance Trump's erroneous claims of vote fraud, which were at odds with Barr's conclusion.



Trump appeared willing to make the Clark appointment but backed off when top Justice Department officials said Clark, an environmental lawyer, was not qualified to be the country's top law enforcement official and threatened to quit en masse if he were named.



In addition, FBI agents, in a separate encounter in the southwestern state of New Mexico, seized the cell phone of Eastman.



A prosecutor in Atlanta, the capital of the state of Georgia, has convened a grand jury to probe Trump's effort to overturn the vote in that state. Trump asked the state's 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 minimal voting irregularities, not enough to overturn Biden's Electoral College victory.



In addition, Trump was told it would be illegal for Pence to unilaterally block Biden's victory as Pence presided over the congressional Electoral College vote count. Trump privately and publicly demanded the vice president block certification of Biden's victory and to this day contends he was cheated out of another White House term.
EAST LONDON, South Africa (Reuters) - South African mourners expressed anger and despair on Monday at the death of 21 teenagers in a tavern over the weekend, as investigating authorities said the youths were probably accidentally poisoned by something they ate, drank or smoked.

The still unexplained deaths of the teens, some of whom were celebrating the end of school exams and others a birthday party, have brought an outpouring of grief and shocked a nation accustomed to injuries linked to a binge drinking culture. Authorities ruled out an earlier-touted notion of a stampede.

Residents of Scenery Park, on the edge of East London, said they had asked authorities to close Enyobeni Tavern down weeks ago because it was serving under-aged kids.

The tavern's license was revoked on Monday.

At a prayer meeting at a local church, mourners and priests sang, prayed, drummed on hymn books and cried over the loss of the youngsters.

"I'm so devastated. We are so angry," Maxhabiso Sibotoboto, 50, whose 17-year-old granddaughter, Monelo, was among the dead, told Reuters by phone from a church memorial service for them.

"People were complaining about the tavern. No one was happy about it. The community wanted the tavern to be shut," he said.

Monelo did not live with her parents, because he father had died and her mother worked a long way from home, he said.

Pictures circulating on social media, still unverified by authorities, showed the bodies of youths lying scattered across the floor of the tavern, some also seen motionless on tables and couches.

"We are so heartbroken, guys. We lost one of our family members, a child who was doing grade 12 (final year) this year. We cant accept it," said Yandiswa Ngqoza, an aunt, as she choked back tears outside the morgue dressed in black attire.

"By the look of the child she has no visible injuries," Ngqoza said, before breaking down sobbing. Minutes earlier she had entered the morgue and identified her niece, whose name she did not disclose.

"POISONING"

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana told Reuters that the youngest victim was a 13-year-old girl.

An emotional Police Minister Bheki Cele had to pause speaking as he started weeping on Sunday, triggering cries among his audience outside a morgue.

"It is either something they ingested which will point to poisoning, whether its food or drinks, or it is something they inhaled," Unathi Binqose, spokesperson for Eastern Capes provincial community safety department said by phone on Monday, ahead of a toxicology report still being awaited. He said hookah pipes were visible in CCTV footage of the scene.

"We are ruling out a stampede," he added, after initial media reports suggested this may have been the cause. Read full story

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday he was worried about the circumstances under which young people, at least some under the age of 18 years, were allowed to gather at the tavern. It is illegal to serve drinks to under-18s in South Africa.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and a reporter in East LondonWriting and additional reporting by Tim Cocks in JohannesburgEditing by Peter Graff, William Maclean)
South Africas Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has attacked the Helen Suzman Foundation for challenging the ministrys decision to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits.

In a statement, Motsoaledi said, In an open and transparent democracy, organs of civil society have an important role to play. Most of the times, they do so in the national interest. However, at times, some of them can be a stumbling block in the implementation of Governments rational and lawful decisions, which are in the national interest. The recent surprising court action launched by the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) is a perfect example of the destructive role that some non-governmental organisations (NGO) are capable of.

Motsoaledi said his ministry has always engaged the HSF regarding some of the challenges faced by the Department in the past.

The Minister has engaged with HSF on several occasions with positive outcomes. Since the announcement of the decision of the Minister not to extend the exemption granted to Zimbabwean nationals, he has engaged with several members of civil society with a view to manage the consequences of his decision collectively. This time around, the HSF was conspicuous by its silence. Little did the Minister know that the HSF was behind the scenes planning the so called public interest court action.

Theres a disturbing and growing trend by some NGOs to sabotage the polycentric and policy laden decisions taken by Government by using the courts. This development must be nipped in the bud as soon as possible. South Africa is now under the dictatorship of some of the NGOs with some having faceless and dubious funders. Their ultimate aim is to assist in the dislodgement of government of the day from power by all means available.

He said the decision of the Minister not to extend the exemptions granted to Zimbabwean nationals has been widely supported by South African citizens.

The HSF, in its desperate bid to blackmail the nation, is twisting the support for the Ministers decision by the majority of South African citizens as being 'xenophobic'. Nothing could be further from the truth. The HSF access to the courts is guaranteed in the Constitution. However, this should not be a licence to abuse the Bill of Rights by some armchair critics, who have no idea of the sacrifices and deaths of many freedom fighters, while they sat in the comfort of their homes because of the colour of their skin. They now claim to be champions of the human rights of the African people in whole continent.

The HSF is now conveniently playing the victim card by alleging that it is being threatened. We have no evidence of the alleged threat. If it is true, the Minister does not condone and strongly condemns such threats. On the contrary, it is public knowledge that the Minister was openly threatened after taking the decision. Death threats were issued against him publicly.

Motsoaledi said the Minister and the Department of Home Affairs will vigorously defend the lawful, reasonable and rational decision of the Minister.

We cannot be expected to throw up our hands in despair and fail the people of South Africa. Having said that, the Ministers door is always open for constructive engagement, rather than waste the ever shrinking Government resources to defend unnecessary court challenges. The Minister hopes that sense will prevail and that the HSF will opt for engagement than embark on a spurious court action, which can only lead to further tensions between citizens and foreign nationals.

If HSF has the interests of Africans in the continent at heart, the Minister expects it to play its constructive role in assisting the affected Zimbabwean nationals to apply for one or the other visas provided for in the Immigration Act. The Minister calls upon all affected Zimbabwean nationals to ignore the false hope created by the HSF and adhere to the procedures outlined by the Department in various public notices and communication.
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Cuenca. Ecuador (63.6 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 20-30 s : Sitting at my computer , strong violent deep vibration, wall art, computer monitors visibly rocking, felt like the worst one yet, I have experienced at least 5 quakes since moving to Cuenca EC | One user found this interesting.

Riobamba (145.4 km NE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Vi mi botella de agua moverse de lado a lado debilmente sin hacer movmiento de la mesa, ademas me sentia mareada | One user found this interesting.

Cuenca, Ecuador (61.4 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : Sudden horizontal swinging, intense for 3 seconds, followed by aftershocks over several minutes. Up on 5th floor so really felt it.

Cuenca (56.1 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Estaba durmiendo y se empezo a mover la casa, objetos, etc. El temblor empezo con poca intensidad y luego empezo a unir de intensidad

guayaquil (65.9 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s : leyendo , movimiento de puertas | One user found this interesting.

Cuenca, Azuay (65 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Just a little movement with little sound of things | One user found this interesting.

Machala (84.1 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short : Sentando en la mesa leyendo la Biblia | One user found this interesting.

Guayaquil (63.5 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : Estaba ennel cuarto se comenzo a mover y la ropa de movia ligeranmente de lado al otro | One user found this interesting.

Santa rosa (104.6 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Estaba acostado en la cama | One user found this interesting.

Cuenca (61.7 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short : Recostada en la cama senti un sacudon estoy en el 4 piso del edificio donde vivo | One user found this interesting.

Cuenca ,ecuador (59.4 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : building shake | One user found this interesting.

Cuenca, Azuay (62.1 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : I was sitting at the yard of my restaurant, I felt the moving, also my television moved | One user found this interesting.

Machala (84.8 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Muy fuerte | One user found this interesting.

Bartio Turupamba, San Joaquin, Azuay / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : I was asleep. I was awakened by loud noise and the house shaking and windows rattling. I'm from the USA and momentarily thought it was train right bnb outside going by. Then I realized there are no trains here. The sound confused me. Then I realized the w

Cuenca / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : It just sounded and felt like a bomb went off and nearly knocked me out of my chair. No shaking, swaying or rattling was observed.

Gualaceo / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / very short Felt a strong bump and saw the water in the 20 liter bottle moving. Was able to pick up my phone, keys and put on my shoes and mask and leave the second floor apartment. (reported through (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / very short

Guayaquil Ecuador / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / complex motion difficult to describe / 15-20 s : In a high rise, the building felt like it was slammed by something heavy and a loud noise came over the top as well. The building shook very hard. Lasted awhile. Hard shaking,

Lenta, Azuay, Ecuador / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s Two vertical short bumps | One user found this interesting. (reported through (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s

cuenca / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s One moderate shake. | One user found this interesting. (reported through (reported through our app / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

Ordonez lasso y los cuadros, cuenca, ec (59.9 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 15-20 s

Duran (62.4 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 5-10 s

Cuenca (63.7 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 15-20 s : Lying in bed, bed shook nothing else appeared to move

Giron, Azuay (68.9 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s

Bermejos (109.1 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short : Movimiento

Canar (63.9 km E of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

Guayaquil (66.3 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Duro 2 minutos

Cuenca, Azuay (63 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 5-10 s

Cuenca, Azuay (59.4 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : Sacudida movimiento de ventanas

Cuenca, Azuay (61.4 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) Sounded like thunder in the distance. (reported through (reported through our app / Weak shaking (MMI III)

Guayaquil (84.1 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Moderado

duran (65.1 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : fue poco fuerte
While NATO heads of state and government are gathered in Madrid mapping out a third world war against the Russian Federation, Russian state space corporation Roscosmos has released on its Telegram channel the coordinates of Western decision-making centers.

It displays satellite images of the White House and the Pentagon (United States), of NATO headquarters (Belgium) [photo], of the Congress Center (Spain) where the NATO summit is being held, of the Ministry of Defense (United Kingdom), the Reichstag and the Federal Chancellery (Germany), and even the Elysee Palace (France).

The site provides the strike coordinates:

 38.897542, -77.036505

 38.870960, -77.055935

 51.503049, -0.127727

 48.870433, 2.316842

 52.519903, 13.368921

 50.879986, 4.425771

Dmitry Rogozin, director of Roscosmos, is the former Russian ambassador to NATO.

Questioned by reporters, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov, said: "Im not going to guess what President Zelensky hopes for  its absolutely not important what he thinks, or hopes. He doesnt make decisions. Decisions are made in Washington, and by no means at the presidential level. Well-known officials make decisions in the State Department, and probably even in the presidential administration."

So, a word to the wise!
President Joe Biden proclaimed it loud and clear: "No US boots in Ukraine!." NATO is constantly relaying the same message: the alliance is not at war in Ukraine, it supports the Ukrainian armed forces, but is not involved in the fighting.

However, according to the New York Times, units in charge of logistics have been deployed in Ukraine by the Pentagon and the CIA since the very start of the war. This military personnel is there to supervise the transport of weapons to the front line and give advice to the Ukrainian combat troops.

Canada, France, Lithuania and the United Kingdom have seemingly also stationed men in Ukraine.

This information was leaked just before the Madrid NATO summit.
Ms. Marvel Seeing Red Season 1 Episode 4 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * *  Previous Next  Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: Marvel Studios

All but three scenes of Seeing Red take place in Karachi. One opens in the air right before Kamala Khan lands in Pakistan for the first time. Another is set at a classified Department of Damage Control (DODC) black site to reintroduce the shows antagonists. A third unfolds somewhere in India in 1947  a vision or perhaps something more  ending this week on a cliff-hanger thats both audacious and emotionally charged. Along the way, Kamala begins to find herself not merely through the discovery of her remixed lore but through a trip to a homeland she doesnt know and through quiet, intimate experiences that make her feel as though she can eventually carve out a place for herself as a teenager torn between worlds.

The episode has plenty of bombast and a zippy, claustrophobic chase sequence to boot, but much of its running time is spent following Kamala through Karachi as she catches up with family and discovers parts of the city (and its history) on her own. It makes sense, then, to hand the reins to Pakistani-born director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary films (including the exploration of jazz-classical fusion Song of Lahore) beat with lived experience and whose animated work, such as the moving Netflix short Sitara: Let Girls Dream, blends grim reality with gorgeous fantasy. The decision pays dividends the moment Kamala steps out of Jinnah International Airport; she may be an outsider, but the setting is more familiar to her than foreign or exotic. Her initial rendezvous are captured with the verve of the shows introduction to Little India in Jersey City, with the same focus on color, fabric, and street-side delicacies  not to mention the same use of lens flare to denote heat (courtesy of cinematographer Jules OLoughlin)  only turned up a notch. Apart from a few aerial shots of Karachis architecture, Bangkok stands in for the Pakistani metropolis, but the detail in Christopher Glasss production design spikes the location with nostalgia.

What makes the episode work more than anything else is its characters. Muneeba gets some much-needed downtime with her mother, shedding light on their dynamic (and her childhood love of toffee). Kamalas cousins, the spoiled Zainab (Vardah Aziz) and the sassy Owais (Asfandyar Khan), arent so much invested in her as they are in running through the motions of showing her around. Theres a hint of enmity on Owaiss behalf as a modern subcontinental teen forced to deal with ABCD (American-born confused Desi) ignorance, but the real shot in the arm is Kamalas naani, or maternal grandmother, Sana, who displays a shocking casualness about her superhuman origins. I dont see what the whole fuss is about, Sana (Samina Ahmad) says with an amusingly dismissive tone. Its just genetics. While the episode provides plenty of quick-fire answers, Sanas nonchalance about these questions creates room, textually and meta-textually (Youre focusing on the wrong thing, she tells both Kamala and the audience), for whats more important. The story of Kamalas bangle is about purpose. It saved Sanas life as a baby, during the bloody partition of India and Pakistan, and it now offers Kamala a new path in life through its very presence as an object imbued with history and as a plot point that forces Kamala to take a closer look at where her family came from.

When Kamala separates from her cousins, she dons her domino mask and inspects the cordoned-off corners of the local railway station. A historical restoration sits behind a barrier  a border of sorts, thematically in tune with the rest of the episode  and for a moment, she seems to step into a different realm. Not literally, of course, but the episodes tone and aesthetic warp around her in this brief moment; the soundtracks wall-to-wall pop tracks finally fade out and are replaced by an ominous score. The camera tilts on its axis as Kamala nears what could perhaps be an answer about her past. The debris on the ground, likely as unassuming as construction, conjures images of chaos and disarray, the kind she associates with her familys partition stories. However, before she discovers what history is being preserved in these hidden nooks, she comes face to face with comics favorite Kareem (Aramis Knight), a Red Dagger. A fight ensues, but its more of a tete-a-tete; Knight and Iman Vellani have an immediate and palpable chemistry. All we see of Kareem, from behind his red bandit scarf, are his eyes and the loose strands of hair falling over his face. Hes a charming mystery made all the more alluring by the fact that he seems familiar with Kamalas family and with the Noor (her Clandestine powers).

Kareem, it turns out, is an ally in more ways than one. In the comics, his Red Dagger title (Laal Khanjeer) is his own, but the show expands on the concept, introducing a long-standing league of heroes protecting Karachis streets  a peek at a wider world of super-heroism and a refreshing change from Marvels western-centricity. In addition to being a fellow superhero, Kareem proves to be a friend in his brief appearance, inviting Kamala to a fun evening getaway around a bonfire with his pals. They strum and sing and eat biryani out of plastic bags. With the city lights in soft focus in the distance, capturing Vellani in the form of a gentle portrait, Kamala smiles as she takes a bite not only because she enjoys the taste but because she seems to understand, on some level, the importance of food as ritual and culture. It offers her a sense of belonging before things turn upside down again.

The Red Daggers leader is named Waleed, and hes played by Bollywood superstar and director Farhan Akhtar; if youre familiar with his work, his presence in one of these shows is downright surreal even though he mostly serves an expository purpose. The Clandestines, we learn, occupy an invisible dimension that shares space with our own, and using the bangle to access this realm could wreak unintended havoc. While the stakes were bound to become world-threatening sooner or later, their framing stands apart in the Marvel landscape. For one thing, the Clandestines just want to return home (theyre made even more sympathetic when we next see them in U.S. government shackles; they escape, but they leave poor Kamran behind), so destroying the world isnt exactly their priority. For another, this explanation is accompanied by a floating graphic that depicts our world and that of the Clandestines side by side, separated by a border.

This is Kamalas story on several fronts. Shes a descendant of supernatural beings from another universe, but she lives in this one. Her grandmother was one of millions of refugees from India who made the perilous journey to Pakistan. Her mother, born and raised in South Asia, now lives in the United States. One of these histories is fictitious, but two of them are real, and all three inform Kamalas character in interconnected ways as a young girl searching for her place in the world. Back in Jersey, shes persecuted for her faith and her appearance, which the DODC can discern even when she wears a mask. She knows so much about Indian and Pakistani culture, but shes learned it all from afar, and shes clocked as a tourist by local shopkeepers who immediately know to up-charge her. (1,500 rupees for a photograph? Come on!) Shes an outsider no matter where she goes  which is what makes one particular detail of her powers especially meaningful. As Waleed explains, the reason she can turn light into physical constructs is because shes connected both to the energy of the Clandestines world and to the matter of our own. Being from two worlds is her superpower. Vellanis expression when Kamala first learns this information is an utter delight: Its like shes found a missing part of herself.

Changing Kamalas body-morphing Inhuman origin from the comics may have irked some viewers, but this culturally specific revamp imbues the show with thematic richness. The specifics of her powers may be rooted in fantasy, but rather than the show letting its metaphors stand in for real-world ideas altogether, it immediately ties them to something tangible. This discovery of Kamalas origin is accompanied by Waleed gifting her a blue tunic, bringing her one step closer to her complete comic-book appearance. Thus far, her costume is composed of this Pakistani fabric, with its own history, and the domino mask typical of American vigilante characters (handcrafted by her best friend, Bruno). Its a small step on her journey, but it weaves together two cultural parts of herself that often feel irreconcilable.

However, the show doesnt seem to want to make things too easy for our hero. After she and Kareem escape a close-corners Clandestine chase, and after Waleed sacrifices himself (good on Akhtar for cashing that Marvel paycheck and bouncing), Najma attacks her and triggers something in the bangle. The next thing Kamala knows, shes in a train yard somewhere in India  presumably Bombay, if the show follows her family history from the comics  and she immediately recognizes the setting. Friends and relatives bid each other farewell, possibly for good. Others scramble to board the last train over the newly etched India-Pakistan border. Her eyes well up. She knows the devastation thats about to occur and has already occurred, but until now, shes only known it from afar in the form of hushed whispers and family secrets half-revealed.

Is this another vision? Or a form of time travel, perhaps? Either way, as the camera pulls out to reveal the sheer scale of this inhumanity, the episodes closing moments promise the kind of challenge Kamala hasnt yet had to endure. Her borders are mostly internal. Theyre rooted in the history of partition, yes, but she hasnt walked in her naanis shoes; she may feel as though shes breaking more than I can fix, but as Sana says, she hasnt lived like I have, lost what I have before learning to find beauty in broken pieces. Kamala hasnt understood, firsthand, what it truly means to be torn apart. And perhaps what shes about to witness or endure will make stitching together the disparate halves of herself all the more difficult, if the next episode plays its cards right.

Kamalas Corner

 How nice of the show to open with onscreen Urdu text for its Previously On segment and close with images of Karachi where it usually features Jersey City.

 South Asian passengers standing up to grab their luggage before the plane has even landed is such a hilarious satirical detail.

 The Ant-Man mural at the train stations tells us two things: that Scott Lang is the worlds most popular Avenger and that Ms. Marvel artist Adrian Alphona exists in the MCU.

 Shout-out to the Karachi street photographer (Om Narayan) for his authentic pronunciation of donkey (dunkee).

 Rukshana Aunty (Anjana Ghogar) calling out Ka-maa-la as a non-Pakistani name is both an unnecessary (yet true-to-life) overstep and a nice acknowledgement of the less thought-out cultural elements of Kamalas comic-book creation.

 When Kareem asks, Do all masked Amreekans have superpowers? Kamalas response  Well, how do you know Im not Canadian?  feels like a fun salute to Vellani and Obaid-Chinoy.
Rome included in 'bollino rosso' warning as heatwave sweeps Italy.

The Italian health ministry has issued a 'red alert' warning for most of the country's main cities on Wednesday and Thursday due to an intense heatwave, as temperatures reach an unseasonal 40C.

The cities included in the weather warning are Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Naples, Messina, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Reggio Calabria, Rieti, Rome and Viterbo.

The red alert remains in place for these 19 cities on Thursday, with the addition of Trieste, Venezia and Verona, bringing the total to 22.

Rome at midday today pic.twitter.com/dqcA0cXHQe Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) June 28, 2022

The 'bollino rosso' indicates emergency conditions with possible negative effects on not just the elderly, sick or very young, but also on healthy and active people.

The heatwave comes after weeks of severe drought in many parts of Italy as the government prepares to issue a state of emergency to help the regions worst affected by the water crisis.

The health ministry recommends avoiding exposure to the sun and outdoor activity in the middle of the day, as well as advising people to drink plenty of water, eat lightly and preserve their medication properly. Dogs should be walked early in the morning and late evening.

Tourists in Rome should be aware that the city's historic fountains are off-limits, no matter how hot it gets, with fines of 450 for those caught entering the waters.

Photo credit: Vereshchagin Dmitry / Shutterstock.com.
Rome marks Festa di SS. Pietro e Paolo.

Rome celebrates its patron saints Peter and Paul with a public holiday in the Italian capital on Wednesday 29 June, leading to the closure of many shops, businesses and offices in the city.

The annual holiday marks the liturgical feast in honour of the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in a celebration that dates back to ancient Christian times.

The date commemorates the death of the two saints, both of whom are said to be buried at the two basilicas that bear their names: St Peter's and St Paul's Outside the Walls.

The event is normally marked by a spectacular fireworks display, which moved from Castel S. Angelo to Piazza del Popolo several years ago, however the 2022 event is not expected to take place.

The idea of Michelangelo, perfected by Bernini, the Girandola fireworks spectacle was first introduced in 1481 and has inspired writers and artists down through the centuries including Dickens, Belli and Piranesi.

Photo Il Messaggero
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It is the reddest of red herrings in the Middle East: the notion of a regional security alliance against common enemies. This idea has resurfaced ahead of President Joe Bidens planned visit to Jeddah next month, amid reports of closer security cooperation between the US, Israel and Gulf Arab states against the threat of Iran.

Last week, Jordans King Abdullah II said he would support the formation of a Middle Eastern version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In an interview with CNBC, he added a caveat: The mission statement has to be very, very clear. Otherwise, it confuses everybody. The Israelis are keen on such an alliance, and the Biden administration would likely approve  not least to shield the president from criticism in Congress for being too conciliatory toward Tehran.

If the argument for a Middle Eastern NATO sounds perfectly reasonable, it is rendered utterly risible by the political and military realities of the region. The countries that would make up such an alliance have struggled to define common security goals, never mind common foes. Most of them have militaries that are designed to protect their regimes from internal challenges, rather than external enemies. They may be adept at beating up unarmed democracy activists, but have a poor record in kinetic conflicts.

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These factors have defeated several previous attempts to build military alliances in the region. There have been two non-starters in the past seven years: A 2015 Arab League plan for a combined anti-terrorism force; and a 2017 proposal for a Middle East Security Alliance, or MESA, proposed by Saudi Arabia  and given full-throated backing by President Donald Trump. (It was inevitably dubbed the Arab NATO.)

There have been two important developments since those failures. First, Israel has normalized relations with some Arab states and is moving toward similar arrangements with others, which means the Israel Defense Forces will likely be part of any new alliance. Second, the danger posed by Iran is clearer and more potent than ever.

Iran is on the brink of nuclear weapons capability, having built a substantial stockpile of uranium enriched well past the point of civilian use. The Biden administration believes that the threat can be blunted by reviving the 2015 nuclear deal Iran struck with the world powers. But a nuclearagreement would remove economic sanctions imposed on Tehran, enabling it to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into building up both its conventional forces and its network of militias and terrorist groups across the region.

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You would think this would be reason enough for the countries menaced by Iran to get serious about a regional military alliance. But although they are cooperating more closely on security issues, the Israelis and Arabs have different threat perceptions about Iran as well as different strategies on how to deal with Tehran. This muddies any hopes of the very, very clear mission King Abdullah has in mind.

Qatar and Oman enjoy good relations with Iran. Kuwait maintains cautious ties with Tehran. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are wary of Iran, but having had their noses bloodied in conflict with Tehrans proxy militia in Yemen, they are now keener on accommodation than confrontation. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and have been conducting fairly open negotiations with the regime in Tehran.

Tiny Bahrain tends to go along with Saudi Arabia on security and foreign policy issues. Yemen is wracked by civil war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government, which is supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

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The Gulf Arab countries do have a simulacrum of a joint military force: Known as the Peninsula Shield, it has a strength of 40,000 and is well equipped, thanks to the petrodollars of the participating states. What it doesnt have is any serious combat experience. It would neither stiffen the sinews of any anti-Tehran alliance nor send any shivers down Iranian spines.

Of the Arab nations in the Levant, Syria has become an Iranian satrapy and Lebanon and Iraq seem headed in that direction. Jordans Abdullah has consistently warned about Irans growing influence in the region, but his tiny military force can at best play a bit part in any alliance, as it has in the anti-Houthi coalition.

The largest Arab security forces belong to states in North Africa, which have historically regarded the threat from Tehran with degrees of ambivalence corresponding to their distance from Iran. Egypt, the largest of them all, was the first to bolt from the ill-fated MESA project.

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All this means that the task of holding back Iran, whatever the outcome of the nuclear negotiations, will fall mainly to the US and Israel. Any proposal for a Middle Eastern NATO is a dead letter.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



What to Expect From NATOs New Strategic Concept: James Stavridis



Bidens Reversal on Gulf States Is the Wrong Kind of Realpolitik: Emma Ashford



Biden Can Repair a Rift and Push Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: Hussein Ibish

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Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor in chief at Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time.

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Crypto enthusiasts dream not only of revolutionizing money. They want to reinvent the World Wide Web, too. Their vision, which goes by the name Web3, is of a decentralized environment built on crypto technology in which swarms of independent collaborators take back control of the web from giant tech companies. Its a threat that those tech firms -- including Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter Inc. -- are taking seriously.

1. Why Web3?

The idea is this: The early web was a way of remotely accessing static pages of text and images. In what became known as Web 2.0, users began to interact with one another -- chatting, sharing videos and buying stuff online. But they needed to coalesce around big platforms, and that led eventually to todays landscape of huge corporations tracking peoples activity and monetizing the information via advertising. Web3 advocates -- many of them anti-establishment libertarians -- say its time to take back control from those gatekeepers and allow users to choose who can see and use their personal data.

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2. How does it work?

Rather than congregating on Amazon, WhatsApp or TikTok, you would shop, chat and share clips peer-to-peer using apps built on blockchains  systems that record and duplicate information using dispersed networks of computers in a way thats very difficult to alter. First developed to order cryptocurrency transactions, blockchains can be used for all manner of interactions. Today there are decentralized apps, or dapps, for gaming, social networking, banking and managing supply chains. Their makers and users can earn or buy tokens that give them a stake in how they evolve and how their funds are distributed, so no single entity gets to control them. Users are able to decide what sensitive personal information, if any, to share with third parties such as advertisers.

3. Is it happening?

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You can already see the Web3 model in practice, for example in Heliums decentralized communication network, which pays people in tokens to run their wireless hotspots for others to use in more than 65,000 towns and cities. Some dapps have fared less well. Web3 Twitter clone Peepeth launched in 2018 and had about 54,000 users as of June, compared with more than 300 million for Twitter. Blockchain-based apps can be slow (it can take a day to publish a Peep on Peepeth) and harder to navigate than regular apps, and theres usually no customer support number to call if something goes wrong. Developers say dapps can be complicated to program and vulnerable to bugs and security hacks. A steep drop in crypto prices that began in late 2021 threatened to deflate valuations of Web3 startups and make it harder for them to raise money to grow. Some have also encountered technical difficulties, like Solana, a blockchain platform used for a variety of dapps that suffered 12 serious outages in the first half of 2022.

4. Why are investors interested?

Venture capitalists were focusing on Web3s potential as an enormous marketplace for all manner of digital and real-world assets. Video game makers have been early adopters of its open technologies because they make it easy for players and developers to earn tokens and in-game items that can be traded via crypto exchanges. More than half of all active cryptocurrency wallets connected to gaming dapps in the first quarter of 2022, according to dapp tracker DappRadar. Many blockchain games allow you to buy and sell nonfungible tokens (NFTs) -- unique pieces of digital art such as memes or images of monsters and dragons -- that players can trade or exchange for cryptocurrency.

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5. How are big tech firms responding?

Theyre looking to add Web3-like services to their platforms, while trying to stop users drifting off to blockchain-based rivals. Twitter is studying ways to allow users to tweet from a crypto account, and the companys suitor -- Bitcoin enthusiast Elon Musk -- regularly touts the virtues of digital tokens. Instagram parent company Meta was testing a function that would let users post and share their NFTs. Norwegian web developer Opera released a Web3 browser in January with features like an improved, built-in crypto wallet and support for dapps that will make them easier to use.

6. Will Web3 create a safer internet?

Proponents say it will because its community-based decision-making forces developers and users to act responsibly. Critics say its naive to expect scattered online communities that make their own rules to act in everyones interest. Governments are already struggling to deal with online hate speech and disinformation and to track down cybercriminals. They could find that even harder in Web3s decentralized environment. Web3 users would get to keep their personal data. But the people building dapps need to earn an income somehow, and thats often by encouraging speculation in NFTs and tokens. The growing involvement of venture capital led former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to dismiss the idea of Web3 as a democratic online utopia controlled by its users. You dont own Web3, he tweeted in December, saying venture capitalists and their investors did. It will never escape their incentives.

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Should Scotland leave the United Kingdom? Scots voted no to that question eight years ago. But Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to put it to them again next year: She announced a new independence vote on Oct. 19, 2023. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight She knows the bid to take her case to the UK Supreme Court is a long shot. And a referendum wouldnt necessarily be in her Scottish National Partys best interest  at current polling, the SNP would lose the vote, and what then would the point be of the party at all?

Yet Sturgeons move showcases her trademark clever tactics. She may not want the actual independence battle just yet, but she clearly would welcome a fight about having one. A legal and political dust-up is a way of rallying the SNP troops, capitalizing on how much Scots love to hate on Boris Johnson and distracting from the countrys deeper problems.

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To hold a referendum, the SNP needs the permission of the UK government in the form of a temporary transfer of powers known as a Section 30 order. Johnson has already made clear he has no intention of handing that over. So Sturgeons taking the case to the UKs Supreme Court. Her insistence that the referendum be legal and constitutional to protect Scotlands international reputation neatly trolls Johnson, who is ripping up the UKs treaty with the European Union in Northern Ireland. If the Court refuses the SNP a referendum without government approval, Sturgeon says the next general election will become a de facto referendum on independence (whatever that means as the SNP interpret every vote as a referendum mandate anyhow).

Scots rejected independence by a margin of 55% to 45% in a vote that was billed as a once-in-a-generation event in 2014. Brexit provided the SNP with an excuse for a second shot, since 62% of Scots voted to remain in the EU. Sturgeon argued that the 2021 elections gave pro-independence parties a mandate to push for another referendum during this parliamentary period, once the Covid crisis had passed. With economic and other problems mounting, no wonder shes decided to make her move.

But Brexit has undoubtedly also made the case much more complicated. The thorny issues of 2014 will need to be revisited, including questions around the costs of separation and how Scotlands future defense needs would be secured; but now there is also the matter of a large land border with England, the destination for nearly 60% of Scottish exports.

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Nor is the EU likely to fast-track a Scottish membership bid. The bloc is already struggling with enlargement and has just added Ukraine and Moldova to five existing candidates for membership. Even though Scotlands laws and product standards will already be EU compliant, re-entry would require negotiations that would likely take years.

And then theres Scotlands economy. For most of the time since powers were devolved to a newly created Scottish Parliament in 1998, spending was higher and tax revenues lower than the UK average. The Institute of Fiscal Studies David Phillips has written that the implicit Scottish deficit averaged 9.2% compared with 3.1% for the UK as a whole between 2014/2015 and 2019/2020.

The rise in oil revenues and the governments windfall tax on energy companies is serendipitous timing for Sturgeon, as that should reduce the deficit more than earlier forecasts, perhaps even lower than that of the UK as a whole. But as Phillips notes, if prices and revenues fall back, this will be a temporary improvement.

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The bigger problem is structural. Despite world-class universities and strength in certain sectors such as energy and finance, Scotlands productivity lags the UKs, and R&D expenditure is low in comparison with the UK average and by developed country standards. The SNP blames Scotlands economic troubles on Westminster and argues that economic growth will follow independence. But Sturgeon hasnt yet put forward a convincing case for how.

There are certainly ways in which more fiscal control could allow Scotland to cut taxes and lighten regulatory burdens, but little sign thats the direction of travel. Its more liberal stance toward immigration would certainly help. But the SNP has presided over government spending that is substantially larger than Englands as a share of income, and the costs of exiting the union and meeting the EUs accession criteria would likely mean austerity for Scots.

Sturgeon knows independence doesnt fire up Scots the way it did a short time ago, so picking a fight now is partly about rallying supporters and building the case again. Its not clear it will work that way. In a May Survation poll, less than one-third of Scottish voters (29%) said there should another referendum before the end of 2023; even many SNP voters were not enthusiastic.

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The first minister once said a referendum shouldnt be held again until it had the support of 60% of the public. Yet today 58% of respondents say they would vote to remain part of the union, with only 42% saying they would vote to leave. The cause is most popular among younger voters, so time may be on the SNPs side here. But for now, the issues that most incense voters are health services, the economy, the pandemic recovery and education. All of those are areas that would suffer with independence, at least in the short-term.

Theres an argument that Johnson should call Sturgeons bluff and allow a referendum, but thats risky. The prime minister is the SNPs not-so-secret weapon. Every time she gets a tough question about the costs of independence, she repeats his name like an incantation. When the SNP comes under fire for mismanagement or misbehavior, Sturgeon just points to the Westminster Tories.

Sturgeons demand for a vote puts Brexit-supporting Tories in the highly uncomfortable position of arguing that it was right to take back control from the EU but its wrong for Scotland to want the same. Sturgeon knows its not an easy one for the pro-union Labour Party either, which probably needs a revival in Scotland (and has a fighting chance again with the talented Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar) to have a shot at a governing majority.

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The loser in all this politicking is likely to be the Scots. There is a place for referendums in a democracy, but recent history suggests that when it comes to major constitutional questions, the yes-no vote can easily be hijacked and become a cipher for public discontent.

The campaign itself would be costly, time-consuming and hugely divisive. There may be a time when Scotlands place in the union deserves a rethink if thats what Scots really want  with a negotiation first, followed by a confirmation vote after voters have the full picture. But Scotland has so many more pressing economic and social issues requiring attention and needs good governance more than it needs a referendum. Its hard to think of a worse moment to rustle up such a high-priced distraction.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Previously, she was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

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A new public policy issue -- whether the federal government can find ways to help Americans access abortions now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned -- is running up against a long-time restriction on federal dollars. The Hyde Amendment, first enacted 45 years ago, and related provisions restrict the use of federal funds for abortions. Its emerged as an obstacle to efforts to maintain abortion services for women in states that outlaw the procedure.

1. What is the Hyde Amendment?

Its the most prominent among a set of abortion-related restrictions on annual federal government spending. It was sponsored by the late Representative Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican, and attached as an amendment to an annual health spending bill in 1976. The purpose was to prevent Medicaid -- the federal-state health insurance program for low-income Americans -- from spending federal dollars on abortion services. The amendment or some version of it has been included in annual appropriations bills ever since. (President Joe Biden, a supporter of abortion rights, voted for bills extending the Hyde Amendment and related provisions dozens of times during his 36-year career in the Senate.) Hyde spawned additional restrictions in other federal appropriations and authorization bills.

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2. What are the additional restrictions?

Hyde-type amendments exist in laws for other government health programs, including the Childrens Health Insurance program; TRICARE, which covers members of the military; and the Indian Health Service. They restrict care for veterans receiving care under Veterans Affairs programs and allow states to limit Obamacare coverage for abortion.

3. Does it apply to all abortion services?

No. In 1993, the Hyde language was amended to allow exceptions for abortions in the case of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is in danger.

4. Why is it back in the news?

For the first time in decades, Americans in many states have lost or will lose the right to have an abortion as a result of the Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson. As part of their response, Democratic lawmakers floated the idea of opening abortion clinics on federal lands as a way to sidestep those restrictions. There also have been suggestions that the government provide transportation for patients who would have to travel out of state to get an abortion. Those and similar ideas, however, could run afoul of the Hyde Amendment.

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5. Is there a way around Hyde?

Some Democratic lawmakers have suggested that the federal government could lease land to abortion providers and collect revenue from them as a way around the restriction on spending. But such a maneuver would surely invite legal challenge, and even relying on federal salaried employees to set up such leases could invite a Hyde-related court challenge.

6. Could Congress overrule Hyde?

Progressive Democrats have long targeted the Hyde Amendment, arguing that it denies equal rights to poor women who rely on Medicaid. But as with many Democratic priorities, the lack of a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate -- which is needed to pass most legislation -- stands in the way.

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As a Russian invasion force tries to turn Ukraine, or at least part of it, back into a Russian colony, Ukrainians appear keenly interested in decolonizing the countrys toponyms. The country got rid of its countless Lenin Streets years ago  but now even once uncontroversial figures like the poet Alexander Pushkin or the novelist Leo Tolstoy are getting the axe of derussification.

A Ukrainian author has circulated a petition that calls for renaming all the Pushkin streets in Ukraine in honor of Stephen King, the bestselling horror novelist who has been vocal in support of Ukraine since the invasion. Though it likely wont garner the 25,000 votes necessary for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to consider it, all kinds of renamings are already taking place. In Vinnytsya, a city in central Ukraine, a street that until recently bore the name of Russian poet Alexander Blok is now Police Heroes Street. The Kyiv City Council recently voted on whether 296 Russia-related toponyms should be replaced, and 6.5 million Ukrainians took part; they backed renaming some of the citys key thoroughfares, including Leo Tolstoy Street to Ukrainian Heroes Street and Pushkinskaya to Yevgeny Chikalenko street, in honor of a Ukrainian nationalist publisher who lived in the late 19th-early 20th century.

Theres even a bot on the messaging platform Telegram, created by IT professional Oleksandr Kovalchuk and titled sarcastically And What Did Pushkin Ever Do to You?, that explains, in Ukrainian, why this or that Russian cultural or political figure is not worthy of being honored with a Ukrainian toponym. Pushkin spent 13 months in exile in Odesa and wrote part of his masterpiece, Yevgeny Onegin, there  facts that have saved Odesas own Pushkinskaya Street from getting renamed  but the bot denotes him as a Russian chauvinist for his support of the Russian subjugation of Poland and the Caucasus, as well as his unflattering depiction of an 18th-century Ukrainian leader in a poem that glorified the empire-building efforts of Peter the Great.

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Russian propaganda mocks the wave of renamings as idiocy. But even apart from the war, which naturally makes all things Russian  from the language itself to music (which was banned in some Ukrainian cities even before the parliament has considered a bill that would do it nationwide)  toxic in Ukraine, Ukrainians have valid reasons to get rid of Russia-related place names.

Soviet toponymics were hardly the most imaginative in the world: In pretty much any city, the same names cropped up, sometimes more than once. So Kyiv will still have a street named after Pushkin after the current derussification  it has two now. No other country in the world has more than 100 streets named after Pushkin, Ukraines Culture Minister Alexander Tkachenko complained in a recent interview.

As Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian journalist and philosopher, recently wrote in Foreign Policy, Naming streets in every city, town, and village is just one instrument for an empire to designate and control its colonial space. Every prominent Russian name was a way to exclude a Ukrainian one. Mass-naming streets after anyone  be that Lenin or Pushkin  does indeed smack of an exercise in control and identity erasure, and Ukraine has enough heroes, poets, scientists and musicians to name lots of towns, squares and lanes.

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As a Russian, I dont find it silly or spiteful that Ukrainians are changing street signs in response to Vladimir Putins naked colonial grab. It would have made sense even had Russia left Ukraine well alone: A nations toponymy should reflect its history and values, not a neighbors. Theres plenty of space in Russia to keep the glorious names alive. And in some cases, theres simply no reason to honor a historical or cultural figure in a particular place: Chernihiv recently removed a Pushkin statue  but then Pushkin merely passed through the town twice, on his way to exile and back. Thats hardly something to be immortalized. Blok, too, visited Ukraine exactly twice; the St. Petersburg native was as culturally alien to the country as they come  so why all the Blok Streets?Where I take exception is to arguments  voiced by Yermolenko and other Ukrainian and Western intellectuals as well as by that Telegram bot  that have to do with the content of the Russian literary greats work and their imperialist personal views.

The desire to derive the lineage of Putins aggression from the Russian culture that the Putin regime purports to defend from Western and Ukrainian cancellation attempts is as understandable as the backlash against, say, Richard Wagner because he was an anti-Semite and Hitlers favorite composer. In the case of the Russian greats, however, it is tragically misplaced. Almost all of them were men broken by the czarist or Communist regime, and their tortured imperialism owed more to post-traumatic stress than to jingoism of the Rudyard Kipling variety (which, I will note, is an insufficient reason to cancel Kipling, too). The Putin regime co-opts them  but thats baseless propaganda.Pushkin, exiled for his support of the Decembrist rebels and humiliated when Czar Nicholas I appointed himself as his personal censor, held out better than one might expect for a man as volatile as the indefatigable lover and fighter. He did author a few passages glorifying the czar and the empire  but they are some of the weakest in his formidable body of work. Mikhail Lermontov, condemned by Yermolenko for a scabrous early poem making light of a womans rape by Russian cavalrymen, died in a silly duel, in exile, when he was all of 27, disgusted by the customs of the military in which he served and deeply sympathetic to the Caucasus natives Russia was trying to subjugate. Dostoevsky, crushed by a stint of hard labor for his revolutionary activities, clutched at his newly acquired conservative views as a lease on life.

The Telegram bot describes Kyiv-born Mikhail Bulgakov as arguably Ukrainophobic and some Ukrainians consider him an enemy of the Ukrainian nationalists of his time  but the great novelist, deprived of his livelihood by Stalin, loved Kyiv all his life even as he eked out a living in Moscow. Despite his general support for derussification, Tkachenko, for one, has nothing against streets named after the author of The Master and Margarita.A case can even be made against Nikolai Gogol, perhaps the greatest writer ever born in Ukraine, a tortured oddball whose early work was written in a heady mixture of standard Russian and then-disparaged Ukrainian. Yermolenko accuses him of trading in his Ukrainian identity for a Russian imperial one. But Gogol, unable to serve the imperial government or fit into St. Petersburg society, spent most of his last years in Europe; even if he, a fanatical Orthodox Christian, appeared to believe that Ukraines destiny lay with Russia rather than Poland, he was certainly not alone among Ukrainian intellectuals of his time.

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Putin can no more own the brilliance and glory of Russias great poets and novelists than he can feel or understand the misery and suffering that informed their work. Abused, exiled, cast aside by contemporary imperial regimes, they deserve to be honored wherever they left a lasting trace  which, in the cases of Pushkin, Gogol, Bulgakov and quite a few others, includes Ukraine. In fact, a Ukraine that has fought a bloody war for its freedom may well be a better repository for the memory of their true selves than Putins Russia, which uses them to back up its delusions of grandeur.

Thats why I think there will still be streets named after many of these literary giants in a postwar, independent Ukraine, and theyll still be read there, both in Russian and in Ukrainian. Empires crush individuals and entire nations, but they cant prevent inner freedom from breaking out  and their inevitable collapse cannot cancel the ideas and stories that survived their worst excesses and resonated across borders.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:

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Kaliningrad Is a Microcosm of Europes Woes: Andreas Kluth



The Weakness of Putins Economic Show of Force: Clara Ferreira Marques



NATO Must Bring Finland, Sweden and Turkey Together: James Stavridis

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.

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Hes the son of a brutal dictator, fudged his own educational credentials, and his family owes up to $3.6 billion in estate taxes, yet he still won a landslide election to become the Philippiness next president. When Bongbong Marcos gets sworn in Thursday, the 64-year-old might want to add Chinese short-video service TikTok to his thank you list.

Six years after Facebook was manipulated to help Donald Trump become Americas 45th president, the US social media giant has ceded ground to a young upstart thats far more viral, and even harder to track. We may never know just how important TikTok was in getting Ferdinand Marcos Jr (back) to the Malacanang Palace,(1)but we can be sure that its headed for a starring role at future elections in the US and beyond.

The Marcos family has been rehabilitated through this platform thats put a glossy sheen on the past, Ciaran OConnor, an analyst tracking disinformation and extremism at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told me recently.

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TikTok isnt the only platform to be used by political actors in the recent election. Meta Platforms Inc.s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.s YouTube are also vastly popular in the Philippines and have become conduits for disinformation campaigns and targeted attacks on rivals.

What makes TikTok different is its short-form video feed, where users see content driven by an opaque algorithm instead of the people they follow. Integral to that process is the combination of audio, video, text and graphics that allows people to mix and match fresh content with old posts. Virality comes from latching onto to the parts that are popular  a skateboarding dog, for example  and adding a creators own spin such as text or a music soundtrack.

In the political realm, such videos can be used to cast doubt on historical events or push misinformation about opponents  with statements often incorrectly quoted or used out of context. These posts may elude content moderators, who struggle to even sort fact from fiction. In one example, anti-corruption comments made by Marcoss main rival, outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, were manipulated to show her saying she would, in fact, lead a corrupt administration. And because the videos pass by so quickly, such messaging is both subtle and catchy.

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Prior to throwing his hat in the ring, and before becoming elected a senator, Marcos Jr. was best known as the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the Philippines for more than two decades, including almost 10 years under martial law. When his father was deposed, the only son of the president joined him in fleeing to the US. But instead of being seen as a man whose wealth and power was built on the brutality of his nations most infamous leader  under whom thousands of people were killed  Bongbong has enjoyed a rewriting of that history that paints the Marcos dictatorship as a golden era for Filipinos and helped him clinch a landslide win with more than 58% of the vote.

TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., faces many of the same struggles in tackling disinformation as its US peers and has enacted policies to try keep it under control. Among those measures are a ban on political advertising and harmful political misinformation, as well as providing links to authoritative sources, and partnerships with external fact-checking organizations.

The company began releasing transparency reports in 2019 to provide visibility into how we uphold our Community Guidelines and respond to law enforcement requests for information, government requests for content removals, and intellectual property removal requests, it said in emailed response to Bloomberg Opinion.

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TikTok also deploys machine-learning tools to share the burden of content moderation. In addition to removing posts, it can slow down a videos distribution through TikToks powerful For You feed, from which most content is discovered. According to TikTok, 95% of the video we removed for breaching our Community Guidelines were taken down before they were reported to us, 94% were removed within 24 hours and 90% were removed before they had received any views, the company wrote in the email.

Yet, TikToks role in spreading misinformation to shape elections and public opinion isnt limited to the Philippines.

According to the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, TikTok has already been used in US campaigns, while other research has pointed to its role in Colombian elections and increased pro-war messages in Russia alongside a drop in anti-war content around the time that country invaded Ukraine. Kenyas general elections in August are set to be the next front. Rather than learn from the mistakes of more established platforms like Facebook and Twitter, TikTok is following in their footsteps, hosting and spreading political disinformation ahead of a delicate African election, Odanga Madung, a data journalist and Mozilla Fellow wrote of the platforms role in Kenya.

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Theres a good chance TikTok wont be able to get its content moderation and platform policies hardened in time to stop its misuse ahead of the Kenyan elections or the US midterms this fall. But theres still two years before the next run for the White House. Given its role in the recent Philippines election, the US should consider itself warned: TikTok is coming.

More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion:

 Bidens TikTok Move Sends Message to Allies on China: Tim Culpan

 Facebooks Greater Threat Is the Law, Not Lawsuits: Parmy Olson

 The Powerful Machine That Brought Marcos to Victory: Daniel Moss

(1) Marcos lived in the palace when his father was president.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology in Asia. Previously, he was a technology reporter for Bloomberg News.

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Weve run out of words to describe the magnitude of the evidence unearthed by the House Jan. 6 committee, or the enormity of what former President Donald Trump was responsible for in the period between the 2020 election and when he left office. But Tuesdays surprise hearing with star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, the close assistant to Mark Meadows, Trumps final chief of staff, topped them all.

In two absolutely gripping hours that filled in one important detail after another, Hutchinson testified that, among other things, Trump knew that the rioters he urged to march on the Capitol were armed  and he wanted to keep it that way, because after all their weapons were not to be used against him.

So the takeaways:

I dont think anyone can doubt that Trump committed crimes, based on the testimony weve heard. Serious crimes. We heard on Tuesday that White House counsel Pat Cipollone warned that the White House was moving into breaking the law. We also heard testimony that Meadows was on the list of those who sought pardons from the outgoing president after the events of Jan 6.

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We still have no idea what Attorney General Merrick Garland is thinking, although we know that the Justice Department investigation is proceeding up the ladder. We also dont know that Garland could get convictions or, if so, for what exactly. Still, were seeing more legal experts say that Trump is in serious jeopardy.

Despite that, as the political scientist Sarah Binder suggested, the committee target isnt Merrick Garland: Its GOP elite  get them off the sidelines and into the fight to keep Trump from ever holding power again.

That could be true. After all, a grand jury could have heard Hutchinsons testimony in private. Today wasnt so much about delivering new evidence (although there was plenty that had not yet been reported). It was about making a very public case about just how lawless Trump had become. And about how much evidence is lined up against him, which could matter for those deciding just how to position themselves right now.

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Ive found political scientist Richard Neustadts explanation of the inherent weakness of the presidency to be extremely helpful in understanding Trump in office. One of the key points is that presidents generally cant get things done by giving orders (as opposed to bargaining and persuading), and that trying to govern by edict has all kinds of likely costs to anyone tries it.

So I couldnt help but enjoy  if thats the correct word  how many orders Trump gave before and on Jan. 6 that he couldnt enforce. Perhaps the most consequential of those was, as we heard last week, how Trump tried to fire his attorney general but was rolled by the White House and the Justice Department.

If that was the high Neustadt example, we learned on Tuesday of perhaps a new low: The president repeatedly trying to lead the march to the Capitol as his own White House staff and the Secret Service were telling him he couldnt  ultimately leading to his attempt to grab the steering wheel of the car he was in. And failing. Weve seen this sort of episode before, in a way. President George W. Bush wanted to return directly to the White House on Sept. 11, 2001, but the Secret Service wouldnt let him. But Trumps version of it was both chilling and pathetic.

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To be clear: Its not that presidents cant do these things. Its that most things take bargaining, deal-making and skill to get done  not issuing orders. Trump never developed the skills needed to make things happen, and so he was regularly left to, well, throw his plate against the wall in frustration. The two chief executives who relied the most on governing by edict have been Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, and they both demonstrate how dangerous that is to both the president and to the nation.

I also cant stop thinking of Trump as Jafar, the villain from Disneys Aladdin. Jafar was undermined when he was tricked into wishing to be an all-powerful genie  not realizing that part of being a genie was, as the story goes, being the servant to whoever owns the magic bottle.

Trump never understood that the position he aspired to and won is a job with 330 million bosses. Trump trying to grab control of that vehicle while saying Im the f*** president, take me up to the Capitol now! is the result.

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He was hardly the only president to fall into this trap. Theres a famous anecdote in which a young military aide tries to steer President Lyndon Johnson in the correct direction. Thats your helicopter over there, sir, the aide said, only to have Johnson reply: Son, they are all my helicopters.

Of course Johnson  and Trump  were wrong. Theyre not his helicopters. Or his car. Or his Oval Office. Or his china that he smashed against the wall. All those things belong to the American people. And thats why the presidency is set up the way it is, in the system of separated institutions sharing powers, and why presidents who attempt to govern by edict court disaster.

At least, thats how its been since George Washington took the oath of office  to preserve, defend and protect the Constitution. Trump took the oath, but he never understood it or the presidency, and he tried to overthrow the Constitution. Whatever the legal situation may eventually be, its hard to believe that anyone could follow these hearings and not reach that conclusion. And to be terrified that he came close to succeeding, and that he or someone else will no doubt try again.

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More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 How Watergate Helped Derail Trumps Scheme: Jonathan Bernstein

 The Jan. 6 Committee Should Finish Its Job  Quickly: The Editors

 Will Jan. 6 Be a Factor on Nov. 8?: Julianna Goldman

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Once upon a time, long before Donald Trump began fabricating narratives about his prowess and personal history, he wanted to be a movie producer. He admired old-school Hollywood producers such as Darryl F. Zanuck and Cecil B. DeMille, and considered attending film school at the University of Southern California. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Trumps father marched him into the family real estate business instead. But Trump never lost his fascination with showmanship or his fixation with occupying center stage. What he decided to do, he later told me, was to put show business into real estate.

So it was not surprising that Trump would be attracted to the presidency, or that when he actually won it he would try to inject Hollywood into the White House. And when he was kicked off that stage in November 2020, he was so wounded and power-mad that he invented a new narrative: Electoral fraud had deprived him of his victory, and he was entitled to respond by launching a coup.

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So lets go inside the presidential limousine on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, hours before Congress was scheduled to certify the election results. We can seat ourselves next to Trump thanks to Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide, who recounted what happened in the limo during the fifth day of testimony overseen by the bipartisan congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Trump had just told the mob that he would march with them to the Capitol to protest the certification of the election. He knew things could get ugly; he and his aides had been warned of impending violence days before. The morning of the siege, Trump was informed that many in the crowd were carrying weapons, which had been detected and confiscated. (This upset Trump: Theyre not here to hurt me, he said, ordering the magnetometers around the Ellipse removed. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol.)

Sitting in his limo after his speech, Trump directed the Secret Service to take him to the Capitol. The agents refused, citing security concerns  thereby intruding on the theatrics Trump had so carefully engineered. Im the f-ing president, take me up to the Capitol now, he insisted. They refused. He flew into a rage, trying to grab the steering wheel and lunging at the throat of one agent who stopped him.

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Trump eventually returned to the White House, where he gloated over threats to former Vice President Mike Pence and took his time telling rioters sacking the Capitol to stand down.

Trump has a long history of exploding when he doesnt get his way, as unhinged narcissists are wont to do. But Tuesdays hearing put that behavior on national television. Hutchinsons testimony also exposed Trump as acting like a mob boss. Aides without legal or moral rudders acquiesced; others asked him to observe the law, which he repeatedly declined to do.

Some law-abiding rationalists in his administration tried to make the perils of what Trump was doing plain to him. Still, he plowed ahead. Hutchinson said Trumps former White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone, told the former president that were going to be charged with every crime imaginable  including obstructing justice and defrauding the Electoral Count Act  but Trump wanted to have things his way.

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He still does. Representative Liz Cheney, one of the Republicans overseeing the committees work, presented evidence that Trump or his minions have apparently tried to intimidate witnesses asked to testify before the committee. She offered statements from a pair of them at the end of Tuesdays hearing.

Each of the committees hearings has brought the possibility of criminal charges closer and closer to Trump. Tuesdays hearing was especially damning: He knew exactly what he was doing  and did it anyway.

But its unlikely that those are the things that bother him the most about what went awry with his unsuccessful coup. What really gets to him, I suspect, is that he didnt get to stage his show exactly the way he planned.

Trump and I watched Sunset Boulevard on his jet together nearly 20 years ago. Gloria Swanson plays the silent film star Norma Desmond, bemoaning the arrival of the talkies and her subsequent loss of stature. In one of the films iconic scenes, she says: Those idiot producers. Those imbeciles! Havent they got any eyes? Have they forgotten what a star looks like? Ill show them. Ill be up there again, so help me!

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At that moment, Trump leaned over my shoulder. Is this an incredible scene or what? he whispered. Just incredible.

Trump doesnt want anyone questioning his star power or impeding his storylines. Like Norma Desmond, he plans to show any doubters what hes made of. Hell be up there in the White House again, so help him.

The question is whether the law  or, as the case may be, a congressional committee  will stand in his way.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 How Watergate Helped Derail Trumps Scheme: Jonathan Bernstein

 The Jan. 6 Committee Should Finish Its Job  Quickly: The Editors

 Will Jan. 6 Be a Factor on Nov. 8?: Julianna Goldman

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Timothy L. OBrien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering U.S. business and politics. A former editor and reporter for the New York Times, he is author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Fiction 1 BOOK LOVERS (Berkley, $17). By Emily Henry. Two adversarial book professionals from New York keep running into each other during a small-town vacation. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight 2 WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING (Putnam, $18). By Delia Owens. A young outcast finds herself at the center of a local murder trial. 3 THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO (Washington Square Press, $17). By Taylor Jenkins Reid. A Hollywood icon recounts the story of her glamorous life to a young reporter, and both discover the cost of fame.

4 IT ENDS WITH US (Atria, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A woman questions her relationship with a commitment-phobic partner when her old flame appears.

5 VERITY (Grand Central, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A writer hired to complete an incapacitated best-selling authors manuscript learns disturbing secrets.

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6 MALIBU RISING (Ballantine, $18). By Taylor Jenkins Reid. An end-of-summer party is the backdrop for the story of four famous siblings trying to reckon with their upbringing.

7 PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION (Berkley, $16). By Emily Henry. Two college best friends who had a falling out reunite for one more vacation together.

8 THE SONG OF ACHILLES (Ecco, $16.99). By Madeline Miller. The legend of Achilles retold from the point of view of his friend Patroclus.

9 BEACH READ (Berkley, $16). By Emily Henry. Two writers who are summer neighbors challenge each other to write novels in each others genres.

10 BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU (Picador, $18). By Sally Rooney. Two friends struggle to define their romantic relationships in the context of todays uncertain world.

Nonfiction

1 BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: INDIGENOUS WISDOM, SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND THE TEACHINGS OF PLANTS (Milkweed Editions, $18). By Robin Wall Kimmerer. Essays by an Indigenous scientist offer lessons in reciprocal awareness between people and plants.

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2 THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE (Penguin, $19). By Bessel van der Kolk. A scientific look at how trauma can reshape a persons body and brain.

3 THE BOMBER MAFIA (Back Bay, $18.99). By Malcolm Gladwell. How a strategy to reduce bloodshed with precision bombing in World War II was thwarted by military leaders.

4 FINDING THE MOTHER TREE (Vintage, $17). By Suzanne Simard. An ecologist illuminates the connections between trees and people.

5 ALL ABOUT LOVE (Morrow, $15.99). By bell hooks. The first volume in the feminists Love Song to the Nation trilogy considers compassion as a form of love.

6 EDUCATED (Random House, $18.99). By Tara Westover. A memoir by a woman from a survivalist family who earned a PhD at Cambridge.

7 THE RIDE OF HER LIFE (Ballantine, $18). By Elizabeth Letts. A woman with a terminal diagnosis rides across America on horseback.

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8 BETWEEN TWO KINGDOMS (Random House, $18). By Suleika Jaouad. A cancer diagnosis derails future plans for a recent college graduate.

9 ENTANGLED LIFE (Random House, $18). By Merlin Sheldrake. A biologist explains the importance of fungi to our bodies and the environment.

10 THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE (Crown, $20). By Erik Larson. A look at how Winston Churchill led Britain through World War II that explores his political gamesmanship and his family dynamics.

Mass Market

1 DUNE (Ace, $10.99). By Frank Herbert. In the classic science fiction novel, a young boy survives a family betrayal on an inhospitable planet.

2 1984 (Signet, $9.99). By George Orwell. The classic novel about the perils of a totalitarian police state.

3 DUNE MESSIAH (Ace, $9.99). By Frank Herbert. The second book in the Dune Chronicles picks up the story of Paul Atreides 12 years after he becomes emperor of the known universe.

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4 LORD OF THE FLIES (Penguin, $11). By William Golding. The classic, unsettling tale of English schoolboys stranded on a deserted isle.

5 ANIMAL FARM (Signet, $9.99). By George Orwell. Animals stage a workers coup on a farm, then devolve into a totalitarian state, in this classic broadside against Stalinism.

6 THE WAY OF KINGS (Tor, $9.99). By Brandon Sanderson. The first volume in the Stormlight Archive series.

7 SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE (Laurel Leaf, $7.99). By Kurt Vonnegut. The classic anti-war novel that centers around the firebombing of Dresden.

8 GOOD OMENS (Morrow, $9.99). By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. A novel imagining the end of the world and the fallout.

9 THE NAME OF THE WIND (DAW, $10.99). By Patrick Rothfuss. Kvothe the Kingkiller tells the story of his rise to near-legendary heroism.

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10 MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE (Tor, $9.99). By Brandon Sanderson. A fugitive and a thief join forces to overthrow the oppressive Lord Ruler.

Rankings reflect sales for the week ended June 26. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and indiebound.org. Copyright 2022 American Booksellers Association. (The bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.)

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NAIROBI, Kenya  The African Union says it is deeply concerned by the escalating military tension between Ethiopia and Sudan after seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian were killed in a border dispute. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The statement Wednesday by the chairman of the continent-wide organization urged both countries to cease armed hostilities and hold talks.

The incident happened in the disputed area of al-Fashaqa, which is known to Ethiopians as Alfashga.

Sudans Foreign Ministry reported the eight victims had been taken into Ethiopia after the soldiers were held captive in an area inside Sudan on June 22. A separate statement from Sudans military described the killings as a cowardly act and said Khartoum would retaliate.

Ethiopian authorities have denied its government troops were responsible for the killings. A spokesman for the Ethiopian military blamed Sudanese forces for illegally entering Ethiopia and clashing with a local militia.

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Independent investigations into the matter can be launched with the participation of the two sides, Getinent Adane said.

Residents of Tach Armacho, an Ethiopian town near the Sudan border, told The Associated Press by phone that their area was hit by heavy artillery fired from Sudan until Tuesday afternoon.

Ties between the neighboring countries have deteriorated in recent years amid a long-running border dispute over large swaths of agricultural land in the al-Fashaqa area. Sudan insists the lands are within its borders, according to an agreement that demarcated the boundary between their territories in the early 1900s.

Sporadic clashes have erupted over the past two years in that area, after Sudan said it reclaimed most of its territory and called on Ethiopia to withdraw troops from at least two locations it says are inside Sudan.

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In November, Sudan said six of its troops were killed in an attack by Ethiopian military and militia forces in the area. The two nations have held talks, most recently in Khartoum in December 2020, to settle the dispute over al-Fashaqa, but have not made progress.

Ethiopia, in turn, says Sudan took advantage of the deadly conflict in Ethiopias northern Tigray region to enter Ethiopian territory. It has called for Sudanese troops to return to positions they held before fighting erupted in Ethiopias Tigray region in November 2020, pitting Ethiopias federal forces against regional fighters.

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CAIRO  A flimsy rubber boat collapsed and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libyas coast, leaving at least 30 people including women and children missing and feared dead, an international charity said Wednesday. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight Officials said meanwhile they found the bodies of 20 migrants who they said died of thirst in the desert close to the border with Chad.

The deaths marked the latest tragedies involving migrants who use Libya as a transit point on a perilous journey to Europe.

The vessel sank in the deadly central Mediterranean Sea route, said Doctors Without Borders, also known by its abbreviation MSF for the French name of the group.

A rescue ship operated by MSF reached the boat, and managed to rescue dozens of other migrants including some women, the charity said. A pregnant woman died on board the rescue ship, Geo Barents.

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The missing migrants include five women and eight children, MSF said.

We have seen so many people drowning  men, women and children  and we will never forget the day we had yesterday. We tried to save them but we couldnt save them all, a 17-year-old boy from Cameroon said in a testimony posted by MSF on Twitter.

Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the countrys lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and set off on risky sea voyages.

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Among the rescued migrants from Mondays boat sinking was a woman who lost her child in the sinking and another one who said she lost two children, the charity said. Three people on board needed emergency care, including a 4-month-old baby and they were evacuated to Malta. The infant was evacuated along with his mother, MSF said.

The survivors are exhausted; many have ingested large amounts of seawater and multiple people suffered from hypothermia after spending many hours in the water, said Stephanie Hofstetter, MSF medical team leader on board.

The charity has called for Italian and Maltese authorities to determine a port of safety to allow the disembarkation of survivors.

The loss of life is the latest tragedy at sea involving migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from the North African nation in a desperate attempt to reach European shores.

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This is an example of what happens weekly, if not daily in the Central Mediterranean, said Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration. The lack of active monitoring and search and rescue by State actors makes it extremely difficult for us to have the full picture.

In recent years, the European Union has cooperated with Libyan authorities to prevent the crossings in policies criticized by rights groups.

Rights groups and U.N. agencies have for years documented systematic abuse of migrants in Libya including forced labor, beatings, rapes and torture. The abuse often accompanies efforts to extort money from families before migrants are allowed to leave Libya on traffickers boats.

Libyan authorities said Wednesday they found the bodies of 20 migrants who died from thirst in the desert 120 kilometers (around 75 miles) from the border with Chad.

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The Ambulance and Emergency Authority in the southeastern city of Kufra said the migrants were on their way from Chad to Libya when their vehicle broke down around 310 kilometers (192 miles) south of the city.

It was not immediately clear when the vehicle broke down.

The agency posted footage online showing rescue workers putting the dead migrants into black body bags before moving them to waiting vehicles.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Gazas Hamas rulers on Tuesday released a video of a captive Israeli citizen it has held incommunicado since 2015, showing the man lying in a hospital bed while wearing an oxygen mask. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight It was the first image of Hisham al-Sayid to be released since he wandered across the frontier from southern Israel into Gaza. Its release came a day after Hamas said the condition of one of the Israelis it is holding captive had deteriorated.

In the video, al-Sayid, 34, is seen lying in bed with a mask over his mouth and nose and what appears to be an oxygen canister next to him. He appears tired and dazed, but does not speak and there is no audio.

Other parts of the video show an intravenous drip next to the bed as well as an image of al-Sayids Israeli identification card. Al-Sayid is a member of Israels Bedouin Arab minority.

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The video is titled, Footage of the soldier in the army of occupation, Hisham al-Sayid, detained by the Qassam Brigades.

There is no date on the video. But a TV screen in the video showed images of the Qatar Economic Forum, which was held in Doha last week.

Hamas is believed to be holding the remains of two soldiers killed during a 2014 war. Israel has pronounced the soldiers dead, though Hamas has never confirmed this. Hamas is also believed to be holding two Israeli civilians who wandered across the frontier, including al-Sayid. Rights groups say that both civilians suffer from mental illness.

The Islamic militant group has given no details on the conditions or whereabouts of its prisoners, and it has never allowed the Red Cross to visit them.

Israels prime minister, Naftali Bennett, condemned the videos release, saying that Hamas was holding two mentally ill people in complete contravention of international law.

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Distributing a video of an ill person is abhorrent and deplorable, his office said in a statement.

It described al-Sayid as a civilian with mental illness who had crossed the border into Gaza a number of times previously. The actions of Hamas prove it is a cynical and reprehensible terrorist organization, it added, saying Hamas was delaying any chance of a deal.

Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including people convicted in deadly attacks, in exchange for the captive Israelis.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies that have fought four wars and dozens of smaller skirmishes since Hamas seized control of Gaza 15 years ago.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a tight blockade over the territory throughout that time. Israel says the closure is needed to prevent Hamas from building up its military capabilities, while critics say the policy amounts to collective punishment of Gazas 2 million Palestinian residents.

Israel says there can be no major moves toward lifting the blockade until the soldiers remains and captive civilians are released.

Israel and Hamas have held numerous rounds of Egyptian-mediated talks on a possible swap, but those talks have failed to yield a breakthrough.

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JERUSALEM  Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian militant early Wednesday in the occupied West Bank during clashes that broke out during an arrest raid, Palestinian officials said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Mohammad Marei, 25, was wounded by Israeli gunfire near Jenin during an arrest raid by the Israeli military and later died.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed Marei as one of its fighters, and said he died performing his duty and carrying the banner of Jihad and resistance.

The Israeli military said that while troops arrested two Palestinians in the northern West Bank city, Palestinians hurled explosive devices at soldiers, who responded with gunfire. It confirmed that a Palestinian was shot, but gave no additional details about the mans condition. The army said no troops were injured in the overnight arrest raids.

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Recent months have seen a rise in deadly violence in the West Bank. The Israeli military has carried out near-daily raids following a string of deadly attacks by Palestinians inside Israel that killed 19 Israelis, with several of the attackers coming from the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

Several dozen Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids. Most of the dead were alleged to have opened fire on Israeli forces or hurled stones or firebombs at them. The dead also include two apparent passersby.

Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 130 settlements scattered across the West Bank, many of which are fully built up and now resemble suburbs or small towns. Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state. Israel views the West Bank as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.

The Palestinians and much of the international community view the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace because they absorb and divide up the land on which a future Palestinian state would be established.

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MEXICO CITY  The two cousins returned to the tiny, hardscrabble hamlet they grew up in in southern Mexico about two weeks ago to say goodbye in what has become a rite of passage for generations of migrants from their remote, impoverished mountainous region in Oaxaca state. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight After the farewells in the community of Cerro Verde, Javier Flores Lopez and Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman began their trek north to the U.S-Mexico border and toward their final destination in Ohio, where construction jobs and other work awaited.

Flores Lopez is now missing, his family said, while Vasquez Guzman is hospitalized in San Antonio after surviving stifling heat inside a tractor-trailer near the Texas city that killed at least 53 people in the deadliest smuggling episode ever in the U.S. The perilous trip for migrants who climbed into what would become a death chamber for many reflects the growing risks people face in fleeing abject poverty, violence and other desperate situations in Mexico and Central America to seek a better life.

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Cerro Verde is a community of about 60 people that has largely been abandoned by the young. Those who remain work earning meager livings weaving sun hats, mats, brooms and other items from palm leaves. Many live on as little as 30 pesos a day (less than $2).

The truth is people leave here out of necessity, said Felicitos Garcia, who owns a small grocery store in nearby San Miguel Huautla, adding that he saw the two men about two weeks ago. Life is tough here. People survive by growing their own crops like corn, beans and wheat. Sometimes the land gives and sometimes it doesnt, when the rains arrive late. There is nothing in place for people to have other resources. People live one day to the next.

It was not the first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border for Flores Lopez, now in his mid-30s, who left Cerro Verde years ago and went to Ohio, where his father and a brother live.

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He was back home to see his wife and three small children briefly, said a cousin, Francisco Lopez Hernandez. Vasquez Guzman, 32, decided to go with his cousin for his first trip across the border and hoped to reach his oldest brother who is in Ohio as well.

While everyone knew the risks, countless people from Cerro Verde had made it safely across the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of smugglers, so it came as a shock, Lopez Hernandez said, to learn Vasquez Guzman was among 67 people packed into the trailer found abandoned Monday near auto salvage yards. The family believes Flores Lopez was, too, but they are still awaiting confirmation.

The driver along with two other men from Mexico remained in custody as the investigation continues.

Officials had potential identifications on 37 of the victims as of Wednesday morning, pending verification with authorities in other countries, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office.

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The dead include 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduno, chief of Mexicos National Immigration Institute.

Identifying them has been challenging because some were found without identification documents and in one case carried a stolen ID. Remote villages, like Cerro Verde, have little to no phone service to reach family members and fingerprint data has to be shared and matched by the governments involved.

Vasquez Guzmans mother, who is trying to get a visa to see her son in Texas, raised him and his three siblings alone after their father died when Vasquez Guzman was 10. She now is the only one of the family left in Cerro Verde. Vasquez Guzman left when he was 18 and joined the Mexican military.

His oldest brother, Eloy, went to the United States just over a year ago and settled in Ohio, said Lopez Hernandez, who grew up on the neighboring ranch.

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I imagine that he commented to him about how the work situation was and everything and how to make more money, Lopez Hernandez said. I imagine he called him so that he would come over, too, to have a better life. Thats the draw for why he was going.

Vasquez Guzman, who had been living in Mexico City the past six years, returned to Cerro Verde only to say goodbye to his mother, Lopez Hernandez said.

He knew it was an expensive and risky trip. Lopez Hernandez said most people rely on those who have made it to the U.S. to send them money for the journey, which usually costs around $9,000.

There are a lot of risks but for those who are lucky, the fortune is there, to be able to work, earn a living he said.

With so many leaving and heading to the United States, it is easy to find a smuggler and until now the people have gotten across safely, Lopez Hernandez said.

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I dont know in this case if they changed or what happened, why they were abandoned, he said.

Lopez Hernandez, who also has a brother living in Ohio, has thought about joining him. But he said family, work, school and other responsibilities have kept him in Mexico.

This week, he asked his uncle if he had heard from Vasquez Guzman. He told him he was in Texas.

I told him, How cool, thats hes trying hard and well see him on his return, Lopez Hernandez replied before they lost their phone signal.

He later learned from the Internet about the tragedy.

___

Watson reported from San Diego.

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Six months ago, the worlds largest meat processor, JBS, and Australias richest man, Andrew Forrest, got into a show-stopping brawl over the ownership of Tasmanian salmon group, Huon Aquaculture. Now, another international food behemoth, Cooke Inc is preying on Australias largest salmon farmer, Tassal.

Salmon is clearly proteins new black and there is a corporate scramble to buy those producing it.

Big fish hunting: ASX-listed Tassal is on the menu for Canadian fisheries giant Cooke. Credit:Bruce Miller

Brazilian JBS hotly contested bid for Huon was an early foray into salmon and departure from its mainstay business, meat processing.

And just how hot is salmon right now? The latest offer puts a price tag on Tassal exceeding $1 billion. Ten years ago, when corporate sharks (including Cooke) were circling Tassal the offer was more in the order of $280 million.
Theres often a moment in a Zoom where you just have to ask about that thing in the background.

With Rob Smith, creative director at London-based design studio Bompas & Parr, that thing is an enormous pipe organ designed to play music that changes the flavour of whisky.

Bompas & Parrs edible fog created for Casey Cornucopia. Credit:The Empire Collective

Yeah, so this is our flavour organ, says Smith, glancing over his shoulder. It sits in the corner of their meeting room, returned from a world tour where an organist would play music designed to alter the taste and experience of sipping distilled liquor.

And its a typical project from this studio, whose creations are practical  or entirely impractical  experiments in the weird sciences of the human senses.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has warned superannuation and managed funds not to make misleading statements about their claims to be investing in an environmentally responsible manner.

As ethical investing moves to the mainstream, funds that do not market themselves as investing ethically risk being snubbed, particularly by the young, for whom investing with a social conscience is important.

As the number of ethical and sustainable investment products grows, many are not as green or sustainable as they claim. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

The greenwashing phenomenon, where fund managers attempt to lure investors with their environmentally friendly or sustainable credentials  but where those credentials often cannot be substantiated  is something financial regulators are grappling with around the world.

Last month, German financial authorities raided the offices of Deutsche Bank and its asset management subsidiary DWS as part of a greenwashing probe. The searches related to allegations of the bank marketing investment products as more environmentally friendly than they were.
When Nirajan Poudyal moved from Nepal to Australia in 2008, he was a relative rarity. Fifteen years ago, the Nepalese diaspora comprised 4567 people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Things have changed dramatically, with the number of Nepalese-born people in Australia growing 25-fold since 2006.

The latest census results, released on Tuesday, show there are now 122,515 Nepalese-born people living in Australia, a 124 per cent increase in five years.

Nirajan Poudyal moved to Australia in 2008 and now runs Nepalese grocery store in southern Sydney. Credit:Jessica Hromas

The growth in Nepalese migrants over the past five years was easily the largest of any country in percentage terms and second only to India in absolute numbers.
Hundreds of private school board members will be offered long overdue training in how to oversee their institutions, as school councils face increased scrutiny and calls for greater transparency and accountability.

John Simpson, a specialist in education governance and a member of council at Monash University, said most private schools are not prepared for the world in which they operate.

Geoff Newcombe, head of the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, said governance training is vital given the diversity and scale of private schools.

Governance in independent schools in 2022 isnt anywhere where it needs to be. Many are stuck in the 1960s. Parents need to demand more from governing councils and boards should be much more open to questions, he said.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) will provide governance training to more than 250 independent school board members across the state, with plans for the program to be expanded to boards at almost 500 independent schools. The program will be run in partnership with the Association of Independent Schools of NSW.
While police did miss some opportunities to hold Rowan Baxter to account before he set his estranged wife Hannah Clarke and their three children alight, officers could not have done more to stop the Brisbane murder that shocked the state and country, a coroner has declared.

However, a major funding injection and urgent overhaul is needed of the domestic violence training given to all Queensland police officers, especially those who specialise in domestic violence.

From left to right: Hannah Clarke (31), Laianah (4), Aaliyah (6), and Trey (3).

Deputy state coroner Jane Bentley broke down as she finished delivering her findings on Wednesday into the deaths of Hannah Clarke, 31, and her children: Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3.

They were burnt alive by her estranged husband, Rowan Baxter, 42, when he doused the inside of the familys SUV in petrol and ignited it on Raven Street, Camp Hill, in Brisbanes south on February 19, 2020. Baxter died on the roadside at the scene from a self-inflicted stab wound.
Madrid: Anthony Albanese will tell a critical NATO summit that under his leadership a mature Australia will stand up against threats to democracy in the Indo-Pacific and further afield, as western nations prepare to further isolate Russia on the world stage.

The Australian prime minister, invited to the critical two-day meeting of the northern Atlantic alliance as part of the Asia Pacific Four, will tell world leaders that his government is resolute in supporting peace and security throughout the world, but would have a different style than the previous administration.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses the media in Madrid where he is attending the NATO summit. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Leaders of the wealthiest democracies have struck a united stance to support Ukraine for as long as it takes as Russias invasion grinds on, vowing to support Kyiv with military hardware and aid, while taking far-reaching steps to cap Kremlin income from the oil sales that are financing the war.

The members of the Group of Seven flew from Germany to Spain on Tuesday to join counterparts at an alliance summit in Madrid, vowing to impose severe and immediate economic costs on Russia, while sounding a warning that there is concern about Beijings ever-closer ties with Moscow.
London: Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans for a second referendum to be held on Scottish independence in October next year, vowing to take legal action to ensure a vote if the British government tried to block it.

Sturgeon spoke as the Scottish government, which is led by her pro-independence Scottish National Party, published a referendum bill outlining plans for the secession vote to take place on October 19, 2023.

Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon prepares to address MPs at Holyrood in Scotland. Credit:Getty

She also said on Tuesday (Scotland time) she would be writing to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for permission to hold a consultative referendum, but had already set in motion plans to get the legal authority should he try to block her.

The issue of independence cannot be suppressed. It must be resolved democratically. And that must be through a process that is above reproach and commands confidence, Sturgeon told legislator in the devolved Scottish Parliament.
"We will strengthen mechanisms and tools that contribute to the process of updating the National Policy for Development and Social Inclusion with a multidimensional approach ()," Boluarte expressed.

Development meeting

"We seek to consolidate more sustainable paths, as we want a more inclusive Peru and a more humane focus," she stressed.

She also deemed as important involving the private sector in social issues more often with new approaches that contribute to the well-being of the vulnerable population.

Ministra @DinaErcilia: Queremos un Peru mas inclusivo y de mirada mas humana, y con el apoyo de @EUROsociAL_ continuaremos en esa linea, atendiendo y beneficiando a la poblacion mas vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/dxG3y8F5Gf
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Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Morning clouds and an early shower from the Delaware Valley to the shore, otherwise becoming partly to mostly sunny and turning less humid. .

Tonight

Mainly clear and comfortable. A nice night for firework displays!
Ministro de Transportes concreta acuerdos con representantes del transporte urbano de Lima y Callao 10

Liga 1: FBC Melgar empata ante Alianza Atletico y se corona campeon del Torneo Apertura 2022 8

Liga 1: Sport Huancayo vence 3-2 a Sport Boys por la fecha 19 del Torneo Apertura 9
The Fellowship is a play that has struggled to get to the stage. Troubled by Covid, it also lost its leading actress to illness a week before press night. Cherrelle Skeete, who took over, is still performing with her script in hand  or more often, just out of sight on the sofa.

It's hard to know how much the disruption has damaged Paulette Randall's production. In fact, Skeete and Yasmin Mwanza (who has joined the company to play two roles) are both rather brilliant. But something doesn't quite fire in Roy Williams' family drama of three generations, a tribute to the Windrush generation and their descendants. It is richly complex in its themes, but never quite ignites.

Part of the problem is Libby Watson's stylised set which maroons the characters in great circles of a sweeping staircase and blue lighting rings, symbolising Alexa, on which Dawn (Skeete) regularly calls for the white pop music that she secretly loves. It is dramatic, but feels like the setting for a different play, not an intimate series of conversations where tensions across generations are exposed. The writing is warm and funny; the set is alienating.

Williams' theme, I think, is the way that each generation of Black Britons is forced to define their lives both by individual taste and by the colour of their skin. He resists the term Black community', recognising it flattens out difference and freedom of choice; yet he also recognises that in a hostile environment some definition of Blackness is a necessity. The printed version of the play is prefaced with a quote from James Baldwin: "Every human being is an unprecedented miracle."

So Dawn, who loves Take That and Abba, is also furious with her sister Marcia (Suzette Llewellyn) for the compromises she makes to thrive as a Black lawyer in a white world. She's even more furious with Simone (Rosie Day) her son Jermaine's white girlfriend, who was involved in the death of her other son, murdered by a white gang. Her on-off partner Tony (Trevor Laird) is the child of a Black activist, who was also a serial groper. Tony sounds off about Black power, but in his own family, he is neglectful. "You've been in and out of my life like a cold," Jermaine (Ethan Hazard) tells him.

Meanwhile, the family's Windrush generation mother, who we only see as a ghost, after she dies off stage in the course of the action, never wanted children. That confrontation between Dawn and her mother is one of the most gripping in the play, exploring the way each generation blames the previous one for its own problems; it's echoed by Jermaine's sense that his mother's interference is stopping him living his life.

There's a lot to chew over, and it's impossible not to admire Williams' determination to mine difficult seams. But every time the play fires up, and pulls you in, it seems to stutter to a halt again. It does feel as if it needs the oil of a more settled rehearsal period. But it is always watchable and thought-provoking.
18:01 | Lima, Jun. 29.

These figures represented a sustained increase in confirmed cases in Lima Metropolitan Area, as well as a rise in Ancash, Arequipa, Callao, Cusco, Junin, La Libertad, Ica, Lambayeque, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, and Tacna regions.





Of these regions, those with the highest number of cases were Lima (371), Arequipa (88), Cusco (81), and Ancash (48), considering that adults and older adults account for the highest percentages.





Although Health Minister Jorge Lopez indicated that the fourth wave is expected to be similar to the previous one (in terms of the low percentage of patients requiring hospitalizations or ICU beds), citizens are recommended not to lower their guard, but rather to continue protecting themselves from COVID-19.





Minsa urges the population to continue complying with prevention measures, such as wearing facemasks, washing hands constantly, as well as maintaining social distancing and indoor spaces well ventilated.





In addition, citizens are required to complete the vaccination schedule against COVID-19.
Williamson, WV (25661)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
Williamson, WV (25661)

Today

Sunny along with a few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
The event was attended by Hans Flury Royle and Carmen Masias Claux, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Director at CEDRO, respectively.

During the ceremony, CEDRO's executive director presented the main programs that CEDRO manages in Peru, noting that the institution continues to work on programs to reduce cases of tobacco and illegal drug consumption, as well as to suggest the responsible consumption of alcohol.

Masias Claux concluded that all this is supported by two pillars, interculturality and gender equality, adding that we cannot move forward if the same rights are not made available to all.

Likewise, she mentioned that CEDRO promotes development and healthy lifestyles fostering comprehensive health at the national level, supporting the economic recovery of vulnerable populations, generating sustainable economic growth, promoting connectivity, as well as facilitating financial and digital inclusion.

In addition, CEDRO brings essential services to different vulnerable areas in the country, integrates the productive capacity of professional and technical migrants into the Peruvian labor market, and regularizes the migratory status of many Venezuelan nationals.

Report

Antonino de Leo, representante de @UNODC_PERU participo hoy en la ceremonia por nuestro 36 aniversario y por el Dia Internacional de la Lucha contra el Uso Indebido y el Trafico Ilicito de Drogas. https://t.co/et5RMWK8GP
Russian citizens living on the Spitsbergen (Svalbard) Archipelago are facing food shortages following the Norwegian Governments decision to impound about 20 metric tons of food at the Storskog checkpoint on the Russian-Norwegian border. Official Oslo explains the food blockade by the need to comply with anti-Russia sanctions.

The Norway-controlled archipelago has a special status, and its territory and coastal waters are a demilitarized zone. Russia has three settlements in Spitsbergen (Svalbard). Barentsburg remains the only inhabited town while the coal-mining towns of Pyramiden and Grumant that thrived in the Soviet era are now deserted.

Barentsburg has a coal mine, a thermal power plant and a port, as well as a hospital, a kindergarten, a school and a museum. Its 500 residents include miners, teachers and many scientists, including geophysicists, geologists, archeologists, biologists, glaciologists and geographers.

We are still expecting a reply from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and the Russian Embassy in Oslo is monitoring the situation. The Governor of Spitsbergen is saying that the ball is in Oslos court: we will receive an exemption for these shipments if Oslo replies positively; the Governor holds little sway in deciding such matters, said Sergei Gushchin, the Russian Consul General on the archipelago.

Russia has delivered food to the archipelago by land for decades, that is, from Murmansk to Tromso, Norway, and then to the islands by sea.
SASKATOON - A centre that can develop up to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines a year has opened in Saskatoon, and officials say it may soon export vaccines throughout North America and Europe.

Graduate student and PhD candidate Kezia Fourie works in a lab during a media event regarding the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organizations new manufacturing facility, the Vaccine Development Centre, on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

SASKATOON - A centre that can develop up to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines a year has opened in Saskatoon, and officials say it may soon export vaccines throughout North America and Europe.

The University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization has completed construction of its Level 3 containment facility, considered to be the largest in Canada.

It is able to manufacture both human and animal vaccines for dangerous viruses.

"We have the ability to work with these pathogens, discover, develop new vaccines, and then also manufacture them in-house, and that saves time, and time is very important during a pandemic," CEO and director Volker Gerdts said Tuesday.

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic two years ago by the World Health Organization, such a facility was unfathomable in Canada, said Gerdts.

"Duringthe pandemic, we relied on other countries to make vaccines for us. Now we're changing that, and we're building capacity ... to make in the future vaccines in Canada for Canadians."

If this facility existed early in the pandemic, lives could have been saved, said Daniel Vandal, the federal minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada.

"It became very clear early on we needed some Canadian production of vaccines when COVID hit. We went through a couple of years that was very difficult," Vandal said.

Gerdts said talks are underway with several companies in hopes of making their COVID-19 vaccinations in Saskatchewan.

Any commercial vaccine that is made at the facility would meet the regulatory requirements for sale in North America and the European Union, said Trina Racine, director of vaccine development at the centre.

"It puts us on a better footing to keep Canadians safe and to play a leading role in North America and the world on vaccine production. And for Saskatchewan, that's a fantastic story. It's one more expertise we can export from this great province," she said.

A handful of COVID-19 biomanufacturing facilities currently operate in Canada, but Gerdts said the one in Saskatoon is the first of its kind in the country.

For example, he said, biomanufacturing in the facility in Montreal can only make two types of vaccines. While the Saskatoon centre can make mRNA, protein and Novavax vaccines, among others.

"What sets us apart from theirs is that we're able to make human and animal vaccines in the same facility," Gerdts said.

He said there's always a risk of diseases and viruses from around the world spreading to North America, and the Saskatoon facility is designed to research them in real-time.

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"So pathogens, in the future that require containment, we can work with that here. Because this space is already operating Canada's largest containment facility," Gerdts said.

"This facility will allow us to rapidly respond on all the platforms ... and hopefully have a vaccine within less than 100 days."

The centre is bringing in exotic animals to do research on, including a bat colony, because bats are known to host a number of viruses.

Gerdts said insects and reptiles are also being brought in, as climate change continues to create uncertainty about the spread of vector-borne diseases from insects such as mosquitoes, ticks and flies.

"It's great for a research organization like ours to be making ... vaccines," Gerdts said. "It's critical in protecting not only Canadians but our livestock industries."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2022.
GENEVA (AP)  The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, saying the decision to no longer recognize a constitutional right to abortion was a setback that would ultimately cost lives.

FILE - The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a media conference at an EU Africa summit in Brussels on Feb. 18, 2022 .The head of the World Health Organization criticized the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed women a constitutional right to abortion, calling it a setback that would ultimately cost women's lives.(Johanna Geron/Pool Photo via AP, File)

GENEVA (AP)  The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, saying the decision to no longer recognize a constitutional right to abortion was a setback that would ultimately cost lives.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a media briefing that decades of scientific data prove that access to safe and legal abortion saves lives.

The evidence is irrefutable, Tedros said. Restricting (abortion) drives women and girls toward unsafe abortions resulting in complications, even death. He said safe abortion should be understood as health care and warned that limiting its access would disproportionately hit women from the poorest and most marginalized communities.

We hadn't really expected this from the U.S., Tedros said, adding that he was concerned the Supreme Court's decision was a move backwards." In recent years, the U.S. has supported numerous maternal health care programs in developing countries, including access to reproductive health care.

We had really hoped the U.S. would lead on this issue, Tedros said.

The WHO's chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, said the U.N. health agency's position on abortion was based on decades of data from numerous countries.

I know from own experience, working in India, that having access to safe abortion is a life-saving measure, Swaminathan said. She said denying a woman access to abortion was like denying someone a life-saving drug."

She said bans on abortion would do little to reduce the number of procedures while people who undergo unsafe abortions are at risk of developing fatal blood infections.

What these bans do ... is it drives women into the hands of people who are there to exploit the situation, performing unsafe abortion and very often resulting in a huge amount of damage to their health and sometimes death," Swaminathan said.

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In recent years, the trend among countries has been to increase access to abortion, including regions where there was staunch opposition, like Latin America, she said.

Its unfortunate to see some countries going backward, Swaminathan said, citing the U.S. decision.

WHO chief Tedros said he feared many other countries might not understand the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and could take similar measures to restrict abortions.

The global impact is also a concern, he said. This is about the life of mother, he said. If safe abortion is illegal, then women will definitely resort to unsafe ways of doing it. And that means it could cost them their lives.

___

Follow AP's coverage of Roe v. Wade at https://apnews.com/hub/abortion
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  The U.S. government this week is holding its first onshore oil and natural gas drilling lease auctions since President Joe Biden took office after a federal court blocked the administrations attempt to suspend such sales because of climate change worries.

This Feb. 26, 2021, file photo shows an oil well east of Casper, Wyo. The Biden administration is raising royalty rates that companies must pay for oil and natural gas extracted from federal lands as it moves forward under court order with sales of public fossil fuel reserves in nine states. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  The U.S. government this week is holding its first onshore oil and natural gas drilling lease auctions since President Joe Biden took office after a federal court blocked the administrations attempt to suspend such sales because of climate change worries.

The online auctions start Wednesday and conclude Thursday. About 200 square miles (518 square kilometers) of federal lands were offered for lease in eight western states. Most of the parcels are in Wyoming.

The sales come as federal officials try to balance efforts to fight climate change against pressure to bring down high gas prices.

Republicans want Biden to expand U.S. crude production. He faces calls from within his own party to do more to curb fossil fuel emissions that are heating the planet.

Oil production increased in the U.S. in recent months, but it's still well below pre-pandemic levels. Companies have been hesitant to expand too quickly because of uncertainty over how long high prices will continue.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during the "Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment" event at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 2, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. The administration says it's increasing royalty rates for oil and gas extracted from new leases on public lands. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

A coalition of 10 environmental groups said in a lawsuit filed before the sales even began that they were illegal because officials acknowledged the climate change impacts but proceeded anyway.

An immediate ruling was not expected. Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said the agency did not have comment on the litigation.

Beginning with this week's sales the royalty rate for oil produced from new federal leases is increasing to 18.75% from 12.5%. Thats a 50% jump and marks the first increase since the 1920s.

Parcels also are being offered in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Hundreds of parcels of public land that companies nominated for leasing had been previously dropped by the administration because of concerns over wildlife being harmed by drilling rigs. More parcels covering about 19 square miles (49 square kilometers) were dropped at the last minute in Wyoming because of potential impacts on wilderness, officials said.

But attorney Melissa Hornbein with the Western Environmental Law Center said the reductions in the size of the sales were not enough.

They are hoping that by choosing to hold sales on a smaller amount of acreage they are threading the needle. But from our perspective, the climate science is the one thing that doesn't lie, Hornbein said.

Oil industry representative Kathleen Sgamma said the environmentalists' lawsuit ignores the fact that lease sales from U.S. lands are required under federal law.

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Public lands are managed in a balanced manner. Balance is a word these groups don't understand, said Sgamma, president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies.

Fossil fuels extracted from public lands account for about 20% of energy-related U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making them a prime target for climate activists who want to shut down leasing.

Biden suspended new leasing just a week after taking office in January 2021. A federal judge in Louisiana ordered the sales to resume, saying Interior officials had offered no rational explanation for canceling them and only Congress could do so.

The government held an offshore lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico in November, although a court later blocked that sale before the leases were issued.

___

Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter: @matthewbrownAP
TORONTO - When Steph Rebello took her first job spearheading equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts, she was excited to make change in the corporate world  but less than two years later, she was burned out.

Steph Rebello, left, and Sarah Saska are photographed in Toronto, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO - When Steph Rebello took her first job spearheading equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts, she was excited to make change in the corporate world  but less than two years later, she was burned out.

In the new and "under-resourced" position, Rebello was expected to influence EDI efforts in every part of her employer's business while also reacting to emerging challenges in times of "uncertainty, crisis and trauma." The dual responsibilities left her feeling "stretched."

"I wasn't playing to my strengths," the Toronto woman said. "I wasn't actually fulfilling some of my design research skills and practices that I was hoping to hone as a professional."

She soon left, in line with a pattern of EDI practitioners who have exited such jobs not long after taking them.

About 52 per cent of S&P 500 companies in 2021 had a chief diversity officer or equivalent, up from 47 per cent in 2018, consulting firm Russell Reynolds Associates found.

But nearly 60 per cent of the chief diversity officers working in 2018 have since left the job, with the majority pursuing other roles. The average tenure of a chief diversity officer similarly fell from 3.1 years in 2018 to 1.8 years in 2021.

The firm found some had left for other, similar roles, but many more could no longer tolerate what the report calls "unrealistic and misaligned expectations (that) pull the chief diversity officer in too many directions at once."

EDI practitioners emphasize that they don't leave because the work is unnecessary or unimportant. Some, like Rebello, continue with it at companies such as external consulting firms, but others lament how many factors hamper their work and leave them feeling undersupported.

Many feel driven out by a corporate culture that is "tokenizing" them and offering little more than lip service to EDI efforts, said Tomee Elizabeth Sojourner-Campbell, who runs a consulting firm specializing in anti-racism work.

"I certainly have heard that folks feel like they will just be put out for show," she said.

"Their credentials and ... some of the small things that they're being allowed to do externally are put out for show and then, the deeper work never gets done because there's either a breakaway, they're fired or they leave."

Many also leave because their positions are underfunded and come with unrealistic deadlines from companies eager to show change or progress immediately, she added.

For example, while companies poured money into EDI programs after George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, was killed in police custody in 2020, EDI practitioners agree those initiatives and funding have since slowed.

Those in the field also notice burnout is common. Being the lone expert on a complicated topic meant to transform every corner of a company is difficult, and can be even more emotionally taxing for marginalized practitioners.

"People are struggling with compassion fatigue ... You are really holding space for a lot of pain and frustration and challenging conversations while dealing with it yourself," said Rebello, who now works for EDI firm Feminuity.

"The emotional labour you're taking on when you're facilitating panels, when you're managing a room of leaders, when you're holding space for individual stories and challenges, it can be tiring."

An increasing number of EDI practitioners are pushed out during layoffs.

They're the first to be cut and when they depart, companies lose momentum or EDI initiatives altogether, said Sarah Saska, co-founder and CEO of Feminuity.

But it's those "volatile" times that highlight why EDI practitioners are so necessary.

"Organizations end up realizing, 'oh shoot, we do need to continue these efforts,'" Saska said.

"They end up bringing them back a few months later because of pressure or because there's a clear need."

That need has been building for decades, EDI practitioners argue.

Chief diversity officer roles existed in the U.S. since the 1960s  a product of the civil rights movement  but such jobs only cropped up in Canada about 10 years ago, the majority of them in the last three years, said Saska.

Many times the roles are created in the wake of big news like Floyd's death or the #MeToo movement, so they don't involve longer term plans or treat EDI efforts as seriously as a product launch.

"Often they're just putting a huge amount of money into something or making this giant promise to the world of donating this and funding this and so forth,' said Saska.

"If they use that budget and spread that out, these efforts can be more sustained and not underfunded during more difficult times."

She's noticed they also tend to centre on the business case for diversity  the idea that staff from a wider array of genders, ethnicities and sexual orientations boost profitability and other outcomes for the company.

A 2019 analysis from McKinsey & Co. found companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 per cent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. Companies with more than 30 per cent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where women made up between 10 and 30 per cent of such roles.

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But Saska said, "if you're still on the business case, you're not ready to be doing this work."

Instead, she wants companies to hire EDI professionals because it's the right thing to do and rely on a "decentralized framework," where EDI work is distributed among several staff, preventing cases of burnout.

Sojourner-Campbell agrees. She feels every inch of an organization needs to take responsibility for EDI, especially executives.

"They need to ... not just put it on the shoulders of the individual who has now been hired ... because that one person cannot hold and change the organization," she said.

"It is a collective journey and it will require the very leaders who say they want to do something, to recognize that they need to move into that space, admit where there is failure, apologize for where there are limitations, and demonstrate it time after time with actual actions."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The Dutch prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent protest by farmers outside the home of the country's agriculture minister amid increasingly bold demonstrations against the government's plans to rein in pollution.

Dutch farmers protesting against the governments plans to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia gather for a demonstration at Stroe, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Thousands of farmers drove their tractors along roads and highways across the Netherlands, heading for a mass protest against the Dutch governments plans to rein in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia. (AP Photo/Aleksandar Furtula)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The Dutch prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent protest by farmers outside the home of the country's agriculture minister amid increasingly bold demonstrations against the government's plans to rein in pollution.

A small group of farmers clashed Tuesday night with police stationed outside the home of Christianne van der Wal, the Cabinet minister overseeing the Netherlands' reforms to curb pollution. They spread manure on a nearby street. At another protest, farmers attacked a police car. Several arrests were made.

The violence capped a second straight day of protests that included torching bales of hay near roads and blocking highways across the country with slow-driving or parked tractors.

The protests resumed Wednesday with dozens of tractors briefly blocking a highway close to the German border, traffic authorities said.

Dutch farmers protesting against the governments plans to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia gather for a demonstration at Stroe, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Thousands of farmers drove their tractors along roads and highways across the Netherlands, heading for a mass protest against the Dutch governments plans to rein in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia. (AP Photo/Aleksandar Furtula)

The Netherlands' lucrative agricultural sector is protesting against a proposal, approved by lawmakers Tuesday, to reduce emissions of pollutants like nitrogen oxide and ammonia by 50% by 2030.

Provincial governments were given a year to draw up ways of making the cuts, which are expected to include buying out some farms with livestock that produce large amounts of ammonia.

Farmers argue they are being unfairly targeted and shown little concern for their futures.

Christian Democrat lawmaker Derk Boswijk tweeted Wednesday that he was staying home after his family, including his 4- and 7-year-old children, received a visit. He added: This way of demonstrating serves no purpose. Stop it!

You can demonstrate, but in a civilized way, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said from a NATO summit in Madrid. So dont block highways, dont set off fireworks outside a ministers house and spread manure and ... scare two children, and endanger families.

The Dutch national police chief also weighed in, saying officers have fined dozens of farmers in recent days and prevented more road blockades.

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The right to demonstrate is a great asset, but there are limits to it, police commander Willem Woelders said. If there is a disturbance of public order or criminal offenses are committed, we will take action.

Police said they arrested 10 protesters Tuesday in the eastern Netherlands and charged them with offenses ranging from public violence to attempted manslaughter.

It is unacceptable how, in some places in our unit, police officers have been attacked and cornered, Janny Knol, the police chief in the eastern Netherlands, said.

According to a national farm lobbying group, LTO, there are nearly 54,000 agricultural businesses in the Netherlands with exports totaling 94.5 billion euros (about $99 million) in 2019.

The protest at Van der Wal's home came on the eve of an announcement by the government that it planned to criminalize the practice, known as doxing, of publishing online personal details such as home addresses as a means of intimidation.

The legislation is part of a broader package of measures announced by the Justice and Security Ministry that it says is intended to safeguard the freedom of the press.
BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union countries reached a deal following hard-fought talks that dragged into early Wednesday to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035.

A luxury Audi car is surrounded by exhaust gases as it is parked with a running engine in front of the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. Germany's transport minister said Thursday that he opposes plans to ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines across the European Union in 2035, arguing this would discriminate against vehicles powered with synthetic fuels. EU lawmakers voted Wednesday to back the measure that requires automakers to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 100% by the middle of the next decade, effectively prohibiting the sale in the 27-nation bloc of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union countries reached a deal following hard-fought talks that dragged into early Wednesday to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035.

The 27 EU members found agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing EU greenhouse gases by at least 55% in 2030 compared with 1990 rather than by a previously agreed 40%.

A long but good day for climate action: The councils decisions on Fitfor55 are a big step towards delivering the EU Green Deal," said Frans Timmermans, the European Commission vice-president in charge of the Green Deal, after the meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg.

The agreement on the five laws proposed by the EU's executive arm last year paves the way for final negotiations with the European Parliament. EU lawmakers are backing ambitious bloc-wide targets. final approval of the legislative package requires the Parliament to resolve differences with the blocs national governments over various details.

The council is now ready to negotiate with the European Parliament on concluding the package, thereby placing the European Union more than ever in the vanguard of fighting climate change," said Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French Minister for the energy transition.

The decision to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars and vans would effectively prohibit the sale in the 27-nation bloc of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel.

Europes leading clean transport campaign group, Transport and Environment, said the EU government's agreement was historic" as it breaks the hold of the oil industry over transport."

Its game over for the internal combustion engine in Europe," the group said.

Greenpeace was more skeptical, saying the 2035 deadline is too late to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

The deal poses a mighty challenge for German automakers, who have long relied on sales of increasingly big, gas-guzzling vehicles for their profits.

Following intense haggling within the three-party government, particularly between the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, German officials voted in favor of the compromise overnight.

The German government said the deal will also see the Commission make a proposal that will allow cars which run exclusively on climate neutral e-fuels to continue to be sold after 2035.

This is a huge step forward and steers the transport sector onto the path of climate neutrality, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, a member of the Greens, said. By declaring that only cars and light utility vehicles which emit no CO2 can be sold from 2035, we are sending a clear signal that we need to meet the climate targets. This gives the car industry the planning security it needs.

The EU wants to drastically reduce gas emission from transportation by 2050 and promote electric cars, but a report from the blocs external auditor showed last year that the bloc is lacking the appropriate charging stations. Transportation accounts for about 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU,

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In addition to the landmark agreement on cars, the package also features a reform of the EUs carbon market and the creation of a social climate fund to help vulnerable households cope with the planned clean-energy revamp. That issue has become more politically sensitive as Russias war in Ukraine has sent fuel prices soaring.

The overall goal is to put the EU on track to become climate-neutral in 2050 and to prod other major polluters, including the United States and China, to follow suit.

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this story.

___

Follow AP's coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that collect personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use those data troves against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies.

FILE - A person is silhouetted against a wall as they look down at their cell phone outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on July 29, 2021, in Los Angeles. With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that vacuum up personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use those data troves against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

With abortion now or soon to be illegal in over a dozen states and severely restricted in many more, Big Tech companies that collect personal details of their users are facing new calls to limit that tracking and surveillance. One fear is that law enforcement or vigilantes could use those data troves against people seeking ways to end unwanted pregnancies.

History has repeatedly demonstrated that whenever people's personal data is tracked and stored, there's always a risk that it could be misused or abused. With the Supreme Court's Friday overruling of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, collected location data, text messages, search histories, emails and seemingly innocuous period and ovulation-tracking apps could be used to prosecute people who seek an abortion  or medical care for a miscarriage  as well as those who assist them.

In the digital age, this decision opens the door to law enforcement and private bounty hunters seeking vast amounts of private data from ordinary Americans, said Alexandra Reeve Givens, the president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based digital rights nonprofit.

IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING

Until this past May, anyone could buy a weekly trove of data on clients at more than 600 Planned Parenthood sites around the country for as little as $160, according to a recent Vice investigation. The files included approximate patient addresses  derived from where their cellphones sleep at night  income brackets, time spent at the clinic, and the top places people visited before and afterward.

Its all possible because federal law  specifically, HIPAA, the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  protects the privacy of medical files at your doctors office, but not any information that third-party apps or tech companies collect about you. This is also true if an app that collects your data shares it with a third party that might abuse it.

In 2017, a Black woman in Mississippi named Latice Fisher was charged with second-degree murder after she sought medical care for a pregnancy loss.

While receiving care from medical staff, she was also immediately treated with suspicion of committing a crime," civil rights attorney and Ford Foundation fellow Cynthia Conti-Cook wrote in her 2020 paper, Surveilling the Digital Abortion Diary. Fisher's "statements to nurses, the medical records, and the autopsy records of her fetus were turned over to the local police to investigate whether she intentionally killed her fetus, she wrote.

Fisher was indicted on a second-degree murder charge in 2018; conviction could have led to life in prison. The murder charge was later dismissed. Evidence against her, though included her online search history, which included queries on how to induce a miscarriage and how to buy abortion pills online.

"Her digital data gave prosecutors a window into (her) soul to substantiate their general theory that she did not want the fetus to survive, Conti-Cook wrote.

Fisher is not alone. In 2019, prosecutors presented a young Ohio mothers browsing history during a trial in which she stood accused of killing and burying her newborn baby. Defense attorneys for Brooke Skylar Richardson, who was ultimately acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges, said the baby was stillborn.

But prosecutors argued shed killed her daughter, pointing in part to Richardsons internet search history, which included a query for how to get rid of a baby. She was later acquitted.

INDUSTRY RESPONSE

Technology companies have by and large tried to sidestep the issue of abortion where their users are concerned. They haven't said how they might cooperate with law enforcement or government agencies trying to prosecute people seeking an abortion where it is illegal  or who are helping someone do so.

Last week, four Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate Apple and Google for allegedly deceiving millions of mobile phone users by enabling the collection and sale of their personal data to third parties.

Individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare will become particularly vulnerable to privacy harms, including through the collection and sharing of their location data, the lawmakers said in the letter. Data brokers are already selling, licensing and sharing the location information of people that visit abortion providers to anyone with a credit card.

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Governments and law enforcement can subpoena companies for data on their users. Generally, Big Tech policies suggest the companies will comply with abortion-related data requests unless they see them as overly broad. Meta, for instance, pointed to its online transparency report, which says we comply with government requests for user information only where we have a good-faith belief that the law requires us to do so.

Online rights advocates say that's not enough.

In this new environment, tech companies must step up and play a crucial role in protecting womens digital privacy and access to online information, said Givens of the Center for Democracy and Technology. For instance, they could strengthen and expand the use of privacy-protecting encryption; limit the collection, sharing and sale of information that can reveal pregnancy status; and refrain from using artificial intelligence tools that could also infer which users are likely to be pregnant.

WHAT ABOUT PERIOD APPS?

After Friday's Supreme Court ruling, some period-tracking apps tried to assure users that their data was safe. But it helps to read the fine print of the apps' privacy policies.

Flo Health, the company behind a widely-used period tracking app, tweeted Friday that it would soon launch an Anonymous Mode intended to remove personal identity from user accounts and pledged not to sell personal data of its users.

Clue, which also has a period tracking app, said it keeps users health data  particularly related to pregnancies, pregnancy loss or abortion  private and safe with data encryption. It also said it uses auditing software for regulatory compliance and removes user identities before their data is analyzed by the scientific researchers the company works with.

At the same time, the company acknowledged that it employs some carefully selected service providers to process data on our behalf. For those purposes, it said, we share as little data as possible in the safest way possible. But Clue offered no further details.

BURDEN ON THE USER

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Unless all of your data is securely encrypted, theres always a chance that someone, somewhere can access it. So abortion rights activists suggest that people in states where abortion is outlawed should limit the creation of such data in the first place.

For instance, they urge turning off phone location services  or just leaving your phone at home  when seeking reproductive health care. To be safe, they say, it's good to read the privacy policies of any health apps in use.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation suggests using more privacy-conscious web browsers such as Brave, Firefox and DuckDuckGo  but also recommends double-checking their privacy settings.

There are also ways to turn off ad identifiers on both Apple and Android phones that stop advertisers from being able to track you. This is generally a good idea in any case. Apple will ask you if you want to be tracked each time you download a new app. For apps you already have, the tracking can be turned off manually.

___

Associated Press Writers Amanda Seitz and Marcy Gordon contributed to this story.
NEW YORK (AP)  Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes by a judge who said fraud had become a way of life for Parnas.

Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, arrives at the federal courthouse with his wife Svetlana Parnas in New York, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Parnas, 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. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

NEW YORK (AP)  Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes by a judge who said fraud had become a way of life for Parnas.

Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on grounds that hed cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get Ukrainian leaders to investigate President Joe Bidens son.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didn't give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors.

Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, arrives at the federal courthouse with his wife Svetlana Parnas in New York, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Parnas, 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. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The judge also ordered Parnas to pay $2.3 million in restitution.

The various schemes Parnas deployed to get money that prosecutors claim say fueled a lavish lifestyle led Oetken to say that for Parnas, fraud was essentially a way of life, a way of doing business.

Addressing the court before the sentence was announced, Parnas sobbed and apologized to those who had lost money investing in his business ventures.

A lot that you heard is true, your honor. I have not been a good person my whole life. Ive made mistakes. And I admit it, Parnas said. I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all people who are my friends, all people who trusted me, and I lied to them to further my personal agenda.

Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, his lawyer Joseph Bondy, and his family walk out from the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The criminal case against Parnas was not directly related to his work acting as a fixer for Giuliani as the former New York City mayor lobbied Ukrainian officials to launch an investigation of Bidens son, Hunter.

Instead, it zeroed in on donations Parnas had illegally made to a number of U.S. politicians using the riches of a wealthy Russian to jump-start a legal recreational-marijuana business.

In March, Parnas also pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee, that promised it could protect people against fraud.

That new company hired Giuliani as a consultant at a time when some Ukrainian figures were trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, agreeing to pay him $500,000.

Lev Parnas, center, alongside his lawyer Joseph Bondy, right, speaks with the media outside the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island attorney who put up the cash to pay Giuliani, told the judge during the sentencing hearing that he hoped the former Manhattan federal prosecutor would return the money, since Fraud Guarantee turned out to be a fraud.

My bet is hes going to give me that money back, he said, adding that he didn't blame Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the scheme.

Outside of court, Parnas said that he didn't believe Giuliani would return the money.

I dont think hell pay him back because, as you can see, hes gone down the path of no return. Hes just an evil man, unfortunately, and somebody that Im very, very sad that I had to meet, he said.

Giuliani, who was working at the time as a personal lawyer for Trump, has said he knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani's interactions with Ukrainian figures violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.

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Parnas and a business associate, Igor Fruman, attracted attention from reporters after arranging big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump.

An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to promote a new energy company.

During Parnas' sentencing hearing, the judge also heard from others who had lost money with him in failed business deals.

Dianne Pues said the businessman destroyed my life when he failed to repay money she and her husband had loaned him to produce a movie called Anatomy of an Assassin.

Parnas promised he would become a new person, sometimes turning around in court to looked for victims as he expressed contrition.

Id like to apologize to Mr. Gucciardo. Even though I never spent a dollar of his money. I lied to him and used our friendship. Charles, I am sorry, he said.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. The relations between Yerevan and Lyon are entering into a new practical stage.

Mayor of Yerevan Hrachya Sargsyan met with Mayor of Lyon Gregory Doucet, the Yerevan City Hall said.

Hrachya Sargsyan is in Lyon to attend the 4th Armenian-French decentralized cooperation conference.

At the meeting the Lyon Mayor said Yerevan has a special place among their partner cities. He expressed confidence that the conference will open new prospects and opportunities for moving the partnership of the two cities into a new practical stage.

I am sure that the friendly and partnering relations between the two cities will enable to implement new mutually beneficial projects. The problems of all large cities are almost the same, and in the stage of upcoming reforms we are ready to be useful to friendly Yerevan by sharing our successful experience, the Mayor of Lyon said.

In his turn the Mayor of Yerevan thanked for the invitation and warm welcome and also highlighted implementing substantive programs and exchanging experience.

Implementing programs on exchange of experience in the field of city economy management with Lyon is very important for us. We believe we can have concrete partnership in areas of transportation, traffic management and urbanization. Yerevan is really interested in the expansion and deepening of the Armenian-French decentralized cooperation, and we see great perspectives here. Today we are participating in a regular conference which is very important in terms of establishing and strengthening partnering ties between the cities, Hrachya Sargsyan said and invited his counterpart of Lyon to visit Yerevan.

During the meeting a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the City Halls of Yerevan and Lyon. According to the document, the sides are obliged to make joint efforts in education sector, by assisting the development of the French-Armenian professional study center.




FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's premier says a liquefied natural gas facility in Saint John could be modified to reverse the flow and help reduce Europe's reliance on fossil fuels from Russia.

Blaine Higgs delivers the State of the Province address in Fredericton on Thursday, March 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's premier says a liquefied natural gas facility in Saint John could be modified to reverse the flow and help reduce Europe's reliance on fossil fuels from Russia.

Blaine Higgs told reporters Wednesday that the Saint John LNG plant, which currently imports liquefied natural gas from the United States, could be retrofitted to export gas in about three years.

Higgs said governments need to look for energy solutions so that the economy isn't at the mercy of Russia.

"What is the reality today that we can actually move on today and actually have solutions today and we won't be held ransom by Russia? Because that's what our economy is being held to," Higgs said in Nova Scotia after a meeting with the other Atlantic premiers. "It's what Ukraine is facing. That's what we're facing in the world. We shouldn't have this exposure right now."

Higgs said the owner of the Saint John plant, the Spanish firm Repsol, has had meetings with the federal government on turning it into an export facility.

Saint John LNG spokesman Michael Blackier said Repsol is always looking to maximize the value of the terminal, but he would not comment specifically on Higgs's proposal.

In a statement Wednesday, Blackier said the company will look at any business "that enhances or creates value at Saint John LNG, including the potential to add liquefaction capabilities to the existing facility."

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Higgs said the Atlantic provinces are also looking at the potential of liquefied hydrogen down the road, and the Saint John facility could easily be converted to liquefied hydrogen for export as well.

As for natural gas, "we are already connected with supply from the U.S. but it wouldn't necessarily be an adequate supply for the size the plant needs to be," Higgs said.

The premier said he has had preliminary discussions with First Nations and with developers who have looked at the shale gas resources in his province.

New Brunswick has had a moratorium on shale gas projects for seven years, since a previous Liberal government legislated five conditions that must be met in order for the development to be allowed. The conditions include a plan for wastewater disposal and consultations with Indigenous communities.

Higgs said expanding the industry would mean more than just giving companies money to develop the resource. "It's a matter of giving them the runway and the policies to allow it to happen," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.
CALGARY - IBM Canada says it will establish a new Client Innovation Centre for Western Canada in downtown Calgary.

CALGARY - IBM Canada says it will establish a new Client Innovation Centre for Western Canada in downtown Calgary.

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The company says its announcement will create 250 new tech sector jobs in the city.

The new IBM Client Innovation Centre is seen in Calgary, Alta., in an undated handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-IBM, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

IBM says its centre will deliver consulting services and technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud and blockchain.

It focus will be on helping corporate clients use technology to achieve their sustainability and net-zero goals.

The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, a city-owned economic development fund, will contribute up to $5 million for the creation of the centre.

Calgary has seen significant growth in its tech sector in recent years as the city works to diversify its oil and gas-based economy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.
OTTAWA - Former public safety minister Bill Blair was asked yet again Wednesday about whether his government interfered in the investigation into the April 2020 shooting spree in Nova Scotia  a question that has grabbed political attention in Ottawa for over a week.

President of the Queens Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Blair says his office worked with the RCMP on the Liberals' gun ban, announced in May 2020, but those conversations had "no nexus" with discussions about the Nova Scotia shooting spree. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - Former public safety minister Bill Blair was asked yet again Wednesday about whether his government interfered in the investigation into the April 2020 shooting spree in Nova Scotia  a question that has grabbed political attention in Ottawa for over a week.

Blair and the Prime Minister's Office are accused of pressuring RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to release details about the type of weapons used by the gunman, with two RCMP officials alleging Lucki told them that information was connected to upcoming gun legislation.

The government announced a ban on assault-style weapons on May 1, 2020, after cabinet approved an order-in-council enacting the changes.

The Conservatives have accused the Liberals of using a tragedy to further their agenda. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement last week that it's completely unacceptable for a government to "use this horrific act of mass murder to gain support for their gun policy."

But that's not how a survivor of another mass shooting sees it.

Heidi Rathjen was a student at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in December 1989 when a gunman murdered 14 women and injured 14 others at the school.

She said the response to mass shootings should be "political and immediate."

"The Conservatives and the gun lobby have been falling over themselves claiming that the (orders-in-council) were some kind of devious self-serving political move that exploited a tragedy, while for the majority of Canadians banning assault weapons is the right thing to do to prevent mass shootings," she said in an email to The Canadian Press.

"If it took a tragedy to prompt the government into long-awaited action on gun control, that may be a sad commentary on politics, but it is surely beneficial for public safety."

Rathjen, who leads an advocacy group called PolySeSouvient, said it "would have loved" for the government to respond immediately to what happened at Polytechnique.

"Unfortunately, it took six years of advocacy before a reasonable gun control law was passed, and victims families are still fighting for a complete ban on assault weapons  three decades later.

Blair said his office worked with the RCMP on the list of banned weapons for months before the announcement, but those conversations had "no nexus" with discussions about the shooting spree.

"The RCMP of course were involved in those discussions from the outset because they are responsible for administering the Canadian Firearms Program," he said.

Allegations of government interference came to light through evidence released by the public inquiry into the shootings, in written notes from Supt. Darren Campbell and a letter to Lucki written by RCMP strategic communications director Lia Scanlan about a meeting held 10 days after the shootings.

Scanlan's letter, which was written nearly a year later, said Lucki mentioned "pressures and conversations with Minister Blair, which we clearly understood was related to the upcoming passing of gun legislation." Scanlan's perception that the commissioner was under political pressure left her feeling disgusted.

"It was appalling, inappropriate, unprofessional and extremely belittling," Scanlan wrote.

Lucki has acknowledged she did "express frustration with the flow of information" in the meeting.

Blair and Lucki have denied there was any pressure to release a list of the weapons used in the shooting, and neither they nor the Nova Scotia RCMP revealed that information to the public before it was reported by the media in November 2020.

Former police officer Michael Arntfield says if the alleged interference happened, it's unclear how it would have impacted operations or the investigation.

But more importantly, he says, the "juicy political scandal" is distracting from what is supposed to be an inquiry into why and how a man disguised as a police officer and armed with illegal weapons was able to evade police and continue killing for more than 13 hours.

"The larger conversation about systemic problems in the RCMP operationally, administratively, has been paved over," said Arntfield, a professor of criminology at Western University.

Blair said he did have questions for Lucki when they spoke, and made a point to note that the government "did hear very clearly concerns from the people of Nova Scotia" about the RCMP's actions.

He said that's why the public inquiry  which he initially opposed calling  has been tasked with exploring the RCMP's communication.

The force released limited information to the public on Twitter during the shootings.

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It sent a single tweet on April 18 warning of a "firearms complaint" in Portapique, even though the communications officer on call that night was aware there were multiple people dead and that the gunman's whereabouts were unknown.

Thirteen people were killed that night and several buildings burned to the ground. The next morning, the gunman took another nine lives as he drove through rural parts of the province, evading police until just before noon.

The inquiry has heard it took 27 minutes to get Scanlan's approval that morning for a tweet warning the public that the gunman was driving a mock RCMP cruiser and wearing a police uniform.

During that time, Kristen Beaton and Heather O'Brien were murdered on the side of the highway in Debert, N.S. Beaton was pregnant when she was killed. Her husband, Nick Beaton, and O'Brien's daughter, Darcy Dobson, led the calls for a public inquiry into what went wrong in July 2020.

"When you pulled the oxygen out of (an inquiry) that was assembled at the behest of bereaved families to get answers about what's wrong with the RCMP, it distracts from the original motivation of the inquiry," Arntfield said, adding the questions about what went wrong are of "life and death interest to Canadians."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.
SAANICH, B.C. - Two robbery suspects believed to be wearing body armour died in a barrage of bullets exchanged with police outside a bank in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday.

Saanich Police joined by Victoria Police and RCMP respond to gunfire involving multiple people and injuries reported at the Bank of Montreal during an active situation in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Saanich police say two people are dead and six officers were hurt when they exchanged gunfire outside the bank. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

SAANICH, B.C. - Two robbery suspects believed to be wearing body armour died in a barrage of bullets exchanged with police outside a bank in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday.

Six members of the Greater Victoria emergency response team were also hurt, three of them seriously, police said.

Saanich Chief Const. Dean Duthie said some homes in the area also had to be evacuated as police investigated a potential explosive device in a vehicle related to the suspects.

He said he's never seen this level of violence in Saanich in the 27 years he has served on the force.

"This is something that shakes a community," Duthie told the media outside the Saanich detachment. "People are going to be affected by this and we're cognizant of this."

Later Tuesday, police lifted a shelter-in-place advisory for other residents in the neighbourhood because they said they found no further indication of a possible third suspect involved in the robbery.

Duthie said police believe some of the six officers will be released from hospital soon, while others have more serious injuries and had surgery.

Officers were called to a report that armed men had entered a Bank of Montreal branch, but Duthie said the shooting started when the suspects left the bank, creating a situation that was very dangerous for the public.

"I don't know who fired first at this point. But there were multiple gunshots that were fired."

He said the two suspects shot by police died at the scene.

Duthie said he was thankful that no customers, bank employees or other members of the public were injured in the shootout.

"From what I've described to you and what I know about that chaotic, tragic, dynamic, violent scene, the fact that no citizens were injured in any way is truly amazing."

Jacob McAndrews, owner of Gordon Head Paintworks in Victoria, had pulled into a sushi restaurant next to the bank when he said he saw police sitting with assault rifles at the corner.

"I asked them if I should leave, and they said, just park in the corner, and duck down."

That's when McAndrews said he started filming.

His video shows a police dog barking as it leads the armed officers around a corner. Sounds of dozens of gunshots follow. One officer is seen shooting his weapon, while another officer runs toward the building with a gun in his hand.

McAndrews described the scene as "pretty scary."

"This is the first time I ever heard gunshots in Victoria," he said. "Hopefully, it was a one-off thing."

Duthie said the emergency response team happened to be deployed Tuesday and wasn't far from the scene.

"Their quick response was invaluable and brought this situation to a quick resolve. We are so grateful for their service."

Saanich is a community of about 120,000 within the greater Victoria area on Vancouver Island. It has its own police force.

The Greater Victoria emergency response team is a blend of officers from different detachments. Three of the officers hurt are from Saanich, while the other three are from Victoria.

The Bank of Montreal said in a statement that it was deeply saddened to hear of the incident and thanked emergency responders for their fast assistance in keeping the public safe.

"The safety and security of our customers and employees is our priority and our thoughts are with every person impacted by todays events," it said.

Tracy Yarr said she went around her house locking the doors and shuttering her windows soon after the police put out an advisory telling people to stay inside and avoid the area.

"I've locked everything down," she said, adding the shooting had taken away her sense of comfort and calm.

"This is really astounding for us," she said. "I mean, shocking."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on social media that he is "shocked and saddened by the violence."

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"Im keeping the police officers who were injured in todays shooting  and their colleagues who also rushed towards danger to keep people safe  in my thoughts," he said.

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth released a statement saying his thoughts are with the officers, their families, friends and colleagues and he wishes them a quick recovery.

Farnworth said the shooting is a powerful reminder of the crucial role police officers play in keeping neighbourhoods safe.

"As always, first responders and volunteers also stepped up quickly to help, and we truly appreciate their dedication."

 With files from Hina Alam in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2022.
Thirty-two Indigenous-led organizations have collaborated on a guiding document that outlines how Winnipeg should grow and support the Indigenous population over the next decade.

Thirty-two Indigenous-led organizations have collaborated on a guiding document that outlines how Winnipeg should grow and support the Indigenous population over the next decade.

The Urban Indigenous Community Plan provides a framework to improve health, housing, education, employment and family life outcomes for Indigenous Winnipeggers. It includes a 10-year investment plan that identifies funding priorities and estimates the cost of initiatives.

The idea is to present politicians, community members and potential investors with concrete examples of how and where they can contribute, said Kendell Joiner, executive director of the Native Clan Organization.

"The plan is very all-encompassing, and it comes from a place of love because its helping human beings its a community plan, and the landscape of Winnipeg will be absolutely changed-and-a-half by these investments and infrastructure upgrades," Joiner said.

The Winnipeg Indigenous Executive Circle, which represents dozens of organizations with Indigenous interests, unveiled the plan Wednesday at the Neeginan Centre on Higgins Avenue. Leaders from organizations who developed the framework attended.

The group is calling for $620M in investments over the next decade.

ETHAN CAIRNS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Urban Indigenous Community Plan provides a framework to improve health, housing, education, employment and family life outcomes for Indigenous Winnipeggers.

The most significant funding opportunity asks investors to create an Indigenous hospital, with an estimated price tag of $65 million. Other priorities include expanding low-barrier housing projects at $20 million per year over three years and $50 million in infrastructure upgrades to the Neeginan Centre and the Friendship Centre at 45 Robinson St.

Establishing the financial priorities and cost estimates involved consultations with experts and organizations. The numbers account for construction costs and staff salaries, Joiner said.

The plan comes as the electoral race heats up in Winnipeg. Many candidates vying for mayor are campaigning on challenges addressed within, including Indigenous health care and housing.

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Joiner is aware of the timeliness.

"I would like to hope that candidates are paying attention to the plan," he said. "If youre going to be leading a city with the largest Indigenous population in Canada and you have Indigenous non-profits putting a plan out, it might be a good thing to pay attention to it."

Hours after the announcement, mayoral hopeful Scott Gillingham promised to add 270 affordable housing units in Winnipeg.

Gillinghams initiative involves securing funds from the federal rapid housing program. The Indigenous Circles investment plan suggests a similar approach.

"What would be really great to see is stable funding for Indigenous non-profits at every level of government," Joiner said. "Here are the answers for how we can get our jobs done and support our people approach us and ask us how you can support."

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
A coalition that includes the Manitoba College of Family Physicians has told the provincial government to scrap its plan to lift restrictions on cosmetic pesticides.

A coalition that includes the Manitoba College of Family Physicians has told the provincial government to scrap its plan to lift restrictions on cosmetic pesticides.

"The current ban represents sound, science-based public policy, with important health and environmental goals," states a letter sent Tuesday to Environment Minister Jeff Wharton and Health Minister Audrey Gordon on behalf of the Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Manitoba Coalition.

"Independent, peer-reviewed evidence has identified serious health risks associated with human exposure to chemical pesticides."

In March, the Tory government introduced Bill 22 (Environment Amendment Act). It would repeal legislation banning the use of a number of pesticides and herbicides for cosmetic purposes.

The proposed legislative change would instead permit the use of Health Canada-approved pesticides across most settings in Manitoba. However, Bill 22 would expand the list of places where synthetic pesticides would be prohibited.

In addition to the exterior property of schools, hospitals and child care centres, the use of prescribed cosmetic pesticides would also be restricted on municipal playgrounds, picnic areas, dog parks, and in provincial parks.

The Manitoba College of Family Physicians, Manitoba Lung Association, Winnipeg Humane Society, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Manitoba Nurses for Health and the Environment, Manitoba Public Health Association, David Suzuki Foundation and 25 others signed on to the letter.

"Family doctors take the privilege and responsibility of caring for their patients and communities seriously, and this includes advocating for public policy that protects the fundamental right to health," Dr. Joanna Lynch, president of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians, said in a release.

"Peer-reviewed studies have established that serious health risks are associated with human exposure to chemical pesticides; therefore, the Manitoba College of Family Physicians believes that there is a need for continued restrictions on non-essential use of pesticides."

Winnipeg Humane Society chief executive officer Jessica Miller said her organization supported restrictions on pesticide use when they were first introduced, due to the risk to animals.

"Animals are subject to many of the same health risks as humans when exposed to chemical pesticides on lawns and boulevards," Miller said. "Provincial restrictions on non-essential pesticides should remain in place to protect family pets and all animal species from these preventable health risks."

The coalition has asked government to withdraw or amend Bill 22, and ensure families and children are not exposed to pesticides.

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"We understand that some municipalities and lawn care service providers in Manitoba are eager to regain access to currently prohibited herbicides. But we believe the government has not struck the right balance with Bill 22," the coalitions letter states. "Protecting human health is a higher priority than accommodating an aesthetic preference for weed-free lawns."

Bill 22 was held over to the fall sitting of the legislature by the NDP to provide residents more time to consider its impact.

"This bad PC bill is unnecessary and it will move us backward, not forward, to a cleaner future," NDP environment critic Lisa Naylor said in a prepared statement.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the government said other Prairie provinces do not ban on pesticides and do not prohibit the application of the chemicals in sensitive areas.

"Over 350 Health Canada scientists are dedicated to the review of pesticides," the statement says, in part. "They use the most recent data and science available to assess risks to human health and the environment."

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham has proposed a streamlined pre-approval process for city-owned properties to hasten the construction of affordable housing.

Mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham has proposed a streamlined pre-approval process for city-owned properties to hasten the construction of affordable housing.

"The answer to homelessness is not to push homeless camps from one park to another and expect that homeless people will just find their way. Its to bring people who need help into secure places where they can safely access help," Gillingham said Wednesday.

Under Gillinghams initiative, the city would pre-approve zoning, waive permit costs and property taxes and provide the land for six new builds, with a total of 270 units by the end of 2023. The sites would consist of pre-existing city properties or land acquired for this purpose, he said.

Each unit would measure 350 square feet and use modular construction, a process in which a structure is created off-site and assembled at a different location.

The city would provide the property, while the federal government would shoulder construction costs through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.s rapid housing initiative, he said.

Other Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Toronto use a similar approach, Gillingham said.

Ottawa launched the program in October 2020. So far, it has dedicated $2.5 billion to housing for vulnerable Canadians. Government data shows the fund has financed 466 units in Manitoba and more than 10,000 across the country.

The 2022 federal budget includes a proposal to expand the program by $1.5 billion in 2023.

If Winnipeg can pre-approve and prepare properties for development, it will be ready when applications open, Gillingham said.

"Speed is critical to break the cycle of our homeless challenge in this city," Gillingham said. "This is the hard work of getting things prepared."

Gillingham said most projects finish within a year of approval.

Once completed, the city would turn over ownership to non-profits and indigenous-led housing organizations that would operate them. Some might become permanent homes, while others could be transitional housing. Ultimately, the goal is to create opportunities for people to access social services from a fixed address, Gillingham said.

"(The city) can only do so much, so I believe that uniting other levels of government and non-profit agencies behind partnerships and alliances is the best path for us," Gillingham said. "We just have too many people in Winnipeg right now who are unsheltered They need housing, and they need the wrap-around services."

Gillingham, who represents St. James and is the former chairman of the citys finance committee, made his announcement on the grounds of a vacant lot at 412 Alexander Ave. The property is an example of one the city might be willing to use in the project, he said.

The nearly 2000-sq.-foot property is among a dozen lots listed for sale on the City of Winnipeg website. Most are zoned for single- or double-family residential builds, meaning they would need to be re-zoned. The city is asking $42,000 for the Alexander site, making it one of the cheaper locations on the list.

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The website also lists two properties reserved for purchase by non-profit organizations that specialize in affordable housing.

One of those, a 2.2-acre lot in the Elmhurst neighbourhood, is listed at $875,000.

If Gillingham becomes mayor in the Oct. 26 election, he would need council approval for the project.

Wednesdays announcement marked the second time Gillingham has addressed homelessness during his campaign. On June 1, he promised to expand the citys 24/7 safe space grant, which provides $250,000 in funding to Ka Ni Kanichihks Velmas House and WE24, both of which are in the West End.

Gillingham promised to create additional safe spaces in the North End.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Staff shortages in Winnipegs largest ER are forcing the closure of resuscitation rooms and treatment beds during the busiest season for trauma patients in Manitoba.

Staff shortages in Winnipegs largest ER are forcing the closure of resuscitation rooms and treatment beds during the busiest season for trauma patients in Manitoba.

On Sunday, the Health Sciences Centre emergency department was down 12 nurses, and each shift that weekend was short between 10 and 14 ER-trained nurses. There are supposed to be 24 nurses in the ER each shift, but the department, like most hospital units in the city, has been dealing with chronic shortages that have been getting worse as more nurses quit or call in sick this summer.

Already, licensed practical nurses are being asked to help out in the ER resuscitation rooms, two HSC ER nurses told the Free Press. The resuscitation rooms typically require a team of highly trained trauma nurses and physicians, who work together to save the lives of patients whove been in car accidents, or have gunshot wounds and other life-threatening injuries.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES On Sunday, the Health Sciences Centre emergency department was down 12 nurses, and each shift that weekend was short between 10 and 14 ER-trained nurses.

LPNs have a lower level of training than registered nurses, they get paid less, and theyre not supposed to be responsible for ER trauma patients. But some have more hospital experience than newly graduated ER nurses and theyre being pulled in because there arent enough trauma-trained ER nurses to cover shifts.

"Some of the LPNs I work with are some of the smartest nurses in the department So they would be more than capable of going into the trauma room. Its just, they do not get paid enough for the responsibility that they are taking on," one ER nurse said.

Some of the LPNs I work with are some of the smartest nurses in the department Its just, they do not get paid enough for the responsibility that they are taking on.  ER nurse

Both spoke on the condition their names not be published because theyre afraid theyll be fired for speaking publicly. They said consistent, per-shift shortages of ER nurses mean the ER usually has to close two of its trauma rooms and six of its treatment beds. Last weekend, particularly low staffing resulted in the closure of an additional six treatment beds, for a total of 16 ER-patient spaces shut down.

Resuscitation training for some licensed practical nurses at HSC begins next month, Shared Health confirmed, signalling a move to increasingly rely on them to care for trauma patients. Thats already happening, a second ER nurse confirmed.

"We have so few resuscitation-trained nurses that we have no choice but to pull from other sections of the department. In such instances, we try to pull the more senior nurses with the most experience into the resuscitation room," she said.

"Because we have been hemorrhaging nurses, our staff is often very junior, so an LPN is the most senior (and) most experienced nurse to pull into the resuscitation room."

Because we have been hemorrhaging nurses, our staff is often very junior, so an LPN is the most senior (and) most experienced nurse to pull into the resuscitation room.  ER nurse

In a statement, a Shared Health spokesman wrote the nurse staffing vacancy rate is currently 26.6 per cent in HSC emergency department.

"Education standards for LPNs in Manitoba are amongst the highest in the country, allowing them to play an important role in the provinces health-care system  including in emergency departments  and qualified to perform to a higher scope of practice. This includes work in resuscitation and trauma," the spokesman stated.

"Extending opportunities to LPNs to participate in orientation training for resuscitation and trauma reflects our support for these valuable staff by providing them with opportunities to work to their full scope of practice. The training of these nurses will be done in stages, with a few LPNs scheduled to participate in resuscitation training next month."

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Already, licensed practical nurses are being asked to help out in the ER resuscitation rooms, two HSC ER nurses told the Free Press.

Until now, asking LPNs to help with documentation and routine tasks in resuscitation rooms has been a "long-standing practice," Shared Health stated, but LPNs havent been the primary nurse responsible for those patients.

HSC CEO Dr. Shawn Young revealed Monday the hospital asked paramedics to fill in during dire staff shortages last weekend, and Health Minister Audrey Gordon has said the province will not turn down help from other professionals who want to step in.

When the ER put a call out to advanced-care paramedics on Sunday, critical-care nurses, managers, and nurses from other units had already been reassigned to the ER, and other full-time, part-time and casual nurses had been called in. Although theyve now been asked, paramedics have not yet staffed the HSC ER. There is also a paramedic staff shortage in Manitoba, although they have filled in at other emergency departments in Winnipeg and in smaller centres such as Altona.

... If theres no change, yeah, Ill go find a different job that Im less stressed about.  ER nurse

As a tertiary-care hospital, HSC is the trauma centre for patients all over Manitoba.

Although working in the ER at HSC is her "dream job," one nurse said she sees approximately two of her colleagues quit on a weekly basis. She said the department needs more than lip service from government leaders to be sustainable.

"I still have hope for the department. I think that theres still a lot of things that can be done, and I would like to continue working there. But unfortunately, if theres no change, yeah, Ill go find a different job that Im less stressed about," she said.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com

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The decapitated statue of Queen Victoria never really had a chance of returning to its spot on the front grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building.

The decapitated statue of Queen Victoria never really had a chance of returning to its spot on the front grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building.

The monument and what it represents  colonialism, racism, white supremacy, attempts to extinguish the original people who inhabited Canada  is no longer an acceptable symbol to be displayed prominently in front of the provinces seat of democracy.

After all, this was the monarch whose representative (Manitobas first lieutenant governor Adams Archibald), told Indigenous chiefs during Treaty 1 negotiations in 1871, that the Queen wanted her "red subjects" to live more like "white people" and to become "civilized" like them.

Its unlikely Queen Victoria, the reigning monarch at the time, knew much about the numbered treaties, or the finer points of the Dominion of Canadas subsequent attempts to assimilate Indigenous people into white, Euro-Canadian society by trying to erase their language, culture and way of living. She can hardly be blamed directly for the horrors of residential schools, the Indian Act or Ottawas abrogation of its treaty commitments.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The limestone pedestal for the Queen Victoria statue that was torn down still sits empty.

Nevertheless, those things happened under her watch, until her death in 1901.

Now that the fate of the damaged statue is more or less sealed (it wont be repaired or restored), the question of what should replace it  if anything  has re-emerged.

My colleague, Free Press columnist Melissa Martin, proposed last year that the base should be left empty, as its own piece of art, as a conversation starter and an enduring reminder of the pivotal events that occurred last year around the discovery of suspected unmarked graves at former residential schools.

Its a powerful image. I think about it every time I walk past that empty block that is covered in red painted handprints. Leaving it as is should be given serious consideration.

However, if there is a desire to find a replacement, it should be a figure who best represents who we are as Manitobans; someone who helped create the province and fought to protect the democratic, linguistic and land rights of those living here, at a time when the federal government was trying to run roughshod over them.

Metis leader Louis Riel fits that bill.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Louis Riel helped create the province and fought to protect the democratic, linguistic and land rights of those living here, at a time when the federal government was trying to run roughshod over them.

Without Riel, Manitoba would have joined Canada as a territory in 1870, not a province. Ottawas plan was to annex it as a territory (without an elected legislature) and grant provincial status at a later, unspecified date. Riel fought to secure immediate provincial status to put Manitoba on equal footing with other provinces and to ensure those living in the Red River Settlement  mostly French and English-speaking Metis  could run for elected office before settlers from the east poured in. Because of Riel, land holdings and language rights of Red River settlers were preserved. The children of Metis families were also granted 1.4 million acres of land.

Five months into the Red River Resistance, Riel became the president of the settlements first elected legislative assembly (the legislative assembly of Assiniboia) prior to Manitobas entry into Canada on July 15, 1870. The Metis leader also suggested the name "Manitoba" (which originates from the Ojibwa word "Manito-bau," or Great Spirit).

What better historical figure than Riel to stand prominently in front of the Manitoba Legislative Building?

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES A 12 foot high sculpture of Louis Riel created by artist Marcien Lemay. The statue which was initially placed on grounds of Manitoba Legislature was relocated to St. Boniface College where Louis Riel was once a student.

There is a statue of Riel on the south side of the building, off the main grounds, facing the Assiniboine River. Its the second statue of the Metis leader erected on the grounds. It replaced an earlier, controversial one that depicted the tortured soul of the Metis leader.

Manitobas legislative assembly has never properly recognized the events of 1869-1870, which led to the creation of the province. There are no plaques or educational resource material on display anywhere in the building that tell the story of the Red River Resistance, one of Canadas most significant and fascinating historical events. The only exception is a framed photo (as part of the Speakers gallery) of the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia and a descriptive plaque beside it. However, its displayed without context and a proper historical account of the events that led to it.

If it is decided the empty block in front of the legislative building should be filled, it would be a timely opportunity for Louis Riel to take his rightful place in front of the seat of democracy he helped shape.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

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The arrival of the Keystone Party is the last thing the Progressive Conservative government, which is trailing in the polls under an unpopular leader, needs right now, a former Tory insider says.

The arrival of the Keystone Party is the last thing the Progressive Conservative government, which is trailing in the polls under an unpopular leader, needs right now, a former Tory insider says.

The new partys libertarian, freedom-touting, populist manifesto threatens to lure support away from the governing PCs, split the vote in the next election and give the NDP an easier path to victory, said political commentator Deveryn Ross, who served as deputy chief of staff to former premier Brian Pallister.

SUPPLIED The Keystone Party has 15 months to establish itself before Manitobas next election.

A Probe Research poll earlier this month found that if an election were held today, 45 per cent of respondents would vote NDP, while 35 per cent would support the Tories under Premier Heather Stefanson.

Its hard enough to raise money and find people to work on campaigns, Ross said Tuesday after Elections Manitoba announced that the Keystone Party had met the requirements for party status and could issue tax receipts for donations.

The next election is 15 months away, and now the Keystone Party will be vying for donations, volunteers and votes.

The real issue is going to be the capacity of this party to split votes at the riding level in the next election, Ross said.

In a statement Tuesday, the Keystone Party said it not only wants to change government, but change what government is.

The partys leader, Manitou-area farmer Kevin Friesen, declined to do any interviews until the partys first official news conference July 15 on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature, the statement said.

It thanked the thousands of eligible voters (2,500 signatures were required) who signed its petition to become a party and the many volunteers that assisted in the process, braving a variety of conditions, including -35 C temperatures.

When asked if the Progressive Conservative party is concerned about losing support to the Keystone Party, a PC spokesperson said its the only party that can beat the NDP.

The PC party is making life more affordable, strengthening health care and creating better jobs, the unnamed spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. We are the only party that can stop (NDP Leader) Wab Kinews agenda to raise taxes on families and make Manitoba less competitive and more expensive.

Aggrieved Manitobans, who opposed pandemic restrictions and vaccine mandates  and blame the PC government for imposing them  are being offered a new home in the Keystone Party, Ross said.

The Keystone Party could be a real magnet for them, he said.

I know a number of people in the (PC) party and, frankly, in the government, who in general would support the principles of the (Keystone) party, said Ross, calling it a Manitoba version of the Peoples Party. He likened the Keystone Partys libertarian manifesto to that of the Peoples Party of Canada, led by Maxime Bernier, that rallied behind the so-called freedom convoy in February.

The Peoples Party of Canada didnt win any seats in the 2021 federal election but found pockets of support in southern Manitoba, particularly in Portage-Lisgar, which is held by incumbent Candice Bergen, the interim Conservative leader, who was elected with 52 per cent of the vote.

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The PPC candidate placed second, with 21 per cent of vote, while the NDP ranked third with 19 per cent. In Provencher, the PPC candidate finished third, with 16 per cent of the vote, behind the Liberals (17 per cent) and 48 per cent for incumbent Conservative MP Ted Falk, who has refused to divulge his COVID-19 vaccination status.

The Keystone Party has 15 months to establish itself before Manitobas next election.

This party may not be around for the long run, said Ross. Its a grievance party. Its probably intended, created, exists solely to cause pain for the Stefanson government  as a little bit of revenge for the the pandemic restrictions, said Ross.

If its leader, Friesen, has charisma, can maintain discipline and grow the party, its a potentially devastating blow to the PCs, he said.

Something really to watch for now is whether this pushes a number of members of the PC caucus to announce theyre not running: people whove been around long enough to say I dont need a tough fight thats only harder now.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. On 29 June, on the occasion of the Day of Fallen Soldiers and Missing in Action, Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan visited the Stepanakert Memorial Complex, the Presidential Office said.

Accompanied by high-ranking state and military officials attended, the President paid tribute and partook in the memorial service dedicated to the Day.

The Head of the State subsequently visited the Military Pantheon and laid flowers to the tombs of the servicemen fallen for the defense of the homeland.
A Winnipeg man found guilty of luring a minor over the Plenty of Fish dating website has had his convictions quashed after a judge ruled police had entrapped him.

A Winnipeg man found guilty of luring a minor over the Plenty of Fish dating website has had his convictions quashed after a judge ruled police had entrapped him.

Michael Joseph Lymych was convicted last year after being tried for internet luring and making sexually explicit material available to a minor.

Lymych, 36, was arrested as part of a Winnipeg Police Service investigation, Project Hook, which targeted the online luring of minors.

Following his conviction, Lymych applied for a judicial stay, alleging an abuse of process by police. Lymych argued police had no reason to believe he would commit a crime, and but for the actions of an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl, he would not have been induced to commit one.

It is critical that the police have a foundation for reasonable suspicion to offer an opportunity to commit a crime, for without that foundation, there is an increased likelihood that a citizen may commit a crime that he or she would not otherwise commit."  Queens Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris

"Faced with ever more sophisticated predators, the police must find tools to find these predators before they can harm children," Queens Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris said in a ruling last week. "However, our law draws a line in which tools can be used and will not sanction tools which are an abuse of process.

"It is critical that the police have a foundation for reasonable suspicion to offer an opportunity to commit a crime, for without that foundation, there is an increased likelihood that a citizen may commit a crime that he or she would not otherwise commit," said Harris, the same judge who convicted Lymych last fall.

Court heard at trial Lymych sent pictures of his erect penis to an undercover police officer he made contact with on Plenty of Fish and believed to be a 14-year-old girl named "Katie," telling her: "This is yours now if you want to date exclusively."

Police arrested Lymych days later after he drove to a Tim Hortons restaurant on Marion Street expecting to meet "Katie."

At trial, Lymych claimed he did not believe "Katie" was under 18, as she said, and "brushed it off." Lymych testified a cellphone number "Katie" provided him was associated with an escort service, leading him to believe she was part of a scam. Lymych claimed he played along to see what would happen.

The police must not engage in random virtue testing. The decision to intrude into an individuals private life and offer them an opportunity to commit a crime is justified only if the grounds predate the measure.  Queens Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris

In seeking to quash his conviction, Lymych argued the undercover police officer provided him with an opportunity to commit a crime when she had no grounds to believe he was involved in criminal activity.

The officers Plenty of Fish profile page identified her as being 21 years old. Lymych contacted her March 10, 2019, and after some small talk about kittens and baking "Katie" told Lymych she had "never been with a guy b4" and was "pretty young."

"What so youre like a virgin?" Lymych replied. "You should save yourself I dont want to just use you for sex."

At the officers suggestion, the two moved their conversation offline and began texting when "Katie" told Lymych she was 14 years old.

"Well, we cannot have sex like ever but Im not going to stop talking to you because of that," Lymych said. "And you cant send me nudes only sexy pics in underwear is fine if you ever get frisky."

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It was only later that Lymych sent "Katie" pictures of himself and talked explicitly of sex.

Harris said it was the police officer who first introduced sex into the conversation when she said she had never been with a boy before, at which point Lymych redirected their discussion to baking.

"It is (the police officer) who suggests that they move to the privacy of texting," Harris said. "Her explanation that the profile can be shut down when someone finds out your age leads me to conclude that she wanted to, as she did, reveal her precise age in order to provide Mr. Lymych another opportunity to commit a crime. If that was not her intent, there would have been no reason to leave Plenty of Fish."

Police must have a "reasonable suspicion" an accused is already involved in criminal activity before offering them an opportunity to commit a crime, Harris said.

"The police must not engage in random virtue testing," he said. "The decision to intrude into an individuals private life and offer them an opportunity to commit a crime is justified only if the grounds predate the measure."

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
A retirees group has scolded the Progressive Conservative government for dismissing suggestions of an independent seniors advocate in a scathing letter to Seniors Minister Scott Johnston.

A retirees group has scolded the Progressive Conservative government for dismissing suggestions of an independent seniors advocate in a scathing letter to Seniors Minister Scott Johnston.

The Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons wrote to Johnston on Monday to decry the governments refusal to establish an advocate. It also cited a lack of engagement on issues beyond long-term care.

"Seniors issues, if youre lucky to live long enough, we will all have a slice of this pie," chapter president Carol-Ann Borody-Siemens told the Free Press. "We are suggesting shifting their approach to be more proactive. Get ahead of this stuff. The baby boomers are coming. There are going to be more, not less.

"Its too important and there are too many of us that will be affected by it," she said.

Borody-Siemens said she penned the letter following a meeting with Johnston in May, where the association planned to discuss the need for a seniors advocate and hear how the new department would address issues of affordability, housing, transportation and aging-in-place.

However, Borody-Siemens said the group left the meeting dejected after discussion of a seniors advocate was shut down.

"I thank you for your crystal clear position that your government is not interested in any way, shape or form in the formulation of an advocate," Borody-Siemens wrote in the letter, which was sent to all members of the legislature.

"That, plus your total lack of desire to include our organization or our individual members in the process, was also helpful as it tells us that continuing discussions with you and your government on this topic is a waste of time and energy."

The letter expressed concern about a lack of representation of long-term care residents and their families on the provinces seniors advisory committee.

"The participants on this committee are all from those that work or have worked in the sphere of senior care: very capable and competent individuals, but we see this as a conflict of interest, plus it sounds very paternal to me," the letter stated.

In the letter, Borody-Siemens said CARP members were shocked the minister did not offer to include the organization in planning or consultation. It closed by stating CARP Manitoba, which has about 3,800 members, would turn its focus to the next election, in 2023.

Borody-Siemens said she has concerns with the mandate, commitment and direction of the department in the wake of the meeting with Johnston. Seniors issues must be depoliticized through the creation of an independent advocate, similar to the Manitoba childrens advocate, she said.

"Seniors, for government, seem to focus on health care and long-term care. Seniors and our concerns are so much more than that," she said.

Premier Heather Stefanson established the department in January. Its mandate is to implement all recommendations from the Stevenson Review, which was produced in the wake of a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the Maples Personal Care Home in late 2020, and to represent seniors and advocate on their issues.

To date, the province has committed $31 million to follow through on the recommendations, provided $31,000 for elder abuse prevention, and launched a consultation process to develop a seniors strategy.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the associations letter is a "devastating criticism" of the Tory government less than a week after allegations of abuse at a Winnipeg long-term care home were made public.

On June 21, long-term care operator Extendicare and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said two health-care aides at Oakview Place had been accused of mistreating 15 residents of the home.

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"The only way were going to solve this is if families and seniors have an independent seniors advocate to go to," Lamont said. "For Johnston to just ignore what people are saying, dismiss their concerns, and plow ahead is just appalling."

In a statement, NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said the Tories are "refusing to be proactive when it comes to protecting seniors" in personal care homes.

"Seniors in Manitoba want a government that listens and works with them to make our province a better place to age with dignity."

The ministers office released a statement late Tuesday.

"The public consultations are in addition to forming and activating a ministers advisory group comprised of organizations supporting and working with seniors. A community engagement network of up to 50 organizations and individuals who work closely with seniors will play a vital role supporting older Manitobans with a variety of consultation techniques."

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Vandals have toppled 70 headstones in a Winnipeg Jewish cemetery.

Ran Ukashi, executive director of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, said staff at its cemetery across from Kildonan Park discovered the vandalism early Wednesday and reported it to Winnipeg police, as well as congregants whose family headstones may have been damaged.

"This just appears to be vandalism, but at the same time, quite extensive. Its not easy to push over those headstones," Ukashi said, noting staff didnt find graffiti on the grave markers or cemetery property.

He said its unclear why the cemetery was targeted.

"Is it antisemitic, is that the motivation? Is the motivation just sheer mischief? Unfortunately, we dont know, but what we do know is there was a significant effort put into doing that form of vandalism its very difficult to do and they took their time with it," he said.

Ukashi said the congregation hopes the culprits are caught. He wants anyone who spotted anything unusual at the cemetery, no matter how small, to contact police.

"Id want to know why they would do it, and give them an opportunity to apologize, and not to me, but to apologize to the people whose memory he insulted or she insulted and to the families of those they affected," he said.

"Why go about doing something like this, what do you stand to gain from this? If its a cheap thrill, then think better of it, and if its anti-Jewish prejudice, then educate yourself."

The incident is "enormously" painful for the families of the deceased.

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"Its the ultimate insult both to the living and the dead," Ukashi said.

"Theres also the broader context of this being quite a frequent problem in Jewish cemeteries. Its happened in Winnipeg on more than one occasion  at our cemetery and other cemeteries  but also across the world."

Ukashi said the congregation has engaged monument companies to reset the headstones and hopes repairs can take place within days.

The first burial in the cemetery was in 1894. The congregation has alerted Bnai Brith Canada and the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg about the vandalism.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera
When someone is in need, Elsie Edwards never asks questions; instead, she jumps into action.

When someone is in need, Elsie Edwards never asks questions; instead, she jumps into action.

And her Windsor Park home plays a key role in that.

At first glance, the retired Winnipeggers place looks like any other bungalow, but its often bustling with activity, as countless items are dropped off and picked up.

White garbage bags full of necessities stuff the corners of Edwards living room, while her double garage is packed with bedroom furniture, tricycles, toys and practically everything a person could need to furnish a house.

"Im just doing this as an individual. Theres no sponsorship by anybody, just what I do out of my pocket," said the former employee of Employment and Income Assistance.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS 'Im just doing this as an individual. Theres no sponsorship by anybody, just what I do out of my pocket,' said Elsie Edwards, a retired social worker.

On Monday afternoon, a Peruvian family, whom she helped settle into Winnipeg earlier this year, came for a visit. Recently donated camera gear takes up the entire coffee table in her living room. She doesnt know who dropped it off but knows itll end up in good hands.

In addition to operating an informal donation space, Edwards has lent out her spare bedroom in her basement to immigrants, refugees and unhoused individuals. Many of her days are spent dropping off groceries and checking in on those shes helped.

"Im kind of their Canadian grandma," the 71-year-old jokes.

People who drop by Edwards home are often reluctant to ask for help. Edwards never means-tests; she simply opens her garage door.

"There are wonderful organizations that also give things away, but they require people to give their financial statements," Edwards said. "I dont ask questions. If somebody tells me they need it, then they need it. If theyre not being truthful, thats on their conscience, certainly not mine."

I dont ask questions. If somebody tells me they need it, then they need it. If theyre not being truthful, thats on their conscience, certainly not mine.  Elsie Edwards

Its not an exaggeration to say that Edwards selflessness has changed lives.

In February, Edwards received a call from a social worker about an unhoused man, Gary, who was at risk of losing his foot.

"I was burned out of luck in life, money and everything," Gary told the Free Press. "I spent one night at Siloam Mission (shelter) in mid-February, and one of the people from the church helped me out and introduced me to Elsie via a family member."

After meeting for 10 minutes, Gary was given a temporary home in Edwards spare room.

"She took me under her wing, gave me the key to her home, opened the door and gave me a place to stay that was warm," Gary said. "If it wasnt for her I probably wouldnt be here today."

Gary stayed with Edwards for six weeks. During that time, Edwards took him to doctors appointments, purchased clothes and found him an apartment of his own. With Edwards help, he received medical care that prevented his foot from being amputated.

"What I find truly amazing is that she does this without any expectation of compensation," Gary said. "The world needs more people like her. I can never begin to thank her for what shes done for me."

The world needs more people like her. I can never begin to thank her for what shes done for me.  Gary

Edwards spends much of her spare time working with local charities.

Peter McMullen, the director of Lighthouse Mission, said the organization wouldnt be the same without her generosity.

"Whenever we need a specific item, she comes in and she asks, What do you need? and shell immediately go and get it," McMullen told the Free Press.

After doing this work for years, Edwards needs more space. She currently rents a trailer that costs her upwards of $300 a month to keep up with donations. Shes even considered going back to work so she can afford to help more people.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS In addition to operating an informal donation space, Elsie Edwards has lent out her spare bedroom in her basement to immigrants, refugees and unhoused individuals. Many of her days are spent dropping off groceries and checking in on those shes helped.

"I need some kind of space where I can put things so that people can come and better see what there is to be had," Edwards said.

When people ask how they can thank Edwards for her help, her answer is simple: pay it forward.

"When someone else needs something, and youre able to give them a smile, a hug or something, pay it forward because thats what Im doing," she said.

"I live what I believe. I show people that I care by showing them."

cierra.bettens@freepress.mb.ca
MADRID (AP)  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrives for a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

MADRID (AP)  NATO declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to its members peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.

The military organization's condemnation was not wholly surprising: Its chief earlier said Russia's war in Ukraine had created Europes biggest security crisis since World War II. But it was a sobering about-face for an alliance that a decade ago called Moscow a strategic partner.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks as he arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

NATO also issued a warning about China, accusing it of bullying its neighbors and forming a strategic partnership with Moscow that poses a challenge to the West.

Set up some 70 years ago to counter the Soviet Union, NATO held its summit in Madrid in a world transformed by Russias invasion of its neighbor. The war drove the alliance to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades and pushed Sweden and Finland to seek the safety of NATO membership.

The two formerly nonaligned nations were formally invited to join on Wednesday, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war had brought the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks with the media as he arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that NATOs open-door policy to new members did not appear to apply to his country.

The open-door policy of NATO shouldnt resemble the old turnstiles on Kyivs subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay, Zelenskyy said by video link. Hasnt Ukraine paid enough?

He also asked for more modern artillery systems and other weapons and warned the leaders they either had to provide Kyiv with the help it needed or face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The question is, whos next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them, he said.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that NATO membership is a distant prospect. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any of the 30 members would trigger a military response by the entire alliance, so it is trying to strike a delicate balance, letting its nations arm Ukraine without sparking a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

At the same time NATO has moved quickly to ensure that its members are protected, dramatically scaling up military force along its eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russia's future plans.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, center right, arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

It plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliances rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year. The troops will be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the summit would send an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united.

Were stepping up. Were proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been, said Biden. He announced a hefty boost in America's military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons to the U.K.

U.S. President Joe Biden, left, is greeted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during arrival for a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state and government will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make.

Money remains a sensitive issue  just nine of NATOs 30 members currently meet the organizations target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country does hit the target, urged NATO allies to dig deep to restore deterrence and ensure defense in the decade ahead.

NATO leaders pose for a group photo following the official welcome for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

At the summit, the leaders published NATOs new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

The last such document, in 2010, called Russia a strategic partner. At the time, the idea of Russia waging a land war on NATO's borders would have sounded far-fetched.

Now, NATO accused Russia of using "coercion, subversion, aggression and annexation" to extend its reach.

Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Philippe Lavigne, left, gestures as he arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The document also set out NATOs approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change  and the growing economic and military reach of China. For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand attended the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific region and NATOs desire to counterbalance China.

China is not our adversary, but we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents, Stoltenberg said.

We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, and Chinas growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of our allies and our partners, he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The alliance said, however, that it remained "open to constructive engagement" with Beijing.

NATO also stressed the need to address political instability in Africas Sahel region and the Middle East  aggravated by "climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity  that is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe. Host Spain and other European countries pushed for this new focus.

The summit, which ends Thursday, opened with one problem solved, after Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, from left, pose for the media at the official welcome for the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

NATO operates by consensus, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.

After talks with leaders of the three countries, Stoltenberg said the impasse had been cleared.

The two countries' accession has to be ratified by all nations, but Stoltenberg said he was absolutely confident Finland and Sweden would become members quickly.

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses leaders via a video screen during a round table meeting at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was eager to get out of the gray zone of having applied for membership but not yet fully covered by NATO's collective defense guarantee.

Our aim is that that period should be as short as possible," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Madrid contributed.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Prosecutor General mostly performs an organization function, candidate for the Prosecutor General of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan said in the parliament today.

I am accused that I have not worked in the prosecution system, but I think this is an opportunity for me to look at the issue from another perspective. I look at each case, over which a professional discussion is taking place, from humans point of view, and during my work it will be important for me whether we protect human rights, she said.

The candidate for the Prosecutor General said the prosecution should be aware of every case, up to professional discussions.

If there is a need for the Prosecutor General to attend any discussion, welcome. During my work I have never avoided any discussion, quite the contrary, I personally initiated and asked that if you have a need over any legal issue, please come, she said.
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The State Bar's staff strives to provide value to its members to achieve our brand promise:
A police chase involving two vehicles traveling at high speeds on Portage streets put a number of people and a school in danger, according to a criminal complaint.

Tyell A. Allen-Williams, 18, Windsor, is in custody at the Columbia County Jail following his arrest linked to a high speed chase with police through Portage.

He has been charged with first degree recklessly endangering safety, take and drive vehicle without consent, and vehicle operator flee/elude officer.

Numerous local and state agencies were involved in the chase that led to the arrest of three adults and two juveniles in allegedly stolen vehicles. Court records show Allen-Williams is the only who has been charged so far.

At his initial appearance, Allen-Williams cash bond was set at $10,000.

According to the criminal complaint:

Portage Police were advised of a possible stolen vehicle traveling on Highway 33 in Portage on June 9 around 2:55 p.m.

Portage Police learned there were two cars involved in the pursuit and both were stolen in Madison.

Allen-Williams was allegedly driving one of the vehicles traveling at speeds upward of 60 mph on West Cook Street and over 70 mph on MacFarlane and New Pinery Road.

One Portage Police officer attempted to use a squad car to stop the vehicles. Both vehicles maneuvered around the vehicle at the intersection of West Cook Street and Dunn Street.

The vehicles allegedly continued westbound on West Cook Street and eventually onto Highway 33 and finally I-39. The complaint alleges the vehicles were traveling at speeds over 80 mph.

When questioned by the police, Allen-Williams said he didnt stop for law enforcement because he did not want to go to jail. The complaint alleges Allen-Williams indicated he knew he put people in danger by not stopping his car. He also acknowledged he drove down a busy street near a school during the pursuit while driving through traffic lights and stop signs.

Allen-Williams is scheduled to be back in Columbia County Court on Friday for his preliminary hearing.

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As part of an increasing amount of allowed recreational vehicle travel in Sauk County, all-terrain and utility-terrain vehicles are now allowed on a major trunk in Lake Delton.

The village board approved a Sauk County Highway Department ordinance allowing the travel of ATVs and UTVs along County Highway A within the village limits during its meeting on June 27. It passed with a 5-2 vote, with village trustees Leslie Bremer and Tom Diehl voting against the measure.

What theyre doing is looking to open up all the county highways (for ATV/UTV use), and the county has to ask permission from each municipality, said village administrator Tim McCumber, who is also the Sauk County Board chairperson. Todays vote was to approve County A access.

McCumber added that the Sauk County Highway Department has now granted recreational vehicle access on about 85% of county highways.

Diehl cited the presence of tourism traffic as a primary reason for his opposition to ATV/UTV approval.

Im totally opposed to ATVs in a community that is tourism-based, said Diehl. With the traffic we have here and the tourists who come here that dont even know where they are going half the time. When you put ATVs on (the road), youre asking for trouble.

Village taking offers on vacant property

The village has three vacant property areas for which it is looking for buyers.

Tory Wolfram, the owner of Wisconsin Dells Realty, spoke at the village board meeting to discuss the open land on Wisconsin Dells Parkway between Durkee and Adams streets, across the parking lot from BWP Liquor.

The only condition of any offer (on the vacant lots) is it would have to be required to be contingent upon a development agreement being entered between the village and the buyer that is acceptable to both parties, said Wolfram.

Wolfram said at the meeting that there have been numerous inquiries on the parcel across from BWP, which is currently priced very attractively at $399,900. Village attorney Richard Cross said that the property, being roughly one acre, would work for a small lodging or retail business.

Were wide open to what anybody suggests, said Cross. Its a complicated property because of its location and it has got access from both north and southbound traffic, but it could be a problem to have a very intense business, like a drive-through, there.

A village-owned 7.5-acre land parcel near Kohls is also fielding offers, but Wolfram said he is looking for a bit more direction regarding that plot because of its large size. The plot is currently priced at $749,900.

McCumber said the village is having a meeting on June 30 to discuss direction for the large parcel. Diehl said that a developer wanted to build a hotel in that site, but Marriott did not approve it.

The village is also seeking a buyer for the small lot that is the former site of Twi-Lite Motel, across Wisconsin Dells Parkway from Moosejaw Pizza. Wolfram said the plot consists of between 0.4 and 0.5 acres of land, which limits development options. He did not list a price on the lot.

New police station open

June 27 was the opening day for the Lake Delton Police Departments new police station. Construction for the $10.9 million station began last April after the COVID-19 pandemic halted the beginning following a village approval of the project on March 9, 2020.

Prior to the completion of the new facility on Miller Drive in the village, the department used a portion of the Kay C. Mackesey Administration Building for nearly 20 years.

The new station is across the parking lot from the Dells-Delton EMS and Delton Fire Department joint building, which was constructed in 2013. Both buildings are combined for what is now the Lake Delton Public Safety Complex.
According to data collected by the schools, elementary school students in the Dells area made monumental progress in math and reading during the 2021-22 school year.

Spring Hill and Lake Delton elementary schools both had students at all grade levels showing progress far exceeding the national averages. Younger students success was even more pronounced, with both schools having 5% or fewer of their kindergarten through second grade students performing far below grade level by the end of the year.

Across the board, at all of our grade levels, you see our green significantly increase and our red significantly decrease, said Julie Ennis, principal at Spring Hill Elementary School in Wisconsin Dells, at the school board meeting on June 27. Im excited about our results we saw with growth.

Students in the green category of iReady data are performing at or above grade level in a certain subject. Yellow category indicates students at or slightly below grade level, while red shows students at levels two or more levels below their current grade.

With the exception of fifth grade reading, all grade levels at both math and reading feature more than 50% of students at or above grade level at Spring Hill elementary. The biggest jumps came for kindergarteners and first graders, who made nearly 70 percentage point leaps in reading and over 50 point progress in math.

All kindergarteners at Lake Delton Elementary School are now reading at or above grade level, as opposed to just 24% to start the year. The majority of students at the school are at or above grade level in both subjects at all levels. Kindergarten math students and first-grade readers made the largest jumps in terms of being at or above grade level, with both categories seeing increases of 65% or more.

Its exciting to see that most grade levels are above the national norm, said Felipe Armijo, principal at Lake Delton. We were able to supersede the state iReady scores as well.

Armijo added that its difficult to compare progress with other area school districts, as he said Baraboo is the only other nearby district that uses the iReady system. Reedsburg will also adopt it in the near future, according to Armijo.

The other measurements of student progress, which are more comparative, are typical and stretch growth. Typical growth gauges what students should see based on where they start the year. Stretch growth shows what is recommended to put students toward proficiency or greater. It is meant to close achievement gaps.

Spring Hill experienced typical growth rates of over 120% for all of its students in both math and reading. This illustrates that students, on average, were far exceeding progress they would have been expected to achieve in 2021-22. Fourth-grade students reading did exceptionally well in this category, with a 168% typical growth rate, which is more than triple the national average of roughly 50%.

Three student groups at Lake Delton exceeded 100% stretch growth. First-grade students in both math and reading, as well as kindergarten math students, showed progress that illustrated not only students continuing to perform up to expectations, but students making substantial progress to catch up to their peers and go from below to above grade level.

Both Spring Hill and Lake Delton had stretch growth at above 60% across all grade levels in both subjects.

Wisconsin Dells Middle School experienced progress at all levels except for eighth grade reading from the beginning of the year. As a whole, the school went from 33% to 53% of its students performing in the green in math, while reducing the red category from 38% to 27%.

Casey Whitehurst, the principal at the school, said that the students are performing above national and state averages in math.

Sixth graders experienced a 20% jump as far as students performing at or above grade level in both math and reading. Seventh grade students made 15 percentage point or more leaps in that regard for both subjects. More than half of all sixth and seventh grade students at the middle school are now performing in the green for math and reading, while numbers in the yellow and red areas have both shrunk to below 33%.

Eighth grade reading students performing in the green returned to their fall figure at 37% after being at 41% during the winter. In addition, the red number went from 39% to 45% from the beginning to the end of the 2021-22 school year. They improved in math, going from 27% performing at or above grade level to 40%, while reducing the amount at two or more levels below from 44% to 36%.

We started off at 34% in the fall and ended up at 40%, said Whitehurst. The national for middle school is actually at 40%. We are dead-even with Wisconsin for reading.

Both typical and stretch growth levels were highest among sixth grade students in both subjects, including a 72% typical growth in reading. Eighth-grade readers experienced a decline in both growth categories from the winter, but saw increases in math.

Throughout the school, typical growth increased 16 percentage points and stretch growth went up 15 percentage points for math from winter. Reading experienced a lower percentage point increase for both types of growth, with typical going from 53% to 58% and stretch at 28% from 20% at the checkpoint.

High school names assistant principal

Wisconsin Dells High School hired Bryan Schwarz as its associate principal, which was confirmed at the June 27 meeting. Schwarz is taking the position formerly held by Allison Hoch, who will be the schools principal to succeed Hugh Gaston, who is now in a district position.

Schwarz was a math teacher at the former Spring Hill Middle School before teaching in the School District of Baraboo prior to being rehired by the School District of Wisconsin Dells, according to district administrator Terry Slack.

Spring Hill was the middle school in the district prior to the construction of the new Dells High School in 2020. After that, the former high school became Wisconsin Dells Middle School.
Wisconsins Supreme Court says a conservative political appointee can stay in power indefinitely if lawmakers refuse to confirm a successor, dealing a blow to Gov. Tony Evers and the powers of the executive branch.

The high court ruled Wednesday in favor of Fred Prehn, a Wausau dentist appointed to the Natural Resources Board in 2015 by former Gov. Scott Walker. Prehn refused to step down when his term expired more than a year ago.

The courts conservative majority said the expiration of Prehns six-year term, in and of itself, did not create a vacancy for the governor to fill.

At the same time, the court ruled that the expiration did not end protections against being removed without cause, meaning Evers cant simply fire him.

That means Prehn can stay in office until the Senate confirms Evers nominee, something Republicans who control the chamber have so far refused to do.

If the nominee is not confirmed, the nominee is not appointed into office and cannot exercise the authority assigned to that position, conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote in the majority opinion. While the Governor can make a provisional appointment who exercises all of the powers and duties of the office, subject to later confirmation by the senate, there must first be a vacancy to fill.

The courts three liberal justices filed a 16-page dissent calling the opinion absurd and nonsensical, saying it steers our states government directly into disorder and chaos, threatening the fragile separation of powers central to its functions.

(A)llowing Prehn to continue serving in office indefinitely makes him the final authority on whether he remains in office  not the legislature, which specified by statute that his term expired over 13 months ago, and not the governor, who the legislature gave the authority to nominate a replacement, Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote. One unelected official should not be able to dictate his term in office over the will of the peoples elected representatives.

Balance of power

The ruling further tilts the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in favor of Republicans who control the Legislature and have refused to hold confirmation hearings for many of Evers appointees  including most of his nominees to boards overseeing the states higher education system.

Todays decision continues to underscore the erosion of democratic institutions at the hands of Republicans in this state, Evers said in a statement. Its wrongheaded, its shortsighted, and its politics at its most dangerous.

Evers said his appointees are exceptionally qualified, should be considered on their merit, and should have the opportunity to serve the people of our state, regardless of whether or not they were appointed by a Democrat or share the same ideas as Republicans in the Legislature.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who filed the lawsuit last year, said the Supreme Courts decision sets a terrible precedent at a time when several of Evers other appointees still await formal approval from the Senate.

We now have an appointee who can apparently stay on this board for as long as he chooses, Kaul said. Think about that in a democracy. This is not a country where we have kings, but Dr. Prehn apparently gets to choose how long he gets to stay there, regardless of what the people of Wisconsin say.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about if or when he would schedule a confirmation hearing for Evers appointee, Ashland County educator Sandra Naas.

Prehn issued a statement saying he intends to stay on the board until a successor is confirmed and accused Evers and Kaul of wasting substantial taxpayer dollars in legal fees on a political stunt to satisfy their liberal donor base.

Their lack of understanding of case law is obvious and that lack of understanding caused many losses, including hours of time, emotion and cost on this issue, Prehn wrote.

Keeping a seat

Kaul argued Prehn and lawmakers ignored the century-old common law, which says an appointee whose term has ended may hold over, but once the term expires there is a vacancy that the governor is entitled to fill.

Citing a 1964 Supreme Court ruling, Prehn maintained he does not have to leave until Naas is confirmed by the Senate. Republicans adjourned the two-year session without holding a hearing, cementing the boards conservative majority.

Text messages uncovered in a separate court case show Prehn sought advice from Walker in November 2020, nearly six months before his term was set to expire, saying lawmakers do not intend on confirming anybody soon.

Walker encouraged Prehn to stay.

Kaul sued in August, asking the courts to force Prehn to step down. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn dismissed the case but faulted lawmakers for refusing to hold a confirmation hearing.

Both Kaul and Prehn asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, bypassing the court of appeals.

Key decisions

Since his term ended, Prehn has voted to reject regulations of toxic PFAS compounds in groundwater and to weaken the agencys proposed drinking water standards for the so-called forever chemicals.

He could also cast a deciding vote later this year on a new wolf management plan, which could set population goals and help determine hunting quotas if the gray wolf is again removed from the federal endangered species list.

If youre on the side of more toxic sludge in our water, this is a win for you today, Kaul said. But if you want clean and safe drinking water for Wisconsinites, if you care about people in Wisconsin having power over the government, its yet another huge loss from the Supreme Court.

Midwest Environmental Advocates called the decision a blow to the health of our environment and the health of our democracy.

Fred Prehn coordinated with Scott Walker, lobbyists for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and an unaccountable, gerrymandered legislature to retain control of environmental policy in Wisconsin, the group said in a statement. As a result, Scott Walkers appointees continue to control the Department of Natural Resources 1,331 days and counting after Walker lost the election.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenian deputy minister of education, science, culture and sport Zhanna Andreasyan met today with representatives of the Fund for Assistance to Housing and Communal Services Reform of Russia, the ministry said.

The meeting aimed at expanding and deepening the cooperation between Russian and Armenian secondary professional institutions, as well as developing new joint projects.

A working cooperation exists between our countries in a number of areas, especially in construction field. I think the common approaches on determining qualification level of personnel, as well as the joint requirements for training specialists are highly demanded. The close contact between Armenian and Russian young specialists could become a good example in terms of acquiring new skills and abilities, especially in the field of construction and operation of residential buildings, Zhanna Andreasyan said.

The joint programs envisage trying and introducing latest Russian practices, methods and technologies in Armenian educational facilities.

In order to have professional specialists in the most demanded professions in the field of housing and communal services, we propose cooperation as representatives of the Russian state corporation thanks to which Armenias high schools and colleges will be able to cooperate with hundreds of Russian colleges where the youth is trained on professional criteria in these areas, especially in operation of civil buildings, management, operation and servicing of multi-apartment building and other professions, one of the representatives of the Fund said.

The sides agreed to develop a cooperation roadmap for gradually implementing the joint programs.
WATERLOO  Wilfrid Laurier University is home to many scholars who are examining Canadas history and contemporary culture in the spirit of truth and reconciliation. Throughout the week of Canada Day, Laurier experts are available to speak about issues related to Indigenous-settler relations, national politics and Black Canadian history.

This list includes Laurier experts who are available to speak at this time but does not represent the full breadth of expertise that exists at our institution. For a more comprehensive inventory of our faculty researchers, please consult the Experts at Laurier database.

Cynthia Comacchio is a professor in the Department of History. She is an expert on the history of childhood, gender and families in Canada in the late 19th to 21st centuries, and the social and cultural impacts of war in Canada. Contact: ccomacchio@wlu.ca

Percy Lezard is an assistant professor of Indigenous Studies. They are an expert in Indigenous knowledge, two spirit pedagogies, community Indigenous health, missing and murdered women and 2SLGBTQ+, and gender-based violence in 2SLGBTQ+ communities. Lezard is outma sqilxw of the Penticton Indian Band in B.C. and centres Indigenous knowledge, teaching and research methodologies in their work. They are a survivor of the multi-generational impacts of the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop. Read more about their work. Contact: plezard@wlu.ca

Susan Neylan is an associate professor in the Department of History and an expert on the history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations in Canada. She is available to speak about the relationship between Indigenous people and the church in British Columbia in the 19th and 20th centuries, Aboriginal-Missionary relations and forms of Indigenous Christianity. Contact: sneylan@wlu.ca

Kevin Spooner is an associate professor of History and North American Studies and director of the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada. His research focuses on Canadian and American culture, identity and history; Canadian-American relations; and Canadas history of peacekeeping and foreign policy. Contact: kspooner@wlu.ca

Brian Tanguay is a professor in the Department of Political Science. He is an expert on political parties and party systems, particularly on the transformation of social democratic (NDP) and nationalist (Parti Quebecois) parties in Canada, and electoral reform in liberal democracies. Contact: btanguay@wlu.ca

Darren Thomas is Lauriers associate vice-president of Indigenous Initiatives. As the most senior Indigenous leader at Laurier, Thomas provides strategic advice, support and expertise to academic and administrative units across the institution to achieve goals related to Indigeneity. As a researcher, he focuses on Indigenous rights, resource governance and self-determination. Thomas has worked in the educational, health care and child welfare sectors to support efforts to improve services as they work toward reconciliation and Indigenization. Contact: dthomas@wlu.ca

Barrington Walker is Lauriers associate vice-president of equity, diversity and inclusion and a professor in the Department of History. Walker is leading the creation of a university-wide EDI strategy and providing expertise, guidance, mentorship and support to faculty and staff working toward EDI-related goals. Walker has written about and taught Black Canadian history, race, law and immigration, and Canadian social history. Contact: bawalker@wlu.ca
South Africa: Government determined to recoup misappropriated monies, says Nkadimeng

Government is going all out to recoup monies misappropriated from municipalities back into the coffers of the State, says Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Deputy Minister, Thembi Nkadimeng.

She made the remarks during the South African Local Government Associations launch of its nationwide civic responsibility campaign, Asisho! Lets Say It. It seeks to reignite a renewed social contract between citizens and local government.

The campaign is aimed at educating local communities about their duties and obligations towards the social and economic upliftment of their local areas by paying for municipal services rendered.

Speaking to the SABC on the sidelines of the launch, Nkadimeng said: Provinces themselves have taken the responsibility of making sure that they do away with disclaimers and adverse [findings], and [improve] accountability.

Two weeks ago, we met with the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] and handed over 47 municipal cases [connected] to maladministration, fraud and corruption with the intention of [getting] the money back.

This, she said, is a demonstration of governments commitment to have those implicated in the fleecing of public finances prosecuted.

[By so doing], we will then deliver the services of roads, proper cemeteries, sustainable water provision, clean potable water and collection of waste. Our townships and rural areas are dirty, we realise that, but we need the resources to enable municipalities to be able to render those important services, she said.

Releasing the 2020/21 financial year consolidated municipal audit report last week, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said over R255 billion was owed to the countrys 257 municipalities. Of this amount, 64% was no longer retrievable.

In this regard, Nkadimeng said it was unfortunate that municipalities offer services first before invoicing.

[This] means if they're unable to collect, then they're unable to pay the water boards. They're unable to pay Eskom for electricity and for sustainable provision of water.

[This] means 80% of our municipalities are then living with huge debt [and] have already offered services she said.

Nkadimeng while some households could not afford to pay, others could. She said the campaign, Asisho is about acknowledging that yes, we know there are key areas municipalities need to improve on, but there are areas in which we need to be able to use and pay for the services for because we are receiving them.

To address this, municipalities across the country have indigent programmes that offer free basic services to pensioners and poor households.

Nkadimeng said it is important to concede that the trust deficit between government and citizens did not just emerge from nowhere.

If you do not as a municipality provide proper services or provide them in a sustainable manner, it creates the deficit in trust and it makes people - even those who are able to pay  think, why am I paying because even the money is going to be misappropriated.

The campaign will open up conversations targeted at:

Encouraging active citizenry in terms of paying for services to enable effective delivery by local government.

Promoting a capable and agile local government, with citizens at the centre of service delivery.

Local government and municipal employees, who are committed to their mandate and aware of their responsibility to pay their bills, as enshrined in the Municipal Employees Act.

- SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze will arrive in Armenia on a two-day visit on June 30, the German Embassy in Armenia said.

She will also visit Georgia.

In Armenia, Svenja Schulze will meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan.

According to the German Embassys statement, the Federal Minister will propose the Armenian side to raise the cooperation on development policy to a level of bilateral firm partnership. The visit will greatly contribute to strengthening and expanding the cooperation between Germany and Armenia over development policy.

Through the contacts with our partners I would like to know how Germany could at best assist Armenia, the Federal Minister said as quoted by the Embassy.
Tina Lynch, a cafeteria employee at Bellingham Memorial Middle School, recently got a free lunch courtesy of Papa Gino's in Woonsocket after the restaurant learned that Lynch recently saved a fifth grader during a choking incident at the school.
Flume Gorge, situated in the US State of New Hampshire, may seem like an amusement park ride, but it is not the creation of an engineer. Molten rocks, ice, running water, and frost have sculpted this remarkable chasm, which is a centerpiece of the state's Franconia Notch State Park. It is a must-see while visiting the White Mountains.

Geography And Climate Of Flume Gorge

Wooden walkway and steps along the Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire.

The Flume is a 240m long natural gorge situated at the base of Mount Liberty in New Hampshire's Franconia Notch State Park. It is a narrow scenic gorge with moss-covered granite cliffs on both sides. Consider 90-foot-tall walls that are just 12 feet apart at their narrowest point, for a total length of 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty. Visitors are transported across the gorge by wooden boardwalks, which provide access to the narrowest areas with waterfalls, stones, and pools. Flume Gorge also has two very distinct yet attractive covered bridges, stretches of calm woodland track, and a breathtaking outlook over endless rolling hills. The two-mile Flume Gorge circle trip is simple, enjoyable, and scenic  but expect people and arrive early to avoid foot traffic, particularly in the small gorge area.

According to the Koppen climate classification, Flume Gorge experiences a humid continental climate with warm, wet summers and cold, snowy winters. The average yearly temperature is 6C, with July and January recording the highest (19C) and lowest (-8C) average temperatures, respectively. On average, Flume Gorge gets 546.1mm of precipitation each year, with June reporting the highest number. The average annual relative humidity is around 72%, with a wind speed of 8km/h.

Brief History And Formation Of Flume Gorge

The Flume was found by chance in 1808 by a 93-year-old "Aunt" Jess Guernsey while fishing. She had difficulty persuading her family of the incredible find, but she ultimately encouraged others to come and see it. A massive egg-shaped boulder sat hanging between the walls at the time. The rock stood 3 meters tall and 3.6 meters long. An intense downpour in June 1883 triggered a landslide, which washed the boulder away. The same storm carved out the gorge and created the Avalanche Falls. The Conway granite that formed the Flume's walls was deeply submerged in molten lava over 200 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. As the granite cooled, it was split up by closely spaced vertical fractures that ran almost parallel in a northeasterly direction. Small basalt dikes were driven up along the cracks after the fractures developed. The basalt emerged from deep under the ground as a flowing substance and was able to push the Conway granite aside due to pressure. Against the comparatively chilly granite, the basalt crystallized fast. Basalt is a fine-grained rock as a result of its rapid cooling. If this material had ever reached the surface, it would have turned into lava flows. The earth's surface was progressively reduced by erosion, exposing the dikes. The pressure was alleviated when the top rock was worn away, and horizontal fractures formed, allowing water to enter the rock strata. The basalt dikes eroded quicker than the underlying Conway granite, creating the gorge's current valley. During the Ice Age, glaciers covered the valley, although the ice sheet did not significantly alter the landscape. It stripped soil, weathered rock from the area, and partially filled the valley with glacial debris. Flume Brook began to flow across the valley again after the Ice Age. Frost and the brook's water have both degraded the heavily fragmented granite and basalt. As one goes through the Flume, one looks at the Gorge floor for remnants of the significant basalt dike, and little trees are sprouting on the gorge walls. Erosion is still taking place.

Fauna Of Flume Gorge

This region's fauna includes moose, deer, bear, fish, and snowshoe hare. Year-round residents include dark-eyed juncos, evening grosbeaks, and boreal chickadees. Summer inhabitants include common loons, ospreys, and Blackburnian and bay-breasted warblers.

Attractions In Flume Gorge

The Flume Covered Bridge

The Flume Covered Bridge.

This scenic-covered bridge is one of the state's oldest. It was constructed in 1886 and has been repaired multiple times. Because of the darkness and solitude they afforded, such bridges were sometimes referred to as "kissing bridges." This bridge spans the beautiful Pemigewasset River. In the Abenaki language, pemigewasset means "swift or quick stream."

Table Rock

Table Rock

The flowing waters of the Flume Brook revealed this enormous protrusion of granite over time. Table Rock is a 150m long and 20m broad chunk of Conway granite. Visitors are requested to keep on the trail since the rocks are slippery.

Avalanche Falls

Avalanche Falls at the top of The Flume Gorge.

Avalanche Falls may be seen from the top of the Flume. As the Flume Brook reaches the gorge, the 13.6m cascade roars. The falls were produced after the big storm of 1883 when the hanging boulder was swept away.

Liberty Gorge

One must look for a turnoff on the Ridge Path that leads to Liberty Gorge, a spectacular cascading mountain stream that flows down the small valley.

Wolf Den

This is a one-way, small trail that requires crawling on hands and knees and squeezing through rocks.

Flume Valley is a must-see for anybody visiting New Hampshire for the first time, with antique-covered bridges, flowing waterfalls, and a 240m gorge. It is one of New England's greatest fall road trip destinations, with magnificent autumnal hues and a serene ambiance.
Western North Carolina is known as the nostalgia-inducing part of the state with vineyards and historic downtowns near the Blue Ridge Parkway. Offering vibrant hearts and a range of activities to suit any taste, it is no wonder that many of these towns start with the letter "B" for being the best big getaway into a small-town atmosphere.

Banner Elk

A couple is sitting on a cliff edge enjoying the scenic view in Grandfather Mountain State Park, Banner Elk, North Carolina.

Flanked by the Blue Ridge Range's Beech and Sugar peaks, Banner Elk features a perfect combination of a small-town vibe and big-city sparkle. Upon setting base at one of the cozy cabins, there's much to see and do here, including many modern museums, nice restaurants, craft breweries, and local vineyards. Comprising one of the state's northernmost climates, the town is popularly visited during winter for its two major ski resorts, the Sugar Mountain Resort to the south and Beech Mountain Resort to the north. During autumn, there's the huge October Woolly Worm Festival attended by hordes of tourists to see the town's traditional worm races that allegedly predict the upcoming winter's weather. With most breathing room during the warmer months, many come to explore the beautiful countryside via a summer's day stroll with a picnic. The Lees-McRae College features stone structures as historical sights on campus, as well as the recently-revived summer theater series, popular among tourists. The varied restaurant scene includes traditional BBQ and Cajun, as well as international cuisine, while the walk-able assortment of shops highlights Banner Elk's motto to "Just BE." Water fans will be happy to find a beach and a pier at Wildcat Lake in the vicinity, while the nearby High Swinging Bridge landmark leads one to the Grandfather Mountain State Park for the greatest outdoor escape, only 15 minutes away.

Blowing Rock

Autumn view of Broyhill Park and Mayview Lake in downtown Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

The popular small town brims with charm at every corner, from the idyllic town hall to the Kilwin's ice cream and fudge shop perfuming the air. Home to 1,300 residents, many come for the quaint town atmosphere, as well as to dine on the renowned food scene at elevations of over 3,500 feet. "Naturally," the town's most famous attraction is the rock face dominating the scape over the Johns River from 4,000 feet above the sea level. The cliff protrusion invites cool air to appear as if it is being lifted upwards. Upon climbing the formation, one gets scenic views of the peaks, sprawling forests, and the Johns River Gorge below. One can also stroll up the hilly streets of the town to get a fill of daily exercise, with many interesting stops on the way. For a morning coffee, there's the quirky Bald Guy Brew Blowing Rock or the Village Cafe for a champagne brunch set in a colonial-style building with a quaint courtyard that was utilized for basket-weaving and woodworking in the 1900s. A few minutes from downtown, off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Moses Cone Memorial Park is a massive manor and former home to an entrepreneurial philanthropist. Now a sprawling estate dotted with walking trails and horse stables, it is a perfect place to picnic and reminisce on its impressive size and history.

Brevard

An early morning misty photo of the High Falls of Dupont Forest in Brevard, Western North Carolina, taken during the summer season.

Brevard is renowned as a retro-hip small town, set just above the South Carolina border near Asheville, and the ultimate getaway into the Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Forest. The atmospheric main thoroughfare is filled with old-school cafes, shops, and micro-breweries, while the outskirts feature a state-of-the-art music center. Best for an imminent visit, there's a whole array of summer arts, music, and other festivals in full swing. Set in the area known as the "Land of Waterfalls," one can spend days strolling on the trails in search of over 200 cascades in the vicinity, with a rewarding cool-off after the hike. The slow incline and easy trail of Art Loeb are renowned for the open bald eagle views. Following the outdoor adventures, one can recharge on the Italian cuisine at the atmospherically rustic Marco Trattoria, housed in a cozy mountain lodge and inclusive with a dining al fresco courtyard. Whole families rejoice in visiting the flagship O.P. Taylor's toy shop to gawk at the impressive collection of old-fashioned wooden toys among the more contemporary sets. For more family-friendly fun, the Franklin Park comes with an all-wooded playground where kids have fun searching for white squirrels that are unique to this town.

Bryson City

Spectators observe Olympic hopefuls practice kayaking on the Nantahala River at the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, North Carolina. Editorial credit: elvisvaughn / Shutterstock.com

Set an hour away from Asheville, this small town was named one of the nation's twenty best towns. Bryson City serves as the ultimate getaway into the great outdoors, including easy access to the Deep Creek besides bordering the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The highly walkable downtown is home to an array of delightful restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and art galleries. Known for an active nightlife, there is a string of restaurants and bars along Depot Street, including the Nantahala Brewing for local beer and live music and Derailed for posh cocktails. The Nantahala River, the Fontana Lake, and the nearby Nantahala Outdoor Center offer endless adventures for white-water rafters, kayakers, and mountain bikers. There's zip-lining for extreme, while those seeking a respite should head to the shaded Island Park tucked on the shores of the Tuckasegee River. Bryson City is also the hub of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad with the famed Smoky Mountain Trains Museum, along with regular rides. The Swain County Heritage Museum is a treasure cove on the geography and history of the mountains.

Hendersonville

Aerial view of downtown Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Hendersonville is set near the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains, in the area known as "the land of orchards." Surrounded by natural beauty and vineyards, one can spend endless days in the outdoors strolling or sipping on the apple cider. Close to becoming a bona fide suburb, the downtown still retains an old-school feel with a quaint main thoroughfare full of wonderful shops and restaurants. There are several apple farms in the vicinity for picking a basket full of crunchy fruit, along with other farm produce. There are many interesting attractions for a wholesome family vacation, including a shark nursery, geodes museum, and vintage airplanes, while the Henderson County Heritage Museum exhibits Civil War artifacts, including a 1900s general store replica. One can also head to the sunny countryside on a summer's day for a leisurely stroll with a picnic or to the Jump Off Rock panoramic viewpoint for the second-to-none vistas from above.

Mount Airy

Andy Griffith's Homeplace in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Editorial credit: Dee Browning / Shutterstock.com

Lovingly known as Mayberry, the town emanates pleasure as the home to the late star Andy Griffith and The Andy Griffith Show. The annual Mayberry Days parade celebrates his memory, work, and life. One will see Sheriff Taylors police cars from the show cruising around, now used for tours, while inducing nostalgia in the visiting fans. One can stop by the landmark and have lunch at the Snappys Lunch to reminisce how Andy Griffith did so on the show as a young kid. Theres also the Andy Griffith monument set near the shows museum, and clay sculptures of lesser-known historical figures, like musicians, mill workers, and teachers, line the West Oak Street. While out and about, the eclectically-decorated Miss Angels sell a wide selection of sweets and baked goods. Set right outside of town, the Pilot Mountain State Park comes with a unique Big Pinnacle rounded mountain top known for unmatched views. Formerly used as a navigation point, people enjoy the trek-up and the panoramic vistas of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge mountains.

Saluda

Waterfalls at Pearsons Waterfall and Glen off NC Hwy 176 between Tryon and Saluda in North Carolina.

Set along the beautiful Green River, Saluda is a former railroad outpost turned into a lively township with many recreational opportunities. One can revisit the past by strolling through the historic downtown strip, while the active will find their thrill kayaking, fishing, and swimming in the river. After white-water-rafting their hearts out, the extreme-seekers can head to the Gorge Zip Line to drop from 1,100 vertical feet through 125 acres of old-growth forests. Abound with natural beauty, theres the 90-foot Pearson Falls, easily accessed via a short, scenic hike. The old-timey downtown is full of antique shops, specialty stores, and galleries, such as the Heartwood Gallery, with a spread of intricate locally-made creations. For breakfast, theres the popular Wards Grill with exceptional flapjacks made from scratch to go with sage sausage, while the Purple Onion is widely known for live music accompanying one of the regions more diverse menus. For a special and delicious souvenir, one must visit the atmospheric M.A. Pace General Store on the Main Street, which has been lovingly selling jars of locally-pickled and preserved goods since 1899. Having begun as a fund-raiser for the four-legged friends, the unusual Coon Dog Day event in July now attracts 10,000 people annually for the live music, crafts, a parade, 5K race, and a barking contest.

Tryon

Set proximate to Raleigh, in the wine heart of the region, Tryon's prestigious reputation and motto is the "friendliest town in the south." Known as the vibrant arts enclave and North Carolina's horse country, the small town boasts an un-proportionately wide array of activities to satisfy any taste. Tryon is host to the state's longest-running Tryon Block House Steeplechase, dating back to 1929, as well as home to the state-of-the-art Tryon International Equestrian Center with restaurants, lodging, and a spa. The charming town has been attracting many artists and writers into the area, reflected in the artsy vibe throughout the scape. One will find art exhibitions at the Tryon Fine Arts Center, along with community theater presentations, TEDx talks, classic films, and the Tryon Little Theater for kids. The historical downtown comes with an impressive amount of galleries and booksellers, in-between many antique stores, unique shops, and restaurants. While there, one must stop by the Lavender Bistro to dine on classic global cuisine, as well as the La Bouteille for the wide variety of craft libations.

Set within horses country, mountains, orchards, and vineyards, these small towns offer the best next getaway into the western corner of North Carolina. The vibrant streets brim with arts and modern attractions, while the nostalgic sights and historic buildings take one back to the by-gone days for the truly quaint respite, the heart desires.
Weather Alert

...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Daily heat index values of 100 to 110 degrees expected. * WHERE...Portions of southwest Indiana, southeast Missouri, western Kentucky, and southern Illinois. * WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 9 PM CDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Heat index values today will top out around 100 to 105 degrees. The peak of the heat will occur Tuesday through Thursday, when daily heat index values will reach 105 to 110 degrees. Daily chances for isolated thunderstorms will provide limited relief from the heat. 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. &&
14 year old arrested after alleged assault on young teenager

Police have said a teenager has been arrested in connection with an incident on the Ponciau Banks park.

Wrexhams Rural policing team have said, At around 8pm on Tuesday, June 21st, we were made aware of an incident that took place on the Ponciau Banks Park in Rhos, where a young teenager was assaulted.

We can confirm that a 14-year-old has since been arrested and referred to the Youth Justice Service.

Inspector Gavin Gilmore said, Incidents of this nature have absolutely no place in our towns and villages, and as a force we take them extremely seriously.

Tackling anti-social behaviour remains a district-wide priority for Wrexham officers and visible patrols will be ongoing.
YEREVAN, 29 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 29 June, USD exchange rate down by 0.08 drams to 408.31 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.20 drams to 429.75 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.11 drams to 7.83 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.37 drams to 496.42 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 99.88 drams to 23879.52 drams. Silver price down by 3.01 drams to 278.76 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.
Gwynedd break away from other North Wales councils on care fees  PR firm reports on council meeting

Wrexham Council have been accused of acting unlawfully over care fee levels, as Gwynedd Council may have stepped away from a fee standard across North Wales.

Gwynedd Councils Cabinet met yesterday to debate a Residential and Nursing Fees report that would increase the Gwynedd residential and nursing standard fee for the 2022/23 financial year.

Two options were put forward to them with the second preferred by Officers as there is a sufficient supply of residential placements, but a lack of nursing and dementia placements. The recommendation therefore is to increase all fees but to prioritise the nursing and dementia fees for a higher increase in order to sustain the market.

Councillors in Gwynedd were told of the wider context of North Wales, We will be stepping away from the north Wales standard fees. Considering that each areas fees is now different in any case, and that councils adapt the results of the model on a local level, there is a question mark over the future of the regional process in any case. Some other councils in north Wales have already noted that they are reviewing their fees as a result of the increase in costs and the pressures across the sector.

At the time of writing there is no webcast replay of the meeting viewable, nor can we find any BBC reports  direct or via the outsourced BBC Local Democracy Service, nor any other local media. For what could be a first, we are using an account of a North Wales council meeting via a PR firm hired by Care Forum Wales (CFW) to detail what apparently occurred and the outcome of the vote.

They say:

Until now Gwynedd have worked closely with other North Wales councils when calculating the fees for care homes and nursing homes. But at a Cabinet meeting councillors voted in favour of stepping away from the north Wales standard fees. They have set aside an extra 1.6 million to pay for the hikes in fees for the different types of social care. As a result, the weekly fee per person for Residential EMI care in Gwynedd has increased by 19.8 per cent to 780 while the rate for Nursing EMI care has gone up by 24.7 per cent to 900. That means funding for Nursing EMI in Gwynedd is now 5,124 more a year per person than for exactly the same level of care across the Menai Suspension bridge in Anglesey.

The coverage the fee issue has had across the limited media in North Wales was also put to councillors in the background to the report, which said: There has been some attention and criticism in the media to north Wales fee levels in comparison with fees which are set by local authorities in the south. Gwynedd fee levels and those of the remainder of the councils in the north are currently amongst the lowest in Wales. It appears many such articles were sourced from the PR firm that was helpfully covering the meeting yesterday  in effect being the media for North Wales.

In a press release Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of CFW, said of the apparent decision by Gwynedd Council: We are grateful to the councillors in Gwynedd for acknowledging their responsibilities and adopting a more realistic approach to setting fee levels to reflect the real costs of providing care.

This decision is hugely significant because it hopefully signals the end of the iniquitous North South divide in social care.

Apart from Gwynedd, all the other North Wales councils are lagging way behind in terms of fees, compared to authorities in South East Wales.

The fact that Gwynedd have essentially broken away from the other local authorities in North Wales ramps up the pressure on others to finally do the right thing instead of treating the most vulnerable people in society like second class citizens.

Anglesey, Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire are all still paying rock bottom fees. The fees are so low that providers are having to refuse placements of potential residents because they dont cover anywhere near the true costs of care. Wrexham and Conwy have promised in year reviews of their fees.

As a consequence those councils are effectively imposing a stealth tax on decent, hard-working families because care homes have been forced to charge top up fees to remain financially viable.

Even so, we have seen a raft of care home closures in recent times because the social care sector is incredibly fragile as was pointed out by the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, even before the pandemic began.

Ms Wimbury added: There is now nowhere to hide for all the other county councils in North Wales.

Gwynedd Council have demonstrated that where theres a will theres a way.

They have blown a massive hole in the fee setting cartel that was keeping the funding for social care artificially and unreasonably low.

It is incumbent on the likes of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire to take a close look at themselves in the mirror.

All we are asking for is fair and sustainable funding so that we can provide the best possible care for the most frail and vulnerable people in Wales.

Gwynedd have recognised their legal responsibilities and it now up to the other authorities to stop acting unlawfully and set fees that reflect the true cost of care.

We put the question locally to Wrexham Council, and asked if they were acting unlawfully as claimed by Ms Wimbury.

Alwyn Jones, Chief Officer Social Care told us, Wrexham Council is committed to supporting the care sector across the county.

He added, Care fees are set yearly using the North Wales Care Fees tool.

Top pic: Gwynedd Councils HQ.
Welsh Liberal Democrat outrage at coffeebait despite consultation stating this would not affect tea or coffee

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said Welsh Government have a proposed Tea & Coffee Ban for Under 16s and labelled the apparent plan outrageously illiberal.

Readers will recall the announced consultation on banning the sale of energy drinks for under-16s and limiting hot food takeaways near schools from earlier this month.

The consultation documents include an easy to read section, as well as a dull more formal document. One of the several questions asks Should the ban be widened to consider other drinks typically high in caffeine such as tea and coffee?.

As pictured above the easy to read consultation document states Any soft drinks that have the label High caffeine content would be part of the ban. This would not affect tea or coffee.

Reach PLC have run an article stating Banning the sale of tea and coffee to under-16s in Wales is something being considered as part of plans to make young people healthier and stop rising obesity rates. Concerns have been raised that the rising consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks is affecting students educations.

Reach PLCs Express title went a step further with the outrage:

Referencing the WalesOnline article headlined Under-16s in Wales could be banned from buying tea and coffee as part of proposed energy drinks clampdown Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds commented: It is beggars belief that this is even under consideration.

We are all aware obesity is a serious problem in Wales and it is important that we take action to reduce the levels across Wales.

However, it doesnt take an expert consultation to realise that tea and coffee are not responsible for high obesity levels.

It would be outrageously illiberal to ban the sale of coffee and tea to under 16-year-olds, something which they regularly drink themselves at home.

You can view the documents and understand the consultation for yourself, and perhaps take part, via https://gov.wales/proposal-end-sale-energy-drinks-children-under-16
Wrexham MS welcomes extension of free lateral flow tests for residents

Wrexham residents who have Covid-19 symptoms will be able to continue accessing free Lateral Flow Tests until the end of July.

Initially the provision of free tests was due to come to and this month.

However due to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases the Welsh Government announced that it would extend the availability of free tests until July 31.

An estimated 1 in 45 people in Wales currently have Covid-19, according to the latest survey undertaken by the Office for National Statistics.

Tests will be available to the public that are showing symptoms of coronavirus (high temperature a new, continuous cough, a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste), alongside free access for people visiting someone eligible for new Covid-19 treatments.

Access to free lateral flow tests was originally due to end in Wales at the end of June. Free mass testing ended in England at the beginning of April and Scotland ended free LFTs for most people after Easter.

Lesley Griffiths MS said: Whilst we are all getting used to life post-pandemic, its important to recognise coronavirus has not disappeared completely and we all remember how quickly the situation can change.

With the latest data indicating cases are on the rise, Im pleased the Welsh Government has acted decisively and announced this extension.

The Welsh Government adopted a cautious approach throughout the pandemic and this move is a clear demonstration this stance will not be abandoned.

Testing remains a key component in the battle against Covid-19 and ensuring LFTs are still available free of charge will make a difference here in Wales.

Self-isolation payments of 500 will end on 30th June 2022, whilst the Covid-19 Statutory Sick Pay Enhancement scheme will be extended until 31st August 2022 to support social care staff to stay away from work due to testing positive.

Ms Griffiths added: Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones.

If anyone eligible for the spring booster has yet to receive their jab, I urge them to get boosted before the 30 June deadline.
While both the number of infections and hospitalizations in Germany are rising rapidly again, the government is giving the virus free rein and dismantling the last remaining coronavirus measures.

On Friday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (Social Democratic Party, SPD) announced the end of free public testing. A few days earlier, he had presented a vague 7-point plan to combat the impending autumn wave, focusing on vaccinations and testing. Now, it is clear that even these areas will not be expanded, but cut back further.

Coronavirus testing centre in Frankfurt (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Starting July 1, a test at a public testing station will cost three euros. Only vulnerable groups, such as children up to five years old, women in early pregnancy and visitors to hospitals and nursing homes, will still be tested free of charge.

The consequences of the decision are broad. For many who must test regularly, it means a considerable financial burden that workers and the socially disadvantaged in particular can hardly afford.

With the abolition of free testing, the already inadequate data on the actual level of infections will be even less robust. Lauterbach himself revealed that only about half of coronavirus infections were being recorded. Without free testing, the number of unreported cases will rise even further.

'I will make no secret of it, I would have liked to continue the free tests for all,' Lauterbach explained cynically. The decision is in line with the policies the traffic light coalition of the SPD, Liberal Democrats (FDP) and Greens has followed since taking office. It has ended all remaining protections, essentially putting into practice the demands of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Lauterbach justifies the abolition of free tests with the tight budget situation that awaits us in the autumn. The truth is that the tests unfortunately cannot be afforded, he said.

Who is Lauterbach trying to fool? The federal government has just launched a special fund for the Bundeswehr of 100 billion to spend on rearmament. It is simply not willing to spend the money on coronavirus tests and other health and protection measures. Instead, these costs will be passed on to the working class, which is already struggling with rising heating, rent and food costs.

The decision makes clear the government will take no further action, even under conditions of a massive new wave of infections. Ending free testing not only eliminates the basis for reintroducing limited measures such as requiring a negative test result for entry into some public venues, the entire Autumn Coronavirus Strategy does not include a single mandatory protective measure.

Its seven points focus largely on a vaccination campaign and the procurement of vaccines adapted to the Omicron variant. However, Lauterbach has already ruled out a renewed push for mandatory vaccination, even though the majority of the population would support it. One looks in vain for terms such as lockdown or even mandatory masking. Instead, the document explicitly states, Nurseries and schools must remain open.

The seventh point refers to an amendment to the Infection Protection Act, which expires on September 23. New measures would thus not come into force until the end of September at the earliest, if at all. Lauterbach said he was in talks about this with Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP). Buschmann is notorious for regularly campaigning in AfD style against the least protective measures.

As recently as June 15, he stated on the Maischberger talk show, We must not underestimate what excessive, misapplied measures do to society. Our goal must be to combine health protection with our identity as a free society. By freedom, the FDP representative means the unrestricted accumulation of profits, even if it costs millions of lives.

In essence, Lauterbach stands for the same profits before lives policy that has been followed since the start of the pandemic. A few days ago, in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, he said, I believe that we all have the same goal here: to be able to react quickly with as few restrictions on freedom as possibleadapted to the situation.

At the same time, the government is aware that its policies are conjuring up another autumn with very high death rates. At the press conference following the state health ministers' conference, Lauterbach declared, Unfortunately, we must reckon with a severe coronavirus wave. The summer wave has already started now, but it will be more difficult in the autumn.

The federal governments strategy paper lists three possible scenarios elaborated by its Coronavirus Expert Council. The second scenario is considered the most likely: The disease burden caused by SARS-CoV-2 remains similar to the recent increases in Omicron variants BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.12.1, with a clustered occurrence of infections and work absences throughout the colder season. In fact, this scenario has already become a reality.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, the more infectious BA.4 and BA.5 variants already account for 56 percent of infections, with a massive increase in those affecteddespite the present warm temperatures. At 618 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the 7-day incidence rate is about 23 percent higher than a week ago. The virus is spreading particularly rapidly among the elderly. Last week, there were 119 outbreaks in nursing homes and homes for the elderly25 more than a week ago. A total of 50 people have died.

The number of severe outcomes is also increasing in the general population. The adjusted incidence of hospitalizations rose to seven (per 100,000) last week, or about 5,500 hospitalizations per week. The number of patients receiving intensive care rose to 780 from 670 the previous week.

To date, more than 140,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Germany due to the governments refusal to eliminate the virus through implementing the necessary scientific and public health measures. Many more deaths will follow if the ruling class has its way. According to the governments strategy paper, the most likely autumn coronavirus scenario could extend over a long period of time. Thus, without taking further measures, about 1,500 coronavirus deaths per week are to be assumed.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the confidante of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Manhattan court on Tuesday.

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 (Photo: US Justice Department)

In handing down the sentence, which was far less than the 30 to 55 years requested by prosecutors, New York Federal District Judge Alison J. Nathan said that Maxwell had direct and repeated participation in a horrific scheme with Epstein to sexually abuse and traffic underage girls. The damage done to these young girls was incalculable, Judge Nathan said.

Maxwell, 60, spoke in the courtroom for the first time since she was arrested and charged in July 2020 with six offenses, including sex trafficking a minor, and then convicted in December 2021 after a monthlong jury trial. She refused to accept responsibility for her crimes or apologize for the abuse endured by her victims over decades.

She merely acknowledged the pain and anguish suffered by the women who were as young as 14 years old when they were groomed for sex acts with the billionaire financier Epstein and his wealthy entourage of associates in various locations around the world. Maxwell deflected blame for the abuse of dozens of working class teenage girls, many of whom were from West Palm Beach, Florida.

Appearing in court in blue prison scrubs and shackled at the ankles, Maxwell said, It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein. She continued, Jeffrey Epstein should have been here before all of you.

Judge Nathan calculated the sentence at 15 to 19 years in prison based on guidelines and said that her decision was above the upper limit because of the victims disturbing testimony and the fact that Maxwell failed to show any remorse. Miss Maxwell is not punished in place of Epstein. Miss Maxwell is being punished for the role that she played, Judge Nathan said.

In addition to the 20-year prison term, Maxwell was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and a $750,000 fine. Judge Nathan said Maxwell will be sent to the Federal Corrections Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. Speaking to the media after the sentencing, Maxwells attorney Bobbi Sternheim said the verdict would be appealed and that her client had been vilified and pilloried and left holding the whole bag for Epstein. She also said that Maxwell could not afford to pay the fine.

Epstein, who was known to have been engaged in sex trafficking going back to the 1990s, avoided prosecution for his sex crimes due to relationships he had with people in powerful places. Among those who are known to have traveled with Epstein in his private Boeing 727 called the Lolita Express were Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Bill Gates and former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

In 2008, Epstein avoided federal sex abuse charges by agreeing to a plea dealnegotiated by his attorney Alan Dershowitz and then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acostathat granted him immunity along with four named and any unnamed potential co-conspirators.

In July 2019 Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges when he stepped off his private airliner at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. He was jailed awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. On August 10, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell. His death was declared a suicide by hanging by the New York City medical examiner despite evidence indicating he was murdered.

While the corporate media has been quick to characterize the sentencing of Maxwell as a pivotal moment and a measure of resolution to the criminal enterprise of Epstein and his ultra-wealthy and elite friends, the trial produced very little new information about who was involved in the sexual abuse of underage girls or why and how Epstein was protected from prosecution for so many years.

There is no doubt that stopping this information from finding its way into the public has been a primary concern of powerful individuals and organizations within ruling circles since the suspicious death of Epstein and throughout the arrest, trial and sentencing of Maxwell.

Detailed revelations about leading individuals within the American and international bourgeois establishment that were participating in Epsteins degenerate social gatherings and then helping with a cover up of the criminality would severely undermine the authority of the ruling class.

As pointed out by Michelle Licata, one of Epsteins victims who made statements to the Miami Herald, further details on the participants in the sex trafficking scheme need to be brought out. By Maxwell not giving up the names of the people that participated in these crimes against underage girls she is telling the world that she doesnt think she did anything wrong, Licata said.

Licata also said that Epsteins victims, who were betrayed by federal prosecutors in South Florida during Epsteins 2008 plea deal, are still owed an explanation from the government. There has never been a real apology and true justice for any of us, she said. It would be nice to hear from our own government that they failed to protect us and didnt punish the people that did it when we needed them the most.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. A consultation chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan took place, during which the draft Medium-Term Expenditure Program (MTEP) 2023-2025 was discussed, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan and Deputy Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan reported on summing up the discussions on the MTEP. It was mentioned that the MTEP 2023-2025 outlines the priorities and measures to achieve the targets set by the Government Action Plan, including in the areas of social protection, education, healthcare and other spheres. In this context, the fiscal framework of the MTEP, the forecasts on macroeconomic indicators, the departmental applications within the framework of the expenditure quotas of the MTEP, as well as proposals for supplementary capital expenditure programs for 2022 were presented.

During the exchange of views on the above-mentioned topics, issues related to the implementation of the Government's targets, development programs and other issues were discussed.

The Prime Minister instructed the heads of departments to be consistent so that the current and capital expenditures envisaged by the state budget 2022 are fully implemented.

The discussion of the state budget execution report for the second quarter of 2022 is planned for the near future.
Disruptions to the global supply chain, greatly intensified since the start of the pandemic, have affected multiple industries including the health care sector, which is currently suffering from severe shortages of Omnipaque.

Omnipaque, the brand name of Iohexol, is an iodine-based dye that is used to create contrast in soft tissue scans. It is a critical tool in CT scans and diagnostic procedures, as well as in preparation for surgeries. Iohexol is crucial to diagnosing and treating strokes, aneurysms and cardiac conditions, and is an essential resource for hospitals.

Initial reports anticipated an 80 percent reduction of the supply of Omnipaque for approximately two months. Within the last month, hospitals in North America were sent scrambling for this critical resource and carefully rationing it, delaying diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions. While the shortage was originally expected to abate within the next couple of weeks as production has resumed, hospitals are preparing for sustained shortages through the summer.

A patient has a CT scan at the Ajusco Medio General Hospital in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The shortages of Omnipaque are a devastating exposure of the irrationality of capitalist production, and a testament to the brutality of a profit-driven health care system. Furthermore, this shortage revealed the weakness of a nationally based Zero-COVID policy, as it was used to intensify international pressure against the Shanghai lockdown.

On May 16, the American Hospital Association (AHA) wrote a letter to General Electric (GE), which manufactures half of the global supply of Omnipaque, requesting that hospitals that specialize in strokes and cardiac conditions be prioritized in distribution. In the same letter, the AHA places blame for the shortages on China and the Zero-COVID policy.

The recent shutdown of the GE production plant in Shanghai due to COVID-19 raises significant concerns about Omnipaque product availability. Those concerns were exacerbated by the fact that the vast majority of Omnipaque products are produced only at GEs Shanghai plant.

The shortage is not the fault of China or the Zero-COVID policy. Unstable supply chains have occurred throughout the pandemic, but at no point were preparations made on an international scale for potential shortages of critical medical resources.

Under pressure from GE and hospitals, the GE plant that manufactures Omnipaque was partially reopened during the lockdowns, operating with only a third of the workforce in a closed loop system. At that point, Omnipaque was being produced at 25 percent capacity. GE indicated that the plant was further reopened to operate at 50 percent capacity two days after the AHAs May 16 letter. Production increased to 60 percent capacity on May 21.

GE also indicated that they have moved production of Omnipaque to Cork, Ireland, where that plant is operating at expanded capacity. However, the Ireland plant is only capable of producing a fraction of the supply of dye that the Shanghai plant produces.

In GEs reply to the AHA, they wrote, All of our customers, irrespective of contract, are able to source supply from alternative vendors if available. Irrespective of the shortage, the health care system is so beholden to pharmaceutical monopolies that they can be bound by contracts limiting where they can acquire critical resources.

As if the shortage were not already dire, Vizient, a distributor in the hospital supply chain, wrote in their Omnipaque shortage mitigation strategy document, Iopamidol (Isovue) [an alternative to Omnipaque], manufactured by Bracco Diagnostics, accounts for the second largest market share, but is not currently accepting new clients.

With the reopening of Shanghai, after successfully beating back the outbreak of Omicron BA.2, production of Omnipaque has resumed at full capacity. Ultimately it was the Zero-COVID policys effectiveness in defeating the COVID-19 outbreak that allowed production of Omnipaque to resume. However, demand continues to severely outpace supply. According to Alberta Health Services (AHS), on a weekly basis the AHS system conducts roughly 5,000 scans that require Omnipaque.

GEs June 16 update indicated that they have been operating at full capacity in Shanghai since June 8, several weeks of shortage are still anticipated and countless procedures have already been delayed and are continuing to be. Alberta Health Services estimated that roughly 2,400 procedures have been delayed as of June 18.

Regarding procedure delays, Dr. Janice Johnston of Redirect Health in Arizona told ABC, For someone whos been undiagnosed, we want to get at the problem quickly; making sure we get these tests done as soon as possible is always the best scenario.

The medical supply chain has demonstrated its weaknesses, but the pharmaceutical industry will do nothing to prepare for the next medical supply shortage. As the WSWS wrote on the baby formula shortage, it is not a mistake or a product of unforeseen circumstances but the result of a society controlled by a profit-driven ruling elite.

The supply chain disruptions that have impacted critical medical resources are a testament to the necessity of an international strategy to eliminate COVID-19 and end the pandemic, and a rationally planned economy based on human need, not profit.

It also demonstrates the limits of a nationally based Zero-COVID strategy, as international pressure was brought to expand production of Omnipaque during lockdowns. What is necessary to prevent further medical supply shortages, and for the elimination of COVID-19, is a scientifically, democratically planned economy.
Explosive testimony given Tuesday to the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021 presented an account of Trumps efforts to personally direct the storming of the Capitol, murder his opponents, and establish himself as dictator.

The testimony came from Cassidy Hutchinson, the former top aide to Trumps chief of staff Mark Meadows. In the course of her in-person testimony, supplemented by video clips of previous depositions, Hutchinson made clear that plans for a violent assault on the Capitol on January 6 headed up by Trump himself were in place well before the event.

Hutchinson said that after a White House meeting with Meadows on January 2, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani asked if she was excited by what was on tap for January 6. He told her, Were going to the Capitol. The president is going to be there. Hes going to look powerful. She also spoke of extensive intelligence from the Secret Service, the Capitol Police and the FBI of armed paramilitary organizations such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers planning to occupy federal buildings and target Congress on January 6.

The most significant component of her testimony, however, related to the events of January 6 itself. Hutchinson reported that in advance of his speech at the Ellipse, Trump was enraged that the Secret Service had set up magnetometers and was seizing weapons from Trump supporters who wanted to join the rally.

Trump and his co-conspirators, including Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and a substantial section of Republican lawmakers, knew that far-right paramilitaries in the crowd were heavily armed and prepared to seize and kill then-Vice President Mike Pence and leading Democrats in order to halt the certification of Joe Bidens victory.

She testified that Trump said: I dont fucking care that they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me. Take the fucking mags away.

Hutchinson said she overheard Meadows say in regard to chants by insurrectionists to hang Mike Pence and nooses set up outside the Capitol, He [Trump] thinks Mike deserves it. He doesnt think theyre doing anything wrong.

Hutchinson further revealed that after his speech at the Ellipse, Trump got into the presidential limousine, expecting to be driven to the Capitol. When the head of his Secret Service detail refused and insisted that he return to the White House, Trump tried to grab the wheel and then seized the Secret Service agent by the throat.

When taken back to the White House, Trump was in a rage, throwing things, while communicating with his co-conspirators on the phone, desperately trying to keep the coup going.

While his foot soldiers rampaged through the Capitol, Trump planned to march uninvited into the House legislative chamber, itself a breach of the constitutional separation of powers, and deliver a speech. He planned to prorogue Congress, seize the Capitol, and declare a state of emergency, setting the stage for overturning the election and installing himself as dictator.

Hutchinson finally testified that on January 7, Trump and Meadows discussed pardoning the rioters. In previously released taped testimony, she listed six Republican congressmenMo Brooks, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert and Matt Gaetzwho requested or inquired about presidential pardons in the aftermath of the failed coup. On Tuesday, she revealed that Giuliani and Meadows likewise asked for pardons.

The coup plan outlined by Hutchinson was modeled on the Beer Hall Putsch organized by Adolf Hitler on November 9, 1923, in which he planned to march on the Feldherrnhalle in Munich. The difference, however, was that Trumps plot was on a far larger scale and under the direction not of an upstart and little-known fascist politician, but the president of the United States.

The hearing itself was held under extraordinary conditions. The committee, headed by Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson and Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney, suddenly announced it on Monday after previously saying it would not call a further hearing until mid-July. It kept the subject matter of the hearing secret and concealed the identity of the witness, Hutchinson, until Tuesday morning.

The committee took extreme precautions and convened the hearing quickly because it feared for the life of its star witness. Witnesses at previous hearings of the committee have testified to receiving multiple death threats from Trump supporters, egged on by the would-be Fuhrer, who repeatedly denounces the committee as a kangaroo court.

There is no precedent for such a coup in US history, nor in any other major industrialized country. All those who have sought to downplay the significance of January 6 stand thoroughly exposed.

The explosive testimony raises a whole host of further questions. Given the amount of preparation by the coup plotters, why was the Capitol left unprotected? Why was there a virtual stand-down of the Capitol police and military, and who ordered it?

Then there is the further question: Had Trump succeeded on January 6, what would America have looked like on January 7? There is every reason to believe he would have launched mass arrests and killings of his political opponents.

Finally, there is the question: What was the Democratic Party doing throughout all of this? Biden was virtually silent before, during and after the January 6 coup. He said nothing for hours while Trumps fascists ransacked the Capitol and the Democrats cowered in their offices and emergency bunkers. When he did finally speak, it was to request that Trump, the organizer of the coup, call off his goons.

The Democrats had access to the same intelligence as the White House as to the intentions of Trump and his allies. But they did nothing to warn the population about what was happening, let alone take measures to stop it. Even now, Biden refuses to speak about the latest revelations, and the Democrats refuse to call for Trumps indictment and prosecution.

The Democratic Party has sought to rehabilitate the Republican Party, pleading for unity with their colleagues and friends. Its overriding concern is to fashion some kind of unity with Republicans and maintain the two-party system in order to prosecute the imperialist war against Russian and the preparations for war against China.

As a result, Trump and his co-conspirators have been left free to continue their plotting to destroy democratic rights and establish a fascist dictatorship.

The Socialist Equality Party demands that Trump be indicted and tried for an attempted fascistic coup. Such a trial must expose the whole conspiracy, not just the role of Trump. Who else was involved in the Republican Party, the Supreme Court, the military, the police, the intelligence agencies and the state governments?

Such a trial would not only jail the gangster Trump and his fellow thugs but expose the complicity of the Democrats and the failure of the capitalist system itself, which is hurtling toward world war and dictatorship.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) are conducting a vigorous campaign for their online public meeting next Sunday, entitled The lessons of the mass uprising in Sri Lanka. The event will broadcast via Zoom and be live-streamed on the partys Facebook page.

Campaigners are distributing printed copies of the SEP statement, To oppose IMF austerity, Sri Lankan workers must draw the lessons of past two months of popular uprising, as well as circulating it through social media platforms.

The meeting is being held in an extremely explosive political situation. This week the Colombo government took further measures to shut down government offices and schools and asked private employers to limit calling in workers because of fuel shortages.

Next Garment workers demand their bonuses, December 2020 [Photo: WSWS Media]

The government has told people to restrict their movement and yesterday it increased fuel prices and bus and rail fares. The government has almost no foreign exchange to import essentials, including fuel, food and medicines.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is in Colombo continuing discussions about the further harsh austerity measures the government must impose in order to obtain a bailout loan. Senior US officials are in Sri Lanka too, backing the governments turn to the IMF and strengthening Washingtons geo-political interests.

Mass protests and strikes involving millions of workers in Sri Lanka are part of an international upsurge of working-class struggles. Trade unions backed by the opposition parties and pseudo-left groups have blocked these struggles from developing in a revolutionary direction.

The SEP/IYSSE meeting has been called to discuss the important lessons of the past two months in order to politically prepare for the coming struggles.

Below are some of the comments made by those who have registered for Sundays meeting.

D.M.D.P Jayawardena [Photo: WSWS]

D.M.D.P Jayawardena, a health assistant at Kandy Hospital, explained that due to the shortage of staff they have to work all day and night, adding to the difficulties produced by fuel shortages. Although I went to a filling station last Friday with the fuel permit for essential health services, I had to return home without having any fuel after waiting for six hours in the queue.

Despite this dire situation, the trade unions have maintained a dead silence. As if workers have no problems! They accept what the government says, workers must sacrifice, and thats the reason for their silence. We have become very helpless since the government has limited our overtime pay. Since I cannot live on this salary, I cultivate a paddy field during my free time.

He invited other workers to participate in Sundays meeting. In the discussions at the Kandy Health Workers Action Committee, I realised that these issues could not be resolved through changes in parliament or through elections. I think a broad group of workers should come to that realisation and actively contribute to the formation of action committees.

Neranjala, a deputy school principal in Colombo, said: The government is closing schools arbitrarily due to the fuel crisis. We cannot anymore bear the destruction happening to the education of students. Many of them have no hope for the future. None of them are responsible for this crisis. But why do they have to pay the price for that? This situation cannot be tolerated anymore.

I read the WSWS article on how big companies in Sri Lanka have made profits in the midst of this crisis. I felt really angry when I went through the numbers. That is the wealth that can solve the problems of the suffering people. The most important point is that not only the bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka should be responsible for this situation. It is the wealth accumulation by the capitalists all over the world that has created the inequality on a global level.

Many people did not have this understanding during the recent struggle that demanded [President] Gotabhaya Rajapakse go home. Without that understanding workers will not be able to decide what program they should fight for in future struggles. There is no way for capitalist profit-making and human needs to co-exist in this period. The capitalist system must be brought to an end in order to protect human interests.

I have attended SEP meetings before. I believe these crucial issues will be discussed more broadly in this meeting.

Sarath, a young garment worker in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (KFTZ), had participated in the April 28 and May 6 general strikes.

Katunayake free trade zone workers protesting on 28 April 2022 [Photo: WSWS media]

The trade unions in the Katunayake zone did not call protests. We cannot come onto the streets all of a sudden because workers fear the loss of jobs which may affect families. But this time workers came out united.

The Free Trade Zone and General Services Trade Union had betrayed a 10-day wage strike by garment workers in January, after which workers left the union.

Sarath commented: I believe we must organise ourselves to take up the struggle to reject all these capitalist politicians so that we can come out of these miserable conditions.

Campaigners discussed with Sarath the necessity of building action committees, as new organisational forms, in every factory and working-class neighbourhood. The discussion went on to the importance of the fight for the international unity of workers, given that free trade zone workers are directly exploited by multinational corporations.

Sarath replied: To form such committees is good. We must seek ways to remove these governments. I can organise friends from my factory for such an action committee.

He warned that factories could close because of the way things were developing in the country. We see everythingthe supply of fuel, foodshas collapsed. I believe forming an alliance with other workers in the country and other countries should be possible.

Nuwantha, a young worker in the KFTZ, also had joined the general strikes on April 28 and May 6. He said the masses in Sri Lanka were already suffering starvation. I have to spend my whole salary on our meals. Finally nothing remains. I cannot even buy a vegetable. If we want to save any money, we have to skip meals.

Nuwantha condemned the government for deploying the military around the free trade zone after the May 6 general strike. It is afraid of workers coming into struggle. No matter how hard the government tried to stop workers, the conditions they face forced them to do nothing but fight.

We voluntarily participated in those strikes without any call by the trade unions. We expected some change to happen but our struggle produced no results.

Nuwantha wanted to know why, which led to a discussion on the role of the trade unions, the global capitalist crisis, the need for socialist policies and the fact that these issues will be explored at Sundays public meeting.

Sanduni [Photo: WSWS]

Sanduni Somaratne, a final year drama and theatre student at the University of Kelaniya, commented: This economic crisis is seriously affecting our future. I am doing an external degree at a government university. The exam fees have increased a lot. Class fees have doubled. I even had to pawn my necklace to pay the fees. Many of my friends continue their education in a similar manner. But with the lack of job opportunities, we all feel uncertain about the future.

It was encouraging to see workers entering the struggle. I strongly believe that the working class can change this situation. Implementing IMF measures means dragging people from bad to worse.

The student criticised the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the pseudo-left Frontline Socialist Party for deliberately confusing the anti-government protesters by saying that applying more pressure would change the government.

Repudiation of the foreign debt is a crucial action in resolving the crisis in Sri Lanka. I agree that production and distribution must be taken out of the hands of big business. How can such steps be implemented except by uniting with the international working class? Everyone in the anti-government struggle must recognise the limitations of their own struggle.
A ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday has resulted in the dismissal of all criminal charges against those responsible for the water poisoning of the population of Flint.

Downtown at dusk where the Flint River crosses [Credit: WSWS Media]

The ruling of the majority of the Michigan justices stated that criminal charges against eight officials cannot stand due the restricted scope of a judge sitting as a one-man grand jury in the case. The court found that a single-judge grand jury has no authority to issue indictments but can only be used to investigate, subpoena and issue warrants.

Hours after the decision, attorneys for former Republican Governor Rick Snyder moved to dismiss all charges against him.

As of this writing, neither Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer nor Attorney General Dana Nessel had commented on the ruling, which effectively shuts the door on prosecuting those responsible for a massive social crimewhich resulted in at least 100 deaths, miscarriages, emotional and mental developmental problems in children and countless lifelong illnesses.

The switch by government officials, Democratic and Republican alike, to the toxic Flint River in 2014 without adding anti-corrosion treatment was, until the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest public health catastrophe in US history.

The record shows that the Democratic Party on all levels has aided, abetted and covered up for a monumental social crime. Despite campaign promises in 2018 to hold those responsible for the poisoning of Flints water accountable, Whitmer entered the governors mansion and effectively wiped the slate clean by dropping all criminal cases, including involuntary manslaughter, more than three years since the first charges were filed.

Nessel declared at the time, Justice delayed is not justice denied. Flint residents think otherwise.

Florlisa Fowler, a resident of Flint who has been involved in fighting against the impact of the water crisis since 2014, remarked to the WSWS, First, Nessel dismissed the charges in 2019, and its been a complete whitewash ever since. In my view, going to a one-man grand jury was a stunt that allowed the state to get off the hook with a technicality. They thought they would pull a rabbit out of the hat, and instead they have continued to harm us. The Democratic Party is responsible for this; they are as negligent as the Republican Party. Why were all the charges dropped in 2019? Why werent those court proceedings continued?

The Whitmer administration has been trying to placate us since she came into office in 2018. Many people had faith in the system, in the courts, but there is no justice in the courts.

Flint residents protested continually against the bad water.

Fowler commented on the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in relation to the state courts ruling on Flint. It means they will not take into account the vast majority who support the right to abortion. I would say the vast majority of people in Flint believe all the officials involved in poisoning us and covering it up should be held accountable, and they should be in jail. But the courts will not do that.

Decades of precedents are being thrown out. What next? It makes me question the whole system. The courts are part of the system that supports the ruling class, not of the people, by the people or for the people. If we are going to get justice, we have to do it ourselves. We cannot delude ourselves into thinking those responsible for hurting us are going to give us justice.

Vicki, another Flint resident who is a retired retail worker, noted, Once again the entire government, the whole system is screwed up. I do not have much to say. ... I knew it was going to happen two months ago. Whitmer and Nessel had absolutely no intention of pursuing charges for any of them. They just want us to go away. The Democrats and the Republicans represent everybody except the people. Theyre for the corporations and the money.

Dr. Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech civil engineering professor who organized the independent sampling of Flints water and exposed the lies of Michigan water authorities, told the WSWS, Those directly responsible were let off the hook long ago, so I have been skeptical about the entire case ever since. All of that time, money and raised expectations for nothingits a worst case outcome. Maybe this epic story of government failure at all levels, was just destined to end in a fiasco like this

Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, the Flint pediatrician who opposed the use of bone scans, especially on children, to determine monetary awards from the ongoing and completely inadequate Flint Water Settlement, said, I have never followed hearings and trials before which have no determinant end. Charges are filed, all are dropped and on and on. Nothing is settled. It is not what I expect from the justice system, but then I am not really surprised. At least $37 million were spent on the hearings before they were dropped by Whitmers administration. Behind the Flint water crisis was the abdication of democratic principles through the imposition of an unelected Emergency Manager.

It should be recalled that Snyder endorsed Biden for president in 2020. The Poisoner-in-Chief claimed that President Trump  has demonstrated that he does not fully appreciate public policy matters, including public health

The WSWS noted at the time that the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party welcomed the support of the widely-hated governor who oversaw, lied and covered up the water poisoning. It revealed how indifferent and hostile the Democrats are towards the 90,000 residents of Flint who overwhelmingly believe Snyder and his accomplices should be in jail.

Snyders endorsement was part of a calculated and coordinated effort by the Biden campaign to win support from Republicans, which continues to this day as Biden praises Republicans as his colleagues while they run rough-shod over democratic rights and attempted to carry out a coup on January 6, 2021.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Mnatsakan Safaryan received the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to the Republic of Armenia Andre Akambi Okunlola-Biau (residence in Moscow) on the occasion of presenting the copy of his credentials.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the Deputy Minister congratulated Ambassador Okunlola-Biau on assuming the post, wishing him fruitful work in the responsible mission in favor of the development and strengthening of relations between Armenia and Benin.

The interlocutors stressed the need to take steps to develop and expand cooperation in a number of areas of mutual interest. Both sides praised the positive experience of cooperation between Armenia and Benin in various international platforms, including within the framework of the International Organization of La Francophonie.
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Canada opens its first embassy in the South Caucasus in Armenia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Melanie Joly considers her country's decision as an important guarantee of increasing Canada's support for Armenian democracy.

"This will allow for stronger ties between our countries and increase Canada's support for Armenian democracy. As the rules that ensured stability and security are challenged, Canada will work to protect peace and democracy globally.," the Canadian FM said in a Twitter post.

Canada is opening an embassy in Armenia. This will allow for stronger ties between our countries and increased Canadian support for Armenian democracy.



As the rules that ensured stability & security are challenged, Canada will work to protect peace & democracy globally.  Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) June 29, 2022

Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan welcomed Canada's decision to have a resident ambassador. " This is yet another milestone in progressively developing Armenian-Canadian relations which will further reinforce our bilateral cooperation based on common values," said Minister Mirzoyan.

We strongly welcome #Canada's decision to open Embassy in #Armenia with resident Ambassador. This is yet another milestone in progressively developing Armenian-Canadian relations which will further reinforce our bilateral #cooperation based on common values. pic.twitter.com/Trff34HDZ5  Ararat Mirzoyan (@AraratMirzoyan) June 29, 2022

On June 28, Foreign Minister of Armenia held a phone conversation with Melanie Joly. The sides commended the effective cooperation between the two countries within a number of spheres and stressed reciprocal commitment to make efforts towards the further deepening of Armenian-Canadian relations. Minister Mirzoyan welcomed the report of the Special Envoy of Canada to the European Union and Europe Stephane Dion, entitled "Support to Armenian Democracy", which contains important provisions in terms of outlining new opportunities for the development of Armenian-Canadian relations.
The statement issued by the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Azerbaijan that on the night of June 28-29 the units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened firefrom various caliber firearmsin the direction of the Azerbaijani positions located in the eastern part of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border does not correspond to reality.

June 29, 2022, 10:15 Armenian military denies Azerbaijani defense ministrys statement on opening fire

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: ''The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively stable and is under the full control of the Armenian Armed Forces, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The United States has imposed a ban on the import of gold from Russia. The order to that effect has been published on the website of the US Treasury Department, Tass informs.

June 29, 2022, 11:26 US Treasury imposes ban on Russian gold imports

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The importation into the United States of gold of Russian Federation origin is prohibited, except to the extent provided by law, or unless licensed or otherwise authorized by OFAC," the document says.

"This determination excludes gold of Russian Federation origin that was located outside of the Russian Federation prior to today," the US Treasury notes. The order comes into effect from the moment of publication.

The US Treasury Department notes that the ban in particular applies to all gold-related transactions involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund and the Russian Ministry of Finance.
The United Nations said Tuesday it had launched an emergency appeal to help hundreds of thousands of people in areas of Afghanistan ravaged by last week's deadly earthquake, AFP reported.

June 29, 2022, 17:26 UN appeals for $110 million for Afghanistan quake victims

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: The 5.9-magnitude quake last Wednesday hit hardest in impoverished Paktika province in the east, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

The UN humanitarian agency said that it and its partners had launched an appeal for $110 million to urgently help 362,000 people for the next three months in the worst affected areas of Paktika and Khost provinces.

"In addition to the tragic deaths and injuries, the earthquake also destroyed homes, health facilities, schools and water networks, leaving thousands vulnerable to further harm," spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters.

He said the appeal launched Monday was part of this year's overall Humanitarian Response Plan for the impoverished and conflict-torn country.

To be fully implemented, that would require $4.4 billion, but has so far only be 34 percent funded, Laerke said.

Last Friday, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths also released $10 million from the UN's Central Emergency Relief Fund to help boost the support.
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Swedish loss-making airline SAS is fighting for survival, the latest carrier to hit financial straits due to hefty debts, stiff competition and soaring costs, even as the travel industry recovers from the pandemic.

SAS has said a restructuring plan announced in February depends on it raising 9.5 billion Swedish crowns ($946 million)in cash and converting 20 billion crowns of debt to equity.

Many governments across the world helped shore up their national carriers during the pandemic. But Sweden and Denmark, which both have 21.8% stakes in SAS, are taking very different approaches to the Scandinavian brand.

Denmark has said it is willing to increase its ownership and write off debt, but Sweden has refused to inject more money.

WHY DOES SAS MATTER SO MUCH TO DENMARK?

SAS AB, formally known as Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark  Norway  Sweden, is headquartered in Stockholm, but it uses Copenhagen Airport, the largest in Scandinavia, as its main hub.

Denmark's Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen has said SAS is important for the Danish economy and ensuring good travel connections from the Nordic country to the rest of Europe as well as long-distance flights to other continents.

SAS directly employs almost 7,000 people, equally shared between Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company underpinned 20,000 jobs in the Scandinavian region, 6,800 of those in Denmark, according to a 2019 report by Copenhagen Economics commissioned by SAS.

SAS accounted for almost a third of direct and indirect flights to Denmark, according to the report. It also accounted for 82% of transfer air traffic at Copenhagen airport in 2017.

To Danes, SAS has traditionally been linked to a sense of pride and even a collective sense of ownership as it evolved to become a leading premium carrier in the decades following its creation in 1946.

WHAT HAS GONE WRONG?

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At its height in the 1980s, SAS was named the world's best airline by an industry group. But with the emergence of low-cost rivals such as Ryanair things began to change.

The company has been in nearly constant financial trouble since the turn of the century, and last year lost 6.5 billion Swedish crowns ($638 million), with revenue just a third of pre-pandemic levels.

On consumer review site Trustpilot, SAS is rated 1.5 out of five stars, just above Ryanair's 1.4.

Adding to SAS' trouble, some 1,000 SAS pilots in Denmark, Norway and Sweden plan to go on strike on June 29 over disagreements over wages and cost-cutting plans.

WHAT DOES DENMARK WANT?

Denmark's parliament agreed this month to write off some of SAS' debt and convert some more into equity, as well as to inject new cash. That could increase Copenhagen's stake in the airline to up to 30%.

But the government has made it a condition of the cash injection that SAS gets private investors to participate too.

IS THIS A PROBLEM?

While the Danish government has promised to stay out of day-to-day business, it wants to protect its interests.

Denmark wants "influence over the elements in SAS that are central to maintaining SAS' strong foothold in Denmark and contribution to Denmark's international accessibility," the finance ministry said this month.

That may deter large investors and consortia that might have been interested in making sweeping changes at SAS, according to Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen.

WHAT IS SWEDEN DOING?

Sweden, which has already injected more than 8 billion Swedish crowns into SAS over recent decades, has taken a harder line on new financing.

Stockholm said this month it would not provide new cash to SAS, though it approved the debt-for-equity plan.

If the airline does raise new equity, this will reduce Sweden's stake. The country has said it wants to exit SAS completely in the long term.

HOW ABOUT NORWAY?

Neighbouring Norway's government sold its remaining 10% stake in SAS in 2018, arguing there was no need for the state to own airline stocks.

Still, it is a major creditor with 1.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($153 million) in loans made during the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Oslo said it would support SAS' debt-to-equity plan, under certain conditions, but did not plan to remain a long-term stakeholder.

($1 = 10.0434 Swedish crowns)

($1 = 9.7801 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard, additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche. Editing by Mark Potter)
Darice Lauren Marie White

Authorities announced Tuesday night that they have found a missing Allouez woman in a residence in Alabama.

Police in Wisconsin ware looking for a woman who was last seen Friday at a bus station in Mississippi with plans to go to Wisconsin.

Darice Lauren Marie White, 27, was seen at a Greyhound station in Meridian, Mississippi, on Friday, according to a Wisconsin Crime Alert Network posting Tuesday afternoon. She was reported missing on Saturday after she didn't arrive at her destination.

White, who has ties to multiple areas of Wisconsin, is considered missing and endangered, the alert said.

White is 5-feet-4 and weighs 145 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She has a rose tattoo on the outside of her right wrist and "Azailyah" tattooed on the inside of her right wrist.

Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 431-8333, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin woman found safe, was missing after last seen in Mississippi
Brittney Griner, center, being led to a hearing in a Russian court. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

WNBA star Brittney Griner remains jailed in Russia on charges of drug smuggling.

Cherelle Griner described letters she has received from her wife in an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton.

Cherelle says Griner is putting up a tough front but believes she is "struggling" and "terrified."

Brittney Griner remains jailed in Russia, and her wife said Wednesday that while the WNBA star is putting up a tough front, she doesn't believe Griner is doing well.

The Phoenix Mercury center has been in jail for more than 130 days on drug-smuggling charges after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

On Wednesday, Griner's wife, Cherelle, spoke with Rev. Al Sharpton on his SiriusXM radio show, "Keepin' It Real." Cherelle said she hasn't talked Griner since February 17, when Griner left the US to go to Russia, but she has received letters.

Cherelle described those letters to Sharpton and said she believes that Griner is trying to mask how scared she really is.

"Because I am her person, she is always going to write persuasively to make sure I don't break, because she knows I have all these things going on. She's always trying to be my strong person," Cherelle said. "She's telling me she's okay. She's like, 'I'm okay, babe. I'm hardened. I'm not me right now. When I come home, it's going to take me a minute to get back to myself, but I'm holding on. I won't break until I come home. I won't let them break me. I know they are trying to, but I'm going to do my best to just hold on until I can get home.'"

Cherelle Griner, Brittney Griner's wife, recently spoke to Al Sharpton on his radio show. AP

Brittney and Cherelle were supposed to speak on the phone two weeks ago, but that call fell through because of a "logistical error" at the US Embassy in Moscow.

Cherelle also talked about the importance of keeping Brittney in the news and maintaining pressure on officials who can help bring her home.

"Every second that goes by, BG is struggling," Cherelle said. "She's struggling. She's there, terrified. She's there, alone. Everything about this is just her biggest nightmare, on top of the fact that BG is in a situation where this isn't even a trial. Nothing about this is justice."

Earlier this week, Griner's trial date was set for July 1. It's questionable whether she'll get a fair hearing: Russia has a 99% conviction rate, and some experts believe it will be a "show trial" with a predetermined outcome.

Read the original article on Insider
Monger Gold Ltd

Monger Gold Ltd (MMG.AX) Expansion of the Scotty Lithium Project by 37%

Perth, Australia, June 29, 2022 - (ABN Newswire) - Monger Gold Ltd (ASX:MMG) is pleased to advise it has staked additional claims adjoining the recently acquired Scotty Lithium Project in Nevada, USA, increasing the Project area by 37% to 19,280 acres (7,802 ha). The 264 new claims (covering 5,280 acres) cover prospective ground based on historical gravity and magnetotelluric (MT) geophysics data (see Figures 1 and 2*).



Highlights:



- Monger expands the Scotty Lithium Project by 37% to 19,280 acres (7,802 ha)



- Monger has staked an additional 264 claims (covering 5,280 acres) to the south of the Scotty Lithium Project to cover the potential southern extension of the adjoining Bonnie Claire Lithium Deposit, which is one of North America's largest undeveloped lithium resources



- The new claims cover the southern extension of a strong gravity "low", which indicates a thick sequence of lithium-bearing sediments extend into this new area



- Resistivity "low" anomalies (conductors) are evident in historical MT geophysics data around this new area - potentially reflecting the presence of lithium-bearing brines



o These anomalies have never been drill tested



- High-impact exploration programs have commenced (ASX announcement 20 June 2022) with:



o Surface geochemistry sampling across the entire project underway;



o Additional MT geophysics surveying in H2 2022 to define lithium-brine targets; and



o Maiden drilling program to commence in H2 2022 to test surface anomalies, extensions of the Bonnie Claire Deposit, and geophysical targets within the Scotty Lithium Project.



- Monger's strategy is to become a leading lithium supplier to the North American battery industry through exploration and development of both sediment-hosted and brine lithium resources.



The new claims are located directly along strike from the Bonnie Claire Lithium Deposit, which is one of North America's largest undeveloped lithium resources. The Company believes that there is a high probability that this new area contains extensions of that mineralisation. The new claims were staked in the name of Monger's US subsidiary, Nevlith LLC.



Monger's Chairman, Mr Peretz Schapiro said: "We are very pleased to substantially expand our recently acquired Scotty Lithium Project in Nevada."



"The Scotty Lithium Project adjoins one of North America's largest undeveloped lithium resources at Bonnie Claire, is proximal to the only brine producing lithium mine in the US, and just 300km from Tesla's Gigafactory."



"The paradigm shift to electric vehicles has started and continues apace with increased demand for metals such as copper and lithium clearly identified. Through development of the Scotty Lithium Project, MMG is striving to become a significant player in the lithium market."



"With a surface geochemical sampling campaign already underway at the Scotty Lithium Project, followed by a geophysics survey and a drill program, we are giving ourselves every chance to make a significant lithium discovery at Scotty in the near future."



Very limited exploration has been undertaken to the south of the Bonnie Claire Deposit (which hosts Inferred Resources of 3.4Bt @ 1,013ppm Li for 18.3 Mt of Li2CO3 equivalent). However historical gravity data indicates the sedimentary sequence that hosts this deposit extends well to the south - into the recently staked area (see Figure 3*). There is considerable potential for these sediments to host similar mineralisation to that delineated at the Bonnie Claire Deposit.



Furthermore, a single line of MT data, acquired in 2016 in the southern part of the Scotty Lithium Project delineated multiple strong resistivity lows (=conductivity highs; see Figure 4*).



These anomalies are interpreted to potentially arise from lithium-bearing brines within the geological sequence. The shallowest of these anomalies lies 500-800m below surface. They are yet to be drill-tested.



Monger anticipates implementing the following exploration programs at the Scotty Lithium Project over the next 12 months:



(i) Systematic surface auger-sample geochemistry program over the entire Project area, which is now underway;



(ii) MT geophysics survey to delineate lithium-brine targets across the Project area.



(iii) An initial drilling program, commencing H2 2022;



(iv) Maiden JORC (2012) Mineral Resource estimate (subject to results); and



(v) First-pass metallurgical testwork (subject to resource).



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/53BI687V







Story continues

About Monger Gold Ltd:



With an enterprise value AUD $1m and AUD $5m in funding, Monger Gold Limited's (ASX:MMG) intention is to generate value for shareholders by directing funds raised by the Offer into targeted and systematic exploration of our Projects, resulting in the definition of one or more JORC compliant gold and nickel resources.



Contact:



Peretz Schapiro

Non-Executive Chairman

info@mongergold.com.au



Source:

Monger Gold Ltd



Copyright (C) 2022 ABN Newswire. All rights reserved.
Roe v. Wade - We Wont Go Back! Rally was held at the Kentucky State Capitol Sunday evening in Frankfort. June 26, 2022

Kentuckians continued to react Sunday to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, with hundreds of people gathering outside the Capitol.

Katima Smith-Willis, a community organizer in Frankfort, said the impact of the decision on Black people inspired her to organize the protest.

"We've always been the stepping stool for America," she said.

The Supreme Court reversed the landmark 1973 decision that established abortion as a constitutional right after a 6-3 ruling was released Friday, ending access to abortion in Kentucky and more than a dozen other states.

A "trigger law" put in place by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2019 placed an immediate ban on abortions in the Commonwealth once Roe v. Wade was struck down. The procedure can now only be performed in the commonwealth in circumstances where the procedure saves the life of a patient or prevents a disabling injury.

Reactions and updates from Louisville: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade abortion ruling

Summer Dickerson spoke out at the Roe v. Wade - We Wont Go Back! Rally was held at the Kentucky State Capitol Sunday evening in Frankfort. June 26, 2022

Smith-Willis said the decision is indicative of America's views on those who can bear children, especially about Black people, who are three times more likely to get an abortion than white people, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

White women had the lowest abortion rate, 6.6 abortions per 1,000 people, and Black women had the highest rate, 23.8 abortions per 1,000 women, among the 30 areas that reported race by ethnicity data for 2019.

"They don't care about me, they don't care about my sister, they don't care about my friends. They don't care about anybody in my life, especially Black women," she said.

Other Black women have paved the way for Smith-Willis' activism, she said. She said her grandmother is angry at the ruling and expected Smith-Willis to follow a path toward activism.

The event, coordinated solely by Smith-Willis, was organized via Facebook and word-of-mouth, she said. On Sunday, more than 500 people had responded to Smith-Willis' call to action online.

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Smith-Willis said people are overlooking the underlying issue.

"Women are going to die," she said.

Abortion isn't about killing or sin to Smith-Willis. It's about saving lives. Smith-Willis is a parent with a history of miscarriages and who had difficulty giving birth to her son. She said the overturn of Roe v. Wade has affected her plans for the future.

"I don't want to get pregnant knowing that I can't have that option on the table if something happens to me," she said.

Smith-Willis isn't alone in her sentiments about the Supreme Court's ruling. Gabby Tucker, of Campbellsville, who planned on attending Sunday's protest, told The Courier Journal the decision is affecting all women.

"Its not just about abortion. Its about our right to choose," Tucker said. "This is going to kill millions of women."

When asked what the ruling represented to her, Tucker said it demonstrated that "the Supreme Court doesnt respect women."

More: Roe v. Wade is overturned, here's what abortion laws look like in each state

Tucker, like Smith-Willis, said she wants her voice to be heard.

Roe v. Wade - We Wont Go Back! Rally was held at the Kentucky State Capitol Sunday evening in Frankfort. June 26, 2022

"I just want the government to know that we will not stand for this. That were here standing in solidarity against it," she said.

Some state leaders and candidates have echoed similar sentiments as Smith-Willis and Tucker.

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, Kentucky's lone Democrat in Congress, wrote in a statement that the judges in favor of the ruling "used their ill-gotten power to strip away women's constitutional right to bodily autonomy and rob them of personal choice."

Morgan McGarvey, who hopes to replace Yarmuth in November, said Kentucky's trigger law is "irresponsible and extreme" and called the ruling an "extreme deprivation of rights for women in this country."

Craig Greenberg, the Democratic mayoral candidate, also spoke on the topic at a protest in Louisville on Friday.

"We need to work together to change the trajectory of our future history so that ... women have the right to all medical decisions and all of us have a right to privacy," he said.

For subscribers: Advocates have a plan to restart abortions in Kentucky. Opponents have a plan to stop it

Smith-Willis urged others to join her in action.

"We got to keep it going. This is just the beginning. We got a long fight ahead of us," she said.

Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Protesters rally at Kentucky Capitol over Roe v Wade decision
Daniel Craig's Knives Out sequel is sharpening up for a 2022 world premiere at one of the most influential film festivals in the world.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, the annual cinema event announced Wednesday, marking one of the most high-profile in-person premieres it has had since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Netflix 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' will make its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

The anticipated sequel to director Rian Johnson's Oscar-nominated 2019 hit again follows Craig's Det. Benoit Blanc as he travels to Greece to unravel a new mystery involving a peculiar band of suspects.

Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista join Craig for the film, which is set to debut on Netflix later this year.

"Kathryn and I are going to get to work as human people together, which is nice," Odom Jr. previously told EW of acting alongside Hahn, who plays his character's wife on the animated Central Park series. "We play husband and wife on Central Park, but we'll actually get to play some live-action things together. We only met after having recorded the whole first season. We met on a flight in between season 1 and season 2. We've done some press together on Zoom. I saw her recently at the Billboard Music Awards, but the most shared space we've had together will be on the set of Knives Out 2, strangely enough, even though we play husband and wife."

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Netflix The sequel to 'Knives Out' will be called 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.'

Announcing the film's title earlier this month, Johnson tweeted about Agatha Christie's influence on the project, which was originally set for a theatrical release before Netflix acquired the rights to the sequel for $400 million in early 2021.

"Something I love about Agatha Christie is how she never tread water creatively," Johnson tweeted. "I think there's a misperception that her books use the same formula over and over, but fans know the opposite is true. It wasn't just settings or murder methods. She was constantly stretching the genre conceptually. Under the umbrella of the whodunnit she wrote spy thrillers, proto-slasher horrors, serial killer hunts, gothic romances, psychological character studies, glam travelogues."

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Benoit Blancs next case, the follow up to Knives Out, is called GLASS ONION. pic.twitter.com/6Zo0g1VX11  Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 13, 2022

"When I made Knives Out," he continued, "that's what excited me about the prospect of making more mysteries with Daniel as Benoit Blanc  to emulate Christie and have every film be like a whole new book, with its own tone, ambition, reason for being and (ta dah) title."

Hear more about all of today's must-see picks on EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

Related content:
PROVIDENCE  A rebooted state incentive for the purchase of electric cars is set to roll out July 7.

Gov. Dan McKee on Tuesday announced the start-date for the $1.25-million program that aims to make new and used electric vehicles more affordable to Rhode Islanders.

It comes as supply chain problems are causing long wait times for some electric cars. McKee said the program will help people get their orders in now for when the backups end.

Were launching this now to make sure we get ahead of the curve, he said at Roger Williams Park Zoo as he stood in front of a pair of charging stations.

A charging station at Barrington's Police Cove Park.

The DRIVEEV program picks up where a pilot initiative that ran from 2016 to 2017 left off. While that initial round of $575,000 in funding helped state residents buy about 250 electric cars, the new round is expected to lead to about 500 purchases of Chevy Bolts, Nissan Leafs, Hyundai IONIQs and others electric models.

That amount would equate to about a 10 percent bump in the number of electric cars in Rhode Island, which currently stands at 5,627, according to the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources.

The initiative to expand the electric vehicle fleet is part of a push to reduce the states greenhouse gas emissions, as set out by the Act on Climate, a landmark law enacted last year.

Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions: Bill would require RI to get all electricity from renewable sources by 2030

The foundation of the transition is an increase in the amount of renewable energy the state buys. An update to Rhode Islands Renewable Energy Standard that is set to be signed into law on Wednesday sets a target of 2033 to offset 100 percent of the states electricity with power from solar, wind and the like.

So even as electric vehicles will largely still rely on fossil fuel resources to charge their batteries in the near term, over the longer term they will depend more on renewables.

The money for DRIVEEV is coming from federal funds, the states share of money from a regional cap-and-invest program for power plant emissions, and other sources.

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Rebates will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis to Rhode Island residents, small businesses, nonprofits and public entities.

The Hummel Report: Johnston solar farm fight reflects RI's dilemma: Green space or green energy?

For residents, rebates of up to $2,500 will be available for the purchase or lease of new cars and up to $1,500 for used cars. For low-income Rhode Islanders, an additional rebate of $2,000 is also being offered.

Details on rebates for other qualifying entities and more information about the program can be found at drive.ri.gov.

The funding for electric vehicles comes at the same time the state is moving to expand its network of 260 charging stations. The budget approved Monday allocates $23 million in federal infrastructure funds for the installation of new stations, with an initial focus on the Interstate 95 corridor.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island re-launches program rebate incentive to buy electric cars
Primary battles took place in five different states on Tuesday, the first time voters have flocked to the polls since the monumental Supreme Court decision knocking down Roe v. Wade.

In some races, candidates connected to former President Donald Trump stumbled, including in the Republican New York gubernatorial primary and in the controversial Colorado race for secretary of state.

But there were also significant races in Oklahoma to fill the shoes of retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe and in Illinois, where more than 20 candidates, including Democrats and Republicans, want to take over for Rep. Bobby Rush, who also is retiring.

2022 midterms: A new 'Big Lie' battleground: secretary of state elections

Here are the prominent outcomes.

Son of Rudy Giuliani fails in N.Y. governor's race

The most notable race of the night was arguably in New York, where Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul seeks to become the first elected female governor in the Empire States history. Hochul easily won the Democratic nomination in her primary.

Hochul was lieutenant governor under Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal.

But the bigger deal was what happened on other side of the political fence.

On the Republican side were a number of candidates looking to put the seat back in the GOP column, including Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani lost to Rep. Lee Zeldin in the GOP primary.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a New York governor primary debate at the studios of WNBC4-TV, June, 16, 2022, in New York.

Much of the Republican primary was dominated by who was most loyal to Trump, but with Zeldin slamming Giuliani  who was running in his first political race  for lacking experience.

Billionaires battle in Illinois

Democrat J.B. Pritzker spent more than $170 million of his own money when he ran for Illinois governor in 2018, and the incumbent could dole out even more cash this time around.

Pritzker easily defeated activist Beverly Miles, a Chicago nurse and military veteran, in Tuesday's Democratic primary. But what's more telling is how he spent millions in attack ads in the Republican primary.

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Joined by national Democratic groups, Pritzker poured roughly $35 million into attack ads against Republican Richard Irvin, the mayor of Aurora, signaling they would prefer to face his GOP rival, state Rep. Darren Bailey, in the fall.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker praises the budget passed by the lawmakers during a news conference in his office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Tuesday, June 1, 2021.

Irvin, meanwhile, was helped by a $50 million contribution from billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin.

More: 'Millionaire's exemption' could make Illinois governor's race the nations most expensive

Not to be left out, Bailey had support from a billionaire, too. He was helped by a $9 million donation by Richard Uihlein, a shipping company owner, to a political action committee attacking Irvin.

In the math that matters, Bailey won the GOP primary and will face Pritzker, who has cast the November election as a fight against right-wing extremism, touting himself as a "pro-choice, pro-voting rights, pro-civil rights" Democrat.

Oklahoma picks candidates to succeed Inhofe

Inhofe, of Oklahoma, and Rush, of Illinois, couldn't be more different politically, but what they share is being in Congress for roughly three decades.

Their respective retirements shook up their political backyards as dozens of contenders sought to replace them.

In Oklahoma, almost a dozen candidates wanted Inhofe's job.

When the polls closed Tuesday, Rep. Markwayne Mullin came up short for the needed 50% to avoid a runoff. Mullin will have to run again versus former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon.

Jonathan Jackson wins in Bobby Rush's district

The race in the heavily Democratic Chicago district saw even more contenders vying to replace Rush, who is the only political candidate to have ever beaten Barack Obama in a race during the 2000 campaign.

Jonathan Jackson, son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, won the Democratic nomination for Rush's seat.

Election denier loses in Colorado

In what will be taken as a referendum on Trump and his claims about the 2020 contest, Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters lost her bid to oversee Colorado's next election.

Peters was a vocal supporter of Trump's falsehoods about the last presidential race and has made multiple attempts at trying to prove Trump's claims of election fraud in 2020.

She herself was indicted on seven felony charges related to election fraud.

Primary takeaways: Trump's revenge tour falters in Georgia as Kemp, Raffensperger crush GOP rivals

More: In 2022 midterms, a new 'Big Lie' battleground: secretary of state elections

Though Peters raised more money than her Republican rivals, she ultimately lost the nomination to fellow Republican Pam Anderson, a former Jefferson County clerk who argued Trump's statements had eroded the public's faith in elections.

Boebert bests moderate challenger

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has become one of the more controversial members of Congress over the past two years.

Rep. Lauren Boebert listens as President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address.

She heckled President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address. She has made Islamophobic comments toward colleagues.

More: Democrats launch effort to strip Boebert of House committees over anti-Muslim comments

This past weekend, in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, she said, "The church is supposed to direct the government."

So when Boebert received a primary challenge from state Sen. Don Coram, who was backed by outside organizations arguing she was too extreme, many eyebrows were raised.

Boebert, however, easily won the primary in a district that became more Republican after being redrawn this year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tuesday primary takeaways in New York, Illinois, Colorado, Oklahoma
Getty

Leaders of NATO member countries, including the United States, are cheering the decision to welcome Finland and Sweden into the alliance Wednesday as a bulwark against Russian aggression in Europe.

But Russia might be coming for European countries beyond Ukraine in approximately a years time anyway, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Wednesday.

I can say what we need: We need security guarantees, and you have to find a place for Ukraine in the common security space. There will be either urgent help for Ukraine, which is enough to win, or Russia's postponed war with you, Zelensky said, suggesting if countries dont step up their security assistance to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will go after even more targets. Next year could be a worse situation [for] not only Ukraine but also several other states, possibly members of the alliance under fire from Russia.

The question iswho is next?, Zelensky said. Moldova? Or the Baltic countries? Or Poland? The answer isall of them.

European leaders have raised concerns about Putins interest in attacking other countries beyond Ukraine on countless occasions ever since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February. Part of Sweden and Finlands interest in joining NATO is to protect against Russia invading their countries unprovoked. As the thinking goes, if Russia attacks a member of the alliance, NATOs foundational collective defense provision, Article V, could be triggered, and an attack against one may be treated as an attack against all.

Putin Nemesis Warns of Sinister Twist in Russian Attack Plan

Russian propagandists, too, have posited that Putins next targets will go beyond Ukraine, and could include Great Britain, the United States, and Poland. Others have predicted Putin could go after Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Russian forces are currently waging battles over cities in eastern Ukraine, to be sure.

But while Russian forces shifted away from early plans to capture Kyiv, Ukraines capital, and geared the ongoing war towards fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Biden administrations current assessment is that Putin still has plans to take all of Ukraine, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Michael Carpenter, told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview.

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Zelensky confirmed Wednesday that Ukraines government still believes Putin has plans to try taking over all of Ukraine.

The Russian army it does not want to stop in Donbas or somewhere in the south of Ukraine. It wants to absorb city after city, all of us, and then all in Europe, whom the Russian leadership considers its property, not independent states, Zelensky said. This is Russia's real goal.

And while Putin has a strong distaste for what he views as Ukraines westernizationand used concerns about Ukraines interest in joining the alliance to justify his invasion into Ukraine rather than tearing NATO apart, his war is just pulling NATO together, President Joe Biden pointed out Wednesday while attending the summit.

Youre gonna get the NATO-ization of Europe. And thats exactly what he didnt want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe, Biden said, according to the AP.

Putins fears about an expanding NATO counteracting his own imperialistic goals could mean more turmoil lies ahead for Europe. Already, Russian officials are reacting negatively to the decision to let Finland and Sweden join the military alliance.

The decision to expand NATO is a strictly destabilizing factor, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to Interfax.

NATO members and the Biden administration announced a series of steps this week that they think will work to prevent Russia from taking brash and disastrous action against other European nations.

NATO Puts 300,000 Soldiers on High Alert as G-7 Expresses Serious Concern About Belarus Nuke Deal

The alliance announced Tuesday that Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had dropped his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, despite earlier reservations that they harbored individuals that were linked to groups Turkey considers terrorists.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin briefed Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov Wednesday on the United States military aid to the country, which in the last several days got a bump of $450 million worth of multiple launch rocket systems and artillery ammunition. The United States also announced Wednesday it will be increasing some of its military presence in Europe to try to boost security in the region.

The Biden administration will be permanently stationing an Army garrison headquarters and a field support battalion in Polandwhich will be the first permanent U.S. forces on NATOs eastern flankadding a rotational Brigade Combat Team to Romania, and enhancing rotational deployments in the Baltic region. The Pentagon will also deploy more air defense to Germany and Italy, deploy two additional F-35 squadrons to the U.K., and station two more destroyers in Spain.

Today Im announcing that the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security, Biden said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Alec Baldwin left fans perplexed during a chaotic Instagram Live interview with Woody Allen, after he began shouting in Spanish about his barking dogs.

The actor, 64, got up from his sofa in his New York home around 15 minutes into the interview on Tuesday (28 June), and could be heard shouting: Leonetta! Leonetta! Basta! Las perritas! Basta! Las perritas, suficiente!

It translates as: Leonetta! Leonetta! Enough! The dogs! Enough. The dogs. Thats enough!

It is not known who Leonetta is.

Many fans were amused by the scenes. Spanish-speaking comedian Alexis Pereira posted on Twitter: Inexplicably interviewing Woody Allen on Instagram Live, watching as Woody loses Wi-Fi, and then getting up to yell something in Spanish that I, a native Spanish speaker cant understand has surpassed Schweddy Balls as the new funniest thing Alec Baldwin has ever done. God tier.

Journalist Matt Jacobs and friend Kate Erbland then joked about the moment, tweeting LEONETTA! at each other, before Erbland replied: Prayers up for Leonetta!

Another commenter wrote: I think he said pasta pasta I didnt get enough meatballs in my pasta I dont think he knows Spanish at all.

Inexplicably interviewing Woody Allen on Instagram Live, watching as Woody loses Wi-Fi, and then getting up to yell something in Spanish that I a native Spanish speaker cant understand has surpassed Schweddy Balls as the new funniest thing Alec Baldwin has ever done. God tier. pic.twitter.com/C3a5tzvzmt  Alexis Pereira (@MrAlexisPereira) June 28, 2022

During one of several internet outages on the call, Baldwin could be seen FaceTiming a woman who was with Allen.

Are they in the room where they have the best Wi-Fi? he asked her. This is the second time theyve shut down.

They need to be in the room with the best Wi-Fi in the house. What have they got going on there?

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Moments later, an unknown woman walked into the room on Allens end of the line, saying: We just opened a door, it might make a difference.

Elsewhere in the 45-minute interview, Allen, a frequent collaborator of Baldwins, talked about the future of his film career.

Baldwin has worked with Allen on a number of films, including To Rome with Love, Alice and Blue Jasmine.

Woody Allen (2017 Invision)

When Baldwin first announced to his fans that he would be interviewing Allen, he stated that he had ZERO INTEREST in anyones judgments and sanctimonious posts here.

If you believe that a trial should be conducted by way of an HBO documentary, thats your issue.

Baldwin was referring to the Allen v Farrow documentary that came out on HBO in February last year.

It includes a never-before-seen home video of Allens adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven years old, talking about Allen allegedly sexually abusing her.

Allen has denied the allegations, calling them untrue and disgraceful.

Baldwin, himself, has been at the centre of controversy in recent months after a gun held by the actor on the set of Rust went off in October 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The movies director Joel DSouza was also injured in the shooting, which sparked widespread scrutiny over gun safety protocols on Hollywood film sets.
Boris Johnson made the comments while speaking about gender equality among world leaders in an interview with German outlet ZDF. Peter Byrne - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Boris Johnson described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "crazy, macho war."

He said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wouldn't have started the war if he were a woman.

Johnson added that more women should be in power around the world.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed on Tuesday that the Ukraine war might not have happened if Russian President Vladimir Putin had been a woman, condemning the invasion as an act of "toxic masculinity."

Johnson had been speaking on gender equality among world leaders during an interview with German news outlet ZDF, and said there should be more women in power.

"If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, if he were, I really don't think he would have embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has," Johnson said, per the outlet.

"If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it's what he's doing in Ukraine," he told ZDF.

Johnson also threw cold water on those hoping the war would end soon, telling ZDF that there is "no possible deal" between Moscow and Kyiv in sight.

He spoke to ZDF just after the G7 summit in southern Germany, where the agenda included providing more support for Kyiv and introducing heavier sanctions to punish Russia's leadership.

A video of the summit on Monday showed Johnson joking to his fellow leaders that they should undress to "show that we're tougher than Putin," in a mocking reference to the Russian leader's 2009 photo of him riding shirtless on a horse.

"Jackets on? Jackets off?" the UK leader said as the press photographed them and the rest of the table laughed.

"We've got to show them our pecs," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
SYDNEY (Reuters) - China's ambassador said on Friday Australia had fired the "first shot" in deteriorating trade relations but that there was an opportunity to improve bilateral ties if the new government in Canberra took action.

China is Australia's largest trading partner and the biggest customer for its iron ore, but relations have deteriorated in recent years. China has imposed trade sanctions on Australian products in response to policies and decisions such as Australia's call for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and its 5G network ban on Huawei.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who took office late last month, has said China needs to lift its sanctions on Australian products to improve relations. His government has also expressed concern at China's move to strike a security pact with neighbouring Solomon Islands.

Ambassador Xiao Qian said in a speech at the University of Technology Sydney's Australia-China Relations Institute that Australia had caused the breakdown in ties, and called for the new government to take action.

"The previous government in this country made certain policies and took certain actions that virtually stopped the normal business cooperations and relations between Huawei and the counterparts in Australia," he said in response to a question.

"That perhaps could be described as the first shot that really damaged our normal business relations."

He disputed that China had imposed trade sanctions on Australian goods, and said they were a response to dumping complaints by Chinese companies, or Chinese consumers expressing their unhappiness at Australia.

As he spoke, protesters, some in business attire, heckled him and held aloft placards about Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong independence.

There was an "opportunity for possible improvement of relations" with the new Australia government after the exchange of letters between leaders of the two nations, and a meeting between defence ministers on the sidelines of a Singapore conference, Xiao said.

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"There are five major areas where it is important at least in my view for China and Australia to make joint efforts," he said.

Australia should respect China's socialist political system, stick to mutual benefit in economic matters with "favourable and fair" policies, be rational on security, cooperate with China in regional affairs, and "properly handle differences", he said.

The institute's director, James Laurenceson, raised the treatment of two Australian journalists in prison in Beijing, including a former student at the university, as they wait for verdicts in national security trials.

Xiao said restrictions on the frequency of prisoners having diplomatic contact were caused by COVID-19 measures being taken in China.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
An FCC Commissioner, Brendan Carr, wrote to Apple and Google on Tuesday, requesting the companies remove TikTok from their app stores for "its pattern of surreptitious data practices." This comes after BuzzFeed News reported last week that TikTok's staff in China had access to U.S.-based users' data up until January.

"As you know TikTok is an app that is available to millions of Americans through your app stores, and it collects vast troves of sensitive data about those U.S. users. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance  an organization that is beholden to the Communist Party of China and required by the Chinese law to comply with PRC's surveillance demands," Carr said in a letter addressed to Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook.

"It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing's apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data."

TikTok is not just another video app.

Thats the sheeps clothing. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing. Ive called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn  Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

After BuzzFeed News published its report, TikTok quickly went on the defense and announced that it is moving all U.S. users' data to Oracle servers situated in the country. It specified that the company still uses its own U.S. and Singapore-based servers for backup. But in the future, it expects to "delete U.S. users private data from our own data centers and fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the U.S."

"We're also making operational changes in line with this work  including the new department we recently established, with U.S.-based leadership, to solely manage U.S. user data for TikTok," the company added.

TikTok's user data practices have come under suspicion many times. In 2020, India banned TikTok over national security concerns, and both former President Donald Trump and the current president Joe Biden have raised questions about the short video app's relations with China and how it affects U.S. users' data. While Trump proposed an outright ban on TikTok or an option of selling its U.S. business to a local buyer, Biden proposed new rules that will give more oversight on apps with ties to jurisdiction of foreign adversaries that may pose national security risks.

Apple and Google didn't comment on the story.

Update July 1, 10 AM IST: Updated the story to reflect that TechCrunch didn't receive any comments from Apple and Google.
The following is an excerpt from Fiona Weichert's graduation speech as valedictorian of the Tyburn Academy of Mary Immaculate Class of 2022.

St. Christopher was an ordinary person, like you and me. He was able-bodied, very strong, and made it his mission to find the most powerful king to serve. After much trial and error, he found Christ. He was instructed in the faith by a hermit, who suggested that he devote his life to Christ through prayer and fasting. Christopher protested this, probably because going without food would be too difficult for a man of his stature. Instead, he offered to do the work of Christ by helping pilgrims and travelers cross a nearby river. The crossing was dangerous, and had drowned many who were not strong enough. St. Christopher found this work fulfilling and would carry people across with ease.

One day, a child came to the river, and asked Christopher to help him across to the other side. As he had done many times before, he carefully lifted the child to his shoulders and entered the river. The river rushed around him, but he was unafraid and carried on. When Christopher entered midstream, the river swelled and the childs weight seemed to grow heavier with every step, until the weight was extremely heavy and almost unbearable. It was only with great exertion and a strong will to serve God that he delivered the child to the other side safely. Upon reaching the other bank, Christopher asked the child why he was so heavy. The child explained that He was Christ, and in carrying Him, Christopher had also carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Fellow graduates, we will be taking up the next parts of our lives and entering the river as St. Christopher did. There is no promise that our loads will be easy to carry. They may get heavier. We may be called upon to bear the loads of others and help them along their way. One thing Tyburn taught me was to always lend a helping hand, see Christ in everyone, and to smile through every difficulty.

The river of the world, animated by the darkness of Satan, will work against us. It will do its best to convince us we cannot succeed, that we are not strong enough to fight against it, and that we should submit to its will and follow the current. Persevere! No matter how heavy your burden becomes, no matter how hopeless your journey may seem, do not give up. It may at times seem that we are carrying the weight of the world, as St. Christopher did. This is no reason to expect failure. My dad once told me, Fiona, if you have an attitude that you are going to fail, I can promise you that you will. Hold yourself to the highest standards in everything that you do, and make it a point to meet them. It is because of this advice that I stand before you today and confidently say the same to you.

This is not to say that we will not fail at times. We are flawed humans. That is an unavoidable fact. However, when you stumble, keep in mind that Jesus fell. He not only fell once, but three times. After each fall, He got up and carried on. Along our journeys, we can only follow the path of truth to the best of our abilities even as we stumble and fall, centering ourselves in the way of Christ and following His unfailing example of perseverance, as St. Christopher did. I understand that this is easier said than done but we have been gifted, I daresay undeservedly, with the only aid that is capable of assisting our endeavors. Though we may often believe that we are left to walk alone and carry our burdens unaccompanied, that is never the case. Our faith is there to walk with us on our journeys: to lead us as we walk, and carry us when we cannot.

This is the end of high school, but it's the beginning of so much more! Each of you will bring to the world individual talents, personalities, and the drive to make the best future possible. Continue to improve your lives, and remember you have the ability to improve those of others. I wish you all the best, and leave you with the words of C.S. Lewis: There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. Stand strong in the principles we learned while at Tyburn. But stand even stronger by the faith that you have been given.

St. Christopher, pray for us.

Fiona Weichert is the fourth of her siblings to graduate from Tyburn Academy of Mary Immaculate in Auburn. She will be continuing her studies this fall at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. For more information on Tyburn, an independent Catholic school recognized by the Rochester Diocese that is located at 17 Clymer St., Auburn, call (315) 252-2937 or visit tyburnacademy.com.

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., speaks to a crowd gathered at the Christopher Columbus Piazza on Abriendo Avenue during the Columbus Day event on in October 2021 in Pueblo.

Incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert is the winner of the Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District.

Results from the Colorado Secretary of State show Boebert beat primary challenger Don Coram with nearly two-thirds of the vote.

Coram lost his home county of Montrose at a similar rate to the rest of the district, getting approximately 37% of votes. Boebert still won her home county, Garfield County, but at a lower rate than the rest of the district.

Boebert handily won Pueblo County with more than three-quarters of ballots cast in her favor. She won most counties in the district, with just seven  some of the wealthiest areas in CD-3 encompassing high-elevation resort communities  going for Coram.

"I'm thrilled the voters showed their confidence in me to continue being their Representative ... Conservative Republicans like me are going to help take back the House in November, fire Nancy Pelosi, and do all we can to get our country back on track," Boebert said in a statement on Twitter.

ON THE DEMOCRAT'S SIDE: Adam Frisch leads in Democratic primary for 3rd Congressional District

Coram thanked his supporters in a video posted to his campaign Facebook page.

"If we don't get our house in order and elect people honored with honor and integrity, this nation will not survive," Coram said. "Stay tuned, you never know what's going to happen next," he added with a smile.

Since unseating incumbent Republican Scott Tipton two years ago, Boebert, of Silt, has made a name for herself in the national media as a conservative firebrand aligned with former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her in the race.

Coram announced his candidacy in January. The state senator from Montrose, with prior experience at the state house and a background in ranching, campaigned on his record of collaborating with Democrats at the Colorado Assembly, which Boebert attacked throughout the campaign.

While reaching out to Democrats and unaffiliated voters was not directly part of his campaign strategy, supporters had hoped to leverage Colorados open primary system to unseat Boebert.

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MORE RESULTS: Here's who's leading in the 2022 Pueblo County primary election as of Wednesday afternoon

Under Colorados model, which has been in place since 2018, unaffiliated voters can cast a ballot in either primary, but people registered to a party receive only their own party's ballot.

In Pueblo County, the amount of unaffiliated voters increased by 1,786 between January and June of this year, while the amount of registered Democrats dropped by 160 and registered Republicans went down by 36.

An analysis from Colorado Public Radio found that in the entire 3rd Congressional District, approximately 8,000 Democrats changed to unaffiliated.

Boebert has far exceeded Coram in campaign fundraising, amassing over $5 million in contributions since January 2021. Since Coram announced his candidacy six months ago, he has raised just shy of $229,000.

Boebert raised nearly $3 million campaigning for her seat two years ago, including $3,000 from the Pueblo County Republican Party.

Campaign records show that the local GOP chapter has not donated to Boebert or Coram in this election cycle.

The Democratic nominee will face an uphill battle against Boebert in November: once-a-decade redistricting, finalized last year, increased the GOP's leg up in the district to a 9-point advantage.

STATEWIDE RESULTS: Get 2022 Colorado primary election results

Anna Lynn Winfrey can be reached by email at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Lauren Boebert wins GOP primary in Colorado 3rd Congressional District
Jun. 28The Brazil Concert Band will present a special two hour patriotic show, "USA All The Way!," from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

This special salute to the nation will include an intermission and will be at the Forest Park Bandshell. In case of rain, the performance will take place in the Pavilion.

The first half of the evening features "The Star-Spangled Banner," arranged by Henry Fillmore, "National Emblem" by E. E. Bagley, "Columbia Grand Patriotic Potpourri" by George Barnard, "Armed Forces Salute," arranged by Bob Lowden including the new Space Force melody "The Invincible Eagle" by Sousa, "E Pluribus Unum" by Fred Jewell, "America, The Beautiful," arranged by Carmen Dragon and "American Patrol" by F. W. Meacham.

Following a short intermission, the BCB will perform "The Liberty Bell" by Sousa, "The Fourth Of July" by John Cacavas, "The Blue And The Gray" by Clare Grundman, "The U.S. Field Artillery" by Sousa, "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" arranged by James Neilson and "The Stars And Stripes Forever."

The Brazil Concert Band, directed by Matthew S. Huber, was established in 1858. It performs in Forest Park every Sunday evening through August.

The Park Stand will be hosted by the Bee Ridge Church.

For more information, visit brazilconcertband.org or look for them on Facebook.
A good person, a good friend, and a good lawman are just some of the terms used to describe a Shreveport City Marshal who died earlier this month.

On June 16, Charlie Caldwell Jr., 56, fell overboard while enjoying a vacation in Destin, Florida.

nullHis death sent grief throughout the community. Known in Shreveport for over 25 years, Caldwell was not only known for his servant heart but his bright contagious smile.

Memories of him have flooded the internet but a Shreveport judge has a special memory that he holds dear to his heart.

"My wife and I got married and as we ran out of the church, through the gauntlet of people throwing birdseed, Charlie was at the end of the gauntlet in his marshals unit," said Judge Brian Barber. "He was waiting for me and my bride. We ran through the crowd of people jumped in Charlie's unit, and he speed us off to start our married life. Later giving me that blue light."

Caldwell served his community for 25 years; five of those years with the Caddo Sheriffs Office and then became a deputy with the Shreveport City Marshal Office, advancing to the elected position of City Marshal in 2008.

Caldwell's good friend Joe Francis posted a video of the marshal singing Tobey Keith's American Soldier on Facebook, with Caldwell belting the lyrics, "When liberty's in jeopardy, I will always do what's right. I'm out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight."

Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said, "Charlie was a good friend and good lawman. He will truly be missed by us all."

Marshal Caldwell was a special member of our organization and a personal friend of mine, said Hammond City Court Marshal and President of the Louisiana City Marshal and City Constable Association Pat Farris.

Marshal Charlie Caldwell Jr. and Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator

Caldwell was an active member of the Louisiana City Marshals and City Constables Association and the National Constables and Marshals Association. Marshal Caldwell, Jr. held the positions of President and Vice-President of the Louisiana City Marshals and City Constables Association and the National Constables and Marshals Association.

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Our entire association expends our prayers and support to Marshal Caldwells family and the Shreveport Marshals Office. He will be surely missed.

As a marshal deputy Caldwell became friends with Barber who was a prosecutor and came often to city court.

"He said, one day BB, I'm gonna be the marshal. I said, okay, one day, CC, I'm going to be the judge," said Barber.

In the end both of those dreams were accomplished.

In a picture of the two on the day Barber was sworn in as judge holds special meaning. He said, "the picture is we're looking at each other like we made it."

On July 1, in a packed sanctuary law enforcement officers and first responders from near and far joined to remember the man who dedicated his life to serving and leading.

The Memorial began at 11 a.m. at the Summer Grove Baptist Church.

Bishop L. Lawrence Brandon of Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral officiated the funeral, with words from Louisiana House Representative Sam Jenkins and Constable of Ward 5, Pastor Tony Hunter.

During Last Call Shreveport Police Department said, "Your kind heart and your big smile will remain with us forever."

Marshal Charlie Caldwell Jr. and Judge Brian Barber at Barber's swearing-in.

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Remembering Marshal Charlie Caldwell Jr. 'He will be surely missed'
25,000 of Vladimir Putins troops have been killed in Ukraine, says UK Defence Secretary

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said 25,000 Russians have been killed in Ukraine since the start of Vladimir Putins invasion as he insisted Russias war was failing.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Madrid, Mr Wallace told LBC: I would still say the Ukrainians are winning. They are extracting huge amounts of cost from the Russian armed forces.

Twenty five thousand Russians, we think, have been killed in that fight in the space of 112, 115 days. Russia has failed on all its major objectives.

It is now reduced to a grinding advance - a few hundred metres every few days at massive cost in one small part of eastern Ukraine along two or three axes. That is not a victory in anyones book.

It comes as Mr Wallance called for a reality check on Britains defence spending amid reports of a Cabinet split over investment in the UKs military.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to be resisting calls from Mr Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to ramp up defence spending in response to the growing threat from Russia.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (PA Wire)

On Tuesday, he insisted that the UK was well ahead of the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence and played down criticism that the Government will miss a 2019 manifesto pledge to increase defence spending by 0.5 per cent more than inflation.

But Mr Wallace told Times Radio: On the two per cent, we are still absolutely on target to get to the end of this spending review at two per cent or above two per cent of GDP of spend on defence.

So Im happy with where we are for now, Im happy up until the middle of 2024.

The question I think is important is what happens in the middle of the decade.

That was a timeline that we were prepared to take certain vulnerability risks given that Russia was not as dangerous.

Now that has changed there needs to be a reality check with what Russia has done in Ukraine.

Asked how much extra money he would like on Sky News, Mr Wallace replied: How much is a piece of string? All departmental heads will say they want more money.

Story continues

But he went on: If Britain wants to maintain its leadership role beyiond 2024 we are going to have to see greater investment. We spent 40 years taking a peace dividend at the end of the Cold War, sometimes its important to invest.

Russia is very, very dangerous now on the world stage, the world is less secure than it was two or three years ago and is not looking like changing much for the next decade. I think thats the moment in the middle of the decade to say we should commit to increased funding.

Mr Wallace conceded that with inflation at a 40 year high of 9.1 per cent, the manifesto pledge to grow defence spending by 0.5 per cent above that rate would not be met this year.

He said: I think a No10 spokesman said yesterday that was unlikely given the significant changes to inflation.

I have been in politics long enough to see every government not fulfill its manifesto 100 per cent. We promised to try and do these things.

If the economic situation has changed or things are harder to deliver than people thought...it doesnt mean to say its not an aspiration. If inflation hadnt lifted off this year we would be on track to meet our 0.5 per cent.

Mr Johnson has insisted the Government will meet its manifesto pledge when defence spending is averaged out over the course of the Parliament up to 2024.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of South Texas native and Iraq veteran Le Roy Torres on Wednesday, allowing the former state trooper to sue the state over its refusal to reemploy him in a new position after he returned from active duty.

When Torres, of Robstown, returned home from his deployment as a captain in the Army Reserve, he wanted to return to his job as a trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

During his service in Iraq, Torres was exposed to toxic burn pits, where trash, human waste and military equipment were burned with jet fuel. He received an honorable discharge but returned with constrictive bronchitis, making him unable to return to his job in the field.

More: How a Texas war veteran carried the fight over burn pit exposure to the U.S. Supreme Court

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act allows those who leave their positions to undertake military services to regain their jobs. The law has been modified over the years to allow veterans to work in a capacity suitable to their post-service condition.

The Texas Department of Public Safety refused to reemploy Torres in a different role. He sued the state, which moved to dismiss the suit by invoking sovereign immunity.

The court's ruling determined Torres' right to sue DPS to regain his job and seek damages as a result of being denied reinstatement.

"By ratifying the Constitution, the States agreed their sovereignty would yield to the national power to raise and support the Armed Forces," Associate Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in his majority opinion. "Congress may exercise this power to authorize private damages suits against nonconsenting States, as in USERRA."

Breyer concluded that the states agreed to sacrifice their sovereign immunity for the good of common defense.

The issue before the court did not include the merits of Torres' assertion that he has the legal right to be put back to work.

Story continues

"It's a hurdle if we win because we still have to go to (the lower court to argue the merits of the case)," Torres' lawyer, Brian Lawler, told the Caller-Times earlier this year.

Attempts to reach Lawler, Torres and his wife, Rosie Torres, were unsuccessful shortly after the ruling Wednesday.

More news

More: U.S. Supreme Court hears case of Texas veteran and burn pit victim seeking to reclaim job

More: US Senate reaches deal to pass burn pit legislation long pushed by Texas military couple

More: Roe v. Wade: Nueces County district attorney pledges not to prosecute abortion cases

Ashlee Burns covers trending and breaking news in South Texas. See our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of Texas veteran and burn pit victim
Reese Allan Kerslake, left, and defense attorney Ulvar Klein sit in Yakima County Superior Court at the Yakima County jail Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Kerslake, a former teacher at Marcus Whitman Elementary School in the Highland School District, pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree possession of child pornography.
People in about 50 homes in central Washington were told by law enforcement to evacuate their homes immediately because of a wildfire
Cayuga County is part of a nine-county region that has been awarded nearly $100,000 for its farm-to-school program.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cortland County will receive $99,871 through New York's Farm-to-School program, which is overseen by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. According to a news release, the award will be used to "increase the volume and variety of New York-grown food products purchased by school food authorities."

The region that will benefit from the award includes Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties.

It is one of 16 awards announced by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. More than $1.48 in funding has been allocated for the 16 programs. There was one other winner in central New York  Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego BOCES will get $99,981. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Seneca County also won $99,944 for its farm-to-school program.

"New York state's farm-to-school program helps schools overcome some of the challenges they may face in sourcing products locally, and make it easier for them to increase the use of New York-grown foods straight from the farm," state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said. "The projects awarded today will help to ensure that our students have access to fresh, healthy foods, increase students' understanding of where their meals come from, and benefit our local agricultural economies statewide."

The program began in 2015 and aims to promote the use of New York state-grown food in school cafeterias. The annual allocations for the program have increased from $325,000 in 2015 to $1.5 million in the 2022 fiscal year.

Since 2015, more than $6.3 million has been awarded to 57 school districts or not-for-profit organizations working with farms and schools.

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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In an interview with the state press agency, the head of Polands ruling Law and Justice party announced that he is stepping down from government functions. He said that he managed to carry out the plan he had set for himself and will think fondly about his 20 months as deputy PM.

- Of course, I was supposed to step down four months earlier, but then the war in Ukraine broke out. Today, the course of the war is such that we cannot be sure when it is going to end. On the other hand, it is more or less clear when the elections are going to take place [fall of 2023], so I had to make a decision. I would gladly wait until the war is over, but it looks like it will drag on.

Kaczynski explained that he needs to focus on "what is most important for the future of Poland". - It is not that Im overestimating my role, but... the party needs to regain its vigor because the most important time for any political party in the world is drawing closer. Elections are about getting a good electoral result, and as far as the Law and Justice party is concerned, a good electoral result means a victory, and the possibility to govern, of course as part of the United Right coalition - he said.

The minister of national defense Mariusz Baszczak will replace Kaczynski as deputy PM. At the same time, the prime ministers deputy chief of staff Zbigniew Hoffmann, a member of the government's national security and defense affairs committee, will now also be responsible for overseeing the work of the committee. Hoffmann has been in the prime minister's office since November 2020. With Kaczynski stepping down, he is being promoted to a ministerial position.  We should remember that Minister Baszczak will mainly be busy overseeing the ministry of defense, and the security and defense committee deals with the affairs of the special services, the ministry of internal affairs, the ministry of foreign affairs, and, although to a lesser degree, with the affairs of the ministry of justice. Therefore, someone has to watch over its works on a daily basis. It should be a person of appropriate rank - Jarosaw Kaczynski told PAP.

REKLAMA

The leader of the Law and Justice party joined the government in early October 2020, dividing his time between the party and the government. He took on a new role as deputy prime minister for security affairs and created the national security and defense committee. His two main goals were preparing an extensive homeland defense bill, and managing political conflicts within the ruling camp.

Kaczynskis campaign trail starts out with a "blast"

But Kaczynskis efforts at persuading the electorate did not get off to a particularly good start.

On Sunday, June 26, the leader of the Law and Justice party arrived at the National Music School in Inowrocaw (central Poland) to meet with his supporters. The rally was secured by numerous police units, which kept the people gathered in front of the building at a distance. After the event, when Kaczynski got into his limousine, the police reacted with violence.

REKLAMA

At one point, a group of people chanting rather unflattering, government-critical slogans was approached by the police. One of the officers, fully masked, ordered the men to step back. When they refused to do so, he pushed one of them and sprayed him in the face with tear gas.

Officers pulled one demonstrator out of the group and handcuffed several others. Another protester received a fine. - They handcuffed me, my wrists are still red - said a local resident who was at the site. - I said I couldn't see anything, and asked whether could I wipe my eyes with something, but the officer said no and threatened me with a taser.

On Monday afternoon, regional Police Headquarters in Bydgoszcz issued a statement defending the use of direct coercive measures during the event, arguing that the recording from the officer's body camera "leaves no doubt as to the actions of the police officers".

REKLAMA

The police had also filed a report of a suspected offense of insulting police officers with "a request for the prosecutor to initiate ex officio proceedings".

Senator Krzysztof Brejza and MP Magdalena osko from the Civic Coalition asked the Chief of Police to "inspect the use of tear gas against people who were not allowed to participate in the meeting with Jarosaw Kaczynski in Inowrocaw". - We also ask about the use of special police units to secure a closed political rally of the Law and Justice party - they said.

Opposition MPs also sent a request for intervention to the Commissioner for Human Rights concerning police abuse of power.

The Mayor of Inowrocaw, Ryszard Brejza, has filed a notice to the Inowrocaw District Prosecutor's Office about the possibility of committing a crime. "I don't agree with this kind of actions, which in my opinion may constitute a violation of law and abuse of police authority" - he wrote in his statement.

Mariusz Kaminnki, the Minister of Interior, spoke out on the Inowrocaw incident on Tuesday. "Insulting a police officer is a crime. There can be no consent to attacking uniformed officers. The strong reaction of a police officer in Inowrocaw was justified and understandable"  he wrote on Twitter.

***

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 European Parliament has recognised the Polyphony Project, an endeavour dedicated to the exploration, preservation and presentation of Ukrainian musical folklore, awarding the project its European Citizens Prize in Hungary for 2022.

The EP highlighted the Polyphony Projects contributions to the preservation of Ukraines cultural heritage, which it said was especially important during the ongoing war in the country.



The project is a perfect example of how music enriches Europes shared history, the EP said.



Gyorgy Holvenyi, an MEP of Hungarys co-ruling Christian Democrats, who nominated the project for the prize, told MTI that the Polyphony Project has prevented thousands of authentic songs from being lost forever and made them accessible to the public.
City

 Richard E. Quimby, 51, 68 Greenview Circle, Auburn, was charged June 20 with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a mislabeled dangerous drug.

 Mathew E. Mosher, 48, 9 1st Ave., Owasco, was charged June 27 with operation of a motor vehicle impaired by drugs-first offense.

 Jessi L. Harvey, 35, 18 S. Lewis St., Port Byron, was charged June 27 with petit larceny.

 Alexis N. Carr, 24, 41 Parker St., Auburn, was charged June 28 with making a punishable false written statement.

 Isaiah R. Ferguason, 25, 41 Parker St., Auburn, was charged June 28 with endangering the welfare of a child.

 Bishop T. Prenatt, 27, 17 Kensington Ave., Auburn, was charged June 28 with second-degree criminal contempt and resisting arrest.

 Michael J. Jesmer, 20, 1468 Route 326, Springport, was charged June 28 with third-degree criminal tampering.

 Kathryn M. Lusk, 35, 55 Market St., Auburn, was charged June 28 with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree burglary and petit larceny.

 Isiah Finch, 47, 55 Market St.,Auburn, was charged June 28 with petit larceny.

County

 Amy T. Payne, 27, 38 Holley St., Auburn, was charged June 21 with driving while intoxicated-first offense.

 Daniel M. Gonyeau, 30, 3198 Turnpike Road, Sennett, was charged June 21 with third-degree menacing.

 Fred R. Williams, 34, 1052 Lake Como Road, Cortland, was charged June 22 with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree menacing.

 Hunter H. Stoddard, 20, 447 Main St., Fair Haven, was charged June 23 with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content level of at least .08% and driving while intoxicated-first offense.

 Matthew J. Kulmann, 33, 82 Rochester St., Port Byron, was charged June 24 with operation of a motor vehicle impaired by drugs-first offense.

 Christopher EJ Cronk, 55, 13254 Route 38, Sterling, was charged June 27 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

 Barry J. Binns, 40, 5 Warrick Drive, Port Byron, was charged June 28 with petit larceny.

State

 Nicholas J. Yonak, 42, Freemansburg, Pennsylvania, was charged June 25 with fourth-degree criminal possession of a firearm.

 Jon L. Knight, 31, North Hampton, Pennsylvania, was charged June 25 with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and third-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.

 Nikita N. Crosby, 45, North Syracuse, was charged June 26 with second-degree promoting prison contraband.

 Kenneth J. Kemp, 35, Locke, was charged June 26 with third-degree menacing.

 Carl M. Bond, 34, Auburn, was charged June 26 with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing.

 Tylor M. Felix, 26, Sodus, was charged June 21 with fourth-degree grand larceny.

 Adam M. Seamans, 31, Elbridge, was charged June 22 with second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal contempt.

 Joshua Pena, 23, Syracuse, was charged June 27 with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and four counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

 Nathan J. Tratt, 56, Port Byron, was charged June 28 with petit larceny.

 Ashley S. Bench, 40, Auburn, was charged June 29 with driving while intoxicated-first offense and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

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Some 150-200 passengers arriving in Budapest were compelled to spend the night in the completely empty Liszt Ferenc International Airport on Sunday, because their luggage was not unloaded from the planes that took them to Budapest.

The flights in question arrived late Sunday evening, and the passengers waited in vain for hours at the luggage carrousels.



However, ground handling staff had all left, so there was no one to unload the planes.



Only after the morning shift started work on the following day was the luggage delivered to the baggage reclaim area.



Passengers stranded in the room between the passport control and the glass doors representing the Hungarian border could only get water from the washrooms.



Budapest Airport told news website 24 that eight flights were delayed at the same time on Sunday evening due to disruptions at other airports in Europe. Of those, five arrived in Budapest more than one hour late.



The situation put the ground service staff under heavy pressure and so the flights could not be serviced within the regular time frame.



Ground services for the airline in question are carried out in Budapest by Menzies Aviation Hungary.
As a statewide project, the Sons of the Union Veterans have been traveling throughout the state, finding the gravesites of those who have fought in war, and marking the gravesite with G.A.R. marker. The grave site of William Fetters, one of the last Union soldiers to be buried, was found in Polk County.

According to a presentation given by Charles Noyd, Polk County Historical Society president, Fetters was born in November of 1844 in Kosciusko County. On Aug. 2, 1862, Fetters enlisted in the Civil War in Warsaw and served with company B, 30th Indiana Volunteers until his discharge on June 30, 1865.

During Fetters time in service, he was wounded in the battle of Stone River and was held as a prisoner in Libby Prison for a little over three months. He eventually went back to his command after being part of a prisoner exchange. Noyd said Fetters saw action at Knoxville and Nashville as well.

A year after being discharged, Fetters married Sarah Sawyer in 1866, and the couple set out west on the wagon train from Indiana. Under the Homestead Act, Fetters and his wife were able to find a 160-acre piece of land west of Stromsburg. How the Fetters family found Stromsburg was a story in itself.

They fought muck and mud all the way to the Mississippi River, said Noyd. After crossing the Mississippi, they had enough of the poor weather conditions. They broke down their wagons and loaded all of their belongings including their animals on a train for Council Bluffs, Iowa. After looking at land maps over in Omaha, they reassembled their wagons and headed for Polk County, Nebraska.

When they settled in Stromsburg, all they saw was prairie with no trees, but Fetters always found a way to make something out of nothing. He built a one-room sod house with one door and two windows. His land soon turned into a family farm and on August 15, 1878, the land was officially his.

Noyd said Fetters put a lot of hard work into his farm. Fetters never gave up even during the ugliest times. Noyd said, He lived through the Blizzard of 1873. Fetters would tell the story of the blizzard to newspapers in his later years. He said they brought the chickens and the one pig they owned into the sod house. He drove a stake in the dirt floor to tie the pig in the place so it couldnt roam in the house.

Fetters saw the world change before him. He saw improvements in farming practices and technology. He was a witness to some of first streets constructed in Stromsburg, and was one of the first to experience indoor plumbing and telephones. Fetters did it all and saw it all during his lifetime.

In 1903, Fetters sold his land and moved into the town of Stromsburg. He became an active member of the Grand Army of Republic, Post #59. He showed up to as many Memorial Day services as he could.

Fetters was a family man. He and his wife had three children, two girls and one boy. The son died at a young age and the Fetters continued to raise their two daughters.

The Fetters had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of his great-grandchildren, Dr. Richard Larson from Florida, attended the ceremony on Saturday.

Larson said he was too young to remember specific conversations he had with his great-grandfather. Larson was adopted when he was three, and only saw Fetters when his parents were on vacation at Fetters home in Stromsburg.

Larson said, I would wander around the house and slam the doors. Boy, that sure got on his nerves.

Larson remembers how his grandfather would wake up every morning at the same time, ate his breakfast at same time, and ran to the grocery store at the same time every day.

Every day he wanted his supper at 5:30 on the dot, said Larson.

Larson said he never talked about the war with his grandfather, but his parents did. Even when he attended the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg with Fetters, not much was exchanged.

One thing Larson will never forget was his great-grandfather shaped the family by setting a good example.

The homesteader, farmer, family man and hero will forever be remembered by his family members, the past community members of Stromsburg, and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
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Indian roads offer a lot more than what users want. They are infamous for their strong attribute of being filled with potholes and bad patches. Thus, forcing masses to settle with cars that have high ground clearance. In simpler words, deep potholes and tall speed bumps are the primary reasons that make the Indian masses buy SUVs. However, driving an SUV can also get you stuck on a speed bump. Yes! You read that right. We recently came across a social media post, wherein a Kia Seltos can be seen resting on its belly while it was encountering a speed bump.gallery,

Abhishek Sharma, who happens to be the owner of the Kia Seltos in the picture shared on Twitter mentioned that the SUV got stuck on a speed breaker, and he struggled for hours to get out of the situation. To break free from the speed bump, the owner had to call for help and pay for it. He sarcastically called the complete situation as a masterpiece.gallery,

He further wrote, A big salute to the excellent engineer who made this speed breaker. Cars often get stuck on this but the administration in mum. Well, the post caught the attention of the netizens, who shared it on the internet, blaming the authorities.

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It should also be noted that the Seltos has a ground clearance of 190 mm, which isnt low by any standard. And watching a high-riding SUV getting stuck badly on a speed bump only raised concern among other road users.gallery,

Also read - Toyota Hyryder SUV to get All-Wheel Drive setup, new teaser video confirms - WATCHgallery,

In the Indian market, the Kia Seltos is priced from Rs 10.19 lakh, ex-showroom. The SUV is available with three engine options and multiple transmission choices. Talking of rivals, it locks horns with Hyundai Creta, MG Astor, VW Taigun, Skoda Kushaq and more.gallery,

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Nitin Gadkari led Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, in January 2022, published a draft proposal mandating automakers in India to install six airbags in all their new passenger vehicles starting October 1. With India having some of the world's most dangerous roads, the move received a positive response from car buyers and the auto industry in general. However, carmakers in India believe that mandating six airbags in passenger cars will raise vehicle prices and drive away potential buyers. According to R C Bhargava, Maruti Suzuki's chairman, such a measure would harm sales of low-cost automobiles and put more pressure on companies already dealing with high prices.

Bhargava predicts that sales of small automobiles would continue to fall in the wake of the epidemic, while demand for large, costly vehicles will rise. In a recently given interview to TOI, he further mentioned that small cars don't make much profit for the automaker and the India's largest carmaker will not hesitate from discontinuing the small cars if they become unviable.

With yearly sales of roughly 3 million units, India is the world's fifth-largest vehicle market, headed by Maruti Suzuki, which is majority-owned by Suzuki Motor of Japan, and Hyundai Motor of Korea.

In the country's price-sensitive market, the majority of cars sell for around Rs 4 lakh - Rs 7 lakh segment, ruled by small hatchbacks. Providing driver and front passenger airbags in all cars is already mandatory and adding another four airbags will increase the cost by Rs 17,600, according to auto market data provider JATO Dynamics.

In some cases, the cost could be higher as companies will need to make engineering changes to the car's structure to accommodate the additional airbags, said Ravi Bhatia, president for India at JATO. "Companies will need to decide whether it is feasible to make the changes and if the model will sell at a higher price. The damage will be significant at the lower end of the market where there is huge price sensitivity," he said.

More than 133,000 people were killed in 355,000 road accidents in India in 2020, government data showed. Car passengers accounted for 13% of deaths. Indias road transport ministry is firm on its plan and is pushing automakers to agree to the rules, two sources told Reuters. The ministry estimates four additional airbags to cost no more than $90, but even then it is facing resistance.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has asked the ministry to "review and reconsider" the rules saying "side and curtain airbags are not mandated anywhere in the world". In a letter to the ministry in February, the industry lobby group warned that with the cost of cars steadily rising in recent years enough time must be given for the airbags rule "to reduce risk of impact on industry growth".

The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has told the ministry they can meet the additional demand for airbags but would need 12-18 months to ramp up local production. The ministry, SIAM and ACMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It should be noted that the suggested rules for six airbags have not yet been finalised.

With inputs from Reuters

Live TV
Tata Group-owned Air India Express might soon see the addition of four new Boeing 737s to its fleet. Currently, the airline has a fleet of 24 aircraft after losing one of its planes in the Kozhikode crash that happened in August 2020. The new aeroplanes will be added by the end of this year to meet the increased demand. Since, the aviation industry is now picking up its original pace as Covid restrictions are being eased-off, more passengers are willing to fly, said company source. Also, as per the airlines, dry leasing is a viable option to enhance capacity for short-term duration.

"Demand for international travel has bounced back after the removal of most of the pandemic-related restrictions on travel. Loads (passenger on aircraft) are good and all the routes are doing well. Of course, there are some seasonal variations, which have been factored in," a source told PTI.

In the short-term, the airline might take four aircraft on dry lease to increase capacity for the interim period, the source said, adding that the new aircraft will be utilized to enhance frequency on certain routes.

Also read - Delhi Airport performs trials of full-body scanners, no more pat-down searches on Terminal 2

A query sent to Air India Express did not elicit a response.

"You can't open new routes with four additional aircraft. These planes will only be used for increasing frequency and consolidation of the existing routes," a source said.

Air India Express currently operates to 11 airports in India and 13 abroad with over 100 daily flights.

The induction of four more aircraft will expand the fleet to 28 planes altogether, the source said.

"The airline has not been allowed to grow since a long time. Earlier, its growth was hampered on account of the disinvestment process. The competition is growing every day and we have to keep up with that,? the source said.

According to another source, the airline had drawn up a business plan in 2018, in which it had envisioned it to be a 50-aircraft company by 2025 as air passenger traffic was booming at that time.

"But first the government did not give us the go ahead at that time saying that the airline was in its disinvestment plans and then the Covid-19 happened, said the source.

Stating that Air India Express is hiring both cockpit crew and the cabin crew, which is an indication itself of induction of more aircraft (in the short-term), the source said, a walk-in interview for cabin crew has been conducted at Calicut on Tuesday. Also, the airline has already completed one round of walk-in interviews in Delhi and Mumbai.
Jet Airways has appealed to DGCA to direct SpiceJet to peel off its livery from the aircraft. Jet Airways complains that it is misleading and is a safety hazard as well. Jet Airways sent a letter to DGCA on June 21 that stated, After the stoppage of our operations in 2019, several aircraft were returned to the lessors and then leased out to some Indian operators such as SpiceJet." A pack of those aeroplanes are still in operation with the original Jet Airways colour scheme for the fuselage and tail. "Also, the Jet Airways logo on the tail has been painted over, but is still discernible if one looks carefully," Jet Airways mentioned in the letter.

The letter also noted that some of these aircraft have been involved in accidents or incidents, the photographs of which have been widely circulated in media.

One such example is the runway excursion of a SpiceJet B737 aircraft in Mumbai in 2019 where Jet Airways' colour scheme and part of the logo is prominently visible in the photos still available on the internet, it mentioned.

Jet Airways received its renewed air operator certificate (AOC) from DGCA on May 20 this year and it is planning to start commercial flight operations in September.

SpiceJet has 90-odd planes in its fleet. Some of the B737 aircraft it has were with Jet Airways before the latter went bankrupt in 2019.

Airline liveries are fundamental statements of branding and corporate identity and all operators endeavour to make theirs as distinctive and readily recognisable as possible, Jet Airways stated in its letter.

Therefore, it is evident that an operator flying its aircraft in another airline's livery has a serious potential to mislead the public about the identity of the operator, something which cannot be taken lightly, it mentioned.

"This is also a safety hazard as it can confuse ground staff and crew operating other aircraft about the identity of the aircraft in question, for example when following ATC (air traffic controller) directions," it stated.

This problem becomes even more egregious when such aircraft are involved in undesirable situations like accidents, incidents, or interception in foreign airspace, it mentioned.

"May we request your office to issue necessary directions to all operators to use only their own authorised livery as filed with the DGCA compulsorily, and to remove all vestiges of other airline liveries from their aircraft," it stated.

"As we plan to begin operations in September and expect to have aircraft in our livery delivered to us in July this year, an early action from your good office to ensure all such unauthorised liveries are removed by July would be highly appreciated," it mentioned.

Commenting on the matter, a SpiceJet spokesperson told PTI in a statement, "We have not received any communication from the DGCA. The older planes are being phased out and many have already left the fleet. They are being replaced by the 737MAX."

Also read - Air India Express fleet to soon have 4 new Boeing 737 to address increased demand

Jet Airways, in its old avatar, was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its last flight on April 17, 2019. The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is currently the promoter of Jet Airways.

With inputs from PTI
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The renaming of Navi Mumbai Airport to DB Patil International Airport was recently approved by the state cabinet of Maharashtra. According to the cabinet, DB Patil, a former Peasants and Workers Party leader, will be honoured with a name change for Navi Mumbai International Airport. In addition, the government declared that Osmanabad would become Dharashiv and Aurangabad would become Sambhaji Nagar.gallery,

The Shiv Sena, which leads the ruling MVA coalition and is facing a rebellion by the majority of its MLAs, made its decision on the contentious matter of renaming the historically significant city of Aurangabad in central Maharashtra. The future Navi Mumbai international airport will be named after the late farmer leader D B Patil, which was also accepted at the cabinet meeting presided over by the troubled Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

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Interestingly, state planning agency CIDCO had earlier proposed to name the Navi Mumbai airport after the late Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena. After the Shiv Sena broke off its alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form MVA government, the BJP had often reminded the Sena of its own old demand to rename Aurangabad, which derived its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. gallery,

Also read: Nuclear-powered world's largest flying hotel takes internet by storm, know all about it: Watch Videogallery,

The Congress, which is a junior partner in the MVA government, demanded in the cabinet meeting that Pune city be named Jijau Nagar, after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's mother, and Mumbai Trans Harbour link between Sewree and Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai be named for former chief minister late A R Antulay. But these demands were apparently not considered. Congress had backed the demand to name Navi Mumbai Airport after D B Patil.gallery,

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An ONGC helicopter on the way to the Sagar Kiran rig in Arabian Sea crashed on Tuesday (June 28) killing 4 out of 9 onboard the chopper. The chopper went down around 1145 hrs, just 1 nautical mile away from Sagar Kiran, but managed to stay afloat with the help of the attached floaters. Rescuers, including vessel Malviya-16 and a speed boat from the rig managed to pull out all 9 people on board the ill fated chopper, but 4 of them were declared dead after being transferred to hospital by a Navy helicopter. The chopper was carrying ONGC employees, along with two pilots.

As per a report on PTI, ONGC employees were travelling in a brand new, one of six Sikorsky S-76D helicopters that Pawan Hans had recently leased from the Milestone Aviation Group. The Sikorsky S-76 is the same generation of helicopter in which Basketball star Kobe Bryant died in 2020. However, the helicopter he was riding was the S-76B as against the S-76D of ONGC.

The chopper was about 4-5 minutes away from its destination - ONGC's Sagar Kiran rig - when the incident took place. The circumstances that led to the incident were not immediately known but western offshore had inclement weather and there was a swell in the sea. Officials said ONGC has already instituted an inquiry into the incident. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is also likely to order a separate inquiry.

Detailing sequence, officials said the chopper took off from Juhu helibase this morning just like any other day but 1 or 1.5 km from the landing zone on the rig, it went down into the sea. It, however, managed to stay afloat with floaters fitted on such helicopters going offshore. "What we don't know is if the helicopter toppled during the float," an official said.

All 9 persons onboard helicopter were rescued. Unfortunately, four of them, brought unconscious to the Mumbai base and taken to the hospital, lost the battle of life. #ONGC deeply mourns this loss. https://t.co/ljfmDesV3K  Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) (@ONGC_) June 28, 2022

On first information, ONGC and Navy scrambled vessels for the rescue. A high-speed boat from Sagar Kiran rig was first to reach the spot. In a matter of 90-100 minutes, all personnel were pulled out.

While vessel Malviya-16 rescued four persons, one person was pulled out by rescue boat from Sagar Kiran rig. Navy choppers airlifted four unconscious persons to hospitals in Mumbai, the official said. The helicopter sank soon after.

A multi-support vessel (MSV) is already at the spot, trying to salvage the helicopter wreckage, he said, adding divers too are at the spot. ONGC has key oil and gas fields off the Mumbai coast and Pawan Hans helicopters routinely ferry company employees and officers to the oil installations that are situated as far as 160 kilometres from the coastline.

The helicopter crash is not the first accident in ONGC's history. In August 2003, a Mi-172 helicopter crashed off the Mumbai coast, killing 27 people and the pilot on board.

On January 13, 2018, a Pawan Hans helicopter with seven people on board, including five ONGC officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company's oil installation in the Arabian Sea. All seven died.

In 2002, a Dauphin helicopter hired by ONGC crashed into the sea but the 10 passengers were rescued.

In April 2003, a Bell 412 helicopter ferrying ONGC personnel crashed while landing at the Juhu aerodrome.

"#SAR #RescueAtSea All nine survivors rescued. Four survivors picked by OSV Malviya 16, one by boat of Sagar Kiran oil rig & two each by #IndianNavy ALH & Seaking helicopters. Four critical survivors being evacuated to Juhu by Navy helicopters for management at @ONGC_ hospital," PRO Defence, Mumbai, tweeted.

With PTI inputs

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New Delhi: Airbnb is making permanent its ban on parties at homes listed on the site for short-term rentals. The San Francisco company believes the ban has worked, saying on Tuesday that reports of parties at listed properties have dropped 44 per cent from a year ago. More than 6,600 guests were suspended last year for related violations, Airbnb said.

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Airbnb began to crack down on parties in 2019 after a fatal shooting at a party in a house in California. At that time, the company prohibited advertising parties at Airbnb locations on social media. (ALSO READ: Gold price today, June 29: Check gold rate in Delhi, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata, Kanpur, Kerala and other cities) gallery,

The number of parties at Airbnb locations increased during the pandemic, Airbnb said, as people moved gatherings from bars and clubs to rented homes. That led to a temporary ban in 2020. (ALSO READ: Burger King employee who didn't take a single leave in 27 years get Rs 1.5 cr) gallery,

While making the ban permanent, Airbnb said it will lift a limit of 16 people at rented properties. It said the cap was prompted by health concerns before vaccines against COVID-19 were available. gallery,

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New Delhi: Sebi has imposed a penalty totalling Rs 44 crore on 18 entities, including National Stock Exchange (NSE), its business development officer Ravi Varanasi, former MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and her adviser Subramanian Anand along with certain stock brokers in the 'dark fibre' case. Apart from NSE and its former officials, others penalised by Sebi are stock brokers --Way2Wealth Brokers and GKN Securities-- Sampark Infotainment and their respective employees.

The regulator has imposed a penalty of Rs 7 crore on NSE, Rs 5 crore each on Ramkrishna, Varanasi and Subramanian Anand, who was Group Operating Officer and adviser to then MD Ramkrishna.

Also, Sebi levied a fine of Rs 1 crore each on Nagendra Kumar SRVS and Deviprasad Singh.Further, Sebi has slapped a fine of Rs 6 crore on Way2Wealth Brokers, Rs 5 crore on GKN Securities and Rs 3 crore on Sampark Infotainment. (ALSO READ: 47th GST Council meet: Curd, paneer, hotels, bank facilities to get expensive)

They have been asked to pay the penalty amount within 45 days, according to a Sebi order passed on Tuesday. (ALSO READ: Samsung acquires German OLED display startup Cynora: Report)

The case relates to the alleged differential access given to certain broking firms in the form of 'dark fibre' at NSE, to connect across the co-location facilities before other members.

A dark fibre or unlit fibre, with respect to network connectivity, refers to an already laid but unused or passive optical fibre, which is not connected to active electronics and does not have other data flowing through them and available for use in fibre-optic communication.

The regulator initiated a probe with respect to the dealings of the several entities, for the period 2009 to 2016 in the matter of providing connectivity to certain stock brokers by NSE in a manner which may be detrimental to the investors or the securities market.

In its order, Sebi found that Sampark arranged the cabling in the co-location rack of NSE in such a manner that some stock brokers, Way2Wealth Brokers and GKN Securities, had lower latency compared to other trading members connected to Sampark Multiplexer. Such an unfair advantage available with certain stock brokers was in contradiction to various regulations.

Further, NSE was charged for granting preferential treatment to W2W and GKN and depriving the same to other stock brokers by facilitating laying of cable for W2W (by Sampark) so as to provide latency advantage to W2W over other stock brokers.

Also, the exchange was charged for allowing W2W and GKN to continue to avail Sampark connectivity even after finding out that Sampark did not have requisite licence.

In its order, Sebi noted that Ravi Varanasi and Nagendra at the relevant point of time were responsible for operational activities relating to Colo rack allocation as well as processing of Colo requests.

Deviprasad was the vice president of IT operations of NSE and responsibility for ascertaining the eligibility of service providers was vested on the Colo Support Team, which was headed by him.

"W2W (Way2Wealth) and GKN, in collusion with the employees of NSE and Sampark made significant profit due to unfair latency advantage available with them," Sebi said in its 186-page order.

Others penalised by Sebi are -- MR Shashibhushan (Rs 1 crore), Prashanth D'souza (Rs 1.1 crore), Om Prakash Gupta (Rs 1.1 crore), Sonali Gupta (Rs 1.1 crore), Rahul Gupta (Rs 1.1 crore).

Besides, fine of Rs 10 lakh each was imposed on Netaji Patil, Rima Srivastava, Parshant Mittal and Mohit Mutreja.

In February, the regulator penalised Ramkrishna, Subramanian and others in a case related to alleged governance lapses at the exchange.

Sebi had imposed a penalty of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna for alleged governance lapses in a case related to the appointment of Subramanian as the Group Operating Officer and adviser when she was at the helm of NSE as its MD and CEO, as well as for sharing confidential information of the company with an unidentified person.

Apart from penalising Ramkrishna, Sebi had imposed a penalty on Ravi Narain, who was the predecessor of Ramkrishna.
After pausing to review new information, the state parole board has decided to stick with its original decision to grant parole to an 88-year-old inmate convicted of strangling and raping a teenager in the Rochester area 60 years ago.

James R. Moore was granted an open release date following an April parole hearing, his 21st request since an early 1980s state law made him eligible for early release despite his original sentence of life in prison without parole.

In May, however, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said that decision was temporarily suspended pending a rescission hearing that could result in the decision being reversed. That development was based on unspecified new information that had come to the agency's attention.

Subsequently, DOCCS said the new information was reviewed, leading to a decision not to hold a rescission hearing.

Moore is married to Auburn resident Joyce Smith, and in previous appearances before the parole board, he had indicated he would live with her if released. But that is no longer the case, Smith told The Citizen.

Because of his failing health, Moore will be released first to nursing home care in a facility that she says will not be located in either Cayuga or Monroe counties. Moore recently has had both of his lower legs amputated, she said.

Having been a full-time National Guard veteran with a honorable discharge prior to his crime, Moore is expected to eventually be transferred to a federal Veterans Affairs facility for full-time care, his wife said.

"He has those disabilities as well as others due to his age," she said. "We'll finally get him out and maybe he can have a few days. He's not doing very well."

DOCCS did not address Smith's comments when asked by The Citizen, but issued a statement that noted Moore "remains incarcerated at this time and will be released upon completion of his community preparation which includes an approved residence."

Moore's case was also reviewed by the state Office of Mental Health, DOCCS said in a prior statement.

"Mr. Moore was referred to Office of Mental Health to be reviewed for civil management pursuant to Article 10 of the Mental Hygiene Law and was found not to be in need of further review," the agency said in a statement, noting that Article 10 provides "a mechanism by which the New York State Attorney General may seek to have certain individuals civilly confined or placed on intensive supervision by a Court."

Moore, New York's longest-serving prison inmate, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the 1962 killing of 14-year-old Pamela Moss, of Penfield. Authorities said Moore attacked the girl on a trail near her home, strangled and raped her, and dumped her body in a water-filled gravel pit.

While confessing to the killing, Moore told police he had sexually molested at least 17 other girls and admitted he raped a 9-year-old girl, authorities said. He pleaded guilty to Moss' murder in order to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life without parole. However, changes to state law later made him eligible for parole every two years starting in 1982.

Judge John Lomenzo sentenced Moore in 1963. He spent the next decade at Attica Correctional Facility, working as a dental assistant, school teacher and administrative assistant in the prison. In 1973, he was moved to Auburn Correctional Facility, where he later met and eventually married Smith, a volunteer coordinator of the prison's arts programming.

Moore spent more than two decades in Auburn, where he earned several business degrees and worked as a clerk and machinist before being transferred to Collins Correctional Facility in Gowanda in 1999. From there, he was sent to Cayuga Correctional Facility and later transferred to Franklin Correctional Facility in Malone.

Moore has said he learned that chemicals he was using during his time as a landscaper were known to cause episodes of mania, and he came to believe that's why he committed those crimes.

Lomenzo, the original sentencing judge, wrote to the parole board in 2001 recommending Moore's release, saying "I can now, with a clear mind, state that is my belief that Mr. Moore has been rehabilitated."

Moore is currently being held in at Coxsackie Correctional Facility.

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Seoul: Samsung Display has acquired German display startup Cynora for about $300 million to advance technology for foldable smartphone screens, a report said on Wednesday. The South Korean firm purchased Cynora`s "intellectual property and technology" on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels used in foldable smartphones. Cynora`s workforce was not included in the deal, reports Yonhap news agency, quoting Bloomberg.gallery,

Samsung has worked to make its foldable smartphone series another "main column next to the Galaxy S series within our business," according to Kim Sung-koo, vice president of Samsung`s mobile business. (Also Read: Australian court slaps Rs 78 crore fine on Samsung over false claims of water-resistance)

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"We are currently all hands on deck preparing the new foldable model scheduled for launch in the second half," Kim said during the earnings conference in April. (ALSO READ: 47th GST Council meet: Curd, paneer, hotels, bank facilities to get expensive) gallery,

Samsung is expected to launch its new foldable series in August, with Apple also being speculated to enter the foldable market in the coming years.gallery,

According to industry tracker Counterpoint Research, Samsung will dominate the market with a 75 percent market share until 2023. Samsung Display could not be reached for a comment on the deal.gallery,

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New Delhi: The 47th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has approved imposing GST on new items and increasing the tax on a few items, in a bid to boost the governments revenue. For instance, the council has decided to impose a 12% GST on hotel rooms below Rs 1000. So far, a 12% GST was imposed on hotel tariffs above the threshold. The move could hurt negatively impact the tourism sector which is currently making a recovery from Covid-19 woes. gallery,

Meanwhile, the GST Council has also agreed to levy an 18 per cent cess on cheques, irrespective of whether they are in loose or in book form. The GST will be levied on fees charged by banks for the issue of cheques. (ALSO READ: Employee disappears after accidentally receiving 286 times his salary! Chile-based company takes legal action) gallery,

Moreover, pre-packed and labelled food items like meat, fish, curd, and paneer will now attract GST. Unpacked food items such as rice and wheat when packed will now also attract GST at 5%. Other similar items that have now come under the ambit of GST are labeled meat (except frozen), honey, dried leguminous vegetables, dried makhana, wheat and other cereals, wheat flour, jaggery, puffed rice (muri), all goods and organic manure and coir pith compost. (ALSO READ: Rupee hits fresh low, falls 18 paise to close at 79.03 against US dollar)

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The move has taken after the GST Council - the highest decision-making body on the levy of goods and services tax - accepted most of the recommendations of a group of ministers from states on withdrawing exemptions with a view to rationalising the levy, officials said.gallery,

On the first day of the two-day meeting, the panel, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprised of representatives from all states and UTs, accepted the GoM's recommendation to review the current GST exemption for packed and labeled food items.gallery,

Also, the GST council has decided that goods that are unpacked, unlabelled and unbranded will continue to remain exempt from GST.gallery,

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New Delhi: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday emphasised the need for proper interpretation of data to facilitate more informed decision making as it will bring clarity in communication from decision makers as well as formation of rational expectations from market participants. "The importance of statistics in public policy is well understood. In the face of high uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the discipline of statistics found itself in greater spotlight. This unprecedented global phenomenon has tested human endeavour in multiple facets and magnitude," he said.

Speaking at the RBI's annual 'Statistics Day Conference', Das mentioned that lockdowns in various countries, including India, posed severe challenges to the compilation and availability of data relating to the spread of the pandemic, and its impact on various economies and the world urgently needed solutions to a problem it had never seen before.

Recalling India's experience in data gathering, he said the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation was compelled to publish imputed figures for Consumer Price Index (CPI) for two consecutive months during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 due to immense difficulty in collection of prices for many items. (ALSO READ: Delhi govts BIG step! CM Kejriwal announces extension of free ration scheme)

He said statistical innovations arising out of the pandemic disruption will have long-lasting benefits and added that the upheaval also posed challenges to statistical agencies to build more public trust in the resulting statistics. (ALSO READ: Dark Fibre Case: Sebi slaps Rs 7 crore fine on NSE, penalises Chitra Ramkrishna, 15 others)

While new data sources open up opportunities for official statistics, he said it also raises issues for the discipline.

"... Statistics should focus on laying down the pathway towards proper interpretation in the present world of data abundance. This would facilitate more informed decision making, clarity in communication from decision makers and formation of rational expectations from market participants," Das said.

Observing that the development of proper data quality framework and ensuring data privacy and data security has assumed top priority, Das said this was a central theme for the recently held International Association for Official Statistics Conference in April 2022.

Central banks on their part are both producers and users of statistics for policy actions as well as for assessing the outcomes of their actions. They also need to establish stronger communication of their policies and actions in such turbulent times, he noted.

Thus, central banks too had to cope with all these challenges by focussing on alternative indicators and data sources for monitoring the effects of the pandemic in all its dimensions.

Asserting that the Reserve Bank treats information as a 'public good', Das said the central bank envisions to keep calibrating its information management systems to the needs and expectations of various stakeholders.

The new and rising demands for policy inputs and decision making necessitate robust quality of statistics and statistical methods, he added.

Talking about RBI, Das said it has refocussed its statistical endeavours during the pandemic to ensure the continuity of its mission.

"RBI's past efforts in streamlining of data flow, investment in technology and continuous engagement with regulated entities paid dividends. In addition to some shift in modes of survey data collection, more consistency checks were put in place and sample follow-up revisits were introduced to ensure sanctity of data," he said.

Innovative solutions were found in terms of channels of data collection, validations and dissemination for policy inputs as well as for meeting various international reporting commitments, he said.

"Our endeavour has been to follow global standards and best practices, some of which are still evolving. In parallel to these developments, more indices, sub-indices and other statistics have also come to the forefront as countries strive to achieve higher standard of living, and attempt to monitor their progress across multiple dimensions," he said.

Various forms of human development indices, happiness indices and inequality indices have been proposed in the literature and are now compiled by various national and international agencies, he said.

Given its vastness and geographical diversity, he said India requires regional dimensions of national indicators.

"We should aim at enhanced granularity, regularity and better validation. In the Reserve Bank, we treat information as a 'public good'. We envision to keep calibrating our information management systems to the needs and expectations of various stakeholders," he said.

RBI should also tap alternate data sources, and consider ways and means of fitting them in the existing analytical frameworks, he added.
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday distanced itself from party MP Manish Tewari's stand favouring the Agnipath scheme, saying those were entirely his own views and not of the party which firmly believes the new military recruitment initiative is "anti-national security and anti-youth". In an article in the Indian Express, Tewari wrote that the Agniveer recruitment reform must be contextualised in the backdrop of the larger canvas of defence reforms that include the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff, a reorganisation of the armed forces into theatre commands to promote jointness and synergy.

The future of warfare entails a lighter human footprint, but soldiers equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, supported by cutting-edge technology to fight a war in a highly informationised environment, he said. This recruitment reform would help in right-sizing the armed forces provided it gets dovetailed into the imperatives of fifth-generation warfare, Tewari said.

In response to the article, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "Manish Tewari, INC MP, has written an article on Agnipath. While @INCIndia is the only democratic party, it must be said his views are entirely his own & not of the party, which firmly believes Agnipath is anti-national security & anti-youth, bulldozed through without discussion."

Responding to Ramesh on Twitter, Tewari said the tagline of the article does say 'the views are personal'. "I wish @Jairam_Ramesh ji would have read it right till the very end," the Lok Sabha MP said and attached a screenshot of the article where it was written at the end that the views were personal.

Earlier also, Tewari had said the new Agnipath scheme is a much-needed reform in the right direction while noting that the armed forces should not be an employment guarantee programme. "This is a reform which is much-needed and is a reform in the right direction," Tewari had said.

"I do empathise with youth who have concerns over Agnipath recruitment Process.Reality is India needs a younger armed force with lighter human footprint savvy on technology, equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry. Armed forces of Union shouldn't be an employment guarantee programme," he had said.

Tewari has often taken a stand at variance with the party lines. Following the Sangrur by-election results in which the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate Simranjit Singh Mann defeated the ruling AAP candidate, Tewari had said, "Sangrur bye-election definitely is a wake up call for @AamAadmiParty.Has other implications too. @INCPunjab rather than exulting should introspect why it dropped from 3,03,350 votes-2019 to 79,668 votes -2022 & lost its deposit. In Delhi by-Polls @INCIndia polled only 2014 votes."

Several states witnessed protests, including unbridled violence, after the Agnipath scheme was announced on June 14. It envisages recruiting in the armed force's youth in the age bracket of 17-and-half to 21 years 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.

The Congress has been vehemently protesting the Agnipath scheme and its leaders had observed a "peaceful Satyagraha" on Monday in all assembly constituencies, demanding withdrawal of the scheme. It had also observed a peaceful Satyagraha at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi and also in various states on the issue on June 20.

Congress MPs had taken out a peaceful march from Parliament against Agnipath and a delegation of senior leaders submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind requesting him to withdraw the controversial scheme. The president is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir): With just one day left for the Amarnath Yatra, the first batch of pilgrims reached Udhampur on Wednesday morning. They were welcomed by locals, PRI Members as well as officers of the District Administration. The Yatra began earlier today from Jammu amid tight security arrangements made by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with the army and the local police. On this occasion, District Development Council Chairman Lal Chand as well as Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Krittika Jyotsna (IAS) along with locals welcomed the Pilgrims and flagged off towards Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra.

DC Udhampur said that proper security arrangements have been made for the pilgrims. Pilgrims reached Jammu late Tuesday night ahead of the Amarnath Yatra which will be commencing on June 30, after a gap of two years. "We were waiting for two years to offer prayers to Baba Bholenath. We are very happy to see it happen," a pilgrim told ANI.

Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha met the first batch of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims from the Jammu base camp on Tuesday night. The Amarnath shrine pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva, located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, is held from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had cancelled the annual Amarnath pilgrimage due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in 2020 and 2021 after a discussion with Amarnathji Shrine Board members. With just a day left for the Amarnath Yatra, the langar committees are gearing up to facilitate Amarnath Yatra pilgrims in Udhampur and Baltal.

In Jammu and Kashmir, all necessary arrangements have been completed by the Ramban district administration for the convenience of the Amarnath Yatries during their Yatra (pilgrimage) starting from Wednesday from Jammu, on the 66 Km journey from Nashri to Banihal. Besides this, the DRDO hostel has been made prepared for the Amarnath Yatris."DRDO hostel is ready in both the base camps for Amarnath Yatris. We have made arrangements for the pilgrims to stay. Langar, medical, communication and sanitation facilities for the pilgrims have been done here," said Nitishwar Kumar, CEO of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.

Additional District Commissioner, Ramban, Harbans Lal who is also the Nodal Officer for Amarnath Yatra in Ramban district said that as many as 1,005 toilets excluding mobile toilets have been arranged for the Yatris along the NH44 as well as in the shelter sheds. He said that a specially designated water supply has been made for the pilgrims. CCTV cameras have been installed for the security of `Yatris` (tourists).

Besides this, signboards and a public address system have been made for providing necessary information for pilgrims.In addition to this, Police Control Rooms and Joint Control Rooms the Helpline, and District Emergency Operation Centre numbers have also been established.

Meticulous arrangements have been made for sanitation at their shelter places. All arrangements have also been made for any medical emergency of Yatris in the langars and other shelter sheds under the supervision of the Chief Medical Officer.

In the Ramban district along the NH-44, as many as 33 Langars by various religious and philanthropic organizations are all set to serve the pilgrims. In these langars besides free breakfast, lunch and dinner would be provided to the pilgrims. Besides this, there would be beds for night stays and free medicines in case of emergency.

Nodal officers have been deputed for ensuring the smooth running of langars. Besides langars, many wayside eateries and food joints have been established. Security has been tightened in Jammu and Kashmir with special emphasis on the use of over 130 sniffer dogs on the vehicle routes heading towards the shrine to ensure safe pilgrimage amid heightened terror threats. A top government official, requesting anonymity, told ANI that this is the first time when the security forces have been using a maximum number of sniffer dogs to check the use of explosives by terrorists to disrupt the 43-day annual pilgrimage beginning on June 30.
New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday (June 29) tendered his resignation after the Supreme Court allowed a floor test, ANI reported. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also announced his resignation from the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) post. Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday (June 30), wherein the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government would have been required to prove its majority. The apex court also issued notice on Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu's plea and said it will be subject to the outcome of the present petition.

In a Facebook live, Uddhav Thackeray also said that he respects the top court's decision not to stay Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to his government to take the floor test. "I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhawan. I will gather all my people. I am resigning as the CM & as an MLC," the Shiv Sena chief said.

I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP & Cong people also supported the proposal, ANI quoted Thackeray as saying.

On the Maharashtra Cabinet changing the names of a few places, Uddhav Thackeray said, I am satisfied that we have officially renamed Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv - the cities named by Balasaheb Thackeray.

He also urged the Sena workers to allow the rebel party legislators to return and not take to the streets in protest. In the evening today, the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde left Guwahati, where they were camping for over a week, and landed in Goa.

The development comes as the MVA government was unlikely to prove the majority in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday as Shinde had claimed the support of 50 MLAs, including Independents.

(With agency inputs)
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday tendered his resignation after the Supreme Court allowed a floor test. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also announced his resignation from the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) post. Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday (June 30), wherein the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government would have been required to prove its majority. The apex court also issued notice on Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu's plea and said it will be subject to the outcome of the present petition. gallery,

Todays DNA analysed Uddhav Thackerays resignation and the political crisis in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena had given three big arguments in the Supreme Court to postpone the floor test. Firstly, it said that the Governor of Maharashtra ordered the floor test to be conducted without consulting the government and the council of ministers, which is wrong. Secondly, it said that none of the 39 rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena have so far written a letter to the Governor seeking withdrawal of support to the government. Thirdly, till this matter is pending in the Supreme Court, it is unconstitutional to conduct floor test and by doing so, an attempt is being made to save the membership of the rebel MLAs. gallery,

However, these arguments of Shiv Sena did not have any effect on the court and the court ordered the floor test.

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There are total 288 seats in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. But due to the death of one MLA, now the number of sitting MLAs has come down to 287, and 144 seats are needed for majority. Before the rebellion, Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress had a total of 152 MLAs. That is, these three parties had 7 MLAs more than the majority. But after the rebellion in Shiv Sena, now this number game has changed.gallery,

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Patna: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav, RJD vice president Shivanand Tiwari and other leaders from Bihar condemned the barbaric broad daylight murder of a tailor in Rajasthan`s Udaipur and demanded stringent punishment for the culprits. Condemning the ghastly incident, Jitan Ram Manjhi, the former CM of Bihar said in a tweet (in Hindi): "The murder incident in Udaipur was extremely painful and shocking. The law of the country should conduct speedy trials against so-called protectors of a particular religion and hang them in the middle of a `chowk` so that other people would not do such a heinous act in the shade of religion."

                           pic.twitter.com/UyGtzo1dnL  Jitan Ram Manjhi (@jitanrmanjhi) June 28, 2022

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted, "I am extremely afflicted with the barbaric incident in Udaipur. Religious extremism not only makes any community blind but also takes away their ability of thinking from them. The perpetrators should be punished immediately."

"I strongly condemned the murder incident. Those who did such a heinous crime want to create instability in the country. I appeal to the government of Rajasthan to punish them in the strongest possible manner so that no one would dare to think of doing so again," IANS quoted Shivanand Tiwari as saying.

Also read: Raje blames Gehlot govt's appeasement policy for Udaipur beheading case

According to reports, the two accused Gos Mohamad and Abdul Jabbar, residents of Surajpol locality in Udaipur, entered victim Kanhaiya Lal`s shop and stabbed him multiple times with daggers and also slit his throat. A video of the incident where the accused claimed responsibility for the murder has gone viral on social media.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind flays Udaipur killing

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Tuesday condemned the Udaipur killing incident and called it against Islam and the law of the land. "Maulana Halceemuddin Qasmi, General Secretary of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, has condemned the incident of a brutal killing in Udaipur apparently on the pretext of the insult to the Prophet (PBUH) and called it against the law of land and against the religion of Islam," reads the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind statement.

The statement further said, "Has said whoever has perpetrated this incident cannot be justified in any way, it is against the law of the land and our religion. In our country, there is a system of law, no one has the right to take the law into his own hands. Maulana Hakeemuddin Qasmi appealed to all the citizens of the country to restrain their emotions and maintain peace in the country."

After the horrific murder of a tailor in Udaipur sparked outrage in the entire state, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday announced the imposition of section 144 of CrPC in all the districts for the next one month.

Soon after committing the crime, the two accused posted a video on social media boasting about the beheading and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s life as well, police said. The two accused were arrested within hours of the incident.

SIT formed to probe Udaipur beheading incident

The Rajasthan government on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the beheading incident, which took place in Udaipur`s Maldas area. The SIT includes the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Special Operation Group Ashok Kumar Rathore, Inspector General of Police (IG), Anti Terror Squad (ATS), Prafulla Kumar and a Superintendant of Police (SP) rank officer and an Additional SP rank officer.

A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) rushed to Udaipur following the incident, said sources. The NIA team includes a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer, a source told ANI on anonymity, adding the move comes following an order issued from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). As per government sources, the NIA team is likely to file a case under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after visiting the crime spot.

The victim, a tailor, reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP spokesperson who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Following the murder, local markets in the area were shut as the traders demanded justice for the victim.

(With IANS/ANI Inputs)
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HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: Himachal Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (HPBOSE) declared results of Class 10 or Matric final examination today, June 29. The press conference to declare the HPBOSE matric results began at 11am on June 29. Himachal Pradesh Class 10th results will be available on the board website, hpbose.org. HPBOSE conducted Class 10 and Class 12 board exams for the 2022 batch in two terms. Results of the first term exam was declared on February 10.gallery,

This year, 1.16 lakh students took the matric exam, which was held from March 26 to April 13, 2022. To pass the HP Board 10th exam, students must obtain a minimum of 33% in both the practical and theory exams. They must obtain a minimum score in each subject for which they have appeared.gallery,

HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: Websites to check result

hpbose.org.

results.gov.in.

results.nic.in.

HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: How to check scorecards via official website

Visit the official website hpbose.org. On the homepage, go to the 'Student's Corner' and select Result tab. Click on the link to check HP Board Class 10th Result 2022. New page will appear on the screen. Submit your credentials and login.

HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: How to check result via SMS

Open your SMS application.

Type 'HP<space>10-digit exam roll number'

Send it to 56263.

The HP board result will be sent via SMS.

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Srinagar: Two terrorists were killed in an encounter that broke out in Jammu and Kashmirs Nowpora Mir Bazaar area of Kulgam district. The slain terrorists belonged to the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Jammu and Kashmir police said. Both the killed terrorists have been identified as categorised local terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT. Again, an important encounter as the operation site was very close to NHW (Yatra route), IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said. gallery,

An officer monitoring the operation said earlier that a joint team of Police and army launched a cordon and search operation in Mir Bazaar on a specific input that terrorists are hiding in the area. As the joint team of forces approached the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired upon the forces, triggering off an encounter, the officer added. Notedly, the encounter spot was just 4 kilometers away from the national highway where the first batch for the Shri Amarnath Yatra 2022 passed.

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This was the 73rd encounter in Kashmir since January this year. The security forces have killed 123 terrorists, out of which 33 were Pakistani. While 16 security personnel and 19 civilians too have lost their lives.gallery,

Meanwhile, 46 active terrorists, mostly hybrid terrorists, and 192 terrorist supporters have also been arrested in Kashmir this year. gallery,

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The House of Representatives recently passed a mental health package that includes three bills introduced by U.S. Rep. John Katko.

The Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act reauthorizes several programs overseen by the Health and Resources Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The House passed the bill by a 402-20 vote. Katko, R-Camillus, and the entire New York congressional delegation voted for the legislation.

Katko's bills that were part of the final package include the Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act. The legislation, which he introduced with U.S. Reps. Donald Beyer and Grace Napolitano, would increase funding for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from $12 million to $50 million. He introduced the bill to help suicide crisis centers, such as Contact Community Services in central New York.

The Mental Health Services for Students Act was included in the larger bill. The measure provides $130 million in grants to schools to fund mental health services for students. He introduced the bill with Napolitano. Both members are co-chairs of the Mental Health Caucus.

Katko's Minority Fellowship Reauthorization Act was also added to the legislation. The bill, which he introduced with U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, reauthorizes funding for "culturally competent providers" and develops training programs for providers to address disparities in mental health services.

"As co-chair of the Bipartisan Mental Health Caucus, ensuring access to quality mental health services for central New Yorkers has been a priority since my first day in Congress," Katko said. "Our country is facing a mental health crisis, and these bills address this crisis by expanding access to mental healthcare for children and adolescents, supporting suicide crisis centers like Contact Community Services in Syracuse, and expanding the availability of mental health services in underserved communities."

The bill has been sent to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

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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Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra to prove his majority on the floor of the House on June 30 citing that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday termed the Maharashtra Governor's order for a floor test of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government as "unlawful", saying that the Supreme Court is yet to decide on the disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs. He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling coalition of Sena, NCP and Congress, are approaching the Supreme Court and seek justice on this issue. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the plea at 5 pm today of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari issued a letter to the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary late on Tuesday (June 28) night, directing him to hold a floor test of the Shiv Sena-led government at 11 am on June 30. The governor's order came a week after the rebellion in the ruling Shiv Sena by senior minister Eknath Shinde, who has been camping in Guwahati with a majority of party legislators and several independent MLAs. Their revolt has pushed the government led by Thackeray, who is also the Sena president, into a crisis. Taking a dig at the governor, Raut said the Raj Bhavan has acted at a "jet speed even faster than Rafale" after BJP leaders met him, urging him to seek a trust vote.

He reminded the governor that the file pertaining to the nomination of 12 MLCs to the Upper House of the state legislature from his quota has been pending with him for a long time. "This (floor test order) is an unlawful activity as pleas of disqualification of 16 MLAs are pending before the Supreme Court. If such unlawful activities take place, and if the governor and the BJP trample upon the Constitution, then the SC has to interfere," Raut told reporters. "We will go to the Supreme Court and seek justice," he had earlier said.

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 June 20 and camped in Gujarat's Surat. Later, the rebel MLAs shifted base to a hotel in Guwahati. On Monday, a separate plea was filed by Shinde in the Supreme Court court regarding the safety of the legislators who have challenged party chief and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala heard the pleas on Monday."This is the win of the Hindutva of Balasaheb Thackeray and the ideas of Anand Dighe," Eknath Shinde tweeted after the Supreme Court deferred the disqualification proceedings of rebel MLAs till July 11.

How the numbers add up at Maharashtra Legislative Assembly:

Following is the party position in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly:

Shiv Sena 55

NCP 53

Congress 44

BJP 106

Bahujan Vikas Aghadi 3

Samajwadi Party 2

AIMIM 2

Prahar Janshakti Party 2

MNS 1

CPI (M) 1

PWP 1

Swambhimani Paksha 1

Rashtriya Samaj Paksha 1

Jansurajya Shakti Party 1

Krantikari Shetkari Party 1

Independents 13

There is one vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month. Out of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs, 38 are in Guwahati along with 10 independents. Two NCP members - Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal - have tested Covid-19 positive, while two other party legislators - Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik - are currently in Jail.


Mumbai: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (June 28) night urged Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to direct the crisis-hit Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to prove its majority in the Assembly, while Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made a fresh effort to reach out to Eknath Shinde-led rebel camp in a bid to win them over. As the political crisis, triggered by rebellion Shiv Sena leader and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, entered the eighth day, the BJP moved to pile on the pressure on the beleaguered MVA government. After arriving from New Delhi, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai and submitted a letter to him, seeking direction to the MVA government to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly in view of the rebellion in the Shiv Sena, the lead party in the ruling alliance.

Fadnavis, a former CM, claimed that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress ruling coalition seemed to be in a minority as 39 Sena MLAs, who belong to the rebel faction led by cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, have said they do not support the government.

"Therefore, we handed over a letter to the Governor, requesting him to ask the government to prove its majority through a floor test in the House," the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly told reporters.

Citing various Supreme Court judgements, Fadnavis said in the letter that as majority in the House is "supreme" in parliamentary democracy and essential for a government's existence, he was requesting the Governor to ask the chief minister to prove majority at the earliest. Before meeting the Governor around 10 pm, Fadnavis called on top BJP leaders, including party president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in New Delhi earlier in the day.

According to sources, before the former CM landed at the Raj Bhavan, eight Independent MLAs, who were earlier associated with the Shiv Sena, sent emails from Guwahati -- where the rebel group headed by Shinde is camping -- seeking floor test at the earliest, claiming the Thackeray government has lost its majority.

Return to Mumbai, hold talks: Uddhav Thackeray urges rebel Shiv Sena MLAs

Reaching out to dissident Sena MLAs once again, CM Thackeray urged them to return to Mumbai and hold talks with him, saying it's not "too late", but rebel leader Shinde remained unmoved and asserted the legislators backing him are firm on taking forward Hindutva. The fresh conciliatory move came a day after the CM, who is also the Sena president, took away the portfolios of all nine rebel ministers, including Shinde, and against the backdrop of the Supreme Court granting relief to breakaway MLAs.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however ratcheted up the rhetoric against the rebels, warning those who have betrayed the party leadership should not be able to move around freely.

Thackeray's offer to mend fences comes against the backdrop of controversial statements made by some Shiv Sena leaders, especially Raut whose "40 bodies without soul" statement had caused a flutter.

"It is not too late. I appeal to you to return and sit with me and remove the confusion (created by your actions) among Shiv Sainiks and the public," a statement by Thackeray's aide quoted him as saying.

"If you return and face me, some way could be found. As the party president and family head, I still care for you," he said.

Thackeray said family members of some rebel MLAs camping in Guwahati are in touch with him.

"You have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. New information is coming out about you every day, and many of you are also in touch. In your heart, you are still with the Shiv Sena," he said.

Around 40 rebel Sena MLAs and at least 10 independent legislators have lodged themselves at a five-star hotel in Guwahati in their bid to bring down the two-and-a-half-year-old MVA government.
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New Delhi: A day before his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government faces a floor test, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has called a cabinet meeting at 5 pm today (June 29), ANI cited CMO as saying. The development comes after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asked the state government to prove a majority on the floor of the House on Thursday. However, Shiv Sena has moved the Supreme Court against the Governors call for a floor test.gallery,

The apex court will hear the plea at 5 pm today filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging the Maharashtra Governors direction to CM Thackeray to prove his government's majority. gallery,

MVA alliance partner Congress is also holding a meeting in Mumbai to discuss their further strategy ahead of the floor test. Congress leaders including Ashok Chavan, Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, Sunil Kedar, Charan Singh Sapra and Nitin Raut are attending the meeting. gallery,

Meanwhile, jailed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh have approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to participate in the Maharashtra Assembly floor test. The bench has agreed to hear their application at 5.30 pm.

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Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde, whose rebellion triggered the political crisis in Maharashtra, claimed the support of 50 rebel MLAs from his own party and independents. Visiting the Kamakhya temple in Assam, Shinde said he is ready to face any floor test. He told reporters, We have 50 MLAs with us, more than two-third of the legislators. We are not worried about the floor test and we will pass the test. gallery,

As per IANS report, the rebel lawmakers, who are camping in Guwahati, are likely to shift to Goa or Karnatakas Karwar on Wednesday before leaving for Mumbai the next day. Goa BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade told the news agency, "If they reach late then they will stay here. But this is not confirmed. They may go to Karwar. But for that also, they have to land at the Goa Airport."gallery,

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The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government in Maharashtra has been asked by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to prove majority at 11 pm on June 30 tomorrow. Uddhav Thackeray became the Chief Minister with the support of the Congress and the NCP, but there has been a split in his party, the Shiv Sena. Dozens of Shiv Sena MLAs are in a quandary with rebel leader Eknath Shinde and are demanding the break-up of the Congress-NCP alliance. Eknath Shinde says the alliance with the Congress and the NCP is contrary to the hindutva ideology.

Maharashtra Political Crisis: Tight Security Arrangements

The Maharashtra Governor has written to secretary Rajendra Bhagwat from the assembly to call for a special session. It has also been said to maintain security arrangements. The Shiv Sena is not yet ready for the majority test. The Shiv Sena has challenged the Governor's direction in the Supreme Court to prove its majority on June 30. The supreme court will hear the matter today i.e. at 5 pm on Wednesday. The Shiv Sena says that if any process of majority test starts, its legality will be challenged. The Shiv Sena has argued that the process of disqualifying the 16 rebel MLAs is still under consideration, so the floor test cannot be carried out.

Maharashtra Political Crisis: The Number Game

There are around 39 MLAs with Eknath Shinde. To legally break away from the Shiv Sena, the number of MLAs should be more than two-thirds. Shinde has been in Guwahati since June 22 and is claiming the support of more than 50 MLAs. Eknath Shinde also said on Wednesday that he along with his MLAs will reach Mumbai on Thursday for the majority test. Shinde has been in Guwahati, Assam for the past one week. They are accompanied by dozens of Shiv Sena MLAs and some independents. Shinde has announced to form a new political faction with these MLAs. Shinde says his party will remain tied to Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology.

Maharashtra Political Crisis: BJP's Masterstroke

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, former Chief Minister and leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis had met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. Fadnavis has demanded from the Governor that Uddhav Thackeray be asked to prove his majority in the Assembly.

Maharashtra Political Crisis: Uddhav Thackeray's Appeal

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to the rebel MLAs not to take any wrong steps that will harm the party. Uddhav said, "The prestige that you have got in the Shiv Sena will not be found anywhere. If you all come and talk, the problem can be solved. As Shiv Sena Chief, I am concerned about all of you. You all come and sit down and talk." The BJP's response to the entire issue has been very lukewarm. The BJP has been saying that it is an internal matter of the Shiv Sena. But on the other hand, it is also being said that the BJP is behind the rebellion in the Shiv Sena. Eknath Shinde is in the BJP-ruled state of Assam along with the rebel MLAs.

Maharashtra Political Crisis: Assembly Seat Equation

There are a total of 288 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly. One of the seats is vacant due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Take. In the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs, NCP has 53 and Congress has 44 MLAs.

Out of these two NCP MLAs Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik are in jail. Both are in jail in a money laundering case. The BJP has a total of 106 MLAs and the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi has three. Apart from this, Samajwadi Party, AIMIM and Prahar Janshakti Party have two MLAs each.

MNS, CPI(M), PWP, Swabhimani Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Jansurajya Shakti Party and Krantikari Shetkari Party have one MLA each. There are also 13 independent MLAs.

There will be 144 MLAs to form the government. If the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena supports the BJP, then the BJP can form a government once again in Maharashtra. The way Shinde has been speaking so far, it is clear that the BJP can form a government.
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TS SSC Results 2022: The Telangana Board of Secondary Education will release the TS SSC result 2022 on June 30, 2022. Telangana 10th result 2022 will be posted on the official website, bse.telangana.gov.in. Students can access Telangana state board 10th result 2022 by entering their hall ticket numbers.gallery,

Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy, Telangana state education minister, will release the TS SSC exam results on June 30 at 11.30 a.m. Students who took the TS SSC exams can check their TS 10th result 2022 at bse.telangana.gov.in and bseresults.telangana.gov.in. The TS SSC exams 2022 were held this year from May 23 to June 1, 2022. Students must secure 35% in each subject to pass the Telangana SSC exam. ALSO READ: HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: Himachal Pradesh Board class 10th result DECLARED at hpbose.org- direct LINK for marks memo heregallery,

TS SSC Result 2022: How to check result via official website

Visit the official website bse.telangana.gov.in.

Click the link "TS SSC results 2022" on the homepage.

Enter the hall ticket number as well as the captcha code.

Select the 'find result' tab.

The TS 10th class result 2022 will be displayed on the monitors.

Make a note of it for future use.

The Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) Intermediate 1st and 2nd year exam results was released on June 28, 2022. A total of 63.32 percent of students passed the first-year exam, and 67.7 percent passed the second-year exam. gallery,

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New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday (June 28, 2022) said that Delhi is likely to receive the first monsoon showers on June 30 or July 1. The weather department also issued a severe rainfall alert for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal and other states for the coming days. "We expect the conditions to remain favorable for the further advance of the monsoon in the remaining parts of UP, HP, J-K, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi in the subsequent 48 hours," senior IMD Scientist RK Jenamani was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Pre-monsoon convection may lead to light rainfall in the national capital on Wednesday evening and provide relief from the heat. The IMD has issued an orange alert, warning of moderate rainfall in the city on June 30. The maximum temperature will come down to 33-34 degrees Celsius by July 1, he said.

Monsoon usually arrives in Delhi on June 27

The southwest monsoon usually arrives in the national capital on June 27. Last year, the IMD had forecast that the monsoon would arrive in Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date, June 27. However, it reached the capital only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years.

According to IMD data, the monsoon covered Delhi 29 times in June and 33 times in July in the last 62 years. The IMD had in 2020 revised the date of monsoon arrival in Delhi from June 29 to June 27.

Weather experts have said the monsoon is expected to yield good rainfall in Delhi in the first 10 days.

Delhi has received just 72.5 mm of rainfall since March 1 this year against the normal of 111.9 mm owing to the lack of strong western disturbances. The city did not record any rainfall in March and saw a minuscule 0.3 mm of precipitation in April against the monthly average of 12.2 mm.

The capital has recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius and above on 27 days so far this summer season, the highest number of such days since 2012, according to IMD data. In 2012, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius or above for 30 days.

Heavy rainfall warning issued for Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

According to IMD, heavy rainfall is likely over West Rajasthan and Punjab on July 1, over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi on June 30 and July 1 and over Uttarakhand on July 1 and July 2. Heavy rainfall is also predicted over Uttar Pradesh on June 29 and July 1and over Himachal Pradesh on July 1 and July 2.

Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is also likely over Uttarakhand on Junr 30 and heavy to very heavy rainfall likely over Himachal Pradesh on June 29 and June, over Uttarakhand on June 29, over West Uttar Pradesh on June 30, East Uttar Pradesh between June 29 and June 30. East Rajasthan may also witness isolated extremely heavy rainfall on June 30 and July 1.

Heavy rains likely in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha

The IMD has also said that fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning and isolated heavy rainfall are very likely over Madhya Pradesh on June 29, in Chhattisgarh between June 28 and June 30. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is also likely over Madhya Pradesh from June 30 to July 2. Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning is also expected over Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal during the next five days.
Kurla (Mumbai): The Mumbai Police on Wednesday said that a total of 19 people were killed and 15 people sustained injuries after a building collapse in the Kurla area of Mumbai on Monday. An FIR has been registered against other landlords and one Dilip Biswas under Sections 304(2), 308, 337, 338, and 34 of IPC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister`s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those who lost their lives. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each.

"Pained by the building collapse in Mumbai. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with the bereaved families and prayers with the injured. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of the deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000," tweeted the Office of the Prime Minister quoting PM Modi.

The death toll in the Kurla building collapse rose to 19 on Tuesday evening. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those who died in the incident.

As per Mumbai Police, 15 injured & a total of 19 dead in Kurla building collapse. An FIR has been registered against other landlords and one Dilip Biswas under Sections 304(2), 308, 337, 338, and 34 of IPC  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

The four-storeyed building collapsed in Mumbai`s Kurla late on Monday night. The incident took place in the Naik Nagar area. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Potnis said, "In 2016, the building was listed under the C1 category. Later, following an audit, it was reclassified under C2. It should have been repaired, but it wasn`t. I, however, don`t think there has been negligence on part of BMC."

Earlier, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said the collapsed building was dilapidated, since 2013, notices had been first given for its repair, and then for its demolition. On Monday night, Minister Aaditya Thackeray visited Kurla where the building collapsed and said that such property should be vacated on the notice of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). "Whenever BMC issues notices, (buildings) should be vacated themselves...otherwise, such incidents happen, which is unfortunate...It`s now important to take action on this," Thackeray said.
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New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (June 29, 2022) condemned the killing of a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur and said "violence and extremism are unacceptable". The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief urged everyone to maintain peace as the law takes its own course of action.gallery,

Mamata Banerjee took to her official Twitter account and wrote, "Violence and extremism are UNACCEPTABLE, no matter what! I STRONGLY CONDEMN what happened in Udaipur. As law takes its own course of action, I urge everyone to maintain peace."gallery,

Violence and extremism are UNACCEPTABLE, no matter what!



I STRONGLY CONDEMN what happened in Udaipur.



As law takes its own course of action, I urge everyone to maintain peace.gallery,  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 29, 2022

'No true Muslim' will support such heinous act: Bengal Imams Association on Kanhaiya Lal's killing in Udaipur

Meanwhile, the Bengal Imams Association on Wednesday also joined in condemned the killing of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur and said "no true Muslim" will support such a heinous act. Demanding exemplary punishment for the assailants, Bengal Imams Association Chairman Md Yahia said in a statement a criminal, a murderer should only be known by his crime and either his name or purported religious identity cannot belittle the severity of the act.gallery,

The representative body of clerics also felt that for the crime of one-two individuals an entire community representing one particular religion or tribe should not be held responsible.

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"Islam doesn't permit taking away the life of a fellow human being, it is a sin," Yahia stated.gallery,

Two men with a cleaver murdered a tailor in Udaipur and posted videos online on Tuesday that said they are avenging an insult to Islam. The men who allegedly carried out the daylight murder posted videos online admitting to the crime and were taken into custody by police.gallery,

Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Muhammad.gallery,

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Kolkata: In Bengal, the leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, now with respect to the Udaipur tailor's gruesome murder. While Mamata Banerjee had earlier in the day condemned the Udaipur killing, Adhikari slammed her and said in a tweet, "Such incidents are fuelled by regimes engaging in appeasement politics, who for the sake of vote bank either instigate such elements or turn a blind eye when they run amok."

Suvendu also paid his respects "to Sri Kanhaiya Lal of Udaipur; Rajasthan & pray that his departed soul attains eternal peace. His martyrdom is certainly an eye-opener for people like us who live in harmony, trusting 'others'." He also said he appreciates the Home Minister's decision to initiate an NIA probe.

Adhikari also shared an old video of Mamata where she is seen saying that on July 21 - the day when All India Trinamool Congress commemorates the 1993 Kolkata firing as Martyrs' Day - "we will call for jihad against BJP".

There is no space for this kind of extremism in India & it's an imminent threat to our internal security.

Such incidents are fuelled by regimes engaging in appeasement politics, who for the sake of vote bank either instigate such elements or turn a blind eye when they run amok:- pic.twitter.com/txo1I4KOKZ  Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) June 29, 2022

Meanwhile, Mamata had condemned Udaipur killing. "Violence and extremism are unacceptable, no matter what! I strongly condemn what happened in Udaipur. As law takes its own course of action, I urge everyone to maintain peace." Banerjee tweeted.

Two men with a cleaver murdered a tailor in Udaipur and posted videos online on Tuesday (June 28) that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the historic city, a part of which was placed under curfew. The men who allegedly carried out the daylight murder posted videos online admitting to the crime and were taken into custody by police.

Meanwhile, the Bengal Imams Association on Wednesday also joined in condemning the killing of a tailor in Rajasthan and said "no true Muslim" will support such a heinous act. Demanding exemplary punishment for the assailants, Bengal Imams Association Chairman Md Yahia said in a statement a criminal, a murderer should only be known by his crime and either his name or purported religious identity cannot belittle the severity of the act.

The representative body of clerics also felt that for the crime of one-two individuals, an entire community representing one particular religion or tribe should not be held responsible. Islam doesn't permit taking away the life of a fellow human being, it is a sin, Yahia added.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday (June 29) directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal Teli at Udaipur in Rajasthan on Tuesday. The NIA was directed to probe the involvement of any organisation and international links thoroughly, said an ANI report citing the Union Home ministry.

The spokesperson of the MHA said on their Twitter handle that "MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated."

MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday.



The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated.   , HMO India (@HMOIndia) June 29, 2022

On Tuesday, Kanhaiya Lal was murdered by two men who had posted videos online that said they were avenging an insult to Islam. The incident triggered stray cases of violence in Udaipur and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city. Mobile Internet services were suspended across all 33 districts of Rajasthan.

The assailants entered Lal's shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took measurements Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone. The men fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip on social media. In another video, the alleged assailant said they "beheaded" the tailor and threatened the prime minister for lighting 'this fire'.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had "beheaded" the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Mohammad.

Lal was recently arrested by the local police over a post on social media. On June 15, while he was on bail, he told police that he was receiving threat calls. The local SHO summoned both sides to the police station and settled the matter, an official said. After the murder, police suspended an assistant sub-inspector for negligence at that time.

Also read: Vasundhara Raje blames Ashok Gehlot govt's appeasement policy for triggering the incident

Also read: 'Hang them in middle of a `chowk` so that.......', says Jitan Ram Manjhi on Udaipur beheading

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said his government has taken a serious view of the gruesome murder and asserted that such incidents cannot take place without involvement of radical elements at national and international levels.

"We are taking the incident very seriously. This is not an ordinary issue and it cannot happen until there is a link with radical elements at the national and international levels. This is what experience says," Gehlot told reporters in Jodhpur before leaving for Jaipur to chair a law and order review meeting.

Ashok Gehlot said the plans, conspiracy of the accused and their links with national or international agencies will be disclosed, adding that the SIT has started its work and the government will be sharing its feedback after a law and order review meeting.

The Rajasthan Police had announced a special investigation team (SIT) soon after the arrest of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, in connection with the murder.

(With PTI Inputs)
June 29, 2007

The next step in renovating the Cayuga County Mental Health facility only costs the county about $2,000, but one legislator reminded others earlier this week that later, the project may still amount to $3 million.

As county officials prepare to renovate the facility following the state's Office of Mental Health issuance of nine citations in March 2006, some legislators continue to search for other methods to increase the facility's size and spend less money. Several of the state citations pertained to a lack of space in the Mental Health clinic.

There's other more cost effective measures to take, said Legislator Dave Pappert, R-Auburn. Somehow we fell in love with the idea of spending $3 million on a basement.

Legislators voted 11-3 Tuesday night, authorizing Beardsley Design Associates for $1,925 to assist the county in conducting a New York State Environmental Quality Review in the basement of the Historic Post Office at 157 Genesee St. The basement currently houses the county's Mental Health Clinic.

Legislators Michele Sedor, D-Sennett, Peter Tortorici, R-Auburn, and Pappert voted against the bill.

This isn't a commitment to go ahead with the project, said Legislature Chairman George Fearon. That will be done separately.

Dan Schuster, D-Auburn, explained to legislators that the state is antsy and said that the county could lose state funding and face $500,000 or more worth of fines if the renovation plans don't continue to move forward.

To some degree we have looked at other options, said Ann Petrus, R-Brutus. This is a historic building. We have an obligation to at least fix this part of the historic building.

In April, the state office gave permission for the county to begin facility renovations. The county must still submit a written plan outlining the phases of construction.

Following construction, the county must also submit architectural certification, a copy of the Certificate of Occupancy and a site visit must be scheduled with the state.

 Compiled by David Wilcox

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Jaipur: Former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vasundhara Raje flayed the Congress-led Rajasthan government over the beheading incident in Udaipur and held the Ashok Gehlot government`s policies of incitement and appeasement for communal violence in the state. Raje told ANI, "With the brutal murder of an innocent man in Udaipur, it has become clear that due to the instigation and appeasement of the state government, the morale of the criminals is high. Due to this policy of the state government, a situation of communal frenzy and violence has arisen in the state. Those people and organizations behind this incident should be exposed and arrested immediately."

Notably, the horrific murder of a tailor in Udaipur sparked outrage in the entire state. The Rajasthan government, which announced the imposition of section 144 of CrPC in all the districts for the next one month, constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday to probe the matter. The SIT includes the Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Special Operation Group Ashok Kumar Rathore, Inspector General of Police (IG), Anti Terror Squad (ATS), Prafulla Kumar and a Superintendant of Police (SP) rank officer and an Additional SP rank officer. Police are on high alert in every district of Rajasthan.

The state government also ordered the suspension of Internet services in the entire state on Tuesday. Udaipur Divisional Commissioner Rajendra Bhatt appealed to the people to maintain peace saying, "We appeal to the people of Udaipur to maintain peace. The (victim Kanhaiya Lal`s) dependents have been assured of recruitment through placement service in UIT, and the family will be given compensation of Rs 5 lakhs."

Also Read: Udaipur murder: Dutch MP, who supported Nupur, asks India to 'stop being tolerant'

Meanwhile, a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) rushed to Udaipur following the incident, said sources. The NIA team includes a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer, a source told ANI on anonymity, adding the move comes following an order issued from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). As per government sources, the NIA team is likely to file a case under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after visiting the crime spot.

The incident took place in Udaipur`s Maldas area. Soon after committing the crime, the two accused posted a video on social media boasting about the beheading and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s life as well. The two accused were arrested within hours of the incident. One of the assailants, who was identified as Riyaz Akhtar, attacked Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other, Ghos Mohammad, recorded the crime on his mobile phone, police told ANI.

"Both the accused have been detained and the law and order situation is under control. Some people were attempting to come out of the bylanes but were controlled. Curfew imposed in the nearby areas," Manoj Kumar, SP, Udaipur said. A statewide alert has also been issued to all Superintendents of Police and Inspector Generals to increase the mobility of forces and to maintain officers on the ground.

The victim, a tailor, reportedly had recently shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP spokesperson who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Following the murder, local markets in the area were shut as the traders demanded justice for the victim.

Following the incident, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to appeal to the youth of the state to maintain peace.

Udaipur murder: ASI suspended for negligence

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Dhan Mandi police station in Udaipur was suspended for negligence following the murder of a tailor there. According to reports, two men with a cleaver killed Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur city's Dhan Mandi area and posted videos online saying they are avenging an insult to Islam. The incident triggered stray cases of violence in the Rajasthan city, a part of which was placed under curfew on Tuesday.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Hawa Singh Ghumaria told PTI that an FIR against Kanhaiya Lal was registered on June 11 for sharing a controversial post on social media and he was arrested. On June 15, while he was on bail, he told police that he was receiving threat calls. The local SHO summoned him, the complainant and some people from both the communities to the police station and reportedly settled the matter.

After the murder, ASI Bhanwar Lal posted at Dhan Mandi police station has been suspended for negligence at that time, Inspector General of Police, Udaipur, Hinglaj Dan reportedly said. It is alleged that the ASI failed to pay heed to the concern raised by Kanhaiya Lal regarding the threat calls he was receiving.

(With ANI/PTI Inputs)
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UDAIPUR: In the Udaipur beheading case, Dinesh MN, Addtl DGP ACB, Rajasthan has said that the accused are being interrogated and action will be taken against those whose names will come in the probe. Commissioner has assured the victim's family of compensation. He also appealed to people to maintain peace.gallery,

In a shocking incident, the deceased, identified as Kanhaiyalal Teli, was beheaded by two assailants identified as Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad, in Udaipurs Maldas area for allegedly sharing a social media post in support of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma her remarks on Prophet Mohammed earlier led to nationwide protests.

The accused made the video of the beheading and circulated it.

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As the video was circulated on social media, tension escalated and it prompted the deployment of police forces and the closure of shops. The authorities suspended internet services across the state till further orders. Amidst communal tensions Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot appealed to people to maintain peace and asked them not to share the videos. The guilty will not be spared. The entire police team is working on it with full alertness. I can imagine the anger which is there among people due to the murder. We are taking action accordingly, he later told reporters in Jodhpur.gallery,

ALSO READ:'Won't leave her, UNTILL...', Angry Mamata Banerjee THREATENS Nupur Sharma over Prophet Rowgallery,

Criticizing the Congress-led Rajasthan government over the beheading incident in Udaipur, former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vasundhara Raje on Tuesday said the Ashok Gehlot governments policies of incitement and appeasement led to communal violence in the stategallery,

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Jaipur: The family members of Kanhaiya Lal, who was brutally murdered on Tuesday, claimed that the deceased had filed a complaint with the police on June 15 alleging that he was being threatened by anti-social elements, however, police instead of acting, only helped in bringing a compromise. The Rajasthan government has now suspended ASI Bhanwarlal on Wednesday.

He did not open his shop for six days, says Kanhaiya's family

His family members alleged, "The poor man did not open his shop for six days fearing for his life. However, on Tuesday, when he opened his shop, he was beheaded. Had the police acted on his complaint on time, he would have been alive today. He has been getting threats after the social media post in support of Nupur Sharma. In fact, Kanhaiya Lal feared that he would be killed," said his family members.

Sought help from police but...

He sought help from the police. On June 15, a complaint was lodged at the Dhanmandi police station in this connection. However, the police claim that after talks between the two sides, an agreement was reached.

In the complaint given to the police on June 15, he alleged, "About 6 days ago something was posted by my son while he was playing a game on his mobile phone. I didn't know about it. After two days, two people came to my shop. They said - an objectionable post has been posted from your mobile. I said that I do not know how to operate a mobile. My child plays games on it. That might have happened by mistake. After this, the post was also deleted. They said don't do it again."

In early June, Kanhaiya had FIR registered against him

On June 11, Kanhaiya was asked to come to Dhanmandi police station after an FIR was registered against him. The one who filed the report was Kanhaiya's neighbour. When Kanhaiya reached the police station, the police arrested him but he was given bail the same day. It is alleged that an agreement was reached by ASI Bhanwarlal between the two parties. Even after this, when threats continued, Kanhaiya complained to the police, but it was not taken seriously.

Also Read: Udaipur Murder: 'He skipped work for days, BUT...' Kanhaiya Lal's wife makes BIG revelation

Kanhaiya had said he constantly received threats

According to Kanhaiya Lal, five other people along with the complaining neighbours were doing recce of his shop after reaching the agreement. Those people were constantly threatening that if this person is seen anywhere, he will be killed.

Kanhaiya Lal said he continued to receive threats on WhatsApp calls, he complained to the police station but ASI did not pay any attention. Police said. 'Agreement has been reached, take care of yourself, if you feel anything, tell us.'

Bhanwarlal was suspended on Tuesday for being negligent in his duty. The role of another policeman is also being probed.

(With IANS inputs)

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New Delhi: Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP who supported expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma for her remarks on Prophet Muhammad, on Tuesday (June 28, 2022) reacted to Udaipur murder and asked India to "stop being tolerant to intolerant". After two men with a cleaver killed tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur city's Dhan Mandi area and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, Wilders said that the Hindus should be safe in India as it is "their country" and "their homeland".

"Please India as a friend I tell you: stop being tolerant to the intolerant. Defend Hinduism against the extremists, terrorists and jihadists. Dont appease Islam, for it will cost you dearly. Hindus deserve leaders that protect them for the full 100%," he tweeted.

Please India as a friend I tell you: stop being tolerant to the intolerant. Defend Hinduism against the extremists, terrorists and jihadists. Dont appease Islam, for it will cost you dearly. Hindus deserve leaders that protect them for the full 100%!#HinduLivesMatters #India  Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 28, 2022

"Hindus should be safe in India. It is their country, their homeland, its theirs! India is no Islamic nation," Wilders, a far-right leader from The Netherlands, said.

Hindus should be safe in India.

It is their country, their homeland, its theirs!

India is no Islamic nation. #IsupportNupurSharma #India #HinduLivesMatters  Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 28, 2022

Udaipur beheading: Two men - Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad - arrested

Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, have been arrested for murdering Kanhaiya Lal. The assailants reportedly entered Lal's shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took measurements, Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone.

The men fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip on social media.

In another video, the alleged assailant said they "beheaded" the tailor and threatened the prime minister for lighting "this fire".

Yet another provocative video was recorded on June 17, in which Akhtari said he will post it the day he carries out the murder. He also reportedly asked other members of the community to continue with similar attacks.

Police sources said Akhtari works at a local mosque and the other assailant runs a grocery shop.

Udaipur tailor murder: ASI suspended for negligence

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Dhan Mandi police station in Udaipur has been suspended for negligence following the murder of a tailor there. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Hawa Singh Ghumaria said an FIR against Kanhaiya Lal was registered on June 11 for sharing a controversial post on social media and he was arrested.

On June 15, while he was on bail, he told police that he was receiving threat calls. The local SHO summoned him, the complainant and some people from both the communities to the police station and settled the matter, he said.

After the murder, ASI Bhanwar Lal posted at Dhan Mandi police station has been suspended for negligence at that time, Inspector General of Police, Udaipur, Hinglaj Dan said.

It is alleged that the ASI did not pay heed to the concern raised by Kanhaiya Lal regarding the threat calls that he was receiving, he said. The ADG said that those who had come to mediate are also being interrogated.

Nupur Sharma comment row: Curfew imposed in Udaipur, prohibitory orders across Rajasthan

Prohibitory orders banning people from assembling have been clamped across Rajasthan for a month and mobile internet services suspended for the next 24 hours. At 8 pm, curfew was declared till further orders in seven police station areas of Udaipur city.

The Union Home Ministry dispatched a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to Udaipur and Rajasthan Police also announced a special investigation team (SIT) soon after the arrest of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had "beheaded" the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well. Indirectly, the assailants also referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP spokeswoman who has been suspended from the party over remarks on Prophet Muhammad during a TV debate.

Udaipur news: Ashok Gehlot appeals for calm after Kanhaiya Lal's murder

After Kanhaiya Lal's murder, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot appealed for calm and asked people not to share the videos. "The guilty will not be spared. The entire police team is working on it with full alertness. I can imagine the anger which is there among people due to the murder. We are taking action accordingly," he told reporters in Jodhpur.

Gehlot said there is communal tension in the country and the prime minister should address the people. He said both Hindus and Muslims are worried.

"It is more impactful if the prime minister speaks. I believe that the prime minister should address the country on this occasion and should make an appeal that we will not tolerate violence at any cost. What is the problem in saying so?" he said.

(With agency inputs)
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New Delhi: The murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor from Udaipur, has shocked the nation to its core. Kanhaiya was brutally murdered in broad daylight by two men who posed as customers and then hacked Kanhaiya to death with sharp weapons because he had shared a social media post in support of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma. A video of the gruesome murder is going viral on social media. Another video which has shocked netizens is a clip recorded by the accused who confessed to the murder and then threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well. gallery,

Kanhaiya Lal's wife makes big revelation

In a new development on the case, wife of Kanhaiya Lal has revealed, in an interview with NDTV, that he had received threats from the men days before he was killed. Due to this reason, he had shut down his shop for a while in fear of being attacked. However, the day he decided to go back to work and open his shop, the two men, posing as customers, came in and murdered him.gallery,

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot says 'investigation being done from all angles'

Amid high tension over the brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that his killing was meant to spread terror in the country. According to news agency PTI, Gehlot also said that the investigators have gathered vital information suggesting that tailor Kanhaiya Lals killers have contacts abroad and the investigation is being done from all angles.gallery,

Ministry of Home Affairs transfers probe to NIA to explore terror angle

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) transferred the probe in the murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to explore if there is any terror angle.

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"The MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated," said an official.gallery,

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New Delhi: In a new development in the Udaipur murder case, it has come to notice that a man named Ishwar Singh reportedly tried to help Kanhaiya Lal when he was attacked by the accused in broad daylight. While everyone was standing nearby, scared to take any action, Singh stepped in front and tried to fight the two accused stated a report by Aaj Tak. The report further stated that Ishwar was unfortunately attacked by the 2 men Riyaz and Ghaus Mohammad. He was later hospitalised and is still receiving treatment for his injuries. He has received 16 stitches for his injury. gallery,

What is the Udaipur murder case?

In a horrific incident, two Muslim men beheaded a tailor at his shop for supporting BJP leader Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks on social media in Rajasthan's Udaipur. Not only this, assailants recorded the crime on camera and circulated the video on social media. The two accused reached the victim's shop on Tuesday afternoon under Dhan Mandi police station area, police said today. One of the assailants, who was identified as Riyaz, attacked Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other recorded the crime on his mobile phone, police said.gallery,

Amid all this, the NIA today took over the investigation into the brutal murder in Udaipur, which has sparked fresh tensions in the country. gallery,

The NIA registered a case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the "heinous murder" and claimed that the accused wanted to "strike terror among the masses across the country".gallery,

A spokesperson for the agency said NIA teams have already reached Udaipur and requisite action for expeditious investigation of the case has been initiated.

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(With agency inputs)gallery,

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New Delhi: Several prominent Muslim organisations have condemned the heinous murder of a tailor in Rajasthans Udaipur, which led to increased tensions across the state. Calling the killing "un-Islamic", organisations such as All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind have denounced the murder of Kanhaiya Lal by two men who claimed they were avenging an insult to Islam. Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Ahmed Bukhari, also issued a statement as well as released a video calling the brutal killing "not only an act of cowardice but an act against Islam." "Brutal murder in Udaipur has shaken humanity...It's not only an act of cowardice but also non-Islamic, illegal, and inhuman. On behalf of all Indian Muslims, I strongly condemn this..," ANI quoted the Shahi Imam as saying.

In a statement, AIMPLB "strongly condemned" Kanhaiya Lal's murder and said such acts were against the principles of Islam, adding that no one should take law in their hands. "Insulting holy personalities of any religion is a serious crime. BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made derogatory remarks about the holy Prophet of Islam, which is very sad for Muslims. The government not taking any action against Nupur Sharma is like rubbing salt on the wounds. But despite this, taking the law into one's own hands and killing a person by declaring him a criminal is a condemnable act," AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said in a statement.

#WATCH | "Brutal murder in Udaipur has shaken humanity...It's not only an act of cowardice but also non-Islamic, illegal, and inhuman. On behalf of all Indian Muslims, I strongly condemn this..," says Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid on murder of #KanhaiyaLal pic.twitter.com/nYG71KswSR June 29, 2022

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind general secretary Maulana Hakeemuddin Qasmi said the "brutal killing in Udaipur apparently on the pretext of the insult to the Prophet" is against the law of land as well as "against the religion of Islam". "In our country, there is a system of law, no one has the right to take the law into his own hands," Qasmi said, as per PTI.

While Jamaat-e-Islami Hind termed the Udaipur murder "barbaric, uncivilised" and said peace should be maintained. "We strongly condemn it. No citizen should take law in his own hands. Let the law prevail. The culprits should be dealt with according to the law of the land. In any case, peace should not be disturbed. Nobody should try to take the advantage of this ugly crime," it said.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday registered a case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Udaipur murder.

Kanhaiya Lal's wife demanded capital punishment for those behind her husband's death. Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, have been arrested for the Udaipur murder. Their video confessing the crime went viral on social media where Akhtari declared that they had beheaded the tailor. Further, he threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well. They also indirectly referred to Nupur Sharma, the now-suspended BJP leader whose objectionable remark on Prophet Mohammad stirred controversy on a global level.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Terming the killing of a tailor in Rajasthans Udaipur an "act of terror, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday (June 29) said he hoped the Rajasthan government will take strict action in the matter. Blaming the Rajasthan police for not acting in time on tailor Kanhaiya Lals complaint regarding alleged death deaths, Owaisi said, Udaipur incident would not have happened had Rajasthan police been alert. I read in the media that Kanhaiya Lal was receiving threats after he was arrested and released on bail. The Hyderabad MP added, The killing of Kanhaiya Lal, and past incidents where 'videos of the barbaric act were shot' such as the killings of Pehlu Khan, Mohammad Akhalaq and Mohammad Bhatta were all "acts of terror" and showed that radicalization is increasing in society.

On Kanhaiya Lals killers threatening Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their video, the AIMIM chief said there might be ideological differences but this doesn't mean that the PM can be threatened.

Owaisi also reiterated his demand for the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

ALSO READ: Udaipur tailors murder: Uttar Pradesh police on alert, warns against provocative posts on social media

Tailor beheaded in Udaipur, family demands death penalty for culprits

The wife of Kanhaiya Lal on Wednesday demanded capital punishment for the killers of her husband. She also said her husband had returned to the tailor shop after a while and had received death threats. "Kanhaiya Lal had returned to his shop after many days as he was receiving death threats. For the last 10-15 days he was getting life threats. They said that they will kill him. People used to come both at home and his shop to threaten him. He was threatened over the phone as well," ANI quoted her as saying. Kanhaiya's wife also said he had filed a complaint with the police about threats.

Meanwhile, Kanhaiya Lal, who was brutally killed by two men in Udaipur and the gruesome video circulated on social media, was cremated today in the presence of a large number of people despite curfew in parts of the city.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police has ramped up vigil in the state following the brutal murder of a tailor in Rajasthans Udaipur, Director General of Police DS Chauhan said on Wednesday (June 29). He also warned against posting provocative posts on social media. "All UP police personnel posted across the state are on alert following the incident in Udaipur. We will take strict action against those who post provocative material on social media. Our priority remains to maintain law and order in the state in any case," Chauhan was quoted as saying by PTI.

The social media units in all districts have been directed to keep an eye on posts and act immediately if they come across any incendiary communal post, a senior official posted at Police Headquarters told the news agency.

District police chiefs have been asked to hold peace committee talks with local religious heads to resolve any issue that can lead to a communal flare-up.

The extra precautionary measures come after the state witnessed violence in early June. Earlier on June 3 and June 10, protests were held against the remarks of now-suspended BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal on Prophet Mohammad, which took a violent turn.

Udaipur tailor killed

A tailor in Udaipur identified as Kanhaiya Lal Teli was murdered on Tuesday at his shop by two men pretending to be customers. He was killed for allegedly sharing a provocative remark made by Nupur Sharma against the Prophet. Two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, were arrested and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for the Udaipur murder.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Police chief said a preliminary investigation has revealed that one of the two prime accused had links with the Pakistan-based Dawat-e-Islami organisation and had visited Karachi in 2014.

Three more people have been detained in connection with the heinous killing so far, Director General of Police (DGP) M L Lather said. "One of the accused, Ghouse Mohammad, has links with the Karachi-based Ismalist organisation Dawat-e-Islami. He had visited Karachi in 2014. So far, we have detained five people, including the two prime accused," Lather was quoted as saying by PTI.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Amid high tension over the brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that his killing was meant to spread terror in the country. According to news agency PTI, Gehlot also said that the investigators have gathered vital information suggesting that tailor Kanhaiya Lals killers have contacts abroad and the investigation is being done from all angles.

Rajasthan Chief Minister further informed that a case has been registered under UAPA and the matter is being thoroughly probed by the NIA, adding that the Rajasthan ATS will fully cooperate with the central agency. Gehlot has also called an all-party meeting this evening to discuss the current las and order situation, said sources.

Meanwhile, the BJP on Wednesday termed the killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur as a "terror attack" and accused the Congress government of being responsible for the incident. Addressing a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said Lal's killers filmed the incident and made the video viral in an attempt to terrorise society.

Rathore charged the Congress government in Rajasthan was responsible for Lal's killing and that it has taken many steps during its tenure to appease one community.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) transferred the probe in the murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to explore if there is any terror angle.

"The MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday. The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated," said an official.

"We have doubt that there can be terrorist groups behind them. The accused could be in touch with terrorists group. To ascertain all these things, a team of NIA has reached Udaipur," said the source.

After taking over the probe, the NIA has lodged a fresh case. The matter is being seen as a threat to national security.

The gruesome murder in broad daylight reported from a crowded street in Udaipur on Tuesday triggered tension in the Lake City after the murderers posted a video on social media claiming to teach a lesson to the victim for putting up a social media post.

As per the police, the victim, a tailor by profession, was attacked by a sharp-edged weapon. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media, which is being termed a Taliban-style murder.

In the viral video, one of the two accused could be heard saying, "I will make the video viral when I accomplish my goal to teach a lesson to the accused who has shown disrespect to our God." Police sources said that the plot to murder this man was chalked out some 10 days ago.
The Onondaga Nation will get more than 1,000 acres of its ancestral lands back from New York in one of the largest returns of territory to an indigenous nation by any state.

The land, which is in Tully Valley, Onondaga County, is comprised of 980 acres of forest and fields and more than 45 acres of flood plains and wetlands. One of the key features of the property is that it includes the headwaters of Onondaga Creek.

The return is the product of a partnership between the federal government, New York and Onondaga Nation and part of the Onondaga Lake Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is an agency within the Department of the Interior, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a resolution directing the transfer of land from Honeywell to the Onondaga Nation.

"This historic agreement represents a unique opportunity to return traditional homelands back to Indigenous people to steward for the benefit of their community," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. "We look forward to drawing upon the Onondaga Nation's expertise and Indigenous knowledge in helping manage the area's valuable wildlife and habitat."

Honeywell, now a large international company, formed after a merger involving another company, AlliedSignal, that polluted Onondaga Lake. The company released mercury and other hazardous materials into the lake.

As part of a settlement with the state, Honeywell must complete 18 restoration projects and is required to pay more than $5 million for other projects around the Onondaga Lake Watershed.

The return of land to the Onondaga Nation is significant. The transfer includes a conservation easement with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to restore natural areas, such as fish and wildlife habitats, and allow for educational and recreational uses.

The Onondaga Nation will work with federal and state officials to develop a restoration management plan.

"It is with great joy that the Onondaga Nation welcomes the return of the first substantial acreage of its ancestral homelands," Onondaga Nation Tadodaho Sidney Hill said. "The Nation can now renew its stewardship obligations to restore these lands and waters and to preserve them for the future generations to come."

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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New Delhi: Amid the rebellion in the Shiv Sena by senior minister Eknath Shinde and other MLAs, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has called for a special session of the Assembly on June 30 to hold a floor test of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. In a letter dated June 28, Koshyari has written to Maharashtra Legislature's Principal Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat and said, "A special session of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha (legislative Assembly) shall be summoned on June 30 (Thursday) at 11 am with the only agenda of a trust vote against the chief minister, and the proceedings shall be concluded in any case by 5 pm."

"The proceedings of the House shall be telecast live and appropriate arrangements for the same shall be made," the Maharashtra governor said in the letter.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written to state Assembly secretary to convene a special session of the State Assembly on June 30, with the only agenda of a trust vote against CM Uddhav Thackeray pic.twitter.com/9M5htIIE9R  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

This comes a day after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had urged Koshyari to direct the crisis-hit MVA government to prove its majority in the Assembly.

Meanwhile, as the Maharashtra political crisis entered the ninth day, rebellion Shiv Sena leader and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday visited the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati to pray for the "happiness" of Maharashtra.

"I visited the Kamakhya temple for happiness and prosperity of Maharashtra. I seek blessings of Maa Kamakhya," Shinde told reporters outside the temple.

When asked about his next step, the rebel leader said: "We will return to Mumbai tomorrow to complete the necessary formalities."

I'm here to pray for the peace & happiness of Maharashtra. Will go to Mumbai tomorrow for the floor test & follow all the process: Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, in Guwahati, Assam pic.twitter.com/ErHwhz6Ny2  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Earlier on Tuesday, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai and submitted a letter to him, seeking direction to the MVA government to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly in view of the rebellion in the Shiv Sena, the lead party in the ruling alliance. Fadnavis, a former CM, claimed that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress ruling coalition seemed to be in a minority as 39 Sena MLAs, who belong to the rebel faction led by cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, have said they do not support the government.

"Therefore, we handed over a letter to the Governor, requesting him to ask the government to prove its majority through a floor test in the House," the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly told reporters.

Citing various Supreme Court judgments, Fadnavis said in the letter that as the majority in the House is "supreme" in parliamentary democracy and essential for a government's existence, he was requesting the Governor to ask the chief minister to prove the majority at the earliest. Before meeting the Governor around 10 pm, Fadnavis called on top BJP leaders, including party president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in New Delhi earlier in the day.

According to sources, before the former CM landed at the Raj Bhavan, eight Independent MLAs, who were earlier associated with the Shiv Sena, sent emails from Guwahati -- where the rebel group headed by Shinde is camping -- seeking floor test at the earliest, claiming the Thackeray government has lost its majority.

Return to Mumbai, hold talks: Uddhav Thackeray urges rebel Shiv Sena MLAs

Reaching out to dissident Sena MLAs once again, CM Thackeray urged them to return to Mumbai and hold talks with him, saying it's not "too late", but rebel leader Shinde remained unmoved and asserted the legislators backing him are firm on taking forward Hindutva. The fresh conciliatory move came a day after the CM, who is also the Sena president, took away the portfolios of all nine rebel ministers, including Shinde, and against the backdrop of the Supreme Court granting relief to breakaway MLAs.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, ratcheted up the rhetoric against the rebels, warning those who have betrayed the party leadership should not be able to move around freely.

Thackeray's offer to mend fences comes against the backdrop of controversial statements made by some Shiv Sena leaders, especially Raut whose "40 bodies without soul" statement had caused a flutter.

"It is not too late. I appeal to you to return and sit with me and remove the confusion (created by your actions) among Shiv Sainiks and the public," a statement by Thackeray's aide quoted him as saying.

"If you return and face me, some way could be found. As the party president and family head, I still care for you," he said.

Thackeray said family members of some rebel MLAs camping in Guwahati are in touch with him.

"You have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. New information is coming out about you every day, and many of you are also in touch. In your heart, you are still with the Shiv Sena," he said.

Around 40 rebel Sena MLAs and at least 10 independent legislators have lodged themselves at a five-star hotel in Guwahati in their bid to bring down the two-and-a-half-year-old MVA government.

What is party position in 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly?

Following is the party position in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly:

Shiv Sena -- 55

NCP -- 53

Congress -- 44

BJP -- 106

Bahujan Vikas Aghadi -- 3

Samajwadi Party -- 2

AIMIM -- 2

Prahar Janshakti Party -- 2

MNS -- 1

CPI (M) -- 1

PWP -- 1

Swambhimani Paksha -- 1

Rashtriya Samaj Paksha -- 1

Jansurajya Shakti Party -- 1

Krantikari Shetkari Party -- 1

Independents -- 13

There is one vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month. Out of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs, 38 are in Guwahati along with 10 independents. Two NCP members - Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal - have tested COVID-19 positive, while two other party legislators - Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik - are currently in Jail.

(With inputs from agencies)

What is party position in 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly?
Mamata Banerjee has come out against the BJP's 'false' campaign on social media. Without even naming anyone, the Chief Minister lashed out at suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma. Speaking at a Trinamool workers meeting in Asansol on Tuesday, Mamata said, "I am in favour of social networks. I'm on the side of those who speak well, tell the truth. I am for those social media who stand for the truth even with their lives. And the BJP's social network means showing fake videos, cheating, spreading lies. They have a lot of money. That's why they're lying on social media and YouTube.

The Chief Minister did not stop there. Targeting the BJP, she said, "If your leader is lying about religion, saying dirty things, then you don't arrest them. They sits quietly. Even if you kill, there's no talk. And even if we talk, they make us murderers. Why did you arrest Zuber? What did he do? What did Teesta do? I'm not going to take the names of dirty people. You don't arrest those who abuse religion! You give them security. But our state summoned her. We won't leave her. We will take action against those who lie."

Also Read: Prophet Comment Row: 'I am getting death threats, please give...', Nupur Sharma again urges THIS to Mamata Banerjee's police

It is to be noted that the entire country is agitated over the comments of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma about Prophet Hazrat Mohammad. There have also been protests in the state for several days. An FIR has been lodged against her at several places in the country as well as at two police stations in Kolkata. Nupur Sharma was summoned by the Amherst street police station after the Narkeldanga police station. .

Also Read: Nupur Sharma Comment Row: Mamata Banerjee's BIG step, more trouble for ex-BJP leader on Prophet remarks

But after the summons of The Kolkata Police, the suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma expressed fears for her life. According to police sources, she sent an email asking for four weeks' time. Earlier, Nupur Sharma was summoned by the Narakonda police station on June 20 for her controversial remarks. She still didn't show up. In that case too, Nupur emailed the police and asked for four weeks' time.
New Delhi: BJP leaders invoked 'karma' and the legacy of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray as they took a swipe at outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who resigned on Wednesday night after the Supreme Court cleared the decks for a floor test following a rebellion by a big chunk of his party MLAs.

"Karma does not spare anyone," BJP general secretary C T Ravi, who is in charge of his party's affairs in the state, said in quick reaction.

"Balasaheb Thackeray was a man who could control governments, despite not being in power. On the other hand, his son couldn't even control his party, despite being in power. What a fall from grace," BJP's IT department in-charge Amit Malviya tweeted.

Balasaheb Thackeray was a man who could control governments, despite not being in power.



On the other hand, his son couldnt even control his party, despite being in power.



What a fall from grace!  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 29, 2022

Thackeray's announcement to step down as chief minister came minutes after the Supreme Court refused to stay the Maharashtra governor's direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by the Sena chief to take a floor test in the assembly on Thursday. In a Facebook live, Uddhav said, "I am also quitting as a member of Legislative Council."

Emotionally charged Uddhav said he had come to power in an unexpected manner, and now he is going out in a similar fashion. I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhawan. I will gather all my people. I am resigning as the CM and as an MLC, Uddhav Thackeray said during FB live.

His announcement triggered celebrations in the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led rebel Sena MLAs' camp.

#WATCH | Maharashtra: BJP leaders at a hotel in Mumbai during a legislative meeting cheering slogans in favour of Former CM & BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/Os2lAPiZX5  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

The BJP is set to form the next government in the state with the support of Sena rebels led by Eknath Shinde and several independents who had earlier backed the government of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance.

The sources said that BJP may stake a claim tonight to form the new government in Maharashtra. A delegation of BJP MLAs is also likely to meet the states Governor soon.

#MaharashtraPolitcalCrisis | Former Maharashtra CM & BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis along with state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil & other party leaders at Taj President hotel in Mumbai for a legislative meeting pic.twitter.com/9az7XBhq15  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

Meanwhile, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde have started to arrive in Goa.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday told his cabinet colleagues that he was betrayed by his own people, apparently referring to the current political crisis in the MVA government. Thackeray said this while chairing a cabinet meeting while hearing on his government's petition challenging the governor's directive to conduct a floor test to prove majority was underway.

#WATCH | Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray leaves from Mantralaya in Mumbai, after the state cabinet meeting concludes. pic.twitter.com/la9y25r4HE  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

News agency PTI cited an official saying that Thackeray told his cabinet colleagues that he had been betrayed by his own people. "I also apologize if I have hurt anyone unintentionally," the official quoted Thackeray as saying. The ministers clapped after the chief minister addressed the meeting, he added.

Mumbai: CM Uddhav Thackeray further said that he received the support of Congress and NCP but unfortunately he didn't get the support of his own party's (Shiv Sena) people: NCP leader & Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil after state cabinet meeting pic.twitter.com/o8ZIyUjc4J  ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2022

The fate of the Thackeray government hangs in balance as senior minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has rebelled against the party leadership along with majority of Sena legislators. The official also said the chief minister did not say anything or hint that he was planning to quit before a possible trust vote on Thursday.

"He thanked the cabinet for their cooperation and said the cooperation would continue, " Congress Minister Sunil Kedar told reporters. To a question about whether the MVA government would survive the rebellion by Eknath Shinde, Kedar said, "Every MLA in the house would vote as per his conscience, considering the manner in which Thackeray has led the state's battle against COVID-19.

CM said that we cooperate with him well and he will expect similar cooperation from us in the future as well. He also said that he will behave with us in a similar manner: Sunil Kedar, Maharashtra minister and Congress leader after the state cabinet meeting, in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/YvrWdpIpTK June 29, 2022

"Uddhav Thackeray will not stop nor he will be defeated, " the Congress leader said. Kedar appealed to people to consider that a conspiracy was hatched against Thackeray who led the state efficiently during the pandemic and also resumed his official duties soon after undergoing critical spine surgery.

A major decision taken by the cabinet on Wednesday was the renaming of Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar.

Over a week after the Shiv Sena legislators led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test on Thursday, although the Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court challenging the direction.

Shinde on Wednesday claimed the support of 50 dissident MLAs from his own party and independents, contending that they can pass ''any floor test'' number. Visiting the Kamakhya temple here for the second time in the day, Shinde asserted, "We have 50 MLAs with us, more than two-third of the legislators. We are not worried about the floor test and we will pass the test.''
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New Delhi: Shares of Zomato Ltd fell for the second straight day on Tuesday, tumbling over 8 per cent amid concerns over the company's proposed acquisition of Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Grofers) for Rs 4,447.48 crore.gallery,

The stock dived 8.35 per cent to settle at Rs 60.35 on the BSE. During the day, it fell 9.18 per cent to Rs 59.80.gallery,

At the NSE, it fell 8.04 per cent to settle at Rs 60.55 apiece.gallery,

Shares of Zomato had fallen by over 6 per cent on Monday also.gallery,

In two days, the company's market valuation has fallen by Rs 7,861.49 crore to Rs 47,517.51 crore on the BSE.

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Zomato Ltd on Friday said it will acquire Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd for Rs 4,447.48 crore in a share swap deal as part of its strategy of investing in quick commerce business.gallery,

Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd runs the online quick commerce service under the Blinkit brand. It was formerly known as Grofers.gallery,

The transaction will be carried out through issuance and allotment of up to 62.85 crore fully paid-up equity shares of Zomato having face value of Re 1 each at a price of Rs 70.76 per equity share on a preferential basis, it added.gallery,

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Mumbai: Former 'Bigg Boss 10' contestant Manu Punjabi has shared a post on Twitter revealing about being threatened to be killed like Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala. Manu has thanked the Jaipur police for arresting a man who tried to extort money from him. As per the reports he was told to pay up or else he would be shot dead like Sidhu Moosewala.gallery,

The Bigg Boss 10 and Bigg Boss 14 contestant took to his Twitter account to thank the cops. He tweeted, "I feel blessed and thankful to @Tomarhricha Add SP RamSingh ji Comm Anand shrivastav Ji @jaipur_police to provide me security and find out the culprit. I got email, claiming to be from gang of #SidhuMooseWala murderers demanding 10Lakh or else they would kill me. Last week was stressful"gallery,

As per the reports, the Chitrakoot police arrested a 31-year-old man who had allegedly sent an email to Manu Punjabi asking him to pay Rs 10 lakh. He claimed that he was a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi group. The arrest was made in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor area. Richa Tomar, Deputy Commissioner of police, has begun an investigation.

Ifeel blessed and thankful to @Tomarhricha

Add SP RamSingh ji

Comm Anand shrivtastav ji @jaipur_police to provide me security & find out the culprit.Igot email,claiming to be from gang of #SidhuMooseWala murderers demanding 10Lakh or else they would killme.Last week was stressful pic.twitter.com/BD6k5i226Rgallery,  Manu Punjabi (@manupunjabim3) June 29, 2022

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The man has been identified as Kulveer Singh Chauhan aka Tony and it seems that he was a drug addict.gallery,

Sidhu Moosewala was shot in broad daylight in Punjab. The horrific killing sent shockwaves across India and condolences poured in for the rapper.gallery,

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NEW DELHI: Actress Alia Bhatt, who has been trending in the news ever since she announced her pregnancy on social media, is currently in London where she is shooting for her first Hollywood project 'Heart of Stone'. The actress stars alongside 'Wonder Woman' star Gal Gadot in the Netflix film.

On Tuesday, the 29-year-old took a break from her tight schedule and caught up with her close pals from the tinsle town - Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra. It is to be noted that Karan Johar has been holidaying in the UK with his twins - Roohi and Yash, and mom Hiroo Johar. The filmmaker was photographer a few days back at the Mumbai airport as he was all set to jet off to London.

Manish, who loves to drop photos and videos of his get-together with friends, took to Intagram and shared a picture from their meeting. Alia was seen wearing a white shirt with a pair of cool shades whereas Karan looked dapper in a comfy sweatshirt and stylish sunglasses. Manish was seen in a printed black and white zipper. "Taking in the London Sun," the caption read.

Just an hour later, he shared a picture with Kareena Kapoor, in which he was seen wearing the same outfit as his pictures with Alia and Karan. He captioned it, "With my favourite @kareenakapoorkhan."

Kareena Kapoor Khan is also holidaying in London with her husband Saif Ali Khan and their sons - Taimur Ali Khan and Jehangir Ali Khan. She was seen in a stylish hoodie and a cap. Manish shared another picture with Kareena in which their close friend and philanthropist Natasha Poonawalla was also present. He captioned it, "The best girls."

Pictures of Alia's outing with KJo and Manish Malhotra came at a time when she angrily reacted to some media reports that stated that her husband and actor Ranbir Kapoor would be coming to London to bring her back home. She wrote on Instagram Stories, "Meanwhile we still live in some people's heads. We still live in a patriarchal world. FYI, nothing has gotten delayed. No one needs to pick anyone up. I am a woman, not a parcel. I do not need to rest at all but good to know you'll have a doctor's certification as well. This is 2022. Can we please get out of this archaic way of thinking? Now if you would excuse me. My shot is ready."

On the work front, Alia will next be seen in 'Brahmastra: Part One Shiva', alongside Ranbir, Karan Johar's directorial venture 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' and "Darlings', which marks her debut as a producer.
New Delhi: The Modi government may implement four labour codes on wages, social security, industrial relations and occupation safety, health and working conditions from July 1, media reports are highly speculating. If these labour codes are implemented, the new wage code will impact employees' working hours, salary restructuring, PF contribution, gratuity aspect and encashing of Earned Leaves among the prominent ones. These are however only early speculations, hence nothing concreted should be infered till the government officially notifies the rules.

Here are five things that will be impacted once the New Wage Code is implemented from July 1

1. New wage code to impact your salary. Your in-hand salary will be reduced after implementation of Wage Code

The government's notification on Code on Wages 2019 may reduce the take-home pay while components like PF and Gratuity might rise. This is based on the grounds that the new wage code mentions provision entailing that the employee's basic salary will be at least 50 percent of his/her net monthly CTC.

2. New wage code to impact your allowance component that is a part of your salary

Also, if the above provision comes into effect, it will mean that employees will not be able to get more than 50 percent of his/her net monthly salary in form of allowance.

3. New wage code to impact your provident fund, though positively. After implementation of new Wage Code, your PF will be higher

This also means that there will be a consequent rise in gratuity and PF contribution of the employee. Hence, while the take home pay of the employees may be reduced, the Gratuity and PF component may rise.

4. New wage code could bring about a longer working hour, though your week off will be more than 2 in that case. 12 hours work-week could be the new factor

Experts also believe that the new draft will impact the working hours of employees with some media reports saying that employees may be allowed a four-day workweek but they will have to work for 12 hours on those four days. The labour ministry has apparently made it clear that 48-hour weekly work requirement is a must.

5. After the implementation of new wage code, there could be big changes in Earned Leave policy

The biggest change could be seen in cases of Earned Leave. Government departments now allows 30 holidays in 1 year, defense employees get 60 holidays in 1 year. Employees can cash up to 300 holidays on carry forward, however the Labor union is demanding to increase number of holidays to 450 in new code. At present there are 240 to 300 holidays in different departments. Employees can take these holidays in cash only after 20 years of service.

23 states pre-published draft rules on New Wage Code

Till now, 23 states have pre-published draft rules on these laws, while the Centre has completed the process of finalising the draft rules on these codes in February 2021. The central government had notified four labour codes, namely, the Code on Wages, 2019, on August 8, 2019, and the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 on September 29, 2020.

Since labour is a concurrent subject, the Centre wants the states to implement these as well in one go, as has been reported earlier.
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New Delhi: The government has issued a notice to Twitter to comply with all its past orders by July 4, an official source said on Wednesday. The Ministry of Electronics and IT has set a deadline of July 4, failing which Twitter may lose intermediary status, which means it will be liable for all the comments posted on its platform. "A notice was issued on June 27 to Twitter to comply with all government orders issued till date. Twitter was issued notices earlier this month but it did not comply with it. This is the final notice," a government source told PTI.gallery,

Email query sent to Twitter elicited no immediate response. (ALSO READ: Employee disappears after accidentally receiving 286 times his salary!) gallery,

Twitter has been at loggerheads with the government on several occasions. (ALSO READ: GST Meet: GoM report on 28% tax on online gaming, casinos, horse racing deferred)

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On June 26, the microblogging site submitted a list of over 80 Twitter accounts and tweets that it has blocked based on a request from the government in 2021.gallery,

The request from the government was to block multiple accounts and some tweets from international advocacy group Freedom House, journalists, politicians and supporters of the farmers' protest.gallery,

The government source, however, said that there are several other orders, with which Twitter is yet to comply and they have been given a final deadline of July 4 for compliance. gallery,

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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. gallery,

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)gallery,

Check out the Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for June 29, 2022 gallery,

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(Also read: Shocking! Ex-Amazon Web Services engineer hacked data of 10 crore customers)gallery,

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How to Redeem Garena Free Fire codes for today, 29 June 2022gallery,

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. gallery,

(Disclaimer: Garena Free fire is banned in India. Hence we advise people to adhere to government rules)gallery,

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Toyota Motor Corp's global production declined for the third consecutive month in May 2022. The Japanese auto giant produced 634,940 vehicles last month, down 5.3 per cent compared to the same month a year ago and short of the company's target of around 700,000 units. Also, Toyota reports that its sales in the first five months of 2022 declined by 9.7 per cent of its own target on average. This prompted concern about whether the auto company will be able to maintain its current target for the year.

(Also Read: BMW to use Android Automotive OS in its cars from 2023)

Toyota has set its target of a record 9.7 million vehicles for the year ending March 2023. However, it has floated the possibility that its production plan may be lowered. This comes as the automaker like the rest of the global auto sector is suffering from the impact of the microchip crisis. Covid-induced chip shortage has impacted the auto industry severely, disrupting the entire supply chain and automotive production and sales as well.

Toyota initially fared well during the global semiconductor crunch as it had a large stockpile of chips. However, it had to repeatedly cut production this year due to shortages of key chips and components as well as supply disruption due to Covid-19 containment measures in China.

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In the meantime, the automaker has twice downgraded its production target for June 2022. The latest projection is 750,000 vehicles, roughly 12 per cent lower than the original estimate of 850,000 units. The automaker also reported that its production in Japan slumped by 28.5 per cent in May, but increased 4.6 per cent in the overseas plants.

Europe was among regions where Toyota's vehicle production increased because it was not hit as hard by the chip shortage. The production also rose in countries including Thailand and Indonesia.

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Washington: Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential limousine on Jan. 6, 2021, when his security detail declined to take him to the U.S. Capitol where his supporters were rioting, a former aide testified on Tuesday. The then-president dismissed concerns that some supporters gathered for his fiery speech outside the White House that day carried AR-15-style rifles, instead asking security to stop screening attendees with metal-detecting magnetometers so the crowd would look larger, the aide testified.

"Take the effing mags away; they`re not here to hurt me," Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a top aide to Trump`s then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, quoted Trump as saying that morning.

Hutchinson, in testimony on the sixth day of House of Representatives hearings into the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol assault by Trump`s followers, said the conversation was relayed to her by Tony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official who was Trump`s deputy chief of staff for operations.

The New York Times and NBC, citing sources in the Secret Service, said the head of Trump`s security detail, Robert Engel, and the limousine driver were prepared to testify under oath that Trump never lunged for the steering wheel. Engel was in the room when Ornato relayed the story, Hutchinson said.

The New York Times and CNN, citing unnamed sources, said Ornato also denied the story and was willing to testify.

Citing her conversation with Ornato, Hutchinson testified that Trump struggled with Secret Service agents who insisted he return to the White House rather than join supporters storming the Capitol where Congress was meeting to certify Democrat Joe Biden`s victory over him in the presidential election.

Trump`s supporters were roused by his false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud.

"`I`m the effing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,`" Hutchinson quoted an enraged Trump as saying. She said Trump tried from the back seat to grab the steering wheel of the heavily armored presidential vehicle and lunged in anger at a Secret Service official.

Trump, a Republican, denied her account of his actions.

"Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is `sick` and fraudulent," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media app.

In a statement, the Secret Service said it was cooperating fully with the committee and would continue to do so.

"We learned of the new information shared at todays hearing and plan on responding formally and on the record as soon as they can accommodate us," it added.

Hutchinson`s lawyer Jody Hunt wrote on Twitter that she had "testified, under oath, and recounted what she was told. Those with knowledge of the episode also should testify under oath."

Dozens of courts, election officials and reviews by Trump`s own administration rejected his fraud claims, including outlandish stories about an Italian security firm and the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez`s tampering with U.S. ballots.

Four people died the day of the attack, one fatally shot by police and the others of natural causes. More than 100 police officers were injured, and one died the next day. Four officers later died by suicide.

WITNESS TAMPERING?

At the end of about two hours of testimony, Representative Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the nine-member House panel, presented possible evidence of witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

Cheney showed messages to unidentified witnesses advising them that an unidentified person would be watching their testimony closely and expecting loyalty.

Republican Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump`s chief of staff before Meadows, tweeted: "There is an old maxim: it`s never the crime, it`s always the cover-up. Things went very badly for the former President today. My guess is that it will get worse from here."

Hutchinson told the committee that Meadows and Trump`s former attorney Rudy Giuliani had sought pardons from Trump.

Giuliani told WSYR radio in Syracuse, New York, on Tuesday that he had not sought a pardon.

Tuesday`s hastily called hearing marked the first time this month, in six hearings, that a former White House official appeared for live testimony.

Speaking in soft but assured tones, Hutchinson, 26, painted a picture of panicked White House officials bristling at the possibility of Trump`s joining what was to become a violent mob pushing its way into the Capitol, hunting for his vice president, Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers who were certifying the victory of Biden over Trump.

`EVERY CRIME IMAGINABLE`

The White House officials` worries focused on the potential criminal charges Trump and others could face.

"We`re going to get charged with every crime imaginable," Hutchinson said White House counselor Pat Cipollone told her if Trump were to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

"`We need to make sure that this doesn`t happen, this would be a really terrible idea for us. We have serious legal concerns if we go up to the Capitol that day,`" Cipollone said, Hutchinson testified.

Hutchinson, who sat doors away from Trump`s Oval Office, testified that days before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Meadows knew of the looming violence that could unfold.

"`Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6,`" she quoted him as saying inside the White House on Jan. 2 with her boss.

She testified that Giuliani had said of Jan. 6: "`We`re going to the Capitol, it`s going to be great. The president`s going to be there; he`s going to look powerful.`"

At that point, she told the committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans: "It was the first moment that I remembered feeling scared and nervous of what could happen on Jan. 6."

This month`s hearings featured videotaped testimony from figures including Trump`s oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his former attorney general Bill Barr. They and other witnesses testified that they did not believe Trump`s false claims of widespread fraud and tried to dissuade him of them.

Before resigning, Barr told the Associated Press in an interview there was no evidence of fraud. That angered Trump so much that he threw his lunch at a White House wall, breaking a porcelain dish and leaving ketchup dripping down the wall, according to video testimony to the committee from Kayleigh McEnany, Trump`s White House press secretary at the time. Hutchinson told the committee it was not unusual for Trump to throw food when he was angry: "There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Zee News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is reaching out to its close allies in the group of twenty. China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to boycott the G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir.Pakistan to ask China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to boycott the G20 meeting in J-K," tweeted WLVN Analysis, geopolitics, defence, and national security think-tank.

As per reports, India is planning to host certain events of G20 in J-K, reported The Express Tribune. India is set to assume the presidency of the G20 in December this year. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as India`s Sherpa for the G20 in September 2021. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India will hold the G-20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and convene the first G20 leaders` summit in 2023. India`s representation at G20 summits has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014.

The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. Pakistan has already rejected the proposed meeting, official sources told The Express Tribune that Islamabad would reach out to G20 countries on the issue. Sources said Pakistan would particularly approach countries like China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to convey their concerns. Islamabad would also speak to the US, the UK and other G20 members in order to counter Indian plans, The Express Tribune reported.

ALSO READ:India will now host G20 summit in 2023, postponed by a year: Sources

Recently in March, India hosted an investment conference from Gulf countries in J-K. Entrepreneurs and CEOs from different countries including Dubai, UAE, and Holland were present at the summit. Delegates from over 36 countries attended the event. As part of the four-day program, Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of J-K along with the Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, and other government officials, showcased investment opportunities with the focus on entrepreneurship, tourism, and hospitality.

An investment proposal of Rs 27,000 crores was cleared by the Jammu and Kashmir administration at the Gulf Investment Summit. The Gulf countries venture into Jammu and Kashmir is a signal to Pakistan which has been harping on the propaganda about Kashmir being a problem that needs to be settled and Muslim countries should support its argument.
Beijing: China`s `17+1 initiative` was severely impacted following the ongoing war in Ukraine, as most of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have started to become wary of foreign powers, including China. The `17+1 initiative` was formed in 2012 by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote the business and investment relations between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. Realising the unease in the attitude of the CEE government, China sent their two delegations to 10 countries with the task to eliminate the misunderstanding regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict and hold discussions to reignite their interest in the Belt-Road Initiatives, Valerio Fabbri writes in Think-Tank Russian International Affairs Council.

However, several CEE countries did not give much importance to these delegations and instead asked the lower officials to hold discussions with the Chinese delegates. The most disappointing response came from Poland, where the Chinese delegation could not even meet officials of the Polish Foreign Ministry. Though China forged the `17+1 initiative` to enhance its penetration into the European region, its failure to convert investment promises into actual investment has dented the progress of the grouping.

This year marks the tenth founding anniversary of the `17+1 initiative`, but most of the CEE countries have not shown enthusiasm for celebrating the landmark year. Furthermore, Beijing could not even find a single CEE country willing to host the annual summit.

According to the author, Chinese investment in the CEE countries is limited to only a few countries like Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. And in 2020, its investment in CEE countries stood at 3 per cent of total Chinese investment in Europe. Chinese companies have also not shown much enthusiasm in making investments in these countries because they are less profitable.

Some flagship projects like Romania`s Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant or Budapest (Hungary)-Belgrade (Serbia) railway project, which could have improved China`s image in the CEE region, were either abandoned or face delays. The relationship between China and CEE countries deteriorated further when Beijing started to target them for forging relations with Taiwan.

China even warned the Czech Senate President, Milos Vystrcil, for his official visit to Taiwan in 2020 and said that he has to "pay a heavy price" if he goes to Taipei. Lithuania was also targeted by economic sanctions for its decision to open the `Taiwanese Representative Office` - instead of using the common title `Taipei Economic and Cultural Office` - in Vilnius in 2021.

According to Fabbri, the lowest point in the `17+1 initiative` came when Lithuania left the Group in May 2021 after its Parliament passed a resolution condemning China`s treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority, describing it as a `crime against humanity and `genocide.` With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the dynamics of the whole European region have changed. By providing support to Ukraine against Russia, the US has consolidated its position in the region and CEE countries are also situated in the vicinity of Kyiv which made Washington a key security guarantor. And the US has been highlighting China as a strategic and economic threat that is likely to break European unity.
Kremenchuk: Firefighters on Tuesday searched the rubble of a Ukrainian shopping mall where authorities said 36 people were missing after a Russian missile strike that killed at least 18, as a regional governor reported another "enemy attack" further east. The attack in the central city of Kremenchuk and the reported strike in the Dnipropetrovsk region were far from any frontlines. The mall attack drew a wave of global condemnation, with France`s Emmanuel Macron calling it a "war crime".

Ukraine said Moscow had killed civilians deliberately in Kremenchuk. Russia said it had struck a nearby arms depot and falsely claimed that the mall was empty. The governor of Dnipropetrovsk said rescue workers were searching for people under rubble in the region`s main city, Dnipro.

The official, Valentyn Reznychenko, said Russia fired six missiles, three of which were shot down. Railway infrastructure and an industrial enterprise had been destroyed and a services company was burning. "Mass enemy attack on Dnipropetrovsk region. Six missiles!!!" he wrote on the Telegram app. Reuters could not independently verify the governor`s account. The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.

Also Read: Russia Ukraine: Zelenskyi accuses Russia of being a 'terrorist state'

At a summit in Germany, leaders of the G7 industrialised democracies announced plans for a price cap on Russian oil, designed to starve Russia of the resources for war without exacerbating a global energy crisis.

Next up is a NATO summit in Spain, at which the Western military alliance is expected to announce hundreds of thousands of troops shifting to a higher state of alert and an overhaul of its strategic framework to describe Moscow as an adversary. Also bound to infuriate Russia, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Turkey had agreed to support Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Turkey`s objections to the membership bids, which if successful would be the biggest shift in European security in decades, had threatened to overshadow a summit striving for unity against Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.

MOURNING RELATIVES

Relatives of the missing in Kremenchuk were lined up at a hotel across the street from the wreckage of the shopping centre, where rescue workers had set up a base. Adults and children, some in tears, lit candles and laid flowers in a tribute to the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in "one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history".

Russia`s defence ministry said its missiles had struck a nearby arms depot storing Western weapons, which exploded, causing the blaze that spread to the nearby mall.

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine war hits China's BRI projects in Central and Eastern European nations

Kyiv said there was no military target in the area. "Russia`s goal is for as many Ukrainians as possible to close their eyes forever, for the rest to stop resisting and submit to slavery," Andriy Yermak, chief of Ukraine`s presidential staff, said on Twitter.

Russia described the shopping centre as disused and empty. But that was contradicted by the relatives of the dead and missing, and the dozens of wounded survivors such as Ludmyla Mykhailets, 43, who had been shopping there with her husband when the blast threw her into the air. "I flew head first and splinters hit my body. The whole place was collapsing," she said at a hospital where she was being treated.

G7 leaders said the attack was "abominable". Russian President Vladimir Putin and those responsible would be held to account, they said in a statement.

Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians in its "special military operation" that has destroyed Ukrainian cities, killed thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

Ukraine endured another tough day on the battlefields of the eastern Donbas region following last week`s loss of the now-ruined city of Sievierodonetsk. Russian forces are now trying to storm Lysychansk, across the Siverskyi Donets River from Sievierodonetsk, to complete their capture of Luhansk, one of two eastern provinces Moscow aims to conquer on behalf of separatist proxies.

OIL PRICE CAP

Western countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, but so far have failed to curtail Moscow`s main source of income: oil and gas export revenue, which has actually increased as the threat of supply disruption has driven up global prices.

At the end of its annual summit, the G7 announced a new approach - leaving Russian oil on the market while imposing a cap on the price countries could pay for it. "We invite all like-minded countries to consider joining us in our actions," they said in a communique.

The United States also imposed sanctions on more than 100 new targets and banned new imports of Russian gold, acting on commitments made by the G7.

With summit action now shifting to NATO, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said a new strategic concept would "describe in stark terms the threat that Russia poses and the way in which it has shattered peace in Europe".

That marks a departure from post-Soviet NATO policy which cast Moscow as a potential partner. Dmitry Rogozin, a former Russian ambassador to NATO and now head of Russia`s space agency, responded by releasing satellite pictures and coordinates of the summit venue, the Pentagon, White House and other Western state buildings.

"Today, the NATO summit opens in Madrid, at which Western countries will declare Russia their worst enemy," Rogozin wrote on social media. "Roscosmos publishes satellite photographs of the summit venue and the very `decision centres` that support Ukrainian nationalists."

There have been increasing Russian missile strikes a long distance from the frontline over the past few days. In Kharkiv, Ukraine`s second-largest city where Russian troops were pushed back in a counter-offensive in May, authorities said nine people were killed by shelling that hit targets including apartment buildings and a school.
New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of being a "terrorist state" at the United Nations on Tuesday, prompting Russia to charge that he was using a Security Council address as a "remote PR campaign" to solicit more Western weapons. Zelenskiy pushed the Security Council to expel Moscow from the United Nations and to create a tribunal to investigate actions of the Russian military in Ukraine, which invaded on Feb. 24. However, Russia is a council veto power and can shield itself from any such action.

"Russia does not have the right to take part in discussing and voting in regard to the war in Ukraine, which is unprovoked and simply colonialist of the part of Russia," Zelenskiy told the council. "I urge you to deprive the delegation of the terrorist state of its powers."



Also Read: Russia-Ukraine war hits China's BRI projects in Central and Eastern European nations



Moscow calls its invasion a "special military operation" to rid Ukraine of fascists, an assertion the Kyiv government and Western allies say is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war. All 15 Security Council members, including Russia, stood for a moment of silence after Zelenskiy asked them to "commemorate all the Ukrainians who have been killed in this war."

Russia`s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the council that Zelenskiy`s appearance via video had undermined the authority of the body, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security.

"The U.N. Security Council should not be turned into a platform for a remote PR (public relations) campaign for President Zelenskiy in order to get more weapons from participants of the NATO Summit," Polyanskiy said.



Also Read: G7 leaders confer with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, prep new aid for Ukraine



The council met after Ukraine said a Russian missile strike deliberately targeted a shopping mall on Monday, killing at least 18 people. Russia denied hitting the mall with missiles, saying it had struck a nearby depot of U.S. and European arms, triggering an explosion which caused a fire in the mall.

"We have run out of words to describe the senselessness, futility and cruelty of this war," U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the council, urging all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Volkswagen sees a strong second half of 2022 and expects progress in catching up with rival Tesla as easing chip shortages have started to offset supply chain bottlenecks and rising costs, said the automaker's CEO Herbert Diess on Tuesday. He also said that Volkswagen is earning more than ever. The Volkswagen CEO also said that the automaker is aiming to ramp up the production volume of electric vehicles to increase sales in its key markets such as Germany and China. The easing supply chain crisis and increased availability of semiconductors will aid this growth, claimed Diess.

(Also Read: Maruti Suzuki bets big on hybrids over electric vehicles)

This would allow Volkswagen to narrow its gap with Tesla, which is currently the leader in the global electric car market. Volkswagen aims to be the market leader in the electric vehicle segment by 2025. The comment from Volkswagen's chief comes at a time when the US electric car major is burning cash on large investments and facing several headwinds in the US and overseas.

Speaking about Volkswagen's rivalry with Tesla, the VW boss further said that the US EV major has to ramp up two highly complex factories in Austin and Gruenheide at the same time - as well as expand production in Shanghai. He further said that it would cost a huge investment for Elon Musk.

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Volkswagen has been aiming to grab the pole position in the global electric car market. The automaker is launching a range of products with electric powertrain under the different brands the auto major owns.

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Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinas major electric vehicle producer BYD has purchased the use right of an industrial purpose land in the Shen-Shan Special Cooperation Zone, according to the announcement by Shenzhens public resource trading center.

Photo credit: BYD

The announcement shows that lot No. E2021-0013 has an area of 554,000 square meters, with a starting bidding price of RMB403 million ($60.12 million). BYD won the bid at the starting price, and the transaction marked the largest land trade in the Shen-Shan Special Cooperation Zone so far.

The announcement specified that the permitted purpose of the land would be new energy industry, with a 30-year right of use. The construction on the land should be started within one year of purchase and be completed within three years.

BYD plans on turning the lot into a BYD auto industry park as the land is right by the other 400,000 square meters land that BYD purchased last year. The two lands will be constructed into a new energy vehicle industry cluster.

Phase I of the project will involve a total investment of RMB5 billion ($746 million), focusing on manufacturing auto parts and components. BYD expects an annual production value of RMB10 billion ($1.49 billion) after Phase I becomes fully operational.

In January 2022, BYD appended another RMB20 billion ($2.98 billion) into the second phase of the project, which brought the total annual production value to over RMB100 billion ($14.92 billion).
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Italy have discussed the current status and opportunities for energy cooperation, Azernews reports, citing the Energy Ministry.

The discussion took place during a meeting between Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and Italy's Ansaldo Energia CEO Giuseppe Marion.

During the meeting, the minister briefed him on the work done on energy transition in the country, green energy projects and green electricity export plans.

He noted that the natural gas in Azerbaijan maintains an important role in the diversification of energy resources through the production of electricity. Shahbazov emphasized that cooperation with private companies in all areas is one of the priorities.

In turn, Giuseppe Marino spoke about the company's activities, completed global projects and achievements in recent years. He briefed on the achievements of traditional power plants in the field of modification of plants and devices for the use of natural gas as well as hydrogen.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on May 8, 1992. Italy's first embassy in the South Caucasus was opened in Azerbaijan in 1997 and the embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy has been functioning since 2003.

Italy was one of the first countries to express support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, as well as an interest in participating in restoration efforts in Azerbaijan's liberated territories. Last year, Azerenergy and Ansaldo Energia signed a cooperation agreement on the construction of energy infrastructure in Azerbaijans liberated territories. According to the agreement, Ansaldo Energia will supply equipment for four 110 kV substations to be built in the Aghdam, Kalbajar and Gubadli regions.

Azerbaijan is a major supplier of energy to Italy. In Azerbaijan, over 100 Italian companies operating in various fields are registered. At the same time, Italian firms have contracts worth more than  10 billion ($11.8 billion) for Azerbaijani projects both inside and outside the country. Azerbaijan's total investment in the Italian economy is estimated to be around  1.7 billion ($2 billion), with Italy investing approximately  770 million ($910.8 million) in Azerbaijan.

The two countries' trade turnover was $9.6 billion in 2021, with Italy also being Azerbaijan's main trade partner.
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

Audi breaks ground on first NEV manufacturing base in China

On June 28th, Audi FAW New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. broke ground on its first battery-electric vehicle-dedicated factory in Changchun, Jilin Province. The company will pour 2.6 billion into the project. The factory can be expected to start operation in the end of 2024, with a designed production capacity of over 150,000 vehicles per year.

Photo credit: Audi

CPCA predicts June NEV retails to reach new high in China

According to the China Passenger Car Association, in the first 26 days of June, Chinas passenger vehicle retail volume amounted to 1.422 million vehicles, jumping 27% year over year and 37% month over month. The strong growing momentum aligns with Chinas national promotion of vehicle sales. The CPCA predicts that the retail volume of new energy vehicles may reach roughly 500,000 vehicles in June at record high.

Xiaomi invests in semiconductor supplier Xiner

Shenzhen Xiner Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. has recently added Xiaomi-backed venture capital firm as one of its shareholders on June 28th, according to Chinas corporate information platform Qichacha. Xiner is known as a semiconductor provider for home appliances as well as new energy vehicles.

Tencent emphasizes decision not to make cars

On June 28th, the vice president of Tencent smart transportation division, Zhong Xuedan, said in an interview that Tencent would not be producing vehicles. The company has its focus on automotive cloud. Tencent has reached cooperation with over a hundred automakers and mobility service providers, including BMW, Audi, NIO, Li Auto, and Ford.

HUAWEI-backed AITO to launch second model on July 4th

HUAWEI disclosed that AITOs second production model, the M7 SUV, will make its official debut at HUAWEIs summer product launch on July 4th. The new model is installed with a 1.5T range extension system with a battery-electric range of 150km.

Photo credit: AITO

Wuhan to have 500km V2X test roads in five years

The municipal government of the capital of Hubei Province, Wuhan, released an implementing scheme on transportation reinforcement covering V2X and autonomous driving segments on June 29th.

Dongfeng AEOLUS to launch only electric models in 2024

Dongfeng Motors passenger vehicle brand AEOLUS aims to only launch electric vehicle models in 2024, the chairman of Dongfeng Motor Group, Zhu Yanfeng said at a conference on June 28th.

Leapmotor sees 100,000th vehicle roll off line

On June 28th, Leapmotor saw its 100,000th vehicle roll off the production line, making it the fifth new energy vehicle startup in China to achieve the milestone after NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, and HOZON Auto.

BYD pours RMB403 million in land for new energy vehicle industrial park

Chinas major electric vehicle producer BYD has purchased the use right of an industrial purpose land in the Shen-Shan Special Cooperation Zone, according to the announcement by Shenzhens public resource trading center.

Inceptio Technology authorized for driverless road test via L4 trucks

Chinas autonomous driving truck developer Inceptio Technology was granted Chinas first open road test license for L4 driverless heavy-duty trucks by Deqing county, Zhejiang Province.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese NEV startup WM Motor had 3,249 new vehicles registered in May 2022, representing a 27.7% year-on-year jump, while showing a 2.3% month-on-month drop, according to data compiled by Gasgoo Auto Research Institute.

For the first five months of 2022, there were 18,112 vehicles of WM Motor registered across China, reflecting an 87.9% upward movement from a year ago. Notably, the monthly registrations hit an all-time high of 5,533 units in March.

Among all local NEV startups in China, WM Motor had ranked sixth by monthly registrations for 15 consecutive months as of May 2022.



The company currently has four production models for sale, namely the EX5 (including the EX5-Z), the EX6, the W6, and the E.5 (including the E.5 Pro). In terms of monthly registrations, the E.5 topped other models in the past five months. The best-selling model originally targeted the mobility service sector when it hit the market in the second half of 2021, while is now available for purchase by individual consumers after the refreshed version, the E.5 Pro, was launched in April this year.



With regard to ownerships, the automaker's fleet registrations reached 2,004 units in May, 72.5% of which were contributed by the E.5. Meanwhile, the company's retail registrations consisted of 487 E.5s, 391 W6s, 366 EX5s, and 1 EX6.



For the Jan.-May period, fleet and retail registrations accounted for 59.77% and 40.23% of the startup's overall registrations respectively.



Regarding regional registrations, Chengdu and Haikou were the only two cities with over 200 WM Motor's vehicles registered in May. Apart from the top 2 cities, there were still 8 provincial capital cities among the top 20 cities by May registrations, which were Guangzhou, Guiyang, Wuhan, Jinan, Hangzhou, Hefei, Nanning, and Nanchang. Shenzhen ranked 12th on the top 20 cities list, while the list didn't include Beijing and Shanghai.

For the first five months of the year, Wenzhou, where one of the company's manufacturing bases is located, registered the most WM Motor's vehicles. Haikou and Chengdu were the other two cities recording over 1,000 units in Jan.-May registrations.



WM Motor has submitted the application documents for its potential initial public offering ("IPO") and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the draft prospectus, the company said it had built its own manufacturing bases in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province and Huanggang, Hubei province, with an aggregate maximum annual production capacity of 250,000 vehicles.



WM Motor's M7; photo credit: WM Motor



The company plans to launch the M7 in the second half of 2022. The all-new sedan model is expected to offer the company's self-developed Level 4 AVP (automated valet parking) function in 2023, and its hardware has been configured to support future Level 5 autonomous driving capabilities.
ATLANTAThe years-long case brought by Miami-based Wreal LLC against Amazon accusing the latter of violating its trademark on the name FyreTV with the brand name of the retail monolith's own streaming device, Fire TV, may proceed to a jury trial, the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals found Tuesday.

The case, first filed all the way back in 2014, moved to the 11th Circuit Court over a year ago, in February 2021, following a 2019 ruling in Amazon's favor by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard. Reuters reports that a unanimous three-judge panel at the appeals court noted in their ruling that "the products' names were nearly identical, there was evidence that Amazon had purposely flooded the market with its trademark to drown Wreal's out, and a reasonable customer could think that Amazon had expanded into Wreal's field of streaming hardcore pornography."

Wreal introduced its FyreTV set-top streaming device to the market in 2007, a full seven years before the release of Amazon's first-generation Fire TV. Wreal's device was marketed from the beginning as expressly intended for streaming adult content (the company later launched an updated device dubbed the FyreBoXXX), with promotional efforts positioning italbeit like many others have done with their own streaming offerings over the yearsas a "Netflix of porn."

The 11th Circuit panel further concluded Tuesday, according to Reuters' report, that Judge Lenard "erred" in her 2019 ruling "by treating the case as a normal trademark-infringement dispute, where a smaller user trades on the fame of an existing trademark. Instead it was a 'reverse confusion' case, which requires a different analysis."

Further complicating matters could be the fact that both hardcore and softcore content can be accessed using an Amazon Fire TV device. Adult production companies including Adult Time and Bang!, for instance, offer apps that can be "side-loaded" onto a Fire TV box or stick to easily stream their triple-X libraries to a television set.

Courthouse News Service reports that U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Logoa, who wrote Tuesday's ruling on behalf of the panel, pointed out in the decision that "Amazon already offers at least some softcore pornography on its streaming services and competes with other general-interest set-top boxes that offer hardcore pornography content on theirs, including the FyreTV streaming service at issue here. Amazon also sells hardcore pornographic materials on its website. It would not be unreasonable for a reasonable consumer to see FyreTV and think Amazon was the source."

The case now heads back to federal court in Miami for trial.
GUANGZHOU, ChinaSvakom announces the success of a Pride event it sponsored in Guangzhouin June 1, hosted by non-profit organization Zhitong Public Welfare Service Center.

Aiming to provide peer-driven health education and a place of community, Zhitong Public Welfare Service Center hosted an LGBTQIA+ quiz night designed to raise awareness of important LGBTQIA+ people throughout history and provide information surrounding sexuality.

Said a Svakom representative, "We were excited to sponsor this event because it held such potential, it was educational and looked like an amazing time. We offered two products to be given to two winners. The two winning participants of the quiz would be provided a congratulations card from Svakom where they could choose one of the available toys."

Svakom strives to be an inclusive brand suitable for people of all genders, sexuality and body types. The company provided the following toys for the 1st place winner to choose from: Ella Neo, Sam Neo, Vick Neo; 2nd place had the option of Hedy X or Tulip.

An event organizer said, "Everyone was super excited to win a Svakom prize. There was such a bursting atmosphere, everyone was competing trying to win."

Svakom aims to continue supporting organizations that take a positive approach to sexuality, offer education and community, and help to make a change in the world.

For more information, visit Svakom.com and follow the company on Twitter.
Instead of new media vs old media, Stephen A. Smith, Draymond Green, and JJ Redick may soon join forces to launch one giant crusade against the aggregate media.

Green and Redick combined their podcasts for a live show from City Winery in New York earlier this week and they were joined by Smith for about 20 minutes. But before leaving the stage, Smith took a minute to warn Green and Redick about the big bad aggregate media coming to misquote them.

I dont believe you really experienced this part yet, Smith told Green. See JJ got a taste of this, to be misquoted, completely taken out of context. Like, new media, Im laughing when you say this sometimes, and its not that youre wrong. Its like, he has no idea what is coming. Think about how this man talks now.

Id like to take a brief pause just to reiterate that Smiths made these comments during The Draymond Green Show/Old Man and the Three combo podcast. I dont want Redick coming after us for not properly crediting their podcasts.

They got something about me on social media where JJ Redick said this, and he put Stephen A. in his place about this! JJ Redick was on SportsCenter talking to Sage Steele. I was nowhere in the vicinity, the conversation never happened, nothing! Smith claimed. But they used my name for clicks!

Are we supposed to believe Stephen A. Smith never used Kyrie Irvings name for clicks?

Last week, Redick railed against aggregate media platforms, calling it the worst kind of media, paying specific attention to Bleacher Report and ClutchPoints. Apparently, Smith isnt too fond of us aggregators either.

One day Ill tell Smith and Redick a story about Mike Francesa banning people from posting audio and video from his WFAN show on social media. But once he came to the seemingly obvious realization that he was actually benefiting from a source of free advertising, promotion, and exposure, Francesa lifted the ban after just three weeks.

JJ comes into First Take whining, Smith continued. Thats right I said it, whining a couple of weeks ago, thats not the question and thats not what I said. I said, welcome to my world and thats what yall are in for.

If you want to push back on someone if they misquote you, I get it. But dont act like youre not a floozy for the clicks and social media attention, regardless of whether that attention is sparked by a post from ESPN, Awful Announcing, Bleacher Report, or ClutchPoints.

[The Draymond Green Show, Old Man and the Three]
Dawson Community College has received $50,000 grant from the Gianforte Family Foundation for the Dawson Promise program.

Dawson Promise is an organization to support youth who are homeless or unaccompanied, or have aged out of the foster care system to obtain a two-year college degree free of debt. The program works closely with individuals to assist them with the resources they need to reach their educational goals and set them up for success in life.

Throughout the United States, it is recognized that there is a conduit which leads directly from foster care to homelessness. Data from the National Youth in Transition Database indicates that approximately 21% of youth transitioning out of foster care in Montana have experienced homelessness by age 17. A conservative estimate is that 11,000 unaccompanied youth in Montana are at risk of homelessness. Additionally, only 1 out of every 2 foster children who age out of the system will have some form of gainful employment by the age of 24.

Dawson Promise was created to change the statistics and support the most vulnerable youth in Montana. Thanks to the partnership with the Gianforte Family Foundation, as well as other financial partners, Dawson Promise students are provided the opportunity to complete a 2-year associates degree without accruing debt. The students are required to work while balancing their schoolwork. Each participant must also commit to a sliding-scale monthly payment plan to provide financial investment toward their college education. Throughout the school year, the students attended various life skills sessions to set them up for sustainable success.

The mission of the Gianforte Family Foundation is to support organizations that equip people to improve their lives in a sustainable way. Funds from the Gianforte grant will be used to directly support Dawson Promise students with room and board for the 2022-23 school year. This is the fourth consecutive year DCC has received this grant specifically to support Dawson Promise.

Less than three percent of youth who age out of foster care in the United States will obtain a college degree. DCC has been innovative within the Montana University System to provide a holistic approach toward college education for foster care youth.

I have worked with various youth in foster care, as a foster parent, for the past six years," said Daneen Peterson, advisor and grant navigator for Dawson Promise. "These individuals have numerous barriers which prevent them from succeeding in both high school and college. With the Dawson Promise program, our hope is to help break down some of those barriers and equip the students with the necessary life skills. I cannot erase their history or change the trauma from their past, but we can work together for a better future.

Learn more about the Dawson Promise program online at https://www.dawson.edu/outreach/dawson-promise.html or contact Daneen Peterson at 406-377-3061 or dpeterson@dawson.edu.

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Billings  Eagle Mount Billings has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities to support Billings School District 2's Adaptive Field Trips program, the organization announced Wednesday.

This grant will allow us to expand our Adaptive Field Trip program to more schools and more participants, specifically targeting low-income elementary schools and expanding into the middle schools, said Genna Southworth, Eagle Mount's executive director. We hope to provide over 200 experiences for children who live with cognitive and/or physical disabilities through this program.

The Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities is committed to a consumer-driven service delivery system that improves independence, productivity, and integration of people with developmental disabilities in all aspects of life and community, a release from Eagle Mount said Wednesday.

For more information about Eagle Mount Billings or the grant, please contact Genna Southworth, Executive Director, at genna@eaglemountbillings.org or call (406) 969-2949.

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Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) has received a grant received from the Oro y Plata Foundation in the amount of $30,000 to create the Jackie Kimbrough Emergency Fund, to assist LIFTT consumers in financial distress, the organization announced Wednesday.

Named in honor of a former employee of the agency who died in 2021, LIFTT plans to use the Emergency Fund to help people with disabilities meet unanticipated expenses. To qualify for assistance, consumers cannot receive assistance from any other available federal and state program funding. The expenses that can be paid for with funds from the emergency fund vary from significant home repairs to replacing appliances.

LIFTT is a Montana nonprofit corporation organized as a Center for Independent Living (CIL). As part of a nationwide network of CILs, LIFTT provides people with disabilities opportunities for independent living services in Big Horn, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Golden Valley, McCone, Musselshell, Prairie, Powder River, Richland, Rosebud, Stillwater, Treasure, Wibaux, and Yellowstone counties.

According to Carlos Ramalho, LIFTTs Executive Director, the creation of this fund is, an effort to help our consumers  persons with disabilities  stay in their homes, live independently, be able to participate in their communities, and avoid institutionalization.

LIFTT would like to thank the Oro y Plata Foundation for this generous grant to get the fund started; we hope many others will help make it grow over time by their contributions, Ramalho said.

If you are interested in donating to LIFTT for the Kimbrough Memorial Fund, you are a person with a disability and in need of LIFTT's services or you want to volunteer visit https://liftt.org, call (406) 259-5181 or contact Ramalho at (406) 294-5190 or carlosr@liftt.org

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Less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Courts overruling of the 50-year-old decision that had granted federal pre-viability abortion protections, the Montana Department of Justice is asking the states high court to consider the ruling as it decides whether to lift a temporary hold on three new laws restricting abortion in Montana.

The U.S. Supreme Courts recent ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, finding that the U.S. Constitution did not confer a right to an abortion. That leaves the question to state constitutional law and comes as litigation plays out over several new laws restricting abortion in Montana.

In 2021, Planned Parenthood of Montana challenged a trio of new laws and requested a preliminary injunction, meaning the laws do not go into effect while litigation plays out. The laws being challenged would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestational age; require a woman to be informed of the option to view an ultrasound before an abortion; and require informed consent before a drug-induced abortion and block providing the medication through the mail.

A fourth law, prohibiting health insurance plans sold on the federal exchange from covering abortion, was not part of the preliminary injunction request.

Yellowstone County District Court Judge Michael Moses issued the injunction, finding that the laws impeded access to pre-viability abortion in Montana. The right to a pre-viability abortion was established under the 1999 Montana Supreme Court case Armstrong v. State, citing the state constitutions privacy protections. With Armstrong in place, abortion remains legal in Montana despite the federal ruling.

In January, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen appealed the judges preliminary injunction levied against the three new abortion laws. The filing makes several legal arguments, including that the ruling misapplied legal standards, but devotes significant time arguing for the justices to overrule Armstrong altogether, characterizing the landmark case as judicial activism.

This case is about integrity. The integrity of unborn human lives and the medical profession, to be sure. But the integrity of the judiciary, too, DOJ writes in court filings. Judges neither make nor unmake democratically enacted laws.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood argue that the preliminary injunction stage is the improper time for the state high court to consider Armstrong. They argue that the ruling should be re-affirmed as a defense of personal privacy and government intrusion into health care decisions.

Armstrong was correct in holding that Montanas right to privacy includes a right to pre-viability abortions, they write in court documents. The unmistakable intent of the Constitutional Convention was to explicitly protect citizens from legislation and governmental practices that interfere with the autonomy of each individual to make decisions in matters generally considered private.

Last month, the Montana Supreme Court classified the appeal of the preliminary injunction for a decision.

But on Monday, the state justice department asked the high court to allow for additional briefing in light of the Dobbs decision. Among the arguments, attorneys argue that the Armstrong decision relies heavily on the federal courts previous interpretation of privacy rights, stating Armstrong inextricably linked Montanas right to privacy to the decision in Roe.

The state further argues that the Montana Supreme Court accepted the federal 20-week viability standard established in Roe, stating Armstrong incorrectly understood Roe to have settled when a person becomes a person.

This story has been changed to correct the date of the lawsuit.

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Nearly a dozen Montana counties are reportedly at high risk this month for spreading COVID-19, according to an article in the Billings Gazette.

Of course, we all have COVID-19 fatigue, and for that reason, maybe you skipped over the risk assessment.

Weve been in COVID-mode since early 2020, and the pandemic is still with us. Now, though, is an especially important time to look to its more fundamental origins and the incubators of future variants. We dont want to be thrown back into the depths of the pandemic without effective treatments and vaccines against the virus.

Theres one particularly significant, looming zoonotic disease threat: mink farms. I happen to know a lot about them, having spent much of my youth on farms where these animals were raised. Every known variant thats come from a nonhuman source has come from mink farms  five of them in the U.S. and in Europe. No other nonhuman species contracts and spreads the virus on this scale.

Life on the farm

My grandfather raised mink on his farm in Franklin, Idaho. Our nearest neighbor was in the business too, and was the top producer in the state.

I was raised on a small family farm with horses and cattle that roamed on open, spacious pastures, and it was my job from a young age to fix the fences, irrigate the fields, stack hay, and care for the animals. I participated in 4-H as a youngster with my pet rabbits and goats, and in high school was active in Future Farmers of America, raising and showing beef steers and dairy heifers.

Even as a very young boy, I saw that the way we raised our farm animals was very different from the realities of the mink farms. Mink are wild, solitary carnivores who spend most of their time in water hunting for fish, frogs, and rodents. To keep such a creature in cramped and barren factory farms violates everything I was taught about responsible animal husbandry.

Thats why mink farming is so undeniably inhumane. I saw firsthand every morning the dead or maimed mink who hours before had been in vicious fights with their pen mates. The animals were highly aggressive toward their human handlers and spent their time pacing relentlessly back and forth in their tiny cages. They are also proven escape artists, which does not bode well for containing new variants inside the farm.

Mink and the coronavirus

One-third of U.S. mink farms have had coronavirus outbreaks, including at operations in Oregon, Wisconsin, Utah and Michigan. But that high rate of viral outbreaks may be a serious underreporting because our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USDA, and state agriculture agencies have ignored or downplayed this zoonotic disease threat, with spotty investigations done only when invited. CDC field teams have so far investigated only eight out of dozens of farms, which makes me wonder how many cases are not being detected. By contrast, European nations with mink farms took immediate, decisive action to shut down their mink farm industries once the zoonotic threat was identified.

Jim Keen, a veterinarian who studied infectious diseases in farm settings for the USDA for more than two decades, says that mink farming is both an urgent and a moral public health risk thats not to be ignored.

Public safety, not politics

Comprehending the interspecies trajectories of the coronavirus is like chasing a moving target, but eliminating mink farming would help solve a major piece of the puzzle.

Montanas senators  both Jon Tester and Steve Daines  got it wrong and voted to urge the full Senate to reject a ban on mink farming that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives in the form of an amendment to the America COMPETES Act.

Growing up in agriculture, I understand the instinct to circle the wagons when there is a regulatory and legislative attempt to restrict production. But breeding wild mink for fur is not agriculture  it is not food or fiber that we need as individuals or as a nation.

Americans no longer buy or wear fur, so the mink pelts produced in the U.S. are being exported to provide luxury fashion garments to wealthy Chinese elites. Thats a great deal for the wealthy in China, where the virus originated, but it has deadly ramifications for Americans.

Scott Beckstead grew up in Idaho and lives in Sutherlin, Oregon. He is director of campaigns for the Center for a Humane Economy and teaches animal law, wildlife law, and Endangered Species Act at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

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By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's Alat Free Economic Zone (FEZ) and Georgian Hualing Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) have signed a memorandum of cooperation, Azernews reports.

The document was signed by Alat FEZ Board Chairman Valeh Alasgarov and Hualing FIZ Director-General Soso Nibladze within the Azerbaijani-Georgian business forum, which is being held in Baku on June 29.

Speaking at the forum, Georgian Ambassador Zurab Pataradze said that the relations between the two countries developed even more active during the coronavirus pandemic. In this regard, he mentioned that a meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between the two countries was held in Baku in 2021, adding that another meeting is expected to be held in Georgia this year.

"I would like to note that our cooperation has been established in political, economic and other areas. We are very pleased that the trade turnover between our countries has exceeded $1 billion," he said.

Business relations

Noting that extremely favourable conditions for doing business have been created in Georgia, the ambassador stated that a large number of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs work in Georgia.

In this regard, Counselor of the Azerbaijani Embassy to Georgia Sarkhan Ismayilov stated that over 3,000 companies with Azerbaijani capital are registered in Georgia as of now, more than 1,000 of which are active companies. He added that more than 600 companies with Georgian capital are registered in Azerbaijan.

"Our countries continue to carry out trade and economic cooperation. We see great potential in this direction and are confident that these relations will only develop," he said.

Trade turnover

Speaking at the forum, Adviser to the Head of Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency Zohrab Gadirov stated that the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $340 million in January-April this year.

Noting that this figure increased compared to the same period last year, he added that the mutual investments in the economies of the two countries are also growing.

"Additionally, we see interest from Georgian entrepreneurs in doing business in Azerbaijan. We are ready to cooperate with potential investors and businesses to expand economic cooperation," he said.

Investment

Likewise, Sarkhan Ismayilov also noted that Azerbaijan has invested $3.5 billion in the Georgian economy until now. He added that more than $1.5 billion of investments accounted for the share of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).

"Azerbaijan is Georgia's main trading partner and one of the largest investors. Our companies, operating in Georgia, have created thousands of jobs in this country and pay millions of dollars taxes every year," he said.

Baku-Batumi flights

Moreover, Zurad Pataradze also noted that the flights between Azerbaijan's Baku and Georgia's Batumi will be resumed starting from July 1 this year.

He added that it is planned to resume passenger transportation by rail from Georgia to Azerbaijan in the future.

Azersun Holding

Azersun Holding CEO Savas Uzan also stated that the holding is planning to expand its activities in Georgia. He noted that the company has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1991 and in Georgia since 1993.

"In Georgia, the company is engaged in both commercial and industrial activities. We plan to operate in logistics in the coming years, having already created the relevant infrastructure in this regard," he said.

Noting that 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, he stated that during this period, the countries have implemented large investment and logistics projects, adding that Azersun Holding is doing its best to be a part of this process.

Azerbaijan and Georgia are collaborating in a variety of economic spheres. Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a number of cooperation agreements in 2021 as part of a meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.

In 2021, the two countries' trade turnover totalled $763.6 million, with exports accounting for $661 million and imports accounting for $102.6 million.
It is time for the Biden administration to support environmental justice for the Northern Cheyenne people on coal. When President Biden was elected and Debra Haaland was chosen as Interior secretary, many had hoped to turn a page on the most harmful environmental decisions from the Trump era, including its decision to restart coal leasing on public lands, including lands surrounding the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. In an affront to our people, the Biden administration has refused to reverse Trumps coal policy that puts our communities, waters, land, and air at risk. As tribal administrator, I see each day the impacts of this failure to act.

At the core of the Northern Cheyenne world view is the imperative to respect what Maheo, our Creator, allowed us to take care of. We care for the Earth that provides for us. In the Northern Cheyenne religion and culture, land is sacred, and people should not open up the earth. We believe that water is life itself. For centuries, the Northern Cheyenne people have sacrificed their lives and placed their children and elders in harms way to preserve and live on the land that contains the bones of our loved ones. Our ancestral homelands and our water are sacred to us, and we have never developed the coal underlying the reservation or allowed others to do so.

Coal mining has harmed our community and others around the world. We are impacted by air pollution from mining activities near the Reservation and runoff that impairs our water quality. Mining also destroys habitat for sensitive species, including burrowing owls, prairie dogs, prairie chicken, and sage grouse. Mining within our ancestral homelands also destroys important cultural sites, including those used for Cheyenne ceremonies. We know that coal mining does long-term harm to our environment and Mother Earth, yet the current administration has inexcusably allowed it to continue. This unnecessary coal mining endangers public health, now and into the future.

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe is part of a lawsuit challenging the Biden administrations defense of continued coal leasing on public lands. During the Trump years, Interior Secretary Zinke lifted the Obama-era moratorium barring companies from future leasing of most federal lands for coal exploration or extraction. Instead of reinstating that common-sense moratorium and completing an adequate environmental review and meaningful consultation with the Northern Cheyenne and other affected tribes, the Biden administration has doubled down on the Trump-era policy to continue coal leasing.

Our Tribe has rejected lucrative economic development and sacrificed endlessly to protect our land and maintain our way of life because these places are sacred to us. It is extremely disappointing that the Biden administration allows coal leasing to continue, even as it calls for a transition to clean, renewable energy. In 2021, coal consumption rose 14% in this country. We are hampering any progress we make on clean energy by continuing to prop up this industry that has exploited our lands and resources.

As the Northern Cheyenne Tribe works hard to develop renewable energy on our reservation, we need the Biden administration to do its part.

Coal mining and production have not led to economic prosperity for our people, despite promises that were made when coal mines and coal-fired power plants were under development on nearby lands. With the Rosebud mine to the north and the Decker and Spring Creek mines to the south, we were told that there would be employment and contracting opportunities, but those never fully materialized.

We would like to see the administration turn its attention away from continued coal leasing and toward a clean energy future. Not only would this protect our ancestral lands, our air, and our water, it could launch meaningful employment opportunities for our people. Tribal members could benefit from working on remediation efforts and renewable energy projects. Wind, solar, and storage projects could both help our community with jobs, lead to energy independence, and contribute to a cleaner environment.

What we dont need to see is the Biden administration continuing the destructive legacy of coal mining. Moving away from coal is whats best for both our surrounding communities and the climate. It is imperative that any transition toward clean energy ensure that the workers in our mines  including the Northern Cheyenne members who have found employment there  have the first shot at new remediation and renewable energy positions.

For far too long, we have suffered at the hands of industrys exploitation of our lands. We have sacrificed life and limb to defend our right to a clean and healthy environment. All we ask is for sensible policies that respect the history of our ancestors and honor Mother Earth. President Biden and Secretary Haaland know better than to further the harmful impacts of coal on our people. It is time they reinstate the coal leasing moratorium and accurately assess those impacts once and for all.

William Walksalong is Tribal Administrator for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe located in present-day southeastern Montana.

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By now you've no doubt heard or read a hundredyskillion responses to the recent Dobbs v. Jackson U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Roe, of course, made abortion a constitutional right in 1973.

Responses have ranged from people outraged at the court's ruling to those happy about it.

I am not a lawyer and, thus, am not in a good position to make careful judgments about whether the initial 1973 case was decided correctly on the basis of judicial wisdom, procedure and precedence or whether this one was decided that way.

But they both can't be right, can they? Indeed, the court in recent years has drifted from a respected institution to another collection of powerful partisans -- mostly on the right, but also at times on the left, two political labels that hide more than they reveal. And court members have cooperated with the Republican Party to institute what amounts to minority rule in this country, given that the overwhelming majority of Americans did not want Roe overturned. And just as some wanted Roe overturned for religious reasons, some wanted to keep abortion legal for religious reasons. But now, in effect, the court has declared one religious view of abortion valid and other religious views of abortion invalid.

So my fear is that this new ruling will throw us into another period of religious rancor, to say nothing of a time of females (from whom much moral agency now has been taken by this court decision) being targeted with suspicion merely because they are pregnant and will need now to decide whether to give birth or abort. It's hard to think of a matter more personal than a decision about whether to get pregnant or to end a pregnancy. And in such personal matters, I think the government should play as small a role (often no role at all) as possible. (Just as I needed no government mandate or oversight to decide to have a vasectomy, women don't need government interference to make a decision about being pregnant.)

This is another case in which it matters a great deal how we read scripture, especially the Bible. The sad thing is that people often decide whether to be for or against abortion by picking out a small group of biblical passages that seem to address the matter but really don't. (That practice is called proof-texting.) So -- just as people often do with LGBTQ+ issues -- people will choose certain parts of the Bible and declare that they make abortion against God's will in most, if not all, cases.

Psalm 139, for instance, has been a go-to passage for people opposed to abortion. Among other things, it says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Perhaps it would be helpful to explain poetry, metaphor and symbolism to some people. Oh, and science, too.

A friend who is a pastor expressed some of this angst in this recent Facebook post:

"What I'm saddest about today is the unholy stain upon the faith to which I've dedicated my life. The public face of Christianity is ugly, judgmental, vengeful, cultish and mean. It is everything Jesus taught -- (but) through a glass darkly, twisted into its opposite. It's hard to blame all of the people who see the Christian church as a demon in our midst, standing up for clownish buffoons and vicious ideologues. I guess the only thing to say is this: I am sorry about my siblings who have trampled on the vulnerable. I will work harder to cast out the false gods they've created and make Christianity about Jesus again."

Similarly, here is a video of leaders from my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), reacting to the court's ruling. I might have said it in different ways, but I am in harmony with most of their thinking.

So expect more religious division in the country because of this ruling. Also expect more state-against-state division, given that the new ruling throws back to the states any decisions about whether to make abortion legal. In an already deeply divided nation, this additional reason for division will simply complicate our lives. In many ways, this decision is a replay of the old states-rights arguments that opponents of civil rights used for so long -- and in some cases still do.

I have said before in various venues that I wish abortion were quite rare but legal because sometimes it's the least evil of a series of evil choices. I say that as a male (meaning, of course, that I've never been pregnant) who has fathered two children whose births were planned and successful. My temptation on this whole issue is simply to do what one of my pastors suggested in a recent sermon (before the court's decision was final) that we all do: trust women to decide whether to abort. Ideally, that decision should be made in consultation with the woman's physician and in consultation with the father (assuming the father isn't a rapist or a sibling of the pregnant woman) as well as with any close friends or spiritual advisors the pregnant woman chooses.

Before the 1973 decision, a lot of women got backroom, risky abortions (sometimes self-administered) and some of those women died because of it. I think we'll see a rise in that again. Whatever "pro-life" means, it shouldn't mean supporting a system that can lead to such abominations.

And I don't think abortion is the end of the issues this particular court may want to revisit. Will same-sex marriage be next? Or some civil rights decisions? This court seems to be turning into the kind of activist judicial system that people who identify as conservative have long warned everyone about.

One more thing I hope this decision does is lead to a national conversation about the role of the Supreme Court, how it's constituted and whether justices should serve for life.

But that's not the only national governmental system that should be under a microscope now. So should such bodies as the U.S. Senate, where someone from, say, Vermont, Rhode Island or Wyoming has as much power as someone representing California or Texas. One-person, one-vote? Not exactly. And if we're going to look at all the institutions that help to shape life in the U.S., let's also talk about the Electoral College, a weird old system that has proven flawed on more than one occasion.

So: Discuss. And let me know how you think we should proceed in light of the corner into which our institutions have painted us.

* * *

CHALLENGING THE SAUDIS ON ANTISEMITISM

The new U.S. special envoy to combat antisemitism, the brilliant and persuasive Deborah Lipstadt, is making her first foreign trip -- to Saudi Arabia. Anti-Jewish sentiment has a long history on the Arabian peninsula, and since the creation of Israel in the 1940s, that anti-Judaism has been accompanied by a lot of anti-Israeli sentiment. But these prejudices won't change unless they are talked about openly. And Lipstadt, whom I've had the privilege of hearing speak in person several times, seems like exactly the right person to help lead that conversation in the Middle East.

* * *

P.S.: If you missed my latest Flatland column when it posted this past Sunday -- it's about a terrific redlining exhibit at the Johnson County (Kansas) Museum -- you can find it here.
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.
The Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Forest Service have signed an agreement allowing the two to team up on projects in the 6,250-square-mile Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests in north-central Idaho. The Forest Service said Wednesday that the agreement through the Good Neighbor Authority will initially focus on fuel reduction projects. Plans include heritage surveys and other projects important to the tribe. The Good Neighbor Authority allows the Forest Service to enter into agreements with states, counties and tribes to collaborate on restoration work on Forest Service land. The Nez Perce agreement is the first tribal agreement in the Forest Service's Northern Region.
One person is dead and another hospitalized after a tree fell on a camper during severe storms in central Minnesota. Among the storm damage calls the Douglas County Sheriff's Office received late Monday night was one from Elmwood Resort on Lake Mary near Alexandria about 11:400 p.m. The caller reported cries for help coming from the camper on which the tree had fallen. Law enforcement officials arrived and found a man and woman trapped inside the camper. Alexandria firefighters help extract the victims. The man, 72-year-old Mark Edward Bunney, was pronounced dead at the scene. The injured woman, 66-year-old Debra Lynn Bunney, was taken to Alomere Health hospital in Alexandria. Officials say the couple lived in Miami, Arizona.
BILLINGS, Mont.  The U.S. government this week is holding its first onshore oil and natural gas drilling lease auctions since President Joe Biden took office after a federal court blocked the administrations attempt to suspend such sales because of climate change worries.

The online auctions start Wednesday and conclude Thursday. About 200 square miles of federal lands were offered for lease in eight western states including North Dakota. Most of the parcels are in Wyoming.

The sales come as federal officials try to balance efforts to fight climate change against pressure to bring down high gas prices.

Republicans want Biden to expand U.S. crude production. He faces calls from within his own party to do more to curb fossil fuel emissions that are heating the planet.

Oil production increased in the U.S. in recent months, but it's still well below pre-pandemic levels. Companies have been hesitant to expand too quickly because of uncertainty over how long high prices will continue.

A coalition of 10 environmental groups said in a lawsuit filed before the sales even began that they were illegal because officials acknowledged the climate change impacts but proceeded anyway.

An immediate ruling was not expected. Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said the agency did not have comment on the litigation.

Beginning with this week's sales the royalty rate for oil produced from new federal leases is increasing to 18.75% from 12.5%. Thats a 50% jump and marks the first increase since the 1920s.

Parcels also are being offered in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Hundreds of parcels of public land that companies nominated for leasing had been previously dropped by the administration because of concerns over wildlife being harmed by drilling rigs. More parcels covering about 19 square miles were dropped at the last minute in Wyoming because of potential impacts on wilderness, officials said.

But attorney Melissa Hornbein with the Western Environmental Law Center said the reductions in the size of the sales were not enough.

They are hoping that by choosing to hold sales on a smaller amount of acreage they are threading the needle. But from our perspective, the climate science is the one thing that doesn't lie, Hornbein said.

Oil industry representative Kathleen Sgamma said the environmentalists' lawsuit ignores the fact that lease sales from U.S. lands are required under federal law.

Public lands are managed in a balanced manner. Balance is a word these groups don't understand, said Sgamma, president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies.

Fossil fuels extracted from public lands account for about 20% of energy-related U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making them a prime target for climate activists who want to shut down leasing.

Biden suspended new leasing just a week after taking office in January 2021. A federal judge in Louisiana ordered the sales to resume, saying Interior officials had offered no rational explanation for canceling them and only Congress could do so.

The government held an offshore lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico in November, although a court later blocked that sale before the leases were issued.

Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter: @matthewbrownAP

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

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Two websites that serve Job Service North Dakota are offline due to a vendor problem, disrupting the job search process for job-seekers, the agency said Wednesday.

The outage began Sunday and is expected to last the rest of the week. The vendor said no data has been compromised, according to Job Service.

The affected websites are NDworkforceConnection.com, which is the states searchable job database, and NDLMI.com, which houses Labor Market Information.

Unemployment claims are not affected, and the Job Service home page, jobsnd.com, remains accessible. Unemployment claimants should continue to report work search activities on the North Dakota UIICE website, https://apps.nd.gov/jsnd/uiiaclaims/login.htm.

This unfortunate outage is a problem that our vendor is working hard to fix, and we hope to have the ndworkforceconnection.com website back serving the citizens of North Dakota as soon as possible, said Phil Davis, workforce services director for Job Service.

In the meantime, job-seekers can contact their local Job Service Workforce Center for assistance (jobsnd.com/job-seeker/office-locations), do job searching online at the National Labor Exchange www.usnlx.com to view more than 17,000 jobs available in North Dakota, or go to the state job openings website at omb.nd.gov/team-nd-careers/career-openings.

Job search help also is available in person at Job Service's nine Workforce Centers across the state. Employers should contact their local Workforce Center for help posting new positions. For Labor Market Information questions, e-mail ndlmi@nd.gov.

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North Dakota is getting about $26 million in coming years through a federal program that aims to create a network of electric vehicle fast-charging stations around the country.

The state Department of Transportation is asking the public to comment on priorities and preferences as it develops a Statewide Electronic Vehicle Infrastructure Plan.

The plan is a federal requirement to obtain National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program funding through the federal infrastructure bill that Congress passed last fall. The program intends to create a fast-charging network across the nation that eventually is to include 500,000 stations.

North Dakota will get $25.9 million from the program through fiscal year 2026. The first phase of the program in the state is to build chargers no more than 50 miles apart and less than a mile off exits along Interstates 94 and 29, according to DOT.

A self-guided public input meeting is available on the department's website at dot.nd.gov/evplan until July 18. Provided input will be used to identify potential locations and amenities of EV fast-charging stations around North Dakota. For any questions, help, or to request hard copy materials, contact Steve Salwei at ssalwei@nd.gov.

North Dakota has just several hundred electric vehicles and is among the last states in the nation to install fast-charging stations. Momentum has built in recent years to expand charging infrastructure, and a number of cities including Bismarck now have a few stations.

DOT and Capital Electric Cooperative on Tuesday held an "EV Tailgate Party" on the state Capitol grounds for the public to learn more about the vehicles and charging options.

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In his new book, the author of The End of History attempts to explain how liberalism is threatened by illiberal elements on the left and right. But flaws in his analysis almost guarantee that this is not the end of the discussion. []

In Liberalism and Its Discontents, Francis Fukuyama aims to defend liberal political ideas and institutions against rising and now entrenched detractors from the postliberal left and the right. As he notes, liberalism is under severe threat around the world  its virtues need to be clearly articulated and celebrated once again. More specifically, Fukuyama defends classical liberalism, which he depicts as a big tent that encompasses a range of political views that nonetheless agree on the foundational importance of equal individual rights, law, and freedom.

Speaking of foundational importance, a gaping weakness in a book dedicated to shoring up liberalism against critical assaults by a postliberal left and right is his lack of any philosophical grounding for equality under law. Fukuyama describes dispassionately various Christian and Enlightenment contributions to liberalism, as these sources built the idea of the individual and conscience, which the law must respect. Similarly, he provides the familiar detailing of how the Wars of Religion left us with liberalism as the sufficient way to settle intractable creedal competition by limiting the concerns of the state to this-worldly matters. This is all a standard historical retelling, one a student might encounter in a conventional Western civilization course, assuming those are still competently taught. This lacuna of an actual normative argument in the book is even more remarkable when the reader considers the rather destabilizing nature of identity politics, which builds on the deconstruction of language and ideas put forth by the postmodern left.

Liberal political ideas are everywhere asserted by Fukuyama but left with only feet of clay to stand on. Fukuyamas most comprehensive treatment of liberalism comes through his use of John Grays long definition of it as individualist, egalitarian, universalist, and meliorist. In short, the individual is prior to the collectivity, with equal rights under the law; humanity is a unity, and liberal institutions can be improved to serve these realities.

There is a world of meaning in this definition, but do we know if its true? One answer from liberal philosophers is that we dont require such a deep grounding of these ideas because we know experientially what happens to us politically and socially if they are denied. We just know that the individual and his or her rights should be paramount. If we deny this, we become authoritarian monsters.

But what if the consequences of liberalism are precisely the realities most contested by its opponents? Suppose, that is, that liberalism has morphed equality and individualism into an egalitarian celebration of the autonomous self and the valorization of the will. And this has left us in a nihilistic hellscape, filled with widespread pornography, high rates of divorce, declining birthrates, drug use, and drag queen story hour for kids, among other evident betrayals of reality.

Fukuyama doesnt really consider these untoward aspects of liberal societies. Liberalism is thin, but, he says, it also offers us the best practical solutions to widespread disagreement.

In taking on the opponents of liberalism, Fukuyama locates certain errors in thinking in various quarters of society that challenge liberalism, but he never really considers that liberalism and its institutions are also an artefact built on a shared underlying constitutional consensus, much thicker than liberalism can justify. This consensus can be described as a touchstone of meaning for who we are as an American people organized for political action in history. Formerly, we were easily understood as a republican people, rooted in various faiths, connected with family and community, proud of our independent heritage, and constantly refining our approach to what is required to maintain our Constitution.

We may not have referred to ourselves as a natural law people, but the American constitutional practice was heavily influenced by the knowledge that reality was evident and knowable, and our words could sufficiently describe it and guide us in a truthful manner that corresponded with human nature, law, and politics. Such a consensus permits disagreements to be profitable and move toward political settlement that accords different voices a decent amount of respect.

Left unacknowledged by Fukuyama is that conservatives and progressives in American liberal society now have diametrically opposed principles on anthropology, sexuality, family, work, liberty, law and constitutionalism, among other deep-seated disagreements. We may already be operating without a constitutional consensus. As a result, words, policies, and politics have become weapons.

Tolerance is the fundamental virtue of liberalism, urges Fukuyama. That is, you do not have to agree with your fellow citizens about the most important things, but only that each individual should get to decide what they are without interference from you or from the state. Equally important for liberal societies is that liberal principles must be universally accepted by these societies. We must be open to being open. But that is just question begging. What precisely must we be open to and closed to? Fukuyama never attempts even a general answer to this question. His formal neutrality on this score reads like a caricature of liberal theorizing.

Fukuyama never takes the routes that some of our deepest classical liberal statesmen and writers have explored. Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, Lord Acton, Wilhelm Roepke, and others firmly defended constitutionalism, rule of law, and markets, but were also very clear that these political institutions required the formation of citizens in strong pre-liberal institutions. The market, Roepke maintains, does not really build virtue in its participants, but it does depend on a great amount of virtue having been infused into people through family, religion, neighborhood, and other civil society institutions. Where do we learn fortitude, courage, prudence, restraint? And where do we learn to love and defend the truly excellent things in life, like our country? Youre going to need more than tolerance.

Our liberal political institutions need these pre-liberal institutions to shape us fundamentally as honest and forthright men and women who know what is required of us in the political and market realms. Moreover, these pre-liberal institutions also deserve tremendous protection from egalitarianism and consent ideology reshaping them into simulacra of autonomous individualism.

Such a transformation of marriage has already occurred, with the generative family, one of the central purposes of marriage, no longer recognized in law as one of its definitive features. Marriage is viewed as being for the care and fulfillment of adults, and it ends very abruptly when those needs are not met. Similarly, a secular liberal society struggles to understand existence itself, believing, as Peter Augustine Lawler intoned, that Being ends with my being.

The immediacy of the present and the needs of the individual become all-encompassing in pervasive secularism. But how will the future of such societies be built if its members are incapable of love, sacrifice, and the belief that authentic freedom calls us out of ourselves and toward others, toward our nation?

Such analysis makes intellectuals like Fukuyama uncomfortable. Forgoing it, he is left with a rather predictable pox on both their houses defense of liberalism. Much of the book considers certain political assertions by various factions on the right and left against aspects of liberalism. The mode of Fukuyamas presentation is to lump former President Donald Trump, extremist-type conservatives, and presidents of Brazil, Hungary, Turkey, and Russia as opponents of constitutionalism and individual freedom. They appeal to nativist, racist, religious, and nationalist elements in their naked power grabs. Fukuyama then turns to the left with a less-than-strident criticism of identity politics, rejection of liberal institutions for group identities, socialist policies, and so forth. Much of this style of argumentation has been done before by countless house establishment intellectuals.

After noting various attempts by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish President Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and President Trump to attack liberal institutions, including the courts and justice system, nonpartisan state bureaucracies, independent media, and on and on, Fukuyama never considers the obverse attacks by a liberal establishment to destabilize and overwhelm populist opposition to their imperium. This goes beyond getting the facts right.

Fukuyamas refusal to even mention that, in Poland, the judiciary in its post-communist Constitution was thoroughly dominated by former communists and was not subject to tight democratic accountability processes, making it a self-perpetuating group of EU flaks. Of course, the Law and Justice Party, having won in a landslide in 2015, watched helplessly as the outgoing and defeated Civic Platform Party changed the rules and put five justices on Polands Constitutional Tribunal. It was imprudent and rash, carrying a patina of legality. Law and Justice responded by refusing to seat them in the judiciary and putting its own judges in their place. Was the party wrong to do this? Maybe, but the question is a close oneand one capable of being redressed in subsequent elections. Fukuyamas analysis smacks of a drive-by liberal hit that shoots first, choosing to ignore the situations political complexity.

Trump, we learn, was less successful [compared to Law and Justice and Orban] in his attempts to weaken institutions like the Justice Department, the intelligence community, the courts, and the mainstream media, but his intentions were much the same. Fukuyama cannot be bothered to even mention that the FBI and the Justice Department ran with a theory promulgated by the 2016 Clinton campaign, specifically Hillary Clinton, that the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russian government to win the election. It was a brazen lie, and it shackled the Trump administration from the beginning, as the hoax prompted an independent investigation, which ultimately found nothing to justify its investigation. No less a figure than James Comey, then-director of the FBI, pursued the allegations in Congress and in the media. Establishment liberalism has its own sins. Fukuyamas tit-for-tat analysis about the threats of right-wing populism to classical liberalism becomes very tenuous when he omits basic facts.

Fukuyama pins blame on Trump and cohorts for refusing to accept the results of the November 2020 election. But he then engages in shabby analysis that the post-election reforms in Georgia and other states were motivated by right-wing skullduggery to limit voter access because Republicans have concluded its the only path to winning future elections. As many have reported, the access to voting increases under these electoral reforms. What decreases are the irregular voting practices that prevailed in 2020 under COVID rationales, practices largely fomented in liberal states. Again, Fukuyama neglects to mention the administrative end runs around the law in these states that arbitrarily increased voter access while decreasing electoral accountability. Fukuyama has a narrative to fill out in this book, but he loses the more complicated and enduring thread of meaning that might help us understand what is happening in our liberal society.

Similarly on political economy, Fukuyama frequently employs the term neoliberal to indict the past generation of policies governing the economy throughout the West and much of the world. As is usual in this well-trod analysis, neoliberal is really a stand-in for libertarian and the charge is one of a deregulated economy that resulted in damaging inequality, rank individualism, and financial calamities like the Financial Crisis of 2008. We took things too far, Fukuyama says. Yes, theres truth in a deregulatory critique, Fukuyama notes, but allowing financial actors to pursue interests without responsibility to the broader societal order left us with untoward social and political ills. Were going to need a much stronger state is the conclusion.

He never once considers that the 2008 crash is not even understandable without the numerous ways government intervention shaped the incentives of market players in financial markets and made the housing and financial crash so widespread and devastating. Would we have had the dysfunctional mortgage market absent government-backed institutions buying them, insuring a thick market for subprime mortgages that would otherwise not have existed? Thats one of many examples from this episode of government inducing profits and socializing losses. Theres nothing neoliberal about a financial crisis heavily engineered by a phalanx of federal policies.

Fukuyama does adequately treat and critique the repressive tolerance of Herbert Marcuse and the reduction of language to structural power conditions under French theorists Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, and Michael Foucault. In an insightful chapter, The Critique of Rationality, Fukuyama lays bare the intransigence of largely left-wing-driven cancel culture. Language was not a neutral pathway to understanding an objective reality but an instrument of power. Under the tutelage of these thinkers, Fukuyama observes, words turned into violence precisely because they came to constitute reality itself. Truth was merely the battle of words as weapons forging power relationships in society. Therefore, words became violence if used to critique the speakers advocating for certain class, race, and gender ideas and politics. Such critics were engaged in violence against these essential group identities, denying them their existence. Cancel culture in all its frenzied operations stems from this languaged mentality.

Fukuyama wisely observes that the lefts commitment to identities comes at the expense of liberal institutions. Unfortunately, those institutions are now gravely damaged. Tolerance and openness and a willingness to follow scientific data in politics, journalism, and medical science probably wont save them. We need courage, charity, prudence, and a profound willingness to sacrifice and throw our hearts into the defense of liberty to save this country. Fukuyamas rationalistic liberalism and data-driven approach are a sideshow.
Our criminal sentencing policies are extreme. We ... - USA Today

One of us was a prisoner. The other was a guard. It's clear to both of us we need reform

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/2022/04/30/criminal-sentencing-bipartisan-fix/9511970002/

Our nation's sentencing policies leave little hope for redemption and exacerbate problems with crime. Let's fix that by building on reforms that succeeded in red and blue states alike.

BY Mark Holden and Bill Underwood

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation proceedings elevated a debate about the nuances of federal sentencing policy to a rare level of public visibility. But missing from that discussion is recognition of the overwhelming recognition among lawmakers that federal mandatory sentences are often too long, incarcerate people with no or little criminal history and have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

There are multiple pieces of sentencing reform legislation with broad, bipartisan support pending in the Senate that would build on the legacies of both Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama  and would give thousands of incarcerated people a second chance at freedom. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell should work together to pass the bills on the Senate floor.

Legislators must not squander this opportunity. Take it from us  two people with vastly different experiences with our criminal justice system. One of us is a formerly incarcerated person who was sentenced to life without parole and served 33 years in federal prison. The other was a prison guard in college and became the general counsel of Koch Industries.

My poor decisions landed me in prison. Now I'm making the most of my second chance.

Despite our differences, we both wholeheartedly believe America's sentencing policies are far too extreme, leave little hope for redemption and exacerbate problems with crime in our neighborhoods. They must be changed. Lets build on the reforms that have shown to be effective in red states, blue states and at the federal level.

An over-incarceration problem

Its important to understand just how harsh the U.S. criminal legal system is. Our courts dole out some of the longest punishments in the entire world. More than 200,000 people in the United States are serving life sentences and have virtually no hope of getting out. And between 1986 and 2016, the average time spent incarcerated for a federal drug offense more than tripled.

Largely due to these extreme sentences, there are more than 156,000 people in federal prisons today  representing a 535% increase since 1980.

Execution rightly halted:The Texas courts have spared Melissa Lucios life. Now she can prove her innocence.

Despite our propensity to use long prison sentences, rigorous research shows they have no significant effect on public safety. Long sentences also dont significantly deter people from committing crimes.

It's incredibly costly to keep people behind bars when they pose little to no threat to public safety. This diverts precious dollars from investments that could actually prevent crime or enable law enforcement to solve more cases.

Hope for bipartisan solutions

Fortunately, there are several pieces of legislation with diverse support moving through the Senate that would help curb extreme sentences. All of them build on the First Step Act, a historic law Trump signed in December 2018.

The law reduced sentences for certain drug crimes and expanded compassionate release for those who pose little to no risk to public safety. So far, this legislation has allowed more than 8,000 people in prison to come home early.

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If not for this law, one of us would likely never have come home at all.

A new bill, the First Step Implementation Act, would ensure fairness by applying the sentencing reductions enacted in 2018 to people incarcerated under the old sentencing regime. People who would have received a shorter sentence if they were found guilty today would now be able to petition a federal judge for a sentence review that would incorporate input from prosecutors, federal public defenders and victims. The legislation would also allow courts to consider sentence reductions for people who committed crimes under the age of 18 and have served at least 20 years behind bars.

So many questions:Elon Musk could help change the fabric of American society. Instead he bought Twitter.

Another bill in the package, the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act, would ensure that elderly and vulnerable incarcerated people could be released from prison or placed in home confinement where they can be with their families and receive better health care treatment. Thats crucial, especially as experts predict COVID will not be the last pandemic we face as a country. The bill is not an automatic release from prison either. Judges would have to consider many factors, including the seriousness of the offense before anyone could go back to their community.

Finally, the EQUAL Act would end the infamous disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses and has already passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan vote

These bills have broad support. There are many bipartisan ways to make our criminal justice system more humane, without risking public safety. Senators Schumer and McConnell, lets get it done.

Mark Holden is chairman of the board of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Americans for Prosperity. Bill Underwood is a senior fellow at The Sentencing Project for the Campaign to End Life Imprisonment and previously served 33 years in federal prison.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani products were showcased at the Import Goods Fair 2022 international exhibition in Korea's Seoul, Azernews reports.

The local products were showcased at the exhibition thanks to the joint support of Azerbaijan's Embassy in Korea and the Export and Investment Promotion Agency.

Participating in the exhibition, the agency representatives held a series of meetings with local companies to raise awareness of Azerbaijani products and expand trade relations in Korea. They also have provided information about potential export products of Azerbaijan.

Thus, they held a meeting with Director of International Relations of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) Kwak Yunsok, and the staff of the International Trade Academy Training Center of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

During the meetings, the parties exchanged views on such issues as expanding trade relations, organizing joint training courses and events, improving the Export Academy, and learning from the experience of the World Trade Academy.

It is worth noting that according to the National Export Strategy, Azerbaijan's non-oil exports are planned to be doubled and reach $3.7 billion by 2025 compared to 2020.
Sentencing Reform | American Civil Liberties Union

1... Smart Justice

https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice

The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice is an unprecedented, multiyear effort to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50% and to challenge racism in the criminal legal system.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice is working in all 50 states and Washington DC for reforms to usher in a new era of justice in America. Since 2016, Smart Justice has played a leading role in the passage of more than 450 laws, which have resulted in tens of thousands of fewer people incarcerated. We have engaged in 45 district attorney races in 15 statesmaking more than 42 million voter contact attemptslobbied more than 5,000 state lawmakers, placed more than 197,072 phone calls and sent more than 1 million texts, worked with more than 23,500 volunteers and 1,900 partner organizations, and led more than 288 lobby days in state capitols to push for reforms. Smart Justice is fighting every day in the legislatures, the courts, in the voting booth, and in the streets to end mass incarceration. We are particularly focused on:

The United States is in the grip of a mass incarceration crisis that has devastated families, harmed communities, and deepened racial inequities in the criminal legal system and throughout the nation. The U.S. incarcerates more people, in both absolute numbers and per capita, than any other nation in the world.

2... Sentencing Reform

https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/sentencing-reform

We must reduce both the number of people entering jails and prisons and the extreme laws and policies that drive

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. In 2019, approximately 2.1 million people were in adult correctional jails and prisons around the United States. Many thousands of people, disproportionately people of color, are cycled in and out of state jails or prisons every day. Extreme sentencing laws and practices are keeping people in prisons for far longer than ever before. The result is that more people are spending more of their lives in prison than at any point in U.S. history.

How did we get here? Decades of tough on crime policies have left this country with criminal legal systems riddled with mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes-style enhancements, and restrictions on release that keep people in prison for decades, if not the rest of their lives.

What sort of punishment does selling $100 worth of meth warrant? Stealing a wallet from a hotel room? In some cases, even crimes like these have resulted in sentences of life without parole. More than 200,000 people are now serving a life sentence or other extreme sentences. Thousands of young people are sentenced to life in prison with little or no chance of ever being released.

These sentences are not effective deterrents and they destroy a persons chance at rehabilitation, reunification with family, and reintegration into society. With convictions disproportionately affecting poor people and people of color, these sentences are also exacerbating extreme racial disparities in the criminal legal system and tearing vulnerable communities apart.

The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice is working to change the unjust sentencing laws and policies that define this system and has had many victories throughout the years. Since 2016, weve seen wins in states across the political spectrum including Delaware, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Utah focused on eliminating mandatory minimums, raising the felony thresholds on some offenses, and reducing sentencing enhancements for repeat offenses. These victories have led to tens of thousands of fewer people incarcerated. Our work continues on multiple fronts in all of these states and more where we will see continued movement in the years to come
The sentence is in: Former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell will spend the next 20 years in prison (minus any time deducted for good behavior) for her part in recruiting, grooming, and sexually exploiting underage girls with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Although the 60-year-old will spend much of the rest of her life behind bars, prosectors had hoped the sentence would be longer.

From The New York Times:

The sentence, while severe, was shorter than the government had recommended. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had asked the judge to impose a sentence of at least 30 years. If the conviction is upheld, Ms. Maxwell, with time potentially deducted for good behavior and credit for the two years she has spent in jail, could leave prison in her late 70s.  As the sentence was read, Maxwell stood between her two lawyers and made no discernible facial expression. She left the courtroom afterward without speaking to her family members, who were seated in the bench directly behind her. The prosecutor in the Maxwell case said in a statement that justice was done in the case. "Today's sentence holds Ghislaine Maxwell accountable for perpetrating heinous crimes against children," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

Image: Ghislaine Maxwell  I. Maxwell, CC BY-SA 4.0
The mom who ran into an Uvalde elementary school during a mass shooting to rescue her children when the police refused to go in says cops are now harassing her. Mark Di Carlo, the attorney representing Angeli Rose Gomez, said Uvalde police have targeted her at least twice since the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas last month that killed 19 children and two adults, according to HuffPost.

After Gomez criticized the Uvalde police who waited outside of the school for 70 excruciating minutes while the active shooter was inside, she was falsely accused by police of driving with illegal immigrants, according to Di Carlo. And then last week officers sat in a parked car in front of her house for 45 minutes, according to Di Carlo, flashing lights at her when she went on a walk with her mother. He also says her family has been warned by police not talk to the media.

From HuffPost:
A couple bought a home in the Seattle, Washington area without checking internet availability. The seller disclosed that the house was not connected to the internet and the couple, who both spend multiple hours per day using the internet for work from home, disregarded it. Now relying on what sounds like a tenuous agreement to pirate a neighbor's connection, and their wireless hotspots, the couple is unhappy with what a telecom, known robbers on the internet superhighway, wants to charge.

ArsTechnica:

Comcast ultimately said it would require installing 181 feet of underground cable to connect the house and that the couple would have to pay Comcast over $27,000 to make that happen. Cohn and Zenobi did not pay the $27,000, and they've been relying on a 4G hotspot ever since.

"I was just flabbergasted that a house like this, in an area like this, could possibly have never been wired for Internet," Cohn said in a phone interview. Because the house is "in the middle of Seattle, it didn't even dawn on me that that was possible," he said, adding that the lack of Internet service would be "more understandable if I was two miles from my nearest neighbor."  Cohn told us the sellers disclosed in documents before the sale that Internet wasn't connected at the home, but he didn't realize it wouldn't be possible to get service at all. After the failed attempts to get service, "we had our agent reach out to the sellers to figure out what actually is going on here," Cohn said.

I bought a home in an area with a rural co-operative ISP, and it was the only legitimate option in our Community Service District. Long-time residents told me how great the ISP was, and how happy they were to have broadband. I did not test it myself. I somehow thought proximity to the fairly large, moderately tech-forward city of San Francisco meant I'd have bandwidth to spare. "Broadband" means very different things in different places. I loved that home but moved to a place with fiber.
There goes Rudy G, again. In true MAGA fashion, it appears in attempting to cast aspersion the former attorney to Donald J. Trump mistakenly admits his own guilt. Giuliani did quickly recant his admission as if he even surprised himself.

Raw Story:

Writing on Twitter, Giuliani took issue with Hutchinson's claim that he sought a pardon from former President Donald Trump. "The January 6 Witch Hunt Cabal has now exceeded even its prior fraudulent," he said. "The last witness was a reckless liar. Contrary to her false testimony she was never present when I asked for a pardon." The former New York mayor then added, "Actually, I told the President I did not want or need one." Despite Giuliani's claims, however, we do know that he was directly involved in the process of lobbying Trump to pardon allies for their actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol riots.
The Supreme Court argues that the right to abortion is up to the states to decide. At the same time, there's a very real fear that if Republicans take over Congress and the White House by 2024, they may attempt to pass a federal law banning abortion in the United States. It wasn't clear to me how Congress could enact such a federal law orhypocrisy asidewhat the Supreme Court might say about it. Isaac Chatiner presents a clear explanation in The New Yorker:

There are at least two bases on which Congress might enact a federal abortion ban. One would be under its power to regulate interstate commerce. Some of the conservative Justices have adopted a pretty limited reading of Congress's powers to regulate interstate commerce, but there could be some ways for a Republican legislature to write a statute that makes it more likely to be upheld on Commerce Clause grounds. Say [Congress] writes a statute that says, "No abortion can be performed if it uses any device that has travelled in interstate commerce or any medication that contains a component that has travelled in interstate commerce."

The second basis is that Congress might say, "We are enacting this legislation under our power to enforce Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. We believe that fetuses are people. Therefore, we are enforcing and protecting fetal personhood and rights to life." Would the six conservatives conclude that Congress lacks the authority to enact either version of the statute, or reject both of those theories? I don't think we know. Chief Justice Roberts has taken more expansive views of Congress's power.
Ahead for the workplace: more gig workers and digital nomads

Gig workers will account for half of the U.S. workforce five years from now.

The ranks of "digital nomads" will increase to nearly 60 million by 2030.

The vast majority of employers will pay for employees' home office setups.

Sign up for the Buffalo Next free newsletter The News' Buffalo Next team covers the changing Buffalo Niagara economy. Get the news in your inbox 5 days a week.

Those are some of the predictions about the workforce in a report released by Delaware North.

The Buffalo-based hospitality giant commissioned "The Future of Recreation, Travel and Hospitality," after almost completely shutting down its operations during the pandemic. Attention Span Media produced the report.

The report takes stock of trends from the past couple of years  including widespread remote work and diminished business travel  and gazes into the crystal ball:

 By 2027, 80 million people will be part of the gig economy, compared with 55 million last year. "This inexorable rise means that the labor force will never go back to the previous normal," the report said.

Some large, forward-thinking companies will create apps that will enable workers to pick up shifts at franchised locations where those workers travel to, the report said. "Unions will want to have a say in the creation of these internal work apps to protect seniority, pay rates and other benefits for their membership."

The gig economy's explosion has diverted workers away from entry-level jobs in the hospitality industry, the report said. "Even though gig jobs may not supply predictable income, they provide other benefits like flexible working hours and a wider variety of work."

 The number of "digital nomads"  remote workers who are not anchored to a desk in one office to do their jobs  will rise to nearly 60 million by 2023, from 11 million in 2020.

"A growing number of people and businesses are embracing a future where the focus is on what work is getting done, and not where or when its getting done," the report said. "This tectonic shift will not be reversed."

The report predicts even traditional work schedules are headed for a shakeup: "Constructs like nine-to-five workdays, five-day workweeks, even four-day workweeks  'workweeks' in general  will soon come to seem like relics of an inflexible dark age."

As remote and hybrid work have gone mainstream, employers will be increasingly likely to pay for workers' home office setups, the report said. Before the pandemic, only one in 10 companies paid for those setups; the report predicts by 2030, 75% of employers will do so.

The report also envisions large corporations opening "work hubs" where employees can meet up to work together, instead of traveling to the headquarters. "This will also help companies maintain their corporate culture, a quality too easily lost through remote working but essential for retaining workers and recruiting new ones," the report said.

Delaware North said it is taking a close look at the report, which also covered the hospitality and tourism industries. "Delaware North has already begun leadership workshops to discuss how the company can use the reports findings to shape investments and business lines going forward," said Jerry Jacobs Jr., one of the company's CEOs.

Getting to know you, virtually

In the old days  before the pandemic  newly hired employees would arrive at the office and meet their new co-workers.

That's not necessarily the case anymore.

Fifty seven percent of employees in New York state who have begun a new job since March 2020 have never met their co-workers in person, according to a new survey by Green Building Elements.

If that percentage seems high, it's a far cry from Nebraska's 89%, which led all states. At the other end of the spectrum were Kentucky and Montana, where only 17% hadn't met their co-workers in person.

The survey's results reinforce themes that have emerged since the pandemic began: many workers prefer working from home, and are productive working that way. And with the rise of remote work, companies are more open to hiring employees who don't even live in the same region or state.

The survey also found that among respondents across all states, 58% of work-from-home employees say their relationships with co-workers had improved since not working in an in-person environment. And 17% of those who are working from home  with the option to return to the office  say they would be more likely to come back if their employer made the workspace an "eco-friendly environment."

Green Building Elements conducted the survey in May, with over 4,000 respondents.

Open to a job change

We've heard a lot about the "quit rate" and employees seizing the opportunity to change jobs during the pandemic, with so many jobs going unfilled.

That trend isn't letting up, according to Robert Half's Job Optimism Survey, which comes out twice a year.

Four in 10 workers said they are either looking or plan to look for a new role between now and the end of 2022, the latest survey found.

The most frequently cited reason for making a job change (65%) was a salary increase. More than half of the workers considering a job change said they planned to pursue a hybrid or fully remote job.

"In this market, even passive job seekers are flight risks, so it's crucial for companies to address employees' priorities before they even contemplate a career move," said Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half.

Want to know more? Three stories to catch you up:

THE LATEST

Catch up on the latest news from Buffalo Next:

A request by the developers of Elmwood Crossing to amend the original planned-unit development regulation that governs the zoning for the $150 million project is being met with heightened scrutiny and concern from neighborhood residents

A new Dollar General store is coming to the Larkinville area on vacant land at E. Eagle Street, after the Buffalo Planning Board gave a green light Monday to plans by developer Broadway Group for a new discount retail location.

Young Development has a pair of apartment projects underway in Cheektowaga that will add 430 units as part of the construction of the $15 million Town Center Apartments and $75 million Midtown Apartments.

The development firm owned by Carl and William Paladino is hoping to create 300 to 400 units of affordable housing in the city in the next couple of years  a significant increase compared to the limited holdings it now has in that arena, said William Paladino, the company's CEO.

William Harvey Jr. is bringing a steady hand to Northwest Bank as its interim leader, after the company's CEO died unexpectedly in late May. The Pennsylvania-based company has 22 local branches.

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 the spending of the money and implementation of needed cost-cutting measures.

The Cannabis Control Board unanimously approved opening the application process, starting June 28, for those entities and individuals seeking a conditional adult-use cannabis processor license. Processors are the link between the farmers growing the products and the business owners who will sell them.

The Buffalo Niagara region's shrinking unemployment rate got even smaller in May as the jobless rate dipped to 3.4%, the lowest on record for the region in state Labor Department data going back to 1990.

As part of a turnaround plan, Buffalo biopharmaceutical company Athenex Inc. has agreed to an $85 million sale of its revenues from U.S. and European royalty and milestone interests in a medicine treating actinic keratosis on the skin.

ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. How community developers can build up neighborhoods: With the support of SAA-EVI, and investments from two national nonprofits, passionate locals are seeking to transform neighborhoods from the bottom up  by starting small but dreaming big.

2. Jeff Gingerich will become the first non-Catholic to lead St. Bonaventure University: Growing up Mennonite on an Iowa farm  living simply and serving the marginalized  set the stage for his career in education and role as the 22nd president at the nation's oldest Franciscan college.

3. Companies large and small are taking a harder look at how much office space they need: Many employees prefer working remotely, and are doing so productively, which can leave employers paying for a lot of leased space sitting empty.

4. The gasoline tax suspension provided only fleeting relief from soaring prices that now are approaching $5 a gallon: It has drivers changing their habits, skipping road trips that they would otherwise be taking and looking for different ways to save.

5. New Western New York tech boot camp: 'A shining example of the power of diversity': Buffalo's Tech Academy Data Analytics Bootcamp, the first of its kind in Western New York, has its first graduates. The initiative aims to build a tech workforce that represents the area's diversity and fills the needs of local companies.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

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PRAGUE (AP)  Budvar, the Czech brewer that has been in a long legal dispute with U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch over use of the Budweiser brand, increased its net profit by some 10% for the second straight year as it saw record output and exports despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Budejovicky Budvar NP, a 126-year-old state-owned brewery, said its net profit reached 337 million Czech crowns ($14.4 million) in 2021, up from 305 million the previous year. Its net profit was up nearly 10% in 2020.

Its exports were up a record 11% in 2021, reaching 1.3 million hectoliters (34.3 million gallons). Budvar sells its beer in more than 70 countries, with Germany among its major markets.

Budvar also registered record output for the second straight pandemic year, rising 4.6% to 1.8 million hectoliters (47.8 million gallons).

The pandemic affected the beer markets, with demand for beer in tanks and barrels declining as bars and restaurants closed for some time but demand for bottled beer rising.

The brewer has expanded in recent years to produce more than 2 million hectoliters (52.8 million gallons) of beer annually. That investment helped it react to changes in the markets during the pandemic.

A recent suggestion by the TOP 09 conservative party, a member of the ruling coalition, that Budvar might be privatized because it is not the role of the state to brew beer received mostly negative responses. The government has not discussed the issue yet.

Budvar and Anheuser-Busch have been in a trademark dispute over the Budweiser brand since 1906. Anheuser-Busch joined AB InBev in 2008.

Budvar holds exclusive rights to sell Budweiser beer in most major European markets, including Germany. But in the United Kingdom, both Budvar and AB InBev can sell Budweiser after a court ruled that consumers can tell the difference between the two. AB InBev is significantly bigger.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
After three hours of deliberation following a six-day trial, a jury on Tuesday found a Buffalo man guilty of second-degree murder in 2020 homicide in which the victim was shot once in the back of the head with an illegal handgun, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said 38-year-old Andrello M. Brown also was found guilty of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and faces a maximum of 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 11 by Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan. Brown continues to remain held without bail.

On April 12, 2020, Brown intentionally shot 41-year-old Clint Reeder in the back of the head with an illegal handgun outside the home of Reeder's grandmother on Stockbridge Avenue near Parkridge Avenue in Buffalo's Kensington-Bailey neighborhood. Reeder died of his injuries in Erie County Medical Center. Brown and Reeder were involved in an ongoing dispute over a woman, according to prosecutors.

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Two raids on opposite sides of the city Monday morning led to the arrests of two men on gun charges and the recovery of multiple firearms, Buffalo police announced Wednesday.

One raid was conducted at a residence on the 100 block of Shepard Street in the Broadway/Bailey section of Buffalo.

Police said they recovered four firearms, including a loaded assault rifle and a semiautomatic pistol, along with two conversion devices, one gram of cocaine, three digital scales and packaging.

Abimael Cirino-Rivera, 40, was charged with two counts each of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, one count of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia.

The second raid took place on the 200 block of Forest Avenue, west of Grant Street. Police recovered two shotguns, a pistol and ammunition at the location.

Edgar Morales, 28, was charged with one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Both raids were carried out by the Buffalo Police Department's Intelligence Unit and SWAT.

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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
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

At the invitation of the Digital Development and Transport Ministry, experts from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have arrived in Azerbaijan to discuss the regulation of TV and radio broadcasting in border areas, as well as mobile networks in line with international standards, Azernews reports.

On June 28, the experts with Digital Development and Transport Deputy Minister Rovshan Rustamov.

The main objective of the week-long expert mission is to familiarize ITU experts with interference in the countrys broadcasting space and jointly identify solutions, taking into account the experiences of other countries, to regulate broadcasting in border areas in accordance with international requirements.

During the visit, ITU experts will meet with specialists from the ministry and its subordinate bodies  the State Administration of Radio Frequencies, Radio and TV Broadcasting and Satellite Communications Production Association, Azercosmos, as well as mobile operators.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a specialized UN agency for information and communications technologies (ICT), with which Azerbaijan closely cooperates. Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks, the union allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.
"Moderate-to-severe turbulence" preceded the helicopter crash that killed prominent Buffalo developer Mark Croce and his passenger, Orchard Park businessman Michael Capriotto, but no conditions were detected that would have prevented the pilot from switching from autopilot to manually fly the Robinson R66 helicopter through or away from the disruption, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the January 2020 crash.

According to the NTSB's report, the Croce-piloted helicopter, headed from Maryland to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, was likely in autopilot about a half hour after departure when it met turbulence over central Pennsylvania. The report suggested that either an external disturbance  such as reported turbulence that night  or the pilot's manual control adjustment caused the aircraft to experience pitch-and-roll oscillations, or stabilizing movements that would indicate the helicopter was battling against an outside force to remain in flight.

Following 20 seconds of these oscillations, the immediate action that preceded the crash, the report said, was a roll to the left that continued until the helicopter flipped upside down. One of the main rotor blades  which rotate above a helicopter to give it lift  struck and sliced the tail of the aircraft during that sudden movement, causing an inflight breakup and resulting in several areas of debris upon ground impact.

Mark Croce, 58, developer, restaurateur, pilot and larger-than-life personality Jan. 24, 1961  Jan. 9, 2020 Mark Croce was a pioneer in the rebirth of downtown Buffalo, but stories from the personal side of the hospitality and development entrepreneur also have emerged following the helicopter crash that killed him and a passenger Thursday. Those who worked with him over the years as he started to make a name

Despite the thoroughness of the 12-page final report that took 30 months to complete and stemmed from hundreds of other documents, photos and videos in the public docket, several unknown variables prevent a more clear picture of exactly what happened as flight conditions worsened.

A full assessment of in-air activity that preceded the crash was impossible due to the absence of a damage-resistant cockpit imaging system, not required at the time of Croce's flight but requested by the NTSB of major helicopter manufacturers about six months after the crash.

Such an imaging system would have shown what Croce did or did not do in the cockpit. And that information is especially relevant given ongoing court action.

In the months after the crash, the Croce family, represented by Los Angeles law firm Baum Hedlund Aristei and Goldman, filed a lawsuit against Robinson, accusing the helicopter manufacturer of negligence and design defects that could have caused the fatalities, citing longstanding problems with Robinson tail rotor systems. In the final NTSB report, neither the tail rotor system nor any specific mechanical error was mentioned in the probable cause.

The law firm has reviewed the NTSB's report and begun to study the much more extensive public docket, a spokesperson confirmed.

"It is too early to make any statements about what we see as we must analyze the data and consult with experts in the relevant fields," said Baum Hedlund aviation attorney Timothy Loranger, the lead attorney in the Croce case, in a statement Wednesday. "We do believe that any conclusion that the crash was caused by the pilots actions or inactions is unsupported.

As part of the lawsuit, the firm said in June 2020 that an independent review of the crash "more rigorous" than that of the NTSB would also be conducted. That separate review will begin soon now that the NTSB has released its report, Loranger confirmed.

A request for comment on the NTSB report sent Wednesday to Robinson, the helicopter manufacturer, was not returned.

The purpose of NTSB investigations into crashes is not to assign blame, said Peter C. Knudson, a member of the NTSB's Media Relations team.

"We lay out the factual information weve developed and then determine the probable cause by analyzing how all of the elements and circumstance converged to result in the accident," Knudson wrote in an email.

The report described the aircraft's actions prior to its unplanned descent into the backyard of a Mechanicsburg, Pa., residence. Croce took off from Martin State Airport in Maryland at 7:58 p.m. Jan. 9, 2020.

Orchard Park businessman Michael D. Capriotto, 63, 'always looking to help' Oct . 6, 1956  Jan. 9, 2020 When Michael D. Capriotto saw something that needed to be done, he did it. That could be plowing a neighbors driveway, helping another neighbor repair siding or cheering up a friend who had to have her dog euthanized. He was always looking to help people, said his wife, Joanne Capriotto. Mr.

About a half hour into the flight, the intensity of the weather  even without precipitation  created conditions that required actions from the pilot. A weather study done by the NTSB found winds were 31 mph at the altitude the helicopter was flying, with "strong-to-severe" low-level wind-shear creating "moderate-to-severe" turbulence.

Wind shear, described in a National Weather Service document as "an invisible enemy to pilots," is an abrupt change in wind speed and/or direction, with the wind essentially turning at right angles over a short distance. This weather phenomenon is considered especially dangerous at low altitudes, in which Croce was flying.

Details from the autopilot system were not recovered, however, which leaves unanswered whether Croce manually used controls or the helicopter's corrective stabilizing attempts were done solely by autopilot. HeliSAS, the autopilot function on the 2019 Robinson R66 model Croce flew privately, was designed to keep "a steady helicopter attitude by applying corrective inputs to the cyclic" stick when engaged. Data recovered from HeliSAS was not recognizable to its manufacturer, Genesys Aerosystems, according to the report.

Autopilot modes can vary to cover all three flight controls, or just one or two, which is why the possibility of Croce's manual movement of the cyclic stick does not mean autopilot was fully disengaged.

The report summary said that before the oscillations, there were no equipment problems identified that would have caused the crash.

"Postaccident examination of the airframe, flight controls, and engine assembly revealed no evidence of a preimpact failure or malfunction," the NTSB report read.

Ben Tsujimoto can be reached at btsujimoto@buffnews.com, at (716) 849-6927 or on Twitter at @Tsuj10.

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Hes been prohibited from practicing law over his false claims of election fraud and portrayed by a congressional committee as a chief architect of illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden. None of it is preventing Rudy Giuliani from trying to help his son become governor of New York.
Niagara County will receive $3.9 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean and redevelop brownfields, EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia said Monday.

There are several hundred brownfield sites in Niagara County. With the EPA grant, the Niagara County Brownfields Program plans to partner with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to target contaminated tax delinquent properties by taking temporary ownership of them, Niagara County officials said.

Niagara County has previously used grants from the EPA to address brownfield sites through its Niagara County Brownfields Program, which provides loans and grants for site cleanups. The county plans to use the $3.9 million grant continue that work, according to Amy Fisk, brownfield program manager for the Niagara County Center for Economic Development.

The EPA selected Niagara County for the revolving loan fund grant, and the $3.9 million is the largest amount awarded in New York State, Garcia said during a press conference at Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda.

"With this grant, Niagara County will continue their work to clean up and redevelop contaminated brownfield properties," Garcia said. "Brownfield sites, you bring them to greenfield sites, and then, you can reuse them how the community and the county would like, so we're really excited about it."

The infrastructure bill that Congress enacted late last year provided the EPA $1.5 billion, with a portion designated to its brownfields program. This year, over 200 communities shared $250 million worth of the program's grants. Twelve of the grants were awarded in New York State totaling $10.5 million.

Including past grants, Niagara County has received over $9.5 million from the EPA, with $2.3 million for brownfields.

Brownfields are properties that have been contaminated by hazardous substances and pollutants.

The EPA has helped leverage millions of dollars in private investment dollars across the country through its brownfields grants, said Rep. Brian Higgins.

Higgins said he expects the same impact in Niagara County.

"For every dollar that goes into brownfield redevelopment, you leverage about $20 in private sector investment," Higgins said. "This is an investment into the health and safety of our communities."

Many brownfield sites in Niagara County are remnants of Western New York's history as an industrial economy.

"The reality is this was an industrial county. That was the lifeblood. That was the economy for so long, and I don't want to apologize for that," said State Senator Robert Ortt. "But we know now when those projects left, they left a legacy behind that needs to be addressed."

The site of Monday's news conference is an example of how a federal grant helped clean a property that led to development. An auto repair shop contaminated with petroleum and asbestos once was located behind the theater. In 2014, a $350,000 grant allowed the historic theatre to clean the site before constructing an expansion.

The apartment complex Remington Lofts and Buffalo Bolt Business Park are also former brownfield sites in North Tonawanda that were redeveloped using EPA grants.

"Fifteen years ago, North Tonawanda was a different place," Ortt said. "Because of programs and dollars like what we're recognizing here today, North Tonawanda has seen a rebirth, renaissance just like Buffalo has and a lot of Western New York.

Municipalities and developers interested in applying for loans and grants can go to https://www.niagaracountybusiness.com/brownfields for more information.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP)  The owner of a Philadelphia building that caught fire and collapsed this month, killing a city firefighter and injuring five other people, has been charged with setting the blaze, authorities announced Tuesday.

Al-Ashraf Khalil, 28, also lied to authorities probing the June 18 fire and later flew from the United States to Jordan after telling investigators he had no travel plans, officials said. However, he was refused entry to Jordan and was arrested Friday at an airport in New York City. Authorities said they used handcuffs that had the deceased firefighter's initials on them.

Khalils attorney, R. Emmett Madden, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his client had no role in starting the fire, adding that he has and will continue assisting fully in this ongoing investigation.

The fire killed Lt. Sean Williamson, 51, who was trapped in the rubble and pronounced dead at the scene. His funeral was held Monday.

Khalil and another person  who has not been identified and is still at large  entered the restaurant's basement doors and started a fire in the kitchen area, authorities said, citing outdoor surveillance footage. Smoke is seen coming from the building a short time later.

Khalil was wearing distinctive striped sweatpants and black-and-white slides when he entered the building, and again when he returned to the scene, authorities said. Khalil allegedly told investigators at the scene that he had been at his Philadelphia home when he received a call from a tenant in the apartments he leased out above the pizza shop, but officials say they determined he actually took that call a few blocks from the scene.

Officials have said that eight people were safely evacuated from the upstairs apartments and that the blaze was brought under control within an hour. But the building collapsed a short time later and trapped Williamson inside.

Authorities said Tuesday that if convicted, Khalil could face a death sentence.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The reputed storied history and memories of the Central Terminal are steeped in lack of success and sadness.

It was constructed on the eve of the Great Depression.

The location was not unanimously acclaimed from the start. It was built in a place not connected to the central business district. Grand Central Station in New York City and Penn Station were built in the center of New York City, contributed to robust growth, development and rise in values.

The former New York Central Terminal in Buffalo is not central in location and is not central for residential development, business and transportation plans for the Buffalo metropolitan area.

Buffalonians embarked to World War II from the Central Terminal. Not all had a return ticket, making the ultimate sacrifice for freedom in Europe or in the Pacific.

The terminal suffered from a terminal malaise, because it became functionally obsolete, too expensive to maintain and train traffic declined precipitously.

Without massive demographic growth, what exactly is going to happen around this enormous project? Who will live there? Shop there? Why not build newer housing, affordable apartments and revive commercial areas on the East Side where there is a need now, and support of private and public projects will bring near and long term benefits?

At best, and using kind words, the Central Terminal renewal project is misguided and wasteful.

David Schiller

Williamsville
Congratulations to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority for winning $650,000 from the Federal Transit Administration as announced by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on June 23.

The U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded grants to help marginalized communities across the country. Approximately $16.2 million will fund 40 projects in 32 states and two territories under FTAs Areas of Persistent Poverty program.

FTA made these grant awards on a competitive basis to state and local governments, transit agencies and nonprofit organizations to create better transit for residents who have limited or no transportation options. The grants are awarded for planning, engineering and technical studies or financial plans to improve transit in census defined low-income areas. The program also supports coordinated human service transportation planning to improve transit service or provide new services, including paratransit.

The NFTA was the only winner from New York State beating out many other competitors.

These funds will be used by the NFTA for a plan to improve the Bailey Avenue Bus Rapid Transit battery-electric bus system, much of which serves areas of persistent poverty. The project will reduce travel times, increase bus frequency, enhance transit amenities and address environmental justice and community health by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Let us give thanks to the hard working men and women of the NFTA Federal Grants Unit who made all of this possible, including winning extra federal dollars.

Larry Penner

Great Neck
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Afghan finance and central bank officials from the Taliban-led government departed for Qatar on Wednesday to meet with U.S. officials, the Taliban said. The meeting follows last weeks deadly earthquake, which brought into focus how relief and emergency aid efforts have stumbled under the weight of the countrys spiraling economic woes.

The quake in southeastern Afghanistan killed around 770 people, according to U.N. figures, though the Taliban put the death toll at closer to 1,150, with thousands injured. The U.N. says 155 children are among those killed in what was the deadliest earthquake to hit the impoverished country in two decades.

Several thousand homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Paktika and Khost provinces. Despite international aid efforts by U.N. agencies and countries in the region, survivors say they need more help to subsist.

We ask for assistance because all our houses are destroyed and we cannot live inside them. People need assistance, we dont have tents or a place to stay, said a resident of Khost province, Tawar Khan.

Overstretched aid agencies say last weeks earthquake underscored the need for the international community to rethink its financial cut-off of Afghanistan and freezing of the country's reserves. Nearly half of Afghanistan's population of 38 million cannot meet their basic food needs. The government is unable to pay public sector wages on time or import what the country needs.

Taliban government officials and U.S. officials were slated to meet in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday to discuss Afghanistan's economy and banking sectors, among other issues, said Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad. He said the Afghan delegation, led by Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, is meeting with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and officials from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that senior Biden administration officials are working with the Taliban leadership on a mechanism to allow Afghanistans government to use its central bank reserves to deal with the country's severe hunger and poverty crises while erecting safeguards to ensure the funds are not misused.

Story continues

Following the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan last summer and the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there, some $9.1 billion of Afghan foreign reserves were frozen, with the Biden administration freezing $7 billion of that. The rest is largely held in Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, where it also has not been released to Afghanistans new rulers.

No government has yet recognized the Talibans rule over Afghanistan. The former insurgents have resisted international pressure to maintain the previous rights gained by Afghan women, instead imposing restrictions on womens dress and limiting access to schools for teenage girls.

Afghan central bank official Shah Mehrabi confirmed to The Associated Press that talks have been ongoing for some time to agree on mechanisms to release some of the Afghan foreign reserves to prop up the afghani currency. This, he said, would help stabilize prices and allow the country to import vital goods to stave off hunger and economic collapse.

The reserves belong to the Afghan people to be used for the purposes of bringing about stable prices, said Mehrabi, a U.S.-based professor of economics at Montgomery College in Maryland and a member of the Afghan central banks Supreme Council. He also chairs its audit committee.

Mehrabi said hes been involved in the conversations around Afghanistans financial reserves, though hes not part of the Qatar meeting. He has suggested that one way to build trust between the two sides would be for the U.S. Treasury Department to release a limited, monitored amount of $150 million a month to help Afghanistan's economy and meet the needs of ordinary Afghans. Mehrabi said Afghan central bankers like himself work independently of the Taliban or any Afghan leadership.

We have to able to look at restoring confidence in the private sector," he said. Reserves will play an important role in allowing businesses to pay for critical imports."

In February, President Joe Biden signed an order to split $7 billion of Afghanistan's reserves, with half for humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and the other $3.5 billion for Sept. 11 victims' plaintiff fees. The move was slammed by Afghans who say the money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.

Without access to the country's foreign reserves, the afghani has plummeted in value and Afghans have struggled to withdraw money from local banks. International sanctions have also choked off international bank transfers into the country with some exceptions for aid agencies. The Taliban has sought ways to collect taxes and other fees to keep the government running.

The U.N. warns that 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year. Already, increasing numbers of families are reporting multiple children in the same household dying of malnutrition.

So desperate are families that some fathers have sold their minor-aged daughters into marriage, using the down-payment to feed the other children to avoid starvation. Severe drought and climate change have exacerbated the crisis, with around 22.8 million people  more than 55% of Afghanistans population  experiencing high levels of acute food shortages.

Even before the Taliban takeover last year, Afghanistan's economy had been deeply reliant on foreign aid. The International Committee of the Red Cross is paying the salaries of health care staff and the operational costs of more than 30 hospitals across the country, including one that has treated victims of the earthquake.

The quake struck a remote, deeply impoverished region of small towns and villages tucked among rough mountains near the Pakistani border, collapsing stone and mud-brick homes and in some cases killing entire families. Survivors have had to dig through debris with their bare hands to search for missing loved ones as the ground continues to rumble with more aftershocks.

___

Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Rahim Faiez And Aya Batrawy, The Associated Press
The Government has agreed to amend controversial Troubles legislation to prevent immunity being granted to those responsible for serious sexual offences.

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns announced the concession after being warned by Conservative MPs to act or face defeat in a House of Commons vote.

Proposals before MPs seek to establish a new information retrieval body to review deaths and other harmful conduct within the Troubles  defined as the period from January 1 1966 to April 10 1998.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill will also offer immunity to people who are deemed to have co-operated with the information retrieval body, although criminal prosecutions could still take place.

Concerns were raised by MPs about the wording of the Bill, and Labour tabled an amendment to ensure certain offences of sexual violence  including rape  must not be treated as within the scope of immunity from prosecution.

Mr Burns initially pledged to bring greater clarity to the issue and review the matter, before announcing the Government would accept Labours proposal.

He added this was on the condition that further work will take place in the coming days to improve the amendments wording ahead of the Bills report stage on Monday.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee chairman, earlier told the Commons: There is a very firm belief that sexual intimidation, sexual violence, rape was used as a tool of intimidation and criminality during the Troubles.

Just for the sake of clarity and for peace of mind for those who are concerned about this issue, I would hope that this is something that the Government could move on to provide that peace of mind.

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns (PA)

Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith urged Mr Burns to accept the amendment, with the option to make further changes later on, to ensure no one from the Conservative Party has to vote against the exclusion of rape in this Bill.

Story continues

Mr Hoare also went on to advise the Government to deliver on commitments to consider the matter further and bring back a new proposal or there would be a free-for-all and the Government will be defeated.

Mr Burns, as the debate on day one of the Bills committee stage came to an end, said: I sought to explain this morning the Governments thinking and why we were sure that the Bill as written would not have the perverse consequence that (shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle) feared.

We have heard loud and clear the mood of the House and the wish of the House to see a greater clarity on the face of the Bill.

And with that intent clear and our recognition of the mood of the House on that, we are willing to accept the amendment in the name of the shadow secretary of state on the condition that we will work over the course of the coming days to see if we can find refined wording that we can bring back to the House at report stage.

For Labour, Mr Kyle said he accepted the ministers offer but warned the Opposition has an overarching concern about the overall Bill.

In a statement outside the House, Mr Kyle said: Ensuring this Bill does not allow rapists to gain immunity from prosecution is a low but critical bar for it to pass, so we are pleased the Government accepted Labours amendment.

However, there are still many areas for improvement before the Bill passes our test: that it delivers more for victims of terror than perpetrators.

MPs later voted 271 to 191, majority 80, to reject a DUP amendment aimed at reducing the risk of people deliberately misleading the new information retrieval body in a bid to secure immunity.

Mr Burns had told the debate: The current position, as the legislation is before the House, is that immunity once given cannot be revoked.

He added: The body will have a significant degree of latitude in testing an individuals credibility and sincerity and Id hope the engagement and professionalism of those who will be appointed to serve on the panel would be such that that case would very rarely, if ever, arise.

MPs also voted 271 to 175, majority 96, to reject a DUP amendment aimed at preventing the grant of immunity to any person subject to active proceedings who has moved abroad to escape prosecution.

More than 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, including over 1,000 members of the security forces, and the new body would seek to help individuals and family members receive more information.

Conservative MPs hope the measures will stop vexatious action against British military personnel who served in Northern Ireland.

MPs from Northern Ireland fear the Bill will not allow victims to move forward.
Bam Bam Resources Corp has confirmed that effective at the open on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, its shares will commence trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange on a consolidated basis under the name Majuba Hill Copper Corp (CSE:JUBA) and stock symbol JUBA.

It said the effective date for the consolidation of one post-consolidation share for every ten pre-consolidation shares and concurrent name and symbol change, as announced on April 26, 2022.

The company is engaged in the identification, review and acquisition of latter-stage copper and copper/silver/gold assets. This is in direct response to the growing worldwide demand and lack of supply for precious metals fueled by the Green New Deal in the US and most other developed nations with similar programs aimed at addressing climate change.

Such programs are heavily reliant on silver, gold and especially copper to produce Electric Vehicles and other renewable power sources, as well as building infrastructure to provide clean and affordable electricity.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Rufat Ismail, an acclaimed fashion designer, known for his brand AFFFAIR, has once again thrilled fashionistas.

The designer presented an astonishing show "Kharibulbul" in one of the most panoramic points of the city Manzara Sky with the support of the global company Xiaomi.

The fashion collection was created by the designer as a sign of respect for his roots and the heroes of the Second Karabakh War.

The exclusive collection ran like a red thread through the past, present and future, entering Azerbaijan's fashion history.

During the fashion show, the terrace of the Manzara Sky, known as one of the highest viewing points in the city, has turned into a green paradise, resembling the rich flora of Karabakh region.

Media representatives, fashion insiders and a large crowd of fashionistas gathered at the show, couldn't take their eyes from exquisite fashion looks inspired by the Kharibulbul flower.

It seemed like Kharibulbul "bloomed" everywhere: in the form of generously strewn appliques, prints, handmade embroidery and even accessories.

Being the symbol of the Azerbaijan's victory, the beautiful flower served as the starting point for the fashion collection.

In his new collection, Rufat Ismail brilliantly created romantic looks adding modern elements.

The stunning outfits have become even more feminine and majestic thanks to cutouts that give them a light and sensuality.

The event was marked not only by a fashion show, but also by the presentation of a new series of stylish smartphones from the general sponsor Xiaomi, which, according to brand ambassadors, represent a victory over engineers.

During the evening, the guests admired the sunset, tested Xiaomi 12 smartphones and tried special cocktails.

The large-scale event was organized by Azerbaijani Fashion Designers Association with the support of following partners: Manzara Sky, Venera Models, DI STUDIO, Alcopoint, Soloha Restaurant and Syrovarnya Baku Restaurant.

Photo Credits: Adil Yusifov

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, Milli.Az.
Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM)s Malcolm Norris speaks with Proactive about the expansion of its known mineralisation area at the El Palmar gold-copper discovery in northern Ecuador. Sunstones managing director talks about the strong results that have confirmed higher-grade copper and gold zones at El Palmar. The company released assays from several drill holes. As the company drills more holes, it is gaining better understanding of the system. Norris says there are two key messages from the companys latest announcement: the geometry which looks to be plunging to the north and secondly that it is seeing good consistent runs of higher copper values. The consistent higher copper grade, together with very good gold grades, means that when the company comes to release a gold equivalent number, it could deliver respectable numbers and reinforce mineralisation from surface. The company is still waiting on assays, so there is still plenty of newsflow. Norris also speaks about the results due from its work program at the Bramaderos Project in Southern Ecuador, with assays due in the next couple of weeks.
The Lab Live Resin is the second of several single-source concentrate product lines to be launched by Jushi

Jushi Holdings Inc. (CSE:JUSH, OTCQX:JUSHF) said it has debuted its first line of concentrates made using hydrocarbon extraction by its award-winning brand The Lab, famous for delivering high-quality, precision vape products and concentrates.

The Lab Live Resin is produced using Jushi's next-generation hydrocarbon extraction process utilizing high-quality fresh frozen cannabis flower, allowing for the delicate make-up of the cannabis plant to be maintained so that the strain-specific cannabinoids and terpene properties remain fully intact. The new hydrocarbon extract products are rich in THC, cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, and include roughly 90% of the plant's original cannabinoids.

"We are thrilled to bring patients some of the purest, high-quality hydrocarbon extracts available in Pennsylvania," said Jushi chief executive officer, chairman, and founder Jim Cacioppo in a statement. "As we continue to innovate and roll out some of the best products for a wide range of preferences at accessible price points, we look forward to taking a differentiated approach that delivers an exceptional customer experience."

The Lab Live Resin is the second of several single-source concentrate product lines to be launched by Jushi. Last month, the company launched its first line of solventless live rosin extracts.

Initially, Jushi will exclusively carry The Lab Live Resin 500mg full-spectrum 0.5 gram 510 cartridges at Beyond Hello retail locations in Pennsylvania. It plans to roll out its hydrocarbon-extracted line at partner dispensaries across the Commonwealth in the coming months, as well as in additional states such as Massachusetts, Virginia and Nevada. The company also plans to launch a 300mg rechargeable, all-in-one 0.3g vape and a variety of 1 gram jarred cured concentrates in the coming months, pending regulatory approval.

Jushi a vertically integrated cannabis company. In the US, Jushi is focused on building a multi-state portfolio of branded cannabis assets.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
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LQwD's nodes have already routed over 72 BTC and over 36,000 transactions

LQwD Fintech Corp announced it has launched 17 international routing nodes of Lightning Network.

The company told investors that the move positions it to secure future routing fees in a rapidly expanding global payments network.

"Since launching our first Lightning Network node in November 2021, LQwD's nodes have already routed over 72 BTC and over 36,000 transactions, which is extremely encouraging in these early stages," CEO Shone Anstey said in a statement.

"We are making excellent progress establishing LQwD as a serious network participant, and in coming months, we will launch the LQwD business-to-business platform (now in beta), which also allows retail customers to take advantage of the economics and efficiencies of the network."

Vancouver-based LQwD's international routing nodes now include Japan, England, Canada, US-West, France, Italy, Indonesia, Bahrain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, and Hong Kong.

The firm said that Lightning Network continues to experience upward trends with total network capacity increasing 138% since this time last year.

LQwD expects this trend to continue, as larger enterprises and exchanges such as Kraken, Robinhood, Twitter, and Block (Cash App) all have integrated Lightning Network capabilities, it added.

Meanwhile, LQwD said it has C$1.275 million in cash and equivalents, which is sufficient working capital to maintain operations for the foreseeable future, it added.

The firm also holds 121 Bitcoin on the balance sheet. A portion is used to secure routing nodes and establish node liquidity, according to LQwD.

LQwD develops institutional-grade services that support the Lightning Network and drive improved functionality, transaction capability, user adoption, utility and scaling Bitcoin.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
Major Drilling Group International Inc.

MONCTON, New Brunswick, June 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Major Drilling Group International Inc. (TSX: MDI), a leading provider of specialized drilling services to the mining sector (Major Drilling or the Company), today announces that Ms. Kim Keating will be appointed as the next Chair of the Board, effective at the Companys Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on September 8, 2022 (the 2022 AGM), assuming the re-election of Ms. Keating at such meeting. This change is the result of a process initiated by the current Chair, David Tennant, who expressed a desire to retire at the 2022 AGM, and conducted by the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board.



We would like to thank David for his longstanding dedication to Major Drilling, as Board Chair since 2005, and as a Director since 1995, said Ms. Keating. Davids help in guiding the Company through most of its history has left an indelible mark. He is an accomplished leader and highly regarded business lawyer who has provided a steady hand for the entire board over the past two and a half decades, as the Company navigated through numerous industry cycles and changes in senior management. His exceptional leadership, vision and strategic guidance have helped put Major Drilling in the strong position it enjoys today as the leader in the drilling industry. It is truly an honour to work with him.

After a process that began last year, we are very pleased that Kim has agreed to take on the role of Board Chair following the AGM, said Mr. Tennant. Kims appointment as the Board Chair reflects her tremendous success as a national leader in the engineering profession, with strong operational experience, and is a testament to her excellent working relationship with all of our Board and senior management. This appointment comes at an exciting time for the Company as it continues its success in the current industry upturn. On behalf of the entire Board, I am delighted to welcome Kim as our next Board Chair.

Story continues

Mr. Tennant concluded, Major Drilling is truly a world class Canadian corporation with reach around the world. Its people are committed, hardworking and innovative, many with decades of experience with us, who are deeply committed to each other, the Company and the regions we work in. I am very honoured to have been a part of such a great community. The outlook for the industry is very positive and I am fully confident that the culture, leadership, people and prospects are in place for Major Drilling to continue to prosper, providing strong returns to our shareholders, great results for our clients and an exciting career for our employees.

A member of Major Drillings Board since 2019, Ms. Kim Keating is a Professional Engineer with 25 years of broad international experience in the oil and gas, nuclear, hydropower, and mining sectors. Most recently, Kim was the Chief Operating Officer of the Cahill Group, one of Canadas largest multi- disciplinary construction companies. She joined the Cahill Group in 2013 as Director of Projects and oversaw the construction and delivery of one of the largest topside modules ever built for a major offshore oil and gas development. Prior to joining the Cahill Group, Ms. Keating held a variety of progressive leadership roles from engineering design through to construction, commissioning, production operations and field development with Petro Canada (now Suncor Energy Inc.). She holds a Bachelor of Civil (Structural) Engineering degree, a Master of Business Administration, is a registered member of the Professional Engineering & Geoscientists NL (PEGNL) and holds the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designation. She also graduated from the Rotman-ICD Directors Education Program in March 2020 and was awarded her ICD.D designation. In June 2016, she was named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineers. Ms. Keating is a director on the board of Yamana Gold Inc., a reporting issuer, and is a member of its compensation and sustainability committees, and is also on the board of the Drax Group plc., and is a member of its nomination and remuneration committees.

About Major Drilling

Major Drilling Group International Inc. is one of the worlds largest drilling services companies primarily serving the mining industry. Established in 1980, Major Drilling has over 1,000 years of combined experience and expertise within its management team alone. The Company maintains field operations and offices in Canada, the United States, Mexico, South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Major Drilling provides a complete suite of drilling services including surface and underground coring, directional, reverse circulation, sonic, geotechnical, environmental, water-well, coal-bed methane, shallow gas, underground percussive/longhole drilling, surface drill and blast, and a variety of mine services.

For further information:

Ian Ross, Chief Financial Officer

Tel: (506) 857-8636

Fax: (506) 857-9211

ir@majordrilling.com




BURLINGTON  A Burlington man allegedly sexually assaulted a group home resident.

Brian K. Matheson, 38, of the 600 block of Foxtree Circle, was charged with a felony count of second-degree sexual assault and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

According to a criminal complaint:

At 10:22 a.m. on Saturday, an officer was sent to a residence in the 300 block of McHenry Street for a sexual assault. The residence is a group home for people with disabilities.

Upon arrival, the officer met with a woman who said Matheson entered her apartment and sexually assaulted her. She told him to get out and he eventually left.

The officer then spoke to another resident who said he and Matheson left the Log Cabin Tavern at 233 W. Jefferson St. around 2:30 a.m. and walked back to his apartment.

He went to bed and Matheson was still up talking to his roommate.

The officer spoke to Matheson who said he knew that everyone who lived in the building had a disability. He confirmed being at the bar until 2:30 a.m. and coming back to the residence, but he claimed he did not stay long and did not sexually assault a resident.

Matheson was given a $1,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Monday. A preliminary hearing is on July 6 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.

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Despite efforts by the Biden administration, rising prices and material shortages have stalled construction of Wisconsin solar farms, slowing the states clean energy transition and potentially increasing costs to ratepayers.

Three utility projects with a combined capacity of 574 megawatts have been delayed and face potential cost overruns largely stemming from difficulty securing solar panels and other key parts, according to regulatory filings.

In each case, utilities say supply chain constraints were worsened by a federal investigation into whether Chinese manufacturers are circumventing import tariffs by routing products through four southeast Asian countries.

No such violations have been substantiated, but those imports, which account for more than half of the panels used domestically, slowed to a trickle amid fears of retroactive tariffs of up to 250%, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The trade group blamed supply-chain constraints for a 24% nationwide reduction in solar installations during the first three months of this year, the lowest level since the start of the pandemic, and cut its projections for 2022 in half.

Last week utilities cited solar delays  along with concerns of future capacity shortages  as reasons for prolonging the life of three of the states largest coal-fired power plants.

Clean energy advocates worry the supply-chain disruption could affect more than 3,000 megawatts of utility-scale solar generation under development in Wisconsin.

This is a real concern, said Heather Allen, executive director of Renew Wisconsin. The state is still moving forward but this has put a crimp in our ability to construct clean energy projects in the short term.

Earlier this month President Joe Biden put a two-year hold on any new tariffs through an executive order aimed at also accelerating domestic production of solar panels.

Solar industry advocates hailed the order as a positive step but say the nearly two-month pause in shipments has resulted in ongoing bottlenecks made worse by other material shortages and cost hikes.

The policy problem has been solved, Allen said. The policy problem created logistical problems which we still have to fix.

Projects delayed

Madison Gas and Electric and We Energies notified the PSC this week that completion of the second phase of a 300-megawatt solar farm in Iowa County has been pushed back by three months because of problems securing solar panels and other equipment.

The utilities also said rising material and labor costs have increased the $195 million price tag by an undisclosed amount. They say there is no public benefit to disclosing the cost increase, which they claim would only benefit competitors, though the PSC has not made a final determination on whether that information should remain confidential.

We Energies parent company, WEC Energy Group, indicated supply-chain issues are also likely to delay other solar projects still awaiting regulatory approval, which the company cited as a factor in its decision to delay retirement of two coal-fired plants.

In a May call with investors, chairman Gale Klappa said he expects solar panel prices could jump by as much as 40% and suggested the company could potentially pivot to wind power for some of its long-term needs.

Last week Xcel Energy notified regulators that construction of a 74-megawatt solar farm in western Wisconsin has been delayed by at least a year due to shortages of solar panels and other equipment.

The company said the Pierce County project, originally scheduled to come online by the end of this year, would not be completed until sometime after 2023.

Xcel did not indicate whether the projects $104.5 million price tag would be affected, though spokesperson Christine Ouellette said the project is not immune to market pressures like rising labor, material, and equipment costs.

Xcel previously said supply-chain issues prompted the company to seek a delay in regulatory approval for a $575 million solar farm near the Twin Cities that would be Minnesotas largest solar power plant.

Ouellette said Xcel expects the first phase of that Sherco plant to enter service by the end of 2024 with the rest coming online in late 2025.

Added uncertainty

Alliant Energy, which plans to invest about $1.5 billion in a dozen solar sites across the state, has postponed the start of construction of a $250 million solar farm in Grant County by five months in order to manage supply chain, material delivery, and schedule dynamics.

The utility is also seeking permission to grade more of the 1,900-acre site near Potosi and use larger panels to reduce the need for increasingly expensive steel and cables.

While the tariff threat had the potential to add unexpected costs, utility spokesperson Tony Palese said Bidens order provides added certainty and reinforces our plans to move forward, with three projects slated to start this month and the rest by August.

Palese said Alliant plans to bring its first four solar farms online this year and expects to have about 1,100 megawatts in service by 2024, when it had planned to retire the first of two coal-fired generators at the Columbia Energy Center near Portage.

But in an about-face last week, Alliant said it would keep the Columbia plant running into 2026 in order to weather multiple uncertainties, said David de Leon, president of Alliants Wisconsin utility.

All flavors needed

While regulators have not initiated any formal review of the delays or cost increases, Public Service Commission spokesperson Matthew Sweeney said the commission is continuing to monitor the filings from applicants and could reopen dockets should the need arise.

Its also important to note that it is not just solar projects alone seeing cost increases, Sweeney said. We are seeing these increases throughout the life cycle of all utility operations.

Michael Vickerman, policy director for the industry trade group, said Thursdays announcement underscores the risks of putting all of our clean energy eggs in the utilities basket.

Instead, Vickerman said Wisconsin needs policies  such as the ability to lease panels  that will make it easier for businesses and individuals to generate their own clean energy.

Despite the industrywide slowdown, the SEIA noted that residential installations saw record-setting growth during the first quarter amid surging demand.

Utility-supplied solar power will be a significant contributor to achieving carbon reductions in Wisconsin, Vickerman said. But we need all flavors of solar power ... to get the job done.

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Wisconsins Supreme Court says a conservative political appointee can stay in power indefinitely if lawmakers refuse to confirm a successor, dealing a blow to Gov. Tony Evers and the powers of the executive branch.

The high court ruled Wednesday in favor of Fred Prehn, a Wausau dentist appointed to the Natural Resources Board in 2015 by former Gov. Scott Walker. Prehn refused to step down when his term expired more than a year ago.

The courts conservative majority said the expiration of Prehns six-year term, in and of itself, did not create a vacancy for the governor to fill.

At the same time, the court ruled that the expiration did not end protections against being removed without cause, meaning Evers cant simply fire him.

That means Prehn can stay in office until the Senate confirms Evers nominee, something Republicans who control the chamber have so far refused to do.

If the nominee is not confirmed, the nominee is not appointed into office and cannot exercise the authority assigned to that position, conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote in the majority opinion. While the Governor can make a provisional appointment who exercises all of the powers and duties of the office, subject to later confirmation by the senate, there must first be a vacancy to fill.

The courts three liberal justices filed a 16-page dissent calling the opinion absurd and nonsensical, saying it steers our states government directly into disorder and chaos, threatening the fragile separation of powers central to its functions.

(A)llowing Prehn to continue serving in office indefinitely makes him the final authority on whether he remains in office  not the legislature, which specified by statute that his term expired over 13 months ago, and not the governor, who the legislature gave the authority to nominate a replacement, Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote. One unelected official should not be able to dictate his term in office over the will of the peoples elected representatives.

Balance of power

The ruling further tilts the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in favor of Republicans who control the Legislature and have refused to hold confirmation hearings for many of Evers appointees  including most of his nominees to boards overseeing the states higher education system.

Todays decision continues to underscore the erosion of democratic institutions at the hands of Republicans in this state, Evers said in a statement. Its wrongheaded, its shortsighted, and its politics at its most dangerous.

Evers said his appointees are exceptionally qualified, should be considered on their merit, and should have the opportunity to serve the people of our state, regardless of whether or not they were appointed by a Democrat or share the same ideas as Republicans in the Legislature.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who filed the lawsuit last year, said the Supreme Courts decision sets a terrible precedent at a time when several of Evers other appointees still await formal approval from the Senate.

We now have an appointee who can apparently stay on this board for as long as he chooses, Kaul said. Think about that in a democracy. This is not a country where we have kings, but Dr. Prehn apparently gets to choose how long he gets to stay there, regardless of what the people of Wisconsin say.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about if or when he would schedule a confirmation hearing for Evers appointee, Ashland County educator Sandra Naas.

Prehn issued a statement saying he intends to stay on the board until a successor is confirmed and accused Evers and Kaul of wasting substantial taxpayer dollars in legal fees on a political stunt to satisfy their liberal donor base.

Their lack of understanding of case law is obvious and that lack of understanding caused many losses, including hours of time, emotion and cost on this issue, Prehn wrote.

Keeping a seat

Kaul argued Prehn and lawmakers ignored the century-old common law, which says an appointee whose term has ended may hold over, but once the term expires there is a vacancy that the governor is entitled to fill.

Citing a 1964 Supreme Court ruling, Prehn maintained he does not have to leave until Naas is confirmed by the Senate. Republicans adjourned the two-year session without holding a hearing, cementing the boards conservative majority.

Text messages uncovered in a separate court case show Prehn sought advice from Walker in November 2020, nearly six months before his term was set to expire, saying lawmakers do not intend on confirming anybody soon.

Walker encouraged Prehn to stay.

Kaul sued in August, asking the courts to force Prehn to step down. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn dismissed the case but faulted lawmakers for refusing to hold a confirmation hearing.

Both Kaul and Prehn asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, bypassing the court of appeals.

Key decisions

Since his term ended, Prehn has voted to reject regulations of toxic PFAS compounds in groundwater and to weaken the agencys proposed drinking water standards for the so-called forever chemicals.

He could also cast a deciding vote later this year on a new wolf management plan, which could set population goals and help determine hunting quotas if the gray wolf is again removed from the federal endangered species list.

If youre on the side of more toxic sludge in our water, this is a win for you today, Kaul said. But if you want clean and safe drinking water for Wisconsinites, if you care about people in Wisconsin having power over the government, its yet another huge loss from the Supreme Court.

Midwest Environmental Advocates called the decision a blow to the health of our environment and the health of our democracy.

Fred Prehn coordinated with Scott Walker, lobbyists for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and an unaccountable, gerrymandered legislature to retain control of environmental policy in Wisconsin, the group said in a statement. As a result, Scott Walkers appointees continue to control the Department of Natural Resources 1,331 days and counting after Walker lost the election.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.

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Jessica Caban joined the Columbus A Chamber of Commerce as the events and administrative coordinator in early 2020, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as Columbus adjusts to being out of the pandemic, she is moving on to bigger things.

The chamber held a farewell open house June 27 to wish Caban well in her new position and give the public a chance to send her off.

Caban said her new position as community organizer for the Center for Rural Affairs will be similar to her position with the chamber, but on a larger scale.

"It will involve more traveling, being out there and being with people, participating in events, putting events together and setting up workshops," Caban said.

Chamber President Dawson Brunswick said the chamber is sad to see Caban go, but they are excited to see her move to a new position.

"Everyone is happy for her, she's moving on to bigger better things, more challenges and personal professional growth. We are excited to see her continue to grow," Brunswick said.

Caban said the new position offers her more flexibility in her work and a wider range of communities to work with.

"I will have business hours but I won't have to be at an office at a certain time. I want that flexibility to move around and have meetings, be part of discussions," Caban said.

At the chamber, Caban frequently occupied the front desk and fielded calls and questions, something she is grateful to have done for the skills it helped her hone.

"It's another big role to be out there, people are coming in and out, calling with all sorts of questions. I've answered so many weird questions, but it helped me to learn, it's been a great stepping stone," Caban said.

Caban noted that she came in with some experience helping people and her role with the chamber strengthened that.

"I have a gift with connecting, making people feel seen, heard and appreciated," Caban said. "I like to share that and I like to inspire others to be the same way."

Brunswick said that the chamber is still looking for someone to fill the position, which has been amended to more of an administrative assistant role.

"We're looking to restructure that a bit with some of the growth in other positions," Brunswick said. "The job will really be to help be the main contact with members who come in or call in, to learn the chamber and its events and programs."

Brunswick added that, for those the chamber serves, nothing will effectively change, but the voice on the phone may sound different.

"We're really hoping this will take us to a greater level of connecting with members and streamline things," Brunswick said. "We've been very blessed with Jess and hope to find that same skillset of doing so much for us and our members."

Caban said that for the next person in the role, her advice is simply to work hard and be personable and open.

"Be open-minded to learn. We get a lot of questions that we don't have answers for but you have to go the extra mile," Caban said. "A smile goes a long way, don't be afraid to ask questions and be personable."

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By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Baku has called on Yerevan to take decisive steps towards peace, rather than attempt to resurrect the already ineffective OSCE Minsk Group, Azernews reports.

In a response to the statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's June 27 online presser, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stressed that If Armenia truly desires peace, it must demonstrate political will and take genuine efforts toward peace, rather than waste time resurrecting the format of which the efficiency was always poor, and this has now been publicly admitted.

The ministry added that the process of normalizing the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan called into question Armenias willingness to build long-term peace in the region.

"The leader of the nation that had occupied and destroyed part of Azerbaijani territories for over 30 years, who is now accusing Azerbaijan of conducting a policy of blockade throughout these years, does not fit into any legal or moral framework, the statement reads.

The ministry adds that despite Armenia's decades-long scorched earth policy, following the liberation of its territories, Azerbaijan has been supportive of normalizing all-out relations between the two nations.

Namely, it was the Azerbaijan president, who proposed to sign a peace agreement based on strict adherence to the principles of international law in the post-conflict phase, the ministry recalls, adding that Azerbaijan even presented Armenia with the basic principles on which the agreement should be based, the ministry underlined.

We remind PM Pashinyan that Azerbaijan has been a supporter and initiator of the normalization of relations between the two countries after the liberation of its territories, despite the aggressive policy and the approach of 'destroying everything' applied by Armenia for decades. The President of Azerbaijan proposed to sign a peace agreement based on strict adherence to the principles of international law in the post-conflict phase. The Azerbaijani side even presented to the other side the fundamental principles on which the agreement should be based. If Azerbaijan wanted a war, as Pashinyan claims, these steps would probably not be needed. If Azerbaijan wanted a fight, it would not have made great efforts to rebuild and restore the territories destroyed by Armenia for 30 years, the statement reads.

Azerbaijan not only makes statements on the delimitation of borders between the two countries, calls for the opening of all communications in the region and the signing of a future peace agreement but is also implementing measures and decisive steps.

For many years, Azerbaijan has been calling for normalizing relations in the region and opening all communication lines that would benefit Armenia. The fact that Armenia has now realized this, as well as the prime minister's comment that "the opening of communications favors Armenia," draws attention to the Armenian leadership's new stance, the ministry added.

It appears that Armenia will need some time to embrace the truth. We hope that Armenia will not have to wait long to realize the value of the Zangazur corridor, which has already become a reality, the statement said.

As for the tripartite statements, the obligations assumed by the parties under this document and their implementation are obvious. Armenia, which grossly violates the terms of the document, sends sabotage forces to the territories of Azerbaijan, does not withdraw illegal armed groups from the territories of Azerbaijan, and delays the opening of communications for a long time and thus egregiously violates the implementation of these statements, the ministry stressed.

The Armenian prime minister, without elaborating on the specific situation, said that "Azerbaijan has boycotted the meeting at least once". If we start listing the meetings that have been proposed so far with the participation of international mediators in the post-conflict phase and disrupted by Armenia under various pretexts, as well as postponed by provocations 1-2 hours before, the list will be very long, the statement concluded.
Overpowering a strong showing of support for Democratic nominee Patty Pansing Brooks in Lincoln, Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk won Tuesday's special congressional election and kept eastern Nebraska's 1st District seat in Republican hands.

Pansing Brooks, a Lincoln state senator, held the early lead, but Flood edged ahead during the second hour of vote-counting and steadily moved into position to claim the seat vacated by the resignation of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in March.

Fortenberry, who hails from Lincoln, resigned following his conviction on charges that he lied to federal officials about illegal foreign contributions to his 2016 reelection campaign, setting the stage for the first special election in the district since 1951.

The Associated Press declared Flood the winner at 10:25 p.m. Tuesday.

Nebraskans made their voices heard loud and clear, Flood said Tuesday night during his election night party in Norfolk. Tonight they sent an unmistakable message to Washington that America is on the wrong track.

Lancaster County was the only 1st District county to hand its support to Pansing Brooks, who urged voters in the final days of the campaign to "fight back at the ballot box" in support of women's rights in the wake of last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that had guaranteed a woman's right to choose to have an abortion.

Voters in Bellevue also gave Pansing Brooks an early lead until other precincts in Sarpy County turned the tide in favor of Flood, leaving Lancaster as the only one of the dozen counties that are totally or partially in the district to give her a majority.

Flood, a former speaker of the Legislature, won by huge margins in a number of counties, gathering 80% of the vote or more in six counties, including Madison County, his home territory.

Flood will fill the remaining six months of Fortenberry's term, and Flood and Pansing Brooks will square off again in November to serve a new two-year term beginning in January.

Both won primary election nominations in May and were chosen to compete in Tuesday's special election by party leadership.

Pansing Brooks told supporters at her election night party at Alchemy in Lincoln that she was not discouraged and their work continues.

We know where we need to work harder. We know where we need to work smarter and thats what were going to do, she said.

With Republicans in reach of achieving a House majority in November, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California came to Lincoln to campaign for Flood in advance of the special election. If Republicans seize control of the House, McCarthy is positioned to become speaker.

Flood said he'd taken a congratulatory call from McCarthy earlier Tuesday.

Its time for an end to Washingtons magic money machine and the inflation its fueled, Flood said.

During the campaign, Flood pledged to "fight the Biden-Pelosi agenda at every turn."

Its time for a change in leadership, he told his supporters Tuesday. Nebraskans are ready for action that reflects common sense, conservative values that have made our state and our nation great.

Democrats have not won a 1st District House contest since 1964; since then, it's been 29 straight GOP victories, counting Tuesday's special election. Republicans hold a voter registration advantage over Democrats that exceeds 94,000.

A rematch in November to serve the next two-year term is likely to center on the new incumbent's voting record.

Following Tuesday's election, Nebraska's five-member congressional delegation will include three former state senators. Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Adrian Smith of Gering also previously served in the nonpartisan Legislature.

The two candidates expressed stark differences on abortion rights during the closing days of the campaign.

Pansing Brooks said "a majority of Americans and Nebraskans do not agree that abortion should be illegal."

Flood praised the Supreme Court for "returning abortion-related policy decisions back to the states and the people where they belong."

Gov. Pete Ricketts, who is considering calling a special session of the Legislature later this year to consider legislation banning abortion in Nebraska, will appoint a new state senator to succeed Flood.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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Kazakh President Says Government Must Make Favorable Conditions for Crypto Industry Development

Source: Adobe/belyay

Kazakhstans President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has told ministers to create favorable conditions for a new digital ecosystem that makes use of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Per Kaztag, which quoted the presidential press service, Tokayev was speaking at a financial sector summit held at the Astana International Financial Center yesterday.

The state-run center is already home to a number of crypto-related firms, including many that work in the mining sector. Kazakhstan, which offers industries relatively low-cost electricity access, also has cold winters  making it an ideal location for many miners.

This, along with a relatively pro-business approach to crypto mining regulation, has led to a growth in mining in the nation in recent years  with many bitcoin (BTC) miners relocating to Kazakhstan from China following last years Beijing-led crypto crackdown.

But it appears that Tokayev is not content with simply allowing miners to set up shop in the country and taxing them on their income.

The President stated that the nation must make the most of its potential in the crypto sector.

He stated:

Our country is the second largest producer of cryptocurrencies in the world. However, we should not just stick to the status quo, where we focus on [providing] raw [energy] materials. To this end, the government, together with financial regulators and the Astana International Financial Center, should create favorable conditions for the development of a comprehensive digital ecosystem.

A number of top-ranking domestic and international officials from the financial sector attended the summit. Representatives from both the private and public sectors were present.

Tokayevs comments come just a month after the President met with the CEO of the crypto exchange Binance Changpeng CZ Zhao in Nur-Sultan.

The duo spoke about the possibility of creating a regional hub for the crypto industry in Kazakhstan, Interfax reported.

Zhao signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace, with Binance and the ministry pledging to support the growth of the Astana International Financial Center.

The parties also discussed prospects for long-term cooperation in the digital finance sector and promised to launch joint educational programs to teach citizens more about blockchain technology.

Elsewhere in Central Asia, Uzbekistan has indicated that it too could seek to encourage miners to begin operating in the country  but only if they use green energy to do so. A recent governmental decree, authorized by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, indicated that the nation was ready to develop the digital economy and the sector of the circulation of cryptoassets.

The government has announced measures that will see miners forced to use solar power  and make use of their own power-generating hardware.

Crypto mining, the government wrote, must only be carried out by legal entities that make use of electrical energy that is provided by a solar photovoltaic power plant.

In order to qualify as a legal miner, companies must apply to become members of a national registry of approved crypto mining firms. Certificates of approval are valid one year after initial registration, after which they would need to be renewed.

____

Learn more:

- Miners on the Move: Chinas Crypto Mining Losses May Be Kazakhstans Gain

- Kazakhstan Develops New Program to Team Up Crypto Exchanges with Banks



- Kazakhstan Central Bank Exploring Opportunities in Crypto, DeFi Innovation

- Kazakhstan Mulls Higher Tax for Bitcoin Miners



- Another Headache for Bitcoin Miners in Central Asia as Three Countries Hit With Blackouts

- Uzbekistan to Throw its Doors Open to Tax-free Cryptocurrency Trading
They call her, desperate, scared and often broke. Some are rape and domestic violence victims. Others are new mothers, still breastfeeding infants. Another pregnancy so soon, they say, is something they just can't handle.

"Heart wrenching," said Angela Huntington, an abortion navigator for Planned Parenthood in Missouri, who is helping callers reschedule canceled abortion appointments  sometimes hundreds of miles away from their homes  after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

The ruling has set off a travel scramble across the country, with a growing number of states mostly banning the procedure. Clinics operators are moving, doctors are counseling crying patients, donations are pouring into nonprofits and one group is dispatching vans to administer abortion pills. Some cities  like Kansas City and St. Louis  also are drafting plans to help with the travel logistics.

Huntington has been preparing for this moment for months. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week to end constitutional protection for abortion, the procedure had become difficult to nearly impossible to obtain in states including Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

"Basically," she said, they were "living in a post Roe era."

Now a fresh round of laws are taking effect. Staff at a clinic in Nashville were flooded with calls from patients trying to understand the new legal landscape, after a federal court on Tuesday allowed the state's ban on abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy to take effect.

In Arkansas, some patients already were headed to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Little Rock to obtain medication-induced abortions when the decision came down last week. Upon arriving, they were sent home.

"I cannot believe this is happening today," they told Huntington. Or alternatively, they muttered, their voices oozing with sarcasm, " Of course it's happening today."

Huntington and others try to help move their appointments to clinics in Kansas, Illinois and even Colorado. If a patient is broke but has access to a reliable car, Huntington can offer gas cards. She works with nonprofits to arrange commercial flights and lodging. In recent weeks, she said, a group called Elevated Access has enlisted volunteer light aircraft pilots to transport patients to abortion appointments, sometimes departing from small rural airstrips.

"It's been hell,'' said Dr. Jeanne Corwin, a gynecologist who works at a clinic in Dayton, Ohio, where most patients are being turned away after new state rules took effect banning abortions after a heartbeat can be detected. Many are being sent over the border to Indiana and the clinic's sister site in Indianapolis, where Corwin also works.

She said they are desperate, including a patient in her 30s, recently diagnosed with advanced melanoma and in her first trimester.

"She has to end her pregnancy'' so she can begin chemotherapy, and is going to Indiana, Corwin said, adding that patients who are beyond Indiana's 14-week cutoff are being sent to Illinois or Michigan.

Time also may be short for women diverted to Indiana because lawmakers there are expected to re-consider the state's abortion laws at a special session starting July 6.

The situation is particularly difficult for immigrants who are in the country illegally, said Lupe Rodriguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.

Many of them lack the documentation to take a commercial flight, and occasionally border agents search buses for immigrants who are in the country illegally, she said.

"They're simply not able to go anywhere to get this care," she said, adding that the ruling has also created widespread confusion, with pregnant women fearful they could face criminal prosecution. "There's a lot of misinformation."

In Missouri, where abortions were already severely restricted, a new ban took effect Friday that only allows the procedure in "cases of medical emergency." Kansas City leaders are weighing a $300 stipend to help employees travel for an abortion. And across the state, in St. Louis, elected officials are considering another measure that would use $1 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay for transportation, lodging and other logistical support for abortion seekers.

"It's kind of an American nightmare that we're scrambling to find health care like this," said St. Louis Alderwoman Annie Rice, adding that she anticipated the measure would pass by mid-July. If that happens, abortion opponents have vowed to ask the state's attorney general to sue.

Just the Pill, a nonprofit health organization that helps patients obtain abortion pills, is hitting the road. It has purchased two vans  one medication van and another where surgical abortions will be done  with plans to begin operating those vans by mid- to-late-July in Colorado. The idea is to be close to the borders of states that have restricted or outlawed abortion.

Mississippi's only abortion clinic, which is nicknamed the Pink House because of its bright pink paint job, is facing the prospect of closing if it loses its lawsuit that seeks to block a state law that makes most abortions illegal as of July 7.

"We're not giving up," said the clinic's owner, Diane Derzis, who plans to open a new abortion clinic called the Pink House West early next month in Las Cruces, New Mexico. "Women have always had abortions, no matter what it took."

Following the ruling, donations have been pouring in to abortion funds like South Dakota Access for Every Woman. Normally the group would get seven to 10 donations per month. Now they are getting 10 to 20 a day, said Evelyn Griesse, a co-founder of the group. The money goes straight to the abortion providers.

"If the woman says she's using some of her own personal money to pay for the abortion, we say use that money to do your travel expenses," Griesse said.

Some states are rolling out the welcome mat.

In Pennsylvania, where state law still allows abortions in the first 24 weeks, clinics are bracing for an influx of out-of-state patients.

Susan Frietsche, a staff attorney for the Women's Law Project, which represents abortion clinics in Pennsylvania, cautioned that state residents seeking abortions may have a harder time finding appointments, too.

"It affects everybody in the country," Frietsche said. "Whereas yesterday, Pennsylvania providers were basically able to find appointment times for people who need to be seen, that is not going to be the case soon, and Pennsylvanians are going to have to travel to other states and not because the law here has changed, but you won't be able to find an appointment soon, this is such a time-sensitive service."

Connecticut's governor is out with a new campaign ad that touts the state's laws protecting abortion rights for women. They include a soon-to-take-effect law that protects medical providers and patients from out-of-state legal actions.

"Women deserve the right to make their own decisions about their health care," Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat running for reelection in November, said in the 30-second commercial released over the weekend.

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Former Nebraska congressman Jeff Fortenberry was sentenced to two years probation in Los Angeles Tuesday morning for lying to federal authorities about an illegal, foreign campaign donation.

Fortenberry, who has represented Nebraska's 1st District since 2005, was convicted by a jury in March of concealing information and repeatedly lying to federal authorities in a campaign finance inquiry. He resigned days after the conviction.

FILE - U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., arrives at the federal courthouse for his trial in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Just hours after a judge sentences the ex-congressman from Nebraska for lying to federal agents, voters in his district are expected to elect a different conservative Republican to represent the GOP-dominated district.

The nine-term Republican congressman was sentenced on the same day Nebraska voters head to the polls for a special election to replace him.

A federal jury in California found him guilty of one count of falsifying and concealing material facts and two counts of making false statements. Each count carries a potential five-year prison sentence and fines.

Prosecutors recommended that U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. sentence Fortenberry up to six months prison time. Instead, the former congressman received two years probation, 320 hours community service and a fine of $25,000.

Midterm elections:Virginia, DC primaries and Alabama, Georgia runoffs to watch on Tuesday

Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury arranged in 2016 to donate $30,000 to Fortenberrys campaign through intermediaries at a Los Angeles fundraiser, according to evidence presented at his trial. Receiving contributions from foreign nationals is a violation of federal campaign laws.

During two separate interviews with FBI agents, Fortenberry told prosecutors he was not aware of the illegal contributions, but prosecutors found evidence that Fortenberry was told about Chagourys contribution in a 2018 phone call.

Neither Chagoury or any of his associates in the investigation received a prison sentence. Chagoury admitted to contributing $180,000 to four different U.S. political candidates. As part of his prosecution agreement, he agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in the investigation and paid a $1.8 million fine.

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In his ruling on Tuesday in the Los Angeles federal court, Blumenfeld said Fortenberry chose "the wrong path" by lying to the FBI when he knew of the illicit contribution, but that he chose not to sentence Fortenberry to prison because the action was out of Fortenberry's character as he has no criminal record.

Prior to the sentencing, Fortenberry already promised to appeal the decision, the Nebraska Examiner reported.

Fortenberry resigned from office in March, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts all urged him to step down.

Prosecutors in pre-sentence briefs argued Fortenberry should receive six months in prison, along with two years of supervised release, a $30,000 fine and 150 hours of community service.

The U.S. Probation Office in California recommended in a pre-sentence report that he receive three months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $9,500.

Fortenberrys team fought against a prison sentence, arguing his lack of criminal record and reputational blow have already been a hefty punishment for the crime. Sixty-four letters were submitted to Blumenfeld on behalf of Fortenberry, including from his wife Celeste and his five daughters, Nebraska Lt. Gov. Mike Foley and U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.

What to expect in special election to replace Fortenberry

In the Republican-leaning 1st Congressional District, Republican State Sen. Mike Flood is expected to win Tuesdays special election over Democrat State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks. Regardless of who wins Tuesday, both candidates also will face each other in Novembers general election for a full term starting in January.

Flood is the former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature and has been endorsed by Ricketts and former GOP Gov. Dave Heineman.

Fortenberry's resignation went into effect on June 1. The new representative will be in office through January 2023.

Mike Flood, the Republican nominee for the 1st District congressional district, addresses a room of supporters during a campaign event at the NEGOP office on Saturday, June 25, 2022, in Lincoln, Neb.

The Associated Press contributed

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nebraska Rep. Fortenberry lied to feds in illegal campaign contribution
Local governments are scrambling this year to catch up with a recently changed Iowa law regarding fireworks.

The changes could mean more fireworks retail locations. At the same time, fire safety officials warn, the guidelines the state uses for fireworks storage are outdated.

Change in Iowa law regarding location of fireworks sales

Jacob Enloe buys fireworks from Lucas Allsup at the Iowa Fireworks Company in Clive, Thursday, June 24, 2021. On July 3, 2021, an Iowa Fireworks Company fireworks stand in Clive suffered $10,000 in damages from a fire in a fireworks storage container.

Senate File 2285, Iowa legislation changing zoning laws related to retail sales of fireworks, was signed into law in April. The new language prevents cities and counties from limiting or restricting consumer fireworks sales in areas zoned for commercial or industrial use.

That means a local government can't further restrict where it allows fireworks sales  and also prevents banning the sale of fireworks in a city or county even if their unlicensed use is illegal in that jurisdiction.

Previously, West Des Moines allowed consumer fireworks sales only in industrial-zoned areas. Now, fireworks stands are popping up around the city in commercial areas.

"This law change was very sudden," West Des Moines Fire Marshal Mike Whitsell said. "We had to play catch-up. We had to learn the law and our roles and responsibilities as a jurisdiction and what we were allowed to enforce. It was a lot of scrambling."

Under the revised law, first-class consumer fireworks can be sold in West Des Moines. But the city doesn't allow the use of those fireworks, including firecrackers, bottle rockets, helicopters and Roman candles. However, second-class fireworks like sparklers, snaps and fountains are allowed, Whitsell said.

"I feel truly bad for any person in West Des Moines who thinks because they can buy fireworks here, they can discharge them within the city limits," he said.

More:

Iowa relies on out-of-date fireworks standards

Clive firefighters extinguished a fire in a fireworks storage trailer at 9350 Hickman Road early July 3, 2021.

Even more concerning for officials is that Iowa law mandates compliance with storage and transportation guidelines for fireworks that are out of date.

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Iowa Code 100.19 regarding consumer fireworks sellers directs the Iowa fire marshal to adopt rules requiring that consumer fireworks sellers follow the National Fire Protection Association's standard 1124 "published in the code for the manufacture, transportation, storage, and retail sales of fireworks and pyrotechnic articles, 2006 edition."

That standard was updated in 2013, 2017 and 2022.

Jeannie Guttenfelder, a management analyst with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, said the fire marshal is using such an outdated standards because that is what the Legislature requires in the law.

Guttenfelder said she' did not know whether the fire marshal has asked the Legislature to update that fireworks-related standard. The request would have to come from the Department of Public Safety, she said.

The reliance on an out-of-date standard concerns some local fire marshals.

"When we look at safety there is absolutely a concern that we are in 2022 and using 2006 codes. Technologies and lessons learned keep evolving, but we aren't evolving with them," said West Des Moines' Whitsell.

"If I had a restaurant come in, they'd have to follow stricter codes than a fireworks company," he said. "And fireworks are explosives. They are dangerous."

More:

Clive Fire Marshal Clay Garcia and the city's fire department learned some hard lessons last year after a fireworks explosion.

"As cities, we have to take multiple steps to ensure safety measures are met," Garcia said. "Even though we try to make those safety measures as public as we can, people still have a lack of judgement, and then we have an issue."

Jacob Enloe buys fireworks from Lucas Allsup at the Iowa Fireworks Company in Clive, Thursday, June 24, 2021. On July 3, 2021, an Iowa Fireworks Company fireworks stand in Clive suffered $10,000 in damages from a fire in a fireworks storage container.

As in West Des Moines, first-class fireworks cannot be discharged in Clive. But on July 3, 2021, an employee at an Iowa Fireworks Co. fireworks stand there lit a firework in a parking lot, then tossed the spent unit into a garbage can near a storage container that had some unused fireworks inside, Garcia said.

"That garbage can ended up inside the storage container where the unused fireworks were stored. The spent firework lit the garbage on fire," he said.

The fire, and the explosions inside the storage container, caused $10,000 in damage.

There were no injuries, but Garcia said some firefighters got too close to the fire.

"In hindsight, so many things could have went wrong. We could have easily gotten hurt. It's a very unpredictable material," Garcia said.

"We call it a near miss," he said.

He said Clive this year adopted new regulations that include better signage around fireworks sales locations and placing a Dumpster at a safe distance away from the fireworks stand.

If there is another fireworks fire, the Clive Fire Department will make sure all of the nearby buildings are evacuated within at up to 1/3-mile radius and let the fire burn itself out, he said.

"We don't know fully how that product is going to burn and we don't want any of our firefighters' lives in danger," he said.

More: Looking to put on a show for the July 4 holiday? Here's a map of Iowa's licensed consumer fireworks retailers

Where are the fireworks on sale in your community?

The state fire marshal's website has an interactive map showing the locations of licensed fireworks vendors throughout the state at dps.iowa.gov/divisions/state-fire-marshal/consumer-fireworks-licensing. Here is a look at locations and rules in some local communities.

Ames

Lighting fireworks in Ames is illegal, according to the Ames city website. Vendors in the city and what they're permitted to sell are:

Cornellier Fireworks, 2801 Grand Ave.; first-class fireworks and may include second- class fireworks.

Ka-Boomers Enterprises Inc., 310 SE 16th St.; first- and second-class fireworks.

Bellino Fireworks, 3800 Lincoln Way, first- and second-class fireworks.

Jakes Fireworks, 534 S. Duff Ave.; first- and second-class fireworks.

Walmart, 3105 Grand Ave; second-class fireworks only.

Target, 320 S. Duff Ave.; second-class fireworks only.

Theisens Home Farm Auto, 1315 S. Dayton Ave.; second-class fireworks only.

Menards, 700 S.E. 16th St.; second-class fireworks only.

Sams Club, 305 Airport Road; second-class fireworks only.

Lowes Home Improvement, 120 Airport Road; second-class fireworks only.

Carlisle

Carlisle allows fireworks from noon to 11 p.m. July 1-4 Vendors in the city and what they're permitted to sell are:

Bellino Fireworks, 1115 Bluestem Drive; first- and second-class consumer fireworks.

Blazing Glory Fireworks LLC, 2925 Gateway Drive; first- and second-class consumer fireworks.

Indianola

Fireworks may be set off in Indianola from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 3 and 5 and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 4.

Fireworks stands are set up around town at these locations:

TNT Fireworks, 2312 N. Jefferson Way; first- and second-class fireworks.

Jakes Fireworks, 1500 N. Jefferson Way; first- and second-class fireworks.

Bellino Fireworks, 910 N. Jefferson Way and 309 W. Second St.; first- and second-class fireworks.

Boom Daddy Fireworks, 508 N. Jefferson Way; first- and second-class fireworks.

Freedom Fireworks LLC, 203 W. Second Ave.; first- and second-class fireworks.

Hunter and Kindras Fireworks, 1203 S. Jefferson Way; first- and second-class fireworks.

Norwalk

The city allows fireworks to be set off from 4 to 10 p.m. July 2 and 3 and 4 to 11 p.m. July 4.

Norwalk Fire Inspector Jeremy Cross said fireworks are for sale this year at the same locations as last year:

Bellino Fireworks, 1120 Sunset Drive; first- and second-class consumer fireworks .

Iowa Fireworks Company, 1409 Sunset Drive; first- and second-class consumer fireworks.

Boom Daddy Fireworks, 1611 Sunset Drive; first- and second-class consumer fireworks.

Safety when using fireworks, even sparklers

According to the National Safety Council, all fireworks must be handled with care  even sparklers.

Sparklers burn at about 2,000 degrees  hot enough to melt some metals. They can quickly ignite clothing, and children have suffered severe burns from dropping sparklers on their feet. According to the National Fire Protection Association, sparklers alone account for more than 25% of emergency room visits for fireworks injuries. For children under 5, sparklers accounted for nearly half of the total estimated injuries in 2017, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The safety council suggests Americans consider using safer alternatives such as glow sticks, confetti poppers or colored streamers. But if you are going to use sparklers and fireworks, it offers these safety tips:

Never allow young children to handle fireworks.

Older children should use fireworks only under close adult supervision.

Never use fireworks while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

Anyone using fireworks or standing nearby should wear protective eyewear.

Never hold lighted fireworks in your hands.

Never light fireworks indoors.

Only use fireworks away from people, houses and flammable material.

Never point or throw fireworks at another person.

Only light one device at a time and maintain a safe distance after lighting.

Never ignite devices in a container.

Do not try to re-light or handle malfunctioning fireworks.

Soak both spent and unused fireworks in water for a few hours before discarding them.

Keep a bucket of water nearby to fully extinguish fireworks that don't go off or in case of fire.

Never use illegal fireworks.

Teresa Kay Albertson covers Des Moines' southern suburbs for the Register and the Indianola Record-Herald. Reach her at talbertson@registermedia.com or 515-419-6098.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's fireworks law add options, but some standards unsafe
Gov. Kim Reynolds will have her choice of two serving judges or a veteran business litigator when she nominates the next justice to serve on the Iowa Supreme Court.

The State Judicial Nominating Commission, a 17-member panel composed of Reynolds appointees and members elected by the state's attorneys, on Monday interviewed the five candidates seeking to replace retiring Justice Brent Appel.

It nominated three for Reynolds' consideration: Iowa Court of Appeals Judge David May, District 1A Judge Alan Heavens of Garnavillo, and attorney William Miller of Des Moines law firm Dorsey & Whitney.

Gov. Kim Reynolds will be selecting one of three candidates to replace the retiring Justice Brent Appel, front row left.

The candidates not chosen as finalists were Chief Judge Patrick Tott of the Sioux City-based Third District Court and Ames attorney Tim Gartin, both repeat applicants to the Supreme Court.

For subscribers: 'No one worked harder:' Colleagues honor retiring Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel

Monday's interviews come at a time of heightened attention to the court, which on June 17 overturned a 2018 precedent guaranteeing a fundamental right to abortion under the state constitution. The ruling, coming a week before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, will make it significantly easier for legislators to restrict abortion in Iowa, and several candidates were asked to consider the court's public standing under such scrutiny.

May, a finalist for a previous Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, told Commissioner Dorothy O'Brien in a private interview that a major challenge facing the court is perceived politicization. When she asked him about it in the public session, he said courts should defer when they can to the democratically elected Legislature.

"To me the best way to avoid the perception that judges are making up the rules as they go along is, particularly when we talk about democratically produced texts like statutes, to carefully follow those texts and to not substitute our viewpoints for those texts," May said. "... I think my record bears out the 300 cases I've written that I've continuously followed that approach."

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May also said judges should exercise restraint in not ruling on unnecessary issues in a case, or "creating law out of our personal preferences, when the law requires something else."

Perceived racial bias in Iowa courts a topic of concern

While Miller and May are both Des Moines residents, Heavens would be the first Justice in several years to hail from northeast Iowa, which he played up in his presentation. He also said he intentionally submitted the shortest writing samples of any candidates because he believes brevity and clarity are essential qualities on the bench.

"I'm thinking about the clients, the parties, the people who my opinion is profoundly affecting their lives," he said. "I've always believed that they should understand why I ruled the way I did, why I am going to have this profound effect on their life."

Another repeated theme Monday was racial disparities in Iowa's justice system, where Black Iowans are imprisoned vastly out of proportion to their share of the population. Commissioner Henry Bevel, who is Black, asked Heavens to expand on a comment that the law "plays out differently" in different districts. Heavens said that while he'd meant differences in local rules and procedure, he said he's deeply aware of the skepticism minorities feel toward the judicial system.

"The stats don't lie," Heavens said. "I think it's fair for African-Americans to wonder, am I being treated fairly by the system?"

Previously: Iowa Supreme Court sides against another defendant arguing lack of Black jurors violated rights

Heavens said he hopes those disparities can be reduced by more training for judges and prosecutors, in particular in taking into account family, education and work background as well as criminal history and severity of the crime when passing sentences.

Miller, a former clerk for then-Chief Justice Mark Cady, emphasized his work on bar associations and other legal organizations as well as his courtroom experience, despite having not served as a judge.

"I think a couple things in my background are beneficial to get into that role, having clerked, and having worked closely with the judiciary over time, but I think like a judge now," he said. "My aim is to anticipate what I need to show the court, to the jury, to others, to think about the angles in mind and analyze issues."

On the question of public perceptions of the court, Miller said justices shouldn't be swayed by those concerns when deciding cases, but said it's important for the court to be open about its role and how it handles disputes. In recent years, starting under Cady, the court has worked to improve public access by holding sessions around the state, and Miller said he would want to continue those efforts.

"We had one point where the court was not talking to the public that much, and I think there's a great opportunity to continue (public outreach) and expand on it," he said.

From 2021: Family Justice Reform Initiative renamed in honor of late Iowa Chief Justice Mark Cady

All Iowa Supreme Court justices will be nominees of Republican governors

With the commission announcing its nominees, Reynolds now has 30 days to announce her selection. It will be her fifth appointment to the court since 2018, a period of rapid turnover, and will result in all seven justices having been appointed by Republican governors.

Justices can serve until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 73. With Appel's impending retirement, the next-oldest justice is Edward Mansfield at 65, meaning that barring early retirements or deaths, it could be more than seven years before another seat comes open on the state's high court.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Three candidates sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds for Iowa Supreme Court seat
An area man and woman face felony charges of neglect after a toddler and a 10-year-old child residing in the pair's home allegedly tested positive for drugs, including methamphetamine and fentanyl, last week.

Jessie L. DeMay, 28, and Garry W. Triplett Jr., 35, both of Bonne Terre, have each been charged in St. Francois County with two counts of abuse or neglect of a child - serious emotional or physical injury - no sexual contact.

According to a probable cause statement, on June 21, police began an investigation in response to a Children's Division request for assistance at a Bonne Terre address about taking custody of a 10-year-old male.

The report states a Children's Division worker told police that EMS was dispatched to the residence the day before, on June 20, for a 3-year-old male having a seizure. Police learned the child was reportedly airlifted to Cardinal Glennon due to the length of his seizure.

Children's Division received a hotline call from the hospital, and it was reported that the toxicology report on the child detected amphetamines, fentanyl, norfentanyl, methamphetamines, and Xanax, according to the report.

Cardinal Glennon also reportedly noted that the toddler had a burn mark on the top of his foot, bruising on his ear, back, and along his spine, as well as a cut on his toes.

The report states the 10-year-old child had also tested positive for methamphetamines.

The 3-year-old's mother, identified as DeMay, reportedly stated that the child was not up to date on his immunizations, that she did not know where the bruises came from, and that the child had not been to a doctor since he was 1 year old.

The report states that when police spoke with the 10-year-old, he was able to explain that on the day the 3-year-old had his seizure, Triplett was rocking the younger child to sleep. The boy reportedly recalled that Triplett laid the toddler down on the air mattress in the living room. The 10-year-old said the toddler started shaking and was acting weird, so he went to get DeMay and Triplett, and that's when they called the neighbor and 911, according to authorities.

It is noted in the report that the two children live in the home with DeMay and Triplett.

While being interviewed, the report states DeMay indicated she stores methamphetamine within the residence and last abused the drug on June 19 within the home.

The filing states DeMay had previously lost custody of her children for methamphetamine use in January 2020.

DeMay and Triplett were each booked at the St. Francois County Detention Center on Thursday and remain in custody without bond. An initial court appearance in both cases was scheduled for Tuesday.

A search of Triplett's criminal history showed Triplett has multiple pending St. Francois County cases for charges including second-degree burglary, felony stealing, tampering with a motor vehicle, three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree trafficking drugs or attempt, and possession of a controlled substance.

The man's bonds in some of the pending cases were revoked on Friday, and his next court appearance on the charges is scheduled for July 22.

Court records show Triplett has previously pleaded guilty to felony offenses, including a 2006 charge of possession of a chemical with intent to create a controlled substance. Filings indicate the man was placed on five years of supervised probation, which was later revoked twice due to violations. In 2011, Triplett was given four years to serve in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

A search of DeMay's criminal history shows the woman has a pending St. Francois County case, filed in May, for possession of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

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As school districts wrapped up their academic years and began summer school, St. Francois County Community Partnership (SFCCP)  which initiates activities focusing on health, education and support of parents and children  added to its success in joining other national groups working with local school districts to curb illegal, underage use of e-cigarettes.

The U.S. is the worlds largest vaping market, but under federal law, its illegal to vape under the age of 21. Recently, the federal Food and Drug Administration banned one of the leading makers of vape products, JUUL, although a judge quickly stayed the ban and the market-leading vape company has been allowed to continue business while the ban makes its way through the courts.

Bill Bunch, SFCCP executive director, said they mailed postcards in February and May and placed ads in local media to call parents attention to the dangers of kids vaping. He's hoping the efforts are making a dent in underage vaping.

According to Missouri Department of Public Safetys Alcohol & Tobacco Control, Gov. Mike Parson issued an order in 2019 that cited U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures showing there had been 22 reports of vaping-related illnesses in Missouri, including one death, with a majority of the reports being among people aged 15 to 24.

Bunch said the national effort spurred SFCCP to act, and in the last four years, he thinks theyve helped contribute to the national decrease of illegal underaged vaping. He said 2018 marked a dramatic increase in teen vaping despite widespread laws against it. The use of e-cigarettes had increased 78% between 2017-2019. Bunch said local surveys resulted in statistics mirroring this national trend.

We've been targeting vaping for four years now because it was on a dramatic increase. We had school professionals on our (SFCCP) board of directors who said it's a major problem in our schools, he said. One of our assistant principals said they caught a third grader with a vaping instrument and the kid said, well, it was my mom's, I just brought it to show it. But the next week, he caught two fourth-graders using them.

It's really sad, we first started out with eighth graders (vaping), we sent these informational postcards to parents of eighth-graders. This year, we felt we had to target sixth graders. Theyre just getting younger and younger.

Bunch said the good news is, national numbers show vaping among teens is down 40% from the peak. In high schools, usage had dropped from 20% to 11% in 2021. Middle school usage had declined from 5% to 3% in 2021.

So were having an effect, the national effort is having an effect, and it seems like the media is covering a lot of these new health conditions that are cropping up as a result of vaping, Bunch said.

He added he is aware that vaping has helped some adults wean themselves off of tobacco use.

Oh yeah, they were first intended to help people quit smoking, he said. If thats what theyd been used for, it wouldve been OK. But unfortunately, its like everything else, they get abused for the wrong reasons.

Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or shaas@dailyjournalonline.com.

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Mint Springs Park, one of Albemarle Countys three swimming beaches, will be closed until further notice starting Thursday due to a lack of lifeguards, the county announced Wednesday.

Its due to unforeseen lifeguard staffing shortages, which ultimately doesnt allow for a safe swim environment, county spokeswoman Abbey Strumpf said.

Swimming beaches at Chris Greene Lake Park or Walnut Creek Park are still open. The beaches are open this summer 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday to Sunday. The summer season ends Aug. 21.

Both Albemarle and Charlottesville struggled last year to hire summer employee and this summer has been no different. The county said in May that opening all the beaches was contingent on having enough lifeguards.

The shortage of lifeguards prompted the city to offer $250 signing and end-of-season bonuses for those who meet certain requirements. However, the city recently adjusted the operating days for city pools. The county and city are continuing to hire and pay for lifeguards starts at $15 an hour.

In the city, Onesty Family Aquatic Center will be open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.. Washington Park Pool will be open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Communities across the country are reporting similar problems. According to the American Lifeguard Association, the shortage of trained and certified lifeguards is nationwide and likely to last most of the summer.

The association trains and certifies lifeguards to serve at public and private pools and beaches. Officials said pandemic-related closing of pools across the country in 2020 prevented training of new lifeguards and the recertifying of some lifeguards whose certificates expire every two years. They said lifeguards were forced to find other work during the pandemic, many jobs of which paid better wages, convincing the lifeguards to not return.

Association officials also predict the shortage will become worse in August when high school and college students return to school, leaving locations high and dry of safety personnel.

Earlier this month in Chicago, 686 people had applied to become lifeguards and none had been hired  the candidates needed their certification from the American Red Cross, which had only recently resumed training following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Lewes, Delaware, swim at your own risk signs were placed on the beaches as a result of staffing shortages. In Philadelphia, the city had only enough lifeguards to open 18 of its 65 public outdoor pools.
A group of bicyclists set out from the Pentagon earlier this month with two goals: to honor those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to spread word about a bike trail that connects all three sites where planes went down that day in 2001.

The riders met those objectives, but also discovered something else along their 1,300-mile path that runs through seven states.

The townspeople we met were just amazing, how they honored us for honoring the people of 9/11, said Annette MacDougall, a former Stafford County teacher who lives in Oregon and jumped at the chance to return to the East Coast. It was this mission that brought me out from Portland.

Thirteen cyclists completed the entire 9/11 National Memorial Trail during a 23-day ride this month that ended in the rain on Monday at the same place it started, the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Another 13 riders completed portions of the ride.

At least one-third of the participants were current or former residents of the Fredericksburg region or have a connection to the area. That includes David Brickley, a former delegate, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the owner of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail in King George County. He first envisioned the concept of a national 9/11 trail in the days following the attacks and wanted to connect the dots between existing greenways and parks with the three sites impacted by terrorists who hijacked four commercial airliners.

That includes the Pentagon, the World Trade Center in New York City and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers of Flight 93 brought down the plane to keep it from crashing into another building in Washington.

While there have been other bike rides since the 9/11 National Memorial Trail started coming together, this one was momentous for two reasons, Brickley said Monday. It marked the largest group to complete the entire trail and the first organized trek after President Joe Biden signed legislation in October, formally designating it a federal trail.

We experienced the hospitality and cordiality and friendliness of everyone as we went through, from town to town and state to state, Brickley said. People learned a lot about the 9/11 trail, which was great, and we made a tremendous amount of friends along the way. This was a great trip, it really was.

He also praised avid bicyclists Bruce and Vikki White of Spotsylvania County, who organized the trek just as theyve done similar excursions each summer for about two decades. He reached out to various members of a group that likes to call themselves the On The Hill Gang and whose riders range in age from 62 to 78.

The Whites rode the entire course by car first, mapping out the distance to be covered in each day as well as stops theyd make and hotels where theyd sleep. Then, Bruce White, 64, and A.D. Carson, a 70-year-old from Milwaukee, came up with turn-by-turn navigationwhich Carson paired with a riding app so the cyclists could get the audio cues from their phones, mounted on handlebars. The men developed online schedules of the entire trip, mapping out for each day how many miles would be covered and how steep the climbs would be, and Bruce White passed out daily papers or cue sheets, as well.

They did all this reconnaissance work ahead of time. It was just incredible detail, said Ed Dobyns, a Fredericksburg resident who did the first leg of the trip from the Pentagon to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.

It was in the mid-50s and spitting rain the morning the riders headed to Shanksville. At the museum, a park ranger spoke about the 40 passengers on boardhe knew them all by name and had met some of their relatives, Dobyns said. The ranger weaved their personal stories into the timeline of what happened on 9/11. It was a gut-wrenching emotional presentation, Dobyns said.

The whole group was in tears after he talked, before we even walked into the museum, he added.

But it wasnt the only time the cyclists would experience emotions like that or feel goosebumps, Bruce White said. While the journey started out as a trek from one 9/11 site to another, it became something else, he said.

It gained a personality as we went around all these small communities, he said. We met mayors, we got escorted through towns, we met bicycle clubs. That was the biggest thing that I didnt expect, the personality, the human compassion that everybody gave us all through the ride.

The group met plenty of people impacted by the terrorists attacks, including those at OHaras Bar and Grill in New York City near Ground Zero. There, firefighters talked about the hundreds of buddies they lost in the towers and gave the cyclists a personalized tour of the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center.

But the riders also met people in towns and cities where closures of coal mines or steel plants created a different kind of tragedy. Bruce White said the group saw the same kind of resilience, in the aftermath of 9/11 or an economic downturn.

Youd see success stories that kind of come out of the ashes in the communities that just were destroyed when their backbone of commerce was taken from them, he said. All these little communities that have had their own little tragedies still, they persevere. Its like the American spirit, reborn.

Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
By Peter Marko Tase,

University of Wisconsin  Milwaukee (United States of America)

Abstract

This research paper offers an inquiry into the military attacks committed by the Armenian Armed Forces inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, during the Second Karabakh War in September  November 2020.

This publication tackles the multiple missile strikes orchestrated by the ruthless Armenian Armed Forces against the urban centers and innocent civilians of Azerbaijan as well as repeated violations of International Humanitarian Law by Armenian government authorities.

Furthermore, the Republic of Azerbaijan has experienced Europes most cruel environmental holocaust and ethnic cleansing inside its sovereign territory, in a period of over thirty years of occupation by the Armenian Armed Forces (1988  2020).

The Second Karabakh War ensured the full territorial sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan, mustered the morale and capability of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, and revealed the total annihilation and destruction of cities and villages committed by the Armenian Armed Forces. This paper also sheds light on the Armenian hegemonic policy in Southern Caucasus and emphasizes its propensity to maintain an intractable conflict with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

1. Introduction

Strategic thought in the Republic of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of President H. E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, has been a pivotal concept that has ensured the nations economic progress, the liberation of its entire sovereign territory from the Armenian Armed Forces, and Bakus indispensable role in promoting regional security and cooperation with European Union member states, NATO Alliance and Italy. President Ilham Aliyev has nurtured strategic cooperation with the Republic of Turkey and with the United States of America.

The main pillars of this essay are: an outlook of the Second Karabakh War taking place inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan; operational accomplishments within the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, the liberation of Shusha city, Agdam District, Fuzuli District, and all other regions of Azerbaijan that were under the occupation of Armenian regime for over three decades.

The extensive research and information provided purport to offer a detailed perspective of the current security situation in the Southern Caucasus and aims to further promote the national security and foreign policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a principal nation that has played an enormous role to preserve regional peace and constantly strengthen the economic  industrial cooperation with every European country. In the period from September 27 to October 30, 2020, the Armenian armed forces launched 218 missile strikes on peaceful settlements of Azerbaijan located far away from the conflict zone.

According to Prof. Dr. Vusal Gasimli, Executive Director of the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication (CAERC) in Azerbaijan: this includes 22 missile strikes that were launched to destroy and trigger collateral damage to the innocent people of Ganja city, second largest city of Azerbaijan. There is a total of 30 rocket strikes against Barda district, and 49 exploded and caused tremendous damage to the people and territory of Goranboy district. The heroic military operations and war of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and the liberation of Azerbaijans sovereign territory continued until November 10th, 2020.

Along with this, 14 missiles were fired at Aghjabadi district, 18 at Tartar district, eight at Mingachevir district, six missiles at Naftalan city, and nine missiles at Beylagan district. As a result of rocket attacks, there was a large number of dead and wounded innocent civilians.

On September 27, 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack against the positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery. Immediately the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front; conducting successful operations and utilizing precision-guided munitions launched by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), purchased by Azerbaijan from the military technology companies in the Republic of Turkey.

2. Swift liberation tactics by Azerbaijan Armed Forces

In July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire and attacked the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan located in the Tovuz district of Azerbaijan. The immediate retaliation from Azerbaijans forces had caused a major blow and significant losses to the Armenian Armed Forces and destroyed some of the key military infrastructure objects of Armenia inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. The fighting continued in the following days and during the clashes, Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel; who died while fighting and containing the brutal attacks from the Armenian Armed Forces, occurring inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. The Second Karabakh War was ignited by the Armenian Armed Forces on September 27th, 2020, and continued until November 10th, 2020; engraving the tremendous pride and accomplishments of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan; a splendid asset of the Azerbaijani people that will remain and truly represent a success story in European modern military history books.

On September 27, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack against the positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery. Azerbaijan responded with an effective counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as secured crucial and strategic heights that ensured a greater control of the territory.

The fighting continued in early October 2020, and Armenia launched various missile attacks aimed at and targeting, the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi and Absheron districts.

On October 28th, 2020, at approximately 1.30 pm local time, Armenia fired two Smerch rockets into Barda, striking a residential neighborhood close to a hospital. The Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office has stated that at least 21 people were killed, over 70 citizens injured, and infrastructure destroyed.

The Armenian Armed Forces fired two 300 mm 9M525 type missiles with a 9N235 cluster warhead containing 72 fragmentation combat elements (total 144) from the Smerch multiple-launch missile system on the metropolitan area of Barda city. As a result, 21 people, including 5 women, were killed, and 70 people, including 8 children and 15 women received injuries of various degrees. Furthermore, over 30 civilian facilities, more than 20 private houses, and 22 vehicles were also heavily damaged by the missile attacks. Since September 27th, 91 civilians were killed and 400 were wounded as a result of Armenian shelling against the cities and residential areas of Azerbaijan. According to Marie Struthers, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia: The firing of cluster munitions into civilian areas is cruel and reckless, and causes untold death, injury, and misery. Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons, and their use in any circumstances is banned under international humanitarian law.

Despite the role of Amnesty International calling on all sides to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian law and to protect civilians from the effects of hostilities, Yerevan has grossly violated the International Law and killed a large number of Azerbaijani civilians inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, throughout the past three decades. The Armenian government has constantly violated and disregarded collateral damage during the Second Karabakh War; Yerevan has inflicted so many losses among civilian life in Azerbaijan and violated international law. On October 30th, 2020, Human Rights Watch stated that the Armenian Armed Forces either fired or supplied internationally banned cluster munitions and at least one other type of long-range rocket used in an attack on Barda city, 230 kilometers west of Azerbaijans capital, Baku; the attack was perpetrated on October 28th, 2020.

According to a senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch and a Harvard University graduate, Mrs. Belkis Wille: Theres a reason these brutal weapons are banned by an international treaty, and using them in a city center shows flagrant disregard for civilian life and international law. Mrs. Wille accentuated that all countries should condemn using cluster munitions in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Human Rights Watch report added that the watchdog reviewed six videos and 28 photographs taken from the scenes of the attack and shared them directly with researchers. Human Rights Watch was able to verify the location of the two sites that were attacked by matching key landmarks in the photographs and videos with satellite imagery. The report stated that one of the locations confirmed was less than 100 meters from Barda Central Hospital, the citys largest fully functioning hospital. It was confirmed in the annual Military Balance 2020 published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, that Armenia has Tochka-U tactical missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles, Smerch, and Chinese-made WM-80 multi-barrel rocket launchers, all of which can deliver cluster munitions warheads.

Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that inflict serious suffering to the noncombatant population many years after their use and are internationally banned by a treaty that is signed by more than 100 states. According to Colonel Babak Alakbarov, high ranking officer of the State Border Service (SBS), Hero of the Patriotic War, who showed great courage in the operations along the Araz River: During the Patriotic War, every task and obligation set forth by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev to the State Border Service were duly fulfilled.

Colonel Babak Alakbarov emphasized for Report News Agency that: one of the reasons for the successful operations in the Second Karabakh War is the effective use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The location and coordinates of the enemy were determined by UAVs and then fully transmitted to us. We also used Israeli-made IAI Harops to inflict heavy blows to the enemy, destroyed their military equipment. In the Khudafarin operation, there were used other pieces of aircraft to conduct reconnaissance and collect intelligence. After rescuing, clearing Amirvarli village of Jabrayil District from the enemy forces, an operational plan was prepared for the liberation of the Khudafarin bridge.

Colonel Babak Alakbarov stated that: Azerbaijani Armed Forces were tasked to take the heights around Khudafarin. As a result of a blitzkrieg operation, we liberated the heights from the enemy. The location of the enemy was detected in advance by UAVs. Then we crossed to the rear of the enemy, and when we settled there, the Armenians did not notice it. As a result of the ambush set up there, we carried out a successful operation against the enemy troops and destroyed them. Thanks to our advantages over the Armenians in this location, we did not have any martyrs or wounded soldiers. One of the most successful battles in the Patriotic War, with intensive clashes that continued for 44 days and resulted in the victory of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, was the operation along the Araz River. As a result of these successful operations, on October 18th, 2020, the Khudafarin bridge was liberated from the enemy forces and the 27-year-long occupation and longing for this historic landmark to the nation of Azerbaijan, was over.

The glorious tricolor flag of Azerbaijan has been mounted since October 18th, on the liberated Khudafarin bridge. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev conveyed this joy to the people of Azerbaijan. The liberation of the Khudafarin bridge, which historically connected the north and south of Azerbaijan, was reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief by the officer of the State Border Service, Hero of the Patriotic War Babak Alakbarov.

3. Armed Forces of Azerbaijan conduct impressive operations

The notable Victory in the Patriotic War that was launched by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, on September 27th, 2020, in response to the constant provocations of Armenian armed forces on the front lines, brought the Armenian political leadership and its army to a disastrous capitulation and well-deserved humiliation. In the military units of Azerbaijan, tucked in the trenches, soldiers have fought side by side no matter what ethnic group they represented. The Lezghins, Talysh, Udin, or Avar, all soldiers from these ethnic minority groups in Azerbaijan have shown a great deal of heroism, commitment, courage, and valor. There were so many examples of heroism in the Patriotic War of Azerbaijan that will remain forever in history. Heroism, high-level of fighting spirit, and patriotism of Azerbaijani soldiers were the principal factors that brought impressive results on the battlefield and secured the liberation of the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. The frontline soldier knew what he was fighting for, and had a clear objective, and this further increased the feeling of patriotism. Alakbarov states that if there was no patriotism, the army would have lost the war, even if it possesses the most modern weapons in the world.

On October 19th, 2020, the attack on Nakhchivan, the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, was a manifestation of weakness by the Armenian leadership and its military personnel, as the confrontation with Azerbaijan was ruining Yerevans morale and resilience on the frontlines. According to Dr. Elkhan Alasgarov, Director of the Baku Network Expert Council: Armenia has used operational-tactical missiles against civilian facilities and this is another war crime that Yerevan continues to commit against the territory of Azerbaijan. First, they fired at Ganja, but now, after the preventive measures taken by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, they chose another target to attack - Nakhchivan. The purpose here was the same - to cause a big international conflict and drag Russia into it. Therefore, the Armenian leadership constantly declared that Turkey is fighting against Yerevan [on the battlefield], it wanted to make the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict international, involve as many countries as possible, and move away from responsibility for the Karabakh settlement.

Two individuals must be punished for shelling the territory of Nakhchivan, where no military operations are taking place  Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who gave the order to fire tactical missiles against the civilian population and his Defense Minister David Tonoyan. This war crime in Nakhchivan doesnt contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, on the contrary, it causes a new aggravation. Based on the agreement signed during the establishment of the autonomy in Nakhchivan, the Republic of Turkey has political and legal responsibility for its security and territorial integrity as part of Azerbaijan. This means that the strike on Nakhchivan was aimed at drawing both Turkey and Russian Federation into the conflict.

4. Diplomatic Achievements of President Ilham Aliyev

The 44-day war put an end to nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation, ensured the liberation of Azerbaijans lands and the restoration of the countrys territorial integrity. With these military operations, the government of Azerbaijan had embraced its economic prowess and urgently began the implementation of large public works in the districts of Agdam, Fuzuli, Qubadli, Khojavend, Kalbajar and other cities.

The 44  day Second Nagorno Karabakh War was an intensive period of successful military operations by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan as well as geopolitical dialogue and diplomacy between the President of Azerbaijan H. E. Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state in Eurasia. On November 3rd, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted a conversation via teleconference call with the President of Azerbaijan H. E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev. On the same day, the Armenian armed forces were forced to retreat, suffering heavy losses. On November 3rd, the list of the destroyed military equipment of the Armenian armed forces was announced, including the elimination of an Armenian UAV. Armenia violated the ceasefire regime on the state border. Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani army secured a full advantage over the Armenian armed forces.

Furthermore, the Armenian armed forces fired at Azerbaijans Fuzuli region, using Smerch multiple-launch missile system. The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have neutralized the reconnaissance and sabotage group of Armenia nearby the direction of Azerbaijans Zangilan region and two ammunition depots of the Armenian military near Khankandi city were destroyed. A sniper group of the Armenian armed forces was destroyed, at a time when the Armenian armed forces fired on Azerbaijans Agdam and Aghjabadi regions.

The 44-day war had produced the largest levels of military desertion rate from the frontlines by members of the Armenian Armed Forces, in the entire history of Armenia and in the history of Europe since World War I. Many high-ranking officers of Armenia have abandoned their fellow soldiers and assignments on the front line, as a result, the glorious Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have diligently organized a series of offensive incursions to liberate the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, with spectacular outcomes and very few casualties.

The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan were very successful in eliminating the commander of the Armenian armed forces tank battalion and several Armenian tanks were destroyed because of their swift maneuvers. Furthermore, on November 3rd (2020), the phosphorus shells fired by Armenia at Azerbaijans Tartar region had been neutralized. Accurate information about these military operations had been prepared by the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC), in publishing video footage of the destruction of the Armenian armed forces tanks in the battles around Khojavend region, where the commander of the Armenian armed forces motorized infantry regiment was killed.

On November 10th, 2020, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire that was brokered by Moscow; this historic event marked the end of six weeks of intensive fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that were occupied and plundered by the Armenian Government since the early 1990s, the invasion lasted for nearly three decades.

This peace agreement demanded the immediate return of territories of Azerbaijan that were occupied by Armenia, including Kalbajar, Agdam, and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and the historic city of Shusha. [9] During the final phase of the war, after Armenias surrender, Azerbaijan had shown a genuine example of humanitarianism in Eurasia. After the signing of the trilateral agreement and surrender of Armenia; Yerevan requested 10 days more for the withdrawal of its troops from the region. The Republic of Azerbaijan once again demonstrated a strong sense of humanism and taking into account the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin; extended the deadline of Armenias withdrawal from Kalbajar and Lachin regions until November 25th, 2020.

5. Conclusion

On May 12th, 2021, Europe and the world received an important cultural message from Shushas Jidir Duzu plain: The Kharibulbul Music Festival, held in the recently liberated territory of Azerbaijan, was an impressive event that pondered and emphasized once again the importance of peace, economic prosperity, multiculturalism and how these principal values serve to uphold the harmonious coexistence of various ethnic groups in the South Caucasus region.

For Mr. Aslan Aslanov The performances by representatives of various peoples living in Azerbaijan demonstrated the proper way on how countries should develop. Only multi-confessional and multiethnic countries and societies can develop, can have unity, national solidarity and peace. Mr. Aslanov underscores that Azerbaijan has been promoting multiculturalism and the coexistence of different peoples both in the country and internationally. We share our experience and show that this is possible. The Kharibulbul music festival has become another confirmation of this policy that has been promoted by the President of Azerbaijan, H. E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev. Another remarkable public relations strategy is the genuine publications of First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva on social networks, as well as the footage taken by festival participants during a walkabout in Shusha. These major publications and video recordings clearly show that life in the ancient city of Shusha is already back to normal and restoration projects are moving forward.

Conversely, the UNESCO officials have refused to visit Karabakh in order to document the acts of barbarism committed in the destroyed cities and villages during the years of Armenian occupation; three decades of destruction, and the environmental holocaust committed by Yerevans ruling elite.

Azerbaijan is a highly creative nation determined to build large infrastructure projects and major industrial centers that would benefit the regions of Kalbajar, Fuzuli, Qubadli District, and Zangilan District. The recent inauguration of Fuzuli International Airport in Azerbaijan, with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev; is the testimony of Azerbaijans political willingness to strengthen the regional economic cooperation and pursue effective partnerships with member countries of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the European Union

Together with the people of Azerbaijan, and thanks to the glorious Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Eurasias civilizations have returned to the magnificent city of Shusha! Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Shusha will become one of the most beautiful cities in the world and a premier center of European intercultural traditions. The head of state has raised the flag of Azerbaijan in liberated territories, ignited a bonfire in Shusha on the occasion of Novruz, prayed with his family in local mosques (that were destroyed by Armenian vandalism), inaugurated the beginning of new public works, airports and other infrastructure projects in Karabakh, washed his hands in the crystalline waters of the Araz River in front of the famous Khudafarin bridge (Khodaafarin Bridges - Xudaf?rin korpul?ri); these are very special moments that exemplify the deeply rooted historical heritage of Karabakh as an integral territory with an important meaning for the people of Azerbaijan; representing the deeply rooted legacy of Azerbaijan in this region.

In May 2021, in his congratulatory message to his Azerbaijani colleague, president Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Republic Day; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an expressed confidence that Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood and cooperation will make a significant guarantee for ensuring peace, prosperity, and stability in the region. The Turkish president attended a groundbreaking ceremony of a Turkish school in Azerbaijans newly liberated Shusha city during his visit to the country on June 14-16, 2021.

Shusha, along with 300 other city centers, villages and settlements were liberated from around 30 years of Armenian occupation during the war between September 27 and November 10. The war ended on November 10th, 2020, with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders. On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement to unblock all economic and transport communications in the region.

The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. Under the peace deal, Azerbaijan also recovered its Armenian-occupied territories: Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Azerbaijan has spent US$1.5 billion on the restoration of its liberated territories in 2021

On November 5th, 2020, the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), under the leadership of its President Umud Mirzayev, and Vice President Ramil Azizov, submitted a report on the crimes committed by the Armenian occupying forces against Azerbaijan. The report is dedicated to the results of the escalation of the Armenian military forces on the frontline in Karabakh in September and October (2020). The report was prepared by IEPF observation mission members, IEPF representative in the US and International Relations expert Peter Marko Tase, IEPF Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, UN Human Rights Committee, and Professor of Law Osman Al Hajj. The report reflects the assessments of the Armenian military units on the consequences of the aggression of the Armenian military forces against Azerbaijani civilians, strategic facilities, and social infrastructure. The report deals with war crimes committed as a result of the shelling of towns and villages far from the line of contact by the Armenian military during the military operations that began on September 27. The report identifies the actions of Armenian military units during the Second Karabakh War, which contradict the norms of international law

The victorious 44-day war showed again that all citizens in Azerbaijan live in conditions of friendship, brotherhood, and solidarity. In his remarks at the Azadlig Square in Baku, the Turkish head of State emphasized: The fog in the Shusha mountains is no longer as morose. The flower of Khari Bulbul (Ophrys caucasian) is free and will become even more beautiful. The Kendelenchay River will abound in water even more. The Araz River will sing its song even more loudly. The voices performing Karabakh Shikestesi will sound even louder. For the first time in my life, I saw a leader with great determination, fortitude, and unbridled ambition, President Ilham Aliyev, the Victorious Commander-in-Chief, conducting a great military campaign that has ensured the recovery of all sovereign lands of Azerbaijan. The head of state of Azerbaijan during his first trip to Shusha, emphasized: The Azerbaijani people would never have come to terms with the loss of Shusha. That is why the liberation of Shusha from occupation had a special place among our goals.

On the other hand, the Armenian chauvinists in 2021, have pursued an active slander operation, and disinformation campaign against the people and government of Azerbaijan. The Armenian lobby has insulted the national dignity of Azerbaijan while collaborating with their foreign agents of influence that continue to operate in many countries including Argentina, Uruguay, Germany and Paraguay to mention a few. The Armenian government has recruited high-level government officials from Paraguay, including Ambassador Federico Alberto Gonzalez Franco, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay: Luis Alberto Castiglioni Soria (the current Minister of Industry and Commerce of Paraguay, and former MFA of Paraguay), Ambassador Eladio Loizaga Caballero and Ambassador Rigoberto Gauto Vielman; these are only a few officials from the many Latin American governments that work closely with Yerevans autocratic regime to promote the chauvinistic agenda of Nikol Pashinyan in Latin America and in the UN Headquarters in New York.

These Latin American diplomats in Asuncion, have facilitated significant publication space and provided priceless propaganda channels in Paraguays largest newspapers, government websites, and TV Channels, in support of Armenias abhorrent campaign against the dynamic and effective Government of Azerbaijan and the hard-working, peace-loving people of Azerbaijan. These government leaders in Paraguay did everything in their power to suspend and block the establishment of the Center for Azerbaijan Political and Historical Studies in the National University of the East (UNE), Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. The Center for Azerbaijan Political and Historical Studies was inaugurated and founded in 2017 by Mr. Rolando Segovia Paez, Director General of International Relations at UNE. The Government of Armenia has strongly demonstrated its unwillingness to engage in peaceful dialogue and pursue diplomatic negotiations with the Government of Azerbaijan. According to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, the number of mines cleared at Fuzuli International Airport territory goes beyond 1,200 mines that have already been cleared.

The subject of the second Karabakh war will be included in the textbooks of Azerbaijan. According to President Ilham Aliyev:

I have already ordered that the subject of the second Karabakh war be included in history books in our educational programs, schools, and universities. Our relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Education, are working on this issue to study our glorious history. Because the international media are still publishing false and distorted information about the second Karabakh war. Therefore, we must convey the true story based on facts both to our citizens and to the world. I do hope that this issue will be reflected in the Turkish history books as well, especially if we consider Turkeys great political and moral support for Azerbaijan since the early hours of the war.

President Aliyev will remain in the modern history of Europe as the most successful and courageous head of state in the post-Cold War Era.
A year after a shooting injured two people on the events first night, the 34th Annual Salem Fair opened Wednesday with its entire usual carnival atmosphere with the exception that the 2022 version is fully fenced and patrolled by a cadre of security officers.

Previously, the fair had no fence, but substantial changes have been made to the events entry gates and security system in wake of the June 30, 2021 shooting at the fair when a juvenile shot and injured two fairgoers.

The juvenile, who police said was younger than 16, was charged with two counts of malicious wounding, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and carrying a concealed weapon.

The criminal case was adjudicated in Salem Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The results of the case and the sentence handed down, if any, are not public in juvenile court cases.

The day after the 2021 shooting, fair officials quickly put security measures into place. Bag checks and metal detectors were installed at gate entries, and children younger than 18 had to be accompanied by an adult.

Those measures are being used again this year. According to the fairs website, children ages 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 25, who must carry a valid ID at all times while on the fairgrounds.

Carey Harveycutter, Salems veteran tourism director, facilities manager and fair director said that adults wont have to show their ID unless theres an issue or unless they carry a concealed weapon, which will be allowed for those with a permit.

If you come through the metal detector, and it comes off on you, you have to go over and meet the police officer and show him your concealed carry permit, Harveycutter said.

There will be metal detectors for all three of the fairs gate entries. The main entry will have three detectors, and each of the other two entries will have one.

Each of those units can handle 1,500 people an hour, Harveycutter said. Its state of the art. Its not like the little box that you walk through when you go in the courthouse, which can do about 500.

This years fair will also feature new front gate entry patterns.

Weve changed the entrance way, Harveycutter said. Theres a fence down the middle. Now, youll come through, youll get the metal detector, and then youll come through and get your ticket. If you exit, youll exit out the right side. Youll enter on the other side coming in.

The fair manager said the fairs perimeter will be completely fenced this year, too.

We were 90% fenced last year. There was one little hole, but to get through that hole, you had to go through the petting zoo and most people, if theyre trying to do something, theyre not going to run through a petting zoo, Harveycutter said. But its all fenced this year.

City and state police officers will patrol the fairgrounds alongside security personnel from Ronk Security Solutions LLC, an active shooter training company based in South Carolina.

They provide security services to the South Carolina State Fair, Harveycutter said. We visited there last year, [Civic Facilities Director Wendy Delano] and I and one or two of our police captains, and met with them and talked about security and issues they had.

The combined security forces will use a variety of strategies to patrol and observe the fairgrounds.

We have foot patrol. We have bike patrol on the grounds. Well have a dog or two here on the grounds. There are stations, towers for the police to get into when theres large crowds, so they can see up above the crowd, Harveycutter said. There are cameras at various strategic points. Theres also a certain segment of undercover officers on grounds that wont necessarily be as visible.

Delano said its important that fairgoers notice the police presence on site.

We want people to see them, because that gives them a sense of security to see them. And then it also deters. Its a win-win to have them out here, she said. We dont want to scare people from coming here by having too much. You can be overprotective, and then people are going to walk around in fear. Its got to be that right balance.

In last years shooting, Salem police Officer Jonathan Detzler saw the suspect with a gun in hand and played a key role in arresting him.

I had just been on six hours of traffic duty when I arrived at the fairgrounds, Detzler said in a press release. As we were approaching the tower, we heard three loud pops in succession.

He and another officer were walking to an observation post on the fairs midway when they heard shots fired, Detzler said. They initially thought the pops were coming from a balloon game.

We were right beside that game, but as I turned around, I saw a juvenile with a gun in his hand and he was pointing it into the crowd, Detzler said. When he saw me, he stumbled back, put the gun in his pocket and started running.

Detzler relayed a description of the juvenile to fellow officers and kept track of the suspect, weaving through a crowd of fairgoers entering the midway, allowing Salem police to arrest the suspect.

I didnt realize how bad the incident could have been until we did our debriefing meeting, Detzler said. I wish I could tell you why I didnt hesitate, but I think my training and instincts just took over. I feel very fortunate that he did not shoot at me and that I did not have to draw my gun on a juvenile.

Delano said Salems response to last years shooting helped to improve security measures at other fairs in the region.

Were one of the earlier fairs, really, in sort of this touring area, she said. Had we not responded the way that we did, and handled it as professionally as we did, [others] probably wouldnt have been able to have their fair. They called us for advice afterwards to figure out how they could make things safe for their communities, as well.

There are still some concerns, however.

Are we worried that it could happen again? Sure. But have we put the right measures in place and are we doing everything we can? Yes, Delano said. I think weve got a good plan in place. And weve got some strong backing with the police department and the security consultant. I just feel like were ready for people to come and enjoy it. Hopefully, the people that come out are the ones who want to enjoy it and arent here coming to create issues.

And if they want to create issues, the appropriate action will be taken by the police, Harveycutter added.
Nobody looks at the Jefferson Memorial and thinks that we put that memorial up because we wanted to honor slavery or promote it.

Travis Brintons statement to the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Board went straight to the heart of the issue surrounding a request by some citizens to change the name of the library because Jefferson and Madison enslaved people. Brinton did not lecture the Black supporters of the name change paternalistically as a couple of White opponents did, reminding people of color that Blacks in Africa enslaved their own kind and sold them to slave traders, as if blaming Black people for slavery excused Jeffersons and Madisons behavior. Brinton also did not make support for the name change the litmus test for racism one Black speaker implied, when she spoke of White comfort and said she was ashamed of the White people in this room.

The sometimes tense 90-minte exchange of viewpoints Monday was useful in that it provided a forum for all those who wanted to be heard. But in the end, the legal restrictions of a name change appeared to all but exclude the ability of the library board to change the name even if it wanted to. The regional library contract apparently requires name changes to be approved by the Charlottesville City Council, and the Boards of Supervisors of Albemarle, Greene, Nelson, and Louisa Counties. Louisas supervisors already expressed opposition to the name change. The odds against getting five yes votes are nearly impossible.

So it seems like the name of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will remain. But the attitudes surrounding it must change. As one library board member suggested, though the board does not control the name, it can offer information that gives context to what Jefferson and Madison did.

Do that immediately. Dont wait for the name controversy to run its months-long course.

The right wing conservatives who threw out the Republican buzzword woke to discredit as radicals people who felt injured by the library name were, frankly, disgusting. They politicized the issue in a way that did absolutely no favors to Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. This includes the Louisa supervisors who talked of withdrawing from the library and taking roughly $400,000 in funding with them if the name changed. That move was little more than a way to put supporters of the name changemost of them Blackin their place. Sadly, the language of the contract turns out to be on the side of their political power play.

Descendants of enslaved people have relatives who never enjoyed the principles of freedom that Jefferson professed in the Declaration of Independence and Madison espoused in the Constitution. As Myra Anderson, whose relatives were enslaved at Monticello, noted, the fact that Jefferson and Madison owned slaves helped put Black people on a trajectory to struggle. Anderson wanted the library board to stop honoring a legacy of racism.

We agree that racism cannot be honored, including by ignoring it, as many Republican politicians, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, try to do. But as we have said in this space before, while Jefferson and Madison were fallible, they ultimately were not failures. Both opposed slavery, and though they could not end the institution and chose not to free their own slaves, their principles set abolition in motion.

Brinton, a young Charlottesville lawyer, drove that message home. He talked about a debate he had with an attorney who opposed the removal of the Stonewall Jackson statue from city property.

We memorialize [people] because of what their legacy means, Brinton told the library board. Stonewall Jacksons statue needed to be removed because whatever his personal virtues or integrity may have been, even if I dont argue with that, hes only significant to history as a defender of slavery. Thats the only reason that anybody ever made a statue of him.

The same could be said of Robert E. Lee, whose planned statue removal helped trigger the racist Unite the Right rally of Neo-Nazi White nationalists in Charlottesville in 2017. The disposition of Lees statue remains the subject of a law suit by a group that wants to preserve it, even though Lee, like Jackson, fought to preserve slavery.

Here is Jeffersons legacy inscribed on the inside of the memorial in the nations capital that honors him:

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism.
An independent candidate for Oregon governor has a new moniker for the states most populous city: the city of roaches.

Gubernatorial candidate and former senator Betsy Johnson made the comment to a New York Times editor, referring to Portlands battle with homelessness and crime.

Her statements appeared in a June 28 newsletter that explored Oregons political landscape as a barometer of potential Democratic losses nationwide. The newsletter included an interview with Johnson.

You can see the deterioration of the beautiful City of Roses, now the city of roaches, Johnson was quoted as saying, riffing on Portlands moniker.

Johnson, who is running as an independent candidate in the November election, is one of many candidates who has zeroed in on Portland as an example of failed policies or action.

Betsy made a quip about the city of Portland which resonates with a lot of people, Jennifer Sitton, Johnsons communications director, told Pamplin Media Group on Tuesday. What Betsy has been saying for months is that Oregon cannot succeed if Portland fails and, as detailed in the NYT piece, only 8% of residents think that Portland is on the right track.

In a campaign speech on her website, Johnson accuses Gov. Kate Brown, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Johnsons Democratic opponent, Tina Kotek, of bridging the urban-rural divide by unifying Oregonians in mutual frustration with their leaders and their government.

Right now, Portland is failing, Johnson said. I dont think any problem demonstrates the need better to change Oregons politics than the failure to solve homelessness on our streets.

She stressed getting unhoused people into shelters utilizing police, addiction treatment services and mental health services. Democrats are right that we need compassion, services and housing, Johnson said in a campaign video. But Republicans are also right that we need more personal responsibility, accountability, and no more tent cities.

But critics say Johnsons latest remark about Portland was callous, equating unhoused people with vermin that need to be cleaned up, rather than humans in crisis.

Unfortunately her comments are very reminiscent and in some cases identical to comments weve heard that dehumanize whole sets of people, Marisa Zapata, director of Portland State Universitys Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative. It goes beyond an oversimplification, but it completely erases their humanity. Its deeply upsetting to have somebody using that language to describe people who are living their lives the best they can. Its especially upsetting to have someone whos been in a position of leadership in our state talk about future constituents this way.

Zapata noted that the term cockroaches has been used historically to demonize marginalized groups in society.

The city of Portland, along with economic and tourism groups, has been actively involved in campaigns to bring shoppers and tourists back to downtown Portland and help businesses crippled by the pandemic and repeated vandalism.

They say Johnson's comments aren't helping.

"It's easy to articulate the challenges Portland is facing," Mayor Ted Wheeler said. "We need a governor who will partner with us to help find solutions and fight for Portland  not disparage and write us off.

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree amending the "Rules for recalculating labor pensions of civil servants", approved by the Presidential Order No. 194 dated February 7, 2005, Trend reports.

to be updated
Colorado officials have not detected any community transmission among the handful of monkeypox cases identified here thus far, and the bulk of
Telenor subsidiary Digi and Axiata received approval from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to merge their operations, after making concessions to address competition concerns.

In a statement, Telenor said it had addressed preliminary concerns to ensure Malaysia continues to benefit from effective competition.

The merged company will sell back 70MHz of spectrum across the 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz, and 2,600MHz bands to the commission. The first band (1,800MHz) will be returned to the MCMC within 24 months after the merger, and 36 months for the latter two.

A separate independent wholesale business with be established within six months of the merger to ensure the continued access to wholesale services for MVNOs with deals that are no worse off than existing agreements.

Celcoms MVNO Yoodo will have to be sold off after the merger, non-exclusive distributors in the regions of Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu will continue to see service, and the Celcom and Digi brands must be merged into a single brand two years after.

The company will also invest up to MYR250 million (US$56m) over five years to construct an innovation centre in Kuala Lumpur, which will be pivoted to advancing 5G AI and IoT technology. Local start-ups can also leverage the centre to boost their own operations.

Telenor said the next step for the merger will be the approval of the Securities Commission, stock exchange Bursa Malaysia, and both Axiata and Digi shareholders.

Telenor Asia head and EVP Jorgen Arentz Rostrup said: We have reached a positive milestone in the Malaysian merger process with this regulatory clearance. We are excited to move towards realising the full potential of bringing these two companies together, establishing a commercially stronger and more resilient digital service provider.

With the proposed structural moves in Thailand and Malaysia, Telenor has a clear ambition to create future-fit companies that can better support ambitious national digital aspirations and bring new, advanced services to consumers across the region.

Buddecom noted the merger will be beneficial for Malaysia's highly competitive telecoms market.
Cash-strapped Zambian state-run telecoms firm Zamtel, which provides a range of services including landline, mobile, FttH and ADSL, is reportedly for sale, though this has been denied by at least one senior government figure.

A report in the Lusaka Times suggests that Zamtel Chief Executive Officer Joshua Malupenga told staff last week that the Zambian government had already found an (unnamed) equity partner to run the company and that job losses were inevitable. The target date for the sale was August, given the urgent need to reduce the burden of managing Zamtels losses.

These losses are significant. Science and Technology Minister Felix Mutati has suggested that some US$265 million investment is needed simply to keep the company going, but that it also has a debt in the region of around US$175.4 million, a long-standing $500 million debt owed to Libyan company Lapgreen, and other liabilities. Some 90 percent of Zamtels revenue is apparently being used for administrative expenses.

Mutati noted that the government had no intention of recapitalising the company as it is prioritising other areas such as education and health.

However, Mutati himself has also apparently said that no partner has yet been identified because a working group, which will look at Zamtel issues and make a proposal on the way forward, has not yet met.

If an equity partner is not announced soon, however, given the enormous debts the company has incurred, not to mention the infusion of investment it urgently needs, getting rid of it quickly may be difficult.
South Africa: Small business urged to apply for support

Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has encouraged small business in townships and rural areas to apply for support through the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP).

We are deliberate in addressing unemployment and poverty but we also have a responsibility to grow the economy, Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

Addressing the SheTradesZA Youth Seminar on Wednesday in Pretoria, the Minister said the maximum value of TREP stands at R1 million, with one component being a grant and the other a loan.

The TREP is a dedicated programme to transform and integrate opportunities in townships and rural areas into productive business ventures. The focus is to create platforms that provide business support infrastructure and a regulatory environment that enables entrepreneurs to thrive, Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

Township or rural-based entrepreneurs can apply for support, including funding, through the common application template from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA), National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

Owners of the business must be South African nationals.

The following schemes are available for qualifying entrepreneurs:

Small-Scale Bakeries and confectioneries support programme

Autobody repairers and mechanics support programme (as well as small and independent auto-spares shops and informal automotive entrepreneurs)

Butcheries support programme

Clothing, leather and textiles support programme

Personal care support programme

Spaza-shop support programme

Tshisanyama and cooked food support programme

Registration can be done on https://smmesa.gov.za/ and complete the information required.

In an effort to ensure the funding processes for small business is seamless and user friendly, government is working toward merging entities for small businesses to form one agency.

We are currently in the process of merging SEFA and SEDA as well as the Co-operative Banks Development Agency.

As many of you noted, during his State of the Nation Address, President Cyirl Ramaphosa announced the appointment of a red tape Tsar, to assist us to coordinate between stakeholders, to make it easier to start and conduct business and to grow our economy, the Minister said.

Government continues to prioritise small businesses

Ndabeni-Abrahams said through various initiatives, government has assisted the small business sector to grow and create much needed employment.

The Department of Small Business Development and SEDA formed a partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), in order to bring the SheTrades programme to South Africa, and create a SheTradesZA hub.

The programme aims to empower women-owned enterprises to trade locally, regionally, and internationally. The hub supports strengthening the business skills and competitiveness of at least 10,000 South African women entrepreneurs over a four-year period, the Minister said.

Nearly 3000 South African women entrepreneurs are already registered on the SheTradesZA Hub and receive free e-learning and capacity building.

The SheTradesZA Hub will also improve access to investment for women-owned enterprises and promote business opportunities.

The department and SEDAs involvement in the She-Trades Hub demonstrates our commitment to developing and ensuring economic empowerment of women in South Africa.

We also have the Youth Challenge Fund (YCF), which is a youth start-up support programme intended to stimulate the establishment and growth of youth-owned businesses, promote digital skills, grow the economy and foster job creation, the Minister said.

She said the R2 billion SEFA funding envelope will see over R200 million disbursed in each province and slightly more for the poorer rural provinces such as Limpopo, the Free State, the North West, the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and the Northern Cape.

This R2 billion is expected to support 84 831 small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) and co-operatives creating 104 968 jobs, Ndabeni-Abrahams said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-06-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has said that the Armenian military-political leadership bears full responsibility for aggravating situation on the state border, Azernews reports per the ministry.

The ministry stated on its website that during the night of June 29, the Armenian military units from their positions in the direction of Basarkechar regions Zarkand and Azizli settlements using various calibres of weapons subjected to intense fire the Azerbaijani army positions located in Kalbajar regions Yukahri Ayrim village.

Units of the Azerbaijani army took appropriate retaliatory measures to suppress the opposite side, the report added.

It should be noted that Armenia periodically shells Azerbaijani military positions on its liberated territories. The previous truce violation was recorded on June 24 on the state border in Lachin.

To recap, on May 22, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Charles Michel, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels. After the meeting, Michel said that Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a number of key issues, including the creation of border delimitation commissions, of which the first meeting was held on May 24.

Earlier, Ilham Aliyev stated that peace will return to the Caucasus based on the five principles Baku recently proposed for normalizing relations with Armenia.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent inflammatory comments accusing Azerbaijan of planning a new war in the region was categorically repudiated by official Baku.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stressed that if Armenia truly desires peace, it must demonstrate political will and take genuine efforts toward peace, rather than waste time resurrecting the format of which the efficiency was always poor, and this has now been publicly admitted.

We remind PM Pashinyan that Azerbaijan has been a supporter and initiator of the normalization of relations between the two countries after the liberation of its territories, despite the aggressive policy and the approach of 'destroying everything' applied by Armenia for decades. The President of Azerbaijan proposed to sign a peace agreement based on strict adherence to the principles of international law in the post-conflict phase. The Azerbaijani side even presented to the other side the fundamental principles on which the agreement should be based. If Azerbaijan wanted a war, as Pashinyan claims, these steps would probably not be needed. If Azerbaijan wanted a fight, it would not have made great efforts to rebuild and restore the territories destroyed by Armenia for 30 years, the ministry stressed.
Thirteen years ago, Walter Hill stepped on the stage of Samford University and produced his first Miss Alabama State Pageant  as it was called then. And, there it began.

So, what would this centennial show be like? How could Hill top these last 12 years?

It has been extra special to plan this years pageant, Hill of Dothan said. There was no way to involve every former Miss Alabama that could attend but we will present them all on stage on the final night. Throughout the four nights, approximately 20 former Miss Alabamas will be involved in some way in the show.

Hill, who serves as executive director of the Wiregrass United Way, said it has been great communicating with so many past winners while preparing for the 2022 competition.

Some of them are coming back for the first time in a while since they live farther away now, he said.

Preliminary competitions for the 2022 Miss Alabama competition will be held June 29-July 1 with finals and crowning on July 2 at the Wright Center at Samford University in Birmingham. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Miss Alabama office at 205-871-6276.

Tammy Little Haynes, Miss Alabama 1984, will emcee the Miss Alabama competition on Friday evening. Haynes said she was excited to receive the call from Hill to be involved in the centennial year event.

I am a product of this system because it is where I developed my talent and skills to be successful as an entertainer and a spokesperson, Haynes said. It has given me valuable friendships and memories that I just cant put a price on. I give God the glory for my talent to sing. I am thankful my parents instilled in me qualities of showing compassion to others and having a servants heart. I am so excited to see what Walter has prepared.

Another past winner said she is honored to perform her Miss Alabama talent for Saturday nights show during preliminaries.

I was crowned Miss Alabama 44 years ago and won talent each time I sang this piece of music, Teresa Cheatham Crosby, Miss Alabama 1978, said. After I competed and returned home to Alabama, I retired my piece and sang it no more except for very special occasions. On Saturday night, I will pull the song out one last time and give all I have to my Miss Alabama family. I am privileged that Walter asked me to entertain for this centennial competition along with this elite group of women, who have used the power of the crown to touch lives, improve life around them, and serve wherever they have been with dignity and honor.

Ten years after her Miss Alabama win in 2012, Anna Laura Bryan Strider will kick off the Thursday night preliminary competition by performing the national anthem. Its special, she said, to come full circle for both her 10-year anniversary and the pageants 100th anniversary.

Walter truly sets the bar for state competitions, Strider said. His concepts are fantastic and he has built a fabulous team to help bring his vision to life every year. I remember sitting in rehearsal for the 2012 competition and watching the lead vocalist, most of whom were former Miss Alabamas, practice. I remember thinking, If I dont win Miss Alabama, maybe Ill get lucky and Walter will ask me to be one of the featured entertainers.

Callie Walker, Miss Alabama 2018, will emcee one of the preliminary nights.

The Miss Alabama production is unlike any other, and I think thats because Walter Hill puts so much love into this program, Walker said. I especially love that he always invites former Miss Alabamas back to make each Miss Alabama Week all the more special. I cant wait to be a part of the show this year as we crown a new sister during the 100th Anniversary Celebration.

Hill said he and his wife, Melanie, have made a lot of friends over the years he has produced the pageant.

It is a family reunion  our pageant family reunion, and we cant wait, Hill said.
Alabama counties must return any extra money to property owners when they sell buildings for overdue taxes, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled late last week.

This state has long recognized a property owners right to the excess funds generated from a tax sale of his or her property, the court stated in its ruling Friday, adding that the state constitution emphasizes the role of the government in protecting life, liberty and property.

The case involved two businesses from Shelby and Calhoun counties that fell behind on real estate taxes for buildings they owned. The counties kept the excess profits from tax sale auctions.

The states top court clarified that the owners have a right to the equity in their property beyond the debts they owe for overdue taxes.

The decision may impact the future ability of Alabamians living in poverty to keep some equity from their homes when they fall behind, depending on further litigation at the county level.

Will Hereford, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said statewide, thousands of homeowners have fallen behind on property taxes and lost the equity in their homes. Most of them are elderly or poor, he said. This ruling may provide a basis for a class-action lawsuit to recover the lost equity.

Everybody wants to pay their taxes if they can. For properties sold its going to impact the poorest, generally, of property owners, he said.

The ruling applies to Alabama properties sold before August 2013, when the state legislature amended the law to require landowners to redeem proprieties sold at tax auctions to receive any of the extra profits from the sale.

In a similar suit pending in Jefferson County, Hereford represents a larger group of property owners that were not able to recover the value of their homes after tax sales through last year.

Attorneys representing the defendants, officials from Calhoun and Shelby counties, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from AL.com

In 2010, Shiloh Creek, LLC, a real estate developer, fell behind on $1,882.73 in taxes. The following year, the county sold the property at a tax sale for $25,882.73, keeping the extra $24,000. In 2014, Shiloh Creek transferred interest in the in property to Jack Investment Partners, LLC.

In 2008, James Douglas, a real estate investor and the principal agent for Strategic Municipal Funding, LLC, did not pay taxes on two properties in Calhoun County. One sold for a surplus of $16,939.96 and the other for $9,185.35.

In both cases, the owners attempted to claim the excess proceeds from the sales of their properties and were denied the funds by the counties.

A trial court ruled in 2018 that the property owners were not entitled to excess funds from the sale following 2014 and 2017 amendments by the state legislature to Alabama law that required landowners to redeem property within three years of the tax sale to be entitled to funds generated at a tax sale.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a non-profit libertarian group, joined with Legal Services Alabama, a non-profit focused on advocating for social justice issues, to write an amicus brief in the case.

The Foundation called the counties practice of keeping the funds home equity theft, and said it is unconstitutional and predatory.

The Alabama Supreme Court took a strong stand for property rights, said attorney Laura DAgostino in a statement Monday about the decision. It held that the government could not exploit tax sales to make windfall profits at the expense of the homeowners in this case.

According to the Foundation, there are at least 11 states nationwide that have similar laws to Alabamas.

An 1898 Alabama Supreme Court ruling involving a dispute over the sale of a mule formed part of the basis for Fridays decision, the court stated.

An Alabamian named James Cannon owned a mule that he mortgaged to Collins Brothers & Co. to secure a debt. A tax collector seized the mule and both parties claimed the surplus from the sale, after the payment of the debt.

We think it clear that the plaintiffs were entitled to the money. They were the legal owners of the mule, the state supreme court said in its ruling.

In its ruling Friday, the court also referred to the importance of English common law in Alabama law and the protections of private property in the Magna Carta.

We conclude that the right of a property owner to recover excess funds that are generated from a tax sale is a vested right that existed at common law, the court stated in its ruling. Property rights are common rights.
Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey has requested a second hearing before an Alabama Republican Party committee, asking it to reverse its decision that resulted in a tie in his state Senate race against Sen. Tom Whatley of Auburn.

Whatley opposes that and wants to proceed with a coin flip to settle the race.

Hovey defeated Whatley by a single vote in the May 24 primary, according to vote totals certified in Lee, Russell, and Tallapoosa counties on May 31.

The state GOPs 21-member canvassing committee met Saturday and decided to count the provisional ballot of a Tallapoosa County woman who had intended to register before the primary when she applied for her drivers license but did not complete the process, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Hovey said a statement that ALEA released Sunday night that the woman did not complete the voter registration process or drivers license process verified that she was not registered and her vote should not have counted.

We presented our version of why that provisional ballot should not be counted on Saturday in the hearing and it was pretty cut and dried to us, Hovey said. She was not a registered voter. Intent does not equal completion of that application. And so we thought it was a pretty cut and dried issue.

The party decided otherwise and in doing so really belabored the point that the system failed this voter and the system was flawed and made mistakes. And we were pleased that ALEA came to their own defense, frankly, and argued otherwise.

ALEAs statement on Sunday night said the woman did not sign the required document, so her registration information was not forwarded. The information goes to the county board of registrars, which registers voters.

Voter registration information from ALEAs Driver License Division is only sent after the credential is issued and the customer signs the required voter declaration, which did not occur in this specific incident, the statement said, in part.

Attorneys for Hovey filed the request for a new hearing on Tuesday. Hovey said Wednesday he has not heard a response from the party.

As of Tuesday, Republican Party Chair John Wahl said the party intended to settle the race by a coin flip. Wahl said he was trying to set up a time and place suitable for both candidates.

Joel Blankenship, an attorney for Whatley, released a statement Wednesday.

We stand by the decision of the Alabama Republican Party. Lets flip the coin, Blankenship said.

Secretary of State John Merrill said Wednesday the vote in question was not a legally cast ballot because the voter was not registered on May 24.

But Merrill also said the state GOP did not break the law by declaring the tie because he said parties have full discretion in picking their nominees.

Whatleys campaign had earlier released a statement about the vote in question and its reason for believing it should count. The statement was written before Saturdays hearing.

The statement said Patsy Kenney of Dadeville went with her husband to the drivers license office in Opelika on April 28 and that both intended to register to vote as well as receive their Alabama drivers licenses. They had moved back to Alabama from Georgia.

The Officer asked if they both wanted to register to vote through motor voter, they both replied yes, and the Officer entered all their relevant information straight into her computer, the statement said. Both of the Kenneys left ALEA thinking that they were both registered to vote.

The statement said Kenney, her husband, and father-in-law went to vote on May 24 and Kenney was told her name was not on the voter rolls. So she filled out a provisional ballot. She learned a week later that it did not count, according to the statement. Boards of registrars in each county review provisional ballots after every election to see if they are valid. They make a recommendation to the countys canvassing board, which certifies the official vote a week after the election, in this case on May 31.

The statement from the Whatley campaign said Kenneys voter registration card was put in the mail to her on June 3.

As far as anyone can tell, Mrs. Kenneys voter registration application was completed and submitted on April 28, 2022, the statement said. By law ALEA has 10 days to forward voter registration information to the county registrar.

ALEA, in its statement Sunday night, said Kenneys voter registration application was not completed.

Hovey said the state Republican Party needs to show it stands for election integrity, a major theme expressed by the party since losing the 2020 presidential election.

My only wish is that my party, the Republican Party, stands by their longstanding pledge to fight for voter and election integrity and reverse their decision to accept an illegal vote, Hovey said.
In contrast to the U.S. Supreme Courts rulings on controversial issues such as abortion and prayer at a public school function, the Alabama Supreme Courts recent work seems downright pedestrian.

However, its ruling last week in a case about proceeds of tax sales and property owners rights will have significant consequences for those who find themselves in those circumstances.

The case involved two Alabama businesses with overdue property taxes for which the counties seized the property and sold it to cover the overdue tax bill.

The properties in question were sold for an amount greater than taxes owed, and the county governments kept the excess revenue, denying claims from the property owners for the proceeds.

Common sense suggests that wrong, and the states high court agreed  even tracing its logic back to the Magna Carta:

We conclude that the right of a property owner to recover excess funds that are generated from a tax sale is a vested right that existed at common law, the court stated in its ruling. Property rights are common rights.

Along similar lines, perhaps the court could next explore situations in which a person is arrested and their property and assets are seized, but if charges are dropped or they are acquitted at trial, their property or assets are not returned. Thats wrong, too, but still occurs in some cases.
Foreign tourist number in H1 recovers to 7 pct of pre-pandemic levels

Russia tourists at a beach in Cam Ranh in central Vietnam, November 2021. Photo courtesy of Cam Ranh Rivera Beach Resort

Vietnam received 602,000 foreign arrivals in the first half of this year, around 7 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The figure grew 6.8 times against the same period last year when Vietnam still maintained entry restrictions, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Most visitors arrived by air, accounting for over 87 percent of the total, up 9.4 times against the same period of last year.

Vietnam's tourism recovery this year has been driven mainly by Asian visitors who account for nearly 65 percent of total foreign arrivals, or 392,000.

Officials said the lifting of entry restrictions and resumption of regular flights to over 20 international markets have boosted the country's tourism recovery.

Many of Vietnam's biggest cities have witnessed a tourism boom after nearly two years.

The number of tourist arrivals to Hanoi in the January-June period increased by three times year-on-year to 8.61 million, including 211,000 foreigners.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern metropolis, received 478,000 foreign tourists, up 100 percent.

Starting March 15, the country allowed quarantine-free entry and resumed pre-pandemic visa exemption policy for citizens from 24 countries, including Japan, South Korea and European economies.

However, the government currently only issues one-month single-entry visa to visitors from other countries, and has not resumed issuing three-month visas as before the pandemic.

Travel firms complained unfriendly visa policies are still the biggest barrier for Vietnam's tourism recovery.

Vietnam targets five million foreign tourists this year, around 30 percent of the foreign arrivals in 2019.
Empty shelves show a shortage of baby formula at a CVS store in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. May 10, 2022. Photo by Reuters

The past few months have been a nightmare for Nguyen Thu Hien, who has been struggling to get infant formula amid a shortage plaguing the U.S.

Since April stores and retailers in the area have gradually been running out of formula. To feed her 10-month-old son, Hien has been visiting Target, Walgreens and other stores far away from home, some even two hours away, only to find shelves that used to be filled with formula bare.

Last weekend the 28-year-old rushed to a pharmacy 30 minutes away from her home in Anaheim, California State, after a friend called to tell her she saw it stocking baby formula. Fortunately, she was able to get one small tin.

"But it is only enough to feed my baby for a week," Hien, who has difficulties breastfeeding, lamented.

"I feel helpless when I can't even get the most basic product to keep my baby fed and nourished."

There is similar frustration throughout the country as a baby formula shortage grips the U.S.

Formula is the only option for many parents who cannot produce enough milk to meet their child's requirements.

Others choose not to breastfeed due to pain or discomfort, while some are away from their children for the majority of the day due to work. Women who adopt children or use a surrogate are also unable to produce milk.

The U.S. has been in the grip of a severe shortage for the last few months. A shortage caused by Covid-related supply chain issues erupted into a full-fledged crisis after Abbott Laboratories, maker of Similac and specialty hypoallergenic formulas, closed its Michigan plant in February following reports of bacterial infection in children who consumed its products.

Despite the government's emergency response over the last month, which included flying in formula from abroad and relaxing regulatory restrictions, the supply situation is worsening.

Inventories are hitting new lows, according to data shared with CNN by market research firm Information Resources Incorporated (IRI).

More than 21 percent of formula products - powder, ready-to-drink and liquid  were unavailable during the week ending June 19 compared with a typical 10 percent rate until a nationwide infant formula recall by Abbott Nutrition in February.

Rates for powder formula were even worse, with IRI data showing that more than 27 percent of products were out of stock.

In Fairfax, Virginia State, Nguyen Quynh Trang is using the last can of baby formula for her 13-month-old son. She has called stores and suppliers all over the D.C. area to ask about new shipments.

"I want to get a new tin before the current one runs out next week, I am desperate," she said.

The 27-year-old has visited many supermarkets in the last few weeks to look for formula but has found only empty shelves.

Top retailers like Target, CVS and Walgreens have limited the number of tins people can buy to ensure there is enough to go around, but there was none when Trang went.

Cans of Enfamil baby formula, produced by Mead Johnson, on partially empty shelves in a Target store, amid continuing nationwide shortages in infant and toddler formula, in San Diego, California, U.S., May 25, 2022. Photo by Reuters

Online, private sellers are gouging desperate mothers, demanding double or triple the normal price.

Tran Thu Linh of Seattle, Washington state, spends hours driving around to various cities looking for baby formula. She also tries to buy online, but products are out of stock on Amazon and other e-commerce sites.

The sight of empty grocery store shelves is an "unwelcome reminder" of the pandemic's early days for her.

Linh also seeks the help of family members and friends living in various places, telling them to pre-purchase or notify her if they see it at their stores.

"If I'm lucky, I might find one on my fourth or fifth attempt.

"There have been weeks when I could not find any, making me feel despressed when I go home empty-handed," the mother of a six-month-old said with a sigh.

In Texas, Thao Nguyen has to go to the supermarket early in the morning to hunt for milk for her baby.

"The supermarket opened at 7 a.m., but the shelves were empty when I reached there at 7:30.

"Five more people were looking for baby formula."

Many people, including Nguyen, have also resorted to trying their luck on social media.

She made a post on Facebook in early June and received responses from people who had a lot of tins of formula and were willing to share or had switched to another type of milk and had leftovers.

Linh too tried this out: "Like me, many parents have turned to Facebook for assistance."

The media has been reporting about people seeking to profiteer, exacerbating the shortage for others.

"The lack of baby formula is taking a huge emotional and financial toll on many concerned parents like me," Linh said.

Some people have turned to the black market, ordering online European brands that are not allowed to be legally imported into the U.S.

Authorities have repeatedly warned against buying milk that has not been approved for sale in the country

Customs officials seized US$30,000 worth of European formula last year, claiming it lacked appropriate nutritional labeling and could not be guaranteed as safe.

Le Thanh Huong of California, who has a 15-month-old son, said: "Do I have any option? I can't let my baby go hungry."

The government has launched Operation Fly Formula to import more formula, but stocks are not improving. According to experts, it will take at least a couple of months for this to change as supply levels and consumer perceptions level out.

Meanwhile, Hien has asked her family in Vietnam to send some formula for her infant.

"I have to wait for an acquaintance to fly them to the U.S. in August. I have to feed my baby less until then."
In 2022, the DPRK has launched 31 ballistic missiles, including six intercontinental ballistic missiles, an intermediate-range ballistic missile, and at least two claimed hypersonic glide vehicles. All these launches violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions. In addition, reports indicate that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct a nuclear test for the first time in five years.



In the face of these provocations, the United States introduced a resolution at the Security Council in May strengthening sanctions on the DPRK over its ballistic missile launches. However, for the first time in 15 years, a dangerous division occurred in the Security Council regarding the DPRK. While thirteen members voted in favor of the resolution; Russia and the Peoples Republic of China, two permanent members of the Council, voted to veto it, ensuring its defeat.



On June 8th, at a discussion of the UN General Assembly over the vetoes cast by Russia and the PRC, Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Senior Advisor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said the vetoes showed implicit approval of the DPRKs dangerous and destabilizing actions: Thirteen Council members chose to send a strong message to the DPRK that its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile development will not be tolerated and to send a signal to all proliferators that there should be consequences for their behavior. Two did not.



Ambassador DeLaurentis noted that earlier this year, Russia and the PRC pledged a no limits partnership.



We hope these vetoes are not a reflection of a partnership elevated above the collective interest of this body, or of the multilateral institutions mandated to ensure the safety and security of us all, he said.



The United States has repeatedly made clear that it seeks dialogue with Pyongyang without preconditions, and the commitment to a diplomatic path with the DPRK remains. The United States has also made clear that, together with its allies, it will maintain a strong deterrent capacity and will seek implementation of all multilateral and unilateral sanctions.



At the UN, Ambassador DeLaurentis declared the United States will continue to work regularly, diligently, and transparently with the Security Council, our allies and partners, and all Member States who seek to stop the DPRKs unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs and uphold the values of nonproliferation.
ELKO  The Silver State Stampede Rodeo Board has recently teamed up with the Man Up Crusade to bring Purple Night to the Silver State Stampede on Friday, July 8.

The Man Up Crusade is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating public awareness on the issue of domestic violence. The Man Up Crusade chose professional rodeo and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) as its vehicle of choice to spread the word about the epidemic of domestic violence and teen dating violence.

Organizers of the Silver State Stampede Rodeo have dedicated, Friday, July 8 as Man Up Crusade Purple Night. Across the nation, the color purple and the purple ribbon has been adopted to show support for victims and for advocates to honor those who have lost their lives at the hands of someone the once loved. On Purple Night all rodeo participants, fans and support personnel are encouraged to wear purple to show their support for this great cause.

The Man Up Crusade was founded in 2012 by Sheriff Kieran Donahue, Canyon County, Idaho and his wife Jeanie. Sheriff Donahue and his wife have been involved in the rodeo business for most of their lives in one facet or another and felt that the strength and old west ethics of the American Cowboy and Cowgirl would be appropriate ambassadors to take on this difficult issue.

The cowboy is an iconic image of strength and fortitude that has transcended generations not just in the west but throughout the United States and many other countries, says Donahue. That is why I felt it was so important to involve this lifestyle from the very beginning. The cowboys and cowgirls can once again lead by example and together with rodeos enduring fans show that by working together we can make a difference.

Two of professional Rodeos long time national corporate sponsors, Wrangler and Montana Silversmiths became supporters of the Man Up Crusade in 2013.

Montana Silversmiths is proud to be a sponsor of the Man Up Crusade, says Steve Miller, Former Vice President of Events. We are humbled to have the opportunity to help bring awareness to this important issue. This type of engaging program is long overdue in our society and as a company built on strength and character we are thrilled to do our part.

The Man Up Crusade encourages all rodeos they partner with to identify a charity of choice in their community to bring awareness and generate funds to those local organizations in need.

Awareness is the first step in enacting change and it is important that people understand there are programs and help available right here. Secondly, it is just as important to understand that these programs need financial assistance says, Man Up Crusade Executive Director, Jeanie Donahue.

Domestic Violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background.

Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime. National statistics on domestic violence are staggering:

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.

Every day in the United States, on average, three women and one man are killed by their intimate partner.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to womenmore than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.

Studies suggest that up to 14 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.

The Silver State Stampede Rodeo hopes you will join them on Friday, July 8th for Purple Day. The Man Up Crusade welcomes you to contact them through their website at www.manupcrusade.com For information on the Silver State Stampede Rodeo go to their website at www.silverstatestampede.com.

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In 2017, the Supreme Court decided a case that involved a school playground resurfacing program provided by the state of Missouri. Trinity Lutheran School sought a state grant, which was generally offered to other schools, but Trinity was denied funding solely because it was a religious school. The Supreme Court found in favor of the school, saying that it had every right, under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, to participate in a government benefit program without giving up its religious affiliation.

In 2020, the high court continued efforts to return the free exercise clause to the strength the Americans founders intended. The case was Espinoza v. Montana. Montana gave tax credits to donors who created scholarships for private schools, but the state refused to allow parents who received scholarships to put them toward tuition at religious schools. The Supreme Court found against Montana, saying that requiring a school to divorce itself from any religious control or affiliation in order to obtain the scholarship monies deters or discourages the exercise of First Amendment rights.

Now the new decision in Carson v. Makin, the third case in that trilogy of cases, again finds that a state-instituted program (this time in Maine) which operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

Here are the details: The state of Maine is the most rural state in the union. In some school districts, that resulted in too few students to financially justify the existence of a public secondary school. Consequently, Maine permitted those districts to provide a program of tuition assistance to families in those locations. One of the options open to parents was to choose a private school to which the publicly provided tuition monies would be sent. The Carson family and another family chose religious schools to which to send their children (Bangor Christian Schools and Temple Academy) because they lived in districts where no public secondary school existed and desired religious instruction as part of their childrens education.

Prior to 1981, the choice of a religiously affiliated school would have presented no problem, but in that year the state attorney general ruled that the practice could not continue because it amounted to an establishment of religion. The Maine legislature responded by requiring that tuition assistance payments, from then on, only go to nonsectarian schools, meaning those without a religious affiliation. The Carsons brought legal action and the case, after making its way through the lower courts, ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 6-3 decision, the high court sided with the families and against the state of Maine. The court first addressed Maines claim that if tuition were to be paid to the religious schools, that would amount to an establishment of religion. The court pointed out that in a case decided in 2002, which involved a Cleveland, Ohio voucher program, it had already held that a benefit program under which private citizens direct government aid to a religious schools wholly as a result of their own independent and private choice does not offend the Establishment Clause. The court here once again recognized that indirect aid to religious schools, selected by parents, clearly was not equivalent to an establishment of religion, by which the founders meant a tax-supported, state-mandated church.

The majority opinion, written by the Chief Justice John Roberts, went on to identify the courts cardinal principle that a state violates the free exercise clause when it excludes religious observers from otherwise available public benefits. Drawing on the Trinity playground and the Montana scholarship cases, Roberts says that though a state need not subsidize private education, if it does, it cannot disqualify some schools from those benefits because they are religious.

The Roberts opinion also disputes the claim by Justice Breyer that the courts holding in favor of the families and against Maine runs contrary to governmental neutrality on religious matters. As Roberts points out, there is nothing neutral about Maines program. The state pays tuition for certain students at private schoolsso long as the schools are not religious. That is discrimination against religion.

Maines exclusionary statutory language, which banned state aid to religious schools, harkens back to the Blaine Amendments named after Congressman James G. Blaine. At its height, over 30 states prevented public aid to sectarian schools. Originally, these provisions targeted Catholic schools, but more recently, they have targeted any religious school. The Roberts opinion effectively puts the final nail in the coffin of those types of provisions. States cannot disqualify private religious schools from being among the recipients of these public funds intended for education.

These three cases, because they widen the spectrum of parental educational choice, are especially important. Regrettably, many public schools and their boards have allowed their schools to drift into instruction that parents increasingly find runs counter to their convictions and values. This decision recognizes that parents desire and ought to have real educational alternatives.

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By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Turkmenistan is hosting the 6th Caspian littoral states summit to address cooperation and security issues of the Caspian littoral states, Azernews reports.

As part of the summit, the leaders of the five Caspian littoral states (Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran) will focus on joint cooperation and security issues, as well as will consider the ecological condition in the Caspian Sea.

On June 28, the foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states came together in Ashgabat to consider the preparations for and coordination of meetings of the state leaders.

Bilateral meetings of the presidents are also planned as part of the summit.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is also off to Ashgabat to participate in the summit. Aliyev is planned to have a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral and regional issues.

The holding of the Ashgabat Summit of the presidents of the Caspian littoral states, as well as the holding of bilateral and multilateral meetings within the framework of the summit, will contribute to the development of the five countries in trade, transit, energy, agriculture and tourism, former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pakayin said, Azernews reports, citing Trend.

Pakayin noted that these discussions would help to further enhance marine transit in the Caspian Sea via the ports of five countries. Railways might also be used to boost cargo transit between these countries.

The ex-ambassador stated that the expansion of collaboration among the Caspian littoral states' business sectors, as well as the provision of appropriate assistance and duty reductions, can help to further expand economic connections.

Former Iranian MP Gholamali Jafarzadeh also stated that the Ashgabat Summit might benefit the development of cooperation in a variety of spheres.

Jafarzadeh emphasized that this conference may be seen favourably in a variety of ways, including economic, transportation, energy, freight, and other factors. The Caspian littoral states may enhance their connections by taking use of current opportunities.

This could result in the development of those countries and the region as a whole. The summit of the Caspian littoral states will focus on the fall in the water level in the Caspian Sea and eliminate environmental problems, and appropriate steps can be taken in this direction," the MP stressed.

The Iranian foreign minister stated that Hossein Amir-Abdollahian his country supports Russia's proposal to establish a cooperation structure in the Caspian Sea.

The Iranian minister emphasized that implementation of this proposal will boost collaboration among the Caspian nations and assure long-term security.

The fifth Caspian summit was held in Aktau on 12 August 2018. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, and Russia visited Kazakhstan to sign the convention.

Ahead of the 29 June summit, the foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states met in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

The meeting was attended by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Xalaf Xalafov, Russian FM Sergei Lavrov, Turkmen FM Rashid Meredow, Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and Kazakh FM Mukhtar Tleuberdi.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), inspired by the global vision of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has bolstered the living standards of the Turkish people, according to an expert.

More and more Chinese companies have been investing in Turkey, supporting its development, especially in infrastructure, transportation, high technology and banking, Sedat Aybar, professor of economics and finance at the Istanbul-based Bahcesehir University, told Xinhua.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway linking Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, completed in 2017, has reduced cargo travel time between China and Turkey to 12 days from one month, the expert noted.

Turkey's first train loaded with goods for the Chinese market reached the northwestern Chinese city of Xi'an at the end of 2020, starting a new era in rail freight transport between Asia and Europe.

The train schedules have grown exponentially over time, boosting trade relations between Turkey and China, Aybar noted.

China has also contributed to the construction of Turkey's 1915 Canakkale Bridge, with China's Sichuan Road and Bridge Construction Group winning the steel box girder hoisting project bid.

The bridge, which spans the Dardanelles Strait and connects Europe and Asia at the western end of the Marmara Sea, was inaugurated in March.

Beyond infrastructure and transportation services, China has also invested in high technology and the financial sector, said Aybar.

Huawei Turkey launched operations in the country in 2002 to support the development of Turkey's information and communication technology ecosystem, including 5G and augmented reality.

Chinese smartphone makers, such as Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo, have also directly invested in Turkey, generating thousands of job opportunities.

The establishment of the Turkish subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has financed several major projects under the BRI since 2015, supporting Turkey's economic, industrial and social development.

Meanwhile, Aybar highlighted the breakthroughs that China has achieved in environmental protection, space, big data, global peace and stability and the fight against global poverty.

China's increased life expectancy, modern infrastructure, growing levels of education and increased access to health services are "all massive developments," he said.

"China's incredible developments would not be possible without the CPC's tremendous efforts," said Aybar.


Chairman of the HCMC People's Committee Phan Van Mai (L) and Consul General of Switzerland in HCMC Martin Urs Maier (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

At the receipt, Chairman Phan Van Mai congratulated Consul General Martin Urs Maier for a successful working term in the city and expressed his impression of the active role and contributions to connecting the enterprises' community and the people of Switzerland and HCMC.

The Chairman emphasized that HCMC Government will continue to create favorable conditions for Swiss businesses and the Swiss Consulate General in HCMC to have more achievements.

He highly appreciated and expressed his gratitude for the assistance of the international community generally and Switzerland particularly, especially the role of Swiss Consul General Martin Urs Maier in the COVID-19 fight in the city.

Mr. Phan Van Mai wished Consul General Martin Urs Maier will continue to get successes in his new role and give more contributions to the Vietnam- Switzerland friendship.

On this occasion, Chairman Phan Van Mai granted the Ho Chi Minh City Badge to the Swiss Consul General to honor positive contributions of the Consul General to the relationship between Switzerland and Ho Chi Minh City./.


A warm welcome from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh

Minister Penny Wong visited Vietnam from 26-28 June 2022 to meet Vietnams leadership and underscore the new Australian Governments priority of deeper engagement with Southeast Asia.

She also discussed the strength of the Australia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership and the broad cooperation across strategic, economic and development issues.

Minister Wong met President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Chair of the External Relations Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Le Hoai Trung. The Minister also met President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), Nguyen Xuan Thang.



On the steps of the Presidential Palace, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc thanked each other for a highly productive meeting

Together with HCMA President Nguyen Xuan Thang, Minister Wong participated in a ceremony to mark the establishment of the Vietnam Australia Centre (VAC).

The VAC, located at the HCMA, will facilitate and promote knowledge sharing between the next generation of Australian and Vietnamese leaders, and demonstrates the significant levels of trust in our bilateral relationship. Minister Wong and HCMA President Nguyen Xuan Thang joined together to launch the new VAC website, which will promote the activities of the VAC in both English and Vietnamese.



Foreign Minister Penny Wong had discussions with Le Hoai Trung, Chair of the External Relations Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

In her remarks at the HCMA, Minister Wong said: The VAC will play an important role in deepening knowledge, supporting collaboration, and building stronger people to people links. The VAC will help both our countries realise the benefits of our cooperation and partnership. This is a genuine partnership that is grounded in trust.

Minister Wong also met with development partners and businesses to better understand the challenges Vietnam faces on climate change and the transition to clean energy, and how Australia and Vietnam can meet those challenges together. During her stay, she took the opportunity to sample some Hanoian culture by sharing a bowl of pho with local Vietnamese chef Sam Tran of Gia restaurant.



Foreign Minster Penny Wong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc with their delegations at the Presidential Palace

Minister Wongs visit to Hanoi highlighted the strong and genuine connections between Australia and Vietnam and our shared vision for a stable and prosperous region./.
At the program (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

To organize the program successfully, the Malaysia  Vietnam Friendship Association connected with Malaysias Red Crescent Society and received active support of representatives of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society such as Ms. Suhana Binti Sidik, Doctor Chatichai Chong, Mr. Carrot Ho, Ms. Juosie Loo and Ms. Leah Goh and health workers.

In addition, many active voluntary women accompanied the association.

Ms. Tran Thi Chang, President of the Malaysia  Vietnam Friendship Association, said that the program attracted over 100 overseas Vietnamese people to join the medical examination program.

The members of the Executive Board of the Malaysia  Vietnam Friendship Association completed preparation work, from communications to lists of medical examiners to support overseas Vietnamese people during medical examination process.

The Malaysia  Vietnam Friendship Association and the Vietnamese Womens Association in Malaysia thanked all overseas Vietnamese people for believing the association and hoped that the overseas Vietnamese would continue to support, encourage and accompany the association in charity activity in the coming time./.
After fully opening up to tourists, Hanoi has launched many new tourism products to attract more tourists. (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)

In which, international tourist arrivals are estimated at 211,300 and domestic tourists are estimated at 8.4 million. Total revenue from tourists is estimated at 25.2 trillion VND, a more than three-fold increase year on year.

The average room occupancy in 1-5 star hotels is estimated at more than 30%, up 6.11% year on year. In June 2022 alone, the occupancy rate is estimated at 42.9%, down 2.3% compared to May but up 17.2% compared to the same period last year.

The city has also recognized three destinations: Special national relic Hai Ba Trung Temple; World Cultural Heritage in the center of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Hanoi; and Hoang Long eco-tourism site. In total, there are 24 recognized tourist zones and attractions in the capital.

In the context of reopening tourism, the city tourism industry has developed many tourism products to attract visitors, such as: Night tour at Hoa Lo Prison relic, night tour at Thang Long Imperial Citadel; the northern highland market program of the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism; chain of activities at Bao Son Paradise Park; double-decker bus Hanoi City Tour; and walking tour French architecture in the heart of Hanoi.

In addition, Hanoi also organizes many events and programs to promote tourism, attracting a large number of tourists, such as: the program Ha Noi Tourism welcomes 2022, Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival 2022, Vietnam International Travel Mart  VITM Hanoi 2022, friendship journey in 2022, the opening of Son Tay - Doai Tourism Year and the opening of Son Tay Ancient Citadel walking street./.


The meeting is part of the membership of the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), has been held in Hanoi.



General Director Duong Quyet Thang met Mr. Arjun Prasad Pokharel, Secretary of Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies

At the meeting, VBSP General Director Duong Quyet Thang sent greetings and best wishes to the senior staff of SKBBL during their visit in Vietnam, including a study trip with VBSP.

As a Government credit institution, operating for non-profit, VBSP is the largest unit providing comprehensive finance for poor households and policy beneficiaries in Vietnam. Its operation method is specific, suitable to Vietnam's political system, so far, VBSP has established nearly 200,000 savings and credit groups with nearly 11,000 commune transaction points.

With the method of serving customers at home, disbursing and collecting debts in the commune to minimize costs for the customers. Up to now, the total outstanding loans of VBSP have reached nearly VND 267 trillion with over 6.4 million active borrowers. VBSP is highly appreciated by the National Assembly of Vietnam and international organizations, contributing to the countrys overall success in poverty reduction over the past time.

General Director Duong Quyet Thang wishes that VBSP and SKBBL will continue to have a stronger relationship in the coming time.

Mr. Arjun Prasad Pokharel thanked VBSP for the warm welcome and congratulated VBSP on its achievements over the past time. The study tour at VBSP is an opportunity for the SKBBL delegation to study and exchange experiences. It is a useful basis to help SKBBL staff perform better in their work.



The workshop Sharing experiences with SKBBL Nepal in financial educ ation and digital financial services for the poor and other disadvantaged groups in Vietnam

He said that VBSPs lending to the poor and other disadvantaged groups is very effective. Experience in managing, transferring loans as well as digital finance to the poor is a lesson for microfinance institutions in many countries around the world to learn.

Within the framework of the study tour program, SKBBL's delegation will participate in the workshop on sharing experiences on financial education and digital financial services (SMS notification service, financial education application, policy credit management application, Mobile Banking digital banking application, etc.) for the poor and other disadvantaged groups; field visits to VBSP branches in Hanoi city and Bac Giang province.

Sana Kisan Bikas Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. (SKBBL) was established on July 6, 2001, getting registered under the then Company Act. It has got a license as a "D" class national level wholesale lending microfinance institution from the Central Bank of Nepal in accordance with the then Bank and Financial Institution Act (BAFIA).

SKBBL is of the conviction that poverty can be mitigated by creating and supporting community-based sustainable cooperatives owned and managed by smallholder farmers themselves at the local level. SKBBL accordingly provides wholesale credit and technical support services to Small Farmer Agricultural Cooperatives (SFACLs) in particular and all other community-based cooperatives in general./.
Textiles and garments are among Vietnams main export items to Denmark

According to statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in the first 5 months of the year, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Denmark reached about 318.53 million USD.

In which, Vietnams exports to Denmark reached about 227.2 million USD, up 53.6%, while imports from Denmark were valued at 91.33 million USD, down 14.1% from the same period last year.

Earlier, in 2021, despite many impacts from the COVID-19 epidemic, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Denmark totaled 842.37 million USD, up 18% compared to 2020.

Some of Vietnams main export items to Denmark include: textiles, garments, aquatic products, interior products made of materials other than wood, wood and wood products, machinery, equipment, and other tools and spare parts.

In contrast, Vietnam imports from Denmark machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, aquatic products, and iron and steel.

Trade relations between Vietnam and Denmark have witnessed strong development, with total bilateral trade turnover increasing by 5.8 times in the period 2000-2020.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden, concurrently with Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Latvia, the EVFTA Agreement, effective from 2021, has brought positive impacts to the two countries, further promoting Vietnam-Denmark trade relations, helping further expand the market for Vietnamese exports.

For investment, Denmark continues to rise to third among the largest investment countries in Vietnam from the beginning of 2022 to now, with 3 new projects with a total registered capital of 1.32 billion USD.

Currently, Danish businesses are very interested in investing in Vietnam in areas where Denmark has strengths, such as renewable energy, agriculture, animal husbandry and food processing./.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has stated that the strengthening of Azerbaijani-Turkish ties contributes to regional peace and prosperity, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

He made the remarks at a meeting with the Turkish Maarif (Education) Foundation Chairman Birol Akgun on June 28 in Baku.

Bayramov said that the high-level relations between Azerbaijan and brotherly Turkiye were developing in all directions and the dynamics of mutual visits were a clear indicator of this development.

Relations with Turkey are developing in both bilateral and multilateral formats, and the first meeting of the foreign and transport ministers of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkiye, in a new format, was successfully held on June 27.

Akgun, for his part, noted the successful cooperation with Azerbaijan in the education sector and informed about their future action plans. He expressed interest in continuing the successful joint activities with the Azerbaijani Education Ministry.

The sides exchanged views on issues of mutual interest on the bilateral cooperation agenda, the report concluded.
Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence Project, The Open Policy Foundation

Putin stubbornly steps on the same rake again and again, hoping that Ukrainians will meet the russian occupiers with bread and salt. Publicly despised and odious characters of Ukrainian politics are being recruited by the kremlin as anathematic ambassadors of its completely duplicitous charm offensive for peace on its own terms.

This is not about Muraev, Azarov or Portnov. russia once again bets on trying to use Viktor Yanukovych, convicted of treason, in a new geopolitical game called USSR version 2.0.

New puppeteers - new plans

For a long time, the Ukrainian question in the kremlin was overseen by Vladislav Surkov, author of the idea of "sovereign democracy." It was under his "wise" leadership that the so-called "DNR" and "LNR" (Donets Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic) were created, their leaders were appointed and changed, financial flows were distributed and the war against Ukraine was waged.

However, now, after the beginning of russia's large-scale aggression against Ukraine, after the russian occupiers were greeted not with flowers but with "Javelins" and "Stingers", Vladislav Surkov fell into disgrace. It is rumored that he is even under house arrest.

Sergey Kiriyenko has become the new curator of the Ukrainian issue in the kremlin administration. He is remembered as the head of the russian government, which led to default in 1998 and who was briefly seen as Boris Yeltsin's successor, nicknamed the "Kinder Surprise".

So with the arrival of Sergey Kiriyenko, the strategic plans for the future of Ukraine and its temporarily occupied territories, which the kremlin puppet masters paint in their painful imagination, have also changed.

The author has repeatedly written that the aggressor state does not have a clearly defined and agreed strategy for our state. putin is constantly casting Ukrainophobic ideas: supporting the existence of separate quasi-states, terrorist "LPR" and "DPR", the formation of the so-called Novorossia, the disintegration of Ukraine into russian-controlled separate state entities. The only thing that unites these plans is their absolute russo-utopianism and impossibility of implementation, because they absolutely do not correspond to the military, political and social realities of Ukraine.

However, at the present stage, the project, which according to insider information is being promoted by the first deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Sergey Kirienko, has won so far - the project of the USSR version 2.0.

The Union of Slavic States as the new USSR

putin once called the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century. In the political subconscious of the russian dictator himself and his entourage, the restoration of the Soviet Union remained forever a fixed idea, which largely determined russia's foreign policy.

Kiriyenko's plan is to the kremlin's liking. The project is full of allusions and symbolism, because the new Agreement on the Establishment of the Union of Slavic States is proposed to be signed in Puszcza Bialowiezska by the same countries that signed the agreement on the termination of the USSR - russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

But the list of signatory countries now raises only additional questions. And if russia is the engine of this process, what is the political interest in Belarus? At first glance, Ukraine's participation in general is fanciful and unrealistic to say the least.

First about Belarus.

Self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been leading putin by the nose for decades, promising to restore the Soviet Union in a new format. He even went for the formation of the Union State of russia and Belarus, which, however, has no recognition in the international arena.

Moreover, Lukashenko has not explicitly sided with russia in the russian-Ukrainian war, though it has in many ways supported it thus far, and continues feeding Moscow with constant promises. According to insider information, at a recent meeting with putin, Lukashenko received the Chinese warning about Belaruss dark future if does not go to war on russias side and sign the agreement on the creation of the USSR version 2.0.

What role is prepared for Ukraine in this game?

It seems that under no circumstances is Ukraine ready to conclude an agreement on the restoration of the USSR. Therefore, the russian project proposes to return from political obsolescence the fugitive President, sentenced to 13 years for treason and aiding russia's aggression against Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, and reimpose him as puppet-leader.

The use of a traitor was already envisaged after the start of russia's large-scale aggression. In autumn of 2021, numerous lawsuits were filed in Ukrainian courts to legitimize Viktor Yanukovych as head of state of Ukraine. He was even brought to Belarus, but something did not gel together.

According to the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Oleksii Danilov, ex-chairman of the Constitutional Court, Oleksandr Tupytskyi, who secretly fled abroad after February 24, was to take part in this process.

Now they have decided to update the plan, because both Yanukovych and Tupytskyi are in the hands of the russian secret services. They can be brought into the temporarily occupied territories, court decisions can be made to repeal the law on the removal of the fugitive prime minister and have him reinstated.

Well, then everything is clear. Under the protection of the FSO, Yanukovych is brought to Belovezhska Pushcha, where he, together with putin and the "broken" Lukashenko, will sign a new agreement on the creation of USSR version 2.0.

russian plans and the new reality

Theoretically, the implementation of the above plan is possible. It is possible that putin will really be able to "break" Lukashenko. However, so far, he has not been able to do so.

And what consequences will this have for Ukraine?

Inside our state, there are zero consequences for that. The vast majority of Ukrainians will only smile when they learn of this news and mock the name of the Ukrainian dictator-who-never-happened.

In the international arena, the consequences will also be close to zero. russia's satellites, which traditionally follow in the footsteps of its foreign policy, such as Cuba or Venezuela, are the only countries to recognize the embryonic USSR 2.0. And that's all.

So, most likely, the formation of a new union will only be recognized within russian culture as another of putin's make-believe achievements paving his way to hell.
The Georgian government has decided to ban exports of wheat and barley grown in the country effective July 4 in order to avoid an increase in shortages on the domestic market, Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia told reporters on Tuesday.

The ban will be in effect for a year, until July 4, 2023, Shamugia said.

Georgia did not export wheat in any case, but it does export barley. Up to 2,500 tonnes of this grain has been exported to Iran and Iraq since the beginning of 2022, the minister said.

Georgia has been growing about 130,000 tonnes of wheat annually in recent years, including more than 136,000 tonnes in 2021, but this only covers 15-20% of domestic demand. The country therefore imports grain, particularly wheat, from other countries, with 85-90% coming from Russia.

Due to the high duty on wheat exports from Russia, Georgia imported far less of this grain in 2021, but significantly increased imports of wheat flour.

The Agriculture Ministry expects Georgia to harvest about 60,000 tonnes of barley this year. It aims to bring the wheat harvest up to 50% of the country's needs, or about 600,000-650,000 tonnes.
The holding company UFuture intends to invest $20 million in the creation of industrial parks in Lviv, Vinnytsia and Bucha, UFuture founder Vasyl Khmelnytsky said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"I am considering plots for industrial parks, meeting with mayors. In Lviv and Vinnytsia, plots of 15 hectares, in Bucha  20 hectares. In total [estimated investment] may be $20 million," Khmelnytsky said.

In his opinion, these starting areas are too compact.

"Why is this not enough? What is 15 hectares? This is approximately eight-ten factories. And when you have built ten factories and everything is fine there, then the place becomes even more attractive every year. An investor comes in who is satisfied with the security and benefits, wants to build a factory, and you already have nothing. Therefore, industrial parks need to be created on areas of 100-200 hectares, but, unfortunately, there are not very many such sites," Khmelnytsky said.

Regarding the sources of capital during the war, he said that he was counting on his own and credit resources.

"Today, almost nothing works for me, but I still have something, because I'm a rather big businessman. I met with the bank, which also has a difficult situation, we agreed that I would pay 50% on loans. That is, I have some funds, I will take some more from the bank on credit. There are programs of 5%, 10%, 7%, this is set up for economic growth, I think it is necessary to give some soft loans," Khmelnytsky said.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia does not plan to raise tariffs for passenger transportation, the head of the board of the company, Oleksandr Kamyshin, said during a briefing on Wednesday.

"Passenger transportation tariffs will not change. This is the principled position of the authorities, and we support this position. We believe that our passengers today already travel in war conditions, and it is quite difficult for them. Many people are forced to use the railway, because air transportation is closed, road and bus transportation is complicated. And I think that this is the right position of the authorities - not to raise tariffs for passenger transportation," he said.

At the same time, Kamyshin added that the company raised tariffs more than usual for cargo transportation and, in particular, in order to prevent an increase in passenger tariffs.

"Moreover, our freight rates after growth remain significantly lower than in neighboring European countries. Even in the nearest ones, such as Romania, Moldova and Poland," the head of the board noted.

As reported, on June 28, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine agreed with the increase in tariffs for the transportation of goods by 70% from July 1 proposed by Ukrzaliznytsia.
Number of victims in Mykolaiv increased to three

The number of dead as a result of the morning shelling of Mykolaiv has increased to three people, five have already been wounded, head of Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitaliy Kim said.

"As of 8:20, there are five wounded and three dead," he wrote on the Telegram channel.

Earlier, mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Senkevych reported that in the morning powerful explosions were heard in the city. Later, he clarified that one of the missiles hit a residential high-rise building.

According to the local ezine Novosti-N, rescuers are conducting reconnaissance using a quadcopter, which showed that there are people under the rubble.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian law enforces will identify all Russian servicemen responsible for terror against civilians in Ukraine.

"Ukraine's law enforcement and intelligence agencies are doing their best to identify all Russian servicemen responsible for the terror against our cities. The names, faces and all information about each of these terrorists will be known to the world," he said in a video address last night.

None of them will be able to avoid responsibility, and personal sanctions will not be enough for these people. A sentence and imprisonment are the minimum they deserve, Zelensky said.

"And I wish to say separately about the responsibility of those Russian propagandists who lie about this terror, who are trying to justify the actions of the Russian army. Each of you will also be punished. We have all the evidence of what the Russian troops are doing against our people," the head of state said.

Zelensky also said that the strike at the shopping mall in Kremenchuk was purposeful.

"Obviously, that was the order. It is obvious that Russian assassins received such coordinates for this missile. They wanted to kill as many people as possible in a peaceful city, in a regular shopping mall," he said.

At the end of the address the president showed a video of a missile hitting the shopping mall in Kremenchuk.
The Ukrainian military carried out an airstrike on the forces of the Russian occupiers on the border of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, as a result of which 22 invaders and two ammunition depots were destroyed, said spokesperson of Odesa Regional Military Administration Serhiy Bratchuk.

"Ukrainian soldiers from the Operational Command Pivden (South) hit the enemy with aircraft five times in the area of the administrative border of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. So, our attack aircraft and helicopters struck at the accumulation of enemy forces and equipment, a strong point and the Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system," Bratchuk wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.

He specified that as a result of such actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, the Russian army in the south of Ukraine lost 22 servicemen, one multiple rocket launcher system Hurricane, three units of armored vehicles, five units of other vehicles, as well as two ammunition depots.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

British Ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp has stated that his country is contemplating allocating more funding to Azerbaijans demining effort in the liberated lands, Azernews reports.

"The UK is pleased to assist Azerbaijan in the demining process. It is great to see that some territories have already been cleared of mines. We are always looking for new opportunities to provide more funding in this direction. I hope that we will announce new funding soon," Sharp said.

UK has already contributed 500,000 pounds ($608,000) to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), he added.

The ambassador added that British corporations give technical advice, non-technical services, and mine action guidelines to Azerbaijan.

"We continue to encourage both sides to accelerate the peace process. We also support the EU's efforts to assist Azerbaijan and Armenia in this process. This is a very long process, but we are already seeing positive changes that have not been seen in the last 30 years," Sharp stressed.

In a video address posted on the embassy's Twitter account on September 2, 2021, Sharp said that landmines and unexploded ordnances in the liberated areas pose a threat to peoples lives and there have been over 150 victims of mine explosions following the 2020 war.

He described the former conflict zone as one of the worlds most mine-littered areas based on his own observations.

Therefore, Britain as a leading country in mine clearance, along with international organizations, takes active measures in the demining activities on Azerbaijans liberated territories, he said.

ANAMA, along with the partner countries, carries out demining activities on its liberated territories. Moreover, the State Border Service and the Defence Ministry also demine the liberated lands.

Earlier, ANAMA chairman Vugar Suleymanov said that his agency inked a contract with British RPS Energy Ltd. for aerial surveillance in demining operations in the liberated lands, Azernews reports.

Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44-day of war and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will address the heads of state and government of NATO member countries at the very beginning of the summit in a closed session.

This information was reported to the Interfax-Ukraine agency in Madrid on Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit by the NATO press service. The press service said that it is planned that Zelensky would speak at the beginning of the meeting, but the session will be closed.

This means that the speech will not be public and will not be broadcast live.
The Security of Defense of Ukraine (SBU) has detained the director general of a Kyiv-based airline that did not return ten leased helicopters from Africa during martial law.

"The Security Service of Ukraine has detained in Kyiv the director general of a private company. He ignored martial law and did not return in state ownership the helicopters worth around $500,000 he had leased," the SBU said on the Telegram channel on Wednesday.

The helicopters were supposed to be used for military operations of the National Guard of Ukraine during Russia's aggression, the special service said.

"Instead, the owner of the company earned dozens of millions of hryvnias on subleasing of the aircraft in the territory of West Africa," the SBU said.

According to its statement, in 2002 a military unit leased nine helicopters Mi-8MT and one Mi-8MTV to a private company. According to the contract they concluded, in case of martial law the company was obliged to return the aircraft to the basic airfield.

"However, the head of the airline broke the law and left the helicopters abroad. The SBU investigators have notified the detainee of suspicion," it said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, opening the Madrid summit, states that the alliance will continue to provide unprecedented support to Ukraine in order for it to win the war that Russia is waging against it.

"We will adopt a more comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine. And sustain our unprecedented support for the country's self-defence to ensure that Ukraine prevails," he said in his opening remarks, opening the first session of the alliance summit, which began its work in Madrid.

Stoltenber said he is "glad that President Zelensky is joining us today." "The bravery of the Ukrainian people and armed forces have inspired the world. NATO Allies continue to stand with Ukraine. We meet at a pivotal moment and our Madrid Summit will be transformative. The decisions we take will define our security for the decade ahead, " the Secretary General stressed.

According to him, the leaders came together at a time when in the world "authoritarian regimes like Russia and China are openly challenging the rules-based international order." "We will agree NATO's new Strategic Concept, the blueprint for our future security. We will further strengthen our deterrence and defence. With more forces, increased readiness, and stronger capabilities. We will make sure that our Alliance is properly resourced to face new security challenges. And we will strengthen our partnerships in our close neighbourhood and across the globe. We will demonstrate that NATO's door remains open by inviting Finland and Sweden to join our Alliance," Stoltenberg proclaimed. These words were met with applause from the leaders.
Ukraine's top priority is not to join NATO, but to win the war, after which the Alliance is ready to return to the relevant negotiations, the official representative of the Alliance said.

"Now the focus of the Ukrainian government is to win the war. And that's something we fully support. And when Ukraine wants to talk again about the next steps, we will return to this issue. Now the focus of all of us is to make the greatest contribution that would help Ukraine on the battlefield against the Russian invaders. And when Ukraine is ready to return to the issue of time intervals... And, again, it is up to Ukraine to decide. However, the focus now is to win the war," he said during a briefing during the summit of the organization.

The NATO representative stressed that the decision taken by the allies in 2008 at the Bucharest summit is unchanged.

"It works. We still see Ukraine as a NATO member in the future. Ukraine decides when and how to make a decision. The progress we saw yesterday with Finland and Sweden shows very directly that NATO's doors remain open. There is no fatigue from the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance," he said.

According to the representative of the Alliance, Ukraine is critically important for all European security.

"It is also important for global security. Because what Russia is doing now with respect to Ukraine it can also do to other countries. However, for us in NATO, Ukraine should be an independent and territorially sovereign country in terms of security. This is critical to our safety. And that won't change either," he concluded.
Russia wants to enslave states that were once in its sphere of influence  Zelensky at NATO summit

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said, speaking at the NATO summit on Wednesday, that Russia's true goal is to enslave countries that were once in its sphere of influence.

"At a time of an extremely aggressive Kremlin, the world needs an extremely bold Alliance. And I am sure that the results of this summit and what the future of NATO will be will be shown in a year by the next summit. And my appeal to you at the next summit of the Alliance, next year - with my direct participation, and not with such online participation, will be evidence of our joint victory," he said.

But next year, he said, not only Ukraine, but also several other states, quite possibly members of the Alliance, may be under fire from Russia.

"They threatened - if Ukraine joins NATO. But Ukraine is not in NATO, and Russia's full-scale war against our state has been going on for 126 days - after eight years of war in Donbas. So why did everyone think for decades that NATO's actions could provoke Russia into something?" he said.

"Russia's goals are known. It's obvious. The Russian leadership sees the world differently. Not the way you are. They look, for example, at Lithuania - not as a member of your union, but as a republic of the Soviet Union. For us it is the former republic of the USSR, for us it is the past, and they see it as a possible future, they want to enslave it again," the president said.

"That's how they see it. And also - for every country that is a neighbor of Russia. On every state that was once in Moscow's sphere of influence," he also said.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has accepted for consideration the lawsuit of Ukraine against Russia.

According to an ECHR press release dated June 28, the court received the lawsuit on June 23. President of the European Court of Human Rights Robert Spano referred the case to the fourth section of the court and informed Russia about this.

The report notes that this case was preceded by four other submissions by the Ukrainian state and about 8,500 individual complaints.

Ukraine accuses Russia of violating a number of rights enshrined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The lawsuit refers to massive and serious violations of human rights committed by the Russian Federation during military operations on the territory of Ukraine. Ukraine accuses Russian troops and other armed formations that are under the control of the Russian Federation of killing, wounding, detaining or kidnapping thousands of civilians, destroying hundreds of thousands of property, and forcing millions of people to flee their homes.
Russian occupiers are preparing a provocation accusing Ukrainian nuclear scientists of storing weapons on the territory of Zaporizhia NPP, Energoatom state enterprise reported on Telegram.

"For this, several workers were detained and tortured with a demand of confession, or rather, slandering themselves, that they allegedly dropped some kind of weapon into the concrete bowls of the cooling pools at Zaporizhia NPP in March," the company informed.

The company explained the invaders, under this pretext, insist on draining the cooling pools - to check its bowls - and stopping the pumps that supply water to the security systems of power units.

"If this happens, then the security systems of Europe's largest nuclear power plant will be left without cooling, which in itself is a serious violation and can threaten nuclear safety. In addition, such work is not advisable to carry out in the warm season due to the risk of overheating and equipment failure," Energoatom said.

However, Ukrainian nuclear scientists are most concerned about the lack of control over the actions of the occupiers, who, under the guise of "carrying out a check," can throw anything into concrete bowls: explosives, unexploded shells, and other weapons.

According to Energoatom, later the Russian occupiers may blame the ZNPP workers or its defenders for this and make this a formal reason for inviting the IAEA to the station and presenting these "facts."

"And make a picture for the propaganda Russian media - how Russians take care of the safety of the station, and the Ukrainian personnel violate it," the company added.

According to Energoatom, any weapon that will be found on the territory of the station is the weapon of the Russian occupiers.

"We emphasize that any weapon found on the territory of the ZNPP is the weapon of the occupiers, which they use for nuclear terrorism and threats to the whole world with a new terrible catastrophe," Energoatom stressed.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Sweden and Finland joining NATO, noting that the Russian leadership sees the world as a "Leningrad backstreet".

"While democratic states were calling on the Russian leadership to reason and morality, Russia was accumulating power and missiles. You, the democratic leaders, have called on it to respect international law, and tyrants understand only force. Nothing but force!" he said on Wednesday, speaking via video link at the NATO summit.

According to him, "Ukraine welcomes the decision to join Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Alliance. And it's good that it happened now - before Russia started acting against them as well. But is Russia doing something against them now in connection with this decision? No, it isnt. And you see it."

"The Russian leadership has publicly stated that the Leningrad backstreets have taught them the rules of life. There, any attempts of dialogue and appeasement are perceived only as weakness and fear. There is no one to call to talk to when you need to strike back. You either win or you lose. This is how the Russian state sees the world now. And you cannot ignore this vision, you cannot avoid its true goals," Zelensky said.

According to him, artillery strikes on cities are explained by the fact that "the Russian army is doing everything so that as many people as possible leave the cities. So that there would be nothing but ruins. And then the socalled "second army of the world" enters these cities - already empty and dead."

"And it does not want to stop either in Donbas or anywhere in the south of Ukraine, it wants to absorb everyone in Europe, whom the Russian leadership considers its property, and not independent states, city by city. This is the real goal of Russia," Zelensky said.
Ukraine can count on NATO support for as long as it takes  Stoltenberg following summit meeting with Zelensky

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the message of the NATO allies conveyed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the summit is that the alliance will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.

He said this at a press conference after the morning meeting of the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance in Madrid on Wednesday.

"I am glad that President Zelenskyy is joining us today. And then after the invasion, allies have stepped up further, and more allies are now also delivering weapons, military aid and humanitarian, financial support to Ukraine. And it was a strong commitment from the NATO Summit last week to continue to further support Ukraine also with military support," Stoltenberg said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says NATO's doors remain open, which also refers to the Bucharest summit decision regarding Ukraine's membership in the alliance.

This is how he answered Interfax-Ukraine's question in Brussels on Wednesday whether Ukraine would be able to join NATO without implementing the Membership Action Plan, as in the case of Finland and Sweden. "We will demonstrate that NATO's door remains open by inviting Finland and Sweden to join our Alliance," he said.

Speaking about the last session of the summit, during which President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the leaders, Stoltenberg said that words of strong support were heard in the meeting room. The Secretary General said that not only support, but also announcements of additional assistance  weapons, equipment, which the allies are now supplying to Ukraine. Germany, Norway made announcements about additional assistance, the Netherlands made announcements about the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said the allies are ready for a long journey. According to him, wars are unpredictable, but it is needed to be prepared for a long journey, and that was also a clear message from all of officials in the room to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Stoltenberg said that Ukrainians are fighting for their independence, fighting for the values that are important for NATO, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. NATO focus now is on supporting Ukraine. This war at a certain stage will stop at the negotiating table. But it is important that Ukraine reach an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Ukraine. Therefore, NATO will support Ukraine on the battlefield, he said.
The 6th Summit of the Heads of State of the Caspian littoral states has got underway in Ashgabat, Azernews reports per Azartac.

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov welcomed President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state. The presidents posed together for official photos. The heads of state then held a meeting in a limited format.

An expanded meeting on the sidelines of the Summit is currently underway.

President Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the meeting.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

-Dear Serdar Gurbangulyevich.

Dear heads of state, dear participants of the Summit.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Serdar Gurbangulyevich Berdimuhamedov for the hospitality and a high level of organization of the 6th Caspian Summit.

Our meeting coincides with the birthday anniversary of the former President of Turkmenistan, my dear friend and brother, Chairman of the People's Council Chamber of the National Assembly of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Malikgulyevich Berdimuhamedov. Under his leadership, fraternal Turkmenistan has achieved significant success in strengthening its independence, raising its authority in the international arena, increasing the well-being of the people and economic development. On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I congratulate Gurbanguly Malikgulyevich and wish him good health, and well-being and prosperity to the fraternal people of Turkmenistan.

I take this opportunity to once again congratulate you, Serdar Gurbangulyevich, on your election to the post of President of Turkmenistan. I am sure that under your leadership Turkmenistan will achieve further successes.

Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the interaction between our countries in the Caspian Sea. The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea signed in Aktau in 2018 is of historic importance. The document crowned many years of work and determined the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Its early entry into force will create a solid legal basis for the adoption of even more effective measures aimed at further comprehensive interaction and cooperation between our states.

The legal framework of cooperation among Caspian littoral states is being strengthened. Agreements have been signed and entered into force in the areas of security, hydrometeorology, transport, conservation and rational use of aquatic biological resources, prevention and elimination of emergency situations, as well as other areas of mutual interest. New draft agreements on cooperation have already been initiated. They are under consideration and will be submitted for signing as soon as they are ready. Legally binding agreements on the delimitation of the bottom of the Caspian Sea have also been concluded in bilateral and trilateral formats. Friendly and good neighborly relations, bilateral and multilateral cooperation among Caspian littoral states, including those within the framework of the UN, the OSCE, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization of Turkic States, the CIS and the Economic Cooperation Organization are an important factor in maintaining the stability and security of the Caspian Sea.

I am pleased to note that our interaction is based on the respect for the interests of all parties, respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence of Caspian littoral states and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The Caspian Sea is an important component of many international and regional projects aimed at improving the well-being of the peoples of our region. The key priorities of littoral states remain the desire to create favorable conditions for the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation, improve the investment climate, create reliable and secure communications, and attract highly profitable and environmentally friendly technologies. An important area of cooperation is the development of transport infrastructure, improving the quality of transport services and multimodal transportation. The bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded among Caspian littoral states in the field of transport create a good basis for turning the Caspian Sea region into a major international transport hub with developed infrastructure.

Azerbaijan is one of the significant transport and logistical centers of Eurasia now. Our country plays an important part in the development of East-West and North-South international transport corridors. We are making effort to effectively use the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. This will make it possible to use the transport potential of the Caspian littoral states to the maximum extent and contribute to the implementation of new projects for the development of transport infrastructure.

We are observing an annual increase in cargo transportation through the territory of Azerbaijan along the East-West and North-South routes. The volumes of transit cargo going through the new international trade seaport of Alat are increasing. The construction and commissioning of this port has become another important contribution of Azerbaijan to the development of transport and logistical infrastructure in the Caspian Sea. This year Azerbaijan also plans to hold the 8th meeting of the Coordinating Council of the North-South International Transport Corridor.

After the Victory in the Patriotic War and the resolution of the conflict with Armenia, Azerbaijan began to carry out large-scale work on the reconstruction and restoration of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, including the development of international transport links. The Zangazur corridor is already becoming a reality.

We share the concern of the littoral states about the current state of the environment. Azerbaijan is interested in expanding cooperation to solve the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea. The successful interaction of Caspian littoral states continues within the framework of the commission for the conservation and rational use of the Caspian aquatic biological resources. The Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea is to be held in Baku at the end of this year. Today, at a meeting in a limited format, my colleagues and I exchanged views on an issue that causes particular concern, namely, the Caspian Sea becoming shallow. We have been observing this for many years and, unfortunately, the dynamics of the process is alarming. Therefore, we have already exchanged views and our delegations will probably continue to work in this direction in terms of creating special expert groups in order to identify the causes of such an environmental disaster and determine measures to prevent further the Caspian Sea from becoming shallower.

In conclusion, let me once again express my gratitude to the Turkmen side for the effective organization of our Summit. I am convinced that it will contribute to the consolidation of the efforts of Caspian littoral states aimed at resolving the important common tasks we are facing. Thank you.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov: Thank you Ilham Heydar oglu for your informative speech and for your congratulations.

***

Addressing the Summit, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of the event.








Ukraine's participation in the G20 summit, which will be held in Indonesia, will depend on the security situation within the Ukrainian state and the composition of the summit participants, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said the assistance of Indonesia, as the leader and participant of the G20 summit, is very important for the restoration of peace.

"I am grateful to you, Mr. President, for the invitation to personally take part in the summit. Naturally, I accept this invitation. Ukraine's participation will depend on the security situation in Ukraine and on the composition of the summit participants," Zelensky said at a briefing with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Kyiv.
David Arakhamia, the head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, discussed with the founder of Virgin Galactic, businessman Richard Branson, the issue of building a new Mriya aircraft and prospects for cooperation in the space sector.

"Our An-225 Mriya is the world legend and one of the symbols of Ukraine ... Therefore, we are already working on a project to build a new aircraft, which will set many more records after the war. But being already updated, based on modern digital equipment, which will allow Mriya become even stronger," Arakhamia wrote on Telegram.

According to him, Branson "expressed his willingness to help in any way he can, was pleasantly stunned by our optimism and the fact that even in such difficult times we are thinking about how to make a leap in aerospace construction."

"I am sure that we will succeed, because nothing is impossible for a country that believes in itself and its strength. The best times of our aviation and space technologies are yet to come," Arakhamia added.

As reported, on Wednesday Branson visited the city of Hostomel, Kyiv region, where he got acquainted with the airfield of the Antonov state enterprise, the possibilities of its renovation.

The world's largest transport aircraft Mriya was destroyed during the fighting for Hostomel airport at the end of February 2022.

The An-225 Mriya is an aviation giant, which holds records for the transportation of the maximum commercial cargo and the longest and heaviest mono cargo in the history of aviation, carrying capacity.
The coordinating headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war has conducted the largest exchange of prisoners of war since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Defense Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports.

"Of the 144 released, 95 are defenders of Azovstal. Among them are 43 servicemen of the Azov regiment," the report on Telegram says.

In total, according to the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense, some 59 soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine, some 30 military personnel of the Naval Forces, some 28 of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, some 17 of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, nine of the Territorial Defense and one officer of the National Police of Ukraine were released.

Among them are 23 officers and 69 non-commissioned and senior officers. The eldest of the released was 65 years old, the youngest was 19.

"Most of the liberated Ukrainians have severe injuries: gunshot and shrapnel wounds, explosive injuries, burns, fractures, limb amputations. All of them receive proper emergency medical and psychological care," the agency said.

The coordination headquarters continues its work on the return of all captured defenders.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed over an invitation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to personally attend the G20 summit.

"I conveyed an invitation to President Zelensky to personally take part in the G20 summit, which will be held in Bali in November 2022. It is very important that all countries observe the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity," Widodo said at a press conference following negotiations with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He noted the need for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Widodo said he would soon meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and express his desire for peace.

"I will have a meeting very soon with President Putin, and I will also express our desire for peace to him," the Indonesian president said.
Head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II congratulated on Sunday President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, state officials and Islamic leaders ahead of Eid El-Adha, which starts this year on 9 July.
West African leaders on Sunday lifted financial and trade sanctions they imposed on Mali's military regime, accepting the junta's date for a March 2024 return to civilian rule, a delegate at a regional summit said.
An avalanche set off by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps killed at least six people and injured eight others Sunday, an emergency services spokeswoman said.
Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said on Tuesday it is monitoring the rates of rainfall at the headwaters of the Nile River, to determine the quantity of water reaching the reservoir at Aswan High Dam.

Such procedures are essential for forecasting the different scenarios of the upcoming flood, according to a statement by the ministry released following a meeting of the Permanent Committee for Regulating the Niles Revenue.

The Niles annual flooding  which takes place August-October  is caused by heavy rains in the Ethiopian highlands.

Over the past year, according to a previous statement by the ministry, Egypt has built over 1,500 facilities to protect the country from heavy rainfall as well as store water for Bedouin communities that suffer from water scarcity, the ministry said in previous statements.

Egypt has also established a flood-forecasting centre to monitor rainfall and floods as well as study climate change and its impact on the country.

On Tuesday, the committee held a follow up meeting to keep abreast of the situation concerning the output of the Nile River in the current water year.

The committee meetings, held regularly throughout the year, aim to ensure water resources are optimally managed to provide for the country's water needs.

Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel-Ati, who chaired Tuesday's meeting, said the ministry seeks to efficiently provide for the country's water needs and to handle any complaints immediately, the statement added.

The minister issued directives to the ministrys departments to remain on high alert and follow up on the water situation to maintain safe water levels in canals and drains and guarantee the readiness of water-lifting stations and emergency units nationwide.

Some 85 percent of river waters in Egypt flow from the Ethiopian highlands through the Blue Nile  one of the Niles two main tributaries along with the White Nile.

Egypt, which is considered one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, receives around 60 billion cubic metres (bcm) annually, mainly from the Nile. However, its needs stand at around 114 bcm, placing the 102-million-plus country well below the international threshold for water scarcity at 560 cubic metres per person annually.

The large gap in water resources in Egypt is overcome by importing 54 percent of its consumption and reusing 42 percent of its renewable sources, Abdel-Ati said in an earlier statement.

Access to the Niles waters is one of the outstanding points in the long-running Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute between downstream countries Egypt and Sudan, from one side, and the upstream country Ethiopia, on the other.

Cairo and Khartoum have been involved in decade-long talks with Addis Ababa over the massive mega project in an attempt to reach a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

Downstream countries do not oppose the project but seek to reach a binding deal with Ethiopia. Egypt fears an impact on its water supply and Sudan is concerned about regulating flows to its own dams.

Ethiopia, however, has been intransigent in its negotiations with the two downstream countries.

In the absence of the desired deal, Ethiopia had unilaterally completed the first and second filling of the dam, and recently announced that the first turbine of the GERD has begun generating power.

It seeks to start the third filling in August and September, according to remarks by Kiffle Horo, the project manager of the GERD.

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Iran and the United States plan to resume indirect talks this week in Qatar, in a fresh bid to revive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, both sides said Monday.

The talks will be separate from broader EU-mediated negotiations in Vienna between Iran and major powers, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said Saturday in Tehran.

The nuclear deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it and began reimposing harsh economic sanctions on America's arch enemy.

US President Joe Biden's administration has sought to return to the agreement, saying it would be the best path ahead with the Islamic republic, although it has voiced growing pessimism in recent weeks.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Monday the talks would focus on the lifting of US sanctions and be held "in a Persian Gulf country in the coming days, later this week".

The US State Department said the talks would take place in Qatar's capital Doha.

Iran's Tasnim news agency, quoting an unnamed foreign ministry source, reported that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri would visit Qatar on Tuesday for "negotiations on lifting sanctions" and that the US-Iranian indirect talks would be held there.

A State Department spokesperson said the United States was also "grateful to our EU partners, who continue to convey messages and are working to advance these negotiations".

"We are prepared to immediately conclude and implement the deal we negotiated in Vienna for mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA," he said, referring to the deal's formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"But for that, Iran needs to decide to drop their additional demands that go beyond the JCPOA."

Key Role For Qatar

Qatar, which has better relations with Tehran than most Gulf Arab monarchies, has sought a role as a diplomatic hub, earlier helping arrange talks between Washington and the Taliban before the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Khatibzadeh voiced hope for "positive results" from the talks.

"What we will do in the coming days does not concern the nuclear dimension but existing differences (and) the lifting of sanctions," Khatibzadeh said.

"If Washington comes with answers, then we can do the work quickly... The ball is in Washington's court."

Talks to revive the nuclear deal began in Vienna in April last year but hit a snag in March this year amid differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over a demand by Iran that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be removed from a US terror list.

During the Vienna talks, Iran also repeatedly called for US guarantees that there will be no repeat of Trump's pullout.

The Biden administration says that ending Trump's blacklisting of the Revolutionary Guards, a step sure to outrage much of Congress, falls out of the purview of talks to restore the nuclear accord.

In a step to address concerns raised when Trump made the move in 2019, the Biden administration said last week that Iranians who were previously forced to serve in the Revolutionary Guards would not be denied entry into the US.

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By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Col-Gen Zakir Hasanov and Pakistani Air Force Commander Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu have discussed military, military-technical, and military-educational cooperation, Azernews reports per the ministry.

Welcoming the Pakistani delegation in Baku on June 29, Hasanov recalled the traditionally friendly ties between the two countries and stressed the developing Azerbaijani-Pakistani relations and strategic partnerships.

The commander of the Pakistani Air Force expressed thanks for the warm greeting and noted that the peoples of the two nations have always been friendly.

It was highlighted that the Azerbaijani-Pakistani ties have greatly increased and reinforced and that there is a big potential for bilateral military cooperation.

The parties talked about expanding Azerbaijan-Pakistan relations in the military, military-technical, and military-educational domains.

During the 44-day war with Armenia in 2020, Pakistan was among the first countries to voice political support for Azerbaijan. Pakistan also supports Azerbaijan in the restoration of the country's liberated territories.

In September 2021, the Azerbaijani, Turkish and Pakistani special forces conducted joint international drills in Baku, codenamed "Three Brothers - 2021".

Under the drills plan, the special forces units carried out practical shootings using small arms and grenade launchers, the report added.

Furthermore, the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Baku Declaration on cooperation. The document was signed following the trilateral meeting held by speakers of the three countries parliaments on July 27, 2021.
Chief negotiators from the United States and Iran were due to hold indirect talks in Qatar on Tuesday, bidding to overcome obstacles that have stalled attempts to revive a nuclear deal.

US special envoy Robert Malley and Iran's Ali Bagheri headed to Doha after more than a year of European Union-mediated talks in Vienna on a return to the 2015 agreement.

The talks in the Qatari capital are the start of a process to "unblock" the Vienna talks, European Union foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said, adding they would start on Tuesday.

"We managed to unblock the process and we are going to move forward, and as a first step at this stage we have these proximity talks," he said in Brussels.

"That means indirect talks between Iran and the United States on finding the way how to move forward."

The deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it and began reimposing harsh economic sanctions on America's arch-enemy.

US President Joe Biden's administration has sought to return to the agreement, saying it would be the best path ahead with the Islamic republic, although it has voiced growing pessimism in recent weeks.

The talks in Doha will take place indirectly, with the delegations in separate rooms and communicating via intermediaries. The US and Iran do not have diplomatic relations.

Earlier Malley met Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss "joint diplomatic efforts to address issues with Iran", the US embassy in Doha tweeted.

Diplomatic hub

Bagheri and his delegation have arrived in Doha, Iran's IRNA state news agency reported.

Sheikh Mohammed also discussed the Iran talks with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna in a phone call on Tuesday, the official Qatar News Agency said.

Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement that it hopes the "indirect talks will be culminated in positive results that contribute to the revival of the nuclear deal signed in 2015".

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during a visit to Tehran on Saturday that the Iran-US talks would be held in a Gulf country to avoid confusion with the broader talks in Vienna.

Qatar, which has better relations with Iran than most Gulf Arab monarchies, has sought a role as a diplomatic hub.

It also hosted talks between the United States and the Taliban before the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August last year.

The Vienna talks began in April last year but hit a snag in March following differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over Iran's demand that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be removed from a US terror list.

"I always say that the time is not really on our side, so we should really move forward very quickly," Stano said, referring to the Qatar meetings.

"But again, it's not up to the European Union or (Borrell) as a coordinator to determine the tempo because everything depends on the willingness of the participants to find the necessary way forward."

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Egyptian officials denied on Tuesday rumors that Egypt banned the entry of Sudanese people after a fake directive document went viral in Sudan.

Egypt's Ambassador to Khartoum Hossam Eissa denied the rumor on Tuesday saying that Egypt has always welcomed Sudanese people at any given time, stating that the viral document is fake.

Eissa asserted Egypt's keenness to boost relations between Egyptian and Sudanese peoples, explaining that the rumors 'aimed to impact the joint links and close coordination between the two countries in all aspects'.

A fake document went viral on social media stated "that Egypt would prevent the entry of Sudanese people through air and land, with the exception of medical cases, starting from Thursday 30 June due to unstable internal conditions in Sudan".

The document that is dated to 26 June and written in Arabic was reviewed by Ahram Online and is actually a clear fake.

Aside from Arabic spelling mistakes and usage of various fonts, the document has the stamp of the Egyptian Consulate in Houston instead of Khartoum. The alleged handwritten signature of Ambassador Hossam Eissa presents him as the "General Consul" despite him being introduced in the same document as the "Egyptian Ambassador to the neighbour country".

The current Egyptian General Consul in Sudan is Ambassador Ahmed Adly.

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France's president denounced Russia's fiery airstrike on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine as a ``new war crime'' Tuesday and vowed the West's support for Kyiv would not waver, saying Moscow ``cannot and should not win`` the war with its neighbor.

The strike, which killed at least 18 people in the central city of Kremenchuk, came as leaders from the Group of Seven nations met in Europe.

It was part of unusually intense barrage of Russian fire all across Ukraine, including in the capital of Kyiv, that drew new attention to a war that some fear could fade from the headlines as it drags on.

Speaking at the end of the G-7 summit in Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to address that concern, vowing that the seven leading industrialized democracies would support Ukraine and maintain sanctions against Russia ``as long as necessary, and with the necessary intensity.''

``Russia cannot and should not win,'' he said. He called Monday's attack on the mall ``a new war crime.''

As they have in other attacks, Russian authorities claimed that the shopping center was not the target.

How to counter Russia and back Ukraine will be the focus of a summit this week of the western NATO alliance, whose support has been critical to Kyiv's ability to fend off Moscow's larger and better equipped forces.

Ukrainian leaders, however, say they need more and better weapons if they are to continue to hold off and even drive back Russia, which is pressing an all-out assault in Ukraine's eastern region of the Donbas.

As Macron spoke, rescuers combed through the charred rubble of the shopping mall that authorities said was struck when more than 1,000 afternoon shoppers and workers were inside.

Kateryna Romashyna, a local resident, told The Associated Press that she had just arrived at the mall when there was an explosion.

The blast knocked her down. When another came about 10 minutes later, she realized she needed to get away.

``I ran away from the epicenter with all of my strength,'' she said. Fighting back tears, she added: ``You have to be a real monster'' to strike a shopping mall.

Many of those inside quickly fled the building when an air raid siren sounded and took shelter across the street, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky said.

Several of the bodies of those who didn't make it out in time are burned beyond recognition and their identification could take days, he said.

In addition to the 18 killed, authorities said 59 were wounded. Another 21 people are still missing, Monastyrsky said.

The attack recalled strikes earlier in the war that hit a theater, a train station, and a hospital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it ``one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history,'' while the G-7 leaders said ``indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime.''

At Ukraine's request, the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting in New York on Tuesday to discuss the attack.

As condemnation of the strike came in from many quarters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov struck a defiant note, saying Russia would press its offensive until it fulfills its goals.

He said the hostilities could stop ``before the end of the day'' if Ukraine were to surrender and meet Russia's demands, including recognizing its control over territory it has taken by force.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov claimed that warplanes fired precision-guided missiles at a depot that contained Western weapons and ammunition, which detonated and set the mall on fire.

Ukrainian authorities said in addition to the direct hit on the mall, a factory was also struck, but denied that any weapons were there.

Konashenkov also alleged that the mall was not in use, a false claim contradicted by witnesses.

One survivor, Oleksandr, an employee at the mall, told the AP from a hospital bed that the shopping center was packed with customers. He recalled stepping outside with a colleague for a cigarette, when the air raid siren went off.

``There was a black tunnel, smoke, fire,`` he said. ``I started to crawl. I saw the sun up there, and my brain was telling me I need to save myself.''

Ukraine's prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said the missile attack was one of Russia's ``crimes against humanity,'' noting that Moscow's military has been ``systematically shelling civilian infrastructure with the aim to scare people, to kill people, to bring terror to our cities and villages.''

Venediktova emphasized the need for Ukrainians across the entire country to remain alert, adding that they should expect a similar strike ``every minute.''

On Tuesday, Russian forces struck the Black Sea city of Ochakiv, damaging apartment buildings and killing two, including a 6-year-old child.

A further six people, four of them children, were wounded. One of them, a 3-month-old baby, is in a coma, according to local officials.

The unusually intense spate of fire in recent days came as the G-7 leaders gathered in Europe. They pledged continued support for Ukraine and the world's major economies prepared new sanctions against Russia, including a price cap on oil and higher tariffs on goods.

Zelenskyy has called for more air defense systems from his Western allies to help his forces fight back. NATO's support for Ukraine will be a major focus of its summit as the alliance turns its attention once again to confronting an adversarial Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the West that ``the more weapons are pumped into Ukraine, the longer the conflict will continue and the longer the agony of the Nazi regime backed by Western capitals will last.''

Russia has falsely called the war a campaign to ``de-Nazify'' Ukraine, a country with a democratically elected Jewish president who wants closer ties with the West.

In a sinister message to NATO leaders who gathered in Madrid ahead of that summit, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos published satellite images and the precise coordinates of the conference hall where the meeting will be held.

It also posted images and the coordinates of the White House, the Pentagon and the government headquarters in London, Paris and Berlin, referring to them as ``decision-making centers supporting the Ukrainian nationalists`` in a message on the Telegram app.

That wording echoes Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier warnings that he could target such centers in response to what he has called Western aggression.

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NATO leaders say bolstering the alliance's forces in Eastern Europe as a bulwark against Russia is a key priority for the Madrid summit.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as he arrived for talks Wednesday that NATO needed to learn ``the lessons of the last few months and the need for NATO to revise its posture on its eastern flank.''

Polish President Andrzej Duda said NATO's commitment to greatly increase its rapid reaction force for members nearest to Russia will make Europe ``safer.''

He said: ``Russia is a threat for Europe and not only for Europe, but for all of NATO.''

NATO has said it will boost its rapid response force from 40,000 to 300,000 troops for its eastern flank, which includes Poland's borders with Ukraine and Belarus, a Russian ally.

The summit's opening work session on Wednesday will focus on how NATO can give more support to Ukraine.

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Indirect negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers have ended without breaking a deadlock over the talks, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported Wednesday.

The U.S. State Department and the European Union, which is mediating the talks in Qatar, did not immediately acknowledge the end of the negotiations in Doha.

However, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to Iran's hard-line Revolutionary Guard, described the negotiations as finished and having ``no effect on breaking the deadlock in the talks.''

U.S. Special Representative Rob Malley spoke to the Iranians through EU official Enrique Mora during the talks. Mora then took messages to Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

Tasnim claimed that the American position did not include ``a guarantee for Iran benefiting economically from the deal,'' quoting what it described as unnamed ``informed sources.''

``Washington is seeking to revive the (deal) in order to limit Iran without economic achievement for our country,'' the Tasnim report claimed.

Iran and world powers agreed in 2015 to the nuclear deal, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, raising tensions across the wider Middle East and sparking a series of attacks and incidents.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a ``pause'' since March. Since the deal's collapse, Iran has been running advanced centrifuges and rapidly growing stockpiles of enriched uranium.

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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Bahraini capital Manama on Tuesday for a two-day official visit in the second stop of his Gulf tour, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady has announced.





President El-Sisi was received an official reception ceremony by King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa upon his arrival at Manama Airport and the Royal Al-Sakhir Palace.

The Egyptian President is set to hold talks with Bahrains King Hamad to discuss regional and international issues of mutual concerns that require concerted efforts to protect Arab national security and confront attempts to destabilise and interfere in domestic affairs of Arab countries, Rady said in a previous statement.

El-Sisi started his Gulf tour on Monday with a two-day visit to Oman, where he met Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. The two leaders stressed that the security and stability of Yemen are of maximum importance within the framework of security of the Arab region and Red Sea states.

On 18 June, El-Sisi received the Bahraini King in Sharm El-Sheikh, where both leaders reviewed prospects of cooperation in economic and investment fields and discussed regional and international issues.

The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Bahrain recorded $917.2 million in 2021, according to Egypts Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), up from $401 million in 2020.

Bahrains investments in Egypt stand at $3.2 billion through 216 projects, according to the Bahraini ambassador to Cairo in June 2021.

During King Hamad's visit, El-Sisi hosted a trilateral summit with the participation of Jordanian King Abdullah II, who arrived a day later.

During the summit, President El-Sisi affirmed Egypts keenness to expand cooperation with both countries and boost joint Arab action to face regional and international challenges.

Egyptian-Gulf ties

El-Sisis Gulf tour comes less than three weeks before the GCC+3 Summit, which will be held in Saudi Arabias Jeddah on 15 July. The summit will bring together leaders of the GCC in addition to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and the US.

In the lead-up to the summit, El-Sisi received the UAEs Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Sunday.

The meeting discussed enhancing bilateral relations and means to boost Emirati investments in Egypt in various fields, especially energy, ports, and transportation.

The president also met on Friday with Qatars Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who visited Egypt for the first time since Cairo and Doha resumed diplomatic relations last year after signing the Al-Ula Declaration that ended an over three-year-long diplomatic rift.

During the meeting, Emir Tamim affirmed his keenness to continue boosting Egyptian-Qatari cooperation in various fields by maximising investments in Egypt.

Additionally, last Monday, the Egyptian president received Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Cairo.

During the visit, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed 14 investment agreements valued at $7.7 billion in several fields, including petroleum, renewable energy, green hydrogen, IT, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, and cyber security.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia plans to make investments worth $30 billion in Egypt, according to a joint Saudi-Egyptian communique issued in light of the crown princes visit.

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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa witnessed the signing of several agreements and memorandum of understandings (MoUs) between Egypt and Bahrain in Manama in various domains on Wednesday, the Egyptian Presidency announced.

The agreements and MoUs, which were penned during El-Sisis second day of his visit to Bahrain are in the fields of science, technology, education, and logistics, among others, Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement.

Al-Khalifa affirmed that his country's stance matches current Egyptian efforts in settling various disputes in the region. He also stressed the coherence of the common national security of both countries, adding that Egypt will always remain Bahrain's pivotal partner in the region, according to Egyptian presidency's statement.

The two leaders also discussed issues concerning holding a summit in July that will gather leaders of the Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and US.

The meeting comes less than two weeks before the GCC+3 Summit, which will be held in Saudi Arabias Jeddah on 15 July. The summit will bring together leaders of the GCC in addition to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and the US.

Sisis meeting with Crown Prince

Earlier on Wednesday, President El-Sisi met with Bahraini Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. They agreed on exchanging visits between both countries to boost economic as well as investment and trade relations.

According to the Egyptian Presidency, El-Sisi asserted during the meeting Egypt's keenness on promoting cooperation with Bahrain in various domains in ways that serve the peoples of both countries.

The Egyptian President arrived in Manama on Tuesday coming from Oman in a two-day visit where he was received by King Hamada Al-Khalifa.

The volume of trade between Egypt and Bahrain recorded $917.2 million in 2021, according to Egypts Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), up from $401 million in 2020, recording a 128.7 percent increase.

Egyptian exports to Bahrain reached $450.7 million in 2021 up from $139.3 million in 2020, recording a 223.5 percent increase whereas the Bahraini exports to Egypt reached $466.5 million in 2021 compared to $261.7 million last year.

Bahrains investments in Egypt stand at $3.2 billion through 216 projects, according to the Bahraini ambassador to Cairo in June 2021.

El-Sisis Gulf tour

El-Sisi started his Gulf tour on Monday with a two-day visit to Oman, where he met Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. The two leaders stressed that the security and stability of Yemen are of maximum importance within the framework of security of the Arab region and Red Sea states.

On Tuesday, he arrived in Bahrain where he met with the Bahraini King and held talks on regional and international issues of mutual concerns.

On 18 June, El-Sisi had received the Bahraini King in Egypts Sharm El-Sheikh, when both leaders reviewed prospects of cooperation in economic and investment fields in addition to discussing regional and international issues.

During King Hamad's visit, El-Sisi hosted a trilateral summit with the participation of Jordanian King Abdullah II, who arrived a day later.

Furthermore, El-Sisi received the UAEs Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Sunday.

The President also met on Friday with Qatars Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who visited Egypt for the first time since Cairo and Doha resumed diplomatic relations last year, after signing the Al-Ula Declaration that ended an over three-year-long diplomatic rift.

During the meeting, Emir Tamim affirmed his keenness to continue boosting Egyptian-Qatari cooperation in various fields by maximising investments in Egypt.

Additionally, last Monday, the Egyptian President received Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Cairo.

During the visit, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed 14 investment agreements valued at $7.7 billion in several fields, including petroleum, renewable energy, green hydrogen, IT, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, and cyber security.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia plans to make investments worth $30 billion in Egypt, according to a joint Saudi-Egyptian communique issued in light of the crown princes visit.

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Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed the importance of finding alternative trade routes with Algeria to facilitate goods shipping between the two countries rather than the land route passing through Libya amid current circumstances there.

Madboulys statements came in his speech during the meeting of the eighth round of the joint higher committee between both countries held in Algiers.

He said that the regular maritime trade route between Egypt and Tunisia, which both countries agreed to place under study, could be extended to reach the Algerian ports.

The current circumstances in Libya should not prevent the search for alternative ways to facilitate trade between Algeria and Egypt, Madbouly said during his speech.

The Egyptian PM urged boosting Egyptian-Algerian trade exchange, stating that the current volume of trade exchange between both countries is not in line with the production and export capabilities of our two countries and the needs of their markets.

Madbouly hailed the Algerian governments decision to abolish its negative imports list for goods between the two countries, saying that the step should contribute to boosting trade exchange between the countries.

The Egyptian PM expressed hope that Algeria would also abolish non-customs restrictions imposed on another list of goods and facilitate procedures of releasing goods at Algerian ports.

Madbouly hailed Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebbounes plan to construct a million housing units project, urging Egyptian contracting companies to participate in accomplishing the project.

The premier also urged establishing partnerships between Egyptian and Algerian capitals to implement joint industrial projects.

Madbouly renewed his invitation for Algeria to participate in the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), which Egypt will host in November this year.

He said Algerias orientation toward expanding the production of clean energy is consistent with the Egyptian national endeavours and international efforts in the face of climate change.

Madbouly and his Algerian counterpart, Ayman Benabderrahmane, chaired the joint committee meeting today in the presence of Egyptian and Algerian ministers and officials, including ministers of energy, higher education, housing, and trade of both countries.

Egypt and Algeria have been keen on intensifying their bilateral relations at the political and economic levels over the past years, as well as coordinating on regional issues, including Libya, Syria, Palestine, and terrorism in Africa and the Arab world.

President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi received Tebboune in Egypt last January and affirmed that their talks focused on fostering bilateral political, economic, and commercial relations.

In 2021, Egypts non-oil exports to Algeria increased by 14 percent and the value of commercial exchanges between the two countries bounced back by 15.4 percent to $1 billion after the pandemic, according to economic commentator Karim Al-Omdain.

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King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has reiterated Bahrains full support to the Egyptian water security as an integral part of Arab water security, a joint Egyptian-Bahraini statement read after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis meeting with the king on Wednesday.

The king has urged Ethiopia to give up its unilateral policy and abide by relevant international law rules with regards to filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the statement said.

King Hamad also underlined the importance of holding negotiations with Egypt and Sudan to reach a binding agreement in this regard in implementation of the presidential statement issued by the Security Council in September 2021.

The Bahraini king expressed full support of all measures taken by Egypt to protect national security.

The statement affirmed that the two countries share close views towards regional and international issues in a way that better serves Arab interests and preserves regional security.

Palestinian cause

The two countries underlined the importance of stepping up efforts to reach a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

They called for creating real prospects to guarantee resumption of serious and effective negotiations that will bring about peace in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution, international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

This should ensure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the June 1967 borders, the statement said.

The two leaders expressed support of international efforts aiming at reaching a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis in accordance with relevant international terms of reference and the Saudi initiative.

Bringing stability across Yemen



They also expressed support of the presidential leadership council in Yemen in its efforts to bring about security, stability and development across Yemen.



The Bahraini side lauded Egypt's response to a request by Yemen and the UN to operate direct flights between Cairo and Sanaa to alleviate sufferings of Yemeni people.

Supporting Libya

The statement underlined the importance of supporting legitimate Libyan institutions to carry out their hoped-for role. It lauded the honest decisions issued by the Libyan parliament as the only elected body responsible for materialising the aspirations of the brotherly Libyan people.



They called for getting all foreign troops and mercenaries immediately out of Libya without any delay in implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 2570 and 2571, Paris summit outcomes and resolutions adopted by the Arab League, the African Union and Libya's neighboring countries mechanism.

Iranian interference

The two countries agreed on backing Arab efforts aiming at getting Iran abide by international principles as regards non-interference in the internal affairs of countries to spare the region any activity aiming at jeopardizing its stability, including backing armed militia and threatening maritime navigation and international shipping routes.

They also expressed support of international efforts aiming at banning Iran from possessing nuclear weapons.

GCC+3 Summit

The statement also welcomed the summit to be hosted by Saudi Arabia that will bring together leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and the US, known as (GCC+3) Summit.

The statement expressed hope that the summit would come up with fruitful results that will enhance the strategic partnership between the participating countries and the US.

Ukraine crisis

The two sides reviewed the latest developments in Ukraine, underlining the importance of ceasing fire and resorting to dialogue to settle the conflict by peaceful means.

They also expressed support of international efforts aiming at settling the conflict by peaceful means and providing protection to civilians to preserve security and stability across Europe.

June revolution, COP27

The Bahraini side greeted the Egyptian government and people on the anniversary of June 30 Revolution that marks a turning point in the history of Egypt, saying this revolution enriched the values of citizenship and moderation.

The Bahraini king also congratulated Egypt for its hosting of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) to take place in November in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

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Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has installed a collection of replicas of the ancient Egyptian protection goddess Selket at the airports of seven touristic cities to promote tourism.

Amr El-Kady, secretary-general of the Egyptian Tourist Authority said the replicas were produced by Konoz factory for replicas and three of them have been installed in the arrival halls in terminals 1, 2, and 3 of the Cairo International Airport, while the others are being put at Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor, and Aswan airports.

Each replica statue is three metres tall, made of gilded fiber glass, and fixed on a one-metre-tall black granite mount. On each is written "Welcome to Egypt," and a description of the role Selket, the scorpion goddess of protection, has played in ancient times.

Selket was believed to have both positive and negative sides. Her role was recounted in several myths of ancient Egypt. One of her important duties was to guard the deceased king.

Selket is often depicted with Neith, the goddess of war and weaving.

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An official reception has been hosted in honor of the Heads of State of the Caspian littoral states in Ashgabat.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the official reception.

to be updated
The four-day Islamic feast Eid El-Adha will start in Egypt on Saturday 9 July, Dar El-Iftaa, the main authority responsible for issuing religious edicts in the country, has announced as Dhul-Hijjah month moon was sighted.

Thursday will be the first day of the Muslim sacred Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth and last month of the Islamic calendar during which the Hajj (pilgrimage) takes place, according to the announcement.

Muslims will be able to perform Eid Al-Adha prayers of the Islamic year 1443 early Saturday morning around 5:21 am in Cairo, according to astronomical calculations,

In a statement, Dar El-Iftaa affirmed the sight of the crescent of Dhul-Hijjah through scientific committees nationwide. Furthermore, Saudi Supreme Court also announced Thursday the first day of the sacred month in the kingdom, the statement added.

Dar El-Iftaa extended Eid greetings to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian people as well as to the kings and princes of the Arab and Islamic countries and Muslims worldwide.

Muslims across the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha by slaughtering sheep, cows, camels, or goats and giving meat to the poor, and feasting during family gatherings.

The four days of the Eid El-Adha are always declared holidays for the public and private sectors.

This year, the world is celebrating the Eid amid a rise in commodity prices, including meat and poultry, due to the global food crisis as a result of the Ukraine crisis as well as the ongoing pandemic.

In mid-June, Egypts Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi said that the state has contracted to purchase large numbers of livestock to secure meat for citizens.

In this regard, Madbouly urged the increase of contracted amounts of livestock to keep prices stable during the Eid.

Amid the pandemic, daily coronavirus infections and death tolls in Egypt have dropped to single digits in recent months, which allowed authorities to significantly reduce coronavirus restrictions nationwide.

In Eid El-Fitr, which took place in May, Egypts Ministry of Religious Endowments allocated 600 outdoor spaces at large mosques nationwide for millions of worshippers, ending a ban on outdoor Eid prayers, since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

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Ethiopia's army on late Tuesday denied that its forces executed seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian captured in a disputed zone along its shared border, saying its troops always acted lawfully.

Sudan accused Ethiopia of capturing the soldiers on June 22 in Al-Fashaqa, a fertile strip at the centre of a hostile border disagreement between the neighbours.

Addis Ababa said Sudanese forces crossed into Ethiopian territory and the casualties resulted from a skirmish with a local militia.

"It is completely unacceptable that an allegation was made from Sudan that the (Ethiopian army) had killed (Sudanese) captives when the (Ethiopian army) wasn't present in the area," Colonel Getnet Adane, public relations director at the Ethiopian National Defense Force, told reporters on Tuesday.

"If the Ethiopian defence force had been present in the area, it would have handled (captives) in a lawful manner, which is its distinctive trait," he added, in remarks carried by the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

He also said that if ordered, the army would drive Sudanese forces off any seized land "in a clear and known manner" and restore Ethiopian sovereignty.

In a statement, the army said there were casualties on both sides.

"It is known that the Defense Force is a hero that executes its responsibility lawfully and procedurally, so entities that falsely smear the army should desist from this act," it said.

Sudan recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia on Monday evening, despite Addis Ababa denying any role in the death of the soldiers.

Khartoum also vowed to lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council and regional organisations.

Relations between Khartoum and Addis Ababa have soured over Al-Fashaqa, which is close to Ethiopia's restive Tigray region.

Al-Fashaqa has long been cultivated by Ethiopian farmers but claimed by Sudan, and the dispute has sparked sporadic clashes between the Sudanese and Ethiopian sides, some fatal.

The rift over Al-Fashaqa feeds into wider tensions over land and water between the neighbours, particularly stoked by Ethiopia's mega dam on the Blue Nile.

Sudan and Egypt, both downstream countries, have been opposed to the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and pushed for an agreement on the filling of its reservoir and the operation of the dam.

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Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian early Wednesday during clashes in the hotspot town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

Mohammad Marei, 25, died from a bullet wound to the chest, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Palestinians' official Wafa news agency said he was killed during an Israeli raid in the town.

The Israeli occupation army said it conducted overnight "counter-terrorism activities" in several West Bank locations.

In Jenin, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on troops, the army said.

"A number of suspects also hurled explosive devices at soldiers, who responded with fire. A hit was identified," the army added, without specifically commenting on Marei's death.

His killing comes amid spiralling violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Forty-eight Palestinians have been killed, mostly in the West Bank - among them attackers and suspected militants but also non-combatants, including Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli army fire while covering a raid in Jenin, according to the United Nations.

Nineteen people -- mostly Israeli civilians inside Israel -- have been killed since late March, mainly in attacks by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.

Israeli security forces have responded with near-daily raids in the West Bank, including in and around Jenin.

Three Israeli Arab attackers have also been killed since late March.

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Tensions were high Wednesday in the western Indian city of Udaipur, a day after police arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting a Hindu tailor's throat and posting a video of it on social media, in a brutal attack representing a dramatic escalation of communal violence in a country riven by deep religious polarization.

The killing comes after months of rising tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and has raised fears it will spark increased violence.

Authorities suspended internet services in the city and surrounding Rajasthan state in an attempt to prevent the gruesome video from being shared, while rushing additional police to Udaipur and banning large gatherings in an attempt to prevent religious unrest from escalating. In New Delhi, a few dozen people associated with right-wing groups demonstrated against the killing and demanded the culprits be hanged.

In recent months, there have been a spate of attacks by Hindu nationalists on minority groups _ especially Muslims _ who have been targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to interfaith marriages. Muslim homes have also been demolished using bulldozers in some Indian states, in what critics call a growing pattern of ``bulldozer justice'' against the minority group.

The animosity worsened in May when two spokespeople from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party made speculative remarks that were seen as insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha. Both were later suspended by Modi's party.

The tailor who was slain on Tuesday, identified as 48-year-old Kanhaiya Lal, had reportedly shared a social media post supporting one of the spokespeople who were suspended for the Prophet Muhammad remarks, according to local media.

The two men who were arrested a few hours after the attack, identified as local Udaipur residents Gos Mohammad and Riyaz Akhtari, posted a second video of themselves in the aftermath of the killing, accusing Lal of blasphemy and threatening to kill Modi in the same way, smiling as they sat on a couch, brandishing long blood-covered knives.

In the video of the attack itself, one of the assailants can be seen being measured by the tailor, while the other one films.

The man being measured then attacks Lal with a knife, stabbing at him as the tailor desperately tries to fend him off with his hands. The man filming then apparently drops his phone and joins the attack, and Lal can be heard screaming for help as he is killed.

Police later said the men slit Lal's throat, and television reports aired footage of the tailor's bloody body on the ground.

Despite pleas from the police, both videos were still circulating on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook a day later.

Experts worry that the latest incident could worsen India's religious fault lines that critics say have deepened since Hindu-nationalist Modi came to power in 2014.

The divisions were exacerbated by the remarks by his party's spokespeople about the Prophet Muhammad in May, which also led to a severe diplomatic backlash for Hindu-majority India from many Muslim-dominated countries.

``This gruesome incident could lead to escalated religious tensions across India, especially with the ruling party espousing a very strident Hindu majoritarian cause,'' said Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a public policy think tank.

``It is unlikely that this government or leadership would go out of its way to tell supporters to not get provoked, to urge for calm and peace,'' he said.

Attacks on people accused of alleged blasphemy are common in neighboring Muslim-majority countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan. But in India, where religious tensions often boil over into sporadic riots and deadly protests, incidents of brutal killings of this nature are rare.

In May, a Hindu man in the southern city of Hyderabad was stabbed to death in public by his Muslim wife's relatives. Last year, a Muslim man was beheaded by members of a vigilante group on orders of his girlfriend's Hindu family because they didn't approve of their interfaith marriage. In Rajasthan state in 2017, a Hindu man brutally killed a Muslim laborer and shared a video of the victim being hacked to death and then set on fire.

It was not clear whether the two alleged killers of the tailor had links to any terrorist organization, but India's Home Ministry has dispatched a team from its anti-terror agency to Rajasthan to investigate. So far, the state police have not charged the two arrested men with terrorism.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a key Muslim body, condemned the killing in a statement and called it ``barbaric.''

``There is no room for justification of violence in Islam,'' it said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot promised a speedy investigation into Lal's killing.

``I again appeal to all to maintain peace,'' Gehlot said in a tweet.

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The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that the US Supreme Court's ruling ending the nationwide right to abortion risked having a detrimental impact far beyond the United States.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the decision by the top US court to scrap half a century of constitutional protections for abortion rights as "a setback".

Conservative-led US states have moved swiftly, at least eight of them imposing immediate bans on abortion, many with exceptions only if a woman's life is in danger.

A similar number is expected to follow suit within weeks.

Speaking to reporters from the UN health agency's headquarters in Geneva, Tedros voiced alarm that a country as influential as the United States would move "many years backwards" on the issue.

"We had hoped that US would actually lead on this issue," he said.

"Many countries... may follow suit," he warned, stressing that "the global impact is also a concern".

Tedros insisted that "all women should have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies and health. Full stop."

But he insisted that the issue of access to safe abortion was about much more than the right to choose.

"Safe abortion is health care. It saves lives," he said.

"Restricting it drives women and girls towards unsafe abortions, resulting in complications, even death." he said.

"The evidence is irrefutable: limiting access to safe abortion costs lives and has a major impact, particularly on women from the poorest and most marginalised communities."

The WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan agreed.

"Having access to safe abortion is a life-saving measure," she told journalists.

Blocking access "is like denying someone a life-saving drug that you know... can save their life," she said.

And it in no way reduces the number of abortions performed, but instead "drives women into the hands of people who are there to exploit the situation, performing unsafe abortions.

"So it's unfortunate to see some countries actually going backwards," she said.

"We will see the impact. There is no doubt that you will start seeing increases in mortality, as well as in huge amounts of morbidity as a result of this decision."

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The World Health Organization on Wednesday appealed for vigilance to ensure monkeypox does not spread among more vulnerable groups, such as children.

Fighting the virus required "intense" efforts, said the WHO, calling for broad data collection and sharing on how well vaccines work against it.

Experts have detected a surge of monkeypox cases since early May outside of the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic. Most of the new cases have been in western Europe.

"I am concerned about sustained transmission because it would suggest that the virus is establishing itself and it could move into high-risk groups including children, the immunocompromised and pregnant women," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

"We are starting to see this, with several children already infected."

There are two cases aged under 18 in Britain.

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan called for "very careful studies of the vaccine in different population groups ... so that we get data that's broadly applicable, and also to ensure that children, pregnant women and the immunosuppressed are considered for inclusion in these trials".

As of June 22 this year, 3,413 laboratory-confirmed cases and one death have been reported to the WHO, from 50 countries.

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said that countries with stockpiles of vaccines, led by the United States, had shown willingness to share them.

However, they had largely only been licensed for use against monkeypox's far more severe relative smallpox, which is also caused by an orthopoxvirus and which is the only disease successfully eradicated through vaccination.

"It's really important as we encourage the sharing of these products that we also collect the necessary clinical efficacy data," said Ryan.

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President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced US reinforcements of NATO forces in Europe, saying the alliance is needed more today 'than it ever has been.'

NATO will be "strengthened in all directions across every domain -- land, air and sea," he said at a summit of the transatlantic alliance being held in Madrid.

Biden, who was meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, said the extra forces included:

- Boosting the fleet of US naval destroyers from four to six in Rota, Spain.

- A permanent headquarters in Poland of the 5th Army Corps.

- An "additional rotational brigade" in Romania, consisting of "3,000 fighters and another 2,000 personnel combat team."

- Enhanced rotational deployments in the Baltic countries.

- Two additional squadrons of the F-35 stealth plane to Britain.

- "Additional air defence and other capabilities in Germany and in Italy."

"Together with our allies we're going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet the threats from all directions across every domain," Biden said.

"In a moment where (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very, very tenets of rule-based order, the United States and our allies, we're going to step up," he said.

"We're stepping up, proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been and it's important as it ever has been."

Referring to NATO unity on accepting the applications of previously neutral Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, Biden said Putin's strategy in invading Ukraine had backfired.

"That's exactly what he didn't want but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe," Biden said.

Stoltenberg commented that the expansion of NATO was "the opposite" of what Putin hoped for.

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Ukrainian intelligence said Wednesday that 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including scores of defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, had been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.

"This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders," the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine's defence ministry said on Telegram.

It did not specify when and where the swap took place or how many Russian prisoners were released as part of the exchange.

It added that 43 of the freed servicemen belonged to the Azov regiment, a former paramilitary unit that is now integrated into the Ukrainian army.

Russia considers the unit a neo-Nazi organisation and has previously said its soldiers should stand trial.

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged prisoners several times since Russia invaded on February 24.

The most recent previous exchange took place on Tuesday and involved 17 Ukrainian prisoners.

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Turkey said Wednesday it would seek the extradition of 33 alleged Kurdish militants from Sweden and Finland under a deal to secure Ankara's support for the Nordic countries' NATO membership bids.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped weeks of resistance to the two countries' NATO ambitions at crunch talks held on the eve of an alliance summit Wednesday focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Erdogan emerged from the meeting declaring victory after securing a 10-point agreement under which the two countries vowed to join Turkey's fight against outlawed Kurdish militants and to quickly extradite suspects.

Turkey put the deal to the immediate test by announcing that it would seek the extradition of 12 suspects from Finland and 21 from Sweden.

"We will seek the extradition of terrorists from the relevant countries within the framework of the new agreement," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a statement.

"We ask them to fulfil their promises."

The unnamed suspects were identified as being members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a group led by a US-based Muslim preacher that Erdogan blames for a failed 2016 coup attempt.

The European Union and Washington both recognise the PKK as a terrorist organisation because of the brutal tactics it employed during a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

But the agreement also stipulates that Sweden and Finland vow to "not provide support" to the YPG -- a PKK offshoot in Syria that played an instrumental role in the US-led alliance against the Islamic State group.

Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and asked to join the US-led alliance in May.

'Got what it wanted'

Their applications appeared to be headed for swift approval until Erdogan stepped in.

The Turkish leader accused Finland and particularly Sweden of providing a haven to Kurdish fighters and financing terror.

Erdogan also wanted the two countries to lift embargoes on weapons deliveries they imposed in response to Turkey's 2019 military incursion into Syria.

The memorandum appears to address many of Erdogan's concerns.

It says Finland and Sweden pledge to "address Turkey's pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly".

"Finland and Sweden confirm that the PKK is a proscribed terrorist organisation," says the agreement.

"Finland and Sweden commit to prevent activities of the PKK and all other terrorist organisations and their extensions, as well as activities by individuals... linked to these terrorist organisations."

Erdogan's office hailed the agreement as a full victory.

"Turkey got what it wanted," his office declared in a statement.

Erdogan also secured the promise of a long-sought meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO talks.

A US officials told reporters that Biden was "keen" to improve relations with Turkey after a difficult spell caused in part by Turkey's crackdown on human rights.

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Moscow ally Syria on Wednesday recognised the independence of eastern Ukraine's two separatist republics, making it the first state other than Russia to do so.

The breakaway states of Donetsk and Lugansk, whose independence Moscow recognised in February, are situated in the Donbas region at the centre of Russia's invasion and have escaped Kyiv's control since 2014.

"The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to recognise the independence and sovereignty of both the Lugansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic," a source at Syria's foreign ministry told the official SANA news agency.

"We will communicate with both countries to agree on frameworks for strengthening relations, including establishing diplomatic relations in accordance with established rules," the source said.

Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with a Russian delegation and representatives of the Donetsk republic.

During the meeting he said Damascus was ready to start political relations with Donetsk.

This is not the first time that the Syrian government, which since 2015 has been heavily backed by Russia in its own civil war, has supported Moscow's recognition of breakaway states.

In 2018, Syria recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent from the former Soviet state of Georgia, prompting Tbilisi to cut diplomatic ties.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia are internationally recognised as part of Georgia, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but Russia and a handful of other countries recognise their independence.

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By Trend

Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday said that the upcoming JCPOA revival talks could lead to an agreement if the US and the three European members of the nuclear deal act realistically, Trend reports citing IRNA.

Amirabdollahian was referring to indirect talks with the United States, which are set to begin in Qatars capital Doha on Tuesday.

The talks are the continuation of the negotiations taking place in Vienna since April 2021, aiming to revive the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, and to remove the sanctions the US reinstated on Iran after it withdrew from the accord in May 2018.

The top Iranian diplomat said that the Doha talks could hopefully lead to an agreement if the US as well as the UK, Germany and France behave realistically.

He made the remarks during a joint press conference with Turkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushglu in Ankara.

Amirabdollahian said that he had also discussed with Cavushglu Tehran-Ankara relations as well as regional issues, including Israeli provocations.

The Iranian foreign minister said that another topic of discussion was a planned Turkiye's military operation in northern Syria and added that Turkeys security concerns should be addressed peacefully and through dialog.

Amirabdollahian arrived in Turkiye on Monday. He will then head for Turkmenistan to attend a ministerial meeting of the Caspian Sea littoral states.
Pro-Russian authorities said Wednesday they were launching bus and train services between Moscow-annexed Crimea and the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

"Starting from July 1, regular bus and train services between Crimea and the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be launched for the first time in eight years," Sergei Aksyonov, the pro-Moscow head of Crimea, said on messaging app Telegram.

Members of Russia's National Guard will ensure the safety of travel, he added.

The southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been largely under Russia's control since the first weeks of Moscow's military intervention, and are now being forcefully integrated into Russia's economy.

Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

A growing chorus of Russian and pro-Moscow officials have indicated Moscow intends to remain in the Kherson region and large parts of Zaporizhzhia it controls. Pro-Moscow officials in southern Ukraine have said they are hoping to stage a referendum.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson administration, confirmed such plans were in the works and local authorities were preparing to stage a "referendum".

"The region of Kherson will make a decision and become part of the Russian Federation," he said on Telegram.

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Russian forces also shelled civilian areas in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials said, with at least five people killed there in the last 24 hours and another 22 wounded, including three children.

A Mykolaiv regional military administrator said Russia launched at least 11 missiles on targets in the region, with some of the missiles shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems and others getting through. Russia fired on the city using the same Soviet-era Kh-22 anti-ship missiles that were used in the strike on the shopping mall in Kremenchuk, a military spokeswoman said.

The new Russian attacks killed at least eight civilians, the officials said, in strikes on the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv and the northeastern reaches near Kharkiv, the country's second largest city. Among those killed was a 6-year-old girl, while dozens were injured, including a 3-month-old baby left in a coma.

Russia targeted more Ukrainian civilian sites with missiles on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported, a day after a deadly strike on a shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk that killed at least 18 people.

 New Sanctions

The new attacks came as the United States once again ramped up sanctions against Russian defense entities and individuals carrying out Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month.

The U.S. State Department and the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Russia's largest defense conglomerate, the state corporation Rostec, and dozens of Russia's defense industry-based entities. The U.S. agencies also sanctioned an individual in Ukraine they said was illegitimately installed as a mayor by Russia, as well as 19 Rostec board members and nine of their adult family members.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday he stressed the need for a "powerful missile defense system for Ukraine to prevent Russian terrorist attacks" in talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the start of a summit of NATO leaders in Madrid.

The war in Ukraine is expected to be among the major topics of discussion at the NATO meeting. Stoltenberg declared, "At our NATO summit we will step up support for our close partner Ukraine, now and for the longer term."

"NATO allies stand with you," Stoltenberg said after talking with Zelenskyy. Stoltenberg said Monday that the Western military alliance is declaring a sevenfold increase in the number of its troops on standby alert -- from 40,000 to more than 300,000.

Rescue crews at the Kremenchuk shopping center worked Tuesday to search for survivors of the Monday attack. Zelenskyy said there were more than 1,000 civilians inside the mall at the time of the attack, which he called "calculated."

"This is not an accidental hit, this is a calculated Russian strike exactly onto this shopping center," Zelenskyy said Monday in his nightly video address. He added that the strike "is one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history." Zelenskyy had said earlier on Telegram that the shopping center, in the city 300 kilometers southeast of the capital, Kyiv, was "no danger to the Russian army, no strategic value."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted, "The world is horrified by Russia's missile strike [Monday], which hit a crowded Ukrainian shopping mall -- the latest in a string of atrocities. We will continue to support our Ukrainian partners and hold Russia, including those responsible for atrocities, to account."

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called the attack "deplorable" and said the U.N. Security Council would meet Tuesday at Ukraine's request following the strike.

 Group of Seven

Leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized economies closed a meeting Tuesday in Germany by expressing support for Ukraine and a pledge to "continue to impose severe and immediate economic costs on President Putin's regime for its unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine." The statement said the G7 countries would boost their efforts to address the wider impact of the war, including on global energy and food supplies.

The leaders also said they will consider ways to bar services "which enable transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally, unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultation with international partners." They said such a plan would allow the most vulnerable countries to maintain access to Russian energy markets.

In addition to efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy supplies, rounds of sanctions already enacted have targeted Russian energy exports to both pressure Putin to end the war and to try to hamper Russia's ability to fund its war effort.
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has successfully completed its first rocket launch from a commercial space facility outside of the United States. A 13-m rocket blasted off Monday from a site in the Australian outback.

A 13-m sub-orbital rocket took off from the newly built Arnhem Space Centre in Australia's Northern Territory Monday. Lift-off was delayed by about two hours because of strong winds and heavy rain.

The launch was the first of its kind in Australia in more than 25 years and the first of three scheduled NASA missions from the site. Researchers hope the information gathered from the flights will help them understand how light from a star could affect the habitability of nearby planets. They have said that this type of study can only be carried out in the Southern Hemisphere.

The unmanned flight briefly scanned the Milky Way, measuring X-Ray emissions and analyzing the structure of stars. Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, told Australian television that the launch is part of a project to boost the domestic space industry.

"When you build a satellite you have to go overseas to do it and so the fact that we are now seeing this build-up of launching from Australia this is, kind of, that final piece of the puzzle to having, you know, a really massive industry in this sector of space and then we see that that, kind of, the first group that says, yes, we want to do it, we want to be a part of the story is Nasa, you know, it just, kind of, gives the street cred[ibility] so to speak that you are on the right track from what you are thinking," he said.


Korean Air said Tuesday it plans to restore its international flights to 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels by September, three months earlier than initially planned.

The carrier is currently operating one-third the number of international flights it offered before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The flag carrier will increase flights between Incheon and New York from seven to 12 a week in July and to 14 a week in August. It will also operate more flights on routes to American cities including Washington, Honolulu and Vancouver, and resume its route to Las Vegas with three flights a week.
Half of Korean households will consist of elderly people by 2015, Statistics Korea said in a revised projection Tuesday.

The country already began a natural population decline two years ago, and the number of smaller and smaller households will peak at 23.87 million in 2039 before it also shrinks.

By 2050 it will have dwindled 4.3 percent to 22.85 million. And if the average number of people per household stood at 2.37 in 2020, this will fall to 1.91 by 2050.

At present one in five households is headed by breadwinners over 65, but that will rise to one in two over the next three decades.

The number of single and two-person households will increase, while larger families living under one roof will dwindle. As of 2020, 31.2 percent of households in Korea were singles.
NATO ally Turkey lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden's bid to join the Western alliance on Tuesday after the three nations agreed to protect each other's security, ending a weeks-long drama that tested allied unity against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The breakthrough came after four hours of talks just before a NATO summit began in Madrid, averting an embarrassing impasse at the gathering of 30 leaders that aims to show resolve against Russia, now seen by the U.S.-led alliance as a direct security threat rather than a possible adversary.

It means Helsinki and Stockholm can proceed with their application to join the nuclear-armed alliance, cementing what is set to be the biggest shift in European security in decades, as the two, long neutral Nordic countries seek NATO protection.

"Our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum which confirms that Turkey will... support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO," Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said in a statement.

"The concrete steps of our accession to NATO will be agreed by the NATO allies during the next two days, but that decision is now imminent," Niinisto said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Turkey's presidency confirmed the accord in separate statements, after talks between the NATO chief, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Niinisto.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, "Fantastic news as we kick off the NATO summit. Sweden and Finland's membership will make our brilliant alliance stronger and safer."

Stoltenberg said NATO's 30 leaders would now invite Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia, and Sweden to join NATO, and that they would become official "invitees." "The door is open. The joining of Finland and Sweden into NATO will take place," Stoltenberg said.

However, even with a formal invitation granted, NATO's 30 allied parliaments must ratify the decision by leaders, a process that could take up to a year.
By Noriyuki Suzuki, KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2022 - 08:36 | All, Japan, World

Japan intends to upgrade its partnership with NATO significantly after Russia's war against Ukraine as the security of Europe is inseparable from that of Asia, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday, hailing the Western alliance's engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

Kishida attended a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Spain as the first Japanese leader to do so, highlighting the expanding reach of an alliance that faces challenges posed by Russia and China.

The two-day summit through Thursday will see NATO members commit to bolstering defenses in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It adopted a new Strategic Concept -- the alliance's guiding document for the next decade -- that mentioned China for the first time.

NATO has invited to the gathering the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, which the Brussels-based organization views as its Asia-Pacific partner countries, also an unprecedented move.

NATO plus the four nations will agree to create a road map for expanded cooperation, the U.S. government said in a document outlining the expected outcome of the summit.

The road map will ensure "closer political consultation and joint work on issues of mutual interest," including cyber threats, maritime security, counterterrorism and the impact of climate change on security, the government said.

Kishida told the gathering that Japan is seeking to update its own partnership document with NATO to boost cooperation in such areas as cyber and maritime security.

The Asian nation plans to bolster its defenses over the next five years and substantially increase defense spending to cope with growing security threats, including those caused by China and its opaque military buildup.

Russia's war on Ukraine has heightened concerns that the next potential military flash point could involve China in the Indo-Pacific. The Western alliance is aiming to boost ties with Asia-Pacific partners.

In a swipe at China, Kishida said unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force continue in the East and South China seas, adding that he feels a "strong sense of crisis" regarding the likelihood of conflict similar to Ukraine's breaking out in East Asia.

"We must demonstrate unity so that such attempts will never succeed," he said.

China has been pressuring Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island which Beijing views as part of its territory. It has also been militarizing outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea and carrying out repeated incursions into waters around the Senkaku Islands, a group of East China Sea islets controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

Japan, the sole Asian member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, has been moving in lockstep with the United States and European countries in imposing sanctions on Moscow, reflecting its stance that any tolerance of the Kremlin's brazen attack on a sovereign nation could risk emboldening China.

The United States has welcomed the participation of the Asia-Pacific countries in the NATO summit as a sign of a deepening link between security in Europe and their region, as well as of the democratic world firming up against autocracies such as Russia and China.

Chairing the meeting joined by the alliance members, Asia-Pacific partners and others, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, "China does not share our values and, like Russia, it seeks to undermine the international rules-based order."

"So we must continue to stand together and work with like-minded partners around the world to protect our values and our freedom. And to promote peace and prosperity," he added.

NATO was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada and several Western European nations to defend against the threat from the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies. It has grown to become an organization with 30 members and is now set to welcome Finland and Sweden in the wake of the Russia's invasion.

In terms of NATO's relations with the Asia-Pacific nations, the organization said in its communique released after its summit in June last year it plans to enhance "political dialogue and practical cooperation" with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

In April this year, the four countries participated in NATO's foreign ministerial meeting and they agreed to continue supporting Ukraine and to step up cooperation given the "global implications" of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Australia, Japan and South Korea are all U.S. security allies. Australia and New Zealand are part of the "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance that also involves Britain, Canada and the United States, while Japan and Australia are members of the Quad group alongside the United States and India.

For the first time, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea held a four-way summit on Wednesday ahead of the meeting of NATO leaders.

Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to boost cooperation with NATO based on the perception that the security of the Indo-Pacific region and Europe is inseparable, according to the Japanese government.

During the quadrilateral summit hosted by Kishida, which lasted about one hour, they also agreed that Russia's invasion of Ukraine must be condemned, the government said.

Related coverage:

Finland, Sweden cleared for joining NATO as Turkey drops opposition
KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2022 - 13:52 | All, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke briefly Tuesday in Madrid, both governments said, in their first face-to-face encounter amid chilly ties over wartime issues.

The conversation took place on the fringes of a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that the two leaders are attending, keeping hopes alive for a thaw in bilateral relations under Yoon, who became president in May with a pledge to take a "future-oriented" approach.

Kishida told Yoon during a dinner hosted by King Felipe VI of Spain that he hopes the South Korean president will work to restore the countries' "extremely severe" relations to "a healthy state," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

South Korea's presidential office said the conversation lasted three to four minutes and quoted Yoon as telling Kishida that he intends to resolve pending issues of concern to both nations swiftly after Japan's upper house election and move forward in a future-oriented manner.

The last time Japanese and South Korean leaders sat down for talks was in December 2019.

The latest encounter came at a delicate time for Kishida ahead of the House of Councillors election on July 10.

He needs the support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's conservative base, which believes the government should take a firm stance amid disputes over compensation related to Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula that continue to cast a deep shadow over ties between the U.S. allies.

Bilateral ties worsened during the administration of Yoon's predecessor Moon Jae In after the South Korean Supreme Court in 2018 ordered two Japanese companies to pay damages to Korean plaintiffs over their forced labor.

The companies did not comply with the orders, based on Tokyo's stance that wartime compensation issues were settled by a 1965 bilateral agreement under which Japan provided grants and loans to South Korea.

Prior to the NATO summit, reports emerged that the South Korean government is preparing a public-private body for officials and experts to explore how to resolve wartime labor issues.

Another dispute over the issue of "comfort women," procured for Japan's wartime military brothels, has also hurt diplomatic ties, as Tokyo continues to urge Seoul to follow through on a 2015 accord that settled the issue "finally and irreversibly."

The fraying of ties comes as bilateral and trilateral cooperation with their shared ally the United States has taken on greater importance to counter the North Korean missile and nuclear threats.

The brief conversation came as Japan and South Korea examine how to cope with an assertive China just as NATO also reviews its own approach. Kishida and Yoon were invited to attend the NATO summit as their nations are NATO partners.

In March, Kishida spoke by phone with Yoon soon after the conservative main opposition party candidate won the presidential election and expressed his hope of holding an in-person meeting.
By Eric Peters, KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2022 - 12:42 | All, World

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday called for Russia's expulsion from the United Nations and accused Russia of being a "terrorist state."

"Although Russia is violating fundamental principles of the U.N. and international legal order, it is still not held to account at the global level," Zelenskyy said in a virtual address to the U.N. Security Council.

Zelenskyy's remarks come one day after a Russian missile struck a busy shopping center in Ukraine's central city of Kremenchuk.

He called on the United Nations to send a representative to the site of the missile attack, one of several in the past three days, and establish a special international tribunal to investigate the actions of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil.

Ukrainian officials reported that the strike killed 18 people and injured at least 50, with dozens still considered missing. Zelenskyy told the Security Council that seven fragments of bodies were found.

More than 1,000 people were reportedly in the shopping mall at the time of the missile strike.

The emergency meeting was convened at the request of Ukraine by the Albanian delegation to the United Nations, which currently holds the presidency of the Security Council.

The meeting marked 125 days since the Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a previous address to the Security Council in April, Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of committing "the most terrible war crimes" since World War II.

Zelenskyy ended his address by asking for a moment of silence "to honor the memory of all Ukrainians who have been killed in this war."

All representatives present in the chamber rose including Russia's deputy representative Dmitry Polyanskiy.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians as a result of these missile attacks, in particular the attack that hit a crowded shopping center in Kremenchuk, Poltava region of Ukraine," said Ferit Hoxha, the Albanian permanent representative to the United Nations, in a joint statement on behalf of Albania, Britain, France, Ireland, Norway, the United States, and Ukraine.

"This strike was a blatant attack on civilian infrastructure and civilian population," the statement said.

Related coverage:

At least 18 killed in Russian missile strike on Ukraine shopping mall

G-7 seeking price cap on Russian oil amid energy cost surge
By Miya Tanaka, KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2022 - 06:19 | All, World

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday defined China as a challenge for the first time in its updated guidelines, while also singling out the increasing threat from Russia as the post-Cold War peace in Europe has been shattered by the war against Ukraine.

NATO issued the new Strategic Concept during its summit in Madrid, marking the first update since 2010 of the document that typically spans about a decade. It says that threats are now "global and interconnected" and developments in the Indo-Pacific, where Beijing is increasing its military and economic clout, could affect Euro-Atlantic security.

While declining to call China an "adversary," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking after the paper was endorsed, called for being "clear-eyed about the serious challenges" the Asian economic powerhouse represents through its assertiveness, coercive policies and deepening partnership with Moscow.

The previous Strategic Concept was drawn up around a period when NATO was focused on Afghanistan, after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on U.S. soil in 2001. At that time, the document described the Euro-Atlantic area as being "at peace" and even sought a "strategic partnership" between NATO and Russia, while China was not mentioned at all.

In a stark contrast, the latest document depicts Russia as "the most significant and direct threat" to the allies' security. It also lists a range of behaviors by China deemed concerning, such as the use of its "political, economic and military tools to increase its global footprint and project power, while remaining opaque about its strategy, intentions and military build-up."

China also seeks to control critical infrastructure and supply chains, and strives to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains, NATO said.

"We will work together responsibly, as allies, to address the systemic challenges posed by the PRC to Euro-Atlantic security," the document said, referring to the acronym of the People's Republic of China, the country's official name. It also warns of the "mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order" by China and Russia.

The Indo-Pacific is "important" for the trans-Atlantic alliance, it acknowledges in the document, and vows to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with new and existing partners in the region to tackle "cross-regional challenges and shared security interests."

NATO gave the green light to the latest guidelines during the first day of its two-day summit in the Spanish capital, which Stoltenberg hailed as a "historic and transformative" meeting for the bloc facing "the most serious security crisis" since World War II.

In a sign of deepening linkage between the security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, leaders from Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, which NATO views as its Asia-Pacific partner countries, attended the summit for the first time.

The Brussels-based, 30-member alliance also decided the same day to accept Finland and Sweden as members, after the two Nordic countries made a historic decision to end their longstanding military nonalignment policies in the wake of Russia's war.

NATO was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada and several Western European nations to defend against the threat from the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites.

But the end of the Cold War in 1991 led to Europe spending less on defense, and its nations ventured outside the continent in order to address the threat from terrorism.

Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 prompted the alliance to renew its focus on defense and deterrence against Moscow. In the wake of the Ukraine invasion that began in February, more troops have been deployed along NATO's eastern flank.

As part of what it calls a "fundamental shift" in its defense, NATO said it will boost the number of troops on high alert to well over 300,000, up from the 40,000 under its direct command in the eastern part of the alliance closer to Russia.

The United States announced it will enhance its military presence in Europe and that it will continue to adjust its force posture based on the "threat."

While the total number of American troops in Europe has been raised by over 20,000 to more than 100,000 in response to the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. government said it is working with Spain to increase the number of U.S. naval destroyers stationed at Rota naval base, known as the "gateway to the Mediterranean," from four to six.

The United States is also planning to send two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to Britain and station additional air defense and other capabilities in Germany. It will also establish a permanent Army garrison headquarters in Poland.
By Trend

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after rising in the previous three sessions as the market tussled between concerns about the global economy and tight global oil supplies, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

Brent crude futures for August dropped 84 cents, or 0.7%, to $117.14 a barrel by 0444 GMT. The August contract will expire on Thursday and the more-active September contract was at $113.17, down 63 cents, or 0.6%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 54 cents, or 0.5%, to $111.22 a barrel.

Both contracts rose more than 2% on Tuesday as concerns over tight supplies due to Western sanctions on Russia outweighed fears of that demand may slow in a potential future recession.

"The market is stuck in the push-pull between the current deteriorating macro backdrop and the looming threat of a recession, pitted against the strongest fundamental oil market set up in decades, maybe ever," RBC Capital's Mike Tran said in a note.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been seen as the only two members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with spare capacity to make up for lost Russian supply. However, comments from UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei and French President Emmanuel Macron this week indicated little room for these producers to increase output further.

"Investors made position adjustments, but remained bullish on expectations that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would not be able to raise output significantly to meet recovering demand, driven by a pick-up in jet fuels," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.

"Oil prices will likely stay above $110 a barrel, also on worries of potential supply disruptions due to hurricanes as the United States enters the summer," he said.

Analysts also warned political unrest in Ecuador and Libya could tighten supply further.

More changes to Russian oil trade may come after the Group of Seven economic powers agreed on Tuesday to explore ways to cap the price of Russian oil, allowing more supplies into the market while curbing Moscow's revenues.

However, traders and analysts are sceptical about how it would work and that such an agreement will require cooperation from China and India.

"A price cap may have a limited effect unless it is adopted by all countries, globally," FGE analysts said.

In the United States, crude inventories are forecast to have fallen for the last two weeks, according to a Reuters poll. The government's weekly petroleum status report last week was delayed due to a hardware issue. The data for both weeks will published together on Wednesday.

Data from American Petroleum Institute showed gasoline and distillates stocks rose while crude inventories fell for the week ending June 24, according to market sources citing API figures on Tuesday.
By Noriyuki Suzuki, KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2022 - 12:31 | Japan, All

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is projecting himself as a pragmatic leader whose diplomatic decisions can be unconventional.

Kishida used his attendance at a Group of Seven summit in southern Germany to show that the hardening of Japan's stance on Russia is real and Tokyo is firmly aligned with the rich club in adding sanctions to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.

In a symbolic move, he then traveled to Spain as the first Japanese leader to participate in a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that provides collective defense for its members, sending a message to Russia -- and an increasingly assertive China -- that their behavior will be watched.

Japan, a NATO partner, will strengthen ties with the 30-member military alliance, he said.

Viewed as a liberal-leaning lawmaker, soft-spoken Kishida has said he will be "thoroughly realistic" when his country faces history-making challenges.

For some, a series of diplomatic decisions made since he took office last year, and especially after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in late February, are already eye-openers.

"Mr. Kishida is doing things that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would not have achieved, such as taking a hard-line stance on Russia and boosting defense spending. And he does not seem to be raising a sense of alarm among the public because he is known to be moderate," said Ken Jimbo, a professor at Keio University.

"Gone are the days when Japan can focus on China as long as it manages its relations with Russia. Russia and China are now adding pressure on Japan and there is the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea," said Jimbo, an expert on international security.

Kishida weighed the need to embark on the trip to Germany and Spain amid the severity of the security environment against remaining in Japan where campaigning is under way for an upper house election on July 10.

The prime minister has vowed to fundamentally reinforce Japan's defense and secure a substantial increase in defense spending. His ruling Liberal Democratic Party is aiming to double the country's defense spending to 2 percent or more of gross domestic product, on a par with NATO members.

During talks with his counterparts, Kishida explained such plans, warning, "Ukraine today may be Asia tomorrow," a phrase he frequently uses to underscore his sense of urgency, a senior Japanese government official said. He used strong language to say the G-7 needs to prevent other nations from drawing the "wrong lessons" from the Ukraine crisis, with China in mind.

Kishida served as foreign minister under Abe, a conservative LDP lawmaker who paved the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, or coming to the aid of allies even when Japan itself is not under attack. Abe had sought to build rapport with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve a territorial dispute over islands called the Northern Territories by Tokyo and the Southern Kurils by Moscow.

Japan slapped a slew of sanctions on Russia in response to its war in Ukraine and froze an economic cooperation plan pushed by Abe. At the G-7 summit, Kishida announced another round of punitive measures. Among them, Japan joined some other members in placing a ban on gold imports from major producer Russia.

"Russia itself seems to have been taken aback by the strength of Japan's response (following the war)," said James Brown, an associate professor at Temple University in Tokyo, who is an expert on Japan-Russia relations. "Under Abe, Russia got the impression that Japan was a soft touch. Kishida has shown that this is no longer the case."

The prospects for progress toward resolving the territorial issue and reaching a postwar peace treaty now look low.

For economic reasons, Kishida also needs to take a tough approach to Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has sent energy, commodity and food prices higher, raising the cost of living for households, a sensitive issue ahead of the national election.

Experts say Kishida's attendance at the NATO summit will send a strong message to Russia and China that Japan is on the alliance's side. The real work will now begin on shaping how Japan and the military alliance deepen cooperation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Shortly after the G-7 summit ended, Kishida said he called for the group's unity in opposing unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and a great amount of time was spent discussing issues related to China.

The group consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union.

"What Japan can do and is expected to do is to provide proper input on China," said Atsuko Higashino, a professor at the University of Tsukuba, who is well versed on NATO.

NATO knows Japan well after years of partnership and is unlikely to demand something that goes beyond the limits of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the country's Constitution, despite some domestic concern that Japan will be dragged into the military alliance, Higashino said.

"At the same time, Japan's stance on China will come under greater scrutiny because NATO is not only a military alliance but an organization that places emphasis on fundamental values like human rights. Japan cannot warn of the threat of China while not being hard on human rights issues," she said.

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By Genki Ito, KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2022 - 13:00 | Arts, Feature, All, Japan

Thailand has begun a campaign to attract international tourists, and especially Japanese travelers, using the popularity of homegrown productions of "boys' love," or BL dramas, as a drawcard.

At the "Mini Thai Festival" held in Osaka in early June, two booths were set up by video distributors in the "Thai BL" corner, dragging throngs of people away from street food stalls and an exhibition of the combat sport Muay Thai. The Tourism Authority of Thailand, or TAT, handed out pamphlets on Thai BL.

Known in Thailand as "Y series" -- a reference to the Japanese "yaoi" fiction that features homoerotic relationships between male characters and provided the inspiration for BL dramas -- the productions were once looked upon with prejudice but have gained acceptance due to their potential to function as a cultural export.

"My heart flutters when I see these scenes of handsome actors falling in love with each other," Keiko Kobayashi, a 58-year-old who works in Osaka and met with friends to drink Thai beer at the festival, said.

She became a fan of the genre about a year ago. Because of Thai BL dramas, "I started learning about Thailand, which I previously had no interest in," she said.

The Thai BL boom took off in Japan about two years ago through word of mouth, with major works creating social media buzz. Maya Murai, 30, who works for TAT's Osaka branch, recognized the tourism potential and opened the office's Thai BL Twitter account, which now has more than 20,000 followers.

She saw the chance to promote tours to Thailand after discovering that 80 percent of Japanese fans of Thai BL had never been to the Southeast Asian nation.

Thailand lifted post-entry quarantine requirements and most other COVID-19 restrictions on travelers to the country from June onward.

When TAT's Osaka office solicited eight participants for a trial tour, partially paid for by the office, to BL drama location sites in Thailand for early June, the slots were immediately snapped up -- a limited but heartening indication of Japanese tourists' interest in a holiday structured around Thai BL.

Chanyuth Sawetsuwan, 51, the office head, said the boom seen in Japan has also spread to other Asian countries and South America, prompting the Thai government to start positioning BL dramas as strategic content aimed at promoting tourism.

Murai, who is also a fan of Thai BL, said, "I occasionally feel jealous of actresses when I watch love stories between men and women. But many women are attracted by BL dramas because they can simply support handsome men."

Indeed, the frank emotional subject matter and smiles seen in Thai BL dramas appear to have won the hearts of many Japanese fans.

"In the 1980s, BL works were in Japan rather than Thailand," said Rujirat Ishikawa, a 38-year-old Thai assistant professor at Aoyama Gakuin University specializing in Japanese manga culture. Fan clubs for Japanese BL works were formed in Thailand in the 1990s.

But explicit sexual descriptions contained in self-published works became an issue leading to Thai government intervention, and BL became taboo in the early 2000s.

A scene of two men kissing in a 2007 Thai movie resulted in a torrent of criticism, Ishikawa said. Around the same time, however, some people began to be more accepting of homosexuality in Thai society. "Thai society changed, opening the way for a string of homegrown Thai BL drama productions," she said.

BL dramas feature scenes in which boys come out to family members or demonstrate similar acts of courage, giving viewers a sense of their internal struggles, Ishikawa said.

Thai BL dramas often conclude with a happy ending, according to Ishikawa, creating "positive feelings to eliminate biased views against sexual minorities."

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KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2022 - 06:10 | All, World

Finland and Sweden now have a clear path to membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday, as Turkey has withdrawn its opposition which had served as a major obstacle to the two countries joining.

"I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO," Stoltenberg told a press conference following a trilateral meeting between Turkey, Finland and Sweden.

The development came on the eve of the 30-member trans-Atlantic alliance's summit to be held in Madrid.

In May, Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO, marking a historic change in the Nordic countries' longstanding military nonalignment policies in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine.

Their accession was initially expected to proceed swiftly, but the moves hit a snag when Turkey voiced opposition, alleging the two nations support people Ankara deems terrorists such as members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as PKK.

Stoltenberg said Finland and Sweden have committed to supporting Turkey against threats to its national security, such as by cracking down on the PKK's activities and entering into an extradition agreement, which has prompted Turkey to drop its veto.

He also said the entry of the countries into the alliance will not only enhance their own security, but will strengthen NATO and make the Euro-Atlantic area more secure, given that the two nations have advanced weapons systems technology as well as strong, stable political institutions.

Stoltenberg did not say exactly when the two countries will acquire membership, given that all 30 NATO countries must ratify the applications to approve new members.

With their participation, NATO's border with Russia would roughly double in length, almost certainly changing the geopolitical landscape in Europe.

Sweden has not participated in a war since the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, when it lost territory, and has preferred a neutral mediation role in international disputes.

Finland, which has a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, adopted neutrality after fighting with the Soviet Union during World War II and losing some of its territory.

But the importance of being part of the security alliance has been highlighted following Russia's aggression, with the United States vowing to defend "every single inch" of NATO territory based on the principle of collective defense.

Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, has had to continue fighting on its own to repel Russian forces, although the United States and other NATO members have provided massive security and other assistance.

Russia began its military attack against the former Soviet republic on Feb. 24 after asserting that its security was under threat from the NATO's eastward expansion and the possibility of Ukraine joining the security alliance.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 29, 2022 - 21:52 | All, World, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida welcomed Sweden's "historic" decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and agreed with his Swedish counterpart to oppose any unilateral use of force to change the status quo amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Kishida and Sweden's Magdalena Andersson, meeting on the fringes of a NATO summit in Madrid, agreed to step up bilateral cooperation as Japan takes over the Group of Seven presidency next year and Sweden will chair the Council of the European Union.

Turkey had opposed the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, claiming that the two countries support people who Ankara deems terrorists.

But Turkey has withdrawn its opposition to the accession after it had an agreement with the two nations that addresses its concerns. Sweden and Finland have now committed to supporting Turkey against threats to its national security.

The move cleared an obstacle to the two countries' future membership.

During the meeting, Kishida praised Andersson's efforts at securing support from Turkey, efforts the Swedish prime minister characterized as challenging, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Both leaders agreed Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shaken the foundation of order, not just in Europe but also in Asia, and that coordination among nations sharing the same basic values is more important than ever, the ministry said.

As Kishida is pushing for a nuclear-weapons-free world, the two leaders confirmed they will cooperate on realizing a successful U.N. review conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in August.

Japan and Sweden are not members of NATO but were invited to the two-day summit.
MEXICO CITY, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A Mexican expert said that illegal immigrants in the United States have become victims of forced labor.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will not make Europe or the world safer, Croatian political analyst Zarko Puhovski told Xinhua in a recent interview.

NATO's expansion and Russia's strong reaction are bound to result in "long and unfriendly borders," which could eventually spark conflicts, Puhovski said.

NATO's expansion, he explained, will only serve to strengthen the so-called "block policy" in the world, in which one block is pushing against another and which thus elicits strong reactions.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Memory Bere, a female motor mechanic, fixes a vehicle with a colleague in Chitungwiza, a town near Harare, Zimbabwe, on June 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Tafara Mugwara)

by Tafara Mugwara

CHITUNGWIZA, Zimbabwe, June 28 (Xinhua) -- When most people think of a motor mechanic, what they often visualize is a man covered in grime and grease -- the idea of a woman under the hood is still strange to many people.

Memory Bere, however, is not the stereotypical mechanic. She is among a growing number of female motor mechanics smashing gender bias and driving change in the male-dominated automotive repair and maintenance industry.

"As a female mechanic, my goal is to break the gender bias in the motor mechanic industry and create the next generation of vibrant female motor mechanics," Bere, 30, told Xinhua at her workshop in Chitungwiza, a town near Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

Her ambition is to encourage more women to become motor mechanics.

"When I grew up, my father had a Datsun 1500 and I used to call it a 'scoro-scoro' car because each and every time that car would give him problems. So whenever he was fixing his car I was always by his side as his spanner girl," said Bere.

When she finished high school, Bere enrolled in a motor mechanics course.

"The first challenge which I faced was I was the only female mechanic in class and when I finished mechanics I started looking for a job and I couldn't find one here in Zimbabwe then I decided to go to South Africa. When I went to SA it was also not easy since motor mechanics is a male-dominated field," she recalled.

When she finally got a job, Bere said she could not find a female mentor to look up to. "I decided that I want to show to the world as well as to the young generation which also wants to follow me that no job is meant for a man or woman. As long as you believe and have faith in yourself that you can do it, you can do it," she said.

The journey has not been easy as society has set the bar unfairly high for women who have to work harder than men to receive the same recognition. Despite her colorful resume, some customers still lacked faith in her and would frequently ask to be served by a male mechanic.

"There was this customer, he brought his BMW and he wanted to change brake pads. My boss asked me to change the pads. So I changed the brake pads and then after I finished tightening the wheels the customer noticed I was the one who was doing his car. Then he asked one of my colleagues to cross-check if I had done the right thing. Apparently, he didn't know that the guy whom he was calling was my assistant mechanic," she said.

Bere said she realized that gender bias was ingrained in society as fellow women also failed to support her.

"When I entered the field as a female, I expected to get support from other women but unfortunately I couldn't get one because some ladies were looking down upon me that have you ever seen a female mechanic. It's something which is unbelievable especially in our culture that a lady can do a man's job," she said.

Despite the lack of support, facing sexual harassment and experiencing offensive jokes at the workplace, Bere managed to create a name for herself. "There are some incidences whereby you find that those guys might fail to fix the car and at the end of the day they will call me and I will go there and fix the car. So it means I have already proved myself that I can do this job, and I am even more qualified."

Bere's secret to success has always been going the extra mile.

"I always believe in a word of saying a woman's touch is perfect. And when I am doing my job even my customers know that I always make sure I do it perfectly, and I don't have any job whereby it's a comeback job," she said.

Bere has since started going to schools encouraging girls to pursue careers in male-dominated fields.

"Young girls should consider taking trades in the male-dominated fields because these male-dominated fields are more practical. You don't need much of your education. What you need to do is only to know practical as well as to use your hands to work," she said.

The mechanic said she found her job to be a rewarding profession on many levels. Now her goal is to see more young women entering the industry.

Currently, she is grooming more than 20 female mechanics who are interning at various companies. 

Memory Bere, a female motor mechanic, works at her garage in Chitungwiza, a town near Harare, Zimbabwe, on June 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Tafara Mugwara)
SANAA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said Tuesday that he has urged the Houthi militia to open main roads to the besieged city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen.

Grundberg noted that he made the appeal when he met on Tuesday with Mohammed Abdulsalam, Houthi's chief negotiator for the ongoing ceasefire, in Muscat, Oman's capital.

"We discussed the implementation of the truce, particularly the priority to open roads in Taiz and other governorates," Grundberg wrote in a tweet, adding that Omani officials and the diplomatic community in Muscat attended the meeting.

"Opening roads is critical to ease the humanitarian suffering of Yemenis and build confidence," the envoy noted.

On Monday, the UN envoy held a meeting with Rashad Al-Alimi, Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, during which the leader of the Yemeni government called for the international community to exert more pressure on the Houthis to fulfill their commitment under the truce agreement.

Ending the Taiz siege is the last major term to be fulfilled under the agreement reached by the country's warring parties before entering the ceasefire in April.

The government-controlled Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, has been under siege since the civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014. Lifting the blockade would facilitate the movement of citizens and their access to humanitarian aid. 
File photo taken on Oct. 11, 2021 shows Ma Quanlin, deputy head of the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute in northwest China's Gansu Province, getting soil sample in Tengger desert. (Xinhua)

LANZHOU, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Whenever a sandstorm strikes, people go out less to avoid the dust. But for Ma Quanlin, the bigger the dust is, the more he has to rush to the source of the sandstorm.

Ma, deputy head of the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute in northwest China's Gansu Province, has been engaged in sand control for more than 20 years. Now, he conducts scientific research mainly in Minqin County, an artificial oasis between Badain Jaran and Tengger, two large deserts in China covering 85,000 square km.

In the past decade, based on the long-term observation and research results of wind-sand flow, Ma's team successfully restored the degraded artificial Haloxylon forest while applying wind-proof and sand-fixing functions in Minqin.

A large-scale Haloxylon afforestation project started in the 1960s in arid desert areas of China, including Minqin, which has brought great environmental benefits to promote ecological restoration and reconstruction in arid regions. However, due to the high afforestation density and the decline of groundwater levels, the artificial Haloxylon forest built on the edge of the oasis was once degraded, and its windbreak and sand fixation functions were reduced.

Ma's team did restoration experiments and studies on different degraded artificial Haloxylon forests.

They found that precise drip irrigation and re-laying sand barriers in Haloxylon forests can massively increase the soil moisture content of the forest land and enhance its photosynthesis process, thus increasing the number of community species and coverage.

After three years of drip irrigation in spring, the degraded forest in Minqin resumed regular growth. The species composition number and coverage of the forest species also increased. It effectively enhanced its wind-proof and sand-fixing ability.

After guarding green barriers on the edge of the desert, the team is exploring a path for locals to increase income.

They chose Agriophyllum quarrosum, known as "sand rice," to conduct the breeding, cultivation, and product research and development of the economic plant in deserts.

They established a 1.3-hectare demonstration base in Minqin in 2021 and successfully screened four excellent sand rice strains. The team developed nine kinds of sand rice products and promoted the deep processing of the products. They also developed the sand rice planter and threshing and cleaning machine, which solved the problems during the planting, harvesting, and cleaning process.

"There's a long way to go for us to protect ecology in desert areas of western China, and we need to make persistent efforts to construct the ecological barriers," said Ma. 

File photo taken on July 25, 2021 shows the restored forestation on Tengger desert, result of the work of a team led by Ma Quanlin, deputy head of the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute in northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Wenjing)
A man takes photos of the decoration set up for the ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, July 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of the Communist Party of China (CPC) members surpassed 96.71 million at the end of 2021, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee announced on Wednesday.

The membership was 3.7 percent up from the 2020 figure, and 15.9 percent more than the figure when the 18th CPC National Congress was held in late 2012, the department said in a report ahead of the 101st founding anniversary of the CPC on July 1.

More than 4.38 million people joined the CPC last year when the Party marked its centenary, figures from the report showed.

The CPC had nearly 4.94 million primary-level Party organizations as of the end of 2021, an increase of 117,000 from the previous year.

"The CPC has been making constant efforts to attract new members and become a vanguard to ensure the Party maintains its strong vitality and combat capacity," the report read.

The composition of Party membership has continuously improved with better levels of education and steady growth in the proportion of female members and those from ethnic minority groups, according to the report.

About 51.46 million Party members, or 53.2 percent of the overall membership, hold junior college degrees or above, 1.3 percentage points higher than that at the end of 2020.

As of the end of 2021, the CPC had 28.43 million female members, accounting for 29.4 percent of the total membership, up 1 percentage point from a year earlier. The proportion of members from ethnic minority groups grew by 0.1 percentage points to 7.5 percent.

Workers and peasants continue to make up the majority of the CPC members, accounting for 33.6 percent of the total membership, data from the report showed.

The leading force of Party organizations at village and community levels has also been improved, featuring a rising proportion of Party secretaries aged 35 and below and those with junior college degrees or above, according to the report. 
By Trend

Indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington started on Tuesday in Doha, Iranian state media reported, as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator met with European Union envoy Enrique Mora, who will shuttle between the American and Iranian sides, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Based in separate rooms in a hotel in Qatar's capital, Iran's Ali Bagheri Kani and U.S. Iran special envoy Rob Malley are trying to break a months-long impasse that has stalled efforts to revive Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers.

Iran refuses to hold direct talks with its arch-foe, the United States, resulting in the "proximity" talks arrangement involving Mora.
HONG KONG, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Wednesday that it will distribute around 280,000 sets of COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits as part of a follow-up on the recent detection of the COVID-19 virus in sewage samples.

The test kits will be distributed to residents, cleaning workers and property management staff working in the areas with positive sewage testing results showing relatively high viral loads, in order to help identify infected persons.

The HKSAR government also urged RAT kit users to report any positive results for COVID-19 via the government's online platform.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong registered 1,849 confirmed locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 and 155 imported cases, official data showed. 
"NATO is really a Western hegemony," says Kenyan expert Stephen Ndegwa. He adds that Europe should "negotiate with Russia so that their economies do not tumble, even as they try to overwhelm Russia with sanctions."

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
WUHAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed keeping the lifeline of science and technology firmly in China's own hands and making the country's development more independent, self-reliant and secure.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. 
BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 2.6 million deputies to people's congresses at the township and county levels have been directly elected across China, a Chinese spokesperson said Wednesday.

Over 1 billion voters cast their ballots on a one-person-one-vote basis in the just-concluded elections for lawmakers at the two primary levels, said Song Rui, a senior official with the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, at a press conference.

This is an exemplar of China's whole-process people's democracy, Song added. 
A screen grab from a video shows Israeli captive Hisham al-Sayed at a hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2022.

Israel on Tuesday called for international help in releasing an Israeli citizen held by the Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following Hamas' release of a video of the Israeli captive lying in a hospital bed while wearing an oxygen mask. The man, identified as 34-year-old Hisham al-Sayed, has been held incommunicado since he wandered across the security fence into the Palestinian enclave in 2015. The video was released a day after Hamas announced the deterioration of his medical condition. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Tuesday called for international help in releasing an Israeli citizen held by the Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following Hamas' release of a video of the Israeli captive lying in a hospital bed while wearing an oxygen mask.

The man, identified as 34-year-old Hisham al-Sayed, has been held incommunicado since he wandered across the security fence into the Palestinian enclave in 2015. The video was released a day after Hamas announced the deterioration of his medical condition.

"The State of Israel holds Hamas accountable for the health of the captured civilians," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said in a statement, referring to al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, another Israeli civilian who is also believed to be held in Gaza after crossing into the Palestinian enclave in 2014.

Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that Hamas is holding al-Sayed in violation of international law.

"I call on the international community, including the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the organizations dealing with people with mental conditions, to condemn Hamas for its inhuman behavior and demand it act in accordance with international law and release the civilians," Lapid said.

Israel and Hamas, which are sworn enemies that have fought several rounds of war, have been engaged in the Egyptian-brokered talks for a swap deal, which have so far made little progress.

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007 when Hamas took over control of the enclave. Israel maintains that it will not lift the blockade until the Israeli prisoners are freed and the Gaza Strip is demilitarized. 
An Afghan farmer harvests wheat in Zhari district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, May 9, 2022. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua)

The two organizations underlined the "crucial role of additional public spending and private investment in production, information technology and infrastructure as well as human capital to raise agricultural productivity."

PARIS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday warned of the challenges faced by the global agri-food sector in the coming decade.

The sector needs to "feed an ever-increasing population in a sustainable manner," the UN agencies said in a joint report titled "Agricultural Outlook for 2022-2031".

It also has to cope with the impact of the climate crisis and the economic consequences and disruption to food supply caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said the report.

The report focuses on "assessing the medium-term prospects for agricultural commodity markets."

The two organizations underlined the "crucial role of additional public spending and private investment in production, information technology and infrastructure as well as human capital to raise agricultural productivity."

A man buys vegetables at a market in Athens, Greece, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

The prices of agricultural products have increased with the recovery in demand after the COVID-19 outbreak. Production and transportation costs have increased also because Russia and Ukraine are both "key suppliers of cereals."

"These rising prices of food, fertilizer, feed and fuel, as well as tightening financial conditions are spreading human suffering across the world," FAO Director General Qu Dongyu said in a press release.

"An estimated 19 million more people could face chronic undernourishment globally in 2023 if the reduction of global food production and food supply from major exporting countries, including Russia and Ukraine, results in lower food availability worldwide," he said.

The report noted that global food consumption "is projected to increase by 1.4 percent annually over the next decade, and to be mainly driven by population growth."

Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, briefs the Security Council meeting on conflict and food security at the UN headquarters in New York, May 19, 2022. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

In low and middle-income countries, demand for food will continue to increase compared to high-income countries, where demand will be "limited by slow population growth and a saturation in the per capita consumption of several food commodity groups."

The FAO and OECD expect global agricultural production to increase by 1.1 percent per year over the next decade.

According to the report, the contribution of agriculture to climate change with direct greenhouse gas emissions is projected to increase by 6 percent in the next decade, with livestock accounting for 90 percent of this increase.

In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on Zero Hunger, the organizations noted that average agricultural productivity must increase by 28 percent in the next decade.

"The Paris Agreement, the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals must also be achieved," they stressed.

The FAO and OECD mentioned the importance of a transparent, predictable and rules-based multilateral trading system to ensure "well-functioning global trade and markets" as there will be an increase in "interdependency between trading partners." 
CHENGDU, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Eight stone tablets dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) have been discovered in southwest China's Sichuan Province, local authorities said Tuesday.

The tablets were found in Chengdu Wuhou Shrine, which was constructed nearly 1,800 years ago to commemorate Liu Bei, founder of the Shu state during the Three Kingdom Period (220-280), Zhuge Liang, a renowned military strategist of Liu, and other eminent figures during the period.

A corner of a stone tablet was discovered in a wall during the shrine's renovation work in February. After scanning and cleaning of the wall by professional institutions, 15 fragments of eight stone tablets were found, said Ma Ping, deputy director of the Chengdu Wuhou Shrine museum.

The earliest inscriptions date back 350 years while the latest inscriptions have a history of 201 years.

The new discoveries will be displayed to the public after undergoing protection measures, said An Jianhua, an official with the museum. 
Aerial photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a view of the Baihetan hydropower station, which straddles the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan in southwest China. Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the operation of the first two generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station, a major project in China's west-east power transmission program. The station has a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts.

The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River in southwest China. (Xinhua/Cao Mengyao)

Aerial photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a view of the Baihetan hydropower station, which straddles the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan in southwest China. Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the operation of the first two generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station, a major project in China's west-east power transmission program. The station has a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts.

The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River in southwest China. (Xinhua/Cao Mengyao)

Aerial photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a view of the Baihetan hydropower station, which straddles the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan in southwest China. Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the operation of the first two generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station, a major project in China's west-east power transmission program. The station has a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts.

The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River in southwest China. (Xinhua/Cao Mengyao)

A girl presents a stamp collection on "Development of Hydropower" at the Baihetan hydropower station, which straddles the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan in southwest China, June 28, 2022. Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the operation of the first two generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station, a major project in China's west-east power transmission program. The station has a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts.

The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River in southwest China. (Xinhua/Cao Mengyao)

Aerial photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a view of the Baihetan hydropower station, which straddles the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan in southwest China. Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the operation of the first two generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station, a major project in China's west-east power transmission program. The station has a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts.

The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River in southwest China. (Xinhua/Cao Mengyao)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with employees at HGLaser Engineering Co., Ltd. in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

WUHAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed keeping the lifeline of science and technology firmly in China's own hands and making the country's development more independent, self-reliant and secure.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday.

Xi also stressed fostering more advanced technologies and sectors, blazing new spheres of economic development, and creating new advantages in international competition.

Speaking about the fight against COVID-19, Xi said China's response measures and anti-epidemic policy have protected people's lives and health to the greatest extent.

If China had adopted the "herd immunity" policy or a hands-off approach, given its large population, the country would have faced catastrophic consequences, Xi said.

China's dynamic zero-COVID policy was formulated by the CPC Central Committee based on the Party's nature and purpose, as well as the country's national conditions, Xi noted.

"Even if there are some temporary impacts on the economy, we will not put people's lives and health in harm's way, and we must protect the elderly and the children in particular," Xi said.

"If we make an overall evaluation, our COVID-19 response measures are the most economical and effective," he said.

Blessed with the leadership of the Party and the grassroots foundation formed by communities, China has the capability and strength to implement the dynamic zero-COVID policy until the final victory is secured, Xi said.

Noting that the pandemic is not yet over, Xi warned against any tendency to let down guard, grow weary of the fight, or slacken prevention and control efforts.

Utmost efforts must be made to promote steady and sound economic development, Xi said, urging Party committees and governments at all levels to help address people's difficulties and reduce impacts on the economy and people's work and life.

"We are confident in our ability to strike a balance between COVID-19 response and economic and social development, and strive for a relatively good performance in this year's economic development," Xi said. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a workshop of HGLaser Engineering Co., Ltd. in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits HGLaser Engineering Co., Ltd. in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community named Zhiyuan in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with residents at a residential community named Zhiyuan in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with residents at a residential community named Zhiyuan in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community named Zhiyuan in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. Xi made an inspection tour of Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
China on Wednesday urged the Group of Seven (G7) to stop attacking China or interfering in China's internal affairs in any form. #GLOBALink






RTHK: Kyiv says scores of Mariupol defenders freed in swap

Ukrainian intelligence said on Wednesday that 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including scores of defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, had been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.

"This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders," the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine's defence ministry said on Telegram.

It did not specify when and where the swap took place or how many Russian prisoners were released as part of the exchange.

It added that 43 of the freed servicemen belonged to the Azov regiment, a former paramilitary unit that is now integrated into the Ukrainian army.

Russia considers the unit a neo-Nazi organisation and has previously said its soldiers should stand trial.

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged prisoners several times since Russia invaded on February 24.

The most recent previous exchange took place on Tuesday and involved 17 Ukrainian prisoners. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-06-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend

Turkiye, Sweden and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum on Tuesday on the Nordic countries NATO membership process after an important meeting in Madrid in which Ankara has got the concrete steps it was awaiting especially in the field of terrorism, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

Turkey "got what it wanted" from the talks with Sweden and Finland talks, the Turkish presidency said in a written statement, underlining that full cooperation was agreed on with Turkiye on fighting the PKK terrorist group and its affiliates.

Solidarity will be shown toward Turkey in its fight against all kinds of terrorism, it said. Furthermore, Sweden and Finland also agreed not to support the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian wing, the YPG.

As prospective NATO Allies, Finland and Sweden extend their full support to Turkiye against threats to its national security, the trilateral memorandum read.

Finland and Sweden reject and condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, in the strongest terms, it continued, highlighting that Finland and Sweden condemn all terrorist organizations perpetrating attacks against Turkiye, and express their deepest solidarity with Ankara.

"Finland and Sweden commit to preventing activities of the PKK and all other terrorist organizations and their extensions, as well as activities by individuals in affiliated and inspired groups or networks linked to these terrorist organizations," the memorandum said.

NATO leaders will formally invite Finland and Sweden to join the alliance Wednesday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said during the membership process.

"I'm pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Turkiye, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkiye's concerns, including around arms exports, and the fight against terrorism," Stoltenberg said Tuesday after crunch talks in Madrid.

The Turkish presidency added that the Nordic countries have also agreed to lift their embargoes on weapons deliveries to Turkey, which were imposed in response to Ankara's 2019 operation into Syria.

The two countries will ban "fundraising and recruitment activities" for the PKK, and "prevent terrorist propaganda against Turkey."
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with residents at a residential community in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

* Xi urged efforts to strengthen technological research and development and called for speeding up the realization of the country's scientific and technological self-reliance.

* Xi said Wuhan's swift control of several COVID-19 cluster infections shows that the epidemic response measures laid out by the CPC Central Committee are correct and effective, and must be upheld unwaveringly.

* If China had adopted the "herd immunity" policy or a hands-off approach, given its large population, the country would have faced unimaginable consequences, Xi said.

WUHAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed building up China's strength in the science and technology sector, sticking to the dynamic zero-COVID policy and improving community management.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Tuesday.

Xi underscored the need to foster more advanced technologies and sectors, blaze new spheres of economic development, and create new advantages in international competition.

While inspecting HGLaser Engineering Co., Ltd., a laser equipment company based in Wuhan, Xi noted that optoelectronic information is a high-tech industry in which China has the conditions to take the lead in achieving breakthroughs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a workshop of HGLaser Engineering Co., Ltd. in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

He urged efforts to strengthen the relevant technological research and development, master more core technologies with independent intellectual property rights, expand innovation chains, and improve industrial chains.

Breaking through bottlenecks in core technologies in key fields has been a pressing task, Xi said, calling for speeding up the realization of the country's scientific and technological self-reliance.

High-end manufacturing is an important pillar of high-quality economic development, Xi said.

Xi had cordial conversations with the employees of the company. Noting that China is the world's second-largest economy but still has some weak links, Xi said further development must be based on innovation.

He then visited a residential community named Zhiyuan in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone.

Xi said that Wuhan has swiftly controlled several COVID-19 cluster infections over the past two years since the city won the battle against the outbreak in 2020.

This shows that the epidemic response measures laid out by the CPC Central Committee are correct and effective, and must be upheld unwaveringly, Xi noted.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a residential community in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Communities play a very important role, whether in emergency epidemic response or in routine epidemic prevention and control, said Xi.

Highlighting the importance of early detection and swift response, as well as the unity of the general public, he noted that communities are the foundation of the fight against COVID-19.

Urging improvements in community-based COVID-19 prevention and control on a regular basis, Xi underscored carrying out decisive, science-based and strict measures at the community level when new infections are detected.

Communities are the basic units of a city's governance system, Xi noted. One advantage of China's state governance system is the strong primary-level communities across the country's urban and rural areas, he said, calling for efforts to strengthen Party organizations, IT application, emergency response capabilities and services at the community level.

Speaking to community residents, Xi said that the people in the heroic city of Wuhan have always been close to his heart, praising the contribution of community workers who have been on the front line of the fight against COVID-19 since early 2020 and extended his greetings to all community workers across the country.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with residents at a residential community in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Speaking about the country's overall fight against COVID-19, Xi said China's response measures and anti-epidemic policy have protected people's lives and health to the greatest extent.

If China had adopted the "herd immunity" policy or a hands-off approach, given its large population, the country would have faced unimaginable consequences, Xi said.

China's dynamic zero-COVID policy was formulated by the CPC Central Committee based on the Party's nature and purpose, as well as the country's national conditions, Xi noted.

"Even if there are some temporary impacts on the economy, we will not put people's lives and health in harm's way, and we must protect the elderly and the children in particular," Xi said.

"If we make an overall evaluation, our COVID-19 response measures are the most economical and effective," he said.

With the leadership of the Party and the grassroots foundation formed by communities, China has the capability and strength to implement the dynamic zero-COVID policy until the final victory is secured, Xi said.



Noting that the pandemic is not yet over, Xi warned against any tendency to lower the guard, grow weary of the fight, or slacken prevention and control efforts.

The utmost efforts must be made to promote steady and sound economic development, Xi said, urging Party committees and governments at all levels to help address people's difficulties and reduce the impact on the economy and the work and lives of the people.

"We are confident in our ability to strike a balance between COVID-19 response and economic and social development, and strive for a relatively good performance in this year's economic development," Xi said. 
Staff members work at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

Turkey has dropped its objections to the two countries' NATO accession, but many questions remain regarding the alliance's enlargement plans before and after the start of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

ATHENS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be a negative development for the west, as it will eventually weaken the alliance, a Greek scholar told Xinhua here on Wednesday.

"Although the concerns of Finland and Sweden about Russia can be explained, these do not prove that their accession to NATO is in NATO's interest," said Pelagia Karpathiotaki, an international relations scholar and researcher at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics.

"These two countries will be considered by Russia aggressive bridgeheads, which at the same time are too weak for the west to defend," Karpathiotaki said while commenting on the results of the ongoing NATO summit in Madrid.

People take part in a protest in Madrid, Spain, June 26, 2022. Photo by Juan Carlos Rojas/Xinhua)

Turkey has dropped its objections to the two countries' NATO accession, but many questions remain regarding the alliance's enlargement plans before and after the start of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

In Finland and Sweden's case, once the accession process is completed, a space of instability will be created in the European security system, Karpathiotaki argued.

The tiny military forces of these countries would add little to the overall military strength of the alliance, but their joining NATO would create ample problems, she said.

"The alliance's interest is to avoid being trapped in areas that it could hardly defend, while a large increase in its membership would make it difficult to take decisions," Karpathiotaki noted.

"Also, countries with strong anti-Russian elements will lure the alliance into unwanted tensions with Moscow," the scholar stressed.

People protest against Sweden's decision to apply to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Stockholm, Sweden, May 16, 2022. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua)

This view has also been expressed by several political and military analysts, who are clearly not pro-Russian, she added.

Under normal circumstances, NATO should consider whether the candidates can contribute to the alliance's collective defense, Karpathiotaki noted.

However, today the expansion of NATO is based on ideological narratives rather than on criteria of power, she said.

The west "had to" expand to countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union or were under the Soviet sphere of influence in order to impose "western values" and "democracy," according to the narrative.

As a result, countries with minimal to negative contribution to the collective power of the alliance join in, and problems emerge in a structure where decisions have to be taken unanimously, the expert noted.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the allied countries today have very different geopolitical identities and agendas compared to the old "solid" NATO of the Cold War, she explained.

For Karpathiotaki, the argument that "after we go to a new Cold War, then we must be as many as possible against Russia" is not valid either.

The issue is not how many states are in the NATO structure but what power they have, she said. 
People take part in a protest in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, June 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

The Partnership is aimed at countering the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China, but is really a communication tool to show the global audience that the U.S. retains hegemony, said Greek international relations scholar Pelagia Karpathiotaki.

ATHENS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) proposed by the U.S. and presented during the latest Group of Seven (G7) summit is unlikely to materialize, a Greek expert told Xinhua in Athens on Wednesday.

The Partnership is aimed at countering the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China, but is really a communication tool to show the global audience that the U.S. retains hegemony, said Greek international relations scholar Pelagia Karpathiotaki.

G7 leaders this week laid out plans to mobilize some 600 billion U.S. dollars in funding over the next five years for infrastructure investment to support the developing world.

However, Karpathiotaki pointed to an initiative announced by the U.S. at last year's G7 Summit, called Build Back Better World (B3W), which has so far yielded just 6 million U.S. dollars in global infrastructure construction.

B3W was supposed to narrow a 40 trillion U.S. dollar gap in infrastructure investment for developing countries.

If the G7 countries were really concerned about the poor infrastructure situation in low-income countries, they could have launched similar programs much earlier, said Karpathiotaki.

(From L to R) European Council President Charles Michel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stand for a group photo during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Schloss Elmau in south Germany's Bavarian Alps on June 26, 2022.(Xinhua/Guo Chen)

"It is obvious that the PGII ... is another geopolitical tool that aims to intensify decoupling tendencies and is a means to counter the Belt and Road Initiative and China," she added.

However, according to Karpathiotaki, the PGII is unlikely to come to fruition for various reasons. Today, G7 countries and their societies face huge economic challenges, therefore it will be almost impossible to mobilize state resources for PGII purposes, she explained.

Meanwhile, it is extremely difficult to mobilize private resources, since private organizations are motivated by profit, not politics.

For Karpathiotaki, who is also a researcher at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, the PGII just serves to show that the U.S. still has the power and resources to design global initiatives after the West's failure to confront Russia.

PGII is also a means for U.S. President Joe Biden to prove to American citizens his resolve to counter China's increasing political influence, in a bid to woo voters in the approaching midterm elections, Karpathiotaki said.

"The announcement of the PGII may in addition serve as a psychological comfort to the leaders of the G7 countries, giving them the feeling that they are contributing to global affairs," said the expert.

"But it is obvious that developing countries are no longer satisfied with promises, especially when there is an alternative proposal such as BRI," she said.

Police patrol outside the international media centre during the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, June 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)
WINDHOEK, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Namibia plans a Biomass Industrial Park project in the north-central town of Otjiwarongo which will process more than 300 tonnes of encroacher bush biomass per annum while creating several value-added chain by-products such as animal feed and many more, officials said Wednesday.

According to the Otjozondjupa Region Governor, James Uerikua, the project to be operated on a 100-hectare piece of land, will produce annual outputs of 191,500 tonnes of wood chips, 20,000 tonnes of charcoal, 12,000 tonnes of char briquettes, 160 tonnes animal feed, 4,500 tonnes bio-fuel and 600 tonnes biochar tonnes respectively.

He said the project is expected to boost Otjiwarongo's economy through the creation of jobs while unlocking business markets for locals.

"The final products are to be exported to Germany as the European country seeks to phase out coal power production. This project is expected to leverage value addition synergies for a robust local market for wood-based products to unlock new market opportunities domestically and beyond," he said

Namibia and Germany began discussing the potential of a biomass partnership in September 2020, when a Namibian delegation of government officials, sector representatives, researchers and experts, and environmental non-governmental organizations attended a biomass conference in Germany.

Biomass is a renewable source of energy obtained from organic matter such as wood products, dried vegetation, and crop residues. Its emission levels are said to be significantly lower compared to fossil fuels. 
ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for the provision of adequate training and test kits against the spread of the monkeypox virus.

The latest call was made by Ahmed Ogwell, the acting director of the Africa CDC, as the Africa CDC in collaboration with its partners launched the first in a series of hands-on training on real-time PCR-based monkeypox virus diagnosis in African countries.

The Africa CDC, in a statement issued late Tuesday, stressed the need to step up efforts in enabling African Union (AU) member countries' diagnostic capabilities against monkeypox.

Ogwell reiterated the Africa CDC's call for more support to AU member countries and increased access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to limit the spread of the monkeypox virus.

"Africa CDC will continue to support member states in strengthening their capacity and capability to detect and respond to disease outbreaks," an Africa CDC statement quoted the acting director as saying.

Ogwell said training and the distribution of test kits are key to expanding surveillance against monkeypox across the African continent.

Yenew Kebede, head of the Laboratory Systems and Networks Division of the Africa CDC, emphasized the need to augment Africa's laboratory testing capacity as a key imperative to expand surveillance in monkeypox endemic and non-endemic countries across Africa.

"The training is timely and critical to build and expand monkeypox testing capacity and capability across the continent. We will continue to organize additional training and distribute testing kits to additional African Union member states in order to strengthen monkeypox surveillance in the continent," Kebede said.

According to the latest figures from the Africa CDC, since the beginning of 2022, some 1,715 cases and 73 deaths of monkeypox have been reported from eight endemic and two non-endemic AU member countries.

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the case fatality ratio of monkeypox in Africa this year stands at 4.3 percent.

The African continent has documented 12,141 cases of monkeypox since February 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the continent, with a case fatality ratio of 3 percent, according to the agency.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday said the latest monkeypox spread in more than 50 countries does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the highest level of alert the WHO can issue.

The Africa CDC, in a statement issued late Monday, however, warned that monkeypox "remains a public health emergency in affected African countries, and is a high risk pathogen for other neighboring countries." 
ALGIERS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- An Algerian official praised a Chinese-built highway project on Tuesday for its high quality and contribution to local social and economic development.

Mohamed Khaldi, director general of Algeria's National Highway Agency, said the 53-kilometer project undertaken by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), has effectively facilitated social and economic development, saved transportation costs, and improved travel convenience for locals.

Khaldi made the remarks when he joined members of the Trans-Saharan Highway Liaison Committee to tour a portion of the 53-kilometer entrance section of the Trans-Saharan Highway, a continental-scale project that links six African countries, namely Algeria, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tunisia.

With a total length of more than 9,000 km, the main line of the highway is the Algiers-Lagos section, which has a length of about 4,500 km. The ambitious project seeks to provide Sub-Saharan African nations with access to the Mediterranean Sea. It also intends to boost pan-African economic cooperation and trade exchanges, as well as accelerate regional and global integration.

Due to steep terrain and projects including the construction of a 9.6-km-long tunnel and 2.7-km-long bridge, the 53-km-long portion of the highway connecting the northern Algerian towns of Chiffa and Berrouaghia is regarded as one of the most challenging and complicated parts of the entire highway.

To build the section, CSCEC has created more than 10,000 jobs in Algeria and trained more than 2,000 professionals in the construction sector, according to figures released by the company. 
KHARTOUM, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese army on Tuesday denied press reports that the army captured Ethiopian soldiers on the Sudan-Ethiopia border amid an escalating crisis between the two countries.

"News reports concerning the activities of the forces and the capture of Ethiopian soldiers in the Fashaga region were circulating. The news is incorrect and misleading," the office of the Sudanese army spokesman said in a statement.

"The Sudanese Armed Forces reaffirm that it has not issued any statements regarding the situation on Sudan's eastern border," the statement said.

On Sunday, the Sudanese Armed Forces said the Ethiopian army "executed" seven Sudanese soldiers and a citizen who were held captive, which Ethiopia denied.

On Monday, Sudan decided to file a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Ethiopia, while the Sudanese foreign ministry decided to immediately recall its ambassador to Ethiopia for consultations and to summon the Ethiopian ambassador in Khartoum to inform him of Sudan's condemnation.

Since September 2020, the Sudan-Ethiopia border has been witnessing rising tensions and deadly skirmishes between the two sides. 
Photo taken on June 29, 2022 shows the Senate chamber in Zimbabwe's new parliament building on Mount Hampden Hill, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's new parliament building, constructed and fully funded by China as a gift to the southern African country, is now complete and ready for occupation. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

by Gretinah Machingura, Tafara Mugwara

HARARE, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's new parliament building, constructed and fully funded by China as a gift to the southern African country, is now complete and ready for occupation.

It took 42 months to complete the project, instead of the original 32-month timeframe due to COVID-19 disruptions. Construction began in November 2018.

Sitting on the historical Mount Hampden Hill, about 18 km northwest of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, the six-story building is a fine piece of magnificent architecture that fuses both Zimbabwean and Chinese characteristics.

Shanghai Construction Group Company, the contractor, on Wednesday conducted a guided media tour of the building ahead of its official handover to the Zimbabwean government in the near future.

SCG project manager Cai Libo said the completion of the project was a major milestone for the China-Zimbabwe friendship which continues to blossom.

"There will be no doubt that the new parliament building will become a landmark building in Zimbabwe and even in the whole of southern Africa," Cai said. "The project commenced on Nov. 30, 2018, and was completed on May 27, 2022, and we spent 42 months completing this project. From 2020 we faced a lot of challenges due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. We were supposed to complete this project last year but we were delayed because of the COVID pandemic but now, we have come to the end and are waiting to hand over this building to the Zimbabwean government."

The new parliament building was one of the most important projects in China-Africa cooperation, aimed at strengthening friendship and solidarity between the people of Zimbabwe and China while improving facilities in parliament for better service to Zimbabwean people, he said.

"The project strongly supports democracy in Zimbabwe while boosting the country's image," Cai said.

Completion of the new parliament building, which borrows heavily from the iconic Great Zimbabwe ruins, also heralds the start of a new capital city as the Zimbabwean government plans to put up off-site infrastructure such as residential areas, shopping centers and access roads to establish a self-contained new city to decongest the capital Harare.

The government also plans to put up structures for two other arms of the state -- the executive and the judiciary in Mount Hampden.

The imposing building has a combined floor space of 33,000 square meters, with two main sections -- a six-story office building and a four-story parliament building. The office building and parliament building are connected by three bridges on each floor.

With the current parliament building having been built during the colonial era and now old and small to accommodate parliament business, the National Assembly at the new parliament building has more than enough space, with a capacity of 400 seats against the 270 House of Assembly members. The new Senate chamber has a capacity of 150 seats, against the current 80 Senate members. The new structure has extra facilities for conferencing, 15 committee rooms and adequate space for office staff and parking.

The office building contains 600 rooms, including offices for VIP, Members of Parliament and parliament officials.

In total, the building has the capacity to accommodate 1,000 people.

Cai said skills sharing and transfer were one of the hallmarks of the project.

"This building is a landmark building in Zimbabwe. This is a show of solid friendship between China and Zimbabwe. This is a gift from the Chinese government to the Zimbabwean government. It was funded by China Aid funds, it's a grant to Zimbabwe and not a loan so there is no payment to be made in the future. All Members of Parliament will use this building and parliamentarians serve the whole nation and therefore this is a gift to the whole nation," Cai said. 

A man walks past Zimbabwe's new parliament building on Mount Hampden Hill, Zimbabwe, on June 29, 2022. Zimbabwe's new parliament building, constructed and fully funded by China as a gift to the southern African country, is now complete and ready for occupation. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)
UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- UN peacekeepers routed members of armed groups occupying Ouanda-Djalle, the Central African Republic (CAR), allowing displaced residents to return home, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

Many civilians, deeply impacted by the militants' recent arrival, were forcibly evicted and living in very precarious conditions, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, citing the UN mission, known as MINUSCA.

Peacekeepers secured the city, and military operations continued, allowing displaced people to return to their homes, Dujarric said.

"Our colleagues reiterate their call on armed groups to immediately lay down their arms, to join the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs and to refrain from any action that could harm the civilian population," the spokesman noted.

A variety of anti-government armed groups operate in the area. The spokesman did not name any group.

Ouanda-Djalle is 175 km south of Birao, capital of Vakaga prefecture, in the northeast of the Central African Republic. 
COLOMBO, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The next petrol shipment will arrive in Sri Lanka on July 22 as the country faces a severe shortage of fuel, an official said here on Wednesday.

Sagala Ratnayake, the prime minister's chief of staff and a committee member appointed to look into the fuel crisis, told journalists that although Sri Lanka's Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had funds, it was unable to buy fuel due to high global demands.

Ratnayake said that Sri Lanka currently had 11,000 metric tons of diesel, 5,000 metric tons of petrol, 30,000 metric tons of furnace oil, and 800 metric tons of jet fuel in its storage.

He further said that 38,000 metric tons of diesel will arrive between July 11 and July 15.

Ratnayake said the existing stocks of diesel will only be available for essential services until the new shipment reaches the country next month.

Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Ministry already began rationing fuel to the public by issuing token numbers from this week while schools in Colombo and the outskirts remain closed due to the lack of transport.

Sri Lanka has been facing crippling fuel shortages, and prices of fuel have increased four times this year. 
By Trend

A one-storey house with an area of ??120 square meters caught fire in the village of Kurdakhani, Sabunchu district of Azerbaijans Baku, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan Republic told Trend.

Flammable structures of the corridor and wooden roofing on an area of ??20 square meters, also the ceiling of the kitchen, burned down as a result.

Ministry said that seven residents of the house (including four children) were injured in the fire and had already been taken to the hospital before the arrival of the fire brigade. Two children died at the hospital.

The rest of the house was protected from fire. The fire was extinguished by fire brigades.

The incident is under investigation.

Ministry reported that sisters Fatima and Zahra Abbasova (born 2021) died of burns in the hospital.

Zarifa Abbasova (born 2019), Atilla Abbasov (born 2020), Khamiya Abbasova (born 1998), Rovshan Abbasov and Gafar Abbasov were injured during the fire.
PHNOM PENH, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia reported new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday after having recorded zero cases for 52 consecutive days, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Tuesday night.

In a special audio message to the nation, Hun Sen said some patients were confirmed positive for the COVID-19 virus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, and others by rapid antigen tests.

He said that the infected people are both locals and inbound travelers.

"I would like to announce that the COVID-19 has attacked our country again," he said. Although the infected people are still a few and the patients have mild symptoms, he urged all people to be vigilant and to strictly follow health measures.

The prime minister warned that the country would return to a "very bad" situation if thorough measures had not been taken, urging the eligible people to receive COVID-19 vaccines or booster doses when their turns come.

Thanks to massive vaccinations, Cambodia has resumed all socioeconomic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine since November last year.

According to the health ministry, the Southeast Asian nation has so far administered COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 15.1 million people, or 94.3 percent of its 16 million population. 
Police stand guard as demonstrators protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in the square of Tirso de Molina in Madrid, Spain, June 29, 2022. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)

MADRID, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The 2022 Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) opened here on Wednesday amid mounting criticisms of the military alliance's aggressive security policy and lingering conflicts among its members.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the leaders had decided to "transform and strengthen" the alliance at a "pivotal time for our security."

The decisions include strengthening NATO's forward defenses, enhancing the bloc's battlegroups on its eastern flank and increasing the number of high readiness forces to over 300,000, the NATO chief said, adding that the leaders had also agreed on a "comprehensive assistance package" for Ukraine.

At Wednesday's meeting, NATO invited Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, following Turkey's decision to lift a veto on the two countries' membership applications a day before.

"In any accession to the alliance, it is of vital importance that the legitimate security concerns of all allies are properly addressed," NATO leaders said in a joint declaration.

Turkey had initially been blocking the Nordic states' membership bids citing their ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey labels as terrorist groups.

But Turkey changed its position on Tuesday after a meeting of the leaders from the three countries together with Stoltenberg.

Despite Turkey's green light, the NATO chief acknowledged on Tuesday a lingering discord, saying "there will still be conflicts within the defense alliance."

With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the increasingly tougher western sanctions on Russia, strains among NATO allies have also intensified as the prices of energy and other essential commodities continue to soar, analysts have said.

The 30 NATO leaders on Wednesday also approved the military bloc's new strategic concept, which outlines its priorities and core tasks in the next decade. The document calls Russia the "most significant and direct threat" to NATO's security.

Analysts say while NATO is portraying other countries as its imaginary adversaries, it is NATO itself that has been expanding its influence at the expense of other countries' security and inciting bloc confrontation with an outdated Cold War mentality.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, noted on Tuesday that NATO's five eastward expansions after the Cold War have not only failed to make Europe securer, but also sowed the seed of conflict.

"The Cold War ended a long time ago. It is necessary for NATO to reconsider its own positioning and its responsibilities, completely abandon the Cold War mentality that is based on bloc confrontation, and strive to build a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security framework in line with the principle of indivisible security," he said.

Before this week's NATO summit, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Madrid on Sunday to call for peace and protest against the alliance, which they see as a threat to peace. 

Police stand guard as demonstrators protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in the square of Tirso de Molina in Madrid, Spain, June 29, 2022. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

Police stand guard as demonstrators protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in the square of Tirso de Molina in Madrid, Spain, June 29, 2022. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)
HOUSTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Another migrant died Tuesday at a local hospital, pushing the death toll of migrants found Monday inside a sweltering 18-wheeler in San Antonio to 51.

Authorities said the tragedy in this major Texas city saw the highest ever death count from human trafficking near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Among the dead, five were children. At least 27 were from Mexico, three from Guatemala and four from Honduras, local media reported, citing officials from these countries.

Some of those found alive reportedly remained in critical condition Tuesday. After the truck packed with nearly 100 people was discovered on Monday, at least 16, including four children, were taken to area hospitals due to heat exhaustion and dehydration, local officials said.

"CLONED" TRUCK

The truck driver, who was caught in a nearby field after he fled on foot, and was described as a U.S. citizen, is now in federal custody and expected to be charged, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told The New York Times on Tuesday.

Two other men, both Mexican citizens, were charged on Tuesday with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally, according to court documents and U.S. authorities. Police arrested them at an address in San Antonio listed on the tractor-trailer's registration.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that someone had "cloned" the truck with the same color and identifying numbers from the U.S. and Texas transportation departments as one owned by a South Texas trucking company in an apparent move to evade authorities.

A vigil was held in the rain Tuesday evening at a San Antonio park.

"It's unspeakable," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said on MSNBC Tuesday. "It's a tragedy beyond explanation."

Those found alive were hot to the touch and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion. There was no sign of water in the refrigerated tractor-trailer and no visible working air conditioning unit, according to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood.

Temperatures in San Antonio climbed to 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 degrees centigrade) on Monday, while the heat in the packed trailer was likely way higher than that, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

FATAL BORDER CROSSING

U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that initial reports showed that the tragedy was caused by smugglers or human traffickers.

"Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy," Biden said in a statement, one day after Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott blamed the deaths on what he called the president's "deadly open border policies."

"My administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry," said Biden.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it encountered 239,416 people along the U.S.-Mexico border in May, hitting a record high.

The Associated Press reported that migrants typically pay 8,000 to 10,000 U.S. dollars to be taken across the border, loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States.

Death is a constant risk for undocumented migrants entering Texas, said a report by The Texas Tribune, noting that in 1987, 2003 and 2017, groups of migrants died of heat and dehydration in Texas after being trapped in stifling containers.

According to the report, hundreds more die alone or in smaller groups as desperation drives them to take fatal risks.

In 2017, 10 migrants died in a packed truck carrying 39 people in San Antonio during summer. In 2003, 19 migrants were found dead in a sweltering truck southeast of the city. 
Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is seen at a public hearing held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot on Jan. 6, 2021 to provide testimony in Washington, D.C., the United States, June 28, 2022.

A former White House aide testified at a public hearing on Tuesday held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot last year. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A former White House aide testified at a public hearing on Tuesday held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot last year.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, appeared at the hearing to provide testimony on the infamous event on Jan. 6, 2021.

Hutchinson told the committee that then U.S. President Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his Secret Service vehicle that day when he was told he could not go to the Capitol with his supporters.

Trump blasted Hutchinson amid her testimony to the Jan. 6 committee, claiming that he "hardly" knows who she is.

"I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her," Trump wrote in a post on his website Truth Social.

It was one of a series of hearings that had been televised this month to show the public what investigators have uncovered about the Capitol riot.

Trump's allies and supporters have charged the inquiry as a political "witch hunt" designed to tar the former U.S. president and the Republican Party.

On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of individuals -- mostly Trump's supporters -- stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of affirming the 2020 presidential election results.

Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted in the Capitol attack, including about 80 U.S. Capitol Police and 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Authorities have linked at least five deaths to the mayhem. Four officers who responded to the attack reportedly committed suicide within the next several months.

The worst attack on Congress in more than 200 years, the siege led to Trump's second impeachment by the House shortly before his term officially ended. 

Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a public hearing held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C., the United States.

A former White House aide testified at a public hearing on Tuesday held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot last year. (Shawn Thew/Pool via Xinhua)

Photo taken on June 28, 2022 shows a public hearing held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C., the United States.

A former White House aide testified at a public hearing on Tuesday held by the U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital riot last year. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool via Xinhua)
BOGOTA: More than 50 people died and 24 others were injured in a blaze at a prison in the south-western Colombian city of Tulua, after inmates rioted and set fire to mattresses, as per reports.

Tito Castellanos, head of the National Penitentiary and Institution Institute, asserts that the prison lacks a fire suppression system. "We were able to utilise portable extinguishers at first." He was reported by Xinhua news agency as stating that once the fire broke out early on Tuesday morning at the prison housing 180 inmates, a protocol went into effect to save those insides, and several guards were injured trying to help the inmates.

Tulua firefighters put out the fire and sent the injured, including two guards, to nearby hospitals. Health officials reported that nine of the injured were being treated in intensive care units for severe burns and smoke inhalation.

Up to 49 prisoners dead in the prison, and two more died after being taken to a hospital. According to Castellanos, no inmates escaped during the disturbance that was started by an altercation between some of the detainees.

Ivan Duque, the president of Colombia, tweeted: "We regret the incidents that took place at the Tulua prison. To shed light on this dreadful circumstance, I have ordered an investigation. I'm with the victims' families in spirit." Gustavo Petro, the president-elect, too mourned the situation and offered his condolences to the families of the deceased.

Sudan to file complaint to UNSC against Ethiopia

Presidents of Ukraine, Moldova discuss EU integration

NATO reaches deal with Turkey to admit Sweden, Finland
Jaipur: Tension prevails across the country over the brutal killing of a Hindu tailor by fanatics in Rajasthan's Udaipur. There is a lot of anger among the people about this incident. In such a situation, the Dutch MP, who supported suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on the Prophet Mohammad issue, has also expressed his displeasure. Dutch MP Geert Wilders tweeted about the Udaipur case, saying, "Please India as a friend I tell you: stop being tolerant to the intolerant.''

Please India as a friend I tell you: stop being tolerant to the intolerant. Defend Hinduism against the extremists, terrorists and jihadists. Dont appease Islam, for it will cost you dearly. Hindus deserve leaders that protect them for the full 100%!#HinduLivesMatters #India  Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 28, 2022

On Tuesday, two Muslim fundamentalists brutally murdered Kanhaiyalal, a tailor by profession, in Dhanmandi area of Udaipur in Rajasthan. On the issue, Geert has now tweeted, "Please India as a friend I tell you: stop being tolerant to the intolerant. Defend Hinduism against extremists, terrorists and jihadists. Dont appease Islam, for it will cost you dearly. Hindus deserve leaders that protect them for the full 100%!''

Geert, an MP from the Netherlands, tweeted one after the other, "Hindus in India should be safe. This is their country, their homeland. India is theirs. India is not an Islamic country.'' A tailor from Udaipur in Rajasthan, Kanhaiyalal Sahu, was strangulated to death on Tuesday. The incident was carried out by two fundamentalists named Riyaz and Mohammad Gos. Both of them had also made a video of this gruesome murder and shared it.

After Corona, vaccination against these 2 serious diseases will now begin

'Now I will cut your neck..,' after Kanhaiyalal, now this man got threatened by jihadis

'Hang the culprits,' tailor Kanhaiyalal's niece crying for justice
Over 140 Ukrainians, including 95 Azovstal defenders, coming home in POW swap with Russia 29 June, 07:24 PM A man walks past a mural with the inscription Azovstal in honor of the defenders of Mariupol in Kiev (Photo:REUTERS/Marko Djurica)

Ukraine and Russia on June 29 conducted another prisoner swap, during which 144 Ukrainian defenders returned home, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (MID) said in a Telegram post.

The intelligence said that this exchange of prisoners had become the largest since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, 95 Azovstal defenders were liberated, of whom 43 are members of the Azov Regiment.

Ukraine also achieved the release of 59 members of the National Guard, 30 servicemen of the Ukrainian Navy, 28 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 17 border guards, nine members of the territorial defense units, and one officer of the National Police.

 

"Of these, 23 are officers and 69 sergeants and non-commissioned servicemen. The oldest of those released turned 65, the youngest is 19," the intelligence said.

Read also: Seventeen Ukrainians coming home in POW swap with Russia

Most of those released had suffered severe gunshot and shrapnel wounds, explosive injuries, burns, fractures, and the amputations of limbs. Currently, they are being provided with urgent medical and psychological assistance.

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How does it feel when a place you go to study looks like a haunted house?

Sajani Shrestha, a student of the bachelors in social work (BSW), says her new campus building reminded her of a haunted house. A few months ago, she enrolled herself at Nepals oldest educational institution, Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, more popularly known as Tri-Chandra College, in the heart of the capital.

Like Shrestha, more than 11,000 students are compelled to study in such campus buildings where they fear what if the next big earthquake takes place during working days.

The building made me anxious. On the first day of my class, I was afraid that it might collapse. But, with the courage, I faced my fear and I sat in the class, Shrestha says.

The campus buildings look nothing like those of an educational institution as they have cracks almost everywhere, untamed grass on the ground, plants growing in between the walls of the building, stinky and unhygienic toilets, unmanaged classrooms, messed up notice boards, and whatnot.

The students, teachers and staffs of Tri-Chandra College are at risk because a building constructed in 1918, badly hit by the 2015 earthquake, has never been renovated. Stakeholders say reconstructing the building is essential to revive the glory of the historical institution.

The ignored institution

The 104-year-old Tri-Chandra College has a long history of providing education. The people who are currently in power were also once the students at the college. Prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba himself studied here whereas Gagan Thapa, a Nepali Congress general secretary, was once the president of the Free Student Union of Tri-Chandra College.

Despite the college having produced a number of high-profile figures, its status remains pathetic. The present condition of the campus clearly shows that they never turned back to the campus and thought of improving its condition.

On Tuesday (June 21), the student wing of the Nepali Congress, the Nepal Student Union, started the Save Tri-Chandra Campaign. They have put up banners with the texts Save Tri-Chandra, and Renovate Tri-Chandra in different buildings on the campus.

Earlier, the students also staged a protest on June 14 in front of the campus demanding the renovation of the historical educational institution. However, it is still uncertain whether the government will fulfil their demand.

The nations oldest college has three buildings. The building that shares the compound with the historic Ghantaghar (the clock tower) is highly affected due to the 2015 earthquake. Back then, the building also got a red sticker from the government, recognising it as a high-risk zone.

It has been more than five years, yet the building is still in a dilapidated condition. Likewise, the building in the middle is relatively less affected by the earthquake.

Until two weeks ago, the building used to have a class for the Tri-Chandra Colleges Geology Department along with a room for its administrative work. However, as the monsoon began, the department had to be shifted to other rooms as rainwater started to seep into them.

The rainwater used to seep into the building earlier as well, but this year it was more, says Ananta Prasad Gajurel, the department head, says.

On the first floor of the third building, opposite Ghantaghar, there is the Department of Meteorology. In the same building, two rooms are used as classrooms on the top floor. The earthquake has affected this building relatively less than the middle one. But, it still has to face the problem of leakage during the rainy season.

The hindering factors

Condition of ladies toilet in Tri-Chandra College.

People associated with Tri-Chandra College identify various reasons for its stagnant and dire condition. One of them is Govinda Thapaliya, a former president of the Tri-Chandra College branch of All Nepali National Free Student Union (ANNFSU), the student wing of CPN UML. He blames the government and the college administration for the awful condition of the campus as they are reluctant to renovate and improve the condition of the campus, says Thapaliya.

They are neglecting the issues of the campus. He further says that while places like Ranipokhari and Durbar High School, very close to the campus, have already been rebuilt following the earthquake, the status of the campus remains unheeded.

Likewise, no new FSU elections for the last 16 years are also obstructing the development of Tri-Chandra College, he says. There are a number of student unions on campus and all of them have their own interest, he complains.

Thapaliya believes that once there will be the FSU election, the issues will be solved in larger volumes.

The blame game

After the NRA introduced a master plan for the ambitious Greater Tundikhel project, the reconstruction of the Tri-Chandra College buildings remained stranded.

After the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) ceased to exist in December 2021, the responsibility to renovate the campus has now shifted to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. But, till now, no initiation has been taken for it. However, during the meeting of the House of Representatives on June 14, Education Minister Devendra Paudel informed that the Tri-Chandra College buildings will be constructed this fiscal year.

Similarly, Shanta Shiwakoti, the president of the Tri-Chandra College branch of Nepal Student Union, the student wing of the Nepali Congress, decries the negligence of NRA on the campus.

Their negligence has compelled the students to study in risky buildings, he says. The Education Ministry should immediately initiate a step to rebuild the college.

After the NRA introduced a master plan for the ambitious Greater Tundikhel project, the reconstruction of the Tri-Chandra College buildings remained stranded. The NRA planned to extend Tundikhel from Ranipokhari to Tripureshwor and proposed to rebuild the Tri-Chandra Campus in Jamal, where the Tribhuvan University Office of the Examination Controller was situated earlier.

But the students, professors and other concerned people were against the NRAs plan, says one of the professors on the condition of anonymity.

Rather than rebuilding the campus, the NRA had a vested interest in making the Greater Tundikhel project a success, says the professor. But as they could not fulfil their interest, they started avoiding campus.

However, Minister Devendra Paudel has pledged the campus chief professor Sunil Adhikari to begin the renovation work of the campus buildings as soon as possible.

Although the minister has committed to rebuilding the campus immediately, it is still unknown if they have taken any step for it, says Adhikari.
Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance has launched a new Telehealth Platform that delivers value-added healthcare services such as doctor-patient video consultations (telemedicine) and appointment booking.

The Digital Transformation Unit (NDU) valued in a tweet on its official account the efforts made by Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance in driving innovation in the Saudi healthcare sector in line with the 2030 vision and elevating the standards for digital Health through its Bupa Arabia App.

Mohamed El Missaoui, Chief Operating officer at Bupa Arabia, said: Digital transformation is a key pillar in our strategy. We are committed to transforming the delivery of healthcare services by expanding our digital leadership and creating sustainable and accessible technological solutions.

Telehealth Platform

He further explained that Bupa Arabia, through its new Telehealth Platform, focuses on delivering the best customer experience for its members, directly connecting major healthcare providers with its members to provide them with a seamless customer experience, positioning Bupa Arabia as a pioneer of digital transformation in the insurance industry in Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on future digital transformation plans at Bupa Arabia, El Missaoui said: We are proud to be working with the most prestigious partners from the healthcare sector in the kingdom that include major hospitals and healthcare professionals while also further advancing our capabilities by partnering with other tech healthcare platforms such as Okadoc, and Sanar.

Bupa Arabias new partnerships will contribute to create a better healthcare experience as it will allow its members to book instant appointments with doctors through Okadoc and staying connected to hundreds of specialists and doctors online with Sanar.

Tebtom Programme

Bupa Arabias Telehealth platform aims to complete the Bupa Arabia Healthcare experience, which also include the service differentiator Tebtom Programme, that allows members to refill and receive medication, conduct home labs, and download the results, schedule a vaccination, and conduct live chat sessions with Tebtom doctors to manage their chronic conditions, or receive maternity or childcare coaching with comfort and ease.

Furthermore, members can access their electronic health record to download ePrescriptions and to manage all health-related documents. All these features are supported by the best-in-class technology that integrates their information and documents in a single app.-- TradeArabia News Service
Allied Corp.

KELOWNA, British Columbia, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Corp . ("Allied" or the Company) (OTCQB: ALID) is pleased to announce that it has completed the first shipment of commercial dried cannabis from Colombia to an international market.



On April 01, 2022 Colombia enacted the new legislation allowing for the legal export of dried cannabis produced in Colombia. In April 2022, Allied submitted several applications for export approvals. After many levels of regulatory inspections, analyses, discussions and questions, Allieds first export approval came in June 2022. Allied has now executed on navigating the production, regulatory and transport logistics needed to ship the first commercial cannabis flower grown in Colombia and sold into an international market.

The supply contract for this first shipment is for 500kgs monthly and the first quantity shipped on June 28, 2022 was 200kg. The strain profile for this shipment is 18% CBD with THC levels that are under 0.3% THC (which is the legal limit within the United States).

We did it! We are the first company to ship a commercial shipment of dried cannabis to an international market. This accomplishment speaks to the quality of our team, and most importantly our product. 2 years of genotyping and phenotyping has led us to our current genetics that are proving to be superior in terms of cannabinoid profiles, as well as being pest and mold resistant. Our certificates of analyses validate this. This has been no easy feat. With this proven accomplishment we are now focused on fulfilling the additional signed purchase contracts and growing the international relationships with companies all over the world. said Calum Hughes, CEO and Chairman of the Board.

In addition to the shipment above, Allied has submitted to the controlled substance office in Colombia for export approvals for many additional shipments (outlined below). These all come on the heels of Allieds first known legal approval to export Colombian-produced dried cannabis to an international market.

Story continues

500kgs monthly for the shipment described above.

1000kg destined for Australia of which and initial order of 200kgs is being processed for Australia via Switzerland.

7100kg order for a company based out of Zurich, Switzerland.

1000kg recurring monthly order for a multi-state operator based in the United States.

50kg recurring monthly order for Australia.

Allied currently has 5800 THC plants in the ground and another 15,000 clones of THC plants created for multiple batches to fulfill our 2022 quota. The Allied THC flower harvest will begin on or about August 15, 2022 and will be available for sale in September 2022.

All of the links of the supply chain have clicked together to achieve this important milestone for the company. From decades of production expertise, manufacturing and supply chain quality assurance, regulatory expertise and logistics coordination  the team has performed! We have always followed through on what we said we were going to - this is yet another validation of this. We can now boldly claim that we were the first to pull it off  Colombian grown cannabis for the international marketplace. Watch out for what we have in store for THC flower, continued Hughes.

About Allied Corp.  CLICK HERE

Click here for Allied Inside business model website: CLICK HERE

Allied Corp. is an international cannabis company with its main production center in Colombia and is one of the few companies that has exported from Colombia internationally. In addition to this, Allied has three CBD-brands to market with products selling in the United States. Lastly, Allied has both Cannabinoid and psilocybin products in the pharmaceutical development track seeking pharma drug indications for depression, anxiety and PTSD.

Investor Relations:

ir@allied.health

1-877-255-4337

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada or the United States ( forward-looking information). Forward-looking information may relate to the Companys future outlook and anticipated events, plans or results, and may include information regarding the Companys objectives, goals, strategies, future revenue or performance and capital expenditures, and other information that is not historical information. Forward-looking information can often be identified by the use of terminology such as believe, anticipate, plan, expect, pending, in process, intend, estimate, project, may, will, should, would, could, can, the negatives thereof, variations thereon and similar expressions. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on the Companys opinions, estimates and assumptions in light of managements experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that management currently believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. Forward looking statements in this press release include the following: that Allied is leveraging the conditions in its Colombia grow operation and future Kelowna location to support its Research and Development efforts; that Allied is making important strides forward to position itself as a leader in the medical cannabis space, that Allied intends to make a series of proposed trademark and other intellectual property protection filings, as part of the Companys Intellectual Property and Pharma Development (IP&PD) Strategy, statements respecting the joint development, manufacturing, and the introduction of TACTICAL RELIEF branded products.

There can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information in this release include: the Companys exposure to legal and regulatory risk; the effect of the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Canada and Colombia on the medical cannabis industry is unknown and may significantly and negatively affect the Companys medical cannabis business; that the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy, dosing and social acceptance of cannabis are not as currently expected; that adverse changes or developments affecting the Companys main or planned facilities may have an adverse effect on the Company; that the medical cannabis industry and market may not continue to exist or develop as anticipated or the Company may not be able to succeed in this market; risks related to completion of the greenhouse construction in Colombia, risks related to market competition; risks related to the proposed adult-use cannabis industry and market in Canada and Colombia including the Companys ability to enter into or compete in such markets; that the Company has a limited operating history and a history of net losses and that it may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future; risks related to the Companys current or proposed international operations; risks related to future third party strategic alliances or the expansion of currently existing relationships with third parties; that the Company may not be able to successfully identify and execute future acquisitions or dispositions or successfully manage the impacts of such transactions on its operations; risks inherent to the operation of an agricultural business; that the Company may be unable to attract, develop and retain key personnel; risks resulting from significant interruptions to the Companys access to certain key inputs such as raw materials, electricity, water and other utilities; that the Company may be unable to transport its cannabis products to patients in a safe and efficient manner; risks related to recalls of the Companys cannabis products or product liability or regulatory claims or actions involving the Companys cannabis products; risks related to the Companys reliance on pharmaceutical distributors; that the Company, or the cannabis industry more generally, may receive unfavorable publicity or become subject to negative consumer or investor perception; that certain events or developments in the cannabis industry more generally may impact the Companys reputation or its relationships with customers or suppliers; that the Company may not be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage in respect of the risks that it faces, that the premiums for such insurance may not continue to be commercially justifiable or that there may be coverage limitations and other exclusions which may result in such insurance not being sufficient; that the Company may become subject to liability arising from fraudulent or illegal activity by its employees, contractors, consultants and others; that the Company may experience breaches of security at its facilities or losses as a result of the theft of its products; risks related to the Companys information technology systems; that the Company may be unable to sustain its revenue growth and development; that the Company may be unable to expand its operations quickly enough to meet demand or manage its operations beyond their current scale; that the Company may be unable to secure adequate or reliable sources of necessary funding; risks related to, or associated with, the Companys exposure to reporting requirements; risks related to conflicts of interest; risks related to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; risks related to the Companys potential exposure to greater-than-anticipated tax liabilities; risks related to the protection and enforcement of the Companys intellectual property rights, or the intellectual property that it licenses from others; that the Company may become subject to allegations that it or its licensors are in violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties; that the Company may not realize the full benefit of the clinical trials or studies that it participates in; that the Company may not realize the full benefit of its licenses if the licensed material has less market appeal than expected and the licenses may not be profitable; as well as any other risks that may be further described in and the risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure including its Management's Discussion and Analysis sections in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed under the Company's profile at www.sec.gov.

Although management has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information in this presentation, there may be other risk factors not presently known to the Company or that the Company presently believes are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information in this presentation. 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 information. Accordingly, readers and viewers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this release represents the Companys expectations as of the date of this release or the date indicated, regardless of the time of delivery of the presentation. The Company disclaims any intention, obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws.




ReportLinker

Animal Intestinal Health Market Research Report by Additive (Immunostimulants, Phytogenics, and Prebiotics), Livestock, Source, Form, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Animal Intestinal Health Market Research Report by Additive, Livestock, Source, Form, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286817/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Animal Intestinal Health Market size was estimated at USD 3,672.82 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 3,857.93 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 5.29% to reach USD 5,005.46 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 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 Animal Intestinal Health to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Additive, the market was studied across Immunostimulants, Phytogenics, Prebiotics, and Probiotics.



Based on Livestock, the market was studied across Aquaculture, Poultry, Ruminant, and Swine. The Poultry is further studied across Broilers, Duck, Game Birds, Layers, and Turkey. The Ruminant is further studied across Beef cattle, Calves, Dairy cattle, Goats, and Sheep.



Based on Source, the market was studied across Microbial and Plant-based.



Based on Form, the market was studied across Dry and Liquid.



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 Animal Intestinal Health 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 Animal Intestinal Health 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 Animal Intestinal Health Market, including AB Vista, Alltech Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Biorigin SA, Bluestar Adisseo Co Ltd., Calpis Co., Ltd, Cargill, Incorporated, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Dr. Eckel Animal Nutrition GmbH & Co. KG, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Evonik Industries AG, Kemin Industries, Inc., Koninklijke DSM N.V., Lallemand, Inc., Land OLakes, Inc., Lesaffre, Novozymes A/S, Nutreco N.V., Pure Cultures, and Unique Biotech.



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 Animal Intestinal Health Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Animal Intestinal Health Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Animal Intestinal Health Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Animal Intestinal Health Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Animal Intestinal Health Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Animal Intestinal Health Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Animal Intestinal Health Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06286817/?utm_source=GNW



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Anonymous social apps targeting teens haven't gone away in the wake of Snapchat's new policy, which earlier this year banned these types of social experiences from integrating with its developer platform. Instead, the apps have simply found a new way to reach young people: via Instagram. In recent weeks, new apps like Sendit for Instagram and NGL have launched anonymous Q&A apps that allow users to post "ask me anything"-style questions to Instagram in order to receive anonymous responses from friends. Teens flocked to the apps, both of which surged to the top of the App Store after launching.

History has demonstrated these sorts of social experiences tend to be problematic. Online anonymity among teens often leads to bullying and abuse. Snapchat, for instance, ultimately chose to suspend anonymous apps on its platform after being sued multiple times by families whose teens died by suicide after being bullied on Snapchat-connected anonymous messaging apps. Lawmakers and regulators have also been pressuring social platforms to implement more safeguards for their youngest users.

But as attention today is mainly attuned to how Big Tech is tackling issues around online safety for younger users, indie apps like Sendit and NGL have been able to fly under the radar. And, like the anonymous apps that came before them, they've quickly taken off.

According to data from Sensor Tower, the anonymous Q&A app Sendit for Instagram launched on June 24, 2022 and immediately saw 117,000 installs within the first two days, driving it to No. 3 on the U.S. App Store. The app now has somewhere north of 150,000 installs, Sensor Tower says, but exact estimates are not available. Another firm, data.ai (formerly App Annie), sees the app with 266,000 iOS downloads but doesn't have Google Play data.

It has since tweaked its name to Sendit - Q&A on Instagram. Data.ai also noted the app shot up to No. 1 at launch within the Social Networking category as well as overall in non-gaming apps in the U.S. App Store from June 23, 2022, through June 28, 2022.

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Image Credits: data.ai (opens in a new window)

The same company behind Sendit for Instagram also operates a version of Sendit aimed at Snapchat, which has more than 18 million lifetime installs and has generated more than $11 million in consumer spending to date, Sensor Tower said.

Meanwhile, the anonymous Q&A app NGL launched on December 10, 2021, and has seen more than 3.5 million iOS installs to date, Sensor Tower data shows. It reached the No. 1 position on the U.S. App Store for the first time on June 16, 2022, and has now topped $1 million in consumer spending. Data.ai had estimated its downloads were even higher -- around 5 million. And Apptopia sees 7.29 million lifetime installs.

There are concerns these apps aren't necessarily operating on the up-and-up, however.

For starters, Sendit for Instagram users have been complaining in reviews the app had originally marketed itself to them as "Sendit Reveal" during the preorder phase. The company, the reviews allege, had promised a new Sendit app that would reveal which friends had sent the anonymous messages. Obviously, this was a big draw for the app's young users, as everyone wanted to know who had said what.

Image Credits: Sendit (app data via Mobileaction)

App Store screenshots from the time confirmed this was the case, as well.

The marketing strategy worked. User demand for "Reveal" helped drive installs of the app, which then rebranded as Sendit - for Instagram after launch.

Reached for comment about what appeared to be a bait-and-switch technique to acquire users, Sendits founder Hunter Rice didn't directly address the issue. He suggested that coverage of this amounted to "clickbait" on our part.

"Theres a lot of great things about what were doing that are newsworthy," Rice told TechCrunch. "Youre welcome to have your fun with this topic, but Im only interested in talking about real news," he said.

But an analysis of App Store reviews at least indicates users felt they were misled by the earlier branding and had expected a much different experience.

Image Credits: Sendit for Instagram reviews, as analyzed via Sensor Tower

The company behind Sendit, Fullsenders (now also referring to itself as Icon Hearts on its website), had another viral hit last year with an app called Push It. The social app had also climbed to the top of the App Store. At the time, users complained the app was using bots to send them fake questions to answer -- things they knew their friends would have never asked, they said. Rice had denied the use of bots at the time.

The flagship version of the company's Sendit app saw similar complaints about bots, as does its new Instagram version. App Store reviews are again filled with users questioning the legitimacy of the questions origins.

Image Credits: Sendit for Instagram App Store reviews

Essentially a clone of Sendit, the new app NGL also allows users to post anonymous Q&As on Instagram. To differentiate itself, the app touts its "world class [sic] AI content moderation," which claims to filter out bullying and harassment. (A recent Forbes investigation found the app struggled to block explicit British slang and French, Spanish and German profanities.)

As it turns out, there are not many complaints about bullying among the app's 68,000+ App Store reviews. But there are a number of people griping about bots asking them fake questions here, too. Similar to the concerns consumers had raised about Fullsenders' apps, many NGL users insist they're seeing questions they believe were not sent in by their friends. Notably, the app is charging users a subscription of $10 per week to "reveal" who sent the question. Users are also complaining this paid service only offers hints like what kind of phone the user has or what area they live in.

NGL did not respond to a request for comment.

TechCrunch tested both apps, NGL and Sendit - for Instagram. We copied the personalized links and posted them to an Instagram Story that was only shown to "Close Friends, then immediately took the post down so no one would see it. This tricked the apps into thinking we had published our link so friends could respond. Several hours later, both apps sent us a series of questions supposedly sent from "friends." The questions were innocuous, like "the strangest dream you've ever had?" (Sendit) or "what was the best day so far this year?" (NGL), for example.

No one had access to the links we had created, so these were clearly automated messages.

We asked Instagram if either of these apps were integrated with its platform by way of Meta's developer tools, which are governed by its platform policies. Meta, so far, has been unable to provide this information.

App intelligence firm Apptopia told us it only has visibility into NGL at present and found it uses the Facebook SDK in its Google Play version but not in the iOS app. Neither Sensor Tower nor data.ai had visibility into either app's components, they said.

As the apps only offer the ability to post links to Stories, they aren't necessarily reliant on technical integrations offered through Meta developer tools in order to function. That means they wouldn't be held accountable by Meta's developer policies related to anonymous messaging apps, either.

Meta's policy seems more lenient than Snap's, as it allows anonymous messaging if apps offer a blocking function. (Section 8.8.2.a of the policy states: "Pages or Apps may not facilitate person-to-person messaging, relays, or interactions that mask user identities from each other without giving individual users the ability to block other users within the messaging experience.") Meta's policy also bans bots under its spam section (8.8.2.b).

Recently, it had seemed Meta was taking action against NGL as users began reporting Instagram was removing the links to the NGL app from their Instagram Stories. But Instagram told us NGL had access to the links feature revoked "by mistake" and that access has since been restored.

These Instagram-tied mobile apps arrive at a time when Snapchat is looking to tighten how third parties use its platform tools. That change could impact Sendits traction. The app had benefitted from Snapchat's earlier ban on the anonymous apps Yolo and LMK, which had been cited in lawsuits. But now, Sendit is among those that are supposed to be banned from the platform under Snap's new developer policies. (Snap told TechCrunch last month it had given Sendit more time to come into compliance with its policies after the developer requested an extension.)

Investing in the anonymous consumer social space almost never pays off in the long term. The web is littered with failed anonymous social apps that have had to wind down due to bullying and other issues, including Ask.fm, Yik Yak, After School, Secret, Yolo and Sarahah, among others.

In previous years, the app stores themselves had even taken action against apps that offered anonymous messaging experiences. Sarahah, for example, was banned from both Google Play and Apple's App Store after accusations it was facilitating bullying. Today, Apple insists on a set of protections for any app that includes user-generated content, but it doesn't ban the anonymous social category in general.

It's not clear if the app stores will take any action on these new anonymous apps despite the way they're misleading their young users about the nature of the inbound messages, which are bot-driven and not really from friends.

Without enforced policies, there will always be a new crop of developers willing to risk long-term success for short-term profits. In fact, the business models for this latest group of apps depend on the lack of policy and regulation in this market.

Correction/clarification, 6/30/22, 11:30 am et: Sensor Tower's 3.5M figure for NGL was iOS installs but was referred to only as "installs." This has now been clarified in the article.
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden is under pressure from progressive Democrats to safeguard access to abortion in states where its at risk of being outlawed -- including by allowing clinics on federal land and offering travel vouchers to people who want the procedure.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Yet Biden faces steep legal and political hurdles in meeting those demands as his administration struggles in its response to last weeks Supreme Court decision overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade precedent. The frustration among Democrats was on display Tuesday as Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced an initiative to assure availability of abortion medication.

My apologies, he told reporters in Washington. We cant tell you theres a silver bullet.

Congressional Democrats including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Patty Murray of Washington and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have urged Biden to act more forcefully. Weeks before the June 24 high court ruling, Warren, Murray and 23 other Senate Democrats sent Biden a six-point plan to mobilize the federal government to protect abortion rights as conservative states enact or plan to enact bans or new restrictions.

Biden has taken some modest steps, including those announced by Becerra and a separate directive by the Office of Personnel Management that federal employees can use sick leave to travel for medical care or accompany family members to obtain care in another state.

But many of the measures pushed by Democrats would require action in Congress, where they would need Republican votes to get legislation through the Senate, and face restrictions on the use of federal funds. Experts say the scope of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling curbs much of the action on the executive front.

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They are really limited in terms of what the will be able to get done,said Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director of womens health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The enormity of this ruling really limits the federal governments capacity to act on this issue.

Here are some of the actions Democrats have proposed along with the obstacles they face:

Using Federal Property

The group of senators in their letter to Biden after the leak of Justice Samuel Alitos majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health, asks, among other things, that the Department of Justice and other agencies should analyze the types of reproductive health services that could be provided on federal property.

Ocasio-Cortez was more direct.

Open abortion clinics on federal lands in red states right now. Right now, she said at a rally in New York on Sunday.

However, its not clear what such a move would entail. The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs maintain medical facilities but there is a longstanding prohibition, known as the Hyde Amendment, that prevents using federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.

The White House largely dismissed the idea of using military bases or other federal property to provide abortion services. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that opening clinics at federal facilities could put women and providers at risk prosecution in states where abortion is now illegal if they are not federal employees.

We understand the proposal is well intentioned, she told reporters. But theres actually dangerous ramifications to doing this.

Abortion Medication Access

Becerra called the Supreme Courts decision despicable but predictable, and said his department is committed to increasing the access to abortion medication like mifepristone. But he refrained from promising to make it part of Medicaids Family Planning Program because of legal restraints.

Were gonna stay within the confines of the law, even though its a law that I personally believe jeopardizes the health of women, Becerra said.

However, states could move to restrict the drug. Becerra said his department would work with the Justice Department to ensure access.

Out of State Abortion Services

The Democratic senators and others called for the administration to explore providing travel vouchers and other support for individuals seeking services in states where it is legal.

That move likely would draw a court challenge on the basis of the Hyde Amendment restrictions on using federal funds for abortion in most circumstances.

Legislative Action

Ocasio-Cortez and others are calling for a variety of legislative responses, including expanding the Supreme Court, repealing the Hyde Amendment and enshrining in law the right to contraceptives and same-sex marriage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers Monday that the chamber would explore legislation to protect personal data in reproductive health apps and reinforce the right of Americans to travel freely throughout the country without interference. She said the House would again pass a bill that would enshrine the right to an abortion into federal law.

However any such action taken by the Democratic-controlled House still would have to overcome a significant hurdle in the Senate: the agreement of at least 10 Republican senators to advance any such legislation. That means any action in the House would be largely symbolic.

Because of that, many Democrats are focusing on the November election and urging voters to expand the partys control of the House and Senate. That, too, would be an uphill battle in a midterm election year.

We have to recognize that theres a limit to what executive actions can actually do, Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota said in a statement. Thats why Im focused on ensuring that in the future we have 52 senators willing to pass legislation restoring reproductive rights.

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FILE PHOTO: The sun lights the exterior of the New York Stock Exchange, as people walk past on the shadowed street

By Chris Taylor

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If you are having trouble keeping track of all the consumer boycotts swirling around, you are not alone.

A quarter of Americans are boycotting a product or company they had spent money on in the past, according to a recent survey from online loan marketplace LendingTree.

Whether because of political differences, or stances on social issues, or concerns about environmental impact, people are expressing themselves not only with their voices, but with their wallets.

"The numbers are big, because people have become more willing to come out and take a political stance in recent years," said Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief credit analyst. "One of the ways people can have their voice heard in an impactful way is through a boycott."

Boycotts are not new: In fact when LendingTree ran this survey in the summer 2020, with the country roiling from protests following the murder of George Floyd, the percentages were even higher.

In the most recent survey, of over 2,100 consumers in April, the segments of society most likely to be boycotting some product or company were six-figure earners (37% of them do so), Gen Z (32%), Millennials (28%), those whose political affiliation is Democratic (31%) and Republican (24%).

Boycotts can extend to travel as well: 24% of respondents said they have scratched states or countries off their itineraries because of legislative or policy disagreements.

"Those numbers don't surprise me, because people are becoming more aware of where to spend their money or not spend it," said Adrianne Wright, founder and chief executive of Rosie, a storytelling agency for nonprofit organizations.

"It's good to rally and march, but just gathering may not get the outcomes you're looking for. To move the world forward, you have to think about how to make good trouble, and get more creative with your tactics."

During the administration of President Donald Trump, for instance, the 'Grab Your Wallet' movement (grabyourwallet.org) compiled a spreadsheet of Trump-connected businesses to avoid, "to protest the Trump administration's serial targeting of women, immigrants, and communities of color."

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As an example on the other side of the political spectrum, Disney recently faced calls for a consumer boycott, related to its opposition to Florida's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill.

And on the hot-button topic of Russia, Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld has been assembling a list of companies (both American and international) that are still operating in Russia, despite widespread anger in the West over its invasion of Ukraine.

The most-cited reason for boycotting? Political donations, mentioned by 39% of respondents in the LendingTree survey. That was followed by treatment of employees (34%), stance on social issues (33%), and policy positions (30%).

WHEN TO TAKE ACTION?

The real challenge for consumers: How much to let political and social issues guide your purchasing decisions. There are so many potential subjects you might disagree on with a company, that it would be very easy to enter any mall or supermarket and be completely paralyzed.

On a practical level, it requires a huge amount of time and effort to stay current on the issues of every company you do business with on a daily basis. It is also challenging to boycott multinationals which may make hundreds of different products.

Companies can feel like they are being put in a box. Taking a political stance may please some consumers but anger others. Not taking a stance can do exactly the same thing.

Even trickier for companies: consumers most likely to boycott are the biggest earners, according to LendingTree. Among those with six-figure incomes, 77% of them are more likely to spend their cash at businesses that share their political or social beliefs.

"That's a big deal, because businesses tend to listen to people who spend the most money with them," said Schulz.

For consumers, it is a matter of picking your battles. "We are all so exhausted and overwhelmed with all the issues coming up every single day, so I would say choose one or two issues that are near and dear to your heart," Wright said.

"You can't do everything all at once. So what are the issues that break your heart? Then look at the products and services in your life, the ones you come into contact with on a daily basis, and look at the alignment between those products and those issues."

(Editing by Lauren Young and Richard Chang)
CAPSTONE Launches to Test New Orbit for NASA's Artemis Moon Missions

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2022

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's CubeSat designed to test a unique lunar orbit is safely in space and on the first leg of its journey to the Moon. The spacecraft is heading toward an orbit intended in the future for Gateway, a lunar space station built by the agency and its commercial and international partners that will support NASA's Artemis program, including astronaut missions.

NASA Logo. (PRNewsFoto/NASA) (PRNewsFoto/) (PRNewsfoto/NASA)

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission launched at 5:55 a.m. EDT (09:55 UTC) on Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand Tuesday.

"CAPSTONE is an example of how working with commercial partners is key for NASA's ambitious plans to explore the Moon and beyond," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate. "We're thrilled with a successful start to the mission and looking forward to what CAPSTONE will do once it arrives at the Moon."

CAPSTONE is currently in low-Earth orbit, and it will take the spacecraft about four months to reach its targeted lunar orbit. NASA invites the public to follow the spacecraft's journey live using NASA's Eyes on the Solar System interactive real-time 3D data visualization. Starting about one week after launch, virtually ride along with the CubeSat with a simulated view of our solar system. NASA will post updates about when to see CAPSTONE in the visualization on NASA's Ames Research Center's home page as well as Twitter and Facebook.

CAPSTONE is attached to Rocket Lab's Lunar Photon, an interplanetary third stage that will send CAPSTONE on its way to deep space. Shortly after launch, Lunar Photon separated from Electron's second stage. Over the next six days, Photon's engine will periodically ignite to accelerate it beyond low-Earth orbit, where Photon will release the CubeSat on a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon. CAPSTONE will then use its own propulsion and the Sun's gravity to navigate the rest of the way to the Moon. The gravity-driven track will dramatically reduce the amount of fuel the CubeSat needs to get to the Moon.

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"Delivering the spacecraft for launch was an accomplishment for the entire mission team, including NASA and our industry partners. Our team is now preparing for separation and initial acquisition for the spacecraft in six days," said Bradley Cheetham, principal investigator for CAPSTONE and chief executive officer of Advanced Space, which owns and operates CAPSTONE on behalf of NASA. "We have already learned a tremendous amount getting to this point, and we are passionate about the importance of returning humans to the Moon, this time to stay!"

At the Moon, CAPSTONE will enter an elongated orbit called a near rectilinear halo orbit, or NRHO. Once in the NRHO, CAPSTONE will fly within 1,000 miles of the Moon's North Pole on its near pass and 43,500 miles from the South Pole at its farthest. It will repeat the cycle every six and a half days and maintain this orbit for at least six months to study dynamics.

"CAPSTONE is a pathfinder in many ways, and it will demonstrate several technology capabilities during its mission timeframe while navigating a never-before-flown orbit around the Moon," said Elwood Agasid, project manager for CAPSTONE at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "CAPSTONE is laying a foundation for Artemis, Gateway, and commercial support for future lunar operations."

During its mission, CAPSTONE will provide data about operating in an NRHO and showcase key technologies. The mission's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, developed by Advanced Space with support from NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program, is a spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation and communications system that will work with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to determine the distance between the two lunar orbiting spacecraft. This technology could allow future spacecraft to determine their position in space without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth. CAPSTONE also carries a new precision one-way ranging capability built into its radio that could reduce the amount of ground network time needed for in-space operations.

In addition to New Zealand hosting CAPSTONE's launch, New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and a University of Canterbury-led team are collaborating with NASA on a research effort to track Moon-orbiting spacecraft. New Zealand helped develop the Artemis Accords  which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA's 21st century lunar exploration plans. In May 2021, New Zealand was the 11th country to sign the Artemis Accords.

The microwave-oven sized CubeSat was designed and built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terran Orbital Corporation. CAPSTONE 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 supports the communication, tracking, and telemetry downlink via NASA's Deep Space Network, Iris radio design, and groundbreaking 1-way navigation algorithms.

Learn more about the mission at:

nasa.gov/capstone

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View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/capstone-launches-to-test-new-orbit-for-nasas-artemis-moon-missions-301576886.html

SOURCE NASA
By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA, June 29 (Reuters) - Colombia's armed conflict will only end when the 2016 peace deal with the now-demobilized FARC guerrillas is properly implemented and peace talks with other armed groups and gangs make progress, the president of the Andean country's peace commission said.

The truth commission was established as part of the peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels during negotiations in Cuba's capital, Havana.

The agreement also included plans to reform agriculture, guarantees for political participation and alternatives for illicit drug crops.

"We have to start by making reparations to all the victims," truth commission president Francisco de Roux told Reuters late on Tuesday, adding that Colombia must implement comprehensive social reform and political transformation, as agreed in Havana.

As well as implementing the peace deal with the demobilized FARC, Colombia must also make progress in talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), another leftist guerrilla group, and FARC dissidents who reject the 2016 deal, de Roux, a Jesuit priest, said.

The truth commission's final report, which de Roux presented earlier on Tuesday, found that drug trafficking and the war on drugs have contributed to the degradation and extension of the conflict into one of total war.

The commission also recommended Colombia implement substantial changes in drug policy with a focus on regulation, and urged the country to lead a global conversation addressing policy changes.

From 1985 to 2018, 450,664 people were killed in the conflict, according to the truth commission, while 55,770 were kidnapped between 1990 and 2018.

More than 7.7 million people were displaced from 1985 to 2019 and 121,768 were disappeared between 1985 and 2016, it added.

"We found that 80% of the total victims were civilians," de Roux said, adding that the conflict was prolonged by Colombians' resistance to recognize what was happening, while becoming accustomed to living in conflict. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Nick Macfie)
Democrats see the potential to bring suburban women into their corner for the midterm elections after the Supreme Court ruled last week to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The high courts decision was met with an onslaught of rage and backlash from women since it was released on Friday, prompting many to consider how to plan for best-case-scenario political outcomes from a worst-case-scenario law reversal.

Women who reside in American suburbs have been among the most closely watched demographics on both sides of the aisle since the 2016 election, moving away from the Republican Party during the height of Trumpism but inching back in some areas as voters become fatigued and disillusioned by the Biden era.

Ahead of November, liberals new hope is that the coveted bloc could flip to blue with the right actions and messaging. The highly personal nature of the Roe ruling, they say, could be a turning point in the otherwise dismal political climate for the party in power.

We dont like extremism, said Katie Paris, an organizer who founded Red Wine & Blue, a group working to mobilize suburban women in battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina. Were seeing it in deeply personal, local ways. And its been unnerving.

Pro-abortion rights Republicans are, for now, withholding judgment about how things may play out. They say suburban women care deeply about abortion, but they also care about prices at the pump and on the shelf just as much. And those critical of President Biden believe hes already squandered earlier opportunities to make things better, hampering his ability to gain voters trust.

Will the courts decision be enough to turn things around? Thats anyones guess, some say.

My worry is that you get a lot of the old hands of the Democratic Party thinking that theyll do a little bit and their people will show up, said Rina Shah, a Republican strategist who opposes the Supreme Court ruling and former President Trumps vision for the GOP.

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They dont understand theres a lot out there thats deeply resentful of where this administration is going, she said.

Democrats up for reelection see things differently. Those running in swing states maintain that its essential to talk about abortion and rising prices in tandem, contending the party must do more to maintain its narrow edge in Washington. They say they are determined to do both.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D), who is facing whats likely to be a competitive reelection bid in New Hampshire, has put an emphasis on both issues while on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail, seeking to set an example of what Democrats say must be carried out in contentious contests.

Its really important that elected members of Congress and senators are focused on enshrining Roe v. Wade into law but also lowering costs for families, Hassan told reporters on Monday.

The issue has also played out in House districts as swingy as parts of the Granite State, including in Virginia. On Monday, Axios surfaced audio that showed the Republican nominee in the 7th Congressional District, Yesli Vega, appearing to downplay the possibility of becoming pregnant as a result of rape.

The districts incumbent Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) quickly went on the offensive.

My opponents views are devoid of truth, shamefully disrespectful towards victims of rape, and clearly indicate that she is not qualified to be making serious policy decisions on behalf of our fellow Virginians, Spanberger said in a statement. I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a womans right to choose and the fundamental right to privacy.

Spanbergers views echo sentiments at the national level, with opinion polling showing that the public is on Democrats side. A new post-Roe-reversal survey conducted by NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist found that 56 percent oppose the move, which threw five decades of law out the window. In that poll, a majority of independents, arguably the countrys most coveted electorate, disagree with the decision.

Strategists, too, see the ruling as one of their best chances at gaining momentum for the fall, with some saying that Democrats should explicitly highlight just how far and widely the decision impacts people of all backgrounds  not just women.

This is not just a sad woman looking at the rain through a window, said Jessica Floyd, the president of American Bridge, a Democratic political action committee. These are mothers; they have kids already. These are boyfriends and husbands who risk getting punished themselves if they help their wives and girlfriends get health care. Its doctors.

This isnt hypothetical, this is real, Floyd said. And we should be telling those real stories.

The other story that Democrats are up against, however, is one of an administration in turmoil, one thats spiraling downward in many voters eyes.

Biden, whose approval ratings have sunk to the 30s, has struggled to devise a plan to lift struggling people out from a mountain of problems. From economic crises like high gas prices to humanitarian suffering in the form of mass shootings, the White House has continued to search for a way to reach voters, seemingly to no avail.

Some constituencies are indeed already making their attitudes known. More than 1 million voters in 43 states have newly registered as Republicans in the past year, according to an analysis of voter registration data from The Associated Press. While Republicans dont control the executive or legislative branches of government, the Supreme Courts 6-3 ruling was evidence that conservative justices currently have disproportionate sway over ideals that Democrats believe to be sacred to their party.

Extremism is becoming a very visceral motivator for suburban women, Paris said.

Pariss Red Wine & Blue says its seen a heightened level of engagement on social media since Friday. Women were taking to its popular Facebook group, which hosts thousands of members, to share personal accounts of their abortions, sometimes for the first time, she said.

Organizers are also optimistic that the personal nature of the issue will encourage more people to vote on Election Day who otherwise might not have. According to a survey taken by PerryUndem, a nonpartisan research and analytics firm, more than a third of voters polled expressed more interest in casting their ballots in the midterms as a result of the decision.

Weve seen the issue of abortion care mobilize women from all geographic regions and walks of life, Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and a staunch pro-abortion rights advocate, told The Hill on Tuesday. But particularly in 2018 and 2020, suburban women proved to be a decisive voting bloc and a major reason why Democrats won the presidency as well as majorities in the House and Senate.

Women in every corner of this country are outraged by the illegitimate Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, she said.

Democrats had months to prepare for the anticipated ruling. The actual decision was closely in line with a draft that was obtained by Politico in May, giving lawmakers and strategists time to formulate early plans. Several told The Hill at the time that they saw a galvanizing aspect after the early draft surfaced.

Now, some Democrats say the shock of the final outcome  one that many voters didnt expect to actually happen  can be an even more powerful motivator than when the hypothetical opinion was originally leaked.

This has certainly reengaged people, Floyd said. They were exhausted after the chaos of the Trump years, and now they have a real need to be reengaged.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Global Market Insights, Inc

Key electric switch market participants are Alps Alpine Co, Ltd., Amphenol NEXUS Technologies, APEM Group, C&K, CW Industries, EAO AG, E-Switch, GRAYHILL, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc., among others.

Selbyville, Delaware, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Electric Switches Market size is expected to surpass USD 20 billion by 2030, according to the latest research study by Global Market Insights Inc . Growing deployments of technologically advanced machines across construction and mining projects are primarily driving the adoption of electrical switches globally.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the electric switches industry both positively and negatively. Electric switch manufacturers are experiencing a low demand from industries such as electronics and automobiles. The epidemic positively affected the healthcare devices sector as there was a significant rise in the demand for various therapeutic, diagnostic, and protective medical devices such as X-ray monitors, cleaning robots, CT scan machines, nurse call systems & defibrillators. Several governments are investing heavily to improve their ailing healthcare systems.

Request a sample of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3505

Keylock switches are electromechanical devices used to control the current flow on or off in a circuit. The rising trend of e-bicycles around the globe is providing growth opportunities for keylock switch makers. For instance, in November 2020, Alpha Vector, an Indian start-up, launched its new e-bicycle in the country.

The Europe electric switch market is driven by high investments in the regional medical & healthcare industry. The rising government spending and initiatives to support the medical sector in the region will encourage the implementation of electric switches due to their use in the latest medical machinery & equipment. According to a press release, the European Union will invest USD 5.30 billion, which will improve the health system in the Europe under the EU4Health 2021 - 2027 scheme.

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Players active in the electric switch market include C&K, Honeywell International Inc., TE Connectivity, ALPS ALPINE CO., LTD., and RAFI GmbH & Co. The players operating in this segment are focusing on expanding their manufacturing facilities to stay competitive in the market. In addition, in November 2021, C&K launched a new EWIS manufacturing facility in India to provide better services to local clients & distribution partners including faster design cycles and higher response.

Some of the key findings in the electric switches market report include:

The increasing demand for push button start vehicles in the market is driving their growth. Push button switches allow drivers to start vehicle engines by pressing the switch without any hassle.





The growing demand for waterproof rocker switches & toggle switches in the military and marine industries is fostering the electric switch market landscape. These switches are capable of working in extremely harsh environments, making them ideal for the military.





The increasing worldwide internet penetration is supporting the development of telecommunication and network infrastructures. To provide a strong and reliable internet connection, tactile & tact switches are integrated into data center devices such as routers, servers, and modems.





Europe and North America are witnessing rapid expansion in the manufacturing sector mainly in the food & beverage industry that requires enhanced automated solutions, thereby spurring the necessity for electrical switches in the region.





Asia Pacific is showcasing rise in the espousal of smart factories, which is expected to add significant market prospects for electrical switches. These smart factories incorporate industrial robots, automated technologies, and industrial IoT devices.





Request for customization of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/roc/3505

Partial Table of Contents (ToC) of the report:

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 Electric switch industry 3600 synopsis, 2018 - 2030

2.2 Business trends

2.2.1 Regional trends

2.2.2 Type trends

Chapter 3 Electrical Switches Industry Insights

3.1 Impact analysis of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on electric switch market

3.2 Industry Ecosystem

3.3 Technology & innovation landscape

3.4 Switch technology type analysis

3.5 Investment landscape

3.6 Regulatory landscape

3.7 Industry impact forces

3.7.1 Growth drivers

3.7.1.1 Rising penetration of industrial automation trends globally

3.7.1.2 Rising integration of electronic components in vehicles

3.7.1.3 Growing usage of electrical switches in the healthcare sector in Latin America

3.7.1.4 Rising adoption of smart electrical switches in oil & gas facilities in the MEA region

3.7.2 Industry pitfalls and challenges

3.7.2.1 Maintenance & repair issues related to electromechanical switches

3.8 Growth potential analysis

3.9 Porters analysis

3.10 PESTEL analysis

Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) @ https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/electric-switch-market

About Global Market Insights Inc.

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.

CONTACT: Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com




Signage is seen at an Exxon gas station in Brooklyn, New York City

(Reuters) -U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp and Imperial Oil Ltd said on Tuesday they will sell their Montney and Duvernay shale oil and gas assets in Canada to Whitecap Resources Inc for C$1.9 billion ($1.48 billion).

Exxon and Imperial, which jointly own the assets, began marketing them at the start of this year, hoping to capitalize on a rebound in oil and gas prices.

The assets were valued at up to $1 billion in January by industry insiders.

A strong run-up in commodity prices since then, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine stoking global supply concerns, has pushed up the value of oil and gas properties across North America.

U.S. crude oil futures settled at $111.76 a barrel on Tuesday, up about 49% so far this year.

Imperial's share in the sale will be around C$940 million, the companies said on Tuesday.

The assets being sold include 567,000 net acres in the Montney shale play, 72,000 net acres in the Duvernay basin and additional acreage in other areas of Alberta.

Net production from the assets is about 140 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and about 9,000 barrels of crude, condensate and natural gas liquids per day, according to the companies.

The shale assets were related to a multi-billion dollar impairment charge that Imperial and Exxon took in late 2020. The companies also own petrochemical plants and Exxon operates offshore production in Eastern Canada.

The asset sale is part of Exxon's plans to divest smaller oil and gas operations as it looks to pay down debt and reward shareholders. For Imperial, it is part of its "strategy to focus upstream resources on key oil sands assets", the company said.

The sale is expected to close before the end of the third quarter.

($1 = 1.2872 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Shariq Khan; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
Saudi Arabia has announced plans to launch 93 projects worth SR8.5 billion ($2.26 billion), mainly linked to utility infrastructure development, in the kingdom.

The projects, which are mainly aimed at boosting the environment, water and agriculture system in the region, will be inaugurated by Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh region, at a special ceremony held tomorrow (June 30) in the capital.

These are set to be implemented by Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), the National Water Company and the National Center for Vegetation Cover and Combating Desertification in co-ordination with the Saudi Undersecretary for Water, said senior government officials.

These projects will support water and environmental sustainability and raise the operational efficiency of waterway transportation and distribution, they added.-TradeArabia News Service
By Joice Alves

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - The Swiss franc rose on Wednesday to its highest level against the euro in four months as rising recession fear in the euro zone led investors to seek safe haven assets like the Swiss currency.

The Swiss franc, rose 0.6% versus the euro to 1.0005 at 1210 GMT, after touching its highest level of 0.9993 against the single currency since March.

Forecasts that the euro zone will likely drop into recession amid energy security issues triggered by the war in Ukraine has encouraged investors to buy the Swiss franc.

"Switzerland is less exposed to Russian fossil fuel imports and this should strengthen the risk of safe haven flows on euro zone growth concerns," said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank in London.

"Simultaneously, speculation has emerged that in view of higher inflation, the Swiss National Bank is less likely to intervene to prevent further franc strength."

Cash held overnight by the SNB fell last week by its largest amount in more than a decade, in a sign of the end of the central bank's forex purchase campaign to weaken the Swiss franc.

The Swiss franc also rose 0.6% against the dollar to 0.9511, touching its highest level against the greenback since April.

The euro trimmed some earlier declines after data showing Spanish 12-month inflation had risen to 10.2% in June, up from 8.7% in May and surpassing 10% for the first time since April 1985.

In earlier London trading, the euro had fallen to a six-day low, after data showed June prices in the German state of North RhineWestphalia (NRW) had been 0.1% lower than in May.

"Clearly the strength of Spanish CPI inflation data has undone the pressure on the euro," said Foley, after the NRW June CPI number led "the market to question the hawkishness of the ECB going forward".

At 1200 GMT, there was little reaction to Germany national preliminary CPI data showing inflation unexpectedly cooled off in June.

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Investors were watching for a panel at the ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal, with three major central bankers speaking.

ECB President Christine Lagarde, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak at 1300 GMT.

On Tuesday, Lagarde offered no fresh insight on the path for European interest rates at the ECB's annual forum.

The ECB is widely expected to raise interest rates in July for the first time in a decade, following its global peers, to try to cool accelerating inflation, though economists are divided on the magnitude of any hike.

The euro flattened against the dollar to $1.0519 after dipping as low as $1.0486 earlier.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six counterparts, ticked up 0.05% to 104.5 with investors seeking safety in U.S. assets as stocks declined globally due to the mounting risk of a recession. The dollar index stayed, however, below a two-decade high struck two weeks ago.

(Reporting by Joice Alves, editing by Bradley Perrett, Mark Heinrich and David Evans)
Entreprises Minieres Globex Inc.

ROUYN-NORANDA, Quebec, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLOBEX MINING ENTERPRISES INC. (GMX  Toronto Stock Exchange, G1MN  Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich, Tradegate, Lang & Schwarz, LS Exchange, TTMzero, Dusseldorf and Quotrix Dusseldorf Stock Exchanges and GLBXF  OTCQX International in the US) wishes to inform shareholders that the Globex/Agnico Eagle 50-50 joint venture in Cadillac Township, Quebec has been terminated.



The joint venture was started in 2004 between Globex and Queenston Mining Inc. Following a number of transactions, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited acquired Queenstons 50% working interest in the joint venture in 2018. The area subject to the joint venture covered approximately 4 kilometers of the gold localizing Cadillac Break and included the Central Cadillac, Wood and Pandora 3 historical gold mines. The joint venture was managed by Globex.

Since 2015, limited exploration has been undertaken on the joint venture properties. The parties have now agreed to terminate the joint venture with each company retaining the claims that they contributed to the joint venture.

Accordingly, Globex now retains a 100% interest in the Central Cadillac and Wood Gold Mine properties, including the Ironwood gold discovery (243,200 tonnes grading 17.26 g/t Au for 136,000 contained ounces, Inferred Resource per Feb. 2008, NI-43-101 Report, Technical Report for The Mineral Resource Estimate, Ironwood Project, by QP, Reno Pressacco, M.Sc. (A) P. Geo).

Globex looks forward to advancing its now 100% owned Cadillac area gold mine assets. As a first step, Globex has purchased a 48.33% interest in the underlying 2% NSR on the Wood/Ironwood claims from several of the original stakers for $220,000 in Globex shares priced at $1.24 per share for a total of 177,419 Globex shares. This transaction further increases the potential value of the assets going forward.

This press release was written by Jack Stoch, Geo., President and CEO of Globex in his capacity as a Qualified Person (Q.P.) under NI 43-101.

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Foreign Private Issuer 12g3  2(b) CUSIP Number 379900 50 9

LEI 529900XYUKGG3LF9PY95 For further information, contact: Jack Stoch, P.Geo., Acc.Dir.

President & CEO

Globex Mining Enterprises Inc.

86, 14th Street

Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec Canada J9X 2J1

Tel.: 819.797.5242

Fax: 819.797.1470

info@globexmining.com

www.globexmining.com

Forward Looking Statements: Except for historical information, this news release may contain certain forward looking statements. These statements may involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity and performance to be materially different from the expectations and projections of Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. (Globex). No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits Globex will derive therefrom. A more detailed discussion of the risks is available in the Annual Information Form filed by Globex on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

55,466,217 shares issued and outstanding






Pam Anderson, who acknowledged that Joe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020, won Colorados Republican secretary of state primary Tuesday night, defeating an election skeptic whod pushed the lie that the contest had been stolen from former President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press called the race for Anderson, who easily knocked off Tina Peters, the Mesa County clerk who was indicted last year on charges that she allowed someone to improperly access and download data from election machines as she sought to prove that widespread fraud had occurred in the states 2020 presidential election.

Anderson, by contrast, bluntly stated that the 2020 election was legitimate in a recent interview with The Colorado Sun, in which she acknowledged that Biden had won the presidency.

No, Anderson said when asked if she believed the race had been stolen from Trump. Here in Colorado we have independent, verifiable paper ballot audits that have found no evidence that the outcome was incorrect.

Election deniers like Peters fared poorly across Colorado on Tuesday: Businessman Joe ODea, who also accepted Bidens victory as legitimate, won the GOP Senate primary over state Rep. Ron Hanks (R), who staked his campaign on Trumps lies about the 2020 election.

Anderson, a former county clerk with experience overseeing elections, will now face Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold in Novembers general election. Her victory is the second major win for a Republican who has defended the legitimacy of the 2020 election in a GOP secretary of state primary, after Georgia incumbent Brad Raffensperger (R) easily defeated a Trump-endorsed primary challenger in May.

It also ensures that elections in a key swing state will not be overseen by an election denier. Peters was no ordinary skeptic: She was barred from overseeing local elections in Mesa County in 2021 and has similarly been banned from running the countys elections this year.

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Pam Anderson stated that the 2020 election was legitimate and acknowledged that Joe Biden had won the presidency. (Photo: David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

Pam Anderson stated that the 2020 election was legitimate and acknowledged that Joe Biden had won the presidency. (Photo: David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

That ranked her among the nations most ardent election skeptics: Election deniers are winning nominations for secretary of state across the nation. But no one is more extreme than Tina Peters, Griswold told HuffPost before the election.

In March 2021, a grand jury indicted Peters on seven felony charges related to elections. Prosecutors alleged that Peters committed identity theft and other crimes after she used a Colorado voters name to provide someone else access to Mesa Countys voting machines, allowing them to download data from the electoral system.

Peters and her deputy, prosecutors said, later shared that information, as well as passwords to election files, with conspiracy theorists whod promoted the idea that the 2020 election had been stolen from former Trump.

Had she won, Peters would have joined a number of GOP election deniers who have won primaries as they seek to take over the American electoral system.

Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker who has claimed the 2020 election was rigged, won Nevadas secretary of state primary earlier this month. Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who attempted to overturn the results of the election in his state, this spring won the GOP gubernatorial nomination, and would have the power to appoint a secretary of state should he win the general election this fall.

Election deniers are also seeking  and may be likely to win  GOP secretary of state nominations in Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota, which will hold primaries later this year.

The nation can expect these candidates, if elected, to suppress the vote, create security breaches, push out lies, and further destabilize American elections, Griswold, the chairwoman of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, a party campaign arm, said. We cannot allow election deniers to oversee the nations elections  thats why democracy is at Code Red right now.

Peters has claimed the indictment is a politically-motivated effort to keep her from investigating claims of fraud in Colorados election, during which there were no credible reports or findings of widespread irregularities. Biden won the state by roughly 14 points and nearly 500,000 votes.

I will never plead guilty because Ive committed no crime, she told the Colorado Sun. This is a political maneuver to color the minds of the voters to keep me out of the Secretary of States Office.

Anderson previously served as the county clerk of Jefferson County, Colorados fourth-most populous. She told the Sun that she would lean on the states long tradition of nonpartisan election administration were she to become secretary of state. Anderson also said that she would not seek major changes to Colorados current election system, in which voters are automatically mailed absentee ballots.

Peters wanted to end that practice, instead limiting absentee voting to those who could not cast ballots in person.

Peters was not the only election denier seeking office in Colorado, where numerous Republican candidates in local county clerk races have questioned the results of the 2020 election. That includes Mesa County, where a Republican conspiracy theorist squared off Tuesday night with another candidate who has acknowledged that the 2020 race was free of the fraud Trump and Peters have baselessly said occurred. That election denier appears to have lost as well.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Bourla donates his $1 million Genesis Prize award towards the construction of the Holocaust Museum of Greece in Thessaloniki, to commemorate Greek-Jewish communities wiped out by the Nazis

JERUSALEM, June 29, 2022 /CNW/ -- Today the President of Israel Isaac Herzog presented the Genesis Prize to Dr. Albert Bourla at a ceremony in Israel's capital Jerusalem.

President of Israel Isaac Herzog, Founder and Chairman of The Genesis Prize Foundation Stan Polovets, and 2022 Genesis Prize Laureate, Dr. Albert Bourla. Photography credit: Lior Mizrahi, Getty

The gala event brought together hundreds of dignitaries from Israel, including government ministers, heads of business and philanthropic organizations, as well as prominent representatives of the Jewish Diaspora and leading members of the global medical community.

The annual $1 million Genesis Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel" by TIME magazine, honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, commitment to Jewish values and the State of Israel.

Dr. Albert Bourla was announced as the 9th Genesis Prize Laureate in January 2022. The award recognizes his leadership in delivering a vaccine against COVID-19, which saved millions of lives during the pandemic. The Genesis Prize also celebrates the boldness of his vision and willingness to assume risks, which enabled delivery of the vaccine in record time.

In addition to honoring the vast humanitarian impact of Dr. Bourla's leadership, the award also celebrates his pride in his Jewish identity and heritage, and his strong support for the State of Israel.

The President of Israel Isaac Herzog said: "Albert Bourla was not deterred by high stakes, by naysayers, by conspiracy or by politics. He believed in the vaccine, and invested every ounce of himself in realizing what seemed at the time a far-fetched fantasy. The vaccine was developed in record speed, utilizing the technology of tomorrow to successfully hold back a devastating pandemic. A study published by The Lancet just days ago, points to nearly 20 million lives saved by COVID vaccines. Indeed, the vaccine gave us freedom we thought we lost. Albert, I congratulate you and your colleagues and counterparts, who are making such a critical impact on humanity, while embracing your Jewish heritage and values, and inspiring Jewish pride." Founder and Chairman of The Genesis Prize Foundation Stan Polovets added: "To save a human life is a fundamental Jewish value. Today we honor Dr. Bourla  a living embodiment of this ancient Jewish principle. We also celebrate the immense contribution of Jewish doctors who were on the frontline of the COVID pandemic for two years and who continue to save lives of people suffering in Ukraine today."

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The ceremony opened with a moving tribute to the people of Ukraine and appreciation to the many Israeli and international Jewish organizations who are providing humanitarian aid. The Genesis Prize Foundation premiered a video "Jews in Medicine", exploring the roots and impact of Jews on the medical field from biblical times to the modern-day fight against the COVID pandemic (LINK TO VIDEO; for more details, please see section Jewish Contribution to Medicine).

2022 Genesis Prize Laureate Dr. Albert Bourla said: "I am honored and deeply humbled to receive the Genesis Prize. Honored because I never set out to be famous, and I never imagined that I would one day be up here with the illustrious nominees and past awardeesartists, philanthropists, and statesmen and stateswomen who show the world the best that the Jewish people have to offer. And humbled because this is not my awardit belongs to all Pfizer colleagues who worked tirelessly in the middle of a global pandemic to make the 'impossible possible' and give the world a chance to return to normalcy. Every life is precious and we must confront our challenges with courage, humility and perseverance. My Pfizer colleagues lived these values, and I am proud to be here in Israel to celebrate them and their extraordinary achievement."

Following the tradition established by the inaugural Genesis Prize Laureate Michael Bloomberg, Dr. Bourla announced that he will forgo the $1 million prize award and has asked the Foundation to donate the funds toward establishing the Holocaust Museum of Greece to be built in Thessaloniki.

Albert Bourla was born in Thessaloniki, home to an ancient Jewish community that traced its roots to antiquity. The vibrant Jewish community of 55,000 was almost completely wiped out during the Nazi occupation. Dr. Bourla's young parents narrowly escaped death and were among only 2,000 survivors. The Greek Holocaust Museum will immortalize the history of the Greek Jewish community from antiquity to modern age.

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SOURCE The Genesis Prize Foundation

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Japan's Renesas, India's Tata Motors partner to develop chip solutions FILE PHOTO: A Renesas Electronics Corp's chip is pictured at the company's office in Tokyo

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp and India's Tata Motors have formed a strategic partnership to design, develop and make semiconductor solutions, the firms said on Wednesday.

The move comes as a persistent global shortage of semiconductor chips has hobbled the automotive and electronics industries, among others, forcing production cutbacks, while highlighting global dependence on a few sources, such as Taiwan.

Renesas will collaborate with Tata Motors, India's biggest manufacturer of electric cars, on developing "next-generation automotive electronics" to accelerate the growth of electric and connected vehicles, the companies said in a statement.

"The collaboration will accelerate our presence in these areas in India as well as globally," Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata holding company Tata Sons, said.

Areas of collaboration eyed by the firms include a non-exclusive partnership on emerging automotive technologies, such as advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) as well as wireless network solutions including 5G.

Here Renesas will work with Tata group firm Tejas Networks to make products initially destined for India and eventually global markets.

India is among the countries racing to subsidise domestic construction of factories that turn out semiconductors and displays in an effort to minimise supply risks.

Its plan for $10 billion in incentives has lured applications from firms such as a joint venture between domestic conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwan's Foxconn, and Singapore's IGSS Ventures.

Oil-to-metals giant Vedanta plans to invest $20 billion for two units for chip and display manufacturing while jeweller Rajesh Exports will invest $3 billion in an electronic display plant.

India expects the domestic chip market to reach $63 billion by 2026 from $15 billion in 2020.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Clarence Fernandez)
ARLINGTON, Mass., June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leader Bank is excited to welcome Liana Gukasyan to the Elevate Banking team. Based in California, Liana will serve as an Assistant Vice President and Elevate Banking Relationship Manager with the Bank.

"We are tremendously excited to welcome Liana to our Elevate Banking team," said Jay Tuli, President of Leader Bank. "Liana's extensive experience and industry knowledge will help Leader Bank bolster our Elevate Banking offerings."

Liana has more than two decades of experience in the banking industry, including most recently working with high-net-worth clients as a private banker for City National Bank in California. Her commitment to helping her clients find the most impactful solutions to address their banking needs has helped her create a broad network of satisfied clients in California.

"Liana's dedication to working closely with her clients to ensure they always make informed financial decisions will be an invaluable addition to the Elevate Banking team," said Dorothy Zahir, Senior Vice President and Head of Retail Banking at Leader Bank. "We look forward to welcoming this new network of clients from California."

The Elevate Banking team at Leader Bank offers clients premier relationship banking and access to a personal advisor who will provide ongoing individualized guidance regarding the Bank's many products and services. In addition to providing our business partners and clients with the highest level of personal and business banking solutions, the Elevate Banking team also seeks to provide an array of external financial support.

ABOUT LEADER BANK

Founded in 2002, Leader Bank is a Massachusetts-based entrepreneurial financial institution that approaches banking differently. The core tenets of Leader Bank include world-class client service, exemplary products, and innovation to meet the needs of its clients. At its founding, Leader Bank had $6.5 million in assets  in the two decades since, the Bank has grown into one of the most successful financial institutions in the Commonwealth with $3.7 billion in assets. Leader Bank's team members have been at the forefront of supporting the Bank's rapid growth and client-oriented solutions over the last two decades as the Bank has expanded its commercial and retail products and solutions. Leader Bank is a committed corporate citizen and prides itself on partnering with and supporting philanthropic organizations. More information on Leader Bank can be found at www.LeaderBank.com.

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SOURCE Leader Bank
Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization against all known variants of interest and concern

INDIANAPOLIS, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced a modified purchase agreement with the U.S. government to supply an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab for approximately $275 million. The existing U.S. government supply of bebtelovimab, including the new purchase, is expected to meet present demand through late August 2022. Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization activity against the most common, and fastest growing, Omicron variants (BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5) in the United States, in addition to all known variants of interest and concern.

"Lilly and its collaborators have partnered closely with the federal government throughout the pandemic to ensure broad and equitable access to our monoclonal antibodies," said David A. Ricks, Lilly's chair and CEO. "While Congress works toward additional COVID-19 funding, Lilly and the U.S. government will continue to work together to support the availability of bebtelovimab to maximize equity and accessibility in the U.S. market."

Delivery of doses will begin immediately and complete no later than August 5, 2022. The 2022 estimated financial impact of this agreement is approximately $275 million of revenue and approximately $0.08 of EPS. An option for an additional 350,000 doses to be exercised no later than September 14, 2022 will remain in the agreement.

This purchase has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under contract number W58P0522C0012.

Important Information about bebtelovimab

Bebtelovimab has not been approved, but has been authorized for emergency use by the FDA under an EUA, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

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The emergency use of bebtelovimab is authorized only for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biological products during the COVID-19 pandemic under Section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C.  360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the declaration is terminated or authorization is revoked sooner.

Healthcare providers should review the Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers for information on the authorized use of bebtelovimab and mandatory requirements of the EUA. Please also see the FDA Letter of Authorization and the Fact Sheet for Patients, Parents and Caregivers on the authorized use of bebtelovimab.

Authorized Use and Important Safety Information

Bebtelovimab is authorized for use under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg):

with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and

who are at high risk i for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and

for whom alternate COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

LIMITATIONS OF AUTHORIZED USE

Bebtelovimab is not authorized for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in geographic regions where infection is likely to have been caused by a non-susceptible SARS-CoV-2 variant based on available information including variant susceptibility to this drug and regional variant frequency.

FDA will monitor conditions to determine whether use in a geographic region is consistent with this scope of authorization, referring to available information, including information on variant susceptibility, and CDC regional variant frequency data available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions .

FDA's determination and any updates will be available at: https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-legal-regulatory-and-policy-framework/emergency-use-authorization#coviddrugs

Bebtelovimab is not authorized for use in patients who:

are hospitalized due to COVID-19, OR

require oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support due to COVID-19, OR

require an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate and/or respiratory support due to COVID-19 and are on chronic oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support due to underlying non-COVID-19 related comorbidity.

Treatment with bebtelovimab has not been studied in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring high flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

Important Safety Information

There are limited clinical data available for bebtelovimab. Serious and unexpected adverse events may occur that have not been previously reported with bebtelovimab use.

WARNINGS

Hypersensitivity Including Anaphylaxis and Infusion-Related Reaction

Serious hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, have been observed with administration of other SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and could occur with administration of bebtelovimab. If signs and symptoms of a clinically significant hypersensitivity reaction or anaphylaxis occur, immediately discontinue administration, and initiate appropriate medications and/or supportive care.

Infusion-related reactions, which may occur up to 24 hours after the injection, have been observed in clinical trials of bebtelovimab when administered with other monoclonal antibodies and may occur with use of bebtelovimab alone. These reactions may be severe or life threatening. Signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions may include:

fever, difficulty breathing, reduced oxygen saturation, chills, fatigue, arrhythmia (e.g. atrial fibrillation, sinus tachycardia, bradycardia), chest pain or discomfort, weakness, altered mental status, nausea, headache, bronchospasm, hypotension, hypertension, angioedema, throat irritation, rash including urticaria, pruritus, myalgia, vasovagal reactions (e.g. pre-syncope, syncope), dizziness, and diaphoresis.

Administer appropriate medications and/or supportive care if an infusion-related reaction occurs. Hypersensitivity reactions occurring more than 24 hours after the injection have also been reported with the use of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies under Emergency Use Authorization.

Clinical Worsening After Monoclonal Antibody Administration

Clinical worsening of COVID-19 after administration of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody treatment has been reported and may include signs or symptoms of fever, hypoxia or increased respiratory difficulty, arrhythmia (e.g., atrial fibrillation, sinus tachycardia, bradycardia), fatigue, and altered mental status. Some of these events required hospitalization. It is not known if these events were related to SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody use or were due to progression of COVID-19.

Limitations of Benefit and Potential Risk in Patients with Severe COVID-19

Treatment with bebtelovimab has not been studied in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 requiring high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation. See Limitations of Authorized Use.

Adverse Reactions

Adverse reactions observed in those who have received bebtelovimab alone or in combination with bamlanivimab and etesevimab, at the authorized dose or higher are infusion-related reactions (n=2, 0.3%), pruritus (n=2, 0.3%) and rash (n=5, 0.8%). The most common treatment-emergent adverse events observed in subjects treated with bebtelovimab, alone or in combination with bamlanivimab and etesevimab, at the authorized dose or higher included nausea (0.8%) and vomiting (0.7%).

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Pregnancy

Severe hypersensitivity reactions and infusion-related reactions, have been observed with administration of bebtelovimab, including in pregnant patients. Pregnant patients who develop severe hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions should be managed appropriately, including obstetrical care. There are insufficient data to evaluate a drug-associated risk of major birth defects, miscarriage, or adverse maternal or fetal outcomes. Bebtelovimab should only be used during pregnancy if the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk for the mother and the fetus.

Breastfeeding

There are no available data on the presence of bebtelovimab in human or animal milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. Breastfeeding individuals with COVID-19 should follow practices according to clinical guidelines to avoid exposing the infant to COVID-19.

About bebtelovimab

Bebtelovimab (LY-CoV1404; LY3853113) is a neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 that maintains binding and neutralizing activity across currently known and reported variants of concern. Bebtelovimab has been studied for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 both as a monotherapy and together with other mAbs. Lilly has licensed and developed bebtelovimab after it was discovered by AbCellera and the scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center.

About BLAZE-4

BLAZE-4 is a Phase 2, randomized clinical trial evaluating treatment of subjects with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 (subjects with COVID-19 symptoms who are not hospitalized). The data supporting this EUA for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 are primarily based on analyses of data from the Phase 2 BLAZE-4 trial (NCT04634409), treatment arms 9-14. This trial evaluated the clinical safety and efficacy from subjects receiving 175 mg bebtelovimab, alone and together with 700 mg bamlanivimab and 1,400 mg of etesevimab. The authorized dosage of bebtelovimab is 175 mg given as an intravenous injection over at least 30 seconds. Clinical data confirm the neutralizing ability of bebtelovimab. The trial enrolled subjects who were not hospitalized and had 1 or more COVID-19 symptoms that were at least mild in severity.

About Lilly's COVID-19 Efforts

Lilly has utilized the full force of its expertise to develop the first monoclonal antibody authorized for Emergency Use (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  bamlanivimab, followed by the authorization of bamlanivimab with etesevimab and, most recently, bebtelovimab. The authorized dose of bebtelovimab is 175 mg given as an intravenous injection over at least 30 seconds.

While bamlanivimab together with etesevimab are not authorized for use in the U.S., at this time, the FDA will monitor conditions to determine whether use in a geographic region is medically appropriate, referring to available information, including information on variant susceptibility, and CDC regional variant frequency data available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions.

To date, over 700,000 patients have been treated with Lilly's monoclonal antibodies in the U.S., potentially preventing more than 35,000 hospitalizations and at least 14,000 deaths during the worst of the pandemic. Click here for resources related to Lilly's COVID-19 efforts.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help more than 47 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges, redefining diabetes care, treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects, advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease, providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders, and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/newsroom or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. P-LLY

Lilly Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about bebtelovimab as a potential therapy for patients with COVID-19, the supply, distribution and contracts with governments relating to bebtelovimab, and Lilly's development plans, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. However, as with any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of drug research, development and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that future study results will be consistent with the results to date, that bebtelovimab will prove to be a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19, that bebtelovimab will receive regulatory approvals or additional authorizations, that patients will volunteer to participate in clinical trials or achieve positive outcomes, that Lilly will obtain any additional purchase orders or supply contracts, or that Lilly can provide an adequate supply of bebtelovimab in all circumstances. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from Lilly's expectations, please see Lilly's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

For information on medical conditions and factors associated with increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html. Healthcare providers should consider the benefit-risk for an individual patient.

Refer to: Allison Howell; howell_allison@lilly.com; 317-719-2639 (Media)

Kevin Hern; hern_kevin_r@lilly.com; 317-277-1838 (Investors)

Eli Lilly and Company logo. (PRNewsFoto, Eli Lilly and Company)

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SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
NEW YORK, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The microgrid market will be driven by factors such as increasing government support. Governments are introducing policies that encourage the development of microgrids. For instance, in the US, microgrid projects are supported by funding benefits in the form of grants from federal and state governments. Hence, the adoption of microgrids is increasing at a rapid pace, which is adding to microgrid capacity. Moreover, energy storage systems are being installed to increase the penetration of renewable energy, which helps microgrids operate by making use of non-carbon emitting resources. Hence, the market will continue to grow during the forecast period.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Microgrid Market by Application and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025

The microgrid market size is expected to grow by USD 19.5 bn from 2020 to 2025. Moreover, the growth momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 12.86% during the forecast period, according to Technavio.

Request a Sample Report to learn about additional highlights related to the market

Microgrid Market 2021-2025: Scope

The microgrid market report covers the following areas:

Microgrid Market 2021-2025: Challenge

The high implementation costs will challenge the global microgrid market share growth during the forecast period. Microgrids involve a wide range of equipment related to power generation resources, distribution infrastructure, and control systems. A majority of the microgrids are built upon existing infrastructure. Moreover, the components of microgrids need to be integrated with several other technologies to have the required platform functionalities. This increases the production costs of the equipment.

Microgrid Market 2021-2025: Segmentation

Application

Geography

Learn more about the contribution of each segment of the market. Download a sample report

Microgrid Market 2021-2025: Regional Analysis

North America will account for 28% of the market's growth during the forecast period. Increased initiatives from the US government for implementing energy-efficient power solutions will drive the microgrid market growth in North America during the forecast period. The US and Canada are the key countries for the microgrid market in North America. Moreover, market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in other regions.

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Microgrid Market 2021-2025: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the microgrid market, including ABB Ltd., Eaton Corp. Plc, Emerson Electric Co., Exelon Corp., General Electric Co., Honeywell International Inc., Powerhive Inc., S&C Electric Co., Schneider Electric SE, and Siemens AG, among others.

Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" billed annually at USD 5000. Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights

Microgrid Market 2021-2025: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will assist microgrid market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the microgrid market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the microgrid market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of microgrid market vendors

Related Reports:

Clean Energy Technologies Market in China by Technology and End-user - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Captive Power Generation Market in India by End-user and Fuel Type - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Microgrid Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 12.86% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 19.5 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 12.43 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 28% Key consumer countries US, China, Russian Federation, Australia, and Canada Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled ABB Ltd., Eaton Corp. Plc, Emerson Electric Co., Exelon Corp., General Electric Co., Honeywell International Inc., Powerhive Inc., S&C Electric Co., Schneider Electric SE, and Siemens AG 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

2.2 Value chain analysis

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

3.3 Market size 2020

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

5 Market Segmentation by Application

5.1 Market segments

5.2 Comparison by Application

5.3 Remote - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

5.4 Institutions and campus - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

5.5 Military - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

5.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

5.7 Market opportunity by Application

6 Customer landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

7.2 Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

7.4 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

7.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

7.7 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

7.8 Key leading countries

7.9 Market opportunity by geography

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Landscape disruption

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

10.3 ABB Ltd.

10.4 Eaton Corp. Plc

10.5 Emerson Electric Co.

10.6 Exelon Corp.

10.7 General Electric Co.

10.8 Honeywell International Inc.

10.9 Powerhive Inc.

10.10 S&C Electric Co.

10.11 Schneider Electric SE

10.12 Siemens AG

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

11.3 Research methodology

11.4 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 provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

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Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/

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SOURCE Technavio
Lack of awareness drives fear with Gen-Z more out of touch with the realities of space compared to Space Age generation

Across all ages, 1 in 3 globally excited about space, with 1 in 9 terrified, and 1 in 5 nervous; 97 per cent see space as a threat, with space junk and climate change main concerns

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, June 29, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The world is largely unaware of key activities in space, with Gen-Z twice as likely to associate space with aliens, Star Wars and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos than older generations, according to the largest representative survey of global consumer attitudes towards space1, unveiled by Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications.

The report, What on Earth is the value of space, found that those aged 65 and above, who were teenagers when humans first walked on the Moon, are more optimistic and hopeful than Gen-Z. They are more likely to associate space with research and exploration, rockets, and satellites  with their understanding of space more rooted in science than science-fiction.

Only a quarter of the public (23 per cent) said they feel space exploration is important. Almost half (46 per cent) consider satellites when thinking of space, while 37 per cent think of expeditions to the Moon and Mars, 21 per cent think of aliens, and almost 1 in 10 think of Star Wars (9 per cent). Fewer than 1 in 10 people globally think of communications and connectivity.

This focus on Hollywood rather than Halleys Comet fuels how respondents feel about space. Only a third of people feel excited about space (34 per cent), while 18 per cent feel nervous  just 38 per cent wish they knew more about up there. A quarter (24 per cent) of people feel overwhelmed by space, which comes as no real surprise with films like Dont Look Up recently capturing the public consciousness.

Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmarsat, said: "This report should be a wake-up call for our industry. Space appears to be underappreciated and misunderstood in the real-world. In many respects, the knowledge we possess as a society is inaccurate and incomplete.

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"Space can enable a better way of living for all on Earth, but public support will make or break this vital contribution to a better future. Space needs a new narrative, and it is time for us to define its value to the world. Global communities are united by their fear of uncontrolled satellite debris, falling asteroids and environmental damage. Having come so far, we cannot afford to destroy the gift of space through poor stewardship, fear, ignorance or inaction. Sustainability on Earth cannot exist without sustainability in space. Responsible space exploration and stricter regulation is a must."

Peoples ambitions for space centre around solving some of our major challenges on Earth  finding new energy sources, essential resources, and helping solve climate change. However, this does not yet counteract our fears  as 97 per cent of the global population feel space is a threat.

This concern is reflected in the fact that 1 in 9 people are terrified of what could happen in space  with space junk and collisions in orbit (47 per cent), pollution (39 per cent), and damaging the Earths atmosphere (35 per cent) seen as the top threats. Older people are more worried about space junk, while younger generations fear the environmental impact most. It is clear that the positive impact of space is not being appreciated fully by the public.

Recent space industry entrants are more optimistic about what space offers. Close to half of respondents in China believe space can provide a new source for essential resources versus a third globally, while 6 in 10 South Koreans think space can be the key to new energy sources, while half of those polled in the UAE see space as a way to help solve climate change.

Almost two fifths (39 per cent) of UAE residents are concerned about space junk and collisions in space; 45 per cent fear space activity damaging the Earths atmosphere and 40 per cent worry we may end up polluting space. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) want to work in the space industry (versus 14 per cent globally); 35 per cent of UAE residents (versus 32 per cent globally) are hopeful about the possibilities of space; more than two fifths of people in the UAE (44 per cent versus 38 per cent globally) wish they knew more about space and a similar share of respondents (43 per cent versus 34 per cent globally) feel excited about what could happen in space.

ENDS

ABOUT INMARSAT

Inmarsat delivers world leading, innovative, advanced and exceptionally reliable global, mobile communications  in the air, at sea and on land  that enable a new generation of commercial, enterprise, government and mission-critical services, including the digitalisation of the maritime and aviation sectors.

Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

1 The largest independent global representative consumer survey of attitudes towards space included 20,000 respondents (18-65+ years of age) across the UK (3,000), US (2,000), Brazil (2,000), Canada (2,000), Germany (2,000), Australia (2,000), China (2,000), India (2,000), South Korea (1,000), Japan (1,000) and UAE (1,000). The study was conducted by Yonder Consulting in April 2022 on behalf of Inmarsat.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220629005021/en/

Contacts

Jonathan Sinnatt / Matthew Knowles

+44(0)7889605272 / +44(0)7725476507

press@inmarsat.com
Bahrain's $30 billion strategic projects, revealed as part of its Economic Recovery Plan, offer exciting opportunities for US companies to invest, said Khalid Humaidan, Bahrain Economic Development Board Chief Executive.

Giving his keynote speech at the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Bahrain Annual General Meeting, he said the newly launched US Trade Zone provides a customised setting to attract more US companies to invest in Bahrains logistics and manufacturing sectors.

The AmCham meeting was held on June 26 at the Gulf Hotel.

Humaidan highlighted the long-standing relationship between the US and Bahrain as exemplified by the successful direct investments and trade. Success stories shared included Citi's new global tech hub in Bahrain, Mondelez's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and AWS' cloud data centre.

AmCham Bahrain President Qays H Zubi, along with the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, presented AmCham's accomplishments from the past year which included membership growth despite Covid-19, hosting of 33 events covering a wide variety of topics and experiences relevant to the members and business community and providing a record number of B2B introductions.

Members were encouraged to utilise AmCham Bahrains strategic partnership with AmCham MENA, a regional council of 12 AmCham Chapters including: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, and Tunisia. - TradeArabia News Service
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service via AP

Russias top space official, Dmitry Rogozin, recited a well-known childrens poem in a YouTube video commemorating a national holiday last week. When he got to the line, I love everybody around the world, the clip took a dark turn, showing footage from the test launch of Russias nuke-capable Sarmat ballistic missile, nicknamed Satan-2.

Threats of nuclear war are now so trivial to the Kremlin that theyve become the stuff of jokes.

On Saturday, Rogozin, the director of Russias federal space agency Roscosmos, announced the second testing launch of Sarmata ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheadswhich he had called a present for NATO. On his weekly show on the state-run TV network Russia-24, Rogozin said he was the one overseeing increasing demands for this machine that has been agreed with our client, the Ministry of Defense; and of course we have started the serial production of the missiles. Rogozin added that on Putins orders, Roscosmos was planning to assign the first division of Sarmat missiles in the Krasnoyarsk region this year.

While boasting of his Satan-2 monstrosity, Rogozin also doubled down on Russian threats against NATO member Lithuania for its transit ban on Russian exports.

From my point of viewand I am the man who led those negotiations in 2003, as the presidential special representativewe should start casting doubt on the entire package of our agreements, he said, referring to the 1920 peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Lithuania that recognized the countrys sovereignty. Lithuania has shot itself at its own foot, casting doubt on its own state border.

It was not the first time Rogozin, who is also Russias former ambassador to NATO, threatened the alliance with conflicts or weapons of mass destruction.

Rogozin is a real hawk, I have known him personally very well for many years, he likes to perform on stage, make jokes, but his recent nuclear saber rattling makes me very worried, Gennady Gudkov, a former member of Parliament and KGB veteran, told The Daily Beast. The Kremlin obviously wants him to threaten NATO with nuclear war and that is no joke, since we have seen too many psychopathic orders to kill thousands of civilians in the past few months.

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I heard from my sources close to the Kremlin back in February that there was a discussion about using... the nuclear weapons, so I moved all my grandchildren out of Russia, Gudkov added.

Last month, Rogozin said that in a nuclear war, NATO countries will be destroyed by us in half an hour. Nobody in the government has disavowed his apocalyptic threats.

We are not fighting the Nazis in Ukraine, we are liberating Ukraine of Western influence, he said 11 weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his army to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine. By early April, it was obvious that the operation would take a lot longer than the Kremlin had anticipated. By mid-April, Ukraine had pushed Russian military forces out of the Kyiv region, and just weeks after that, the first test of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was conducted.

Try to threaten our country, think twice, Putin warned, just as his state TV propaganda machine declared that everything will end with a nuclear strike.

Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnika via Getty

Its clear that images of the Sarmat were meant to intimidate NATO away from Russias borders. Just this week, as the NATO summit kicked off in Madrid, the Russian federal space agency ominously published Sputnik satellite images showing exact coordinates of the summits location on Telegram.

Russian propagandists often begin to believe what they say; theres obviously something behind their constant threats, Vasily Gatov, senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Center of Communication, told The Daily Beast. But Rogozin often sounds like a charlatan. He is a classical Putins bureaucrat who is good at public relations and who shares murky imperialist ideas.

But to those in Ukraine getting bombarded by Russian missiles, Rogozins Sarmat threats sound serious.

The founder and editor-in-chief of Ukraines Zaborona media outlet, Katerina Sergatskova, was sleeping peacefully at home with her husband and their two little children when the first Russian missiles struck Kyiv on Feb. 24. Sergatskovas apartment block is on the left bank of the Dnieper River, which was attacked six times in the first day of the war.

We seriously consider an attack by a Russian nuclear ballistic missile, that they would use it to improve their positions in high-stake negotiations, she told The Daily Beast.

Earlier this month, nuclear talks came to a boiling point when Radoslaw Sikorski, a member of European Parliament, suggested the West has a right to give Ukraine nuclear warheads. Another Kremlin ideologist, the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, immediately promised Europe would disappear if they provided Ukraine with nuclear weapons. Sikorski is provoking a nuclear conflict in the center of Europe. He neither thinks about the future of Ukraine nor about the future of Poland, Volodin said.

KGB veteran Gudkov believes Putin has several bunkers to turn to in case of nuclear warfare. When he says he has a plan, that plan must mean to be hiding 2,500 meters underground together with whomever he considers his closest men. The rest seem to be panicking. Nearly all Russian oligarchs have left the country, Gudkov told The Daily Beast.

Military experts analyzing the risks of a nuclear war say there are no signs yet that Russia is willing to go that far.

I am a bit worried about the trivial discussions of a nuclear war. There is a big question: Who is Rogozin?... He is not the president of Russia and as far as we know, he is not [directly] involved in testing Sarmat. It is the Russian Ministry of Defense that does the testing.

Still, that hasnt stopped Rogozin from being one of the top Russian voices spreading fear of a catastrophic nuclear meltdown the world over.

With a nuclear charge, such a crater at an enemy site will be very large and very deep, Rogozin said in reference to Sarmat-2 last month. But for now, It remains only to advise the aggressors to talk more politely with Russia.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Nearly 90% have become less affordable, QS finds

LONDON, June 29, 2022 /CNW/ -- QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, published today the 10th edition of the QS Best Student Cities rankings, which enable students to compare 140 premier educational destinations, including 30 new entries. London retains its status as the world's best student city for the fourth consecutive edition. Munich (2nd =) shares its silver medal with Seoul (2nd =). Zurich (4th) and Melbourne (5th) break into the top-5 while Edinburgh (10th) joins the top-10.

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Methodology: QS ranks cities with a population of at least 250,000, and with at least two universities placing in the QS World University Rankings. The ranking offers a powerful lens into the sentiments of both prospective and former students, with over 98,000 survey responses contributing to the Desirability (prospective students) and Student View (former students) indexes.

2023 2022 City 1 1 London 2= 2 Munich 2= 3= Seoul 4 7 Zurich 5 6 Melbourne 6 5 Berlin 7 3= Tokyo 8 9= Paris 9 8 Sydney 10 12 Edinburgh 11 9= Boston 12 15 Hong Kong 13 17 Singapore 14 9= Montreal 15 13 Toronto 16 14 Vienna 17 19= Osaka 18 16 New York 19 19= Lausanne 20 18 Vancouver

London's leadership is supported by:

Its high concentration of world-class universities; it achieves the world's second-best score in the Rankings indicator.

Highly positive feedback from students that have studied in the city: it scores 98.5/100 for Student View , a result bettered only by Berlin.

Outstanding career opportunities for graduates: it places fourth in the Employer Activity metric, scoring 92.7/100.

Its high levels of openness to international students, which see it achieve the world's fifth-best score (94.9/100) for Student Mix.

Ben Sowter, QS Senior VP, said: "Responses to our surveys from students that have studied in London make it clear that it offers outstanding cultural, economic, and educational opportunities. With two of the world's ten best universities situated in the city, it remains a world-leading educational hub. Worryingly, cities are broadly becoming less affordable for students by QS' measures, with just under 90% declining in our Affordability metric."

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Other highlights:

UK , Germany, and Australia are each home to two of the world's ten best student cities.

Paris rises to the eighth place. Barcelona (31 st ) is Spain's top-city.

Canada boasts three top-20 student cities, while US, Japan and Switzerland have two each.

The US highest-ranking cities are Boston (11 th ) and NYC (18 th ).

All the 18 US ranked cities decline in the Affordability indicator.

Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur break into the top-30.

Seoul (2 nd ) is Asia 's top-ranked city.

China (Mainland) top entry is Beijing (29 th )

India doubles its representation. Mumbai (103 rd ) is the highest ranked.

Latin America's number-one student destination is Buenos Aires (23 rd )

Sao Paulo (86 th ) and new-entry Rio de Janeiro (121 st ) are Brazil 's ranked cities.

Africa 's top city for students is Cape Town (78 th ).

Dubai (51 st ) is the top-ranked city in the Middle East .

The fastest rising cities are Almaty (75th), Abu Dhabi (71st) and Ankara (77th).

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Business is the most popular major in the United States at both the undergraduate and graduate collegiate levels. But does majoring in business pay off?

A major new report and ranking of schools suggests the answer, in most cases, is a resounding yes.

In a study that is the first of its kind to focus on one major, the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found that while graduates earnings and federal student loan debt vary by institution and degree level, the majority of business programs lead to median earnings that are about 10 times grads debt payments two years after program completion.

Where does a business masters pay off the most? Georgetown CEW ranked the top schools and No. 1 is The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where median earnings net of debt payments two years after graduation are $165,600. Rounding out the top five B-schools are Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business ($162,000), MIT Sloan School of Management ($159,600), Columbia Business School ($157,200), and Stanford University Graduate School of Business ($156,000); see page 2 for the top 50 schools.

The figures and order of schools are slightly different looking at only MBA graduates, with Northwestern Kellogg School of Management second after Wharton and before Dartmouth, at $168K in annual earnings net of debt payment; see table below.

WOMEN MASTER'S HOLDERS MAKE $23K LESS THAN MEN

Georgetown CEW, a research and policy institute within Georgetowns McCourt School of Public Policy known for its ROI ranking of colleges, based its new report on data for thousands of U.S. schools from College Scorecard. The Most Popular Degree Pays Off: Ranking the Economic Value of 5,500 Business Programs at More Than 1,700 Colleges finds that while the economic value of business programs is high, it lags the financial returns associated with health, engineering, and computer and information sciences programs.

Two years after graduation, CEW found, associates degree holders in business have median annual earnings of $30,000 after debt payments, while the financial returns from a business degree rise to $43,200 after debt payments for bachelors degree holders and $51,600 for masters degree holders.

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Strong financial returns are good news for the more than 700,000 graduates each year who pursue the most popular field of study for bachelors and masters degree holders, lead report author and Georgetown CEW Director Anthony P. Carnevale says. This information will help prospective students and their families assess the value of various business programs.

For whom are business degrees less lucrative? Women, who represent 43% of masters degree holders in business but whose median earnings are roughly $23,000 less than mens (see table below).

EARNINGS 'ONE SIDE OF THE STORY'

CEW produced its report from multiple sources, primarily program-level data in the College Scorecard released by the U.S. Department of Education in February 2022. The report includes a sortable table of more than 1,700 colleges and universities and 5,500 programs ranked by metrics including earnings, debt payments, and earnings net of debt payments.

By institution, earnings net of debt payments are highest for graduates of Excelsior College in New York and Union County College in New Jersey ($44,400) at the associates degree level; Bismarck State College in North Dakota ($103,200) at the bachelors degree level; and the University of Pennsylvania ($165,600) at the masters degree level. By field of study, such earnings are highest for business/commerce majors ($32,400) at the associates degree level, construction management majors ($62,400) at the bachelors degree level, and management sciences and quantitative methods majors ($96,000) at the masters degree level, CEW found.

Earnings and debt at the degree, institution, or program level tell only one side of the story. In a specific business program at a given institution, students can earn significantly moreor lessthan the typical earnings for that institution or program, says Emma Wenzinger, report co-author and strategic communications specialist at CEW.

ASIAN WORKERS HAVE HIGHEST MEDIAN EARNINGS

There are exceptions to the conventional wisdom that more education in business leads to higher earnings. For example, an associates degree in business administration, management, and operations from Southern New Hampshire University leads to earnings net of debt of $44,400 two years after graduation, one of the highest among associates degree programs in business. This payoff exceeds typical returns for four of the six most common bachelors degrees in business, as well as the returns from one common business masters degree, human resources management and services. Similarly, some bachelors degrees in business have greater financial returns than masters degrees in the same field of study. A bachelors degree in finance from the University of Pennsylvania, for example, leads to median earnings of $121,200 two years after graduation, well above the median of $62,400 for masters degrees in finance across institutions.

There are also what CEW characterizes as "significant discrepancies in earnings by gender and race/ethnicity." Women make up a growing share of graduates with business degrees, but men with business degrees earn more at the median (see above). Further, "Forty-seven percent of young (ages 22-27) bachelors degree holders in business are women, and they earn a median of $44,600 annually, compared to $50,500 for men. The contrast at the masters degree level is even starker: women represent 43% of masters degree holders in business and earn $75,600 compared to $99,000 for men at the median."

Among racial and ethnic groups, CEW found, Asian workers have the highest median earnings for both bachelors and masters degree holders in business. "For those with a bachelors degree in business, early-career earnings for Asian workers ($51,300) are followed by those of Multiracial ($48,600), White ($48,600), Latino ($42,600), Black ($40,700), and American Indian/Alaska Native ($39,400) workers. For those with a masters degree in business, Asian workers have the highest median annual earnings ($100,000), followed by White ($92,000), Latino ($77,700), and Black ($65,000) workers."

Occupation is also key, CEW found. "Early in their careers (ages 2227), 12% of business majors become accountants and auditors, and they earn a median of $57,000 per year. Among business majors, financial and investment analysts and securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents have the highest median earnings, at $71,000 per year, followed by management analysts ($67,000) and computer systems analysts ($65,000). Secretaries and administrative assistants have the lowest earnings among business majors, at $38,000 per year."

See the next page for a list of the top 50 schools ranked by master's graduate earnings net of debt payments. Visit cew.georgetown.edu/business for more information.

DON'T MISS MBA SALARIES & BONUSES AT THE TOP 25 U.S. B-SCHOOLS and HIGH & LOW MBA SALARIES AND BONUSES AT THE TOP B-SCHOOLS

The post New Ranking: Business Graduate Degrees That Definitely Pay Off appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Traccom Inc.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Traccom Inc. (OTC Pink: TRCC) (Company) is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a Supply Agreement Letter of Intent with Diabetic Direct, Inc. to be a primary supplier of remote patient monitoring devices with its Traccom MedicalPro device.



Diabetic Direct, Inc. provides a fully automated life insurance portal specifically suited for diabetics making it quick and easy for them to acquire same day, full coverage.

Harry Steck, Chief Executive Officer of the Traccom, stated, "This Supply Agreement Letter of Intent represents a significant opportunity for the Company to gain a presence in this critical segment of the U.S. health care market that is comprised of 37 million diabetic patients.

About Traccom Inc.

The Company operates in the technology sector and has focused over the past two years on developing two break through products.

The first product in the health care field is the Traccom MedicalPro, a Remote Patient Monitoring device that consists of a communications hub and seven ancillary devices that monitor health conditions from the patients home. The monitoring devices include blood pressure, weight, temperature, glucose, oxygen, EKG and a spirometer. Each time the patient uses one or more of the devices, the results are immediately uploaded to the patients portal where the physician / pharmacist has full access to the patients remote readings. All the information tracked by the system is HIPAA compliant.

The second product is a state-of-the-art tracking device. The Traccom Basic Tracker can be used by consumers who fly and check in their luggage with the airline. The Tracker is packed inside their luggage and when the plane lands, the passenger immediately receives a text message and an email providing them the location of their luggage. The Tracker can also be used for general all-purpose tracking.

Both products are now ready for full production.

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For additional information www.traccom.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release has forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects, believes, or anticipates will or may occur are forward-looking statements. Several risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including not having enough broker dealers making a market in the Companys stock, limited liquidity in the Companys stock and factors described occasionally in the Company's publicly available SEC reports. The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Investor Relations

accounting@traccom.com

714-308-3340




An independent review of UK legislation has concluded the country urgently needs new laws to govern the use of biometric technologies and called for the government to come forward with primary legislation.

Among the legal review's ten recommendations are that public use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology be suspended pending the creation of a legally binding code of practice governing its use, and pending the passing of wider, technologically neutral legislation to create a statutory framework governing the use of biometrics against members of the public.

A handful of UK police forces have been keen adopters of LFR, which has led to civil rights challenges and ongoing condemnation by human rights groups.

A year ago, the UK's information commissioner also went public with concerns about reckless and inappropriate use of LFR in public places.

Since then, we've also seen the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fine the controversial, U.S.-based facial recognition company Clearview AI, which uses selfies scraped off the internet without consent to power an AI-based identification matching service it's targeted at law enforcement and other public sector bodies, and also order it to delete UK citizens' data.

Despite plentiful concerns about existing use of biometrics against the UK public and their patchy regulation, the government's digital policymaking has largely focused elsewhere to date  such as on online content regulation and post-Brexit data protection deregulation, in the digital sphere.

Although the government also recently indicated that its forthcoming Data Reform Bill will clarify the rules on police use of biometric data  by supporting the development of "policing-led guidance such as new codes of conduct.

However, the independent legal review that's been published today is calling for a more comprehensive approach to regulating public sector use of biometrics.

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The review, which was commissioned by the Ada Lovelace Institute back in 2020 and led by Matthew Ryder QC, warns that the UK's current legal regime is "fragmented, confused and failing to keep pace" with developments in biometrics.

"We urgently need an ambitious new legislative framework specific to biometrics. We must not allow the use of biometric data to proliferate under inadequate laws and insufficient regulation," said Ryder, of Matrix Chambers, in a statement.

A key recommendation he calls for in the review is for the scope of biometrics legislation to cover use of the technology not only for unique identification of individuals but also for classification.

"Simply because the use of biometric data does not result in unique identification does not remove the rights-intrusive capacity of biometric systems, and the legal framework needs to provide appropriate safeguards in this area," the review argues.

It also calls for sector and/or technology-specific codes of practice to be published  setting out "specific and detailed duties" that arise in particular use cases. It also recommends that a framework governing use of biometrics against members of the public should supplement (rather than replace) existing duties under the Human Rights Act, Equality Act and Data Protection Act.

Another recommendation is for a national biometrics ethics board to be set up  to have a statutory advisory role in respect of public sector biometrics use. The review also recommends that its advice is published and that bodies that go against its advice must publicly set out their reasons why.

"The regulation and oversight of biometrics should be consolidated, clarified and properly resourced. The overlapping and fragmented nature of oversight at present impedes good governance," the review goes on to recommend, further warning of "significant concerns" about the proposed incorporation of the role of Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner into the existing duties of the ICO.

"We believe that the prominence and importance of biometrics means that it requires either a specific independent role, and/or a specialist commissioner or deputy commissioner within the ICO," the review notes. "Wherever it is located, it must be adequately resourced financially, logistically, and in expertise, to perform the governance role that this field requires."

The review is predominantly focused on public sector use of biometrics but its authors are calling for additional study of private sector applications of biometrics to consider how best to shape appropriate legislation  warning that further private-sector-specific research is "particularly important given the porous relationship between private-sector organisations gathering and processing biometric data and developing biometric tools, and public authorities accessing those datasets and deploying those tools."

"[S]trong law and regulation is sometimes characterised as hindering advancements in the practical use of biometric data. This should not be the case. In practice a clear regulatory framework enables those who work with biometric data to be confident of the ethical and legal lines within which they must operate," adds Ryder in a foreword to the review.

"They are freed from the unhelpful burden of self-regulation that arises from unclear guidelines and overly flexible boundaries. This confidence liberates innovation and encourages effective working practices. Lawmakers and regulators are not always helping those who want to act responsibly by taking a light touch."

The Ada Lovelace research institute, which commissioned the review, is publishing a policy report to accompany it in which it presses the government to act  drawing on what it says was a 3-year program of public engagement to feed the policy research, including conducting a representative survey on UK public attitudes toward facial recognition technology and engaging with the Citizens Biometrics Council, a body comprised of 50 UK adults "assembled to learn and then deliberate on biometric governance in greater depth."

"Both the survey and the citizens council highlighted public support for stronger safeguards on biometric technologies," it notes.

Some of the Institute's recommendations echo those in the legal review  including urging government to pass primary legislation to govern the use of biometrics and that oversight and enforcement of the regime should sit within a new regulatory function focused on biometric technologies, which is "national, independent and adequately resourced and empowered."

It is also calling for the proposed regulator to assess biometrics technologies  both to require that all biometric technologies meet "scientifically based and clearly established standards of accuracy, reliability and validity" and to assess the proportionality of biometric technologies "in their proposed contexts, prior to use, for those that are used by the public sector, in public services, in publicly accessible spaces, or that make a significant decision about a person."

"This proportionality test should consider individual harms, collective harms and societal harms that may arise from the use of biometric technologies," it suggests. "If approval is granted, the regulatory function should monitor the technology during its deployment and implementation stages, and continuously as long as the system is in use."

Another recommendation of the Institute is for regulatory monitor to trigger the creation of codes of practice "that may include bans or moratoria." And the Institute is also calling for a moratorium on the use of biometrics for one-to-many identification in publicly accessible spaces and for categorization in the public sector (or for public services and in publicly accessible spaces) until governance legislation is passed.

Commenting in a statement, Carly Kind, the Institute's director, said: "Our three-year programme of research demonstrates that the public support stronger safeguards and the existing legal landscape is inadequate. The government must take on this important issue and bring forward new primary legislation on biometrics."

The European Union is ahead of UK policymakers when it comes to regulating applications of AI technologies  having already come out with a draft proposal last year (aka, the AI Act). However, the EU's proposed risk-based framework for regulating applications of AI has faced plenty of criticism from civil society and human rights groups that are concerned it does not go far enough to put guardrails around fundamental rights.

And while the draft legislation includes a proposal to ban (some) police use of remote biometrics in public, again critics argue the provision contains so many qualifications it's not actually a meaningful limitation.

Discussing the EU's proposed AI regulation, Imogen Parker, associate director for policy at the Ada Lovelace Institute, argues there's an opportunity for the UK to go further  and deliver stronger regulation of biometrics  but only if ministers adopt the policy recommendations that are being made today.

"The draft [EU] Act doesnt adequately grapple with the risks arising from emotional recognition systems and classification. They sort them as 'limited risk' AI (apart from in some public sector circumstances for example used by law enforcement), only requiring users to be transparent when the technology is being deployed, for example through labelling or disclosure," she argues.

"Categorisation poses comparable risks to the identification. The Citizens Biometrics Council were concerned about accuracy, both whether tools work well and whether the categories are rooted in evidence or pseudoscience; they pose privacy risks as intimate data is used and could reveal or presume sensitive information about you, like sexuality or religion; and there are concerns that these technologies may be discriminatory in their deployment if they assess whether somebody looks suspicious by the way they walk (their gait), or job worthy from their facial expressions and voice tone.

"We also recommend all biometrics technologies meet standards requirements, and a majority of uses (in the public sector, by public services, in public places or with significant effect) have to undergo a proportionality test in context and prior to use or procurement. Our recommendations ensure comprehensive high standards of regulation are applied to categorisation as well as identification; and private sector, as well as public sector, uses."

Asked about the UK government's partial attention to biometrics regulation in the Data Reform Bill, Parker suggests the measures it has set out so far don't go far enough.

"On the proposals regarding biometric regulation in Data: A New Direction, the focus from the Government seems to be efforts to streamline, clarify and reduce confusion. Weve identified the need to substantially strengthen oversight functions, which goes beyond reorganisation or clarification," she tells TechCrunch. "The Citizens Biometrics Council wanted stronger regulation of biometrics, and the Ryder review found that existing governance isnt fit for purpose: that existing legislation and oversight mechanisms are fragmented, unclear, ineffective and failing to keep pace with the technologies being developed.

"We are also proposing the approach to regulation be strengthened, reflecting the research. We want to see standards developed to assess the accuracy and the scientific validity of these tools  whether they are built on stereotypical or pseudoscientific assumptions. We are also recommending a requirement of a proportionality test to assess any uses of biometrics technologies in the public sector, in public spaces, or where significant decisions are made about individuals (for example in recruitment). That assessment should be of biometrics technologies in context, and before use or procurement.

"Our research demonstrates we need to be more ambitious about regulation than we have seen in the current proposals. But we look forward to seeing the draft legislation to see the further details."
BERLIN (Reuters) -German trade union Verdi has called on technical staff at Hamburg Airport to go on strike on Friday, just as school holidays in the region kick off, adding to the existing industry-wide crunch.

Airlines around the world had slashed jobs and other costs during the coronavirus pandemic, which grounded most flights, and have found themselves in a quandary as demand returned amid the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

Verdi said on Wednesday that some 200 employees responsible for infrastructure maintenance at Germany's fifth busiest airport would walk off the job for 24 hours to protest at the lack of a pay rise during the pandemic period.

A Hamburg Airport spokesperson said "a 24-hour strike is inappropriate" as its wage tariff negotiations with Verdi are still at a very early stage.

The union said it was demanding an 8.5% salary increase over 12 months for staff at Hamburg Airport subsidiary Real Estate Maintenance GmbH (RMH), who are responsible for maintenance of infrastructure including luggage handling machinery and runways.

The union said the company had offered a pay increase of 4% a year for two years.

School holidays in the neighbouring northern German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania begin on Friday, and Hamburg schools end for the summer on July 7.

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Zuzanna Szymanska;Editing by Alison Williams, William Maclean)
(Getty Images)

The US Supreme Court has reinstated a Republican-drawn congressional map in Louisiana that will be used in midterm elections after lower courts ruled that it was drawn in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

A judgment from the nations high court on 28 June allows a congressional map in Louisiana to stand, rejecting two lower court rulings that found the map likely violates the landmark civil rights law by diluting the voting strength of Black voters.

The brief order from the conservative-majority court  which did not include any reasoning  follows a similar judgment involving the newly drawn map in Alabama. The courts three liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

The latest order means that upcoming midterm elections for at least three seats in the US House of Representatives will be decided in districts with borders that likely violate the Voting Rights Act.

A 2013 ruling from the Supreme Court struck down federal preclearance guidelines that required states with histories of racial discrimination at the polls from implementing new elections laws without first getting federal approval. Last year, the court gutted another provision of the Voting Rights Act that makes it harder to challenge GOP-backed redistricting plans.

The latest redistricting cycle  the once-a-decade, nationwide redrawing of political boundaries based on the results of the once-a-decade US Census  is the first without those preclearance guidelines.

Three states that were previously covered by those requirements  Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana  have faced recent federal court challenges over their new maps.

In a 5-4 ruling in February, the Supreme Court reinstated Alabamas map after judges rejected it; a furious dissent from Justice Kagan said the majoritys decision does a disservice to Black Alabamians who have had their electoral power diminished  in violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy.

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Roughly 27 per cent of Alabamas population is Black, though Black residents represent one of seven of the states congressional districts. That decision eliminated the creation of a second majority-Black district.

A federal judge in Georgia has also upheld the states GOP-drawn maps in March, likely allowing Republicans to gain another seat in Congress this fall and eliminating chances of creating a new majority-Black district.

Earlier this month, Floridas Supreme Court gave the greenlight to a map pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis after voting rights advocates argued that the map violates the states anti-gerrymandering amendments in the state constitution.

Todays ruling from the Supreme Court is more than a little disappointing. The District Courts well-reasoned 157 page decision clearly demonstrated that the maps passed by the legislature do not comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. #lagov #lalege  John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) June 28, 2022

Louisiana has six congressional districts, and roughly one-third of the states population is Black. The latest US Census found that the states Black population grew by nearly 4 per cent over the last decade, while its white population declined by 6.3 per cent.

But a congressional map approved by the states Republican-controlled legislature included only one Black-majority district.

The Supreme Courts decision to reinstate that map follows a 152-page district court opinion alleging the maps discrimination as well as a 33-page opinion from a conservative federal appeals court affirming the lower court.

With one each in Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, that makes at least *three* U.S. House districts that lower courts have ruled had to be "majority-minority" districts under the Voting Rights Act (and likely Democratic), but that won't be in the 2022 midterms thanks to #SCOTUS. https://t.co/TDiA8Fln8f  Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) June 28, 2022

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called Tuesdays decision more than a little disappointing.

Black Louisianans make up one third of our population, and one third of our districts should be majority Black when such a map can be drawn, and, as has been demonstrated, that map is more compact, better adheres to the legal principles governing redistricting, and will perform, he said.

Civil rights groups and nine voters in the state filed a lawsuit to challenge the map after Louisianas state legislature voted to override the governors veto.

Alora Thomas, senior staff attorney for the ACLUs Voting Rights Project, said to live up to the tenets of a representative democracy, the Louisiana congressional map must reflect the richly diverse population it serves.

Stuart Naifeh, manager of the NAACP Legal Defense Funds redistricting project, called the Supreme Courts decision a blow to justice and fair representation that Black Louisianans have long fought for.

Two courts have looked at the facts and agree that Louisianas congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act, and that using it in the upcoming election will rob Black voters [of] their right to participate in the political process on an equal footing, he said.

The Voting Rights Act was created precisely to prevent the kind of manipulation of district lines to undermine the voices and power of Black people that we see in Louisiana.
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Global Enzymes Market

Global Enzymes Market

Dublin, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Enzymes Market 2021-2031 by Product Type, Source, Reaction Type, Application, and Region: Trend Forecast and Growth Opportunity" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global enzymes market will reach $ 19,249.4 million by 2031, growing by 6.3% annually over 2021-2031, driven by the need for replacing organic catalysts with low side-effects substances, the expanding application areas of enzymes, the increasing demand for food and energy demands, and the advancement in protein engineering technology.



This report is based on a comprehensive research of the entire global enzymes market and all its sub-segments through extensively detailed classifications. Profound analysis and assessment are generated from premium primary and secondary information sources with inputs derived from industry professionals across the value chain. The report is based on studies on 2018-2021 and provides forecast from 2022 till 2031 with 2021 as the base year.



In-depth qualitative analyses include identification and investigation of the following aspects:

Market Structure

Growth Drivers

Restraints and Challenges

Emerging Product Trends & Market Opportunities

Porter's Five Forces

The trend and outlook of global market is forecast in optimistic, balanced, and conservative view by taking into account of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The balanced (most likely) projection is used to quantify global enzymes market in every aspect of the classification from perspectives of Product Type, Source, Reaction Type, Application, and Region.

The report covers current competitive scenario and the predicted trend; and profiles key vendors including market leaders and important emerging players.



Selected Key Players:

AB Enzymes GmbH

Adisseo France SAS

Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd.

Amano Enzyme, Inc.

Aum Enzymes

BASF SE

Chr. Hansen Holding A/S

Codexis, Inc.

DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Kerry Group Plc

Koninklijke DSM N.V.

Novozymes A/S

Novus International, Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

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Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Market Overview and Dynamics

2.1 Market Size and Forecast

2.1.1 Impact of COVID-19 on World Economy

2.1.2 Impact of COVID-19 on the Market

2.2 Major Growth Drivers

2.3 Market Restraints and Challenges

2.4 Emerging Opportunities and Market Trends

2.5 Porter's Five Forces Analysis



3 Segmentation of Global Market by Product Type

3.1 Market Overview by Product Type

3.2 Protease

3.3 Carbohydrase

3.4 Lipase

3.5 Polymerase & Nuclease

3.6 Phytase

3.7 Other Product Types



4 Segmentation of Global Market by Source

4.1 Market Overview by Source

4.2 Microorganisms

4.3 Plants

4.4 Animals



5 Segmentation of Global Market by Reaction Type

5.1 Market Overview by Reaction Type

5.2 Hydrolases

5.3 Oxidoreductases

5.4 Transferases

5.5 Lyases

5.6 Other Reaction Types



6 Segmentation of Global Market by Application

6.1 Market Overview by Application

6.2 Industrial Enzymes

6.2.1 Food & Beverages

6.2.2 Household Care

6.2.3 Bioenergy

6.2.4 Animal Feed

6.2.5 Textile & Leather Industry

6.2.6 Paper & Pulp

6.2.7 Environmental Management

6.2.8 Other Industry Verticals

6.3 Specialty Enzymes

6.3.1 Pharmaceuticals

6.3.2 Research & Biotechnology

6.3.3 Diagnostics

6.3.4 Biocatalysts

6.3.5 Other Specialty Enzymes



7 Segmentation of Global Market by Region

7.1 Geographic Market Overview 2021-2031

7.2 North America Market 2021-2031 by Country

7.2.1 Overview of North America Market

7.2.2 U.S.

7.2.3 Canada

7.2.4 Mexico

7.3 European Market 2021-2031 by Country

7.3.1 Overview of European Market

7.3.2 Germany

7.3.3 U.K.

7.3.4 France

7.3.5 Spain

7.3.6 Italy

7.3.7 Netherlands

7.3.8 Rest of European Market

7.4 Asia-Pacific Market 2021-2031 by Country

7.4.1 Overview of Asia-Pacific Market

7.4.2 Japan

7.4.3 China

7.4.4 Australia

7.4.5 India

7.4.6 South Korea

7.4.7 Rest of APAC Region

7.5 South America Market 2021-2031 by Country

7.5.1 Argentina

7.5.2 Brazil

7.5.3 Chile

7.5.4 Rest of South America Market

7.6 MEA Market 2021-2031 by Country

7.6.1 UAE

7.6.2 Saudi Arabia

7.6.3 South Africa

7.6.4 Other National Markets



8 Competitive Landscape

8.1 Overview of Key Vendors

8.2 New Product Launch, Partnership, Investment, and M&A

8.3 Company Profiles

AB Enzymes GmbH

Adisseo France SAS

Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd.

Amano Enzyme, Inc.

Aum Enzymes

BASF SE

Chr. Hansen Holding A/S

Codexis, Inc.

DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Kerry Group Plc

Koninklijke DSM N.V.

Novozymes A/S

Novus International, Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

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(Adds detail on Britain providing more military support in par nine)

* NATO brands Russia most 'significant and direct threat'

* Ukraine lauds 'difficult but essential decisions' by NATO

* Putin: Russia will respond to NATO moves in Finland, Sweden

* Russian missile attacks intensify across Ukraine

By Sabine Siebold, Robin Emmott and Pavel Polityuk

MADRID/KYIV, June 29 (Reuters) - NATO on Wednesday branded Russia the biggest "direct threat" to Western security after its invasion of Ukraine and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv's beleaguered armed forces, saying it stood fully behind Ukrainians' "heroic defence of their country".

At a summit dominated by the invasion and the geopolitical upheaval it has caused, NATO also invited Sweden and Finland to join and pledged a seven-fold increase from 2023 in combat forces on high alert along its eastern flank against any future Russian attack.

In reaction, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond in kind if NATO set up infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they join the U.S.-led military alliance.

Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying he could not rule out that tensions would emerge in Moscow's relations with Helsinki and Stockholm over their joining NATO.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced more land, sea and air force deployments across Europe from Spain in the west to Romania and Poland bordering Ukraine.

These included a permanent army headquarters with accompanying battalion in Poland - the first full-time U.S. deployment on NATO's eastern fringes.

"President Putin's war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and has created the biggest security crisis in Europe since the Second World War," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference.

"NATO has responded with strength and unity," he said.

Britain said it would provide another 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) of military support to Ukraine, including air defence systems, uncrewed aerial vehicles and new electronic warfare equipment.

Story continues

'FIGHTING EVERYWHERE'

As the 30 national NATO leaders were meeting in Madrid, Russian forces intensified attacks in Ukraine, including missile strikes and shelling on the southern Mykolaiv region close to front lines and the Black Sea.

The mayor of Mykolaiv city said a Russian missile had killed at least five people in a residential building there, while Moscow said its forces had hit what it called a training base for foreign mercenaries in the region.

The governor of eastern Luhansk province reported "fighting everywhere" in a battle around the hilltop city of Lysychansk, which Russian forces are trying to encircle as they try to capture the industrialised eastern Donbas region on behalf of separatist proxies. Donbas comprises Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

Regional Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television that Russian attacks killed one civilian and wounded eight on Wednesday.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.

Also in Donetsk, a video clip aired on Russia's RIA state news agency showed former U.S. soldier Alexander Drueke, who was captured while fighting for Ukrainian forces.

"My combat experience here was that one mission on that one day," said Drueke, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, referring to the day he was captured outside Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. "I didn't fire a shot. I would hope that would play a factor in whatever sentence I do or don't receive."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy once again told NATO that Ukrainian forces needed more weapons and money, and faster, to erode Russia's huge edge in artillery and missile firepower, and said Moscow's ambitions did not stop at Ukraine.

The Russian invasion that began on Feb. 24 has destroyed cities, killed thousands and sent millions fleeing. Russia says it is pursuing a "special military operation" to rid Ukraine of dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of an unprovoked, imperial-style land grab.

The top U.S. intelligence official Avril Haines said on Wednesday the most likely near term scenario is a grinding conflict in which Moscow makes only incremental gains, but no breakthrough on its goal of taking most of Ukraine.

'FULL SOLIDARITY'

In a nod to the precipitous deterioration in relations with Russia since the invasion, a NATO communique called Russia the "most significant and direct threat to the allies' security", having previously classified it as a "strategic partner".

NATO issued a new Strategic Concept document, its first since 2010, that said a "strong independent Ukraine is vital for the stability of the Euro-Atlantic area".

To that end, NATO agreed a long-term financial and military aid package to modernise Ukraine's largely Soviet-era military.

"We stand in full solidarity with the government and the people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their country," the communique said.

Stoltenberg said NATO had agreed to put 300,000 troops on high readiness from 2023, up from 40,000 now, under a new force model to protect an area stretching from the Baltic to the Black seas.

Zelenskiy, in a video link-up with the summit, said Ukraine needed $5 billion per month for its defence and protection.

"This is not a war being waged by Russia against only Ukraine. This is a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe - for what the future world order will be like," he said.

NATO's invitation to Sweden and Finland to join the alliance marks one of the most momentous shifts in European security in decades as Helsinki and Stockholm drop a tradition of neutrality in response to Russia's invasion.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich and Deepa Babington; editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Gareth Jones, Grant McCool and Lincoln Feast)
A group of bicyclists set out from the Pentagon earlier this month with two goals: to honor those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to spread word about a bike trail that connects all three sites where planes went down that day in 2001.

The riders met those objectives, but also discovered something else along their 1,300-mile path that runs through seven states.

The townspeople we met were just amazing, how they honored us for honoring the people of 9/11, said Annette MacDougall, a former Stafford County teacher who lives in Oregon and jumped at the chance to return to the East Coast. It was this mission that brought me out from Portland.

Thirteen cyclists completed the entire 9/11 National Memorial Trail during a 23-day ride this month that ended in the rain on Monday at the same place it started, the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Another 13 riders completed portions of the ride.

At least one-third of the participants were current or former residents of the Fredericksburg region or have a local connection. That includes David Brickley, a former delegate, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the owner of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail in King George County. He first envisioned the concept of a national 9/11 trail in the days following the attacks and wanted to connect the dots between existing greenways and parks with the three sites impacted by terrorists who hijacked four commercial airliners.

That includes the Pentagon, the World Trade Center in New York City and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers of Flight 93 brought down the plane to keep it from crashing into another building in Washington.

While there have been other bike rides since the 9/11 National Memorial Trail started coming together, this one was momentous for two reasons, Brickley said Monday. It marked the largest group to complete the entire trail and the first organized trek after President Joe Biden signed legislation in October, formally designating it a federal trail.

We experienced the hospitality and cordiality and friendliness of everyone as we went through, from town to town and state to state, Brickley said. People learned a lot about the 9/11 trail, which was great, and we made a tremendous amount of friends along the way. This was a great trip, it really was.

He also praised avid bicyclists Bruce and Vikki White of Spotsylvania County, who organized the trek just as theyve done similar excursions each summer for about two decades. He reached out to various members of a group that likes to call themselves the On The Hill Gang and whose riders range in age from 62 to 78.

The Whites rode the entire course by car first, mapping out the distance to be covered in each day as well as stops theyd make and hotels where theyd sleep. Then, Bruce White, 64, and A.D. Carson, a 70-year-old from Milwaukee, came up with turn-by-turn navigationwhich Carson paired with a riding app so the cyclists could get the audio cues from their phones, mounted on handlebars. The men developed online schedules of the entire trip, mapping out for each day how many miles would be covered and how steep the climbs would be, and Bruce White passed out daily papers or cue sheets, as well.

They did all this reconnaissance work ahead of time. It was just incredible detail, said Ed Dobyns, a Fredericksburg resident who did the first leg of the trip from the Pentagon to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.

It was in the mid-50s and spitting rain the morning the riders headed to Shanksville. At the museum, a park ranger spoke about the 40 passengers on boardhe knew them all by name and had met some of their relatives, Dobyns said. The ranger weaved their personal stories into the timeline of what happened on 9/11 and it was a gut-wrenching emotional presentation, Dobyns said.

The whole group was in tears after he talked, before we even walked into the museum, he added.

But it wasnt the only time the cyclists would experience emotions like that or feel goosebumps, Bruce White said. While the journey started out as a trek from one 9/11 site to another, it became something else, he said.

It gained a personality as we went around all these small communities, he said. We met mayors, we got escorted through towns, we met bicycle clubs. That was the biggest thing that I didnt expect, the personality, the human compassion that everybody gave us all through the ride.

The group met plenty of people impacted by the terrorists attacks, including those at OHaras Bar and Grill in New York City near Ground Zero. There, firefighters talked about the hundreds of buddies they lost in the towers and gave the cyclists a personalized tour of the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center.

But the riders also met people in towns and cities where closures of coal mines or steel plants created a different kind of tragedy. Bruce White said the group saw the same kind of resilience, in the aftermath of 9/11 or an economic downturn.

Youd see success stories that kind of come out of the ashes in the communities that just were destroyed when their backbone of commerce was taken from them, he said. All these little communities that have had their own little tragedies still, they persevere. Its like the American spirit, reborn.

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Billions of dollars worth of investment opportunities in a wide range of sectors in India's Odisha state were offered to businesses in the UAE and the MENA region during an Investors' Meet in Dubai.

The meeting was held under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, along with a delegation of senior officials from the Government of Odisha.

Odisha has approved over $50 billion worth of investment projects since 2021 and it is attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in sectors such as metals and metal downstream, chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles and apparel including technical textiles, food processing including seafood processing, ESDM, Logistics and clean energy, said a statement.

The Investors Meet was jointly organised with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Embassy of India in UAE. It was attended by more than 150 companies based out of the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Leading industry associations from the region including Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) also participated in the event.

Highlighting the various advantages of the state, Patnaik underlined Odishas mineral and human resources, use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation and Odishas progressive policy and governance.

Odisha holds the lions share of Indias mineral reserves with 96 percent of the countrys chromite reserves, 92 percent nickel, 53 percent bauxite, 45 percent manganese, 35 percent iron-ore, and 23 percent coal reserves. This has made Odisha the largest producer of steel, stainless steel, ferro alloys, alumina, and aluminium in India. Odisha also has 11 percent of Indias water resources. The state has a 480-km long coastline making it a natural choice for setting up ports, and for international trade, he said.

The state is home to a large and highly skilled workforce. Shri Patnaik said: We have made good investments in setting up technical and professional institutes at all skill levels  ITIs, polytechnics and engineering and management colleges. Eleven of Indias top 100 industrial training institutes are in Odisha. With the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES), Singapore, the Government of Odisha has recently established the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar to prepare the Odia workforce for modern and new age Industry.

The states single window portal for investors, Go Swift has transformed the B2G interface with its user-friendly features which provide time-bound clearances for over 50 G2B services. Odisha is also home to over 1,200 start-ups, many of which are in the technology space, he said.

The Chief Minister said the state will hold the third edition of its flagship Global Investors Meet  Make In Odisha 2022 -- from November 30 to December 4 at the state capital Bhubaneswar.

The team Odisha also conducted one-on-one B2G meetings with major companies of the region such as LuLu Group, NBTC Group, Sharaf Group, Twenty Fourteen Holding and Tablez Group, ERAM Group, Sobha Group, Arab and India Spices, Tabreed, etc. The state government invited them to explore Odisha in their future expansion plans. The government also assured all the companies of unmatched facilitation and support.

The team Odisha also included a high-level business delegation from the top companies who have invested in Odisha. The business delegation included Parth Jindal - Managing Director, JSW Cement; Saroj Poddar - Chairman, Paradeep Phosphates; Satish Pai - Managing Director, Hindalco; Dilip Oomen - CEO, AM/NS India; Rahul Sharma - CEO, Vedanta; Subhrakant Panda - Managing Director, IMFA; Sujoy Choudhury- Director, IOCL; Jagadish Naik - Chairman, and Managing Director, DN-Homes; Bhabatosh Sahoo, Managing Director, B-One Business House; Prashant Mallick - Managing Director, Tata Steel SEZ; and Chanakya Chaudhary  Vice President, Tata Steel. -TradeArabia News Service
A key witness and Hampton Roads product took the stand Tuesday in a last-minute session of a congressional committees investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who graduated from Christopher Newport University four years ago, was the executive assistant to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. She also worked as a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs.

Hutchinson testified to the special committee investigating the January 2021 Capitol attack. Hutchinson witnessed key conversations about the riots between Meadows and then-President Donald Trump, among others.

Hutchinson recounted Meadows saying four days before the riot that things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6. She recalled her boss being unreactive to reports on Jan. 6 of the crowd at Trumps rally carrying weapons and overtaking the Capitol building.

Hutchinson was with Trump in the minutes before he took the stage at the Ellipse rally preceding the riot. She testified that the president was aware that some people in the crowd carried weapons. She quoted Trump as telling security forces to take out metal detectors because rallygoers werent here to hurt me.

Hutchinson testified in closed-door, recorded sessions before Tuesdays public debut. Recordings of her testimony were broadcast during an earlier committee hearing.

She testified that Trump approved of the rioters chants to hang Mike Pence, according to CNN, in reference to the former vice president who refused to help overturn the 2020 election. Hutchinson also testified that Meadows and Trumps onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani considered putting forward fake slates of electors in an effort to overturn the 2020 election and that many Republican members of Congress inquired about pardons after the riot.

The committee announced the surprise session Monday, less than 24 hours before it began. The quick change in direction happened after Hutchinson replaced her Trump-connected attorney, according to the Washington Post.

Hutchinson was the first former White House aide to publicly testify at a committee hearing. After Meadows declined to testify, she became the only witness to the conversations between the former president and his chief of staff.

Hutchinson graduated from CNU with her degree in political science and American studies in 2018.

While at CNU, Hutchinson received an exclusive White House internship, according to her universitys press release. There, she worked in the Office of Legislative Affairs. After graduating, she returned to Capitol Hill as Meadows executive assistant.

Cassidy Hutchinson now in spotlight WASHINGTON  Just two years out of college, Cassidy Hutchinson said she watched as a valet m

Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats WASHINGTON  Donald Trump rebuffed his own security's warnings about armed protesters in the
A state senator who is working on Gov. Glenn Youngkin's legislative effort to bar most abortions after 15 weeks says enforcement could target the licenses of doctors who violate such a ban.

"There could be physicians whose licenses could be at stake," Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg said in an interview with Washington's WTOP radio. The state licensing process is most likely the best way to go about enforcement."

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed abortion rights for nearly 50 years.

Youngkin said Friday that he will seek to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. Youngkin said during his campaign for governor that he backs exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is in jeopardy.

Youngkin said he has asked Sens. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, and Newman, and Dels. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford, and Margaret Ransone, R-Westmoreland, to join us in an effort to bring together legislators and advocates from across the Commonwealth on this issue to find areas where we can agree and chart the most successful path forward.

The 13 states with abortion bans triggered by the overturning of Roe v. Wade have enforcement mechanisms that include felony charges for people who perform or try to perform abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Republicans hold a 52-48 edge in the House of Delegates and Democrats hold a 21-19 edge in the state Senate.

Senate Democratic leaders pledge to oppose further abortion regulations. For example, Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, tweeted this week that in 2012 some Senate Republicans backed a bill that would have required women getting abortions to submit to a transvaginal ultrasound. The sponsor withdrew the bill.

"So no I will NOT be listening to them on abortion regulation," Lucas tweeted.

Newman told WTOP that it will not be easy to get a 15-week bill through the legislature next winter, but he thinks proponents have a "good chance" of passing the bill.

"We will need to get the conservatives and also some moderates and some of the more conservative Democrats," he said.

Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, said in a statement Friday that he supports legal abortion only up to the moment a fetus can feel pain. If he sides with the Senates 19 Republicans next year, GOP Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears would be a tie-breaking vote to pass abortion restrictions.

Newman said proponents favor a 15-week bill but a 20-week standard could be a fallback position. Ten states bar abortion at 20 weeks post fertilization, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
There was recently a momentous victory for life when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision on June 24, 2022. This marked an amazing day for our nation and a huge victory for the pro-life movement.

In a 6-3 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the Court upheld a Mississippi state law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of gestation except in certain cases. The court also affirmed that there is no constitutional right to abortion.

Both conservative and liberal legal scholars have long questioned the legal reasoning in Roe v. Wade. Following the justices ruling, policy-making decisions on the issue of abortion will be returned to state lawmakers.

For my entire life and throughout my time in public service, I have supported pro-life policies that show compassion for women and their unborn children. In 2010, when I represented District 43 in the Nebraska Legislature, we enacted a bill that banned abortions after 20 weeks. At the time, this was the point at which science showed unborn babies could feel pain. The bill passed 44-5. Pro-life, pro-choice, Republican, and Democrat senators voted for it. Nebraska was the first state to enact legislation of this kind, and it is our state law today.

For decades, Americas federal policies on abortion have been radically out of step with the rest of the world. Ninety percent of countries worldwide limit abortion at 15 weeks or earlier. But the U.S. does not. We are one of only four countries, including China and North Korea, where certain states allow abortions up to the day of birth. Forty-seven out of 50 countries in Europe have limits on abortion prior to 15 weeks.

A lot has changed since the Supreme Courts ruling in the Roe case and even since Nebraska enacted its 20-week law.

Fifty years ago, ultrasounds and sonograms werent widely available. Today, these technologies are a key element of prenatal care. At the time of the Roe decision, babies born before or around 28 weeks were not expected to survive. Now, scientific advancements have allowed babies born much earlier to not only survive, but go on to live full and happy lives. Our laws must reflect this incredible progress.

When we think about demonstrating our compassion for women and babies, I think its important to raise awareness of the resources out there to provide support. In Nebraska, we have more than 20 pregnancy centers across the state. There are also non-profits like Birth Mother Assistance Nebraska and Nebraskans Embracing Life that offer information, resources, and help. At the federal level, we have the Healthy Start program for women, infants and children, which improves health outcomes before, during and after pregnancy. Theres also the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program that supports pregnant women and parents in communities that face greater risks.

In 2017, my paid family leave program was enacted. It was the first-ever U.S. nationwide paid family leave policy. Through this program, Americans can take maternity or paternity leave to bond with a biological or adopted newborn.

I have also long supported the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program and the National School Lunch program. Additionally, I recently supported extending flexibility for summer and school lunch programs. These are important programs for our kids and families.

I look forward working with my colleagues on pro-life legislation in Congress. I also think its important to remember that this is a complex issue and its going to take good-faith and empathy to address it.

I am grateful for our Supreme Court Justices who showed courage in making this landmark decision. Im very optimistic about the future of this country and the future of the pro-life movement.

I pray that God grants the citizens of this nation wisdom, grace, and civility in the wake of this monumental ruling.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.

Deb Fischer is a U.S. senator for Nebraska.

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Drydocks World has signed a contract with Kanfa AS, a Norwegian independent process house, to deliver a topside module for an offshore oil production vessel.

This is the first collaboration between Drydocks World and Kanfa, a statement said.

The M10 module will be placed on the main deck of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. It will be used to process crude oil received from oil wells, which will be dewatered and stabilised to meet export quality specifications. Weighing approximately 700 tons, the process module is scheduled for delivery in Q2 2023.

Kanfa AS provides production engineering, procurement, construction and pre-commissioning services for facilities in the oil and gas and renewable energy industries. With experience in fabricating over 40 modules for FPSO vessels, the contract supports Drydocks Worlds commitment to supporting its customers in expanding access to energy, it said.

Vegard Solheim, Project Manager, Kanfa AS, said: "We are delighted to collaborate on this project with Drydocks World. Kanfa ASs extensive experience with topside module design and Drydock Worlds vast knowledge of marine vessel construction ensures the delivery of a product of the highest quality and on time. We are confident in the successful execution of this topside module and look forward to continuing to work with Drydocks World."

Capt Rado Antolovic, CEO of Drydocks World, said: "We are looking forward to working with Kanfa AS to deliver this topside module, which reflects their trust in our proven technical capabilities and track record. Our expertise in refurbishment, conversion and upgrading FPSO vessels allows us to support Kanfa AS in delivering on its objectives. We are pleased to enter a new partnership with Kanfa AS, which will no doubt pave the way for a long-term business relationship." - TradeArabia News Service
The already chippy Republican primary for the Colorado congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert dialed up a few notches on Friday as the incumbent and one of her GOP challengers hurled insults over each other's tone.
In Tuesday's primary election two sitting El Paso County commissioners appeared poised to earn the Republican party's nomination to represent districts 1 and 5, according to unofficial results from the Colorado Secretary of State's Office.

Unofficial returns show District 1 incumbent Holly Williams was ahead of challenger and political newcomer Lindsay Moore, earning 13,780 votes to Moore's 7,699. Moore is a military wife who in 2021 ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Academy District 20 school board.

In District 5, incumbent Cami Bremer earned 8,083 votes compared to the 3,498 votes earned by another political newcomer, Marine Corps veteran David Winney.

In November, Williams is poised to face Democrat Ryan Lucas, and Bremer will compete with Democrat John Jarrell as both women eye a second term. In heavily Republican El Paso County it's likely Williams and Bremer will take office and join three other sitting Republican commissioners on the board, which sets and administers countywide policy within the bounds of Colorado law.

The new board will be tasked with navigating the county's continuing massive growth, challenges with housing and water availability, upgrading transportation infrastructure and continuing local response to the ongoing global pandemic, among others.

Williams and Bremer both ran their campaigns on experience.

Williams said Tuesday from a watch party held at Boot Barn Hall  attended by several other establishment Republicans running for various races, including Bremer  she looked forward to continuing the board's efforts to upgrade local roads, identifying ways to save residents money and advocating for "common sense" policies at the state Legislature.

"I want to really be a presence in my district and I will continue to work hard for residents and to make the county better," Williams said.

County Commissioner Stan VanDerWerf: It looks like a clean sweep for common sense Republicans! @csgazette pic.twitter.com/xewZYhLLkL  O'Dell Isaac (@IketheScribe) June 29, 2022

Bremer told The Gazette she was "honored and grateful to have the opportunity to continue serving El Paso County residents as commissioner."

Williams and Bremer were part of a slate of established Republicans running for various local offices. Many of their GOP challengers billed themselves as anti-establishment Republicans.

Moore, who did not immediately return The Gazette's request for comment Tuesday night, has openly criticized the county as "seeming more like a family business" than a government.

Winney also did not immediately return the newspaper's request for comment.

"I hope this really shows that sometimes experience does count," Williams said. "Voters are quite smart and can be quite discerning when it comes to choosing their candidates."

Bremer said she felt Tuesday's results indicated voters and residents "don't want divisiveness."

"They want practical and reasonable decision-makers with basic conservative values who are willing to get good things done by being pragmatic and reasonable," Bremer said.

The Gazette's Zachary Dupont contributed to this report.
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FILE PHOTO: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives with his wife, Ginni Thomas, for a State Dinner for Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the White House in Washington, U.S. September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott/File Photo
Qatar Tourism (QT) has partnered with Explorest to debut the global photography in the region and unveil 75 of the greatest places to take photos across Qatar.



The move follows the successful launch of Explorest in some of the worlds most photographed cities including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.



The partnership sets the app to become the go-to digital travel companion for amateur and professional photographers wishing to capture unique images of the countrys diverse natural assets, architecture, cultural hotspots and more.



First-time or returning travellers to Qatar from the region, as well as professional and amateur photographers can tour Qatar leveraging Explorests most compelling feature, Location Insights.



These insights include precise GPS coordinates, recommended visit times for magic light hours, photo specs, field tips, weather details, and even suggested nearby activities - all which save photography enthusiasts wishing to recreate the images much time and guess work while providing explorers with a digital guide on the go for the top nearby unique experiences and activities.



Berthold Trenkel, Chief Operating Officer at QT said: As we continue to witness growing numbers of visitors from the region, we are delighted to launch a new angle through which our guests can explore Qatar. Our partnership with Explorest is one of many ways we are working to enhance the visitor experience, empowering visitors with the information and tools they need to make their visit to Qatar a memorable one.



Qatar has abundant natural beauty, awe-inspiring architecture and unique locations which make us particularly excited to be the first country in the Middle East to be featured on the app. Over the coming months, we look forward to having even more locations and contributors added to the app and seeing the community of photography enthusiasts in Qatar grow.



Residents and visitors are invited to download the app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and the app will soon feature on Qatar Tourisms VisitQatar website. As a launch promotion, all Qatar Location Insight details will be unlocked for 12-months. Typically, unlocking the Explorest Pro experience costs $29.99/year.



Ever since we launched Explorest, our community has been anticipating our expansion into the Middle East, said Explorest CEO Justin Myers.



We always knew Qatar would be one of the first destinations  a country rich in culture and architectural beauty. Weve worked so hard to provide the smartest and best-curated photo location library available. We look forward to inspiring locals and regional visitors to explore the unique and grand perspectives Qatar has to offer.



Explorest has more than 250,000 users, with over 150 Explorests who have built out more than 2,000 Location Insights across these destinations.  TradeArabia News Service
U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) attends the Mass of Saint Peter and Paul in St Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, June 29, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
State Reps. Shane Sandridge, R-Colorado Springs, and Leslie Herod, D-Denver, address the House last week in a bid to keep possession of deadly fentanyl only a misdemeanor punishable by a fine. (via coloradochannel.net)
The red line dividing Republican candidates who believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and those who insist Joe Biden legitimately won may have influenced Colorado voters in Tuesdays primary election.

Updated Colorado primary election results

In determining which of their party mates in contested party races will appear on the Nov. 8 midterm ballot, Republican voters appear to have rejected those who sided with Trump on the issue, notably state Rep. Ron Hanks, Greg Lopez and Tina Peters.

All three were headed for defeat in their bids, if early results from the Colorado Secretary of States Office hold.

The 'sanity slate' prevailed

Doug Friednash, an attorney with Brownstein and former chief of staff to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, told Colorado Politics the Republicans sanity slate prevailed, with Heidi Ganahl, Joe ODea and Pam Anderson poised to win their respective races.

The big question for me was  it seems its a very favorable political climate for Republicans  if they could take advantage of it. Can they put themselves in a position where they could win in November? Friednash said. My expectation was the Democratic tactics would have a bigger impact in that the Republicans were less likely to nominate candidates that could get elected (in November).

(But) they put themselves in a really strong position for some key races in the state, he added. I think their sanity slate prevailed.

Ganahl, of Lone Tree, a University of Colorado regent thought by many conservatives as having the best chance of defeating incumbent Gov. Jared Polis, surged ahead of Republican gubernatorial nominee Greg Lopez, an Air Force veteran and former mayor who lives in Elizabeth, by a 53% to 47% margin, according to unofficial tallies.

In the secretary of state race, former Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson captured 44% of the vote, a significant plurality, leading candidates Mike ODonnell and Tina Peters, the Mesa County clerk and recorder indicted in March over charges of election tampering and misconduct. Secretary of State Jena Griswold, the Democratic nominee, successfully persuaded a judge to prohibit Peters from overseeing Mesa Countys 2022 primary and general elections. Its the second time the same judge has barred Peters from having an oversight role in the countys elections, following a similar ruling last fall that prevented Peters from managing the off-year election.

Hanks, meanwhile, trailed John ODea, who secured 55% of the vote in unofficial results in the U.S. Senate primary. ODea, if declared the winner, will face Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who has held the seat since November, 2009.

Boebert rolls

While establishment candidates fended off challenges from Trump-aligned Republicans in statewide races, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, an outspoken conservative and Trump supporter representing Colorados 3rd Congressional District, emerged victorious with 65% of the votes over opponent Don Coram, a state senator from Montrose.

The Democratic nominee to challenge Boebert appeared to be Adam Frisch, who held a 3% point lead over Sol Sandoval of Pueblo, with Alex Walker of Eagle County a distant third. That race, however, remained too close to call as of 9 p.m.

About 23% of the states 3,756,579 active voters returned their ballots, according to turnout statistics.

Confidence in system

Voters preference for Republican candidates that did not support major election reforms, such as a return to hand-counting ballots, shows confidence in the system, said El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman.

I think this election once and for all communicates we do elections right, he said.

Up to 99% of El Paso County voters returned their ballots by mail, Broerman said, showing they have confidence in the system, he said.

Lamborn tops Williams

In other results, U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who has represented the 5th Congressional district of El Paso and Teller counties in Washington, D.C., for 15 years, will take on Democrat challenger David Torres, who prevailed over Michael Colombe.

Lamborn topped Dave Williams, a House representative from Colorado Springs, with a margin of 50% to 31%, with two other candidates trailing.

Lamborn is positioning himself for a possible bigger role on the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee if Republicans take back majority control of the House in the fall.

Fourth Congressional District U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Windsor was handily winning against contender Robert Lewis.

Other congressional incumbents also succeeded, including Democrat Diana DeGette of District 1, and state legislators such as Rep. Tony Exum Sr. of District 17, who is now running for the state Senate in District 11, and Republican State Sen. Paul Lundeen in District 9. Other likely winners are Erik Aadland, for the 7th Congressional District, Regina English in state House District 17, and Rose Pugliese in state House District 14.

'Freedom doctor' falls

Dr. Leon Kelly, a forensic pathologist and the seated El Paso County coroner, won the high-stakes Republican bid for the highest-paid elected office in the county by a wide margin.

Kelly was ahead of Dr. Rae Ann Weber, an osteopath and freedom doctor, with 69% of the vote in early tallies. Weber cited overinflated COVID death numbers and procedures in her bid, while Kelly cited her inexperience and said Weber would need training for new coroners and need to become a certified death investigator.

Both have spent roughly the same amount of money on their campaigns. Kelly raised $54,441 as of Fridays financial reporting cycle and spent $22,336. Weber spent $21,604, with no contributions listed.

The job pays $290,000.10 this year, according to an El Paso County spokesperson, making the coroner the countys highest-paid elected official.

Kelly will face Democratic challenger Bridget Garner in November.

Roybal gets the nod

Current El Paso County Undersheriff Joe Roybal likely will prevail in overcoming two Republican opponents who ran on a constitutional sheriff platform.

Roybal, who got 60% of the vote, was ahead of former U.S. Border Patrol agent Todd Watkins, who secured 22% of the vote, and Greg Maxwell, director of security at The Broadmoor hotel, who had 18%. Roybal will face Democrat John Foley for the job, which pays $153,331.88 this year.

Roybal was the biggest spender at $44,104, having raised $51,841, according to campaign finance reports. Maxwell spent $35,416 of $39,812 raised, and Watkins spent $11,033 of $13,077 raised, reports show.

El Paso County Commissioners Holly Williams and Cami Bremer each were headed for victory over Republican opponents Lindsay Moore and David Winney, respectively.

El Paso County Assessor Steve Schleiker led Peter Lupia for the Clerk and Recorder nomination, 68% to 32%. Lupia had proposed massive changes, including returning to hand-counting ballots and eliminating automated tabulations.

And Broerman, the El Paso County clerk, overtook Gina Trivelli, El Paso County deputy treasurer, for the county treasurer nomination, having garnered 66% of the vote.

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656.
Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act more than 40 years ago to combat the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their homes for placement into nontribal families and institutions. In doing so, the law recognized tribal nations have an interest in state courts' custody proceedings involving their members.

Now, the Colorado Supreme Court is grappling with how to interpret a crucial component of ICWA: When do judges have reason to know that a child appearing before them is an "Indian child" under the law?

The answer matters, because ICWA obligates the state to notify relevant tribal nations about child-welfare cases implicating their members, with the opportunity for the tribes to intervene. That notice, however, only happens when a judge has reason to know.

"Notice from the courts is almost always the only way tribes know that their most vital resource is in danger of being removed from an Indian family," Zaven T. Saroyan, an attorney for the Office of Respondent Parents' Counsel, told the justices last week.

The Supreme Court in March agreed to hear the appeal of People in the Interest of E.M., a child-welfare case originating in Denver. In the ensuing months, the state's second-highest court has issued three more decisions evaluating whether a family's assertion of tribal lineage is enough to give judges reason to know they are dealing with an Indigenous child. Twice, the Court of Appeals has said no. In the other two instances, including the E.M. case, the appellate court answered yes.

Oral arguments before the Supreme Court on June 21 highlighted competing concerns. On the one hand, tribal nations have the power to determine who is a member and who is not, suggesting it would be proper to provide notice whenever tribal lineage is a factor. On the other hand, invoking ICWA unnecessarily could delay custody proceedings and stretch the application of the law to non-Indigenous children.

"Obviously, I'm just concerned that the bar is so low that anytime anyone mentions a tribe, we have an ICWA case," said Justice Richard L. Gabriel.

In the case at hand, the Denver Human Services department sought to end the relationship between a neglected or abused child, named E.M., and E.M.'s mother. In the process, the mother indicated she had Apache and Sioux heritage. E.M.'s grandparents also reported Cherokee or Sioux ancestry, but no membership in any tribe.

Under ICWA, an "Indian child" means a minor who is an enrolled member of a tribe or who, as the child of a member, is eligible for enrollment themselves. One of the ways a juvenile court judge has reason to know if a child fits the definition is if someone involved with the proceedings says they have discovered "information indicating the child is an Indian child."

Judge Pax Moultrie determined she had no reason to know E.M. was an Indigenous child and that ICWA did not apply to the case. On appeal, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals overturned her decision terminating the mother's parental rights, deciding that the Cherokee, Sioux and Apache nations should have received notice of E.M.'s case.

The family members' assertion of tribal lineage, wrote Judge Anthony J. Navarro, "was sufficient to give the court reason to know that the child is an Indian child and, thus, to trigger ICWAs notice provisions."

However, since then, three other Court of Appeals panels have also released decisions interpreting the reason-to-know standard. Two of them reached a different conclusion  that a mention of tribal lineage only triggers further investigation, known as "due diligence." While tribal notice is one method of investigating, it is not required under ICWA.

The Denver Human Services department and E.M.'s legal representative, Josi McCauley, argued against the more expansive view.

"ICWA was not intended to protect all children," she explained. "E.M. was just 5 days old when this case was filed. He'll be 3 in August. ... While this court must consider the interest of potential tribes, it must weigh those interests against this child's need for permanency."

McCauley elaborated upon the requirements of ICWA that would apply should E.M. be treated as an Indigenous child. In addition to tribal notification and time constraints, a qualified expert witness familiar with the relevant tribe's familial customs must testify. There cannot be a foster care placement or termination of parental rights unless there would likely be serious emotional or physical damage in the parent's continued care.

Justice Melissa Hart observed that it was possible the tribal nations referred to by the mother's family would have considered E.M. a member, even without the adults' formal enrollment.

"The only reason there might be reason to know the child is an Indian child is if the tribe's membership rules were such that the mother might not realize she was, in fact, a member, or might not realize the child was a member because she might not know what the membership rules are," Hart said.

That was also the view of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes, the two federally recognized tribes in Colorado that submitted a brief asking the justices to uphold the Court of Appeals' decision. The tribes argued that state courts' failure to notify them in cases implicating tribal children improperly allows state judges to determine membership, instead of sovereign Indigenous nations.

"Notice to a tribe should be early and accurate, and the tribes will determine their response and their allocation of resources. Preemptively deciding on behalf of tribes what tribes want is contrary to ICWA and tribal sovereignty," they wrote.

Justice William W. Hood III asked whether the Supreme Court should be concerned about a "perverse incentive" for parents to falsely claim tribal heritage if they know they can delay a custody case once ICWA's protections kick in.

"If the message to parents is that raising Indian heritage triggers notice to the tribes and the tribes are gonna tell the truth about who's enrolled and who isn't," countered Joel Pratt, the attorney for the mother, "then the fastest way to address that perverse incentive is just to notify the tribes."

Saroyan, the lawyer with the Office of Respondent Parents' Counsel, reminded the justices that ICWA's goal is ultimately to prevent the breakup of Indigenous families. The 2020 Census found 3.6% of Colorado's population to be American Indian or Alaska Native, at least in part, with the descendants of at least 200 tribal nations living in the Denver metro area.

Because tribal nations can employ different metrics when determining if a child is affiliated with them, Saroyan argued the court should employ an "expansive" interpretation of the law.

"When Grandma says, 'I have this ancestry.'" he told the justices, "she is essentially saying there's a credible basis for believing there could be a political affiliation."


The beheading of a tailor by two Muslim men in Rajasthan has sent shock waves across the country.

Muhammad Nihad PV | TwoCircles.net

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NEW DELHI  Several Muslim clerics, leaders and organisations have unanimously condemned the brutal killing of a Hindu tailor by two Muslim men in Udaipur for the formers support to now suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharmas derogatory statements about Prophet Muhammad. The accused duo were later arrested in the Rajsamand area in Rajasthan.

In a statement, Ajmer Dargah Diwan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan criticised the barbaric act, saying, No religion promotes violence against humanity. Especially, in the religion of Islam, all the teachings act as sources of peace.

In the gruesome video that surfaced on the internet, some non-ethical minds committed a brutal attack on a poor man which is a punishable sin in Islam, Khan said.

All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat President Navaid Hamid took to Twitter to condemn the incident. The gruesome beheading in Udaipur is anti-Islamic and an open case of hate crime. Prophet Muhammad had never harmed anybody in his entire life. Those pretending to indulge in crime because of the Prophets love are criminals and need harshest punishment as per the law, he tweeted.

There can be no justification for it. Our partys consistent stand is to oppose such violence. No one can take law into their own hands. We demand that the state govt take strictest possible action. The rule of law must be upheld, commented Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

The countrys top Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) also condemned the incident, with its general secretary, Hakeemuddin Qasmi, saying in a statement, The act is a crime in the eyes of law, and our religion does not allow this.

Muslim socio-religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) called the statement barbaric. Taking to Twitter, JIH said, The Udaipur incident is barbaric, Uncivilized and there is no room for Justification of violence in Islam. We strongly condemn it. No citizen should take law into his own hands. Let the law prevail.

Following the killing, all districts in Rajasthan are on high alert with internet services temporarily across the state, NDTV reported. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has appealed to all the citizens to maintain peace and called for an emergency meeting today.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has transferred the case to the anti-terror task force National Investigation Agency (NIA), saying the involvement of any organisation and international links would be thoroughly investigated, The Print said in a report.

Muhammad Nihad PV is a sociology student at the University of Hyderabad. He tweets at @nihadbinnisar
A pastor accused in a $24 million fraud case after North Carolina agents seized fake Cartier bracelets from his Chapel Hill church remains at large in China, skipping his court date Monday.

Jiangang Frank Lan, 37, failed to appear in Orange County for his counterfeit jewelry case, raising his bail to $1 million.

The NC Secretary of States office, acting as special prosecutor in the case, is waiting for further instructions from the court on next steps, said spokesman Tim Crowley, including whether Lan is unable to travel due to Chinese restrictions, as his attorney argued.

Meanwhile, it appears from court documents that Lans Chapel Hill attorney, Matthew Suczynski, has withdrawn from the case.

2019 arrest

At the time of Lans arrest in 2019, the seizure of counterfeit goods represented the largest in North Carolina dating back 15 years  the whole history of the states anti-counterfeit task force.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall told CBS 17 she was astonished, and that the 3,200 bracelets value matched the previous years seizures in a single bust.

Court officials set Lans bond at $25,000, higher than the usual, because he had told law enforcement officials of his plans to leave the state on the upcoming weekend.

But in 2021, he left the country entirely, Crowley said, and a new court date has not been set.

In 2019, the website for Deer Park Community Church on Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill listed Lan as its pastor, along with his wife, Leah Peng.

It was unclear Tuesday whether the church is still operating. Its website contains no updated information since 2019 and is plastered with advertisements for security cameras. A link offering further information leads to a site with an expired domain, and a telephone number goes directly to voicemail.

The N&Os message there was not returned.

Link to money laundering operation

Meanwhile, Newsweek is connecting Lans case to a larger money laundering operation.

In a Monday report, Newsweek drew ties to the cleric David Jang, whose World Olivet Assembly is being probed by the Department of Homeland Security. Jang also founded Olivet University, of which Lan is a graduate.

Citing unnamed law enforcement sources, Newsweek reported Lan is suspected of participating in a trade-based money laundering scheme connected to China. The national news site described such schemes as starting with wealthy Chinese depositing money in accounts controlled by a crime syndicate, which then places the same amount in U.S accounts and ships goods  often counterfeit  to generate a legitimate paper trail.

Crowley said the investigation is active and the secretarys office cannot comment further.

In general, in counterfeit cases, we understand that counterfeiting can lead to other kinds of crimes like money laundering or human trafficking," Crowley said. "Weve found that before.

Olivet was not named at the hearing in North Carolina.

Copyright 2022 Tribune Content Agency.
DANVILLE, Va.  Danville and Pittsylvania County have shifted back into the lowest community level threat for the virus.

On average, about two dozen new infections are reported daily to the Virginia Department of Health in both localities, a drop from about 55 earlier this month. The decline bucks earlier predictions that showed an incoming summer surge. Those forecasts have altered course and now illustrate the steady downturn will likely continue.

The seven-day rolling average of 24 cases only accounts for those reported to the health department. Results from the popular at-home test kits arent recorded in a database, meaning the figure likely undercuts the true pandemic picture in the region.

Even with the drop, cases stand far higher now compared to a year ago when the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District was adding only about three new cases per day.

Enjoy your summer but know COVID hasnt left us, Dr. Sheranda Gunn-Nolan, market chief medical officer for Sovah Health, recently told the Register & Bee. If you are sick, even if you think it is just allergies, please stay home and consider testing.

The University of Virginias Biocomplexity Institute officially pushed Danville and Pittsylvania County into a declining trajectory in a brief report issued Friday. In fact, 28 of the 35 health districts in Virginia are seeing the same decline and three more in a plateau, which means cases are holding steady with no up or down movement.

Model projections show continued declines, though BA.4 and BA.5 may cause a bump up in cases in late summer, researchers noted in Fridays report. Those two new variants  cousins of the original omicron version of the coronavirus  are making inroads in Virginia.

These subvariants have stronger immune escape properties than previous omicron subvariants but so far show no evidence of increased transmission rates or severity, UVa scientists said.

Given the drop in cases and hospitalizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved Danville and Pittsylvania County into the lowest community level for COVID-19. In this bottom tier, masks arent recommended in any settings.

Neighboring Halifax County remains in the high level, a category where the CDC says everyone should wear face coverings for indoor public settings.

Outbreaks and more

There are 34 cases and at least one death associated with an outbreak of COVID-19 at Gretna Health and Rehabilitation Center. While it was reported to the health department on May 30, it wasnt added to a weekly updated database until Friday.

Its not clear how many deaths there are with the outbreak. When there are fewer than five cases or deaths, the health department shields the actual number in an effort to maintain anonymity.

Danville and Pittsylvania County both added a new COVID-19 death this week, but those fatalities likely happened weeks ago. The health department uses a strict process to verify a death was associated with COVID-19.

In addition, there was a two-week blackout period in data from the health department earlier this month. Thats because the CDC withheld death certificate data due to a recoding process.

For a few weeks after the blackout period, you should expect to see a higher number of COVID-19-associated deaths added to the dashboards and data sets, state health officials wrote in a recent post.
GREENSBORO  The federal government is suing a local company claiming it forced workers to participate in prayer sessions as a condition of employment and sometimes took roll to ensure compliance.

According to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Aurora Pro Services, a Greensboro home service and repair company, violated federal law when it required employees to participate in Christian prayer sessions as a condition of employment. The company also retaliated against employees who opposed the unlawful practice, the EEOC contends in the lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Greensboro on behalf of former employees John McGaha and Mackenzie Saunders. It said that McGahas pay was reduced by 50% days after he asked to be excused from the prayer meetings. He and Saunders ultimately were fired on the basis of their religious beliefs ... and in retaliation for their opposition to the prayer meetings, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, McGaha, who was a construction manager, is atheist and Saunders, who was a customer service representative, is agnostic.

The companys CEO and founder, Oscar D. Lopez, denied the allegations in an emailed statement to the News & Record.

No employee has ever been fired or will ever be fired for refusing to believe in Christ or for refusing to pray, said Lopez, who is not personally named in the lawsuit. We are a Christian company that encourages prayer and encourages employees to openly express their Christian faith and disciple to one another. We believe in the power of the gospel.

However, according to the lawsuit, since at least June 2020, the company required all staffers to attend daily, employer-led Christian prayer meetings. Although the meetings also briefly addressed business matters at the close, the EEOC contends they were primarily religious in nature.

Employees gathered in a circle while the company owner and others read Bible scripture, Christian devotionals and solicited prayer requests from employees, the EEOC said.

Prayers were sometimes requested and offered for poor performing employees, who were identified by name, the lawsuit states.

The prayer meetings could last 45 minutes or longer, the EEOC said. In the lawsuit, Saunders described Lopezs behavior as ranting.

Saunders began to feel as though the meetings became cult-like after the owner required everyone to recite the Catholic version of the Lords Prayer in unison, the lawsuit said.

On one occasion, Lopez asked McGaha to lead the Christian prayer, which he declined, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says the owner threatened McGahas job if he did not participate in the prayer meetings, stating: You have to participate. If you do not participate, that is OK, you dont have to work here. You are getting paid to be here.

The wording Lopez is alleged to have used is nearly identical to one posted on a Facebook video four days after McGaha was fired on Sept. 4, 2020. Asked about the circumstances of that video, Lopez said that it was a setup by the employee. He was purposely trying to get fired, Lopez said in an email. I tried very hard not to fire him by stating to him that he had to participate. When you are put on the spot and youre already upset, it is very easy to choose the wrong words.

In January 2021, two or three weeks after Saunders quit attending the prayer meetings,(t)he owner told Ms. Saunders she was being discharged because she was not a good fit for the company, according to the lawsuit.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace. The EEOC is seeking compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of the two employees and an injunction against the company to end any ongoing discrimination based on religion and to take steps to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.

Federal law protects employees from having to choose between their sincerely held religious beliefs and their jobs, Melinda C. Dugas, a regional attorney for the EEOCs Charlotte District, said in a news release. Employers who sponsor prayer meetings in the workplace have a legal obligation to accommodate employees whose personal religious or spiritual views conflict with the companys practice.

Lopez said in his statement: I will die on a hill for our beliefs because Christ died a horrible death on a hill for our sins. We hope that when all of this is said and done, more companies will stand up for their Christian beliefs and bring the gospel into their workplace without fear or shame.

Contact Kenwyn Caranna at 336-373-7082 and follow @kcaranna on Twitter.
WINSTON-SALEM  A Greensboro man accused of running a scam in which he collected more than $54,000 in rent from places he didn't own or didn't have permission to sell was sued last year for doing the same thing to a Forsyth County man.

Khalil Nadir Rynes, 29, of Nighthawk Place in Greensboro, was arrested June 18 by Winston-Salem police and charged with six counts of felony obtaining property by false pretenses and one count of felony breaking and entering. Arrest warrants list a Winston-Salem address for Rynes but a police news release lists the Greensboro address. In the news release, Winston-Salem police said Rynes targeted Hispanic people.

Between Dec. 1, 2019 and Feb. 1, 2022, police allege Rynes entered into either a "housing rental" or a "rent-to-own" agreement with six Hispanic victims and collected a total of $54,830 in rental payments. Winston-Salem police said Rynes didn't own the properties he rented out and didn't have permission to sell them.

The victims spent $63,200 on renovations to the properties, police said. Police detectives have said they believe there are other victims who were afraid to come forward because Rynes threatened to call law-enforcement.

Attorney John Combs filed a lawsuit in Forsyth District Court on July 20, 2021, on behalf of Juan Nolasco against Rynes. According to the complaint, Rynes entered into a "lease with option to purchase real estate" with Nolasco on Feb. 7, 2020 for a property at 841 North Cameron Ave.

Nolasco paid $5,000 as a down payment and then paid $500 a month for three months for a total of $6,500. Nolasco also spent $30,000 in labor and materials to renovate the property, the lawsuit said.

After three months, Henrietta Floyd and Barry Campbell, who owned the property, contacted Nolasco and told him that Rynes was not authorized to sell the residence, the lawsuit said.

Nolasco sought more than $30,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. Rynes never filed a written a response to the lawsuit, and on April 5, 2022, District Court Judge George Cleland IV issued a default judgment against Rynes for $35,000, according to court documents.

Combs could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Rynes, who is out on a $102,500 bond, did not respond to a voice message left on his cellphone.

Rynes does not face any criminal charges stemming from the allegations in the civil lawsuit.

Winston-Salem police said the patrol division received its first report about Rynes on Aug. 17, 2020. An arrest warrant alleged that from June 1, 2020, to Aug. 17, 2020, Rynes collected $4,330 from a woman with whom he entered into a rental agreement for a residence at 1900 East Third St. He was charged with felony obtaining property by false pretenses. He also was charged with felony breaking and entering. He is accused of breaking into a house on Waverly Oak Drive in Kernersville.

In one instance, according to a search warrant, Winston-Salem police were called to a house at 3038 Colgate Drive on July 19, 2021. Police were responding to a report that people were squatting or illegally living at the house. Police investigators talked to a woman there who told them that she had rented the house from a family friend named Khalil, the search warrant said.

Police investigators later found the owner of the house who told police that she had not authorized anyone to live in the house or sell it. She told police that she was in the process of selling the property herself when she learned that people were living there, the search warrant said.

The woman who was living in the house told police that she had entered into an agreement with Rynes, whom she identified from a photo lineup, and that she paid him $5,000 and then paid $500 a month after that. She told police that Rynes had placed the house for rent on Facebook Marketplace. According to arrest warrants, Rynes collected $15,000 from the woman in rent payments.

Winston-Salem police detectives were able to get a search warrant for Rynes' account at Summit Credit Union.

Arrest warrants allege that Rynes got as much as $13,000 from one victim and $11,500 from another victim. He collected between $4,330 to $6,000 from the other victims, arrest warrants alleged.

On Tuesday, Kira Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Winston-Salem Police Department, said she could not release any additional information, including why Rynes is alleged to have targeted Hispanics.

Rynes is scheduled to go to Forsyth District Court on July 7.

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Muslim clerics and organisations condemn the act and demand action as per the law.

Muhammed Nihad PV | TwoCircles.net

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NEW DELHI  After protests following the beheading of a Hindu shopkeeper by two Muslim men on Tuesday, prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Cr.PC were issued throughout Rajasthan. The two accused, who purpotedely recorded the murder on camera, were arrested by Rajasthan police from Rajsamand district of the state late night on Tuesday.

Earlier, protesters gathered in the streets to voice their outrage over the murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in the Maldas Street of Udaipur. The culprits claimed on camera that the victim had supported the offending remarks of Nupur Sharma, the former spokeswoman for the BJP, on social media. The two posted a video after the horrifying incident boasting about beheading and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi of meeting the same fate.

Following unrest, curfew was imposed in the district for 24 hours. However, individuals providing essential services, exam-taking students, and exam-related staff members will be exempt.

All districts in Rajasthan are on high alert with internet services temporarily shut across the state, NDTV reported. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has appealed to all the citizens to maintain peace and called for an emergency meeting today.

The Home Ministry has transferred the case to the anti-terror task force National Investigation Agency (NIA), saying the involvement of any organisation and international links would be thoroughly investigated, The Print said in a report.

Gulab Chand Kataria, the leader of the opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, blamed the incident on the state governments neglect. Police shouldve provided protection when he asked for it & after his shop was closed for 4-5 days. It was a 100% failure of the police, he said.

The post-mortem of the slain has been conducted at the hospital with heavy police deployment. His last rites will be performed in Udaipur.

Meanwhile, the Assistant sub-inspector has been suspended for negligence. Udaipur divisional commissioner Rajendra Bhatt said that a financial compensation of Rs 31 lakh will be given to the kin of Kanhaiya Lal.

Muhammad Nihad PV is a sociology student at the University of Hyderabad. He tweets at @nihadbinnisar
GREENSBORO  A 29-year-old burglary suspect was hospitalized early Wednesday after shooting himself during a struggle with police officers, according to a news release from the Greensboro Police Department.

Ryan Robert Aughenbaugh, of Greensboro, was listed in stable condition and has been charged with three counts of breaking or entering into a motor vehicle. police said in the news release.

At approximately 3:15 a.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of Westhaven Drive about a burglary from a motor vehicle still in progress. As officers arrived, they attempted to arrest the suspect and a struggle ensued while police attempted to obtain the suspects weapons.

"During the struggle, the suspect discharged his weapon, resulting in non life-threatening injury to himself," police said in the news release.

Two officers went to a local hospital for evaluation. One officer was treated for a minor injury and released, and there were no injuries to the other officer, a department spokeswoman said by email Wednesday.

According to the news release, the Greensboro Police Departments Professional Standards Division and Criminal Investigations Division are conducting internal and criminal investigations to determine the sequence of events and whether Greensboro Police Department policies were followed.
During the most recent decade, the eastern bluebird, which is found in North Carolina, has significantly increased with the help of the birdho
Drivers will face record high gas prices ahead of the July 4 holiday even as the petroleum market continues to tumble, experts say.

The national average for a gallon of gas is down 9 cents from last week and is forecast to fall another 10 to 20 cents by Independence Day, offering drivers a little relief, according to the price comparison website GasBuddy.com.

Those gearing up to hit the road can expect to pay an average $4.85 per gallon on July 4  marking the highest price on record for the busy travel weekend, experts said. The national average hit $2.18 during the 2020 holiday before climbing to $3.12 in 2021.

The good news comes weeks after the national average ballooned to $5 per gallon following a spate of painfully high prices at the pump. The rising prices prompted President Joe Biden to call for a three-month gas tax holiday to bring them down.

Still, drivers seem largely unfazed according to a recent GasBuddy survey showing 58% of Americans still plan to take a road trip this summer.

Its been a scorching summer at the pump with record prices set in every state, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement. While we may see brief relief here and there, the high prices dont seem to be holding many Americans back from hitting the road with the economy fully reopen.

Citing market volatility, De Haan warned drivers could still see a super spike in gas prices later this summer.

With that in mind, Sheetz, which has more than 640 locations in the U.S., will cut prices for unleaded and E85 fuel to help consumers during the holiday. Unleaded 88 fuel will cost $3.99 a gallon. E85 fuel, which is approved by the EPA for use in vehicles for model years 2001 or newer as well as light-duty trucks, SUVs and Flex Fuel Vehicles, will cost $3.49 a gallon.

Sheetz recommended drivers check their manual before filling up with E85 to ensure it is compatible with their vehicle.

Still, even with gas and oil prices finally falling, experts warn that a sudden spike could happen at anytime. De Haan said economic concerns are a big reason for the price drop, but another reason could be that oil prices rose as high as traders believed they could go, and many decided to pull out of the market, triggering the decline.

They get the jitters that the market is overbought, he said. When prices are that lofty, you dont need a whole lot to turn them around.

Besides, consumer demand continues to increase despite high prices.

We complain about it, De Haan said, but we keep buying it.
RALEIGH  Republican leaders of the North Carolina House and Senate unveiled their budget proposal Tuesday, just days before the General Assembly is set to adjourn for the year.

The agreement between leadership in both chambers, which was reached after negotiations between Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, would give most state workers an additional raise of 1% on top of the 2.5% they were slated to receive under last years budget. Higher raises would go to employees who are paid on an experience-based schedule or have salaries set by law.

The budget bill passed last year included a 5% raise over two years for state workers and an average 5% raise for teachers over the same period. The proposal unveiled Tuesday would increase, on average, the raise for teachers during the second year from 2.5% to 4.2%. The starting monthly salary for entry-level teachers would increase to $3,700.

Public school employees who dont have a certification will get either a 4% raise, or have their salaries increase to $15 per hour, whichever is greater.

The budget does not include any new reductions to tax rates. Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, pointed out that the budget passed by lawmakers last year and signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper included a drawdown of both the personal and corporate income tax rates.

Nor does the budget include Medicaid expansion, a longtime priority for legislative Democrats that Republicans have become more receptive to in recent months, culminating in two separate proposals advanced by Moore and Berger in the House and Senate.

Berger said the plan announced Tuesday was the best version of an agreement that budget writers in both chambers could reach. Berger said information about the budget had been relayed to the governor and his staff, but legislative leaders havent yet received a commitment from him.

In a statement released just before Berger and Moore unveiled the proposal, Cooper said he was encouraged both chambers have agreed on the need to expand access to Medicaid. He called it imperative that the GOP-controlled legislature reach an agreement on Medicaid, and said he would review the full budget once it was released.

Berger and Moore began meeting late last week to hash out differences that their respective budget and tax-law writing lieutenants could not. The two chamber leaders spoke on Sunday with Cooper  who would be asked to sign any budget legislation into law  on Medicaid and the budget.

Last November, Cooper signed his first comprehensive state budget into law since getting sworn into office roughly five years ago  a process fraught with resistance between the states top leaders.

This time around, they vowed to make things go more smoothly.

The chief challenge for GOP legislators who control the General Assembly has been to figure out what to do with an additional $6.2 billion in projected revenues above and beyond what they anticipated state government would receive this fiscal year and the next year that begins July 1.

The enacted budget already tells state government how to spend about $27 billion for the next 12 months. Negotiators this month have been working through differences on additional tax cuts and pay raises beyond what is in the already-approved budget law.

The possibility of expanding Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults in North Carolina surfaced again as negotiations near their end  although under different dynamics than in previous years.

Berger, a longtime expansion opponent, has changed his mind. He embraced legislation this spring that would expand Medicaid while making several other changes to nursing licensure and hospital construction that he said would help increase both health care access and professionals.
VIRGINIA CITY  Maggie Monaghan tearfully implored the judge to reject a plea bargain offered to defendant Ethan Jacob Choate, who prosecutors have alleged participated in assaulting Monaghan, her husband and his brother outside the Pioneer Bar in Virginia City.

Choate was the first of five defendants linked to the July 10 fight to resolve his case in court. He had been charged initially with misdemeanor assault but a plea agreement allowed Choate to plead no contest Tuesday in Madison County Justice Court to a lesser offense of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Four other defendants who, like Choate, were linked in July to the non-profit Heroes and Horses ranch for veterans near Virginia City, remain charged with felony assault.

Justice Court Judge Marc Glines did not grant Maggie Monaghans wish. But he studied the disorderly conduct statute and the penalties allowed for a conviction and concluded, with obvious disappointment, that he could not include jail time in Choates sentence.

Instead, Choate was ordered to pay a fine of $100, a surcharge of $85 and restitution of $660.10 to help pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses of Chase Monaghan for injuries suffered during the fight.

Witnesses to the bar fight gave varied accounts about the specific involvement that night of defendant Choate. But most put him in the midst of the fray.

The July 10 fight started inside the Pioneer Bar in Virginia City but didnt get bloody and brutal until the conflict shifted outside, where Cody Monaghan, Maggies husband, was beaten to the ground and kicked in the face, according to witnesses.

The Madison County Sheriffs Office received reports about the fight at about 10:45 p.m. that Saturday.

Deputies who investigated that night and into the next morning interviewed a number of suspects. At the time, Choate was a staff member at Heroes and Horses. The non-profit organization offers veterans emotionally scarred by service non-traditional approaches to healing  such as backcountry horse packing.

Later, four men believed to be clients at the non-profit Heroes and Horses ranch west of Virginia City were charged with felony assault.

Cody Monaghan suffered serious injuries that night, including a broken nose and several facial fractures, according to court records.

Witnesses said he was surrounded outside the bar by five cowboys, men wearing cowboy hats and jeans.

One witness told the deputies Cody Monaghan was injured so badly because the cowboys were punching and kicking him on the ground.

This same witness said Choate was not involved with attacking Cody Monaghan. Instead, the witness said Choate was engaged in a one-on-one fight with Cody Monaghans brother, Chase, on the boardwalk outside the Pioneer Bar.

Witnesses told deputies some of the men described as cowboys left the area in a silver or gray pickup and headed west.

Deputies interviewed Choate around 1:20 a.m. at the Heroes and Horses ranch. According to their report, Choate had dried blood on his right cheek.

Later, Maggie Monaghan told investigators Choate was the person who threw or slammed her to the ground outside the bar. And Chase Monaghan allegedly attacked him outside the bar, court records show.

The four defendants still facing felony assault charges are: Christopher Michael Kase, Arizona, charged with felony aggravated assault; William Robert Haley, Salt Lake City; Dalton Fish, Dowelltown, Tennessee; and Karson Edward Yuan, Phoenix, Arizona.

These cases are in varied stages of potential resolution, with trial dates set in September, October and November.

Cody and Maggie Monaghan and Chase Monaghan told authorities that on the night of July 10 they had attended a Brewery Follies show in Virginia City and were planning to have a drink at the Pioneer Bar before participating in the Virginia City Ghost Tours.

They told investigators they found a table in the crowded bar and noticed there were men in cowboy hats at the bar, but turned away from the bar to face the tables.

Maggie Monaghan told authorities a man in that group approached their table, confronted Chase Monaghan and snatched his sunglasses.

Pushing and shoving ensued, witnesses said, and the bartender cleared the bar.

Security camera footage seems to support this account, court records show, and the aggressor appears to be Kase. And from a photo lineup, Cody Monaghan said he was pretty certain Kase was among those assaulting him outside the bar, court documents show.

Once the fight resumed outside the bar, accounts from witnesses varied about who shoved or hit whom first. There seemed to be general agreement, however, that a man picked up Maggie Monaghan and slammed her on the ground, and that more than one person from the cowboys group attacked Cody Monaghan.

When deputies visited the Heroes and Horses ranch in the early morning hours after the fight one deputy observed what appeared to be dried blood on Kases right boot. Deputies reported that Kase stated he did not kick anyone.

They spotted other apparent bloodstains on the inner side of Kases left pants leg, records show.

Heroes and Horses started in 2014. CEO Micah Fink, a former Navy SEAL, has said he was motivated to help establish the organization after recognizing that suicide and addiction rates continued to rise among veterans in spite of the work of thousands of PTSD-related nonprofits and billions of dollars spent annually.

Heroes and Horses says it works to offer combat veterans an alternative solution for defining and approaching their physical and mental scars  a solution that does not include prescription medications or traditional psychotherapy but rather the opportunity to use tools to redefine their purpose, rediscover their inner strength, and maximize their potential by taking ownership of their lives for the first time since leaving service.

Fink provided a statement in September responding to criminal charges filed against Choate and Heroes and Horses participants.

Heroes and Horses mission is to provide life-saving personal infrastructure for American military heroes who have suffered emotional scarring after being wounded by war. Heroes and Horses has grown to be a respected program aimed at addressing the unique needs of veterans in the United States. Heroes and Horses values our community and remains committed to our mission of changing the lives of our veterans through our rigorous program.

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A decision on a new habitat leasing program proposed by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is slated for August, with two public comment periods currently open on environmental impacts and the overall program respectively.

FWP proposes expanding the use of the Habitat Montana account, which currently uses license dollars for land purchases and conservation easements, to fund a new habitat leasing program. State funding would be leveraged against federal funding or other sources in an effort to sign up to 500,000 acres over the next five years of private land prairie habitat into 30- or 40-year leases. Terms of the leases would include limits on development and allowance of some public access.

The public may weigh in on the proposed program in two processes, with more information available at fwp.mt.gov.

FWP has released an environmental assessment open for comment until July 13. The assessment will look specifically at predicted environmental impacts of a leasing program, and FWP spokesman Greg Lemon suggests comments be tailored toward environmental benefits or concerns.

FWP is also taking comment ahead of the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commissions Aug. 25 meeting. The agency will request approval from commissioners at that meeting to proceed with the program, and Lemon suggests more general comments about the program as well as opposition or support be submitted under this process. Public comment is open until July 21.

Documents and a public meeting have provided additional details on the programs structure since the Montana State News Bureau reported on its development in early June. Officials believe a leasing program will be important strategically moving forward.

Habitat Conservation Leases are expected to be a primary conservation tool into the foreseeable future for priority wildlife habitats as defined in the State Wildlife Action and Habitat Montana plans, documents state.

Conservation groups have raised some concerns that the new leasing program could either replace or diminish land purchases and conservation easements that are popular with hunters and access proponents.

FWP officials have said the agency will still pursue purchases and easements, but look more to whether the transactions have local support. FWP Director Hank Worsech said in a previous interview easements had created some local heartburn, and under the current administration, county commissions would need to back projects in order to garner support of the commission and Montana State Board of Land Commissioners.

The program would rank priority prairie habitats for funding, particularly with declines in sage grouse, including sagebrush grasslands, mixed grass prairie and wetland-grassland in eastern and southwest Montana, involving habitats overlapping with parts of 45 counties.

Payments for the leases would be a fixed rate per acre and be made in an upfront payment to a landowner. Rates would be set at 5-10% of the lands fee simple value, determined by an average value per acre of habitat types in that part of the state.

A lease could be broken by the landowner, but would incur repayment of the remainder and a 25% penalty.

Public access would be required and set as a minimum number of recreation days for hunting, fishing or wildlife viewing based on the size of the lease. A landowner could also enroll in the Block Management Program, Ken McDonald, FWPs wildlife division administrator, said during a recent public meeting.

The leases are intended to conserve that habitat, he said. There is an access requirement as part of the lease, but the landowner and that land thats covered by the lease can also be enrolled in Block Management and  Block Management can be used to manage access on the lease in addition to whatever other access the landowner wants to provide.

FWP will request program approval from the commission in August, which would allow the agency to begin signing up landowners without commission approval for each lease.

The commission is not bound by the request, and could offer amendments to the program or vote against proceeding.

Tom Kuglin is the deputy editor for the Lee Newspapers State Bureau. His coverage focuses on outdoors, recreation and natural resources.

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Danish Crown Prince Couple to visit Vietnam

TRH The Danish Crown Prince Couple will pay an official visit to Vietnam this November to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and promote green solutions.



TRH The Crown Prince and Crown Princess and the accompanying Danish business delegation will arrive in Hanoi on November 1 on a two-day visit where they will meet with local business people and official representatives, participate in debates on green transition and visit local energy projects.





The visit is also part of celebrating the 50-year anniversary for Danish-Vietnamese diplomatic relations.

Denmark and Vietnam share a close bilateral relationship. On energy, Denmark and Danish businesses are supporting Vietnams green transition. The close bilateral relationship is illustrated by a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement from 2013. Further, in 2017 Denmark and Vietnam signed a Danish Energy Partnership Programme that supports Vietnams ambitions to live up to the Paris Agreement.

With a declared political objective to reach climate neutrality in 2050 and from having a coastline of more than 3200 kilometres, there is an enormous potential in Vietnam for renewable energy, not least wind energy on- and offshore. The same goes for energy efficiency, since the Vietnamese industry and construction sectors are the two largest energy consumers in Vietnam by 49 and 15 percent respectively. Danish companies provide sought-after and valuable experiences to ensure that green transition go hand-in-hand with growth and economic development.

Vietnam is also an attractive market for Danish companies. Even during the pandemic, Vietnam grew by 2-3 % annually, and this is expected to go back to the normal 4-7 % range in 2022. In Vietnam, Denmark is considered a dedicated and innovative partner not least due to the historic development cooperation between Denmark and Vietnam, from which Denmark has also supported climate adaption in Vietnam.

The Danish Royal family also have historic ties to Vietnam. The father of HRH The Crown Prince lived his first years in Hanoi and visited Vietnam together with HM The Queen and TRH The Crown Prince and Crown Princess in 2009 during an official state visit. HRH The Crown Prince visited Vietnam again in 2011 to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of diplomatic ties. This years business promotion marks the 50-year anniversary for diplomatic ties, which should originally have been celebrated in 2021.


The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled the state Constitution gives exclusive authority to regulate firearms on campus to the Board of Regents of Higher Education, thwarting the state Legislature's efforts to allow concealed carry on state campuses.

The high court ruling, authored by Justice Laurie McKinnon, affirms a District Court decision from late last year, in which Judge Michael McMahon issued a permanent injunction against sections of House Bill 102 that prohibited the Board of Regents from regulating concealed carry on campuses.

The high court ruled maintaining a safe and secure educational environment falls within the board's constitutional authority.

"The MUS appreciates the clarity provided by the Montana Supreme Court," Helen Thigpen, deputy commissioner for government relations and public affairs, said in an emailed statement Wednesday. "From the outset, the Board of Regents sought judicial review of HB 102 to determine the appropriate entity for setting policy for the state's public colleges and universities. The Board of Regents values its strong partnership with the Legislature and will continue to work on shared goals and priorities to strengthen the state's economy and provide world-class educational opportunities to Montanans."

Other parts of the bill that expand where both concealed and openly carried firearms may be possessed remain intact.

Republicans had lauded the bill on Second Amendment grounds, arguing the rollback of regulations allowed citizens to protect themselves. Republican Rep. Seth Berglee of Joliet on Wednesday called the ruling a "slippery slope."

"If the Board of Regents can restrict this right, what's to stop them from restricting free speech, due process, voting, or executing warrantless searches and seizures on university property?," Berglee said in an emailed statement. "That unelected Board of Regents members can unilaterally limit constitutional rights should concern all Montanans. This is the most pro-government, anti-freedom ruling I've seen from the Montana Supreme Court in a long time."

Still, legal experts gave lawmakers notice that such legislation may be at odds with the Montana Constitution. Republican lawmakers included $1 million in implementation funding that would be withdrawn by the Legislature if the Board of Regents decided to litigate over the matter.

A Board of Regents committee held a public hearing last year to consider pursuing litigation after Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, signed HB 102 into law. Supporters of the draft policy allowing guns on campus were outnumbered 11-to-1 by those opposed.

The bill has been under litigation since May 2021. It was supposed to go into effect the following month.

Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen represented the state in the case against the Board of Regents.

"House Bill 102 was an historic expansion of Montanans rights and their ability to defend themselves," Kyler Nerison, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office, said in a statement on Wednesday. "As the court notes in its opinion, being sheltered within a 'gun-free zone' hasnt prevented students from being murdered on university campuses in Montana."

In its ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court wrote it was following the framers' intent in its interpretation of the constitutional provision. Citing the 1972 Constitutional Convention debate over the board's authority, the Supreme Court wrote that the framers intended to put the Montana University System out of reach from political ambitions.

"We must also consider that Montana's Constitution is a prohibition upon legislative power, rather than a grant of power," the ruling stated. " We agree that HB 102 unconstitutionally infringes upon the Board's responsibility to oversee the (Montana University System)."

Justice Ingrid Gustafson recused herself from the Board of Regents case. Cascade County District Court Judge John Parker was appointed to her place.

The so-called campus carry case has become fodder during this years Supreme Court race. McMahon, who initially ruled against HB 102's provisions relating to college campuses, received sharp criticism around the state from GOP leaders during his own bid for Gustafson's seat. McMahon was a distant third vote-getter in the primary earlier this month; Gustafson and Public Service Commission Chairman James Brown will advance to November's general election.

In an emailed statement on Wednesday, Gustafson said her re-election bid this year played into the decision to recuse herself.

This case involved an appeal from an order issued by Judge McMahon, who at the time of the appeal, was a primary opponent running against me for the Montana Supreme Court. To avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest, I recused myself from this appeal, Gustafson said.

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State Rep. Tim Butler is poised for a return to the Statehouse after coming away victorious in his bid to represent the new 95th House District.

Butler defeated challenger Kent Gray, a Springfield-area lawyer, by an unofficial vote tally of 7,393 to 2,656 in Tuesdays primary. While the district includes Christian and Macon counties, the bulk of it is in Sangamon County, which Butler claimed by more than 4,000 votes.

Butler, a former staffer for U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis and Ray LaHood, has served in the Illinois House since March 2015.

Contact Scott Perry at (217) 421-7976. Follow him on Twitter: @scottperry66

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DECATUR  Decatur police arrested a pair of juveniles related to a string of burglaries in Decatur.

According to Sgt. Steve Carroll, the incidents occurred between June 23 and 28.

"A rock or piece of concrete was thrown through the window," he said about each burglary.

A 15-year-old and a 14-year-old juveniles were taken into custody.

Police responded to the latest robbery at approximately 2 a.m. Tuesday on West Eldorado Street. Other burglaries believed to be related include businesses in the 1300 block of Illinois 48 and in the 1600 block of West King Street.

All incidents included a rock or concrete used to break the windows.

An investigation continues for each burglary.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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DECATUR  Two Lincoln Park neighborhood residents expressed their concerns during a meeting of the Decatur school board about the possibility of the park becoming home to a new school.

Angie Miller told the board members Tuesday that people who live near the park chose their homes based on the view.

Some of the negatives are limited access to Lincoln Park, destruction of our street, and displacing wildlife and the beautiful view that we all have, she said. There are also flooding issues there. I hope you'll look into all options before finalizing any decisions.

While the board does not reply to public comments, deferring those to administration for later follow-up, Superintendent Rochelle Clark did read the joint statement aloud that the district and Decatur Park District released on Monday.

That statement says that the General Assembly approved the use of federal pandemic relief funds for use in building schools, and that such a building would not require a referendum or affect the annual tax levy, but that the school district and park district have not yet come to a decision whether to go forward with the proposal.

In other business, the board heard a first reading on upcoming board policy updates that include keeping the number of credits required to graduate at 22 and updating curriculum to include sex education, which aligns with the Illinois state requirements. The update also includes removing a sentence in the policy about changing school buildings' names. That sentence gives the superintendent the power to make a decision without board or public input, which Clark said is not the practice of Decatur Public Schools, which is why she wanted to remove it. The board will consider approval of all policy changes at its July 12 meeting.

The board also approved one-year contracts for Juanita Morris, Decatur Public Schools Foundation coordinator for the Jerry J. Dawson Civic Leadership Institute, and for Zach Shields, executive director of the Decatur Public Schools Foundation; and a one-year extension to Aramark's food service contract. Schools statewide are extending contracts for a year post-pandemic rather than put expiring contracts out for bid, Clark said.

Board member Kevin Collins-Brown said there have been concerns from families and the board expressed to Aramark about the quality and quantity of food provided for school meals.

They have the list of concerns, he said. This is not the first time it's been brought up.

Board President Dan Oakes said one problem Aramark has had is supply chain issues. Sometimes they order one thing and receive something else.

We've been in discussions about some of the things we've heard and we're meeting tomorrow, Clark said.

Board Vice President Andrew Taylor said he also wanted to consider changing the rule that students cannot go back for seconds. If a child is still hungry, he said, he wants to allow them to ask for more food, and get it, because some students count on their school lunch as their main meal of the day.

I'd be willing (for the district) to pay for that, he said.

The issue there, Clark said, is that Aramark has to provide food for the whole school and can't plan for seconds because they might not have enough to give extra food to every child, and they can't give one child seconds and refuse another because there isn't enough to go around.

Board member Regan Lewis said she hopes the board will be able to consider all those points next year when the food service contract goes out for bid again.

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

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DECATUR  Republican primary election voters on Tuesday picked challenger Shane Mendenhall as their choice for judge in the 6th Judicial Circuit, handing him a convincing win over Associate Judge Rodney Forbes.

That sets the stage for a November general election contest between Mendenhall and fellow Decatur-based attorney Andrew Weatherford, who had no primary challenger in his bid for the judges robe.

Mendenhall received 6,830 votes Tuesday compared to Forbes' total of 4,388.

"I am feeling great, yes sir," said Mendenhall when asked his reaction to Tuesday's victory. "We had a great team effort with everybody working hard and just getting out there and knocking on doors and talking to people; and I think the people of Macon County as a whole are awake and ready for some change."

The Republican primary campaign between Forbes, a sitting associate judge who had been appointed to the bench by his fellow elected judges in 2017, and Mendenhall, a Decatur attorney in civil practice, had been surprisingly lively and hard-fought.

Illinois Supreme Court rules forbid candidates in judges races from voicing views on any issue that might come before them in court, which is pretty much any issue.

But Forbes, 56, and the 42-year-old Mendenhall found room to clash over what became the central issue in their campaigns: just who is better qualified to be chosen as judge.

Voters decided that the argument of 56-year-old Forbes  that to be a judge, it helps if you have some experience  wasn't convincing beyond a reasonable doubt. A former chief public defender before his appointment, Forbes had also pointed out that a poll among members of the Illinois State Bar Association had given him the stamp of recommended for keeping the judge's gavel.

More support came from leading members of the Central Illinois legal establishment. Forbes' campaign was chaired by retired Macon County Circuit Court Presiding Judge A.G. Webber, who said no one was better qualified to deserve the nod from voters than Forbes.

Mendenhall, however, had pleaded that judges choosing judges was just what the electorate didnt need or want. A partner with Bolen, Robinson and Ells LLP, the attorney argued that it was time for a fresh face and fresh perspective as a judge; and jurists are not not required to have experience as a judge to run for election.

I think we need a judge who is going to protect the law-abiding citizens and the victims in this community, he had said.

Speaking Tuesday night, he added: "It's been over 20 years since Macon County had an opportunity to elect a judge instead of a judge essentially becoming a circuit judge by default. I think voters were ready to make that choice and that is why we have the system we have."

Forbes accepted the result graciously Tuesday and said he had run a solid campaign. "I had a lot of supporters and made a lot of friends along the way," he said. "I just hand it to my opponent that he ran a strong and well-organized campaign and, in the event he wins in the general election, I look forward to working with him on the bench."

Weatherford, his Democratic challenger, also has no prior experience of serving as a judge but has both an extensive civil and criminal law track history as a partner with the legal firm Johnson, Chiligiris & Weatherford.

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

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DECATUR  Michael Slover Sr., the patriarch of a family of murderers who killed and dismembered their ex-daughter-in-law, has died in prison while serving a 65 year sentence.

The Illinois Department of Corrections confirmed his death to the Herald & Review Wednesday.

Slover, understood to be aged about 76, was listed as having a date with the parole board in 2032 and a possible discharge date of 2035.

The individual in custody that you inquired about was serving his sentence at Pontiac Correctional Center, said Department of Corrections spokesperson, Naomi Puzzello.

At this point, wed only be able to confirm his death. Puzzello did not respond to further questions about the timing, exact place, circumstances and cause of Slovers death.

He had received his sentence in Macon County Circuit Court in May of 2002. Slover Sr. had been part of an elaborate scheme to shoot 23-year-old Karyn Hearn Slover to death and dump her body parts in Lake Shelbyville.

Convicted along with Slover Sr. was his wife, Jeannette Slover, and their son  and the victims former husband  Michael Slover, Jr.

Slover Jr., who has just turned 52, had also received a 65 year sentence and is currently incarcerated in the Illinois River Correctional Center. Jeannette Slover, 74, is serving her 60 year sentence in the Decatur Correctional Center. She is due for parole in 2029 and release in 2032; her son has the same projected parole and release dates.

Their victim had last been seen alive leaving the former Herald & Review offices on East William Street, where she worked in advertising, on the evening of Sept. 27, 1996.

She had been going to pick up her son, Kolten, who was being babysat by her former in-laws. Detectives would later determine that the motive for her killing was that the Slover family wanted 3-year-old Kolten and would do anything to prevent his mother taking him with her when she planned to move out of state to take a modeling job.

The boy had been adopted by Mary Slover, a maternal aunt, after his mothers murder and that provoked a 17-month custody battle with Karyn Hearn Slovers parents, Larry and Donna Hearn, which they won in October of 2003.

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

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DECATUR  Proposals are being accepted from those interested in providing ambulance services for Decatur following the announcement this week that the existing company will close Sept. 1.

Everyone is committed to finding the best ambulance services that will ensure continuity for our citizens, said Decatur City Manager Scot Wrighton, referring to the committee that has been formed to address the situation. This is a group effort and we are confident the end result wont mean more burden on the taxpayers.

The committee comprises leaders from city of Decatur management and the fire chief, HSHS St. Marys Hospital, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Crossing Healthcare and the Central Illinois Regional Dispatch Center.

Hospital Sisters Health System announced Monday that it is closing Decatur Ambulance Service. In addition to Decatur, the ambulance service also provides emergency transportation in Pana and Shelbyville.

According to a news release issued by the city, the group met Tuesday to coordinate a plan for securing new ambulance services and is now accepting proposals. A copy of the invitation to submit proposals is available at the city clerk's office in the Decatur Civic Center, 1 Gary K. Anderson Plaza.

The leaders of both Decatur hospitals are working with the city to hire the next ambulance service.

We want the smoothest transition possible and will work with our partners to make that happen, said St. Marys CEO Theresa Rutherford. We appreciate the collaborative effort and we look forward to examining proposals from interested private companies.

Decatur Memorial Hospital is happy to be at the table and working with our colleagues to find a solution for our community, said DMH CEO Drew Early. We know there are well-qualified private companies providing this service in the region, and we will work diligently to secure that for Decatur and Macon County.

Decatur Ambulance Services was purchased by Hospital Sisters Health System in 2018. The local ambulance service was founded in 1959.

The Decatur group believes that replacing the single current private-service provider with one or multiple providers is the speediest and least costly option to move forward, they stated in the news release. Having more than one provider is preferred, as it provides extra layers of coverage for our community and competition. Many central Illinois cities use this model where high-quality EMS/medical 911 services are provided by a private company or multiple companies. In this way, EMS does not have to be financially supported by government taxation.

Once a suitable company or companies has been found, the license to operate ambulance service will extend to Decatur only.

The situation appears less dire in Pana.

Pana Community Hospital sent a statement to the Herald & Review on Tuesday, after news of the closure broke on Monday. The care of our patients is always our top priority. We are extremely fortunate to have several transport resources available in the Pana area. We will continue to work with our other partners to ensure 24-hour coverage to transport patients," said Trina Casner, Pana Community Hospital president and CEO, in the statement.

Pana Community Hospital has had a long-standing relationship with Decatur Ambulance to provide transport of our patients for many years. We are saddened to see Decatur Ambulance services dissolve," said Greg Hager, nurse outpatient services manager.

In a statement announcing plans to close the service, Hospital Sisters spokeswoman Jennifer Snopko said factors that drove the decision included the difficulty of finding qualified candidates for open positions and the cost of equipment and vehicles.

"This decision was weighed heavily, as we have been proud and privileged to serve the residents of Decatur, Pana and surrounding communities," Snopko said in an emailed statement. "We are dedicated to ensuring that the community continues to have access to emergency care delivered at a high level."

The announced closure comes four years after a competing ambulance company fell one vote short of being licensed by the Decatur City Council. Champaign-based Arrow Ambulance, which was being backed by Decatur Memorial Hospital, had sought to become the city's second licensed provider.

St. Marys and Decatur Ambulance Service leaders fought the move, arguing that the city did not need additional emergency transport, and that introducing another company would hurt the current business and put paramedics out of work.

Decatur Ambulance Service leaders and employees also expressed serious concerns in 2015 when city officials considered the possibility of operating their own ambulance through the fire department.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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Donnette Beckett "Together Decatur" Columnist and Food/Drink Reporter Together Decatur columnist and food and drink reporter for Lee Enterprises Central Illinois. Follow Donnette Beckett Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
"I go from being told by Nancy Pelosi that I'm too conservative ... to now having others label me as not Republican enough," Davis said. "Well, you know what? I'm a proud Republican. I'm a proud conservative."
TAYLORVILLE  Just days after being christened a "fearless, America-first patriot" by former President Donald Trump, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, easily defeated fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, in the 15th Congressional District Republican primary.

With 93% of precincts reporting in the 35-county Central Illinois district, Miller held a 58% to 42% lead over Davis, a margin of nearly 17,000 votes out of more than 111,000 cast, according to the Associated Press. The AP called the race at 9:48 p.m. Tuesday.

"Tonight was a massive win for President Trump and conservatives in our country," Miller told supporters Tuesday at an election night party in Quincy. "But tonight is just the beginning. Tomorrow we begin the work of uniting the Republican Party so that we can defeat J.B. Pritzker."

She said Trump's agenda would be her own in Congress "as I work with my friends in the House Freedom Caucus to save our country."

Davis called Miller shortly after 9 p.m. to concede the race.

Id like to congratulate Congresswoman Miller and President Trump on their victory tonight," Davis said in a statement. "This was a hard-fought campaign, and I wish her the best in representing the citizens of the 15th District."

Davis added that it's "been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Illinois" and that's he's "proud of the work" he and his team put in over the past 10 years.

Davis, who did not have an election night party with supporters, declined to speak with reporters who gathered in Taylorville following his concession.

It is a stunning end for Davis, a five-term incumbent with close ties to House Republican leadership who was once considered a rising star within the conference. He had survived several bouts with political death before.

But Davis, a mainstream conservative with a bipartisan streak, could not escape this time as Miller, a far-right freshman firebrand, had the backing of Trump, a major boost in the deeply conservative district.

The Trump factor loomed large in this race as the former president endorsed Miller in early January, hosted a fundraiser for her at his Mar-A-Lago resort in April and, perhaps most decisively, held a rally for her near Quincy this past weekend.

"Mary is a warrior for our movement and our values," Trump said on Saturday.

The sprawling 15th Congressional District, which stretches west to east across Central Illinois from the Iowa and Missouri state lines to the Indiana state line, was drawn by Springfield Democrats last year to pack as many Republicans in as possible.

This was done in part by carving out the regions urban centers such as Champaign, Decatur and Springfield  mapped into the Democratic-leaning 13th Congressional District  while picking up giant swathes of surrounding rural areas and small towns.

As a result, the newly minted district would have voted for Trump by 68% in the 2020 election, making it one of the most conservative in the country.

Davis, who has often fashioned himself as someone who can convert conservative principles into law, had to grapple with aspects of his past voting record during the campaign.

Though he voted Trump's position 89% of the time during the former president's single term in office, he often worked to find compromise as he navigated the swingy nature of his current district.

But, such efforts have opened him up to criticism from the far-right wing of his party in the new, more conservative district.

Miller, taking a page out of Trump's playbook, gave Davis the nickname "RINO Rodney." The acronym is short for "Republican in name only."

She attacked Davis for his previous advocacy for immigration reform that would protect undocumented immigrants who arrived as children from deportation and his support of red-flag laws that would allow guns to be taken away from people deemed to be dangerous.

He was also criticized for being insufficiently loyal to Trump, with critics citing his vote to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election and for not saying whether he voted for the then-Republican nominee in 2016.

Both campaigns and outside groups spent millions of dollars on advertising, with Davis' returning fire on the RINO charges by calling Miller a "fake conservative," citing votes against measures that included pay raises for troops and comments she made about helping undocumented immigrants.

Miller, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, has eschewed bipartisanship in the name of Trump's "America First" agenda. She has also become a lightning rod for controversy during her first term in office.

She is close with Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Co., who campaigned with her and Trump on Saturday, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who headlined a Miller fundraiser in Effingham last year. Boebert and Greene are known for trafficking in far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon.

On Saturday, Miller thanked Trump, who appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices, for the high court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, calling it "a victory for white life."

Miller's campaign said Sunday that the congresswoman meant to say victory for right to life but misspoke. They also released a picture of Miller with her grandchildren, some of whom are people of color, while accusing the news media of jumping on the remark.

Another controversy involved a campaign volunteer who drove her around to campaign events who was convicted of luring a child for sex in 2005.

And in January 2021, Miller made remarks about Adolf Hitler at a pro-Trump rally outside the Capitol. ("Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future, she said, speaking about the need to reach young people.)

Yet, none of that stopped her from winning.

Miller performed well in the southern and eastern portions of the district that overlap with the area she currently represents as well as the counties in western Illinois that neither candidate had represented before.

Davis performed best near the district's larger urban centers in Macon and Sangamon counties as well as in Christian County, where he lives.

Miller crushed Davis in Adams County, winning 79% to 21%. The county produced the largest amount of votes in the district and was the site of Trump's rally on Saturday.

Along with the blowout victory of state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, in the Republican race for governor, Miller's victory offers a decisive indicator that Trump still has a significant hold on the Republican electorate.

It allowed Miller to overcome the perceived organizational strength of Davis, a seasoned retail politician who spent more than two decades cultivating relationships across Central Illinois, whether in his current role or as a staffer for former Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville.

Davis' political operation had been battle-tested several times before. Democrats have targeted him in nearly every election cycle since he was elected by a 1,002-vote margin in 2012.

In 2014, he beat back a GOP primary challenge from attorney and former Miss America Erika Harold. And in 2018, he was able to stem the tide of the Democratic "blue wave," defeating Betsy Dirsken Londrigan by just under 2,000 votes.

But even a skilled retail politician such as Davis could not make the pivot from the swingy 13th District, where he had to emphasize his bipartisan bonafides, to the deep-red 15th District, where party purity and personal loyalty to Trump are paramount.

As a result, Central Illinois will lose some influence in the halls of Congress.

Davis was slated to chair the House Administration Committee, a usually sleepy perch overseeing the Capitol Complex that has become high-profile in wake of the January 6 attack.

He also would have likely chaired the influential House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Miller serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Education Committee, but will have to build seniority.

She runs a family farm with her husband, state Rep. Chris Miller, in Oakland.

Miller lives just outside the new 15th Congressional District, though the only requirement to represent a district is to live in the same state.

She will face Paul Lange of Quincy, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, in November.

Contact Brenden Moore at 217-421-7984. Follow him on Twitter: @brendenmoore13

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U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, is anticipated to continue serving in Congress after winning the Republican primary in the 16th District, which saw no Democratic candidate in the primary.

The Associated Press called the race for LaHood around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Along with LaHood, three other candidates ran in the Republican primary: Walt Peters, Michael Rebresh and JoAnne Guillemette.

Unofficial results from the Chicago Tribune, with 95% of expected votes in as of Wednesday morning, showed LaHood winning with 55,957 votes, followed by Peters at 11,208 votes, Guillemette with 10,377 votes and Rebresh with 6,843 votes. LaHood carried around 66% of the primary voters.

LaHood was not available for comment Tuesday night but released a statement after the race was called, thanking the voters and urging the GOP to "come together" to win a majority in Congress and oust House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Its clear that 16th District voters want a strong conservative voice and local advocate in Congress who will defend our Midwestern values. I look forward to the work ahead to earn the trust of 16th District voters in the general election this November," the statement said.

While Adam Kinzinger is the current IL-16 representative, the district LaHood will represent is very different due to redistricting. It covers parts of the Rockford, Peoria and Bloomington-Normal metro areas but avoids the urban cores of those cities, which are in the more competitive 17th District.

Kinzinger decided not to run for reelection in what is expected to be a safely Republican district.

In a Pantagraph questionnaire ahead of the primary, LaHood said his focuses if he won would include reducing government spending, passing economic polices to help small businesses and workers and support police.

He said he hopes for a Republican majority in Congress after the November midterms that would check President Joe Biden's administration. He also emphasized constituent services and his experience on the House Ways and Means and Intelligence committees.

LaHood has represented the 18th District since winning a special election in September 2015, after Aaron Schock resigned. The 18th District will become obsolete when the next Congress is seated because it was eliminated in redistricting after Illinois lost a House seat in the 2020 census.

LaHood's father, Ray LaHood, represented the 18th District from 1995 to 2009. Also a Republican, he went on to become transportation secretary during the first Obama administration.

Federal Elections Commission records show LaHoods campaign committee spend $1.16 million on operating expenses between Jan. 1, 2021, and June 8, 2022. Another $677,000 was disbursed to other campaigns and charitable organizations, including to the congressional campaigns of Rodney Davis and Esther Joy-King.

Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter:@connorkwood

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The second man arrested in the deadly shooting at the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge in April remains in an Illinois prison on a parole violation, and Illinois authorities have refused to return him to Iowa, despite a signed waiver of extradition.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said Tuesday his office is taking all the "legal avenues" to bring Dimione Walker, 29, of Cedar Rapids, back to Iowa to face pending charges of first-degree murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent and felon in possession of a firearm.

The office is now obtaining a governor's warrant and is working with Iowa and Illinois coordinators to expedite Walker's return.

Walker is being held at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Ill., on parole violations for possession of a weapon.

In the nightclub incident, Walker is accused of fatally shooting Michael Valentine, 25, of Cedar Rapids, on April 10.

The complaint, which will provide details of the charges for Walker, isn't in public records because he won't be formally charged until he has an initial appearance in Linn County District Court, Maybanks said.

On advice from the Iowa Attorney General's Office, Maybanks and the prosecutor handling this case filed the trial information, which includes the charges and witnesses in the case and is authorized by the county attorney and approved by a judge.

Walker, who served time in an Iowa prison, has a criminal history in Iowa and Illinois, starting with juvenile cases in Johnson County involving theft and drugs, which were filed between 2006 and 2010. He also had several adult cases in Johnson County involving theft and drugs starting in 2011. Some of the cases were dismissed, and Walker pleaded guilty to other cases and was sentenced to probation for them.

In 2017, he was involved in two more criminal cases but those charges were dropped as part of a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to trafficking a stolen weapon used in a crime.

Walker was sentenced in 2018 to five years in prison and he was released in September 2019 with credit for the time he had already served in jail during the court process, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections. He was discharged from work release in April 2020.

Timothy Rush also has been charged and is accused of fatally shooting Nicole Owens, 35, his girlfriend and mother of his 1-year-old daughter, and seriously injuring Marvin Cox, who was shot in the head at Taboo on April 10.

Rush was working security at Taboo the night of the shooting, his lawyer said in April during a bail review hearing.

Valentine and Owens, both of Cedar Rapids, were at the club to celebrate a birthday of a mutual friend when the shooting broke out just before 1:30 a.m.

Rush has pleaded not guilty to 15 charges in Linn County District Court: second-degree murder; three counts of willful injury causing serious injury; intimidation with a dangerous weapon; three counts of reckless use of a firearm causing serious injury; three counts of willful injury causing bodily injury; three counts of reckless use of a firearm causing bodily injury; and felon in possession of a firearm.

He "fired intentionally and indiscriminately," with what police believe was a 9 mm handgun, into the large crowd at the club, according to the complaint.

After further investigation, an amended complaint states Rush also shot Alazia Cotton and Makayla Stokes, causing them serious injuries, and Traniece Worley, Denise Triplett and Richard Nicksion, who suffered bodily injuries.

The complaint stated 10 people were shot, but does not name the other victims.

Rush remains in jail on a $1.5 million bond. His trial is set for March 28.

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Two men arrested by New Braunfels police on aggravated robbery charges

One accused of robbing a convenience store in San Marcos; another of robbery of NB Walgreens
ABINGDON, Va.  A group of protesters with pro-choice signs gathered across the street from the Abingdon Virginia Visitors Center Wednesday to express concerns over the recent United States Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

For Joey Herron, one of the protest organizers, it was important to bring their message to the public in order to start a conversation and show that despite Abingdon, Virginia being a small town, there are different opinions regarding the Supreme Court's decision.

"I feel like there's a lot of people that are just blindly following what their family tells them, and if they don't see that there's other people in town that support them, like, especially younger generations, they may not start forming the opinions of their own," Herron said. "I hope at least somebody goes back today at least thinking about another opinion or thinking about it from another viewpoint."

The Supreme Court's decision to send questions of abortion rights back to the states, has sparked a series of pro-choice and pro-life manifestations across the United States, with advocates on both sides taking to the streets either to express concerns or support.

Herron explained he helped organize the Abingdon VA We Won't Go Back protest at the last minute.

"It was kind of a thrown-together thing, and I didn't expect, I wasn't sure what was going to happen today, he said. I just felt like we should try something, so this is our step one."

Before arriving to protest Herron and his fellow protesters were feeling anxious about the reaction they would get from passersby.

I think we all agreed that we were going to get yelled at more than the support that we have found so far, Herron said. My anxiety level has gone down since we got here, I feel like there's more support in the town than people think there is, and I just want people to know that on the other side.

As the day progressed and the traffic at the intersection of Cummings Street and Lee Highway flowed, the protesters were energized as they received a steady stream of car honks and thumbs up in support from drivers, as well as vocal criticism from drivers who disagreed with their viewpoint.

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A Hickory man was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison on drug trafficking and gun charges on Wednesday.

Koby Dale Tevepaugh, 32, was sentenced to 235 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for drug trafficking and firearm offenses by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Dena J. Kings office.

According to filed documents and court proceedings, between September and November 2021, Tevepaugh trafficked large amounts of methamphetamine in and around Catawba County. On Nov. 10, 2021, Tevepaugh shot a firearm at a neighbor and proceeded to barricade himself in his home. Court records show that Tevepaugh eventually surrendered to law enforcement, the release said.

Upon his surrender, law enforcement seized four kilograms of methamphetamine, $189,270 in cash, and five firearms from Tevepaughs residence. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized an additional $22,465 in drug proceeds, the release said.

Tevepaugh has multiple prior convictions for breaking and entering, first-degree burglary and felony drug offenses, which resulted in an increased sentence, the release said.

Tevepaugh previously pleaded guilty to three counts of distribution of, and possession with intent to distribute, methamphetamine and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He is in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility, the release said.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which has led to the federal prosecution of more than 60 individuals for drug trafficking. Law enforcement have also seized more than 27 kilograms of cocaine, 3.5 kilograms of heroin, 29 kilograms of fentanyl, 49 kilograms of methamphetamine, 70 firearms, more than $385,000 in cash and over $800,000 in other property, the release said.
Though no cases of the viral disease monkeypox have been reported in Catawba County, the local public health department is staying informed on the outbreak.

An uptick in monkeypox cases worldwide reached North Carolina recently. The first case in the state was reported June 23. Mecklenburg County reported its first case Monday. No cases have been reported in Catawba County, said Catawba County Public Health Community Engagement Specialist Emily Killian.

The department is staying updated on the rare disease, but it is not a threat to the community, Killian said.

Monkeypox is a disease of increasing global incidence, but it is usually not severe and most people recover without treatment in a few weeks, Killian said. Based on how rare the disease is, the way it spreads and severity so far, it is something to keep an eye on, but it poses little threat to the overall health of the general population at this time.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes and a rash with fluid-filled bumps, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Infections usually last two to four weeks.

The disease spreads through direct person-to-person contact, Killian said.

Although anyone can catch monkeypox, not everyone is at equal risk, Killian said. People who closely interact with someone who is infectious are at greater risk for infection. This includes household members, sexual partners, commercial sex workers and health workers.

Though there have only been two cases confirmed in North Carolina, there are likely more cases in the state, according to NCDHHS. There have been 306 cases confirmed in the U.S. as of Tuesday.

Dealing with a disease like monkeypox is different from COVID-19 because of the way it spreads, the severity and the availability of a vaccine, Killian said. Monkeypox has been around for 20 to 30 years, she said.

These two diseases are fundamentally quite different, based on how long monkeypox has been around, the extremely low rate of severe disease or death and the mode of transmission, Killian said Its a scenario of comparing apples to oranges.

Though the vaccine is available in small quantities, its given on a case-by-case basis to those who were in contact with a confirmed case, Killian said.

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Apparently the stars were aligned in June 1942. As World War II blazed, two of the most legendary composers of our lifetime were born: Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson.

You may have heard about McCartney turning 80 on June 18, but Wilsons big day on June 20 slipped by essentially unnoticed by the media, and thats too bad. Wilsons might have eclipsed the Beatles career (or come close) had it not been for drug abuse and mental illness that waylaid his career for more than 25 years.

This Friday Ill see Wilson in concert for the second time, at the very place I saw McCartney for the second time years ago: PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte.

Back in the 1960s, the notion that any rock musician would make it to 80 was a stretch, much less still be on tour.

As Baby Boomers know, the Beach Boys and the Beatles were rivals. After appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, the lads from Liverpool swept the charts for months, relegating the Beach Boys and their California sound to No. 2.

Nevertheless, such formidable competition pushed Wilson to expand his music repertoire. In time, McCartney and Wilson would form a mutual admiration society.

During a recent interview, Wilson said his favorite record album of all time was The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Likewise, McCartney has mentioned Wilsons God Only Knows as one of his favorite songs of all time.

Its been said that Sgt. Pepper was birthed from hearing the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds. Wilsons 1967 studio creation diverted his band from a traditional focus on cars and surfing. Production of the intricate harmonies and orchestration was done by Wilson alone, which placed him in the cadre of musical talent that comes along only once a century or so. At the time, he was only 23.

Its been said that Wilson has a full orchestra in his head, not just song lyrics. It took him seven months and sessions in four different studios to perfect Good Vibrations, at a cost of $400,000 in todays money. The single has long been considered a masterpiece.

The Beatles, in contrast, relied on the talent of producer George Martin to orchestrate their songs.

I should note that Brian Wilson has been deaf in one ear since childhood, which makes his musical ability all the more amazing. His life, fraught with challenges along with success, is captured in a heart-wrenching biographical film Love & Mercy released in 2014. I highly recommend it.

In mid-June, PBS released a documentary about Wilsons genius. Long Promised Road offers a look at him today, spotlighting his overcoming addiction and mental issues. The film can be streamed on UNC-TV.

Brian Wilson was never the teen idol that Paul McCartney was. That title belonged to Dennis Wilson, the Beach Boys original drummer, who died in a drowning accident in 1983.

But Brians early musical career wasnt without stumbles. He received an F on an assignment for a music class at Hawthorne High School in the late 50s. The composition later became Surfin, the Beach Boys first single and million-seller.

Five years ago, Brian returned to his high school where his grade was officially changed to an A.

By the way, he and McCartney have something else in common: extremely talented daughters. Pauls daughter Stella is an international fashion designer. Brians daughters Carnie and Wendy formed 2/3 of the successful band, Wilson Phillips, that rose to stardom in 1989.

If I ever realized that Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney were almost born on the same day, Id forgotten until I ran across that fact last week. By the way, they also share same sun sign: Gemini the Twins.

Tammy Wilson is a writer who lives near Newton. Her latest book is Going Plaid in a Solid Gray World: Collected Columns, published by Red Hawk Publications. Contact her at tamra@tamrawilson.com
Bunnings has been using facial recognition in stores. Image: Shutterstock

Hardware store chain Bunnings has defended its use of facial recognition to monitor customers in-store following revelations in June from consumer group Choice that three major Australian retailers were capturing biometric data of customers without their express consent.

In an email exchange with Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) chair Justin Warren, published on the EFAs website, the Bunnings Privacy Team said the company is comfortable that its use of facial recognition is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

This consideration has extended to reviewing the [Office of the Autralian Privacy Commissioner] OAICs previous determinations regarding other businesses use of facial recognition technology for other purposes, Bunnings said in reference to the OAICs finding that convenience store chain 7-Eleven had wrongfully collected faceprints of customers 1.6 million times.

Bunnings explained how facial recognition software attached to CCTV systems is used to enforce bans on customers.

It said only the facial images of targets are stored by the system to make sure that, if a banned individual walks into a store, the CCTV cameras can immediately notify staff or security.

The facial recognition technology checks for matches against these uploaded images, and where there isnt a match then no action occurs, Bunnings said.

No data relating to anyone other than these uploaded images are stored in the system.

In his post, Warren said Bunnings was missing the point and that what it was doing was comparable to taking a fingerprint of every customer as they enter the store and checking it against a file of previous fingerprints.

The fact they then throw away that piece of paper isnt the problem, its that they took the customers fingerprints in the first place, he wrote.

In fact, what Bunnings is doing is worse because the fingerprints are created surreptitiously and without explicit customer consent.

Shortly after the original Choice report, a Redditor posted a photo of a sign outside a Bunnings in Perth which appears to have been updated with a sticker that says video surveillance, which may include facial recognition, is utilised in the store.





Sign outside a Bunnings updated to include a message about facial recognition. Image: Reddit

Meanwhile, white goods and electronics store the Good Guys has decided it will stop trialling the use of controversial facial recognition technology.

In a statement to Reuters, Good Guys said it will "pause the trial of the upgraded security system with the optional facial recognition technology being conducted in two of its Melbourne stores".

The company added it would wait for "clarification from the OAIC" before going ahead with its facial recognition trial.

Choice submitted a formal complaint to the OAIC this week, detailing how the retailers may have breached the Australian Privacy Act through their use of facial recognition.

Specifically, it said the retailers have broken Australian Privacy Principles 1, 3, and 5 which relate to the companies privacy policies, the reasonable collection of sensitive personal information, and obtaining consent from people whose faceprints were gathered.

Choice is concerned that the retailers practices related to their use of facial recognition technology pose significant risks to individuals, Amy Pereira, Choices senior campaigns and policy advisor, said in the complaint.

The social and economic risks include invasion of privacy, misidentification, discrimination, profiling and exclusion, as well as vulnerability to cybercrime through data breaches and identity theft."

The OAIC is currently reviewing Choices complaint.
In the early 70s, I stood in a special formation at Pacific Air Force Command Headquarters, Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu, Hawaii, as the family of a young airman who was killed in Vietnam received a posthumous award for their son. I will never forget watching the mom and dad try to hold back tears as the citation for the award was read. The ceremony concluded with a bugler playing Taps. Although this group of airmen was comprised of senior noncommissioned officers, there was not a dry eye. Taps was saying to us that this brave young man had given his life admirably for his country.

Taps is a unique song, reminding us of death, but at the same time stirring within us a sense of patriotism beyond comparison. Therefore, once again, on this Fourth of July, the story of its origin is told. Taps began in war and death, and still has that connotation.

In 1862, during the Civil War, Union Army Capt. Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrisons Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land. During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moan of a soldier who lay mortally wounded on the field. Not knowing if this was a Union or Confederate soldier, the captain risked his life crawling on his stomach through the gunfire. He pulled the soldier back to his encampment. When the captain reached his own lines, he discovered this was a Confederate soldier and that he was dead. When the captain lit a lantern, suddenly he caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he discovered the soldier was his son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out and without his fathers knowledge he enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission to have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his sons funeral. That request was denied since his son was a Confederate soldier. However, out of respect for the father, they would give him one musician. The captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his sons uniform. This wish was granted. This music was the haunting melody we now know as Taps that is used at all military funerals. The words to Taps are:

Day is done,

Gone the sun,

From the lakes,

From the hills,

From the sky,

All is well.

Safely rest,

God is nigh.

As I read this story, I thought of the first words of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which says: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. Still today, my prayer is that Captain Ellicombes son would have known the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior. Thus, no matter which side won, this young man was victorious. This same prayer extends to every person who has served this country in the armed forces and especially to those who gave their lives to keep it free.
Ann Street United

Methodist Church335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Randy L. Wall. In person and Facebook Live worship at 11 a.m. at Ann Street Church. Sermon: The Lord Will Provide. Scripture: Genesis 22:1-24.

Bethpage United

Methodist Church109 Fellowship Ave. at West C Street, Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Gary MacDonald. Christian education at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. As an act of caring for yourselves and others, you may choose to wear a mask during indoor worship; however, at this time, mask wearing is not required. Sermon: Called to Community. Scripture: Galatians 6:1-16.

Bogers Chapel United

Methodist Church1775 Flowes Store Road E., Concord. Pastor: Eric Shaver. Adult Bible Study at 9 a.m. Worship in-person or on Facebook at 10 a.m. Childrens Reading: I love God. Author unknown. Opening Scripture: Psalm 30. (Entire Congregation UMH 762). Sermon: Washed Clean. Scripture: II Kings 5:1-14.

Calvary Lutheran Church950 Bradley St., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Debbie Frye. In-person worship at 8:30 a.m. (casual worship) and 11 a.m. (traditional worship). Masking optional. Childrens area and nursery available. All services livestreamed and available anytime on the Calvary Lutheran YouTube channel  access easily through the website at http://www.clconcord.org. Also on Sundays, 10 a.m. Sunday school. All are welcome.

Center United

Methodist Church1119 Union St. S., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Tony Allen. Sunday school for In Betweens and young adults at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. Nursery is provided during the worship service. Masks are optional. Website is www.centerumcconcord.org. Join us for our service! Sermon: Touched by God. Scripture: II Kings 5:1-14.

Crossroads Church220 George W. Liles Parkway, Concord. Pastor: Lowell McNaney. Live worship streamed on Facebook, Crossroads Concord Church app or mycrossroads.co website at 9:30 a.m. and 11:11 a.m.

Crown Pointe Baptist Church703 Tennessee St., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Doug Crawley. Sunday school at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary, or view online at our Facebook page. Sermon Series: Independence Day Weekend. Sermon: Free Indeed! Scripture: John 8:31-38.

Eastside Missionary

Baptist Church199 Elgin Drive, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Stephen Burrow. In-person services: Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. Worship services at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Recorded worship services and other information can be found at EastsideMissionaryBaptist.org. You will be welcomed. Practice social distancing.

Epworth United Methodist Church1030 Burrage Road NE, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Bill Roberts. Church has reopened its 10 a.m. worship service for attendance. Epworth UMC continues to follow the appropriate COVID-19 social distancing guidelines as outlined by the N.C. governor and the CDC. We welcome you to join us in worship! Sermon: For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free. Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 13-25.

Forest Hill United

Methodist Church265 Union St. N., Concord. Senior pastor: Rev. Mandy Jones. Associate pastor: Rev. Wes Judy. We are open for in-person worship. Contemporary worship at 9 a.m. Sunday school/small groups at 10 a.m. Traditional worship at 11 a.m. Both the contemporary and the traditional worship services will also be livestreamed at foresthillumc.org or facebook.com/foresthillumc.

Harmony United

Methodist Church101 White St. NW, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Thad Brown. Join us for Sunday school at 10 a.m. followed by our worship service in the sanctuary at 11 a.m. Sermon: History of the Church. Scripture: John 8:44; II Timothy 3:1-5; Revelation 1:10-16; Revelation 1:17-20; Revelation 22:7. We welcome all to join us in worship! Service is live on Facebook.com/HarmonyUnitedMethodistChurch. We welcome all who are unable to join us in person to worship with us online. For more information, call the pastor at 704-791-2883 or the church at 704-782-8237.

Jackson Park United

Methodist Church715 Mable Ave., Kannapolis. Pastor: Laurie Knoespel. Adult Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. Worship at 10:30 a.m. Nursery will be provided during worship service. Series: Old Parables in a New Light. Sermon: Envious Because They Are Generous? Scripture: Matthew 20:1-15.

Kirkwood Presbyterian Church900 Klondale Ave., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Dennis B. Craft. Worship at 11 a.m. in church sanctuary on Sundays. No mask restrictions. Sermon: Precious Feeedom.

McGill Baptist Church5300 Poplar Tent Road, Concord, in-person services. Pastor: Rev. Steve Ayers. If you have not taken the COVID-19 vaccine, wear a mask. McGill will stream a worship service Sunday at 10 a.m. on www.facebook.com/mcgillbaptistchurch/ and on YouTube. The services will be live and also available on recording afterward. Sermon: Travel Light. Scripture: Psalm 30; Galatians 6:1-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.

Midway United Methodist Church108 Bethpage Road, Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Craig Allen. Come join us on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. for Sunday school and 10:30 a.m. for worship. The service is also livestreamed on the web at midwayunitedmethodistchurch.org or facebook.com/midwayUMC. Sermon: Power Isnt the Prize. Scripture: Galatians 6:7-10; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. Suggested Hymns: UMH 140, Great Is Thy Faithfulness; UMH 624, Bread of the World.

Mount Mitchell United

Methodist Church6001 Old Salisbury-Concord Road, Kannapolis. Pastor: Joel Locklear. Sunday school at 10 a.m. (adult and children classes) Worship at 11 a.m. in person or Facebook. Masks are optional and social distancing recommended. If you have not taken the COVID vaccine, wear a mask. Sermon: The Harvest. Scripture: Luke 10:1-20.

Multiply Church Concord150 Warren C. Coleman Blvd. N., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Douglas Witherup. 8:30 a.m. service held at 280 Concord Parkway S., Suite 15, Concord. Services at 150 Warren C. Coleman Blvd. N., are worship and sermon at 9:30 a.m. and worship and sermon at 11:15 a.m.

New Gilead Reformed Church2400 Old Salisbury-Concord Road. 9:40 a.m.: Bible study. 10 a.m.: Childrens Bible school. 11 a.m. Inside worship, Facebook worship, drive-in worship at 1600 AM radio.

Oak Grove Baptist Church200 Sims Parkway, Harrisburg. Pastor: Rev. Franklin D. Watkins. 10 a.m.: In-person worship service and Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Sermon: Suffering For A Godly Purpose. Scripture: Job 1:6-12 (NLT).

Second Presbyterian Church1578 Dale Earnhardt Blvd., Kannapolis. Guest speaker: Dulce Castillo. Pastor Sue Black, minister. Rev. Aaron Price, assistant minister. Worship at 11 a.m. in sanctuary and on Facebook Live. Sermon: True Freedom. Scripture: Genesis 45:1-15.

St. Johns Reformed Church901 N. Main St., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Chris King. 9:30 a.m.: Sunday school for all ages. 10:30 a.m.: Worship service (in-person or online at www.ourstjohns.org). 4 p.m.: Adult Bible study. Sermon: Judging Hypocrisy and Discernment. Scripture: Matthew 7:1-6.

Information for Sermon topics must be submitted by 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Email your topic to jstamey@independenttribune.com
President of Lithuania says Ukraine should be supplied with more air defense systems

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda calls for increasing the supplies of air defense systems to Ukraine following the Russian missile attack on the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Poltava region, on June 27.

"Russia striking a shopping mall in Kremenchuk with hundreds of civilians is a disgrace to humanity, another horrific Russia's war crime. Ukraine needs larger supply of air missile defense systems. Delivered in larger quantities and faster," he said on Twitter on Monday.

In turn, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis said that President of Russia Vladimir Putin again made it clear he has no regard for civilian lives and called for providing Ukraine with necessary weapon.

"We must now give the brave people of Ukraine all the weapons they need to defend their lives and their freedom," he said.

Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas stressed that Russian war criminals must face justice.

"Yet another horrifying news from Ukraine. Russia bombed a shopping center in Kremenchuk with over 1,000 peaceful people inside. Russia continues to terrorize civilians and destroy life in Ukraine. This cannot be tolerated - they can never win and war criminals will face justice," she said on Twitter.

Foreign Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics said Russia must be fully isolated and more sanctions should be imposed on it.

"Another horrible Russian war crime- missile strike on shopping center in Kremenchuk, a day will come when those responsible will be brought to justice, until then lets stop calling Kremlin, they must be fully isolated, more sanctions imposed. My condolences to all concerned," he said on Twitter.
MADRID/HELSINSKI (Reuters) - La Turchia ha tolto il veto alla richiesta di Finlandia e Svezia di entrare a far parte della Nato, dopo che le tre nazioni hanno concordato di proteggere la sicurezza reciproca, ponendo fine a un dramma durato settimane che ha messo alla prova l'unita dell'alleanza atlantica contro l'invasione russa dell'Ucraina.

La svolta e avvenuta ieri dopo quattro ore di colloqui, poco prima dell'inizio del vertice Nato a Madrid. Cio significa che Helsinki e Stoccolma possono procedere con la richiesta di adesione all'alleanza, dotata di armi nucleari, cementando quello che e destinato ad essere il piu grande cambiamento nella sicurezza europea degli ultimi decenni, perche i due Paesi nordici abbandoneranno la loro storica neutralita.

"I nostri ministri degli Esteri hanno firmato un memorandum trilaterale che conferma che la Turchia... sosterra l'invito di Finlandia e Svezia a diventare membri della Nato", ha dichiarato il presidente finlandese Sauli Niinisto in un comunicato.

Le principali richieste della Turchia erano che i due Paesi nordici smettessero di sostenere i gruppi militanti curdi del Pkk presenti sul loro territorio e revocassero i divieti sulla vendita di alcune armi alla Turchia.

Il segretario generale della Nato Jens Stoltenberg ha detto che i termini dell'accordo prevedono che la Svezia intensifichi il lavoro sulle richieste di estradizione turche di sospetti terroristi e la modifica delle leggi svedesi e finlandesi per inasprire il loro approccio nei loro confronti.

Svezia e la Finlandia si sono impegnate a eliminare le restrizioni sulla vendita di armi alla Turchia, ha aggiunto.

I passi per l'adesione di Finlandia e Svezia alla Nato saranno concordati nei prossimi due giorni, ha detto Niinisto.

(Tradotto da Francesca Piscioneri, editing Stefano Bernabei)
CHARLESTON  With the primary election behind him, Kent Martin is looking ahead to the the general election and what he plans to achieve as the next sheriff of Coles County.

Martin was surrounded by friends, family and his supporters Tuesday night at the Coles County Courthouse as votes were tallied. Among the supporters were some who couldn't cast votes for him.

Martin's parents, Bob and Anita, traveled from Paris to support their son. They live in Edgar County, so they could provide no support at the polls.

Anita Martin shared her pride in her son for his dedication to his campaign over the last year, saying he's knocked on doors to talk to constituents nearly every day leading up to the primaries.

Bob Martin said he was proud of his son and his accomplishments.

"It was a lot of hard work but it's paid off and we're happy," Bob Martin said.

Unofficial results show Martin finishing with 4,093 votes, to the 2,364 claimed by challenger Stephen Spear.

"I'm relieved, it's been a long, long road," Martin said after the final votes were tallied. "The hard work has paid off, but it's also just beginning."

Though he is currently uncontested, Martin said he is not done campaigning.

"I'm just I'm gonna work hard. I think my campaign shows the that I'll do that," he said.

Martin was the chief of the Eastern Illinois University Police Department and had spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement before his retirement to run for sheriff.

Coming into his former position during a debilitating state budget impasse, Martin has run on being fiscally conservative at that time while still updating and adding new equipment. He also boasts an extensive history of working with other local policing agencies.

He has pledged to meet with all employees of the Coles County Sheriffs Office within 60 days if he wins the general election.

Martin said his leadership experience and training have prepared him to be a strong sheriff.

Martin will succeed James Jimmy Rankin, who served nearly two terms as sheriff before unexpectedly retiring. Chief Deputy Tyler Heleine has since been appointed to the position and will serve in the administrative role until the new sheriff takes office following the Nov. 8 general election.

Spear, who previously ran for the sheriff position, is a deputy with the Coles County Sheriffs Office.

Contact Corryn Brock at 217-238-6858. Follow her on Twitter at @corryn_brock.

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CHARLESTON  Kent Martin is one step away from being the next sheriff of Coles County.

And with no declared Democrat competition, the next step should prove to be pretty easy.

"I'm relieved, it's been a long, long road," Martin said after the final votes were tallied. "The hard work has paid off, but it's also just beginning."

Unofficial results from Tuesday's primary election show Martin finishing with 4,093 votes, to the 2,364 claimed by challenger Stephen Spear.

Martin was the chief of the Eastern Illinois University Police Department and had spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement before his retirement to run for sheriff.

Coming into his former position during a debilitating state budget impasse, Martin has run on being fiscally conservative at that time while still updating and adding new equipment. He also boasts an extensive history of working with other local policing agencies.

He has pledged to meet with all employees of the Coles County Sheriffs Office within 60 days if he wins the general election.

Martin said his leadership experience and training have prepared him to be a strong sheriff.

"I'm just I'm gonna work hard. I think my campaign shows the that I'll do that," he said.

Martin will succeed James Jimmy Rankin, who served nearly two terms as sheriff before unexpectedly retiring. Chief Deputy Tyler Heleine has since been appointed to the position and will serve in the administrative role until the new sheriff takes office following the Nov. 8 general election.

Spear, who previously ran for the sheriff position, is a deputy with the Coles County Sheriffs Office.

Contact Corryn Brock at 217-238-6858. Follow her on Twitter at @corryn_brock.

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DECATUR  Michael Slover Sr., the patriarch of a family of murderers who killed and dismembered their ex-daughter-in-law, has died in prison while serving a 65 year sentence.

The Illinois Department of Corrections confirmed his death to the Herald & Review Wednesday.

Slover, understood to be aged about 76, was listed as having a date with the parole board in 2032 and a possible discharge date of 2035.

The individual in custody that you inquired about was serving his sentence at Pontiac Correctional Center, said Department of Corrections spokesperson, Naomi Puzzello.

At this point, wed only be able to confirm his death. Puzzello did not respond to further questions about the timing, exact place, circumstances and cause of Slovers death.

He had received his sentence in Macon County Circuit Court in May of 2002. Slover Sr. had been part of an elaborate scheme to shoot 23-year-old Karyn Hearn Slover to death and dump her body parts in Lake Shelbyville.

Convicted along with Slover Sr. was his wife, Jeannette Slover, and their son  and the victims former husband  Michael Slover, Jr.

Slover Jr., who has just turned 52, had also received a 65 year sentence and is currently incarcerated in the Illinois River Correctional Center. Jeannette Slover, 74, is serving her 60 year sentence in the Decatur Correctional Center. She is due for parole in 2029 and release in 2032; her son has the same projected parole and release dates.

Their victim had last been seen alive leaving the former Herald & Review offices on East William Street, where she worked in advertising, on the evening of Sept. 27, 1996.

She had been going to pick up her son, Kolten, who was being babysat by her former in-laws. Detectives would later determine that the motive for her killing was that the Slover family wanted 3-year-old Kolten and would do anything to prevent his mother taking him with her when she planned to move out of state to take a modeling job.

The boy had been adopted by Mary Slover, a maternal aunt, after his mothers murder and that provoked a 17-month custody battle with Karyn Hearn Slovers parents, Larry and Donna Hearn, which they won in October of 2003.

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

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State Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington on Tuesday secured the Republican nomination for secretary of state, defeating John Milhiser.

Brady likely will face former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who held a strong lead late Tuesday in the Democratic primary, in the November contest to fill the post long held by Jesse White.

Brady, 60, is a funeral director, serves as one of two deputy GOP leaders in the Illinois House of Representatives and was the McLean County coroner from 1992 to 2000. He said he would work to improve the nuts and bolts of an office that connects with citizens more than any other statewide agency in areas ranging from drivers' services to libraries.

Milhiser, 52, a former U.S. attorney in the Central District of Illinois and former Sangamon County state's attorney, ran as part of a slate of candidates promoted by billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin. He emphasized his background as a prosecutor and campaigned on a promise to restore peoples faith in government and in an office that he acknowledges has a history of corruption under both parties.

White, 87, a Democrat who has been secretary of state since 1999, is one of the state's most popular politicians but decided not to run for a seventh term.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Jeremy Gorner of the Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.

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Downtown, as it does most weekends, filled in inverse proportion to the swelter factor.

As the sun dipped Saturday evening dragging the temperature (and residual humidity) down with it, sedans, minivans and sporty SUVs circled the happening spots, hunting for parking spaces.

Restaurants, always a draw, hummed. Bars, too. A free concert at Sixth and Liberty beckoned at one end of downtown, the homestanding Dash at another and another in a series of fireworks showsthis one over Quarry Park added a holiday zest.

Smack in the middle, amid throngs of the content and the satisfied, came several hundred carrying with them a mix of the downcast, the angry, the determined and disgusted.

How the (expletive) did Roe vs. Wade get overturned? asked a suddenly enraged (and newly engaged) millennial viawhat else?text message. Theyre going after same sex marriage and birth-control laws now too?!?

HOW. HOW CAN WE BE GOING BACK IN TIME?!!

Not overnight

The answer, of course, is that it certainly didnt happen overnight.

Overturning Roe V. Wade, the 1974 landmark decision that made abortion legal and safe, took years. A determined and organized pro-life movement took the long view, an increasing rarity in todays right now world, to fight.

Conservative voters worked with with single-issue, single-minded voters determined to end Roe to elect reliably conservative politicians who would, in time, write and pass laws restricting access to abortion.

And in the background, far from anti-abortion rallies and demonstrations that never really ceased over these last 50 years, long-view planners funneled time, energy and money into a cause they believed in with real religious fervor.

The Federalist Society, helpfully studied and vetted judicial candidates and issued recommendations. And as vacancies on the bench came open, no-doubt conservative senators whipped out the rubber stamp. Others happily swallowed the lie uttered by recent nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. I respect precedent; Roe is established law.

Meanwhile, state legislatures across the country bore down on a well-thought out strategy to lockdown through gerrymandering safe, predictable districts (and majorities) that often belied actual vote totals.

The U.S. Supreme Court, by the way, helped blaze that trail, too, by opening the floodgates to unlimited dark campaign cash (Citizens United, 2010) and removing a pesky rule that required states with a documented history of suppressing minority votes to get pre-clearance for district voting maps (Shelby County vs Holder, 2013.)

As a political strategy, it was ingenious. It took decades and determination to accomplish.

And that, my disheartened young friend, is how we got here. The only question now: What to do about it?

Channeling energy

Protests that started with a trickle Fridaylocally, a handful of demonstrators waved signs on the Green Street pedestrian bridge Fridayturned into something greater over the weekend in cities and towns across the country.

Several hundred gathered Saturday in Bailey Park to voice (and show) their displeasure. It happened again Sunday and likely will continue for at least the foreseeable future.

How can we be going back in time?, reiterated that chagrined millennial. Whats to stop them from coming for gay rights and banning birth control? What can we do about it?!!

The young man, like many Americans across all generations neither a particularly engaged nor well-informed voter, wanted an answer with an immediate solution.

But a quick fix doesnt exist.

Not even with polls that consistently indicate that 59% of all Americans oppose the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. In todays bitter political chasm, thats a landslide.

What can be done, my young friend, is to follow the same roadmap championed by conservatives enjoying today a well-earned, well-planned victory.

Dont allow the energy being poured into demonstrations to peter out the same way as much of the passion from the 2020s Black Lives Matter protests.

Be present and informed. Pay attention to the gerrymanders, the money behind the candidates and those holding office. Locals and state lawmakers, too.

Congress wont ban books or dictate what can (and cannot) be said or taught in classrooms.

Read, discern and vote. Its the only way.

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A N.C. House committee advanced Tuesday the controversial ICE sheriffs cooperation legislation that resurfaced last week after being dormant since March 2021.

Senate Bill 101, titled Require Cooperation with ICE 2.0, cleared the House Judiciary 4 committee by voice vote after objections were stated by at least three Democrat committee members.

The bill has been sent to the House Rules and Operations committee during what is projected to be the final week of the current phase of the 2022 session. Rules and Operations are slated to address the bill at its noon Thursday meeting.

Sen. Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, is among the bill co-sponsors.

SB101 closely mirrors House Bill 370 which Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed in August 2019 after it cleared both chambers, but was lacking veto-proof margins.

The governor has previously expressed concern about politically motivated laws that allow Washington, DC to supersede local law enforcements ability to keep our communities safe, and this appears to be one of those, Mary Scott Winstead, deputy communications director for Cooper, said Tuesday in discussing SB101.

The current version of SB101 would require sheriffs to:

* Inform the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of U.S. Department of Homeland Security when a person charged with certain felony offenses is in custody and legal residency or United States citizenship status is undetermined.

According to SB101, those felony offenses are: homicide; rape and other sex offenses; kidnapping and abduction; human-trafficking offenses; certain gang-related offenses; an A1 misdemeanor or felony assault, such as assault on a female and the other most serious misdemeanors; and violation of a domestic violence protective order.

If this bill becomes law, then it would be mandatory that sheriffs cooperate with the ICE detainer, said co-primary sponsor Sen. Norman Sanderson, R-Craven.

* Require a judicial official to order that a prisoner subject to a detainer and administrative warrant be held in custody for 48 hours or until ICE resolves the request.

The daily cost for detaining a person for potential ICE pickup is between $137 and $300, depending on the jail, Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson, and primary sponsor of SB101, said Tuesday.

* Create reporting requirements related to ICE queries.

Edwards said the current version of SB101 does make the same requirements of sheriff offices across the state (as HB370) with two major differences.

Instead of requiring a query of ICE on any infraction of anyone who is brought into a jail, it only requires an inquiry when someone is accused of the most heinous crimes.

Edwards said the second major difference reflects concerns expressed by Cooper about potential criminal penalties for sheriffs who decline to cooperate with ICE involving jail detainees.

The initial version of SB101 would have made it a class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a 120-day jail sentence and a discretionary fine. Subsequent language would have made an uncooperative sheriff or other law-enforcement official subject to a class 3 misdemeanor, which carries a 20-day jail sentence and a $200 fine.

HB370 would have allowed a Superior Court judge to remove a sheriff or police officer who didnt follow the legislations provisions and failed to cooperate with ICE agents.

The penalties are eliminated in the 2.0 version, Edwards said Tuesday.

SB101 background

In March 2021, the state Senate approved SB101 along partisan lines by a 27-20 vote.

The bill sat in House Rules and Operations until being sent Friday to Judiciary 4.

SB101 was amended Tuesday to change the first due date of the annual reporting from Oct. 1, 2022, to Oct. 1, 2023, and the effective date of the legislation to Dec. 1, 2022, from Dec. 1, 2021.

What SB101 will do is require local law enforcement to work with federal immigration officials in the interest of public safety amid growing public concern ... about people who have come across our borders illegally, Edwards said.

SB101 creates a process for a judicial official to follow for every person in custody who is subject to an ICE detainer or administrative warrant.

Meanwhile, SB101 excludes state and local law-enforcement officers or agencies from having criminal or civil liability for action taken pursuant to an order issued in the legislation.

Rep. Vernetta Alston, D-Durham, said she opposed SB101 primarily because of the oversight and financial burden it places on sheriff offices that adds to their workload, as well as questioning the constitutionality of the 48-hour confinement period.

Edwards countered by saying if SB101 were to impose a financial burden on sheriff offices, it would be an illustration of just how desperately this bill is needed ... because it means there would be more folks charged with heinous crimes required to be detained.

Local response

According to ICEs website, there are 15 local law enforcement agencies in North Carolina listed as participating entities in what is known as the 287(g) program.

That includes the Alamance, Randolph and Rockingham sheriffs offices in the Triad and Northwest N.C.

Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. could not be immediately reached for comment on the latest versions of SB101.

Kimbrough opposed previous legislative efforts involving SB101 in March 2021. Similar opposition has been stated by other urban county sheriffs.

We are a law-abiding law enforcement agency, Kimbrough said in March 2021. If somehow this becomes law, then we will at that point comply with it.

But it is not law, and there are many who will be opposing this because detaining someone once they have met the conditions of their release is not only illegal, but it is also wrong.

The Associated Press reports that the vast majority of rural and suburban sheriffs comply with the ICE detainers, but most urban sheriffs have ignored enforcing them.

Edwards said the N.C. Sheriffs Association was in strong support of (HB370) in 2019. On this version, they have chosen to take no action, which to me says that they are in still in full support of the concept.

The sheriffs association has not issued any statement on this legislation, last year or this year, Eddie Caldwell, the associations general counsel, said Tuesday.

Edwards said Tuesday there are a handful of sheriffs that consciously do not cooperate with ICE, and one of the citations they reference is the cost.

Mitch Kokai, senior policy analyst with conservative think tank John Locke Foundation, said House Republican leaders evidently thought it might be a good idea to tackle this topic before an election.

If they see recorded votes on an immigration-related bill as a positive for the fall campaign, they might be willing to send a message to voters, even if they dont think the bill will survive Gov. Coopers veto stamp.

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The state House cleared Tuesday its attempt at a limited version of Medicaid expansion focused on rural parts of the state.

The revamped Senate Bill 408, titled the Rural Healthcare Access and Savings Plan, was approved by a 101-6 vote.

SB408 has been sent to the state Senate, which passed on June 2 its own bipartisan, multi-layered healthcare bill  a revamped House Bill 149  thats highlighted by Medicaid expansion to between 450,000 and 650,000 North Carolinians.

HB149 was approved by a 44-1 vote, despite objections from the states not-for-profit health-care systems because of several Republican-sponsored healthcare reform elements in the bill, foremost on certificate-of-need laws.

The key elements of SB408 are helping preserve rural hospitals and directing the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a Medicaid Modernization and Savings Plan with a Dec. 15 deadline for filing a report with a joint oversight legislative committee.

We need to know exactly what were getting from Medicaid expansion, particularly in terms of expanding access to healthcare providers in a manner that is cost-effective, said House speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland.

This way, we have certainty ... and the final say.

Moore has taken the rare role of primary sponsor with SB408.

If the legislative oversight committee approves the plan, Moore had pledged that SB408 would receive an up-and-down vote soon after.

We believe this bill will help address some really critical needs while being fiscally responsible to taxpayers and without incentivizing a person not to get a job, Moore said, citing a potential work requirement for eligible enrollees.

Its no secret (Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper) did not like the fact there would be a vote in December, Moore said.

I made it very clear to the governor that if there was not a second vote in December on this bill that this bill would go nowhere in the House.

Its either this way or no way, to be candid.

Uncertain fates

Medicaid currently covers 2.71 million North Carolinians, which increased by nearly 27% or 588,611, since the beginning of the pandemic, according to DHHS.

Those who might be eligible under the expanded program are between the ages of 18 and 64 and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage, but not enough to purchase coverage on the private insurance marketplace.

A sizable portion of enrollees during the pandemic likely would qualify for expansion coverage.

Both SB408 and HB149 require approvals by their originating chamber to clear the legislature.

The bills fate remains uncertain since Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and Moore  both recent converts to any form of Medicaid expansion  have made very public their preference for their legislation.

For example, Moore has signaled there is little expectation the chamber will take up HB149 before the projected Saturday end of the current phase of the 2022 session.

During Tuesdays floor debate, Moore was blunt that what SB408 does not do, to be very clear, is it doesnt expand Medicaid.

If you look at other proposals that have been floated around when it comes to the expansion issue, basically the General Assembly is being asked to give this broad, unsupervised authority to the executive branch to go to the federal government to see what theyll do and what they can get.

Whatever they bring back, were stuck with it, Moore said.

Moore said SB408 would give Kinsley the necessary authority to negotiate with the federal government to alter Medicaid eligibility, subject to a vote by the General Assembly, and set certain guardrails to ensure no net cost to the state.

Its the right path forward with those guardrails in place, Moore said.

Meanwhile, Berger said in a statement following the introduction of the revamped SB408 that the House has gone from No, to Lets study it again. 

It is past time for action. The House should pass the Senate version of House Bill 149, or we should agree to incorporate it into the budget.

The 2022-23 state budget compromise, unveiled Tuesday, does not include elements of HB149.

As a result, the current phase could end in a stalemate on Medicaid expansion legislation.

Pivotal funding

A pivotal turning point for both Berger and Moore on their Medicaid expansion stances is enabling North Carolina to gain access to about $1.5 billion in federal Medicaid expansion funding over a two-year period.

That would free up DHHS to re-direct General Fund dollars to other priorities; $1 billion would be used to address substance abuse and mental health.

If the Oversight committee approves the plan, legislation implementing the plan would be voted on by the General Assembly on or after Dec. 16.

Moore said SB408 would provide access to as much as $3.1 billion in additional federal Hospital Access and Stabilization Program reimbursements to support hospitals without spending additional General Fund dollars.

There also would be an additional $4.5 billion to $5 billion annually in federal Medicaid receipts to support the new eligibility category.

We can use these funds to improve the lives of North Carolinians ... through a North Carolina plan from start to finish that makes sense for North Carolinians, Moore said.

Voting conscience

Moore cautioned not to take away too much from Tuesdays overwhelming vote in favor of SB408.

I cant predict how members will vote on the final plan, Moore said. They need to vote their conscience. They may choose to vote no for philosophical reasons.

From what folks have told me, theres a great deal of support for the bill. If there wasnt, we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Rep. William Richardson, D-Cumberland, said he would vote for SB408 because its past time to get (Medicaid eligible) individuals out of the emergency department, and get people to family practitioners and treat chronic illnesses the way they ought to be treated.

This bill is a great step in that direction.

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Kawasaki officials say comments in a published report stating that labor issues at its plant in Lincoln are causing delays in the delivery of rail cars to New York City are not true.

The New York Daily News reported Monday that Metropolitan Transit Authority officials are unhappy with the pace of rail cars being delivered from Lincoln to New York and are blaming that on labor problems and mismanagement.

The MTA approved the purchase of 535 state-of-the-art, next-generation R211 subway cars from Kawasaki in 2018, in a contract valued at the time at $1.4 billion.

They were supposed to go into service next summer, but that has been pushed back to January 2025.

The company is also 17 months behind schedule on cars for the Long Island Rail Road, an MTA subsidiary, according to the newspaper.

The Daily News reported that Jim Allen, head of rolling stock for the Long Island Rail Road, said during an MTA committee meeting Monday that Kawasaki would hire employees only to have them leave after a week, leading to a "real systemic problem."

Siu Ling Ko, chief mechanical officer for NYC Transit, was quoted as saying Kawasaki loses about 45 workers every month from its rail car operation, while Joseph Devito, the MTAs independent engineering consultant, said the company's problems have forced MTA to provide "constant oversight and supervision."

A Kawasaki official told the Journal Star that it meets monthly with all of its customers to provide status updates and recently hosted MTA officials.

"Last week we hosted NYC Transit members at our facility and we successfully completed the first car review for the R211T open gangway subway cars, which is a large milestone in the progress of the project," Jason Hellbusch, corporate director of administration for Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. U.S.A., said in an emailed statement. "Joint understanding is key to progress and during this last visit by NYC Transit we provided a detailed update regarding status and progress of the project, which included supply chain and manpower status."

But it appears something must have been lost in translation for the MTA officials to come away with the impression that Kawasaki has labor problems.

"The New York Daily News article does correctly highlight that a major reason for delays has been supply chain issues," Hellbusch said. "However, we take exception to the comment regarding labor problems at Kawasaki here in Lincoln. We currently have sufficient manpower for all projects in our facility and we continue to hire personnel as our production rate increases."

Hellbusch acknowledged that Kawasaki, like many other companies, faces challenges finding enough workers in the current labor market. Nebraska's 1.9% unemployment rate in May was tied for lowest in the country, while Lincoln's metropolitan area unemployment rate is among the 20 lowest in the country.

The company in July 2020 announced an expansion, partially driven by the startup of the R211 contract, that would require it to hire 550 new employees.

Hellbusch said Kawasaki is committed to fulfilling its contracts with MTA, and the agency appears committed to the company, despite the quotes from officials.

The Daily News reported that MTA plans to exercise an option to buy an additional 640 subway cars from Kawasaki later this year, largely because the company is one of only two that it works with.

The universe of competent, qualified car builders that are in the U.S. are down to two. Were all very mindful of some of those consequences, said MTA chairman Janno Lieber. What were trying to do is help Kawasaki get back on the straight-and-narrow.

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

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A Midwest aviation services company is making its foray into Nebraska by expanding to Omahas Eppley Airfield.

The highlight of Revv Aviations expansion is a flight school that will be paired with Revvs existing flight school at Council Bluffs Municipal Airport. The company is headquartered in Aurora, Illinois.

Revvs Eppley flight school will be the second one at Nebraskas largest airport, joining one operated by Nebraska Flight Center. Revv is leasing offices at the TAC Air fixed-base operator at Eppley.

Chief flight instructor Jerome Howard said Wednesday that pilots who are well into their training with Revv will be able to gain experience with Eppleys professional structures including coordinating with air traffic controllers on flights.

The majority of students who get into flight training want to go into professional aviation, Howard said. Operating at an airport such as Eppley will give them that experience.

Revvs expansion also deepens the companys relationship to Omaha. The company, which recently rebranded to its current name, has partnered for a number of years with the University of Nebraska at Omahas Aviation Institute to train students. Revv also trains pilots who arent going through a university program.

Pilots who train through a university and earn a degree must fly for at least 1,000 hours in order to become fully certified and thus eligible to fly for airlines.

Revvs expansion into Eppley also means the shifting of instruction of multi-engine aircraft to Eppley. The majority of Revvs instruction, including on single-engine aircraft, will stay at the Council Bluffs airport. Revvs aircrafts that are used for training include the single-engine Cessna 172 and the twin-engine Piper Seminoles.

Its not like were moving the whole operation or anything, Howard said. The aircraft are still going to be based here at Council Bluffs.

Howard acknowledged the new flight school should help slightly alleviate the pilot shortage. He said, however, that is only a secondary objective given that the shortage is a continuous cycle that sees major airlines pulling from regional airlines and regional airlines subsequently filling those gaps down the chain.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an average of 14,500 openings for airline and commercial pilots each year this decade mainly because of retirements and pilots who leave for other occupations.

Revvs expansion to Eppley ties into the formers desire to train students from diverse backgrounds. Revv offers internships and scholarships for students.

We want to get as many people, especially young people, into aviation. We want diversity. We want more female pilots and more female mechanics, marketing director Rod Kelly said, adding that Revv is also focusing on attracting people from underserved communities into the aviation industry.

Howard echoed that.

If you want to come out and learn how to fly, no matter walk of life you come from and no matter where you come from, aviation is something for everybody, Howard said.

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The FBI has opened an investigating into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans, looking at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them.
Local COVID-19 cases reached their highest level in four months last week.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department reported 572 cases for the week ending June 25, a 14% increase over the previous week and the most in a week since February. The department announced that the county's COVID-19 risk dial will remain in the elevated-yellow range.

The local numbers are in contrast to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows case counts statewide declined last week for the second straight week and are down 15% from two weeks ago.

But an expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center said case counts are likely greatly under-reported.

Dr. James Lawler, executive director of UNMCs Global Center for Health Security, said the official number of reported COVID-19 tests being performed daily is at one of the lowest levels since the pandemic began. Many people are now relying on home tests, the results of which often don't get reported to health officials.

Because of that, "We are having a tough time getting a handle on true COVID disease numbers," Lawler said.

However, he noted that the current percentage of positive tests is similar to what it was in earlier surges.

"Based upon this, and upon some other surveillance testing data, I would estimate our true case numbers are many times what we are counting," he said.

Lancaster County data suggest cases are likely significantly higher than the reported number. The Health Department said the COVID-19 test positivity rate was 20.4% last week, the first time it's been above 20% since late January. Also, there was a 50% increase in virus particles detected in wastewater sampling compared with the previous week.

The county's total last week did not include 54 positives from home tests that were reported to the Health Department, which was a significant increase over previous weeks. The department has received a total of 328 reports of positive home tests.

Experts believe a large number of positive home tests go unreported.

Lawler said case counts are likely to keep rising thanks to the rising prevalence of more-infectious omicron variants.

Three weeks ago, the BA.4 and BA.5 variants barely registered in genomic sequencing of COVID-19 samples, but as of last week, BA.4 made up 12% of cases in the state and BA.5 accounted for 18%. The BA.2.12.1 variant made up 36% of cases last week, up from 10% three weeks ago.

"BA.4 and BA.5 variants probably make up more than half of the cases we are seeing now, so I think we can expect continued increases because of that," said Lawler, who said the variants are causing more patients to be hospitalized and also to become sicker than they were a few months ago.

According to CDC data, 142 people were hospitalized because of COVID-19 in Nebraska as of Friday, up from 139 on the previous Friday.

In Lancaster County, Health Department officials reported that the rolling daily average of COVID-19 patients in Lincoln hospitals rose from 26.7 the week ending June 18 to 29.6 last week.

One potential silver lining is the availability for small children to now get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC on June 18 authorized both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for kids as young as 6 months, and shots became available locally last week at pharmacies, doctor's offices and local health departments.

Getting young kids vaccinated is important, Lawler said, because studies show that kids get infected more often and also help drive transmission in communities.

"If we are able to get a large proportion of children up to date on COVID vaccines, we can dramatically blunt transmission in communities, as well as preventing hospitalizations and long COVID syndromes we are seeing more frequently in children," he said.

However, Lawler said he expects to see low vaccination rates among small children, based on the fact that fewer than 1 in 3 school-aged children have received the vaccine.

Efforts are off to a slow start in Lancaster County, with only 130 children ages 6 months to 4 years receiving a vaccine dose so far.

Steve Osenbaugh, owner of RelyCare Pharmacy in Lincoln, said he's only seen about five to 10 appointments per day for vaccines for 3- and 4-year-olds.

"Compared to the demand on other age groups, this has been very light," he said.

The Omaha World-Herald contributed to this report.

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

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Australias new government is putting climate change at the top of its legislative agenda when Parliament sits next month for the first time since the May 21 election, with bills to enshrine a cut in greenhouse gas emissions and make electric cars cheaper. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen told the National Press Club on Wednesday a bill will be introduced to commit Australia to reducing its emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030 when Parliament sits on July 26. Another bill would abolish import tariffs and taxes for electric vehicles that are cheaper than a luxury car threshold. Bowen says legislating the 43% target would create greater confidence.
Before she sentenced a 63-year-old Lincoln man to prison Thursday, nearly eight years after he was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, Judge Jodi Nelson first reviled Steve Berks for his actions on and after Aug. 22, 2014.

"You blamed the police and law enforcement for how long it took to get the DNA hit on you," the judge said. "You made horrible calls to (the accuser), trying to get her to be the one who is responsible for this. It's just appalling, the kind of irresponsibility and lack of taking responsibility that went on during that.

"I listened to those calls ... yesterday. And it's just appalling the effort that you made to, essentially, blame her, and to make her the one responsible for your conduct. It is simply appalling."

Berks, then 55, arrived at a party near 14th and G streets that night to pick up the 17-year-old  who had taken two Xanax pills and had been drinking at a friend's house before blacking out  after a friend called the girl's mom and said she needed a ride home, according to police.

"She was looking for a safe ride home," Deputy County Attorney Jessica Murphy said Wednesday. "Her friend called Mr. Berks. He was supposed to be that safe ride."

The next morning, the teen underwent a sexual assault examination at a local hospital after she woke up with her shorts unbuttoned and her underwear on the floor, police said in court records.

"And instead of keeping her safe, instead of making sure she was not taken advantage of, he (Berks) violated that trust in the worst way," said Nelson, echoing Murphy.

The sexual assault exam wasn't sent to the Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab for testing until May 15, 2019, nearly five years after the incident.

On Jan. 7, 2020, police learned the DNA sample from the kit matched Berks. LPD moved forward with an investigation later that year. And Berks, who had driven the girl home that night, was charged in February 2021 with sexual assault of an incompetent person.

Berks, who pleaded no contest to two counts of felony child abuse as a part of a plea agreement, offered apologies to the girl, her family and his own family when he addressed the court from a jail cell Wednesday in a virtual hearing.

"I know that there's a lot of people hurt, judge, by my actions besides just (the girl) and I," said Berks, who has spent the 517 days since his arrest in the Lancaster County Jail. "So with that I'd like to say I'm sorry, and I ask forgiveness from everybody that was ... hurt by selfish and senseless actions."

Berks' attorney, Chad Wythers, cast his client's jail stint is "quite a long time for a man his age," before asking Nelson to sentence Berks to a long probation term or a prison sentence with a low floor. For the state, Murphy sought continued incarceration.

In the end, Nelson sided "absolutely" with the prosecutor, thanking Berks for his apology but sentencing him to 4 to 5 years in prison on each count of child abuse, to be served consecutively.

"These kinds of events have profound and prolonged effects on others and their lives that, simply, can't be fixed with an apology, quite frankly," the judge said.

With credit for time served, Berks will be parole-eligible in early 2025.

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

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Updated 10:25 p.m.:

Mike Flood's lead in the race for the 1st District House race appeared safe late Tuesday as all votes from Lancaster County were reported.

Flood led Patty Pansing Brooks by a margin of 56,085-51,662 with only votes in Platte and Sarpy counties outstanding.

The Associated Press called the race for Flood at 10:25 p.m.

Updated 10:10 p.m.:

Mike Flood held a 3,400-vote lead with all votes in from eight largely-rural counties in the 12 counties comprising Nebraska's 1st congressional district.

Flood led Patty Pansing Brooks 41,220-37,877 with lots of votes still to be reported from Lincoln, Bellevue, Norfolk and Columbus.

Updated 9:35 p.m.:

Mike Flood held a 300-vote lead with all votes in from six largely-rural counties in the 12 counties comprising Nebraska's 1st congressional district.

Flood led Patty Pansing Brooks 35,079-34,728 with lots of votes still to be reported from Lincoln, Bellevue, Fremont, Norfolk and Columbus.

Updated 9:20 p.m.:

Patty Pansing Brooks held a narrow 300-vote lead over Mike Flood in Tuesday's closely watched special election.

The latest numbers include the first batch of results from ballots cast Tuesday in Lancaster County. Of those same-day ballots recorded, Pansing Brooks was running ahead of Flood by a 55%-45% margin. In early votes cast in Lancaster County, Pansing Brooks led by a 62%-38% margin.

The latest overall totals:

Pansing Brooks 34,606

Flood 34,303

Earlier story:

Patty Pansing Brooks, a Democrat from Lincoln looking to dislodge the Republican stranglehold on the 1st District House seat, emerged with the early lead in Tuesday's closely watched special election.

Vote totals available at 8:50 p.m. appeared to include all early ballots filled out and turned in prior to other voters heading to the polls on Tuesday. Pansing Brooks led with 26,096 votes, or 52.7%, to 23,442 votes for Mike Flood.

Both candidates are sitting state senators.

Historically, early votes favor Democrats, and the vast majority of the early ballots reported at 8:50 p.m. -- 30,443 of 49,538 -- were cast in Pansing Brook's home county of Lancaster.

Flood, her opponent, is from Norfolk.

The 1st District is composed of 10 eastern Nebraska counties, including Lancaster County, along with portions of two others.

The rare 1st District special election  the first since 1951  will fill the unexpired term of former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned in March following his conviction on charges that he lied to federal officials about illegal foreign contributions to his 2016 re-election campaign.

In an odd twist of fate, Fortenberry was sentenced to two years of probation by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Tuesday, avoiding a potential prison term.

Democrats have not won a 1st District House seat since 1964; since then, it's been 28 straight Republican victories. Republicans hold a voter registration advantage over Democrats that exceeds 94,000.

Tuesday's winner will serve the remaining six months of Fortenberry's term with Flood and Pansing Brooks squaring off again less than five months from now in the Nov. 8 general election in a contest to fill a two-year term beginning in January.

The two candidates won party nominations for the November election from voters in the May 10 primary election.

Party leaders chose them to square off in Tuesday's special election.

This is a developing story. Stay with JournalStar.com for updates.

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Nebraska state Sen. Mike Flood won a special election Tuesday to replace former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a fellow Republican who was sentenced to two years of probation earlier in the day for a conviction on charges that he lied to federal agents.

Flood beat Democratic state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks in the states Republican-leaning 1st District, which includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller, mostly conservative towns in eastern Nebraska.

Flood, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, will serve the rest of what would have been Fortenberrys ninth term. Hell be a strong favorite to win a new term in November, when he faces Pansing Brooks again.

In a brief interview after his win, Flood promised to be a conservative advocate for the district and a champion for local infrastructure projects and agriculture. Throughout the campaign, he sought to blame President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for rising inflation, and pledged to fight Biden administration policies.

Flood acknowledged that he needs to do more to boost his support in the Lincoln area, one of the only pockets of Democratic strength in the district. Flood's victory was narrower than in previous elections, when Fortenberry would easily beat Democratic challengers with more than 60% of the vote.

I recognize that I have work to do, Flood said.

In a statement, Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said the narrower-than-expected margin shows the need for more national party support in rural areas that are often viewed as unwinnable.

Sen. Pansing Brooks connected with voters and started to change the political landscape of Nebraska, Kleeb said.

Both candidates were nominated by their parties leaders in April to run in the special election. The next month, Nebraska primary voters picked them to run in the general election.

In court Tuesday, Fortenberry sat quietly as U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld ordered him to serve probation, pay a $25,000 fine and perform community service. Blumenfeld rejected prosecutors request for a six-month prison sentence, saying the ex-congressman's behavior in the case was out of character.

Fortenberry later said he planned to appeal, arguing that prosecutors never should have brought the case and accusing them of taking advantage of his trust.

This has been very traumatic and weve got a way to go, he said outside the courthouse. But I am grateful that ... the judge recognized that the pattern of what I wanted to do with my life was simply to serve in public office and to try to help people.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mack Jenkins said prosecutors disagreed with the decision not to impose prison time, but noted the judges comments endorsing the jurys decision.

Fortenberry resigned in March shortly after a California jury found him guilty in the corruption case. He has maintained his innocence and said he plans to appeal. Before he was indicted in October, Fortenberry was expected to sail to an easy win.

Prosecutors alleged Fortenberry lied to federal agents multiple times about $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions he received from a foreign national at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles. Federal law bars donations from foreign nationals.

At trial, prosecutors played phone recordings between Fortenberry and a donor-turned-informant, who warned the congressman that the donations had likely been funneled to him from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. Fortenberrys attorneys argued that he didnt hear the warning due to bad cellphone reception.

Fortenberry maintained his innocence, going so far as to release a preemptive denial of the charges before they were announced in a video that he filmed inside a 1963 Ford F-150 pickup, with his wife and dog at his side. He also continued to campaign, decrying his prosecution as politically motivated and airing attack ads against Flood.

But as more details of the case became public, Fortenberry quickly lost support among top Nebraska Republicans. Gov. Pete Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman dealt him a major blow when they endorsed Flood.

Flood stayed mostly positive, airing several lighthearted ads, including one where he described himself as a conservative nerd who would get things done in Washington.

Follow Grant Schulte on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantSchulte

Melley reported from Los Angeles.

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

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The likelihood of a special session of the Legislature later this year to deal with abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that turns abortion rights decisions over to the states appeared Wednesday to be increasingly iffy.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, who would like to see legislation enacted to prohibit most abortions in the state, referred to "the potential special session" in responding to questions at a news conference.

Ricketts said he will continue to work with Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln to "see what more we can do to protect unborn babies."

The governor made it clear that he would support an amendment to an abortion ban that would allow for necessary "medical treatments for the mother that could impact the life of the (unborn) child."

In a text message response to a question about whether a special session is likely or not, Hilgers said there is "nothing additional to add to previous statements for now."

Ricketts said he will "look for someone who is pro-life" in choosing a successor to Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday in a special election to choose a successor to former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned after his conviction on charges that he lied to federal officials about illegal foreign contributions to his 2016 reelection campaign.

Flood captured the special election for eastern Nebraska's 1st District House seat, grabbing 53.2% of the vote against Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln. Just 28% of voters turned out, with Flood winning by a margin of 60,068 votes to 52,913.

Flood, who is expected to be sworn in no earlier than July 12, when the House returns from its current recess, was sponsor of the legislation that has banned abortions in Nebraska after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

During an interview days before the special congressional election, Flood said he would hope that the Supreme Court's decision would spark state legislation that provides support for prenatal care, access to adequate nutrition and other support that pregnant women may need.

Flood's successor will be appointed to serve the remaining two years of his current term in the Legislature representing District 19 in northeast Nebraska.

A so-called trigger bill that would have banned all abortions in Nebraska in the wake of the anticipated Supreme Court decision ending the abortion rights secured by the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 was trapped by a filibuster in the closing days of the 2022 legislative session.

Supporters fell two votes short of the 33 required to free the proposal for advancement.

That 33-vote legislative target remains the key to ending abortion rights in the state.

In answer to a separate question at the news conference, Ricketts appeared to downplay the significance of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony on Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last year.

Ricketts said the testimony describing President Donald Trump's actions and his erratic and sometimes violent behavior represented "one person's perspective" and included second- or third-hand observations.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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Nebraska's unemployment claims system is offline after the vendor that built and manages it was hit by a cyberattack.

NEworks, the website Nebraskans use to file for unemployment benefits and search for new jobs, has been offline since Sunday, Geographic Solutions told the Nebraska Department of Labor on Monday evening.

"Geographic Solutions experienced a cyberattack that required our state labor exchange and unemployment claims system to be taken offline," the company wrote to the state agency.

The Florida-based company said its team "is working around the clock to restore these systems to all users as soon as possible."

The NEworks website, however, states the system is undergoing "scheduled maintenance" and will be back online shortly.

In a news release Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Labor said Geographic Solutions indicated the attack only affected access to online systems, and that there was no evidence user data had been compromised.

"(Geographic Solutions) has not provided a projected date for when the outage will be resolved," the news release states, "but indicated the site will be down for at least the next two days."

Individuals needing to file unemployment claims for the week of June 19-25 would have until Saturday to do so, labor department spokeswoman Grace Johnson said.

Those filing claims also have until Saturday to file their reemployment activities with the department  things such as job searches and interviews required to maintain their benefits  but aren't required to use NEworks in order to do so.

"We will issue further information to customers as we learn more details on the outage, as well as instructions as needed," Johnson said in an email.

In Iowa, a similar system built by Geographic Solutions was also down Sunday and Monday, and the website was expected to remain down through at least part of Tuesday, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

SDworks, the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation's unemployment and reemployment system, is also down, according to a message on the agency's website.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS

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The Golden State Killer never saw the law coming.

Police had never connected Joseph James DeAngelo to a spree of 13 murders, 50 rapes and more than 120 burglaries across California during the 1970s and 80s. Then, in 2018, investigators uploaded a DNA profile of one murder victims rapist into a commercial database, similar to those created by companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com.

Bingo.

Several people in the database shared a common ancestor with the killer, and police created a family tree. They quickly honed in on DeAngelo, then 72, and arrested him after confirming that his DNA matched the killers. He confessed to numerous crimes and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The capture of the Golden State Killer put this technique, called genetic genealogy, in the headlines. Police now regularly use it to catch cold case killers, and to identify the remains of murder and accident victims from decades ago.

It also raised a question for historians and forensic anthropologists at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), which has labs at Offutt Air Force Base and in Hawaii: Could they use the same method to identify the war dead from World War II, Korea and Vietnam?

Four years later, the answer appears to be yes. The accounting agency, working with its partners at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) in Dover, Delaware, has begun to use a highly sensitive next-generation DNA sequencing test developed by scientists at AFDIL and Parabon NanoLabs, a pioneering genetic genealogy firm.

Someday, it may help Carrie LeGarde, a forensic anthropologist at the Offutt lab, tie a bow around DPAAs largest and most successful project to date: the identification of the unknown dead from the battleship USS Oklahoma, sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Over six years, she led a team of anthropologists that examined more than 13,000 bones recovered from the ship and later buried in Hawaii in graves marked unknown.

They identified 361 of 394 missing sailors and Marines. The 92% identification rate far exceeded the 80% goal set when the first remains were disinterred in 2015.

LeGarde said she was proud to have returned so many World War II heroes to their families, nearly 80 years later. But the fact that 33 could not be given names gnaws at her just a bit.

We have done everything we can at this point, LeGarde said. Of course, I would love to identify everybody. But thats a pretty difficult task.

Traditional mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA testing involves extracting snippets of DNA from the unidentified bones and comparing them to DNA samples taken from one or more family members.

Those samples are processed at AFDIL and buttressed with traditional forensic work by DPAA anthropologists and historians, such as examining the size and shape of the bones and where and how they were found.

This process has allowed DPAA to meet or exceed a goal of 200 identifications per year  some from field excavations in former war zones, and others buried as unknowns in military cemeteries.

But this method has some drawbacks.

The requirement for family-reference DNA means the Defense Department must spend time and money tracking down relatives and persuading them to submit a DNA sample from a cheek swab.

That can be hard to do. Some relatives may be suspicious of giving a sample to the government. Some of the missing service members were adopted, so their DNA doesnt match living relatives. And in some cases, family members just cant be found.

The other significant problem is the DNA itself.

DNA decays with time, making it harder to extract readable samples from bones that have been buried for decades. It deteriorates even faster when burials take place in acidic soil or in warm, wet climates like most burials from Korea, Vietnam or World War II in the Pacific.

If you dont act, you might lose it forever, said Kristen Mittelman, chief development officer for Othram, a private genetic genealogy lab in Houston that specializes in cold case IDs.

Also, chemical treatments historically used in burials to preserve bodies have had the perverse effect of destroying DNA. This has hampered several of the accounting agencys major projects.

One example: the identification of 859 Korean War unknowns whose remains were retrieved from battlefield graves during and after the war. They were soaked in formaldehyde and treated with other chemicals before they were reburied in Hawaii, and DPAA analysts have had difficulty extracting DNA from them.

In 2016, AFDIL and Parabon introduced a far more sensitive next-generation DNA test. It let investigators capture samples from as many as 60% of even highly degraded samples  10 times the rate of earlier tests.

Later innovations have allowed the lab to accurately match samples with more distant relatives, and to extract DNA from even some of the most highly degraded samples.

We mimic what 23andMe and Ancestry were trying to do, said Tim McMahon, director of the Armed Forces DNA Lab.

Were good at getting DNA from the samples they send us.

Mittelman and her husband, David, who is the CEO of the Othram DNA lab, have suggested that genetic genealogy could also offer a path to identification not only of the USS Oklahomas 33 remaining unknowns, but also 85 unidentified dead from the USS Arizona.

Moored just a few hundred yards from the Oklahoma, the Arizona blew up in a cataclysmic explosion just minutes into the attack when a Japanese bomb exploded in the ships magazine. Of the Arizonas 1,500-man crew, 1,177 were killed, the highest death toll at Pearl Harbor.

Just 105 bodies were recovered and identified. Most of the rest are permanently entombed in the sunken hull, which is now part of the USS Arizona Memorial.

But 85 sets of recovered remains could not be identified and were buried as unknowns. Currently there are no plans to identify the Arizona unknowns, because doing so would require obtaining DNA reference samples from the families of all of the 1,177 dead.

The Mittelmans believe genetic genealogy could allow DPAA to bypass that step by using their proprietary testing protocol, which they said already has been used to crack hundreds of cold cases.

David Mittelman said they use multiple methods, plug into large DNA databases, and turn over their results to authorities. They charge $5,000 per sample.

Our success rate is extremely high, he said. We pride ourselves on taking unsolvable problems and bringing them to conclusion.

Theyve pitched their idea to officials at the Armed Forces DNA Lab. In a recent report to MIA families, DPAA called it a fruitful meeting but has not announced a partnership.

Hope still remains for the 33 Oklahoma unknowns, too.

When the Oklahoma Project wrapped up last year, the unidentified bones were placed in four caskets and reburied at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. They were lowered into the earth after a solemn ceremony on Dec. 7, 2021, the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.

LeGarde said one of the caskets contains an assortment of bones considered too small to be worth identifying. They will remain permanently buried.

But the three other caskets contain individual sets of remains linked by DNA, segregated and wrapped in blankets  awaiting new technology that will allow them to be identified and returned to their families.

We know what casket they have gone into, LeGarde said. They could be accessed in the future if needed.

Thats encouraging news for relatives of brothers William and Robert Sellon, USS Oklahoma sailors who grew up in Randolph, Nebraska.

William, 25, known to family as Billy, was killed in the attack. He is one of the 33 who remain unknown.

Robert, known as Bobby, survived. But he never escaped the shadow of Pearl Harbor.

Ive been watching the paper, so hopeful, said Diann Sellon Gliem, 72, of Randolph, whose father, Monte, was the brothers first cousin. Theres always been a sadness in our family, and kind of a mystery.

Billy and Bobby were the only two sons of a cabinetmaker and his wife who had moved from Randolph to Missoula, Montana, in search of work during the 1930s. That is where the brothers joined the Navy.

Its not clear today how they came to be serving together on the Oklahoma, but it wasnt uncommon in the pre-World War II Navy. At least seven other sets of brothers were assigned to the ship, according to the website PearlHarbor.org.

Family stories differ about exactly what happened to them that morning. One account says they were together that Sunday morning but split up when one decided to go to church and the other skipped it. Another story says Bobby slipped out of a porthole of the ship before it capsized and swam back in a vain attempt to find Billy.

They do know Bobby never really recovered from the loss of his brother. He was wounded in the war  perhaps on board the USS Northampton, to which he was transferred after Pearl Harbor. The ship was torpedoed and sunk almost a year later during a disastrous naval battle near Guadalcanal.

After the war, Bobby returned to Montana, married, fathered two daughters, split up with his wife and remarried. He liked bars and guns, and once got shot by another man. His behavior reminds relatives today of post-traumatic stress.

On June 28, 1952, he walked into a bedroom at his parents house in Missoula with a high-powered rifle and fatally shot himself. He was 31. A newspaper account quoted his parents as saying he had been despondent ever since World War II.

I was paralyzed with grief when he killed himself, recalls Glenda Rock III, Bobbys younger daughter, who was 6 when he died. He always called me Happy Jack. He was safety, was warmth.

She said no one would mention her fathers name for several years. It took time, but she has worked through her familys tragedy.

Its not painful anymore. Its a saga, Rock said.

Although she lives in Idaho, Rock said she would like to see her uncles remains buried in Nebraska if he can be identified.

Thats the ending Gliem is hoping for, too.

The story just got sadder and sadder. It was hard for me to shake it, she said. It would be a closure on one of those open-ended questions from World War II.

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Nebraska towns range in size from one resident (Monowi) to more than 400,000, but these are only the settlements that have withstood the test 
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that ended up being overshadowed by the overturn of Roe v. Wade, if you get arrested or are questioned by law enforcement, you should still expect to be informed, You have the right to remain silent.

In a 6-3 decision Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officers cannot be sued if they fail to recite the well-known Miranda rights to suspects before questioning them.

If an officer fails to inform a suspect of their rights prior to questioning, any incriminating statements the suspect makes thereafter would still be inadmissible in court. Nothing changed in this regard following Thursdays ruling.

The impact of last weeks Supreme Court decision is thus: if the justice system fails and such statements are used against a suspect who was not directly informed of their rights, that suspect is disallowed from suing the officer who failed to inform the suspect of their rights.

Racine County law enforcement agencies say the high courts decision will have no effect on how they police their jurisdictions.

As far as our department goes, Miranda rights are read to/by an arrestee when required, particularly prior to any in-custody interrogations of a suspect/defendant. Admissions or confessions given freely prior to receipt of Miranda shall be documented in detail. After voluntary admission, the officer will give him/her Miranda rights, Brian Zmudzinski, chief of the Burlington Police Department, said in an email. Our procedures remain the same, to govern procedures for assuring compliance with all applicable constitutional requirements.

Other area departments said essentially the same thing.

Sgt. William Jeschke, of the Waterford Police Department, said in a statement: No change to any policy regarding Miranda is being contemplated at this time. As you know, Miranda procedures are meant to safeguard individuals rights during police interactions. We at the Waterford Police Department have operated under these conditions since the departments inception and see no reason not to continue to do so.

Sturtevant Police Chief Sean Marshke, former president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, said in an email: Our policy has not changed. Suspects in custody are advised of their rights when subject to custodial interviews.

Added Caledonia Police Chief Christopher Botsch: The outcome of the (Supreme Court) case will not affect our current, policy, guidelines, or operations. We will continue to provide the Miranda warnings when appropriate. If we fail to provide the warnings when required, we recognize the result may be the suppression of the statement, which has been the longstanding result.

Zmudzinski added that officers are encouraged to record interviews and interrogations using body-worn cameras or other recording devices. Additionally, officers are encouraged to, when issuing the Miranda warning, to read it verbatim from a document made available to all officers. That document also includes a waiver to be signed by the person being questioned, where the person being questioned can write down Yes or No replies to the questions Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you? and Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to me now?

The case

The case before the court that was decided Thursday is known as Vega v. Tekoh.

Vega v. Tekoh began in 2014 when Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Carlos Vega was called to County-USC Medical Center to investigate a patients complaint that an orderly had sexually assaulted her. The officer said nurses told him that Terence Tekoh had transported the heavily sedated patient to her room.

Vega said he took Tekoh to a private room to talk, and the orderly admitted he had made a mistake and agreed to write out a full confession.

Tekoh told a very different story.

He described an hourlong confrontation, and said the deputy closed the door before accusing him of groping the patient and falsely claiming the abuse had been captured on video.

Tekoh said that he asked to speak with a lawyer but that the deputy refused, blocked him from leaving and dictated a confession that he was required to write out and sign.

Tekoh was charged with a sexual offense, and his confession was introduced as evidence at his trial. Even so, the superior court jury found him not guilty.

The orderly then sued Vega in federal court, accusing the deputy of violating his rights by not advising him of his rights and forcing him to confess to a crime.

Those concerned with the conservative majoritys ruling say it empowers police officers to pressure suspects who are asserting their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, as the officers themselves may not personally face repercussions for testing the limits of the law.

There will be no penalty for violating Miranda, said Charles Weisselberg, a UC Berkeley law professor. There will be zero incentive for officers to cease questioning.

Reporting by David G. Savage of the Los Angeles Times, via the Tribune News Service and Associated Press, is included in this report.

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RACINE  The man charged in connection to a 2020 fatal shooting at a biker club was found not guilty Tuesday in Racine County Circuit Court.

Donley M. Carey, 37, was acquitted of 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 was also found not guilty of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.

In his own defense

The defendant testified on Monday that he was not the shooter.

Witnesses said the two men were having a dispute and accusing each other of being the police  that is, a snitch or confidential informant.

The case presented by the Racine County District Attorneys Office was plagued by conflicting testimony from witnesses and questions being raised about the Racine Police Departments investigation. Efforts by unknown individuals to clean the crime scene also greatly hindered evidence gathering.

Mindy Nolan, who represented the defendant, told the jury during closing statements that after the DAs Office presented all their evidence, it still wasnt clear what happened in the bathroom that led to the shooting death of Anderson.

Common sense is lacking in the states case, Nolan told the jury.

As one example, she pointed out the states eyewitness claimed he was on his knees in front of Anderson, trying to help him dress, when Carey walked in and started shooting.

She noted for the jury that the victim was shot twice in the legs. She posed the question: How was it possible to shoot the victim in the legs and not hit the eyewitness kneeling in front of him?

Nolan was also critical of the investigation by the RPD.

She noted in the photos of the crime scene that there are three shot glasses wrapped up with the body of the victim, but investigators cannot say what happened to those glasses.

Additionally, the police took a witness into custody the day of the shooting but did not preserve the clothes he was wearing, which might have definitely provided the evidence as to whether he was in the room at the time of the shooting as he claimed.

Case history

The RPD responded to the private club after an anonymous 911 call reported that there was a deceased person inside.

They found the victims body wrapped in garbage bags. The hard drives for the surveillance cameras in the building were gone, and the room was awash in bleach, an apparent attempt to rid the room of physical evidence.

Later it was determined Anderson was shot seven times with a .40 caliber firearm.

Investigators theorize that someone wrapped the body and intended to move it later, but there is no evidence that Carey participated in wrapping the body or disposing of evidence. Multiple witnesses testified to seeing him flee after the shooting.

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.

Evidence

The case presented by the Racine County DAs Office relied on eyewitness testimony as there was no DNA evidence that linked Carey to the scene of the crime.

Many of the witnesses at the bar that night were never tracked down.

One of the challenges for investigators was that no one used their real names  or as they say, their government names  and instead favored nicknames.

The witnesses who did testify acknowledged they had been partying. The eyewitness who said he was in the room when the shooting occurred had been up for days on ecstasy and other drugs, and had spent the evening partying at the bar where the shooting occurred.

Antoinette Rich, the assistant district attorney, conceded during closing statements the testimony of the states witnesses was all over the place.

Many of the statements made by the eyewitness were not borne out by the evidence. As one example, a witness claimed to have stayed at the scene and watched while the medical examiner carry out the body of his friend, Anderson. But the evidence showed he was in custody at the time the body was removed from the clubhouse, and the eyewitness could not have been there to watch.

She said the fact the witnesses couldnt remember all the little details was not relevant.

Nolan countered, saying that the details were very relevant to understanding the big picture.

She outlined the many conflicting remarks by the eyewitnesses, including one witness who potentially put the eyewitness outside of the bathroom at the time of the shooting.

Nolan also pointed out that multiple witnesses heard the eyewitness say they killed his friend in the hours after the shooting, suggesting the killing could not be traced to a single person.

She said there was more going on at the biker bar than the state would have the jury believe.







The defendant

As he did in the first trial, Carey took the stand and testified in his own defense.

The states eyewitness testified that Carey and Anderson went into the bathroom to strip and prove they were not wearing a surveillance wire. Afterward, Carey allegedly left the room, retrieved a gun, and came back and shot Anderson.

Carey was not a member of the Sin City Motorcycle Club, but he had been there a couple of times before.

Carey refuted the suggestion that both he and Anderson went into the bathroom to strip and demonstrate they were not wearing a police wires.

Instead, he said he was taken to the bathroom by multiple men with guns, was held at gunpoint and ordered to strip by Anderson.

The defendant said he took off his clothes and handed them to Anderson, who searched them for a wire.

Carey said that, while this went on, Anderson put his gun in the waistband of his pants while the other man continued to hold him (Carey) at gunpoint.

The defendant testified Anderson told the person holding the gun to shoot him (Carey), but he didnt and looked reluctant, so Anderson said he would do it.

He pointed the gun and tried to pull the trigger, Carey said, but the gun did not fire. In the meantime, Carey shouted for help.

The person who responded to his cries for help was a good friend of Careys. The defendant said his friend jumped to his defense and began struggling with Anderson while Carey grabbed his clothes and left the bathroom.

Carey said while he was dressing he heard the shots and believed Anderson was shot while the two struggled over the gun.

Carey said he fled the bar through a side door.

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BURLINGTON  Fridays overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has the country at odds.

One side wants expanded womens rights, believing the act of giving birth to a child should always be a choice.

The other preaches pro-life, that abortion is murder. This group currently holds the power in Wisconsin, with a Republican legislature supported by the Supreme Court decision and an 1849 abortion ban that has never been overturned despite having been dormant since 1973.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Rochester Republican who grew up in Burlington, is happy with the Supreme Court ruling to give the decision whether abortion should be legal to state lawmakers and not the federal government.

Safeguarding the lives of unborn children shouldnt be controversial, Vos wrote on his Facebook page Friday. Todays decision reaffirms their lives are precious and worthy of protection.

Protests showing in opposition to Fridays ruling are quickly spreading across the country, primarily starting the day of the decision in big cities like Milwaukee, two days later in Downtown Racine, and then Monday for the first time in Burlington.

Underway

Right now, a woman who survives sexual assault or rape and wants to get an abortion cannot legally do it in the State of Wisconsin.

She would have to go to Minnesota or Illinois or further. Some pro-life federal lawmakers are looking to further illegalize abortion nationwide  although theres little momentum there.

With more power given to the states, it will require voters to come out in force this November to legalize abortion in Wisconsin. It isnt likely, considering Republicans currently have a near-supermajority in the state Legislature.

Brooke Chilcoat, 20, a senior at UW-Whitewater and a 2019 Burlington High School graduate, is fed up. So, she did something about it.

Chilcoat took to social media and hit up her contacts around 8 p.m. Sunday night to organize a #DefendRoe protest.

Only 19 hours later, more than 70 of her friends, supporters and local activists showed up in Downtown Burlington in Echo Lake Park to hold up signs along busy Milwaukee Avenue.

The heavily-trafficked area is four lanes and forces people to stop at the lights and either continue downtown or veer left down Bridge Street.

Many people honked their car horns in approval or gave a thumbs up in support of the mostly young women, who leaned into the street and reeled off My body, my choice chants.

Some drivers hurled profanities. Protesters responded in kind.

Things remained peaceful, something Vos and others have urged in this time of disagreement considering the violent acts both sides of the argument have perpetrated.

Its deeper than just a law for Chilcoat.

She told stories of past abuse Monday, including being raped and having friends who have survived sexual assault.

We all know that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and our reproductive rights are at risk, Chilcoat said alongside Burlington residents Briita Welch and Matthew Gregoric. Many people dont have access to abortion or that type of care anymore. Not only is it hard on any person that has a uterus, but especially our marginalized communities and people of color, anybody below the poverty line is being affected even more. A lot of those resources were not available to them.

For Welch, a local activist and mother, this is a human rights issue, she said.

According to 2022 polling from Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Planned Parenthood has discontinued abortions (in Wisconsin) as of this past Friday, but what you have to understand is that abortion is not just a one-stop visit, Welch said Monday. There are multiple visits that are required to ensure the health and safety of the woman, theres ultrasounds and other health steps that need to be taken.

There are so many medical emergencies, things where the medical answer is to have an abortion, Chilcoat added, a statement that OB/GYN (obstetrics and gynecology) groups agree with but pro-life groups dont. Now doctors may have to look at prison time for saving a life.

In Ohio, a new law has made it illegal for doctors to perform an abortion even if the fetus has a fatal defect that will make it impossible for them to live upon being born.

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 754 deaths of mothers because of pregnancy or during childbirth in the U.S. Thats equal to approximately 1.25 deaths in each state per month, or 2.1 deaths for every 10,000 live births.

Chilcoat said she has had to consider an abortion in the past, though shes never gotten one. Shes afraid women who go through what she has will not be able to consider abortion.

Ive been sexually assaulted and raped, and in those situations you dont know what can happen to you, Chilcoat said. Ive had a couple scares, and Ive had to look into resources. Look at the girl in high school who gets pregnant and doesnt know what to do, doesnt want to tell her mom  These young people need those resources.

Only the beginning

Protesters, including Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism President Laura Bielefeldt, varied loud chants with a megaphone and spread out in a single file line facing an extremely busy Milwaukee Avenue during rush hour, from 3-5 p.m. Monday.

Gregoric, 20, another BHS grad, said he is gay and came to the protest to support his friends and women. He fears that the right of same-sex couples to marry could also be in danger.

One of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade Friday, Clarence Thomas, wrote that he hopes the court reconsider cases that legalized gay marriage and the use of contraception. Its unclear if four of the other eight justices would vote to overturn those rights granted in 2015 and 1965, respectively.

Maybe theyll turn to people like me and say I cant get married, Gregoric said. Its very sad to hear theyre reversing back to very old ways.

In the future, Id like to get married. I have a partner, and were looking forward to that. I dont want that to be an issue, Gregoric continued. Were fighting for any and all minorities in this country.

This decision is only the beginning, Welch added. Youre talking about LGBTQ rights, gay marriage, contraception, birth control pills. Its possible these things will just be taken away.

Those protesting called for a galvanization of pro-choice voters to elect pro-choice candidates this fall.

The biggest thing is getting people in (elected) office that are going to protect womens rights and rights for every single other marginalized community, Chilcoat said. The biggest thing is voting. I have a website set up where you can register to vote.

With rallies and protests already circulating in the area, the fallout from the Roe decision could very well bring more unrest to Racine Country streets this summer.

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YORKVILLE  The Racine Fire Department doesnt want members of the public to use fireworks at all this year.

Leave the fireworks to the professionals, the RFD said in a prepared statement Monday.

The fire department cited statistics from the National Fire Protection Association that stated: Each July 4 across America, use of consumer fireworks results in approximately 20,000 reported fires and 10,000 reported injuries, with most injuries occurring to children and teens.

Despite the dangers of fireworks, few people understand the associated risks such as devastating burns, other injuries, fires, and even death.

The fire department noted that certain fireworks are legal to use, including cone fountains, small smoke bombs, cylinder fountains, snakes that dont contain mercury and sparklers smaller than 36 inches.

Remember, if a firework explodes or shoots into the air it is not only dangerous, but likely illegal, the RFD said.

The only safe way to view fireworks is to attend a professional show, the statement continued, while encouraging the public to enjoy alternatives like glowsticks, noisemakers, silly string or outdoor movie nights.

Prohibited fireworks including anything that shoots into the air, fireworks, aerial salutes, firecrackers, Roman candles, wheels and skyrockets.

Also on Monday, Phantom Fireworks, one of the nations top consumer fireworks retailers, issued guidance on how to use fireworks safely and responsibly.

Among the key safety measures, Phantom Fireworks recommends the following:

A sober adult should be in charge of the fireworks.

Children should never handle the products.

Use common sense and be careful.

Follow your local laws on fireworks use.

Use fireworks on hard, flat surfaces.

If you shoot on grass, lay down a plywood board as your hard, flat surface.

According to Phantom Fireworks press release distributed on Monday:

2021 was a record-breaking year in the U.S. with the greatest use of fireworks and the lowest fireworks-related injury rate ever recorded.

From 1994 to 2021 there has been a 74.7% decrease in injuries per hundred thousand pounds of consumer fireworks used in the U.S., while simultaneously recording a 265% increase in consumption.

Consumption has increased from 117 million pounds in 1994 to 428.8 million pounds in 2021, and injuries per 100 thousand pounds of fireworks used during the same period dropped from 10.7 to 2.7.

Phantom said it is determined to maintain this trend of growth, but is urging consumers to make sure to let their neighbors know the time they will be shooting their fireworks.

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Wisconsins Supreme Court says a conservative political appointee can stay in power indefinitely if lawmakers refuse to confirm a successor, dealing a blow to Gov. Tony Evers and the powers of the executive branch.

The high court ruled Wednesday in favor of Fred Prehn, a Wausau dentist appointed to the Natural Resources Board in 2015 by former Gov. Scott Walker. Prehn refused to step down when his term expired more than a year ago.

The courts conservative majority said the expiration of Prehns six-year term, in and of itself, did not create a vacancy for the governor to fill.

At the same time, the court ruled that the expiration did not end protections against being removed without cause, meaning Evers cant simply fire him.

That means Prehn can stay in office until the Senate confirms Evers nominee, something Republicans who control the chamber have so far refused to do.

If the nominee is not confirmed, the nominee is not appointed into office and cannot exercise the authority assigned to that position, conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote in the majority opinion. While the Governor can make a provisional appointment who exercises all of the powers and duties of the office, subject to later confirmation by the senate, there must first be a vacancy to fill.

The courts three liberal justices filed a 16-page dissent calling the opinion absurd and nonsensical, saying it steers our states government directly into disorder and chaos, threatening the fragile separation of powers central to its functions.

(A)llowing Prehn to continue serving in office indefinitely makes him the final authority on whether he remains in office  not the legislature, which specified by statute that his term expired over 13 months ago, and not the governor, who the legislature gave the authority to nominate a replacement, Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote. One unelected official should not be able to dictate his term in office over the will of the peoples elected representatives.

Balance of power

The ruling further tilts the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in favor of Republicans who control the Legislature and have refused to hold confirmation hearings for many of Evers appointees  including most of his nominees to boards overseeing the states higher education system.

Todays decision continues to underscore the erosion of democratic institutions at the hands of Republicans in this state, Evers said in a statement. Its wrongheaded, its shortsighted, and its politics at its most dangerous.

Evers said his appointees are exceptionally qualified, should be considered on their merit, and should have the opportunity to serve the people of our state, regardless of whether or not they were appointed by a Democrat or share the same ideas as Republicans in the Legislature.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who filed the lawsuit last year, said the Supreme Courts decision sets a terrible precedent at a time when several of Evers other appointees still await formal approval from the Senate.

We now have an appointee who can apparently stay on this board for as long as he chooses, Kaul said. Think about that in a democracy. This is not a country where we have kings, but Dr. Prehn apparently gets to choose how long he gets to stay there, regardless of what the people of Wisconsin say.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about if or when he would schedule a confirmation hearing for Evers appointee, Ashland County educator Sandra Naas.

Prehn issued a statement saying he intends to stay on the board until a successor is confirmed and accused Evers and Kaul of wasting substantial taxpayer dollars in legal fees on a political stunt to satisfy their liberal donor base.

Their lack of understanding of case law is obvious and that lack of understanding caused many losses, including hours of time, emotion and cost on this issue, Prehn wrote.

Keeping a seat

Kaul argued Prehn and lawmakers ignored the century-old common law, which says an appointee whose term has ended may hold over, but once the term expires there is a vacancy that the governor is entitled to fill.

Citing a 1964 Supreme Court ruling, Prehn maintained he does not have to leave until Naas is confirmed by the Senate. Republicans adjourned the two-year session without holding a hearing, cementing the boards conservative majority.

Text messages uncovered in a separate court case show Prehn sought advice from Walker in November 2020, nearly six months before his term was set to expire, saying lawmakers do not intend on confirming anybody soon.

Walker encouraged Prehn to stay.

Kaul sued in August, asking the courts to force Prehn to step down. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn dismissed the case but faulted lawmakers for refusing to hold a confirmation hearing.

Both Kaul and Prehn asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, bypassing the court of appeals.

Key decisions

Since his term ended, Prehn has voted to reject regulations of toxic PFAS compounds in groundwater and to weaken the agencys proposed drinking water standards for the so-called forever chemicals.

He could also cast a deciding vote later this year on a new wolf management plan, which could set population goals and help determine hunting quotas if the gray wolf is again removed from the federal endangered species list.

If youre on the side of more toxic sludge in our water, this is a win for you today, Kaul said. But if you want clean and safe drinking water for Wisconsinites, if you care about people in Wisconsin having power over the government, its yet another huge loss from the Supreme Court.

Midwest Environmental Advocates called the decision a blow to the health of our environment and the health of our democracy.

Fred Prehn coordinated with Scott Walker, lobbyists for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and an unaccountable, gerrymandered legislature to retain control of environmental policy in Wisconsin, the group said in a statement. As a result, Scott Walkers appointees continue to control the Department of Natural Resources 1,331 days and counting after Walker lost the election.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.

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1. Yes. It could give residents a reason to travel downtown and help revitalize the area.

2. Yes. It is, but only if the city commits to bringing in nearby restaurants and shops.

3. No. The city would be better served moving the annex to a more accessible part of town.

4. No. The proposed downtown location is in a blighted area. Consider other options.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say. It depends on what the city, county and architect come up with.

Vote

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MINDEN  Three dogs died in a house fire Tuesday in Minden.

The Minden Volunteer Fire Department was called to the fire at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at 242 South Nebraska Ave.

When the first crew showed up, they encountered heavy smoke and fire on the first level of the house, said Tom Brown, Minden Fire Chief.

The fire started on the main level in the kitchen area, Brown said, and spread to the second story of the house. Five people lived in the house, but no one was home at the time. Firefighters searched the house for the familys pets, but they died in the fire.

We searched the house really hard, but the outcome had already been determined before we got there, Brown said about the dogs.

Axtell, Wilcox, Hildreth, Upland and Franklin volunteer fire departments, all members of the Quad Cities Mutual Aid, also responded to the blaze. The fire was under control within an hour, but crews continued to work at the scene until 8:30 p.m.

No injuries were reported.

The house is a total loss, Brown said. The American Red Cross is assisting the displaced family. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
In response to the Supreme Court of the United States issuing its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, Bishop William Patrick Callahan issued the following statement, which was provided by the Diocese of La Crosse.

"We welcome todays ruling by the Supreme Court, as we continue to proclaim a vision for our society that upholds the truth that every human life is sacred and inviolable  a society in which the legal protection of human life is joined to profound care for mothers and their children.

"We intend our Catholic parishes to be places of welcome for women facing challenging pregnancies or who find it difficult to care for their children after birth, so that any mother needing assistance will receive life-affirming support and be connected to appropriate programs and resources where she can get help. These include numerous Pregnancy Resource Centers within the boundaries of our diocese and across the state, as well as the Pregnancy Support Services and Adoption Services of our own Catholic Charities. We will do everything in our power to raise awareness of, and to strengthen, that network of compassionate care.

"We will continue to support laws that ensure the right to life for unborn children, along with legislation that ensures that no mother or family lacks the basic resources needed to care for their children, regardless of race, age, immigration status, or any other factor.

"In addition, recognizing that more than 65 million children have died from abortion in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade, leaving an untold number of women, men, and families suffering in the aftermath, we also commit to reach out in healing ministry to those wounded by the trauma of abortion.

"In these ways and more, the Catholic Church will continue to witness to the sanctity of all human life, from conception to natural death, and to work to build a true culture of life in our nation, a culture that lovingly embraces and supports mothers and children before and after birth, along with their families. In the midst of lifes sufferings and challenges, we will strive always to be channels of the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ."

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MENOMONIE  The League of Women Voters of Greater Chippewa Valley reminds voters to get ready to vote in the upcoming Aug. 9 primary election.

The League encourages voters to start their candidate research before casting their ballot, so they can be informed and prepared voters.

On the ballot this election are candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state senate, state assembly and state treasurer.

One source of nonpartisan candidate information is the Leagues voter guide on VOTE411.org, where voters can go to read candidates responses to the Leagues questionnaires.

At VOTE411, voters can compare candidates answers, which are posted verbatim, and find the candidates that best fit their values.

VOTE411 is a convenient, easy and invaluable resource for voters who want reliable information about voting in Wisconsin, said Annemarie McClellan, co-president of LWV-GCV. Tens of thousands of voters in Wisconsin rely on VOTE411 as their go-to source for unbiased candidate information, including many young people and first-time voters.

In addition to the voter guide on VOTE411.org, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin website has information on voting including what to bring to the polls, early and absentee voting information, and more, available in both English and Spanish.

We know voters are busy. Thats why were excited to provide voters with these easy-to-access resources so they are fully prepared to cast their ballot, said Eileen Newcomer, voter services manager of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The League encourages voters to make a plan to vote, visit VOTE411.org, and remind others about Election Day on Aug. 9.

The League of Women Voters of Greater Chippewa Valley is a nonpartisan political organization that advocates for informed and active participation in government. More information at https://www.lwv-gcv.org/.

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MENOMONIE  When University of Wisconsin-Stouts Instructional Resources Service began its partnership with Books for Africa, the university donated small quantities of titles, and BFA Founder Tom Warth collected the boxes of withdrawn textbooks in his SUV.

But now, over these many years, we are needing semitrucks to collect the books, he said. Our partnership with Stout has been unique in many respects. No other institution of higher learning has done so much.

Over the last 25 years, UW-Stout has donated more than 500,000 books to BFA. In recognition of its generosity and commitment to BFAs mission of ending the book famine in Africa, IRS was recently given the Books for Africa Kilimanjaro Society Volunteer Award.

It is impossible to measure the impact in Africa, Warth added. I like to say 50 young people will benefit from a title over its life span, and if it were not for Stouts contributions, these are titles that those folks would never see. We all know the ever-increasing cost of college-level material. On behalf of the students of Africa, I thank you, your staff and students.

BFA collects, sorts and ships books, computers, tablets and library enhancement materials to every country in Africa from its warehouse in St. Paul. Since it started in 1988, BFA has shipped more than 52 million books to help educate students across all 55 countries in Africa. It believes education is the great equalizer in the world and books are the foundation of a strong educational system.

A tremendous honor

Director of the Instructional Resources Service Bob Butterfield and Kim Uetz, inventory control coordinator, have worked with BFA for 11 years. Prior to that, the partnership was coordinated by Butterfields predecessor, Brenda Swannack.

Butterfield and Uetz accepted the society award from Her Excellency, Hajia Alima Mahama, Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the U.S., at the University Club in St. Paul on June 8.

The award ceremony was attended by the BFA board, donors, supporters and special guests, including Sharon Sayles Belton, vice president of Government Affairs and Community Relations at Thomson Reuters and the former mayor of Minneapolis.

Later in the day, Butterfield and Uetz were the guests of BFA Board President Mike Essien at the St. Paul Town & Country Club. The luncheon was opened by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, followed by Belton and Ambassador Mahama.

Butterfield said the ceremony was very humbling. It was a tremendous honor to be recognized. We have always greatly appreciated our relationship with BFA. They save us time and money by taking books that are deemed unsaleable and would otherwise end up in the trash or recycled, he said.

It has always meant a lot that the lives of these books go on and are provided to libraries and schools that may not otherwise have books. We have had Stout students from Africa tell us that they had used books in Africa from Stout, he added.

UW-Stout has a textbook rental program for students. In recent years, IRS has increased the availability of digital texts.

Helping to carry on a mission

Last fall, the university donated more than 12,500 textbooks to BFA, adding to its half-million-plus count. Staff and BFA members spent half a day loading boxes for transport to the St. Paul warehouse.

Butterfield estimated that over the 25-year period, there have been between 30 to 40 staff members and student workers involved in the process.

As the BFA president, UW-Stout Assistant Professor Mike Essien is doubly proud of the partnership, and he is looking forward to more opportunities.

He believes it would be less easy for Books for Africa to carry out its mission without the support of IRS.

I am thankful to IRS, Bob and Kim for their continued support, Essien said. UW-Stout helps BFA light up the childrens eyes and takes a child in Africa to places that only books can. It is rewarding for those of us at the university to see our Midwest institution carry on its mission of education to extended locations  directly or indirectly.

Our relationship with BFA embodies the things Stout represents  equity, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, fiscal responsibility and furthering education, Butterfield added. It is an incredible feeling knowing that by partnering with BFA we can help alleviate the book famine. We have seen not only a piece of Stout going to Africa but get a piece back in the students it has affected.

BFA also accepts monetary donations to help fund its mission.

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The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension and FairShare CSA Coalition, invites Wisconsin farmers to attend multiple field days in the 2022 growing season. These field days will provide information on a variety of production and management techniques, ranging from small-scale weed control practices to mushroom growing, rice cultivation techniques, and utilizing high tunnel production to grow crops that require unique soil or growing conditions.

The field days will take place on the following dates:

High Tunnel Field Day Tours - Eau Claire Area, July 12;

Mushroom Production Field Day and Farm Tour - Peshtigo, July 14;

Organic Weed Control Intensive Field Day - Athens, July 24;

Cover Crop Field Day - Verona, July 27;

High Tunnel Field Day Tours - Wausau Area, Aug. 2;

Hands-on Food Safety Field Day - Wausau, Aug. 15;

Rice Production Field Day - Mequon, Sept. 14.

These events are designed for beginning or underserved growers who manage small to mid-scale diversified farm operations and will connect growers with the information and resources to increase the competitiveness of Wisconsins specialty crop industry. Hmong translation services are available upon request at most events. For more information, including how to register, visit DATCPs specialty crop events webpage or contact DATCP Organic and Specialty Crop Specialist Andrew Bernhardt at 608-572-0512 or andrew.bernhardt@wisconsin.gov.

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Threads of Tradition: A Hmong Community Collaboration is the name of a partnership between McIntosh Memorial Library, La Crosse Public Library, and the Hmong Cultural and Community Agency.

Together we will be offering numerous programs and activities to recognize the Hmong people in our area over the next several months. During the month of July, McIntosh Memorial Library will have on display personal collections of folk art, textiles, sculptures and other collectibles from Hmong community members residing in La Crosse. On Monday, July 11, we will be hosting a program at 6 p.m. inside the library about the exhibit. The program will be about the artwork, its history and the story it represents. During the month of August, the art will be on display at the La Crosse Public Library. Also, in July we will host in Viroqua at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19, a Hmong Arts Workshop, followed by a program on July 28 at 6 p.m. with Wisconsin author Dr. Pao Lor. Lor wrote a book titled Modern Jungles: a Hmong Refugees Childhood Story of Survival. You can view all the programs we have scheduled by visiting the library website at www.mcintoshmemoriallibrary.org

In support of June being recognized as National Pollinators Month will be hosting a special in-person program on Thursday, June 30. Retired biologist Beverly Paulan will be presenting a program inside the library lobby at 6 p.m. titled, Native Plants Need Native Pollinators Native Pollinators Need Native Plants.

Paulan has been an educator, a pilot, a birder, a toad wrangler, a crane mama and a butterfly whisperer: and these are just the things she has gotten paid to do! After getting a degree in biology and her pilots license, she chased her dreams and combined the two by working for such diverse organizations as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Operation Migration. Currently she is officially retired, but still flies as a freelance contract pilot and conducts endangered butterfly, habitat and bat surveys as a citizen scientist.

National Pollinators Month was created to bring attention to the importance of the relationships between pollinators and plants. Nearly all the worlds seed plants need pollinators. According to the National Wildlife Federation, which initiated Junes National Pollinators Month, one in every three bites of food come from a pollinated source.

McIntosh Memorial Library will be closed July 2-4 for the Independence Day holiday weekend. The library will reopen with regular hours on Tuesday, July 5. While the library is closed the book and media return slots will be open for your returns. You can always order materials from the Libby app. Have a question? Call the circulation desk at 608-637-7151, extension 6.

To stay up-to-date on everything happening at the library, like the Viroqua Library page on Facebook, visit our website at www.mcintoshmemoriallibrary.org, or visit us in person at 205 South Rock Avenue in Viroqua.

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Department of Children and Family (DCF) Secretary Emilie Amundson and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes visited Viroqua, June 15, to meet with local Project Growth grant recipients  Viroqua Area Schools and Driftless Development, Inc., of Prairie du Chien  to discuss how the program is supporting innovative solutions and helping solve the challenges facing Wisconsins child care system, as well as bolstering the states economy.

VAS received a $75,000 Dream Up! Child Care Supply-Building grant, which focuses on building child care supply through a collaborative community approach. VAS will receive strategic planning support, along with the grant funding.

According to information presented at the meeting, which was held at the future site of the VAS early learning center on Arena Drive, Vernon County is considered a child care desert. A child care desert is defined as an area where more than three children compete for every slot.

The grant recipients shared where they were in the process and multiple agencies were also part of the open discussion.

VAS District Administrator Tom Burkhalter said Sharon Engh was hired as the centers director, and the school district has met with HSR Associates, Inc. and Miron Construction to look at concrete ideas on how to reshape the 11,000-square-foot building. He said the new timeline looks to have construction beginning in August and finishing in February; with the center opening at the beginning of March.

Burkhalter also shared the history of how the school district purchased the building from Vernon Memorial Healthcare and the steps the district took to see if the idea of an early learning center was feasible. There was also discussion on how the school district would keep accurate data on what its going to be doing with the early learning center.

Representatives from Driftless Development, Inc., said they are working with the Opportunity Center, which works with adults with disabilities, to have an early childcare center in the same building as the Opportunity Center.

The grant recipients plan to share information with other school districts and community organizations that may be interested in establishing an early childhood center.

Project Growth

To help design a grant program that meets the needs of Wisconsin employers and communities, DCF, surveyed nearly 1,000 employers from every county in the state, across a wide range of industries. The results highlighted the importance of child care to the states economy and workforce with 73% of respondents agreeing that providing employees with resources to support their child care needs is a strategy that all employers should consider to address workforce/labor shortages. However, many respondents cited barriers in providing such benefits, with a majority stating federal or state government incentives would increase the likelihood that their company could implement or expand child care resources.

Project Growth is primarily funded through the states $30 million Preschool Development Grant  Birth to 5 (PDG B-5) award, which is designed to provide states with the funding necessary to plan changes to their early care and education systems. To increase program capacity, DCF is also using federal funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

Angela Cina can be reached at angie.cina@lee.net.

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FICTION: A poignant look at growing up in Chicago public housing by a debut novelist who lived in one of the city's most notorious developments.

"Last Summer on State Street" by Toya Wolfe; William Morrow (224 pages, $27.99)



From their completion in 1962 until their demolition began in 1998, Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes were the United States' largest public housing development and one of its most notorious. Taylor's 28 high-rises, each 16 stories tall, ran for two miles along State Street south of the Loop and housed thousands more residents than they were designed to accommodate, almost all of them Black.

Many factors led to Taylor's demise, among them entrenched systemic racism, misguided federal housing decisions and continual local mismanagement, and by their last decade, gangs, drugs and extreme poverty were rampant. Yet hundreds of proud, hardworking families persevered and overcame the deplorable conditions they were made to live in.

Toya Wolfe was born and raised in Robert Taylor, and her poignant and unflinching debut novel, "Last Summer on State Street," looks at the struggles confronting Taylor residents in 1999, as the demolitions accelerated and violence raged on.

Twelve-year-old Felicia "Fe Fe" Stevens grew up in Taylor, too, on the same floor as her friend Precious. In sixth grade, they started hanging out, jumping rope and playing hand games, with two girls whose families relocated to their building ahead of the wrecking ball. Everyone knew Stacia's family were Gangster Disciples and drug dealers, but so far she had resisted the allure of the gang. Tonya was a mystery, a "small, timid child" with a body "all curved and rounded out like a grown woman."

Summer school initially offers them relief from the dangers of the projects, somewhere they "felt safe to be kids." But no sanctuary is safe for long. Fe Fe's mom takes the girls to watch July 4th fireworks in Grant Park, but that innocent interlude shatters for good when gunfire greets their return to Taylor.

Wolfe's penchant for portentous "little did I know  "type statements clues readers in that tragedy is coming, but it nevertheless hits hard when it arrives. We know Fe Fe makes it out, but the situations her brother and friends find themselves in should be unthinkable, especially in a country that esteems itself as much as the United States does.

Wolfe has a wonderful ear for dialogue, deploying pitch-perfect vernacular and slang. And she doesn't mince her words, either, as when Fe Fe reflects on the cops who brazenly drag her brother from their apartment in the middle of the night, observing that "he went to jail because he was Black and a boy, and to the police, that fit the description of a criminal."

Wolfe also leavens her narrative with the bureaucratic minutiae essential to understanding the precarious conditions facing families as Chicago transformed its public housing system.

The demolition of Robert Taylor wasn't completed until 2007, and 15 years later, the Chicago Housing Authority has still not delivered all the replacement units it promised to displaced residents. Fe Fe  and Wolfe  are the lucky ones, and their voices are essential reminders of the shameful conditions too many Black children and their families faced growing up. Only through their testimony can we hope that such travesties will never be repeated.



Cory Oldweiler is a freelance writer. He wrote about public housing for The Chicago Reporter in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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FORT MCCOY  A group of Army Reserve engineers from the Southfield, Michigan-based 601st Engineer Detachment began a troop project to install 28 light poles at the Central Receiving Shipping Point here June 17.

Most of the Soldiers from the 601st En. Det. are recent graduates of basic training and advanced individual training, said Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Pearson, detachment noncommissioned officer in charge, which creates a valuable training opportunity.

The couple of NCOs we do have, have been doing a good job on training those soldiers on stuff like this, he said. The main focus has been training the individual soldiers, the new soldiers who have come to us. It is a lot of trenching, which gives our 12 Novembers, the equipment operators, they actually dont get a lot of opportunity to train. There arent a lot of places that we can just go dig. Its been pretty good.

Installing 28 light poles, spread more than 100 feet apart, requires a lot of trench digging, properly placing concrete forms as well as running electrical conduit between each of the poles. These are skills that Project Manager Staff Sgt. Kenneth Killingbeck said will be valuable if the unit is called upon for any mission.

Coming out here, doing this, it gives all these guys some good training and gives them a good handle if this is something we have to do overseas, he said. Even if were putting in pilings for a building, these guys know how to put one in. Ive got 24 guys out here who learned a lot this last two weeks.

One of those soldiers on the receiving end of that training is Spc. Carl Cornelio, an electrical engineer who works on the COVID Team at Pfizer in his civilian job.

Out here, its a lot of trade work so its totally different, he said. Getting a lot of this experience makes me flexible in the workplace. Ill be able to use my skills somewhere else after I get out of here.

Sgt. Gregory Lee Timko, interior electrician, 601st En. Det., led the electrical installation team and he also works on a nuclear project for Michigan State University in his civilian capacity.

A lot of the guys who we have here, this is their first experience with a project outside of AIT, Timko said. A lot of these guys are very inexperienced as far as doing a large-scope project like this and how to lay things out properly. A lot of the work that weve been doing with them is teaching them how to properly run the PVC conduit underground, trenching, getting really good measurements so thats been good.

One of the other electricians, Sgt. Zach Squires, said hes enjoyed learning and watching the project grow from an idea through each phase.

Watching everything go together, he said, Im learning at the same time as trying to help teach these guys the stuff that I do know. Watching this come together is the best part.

Troop projects are construction-related projects at Fort McCoy completed by military units training on the installation. The projects allow for excellent specialized training for service members while also saving Fort McCoy the costs of labor for construction. Many help improve the installations infrastructure and quality-of-life programs.

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A 37-year-old Tomah man convicted of beating to death a 3-year-old boy will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of release.

Marcus Wayne Anderson received a life sentence from Monroe County Circuit Judge Mark Goodman during a sentencing hearing Wednesday in Sparta. Anderson is accused of inflicting multiple injuries that caused the death of Kyson Rice at a Jodi Circle residence in Tomah on May 3, 2019.

Goodman said the case was a extremely vicious homicide and that the last moments of Kysons life were horrible.

The blood of Kyson Rice will never come off your hands, Goodman said.

Anderson was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and several other crimes, including child abuse, drug possession and four counts of bail jumping.

Prosecutors allege that Anderson inflicted a sustained beating on the 36-pound toddler and called four other people before finally calling 911. He allegedly lied about the circumstances that caused Kysons injuries and drove away under the influence of narcotics after telling police he would meet Kyson at a local hospital. He later tested positive for four different banned substances.

An autopsy concluded that Kyson suffered nearly 200 bruises. Kysons uncle, John Glynn, pounded the lectern 186 times during a victim impact statement to illustrate how many times Anderson struck the child.

Glynn asked for a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Please protect society from this evil, Glynn said. No parole. Ever.

Witnesses and prosecutors described Anderson as a remorseless killer with no redeeming qualities. Assistant District Attorney Sarah Skiles said Anderson has spent much of his adult life in prison and has a thin employment history.

There are absolutely no positive characteristics to Marcus Anderson, she said. If someone wrote the story about his life, it would say this: Marcus Anderson is a selfish, violent predator who takes advantage of and manipulates people weaker than him and is someone who blames the consequences of all of his actions on other people.

She called Anderson a real-life monster.

Marcus Anderson murdered Kyson in an excruciating and brutal manner, Skiles said. I dont use the term monster lightly. Its not a word Ive used in court before. Its a word I hope I never have to use again.

She said Anderson left behind a long list of victims, including family members, hospital employees and first responders who witnessed Kysons injuries. Two Tomah police officers were among those who gave victim impact statements.

He caused every first responder to live this day over and over, said Tomah Police Department Sgt. Wilbert Steinborn.

Kysons mother, Jessica Rice, asked Skiles to read her victim impact statement. Rice and Anderson were living together prior to Kysons death with Rice holding a full-time job and Anderson assuming primary daycare responsibilities.

You had no right to take (Kyson) away in such a cruel way, she said.

Rice said Kysons death has left her distrustful of people.

I dont think I can ever have a healthy relationship again, she said.

Anderson has maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings and took the case to a jury, which handed down guilty verdicts on the most serious charges April 12. The jury acquitted Anderson on five of the nine bail jumping charges.

Defense attorney Patrick Flanagan asked the court to leave open the possibility of parole. He said every defendant should be given hope that they can change.

Flanagan said Anderson conducted himself with decorum during the trial.

He kept his composure when he believed he was innocent and everybody else says hes monster, Flanagan said.

He pushed back against arguments that Anderson didnt accept responsibility for his actions.

Mr. Anderson has a right to a trial, Flanagan said. There should be no punishment whatsoever for his decision to take this to trial.

Anderson spoke briefly before his sentence was handed down. He said he asks God every day for forgiveness but that he didnt intend to kill Kyson.

I never wanted Kyson to die, Anderson said. Who in their right mind wants a child to die?

Goodman said his sentencing decision was influenced by the age of the victim, the widespread wounds to nearly every inch of Kysons body and Andersons criminal history, which included six years in an Arizona prison for armed robbery and convictions for false imprisonment and battery in La Crosse County.

Anderson was sentenced to four years probation in the La Crosse County case. The victim testified during the homicide trial that Anderson physically abused her and her infant child while the three lived together in La Crosse.

La Crosse Tribune reporter Steve Rundio can be reached at steve.rundio@lee.net.

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DOVER, Del. (AP)  Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness declined to testify Wednesday as the defense rested its case in her criminal corruption trial.

I am confident that my team has conveyed reasonable doubt, so no thank you, your honor, McGuiness told Superior Court Judge William Carpenter Jr.

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. McGuiness is the first statewide elected official in Delaware to be prosecuted while in office.

Prosecutors allege, among other things, that McGuiness orchestrated a no-bid communications services contract for My Campaign Group, a consulting firm she used when running for lieutenant governor in 2016, then kept the contract payments under $5,000 to avoid having to get them approved by the Division of Accounting.

They also allege that McGuiness hired her daughter and her daughters best friend as part-time employees in 2020, even though other casual-seasonal workers were forced to leave because of the lack of available work. In hiring her daughter and exercising control over her pay, McGuiness engaged in theft and conflict of interest, according to prosecutors, who note that Elizabeth Saylar McGuiness paycheck went into a joint bank account she shared with her mother.

Authorities also allege that after employees began complaining to the attorney generals office about McGuiness, she responded by intimidating and harassing the whistleblowers, including monitoring their email accounts.

Testimony concluded with three defense witnesses and some final questioning of chief investigator Franklin Robinson, who has struggled to answer questions about repeatedly making false statements in a search warrant affidavit and to a grand jury, and omitting information that could have cast McGuiness in a more favorable light.

Jurors heard a recording of a phone call Robinson made to Lydia August, a part-time employee in the auditors office who left in May 2020. That's the same month the state Department of Justice began investigating McGuiness after receiving complaints about her conduct.

What were doing is a general review of casual-seasonal employees that were impacted by the pandemic, Robinson told August in the May 2021 phone call, adding he was looking into the treatment of casual-seasonal employees throughout state government.

In reality, Robinson was conducting a criminal investigation, not a general review, and was looking only at casual-seasonal employees in the auditors office, and no other state agencies.

As he has done previously under cross-examination, Robinson became evasive when defense attorney Steve Wood grilled him about the falsehoods.

I wouldnt agree with the characterization as false, said Robinson, who explained he was concerned that August might tell McGuiness about the phone call.

So youre testifying its not false, even though its not true? Wood asked.

The judge then told Wood to move on, noting that it was a common investigative technique for law enforcement officials to make false statements when questioning people, and to imply otherwise was not acceptable.

Wood nevertheless got Robinson to admit that saying his investigative techniques include telling people falsehoods." Prosecutor Mark Denney echoed that sentiment, describing the practice as common.

August, meanwhile, said she had told McGuiness after being hired that she planned to stay only until May 1, 2020, because she was planning to move. She later asked to stay through June 1, but was allowed to stay only until May 18.

I wasnt offended at all, said August, whom prosecutors allege was laid off to make room for McGuiness daughter.

Jurors also heard from Kyra Marshall, a friend of Elizabeth McGuiness who also worked part-time at the auditors office. Marshall said she had the same pay and work conditions as the younger McGuiness, including access to Kathy McGuiness state-issued vehicle. Prosecutors contend that access to that vehicle was among the special privileges made available to Saylar McGuiness but not other part-time workers, even though several have testified that they, too, were authorized to drive it.

The final witness was Tracey Rogers, a former employee who mistakenly attributed a final payment on the My Campaign Group contract to another firm, Innovate Consulting, which had been established by consultant Christie Gross and won a competitive bid for a second contract. Prosecutors have suggested McGuiness directed the $1,950 credit card payment to Gross PayPal account and had it attributed to Innovate, rather than My Campaign Group, in an effort to avoid compliance with state procurement rules.

Rogers, who had recently joined the office, testified that neither McGuiness nor her chief of staff told her to code the credit card receipt to Innovate Consulting instead of My Campaign Group.

My understanding ... is that we were no longer using My Campaign Group and (Gross) was opening up Innovate Consulting.... I probably made the assumption myself that it should go there, Rogers 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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WASHINGTON (AP)  Two of Congress staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist alternatives to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday, even as the partys voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.

Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller won her primary over fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis just days after she called the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a historic victory for white life during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump. Her spokesperson said she misspoke.

Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican.

Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost in a rare runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell. But his Republican House colleague, Michael Guest, won a runoff race in the state, despite defying Trump and voting to create an independent commission to investigate last years insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago after a declining population cost the state a House seat.

In all, six states held congressional primary elections, primary runoffs or special elections. In addition to testing Trump's national influence, they provided hints of how voters are reacting to the high court's decision on abortion.

Some of the top elections:

BOEBERTS STAYING POWER

Boebert, a first-term firebrand, saw her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado become even more Republican after redistricting. She had little trouble with moderate state Rep. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slammed what he calls Boeberts extremism.

Boebert trumpeted her gun-toting Second Amendment credentials and opposition to COVID-19 restrictions that briefly shuttered her Shooters restaurant.

Long known for controversial statements, Boebert said Sunday, Im tired of this separation of church and state junk thats not in the Constitution.

The phrase doesnt expressly appear in the Constitution, though the First Amendment says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Thomas Jefferson was president when he wrote in an 1802 letter that such phrasing should amount to a wall of separation between church and state.

Boebert referred to Jefferson's writing as a stinking letter.

In Colorados deeply conservative El Paso County, meanwhile, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams for his 5th Congressional District seat. Williams failed to get the phrase Lets Go Brandon, code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his name on the ballot.

Lamborn faces an ongoing House ethics investigation over whether he misused official resources for personal purposes. He is an ardent opponent of abortion and backs the significant U.S. military presence in Colorado Springs.

TWO INCUMBENTS LOSE IN ILLINOIS

Miller bested Davis for the GOP nomination in a sprawling, heavily red district in central Illinois that was redrawn after the states shrinking population cost it a congressional seat.

Miller, first elected in 2020, is no stranger to controversy. She quoted Adolf Hitler shortly after winning her seat, saying during a rally that Hitler was right on one thing. He said, Whoever has the youth has the future. She later apologized after Democrats in Illinois called for her resignation. She also voted against certifying Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election and is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

On Saturday night, she made the white life comment as Trump stood behind her at a rally in Mendon, drawing cheers from the crowd. Miller has since said she's not racist, and her spokesperson said she had intended to say the ruling was a victory for the right to life.

Davis was a co-chair of Trumps 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. He had the backing of almost all of the districts 35 county party chairs and vowed to reimplement Trump policies, including walling off the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the state's 6th Congressional District, Casten defeated his fellow Democratic colleague Newman, who was first elected to the House in 2020. She faces an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation over whether she promised federal employment to a political opponent.

Casten is a two-term congressman who flipped a suburban seat in 2018 that Republicans had held for decades.

JESSE JACKSON'S SON WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a crowded field vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.

The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicago's South Side to Kankakee.

In Illinois' open 17th Congressional District, Esther Joy King won the GOP nomination, while Eric Sorensen, a former meteorologist, won the Democratic nomination. They are vying to replace five-term Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, who decided against seeking reelection in the largely rural swath of northwestern Illinois.

In Illinois' heavily Democratic 7th District, longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago beat progressive and gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins on Tuesday  though the margin was far narrower than his commanding primary win over her in 2020.

MISSISSIPPI RUNOFFS: ONE INCUMBENT WINS, ONE LOSSES

One of two Mississippi congressmen facing a rare primary runoff election lost his seat.

Palazzo blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the Biden administration for his defeat to Ezell, the sheriff of a coastal county. But the congressman had also been accused in a 2021 congressional ethics report of abusing his office by misspending campaign funds.

He said that Mississippi voters hired me to fight the woke, liberal agenda and to push back against government overreach, and Ive done that for 12 years.

But Palazzo also added: With COVID and because of what the Biden administration is doing to this country, they took their anger out on me.

Ezell said he won because of connections he forged during more than 40 years in law enforcement. When people call and need something, Ive been accessible to them.

Meanwhile, Guest won a GOP runoff against former Navy fighter pilot Michael Cassidy. Guest will face Democrat Shuwaski Young in November.

NEBRASKA SPECIAL ELECTION OVERLAPS WITH SENTENCING

Former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was sentenced to probation on Tuesday for lying to federal agents just as voters picked a replacement for the rest of his term.

State Republican Rep. Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to succeed Fortenberry, who served nine terms in the Republican-heavy district that includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller, rural communities. Theyll compete again in November to determine who serves a new term, beginning in January.

Fortenberry resigned in March after being convicted of intentionally misleading FBI agents about his knowledge of an illegal, $30,000 campaign contribution from a Nigerian billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.

A judge sentenced him to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and community service.

This story was first published on June 29, 2022. It was updated on June 29, 2022 to correct an erroneous report that Republican Rep. Michael Guest had won a third term. He won his GOP runoff and will face a Democrat in November.

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.

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

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Two people were killed Tuesday when the motorcycle they were riding was rear-ended while they were stopped for a turning vehicle on Highway 33 in Columbia County, the State Patrol said.

At about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, a semitractor-trailer was preparing to turn left from Highway 33 into a private driveway, east of Interstate 90-94, with a pickup truck and a motorcycle stopped behind the semi, Sgt. Jamie Labrec said in a statement.

Another pickup truck failed to stop and collided with the motorcycle, which was pushed forward into the stopped pickup truck.

Both occupants of the 2018 Harley-Davidson motorcycle were thrown from it, Labrec said. The man and a woman, both 60 and from Portage, died.

The occupants of the 2010 Chevrolet Silverado pickup  a 73-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman from Park Rapids, Minnesota  suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Labrec said.

The driver of the 2017 Ford F150 pickup, a 28-year-old man from Portage, was not listed as injured, Labrec said.

The statement did not specify which pickup was stopped and which pickup rear-ended the motorcycle. A call to the State Patrol was referred to Labrec, didnt return a message.

No enforcement information was released and the crash remains under investigation, Labrec said.

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Wisconsins Supreme Court says a conservative political appointee can stay in power indefinitely if lawmakers refuse to confirm a successor, dealing a blow to Gov. Tony Evers and the powers of the executive branch.

The high court ruled Wednesday in favor of Fred Prehn, a Wausau dentist appointed to the Natural Resources Board in 2015 by former Gov. Scott Walker. Prehn refused to step down when his term expired more than a year ago.

The courts conservative majority said the expiration of Prehns six-year term, in and of itself, did not create a vacancy for the governor to fill.

At the same time, the court ruled that the expiration did not end protections against being removed without cause, meaning Evers cant simply fire him.

That means Prehn can stay in office until the Senate confirms Evers nominee, something Republicans who control the chamber have so far refused to do.

If the nominee is not confirmed, the nominee is not appointed into office and cannot exercise the authority assigned to that position, conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote in the majority opinion. While the Governor can make a provisional appointment who exercises all of the powers and duties of the office, subject to later confirmation by the senate, there must first be a vacancy to fill.

The courts three liberal justices filed a 16-page dissent calling the opinion absurd and nonsensical, saying it steers our states government directly into disorder and chaos, threatening the fragile separation of powers central to its functions.

(A)llowing Prehn to continue serving in office indefinitely makes him the final authority on whether he remains in office  not the legislature, which specified by statute that his term expired over 13 months ago, and not the governor, who the legislature gave the authority to nominate a replacement, Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote. One unelected official should not be able to dictate his term in office over the will of the peoples elected representatives.

Balance of power

The ruling further tilts the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in favor of Republicans who control the Legislature and have refused to hold confirmation hearings for many of Evers appointees  including most of his nominees to boards overseeing the states higher education system.

Todays decision continues to underscore the erosion of democratic institutions at the hands of Republicans in this state, Evers said in a statement. Its wrongheaded, its shortsighted, and its politics at its most dangerous.

Evers said his appointees are exceptionally qualified, should be considered on their merit, and should have the opportunity to serve the people of our state, regardless of whether or not they were appointed by a Democrat or share the same ideas as Republicans in the Legislature.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who filed the lawsuit last year, said the Supreme Courts decision sets a terrible precedent at a time when several of Evers other appointees still await formal approval from the Senate.

We now have an appointee who can apparently stay on this board for as long as he chooses, Kaul said. Think about that in a democracy. This is not a country where we have kings, but Dr. Prehn apparently gets to choose how long he gets to stay there, regardless of what the people of Wisconsin say.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about if or when he would schedule a confirmation hearing for Evers appointee, Ashland County educator Sandra Naas.

Prehn issued a statement saying he intends to stay on the board until a successor is confirmed and accused Evers and Kaul of wasting substantial taxpayer dollars in legal fees on a political stunt to satisfy their liberal donor base.

Their lack of understanding of case law is obvious and that lack of understanding caused many losses, including hours of time, emotion and cost on this issue, Prehn wrote.

Keeping a seat

Kaul argued Prehn and lawmakers ignored the century-old common law, which says an appointee whose term has ended may hold over, but once the term expires there is a vacancy that the governor is entitled to fill.

Citing a 1964 Supreme Court ruling, Prehn maintained he does not have to leave until Naas is confirmed by the Senate. Republicans adjourned the two-year session without holding a hearing, cementing the boards conservative majority.

Text messages uncovered in a separate court case show Prehn sought advice from Walker in November 2020, nearly six months before his term was set to expire, saying lawmakers do not intend on confirming anybody soon.

Walker encouraged Prehn to stay.

Kaul sued in August, asking the courts to force Prehn to step down. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn dismissed the case but faulted lawmakers for refusing to hold a confirmation hearing.

Both Kaul and Prehn asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, bypassing the court of appeals.

Key decisions

Since his term ended, Prehn has voted to reject regulations of toxic PFAS compounds in groundwater and to weaken the agencys proposed drinking water standards for the so-called forever chemicals.

He could also cast a deciding vote later this year on a new wolf management plan, which could set population goals and help determine hunting quotas if the gray wolf is again removed from the federal endangered species list.

If youre on the side of more toxic sludge in our water, this is a win for you today, Kaul said. But if you want clean and safe drinking water for Wisconsinites, if you care about people in Wisconsin having power over the government, its yet another huge loss from the Supreme Court.

Midwest Environmental Advocates called the decision a blow to the health of our environment and the health of our democracy.

Fred Prehn coordinated with Scott Walker, lobbyists for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and an unaccountable, gerrymandered legislature to retain control of environmental policy in Wisconsin, the group said in a statement. As a result, Scott Walkers appointees continue to control the Department of Natural Resources 1,331 days and counting after Walker lost the election.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin's conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a conservative member of the Department of Natural Resources policy board may remain on the panel indefinitely in a far-reaching decision that leaves Democratic Gov. Tony Evers all but powerless to seat any of his appointees who need legislative approval.

The court ruled 4-3 that Fred Prehn can stay until the state Senate confirms his successor. Prehn's term expired more than a year ago, but the Republican-controlled Senate has declined to hold a confirmation vote on his replacement.

That has effectively blocked Evers from filling a seat and preserved a conservative majority on a board that controls environmental and hunting policy in Wisconsin. Since his term expired, Prehn has voted with that majority to scale back restrictions against PFAS  an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals  and increase a quota for a fall wolf season.

The majority found that the governor may appoint an officer and the Senate may confirm that person only if a vacancy in the office exists. A vacancy can occur only if the officeholder dies, resigns or is removed, the majority concluded. Therefore, the justices said, Prehn still holds the position and the governor can remove him only for misconduct or malfeasance in office.

Prehn lawfully retains his position on the DNR board as a holdover, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote for the majority. Therefore, the Governor cannot make a provisional appointment to replace Prehn under (state law).

The decision means gubernatorial appointees can hold their positions indefinitely pending Senate confirmation of a successor  thus handing the Senate the power to block appointees by a governor of the opposite party.

Liberal-leaning Justice Rebecca Dallet called the ruling absurd in a dissent.

The majoritys decision ... steers our states government directly into disorder and chaos, threatening the fragile separation of powers central to its functions, Dallet wrote.

Evers said in a statement that appointees should be considered on merit regardless of whether a Democratic or Republican governor chose them.

Today's decision continues to underscore the erosion of democratic institutions at the hands of Republicans in this state, he said. It's wrongheaded, its shortsighted, and it's politics at its most dangerous.

Prehn was appointed by Evers' predecessor, GOP Gov. Scott Walker. Conservatives can count on controlling the Department of Natural Resources board until at least May 2023, when the terms of three other Walker appointees will end. If Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate in November's elections, as expected, they likely wont vote on those appointees' successors and conservative control will continue.

Walker appointed Prehn, a Wausau dentist, to the board in 2015. Prehn's six-year term ended May 1, 2021. Evers appointed Sandra Naas to replace him, but Prehn refused to step aside. He argued that the state Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that gubernatorial appointees don't have to resign until the Senate confirms successors.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sued in August to force Prehn off the board. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn sided with Prehn in September and dismissed the case. Kaul asked the state Supreme Court to take the case directly without waiting for an appellate ruling.

Kaul said Wednesday that the decision sets a terrible precedent.

It's going to cause chaos because you're going to see appointees try to hold on indefinitely," he said. This won't be limited to Fred Prehn.

Prehn said in a statement that he intends to stay on the board until the Senate confirms his successor. He accused Kaul and Evers' administration of wasting money on legal fees for a political stunt to satisfy their liberal donor base.

Midwest Environmental Advocates, an environmental law firm, obtained Prehn emails through an open records request that show he consulted with Republican lawmakers and lobbyists about staying on the board.

Today's decision is a blow to the health of the environment and the health of our democracy, the firm said in a statement.

Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twiter.com/trichmond1

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

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Tonight, we are dealing with a horrific human tragedy.

That is Ron Nirenberg, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

He spoke to reporters on Monday night after the discovery of dead bodies inside a truck abandoned by the road outside his city.

A San Antonio city worker heard a cry for help coming from the back of the truck. The worker opened it to find 46 people dead inside. Officials said sixteen people, including children, were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses, with four later dying.

Heat is a serious problem as summer temperatures can easily reach 38 degrees Celsius in south Texas. Inside cars and trucks, the temperature can be much higher.

The citys fire chief said the trucks cooling system was not working and they were suffering the effects of extreme heat without water. Three people were taken into custody, but it was unclear if they were related to human trafficking.

Nirenberg added that the people who died had families who were likely trying to find a better life.

The tragedy is one of the deadliest incidents in recent years involving migrants crossing the Mexico border into San Antonio.

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart store in the city. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a truck southeast of the city. More than 50 migrants were found alive in the back of a truck in 2018. The driver said he was to be paid $3,000 for the job. The man was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

U.S. President Joe Biden in a statement on Tuesday called the incident "horrifying and heartbreaking." He added that his administration was working to crack down on human trafficking networks.

Analysts who study immigration said they had been worried about something like what happened on Monday in Texas. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick works for the American Immigration Council. In a tweet, he wrote: With the border shut  for migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes.

Migrants have been expelled more than 2 million times under a pandemic-era rule in effect since March 2020. The rule denies migrants a chance to seek asylum but does not punish them for getting caught. So, they attempt to cross the border repeatedly.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 557 deaths on the southwest border in the 12-months ending Sept. 30. That number is more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping records in 1998. Most are related to heat illnesses.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on reports by the Associated Press.

Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

abandonv. to leave something and not come back for it

horrific adj. very sad or difficult to think about

tragedy n. a very bad event that causes sadness and often involves someone's death

custody  n. the state of being under control of someone else, or kept in a prison or jail

trafficv. to illegally sell something

route  n. a way to go get from one place to another
Facebook and Instagram have begun removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them.

They started doing so after a Supreme Court decision Friday ended the constitutional right for a woman to choose to have an abortion. An abortion is a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy. The abortion pill is medicine that can be taken to end a pregnancy.

The social media posts that are being removed seemed aimed to help women living in states where pre-existing laws banning abortion went into effect after the high court ruling.

After the ruling, posts explaining how women could legally get abortion pills in the mail suddenly increased across social platforms. Some even offered to mail prescriptions for the pill to women living in states that now ban the procedure.

Almost immediately, Facebook and Instagram began removing some of these posts.

Zignal Labs is a media intelligence and research company. It found that general mentions of abortion pills increased Friday morning across Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and on television broadcasts. There was also an increase in posts mentioning certain versions of the abortion pill, like mifepristone and misoprostol.

By Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 such mentions.

The Associated Press received a screenshot Friday of one Instagram post. The post was from a woman who offered to purchase or send abortion pills through the mail. She made the post minutes after the court ruled to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

(Direct message) me if you want to order abortion pills, but want them sent to my address instead of yours, the post read.

Instagram quickly removed it. Vice Media first reported on Monday that Meta was taking down posts about abortion pills. Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

On Monday, an AP reporter tested how the company would react to a similar post on Facebook. The reporter wrote: If you send me your address, I will mail you abortion pills.

The post was removed within one minute.

The Facebook account was immediately put on a warning status for the post. Facebook said the post violated its rules on guns, animals and other regulated goods.

But when the AP reporter made the same exact post but changed the words abortion pills to a gun, the post remained. A post with the same offer to mail marijuana was also left up and not considered a violation.

The drug marijuana is illegal under federal law. It is illegal to send it through the mail. Abortion pills, however, can be sent legally through the mail after an online appointment with a medical provider. Abortion pills are approved for use by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration, or FDA.

In an email, a Meta spokesperson said company policies bar the sale of certain items, including guns, alcohol, drugs and prescription drugs. The spokesperson did not explain the differences in how the company enforces the policy.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote in a tweet Monday that the company will not permit individuals to gift or sell prescription drugs on its platforms. But it will permit content that shares information on how to access pills. Stone admitted there were some problems with enforcing that policy across its platforms.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that states should not ban mifepristone. The medication is used to cause an abortion.

States may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDAs expert judgment about its safety and efficacy, Garland said in a Friday statement.

But some Republican state lawmakers have already tried to stop their residents from getting abortion pills through the mail.

And some states, like West Virginia and Tennessee, ban healthcare providers from prescribing the medication through online appointments.

Im Ashley Thompson.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

_______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

abortion  n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus

access  v. a way of being able to use or get something

prescription  n. a written message from a doctor that officially tells someone to use a medicine, therapy, etc.

mention  n. a short statement about something or someone

regulate  v. to make rules or laws that control

efficacy  n. the power to produce a desired result or effect

resident  n. someone who lives in a particular place
A recent incident inside a West Virginia high school demonstrated how school shootings have greatly affected teachers and students across the United States.

Teacher Jessica Salfia was putting up balloons at the school to celebrate graduating students. When two of the balloons popped, students thought the sound was gunfire. The incident led to panic inside a school hallway between classes.

One student fell to the floor. Two others quickly ran into open classrooms. Salfia shouted, Its balloons! Balloons! The teacher apologized to the students, who then realized the noise did not come from gunshots.

The students reaction shows how the world has changed in recent years, even for teachers and students who have never experienced school shootings.

The incident happened at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia. It was one day before a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Salfia has a closer connection to gun threats than most. Her mother, also a West Virginia teacher, had a student pull out a gun in her classroom seven years ago. After talking to the student for two hours, she helped bring the incident to a peaceful end.

For any teacher, the job seems to ask the impossible. Teachers are already expected to be guidance counselors, social workers, parental models and more to their students. Now, they are increasingly being called upon to be protectors of students, too.

Salfia said teachers think about the risks of school shootings every day. "What would happen if one of my students came to school armed that day? she said. This is a constant thread of thought.

George Theoharis is a former teacher who has spent the last 18 years training teachers and school officials at Syracuse University. He said teachers are now working harder than ever  even more than last year, "when the pandemic was newer.

Were sort of left in this moment where we do expect teachers and schools to solve all our problems and do it quickly, Theoharis said.

Schools nationwide have been dealing with more student misbehavior and mental health problems since the return to in-person learning. In growing numbers, teens have been turning to gun violence to resolve immediate conflicts, researchers say.

In Nashville, Tennessee, three Inglewood Elementary School workers last month had to restrain a man who had jumped a school fence.

The three workers watched in horror less than two weeks later, when the Uvalde shooting happened. In my head, immediately I thought, That could have been me and my kids,' said teacher Rachel Davis.

Adding to the anger for some educators was the quick blaming of a teacher for opening a door the attacker used to enter the school in Uvalde. Days later, officials said the teacher had closed the door, but it did not lock.

Salfia says teachers are expected to do a lot for their students.

"Youre a first responder. Youre a first reporter. If theres an issue in the home, you are sometimes the only chance a kid has at love, at getting food that day, at maybe getting a warm and safe place to be that day. The scope of the job is huge right now.

The pandemic added the difficulties of remote learning, classroom cleaning and finding enough temporary teachers to keep schools operating.

There is also a feeling that while school shootings continue to happen, politicians cannot come together to do anything about them.

In August 2015, the high school year had just started for Salfia's mother, teacher Twila Smith. A first-year freshman entered Smith's world studies class at Philip Barbour High School and took out a gun.

For about 45 minutes, Smith said, no one outside the room knew the class was in serious danger. She drew the students attention away from others and tried to keep him talking while she walked around the room with him. Eventually, police persuaded the boy to let everyone go and the gun was not fired.

Smith said, I had 29 freshmen sitting there looking at me, and I would have to say that they were the heroes.

When asked what she tells others hoping to go into teaching, Salfia repeats another teachers description of what todays teachers are facing: None of us are built for this."

This is the only job I can imagine doing, Salfia added. But it is also the hardest job I can imagine doing.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press.

Quiz- Teachers on School Shootings: None of Us Are Built for This Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

________________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

balloon  n. a thin usually rubber bag that becomes larger when it is filled with air or gas

constant  adj. happening all the time or very often over a period of time

first responder  n. a person (such as a police officer or an EMT) who is among those responsible for going immediately to the scene of an accident or emergency to provide assistance

scope  n. the area that is included in or dealt with by something

remote  adj. connected to a computer system from another place
Brandon Lopez-Pereira was struggling with remote learning last year. The Norris High School junior felt disconnected from his fellow students. I was kind of in, I want to say, a dark place, Lopez-Pereira said.

The director of an after-school program suggested Project Harmonys Connections program might be able to help. After a referral, Lopez-Pereira signed up for an eight-week group therapy session focused on expressive art, where he quickly found a sense of community.

I felt very confident and comfortable with everybody, he said. We all know this is a safe space and we can trust each other.

Project Harmony is known for its efforts to end the cycle of child abuse and neglect. But the nonprofit is also working proactively to address the mental health needs of young people through its Connections program.

We link children and families with appropriate mental health services, said Jordan Grieser, director of Connections. We contract with therapists in the Omaha area who have evidenced-based practices and experience working with kids and families.

Brandons sessions were facilitated by Betsy Funk, a registered expressive arts therapist. Funk said using art can reduce the stigma of therapy and make students excited for the experience.

Art is a good connector, Funk said. Its sort of a natural language for people.

It came naturally for Brandon, who graduates this month and plans to study acting at Columbia College in Chicago.

Its really cool to see other peoples creative side, he said of the Connections program. It made me feel like I can be myself.

Connections is open to children who have been through a recent stressful event and could use extra support to navigate their feelings  regardless of how they are reacting.

We're much more likely to reach out for help with our kids when we're seeing real behavior concerns for kids  both internal and external, Grieser said. But the internal can be just as concerning. You can have a straight-A student who's not causing any problems in class whos really struggling.

By working in groups, students learn how to forge connections with their peers and they can take those friendships with them after the sessions conclude.

Theyve created this support relationship already, Grieser said. The kids learn to trust each other and to share with each other.

In Brandons case, the students formed a group chat to keep in touch.

We would, of course, text each other all the time, and it was really nice, he said. It made the experience more comforting because I felt, during that time, we were always so vulnerable.

Referrals to Connections were up nearly 66% through March, and Project Harmony has more than doubled the use of groups. Grieser said she expects to finish the school year with close to 2,000 referrals, a couple hundred more than before COVID-19.

When the program started in 2015, a major challenge was addressing the stigma associated with mental health treatments. But thats changed since the pandemic began.

We all got much more comfortable talking about our physical health during COVID, and we also got more comfortable talking about mental health, Grieser said. So, I dont expect our referrals to go down in the next year or two.

Connections will continue to emphasize the use of groups, while also adding more providers. The program has about 40 groups meeting in schools, and work continues during the summer months, including training in a new therapeutic model.

We see group models as being a great way to address the need that were seeing, Grieser said.

Anxiety and difficulty with social interactions are the primary issues seen among young people right now, Funk said, which comes as no surprise amid the pandemic.

Navigating family difficulties is also prevalent.

There's a lot of turmoil going on at home with each of the children in their own separate families, Funk said. The group offers an opportunity for them to have a safe place to talk about some of these things.

The program spans elementary through high school students and serves all members of the childs family. Financial assistance is offered to those without insurance. Connections currently operates in Omaha, Millard, Bellevue and Papillion La Vista schools.

Families interested in learning more about Connections can visit projectharmony.com or talk to their childs school about a referral.

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.
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 Monday.

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.
The heaping pile of grift that was the Douglas County Landfill theft case has ended with three felony and four misdemeanor convictions.

But like any bad landfill fire, issues still are smoldering beneath the surface over what has been characterized as a decades-long theft at the countys garbage cemetery near 216th Street and Nebraska Highway 36.

First, the landfill fallout:

Two longtime county employees  Mark Huntley, 69, and James Sudyka, 67, both of Omaha  and one private contractor, Gary Cooper, 64, of Valley, have been convicted of felony theft. The two employees received thousands of dollars in kickbacks. Cooper, owner of Clean Up Containers, saved tens of thousands of dollars in fees he didnt have to pay. Douglas County District Judge Shelly Stratman has either sentenced, or is expected to sentence, those three to two years probation and has ordered them to each pay restitution of $2,954.

Three employees and one private contractor who received the benefit of the grift each pleaded to a misdemeanor and were sentenced to one year of probation.

Concerned about possible theft, Waste Management launched an internal investigation last year and determined that over 12 weeks, five landfill employees lowered Coopers Clean Up Containers dump fees 336 times. Based on that pace, the Waste Management auditor estimated that the company lost $350,000 over three years.

One employee told investigators that she was aware of Sudyka and other now retired employees taking money from the scalehouse illicitly since 1995. They did so by creating false tickets and keeping the illegitimate cash separate from legitimate payments, Douglas County sheriffs investigators said.

Yet the restitution ordered in the cases amounted to just under $9,000. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said prosecutors could prove only that amount because of a history of poor recordkeeping and accounting practices at the weighhouse.

County landfill officials declined to comment for this article, referring questions to the County Attorneys Office. Kleine said the county and Waste Management have a camera and corresponding software that now will detect fraud much quicker. He noted that Waste Management had just improved the security setup in 2021, enabling Douglas County sheriffs officials to bring cases against the seven defendants.

Kleine and Deputy County Attorney Eric Fabian said county officials couldnt connect the theft to any lavish spending or out-of-control gambling. More likely, Fabian said, the employees used the theft to boost their modest incomes over several years.

Though the theft is estimated to have involved hundreds of thousands of dollars, Kleine said restitution orders have to be based on evidence. He noted that employees would call out Hes my guy and wave many of the dump trucks past the weighhouse.

There wasnt evidence where we knew the exact weight and exactly what they should have been charged, Kleine said. We had to rely on some of the people involved, but even then its an estimate.

The four people who pleaded to misdemeanor mischief  Mark Helmberger, 54, Anahi Lara, 25, Suzanne Swanson, 38, and Hector Flores, 44  had agreed to testify, if need be.

Still smoldering: Whether Waste Management will file a lawsuit over the missing money. Revenue from the landfill is split among several entities: the county, the state, landowner Donald Graham and Waste Management, the trash contractor.

Company spokeswoman Lisa Disbrow said Friday that WM has no comment on this case or future legal matters.

The scheme went this way: Employees of the weighhouse would decrease the weight of a dump truck as it arrived at the landfill so the dump trucks owner would have to pay the bare minimum for dumping tons of trash. Many of those would be charged a $20 or $26 flat fee instead of the hundred or so dollars they should have paid.

In return, the dump trucks owners would line the weighhouse employees pockets.

Employees stole enough that one was able to pay nearly $8,000 in cash for a 2015 Ford Fusion.

Sudyka, Huntley and Cooper each faced up to 20 years in prison or five years of probation. Judge Stratman noted that none of the defendants had criminal records. She said the ill-thought-out scheme stained the reputation of each of the defendants and ultimately was a theft from taxpayers.

Sheriffs deputies estimated the scheme saved Cooper $38,000 a year. He returned the favor by providing the weighhouse employees with cash, gift cards and Christmas hams.

Kleine said ensuring the weighhouse is on the level is a big deal.

Whenever youve got a government entity, youd like to think its being run in a manner that people cant take advantage of it, he said. I certainly hope the message is sent that youre not going to be getting away with this. Theyre convicted felons now. Theyll pay a price from that standpoint.
OMAHA  The new home of the Anthonys Steakhouse steer statue probably couldnt have a more appropriate name.

The behemoth black bovine  which lost its perch above the popular Omaha restaurant earlier this year  now will reside at the T-Bone Truck Stop in Columbus.

Bill Lehr, a cattle feeder whose family owns the T-Bone, paid $45,000 for the steer in an online auction that ended Monday. Backes Commercial Auctioneers of Raymond, Iowa, conducted the sale, which included more than 1,200 other items from Anthonys, which closed in January after more than 50 years of business.

An 81-year-old cattle feeder won the auction, Lehr said Monday. It will put Columbus on the map.

He bought the 8-foot-high, 14-foot-long black steer statue partly because he wanted it to remain in the state. He said he had heard rumors that it was getting interest beyond Nebraskas borders.

Between 30 and 40 bidders participated in the steer auction, said Rod Backes, who owns the auction house with brother Randy. Of the final three serious bidders, he said, two were from Nebraska and one was from Boone, Iowa. He hadnt determined if any other states were represented.

The steers new landlord was also motivated to help the fight against cancer. Restaurant owner Anthony Fucinaro is donating proceeds from the steer's sale to Scare Away Cancer, a nonprofit that helps parents with cancer and those who have kids with cancer to pay bills, buy groceries and handle other expenses.

Fucinaros son, also named Tony, founded the charity.

Lehr said he knows a number of people who are fighting the disease.

There was a viewing for the steer on Sunday before the end of the auction Monday, Fucinaro said. Lehr was there.

"We had gone to Omaha and looked at it to make sure everything was up to snuff, he said.

He met Fucinaro at the event, and the restaurateur said the two men talked for about an hour. It was enough time for the steers longtime owner to figure out the icon would be in good hands.

Hes an amazing guy. He raised cattle all his life, Fucinaro said. Im glad he got it.

The T-Bone Truck Stop is at the corner of U.S. 81 and U.S. 30 on the south side of Columbus.

We have got the best truck stop in Nebraska, Lehr said. The volume of business tells you that.

Because of the junction  and the close proximity of the Behlen Manufacturing Co., plant  the steer will have lots of company. Fucinaro plans to visit his former tenant  and, of course, its new landlord  with a bottled housewarming gift.

I told him, Im going to come up and were going to have a beer,' Fucinaro said.
The Anbernic Win600 handheld gaming PC is expected to go on sale July 5th. While Anbernic has been offering ARM-based handheld consoles with Android or Linux-based software for years, this will be the companys first model with an x86 chip. It ships with Windows 10 software and supports alternate operating systems  Anbernic has already posted a download image and installation instructions for Valves Linux-based Steam OS.

While the Win600 will join an increasingly crowded market of handheld gaming PCs, it stands out in a few ways. Its the only model to date to feature AMD Athlon 3020e and Athlon 3050e processor options (for better or worse). And thats a budget chip that should keep the price reasonably low. Its also one of the only models that not only has user replaceable storage, but also user replaceable RAM (although its only single-channel memory).

Ahead of launch, Anbernic has begun sending out demo units to reviewers, and the first videos showcasing the design, features, and functionality have started to arrive.

In other recent tech news from around the web, developers are making progress porting Linux to work with Pine64s PineNote E Ink tablet, specs and pictures of Samsungs next rugged phone have leaked, Mozilla has released a new version of the Firefox web browser, and Google has released a new version of the operating system that powers Chromebooks.

A short demo video shows the current state of inking on the PineNote: https://t.co/a79qYZJ9EC  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) June 28, 2022

Samsung Galaxy XCover6 Pro rugged phone leaked: 6.6 inch FHD+ 120 Hz display, a user replaceable 4,050 mAh battery, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, a microSD card reader, 50MP + 8MP cameras, 5G support, and a 6nm octa-core processor. https://t.co/JrRTdty14x  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) June 28, 2022

Firefox 102 lets you disable automatic opening of the download panel when ne download starts, support for subtitles for picture-in-picture videos from more sites, bug fixes, and audio decoding gets its own process. https://t.co/Y0FYg0XoW8  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) June 28, 2022

Chrome OS 103 brings new features to Chromebooks including built-in support for screencasting, connecting to the internet by using Nearby Share on a phone for connection details, better management of ZIP archives, and more. https://t.co/CBwH8dOUlK  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) June 28, 2022

Recent updates to the Plasma Mobile user interface for Linux phones includes support for pages and scrolling labels in the quick setting action drawer, UI tweaks, app updates, and more. https://t.co/WT0yQHM47v  LinuxSmartphone (@LinuxSmartphone) June 28, 2022

Lenovo Japan launches five new Legion-branded gaming laptops with some models supporting up to a Core i7-12800HX processor or Ryzen 7 5800H chips, up to RTX 3070 Ti graphics, and a 165 Hz 2560 x 1600 pixel display. https://t.co/RjsAtfYuSB pic.twitter.com/V7kGCRWVu4  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) June 28, 2022

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